Notable achievements

Notable achievements

This week, we recognize three Rappahannock County residents who have achieved distinction.

Anthony Fudd, a senior at Rappahannock County High School, has been accepted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He’s not yet heard from Harvard, where he also applied.

His success is an example to everyone that determined people can achieve their goals, despite adversity. For years, Rappahannock’s students have been at a disadvantage when competing against students from other, more affluent areas. We have neither the facilities nor the diversity of instruction offered in many other school districts.

But did Anthony Fudd throw up his hands in disp&r, lowering his sights and resigning himself to doing less than his best? No, he did not. He wras determined that he would succeed despite the handicaps, and he did.

Nina Stamer, the county’s litter coordinator, is another example of someone unfazed by adversity. Despite a nearly non-existent budget and starting from scratch, she has almost single-handedly built Rappahannock’s recycling program into a model for rural counties. Last fall, an average of more than 100 households turned out each month to recycle their household trash. And as she pointed out, each piece was one less that will end up in the landfill.

Next month, the county plans to open its recycling center at the landfill. Again, it is largely due to Mrs. Stamer’s efforts that it will happen.

This week, she modestly mentioned that she has been asked to speak at a seminar on recycling in Maryland. Her remarks will be on the subject of a rural county’s approach to recycling and litter control. We’d say her audience will have an expert in the field as their speaker. She has received her education in the real world, dealing with the real problems faced by such a project. “A real feather in her cap,” County Administrator John McCarthy called the invitation. We agree.

Mr. McCarthy was likewise recognized for his efforts when the state Department of Waste Management asked him to serve on a panel which will oversee solid waste disposal planning.

Again, Mr. McCarthy has made an impression despite the lack of resources available to our small county. Last year he doggedly pursued the permitting of the county’s landfill, responding to seemingly endless requests for information and suddenly unworkable design plans. And he did it without losing his humor, or his cool.

These three people embody the best of Rappahannock County, and we offer them all our congratulations on the recognition they have received for their efforts.

Perhaps Anthony Fudd summed up their attitudes best when he said, “I’ve always told myself that if you want to do something, it doesn’t matter where you come from. What counts is how you go about doing it.”

True words, Mr. Fudd, and ones which we can all learn from.