Dedication Event in Patrick County to Honor Baliles & Reynolds
221 Wood Brothers Drive
- Stuart, VA
On Tuesday, December 7, Patrick & Henry Community College [P&HCC] will hold a dedication event for its training facility in Patrick County. Everyone is invited to celebrate as the college unveils the new name which will honor two major donors. The event will take place at 2 PM at the 221 Wood Brothers Drive [the former Food Lion building] and will be followed by a brief reception and a tour of the facility.
The college officially began using the space in 2019 to expand its offerings in Patrick County. However, up until now, the facility had gone unnamed. Now, P&HCC is dedicating the space to commemorate the donors who have not only made the expansion possible but have also been avid supporters of the college’s efforts to create accessible education in Patrick County.
On December 7, at the dedication ceremony, the space will officially receive its new name: The Gerald L. Baliles and Richard S. Reynolds, Sr. Learning Center. For short, the college anticipates people will refer to it as the Baliles & Reynolds Learning Center.
“It is a banner day for Patrick County,” says P&HCC Foundation Board Chair Ron Haley. “As the chairman of the PHCC Foundation and a Patrick County resident, I have had the privilege of witnessing first-hand the impact that these two men have had in my hometown. Education is the bedrock of personal and community growth, and these men have championed education in this county.”
“Former Governor Baliles and Major Richard S. Reynolds, Sr. have both been incredible supporters of all that we do,” says P&HCC President Greg Hodges. “Because they believe in the power of education and because they invested so much of their time, their attention, and their philanthropy efforts into raising Patrick County’s educational attainment levels, many lives have been changed for the better. They believed in the people of Patrick County, and they believed in what education could do for them.”
The dedication ceremony will also be one of the many events associated with the Smithsonian’s “Crossroads: Change in Cultural America” exhibit coming to Patrick County December 4 through January 9. The Smithsonian’s exhibit highlights many initiatives that have had a great impact in the Patrick County area – and many of those initiatives are ones that Balilies or Reynolds were involved in. Supporting P&HCC’s expansion and mission to serve Patrick County students was one of the many ways Baliles and Reynolds have worked to make Patrick County a better place.
Of the Reynolds family legacy, Stewart Roberson, the chairman of the Patrick County Educational Foundation remarked, “the Reynolds’ family impact upon Patrick has been deep and transformational for generations. We have this additional opportunity to celebrate their effect on the lives of Patrick citizens- past, present, and future- through the naming of the Center.”
Of Balilies’ legacy, Roberson also remarked, “The dedication of the Learning Center is a fitting tribute to the statesman and the person, particularly as we embrace the values and vision that Governor Baliles promoted for the Patrick County Education Foundation and the place he proudly called his home.”
For the last year, P&HCC has been using the Baliles & Reynolds Learning Center to house its Electrical Groundsman, Commercial Driver License, and Mechatronics programs –all of which were identified as high-demand career fields by local business leaders and county officials. The training space is roughly 5,000 square feet and is located directly across the street from the college’s initial Patrick County facility. The space and its dedication have been made possible with the partnership of the PHCC Foundation and the Patrick County Education Foundation.
