Light Industrial Park Proposed for Yancey Mills - Crozet Gazette
Light Industrial Park Proposed for Yancey Mills - Crozet Gazette
Light Industrial Park Proposed for Yancey Mills - Crozet Gazette
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INSIDE<br />
the<br />
Land Use Taxes<br />
editorial<br />
page 2<br />
Xela 2008<br />
page 3<br />
Ashley Walker<br />
Fundraiser<br />
page 4<br />
Disappearing Farmers<br />
page 5<br />
JAUNT<br />
page 7<br />
We all scream<br />
<strong>for</strong> Ice cream<br />
page 9<br />
Live fire<br />
page 10<br />
“Little Blessings”<br />
page 11<br />
Tribute to Dr. Laub<br />
page 14<br />
Dealing with<br />
Draught<br />
page 15<br />
High-Speed internet<br />
page 16<br />
Smac Swimming<br />
page 17<br />
Sorry Still Open<br />
page 18<br />
Scouting news<br />
page 20<br />
Gators At JSL<br />
Championships<br />
pages 20<br />
Henley Students at<br />
National young<br />
scholars program<br />
page 21<br />
crossword<br />
page 25<br />
CROZET BOOKWORMS<br />
page 26<br />
july 4TH celebration<br />
page 28<br />
AUGUST 2008 VOL. 3, NO. 3<br />
Family, Friends<br />
and Fellowship<br />
Day at Mt. Salem<br />
Gospel Church<br />
Mt. Salem Baptist Church was built<br />
in 1893 by local black families at what<br />
is now the corner of Old Three Notch’d<br />
Road and Route 240, just east of<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong>’s water treatment plant. In its<br />
115 years it has prospered and it has<br />
struggled. Beginning in the 1980s it<br />
Mt. Salem Baptist Gospel Church<br />
had trouble finding a pastor and by<br />
2003 it was virtually abandoned. The<br />
old frame structure, simple except <strong>for</strong><br />
its pointed arch windows, faced a prospect<br />
of neglect.<br />
Long-time member Ruth Dowell<br />
was in possession of the key and one<br />
day she called pastor Paul E. Colemon,<br />
in Waynesboro, who had been looking<br />
<strong>for</strong> a church building. Would he take<br />
the key? The question was an answer<br />
to prayer. He couldn’t wait. So, on that<br />
day, Mt. Salem’s revival began.<br />
Pastor Colemon had a vision. He<br />
wanted to upgrade the building and<br />
make it com<strong>for</strong>table to be in the pews.<br />
Helped by his son Jon, he built a porch<br />
over the front steps and added a wheelchair<br />
ramp to it. They installed new<br />
front doors. They built a porch over<br />
the back door, too, and installed modern<br />
wiring. That meant they could add<br />
window air-conditioning units and<br />
continued on page 12<br />
crozetgazette.com<br />
Wynter and Carter Morris of <strong>Crozet</strong> have some thrills at the Albemarle County Fair.<br />
<strong>Light</strong> <strong>Industrial</strong> <strong>Park</strong><br />
<strong>Proposed</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Yancey</strong> <strong>Mills</strong><br />
At the Albemarle County Planning Commission’s July 29 meeting about how<br />
to increase the amount of available land zoned <strong>for</strong> light industrial uses, Will<br />
<strong>Yancey</strong>, representing the <strong>Yancey</strong> family, owners of R.A. <strong>Yancey</strong> Lumber Company<br />
in <strong>Yancey</strong> <strong>Mills</strong>, unveiled a proposal to rezone 148 acres south and east of their<br />
lumberyard as PD-IPC (planned development-industrial park).<br />
The proposed parcels are near the southeast corner of the Route 250/Interstate<br />
64 interchange but do not include the immediately adjacent properties or the<br />
lumberyard itself. Access to the proposed area would be achieved by extending<br />
<strong>Yancey</strong> <strong>Mills</strong> Lane through the lumberyard.<br />
continued on page 8<br />
Coming Soon<br />
When Harris Teeter says<br />
their new <strong>Crozet</strong> supermarket<br />
on Rt. 250 will be “Opening<br />
2009” they mean, more specifically,<br />
that they are expecting<br />
to open their doors by<br />
April, according to HT<br />
spokeswoman Catherine<br />
Reuhl. The 43,000-squarefoot<br />
store will be Harris<br />
Teeter’s first LEED-certified<br />
store [LEED is a standard <strong>for</strong> environmentally-sustainable building], and will also<br />
offer home shopping services.
page 2 s AUGUST 2008<br />
from the Editor<br />
Land Use Taxes<br />
The Albemarle County Supervisors wisely stepped back from an action<br />
that would have fractured community solidarity in western Albemarle July 9<br />
when they decided against changing the current land use taxation program.<br />
They did vote to investigate a revalidation program that would require farmers<br />
to affirm that they are farming, perhaps by submitting in<strong>for</strong>mation from<br />
their Schedule F federal income tax <strong>for</strong>m. Fluvanna and Orange Counties<br />
have such recertification requirements.<br />
White Hall District Supervisor Ann Mallek had voted to open discussion<br />
on possibly shifting the program’s terms to what County planners had<br />
dubbed “Option 2,” a proposal that only land that met the state’s definition<br />
of open space, generally speaking that in conservation easements or <strong>for</strong>estal<br />
districts, be eligible <strong>for</strong> the program.<br />
That got her in big trouble with rural residents who assembled at the<br />
White Hall Community Center July 7, at a meeting they organized, to find<br />
out what she was thinking and make sure she knew what they were thinking.<br />
More than 100 alarmed and reasonably well-in<strong>for</strong>med citizens were<br />
jammed into the room. They could not believe she had actually cooperated<br />
with the notion of changing the program. Mallek’s own farm in Earlysville<br />
has been in land use since 1982, she acknowledged, and Samuel Miller<br />
District Supervisor Sally Thomas also participates in the program.<br />
Mallek bravely wore her typically sweet smile throughout the night. “I<br />
feel a kindred spirit with the rural people,” she assured them. But they were<br />
skeptical about that and their message was blunt. “Everything you said you<br />
were gonna do [during the campaign] you’ve gone off sides of,” said one<br />
speaker. “Represent us, Ann!” came a repeated demand from the back of the<br />
room that nearly became a chant.<br />
“[Rio District Supervisor David] Slutsky tells us we own too much,” said<br />
another speaker. “We work from dawn until 10 p.m. to hold our land. What<br />
we own we should be able to keep. Slutsky said he hopes landowners will<br />
give up their rights. You seem to follow his lead.”<br />
“I need to stick with my original instinct on this,” said Mallek, which was<br />
to go <strong>for</strong> a recertification requirement. She said it will require from six to<br />
eight new county employees to administer it. An undetermined fee would<br />
be charged to revalidate as well.<br />
“Are you aware how many farmers depend on the land use tax?” asked<br />
Kathy Rash. “Their livelihood and their heritage are at stake. Farmers are<br />
canceling feed and fertilizer orders out of fear of the Board vote. We’ve put<br />
millions of dollars in our operations and we feel we are being reneged on<br />
and the county is turning its back on us.”<br />
“The county wants us to put our land on the table and tell us how we can<br />
develop,” said another speaker. “If they want to put their stocks and bonds<br />
and 401Ks on the table I’d like to look at them!”<br />
“We’re not picking this fight,” said Hank Martin.<br />
Richard Cogan, a Planning Commission member from 1980 to 1988<br />
who now sits on the county’s three-member Board of Zoning Appeals, said<br />
“It’s another erosion of property rights. Three supervisors are saying what’s<br />
yours is ours. It belongs to the County of Albemarle. We’re not going to<br />
stand <strong>for</strong> it.”<br />
Dirk Haynes reported that 84 percent of local farmers said in a survey<br />
done by the Albemarle Farm Bureau that they would sell out if land use was<br />
ended. If even only part of that possibility were to be realized, four decades<br />
of county growth management policies would implode.<br />
In the end, two hours later, Mallek promised that she would not cast the<br />
fourth vote needed to change the program. “Let’s not let it turn into growth<br />
area versus rural area,” she said. “We’re all in this together.”<br />
A sluice of growth has been turned on to growth areas like <strong>Crozet</strong> and it’s<br />
understandable that growth area residents are frustrated that the infrastructure<br />
and services that growth demands are not being met, except in the<br />
county’s languorous and desultory manner. They mistakenly look at the land<br />
use program as a subsidy of rural life that is depriving them of tax money<br />
they need to cope with growth.<br />
But this is not a tax equity problem. For rural landholders, and farmers<br />
especially, the matter is existential. Without land use they are gone. They<br />
point out that they are taxed the same as suburbanites on their house and<br />
buildings on two acres, which is typically larger than most suburban lots. It’s<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
only their crop and pasture lands, which really don’t produce much income<br />
any more, that are taxed at a reduced rate.<br />
It’s been proven many times that the tax dollar paid by a suburban resident<br />
gets him more than one dollar of service and that the dollar paid by a<br />
rural resident gets him less than a dollar’s worth of services. If anybody is<br />
being subsidized, it’s the growth area resident.<br />
This is not a new problem—it can be traced to colonial times—and in<br />
fact the structure of local government in Virginia is designed to recognize it.<br />
Counties are presumed to have agrarian economies and cities are presumed<br />
to have mercantile economies. Because those economies have different<br />
natures, the Virginia constitution gives cities and counties different taxation<br />
powers.<br />
But they are also inextricably linked. Farms feed towns, towns are markets<br />
<strong>for</strong> farms. As the increase in gas price brings home, what we need is to cultivate<br />
and nurture local agriculture. It is appalling that food that could be<br />
available fresh locally is being produced a continent or an ocean away and<br />
shipped here at great cost and loss in nutritional value. Of all the blessings<br />
western Albemarle has, fertile soils and sufficient rainfall are the greatest.<br />
Next is us. We are in this together and we have to appreciate, and respect,<br />
what we have.<br />
The <strong>Gazette</strong> believes growth area residents should look to the lavish<br />
county budget <strong>for</strong> money—schools, the sacred cow, in particular—and push<br />
<strong>for</strong> new spending priorities. The <strong>Gazette</strong> repeats its view, too, that the<br />
revenue-sharing agreement between Albemarle County and the City of<br />
Charlottesville has outlived its usefulness. It should be voided. The City<br />
should annex the “suburban ring” and take responsibility <strong>for</strong> all the urban<br />
area. Let the county boundary retreat to the actual rural area. That would<br />
re-establish the balance designed into our governmental structure and reduce<br />
the political problem of suburban voters dominating the agenda of rural residents.<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong>, and Scottsville, will navigate their needs as market towns<br />
quite satisfactorily in that arrangement. The fundamental issue in Albemarle,<br />
the seemingly eternal one, is fair taxes.
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 3<br />
to the Editor<br />
CCC BOYS exonerateD<br />
A correction is needed in the July<br />
2008 issue, pg. 8—“CCC’s White<br />
Hall Camp Remembered.”<br />
In the fourth column, second<br />
paragraph, the line reads: “James<br />
speculated that some [fires] were<br />
started by the CCC men because<br />
they got paid <strong>for</strong> putting them<br />
out.”<br />
No. The CCC boys never started<br />
fires. They were paid the same dollar-a-day<br />
wage regardless, and<br />
fought the fires without extra compensation,<br />
even during their “free”<br />
time.<br />
I’m sorry that you [the editor]<br />
misunderstood. I was reading a<br />
direct quote from a letter written to<br />
me by the camp engineer. He was<br />
explaining the different ways that<br />
the fires started, i.e. berry gatherers<br />
clearing undergrowth; moonshiners<br />
burning out their competition; etc.<br />
Without pointing a finger directly<br />
at any place or person, he stated that<br />
there were “some” who could make<br />
extra money <strong>for</strong> fighting fires, insinuating—as<br />
you correctly interpreted—that<br />
someone might have<br />
incentive to start a fire in order to<br />
benefit financially.<br />
Please print a correction/retraction<br />
on this point to exonerate the<br />
CCC boys. They had no incentive<br />
<strong>for</strong> such conduct. Such an un<strong>for</strong>tunate<br />
event was extra duty to the<br />
max, with no extra compensation.<br />
Phil James<br />
White Hall<br />
Ed’s Note: Mea culpa<br />
OLD SCHOOL REUSE<br />
In the July issue of the <strong>Crozet</strong><br />
<strong>Gazette</strong> was a very in<strong>for</strong>mative article<br />
on page 1 that explained the<br />
three-day schedule of meetings that<br />
allowed the citizens of <strong>Crozet</strong> and<br />
Western Albemarle County to<br />
express their opinions and thoughts<br />
on how the Old <strong>Crozet</strong> Elementary<br />
School and grounds could best be<br />
used to benefit the area.<br />
One part of the three days that<br />
did not receive coverage was very<br />
important in collecting ideas. From<br />
9 a.m. until 5:15 p.m. on Friday,<br />
June 20, a table was manned by<br />
members of the Old School Reuse<br />
Committee and Albemarle County<br />
staff. This was done in front of the<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> Great Valu to ensure that as<br />
many citizens as possible had a<br />
chance to express concerns, opinions<br />
and concepts on how to use the<br />
old school building and grounds.<br />
197 citizens took the time to express<br />
63 unique ideas that would not have<br />
been captured otherwise. As can be<br />
seen from the number of people<br />
that stopped at the table, the reuse<br />
of the old school is very important<br />
to the community and the reuse<br />
committee will certainly make sure<br />
their ideas are studied and discussed<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e any final decision is made. If<br />
any citizen would like to review the<br />
ideas collected that day or during<br />
the entire process they can do so at<br />
www.albemarle.org/oldschool.<br />
We also want to thank Jean<br />
Wagner and the employees at Great<br />
Valu <strong>for</strong> continuing to offer a site in<br />
front of the store <strong>for</strong> groups to<br />
engage the public.<br />
Bill Schrader<br />
Member of the Old School Reuse<br />
Committee<br />
Mountain Plain<br />
Baptist Church<br />
A small, friendly, moderate church invites<br />
you to share your Sunday with us.<br />
Sunday School 10 am<br />
Traditional Worship Service 11 am<br />
Rev. Sam Kellum, Pastor<br />
4297 Old Three Notch’d Road<br />
Travel 2 miles east of the <strong>Crozet</strong> Library on Three<br />
Notch’d Rd. (Rt. 240), turn left onto Old Three Notch’d<br />
Rd., go 0.5 mile to Mountain Plain Baptist Church<br />
More in<strong>for</strong>mation at<br />
www.mountainplain.org or 823.4160<br />
Xela 2008: Western Albemarle Students<br />
Go to Language School in Guatemala<br />
By Margie Shepherd<br />
On June 15, a group of 34 students,<br />
including 28 from Western<br />
Albemarle High School, along with<br />
seven adults, headed to<br />
Quetzeltenango, Guatemala, <strong>for</strong> a<br />
three-week Spanish immersion program.<br />
They lived with families in<br />
Quetzeltenango (also called by its<br />
Mayan name, Xela) and took five<br />
hours of classes each afternoon at<br />
Casa Xelaju. Mornings were filled<br />
with cultural activities and volunteer<br />
projects. They toured the city,<br />
learned about back-strap weaving,<br />
visited schools, took Salsa lessons,<br />
and helped with chocolate production.<br />
They hiked into the dormant<br />
volcano of Chicobal to the edge of<br />
the lake inside. They worked with<br />
children in an afterschool program,<br />
with a temporary shelter, and on<br />
rural houses with Habitat <strong>for</strong><br />
Humanity.<br />
When they visited Escuela Las<br />
Trigales to play basketball and soccer<br />
with the students, they also came<br />
loaded with soccer equipment. Two<br />
boys in the group, Ben and Adam<br />
Schiller, collected balls, shin guards,<br />
shoes, and shirts from Albemarle<br />
students in the SOCA league this<br />
spring. SOCA donated over a hundred<br />
new soccer shirts. There were<br />
enough to outfit many local teams<br />
connected to this school.<br />
One weekend the group headed<br />
to Lake Atitlan, to the beautiful<br />
towns of Panajachel and Santiago,<br />
and then to Chichicastenango, an<br />
enormous market that pre-dates<br />
Columbus’s arrival. The next they<br />
flew to the state of Petan to see the<br />
Mayan ruins at Tikal and a tour of<br />
that ancient city with their guide<br />
Pavlo. And be<strong>for</strong>e heading back,<br />
they spent some time in Antigua,<br />
near Guatemala City.<br />
Students took the Albemarle<br />
County Spanish exam upon returning<br />
home, and those who pass will<br />
receive a full year of Spanish credit.<br />
Spanish immersion not only<br />
included the classwork, but mealtimes,<br />
buying things in the stores<br />
and markets, cafes and ice cream<br />
stands, where they had to practice<br />
with the language to get what they<br />
needed.<br />
They took away with them an<br />
appreciation <strong>for</strong> Guatemalan and<br />
Mayan culture. About sixty percent<br />
of the people of the Western<br />
Highlands, where the students were,<br />
are Mayan, speaking Mum or<br />
Qui’che, or one of the other many<br />
dialects as a first language. The students<br />
came back loaded with<br />
Guatemalan textiles, bags, coffee,<br />
glassware from Copavic, and<br />
wooden masks—and loaded with<br />
stories, new friendships, new experiences,<br />
and many wonderful memories.<br />
Pictures and accounts of the<br />
adventure are at the blog www.<br />
xela2008.blogspot.com.<br />
Participants at Xela 2008 included: Laura Weiss<br />
(mother), Landon Weiss, Max Weiner, Chris Bergin,<br />
Jacob Ball, Colin Williams, Alex Mosolgo-Clark,<br />
Matthew Kochard, Hunter Weiss (Henley), Gabby<br />
DeJanasz, Phoebe Fooks, Katie Van dePol (AHS)<br />
Veronica O’Brien, Diana Stan, Ben Schiller, Adam<br />
Schiller, Alec Shobe (Richmond) Sam Isaacs, Liz<br />
Noonan, Rosemary Shepherd (WAHS‘04), Henry Giles,<br />
Ethan Baruch, Jake <strong>Park</strong>s, Becca Stoner, KellyAbrams,<br />
Paul Charron (NC) Cole Weiss (Meriwether Lewis),<br />
Maggie Borowitz, Sadie Garner, James Webster,<br />
Grant Forsythe (MN), Kristy Mangold (AHS), Suzanne<br />
deJanasz (mother), Margaret Shepherd (Murray<br />
HS ‘06) Anna Brown, Jay LaRue, Margie Shepherd<br />
(Henley teacher), Jennifer Bisguier, Michael Hartman,<br />
Chris Abrams, Diana Garner (mother), and Sandy<br />
Williams mother).
page 4 s AUGUST 2008<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
Bands Announced<br />
<strong>for</strong> Rockfish<br />
Bluegrass Festival<br />
The Bluegrass Festival has<br />
announced its full lineup of bands<br />
<strong>for</strong> the September 6 event. Allens<br />
Mill has been added to the list of<br />
bands scheduled to play from 2 to 7<br />
p.m. on Saturday, September 6, at<br />
the Rockfish Valley Volunteer Fire<br />
Department.<br />
Along with Allens Mill, the James<br />
River Cut-Ups, Little Mountain<br />
Boys and In the Tradition will participate<br />
in the festival, which will<br />
raise funds toward the new $300,000<br />
fire truck recently purchased by the<br />
all-volunteer fire department.<br />
In addition to the bands, food<br />
will be available and a 50/50 drawing<br />
will be held. Tickets <strong>for</strong> the<br />
event are $10 <strong>for</strong> adults and $5 <strong>for</strong><br />
children ages 6 to12. Children 5<br />
and under are free. This is a family<br />
event with no alcohol allowed.<br />
For more in<strong>for</strong>mation, call Gary<br />
Nickell at home at (434) 361-1059<br />
or on his cell phone at (434)<br />
962-9558.<br />
Located on Route 151, the<br />
department provides fire and rescue<br />
service <strong>for</strong> Nelson County, Route<br />
250 to the top of Afton Mountain<br />
and parts of western Albemarle<br />
County.<br />
Bonnie and<br />
Friends Concert<br />
Set <strong>for</strong> August 10<br />
The 15th annual Bonnie and<br />
Friends Concert will be held August<br />
10 at 3 p.m. at Gillum Hall in<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> Baptist Church. Joining<br />
Bonnie Samuel will be soprano<br />
Mary Spols Martin, tenors David<br />
Collyer and Rob Cordero and lyric<br />
tenor Ken Ellis.<br />
Featured music will include<br />
pieces by Offenbach, Tchaikovsky<br />
and Mozart, as well as contemporary<br />
composers, songs from<br />
“Kismet,” “Porgy and Bess,”<br />
“Chicago,” and more. Nancy<br />
Fleischman will accompany on the<br />
piano.<br />
The concert is free and open to<br />
the public. <strong>Crozet</strong> Baptist Church is<br />
at 5804 St. George Avenue in<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong>. For more in<strong>for</strong>mation, call<br />
Ms. Samuel at 540-456-6433.<br />
Fresh Peach<br />
Ice Cream at<br />
Chiles Orchard<br />
The Albemarle – Charlottesville<br />
Pilot Club, a community service<br />
club, will hold its annual homemade<br />
peach ice cream sale at Chiles<br />
Peach Orchard. The sale, the club’s<br />
traditional fundraiser, will be on<br />
August 2 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and<br />
August 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,<br />
or until sold out. Chiles Orchard is<br />
at 1351 Greenwood Road between<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> and Greenwood. For more<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation, call 295-1783.<br />
Apples <strong>for</strong><br />
Appalachia<br />
Fundraising<br />
Apples <strong>for</strong> Appalachia, a foodsharing<br />
campaign that buys surplus<br />
apples from the <strong>Crozet</strong>-area harvest<br />
<strong>for</strong> distribution to the needy in<br />
southwest Virginia, is collecting<br />
money donations <strong>for</strong> its fall apple<br />
delivery, according to organizer<br />
Wayne Clark.<br />
Clark is customarily at the sales<br />
shed at Henley’s orchard, but since<br />
his wife’s recent heart attack he cannot<br />
be there. Meanwhile, donations<br />
may be sent to Apples <strong>for</strong><br />
Appalachia, P.O. Box 88, <strong>Crozet</strong>,<br />
VA 22932.<br />
Mail the<br />
<strong>Gazette</strong> to your<br />
college student.<br />
editor@crozetgazette.com<br />
(434) 466-8939<br />
Ashley Walton Fundraiser<br />
The largest public turnout at the <strong>Crozet</strong> firehouse that <strong>Crozet</strong> Volunteer<br />
Fire Department President Preston Gentry can remember occurred July 11<br />
<strong>for</strong> the Ashley Walton fundraiser. Walton, age 24, was hit by a drunk driver<br />
on Memorial Day and is now in a rehabilitation center in Atlanta, Georgia,<br />
in a minimal responsive state.<br />
The fundraiser to assist her family was organized by Mt. Moriah United<br />
Methodist Church in White Hall, and more specifically by Wayne Knight.<br />
The church prepared a dinner of baked spaghetti, salad, cakes and drinks <strong>for</strong><br />
500 and all the fire equipment was pulled out of the bays to set up tables<br />
and chairs on the breezy summer evening.<br />
“It does our hearts good,” said Knight. “The community and the individual<br />
response has been phenomenal. This has touched the entire community.”<br />
Raffle tickets were sold <strong>for</strong> prizes donated by local businesses and donation<br />
baskets were generously filled.<br />
Walton’s grandmother Faye Gibson said, “I’d like to thank the church,<br />
the fire department and the whole community. Everyone has shown their<br />
love. It’s been overwhelming.”
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 5<br />
by Phil James<br />
Farm auctions such as this one held near Mount Fair, too often denote the final passing of another honorable life spent<br />
working the land.<br />
The Disappearing Faces<br />
of Farming<br />
The gentle spirit of young Katie Maupin (1900–1998) was<br />
evident as she milked her family’s cow near Doylesville,<br />
Virginia. [Photo courtesy of Thelma Via Wyant.]<br />
Did you ever want to be a farmer?<br />
There’s nary a town nor village in<br />
Albemarle County that was not built to<br />
serve a surrounding community of farmers. The<br />
scores of discontinued post offices attest to <strong>for</strong>mer<br />
communities where farming families once<br />
gathered to check the mail, share news, and purchase<br />
or trade <strong>for</strong> provisions.<br />
It’s easy today to ignore the reality that the<br />
sprawling estates of old Albemarle, crowned with<br />
their palatial homes, were established as working<br />
farms. During the better years, the farms’ increases<br />
empowered the owners while supplying jobs, sustenance<br />
and housing to the laborers essential to<br />
farm operations.<br />
Colonial-era plantations that once supported a<br />
tobacco-based economy were sub-divided as the<br />
land yielded less of the prized product. Subsequent<br />
generations of land entrepreneurs positioned<br />
themselves <strong>for</strong> an ever-increasing population, paring<br />
down the grand old plantations into numerous<br />
smaller parcels. Land values were prudently<br />
based on the attributes of the soil, and houses<br />
were often relegated to a spot thought less convenient<br />
or profitable <strong>for</strong> tillage.<br />
One of the most obvious absences from the<br />
local real estate scene today is af<strong>for</strong>dable farm<br />
acreage. The Southern Planter magazine in 1893<br />
carried this print ad <strong>for</strong> Albemarle farm land:<br />
“Albemarle County. The great fruit, grain and<br />
stock section of Virginia. Climate healthful and<br />
fine. Scenery beautiful. Near the great markets,<br />
with good transportation facilities… Good soil at<br />
low prices. Sheep protected in this county by a<br />
good dog law.” Improved farmlands were<br />
offered at $9–$10/acre.<br />
An opportunity occasionally available<br />
to the farmer unable to buy land of his<br />
own was to sharecrop the lands of<br />
another. A 1918 Albemarle County<br />
sharecropper’s one-year lease agreement<br />
revealed the following conditions of one<br />
such enterprise: The farm owner received<br />
“one third (1/3rd) of all grain, and crops,<br />
and apples”; retained rights to harvest<br />
firewood and pasture his stock; and had<br />
no responsibility <strong>for</strong> damage his own<br />
stock might do to any crops on the farm.<br />
The leasing sharecropper furnished all<br />
seed and kept the farm in cultivation “as<br />
good husbandry requires”; furnished all<br />
barrels (owner to pay <strong>for</strong> 1/3rd of the<br />
barrels used) and spraying materials;<br />
pruned, tended, and sprayed the<br />
orchard in a proper manner; had the<br />
privilege of cutting and selling chestnut<br />
wood, paying 1/4th of those proceeds<br />
to the owner; had the privilege of using<br />
the horse called “Dan”, plus the use of<br />
a 2-horse wagon, harness and farming<br />
implements—and agreed to feed the horse.<br />
Mount Fair was one of the several estates established<br />
by members of the historic Brown family<br />
in the Brown’s Cove section of western Albemarle<br />
County in the 18th-century. James W. Early<br />
became the owner of this farm estate be<strong>for</strong>e the<br />
turn of the 20th-century. He employed many<br />
local hands in the operations of his farm, grain<br />
A significant shift in labor from agriculture to industry<br />
occurred during the 1950s. <strong>Crozet</strong>’s business community,<br />
however, was still being counted on to serve the farms and<br />
orchards of western Albemarle County.<br />
mill, and general store. One of those laborers<br />
was Laurie Sandridge (1890–1951), whose son,<br />
Homer, recalled some of his father’s experiences<br />
continued on page 6
page 6 s AUGUST 2008<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
Farming—continued from page 5<br />
The smile on this young girl’s face reflected the general<br />
mood around <strong>Crozet</strong> during the apple and peach picking<br />
seasons. The bounty of a successful harvest—apples in<br />
this instance—was always a cause to celebrate. [Photo<br />
courtesy of Jimmy Belew.]<br />
working <strong>for</strong> Early.<br />
“This land here all used to be Mount Fair,”<br />
Homer said as he motioned with his hand.<br />
“When I was real small my Daddy worked here.<br />
See where those woods are over yonder? I was<br />
born in a log house on the bank of the [Doyle’s]<br />
river right over there. Between here and<br />
Doylesville is less than a mile. The road just followed<br />
the river. I remember you crossed the<br />
river—you <strong>for</strong>ded the river—three times. That<br />
was a real old house that we lived in. He built a<br />
house down here in the bottom and we moved<br />
Cecil McAllister (1913–1999), youngest child of Jim and Mollie (Via) McAllister, lived his entire life on his family’s farm<br />
adjacent to the first bridge over Moormans River in Sugar Hollow. [Photo courtesy of Cecil McAllister.]<br />
across into that along about nineteen-and-eighteen.<br />
Had a hog lot right over there. And they<br />
would let ‘em out and let ‘em run over the woods.<br />
Most of them were raised <strong>for</strong> the owner’s consumption<br />
and consumption of the people who<br />
worked on the place. Back then when you worked<br />
<strong>for</strong> somebody they furnished you so much. I<br />
remember hearing my Daddy say that during<br />
World War One—he had four children then—<br />
his pay was sixteen dollars a month. Flour was<br />
sold <strong>for</strong> eighteen dollars a barrel during the war.<br />
But he didn’t have to buy any flour. He was furnished<br />
with flour, meal, a couple hogs, a cow to<br />
milk. That’s what came along with all of his compensation.<br />
Then about nineteen-and-twenty-one<br />
we moved to the store. The fellow that owned it,<br />
James Early, died while we were here. He was also<br />
running the store up there at Mount Fair. That<br />
was a part of his estate. Mrs. Early sold that store<br />
up there and about an acre, acre-and-a-half of<br />
land to my father. We moved up there and he<br />
started running the store. That was a big move.”<br />
Whether laboring <strong>for</strong> a subsistence wage,<br />
sharecropping <strong>for</strong> an absentee owner, orcharding<br />
on the mountainsides, or managing great estates<br />
in the fertile bottomlands, Albemarle’s farmers<br />
Each of the businesses adjacent to <strong>Crozet</strong>’s C&O Depot catered to the farmer and orchardist. The background in this 1950s view clearly illustrates the close relationship between farm and<br />
village.
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 7<br />
contributed significantly to the wealth and welfare<br />
of their county and state. Post-World War II<br />
industrialization and improved transportation<br />
enticed many to depart from the agricultural<br />
labors of their ancestors and take on clock-punching<br />
jobs in town. They exchanged the familiar<br />
rhythms of the seasons <strong>for</strong> the relentless hustle of<br />
industrialized society. Some thrived. Some just<br />
survived. But the social fabric of another agriculturally-based<br />
county was <strong>for</strong>ever altered.<br />
Heaven help us in this day when land assessments<br />
and taxes have precluded the opportunities<br />
of the up-and-coming generation of would-be<br />
farmers. Existing and potential land use restrictions<br />
are squeezing out the remaining full-time<br />
agriculturists. Farmers continually strive to maintain<br />
their land in a productive state. To the recreational<br />
passer-by, the bucolic vistas they enjoy<br />
demand to be “preserved,” <strong>for</strong>cing the overworked<br />
land stewards of today to carve out even more<br />
time to attend public hearings in order to point<br />
out emphatically that these lands are farms, not<br />
parks!<br />
Did you ever want to be a farmer? Or do you<br />
at least hold on to the hope that productive farmlands,<br />
with their aesthetic diversity and beneficial<br />
assets, will continue to grace our local region?<br />
Well, you’d better study-up on the potential<br />
impacts of local zoning and conservation restrictions<br />
affecting the farmers and their farmlands. If<br />
we don’t take better care of the farmers around us<br />
right now, we’d better start learning the best way<br />
to prepare and serve houses. They could be the<br />
last crop harvested on these once highly-prized<br />
and fertile, but rapidly disappearing, farmlands.<br />
Phil James invites contact from those who<br />
would share recollections and old photographs<br />
of life along the Blue Ridge<br />
Mountains of Albemarle County, Virginia.<br />
You may respond to him at: P.O. Box 88,<br />
White Hall, VA 22987 or philjames@firstva.<br />
com. Secrets of the Blue Ridge © 2008 Phil<br />
James<br />
Jaunt Tests<br />
Demand <strong>for</strong><br />
Expanded Service<br />
to <strong>Crozet</strong><br />
With punishing gas prices dramatically raising<br />
the cost of the commute to Charlottesville,<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> residents have been wondering if public<br />
transportation options could be expanded.<br />
“We just need the money,” said JAUNT director<br />
Donna Shaunesey, when asked if expansion<br />
of their current morning and evening route to<br />
Charlottesville was possible. “Show me the<br />
money and we’ll be there. It’s really expensive.”<br />
JAUNT is a publicly-funded regional transportation<br />
service that operates 64 vans on routes<br />
through Albemarle, Amherst, Buckingham,<br />
Greene, Louisa, Nelson, Orange and Fluvanna<br />
Counties, and it is mainly centered on providing<br />
access to Charlottesville. Its vans hold from 14 to<br />
18 passengers. It has a $5.3 million dollar budget<br />
provided largely by the local governments. Only<br />
$500,000 of its costs is recovered in fare revenues,<br />
Shaunesey said. “We’d be nowhere without government<br />
money. The fare revenue doesn’t amount<br />
to a lot.”<br />
JAUNT ran a three-times-a-day weekday service<br />
between its pick-up spot in the Mountainside<br />
Senior Living parking lot off Carter Street and<br />
U.Va. and the downtown bus center <strong>for</strong> two<br />
years, abandoning it in 2005. “It was a pretty<br />
good service,” Shaunesey said. “We even made it<br />
free. But we averaged only two riders a day.” She<br />
said it would cost JAUNT about $25,000 a year<br />
to provide twice-a-day runs from <strong>Crozet</strong> to<br />
Charlottesville with a $1 fare charged each way.<br />
It currently picks up riders in <strong>Crozet</strong> and delivers<br />
them to locations in Charlottesville, returning<br />
them in the evening <strong>for</strong> $3 each way in what<br />
amounts to a virtual taxi service that means an<br />
unpredictable travel schedule and potentially<br />
long rides <strong>for</strong> some passengers. The service would<br />
not work <strong>for</strong> commuters wanting to get to work<br />
and back home at specific times and with reasonably<br />
direct ride times.<br />
“Our ridership has not gone up with the gas<br />
prices,” Shaunesey noted. “Ride Share is getting<br />
more requests but it hasn’t played out with us<br />
yet.<br />
“A more efficient way [to address the commuting<br />
issue] would be van pools, especially <strong>for</strong> people<br />
going to U.Va.” State Farm runs a successful<br />
van pool to its offices on Pantops, she said.<br />
Because the Albemarle Supervisors would<br />
have to subsidize expanded service, White Hall<br />
District Supervisor Ann Mallek has been soliciting<br />
interest in the idea and so far has had four<br />
responses, said Shaunesey, who has received <strong>for</strong>warded<br />
messages. Each of the four has different<br />
time-of-day needs, she noted. Mallek is collecting<br />
data through August.<br />
“Even if the response is high we would have<br />
concerns,” Shaunesey said. JAUNT responded to<br />
a similar need expressed by residents of Esmont,<br />
she explained, and even though many people said<br />
they would use the vans, after the service was<br />
instituted, few actually did.<br />
“The Esmont experience was that people don’t<br />
follow through,” she said.“Our goal is to make<br />
sure everybody is getting where they need to go.<br />
Personally, I would like to see people drive their<br />
cars less. What we need to know [from <strong>Crozet</strong>ians]<br />
is specific in<strong>for</strong>mation about hours of the day<br />
they need to travel,” Shaunesey said.<br />
www.ridejaunt.org<br />
Rural Demand-Response<br />
For transportation outside the scheduled routes,<br />
JAUNT provides service with fares ranging from<br />
$2.60 to $12.50, depending on the distance and<br />
whether the passenger has a disability or is a senior.<br />
Rural Services within the County<br />
Anyone can ride JAUNT services within Albemarle<br />
County. Service is offered Wednesday to <strong>Crozet</strong> and<br />
Tuesday and Thursday to Scottsville and Esmont.<br />
The fare is $2.00 each way and $1.00 <strong>for</strong> passengers<br />
with disabilities and those 60 years and older.<br />
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page 8 s AUGUST 2008<br />
<strong>Light</strong> Industial—continued from page 1<br />
The 148 acres include 4 parcels<br />
whose southern boundaries follow<br />
Interstate 64 extensively and also<br />
contact the south side of Western<br />
Albemarle High School. They do<br />
not have any other direct access to<br />
Route 250. Roughly 30 acres of the<br />
land is unbuildable because it is<br />
floodplain covered by water protection<br />
ordinance buffers or has critical<br />
slopes. <strong>Yancey</strong> showed the commissioners<br />
photos of the site, which has<br />
attractive views, and it is presently<br />
cattle pasture watered by Stockton<br />
Creek. <strong>Yancey</strong> said he will submit a<br />
<strong>for</strong>mal request <strong>for</strong> the rezoning to<br />
the county by September 2.<br />
<strong>Yancey</strong> argued that his proposal,<br />
which he called a “preliminary conceptual”<br />
plan, met county criteria<br />
<strong>for</strong> having interstate highway access<br />
and having a 50-acre minimum.<br />
The land would have to have public<br />
water and sewer extended to it,<br />
which he said was possible by connecting<br />
to lines at WAHS. He<br />
acknowledged that it did not con<strong>for</strong>m<br />
with County policies on preserving<br />
rural areas.<br />
“We understand rezoning is at<br />
odds with the Comprehensive Plan,”<br />
he said. “Approval of our proposal<br />
will take some outside-of-the-box<br />
thinking.”<br />
Commissioners had been discussing<br />
a report prepared by county<br />
planning staff that said that only<br />
111 acres of vacant, buildable land<br />
zoned <strong>for</strong> light industrial use is<br />
available in the county. According<br />
to their demand study, the county<br />
needs at least 121 more acres, and if<br />
office use, which is currently allowed<br />
in the zoning, were factored in, the<br />
shortage could be as much as 339<br />
acres. The study took the growth in<br />
county employment from 2000 to<br />
2006, which turns out to be 3.2<br />
percent, and applied standard planning<br />
<strong>for</strong>mulas to it to arrive at their<br />
figures.<br />
A fair percentage of the presently<br />
available light industrial land is in<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong>, including the Barnes<br />
Lumber Company property downtown,<br />
the <strong>for</strong>mer ConAgra complex<br />
that now houses MusicToday and<br />
Starr Hill Brewery, and the <strong>for</strong>mer<br />
Acme Visible property just east that<br />
is presently being remediated <strong>for</strong><br />
environmental damage left by solvents<br />
used to remove grease during<br />
manufacturing processes. It is not<br />
expected to be usable again <strong>for</strong> three<br />
years.<br />
Some commissioners remained<br />
unconvinced of the need to preemptively<br />
rezone land without a specific<br />
applicant and probed the assumptions<br />
made in preparing the report.<br />
White Hall District Commissioner<br />
Tom Loach asked <strong>for</strong> a breakdown<br />
of the employment data to find out<br />
if the growth had been in light<br />
industrial jobs, or if the numbers<br />
perhaps reflected office jobs. Samuel<br />
Miller District Commissioner Eric<br />
Strucko asked if there had been a<br />
spike in jobs in any one year reflecting<br />
a single employer that might<br />
have especially affected the total.<br />
County planner Susan Stimart, who<br />
presented the report, did not have<br />
that in<strong>for</strong>mation.<br />
Nora Gillespie, director of the<br />
Central Virginia Small Business<br />
Development Center, which assists<br />
about 200 young companies every<br />
year, said the Center has about “six<br />
to 10 cases a year” in which growing<br />
companies have trouble finding<br />
af<strong>for</strong>dable light industrial land in<br />
Albemarle and adjoining counties<br />
where they can expand operations.<br />
Those companies have usually<br />
headed to the Valley or toward<br />
Richmond <strong>for</strong> space, she said.<br />
“It may be a regional problem<br />
since they can’t find land in nearby<br />
cssatcrozet@embarqmail.com<br />
counties either,” observed Strucko.<br />
“I’m not convinced we have to go<br />
outside the growth areas,” he said.<br />
“We could rezone, but not proactively.”<br />
Later in the discussion he<br />
insisted that County policy about<br />
increasing light industrial acreage be<br />
strictly limited to land inside growth<br />
areas. He also noted that highway<br />
commercial zoning also allowed<br />
many of the uses available through<br />
LI zoning. “Are we addressing a<br />
problem that’s out there?” he asked.<br />
“If so, we’ll devise a policy to deal<br />
with it.”<br />
“It’s really a subsidy problem,”<br />
said Rio District Commissioner Jon<br />
Cannon, comparing it to the af<strong>for</strong>dable<br />
housing issue. “You’re stacking<br />
the deck competitively [by rezoning<br />
more land to LI].”<br />
“I would like to state up front<br />
that we should not change growth<br />
area boundaries but look at other<br />
mechanisms,” said Strucko.<br />
“I agree that we have to totally<br />
exhaust the growth areas first,” said<br />
Jack Jouett District Commissioner<br />
Bill Edgerton. “But we need some<br />
strength in the Comp Plan to<br />
continued on page 11<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
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<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 9<br />
Condon’s Corner: Cooking Made Easy<br />
© Marlene A. Condon<br />
Easy and Better Ice Cream<br />
If you do not own an ice cream machine, you might want to think about<br />
buying one. I got an Oster “Quick-Freeze Ice Cream Maker” several years<br />
ago and I have not ever wanted to buy ice cream at the grocery store again.<br />
Many folks do not realize how good homemade ice cream can be because<br />
people are under the mistaken impression that it should be eaten as soon as<br />
it is made. Indeed, many country fairs and some fruit stands make ice cream<br />
and immediately sell it while it still retains a somewhat liquid or “soft” consistency.<br />
But ice cream is best when it is hardened, just as when you buy it at the<br />
grocer’s. There<strong>for</strong>e the trick to making great ice cream is to use a great recipe<br />
and to allow the ice cream time to harden in the freezer instead of eating it<br />
right away.<br />
I once offered a neighbor a quart of homemade ice cream and he initially<br />
declined, saying he didn’t like homemade ice cream. I convinced him to take<br />
it <strong>for</strong> his kids to try. The next time I saw him, he told me the whole family<br />
thought I should be working <strong>for</strong> the Breyer’s ice cream company! They<br />
thought it was the best vanilla ice cream they had ever had.<br />
Many recipes <strong>for</strong> vanilla ice cream contain eggs which give the ice cream a<br />
creamier (and fattier) consistency. Known as “French” vanilla, these recipes<br />
usually require cooking and cooling of the egg mixture (known as custard)<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e you can even begin to think about making the ice cream.<br />
But my Oster machine came with an egg-less recipe <strong>for</strong> the best vanillaflavored<br />
ice cream that I have ever had. Because I do not have to cook a<br />
custard first and cool it down to go into the ice cream machine, I can easily<br />
whip up a quart and a half of ice cream within an hour of deciding to make<br />
it—assuming I have all of the ingredients at hand, of course!<br />
So I thought I would share with you this wonderful recipe because vanilla<br />
is the basic flavor that goes so well with just about everything. I am also providing<br />
four variations of this recipe that are absolutely yummy after being<br />
allowed time to harden completely. Homemade ice cream will keep very well<br />
<strong>for</strong> a few months inside a “real” freezer if kept tightly sealed. If you have only<br />
a refrigerator freezer, try to use it up within a month.<br />
Easy Vanilla Ice Cream<br />
NOTE: Be<strong>for</strong>e starting to make<br />
the ice cream, get out two clean<br />
plastic freezer containers in a onequart<br />
and a one-pint size. Each container<br />
should have a tight-fitting<br />
snap-on lid. Also make two dated<br />
labels. Place these items on the<br />
counter with a spoonula (a plastic<br />
or rubber spatula with curved edges<br />
that is used like a mixing spoon) or<br />
some other large spoon. It will be<br />
needed to guide the soft ice cream<br />
out of the ice cream machine canister<br />
into the storage freezer containers<br />
as quickly as possible. You may<br />
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spill some of the semi-solid mixture<br />
so you should also have a damp<br />
paper towel available <strong>for</strong> wiping the<br />
plastic containers after filling them.<br />
Be sure to stick dated labels onto<br />
the containers be<strong>for</strong>e placing them<br />
into the freezer.<br />
Put the following ingredients into<br />
your ice cream canister:<br />
2 cups whipping cream<br />
2 cups half and half<br />
(NOT LOW FAT)<br />
1 cup granulated white sugar<br />
1 Tbsp. REAL vanilla extract<br />
(NOT IMITATION)<br />
Stir with a mixing spoon until<br />
the sugar is completely dissolved<br />
(the graininess will disappear).<br />
After thoroughly mixing the<br />
ingredients, I place the canister into<br />
the freezer <strong>for</strong> about 5 minutes to<br />
make sure the ingredients and the<br />
canister are quite cold.<br />
Freeze according to your manufacturer’s<br />
directions. When done,<br />
transfer the soft ice cream into the<br />
freezer containers as quickly as possible.<br />
Be sure to wipe the top edges<br />
(and sides, if necessary) of the containers<br />
with the damp paper towel<br />
and snap the lids on. Place the dated<br />
containers into a freezer <strong>for</strong> several<br />
hours (preferably at least eight) to<br />
completely harden.<br />
Variations:<br />
To make chocolate chip ice<br />
cream, add two-thirds cup of<br />
MINIATURE chocolate chips just<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e the ice cream has reached the<br />
desired consistency (follow your<br />
manufacturer’s directions <strong>for</strong> how to<br />
mix in ingredients).<br />
To make cinnamon ice cream,<br />
which is great <strong>for</strong> use with warm<br />
apple desserts (not <strong>for</strong> eating by<br />
itself), use the same amount of<br />
whipping cream, half and half, and<br />
sugar as <strong>for</strong> the vanilla ice cream.<br />
However, mix in only 1½ tsp.<br />
vanilla extract and add 1 Tbsp.<br />
ground cinnamon.<br />
For really delectable chocolate ice<br />
cream, you need to first combine<br />
the following ingredients in a<br />
blender set to a LOW speed until it<br />
is smooth: 2 cups whipping cream,<br />
2 cups half and half, 1 tsp. vanilla<br />
extract, 1½ cups sugar, and ½ cup<br />
unsweetened cocoa powder. Freeze<br />
as directed by the manufacturer.<br />
For superb strawberry ice cream,<br />
place 2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries<br />
into a blender or food processor<br />
fitted with a blade. Cover and<br />
process at a LOW speed until<br />
chopped. Pour into the canister in<br />
which you have thoroughly mixed<br />
(until the sugar is dissolved) 2 cups<br />
whipping cream, 1 cup half and<br />
half, 1 cup sugar, and 2 tsp. vanilla<br />
extract. Freeze as directed by the<br />
manufacturer of your ice cream<br />
machine. IMPORTANT NOTE:<br />
Strawberries from your own garden,<br />
a nearby farm, or a farmer’s market<br />
are preferable to those available at<br />
most grocers. However, if you must<br />
purchase them at the grocery store,<br />
buy a package from the freezer section.<br />
These fruits tend to be of better<br />
quality in terms of ripeness—<br />
and thus tastiness—than the practically<br />
unripe fresh strawberries<br />
shipped in from who-knows-where.<br />
Enjoy!
page 10 s AUGUST 2008<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
A New York Yankee in Chief Bubba and Hubba’s<br />
Firehouse<br />
Live Fire Training<br />
By Tom Loach<br />
I<br />
thought I’d share with you some<br />
interesting data about the challenges<br />
faced by the fire service in<br />
the U. S. The data is from 2006 and<br />
shows that nationwide there were<br />
1,642,500 fires, an increase of 2.5%<br />
from 2005. There were 278,000<br />
fires in vehicles and every 19 seconds<br />
a fire department responded to<br />
a fire emergency. A fire occurred in<br />
a structure every 60 seconds and a<br />
residential fire occurred every 78<br />
seconds, with a vehicle fire starting<br />
every 113 seconds.<br />
The really dreary figure is the fact<br />
that someone dies in a fire every 62<br />
minutes and someone is injured by<br />
fire every 32 minutes. The fires that<br />
firefighters face today are becoming<br />
increasingly dangerous.<br />
Part of the problem is the materials<br />
we now have in our homes,<br />
including increasing amounts of<br />
plastic and composite materials.<br />
When these burn, they produce not<br />
only more smoke, but more toxins.<br />
In an article about the dangers of<br />
burning plastics, the author wrote<br />
the following: “While the flammability<br />
of a plastic product depends<br />
on its <strong>for</strong>m, plastics generally create<br />
hotter fires and are there<strong>for</strong>e more<br />
dangerous to firefighters than burning<br />
wood, paper or cloth. One<br />
pound of polystyrene plastic can<br />
give off 18,000 Btu, whereas wood<br />
or paper will only give off 7,000 to<br />
8,000 Btu. Furthermore, the smoke<br />
given off by plastics is dense and<br />
black, creating a greater obscuration<br />
hazard than wood or paper smoke.”<br />
Odd as it may seem, one way the<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> Volunteer Fire Department<br />
prepares to fight fires is to start<br />
them. It’s called live fire training and<br />
it provides invaluable experience <strong>for</strong><br />
preparing <strong>for</strong> the next structure fire.<br />
The opportunity usually starts when<br />
we get a call from someone in the<br />
community who has a building they<br />
want to demolish and offers it to the<br />
fire department to burn down.<br />
Here in <strong>Crozet</strong>, the expert in setting<br />
up these live fire training sessions<br />
is Battalion Chief Mike<br />
Walton, who has organized and<br />
burned at least 10 buildings. The<br />
planning <strong>for</strong> a live burn has to be<br />
meticulous because the reality is<br />
that there’s always an element of<br />
danger when you deal with a burning<br />
building. Because these live<br />
burns are such a valuable learning<br />
tool, we usually invite members<br />
from other departments to take<br />
part. Chief Walton and his “burn<br />
team” will review the building to see<br />
how many different types of fire scenarios<br />
they can come up with to<br />
give firefighters a chance to use as<br />
many fire suppression techniques as<br />
possible.<br />
Once they have their plan set out,<br />
they make sure all of the firefighters<br />
know what’s expected of them and<br />
how each fire evolution is expected<br />
to play out. To ensure safety, each<br />
team that goes into the building will<br />
have a back up team ready and waiting.<br />
Perhaps the hardest working team<br />
at any live burn are the firefighters<br />
assigned as “fire starters.” It’s the fire<br />
starters who actually put the torch<br />
to the building, then sit there until<br />
they feel the fire is of sufficient size<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e calling in the team to put the<br />
fire out. Being a fire starter is a<br />
tough job because they take a beating<br />
with each fire they start.<br />
There is nothing that I know of<br />
that prepares you to go into a burning<br />
building. Even under training<br />
conditions, facing a live fire can be a<br />
very scary experience, crawling<br />
through the smoke toward an ever<br />
increasing glow, feeling the heat of<br />
the fire start to penetrate your fire<br />
gear while the fire roars overhead.<br />
This type of training is especially<br />
important <strong>for</strong> new members who<br />
have to learn to work as a team and<br />
trust themselves and their equipment<br />
if they’re ever to become effective<br />
firefighters. Live burns allow the<br />
more experienced members to<br />
sharpen their skills and give our officers<br />
the chance to practice their<br />
leadership skills.<br />
Because we invite other departments,<br />
we get to work as a combined<br />
unit and get exposure to other<br />
departments’ techniques and equipment<br />
while improving cross department<br />
communications. At our last<br />
live burn, Chief Walton was able to<br />
give the other department that took<br />
part an opportunity to work with<br />
the foam system on our trucks.<br />
Even the final act of letting the<br />
building burn to the ground is used<br />
to observe and teach fire behavior,<br />
because it’s just as important to<br />
know when not to go into a burning<br />
building as when to go into one.<br />
When the day is done the exercise is<br />
reviewed to see what went well and<br />
what needs improvement.<br />
Executing a good live burn takes<br />
considerable time and ef<strong>for</strong>t, but<br />
giving firefighters this type of real<br />
life experience is the best way <strong>for</strong><br />
the <strong>Crozet</strong> Volunteer Fire<br />
Department to prepare <strong>for</strong> a call<br />
that’s the real thing.
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 11<br />
Did you know that …<br />
IT’S NOT JUST OUR COOKING<br />
THAT’S COOKIN’<br />
Saturday, August 2, 1 - 5 p.m.<br />
Wine tasting featuring mid-priced<br />
selections from South America, Australia<br />
and New Zealand. Music by Mary Gordon<br />
Hall and Billy Hunter. No cover.<br />
Gently Used Clothes <strong>for</strong><br />
Kids Help the Budget<br />
by Kathy Johnson<br />
Denise Harvey had an idea. As the mother of<br />
three young children (two girls and a boy) she<br />
knew how difficult it could be <strong>for</strong> a parent to find<br />
good, af<strong>for</strong>dable clothing. What if there was a<br />
way <strong>for</strong> parents to save on children’s clothing and<br />
equipment? What if she sold good quality, gently<br />
used items <strong>for</strong> parents on a budget? That’s how<br />
Little Blessings came to be.<br />
Located in the parking area next to the Afton<br />
Service Center on Route 151, Little Blessings<br />
could be a parent’s best friend. Not a consignment<br />
shop, Harvey said, “I buy them, then resell<br />
them. But they have to be good quality.”<br />
The clean and neat little store carries a nice<br />
assortment of neatly hanging infant and toddler<br />
clothing. Everything is well displayed and the<br />
shop is bright and well arranged, making it easier<br />
<strong>for</strong> a parent (or grandparent) to find what they<br />
are seeking.<br />
The shop is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on<br />
Friday and Saturday and from 3 to 6 p.m. on<br />
Thursdays. “I know it’s hard <strong>for</strong> parents to get<br />
away sometimes,” Harvey said, so she added the<br />
late time on Thursdays to offer times a working<br />
mother or dad could use. The baby beds, playpens<br />
and toys all carry the well-known names of<br />
high-quality merchandise (Fisher Price, Little<br />
Tykes, Graco <strong>for</strong> example) with a much smaller<br />
price tag than when new.<br />
The store officially opened January 1, but as<br />
the economic times tighten Harvey has noticed<br />
growth in this small, woman-owned, business.<br />
“I see more and more new faces every week,”<br />
she says. And why not; children rarely wear out<br />
clothes. Sometimes they are passed along to family<br />
or friends, but with Little Blessings a family<br />
may be able to gain some income from the resale<br />
of good, usable children’s clothing and use that<br />
money to purchase the next sizes up.<br />
Those with good quality items they’d like to<br />
sell, can call Harvey <strong>for</strong> an appointment at (434)<br />
981-0320.<br />
Saturday, August 16, 1 - 5 p.m.<br />
Gabriele Rausse, the father of Virginia<br />
viticulture, will pour and discuss four<br />
selections from his own winery. Free<br />
samples from the store’s bakery and<br />
gourmet deli. No cover.<br />
Friday, August 29, 5 - 8 p.m.<br />
Reception <strong>for</strong> the noted landscape<br />
photographer Ben Greenberg<br />
(bengreenberg.com), whose art will<br />
hang in the store through mid-October.<br />
Includes a wine tasting, live music, and<br />
hors d’oeuvres. No cover.<br />
Every Sunday, 1:30 - 4 p.m.<br />
Acoustic jam featuring musicians from<br />
around these parts. Bring your favorite<br />
instrument and join in!<br />
Enjoy a Taste of<br />
Country Only<br />
Ten Minutes from<br />
the Big City<br />
Just past the intersection of<br />
Plank Road and Miller School Road<br />
(434) 823-4752<br />
<strong>Light</strong> Industial—continued from page 1<br />
encourage this.”<br />
Scottsville District Commissioner Linda<br />
Porterfield urged the commission to think about<br />
rezoning land near the southeast corner of the<br />
Route 250/Interstate 64 interchange at Pantops/<br />
Shadwell, which has a jumble of “old zonings,”<br />
she said, that might be better used now <strong>for</strong> light<br />
industry. Other commissioners were cool to the<br />
idea.<br />
“I’m looking <strong>for</strong> employment in the growth<br />
areas and I’m reluctant to commit to rezoning<br />
land and <strong>for</strong>eclosing it to other uses that might<br />
bring in jobs,” said Loach.<br />
During public comment, Morgan Butler from<br />
the Southern Environmental Law Center urged<br />
commissioners to “approach proposals like Mr.<br />
<strong>Yancey</strong>’s cautiously,” and instead to investigate<br />
possible changes in zoning ordinances.<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> resident Mike Marshall suggested that<br />
planners consider rail access as strongly as interstate<br />
access and said that available LI land in<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong>, all of which has existing rail access, is still<br />
substantially unused. He also asked planners to<br />
define what is meant by “af<strong>for</strong>dable” land.<br />
“To me, ‘adjacent’ means sprawl,” said Strucko,<br />
trying to defend the growth area boundaries. “Mr.<br />
<strong>Yancey</strong>’s proposal goes against my principles. It<br />
would extend the <strong>Crozet</strong> growth area south of Rt.<br />
250. Obviously, I don’t agree with that.”<br />
Cannon agreed. “The underlying concept of<br />
the Comprehensive Plan is to prevent opening up<br />
more rural land <strong>for</strong> development.”<br />
“There is not a problem in the county that does<br />
not have a growth area solution,” asserted Loach.<br />
“The <strong>Yancey</strong> proposal should be taken up in the<br />
context of master planning. The community<br />
should have a say. We need more coming up from<br />
the growth areas [residents] and less coming down<br />
from above.”<br />
“I’m not convinced there is a need to expand<br />
the growth areas,” concurred Edgerton. “I think<br />
light industrial can be integrated in the growth<br />
areas in a sympathetic way.”<br />
Is there something you would<br />
like to share with us?<br />
Tell us about your<br />
weddings, special birthdays,<br />
birth announcements,<br />
engagements, or other<br />
special occasions<br />
<strong>for</strong> in<strong>for</strong>mation & rates contact<br />
Allie Pesch at the <strong>Gazette</strong><br />
ads@crozetgazette.com
page 12 s AUGUST 2008<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
Mt. Salem—continued from page 1<br />
outdoor lighting. They put up a<br />
church bell and a flag by the front<br />
steps. They planted flowers and<br />
cleaned up the yard and the cemetery<br />
where more than 50 graves bear<br />
the names of member families:<br />
Payne, <strong>Mills</strong>, Johnson, Waller,<br />
Morton, Frye, Sims, Massie, Walker,<br />
Adams, Wood. They saw to it that<br />
graves had flowers on them and that<br />
veterans’ had flags on theirs. They<br />
put picnic tables out <strong>for</strong> summer<br />
occasions and put a sign, embellished<br />
with an angel, at the intersection.<br />
The restrooms got fixed up.<br />
They added a clock, new curtains,<br />
ceiling fans and wall-to-wall carpeting<br />
to the church.<br />
Soon Pastor Colemon presided<br />
over the first wedding ever recorded<br />
at Mt. Salem when Bianca Jackson<br />
married James Horne Jr. The church<br />
was packed. An anniversary celebration<br />
was held marking 111 years,<br />
including a congratulatory proclamation<br />
from the Albemarle Board<br />
of Supervisors.<br />
Pastor Colemon always kept his<br />
guitar at hand, ready to play. He<br />
had a spiritual serenity about him.<br />
He was wise about God, impressing<br />
people with it. (When the movie<br />
Evan Almighty was being made in<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong>, Colemon, handsome and<br />
distinguished-looking, was picked<br />
to play a congressman and he met<br />
actor Morgan Freeman, who played<br />
God in the movie.) Other churches<br />
from across central Virginia came<br />
visiting at Mt. Salem. The church<br />
was roaring back to life.<br />
Then, last year, with the tangible<br />
features of his vision nearly realized<br />
(he lacked only the upholstered<br />
cushions in the pews), he died of<br />
skin cancer. A first spot had been<br />
cut away, but the significance of a<br />
second spot was not understood<br />
until it had insidiously invaded him.<br />
He fought until the treatments<br />
seemed worse than the disease. He<br />
always trusted God and he went on<br />
that way.<br />
Mt. Salem held a Family, Friends<br />
and Fellowship Day July 27 and<br />
they extended an invitation to all<br />
the souls in western Albemarle.<br />
They had held a similar celebration<br />
(and invited the community, too) in<br />
June, to mark the arrival of the<br />
refurbished, padded pews and both<br />
the legacy and the beginning, Pastor<br />
Colemon had left them.<br />
Raymond Moton, guitar in hand,<br />
and his family filled the small (8 by<br />
10 feet) choir loft. They led off with<br />
“We’re Going to Sit Down by the<br />
River.” They had come over from<br />
Gordonsville.<br />
“We’re having a good time<br />
already!” said Joyce Colemon, Paul’s<br />
widow, who carries the title missionary<br />
and who has taken up leadership,<br />
at least <strong>for</strong> the time being, of<br />
Mt. Salem Gospel Church (Pastor<br />
Colemon changed the name to<br />
mark the church’s more pentacostal<br />
style).<br />
Mary Colemon (Paul’s sister)<br />
answered the call <strong>for</strong> a testimony.<br />
She hadn’t always paid attention to<br />
God, she admitted. “I found there is<br />
not only a God—there’s Jesus. And<br />
we can’t reach God except through<br />
his son.” She thanked God <strong>for</strong><br />
everything she has, her family, her<br />
church. “Glory to God!”<br />
“God wants us to acknowledge<br />
him,” Colemon added. “It’s not up<br />
to us to question him.”<br />
Her text <strong>for</strong> the day was I<br />
Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 1-3,<br />
on the body of Christ and the need<br />
<strong>for</strong> unity in the church.<br />
The congregation was mainly<br />
women, all dressed in Sunday finery.<br />
Some were young. Some had<br />
belonged <strong>for</strong> 60 or 70 years. Sunday<br />
attendance can range from a dozen<br />
souls to 30.<br />
The Moton Family came back<br />
with “We Cry Holy, Holy, Holy Is<br />
the Lamb.”<br />
Above them on the sanctuary<br />
wall, the church’s theme from Psalm<br />
147 is announced in stick-on lettering:<br />
“When the praises go up, the<br />
blessings come down.”<br />
On the back of the sanctuary wall<br />
is a mural of Jesus’ baptism by St.<br />
John the Baptist in the Jordan River.<br />
A small Christian flag is on the left<br />
wall and a small American flag is on<br />
the right. A painting on silk of the<br />
Last Supper is next to it. Two vases<br />
of silk lilies and fern fronds flank<br />
the lectern directly behind the altar.<br />
On the altar, whose front rail is<br />
carved with the words “In<br />
Remembrance of Me,” a large Bible<br />
is held upright and open in a stand.<br />
Candles stand on either side of it. A<br />
brass chandelier is suspended above.<br />
continued on page 22
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 13<br />
Our Dancers Per<strong>for</strong>mTM<br />
Albemarle Ballet Theatre<br />
Robert Garland Photographers<br />
Ballet, Jazz, & Modern Dance<br />
Register Now<br />
Come Take a Free Class<br />
Albemarle Ballet Theatre • 5798 Three Notched Road • <strong>Crozet</strong> VA 22932<br />
434.823.8888 • www.aBallet.org • Dance@aBallet.org<br />
Free class is limited 1 per person, is not transferable or redeemable <strong>for</strong> cash, and ABT students are ineligible.<br />
Copyright 2006 -2008 Nicole Hart & Albemarle Ballet Theatre, Inc. All rights reserved
page 14 s AUGUST 2008<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
By Dr. Robert C. Reiser<br />
A Tribute to Harvey Laub MD<br />
Harvey Laub, MD, passed away on July 11, 2008, at the age of 53. He<br />
was beloved not only by his family and friends but also by his patients.<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> Family Medicine will not be the same without him. Harvey shared<br />
much of himself with his community, including this piece written <strong>for</strong> the<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> <strong>Gazette</strong> not quite a year ago. Harvey’s humor and positive attitude<br />
were remarked on by all and are obvious in his writing. RCR<br />
<br />
<br />
Mt. Salem—continued from page 1<br />
Alexander Salomon, MD<br />
Board Certified in<br />
Internal Medicine<br />
Just a little cough … by Harvey Laub, MD<br />
My little cough started some time in early spring, not long after the jonquils<br />
bloomed and soon after our lovely <strong>Crozet</strong> was blanketed with its annual<br />
shower of pine pollen. As a busy family physician I was familiar with the<br />
faint wheeze I periodically experienced. As I did <strong>for</strong> all my patients, I created<br />
a mental list of all the possible causes. Chronic coughs, that is those lasting<br />
more than three weeks, can be caused by an array of maladies, some serious<br />
… and many not so serious. The more common causes include smoking,<br />
reflux (heartburn), asthma and allergies. Sometimes after a viral bronchitis, a<br />
bothersome cough may last <strong>for</strong> weeks. It isn’t at all unusual to diagnose a<br />
cough due to environmental exposures (dry wall dust, house dust, kerosene<br />
fumes, new carpets, and insulation). If a small, otherwise well child came to<br />
my office with a persistent cough and a nasty odor hovering about the head<br />
I was sure to find a <strong>for</strong>eign body (peas and peanuts are popular) lodged in a<br />
nostril or ear. My favorite kiddy cough is the so-called ‘social cough’ per<strong>for</strong>med<br />
by older infants and young toddlers who quickly learn they can get<br />
the immediate attention of their mother (or father) with a spunky little<br />
cough.<br />
Chronic coughs can also indicate a more serious condition like chronic<br />
obstructive pulmonary disease (chronic bronchitis and emphysema), pneumonia,<br />
pulmonary fibrosis (scarred lung tissue), sarcoidosis (an inflammatory<br />
condition affecting the lungs and other organs) and cancer.<br />
How does a person tell if he or she has a serious or not so serious chronic<br />
cough? First, be very careful about diagnosing yourself. In medical school I<br />
learned that ‘a physician who diagnoses himself has a fool as a doctor.’ Here<br />
are a few questions you can ask yourself to help decide whether you should<br />
see your doctor:<br />
1. Has your cough lasted more than 2-3 weeks?<br />
2. Does your cough produce excessive phlegm or blood?<br />
3. Are you wheezing or short winded?<br />
4. Are you having fevers or drenching night sweats?<br />
5. Are you excessively tired?<br />
If you answer yes to any of these questions, then it would be a good idea<br />
to get checked.<br />
So why did it take me six weeks to see a doctor? The astute women readers<br />
already know the reasons. But <strong>for</strong> the benefit of my caveman colleagues (yep,<br />
all you guys out there) let me delve into the male psyche a bit and try to<br />
explain why men would rather cut the grass or change the oil than see a doctor.<br />
An alarming number of men never go to the doctor and often minimize<br />
their symptoms. In one survey, 24 percent of men said they would wait as<br />
continued on page 19<br />
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<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 15<br />
The drought of 2007 is still fresh<br />
in our memories, not to mention<br />
several other dry years in the recent<br />
past. Although precipitation <strong>for</strong><br />
2008 has been running close to normal,<br />
you never know when some<br />
one is going to turn off the tap. So,<br />
it’s not a bad idea to look at some<br />
ways <strong>for</strong> us gardeners to deal with<br />
erratic rainfall.<br />
One of the most basic ways to<br />
address water in your garden is by<br />
improving the thing that retains it,<br />
that is, soil. To me, and I would<br />
guess to most gardeners, soil is the<br />
least sexy aspect of our craft. The<br />
mere mention of soil science and<br />
amendments is enough to put me to<br />
sleep. Nevertheless, bear with me <strong>for</strong><br />
a few minutes as we take a very brief<br />
look into the dirt.<br />
By Charles Kidder<br />
Dealing with Drought<br />
If you are either putting in a new<br />
bed or a whole new garden, that’s<br />
your golden opportunity to improve<br />
your soil. Bringing in loads of topsoil<br />
is the quick and dirty—pun<br />
intended—method of starting a new<br />
bed; however, it may not be the best<br />
course of action. You’ll achieve better<br />
results by incorporating organic<br />
matter and fertilizer into your existing<br />
soil. Granted, this is a major<br />
undertaking, requiring tilling in four<br />
inches of organic material into the<br />
top eight inches of soil. If you are<br />
seriously contemplating such a project,<br />
I suggest you take a look at Tracy<br />
DiSabato-Aust’s excellent book, The<br />
Well-Tended Perennial Garden.<br />
More realistically, most of us are<br />
just trying to improve the soil structure<br />
in our existing beds. Depending<br />
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With good access off of Route 151<br />
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country living. There are only four of<br />
these parcels being offered <strong>for</strong> sale.<br />
This is the time to take advantage of this unique opportunity.<br />
Parcel 1—7.009 acres, $295,000 Parcel 2—6.555 acres, $295,000<br />
Parcel 5—6.93 acres, $250,000 Parcel 6—7.871 acres, $250,000<br />
877-826-7799<br />
434-823-7799<br />
The Shoppes of Clover Lawn<br />
Route 250 in <strong>Crozet</strong> across from<br />
Blue Ridge Builders Supply<br />
www.MountainAreaRealty.com<br />
on the present organic content of<br />
your soil—which can be revealed by<br />
a test—you should add one or two<br />
inches of compost to the surface<br />
every three years or so. Ideally, this<br />
should be scratched down into the<br />
soil, but this is tricky around existing<br />
plants, not to mention laborintensive.<br />
Mulch helps to retain soil moisture,<br />
and is best applied after the soil<br />
has warmed up a bit and is thoroughly<br />
moist. Too much mulch is<br />
not good, so avoid the tendency to<br />
add more just to freshen up its<br />
appearance. Three inches should be<br />
the maximum depth around woody<br />
plants, two inches around perennials.<br />
And in either case, the depth of<br />
mulch around the crown or trunk of<br />
the plant should be zero. Piling<br />
mulch there can lead to rot and<br />
death.<br />
So, how about that precious commodity,<br />
water? You’ve probably run<br />
across plant descriptions that say,<br />
“Once established, Plant XYZ is<br />
very drought-tolerant.” Take the first<br />
two words of that sentence to heart.<br />
You must be prepared to provide a<br />
reliable supply of water <strong>for</strong> the first<br />
season of a perennial’s growth, and<br />
ideally, two to three years <strong>for</strong> trees<br />
and shrubs. This means about one<br />
inch of water, either from the sky or<br />
from a hose, every week from spring<br />
through fall. And don’t trust your<br />
eyes to judge how much falls during<br />
a brief downpour. Put out a rain<br />
gauge, even if it’s just an old tunafish<br />
can. Just empty it once a week<br />
to prevent mosquito breeding.<br />
The one-inch-per-week rule is just<br />
a rough average <strong>for</strong> most plants, and<br />
is not meant to indicate the frequency<br />
of watering, only the<br />
amount. For the first month after<br />
plants are in the ground, keep a<br />
watchful eye on soil moisture.<br />
Absent significant rainfall, you may<br />
have to water every two or three<br />
days, especially <strong>for</strong> small plants.<br />
Apply water both near the plant’s<br />
crown and away from it in order to<br />
encourage the roots to spread outward.<br />
And deep watering will let the<br />
roots penetrate further into the soil.<br />
Everything I’ve said above applies<br />
to plants in the ground. As anybody<br />
who has grown plants in containers<br />
knows, they often require water once<br />
continued on page 25<br />
fine gardening services<br />
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Annual contracts or per occurrence<br />
Fairly priced services provided by<br />
professional horticulturists<br />
Over 50 years combined experience<br />
Proudly serving our community<br />
since 1984<br />
Conveniently located in <strong>Crozet</strong><br />
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page 16 s AUGUST 2008<br />
IT Help Desk<br />
In<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
Upgrade<br />
By Mike Elliott<br />
High-speed<br />
Internet options,<br />
continued...<br />
Remember the last time you were<br />
left off the invitation list to a party<br />
that you really wanted to attend?<br />
What if that party was rocking every<br />
day of the year and you could hear<br />
it and see it but you were still left<br />
out? For most of us, it would be like<br />
rubbing salt in an open wound.<br />
I imagine that’s close to how most<br />
folks feel who are still unable to get<br />
adequate high-speed Internet access<br />
at their homes. It seems that every<br />
week I hear about a new website, a<br />
really funny video, or a not-to-bemissed<br />
web-based application that<br />
<strong>for</strong> all intents and purposes is offlimits<br />
to dial-up users. The modem<br />
connection they use simply can’t<br />
handle the bandwidth demands of<br />
the ever-growing library of rich<br />
media and advanced applications<br />
available to high-speed Internet<br />
users.<br />
In the last issue, I asked to hear<br />
from anyone who feels left out of<br />
the high-speed Internet access<br />
party—and I heard from you! The<br />
good news is that some of you have<br />
started using the cell phone carrier<br />
option I covered in that column<br />
with great success, albeit accompanied<br />
by a bit of sticker shock. And<br />
un<strong>for</strong>tunately, there are still a number<br />
of folks among our readership<br />
living in areas that appear to be outside<br />
the existing reach of regional<br />
carriers, leaving them with no reasonable<br />
options.<br />
Among those living through the<br />
dial-up nightmare are a number of<br />
our neighbors in Greenwood. I<br />
remember reading a Letter to the<br />
Editor about four issues back from<br />
resident David Booth who’s been in<br />
the throes of battle with service providers<br />
trying to persuade them to<br />
extend coverage to his area. They’ve<br />
seen states like West Virginia go the<br />
extra mile with state funding to provide<br />
statewide broadband coverage<br />
options through government-supported<br />
telephone company infrastructure<br />
upgrades. He’s working<br />
with a group of like-minded neighbors<br />
to enlist the support of anyone<br />
and everyone who will listen to their<br />
plight of inadequate rural-area<br />
Internet service options.<br />
I contacted Mr. Booth about the<br />
predicament they’re in, and he graciously<br />
shared his story. At this time,<br />
it appears that he and his concerned<br />
neighbors can only hold out hope<br />
that our state government will raise<br />
the bar with initiatives like they’ve<br />
seen in West Virginia to provide<br />
better coverage to all. While they<br />
wait on our legislators to take action,<br />
they’re crossing their fingers that the<br />
proliferation of cell tower installations<br />
will at some point provide<br />
adequate coverage.<br />
At the same time, I hope there’s<br />
some level of com<strong>for</strong>t he and others<br />
with “zero options” can take in<br />
knowing they’re not alone. Here in<br />
Virginia, the problem has garnered<br />
at least a cursory level of attention<br />
by our legislators, which has led to<br />
initiatives to assess the extent of the<br />
gap areas and at some point to begin<br />
filling them.<br />
The Commonwealth’s Broadband<br />
Roundtable is in the process of collecting<br />
data to document the “state<br />
of Broadband in Virginia.” They’re<br />
using a speed test program available<br />
at www.speedmatters.org/ to test<br />
and collect data speeds across rural<br />
and urban markets. Clearly, they’ll<br />
also identify gaps in coverage using<br />
this tool as well. Encourage as many<br />
people as you can to visit this site<br />
and take the test. You can find loads<br />
of in<strong>for</strong>mation covering on-going<br />
state ef<strong>for</strong>ts at www.otpba.vi.virginia.gov/broadband.shtml<br />
and a<br />
related site www.cit.org/broadband/.<br />
So what are the remaining<br />
options? A discussion with wireless<br />
expert and <strong>Crozet</strong> neighbor David<br />
Simpson indicates there are still<br />
more alternatives using outdoor elevated<br />
antennas and small-scale wireless<br />
amplifiers to boost cellular signal<br />
strength, among others. If I hear<br />
of any success stories using any of<br />
these technologies, I’ll happily<br />
report on them in a future column.<br />
And of course you can wait <strong>for</strong> LTE<br />
and WiMax deployment, but those<br />
long-range wireless technologies are<br />
likely a ways out <strong>for</strong> the rural areas<br />
that would benefit from them most<br />
and roll-out may be slow and possibly<br />
expensive.<br />
One other thought is if you have<br />
a portable computer, you could sit<br />
outside of Panera Bread at Barracks<br />
Rd. shopping center like I’m doing<br />
right now and “borrow” their wireless<br />
signal. They prefer you also eat<br />
there, and I’m often happy to oblige<br />
them when I need a solid Internet<br />
connection. Until you come up with<br />
a better alternative <strong>for</strong> your home,<br />
this might be the only way you get<br />
to see that super funny video on<br />
YouTube that your dial-up access<br />
chokes on. Using the SpeedMatters<br />
test, I’m clocked in at 383 kbps<br />
downstream and 372 kbps<br />
upstream—a very adequate connection<br />
speed satisfactory <strong>for</strong> most<br />
things I do. This is radically faster<br />
than the 26.4 kbps dial-up speed<br />
that Mr. Booth is struggling with at<br />
home.<br />
Although we must move on to<br />
new topics, I’ll try to give you<br />
updates on any evidence of progress<br />
I hear about on the broadband availability<br />
front. Next month, we’ll shift<br />
gears a bit and start talking about<br />
how to pick out a new computer<br />
and what factors should go into the<br />
decision-making process. If you<br />
have thoughts on this, I’d love to<br />
hear them. Send an email to mike@<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mationupgrade.com and I’ll do<br />
my very best to get back to you or<br />
include your topic in an upcoming<br />
article. It’s been great hearing from<br />
you. And as always, thanks <strong>for</strong> reading!<br />
On a side note, the hard drive in<br />
my main computer died shortly<br />
after the last issue went to press and<br />
although I had a good backup that<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
got me going again, I lost a week or<br />
two of email in the process. If you<br />
sent me something and didn’t get a<br />
response, please send it again. I’ll<br />
cover the topic of computer backup<br />
and recovery be<strong>for</strong>e too long—especially<br />
since I have recent first-hand<br />
experience of the horror that fills the<br />
pit of your soul as you realize your<br />
computer won’t wake up again …<br />
ever—unless you have a good<br />
backup.
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 17<br />
Tempkin, Rule, and SMAC Dazzle at State Long Course Meet<br />
By Rob Rule<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong>’s Max Tempkin excelled <strong>for</strong> the<br />
Waynesboro YMCA Swim Team (SMAC)<br />
when it competed in the 2008 Long<br />
Course State Championships in Newport<br />
News July 24–27. Representing the<br />
Waynesboro YMCA Swim Team were<br />
Ethan Cohen, Norah Hunt, Jordan Miller,<br />
Brazil Rule, and Max Tempkin in the<br />
10-and-under division and Jessica Arnold,<br />
Anna Corley, Olivia Heeb, and Remedy<br />
Rule in the 11-12 year old division.<br />
Max Tempkin had first place finishes in<br />
the 50meter backstroke, 200m freestyle,<br />
and 50m freestyle. The young SMAC star<br />
placed second in the 200m Individual<br />
Medley, and fifth in the 100m butterfly.<br />
Tempkin set two Virginia meet records with<br />
a time of 34.45 in the 50m backstroke and<br />
30.18 in the 50m freestyle. Tempkin bested<br />
the meet record <strong>for</strong> the 50m freestyle held<br />
by David Walters since 1998. Walters is<br />
now part of the U.S. Olympic Team in<br />
Beijing. Tempkin’s backstroke time broke<br />
the SMAC team record by over three seconds—a<br />
record <strong>for</strong>merly held by current<br />
U.Va. swimmer and team captain Lee<br />
Robertson. His 200m freestyle time of<br />
2:27.52 broke a 25-year-old SMAC record<br />
by almost six seconds.<br />
Remedy Rule cleaned up in the 11-12<br />
year old girls division, breaking five SMAC<br />
records. Rule finished second in the 200m,<br />
100m and 50m freestyle, as well as in the<br />
100 and 50m backstroke. She came in third<br />
in the 400m free and 100m fly. Rule’s 200m<br />
free broke Waynesboro legend Melanie<br />
Mathews’ previous SMAC record by almost<br />
two seconds with an AAAA time of<br />
2:16.77. Rule and Jessica Arnold finished<br />
fourth and fifth in the 200m backstroke,<br />
both beating the previous SMAC record,<br />
which is now held by Rule at 2:38.94.<br />
Coach Ryan Sprang congratulating Max Tempkin on his first place medal<br />
<strong>for</strong> the 100 backstroke.<br />
Jessica Arnold, Anna Corley, and Remedy Rule relax between races at the<br />
Long Course State Championships in Newport News, VA.<br />
In other highlights, Ethan Cohen placed<br />
eighth in both the 200m free and 100m fly.<br />
Norah Hunt finished third in the 200m<br />
freestyle with a time of 2:32.82, earning an<br />
AAAA time and missing the SMAC record<br />
by less than half a second. In the 400m free,<br />
she finished second and earned another<br />
AAAA time standard. Jordan Miller finished<br />
15th in the 400m freestyle and placed<br />
17th in the 100 fly, earning an AA time.<br />
Brazil Rule dropped almost a second off her<br />
best time coming in 23rd in the 50m backstroke<br />
with a time of 42.12.<br />
Jessica Arnold and Anna Corley stayed<br />
close throughout the four-day meet, finishing<br />
sixth and seventh in the 200m freestyle,<br />
fifth and sixth in the 100m backstroke, and<br />
third and fifth in the 50m backstroke,<br />
respectively. Corley took sixth and Arnold<br />
ninth in the 200m IM, both recording<br />
AAA times. Olivia Heeb dropped an<br />
impressive two seconds in her 200m breaststroke<br />
to finish 11th and set a new SMAC<br />
record with her time of 3:12.46.<br />
Overall the SMAC Team dominated the<br />
small team division, almost doubling the<br />
score of its closest competitor. The team<br />
placed 11th in the state overall. Max<br />
Tempkin was the second highest scorer <strong>for</strong><br />
all of the boys at the meet, while Remedy<br />
Rule was the fifth highest scorer <strong>for</strong> all of<br />
the girls at the meet and the only person in<br />
the top ten at the lower end of her age<br />
bracket. The team did so well that five<br />
members have earned the honor of representing<br />
Virginia at the Northeast Zone<br />
Swim Meet to be held in Rockville,<br />
Maryland August 6–9. The five include<br />
Max Tempkin and Norah Hunt in the<br />
10-and-under division, and Remedy Rule,<br />
Jessica Arnold, and Anna Corley in the<br />
11-12 year old division.<br />
Al Reaser<br />
Automobile Sales Consultant<br />
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Let me find the EXACT late model<br />
vehicle YOU want.<br />
Phone: (434) 823-5711<br />
Cell: (434) 806-2049<br />
alreaser@gmail.com<br />
www.kiserautosales.com<br />
Want to shape the future of af<strong>for</strong>dable housing in <strong>Crozet</strong>?<br />
Take part in a unique opportunity to help<br />
design green, mixed income housing<br />
adjacent to downtown <strong>Crozet</strong><br />
Community Design Workshop II<br />
Saturday, August 23, 10 am - 4 pm<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> United Methodist Church fellowship hall<br />
10 am site tour<br />
12 pm lunch<br />
12:30-4 pm interactive design session<br />
(Please join us <strong>for</strong> any part of the day)<br />
A joint partnership of Piedmont Housing Alliance and Charlottesville Community Design Center.<br />
For more in<strong>for</strong>mation, call 434.984.2232 or email info@cvilledesign.org.
page 18 s AUGUST 2008<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
Still Open and Really Not Sorry About It One Bit<br />
A new addition to the sign along Route 250<br />
<strong>for</strong> the Greenwood Motel, the last motel still<br />
open in <strong>Crozet</strong>, says it’s sorry to be surviving.<br />
Huh? What’s that about?<br />
The man who made the sign acknowledged<br />
making it, but refused to give his name. He<br />
refused to be photographed.<br />
Then he relented some and said he could be<br />
referred to as “Pauly.” He later added that his<br />
mother, Helen H. Lang, owned and operated the<br />
Greenwood Motel, which dates to 1954, from<br />
1961 until her death a few years ago and that he<br />
has worked there all that time.<br />
What’s the message behind the sign?<br />
“They [county officials] never worry about the<br />
real estate tax,” said Pauly, on the verge of a snarl.<br />
“But that what’s hurting us. They’re taxing us off<br />
our land.<br />
“I want to make it as difficult as I can <strong>for</strong> them.<br />
They are going to take over your land and put<br />
houses all over it. They’re hoping I’ll give up.<br />
They’re lighting their candles.”<br />
The motel was built by one Herman Stormer,<br />
who was connected with the Knickerbocker<br />
Company, the firm that started Acme Visible<br />
Records on Rt. 240. It opened under the name<br />
the E&S Motel (<strong>for</strong> Emily Stormer, Herman’s<br />
wife). It was next briefly owned by family named<br />
Jessup, then the Drosulhagens, and ever after it’s<br />
been providing a living <strong>for</strong> the Langs and now<br />
Pauly.<br />
There was a pony in the front yard <strong>for</strong> years,<br />
tethered to a stake, until it died in 1998 at age<br />
34. Now Pauly’s main companion is a gray and<br />
white cat named Sugar Plum.<br />
The motel has eight rooms <strong>for</strong> rent, all concealed<br />
from the road by a screen of shrubbery,<br />
and private quarters over the office. The rooms<br />
are spacious (16’ by 16’), clean and neat, with<br />
two double beds, wall-to-wall carpeting, and they<br />
have large tiled bathrooms. They were designed<br />
from the first <strong>for</strong> wheelchair access. The furnishings,<br />
vintage 1960s, are com<strong>for</strong>table. Pauly<br />
replaced all the windows in the motel not too<br />
many years ago. They have TVs, but no cable programming<br />
and no Internet service. (“I got off the<br />
Internet,” explained Pauly. “I got tired of it.”)<br />
Rooms go <strong>for</strong> $50 a night. He had a charming<br />
thank-you letter to show off from a young couple<br />
who stayed over the Fourth of July weekend.<br />
As <strong>for</strong> his neighbors across the road in Foxchase:<br />
“I hate that. It’s a mess. They don’t even look at<br />
us.<br />
“They’ve ruined a beautiful area and it’s all<br />
greed, greed, greed. They just want houses here.<br />
“It’s a bad situation here with taxes but it will<br />
get worse. Growth doesn’t help you because of the<br />
services you have to provide. If I ran the county<br />
nothing would go to waste. Nothing goes to waste<br />
around here.”<br />
The lettering on the new sign was salvaged<br />
from an old one knocked down by a storm. “I’ve<br />
had several reactions [to the new one]. That ‘sorry’<br />
got to them.”<br />
Pauly, who is virtually retired, is making every<br />
economy he can and his expenses aren’t large. His<br />
tax bill is the expense defying his ef<strong>for</strong>ts at thrift<br />
and security on his property.<br />
“They talk a lot about af<strong>for</strong>dable housing, but<br />
what we need is af<strong>for</strong>dable taxes,” he said with<br />
exasperation.<br />
<br />
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<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 19<br />
Dr. Harvey Laub—continued from page 14<br />
long as possible be<strong>for</strong>e consulting a<br />
doctor despite having well-known<br />
warning signs; 17 percent said they<br />
would wait a week. This has proven<br />
fatal <strong>for</strong> many well-meaning guys,<br />
such as Darryl Kile, the St. Louis<br />
Cardinals pitcher, who complained<br />
of shoulder pain and weakness one<br />
week be<strong>for</strong>e he died of a heart attack<br />
at age 33. Half of all male migraine<br />
sufferers never consult a doctor<br />
about their pain, compared with less<br />
than a quarter of women sufferers.<br />
Psychologists have long been aware<br />
of male stereotypes emphasizing<br />
strength, control and stoicism. To<br />
many men, acknowledging pain or<br />
other symptoms is considered more<br />
a sign of weakness than an opportunity<br />
to promote health by diagnosing<br />
a treatable condition. Many men<br />
just feel they are too busy to see a<br />
doctor.<br />
In my 23-year career as a family<br />
doc, I can assure you that more than<br />
once a week a well-meaning male<br />
patient confided that the reason he<br />
came to see me is because his wife/<br />
mother/girlfriend made him! In my<br />
case, my astute nurse (Michele<br />
Snead LPN) and caring transcriptionist<br />
(Valerie Seal) put the pressure<br />
on. Un<strong>for</strong>tunately, my doctor<br />
had recently left town so I decided<br />
to get checked after returning from<br />
a three-day trip to Wallops Island<br />
where I helped chaperone Henley<br />
Middle School’s 7th grade science<br />
class at their annual field trip<br />
(encourage your kid to go—it’s an<br />
incredible experience).<br />
This is when my symptoms worsened.<br />
Now, in addition to the nagging<br />
cough, I experienced intense<br />
fatigue. Those of you who have had<br />
mononucleos’s know what I’m talking<br />
about.<br />
I returned home on Saturday and<br />
my life changed on Sunday. A chest<br />
X-ray showed I had pneumonia and<br />
a mass. One week later I had received<br />
my first in a series of chemotherapy<br />
treatments <strong>for</strong> Stage 4 lung cancer.<br />
Since that time I have been quite<br />
<strong>for</strong>tunate. My cancer is responding<br />
to treatment and my energy level<br />
has improved enough to resume<br />
enjoying and appreciating the miracle<br />
of life.<br />
Workers with Webb Incorporated, a horizontal drilling and tunneling<br />
firm from Richmond, installed a 24-inch steel pipe wide enough<br />
<strong>for</strong> a man to crawl through deep under the CSX railroad tracks and<br />
under Railroad Avenue in July. The 150-foot pipe, roughly connecting<br />
St. George Road to Blue Ridge Avenue, will improve service reliability,<br />
according to Dominion Virginia Power engineer Jeff Carter. “It’s to<br />
help keep the lights on. The area from <strong>Crozet</strong> to Afton is a high-outage<br />
area,” he said. This will allow us to restore power quickly. We can isolate<br />
an area and feed power from two different directions.”<br />
Fardowners—where local ingredients<br />
and a local vibe come together!<br />
Sunday Night Listening Series<br />
presents<br />
AN EVENING OF JAZZ WITH<br />
Bobby Read<br />
of Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers<br />
with special guests<br />
Bert Carlson, Brian Caputo, and Matt Hall<br />
Sunday, August 31, 6 - 9 pm<br />
Admission $10<br />
On The Square, Downtown <strong>Crozet</strong><br />
434.823.1300<br />
Mon - Thurs 11 am - 9 pm, Fri & Sat 11 am - 10 pm<br />
Sunday Brunch 11 am-3 pm<br />
Don’t miss our<br />
Acoustic Brunch<br />
Every Sunday<br />
11 - 3
page 20 s AUGUST 2008<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong><br />
Scouting News<br />
Cub Scout Fall Sign-Up<br />
Meetings Set <strong>for</strong> August 28<br />
Boy Scouts of America is holding Cub Scout fall recruitment meetings <strong>for</strong><br />
first- through fifth-graders and their parents at local schools and churches<br />
August 28 at 7 p.m. BSA’s Cub Scout program allows boys to grow through<br />
a wide variety of activities like camping, fishing, hiking, archery, skits, songs,<br />
crafts, and more. Activities are used to achieve the aims of scouting: citizenship<br />
training, character development, and personal fitness.<br />
BSA also offers the year-round Boy Scout program <strong>for</strong> boys in grades 6<br />
through 12, as well as the Venturing program, a co-ed, high-adventure youth<br />
development program <strong>for</strong> young men and women aged 14-20.<br />
For more in<strong>for</strong>mation on the programs, contact Richard Bogan at (434)<br />
882-0611 or email him at monticello763@hotmail.com.<br />
Your Local<br />
Grocery Store<br />
Goodwin Creek<br />
Farm Market<br />
Delivering fresh<br />
bread, baguettes,<br />
dinner rolls—wild<br />
flower honey wheat<br />
and other varieties<br />
The Farm at Red Hill<br />
Tomatoes on the vine and other organicallygrown<br />
vegetables as available<br />
Gators Take Third at the<br />
JSL Championship Meet<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> Gators Elsa Strickland,<br />
Lexi Campbell, Carly Witt and<br />
Maggie Rossberg (above, left to<br />
right) set a new Jefferson Swim<br />
League record in the 11-12 Girls<br />
200 meter freestyle relay at the JSL’s<br />
championship meet at U.Va.’s<br />
Athletic and Fitness Center July 24<br />
and 25. They swam it in 1:51:30.<br />
The <strong>for</strong>mer record was 1:52. The<br />
girls were recognized at the Gator’s<br />
team banquet July 26 along with<br />
the team’s other JSL award winners,<br />
parent volunteers and coaches. The<br />
Gators finished third among the<br />
league’s 16 teams, trailing the powerhouse<br />
Fairview Swim Team, the<br />
JSL’s traditional winner (1958<br />
points), and Boar’s Head Swim<br />
Team (1700.25 points) with<br />
1679.75 points.<br />
First-year head coach Mike<br />
Brown was given a CGST T-shirt<br />
with the title “Slurpy King” on it<br />
and keystone parent Cynthia<br />
Simpson was recognized as “the<br />
backbone of the Gators.”<br />
The all-volunteer-run JSL had<br />
more than 2,400 swimmers this year<br />
and the Gators, with 220 members,<br />
was the second largest team behind<br />
Fry’s Spring Beach Club.<br />
Halloway Sweet Corn as available<br />
Peaches from Henley’s Orchard<br />
Nectarines from<br />
Crown Orchard<br />
Twin Oaks Tofu<br />
Check out our expanded line of<br />
organic and natural products<br />
Introducing gluten-free items
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 21<br />
de<br />
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Sandridge<br />
ountainside<br />
studied medicine and<br />
SENIOR LIVING<br />
Maupin studied crime scene investigation.<br />
14 14<br />
The girls each raised money to<br />
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A JABA<br />
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Assisted Living Community<br />
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The National Young Scholars<br />
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ountainside<br />
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ountainside “In Leadership we learned how to<br />
give SENIOR LIVING a proper presentation,”<br />
explained Maupin. “We talked<br />
about making eye contact with the<br />
audience, keeping a good pace in<br />
our speech, speaking loudly<br />
enough but not too loud, and using<br />
proper visual aids <strong>for</strong> what we were<br />
doing. We also talked about our<br />
personality types and which group<br />
we<br />
ountainside<br />
fit into. We learned about nonverbal<br />
communication, such as sign<br />
SENIOR LIVING<br />
language and writing.<br />
“In CSI-2 I learned how to analyze<br />
handwriting, measure blood<br />
drops (with fake blood), how to<br />
measure the density of glass and<br />
how to figure out what kind of tool<br />
was used to pry something open,”<br />
she said. “We were also able to use a<br />
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microscope. We learned what DNA<br />
fingerprints are and how to present<br />
our case in court. We worked on a<br />
case that was solved a few years ago.<br />
“I would like to do the program<br />
<strong>for</strong> middle school, if given the<br />
chance,” she added.<br />
“We learned a lot about being<br />
more responsible,” said Sandridge,<br />
“and how to be a great leader in<br />
your community, in your school,<br />
and anywhere you can to step up<br />
and help someone. It was also very<br />
worth the ef<strong>for</strong>t we put into raising<br />
money and it was an wonderful<br />
learning experience, overall.”<br />
To help pay their way, the girls<br />
wrote letters to local businesses,<br />
family and friends. Maupin helped<br />
Sandridge sell lettuce at the <strong>Crozet</strong><br />
Farmers Market and they baked all<br />
the goods <strong>for</strong> their bake sale. (“Mom<br />
washed the dishes <strong>for</strong> me,” Maupin<br />
said.) The bake sale raised over<br />
$200.<br />
“I wasn’t able to raise all of the<br />
money I needed <strong>for</strong> NYSP,” said<br />
Maupin. “But I tried to raise as<br />
much as I could. Part of being a<br />
leader is taking responsibility <strong>for</strong> the<br />
things you want to do.”<br />
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page 22 s AUGUST 2008<br />
Mt. Salem—continued from page 12<br />
The altar is flanked by Victorian–era<br />
wooden, straight-back chairs that go<br />
back to the origins of the building,<br />
which has about two dozen pews in<br />
it. The walls are paneled up to the<br />
window ledges and above that they<br />
are painted a fresh white. Across the<br />
ceiling space stretch two pairs of<br />
rods with turnbuckles that pull the<br />
old walls plumb. A space heater sits<br />
behind the piano and a flue with a<br />
thimble where a woodstove once sat<br />
has been closed off. On the piano<br />
sits a pitcher that reads: “Pouring<br />
out Blessings.” The atmosphere of<br />
the room is warm and com<strong>for</strong>table.<br />
Sounds in it are softened and clear<br />
and light takes on a cool, shady<br />
quality. It’s as homey as a family TV<br />
room.<br />
The Moton Family next sang<br />
“There’s a Praise Inside I Can’t Keep<br />
to Myself.” The congregation was<br />
clapping along. The church was<br />
using the National Baptist Hymnal,<br />
1977 edition, and many books had<br />
broken bindings that had allowed<br />
pages to drop out. Moton sang<br />
songs from a binder he had assembled.<br />
“If you don’t have praise <strong>for</strong> God<br />
on the inside, you can’t be beautiful<br />
on the outside,” Missionary<br />
Colemon said when the song was<br />
over. “We are truly blessed to be in<br />
the land of the living. God didn’t<br />
have to let us be here to see each<br />
other again.”<br />
Marva Eaves, the church clerk,<br />
made the announcements. The<br />
members of Mt. Salem church were<br />
invited to a homecoming at Mt.<br />
Carmel in Brown’s Cove on August<br />
12.<br />
Colemon, not being a pastor<br />
(though perhaps she might become<br />
one), next offered words of encouragement,<br />
rather than a sermon.<br />
“We’re not lacking here at Mt.<br />
Salem,” she said. “We’re not numerous.<br />
But wherever there are two or<br />
three gathered in His name ….” The<br />
crowd knew how to fill in the rest.<br />
“All we have to do is stay faithful.<br />
We are pressing <strong>for</strong>ward to keep<br />
these doors open.”<br />
She has recently returned from a<br />
trip to Rome. She wanted to see the<br />
holy city, as she called it, and tour<br />
the Vatican. She had encountered<br />
an elderly lady there in need of help<br />
and she had spent a lot of time with<br />
her. She felt God wanted her to<br />
extend that help. “We don’t know<br />
what God has in mind <strong>for</strong> us to do.<br />
We have to keep our hearts and<br />
minds open. When you give, God<br />
supplies your needs,” she reminded<br />
the crowd. True to her title,<br />
Missionary Colemon has also made<br />
a trip to Ghana in west Africa.<br />
“We are blessed,” she said. “We<br />
need to count our blessings. We<br />
need to keep leaning on Jesus.<br />
“Churches can burn you out,”<br />
she acknowledged. “You need to<br />
take time <strong>for</strong> family and friends and<br />
fellowship.”<br />
She came back to I Corinthians.<br />
The congregation had pulled out<br />
their Bibles, mainly large, leatherbound<br />
volumes with big print. They<br />
fell open as if exhausted from hard<br />
use. The gilt had been worn off the<br />
page edges by so much thumbing<br />
to find passages. Most had been carried<br />
in in tough zippered pouches.<br />
Some were plain and some had been<br />
embroidered.<br />
“Unity. Unity! That’s what we are<br />
here <strong>for</strong> today.”<br />
Mt. Salem is praying <strong>for</strong> a pastor,<br />
but she warned them to be patient<br />
and careful. “Many wolves will<br />
come in sheep’s clothing.” Pastor<br />
Colemon had worried about this.<br />
They don’t want someone whose<br />
real motive is just to secure a salary,<br />
someone who would take advantage<br />
of them and move on. “We are<br />
equipped here spiritually,” she reassured<br />
them. “We want a spirit-filled<br />
pastor. We believe in teaching. Bible<br />
study is not just <strong>for</strong> children. It’s <strong>for</strong><br />
everybody.”<br />
Still, she stressed hospitality. You<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
Mary Colemon, Bianca Horne (of Boston, MA), Joyce Colemon, Jon Colemon and Marva<br />
Eaves.<br />
never know who God will send your<br />
way, she said.<br />
“This church is going on because<br />
there is unity here,” said Raymond<br />
Moton, who visits lots of churches<br />
to play. “The devil will try to come<br />
in and cause division. Keep praying.”<br />
Then he and his family sang<br />
“Because of Who You Are, I Give<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> Baptist Church<br />
5804 St. George Avenue 434-823-5171
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 23<br />
Missionary Joyce Colemon<br />
You Glory” and “Work it Out,” one<br />
of his favorites, he said.<br />
“The devil always wants us to<br />
think things are not going to work<br />
out <strong>for</strong> us. Now God’s time is not<br />
our time, but he will work it out. In<br />
fact, it’s already worked out. We just<br />
have to wait.”<br />
Women, mainly, went <strong>for</strong>ward<br />
next and about 15 <strong>for</strong>med a circle<br />
near the altar. They held hands and<br />
prayed <strong>for</strong> their families and friends.<br />
“Stand in the gap,” urged Missionary<br />
Bereavements<br />
Colemon.<br />
Then the group dispersed outside<br />
to set up lunch. A small beach tent<br />
had been erected to protect the<br />
food. The six picnic tables placed in<br />
the shade of the grove were covered<br />
with white plastic and had cups<br />
with flower arrangements were<br />
placed at their centers. The fare<br />
included fried chicken, slow-cooked<br />
green beans, creamed corn, macaroni<br />
and cheese, collards, shrimp<br />
jambalaya, biscuits and cakes and<br />
Matthew Benjamin Thomas, 22 June 28, 2008<br />
Fred Massey Whiting, 81 June 29, 2008<br />
James Albert Tomlin, 61 July 1, 2008<br />
Mary Esther Couch, 82 July 4, 2008<br />
Frances Wickersham Hoffman, 97 July 3, 2008<br />
Nicholas Jerett Rogers, 23 July 3, 2008<br />
Lawrence D. Wingfield, 62 July 4, 2008<br />
Charlotte Mawyer Fisher, 59 July 6, 2008<br />
Dorothy Etta Gibson, 71 July 7, 2008<br />
Lucy Buck LeGrand, 99 July 7, 2008<br />
Helene Arlene Witt Fields, 79 July 9, 2008<br />
Elizabeth E. Smith, 71 July 7, 2008<br />
Carter Randolph Allen, 86 July 10, 2008<br />
Delaphine Bradshaw Norvelle, 87 July 11, 2008<br />
Agnes Nadine Shiflett, 82 July 10, 2008<br />
Harvey Morris Laub, 53 July 11, 2008<br />
Mabel Watts Matheny Hayslett, 87 July 12, 2008<br />
Charlie Ervin Johnson, 85 July 12, 2008<br />
Robert Samuel Reid July 12, 2008<br />
Daniel H. Cowan, 80 July 13, 2008<br />
Frances Lee Steppe, 71 July 19, 2008<br />
Maria Elena Casas Rainey, 55 July 21, 2008<br />
Henry David Walls, 85 July 18, 2008<br />
pies. There was plenty to go around<br />
and the meal was leisurely.<br />
Elder John Marshall (a title of<br />
respect reserved <strong>for</strong> pastors with<br />
proven preaching skills and spiritual<br />
sagacity), who leads the Free Union<br />
Gospel Church in Louisa County,<br />
arrived with some members of his<br />
congregation. When they had had a<br />
chance to eat, the evening service<br />
would begin. The practice of church<br />
congregations traveling to visit each<br />
other is referred to as “fellowship.”<br />
It is common among the churches<br />
in western Albemarle, including<br />
Piedmont Baptist in <strong>Yancey</strong> <strong>Mills</strong>,<br />
Mountain View in Batesville, Union<br />
Mission in <strong>Crozet</strong>, Mt. Zion in<br />
Newtown and Mt. Carmel in<br />
Brown’s Cove.<br />
Elder Marshall seems mild and<br />
serene—until he takes up his message.<br />
He wore a black collarless shirt<br />
under a neat camel-colored jacket<br />
that set off the modest, plain gold<br />
cross on a chain from his neck. For<br />
the evening service, the Moton family<br />
had taken places in the pews. The<br />
service started with songs as members<br />
of the Free Union church came<br />
<strong>for</strong>ward in front of the altar to sing,<br />
unaccompanied, as the spirit moved<br />
them. First came “All My Troubles<br />
Will Be Over Soon,” a rousing per<strong>for</strong>mance<br />
that produced a lot of<br />
clapping in the church.<br />
Then the microphone passed to<br />
the next volunteer, who wanted to<br />
sing “I Feel Like Going On.” “No<br />
matter what goes on in your life,<br />
you have to have a happy spirit,” she<br />
said to explain her choice. Cries of<br />
“Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” answered<br />
her from the pews when she finished.<br />
The microphone passed again:<br />
“Take My Hand, Precious Lord,<br />
And Lead Your Child On.”<br />
The congregation’s hearts were<br />
prepared <strong>for</strong> Elder Marshall and he<br />
assumed authority. Though the<br />
Church was not especially warm,<br />
some of the women had taken up<br />
small wooden-handled paper fans<br />
and were stirring breezes across their<br />
faces. Some wore delicate lace coverlets<br />
in their hair.<br />
“I can’t make it without Jesus,”<br />
Elder Marshall began. Then he<br />
advised his listeners: “Put away your<br />
things.” He meant give up any<br />
attachment to your possessions.<br />
Then he told a story, a sort of parable,<br />
about a man who slaps another.<br />
His moral was “whatever comes at<br />
you, write it in sand, so the wind<br />
will blow it away.” Let the injuries<br />
done to you leave your heart and<br />
mind, “and when it’s gone” (when<br />
God has lifted your suffering from<br />
you) “write it on stone so rain can’t<br />
wash it away.”<br />
He announced his text: Isaiah 43:<br />
10-13, part of which reads: “Be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
the day was, I am he.” Bibles were<br />
brought out to follow along. When<br />
the reader got to the line Elder<br />
Marshall wanted to stress, he<br />
stopped him. “Be<strong>for</strong>e the day was, I<br />
am he.” There is only one God was<br />
the point, and he ordained all reality.<br />
“I love the Lord and I won’t take<br />
it back,” said Elder Marshall<br />
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<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
Mt. Salem—continued from page 23<br />
emphatically. “The devil didn’t want<br />
it to happen.”<br />
He began to preach. “You are<br />
healed from the inside outside. A<br />
doctor cuts you open to heal you.<br />
What happens on the outside is<br />
going to pass away. What happens<br />
on the inside could give you eternal<br />
life.<br />
“I’ve never seen a God like this,”<br />
he said as if amazed.<br />
“The things I used to do I can’t<br />
do no more because God has taken<br />
that away from me.”<br />
He talked about a man bound to<br />
alcohol. “AA can’t do nothing with<br />
him, but JC can get rid of it.” God<br />
is acting in situations where people<br />
are addicted to drugs, too, he said.<br />
Elder Marshall was an intense<br />
speaker with shifting cadences. He<br />
seemed to loom large. He gripped<br />
the attention of his audience. When<br />
he quickened the pace of his talk, he<br />
gradually raised the steely determination<br />
in his voice. Then he might<br />
pause. “Come on! Come on!”<br />
demanded those in the church.<br />
He asked <strong>for</strong> a hallelujah. He got<br />
what he wanted. “Thank you, Lord,<br />
<strong>for</strong> supplying my needs this day.”<br />
“This day, this day,” agreed the congregation,<br />
some of whom spontaneously<br />
stood up.<br />
“Sometimes you’re asking God<br />
<strong>for</strong> something and you already have<br />
it,” observed Elder Marshall, taking<br />
up a more conversational tone.<br />
“How many times have you said<br />
you don’t have anything to eat and<br />
there’s food in the cabinet? You’re<br />
missing it. Until we realize what we<br />
have, we’re missing it.<br />
“I’ve never seen a God like this,”<br />
he repeated, still seeming amazed.<br />
“It doesn’t take much to take<br />
what God has <strong>for</strong> you,” he advised<br />
the crowd. “Keep your hands open<br />
if you want something in them.”<br />
He shifted between calm, meditative<br />
talk, storytelling, and urgent,<br />
<strong>for</strong>ceful, insistent points. “I’ve never<br />
seen a God like this,” was his refrain.<br />
He commanded the room <strong>for</strong> more<br />
than an hour, but the time went by<br />
unnoticed.<br />
“When God is fighting your battle<br />
<strong>for</strong> you, all you have to do is<br />
stand still and watch it.” And the<br />
people were ready to give their battles<br />
over to God to win.<br />
Elder Marshall asked <strong>for</strong> any who<br />
might need it to approach the altar<br />
<strong>for</strong> prayer support. Several went <strong>for</strong>ward<br />
and a few of the congregation<br />
gathered around and placed their<br />
hands on each petitioner, who quietly<br />
expressed his or her need or<br />
anxiety. Singing began spontaneously.<br />
“Give them victory, Lord,” prayed<br />
Elder Marshall. “Give him whatever<br />
he needs, God.”<br />
People brought their injuries and<br />
worries and left them, at least partly,<br />
<strong>for</strong> Jesus to bear. The emotion they<br />
sat down with was not what they<br />
had stood up with.<br />
The faith of Mt. Salem church<br />
was manifest now and profound.<br />
“You can’t see the supernatural,”<br />
Elder Marshall had said, “but you<br />
can feel it.”<br />
The service was ending.<br />
Missionary Colemon made a concluding<br />
statement: “Our duty to<br />
God is to be obedient to his word.<br />
He has given each of us a mission.”<br />
The congregations parted, but as<br />
brothers and sisters and in unity.<br />
Ladies of Mt. Salem tidied up the<br />
church and put things in order.<br />
Everyone had their jobs to go to the<br />
next day and tasks still to do at<br />
home, but Sunday they had devoted<br />
to God at Mt. Salem.<br />
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<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 25<br />
Summer Movies<br />
by Heidi Thorson<br />
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Put a New Face<br />
on Your Garage<br />
One of the most popular<br />
home improvement projects<br />
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his or her home’s appearance<br />
and improve the<br />
garage’s utilization as a<br />
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door, homeowners are<br />
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overall design of the house.<br />
It also pays to select a<br />
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Homeowners may also<br />
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whether the garage is used<br />
as a work area or a storage<br />
space.<br />
Whether you’re looking <strong>for</strong><br />
everyday hardware supplies<br />
or large building supplies<br />
such as garage doors, you’ll<br />
find them at Blue Ridge<br />
Builders Supply and<br />
Home Center. We are<br />
your local alternative to<br />
national home centers,<br />
offering quality products<br />
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Across<br />
1. Built on ___<br />
5. Frequently<br />
8. Kind of spicy food<br />
12. Bush and Ingles-Wilder<br />
15. Spelling event<br />
16. * _____-E<br />
17. Precedes borealis<br />
18. Building wing<br />
19. ___ have to do<br />
20. What *’d answers are<br />
23. Opposite WSW<br />
24. Jokers<br />
28. Bug<br />
31. Garfunkel<br />
32. Put on<br />
33. Pretty rock<br />
34. Horse’s hello<br />
36. Dating couple<br />
38. Rational<br />
39. * With 40 Across, Meryll<br />
Streep’s current vehicle<br />
40. * See 39 Across<br />
41. * Kung Fu ___<br />
42. Much, 2 words<br />
43. Proceed<br />
44. Stranger<br />
45. Commandment number<br />
46. Screened<br />
47. Pitch<strong>for</strong>k-shaped letter<br />
49. Commercials<br />
50. Washes away<br />
52. Prohibit<br />
53. * Harrison Ford’s current character<br />
60. Inflation hedge<br />
63. Posess<br />
64. Tri-colored cat<br />
65. with 66 Across, Robert Downy<br />
Jr.’s currentcharacter<br />
66. See 65 Across<br />
67. The Dark ___<br />
68. Salamander<br />
69. Leaky inflatable raft sound<br />
70. Surprised interjections<br />
Drought—continued from page 15<br />
Down<br />
1. Hunk<br />
2. Anka<br />
3. French dough<br />
4. Bright, spongy shoe<br />
5. Fat<br />
6. Shrunken wool<br />
7. Ma Bell’s industry<br />
8. Precedes shout<br />
9. It may be tipped<br />
10. Entirely<br />
11. Sick<br />
13. Biblical boat<br />
14. Rattled weapon<br />
21. Exams one may take slowly<br />
22. Politicians do this <strong>for</strong> office<br />
25. Kampala’s country<br />
26. Was undecided<br />
27. Rubs wet paint<br />
28. Cell dweller<br />
29. Less imaginary<br />
30. Geisha garb<br />
31. Discovery sound<br />
32. Expressionless humor<br />
35. Clock standard: Abbr.<br />
37. Roof metal<br />
38. Unhappy<br />
41. Hawaiian porridge<br />
43. Truths<br />
46. Rooster’s girl<br />
48. Quick bite<br />
51. “Oh no, you ___!”<br />
52. Wedding announcements<br />
54. “___ a Teen-age Werewolf”<br />
55. Middle Brady sister<br />
56. Hodgepodge<br />
57. Near<br />
58. Canyon reply<br />
59. Drunks<br />
60. Sloe liquor<br />
61. It’s mined<br />
62. Feeling down<br />
solution on page 26<br />
Visit us at 5221 Rockfish<br />
Gap Turnpike, <strong>Crozet</strong>, or<br />
call 434-823-1387.<br />
HINT: To save money on<br />
electricity, select a new<br />
garage door with windows<br />
that allow sunlight in.<br />
Visit our website at:<br />
www.brbs.net<br />
a day, depending on exposure, soil<br />
and pot type, and variety of plant.<br />
Conventional sprinklers and<br />
automated irrigation systems are not<br />
the ideal ways to provide water to<br />
plants. Both lose a lot of water to<br />
evaporation and tend to have spotty<br />
coverage. The worst thing about<br />
automated irrigation systems: many<br />
dutifully pop up and spray every two<br />
or three days, regardless of the water<br />
needs of the plants. I’m sure you’ve<br />
seen some blithely doing their thing<br />
the day after a heavy rain. Utterly<br />
unconscionable.<br />
Either lugging a watering can or<br />
dragging a hose around your garden<br />
is arduous, but it gets the water to<br />
the plants that really need it. (Plus,<br />
it’s a notable deterrent to over-watering!)<br />
A shower-wand extension on<br />
your hose provides a gentle spray<br />
and also gives you an extra three feet<br />
of reach to get under the branches of<br />
shrubs. Give each plant a good dose;<br />
then move on to the next plant or<br />
two, returning to the first plant after<br />
the initial watering has had time to<br />
soak down.<br />
There are a couple of reasonable<br />
alternatives to hand watering. One<br />
is drip irrigation. This involves running<br />
a special hose through your<br />
beds, to which are attached smaller<br />
hoses with nibs. These trickle water<br />
on to the plant <strong>for</strong> an hour or two,<br />
allowing it all to soak in. Drip irri-<br />
continued on page 27
page 26 s AUGUST 2008<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong><br />
Bookworms<br />
Dig Deeper<br />
Franklin, a character from the<br />
Franklin picture book series by Paulette<br />
Bourgeois, stopped by the <strong>Crozet</strong><br />
Library’s Summer Reading Wrap-Up<br />
Ice Cream Social July 28 to congratulate<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> kids <strong>for</strong> doing such a fabulous<br />
job of reading through the summer.<br />
Ninety-seven teens and 445 children<br />
participated in the library’s<br />
Summer Reading clubs and together<br />
they read a whopping 8,405 books,<br />
according to <strong>Crozet</strong> librarian Wendy<br />
Saz. That’s 975 more than last year’s<br />
total of 7,430. And adults are reading<br />
more, too, she said. The number of circulation<br />
transactions in June alone was<br />
up 13.5 percent from last year.<br />
Ice cream treats <strong>for</strong> the event were<br />
provided by the Friends of the Library.<br />
CROZET<br />
BEAUTY SALON<br />
Mae Hazelwood - Owner<br />
Open Monday - Saturday<br />
Appointments encouraged. No credit cards.<br />
Full line of Paul Mitchell & Biolage Matrix<br />
434.823.5619<br />
<strong>Crozet</strong> Shopping Center<br />
Solution to this month’s puzzle
<strong>Crozet</strong> gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 27<br />
Drought<br />
—continued from page 25<br />
gation is most practical <strong>for</strong> small<br />
plants and plants in containers; <strong>for</strong><br />
larger plants it would require a spaghetti<br />
maze of little hoses.<br />
Soaker hoses are much more commonly<br />
seen in home gardens. These<br />
hoses leak—by intent. They are<br />
porous and ooze a steady volume of<br />
water onto the soil. Like the drip<br />
system, very little water is lost to<br />
evaporation or runoff. (Sprinkler<br />
hoses are a little different from soakers.<br />
They lie flat on the ground and<br />
spray up and out to about a foot’s<br />
distance.) Soaker hoses can be buried<br />
just under the mulch if you don’t<br />
like to see black hoses snaking<br />
around your garden.<br />
One problem with doing that: it’s<br />
easy to <strong>for</strong>get the hose is there when<br />
you come along to dig a hole <strong>for</strong> a<br />
new plant. One whack with a shovel<br />
and soaker hose becomes gusher<br />
hose. Also, soaker hoses are probably<br />
easiest to use in the straight lines of a<br />
vegetable garden, less so in the more<br />
random pattern of an ornamental<br />
bed. Finally, in many applications<br />
that I’ve seen, way too little soaker<br />
hose is put down, so only a fraction<br />
of a larger plant’s roots are getting<br />
sufficient water.<br />
All this talk of hoses and soil left<br />
us no room to talk about some wonderful<br />
drought-tolerant plants! We’ll<br />
do that in the next column, just in<br />
time <strong>for</strong> fall planting. In the meantime,<br />
pray <strong>for</strong> rain!<br />
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For Sale: Nikon D70 Digital<br />
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Complete with instruction book,<br />
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