SPORTS: Andrew Ryman and Mary Rodman are 2024 Liberty High Athletes of the Year. PAGES 13, 14, 16 July 10, 2024
Our 207th year | Vol. 207, No. 28 | www.Fauquier.com | $2.00 VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION: BEST SMALL NEWSPAPER IN VIRGINIA 2017-2023
Mannino family vows to rebuild after devastating fire By chance alone, Felesha Mannino was home when the fire broke out By Tate Hewitt Staff Writer
Felesha Mannino was not supposed to be home when a fire broke out on her family’s Opal Road farm. She was supposed to take her injured dog, who needed X-rays and possibly surgery, to see Dr. Kent Smith at Willow Animal Hospital. But Smith died unexpectedly the night before, and Mannino was never called to the animal hospital. Instead, she spent the day at Mann-I-No Family Ranch, where there is always something to do — work that Mannino knows is a dwindling privilege in Fauquier County, where farmland is shrinking. Then, one tragedy followed another that afternoon, when the Mannino family barn caught fire — destroying what she called the “heart” of the farm. So, by chance, she was there to
TIMES STAFF PHOTO/FLORENCE SHEN
Felesha Mannino, 32, stands in the remains of the barn that caught fire last month. see two years of hard work and money burn to the ground. The fire likely sparked at about 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 27, while Mannino was working around the farm and first noticed a sweet, burning smell.
flame coming up over the back corner of the barn. Angelina called 911 while Mannino sprang into action, hooking up three hoses and running inside the barn with a fire extinguisher. But a breeze was sucking the fire along the barn’s roofline. Its plastic skylights began to melt, dripping hot plastic all around her. “I knew I had to get out of there,” she said. By the time she escaped, the whole roof was ablaze. “It (took) six minutes from the phone call to it pretty much being engulfed,” she said. While several area fire departments raced to the farm, the Mannino’s neighbors were the first to arrive. They helped get all their animals — chickens, goats, sheep, pigs and horses — safely out of the burning building and the adjoining barn. Then, volunteer fire companies from Warrenton, Catlett, New Baltimore, Amissville and Little Fork responded to the scene aided by the
After checking the property, she pushed the whiff to the back of her mind. She smelled smoke all the time on the farm. But around 4:14 p.m., Mannino’s sister, Angelina, spotted a small See FIRE, page 6
Fauquier school board has no plans to leave Virginia School Board Association By Meghan Mangrum Deputy Editor
vices, governance training and even assistance with superintendent searches. Some school boards cut ties with their state organizations in 2021 after the National School Board Association asked the federal government to investigate threats made against school board members around the country. Some state organizations, including the Virginia School Board Association, opted to cut ties with the national group, instead. A conservative-leaning alternative, the School Board Member Alliance of Virginia, has emerged in the past year, and at least five school boards have left the Virginia School Board Association
The Fauquier County School Board has no plans to leave the Virginia School Board Association, even as other school divisions across the state, including nearby Warren County, break ties with the organization over claims that the group doesn’t align with more conservative values. The Virginia School Board Association is the longest-running organization dedicated to serving school boards in the state. The group acts on behalf of its members, lobbying and representing school board interests at the state capitol. It also offers school boards a range of services, including professional development, legal ser- See SCHOOL BOARD, page 6
TIMES STAFF PHOTO
Fauquier County School Board chair Susan Pauling speaks during a school board meeting.
Sound House music lessons help recent grad thrive, page 4
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