Eagle Editorial
Published: April 6, 2008

Thumbs up to 2008 James O. Clore Award winner Hunter Weaver, the Madison County Volunteer Fire Company’s longtime chaplain. Weaver received the award at the annual MCVFC banquet March 22 at the Madison fire hall. In his remarks later in the program, he was sure to mention what an honor it was to serve with Madison’s firefighters and noted, “They do it out of the generosity of their hearts and they do it free of pay.”

So, we give an additional thumbs up to those who voted for Weaver to receive the award – his active fellow firefighters.

Thumbs down to cost over-runs at the Hoover Ridge 11-field athletic complex. Since December 2007, the Madison County Board of Supervisors has OK’d spending an additional $77,000 – on top of the $772,000 already approved. Costs are up after workers hit more rock and encountered more hilly area than expected.

We agree that Madison County needs more and better athletic fields – but why 11 – and why all concentrated at a hilly, rocky site? In these times of economic downturn, isn’t it wiser to, for now, build fewer fields and come up with ways to better use existing fields, like the one at the old Criglersville Elementary School site?

Also, in the headlong rush to build a massive new complex behind the primary school, what about maintenance of existing fields? Players who use these fields say their upkeep is poor and point to spots with ruts and sick grass. Shouldn’t greater emphasis on keeping these fields healthy and play-able be in the mix?

Thumbs up to Graves Mill being selected as one of eight communities nationwide and abroad that was recognized by the Virginia 2007 Community Program at its closing ceremony this month. Representatives from Graves Mill received the “Virginia 2007 Community Program — Legacy for 2057 Award,” at the event at the Jamestown Museum in Jamestown.

The award recognized the creation of the Graves Mill Historical Park and the community’s contributions to the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. The .07-acre park on Bluff Mountain Road (Route 615) a special plaque to honor the 40 men who lived in or near Graves Mill that served as soldiers in the Civil War. It also has a flagpole. These are just the nucleus for what park supporters say will be a variety of historical displays there. They hope to relocate an old post office building there and use it as a sort of miniature museum.

“This is the stuff you see in the Smithsonian and we’ve got it right here,” Dreama Travis, owner of the nearby Graves Mill Gristmill told The Eagle last year. She is spearheading the park revamp along with Doug Graves, who owns the site.

“There’s definitely a story to be told and I don’t want to see it die,” she said.