Five Picturesque Spots Around King George County

Out and About

Not too long ago, this little town was the perfect place to get away from it all.  When my parents moved here back in the summer of 1969, there was one stoplight, single lane roads, and farmland for miles.  My father specifically picked Dahlgren, VA for his employment because of it’s rural nature.   

Turns out a lot of people feel the same way…..

We all know why we are drawn to KG.  We all know the vibrancy and placement of this town is a magnetic pull to settle down and build memories.  One of my favorite parts is that I can get anywhere in 15 minutes.  

As Spring edges in this early March, I have a few spots that remind me of the beauty of KG every time and a new spot that inspires me to keep digging for the most picturesque areas of our hometown.

Here are my current favorites:

1. The old brick corner (The ruins of Office Hall) on Kings Highway past Tractor Supply.    

2. Wilmont Landing off of Kings Highway.  What a beautiful surprise to come upon while driving!  

3. The Marina at the end of Potomac Drive.   

4. The Wayside Beach and Park near the Nice Bridge.  Perfect spot for picnics. 

5. The kids creek jumping spot at Barnesfield Park.  All kids seem drawn to this little spot while their siblings are practicing ball.  

What say you?  What are the most picturesque spots in KG?  Which areas remind you of why you love living here?  Which little scenic overlooks inspire you the most?    

History of the Service Authority - Part 1 - 1948 to 1959

The Service Authority as we know it today is experiencing a serious public relations challenge. With aging infrastructure, water quality issues, and sub-standard customer service, the Service Authority is frequently in the news for all the wrong reasons. At a recent Town Hall hosted by Supervisor Jeff Bueche, the event ran much longer than planned and only a handful of questions and comments were not related to the issues facing the County’s largest water supplier.

In an effort to better understand how the Service Authority came to where it is today, we felt it was necessary to first research how it came into existence and then share with the community as a whole what we found. As it stands now, the Service Authority services about 4,100 customers in King George County. Of those customers, most are water only customers. The customers are served by nine different water systems and five wastewater treatment plants.

The Service Authority as we know it today wasn’t formed until 1992 and didn’t really begin operating until 1994. But the history behind where we are now began long before that. Beginning in the late 1940s, King George County began discussing the need for a centralized water system. By 1948, George Glasco was appointed as “a roving committee of one” to talk to potential customers, or as they were called then, subscribers. The need for the centralized water system was driven by the King George Volunteer Fire Department. They had recently received property donated by Conor Clare to build a fire house in the Courthouse area but they had no public source for water to help fight fires.

While the fire department was looking for a source of water, the local water and sewer systems were all owned by private individuals. Those systems fell under the “advice and supervision” of the local Sanitation Officer, Ben I. Johns and later Robert Lindsay Albinson. Dr. Hubert Dinwiddie Crow was the local Health Officer in charge of the local Health District that covered several area counties. When Albinson was appointed as the new Sanitation Officer, he had to cover fifteen counties and Fredericksburg City. He would be replaced within a year by Richard A. Johnson.

In 1951, Mr. Sydnor of Sydnor Pump and Well Company, met with the local Ruritan Club to talk about a potential water system. Things continued to progress in King George and local areas as Spotsylvania County wrote and passed an ordinance for sewer systems in 1952. King George would follow suit with one in 1953. Dr. Crow presented the new ordinance for permits for “sewerage disposal systems.” The ordinance would cover new construction or repairs made to existing systems. Dr. Crow’s aim was to help prevent the “typhoid fever menace” that was present in various parts of the county. Prior to the new ordinance being passed in 1953, there were no previously existing rules to govern water and sewer.

Septic Tank requirements

Dr. Crow would continue to serve as Health Director until 1956 when he was replaced by Dr. Frederick J. Spencer, one of his trainees. Dr. Crow would die shortly after in 1957. Dr. Spencer’s son, Tony Spencer, would go on to become the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Caroline County for a period of time.

Dr. Crow’s efforts for a sanitary water and sewer system and the fire department’s need of a constant and stable water supply would be the foundation of what would eventually become the King George County Service Authority. Even then, water quality and the health and safety of the general public were on the minds of local leaders. With new laws put into place, the County had a foundation for enforcing rules that would protect the public from disease. With a public water supply, the fire department could better respond to fires. These are just small steps towards becoming the Service Authority of today.

Stay tuned as we continue to research the history of the King George County Service Authority.

OPINION - Service Authority Budget Work Session

I attended the Service Authority's budget work session on February 27, 2018 with my wife. We were the only members of the public in attendance. This budget work session was similar to the previous ones I've attended as a member of the County's Citizen Budget Advisory Committee. Just like the budget work sessions for the County, the Service Authority has appointed citizens to serve in an advisory role during the budget work sessions. And just like my role on the County's Committee, these citizens are invited to attend the work sessions, give feedback, and ask questions, but do not have a vote when it comes to actually approving the budget. I feel it's a great way to get the public involved in the process and a perfect way to educate those interested in learning more about the process and where all that money goes.

The meeting was attended by Wilma Ward (Director of Finance), Dr. Neiman Young (County Administrator, and the full Board of Directors for the Service Authority. Of the citizens serving on the Committee, Rob Harling, Steven Doss, and Howard Yarus were present. Chris Thomas, the Service Authority General Manager, was also there.

Mr. Thomas started things off with an overview of the Service Authority that included basic facts, a history, and customer counts. He also covered basic details of the debt service fees, rate structure, and concluded with some common ways for customers to conserve water.

As with the County's budget work session, the atmosphere was much more casual with several interruptions from various committee members asking questions. Where the Service Authority broke from the County's format was when my wife asked questions. While public comment was allowed at the beginning of the meeting, it's usually not allowed during these types of meetings. However, the Committee seemed willing to allow the deviation from protocol and her questions were readily answered.

As we here at Project94 research the history of the Service Authority, I was able to learn more about the entity as a whole. Most interesting to me is that the Service Authority is technically a separate entity from the County. While some employees, staff, and Board members share roles on both sides of the proverbial fence, they are two different entities. Historically, the Board of Directors has been the Board of Supervisors. Beginning a couple of years ago, a move was made to change the Board to a more non-political membership with Chris Werle being appointed. With Mike Bennett's appointment this year, there are now two non-elected, private citizens serving on the Board.

I knew most of the basic details about the nine water systems in the County but I was not aware that the Service Authority ran five different wastewater treatment plants. All of these plants are running below their full capacity, which in some cases is a good thing and in some cases a bad thing. I thought of it like that swimming pool your neighbor uses twice a year. It costs them money to operate but it isn't used to it's full potential. One good question that was answered was how the base in Dahlgren factors in. In a word, they don't. The base functions independently of the Service Authority.

The water rates and debt fees have long been a hot topic among customers but during the meeting it was less so. Many on the Board already knew the history behind the recent changes in rates and debt service fees but it was nice to get a review from Thomas. He gave a break-down of how rates had actually decreased from last year in an effort to off-set some of the increases in debt fees. And with a restructuring of the minimum usage rates and tier structure, the goal was to more towards a "pay for what you use" system.

Out of this portion of the discussion, what I found interesting is that there are roughly 60 customers that are not metered. For various reasons, a meter could not be installed. Personally, I know of at least one customer who does not have a meter because their supply line could not be found. This was confirmed by Thomas as one of the reasons the Service Authority has customers in this category. Another is that a meter was never installed for some reason and now the property owners won't allow the Service Authority to install a meter. In other words, as a private property owner, it's your right to deny access to the Service Authority to dig up your yard and install a meter. Unless you already have a meter, then they have the right to access it.

Another interesting tidbit from this discussion was the topic of tampering with meters. Despite attempts to lock meters, remove meters, or somehow secure them, some customers have found ways to circumvent the system in an effort to avoid paying for the water they use. It doesn't sound like this is a common practice across the County but it does sound like the Service Authority has been working hard to make it harder for people to tamper with the meters.

Thomas concluded with some homework for the Committee. He handed out the proposed expenditures for the upcoming budget cycle and, despite the County developing a two-year budget, said he was very hesitant to develop a second year because of all the variables involved. Bennett and Werle both commented that they went through the expenditures with Thomas and every line-item they looked at reducing or had questions on had a data to back up the proposed number.

In the end, I highly encourage anyone and everyone that's interested in the Service Authority's budget, or the County's or even the School Board's, to attend these work sessions. They are highly informative, the atmosphere is typically less uptight than a regular meeting, and you get to hear from the directly involved why things cost what they cost.

REVIEW: "Black Panther" Breaks Barriers, and the Marvel Mold, to Thrilling Effect

Anyone who reads my blog knows I’m not the biggest fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It’s not that I don’t like the characters, or appreciate the attempt to translate the sprawling Marvel Universe to film; it’s just that the films have, in recent years, traded originality for security.  They’ve been formulaic and have leaned heavily on established characters, like Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, to get behinds in seats.  And that’s taken away from the storytelling, and the unique voice of each character that every film should have.  Marvel has even, in these last several years, moved away from employing film directors like Jon Favreau (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2,”), Kenneth Branagh (“Thor”) or Joss Whedon (“Avengers”), in favor of workmanlike TV directors such as Joe and Anthony Russo (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Captain America: Civil War”), who, prior to their association with Marvel were mostly known for shows like “Community” and “Arrested Development.” 

Marvel’s troubles deepened when Patty Jenkins (“Monster,” “Wonder Woman”) turned down “Thor: The Dark World” and Whedon walked away from the franchise after “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”  Most recently, Ava Duvernay (“Selma”) turned down the opportunity to do “Black Panther” because she felt that Marvel was too hands-on and wouldn’t let her make the film she wanted to make.  Enter Ryan Coogler. 

Ryan Coogler’s first film (as writer and director) was “Fruitvale Station,” starring Michael B. Jordan, the true story of Oscar Grant, a Bay area resident who was killed in Fruitvale Station on New Years’ Eve 2008.  The film got a lot of attention at film festivals and won a lot of awards, including an AFI Award for Movie of the Year.  It made Michael B. Jordan a star almost overnight.  He went on to star as the Human Torch in Josh Trank’s “Fantastic Four” reboot, and then as Adonis Creed in the “Rocky” spinoff, “Creed,” written and directed by Coogler. 

Coming off of the success of “Creed,” which also won a ton of awards and saw Sylvester Stallone nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role as Rocky Balboa (he did take home the Golden Globe for the performance, at least), Coogler was approached to direct “Black Panther.”  I like Ryan Coogler’s work, he’s a very talented man and when I heard he was doing “Panther” I was surprised because Marvel is notorious for losing talented directors.  But it also meant I became more interested in “Black Panther” because it stood a chance of not being the same regurgitated paint-by-numbers superhero movie that Marvel has become famous for making (guy is a jerk, guy gets power, guy loses power because he’s a jerk, guy learns to be less of a jerk -- possibly with the help of a previously established Marvel hero -- guy gets power back, guy beats villain, the end).  From 2008’s “Iron Man” to last year’s “Doctor Strange” and “Spiderman: Homecoming,” the plot hasn’t varied too much. 

I’m happy to say that Ryan Coogler hits a home run, and delivers the best Marvel film in years.  Much like DC and Warner Bros. made the right decision in giving Patty Jenkins the keys to Wonder Woman, and much like Jenkins successfully walked the line between making the film the studio wanted, and injecting her own voice and sensibility into the film, creating something special, so too does Coogler handle the demands of a mega-budget franchise film with the focus and assurance of a truly great filmmaker.

Left to right: Lupita Nyong'o, Chadwick Boseman, and Danai Gurira in Marvel's "Black Panther".

From the film’s opening, in Oakland, California in the 1990’s, kids shooting b-ball through a milk crate nailed to a sheet of plywood, it’s clear that this is a different kind of Marvel movie.  It feels real and immediate, and it looks real, too.  Many of these superhero films take the alternate reality aspect to the level that you don’t recognize the world they’re set in as our own.  “Panther,” though, knows that it has some work to do because you’re about to see a movie about a fictional African country called Wakanda, that exists in a cloaking field, and we’ll buy that as long as we can still recognize the world as our own.  The sequences in Wakanda are beautiful, and the performances are all top-notch.  I’ve liked Chadwick Boseman since his turn as Jackie Robinson in “42,” and the beautiful Lupita Nyong’o has been a favorite of mine since “12 Years a Slave.”  She’s utterly wasted in Star Wars as the CGI Maz Kanata, but not so here, where she gets to appear in person and participate in action scenes, particularly the film’s big finale. 

Andy Serkis is back from “Age of Ultron,” reprising his role as arms dealer Ulysses Klaue, and Martin Freeman returns from “Civil War” as Agent Ross.  They’re also, I realized sometime after the film ended, the only two white guys in the whole picture, which is fantastic since in most films those numbers are more or less exactly reversed.  Also of note here, is the fact that no previous established Marvel heroes show up to help Black Panther on his journey.  This is his journey and his alone, but he has an excellent support team in Nyong’o as a spy named Nakia, along with a fierce bodyguard named Okoye, portrayed by Danai Gurira; his tech genius sister Shuri, played by Letitia Wright; Daniel Kaluuya as his military leader W’Kabi; and a couple of well-placed legends: Forest Whitaker as Zuri, and Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Black Panther’s mother. 

And you know Coogler had to put Michael B. Jordan in there somewhere.  He’s Killmonger, the Black Panther’s nemesis, in a twist that beautifully pays off that back-alley b-ball opening in Oakland.  Killmonger, despite his name, is a character who is almost sympathetic.  You hate the things he does (he’s a bad man) but you can understand why he is the way he is, and that lends him a necessary humanity, a three-dimensionality that the best villains have.  And thus, in the best superhero tradition, the final conflict is more than just a power battle, it’s a clash of competing points of view, and the only thing that really decides you on who is right, is the fact that you recoil from how far Killmonger is willing to go to get what he wants. 

The net result?  Even if this wasn’t a “black” movie, it would still be the best Marvel movie in years because Ryan Coogler made all the right choices, and gave us a hero who stands on his own as a compelling character, and will therefore be a worthy addition to the canon.  The fact that it’s a milestone picture, a movie about a black character, with an almost all-black cast, written and directed by a black man, well, that’s why this film is destined for greatness.  In a saturated market, this is a superhero film that stands out as meaningful and important in so many ways, and it has a strong, clear voice, it has a point of view, and it makes its point without insulting or talking down to anyone.  Ryan Coogler’s voice is a good one, and welcome, and I firmly believe he’s about to be highly sought-after in Hollywood.  I hope we see many, many more films out of him – in any genre he wants. 

REVIEW: In "Darkest Hour," Gary Oldman Delivers the Performance of his Career

When Gary Oldman was approached by Joe Wright to star as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour,” Oldman had one caveat: Kazuhiro Tsuji had to do his makeup.  If you’re not familiar with Gary Oldman, well, you don’t watch many movies, I guess, but at any rate, here’s Oldman, and here’s Oldman as Churchill:

Gary Oldman, left, and Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, right.

That’s a pretty drastic  difference.  Now if you’ve never watched an episode of SyFy’s “Face/Off,” let me tell you… this is the work of an artist.  Oldman’s entire body had to be transformed with a fat suit, and his whole face had to be done in such a way that it could hold up to close-ups and wouldn’t interfere with Oldman’s performance, but rather enhance it.  The shocking thing is how successful it is.  I can see why Oldman requested Kazuhiro Tsuji.  For a job like that, you need the best, and Tsuji pulled it off with such precision that he must, in fact, be the best. 

So let’s talk about the movie.  I shouldn’t have to say this, but I will anyway, just in case: don’t get your history lessons from movies.  Movies are lousy at teaching history.  Movies are make-believe, and the people who make them get to make stuff up.  They’re good at making stuff up, they enjoy it, and the goal is that we enjoy the stuff they made up.  That’s as true if you’re watching an historical drama as it is if you’re watching a fantasy film.  You know how movies based on books are never the same as the books?  Same principle.  So don’t go into “Darkest Hour” expecting the history to be entirely accurate.  It isn’t.  But that’s not what’s important when we talk about a movie.  What’s important is whether the movie is good.  And in this case, it is.

The movie is set during the early days of Churchill’s Prime Ministry, in 1940, when the usual policy toward Hitler was appeasement, believing that sooner or later he would stop, that he would behave with honor and decency in at least some measure.  Churchill’s predecessor, Neville Chamberlain, believed this, and so did his allies in Parliament.  But Churchill wasn’t having any of that.  Winston Churchill was a man who understood that sometimes it’s necessary to take a stand.  That having an enemy wasn’t as bad as not having a self. 

The film explores Churchill’s struggle; he has Nazis knocking on the door.  He has half of Parliament and much of his own cabinet against him.  King George VI isn’t crazy about him either.  And almost the entire British Expeditionary Force is trapped at Dunkirk, pinned down by Nazis on land and in the air – a mess he inherited.  There are bitter decisions to be made, and it takes a leader with broad shoulders to take on that kind of responsibility, to make those impossible choices.  Oldman plays Churchill as a man who was private conflicted, but publicly confident and self-assured.  I believe that is the burden of every leader. 

A poor leader wears that conflict publicly, creating doubt and uncertainty in those around them, and casting suspicion upon the entire apparatus.  A good leader shows certainty and confidence, even if they don’t feel it; and in so doing raises morale and galvanizes people into action.  Churchill was a man of appetites: cigars, alcohol, food.  He was also a very intelligent man, eloquent and wise, who understood persuasion.  He was theatrical, in just the right amount; he knew how to inspire. 

You might ask what the story is, here, in the film.  The film takes place from Churchill taking the office of Prime Minister, to the successful rescue of the men from Dunkirk and the “We Shall Never Surrender” speech.  What it shows, in that window, is a man everyone is wary of, whose apparent desire to go to war against Germany scares the hell out of Parliament, slowly winning over his detractors, or maneuvering them into corners, and taking control of a difficult situation.  Cleaning up a mess he inherited.  It’s a fine thing to watch if you can handle a quiet drama about political maneuvering.  I found it very powerful.  

All of this works, of course, only if Gary Oldman’s performance, and Kazuhiro Tsuji’s makeup, can deliver.  Oldman is indisputably one of the best actors working today.  He studied footage of Churchill, listened to his voice, looked at his mannerisms, his walk, the expressions on his face, and he tried to soak all of that up and find the man.  In various interviews he talked about how he felt in some sense that he was not only standing in Churchill’s shadow, but in the shadow of every actor who has portrayed him down through the years, from Albert Finney to Brendan Gleeson.  

Oldman’s up for an Academy Award for this performance, and it’s self-evident from the film why he’s the favorite to win.  You forget who it is you’re looking at, you just accept him as Churchill and go along for the ride.  For some, the film may not have the kind of story they like, leaning more heavily on the strength of Oldman’s performance.  But if you appreciate acting for the art that it is, and you want to see a great one at the height of his craft, I recommend Darkest Hour.

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2018-02-22 - Public Notice - Angelwood Marshall Homes Project