This weekend I was again reminded why I love living in this small Central Virginian community so much. Greene County is a community. It’s small, but that’s what makes it so easy to jump right in and become a part of it, that and the extreme warmth and hospitality of the people who live here. All three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were chock filled with events and experiences that made me both proud and fortunate to have found a life here.
Early Friday morning, I met up with my friend Moira Rodriguez at William Monroe High School to present scholarships to two deserving young women in this year’s graduating class. Moira is currently the president of the Woman’s Club of Greene County and I had served on the scholarship selection committee. The Woman’s Club works hard all year holding an annual yard sale in the spring and Holiday Craft Fair in the fall to raise the funds necessary to support our scholarships and Christmas Gift program for needy children.
Moira and I both arrived at the high school a little after eight o’clock and after checking-in with the reception committee, we were escorted to the teacher’s lounge to wait with the other scholarship presenters. The room was overly warm and crowded with people representing a broad spectrum of our community. Naturally, the usual service organizations were represented (Lions and Kiwanis), there was a woman from the local chapter of the DAR, folks from the Farm Bureau and the electric co-op. There was a young Marine, straight and tall in his dress blue uniform and a one rather elderly woman, her back bent with time. He represented his corps, she was simply a private citizen, awarding a scholarship because she wanted to. And, she wasn’t alone. In fact, there were several scholarships awarded in remembrance of loved ones lost to battles in service to their country or with medical challenges. Whatever the reason, there were enough scholarship awards and recipients to fill the better part of two sides of a legal sized piece of paper – not bad for a class with members numbering just about two hundred.
We were introduced en-mass and marched into the gym where the entire lower classes sat in the bleachers to the right and family and friends of the senior class sat on the left. After we were seated behind the podium, the senior class marched into the gym in their cap and gowns. Most of the gals had decorated the tops of their miter boards to indicated the school they would be attending in the fall. Some. of the guys did the same, but not with as much oomph as the girls. Even though I really didn’t know any of them, I felt pride for them and their families as I recalled the years my young ones graduated, more than a few years ago.
One by one we took our turn walking up to the podium to present our awards. It was a very long ceremony. It seemed shorter to me because I chose to wear my “pretty” watch which was still set on daylight savings time. It wasn’t until I glanced at the clock on my dashboard that I realized I’d been there for just about three hours! In the end, I was glad my watch wasn’t right, it allowed me the luxury of not feeling rushed and let me savor the experience.
Early Saturday morning, I was headed down the same road, about the same time to Standardsville to work at the Greene County Habitat for Humanity booth at this year’s Strawberry Festival hosted by the Stanardsville Methodist Church. Once our tent was up under the shade of an old cherry tree on the Courthouse lawn, I spent the day inviting folks to take refuge from the hot sun in the shade of my tent and then coyly suggesting they might want to join our steering committee. Sadly I wasn’t able to convince anyone to complete one of the beautiful volunteer applications I’d prepared for the day, but we did manage to sell seven t-shirts and a small cash donation to fund our building fund – not much, but every little bit counts.
The best part of the day was simply being there, talking to the people. I spotted several folks I’d seen at the award ceremony the day before and realized that I’m beginning to recognize more and more faces wherever I go in the county; it’s a really nice feeling. People around here are always ready to pick up on a conversation, whether they know you or not. That works for me since I roll that way myself!
Sunday evening, our parish held a dinner to celebrate our pastor, Father Larry Mullaney’s twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination. By five-thirty, the Hall was so full of folks that two additional tables had to be set up to accommodate everyone and the buffet tables were groaning under the weight of the dozens of pot-luck style side dishes, salads and deviled eggs. Anyone who walked away hungry only had themselves to blame.
All in all, it was a great weekend of community. These are just the few I attended. Early Saturday, while I was working the Strawberry Festival, Dave was handing out water at the first water station at the Wounded Warrior 5K Walk/Run through the UVA Research Park where his office is located. Simultaneously, Spring Hill Baptist Church was sponsoring a 6o mile bike ride fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity called The Tour d’Greene and the Boy Scouts were hosting a pancake breakfast at the Ruckersville Fire Station. For such a small place, there was a lot going on. You really have to work hard at not being a part of our community, and that’s the way I like it.
FOOTNOTE:
Friday evening, Dave and I checked out a new Mexican Restaurant that opened up next to the Shell Station on US29. El Monarca II (as in Monarch butterfly) is a small, family run eatery featuring better than average Mexican cuisine. I had the chicken with chorizo sausage and cheese on top. The platter came with beans, rice and a generous serving of steamed veggies. Our waitress also brought me a small dish of pickled cactus for me to sample. It was very yummy and reminded me of my grandmothers hot garlic spears. It’s definitely worth a try if you’re in the area and have a hankering for Mexican food!