The divides in Rappahannock tend to play out in public — angry exchanges at county or school board meetings, insults on social media or yard signs against plans for a bike trail or a boundary adjustment to accommodate the Rush River Commons project.
That will be addressed in the “This Place” series. But so will the moments when divides diminish, when different parts of the community come together to work or play or celebrate a special occasion. Those can be times of harmony that live up to this idyllic setting. One such event occurred recently on Eldon Farms. “Cancer is Messy” was organized to honor cancer survivors and their families, including two young students at the county’s elementary school, Anne Genho and Farrah Gates.
To get a feel for that Saturday in May, click above to watch our first “This Place” video.
It’s like being struck by lightning. That’s how Lynnie Genho describes how she and her husband John felt last June when they were told their then six-year-old daughter, Anne, had cancer, specifically T-cell acute leukemia.
Saturday, May 14, Eldon Farms in Woodville hosted a very special event — an event to honor cancer fighters, especially two young Rappahannock girls, Anne Genho and Farrah Gates.
Randy Rieland was a newspaper reporter and magazine editor for more than 20 years, starting with stints at the Pittsburgh Press and Baltimore Sun, and moving on to become editor of Pittsburgh Magazine and a senior editor at Washingtonian magazine.
He made the switch to digital media in 1995 as part of the team that launched Discovery.com, the website for the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and other Discovery Communications Networks. He ultimately was promoted to senior vice president of Discovery Channel Digital Media.
After his return to print journalism, Randy has written for Smithsonian and Johns Hopkins Magazine. He is a longtime, regular contributor to Foothills Forum. His stories, appearing in the Rappahannock News, have won numerous Virginia Press Association awards for excellence.
When he’s not reporting, Randy is a volunteer with the National Park Service at Arlington House, above Arlington National Cemetery. He and his wife, Carol Ryder, have owned a house off Tiger Valley Road since 2005.
Reach Randy at [email protected]
Luke Christopher is a “Best of D.C.” photographer and two-time winner “Best in Show” for the Virginia Press Association photo essay award. He started his career as a writerat the University of Maryland’s Diamondback. With a passion for telling visual stories viaphoto and video, he interned at National Geographic Television and worked as a videoeditor at Discovery Channel.
Luke’s photography clients have included The National Gallery of Art, The Washington
Post, Washington Times, Washingtonian magazine and The Embassy of India. In his
travels, he produced a documentary for the Cyprus Tourist Board. Since 2016, he has
worked as a photographer, videographer and reporter for the Rappahannock News and
the newspaper’s nonprofit journalism partner, Foothills Forum.
Covering local government meetings and events has connected him with the farmers,
first-responders, local businesses, charities, schools, artists and all the other wonderful
people who make Rappahannock County, Va., so special.
Reach Luke at [email protected]
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Randy Rieland was a newspaper reporter and magazine editor for more than 20 years, starting with stints at the Pittsburgh Press and Baltimore Sun, and moving on to become editor of Pittsburgh Magazine and a senior editor at Washingtonian magazine.
He made the switch to digital media in 1995 as part of the team that launched Discovery.com, the website for the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and other Discovery Communications Networks. He ultimately was promoted to senior vice president of Discovery Channel Digital Media.
After his return to print journalism, Randy has written for Smithsonian and Johns Hopkins Magazine. He is a longtime, regular contributor to Foothills Forum. His stories, appearing in the Rappahannock News, have won numerous Virginia Press Association awards for excellence.
When he’s not reporting, Randy is a volunteer with the National Park Service at Arlington House, above Arlington National Cemetery. He and his wife, Carol Ryder, have owned a house off Tiger Valley Road since 2005.
Reach Randy at [email protected]
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Video: On a Saturday in May, joining hands for a good cause
