Towns & Villages Column by Donna Rosamond

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Wednesday, May. 15, 2013

Cub Pack 1161 Crossover this week

Happy belated Mother's Day. This past weekend, many mothers were treated with breakfast in bed and handmade cards, and I was one of them.

I love the gifts made in classrooms, and it's fun to see the changes in handwriting and expressions in creativity. Then there is the food. Yummy food shared with the entire family.

This year, my family enjoyed an entertaining dinner at Osaka Japanese Restaurant. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, my mom or the children.

Last weekend, Cub Scout Pack 1161 enjoyed a family camp-out with a trip to the Luray Rescue zoo.

I didn't think the idea of looking at venomous snakes and some "squeezy types" that only stretched out to 20 feet was such a good idea when you have to return to a tent to sleep that night. A little creepy and difficult to sleep when you are lying in a sleeping bag.

But I survived after checking for holes and found no visitors were present.

This week, Cub Scout Pack 1161 will participate in Crossover and all of little Tigers will be Wolves, the Wolves will become Bears and Bears will be Webelos. I will give everyone details next week because I am sure there will be some impromptu entertainment.

I don't have a lot this week to share this week. Please send me your news so I can share it.

Friday, May. 3, 2013

Fauquier fire and rescue members honored

NEW BALTIMORE – "No wiggle warning." I'll open with that statement and I'll bet some parents will understand exactly what I am referring prior to reading it.

Last week, I had a little surgery, leaving with fewer parts than I went into the hospital with, but that's OK because that was the intent of the surgery.

Planning for surgery is like planning for a vacation except it's not fun. Making the arrangements is the easiest part. Then comes the logistics part, preparing with the right clothing, making sure the litter box is clean, plenty of pet food and toilet paper, clean sheets, making sure items are not too high on shelves, and the ice cream is not in the basement freezer along with frozen dinners. OK, I thought of everything.

Returned home the evening of my procedure and began my recovery by lying in my comfy bed resting as instructed. So I'm lying there in my "happy zone," aka La La Land (pain killers are a wonderful thing), and I hear my son call out "Mom, Dad, I lost a tooth." What? I ask myself. Nothing has fallen out of my child's mouth in a year. Why now, of all nights.

Well, while I was busy texting and emailing the tooth fairy at 9:45 p.m. to make sure she had the proper items, to include the special one-of-a-kind bag and the gold dollar coin with the ninth President on it (coins for lost teeth come in order of former U.S. Presidents). Well, the Tooth Fairy came by our house that night and didn't disappoint. Hence, the phrase I have coined, "no wiggle warning."

Overconfidence is not a good thing, and God does have sense of humor as I have learned many times.

This past weekend, New Baltimore Volunteer Fire and Rescue celebrated their annual appreciation banquet honoring their members. Chief George Keefer, Master Technician Bill Hartman, and FF Jake Ballantyne were presented with the prestigious Valor Award that was awarded to them by the Fauquier Chamber of Commerce for their exemplary actions on a below grade/trench rescue call on the morning of March 26, 2013. Other awards included Member of the Year that was awarded to Capt. Nick Mastri, Firefighter of the Year that was awarded to FF Justin Ulrich, EMT of the Year that was awarded to FF/EMT Mary Brown, and Junior Member of the Year that was awarded to FF Jake Ballantyne.

Life Membership awards were presented to J.L. Combemale and Rick Webster in honor of 15 years of dedicated service to the department. Life members are recommended by the department's board of directors after a member has served for 15 years, and are then ratified by the company's membership.

Service awards were given to the following members: Chief George Keefer (25 years), Director J.L. Combemale (15 years), Lt. Rick Webster (15 years), Lt. Damian Marsh (10 years), Capt. Nick Mastri (10 years), FF/EMT Mary Brown (5 years), FF Tommy Harris (5 years) and Asst. Chief Paul Holsinger Jr. (5 years).

A Special Recognition Award was given to President Todd Rosamond for his eight-plus dedicated years of work on designing, planning, obtaining funding, and oversight of the construction of the new fire station. Todd spent countless hours attending meetings, public hearings, writing letters and emails, and making phone calls to insure that this project was completed successfully.

During the construction phase of approximately 14 months, he spent his only day off every other week at the construction site meeting with contractors, architect's representatives, USDA, and countless other individuals discussing project status and ensuring to the best of his ability that all work was being performed satisfactorily and according to contract specifications. This was in addition to many other hours of leave taken from work, as well as countless hours of work done at home reviewing documents, managing payment applications, and working with USDA to get funds transferred from the loan to pay the invoices as they came in. Todd did not take on this challenge for recognition, but rather did so due to his deep dedication to New Baltimore Volunteer Fire Company. I know this personally, because Todd is my husband.

KRHS Parents: The offices of Cougar Athletic Booster president and secretary are up for re-nomination for the school years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 (these are two-year terms). If you are interested in either position, please contact Paul Frye at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) no later than Friday May 3, to be considered for the positions.

Elections will take place at the May general meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, May 9, at 7 p.m. in the Kettle Run library. In addition, we are seeking volunteers for the following board positions: concessions manager, fundraising and volunteer coordinator.

Volunteers are needed this Friday, May 3, to assist in the outdoor concession booth during the Middle School PE Olympics at KRHS from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you can help, please contact Kerry Cornwell at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Many happy birthday wishes to John Childers. John is a sixth grader at Auburn Middle School and is the son of Dave and Kim Childers.

The New Baltimore Volunteer Fire Company will host a Mother's Day breakfast bar on May 12 from 8 a.m. until noon at their old station/annex building at 5303 Lee Highway. The cost for adults is $7. For children ages 6-12, the cost is $3. Children under age 6 eat free.

Friday, Apr. 26, 2013

Kettle Run High School After Prom a great success

NEW BALTIMORE – This past week, my husband and I were able to do one of our favorite activities. We decorated our neighbors house with a big banner, a swag over the door, and a shiny balloon on the mailbox to announce the arrival the newest addition to our neighborhood. Luca John Innocenzi was born on April 18, the son of Matthew and Kelly Innocenzi and a very proud big sister Lena. Proud Papa is happy to have another little redhead in the house.

On a sad note, we were able to see our friends Marvin and Becky Hereford upon their return to Virginia for the funeral of Marvin's mom, Linda Mauck Hereford. The Hereford family were long-time residents of New Baltimore.

The Kettle Run High School After Prom was attended by over 400 students and their guests this past Sunday morning, April 21, celebrating a very successful event sponsored by parents and local businesses.

Many thanks for the hundreds of hours spent by parents raising funds for this party and to our generous local businesses for donating food and prizes. A special thanks to the school administration and teachers for being so supportive of this worthwhile event. Margaret Swift won the car donated by Andy Budd, owner of Country Chevrolet.

Local high students raising funds for their trip to Spain this summer thank the participants and the community for a very successful indoor yard sale this past Saturday, April 20, at Fauquier High School.

Auburn Middle School eighth-grade students will be leaving for Space Camp on Sunday, April 28, and returning on Friday, May 3. We wish them well on their adventure, and look forward to receiving the daily photos and updates from Mr. Gard and Mrs. Teller, who will be chaperoning the trip this year.

May 1 brings the sixth-grade visitation during the school day, and the Parent Orientation at 6:30 p.m. that evening. This is an exciting time for the rising sixth-grade students and their parents. On May 3, student athletes attend the PE Olympics at Fauquier High School. The events take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and we usually have many students return with ribbons! The NJHS induction is scheduled for May 9 at 7 p.m., the eighth-grade dance on May 17 from 6 to 8 p.m., and the spring chorus concert on May 21 at 7 p.m.

Our annual eighth-grade "Peek at the World" event will be on Thursday, May 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the gym and cafeteria. Finally, the orchestra concert is scheduled for the 28th, the band concert at KRHS on the 29th, and the NYC trips for seventh grade and orchestra depart on May 31.

The Kettle Run High School football program is holding its fifth annual golf tournament fundraiser on Friday, May 17. The fundraiser will be held at the Virginia Oaks Golf Club designed by P.B. Dye in Gainesville. The tournament is captain's choice format beginning at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start.
The tournament fee is $80 per golfer if paid in advance and $100 the day of the event. The fee includes 18 holes of golf with cart, complimentary range balls, use of chip and putt practice facilities and lunch.

Prizes will be awarded to the first- and second-place golf teams as well as individual awards for longest drive and closest to the pin. There will be several items raffled during the tournament lunch which all golfers are eligible to win. You may download a registration form on the Kettle Run website through the News & Updates page. The fundraiser will raise money for travel costs and other expenses not covered by the athletic department for the football team.

Happy birthday wishes to Renee Ethier, who will be celebrating her 21st birthday on Monday, April 29. Attending this special birthday celebrationwill be her entire immediate family, including her older brother, Philip Ethier, who lives in Chicago, and her Aunt Chris and Uncle Mike Murray from Seattle, Wash.