Priscilla Richardson

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Longtime public servant and businessman Webster "Webby" E. Booze Jr., 70, thinks he'll "probably not get back into politics again." After all, the Buchanan resident spent close to 30 years in public service, "not that you ever give enough," with 10 of those years on the Board of Supervisors.

All this service started back in 1969, when Booze was asked to fill an unexpired term on the Buchanan Town Council. "It was when we were putting in the sewer line up to Buchanan Elementary. They needed water, too, so we dug a big well for them. It was interesting. I was happy to help folks. I can say now that it was enjoyable; there were days when it was not enjoyable because there was constant running. I wore out the hinges on my door because everybody who wanted to complain came by to see me, because Stull [Carson, the mayor] was in Roanoke. He worked for the railroad. I was vice mayor and was in Buchanan and handy."

This active term in office didn't stop Booze. He also served on the Planning Commission and held offices in the Botetourt Chamber of Commerce. Then in 1983 he ran for the Board of Supervisors, serving there for 10 years. And after that, he was asked to take the unexpired term of a school board member, so he served on that for three and a half years.

Today it would be unusual for a county supervisor serving a four-year term to spend 10 years in office. When Booze ran in 1983, all the supervisors were elected at once. But to assure some continuity in public business, they established two staggered terms. Because there were five districts, two had to have short terms at the start. Amsterdam and Buchanan drew the short straws, starting with two-year terms instead of four. So Booze served one two-year term and two four-year terms.

Booze was not idle before, during or after his public service. He started working as a teenager mowing the sides of U.S. 11. As a contrast to that, having had the benefit of piano and voice lessons, he would work weekends at special events as a soloist. "I did a lot of singing," he said. When he attended Roanoke College, he would sing for weddings. "I got my spending money that way. And hundreds of cuff links" and other gift mementos. Recently he was invited to the 50th wedding anniversary party of a couple at whose wedding he sang.

Fortunately for him, his life was not interrupted by the draft. "I was looking forward to it, I would not have minded going," he said. But he was rated 4F because one leg was longer than the other. As a young man he had to wear a brace and be careful. Then as he aged, his problem receded. Now, however, with a replacement hip after a fall, he has had to start being careful again.

Booze cut his career at Roanoke College short after only two years, although he'd intended to finish. However, he and another man went into the cattle hauling business. They'd get cattle at the Hollins stockyard and others around the state, and transport the cattle up to Pennsylvania.

As president of the Buchanan Building Corp., he oversaw the building of the sewing plant. The building was rented to an outside company. "They had as many as 100 ladies working there," Booze recalled. Then when the operators bought the building, "that let us give everyone their money back with interest" and dissolve the Buchanan Building Corp.

Booze's parents died in an accident in 1967, leaving the ownership of his father's Ford dealership in Buchanan up in the air. "I operated the dealership for the rest of 1967 and 1968," although normally his father's death would have closed it. But because he had helped his father a lot, the Ford officials let him serve an apprenticeship. So by Jan. 1, 1969, he became the Ford dealer for Botetourt County. He closed out the business in 1995, leaving only a repair shop in Arcadia that he recently shut.

Our county needs more public-minded citizens such as Booze.