THE VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION FOR PARKS

SPRING CONFERENCE

APRIL 6-8, 2006

 

 

--SYNOPSIS—

 

            The conference site was Lake Anna State Park – Doug Graham, Park Manager. As usual, most of the attendees arrived during Thursday afternoon and evening. Cabin #7 was designated as the “conviviality site” and, during the course of the evening eight large pizzas met their doom.

 

            Friday morning began with a continental breakfast at the visitor center. Doug Graham then welcomed the attendees and we boarded the vans for the tour. It was raining so we did a “driving” tour of Lake Anna State Park including the new campground that is still under construction but nearing completion.

 

            From Lake Anna, we headed for Leesylvania State Park where we were welcomed by Jeff Foster, District III Manager, and Ken Benson, Park Manager. After enjoying a short film on the history of the Park, we toured the visitor center and enjoyed the exhibits. Next, came a riding tour of the Park accompanied by a commentary on the features we saw.

 

            The vans arrived at the James H. Dillard Memorial Shelter and we dismounted to enjoy a wonderful barbecue lunch provided by the Friends of Leesylvania State Park and the scenic views from the Shelter. Following lunch, we were able to take short walks along the shoreline and visit the store located at the boat ramps.

 

            Then, it was back in the vans enroute to our next stop. That stop was at a very scenic overlook on the property that will become Widewater State Park. The Leesylvania Park Staff had erected a tent with seating along with snacks and drinks. They had also arranged a briefing about the land and its history. As a part of that briefing, Mr.Charles Dean and his wife, Anna, presented us with an extemporaneous history lesson going back to the 1800’s.

 

            Departing Widewater, we headed back to Lake Anna State Park arriving in sufficient time to make use of Cabin #7 for a while before heading over to the Visitor Center for dinner. The dinner was a “soup and salad sampler” provided by the Friends of Lake Anna State Park. The meal featured salads, five different soup, chowder, and chili recipes, home-baked bread, and various desserts. Senator Edd Houck and his lovely wife, Dana, joined us for dinner and the Senator spoke for a few minutes after the meal. Then, it was back to Cabin #7.

 

           

 

 

Saturday morning began with breakfast at the Visitor Center followed by a few comments from Doug Graham. The first agenda item of the business meeting was a presentation by Joe Elton, Park System Director. This year is the 70th anniversary of Virginia’s State Park System and Joe gave us some very interesting information on how the Park System came into being and its evolution over the years. He told us about some of the events that will take place this year to celebrate the 70th birthday and then brought everyone up to date on the status of construction projects across the system.

 

Following a short break, we heard reports from VAFP’s officers –President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Lynn Davis, National Parks Chair, spoke about the continuing saga of the encroachment issue at Booker T. Washington National Monument and Roy Allan Dudley spoke about how VAFP plans to help with the 70th birthday celebration events, and VAFP’s participation in Jamestown 2007 and in the National Association of State Park Directors Convention that will be held in conjunction with Jamestown 2007. Roy also mentioned the upcoming fall elections for VAFP officer positions.

 

The next agenda item was the educational component of the conference. Michelle Prysby, State Coordinator gave a presentation on the Master Naturalist Program that she is bringing on line across the Commonwealth. Michelle can be reached through several addresses including “masternaturalist@vt.edu”,” mprysby@vt.edu”, or www.virginiamasternaturalist.org.

 

Next, Gaston Rouse, Volunteer Program Director, spoke about the status of the volunteer manual that is being drafted and several other initiatives that are underway and  of interest to the attendees.

 

Then, after a short ”open floor discussion”, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 noon and lunch was served.