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January, 2008

Happy New Year to All Our Friends!

Dear Friends of Waterford,

I am absolutely delighted to tell you that renovation of the Old School is about to begin! Most insurance issues have been resolved, and we have hired Corbett Construction as our general contractor.

Corbett is an experienced commercial general contractor with 37 years in the business. They come highly recommended by Bill Drewer, our architect with Quinn/Evans, who has worked well with the company on a number of projects (both historic and new) in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. We believe Corbett can provide us with quality work at competitive prices. With 35 people on staff and their main offices in Fairfax County, they are prepared to move forward immediately to renovate the Old School classroom building.

At the December Foundation Board meeting, after a presentation by Bill Drewer, we approved Quinn/Evans concept of rebuilding the Old School auditorium on the east side of the classroom building, with the entrance on the far eastern end near parking. This will allow the Old School classroom building to dominate the hill, with the handsome auditorium at its side, less visible from the drive. The board has also approved moving the Foundation offices into the second floor of the classroom building after construction is completed. Our architect is busy drawing up these plans.

Watch for exciting things to begin happening up at the Old School.

Thank you to all our generous friends and supporters, particularly for your contributions to our annual fund. We welcome your help and suggestions! Please forward this newsletter to friends you think would be interested in Waterford Foundation activities. We want to spread the word about the good things going on in the Waterford National Historic Landmark.

Kathleen P. Hughes, President
Waterford Foundation, Inc.

Waterford Furniture, Artifacts Donated

Waterford Rocker The Waterford Foundation is extremely pleased to announce that it is in the process of accepting a donation of historical objects from Waterford and from Loudoun County. This generous donation from Dr. Fred and Mrs. Carol Johnson includes several one-of-a-kind locally made chairs, including an 1876 scroll arm rocker made by John Mount and William Henry Brown, a 6-foot long bench, a 1905 Waterford advertising calendar, a harness maker's bench from Leesburg, a yarn winder from Lovettsville, and a number of other remarkable and rare Waterford chairs.

Dr. Johnson is a native Virginian, and a practicing dentist in Tyson's Corner, Va. After many years of research, in 2003 with the help of his wife Carol, he published the definitive work on local chair makers, Nineteenth-Century Loudoun County, Virginia, Chair Manufacturing . The volume is available at the Foundation for $42 (plus $3.50 shipping and handling) or can be purchased online .

New Safe Acquired

The Archives has a new fireproof safe, thanks to a generous grant from the Loudoun Historical and Preservation Society. Board members Sherry Satin and Edith Crockett attended the Society's reception and accepted the grant in the Foundation's name in December, and on January 2 the safe was delivered.

Thanks to an accommodating driver, and volunteer stalwarts Dave Bendarik and Bruce Cleveland, the 342-pound safe was muscled up the stairs at the Chair Factory and down into the Archives Office.

The new safe will protect some of the Foundation's most precious documents.

Farm is Site of Annual Bird Count

The Phillips Farm was featured in the Washington Post 's Loudoun Extra section December 30 as one site for the annual Loudoun Christmas Bird Count. Loudoun's 11th count, which is part of the larger 108th annual international effort to keep a tally of the population and trends of bird species, started Friday morning, December 28, and wrapped up at dusk.

Joe Coleman, the event's organizer for the past 10 years, and three naturalists and birders were at the farm by 7:15 a.m., where they trekked a half-mile and crossed Catoctin Creek to reach what Coleman described as a prime "birding location."

Coleman, who also heads the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, reports that the birders noted six species of sparrows, including one Eastern Towhee and two Swamp Sparrows, two of each kinglet species, six Black Ducks, one Belted Kingfisher, five woodpecker species, Red-Shouldered and Red Tailed hawks, and a Great Blue Heron.

[Read the Story on LoudounExtra.com ]

From the Desk of the Executive Director

New Staff On Board

We're absolutely thrilled that we've been able to convince Martha Polkey to come to work with the Foundation on a permanent, full-time basis. Since we asked her to help us out temporarily when the Executive Assistant spot became vacant, she certainly hasn't disappointed. Her enthusiasm, her competence, and her willingness to help out with any and all tasks needing done has been inspiring, to say the least.
Martha Polkey

In case you haven't met Martha yet, let me tell you a little bit about her. Martha and her husband, writer Steve Budiansky, moved to Loudoun from Maryland in 1992 and put a sign at the end of their drive that read Black Sheep Farm. Colored Merinos soon replaced the white flock they arrived with. Since that time, Martha has been an integral member of the Lucketts Community, most recently serving as Coordinator of the Catoctin Coalition, promoting a traffic calming design for Lucketts village and context-sensitive improvements to Route 15.

She also has been active with the Loudoun Valley Sheep Producers and currently serves as newsletter editor. She serves on the Virginia Sheep Industry Board and on the board of the Virginia Sheep Producers Association. For those who know that whatever Martha does she does right, it is not surprising to learn that she was awarded the 2004 Outstanding Producer Award by the Virginia Sheep Producers Association.

Martha brings with her a wealth of skills and knowledge relevant to community organizing and lobbying, rural economy promotion and marketing, research, writing and editing, and digital photography-all of which we immediately put to use.

Please join me in welcoming her! We're truly fortunate to have her join our staff. If you have any questions at all about Foundation programs or activities, in all likelihood she'll be the one answering the phone or responding to your e-mail. And ask her! She loves learning something new every day.

Happy new year to each of you. And don't be a stranger!

Warmest regards,

Nancy

Christmas at the Mill Had a Special Glow

Peggy Bednarik and Mary Kenesson transformed the Old Mill into a place of elegance and excitement for our second "Christmas at the Mill" weekend December 1 and 2. This year the event was expanded to a two-day event, with some 70 craftspeople and the Waterford Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization participating in a very successful weekend.

It was a cold weekend. But a few strategically placed heaters--and the prospect of doing our Christmas shopping in such lovely surroundings in good company and with the marvelous mix of crafts--generated sufficient warmth. And, fair volunteers got first dibs on the crafts as they attended the thank-you reception at the mill on the Friday evening before the sale.

All had a chance to toast Jennifer Moore, who left the Foundation in November for a position with Journey Through Hallowed Ground, also based in Waterford.

Our publicity brought a significant number of shoppers to Waterford who had not been here before. We hope to see them again at the 2008 Waterford Fair.

For Mary and Peggy, this project was exactly like preparing for the Fair again, just two months after the Fair. Their cars were parked there early in the mornings and late in the evenings for weeks before the event. These two ladies spent hours and days cleaning, checking people in, inventorying, and displaying. They were assisted at times by a large group of smiling volunteers who were willing to do all of this work so soon after the Fair. The Foundation and the Fair Chairman are immensely grateful to Peggy, Mary and all the volunteers.

Seeing all three floors of that wonderful old building lighted for Christmas, and the welcoming sight when opening the front door ( bedecked in wreath, roping and a beautiful Christmas tree, all done by board member Dave Bednarik) was to see the best use of one of our most important properties. All proceeds from "Christmas at the Mill" benefit the Waterford Foundation's general fund for upkeep of those buildings.

We thank you all for your support.

Fran Holmbraker
The Waterford Foundation, Inc.

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