Monticelllo not the only mansion

A few hundred supporters turned out on a rainy Thursday evening to show that Monticello isn’t the only house Thomas Jefferson loved to visit. A giant tent kept the rain off the black-tie-clad diners who assembled June 5 at Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson’s secluded getaway house on the southwestern outskirts of Lynchburg. Of course, the crowd also wanted to hear famed actors Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies, The Godfather, and Apocalypse Now) and Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights, 24, and The Brother McMullen) read early19th century letters. In Duvall’s case, the letters came from TJ himself, while Britton, who grew up in Lynchburg and whose late father served on Poplar Forest’s governing board, read excerpts from letters penned by Jefferson’s granddaughters. Among the attendees at this event celebrating 25 years of restoration was Dale Harris, a former judge who earned her 1978 UVA Law School degree by commuting from Lynchburg and whose family used to own Poplar Forest as a summer house. An up-and-coming writer/director who grew up in Abingdon and went to college at Hampden-Sydney, Scott Cooper introduced Duvall. Nobody strayed too far from their script, but Northern Virginia resident Duvall made the crowd smile when he remarked that his wife thinks Virginia’s a stopping point to heaven. “If this is the last station before heaven,” said Duvall, then what a great launching pad this is.” (1)

McIntire opens for wading

It seems the only thing that might keep your toddlers from McIntire Park’s wading pool tomorrow will be the weather; the pool plans to open its gates Saturday, June 6, two weeks after the area’s other aquatic centers opened (with the exception of the Onesty Family Aquatic Center at Meade Park, which is under construction and expected to open mid-month). The wading pool was about to be another victim of ousting at McIntire before public outcry led City Council to step in and save the waders. According to acting Parks and Rec director Brian Daly, the city hired Roanoke-based company National Pools to install a new drain cover and additional safety system for approximately $15,500– $4,500 less than the City’s initial estimate of $20,000.
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Med school dean does GQ

Fashion house Geoffrey Beene LLC is trying to make science sexy. Thus the “Rock Stars of Science” spread in the June GQ that features UVA medical school Dean Steven T. DeKosky (third from left) and 10 other distinguished scientists on a shoot with Sheryl Crow and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, among others, to raise the stereotypically dweeby profile of science researchers. “Plus,” says DeKosky, “everybody needs to rock out, now and then.”

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Votin’ for the all-stars

Moments after their hard-fought game, which was decided in the final inning by a single run, members of the Elks and Credit Union teams at McIntire Little League get together in the bleachers to vote for the League all-stars. Snapped June 2 at 8:05pm. (0)

Farewell, Carol Whitehead

Carol Whitehead, wife of Rutherford Institute founder and constitutional scholar John Whitehead, died suddenly on Wednesday, June 3 at age 60. The cause of her death is not yet known.

The couple, married 42 years, co-founded the Rutherford Institute 27 years ago, according to a release from the Institute following her death. The release credits Carol for being the “heart” of the Institute and for quietly shaping nearly all of her husband’s public accomplishments.

In 2004, the couple related the tale of their courtship for the Hook’s wedding issue.

In addition to her work for the Institute and her role as mother of five and grandmother of two, “She was one of the nicest and kindest people I knew,” says Coy Barefoot, WINA radio host and director of communications for the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. (0)