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Millboro school renovation group plans fund raising
By GINA HAMILTON • CONTRIBUTING WRITER
MILLBORO - It's full steam ahead for the Millboro Preservation and Cultural Association in regard to their plans for renovation of the old Millboro school and obtaining money for the project.
Although the Bath County Board of Supervisors postponed a final decision on July 8 about awarding the project to this group or a developer who has bid on it, Spectrum Design, until the full board can meet Aug. 12, association members have decided to redouble their efforts until then, especially the fund-raising.
At their meeting last Thursday (July 10), members received even stronger support from the Bath County Historical Society. Executive director Keene Byrd told the group the society has its annual membership and fund-raising meeting in September. "We want to ask if you thought it'd be proper to have that meeting here, with a tent in the front yard of the old school," he said. "We're willing to put our weight behind you. Let people see your renovation plan." He said this event would draw about 275 people and the society would provide hors d'oeuvres and a bar. It serves as fund-raiser for the historical society and would also support project funding for the association.
Association members quickly voiced their approval and decided they would provide chicken dinners, too, assisted by members of the Millboro Ruritan Club. Club member Willie Ryder was volunteered (by wife Gladys) to be the chief chicken cooker on the club's barbecue grill, and a committee to assist in planning for the event was formed with Kaye May, Gladys Ryder, John Mayberry, Olivia Haney, Betty Lou Colvin, Gary Smith, and Stephanie Forbes.
Byrd noted the historical society had previously expressed its support for the association's renovation plans. In his June 2 letter to supervisors, society president Richard Armstrong stated the historical society's rationale: The Millboro school is public property and as such is held in common by the citizens of Bath County; the public school, and this high school in particular, was the center of community activity, and with the correct decision by the board of supervisors, could be the center of activity again; and the historical factors alone should be enough to grant "to the Millboro organization the opportunity to succeed at renovating this school for the benefit of the Millboro community."
Last week, Byrd brought additional historical perspective, noting this was Orange County in 1730, and about 1735, Augusta County was formed from Orange County, then Bath County was formed from Augusta County in 1790.
He said Col. George Washington came to the area around 1756, working for the British then, inspecting forts all along the rivers, including Fort Dickinson on the Cowpasture and Fort Dinwiddie on the Jackson River, after the final attack and Indian massacre that year. According to Byrd, Washington said, "Leave me but a banner to place on the mountain of west Augusta and I'll rally around me men who lift our bleeding country from the dust and set her free."
Referring to the people of Millboro, Byrd said the same determination for a cause remained today, and in the spirit of Col. Andrew Lewis, one of the first settlers in western Augusta County. "When someone tells us something can't be done - we do it," Byrd said. "It's part of who we are." He said Washington had strongly recommended Lewis to command the troops during the French and Indian War, which led up to the revolution, but it was Washington himself who was selected to lead them.
Byrd noted the historical society hopes to eventually put a branch here. "This fits in with our overall strategic plan," he told association members. He also said the society had unanimously supported electing association cochair Jackie Plecker to its board next month.
Other business
Reporting on the group's executive meeting held earlier that day, Plecker said, "We decided we will meet with Spectrum; we will ask them to meet sometime after Aug. 1, with (principal) John Garland, on what his proposal is, and will come back and report to the regular meeting."
The association will continue its fund-raising efforts, including selling 50-50 tickets at the annual Firemen's Carnival July 23-26. Efforts to seek a grant writer are continuing, someone to assist the association with its planned historical restoration of the old school buildings.
A covered-dish dinner will be held sometime after the Aug. 12 supervisors' meeting. "We'll either cry together or laugh together," Plecker said. "Either way it goes, we'll do it together. We'll have celebration blast, one way or other." A date has not yet been set.
Plecker commended the members for coming together on this undertaking. "I am so proud to all of you for showing up at the supervisors' meeting the other night," she said, noting 32 people came from Millboro. "I appreciate all of you coming. Let's see if we can get 60 next time (Aug. 12). Let's stay optimistic," she said.
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