Please see below (after the transcript and show notes) for links to news and upcoming events.
TRANSCRIPT
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 20, 2012.
This week, for George Washington’s birthday, we feature a series of history-mystery sounds. Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can guess how these sounds might connect Virginia water and two Washington legends. And here’s a hint: think fast or you’ll strike out!
SOUNDS.
While our first president lived along the Potomac River, and two of his most famous Revolutionary War victories involved the Delaware and York rivers, Virginia’s Rappahannock River is the site of a famous Washington legend: that of young George throwing a silver dollar across the river. At Fredericksburg on February 22, 1936, a Washington, D.C. sports legend accepted a challenge to prove that throwing feat was at least possible. As some 8000 spectators watched and nationwide radio broadcast the event, 48-year-old, former Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson—nicknamed “The Big Train” and holder of the second-highest total of pitching wins in Major League history—tossed a late 1700s-minted dollar coin an estimated 317 feet, well beyond the Rappahannock’s approximately 290-foot width that day. As cheers erupted, The Big Train was no doubt happy and proud, but he might also have been relieved that he didn’t have to try his luck much farther downstream. Below Fredericksburg, the Rappahannock ultimately becomes about four miles wide as it enters the Chesapeake Bay between Lancaster and Middlesex counties.
For other water sounds and music, and for more Virginia water information, visit our Web site at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. From the Virginia Water Resources Research Center in Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
SHOW NOTES
Acknowledgments: Virginia Water Radio thanks Marianne Dubinsky for the recording of the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg, and Joey Mignone for the pitch call.
Sources:
Henry W. Thomas, Walter Johnson: Baseball’s Big Train (Washington, D.C.: Phenom Press, 1995), pp. 330-331;
The Estate of Walter Johnson, “Walter Johnson: The Official Web Site,” at http://www.cmgww.com/baseball/johnson/, accessed 2/20/12; and
Jon M. Bachman, “The Rappahannock River,” in Virginia Explorer, Summer 1999 (Martinsville, Va.: Virginia Museum of Natural History).
Recent Virginia Water News
For news relevant to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Virginia Water Central News Grouper, available online at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/.
Water Meetings and Other Events
For events related to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Quick Guide to Virginia Water–related Conferences, Workshops, and Other Events, online at http://virginiawaterevents.wordpress.com/. The site includes a list of Virginia government policy and regulatory meetings occurring in the coming week.
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