Good morning, FXBG.
Happy Veterans Day. It's a beauty: sunny with a high near 70, per the National Weather Service. Soak it up, because rain moves in Thursday morning and Friday struggles to reach the mid-50s.
In today's Rundown:
Veterans Day downtown, plus a Caroline farm that pairs veterans with service dogs
Germanna opens an Amazon-backed skilled trades training yard
Spotsylvania's 555-acre data center campus heads to a vote next week
Today's photo: The flag over Fredericksburg National Cemetery in fall, by Mary O'Neill (National Park Service), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
🇺🇸 Veterans Day, and the dogs who help veterans come home
The city's big moment is this morning. The Veterans Day Procession steps off from Memorial Park at 10:30 a.m. and walks about 0.6 miles down Washington Avenue to the Fredericksburg Area War Memorial on George Street, where the commemoration starts at 11 a.m. Family and friends are invited to line the avenue, then fall in at the end. Veterans who can't make the walk can ride a veterans-only trolley bus, first come, first served. A rolling roadblock follows the procession, and streets around the memorial close for the ceremony, so carpool. The city suggests the Dog Park or the Winchester Street garage. Details: fredericksburgva.gov.
Worth reading before you go: Jonathan Hunley's Free Press column on Kevin Lanouette, who trains German shepherds on a 200-acre former dairy farm in Woodford. His new nonprofit, Elite Guardian Service Dogs, places trained service dogs with veterans and first responders at no cost to them. One of them is Stafford's Greg Hanville, a Marine for more than two decades, who says his shepherd Eliza "makes me get off the couch." Lanouette's for-profit side donates a dog to the program for every one it sells. You can read more, or chip in, at eliteguardianservicedogs.com.
Quick check: city and Stafford schools are closed today, and so are city, Stafford and Spotsylvania county offices. Spotsylvania schools are on a regular schedule.
Wed., Nov. 11 · Procession 10:30 a.m., ceremony 11 a.m. · Washington Ave. to George St. · Free, rain or shine
🔧 Germanna's new trades yard is open
If you've been eyeing a career change that doesn't need a four-year degree, this one's for you. Germanna Community College and Amazon cut the ribbon Tuesday on the Amazon Skill Yard at Germanna's Fredericksburg Area Campus. It's a hands-on training facility for electrical, HVAC, fiber optics, core craft skills and data center operations. Mobile training labs were part of Tuesday's demos.
The pitch is speed. Germanna says the yard lets it run more short-term, industry-aligned courses that lead to in-demand jobs, and that employers can use it to upskill people already on their payroll. It's part of an ongoing partnership among Amazon, Germanna and the Virginia Community College System. Germanna's announcement doesn't list course dates or prices yet, so check with the college's workforce office if you're interested. The Free Press has photos from the ribbon cutting.
Look at that course list and you'll notice where the jobs are headed. That brings us to Spotsylvania.
🖥️ Spotsy's biggest data center pitch yet goes to a vote Nov. 17
Spotsylvania supervisors hold a public hearing Tuesday, Nov. 17, on a special use permit for the Crossroads Technology Campus, a proposed data center campus on about 555 acres in the Lee Hill District. The site is north of Eagle Drive, Lee Hill School Drive and Mills Drive (Route 17). The applicant, RCK Digital Crossroads LLC, plans about 2.1 million square feet spread over seven buildings, according to filings summarized by The Virginia Pulse.
The numbers to know: a Rappahannock Electric Cooperative form estimates the campus's electric load at 894 megawatts, with three new substations. Cooling would use about 1 million gallons a day of reuse water, not well or drinking water, the applicant says. About 66% of the site would stay open space, and buildings would be capped at 75 feet. We haven't seen a county staff recommendation yet. Case files are on the county's meeting agendas page.
Whatever you think of data centers, this one is big. If you want to weigh in, next Tuesday is the night.
Tue., Nov. 17 · 5:45 p.m. · Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors · Public hearing on SUP26-0003
⭐ Featured
Meet @sweetsrpoppin, a home-based bakery serving Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania that turns parties into dessert tables. The post that caught our eye was a first-birthday spread of cake pops and dipped Oreos, the kind of thing that disappears before the candles are lit. Holiday parties are right around the corner, so give them a follow and get your order in early.
📌 Also worth knowing…
Kalahari opens tomorrow: Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Spotsylvania opens to the public Thu., Nov. 12. Expect extra traffic off I-95, and rain is likely Thursday morning.
Harrison Road is done: VDOT says the $12.3 million widening of Harrison Road between Old Plank and Gordon roads is complete, with four lanes, a center turn lane, a new sidewalk and crosswalk signals. VDOT.
Tonight at UMW: Author Laura Feller discusses Being Indigenous in Jim Crow Virginia: Powhatan People and the Color Line, Wed., Nov. 11, 6 p.m., Colonnade Room, Cedric Rucker University Center. Co-sponsored by the James Monroe Museum. Event page.
"Rumble" gets its marker: The state highway marker for Link Wray, installed under wraps at Fall Hill Avenue and Emancipation Highway, will be unveiled Sat., Nov. 21, 1 p.m. at James Monroe High School's auditorium. It's free, with live Wray music by a band that includes his grandson. Free Press.
Holiday Open House is this weekend: Downtown shops celebrate Nov. 14–15, with the Riverfront Park tree lighting Saturday, 4–7 p.m. Guide.
👋 Before you go
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Know a veteran who'd love Kevin's dogs, or a neighbor who should hear about the Crossroads hearing? Forward this along. Free signup: thefxbgrundown.com.
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