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Ferry Farm discovery helps Stafford sell license tags HERE & THERE >> STAFFORD PLATED

July 24, 2008 3:43 am

LIVE IN or care about Stafford County and want the rest of the world to know it's where George Washington grew up?

For just $10, you can do that with a special Virginia license tag that's bright red, says Stafford County, and is emblazoned with ol' George's silhouette and the words "Washington's Boyhood Home."

Since the recent discovery of remains of the Washington family home at Ferry Farm in Stafford, county officials say now's the perfect time to push the availability of the new signature state license plate.

An option available to all state residents for an extra $10--or $20 if you have a plate personalized in up to six letters--the tag's design includes the same likeness of the first president that's used to direct visitors to the Washington Boyhood Home site off State Route 3 east.

"This is something that we want to yell at the top of our lungs--that George Washington's Boyhood Home is in Stafford County," said county spokesperson Cathy Riddle. "We think these tags will help do that."

David Gayle, heading up the tag project for Stafford, said county leaders decided to pursue the creation of a special license tag--selected in the same way drivers pick a Chesapeake Bay or butterfly tag--with a soft rollout of the idea back in 2006.

The Ferry Farm discoveries made now the right time to redouble that effort that so far has only landed just over 100 takers.

To get a tag created, a locality must have 350 prepaid applications in hand for Virginia's DMV to create, manufacture and then take over the management of a the sort of tag a few other localities in the state now have.

"As we work toward that first 350, it's up to the county to collect the applications," said Gayle, noting that county officials in many offices have been helping to push the idea of the Stafford tag.

To submit an application for the Stafford tag, those interested can go to a special Web site--staffordplate .com--and print out a copy.

It then needs to be mailed to the county, which will eventually receive the plates from the state, complete with the appropriate month and year stickers.

M.C. Moncure, Stafford's tourism director, said it's hard to overestimate the value of hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Stafford tags out on the highways.

"Years ago, when I was working in politics, they said a bumper sticker on the back of a car was said to be worth $500 to a candidate," she said. "That number can only have gone up."

George Schwartz, a Stafford County supervisor who worked on the original panel that came up with the tag's design, said it initially was a more generic tag with mountains and water scenes.

Judged more important was the Washington silhouette that means so much to the identity of the county.

He and other officials I talked to last week said the fact that Stafford was home to Washington is an idea, a theme that will help to build a sense of community in the county.

Visiting the Ferry Farm site during recent ceremonies there, Moncure said she saw two youngsters resting against a tree.

"For them to know this is the place George Washington might have done the same at their age is huge," she said. "This license tag helps spread that message."

Gayle noted that some county youngsters are doing their part. He said FBLA students at the county's Rodney Thompson Middle School have created T-shirts and passed out flyers to help push the new tag.

Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com