On Saturday, Feb. 1, the JEB Stuart Preservation Trust will hold a birthday celebration honoring our beloved Patrick County, Va. native, Major General J. E. B. Stuart, CSA, (177 years since his birth at Laurel Hill). His birthday is on February 6.
The location of our birthday celebration will be in Ararat Ruritan Club Building on 4711 Ararat Highway near the Blue Ridge Elementary School. This is an excellent location with plenty of room for our exhibits and merchandise tables.
We encourage people to dress in period clothing.
The JEB Stuart Preservation Trust will have lots of merchandise for sale, such as, hats, T-shirts, framed prints, books, coffee mugs, etc., all of which were being sold to raise funds for the upkeep and maintenance of Laurel Hill, the Homeplace of General Stuart.
The local band, Lone Ivy String Band, will play old-time and Civil War era music for us.
We will have lots of food, including birthday cake, lemonade, hot dogs, chips, soda and coffee. Our Board of Directors will use this event as an opportunity to 1. sell raffle tickets on a Le-Mat Civil War era pistol (replica); 2. sell memory bricks for our Laurel Hill pavilion; and 3. offer annual memberships to our guests. We will offer an opportunity for people to donate to the new monument to be erected in honor and memory of JEB.