Firemen at the scene, January 25, 2007.

Dear Friends of Waterford,

One year ago today our beloved Old School auditorium—home to countless concerts, plays, parties, meetings, memorable events in our region—burned to the ground. Through the valiant efforts of numerous fire departments from both Virginia and Maryland, the original 1910 classroom structure was saved, but badly damaged.

Today, after a year of planning, insurance negotiations, a community forum, valuable guidance from our advisors, the hiring of fine architects and the general contractor, and a generous appropriation from the County as well as musical and financial donations from many friends, we are beginning the renovation of the Old School. Thank you to Hans Hommels and his truly heroic Old School Task Force who are bringing this about!

This week some of us journeyed down to Richmond for Virginia Preservation Day. We took with us an application for a state matching grant to help us rebuild the Old School. This request will be presented to the House Appropriations Committee by Delegate Joe May, who serves on that committee. On behalf of historic preservation in Virginia and our Old School project we met with Delegates Joe May and David Poisson, Senator Jill Vogel's administrative assistant, and Senator Mark Herring, who invited us to watch the Senate in action in the magnificent, newly renovated Capitol building, where he recognized us in the gallery as delegates from the Waterford Foundation, an organization that has done much to preserve the historic Quaker village of Waterford.

This state appropriation is just one of many grants we are seeking to raise the $1 million we will need to restore and rebuild the Old School in a way that is respectful of its history and place in the community—but also so the new Old School meets the many expensive upgrades required by current building codes, zoning regulations, historic district regulations, Department of the Interior Standards, and our com- munity's needs for the next 200 years!

At the Waterford Foundation Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 15th we'll be officially launching the Rebuild the Old School capital campaign... and unveiling (we hope) the architect's rendering of what the New Old School will look like and the promise it brings to our community. More about this big event later.

In the meantime, we thank all our generous friends and supporters, particularly for your contributions to our annual fund.We welcome your help and suggestions! Please forward this newsletter to friends you think would be interested in Waterford Foundation activities. We want to spread the word about the good things going on in the Waterford National Historic Landmark.

Kathleen P. Hughes, President
Waterford Foundation, Inc.

A fireman works to save the main building.
[photos courtesy Ed Lehmannn]