Grants to benefit county air show, scholarship fund

By Linwood Outlaw III - loutlaw@nvdaily.com

FRONT ROYAL -- Dominion Virginia Power has awarded $12,000 in grants to Warren County officials to help rebuild a local high school scholarship program and promote next week's Virginia Air Show.

The bulk of the award -- $10,000 -- will be given to the Warren County Educational Foundation scholarship program, which was established by the Board of Supervisors in 1986. Originally, the intent of the program was to award $5,000 scholarships to the top male and female graduates at Warren County High School.

The program had recently been expanded to include top graduates at Skyline High School. However, due to sagging interest rates and the program's expansion, the supervisors were only able to provide one $3,000 scholarship this year. School officials had to provide the remaining three $3,000 scholarships using funding from the Carl and Emily Thompson Charitable Trust, according to a news release issued last week by Brandy Rosser, the county's grants and special projects coordinator.

"Until the principal balance of the account can be increased through donations and grant funding, Warren County will not be able to award $5,000 scholarships in the future," the news release says.

Dominion also presented $2,000 to the Front Royal-Warren County Airport to advertise and promote the third-annual Virginia Air Show, which will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 11 at the airport at 229 Stokes Airport Road.

The air show is held in remembrance of the Sept. 11 plane-based attacks on the United States executed by al-Qaida terrorists and pays homage to military veterans. The event also is viewed as a creative platform for promoting aviation. The show will include multiple features, such as static displays, Black Hawk helicopters and hot-air balloons.

The premier attraction will be the Flying Circus, which typically includes aerobatics, flour sack bombings and other aerial tricks. Local officials recently received a grant from the Virginia Department of Aviation for funding of up to $7,500 for reimbursement of promotional activities for the airport. Such activities include, but are not limited to, the air show.

Dominion officials have been frequently visiting Warren County in recent months to conduct public hearings and other business pertaining to a proposed gas-fired power plant the company wants to build near Kelley Drive.

Local officials are generally excited about potential economic benefits the power plant could bring. Hundreds of workers are expected to be on site during the construction phase, and the power plant could bring 30 permanent jobs to the area once it starts operating. The plant is also expected to generate millions of dollars in additional tax revenue for the county. Dominion hopes to have the power plant operating by 2015.