Annual Report to Membership

The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia, Inc.

Germanna Foundation

March 2013

The MeMorial FoundaTion oF The GerManna Colonies in VirGinia, inC. P.O. Box 279, Locust Grove, VA 22508-0279 | phone 540-423-1700 | fax 540-423-1747 | foundation@germanna.org

www.GeRMAnnA.oRG

$25,000 and aboveHitt Foundation, Inc Frost, Michael D. Gwathmey Memorial Trust William T. Kemper Foundation $1,000 to $24,999Baise, Gary H. & Ann G. Brown, Katharine & MadisonConner, BobDavis, Bruce Hitt, Ellis F.Hitt, Russell A. & JoanHoffman, Keith & LauraMartin, CornwellPatterson, Jerry K. Spotswood, William S., Jr.Thomas, Patricia A. von Auenmueller, HardyWhite, Mary B. $100 to $999Barnicki, Christine Berg, Virginia M. Blankenbaker, Walter L. Brelsford, Ronald G.Brumback Jr., John S. Chapek, June E. Cloer, Carol W. Clore, RobertClore, Robert W. Cochran, CindyCress, Glen H. Culpeper Women’s Club Dodge, Nancy Moyers Erwin, William R. Evans, Holley RectorFishback, Don M & Brenda Flatter, Rebekah P.Frost, Cathie J. CloreFrymire, Richard L. & Phyllis T.Gutowski, Andrew Heist, WarrenHolsclaw, Jason ScottHolsclaw, Robert G. Huffman, Dennis Kearns, Sharon Koehn, Kevin Mary Washington ElderStudyNaef, Fred E. & Barbara Martin Newlon, BarbaraPascoe, Diana L.

Germanna Foundation Donors in 2012Phillips, Richard W., Dr.Poole, Skip & Joy Quisenberry, Virgil & Judy Rector, Clinton M. & Wendy Robinson, Beverly Railey Rorrer, Jacqueline V.See, Jackie R., Dr.Smith, James FStocking, Gale Tanner, Susan J. Titus, Karen A. Turnage,Dr. Frank S. Volckmann, JaneWeaver, James AWelch, Emmett (Al) & DebbieWhite, Robin J.Wilhoit, DonWilliams, Emily M. $1 to $99Back, Jamie C.Bass, Barbara M.Blankenbaker, John V.Boldridge, Allison A.Buechel, D. Robert & Joan B.Ciao Bella Photography LLC Cotter, CandisCrigler, F. Wayne and Elaine Dawson, Wesley C. Jr. & BarbaraDoyle, Kellie Filipowicz, Michael (Mitch)Forbes, John W. & Sue Gilbert, Iona Crim Gordon, John WayneGregory, Shelley WHarryman, Janice MHays, R. AllenHeath, RonHitt, Stanley J. & Ginger Houston, Robert B. Jr.Johnson, Mary DoyleJohnson, Nancy Foley Kemper, JosephKraus, David A. Leathers, James C Lignum Ruritan ClubLyle, RobertManning, Patricia J. Martin, BillMatthis, Jane M Messing, Mary JoanMooney, Sara(Sally) Holtzclaw

Moore, Susan E..Nathan, Rebecca JoanNeal, Susan Fishback & Thomas Odano, Mary JeanPugh, Gail & DavidRamsdell, KarenRector, Alan & Nancy IReuther, Alfred R. Jr. & Jane WeaverRichardson, James & JoannaRioux, Dorothy A.Rowe, Joseph Y. Roy, Steven J. & SarahRussell, William E. & Jill H.Schmidt, Anita Rouse Sexton, Robert MSowka, Audrey OSpillman, Dr. James BlairTanner, Robert & Joan.Taylor, Geneva A.Thomas, Patricia M. Volchansky, Mercer Jane C.Vos, Charlene F.Wasem, Ron & Libby Williams, Sandra J. Withers, Sharon

Donors of In-KindContributions in 2012Jim AlbinKatharine and Madison BrownWayne Brown and SonsMike Clem/Atticus Rose ArchaeologyClore EngravingDovetail Resource GroupBarbara Price FishbackMichael FrostCathi Clore FrostGermanna Community CollegeAndrew GutowskiDoug HarnsbergerTony HaughtEllis HittRussell & Joan HittJim HopkinsCindy KwitchoffChris OhrstromPamela StewartStonewriterMarc Wheat

VolunteersVISITOR CENTER:Sandy WemmerusMary FrameCarla WasculusRuss Williams

WILDERNESS BATTLEFIELD GROuNDS FORCE:Bob JohnsonPaul AldermanDorse CountsWade AylorKen FroehnertGary MaussKurt utz

STEWARDS:James GahresJonathan Beamer

StaffKaren Quanbeck, Executive DirectorBarbara Bounds, Office ManagerJohn Howard, Volunteer CoordinatorTimmy Barr, Project Coordinator

Honoring OurHistoricHeritage

Annual Report to the MembershipI am pleased to report on The Germanna Foundation’s active and productive year in 2012. Donors who contributed to a specific project are named in parentheses. Most importantly, please know the pronoun “we” encompasses the efforts, resources and talents of Germanna’s volunteers, members, staff, their families and friends.

Following the Board of Trustees’ guidance and priorities in the strategic plan, we strive to improve the organization’s health, infrastructure and stewardship of the Germanna heritage and properties.

From the outside InStarting in the fall of 2011, the Brawdus Martin Germanna visitor Center received a makeover with the installation of a new lawn (Michael Frost). New evergreens and perennials planted in the containers around the building (Joy Poole) complement our vibrant greensward. We installed a bronze church bell (Doug Harns-berger) in the cloister; its glorious, natural B tone can be heard across the river and will summon friends and members at special events.

The intrepid Wilderness Battlefield Grounds Force volunteers worked for over a year to design, clear, and map four trails through the Siegen Forest. They made new signs and trail guides for miles of trails (Red, Orange, Blue, Green) for varying levels of hikers, and installed aluminum tags to identify trees and shrubs. Each tag has a QRC (quick response code) to access the Virginia Dept. of Forestry database. We now welcome many hikers each month.

We also invested in a Forestry Management Plan from the Virginia Department of Forestry, to guide our protection and interpretation of the Siegen Forest. The plan divides the forest into five zones by ecosystem (riparian to upland chestnut oak forest) and recommends actions to improve and maintain the forest’s health and ecodiversity.

We received a matching grant of $3,000 from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities to install a new ex-hibit on the Germanna colonists. While we are raising money to fund the installation, we painted, rearranged and de-cluttered the hall. To meet the matching requirement, and fund the remaining $15,000 exhibit cost, we have challenged Germanna families to pool designated gifts and sponsor exhibit panels and cases. The Clore Family and Martin Family have funded the first two!

We’ve invested in technology to replace ageing, crashing PCs with new desktops, a laptop and projector for travel and presentations (Jerry Patterson), and a new server and backup system, all networked and with wi-fi (Jim Hopkins, Ellis Hitt, Keith Hoffman). We love the high-speed, 1200 dpi printer/copier/scanner (HITT Contracting). Our volunteer coordinator completed an inventory of the library. Our University of Mary Washington intern, and now part-time employee, Timmy Barr, catalogued all of the artifacts and illustrations on exhibit.

We hosted many group tours and special events. Two highlights were high school groups, one was led by Culpeper High School teacher E. K. Mello for her German foreign exchange students and German studies classes and the other was the German Honor Society induction ceremony and celebration with Courtland School teacher and Germanna member Bettina Hoeninger and her students from Spotsylvania.

A busload of Amburgey family members included a Germanna visit in summer pre-wedding activities. The US Army sent two bus tours of officers for ‘battlefield rides’ to the Germanna Ford and Rapidan Line of defensive trenches. We hosted an Elder Study group, an Eagle Scout award ceremony, and the Friends of the Rappahannock River annual canoe trip. Staff and trustees presented The Germanna Foundation’s history and heritage to local business, civic and tourism groups.

Germanna received great local media coverage for our special events and our reunion and conference was featured on Virginia Living Television. Our battle to oppose Walmart constructing a store opposite Siegen For-est and eradicating Civil War trenches brought front page coverage in local papers and the Civil War Times, even though we lost. We are participating in the Wilderness Gateway Study to encourage and plan smart growth along the Germanna Highway/Route 3 corridor in Orange County.

Meanwhile, over at SalubriaWhile the earthquake damage repair and restoration project at Salu-bria kept the staff and contractors busy from March through October, we also used the garden and grounds for special events, including a

Colonial Williamsburg special tour for their 64th Annual Antiques Forum, The Audubon Society bird walk in May, and the Orange County Historical Society’s annual picnic dinner.

The Germanna Foundation participated in “Marching Through Culpeper,” the community’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Cedar Mountain, by presenting a living history event at Salubria on August 4. Reenac-tors, portraying Federal and Confederate figures, interpreted wartime activities at Salubria between 1862-1863 to 110 guests.

Prior to starting the repair project, 260 years of attic debris needed to be removed. Dovetail Resource Group, with their staff and volunteers and ours, low-

ered bucketsful of debris by ropes and pulleys to ground level. Each bucket was sifted and screened, and 10,000-plus artifacts resulted. We found shoes, hats, rare specimens of floor cloths, fireboards and wallpaper, cuffs and collars, buttons, toys, letters, stamps, textiles, hand-forged rosehead nails, remnants of every roof in Salubria’s history, text books,

music sheets, and Bible pages, calling cards, a flask, a bone toothbrush – all give us insight into the daily lives of Salubria’s families, visitors, and slaves. A dozen of the most unusual artifacts are being conserved and prepared for the new exhibit.

We cleared the Salubria guest cottage attic, and found an artifact we have sought for over ten years. Washington Reed, architect for the 1950 remodeling, wrote that workers found an unusu-al brick inscribed MG and dated 1756 when dismantling a second floor interior wall. Over time, it was moved to the cottage attic, and tucked under an eave in a cardboard box carefully labeled for safekeeping by Laura Grayson, who donated Salubria to the Germanna Foundation in 2001.

Two generous members, Russell Hitt and Michael Frost, ensured our stewardship of Salubria in several ways. The HITT Contracting firm and Hitt Foundation gave $295,000 to fund significant portions of the earthquake repair project. These gifts were supplemented by a $25,000 grant from the William T. Kemper Foundation and $29,000 grant from the Gwathmey Memorial Trust for the chimney reconstruction. Dr. Frost contribut-ed a full kitchen renovation for the c. 1953 caretaker’s house, as well as dismantling the cattle pens and relocating and burning several monstrous brush piles which marred the garden landscape. This spring, HITT Contracting and the Hitt Foundation will complete the caretaker’s house renovation by funding the removal of the asbestos-shingle roof, installation of a new roof and windows, bathroom renovation and some structural repairs. Every farm needs a truck and HITT Contracting fulfilled our wish when they donated a HITT Chevy Silverado pickup truck for use at Salubria.

A bequest from the estate of Patricia Thomas allowed us to give much needed TLC to the boxwood garden to mitigate damage from groundhogs, snow storms, and pests. The project – to prune, fertilize, hand clear invasive vines and shrubs, backfill the groundhog warrens, apply systemic pesticide, and composted mulch – took five days.

Finally, I would like to recognize the volunteer chairpersons of the foundation’s committees. Without their leadership and dedication, our efforts last year would have been much less successful!

Committee ChairAudit Ellis HittBuildings and Grounds Andrew GutowskiDevelopment Bruce DavisEducation Katharine BrownFinance Skip PooleNominating Ellis HittReunion/Conference Cathi Clore Frost

Karen Quanbeck, executive Director

“The farther backward you look, the farther ahead you can see.”Winston Churchill