Living a Dream

Hello Blog Land:

Many of us here in Rappahannock County, Virginia are familiar with the contributions that honored author, historian, and "Octogenarian", James Russell has made to our community through his books, artifacts, writings, story tellings, and book signings of his families upbringing during the times of slavery to redemption. Mr. Russell is a wealth of heritage and we are lucky to have him here with us.

Next Sunday, April 25th, 2010, Mr. Russsell will be coming up on his 90th birthday. To celebrate this great man's life, there are some things that James has been working on that he would like to see completed. I thought I would take it upon myself to put the word out to our fine community to see if we might assist him in manifesting some of his visions!

When Mr. Russell first had his vision to create a community sharing space and meeting hall on his beautiful and senic property "Pleasant Acres" that he calls "The Octagon at Memorial Hill" located at 892 Woodward Rd, in Sperryville it was just a dream. Now Mr. Russell currently runs a miniature train on the grounds, a museum room and has space available for family and community picnics. There is a small stage available that he would like to use for his story telling and lectures, he would like to enclose it "pavillian style" so it is available for all weather use, and a comfort station has also been constructed on the grounds that is in need of finishing carpentry and plumbing installation.

If you would like to make financial contributions or birthday gifts and donations please mail them to:
892 Woodward Rd., Sperryville, VA 22740.

We are also hoping to acquire a lap top or light weight computer for Mr. Russell to be able to view his web page, sell his books and check his mail, if anyone has one they could make available (internet accessible).

In addition to all of this, Mr. Russell is also looking for a housemate to share a room or two in his home. The cost of $300.00 per month which could be exchanged in part for house cleaning, personal care, and cooking. It would be his preference for the housemate to be an older, single woman.

"One of life's greatest undisturbed joys is the comforting fact of knowing that you are welcome, respected, loved, and wanted in any 24 hour day"
James D. Russell
1997