Edinburg camp was first in president's New Deal program

By Preston Knight -- Daily Staff Writer

EDINBURG — The CCC has something for you to see.

The plan for the James R. Wilkins Sr. Civilian Conservation Corps interpretive center will become more than something in talks or on paper Saturday when an outdoor memorial honoring the men in the program is dedicated at the U.S. Forest Service office at 102 Koontz Road. The center is under the same roof as the government office that houses the Lee Ranger District of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest.

The CCC memorial is a statue of a CCC boy and a brick wall with granite pavers containing the names of some members of Camp Roosevelt in Fort Valley.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the corps during the Great Depression to give boys and men ages 17-25 an opportunity to work and preserve America's natural resources. The members built more than 46,000 bridges, developed more than 800 state parks, erected 27,000 miles of fences and planted 3 billion trees between 1933 and 1942. Camp Roosevelt on the Massanutten Mountain east of Edinburg was the first camp.

"No one looks at Shenandoah County as being the holder of a national first in history," said Joan Sharpe, the president of CCC Legacy.

Stephanie Bushong, who works for the Lee District office, said officials are ready to put contracts out for the design of the center. At that point, a price and timeline for the indoor portion of the facility, which will have displays, a small auditorium and more to serve educational purposes, can be determined, she said.

The statue that will be dedicated Saturday is an $18,000 replica of a CCC worker, standing 6 feet and weighing 460 pounds. It was made in Detroit and is one of 48 nationwide, which includes one at Shenandoah National Park, Sharpe said. The statue will be at ground level to make it more personable, she said, and will face Edinburg Gap.

People looking to honor loved ones who served in the CCC, or just looking to honor a friend or family member, bought the granite pavers for the memorial. Eight of them lining the top middle portion of it are fitted with the words to "America the Beautiful." Shenandoah County will have a paver of its own elsewhere to honor the men from the area who served in the CCC.

A quilt with 15 blocks, each with a different story, will be dedicated Saturday as well, and placed inside.

The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. and will include speeches by Aaron Shapiro, a chief historian with the U.S. Forest Service; James R. Wilkins Jr., a CCC advocate and the son of the man for whom the center is named, and others. There will also be a book signing with Stan Cohen, who wrote "The Tree Army: A Pictorial History of the CCC, 1933-1942," and a tour of Camp Roosevelt, where Matthew Dellinger has worked to improve the landscape for his Eagle Scout project. Everything is open to the public except for a catered lunch, the registration for which has closed.

Sharpe said about 150 people, including 13 CCC alumni, are scheduled to attend, traveling from South Carolina, Ohio, Alabama and elsewhere. Word needs to continue to get out now about the program because its members are now 85-100 years old, she said.

"If young people don't take up for their history," Sharpe said, "it will just fade away."

For more information, contact Sharpe at 984-8735 or Bushong at 984-4101.

* Contact Preston Knight at pknight@nvdaily.com