Local News
School Board Approves POS Updates, Moves Into Budget Mode
The Warren County School Board on Wednesday, March 6, unanimously voted 4-0 to approve several updates to the school division’s 2024-2025 Program of Studies (POS), among other actions, and started its annual work to produce a budget for fiscal year 2025.
WCPS Superintendent Chris Ballenger on March 6 offered the district’s draft fiscal year 2025 budget.
School Board Chair Kristen Pence, Vice Chair Antoinette Funk, and board members Andrea Lo and Melanie Salins were present, while Thomas McFadden, Jr., was absent for the Wednesday regular meeting, which lasted four hours — five hours if the closed session held directly before the public meeting is included.
Regarding the POS updates, Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Heather Bragg said that the biggest change is likely the new prerequisites for the honors, AP, and dual enrolled (DE) courses.
With the School Board’s approval, prerequisites for the next school year in honors/AP/DE courses will include passing the SOL (state exam) for the previous course.
“So, for example, if you’re going to take Honors Geometry, the prerequisite is that you’ve passed the Algebra I SOL, which is the required, verified credit for graduation,” said Bragg (above at podium). “Same thing in the case of a dual enrolled in U.S. and Virginia History, where passing a World History SOL would be the requirement in order to be eligible to enroll in that dual enrolled class in the 11th grade.”
Other POS updates for the 2024-2025 school year include new middle school course offerings, such as Introduction to Computers for 6th graders at Warren County Middle School, which replaces the Career Investigations elective for 6th grade, and Theater courses will be added at Skyline Middle School.
At the high school level, Education for Employment I and II will be offered next year at Skyline High School, which will drop its Sports Management course, Bragg said.
Other board actions included authorization for the disposal of the auditorium seats at E. Wilson Morrison (EWM) Elementary School through an auction.
Pending the approval of funding from the Warren County Board of Supervisors, the EWM auditorium will be converted into a multi-purpose/gymnatorium. Work is scheduled to start in early April. The current construction plan is to remove the auditorium seats.
“We would like to offer the community and or other groups the opportunity to purchase rows of seats,” said WCPS Assistant Superintendent of Administration George “Buck” Smith. “It is staff’s recommendation to surplus the historical seats by auction. WCPS would reach out to local auctioneers for this project.”
In addition, Smith said that staff also wants to donate several of the 658 seats to EWM for a historical display and a row of seats to the Warren Heritage Society. Funds from the auction would go toward assisting in the fundraising efforts to purchase stackable chairs for the gymnatorium when used as an auditorium, he added.
The board also unanimously approved four invoices totaling $34,632.24 to Education Logistics Inc. — which is the sole source provider for WCPS routing software, GPS monitoring, and the parent portal that includes the app for parents to receive school bus arrival alerts — as well as the purchase of Meraki licenses from ePlus Technology Inc. in the amount of $44,369.77. The licenses are for all WCPS access points that transmit the wifi to all WCPS buildings.
Draft budget unveiled
WCPS Superintendent Chris Ballenger, WCPS Finance Director Robert Ballentine, and Smith presented the draft WCPS fiscal year 2025 operating fund budget to the School Board.
With talks beginning about the budget, members of the Warren County Education Association (WCEA) listed budget priority items for the board members to consider during the community participation portion of the meeting.
Elisa Bradford, a Warren County resident, teacher for 17 years, and WCEA President of Secondary Education, said the budget should include teacher salary increases.
“Currently, out of the eight surrounding counties, Warren County is in sixth place for salary,” Bradford said.
For instance, Clark County, Va., seeks a 5 percent salary increase for teachers in its budget, she said, noting that Frederick County, Va., is looking for a 6.6 percent increase, and Shenandoah County, Va., is looking for a 3.5 percent increase while Warren County is considering different options, one being just a step and the other a 3 percent increase, “which will only keep us at the same ranking and not fall us any lower.”
“The question that is always asked is how do we retain teachers when looking at proposed increases?” said Bradford. “Teacher retention is going to be difficult in Warren County if it doesn’t keep up the competitive salaries.”
Rebecca Hudson Hodge, WCEA president for elementary education, said it’s imperative for the future of WCPS to adequately pay the teachers and staff in order to stay competitive with surrounding counties.
“The minimum compensation for WCPS employees should be the step plus 3 percent that has been proposed,” she said. “I also encourage you to look at the salary scale for career teachers, for teachers who stay through retirement age.”
The disparity in salaries grows for teachers with 30 years of experience and advanced degrees with WCPS ranking fifth out of eight, said Hudson Hodge.
“That means that four of the surrounding counties pay between $4,000 and $11,000 more than WCPS each year,” she said. “I encourage you to look at making Warren County Public Schools a place where teachers can build a lifelong career by offering competitive salaries throughout the salary scale.”
What’s a board to do?
Another noteworthy section of the School Board’s meeting was during the board members’ individual reports when they each discussed the board’s specific duties.
Lo, for instance, said the School Board’s duties are to develop policy, to approve a school budget, to hire and evaluate the superintendent, to approve or reject hiring recommendations of the superintendent, to hear appeals on student and staff issues under specific circumstances, and to follow all laws, rules, and regulations.
What the board should not be doing, said Lo, is to be taking actions that are not in keeping with open meeting laws and the spirit of public transparency and democracy. Nor should the board be micromanaging WCPS administrators and staff.
“Our work should generally be conducted in an open and public forum like this,” Lo said Wednesday night. “This provides transparency and allows the public to observe and participate in the decision making process. Over the past few months, we have had more and more conversations and discussions as a board over email, which is not transparent or easily accessible to the public.
“The topics,” she added, “often have been on individual situations, not conversations about policy or budget. This makes me really uncomfortable when I have tried to express that to the board.”
Board member Lo (left at dais) on Wednesday received a standing ovation from several residents regarding her comments about the role of the School Board.
Lo also said she has some concerns about how members have been behaving as a board lately.
“We are elected public officials, which means we do the public’s work with some specific exceptions,” she said. “Our discussions should be public, as should our decisions and our votes. Our power lies in our actions as a full board, not as individual board members.”
Additionally, Lo said it’s inappropriate for the School Board to be weighing in on individual student discipline issues — with the exception of cases that have come to the board on appeal from the child’s parent or guardian — or directing or reprimanding individual staff other than the superintendent.
“In recent months, this board has received and sent dozens of emails among ourselves and had closed session conversations about issues that I believe the board should not be deciding on,” Lo said. “These include student and staff issues.”
Without stating any of the specific issues, but rather in broad terms, Lo added that this has included appropriate punishment for a student, appropriate placement for a child with special needs, and safety and threat assessments.
“It is inappropriate for us to get involved in the individual student and staff issues,” she said. “These should be handled by the trained professionals who we have hired and pay to work in this school district, not by us as elected officials, as board members. We are not trained in special education threat assessment employment law.
“As a board, our role is to make policy,” said Lo. “When we try to weigh in on individual cases, this constitutes government overreach. I’m really concerned that we are making our administrators and staff miserable.”
In fact, since the School Board’s work session in late February, Pence said she has had seven administrators independently come to her and express concerns about the actions of the board.
“The way that our board can overstep, they feel levels of stress I think that they’ve not ever felt before,” Pence said. “They feel hindered by us and sometimes I think afraid to even make decisions because they don’t know how we are going to respond and how we are going to react.
“These are administrators that have been in our county for decades and would plan to retire here,” Pence added. “And, you know, we have had so many discussions happening about how to retain teachers, how to retain administrators, and this isn’t the way.”
In the end, she said, it’s not going to be about the money and how much they can make; it’s going to be about what kind of support they get.
“As a life-long resident of Warren County and someone who plans to stay here, I do find it heartbreaking that our teachers and our administrators who want to be in this county and who year after year have chosen us and chosen to be here, are not feeling that anymore,” said Pence. “I hope that we can come together and really just show that kind of support that they need.”
To watch the meeting in its entirety, go to: https://wcps.new.swagit.com/videos/299255
Local News
Congratulations to Warren County High School Seniors – Class of 2024
Royal Examiner presents the Warren County High School Class of 2024. Congratulations to these wonderful seniors on their hard work and deserved accomplishments! We wish you the best in your next big endeavors. Photos courtesy of Victor O’Neill Studios and Tolliver Studios, LLC.
If your Warren County senior is not listed, please send in their Name and Senior Picture to news@royalexaminer.com.
McKenna Adkins
Peyton Ahmed
Isaac Amor
Kristina Andrews
Seana Andrews
Diego Aponte
Dillon Arndt
Sydney Arndt
Dalton Ayers
Ebony Bailey
Marshall Barton
Shelby Bell
Kaydria Bennett
William Bergmann
Roberto Berrios
Hannah Bonner
Beatrix Boudreau
Arianna Bourgoin
Jeremiah Bright
Darnel Caison
Levi Campbell
Autumn Carofano
Joshua Carroll
Bradley Chaffin
Angel Chan
Jaclyn Clark
Jessie Clegg
Madison Clowser
Trenton Coffelt
Katherine Ramirez Colato
Nikolai Compton
David Miramontes Correa
Isaiah Cossio
Cash Cox
Joseph Cross
Landon Deese
Connor Deisch
Palmer Dellinger
Marcellis Diamond
Raymond Dingess
Eliza Dorsey
Christopher Doyle
Lillian Doyle
Aiden Dunnet
April Lopez Escobar
Catherine Farley
Benjamin Farris
Caroline Feldhauser
Gabriel Ferris
Alaysia Flora
Jasmin Portillo Flores
Christopher Flynn
Silas Foster
Calyssa Foxley
Elijah Frame
Isabella Freiland
Madison Funes
Aiden Gates
Austin Grady
Matthew Grant
Elizabeth Greenwell
Kayla Haase
Sarah Hardin
Alexandria Harris
Delaney Haw
Brayden Heflin
Andrea Hernandez
Sophia Hill
Keandre Hogue
Anastacia Hrbek
Collin Huston
Emily Jackson
Kaleb Jackson
Jadyn Jeffries
Colby Jenkins
Lillian Johns
Anna Johnson
Olivia Kelly
Avayda Kemp
Alice Kent
Sofia Kozhenevsky
Camren Kyle
Riana LaFrenierre
Olivia Lambert
Vincent Lamendola Jr.
Joselyn Leyva-Gamez
Sophia Logan
Emma Lord
Phillip Maddox III
Blaine Mansour
Mackenzie Mardeusz
Jacob Martin
Blake McCarty
Sophia McCurry
Cameron McGee
Shawn McGinness
Luke McIntire
Titus Messineo
Jossue Gonzalez Miramontes
William Moreno
Christian Morey
Keyshawn Morgan
Spencer Nelson
Charlize Noel
Christian O’Donnell
Emily Oldland
Joseph Ortman
Veronica Pak
Jonathan Panciera
Italia Panzica
Dragan Pead
Malachi Pinner
Steven Pugh
Blake Ramsey
Eric Rapp
Alaura Repass-Nardone
Brandon Reynolds
Lucas Riley
Xander Ring
Tyler Roan
Kierstin Robertson
Nicholas Robison
Samuel Rock
Caitlyn Rotenberry
Morgan Sajeski
Laney Schenher
Joshua Schneider
Kira Shaver
Bradan Shifflett
Molly Sims
Tristen Sine
Simon Skube
Destiny Smith
Marcus Smith
Brendan Snapp
Jacqueline St. Clair
Brady Strickler
Devin Swearingen
Morgan Sweeney
Robert Swisher
Kaley Tanner
Madelyn Tennant
Johnny Thomas
Aiden Thompson
Joseph Thompson
Eva Thornberg
Owen Thorpe
Jose Ulloa
Malcolm Vinson-Proctor
Alijah Waters
Dagan Wayland
Payton Weaver
Sharlit White
Aliyah Whitman
Taylor Wickham
Marcus Williams
John Williams III
Dejaun Winston
Hunter Winters
Grant Wolf
Militza Woloszyn
Sydney Woodward
Suleman Zewar
Local News
Fairfax Police Officer, Son of WC Deputy Jim Williams One of This Year’s Fairfax Valor Awards Recipients
At the Thursday, April 11 Fairfax County Valor Awards ceremony, Fairfax County Police Officer Cody Williams, son of Warren County Sheriff’s Office Deputy and Bailiff Jim Williams, and two colleagues were among the 2023 honorees. We asked proud father Jim about the incident late last year that led to his son and fellow officers’ recognition. This is what he told us:
“On December 25th, Christmas Day, at 9 p.m., members of the Fairfax County Police Department Reston District Station responded to a shot person call. According to his wife, the homeowner had accidentally shot himself while cleaning his handgun. Officers Cody Williams, Andrew Craven, and Anthony Galindo arrived on the scene to find the homeowner unresponsive. The gunshot wound was to the victim’s left calf, resulting in an extreme loss of blood. Williams and Craven applied two tourniquets, and Galindo performed CPR. The victim was transported to the local hospital. He was able to make a full recovery.”
Recipient and son of WCSO Deputy Jim Williams, Fairfax, Reston Division Police Officer Cody Williams. Below is Officer Andrew Craven (slightly out of focus). Apologies for not having access to a photo of Officer Anthony Galindo. Courtesy Photo(s) WC Deputy Jim Williams
We were also informed of comments by Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis, who made an analogy to his officers’ Christmas Day call and the 1947 Hollywood movie classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart. As fans of that great and timeless film will recall, it had its own Christmas day event of a somewhat miraculous nature involving a Guardian Angel. And indeed, it will be “a Wonderful Life” for the injured man and his family moving forward due to the prompt actions of their “guardian angels” Officers Williams, Craven, and Galindo, among others at the scene.
We found this background on the Fairfax Valor Awards website:
“The Fairfax County Valor Awards recognize the remarkable achievements in service of our community’s dedicated first responders. Since 1979, members of our police, sheriff, fire and rescue, and public safety communications have been honored for exceeding the call of duty with their lifesaving acts. The Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce is proud to host this prestigious event.” In attempting to get photos of the Christmas Day “guardian angels” from even sponsor the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, we were informed individual shots were not taken due to the number of recipients from the past year. This year, a total of 240 awards were presented, including 84 Lifesaving Awards, 131 Certificates of Valor, 22 Bronze Medals of Valor, and 3 Silver Medals of Valor.
Congratulations to Officers Williams, Craven and Galindo for a Christmas Day first response well done, and one that at least two Reston residents may remember as their very own Christmas miracle, circa 2023.
And thanks to our own WCSO Deputy Jim Williams for alerting us to this nearby Happy Ending Christmas story. And also a nod toward our own first responders in Warren County and the Town of Front Royal for all they do daily for us. You’re ALL Valor Award winners to us!!!
Community Events
Valley Chorale Announces Upcoming Spring Concerts in Middletown and Front Royal
The Valley Chorale presents “Wishing On a Song – Music in the Key of Hope”, a spring concert exploring aspirations of love, home, spirituality and compassion that unite and uplift us all. With styles ranging from light classical and sacred to vocal jazz, spirituals and pop, The Valley Chorale strives to capture the hopes that unite us.
The Valley Chorale is known throughout the Shenandoah Valley for innovation and excellence, with piano, cello and percussion accompaniment, and their concerts are often a heart-warming experience for all. They welcome babies and tots, so no need to hire a babysitter.
Tickets can be purchased on their website TheValleyChorale.org — $15 for age 21+ (free under age 21) or at the door for $17.
SATURDAY, MAY 4, 3:00 – 4:15 PM
Belle Grove Plantation (Bank Barn), 336 Belle Grove Road, Middletown, VA
SUNDAY, MAY 5, 3:00 – 4:15 PM
First Baptist Church, 14 W. 1st Street, Front Royal, VA (Community Reception to follow)
For further information, visit the website: TheValleyChorale.org: follow them on Facebook; email them at TheValleyChorale@gmail.com or call at 540-635-4842.
Courtesy Royal Examiner File Photo of The Valley Chorale during the Christmas season. Get ready for their spring concerts ‘Wishing On a Song – Music in the Key of Hope’ the first week of May.
(From a Release by The Valley Chorale)
Local News
Gifted and Exceptionally Motivated Former Students of Mountain Vista Governor’s School Inducted into Foundation Hall of Fame
On the evening of Saturday, April 27, beginning at 5 p.m. in the cafeteria at Warren County High School, the Mountain Vista Governor’s School Foundation hosted a donor reception followed by an induction of two former MVGS students into their hall of fame. In the names of those former students, two scholarships will be awarded in the amount of two hundred dollars each to students in need.
Joanne Cherefko (L), president of the Mountain Vista Governor’s School Foundation, stands with Dr. Kristen Pence, Chairwoman of the Warren County School Board, at Saturday evening’s Foundation event at Warren County High School. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.
One of nineteen regional governor’s schools in Virginia, Mountain Vista Governor’s School for Math, Science, and Technology, is present at two locations, on Laurel Ridge Community College’s Warrenton campus and the Middletown campus. MVGS draws and actively seeks out gifted, exceptionally motivated students from the thirteen base schools it serves in Clarke, Frederick, Warren, Culpeper, Fauquier, Rappahannock, and Winchester. Splitting their time between their base schools and MVGS, these students, in Middletown or Warrenton, depending on the counties in which their base schools are located, are given a chance to take advanced courses, including ones in humanities that, if they opt for dual enrollment, may help them skip the first two years of college. Government funding allows MVGS to welcome students into its tuition-free program. But if the students desire dual enrollment in connection with Laurel, wherein they receive college credit for their courses, then tuition becomes necessary. Attendance at MVGS involves an application, and there is a limit to the number of student places that can be filled in during any given school year.
Tamara Otten of Kettle Run High School stands in front of her project display on artificial intelligence, which she developed through the Mountain Vista Governor’s School. She will soon take her project to an international competition in Los Angeles.
Saturday evening was a showcase of rising talent in the MVGS system, as well as testimonies to the caliber of its program as two former students who benefited from MVGS and have gone on to have brilliant careers were given the opportunity to speak about how much they value their educational history at the governor’s school and how it uniquely prepared them to excel. The Foundation, separate from the school itself, is concerned with fundraising on behalf of the school so that students can be supplied with the tools and other resources they need to receive their education. Because of those assets made accessible by the Foundation, the two students who spoke were effusive about what a great foundation they had for future success. The rigor they underwent prepared them to maximize the challenges ahead.
Above: Lindsey Butler (Davis) and below: Camrynn “Cammie” Fausey (Genda) accept their induction into the MVGS Foundation Hall of Fame and talk about how much MVGS means to them.
A good example of the type of excellence students are encouraged to achieve in the program is the artificial intelligence project undertaken by Tamara Otten, which was displayed at the event. Tamara will soon take her project to an international competition in Los Angeles. She is exploring the possibility that AI could be trained to detect filtered images. This has ramifications for mental health as young people would then be able to discern that many of the images that they are being bombarded with on the Internet are not genuine. Therefore, they should not compare themselves to those unrealistic standards. In Tamara’s mind, this is just the beginning.
The evening also featured an auction of student-created artwork and a bag raffle. The members of what was an intimate gathering went home with leftovers of Devin Smith’s culinary art. Smith is an expert chef known for his involvement with Reaching Out Now, another organization reaching young people, specifically in Warren County.
Local News
As Opening of Youth Center Draws Near, the Reaching Out Now Family Looks to the Past for Inspiration
As Samantha Barber and Toby Hire sat, side by side, holding hands on April 26 in a yet-to-be-furnished room of the Raymond E. Santmyers Student Union and Activity Center in Front Royal, Virginia, there was a very real sense of water, which is stopped by nothing. “Water is my serenity,” Samantha said in this conversation with the Royal Examiner. It maneuvers its way around any obstacle in its path, if not eroding the obstacle altogether, and that is precisely what the Reaching Out Now (RON) family, of which Samantha is the president, has done in its endeavor to provide Front Royal and the wider Warren County region with a youth center, opening soon, where students can come to play, relax, have fun, develop strong bonds of friendship, and explore what they want to do with their futures.
Reaching Out Now president Samantha Barber sits down with close friend Toby Hire to tell the story of what inspires the youth center. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.
The youth center is necessary, and the stakes are life and death. The brilliant lives and tragic early departures of Harlee Hire and Nathan Jenkins, the first to suicide and the second to a boating accident, inform the RON family of their mission to reach young people. There is this awareness that life is incredibly fragile, and the only way to face it is through community. It is as simple as asking: “Are you okay?” That is precisely what RON intends to do through the youth center so that young people in Harlee’s position do not fall through the cracks.
A stream runs by the youth center. As Barber says: “Water is my serenity.” Harlee Hire loved the water. And when Nathan Jenkins’ mother, Susan, blessed the youth center, it immediately began to rain.
Harlee loved water. And by all appearances, she could overcome any obstacle. Through tears, “She was a great friend,” her mother Toby said as Samantha gripped her hand. Harlee practiced radical encouragement. It was not uncommon to hear her yelling shameless compliments like: “Your butt is looking fine today!” And even in the early months of 2022, after her friend Nathan’s boating accident in January and before she attempted suicide on May 10 and officially passed on May 11 and the Honor Walk donation of her organs on May 13 at UVA, she clung tenaciously to life. “I am going to do this, Miss Sam,” she told Samantha at a fashion show RON was hosting. And she walked down the runway.
Above: Harlee Hire in 2022 at the first Safe at Home event, a week before she departed. Below: Nathan Jenkins, whose honor the Nate (DAWG) Game Room at the youth center will be named. Photos courtesy of Toby Hire and Susan Jenkins.
“It is a sacrificial gift,” Samantha said of the youth center. “Nathan would have loved this,” Susan Jenkins said, standing outside the Santmyers building in May of 2023, and as soon as she said it, it began to rain. Indeed, a little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now, to quote the musical production of Les Miserables. There is a very real sense that both Harlee and Nathan continue to live through the youth center as the RON family remembers them and strives to reach young people in their position. Especially Harlee’s. While it is impossible to predict an accident like the one that occurred for Nathan, Samantha, and Toby both feel strongly that intervention is possible in the case of young people who are struggling with mental health issues.
In fact, May will be Mental Health Awareness Month for RON as they host three different athletic events in memory of Harlee and Nathan through their Safe at Home program. On May 9, a varsity girls’ softball game will be held at Skyline High School at 6 p.m. They will host a community baseball day on May 11, between 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Bing Crosby Stadium. And on May 25 at Skyline High School from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., they will host a community softball day. In order to get tickets, go to reachingoutnow.org
There is no need to be perfect. Samantha is frank about the impact this trauma has had on her health. “You have rheumatoid arthritis,” a doctor told her. He explained that she had internalized so much psychological pain that it had a very real manifestation in her physical health. But this is just one more obstacle that can be overcome through the support of friends offering real, physical comfort. You can be broken, Toby said. It is okay. It is the broken kids that RON wants to reach. If you are in trouble at school, we understand, Samantha emphasized. If you have weed in your backpack, we understand. This is not a matter of selecting the crème de la crème of students who are already gifted and exceptionally motivated. It is a matter of reaching all the kids and helping them understand their potential.
In the unfurnished room at the youth center, a room named in honor of Nathan and intended to be a game room, the Nate (DAWG) Game Room, Samantha, and Toby agree wholeheartedly that there is nothing wrong with just playing games if you are not playing them alone. Toby said this is the most connected yet disconnected age. The goal of the youth center is to help young people connect authentically.
Community Events
Updated: ‘Phony Ponies’ Give a Competitive Edge to FR Rotary Downtown Pub Crawl Fundraiser
On Friday, April 26, the Front Royal Rotary sponsored a downtown Front Royal “Pub Crawl” featuring a Phony Ponies “horse race” ticket holders could bet on to add to the Rotary fundraiser, and a little reward for their knowledge of the relative prowess and breeding of the involved Phony Ponies. Or as one pre-race announcer informed the crowd, “We’ve got three stallions and two old mares in this race,” which was met by some boos from the filly-supporting contingent.
And it was one of those two filly mares that led the five-horse field across the finish line after three laps around the Gazebo in the in the Main Street Downs Raceway shortly after 7:30 p.m. — that was “Blazin’ Botox” (Warren County Sheriff Crystal Cline), followed in order by “Money for Nothing” (Front Royal Rotary President Ken Evans), “Closing Real Fast” (Front Royal Police Chief Kahle Magalis), “Bullseye” (Warren County Rotary President Michael Williams), and “The Old Gray Mare” or was that “Mayor” (Front Royal Mayor Lori Cockrell).
The Rotary Pub Crawl stops at the Buckle and Belle Boutique ‘Hat Bar’ in time to dress for the occasion, as in Kentucky Derby fancy hats. Why Kentucky Derby fancy hats? Well, it’s almost post time for the Phony Ponies, one of which is taking care of some pre-race unfinished business as you often see the real horses do on the way to the gate. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini
It was a highly competitive race with some post finish line challenges offered by runner up Money for Nothing, whose jockey Evans noted an unapproved by the Racing Commission pre-race change into borrowed running shoes by the winner, as well as some out-of-my-lane territorial elbow-bumping by Blazin’ Botox to keep him in his 2nd place position. WAIT, do horses have elbows? I guess phony ones do.
Race fans grew anxious as post time approached. All five Phony Ponies are at the starting line. Might that inside post position drawn by Blazin’ Botox prove a difference maker in the long run? And they’re OFF and the cameras are popping.
Jockey Cockrell explained her disappointing 5th place finish, noting she had locked in behind Bullseye/Williams early in the running. However, it ended up being a bad spot to draft, as Bullseye appeared to be having an equipment break-down in front of her, as in a drooping “saddle” threatening that stallions stability and which she had to pull back from for caution’s sake.
On the more serious side, the second annual Talk Derby To Me Pub Crawl fundraiser was in support of Rotary International’s eradicate polio worldwide effort. More information about Rotary’s efforts to end polio can be found at this website: https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/ending-polio
Involved and supporting downtown businesses included Vibrissa, the On Cue Sports Bar & Grill, Buckle & Belle Boutique, sponsor of the “Phony Ponies” race, C&C Frozen Treats, Pavemint Smoking Taphouse, Honey & Hops, Catamount Lounge, and Garcia & Gavino. Hope we didn’t miss anyone, and we’ll update as necessary if we did.
And in a late update, individual sponsoring of the Phony Ponies was provided by: Ken Evans, ReMax Reality sponsoring Evans on “Money For Nothing”; CSM Aesthetics sponsored “Blazin’ Botox” and jockey Cline; Clint Pierpoint, Next Home Reality Select sponsored “Closing Real Fast” with Chief Magalis on the saddle; Lori Cockrell for Mayor sponsored “The Old Grey Mare” with the mayor riding; and Shenandoah Valley Axe Throwing Co. sponsored the saddle-failing “Bullseye” with Williams keeping his stallion upright.
And if you missed the fun and excitement, here are a few more shots.
Jockeys try to get a handle on their situation during a warm-up lap. Wonder where that inside post position horse is? Uh oh, 3 racing laps around the Gazebo and there she is crossing that finish line in the lead, and it’s straight to the Winner’s Circle.
Below, second place Money for Nothing jockey Ken Evans gives a congratulatory nod to the winner, even with those late-acquired un-sanctioned shoes. And a final nod to the crowd from this year’s Phony Ponies leader of the pack Blazin’ Botox, out of the WCSO stables.
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