Learning from the past

1949: Dedication of the new Jamestown 4-H Club Camp, which opened last month, and which serves some 35 Virginia counties will be held July 22, State club officials have announced. Principal speaker will be Ashton Dovell, Williamsburg, former speaker of the House of Delegates. Four 4-H club members from Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Powhatan, Prince George and Greensville counties will e at camp art the time of the dedication ceremonies. However, leaders of clubs, and of other rural organizations in the area served by the camp are being invited to attend. The camp replaces the one establishes in 1928, and disbanded when the site was included in the national monumental highway connecting Yorktown and Williamsburg. The new 16 acre camp is about 1 ½ miles up the James river from the original camp.

1984: A Greene county man is in jail, charged with breaking and entering and petit larceny as the result of an investigation prompted by a wreck in Madison County. Ricky Taylor, 19, of Middle River, was involved in a automobile accident in Madison County Monday morning. The state trooper who covered the crash notified the Greene County Sheriffs office that the car Taylor was driving was possibly stolen. When Sergeant J. T. Knight went to the resident of the car’s owner, Lyman Miller of Middle River, he found that the house had been broken into. Taylor allegedly stole the car after the break-in. The Millers are reportedly on vacation. A bond hearing has been schedules for Taylor on August 1.

1999: When the fall rolls around, local residents should see a nice, new town hall sitting across the street from the county administration building in Stanardsville. The building, although not brand new, should be totally renovated and ready in the fall for town council to begin meeting there. Although Stanardsville has been a state municipality for more than 200 years, it has never had a town hall. Currently, council member and master builder Wilbur Morris is working to add a front porch area to the building, as well as gutting the interior to add a new bathroom, kitchenette and office area to go with the main meeting room. Morris said total renovations to the building would cost about $60,000. Located on Celt road, the building was purchased by the Stanardsville Town Coucil two ears ago for $50,000 from local resident Rodney Kibler. “This building will make a good meeting place for extended community events and meetings,” said Stanardsville Mayor Jerry Bortner.

2004: Commercial development in southeastern Greene County got a significant shot in the arm as ground was finally broken on the Rapidan Wastewater Treatment Plant.
“This plant is the first of its kind in the county,” said Steve Catalano, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, at the July 14 groundbreaking ceremony.  “It represents the cul,ination of five years of hard work which was done, by and large, by a partnership between the board, the Rapidan Service Authority, our consulting contractors and developers.”
“This is an example of what teamwork can do,” Catalano added. “It couldn’t haven happened without any one element.”
“The Rapidan plant will support core services in the Ruckersville area,” said Herb White, president of WW Associates, a civil and environmental engineering firm with offices in Lynchburg and Charlottesville. “This will allow commercial development to continue along Route 29 and 33. The plant is big enough to support 20 years worth of growth in the Ruckersville area.”

2008: A few weeks ago, Nicos Afedulidis of Stanardsville competed in a Marathon in Athens, Greece for a chance to represent Greece in the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Afedulidis is part Greek, part German.
At 42 years of age – and with a history of injuries to consider - he admittedly had his share of “gemischte gefuehli” – that’s German for “mixed feelings”—about his chances to win.  His competitor not only was ranked the sixth best canoer in the world but also was 11 years younger.  Afedulidis lost—but by just 2.8 seconds, a fete that has given him much personal satisfaction, not to mention more name recognition within the canoeing/kayaking arena. His secret? His strength.
“It’s definitely my power,” says the Greene Mountain Lake resident. “I’m not a technician. Technique is good, but my strength is the power.”
  This year wasn’t the first time the Greene Mountain Lake resident had set his hopes on Olympic glory. Such plans failed to materialize at least twice before—back in 2004 due to immigration issues and back in 1992, due to severe shoulder pains. Failing to head to the Olympics yet another time has not squashed the local resident’s love for canoe racing – or his dedication to it.