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Great Meadow Founder Resigns Chairmanship
Great Meadow Founder Resigns ChairmanshipBy Bill Walsh
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
Twenty-five years after launching Great Meadow as one of the nation's premier steeplechase venues, Arthur W. (Nick) Arundel is, in a description that underscores his years of military service in the Marine Corps, "standing down" as Great Meadow Foundation board chairman.
"I am standing down after 25 years to do some other things," Arundel said on Monday, "but the main reason is very simple: It's the right thing at the right time, for Great Meadow to bring on new, young blood, with new ideas to carry Great Meadow on into the future."
The Great Meadow founder also cited the need for more personal time to concentrate on other issues that demand his attention, including his family media company.
Arundel is the publisher of the twice-weekly Fauquier Times-Democrat, and chairman of the board of Times Community Newspapers, which also owns the Loudoun Times-Mirror, Rappahannock News, Gainesville Times, Culpeper Times and Fairfax Times.
He also wants more time, he said, to spend "on another labor of love that I now have, a start-up that I have done with a couple of other people, an organization called a Journey Through Hallowed Ground, for which I agreed to be chairman a few months ago."
Journey Through Hallowed Ground seeks, as much as possible, to protect and preserve the history-laden 175-mile corridor between Gettysburg, Pa., and Charlottesville.
"And, finally, I want some time to get going with a book which I began in Dubai last spring," Arundel said. He declined to identify the nature of the book.
Arundel bought the property that would become Great Meadow, a tract in the crook of U.S. 17 and Route 245, in 1982, bidding $2 million on the courthouse steps for the foreclosed acreage that had, until the sale, seemed destined for houses, not horses — up to 500 of them.
The Virginia Gold Cup Association had learned in 1982 that the race was losing its long-time home at Broadview Farm. Arundel briefly stepped away from the meeting where that dislocation was being discussed, only to learn he had been appointed chairman of the New Course Committee upon his return.
He stopped in and surveyed the property when the For Sale sign first appeared, and recognized its racecourse possibilities at first glance.
The mission of the Great Meadow Foundation expanded over time to include events beyond steeplechasing. The mission statement reads: “Preserving open space in service to the community.” Events have included annual Fourth of July celebrations, rocketry, cross country meets, polo, rugby and soccer.
But Great Meadow, Arundel said, "is there today because of a whole lot of other people, including a group of early and enthusiastic supporters — Sen. John Warner, George Ohrstrom, Roy Ashe, Max Tufts, and steeplechase jockey and trainer Charlie Fenwick, who was instrumental in laying out the course over which the two signature races — the Virginia Gold Cup in May and International Gold Cup in October — are contested.
But make no mistake, Great Meadow Foundation Vice Chairman John (Jay) Adams, Jr., said: "Great Meadow would not exist but for the efforts of Peggy and Nick Arundel.
"One of the things I have always admired about Nick is, when he feels passionately about something, he is willing to put his money where his mouth is. He felt strongly about this piece of property and the desire to keep it as open space, so he bought it. Doing so was a wonderful thing for the neighborhood, for the county, for the commonwealth.
"It is amazing how many hours Nick has spent on Great Meadow over the years; he is the bedrock that has made it a success."
Arundel said that the board is close to naming a new executive director, and he has asked the foundation to have a new chairman and chief executive in place in time for the Virginia Gold Cup on May 2.
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