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Veterans' Memorial Parks Receives Creative Scenic Enhancement Award

SCENIC VIRGINIA HONORS 2008 SCENIC AWARD WINNERS

 

Richmond, Va. On Thursday, November 13, Scenic Virginia honored winners of the 2008 Scenic Awards with a luncheon ceremony at the historic Kent-Valentine House in Richmond.

 

In welcoming the capacity crowd, President Eugenia Anderson-Ellis noted that Scenic Virginia had created the Awards program, now in its sixth year, to recognize excellence statewide in the field of scenic conservation, particularly with projects that can be replicated in other areas. She spoke to the excellence of the 2008 honorees, stating, “Each year I’m overwhelmed by the quality of the projects honored, and this year they are truly extraordinary.”

 

The 2008 Scenic Award honorees are as follows:

 

Scenic Hero Award: Scenic Virginia reserves this honor for a citizen, elected official, or organization that has accomplished something extraordinary or that has a long history of work on scenic conservation issues. This year’s honorees, Hylah H. Boyd and Betty Byrne Ware of Richmond, have done both.

 

Hylah Boyd received the Award for her longtime dedication to conservation, her extraordinary efforts to found Scenic Virginia in 1998 and provide a voice for the Commonwealth’s fragile scenic assets, and her steadfast and inspirational support of Scenic Virginia that has culminated in the celebration of the organization’s Tenth Anniversary this year.

 

[Additional Information: Hylah Boyd is the founder and chairman of Scenic Virginia. She formed the organization in the spring of 1998 after the billboard industry won the right in the Virginia General Assembly to cut publicly owned trees on the state right-of-way in front of billboards. At the time she was the conservation chairman of the Garden Club of Virginia, an organization that led the two year fight to deny this special concession to the billboard industry.

 

Hylah’s other positions include:

 

1992-1994          Board Member of the Virginia Conservation Network, a statewide coalition of conservation organizations

1994-1998     Recycling Association of Virginia board member

1994-1996          President of The Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton

1996-1998          Conservation Chairman, The Garden Club of Virginia

1998-2000        Director at Large, The Garden Club of Virginia

1998-2002    Founder and President of Scenic Virginia

2001-2004       City of Richmond Parks & Recreation advisory board member

2002-             Chairman, Scenic Virginia

2003-2005       Garden Club of America Zone VII Conservation Representative

2004-                         Northern Neck Land Conservancy advisory board member

2005-2007    Garden Club of America Conservation Vice-Chairman for Land Use

2007-                         Garden Club of America Zone VII Director

 

Hylah was raised in Essex County and is a graduate of Longwood College. She received The Garden Club of Virginia’s de Lacy Gray Award for conservation in 1999 and The Garden Club of America’s Cynthia Pratt Laughlin Medal for conservation at its annual meeting in Dallas in April, 2002. Also in April, 2002 she was presented with The Junior League of Richmond’s Volunteer Achievement Award and in September of that year she accepted on behalf of Scenic Virginia the Preservation Advocacy Award given by the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (A.C.O.R.N.).]

 

Betty Byrne Ware was honored with the Scenic Hero Award for her longtime dedication to conservation, her extraordinary efforts on behalf of Virginia’s natural and scenic resources, and her steadfast and inspirational support of Scenic Virginia that has culminated in the celebration of the organization’s Tenth Anniversary this year.

 

[Additional Information:

Place of Birth: Roanoke, Virginia

 

Marital Status: Married John Mortimer Chaney - Sept. 14, 1957 – Roanoke. Widowed - April19, 1976; Married Harry Hudnall Ware, III, M.D. - Sept. 21, 1985 – Roanoke.

 

Home Address: 2 Paxton Road, Richmond, Virginia 23226-2204 (804) 282-7156

 

Education: Attended public schools. Graduate of Jefferson High School, Roanoke, Va., 1951; B.A. Degree - Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Va.  1955 - English Major

 

Volunteer Work:

Junior League of Roanoke, 1955-1973, President, 1967-1968

Board Service:  Roanoke Fine Arts Center

Science Museum of Western Va. - Catalyst Award – 1978

Science Museum of Virginia Foundation

Virginia Western Community College

Mill Mountain Theatre

Elbyrne Gill Eye & Ear Foundation

      Secretary -Treasurer, 1981-2005

      President, 2005 – present

Deacon - Second Presbyterian Church, Roanoke, Va., 1978-1981

Mill Mountain Garden Club, Roanoke, Va. 1960 - present, President, 1983-1985

James River Garden Club, Richmond, Va. 1986 - present,

      The Jeffress Bowl Award, 1992

The Garden Club of Virginia - 1960 - present

      Conservation Committee, 1977-1983

      de Lacy Gray Medal for Conservation, 1983

The Garden Club of America - 1960 - present

      National Affairs and Legislative Committee - 1989-1996

      Zone VII Conservation Award - 1989

Friends of Stratford, Richmond, 1986 - present

Founder, Recycle Roanoke Committee, 1984, Chairman, 1984-1988

Founder, Recycle Richmond Committee, 1987, Chairman, 1987-1993

Appointed by Governor to following joint legislative study committees:       

      Waste Volume Reduction and Recycling, 1987-1988

      Recycling Residue Disposal and Recycling Tax Incentives, 1989

      Market Enhancement for Recyclables - 1991-1993

      Board Member - Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, 1990-96

Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award, 1991

Board Member - Virginia Conservation Network, 1996-2000

Honorary Director - Scenic Virginia, 1998-present

Appointed by Governor to the Virginia Waste Management Board, 2002-06]

 

Scenic Viewshed Preservation Award: The 2008 winner is the Homestead Preserve in Bath County for its commitment to environmental preservation through good planning.

 

[Additional Information: Homestead Preserve is situated on land that was once a part of a vast 11,500-acre tract falling under ownership of the Virginia Hot Springs company. The company was formed in 1892 by J. Pierpont Morgan as part of an effort to preserve the mountain forest of Virginia’s Allegheny Highlands and to serve as a buffer between development to the east and the relative isolation of The Homestead resort.

 

When Celebration Associates purchased the Virginia Hot Springs Company in 2002, they continued that same commitment to environmental preservation. They sold 9,250 acres of their original 11,500-acre purchase on and around Warm Springs Mountain and the Cascades Gorge to The Nature Conservancy. In October 2004, they placed an additional 935 acres into permanent conservation easements with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation to ensure the protection of the area’s mountain ridges and pastoral landscape for future generations. 

 

One of the major distinguishing factors of Homestead Preserve’s environmental commitment is the intensive field work that went into creating the community’s master plan. In 2002, Celebration Associates established an aerial map of the property to allow the planning team to study topography, forest cover, streams, and watersheds. Then, on the ground, planners evaluated the landscape to determine which areas would be suitable for development and which should be preserved. They studied the views from each home site as well as the views into the development from local roads and highways to determine how to establish home sites that would blend into the natural surroundings and not be intrusive on the viewshed.]

 

Scenic Viewshed Preservation Award - Honorable Mention: The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for FrancisEmma, Inc., an organization founded to save 2,265 acres of “environmental sanctuary” in Powhatan County. The land was deeded to the Sisters by Saint Katharine Drexel, who founded and operated two schools for African-American children on the property. The schools operated from 1895 to 1972, and closed because of desegregation. A few short years ago, the Sisters nearly lost the land due to the financial difficulties of maintaining such a large parcel. FrancisEmma was formed, and with the aid of The Nature Conservancy, the Sisters were able to dedicate 1,000 acres in a conservation easement held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and the James River Association.

 

Scenic Water Corridor Preservation Award: The 2008 Winner is the City of Roanoke’s Record-Setting Conservation Easement on Carvins Cove, located in northeast Roanoke County and southwest Botetourt County. The conservation easement on Carvins Cove, the second-largest city park in America, is the largest ever recorded in the Commonwealth.

 

The easement protects 14 miles of stunning mountain views from the Appalachian Trail, as well as the views of Brushy and Tinker Mountains from Interstate 81 and the Roanoke Valley. The easement also protects the view from one of the most famous lookouts on the entire Appalachian Trail, McAfee’s Knob, as well as a reservoir that runs the length of the Cove and is a major source of the Roanoke Valley's drinking water supply.

 

The project’s partners include the City of Roanoke, the Western Virginia Land Trust, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, and the Western Virginia Regional Water Authority.

 

Scenic Water Corridor Preservation Award - Honorable Mention: The Honorable Mention goes to the Friends of the Lower Appomattox River, for working with localities to develop a 22-mile series of walking and water trails from Lake Chesdin to Hopewell, running through the counties of Dinwiddie, Chesterfield, and Prince George, and the cities of Petersburg, Colonial Heights and Hopewell along this state-designated Scenic River. FOLAR efforts to protect the river and promote its scenic natural beauty and historical and cultural attributes include developing a Regional Greenway/Blueway, monitoring water quality, organizing river cleanup campaigns, promoting an Appomattox River Natural Resources Education Center, and promoting tourism and economic development.

 

Creative Scenic Enhancement Award: The 2008 winner is the five-year, $24 million restoration of James Madison’s Montpelier, located near Orange, which has returned the stately home to the way it appeared during the fourth U.S. president's retirement years. Restorers lopped off two wings, obliterated 14 bathrooms, re-created two staircases and reduced by more than half the size of President James Madison's lifelong home in the lush foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

 

[Additional Information: In 1984 Marion duPont Scott's heirs transferred the Montpelier Estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in accordance with her wishes. Montpelier is operated and managed by the Montpelier Foundation, a group that entered into a co-stewardship agreement with the National Trust in 2000. As part of the agreement, the Montpelier Foundation was responsible for interpreting the estate to the public, a job that eventually lead them to ask if it was possible to restore the mansion back to its appearance in Madison's time.

After an intensive 18-month investigation into the evolution of the house, it was determined that enough physical evidence had survived to accurately restore Madison's house at Montpelier. This evidence included nail holes that showed the original location for walls, the identification of re-used Madison-era windows and trim, plaster outlines showing the size and location of missing mantels, as well as many other elements that survived the duPont renovations and additions.

The Montpelier Foundation concluded that restoring the home would enable the life and ideas of James Madison to be preserved and presented to the public -- in the very space the Madisons created during Madison’s presidency -- in a way that reflected both his entire career and his full architectural vision for his home. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the National Park Service, and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation endorsed restoring the home, as did the members of the family of William DuPont. In October 2003, the Foundation officially announced that the Montpelier mansion would be restored. The restoration was deemed complete in September of this year.

 

Proponents of the project call it a fitting tribute to a Founding Father who lacks a national monument, despite being considered the principal author of the Constitution. Madison grew up in the house, which was commissioned by his father in 1760. He spent his retirement years there with his wife, Dolley, and died in his first-floor study in 1836. In 1901, industrialist William duPont bought Montpelier and gradually expanded it from 22 to 55 rooms. His daughter, Marion duPont Scott, inherited the pink-stucco house and raised thoroughbred horses on the estate until her death in 1983. She left it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and requested that the group return the house to its Madison-era appearance.]

 

Creative Scenic Enhancement Award - Honorable Mention: The Honorable Mention goes to the The Franklin County Veterans’ Memorial Park in Rocky Mount, a project instituted by the five Ruritan Clubs in Franklin County and supported by the Town of Rocky Mount and the Franklin County Veterans Memorial Commission that transformed a blemished, environmentally-challenged junkyard into a picturesque and tranquil reminder of the honor, courage and sacrifice of those who have preserved our freedoms.

 

Scenic Tourism Award: The 2008 winner is the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail in Northern Virginia. The W&OD Trail draws nearly two million bicyclists, hikers, in-line skaters and equestrians to the region annually. Owned and managed by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, the multi-use Trail is built on the rail bed of the former Washington & Old Dominion Railroad. It traverses 45 miles through the urban heartland and countryside of Northern Virginia, spanning 3 counties, 1 city, 5 towns and numerous communities. The eastern terminus of the Trail connects to other major trails that continue on to the Washington, D.C. region. A parallel gravel trail along 32 miles from Vienna to Purcellville accommodates horses. 

 

The W&OD Trail offers tourists a variety of recreational experiences, including native flora and fauna, urban settings, small towns, scenic vistas, neighborhood parks, and American history, including old houses, rail stations, and proximity to African-American historic sites.

 

Anti-Litter Award (TIE):

The 2008 winners are the James River Advisory Council’s (JRAC) Annual James River Clean-Up (Waterways winner) and The Virginia Department of Transportation’s Adopt-a-Highway Program Twentieth Anniversary (Roadways winner).

 

Waterways Winner: James River Advisory Council’s (JRAC) Annual James River Clean-Up: For nine years, JRAC has coordinated the efforts of hundreds of volunteers on foot and in boats to dedicate part of a day to collect litter from the shoreline and water.

 

[Additional Information: The success of the event has steadily grown, as has the educational component of the cleanup. In cleaning up the James, the volunteers create awareness about the need to take care of an invaluable natural resource, while also learning about the dynamics of a watershed, which includes more than just the river, e.g. much of the litter collected was discarded at points upriver, in roadside ditches that drain to the river and adjoining streams, and along tributaries that flow into the James.

 

Activities west of Mayo's Island in Richmond are above the fall line (non-tidal) and primarily involve the cleanup of shoreline debris that is accessible by foot or by small boats, such as canoes. Activities east of Falling Creek are below the fall line (tidal), largely requiring the use of recreational vessels, such as larger johnboats, bass boats and runabouts.]

 

Roadways Winner: The Virginia Department of Transportation’s Adopt-a-Highway Program Twentieth Anniversary (statewide): For two decades, the Adopt-A-Highway program has encouraged and overseen the efforts of volunteer groups and individuals to "adopt" a two-mile or longer stretch of roadway and to make a two-year commitment to picking up the trash at least four times a year. Each year Adopt-a-Highway volunteers clean more than 13,000 miles of highways (about one-quarter of Virginia's state-maintained roads), saving Virginia’s taxpayers an estimated $3 million per annum.

 

[Additional Information: The program lets citizens demonstrate civic pride in their communities, and groups receive recognition for their efforts with an Adopt-a-Highway sign along the adopted route denoting their participation.

 

Each group picks a convenient date each quarter and works together to pick up trash along the route. They provide the enthusiasm and elbow grease; VDOT provides the signs, trash bags, bright orange vests and safety training. Citizen groups can leave the bags along the side of the road for VDOT to pick up, or they can turn in recyclables to raise money for the organization. All agree that picking up trash along the roadway is an easy, team-building project that takes no financial commitment and only a few hours each quarter.]

 

Anti-Litter Award - Honorable Mention: The Honorable Mention winner is The James River Garden Club of Richmond for their “This Is An Anti-Plastic Bag” campaign against the use of plastic shopping bags. The Club members were early and fervent supporters of this now-growing national movement against one of the primary causes of litter in the United States – plastic bags -- and have brought “A Bag of Fresh Air” to the process in our Commonwealth.

 

***

 

Established in 1998, Scenic Virginia is a statewide private nonprofit whose mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the scenic beauty and community character of the Commonwealth, with a particular focus on the preservation of significant viewsheds. For more information or to obtain digital images of any project, please contact Executive Director Leighton Powell at (804) 363-9453 or email@scenicvirginia.org.

B.W. Wright, Jr. (center) and Charles Santrock (right), both members of the Franklin County Veterans' Memorial Commission, receive the award from Frank Lingo Calhoun, Esq., a member of the Board of Trustees for Scenic Virginia.

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