Near Montebello
Crabtree Falls
Nelson County, Virginia
Usually when you hear of us reporting on a rescue at Crabtree Falls it’s a person that’s slipped and gone over. Most of the time that doesn’t end well. The deaths there are in the dozens over the years. That’s not this story. Not even close. Spoiler alert, this one has a very happy ending! What’s more, it was all captured on video. This one’s going to make you happy.
Wintergreen Fire & Rescue posted the video below over the weekend, this is how they say it all started.
“If you’re not a dog person, you may not get this.
Today we were called to Crabtree Falls to search for a dog which fell over the falls and couldn’t be located. Our crews combined with Montebello Fire and Piney River Fire to search for a few hours. The dog was not found.
Later, we were requested to return because the dog showed up on the far side of the falls. We were able to safely return Winnie to her owner.”
To see for your own, watch the video below, it’s a great one shot by the owners of the dog!
This is the kind of story we like to see coming out of Crabtree Falls!!
“As part of an effort to ensure Virginians get to their Thanksgiving destinations safely and successfully, Virginia State Police will be conducting a highway safety initiative on Route 29 from Fauquier County to the North Carolina state line (200 miles). The initiative will take place Nov. 22, 2024, and coincides with the start of Thanksgiving break for some colleges and universities.
State troopers will be targeting speeding, reckless driving, distracted driving, and seatbelt violations.
Data over the past two years has shown an increase in crashes, especially injury crashes, along Route 29 during the month of November. Crashes increased 17% from November 2021 (659 crashes) to November 2023 (774) in the enforcement area. Crashes with injuries increased nearly 43% over the same time period (277 in 2021 vs. 396 in 2023).
Virginia State Police held a similar initiative along Route 460 in August, coinciding with the start of the fall college semester.
Matthew Demlein
Interim Public Relations Director
Virginia State Police”
“Nelson County is sponsoring a SKYWARN Basics Class on January 15th, 2025. The location is the Firehouse in Lovingston. Completion of this class will result in a SKYWARN spotter ID IF you live in the Baltimore/Washington (STERLING, ,LWX ) CWA (County Watch Area – see photo above)
If you live in the Wakefield or Blackburg CWA you may also attend and I can help you get on the roles of the Wakefiled or Blacksburg CWA spotter list.
SKYWARN Recognition day (SRD) is December 7th. All spotters and Hams are encouraged to participate. I have never participated but it looks like fun… hope you can join in. Please check out the following link and register if you are interested. https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition
Finally… thanks for the 18 check-ins on the Monthly Skywarn Net. Pete KQ4TNW was our new net controller and did a great job.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Feel free to pass is information along to Hams and Non-Hams alike.
Dave Beebe, K4UEK
Waynesboro/Charlottesville SKYWARN Subnet Coordinator
(Augusta, Albemarle, Greene and Nelson Counties)”
The last two years Montebello Camping and Fishing has been collecting children’s letters to Santa from mid-November through mid-December. They respond back to them as Santa Claus. Just a small way to spread a little bit of the holiday magic to kids for the season!
This is their third year of doing the Santa letters. This year Santa is coming up on December 14th at 1PM. They’ll be having light refreshments and giving each family a photo to take home. It’s a free event.
Their address is 15072 Crabtree Falls Hwy, Montebello, VA 24464 and our number is 540-377-2650.
Santa comes up on December 14th at 1PM. They’ll be having light refreshments and giving each family a photo to take home. It’s also a free event.
How the Santa letters work:
1. Write a letter to Santa. Don’t forget about all those good deeds, early bedtimes, and helping with chores in the letter! Also, don’t forget what you want for Christmas!
2. Put it in an envelope.
3. Parents, please tuck a little note inside with the children’s information (name, address, and notes about anything Santa may have missed during the year! 🤫🤫).
4. Bring it on up to the Montebello Country Store and put it in our special box for Santa!
BRL received this information release from Nelson County Sheriff Mark Embrey Tuesday afternoon about a search performed in Lowesville of Southern Nelson County. Belwo is the verbatim press release.
“On November 19, 2024, the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office, along with members of the 3A Regional Drug Task Force, executed a Search Warrant during the early morning hours at a residence located in the Lowesville community of Nelson County.
This Search Warrant was part of an ongoing investigation by the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office and the 3A Regional Drug Task Force. While this case is still ongoing and details are limited, this incident resulted in the recovery of narcotics, multiple firearms, and property that had been reported stolen both in Nelson County and surrounding jurisdictions.
As a result of this Search Warrant, additional items were located which lead to a ‘Second’ Search Warrant being obtained for another property in Nelson County. This Search Warrant was also executed, and it resulted in the recovery of additional property that had been previously reported as ‘Stolen’ in Nelson County and neighboring jurisdictions.
The execution of these Search Warrants has led ot the arrest of Mr. John Brogan, a 32 Year-old male who resides in the Lowesville community of Nelson County. Mr. Brogan has been charged with the following offenses:
• 18.2-250 Possession of a Schedule I/II Narcotic
• 18.2-308.2 Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon
• 18.2-308.4 Possession of a Firearm while in Possession of a Schedule I/II Narcotic
Mr. Brogan was held without bond and transported to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional
County Jail. We would like to thank the Virginia State Police, 3A Regional Task Force, Amherst County Sheriff’s Office, and the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance with this investigation.”
“A person driving by on Route 151 around 2:30 this morning saw the blaze and called it in. Units from all over the area responded since there’s no fire hydrant on site, we used water from their pumpers,” Wintergreen Fire & Rescue Chief Curtis Sheets told me mid morning Saturday. Chief Sheets said the damage was confined to the event center buildings and the main restaurant / brewery only has a couple of windows damaged from the heat. No cause is known for the fire as of this morning. No one was injured.
We don’t have anymore details at this point, but have inquiries in to Three Notch’d management.
I first met David Curly just after we permanently moved to Nelson County way back in early 2004. You’d see David (Curly to the locals) on his signature rollerblades scooting across the parking lot at Wintergreen Hardware or over at Valleymont Grocery. Until a year or so ago Curly lived behind Wintergreen Hardware. He’d been there for years and years. The new owner told Curly he had to leave after it sold. That’s when he moved into a space by the old Valleymont nearby.
Until this very week Curly could be seen sitting under the awning next to the barber shop near Blue Ridge Pig. He’d have his morning coffee there and read, or play chess with a friend. You’ve see him walking 151 headed to IGA for groceries. To say David Curly was an institution, a legend in Nellysford, would be a big understatement. He was even a cover story back in our charter publication Nelson County Life, Issue 74 in May 2011.
Our May 2011 Cover story called Camp David. We did a profile story on David Curly. Click on the image above to read that story.
To my disbelief I got a message late Thursday morning that Curly was no more. He was gone. He’d passed away peacefully while sleeping in his room just steps from where he’d lived months before. “A buddy of his that plays chess with him would keep a check on Curly. He’d become concerned that he couldn’t reach him by phone when he called Thursday morning. He drove over here and that’s when we found he’d passed away in his sleep,” Lydia Lester at the barber shop told me Thursday afternoon.
Photo courtesy of Basic Necessities archives. Judy Nelson (L) co-founder of Basic Necessities) and David Curly on the parking lot near the restaurant and the old hardware store in Nellysford back in the late 1990s.
Everyone knew Curly. Visitors coming to stay for a weekend. Locals, and more. He’d often be seen in the hardware store reading or helping a customer find something needed. Often he’d carry whatever they bought out to the car. He was an absolute gentleman.
So how did David Curly end up in Nelson County?
“One weekend a friend of mine said, ‘Let’s go to the mountains’,” and it was as simple as that. “He had a car and I didn’t,” David said with a big smile. Little did he know this backpacking trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains wouldn’t be coming to an end anytime soon. That’s what Curley told our Marcy Gates back in 2011 for the story. She and photographer Hayley Osborne finally convinced him to let us do a story after years of my, and ultimately them asking.
Photo By Hayley Osborne : Curly playing with one of his three dogs at the time when he lived behind the hardware store in Nellysford. May 2011.
I last saw Curly just a few days ago. We passed one another heading into the IGA. We always say hi to each other and sometimes chat for a few minutes before moving on.
Like many others I have written about here over the years, David Curly was part of the local color, the backdrop that makes Nellysford and Nelson what it is.
It’s gonna be very strange heading in to get my haircut or stopping at Basic Necessities for lunch and not seeing Curly around anymore. For as long as I can remember and long before that, he was just always there.
Thank you Curly for making our days here in Nelson more interesting and giving us that feeling of home.
“Virginia State Police is investigating a three-vehicle crash that occurred Saturday (Nov. 9, 2024) at 12:20 p.m. at the intersection of Route 151 and Rockfish School Lane in Nelson County.
A 2012 Chevrolet Silverado was heading southbound on Route 151, when it was unable to avoid a 2010 Ford Expedition making a left turn onto Rockfish School Lane from Route 151.
The Silverado struck the rear passenger side of the Expedition which in turn then struck a 2021 Ford Bronco which was stopped at the stop sign on Rockfish School Lane.
The driver of the Expedition, Kathleen E. Caudill, 66, of Nellysford, Va., was charged with failure to yield the right of way.
A passenger in the Bronco suffered minor injuries.
Nobody else in the crash was injured.
The crash remains under investigation.
Matthew Demlein
Interim Public Relations Director
Virginia State Police”
Due to current fire conditions on the Lee Ranger District in the northern region of the George Washington National Forest, there is a temporary closure in place to the following areas:
– Elizabeth Furnace Day Use Area
– Buzzard Rock Trailhead Parking lot
– Picket Springs Parking lot
– Trail No. 404: Buzzard Rock
– Trail No. 406: Shawl Gap
– Trail No. 403: Sherman Gap
– Trail No. 405.1: Tuscarora Veach Gap
– Trail No. 408: Massanutten Mountain (From Elizabeth Furnace to Veach Gap)
– Trail No. 463: Botts Trail
– Trail No. 403: Sherman Gap
– Trail No. 483: Pig Iron
– Trail No. 483A: Charcoal Trail
– Trail No. 484: Veach Gap
We ask the public to avoid areas with active fire and smoke for your safety, and to give fire personnel room to address the situation.
We’ve been to lots of the annual Halloween events in Lovingston during the past 20 years, they are always the absolute best. Over the last several years we noticed a slight decrease in the crowds. Covid, no doubt had an effect. But this year the crowds were back and then some, along with excellent weather!!!
Down below are some random shots from the 2024 event. Click on any photo to enlarge.
