Friday, June 05, 2009
Principal takes time to reflect and look ahead
Alan Brenner
Priscilla Richardson is columnist The Botetourt View. You can contact her at 981-3430 or via e-mail.
Priscilla Richardson
Recent columns
The retiring principal of Lord Botetourt High School, Alan Brenner, is moving his life in a different direction. Instead of a dress shirt, he'll wear work clothes. Instead of a large staff, he'll supervise his son.
While serving as principal at LBHS, Brenner, 57, attended a town council meeting. "I went to see what it was like," he said. "One of the members had moved away and there was a vacancy. I said, 'OK, I'll do my part.' And then I ran again for another term. It's a wonderful experience to try to help make decisions to help enhance your community where you live."
Brenner and his wife Carol didn't just simply move to Fincastle. In 2006 he bought and singlehandedly renovated their home originally built by Hunter Painter, former county school superintendent, and his wife Viola. The Painter daughters, Peggy Davis, mother of Carol Brenner, and Pat Simmons were raised there. "We wanted to modernize everything. The front of the house is in town, but the back is in the country, with only one other house you can see. You see the mountains."
Since many folks are confused about the Fincastle sidewalk projects, Brenner clarified. "There are two separate sidewalk projects. One is a federal grant we're planning. That sidewalk will go from the courthouse to Breckinridge school."
The other sidewalk project, strictly local, is accepting donations to repair sidewalks currently in place. Ron Lucas and his company are uncovering one section of stone sidewalk right now. "We want to expose the stones and make it a usable sidewalk. And there are others in town, also some brick sidewalks. We want to keep the ones that are there and uncover any more and make them a part of the historic feel of the town.
"Ron Lucas is doing it for cost. All we pay is the cost of materials and labor, not for profit at all. This time in the economy is a very opportune moment. We had originally planned on using volunteers, but when you can get skilled laborers for cost it makes a great partnership to benefit the town." A large anonymous donation helps them for now but more will be needed to finish.
The long range project Brenner's starting now is a home improvement business featuring solar energy. "I've been working with a guy near Richmond who's been nationally known and respected since the 70's. I'm taking classes and training every week with him."
He offers this big tip on buying solar panels from anyone: you can buy a high quality solar panel made in Canada or the U.S. but those made in China vary tremendously in quality. He suggests looking for the UL (Underwriters Laboratory) label for safety.
Despite the fact that every day the sun is producing more energy than we can ever use, we only recently are getting back into practical ways to use it for electricity. While the sun itself is free, "we don't just go and put a solar panel on someone's house. They aren't cheap. So the first thing I want to do is see how you can cut energy consumption. We do an energy audit to determine ways to reduce your usage so you can put in a less expensive unit. That's the first way to save money."
Brenner's looking forward to new challenges but "I'm also going to miss this wonderful school. Next year is their 50th anniversary." Starting another 50 years is exciting. And also for him is starting a business. As he said, he feels a "blend of looking back and looking forward."
