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I’m researching a massive article to commemorate the 90th anniversary of FDR’s New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps — the CCC.
As to Ben Jones’ thankfully brief comments in reply to my letter to the editor of the March 3 (“For a better future we must know who we are”), his ad hominem slurs are factually incorrect and spiritually vapid, suggesting a small man without character which I will assume, evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, he is not.
My name is Donna Comer, and I am formally announcing my intent to run for Jackson District Supervisor in the November 2023 election. For those who do not yet know me, let me introduce myself.
For my entire career we have scrapped for every single dime from the state that goes to Rappahannock’s schools. After 15 years of capping funding for Rappahannock’s schools, Virginia is long overdue for a change. As a March 1 article in Rappahannock News pointed out, work to accomplish change was put to a halt on a near party line vote on my bill to fix a cap on school funding for Rappahannock, HB1443, in the Senate’s Finance and Appropriations Committee.
I have no dog in this fight, so I can observe all the recent dog kennel commotion with some detached amusement.
Tax refunds average more than $3000 for most households. It is often the biggest single lump sum a family might receive in a year.
Rappahannock County Elementary School (RCES) has brought back an exciting and creative academic event for all students and staff for the month of February. The event is known as “One School, One Book,” an academic program where the entire school reads one book over the course of one month.
I support the efforts of Charlotte Wagner to have a dog training facility on her commercially zoned property in Sperryville.
I recently wrote a long “piece from my heart” in the Rappahannock News about my hope for our future in America. It was a clear call for an end to the lingering racial discrimination in our culture and a straight-forward acknowledgement of building that future by continuing the work begun in the 1960’s. I have spent much of my life involved in that “dream.”
I am the cranky neighbor who complained that Ms. Charlotte Wagner was carrying out dog training activities without a Special Use permit on land zoned Agriculture.
Decades ago when I was growing up, one of my favorite stories was The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings. As children can sometimes be dissatisfied with themselves, this was an illustration of how a fantasy crashes into a reality in an easily understood story.
Ben Jones’ personal hagiography in the February 9 Rappahannock News (4 full columns!) deserves careful consideration and honest evaluation. In his own words, Mr. Jones defines his cause as “the Movement to bring the races together as neighbors who have shared that larger Southern culture, and to build a future together.”
The village of Sperryville is fortunate to have a 1.5-mile network of walking trails along the Thornton River where residents and visitors of all ages can relax and enjoy the river’s natural surroundings while accessing the village’s many amenities in a safe walking environment. But changes are coming!
In these rather rough economic times, where prices have risen so much just recently, inflation higher, interest rates rising in apparent efforts to address many economic issues that plague Americans these days, I had the opportunity to talk about this last week and then continued to think about solutions along with some pretty vivid memories about a past and then a current home.
Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Jan. 20 announcement that Amazon Web Services plans to spend $35 billion to establish multiple data center campuses across Virginia was not welcome news for all. Here’s why: it seems that Virginia is chasing an initiative that will require our energy system size to double or triple, with ratepayers footing the bill.
Both Linda Heimstra and I were hard at work on the final day before our ‘crankie’ show at Apple Atcha Cider (old Estes Mill) last Friday. Crankies, you’ll recall, are the scrolled artwork that is ‘cranked’ from one spool to another as a story is narrated or sung.
I am sick of political posturing, on the part of both parties (but, as usual, Democrats are better at complaining). We are not going to “default on the National Debt”; calm down the rhetoric.
There has long been a debate about how we who are descendants of the Confederacy and of its armed forces should feel about our ancestors’ cause and about our support of “The South” in its unique place in the social, cultural, and political world of the years since Appomattox.
I am sick of political posturing, on the part of both parties (but, as usual, Democrats are better at complaining). We are not going to “default on the National Debt”; calm down the rhetoric.
I just want to thank Debbie Donehey and the Griffin Tavern Gang for all the magical times they provided to us all. If I could have dreamed up the perfect neighborhood Tavern or Pub, it would have been The Griffin Tavern.
Giant thanks to all who attended our very first Crankie Concert this weekend at John Hallberg's new "Apple Atcha" Cidery in Sperryville. I’ve discovered a new art form that I’m totally excited about, my first crankie.
There was an egregious error in the Feb. 2 article, “BZA denies permit for Harmony Manor to operate B&B.” The writer, Julia Shannon, stated that “…the former property owner, who does not live in the county…”.
I commend Ben Jones for reminding us of his embrace of the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s, when he was young. It was and is a noble cause built on ideas that we accept today without question, but when the Declaration of Independence was written, holding that all created equal, endowed with certain "inalienable rights," it was viewed as the epitome of what we now call Woke.
No one likes paying taxes, but there may be some happiness in taking a few steps.
With respect to your article in the Rappahannock News Daily (“Sperryville dog trainer appeals challenge from neighbors,” Jan. 31), I feel that it is unfortunate that the headline and the article frame this matter as a dispute between neighbors.
As tributes to Martin Luther King, Jr. appeared in special programs, and media coverage this month, one quote of his is forever in my mind: that he dreamed of a day when people will not be judged by their skin color, but by the content of their character.
It is one thing for academics to spout addlebrained ideas that do not have even the simplest relationship to rational thinking, common sense, or for that matter, actual reality. We have become accustomed to the ever increasing distance between academia and the real world we actually inhabit.
Thank you to all of my co-workers, friends and family for the cards, gifts and kind words on my retirement. We had a great time at Headmaster’s Pub – good food, good friends and lots of laughs.
For some time now I’ve been kicking around the idea of starting an informal chess club in Rappahannock, and I think it’s finally time to take the plunge.
It is more than a year and a half since Rappahannock News' "Conservation Purchase" banner headline announced the very welcome news of Mr. Chuck Akre's purchase of Eldon Farms (Rappahannock News, July 6, 2021), and a year since Rappahannock News named him "Citizen of the Year.
A proposal in the General Assembly this session would allow online-only websites to join newspapers as an option for publishing these legal notices. This is a bad idea for a number of reasons.
Sir James Fox gave himself a vigorous shake after a thorough rolling in the dried grasses on a hillside recently in Rappahannock County.
The holiday season can be a very stressful and lonesome time, especially for senior citizens. However, on Dec. 22, 2022, for at least four hours, the loneliness and depression was replaced by gaiety and friendship at the Rappahannock Senior Center at Scrabble School.
The Rappahannock News graciously published a Veterans Day column honoring all veterans while allowing a special mention about the heroics of a United States Air Force pilot Lt. Col. Thomas A. Neal, who was one of the most decorated Vietnam war fighter pilots.
To say that I was shocked a couple weeks ago to find my photo on the front page of the Rappahannock News and named one of two citizens of the year, is a total understatement. I received a phone call from a friend asking me, “did you know you're on the front page?” I thought to myself, “for what?....what could this be about?”
I appreciate the recent letter by Carolyn Brown Butler titled, “Not all of us want a new historic district.” I know firsthand Ms. Butler’s deep love for the Sperryville community and her extensive understanding of its rich history.
‘A what?’ is the response I’ve most often gotten when initiating a conversation about “mountain crankies” recently. There has been a resurgence in recent years of this very old form of entertainment. “Crankies” were, in fact, one of the first forms of moving picture entertainment.
Casey Eitner's December letter, "Facts needed for balanced political discourse," misses the target completely in terms of his comments about the nation's decades-long, federally-created immigration crisis.
Since you quoted me in a statement I made at the short notice meeting that was held on Dec. 13, 2022, I felt compelled to clarify what I said since it was taken out of context in the paper. The point I was making is that those of us who are Rappahannock pioneer family descendants do not believe in expecting handouts for personal WANTS.
We always have many reasons to rejoice during the holiday season. Spending time with friends and family, exchanging gifts, wishing for peace and good will to all. We are fortunate to live in this country and in this county. Not that we don't have problems: inflation, immigration, the fentanyl curse, income inequality, discrimination and many others are just a few of the problems that urgently need our attention.
Over the last five years, the Commit to Be Fit Program (C2BF) has had a positive impact on Rappahannock County Public Schools (RCPS). Its mission is to educate students and the community about healthier food and exercise habits.
Ms. Sheila Gresinger’s assertion last week (“Considering all sides is paramount,” Dec. 15), that the media are not balanced because they do not stress that former President Donald Trump called for participants at the Jan. 6 riots to stay peaceful and support law enforcement, is jaw-droppingly disingenuous.
On behalf of the Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community (RAAC), I want to thank the cast, crew, and community for five magical performances of “A Christmas Carol” at the RAAC Theatre.
Blessings are a two-way street with both a giver and a receiver. They’re often unplanned, yet always seem divinely timed.
One of my favorite gifts this time of year is when my daughter Debbie sends a tin of family favorite homemade cookies, one time in a vintage Charlie Brown Gang tin she’d discovered in a Florida shop.
We have a trifecta of epidemics this year — three viral respiratory infections, all coming at the same time, NOW.
All of the Christmas Angels flew out the door. Gifts bags granting wishes are filling the Washington Schoolhouse stage. The gifts will begin to be delivered this week. Rappahannock neighbors making Rappahannock Seniors’ holidays bright.
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