Our next meeting is tomorrow at 11:30 AM (NOTE TIME CHANGE) at the Old Trail Clubhouse. Dr. Bryce Jackson (Connections Chiropractic) and Rick Moore (Emcompass Therapy) will be discussing/demonstrating “Springtime Ergonomics.” If you don’t know what that is, you better be there! 🙂 Hope to see you there!
Get Involved in Crozet’s Growth/Progress/Way of Life
Here’s your chance to put your money/time/effort where your mouth is –
Crozet Community Advisory Committee: Five vacancies. Do you want to get involved in your community? Are you interested in working on issues that impact the future of Crozet? Consider applying for a position on the Crozet Community Advisory Council. Albemarle County has several openings on the Crozet Community Advisory Council (CCAC), a 15-member volunteer advisory committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors that provides assistance to County staff and the Board on civic and community issues related to implementation of the Crozet Master Plan. The CCAC contributes to public understanding of and support for Master Plan implementation through enhanced communication and collaboration among all Crozet community stakeholders, and seeks to identify, communicate and collaborate with unrepresented stakeholder groups. CCAC membership is broad-based to incorporate a variety of perspectives and ideas and to provide citizens, businesspersons and representatives of active community groups a chance to be engaged and heard in a constructive and meaningful way. The CCAC meets on the third Thursday of each month from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at The Meadows Community Center in Crozet. Application deadline is Wednesday, March 24, 2010.
Application forms and information may be obtained from the Clerk’s Office, Board of County Supervisors, Fourth Floor, County Office Building, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, VA, between 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M., Monday – Friday. Applications are also available on-line. Telephone: (434) 296-5843 (434) 296-5843 .
Bake Sale for Jesse from Great Valu
From a reader:
Bake Sale for Jesse McDaniel at Great Valu Sunday, March 14, 1 to 5 pm
The community is holding another bake sale to benefit Great Valu’s Jesse McDaniel, who has lung cancer and is currently hospitalized. Contributions (and shoppers!) are needed. All baked goods are welcome: breads, cookies, brownies, donuts, muffins, cupcakes, pies, whole cakes, even items like quiche. All items should be packaged in Ziploc-style bags or other non-returnable containers, labeled with the name (i.e. “White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies” or “Banana Muffins”) and any potential allergens, and priced by the baker. Suggested pricing: $1 for cupcakes/muffins/large brownies or a bag of 3 medium or 2 large cookies. The standard Avery mailing labels work well for this purpose.
Bring items to the store the day of the sale, preferably between 12:30 and 1:00 if possible, but late contributions are welcome too. If necessary, you can drop them off that morning at the store. Please email Carole Keathley, who is organizing the sale, at bakeforjesse AT yahoo DOT com or call her at [[removed]] to let her know what you specifically will be baking and how much, and if you have any questions. We need lots of contributions and they are MUCH appreciated!!
100% of the money raised will be donated given to Jesse’s family to cover medical expenses. Don’t forget to tell your friends and neighbors about the sale..and come out to buy something sweet in honor of our sweet Jesse!
2007 Was a Good Year for King Family’s Meritage
I wish I made the time to visit King Family Vineyards more often. From King Family’s email newsletter:
The Governor’s Cup Wine Competition, held January 23, 2010, received over 200 entries. Of those entries, only 15 wines received gold medals. Our 2007 Meritage was picked as the best of the gold medals, taking home the prestigious Governor’s Cup award. The 2007 Merlot and 2008 Cabernet Franc each received a silver medal.
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell presented the 2010 Governor’s Cup on Friday to King Family Vineyards of Crozet, near Charlottesville, for its 2007 Meritage. The ceremony at the Virginia Wine Expo in Richmond was an annual rite of celebration of Virginia’s rapidly growing wine industry.
The King Family Meritage (rhymes with “heritage”) triumphed over more than 200 other entries from 61 wineries. A total of 126 medals were awarded in judging that took place Jan. 23 at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg. The 15 gold-medal winners were in contention for the cup. (Only red wines were included in this contest; the state’s whites will be judged in the fall.)
Does this mean the King Family Meritage is the best red wine in Virginia? Not definitively; only about 40 percent of the state’s wineries entered the competition. But it gives the producer well-deserved bragging rights. A contest such as this is valuable as a snapshot of how Virginia’s industry and individual wineries are doing, and the gold-medal list contained some surprises.
Not bad for a vineyard from “little” Crozet.
Blue Ridge Builder Supply’s Design Center Grand Opening
This Friday, 5 March at 8:30am.
Continue reading “Blue Ridge Builder Supply’s Design Center Grand Opening”
It is Incumbent Upon US to Read the Albemarle County Budget
We need to read the budget and make suggestions. (although it would be easier if we had the option to download the entire budget in one document, thus making searching easier)
County Executive Bob Tucker:
“It is important for me to state very clearly that while the library is recommended for a reduction in this budget the County has not proposed and indeed would not support the closure of any branches, including those in Scottsville or Crozet. It is not our desire to recommend reductions to any of our valuable community agencies, but we do so out of necessity only after we have very aggressively reduced our own department expenditures to the point where core services must now be preserved. It is important to note that reductions to community agencies were avoided for the first two years of the recession as local government operations and staffing have absorbed significant decreases. In fact, in FY08/09 when the County was experiencing declines in revenues related to the economic downturn and responded by freezing/ eliminating county staff positions and reducing operating budgets, community agencies received an average increase of 4% in funding. In FY09/10 while local government expanded its frozen/eliminated/offset positions to 55 and reduced non-personnel expenditures significantly, agencies maintained at least level funding while several again saw slight increases. “
The first budget public hearing will be held Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm at Lane Auditorium in the County Office Building on McIntire Road.
What cuts can you find? Dolores found $75,000 in the Libraries’ budget (pdf).
Hmmm …. I think a good business opportunity would be for some enterprising (team of) individual(s) to offer babysitting services in a central location (Cville Coffee? 🙂 ) so that parents can attend the public hearing. Just a thought.
Update 1 March 2010: The Jefferson Madison Library Board of Trustees has voted to close the Scottsville Library.
Bodo’s Bagels in Crozet
Not the store, but the bagels.
I stopped into Trailside Coffee this morning and was greeted with smiles and a surprise: they now are picking up Bodo’s Bagels in Charlottesville and bringing them to Crozet … hopefully every morning.
Had I paid attention to their Twitter feed, I would have seen the news.
BODO’S Bagels are here! that’s right, I said it! We got them so come and get em!. Bodo’s!!!!! that was the secret fyi:)
The logistics are still being worked out and perfected, but the bagels were there this morning and will hopefully be there tomorrow as well.
Thanks to Trailside for bringing more civilization to Crozet. 🙂
What would you like Trailside to bring? They have Carpe Donuts and Chap’s ice cream …
Note to the FTC: I paid for my coffee.
Walk To School Day This Friday at Crozet Elementary
Update: Walk to School Day is “canceled due to ice and snow on the sidewalks”
This Friday, 19 February is Crozet Elementary’s Monthly Walk to School Day. We probably won’t be walking as we would be walking in the middle of the road for most of the way due to snow.
I asked on Twitter if Brownsville does “Walk to School” days – (and really meant Western and Henley as well) and got an interesting response. Is it true that kids are discouraged/disallowed from walking to school on their own?
Continue reading “Walk To School Day This Friday at Crozet Elementary”
Crozet Housing Prices and School Quality
Crozet has traditionally been regarded as having high-quality public schools; as such we benefit from the market created by our schools.
Do better schools increase house prices? From my perspective as a Realtor in the Crozet area, the answer is yes. I have never had buyers tell me that they wanted to live in a bad school district; but virtually every single one – whether they have kids or not – wants to be in a good school district. Frankly, I don’t need metrics or analysis or data to support my conclusion; I know that people buying homes in Charlottesville and Albemarle want good schools.
All the data in the world isn’t going to change my opinion, either as a Realtor or as a parent, that good, quality schools matter – to our kids and to our housing values.
From The Impact of School Characteristics on House Prices: Chicago 1987-1991
For many people, an important consideration when buying a house is the quality of the local public schools. There is a general perception that, all else equal, houses in better school districts will cost more.
…Our results indicate that individuals pay attention to both per-pupil expenditures and test scores when deciding where to locate. However, when purchasing a home, individuals do appear to consider the current test performance of students in the local school rather than the extent to which a community’s schools contribute to a cohort’s test performance.
So what? What happens to Albemarle County home values if:
1 – Albemarle County schools cannot trim the fat sufficiently and
2 – They have to make so many dramatic cuts?
This is an email sent by the Albemarle County Parents’ Council with five attachments that will help you get acclimated … before the public hearing tonight at 6:30.
And now the meat of the post – if I’m a homeowner in Albemarle County, what are you talking about? How much more would I pay in taxes?
More on the Crozet Library
Update 10 February:
Ann Mallek writes that the meeting tonight is questionable due to the weather. Make sure you check albemarle.org before you go.
From the CrozetEagle listserv:
Many of you may not know that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has spoken about closing Scottsville Library and our own Crozet Library. Due to budget constraints, they say there is not enough money for these libraries. It has been shown that the cost of running the libraries in Albemarle County is well below the other areas in Virginia. Also the Crozet Library has increased their volume of circulation over the last 2 years. As you know, once they do close this library, it is very likely we will not get another one – new or old back into this area.
Please help us save our local library! They are trying to brainstorm ideas of how we can help save the library. Right now due to weather conditions, they are not having a library meeting scheduled. But, there is a Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday Feb. 10th. Anyone who wishes, can go and sign up to speak out for the library.
We also have petitions to sign against closure put out at Crozet Pharmacy, Crozet Hardware Store, Mudhouse and the Post Office. I will try to put out more petitions as weather clears. Also there is a website I have created for people to post on and I am sending these to Board of Supervisors:www.savecrozetlibrary.webs.com . Please forward this info to anyone you can! On this website is a calendar for future events. If we can get the weather to co-operate, I will try again to post new dates for any meetings.
Continue reading “More on the Crozet Library”