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OPINION
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Fauquier Times | March 25, 2020
EDITORIAL
We may be in calm before the storm
In March 1985, artist William Woodward was interviewed while at work in his studio above former Warrenton firehouse at Fourth and Main streets.
FAUQUIER FLASHBACKS FROM THE FAUQUIER TIMES 75 Years Ago March 29, 1945 Mrs. John Crosby Butler, wife of Lt. Col. Butler of Kelvedon Farm, Rectortown, and mother of Lt. John C. Butler, has joined the WAC and has been assigned to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for eight weeks basic training. She is carrying on for her hero son, a Marine fighter pilot, who lost his life in the Pacific on Nov. 13, 1944, while flying on a low-level bombing mission. The Fauquier Board of Supervisors this week published a record $450,665 tentative county budget for 1945-46 but added a note that no increase in the tax rate is contemplated. Gunnery Sgt. Harry W. Smith, USMC, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry I. Smith of Midland, was reported wounded Feb. 20 in action against the enemy on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands. 50 Years Ago March 26, 1970 At a special session March 23, the Middleburg Town Council elected Humphrey O. Dodson to fill the unexpired term of Mayor Norris Royston, who died March 20. A member of the council since 1950, Mr. Dodson will serve until 1971, the next municipal election year. Sharpe and Hamaker Inc., Arlington builders, have been awarded the contract to build Fauquier National Bank’s new $499,000 main building on Courthouse Square, Warrenton, adjoining the Fauquier County Library. William G. Prime of New York has been named executive
vice president of Stuyvesant Asset Management Corporation, a newly organized firm specializing in the management of large employee benefit funds. Prime is the son of Mrs. Juan M. Ceballos of Warrenton. Pfc. Cecil Cameron of Hume was wounded in the back by mortar fragments in Da Nang, Vietnam on March 15, less than two months after he arrived there. The 20-year-old soldier is assigned as a rifleman with the 5th Infantry Division. 25 Years Ago March 29, 1995 Fauquier County telephone users, and their counterparts from Lee County in the southwest and Winchester in the north, must start using the 540 area code six months sooner than previously announced, officials from GTE Telephone Operations said Monday. Capt. Rene Stevens of the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office was selected Officer of the Quarter by the Morrisville-Bristersburg Ruritan Club. Capt. Stevens is the chief correctional officer in command of the Adult Detention Center. A state conservation agency last week approved an unprecedented and controversial lease of an 800-are tract of land in Fauquier and Prince William counties to a private group for 15 years at $1 per year, a deal arranged by Scott District Supervisor Georgia Herbert. The Virginia Outdoors foundation turned the property over to the Friends of Bull Run. Known as the Bell tract, the land was the site of the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap. – Compiled by John T. Toler
The coronavirus is about to get real. As of Tuesday, Prince William had reported 18 confirmed cases, Fairfax had 46, Culpeper had two confirmed cases of COVID-19 and Madison and Orange each had one. Fauquier has had several “false alarms,” but no confirmed cases as yet. Wade Kartchner, MD, MPH, health director of the Rappahannock/Rapidan Health District of the Virginia Health Department, said that the lack of available testing makes it impossible to know how many people have been infected. “We don't know if we're not able to test. Knowing that should disabuse anyone of feeling secure, Fauquier County will have cases soon, it is just a matter of time.” Medical experts at Fauquier Hospital are taking a deep breath before the storm. They are preparing for a potential influx of patients by using their supply of personal protective equipment prudently. It’s their first line of defense. Without it, nurses, doctors and technicians will be in real danger. And by extension, so will patients. Postponing elective surgeries is one step being used to preserve PPE, and the move also keeps other precious resources free in case they are needed for severely ill patients. It’s difficult for patients who have been waiting months for a knee replacement or bariatric surgery, but the decision is designed to save lives.
The folks at the Fauquier Free Clinic are continuing to care for residents who have limited or no health insurance. They too, are taking creative steps to minimize exposure for their staff and volunteers and preserve PPE. Fauquier residents are good people. They want to help, but the usual avenues of comfort aren’t open to us. We can’t visit the sick. We can’t hold large fundraisers. We can’t provide “an extra pair of hands” for exhausted health care workers. Those hands might be infected. Sewing face masks won’t help. The masks that can be produced that way won’t protect against the coronavirus. The best help we can offer is to protect ourselves and our loved ones by practicing social distancing, staying healthy and steering clear of the hospitals, urgent cares and doctors’ offices unless it’s imperative. Without a vaccine or even any treatment options, self-isolation is our best tool to slow down the spread of the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And it’s the best way to protect health care workers as they prepare for what’s to come.
FROM THE PUBLISHER OF THE FAUQUIER TIMES The daily news has all of us reeling as the coronavirus dominates every conversation. For the foreseeable future, our format will be news only. There are two reasons we have made this difficult choice. Our loyal advertisers have suspended their support as they tighten their belts, so our page count has been severely reduced. We have decided to focus that precious newsprint on essential news. Remember that even though our print paper is lighter, we continue to publish news stories every day at Fauquier.com, for those of you who have internet access. The articles that filled our Lifestyle, Business and History sections were
largely about activities and businesses that are suspended for now. When those activities resume, we plan to continue that coverage. Although our offices are closed to the public, our editors and reporters remain on the job. Our new hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feel free to call 347-4222 with questions or concerns, or email FrontDeskTeam@fauquier.com. We are committed to serving our community; with your help we can navigate our way through these troubling times together. CATHERINE M. NELSON Publisher, Fauquier Times
