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The Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community (RAAC) has announced that it is shifting its theatrical performances and other public events from RAAC ‘s Theatre on Gay Street to the Little Washington Theatre (LWT), which is just across the street.
Soon the regulars at the senior centers in Rappahannock and Fauquier counties will be able to come in four days a week again. They won’t need to wear masks or social-distance around the tables, which will make conversation a whole lot easier for those with hearing problems. They’ll be able to eat their lunches off plates instead of from pre-packed plastic containers. It will be like old times. But not everything will be as it was before the pandemic. Some of the seniors will be changed.
Often when people hear the word “scholarship” they think about money dedicated to the four-year-college bound high school senior. In the four counties that Northern Piedmont Community Foundation serves (Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison and Rappahannock), we want all our residents to know that of the 43 scholarship funds we manage, many of them have universal appeal.
When Covid hit in spring 2020, the Rappahannock FamilyFutures board realized their nonprofit might be able to help home-bound kids spend some of their screen time learning about money and finances in a fun online summer “camp.”
The Scrabble School Preservation Foundation (SSPF) recently held a spring celebration and luncheon at the beautiful Magnolia Vineyards in Amissville. As this was their first opportunity to be together since early 2020 before COVID-19, the group celebrated the past, present and future with 20 board members and guests.
A person does not have to be young to make a positive contribution to society. That was abundantly clear during Aging Together’s eighth annual 5 Over 50 virtual ceremony in which older adults were recognized for their efforts to make their communities better places to live.
RAAC Community Theatre’s first-ever video production will be available for online viewing the last weekend in May and the first weekend in June. Eagerly awaited by the Theatre’s devoted audience, the play is being offered as a gift to the community.
Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community (RAAC) has announced this year’s grants to 14 Rappahannock artists and organizations. In keeping with the vision of the Claudia Mitchell Arts Fund, the grants reward and encourage individual artists of all ages and organizations who are working to foster the arts in Rappahannock.
Regional giving campaign raises $1.2 million+
The PATH Foundation is happy to announce the recipients of their Flexible Funding grant cycle. Over $1.2 million in funding was awarded to 38 area organizations to support their missions and strengthen the health and vitality for everyone in our community.
The Sperryville Community Alliance is announcing a campaign to raise $60,000 to enhance, maintain, and expand the network of walking trails throughout the community. These walking trails seek to connect the village from the River District to the Route 211 corridor. They provide a space for seniors and families to walk and exercise as well as an opportunity to enjoy nature along the historic Thornton River.
It’s National Volunteer Appreciation Week, which means the PATH Foundation is dedicating a week of service to local organizations and inviting you to join in. To sign up and see a complete list of events in the region, go to the PATH Foundation Volunteer Hub. Here’s a list of the week’s even…
Halle Butvin began working at the Rappahannock Food Pantry in January and, within days, found herself at the helm of a major fundraising effort that will take place on May 8.
Serendipity Equine, a local non-profit, debuted its first annual Lucky Horseshoe Student Showcase on March 20. The event allowed students to share their newly-acquired riding and horsemanship skills in front of fellow participants and families.
The Carney brothers have a bold vision for the new home of Pen Druid Brewing: “to turn the whole property into a synergistic permaculture garden.” Last Saturday, they invited community members to help realize that vision by planting a riparian buffer along the small tributary that runs through the parcel off Route 522 in Sperryville. In partnership with the Virginia Department of Forestry and Friends of the Rappahannock, a regional nonprofit dedicated to the health of the Rappahannock River, volunteers planted rows juvenile sycamore, river birch, red osier dogwood, gray dogwood, redbuds, buttonbush, indigo bush and black cherries.
When Ann and Larry Wohlers of Amissville joined Rapp at Home in October 2020 they became the organization’s 200th and 201st members. Today, the nonprofit’s membership is at 211, far exceeding the reach envisioned in 2015 when Rapp at Home was formed.
Building on the success of last year’s “Eat Like a Lion” program, the Rappahannock Lions Club and Rappahannock Food Pantry have teamed up to launch “Garden With a Lion.”
In 2008, interior designer Mimi Forbes had a contract with a housing developer who was planning to build a 500-home subdivision in Ruckersville, Va. She imagined she would be working on those houses for years. She thought the contract was going to set her up for life. And then, unexpectedly, the subprime mortgage bubble burst. The developer declared bankruptcy and Forbes’s contract was gone.
The Piedmont Environmental Council estimates there are fewer than 40 bridges left in the state of Virginia that are as old as the pony truss over the Jordan River on Rappahannock County’s North Poes Road. Now, the community is rallying to preserve it as a historic landmark.
Since 2015, Rapp at Home, a nonprofit organization that supports Rappahannock County’s seniors in choosing their own paths in aging, has continued to grow its membership and programs. To respond to this growth and the current needs of the community, the organization has recently reorganized its staff.
Gwen: Former two-term board member, Child Care and Learning Center; three-term board member of Food Pantry; volunteer for Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community (RAAC) Community Theatre and Art Tour; mentor,
COVID-19 has not been kind to the Fodderstack 10K. As recalled by Fodderstack race coordinator Jonathan Moore, first came the postponement of the April 2020 race, scheduled ahead to the fall of 2020, but as soon realized “fall was not a lot better.”
At its recent board meeting, Rappahannock Friends and Lovers of Our Watershed (RappFLOW) elected new officers to lead the organization over the next two years.
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has cancelled innumerable arts events over the past year, the Rappahannock arts community is still alive and well. The Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community has created several different ways to keep artists and audiences connected virtually.
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“I would like to save my money so I can save for something bigger that I don't have enough money to buy right now.” So says Paisley Reha, a first grader in Rappahannock County Elementary School. She is one of 123 students so far who have personal savings accounts.
The Rappahannock Lions Club and Rapp at Home have teamed up to provide broader outreach and support for the county’s Loan Closet. The service provides hospital beds, wheelchairs, walkers, shower benches and chairs, and raised toilet seats and other convalescent equipment for those in need. Space for the Loan Closet is provided free of charge by the Virginia Farm Bureau.
Claire graduated from Rappahannock County High School and aged out of the Starfish program in 2020, but she and Levick still keep in touch regularly. With encouragement from Levick, who made her career as a nurse, Claire is now studying at community college to become a paramedic.
Uzziah Harris cites challenges ahead with ongoing racial unrest and pandemic
Hal Hunter: Long time Rappahannock County volunteer and activist who has led community efforts in historic preservation, housing, education, transportation, conservation, senior services, and food security.
How the arts in Rappahannock are surviving the pandemic
Richard Lykes, a beloved Rappahannock community member, died in 2009. The last line in his Washington Post obituary reads, “His fight is over, his battle won: Now his victory has begun!”
Starting on Dec. 23, they kicked off a campaign to raise $1800 in order to save a young gelding’s life. Thanks to the generosity and kind hearts of many, the funds were raised in exactly one week and just before the young horse was to be shipped for slaughter.
Worthy praise that is seconded by dozens of Rappahannock County residents — and from all corners of the community. The Rappahannock News would be remiss in not joining the resounding chorus, albeit going one important step further — hereby proclaiming Sallie Morgan as Rappahannock News Citizen of the Year 2020.
Working with numerous private and public stakeholders on these programs, plus COVID concerns, keeps me pretty busy. But I welcome the variability and the challenge.
In an email on Tuesday, Rappahannock County Supervisor Ron Frazier notified his colleagues that an action the Board of Supervisors took at its Monday afternoon meeting would have to be nullified because of a technicality.
Like so many things in 2020, "A Rappahannock Christmas" was a little different from years past. No small town Christmas parade, for instance. But, in the most important respects, it was a great success.
Mimi Forbes of the Rappahannock Food Pantry displays one of several boxes of fresh vegetables that accompanied Thanksgiving meals distributed Monday and Tuesday to appreciative Rappahannock families. On a normal Thanksgiving the pantry boxes up anywhere from 180 to 200 turkeys with all the f…
The Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Board has found a new way to connect with county residents through the Rappahannock Food Pantry volunteers.
Radiological Technician (Virginia Limited License) and Medical Billing are the two newest Rappahannock Center for Education (RappCE) classes to be offered in 2021.
“Brittany is a ‘Headwaters kid’ herself,” said foundation director Lynnie Genho. “It’s great to be welcoming her back in a leadership role. The stars aligned and we’re so excited to see her come full circle.”
Serendipity Equine’s rescued and rehabilitated horses are paired with veterans, first-responders, youth-at-risk and riders
Many Rappahannock residents need caregiver support in their homes, but finding those caregivers has been difficult, according to a recent survey Rapp at Home conducted among its members.
Annual meeting offers glimmer of hope for broadband
Many Rappahannock cats who need homes find themselves in good hands with RappCats, a 13-year old nonprofit formed because county residents needing help with cats had no public cat shelter.
The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation (CMCF) has approved $817,050 in grant funding that will allow the Lord Fairfax Community College to greatly expand its health education offerings to area high school students.
The totals are in. Rappahannock County Public Schools’ kindergartners have $9,773 in their MyFuture savings accounts, an average of $178, including interest.
After flirting with a proposed new building site near Atlantic Union Bank, the Rappahannock Food Pantry is all but set to re-establish its roots in the town of Washington.
COVID-19 has proven to be a huge challenge because we cannot get together with our young mentee and we have had to scale back in other areas of service as well.
Rapp resident foresees a ‘sea change’ in charitable giving, here and across country
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