EXTRA INNINGS: Liberty softball rallies from 8-run deficit to beat Kettle Run. Page 19
April 10, 2019
Our 202nd year | Vol. 202, No. 15 | www.Fauquier.com | $1.50
Parks, playgrounds debut in time for spring
Riverside Preserve opens April 13 Park will provide first Rappahannock access for Fauquier residents By Debra H. Smyers Contributing Writer
The new Riverside Preserve park in Marshall offers Fauquier County’s first public river access to the Rappahannock River, “all because a contribution made it possible,” said Larry Miller, director of Fauquier County’s parks and recreation department. Charles K. MacDonald, who is retired and lives in Madison County, donated the 196-acre site to Fauquier County in October 2018. MacDonald and his family took pleasure in the scenic views along the river and created trails for hiking.
See PRESERVE, Page 7 Charles MacDonald donated the nearly 200-acre site to Fauquier County. PHOTO COURTESY OF FAUQUIER COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT
TIMES STAFF PHOTO/ROBIN EARL Rady Park in Warrenton celebrated the opening of its new playground on Saturday. Participants were enthusiastic. Above, mom Shannon Nash is the engine behind the new twirling mushroom.
Additional photos, page 2
Baby chicks lost as fire destroys Greenpark Lane home By Robin Earl
Times Staff Writer
Sherry Nichols, of 6062 Greenpark Lane in Warrenton, cried as she watched a couple of dozen firefighters blast water into her house Thursday, attempting to put out the flames. She and her three dogs made it out before the fire moved from the garage into the three-bedroom house, but about 20 baby chicks in the garage were lost. Nichols’ thoughts kept coming back to “her babies.” She was raising the chicks for her son, who lost his own house in Remington to a fire in January 2018. “I was raising the chicks so he could have chickens at his new house in Spotsylvania. INSIDE Business.............................................15 Classified............................................43 Communities......................................38 Faith...................................................34
“I was raising the chicks so he could have chickens at his new house in Spotsylvania. They were 6 weeks old. We were just about to move them out of the garage.” SHERRY NICHOLS
They were 6 weeks old. We were just about to move them out of the garage,” said Nichols, who is 60 years old. “I am disabled, so keeping chickens gives me a little something to do.” Nichols said that the tragic chain of events started when a pine tree in her neighborhood fell
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about two weeks ago and hit some power lines. “The power company shut off the power this morning at about 9:45,” she said. “I went into the garage and moved the heat lamp that we use for the chicks. The power was already off by then.” Nichols thinks that the power must have come on about 1 p.m. She believes that the heat lamp may have been resting on a rug on the floor and caught fire when power returned to the lamp. She said that she noticed some smoke in the backyard between 1:15 and 1:30 p.m. and thought a neighbor must be burning something. “But then I realized — the garage!” she said.
See FIRE, Page 6
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