Rappahannock Education Farm, More Flock Stats, Ed Hegmann, Top Five Wash
Rappahannock Education Farm Launches Wholesome Harvest Fundraising Campaign
From Sept, 28 through Oct. 31, the Rappahannock Education Farm will be raising funds to pay down the loan on the land that makes the farm possible and to help cover the farm’s ongoing operating expenses such as the costs of planting, growing, harvesting, maintenance, and getting fresh produce to the people who need it.
Supporters have committed $35,000 in matching funds, so every dollar donated during the campaign can be matched dollar for dollar, up to the full $35,000. That means gift can have double the impact. $25 becomes $50, $100 becomes $200, and $1,000 becomes $2,000.
The Farm grows fresh, nutritious produce for people facing food insecurity, while teaching them and others in our community how to grow food for themselves.
The Farm’s yield supports thousands of local residents each year and gives them improved access to two of the food groups they want most.
For 2025 the goal was to harvest and donate 25,000 pounds; the Farm exceeded that and donated 43,000 pounds. For 2026 the goal was 60,000 pounds and they just surpassed 90,000 pounds.
The Farm doesn’t sell what they grow. Everything harvested is donated to the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank and dozens of local food pantries. But growing food takes resources. Because the Farm donates the entire harvest, they depend not only on an all-volunteer workforce, but also on individual donations and grants to keep the farm operating.
To make a tax-deductible donation online, go HERE. If you would like to donate by mail, send your check to Rappahannock Education Farm, 404 Riverside Drive. Fredericksburg, VA 22401.
Beyond the Buckle Hat: Quaker Group Starts in South Stafford
The Religious Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, emerged from Christianity in seventeenth-century England. George Fox and other early Friends taught that people could experience God directly, without a priest or elaborate ritual. That conviction affirmed the spiritual worth of every person.
For Quakers, worship is God-centered and not confined to a building or meeting hall. Some Quakers may say “God,” while others speak of the Divine, Spirit, the Source, or the Light. Quakers believe you don’t need to understand that presence in exactly the same way to seek its guidance and put love into practice.
Many Friends express their faith through simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship. These values call people to tell the truth, resist violence, support neighbors, and care for the Earth.
Quakers have deep roots in Virginia. Friends worshiped at Cedar Creek in Hanover County beginning in 1721. Lynchburg’s stone South River Meetinghouse, completed in 1798, preserves another chapter of Virginia’s Quaker history.
Closer to home, Friends began meeting at Golansville in Caroline County in 1739. In 1767, they called on fellow Quakers to end slaveholding—an action commemorated by a state historical marker as Virginia’s first organized antislavery movement. A historic Quaker burial ground remains within today’s Lake Caroline community.
Fredericksburg Friends meet every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fredericksburg at 25 Chalice Circle. They generally spend about 40 minutes in silence. Someone who feels moved may share a brief message, after which attendees return to quiet. There is no expectation to speak.
People of every faith tradition—and those with none—are welcome. For more information, contact David Soucie, Clerk of the Meeting, Fredericksburg Friends Meeting, SocietyofFriends.org.
UMW Mourns Loss of Longtime Athletic Director and Coach Ed Hegmann
The University of Mary Washington and Fredericksburg communities is mourning the recent death of former athletic director and coach Dr. Edward Hegmann, who passed away on Sept. 24.
Through his 36-year tenure, the UMW athletic program entered and excelled as NCAA Division III emerged, growing from the six sports that existed when he arrived in 1976 to 23 varsity programs by his retirement in 2012.
As women’s tennis coach, Hegmann coached at Mary Washington for 23 years and led the Eagles to three national championships, including the AIAW national title in 1982 and NCAA Division III titles in 1988 and 1991. He achieved Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year awards and captured nine straight CAC championships after the league was formed in 1990 through his retirement as coach in 1999. He was named the NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year in 1988 and again in 1999, and he was inducted into Mary Washington’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. Along the way, he won 382 matches as one of the elite NCAA coaches in the nation at any level, as evidenced by his numerous wins over NCAA Division I programs.
Today, the outdoor tennis facility at UMW bears his family’s name, and his work to build the Mary Washington Athletics program and place among Division III peers is unmatched. This skill at building—developed during his time as a surveyor in Vietnam—is demonstrated through what some described as the best athletic facilities in the region at any level. He turned a six-hole golf course into the Battleground Athletic Complex, which has hosted more than 30 NCAA tournament events, including national championships in field hockey, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, men’s tennis, and women’s tennis.
The William M. Anderson Center, home to UMW men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball, has hosted NCAA Tournament events in all three sports since opening in 2011, including three rounds of the men’s basketball tournament in 2026 as the Eagles went on to win their first national championship since Hegmann’s women’s tennis team took home a trophy in 1991.
Fredericksburg Flock Camera Stops So Far This Year: Charges, Race, Sex, and Ethnicity
Mary Wash Soars into National Top 5, Ranks No. 1 in Virginia for Internships
The University of Mary Washington has soared into the national top five among public universities for Internships and Making an Impact in The Princeton Review’s Best Value Colleges for 2027, earning the No. 1 spot in Virginia for Internships.
UMW is one of 209 colleges and universities nationwide – and just eight in Virginia – named a Best Value College for 2027. Five Virginia public institutions made the list. UMW ranked No. 4 on The Princeton Review’s list of Top 20 Best Schools for Making an Impact among public schools and No. 5 for Internships.
“Mary Washington’s value comes from the combination of an outstanding education and the opportunities our students have to put that education into practice,” said UMW President Troy Paino. “Our students are known, supported and challenged here, while gaining access to experiences that prepare them to contribute in meaningful ways in their professions and communities.”
UMW climbed seven spots for Making an Impact and 13 spots for Internships from The Princeton Review’s previous Best Value rankings, released in 2025, when Mary Washington ranked No. 11 and No. 18.
The Princeton Review bases its Internships ranking on students’ ratings of the accessibility of internship placement at their schools. Its Making an Impact ranking draws on student responses about community service opportunities, student government, sustainability efforts and on-campus student engagement.
