New District 1 Supervisor Shannon Abbs

Delegate Rob Bell

Shannon Abbs narrowly defeated incumbent Mark Johnson in this year’s Board of Supervisors election for District 1, which includes Barboursville.  The final count was 651 votes for Abbs, 646 for Johnson, and with 294 votes for Andrew McWilliams, who was also running for this seat.

Lou Thompson, who ran unopposed, will be the new School Board member for District 1.

At the state level, Delegate Rob Bell will remain Barboursville’s representative in the House of Delegates.  Bell defeated opponent Cynthia Neff 827 votes to 397.

For complete election results for Orange County, visit the State Board of Elections web site.

Barboursville Volunteer Fire Company will host a dance Oct. 24, 9 p.m. – 1 a.m., doors open at 8:30 p.m. Costumes are welcome but not required. Music by Sleepless Nights. Best costume wins two tickets to New Year’s Eve dance. Call Betty, 832 – 0530.

"Station in Orange" oil 24" x 60" by William Sullivan

“Station in Orange” by artist William Sullivan, who taught art at Woodberry Forest School in the 1970s, will be on exhibit this weekend at Nichols Gallery Annex in Barboursville in honor of Orange County’s 275th anniversary celebration. Fred and Beth Nichols will be in the gallery from 2pm to 5pm this Saturday, October 3rd, to discuss the history of the village of Barboursville, from its early days as a commercial center with two hotels, a couple of livery stations, two general stores and a train depot, to its current status as a cultural center with three art galleries and a theatre, and three wineries nearby. Refreshments will be served and the public is invited to attend.

For information call 540-832-3565.

2009 Steam and Gas Pasture Party

The Somerset Steam and Gas Engine Association held its annual Pasture Party on September 11, 12 and 13 of this year.  As always, hundreds of people came to see the antique tractors and cars, demonstrations of steam-powered sawmills and other equipment, tractor pulls and much more.

Celebrate Constitution Day at Montpelier, the home of the fourth president of the United States and the woman who inspired the title “First Lady”.

Free admission all day.

For more information:
Phone: (540) 672-2728.
Web: http://montpelier.org

The US Postal Service and the County of Orange cordially invite everyone to this special ceremony to celebrate the reopening of the Barboursville Post Office. There will be speakers, presentation of colors, the National Anthem and a ribbon cutting ceremony. An informal reception will follow with light refreshments. A special cancellation postmark will be available to commemorate the special event.

For more information:
Phone: (540) 832-3270

To the Friends of Barboursville:

The FoB annual meeting and picnic on July 26th was a great success. After hearing repeated warnings of afternoon thunderstorms, we considered canceling the picnic but decided to press on. And what a great decision that was as the weather could not have been better!

Pressing on was Clara’s greatest achievement as our president. The hardest thing to do is keep alive an organization that was founded on a cause. When the cause ends, everyone loses interest.  We all owe Clara a BIG, BIG thank you!

At the picnic, we elected two new board members, Bryan Wright and John Floyd, to replace Clara Colby and Julie Floyd. In addition to being a board member, Julie was also our treasurer. Fortunately, she has agreed to remain our treasurer. Other new officers are: Beth Nichols, President; John Floyd, Administrative Vice President; Laura Peterson, Vice President for Preservation; and Row Halpin, Secretary.

I am looking forward to a good year as your president and hope to see everyone at the grand opening of the new post office!

Beth Nichols

President

Friends of Barboursville

2009 FoB Annual Meeting