Lake of the Woods Democratic Club

Orange County Supervisor J. Bryan Nicol will speak to the LOW Democratic Club on March 12 about current issues facing Lake of the Woods.

The club’s meeting will take place in Classroom 2 of the LOW Community Center. A gathering period will begin at 1 p.m. and the program will commence at 1:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend, regardless of political affiliation.

Nicol, who has represented District 5, which includes Lake of the Woods, since 2023, is a former deputy attorney general of the State of Indiana and served as commissioner and deputy commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation. He is currently chief strategy officer for an architecture, engineering and consulting firm. He and his family have lived in Lake of the Woods for 15 years.

Nicol writes a regular report to Orange County residents under the title “Nicol’s News” in Lake Currents.

In addition, the club is preparing to participate in the next “No Kings” rally on March 28 in Culpeper to call attention to excesses of the current administration in Washington. A work session is planned for 4-6 p.m. on March 25 in the lower level of the Clubhouse to prepare posters and placards for the event.

The club has begun its campaign to encourage voting in the special election on April 21 to temporarily allow congressional districts to be redrawn to ensure a fair vote for congressional candidates. The measure is in response to lawmakers in at least three Republican-controlled states adopting mid-decade gerrymanders, redrawing their congressional map to create districts more favorable for GOP candidates. Early voting begins March 6.

David M. Poole, a journalist whose commitment to public disclosure revolutionized public understanding of money in Virginia politics, will speak at the February 12 meeting of the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club.

The presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m.  in Classroom II of the LOW Community Center and is open to all.

In his book “Trusted Source,” Poole explains how the nonprofit he founded — the Virginia Public Access Project — managed to address two major challenges of our times: the demise of newspapers and the declining faith in our institutions.

“In a time of deep cynicism in many public institutions, the Virginia Public Access Project remains an outlier, commanding trust across Virginia’s political spectrum. Over a quarter century, as its mission has grown from digitizing campaign contribution reports to offering citizens an array of information about the inner workings of government, the organization has retained broad political support,” Richmond journalist Margaret Edds wrote in her foreword to “Trusted Source.”

Copies of “Trusted Source” will be available for purchase at the meeting.

Poole is a Florida native who earned a degree in Soviet and Eastern European Studies from the University of North Carolina. Before he founded VPAP in 1997, Poole wrote for newspapers in Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Tampa, Fla. He and his wife, Clare, live in Richmond.

Follow the links below to learn more about VPAP and Poole’s book.

Virginia Public Access Project

“Trusted Source” book

The LOW Democrats’ January meeting on Jan. 8 featured a program by Julie Perry, director of economic development and tourism for Orange County. (Shown here with club Chair Sharon Campione). Perry described plans to observe the 250 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence during 2026 and explained the impact of tourism on the Orange County economy. Events for the semiquincentennial celebration include visits by a travelling museum of history, a passport program of historic sites in Virginia and an exhibit at Virginia Foothills Distillery near Barboursville about Elijah Craig, an Orange County Baptist minister who is credited with being the father of bourbon whiskey.

The video below tells some of the story of Orange County’s own Elijah Craig. More information is available at VA250.org.

Julie Perry, director of economic development and tourism for Orange County, will speak to the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club on January 8 about the importance of tourism to the local economy and plans to celebrate the 250 anniversary of the nation’s birth in 2026.

The meeting will take place in Classroom II of the LOW Community Center. The program will begin at 1:30 p.m.

Perry joined Orange County’s marketing team in early 2022 after extensive tourism marketing experience with the City of Fredericksburg’s Department of Economic Development and Tourism and the Virginia Tourism Corporation.

Her work related to the Edna Lewis Media Event and Menu Trail programs helped Orange County win state and national awards for excellence, concluding with the placement of a Virginia Department of Historic Resources Highway Marker in Lewis’s honor.

Perry has overseen steady growth in tourism awareness and engagement with the Orange Uncovered storytelling initiative, the Corks and Caps Craft Beverage Trail, and the Gordonsville Fried Chicken social marketing campaign with the platform Simply Southern.

She is a member of the Virginia Economic Developers Association and attended the Virginia Institute for Economic Development.

Under her leadership, Orange County saw the ribbon cutting for the MacMillian Publishing expansion, announced VA Brownfield Grant Awards for two property remediation efforts, received a Commonwealth Opportunity Fund Award from the Governor’s Office to incentivize the $41.2 million expansion of Aerojet Rocketdyne facilities, and put into motion Economic Development Authority (EDA) efforts to improve site-readiness in the Thomas E. Lee Industrial Park.

 According to data released by the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC), visitor spending for Orange County exceeded $57.6 million in 2024, a 6 percent increase compared to 2023. During the same time frame, tourism-supported jobs in Orange totaled 520, while local tourism-related local taxes were $2.5 million.

 “Tourism here isn’t just economic,” Perry said in an interview upon her appointment as director, “It’s a celebration of legacy and lifestyle, and we’re proud to see that reflected in growing visitor engagement.”

Visit Orange County, Virginia

Think Orange, Virginia