On November 5, 1991, Woody Hynson and I were elected to the boards of supervisors in Westmoreland and Northumberland counties, respectively, to assume office on January 1, 1992. On our second day in office, we each traveled to Richmond where we met at a two-day orientation program sponsored by the Virginia Association of Counties.
The evening of the first day, Woody received word that his son, Mark, had been injured in a serious automobile accident in the western part of the Commonwealth. Having met for the first time earlier that day, I offered to drive him there, which he kindly declined, leaving hurriedly. Mark’s injuries were severe, but thankfully he made a wonderful recovery. To this day he remains in fine health with a family of his own.
That traumatic evening formed a bond between Woody and me that remains strong to this day. Woody has continued to serve on the Westmorland board of supervisors, having been re-elected to a ninth term last November. His district runs from the outskirts of Colonial Beach through Oak Grove and on to Leedstown. He is the consummate public servant, always available to offer his wise counsel to his constituents and others who might seek his advice.
His years on the board have seen many great advances for Westmoreland County and he has been at the vortex of all of those accomplishments. Woody has a computer mind that can see figures clearly and guide a meeting or discussion to a logical conclusion. He understands his role and fulfills it with profound distinction and dignity.
When not in the governmental scene, Woody is an old-fashioned farmer, one whose abiding delight is in growing things. For decades he has been known far and wide for his fields of cantaloupes and watermelons. His farms are at Leedstown, one of the most historic sites in the Northern Neck, going back to the famous Leedstown Resolves, also known collectively as the Northern Neck Declaration, drafted by Richard Henry Lee.
The document produced at Leedstown and acceded to on February 27, 1766, by the leading colonial citizens of the time, in opposition to the British Stamp Act that had been passed by Parliament the previous year, formed the beginning of the movement for American Independence that was achieved a decade thereafter. The legacy of that history is a living part of Woody’s life.
The surrounding lands at Leedstown constitute some of the most fertile soils of the Northern Neck, ideal for growing fruits and vegetables, as well as the standard crops of corn, wheat and soybeans. In my childhood the Perry Tomato Factory near the shoreline of the Rappahannock River at Leedstown was an annual stop for my parents and me.
We would stock up on several cases of canned tomatoes to last through the winter and into spring until fresh ones were available again. Those ventures were early examples of our family’s entry into locavore dining.
The factory is gone now, but the cropland that surrounded it continues to provide abundant agricultural resources for Woody and other local farmers. Woody has been a bastion for maintaining the farm heritage of the Northern Neck.
His beautiful fields with their straight rows of crops or wondering vines of cantaloupes and watermelons take one back to the days when farming and working on the water were the only industries in what the late historian C. Jackson Simmons referred to as “our moated Eden.”
Today is the semisesquicentennial anniversary of Woody’s arrival in the Northern Neck. For many of us, he represents the best of the past, the dynamism of the present and the brightness of the future. Happy Birthday, Woody! You are at the peak of youth!
