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County agent Rapley Owings retired this month after more than a quarter of a century with VPI’s extension service, a quarter of a century that has seen major changes in the local farming industry.
Owings first came here in 1955 and spent two years in Madison and Rappahannock, directing a joint program for 4-H. “And I’ve been around this area ever since except for two years in Korea,” he noted. Associated with the extension service in Madison, Warren and Rappahannock, he retired in May as county agent, a post he has held in Rappahannock for the past 14 years.
“In 1955, when you went up into Jenkins Hollow, most everybody there was named Jenkins. The same thing with Weakley Hollow over in Madison. Now, you have to look pretty hard to find a Jenkins or a Weakley in those hollows,” Owings said. “The old timers have moved out and newcomers from the city have taken their places.”
Owings spent the majority of his time working with 4-H youngsters when he first came to Rappahannock. “Most everybody was in the old one or two room school houses back then. I visited them all. It was a busy time but it was a fun time. We had 4-H club programs. The teachers didn’t care howr long you took. Things weren’t so structured. When I finished talking about gardening or raising hogs, we’d all eat a bag lunch and I’d go outside and play baseball with the kids afterwards.”
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