Officers Elected for Virginia Piedmont Company of the Jamestowne Society

LYNCHBURG – The Virginia Piedmont Company of the Jamestowne Society recently met at the Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg, Virginia for its biannual meeting with nearly 40 members and guests present.  Following a buffet luncheon and a business meeting, Mr. Nicholas “Nick” Luccketti, a renowned archaeologist, researcher, and surveyor gave a presentation on the “Lost Colonists of the Roanoke Colony.”  Luccketti, a senior partner and principal archaeologist of the James River Institute for Archaeology, was one of the finders of the original 1607 James Fort at the Jamestowne Settlement in Virginia, and has done extensive archaeological surveys at Fort Raleigh, the site of the Lost Colony. For more than 40 years, he has been a recognized expert in excavation of early colonial sites and has published numerous articles and books on the subject matter. His presentation to the Virginia Piedmont Company was in honor of the 400^th Anniversary of 1619.  At the conclusion of the presentation, new officers were elected for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2020: Chaplain Sarah Splaun; Historian Gwen Solyom; Treasurer April Miller; Secretary Elaine Poliey; Lt. Governor Nancy McMurdo; and Governor J. Shane Newcombe. Newcombe has served as the Governor of the Virginia Piedmont Company of the Jamestowne Society since September 2013 and is a resident of Scuffletown.

The Jamestowne Society, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia is a hereditary society that admits members by invitation only and in accordance with the Society’s By-Laws.  The following criteria is used in determining membership eligibility: the Jamestowne ancestor was a stockholder in the London Company or Virginia Company; owned land on Jamestowne Island or lived on the Island prior to 1700; or was a resident of Virginia at the time of the 1624-25 Muster; served as Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Attorney General, Clerk of the General Court, Member of the Council or member of the House of Burgesses prior to 1700.   The Society is broken into Companies throughout the fifty states and an annual meeting is held in Williamsburg each May.  The Virginia Piedmont Company encompasses “Southside and South Central Virginia,” from Charlottesville, in the north, to Danville in the South, to Lynchburg in the west, and Farmville in the east.

Pictured are the newly elected officers of the Virginia Piedmont Company of the Jamestowne Society at the Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg: Mrs. A. E. (Gwen) Solyom of Lynchburg, Historian; Mrs. John F. (Elaine) Poliey of Moneta, Secretary; Mrs. Harry (April) Miller of Chatham, Treasurer and Past Governor; Mrs. Donald B. (Sarah) Splaun of Staunton, Chaplain; and Mr. J. Shane Newcombe of Randolph, Governor; not pictured is Mrs. A. Edward (Nancy) McMurdo of Charlottesville, Lt. Governor.