OUR VIEW: Giving back never goes out of style

How many women do you know who still have prom dresses hanging in the closet, just waiting to be worn again? We can think of several, but now the dresses don’t have to become home to moths.

Thanks to the Cinderella Project, prom dresses are being repurposed for young women to wear to their own ball, and the proceeds are being used to feed the hungry.

Mountain View Community Church’s Jeanie Raven localized the national idea and has already seen around 70 donated dresses.

If you have one you’d like to donate, dresses are being accepted Monday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Mountain View Community Church warehouse on Rogers Road in Culpeper. Or, if you’d like to purchase one of the dresses at a low cost, call Raven at 423-4443.

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Driving on U.S. 29 near Reva, it’s hard not to notice Windmill Farm. The home, owned by Debbie Peters, is striking in its quaint country style, contrasting with the busy traffic nearby.

But we’re not the only ones to notice, as her home was recently featured in Country Sampler magazine. It’s the sixth time in 13 years Peters’ residence has garnered national attention, and rightfully so. It harkens to a day gone by, of grandma hanging sheets to dry in the back yard, and we can almost smell the biscuits baking in her country kitchen.

The magazine describes the home as “cottage charm on the farm,” and we couldn’t agree more.

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Hard work is another attribute of our area’s past that has risen in a local resident’s quest to recover from a horrific accident. Two years ago, former Marine Ed Purcell suffered 13 broken bones during a head-on collision.

Now the Orange County resident can be found most days pumping iron at Powell Wellness Center, fighting to make a full recovery. Purcell’s courage and determination are to be commended in his battle back to health.