DOWN MEMORY LANE
March 9, 1950
Fresh paint is going on the Amoco filling station at Washington, formerly the Lee Highway Garage, to have this business re-opened March 15, according to a statement made yesterday afternoon.
The business is to be opened by Ernest Dupree, a resident of Florida for the past year. Mr. Dupree, formerly an engineer with the construction of a power plant near Farmville, was proprietor of the Aldie Fruit Stand until moving to Florida about a year ago. Whether Mr. and Mrs. Dupree and their two young daughters will live in the community is not known at this time.
A Ford pick-up, property of James W. Fletcher of Sperryville, was recovered by Trooper William A. Buntin at 5 o’clock Wednesday morning near the Merrill residence in Washington. The driver of the truck gave his name as Lanny Lavon Brown of Fort Wayne State School, Indiana.
It is suspected that this same Brown, who was caught driving the Fletcher pick-up, may be the one who wrecked a Chevrolet truck, belonging to H. B. Wood of Woodville. The Wood truck was crashed head-on into the side of a culvert near the home of Miss Annie Stephenson at Woodville. Brown does not acknowledge having wrecked the Wood truck.
Brown was apprehended and taken to jail. A 32 pistol and a 22 rifle were found in the truck.
Charles B. Wood of Flint Hill, crew leader for the Rappahannock census, reports that he is greatly in need of census enumerators for Jackson, Hawthorne, and Stonewall districts of the county. A three-day training course for those helping with the census-taking will be held at Washington courthouse on March 27, 28 and 29. Anyone throughout the county who is interested in becoming a census enumerator is asked to contact Mr. Wood.
July 28, 1983
In the late 1920’s and early 30’s, Walker Jenkins of Washington operated a bus route, carrying passengers for many years between Culpeper and Winchester, and later between Sperryville and Fredericksburg. Jenkins and those working for him made two double round trips a day, giving Rappahannock residents without transportation a chance to spend a day shopping in the city or to arrange appointments. His routes also connected with railroad service to Richmond and to the valley.
Ruby Jenkins, his daughter, remembers the days when folks anywhere between Culpeper and Winchester could stand along the road and wave for the big seven-passenger Buicks to stop.
A. L. Lillard of Flint Hill who worked in highway maintenance in Rappahannock County until his promotion in 1951 took him to Loudoun County, remembers some of the old “corduroy” roads that were in existence when he started road work in the ’30’s.
The roads, so named because they had the uneven texture of a piece of waled cloth, were built by placing small logs side by side along a cleared path and covering them with dirt for smoothness. “The trouble was,” Lillard remembered, “after a while they were just like washboards. We didn’t have equipment heavy enough to level them out so maintenance was just filling the ruts with more dirt.”
For snow removal there was a big crawler type tractor pulling a blade and teams of horses. The highway department didn’t maintain stables, though. “We hired them from farmers,” Lillard said.
Recent staff changes at the Rappahannock News have brought new faces to workday Washington. Assuming the duties of advertising representative this week is Jeanne Harrison, a “transplanted native.”
Harrison grew up in Rappahannock County, then moved to the Washington, D.C. suburbs, where she says she missed the clean air, the mountains and the quiet life. Mrs. Harrison was previously employed as a claims analyst for the National Association of Letter Carriers’ health benefits plan in Reston from 1976-79.
Jan. 1, 1996
Drs. Vito DelVento and Kevin Dippert, 1995 graduates of Colorado State University, are planning their grand opening of Equine Reproduction Concepts in Amissville this weekend, Jan. 4 and 5.
The two men say that they are offering a full service equine reproduction facility. Their plan is to work with horse breeders and vets to produce quality foals. Another service offered at the facility is the collection and transportation of semen, either cooled or frozen. The cooled semen can be shipped anywhere in the country within a 24-hour period, which is about the maximum amount of time it is viable.
What drew them to Rappahannock County was the scenic beauty of the mountains; property taxes also played a factor in their decision.
Only a small portion of what high school sports teams cost is provided in the school budget. Most of the expenses are covered by private fundraising and gate receipts.
The school budget covers stipends for coaches and drivers and buses for trips to away games.
For the past five years the Athletic Boosters’ Club has been providing uniforms for the teams and often sports equipment also.
Skip Arnold and Jeannie Welch, two active Booster Club members, said they have provided part or all of the uniforms for all the teams in the past five years. With an approximately five year life expectancy for sports uniforms, it is time to start over.
The major source of money for the Boosters’ Club is concessions sales at home basketball games. President Skip Arnold, his wife Dee Dee, Jeannie Welch and her husband Mike work the concessions stand at most games.