Germanna Foundation

Preserving the historic heritage of the original settlers of the Fort Germanna Colonies in Virginia

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You are here: Home / Announcements / Germanna’s new Membership Development Manager

Germanna’s new Membership Development Manager

February 7, 2017 By Germanna Foundation 1 Comment

Ashley Abruzzo

The Germanna Foundation is pleased to announce its recent hire of Ashley Abruzzo, who joins the Foundation team as its Membership Development Manager. Within this role, Ashley will focus on fundraising and membership relations, community outreach, and event planning.

“As a Germanna descendant, I am very excited to be working for the Germanna Foundation and bringing more awareness to the historical and cultural significance of what the Foundation stands for,” Abruzzo said. “Germanna is not only an important piece of Virginia’s early history, but the entire country’s as well.”

2017 marks the 300th anniversary of German Lutherans arriving at Germanna, which makes things even more significant for Abruzzo.

“My 7th great-grandfather was Jacob Crigler and founded Criglersville in Madison County. He was one of many to arrive with that second wave of colonists in 1717, so to be a part of this organization in any capacity for the 300th anniversary is personally significant.”

“We are very excited to welcome Ashley onboard the Germanna Foundation staff,” said President Marc Wheat. “She will connect up Germanna supporters with one another and deepen the relationships across our 300-year-old community.”

Abruzzo comes to the Germanna Foundation after two years as the Tourism & Marketing Manager for The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, a nonprofit organization that brings awareness of history, education, conservation and preservation to a 180-mile swath of land ranging from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Charlottesville, Virginia.

“My role within The Journey encompassed many areas: handling itineraries for domestic and international visitors, marketing and merchandising, and leading the Certified Tourism Ambassador training that allows people from throughout the Journey Through Hallowed Ground to become more knowledgeable about the region they work in. I interacted with people in the tourism industry ranging from small local businesses to historic sites, hotels, visitor centers, and more.”

“While we were sad to see her go, we are happy that she is going to be working for one of our many partners,” said Journey President & CEO Bill Sellers. “We love what the Germanna Foundation does and Ashley will be a vital part of our ongoing partnership.”

“I look forward to going out into the community and sharing the history of Germanna and making personal connections with everyone. I invite everyone who goes by the Germanna Foundation Visitor Center to stop in sometime and say hi!”

The Germanna Foundation owns some 240 acres of the original Germanna settlement, maintains a 100,000 person descendant database, and has published histories and genealogies about Germanna and her families as it has since 1956.  It operates a Visitor Center (which includes a small library, museum, and memorial garden) on Foundation land that surrounds the Germanna Community College’s Locust Grove campus, whose property was donated by the Foundation to build the campus in 1969.  The Foundation also owns a nearby 18th century mansion, “Salubria” (built by Lt. Gov. Spotswood’s widow) in Culpeper County, and the Hitt Family cemetery in Fauquier County.

The Germanna Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1956 with a mission to preserve the early American heritage that began at Fort Germanna in 1714 through: (1) Education of the general public and descendants of those early Virginia colonists; (2) Land conservation and archaeological investigation; (3) Preservation of family records, historic structures, sites, and cemeteries; (4) Cultivation of transatlantic relations. For more information, visit www.germanna.org and www.facebook.com/GermannaFoundation.

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Comments

  1. Martin Hauser says

    February 8, 2017 at 1:33 pm

    We should offer a lifetime membership. I reckon I will be an Otterbach/Utterback descendant for the rest of my life. : )

    Reply

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Germanna Foundation’s Mission and Stewardship

The Germanna Foundation tells America’s story of liberty through the frontier experience of her settlers and descendants using archaeological, historical, and genealogical research and interpretation. We are stewards over these important properties and initiatives:

  • Fort Germanna Visitor Center campus which includes a Museum, Genealogy Library, the Hitt Archaeology Center, and the Germanna Memorial Garden
  • Siegen Forest – 170-acre Hiking and Nature Trails along the Rapidan river
  • 1714/1717 Fort Germanna Archaeology Site
  • Virginia Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood’s home “Enchanted Castle” Archaeology Site
  • 1757 Georgian-style Salubria Manor
  • 1800 Peter Hitt Farm
  • Publishing “The Germanna Record” genealogy/ history books
  • Maintaining a genealogy database with over 130,000 records of descendants of the Germanna colonists

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Germanna Foundation

The Germanna Foundation
MAILING: P.O. Box 279
LOCATION: 2062 Germanna Highway
Locust Grove, VA 22508-0279
Phone: 540-423-1700
Fax: 540-423-1747
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Fort Germanna Visitor Center, Museum & Library

2062 Germanna Highway (Route 3)
Locust Grove, VA 22508
(Next to the Germanna Community College campus)

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Saturdays, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Closed on Sundays

Out of town visitors are urged to call us at 540-423-1700 to confirm or to make special arrangements for groups.

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Hike Siegen Forest!

Behind the Fort Germanna Visitor Center is our 170-acre Siegen Forest nature and hiking trails along the Rapidan river. Trails are OPEN 7 days a week, during daylight hours. When visiting the trails, please practice “Leave no Trace” ethos. If you enjoy the trails, consider donating to the Germanna Foundation to help support their upkeep.

 

About

The Germanna Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to exploring the Colonial Virginia frontier via the historic 1714 Fort Germanna and its German colonists and their descendants.

It conducts archaeological exploration and conservation, genealogical research and publishing, and historic preservation and interpretation.

The Foundation owns and maintains several historic sites and properties, such as Salubria Manor, that were part of or closely connected to the Germanna colonies, the town of Germanna, and the other early colonial Virginia settlements and towns in the Piedmont area of Virginia.

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