Alisa Booze Troetschel

Washington fire and rescue volunteers work hard to save lives and keep up with the times.
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A sense of purposeful, controlled energy pervades the walls of the Sperryville Volunteer Fire Department, based on U.S. 211 just west of Sperryville. And those walls are expanding.
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While many teens look to Warrenton and Culpeper for “hot spots” to occupy their free time, some have found all the excitement they need – at the Sperryville Volunteer Rescue Squad.
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The Castleton Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company is arguably the most isolated of the seven volunteeer fire and rescue departments that serve Rappahannock County, but has learned to deal with it in a number of creative ways.
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The Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors paid the bills as part of its regular monthly meeting Monday afternoon at the courthouse, but one of them — for roughly $25,000 — came as a surprise. Three years ago, the Rappahannock County School Sports Association (RCSSA) helped finance the purchase and installation of lights at the...
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A candidate update from Bill Fletcher's place and the Democrats monthly meet-up . . . A photography contest in Rappahannock . . . the end of an era as the Chapmans leave for Lexington.
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• Kudos to the Castleton Festival, which ends its one-month program this weekend. • Heat-related warnings, and good wishes, to this weekend's First Battle of Manassas reenactors, including a couple from Rappahannock.
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“Thirty-four minutes and 52 seconds,” said Circuit Court Clerk Peggy Ralph, after Board of Supervisors Chairman Roger Welch adjourned the public hearing for the 2011-12 Rappahannock County budget Monday evening (April 25) at Rappahannock County High School. That is: A record may have been set for the shortest public hearing for the county budget,...
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The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has allotted Rappahannock County $28,188 for road projects during fiscal year 2011-12. At this month’s board of supervisors meeting, County Administrator John McCarthy described this amount as “nothing.” Furthermore, VDOT’s estimated annual allocations through 2017 is about $26,500. If the county puts all the allocations for the next...
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Residents and visitors faced unexpected challenges traveling in Rappahannock County this past weekend as torrents of rain flooded roads, stranded travelers and carved new potholes and gullies.
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If you're the parent of a high school student who doesn't play sports, you may well receive a personal invitation from Jimmy Swindler to bring your teen to team tryouts. In the April 12 regular monthly meeting of the Rappahannock County School Board, chairman Wesley Mills announced the appointment of James E. Swindler II...
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A businessman or a diplomat? One born here or one who’s chosen to make a home here? Paul Brown and Jon Purnell presented the Rappahannock School Board with two distinct — and distinctly Rappahannock — options to represent the Stonewall-Hawthorne district until December. Board members interviewed the candidates during their regularly meeting Tuesday (April...
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Welcomed or not, the cell tower configuration for Rappahannock County is on course to be in operation as early as this fall. In its Monday night meeting, the board of supervisors approved the last of five AT&T cell facility applications.
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More unfamiliar but welcome faces are apparently showing up in the streets, guest rooms and dining tables of Little Washington and elsewhere in the county.
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Members of Old Dominion Hounds prepare the grounds and course at Ben Venue Farm for April's point-to-point races.
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Several hundred citizens will have a different Rappahannock County supervisor after this summer. The 2010 Census revealed shifts in population, requiring that district boundaries change to equalize local government representation.
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As it did for the current school year, the 2011-2012 school year will begin on Aug. 24. At a work session last Wednesday (March 16), after turning over to supervisors a 2012 budget that requests no increase in county funding over this year, the Rappahannock County School Board approved a calendar for next year...
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After shrinking for three years, Washington's tourism-fueled tax receipts are growing again.
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Between the February and March school board meetings, Rappahannock County School Superintendent Dr. Aldridge Boone cut an additional $180,000 from what is now an $11.6 million proposed budget for the 2011-2012 school year.
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In a four-to-one vote Monday night, the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors cleared the way for AT&T to construct a 199-foot cell tower behind Rappahannock High School in accordance with a revised plan meant to address concerns about the pole’s proximity to school buildings.
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Thirteen items awaited the attention of the Rappahannock Board of Supervisors at its regular monthly meeting Monday afternoon at the county courthouse. Highlights included the audit of county finances, redistricting, improving pedestrian safety in Sperryville, reciprocal trash transfer site usage by Rappahannock and Culpeper residents and funding of local Civil War sesquicentennial events. Rappahannock...
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Now hiring! Must be willing to work with no prior notice at any hour of the day or night, and outdoors in extreme weather. Work can be hazardous, even life-threatening. Must purchase own equipment. Training and uniform provided. No pay. Though not a real want ad, this is about as true-to-life as you might get...
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This is the second in a continuing series profiling Rappahannock County’s volunteer fire departments and rescue squads. From where it sits in the village of Chester Gap on the side of the mountain, the Chester Gap Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department (VFRD) is healing rifts and building bridges, connecting to communities down below, and...
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This is the first in a series profiling Rappahannock County’s volunteer fire departments and rescue squads. It seemed only fitting to start with Flint Hill since its annual parade and carnival are this weekend. It’s a family affair at the Flint Hill Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department (VFRD). “I think everybody gets along,” said...
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It might sound like a B-grade horror movie, with a title like “Killer Baby Bug Eats Victims Alive.” But it’s a true tale, and it’s unfolding now in Northern Virginia. The insect’s prey is not human, but ash trees. The “killer” is the emerald ash borer, which is smaller than a penny and, as its...
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Rappahannock County, among others, is for sale — and the listing agent is Journey Through Hallowed Ground (JTHG). The nonprofit JTHG is selling tourists on visiting historic sites along the Old Carolina Road from Monticello to Gettysburg, known as U.S. Highway 15 in Virginia. Rapphannock County may snag a share of visitors interested in...
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Everything’s like it used to be at Scrabble School, even the round Roman numeral clock hanging from a wall brace and the white-globed lights suspended from the ceiling. The pot-bellied stoves stationed at each end of the building are gone, however. And the toilets are inside instead of outside. A divider separated first through...
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On roads paved with words and notes, Woodville’s John Tole entices his listeners to travel into the past — particularly into our country’s past. “Music provides a nice vehicle for showing how people felt at various stages in our history,” says Tole. More often than not, Tole lingers in his journey in the mid-1800s,...
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Perhaps the struggle to survive helped shape the character of John Mann Sr., who was born in 1930 – at a time when survival was a day-to-day goal for many working-class Americans. Or it could’ve been the nine-mile round-trip hike he and his sister made to elementary school. Or the challenges of being black...
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NOTE: These shows at Castleton's Theatre House have been cancelled due to the snow. Organizers say they will be rescheduled and all tickets will be honored. Stories that transcend time, cultures and walks of life embody universal themes. Take the Greek and Roman myths that describe love, betrayal and jealousy: How the story is...
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Without accessing the Internet or dialing a telephone, Rappahannock residents are making an international impact. Next week, 19-year-old Peshawar, Pakistan native Mohsin Ahmad will begin his freshman year at Goucher College in Baltimore. From the first spark of Ahmad’s interest, community members have led the effort enabling the former exchange student at Rappahannock County...
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