Hugh C. Miller

     The historic site of Old Bethel will come to life again this year with a very appropriate speaker. Hugh C. Miller, Director of the Development of Historic Resources of the Commonwealth of Virginia will be the guest at the 51st annual meeting August 27 at 11 a.m.

     A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Miller has been involved in a variety of planning, preservation, and architecture projects in the United States and abroad.

     The old Bethel Meeting House is one of the oldest extent pieces of Clarke County's past. An early history of the area describes a "God's Acre" on the hill known as the Bethel Meeting House in 1765. A log building was known to stand on the spot in 1790, but it was destroyed by fire in 1827. Three years later a brick building was erected, and stands to this day, known as "Old Bethel".

     The building now belongs to the people of Clarke County, managed by a Board of Trustees. Through contributions, it is being restored, from the ground up.

     Every year, on the fourth Sunday in August, a special service is held, followed by a picnic lunch. This year there will be a musical presentation by "Jubilo", a chorus under the direction of Melissa Weaver Dunning. Their repertoire consists primarily of Shape Note music, a uniquely American form of hymnody from Revolutionary times, characterized by unusual harmonis and dynamic fugues.

     Everyone is asked to bring food to share for the picnic. Old Bethel is located on Route 625, two miles south of Route 50.

     For more information call Prudence Squier at 837-1729.