Woodie Walker all the time harbored a love for historical past and the outside – particularly being bodily on the water. Earlier this yr the College of Mary Washington (UMW) SBDC helped him flip these two passions into two new companies: Rappahannock Adventures, a history-themed tour of Virginia’s Rapidan River, and E & L Acres, a plant nursery specializing in rising timber in demand by the federal authorities.
“I used to be within the army for ten years after which in conservation,” says Woodie. His conservation and historic pursuits have led him to serve with organizations together with Pals of the Rappahannock and the Rappahannock Tribe.
These pursuits additionally introduced him to Fredericksburg the place he started main history-themed excursions of the neighboring Rappahannock River.
“I began with a Civil Battle Paddle and Native American Historical past Hike,” he notes. “My hook was historical past, and folks liked it.”
As a lifelong learner, Woodie’s ardour for the previous nonetheless drove him to study extra. In 2020, at 58 years previous, he earned a grasp’s in historical past from College of Mary Washington and have become a historian and environmentalist for the Rappahannock Tribe in Tappahannock. From there, he took his passions a step additional and launched his personal enterprise, doing so with the assistance of UMW SBDC Director Susan Ball proceed studying…
