Clover Carroll-Albemarle County Resident
Tell us about your volunteer activities.
I am the secretary of the Crozet Trails Crew, whose mission is to plan, build, and promote multi-use trails connecting neighborhoods, downtown, and scenic locations around Crozet and Western Albemarle County. I maintain our database of over 250 members, take minutes at our monthly meetings, and send out an email newsletter to announce workdays and other CTC events. I also volunteer at our annual 5K race, a major fundraiser that is coming up at Crozet Park on Oct. 8. You can learn more about this, our trails, and our work at crozettrailscrew.org. I also write a monthly literary column for the Crozet Gazette, am a member of the Crozet Community Chorus, a member of the Grayrock HOA Board, and for the past 10 years have been the “snack lady” for the English Country Dancers who meet monthly at St. Paul’s, Ivy.
What inspires you to volunteer?
I believe strongly in the mission of the Crozet Trails Crew. I love to walk and exercise outside in nature, and am saddened by the paucity of sidewalks and the dominance of a car culture in Albemarle County. I am so impressed by the work that Jessica Mauzy and her (self-created) crew have accomplished over the past six-seven years to plan, design, and develop the Crozet Connector Trail, working with Dan Mahon of Albemarle Co. Parks & Recreation to identify relevant easements, negotiate with developers, etc. to make her dream a reality that benefits the entire Crozet community. Residents of the Highlands, Western Ridge, Westhall, and other neighborhoods can now walk to downtown Crozet using the beautiful trails CTC has made and maintain (a big job!). We also maintain the Henley Hornets Trail at Beaver Creek Park and various trails in Old Trail Village. This connects our community, enhances property values, promotes the health of our residents, and improves our quality of life. CTC is also a wonderful social group of like-minded neighbors who all possess the volunteer spirit. I can’t always get out for the workdays, but since I am a good wordsmith, taking minutes and composing emails is one way I can help to advance our cause.
If your volunteer work could make one long-lasting change, what would you want it to be?
A well-marked, safe, walkable combination of sidewalks and greenways connecting all of Crozet and even out to Cory Farms, Harris Teeter, and up to the Blue Ridge Tunnel!
What is a little-known fact about you?
Before joining the public school system (where I was an English teacher and school librarian for 25 years until retiring from WAHS in 2015), I spent seven years as an adjunct instructor of writing and literature at JMU and the UVa School of Engineering. Also, I grew up performing in the choruses of musicals and G&S operettas, and I know the words to at least 1000 songs!!
What brought you to Charlottesville/Albemarle County?
I moved to Cville in 1977 to attend graduate school at UVa. While earning two M.A.s (in English and Education), I fell in love with the area and stayed here to marry and have two children. Now I have 3 grandchildren! I moved to Ivy in 1984 and to Crozet in 2008. As far as I’m concerned, this is as close to Paradise as we are likely to get! Natural beauty, culture, and a socially conscious population make this a truly ideal place to live (not to mention all the vineyards and breweries!)
