Ed and Cathy Dalrymple Honored as "Good Scouts"

For 23 years, the couple has played a major role in Culpeper’s community life, serving as pillars in business and volunteerism.

 

Ed and Cathy both grew up in Elmira, New York in the Finger Lakes area upstate. The fourth generation in the family business, Ed has been president of Cedar Mountain Stone Corporation in Mitchells, Virginia since 1994 and president of Chemung Contracting Corporation for the past 45 years. The original family business, a gravel supply company, was founded in Elmira in 1902.

 

Cathy has worked for the family business for the past 40 years.

 

The family chose the region because they were looking for a certain type of rock — but they stayed because they found a community they loved.

 

"Virginia has been a wonderful place to live," said Ed Dalrymple. 

 

Ed Dalrymple serves on several local and regional boards and committees — mainly dealing with Virginia transportation and issues including research, quality, and training. He’s co-chair of the Culpeper Air Fest Foundation and a member of the Germanna Community College Education Foundation Board.

 

He began his work with the Air Fest from its inception after an airport runway became one of the company’s first construction jobs in the area. That’s when he met former county administrator and airport director, Frank Bossio, who was last year’s Good Scout recipient.  

 

"He said it could be done better, cheaper, and much more efficiently," Bossio said, of his first meeting with Ed. "It’s all about how he can make the community better."

 

Cathy Dalrymple is a board member and fundraising chair for the annual Oyster Fest and a volunteer at the Free Clinic of Culpeper where she can frequently be found working at the reception desk. She’s also a board member and current chair of the Culpeper Wellness Foundation. In the past, she served as a member and chair of the State Theatre of Culpeper

Board. 

 

"Cathy never turns down a challenge," said speaker Charlie Crist, chairman of the hospital board. "She wasn’t able to be a Boy Scout, but she is qualified to be a Good Scout."

 

School board member, Elizabeth Hutchins, praised Cathy’s contributions to the State Theatre and to the Wellness Foundation. "She’s nourished our cultural heath and our physical health," she said. 

The Dalrymples have four children — Ed, Paul, Tara and Ryan — five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Their son Ed became the fifth generation to work in the family business and, recently, their grandson Matthew became the sixth generation after he graduated from college. 

 

Recently, as part of the Germanna Foundation, Ed helped establish an asphalt technology program with the community college and VDOT and the company employs six apprentices.

 

"We’ve paid for all of their courses and they’ve been able to work," he said. "When they’re done, they’ll have an Associate’s Degree and can go on to a four-year university or they can continue to work in construction." 

The Dalrymples currently reside in Mineral at Lake Anna where they both enjoy boating, fishing and spending time on the lake with family and friends.

 

"We do the things we do because we really enjoy doing them," Ed said. "We don’t look for recognition. We just enjoy the way Culpeper is able to be a community and come together and get things done." The Scouts believe the duo has been an integral part of that process.

 

"The multiple committees that each have served on over the years are just one example of how community support is high on their priority list," said Marvin Mills, Piedmont District.