The Fairfield Foundation celebrated its volunteers at an annual volunteer appreciation holiday party held on Dec. 17 at the Rosewell Visitor Center. Volunteers donated over 6,700 hours of their time in 2024 and were involved in everything from archaeology to research, preservation, public outreach, and education.

Volunteers have contributed over 113,000 hours since 2001 and are key to the organization’s ability to conduct a wide array of community outreach.

This year, a special award was presented to board president and volunteer Tom Karow, who received a figure in his own likeness on a pedestal with his signature catchphrase “Onward Fairfield.” The figure was hand-carved by Jonathan Bastian and painted by Amy Denney, owners of Gressitt House in Urbanna, where Fairfield conducts public archaeology during the Oyster Festival.

The Fairfield Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2000 to promote hands-on archaeology and historic preservation on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula and surrounding areas. They offer programming to inspire the community to protect, explore, and share local history at their five historic properties—Fairfield Archaeology Park, Timberneck at Machicomoco State Park, Walter Reed Birthplace, Rosewell Ruin and Visitor Center, and the Edgehill Service Station (the Center for Archaeology, Preservation, and Education)—and throughout the region.