“Pass the mayonnaise, please.” The first fresh garden ripe tomatoes of the summer are beginning to appear on the table. Nothing in the market can approach the taste of that sweet, juicy just picked tomato. As a child I would pick a tomato from the vine and eat it standing right there in the garden. Those tomatoes that made it to the house would be washed and sliced for scrumptious sandwiches with mayonnaise, a dash of salt, and white bread. Yum!

My taste buds are salivating just writing about tomatoes with fried bacon, fried country ham and red-eye gravy, cold roast beef, lettuce, cucumber, onion, green pepper, etc. I may need to stop typing and go to the kitchen.

Then there are those tiny bite-size tomatoes that just sit in the bowl on the table and disappear every time someone walks by.  Can’t eat just one.

When the vines start really producing, I have just got to make a fresh baked stewed tomato dish. Then I will have to can tomatoes, juice, salsa, spaghetti sauce, and make green tomato ketchup.  Speaking of green tomatoes, there is nothing else like a platter of fried green tomatoes to pass around the table. Now where is that sharp knife and jar of Dukes? Honey, do drop by for lunch.

Pamplin Town Council

Kelly Berliner of the Virginia Archeological Conservancy and archaeologists from Monticello and William and Mary College recently gave Mayor Billy Horton and Vice Mayor Bob Mitchell a tour of the Pamplin Pipe Factory.  Horton says, “It was a good educational experience to learn from them.”  He hopes that they will do more digs in the near future.

High Bridge Trail Park Manager Reinhart Gray requested that Town Council grant an easement on town property to allow a road outlet from Jennings Wood Yard to Pamplin Road so that the live rail crossing off of Main Street can be closed. Unanimous approval was given. When all easements along the trail extension have been signed then the Department of Conservation and Recreation will close with Norfolk Southern for the abandoned rail bed from Heights School Road to Pamplin. After that work will begin of the conversion from rail to trail.

Horton presented plans for and financing of a new Pamplin Town Office sign to be displayed at the intersection of Highway 47 and Main Street.

Wesley Hamlett and Susan Hudson and council members will be canvasing Westside Pamplin to get surveys completed for the proposed sewer project. There has to be 100 percent completion of the survey to be in compliance with the state as plans move forward for obtaining grants.

Due to the failure of a few tenants to pay their water and sewer bills in a timely fashion, council is working on an amendment to the utilities policy to hold leasees responsible for their debts.

Community Communiqué

Beverly Cyrus is looking for additional members for the Pamplin Community Choir so that it may continue to provide the cantatas for Christmas at the Pamplin Depot. Anyone interested should contact her at (434) 660-8887 or at beverlyhcyrus@gmail.net. Participation would require about six practice sessions.

There will be a Sesquicentennial Poker Run to benefit Pamplin Volunteer Fire Department and EMS on August 1 with rain date on August 8. Registration will start at 9 a.m. with first group out at 10 a.m. Come join them for a beautiful country ride and explore 150 years of the history of Appomattox on the ride and support a great cause.  The Pamplin Fire Department will have available  a BBQ lunch. There will be door prizes and a 50/50 drawing. Stops will be at historical sites. For more information call (434) 609-6939. Donations can be mailed to PO box 1099, Pamplin, VA 23958, C/O Ride for Funds. In addition the fire department is raffling off a three-foot biker garden gnome for $1 per ticket. Drawing will be the day of the poker run. Contact any member of the Pamplin fire department to buy chances.

New for the 2015 edition of Celebrate Pamplin is the inaugural Ralph M. Hamlett 5K Fun Run and Walk at the western end of the High Bridge Trail in Pamplin. Start time will be 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 19. This is a fast out and back, very flat, packed gravel trail course. Runners of all abilities and walkers are welcome. Keepsake finisher medals and t-shirts will be awarded to all participants. Trophies will be awarded for the top three overall male and female finishers. Timing and scoring will be done by The Aid Station, Lynchburg. Online Registration is via www.raceit.com/Register/?event=33612 now through September 5. Paper registration is through race day. Packet pick up will be at the Pamplin Depot on September 18, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Race day packet pick up will be at the start line.

The Pray and Stitch  Group of Prospect United Methodist Church  met on July 1 with Betty Coleman, and they enjoyed lunch together afterwards. Those members present were Eileen Fiscus, Mary Zone, Kitty Miller, Sue Case, Betty Coleman, and Dot Campbell.

Katrena Young hosted the Coleman Family 4th of July picnic. There were 42 in attendance at the outing held at Rock Branch Studio. The family wishes to thank Edith Vaughan for the use of the studio. They all had fun and plenty of food. Four family members with special birthdays were honored, Janie Simpson, Howard Ferguson, Joel Coleman and Nat Coleman.

On July 3, Paul and Ann Greene were visited by her daughter Cindy F. Scheu and grand daughter Sabriel Scheu for the afternoon and for dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Appomattox.

On July 4, Paul and Ann Greene celebrated Paul’s birthday with dinner out in Lynchburg and a visit with his brother Joe Greene.

Birthday celebrations continued last Sunday, with a picnic at Wilck’s Lake, set up by Margie G. French. In attendance were his daughter Margie G. French and Neal French, Jr. from Highland Springs; his daughter Lisa Greene Ferguson and husband Randy Ferguson from Tennessee;  granddaughters Casey Crenshaw, Kim Crenshaw and Stephanie Crenshaw and great-granddaughter Alyssa; and his son Bobby Greene and Mary S. Williamson of Green Bay.

Julian and Edwina Covington attended the Pamplin Old Time Dance and Picnic for the 4th of July.

Please keep the following people in your thoughts and prayers:  Ronnie Franklin, Julian Covington, Betty Meadows, Betty Jean Bolt, Gary Fiscus, and Vicki White. Sympathy is extended to the family and friends of Cleveland Milton “C. M.” Price, Jr.

“It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.” – Lewis Grizzard

If you or your organization has announcements to share with the community, please contact Edwina Covington at 574-6576 or email  ecovington@centurylink.net with the subject line Elam-area news.