On November 12, Middleburg's Lang and Judy Washburn joined Virginia State Delegate Joe May as the recipients of the third annual Loudoun Laurels in ceremonies that took place in the historic Morven Park Carriage Collection Museum.

First awarded in 2008 as part of an initiative founded by Inova Loudoun Hospital CEO, Randy Kelley, the newly independent non-profit program seeks out, recognizes, and captures for history the lives and work of some of the truly outstanding individuals who make Greater Loudoun County an exceptional place to live.

Lang and Judy Washburn

Middleburg's Judy and Lang Washburn received the Laurels this year for Lifetime Service.

Laurels Board and Founders' Committee Member Joe Boling described the award as an appreciation, "…for creativity, wisdom, courage and justice through ongoing service to the people of Loudoun County. These are individuals whom we believe will serve as outstanding and inspiring role models for civic engagement in the spirit of the Loudoun Laurels."

"Their service to Loudoun County," he continued, "is as profound, as it is profoundly unsung."

Judy was a founder of the Windy Hill Foundation, serving on the charter Board and for each of the 29 years since.

She served on the Board of the Evans Home for Children and was one of the founders of the Firehouse Chili Dinners in support of the Middleburg Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company.

She has written, Boling noted, by all accounts, hundreds, if not thousands of personal letters that have moved tens of thousands of dollars toward local Loudoun charities.

Lang, a decorated naval aviator, helicopter manufacturing pioneer, GOP strategist and organizer, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, and Disney VP, served as the irreplaceable, and (as always) "unofficial" fundraising captain for the Windy Hill Foundation, collecting over $7 million for affordable housing in Loudoun County.

He was one of the founders of the Middleburg Forum, and led the Bicentennial Beautification Committee that replaced nearly all the trees on the main streets of Middleburg.

Both Lang and Judy were recently honored by The Hill School for their contributions to its growth and development.

Boling also noted that the work they've both done that we'll never know about would probably merit Laurels on their own.

Judy Washburn recently told the Loudoun Times Mirror, "I think we owe it to this beautiful way of life to give back to it." Boling noted that the Laurels symbolize both the true nature of the debt, and by whom, and to whom it is really owed.

Lang Washburn's granddaughter, Lily accepted the medal on his behalf.

Joe May

Thirty-third District Delegate Joe May, founder and CEO of EIT, was recognized for statesmanship and his contributions to business development in Greater Loudoun County.

REHAU Incorporated's North American CEO, Dr. Kitty Saylor introduced May as "...the oldest boy in a 6th-generation farm family from the Valley, who happily for us all, discovered that he might have more talent than his high school teachers suspected."

May joined the Army right out of high school, and began to suspect he might have that "talent" while caring for the electronics of what were then, in the late 1950's, some of the world's most sophisticated guided missiles. He credits one of his commanding officers with giving him the idea of 'giving college a try;' earned his engineering degree on eve of the Cuban missile crisis; and was immediately hired by the world-famous physics research team at DuPont's Wilmington Experimental Station.

May soon became a registered professional engineer, and went on to build many of the things he conceived, founding in the process, the highly respected and equally successful engineering and manufacturing firm, Electronic Instrumentation Technologies, now best know as EIT.

He now has well over 20 patents to his personal credit and more in the works, ranging from devices to measure the octane rating of your gasoline, to famous yellow and blue lines on your TV screens, indicating how many yards your favorite football team has to cover for a first down.

In 1993 Loudoun Laureate Paul Ziluca, then Chairman of the state's Republican Party, asked Joe, who had never run for any political office, to try for the 33rd District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

He's been re-elected nine times and serves on the Appropriations and Science and Technology Committees, and chairs the Transportation Committee.

Joe and his wife Bobby live in Leesburg. They have two daughters, Dr. Susan M. Pederson and Elaine M. Attridge.

Having recently added helicopter pilot's license to his fixed-wing credentials May says he looks forward to continuing to work, and continuing to serve.

The Loudoun Laurels Archives

The ongoing mission of the Loudoun Laurels is not only to seek out and honor the program's Laureates, but to preserve, protect and pass on their stories to future generations.

The Washburns and Delegate May joined 2008 Laureates Kim Hart, Eugene Scheel and Childs Burden, and 2009 Laureates Paul Ziluca and Karen Russell, in allowing the program to tape and produce extended video portraits, outlining their lives and work.

Those recordings (and other materials) are now part of the permanent research collections on the history of Loudoun County, a special Loudoun Laurels Collection, housed at the Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg.

Curated by the Balch library staff, the recordings are made available for non-commercial use by students of the history of Greater Loudoun from all over the world.