Belle Isle Park

Wilderness Road State Park Represented Well at Cultural Heritage Commission Meeting

Friday, March 12, 2010 by Michael Brindle

Wilderness Road State Park manager Jonathan Tustin and park concessions manager Mike Brindle attended a meeting of the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Commission in Jonesville, Virginia on Thursday, March 11. The meeting was held in order to give input to the Commission concerning the cultural assets in Lee County. Wilderness Road State Park and several of its facilities and features were well represented in the meeting, and were among the most popular county assets, as voted on by the participants in the meeting.

The Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Commission, chaired by Senator William C. Wampler, Jr., was established by the 2008 General Assembly and appointed by Governor Timothy Kaine to encourage economic development through cultural heritage ventures and initiatives related to tourism and other asset-based enterprises throughout the 19-county, 4-city region.

The Commission, staffed through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, is coordinating the development of Heartwood: Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Gateway, currently under construction alongside Interstate 81 next to Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon. This regional centerpiece and its electronic counterpart, a new Southwest Virginia website, will serve as gateways to the stunning cultural and natural resources that define Southwest Virginia for residents and our visitors.

Cultural assets, such as those provided by Wilderness Road State Park and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, were identified and placed in the inventory to help tell the regional story through the website and in travel itineraries from Heartwood. The inventory builds on the work of The Crooked Road and ’Round the Mountain, also overseen by the Commission. While those organizations are busy inventorying and promoting the region’s heritage music and craft traditions, this committee is identifying physical sites of broad historic, outdoor recreational, and scenic interest in the region.

Historic Martin’s Station, the Karlan Mansion, the Wilderness Road Trail and the park itself were identified as assets that can help tell Lee County’s stories of: The Frontier, the Westward Migration, the Civil War, Recreational Venues and Scenic Vistas.

Tustin was elected Chairperson of the Lee County committee whose responsibility it is to now nominate 6 assets to be exploited by the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Commission and the Heartwood complex.

Peaceful time

Friday, March 12, 2010 by Virginia State Park Visitors

A visitor post from Jeannie Westmoreland, Richmond, Virginia

New Years Eve we got away...My husband & I with Our yellow Lab (Chester) went to Bear Creek State Park.. First time there.. and it was beautiful...Snow still covered the ground and the peaceful mornings drinking hot tea over looking the lake was breathtaking. Our cabin overlooked the lake,which was beautiful every morning and evening. Just listening to the woods come alive every morning and seeing the sunrise was a moment I will never forget! Our Lab had a wonderful time walking the trails with his master. While I had time too read and do a little writing. Our long weekend was just beautiful,magical and something you would find only in dreams. The peaceful walks along the lake to the breathetaking sunsets. You will never find that in the city. If I can take one thing from this trip ..It would be "Life will never be able to exist without nature"....I can not wait to return for another wonderful vacation.

Bear Creek Lake State Park Waterview Cabin in the Snow

Spring Floats

Friday, March 12, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

I know it's almost spring because a glance at our events database show the beginning of our canoe and kayak programs.

Belle Isle State Park, Lancaster, Virginia

4/10/10 Grand Ole Osprey Canoe Trip
4/24/10 Sunset Canoe Trip
4/24/10 Full Moon Kayak Trip
4/30/10 Full Moon Canoe Trip

False Cape State Park, Virginia Beach, Virginia

4/04/10 Afternoon Kayak Paddle
4/11/10 Afternoon Kayak Paddle
4/18/10 Afternoon Kayak Paddle
4/24/10 Afternoon Kayak Paddle

Holliday Lake State Park, Appomattox, Virginia

4/03/10 Canoe Tour
4/10/10 Canoe Tour
4/17/10 Owl Call Canoe Tour

Canoes are ready to go at Belle Isle State Park

Fight For Your Parks

Thursday, March 11, 2010 by Tom Cervenak

With shrinking budgets across our nation, one of the first things that is thought of to be cut is our parks. What's interesting though, is that these cuts amount to only a tiny portion of the overall budgets' of cities, counties and states and the benefits that we lose when closing a park are in measurable. Think about your childhood and where you went to play; think about some of the tougher times in our life and where you went to clear your head or to have a quiet cry; think about where you took your children to plan on the playground equipment; think about where you took your son to fish for the first time or where you had a family reunion or picnic. I would bet most of your answers were a "park", whether a city, county, state or national park, I would bet we all have gone to one for memorable times in our lives. Today now more than ever we need places to go. In these tough times you may find the answers during a walk in the park, or at least, you had a break from the pressures of life. Our parks are tonics for the mind, body and spirit of America. So when you hear someone talking about closing parks to save money where you live, go ahead and fight!

The Shorty Awards

Friday, March 5, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

So if you're not on Twitter and maybe even if you are, the Shorty Awards may mean you are scratching your head. Last night the Second Annual Shorty Awards were held at the Times Center in New York City. To help you out, here is the blog I originally posted about the awards.

Our Shorty experience began with this nomination. In the interest of full disclosure, Mike works for me, but I had no idea he was going to nominate us and really didn't know much about the Shorty Awards until after he got the ball rolling.

Whether we were ever in the running for a Shorty, it was great to read all of the "because" reasons our followers submitted.

Midnight PST on January 29th was the deadline for the nomination process. At that point, the top six highest vote getters became the finalists and voting began. The voting was the same - a tweet that included the reason you were voting. While you could vote multiple times, only one of your votes were counted. Voting closed at noon EST on February 5.

In addition to the popular vote, a committee called the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences made a final decision which considered the votes and the body of your tweets. Thanks to all of the support we got from the Richmond, Virginia Twitter community (there were 5, count 'em 5 Shorty finalists from #RVA), great support from the anipal community on Twitter (my dog @yoda_the_dog has a lot of wonderful furiends), and our great @VaStateParks followers, we were second to @NASA after the popular vote.

I really wanted to go to New York for the awards but with the state budget as it is, I knew if I went it would be on my nickel. Thanks to the opportunity to share a room with another finalist (@BZTAT finalist in #art) and because I could drive, it was possible.

The Shorty Awards were held at the Times Center in New York City

The Shorty Awards were a neat experience even though we didn't win. @CoryBooker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey took the Shorty in the #government category and got to shake CNN's @RickSanchezCNN's hand. I had an opportunity to congratulate him and received two nice hugs (not those polite half-hugs). I decided it was not too bad to lose to him. Winner or not, being a finalist was a great honor and a testament to our social media efforts. Most of the rest of my friends that were finalists - @BZTAT (#art) @FrugalDougal (#nonprofit), @AustinPrime (#brand) @MadMain (#advertising) @Flack4RIC (#travel) - are also in the "happy to be a finalist" category. However, Jonah Holland who tweets @LewisGinter took home a Shorty in the #culturalinstitution category!

The best part of the trip was to meet some of the friends I have made on Twitter. This is probably the first time I have visited New York where I did no site-seeing - it was all people seeing and it was great.

Why We Do the Things We Do - Campsite Assignments

Saturday, February 27, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

It has not been lost on us that many park systems have moved to reserving specific campsites with their reservation systems. We have that capacity in our software and actually choose to not have the sites reserved by specific site.

Spacious campsite at Chippokes Plantation State Park (campground B)

Why? In a nutshell the reason is that our current method provides us with a flexibility to control site usage to best meet the needs of campers.

We actually have a couple of primitive campgrounds that allow site specific reservations so customers know where they need to go. One thing that happens is that at a certain point customers can no longer make multiple night reservations on the same site. What this means is that there may be a site or sites available for each night a customer wants but no one site is available both nights. With non site specific reservations, customers are shuffled to sites to keep this from happening.

Not hard to understand why the Lakeside campground at Douthat State Park is so popular

In a perfect world all of our sites would be able to accommodate all of the different camping equipment customers bring. That is actually our current design standard. But many of our campgrounds were built many years ago when folks did not drive 40 foot RVs. We have expanded sites as much as possible but we would stand to lose a lot of really nice smaller sites that are still great for tents and pop-ups if we tried to make all the sites uniform. With site specific reservations there is nothing to prevent a customer with a tent reserving the largest site we have available in a campground which could needlessly prevent a camper with large equipment from enjoying the campground.

James River State Park's Red Oak Campground

We do understand that there are a variety of reasons customers want to reserve specific sites. The main reason is often so that multiple families or larger families that need multiple sites can be sure they can camp together. Actually it is in our best interest you can camp together because it reduces traffic in the campground if folks camping together are really together. The best way to be together is to have one person make all of the reservations for the group in the same name. Individuals can still call in an pay for their individual reservations but you tell the reservation counselor and the park that you want to be together. If you book on line, you can just call at your convenience to let us know at least a week before your arrival. The only restriction is that you will have to all arrive together and coming in on a Saturday will add complications. Holiday weekends can be a challenge too but the park will do its best to get you together.

Other campers may have equipment or a special access need. Again, if you make us aware of the problem, we will make every effort to accommodate you. The park can pre-assign sites to accommodate both groups and campers with special needs.

A smaller group of campers really like a special site. I'm afraid that is still the camper we can't promise to accommodate. However arriving earlier in the week or earlier on Friday will give you optimum choices. Since many of our customers do not have a preference or have never been to a particular campground, their selection of a specific site could easily result in them selecting one that they don't like. We do not have the staff, and often not a great internet speed, to be able to make complex site changes. When all the sites are sold out on a weekend, there is really no way we can help these folks. Again, the non site specific reservations give us more flexibility.

With the exception of our most popular campgrounds, the weekend is the sell out time. Park staff pull arrival reports and pre-assign sites for the campers with special needs. Many parks then allow customers to select their own sites. The exception is some of our smaller campgrounds who carefully assign sites upon arrival based on the size of the equipment.

Lakefront campsite at Bear Creek Lake State Park

We are working hard with our new campgrounds to design sites so that all camping equipment can be easily accommodated. We have opened such campgrounds at Lake Anna, James River, Chippokes Plantation and Belle Isle in the last few years. We have purchased former private campgrounds at Hungry Mother and Douthat to provide more campsites (Douthat's new campground should open next year). This summer we will be opening new campgrounds at Shenandoah River, Natural Tunnel and Holliday Lake state parks.

New campground under construction at Shenandoah River State Park

I would be remiss if I failed to brag about our wonderful new bathhouse design. If you have visited of our new campgrounds or a park that has gotten a new or substantially remodeled bathhouse, you will have seen our design. In addition to the rest room portion of the bathhouse, we have four family friendly shower rooms. Single parents camping with children of the opposite sex no longer have to worry about sending their children alone into a bathhouse.

Shower rooms in the new bathhouse at Belle Isle State Park

Young People in Virginia State Parks

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 by Amanda Moore

When someone asks where I work, I proudly respond with “The Department of Conservation and Recreation with the Division of State Parks.” Coming from an 18 year old, this tends to sound rather impressive. I have worked off and on with State Parks for three years. Sure, I’ve had other jobs at salons, doctor’s offices, etc. None of them can compare with my experience at State Parks.

During my employment I have gained valuable administrative experience, and received excellent customer service training. But most importantly for me, I have been converted from what my mother refers to as “an improper foot wear, city girl” to a hiking boot wearing outdoorsy girl with a new found love and respect for Mother Nature. And the best thing about State Parks is that there are so many opportunities for people my age. You could be working in one of Virginia’s most precious resources! Check your local State Park and visit our jobs listing.

YCC Supervisors Garret Milton, Amanda Moore, Jason Milton at Shenandoah River State Park

Outdoor Photography Workshop

Thursday, January 14, 2010 by Annette Bareford

Outdoor Photography Workshop

Volunteers are incredible people! Especially Virginia State Park Volunteers! They never cease to amaze me. One of those special people is Matt Asai. He has been photographing the State Parks for a while now. As a volunteer photographer, he has photographed events and facilities at seven state parks in the northeastern and northern half of Virginia. Matt also taught Outdoor Photography sessions for the Women’s Wellness Weekend at Westmoreland State Park. From there he offered to hold workshops for not only the public but staff. Classes will be first offered at the State Parks in the Northern Neck and later in Northern VA.

Matthew Asai has been an avid photographer for over 35 years. 35mm photography was his main medium until he switched to digital photography about five years ago. His passion is landscape photography. To hone his skills he attended the Andsel Adams Gallery Advanced Landscape Photography seminar in Yosemite National Park. He has also photographed numerous weddings throughout the years and enjoys doing portraits.

His work has been published in Virginia Wildlife, The Bay Journal, Free Lance Star and the Virginia State Park E-news. His photos can be viewed at www.mattasai.com

The first work shops will be held the last weekend in January:
The class will be a two-hour program for digital photography and will cover:
Your camera; composition & artistry; tools & settings. Techniques & shooting modes
In the field – advice and critique.

Bring your camera and something to take notes. Part of the class will be outside, weather permitting, please dress appropriately. The two-hour class is free but parking fees will apply and participants will be asked to share photos taken with the park. Also, donations to help support programming can be made to the “Friends” support organization of each park.

Reservations are required. Space is limited so please choose your location and make
reservations as soon as possible.

Westmoreland State Park – January 30th – 9-11am
Brad Ramsey, Chief Ranger – (804)493-8821
Brad.Ramsey@dcr.virginia.gov

Belle Isle State Park – January 30th - 1:30-3:30pm
Charlene Talcott, Chief Ranger Interpreter – (804) 462-0162
Charlene.Talcott@dcr.virginia.gov

Caledon Natural Area – January 31st – 1:30-3:30pm
Sammy Zambon, Chief Ranger – (540) 663-3861
Sammy.Zambon@dcr.virginia.gov

For directions visit www.virginiastateparks.gov

Winter Woods Walk at False Cape State Park--Feb. 7th

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 by Staci Martin

Get outdoors and enjoy the wonders of winter on the coast!

False Cape State Park is offering an Winter Woods Walk on Saturday, Feb. 7th from 1pm-4pm. The tour/hike program will depart from Little Island City Park, continue through Back Bay National Widlife Refuge, and on into False Cape State Park's maritime forest area. This naturalist-led hike will give you an opportunity to identify coastal trees and shrubs, sneak a peek at some early emerging spring plants, and look for animal tracks in the sand. Cost is $10 per person and reservations are required by calling 757-426-7128. Transportation to the park is by open-air tram. Dress appropriatey for the weather. Don't forget your camera!!!

2009 Marks Record Virginia State Park Attendance

Sunday, January 10, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

One aspect of the recession is that tight pocketbooks send families looking for lower cost vacation alternatives. In 2009 Virginians and visitors to Virginia found trips to state parks were a great value for the money and visited in record numbers.

Joe Elton reported in his Annual Report for 2009, "Visitation is up 4% over last year, camping is up 8%, volunteerism is up slightly to more than 235,500 hours with a total value of more than $5 million placed on that labor. Revenues are up 11% over last year. Total Reservations for the year are up 5% over last year bringing total revenue to more than $8 million for the first time in history [for camping and cabins]."

Family gathering at Bear Creek Lake State Park's family lodge

Photo courtesy of Bill Crabtree, Virginia Tourism Corporation

The extra revenue came in handy since budget cuts for FY2009 and 2010 exceed $3.4 million. Dedicated park staff and volunteers worked hard so visitors would not notice the impact of those cuts despite of the loss of 19 full time positions and the need to keep another 25 vacant positions unfilled. There has also been a reduction in part time staff who support park operations.

Many state parks offer pool or beach swimming like Staunton River State Park

Virginia State Parks will receive a little over $15.7 million for fiscal year 2010 which ends June 30, 2010. In calendar year 2009, the 7.5 million visitors contributed in excess of $175 million dollars to the state and localities, or eleven times the expense to the Commonwealth. In addition to being a tonic for the mind, body and spirit, our state parks are an excellent investment for our tax dollars.

High Bridge State Park - the 35th State Park - opened in 2008

New cabins and campgrounds at Shenandoah River and Natural Tunnel state parks and three additional cabins at Douthat State Park should boost revenue and economic impact in calendar year 2010. These facilities are the result of the 2002 State Park and Natural Area General Obligation bond which was designed to increase the revenue capacity of our state parks. The bond also funded new cabins at Kiptopeke, Claytor Lake, Occoneechee, Bear Creek Lake and James River state parks and campgrounds at James River, Belle Isle and Lake Anna state parks which are already open.

New campground under development at Shenandoah River State Park

Winter Wildlife Festival in Virginia Beach

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 by Staci Martin

The City of Virginia Beach is hosting a Winter Wildlife Festival in partnership with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries on January 30, 2010 featuring field trips to False Cape and First Landing state parks. This festival is a great opportunity to get loads of outdoor recreation information, learn to identify wildlife habitats, and get to know your local parks.

The festival will focus on environmental education and wildlife and will feature excursions, educational sessions and outdoor oriented vendors--including a Virginia State Parks information booth.

The exhibit all will be open from 9am-3pm at the recreation center with educational excursions occuring throughout the day. Information on education sessions and excursions can be found at www.vbgov.com/winterwildlife.

The excursions to False Cape and First Landing are as follows:

12:30pm-4:30pm Ride in the Terragator along False Cape's remote beach observing shorebirds, whales, and maybe even catch a glimpse of an old Italian shipwreck. The return trip will feature a ride on the open air tram through Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge where you'll see ducks, swans, and egrets.

8:30am-11:30am Take a guided hike along First Landing's shoreline to observe pelicans, sandpipers, and other shorebirds. The trip will also include a tour of the shoreline at Fort Story.

5:30pm-7:30pm Explore the night time woods of First Landing State Park looking and listening for noctural wildlife including owls and raccoons.

All of these programs require registration through the City of Virginia Beach Winter Wildlife Festival website. visit www.vbgov.com/winterwildlife for registration information.

More Winter Fun at False Cape State Park

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 by Staci Martin

Got the winter doldrums? Looking for a fun family outing?

Make it a False Cape State Park Wildlife Winter Wonderland Weekend! (Say that 10 times fast)

On Sunday, January 10, 2010 False Cape will offer a Winter Wilderness Survival program that focuses on how plants can save your life! Find out which plants are fiber plants to make rope, how to find shelter/make shelter from trees, find out which plants provide food and how to start a fire with only plant materials (No matches!) Cost is $10 per peron. Registration is required at 757-426-7128. Transportation is by open air tram---dress appropriately.

On Saturday, January 16, 2010 False Cape will offer an evening Stargazing and Owl Hoot program. Journey through scenic Back Bay National Wildlife Regue to the heart of False Cape State Park. You'll be able to observe the night sky away from city lights and headlights. While we listen for distinctive owl hoots, we 'll look for shooting stars and identify winter constellations. Cost is $10/person. Registration is required at 757-426-7128. Transportation is by open air tram--dress appropriately!!

On Sunday, January 17, 2010, False Cape will offer an afternoon trip into the remote Wash Woods area where a community of hardy souls lived until the 1930s. We'll hike the 1-mile round-trip trail to the area's historic site where the historic church steeple and cemetery reamin. Cost is $8/person; $6/child & seniors. Registration is required at 757-721-2412. Transportation is by open air tram--dress appropriately!!

On Sunday, January 24, 2010 False Cape will offer an orienteering program called Finding Your Way. Discover ways to find directions using nature as a guide, how to use a compass, and finally how to use a GPS unit to return to your starting point. Cost is $10/person. Registration is required at 757-426-7128. Transportation is by open air tram--dress appropriately!!

Again-- Transportation is by open air tram, programs are conducted outside--dress appropriately and don't forget water and a camera!!

So You Want To Be A Park Ranger Chapter 5

Saturday, December 19, 2009 by Tom Cervenak

Ed Note: Readers you are in for a treat as Tom Cervenak, Visitor Services and Marketing Manager for Virginia State Parks, weaves the story of how he came to work for parks and what his career has been like. This series will run nine chapters, with many of them split into two parts.

Chapter 5 Paying My Dues (Part 1)

I think everyone that goes to college feels like you will graduate and someone is going to just hand you the perfect job in your profession. Well it doesn’t always work that way and I found out I chose a profession that was hard to find a full time job. It’s not like the “park business” is an expanding operation with new factories being built. There are just so many National and State Parks and not too many new ones get added. The Park Rangers at these parks like their jobs so they don’t leave very often. So I found you had to pay your dues and your bills all at the same time. I was able to find seasonal type jobs related to my career for the summers and then in the winter I worked doing absolutely anything to pay off my college loans.

One of my first jobs related to my field was a Camp Counselor at Camp Union Conservation Camp in New Hampshire. It was a great summer to learn and develop interpretive programming skills with inner city Boston children. At the end of the summer, however, I showed up back home with all of $500 and I’m not sure my parents were that impressed with the prospects of a career and doing this type of work.

I then worked for Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge System in Connecticut and Rhode Island as a Youth Conservation Corps Leader. Another great summer working on many outdoor projects with youth. I actually stayed in a small apartment of a very large mansion that I was told Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt used for summer getaways. In the end, once again, somehow I didn’t bankroll a lot of money from the summer.

All dressed up for my interview in 1986 with Virginia State Parks

Watch for Part 2 of Chapter 5 tomorrow

FOCUS For Excellence Customer Service Awards

Saturday, December 19, 2009 by Paula Hill

Each year all state park employees participate in the Virginia State Park's FOCUS for Excellence customer service training program. All new employees attend an extensive three hour class intended to arm them with the best customer service skills possible. Additionally, all employees periodically attend a refresher class and receive a monthly newsletter full of customer services tips and articles. Director Joe Elton likes to say "FOCUS for Excellence is not just a program, it's the way we do business."

Besides training our employees, we reward them for exceeding our guests' expectations. While we award certificates, letters and lapel pins throughout the year, we also recognize one outstanding employee from each of the seven districts and our Richmond offices. An overall FOCUS for Excellence Employee of the Year Award is also presented to the employee who we feel best exemplifies what FOCUS is all about.

If you'd like to acknowledge one of our employees for their outstanding customer service skills, visit our website at www.virginiastateparks.gov and click on FOCUS for Excellence or complete a Your Comments Count Survey after a visit to one of our parks. Postcard forms are also available at each park.

This year's FOCUS for Excellence Employee of the Year Award has been given to Stephanie Allen, Office Manager at Staunton River State Park. Stephanie was nominated by her park manager for her extraordinary efforts in handling guest registration.

Office Manager Paula Hill, FOCUS for Excellence Employee of the Year Stephanie Allen and Virginia State Parks Director Joe Elton

The campground at Staunton River is not only small but has a limited number of each type of site. This often makes accommodating campers that wish to be together a difficult task. Stephanie has not only managed to accomplish this task but has done so in a way that has created many returning guests. While having a reservation only means that you will have a site when you arrive, Stephanie has done everything in her power to accommodate all special requests. This often means looking weeks ahead and calling guests to confirm a request, offering suggestions to the guests on how to accomplish the request, or simply offering an explanation of why we can't honor the request and the best compromise that we will be able to offer.

Taking on this extra task is not always pleasant but she has realized the importance of it and made it a priority. All of her hard work in this endeavor has made Staunton River a second home to many guests who Stephanie knows by first name. She even remembers what type of camping equipment they have. Stephanie's 2009 motto was "You unpack the car and we'll do the rest" and she has held true to that saying.

Other outstanding FOCUS Employees for 2009 are:

District I - Sarah Hipple, Office Assistant, York River State Park
District II - Linda Rouse, Program Support Technician, Belle Isle State Park
District III - Ricardo Hoyos, Interpreter, Mason Neck State Park
District IV - Caroline Garmon, Park Ranger, Pocahontas State Park
District V - Emily Taylor, Housekeeper, Staunton River State Park
District VI - Gary Harris, Maintenance Ranger, Claytor Lake State Park
District VII - Pam Smith, PST, Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park
Richmond Offices - Raleigh Layne, Reservation Counselor, Reservation Center

Please join us in congratulating all of these outstanding employees!

Virginia State Parks Staff Recognized for Excellence

Saturday, December 19, 2009 by Nancy Heltman

Retiring District Manager Jim Kelly (center) accepts his Employee of the Year Award from State Parks Director Joe Elton (left) and Department of Conservation and Recreation Director Joe Maroon (right)

Our Agency held two employee recognition events in the last month to honor employees who have made special contributions to Virginia State Parks. I will be posting a series of blogs on these staff and their special contributions.

We do two recognition events to enable staff from across the state to attend one of the events.

The highest recognition is Employee of the Year and we honor six employees from across the state for this honor.

Here are the winners:

David Summers, Law Enforcement Manager Dave was responsible for coordinating a complete re-write of the Agency's General Orders which govern the conservation officers, policies and procedures. He also coordinate an on line test to assure all officers were trained on the General Orders.

Sue Smith, Reservation Center Assistant Manager
If you have ever had a customer service issue with our reservation center, you may remember talking to Sue since she has a lovely British accent. No - we are not sending our calls off shore! Sue's exceptional customer service skills and her work to keep service delivery standards high with half of the staff (due to budget cuts) made her deserving of this award.

Bryan Anderson, Director of Logistics and Training
Last year at this time Bryan was called upon to go out to our Logistics Center and Sign Shop to provide continuity of operation since our two key staff were close to retirement. Little did we know that he only had a year since both Goldie and Joyce were slated for a retirement deal as a result of the budget crisis. Bryan had to learn in a year more than 75 years worth of institutional knowledge on top of his normal division training responsibilities.

Tim Shrader, Park Manager, Belle Isle State Park Tim was selected for this award for his efforts in the community and his compassionate concern for his staff. Our parks are a vital part of their surrounding community and staff often make significant contributions to local organizations.

Mark Hufeisen, Park Manager, New River Trail State Park Mark has been battling cancer for two years and his fight resulted in the partial and then full loss of his leg. In spite of the physical challenges and pain, Mark continues working and is always positive. He inspires all of us.

Jim Kelly, District VII Manager If you read my post on Jim's retirement party, you will understand that his 35 years with Virginia State Parks has significantly shaped our operation and, in particular, Hungry Mother State Park. We felt this award in some small way recognized his lifetime achievement.

So You Want to Be A Park Ranger Chapter 3 Part 2

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 by Tom Cervenak

Well I was into weather and had developed a “television personality” and it just so happened that my Uncle Ed was General Manager of Channel 5 in Cleveland, thus an “easy in” on a career as a weatherman. I even took a Meteorology course in college and got an A, finishing 3rd in the class in making daily predictions over the course of the quarter. But alas, I wanted to be a Park Ranger and live in the woods, working on Yogi to leave the picnic baskets alone so families could have a nice visit. I did find, however, that my knowledge of the weather and reading the sky has come in quite handy in my career, especially when leading canoe trips.

Next came 2 years, or was it 5 years, I’ll never forget, I think. The College Years…

The strength of Hurricane Isabel in 2003 wiped out bridges and
downed trees and closed York River State Park for 6 months.

Watch for Part 1 of Chapter 4 tomorrow

So You Want to Be a Park Ranger? Chapter 1 Part 2

Saturday, December 12, 2009 by Tom Cervenak

Chapter 1 - Humble Beginnings (Part 2)

The second great event in my life to help mold my career was when my Dad built us a cottage in the woods on Pymatuning Lake near Linesville, Pennsylvania the year I was born, as a place to escape the big city lights and noise of Cleveland.

I like to say my Dad built it just for me, but my 4 sisters might tell you different. It was here I learned all the great things you can do in the outdoors like, swimming, fishing, hiking, canoeing, boating, picking berries, cutting firewood, chasing butterflies, watching bald eagles catch fish, catching lightening bugs in a jar and playing kick the can. Does anyone know the game “kick the can?”

It was a great beginning to a love affair with nature that continued to grow into my High School days…

Tune in for Chapter 2 tomorrow!

So You Want to Be A Park Ranger I

Thursday, December 10, 2009 by Tom Cervenak

Chapter 1 - Humble Beginnings (Part 1)

So how does a kid growing up on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio end up living in the woods of Virginia, often miles away from the nearest grocery store or other conveniences of a city? Well here is my story of a wonderful journey in several parts, like the stages of my life.

My early days were often spent playing in the dirt in the garden while helping grandpa. Worms are cool! My early birding skill was standing on the porch railing trying to catch the pigeons that made a nest in the eaves within reaching distance. To prove to one of my sisters my love of insects, I would catch bees in the hollow of my hands and pray they didn’t sting me. All were good starts for my career, but there were two things that truly got me pointed in the right direction; Growing up in the Catholic Church and my Dad’s foresight to find an escape from the city.

Well if you know anything about the Catholic Church you will understand why it gave me a basis for the beginning of my career and my present day position with Virginia State Parks. The Catholic Church has raffles and more raffles and when that is done, they have more raffles. These raffles had PRIZES for selling the most tickets and as a young kid in a big family of sharing; a new bike looked pretty good.

My grandparents and parents were social folks that taught me to be open and talk, just not when they were talking. Between being outgoing and the incentive to win prizes, I became quite the talker and salesman at a very young age. I consistently sold the most tickets for raffles. I wonder if my grandparents and parents were secretly sending people to buy tickets from me. Either way, I WON!

Thus, came one of the first building blocks of my career, a love of people. It helped me to develop great communication skills, able to break down barriers with most to find common ground. Although my fiancée might say different at times, but that’s another blog for another day.

Watch for Part 2 of Chapter 1 tomorrow

On Beach Camping Temporarily Suspended at False Cape State Park

Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Nancy Heltman

They finally got the barge full of hazardous material containers pulled away from the Sandbridge shore near Little Island City Park, but all is not right with the beach at False Cape State Park.

The November nor'easter (they really should name those because it was as bad as many hurricanes we have faced) really took a bite out of the beach.

Before:

After:

For those of you that have never camped at False Cape State Park, campers who rent the ocean side sites (sites 4-9) at Barbour Hill and False Cape Landing are generally allowed to either use the established sites on the west side of the dunes, or camp out on the beach next to the dunes.

You might also be unaware that there is some vehicular traffic on the beach. In addition to park staff, residents of the northernmost part of North Carolina down to near Corolla Light were grandfathered access to Virginia Beach via the beach when the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge was formed. Coincidentally, my sister is married to one of those grandfathered residents. These folks drive on the beach between North Carolina and Sandbridge.

Usually as long as campers stay close to the dunes, even at high tide there is no problem with the traffic. But given what is left of the beach, we have now ruled that the beach camping is too dangerous. We hope this is just temporary but I have no projections on how long the prohibition will last. Camping in the established sites west of the dunes is still allowed.

I'd hate for my sister to run over a camper!

Treasure Hunting – the other recreational family activity at a Virginia State Park

Saturday, November 14, 2009 by Virginia State Park Visitors

Another story shared by a Virginia State Parks lover

by Shellie Anne, Rocky Mount, Virginia

You can do this any time of the year – not just summer months when Philpott Lake is a warm 82 degrees. Nestled at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains is a very special place called Philpott Lake and Fairy Stone State Park. Besides the hiking, biking, swimming, fishing, hunting, camping, kayaking etc at this state park, you can also search for buried treasure called Fairy Stones. The only requirement is that there are no digging tools or implements used as you dig for these mythical stones as personal treasures.

The legend of the Fairy Stone from the Virginia.gov DCR website says Fairy Stones are known to be in the shape of a cross and come in three main variations; St Andrew, Roman and Maltese. Many hundreds of years before Chief Powhatan's reign, fairies were dancing around a spring of water, playing with naiads and wood nymphs, when an elfin messenger arrived from a city far away. He brought news of the death of Christ. When these creatures of the forest heard the story of the crucifixion, they wept. As their tears fell upon the earth, they crystallized to form beautiful crosses. For many years people held these little crosses in superstitious awe, firm in the belief that they protected the wearer against witchcraft, sickness, accidents and disaster.

Fairy stones are staurolite, a combination of silica, iron and aluminum. Staurolite crystalizes in twin form at 60 or 90 degrees fahrenheit, which accounts for the stone's cross-like structure. Found only in rocks having been subjected to great heat and pressure, the mineral was formed long, long ago, during the rise of the Appalachian Mountains. The stones are most commonly shaped like St. Andrew's cross, an "X," but "T" shaped Roman crosses and square Maltese crosses are the most sought-after. Staurolite stones are also found in the mountains of North Carolina and in Switzerland, but nowhere else in the world are they found in such abundance and shaped so nearly like crosses as in the vicinity of Fairy Stone State Park.

Fairy Stones can be made into jewelry like a necklace, ring or bracelet. Even put onto a keychain. Those pictured are three different Fairy Stone crosses we found. What great family fun in season or out, make an adventure of it like we did! Go to the visitor station at the park and they will give you a map to show you where you may dig for these little crosses. HINT – To find these stones the best method is to just simply sit right down in the red clay and start scratching around in the dirt. You will be surprised with what you find!