A generation ago, the citizenry of tiny Newport, Va., proudly identified themselves as
residents of a town that sent two sons to baseball’s major leagues and was once one
of the wealthiest inland villages.
But in 1990, with its school closed and its post office
threatened, the Giles county hamlet was dying
from its center. The cluster of houses at the core of the voting precinct didn’t have
town status anymore; some residents feared Newport would disappear completely.
That was when Darrel
Martin, Buford Steele, and others leaped into action.
"We decided to become a village," Martin says.
"We wanted to create a place for people, a place of friendship, a place with
identity, a partnership community."
Martin, a Virginia Tech
public administration faculty member who had run Governor Gerald Baliles’
political campaigns, began by asking questions and listening: "What do we want?"
and "What is it we should do differently?"
"We listed 14 things we started working on —
from keeping the post office open to creating a village green," he says.
Members of the Ruritans,
fire department, rescue squad, women’s club, and the community at large assembled a
village council. The village green was created as a symbol of community, and the former
school became a community center where residents take art lessons, attend concerts, and
hold community dinners. With the help of Congressman
Rick Boucher, the post office was moved from a cramped trailer to a new brick building
off US 460.
Newport’s unique architectural feature, its covered
bridges, needed repair, especially Sinking Creek Bridge, so townspeople sold commemorative
bricks and worked with Anderson & Associates to
rebuild the foundation above flood level.
Congressman Boucher and A&A also worked with Martin
when the town needed a new water system; the crumbling, old tower kept springing leaks
when grazing cows bumped it. Now water is piped from Pembroke to meet needs of the growing
village. Although water rates tripled from the $8 monthly rate, no one protested, Martin
says — testimony to success of participatory democracy. The same citizens voted 331-0
against allowing proposed Interstate 73 to pass through town.
