DOWN MEMORY LANE
From Back Issues of the Rappahannock News
April 14, 1983
Claybert Smoot was back before the supervisors at their April board meeting with his by-now annual complaints about excessive noise and trespassing arising from events held at the Washington Community Center and lack of response from local police.
“It’s the same problem I’ve had all the time. I can’t sleep in my own house. There are cars in my yard, “Smoot charged.
According to Smoot, noise from the Community Center on Fodderstack Road continued until 2:30 a.m. on March 5. A car parked in his yard shone its headlights directly at his residence for 25 minutes, Smoot added. “We’ve had one act like this. By God, we’ll have another!” he told the supervisors, referring to the shooting last November of a Flint Hill farm manager.
“You’re going to have to bring an undertaker,” Smoot warned the supervisors, adding that he “went out with a rifle with nine bullets in it.”
Weldon Burke, a monument to strength, integrity and hard work in Rappahannock County, has retired from carrying the mail in Woodville. His contributions span almost a halfcentury of history in this county, beginning with his boyhood on Hazel Mountain to moving from his ancestral home when the federal government took the land for Skyline Drive and
Shenandoah National Park. His memories would fill a book.
Through it all, he carried with him the conviction that the mail must be delivered. He can recall that over the years, only towering snow drifts and sheets of ice ever prevented him from making his rounds.
Dec. 10, 1997
He says he has always been a dreamer and calls making his jewelry a magical progress.
Christopher Goodine, former of Chris’ Shop designs in gold and silver in Washington, is a New Hampshire Yankee who wandered through the county with his wife Jean in 1984. They loved it and Goodine rented a shop in 1985, making his the oldest business on Main Street. He said he would love to see the town full of artists and craftspeople.
Goodine said visitors who come into his shop are pleased the jewelry is openly displayed. He says he cannot remember anything ever being shoplifted.
Goodin's customers come from all over the world, and one-half of his jewelry is custom-made. He is busy from September to December just filling custom orders for Christmas.
Virginia Department of Transportation Resident Engineer Bob Moore met with nearly two dozen county residents
at the Rappahannock County Library Monday night to discuss issues surrounding the Six Year Secondary Road Construction Plan.
Several leaders of the Piedmont Environmental Council, the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection, and the Sperryville Historical Committee joined other concerned citizens in learning the details of the road planning process.
Moore opened the meeting by inviting the public to participate in quarterly future meetings. He explained that it is important for VDOT personnel to reach out and communicate directly with citizens.
VDOT engineers also track traffic flow, daily traffic count, condition of bridges, etc., in order to ensure safety in the future. If moderate changes are noted, VDOT anticipates that work will need to be done in the next several years and works the project into the budget.
In response to a suggestion by Hunt Harris of Ragged Mountain Resource Center, VDOT will provide informational materials for the Library’s County Corner. Moore also said that VDOT notices of public hearings and other meetings will be widely publicized.
Mitzi Young, Bernie Fisken, and several others people expressed disappointment with VDOT’s handling of recent public hearings. They felt that the procedures used at the U.S. 522/211 hearing at Rappahannock County High School provided little useful information to them as citizens.