We join the community in a doff of the chapeau to this season’s incredible Madison County High School boys basketball team – or should we instead say a tip of our Mountaineer raccoon-skin cap?

One of the nice things about living in Virginia is that the weather is more moderate in the winter. One can actually hike, bike, jog or walk in the middle of January without risking frostbite or dressing to look like the Michelin man. Hiking seemed like a good choice for a new outdoor adventure and my husband swears it’s the best.

By now, we all know of someone who has been adversely affected by the state of our nation’s economy. In fact, it probably would be correct to say that we have all been adversely affected, either directly or indirectly.

In “Hedges: Protective Walls Insuring Good Marriages,” or as Dr. Jerry Jenkins simply calls his best-selling book, “Hedges,” it tells how you should love your marriage enough to protect it.

I attended the first public hearing on the county budget a few weeks ago and read all the letters on the subject in The Eagle. Almost all were critical of the Madison County Board of Supervisors and the possibility of even a very small tax increase.

Upon arriving in Madison County, I was just a woman from New Jersey with very little knowledge of anything south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Of course I had sampled biscuits and gravy and was definitely a fan, although my waistline wasn’t. The local produce was very tasty but I was still partial to a Jersey tomato. (And) nothing, in New Jersey could have prepared me for the numbers of “Earl’s.”

Dear President Obama, The air is crisp and fogged with each breath of the four million people watching, waiting for a new chapter in history to begin. The date is Jan. 20, 2009, Inauguration Day. However, this Inauguration Day won’t be the same as any other. Today history unfolds as you, the first black American president, are sworn in.

The Hoffman Round Barn in Wolftown has been accepted for listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register. The application to list the historic barn built by Haywood Montebello “Tiny” Dawson on the historic Hoffman Farm (now owned by Joyce Gentry and farmed by her son and daughter-in-law, Brad and Amy Gentry) was prepared and submitted by Beth Pastore of Piedmont Environmental Council in October 2008. The Board of the Virgina Department of Historic Resources voted its approval on Dec. 18, 2008.

Reader interest in the annual calendar published by the Central Virginia Weekly Group – which includes The Madison County Eagle and its two sister newspapers – the Greene County Record and the Orange County Review – remains high. When we asked readers this past fall for their scenic photos of Madison County for us to consider using in the calendar, they flooded us with them.

For years, I’ve actively supported the Piedmont Environmental Council — giving it spare money, attending annual meetings, and, most recently, staffing the PEC hospitality tent this past Election Day. I loved sharing home-baked cookies, local apples and cider with fellow Madisonians after they voted. I especially loved hearing about hopes and fears for our future, and that inspired my main message here: PEC is here to help address our concerns, but as a 501C3, nonprofit, membership-based organization, PEC very much needs our tax-deductible support.  Even a small contribution will help. 

The turnout for the Madison County Veterans Day observance on Nov. 11 at the Madison County High School was disappointing and disturbing. Most all who attended were veterans and family members of veterans and most of the seats in the auditorium remained empty. What was most disturbing was the absence of our community leaders in Madison and the public officials who had the day off to celebrate Veterans Day.

Now that the presidential election is over, we should heed the calls for unity from both President-Elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. This is needed not just nationally, but in Madison County as well. No matter how your political tastes run, we all need to work together to overcome the big challenges of the day. And while it’s fine to experience the joy of a new president’s inauguration, you should temper that with the realization that he inherits many weighty problems that will not likely all be solved quickly.

Compared to other places, Madison County generally has a strong voter turnout for presidential elections. Although Registrar Diana Eanes declined to make any specific predictions on the turnout for this Tuesday’s voting, when asked if she thought it would be a higher percentage turnout than the 75 percent of the county’s registered voters who cast ballots in the 2004 Bush-Kerry race, she replied, “Oh, sure.”

Written in 1787 and ratified in 1788, the United States Constitution is one of the most influential documents in the history of our country. In what was originally a meeting to revise the “Articles of Confederation,” our founding fathers painstakingly crafted this new document in secret one summer, closed up tight in the Philadelphia statehouse. They created a living document; a supreme law that would change with the times and the people.

“What’s the difference between gambling and playing the stock market?“ asked Bucksnort Bugle Editor Roy Seabrooks Jr. “A lot of folks lost their britches recently in the market. Isn’t investing your hard-earned money in the stock market gambling?”

After the failure of Lehman Brothers and the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, now the media and most everyone in America is concerned about the condition and reliability of financial institutions. It is unfortunate that there has been no clarion call by our elected officials or media pundits concerning a far more pressing and sustainable problem. America has more than the current financial industry upheaval. I cite specifically the current and deteriorating condition of the federal government’s finances and its oppressive debt burden on current and future taxpayer generations.

I’m back again because of a request from one of my friends and an Eagle reader, with a heads up on mouse catching and an ongoing mystery that I don’t expect to solve anytime soon.When last I wrote, I had caught/murdered/put out of their misery four nasty little mice. The day I delivered my guest column to our faithful and talented editor of The Madison County Eagle, Don Richeson, a profound mystery occurred in the same cutlery drawer that I had previously alluded to in my column.

Imagine how you would feel if after many years of useful activity you found yourself without a way to get around. You might not be able to drive for a variety of reasons and yet do not want to ask friends, neighbors, or family to take you where you need to go. That situation is becoming increasingly common in Madison County with the growing number of older residents who don’t drive.

Everyone sometimes has a beef with what they see and hear in “the media.” But for me, the week before last was exceptionally bizarre. On Friday of the week before last (Aug. 8), I was able to scoot out of the office early enough – as I had eagerly intended — to catch the broadcast of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. I made it home in time to even catch the national news broadcast just before it.

Four factors other than supply and demand have brought about the recent increase in the price of oil.

Recently, the county administration has reorganized the management and operation of its animal control and animal shelter services. We’d like to take this opportunity to inform county citizens about the organizational structure for those services.

It seems that Verizon wants to “protect” Madison County and has hired a consultant to that end. The question is why have we not — as a county — hired a practical minded engineer to study the facts delineating adequate cell coverage for our community? Placing our confidence in Verizon’s consultant is like allowing the fox to count the chickens as they go to roost for the evening. Where is the common sense in this equation?

The Madison County Rescue Squad Inc. (MCRS) thanks the Madison County Fair Inc. and its board of directors and officers for sponsoring a first time ever Community Give Back Night at the county fair on Wednesday, July 16. We also thank the Madison County community for its support on July 16. Despite the price of fuel and the tough economy of late, you — the Madison County community — donated more than $4.600 to the rescue squad and the fire company, to be split in half, as your entrance fee to the fair. The volunteers of MCRS, from the bottom our hearts, thank you for your support to our organization. Your donations will go a long way and be a big help to our organization. Your donations will help fund improvements, purchase much-needed life saving equipment and provide training to our volunteers.

More should be done to protect trout fishing in Madison County’s Robinson and Rose rivers – the beautiful streams that tumble from headwaters high in the mountains surrounding Syria. Scientists say acid rain is sharply reducing numbers of the fish – it’s already said to have wiped out wild brook trout in a third of Virginia’s 500 trout streams. This is particularly alarming because brook trout – the Virginia state fish – are more pollution resistant than many other types of fish.