10/05/2016 King George Journal

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Opinion

Sports

News

Local folks share opinions Page 4

Colonial Beach Drifters win in wild weather to rack up third victory Page 8

Police and fire department news from around the region

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King George

Volume 40, Number 40

helping you relate to your community

Local angels take to track Ainsley's Angels race together Phyllis Cook These angels didn’t exactly fly, but their spirits were full of joy as several teams of Ainsley’s Angels competed in the group’s first race in King George on Sept. 25 in Potomac Elementary PTA’s 5K and Fun Run. Ainsley’s Angels is a special racing organization which includes athletes of all ages and all abilities; it’s a national organization with chapters in many states. Michele Tritt is an experienced competitive runner, so she knows about the joy of competing. She’s also works for the King George school division as an early childhood speech-language pathologist, so she knows about the importance of inclusion. Putting the two together was a See Angels, page 2

Photo by Phyllis Cook

Angel Riders at the start of the 5K: Constantin Langa, left, Hannah Parker, Esther Mullins, Tommy Stachkunas, Nathanael Harris.

Supervisors give $2,500 so museum can be visitor center Va. certification awaits funding from other jurisidictions

Wednesday, October 5, 2016 50 Cents

Fall Festival kicks off this weekend The King George Fall Festival, now in its 58th year, is an annual community event held the second weekend of October. It is planned and run solely by the KGFF Committee which is made up of volunteers representing various local organizations, businesses, etc.. Key events include: Saturday morning the Parade down Route 3 west through the courthouse area to King George High School (KGHS). The parade is followed by a Fair at KGHS including a craft show (gymnasium), food vendors, live music, free health screenings including free flu shots and ekgs, as well as free games, free inflat-

ables, Free rides, etc. for the kids. Parade awards are announced during the Fair. Saturday evening the KGFF Dance and Silent Auction is returning to the KGFF Event Line-up and will be held at the KG Citizens Center with music by Patsy & The County Classics (www.patsycountyclassics.com) . For Tickets see Union Bank & Trust, Rollins Rentals, KG Parks & Rec, or Rocky Top Embroidery. Sunday afternoon is the Miss & Teen KGFF Queen Pageant. The Contestants for the Miss & Teen See Festival, page 2

Troop 191 celebrates 60 years Gathering of Eagles marksBoy Scout group’s observance Phyllis Cook

Phyllis Cook The King George Board of Supervisors authorized a letter of support at its meeting Sept. 20 to the Virginia Tourism Corporation on behalf of the Dahlgren Heritage Museum a on a request by Chairwoman Ruby Brabo. The Dahlgren Heritage Museum is working closely with the Northern Neck Planning District Commission in seeking certification to operate as a state tourist center. In a separate action earlier in the Sept. 20 meeting, the board approved a motion by Supervisor Jim Howard to provide the museum $2,500 from county tourism funds. It also consid-

ered a second application from the Fall Festival Committee. The Dahlgren Heritage museum had applied to the county for $20,000 toward an estimated $28,000 to pay for staffing for calendar year 2017. The museum is housed in a building located on the west side of U.S. 301 (James Madison Parkway) south

of the Harry W. Nice Bridge over the Potomac River crossing to Maryland. The building was constructed and dedicated in 1994 as the Potomac Gateway Visitor Center, largely through the efforts of then-state Sen. John Chichester, who shepherded the See Museum, page 2

King George Boy Scout Troop 191 celebrated its 60th Anniversary on Sept. 27 with more than 100 people attending an event at the Citizens Center. “The Boy Scouts of America is one of the nation’s largest and most prominent values-based youth development organizations and Troop 191 has excelled in implementing the values of Boy Scouting to the youth of King George,” Galen Thompson said. Thompson is a member of the troop’s ‘Key Three,’ comprised of three of the more than 20 adult leaders of Troop 191. “The Ruritan Club has been our chartering organization continuously for every one of the 60 years since the end of 1954, and I would like to thank them,” Thompson said. He stressed the troop’s service to the

Bunche film premieres at college to acclaim Phyllis Cook

Photo by Phyllis Cook

King George School Superintendent Dr. Rob Benson and Ralph Bunche Alumni Association President Claudette Jordon share a hug after the premiere.

A documentary film telling the story of gradual school desegregation in King George drew more than 150 viewers to its first public showing on Sept. 25. at the Dahlgren campus of the University of Mary Washington. The film screening took place immediately prior to a King George School Board meeting whose location had been transferred to the UMW-D auditorium to accommodate the expected crowd. The 26-minute video, “The Road to School Desegregation in King George County,” is the result of a partnership between the Ralph Bunche Alumni Association and King George County Public Schools. That fact, and its premiere taking place in conjunction with a School Board meeting made the screening itself a historic event. That’s because Ralph Bunche High School opened in 1949, after the School Board and then-Superintendent T. Benton Gale were sued by African-American residents. Plaintiffs won their case which fought the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine, allowed under school segregation, resulting in the construction of Ralph Bunche. Kristine Hill, King George division Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction, and Claudette Jordon, President of the Ralph Bunche Alumni Association, introduced the film.

Hill talked about how the film came about and pointed to the eight panels arranged on either side of the stage. They measure about 7 ½ feet high and 32 inches wide, and like the film, provide the historical context of African-American education in King George from early one-and two-room schools, to the legal fights for equal facilities and teacher compensation, and the construction of Ralph Bunche High School toward school integration finally achieved in 1968. Hill related how the panels were unveiled in April 2015 at UMW-D, after their creation by Dr. Cristina Turdean’s museum design & interpretation spring semester class at the University of Mary Washington’s Department of Historic Preservation, at the request of the Ralph Bunche Alumni Association. Turdean’s students recorded oral histories, researched books, articles and court cases about the era and obtained photos from local people, the Virginia State University Library, Library of Virginia and the Library of Congress. All research materials, along with the panels, were turned over to the Alumni Association to preserve the heritage of the Ralph Bunche High School and be incorporated into future displays intended for the former See Film, page 2

Photo by Phyllis Cook

Scouts gathered to celebrate the 60h anniversary of Troop 191. community. “They serve the Ruritan Club, the Lion's Club, Caledon State Park, King George Parks & Recreation, among many others,” Thompson said. For example, in the past two and a half years, the troop has provided more than 364 hours of service to the community.

He noted the accomplishment of the troop’s producing 60 Eagle Scouts, saying 25 percent, 15 out of the 60, had attained the rank in the last three years. “My wish is the troop will continue for another 60 years and produce another 60 Eagle Scouts,” Thompson told See scouts, page 8

W&L High School ends football series with King George after 60 years Richard Leggitt Washington & Lee High School Athletic Director Malcolm Lewis announced this week that the Westmoreland County school is ending its 60-year long home and home varsity football series with King George high school. "When I played football at W&L in the 70s and 80s, King George was our biggest rival," said Lewis. "We both were District 1 schools and our enrollment was 515 and theirs was 530. Our games were extremely close." "But today King George is District 4 and has an enrollment of almost 1,400, while we are going back to District 1 and our enrollment is 430," Lewis said. "They beat us this year 72 to 0. Because of the size difference, we are just not competitive with them in football any longer." "The way things are now, it is not

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doing either school any favors to continue these games," Lewis said. "We will continue to play them in basketball and baseball, and maybe someday if we are able to build our football program back up to a competitive level we might seek to get King George back on our schedule." "I am disappointed that we will not be playing them anymore," said King George Athletic Director Alex Fisher. "We are not happy about it. It's a community thing. We have been playing them since the 60s and our older alumni like that we play each other. It's been our opening game and always drew a good crowd whether we were playing in King George or Montross. I hate to see it end."


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