DOWN MEMORY LANE
From Back Issues of the Rappahannock News
Dec. 13, 1973
The home of Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Priest at Amissville was destroyed by fire a year ago in November and all of their furnishings and possessions were consumed in the inferno. This November, just over a year later, the Priest family moved into a newly constructed home, made possible through the efforts of a community organization — the Amissville Ruritan Club. In April, Ruritan Club members voted to donate labor to build a new home for the Priests, who are both elderly; Mr. Priest is crippled. With the efforts of 12 club members, some relatives and local residents, the construction was accomplished. With all of the practical effort expended, the men felt this was truly a learning experience as well as a labor of love.
David W. Streagle, a warrant officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, graduated Thursday from the FBI National Academy at Quantico after completing a 12-week course. Mr. Streagle is presently associated with CID at the Marine Corp Air Station, at Cherry Point, N.C. He served 15 years with the U.S. Marine Corps at stations in Formosa, Hawali, Vietnam, North and South Carolina. He is married to the former Elizabeth Latham of Amissville; they have two children, Shannon and Marc.
“The massacre” was how a Rappahannock sheep owner and her hired hands referred to the sight they saw the morning of Nov. 8, 1973. Dog warden Jack Bruce didn’t use such a dramatic term; he was more specific: “I found that four ewes were dead, one ram that was dead, one ewe that was living and two lambs that were living . . . one ewe died later and the two lambs had to be destroyed later.” The supervisors are proposing raising the dog tag fee to create a larger sum, and the dog warden's salary hasn’t been paid for eight months.
Sept. 30, 1982
Nominated for the outstanding young woman of 1982 is Sheila Estes, secretary to Commonwealth’s Attorney Doug Baumgardner. Estes was nominated to be included in the yearly publication on the basis of professional achievement and community service. The final winners in state and national competition will be notified in December. Estes, a 1976 RCHS graduate, is the daughter of Mrs. Reid Payne of Flint Hill and Terry Fritts of Front Royal.
Henry Eastwood and Francie Schroeder, the husband and wife team whose photography exhibition opens next week at Washington’s Middle Street Gallery, have captured the character of Rappahannock County on film. The photographs were all taken in Rappahannock and its fringes. “It was really hard to cut the exhibition down to just Rappahannock County. That’s a political, rather that a demographic line,” Henry explained, adding that for some of the scenes, the couple strayed into Madison, Warren and Fauquier counties and up into the park’s Skyline Drive.
As an alternative to bringing legal action against the Rappahannock school board for alleged non-compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, commonwealth’s attorney Douglas Baumgardner has proposed that his office and the school board jointly seek an opinion from the state Attorney General’s office. In an Aug. 23 letter to superintendent Robert Estabrook, Baumgardner sought copies of three documents previously requested by the Rappahannock News: An architectural program and budget cost analysis on the proposed central office vehicle maintenance facility prepared by the Richmond architectural firm of Mosely Henning, a revision of that same program and analysis, and a report on a proposed index salary schedule for school employees.
July 30, 1992
The fact that Ochs rhymes with box — creating an interesting and clever marketing tool — is not the only interesting and clever aspect to one of Flint Hill’s newest businesses. Ochs Food, located in the back of the Flint Hill General Store, opened just two months ago and was conceived of by owners Nicholas Ochs Raymond and long-time county resident Diane Waldron. Mr. Ochs and Ms. Waldron have put together several aspects in their new businesses that consumers are looking for today. They are serving food that is tasty, low in fat and calories, and gourmet in style at an inexpensive price — and it’s brought right to your door.
The library board, with three new members, met for the first time last Thursday and immediately became bogged down in a “wish list” of things to buy with unspent building funds. Librarian Nikki Lynch, working with board chairman William Young, had drawn up a list that ranged from new folding tables and chairs for the meeting room to computer furniture and bookends.