Falling in Love with Middleburg, and Each Other

Falling in Love with Middleburg, and Each Other

By Carina Elgin

Lori and Kevin Daly

Photo by Carina Elgin

Town Council member Kevin Daly started visiting Middleburg in the 1980s, drawn by Civil War history. He lived in Haymarket, and would drive around the area, retracing the footsteps of Colonel John Mosby and his Rangers. He quickly fell in love with the town’s historic buildings and welcoming citizenry.

Some years later, Lori Daly also started visiting Middleburg. Even though she lived in Potomac Falls, east of Leesburg, she was recruited to the Middleburg Players Community Theater group. She also was soon captivated by the horses, the farms and the charm of the village.

In 2001, they both found their way to worship at Middleburg’s Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Though they still lived in other locations, both felt embraced by the church’s congregation. One day, Kevin was volunteering as an usher when Lori and her sister entered. He offered them a “pew for two.” and said he was “smitten.” And so, they began dating.

In 2002, Kevin bought a home in the village, where they still live. A year later, they married. And in 2005, Colonel Daly retired from the military, after a varied and distinguished 33-year career.

Kevin grew up in a military family, living at bases across the U.S. and in England. In 1972, he joined the Air Force, which taught him discipline and gave him wide educational opportunities. While serving in Thailand, Germany, Japan and the U.S., he earned a college degree and then enrolled in a graduate program. He worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office, and was assigned to the Pentagon during 9/11.

A New Jersey native, Lori worked with government contracting firms and is an advocate for the hiring and support of people with disabilities. She’s founder and president of the Diversifi Consulting Group, focusing on disability awareness, diversity, and inclusion, as well as the value of integrating people with disabilities into the workplace and their communities.

With a population just over 800, Middleburg has “gone from more of a working man’s town in the 1980s, to the tourist town it is today,” Kevin said. But he and Lori remained enamored with the town.

“I love that it is very walkable. You can walk to the post office and chat with the postmaster, and everyone else you know.”

A storyteller with a delicious sense of humor, he added that, “You can then walk up to the Town Hall, pay your water bill, and save the cost of a stamp.”

The Dalys know the names of most dogs they encounter on daily walks around town. They’re happy most businesses are pooch friendly, though their own two labs are getting too old for longer strolls.

The Dalys also give back to the town that embraced them. They’re are active in the local arts community and remain busy at Emmanuel, where Kevin serves on the vestry. Lori is chair of the Loudoun Disability Services Board, and is committed to helping Middleburg become more accessible to the disabled.

Kevin was first elected to the Middleburg Town Council in 2016 and continues in that role, praising the town staff for “doing all of the hard work.” He’s delighted that council members all like each other, all live in town, and all agree they don’t want to lose “what it is all about,” that welcoming sense of community and continuity.