YARD SALE GUIDE: Check here for our complete list of area yard sales this weekend around Fredericksburg.

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

Bowling Green residents can get a late start on their spring cleaning this weekend with the town’s yard sale.

‘The Clean Sweep’ starts at 8 a.m. Saturday and runs until 1 p.m.

It’s the 12th year for the annual event, which town officials hope will bring people to Bowling Green. It offers an opportunity to explore the quaint Caroline County town while searching for hidden treasures disguised as junk—or just the opposite.

Visitors can also shop at the Bowling Green Farmer’s Market, which features local vendors.

Households that have chosen to participate in the yard sale register ahead of time and are listed on a map to help shoppers find the sales. Those who don’t live in the town can participate by having a table at the Bowling Green Flea Market.

More than 40 homes are participating in the yard sale, which is more than last year. Each home will have a sign, and there will be signs throughout town to direct visitors to the participating homes.

At the end of the sale, a Goodwill truck will go to the houses to pick up any items that have not sold. Goodwill will provide receipts for tax records.

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

Caroline High School will get a new blue track, but it will come at a cost of an extra $63,000 to taxpayers.

Renovating the athletic facilities at the school is part of the $25 million renovations planned at the high school and Madison Elementary School over the next two years.

OWPR architect Randy Jones and Geoffrey Honan, director of maintenance, gave the School Board an update on the progress of the renovations Monday night.

This is the first stage of three in the renovations. The work on the athletic facilities is expected to be completed by August.

The work will be done by Charlottesville-based Precision Sports Surfaces at a cost of $285,778 plus an additional $63,000 to make the track blue.

At the School Board meeting Monday, during discussion, board members were divided over the track and its cost.

Madison District representative Shawn Kelley spoke in favor of the blue track, saying it will make the school stand out and will bring a sense of pride.

However, Western Caroline’s Mary Anderson pointed out that the extra money it would cost for the blue rubber could be used elsewhere.

All but Port Royal District representative Tinka Harris voted in favor of the blue track, despite the extra cost.

Another option was to make the track red (the school’s colors are red, white and blue), but it would not be the red that is desired. It would be more like a brick red and would cost an additional $49,000.

Other work that needs to be done includes upgrading bleachers, relocating the long/high jump area, renovating restrooms, expanding and renovating the field house and improving athletic fields.

The track was originally budgeted to cost about $600,000, then lowered to $400,000.

When the bid still came in under budget, officials agreed to a contingency fund for the blue coating at a special meeting. They kept that position at Monday’s meeting.

The discussion took place at the same meeting when several of the school division’s bus drivers asked the board for pay increases after several years of being frozen.

Though the board approved a budget with a 2.5 percent raise for support staff, it asked the division’s finance director to look into the cost of a 4 percent pay raise for support staff.

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

Caroline County school support staff employees will get a 4 percent raise next year.

The School Board has been struggling with its budget for several months, as it waited for a state budget to be passed.

The school division was expected to receive about $700,000 more from the state and about $363,000 more from the county over last year’s allocations.

A step increase was already included in the budget for teachers.

At Monday’s School Board meeting, several bus drivers turned out and pleaded to the board for raises.

Some said they were promised “top pay” after 10 years, but never got it. Others said they watched new hires with less experience get higher pay than they were getting.

Originally, the board planned for 2.5 percent raises, but at the urging of Port Royal representative Tinka Harris, the board directed the division’s financial director to see if a 4 percent raise could be worked out.

The board approved the 4 percent raise at a special meeting Wednesday. Many members said they wanted to give larger raises, but it wasn’t possible.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board approved raising the employer match for a deferred compensation plan from $12 to $15 per pay period for bus drivers.

The school division is requesting a non-categorical appropriation of about $37.9 million from the Board of Supervisors. That means that school officials would allocate funds without specific line items.

At the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday, they pushed off the action until a June 24 work session.

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

BY PORTSIA SMITH / THE FREE LANCE-STAR

A tip to police led to the arrest of two Richmond men charged with supplying heroin in Caroline County.

Caroline narcotics investigators received information that two men were staying at a local motel for the purpose of distributing heroin, said Sheriff Tony Lippa Thursday.

A two-day surveillance operation, which included undercover purchases of what was suspected to be heroin, he said.

Lippa said the two men left the hotel room last Thursday and were stopped for a traffic violation.

Investigators reported finding about $1,500 worth of heroin in the vehicle, Lippa said.

Deangilow Hill, 33, and Garmill Smith, 30, both of Richmond, were arrested and both were charged with two counts of distributing heroin, two counts of conspiracy to distribute heroin and one count of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute and one count of conspiracy to possess heroin with the intent to distribute.

Both men are being held at Pamunkey Regional Jail without bond.

Portsia Smith: 540/374-5419

psmith@fredericksburg.com

BY PORTSIA SMITH / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

A Caroline County man who police say robbed two Hanover County truck stops—one of them multiple times—will face at least 14 years in prison.

Braxton

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 18.

According to Hanover Senior Commonwealth’s Attorney Angela O’Connor, there is a mandatory minimum sentence of 14 years on the gun charges alone.

“That does not include the time he will get for the robberies,” she said.

The first of four robberies occurred at about 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 4 at the Truck Stops of America at the Lewistown Road exit off Interstate 95 near Ashland, said Lt. Chris Whitley of the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.

After displaying a handgun and demanding money from the clerk, the suspect fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash, Whitley said.

The robber was wearing a unique Camaro jacket in surveillance footage. In Braxton’s Facebook profile picture, he is seen wearing a Camaro jacket similar to the one shown in the surveillance video.

Whitley said the same location was robbed again, twice on Jan. 7.

The first of those robberies occurred at the service desk at 2:45 a.m.

Moments later, a second robbery involving the same man occurred at the fuel desk, which is located in a different area of the truck stop, Whitley said.

During both incidents, the suspect displayed a gun and demanded money from a clerk. The suspect then fled on foot with cash.

A fourth robbery occurred on Jan. 10 at the Doswell Truck Stop in the 10200 block of King’s Dominion Boulevard. There, a man identified as Braxton brandished a gun and demanded money from the clerk.

No one was hurt in any of the robberies, Whitley said.

Braxton is being held at Pamunkey Regional Jail.

Portsia Smith: 540/374-5419

psmith@fredericksburg.com

Linda Taylor, who has been a custodian at Caroline High School for 36 years and is retiring at the end of this school year. / Photo by Scott Julian

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

For 36 years, Linda Taylor has called Caroline High her school and has taken care of it—literally.

But as head custodian, her concerns extended beyond the building. Teachers and students and their parents have consumed Taylor’s life.

Today is Taylor’s last at the school. The 66-year-old Bowling Green native is retiring.

She has watched students come in and out of the blue doors of the school every day since March 23, 1978.

Before that, the 1967 graduate of Union High School worked part-time jobs at Fort A.P. Hill. But when she got the opportunity to become a full-time custodian at the high school, she jumped at it.

“It was more money and I had a chance to get full-time work and benefits,” she said.

Since that first day on the job, she’s been coming to the high school at 6:10 each morning. She cleans the windows, mops the floors, cleans the cafeteria and keeps the building in good shape. At the end of the day, she locks the doors and turns out the lights.

But more than that, she’s become a trusted part of the high school community.

“I get along with everybody,” Taylor said. “The best are the kids. Every last one has the utmost respect for me.”

Neal Black, a teacher at the school for the past 16 years, said Taylor “will be missed upon missed upon missed.” But he’s happy for her.

“She’s earned it,” he said of her retirement, “to get out of here and enjoy life on her own dime and time.”

Principal Jeff Wick calls Taylor “an anchor” for the school.

“She knows everything—the ins and outs—and she’s been here longer than anybody,” Wick said. “She’s great with the kids, the staff, and builds a relationship with everybody. We’re going to miss her here.”

Taylor greets the students with hugs and kisses, and they can lean on her for advice.

“If a kid has problems, they could come to me. I love talking to kids,” she said.

In her time at the school, she’s even met the children of some of the students she first worked with.

Taylor has a driver’s license, but doesn’t drive. But not once in her 36 years has she missed a day of work because she was unable to get transportation—even in bad weather.

That’s a reflection of her commitment to her job, an attitude she also tried to instill in those who worked for her.

“If you don’t have pride in this job, there’s no need to take it,” she said. “You have to have pride and dedication.”

When Taylor’s colleagues at Caroline High heard she would retire this year, they started making plans to give her a special exit.

One of her co-workers overheard her say she had always dreamed of riding in a white limousine, so the staff raised the money to give her a surprise ride.

The day before the surprise, she was told to wear something nice for a photo to be taken of all the retirees. Taylor didn’t want to dirty her nice outfit while she was doing her cleaning duties, so she packed it to change into.

She said she was told to meet in the office about 11 a.m. After she changed, someone told her that the seniors had played a prank in front of the school and she needed to go clean it up.

Worried about missing the photo, but not wanting to neglect her duties, Taylor went outside to see what was going on.

“At first, I saw the limo, but I didn’t see it,” she said.

Then, Taylor said, her colleagues told her it was for her.

“I went into shock,” she said.

The limo took her and a friend from the school to Mimi’s for lunch and then drove her around until 2 p.m.

The limo was just the icing on the cake for Taylor. That night, she got to see her nephew graduate from Caroline High School, and the next day was her 66th birthday.

The school also presented her with a class ring, with her years of service and her birthstone in it.

“I thank God for it because he made it possible to get one of my wishes fulfilled,” she said.

Taylor says it will be difficult not seeing her friends at work, but she’s excited about retirement. She plans to rest and travel.

“I’m going to miss getting up in the morning and coming to work,” she said, “but I won’t miss coming in late because of the snow.”

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

Tuesday marked an important chapter in Port Royal’s history.

New boundaries, making the tiny town on the Rappahannock River five times the size it used to be, officially went into effect.

Port Royal was just 78 acres until this week, when it expanded to approximately 481 acres.

A circuit court judge approved the new boundaries on June 25.

The new town limits are now about 500 feet west of U.S. 301, and fold in the intersection of U.S. 301 and U.S. 17.

The occasion was celebrated without much fanfare from the fewer than 200 residents of the town in the northeastern part of Caroline County, but many are excited about the town’s future.

“We are very happy,” said newly appointed Town Manager Bill Wick.

Town Mayor Nancy Long said the county helping the town is a good thing.

“The boundary line adjustment means the county and the town realize it’s the best thing for everybody,” she said.

Over the past few years, the town has been struggling to survive.

Port Royal doesn’t collect real estate or personal property taxes—those go to the county.

Instead, it generates revenue from other sources: grants, parking decal fees, local sales taxes, a business license tax, a utility tax it receives from Dominion Virginia Power and a communications tax from Verizon.

The town’s economy suffered a blow when Union First Market Bank left in May 2012, taking with it about $8,000 in revenue—roughly one-third of the town’s income.

The new boundaries will generate another $60,000 annually for the town.

It will mainly come from the businesses that will be folded into the town.

With a more solid financial base, the town will be able to apply for grants to help its crumbling infrastructure.

The town is in need of a new water system and is facing decisions about whether the system should be town-run or privatized.

With more land and more money, the town has plans for the future.

“Nothing’s going to change in the blink of an eye,” Long said.

The town will be able to create a “rainy-day fund” for projects and future improvements.

The most immediate plans include updating and revising the town’s Comprehensive Plan and its zoning and subdivision ordinances.

“A lot of the first year or two will be paperwork-type stuff,” Long said.

There are also plans to make the historic town more of a tourist attraction.

The building where the bank used to be was turned into a history museum.

There are plans to open another small museum, a historic doctor’s office and a welcome center.

Long said they want more tourism, local jobs, events and town pride.

A new tradition started last fall—the Charter Day Festival, celebrating the signing of the town’s charter in 1744.

A pier on the Rappahannock River, off King Street, is in the works, as well.

It could be constructed as soon as mid-July.

Recently, the town learned that it is in danger of losing its post office.

Long said it would be a great loss to the town because it’s not only a post office, but a community gathering place. The closest ones are miles away and not convenient for town residents.

The town gained nearly 40 new residents with the change.

“It’s not a lot of extra feet, but when you’re as small as we are, it makes a difference,” Long said.

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

The contractor and one of the subcontractors who built the new YMCA in Caroline County have been disciplined by the state’s licensing board for violating state construction regulations.

Arlington-based Thurston Companies, the contractor hired by the YMCA, was cited for two violations: contracting with an unlicensed or improperly licensed contractor or subcontractor; and misconduct in the practice of contracting, according to a report by the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.

The two violations resulted in penalties including $3,350 in fines and a six-month license revocation and remedial education.

Thurston hired Spotsylvania-based Battlefield Masonry LLC, a subcontractor that was not properly licensed to perform the work on the project, according to the report.

In a separate report from the agency, Battlefield was cited for two violations: practicing in a classification, specialty service or class of license for which the contractor is not licensed, and negligence and/or incompetence in the practice of contracting.

The penalties for the two violations are $4,000 in fines and a revocation of its license according to the report.

Thomas Quinn, the owner of Battlefield, admitted that the company did things that were wrong and they are paying for it.

The 80-year-old said his company’s license was taken away and they can no longer operate in Virginia.

He didn’t have plans to take his company elsewhere, though. He said he’s “tired” after being in construction for more than 50 years and masonry for more than 60 years.

When looking at the report about his company, he had issues with some of the problems listed and disagreed with them.

Caroline County Building Official Kevin Wightman, who filed the complaint with the state’s Board for Contractors, said while the Y was being built, some walls had to be redone three times before they passed inspection.

The YMCA hired Thurston, but was not involved with the subcontractors.

Rappahannock YMCA CEO Barney Reiley said it was an unfortunate situation.

“We think Mr. Thurston is a very credible individual and contractor,” Reiley said.

“He got caught up in a jam with a subcontractor that did not step up to the plate. Mr. Thurston released the contract and incurred the expenses to make it right.”

The Y opened later than expected because of these issues and inclement weather. It opened in April.

Reiley said there are no structural issues with the building because of the violation. But there are other smaller issues that he said were normal for new construction.

A representative from Thurston did not return calls seeking comment.

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

About 25 residents of the town of Port Royal told a post office representative Tuesday that they don’t want the hours of their post office reduced.

The U.S. Postal Service is proposing to reduce the hours to six per day, instead of the eight it is currently open.

The tiny town’s residents can’t get mail delivered to their homes, so they rely on the post office for regular mail and deliveries of packages.

Also, in a town with fewer than 200 residents, many of them older, the post office is considered a living, breathing, busy place in the town. And it’s been open continuously there since the 1700s.

Gale Phillips, the Postal Service operations manager for the Colonial District, told the crowd that the process of evaluating post offices began about two years ago, and many are having their hours reduced instead of closing.

Although the services would be the same at the post office, it would not have a postmaster.

The town’s residents said they didn’t want to lose Chris Hawkins, who’s been their postmaster since 2003. He’s built a relationship with the community and they trust him with their mail, they said.

Phillips told those attending that of 266 surveys that were sent out, 108 responses were received. She said of those, 101 people said that given the options, people wanted the hours reduced. There wasn’t an option on the survey to leave the post office as is.

The options were:

• Keep the post office open, but reduce hours from eight a day to six. Current hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with it closed a half-hour at lunch. Saturday hours would stay the current 8 a.m. to noon.
• Close the office and offer roadside mailbox delivery.
• Close the office and find an alternative location operated by a local business.
• Close the office and provide post office box service at a nearby post office.

Some residents told Phillips that they had heard that not everyone actually got the survey, so they didn’t think it was an accurate representation of the town’s feelings. She said she would leave blank surveys at the post office for anyone who did not get to complete one.

Port Royal Mayor Nancy Long said she felt that the survey was misleading—it limited the choices to options that they did not want.

“They shouldn’t mess with success. Why mess with something that is making money?” Long asked.

Cleo Coleman, the head of the Historic Port Royal organization, also expressed her dissatisfaction with the process. She said she wanted to go above Phillips’ head to see what could be done and talked about starting a petition to build support.

The proposed new hours would be 9:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday, with a lunch break from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. The Saturday hours would stay the same.

Phillips said that Hawkins will have the option to stay in Port Royal, but not to be the postmaster.

He will also have the option to keep his full-time and benefits status, but for that he would have to reapply and be sent to work elsewhere. Phillips did say there was a job for Hawkins.

Hawkins has until Jan. 9 to decide, Phillips said.

Any future changes could not be made without another public meeting and public notice.

She said that it would be re-evaluated again and that there’s a possibility that it could be restored to the full eight hours, if there is an increase in need.

“All that’s needed is customers and mail,” she told the crowd.

She said the Postal Service comes up with a formula—not necessarily based on revenue—that has to do with the amount of workload and work hours.

“As long as you continue using the office, it won’t diminish it,” she said.

Many people at the meeting were curious about how much more business there has to be for the facility to stay as is, but Phillips didn’t have an answer for them.

Monica Chenault, a member of the Town Council, said she felt like the decision to reduce the hours was made before anyone actually studied the Port Royal community.

“It sounds like the person making the decision did not have the facts,” she said.

Mike Newman, another town resident, pointed out that the other post offices in the area that may have their hours reduced are different than Port Royal’s office.

He said those are crossroads—not actual towns with communities.

Deborah Clarke Hall, who lives in the town, said she makes an effort to go to the Port Royal Post Office, even though she’s unable to leave the house some days. She, and others, said it would be difficult to drive several miles to another office.

No decisions will be made right away, Phillips said.

Robyn Sidersky: 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

Germanna Community College is taking the first steps toward opening a campus in Caroline County.

Caroline officials approved giving the school up to $42,000 per year for three years to rent temporary space in the county for workforce development.

“This action by the Caroline County Board of Supervisors will help us to soon be able to offer outreach and training opportunities that are easily accessible to Caroline residents,” Germanna President David A. Sam said in a statement.

“Our long-term vision is to grow with the county and eventually have a permanent location in the heart of Caroline. This action is a first and important step toward that goal.”

The school is in search of space that would be suitable for classes and will soon put out a request for proposals, said Germanna spokesman Mike Zitz.

A space has not been identified yet, but the target area for Germanna is in the Ladysmith area, off Interstate 95, Zitz said.

“Our plan is to start out small with a few classrooms. We’ll grow with the educational needs of the region,” Zitz said.

During the discussion at the Caroline Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, all six supervisors expressed support for bringing Germanna to the county, but wanted more information.

The initial class offerings will be workforce classes, which will not be for credit.

“There are jobs that go unfilled because there aren’t workers who have the skills,” Zitz said. “We try to help closer that gap.”

He said there’s a lot of interest in Caroline County.

“We expect Caroline County to grow pretty quickly in the near future and we expect new companies to be coming in there,” Zitz said. “When they do we’d like to hire people from Caroline and not outside.”

There were 400 students from Caroline enrolled at Germanna in credit classes last fall, Zitz said.

Germanna already has a dual enrollment program with Caroline High School.

Through an articulation agreement with Germanna, Caroline High dual enrollment courses meet both high school and college course requirements and the students can earn college credit.

Germanna already has campuses in Orange, Culpeper and Spotsylvania counties and is in the process of opening a Stafford campus.

The college rents classroom space in the Aquia complex off U.S. 1 in Stafford, as well as other space for its automotive technology center.

If it opens a permanent campus, the temporary locations would close.

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

Wayne Mount, 71, stands with Rose Murphy, 14, and her horse, Viva La Diva, a granddaughter of Secretariat. Mount was an exercise rider at Meadow Farm when Secretariat won the 1973 Triple Crown. SCOTT JULIAN / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

BY SCOTT SHENK / THE FREE LANCE-STAR

As horses trotted and jumped around the outdoor ring during Saturday’s show at Meadow Event Park, a veteran training jockey remembered the days when the Caroline County thoroughbred farm’s favorite son was the king of the racing world.

Secretariat, born at The Meadow in March 1970, was ready to race from the get-go, said Wayne Mount, an exercise rider at the farm in the days of Secretariat and another champion thoroughbred, Riva Ridge.

“He was very good from day one,” said Mount, who was among dozens who gathered at the park in Doswell for the tribute to Secretariat and other horses from The Meadow. “Secretariat went right to business.”

Mount, now 71, rode Secretariat just once, but recalled the excitement created by the legendary horse.

“It was amazing,” he said of Secretariat’s run in 1973, when the chestnut horse with the blue-and-white blinkers became the first to win the Triple Crown in 25 years.

Only two other horses have won the Triple Crown since. But none, before or after, did it with the gusto or dominance of Secretariat, who is ranked by many with Man o’ War as the best ever to grace a thoroughbred track.

After winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, Secretariat blew away the Belmont field by 31 lengths and set a world record in the process.

“People went wild,” Mount said. “We went wild.”

During Saturday’s tribute, the descendant horses and their trainers trotted around the outdoor ring, with Secretariat tourism manager Leeanne Meadows Ladin detailing the horses’ bloodlines over a loudspeaker.

Most of the 51 horses are descendants of Secretariat. Others have the bloodlines of his sire, Bold Ruler, or dam, Somethingroyal.

“To my knowledge, nothing like this has been done before,” Ladin said of the gathering of so many descendants tied to Meadow farm.

The tribute was just part of the Heritage Horse Show, a free three-day event running through today.

The show also brought attention to a program that saves retired thoroughbred horses from slaughter and finds new lives for them.

One such horse is Covert Action, a “grandson” of Secretariat, Ladin announced when the dark-gray gelding trotted into the ring.

Covert Action did some racing in his youth, but never came close to the level of his famous relative.

Nevertheless, like Secretariat, Covert Action has proven to be a beloved horse, said Anne Tucker, president of the James River chapter of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

The foundation takes Covert Action to all kinds of events to show off the program, which pairs the retired thoroughbreds with prison inmates who care for the horses, many of which would otherwise be sent off to slaughter.

Tucker said Covert Action’s owner said the horse was too nice to have him killed. So he donated the animal to the foundation.

“He is a special horse,” Tucker said. “He helps us tell our story.”

The gathering of so many horses linked to Meadow farm and Secretariat was special, too, she said.

“It was very moving,” said Tucker, “to see that many Meadows descendants in the ring at the same time.”

Scott Shenk: 540/374-5436

sshenk@freelancestar.com

Caroline County authorities are seeking the public’s help in identifying a suspect in an armed burglary.

According to Sheriff Tony Lippa, a burglary occurred around 1:30 a.m. Thursday at the Sunshine Mart off of Jefferson Davis Highway in Ruther Glen.

Caroline burglary suspects

Surveillance video shows two men breaking out the glass door at the front of the store and stealing merchandise, according to police reports.

A firearm was found near the scene, police said.

One of the men is wanted for questioning in connection to an armed robbery that occurred later that same day in the Carmel Church area.

Around 10:30 p.m., a clerk at the Valero gas station was robbed at gunpoint, police said.

Anyone with information about these crimes are asked to contact Investigator Scott Gershowitz at 804-633-5400 or egershowitz@co.caroline.va.us.

—Portsia Smith

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

Thanks to a grant from the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services, Caroline County’s Department of Fire and Rescue will be able to replace a 12-year-old ambulance.

The ambulance has 138,000 miles on it and has needed to be replaced for the past six years, according to a memo from Fire Chief Jason Loftus to County Administrator Charles Culley.

The ambulance will cost $157,500. The county will pay $79,426.50 and the grant will cover the rest.

The money from the county will come from a portion of the unspent funds from last fiscal year’s Department of Fire and Rescue budget carried over to be reserved for capital expenditures.

The Board of Supervisors approved the purchase at its July 22 meeting.

The ambulance is one of 11 in Caroline’s fleet. They are rotated between departments so that the mileage doesn’t get too high too quickly on them and to extend their service life.

The one that is being replaced was primarily housed at the Frog Level station.

The county’s policy is that the ambulances are replaced about every 10 years.

The grant was awarded through the Rescue Squad Assistance Fund, which gave about $2.9 million in grants to 87 different agencies across the state.

Robyn Sidersky: 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE-STAR

It’s back to the drawing board for Caroline County school officials planning to renovate Madison Elementary School.

The School Board on Monday night voted unanimously to reject the construction bids to renovate and add to the elementary school.

The original budget for the work was set at about $4 million—part of $25 million worth of renovations planned for the elementary school and Caroline High School approved by 81 percent of Caroline voters in a referendum last fall.

All eight bids received came in higher than the expected $4 million, the lowest coming in at $5.2 million and the highest at $5.8 million.

The school division’s Capital Improvement Plan Committee and Technical Review Committee reviewed and recommended rejecting the bids. The committees also recommended changes to their plans that would reduce the cost of the work.

Randy Jones, the architect hired by the school division to design the updates to the two schools, presented those cost-saving changes to the board Monday night.

He told the board that the major factors that put the project over budget were:

• Site work—a stormwater containment system, which costs more than $300,000
• Electrical work—additional technology, costing more than $400,000
• Bad fill material found under the new classroom location, which would cost more than $100,000
• Higher building construction costs, which were up for the first time in five years, a 5 percent increase that would cost more than $200,000.

Jones said they would focus on the original objectives for the project. Those include a new secure entrance with an expanded lobby, an expanded cafeteria, four new classrooms, two new computer labs, a new media center, a new paved bus drop-off/pickup area, parking lot paving and a cap on the school capacity of 550 students.

Jones also listed ways to cut about $1.2 million from the estimate.

Those suggestions were:

• Reducing the site work, which would save about $500,000
• Reducing the electrical work, saving $400,00
• Deleting the kitchen equipment, saving $50,000
• Reducing the general contingency allowed for change orders, saving $50,000
• Changing the roof from metal to rubber membrane, saving $50,000
• Eliminating the new corridor to the play room, saving $75,000
• Using an alternate mechanical package, saving $30,000
• Using an alternate lighting package, saving $30,000
• Exploring classroom relocation, saving $100,000.

Under the new schedule, the revised designs would be sent to county officials for review on Sept. 8. Two weeks later, on Sept. 22, the request for proposal would be put out for bid. The new bids would be due on Oct. 23, and the School Board would act on a recommendation at its Nov. 10 meeting. A final contract could be executed on Dec. 1.

Since the bids for the elementary school were too high, the committees are taking a closer look at the design for the high school and re-evaluating so that it doesn’t go over budget.

The board will hold a special meeting in the next week to discuss the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system planned for the high school in more detail.

Robyn Sidersky: 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

 A bridge replacement project in Caroline County has been completed, opening the Reedy Creek crossing to traffic, the Virginia Department of Transportation said in a release on Tuesday.

The bridge on Sign Board Road has been closed since January for the $1.2 million project, forcing traffic to use a detour.

The old bridge, which had a timber deck and steel support beams, was structurally deficient.

The new, two-lane bridge has a concrete slab, along with new railings and guardrail, according to VDOT.

About 425 vehicles use the bridge each day.

—Scott Shenk

The Caroline County Sheriff’s Office is offering fingerprinting services for children in the county.

The fingerprints can help if a child is lost or missing. Law enforcement authorities can scan the child’s fingerprints into the National Crime Information Center database.

The fingerprinting session runs from 10 a.m. until noon Wednesday, Aug. 13, at the Commissioner of the Revenue Office. The office is at 212 N. Main Street in Bowling Green.

—Robyn Sidersky

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

A Caroline County man was killed Tuesday afternoon in a four-vehicle-crash near Ashland, according to the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.

Floyd F. Robinson Jr., 41, died and his two children, ages 6 and 11, were taken to VCU Medical Center in Richmond with serious injuries. Information about the children’s conditions was not available Wednesday afternoon.

The crash took place at 2:15 p.m. in the 11400 block of Washington Highway (U.S. 1) in Hanover County.

Robinson, driving a 2004 Honda Civic, had stopped in the left southbound lane of U.S. 1 to make a left turn into a business. He was struck from behind by a 1998 Ford van traveling in the same lane. That caused Robinson’s vehicle to spin into the northbound lane. Robinson and his two children were ejected from the car onto the northbound side of the roadway, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

None of the three were wearing seat belts, police said.

In an effort to avoid the crash, a third vehicle—a 2013 Ford Fusion traveling north on U.S. 1—swerved and struck Robinson’s car. This caused a fourth vehicle, a 2007 GMC SUV, to swerve to avoid hitting the Fusion. The SUV hit Robinson, who was lying in the roadway.

The other drivers involved in the crash reported minor injuries, but did not go to the hospital.

The crash is under investigation.

Robinson was a custodian at Bowling Green Elementary School. One of his co-workers, Rachel Farmer, described him as someone who “always had a smile on his face and was willing to go out of his way to help people.”

Michelle Jones, the principal of Bowling Green Elementary, also had kind words about Robinson.

She said Robinson was a hard-working man, very respectful, pleasant—and always the life of the party, keeping everyone laughing and smiling.

She said he constantly talked about his children, and it was clear that he loved his wife and children very much.

Jones said the mood Wednesday at the school, where teachers are preparing for students’ return, was somber.

“We lost a great man and a family member to our school,” she said.

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

Gabe Eckenrode, 11, holds a rare breed chicken called a ‘Buckeye’ that are raised as meat chickens at Lockhart Family Farm in Caroline. The farm held two summer camps where campers learned about animal care, beekeeping, how to read a compass, made homemade ice cream, made their lunches from farm-to-table ingredients, journal writing and story time. (SUZANNE CARR ROSSI / THE FREE LANCE STAR)

BY REGINA WEISS / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

“This is the best shelter you’ve made yet,” Terry Lockhart said to his 10 campers, who sat on barrels eating homemade bread and fresh sausage under a tarp duct-taped to neighboring trees.

The children worked together to build the shelter as one of the many hands-on activities they experience at Lockhart Family Farm’s summer camp in Caroline County.

“One of our goals is just to let them think on their own,” Terry Lockhart said.

This summer marks the first time the family has hosted camp at the 18-month-old farm started by Terry Lockhart; his wife, Eileen; and their son Josiah and his wife Jocelyn.

Terry and Eileen Lockhart are both educational specialists who work with English as a second language and special education students in Prince William County.

Josiah and Jocelyn Lockhart moved from Scotland last year to help run the farm and develop a summer camp.

“It’s one of the main things we wanted to do when we started the farm in the first place,” Jocelyn Lockhart said.

The family hosted three weeks of camp through July and August. At each week-long camp, children had the opportunity to work together, problem solve and learn in a hands-on atmosphere.

“The one thing kids don’t get anywhere anymore is unstructured play where they have to use their imagination,” Josiah Lockhart said.

The Lockharts create different activities for the children every day, like building obstacle courses, catching bugs to feed to chickens and creating an inventory of all the animals on the farm, including weighing and measuring chicks.

By following state Standards of Learning the children are exposed to in schools, the Lockharts are providing a unique education.

“When they experience it and connect with reality,” Terry Lockhart said, “it’s so much better. Here, we let them make mistakes.”

Campers also get a lesson on fresh food by having a hand in every step of making their own bread for lunch.

“It’s all fresh, so you know where it came from,” said Gabe Eckenrode one of the 11-year-old campers.

While snacking on strawberries, the children stood under a tent next to a 1976 Airstream trailer, shaping their sticky dough into both fist-sized balls and giant loaves, but not before washing their hands with rainwater collected by the Lockharts.

“None of it’s wasted, because if you’re eating fruit and you cut off the ends that you don’t eat, you give it to the pigs,” said Kyle Meissner, another 11-year-old camper.

Jocelyn Lockhart (center) shows Laila Hidalgo (left) and Milo Hohman (right) veggies in the garden to pick to make their lunch later in the day. Lockhart Family Farm in Caroline hosted two farm camps this summer. The children had opportunities to interact with rare breed animals, fix their own lunches from farm to table, learned to read a compass for scavenger hunts, build a worm house, learn about beekeeping, journal writing, play team games and story time all of which encouraged each camper to make better choices. (SUZANNE CARR ROSSI / THE FREE LANCE STAR)

When it comes to the pigs, chickens and ducks at the farm, the campers go wild.

“When you ask them what their favorite thing is, it’s playing with the animals,” said Josiah Lockhart.

“Here you get to really actually interact with animals,” said 8-year-old camper Rachel Bosco.

The Lockhart farm is home to the rarest breed of pig in North America, the American mulefoot hog. The 12 black pigs on the farm are part of only 200 breeding stock in the nation.

“One of the reasons they’re not common is they’re not suited to confinement. They need to be outside; they need to forage,” explained Josiah Lockhart, who works with Slow Food, an international charity for good, clean and fair foods, and The Livestock Conservancy, which manages endangered livestock.

“It’s all about saving the biodiversity of all these animals and trying to somehow bring them back and create a market for them,” he said.

The farm is also home to other heritage-breed animals, or animals not industrially bred, like Bourbon red turkeys and Cayuga ducks.

“That’s what’s interesting for a lot of kids, even kids who have experience with farms, to come and see livestock that they may never see or may be extinct by the time they become adults,” said Josiah Lockhart.

Joining the other campers, the Lockharts also welcomed 10 Afghanistan refugee children from Catholic Charities Refugee Services, who attend the camp for free thanks to donations the farm receives from individual donors and churches. The Lockharts arranged to borrow a bus from a local church to transport the children to and from the camp each day.

The camp gives the refugee children a chance to interact and have fun with other children, while they all learn about cultural differences in a safe space, Terry Lockhart explained.

“They just have fun together,” he said.

At the end of the day, the campers listen to Terry Lockhart tell stories about making the right choices. The stories always follow the lives of two friends, one of whom is often influenced poorly by the other.

“He’s the wise guy,” Bosco said about “G,” the nickname Terry Lockhart chose when he didn’t want to be called “grandpa” by his grandchildren.

“He’s trying to teach us lessons of how not to do things,” Bosco said.

For Josiah Lockhart, the opportunity to show others the unique farm is the best part of hosting farm camp.

“In a lot of ways, having people on the farm gives it integrity,” he said.

Regina Weiss 540/374-5444

rweiss@freelancestar.com

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

The $21 million in renovations planned for Caroline High School will look more like the way they were initially presented to county residents, the School Board decided Monday night.

The renovations will be scaled back to what was originally proposed.

After the board received bids way above the $4 million budget for the Madison Elementary project, they went back to review the scope of the high school project and decided to stick to the original plan.

“I think we need to stick to what we put out last year,” suggested Reedy Church School Board Member Mack Wright Jr.

That includes a new entrance and administration area, a new media center, a 14,000-square-foot gym, new classrooms and additional space for the Career and Technical Education programs.

The gym, for example, is one area where the plans are scaled back. In recent plans, it was going to be 19,000 square feet and seat 2,500 people.

Instead, it will return to the original 14,000 square feet that seats 2,000 people. It also includes replacing the roof, the windows, renovating the current library to become classrooms, renovating the old administration area to become classrooms, replacing the HVAC system, replacing the lighting, replacing parts of the ceiling, electrical upgrades, new intercom/communications system, new paint, locker room, restroom and plumbing upgrades and a new light and sound system for the auditorium.

The board agreed to two changes that differed from the original plan. Instead of three large CTE labs, there will be five smaller classroom spaces.

OWPR CEO and Architect Randy Jones, who is working the with the division on the renovation projects, told the Board that after auditing the CTE programs, they discovered better ways to use the space.

The other change is to the proposed gym. It will be in a separate building from the rest of the school, but be connected by a 30-foot corridor and lobby.

Jones explained in previous meetings that this option would actually be cheaper than adding it on to the school.

He said it can be erected faster and would not interrupt the students while they are in school during construction.

There are also athletic facility improvements planned, including revamping the school’s track to make it blue, and renovating the fieldhouse, the concession stands and the restrooms, and adding footboards to the bleachers.

The board spent a good portion of the meeting talking about the plans for a new HVAC system for the school.

It will cost about $6 million and will get rid of eight units on the roof, which will make room for possible solar panels in the future. The units will be on the ground instead of the roof.

With the new system, there will be more units, and each teacher will be able to control the temperature in each individual classroom.

The division already has one cost estimate, but will seek a second estimate and a final one.

The School Board will likely have drawings to review in September.

Robyn Sidersky: 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

The Caroline County Planning Commission recommended approval Wednesday of a sand and gravel mine on the Moss Neck Plantation property owned by the Silver Cos. on U.S. 17.

The vote was split, however.

Commissioners Percell Minor Jr., Timothy Thompson and William Smith all voted to recommend approval while Les Stanley and Bob Fiumara opposed it.

Stanley said he has concerns about allowing another sand and gravel mine to operate in the U.S. 17 corridor while others already exist there, and how the mine will change the character of the area as laid out in the county’s Comprehensive Plan. The land where the sand and gravel mine will go is designated agricultural and rural preservation, which is why a special-exception permit is needed. If all the mines opened, it would make the area more industrial, which was not originally intended.

Fiumura said he has concerns about the traffic that the mine will bring to the U.S. 17 corridor.

The mine was originally presented to the board in June, but the vote was deferred until the commissioners could have their questions answered by the applicant.

Maryland-based Chaney Enterprises plans to use 544 acres of the 1,209-acre property for mining. Representatives said at previous meetings that no more than 30 acres would be used at one time. Of those 30 acres, 10 would be used for mining, 10 for preparation and 10 for reclamation.

At a previous meeting, there were several public comments, both in favor of and against the mine, and the Planning Commission received a letter opposing the mine from adjoining property owner Gil Shelton and a petition of people opposed to the mine.

County staff imposed a list of 34 conditions for the mining company to meet before the permit is approved.

Some of the conditions include:

Submitting a site plan within 12 months of the date of approval

Applying for the necessary permits within a year of the county’s approval

Maintaining a financial guaranty in an amount of $3,000 per acre

Ensuring the land is restored to a safe and usable condition

Maintaining the road and making improvements.

The site will have berms that will block the view of the mining from the surrounding roads.

A balloon test was completed on Aug. 18 to show the location of the stationary equipment to demonstrate from different vantage points what would be visible. A balloon was raised 30 feet into the air where the equipment would go. The planners will forward their recommendation on to the Board of Supervisors, which will review the request.

Meanwhile, at the Planning Commission’s next session it will elect a new chair and vice chair after Chairman Pete Davis resigned earlier this month.

Robyn Sidersky: 540/374-5413; rsidersky@freelancestar.com