# Dr and Mrs. Rivet honored last night



## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Last night the Fairfax County Park Authority Board honored a group of outstanding volunteers. Jim and Jo Anne Stapleton (aka Dr and Mrs. Rivet) were among those recognized for their continued volunteer work in the parks. They have been running a Christmas Train Show in one of the parks (Colvin Run Mill) for 22 years. It was quite a do, there was a large crowd including our local congressman and most of the members of the board of county supervisors.

Here is a copy of the write up in the program.










Congratulations! It was a fun evening.

Chuck and Nancy

PS, We'll be running two weekends this year. The Saturday and Sunday before and after Christmas.


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Congratulations to Jim and Jo Anne. 
The things that you learn about your fellow enthusiast on this site. 
It's great. 
All the best, 
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Congrats Jim to you and your wife!!


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Last night the Fairfax County Park Authority Board honored a group of outstanding volunteers 
Yes, congratulations Jim & Joanne. 

I'm told that the Colvin Run Mill Historic Site picked on them because their display produces a spike in visitors - to the point where the RR is the largest single attraction that they have. Well done Dr & Mrs Rivet.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Congrats Jim to you and your wife!!


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Congratulations Jo Anne and Jim. It's about time you were "officially" recognized. I personally know how much work you guys put into each show and how much the community appreciates it.

Doc


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Pete, mentioned that the mill is an historic site. Indeed it is. Like most older buildings in Virginia, George Washington either owned, partially owned, or slept in it. I believe that he was a part owner of the Colvin Run Mill. Chuck


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## Alan in Adirondacks (Jan 2, 2008)

Jim and Jo Anne, 

Congrats!! I knew you were doing a train display every year, but this phenomenal. 22 years shows a lot of dedication. I'm glad you were recognized. 

Best regards, and Happy Thanksgiving, 

Alan


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Well desired for an impressive contribution to the community, and the hobby at large. Good to heard that recognize comes to those who give and give and give...22 years and counting!


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Way to go you two. You always have been a great team. 
Noel


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Well deserved honors............. Congratulations, Jim and Jo Anne.........


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

The layout has evolved through the years, but now it consists of and outer loop that is about 12x35-40' (I've never measured it exactly), an inner over and under loop that fills most of the interior track space, a 35' point to point (Trolly), and last but not least a Thomas loop (about 8'x12'). There are a lot of buildings, people, and animals to fill in any vacant space. It is a BUSY place. All of the loops have passing siding so that we can have multiple trains available for each loop as the requests come in: "I want to see Thomas, not James", or "are you ever going to run that black engine, what ever it is", " I want to see the the stream liner", etc., etc.

Here are some ppictures from previous years.




























We'll put out a post as the time gets closer, but those of you in the DC, Md, and Va area come by and congratulate the Stapletons (Rivets) in person.

Chuck


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Chuck 

Thanks for posting this, and thanks everyone who extended their congratulations on this thread and in private emails. 
Some clarifications of the writeup from the program: 
Since we started this in 1990 and have not missed a single year... not even SNOWMAGEDDON stopped us... just a one week delay...2013 is our 24th consecutive year. AND if they had included Jo Anne's volunteer service at Sully Plantation [another Fairfax County Historical Site], she has continuous volunteer service of 31 years beginning in 1983. 

The nonexistent and totally fictitious Model Railroad Society that they conjured up out of thin air is really the following MLS participants [whose names were supplied when I first was asked to write a short history of our project by Colvin Run's current management, but received no individual credit]: 
1) Dr Rivet - Jim Stapleton 
2) Chuck N 
3) Docwatsonva - Don Watson, retired from our team and living in North Carolina 
4) PeterJ - Pete Jobusch 
5) Chama - Scott Loomer 
along with DA' BOSS Jo Anne and Peter's wife Carol 

Other folks have poked their heads in and helped occasionally, but the seven people listed above have been the core group, and Jo Anne and I accept this recognition on the team's behalf. The two of us may have done the coordination work, but everyone put in the labor for set up, tear down, and logging time running trains and standing at the front answering questions, promoting model railroading and large scale to the public. 

Thanks again for the kind words.


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow...this is sumthin'. Congrats you two.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

That's very cool, I had no idea. Thanks for all you do for the hobby.


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## bottino (Feb 7, 2008)

Congratulations, and my thanks also for your support of the hobby. A lot of people appreciate trains more because of this.


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Marty 

My only hobby throughout life has been model trains... starting at age three with my brother's Marx O-27. No cars, no planes, no boats.... 
Fortunately [I guess] I have always been a social animal and wanted to share this overflowing enthusiasm. As a result, I chaired four major events during our time with the local garden railway society including being chairman of the National Garden Railway Convention in 1992. DA' BOSS and I organized a Christmas [the USGS called it Holiday] Show that started as a train layout in front of the Christmas Tree for our Mapping Center's annual party and grew to a public show in the auditorium with G, O, S, HO, N, and Z layouts. The public shows ran from 1992 until 2000. Typically they ran four days. Attendance ranged from 8,000 to a high of 13,000. Our federal agency closed the show because [ fill in the blank]. Real answer... it was not an event originated by the management and drew more attendance than our officially sanctioned "open house". 

We started the show at Colvin Run Mill to support the "Secret Santa" kids shopping weekend in 1990. Eventually the folks at Colvin Run realized we were drawing more people than the shopping and gave us our own weekend. After the big snow event [SNOWMAGEDDON] closed down most of Metro DC on the weekend of our show and 300 people showed up the next weekend "because the TRAIN PEOPLE are going to run" without any public announcement of the rescheduling, they figured out they had a gold mine. We now have two weekends to play trains and interact with the public. We try to convince folks that trains are a year round hobby and outdoor trains are great for kids and adults alike. 

As Peter T noted... we have a larger attendance at this site for our show than any other single event, AND with no admission charge generate more revenue for Colvin Run Mill than any other event during the year. After this long, we have third generation attendees... parents who brought their children in the 1990s are now having their kids return with the grand children. 

It is a lot of work, but it is very rewarding. 

BTW, in 2008, the Colvin Run Mill site gave us the Distinguished Volunteer Award, recognizing our efforts to bring folks to the site. 

EDIT - typical attendance is about 700 for a weekend, but give that it is a total of 10 hours and combined with the building's occupancy rating, is close to what we can handle. After all, we are taking enough space that the folks are squeezed into about 25% of the floor space. 

This year the show will be on 21-22 and 28-29 December, 11AM to 4 PM each day.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Congratulations to Jim and Jo Anne. Job well done and it's nice to see you promoting the hobby for 24 years. Later RJD


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## Dale W (Jan 5, 2008)

Congrats Jim and Jo Anne. That's great what you are doing. 

Dale


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## scottemcdonald (Jan 11, 2008)

Today was the last day of the display so I put together a little video of this year's display. Enjoy!



Scott


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Thanks for posting, fun to watch. 
A tip of the hat to all who promote this hobby. 

John


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Scott 

Thank you for posting the video. 

Special thanks to this year's crew...all members of MLS. Peter [and Carol] Jobusch, Scott Loomer, Scott McDonald, Jerry Bohlander, and Chuck N. Most of all, a big thanks to Da' Boss [Jo Anne] for getting this started 24 years ago.


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Jim-
It was great fun to see your great display, I quite enjoyed talking the hobby to the visitors
A few pics



















Regards

Jerry


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Scott and Jerry, thanks for the pictures. Unfortunately, a bad cough and stuffed head kept me home yesterday. It is a fun event. Chuck


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Chuck- We heard you were under the weather. Sorry to have missed you, hope you feel better soon 

Jerry


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