To the Editor of the Roanoke
Beacon,
On behalf of Washington County 250, I extend sincere thanks to the many people who made the recent exhibit at the Roanoke River Lighthouse and Maritime Museum a great success.
Quilt Committee members include Jill Manring, Lyn West, Kristy Modlin, and Mark Pardue. All worked diligently to create a very special exhibit during the time we had the traveling National Washingtons Unite quilt in our county for an exhibit from September 9 through 13.
Our visitors from near and far enjoyed all of the quilts, but also enjoyed having a chance to see the main quilt, the one created by 29 of 31 Washington Counties across the country as a celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary.
We were fortunate to have several other groups and organizations support our efforts.
These include Washington County Schools, Washington County Arts Council, Washington County Explorers who did an excellent job serving refreshments at the reception on September 13, Sonona Jefferson, our Washington County 4H Agent and the children and adults who worked to make their 250 quilt, Washington County Travel and Tourism, our hosts, Roanoke River Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, and North Carolina 250.
We are grateful to all of the people who loaned us quilts for the exhibit: Eva Williams, Eva Vann Whitaker, John Spruill, Jean Spruill, Martha Blount Simpson, Sheli Murray, Terry Luton, Anne Keyes, Rosa Brown, Jennifer Hardison Hurlbut, Donna Phelps Hoffman, Phyllis Hardison, Jimmy Hardison, Helen Galligan, Susie Koonce, Hannah Davenport, Hilarie Barber Blevins, Betty Bowen, Judy Winslow, and Philippi Church of Christ Prayers and Squares Ministry.
Because of their generosity in loaning us quilts that ranged in age from over a century to the newest one year old specimen, we had quilts from many of Washington County’s local communities. Those are: Cherry, Creswell, Mt. Tabor, Pea Ridge, Skinnersville, Long Acre, Lees Mill, Roper, Pleasant Grove, Mackeys, Plymouth and Long Ridge.
One can see this was a community effort through the additional support provided by Susan Boyce Sawyer, Eva Williams, Kathy Waters, Pam McKinley, Ray Price, and Tom Harrison. Mark Pardue, Kristy Modlin, Jill Manring, and Ann Keyes made the reception possible. Greg Snyder of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources helped document our project through photo images and some video coverage. He and Kristy Modlin took some beautiful images to help us remember this great celebration.
We definitely found a way to bring people together to work for a common cause.
Many thanks to John Spruill, Chairman of our Board of our County Commissioners for being part of the program. We appreciate his fellow commissioners, Ann Keyes, and Carrol Phelps who also joined us at the reception.
Everyone worked together to make this a lovely event.
Finally, we appreciate the many visitors to the exhibit. Besides people from Washington County, we had guests from Martin, Tyrrell, Perquimans, and Pitt counties, as well as folks from the middle of the state, and South Carolina, California, Utah, and South Dakota.
Tim Reavis of Washington County, Arkansas, had a great vision when he invited the rest of the Washingtons to partner and develop a joint project. This shows the power of one man and an idea that spread across the country and throughout our county. He made quite a positive impact.
Very truly yours,
Chris Barber,
Washington County 250