Your guide to Great Meadow International and the Nations Cup. Pages 27-38
June 27, 2018
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Vote for your favorite local businesses in our first Readers’ Choice Awards, Pages 28-29
Youth For Tomorrow pledges to reunite kids with families CEO Gary Jones expects most immigrant children at the Bristow facility to be released to relatives within two weeks By Jill Palermo and Jonathan Hunley Times Staff Writers
Youth For Tomorrow’s Chief Executive Officer Gary L. Jones said Monday he expects most of the migrant children recently brought to its Bristow facility after being separated from parents or relatives at the U.S. border will be reunited with their families within two weeks. The nonprofit, launched by former Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs in 1986, is housing 15 immigrant children between the ages of 10 and 17 who were forcibly separated since April from their families at the border
by U.S. government officials as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance policy” for those entering the country at unauthorized crossing points. Youth For Tomorrow has been in contact with 14 of the 15 families involved. Jones said he anticipates all the children will be returned to their families in about two weeks. “We will reunite them with their families,” he said. Most of the adults who traveled to the U.S. with the children have been released from government custody but not deported from the U.S., Jones said.
The Fauquier Times has not been able to independently verify that the reunifications are pending. Located on Linton Hall Road, Youth For Tomorrow has been caring for immigrant teens for six years under a federal contract. But until recently, those were teens who arrived at the border on their own, without a parent or guardian. The organization also works to reunite children in those situations with family members. “That’s what we do here is reunite children with their families,” Jones said.
See MIGRANTS, page 7
PHOTO COURTESY PIEDMONT ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL The 140-year-old Waterloo Bridge, closed since 2014 for safety reasons, will be rebuilt in a $4 million renovation project.
Historic Waterloo Bridge wins reprieve 1878 bridge to be reopened after $4 million renovation By James Ivancic Times Staff Writer
The 140-year-old Waterloo Bridge, closed since 2014 for safety reasons, will be rebuilt in a $4 million renovation project that could begin in about a year. That was the big news to emerge from a June 20 meeting of the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board, a 17-member group of appointees that oversees how the state spends money on transportation improvements. INSIDE Business.............................................23 Classified............................................50 Communities......................................46 Faith...................................................49
Built in 1878, the light-green wrought-irontruss structure spans the Rappahannock River connecting Va. 613, or Jeffersonton Road, in Fauquier County, to Waterloo and Old Bridge roads in Culpeper County. Commonly known as the Waterloo Bridge, it was the oldest metal truss bridge still in service in Virginia when the Virginia Department of Transportation closed it in January 2014 when traffic flow was 680 vehicles per day.
“Waterloo Bridge is a dramatic transportation feature that often elicits a sense of awe from visitors ... It’s one piece of a greater collection that makes Fauquier County unique and special. I’m so glad that it is on track to be saved for future generations to enjoy.” JULIE BOLTHOUSE Piedmont Environmental Council land-use representative in Fauquier County
See BRIDGE, page 3
Family Time........................................19 Libraries.............................................44 Lifestyle..............................................39 Opinion.................................................9
Obituaries...........................................11 Puzzles...............................................18 Real Estate..........................................45 Sports.................................................13
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FAUQUIER FOCUS
Fauquier Times | www.fauquier.com | June 27, 2018
Lavender’s blue, dilly, dilly
Edie Williamson and her grandson Joel
Driving into Seven Oaks Lavender Farm in Catlett has that Burl Ives kind of feel — you expect to see him strumming a guitar in the charming, white pavilion set amidst rows of lavender. Without actual music playing, you feel wrapped in soft, rich, reassuring tones — a tranquil rhythm with notes of children laughing, butterfly nets swishing the air and the gentle, nearly imperceptible, sound of scissors snipping lavender stems. Adults may find their way to the acres of lavender bushes before the children as they will be tempted by a playhouse and bunny pen. The playhouse is fully equipped and there is even a porch swing designed for youngsters.
Community Editor Anita Sherman, 540.351.1635 asherman@fauquier.com ISSN 1050-7655, USPS 188280 Associate Editor John Toler, 540-351-0487 Published every Wednesday by jtoler@fauquier.com Piedmont Media LLC Staff Writers How to reach us James Ivancic, 540-878-2414 jivancic@fauquier.com ADDRESS: 41 Culpeper Street Jonathan Hunley, Warrenton, Virginia 20186 jhunley@fauquier.com PHONE: 540-347-4222 Leland Schwartz, 540-351-0488 FAX: 540-349-8676 HOURS: 8 a.m. 5 p.m. weekdays, lschwartz@fauquier.com 24-hour answering service Sports Editor Peter Brewington, 540-351-1169 Publisher pbrewington@fauquier.com Catherine M. Nelson, 540-347-4222 Sports Staff Writer cnelson@fauquier.com Jeff Malmgren, 540-874-2250 jmalmgren@fauquier.com NEWSROOM Editor in Chief ADVERTISING Christopher Six, 540-212-6331 Ad Manager csix@fauquier.com Kathy Mills Godfrey 540-351-1162 kgodfrey@fauquier.com Managing Editor Jill Palermo, 540-351-0431 Classified Sales Consultants jpalermo@fauquier.com Jeanne Cobert, 540-878-2491 Web/Copy Editor jcobert@fauquier.com Amanda Heincer, 540-878-2418 Evelyn Cobert, 540-878-2492 aheincer@fauquier.com ecobert@fauquier.com
Chairman Emeritus George R. Thompson To place Classified and Employment ads: Call 540-351-1664 or fax 540-349-8676, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday — Friday or email fauquierclassifieds@fauquier.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Call 540-347-4222 Help with your subscription? Call 540-878-2413 or email CirculationFT@fauquier.com Missed your paper? Call 540-347-4222, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays Subscription: $69.68 per year within the United States. POSTMASTER: Send address 41 Culpeper St., Warrenton, VA 20186. Periodicals postage paid at Warrenton, Va. and at additional mailing offices
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Seven Oaks Lavender Farm 8769 Old Dumfries Road Catlett 540-272-7839 www.sevenoakslavenderfarm.com Bent over one corner of the garden is Edie Williamson and her grandson, Joel. “He’s helping me today,” she says with a loving look to her 15-year-old grandson, a rising sophomore at Kettle Run High School. “He’s a soccer player,” she says proudly. Today, he is pouring out bags of fertilizer on garden beds, smoothing it gently with gloved hands and smiling, clearly happy to be lending a hand. “I’m the farmer,” Edie says, “my daughter, Deb, takes care of the business side.” A large white tent welcomes visitors with tables and chairs if you’d like to sit. Lavender wreaths are being made at one table. At another, a woman weaves strands of ribbon through lavender stems to form a sachet bouquet. A young girl sells freshly baked lemon-lavender cupcakes and packages of lavender infused shortbread cookies. To quench your thirst, try a glass of lavender mint iced tea or lavender lemonade. For Deborah, starting the farm with her mother, Edie, and father, Glenn, was a return to her roots. With a strong legacy of farming and marketing, she made the move from city life in New York back to Virginia open spaces and fertile soil. After doing some research and taking advice from a good friend, she decided that growing lavender would be her dream crop.
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For Edie, helping her daughter is a delight as being on a farm is second nature. Working hard and working the land are part of her DNA. “We like it,” Edie smiles as she looks out on the purple shrubs neatly laid out in rows dotted here and there with basket carrying visitors choosing just the right stems, or the small child hoping to catch a butterfly dancing above the plants or the photographer catching the morning light. The fields attract camera carrying visitors to capture their loved ones among the blooms. Peak season at the lavender farm is the end of June going into July. This year you can enjoy two days of peace, love and aromatherapy at this popular farm by attending Summer Bloom Fest 2018 from June 30 - July 1, rain or shine. There are two time slots a day, each providing four hours of lavender fun from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. and again from 2-6 p.m. There will be dedicated field parking spaces and limited tickets available. Tickets are $20 per car, eight lavender lovers per vehicle. In addition to the bunny pen, there will be a goat looking zoo. You can make a wreath or sachet, there will be demonstrations and, of course, opportunities to pick your own lavender or flowers or herbs. Food trucks will be on hand and lavender beer right down the road at Powers Farm Brewery. You can visit them before or after your farm stop. They are offering $1 off their special lavender beer to festival goers. Feel free to bring your own picnic basket and BYOB. See website to purchase tickets.
A FINAL SEND OFF Many people do not envision their funerals as being the somber occasions that most of us have come to expect and accept. Instead, they foresee the rites surrounding their burial or cremation to be more like celebratory events similar to weddings, graduations, or other milestones. The only difference is that the person whose life is being celebrated is present only in spirit. Against this backdrop, friends, family, coworkers, and acquaintances gather to eat, drink, dance, and sing in accordance with the deceased’s final wishes. Everyone is invited to share memories about past experiences in a way that elevates the memory of the deceased to heights that might not otherwise have been reached. A funeral is an experience of value and when properly planned can provide lasting satisfaction and comfort to the survivors. Our funeral service family can assist you in planning and coordinating all of the details and will explain all of the available options. To learn more, please call MOSER FUNERAL HOME at (540) 347-3431. Please tour our facility, conveniently located at 233 Broadview Ave., Warrenton. We’ll also tell you about our BRIGHT VIEW CEMETERY, just outside of Warrenton. “Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” ~ Mark Twain
NEWS/FROM PAGE 1
Fauquier Times | www.fauquier.com | June 27, 2018
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Radium shuts down New Baltimore public drinking-water well By Leland Schwartz Times Staff Writer
The Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority has shut one of its 12 wells, which is in the New Baltimore area, after high levels of radium showed up in tests over the past year. The WSA said the water from the system is safe for the public to drink, and that the well will be offline until a treatment system is set up over the next three months. Drinking the water with the radium levels found for a year equals the amount of exposure from one chest X-ray, the WSA said in a news release. The water in the well tested outside of federal and state drinking-water standards for radium from the second quarter of 2017 through the first quarter of 2018, the news release said. The authority said in its statement that because groundwater can con-
tinually change, by law, four quarterly samples are required by the Virginia Department of Health before a determination can be made. “When the elevated levels for radium were first discovered, FCWSA began conducting additional tests in cooperation with VDH,” the news release said. The most recent tests, conducted in March 2018, confirmed that water from that single well still contained elevated levels of radium. Radium is a “naturally occurring radioactive metal found in rocks and soil that, through the process of erosion, can make its way into groundwater aquifers like the one serving the affected well,” the WSA press release said. “Since radium is present at relatively low levels in the natural environment, everyone has some level of exposure from it.” Because radium is a known carcinogen, federal and state standards are in place in the form of a Maximum Contaminant Level or MCL.”
An MCL is the maximum concentration of a substance that is allowed in public drinking water systems. The MCL for radium is 5 pCi/l. The well the WSA took offline averaged 6.6 pCi/l for a period of one year. A pCi is a measure of the rate of radioactive decay. One pCi, or picocurie, is one trillionth of a Curie, a larger measure of radioactivity. The water authority’s news release stated it “was always in accordance with state water testing requirements.” Because of the test results, FCWSA received a notice of violation from the Virginia Department of Health. Because of the nature of drinking water violations, FCWSA can only receive such a notice for elevated radium levels after the last round of test results is received, a full year after their initial discovery, the statement said. “It is important to note that receiving a notice of violation does not mean the drinking water was unsafe
to drink at any time. The draft public notice provided by the state says that customers do NOT need to use an alternative water supply,” the authority’s statement said. “The health and safety of our customers is our number one concern, and the rigorous testing system we put in place in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Health discovered the excessive radium levels,” said FCWSA Board Chairman Michael J. Focazio. “Four quarterly samples are required to determine if a well is out of compliance. As soon as the well was determined to be out of compliance, it was shut down.” “We know that some of our customers are concerned about the radium issue and its potential health effects,” continued Focazio. “We share their concerns, which is why FCWSA is committed to permanently addressing the situation for current and future generations of customers.” Reach Leland Schwartz at lschwartz@fauquier.com
Historic Waterloo Bridge to be reopened after $4 million renovation BRIDGE from page 1
Money for Warrenton, U.S. 29
Deterioration had continued despite a 3-ton weight limit. Drivers have been using Va. 211, or Lee Highway, and Va. 688, or Leeds Manor Road, as alternate routes. The bridge got a $1 million boost last November, when Russell Hitt, chairman of Hitt Contracting, donated matching funds that both Fauquier and Culpeper counties declined to provide. Though they supported rehabilitating the bridge, supervisors for both counties declined to allocate funds to do so in the face of other priorities. Hitt, who grew up near the bridge, and said he wanted to save it for his children and grandchildren. “I miss going up and down that bridge and hearing the tires rumble,” Hitt told the Fauquier supervisors last fall. “That’s a great experience.” Restoring the historic bridge and returning it to service was also long championed by the Piedmont Environmental Council. “Waterloo Bridge is a dramatic transportation feature that often elicits a sense of awe from visitors,” said Julie Bolthouse, PEC’s land-use representative in Fauquier County. “For residents, it provides a connection to history and the scenic river below and creates a sense of identity. “It’s one piece of a greater collection that makes Fauquier County unique and special,” she added. “I’m so glad that it is on track to be saved for future generations to enjoy.” Bolthouse noted, however, that restoring the bridge has raised some concerns among its neighbors. Some have spoken against reopening the bridge because of traffic. “There is still a lot of work to be done and we are hoping to work with VDOT to mitigate some of the safety concerns of adjacent neighbors through speed reductions, height restrictions and
PHOTO BY JULIE BOLTHOUSE The 140-year-old Waterloo Bridge will be rebuilt in a $4 million renovation project. better signage,” Bolthouse said. Phoebe Tufts lives near the bridge on the Fauquier side. She said during a bridge design forum in Warrenton last year that she was not in favor of “spending millions of dollars for a bridge for vehicular traffic.” Tufts said those who want to save it should raise the money rather than rely on taxpayers. The bridge should also be relocated from the floodplain where she said it now sits. As recently as May, Tufts called the project a “boondoggle” at a CTB forum in Culpeper. The CTB approved $3.1 million for the project from state revenue-sharing and transportation-alternative grants. Work could begin a year from now and is expected to take 18 months to complete. VDOT plans to dismantle and remove the bridge truss to repair and then reinstall it. Some of the bridge components will likely have to be replaced with new material that looks like the old. The bridge’s green paint color will be maintained.
During its June 20 meeting, the CTB approved a total of $9.6 million in both state and local funding for road projects in Fauquier County and the Town of Warrenton, according to Will Merritt, communications coordinator for VDOT’s Culpeper District. Most of the projects have multiple funding sources, usually a combination of state and local. The $9.6 million includes funding for the following projects: • $660,000 for the extension of Salem Avenue to the Washburn Place townhomes • $451,409 for the Timber Fence Trail project in Warrenton • $105,060 to synchronize traffic signals on Lee Highway in Warrenton • $68,038 to pave a small section of U.S. 15 Business in Warrenton • $252,126 to pave a section of West Lee Highway in Warrenton The CTB also approved an additional $4.9 million in Highway Safety Improvement Program funds for U.S. 29 corridor improvements. VDOT and Fauquier County will hold a series of meetings with the community to reach agreement on what those improvements should be. The first meeting will be from 1 to 3 p.m. June 28 in the Barn on the Warrenton campus of Lord Fairfax Community College. VDOT representatives will also be available from 5 to 7 p.m. at the same location and date to hear from anyone who can’t attend the afternoon session. The meetings are intended to reach a consensus on strategies for improvements to the corridor. Reach James Ivancic at jivancic@fauquier. com
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