JANUARY: Thirty-three birders participate in the 2016 Mathews Audubon Christmas Bird Count held on New Year’s Day, recording 15,427 birds representing 115 possible species … Bay School Community Arts Center announces expansion plans to more than double the size of its Mathews Court House location … Bruce Galen Harris, 66, dies in two-car accident near Diggs Wharf Road; the Susan resident is the county’s first vehicle fatality in 2017 … Mathews High School boys’ varsity basketball team wins Joe Ellis Memorial Tournament at Surry High School … Major snowstorm hits Mathews, which shuts down county offices, schools and businesses for a couple of days … Dr. Christian F. Wathen opens concierge medical practice … Mathews County School Board appoints Melissa F. Mason to fill an interim appointment for the remainder of 2017; county supervisors elect Jack White as chairman and Charles Ingram as vice chairman for 2017.

FEBRUARY: The first phase of the Williams Wharf boathouse and community event center nears completion … Rising security costs a concern for Mathews Market Days … Construction is underway for a pavilion at Put-In Creek Park in downtown Mathews … Five-year-old twins Cabell and Ellis Chase of Mathews play the role of Thomas in the AMC historical drama series “Turn: Washington’s Spies” … Mathews County Historical Society holds a well-attended program where experts identify local American Indian artifacts … Supervisors pass a resolution in support of May Faire, a new spring festival in Mathews.

MARCH: Mathews Main Street renovations begin, a $1.2 million project that includes redoing sidewalks, curbs and gutters and installing landscaping … MHS varsity boys’ basketball team makes it all the way to the state tournament, losing in the Elite Eight to Radford … Jack White of New Point, who has served on the Mathews Board of Supervisors since 2014, announces he will not seek a second term on the board … Increases proposed by the Mathews County School Board in its 2017-2018 budget would cause a 7-cent hike in the county’s real estate tax rate, county administrator Mindy Conner reports to the Mathews Board of Supervisors … Peggy Ann Artunian, 71, of Mathews, pleads guilty and was found guilty in Mathews Circuit Court of eight counts of embezzlement from the Animal Care Society of Mathews … Following a tense, 10-hour-long hearing by the Mathews County School Board, Charles Forrest returns to his duties as the gym teacher and coach at Mathews High School.

APRIL: Mathews Memorial Library holds a special ceremony to commemorate the men of Mathews who died in World War I … A group of young filmmakers and musicians choose New Point Light for a music video … Mathews teachers protest the proposed FY 2018 budget at a board of supervisors public hearing; the board eventually adopts a $23.6 million budget … Mathews County Planning Commission receives a report on tiny homes, following what staff said are numerous inquiries about such residences.

MAY: Mathews Memorial Library sponsors ReadItMathews, a program to have as many county residents as possible read the same book and engage in a conversation about it … Mathews County Historical Museum draws more than 2,000 people to its first May Faire … Mathews County School Board adopts its final 2017-2018 budget, with cuts including a proposed salary increase for all school employees … Mathews High School top-seeded girls’ tennis player Maddie Brown wins the Conference 42 Singles Tennis Tournament; Brown and Madelyn Johnson team up to win the Conference 42 Doubles Tournament, while MHS wins the team championship … 465 bicyclists participate in the 19th Tour de Chesapeake in Mathews … Mathews Board of Supervisors votes against an update of a regional water plan.

JUNE: The Mathews High School varsity softball team wins the Virginia Group 1A State Championship … The MHS girls’ tennis team makes it to the top four in the state; #1 seed Maddie Brown places second in singles and Brown and Madelyn Johnson lose in the semifinals … 89 graduate from Mathews High School … New traffic patterns and parking restrictions are in the works for this year’s Fourth of July celebration … James Knighton of Hartfield joins the Mathews County Planning, Zoning and Wetlands Office as planner and wetland projects coordinator … Main Street renovation delays are being resolved … Mathews Board of Supervisors reconsiders earlier vote and now seeks to get back into a regional water supply plan.

JULY: Community flocks to see large fireworks display at Mathews High School … Plan underway to remove navigational aids from Davis Creek … Mathews Board of Supervisors and Mathews Planning Commission review proposed changes to the county’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan … After a number of delays, the Mathews Main Street renovation project moves quickly toward a late-summer completion … Mathews County School Board names Ginny Wilburn, special education coordinator for Gloucester County Public Schools, as its new director of special education; the board accepts the resignations of Mathews High School athletic director Derek Kibler and assistant athletic director Lindsay Newell … Mathews Board of Supervisors votes to approve a service agreement with the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission that allows the county to rejoin a regional water supply plan … Despite rumors floating around to the contrary, organizers announce that Mathews Market Days will be held again this year.

AUGUST: The Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission supports a request by Mathews County to rejoin a regional water plan; Mathews has to pay an additional fee for its reinstatement … Morgan Wells of North dies; he was well-known locally for his scientific research and underwater habitats such as a two-person yellow submarine he donated to the Mathews Maritime Foundation … Mathews residents complain to county school board about recent changes in the athletic department at Mathews High School … Mathews County projects slightly higher student enrollment for 2017-2018 term, schools’ superintendent Nancy Welch says; Mathews High School students to take part in pilot welding program at Rappahannock Community College.

SEPTEMBER: Mathews Main Street renovation project moves along well; project secured for Mathews Market Days festival … Market Days experiences beautiful weather and draws large crowd … Mathews School Board holds its first town hall meeting; personnel and other matters are discussed … Chad Casey Whitmore, 22, of Newport News, is convicted in Mathews Circuit Court in the shooting death of Mathews resident Steven Allen Eary … Meghan Roth Clayton, pastor of Salem United Methodist Church in Mathews, finds meaning from traumatic postpartum experience … Mathews County School Board unanimously approves hiring a fourth kindergarten teacher to alleviate overcrowding of that grade level … Limited resources make it harder to combat opioid crisis, speakers say at Mathews County Resources Council forum … Mathews Board of Supervisors receive an overview of a new proposal to bring broadband to the Middle Peninsula through an agreement with the Pamunkey tribe.

OCTOBER: Six candidate forums in the works for Mathews this month … Mathews residents can memorialize their thoughts and ideas on various topics by participating in Commonwealth Word Walls at Mathews Memorial Library … U.S. Coast Guard removes channel markers in local waterways despite local opposition … Some Mathews residents and county officials raise concerns about the Main Street improvement project; they say the street is shaping up to be too narrow at its intersection with Church Street … Mathews County Board of Supervisors votes to deny requests by the Mathews Volunteer Fire Department and the Mathews Rescue Squad that the organizations be allowed to draw funds from the meals tax revenue … Mathews Memorial Library hosts “Pumpkins on Main,” a special day for children and their parents in downtown Mathews, which includes trick or treating through the village and raffles … Mathews Main Street intersection at Church Street is being realigned and widened after much concern about traffic movement in that area … Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Montross) tells meeting with about 300 people present that channel markers in local waterways will return after recently being removed … MHS girls advance to regional volleyball finals; MHS boys and girls win district cross country meet.

NOVEMBER: Scrooch’s Market on Gwynn’s Island is under new ownership … Mathews County voters elect first-time candidates Pepper Love and Amy Dubois to the board of supervisors; incumbent O.J. Cole places fourth among the seven candidates for two seats; incumbent Linda Hodges and Dr. Bambi Thompson win seats on Mathews School Board in a four-person race … Mathews High School volleyball team advances to state championship game in Richmond; defeats Narrows, 3 sets to 1, in state finals … MHS girls’ cross country team takes second place at the Virginia High School League State Championships at Great Meadow, The Plains; the MHS cross country team finishes fourth among boys’ teams … Mathews Family YMCA Director Sheila Pillath reports a very busy year of programs to the Mathews Board of Supervisors … Sculptor Matthew Leavell participates in the Made in Mathews Open Studio Tour for the first time; the tour is held the three days following Thanksgiving.

DECEMBER: Mathews native Rosalyn White is named grand marshal of the Mathews Annual Christmas Parade … Mathews Downtown Historic District is named to the National Register of Historic Places; some tax credits may be available for property owners …  Mathews Ruritan Christmas Blessing Fund gets underway; a $20,000 goal is set … School and community members paint a dire picture of Mathews County Public Schools to the school board; speakers say classrooms are understaffed, basic equipment and supplies are lacking and teachers and others vastly undercompensated … Mathews Board of Supervisors discusses budget surplus and hear report from the county’s auditing firm … Mathews County Democratic Committee holds an assembled caucus … Mathews County Board of Supervisors receives glowing financial report from auditor … Jim Gier-lak  and Don Connolly are sworn in as commander and vice commander, respectively, of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 66 … 94 anglers compete in 11th annual Mathews Rotary Club Rockfish Tournament … Emily Allen takes over as director of Mathews County Visitor and Information Center … Moughons Inc., a Mathews County landmark, changes hands; Mark and Jo-Ann Letchworth of Hudgins agree to purchase the hardware store from Allen and Elma Moughon, who have owned it since 1972.