Late December 2014 Warren and Frederick County Report

Warren FREE County Report WarrenCountyVA.com

Volume IX, Issue 25 · Late December, 2014

FrederickCounty.com

Small Business, Big Business – Glaring Differences

Stokes General Store

K-mart Corporate

A History of Community

2

Silence on higher ‘Sales’ prices 6

29

Happy Creek Coffee fights back 10

Competition & Comradery

One year after the tragedy Returning to the Boston Marathon

28

8-9

Page • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

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Business

Stokes General Store - still here, still family-owned, operated For 70 years quality clothes and footwear, eclectic mix of merchandise

Owner Andy Stokes converses with customers in front of Front Royal’s Stokes General Store

By Roger Bianchini Warren County Report Contrary to media reports elsewhere, Stokes General Store or “Stokes by the bridge� as some locals call it, was not involved in the recent rash of commercial property sales in Front Royal’s Historic Downtown Business District. Rather, it

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was Stokes Mart, across and up East Main Street that was sold with Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority help.

Stokes General Store remains owned and operated by the Stokes family, as an early-December winter

clothing restocking trip conversation with owner-proprietor Andy Stokes confirmed. “No, we’re still here and I’m still here doing business,� Andy said as he saw me eyeing a new and yet-to-be cut wheel of sharp cheddar cheese he had just put out. The cheese wheel is just one of the distinctive inventory items that gives Stokes General Store its rural, small-town America ambience.

How has the store’s inventory developed such a unique cross section of clothing, work, hiking and cowboy boots, camping gear, riding accessories – for both two-wheeled and four-legged transportation – cooking, candy and condiments, we asked. Andy explained the store’s origin in 1944 under the direction of his grandfather, Alvin B. Stokes. “He was in army surplus, getting together lots of gas cans, overcoats, combat boots, pants and shirts; he ran the thing and eventually added commercial lines like Wolverine, Carhartt, whatever was available for

the working man,� Andy said as he retrieved a black and white photo of the store front from those early days.

And indeed, as described are what appear to be army coats, gas cans and wooden boxes filled with a variety of items under signs “J.J. Warren� and “Stokes–transfer–coal–yard� on the original wooden building already showing its age circa the mid-1940s. “And then he got into other things, tried to go with what was popular, like motorcycle gear, leathers and all that kind of thing – because there’s a multitude of bikers out there paying

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way too much for their gear; so there was a real good market for that; and whatever we can get for the working man. I’ve been doing that, as a manager here, since 1976. And then my granddad passed, he would have been 80, so it was 1979, and I’ve been running it ever since. With check cashing, keeping all the different lines in here so people can find what they’re looking for, it’s pretty much a full time job for me, about 52 hours a week.�

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Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page

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Merry Christmas and Joyous New Year!

Our Food Pantry has a NEW Location!!

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It has been one year since my dear husband, Lloyd, died at your facility. I will be forever grateful for the loving care you gave to him. I pray for you regularly.

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To all the wonderful staff who take care of my mother, Genevieve I wanted to let you know that I am thankful for you and hope that you and your families have a very happy Thanksgiving.

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Thank you for the lovely flowers, and all your many kind things you did for her. You all were so very good to her. May God bless you!

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Page • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

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Business STOKES, from Observing three clerks on duty seamlessly interacting, guiding customers to their desired products, preparing bags of candy and cashing out those done with their shopping forays, we asked about staff continuity and the kind of business-clientele relationship developed over years.

“Some of our people, like Charlene Weaver, have been here 10, 12 years; and one man, Mike Rosenberry, off and on has been here, I’m going to say close to 25 years,” Andy said of that well-oiled Stokes General Store retail machine at work early this 2014 Christmas season. “And yeah, we’ll get the same people year after year.

And it’s not just from here, people will travel from Orange County, Page County, Shenandoah, over there in Clarke, Fauquier, all the way around us. And if we don’t remember the names – so many people come through that door – we sure know the faces.”

I asked how both the lingering aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008, as well as the changing commercial blueprint of Warren County, with its north corridor national chain big-box retailers, was impacting one classic example of the independent, family-owned and operated retail store.

“I guess we’re lucky to have the business we do have. We sell lots of boots, Wolverine, Chippewa …

When the big guys get a certain item, we probably don’t want to carry that.

So, we kind of have to buy around what they specialize in and stick with brand names that people know and trust. Working men like what they know; they don’t want some generic brand that’s going to fall apart.”

As for that competitive strategy to battle “the big guys” and the aftermath of a recession still being felt across Main Street America, Andy observed, “This year we thought we might go down some because the Zachry people tied to the Dominion Power generating plant, they are pulling out now (at last count slightly over 300 remained of a largely imported work force topping out around 1800 last year). One guy today said he was getting ready to pull out to another job in North Carolina. But last year they had all those guys out of the Deep South freezing to death up here and we had a lot of merchandise they needed and were able to take care of most everybody.

“And this year we thought it was going to be a downturn for us as they pull out, but actually we’re ahead of where we were last year. I guess we’ve been very fortunate to have this early winter because we’ve been moving a lot of socks, gloves and insulated wear.”

“Speaking of winter wear – that’s why I’m here,” I reminded myself, getting Andy to point me to the me-

Now about that BIG chunk of cheese, Andy …

Stokes General Store circa its 1944 beginnings

‘Stokes by the bridge’ from the bridge over Happy Creek just off Commerce Avenue on East Main Street, Front Royal.

Part-owner Sandra Lingle, blue, and Jenn Feathers help customer Ruby Updike check out. In background on a busy Wednesday afternoon, Pat Dunn, red hat, helps another customer as Andy Stokes tackles a new cheddar cheese wheel – save me a slice, Andy. dium winter sock rack.

“Get yourself some of that cheese while you’re here too,” Andy said, recalling my earlier, yearning glance as he broke open the new sharp cheddar cheese wheel.

“I think I will, Andy, I think I will – don’t let me forget it after I get my

socks – and some photos while I’m here.”

And so it goes in one small-town, American Main Street retail outlet in the Shenandoah Valley, where 70year-old family businesses survive on strength of product, customer service and community ties.

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Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page

Page • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

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The Sears Holding Company Code of Conduct promised that SHC “values honesty, integrity and adherence to the highest ethical standards.” Okay, that’s good to know but sort of left us hanging on the alleged “sales” pricing discrepancies we were alerted to.

Business

The Kmart liquidation pricing merry-go-round Parent Sears Holding Company mum on liquidation pricing policies

Bye

By Roger Bianchini Warren County Report After receiving assertions from two readers that Front Royal’s Kmart was misleading customers with advertising assertions about “SALES” price savings related to its going out of business sale, we decided to explore.

The jewelry department, advertising discounts of “25% to 70% OFF” was singled out for special scrutiny by one reader. They asserted that a certain type of earring their wife was particularly fond of had typically sold for $11 in recent years. The December 2014 price, including the advertised 25% to 70% discounts was suddenly $16, the customer discovered upon trying to take advantage of the “Holiday” season sale.

Another caller cited alleged 30percent discounts on Christmas tree ornaments and accessories that they found to be higher than some competing retailers’ normal pricing.

We initially went online to search Sears Holding Company (SHC), Kmart’s controlling corporate entity, for contact information. Plowing through numerous references we found it impossible to find a contact number directly to corporate headquarters in order to inquire about company pricing policies, particularly during “Going out of Business” sales.

We did, however, find a list of SHC’s Board of Directors and a “Corporate Governance – Code of Conduct” posted on the company’s website. That Code of Conduct promised that SHC “values honesty, integrity and adherence to the highest ethical standards.”

Okay, that’s good to know but sort of left us hanging on the alleged “sales” pricing discrepancies we were alerted to.

We scrolled through the Code of Conduct and found nothing related to “sales” pricing policies, and only a brief “Business Practices Committees” section citing “a systematic approach to drive compliance, accountability, and results in the Company … and setting the standard for adherence to the Code of Conduct”.

A follow-up section titled “Sensitive Investigations Committee” dealt with complaints. Complaints were categorized under six bullets, including three that focused on managing bad publicity and a potential loss of customer confidence.

Unable to contact corporate offices, we called Front Royal Kmart Store Manager Paget Stevens. Stevens informed us that pricing during the store’s “Going Out of Business” final months “Sale” was not handled internally, but rather by a liquidation company. Stephens added that many items now being pushed through the Front Royal Kmart were brought in by the liquidator from other locations. Different product pricing at those other locations was a possible

Sale? explanation for any “sales” pricing discrepancies, Stevens reasoned.

In fact, she added that the liquidator had a “boots on the ground” (my term) presence in the store – a manager named Bernie who was out at the time of our call. We left our name, number, citing questions about liquidation “SALE” pricing and requested a call back from the liquidator manager.

Within the hour on December 5, we got a call back, however, not from “Liquidator Bernie”, but Stevens. She told us that Bernie had given her a number for the Sears Holding Company Public Relations Department for me to contact about the liquidation process.

Calling the Chicago prefixed 847 number, we got a recorded message indicating the primary public relations person was out of the office that day and through the weekend, with an alternate number to call for “reporters on deadline.” We called that number, got another recorded message and left our contact informa-

tion, stating we had questions about the “liquidation process at the Front Royal, Virginia Kmart.”

Having gotten no call back by Monday, December 8, we again called the primary public relations number again getting only recorded messages. As of publication a week after our initial call, we have yet to get a call back from anyone in the Sears Holding Company Public Relations Department.

So it seems that while in-house management and staff at a specific store may, in fact, care about and be

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held accountable for integrity in retail operations, once the liquidation process is initiated at the corporate level, all bets on those Code of Conducttouted values of “honesty, integrity and adherence to the highest ethical standards” are – well, operating in an informational vacuum your guess is as good as ours as to the rationale for higher “Sales” prices – though we certainly have our own theory on the corporate silence.

So, rather than leave a community with which you have had a long business relationship with a good taste in its mouth, it seems that a corporate strategy of consolidation, store closings and product liquidation stresses one final Black Friday-Holiday Seasonal run to the bank fueled by misleading “Sales” pricing.

But hey, what can you expect? After all, unlike human people, corporate “people” have only one legal or it would seem “moral” obligation – to maximize profits and make money for corporate ownership, officers and/or stockholders.

Caught in the middle are the store manager and employees at the bottom of the corporate totem pole, facing unemployment and uncertain futures – so remember, DON’T take it out on them, they are only pawns in one corporate person’s game …

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Letters

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Readership: 30,000 and growing Press releases should be emailed to: briefs@warrencountyreport.com Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Daniel P. McDermott editor@warrencountyreport.com General Counsel: Georgia Rossiter, Esquire (540) 535-2001 Roger Bianchini, Senior Writer (540) 635-4835 rogerb@warrencountyreport.com Reporter: Sue Golden Copy Editor: Laura Biondi editor@warrencountyreport.com Feature Writer: Carol Ballard crawford0905@gmail.com National & Agency Advertising: Alison Duvall: (540) 551-2072 alisond@warrencountyreport.com Advertising Sales Representatives: Alison Duvall: (540) 551-2072 alisond@warrencountyreport.com Angie Buterakos: 540-683-1847 fcrwcr@gmail.com Billing Coordinator: Pam Cole: billing@warrencountyreport.com Graphic Design & Layout: Jeff Richmond and Bugsy Cline layout@warrencountyreport.com Contributors: Malcolm Barr Sr. Ken Thurman Ryan Koch, Cartoonist Extraordinaire Kevin S. Engle, Humor Columnist Leslie Fiddler, Writer If you are interested in contributing articles to our paper, please e-mail: editor@warrencountyreport.com This publication is proudly printed on 100% recycled paper with soy-based ink.

Farewell, Mr. Parker Editor: I remember a day years ago when I got some bad advice from a woman, who blindly, without any direct knowledge, cast judgment on a candidate that she did not know. She judged this man to be unworthy of the role of leadership. Less experienced in the political sphere some six years ago, I followed her uninformed advice – and to this day I have regretted that decision. I have watched this man grow from a freshman Town Councilman initially appointed by council to fill a vacancy into the Vice Mayor he is today.

December 8 is Vice-Mayor Shae Parker’s last council meeting. I wanted to express to him my sincerest thanks for his dedication to service, his sacrifice and willingness to serve the citizens of Front Royal.

Shae Parker did not use his position of power to push any agenda other than simply to serve his beloved Town of Front Royal and her citizens. That is what has always set Shae apart from some other councilmen. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, Vice-Mayor Parker served his fellow citizens without any partisan or self-serving agenda.

We have come to rely on Vice-Mayor Parker for his sage advice and his strong commitment to service and fiscal responsibility. His voice was always the logical one, the one where common sense ruled. He never voted on any issue that he didn’t research and do his homework on.

And he was always ready and willing to listen to his fellow citizens, all the while keenly aware of his place as an elected official, always accountable to the people. The votes he cast were not always the popular ones; but never let it be said that Vice Mayor Shae Parker didn’t do his duty.

As Vice-Mayor Shae Parker lays down the mantle of leadership to be picked up by another, we are fully aware of the treasure we are losing. Mr. Parker, I know you do not like to be in the spotlight. However this is the exception to the rule. A grateful group of citizens of the town that you lovingly served so unselfishly thank you for your dedicated

service and personal sacrifice to the job of councilman and vice mayor. It is our sincerest hope that you will again pick up the mantel of leadership if it should ever present itself to you in the future. God bless you Mr. Parker, you have done your town a great service and we shall not forget.

Tim Ratigan Front Royal (Ratigan planned to read this statement at the Dec. 8 council meeting, but could not attend due to family matters. So, he submitted it to us as a fond, public farewell to the vice mayor. Asked if he cared to identify the “woman” who’s bad advice he initially took on Parker, Ratigan replied “why not?” – So I guess it wasn’t Vice-Mayor Parker that Mark Kay Clark was present to bid adieu to at the Dec. 8 council meeting.)

Government spending Editor: As a relatively new resident of Front Royal I have been edified by the wonderful work the churches do in constantly collecting and distributing food to the needy among us, especially so during the Thanksgiving-Christmas season. The families of this Warren County are doing their best to share with neighbors who need a little help.

I sometimes wonder if those elected officials, political appointees, senior federal employees, contractors and lobbyists who reside in DC and its affluent suburbs have any concept of what the economy is like elsewhere. That thought struck me as I was reading the web page of the U.S. Congressman into whose District I have recently moved. The first thing I noticed on Representative Bob Goodlatte’s page is a running meter showing the debt we and our children owe to those from whom Congress borrowed it. That meter is rolling up the dollars so fast I couldn’t figure out how fast the debt was climbing by studying it. (Elsewhere I have read that it is $2.5 million every minute.)

“Ah”, I said to myself, “I have a Congressman who cares about how broke we are.” I clicked on the “Learn More” button under the running meter and

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found a page entitled “Budget/Fiscal Responsibility”. Quoted there are the words of Thomas Jefferson: “To preserve [the] independence [of the people,] we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude.” The fiscal position of Congressman Goodlatte, written when the debt was $2 trillion less than now,insists that “We simply cannot allow this spending spree to continue.” (Note to Mr. Goodlatte: It is not “we” who have been on the spending spree but Congress.) Mr. Goodlatte went on to tell us what we all already knew: “It is a simple concept -- you can’t spend more than you take in.

Business owners, individuals and families all across this country understand this concept and live by it in their own lives. They should expect nothing less from the federal government and yet Congress continues to prove it cannot make the tough decisions on its own. We must rein in the skyrocketing deficit spending that is discouraging investment and threatening to bankrupt our nation.”

I read Rep. Goodlatte’s written fiscal position the same day, December 5th, that I also read that The House of Representatives passed H.Res. 758. H. Res. 758 urged the President to initiate a new Cold War with Russia and to send arms and provide training to the corrupt and bankrupt government of the Ukraine. The cost of these arms and training to be sent was not mentioned in the resolution so it was more or less a “blank check” of the kind Congress has been passing for years. The vote was so lopsided, 411-10, it is difficult to believe that the costs were even considered or the policy implications of intervention in another foreign civil war were debated. I realize that in terms of the massive wasteful spending of the Federal Government, the “arms and training” the U.S. House wants sent to the Ukraine are a “drop in the bucket” but I think it is symptomatic of Congress’ problem. How can it be that Mr. Goodlatte simultaneously believes what he writes about “Budget/Fiscal Responsibility” and votes for initiation of a new Cold War? Isn’t this foreign military involvement of the type that in this 21st Century squandered the “Peace

Dividend” that resulted from the end of the last Cold War and that made the U.S. so prosperous during the 1990s? The cost of a new Cold War with Russia will not be “a drop in the bucket”. Who will benefit from this except the money lenders to the Government and the stockholders of the weapons industry. It won’t reduce the need for the churches to help feed Warren County’s poor.

Thanks to the endless lust for military action (as long as it is not their sons and daughters lives being sacrificed) the Washington-based elite have taken us from prosperity to being the world’s largest debtor nation.

Instead of sending “arms and training” to support corrupt politicians abroad, how about sending some medical care to the veterans who bore the mental and physical cost of our two still- ongoing no-win wars?

If our Congressmen actually lived among us and saw how needy some of our people are, would they glibly vote to spend whatever it costs to prop up the Ukraine? Is there anyone in Warren County who wants to go to war with Russia over Lithuania or any of Russia’s other little neighbors that Congress has obliged the U.S. to do by enticing those countries to join the NATO military alliance?

Some critics say Congress “spends like a drunken sailor.” But drunken sailors have more decency than Congressmen and Senators because they spend their own money and when they run out of money they stop drinking.

Congress lacks the integrity to raise taxes to pay for its spending decisions and just “puts it on the credit card”. In this way Congressmen can vote for the benefit of whatever special interest will contribute to their re-election and fool the voters into believing they are on our side against high taxation. If they raised taxes to pay for their spending their scheme would collapse. Is there any parent who would run up a credit card debt and legally bind his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to make the payments? This is what Congress has done and the debt is so high that future generations will be slaves to debt just to pay the interest on it.

Thomas L. McFadden, Sr. Front Royal

Warren County Report Alison Duvall Advertising Sales

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Page • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

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Briefs Walgreens, United Way of Northern Shenandoah Valley and FamilyWize Team Up To Provide Flu Shot Vouchers For Uninsured and Underinsured Individuals and Families FamilyWize Community Service Partnership and United Way of Northern Shenandoah Valley are dedicated to building strong communities through better health. FamilyWize has been selected to help distribute 1,000 free flu shot vouchers provided by Walgreens. The vouchers are for families and individuals who are uninsured or underinsured, and otherwise unable to afford a flu shot without the voucher.

The flu can have significant impact on the lives of many individuals, especially those with lower income and/or who are either underinsured or not insured. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports parents spend between $300 to $4,000 in medical expenses and miss an estimated 11 to 73 hours of work when their children get the flu.

“Many of the families we support cannot afford the cost of an influenza vaccination let alone the direct medical costs and time away from work if they or someone in their family contracts the flu,” commented Dan Barnes, CEO of FamilyWize. “Families who are unable to afford proper

Residential fire in Middletown At approximately 8:45p.m., December 8, 2014, Frederick County Fire and Rescue responded to a residential structure fire located at 500 Reliance Road in Frederick County. When crews arrived they saw smoke and fire coming from two windows on the first floor of the residence.

In approximately twenty minutes the fire crews had the bulk of the fire extinguished. Fire crews operated in an extensive mop up phase checking for fire spread into concealed spaces due to age of the building and construction design. Fire department personnel remained on scene approximately five hours for salvage and overhaul.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. At the time of the fire no one was in the home.

No civilian or firefighter injuries reported.

Fire and Rescue units from Middletown, Stephens City, Frederick County Battalion 10 Duty Officer, the Fire Marshal’s office and assistance from Warren County and Shenandoah County responded to the incident.

medical coverage need support from community partners to stay healthy and financially stable.”

Joe Shtulman, President of the United Way of Northern Shenandoah Valley noted that affordable health care is important to local families.

He reported that individuals can apply to receive a free flu shot voucher by visiting the FamilyWize website (www.FamilyWize.org). The vouchers have been provided by Walgreens as part of a nationwide program with

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which helps to make flu shots available to people without health insurance coverage and who are unable to afford a flu shot through the program. In addition to the free flu shot vouchers, which are available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last, everyone visiting the website (www.FamilyWize.org) can get a free FamilyWize prescription savings card for savings up to 75% off cost of their prescrip-

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H.N. Funkhouser & Company and ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Continue Support of Frederick County Public Schools with Grants Totaling $10,000 For the 14th consecutive year, Winchester-based H.N. Funkhouser & Company has provided grants to Frederick County Public Schools to support math and science programs.

H.N. Funkhouser & Company President Bob Claytor and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ken Rice presented each of Frederick County Public Schools’ 20 principals with checks totaling $10,000.

The grants are awarded annually by the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance thanks to support from H.N. Funkhouser & Company.

Frederick County Schools Superintendent David Sovine says, “Frederick County Public Schools benefits from a wide variety of business partnerships and is grateful for the support provided again this year by H.N. Funkhouser & Company. The funds that Mr. Claytor and Mr. Rice have helped secure through the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance will enable our schools to invest in additional tools and programs to help engage students in math and science.

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Page 10 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

“He thought he still owned anything he built. When we fired him, he tried to take all the chairs he built with him, claiming they were his ‘intellectual property’. He specifically thinks that after a few weeks of paid work, he had an ownership stake in the place.” – Manager Olivia Huston

Public safety

Coffee Shop fights back on camera plant allegations General manager, staff cite fired day laborer’s threats against business

Family operation – from left, Manager Kat Lindsley, owners Carson and Brenda Boita with daughter Alexandria, GM Mallory Russo and barista Brandon Belland of the Happy Creek Coffee & Tea House.

By Roger Bianchini Warren County Report

The general manager of a Front Royal coffee shop in which a customer found a camera in the wall of a unisex bathroom used by both customers and staff is poised to issue a press release giving the business and her brother, the shop’s owner’s, side of the story. Happy Creek Coffee & Tea House General Manager Mallory

Russo hopes the press release telling their side of the story, a side they told us their attorney had forwarded to authorities prior to its public release, clears up any uncertainty customers and the general public may have about the situation.

As reported in our mid-November coverage of the case, owner Carson Boita was the primary target of the initial police investigation. However, as previously reported here Boita and

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his attorney, Nancy Williams, believe the Happy Creek Coffee & Tea House and its ownership was targeted by someone with the motive to discredit the business and the know how to install a camera in a wall.

In an exclusive December 9 preview of that press release to be issued by Boita’s sister Mallory Russo, general manager of the Happy Creek Coffee & Tea House, such a suspect was detailed, not only by Russo, but by staff of the shop who have encountered the suspect. Circumstance, access,

ability and motive are all described.

Rather than her brother as a prime suspect, Russo points to “a disgruntled day laborer, the man who was primarily responsible for the bathroom’s buildout and who was fired a few weeks into his employment for increasingly unprofessional and erratic behavior.”

While Russo declines to publicly release the man’s name, she says that the day laborer responded to his termination by openly threatening to sabotage Happy Creek’s premises

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Russo and Carson Boita with customer Len Sherp

and publicly harassing the baristas, Happy Creek’s coffee professionals.

“This man acts unstable and has publicly come after our shop, and myself in particular, many times,” Russo states in the release, adding, “We were forced to serve him with ‘no trespassing’ papers last month because of a public scene where he threatened my brother and me. He said he could hide anything he wanted to at any time in our shop and we wouldn’t even know it.

“We’ve been trying to maintain a professional silence while the police investigate this case, which is why we haven’t spoken up earlier. But enough is enough,” Russo says. “We are realizing that instead of helping an ongoing investigation, our silence has only made the situation more confusing for the people who enjoy our shop.”

Additional supportive testimony from staff about the fired contractor is included in the release: “This guy has been overtly vindictive toward Mallory ever since she had to fire him,” says Kat Lindsley, Happy Creek’s Cafe Manager. “This has been a really distressing situation, but now I am relieved to know that he can’t come here anymore.”

Manager Olivia Huston recalled the day laborer being “volatile” and

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Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 11

“He recently spent a lot of time in the bathroom with a massive rucksack on multiple occasions over the past few months. It didn’t occur to me that he might stoop to something like this, but in light of the confrontation last month, it’s hard to ignore that possibility.� – Master Roaster Brandon Belland

“entitled�. “He thought he still owned anything he built,� Huston recalls. “When we fired him, he tried to take all the chairs he built with him, claiming they were his ‘intellectual property’.

He specifically thinks that after a few weeks of paid work, he had an ownership stake in the place.� “He recently spent a lot of time in the bathroom with a massive rucksack on multiple occasions over the past few months,� recalls Brandon Belland, one of Happy Creek’s baristas and master roaster. “It didn’t occur to me that he might stoop to something like this, but in light of the confrontation last month, it’s hard to ignore that possibility.�

General Manager Russo also contends that the obvious placement of the camera, combined with the lack of any SD card, suggest sabotage. “This camera was meant to be found.

That’s not a hidden camera. That’s a planted camera,� Russo said.

According to affidavits tied to police search warrants, after an un-

named customer discovered the camera lodged in the wall of the coffee shop’s bathroom located “at waist level� “above and behind� the commode they went directly to town police headquarters to report the incident. An initial search warrant was issued that evening, October 13, within an hour of the complaint.

A second search warrant was issued on October 24. No charges have yet been filed in the case. “Since the customer who found the camera disturbed the scene by removing it from the bathroom and putting it in his back pocket, the police investigation has been irreparably hampered,� Russo points out in the release. “Because of that, this case will probably never be legally resolved or closed. And that leaves us and our customers in a bind, where people are waiting for closure that may never come.� “We’re really trying to move forward by making sure our customers feel that this is a safe place to patronize,� says Carson Boita. “We’ve enlist-

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ed outside help to comb the premises to make sure there is nothing else hidden here. We’ve installed locks on the doors to the back areas to make sure that no unauthorized people can get back there. And if the guy violates his trespassing order, police action will be taken. We don’t think he’ll be back.�

Co-owner Brenda Boita, Carson’s wife, also spoke out publicly for the first time in the release, saying, “We have an amazing staff and supportive customer base here at Happy Creek, and they’ve all been here for us through this difficult time. We want to extend a very warm and heartfelt thank you to everyone who continues to put their faith in our familyfriendly business, and in us.�

In fact, Russo points out no staff has left in the wake of discovery of the camera – “And we (staff ) use the bathroom more than anybody,� she noted.

Regular customer Len Sherp, on hand when we visited the coffee house, said of the camera incident, “I just wish everybody would see it for what it is – it appears to be complete nonsense. These are the nicest people in the world and I just hope the community comes out and supports them. If you look beyond the headlines you’ll see that this story is really ridiculous. Our town needs to have vibrant, new businesses and theirs is one I hope is here for good. They are as accommodating as they can be and they are a definite plus for Front Royal.�

Of that accommodating relationship with customers, Sherp added, “They make tremendous, tremendous coffee that they’ll blend to your taste.

For instance this one that I had I was rather particular about and Brandon, he’s the roaster, he whipped up a special blend for me. – And don’t pass

Public safety

Boita points to location of camera discovered in unisex bathroom used by both customers and staff up the baked goods, they’re terrific.�

And totally gluten free, Boita added.

General Manager Russo concluded, “We just want to keep making delicious coffee through the holiday season and beyond. We have lots of amazing things in store for the New Year – and we’d love for all of you to be a part of it.�

Police work FRPD Sgt. Crystal Cline said the matter remains an ongoing investigation that could drag on for up to six months from the time it was reported while the department awaits the result of forensic testing from a state lab. Cline said several items seized during execution of the search warrants and believed connected to the camera and its placement in the coffee shop bathroom was sent to the state lab to see if DNA evidence linked Boita to those items. According to the initial search warrants, Boita was the only potential suspect from whom a DNA sample was taken

by investigators.

Perhaps this new evidence, albeit circumstantial, could expand the police search for DNA evidence tying other suspects to the camera.

Sgt. Cline confirmed receipt of information on the suspect described in the coffee house press release and said that person, along with several others, had been interviewed by police. “The police are doing their job,�

Cline said of follow up on all potential leads in the case.

Cline also expressed knowledge of the confrontation between the terminated laborer and coffee house management and employees leading to the no-trespass filing. It appears that confrontation occurred after police interviewed the unnamed man now cited as a suspect by coffee house ownership and staff.

Boita has offered a $1,500 reward for information on the real perpetrator. We asked whether he would split that reward between his sister Mallory and staff were the cited day laborer tied to the camera. “SURE would,� he replied.

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Page 12 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

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“When you have a council that has this much vision, it should be facilitated with all the armament it needs to move toward the future. My opinion is that the town should be in control of its own destiny.” – Alford Carter in support of a town building inspector

Front Royal

Council hears opinions on town building inspector Support of derelict building initiative at state level approved by 5-1 vote

Tom Conkey voices support for town building inspector

By Roger Bianchini Warren County Report On December 8 the Front Royal Town Council held a public hearing to get input from the community on whether the town should pursue establishing its own building inspection department. Ongoing issues with strict, what some have considered oppressive, interpretations of state building standards have left some, including the Mayor’s Committee on Economic Development calling for an independent town building inspector.

No action was required as the public hearing was called only to get a read on public opinion on the matter.

Seven people spoke, including two members of the mayor’s committee that has pushed the issue back onto council’s front burner. Those members were Apple House proprietor George

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McIntyre and Royal Oak Computer’s owner Craig Laird. Two failed candidates in the November council election, Alford Carter and Linda Allen, joined former mayor and councilman Stan Brooks, former councilman Tom Conkey in pushing council to renew movement toward establishing its

own department.

After Councilman Bret Hrbek read a letter from another mayor’s committee member, Corey Michael, into the record, the count was 7 for, none against and 1 undecided about the town funding and running its own Building Inspection Department.

The undecided vote came from local builder George Cline, who said he was speaking for the Warren County Builder’s Association. Seated with Cline but not speaking was builder’s association member and past president Larry Andrews.

Cline asked for more detailed information before the county’s builders, who will be most impacted, along with those contracting them to build or renovate properties in town, by a new layer of building code enforcement.

“I can’t say it’s a good idea and I can’t say it’s a bad idea either,” Cline told council, reminding them “that time is money, especially in these times.”

And for those who will be impacted those unanswered question about

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whether a town building inspector will help or hinder time and costs within the permitting, inspection and approval process on projects inside the town limits, how the new position will impact them time and moneywise is the pivotal question.

Stan Brooks followed Cline to the

podium, echoing that “time is money,” adding, “when you’re starting a business and money is tight it is a tough road to hoe when you have to back and forth between the town and county every time you want to do something.”

Brooks addressed competition in

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To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847 or Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072 the economic development sphere, saying, “Competition is not a bad word … it drives human beings to do better, it drives innovation. And economic development is competition, it’s nothing to be afraid of … but the competition for economic development can’t be harder for you or you lose. Front Royal is losing the game of

economic development. If you don’t believe that, ride around town – you know it …

“That is your competition,” he said of Warren County, “it doesn’t have to be a bad thing; it doesn’t have to be an ugly thing, but you have to get on [an even] playing field,” Brooks said, stating that without its own building

Front Royal

inspector the economic development playing field was not level.

Brooks traced his personal evolution as an elected official with the town dating back to the mid-1990s when he thought an independent town building inspector was a bad idea – “I was ignorant and stupid because I didn’t know the facts … I didn’t know the ins

and outs, the politics that come into play with this position and how this position can be used in politics” – to now thinking it is an essential step to allow the town to compete on a level playing field with Warren County – “I didn’t understand that the town loses control of its own fate without its own building inspector.”

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He asserted that the town’s codes weren’t at fault, calling them relatively lax compared to many jurisdictions.

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Page 14 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

“Competition is not a bad word ‌ it drives human beings to do better, it drives innovation. And economic development is competition, it’s nothing to be afraid of ‌ but the competition for economic development can’t be harder for you or you lose.â€? – Stan Brooks supporting town official

Front Royal TOWN, from 13 and forth ‌ it doesn’t mean good guys and bad guys – it’s human nature, things happen, especially when you have competing entities. And that’s what happening now, if you want to open a business in Front Royal you have to go back and forth between two entities that are competing for your business. “Warren County is competing and they are kicking your – you know what. That’s okay. What’s not okay is you’re not competing. I would urge you to compete,â€? Brooks said, concluding that he wished he’d listened to former Town Manager Brack Bentley 22 years ago when he broached the idea of a town building inspector – “Front Royal would be a more thriving community today, I truly believe it.â€?

Brooks pointed to coming com-

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mercial development at Avtex, along Happy Creek Road in FRLP’s mixeduse plans, and the new hospital complex off the soon-to-be constructed Leach’s Run Parkway – “There are massive things coming online. Having your own person in place there I believe will be a huge benefit to them, as well as to small business. Front Royal should be a small business Mecca ‌ it’s ideally located for tourism, for small business.â€? Brooks concluded, adding an apology for his brooding analysis as the Christmas Season approached.

In his first public appearance since failing to gain a top three spot in the council race – or even a friendly handshake from county Republican activist Mary Kay Clark at the Company One Precinct Station on Election Day, Carter opened the public hearing telling council he supported the proposed independent town position because vision must translate into action. “As a small child I was always taught that without a vision the people perish. You are servants of the people and I expect you to be able to have and use all, and I mean all, implements that will move us toward the future as fast and as quickly as we possibly can ‌ That should not be handed to a third party. When you have a council that has this much vision, it should be facilitated with all the armament it needs to move toward the future. My

‘Person of interest’ in custody in Warren County homicide

By Roger Bianchini Warren County Report

A man reportedly killed late the evening of Tuesday, December 9, in the Shenandoah Farms area of Warren County has been identified. According to a December 10 press release from the Warren County Sheriff ’s Office, Simon Jefferson Funk, Jr., 42, of Front Royal, “was found deceased from an apparent gunshot wound.�

The press release adds, “The victim was located in a wooded area in the 700 block of Kildare Drive in Warren County during the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 10. The death is being investigated as a homicide and the victim has been taken to the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

A person of interest has been arrested on unrelated charges.�

Sheriff Daniel McEathron said he believed both the victim and person of interest were town residents.

He did not dispute an unconfirmed report we received that the victim may have been a local cab company employee but said the suspected homicide did not appear related to

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Funk’s employment.

Another source said the suspected homicide could have been some sort of crime of passion.

One Facebook poster claimed, “The guy was supposed to kill my aunt (name withheld) and her husband but he accidentally killed Simon funk.� That comment led to the reply, “You seem to know a lot.

Have you given law enforcement a statement?� to which we saw no reply from the person making the original claim.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sergeant Phillip Henry with the Warren County Sheriff ’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at (540) 635-7100.

Citizens can also leave anonymous tips at www.warrencountysheriff. org by clicking on the crime tip hotline tab.

The Front Royal Police Department has been actively assisting with the investigation.

The sheriff ’s office believes the suspected murder was “an isolated incident� presenting no further concern to public safety, according to the press release issued at 3:09 p.m., December 10.

opinion is that the town should be in control of its own destiny.�

Following Carter, Conkey rose to say, “Yea, what he said.� The retired councilman called the councilman who might have been’s remarks “eloquent� and “absolutely true.� Conkey then referenced conversations with in-town businessmen during his fouryear tenure (2006-10) on council. “I had conversations with a lot of the business that were struggling with the county’s building inspector – his philosophy seemed to be ‘bring me another rock.’ �

Conkey elaborate on his metaphor, calling the county building inspector’s stance one of senseless delays over trivial details. “The town has the ability to have a building inspector who not only does what Mr. Carter said, but who works with the citizens, works with the community and works with the businesses.�

Conkey called the town’s planning and zoning department proactive and supportive, stating that a town building inspector would be an extension of that positive outlook. “It will be ‘here’s what we need to do and here’s how we can accomplish what we want to accomplish.’ And that’s what this town needs. We need to have our own person so we can have that kind of control of what’s being done in the town.�

Not so fast?

Former Mayor and town Public Works Director Gene Tewalt said he would only be in favor after more detailed exploration and “if it is fair to

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To enter and/or vote visit the Town’s Facebook Page and click the “Holiday Lights Contest� tab or enter directly through the Town’s Mobile App. Rules and regulations are available when you enter.

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everyone.� Tewalt cited earlier similar enforcement moves that he asserted would have been directed at “the little guy but not at the big guys. I’m not for it right now – we’ve got to get our ducks together and not jump into this too fast.�

However, in his final council meeting following his November defeat at the polls, Vice-Mayor Parker noted the issue has been on council’s plate for two years and had essentially been brushed aside. “For two years council has been indecisive on this issue,� Parker said, adding that if it could help stimulate economic development in town, it would be, not only a good idea, but

that money the town has set aside “for economic development� could be applied to the costs of establishing the department and staff, essentially a building inspector forecast at a salary of around $130,000, with benefits.

Tewalt worried that costs would end up coming in around $200,000 annually due to adding a secretary and other peripheral costs. However, Tewalt reiterated, “I’m not against it ‌ but I don’t want to arbitrarily go for it until we get our ducks in a row.â€?

Reining in the conversation, Hrbek noted that no action was required in the immediate future; that the public hearing’s intent was just to get public feedback.

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Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 15

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847 or Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072 “We’re not rushing into anything … we’ll do the best we can … see what the facts are and get the ball rolling … have the planning commission chime in as well,” Hrbek said as the discussion came to a conclusion.

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Derelict buildings In a related issue the town approved a Resolution seeking state delegate and senate support of a code change

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giving towns the same authority that cities and counties have to move on derelict structures. The only vote against seeking state movement was cast by Funk.

After asking Town Attorney Doug Napier if counties had the same type of authority as cities and receiving an affirmative answer, Funk said, “I won’t support this. The county can do it and this is a lost opportunity to work with our county partners.”

However, Funk’s slightly more tenured colleague Gene Tewalt poohpoohed that notion. He told Funk that over his experience the town had approached the county four or five times on the issue of dilapidated structures and got no meaningful help at all.

“In each case they told us it was livable and we just had to board up the windows and doors so no one could get in. So, we got no response from

the county,” Tewalt said.

Hrbek backed Tewalt up, noting that the referenced cases included the Afton Inn, which the town tried to have declared derelict years before negotiating the swap with the abandoned town hall building.

In fact, during public hearing remarks on the town building inspector’s position, former councilman Tom Conkey also referenced the county’s lack of assistance to the town when it tried to have the Afton Inn declared a derelict structure during his term in office.

“Look at what happened with the Afton Inn – we couldn’t do anything with it because ‘it was okay,’ well it was falling apart but it was okay,” Conkey commented of the county building inspector’s stance.

Despite this information from three sources that predated him on council,

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Front Royal and his previous staunch opposition to “rewarding” the Afton Inn owner with a swap of now derelict structures, town hall being a more historical and more recent and less derelict

structure in his opinion, Funk stuck to his “the county is our pal” guns, voting against seeking help at the state level to give the town its own authority to deal with derelict properties.

Electrical outlet-space heater cited in 4th Street house fire

By Roger Bianchini Warren County Report

Thanksgiving week got off to a rough start for a family on Fourth Street, just off the intersection with Villa Avenue at the foot of the Randolph-Macon Academy campus.

According to a press release from Warren County Fire and Rescue the department received a call at 10:16 a.m. on Monday, November 24, reporting a house fire at 116 West 4th Street, home of the Mopp family.

“Units arrived on the scene within minutes to find a single family home with fire coming from a front window. Quick fire suppression and a primary search of the home revealed that no one was home at the time of the fire. A family pet dog escaped the home when the rear door was opened by the police department.”

This reporter ran into Mopp’s daughter walking her dog in the vicinity of the home several days later. She verified everyone was okay and adjusting to life either with her

grandparents nearby or in temporary accommodations.

“The Fire Marshal’s Office states the fire caused $30,000 in damage to the property and contents which displaced … Mr. Douglas Mopp, 58, the owner/occupant. Mopp and his young daughter will be displaced from the home for an undetermined amount of time and will receive assistance from family,” the press release stated.

“The cause of the blaze was determined to have been caused by an electrical malfunction of an electrical outlet which a portable space heater was plugged into.

“Units from Stations 1, 10, 6 responded to the call.

Timeline Dispatched: 10:16 hrs Chief 100 on Scene: 10:20 hrs Special Call Ambulance 6: 10:24 hrs Engine 1 on Scene: 10:24 hrs Fire Under Control: 10:31 hrs Units Clearing the Scene: 11:30 hrs

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Page 16 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

Front Royal-Warren Co

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Town, county debate traffic impacts of new middle school Tewalt seeks cost-sharing assurances for Happy Rd. Creek improvements

As Town Planning Director Jeremy Camp listens, County Administrator Doug Stanley points to map of area where county’s second middle school will be constructed.

By Roger Bianchini Warren County Report What might have been anticipated to be a fairly routine move toward approval of rezoning for 23 acres on Front Royal’s east side, including about 4 acres for the new county middle school, turned into a lengthy work session discussion about guarantees of shared expenses on future town road improvements in the area.

The acreage in question was part of 84 acres approved for a friendly annexation into the town limits this year. That friendly boundary adjustment south of Happy Creek Road was agreed to, in part to accommodate in-town utility rates for both the planned second middle school and a new Valley Health-Warren Memorial Hospital complex.

County, public school and Economic Development Authority officials were present at a December 1 Front Royal Town Council Work Session to discuss the rezoning and plans for the county’s second middle school with town officials. And it was potential traffic to and from the new 800-student capacity, grades 6-7-8 middle school along Happy Creek Road on the town’s east side that was a concern for at least one councilman.

“My biggest concern is not with the rezoning of the property,” Councilman Gene Tewalt assured county, school and EDA officials before asking for assurances of shared expenses on planned Phase Two improvements to Happy Creek Road inside the town limits … To me you don’t have to be a mastermind to see that road is unsafe. I know VDOT is doing a study on the availability of funds that have been allocated for that part of the road but they’re so slow we’re liable

to be hung up for another five years.

And I have a problem with that because it’s going to be a major, major safety issue. And I don’t want to approve a rezoning and then somebody says ‘you’ve got to build a road there and it all falls back on Front Royal.’

“I don’t think the town should be responsible for building that piece of road in its entirety. I think if we’re going to do a rezoning, the three of us should share the costs in some way … because I don’t want to put the burden on the backs of the taxpayers of Front Royal.”

The county’s perspective But if Tewalt worried about shared responsibility to assure Happy Creek Road improvements in a timely manner, county officials argued that the new school was more likely to reduce school-related traffic congestion along Happy Creek Road into town.

Public School Superintendent Pamela McInnis acknowledged that while the new school’s district had yet to be drawn, it was logical to assume that it would encompass county residents to the east and south, many of whom now travel into and through downtown Front Royal to Warren County Middle School on

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“Buses already travel that road to the high school and middle school,” County Administrator Doug Stanley observed. “Assuming this school ends up taking the Warren County portion of middle school students, I think one of the things you’ll see is that we’re not going to be adding any more bus traffic to Happy Creek Road than already exists there now.

The school buses from Shenandoah Farms and Shenandoah Shores are driving Happy Creek Road in, going to the middle school [in town] and the high school. This school site will cut off some of that traffic … However, I agree with Councilman Tewalt – this road has probably been on the town’s plan for 30-some years … but I think the county’s two-thirds share of Leach’s Run Parkway goes a long way helping to make improvements to transportation in this area.”

Stanley cited traffic stats provided

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by consultant Pennoni & Associates indicating future middle school traffic accounting for only 2.3% to 3.4% (or approximately 160 of 4900-6000) trips in the Happy Creek-Leach’s Run-Shenandoah Shores traffic corridor, dependent on future industrial development in the area.

“Certainly this section of Happy Creek [Road] needs improvement, as does the county section further on down heading out towards Shenandoah Farms,” Stanley said, adding, “the difficulty with where we’re at right now is that the school board, the county and EDA submitted a re-

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“If no one objects we’ll move this to public hearing at the end of January … everyone knows [traffic] is an issue but I don’t think it’s a show stopper.” – Front Royal Mayor Tim Darr on rezoning land for county’s second middle school zoning application nine months ago for this project … We’re anticipating … awarding a contract in March and starting work March or April in order to move into the building in 2017.

“Not that we can’t have the discussion about improvements to Happy Creek, but I think it’s a little disingenuous now, this far along, to inject that into the middle of the discussion,” Stanley said of potential delays to resolve a new cost-sharing issue … we’ve already delayed the project a year. I know the school board is anxious to get the project moving forward.”

‘Where’s our communication?’

Tewalt replied that the work session discussion that night was the first he had heard about it.

“Where’s our communication on this?” Tewalt asked.

Town Manager Steve Burke replied that the application had been in the town planning commission’s hands for review and that it had only been a month since the town received confirmation from the county attorney that the rezoning application needed to move before council for approval.”

“I don’t want to hold anybody up,” Tewalt reiterated of the middle school project, “but I can see right now just

as soon as the school’s built it’ll be our monkey – and I don’t want to see a monkey on the town’s back to build this road … I’d like to see something that is legally binding on the three of us to make sure that we all share in the cost.”

Stanley reiterated the county position that its two-thirds county-town fair-funding formula commitment to Leach’s Run Parkway more than compensated the town for necessary road improvements related to traffic generated by the new middle school.

– “We’re paying two thirds of Leach’s Run Parkway. I think we’re paying more than our fair share of infrastructure improvements,” Stanley told council.

Double-edged sword It was at that point that Tewalt pulled an old “card” from up his sleeve that has been a pivotal play for town representatives for decades – town citizens are also county citizens who pay taxes to support both governments’ activities.

“Doug, let’s go back and re-phrase that,” Tewalt called and raised Stanley’s “fair share” hand. “You’re paying a portion of the costs. We’re already paying our share plus half of your share. We’re 15,000 people – so don’t

come up with that baloney, (town citizens) are paying two thirds of it.”

However, at that point the county administrator got assistance from an unexpected source – Front Royal’s mayor.

“Well I’m probably going to get punched out by all of you all for saying this,” Darr said to his council colleagues. “But the same burden lies with Happy Creek Road, but in reverse.”

“What do you mean reverse?”

Tewalt asked.

“Because if we ask the county to pay a portion for Happy Creek Road, which is town property, the town citizens are paying double again. So, it reverses the [taxing] scenario you just described.”

Stanley then reentered the fray to note that in conditional use rezoning permits whether for private or public sector applicants, transportation proffers can only be sought for traffic generated by the applicant’s project. – “There has to be a nexus between the traffic of the school site to the improvement that you want,” Stanley said of any additional county responsibility for improvements to town roads in the area.

“There have been a lot of court cases (uh oh) on site improvements, and certainly [there is county responsibility for] Leach’s Run Parkway and the

Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 17

Front Royal-Warren Co signaling right there at the site. But when you get a quarter mile down the road it gets a little more fuzzy from the standpoint of is [traffic] directly generated by the school.”

However, Bret Hrbek backed up Tewalt’s belief that the new middle school would add traffic to the section of Happy Creek Road in question. Hrbek cited the increasing number of parents who choose to drive their children to school rather than send them by bus. Tewalt and Hollis Tharpe also pointed to added traffic generated by teachers and athletic competitions at schools.

Regardless of its specific destination, Stanley argued that Leach’s Run Parkway would neutralize much of that traffic because it would likely be coming from multiple directions, not just from the east along Happy Creek Road.

Not a show stopper Again the county administrator got assistance from the town side, this time Town Manager Steve Burke.

– “I would tend to agree with most of what Mr. Stanley said about traffic.

But I would ask the county and EDA to contact VDOT to see if there’s any way they can assist us with accelerating the process and free up the money that VDOT is effectively sitting

Impact of hoarding explored in Osage Street house fire

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During the early morning hours of Saturday, November 29, the Warren County Department of Fire and Rescue responded to a reported residential house fire on Osage Street in Front Royal. Fire crews were dispatched at 2:05 a.m. to 339 Osage Street for reported smoke coming from the roof of a single family home. Dispatchers received conflicting reports about whether people were trapped inside the home.

Crews arrived within minutes and conducted fire suppression operations and quickly extinguished the fire. The primary search for occupants was hampered by what the Fire Marshal is considering “hoarding conditions”. It was eventually determined that no one was home at the time of the fire. The circumstance of the fire remains under investigation.

In the initial fire and rescue press release on the fire, Chief Richard E. Mabie addressed the issue of hoarding as a potential life and death difference maker. “Whenever firefighters encounter a condition such as hoarding, it delays the actions of firefighters and wastes valuable time,” Mabie said in the

release, adding, “Anyone who is experiencing problems with an impulse toward hoarding can contact the Warren County Sheriff ’s Office at (540) 635-4128 to be directed to an appropriate organization for assistance.”

The fire remains under investigation by the Fire Marshal’s Office and the Front Royal Police Department.

Fire companies from Stations 1, 4 responded on the first alarm with Stations 10, 5 added on the second alarm. Station 6 responded on special call for manpower and to assist the Fire Marshal. While the fire was under control in 30 minutes, units worked the incident for over 3 hours due to the conditions.

Assistance was received from the Frederick County Fire Marshal’s Office Canine Division. No damage estimates were immediately available and there were no reported injuries.

Anyone with information on this fire incident is asked to contact Warren County Fire Marshal Gerry Maiatico at (540) 636-3830 or FRPD Detective David Fogle at (540) 635-2111.

on.”

“It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg – if the school’s there … it gives more horsepower to going to the state to say we need this road done quicker,” Mayor Darr said, adding, “And I know Gene’s looking for a cost share but I don’t know how we can cost share on a town-only project.”

After some additional discussion, including of letting the two councilmen-elects, Bébhinn Egger and John Connolly, both of whom were present at the work session, become involved in the rezoning process, Mayor Darr concluded, “If no one objects we’ll move this to public hearing at the end of January … everyone knows [traffic] is an issue but I don’t think it’s a show stopper.”

Letters to the Editor are welcome but must include the author’s name and town and should be emailed to: editor@warrencountyreport.com

“Chain of Checks” continues This year, the Chain of Checks will help three important nonprofits: The Fremont Street Nursery, which provides quality childcare within the financial reach of families, needs a used, 15 passenger van to transport the children to and from their activities. Currently, the director is using her own vehicle and making multiple trips.

Special Love, Inc. will use their Chain of Checks money to cover the cost of their ‘Octoberfest’ weekend for children with cancer and their families.

The WATTS program (Winchester Area Temporary Thermal Shelter) wants to extend their program in providing a warm, overnight shelter and meals for homeless men and women during the winter months.

The Chain of Checks campaign continues through December 31st with on-line, ‘walk-in’ or ‘mail-in’ donations (P.O. Box 3300, Winchester, VA 22604; checks made out to “Chain of Checks”). In addition, area businesses that are partners in “The Chain of Checks 50 Friends” campaign will continue to display their ‘change jars to change lives’ through the 31st.

Chain of Checks is a proud partner of the Community Foundation of Northern Shenandoah Valley.

Page 18 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072 or Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847

Obituaries Sonak, Stan Winn, and Craig Winn.

The family received friends at Maddox Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church Building Fund, 120 W. Main St., Front Royal, VA 22630 or to Blue Ridge Hospice, 333 W. Cork St., Winchester, VA 22601.

Peggy Ann Harmon Lopez

Mary Virginia Heier Jones Mary Virginia Heier Jones, 86, of Front Royal passed away on Saturday, December 6, 2014, in her home.

A mass of Christian burial was held at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Front Royal conducted by the Rev. Jerome Fasano. Burial followed in Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Mrs. Jones was born in Front Royal on November 22, 1928, daughter of the late Tyson E. and Eva E. Kirby Martin. She attended Warren County High School. She was employed by A&P Co. retiring after 33 years. She was a member of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church.

She is survived by her children Diane “Dee” Stokes of Front Royal and her husband Andy, Todd A. Heier of Edinburg and his wife Michelle, Sandy Heier of New Bern, North Carolina, Jerry Heier of Mineral and his wife Brenda; Douglas L. Jones of Winchester and his wife Kacey, Diane Armstrong of Columbus, Ohio, Barbara Downey of Columbus, Ohio, and Carolyn Wrench of Minneapolis, Minnesota and her husband Steve; a brother Charles Martin of West Palm Beach, Florida; ten granddaughters; six grandsons; nine great-grandchildren; and a daughter-in-law Karen Heier of Front Royal.

Mrs. Jones was preceded in death by her first husband Douglas W. Heier to whom she was married for over 47 years; her second husband Robert D. “Bob” Jones to whom she was married for 15 years; a son Gary Eugene Heier; two sisters Jeanette and Mildred; and three brothers Robert Earl, William, and Bob. Pallbearers will be Tom Megeath, Gene Mathews, Mike Sealock, and grandsons Travis Heier, Christopher Heier, and Matthew Heier.

Honorary pallbearers were be Buck Sealock, Buddy Devers, Will

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Peggy Ann Harmon Lopez, 55, of Front Royal, Va, passed away on Sunday, November 30,2014 in the Winchester Medical Center.

Peggy was born July 19,1959 in Burke, Va daughter of Jim Harmon of Hillsboro, WV and the late Betty Lou Crouch Harmon.

Surviving are her husband Martin Lopez of Front Royal; three sons Joey Harmon of Front Royal, Scottie Harmon of Bentonville, and Donnie Edward Harmon of Front Royal; her step-mother Ethel Harmon of Front Royal; seven brothers Jeffrey Eugene Harmon of Front Royal, Kenneth Harmon of Luray, David Harmon of Stanley, Jimmy Harmon of Luray, Henry Harmon of Front Royal, Chris Cameron of Front Royal, and Daniel Harmon of Hillsboro, WV; and two sisters Wanda Strickland of Florida and Pauline Garcia-Lopez of Hillsboro, WV. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her and never forgotten.

Elna Aneita Kearns Boyles Elna Aneita Kearns Boyles, born June 12, 1928 in High Point, North Carolina, went to be with our Lord and Savior, Monday, December 8, 2014 surrounded by her loving family. She was the daughter of the late Robert Roy Kearns and Alma Bernice Spencer Kearns. Elna accepted the Lord as her Savior at the age of 10 and was baptized at Main Street Methodist Church in High Point where she was active in the Methodist Youth Fellowship program.

She was the third generation of her mother’s and father’s families to attend that church. She and her husband, David B. Boyles, Jr. of 47 years were married there on July 18, 1947.

He predeceased her on October 20, 1994.

Surviving is her dear sweet sister, Joyce Kearns Ingram and her husband Kenneth, of Salisbury, North Carolina. Sons, David B. Boyles, III and his wife Debbie; Roy Kearns Boyles and his wife Sharon, of Front Royal, Va. Daughters, Aneita Boyles Bryant and her husband David, and Janine Boyles Evans and her husband John, of Front Royal. Ten grandchildren, Jessie Boyles Cunningham, Bo

Boyles, Brittany Boyles Sager, Brandi Boyles, Spencer Bryant, Saleigh Bryant Gates, Brady Bryant, Sierra Bryant, Noel Jones, Randi Jones.

Seven great grandchildren and a special niece and nephew, Cheryl Barefoot Whitley and Gary Ingram of Salisbury, North Carolina.

Elna graduated from High Point High School in 1946 and went to High Point College majoring in Business Administration. She worked for the North State Telephone Company and when she and her husband moved to Raleigh, NC, she worked as a secretary for the Raleigh City Schools until she started her family.

They moved to Front Royal in 1964 when her husband accepted a job to start a savings and loan company.

Elna was a member of the Marlow Heights Baptist Church, Elevian Sunday School and the Discussion classes. She sang in the adult choir for many years and also served on the Flower and Memorial committees.

She was a life member of the Valley Garden Club. She sang in the Front Royal Oratorical Choir and many years ago was a member of the Home Demonstration Club. She was a good seamstress, having made several tailored suits for herself and beautiful hand smocked dresses for her girls. She also enjoyed needle pointing. She was a volunteer for several years at Warren Memorial Hospital. She attended and supported many of the activities her children and grandchildren were involved in through their elementary and secondary education years. She was proud of all her children and grandchildren.

Elna enjoyed her work at Frank’s Ladies Clothing Store for over 25 years and developed a special friendship with Abe, Naj and Mike Silek and their staff. She enjoyed helping people and truly loved her work and the people that her life touched.

She retired in the early 90’s to take care of her husband. Elna enjoyed spending time with all her family, working in her flowerbeds and arranging flowers while humming her sweet joyful hymns and little tunes.

The most important thing she did to keep herself young at heart was to remain cheerful every day. Taking care of four children was not always easy. She suffered much pain through her adult life as a result of numerous falls, broken bones and illnesses. But she managed to find joy every day and shared her beautiful sweet smile with everyone. She did not complain or feel sorry for herself. She was grateful for life’s simple pleasures, like a bowl of ice cream, a glass of sweet iced tea or just the opportunity to get outside and admire the beauty around her.

She never held a grudge or had an unkind word to say about anyone.

But most importantly she valued people over things. She gave away most of what she owned before her death.

Even through the hard times in her life, she always managed a sweet countenance, a beautiful smile, a warm hug, and a gentle kind word.

Her sense of humor was heightened in her later years and her laughter was both infectious and contagious.

She was a true lady, so full of kindness and grace.

We thank our second family at Hidden Springs Assisted Living for the loving kindness showered over her the past five years. Pallbearers will be grandsons, Bo Boyles, Spencer Bryant, Brady Bryant, Tyler

Boyles, nephew Gary Ingram, Ken Gates and Mike Silek. Honorary Pallbearers are Don Henderson, Dr. J. William Kerns and Warren Watson.

Family visitation will be Friday December 12 at Marlow Heights Baptist Church 517 Braxton Rd Front Royal from 6-8 pm. The celebration of Elna’s life will be Saturday December 13 at 11:00 am at Marlow Heights Baptist Church, 517 Braxton Rd, Front Royal, Va. Interment on Sunday December 14 at 1:00 at Floral Garden Park Cemetery 1730 West English Rd, High Point, NC. Memorial gifts may be sent to Marlow Heights Baptist Church, 517 Braxton Road, Front Royal, Va 22630.

Thomas George Buterakos, Sr.

Thomas George Buterakos, Sr., 88, of Winchester, died Monday, December 8, 2014 in Berryville, VA. He was born July 21, 1926 in Charles Town, WV the son of George N. and Mary Strosnider Buterakos.

He was married to Janice M. Buterakos for fifty-six years.

Mr. Buterakos served in the US Navy and traveled throughout the world with the Merchant Marines.

Surviving in addition to his wife are three sons, Lewis Allen Buterakos and his wife Kathleen of Bluefield, VA, Anthony Wayne Buterakos of Winchester and Thomas G. Buterakos, Jr. and his wife Sandra of Winchester; two daughters, Angela Michele Buterakos of Front Royal and Susan Annette Shelton and her husband Scott of Denver, CO; two sisters, Helen Swartz and Georgia DeMayo both of Winchester; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Two sisters, Despina Calos and Mary Rybaczuk and a brother, Lewis Allen Buterakos are all deceased.

A funeral service will be Sunday, December 14, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. in Phelps Funeral Chapel, 311 Hope Drive, Winchester with Rev. C. Steven Melester officiating.

Friends may call on Sunday, December 14, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at the funeral chapel.

Memorials may be made to Blue Ridge Hospice, 333 W. Cork Street, Winchester, VA 22601.

Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 19

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Community

Elks host Marvin Reifsnyder’s centennial milestone Tributes from near and far – including 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Marvin Reifsnyder is presented a plaque of appreciation by Warren County Board Chairman Dan Murray as Elks Exalted Ruler Dennis Henline, center, and Chairman of the Elks Veterans Rich Crawford look on at 100th birthday party on Dec. 6.

Reifsnyder’s birthday and service to his country were acknowledged by the White House and a card from the First Family.

By Malcolm Barr Warren County Report  Marvin Reifsnyder, subject of a Malcolm Barr feature in our November 25 edition, gathered with fam-

ily and friends for a 100th birthday party hosted by the Front Royal Elks Lodge on December 6. Marvin actually didn’t turn 100 until December 10, but considering his naval service in World War II, the weekend of Pearl

Sailor Marvin and wife Virginia among naval photos commemorating Reifsnyder’s WW II military service – and a life well lived.

From left, daughter in law Libby, granddaughter, son Alan and the guest of honor at the head table. Despite nasty weather and freezing rain warnings a good crowd of well wishers turned out for the party.

Harbor Day seemed an appropriate compromise party date.

The Rockland resident was accompanied by his son, daughter in law and granddaughter, Rockland neighbors,

and was lauded by Elks, American Legion, Warren County and Town of Front Royal officials, among others.

County Board Chairman Dan Murray presented an official Resolution

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acknowledging Reifsnyder’s contributions to his country and community. Sixth District Congressman Bob Goodlatte sent a U.S. flag that he’d had flown above the United States Capitol to commemorate Marvin’s milestone. And a birthday wish from the First Family of President Barack Obama was on display.

Reifsnyder’s son, Alan, a retired Methodist minister, and daughter-inlaw, Libby, traveled from their Florida home to attend the party. Among his gifts, Marvin received a brand new pool cue. Despite failing eyesight, he shoots pool almost daily at Front Royal’s American Legion post, of which he is a member. He’s also a member of the Elks, Moose, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Shenandoah Valley Golf Club.

Memorabilia from his era of military service were on display, as were family photographs, many featuring Marvin’s beloved wife Virginia, who passed away in 2006.

Reifsnyder was born the year World I began (1914), and was among the crew of the destroyer USS Downes standing off the Pacific Island of Iwo Jima the day Japan surrendered in World War II (1945). Photos of the USS Downes on display at his party indicated it, like other ships in the Hawaiian port of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, had been restored to service after being heavily damaged on that “Day of Infamy� that launched the U.S. into the war against Japanese and European fascism. Reifsnyder later did more than two years of wartime duty aboard the Downes, cruising some 200,000 miles of the Pacific mainly hunting Japanese submarines.

Reifsnyder spent his civilian career working at the Pentagon. The Pennsylvania native has lived in the Front Royal area since 1986.

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Page 20 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

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Front Royal

Avtex rezoning approved, can redevelopment be far behind?

The long and winding road toward Avtex remediation, reclamation

By Roger Bianchini Warren County Report Prior to its December 1 work session, the Front Royal Town Council held a special meeting to facilitate a second vote of approval rezoning ap-

proximately 147 acres of the former Avtex synthetic Fibers manufacturing site. The rezoning is from I-2 (Industrial Employment) to MCD, a MixedCampus Development category created specifically for the planned Royal Phoenix Business Park section

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That clearance by the EPA (federal Environmental Protection Agency) marked the end of a lengthy environmental disaster cleanup and reme-

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diation process of a quarter century.

And the move to speed up final approval of the rezoning must mean the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority is chomping at the bit to move on marketing and selling the site for redevelopment.

As noted in the rezoning application a proffer included limits initial development to a 30-acre portion of the property until “a traffic study and concept plan for the entire 147 acres is submitted.� A concept plan for the

initial 30 acres earmarked for redevelopment is included in the rezoning application. That concept includes offices, retail and other commercial and light industrial uses as approved with restrictions established during the redevelopment process overseen by the EPA and U.S. Justice Department.

There are limitations on lengthy overnight occupancy, food preparation, as well as the depth to which See FRONT ROYAL, 22

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Front Royal AVTEX, from 20 foundations can be laid on the property. Those restrictions are a safeguard against any legal liability due to the potential residual contamina-

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tion despite the extensive cleanup and remediation process.

The motion to approve on second and final reading was made by Daryl Funk, seconded by Tom Sayre. The vote to approve the rezoning was

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unanimous.

Prior to the vote, Bret Hrbek expressed some concern with road infrastructure plans being developed and finalized for the entire site.

Noting planned development along Kendrick Lane at the north side of the property, including the planned $4-million new Front Royal Police Headquarters across Kendrick Lane on a portion of the site’s old parking lot, Hrbek asked that transportation connectivity be addressed as soon as possible.

As the pre-vote conversation meandered into details like inclusion of bike and walking trails along new roads (Sayre) and “slowing down traffic” generated by the site (Funk), Gene Tewalt noted that such detail wasn’t part of the rezoning process

at issue that night, suggesting, “we get on with what is,” which led to the unanimous roll-call vote of approval.

History The state Attorney General’s Office and Water Control Board closed the Avtex plant in 1989 for ongoing environmental violations. Despite being placed on the National Priorities List of Superfund Sites in 1986, the plant was allowed to remain open for another two-plus years by federal authorities while it remained the only source of certain raw materials used in NASA’s space shuttle program.

The rayon manufacturing plant was opened in 1940 as American Viscose, the U.S. subsidiary of a British company, as World War II began

in Europe. The location was viewed a safe plant site to produce materials for the developing Allied war effort.

During its final years the plant was sole producer of materials for one part of the U.S. space shuttle.

During its lifetime the plant was a major pillar of the economic life

Letters to the Editor are welcome but must include the author’s name and town and should be emailed to: editor@warrencountyreport.com

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Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 23

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847 or Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072 of this community, employee nearly 2000 people. Under 500 remained employed when the plant was closed

by Virginia Attorney General Mary Sue Terry and the state Water Control Board in 1989 for repeated water emissions violations.

The plant operated under three owners, American Viscose (194063), FMC (1963-76) and Avtex Fibers (1976-89). After the shutdown

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Avtex soon went bankrupt and the property came under the initial control of bankruptcy Trustee Anthony Murray. As the sole surviving owner, FMC eventually became a federallymandated cleanup partner.

Also in 1986 the 467-acre site was listed on the EPA Superfund Program’s National Priorities List and identified as a site requiring longterm remedial action under Superfund. Momentum toward a cleanup process began in 1989. Between 1999 and 2004, $23 million dollars in federal, intergovernmental funding was appropriated for abatement, demolition and rehabilitation at the site.

As recounted here previously, former Town Councilman and downtown businessman Fred Foster was instrumental in pushing for not just cleanup, but remediation to bring the

Front Royal

site back onto the town’s commercial tax roll.

While Fred didn’t live to see it, his vision seems on the verge of realization after a long, expensive and arduous journey. Even with all the bumps in the road, the project was often lauded as a landmark effort of federal, state and local cooperation toward Superfund redevelopment.

In addition to the 147 to 160 acres east of the railroad tracks earmarked for Mixed Campus commercial and light industrial use; 31 acres of active recreational use for soccer fields and the county skatepark have opened for business; and 240 acres is slated for development of a passive recreation and wildlife conservancy west of the railroad tracks to the bank of the Shenandoah River, which suffered mightily during the plant’s lifetime.

File photo of section of Avtex plant off Kendrick Lane slated to become The Royal Phoenix Business Park on Front Royal’s west side.

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Business

Nature’s Touch Frozen Foods to invest $1.8 million in Warren County, create 25 new jobs

There have been so many times when we’ve been looking at issues in the wrong way. This is one of them.

When Republican representatives, led by Paul Broun (Never-Heard-ofHim from Georgia), demanded that President Barack Obama be denied an invitation to make a State of the Union address in January, it was viewed by many as a petulant reaction to the president’s sweeping immigration executive order. That’s probably because it was.

Broun also was derided as just another conservative who simply can’t get it into his head that Mr. Obama legitimately holds the office, never mind the fact that he’s twice been elected.

Some of his fellow hard-liners are suggesting that funds be cut off for Air Force One, because to them, he obviously doesn’t deserve the trappings of the office.

But maybe there’s another way to look at it. Perhaps Congressman What’s-His-Name is doing us all, and that would certainly include the chief executive, a favor.

I mean, how totally awkward it is when POTUS schleps to Capitol Hill and stands in front of a bunch of raucous national leaders who noisily pretend they’re the slightest bit interested in the merits of what’s in the address.

The only thing less sincere is the commentary from the various reporters covering the event as we pretend that it means anything whatsoever, which

it rarely does. The president knows it, the dignitaries in the audience know it (is “dignitary” the right word, since it suggests dignity?), and obviously the American people know it. What other explanation could there be for so many gravitating to one of the networks showing something else, like an infomercial for blenders or a documentary chronicling paint drying or grass growing. Anything but watching an hour in prime time of that circus in Washington.

Sad to say, Speaker John Boehner was having none of this. He brushed off Rep. Whozis by taking a snarky shot at the president: “Listen, the more the president talks about his ideas, the more unpopular he becomes. Why would I want to deprive him of that opportunity?” Cute.

Of course, Boehner probably gets his jollies by being in all the shots as President Obama drones on about what he wants to accomplish that Republicans have no intentions of letting him.

When you think about it, the GOPs have something in common with those blenders, given how they always slicedice-puree the entire Obama agenda.

So, as some quickly pointed out, he doesn’t have to give a speech; he can just send a letter to the Hill. No need for all that embarrassing ritual, at least not every year. All the Constitution specifies is that, “He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Get that? “Time to time.”

Let’s bag it in 2015. Maybe the year after, too, since we’ll be barely paying attention to anything but the silliness of the campaign to take over the next White House.

Besides, with all the discord and anger, we don’t need a speech or even a letter to know the State of the Union.

It stinks. © 2014 Bob Franken Distributed by King Features Synd.

rent facility is home of InterChange’s Port Services, which provides shuttle services, cross-docking (frozen, refrigerated, or dry), and other services to distributors that operate through the Inland Port. InterChange perceives a higher demand for more facilities with storage and distribution services in the Front Royal area as the Inland Port continues to provide service to distributors in the region.

“We enjoy doing business in Warren County,” said Devon Anders, President of InterChange Port Services. “Our expansion is evolving

smoothly with the assistance of the County’s Planning Offices and the EDA has been a great supporter in our development.”

“We would like to thank InterChange for their critical role in bringing Nature’s Touch to Warren County,” said McDonald. “They have been a solid partner in the development of this project.”

“Today we welcome another international company to Virginia,” said Maurice Jones, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “Nature’s Touch Frozen Foods is a well estab-

lished, growing company that will continue to expand in the U.S. in order to serve increasing demand for its high-quality product in the marketplace. We look forward to the company’s success in Warren County.”

“The EDA is pleased to have Nature’s Touch join our business community,” said Patricia S. Wines, Chairwoman of the Economic Development Authority. “We value every business that chooses Warren County and we look forward to their successes.”

United Way drives for campaign goal – can you help?

The Front Royal United Way is sponsoring a final campaign – “Sarah’s Challenge” – to raise $20,000 to reach its 2014 community fundraising goal. According to a Dec. 11 press release that is what is needed to reach this year’s goal of $150,000 to aid local health and human services agencies in Warren County.

Nine-year-old Sara Waller, daughter of a local United Way member, issued a Facebook challenge to help her mom and friends reach this year’s fundraising goal. “[United Way is] asking every person to give a quarter a day to United Way, including me. As you may know, I’m nine years old and I still can dig up a quarter a day …

If you are willing to pledge a quarter a day please let me know on – FACEBOOK/A QUARTER A DAY UNITED WAY,” Sara wrote.

Knowing times are tight, United Way suggest that not just individuals respond to Sara’s Challenge, but that people band together in community, youth and family groups, classrooms, businesses, athletic teams and any other social network to help United Way help the agencies that help those in need in this community.

The Front Royal United Way supports the efforts of 12 health and human service agencies that provide services to Warren County residents, including: Blue Ridge Housing Network, Blue Ridge Legal Services, Blue Ridge Opportunities, Community Housing Assistance Program, Concern Hotline, Front Royal Women’s Resource Center, Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, Healthy Families of the NSV, House of Hope, Mental Health America – Warren County, St. Luke Community Clinic, and The Phoenix Project.

King Features Weekly Service

No State of the Union

thority, helped us find InterChange Port Services. The Combination of close proximity to a sea port and easy access to major highways was tough to beat.”

“We are happy to welcome Nature’s Touch to Warren County,” said Jennifer R. McDonald, Executive Director of the EDA. “We have been working on this project since April and they, InterChange and the VEDP have been great partners in bringing it to a successful completion. They will participate in the Enterprise Zone program and the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.”

InterChange recently announced its expansion for a new 126,000 squarefoot facility in Front Royal, Virginia.

The location for the new facility is on the same property as their existing 48,000 square-foot facility, which borders the Virginia Inland Port, and will allow InterChange to increase both the quality and level of service that can be provided there. The cur-

December 15, 2014

The Economic Development Authority is pleased to announce the arrival of Nature’s Touch Frozen Foods to Warren County with a $1.8 million investment and 25 new jobs.

Nature’s Touch is a private label, frozen fruit importer and U.S. distributor. The company originated in Canada in 2004 where it grew to serve all major Canadian grocery chains. In 2009, the company established its first U.S. entity in Vermont and now will establish its first Virginia operation at the InterChange facility in Stephens Industrial Park, adjacent to the Virginia Inland Port.

“The choice of Virginia was made easy for Nature’s Touch Frozen Foods,” said NTFF Director Theo Prokos. “The welcome and cooperation of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to identify potential locations and promote the benefits of Virginia, coupled with the efforts of the Front Royal Warren County Economic Development Au-

Other types of commitments are available. For more information, or to request a presentation at your office, workplace, community club or civic group, please call the United Way office at (540) 635-3636 or go online at info@frontroyalunitedway.org or send a donation to: United Way of Front Royal/Warren County

P.O. Box 509 Front Royal, VA 22630 Unless the donor request that their donation be sent to another location, ALL funds raised in Warren County STAY in Warren County.

– From a release

Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 25

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“Sir, this is Patton talking ... You have just got to make up Your mind whose side You’re on. You must come to my assistance, so that I may dispatch the entire German Army as a birthday present to your Prince of Peace ...” — Prayer of Gen. George S. Patton, Dec. 23, 1944 It is with Patton’s plea to the Ultimate Commanding General that Stanley Weintraub opens his book, “11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944.” It’s the tale of the worst Christmas for American soldiers since Valley Forge.

The Allied breakout from Normandy after D-Day had convinced Gen. Dwight Eisenhower that the war with Germany would be over by Christmas, but as the Allied advance slowed, the Germans planned a counterattack through the Ardennes forest. Behind the cover of the thick forest and the horrid weather, the Germans scored initial successes, creating the “bulge” in the Allies’ line.

The troops fought in conditions that would, in other circumstances, have been a winter wonderland, among evergreen trees freshly covered in snow. The inclement weather favored the Germans, delaying reinforcements and neutralizing Allied air superiority.

American casualties reached at least 80,000 during the course of the battle.

Soldiers who were lucky created makeshift Christmas trees by hanging grenades on pine trees. But GIs who were captured by the Germans were

National Writing Project (NWP) recently selected Shenandoah University as the official site for the Shenandoah Valley Writing Project (SVWP). The SVWP joins a network of nearly 190 local sites of the National Writing Project, serving all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. packed into boxcars in unsanitary conditions and got almost nothing to eat.

“They filled the time wanly singing carols,” Weintraub writes. “The Germans complained that it kept them awake and threatened to shoot if the songs didn’t cease.”

At the front, German loudspeakers broadcast across the lines, “How would you like to die for Christmas?”

Americans didn’t intimidate so easily.

One American soldier in the encircled city of Bastogne commented to another, “They’ve got us surrounded — the poor bastards.” When a German commander demanded the surrender of the Americans at Bastogne, Gen. Anthony McAuliffe famously responded “Nuts!”

Gen. Patton, who had been looking forward to thrusting toward the Saar region of Germany, instead had to relieve Bastogne. Earlier, he had badgered his chaplain to pray for optimal conditions for an offensive. The chaplain noted “that it isn’t a customary thing among men of my profession to pray for clear weather to kill fellow men.” Undeterred, Patton asked, “Are you teaching me theology or are you the chaplain of the Third Army?”

Patton distributed a printed prayer for good weather to his troops and made his own appeal, noted above.

The weather improved, and Patton wrote in his diary, “A clear, cold Christmas, lovely weather for killing Germans, which seems a bit queer seeing Whose birthday it is.” By early January, the Germans were forced to withdraw from the Ardennes, and the Allies were at the Rhine by March.

One schoolmaster returning to his blasted classroom after the battle found a message scrawled on the blackboard from a distraught German officer: “From the ruins, out of blood and death shall come forth a brotherly world.” Unlikely as it seemed at the time, he was right. The Allied victory created the predicate for a free Europe at peace.

Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review. © 2014 by King Features Synd., Inc.

King Features Weekly Service

Christmas at the Battle of the Bulge

Shenandoah University Named Official Site for Shenandoah Valley Writing Project

The mission of the SVWP is to improve both writing instruction and the use of writing as a tool to enhance learning in all content areas, from kindergarten to the university setting. The group strives to elevate teachers to teacher-leaders and to raise the professional stature of classroom teachers. It also serves to support and enhance the literacy of the surrounding area through programs for both young writers and adults, in addition to its work with practicing educators.

The SVWP focuses on three core beliefs: 1) all students can and should view themselves as writers; 2) writing is the most effective tool for learning in all content areas; and 3) classroom teachers are the most effective teachers of others in their profession.

The program is led by John Handley High School’s Porterfield Endowed English Chairperson Mary Tedrow, NBCT, M.Ed., who serves as director, and Shenandoah University’s Director of Teacher Licensure and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Mary Bowser, Ed.D., who serves as principal investigator and site director.

“This site gives the teachers of the Shenandoah Valley a home,” said Tedrow. “The university community

December 15, 2014

commitment H.N. Funkhouser & Company has made to helping our schools and our students.”

H.N. Funkhouser & Company began working to secure ExxonMobil Educational Alliance grants to benefit Frederick County Public Schools in 2001-02. Since that time, the company has contributed $123,250 to the school division.

Rice says, “When we initially got involved with this program, we were able to secure $500 grants for nine of the county’s schools. Over the years, the effort has expanded and we now provide a total of $10,000 which results in each of Frederick County’s 18 schools as well as the Senseny Road School and the Dowell J. Howard Center receiving $500 grants. It’s always exciting to present the checks to the principals and hear how they plan to use the funds to enhance their math and science programs.”

Claytor says, “Public schools and

teachers help prepare students to be successful in the future and play a critical role in the quality of life we enjoy in our community. It’s a privilege to be able to support Frederick County Public Schools through the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance grant program. I’m thankful for the education I received as a student in Frederick County and enjoy having the opportunity to give back to the school division and help today’s students achieve their goals.”

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and physical space allow teachers within our network to continue to learn and grow together. We have space, the support of credit-bearing courses for the work, and the intellectual fervor of the university community to engage and energize the teaching network. We are grateful that Shenandoah University has welcomed us.”

Tedrow cited Shenandoah’s annual Children’s Literature Conference (which will celebrate 30 years in 2015) and its Claude Moore Center for Literacy (CMCL) as programs that augment and amplify the work of the SVWP. “We think the synergy of these three programs will be a boon to the area going forward,” said Tedrow.

Since 2005, the SVWP has operated as a satellite of the Northern Virginia Writing Project (NVWP) at George Mason University. As the group has increased in size and scope throughout the years, it is now its own entity, able to serve not only Virginia writers but individuals in West Virginia, Maryland and other areas not served

by NWP sites.

Independent site status allows the SVWP to build its own independent infrastructure and form local alliances with the school districts it serves, which will strengthen the efforts of the network. However, the group intends to sustain an ongoing alliance with the teacher consultants of the NVWP. “We are thrilled that Shenandoah University is now home to this fun-

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damental and essential program,” said Bowser. “Not only does it enrich our course offerings, but it is also an honor to provide a way for local educators to continue their professional development and training and, in turn, impact the writing of their students.”

Each summer, the SVWP holds a four-week, Invitational Summer Institute for exemplary teachers from throughout the area. Those who attend this writing institute span all content areas, and through the learning process, they become teacher consultants. They are then expected to take their training and techniques back to their home school systems to train fellow educators in the process.

“Every time a school system sends a teacher to this workshop, their teacher receives the latest and greatest ideas for the consultants to take back to their school for staff development,” said Bowser.

The 2015 Invitational Summer Institute will be held at Shenandoah University from Monday, June 29, through Friday, July 24.

Shenandoah University is now the seventh NWP site in Virginia; other host universities include George Mason University, Old Dominion University, the University of Virginia, the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Virginia Tech and the College of William & Mary.

“We have been on a long journey and are gratified and excited that Shenandoah University has agreed to partner with the teacher consultant community of the Shenandoah Valley,” said Tedrow. “We know that our partnership with the other literacy initiatives will make the schools of the Shenandoah Valley able to provide an even stronger experience for our students.”

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Briefs A Healthy Resolution: Make Mental Health a Top Priority

Services also has a Crisis Response Therapist on duty Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Crisis Response Center can be reached by calling (540) 635-4804 and choosing option one. When a therapist is not on duty, the line will roll over to the Concern Hotline.

As you ring in the New Year make a healthy resolution to make your mental health care top-of-mind.

Road to Recovery Website Provides Addiction Resources as Heroin Overdose Deaths Rise to 30

impacting families across our region.

The Addiction Action Committee recently launched a website, RoadtoRecovery.info, that includes awareness and education initiatives to inform the community about the disease of addiction, promote prevention, and offer helpful resources, locally and beyond. The website provides information for those struggling with addiction, family members of individuals living with addiction, parents, and community members.

The website provides information on the following ways the commu-

Engle’s Angle: “(Green) Drink and Be Merry”

By Kevin S. Engle Warren County Report

© 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.

© 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.

King Features Weekly Service

• It was novelist Mary Ann Evans — better known by her pen name, George Eliot — who made the following sage observation: “Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.”

• In the five-year span between 1946 and 1951, television ownership in the United States jumped from 10,000 to 12 million.

• You probably don’t know the name Clara Peller, but if you were watching TV in the 1980s, you would almost certainly recognize her as the “Where’s the beef?” lady from fast-food chain Wendy’s incredibly successful ad campaign. You might be surprised to learn that Peller wasn’t an actress; she was a manicurist. A commercial producer named Joe Sedelmaier was shooting a different ad when he realized they needed a manicurist on site, so an assistant ran to a local beauty shop and returned with Peller. As soon as she greeted Sedelmaier with a gruff “How ya doin’?”, the producer realized that she had potential. He convinced Wendy’s to create an entire campaign around the octogenarian.

The gamble paid off; the restaurant’s sales jumped by 15 percent almost as soon as the ads began to run.

• TV’s Gilligan’s Island was created in the middle of an artificial lake at CBS Studios in Hollywood. The cost of construction was $75,000.

• The next time you’re at a hockey game, be sure to watch out for stray pucks; they travel through the air at speeds of up to 100 mph.

• There is a species of ant found in Australia and Tasmania that, in some cases, can kill a human with a single sting. *** Thought for the Day: “I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.” — Ian L. Fleming

King Features Weekly Service

By Samantha Weaver

• On Dec. 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights on orders of King Henry II of England.

The Christian world was shocked by Becket’s death, and in 1173 he was canonized a Catholic saint. In 1174, Henry was forced to do penance at his tomb.

• On Dec. 31, 1879, in the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb, inventor Thomas Alva Edison lights up a street in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company ran special trains to Menlo Park in response to public enthusiasm over the event.

• On Dec. 30, 1936, in one of the first sit-down strikes in the United States, autoworkers occupy the General Motors Fisher Body Plant in Flint, Michigan. In all, the strike lasted 44 days. Among other things, the workers were given a 5 percent raise.

• On Jan. 1, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issue a declaration, signed by representatives of 26 countries, called the “United Nations.” The signatories vowed to create an international postwar peacekeeping organization.

• On Jan. 3, 1952, Sergeant Joe Friday’s police drama “Dragnet” comes to television. A popular radio series since 1949, it became one of the first TV series filmed in California, instead of New York. It began a long line of crime and police dramas, continuing into the present with “Law & Order” and “CSI.” • On Jan. 2, 1981, Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is captured by British police, ending one of the largest manhunts in history. For five years, investigators had pursued every lead in an effort to stop the serial killer.

Sutcliffe himself was interviewed nine times. When Sutcliffe was finally convicted, he had killed 13 women.

• On Jan. 4, 1999, for the first time since Charlemagne’s reign in the ninth century, Europe is united with a common currency when the “euro” debuts.

Eleven European Union nations launched the currency in the hopes of increasing European economic growth.

I’d seen them in the grocery store but had never tried them.

That’s because I’m not real daring when it comes to food. Just ask my brother-in-law. He says I have a phobia.

I disagree.

What I have is a skill. One that I’ve refined and sharpened during the past 51 years.

I can simply look at food, something I’ve never had before, and tell you whether I’m going to like it or not. And if the answer is no, then I won’t eat it.

But not today.

Today was a day to push the envelope, test boundaries, try something new.

And besides, I had a coupon.

You don’t let a $1 coupon go to waste, especially if it’s for something you think you might like.

But my gut wasn’t so sure when I picked up the 100% Juice Smoothie. The seaweed-green 100% Juice Smoothie.

I don’t drink green drinks.

I don’t think humans are supposed to.

If I was going to buy one of these healthy fruit-vegetable drinks, I’d be better off getting the one that looked more like orange juice, or even the red one or the blue stuff. But definitely not the seaweed.

Against my better judgment, and trained eye, I put it in my cart and went on my way.

When I got home and showed it to my wife, she had one question, and it was a good one.

“Why?” My answer wasn’t very convincing.

“Because I had a coupon. Do you want some?”

She raised her eyebrows and gave me that look.

The one that said “Hell no!”

That confirmed what I already suspected. I’d be flying solo on this little adventure.

My wife has some food phobias too.

There was stuff in it I liked. Stuff

December 15, 2014

The number of people in the Northern Shenandoah Valley who have died from a heroin overdose this year has risen to 30. The Addiction Action Committee continues to work to find solutions for an epidemic that is

December 15, 2014

On average, the Winchester Police Department responds to assist a person with a mental health crisis every other day. While many New Year’s resolutions focus on changing our outward appearances by losing weight or hitting the gym, the Winchester Police Department encourages residents to also consider making their mental health a priority as we head into a new year.

The holidays can cause people to feel stressed, depressed, or overwhelmed. This is a good time of year to be reminded of the importance of maintaining good mental health and taking the time to check on those around us who may be experiencing mental health crises.

A number of officers with the Winchester Police Department have received crisis intervention training which has become a critical tool for law enforcement agencies. The CIT program, facilitated by Northwestern Community Services, educates and prepares first responders on how to recognize signs and symptoms of mental illness. The program trains officers on strategies to safely maneuver through situations involving the mentally ill, including deescalating tense situations, and then compassionately directing individuals into treatment. Crisis intervention teams (CIT) have been shown to reduce unnecessary restraint and incarceration of people with mental illness.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis call the Concern Hotline 24 hours a day at (540) 6670145. Northwestern Community

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

like apples, bananas and kiwi.

But there was other stuff I wasn’t so wild about. Broccoli and spinach for example.

And things I had no clue what they tasted like. Barley and wheat grass anyone?

And what the heck is spirulina?

The bottle said to shake well, and I did.

I cracked open the lid and poured some into a glass.

I took a sip. A very small sip.

I shuddered.

The stuff was tolerable, but not something I’d ever get a craving for.

“Looks weird tastes amazing” according to the label.

I’ll agree with that first part. But taste amazing? I’d describe it more as ‘interesting’ than amazing. It was definitely unlike anything I’ve ever had before.

I finished it, about a week later. Each morning, I’d pour a few ounces into a glass and choke it down.

The ‘green machine’ 15.2 ounce drink was only supposed to be two servings worth. I stretched it out to five or six.

And the next time I see one of those coupons?

I don’t care if they’re giving the stuff away. I’ll pass.

Spirulina? It’s blue-green algae, and it’s good for you. Oh boy.

– kevinengle456@comcast.net

Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 27

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847 or Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072 nity can get involved including recognizing the signs and symptoms of drug use, dependence, and addiction and seeking help for your loved ones living with addiction.

Clean out your medicine cabinet and remove unwanted or expired medications. Take your unwanted medications to a drug collection unit like the one in front of the Timbrook

Public Safety Center at 231 East Piccadilly Street, Winchester. Lock up your prescription medications at home. Report information on drug activity in your community by contacting the Northwest VA Regional Drug Task Force at (540) 535-0304 or perry@vsp.virginia.gov.

The website includes the number for Concern Hotline, (540) 667-0145, where callers can speak to a person 24 hours a day. It is our hope that local individuals who need help will use the website as a tool to find the resources and information they need to put their lives on the road to recovery Extra Patrols in Place for Holiday Shopping

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Start the New Year by taking classes at Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC). Our spring semester begins on January 10, 2015. Classes can be taken in 15, 12 or 8 week sessions: · 15 week session-classes begin on January 10 · 12 week session-classes begin on January 31 · First 8 week session-classes begin on January 10 · Second 8 week session-classes begin on March 7 Registration is underway; just go to http://www.lfcc.edu/startnow.

New Students are required to apply for admission, take a placement test, apply for financial aid and scholarships (if desired), watch the LFCC Orientation Video, meet an advisor,

King Features Weekly Service

What will the new year bring us financially? Here are some educated guesses and predictions: CardHub (www.cardhub.com) assembled the opinions of financial experts ... who don’t agree on all points. Credit-card interest rates likely won’t go up, credit will be more available because of low rates, and consumers are likely to spend more in the next years (to the tune of $60 billion in credit-card debt) because we haven’t learned anything from the past few years.

Overdraft protection might be harder to get, and your credit worthiness will be checked before banks offer that service on your accounts.

The reader machines for “chipped” credit cards will show up in more places, especially since new rules (starting next October) will force merchants to pay for any fraud if they haven’t installed new machines. If you have an opportunity to swap an existing card for one with a chip, take it.

Data breaches will continue.

U.S. News (money.usnews.com) consulted experts who see more access to credit in 2015, especially for those who haven’t qualified in recent

years, for two main reasons: Banks are a bit more relaxed with approvals now, and bad credit is scrolling off the credit reports of consumers who got in financial trouble before.

We’ll see more offers of balance transfers at zero percent interest for a year or year and a half. Again, credit-card companies are more relaxed about extending credit now.

More credit-card companies will provide FICO scores on your monthly statements.

Without consensus from experts on how 2015 will go financially, your best bet is, as always, to keep your head down. Don’t charge what you can’t pay for within three months. Look at statements when they first come in for any signs of fraud or compromise.

Save, save, save. Try to get one more year out of your vehicle before buying another one. Keep good security on your home computers, and stay on top of news about viruses and how they might present themselves in email or on websites. If you can qualify for a zero-percent interest balance transfer credit card, use it to pay off any other credit card that charges interest.

(Don’t close that other account — just don’t use it.)

But mostly, don’t give in to the feeling that it’s safe to start spending extravagantly. It’s not.

David Uffington regrets that he cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into his column whenever possible. Send email to columnreply3@gmail.com.

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December 15, 2014

2015 Credit Predictions

As shoppers gear up for holiday shopping, Winchester Police are reminding you to not let your safety get lost in the shuffle. As you make your shopping list, make sure you’re checking it twice and include the following safety tips. Park in well-lit areas of store parking lots. Be aware of your surroundings. Lock your car doors.

Have your keys in hand when approaching your vehicle. Check the back seat and around the car before getting in. Shop with a friend or group. Place shopping bags in your trunk and do not leave packages vis-

ible in your car. Leave your purse at home to avoid purse snatchers and pickpockets. Carry your ID and credit cards in a front pocket. If giving up a purse is out of the question, choose one with a long strap that can be worn over your head and covered with a jacket for safety. Do not leave your purse in your car. Be extra cautious when driving through parking lots and be aware of people who are walking to and from stores.

Winchester Police have received eight reports of car windows being smashed in and purses stolen since November 3rd. Officers are stressing the importance of taking your valuables out of your car. Residents are reminded to immediately report any suspicious activity or persons to the police department by calling the non-emergency number at (540) 662-4131.

Briefs register for classes, pay tuition, and attend the new student Welcome Day. For those interested in financial aid, a telephone call to (540) 8687130 will get you started. The financial aid staff is committed to using all available funds to help students gain full access to a college education. Applications are also being accepted for various scholarships from January 5April 1, 2014.

Classes are offered in a variety of ways: on-line, classroom (face-toface), or a hybrid of both. LFCC has doubled its on-line offerings and students may now acquire an Associate of Arts and Sciences degree in Business Administration, Education, General Studies, and Liberal Arts; completely on-line. Regardless of how you choose to take classes, if you need assistance with registering, please contact the counseling office at counseling@lfcc.edu.

Lord Fairfax served over 9,600 students last year and offers more than 65 associate degree and certificate programs in a wide variety of disciplines, in addition to providing access to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs offered on site by a four-year institution. To review the areas of study, go to: http://www. lfcc.edu/areas-of-study/areas-ofstudy-a-to-z. Career Training Programs are also available through our Workforce Solutions Department.

Timbrook Food and Toy Drive The Ricky Timbrook Food and Toy Drive has been an annual tradition for the past 15 years. This year more than 35 Winchester families will benefit from the donations given by local residents. The drive provides less-fortunate families in the

city with gifts and meals around the holidays. The food and toy drive has been held every year since Ricky Timbrook was killed in the line of duty in 1999. Sergeant Timbrook had a passion for giving back to the community and his family, along with the Winchester Police Department, continues to carry on his legacy.

The Department of Social Services provides the list of families who will benefit from the annual drive. Toys are being collected for children who are 18 and under. Monetary donations are also accepted. Those wishing to make a monetary donation can make checks payable to the Ricky Timbrook Memorial Foundation (checks can be dropped off or mailed to: Winchester Police Department, 231 E. Piccadilly Street, Winchester, VA 22601). Non-perishable food items are also being collected.

Collection boxes will be available at seven locations through December 12th: • Timbrook Public Safety Center • War Memorial Building • Joint Judicial Center • Rouss City Hall • Daniel Morgan Middle School • Handley High School • Youth Development Center

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“They took the town back and it was simply an honor to be there. They (the spectators) even thanked us for coming, for being there – they were amazing – along the entire route. This was Boston’s day.” – 2014 Boston Marathon runner Dr. Mary Ellen Brown

Community

Veterinarian’s emotional return to Boston Marathon

But as this writer delved deeper into our mutual love of animals, including thoroughbred horses, Brown took the interview “reins,” cautioning, “Don’t make this about me, make it about the people of Boston and the athletes who competed in this year’s Marathon – that’s the real story: the people in Massachusetts who were telling the world that this was their race; that you cannot take it away from us; that was the statement they were making.”

So as requested, we conclude with a salute to Boston’s citizens and all this year’s marathoners, including Dr. Mary Ellen Brown – she was one of them.

Front Royal veterinarian Mary Ellen Brown discusses Boston Marathon one year later – and a mutual love of animals – with writer over coffee at East Main Street’s Daily Grind.

Mary Ellen Brown (# 22155) crosses the Boston Marathon finish line at 2:49 p.m., about the time a year earlier that terrorist bombs rocked that same finish line.

By Malcolm Barr, Sr. Warren County Report As Front Royal’s Mary Ellen Brown crossed the finish line of this year’s Boston Marathon she heard the announcement over the public address system that the time - 2:49 p.m. - coincided with the terrorist bombings of April 2013. Immediately, some of the loudest cheers of a triumphant day rang out. Boston was back; Boston had defied the terrorists and any future threats of terrorism. – Then came a moment of silence, a memorial to the dead and wounded.

“It was surreal; it was powerful, emotional beyond belief, amazing,” said Dr. Brown, a local veterinarian and a lifelong, highly-motivated, distance runner who had competed in two other Boston Marathons. However, due to a lower back injury she missed last year’s tragic event.

Given the time she finished this year (3 hours 43 minutes), if not for that 2013 injury she could well have been in the vicinity of the finish line April 15, 2013 when two “pressure cooker” bombs exploded within 12 seconds of each other, killing three and injuring 264 athletes and spectators at or near the finish line on Boylston Street.

This year the number of competitors increased from 33,000 to 36,000, many motivated by last year’s bombings; thousands more spectators were

drawn to the 2014 race, standing between four and eight deep along the 26.2 miles route, defying, if you will, the terrorists’ intended message.

They cheered and shouted and waved flags and high-fived the runners as an unprecedented security force took to the streets, buildings and rooftops.

“They took the town back,” said Dr. Brown, “and it was simply an honor to be there. They (the spectators) even thanked us for coming, for being there – they were amazing – along the entire route. This was Boston’s day.”

Dr. Brown, 60, will be back next April for her fourth Boston Marathon. In view of her past record - she’s competed in races up to 100 miles as far away as Utah, Texas and Ohio, and in a “turkey trot” at Berryville over Thanksgiving - she is again pre-qualified to compete. At Boston last April, she took sixth place in the “over 60” group (320th overall) with what she termed a satisfying time of 3 hours and 43 minutes. She plans another 100 mile race in January but may be seen on local town streets and county trails five days a week, often using her lunch break (from Warren County Veterinary Clinic on Rivermont Drive) to stay in shape.

Weekends, her training schedule includes regular 20-mile trail runs.

Dr. Brown has been a veterinarian about 25 years and she says it was her first boss, Dr. Andrew Murphie,

DVM, now retired, who encouraged her to take up long distance running. A small (about five feet tall) and slight woman, Brown took to the sport quite naturally, but later in life than most. However, she was athletic as a youth, playing field hockey in college.

After taking up distance running solo, Brown took on a coach – and not a bad one at that. That coach is standout WCHS and UVA distance runner Emily Harrison. Brown credits Harrison Emily for coaching her up to a 100K race, the “Cajun Coyote” in Louisiana on Dec.6. Brown is now pointing to a 50-mile race in Washington, D.C. early next year.

Before graduating Virginia Tech with her DVM degree in 1989, Dr. Brown demonstrated her preoccupa-

tion for animals as a veterinary assistant and “vet tech” for several years.

On her five-acre property on the county’s south side is a 32-year-old pet pony; and inside (during the winter) is Bosco, an aging female tortoise who has been with her since 1986, plus numerous cats. Until recently, she housed a once-brilliant Thoroughbred race horse called Little Math Man, that she saw complete in a Preakness Stakes in Baltimore in the 1990s. Eventually worn out, aging, and lame, she purchased Little Math Man off the racetrack and saved him from a certain trip to the slaughterhouse. She later found him a “loving and forever home.” Little Math Man is an example of how she has dedicated much of her own time in behalf of the animal kingdom.

(Full disclosure: Dr. Brown is veterinarian to the writer’s latest rescue dog, a six-year-old Siberian Husky named Pola. She successfully operated on Pola for cancer a few weeks ago).

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Late December, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Warren & Frederick County Report â&#x20AC;˘ Page 29

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Community

Competition and comradery at the Clan Adrenalin Highland Games

By Sue Golden Frederick County Report It was a day for serious competition, playful antics, comradery and learning as Clan Adrenalin hosted a Highland game competition in Fort Valley to support prostate cancer.

Competitors came from as far away as Atlanta, Georgia; Chattanooga, Tennessee and all across Virginia to participate.

Highland games have a long history. Started in Scotland during the time of the medieval kings, the games continue to flourish today. The competitions usually consist of the heavy weight toss (the Braemer Stone), the light weight toss, the caber toss, the sheaf toss and the weight over bar toss. If it sounds rather exotic, it is.

Medieval equipment is still used for these events. For example, the caber is a large, heavy log. The hammer throw uses a heavy metal ball on the end of a flexible long handle. The sheaf is a stuffed cloth sack, usually burlap, thrown with a pitch fork. The weight tosses speak for themselves.

The local competition is fierce.

Trainer and coach of Clan Adrenalin, Rob Monroe, organized the last game of the season to raise money to support research into prostate cancer, because one of the competitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dads is sick. Responding to the call, throwers reopened what they thought was a closed season. Luckily the day was warm and pleasant.

Although the competition was stiff, it was good natured. The competitors cheered each other on, shouted encouragement and advice, and highfived everyone that set a personal record, or PR. The stats will be sent to the national organization, the North American Scottish Games Athletics, for record keeping.

The caber toss seemed to be the hardest event. The goal is to pick up the log, balance it at a ninety degree angle and then toss it so that the log

Rob â&#x20AC;&#x153;Adrenalinâ&#x20AC;? Monroe throws the caber

Stephanie Janow prepares to throw the caber flips end over end â&#x20AC;&#x153;at 12 oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clockâ&#x20AC;?. BJ Ketchum from Lorton was the only competitor that got a perfect turn with the caber. In fact, Lexy Henry, who drove in from Tennessee, set the record for dropping the caber on herself all three tries. To be fair, the log used by the ladies was cut the day before and was still wet, very heavy and had lots of notches. (Not fair!)

The youngest competitor, Calvin Hicks from Front Royal, had to contend not only with the jovial group of throwers, but both of his parents.

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For the Hickses, throwing is a family sport. Talk about competition! But as hard as the group can be (â&#x20AC;&#x153;That was an awful throw!â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;You need to throw higher!â&#x20AC;?) the group gave comfort and advice to each other during the almost five hours of competition.

In keeping with the spirit of the Highland games, each competitor wears a kilt. Fashion statements abound, like Lexyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hat and Robâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pink socks. On this day, shoes were required. For the hammer toss, some of the men had steel blades attached to their shoes.

Overall winners at the games were Bryce Rauhof from Atlanta, Georgia; BJ Ketchem in the light weight division, and Bonnie Hicks from Front Royal, Virginia. Congratulations to all of the participants that PRed at the Clan Adrenalin games: Lexy Henry (3); Calvin Hicks; Stephanie Janow from Winchester; and BJ Ketchem.

For more area information on Highland games locally, go to the Atlantic Scottish Athletics website at www.heavyevents.com. To find out more about Clan Adrenalin, go to their Facebook page. You also can go to www.scottishgamesleague.com.

To find out about games nationally, go to the North American Scottish Games Athletics website at www. nasgweb.com

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Page 30 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

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To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072 or Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847

Middletown

It’s a wonderful Middletown, Virginia Christmas!

By Sue Golden Frederick County Report

Christmas is being celebrated in style this year in Middletown. The holiday festivities started on November 28th with the lighting of the

town tree. There was a huge bonfire, free pizza provided by Italian Touch, cider from Gregory’s, and cookies baked by the Middletown garden club. The crowd sang carols around the tree and bonfire. There were even gifts for the kids under the tree.

Then there was the first annual Christmas parade. A large crowd gathered to watch the longest parade in recent Middletown history.

Fortunately for Middletown, the parade was on Sunday. The rain that cancelled most local parades on Sat-

urday stopped and Middletown’s parade day was mild. Local businesses

made floats. There were Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, lots of

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Late December, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Warren & Frederick County Report â&#x20AC;˘ Page 31

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com â&#x20AC;˘ 540-683-1847 or Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com â&#x20AC;˘ 540-551-2072 horses and, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. There were big trucks, fire trucks, tractors, old cars and lots of dogs. Even Kota, Winchesterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favorite K-9, was in the parade. Following the parade, the crowd and participants retired to the Wayside Inn where the awards were given out.

Timeless Wines and Italian Touch shared the best float award. Other awards went to Aylor Middle School for the best band, Guy T for best antique car, Strasburg Cheer Eruption for best walking group. The Mayorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s award went to the 7th Louisiana Infantry.

Next up will be the opening of Nanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Irish Pub, which is replacing the Irish Isle. Philomena Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien is back in town and looking forward to entertaining you. She has been very busy renovating, painting and decorating. The menu will feature many of your favorites from the Irish Isle. There will be all kinds of pies, including shepherds and Guinness.

There will be all kinds of sandwiches, including a veggie. The Reuben is a signature dish, since it is made with the corned beef cooked at the pub.

Bangers and mash and Scottish eggs also are on the menu. The pub will be making its own hot sauce for your wings. The dinner menu features corned beef and cabbage. A specialty desert will be the pub-made chocolate brandy bread pudding.

Philomena is caught in the permit process, so she is not certain when she will be able to open. Like her on Facebook for announcements. You can call the pub at (540) 868-9877.

Sunday, December 14th, will be another big day in Middletown. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Homes for the Holidaysâ&#x20AC;? will feature house tours and the judging of the gingerbread house competition.

Larrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tavern, the Hoffman house, Rhodes Tavern/Good house, the

Timeless Wineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gingerbread house is an exact replica of their home

Middletown

Getting ready for the Middletown house tours

Fun at the Middletown parade A police officer in the making Campbell/Mitchell house, the 1834 St. Thomas Chapel, and the 1896 Grace United Methodist Church

will all be open to ticket holders. The Wayside Inn is displaying the gingerbread houses. The Inn will be serving

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food from 10 am until 2 pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased either at town hall or from a member of the Middletown Garden Club. All proceeds of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Homes for the Holidaysâ&#x20AC;? will go toward enhancement projects

in Middletown. Watch for the green trees around town that signify a businesses or house is ready to welcome you.

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Page 32 â&#x20AC;˘ Warren & Frederick County Report â&#x20AC;˘ Late December, 2014

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

â&#x20AC;Ś early in his professional life in Washington at Channel 9, Richards succeeded the famed Walter Cronkite, who moved to CBS in New York. Subsequently, it is said, Richards became President Eisenhowerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;favorite newscasterâ&#x20AC;?

Community

Richards acknowledged for a lifetime of broadcasting Blue Mountain resident gets TV National Academyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Gold Circle Awardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Don Richards is flanked by son Randy and partner Susan Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Kelly following receipt of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences 2014 Gold Circle Award in Washington, D.C. Dec. 7.

By Malcolm Barr, Sr. Warren County Report Veteran Washington D.C. broadcaster Don Richards of Blue Mountain, Front Royal, received The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gold Circleâ&#x20AC;? award for â&#x20AC;&#x153;significant contributions to the broadcast industry over a span of 50

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years or moreâ&#x20AC;? at a swank banquet in Washington on Dec.7. Richards is a member of the Academyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter.

Now retired and in his eighties, Richards spent most of his broadcasting career at WTOP radio and television in D.C. He also served as an early spokesperson for such corporate giants as Skippy Peanut Butter

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But it was a freelance stint at the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) that made Richards a recognized name throughout the world. From 1962 to 1966Â he hosted a series titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Learn Englishâ&#x20AC;? that was seen in 50 countries by an estimated 40 million people a day.

Richards, a U.S. Navy veteran from Perth Amboy, N.J., is a graduate of Syracuse University. He is well known locally for his re-creation of radio shows from the 1940s and 1950s which, with their volunteer casts, have raised thousands of dollars for local charities, most recently for the Humane Society of Warren County. He has also been a familiar face in the Valley as a spokesman for First Bank and for Blue Ridge Shadows golf course. Richards launched his long career from two Syracuse radio stations before joining WTOP in Washington in 1952. In fact, early in his professional life in Washington at Channel 9, Richards succeeded the famed Walter Cronkite, who moved to CBS in New York. Subsequently, it is said, Richards became President Eisenhowerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;favorite newscasterâ&#x20AC;? when he was Channel 9â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 6:45 p.m. and 11 p.m. news anchor.

In 1973, he left the Washington television news scene to devote full time to his burgeoning freelance business involving the presentation of television commercials for numerous companies, including the Rosenthal automotive organization for which he was spokesperson for

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He retired to Front Royal, and for many years was a deputy with the Warren County Sheriff â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office.

The current WUSA-9 television station congratulated Richards, remarking on the â&#x20AC;&#x153;decades of excellence that all began as our â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Essoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; reporter in 1952.â&#x20AC;? WUSA called him a

â&#x20AC;&#x153;D.C. television pioneer.â&#x20AC;?

Also receiving â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gold Circleâ&#x20AC;? awards at the ceremony were Johnny Holliday who, after 50 years, continues on the air work for the Washington Nationals (MSNBC) and sports reports on the ABC radio network, and Rhea Feikin, dubbed â&#x20AC;&#x153;the first lady of Maryland Public Television.â&#x20AC;?

Car Caught on Camera in Smashed Window Incidents

The Winchester Police Department is asking for the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s help in identifying the owner of a car that is seen on surveillance video during local smash and grabs. Detectives are investigating eight reports of windows being busted out and purses being stolen from vehicles. The incidents happened between November 3rd and November 22nd.

Five of the incidents occurred in parking lots located in the 100 block of Tevis Street. The three other incidents happened in the 200 block of Featherbed Lane,

the 2400 block of South Pleasant Valley Road, and the 1st block of Weems Lane.

The suspectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vehicle is described as an older model dark green 4 door sedan with a spoiler on the back. The vehicle appears to be a Chevrolet. The vehicle has a bright smaller sticker on the driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s side rear door vent glass. It also appears the vehicle does not have any rear hubcaps.

Anyone with information on the owner of the vehicle is asked to call the Crime Solvers HOTLINE at 540-665-TIPS.

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Late December, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Warren & Frederick County Report â&#x20AC;˘ Page 33

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To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com â&#x20AC;˘ 540-683-1847 or Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com â&#x20AC;˘ 540-551-2072

Front Royal

Town moves on $50-million bond for WWTP upgrades

By Roger Bianchini Warren County Report

On December 8 the Front Royal Town Council authorized an eventual

bond issuance of up to $50 million to proceed with upgrades to its wastewater treatment plant. The upgrades are mandated at both the federal and state level as part of the Chesapeake

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Pollution from aging municipal wastewater systems dumping into rivers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are considered a key element in pollution levels in the bay. The town is facing final deadlines on the work after delaying action on the upgrades for about four years. When the mandate first came down projected costs were in the $35 million dollar range.

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5-percent cost overrun contingency fund of $2,223,550 and an additional $20,000 cost of securing bond counsel raised actual projected costs to $46,694,550.

However, the fact the town was able to secure an interest fee loan and some grant funding may have helped neutralize rising costs over the delay in funding the long-mandated improvements.

Responding to questions, town Finance Director Kim Gilkey-Breeden told council the annual payment would be a little under $1 million, with a 20-year payoff ending in 2037.

Councilman Gene Tewalt wondered if the bond issue of $50 million

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would be enough with change orders as unexpected construction variables arise. Gilkey-Breeden responded that while the town had never taken out a $50-million bond before, the recommended contractor was confident the 5-percent contingency fund would be adequate.

If it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, where would the money come from, Tewalt pressed the finance director. The townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s General Fund balance or additional bond options, she replied.

Councilman Funk noted that the planned improvements did not include anticipated methods of filtering pharmaceuticals in human waste.

Discussion indicated that the EPA was in ongoing discussion about whether that process should be part of water or wastewater treatments (from this perspective that sounds like another consequence of massive cuts to the EPA budget by conservative politicans funded by corporate anti-environmental lobbyists â&#x20AC;&#x201C; just sayinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;).

Funk noted that including a pharmaceutical aspect to the WWTP upgrades at this point would have added costs he called â&#x20AC;&#x153;prohibitiveâ&#x20AC;?.

A series of three motions facilitating the bond issue and contract on the WWTP upgrades all passed unanimously. The first motion was a resolution authorizing the $50-million bond issue; the second approved the contract with Adams Robinson; and the third amended a September 17, 2014 agreement with consultant GHD for engineering services on the project to include a Clerk of the Works to oversee the project.

Smash and Grabs The Winchester Police Department has obtained 25 warrants for a suspect in a rash of smashed window incidents. Within minutes of posting the information on social media, the public helped identify the owner of a vehicle seen on surveillance video during the incidents. Christopher Michael Hess, 23, of Martinsburg is now facing 10 felony counts of credit card larceny, eight counts of destruction of property, four counts of petty larceny, and three counts of grand larceny. The charges stem from eight reports of windows being busted out and purses being stolen from vehicles between November 3rd and November 22nd. Additional charges are pending.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Christopher Michael Hess is asked to call the Crime Solvers HOTLINE at 540665-TIPS.

Page 34 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072 or Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847

Briefs Handley Student Appointed as Head House Page John Handley High School student Kennedy Eagle was appointed as Head House Page by Speaker Howell for the Virginia General Assembly 2015 Legislative Session starting in January. She will spend the entire session in Richmond working at the General Assembly and Capitol buildings all day Monday – Friday during the session.

House pages assist the members of the House of Delegates, the House Clerk’s staff and other legislative staff in the daily duties required for the successful operation of the House of Delegates during the session.

Pages deliver documents throughout the Capitol complex and perform errands for members and staff of House of Delegates during each day’s floor session and at committee meetings. Pages are also selected for assignments in specific House offices including the Speaker’s Office, the Clerk’s Office, the Bill Room, the Copy Center, and the Governor’s Office.

Miss Eagle was a page last year.

Each year one girl and one boy are selected to return from the prior year’s cohort to lead this new year’s group.

Handley Regional Library has released the January 2015 calendar of events for the local libraries A listing of what is happening, along with the coordinator’s contact information, appears below. All of the library’s programs are offered at no charge and are open to the public.

If you have any other questions about this release, please contact Brenda Diehl at bdiehl@handleyregional. org.

Program and event descriptions with contact information: December 31 – January 1: All branches of Handley Regional Library (Bowman Library, Clarke County Li-

brary, and Handley Library) will be closed New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, December 31, 2014, and New Year’s Day, Thursday, January 1, 2015.

January 2: Aeonian Anime- A movie marathon for youth and families featuring Aeonian Anime. Drop in from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., or bring your lunch and stay for the entire showing. Presented by the Teen Advisory Board and the Friends of the Handley Regional Library. Contact Donna Hughes at (540) 869-9000 x215 or email dhughes@handleyregional.org for more information. Friday, January 2, 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Bowman Library, 871 Tasker Road, Stephens City.

January 9: A Little Noon MusicFriends of Handley Regional Library are hosting A Little Noon Music again this season. A Little Noon Music is a monthly concert series held on the second Friday of each month from November through February. The 45 minute concerts begin at 12:15 p.m. in the Handley Library auditorium. This format allows for area workers and residents to attend the concert during their lunch hour.

January’s featured performance will be by Mike Hoffman, a ragtime-style piano player. This concert series is sponsored by the Friends of Handley Regional Library. Contact Barbara Dickinson at (540) 662-9041 x31 or email friends@handleyregional.org, for details. 100 W. Piccadilly St., Winchester.

January 10 and 24: Paws for Reading- Paws for Reading is an interactive program where children can read books to certified therapy dogs through the Paws for Reading program. Contact Donna Hughes at (540) 869-9000 x215 or email dhughes@handleyregional.org for more information. 1:00 p.m., Bowman Library, 871Tasker Road, Stephens City.

January 10: Family Search Genealogy Workshop- Learn to access online records that span billions of names across hundreds of collec-

tions—including birth, marriage, death, probate, land, military, IGI extracted, and more. Workshop leader is Joan M. Wood, Archives Assistant. The program is offered to the public at no charge, but registration is requested by calling Becky Ebert at (540) 662-9041 x22 or email archives@handleyregional.org for more information. Saturday, January 10, 2 p.m., Handley Library, Benham room, 100 W. Piccadilly Street, Winchester.

January 12, 26, and 31: Chess Instruction and Open TournamentThe Chess program is open to all ages and abilities, from beginners to more advanced players. There is no fee for participation. An open tournament for all ages will take place Saturday, January 31 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact Jennifer Sutter at 540 662-9041 x16 or email jsutter@ handleyregional.org for more information. Instruction on Mondays, January, 12 & 26, 4:30-7:30 p.m. at Handley Library, 100 W. Piccadilly St., Winchester.

January 13: Every Child Ready to Read- A continuing education class about fostering early literacy will be held for early childhood professionals at Bowman library. Continuing education credit will be awarded to those in attendance. The training is free and no registration is needed.

Participants will receive posters and bookmarks to use in their classrooms. 6:00-7:30 p.m., Bowman library, children’s room. Contact Donna Hughes at (540) 869-9000 x215 or email dhughes@handleyregional.org for more information.

January 14: Funding Information Network Training In collaboration with Literacy Volunteers- Winchester Area, Handley Regional Library will offer two introductory training sessions for the Foundation Directory Online database on Wednesday, January 14. One session will be held noon to 1 p.m., and the second session will be offered from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Pre-registration is requested

by calling (540) 662-9041, x19. The Foundation Directory is an online listing of all foundations, grantors and sponsors who have monies available for individuals and organizations seeking financial support. The network is sponsored by Winchester Rotary, and came about through the collaboration of local nonprofit organizations. Contact Michael Gur at mgur@handleyregional.org \ for more information about the Financial Information Network resource at Handley library. Handley Library, Benham Gallery, 100 W. Piccadilly St., Winchester.

January 14: Research your Revolutionary War- Soldier Stewart Bell Jr Archives hosts research sessions for those interested in knowing more about their Revolutionary War connection on the second Wednesday of each month from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The research is guided by veteran genealogical researchers and can be useful for those wanting to join the Daughters of the American Revolution or Sons of the American Revolution. This program is free and open to the public. Contact Becky Ebert at (540) 662-9041 x22 or email

archives@handleyregional.org for more information. 6:30 p.m., Handley Library, 100 W. Piccadilly Street, Winchester.

January 17: Penguin Appreciation Day- Bowman library will celebrate Penguin Awareness Day a little early this year with a special program for youth on January 17. The national campaign to raise awareness about penguins is held on January 20 each year. All participants are encouraged to dress in black and white and enjoy eating little fish, hearing great penguin stories, singing penguin songs, and sliding around “ice-y land.” The program will conclude with a showing of “New to the Zoo,” starring the Penguins of Madagascar. 11:00 a.m., Bowman Library, 871 Tasker Road, Stephens City.

January 31: Bowman Bill Groundhog Day Celebration- Local celebrity, Bowman Bill, will emerge from his groundhog hole a little early this year to see whether or not his shadow will appear. If he sees his shadow, chocolate sauce will be added to the ice cream. Contact Donna Hughes at (540) 869-9000 x215 or email dhughes@handleyregional.org for

Dear Stewart:

and snuggle with them to keep warm. Our big furry tails make an effective blanket.

This winter my cousin, Skippy, is sharing our nest. We all look out for Skippy because he is visually impaired, almost blind. So, you know what--since giving is in the spirit of Christmas, my gift is to teach him how to identify a few trees without seeing them!

Trees can be identified in different ways, some of them available to the blind. You can feel the leaves, needles, twigs, buds, and bark. They will vary from species to species.

Some trees have special odors, especially if you scratch them. If I tell him what trees we’re near when the wind blows, his super sensitive hearing will even pick up the difference in sounds the wind makes when it blows through different types of trees. And-get this--he will hear some kinds of birds in one kind of tree and not in others.

I will start small, so he doesn’t get overwhelmed. We will leave the broadleaved

trees until spring when they leaf out and focus on three trees that are prominently decorated now for Christmas or stand out in the dormant landscape--firs, spruces, and pines.

If the needles are flat and grow singly, the tree is a fir. If the needles are rounded and grow singly, it is a spruce. And if the needles grow in groups directly from the twig, the tree is a pine. Pine species can be told apart by counting the number of needles. It will take practice but once he gets it, he’ll be ahead of most humans who cannot tell the difference between these three trees. It will give him confidence to go on and discover many more of the wondrous variations in nature. So Mike, perhaps you too could give the gift of knowledge for Christmas?

Happy Christmas and Happy All-TheHolidays you celebrate.

The Front Royal/Warren County Tree Steward program began in 1997 with volunteers dedicated to improving the health of trees by providing educational programs, tree planting and care demonstrations, and tree maintenance throughout the community.

The group now consists of over 30 active members with several interns working toward becoming certified tree stewards from our annual “All About Trees Class”. Each month Stewart will answer a question from our readers. Please forward it to “Stewart” in care of: frwctreestewards@comcast.net and we may publish it in a future issue. Please visit our website at:

It seems like you are busier than any of us humans lately. How are you getting ready for Christmas and winter?

– Mike in Front Royal Hi Mike,

Ask Stewart

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

Thank you for asking. You know, my really, really busy time is fall, going into winter, when I am eating like a piggy and burying nuts for later. And--I might as well admit it--I binge at your bird feeders with those excellent servings of seeds and corn. By Christmastime, my tummy can barely fit into my fur coat.

Tree squirrels like me and my family do not hibernate but, like the trees we live in, we slow down to conserve energy. We share our big oak leaf-lined nests with our families

- Stewart

www.treesfrontroyal.org

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 35

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847 or Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072

Diversions Briefs more information. 11:00 a.m. Bowman Library, 871 Tasker Road, Stephens City.

Virginia529 Prepaid Tuition Program Opened December 1, enroll now through March 31, 2015 The annual enrollment period for Virginia’s prepaid college tuition program opens today. Virginia529 prePAID (prePAID) offers families the ability to pay in advance for future tuition at Virginia public colleges and universities.

“Families like the assurance that they can cover a part of their future cost of higher education,” explained Mary Morris, CEO of Virginia529.

For each semester purchased now for a newborn or child up to ninth grade, prePAID will fund a future semester of undergraduate in-state tuition and mandatory fees assessed to all students at a Virginia public two- or four-year institution.

Morris added, “We have a great system of higher education in Virginia that really makes the prePAID program attractive.” Benefits may be applied at other public and private

Call in a tip on a crime and you may Receive a reward of up to $1,000 *You will remain anonymous* www.crimesolvers.us

540-665-TIPS

colleges across the country, although payouts will differ and likely will be less than the benefits for those attending a Virginia public institution.

A semester contract costs as little as $33 per month, with prices and payments varying by the age of the child, length of payment term, and number and type of semesters purchased.

Families may spread the payments out monthly or pay in a lump sum.

A calculator available at Virginia529. com illustrates the full array of price and payment options. The first payment is not due until May 1, 2015, but participants may make a full or partial payment in advance, especially to take advantage of the Virginia income tax deduction for 2014. As a type of 529 college savings plan, payments to a prePAID account can be deducted from Virginia individual income tax, up to $4,000 per account per year. To take a 2014 state tax deduction, a full or partial payment must be made by December 31, 2014. Any payments over $4,000 per year may be carried forward to future years. Visit Virginia529.com to review the prePAID Program Description and enroll online through March 31, 2015.

CRIME OF THE WEEK

Winchester Crime of the Week - December 1, 2014 The Winchester Police Department is investigating several reports of vandalism to motor vehicles that occurred between Friday, November 21, and Sunday, November 23. Cars were damaged in the following areas: 300 block of Liberty Avenue, 400 block of Gray Avenue, 200 block of Opequon Avenue, 700 block of National Avenue, 300 block of Parkway Street, 400 block of Smithfield Avenue, 200 block of West Cork Street, 400 block of North Kent Street, 500 block of Fremont Street, 400 block of North Cameron Street, and the 2700 block of Papermill Road. In most instances, various objects were used to damage the vehicles like rocks and bricks, and one vehicle was spray painted.

If you have any information regarding a suspect or suspects in these incidents, please contact the Crime Solvers Hotline at (540) 665 TIPS (8477). You can remain anonymous. Information leading to the arrest of a suspect may result in a reward of up to $1,000.

Winchester Crime of the Week - December 8, 2014 The Winchester Police Department is investigating a hit and run that occurred in the 1200 block of Handley Avenue on Sunday, November 23, around 3 a.m. A truck parked in the road was struck and sustained severe damage to the back bumper. A broken VW symbol was found on the road, and gray or silver transfer paint was observed on the truck.

If you have any information regarding a suspect or suspects in these incidents, please contact the Crime Solvers Hotline at (540) 665 TIPS (8477). You can remain anonymous. Information leading to the arrest of a suspect may result in a reward of up to $1,000. Incident #14046072, Corporal Harvey

Page 36 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072 or Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847

Briefs Detriot Pistsons Vs Washington Wizards Bus Trip Warren County Parks and Recreation Department will sponsor a bus trip to see the Washington Wizards take on the Detriot Pistons on Saturday, February 28, 2015 at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. Bus will leave from the Warren County Community Center at 4:30pm, game time is 7:00pm. Cost is $60.00 per reservation, includes admission ticket, transportation and a free Washington Wizards t-shirt. Limit 6 tickets per household. Only 32 tickets available.

For more information contact the WC Community Center at (540) 635-1021, Monday through Saturday, 8am -10pm and Sundays, 1pm -9pm or visit us on the web at www. warrencountyva.net.

Disney on Ice: Worlds of Fantasy Bus Trip Come experience a magical Disney fantasy on ice! Rev up for non-stop

fun with four of your favorite Disney stories at Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy. Thrill to high speed stunts as Lightning McQueen, Mater and the crew of Disney/Pixar’s Cars race across the ice. Laugh along with Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear in a fun-filled Toy Story 3 adventure. Dive into The Little Mermaid’s enchanting undersea kingdom and enter the mystical world of Pixie Hollow with Tinker Bell and the Disney Fairies as they reveal the magic that lies within!

Bus will leave from the Warren County Community Center at 2pm for the live action adventure at the Verizon Center, in Wasington D.C. on Sunday, February 15, 2015, show time is 4:30pm. Cost is $58.00 per reservation, includes admission ticket and transportation. Limit 6 tickets per household, and 32 reservations are available. Reservations will only be accepted at the Warren County Community Center, 538 Villa Ave, Front Royal, Virginia., Monday through Saturday, 8am -10pm or Sunday, 1pm-9pm.

For more information contact the Warren County Community Center at (540) 635-1021 or visit us on the web at www.warrencountyva.net.

Nashville Predators Vs Washington Capitals Bus Trip Warren County Parks and Recreation Department will sponsor a bus trip to see the Washington Capitals take on the Nashville Predators on Saturday, March 28, 2015 at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.

Bus will leave from the Warren County Community Center at 10:00am, game time is 12:30pm.

Cost is $70.00 per reservation, includes admission ticket, transportation and a free Washington Capitals t-shirt. Limit 6 tickets per household. Only 32 tickets available.

For more information contact the WC Community Center at (540) 635-1021, Monday through Saturday, 8am -10pm and Sundays, 1pm -9pm or visit us on the web at www. warrencountyva.net.

“Christmas in the Valley” at Belle Grove Plantation From Friday, December 12 through Tuesday, December 30, Belle Grove Plantation will be decorated for the holidays. Eleven area garden clubs have elaborately adorned each room of the 1797 Manor House to the theme of “Christmas in the Valley.”

Shenandoah Valley flora, fauna, and holiday traditions are featured. In the Parlor is a twelve-foot cedar Christmas tree donated by Ralph and Carolyn Gregory. Press photo opportunities are available as the house is being decorated on Wednesday, December 10 and when the decorating is complete on Thursday, December 11.

Starting Friday, December 12, guided house tours will be offered Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday 1-6 p.m. with tours beginning at quarter past each hour.

On Friday and Saturday evenings self-guided candlelight tours will take place from 4-8 p.m. Admission for all

Spay today

Does your dog or cat need spay or neutering? Contact Spay Today, our area’s non-profit, reduced-priced spay and neuter program. At the time of surgery, initial shots and tests can be obtained at a lower rates. Choose from MANY vets over a WIDE area! NEW locations added!

Contact Spay Today: www. baacs.org or call 304-728-8330

New Beginnings Community Greetings “Introducing Your Business to New Homeowners in our Community”

***

P.O. Box 1025 Front Royal, VA 22630 540 635-8660

EXCELLENT SCENIC RIDES

Front Royal Warren County Airport

Cass Aviation (540) 635-3570 •

CFI WANTED

WARREN COUNTY AIRPORT/FRONT ROYAL

Airplane Rides Year-round!

20 Minute Scenic Flights - $60 Per Person GIFT CERTIFICATE AVAILABLE, Intro Flight Training $99,

See Gliders every weekend!

• Group Discount • Flight Training • Aircraft Rentals • Photo Flights

• Glider Club • Charter Flights • New Hangers • Tie Down Avail. • Gift Certificates • New Taxiway

Classifieds AUTOS

MISCELLANEOUS

1994 Chevrolet Van, 3/4 ton high top conversion. 350 V8. Runs Great $1000 Call 540-459-1748

Masonic ring with two .4 caret diamonds, ruby with mason emblem. 14k gold. Appraises at over $7,000. Asking $4000.00. Call 540-662-9023

1981 C30 1 ton Dually 350ci 4sp 75220 org miles, mechanics bed & top, runs needs some work--540-6602913 EMPLOYMENT JOB FAIR for Coalfield Services Inc. at the Winchester VEC Office, 100 Premier Place Thursday, 18 December 2014 from 10:00am-2:00pm. Welders, Steel Erectors, Sheet Metal Installers, Cert. Crane Operators. Bring Resume.

Please ensure you are registered at www.vawc.virginia.gov) prior to the job fair. 540-535-2875.

Sales Manager needed for Winchester/ Frederick County area. Contact dan@ AreaGuides.com Looking for Nail Tech Instructor/ Nail Tech willing to teach. For more info.. visit Star Beauty School Tuesday-Friday 10 am to 6 pm at 2263 Valor Dr. Winchester, VA. Current Job Openings. Contact the VEC for additional information at 540722-3420 or 540-535-2875 or Winchester@vec.virginia.gov. Please enter “Employer Services” in the subject line and job number and title when you inquire about the position: Job Number / Title 508890 / Housekeeper 508825 / Material Handler 1 508011 / Security Officer - HP Hood Winchester 508118 / Probationary EMT/Firefighter 508090 / Appliance Repair Technicians - Winchester 507800 / Welder 507801 / Steel Erectors 507802 / Steel Metal Installers 507805 / Crane Operators 507639 / Full Time Local Pickup & Delivery Driver(CDL-A) 507905 / AOC Operational Analyst 507374 / City Truck Driver - WIN 507250 / Computer and Network Support Technician 507312 / Line Support 507425 / Trade Analyst 507360 / Member Service Rep II/MLO (Winchester Call Center - Mortgages) 507372 / Packaging Operator RENTALS Temporary Housing, Front Royal, Mountain Lodge, furnished, 2BR,2BA, Avail.Dec.10, $2,400/mo. Includes all utilities/maid. Call 703-860-2711

Woodcarver tools/supply sale: supply of wood, design and project books, sharpening stones, glove, misc. knives and other items (many new and unused). Total of $850+ original cost; sell 4 $400. Contact: 540-868-2623 Mercury outboards; 20 hp $800.00, 10 hp $500.00, Prentice vise “old 108” 6” jaws $1000.00, Helen Jean Smith 1987 framed Edinburg print $400.00, John J Pershing 1927 signed photo to General Passaga $1600.00, Antique Oak Ice box, 3 door org wheels $1200.00; Aluminum Light Poles 12’ tall x 4” od, square anchor, call 540660-2913 R22 tank with about 25 to 27lbs of freon left. Only used to charge one heat pump. Will sell remaining for $500, Price is negotiable.Call 540-683-1847.

Located in Front Royal.

Cookie Jars, Aunt Jamima and others, assorted prices. Old wicker baby stroller, $100. Big ceramic owl, $50.00.

Canning jars $4 each. Old Schwinn girls bicycle, $50 and need tires.

Long Time Collections for sale: Carnival Glass, Pottery; E. Texas, Roseville, Depression glass (green and pink), Jewelry from the 50’s and forward. Call 540-635-1612

Your business listed here.

6 lines only $35.00 for 4 weeks. Ad pre-payment required.

Email: classifieds@fredcoreport.com

or call Angie at 540-683-1847

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Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 37

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847 or Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072

Death notices

Thomas George Buterakos, Sr. Thomas George Buterakos, Sr., 88, of Winchester, died Monday, December 8, 2014 in Berryville, VA. Friends may call on Sunday, December 14, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at the funeral chapel at Phelps Funeral Home in Winchester.

Memorials may be made to Blue Ridge Hospice, 333 W. Cork Street, Winchester, VA 22601.

Rena May Peacemaker Stump Rena May Peacemaker Stump, 74, of Stephens City went home to be with our Lord Thursday, December 4, 2014. n lieu of flowers memorial may be made to Birdie Cantrell 892 Hunting Ridge Road, Winchester, VA 22603 Robert E. Carter Robert Eugene Carter, 84, of Winchester, Virginia died Sunday, December 7, 2014 in the Winchester Medical Center. Contributions in memory of Robert may be made to Stephens City Fire and Rescue Co., P.O. Box 253, Stephens City, VA 22655 or to Macedonia United Methodist Church, 1941 Macedonia Church Road, White Post, VA 22633.

Declan Michael Barta Declan Michael Barta, infant son of Katherine “Katy” Estep and Michael Barta of Stephens City, Virginia, born on December 4, entered into Heaven while in his Daddy’s arms on Saturday, December 6, 2014, in Winchester Medical Center. In lieu of flowers, memorials donations may be made to Declan’s Go Fund Me account at www. gofundme.com/ForBabyDeclan.

tours is $12 for adults, $5 for Belle Grove and National Trust Members, and free for children under 12. After touring the house, visitors are invited to enjoy spiced tea and homemade cookies by the glowing fire in the Winter Kitchen hearth.

During the holiday season Belle Grove will also feature live holiday music in the Parlor. On Friday, December 12 from 6-8 p.m. and Saturday, December 13 from 6-8 p.m., Deborah Balcom and Richard Follett will perform. These popular local musicians teach at the Shenandoah Conservatory Arts Academy and Mr. Follett’s musical theater piece, “Glory Bea! A Shenandoah Christmas Story,” was a favorite at Middletown’s Wayside Theater.

On Friday, December 19 from 68 p.m. and Saturday, December 20 from 6-8 p.m., John Tole of Evergreen Shade will play traditional holiday music, including Civil War era pieces, on the guitar and banjo. On Sunday, December 21 from 3-5 p.m. harpist Allen Dec will play Christmas music. On Friday, December 26, from 6-8 p.m. and Saturday, December 27, 6-8 p.m., Deborah Balcom and Kathleen Bell will finish the Christmas season with their beautiful vocal performances.

The Belle Grove Museum Shop will be open during all touring hours and is the perfect place to find unique gifts such as Belle Grove’s signature whiskey chocolates, Belle Grove honey and jams, as well as teas, coffees, jewelry, pottery, and books on Shenandoah Valley and Civil War history.

Belle Grove Plantation is a nonprofit historic house museum that

is a National Trust for Historic Preservation site and a partner in Cedar Creek Belle Grove National Historical Park. It is located off Route 11 at 336 Belle Grove Road south of Middletown, Virginia. The latest information on Christmas tours may be found at www.bellegrove.org or www.facebook .com/BelleGrove.

Belle Grove will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. R-MA Invites Community to Annual Christmas Concert The annual Randolph-Macon Academy (R-MA) Christmas Concert, featuring the Randolph-Macon Academy Chorus, the R-MA Handbells, and the award-winning 91st Virginia Air Force JROTC Band, will be held on Sunday, December 14, 2014 at 7:30 pm in Boggs Chapel.

This concert is open to the public; admission is free. For more information, contact erichards@rma.edu, or call (540) 636-5200.

Final four members of major heroin distribution ring plead guilty The final four members of a heroin distribution ring that brought hundreds of grams of heroin per week into the Winchester area, pled guilty late last week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg to federal drug conspiracy charges. In all, the conspiracy brought multiple kilograms of heroin into the area during the life of the conspiracy.

In all, thirteen individuals have been convicted of drug distribution

Diversions Briefs conspiracy and an additional defendant from New York has been arrested and charged via federal criminal complaint.

“Mr. Jones and his co-conspirators supervised a significant illegal business that imported heroin from New York and distributed it across Virginia,” United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy said today. “We will continue to do all we can to identify patterns of heroin trafficking and dismantle the criminal conspiracies that bring this poison into our communities. We must also do all we can to enhance prevention efforts and provide treatment services to those struggling with addiction. A comprehensive approach is essential if we are going to stem the tide of heroin abuse in our communities.”

“This is another excellent example of Inter-Agency cooperation in eradicating a violent and dangerous drug gang. I commend the courage and dedication of all the agents and officers, whether they be ATF, State or Local, who worked so diligently on this investigation to bring it to its successful conclusion” said Charles E. Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division. “It is part and parcel of ATF’s “Frontline Initiative” which concerns the investigating and targeting of the most violent and destructive elements of society today.”

As of last week, thirteen defendants have pled guilty to drug dis-

tribution conspiracy charges. Those defendants who have pled guilty are as follows: • Ronny Maurice Jones, 37, of Woodstock, Virginia • Kareem Allen Shaw, 39, of Oxon Hill, Maryland • Columbus Butler, 59, of Edinburg, Virginia • Charles William Smith Jr., 47, of Edinburg, Virginia • Joshua Adam Pettyjohn, 29, of Woodstock, Virginia • Logan Montgomery Rose, 26, of Woodstock, Virginia • Arthur Marquinton Ronnelle Kinnard, 29, of Winchester, Virginia • Ashton Grace Kern, 23, of Strasburg, Virginia • Francis D. Alvarez, 38, of Woodstock, Virginia • Arthur Sean Bailey, 36, of Sterling, Virginia • Kimberle Ann Hodsden, 31, of Stafford, Virginia • Keith Thomas Marshall, 39, of Reston, Virginia • Ryan Kenneth McQuinn, 28, of Stafford, Virginia In addition, Matthew Santiago, of New York, has been arrested and charged via a federal indictment with heroin distribution conspiracy charges.

Send your brief news items to briefs@warrencountyreport.com

Susan D. Kerns-Williams Susan K. Williams, of Winchester, Virginia, died on Saturday, December 6, 2014, at a nursing home in Staunton, Virginia. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to her burial fund: in care of Omps Funeral Home, 1600 Amherst Street, Winchester, Virginia, 22601 Virginia Lee Mason Virginia Lee Mason, age 51, of Winchester, Virginia, passed away on Saturday, December 6, 2014, at her residence. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Omps Funeral Home to assist the family with expenses.

Vivian C. Sansoni Vivian Christy Sansoni, 13, of Winchester, Virginia, died Tuesday, December 2, 2014, at Winchester Medical Center. Memorial contributions may be made to Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation of Arlington, VA: http://lostdogrescue.org

Recently renovated Country House for Rent in Bentonville, VA. $1,300.00 per month. The house features an open floor plan, wood, tile & carpeted floors, appliances, front porch. It consists of two levels with a full bathroom on each level. No smoking. No Pets.

Call 540-635-2097 or 540-635-6470

Page 38 â&#x20AC;˘ Warren & Frederick County Report â&#x20AC;˘ Late December, 2014

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com â&#x20AC;˘ 540-551-2072 or Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com â&#x20AC;˘ 540-683-1847

Calendar Friday, December 12 Forecast 39° | 30° 7:30pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 9:30pm. A â&#x20AC;&#x153;Frozenâ&#x20AC;? Choral Spectacular. Front Royal Presbyterian Church, 115 Luray Ave. Front Royal. The Blue Ridge Singers present a holiday choral ensemble featuring both classic and modern favorites.

9am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4pm Christmas Sale. Warren Memorial Hospital-3rd floor conference room. Final Sale of the year! Jewelry, handbags and more.

Tell your neighbors, friends family. Great last minute gifts. Sponsored by the Warren Memorial Auxiliary.

Saturday, December 13 Forecast 41° | 30° 10am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 11am Books and Barks.

Come to our extremely popular monthly program that gives developing readers the chance to read and relax with a trained therapy dog. For beginning readers and up.

6:30pm - 12am Bingo Double Session. North Fork Resort Associates, North Fork Road, Front Royal. Bingo: Doors open at 4:30, Early birds start at 6:30pm. $70 covers both sessions and includes an $8.00 meal credit and all games. Extra sheets available at additional cost. Food and drinks are available at the North Fork Resort Cafe. Progressive games, raffles, queen of hearts. Benefits the North

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

Fork Shenandoah River Restoration Foundation.

Sunday, December 14 Forecast 45° | 32° 4pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6pm A â&#x20AC;&#x153;Frozenâ&#x20AC;? Choral Spectacular. Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church. 26 W. Boscawen St., Winchester. The Blue Ridge Singers present a holiday choral ensemble featuring both classic and modern favorites.

Tuesday December 16 12:30pm - 1pm Tourism Tuesdays.

95.3 - the River radio station. Hear the latest tourism-related news and events every Tuesday at 12:30! If you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t listen live check out the podcasts at http://www.theriver953online. com.

7pm - 8pm BZA Meeting. Front Royal Administration Building, 102 E Main Street, Front Royal. Today is the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting to be held in the upstairs Conference Room of the Front Royal Administration Building. Agenda are available in the Planning/Zoning Office located at 102 E Main Street (540) 635-4236.

Wednesday December 17 12pm - 1pm Brown Bag Wellness Series. R-Studio, 16 S. Braddock St., Winchester. Join us for an informa-

Stover Insurance Agency Superior Service with an Independent Price Insurance needs for YOUR Small Business!

Offering: Commercial Auto, General Liability and Business Owners Coverage

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540-869-2004

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No job too large or too small!

Some of the services offered by Prosperity Landscaping â&#x20AC;˘ Landscape design and installation â&#x20AC;˘ Outdoor Kitchens â&#x20AC;˘ Pergolas and Pavilions â&#x20AC;˘ Natural waterfalls and ponds â&#x20AC;˘ Patios, walkways, and walls of all types â&#x20AC;˘ Planting of trees and shrubs â&#x20AC;˘ Grading, sod and seeding

Call today! 540-869-2004

tive hour of essential oil education including how to incorporate them into your daily routine for maintaining an optimal state of wellness! Topics include: Breaking Food Addictions, Stress & Anxiety, Weight Loss, Detox, ADD & ADHD, Smoothies & Cooking, Pet Care, Headaches, Colds & Flu, and MUCH more! FREE & open to the public. Door Prizes!

7pm - 8pm Planning Commission Meeting. County of Warren Government Center.

Thursday, December 18 9am - 10am Park Advisory Commission Meeting. Government Center, Front Royal, Warren County. Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park announces the next meeting of the Park Advisory Commission. The meeting will begin at 9:00a.m. and is open to the public.

Individuals who are interested in the park, these projects and topics, or the business of the Advisory Commission are encouraged to attend. Questions may be directed to Amy Bracewell, Site Manager, at (540) 868-9176.

5pm - 8pm Third Thursday ArtWalk. Downtown Front Royal.

6:30pm - 9:30pm Bingo. North Fork Resort Associates, 301 North Fork Road, Front Royal. Doors open at 4:30pm, early bird games begin at 6:30pm. Food and drinks are available at the North Fork Resort Cafe.

Progressive games, raffles, queen of hearts. Benefits the North Fork Shenandoah River Restoration Foundation.

Saturday, December 20 7am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 11am Breakfast with Santa.

Front Royal Vol. Fire Dept. Adults $7, 12 & Under $3, Children under 3 Free, Pictures with Santa Free with Breakfast.

7:00am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 11am Pancake Breakfast. North Warren Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company #10. 89 Rockland Road, Front Royal. Join us for pancakes, biscuits, sausages, bacon, sausage and chip beef gravy, scrambled eggs, baked apples, juice, and hot tea.

Adults: $8.00, 4-12 year-olds: $4.00, under 3 FREE! 8am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 10am Breakfast with Santa. Stephens City United Methodist Church, 5291 Main St., Stephens City.

Come for a delicious breakfast prepared by the United Methodist Men, crafting, a photo with Santa and a special story-time. This is a no cost community event. A free-will donation will be taken to sponsor the breakfast and proceeds will be donated to the Food Pantry and Emergency Funds.

Tuesday, December 23 12:30pm - 1pm Tourism Tuesdays.

95.3 - the River radio station. Hear the latest tourism-related news and events every Tuesday at 12:30! If you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t listen live check out the podcasts at http://www.theriver953online. com.

Wed Dec 24, 2014 Christmas Eve. All Town Business Offices will be CLOSED. Trash/Recycling Collection will be Tuesday, December 23. There will be no yard waste pick up this week.

12pm - 1pm Brown Bag Wellness Series. R-Studio, 16 S. Braddock St., Winchester. Join us for an informative hour of essential oil education including how to incorporate them into your daily routine for maintaining an optimal state of wellness! Topics include: Breaking Food Addictions, Stress & Anxiety, Weight Loss, Detox, ADD & ADHD, Smoothies & Cooking, Pet Care, Headaches, Colds & Flu, and MUCH more! FREE & open to the public. Door Prizes!

5pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 12am Operation Santa.

Front Royal Vol. Fire Dept. will be doing Operation Santa on Christmas Eve starting at dusk until finished. The time we reach everyone may delayed due to emergency responses. Thursday, December 25 Christmas Day. All Town Business Offices will be CLOSED. Trash/Recycling Collection will be Friday, December 26. There will be no yard waste pickup this week.

Friday, December 26 7pm - 10pm Front Porch Style Pickinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Party. Warren County Senior Center, 1217 Commonwealth Ave. All levels of talent are welcome. Acoustic

Town Holiday ornaments on sale

The 2014 Town of Front Royal Christmas Ornaments are here and can be purchased at the Front Royal-Warren County Visitors Center located at 414 E. Main Street, daily from 9 p.m. to 5 p.m. at a cost of $13. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ornament pictures the original South Fork Bridge constructed in 1941, now replaced, as its North Fork sister bridge will be within two years. More Information is available by contacting the Visitors Center at (540) 635-5788.

3 Bedroom 2 Bath Ranch Style House With Full Walkout Basement For Rent In Front Royal. Washer/dryer Hook Ups. Kitchen, Living Room, Den & Deck. No Smoking.

No Pets. $1,250.00 Per Month.

Call 540-635-2097 or 540-635-6470

Late December, 2014 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 39

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

To advertise in Warren & Frederick County Report, Contact: Angie Buterakos at fcrwcr@gmail.com • 540-683-1847 or Alison at alisond@warrencountyreport.com • 540-551-2072 instruments only.

Salvation Army. For additional information, contact United Way NSV at (540) 536-1610 or emailuway@visuallink.com.

6:30pm - 9:30pm Bingo. North Fork Resort Associates, 301 North Fork Road, Front Royal. Doors open

Saturday December 27 8am - 12pm Rubbermaid product sale. Belk Parking Lot, Apple Blossom Mall, Winchester. The December beneficiary agency will be The

Pets Page

at 4:30pm, early bird games begin at 6:30pm. Food and drinks are available at the North Fork Resort Cafe.

Progressive games, raffles, queen of hearts. Benefits the North Fork Shenandoah River Restoration Foundation.

WE MOW LAWNS & HAUL JUNK

Call Gary at 540-683-1045 or 540-636-9875

More people begin and end their day with us

Jordan Pit Bull Terrier Mix

• Adult • Male • Medium Pet ID: 62048 House trained • Spay/Neuter • Current on vaccinations Adsponsoredby:

7726 Main St. Middletown

SPCAofWinchester,Frederick&ClarkeCo. 115 Featherbed Lane Winchester, VA 540-662-8616 To sponsor a pet contact Angie at fcrwcr@gmail.com or 540-683-1847

540-508-0678

540-635-4734

Humane Society of Warren County

540-635-4734

Monday thru Sunday 10 am to 4 pm - Closed Wednesday • 1245 Progress Drive, Front Royal, VA • 540-635-4734 • humanesocietywc@gmail.com Bring Joy to Your World for just $25.00. Adopt a Dog or Cat in December for just $25.00 (includes spay/neuter).

Stop by the shelter at 1245 Progress Drive Front Royal, VA or call 540-635-4734 for more details.

The Humane Society of Warren County is proud to be a network partner of the Best Friends Animal Society and offer this holiday special.

Oscar - 1 1/2 year old male boxer mix. Oscar is just the cutest and most playful guy!

He loves to play fetch. He also knows a few commands and is pretty good on the leash.

Oscar is good with dogs and cats and kids, too.

Rufus - 8 year old male hound mix.

Rufus is a handsome hound that was brought in as a stray by animal control. He loves people but can be independent as well. He loves to be outside and would love a home with a fenced yard to keep him safe.

Dale - 10 year old neutered male terrier mix. This little ol’ man is Dale. He was found as a stray with a terrible skin infection and almost no hair. After some love and medical care he has grown back his hair and is doing very well. Dale loves treats, is very sweet and well behaved and adores other dogs!

Blackie - 10 year old male Min Pin/JRT mix. Blackie is a very sweet boy!

He is house trained and good with other animals.

Blackie is currently living with one of our fosters so if you are interested in meeting Blackie please call first.

Oscar’s ad sponsored by:

Rufus’ ad sponsored by:

Dale’s ad sponsored by:

Blackie’s ad sponsored by:

Hillbilly’s Junkyard

Trevor & Lorena Lipton of

For all your repair and maintenance needs!

6768 Winchester Rd. Front Royal

540-635-BILL

(2455)

www.autocareclinic.biz

Hillbilly has what you NEED! 4381 Stonewall Jackson Hwy Bentonville, VA • 636-2671 hillbillysjunkyard.com

LUCKY St r l o u n g e

And Oscar Too! 540-635-5297 205-A E. Main Street, Front Royal

www.luckystarlounge.net

Wanda Snead

Property Management

Serving the area for 20 years!

Sam Snead Realty • 540-635-9753

SamSneadRealty.com

With your help we have been able to place thousands of animals in good homes. Contact Alison @ 540-551-2072 if you would like to become a pet sponsor too!

Page 40 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Late December, 2014

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com