see RUMMEL

Continued from pg. 1 Joe remembered her interest in the program.

“Years ago, when I was following some of the Christmas Mother stories in the newspapers, I told him that I thought it would be just wonderful to be a Christmas Mother and he remembered that, so he volunteered me to do it,” Rummel said last week at an annual luncheon held each year to announce this year’s designee.

Former Christmas Mother Betty Stanley introduced Rummel at an annual event held at the Doswell Community Center last week.

Rummel welcomed the good news of her selection and said she is ready to hit the ground running for this year’s efforts.

“I was just so excited and I thought it would be the most wonderful thing to help the less fortunate people in Hanover County,” Rummel said. “I’ve always loved Hanover.”

She traces that special relationship to 1981, when she became the county’s first recreational program director, a time when the department consisted of only three people.

“Without volunteers and that sprit of community support, we wouldn’t have had recreational programs,” she said. “Without the support of the county citizens and their willingness to get their hands dirty and volunteer, we wouldn’t have been successful because when you are a department of three you are vulnerable to budgets and things like that,” she said.

Rummel said it’s the same

JIme Ridolephi/The Local

A number of former Hanover Christmas Mothers gathered last week in support of this year’s selection, Jeannie Rummel. They are, from left, bottom row, Hilda Kelly (1987), Connie Smith (2005), Jeannie Rummel (2021), Colene Deacon (2006), Betty Lee Stanley (2010) and Robin Priddy (2002). Pictured on the back row, from left, are Carolyn Bowles (2019), Cindy Balderson (2017), Carolyn Swingle (2010), GiGi Foster (2009), Melanie Goodpasture (2014), Gay Mitchell (2003), Ginger Stanlely (2016), Burnlie Montaigne (2020), Kay Beazley (2015), and Carmen Courtney (2011).

FRANKLIN JONES

sense of community and compassion that make the Hanover Christmas Mother such a successful program.

She served on the committee that began the Ashland Strawberry Faire and has worked on the Ashland Variety Show for years and said her dedication to the community makes it easy to promote the Christmas Mother program this year. Rummel retired in 2016 following 12 years of service as the Human

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WEWANTTOBEYOURPLUMBER

Resources Administrator for VCU’s Massey Cancer Center.

“When you believe in a cause, it’s not hard to talk about it to people, and I just so believe in helping the less fortunate at Christmas time and other times of the year also,” Rummel said.

Hanover’s Christmas Mother program also provides assistance for seniors by distributing gift cards to help them buy groceries or other necessities. Jones said he hopes those cards will be increased to $75 this year to assist senior citizens.

The program shifted slightly last year due to COVID restrictions and toys were replaced with gift cards for the children and cards for groceries were distributed versus the traditional boxes of food distributed in the past.

No decision has been reached on the food boxes for this year. Jones explained that it is unclear if Hanover County Public School students will participate in the food drive due to pandemic restrictions. He said food cards are a viable option to replace the boxes if that becomes necessary.

The project is community driven and a number of organizations and agencies participate in the annual event. For example, the Mechanicsville Rotary and the Ruritans sell food items at the annual Christmas Parade on Dec. 5 and proceeds assist the Christmas Mother.

Rummel has already begun work on this year’s project by composing a letter distributed to area businesses and organizations asking for their support for the upcoming mission.

She plans on speaking to various clubs and organizations in the county during the upcoming weeks to garner support for the program. “There are lots of them that want to help each year, so I’m looking forward to that,” she said. “The clubs like to hear from the Christmas Mother.”

Joe and Jeannie have 10 grandchildren that keep them busy and on the road often to attend various events that involve the group in age from 3 weeks to 20-years old.

The couple is active in Mechanicsville’s American Legion Post 175, and participates in numerous programs at Fairmount Christian Church. “We are on the Shoebox Ministry committee and we do what we call the Moment of Hope lunches on the fourth Saturday of each month, where we prepare hot lunches for needy people,” Jeannie said.

“We are so blessed and it’s so rewarding to do these things for people who really need it,” she added.

see RUMMEL, pg. 9

Continued from pg. 8

Each year, the honor of selecting a Christmas Mother rotates among the seven Hanover County Ruritan Clubs.

Doswell Ruritan and long time-event supporter Franklin Jones has been there since the program began and is an integral part of the organizing process for the Christmas Mother program.

“This is our 33rd year, and we seem to get stronger each year,” he said. The Doswell Ruritans began operating the program in 1988.

“I’ve been involved over the years working and organizing, but we have a lot of others who work hard to make this event a success,” Jones said. “We are fortunate to have so many volunteers and a lot of people just come to help.”

Last year, the Hanover Christmas Mother served more than 420 families and 1,150 children, and Jones said he expects similar request numbers for the upcoming season. The program spent $86,200 in 2020 to accomplish its goals.

Rummel addressed her fellow Christmas Mothers and other supporters at the gathering last week as they welcomed her to the fold. “I thank you so much for this opportunity, and I’m very excited to see that I am here with some wonderful people whose shoulders I’ll be standing on to make this year successful.”

Mechanicsville Ruritan President Johnny Moore said Rummel was the perfect choice for this year’s Christmas Mother.

“She’ll do a great job,” he said. “She’s an asset for the program, the Ruritans and the entire county.”

For more information and ways you can help this year’s effort, contact Franklin Jones, 804-876-3644, or submit requests to Hanover Christmas Mother, P.O. Box 39, Doswell, VA 23047.

Jim Ridolphi/The Local

The 2015 Christmas Mother,Kay Beazley, standing, talks with this year’s Christmas Mother Jeannie Rummel at the Ruritans’ annual Christmas Tea at the Doswell Community Center.

Continued from pg. 7 reunion with the Class of 1971.” If you are a 1970 graduate or know of a 1970 graduate, contact Sandy Robbins at 804-221-2974 (sprobbins57@gmail.com) or on Facebook at LeeDavis Class of 1970. Leave a name, mailing address or email address and a planning committee member will follow up. There also is a Lee-Davis Class of 1970 website you can access.

The Highland Springs High School classes of 1980 and 1981 will have a joint 40th class reunion. Dinner, cash bar and conversation will be held from 6:30 to 11 p.m. at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel Richmond Airport. Tickets are $60

see CALENDAR, pg. 17

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