politics, history, development, weather, the arts

Last year started with a monster snow storm, by local standards, with hundreds of vehicle wrecks and stranded motorists reported statewide. Thousands were left without power for the winter event Jan. 3, that in Culpeper dumped from 10 inches to a foot of heavy snow over a 12-hour period.

The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors declared a local State of Emergency as more than 5,000 households woke up without power after multiple frigid nights. In response, a warming center opened at Culpeper County Volunteer Rescue Squad Co. 11 in town, where several people visited to warm up and charge devices. There were no reported local injuries or fatalities during Winter Storm Frida.

Two-term incumbent Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, eked out a win in the November mid-term with 52% of the vote district-wide, defeating conservative Republican Yesli Vega, a Prince William County Supervisor. Vega won broad support from rural voters in the newly drawn district, appealing to her base on issues of immigration, inflation and abortion.

Population centers in Prince William County and Fredericksburg lifted Spanberger to the win, along with around 40% from rural county voters supporting the moderate Democrat ever present around the District.

Culpeper Police Chief Chris Jenkins, a Republican, publicly endorsed Spanberger, saying her work on substance abuse and mental health issues, along with support for local police, makes her an advocate for Culpeper in Washington—regardless of her political party. Local Republicans pushed back on the endorsement and the majority of local voters picked Vega while nearly 8,000 Culpeper voters picked Spanberger.

With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Glenn Youngkin in June authorized Virginia’s newest state park, one that will preserve and commemorate Culpeper County’s two most significant Civil War battlefields.

In adopting the two-year state budget, the governor cleared the way for American Battlefield Trust to donate 1,700 acres in Culpeper to the state. It was the first step to create a turn-key state park for opening by July 1, 2024. The park will incorporate lands preserved at Brandy Station, Cedar Mountain, Hansbrough’s Ridge near Stevensburg and elsewhere.

During the Civil War, Culpeper’s setting between the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers made it strategically important to the Union and the Confederacy. Thousands of enslaved people crossed its rivers northward to freedom at the first opportunity. As free men enlisted in the U.S. army, some later returned to fight for their country on the same ground.

The public packed into the boardroom in county administration April 5 to express their opinions, mostly in opposition, on the rezoning along Route 3 for an Amazon data center complex. The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors, following two hours of public comment, voted 4-3 to approve the $500 million project along the four-lane highway in the hamlet of Stevensburg.

It will neighbor the nationally recognized circa-1757 manse, Salubria, built for the colonial governor’s widow. The project, now under site plan review, will also sit across from Brandy Station Battlefield’s Hansbrough’s Ridge in an area that will become part of the future Culpeper Battlefields State Park.

The pair of 45-feet-tall, 445,000-square-feet data centers will be built on a former equestrian center. Supervisors, in approving the project, rezoned the land from agricultural to light industrial.

Approval of the data center, slated to generate millions of dollars in local taxes, was a loss felt deeply by a broad conservation coalition that mounted steep opposition for the project’s potential to ruin the rural and historic nature of the area. Neighbors have since sued to stop the development and remain involved in hosting public meetings about the future of Stevensburg.

Chairman Gary Deal voted to green-light the Amazon project along with Supervisors Paul Bates, David Durr and Tom Underwood. Voting no were Vice Chairman Brad Rosenberger, Supervisors Kathy Campbell and Susan Gugino.

Support flourished in 2022 for the community kitchen coming to the Carver Center along U.S. Route 15. The 7,000-square-foot facility is slated for construction in the back portion of the historic Black school.

Once operational, it will help food and farming entrepreneurs start and expand their businesses while promoting sustainable agriculture, job training and increased access for all to nutritious food. The project received hundreds of thousands in federal support in 2022 and just recently another $50,000 from the state to buy a walk-in freezer.

The community kitchen will share a space in the 75-year-old school with Culpeper County Extension Office, a primary driver for the project, in the process of moving from its downtown office.

It also shares a space with the Carver 4-County Museum, an alumni project telling the rich history of the African-American school that operated for 20 years of segregation. Along those lines, the county also approved putting back the school’s original name on the stone front, George Washington Carver Regional High School, and that work is ongoing.

President Joe Biden visited Germanna Community College’s Daniel Technology Center on Feb. 10, touting his Build Back Better plan for lowering the cost of health care. Biden came to Culpeper on the same day news reports reflected inflation in January grew 7.5% in the prior 12 months.

The Commander in Chief promised “to work like the devil” to bring down the price at the pump, where relief has been seen in the past 10 months. Biden appeared alongside Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, for the press conference attended by dozens of local, national and international media, along with invited guests and dignitaries.

NBC newsman Lester Holt was spotted outside gaining access to the front of the line. The station later aired an interview Holt did with Biden from inside the local college. Biden was the first U.S. president to visit any of Germanna Community College’s four campuses in the school’s 52-year history.

Near the entrance to the college campus along State Route 3, Culpeper Republicans protested his visit, carrying the Culpeper Minutemen flag and Trump banners. At least one man displayed a hand-written sign cursing Biden.

For being a small-town, Culpeper received visits from some big names in entertainment, including Korn rocker Brian Welch. Piedmont-based artists also contributed to creating culture last year.

In October, Welch collaborated with the local nonprofit CARS, Christ-Centered Addiction Restoration Services, on an event at Culpeper County High School to raise money for a women’s treatment center in the area. After sharing his personal story, the alt-rock artist gave a few rocking chords on electric guitars raffled for the envisioned treatment center as well as a $10,000 matching gift.

In early April, Culpeper County High School’s jazz program hosted Grammy winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin from Dave Matthews Band for its inaugural Jazz Summit. The CCHS Jazz Band and Blue Devil Big Band played with him as part of a community concert ending a two-day summit.

Warrenton carpenter Mike Parker made it to the Top 14 on American Idol last year with his soulful sound. And over in Rockwater Park in April, the Lions Club unveiled a unique yellow-and-blue sculpture of a huge pair of eyeglasses, by Culpeper artist Roque Castro.

Late spring, Culpeper artist Layton Scarbrough completed, “Trailblazers,” a powerful new mural at the end of East Davis Street, honoring African-American local contributions. And in August, Fairfax fiber artist Marisela Rumberg created a Zentangle-inspired mural, “She Rises Above” on the back of the historic Medical Arts Building on West Locust Street.

In July, the Library of Congress Packard Campus Theater on Mount Pony restarted its free classic film series on weekends following a two-year pandemic hiatus, and has seen several sold-out shows since. In October, Culpeper native Chris Nicholson, aka Chenoweth Blake, brought his spectacular drag act to Salem Volunteer Fire for a fundraiser at the station where he grew up, with Emmy Award winning news anchor Blair Miller as celebrity emcee.

Family, friends, supporters and members of the local judiciary gathered on a Saturday morning in August in the circuit courtroom to unveil a portrait of Culpeper native son, Negro League Hall of Fame baseball player John Preston “Pete” Hill (1882-1951). His was the first Black face to grace the local halls of justice. Hill was recognized for his remarkable, well-rounded athletic accomplishments, including hitting stats at the time that rivalled those of the much more famous Babe Ruth.

Circuit Court Judge Dale Durrer, an avid Yankees fan, drove the Hill portrait effort after being approached by Reva historian Zann Nelson about diversifying portraiture in the courtroom. Gordonsville artist Becky Parrish created the portrait commissioned by the Culpeper County Bar Association, at the suggestion of the judge, and supported by private donors. 

A matter-of-fact icon of the local democratic process who gave more than half of his life to government service, 10-time former Culpeper Board of Supervisors Chairman William Clark “Bill” Chase Jr. of Stevensburg died July 14 at University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. He was 85.

With 39 years on the board, from 1982-2021, Chase was the county’s longest-serving supervisor. The Vietnam veteran was a Pennsylvania coal miner turned farmer who was respected county-wide for always telling it like it is.

He passed away eight months after losing an election for the first time in his political career. The Commonwealth of Virginia passed a commendation in 2020 recognizing Chase, among many other well-deserved accolades he received over a lifetime.

Local economic development activity, in the public and private sector, bustled in 2022 with the completion of several large projects including a fieldhouse and new field lights at the County Sports Complex. The town and county, notably, confirmed they will work together to build Culpeper’s first public pool next to the fieldhouse.

Culpeper Wellness Foundation opened its PATH Recreation Center while Culpeper Baptist Church opened Generations Central Adult Day Center for seniors in the community. Culpeper Human Services hosted a ribbon cutting for its new Early Head Start building off of Old Fredericksburg Road, and over on Sperryville Pike, former councilman Jon Russell opened the Kelly Street Boxing Gym for at-risk boys.

Supervisors in 2022 enacted a 6-cent meals tax on county establishments for the first time while a couple of food trucks opened storefronts, including the popular Graze to Griddle burger joint on East Davis Street and Burnts BBQ Y Mas in the Lord Culpeper Hotel. Bailey’s Cookie Bar opened on Main Street and an Ollie’s came to Culpeper Town Mall.

Finally, supervisors approved 274-home Williams Mill for active adults on Nalles Mill Road along with 61-home Kite Acres at the corner of Ira Hoffman and 229. In town, site work is well underway for 306-home Laurel Park along Orange Road as growth continues to be on the horizon.