Augusta County Thanksgiving Eve snow

Photos by Kurt Michael


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Remembering Dennis Burnett 1964-2014

[Editor's Note: When I left Augusta County almost two weeks ago to spend time with family in Florida, Dennis Burnett was working at his job bringing jobs to the Valley. When I returned last night, he had passed away and been buried. How quickly life can change in the span of a week. I wrote this while in Florida, reflecting about this friend to so many. See also Augusta County’s Dennis Burnett passes away and Memorial Service today for Dennis Burnett.]

“I like your pictures of the county!”

Dennis Burnett was across the room heading my way after a board of supervisors meeting at the Augusta County Government Center, trademark reading-glasses-on-top-of-head, with that wide Dennis grin.... (Continue reading here)

Augusta County's Dennis Burnett passes away

Dennis Burnett, the sunny, all-smiles, friendly and outgoing executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, a position he took over on September 1, 2013, and former Economic Director for Augusta County, Virginia, has passed away from.... (Continue reading here)

What if Dominion Virginia Power ran high speed internet with Atlantic Coast Pipeline?

What if the proposed natural gas pipeline running through Augusta County and beyond had fiber optics buried along with.... (Read more here)

Augusta County residents organize against pipeline

By David Karaffa
Supervisor, Beverley Manor District, Augusta County

Saturday, September 6th, saw a great number of Augusta County residents at the Verona Government Center. The topic of discussion was the Dominion Virginia Power Natural Gas Pipeline that ... (continue reading here)

Tribute for Lt. Col. Morris Fontenot held in Longmeadow, Mass.

The community of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, turned out Saturday to honor one of their own. Lt. Colonel Morris Fontenot, 41, was killed Wednesday morning when his F-15C Eagle slammed into a mountainside in western Augusta County, Virginia. He had reported an emergency situation five minutes before the crash.

Continue reading here....

Pilot killed in Virginia identified as Lt. Col. Morris Fontenot Jr.

Read complete details of the identity of the pilot (with photo) killed in Wednesday's crash of a Massachusetts Air National Guard fighter jet in the mountains of western Augusta County, Virginia, at LynnRMitchell.com (see Day 3: Air National Guard pilot killed in Virginia crash identified).

Milmont Garden Nursery and Stuarts Draft

I followed the road to the river in Stuarts Draft last week, driving past the Little Debbie factory and Target warehouse in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a pretty spring day so I let the road lead me.

Milmont Nursery. The summer annuals aren't in yet but there were plenty of other varieties of trees, shrubs, and flowers.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
April 2014

Augusta Supervisor Chairman Larry Wills: Reasons county needs 5-cent tax hike

By Larry Wills (Middle River District)
Chairman, Augusta County Board of Supervisors

The recent decision by the Board of Supervisors to advertise a five-cent tax rate increse was not an easy one nor was it a decision that was undertaken without a thorough examination of the proposed county budget and a review of the county's current and upcoming needs. Each member of the Board is also a taxpaying citizen and landowner in Augusta County. Two of us are retired and know what it is like to live on a fixed income.

Augusta County public schools
The money that will be raised from the increase in taxes has been designated for key and essential county services. The schools will get a two (2) cents of the increase or approximately $1.39 million to address salary needs that were unfunded in their balanced budget along with $1.29 million permanent funding that had been year-to-year since the change in the composite index two years ago. Over those two years, this money was taken from the fund used to address roof and major equipment repairs and replacements on county-owned structures. In addition to this, the county will also advance to the schools $1 million per year for three (3) years to address the technology initiative for the children of Augusta County. This money will come back to the county coffers when Ladd Elementary School is sold.

Sheriff's Department
With the additional money raised by the tax increase, the county will provide enough funding to the Sheriff's Department to hire four (4) additional deputies along with funding for active shooter training for the department. The Fire and Rescue operations of the county will receive one (1) cent or $697,000 for personnel, subsidies to the volunteers, and to save for future equipment purchases.

Emergency responders communications equipment
The county has many other needs that remain unfunded and will have to be funded in the future either by growth in revenues or through bonding out of the projects. These projects include many that are required by the federal or state governments but must be funded locally. The most pressing is $4 million to complete the upgrade of our equipment for emergency response brought about when the Federal Government sold the bandwidths for phone communication and now requires emergency responders to operate on a narrower bandwidth.

Storm runoff requirements
The new state and EPA regulations will require a more refined handling of storm water runoff in our populated areas. Augusta County is now an MS4 community which means storm water runoff must be controlled for both flow and quality. Populated areas such as Stuarts Draft, Fishersville, and Verona will fall under the same regulations as the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Each of those cities are now charging an additional fee to each of their landowners to cover their cost. That fee is not practical or fair in the county since the majority of county residents do not live in our MS4 designated areas.

New road construction and maintaining existing roads
Another major expense that will eventually be the responsibility of the county is the building of new roads and the major upgrades to existing roads. We have a major backlog of needed projects. We are currently receiving only $540,000 per year to address these needs. This compares to receiving over $2 million for secondary road improvements in 2003. I believe the future for major road improvements on secondary roads will require a 50/50 split in the construction costs of the improvements with the state.

An example of this is the Rt. 636 project in Fishersville where the county has provided over $6 million to provide a road that was badly needed to alievaiate traffic congestion associated with the hospital and the new Murphy Demming College along with the growth that is occurring in the area because of those institutions.

 Miscellaneous needs
Those are only a few of the future projects. We will also have upfront cost related to industrial recruitment for economic development, upgrades of water and sewer facilities to meet the county's fire flow requirements, upgrading the current Courthouse or building a new one, closure of cells at the landfill, along with other capital needs when they arise.

Real estate tax rate
I would note that from 1983 until 2009 the tax rate in Augusta County was 58 cents. That rate, along with the natural growth, funded the county needs quite well. As reassessments occurred, the increased revenues funded the increasing operational costs along with providing savings to pay for capital needs when they occurred.

In 2009, because of a disputed reassessment and the state of the economy, the rate was dropped to 48 cents. While this rate served the citizens of the county well for a short time and forced the county and the schools to economize and downsize staff, it is not a rate that can be sustained in the future if the county and the schools to economize and downsize staff, it is not a rate that can be sustained in the future if the county is to provide a quality educational experience for our children and the level of services from our Sheriff's Department and from our Fire and Rescue agencies that our citizens expect and deserve.

Public hearing
The Board of Supervisors of Augusta County takes seriously the responsibilities that the citizens gave to us in the election of 2011 to spend money wisely and to make decisions that are in the best interest of the citizens of Augusta County for the long term. We look forward to hearing from you at our budget hearing on Wednesday, April 16, at 7:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Government Complex in Verona.

Frontier Culture Museum's trustees hear educational historical interpreters

The Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia has been voted one of the Top 10 Places for Kids to Fall In Love with History. It is a unique outdoor living history museum made up of the English, Irish, German, 1820s American, 1850s American, and West African farms as well as the Irish Forge, 1740s cabin, and early American school house, and tells the story of the thousands of people who migrated to colonial America.

Friday's trustee meeting highlighted the historical and educational aspects with presentations from three of the young costumed interpreters who work at the various farms. Pictured here is local homeschool grad Erin Landry who shared her experiences at FCMV where she has worked since beginning as a volunteer at the age of 16. After graduating from college, she became a part-time interpreter and also takes the story of the museum on the road while visiting students in schools up and down the Valley as well as nearby West Virginia areas.

Full-time interpreter Sally Landes wore her street clothes, instead of her lady-of-the manor clothes that she usually dons for the English Farm, as she shared news of the John Lewis Society, the museum's organization for students age 12-16 who dress in period clothing and help with on-site tasks and act as junior interpreters. Currently there are around 50 members. Sally can usually be found tending the fire, making cheese, cooking, and demonstrating other daily activities from a 1600s English farm.

All four of these interpreters are not only knowledgeable about what they do but they also love being a part of the museum. It's like a family as staff and volunteers bring history alive for young and old alike.

Erin Landry

Lunch with the ladies between the morning trustee meeting and afternoon board of directors meeting. Operations Manager Lydia always puts out a wide assortment of sandwiches and wraps along with all the sides, fruit, and dessert.

Erin with a hands-on demonstration, much like the ones used throughout the outdoor museum exhibits.

Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze reaches for the flax that Erin shared. There's a video demonstrating flax being processed so it can be spun into linen here.

Alex, Director of Interpretation, shared information about the various programs including Homeschool Days that are held twice a year, in May and October. Be sure to read his recent blog entry about just another day at the museum called "The Great Pig Escape." You never know what the day will bring when working with animals and historic buildings.

Alex also shared information about the very popular summer camps that will be held again this year -- see information here.

Executive Director John Avoli shared that trustee member Dr. Anakwenze, a chief of the Igbo, arrived from California this week with several large bags and boxes of Igbo items including pottery, wooden bowls, and gourds. Dr. Anakwenze announced that 2,000 Igbo people will be attending their annual Festival at the museum in July. Read more about the Igbo at the Frontier Culture Museum.

Trustee Emmett Toms cards wool, one of the many hands-on demonstrations, as Erin looks on.

Erin carried flax and the after-product around the room for all to feel the different textures of the stick-like flax and the softer processed version ready to be spun into linen. The demonstrations and talks were educational and entertaining, and a further window into the world of the Frontier Culture Museum, a gem in the crown that is the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
April 11, 2014

Valley wakes to second spring snow of 2014

In the past several days, trees in the back yard have begun to bud in my corner of Augusta County. This morning, a gentle spring snow covers those buds as overnight rain turned to snow when the thermometer dropped to freezing.

Friends south and west of Staunton are reporting 3 inches of snow so far, and church is canceled in at least one location. Interestingly enough, meteorologist SWAC son-in-law gave us a heads-up a couple of days ago that we would be seeing more snow even as 70-degree temps approach the Valley for later this week.

Someone shook the snow globe again so I'll just mark it down as a continuing of Winter 2014. It's spring in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia....

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
March 30, 2014

Photos: Early spring snowstorm in Shenandoah Valley ... how did mountain settlers handle winter?

Tuesday was a snow day in the Shenandoah Valley. White flakes began falling at daybreak and continued until dark, piling up accumulations that were a little higher than expected with anywhere from 4 to 7 inches and more. Friends who live in the shadow of Shenandoah National Park in the northeastern part of Augusta County reported receiving more than 7 inches.

SWAC Husband had shoveled a path to the bird feeder to keep our feathered friends fed and happy during the storm but a late afternoon micro-burst of big, fluffy snowflakes quickly covered any cleared areas and added up to 2 additional inches to the previous 3.5 inches.

In almost whiteout conditions, the late-day dumping after 12 hours of continuous snow gave the illusion of watching from inside a vigorously-shaken snow globe. It was beautiful -- big, fat flakes of white obscuring the mountain ridges in a kind of defiance as if it was winter's last hurrah. One can almost imagine Mother Nature with her flower-gilded broom sweeping the icy old man out the door with his blast of cold and swirling snow even as she opened a window to allow warm breezes to sweep in so that a greening can begin for winter-weary Virginians. 

For a last hurrah, however, it was a beautiful winter wonderland with snow-flocked evergreens and ice-edged ponds.

The Appalachian Mountains can normally be seen in the background but the storm obliterated long-distance views of the surrounding ridges.

With the mountains obscured in the background, I often think about the mountain pioneers who settled western Virginia and how difficult winter weather must have been for them. With no forecasters to give a heads-up of incoming storms, what were the signs they looked for to know they must prepare for wintry precipitation? How long were they isolated during the long winter months, cut off from neighbors and towns by impassable routes that were not plowed and cleared immediately after (and often during) storms? How cold was it in cabins heated by fireplaces and wood stoves that worked overtime to push back at the howling winter winds and frigid temperatures that crept through uninsulated walls and floors? They were certainly hardy individuals who endured those difficult conditions while living on stored-up supplies and firewood from months of preparation for the cold.

My grandfather was born in a cabin on "The Knob" in Grayson County, Virginia ... a three-room rough structure typical of thousands of others in the mountains. It had two rooms downstairs -- kitchen lean-to and main room -- and a big room upstairs. The walls were chinked with clay and the floor was several feet above the ground with stones around the foundation. A stone fireplace in the main room was the central heat in this little home perched on a mountain. My grandfather's brother, my Uncle Isom Osborne, married and raised his family in the shadow of "The Knob," but when he was first married, they lived with his parents on "The Knob" until settling in their own place. His wife was my Aunt Okie, and years after he died and Aunt Okie was up in age and when my son was an infant, I talked with Aunt Okie about that cabin.

We were all piled into my cousin's pickup truck as we had done since I was a kid only this time, instead of riding in the bed of the truck as I always did, I was seated in the cab with my cousin, Aunt Okie in the middle, and me with a baby on my lap. I was full of questions about life back then, and she told of having an infant during winter in the cabin. I couldn't imagine having to go about daily activities with my baby in winter in a drafty, freezing-cold house with only a fireplace to heat it and water hauled from the spring tucked just under the hill.

"How in the world did you survive?" I asked her as we jostled up the familiar rutted mountain road that had been part of the isolation of "The Knob."

She just smiled in a patient kind of way and matter-of-factly replied, "We just did. We managed." No complaints, no blaming anyone else, no excuses. They managed, they survived, they raised their five children, and all five live not far from the shadow of "The Knob."

When my children were young, one of our favorite books to read out loud was Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter. When cold winter weather limited outdoor time, we often sat near the wood stove as my kids listened while I read about Laura and her family living through the historic winter of 1880-81 that was full of blizzards and hardships. Without a national weather bureau, Pa looked for weather signs in nature and that summer he noticed that the walls of a nearby muskrat den were the thickest he had ever seen. He took it as a sign that winter was going to be especially harsh.

A Native American also warned that there would be seven months of blizzards in South Dakota that winter and, sure enough, the first one hit in October and they continued through April. Whiteouts kept children from attending school, supplies dwindled and became scarce, and the Ingalls family ended up burning twisted straw to heat their house after they ran out of wood. Feet and feet of snow piled up on the railroad tracks and blocked trains that carried food and other provisions and, by the time spring finally arrived, some settlers were nearly starved.

We never tired of the story because it was fact. Real people faced real hardship and survived.

This February 2014 newspaper article from the Star Tribune remembers the winter of 1880-81 as it notes, "Forty degrees below? Storm after storm? Months without respite from the cold? Sounds familiar. But at least you could get to the grocery store."

Flocked evergreens, farm gates, and stark winter woods. The storm offered one last chance to listen to the quiet, muted by a layer of insulation that won't be back until next winter. Although it's not out of the question to see snow in April (and some even remember it in May), the jet stream is shifting into a more seasonal spring pattern that will bring warmer temperatures to the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia. Since I couldn't stand to just sit inside and watch, I took the opportunity to get outdoors and capture the rural beauty of my neighbors' fields and woods.

The horses were inside out of the weather. It reminded me of Tater and Max in warmer weather as they waited to be fed by SWAC Daughter as seen here in April of 2008, and I couldn't help but chuckle as I remembered Tater's encounter with a herd of guinea hens in her field later that year ("Invasion!!").

This is the time of year when it's obvious how many evergreens we have in the Valley.

The last tracks of winter....?

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
March 25, 2014

Photos: Spring snow 2014

We had about 2 inches of snow on the ground this morning as I walked around the yard (now up to 3 inches). The temperature was 28 degrees with steadily falling snow and almost white-out conditions west of Staunton. This may be the last one of the season because forecasters are saying the jet stream will shift and begin ushering in warmer temps and more spring-like conditions.

The tree swing, the woods, and a spring snow. Shortly this scene will be all green....

Still need this trusty heat source.

Oops!

They will bounce back by the end of the week when temps hit 60s and then next week when it will be in the 70s.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
Spring Snowstorm 2014
March 25, 2014