Category: Community

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Crozet Fireworks Needs Our Help

Crozet Fireworks.

1 July 2023

via email:*

It’s that time of year again – for the Crozet Independence Day Parade, Celebration, and Fireworks. It all starts with the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department (CVFD) parade at 5:00 PM at Crozet Elementary School and goes down Crozet Avenue through downtown Crozet to Claudius Crozet Park.  The celebration begins at Claudius Crozet Park after the parade, where there will be live music by local band Iam Gilliam and the FireKings. And the event culminates at 9:30 PM with a stupendous fireworks show. Additional details at: http://crozetcommunity.org

The Crozet Independence Day celebration is the work of many volunteers and we need your help for just an hour or two.  Below is the website to sign-up to help with the Crozet Independence Day Celebration (CIDC)  Saturday, July 1, between 5PM to 10PM. There are a variety of tasks and time slots. Most of the time slots are only an hour – so there’s lots of ways to help and still enjoy the event.

To volunteer, please click here 

When you sign-up it will ask for your name, email and, optionally phone number.  No one else can see your email and phone.  We promise we won’t share it.  It’s helpful for us to have it if something happens and we need to let you know about a last minute change.

We urge church groups, civic and neighborhood associations to sign-up.  Crozet Trails Crew already has volunteered to staff one spot the whole evening!  Let’s see which group can have the most volunteers!   If you’re with a civic group or non-profit, when you sign-up, put that group’s name in parenthesis after your last name. 

We also need help with monetary donations for the event, especially the fireworks.  You can mail a check payable to: Crozet Board of Trade and send it to: CBT, P.O. Box 261, Crozet, VA 22932.  Please put  “CIDC donation” on the memo line.

OR you can contribute right now, online, by clicking on this link. 

   Please put “CIDC donation” in the Designation box.

Donation levels are explained here

With your help, we can make this Crozet Independence Day celebration the best ever! 

Questions? Please email Tim Tolson at [email protected]

Note: There are no pets allowed in the event and we’ll provide designated smoking areas and ask that you only smoke in those areas. 

The event is sponsored by the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department, Crozet Community Association, Crozet Board of Trade, Claudius Crozet Park, Crozet Lions Club, and several other area churches and citizen volunteers.

*Minor edits for formatting and link embedding.

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The Scouts and Crozet

Sugar Hollow

I was talking to a friend recently and while I’ve never been a Scout, I do carry a Swiss Army knife and a bandana at all times, I also recognize that community needs groups like the Scouts. In-person community, friends, skills all matter, and the more off-screen interaction we can foster and encourage, the better.

Learn more at beascout.org, enter their zip code, and find the unit closest to them.

From Adam Sowers, Cubmaster, Pack 79:

Just to give you a little background on Scouting in the area, I am the Cubmaster for Pack 79 in Crozet. We are a full-family Cub Pack, meaning we have had girls and boys from age 5-11 in the pack ever since the BSA allowed girls into the program in 2017. We are a fairly large pack, with 64 currently on our roster after crossing over 14 scouts into troops last month. We meet monthly as a pack and the kids are further divided into dens by year in school. We go camping a few times per year and also have annual events like the Pinewood Derby and Blue and Gold banquet. We march in the Crozet Independence Day and Christmas parades, and perform community service throughout the area.

After Cub Scouts, those continuing on to Scouts BSA (what we used to call Boy Scouts) will find a troop to join. Troop 79 (boys age 11-17) is also active in Crozet with around 40 boys. Up until recently, Pack/Troop 79 were chartered with Crozet United Methodist Church. Because of the fallout from the recent bankruptcy/reorganization plan for national BSA, the UMC has decided to cease chartering units nationwide, although CUMC has graciously still allowed us to meet there. The Pack has also been meeting regularly at Crozet Park since the pandemic began. The park has been a great partner in giving us space to meet under the pavilions, where we were able to meet outside and practice social distancing at a time where anywhere inside wasn’t really an option.

There are a few other Scouting units in the area as well: Pack 114 meets at Ivy Elementary (former Meriwether Lewis) and Troop 114 at St. Paul’s Episcopal church in Ivy with over 50 active youth. We now have an all-girl BSA troop (3125) that was founded when girls from our pack crossed over from Cub Scouting into Scouts BSA. They have exploded in number from 4 to 16 (or maybe more– every meeting there seems to be a new face) in one year. They meet alongside Troop 114 in Ivy.

Youth aged 14-20 are able to join an older Scouting program called Venturing. Over the mountain in Waynesboro, a new Venturing Crew has formed and many of the older Scouts in Western Albemarle have joined the Crew. Venturing is less about advancement and more about high adventure and leadership.

As you can see, Scouting is very much alive and well in our area!

I am happy to explain more or answer any questions you may have. On a somewhat related note, I recently featured some of our camp staff from nearby Camp Shenandoah on our council podcast. I was captivated by the stories they had to tell, and the dedication they have to carrying the program forward for other youth to enjoy.

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Oak Bluff at the CCAC – April 2023

One of the best things about the CCAC holding meetings at the Crozet Library is the hard stoppage time. It’s one of the worst things also when we have meeting for a big proposed development. More people attended this CCAC meeting at the Library than I recall ever having attended.

Would be great if all of the people who attended the meeting, and who read this post, or live in Crozet, gave a few dollars to the Crozet Fireworks fund.

Read the Tweets here.

I’m sure the Crozet Gazette will have a story next month, but for now …

Watch the meeting.

Takeaways:

Timeline for Oak Bluff

    • Community meeting: 12 April 2023
    • Staff Review Comments: Due to the Applicant April 24, 2023
    • Applicant can proceed to Planning Commission or request deferral to work on revisions
    • Planning Commission Public Hearing: To be scheduled
    • Board of Supervisors Public Hearing: To be scheduled

Everyone should watch Tim Tolson’s background and history of the Crozet Community Association; they have done remarkable work for our community

Continue reading “Oak Bluff at the CCAC – April 2023”
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Mint Springs Closed Until they have Lifeguards

Mint Springs Park

Well, this sucks.

Surely, there are some WAHS kids, or kids home from college, who could use $15/hour. Here is where to apply for lifeguarding jobs. *

Read more: Mint Springs Closed Until they have Lifeguards

*I had never considered this, and will try to do better.

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Independence Day Celebration – 2 July 2022

One of the most fun days of the year in Crozet is upon us, and once again, they need some community help to help pull off what is always an enormously well attended event.

As always, if you can walk or ride a bike to the fireworks, everyone would be happier with less traffic.

From the Crozet Community Association site

(click here to read the whole thing!)

It all starts with the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department (CVFD) parade at 5:00 PM at Crozet Elementary School and goes down Crozet Avenue through downtown Crozet to Claudius Crozet Park.  The Parade Grand Marshal is TBA.  .

If you would like to be a part of the 2022 Crozet Firemen’s parade, please submit your entry to be in the parade  to ensure you are included in the lineup. Lineup will be based on a first come basis. Horses/livestock will be placed near or at the end of the parade. Lineup will begin at 4:00 P.M. at Crozet Elementary School and the parade ends at Claudius Crozet Park.

The celebration begins at Claudius Crozet Park after the parade.    Bring a lawn chair if you want to be comfortable as you listen to the local band, Jacabone.   Traditional American Fourth of July fare will be available, including hot dogs,  hamburgers, chicken, kettle korn, funnel cake, BBQ, and sno-cones, as well as vegetarian and vegan choices, tacos, and other favorites! Local beer and Bold Rock Cider will also be available for a separate cost.  Event culminates at 9:30 PM with a stupendous fireworks show. (We have it at 9:30 PM so it’s late enough to be dark, but not too late to for the youngsters to view the show.)

There are no pets allowed in the event

Designated smoking areas are provided and we ask that you only smoke in those areas.  If you live nearby Crozet Park, we encourage you to walk!

How much would you pay for such good times?  All that’s asked is a donation of $5 per person (and  children 9 years and under are free) as you enter the festivities (parking is free).  The non-profit civic groups in Crozet are the ones that benefit from any money raised above the cost of the event, so please be generous.  Most years, we’ve donated over $7,000 to CVFD, WARS, Crozet Park, and other civic groups.

Check out our Facebook page at: http://facebook.com/Crozet.Independence.Day.Celebration

…

The event is sponsored by the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department, Crozet Community Association, Claudius Crozet Park, Crozet Lions Club,  Life Journey Church, Crozet Board of Trade, and several other area churches, and citizen volunteers.

Making a Contribution

These events involve a lot of donated time from a lot of individuals, but they can’t happen without financial contributions, too. We want everyone to enjoy our small-town event, so we only ask for donations at the entrance – A donation of $5 per person (and  children 9 and under are free) as you enter the festivities (parking is free).   Of course, we appreciate all donations, but to boost our efforts to cover expenses, we have three leadership donor levels and we are hoping that you will show your support by becoming a lead patron this year.

  • For a gift of $500 or more, we will prominently display your company banner you provide at the entrance to the park during the event, identify your patron status in the Crozet Gazette and event handbill and provide you with ten passes to the celebration in the park.
  • For a gift of $250 to $499, you will receive acknowledgment in the Crozet Gazette and event handbill and four passes to the celebration in the park.
  • And, for a gift of $100 to $249 you will receive two passes to the celebration in the park, published thanks in the Crozet Gazette and the event handbill.

July 2nd  will be here before you know it.  Won’t you join us by contributing whatever you can afford?  If being a lead patron is too much this year, please send whatever you can afford.   Your contribution is tax-deductible charitable donation. Last year, thanks to generous donations, we donated over $7,000 to multiple local charities- including the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department, Western Albemarle Rescue Squad, Crozet Trails Crew, and Claudius Crozet Park.  Thank you!

Please make your donation by Monday, June 27 in order to be listed on the event  handbill. 

  1. You can mail a check payable to: Crozet Board of Trade and send it to: CBT, P.O. Box 261, Crozet, VA 22932.  Please put  “CIDC donation” on the memo line.
  2. You can contribute right now, online, by clicking on this link:  
  3. Please put “CIDC donation” in the Designation box.
  4. Thank you for your generous support!

It takes a village – won’t you help out on Saturday, July 3 for an hour?

We need your help for just an hour or two on Saturday, July 2.  Below is the website to sign-up to help with the Crozet Independence Day Celebration (CIDC)  Saturday, July 2, between 5PM to 10PM (or Sunday morning to pick up the park).  There are a variety of tasks and time slots. Most of the time slots are only an hour – so there’s lots of ways to help and still enjoy the event.

To volunteer for an hour, please click here.

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It Snowed in Crozet – January 2022

It snowed, and took out power to a lot of Crozetians, and a lot of Virginians.

Two tips for staying up to date during such events: RealCrozetVA twitter feed and my Charlottesville media Twitter list. I imagine Nextdoor was helpful also.

Luckily, this doesn’t happen very often, and I can’t recall a heavy wet snow like this, and certainly not one that left so much tree damage in its wake. We haven’t seen this much damage, and this long of a power outage, since the derecho in 2012; that was fun.

This time though, the sound of lots of generators filled the air, and hopefully more of us were more prepared this time than last. We don’t have a generator, but I did get a portable power station and solar panels for it last year, so we did ok. That, plus a gas fireplace.

I still can’t bring myself to reactivate the RealCrozetVA Facebook page as I can’t reconcile the damage FB has done to society. And I admit that I keep my IG feeds, but Facebook remains so incredibly harmful.

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So Many Car Break Ins – December 2021

This seems to happen every few years in Albemarle County. People leave their cars unlocked, a group of people go on late night sprees (or whatever they call it), and go into cars, rummage through, steal stuff, and sometimes steal cars.

It’s not just Crozet; sounds like this has happened all over the County

Check out the crime map here.

Short story, and Nextdoor is full of stories from late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.
  • A group of people are stealing cars, driving them around, going into unlocked cars, and stealing stuff.
  • There are apparently a bunch of videos from doorbell surveillance
  • Lock your car. Lock your houses.
  • File a report.
  • Talk to your neighbors.
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Becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer

via email:

Become an Extension Master Gardener Volunteer

If you enjoy being a volunteer educator, want to share your passion for gardening, want to provide science-based environmentally sound horticulture knowledge with others, and have time to volunteer – you should consider becoming an Extension Master Gardener! To learn more about the Training Program and the projects we support, visit our website.

The training course includes approximately 70 hours of instruction taught by experts in various gardening areas such as soil, botany, integrated pest management, disease diagnosis, and more. The 2022 program will be in person from 9am to 4pm beginning on Tuesday Feb 15, and recurring every Tuesday through May 3. Next year, and in alternating years, the course will be offered as hybrid/evening course. While going through the course, each trainee has an Extension Master Gardener as a mentor.

The deadline for applying for the 2022 Training Course is December 1, 2021. The 2022 application is online and can be accessed by contacting the Coordinator, Trisha Costello, at [email protected]. VCE also requires a background check once an application is submitted. The training course costs $190, with need-based scholarships available by request.

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Cheers for Charity – Crozet Trails Crew + Starr Hill

The Crozet Trails Crew has been nominated again this year as The Starr Hill Cheers for Charity group for the month of April.  The Crew will receive a $1 for every pint of LOVE beer sold during that time.  Please come out and support the trails and enjoy some delicious LOVE beer.  A definite Win/Win for everyone!  Hope to see you on the Trails and at Starr Hill.  If you can’t make it to the taproom, you can also contribute to our fund through PayPal. 

Information is available on our website:  crozettrailscrew.org.

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Crozet Baptist Seeking Supplies for Crozet Schools

via email:

Our 2020 School Year is upon us!

Our schools are in need of supplies for the coming semester and we would love your help!


All items purchased can be delivered to the Crozet Baptist Church office (a collection bin is by the door) and will be distributed to each school.


If shopping from your computer is easier, shop our Amazon Wish List for supplies requested by our local schools at this link.

Thank you for helping us support our community to make this a great year!Crozet Baptist Church Missions Team [email protected]