A) I like identifying and tackling, for a fair and balanced approach, social issues. And here is one that has been simmering below the surface for decades and decades in Williamsburg and every college town in our great America...that's the beginning thought.....
B) I did compose, the spring of 2010, a basic overview to begin this one huge simmering underlying problem in my historic town of Williamsburg, to introduce both the students and locals. Hundreds of students were given this one-page overview before they left last May a year ago, to contemplate. The local newspaper, America's oldest, did publish the overview. Now, when the students did come back in August a year ago, all of those interested had and opportunity to get together, in some form, and work out the next steps towards an open discussion and solutions!
C) Crossing Jamestown and Richmond roads is a dangerous chore at times and a must because the Old/Historic Campus also goes over to the early Campus Center and, in the other direction, to the Sororities Court area. Plus, add the "thousands" of tourists every day visiting. They normall like to walk across at "Confusion Corner" to the old Wren Courtyard. The pure numbers along those two streets creates a major problem for walkers and drivers, all mixed up together, with no stoplight. A few years ago a simple plan for the students and locals coming in contact was devised and printed also on one-page and shared, especially in the local newspaper for our biggest conumdrum of "confusion corner."
D) Students, or anyone walking in that area's crosswalks, have the rightaway WHEN they are IN the crosswalk and an auto approaches!
E) My additional point added that crossing students, must, out of restpectful courtesy, pause for a second or three before zooming out from the sidewalk edges or expecially from behind the old brick wall...that students also should briefly wave or even mouth a 'thanks' as they slowly cross.
F) Drivers, too, need to anticipate, ahead of time, and pay attention along Jamestown and Richmond roads, watching out for crossing students and walkers having the rightaway! Gosh, it's a dual, respectful meeting, momentarily, IN the street!!! And drivers also could even, briefly, wave a 'thank you' to the student, person, IN the crosswalk. A tiny smile could also do wonders to create a sincere appreciation for both locals and students...for months ahead!
G) This very old, historic intersection enigma continues to be ignored by our local "governing body" (city council) and allowed to fester and throw drivers, pedestrians and students into a learned habit of "who cares, anymore. 'I' just need to survive in getting across this freaking intersection...in one piece!"
H) And the solution.....? (coming)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
9- The WILLIAM And MARY "URBAN LEGEND" From The LAKE MATOAKA "Black Lagoon"........
A) After midnight.....
B) The story is told how a small covey of students, two coeds and two guys, planned and ventured out to the far reaches of some of the Lake's many inlets (fingers), AFTER MIDNIGHT a handful of years ago, to prove once and for all IF "POCA" really does exist!
C) "POCA" is the name of the "urban legend creature" circulated on the W&M Campus, America's 2nd oldest campus, for a number of years.
D) the foursome took cellphone cameras, one flashlight and, after midnight, started out past the Ampitheatre, under the Art Dept. bldg., with the deteriorating Lake bank and slowly, carefully followed the rough edges of Lake Matoaka with its many fingers....IN THE DARK, with that one light!
E) A gaggle of Canadian geese suddenly squawked and nosily flapped, taking off from along the opposite lake edge, creating quite a huge commotion, frightening the four adventurers. After settling down, all was quiet again on the western lake front for a time as they continued their adventure along the dense, rough edges of the lake in the dark. Without another warning, something splashed loudly in one of the lake fingers in front of the four and was long enough to undulate with a length much longer than the four person standing, shivering. The lone flashlight was barely able to follow "it." One of the coeds, carrying the notebook, jumped from fright, as well as the other three, and the notebook went flying into the dark water along the edge of the lake. The four, scared, had forgotten to snap a pic before "it" submerged and disappeared, not to be seen again that Friday night.
The four made a pact, friends confessed, to "forget" what happened that Friday night after midnight many years ago in the far reaches of Lake Matoaka fingers. They had decided that no one would believe them! And no one has ever, we're told, ventured out late searching again. Only during the daytime light are canoes paddled out and about...but not too far.
Someone, somewhere, still has a flashlight, maybe, that can prove "Poca's' existence?????
B) The story is told how a small covey of students, two coeds and two guys, planned and ventured out to the far reaches of some of the Lake's many inlets (fingers), AFTER MIDNIGHT a handful of years ago, to prove once and for all IF "POCA" really does exist!
C) "POCA" is the name of the "urban legend creature" circulated on the W&M Campus, America's 2nd oldest campus, for a number of years.
D) the foursome took cellphone cameras, one flashlight and, after midnight, started out past the Ampitheatre, under the Art Dept. bldg., with the deteriorating Lake bank and slowly, carefully followed the rough edges of Lake Matoaka with its many fingers....IN THE DARK, with that one light!
E) A gaggle of Canadian geese suddenly squawked and nosily flapped, taking off from along the opposite lake edge, creating quite a huge commotion, frightening the four adventurers. After settling down, all was quiet again on the western lake front for a time as they continued their adventure along the dense, rough edges of the lake in the dark. Without another warning, something splashed loudly in one of the lake fingers in front of the four and was long enough to undulate with a length much longer than the four person standing, shivering. The lone flashlight was barely able to follow "it." One of the coeds, carrying the notebook, jumped from fright, as well as the other three, and the notebook went flying into the dark water along the edge of the lake. The four, scared, had forgotten to snap a pic before "it" submerged and disappeared, not to be seen again that Friday night.
The four made a pact, friends confessed, to "forget" what happened that Friday night after midnight many years ago in the far reaches of Lake Matoaka fingers. They had decided that no one would believe them! And no one has ever, we're told, ventured out late searching again. Only during the daytime light are canoes paddled out and about...but not too far.
Someone, somewhere, still has a flashlight, maybe, that can prove "Poca's' existence?????
8- VIRGINIA TECH U....THREE NEARBY COVERED BRIDGES and ONE "DIRTY DANCING".....
Take a neat adventure to the three nearby Covered Bridges past Blacksburg and some of the filming of "Dirty Dancing" at Mountain Lake. ron rascal has said it for a looong time that adventures in life are extremely important to maintaining one's, uh, "mojoe."
A) Mountain Lake....take U.S. 460 from Blacksburg to Rte. 700, ending in the mts. at Mountain Lake. Many portions of "Dirty Dancing" were filmed at the once popular old mountain resort here! Problem....later, over time, a fissure developed below the lake and naturally drained much of the lake.
B) Three old covered bridges past Virginia Tech U. in Giles County....
-Link Farm Covered Bridge...sits beside Rte. 700 (Mountain Lake Road), just north of
U.S. 460, west of Blacksburg and close to the village of Newport...private property! (Giles
C.)
-Sinking Creek Bridge...stands beside Rte. 601. Need to follow U.S. 42 north, through
the village of Newport, past for 1/2 mi....turn west on Rte. 601...go 1/2 mi. (Giles C.)
-C.K. REYNOLDS FARM BRIDGE...on side side of U.S. 42...about on 1/2 mi. north of
Newport village. Private property. Rte. 42 will be up high...when you look to your right,
down into a small valley with mts. on over side, you'll have to adjust your eyes to see Sinking
Creek, the Reynols farm and the neat, small bridge. No longer used for car traffic, but is
for farm use! Neat abandoned "ghost farmhouse" across the stream. This covered bridge
is my fave!....the valley and mountain setting and "ghose farmhouse!" (Giles C.)
C) Your drive and exploration past Virginia Tech, on U.R. 460, through the
mountains is so worth your road trip!!!!
A) Mountain Lake....take U.S. 460 from Blacksburg to Rte. 700, ending in the mts. at Mountain Lake. Many portions of "Dirty Dancing" were filmed at the once popular old mountain resort here! Problem....later, over time, a fissure developed below the lake and naturally drained much of the lake.
B) Three old covered bridges past Virginia Tech U. in Giles County....
-Link Farm Covered Bridge...sits beside Rte. 700 (Mountain Lake Road), just north of
U.S. 460, west of Blacksburg and close to the village of Newport...private property! (Giles
C.)
-Sinking Creek Bridge...stands beside Rte. 601. Need to follow U.S. 42 north, through
the village of Newport, past for 1/2 mi....turn west on Rte. 601...go 1/2 mi. (Giles C.)
-C.K. REYNOLDS FARM BRIDGE...on side side of U.S. 42...about on 1/2 mi. north of
Newport village. Private property. Rte. 42 will be up high...when you look to your right,
down into a small valley with mts. on over side, you'll have to adjust your eyes to see Sinking
Creek, the Reynols farm and the neat, small bridge. No longer used for car traffic, but is
for farm use! Neat abandoned "ghost farmhouse" across the stream. This covered bridge
is my fave!....the valley and mountain setting and "ghose farmhouse!" (Giles C.)
C) Your drive and exploration past Virginia Tech, on U.R. 460, through the
mountains is so worth your road trip!!!!
7- MUCH MORE COLLEGE of WILLIAM And MARY HISTORY and STUFF CAN BE LOCATED AT.......
A) Click on to my very first blog...http: //thesquiresview.blogspot.com/....and then to #400! Made a list there of all of the neat W&M facts...stuff!
B) More Virginia colleges and universities neat stuff coming.......
C) Look "above" in this section to #11, also, for a one-of-a-kind collegiate fact on the heretofore unknow story of the W&M "Graffiti Art Museum" under Jamestown Road in Williamsburg!
D) ...more.....
B) More Virginia colleges and universities neat stuff coming.......
C) Look "above" in this section to #11, also, for a one-of-a-kind collegiate fact on the heretofore unknow story of the W&M "Graffiti Art Museum" under Jamestown Road in Williamsburg!
D) ...more.....
Friday, April 16, 2010
6- The "BEWARE" SIGN On The WILLIAM and MARY CAMPUS?....
A) And where is it located?
B) North end of the Sunken Garden, away from the Wren Bldg....see the patch of Crim Dell woods right there? The small, handmade sign is at the edge of the woods there...look up high. Have yet to uncover why and who nailed it up there! And please don't let anyone take it down. It's now a unique Campus tradition on a "uniquer" American university campus...the 2nd oldest in our America!!
B) North end of the Sunken Garden, away from the Wren Bldg....see the patch of Crim Dell woods right there? The small, handmade sign is at the edge of the woods there...look up high. Have yet to uncover why and who nailed it up there! And please don't let anyone take it down. It's now a unique Campus tradition on a "uniquer" American university campus...the 2nd oldest in our America!!
5- "HAM" and "JAM" On The MARY BALDWIN COLLEGE CAMPUS In STAUNTON!.....
A) Staunton...in the "Queen City of the Shenandoah Valley"
B) "Ham and Jam"....and who they were? Which MBC dorm is haunted and originally was a hospital, with one dorm room being the old operating room? Is there a secret natural cave tunnel from the campus to past the old railroad depot in downtown Staunton? And what did Julia Baldwin, founder, do during the Civil War when the Yankee soldiers invaded the campus?
C) "Ham and Ham" are the two large statues of dogs at the top of the steep stairs to Old Main. Tale is...they are supposed to bark whenever a coed virgin walks by. They have yet to bark...some say.
D) There is a dorm along Frederick Street in front of the main campus that originally was the town hospital, with the operating room converted to coed rooms. For years, stories have abounded of strange "suffering" sounds and even muffled screams coming from that area of the old dorm.
E) There IS a cave that runs from Sears Hill down under the RR tracks and up towards the College. I found the entrance up on Sears Hill and talked wth old-timers who shared their experiences, as children, of going into that tunnel on Sears Hill before it was sealed by the police! They also claimed that the tunnel extended over to an outcropping of rocks visible on the hillside Campus beside old Main and..."Ham and Jam."
F) An underground lake under the basin (Central Ave.) a block from MBC! FACT...in 1910 the lake drained and created a CAVE-IN, with one house disappearing, the town fireplace with a huge hole in front of it and three other deep holes. Have seen the pics of this 1910 cave-in! Also, did my research into 1910 Staunton newspapers about the calamity....that one guy hired a boy to take visitors around one hole, filled with water, for 10-cents, giving the boy a penny each. I did go down into a submerged small stream bed smackdab in that 1910 cave-in area and did find a waterfall and cliffs under the center of Staunton, Augusta and Beverley Streets hidden beneath the middle of town!!!
G) My research did uncover a story of Julia Baldwin, founder of Mary Baldwin College, having the coeds hide hams and food under their large skirts when a group of Yankees came onto the Campus during the Civil War, searching for food to steal!
H) When the very old and honored Staunton Military Academy (boys) closed, next to the MBC Campus, the College bought the land and bldgs. and extended the MBC Campus, up on the large S.M.A. original hill. By the way, there are MANY hills around Staunton...some say seven!
I) Colleges and universities abound with PRANK stories, and MBC has one or three. There is a steep lawn bank in front of the MBC Library, where a city street once existed. Once, some guys from a Valley school slipped into town late one winter night and carefully sprinkled potent fertilizer on that steep lawn bank. Months later, during early spring rains, the fetilizer took effect, "loudly" revealing the two, uh, naughty words for all to...see.
two HUGE naughty words, overnight, became quite visible
B) "Ham and Jam"....and who they were? Which MBC dorm is haunted and originally was a hospital, with one dorm room being the old operating room? Is there a secret natural cave tunnel from the campus to past the old railroad depot in downtown Staunton? And what did Julia Baldwin, founder, do during the Civil War when the Yankee soldiers invaded the campus?
C) "Ham and Ham" are the two large statues of dogs at the top of the steep stairs to Old Main. Tale is...they are supposed to bark whenever a coed virgin walks by. They have yet to bark...some say.
D) There is a dorm along Frederick Street in front of the main campus that originally was the town hospital, with the operating room converted to coed rooms. For years, stories have abounded of strange "suffering" sounds and even muffled screams coming from that area of the old dorm.
E) There IS a cave that runs from Sears Hill down under the RR tracks and up towards the College. I found the entrance up on Sears Hill and talked wth old-timers who shared their experiences, as children, of going into that tunnel on Sears Hill before it was sealed by the police! They also claimed that the tunnel extended over to an outcropping of rocks visible on the hillside Campus beside old Main and..."Ham and Jam."
F) An underground lake under the basin (Central Ave.) a block from MBC! FACT...in 1910 the lake drained and created a CAVE-IN, with one house disappearing, the town fireplace with a huge hole in front of it and three other deep holes. Have seen the pics of this 1910 cave-in! Also, did my research into 1910 Staunton newspapers about the calamity....that one guy hired a boy to take visitors around one hole, filled with water, for 10-cents, giving the boy a penny each. I did go down into a submerged small stream bed smackdab in that 1910 cave-in area and did find a waterfall and cliffs under the center of Staunton, Augusta and Beverley Streets hidden beneath the middle of town!!!
G) My research did uncover a story of Julia Baldwin, founder of Mary Baldwin College, having the coeds hide hams and food under their large skirts when a group of Yankees came onto the Campus during the Civil War, searching for food to steal!
H) When the very old and honored Staunton Military Academy (boys) closed, next to the MBC Campus, the College bought the land and bldgs. and extended the MBC Campus, up on the large S.M.A. original hill. By the way, there are MANY hills around Staunton...some say seven!
I) Colleges and universities abound with PRANK stories, and MBC has one or three. There is a steep lawn bank in front of the MBC Library, where a city street once existed. Once, some guys from a Valley school slipped into town late one winter night and carefully sprinkled potent fertilizer on that steep lawn bank. Months later, during early spring rains, the fetilizer took effect, "loudly" revealing the two, uh, naughty words for all to...see.
two HUGE naughty words, overnight, became quite visible
4- WASHINGTON & LEE U. and V.M.I.... the LIME KILM THEATRE!!....
a- A must to visit when in the Shenandoah Valley's Rockbridge County and Lexington area!
b- How to get there?...easy...go to the Main Street (Rte. 11) and turn WEST on Rte. 60...you're then headed for the Appalachian Mts. in the near distance! Right outside the town limits, to your left, is the entrance at the woods!
c- This quarry dates back to 19th century. The locals had an epiphany way back to turn the old abandoned quarry into a natural theatre, under the stars. And the scene was left, honest, in its natural state with few additions, like seats. You'll be seatdc "down" below the edges of the rock quarry above, making it naturally COOL during the spring and summer months. The experience is outdoor entertainment at its best!
This summer: "Stonewall Country" (7/1-3 and 9/11)..."Seldom Scene" and more. (Google and see list.)
This native Virginia historian, researcher and photographer has visited the Lime Kilm! Was introduced to Zydeco (original New Orleans Cajun music) that visit...loved it!
d- Both Virginia schools are side by side, with stately old W&L campus buildings, especially the famous chapel where Gen. Robert E. (Edward) Lee is interred. If you like history, this entire area around Lexington is worth the exploratory visit, scenery and the campuses of Washington and Lee U. and Virginia Military Academy. Viewing the cadets up on the grounds is quite an experience, too....
b- How to get there?...easy...go to the Main Street (Rte. 11) and turn WEST on Rte. 60...you're then headed for the Appalachian Mts. in the near distance! Right outside the town limits, to your left, is the entrance at the woods!
c- This quarry dates back to 19th century. The locals had an epiphany way back to turn the old abandoned quarry into a natural theatre, under the stars. And the scene was left, honest, in its natural state with few additions, like seats. You'll be seatdc "down" below the edges of the rock quarry above, making it naturally COOL during the spring and summer months. The experience is outdoor entertainment at its best!
This summer: "Stonewall Country" (7/1-3 and 9/11)..."Seldom Scene" and more. (Google and see list.)
This native Virginia historian, researcher and photographer has visited the Lime Kilm! Was introduced to Zydeco (original New Orleans Cajun music) that visit...loved it!
d- Both Virginia schools are side by side, with stately old W&L campus buildings, especially the famous chapel where Gen. Robert E. (Edward) Lee is interred. If you like history, this entire area around Lexington is worth the exploratory visit, scenery and the campuses of Washington and Lee U. and Virginia Military Academy. Viewing the cadets up on the grounds is quite an experience, too....
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