If you don't know Great Meadow in The Plains, you're missing out on one of Fauquier County's greatest treasures— neigh, make that in all of Virginia and the entire USA.

Spectacular on every level, Great Meadow's amazing views provide an al fresco stage for year-round events of all kinds, especially horse sports and major competitions. Choices range from racing — Virginia Gold Cup and International Gold Cup — to world-class 3-Day Eventing. Plus, there's polo, show jumping, and hunter-jumper shows liberally sprinkled among the various other special events that require lots of ground and even air space; for example, Fourth of July Celebration with awesome fireworks and rocketry championship finals that scout talented high school students for NASA.

The vision that created this pastoral paradise, protected by the Great Meadow Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to preserving open space, sprang from Arthur W. Arundel, founder, and President, who passed a few years after he resigned in 2008. No one wanted to step up into his position, which involved leading officers, trustees, and other supporters to serve as guardians and stewards of this glorious piece of land — a task that requires mega-bucks and public support to maintain, protect and preserve it.

The Board approached Robert Banner, a 17-year veteran member who earned his place on the Executive committee. Banner, horseperson and diehard rural resident, knew Great Meadow inside out.

"When the board asked me to step down from the board and step up as President to help with the duties, I agreed, thinking that the job would last a couple of years," Banner recalled. "That was 11 years ago."

Banner's work experiences include 18 years as Publisher of The Chronicle of the Horse, where he represented the national equine newsweekly at steeplechases, horse shows and eventing competitions around the country. Prior to COTH, Banner spent 10 years as Ad Director, split pretty evenly between Equus, national equine health care monthly, and The Horsemen's Journal, a national racing monthly and his first position after earning his degree in English in 1980 from Vanderbilt University.

Three years at The Episcopal High School in Alexandria provided Banner with serious academic and social polish, especially to his communication skills; he's an articulate and interesting speaker. Best of all, throughout his life, Banner has been an avid horseman — foxhunting, competing in local shows, and racing in the popular owner-rider timber division at local point-to-point.

By the time he succeeded Arundel, Banner knew everyone, local and international, from all walks of life, from many sports and disciplines, in and out of the horse world. His enthusiasm was — and still is — catching.

Banner's accomplishments can be summed up by his complex wish list of goals, which he helped Great Meadow to achieve. He shouldered the responsibility of the Fleming Farm project – a piece of land that had developers circling – and raised more than $5-million to secure the 180-acres adjacent to Great Meadow. He gathered substantial support from local philanthropists who shared his vision of constructing an Olympic-caliber riding arena to provide a stateside venue for elite equestrian competition. In 2016 Great Meadow hosted the first ever FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ held outside of Europe.

"The Board and I are thankful for Rob's years of service and leadership," said John Hochheimer, Chairman of the Great Meadow Board of Trustees. "We understand and support Rob's decision to step down in pursuit of other ventures and we are grateful for his many accomplishments. We wish him luck in his new position."

Banner's recent resignation as President of the Great Meadow Foundation has signaled the end of nearly 30 years of his service to strengthen the non-profit and protect its precious land. He will take his lifetime of experience to join ACRE Investment Management, located just up the road in The Plains, VA.

"ACRE is dedicated to building and scaling energy assets on private lands," Banner said. "From a focus on new forests and carbon to stream and water remediation, their goal is to repair, preserve and grow our nation's natively beautiful and spacious infrastructure for tomorrow's health. I can't think of more appropriate next steps for me to take."

Banner also stated: "I did what I came here to do. I promised that I would raise the funds necessary to carry Great Meadow into the future and all my goals have been met. We have doubled in size, constructed a new World class all-weather arena, brought High-Performance 3-Day Eventing to Great Meadow, built a Verizon cell tower, and placed a conservancy easement over the property to protect it long after we are all gone. I am eternally grateful to all the donors and supporters who have made all this possible."

It's necessary to finish with these Banner words: "I couldn't leave without profusely thanking the kind and generous donors who largely funded the vision that I carried out. Nothing could have been accomplished without their help. Our entire community owes them a large debt of gratitude for their staunch support of Great Meadow Foundation and the work that was accomplished after I became President and, at the same time, Henry A. "Buzz" Kievenaar became Chairman of the Board. We worked hard to retire debt and stabilize operational profit. We may all be long dead and gone, but because of them there will always be people at Great Meadow, enjoying Virginia's finest resources on beautifully preserved open space."