Schuyler/Rockfish
Nelson County, Virginia
Submitted By Stuart Gunter
January 19, 2009, was National Service Day. Thirty-three volunteers answered the call to service by picking up trash along the Rockfish River in Nelson County. They met up at the Schuyler Post Office and proceeded to work for three hours along the Rockfish River Rd., picking up trash, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and building community. People came from Charlottesville, Shipman, Lynchburg, and Dr. Vickie Gottlob drove all the way from Earlysville. Says Dr. Gottlob: “I found out about the National Day of Service through a link on my pastor’s blog. When I checked out the service opportunities in the Charlottesville area, most of them were completely full. So I went for one way south of town picking up trash along the Rockfish River. I worked with three other women – it was a beautiful day to be wandering along the road, finding an amazing amount of trash, new and old. Our most interesting find was a giant teddy bear someone had tossed in the woods. A broken romance or something spookier?? Talk about 6 degrees of separation – no such thing. Two of the women I met were old acquaintances of my students Chris and Mary Shifflett. It was wonderful to connect with people from the other end of the county who are interested in cleaning up our beautiful countryside. Next time maybe I’ll save gas and just do my own country road . . .”
After collecting close to sixty bags of trash, some of the volunteers met back in Schuyler for chili and cornbread, where people discussed future opportunities for service, which included the idea that every Monday holiday (Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc) be turned into a day of service.
Kudos to you all! Route 6 along the upper Rockfish needs some serious work as well…but it seems so dangerous. I know my family would be willing to help out if it was organized and posted somewhere that we’d see. We live in such a beautiful county, it’s such a shame that some people don’t respect it.