GET STARTED
Imagine you are a reporter with the assignment to feature a person of your grandparents' generation with an article and photos or a video. The story you write must be true, and should include quotes from your interview with the person, or from others who know that person, and research to verify names, dates, locations, historic background, etc.
CHOOSE A PERSON TO FEATURE
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How? Here are some options:
1. Choose your grandparent, or great grandparent, or great-uncle or aunt -- or someone in the Rappahannock Community who is about the same age. Ask your parents for ideas of relatives who have an interesting story. Look for someone you're interested in learning more about and who will be happy to answer your questions. If the person you choose is directly related to you, they do not have to reside in Rappahannock County."
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2. Or, you can research someone in your family history who is no longer living, such as an ancestor who overcame difficult challenges, such as an ancestor who was a nurse or soldier who fought in a war, or someone who, or someone who left their home in another country and started a life here in the United States. You will need to do research to learn about that person's life story and find out from history more about what life was like in their era, so you'll be able to write about it accurately. Instead of quoting from an interview of the person, you can quote from their journal or family letters. Again, if you choose a person who is directly in your family line, they do not have to have Rappahannock County ties themselves in order to be featured.
3. Another choice you have is to find a resident of Rappahannock County who is currently living and from the same age group as your grandparents, or a Rappahannock County resident who has died but has an interesting history. Visit the Rappahannock County Historical Society to get some ideas. Ask Eva Grimlsey, the Executive Director there, about noteworthy citizens.​
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR PERSON
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Here are some possible questions. You are likely to get a good story from just one of these questions. If that happens, ask the person (or research) more details about that story, such as when and where it happened, what was different about life then (with technology, transportation, lifestyle or culture, etc.) that might add meaning to the way you tell the story.
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Tell me about a time you acted with your heart rather than your head? Why and how did that change your life?
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Tell me a story from your life that makes you happy, and what lesson is there in the things that make you happy that you can share with me?
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What was your biggest failure and what lesson did you learn that is worth sharing with others?
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What was it inside you that helped you withstand and move on in the face of your greatest challenge? What advice can you offer others to guide them when they face hard times?
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What does it mean to be a good person? Can you give an example from your own experience that says what a good person is to you?
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What is your love story and what do you want others to learn from it?
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How do you want to be remembered? Tell me a story that shows the kind of person you hope others remember.
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What is a story from your own grandparents' life history that made a difference in your life and why?
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What is the most important lesson you learned during your growing up years and what made it important?
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Who is the most famous or interesting person you've met and how? Is this a person you would want to be like? Why or why not?
What are the judges looking for?​
Judges will look for the following elements in the story you submit:
1. Who? Did you choose a person to write about who had a valuable story to tell?
2. What? Did you ask your person good questions that provided an interesting story? Did you research facts related to the story? Did you interview or research other people who could add to the story?
3. How? Did you start your person's story in a way that captured the reader's attention, following up by telling the story in a clear and logical way that helped the reader know and understand your person better? Did you provide additional information from your research that helped tell the story? Was your entry 400-600 words in length?
4. When and Where? Did you verify dates, locations and historical information? Did you quote your person accurately from your interview with them, or include quotes from family records or letters or news articles from the era?
5. Why? Did you close with no more than one or two sentences that explain what you learned from your person's story and what it means to you?
6. Photos/Video? Did you take a picture or video of your person, or share a photo from your family records (or both)? We recommend including at least one photo, and no more than three. If you include a video, it should be no more than 2 minutes long.