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YORKTOWN, Va. (AP) — Gov. John Dalton has sent in the militia — in the person of eight high-paid state of ficials — to make sure the Americans don't lose the re enacted Battle of Yorktown. The officials were drafted to ‘‘refine the planning” for the 200th anniversary extravaganza of the battle that’s expected to attract tens of thousands of people from around the world to Virginia in October. In July, the director of the Yorktown Victory Center and chief planner for the 200th anniversary celebration quit for what he said were personal reasons. Within the past year, two other Yorktown Foundation officials retired or quit. “There’s no secret there have been some resigna tions within the ranks,” said Charles Davis, Dalton's press aide. ‘In order for the celebration to be pulled together and to come off, it was deemed there was a need for some expertise to pull it together. The eight, who were temporarily reassigned to Yorktown Monday, are division or section heads from six state agencies and the governor's office. One of the members calls the group the “Yorktown Brigade.” “There were some loose ends and some fragmenta tions of the planning that had taken place thus far for the bicentennial, said Bill Rowland, director of research and policy development for the State Depart ment of Planning and Budget and head of the brigade. “We're trying to tie up the loose ends and refine the planning that’s taken place. More than~4,000 men and women are coming to Yorktown Oct. 16-18 to re-enact the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, in which the British sur rendered to American and French troops. President Reagan will be there. Dignitaries from France and Great Britain have been invited, and hundreds of American and foreign military troops will take part in the international event. In May, Charles Walker, former State Secretary for Administration and Finance, was appointed to the Virginia Independent Bicentennial Commission. He reportedly recommended that planners with more ex pertise were needed to make the festival a success and suggested that the commission chairman ask for help. Chairman Lewis McMurran followed his advice and Rowland was asked to make a study of the Yorktown plans. Rowland, at the commission's July 7 meeting, suggested major budget and staffing changes. Dalton acted immediately and drafted the eight officials. “They (the Commission) were planning for more than a community picnic,” said one official who asked not to be named. ‘But someone had to go down there and give them some assistance because the director resigned. The planning was not commensurate with the level of activities for the celebration. “we have to be a little more sophisticated. Up until the time Bill (Rowland) got involved, that level of sophistication wasn’t there.” , McMurran said Wednesday there was “nothing odd about the state executives being sent to York own to help out. “We expected the help all along,” he said. “It's nothing new. We've done all the planning. This is the executing.” , Rowland indicated the bicentennial plans weren't in bad shape. oo , “They needed to be stepped up and refined. The level of specificity was not there in all cases. We're working with the committees to act as assistants to them to refine the plans already prepared and finalize and get commitments and obligations in place.” Al Coates, special assistant to the state highway department commissioner, is one of the state officials who said he got a ‘draft notice” from the governor. ‘The plans are tremendously impressive,” said Coates. ‘The problem’ at this point is having enough staff people available to devote the time that needs to be devoted. An awful lot of work has to be done, but the fact that it hasn't been done is primarily because there were too few people to do it. I don’t know whether it was anybody’s fault.”
Newspaper Details
Daily News-Record
Harrisonburg, Virginia, US
Thu, Jul 23, 1981
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Carol S.
USA 13 Jul 2026
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