The [Dominion Virginia] Power of Volunteers

It’s amazing what you can get done with a little help from some friends- in this case, a dedicated group of volunteers from Dominion Virginia Power helping us at the Edge Hill Service Station.  Last Friday (March 11) they joined us on a beautiful late winter day to clean up our property at the corner of Main Street (Rt. 17) and Rt. 14 (the road to Mathews and beyond).  With both rake and broom, they swept up loose trash and debris inside the station and tangled with vines along the sides of the property, moving us a giant step forward towards restoring the Edge Hill Service Station.

Dominion Volunteers and Fairfield Foundation staff (left to right): David Brown, Todd Blanks, Donald O’Beirne, Mahlone West, Shannon Williams, Ricky Rangel, Jen Kostyniuk, Thane Harpole, and Jimmy Coleman.

Donny and Shannon helped lower the old garage door and sweep up fallen plaster and broken tiles within the station.  Mahlone and Jimmy removed old pipes, wires and tripping hazards, while installing two wooden posts that now hold our sign advertising “Help Us Restore Edge Hill Service Station.” Thane, Todd, and Ricky went about clearing years of unkempt vines, branches and saplings along the edges of the property while separating out recyclable materials from the rest of the trash.  Jen – who helped organize the day – turned the litter-covered patches of grass next to the station into potential garden plots.  With their help, we moved more than five truck loads of trash and debris from the site.

A day of volunteering is remarkable enough –

to do so after working long hours helping customers recover from the violent storms of March 9^th and 10^th is truly admirable.  The volunteers of Dominion Virginia Power are an amazing asset to our community and we are indebted to them for helping us turn the Edge Hill Service Station into a landmark we can all be proud of.  They follow in the footsteps of two very productive clean-out days in the fall of 2010 and we hope to continue our improvements to the property with planter boxes, additional signage, workshops and minor repairs to the station as we continue to fundraise to repair the roof and stabilize the walls.  If you are interested in chipping in – email us at fairfield@inna.net or call 804-694-4775.