Middleburg Town Council and Staff spent much of the last month making sure punch lists were complete, occupancy permits issued, and all was ready for the noon, August 29, grand opening of the longawaited Salamander Resort & Spa.

Set on 340 acres the resort comprises 168 rooms and suites, a spa, equestrian center, worldclass dining, a cooking studio, wine bar, billiards room, conference and banquet facilities.

Police Chief Panebianco reported that his force was ready for both the Grand Opening and the upcoming Salamander Film Festival. The Middleburg force, he noted, is at last fully staffed and operating on a 24/7 basis. A new and significant addition to the Police Department staff, he noted, was their new part-time Administrative Assistant, Karen Kilday. Kilday works twenty-three hours per week, spread over five days.

National Night Out

Chief Panebianco also reported that Middleburg's second celebration of "National Night Out" was a great success thanks once again to outstanding community support. Designed "to promote involvement in crime prevention activities, police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back," the national program is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Panebianco also noted a new warning against cybercrime posted on the department's web site at http://www.middleburgpolice.org.

"If it seems too good to be true" the site notes, "it probably is! When buying and selling online…don't be taken for a ride." He encouraged citizens in doubt about dubious offers to feel free to "Call the police and let us look into it."

Preservation Planning and Grants

On July 23 the Mosby Heritage Area Association hosted a workshop at the Middleburg Community Center to discuss the significance of the Civil War battlefields of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville and how best to preserve them.

Representatives from John Milner Associates, nationally recognized experts in battlefield preservation, presented an overview of the battlefields, their existing conditions, and key preservation issues to be addressed. Cavalry expert Clark "Bud" Hall spoke on the fighting that occurred here exactly 150 years ago and MHAA President Childs Burden provided an introduction to the Mosby Heritage Area Association. Henry Plaster, Paul Ziluca, Wendy Bebie, Harry Bigley, and Doug Gow serve on the organization's new Preservation Committee. Additional public workshops will be held in 2014.

On Thursday, August 15, at Loudoun County's Ball's Bluff Battlefield, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell named the beneficiaries of this year's $2.2 million grant from Virginia's Civil War Site Preservation Fund, established by the General Assembly in 2010. The grants will help preserve more than 1200 acres of battlefield, including, among others Ball's Bluff, Brandy Station, Kelly's Ford, both battles at Rappahannock and Second Manassas. Institutional recipients include the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, the Civil War Trust, Richmond Battlefields Association, and the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.