6 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • December 2023
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WRITTEN BY LEIGH ANNE VAN DOREN
publisher's note publisher's note
Leigh Anne Van Doren,
Frederickburg Parent and
Family publisher
So Much So Much
to Celebrate to Celebrate
PUBLISHER Leigh Anne Van Doren
leighanne@fredericksburgparent.net
Tabitha & Jamie Nelle's mom
EDITOR & WEBMASTER Chris Jones
chris@fredericksburgparent.net
Quincy, Hayden & Olive's dad
MEDIA & ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
megan@fredericksburgparent.net
Megan Walsh:
Mia, Noelle & Adelaide's mom
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
Cheryl Carter: Alex, Kate & Jackie's mom
CALENDAR & COOL THINGS TO DO ELETTER
caroline@fredericksburgparent.net
Caroline Murray:
Nate and Brendan's mom
EDUCATION & INFANT ELETTERS
Debra Caffrey:
Aidan's mom
SPECIAL EVENTS COORDINATOR
jessica@fredericksburgparent.net
Jessica Trask:
Cye, Asher and Ragan's mom
SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
Mira Dover
MARKETING & EVENT INTERN
Ragan Trask
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© Copyright 2023 Nurture, Inc. All rights reserved.
The holidays in Fredericksburg have never looked more like a Hallmark
Christmas movie thanks to the efforts of the new FXBG Main Street director,
Chris Allen. The Christmas tree lighting and Santa Sing Along at Hurkamp Park
featured new lighting and ornaments on the Christmas tree, hot chocolate,
lightup cotton candy, kazoos, bell ringing, and Elsa pictures.
Other fun plans downtown include a cookie exchange day, Small Business
Saturday, A Christmas movie (Elf), shopping passports with prizes, and an extra
special First Friday. On behalf of parents, I'd like to thank the downtown mer-
chants for going all out on the Christmas Window Decorating contest. Along
with the windows, there is a wonderful Winter Wonderland contest perfect for
school age children. (The beautiful Christmas dress in the Re-Run Shoppe win-
dow is NOT for sale, I already asked for you.)
Also in this issue, is a beautiful spread on Christmas at Stratford Hall, home of
Robert E. Lee and an historic day trip for your family. The staff at Stratford Hall
have worked hard to tell everyone's story at the Hall; it's worth the effort to
make the 30 minute drive to explore growing up on historic ground.
Best of all, is our special Education section in this issue. As our schools recover
from the pandemic, it's encouraging to see all the new programs aimed at
improving our children's education after years of learning loss. That is a won-
derful Christmas present from our school systems to our area!
Our nonprofits are blooming as well. We expect to hit our 2000
th
child enrolled
in our Fredericksburg Area Imagination Library by the end of the year and are
planning our second graduation ceremony for the early Spring.
The FXBG Advance held a ribbon cutting ceremony at our new office at
EagleWorks Business Incubator to welcome our first full time reporter, Adele
Uphaus Connor on November 27
th
. We were pleased to welcome Rep. Abigail
Spanberger, Chamber Board member Martha Hutzel, and the mayor to the
event. We were also thrilled to win an operating grant from the Community
Foundation for both of the nonprofits! We are thankful for the Fredericksburg
Savings Charitable Foundation and the $7500 that will go to overhead costs. It
is an honor to be a recipient.
Best,
Leigh Anne Van Doren
