RC Annual Conservation Awards

Coming soon

• Historic Preservation Award: Don Hasfurther and Historic Lexington Foundation (HLF)
  • Don Hasfurther – in recognition of and gratitude for his leadership of the Historic Lexington Foundation (HLF) and his steadfast partnership and collaboration to promote best planning practices and preservation of community cultural resources.
  • Historic Lexington Foundation (HLF) – in recognition of and gratitude for their ongoing partnership and collaboration on best planning practices and preservation of our local cultural resources.
• Lifetime Conservationist Award: Steve & Wendy Richards in recognition of and gratitude for founding the Maury River Monitors program, and for training volunteers and managing the program for decades.
• Conservation Leadership Award: The Lexington News Gazette in recognition of and gratitude for their continuing support of local conservation efforts through coverage of environmental issues, including the Caught Green-Handed program, watershed, land conservation and waste prevention issues.
• Special Recognition: Horace Douty in recognition of and gratitude for his decades of tireless dedication to mowing the Uncas Trail, given upon his resignation from said activity.

• Lifetime Achievement Award: Charles Bodie & Adrienne Hall-Bodie  RACC Founders and long-time supporters and dedicated Board Members.
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation Riparian Buffer Program and Sarah Hellewell/Coffey – riparian buffer tree planting program
• Volunteer Leadership Award: David Hopkins for leading the completion of the Scenic Maury River designation.

• Community Champion Award: Chuck Smith, for his faithful stewardship of the environment while serving on the Lexington city council by, among other things, chairing the committee to reinstate recycling, shepherding a resolution to reduce single-use plastic waste, and improving access to trails and nature.
• Nature Nurturers Award: Peggy Dyson-Cobb, Jan Smith, and David Rosher, for their tireless commitment to improving the public’s enjoyment of nature by clearing trails at Brushy Hills and the Chessie Trail, ridding those same areas of invasive species to allow native species to return, and creating self-guided wildlife walks for all to enjoy during the pandemic.
• Clean Connections Award: Mike Keyser, for his visionary leadership at BARC Electric Cooperative in developing a sustainability plan that includes a goal of achieving 100% carbon neutral energy sales by 2035 and providing broadband internet service to rural communities, allowing students and adults to work, study, shop, and socialize remotely during the pandemic.
• Lifetime Achievement Award:  Fred and Phyllis Fevrier RACC honors Fred and Phyllis for their many years of devoted service as board members, committee chairs, and tireless volunteers, especially Fred’s leadership in the adoption of solar energy and the promotion of clean energy generally, and Phyllis’s leadership in sustainable gardening practices, native plant protection, and water quality

• David and Goliath Award to the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance, under the inspiring leadership of Lewis Freeman, for building a coalition of 51 organizations that succeeded against all odds in compelling Dominion Energy and Duke Energy to abandon the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
• Relentless Warriors Award to the Southern Environmental Law Center, in recognition for their dedicated pursuit of justice and tireless work, using the power of the law to challenge the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
• Praemium Pro Conservatione Naturae Gratis Adiuvanda to the W&L Law School Community Legal Practice Center, for their dedication to the quality of community life and generous pro-bono legal services in creating the Sunnyside Trail and the Uncas Trail.

• Land Conservation Awards – The Bartenstein Family for generously donating key open-space land to establish the Sunnyside Trail, an important link in the Rockbridge Brushy Blue public trail network benefitting current residents and future generations of the Rockbridge Area.
• Special David-and-Goliath Award – Jared Jenkins, Esq. for his brilliant defense of the Rockbridge community’s rights in the stewardship of the House Mountain Preserve.
• Visionary Action Award – Walkers Creek Volunteer Fire Department for their leadership in installing solar panels to make theirs the first Emergency Services Facility in Rockbridge powered by solar energy.

• Land Conservation Award – the McThenia Family. RACC honors two generations of the McThenia Family for their decades of leadership in Rockbridge conservation.
• Lifetime Achievement Award – Sandra W. Stuart – for her years of untiring dedication and wide range of activities across all of RACC’s and other community water-related activities.
• Special David-and-Goliath Award – James and Skip Gercke – to recognize their efforts that forced Dominion Power to mitigate the new, oversize power towers that were degrading the viewshed all across northern Rockbridge County.
  full text of the 2018 awards here

• Lifetime Conservationist – Ed Spencer.
• Virginians for Responsible Energy (VRE) – for outstanding efforts informing the public about environmental hazards posed by the potential development of the Rocky Forge Wind Turbines project along the North Mountain ridgeline.
• Town of Glasgow – Green infrastructure planning.

• Ugo Benincasa – Robert E Lee Hotel Renewal
• Virginia DEQ, Don Kain, Nesha McRae, and Tara Seiber – Buffalo, Colliers, and Cedar Creeks TMDL Water Quality Improvement Project – Valley Regional Office
• Paxton House Renovation – Paxton House Historical Society, Carlton Williams, Linda Flint, and Fran Williams

• Lifetime Conservation Service Award – Mary Stuart Gilliam – In recognition and honor of her lifetime work as a passionate steward of the natural and cultural resources of Rockbridge County, Lexington, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
• Sustainability Award – Founders of the Friends of the Chessie Trail for fostering and bringing to life sustainable and beneficial use of the Chessie Trail for citizens, visitors, and students, as well as the flora and fauna that abound.
• Conservation Award Source Water Overlay Zone
  • Chris Slaydon, Assistant Director of Community Development, Rockbridge County
  • Sandra Stuart, Associate Director of the Natural Bridge Soil and Water Conservation District
  • Maury Service Authority

• Rockbridge Solar Co-op and VA Sun – Community renewable energy.
• The Meadows – Hunter Mohring. Green burial ground.
• Elise Sheffield – Environmental educator.
• Katherine Smith – Lifetime Conservation Service, native plants.
  2016 RACC Awards full text

• Conservationist Award – Faye Cooper
• Wise Stewardship Awards
  • Lexington and Rockbridge School Districts – Public School Geothermal Systems
  • Perry Hammond – Building a new trail to the top of Little House Mountain
  • Bobby Berkstresser and Staff, the first idle-free truck parking stations in Virginia’s I-81 corridor, LED lighting, tree plantings, and health and fitness facilities at his truck stops.

• Conservationist – Bill Blatter, former Lexington City Planning Director, for his dedication to land preservation, sustainable energy, urban revitalization, and green development, which helped change the conversation about our local environment.
• Wise Stewardship Award – Rockbridge Appalachian Trail Communities Advisory Committee, for their work in establishing the City of Buena Vista and the Town of Glasgow as Appalachian Trail Communities.

• Butch Snow – For farming practices that have resulted in the conservation of valuable land and improved water quality in the Hays and Walkers Creek watershed.
• RACC successfully nominated the following for VCC’s Better Models of Development Award
  • Project Name – Lexington Main Street Renaissance, Class of 2009 – 2010 Preservation and Redevelopment Projects.
  • Project Addresses/locations/owners:
    • Sheridan Building, 115 – 121 South Main Street
      Project Owners – Sallie and John Sebrell
    • First National Bank Building, 22 South Main Street
      Project Owners – Matt Gianniny and Bruce Schweizer
    • Historic County Courthouse, 2 South Main Street
      Project Owners – John G. Adamson
    • Troubadour Theater Building, 36 North Main Street
      Project Owners – Everett Gilbert and Wayne Heslep

• Donald’s Meat Processing – Tim Donald and Charlie Potter
• Conservation Easement Donors – Class of 2010
  • Amonette, Gregg B. and Susan P.
  • Black Widow Design LLC and Lucy Ivanoff
  • Black, Edward S.
  • Bloxton, Francis. E., Jr.
  • Brooks, Joan G.
  • Cabe, Paul R. and Leigh Ann Beavers
  • Cash, Michael A.
  • Dod, John B. Dod, II and Nancy Lee Dod (brother and sister)
  • Dod, William R., Trustee, John B. Dod, II, Nancy Lee Dod and Laura L. Dod
  • Dod, William Rader, Trustee of the Eleanor Bell Dod Trust
  • Dowler, David L. & Marsha R.
  • Firebaugh, Donald W., Trustee of Donald W. Firebaugh Living Trust
  • Ford, Russell Seaton and Lindlay Goolrick Ford
  • Gercke, James W. and Adele H.
  • Gilbert, Robert W. and Kathryn W.
  • Glencroft Farm, LLC, Olivia S. Reed, Member/Manager
  • Glick, Katherine H
  • Golian, Bruce K. and Louise F.M. Golian
  • Goodbar, Bernard W. and Judy A.
  • Harris, William L. and Jane P.
  • Hecht, Patrick E., Sr. & Virginia Sue
  • High Meadows Land Company
  • Ingleside Land, LLC, Charles B. Leech,IV, manager
  • Irvine, Charles E. & Edna Colleen
  • Irvine, Christopher L., additional grantor Martha E. Irvine
  • Irvine, Francis W. II, et al
  • Jeffer, Donald P., Sr. & Jeanette R. & Donald P. Jeffer, Jr. & Jeanne L.
  • Johnston, David A. and Audrey Johnston
  • Kerr, Thomas, V, and Nancy J.
  • Kingfisher Farms LLC, Eric S. Spencer, Manager
  • Landes, Patsy R. and Charles Benny Reid
  • Leech, William M., III
  • Leech, William M., III, Leech, Frank M., Ferguson, Dalia S. Leech
  • Mann, Laurence A., Trustee under Land Trust
  • Mann, Laurence A., Trustee Under Land Trust Agreement
  • Martin, Walter L. and Edith L.
  • McLaughlin, Lee M., Jr. and Nancy F. McLaughlin
  • McVey, George J., Jr. & Mary Ellen Houser McVey
  • Moneymaker, Donald M. et al
  • Ochsenbein, Gary D.
  • Pioneer Estate, LLC, Stuart, Martha Boyden et al
  • Potter, W. Stephen and Martha C.
  • Rabern, David W. & Susan J.
  • Sandridge, Charles Michael
  • Schad, Rebecca C. & Klingelhofer, Philip T. & Mary Jane S.
  • Sheridan, John M.
  • Showalter, Charles D.
  • Showalter, Edward G.
  • Sterrett, Margaret L. & Sterrett, M.M., Jr. (add’l grantor)
  • Stone Tavern, LLC, trustees of the William W. Whitmore, Jr. Trust
  • Swisher, Keith L., Marie W. & Frances S.
  • Swisher, Keith Lewis and Marie W.
  • Swisher, Reid K., Jr. & Betty M.
  • The Greene Farm, L.L.C.
  • Thompson, Thomas L., Sr,
  • Tolley, Roger D. and Mary J.
  • Voss, Darvin A. and Gail D. Milan
  • William L. Harris, III and Louise W. Harris, by William L. Harris, III, her attorney in fact
  • Yawars, David E. and Carolyn C.
  • Zentz, Leonard B. and Kathy S.

• Rockbridge Grown
  • Peggy Dyson-Cobb, Mary Lynn Lipscomb, Tara Miller, and Linda Wilder
• VMI Timber Framers – Grigg Mullen (For constructing the Goshen Shelter in memory of RACC co-founder Royster Lyle)
• Boxerwood Educational Association – Founders, Directors, and Staff

• East Nelson Street Commercial District
  • A. & P. Macheras,
  • Frank’s,
  • Wendy’s,
  • Bill Blatter,
  • Tru-Value Hardware
• Friends of Brushy Hills
  • Alexia Smith,
  • Ellen and Larry Martin,
  • Barbara Lachman,
  • Mike Seeger,
  • Kit Huffman,
  • Dave Zwart

• New Sewage Treatment Plant
  • Bob Akins, Maury Service Authority (MSA)
• Woods Creek Restoration Program
  • Kay Bailey (KB), Bill Blatter, Betty Besal, Sam Crickenberger, Arthur Bartenstein, Mollie Messimer

• Buena Vista Planning Initiative
  • City of Buena Vista, Buena Vista Planning Commissioners, Harold Kidd, Tracy Shifflet, Scott Dadson, Todd Jones, Tim Petrie
• REAP (Rockbridge County Purchase of Development Rights initiative) –
  • Chuck Barger, Sam Crickenberger, Kathy Holm, Nanalou Sauder, Mary Joy Scala, Dave Phemister, Roger Flint, Mack Smith, Ann Whitham, Steve Douty, County Board of Supervisors

No awards in 2024

• NEWTS
  • Kay Bailey (KB), Hunter Mohring, Boxerwood Education Association
• Rockbridge County Recycling Program
  • Kim Thompson
• Stoneyfoot Farm

• Citizen Conservationist – Jay Gilliam
• Environmentally Sustainable Living Project – Becky Hill, 6th grade educational program
• Stoney Run – Holland General Contractors, conservation easement and affordable housing
• Conservation Easement Donors
  • John and Cherie Taylor
  • Michael and Denise Lennon
  • Donald Firebaugh
  • Albin and Julia Hammond
  • Perkins Family Real Estate LLC
  • Sandy McLaughlin
  • Betty Teague
  • Philip Clayton
  • Keith and Penny Holland
  • Jerry and Joyce Rosen
  • Thomas and Janet Beebe
  • Rodger and Susan Rinehart
  • Harry and Mary Warner
  • William and Virginia Ruddiman
  • Majorie and Glen Rose
  • James and Julia Crothers
  • Anne Zimmerman
  • David and Marsha Dowler
  • Robert Wicklund/ Gerri Wenz
  • Ronald Mosocco
  • Dorothy Truman
  • Mary Moore Mason
  • Larry and Bethany Fresh
  • Jerry and Glenda Jackson
  • Royster Lyle
  • Laurence Mann
  • Paul Elliott and Bill Johnston

• Rockbridge County Growth Planning Committee
  • Carroll Comstock, Sam Crickenberger, Keith Holland, Melissa Holland, John Houser, Linda Lam, Clarence Martin, Alexia Smith, Chris Slaydon, Tommy Thompson, Chris Wise
• Mulberry Grove and Triple J Farms
  • Mack M. Serrett, Jr. Family, Barry and Isabelle Chewning Family, Jerry and Margaret McDonald Family, Jon, Jane, Sarah-Jane, and James McDonald
• Raphine Sustainable Business Corridor
  • Herb Farm, Orchardside, Rockbridge Vineyards, Wades Mill

• Buena Vista Curbside Recycling Program
  • Auto Recyclers,
  • Hamilton Contracting,
  • Buena Vista Department of Economic Development,
  • Buena Vista Department of Public Works,
  • Buena Vista Sheriffs Department
• Full Circle Catering – Jenny Elmes
• Effinger Ruritan Club
  • Bill Ruark;
  • Mitch Wapner,
  • Palmer Ice Cream Social;
  • David Frazier,
  • Environmental Committee