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Community Briefs

Date published: 1/2/2007

FoWB Santa fights litter in the Wilderness

Santa was seen recently taking a break from visiting with good little girls and boys as he picked up roadside trash in the Wilderness Battlefield. He filled his bag, not with toys, but with litter.

Dale Brown of Spotsylvania County usually reserves this time of year to play the jolly St. Nick for kids around central Virginia. "When the family heads out to grandmother's for Christmas dinner, there should be a beautiful countryside to enjoy, not someone else's carelessly tossed garbage," he said.

Brown is a member of Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, a group that often walks the miles of roads through the battlefield in an attempt to keep it clean. "Some people trash it faster than we can pick it up," said Brown. "Maybe if Santa puts coal in their stockings on Christmas morning, we might get them to stop littering."

Friends of Wilderness Battlefield is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization devoted to assisting the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in efforts to preserve the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange and Spotsylvania Counties. With more than 240 members, the Friends provide advocacy, educational programs and service projects for the battlefield. For details, visit fowb.org.

Spotsylvania seeking Spotswood nominations

The Spotsylvania County Tourism and Special Events Commission is now accepting nominations for the Governor Spotswood Award. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 5 p.m. Nominees must be residents of Spotsylvania County. The honorees will have contributed to the community of Spotsylvania and will have displayed integrity, courage and loyalty, and brought honor to the county while maintaining personal discipline and etiquette.

Elected officials are not eligible for this award. County employees, members of commissions and committees are not eligible for services rendered as part of their jobs or committee responsibilities.

A selection committee of five Spotsylvania residents will select the honorees from a list of nominations submitted by the public.

Past Governor Spotswood Award recipients include Caroline R. Hayden, William R. Taylor, Virginia Durrett, Janice Lancaster and Spencer Roberts. The 2007 winner or winners will be recognized at a banquet on March 17 and will receive the specially designed Governor Spotswood Award. Hunter Perkinson Jr. of the Lake Anna area in Spotsylvania created this award. Perkinson, a blacksmith, specifically designed the award to incorporate county and regional historical elements.

Visit spotsylvania.va.us and click on "Nominations Wanted for Spotswood Award" in the center column, or go directly to the county's tourism department page for information on the award, to complete a nomination form or to read about past award recipients. For additional information, contact Rachel Szudzik, tourism marketing coordinator, at
Email: rszudzik@spotsylvania.va.us or 540/507-7205.

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Date published: 1/2/2007