Nellysford/Charlottesville
By Tommy Stafford
Back in the summer of 2007 I was doing a story with Ed Dinwiddie his wife Betty. They were in the process of moving from Rodes Farm to Charlottesville after years of living here in Nelson. They’d been a fixture since 1976. I’d become friends with Ed not long after we got to Nelson in early 2004. He and I were members of the now mothballed Nellysford Area Merchants Association (NAMA). We’d meet in the evenings at Basic Necessities and talk about future growth of the area (who knew then what was going to happen!) and have a glass or two of wine in the process!
We did a story about Ed and Betty’s departure from Nelson back in our July 2007 issue of then Nelson County Life. It was a pretty big deal. Ed was an icon in Nelson long before we every arrived.
A lot of people today don’t even know that Ed & Betty are responsible for the building that’s now The Nature Foundation at Wintergreen. When they built it years before in 1983 it was The Trillium House, a bed and breakfast. The couple operated it for 16 years eventually selling it to Nature Foundation in 1999.
Now the sad part. The last time I remember seeing Ed and Betty was after their move to Charlottesville. They invited us over the have supper and show us around their new place. They moved to The Colonnades. It was a ritzy place, even if you aren’t retired. We had a great meal, looked all around the grounds and went back to their place for a drink. Sadly, I honestly think that was the last time I saw them in person. The next year we started having kids, a busy magazine, life.
Fast forward to last week and my friend and lunch buddy, the Unofficial Mayor of Beech Grove, Greg Lipscomb (IYKYK), asked me, “Hey have you heard that Ed Dinwiddie passed away?” I knew Greg could tell from my face, I hadn’t. I knew Ed was getting up in years, guessing his 90s, but didn’t know of his passing. He was 92.
Ed joins a long list of people that are passing after I had the honor of getting to know them when we first moved here. Bob Ward comes to mind. He’s been gone now for over a decade. Another I miss dearly is my friend and Roseland neighbor, Steve Crandall. He died back in 2021. Another more recent departure from the Nelson landscape was FP Phillips, the owner of the old Valleymont Grocery in Nellysford. These people were important. Heck, they still are. Their legacies still live on in much of what we see today. The were laying the groundwork for things we see and enjoy today.
Ed, you were a tremendous person! I’ll never forget the hours of brainstorming, the advice, the wine, and the happy times you brought to the table! Rest easy up there and I’ll see you on the other side my friend.
