Recently, the Waterford Foundation was honored with two very significant awards.

At the Visit Loudoun annual meeting, in front of a packed ballroom at Belmont Country Club, the 2012 Waterford Homes Tour & Crafts Exhibit won the Event of the Year award for large events. This is the fourth time the Fair has received this prestigious honor.

"The Waterford Fair is the oldest, major heritage tourism event in Virginia," said Visit Loudoun board member Rosanna Smith, in presenting the award to Fair Chair Fran Holmbraker. "Throughout the village, historic homes are open for tours, heritage crafts people demonstrate their skills, traditional music and local foods are featured and Civil War re-enactors provide living history.

"After nearly 70 years, the Waterford Foundation continues to enhance, adapt, and enlarge the Fair," she said.

At the Loudoun Preservation Society's annual meeting in Leesburg the Foundation won an award from the Loudoun County Joint Architectural Review Board.

The award was in the "additions" category, recognizing the Old School's new auditorium, reopened in April 2012. The award was presented by Loudoun Preservation Society President Lori Kimball to Foundation Executive Director Ken Rosenfeld and Hans Hommels, chair of the ad hoc committee tasked with rebuilding the auditorium.

The project was cited for the "attention to detail in designing an addition compatible with the historic building and contributing to the overall character of the Waterford Historic District."

This is the second recognition received from the group for the rebuilding of the Old School. In May 2010, the Foundation received an award recognizing the restoration of the historic, 1910 classroom portion of the building following the 2007 fire that destroyed the 1923 auditorium addition.

"It's greatly appreciated that the talent, dedication, and relentless hard work of our Board, staff and volunteers continue to be recognized by the larger preservation and tourism communities," said Foundation Executive Director Ken Rosenfeld.

"As the Foundation celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, we look forward to building on our record as careful stewards of our historic resources, and continuing to play a special role in telling the story of early America."