FoFAB closes a FoFABulous Year
(Some FoFAB highlights for the year 2000)

In the year 2000, FoFAB provided educational programs including walking tours, bus tours, and lectures for hundreds of local residents and battlefield visitors.  One of our most unique educational programs for the past two years has been a special Chancellorsville Battlefield bus tour we developed for Virginia Commonwealth University's Fasttrack MBA program. This special tour is designed to teach graduate students principles of leadership, teamwork, and project management.

This year, FoFAB produced two Junior Ranger booklets:  Fredericksburg Battlefield and Chatham and Chancellorsville and Jackson Shrine for the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.  These booklets are designed to teach children aged 9 - 12 about the historic significance of these battlefields.  Due to the overwhelming success of these two booklets,  we are currently working on a similar Junior Ranger program for children aged 5 - 8.  We are also working on a Teachers' Education Packet on the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.

In November, FoFAB and the Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table sponsored the Preserving Virginia's Civil War Heritage Workshop.  The primary objective of this workshop was to provide participants with practical instruction in battlefield acquisition and interpretation.
Participants came from as far north as New York and Pennsylvania and as far south as South Carolina and Georgia.

For the third year, FoFAB partnered with hundreds of local Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park to conduct the Fredericksburg National Cemetery Luminaria on Memorial Day weekend.  The Luminaria has quickly become the largest Memorial Day weekend event in the Fredericksburg region, drawing thousands of visitors each year to the National Cemetery to honor American veterans of all wars.

In addition to the education and interpretation programs listed above, we have also been active in raising funds to assist other groups to purchase four battlefield properties, and we have completed maintenance projects on local battlefields.

Some Goals for 2001

The FoFAB board has set several goals for the year 2001. As always, we will remain focused on Civil War education and battlefield interpretation. To that end, we would like to pursue the following goals in 2001.

* Continue to offer numerous Civil War lectures, walking tours, and bus
tours for local residents and battlefield visitors
* Continue to serve as the fiscal agent for the Fredericksburg National
Cemetery Memorial Day Weekend Luminaria to honor veterans of all American wars
* Complete the battlefield interpretation plan for the Cedar Mountain
battlefield
* Develop a Junior Ranger program for children ages 5 to 8 to
* Complete the Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield Teachers' Education Packet
* Begin to develop a series of battlefield brochures for sites which
currently have no interpretive brochure
* Host the annual Preserving Virginia's Civil War Heritage Workshop during Veterans' Day weekend.  The goal of the workshop is to provide training on battlefield acquisition and interpretation strategies.
* Continue to support the efforts of those who are seeking to purchase local battlefield property
* Continue to be strong advocates for battlefield preservation

The FoFAB board is always eager to hear your ideas.  If you have a
suggestion of a program or project FoFAB can initiate to further our goals of Civil War education and battlefield interpretation, please feel free to contact us.  We would love to hear from you.  If you would like to help in these efforts, we would welcome your participation.

Membership Dues

FoFAB membership dues for the year 2001 are now due.  Please continue to support our efforts by renewing your membership with a contribution of at least $10 per person or family. A membership application is provided online.  FoFAB is an IRS approved tax-exempt non-profit organization. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Thank you for your support.

Junior Ranger Program Part II

Due to the overwhelming success of the two Junior Ranger booklets issued at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park last summer, FoFAB has decided to prepare a similar program for younger visitors. In July 2000, the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park began offering two Junior Ranger booklets designed for young people ages 9 through 12. Lee Ann Williams, Friends of Fredericksburg Area Battlefields (FoFAB) Education Coordinator, supervised the creation of the two booklets.  Janice Frye and Elsa Lohman, both of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, also assisted with development.  The purpose of the Junior Ranger booklets is to help the next generation understand the importance of the events which took place in the Fredericksburg area during the Civil War. Junior Ranger booklets are available at Eastern National bookstores in the park at a cost of $3 each.

The new Junior Ranger program will be targeted for children ages 5 - 8. Rather than a booklet, the children will receive one worksheet with
questions and activities.  These worksheets will follow the same subjects as the Junior Ranger booklets.  There will be worksheets for Fredericksburg Battlefield, Chatham, Chancellorsville Battlefield, and Jackson Shrine. Participants can earn a Junior Ranger sticker by completing the activities on the worksheets.  Activities include visiting the battlefields and museums, attending guided walking tours, hiking interpreted trails, and completing questions and games on the worksheets.  FoFAB hopes to have the Junior Ranger worksheets available free of charge to children ages 5 - 8 in time for the summer visitor season.

Bloomsbury Farm Makes National Register

Congratulations to Agnes McGee, FoFAB Board member and owner of Bloomsbury Farm in Spotsylvania County.  Bloomsbury, built in the late 1700s, was the site of the Battle of Harris Farm on May  19, 1864 , the last battle during the Spotsylvania Court House campaign.

The Civil War Preservation Trust currently owns three acres, which include a monument to the Massachusetts First Heavy Artillary and two interpretive signs at the site.  FoFAB has been maintaining the Harris Farm battlefield site for the past couple of years.

Special thanks goes to two neighbors of the battlefield for helping us with mowing the property.  In 1999,  Jack Eckenrode helped at the site.  Since Mr. Eckenrode moved to New England,  Mr. Bryant, assisted with mowing on the property in 2000.

Lending A Helping Hand

Although FoFAB's primary purpose has always been Civil War education and battlefield interpretation, we also realize that battlefield acquisition is essential.  In 2000, FoFAB raised approximately one thousand dollars for four specific land acquisition projects by three different organizations:

(1)   Central Virginia Battlefields Trust for the purchase of land at
Chancellorsville
(2) Civil War Preservation Trust for the purchase of land at Brandy Station
(3) Civil War Preservation Trust for the purchase of land at Cedar Mountain
(4) Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation for the purchase of land at
Trevilian Station.

Preserving Virginia's Civil War Heritage Workshop

The Friends of Fredericksburg Area Battlefields (FoFAB) was pleased to have the opportunity to host the eighth annual Preserving Virginia's Civil War Heritage Workshop in conjunction with the Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table (RVCWRT) on Veterans' Day weekend 2000.  RVCWRT hosted the first seven workshops which proved to be very successful in providing information  on local battlefield preservation efforts while helping to raise funds to save some of the most threatened battlefield sites in our region. When the CWRT executive committee considered taking a well-deserved break from the
workshop in 2000, the FoFAB board volunteered to step in to help continue the annual workshop.

Participants hailed from Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York.  The Saturday agenda consisted of four lectures on battlefield acquisition and interpretation.  Enos Richardson of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) presented the first program.  His topic was Land Acquisition Strategies.  Mr. Richardson discussed setting priorities for what to purchase and how to develop a strategy to save the most significant sites.

The second session was "Land Acquisition Funding" led by Susan Hawley and Davinder Khanna two Vice Presidents of the National Park Trust. They discussed practical strategies for raising the funds needed to preserve battlefield sites.

After lunch, John Hennessy, Assistant Superintendent of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, led a discussion of battlefield interpretation planning.  He discussed the current philosophy of interpreting National Park battlefields and future plans for an overhaul of interpretation at the four battlefields managed by the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Our final speaker, Sam Garcia of Future Designs, spoke about Museum Exhibit Planning. His presentation gave participants a step-by-step plan for creating a museum and museum exhibits.

After the seminars, participants enjoyed a banquet with Don Pfanz as the guest speaker.  Don Pfanz, the staff historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park discussed the famous flank attack led by "Stonewall" Jackson during the Battle of Chancellorsville.

On Sunday, Mac Wyckoff, a Civil War historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, led participants on an all-day bus tour of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Spotsylvania Court House battlefields.  The tour gave a summary of the three battles, but emphasized the actions of South Carolina troops.  Wyckoff has authored two books on South Carolina troops.

"In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create but by what we refuse to destroy."
 - John Sawhill