SPORTS: Kettle Run and Fauquier compete for state berths in golf this week. Page 13
September 26, 2018
Our 201st year
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Vol. 201, No. 39
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www.Fauquier.com
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Special section Pages 19-26
$1.50
A hurricane travel ‘tail’ goes viral Local man rescues N.C. woman and her farm animals from Home Depot parking lot By Vicky Moon
Contributing Writer
Was it coincidence, fate or sheer luck when Melanie Torris and her horse, Sunny, met up last week with Fauquier farmer Dennis Pearson in the parking lot of the Home Depot in Warrenton? Torris, who lives in Beaufort, North Carolina, had barely escaped the wrath of Hurricane Florence. Just before the storm hit, she hurriedly loaded up her quarter horse, a dozen chickens and three cats in her 25-foot stock trailer and hooked it to her truck. As the storm was still gathering offshore, Melanie’s mother, Darlyne Torris, who lives in the Marsh Run subdivision in Bealeton, called Melanie to warn her of the impending danger. Darlyne also traveled to North Carolina to help her daughter board up.
See TAIL, page 4
PHOTO BY LEONARD SHAPIRO Melanie Torris with her horse, Sunny, and Dennis Pearson, owner of Soldiers’ Hill Farm in Warrenton.
A gift of LOVE arrives by rail New sign depicts a fanciful locomotive By Anita L. Sherman Community Editor
It was hot and muggy late afternoon, but the weather didn’t deter more than 100 from gathering at The Depot Park near the Warrenton Branch Greenway for the unveiling of Old Town Warrenton’s first LOVE sign. Warrenton has now officially joined Virginia’s “love trail” with Dorothy Smith’s whimsical and colorful welded-steel sculpture. Staying with a locomotive theme that not only honors the history of this location but suggests forward movement, Smith’s design incorporates the L-O-V-E letters and has them astride a rail car base. While the lavender wheels wouldn’t pass with the Norfolk Southern, they make for a fun feature of this art installation. Look closely and you’ll see the cow catcher on the front and the blue INSIDE Business...............................................9 Classified............................................42 Communities......................................34 Faith...................................................38
letter “L” serves as the smoke stack with plumes of twisting colored steel rising into the air. Smith’s color palate is pastel, incorporating fanciful hues of blue, pink, lavender and green. Smith, a local artist, was thrilled to be asked to design the sculpture, which has been in the works for a little over a year. It wasn’t without its challenges, as Smith said in her remarks, but ultimately, it is a piece close to her heart. “What does it mean to plunk a large sculpture that announces love in the middle of your town?” she asked in a philosophical manner, adding, “Does it mean we carry that into our community in acts of kindness and care?” Smith sees her sculpture as much more than pieces of painted steel announcing love is in the air. She hopes that when folks see it, they will be reminded to extend themselves in different ways, to perhaps bring the town closer together and to move forward from the past with a new identity, a fresh outlook. “Let’s harness art in public spacLibraries.............................................37 Lifestyle..............................................27 Looking Back......................................17 Opinion.................................................6
PHOTO BY COY FERRELL Warrenton’s LOVE sculpture was unveiled last Thursday, Sept. 20. Aboard the playful piece are designer Dorothy Jackson Smith, left, Sunny Reynolds, chair of the Experience Old Town Warrenton design committee, center, and real estate entrepreneur and benefactor Matt Iten. es and make our community great,” said Warrenton Mayor Carter Nevill, who expressed his desire that Smith’s sculpture be the first of many pieces of public art in the community. Nev-
ill said the town council looks to the establishment of an arts commission to encourage more artistic endeavors.
See LOVE, page 5
Obituaries...........................................39 Puzzles.................................................8 Real Estate..........................................33 Sports.................................................11