Goochland County wants you to get involved.

That’s the message that’s being sent out these days—last week school administration announced a desire to solicit community participation in creating a “big picture” plan for education, Goochland County Fire-Rescue is registering volunteers interested in taking EMT training and the Goochland Leadership Enterprise class is soliciting applications.

For a lot of us, especially during the sultry days of summer, lingering on the front porch and discussing issues over a glass of chilled tea is preferable to actually doing anything.

But, and we’ve been saying variations on this theme fairly often in this column lately, there’s no reason you can’t put your glass down for the few minutes it will take to fill out a registration form or make a phone call.

EMT and GLE classes don’t begin until the fall, so you don’t have to get serious quite yet.

Once the weather cools, though, you’ll be able to jump into an opportunity to make a difference.

We’ll have to wait to see how the school snapshot idea will develop, but the GLE class, and this year’s group will be the fifteenth to experience it, is an established entity.

The idea is that 25 citizens meet two or three evenings a month to learn more about how the county operates—featured topics include Goochland’s history, administrative operations, agricultural tradition, educational resources and economic development.

At the end of the class, which runs from September through March, participants sit down to dine with the Board of Supervisors, who will discuss the issues confronting the county.

The point of all this is for people to learn more about where they live, so that they can more fully contribute to the county’s leadership pool.

The program’s alumni include Supervisor William Quarles, former Planning Commissioner Knight Bowles, YMCA Program Director Jan Kenney, School Board Chairman Maxwell Cisne, Meals on Wheels Coordinator Barry Barnette, former Christmas Mothers Rachel Parker and Anne Rockecharlie, and many other current and aspiring Goochland leaders.

And the class rosters have also included a lot of citizens who just want to be in the swim of things.

Interested?

Call the Goochland Extension Office at 556-5841 for more information.

For those craving a more hands-on way of helping out the community, Goochland County Fire-Rescue is recruiting volunteers, and is offering basic EMT training.

Both daytime and evening classes are available.

The county’s fire-rescue volunteers are an amazing group of individuals who come together for a noble purpose- protecting the people who live here. 

So consider committing yourself to engaging more fully with your community, and make that phone call— and then, celebrate your commitment by pouring another glass of tea and savoring these last days of summer!