Nelson County, Virginia
For over a decade Kim Cash with Rural Nelson has been letting citizens inside and out of Nelson County know about the happenings in Board of Supervisor and Planning Comission meetings. NCL redistributes the minutes from those meetings down below in our community section. The recent message (posted verbatim below) from Rural Nelson says Kim will no longer be covering the meetings as of January 2012 due to financial considerations. ”
We have decided we are not in a financial position to replace Kim and consequently we will have to suspend the reports.”
Here is the entire letter:
Dear friends of Rural Nelson,
For over eleven years, Rural Nelson has been your eyes and ears on county government. Our Field Officer, Kim Cash has decided to move on as of January 1, 2012. For many years, she has been the eyes and ears of Rural Nelson’s mission and has provided reports on most county meetings. As a constant witness to county business, in many ways she has become the institutional memory of the county.
We are sorry to see her go.
Since November, the Rural Nelson board has been meeting to decide what our next step as an organization will be. We have decided we are not in a financial position to replace Kim and consequently we will have to suspend the reports.
We will continue as an organization. Over 2012, we will reassess what we are able to do as an all-volunteer organization.
These are hard economic times, but the challenges to Nelson remain the same. Since Kim will no longer be attending county meetings, we will need to rely on each other and our county officials to keep us informed. To re-iterate, Kim will no longer be available for questions as of January 1. You will be relying on volunteers, who work on their own schedules, not 24/7 like Kim.
We thank you for your past support. If you have time, energy and the will to work with those who would like to preserve the best of Nelson while moving confidently into the future, we’d be happy to hear from you. Meanwhile, stay tuned for further developments.
Mike Tapager
Vice-President
Rural Nelson
Good luck Kim! We will miss you and along with you eyes and hears in these very important meetings!
Wintergreen Resort
Nelson County, VA
Temps dropped into the upper teens overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning at Wintergreen Resort. After roughly an inch of natural snow fell overnight, conditions are now perfect for the resort to make snow full time to get ready for next weekend’s kickoff of the 2011-2012 season.
Paul captured this shot of a rainbow forming in the manmade snow blowing over the Blue Ridge Express at Wintergreen Resort this past Thursday morning December 8th 2011.
The areas highlighted in purple are under a Winter Weather Advisory overnight Wednesday for snow (some locally heavy). Nelson County also is under a Flood Watch until early Wednesday evening.
Winter Weather Statement
Statement as of 10:07 PM EST on December 07, 2011
…Winter Weather Advisory is cancelled…
The National Weather Service in Baltimore MD/Washington has
cancelled the Winter Weather Advisory.
Little to no additional accumulation is expected.
Wintergreen & Nelson County, Virginia
A wide variety of weather is being thrown at Nelson County over the next 18-24 hours. During the day Wednesday heavy rains affected the area. As of Wednesday evening some flood warnings were already active with some Nelson roads affected. You can always see the currently active watches or warnings just to your right under Nelson Weather Bulletins.
Overnight Wednesday possible snow will be the concern as much colder air begins working into the area. The most likely locations to receive notable accumulation will be at Wintergreen, Love, Montebello, Afton (higher elevations) and areas along the western facing slopes of the BRP. However, if the cold air arrives quickly enough before the moisture moves out, the valley portions down below in Nelson could see an inch or so. Timing is key here. Warm temps over the past several days have ground temps well above freezing. But, much colder air will begin arriving Wednesday afternoon possible allowing for accumulating snow overnight.
Here's the latest snowfall map created by Meteorologist Travis Koshko at our news partner station CBS-19 in Charlottesville. If enough cold air arrives in time those amounts may be nudged upwards, particularly in the higher elevations of Nelson County.
Afton, Virginia
Memphis, Tennessee
If you are from Nelson County you know about the The Homecoming. If you aren’t from Nelson County, you probably still know about The Homecoming. This December marks 6 years of stage productions at The Hamner Theater in Afton, VA. The theater was established in honor of Nelson County native Earl Hamner, Jr from Schuyler. His Homecoming inspired the long running CBS television series, The Waltons. The stage production of The Homecoming is currently playing until December 18th at The Hamner Theater. This is a must see!
This Thursday – December 8th, Earl Hamner and NCL Publisher, Tommy Stafford will be on the radio in Memphis, Tennessee for an hour and a half talking about The Homecoming, Earl’s Christmas memories from here in Nelson, and much, much more. Tommy is frequently on the radio back in Memphis as part of The Earle Farrell Radio Show in the afternoons. Memphis is where Tommy began his television news and weather career.
You don’t have to be in range of a radio to hear the broadcast, simply head on over the www.kwam990.com on Thursday afternoon starting at 4:30 PM EST to listen to the live stream and hear Earl talk all about Nelson!
Via NWS : The areas shaded in blue go under a Winter Storm Watch Wednesday evening through late Wednesday night. Concerns along the BRP, including Wintergreen, Love, & Montebello will likely see effects of this snow.
WINTER STORM WATCH
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
145 PM EST TUE DEC 6 2011
AUGUSTA-ROCKINGHAM-SHENANDOAH-HAMPSHIRE-HARDY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…STAUNTON…WAYNESBORO…HARRISONBURG…
MOOREFIELD
145 PM EST TUE DEC 6 2011
…WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING THROUGH
LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON HAS
ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY
EVENING THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
* PRECIPITATION TYPE…RAIN CHANGING TO SNOW.
* ACCUMULATIONS…3 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW ABOVE 1500 FEET.
* TIMING…WEDNESDAY EVENING.
* TEMPERATURES…FALLING INTO THE LOWER 30S WEDNESDAY EVENING. LOW
TEMPERATURES OVERNIGHT WEDNESDAY WILL RANGE FROM THE LOWER 20S
ALONG THE RIDGE TOPS TO THE UPPER 20S IN THE VALLEYS.
* WINDS…NORTHWEST 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR
THE LATEST FORECASTS.
Nellysford / Stoney Creek
Nelson County, Virginia
This time of year people are getting into a festive Christmas mood! And volunteers with Wintergreen Performing Arts helped give lots of people ideas this past weekend. It was their annual Your Table Is Ready. The event featured beautifully decorated tables and ideas for decorating other areas of your home. NCL Mountain Photographer Paul Purpura came down off of the mountain to grab shots of the gorgeous decorations and tables at the Tuckahoe Clubhouse in Stoney Creek.
Marti Regan (seated at table right) the author of the book Dogs of a Different Color greets people this past Sunday afternoon at Your Table Is Ready. There was a wide and varied creation of different table settings. In addition to place settings, poinsettias, jewelry, stuffed animals, and books were also for sale.Another of the beautiful place settings this past weekend in Stoney Creek.
Believe it or not, the Wintergreen Performing Arts 2012 season is not that far away. Until then another 2011 event is scheduled next weekend. A Blue Ridge Christmas: The Virginia Consort is December 11th – 4PM at Rockfish Presbyterian Church – 5016 Rockfish Valley Highway (Va Highway 151) : just north of Nellysford, Virginia.
In the case of Nelson County, the traditional music – played on fiddles, banjos, guitars, dulcimers, harmonicas– and variously called “old-time,” “bluegrass” and, later, “country,” was a melange derived from various European and African influences – English ballads, Irish and Scottish fiddle music, religious hymns and African-American blues. But it is music that was brought here by people, and one of the groups with the greatest influence on its evolution were the Irish who came here in the 1840s and 50s to escape the great potato famine and English rule and, in the process, built our railroads, tunnels, turnpikes and canals.
Clann Mhór, Gaelic for “The Great Family,” is a local organization devoted to researching and preserving the contributions of Irish immigrants to this region, and its focus of late has been on the workers who built the Afton Railroad Tunnel, engineered by Claudius Crozet.
Kevin Donleavy, one of the group’s members, is particularly interested in the musical legacy of the Irish who came to Nelson County, and helped organize a concert of Irish music for The Nelson Music Project that happened this past Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Nelson Center in Lovingston.
The King Golden Banshee Band plays a variety of traditional Irish music on guitars, fiddles, tinwhistles, flutes, banjos and bodhráns (a framed drum descended from old Irish war drums). Songs such as “Danny Boy,” “Old Apples in Winter,” and “The Lakes of Pontchartrain” tell stories that come down from the old country. Irish dancers also performed, as well as local folk musicians Kim and Jimbo Cary.
Donleavy says Cecil Sharp, an English music teacher who became interested in doing field work on folk songs that had crossed the Atlantic with the Irish, Scottish and English who came to America, came to Nelson County in 1918 and interviewed Fannie and Alex Coffey in White Rock, Philander Fitzgerald in Afton, Dol Small in Nellysford and Maria Tomes, an 85-year-old former slave of the Coleman family in the Rockfish Valley area. Sharp annotated the notes of the songs he heard while his secretary, Maud Karpeles, took down the words.
Irish dancers perform this past weekend at the Nelson Center in Lovingston as part of a concert put on to show the influence of Irish music in Nelson.
Later, in 1950, Karpeles returned to Nelson and recorded songs sung by Florence and Napoleon Fitzgerald, descendants of Philander Fitzgerald. Donleavy believes that their songs may have come from the Irish railroad workers who worked on the Afton Railroad Tunnel in the 1850s.
Donleavy and the King Golden Banshee Band helped keep those Irish influences alive at the Nelson Center Concert.
Lovingston
Nelson County, Virginia
Perfect weather. Not too cold. Not too hot. Just right for the annual Lovingston Christmas Parade held this past weekend. Tons of people attended and lots of nice entires made for a wonderful afternoon with adults and kids alike! The theme for 2011 was More Than 200 Years of Christmas in Nelson County.
Click on any of the pictures below to enlarge. Just click your browser’s back button to return to this page.
Click on the Facebook album image above to see tons more photos from the parade vis NCL East Nelson Photographer Victoria Mininger. Tiny Miss Relay for Life - Karsyn Belle BotkinThe Albemarle Pipes & Drums from Charlottesville.
Near Nellysford
Nelson County, Virginia
More signs of progress could be seen this past Thursday morning at Bold Rock Hard Cider just south of Nellysford on Route 151. Two different semi trucks arrived with a total of 7 fermenting tanks that will be used in the making of hard cider.
Brian Shanks (left) and John Washburn steady 1 of the 7 tanks coming off of the truck for delivery this past Thursday morning. The entire Bold Rock crew holds on to one of the tanks as it's moved into the permanent home at the cidery. The tanks came from Italy and are extremely fragile. Brian Shanks with Bold Rock Hard Cider pauses for a small celebration and text after moving one of the tanks indoors. Photo By Yvette Stafford : Brian admires the tanks once they have all been put in their permanent positions in the cider barn.
Screengrab via CBS-19 Charlottesville : The Newsplex in Charlottesville is reporting that Ray Uttaro, Nelson County’s Emergency Services Coordinator was served with a search warrant served this week.
Lovingston
Nelson County, Virginia
Updated 12.21.11 1:45 EST
NCL has confirmed that Ray Uttaro has resumed at least some of his duties in his county capacity while felony embezzlement charges are pending. “Ray Uttaro returned to work from administrative leave on Monday, December 19th. His responsibilities encompass emergency services and animal control,” said Steve Carter the Nelson County Administrator. Carter responded both by both email in a phone conversation on Wednesday afternoon.
Nelson County’s incoming Commonwealth Attorney Anthony Martin confirmed earlier this week that charges are still in place with a February 22nd preliminary hearing date scheduled for Uttaro.
When County Administrator Carter was asked if it was unusual to have an employee return to work with pending felony charges, “That’s a personnel issue and I am not at liberty to discuss that at this time,” he said.
NCL in conjunction with our Charlottesville TV News partner CBS-19 originally reported this story on December 2nd.
Previous posts The Nelson General District Court Clerk’s office confirms Wednesday afternoon that formal charges have been filed in this case. According to information included in the warrant on file, Ray Uttaro has been formally charged with felony embezzlement. An advisement court date of December 14th 2011 at 1:30PM has been set in the case.
Via CBS-19 : Ray Uttaro has been formally charged with felony embezzlement.
Scroll below for original information in this case.
Previous Posts The Newsplex CBS-19, our news partner in Charlottesville, reported the following story on an apparent investigation into possible embezzlement and larceny by Ray Uttaro, Nelson County’s Emergency Services Coordinator. Reporter Chris Stover worked the story here in Nelson. Their story verbatim here.
December 1, 2011
Nelson County’s Emergency Services Coordinator is at the center of an investigation into embezzlement. Ray Uttaro’s office in the Nelson County Office Building was searched earlier this week for electronic records pertaining to the donation of a 46” Sony Bravia HDTV.
In an affidavit filed Monday, investigators say Uttaro sent an email in February to the Crutchfield Headquarters in Charlottesville asking that they donate the TV to the county’s new Emergency Communications Center. According to the report, he picked up the TV that month, however, to date, the ECC does not have a 46” TV.
Uttaro claims the TV was too big for the ECC and was returned to Crutchfield, although the electronics store says it was never returned. Furthermore, investigators say Uttaro posted a picture to Facebook in April of a new flat screen TV mounted to a wall in his home.
After searching Uttaro’s office in the Nelson County Office Building, investigators seized two flash drives, a Dell laptop and two Dell modems in hopes of obtaining those emails and any other electronic communications regarding the TV.
If the Commonwealth’s Attorney feels there is enough evidence to move forward with the case Uttaro, who also serves as Nelson County Animal Control Supervisor, could be charged with embezzlement and grand larceny.
CBS19’s calls to Uttaro have not been returned. Both the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office and the Commonwealth’s Attorney refused to comment on the case.
Uttaro has also come under fire for his handling of the investigation into animal abuse at the Nelson County home of Tracy and Joyce Davis. The Rooster Ridge property was raided two weeks ago and the couple was arrested on neglect and abuse charges after dozens of malnourished animals were found.
Under Uttaro’s leadership, Animal Control officers say they were tipped off and made several visits to the home over the past year, but never found evidence of abuse. However, special agents who raided the property found a much different scene.
And earlier this fall, Nelson County was chastised by state officials who claimed Uttaro is not certified to lead the county’s animal control office. County officials conceded and said they would give him the necessary 10-day training.
NCL Editor’s Note:
A request is being sent to My. Uttaro to privately identify to us the families whom he says received donations from a Christmas drive in which we were involved in December 2010. Upon receiving the names of those families, we will not publish them to maintain their privacy.
Update: On 12.13.11 NCL received the requested list from Mr. Uttaro. We are satisfied from the detailed information provided that all donations are properly accounted for.
