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In 1956, Boys Clubs of America
celebrated its 50th anniversary and received a U.S.
Congressional Charter.
To recognize the fact that girls
are a part of our cause, the national organization's name was
changed to Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1990. Accordingly,
Congress amended and renewed our charter.
 The History
of Boys and Girls Clubs of Fauquier
In 1994 when I retired from the General Assembly of Virginia
a number of Fauquier citizens, Catherine Ann Carter,
Barbara Rodriquez, Jim Brumfield, Ann Nelson, Bill Barr, and
others met with Buddy Curtis and myself to talk about having
a program for young girls and boys. The people of Fauquier
felt that a major problem in this community was that there
was nothing to do on a daily basis for young people. All
kinds of programs were considered, boxing, wrestling, YMCA,
YWCA, Big Brothers and etc. One evening Buddy and myself
visited The Boys and Girls Club in Dale City and I’ll never
forget the statement Buddy made as we walked in the front
door; “This is exactly what we need for our youth in
Fauquier.” Now we had a dream!! |
It
took almost three years to get this project off the ground and
in November 1997 the Boys and Girls Clubs of Fauquier open our
doors at Taylor Middle School. This was made possible by the
Town of Warrenton, County of Fauquier, the School System and
many dedicated people.
From
1997 to 2004 the Club struggled and barely succeeded only
because of dedicated people like Buddy Curtis, Executive
Director Jon Gregory, Jerry Wood, Robert Wiles, John Morgan,
Sarah Rossi, and Jerry Medlock. Help was tough to find and money
was even harder to obtain.
Then
along came Stephen Athey, who donated his time, money and
influence to the Club and suddenly positive changes happened.
In
December 2005 having out grown Taylor Middle School, each year
turning away 200 to 300 young people and the Club is only open
when the school is open and we are very limited in the amount of
space that can be utilized by the Club; the Town of Warrenton
donated a piece of land in Stephen Athey’s name to the Club.
Unfortunately the land deal with the Town of Warrenton did not
work out and we were offer by Kim and Mike Forsten to purchase
The Old Town Athletic Club. This building is 15,000 square feet
and is located on Keith Street in Warrenton. This building will
serve our purpose and we were very lucky that this opportunity
presented itself. The death of Steve in early 2005 meant that he
never witness the results of his hard work.
Now with
a contract on the Old Town Athletic Club, all that remains is
raising 1.5 million dollars for the building that will be a
positive place where young people (age 6 to 18) can come each
day with adult guidance and supervision.
We have
been in our new 15,000 square foot building since December 2009,
thanks to Jim Downey, local attorney. It is located at 169 Keith
Street, Warrenton, Virginia. Equal Footing Foundation donated
money for our Computer Club House and it is up and running. We
continue to raise money to pay for the building.
The Boys
and Girls Clubs of America have a line-up of tested and proven
nationally recognized programs that address the most
contemporary issues of the day. Programs teaching young people
the skills they need to succeed in life. Some of these are
programs concerning education (study hall and tutors), health,
the environment, the arts, careers (how to apply for a job, how
to write a resume), alcohol and drug prevention (visits from
local law enforcement and visit to a jail) pregnancy and gang
prevention and all kinds of athletics.
Our
Clubs are working, (two units in Fauquier, one in Warrenton and
the other in Bealeton), to help youth of all backgrounds, with
special concern for those from disadvantaged circumstances.
Increasing numbers of girls and boys are spending many hours
alone at home with no adult supervision... Young people need
responsible adult guidance, need to know someone cares about
them and have capable adults to whom they can turn.
Will you please help us? Our
children are our most important asset.
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