News Updates
Edited by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
- Waynesboro: Hotcakes for Haiti
- Waynesboro: Taste of the Town
- Harrisonburg: Historical Society releases new book
Waynesboro: Hotcakes for Haiti The Waynesboro elementary-school communities are coming together for a pancake-breakfast fundraiser to benefit victims of the February Haiti earthquake.
Hotcakes for Haiti is set for Saturday from 7:30-11:30 a.m. at the Kate Collins Middle School cafeteria.
Donations will go to the American Red Cross for the Haiti relief effort.
The breakfast features pancakes, sausage, juice and hot apples. You can also get tickets for a raffle featuring items donated by local businesses.
Waynesboro: Taste of the Town Food, Glorious Food! For one night only, 14 professional and celebrity chefs will cook their favorite recipes just for you!
On Tuesday, March 16, Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc. will host our fundraising event of the year – the 11th annual Taste of the Town. Staying true to tradition, we will feature culinary samples from our area’s finest professional and celebrity chefs and live music to get your Irish on with Whiskey Rebellion. We have added a little spice to the event this year with the wine and beer cash bar along with plenty of door prizes plus a 50/50 raffle!
The chefs for 2010 are: Shukri Simmons, Shukri’s BBQ; Laura Cash, Stone Soup Books, Jennifer Ledford, Kids and Sew On!, Heather Short, Short and Sweet Bakery, Piper Groves, Shenandoah Valley Art Center, Linda Roland, South River Restaurant and Wine Shop, Jeff Fife, Waynesboro YMCA, Greg Bruno, Waynesboro.com, Kim Arehart, Kline’s Ice Cream and Espresso Bar, Lorie Smith, Waynesboro City Council, Steve Pittella, Boardwalk Café, Julia Bortle, Clerk of Council City of Waynesboro, and Chris Faris, Bentley Commons.
Taste of the Town will be held on March 16 at the Waynesboro Country Club, 1117 Meadowbrook Rd. in Waynesboro from 5-8 p.m. Ticket prices are as follows: 12 and under – free, ages 13-18 – $10, adults – $20 advance/$25 at the door, couples – $35 in advance/$40 at the door and special VIP package for $50 per person. Tickets can be purchased from any of our participating chefs or the WDDI office located at 301 W. Main St., Waynesboro. For information 540-942-6705 or www.waynesborodowntown.org.
Taste of the Town is produced by WDDI and Top Chef Sponsor The News Virginian. Our Sous Chef Sponsors: Community Bank, Sam’s Hot Dog Stand, Blue Ridge Beverage, Mathers Construction Team, Shields Storage, River City Art & Wine Emporium, and Waynesboro Florist.
All proceeds benefit Waynesboro Downtown Development, Inc. and support our mission to create a vibrant and sustainable downtown district.
Harrisonburg: Historical Society releases new book The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society is pleased to announce a valuable new resource for historians and genealogists for Rockingham County and surrounding areas. Death Notices in Extant Issues of the Rockingham Register by Dr. Dorothy Boyd-Bragg covers the first copies of the newspaper in 1822 until 1870.
The Rockingham Register was not merely a local paper but was a well-respected regional paper. As such, it published information about residents of surrounding counties such as Augusta, Shenandoah and Page Counties as well as notices of former residents who had moved west. During most of this period, reporting deaths to county officials was not mandatory. Brief notices in the newspaper may be the only source of death dates for many of the people who died during these years.
Death notices for former Valley residents give many details on their lives while living in the valley and later. For instance, there was Joseph B. Alltaffar, aged 24 years, who died in Bridgewater in 1860. He had lived in Montgomery, Alabama for five years before contracting tuberculosis and coming home to die. Or Samuel W. Bowman, who died in 1863 in the 31st year of his age. “He removed to Missouri a few years ago, and was engaged in teaching school when the present war was commenced ….”
Deaths of former soldiers and active soldiers were reported. Revolutionary War soldiers, War of 1812 soldiers, and two Mexican War soldiers are in this book. Deaths of numerous Civil War soldiers were reported in the newspaper, many with explicit details. For instance, John Charles Wittig was shot through the hip at Jeffersonton in 1863 but died five days later. His remains were recovered by his father and reinterred in Rockingham County. Other soldiers such as Joseph Thomas Bumbgardner died of diseases contracted during military service.
This book reminds us that childhood diseases were often fatal. “John CARPENTER, below Keezelstown, lost a fine son, about 7 or 8 years old” in 1823. In 1863, Capt. Jos. E. CLINE lost his 3-year old daughter and his 1-year old son within three days before succumbing himself four days later.
Whatever your interest in Valley history—genealogy, Civil War research, or general history, this book is a must-have for your collection. Death Notices is available now. In paperback with over 300 pages, it is $23.99 plus sales tax and shipping. To order, call the Historical Society at 540 879-2616 or write HRHS, P.O. Box 879, Dayton, VA 22821.
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