(To be sung to the tune of a “Partridge in a Pear Tree”)

In 2011 RVF brought to me:
One WIFI hot spot,
One video road cam,
One new geology trail,
And a lot of birds in the trees.

In 2011 RVF brought to me:
Two Star Watch programs,
One Kite Flying Festival,
The Nelson Scenic Loop,
And many dogs on the trails.

In 2011 RVF brought to me:
Two new kiosks,
The Spruce Creek Gallery Headquarters,
The Virginia Environmental Assembly,
And three hidden geocache sites.

So what’s coming in 2012? Among other things the RVF will become the first affiliate with the Virginia Museum of Natural History, will partner with the Blue Ridge Parkway and its Kids in the Park program, and hold the fourth annual kite festival on April 15. Also in 2012 you will be able to join the RVF as a member, and membership will bring with it some terrific benefits. To make all this happen we are asking that you consider volunteering your time and/or making a 2011 gift to RVF. Volunteers are currently particularly urgently needed for the Kite Festival Committee.

Some specific items we’d love to see donated follow:

The Rockfish Valley Foundation’s Christmas Wish List

To donate please send an email to info@rockfishvalley.org or contact Peter Agelasto at 434-361-1296 or Alice Faintich at 434-361-0114. Thank you!

• 1. Time
  Volunteers are needed for such tasks as helping with events, for example, the Kite Festival; landscape gardening in Spruce Creek Park; donating and installing plants; cleaning the RVF’s headquarters offices, acting as docents for the geology and birding trails; working on committees; stocking brochure boxes at trail heads; and assisting program managers as needed.
• 2. Equipment
  Table-top display unit, larger display unit, telescopic roll stand, computer projection system, interactive flat-screen computer monitor, HP 500gb SimpleSave Backup, vacuum cleaner, small refrigerator, garden tools.
• 3. Office supplies and furnishings
  Four-drawer file cabinet (preferably legal size), touch screen computer monitor, stamps, stationery, computer printer ink cartridges (for Canon MX 870 printer), and general office supplies.
• 4. Underwriting ongoing needs
  For example, telephone line, Porta-jon, IT support, and utility bills.
• 5. Other supplies
  Cleaning supplies: mop, broom, bucket, trash bags, trash can, wood floor cleaner, glass cleaner, paper towels, toilet paper, light bulbs, other (you name it, we can use it!).
• 6. Party supplies Urns for hot water and coffee, disposable party supplies, table cloths, sugar and artificial sweetener packages.

Thank You to All of our past, present, and future supporters and volunteers!
Have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!
Warmly,
The Rockfish Valley Foundation

Don’t miss it!

EVENT: September 18 at 2 p.m.

Rocks are books waiting to be opened to tell their story. The Rockfish Valley Foundation (RVF) will present a program on the geology of the Rockfish Valley and a dedication of the Foundation’s trail along the Rockfish River on Sunday, September 18 at 2 p.m. The program will be held at the Spruce Creek Gallery with dedication along the Rockfish River and reception to follow. Spruce Creek Gallery is located in the historic Wintergreen Country Store at 1368 Rockfish Valley Highway, Nellysford, VA 22958.

Lynn S. Fichter, professor of geology and environmental science at James Madison University has greatly assisted in development of Rockfish Valley geology map, storyboard and points of interest brochure. He will talk about local geology including the Rockfish Valley fault and the plate tectonics that shaped our surroundings. The Rockfish Valley sits at the center of some of the most profound geology to be found anywhere in the world. Dr. Fichter’s talk will explain why.

Eric Pyle, professor of geology & environmental science at James Madison University is the trail project sponsor and field geologist. He will talk about our local rocks and demonstrate rock identification and sampling. .

Connie Brennan, Nelson County Supervisor for the Central District, and Chip Morgan, Rockfish Valley Foundation Trustee, trail guide and Vice President of the Flora of Virginia Project will cut the ribbon to open the trail.

A reception with light refreshments will follow at which the presenters and other honored guests will be available for discussion and to answer questions. A donation to the Rockfish Valley Foundation is encouraged but not required. Please call or email if you would like to attend as space is limited.

The Rockfish Valley Foundation is indebted to the BAMA Works Fund, a component fund of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation created by contributions of the Dave Matthews Band.

APRIL 9, 2011

11:00 AM UNTIL 3:00 PM

Bold Rock Cidery Field across from SPRUCE CREEK PARK, the big field on the
right off Glenthorne Loop (Rt 627) Enter next to Elk Hill Baptist Church

View Rockfish Valley Loop Trails in a larger map

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Kite demonstrations and competitions courtesy of members of Richmond Air Force,
a professional organization of kite flyers. Some performances are done to music.

Noon
Unfurling of 1200 square foot flag by children (of all ages) in attendance with
playing of star spangled banner.

11 AM and 1 PM free dual line group lessons lasting ½ hour

Stunt kites flown, instructions given and kites can be purchased from 2 Guys Flying

Children activities include – free kites and assembly to first 100 children; basket
races with parachutes if wind permits

Bring a picnic for a family fun day or purchase food from Eastern Star, our fabulous new Richmond food vendor: $6 youth lunch with hotdog or hamburger, French fries and small drink

NO RAIN DATE

SPONSORS:

ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION
check website for updated information www.rockfishvalley.org
434 361 1296; info@rockfishvalley.org
Bold Rock Cidery and Cider Pub, Nelson County Life, RICHMOND AIR FORCE
www.richmondairforce.com, and 2 Guys Flying.

Supported by Nelson County Parks and Recreation Department

PRESS RELEASE
Flyer

MINUTES OF THE ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION BOARD
February 26, 2011

The Board of the Rockfish Valley Foundation met at the Old Wintergreen Country Store on Saturday, February 26, 2011. Chairman Peter Agelasto called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. Attending were Peter Agelasto, Betsy Agelasto, Parker Agelasto, Liz Sargent, Hank Gibb, Craig Cooper, Alice Faintich, Marshall Faintich, Karl Hess, Sharon Hudson, Russ Reid, and Michael Lechance.

Karl Hess, chairman of the Working Committee, gave the report of this committee and its recommendations. The Working Committee reviewed the RVF vision and mission statements. Using the list of activities created by Alice Faintich and Peter Agelasto that RVF is currently undertaking, the Working Committee then gave RVF a programmatic structure. Attached is a copy of their recommendations to the Board.

• Geographic Focus Area of RVF which constitutes the principal area in which the RVF implements its programs: The boundary roughly goes from Route 250 at Rockfish Gap to the Plank Road turnoff to Batesville. Then down the Ragged Mountains ridgeline to Brents Gap. From there across the ridge of Horseshoe Mountain to the ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains to Reids Gap. From Reids Gap back to Rockfish Gap at Afton.
• Vision statement: A community that works cooperatively to conserve, protect, enjoy, and promote the natural, cultural, and historic resources of the Rockfish Valley.
• Mission statement: The Rockfish Valley Foundation (RVF) is a non-profit 501 c (3) organization committed to working cooperatively with the Rockfish Valley community and others to demonstrate and promote agricultural and non-agricultural land uses and activities that conserve, protect and sustain the natural, cultural and historic resources of the Rockfish Valley for the enjoyment and enrichment of residents and visitors. It was noted that the words agricultural and non-agricultural were in the mission statement instead of in the vision statement because they were a better fit there.
• The Proposed Programmatic Structure includes six areas of RVF involvement, each discussed below.

Programmatic Area 1: Trail Establishment and Maintenance — “the development and maintenance of educational and recreational trails within the RVF focus area to advance the Foundation’s mission, and to other such contiguous trails that may, in time, be promoted or cooperatively established on lands adjacent to the focus area.” Current activities include Birding, Geology, Botany, and Hiking.

Programmatic Area 2: Land and Water Conservation and Restoration — “ the cooperative conservation and restoration of lands within the RVF focus area for the purposes of returning or sustaining critical ecological functions and structures, including wildlife habitat and habitat connectivity; enhancing native plant communities and habitat; aquatic system and species health; water storage, delivery, and purification; nutrient cycling; and other ecological services endemic historically to those lands, and to other such lands adjacent to but outside the RFV that may, in time, be cooperatively conserved or restored.” Current activities include Wildlife Habitat Enhancement (Warm Season Grass Field Establishment); Spruce Creek Park Conservation; South Rockfish River Restoration; Bog Restoration and Protection; Habitat Assessment including satellite imagery and butterfly survey; and Elk Hill Conservation Easements.
Comments: No major activity of RVF in this area at this time, but all RVF clearly support.

Programmatic Area 3: Recreation-Based Education and Outreach — “support and development of recreation based educational activities on lands within the RVF focus area, and on lands adjacent to the focus area that may, in time, be linked to these activities, for the purpose of reaching out to the citizens of Nelson County, the school children of Nelson County, and others with interest in Nelson County, and enriching their knowledge about, awareness of, and appreciation for the natural and historical resources of Nelson County, the stewardship needs of those resources, and the issues pertaining to the long-term conservation and protection of those resources. “ Current activities include Kite Festival; Star watch; Discovery Days; Earth Day; and Blooming with Parkway.
Comments: RVF should always be aware that the activity links to the broader goal of RVF. An example questioned was the Star Watch which can possibly be linked to the importance of the Night Sky in Nelson County.

Programmatic Area 4: Historic Resource Recognition, Promotion, and Protection — “the recognition, promotion, and protection of the historical resources of the Rockfish Valley for the education, awareness, and use by local citizens to build and sustain a community that continues to connect with its past for the benefit of current and future generations. “ Current activities are the South Rockfish Rural Historic District; Nelson County Scenic Loop; Satellite Imagery- Remote Sensing for Archeology; and Designations for National Historic Register ( which currently include Elk Hill and Wintergreen Country Store).

Programmatic Area 5: External Affairs – Coordination with and Support for Allied Stakeholders –
“Coordination with and support for individuals, agencies, and organizations located in or with interests in the Rockfish Valley for the purpose of conserving, protecting or enhancing the valley’s natural and historical resources for current and future generations through collaborative and cooperative partnerships. “ Current activities are Environmental Summit; Virginia Museum of Natural History; Master Naturalists; Audubon Society; Virginia Watchable Wildlife and Birding Trails (VA DGIF); and Thomas Jefferson Soil & Water District
Comments: Very important area. RVF could reach out of RVF and work with others to accomplish similar goals.

Programmatic Area 6: Landowner-Based Outreach and Education — “Voluntary use of cooperating lands within the RVF Focus area to demonstrate to, share with, and disseminate among surrounding landowners in the Rockfish Valley (a) best land management practices ; (b) sustainable agricultural and non-agricultural economic opportunities (e.g.), market-based alternatives, including Ag Tourism; (c) conservation actions for delivery of income-producing ecological services (water, habitat, wildlife, open space, aesthetics, etc.); and (d) financial resources to support conservation-driven agricultural and non-agricultural land uses now and into the future.” Current activities are Cidery Development in Nellysford and Ag Tourism such as the Guest House at Elk Hill.
Comments: This is a new Programmatic area. This will demonstrate to people the alternatives to traditional activities to protect open space and to make the land sustainable. The Working Committee felt that this is a major category and could be the factor that makes RVF have an important future life.

The Working Committee also recommended that one individual be assigned to lead each of these areas with the goal to co-ordinate people and the programs in each programmatic area, to co-ordinate with the other programmatic area leaders, and to co-ordinate with the Board.

Discussion followed with the following suggestions:
• Programmatic Area 7 be added and include Fund Raising, Marketing, and Public Relations.
• Mission statement be amended to read “ non profit 501 c (3) public charitable organization.
• Concern was expressed about the Kite Festival and Star Watch as being a part of the RVF Mission. Several would like to see a more obvious link. Perhaps RVF could use education as the link. For example, information about what makes a kite fly or why the Night Sky is important
• Add to the Working Committee’s report the names of the committee and summarize when it was formed and its process. This could be added as a “prelude” to its report.
• Priority of the various activities is needed and how to establish the hierarchy of which are the most important. It was noted that if RVF had a grant for an activity or a commitment from a person or a group, perhaps that activity would move up the list of priority. Priorities can change all the time and RVF would hate to lose an opportunity.
• Set short term priority now and look to long term priorities. Go over with Peter Agelasto the current projects and get them “under control” first.
• Karl Hess commented that prioritization will become more important as RVF receives more donations and grants. RVF will then need to decide which activities are the most important and will receive that money.
• Peter Agelasto brought up the Master Plan with Water Street Studio. RVF has changed so much since the original plan was drawn up and needs to revisit the Master Plan.
• Leadership development , training capacity development and recruitment should be added.
Examples given of successful leadership development were Jesus Najar with the Nelson Scenic Loop and Tim Hodge with the Birding Trail. Examples of RVF ideas being copied a new the Scenic Loop created by Nelson County Tourism. Some activities such as the Kite Festival could be spun off to another group if RVF wished to free up RVF for other activities. Also discussed later in the meeting was Leadership capacity building and “entrepreneurial activity incubation.”
• The question was raised whether RVF should be involved in different conversations such as those about Byways or Transportation infrastructure. This could be added to External Affairs in a category of Planning (Transportation, Communications, and Connectivity). However, the group agreed that they did not wish to see the RVF engage in political policy, but more in the area of education with informational outreach.
• RVF could create a program to take to the schools and other organizations. RVF could create a quarterly speakers program.
• An organization chart needs to be drawn showing the structure of the Board, an Executive Director, and under that Programs, Administrative Co-ordinator, Treasurer and other necessary positions.
Discussion of the report of the Working Committee came to a close. Peter Agelasto, Board chairman, noted that a quorum was present. However, he had a letter of resignation from S. Waite Rawls III. Hank Gibb moved to accept Waite’s resignation and Parker Agelasto seconded. A quorum was still present to vote. Hank Gibb moved that the Board approve the Vision, Mission, and Geography of the Working Committee’s report. Russ Reid seconded. Motion carried.

Parker Agelasto moved that Peter Agelasto ,as RVF chairman, write to Karen Norman a letter of appreciation for her work with RVF on Board Development and facilitating the October 30, 2010 Board Meeting.

Discussion followed about potential chairmen of the seven programmatic areas. Alice Faintish, Volunteer Co-ordinator , pointed out the advantage of the chart she created for potential chairmen and potential volunteers. Parker Agelasto suggested that a job description of each area and the expectation of the time commitment be included. Karl Hess suggested that all programmatic committee chairmen be a member of the Working Committee. The following people were nominated.
1. Trail Establishment and Maintenance — Chris Gensic , not in attendance, had agreed earlier
2. Land and Water Conservation and Restoration — Karl Hess
3. Recreation-Based Education and Outreach – Peter Agelasto for the present
4. Historic Resource Recognition, Promotion, and Protection – Liz Sargent “with reservations”
5. External Affairs – Coordination with and Support for Allied Stakeholders – Marshall Faintish
6. Landowner-Based Outreach and Education – Michael Lechance
Sharon Hudson moved that the Board accept the nominations of these committee chairmen. Motion passed.

Parker Agelasto , acting as treasurer but having resigned as treasurer at the last Board meeting, noted the following:
• Reminded the Board that Karen Norman suggested that the treasurer NOT be an Agelasto family member and that RVF needed to find a treasurer.
• If RVF receives more than $25,000 in donations and grants in one calendar year, it will move to a more scrutinized filing with the IRS.
• The RVF financial records should more accurately reflect the amount of money that the chairman Peter Agelasto has spent and not repaid himself.
Peter Agelasto asked for volunteers for the Finance Committee. Since there was no volunteers from the floor, Hank Gibb kindly said that he would participate as time permits. Peter Agelasto will contact Craig Cooper about possibly being on the committee.

Earlier in the meeting, Peter Agelasto announced that RVF has about $18,000 in the bank account. Of this about $11,000 is restricted and about $7,000 is unrestricted. The Nelson Scenic Loop has $5,000 from The Virginia Department of Tourism which must be used by July 1; The Virginia Department of Game and Fisheries gave $1,5000 for the design of story boards ; John Washburn of the new Cidery gave $1,000 for the Kite Festival and hopes to be a promoter of the RVF

Peter Agelasto announced that Rick Winter has volunteered to hold a Marketing Committee Workshop. Attending will be Foxie Morgan, Maureen ???????? from Nelson County Tourism, Dana Quillen from Wintergreen, and Mary Wolf of the Big Bad Wolf Brewery. Karl Hess and Hank Gibb will also attend.

Peter Agelasto noted that the Board needs to appoint a Nominating Committee in order to nominate new members. Suggestions for new members were Karl Hess, Liz Sargent, and Marshall Faintish. Parker Agelasto noted that the old By-laws had two classes of Board members – Agelasto Family Board members and appointed Board members. It was noted that the old By-laws were structured on a private charity, and not a public charity as the RVF has become. Hank Gibb and Parker Agelasto will review the By-laws and bring back suggestions to the Board.

Peter Agelasto feels that the RVF website needs to be updated. It was noted that Peter Agelasto IV, the webmaster, is a member of the Board, which could be a conflict of interest, even though Peter IV is giving RVF a 50% discount for his services. This issue will be discussed and resolved.

Under new business, it was announced that the Virginia Environmental Assembly sponsored by the Virginia Conservation Network will be held at Wintergreen September 9, 2011. Peter Agelasto helped to make this possible and would like for RVF to be a sponsor. He suggested that RVF sponsor a reception on the first night. Perhaps RVF could partner with the Wintergreen Nature Foundation and hold the reception at the Trillium House. The motion was moved and passed. Karl Hess will contact Doug Coleman about this possibility.

Peter Agelasto announced that Phase I of the Geology Trail was on schedule. He hopes to cover the expenses with a $3,000 grant from BAMA Works, a $2,000 semi restricted gift, and $600 left from another BAMA Works RVF project. Because of this project, the Geology Department at JMU, particularly Lynn Fishner and Eric Pyle, are establishing a close relationship with RVF and Nelson County.
Phase ! will include the dedication of the Geology Trail and possibly a Field Trip, the storyboards at the kiosk, a map, brochures, trail markings, and a website. Phase II will include more development of the website and scheduled guided walks. Michael Lechance expressed the possibility of RVC creating a “package” about the geology of Nelson County and market it to college Geology classes. Liz Saregent noted that her friend Erin Cross was updating Keith Frye’s Roadside Book on Geology and that RVF should contact him.

Hank Gibb noted the “next steps” for RVF:
• The Working Committee should meet with Peter Agelasto about the scope of RVF and its current priorities.
• Peter Agelasto needs to convene a meeting of the programmatic chairmen to bring them all up to date on the RVF goals and priorities.
• A Nominating Committee needs to be established and potential candidates invited to attend Board Meetings . Additionally, the Board should begin to rotate some members off the Board.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Betsy Rawls Agelasto,
Recording Secretary

Download minutes

A Water Quality Study on the North Fork, South Fork, Rockfish River and Taylor Creek in Nelson County, VA.
(information from the forwatershed.org website)
North Rockfish Report final 7.29.10

• Presentation at Public Meeting Jan. 19, 2011
• rockfish factsheet
• Rockfish River TMDL Local Steering Committee Meeting Notes, February 1, 2011
• North Fork, South Fork and mainstem of the Rockfish River Bacteria TMDLs, February 1, 2011t
• A Letter from the American Canoe Association – Help Stop Fertilizer Pollution In the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

When: Saturday June 12, 2010 8:00 am until 7:00 pm
Where: The LOOP drive around the Rockfish and Tye River watersheds
Why: To celebrate the Nelson environment and its communities
Who: Organized by the Rockfish Valley Foundation www.rockfishvalley.org

HOW TO SPEND JUNE 11-13, 2010 – IT’S ALL FREE

Start with THE KICKOFF at 9:30 am at Spruce Creek Park, 1368 Rockfish Valley Highway, Nellysford, Virginia, 22958 with the assembly of dozens of antique cars from Piedmont and Skyline Antique Car clubs, the Hodge Family jugglers, unveiling and sale of Scenic LOOP print by Pat Saunders , ribbon cutting and much more. Then take the LOOP drive and enjoy the Love Mountain Festival at Royal Oaks, the Piney Mountain Music Festival, ELK HILL and Parsalia open house events, Devils Backbone Brewery, Java Depot Festival, Montibello Fish Hatchery 80th anniversary celebration, two antique auto club rallys, Nellysford Farmers Market, Lescene Forest program, Tuckahoe Community Center yard sale fundraiser and a whole lot MORE. Special rates at Wintergreen Resort. IT’S ALL FREE.

Watch for the LOOP map and description of LOOP DAYS presented by the Nelson County Times. Visit www.nelsonscenicloop.com for events, directions and information. Plan your family day. You may also contact Rockfish Valley Foundation at 434 226 0446.

MORE ABOUT THE VIRGINIA MASTER NATURALIST PROGRAM

The Virginia Master Naturalist Program is a statewide corps of volunteers providing education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities. Interested Virginians become Master Naturalists through training and volunteer service.

The process for becoming a certified Virginia Master Naturalist typically takes 6 to 12 months. One starts by completing a 40-hour basic training course offered by a local chapter of the program. An additional 8 hours of advanced training are also required. An important part of the certification process is the required 40 hours of volunteer service.

Chapters are in development across Virginia. In an area where there is no existing chapter, several interested people and an advisor from a sponsoring agency can start their own.

The Virginia Master Naturalist Program is jointly sponsored by

• Virginia Cooperative Extension
• Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
• Virginia Department of Forestry
• Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
• Virginia Museum of Natural History

It is based in the Department of Forestry within the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech.

Here is a recording we made at the dedication.

Please listen to the event using the audio player below.

Dedication of a Historic Marker honoring the victims of Hurricane Camille

CAMILLE Historic Marker dedication – August 19, 2008 at 2 PM

Everyone is invited to attend the dedication of the Hurricane Camille historic marker located at the Rockfish River Trail head on Rt 151 at the bridge over the S. Fork of the Rockfish River. The dedication will occur at 2 pm on August 19, 2008 which is the 39th anniversary of Hurricane Camille in Nelson County. The devastating rains fell in the evening of August 19 and early morning of August 20.

The program will consist of brief remarks by Nelson County officials, representatives of VA Dept of Historic Resources, VA Dept of Transportation, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, Cliff Wood , former Nelson County Supervisor and others to be announced. Cliff was involved in the Camille marker placed at Woods Mill in 1971. The additional marker is a replica of that and states:

ON AUGUST 20, 1969, TORRENTIAL RAINS, FOLLOWING REMNANTS OF HURRICANE CAMILLE, DEVASTATED THIS AREA. A RAINFALL IN EXCESS OF 25 INCHES LARELY WITHIN A 5-HOUR PERIOD, SWEPT AWAY OR BURIED MANY MILES OF ROADS, OVER 100 BRIDGES, AND OVER 900 BUILDINGS. 114 PEOPLE DIED AND 37 REMAIN MISSING. THE DAMAGE TOTALED MORE THAN $100,000,000 AND VIRGINIA WAS DECLARED A DISASTER AREA.

This second marker is located on the site of the home of Mr and Mrs Ed Ewing who were swept away by the flood and perished on the evening of August 19, 1969. A total of 125 persons died or were lost in Nelson County which at the time was more than 1% of the population.

Light refreshments will be served. Please call 434 361 2251 for further information.

Roar of the Heavens – preface

From Frances Fitzgerald’s house along the Tye River in the tiny town of Tyro, in Nelson County, Virginia, there is a soul-stirring view of The Priest. The bony, forested crest of this old knob rises to just over four thousand feet, making it one of the highest peaks in these parts. In the twilight, The Priest and its companion peaks The Friar and Three Ridges seem to march into infinity, and into a seemingly infinite color-series of blues and grays and blue-grays — an ever-shifting palette only faintly suggested by their name, the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Spread out below these towering mountains is a lovely, flower-spattered meadow, which in the autumn is scattered with great round hay bales that look like immense loaves of golden bread. The fields are borded by lazy, wandering hedgerows that follow the streambeds, marked by a meandering line of sycamores and oaks and willows and mountain ash. It’s God’s country, some of the prettiest, most pastoral landscapes on the East coast.

The Priest is a thing that smites even the dullest of hearts with its sheer loveliness — yet to view this landscape simply with ones’ heart is to almost completely miss it. Because standing here in this pretty valley, overshadowed by mountains lifted off a scenic calendar, you are ringed by danger and by death, and the tangible record of catastrophe is everywhere. Above you, there are places where the mountainsides have been raked bare and now stand raw and exposed as open wounds. Scattered in the foothills below, there are immense boulders, some of them as big as boxcars. How did they get there? What cataclysm brought them down?

The Priest is beautiful, but looked at in a more ominous way it is also a great, broad blade almost a mile high, that rakes water out of the sky. In scientific terms, its steepness and height create an “orographic effect,” lifting moisture-laden air masses up into higher elevations, where they cool, condense, and fall as rain — sometimes not gentle rain but fierce, relentless, murderous rain. The very height and drama of these mountains is the source of their danger. The towering crags and ridges form a steep watershed or catchment area, a gigantic basin or a bowl, which gathers water from a vast area and sends it cascading down into narrow streambeds. And the meadow around you, it now becomes obvious, is actually a vast floodplain that has been repeatedly inundated by water and by mud. There have been times when this lowland has become the valley of the shadow of death, and no birds sang.

Then there is the non-obvious matter of Nelson County’s location on the globe. Its particular latitude (about 38 degrees north of the equator) maximizes the chance that disintegrating hurricanes coming up from the distant Gulf but still loaded with almost unimaginable cargoes of water will unburden them in these mountains. That’s why the soporific Tye River, chuckling over its bed of round stones through this peaceful valley, is actually a ravenous beast, the mythological dragon of the human imagination, only temporarily asleep.

We may know these things rationally, but we don’t really know them deep in our hearts, down in the fearful realm below thought.

Part of the reason all this danger is hidden is that we are trapped in human, psychological time. We’re inclined to measure everything against the sixty or seventy or eighty years most of us will be given. Anything that occurs less frequently than this tends to be invisible to us — it vibrates on a slower pulse. Yet even the longest human life on record is so brief it’s akin to the shadow of a bird passing across a wall. Compared to geological time, compared to the rocks and hills around us, a human lifespan is indistinguishable from that of a mayfly, which is born and dies in a single day.

But there are moments — extraordinary moments — when human time comes into direct conflict with geological time. When the implacable inhumanness and grandeur of these great processes rises up around us, like a sleeping monster, and eats us alive.

Such an event occurred here in the mountains of central Virginia on the night of August 19th, 1969, when the remnants of Hurricane Camille collided with a complex system of water-laden air currents in the middle and upper atmosphere. Almost completely without warning, and within the space of eight hours, one of the heaviest rainfalls ever recorded on earth — billions of tons of it — cascaded down these mountainsides, turning these lovely crags and streambeds into a terrifyingly effective drowning machine for all life below. Humans, animals, dogs and cats, trees, boulders, houses, cars, barns and everything else were swept away in a fast-moving slurry of molten soil, a kind of deadly earth-lava that buried everything in its path. The bodies of many people, asleep in their beds when the avalanche smashed into their houses in the night, were never found. The next morning, when Frances Fitzgerald climbed down out of the hole in the ceiling where she and her husband had fled to escape the flood, she saw drowned, half-naked bodies hanging from fences and trees around her house.

“We were encircled by death,” she said.

The rainfall was so cataclysmic that the Office of Hydrology of the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) later estimated that the rainfall “approaches the probable maximum rainfall which meterologists compute to be theoretically possible.” People had to cover their mouths even to breathe. Birds perched in trees simply drowned. A team of geologists, after calculating how much soil would be stripped off the mountainsides due to normal wind, water and weather, concluded that about two thousand years of erosion had taken place in a single night. Other scientists later attempted to calculate just how unusual an event this was. The hydrology office estimated that an event of this magnitude “occurs, on average, only once in more than 1,000 years.” Another researcher, at the University of Virginia, pointed out that such catastrophic events were so rare that one had to look beyond human history and instead study the geologic record of ancient “paleofloods” imprinted in the rocks and soil. Using radiocarbon dating of these ancient sediments, he calculated that the hardest-hit area (the Davis Creek basin) had probably not seen such an event in the previous three to six thousand years — since before the building of the pyramids at Giza.

But whatever metrics one uses, what occurred in Nelson County, Virginia in the last days of August, 1969 — and, a few days earlier along the Mississippi Gulf coast — was an event out of the nether regions of mathematical probability, out of an entirely different scale of time than the one to which humans are accustomed. After it was over, when the mountainsides collapsed in a deafening, continuous roar, people marvelled at the smell that hung in the air, a pungent, earthy smell, the smell of rock and soil that may not have been exposed to air and light in thousands of years. It was the smell of deep time.

It was as though, on an ordinary day in August, in an ordinary place, time itself had been ripped open and laid bare.

This is the story of a collision between human and geological time.

It’s the story of the fragility and unknowableness of everything we think is predictable and secure.

It’s the story of what people do when the worst that could possibly happen, happens.

For many, it became the story of the end of the world.

Roar of the Heavens by Stefan Bechtel was published in 2006 by Citadel Press. It is available as hard back and soft bound. ISBN 0-8065-2706-4

Hurricane Camille and its impact described and illustrated

Please imagine that the slide scars represent the headwaters of the S. Fork of the Rockfish River up near Wintergreen Mountain Village above elevation 3500. The torrential rains loosened the soil, the shrubs and trees. That debris began to wash down the mountain, pulling with it rocks and any other thing in its path. As the flow became larger and reached the upper valley at Beech Grove, it broadened out (represented by the debris chutes) and tore a 40 foot deep trench into the earth where Rt 664 now exists. The build up of water, material, animals, automobiles and everything in its path continued to travel under gravity into the Valley Floor at elevation 1300 and began to fan out to cover the valley (represented by debris fans). This occurred in the middle of the night which found the occupants of the one story house in the flood plain at elevation 900 located beside the river at the existing Rt 151 Bridge asleep in their house. Many people thought the roar of the debris flows was thunder as the sky was filled with lightening. It was not. It was the roar of rocks hitting rocks. This debris flow can be estimated to have travelled at a speed of over 40 miles per hour when it reached the South Rockfish Valley you are looking at. The home, located where you are standing, of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Ewing was destroyed and their bodies recovered nearly 1/2 mile down stream. The Charlottesville Daily Progress printed adjacent photo showing the steps remaining to the house, the roof of the house on the bridge and the devastation of the site. The historic marker located beside Rt 151 recognizes the loss of lives and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Camille in the State of Virginia. It is hard to imagine the loss to the Ewing family. A brother lived in the house across the road and three siblings at ELK HILL, the home on the hill. Each woke the morning of August 20^th to see the ghastly site of debris filled, flooded fields and an empty space where the Ewing family had lived and perished.

Please be respectful of this site and honor their memory along with those others lost in the storm of August 19-20, 1969. Thanks you for your visit. To obtain more information, please see the website www.rockfishvalley.org or read the introduction reproduced here from the book entitled Roar of the Heavens (2006) by Stefan Bechtel, a Charlottesville author, which is considered the best presentation of Hurricane Camille.

We are indebted to the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (www.cacfonline.org) for its support of this exhibit and the duplication and installation of the Hurricane Camille marker.

++Camille Flow Diagram prepared and available through the courtesy of David Spears, Geologist, Virginia Department of Mines and Minerals.

Peter A. Agelasto III
Chairman
Rockfish Valley Foundation
434 361 2251
P O Box 235
Nellysford, VA 22958

Other books on Hurricane Camille
Torn Land by Paige and Jerry Simpson 1970
Hurricane Camille – monster storm of the Gulf Coast by Philip D. Hearn 2004
Category 5, the story of Camille by Ernest Zebrowski and Judith A Howard 2005
Roar of the Heavens by Stefan Bechtel 2006