Fredericksburg Mayor DeLanding in Florida? Speculations Fly.
THE FXBG ADVANCE TUESDAY 7/21/26 AFTERNOON READ
By Drew Gallagher, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
Mayor Kerry Devine is leaving Fredericksburg for DeLand, Florida. She says it’s just for the weekend.
An actual text message received by this reporter from the mayor (a fellow Mary Washington College alum) Monday afternoon:
I think this info went out/will go out to news sources, but I’m heading to DeLand, Florida on Thursday. Spending the weekend there to see all the good things we were up against in the Garden & Gun competition. Just a heads up.
Devine’s curious text was followed on Tuesday by a press release from the city with further explanation, posted below, but it’s doubtful anybody’s buying it.
As readers may remember, Fredericksburg defeated DeLand this past April in a battle for Best Small Town Main Street in Garden & Gun magazine. Fredericksburg “eked out” a victory, in the words of the magazine’s editors, who described the competition as “the most hotly contested final matchup ever.”
(AI Overview: “DeLand (properly spelled with a capital ’L’) is a historic city in Volusia County, Florida, located roughly halfway between Orlando and Daytona Beach. Best known as the home of Stetson University, it features a walkable, award-winning downtown, rich architectural history, and proximity to natural springs.)
Some are speculating that the heart-rending loss in the Garden & Gun competition may have caused DeLand to consider a mayoral change that involves poaching Fredericksburg’s mayor—a strategy similar to the one employed by big-time college football programs looking to upgrade.
When asked for comment, Devine said her trip was simply a weekend vacation and in no way should be construed as her having any intention of leaving town or her position as Fredericksburg’s mayor. On a possibly related side note, just a year earlier, former New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said he had no intention of taking a job at the University of North Carolina and was just visiting Chapel Hill with his cheerleader girlfriend.
There may have been signs during the Best Small Town Main Street competition that Devine might not be averse to a change in scenery. When Fredericksburg went up against Blowing Rock, North Carolina in the semifinals, the mayor was refreshingly dismissive about the tiny mountain village in Western North Carolina. “If you’re looking for a downtown that actually has some ‘meat on its bones,’ comparing Blowing Rock and Fredericksburg is a bit like comparing a postcard to a library,” she said at the time. “One is nice to look at for five minutes, and the other actually has a story to tell.
“Blowing Rock’s claim to fame is a cliff where the wind blows upward—a neat trick, but Fredericksburg is the childhood home of George Washington. In Fredericksburg, you aren’t just walking past ‘quaint’ buildings; you’re walking the same streets as Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Between the Hugh Mercer Apothecary, Kenmore, and the Mary Washington House, the history here is foundational to the country, not just a local folk tale.”
But when Fredericksburg blew past Blowing rock in the semis and soared into the finals, Devine was noticeably reticent in her remarks about DeLand—a reticence that speaks volumes now.
Conspiracy theorists have also noted a possible connection between the Fredericksburg mayor and the Florida town, both of which have “De” at the beginning of their names. Moreover, if you drop the “De’s,” DeLand and Device can be combined to form either Vineland, which is the title of a Thomas Pynchon novel, or “Landvine” which isn’t the title of anything.
The novel Vineland, it should be noted, was the inspiration for the film One Battle After Another, which won six Academy awards—six more than Fredericksburg will ever win, despite hometown hero Danny McBride’s best efforts.
The Advance asked newly-appointed Fredericksburg Chief of Police Betsy Mason if she had any inside information or thoughts on Devine’s DeLand “weekend.”
Her response was telling: “No comment.”
The mayor of DeLand makes $3,000 a year more than the mayor of Fredericksburg. Florida also has no state income tax.
