My views and record this week on: Recreation and Community 

Continue to advance Russell County and SWVA as recreational/tourism/cultural destination to help start small businesses and jump start our local economy for local people. 

• Russell County’s member on Southwest Regional Recreational Authority (“SRRA”) and Spearhead Trails initiative – promoting multiuse trails systems (walking/waterways/horse/ATVs) from the Cumberland Gap to Pocahontas. Just received major funding and will soon hire Director position to facilitate construction in 2012. 


• Russell County Wellness Center / YMCA member. This entity is actively working to establish a county-wide recreational initiative to promote recreation and physical activities for all residents. Continue to be a strong advocate for a state of the art “bricks and mortar” facilities in the County. 


• Active participant/funder of Russell/Washington County United Way and Girls Inc. programs and numerous other structured philanthropic agencies. 


• Privately funded, with ZERO taxpayer exposure, multiuse playing fields in Honaker (’07) and Richlands (’08) through our 501c(3) SWAFF – Southwest Virginia Athletic Facilities Foundation. Raised and paid 100% of all direct funding requirements without burdening taxpayers while saving tens of thousands of dollars in maintenance costs annually. Our next set of multiuse field projects includes both Castlewood and Lebanon. 


• Direct supporter of countless county and area programs such as Senior Citizens Groups, Russell County Fair, Christian and faith based charities, Castlewood Tennis Courts and walking trails, Farmers’ Markets, Peanut Football and Little League programs, traveling sports teams, Appalachian Soccer Association, High School Cheerleading Squads and Sports Teams, Fishing Days, Christmas parades, Teen Centers, Cumberland Mountain Mental Health Services, Make a Wish Foundation and several other programs. 


• Founding Sponsor in 2010 of annual SWVA’s High School All-Star Football Blue-Gray Game for seniors from Wytheville to Lee County. Just this year started the “Best of the Best” Invitational High School Track Meet for same area boy and girl athletes. 


• Member and Governor’s Appointee to the Library Board of Virginia to promote literacy and funding of all our Commonwealth’s Libraries. Inductee into the Virginia High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. 


• Improve our County Canneries and work to ensure that all our County residents can use these much needed facilities at reduced costs from current levels. Out of county folks shouldn’t dump their trash in Russell County so why should they be subsidized, by our own taxpayer dollars, to use our Canneries. 


• Promote Downtown Revitalization efforts in our County towns of Honaker, Cleveland and Lebanon as well as other unincorporated towns and villages. 


• Develop long-term plans to better fund both the capital and operating budgets of our local fire and rescue squads whose service is invaluable and critically important to our wellbeing.

 All in all – continue a life long philosophy of giving back, as taught to me by my parents, and continue helping raise all our citizens’ quality of life in our home county.