Families Find Ways To Trim Back

100 Years of Purcellville History

Just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, the Purcellville Centennial Committee has released a coffee-table book in honor of the town's 100-year anniversary.

Written and edited by historical scholar Deborah Lee of Purcellville, the book chronicles the town's history through photos, newspaper excerpts, town records and personal anecdotes.

"All of the committee members and townspeople were so helpful with the compilation of this book," Lee said. "Jane Bogle, for instance, knew things that only people who've lived here their whole lives would know. She was a great help in identifying people in photographs."

The book is organized in 25-year increments and features poetry by Pulitzer Prize-winner Henry Taylor, excerpts from Asa Moore Janney and Werner Janney's book on the town and stories by Barbara Holland, Eugene Scheel and Bill Flowers.

My personal favorites are the posthumous tributes to town legends such as Broadway choreographer Billy Pierce; Ken Culbert, longtime Loudoun Valley High School educator and principal; and Loudoun Times Mirror writer and editor Frances Hazel Reid, who worked at the paper for a record 73 years.

Because of her long employment record, Reid was invited -- so the story goes -- to be a guest on the "Tonight Show With Johnny Carson." She declined the offer, saying, "I just won't take the time off from work here."

"Purcellville, VA, 1908-2008: A Centennial Anthology" is available for $35 at the Purcellville Marketplace, Heart's Delight, Blackberry's, the Christian Shoppe and Purcellville Copy.

Proceeds from book sales will be used to cover production costs and for programs that celebrate the town's history.

Celebrating Adoption

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) designated November as Adoption Awareness Month in Virginia. More than 1,000 children in Virginia are waiting for permanent, loving homes, he said.

In Loudoun, 91 children are in foster care through the county's Department of Family Services. That number has doubled in five years, said Francie Beverage, who heads up the department's training service.

"The goal of foster care," Beverage said, "is to safely return children to the care of their birth parents or extended family when appropriate."

When that cannot happen, adoption becomes the ultimate goal for the child's well-being, she said.