by Mary Wakefield Buxton –
URBANNA —
My favorite time of year is autumn and how I enjoy walking through the town of Urbanna as the golden leaves fall lazily to the ground. Scuffling through the leaves along the roads on my daily walk lends such pleasure. The exercise triggers imagining, wondering and dreaming. I call my daily walks with my cocker spaniel, “Dandy,” one of many small town pleasures.
What’s been happening in town lately? The Waterman’s Park has been put into top notch shape by Jim and Cheryl Payne and Jim and Susan Hays and other kind neighbors. We can actually see the river now, which had disappeared from overgrown bushes and shrubbery. What a nice thing for these good citizens to do and thank you!
Which leads me to also thank all the Urbanna candidates for the upcoming election who have offered their services to the town by running for public office. We are most fortunate to have such good candidates and win, lose or draw, we appreciate those who make the sacrifice.
Thank you also goes to Urbanna Baptist Church. They sponsored a delicious fish fry in September “free” to the community. Of course, we all put money in an offering basket but what a great idea knowing that anyone who needed a meal could get one simply by calling the church and making a reservation. The food was good too. They served fried Whiting filets, cole slaw, rolls, and french fries. They did it again this week offering barbecue dinners. I do hope they keep it up because of my many shortcomings; this lady hates to cook!
Supervisor Pete Mansfield, who has been banging and sawing away on his fixer-upper house on Cottage Row all summer long, has finally finished his project. It looks great! Many older houses in Urbanna have experienced a serious dressing up of late and the town is better off for it. Not many properties are available in Urbanna any more as so many Richmonders are seeking a second home in the area; so get your house or property here while you can because one day soon you will be very fortunate you got here while the getting was possible. Think what happened to Annapolis, Md., which was once a small town.
One Sunday morning while walking Dandy “to the church and back,” our usual route, we came upon the Methodists meeting outside at their fountain patio for a musical communion. They invited us to join them. It was so nice.
The “Jubal” trio was playing, a marvelous musical group led by “Bunny” Dunlevy. We understood it was international communion day and so we joined in and were introduced to something new … a “pandemic safe all in one plastic container of bread and wine.” The first layer was “bread,” a disc that someone in the group mentioned tasted like Styrofoam (and I agreed) and the second layer was a shot of juice. These symbolized the flesh and blood of Jesus reminding Christians the world over even several thousand years after his death on the cross that his words are still with us.
They certainly are: The love and forgiveness that the Christian faith stands for is an important force in the world today and when you stop and think what humanity would be like without such checks on human behavior, one can easily envision a jungle where man behaves little better than beasts. The Methodists are smart to move their services outside on pleasant days to welcome passersby to their services.
One morning we came across a new flagpole being installed in front of Tony Robusto’ s house on Rappahannock Avenue. It seems Jimmy Bristow had not only given him the flagpole but helped him install it and raise the colors. What a beautiful sight seeing the brand new American flag waving in the morning breeze! Tony is a World War II and a Korean War veteran. Jimmy is a Vietnam War vet with two purple hearts. Tony’s new flagpole is a wonderful addition to town.
I had a call from Evelyn Turner (whom I consider the “Grand Dame of Deltaville”) last week. It was so good to hear her cheerful voice! She has been at Heron Cove in Gloucester since enduring a fall last year and Middlesex County hasn’t been the same without her. Visitors are limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but if you would like to send her a card her address is 7385 Walker Ave., Gloucester, VA 23061.
As a last note, have you tried a local farm grown barbecued beef sandwich on a homemade bun at “Where the Sidewalk Ends” in Urbanna? Delicious! And they also offer splendid coffee for just one dollar a cup that my daughter, Liz, raves about … another great addition to our town!
© 2020
