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Calvin Stephens, a resident of Fort Valley, was one of the charter members of the Hamburg Ruritan Club which was organized in 1956. Calvin felt that the Fort Valley community could benefit by having a Ruritan Club in our community and in early 1959 he visited with and spoke to a number of men in the community to determine if there might be interest in organizing a Ruritan Club in Fort Valley.
It was determined that enough men were interested and a meeting was held in the Fort Valley School which resulted in the organization of the Fort Valley Ruritan Club, was chartered March 11, 1959. The Hamburg Club was the sponsoring club, and 32 men signed the charter. Calvin Stephens was then elected as the first president of the Fort Valley Ruritan Club. Other officers elected for the newly chartered club were George McClanahan, vice president; Everette Habron, secretary; Roderick Burke, treasurer; with Ernest Boyer, John D. Clem and James Keller as directors. For several years, until the fire house was built, the club continued to hold monthly meetings at the school.
Prior to 1964 the Fort Valley community did not have its own fire department. If someone was so misfortunate to have a fire, the structure might burn to the ground before fire fighters and their equipment could be summoned from Edinburg, Woodstock or Strasburg. In March of that year it was learned that the Edinburg Fire Department was purchasing a new fire truck and they offered one of their old trucks, a 1941 Chevrolet, to the community if we were interested. The Fort Valley Ruritan Club voted to purchase the truck from the Edinburg Fire Department at a cost of $500.00. We then called a public meeting of citizens of the community which resulted in the organization of the Fort Valley Volunteer Fire Department and the keys and title to the truck were presented to the fire department. Through the years since then, the Ruritan Club has continued to support the Fire Department, and later the local Rescue Squad, in many ways with both time and money and many members of the club are currently members or have been members of the fire department and rescue squad.
From our beginning we have always been interested in having improvements made to the public roads in Fort Valley. In 1966 through the efforts of one of our members, funding was obtained from the U. S. Forest Service to make improvements at some of the more dangerous curves and intersections on Route 678 (Fort Valley Road) which is still on record as a Forest Service road. In 1999 a much needed new bridge was constructed on Old Store Road over Passage Creek. A new bridge was constructed and opened in 2007 on the Seven Fountains Road and in 2015 another bridge, also on Seven Fountains Road, 2 was replaced. These bridge improvements came after much support and encouragement from the Ruritan Club. Other road improvement projects, such as the painting of the yellow center line on Route 678 (Fort Valley Road) and the placement of guard rails at dangerous places, long supported and endorsed by the Ruritan Club have also been accomplished.
In 1969 the Ruritan Club worked with the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors to establish the first public dump in Fort Valley on land which the county leased from Ray Bitner. Prior to this time citizens had to burn trash which could be burned and much of what could not be burned was often dumped in a hollow in a farmer’s back field or in the woods as few people were willing to haul it to a public dump on the other side of the mountain. About 1980 the dump was closed and a trash collection site was opened at the present site on Woodstock Tower Road with dumpsters which were emptied several times a week and the trash hauled to the county’s landfill. The dumpsters were later replaced by a compactor for trash going into the landfill and several collection bins for trash to be recycled.
A project of the club for many years has been the sponsorship of the “E. Alan Boyer Memorial Award” which is given each year to an outstanding 4-H member from Shenandoah County. Alan was born and lived all his life, except for his college years, in Fort Valley, and was a former 4-H member and a 4-H All Star. As an adult he worked for the Extension Service, was a 4-H leader and a member of the Fort Valley Ruritan Club. When he died in a tragic automobile accident our club voted to give an annual award in his memory which would recognize a deserving 4-H member from Shenandoah County.
The club has been very supportive of the Ruritan National Foundation and through the years, we have established permanent memorial funds, donated in memory of four deceased members: Calvin Stephens, George McClanahan, Robert Weekly, and Leroy Tamkin. Many students from the Fort Valley community have received educational scholarships from the foundation. The club continues to support the foundation and to encourage students to apply for assistance through this program.
For a number of years, we have supported the Faith Lutheran Preschool through financial support and by scholarship assistance to special needs children. We also regularly support Matthew's Food Pantry, a project of the White Chapel United Methodist Church, with monetary donations and canned food. Through the years, this club has been involved in and will continue to be involved in many other projects and activities which are beneficial to the community and its citizens. We have contributed financial donations and volunteer labor to many people of this community, who because of illness, age or other reasons have been in need of assistance.
To support all these activities it has been necessary to raise considerable sums of money. For our first year and a half we had no major fund raising activities, but in the summer of 1960 we started operating a food concession stand at the Shenandoah County Fair. This has been our primary fund raising activity through the years. We serve menu of choices, including French Fries made from spuds home grown in Fort Valley. Leroy Tamkin guided a Ruritan crew to start the concession stand as a simple wood frame covered in canvas. The original location was below the racetrack on the West end between the horse stables and the livestock barn. After a successful year, the stand was moved to the present location, next to an orchard and boundary fence, enabling access from the midway. After the Fair Association acquired the orchard property, the stand was upgraded, and in later years converted into a substantial concrete and cinder block facility. The building has been added to and enlarged on several occasions with major renovation completed for the 2002 fair season.
Beginning in 1996 the club began selling woven coverlets or wall hangings depicting scenes from Shenandoah County. Charter Member Charles Lichliter was the originator and the primary manager of this project. It has proven to be a very successful fund raiser, with nearly 1800 items sold. Another successful fund raiser that the club has conducted for a number of years has been a firewood raffle which has been held in the fall each year, with the proceeds going to benefit the Fire Department or the Rescue Squad. We have also conducted gun raffles in recent years which have been very successful and have provided additional funds, supporting many community service projects.
A few years ago, the club began sponsoring benefit breakfasts held several times each year on Sunday mornings at the Fire Hall. These breakfasts have proven very successful with the proceeds donated to various worthy causes in the community.
During program year 2014, the club voted into membership our first lady member, Sandy Burner-Cave. Ten ladies and one youth are included in the current 2019 membership roster of 66, including one Ruritan Forever, three Honorary, and fourteen Associate members.
The club annually places flags on the graves of all veterans buried in the 53 Fort Valley cemeteries the week before Memorial Day and hosts a ceremony at the Detrick Cemetery on Memorial Day with a social afterwards in the Fire Hall.
In 2016 our club revived the annual Fort Valley 4th of July parade. Participants have included local organizations such as the Community Library and the Fort Valley Museum; youth and church groups; antique cars and farm equipment. The Fort Valley Fire Department brings up the rear of the parade with their fire engines and other equipment, much to the delight of almost 100 spectators watching from in front of the Country Store and Fire Department.
The FV Ruritan Club members work in close coordination with other community organizations, including the FV Volunteer Fire Department, the FV Ladies Auxilliary, the FV Community Club, and the FV Museum. Many of our Ruritans are also members of these other organizations. We also work locally with FFA, 4-H and other organizations serving youth.
Now in our sixtieth year of service to the Fort Valley community, we acknowledge with thankfulness, the vision of the founders of the first club at Holland, Virginia in 1928, and the dedicated effort of those persons who came before us and have worked to extend the idea of Ruritan to other communities and eventually to our community. As members of the Fort Valley Ruritan Club, we can sense a pride in our accomplishments through past years, with a renewed pledge to continue the work of fellowship, good will and community service, for which we have been shown the way.
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