Author: Legacy Synthesis

Robert Solenberger was an excellent student at Handley. He was Vice-President of the General Organization as well as Vice-President and “Best All Around” in the Class of 1953. A participant in intermural boxing and wrestling, he had a Hall of Fame career as co-captain of the football team and a record holder as a middle distance runner in track.

Robert earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following his graduation from MIT, he returned to Winchester, married Bessie Smalts (Class of 1953), and joined his father as an orchardist.

By the early 1960’s, he was a member of the Judges Athletic Association board and a member of the Winchester Star Leadership Award committee.

Robert became known for his progressive farming procedures and practices. In 1967, he became the first orchardist in Virginia to use a mechanical harvesting machine for processing apples and was named the Outstanding Young Farmer by the Jaycees the following year.

He served as President of the Virginia Horticulture Society, the Virginia State Apple Commission and the Frederick County Fruit Growers Association. He served on the Board of Directors of the Winchester Medical Center and the Shenandoah Valley National Bank.

He became a charter member of the Lord Fairfax Community College Board in 1969. He helped raise funds for the creation of the Northern Virginia 4-H Center in Warren County.

In 1974, he was selected to be the Chairman of the Frederick-Winchester Service Authority, a position he held for 25 years.

The Winchester Star reported in 1988 that Robert managed 1,500 acres of fruit bearing orchards from West Virginia to Shenandoah County with about 200 acres of peaches. By 1997, his company, Fruit Hill Orchards, was listed as 7th largest in the nation for apple production.

Fruit Hill Orchards continue to grow quality produce for American families.

Harry holds his Bachelor of Science from Radford University and is a graduate of the LSU Graduate School of Banking. He is a bank executive in the Winchester area with over 40 years of experience.

Harry currently serves as Chair of the Board of Valley Health System and is a member of the American Hospital Association Committee on Governance. He is a member of the Shenandoah University Board of Trustees, a board he chaired from 2006 until 2008.

He is also the Chair of the Handley 100th Anniversary Steering Committee.

Harry was a member of the Winchester City Council from 1990 to 1998, serving as President of Council from 1996 until 1998. He was the lead negotiator for the City during the City/County talks that led to the historic agreement resulting in Frederick County Offices remaining downtown.

He was a member of the Handley Board of Trustees for 20 years. He served as President of the Board for 10 years.

He was a founding member of The Community Foundation of the Northern Shenandoah Valley and received the Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award in 2019. In addition, he was a founding member of the Shenandoah Valley Westminster-Canterbury Foundation Board.

Harry was President of the Judges Athletic Association Board, Chair of the United Way Board, and Board Chair of the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber of Commerce.

He has served on the Winchester Education Foundation Board, the Leary Education Foundation Board (Timber Ridge School for Boys), and the Grafton Integrated Healthcare Network Board.

He has been recognized as the Handley Library Distinguished Friend, 1996;
Radford University Alumnus of the Year, 1997; Lord Fairfax Community College Medallion of Recognition, 2001; John Handley High School Medal of Honor, 2007; Winchester Education Association Distinguished Service Award, 2010; and the United Way Volunteer of the Year, 2007.

Harry is proud of the fact that four generations of his family have graduated from Handley. His great aunt graduated in 1923 and his mother in 1953. Harry graduated in 1971 and his wife, Debbie, in 1974. Their daughters graduated in 1999 and 2001. His oldest granddaughter will start at Handley in the fall of 2024.

Harry’s great grandfather, Harry Seabright, was one of the first students to graduate from Winchester High School at the original John Kerr School in 1887.

With a long family history in the Winchester area, Harry Smith has served the community through his work in finance, public service, health and education.

Gerald “J. J.” Smith met Kaye DeHaven (Class of 1980) on the Handley Junior Historical Society trip to Richmond/Williamsburg/Yorktown in March 1978. They have been making history in Winchester ever since.

J.J. earned his B. S. in Accounting from Wake Forest University in 1983 and joined Price Waterhouse as a staff accountant. In 1985, he returned to Winchester to join his father as the third generation of their family-owned and run business, Valley Proteins, Inc.

J. J. assumed the role of President of the company in 1992. He served as Chairman, President and CEO from 2003 to 2022. In 2022, Valley Proteins, the largest privately owned recycler of animal by-products, sold to the largest investor owned recycler, Darling Rendering.

He is currently Vice-Chair of the Board of First National Corporation, parent of First Bank based in Strasburg, VA. He is a Trustee of the Glass-Glen Burnie Foundation and a member of the Valley Health System Corporation.

J. J. has served as a member of the executive committee of the Shenandoah Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America; a Trustee of Shenandoah University; a member of the Winchester Regional Airport Authority; and a board member of the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum.

He has also served on the Wake Forest University School of Business Board of Visitors; the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education; and the board of the Virginia Historical Society.

Flying since high school, he is a licensed commercial pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings and type rated in B300 aircraft.

J. J. and Kaye have three children who are all Handley graduates – Evan (Class of 2011), Emily (Class of 2014) and Elise (Class of 2018).

J.J. recently wrote that a number of teachers at Handley left lasting impressions on him and prepared him well for college. He commented that many of his teachers could have been successful in other fields but chose to dedicate themselves to teaching. He cited Jonathan Wilson in biology, Mary Virginia Carson in chemistry, and Harold Phillips in physics. He considered David Pleacher, his trigonometry teacher, the best mathematics teacher he had before enrolling at Wake Forest.
In 2011, J.J. and Kaye contributed funds to the Winchester Education Foundation to endow the James Porterfield Chair of the Handley English Department. He considered James Porterfield his most inspiring English teacher who had prepared him well for the rigors of college.
J. J. and Kaye have made a number of other contributions to both Handley and the Winchester Education Foundation including funding for the purchase of the planetarium projector in honor of deceased members of the Class of 1979, the lead gift for the new Handley track, funding for the football weight room and, along with his brother Mike (Class of 1985), a gift to the school’s renovation after which the Handley Boulevard entrance hall was named in their honor.

Claude Smalts was born in Winchester in 1916 and started helping his father in the family business on National Avenue when he was 12 years old. Shortly after his graduation from Handley, his father had a heart attack and Claude began managing the company.

After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Claude returned to his business, Smalts Florists.  Over time, he was a member and president of both the Middle Atlantic Florist Association and the District 3-H Florists Transworld Delivery Association (FTD). He received the FTD’s Outstanding Member Award for the State of Virginia.

Claude was elected to the Winchester City Council in 1948. He served as Vice Mayor from 1954 to 1956 and Mayor from 1956 to 1964. During his time on council, the city opened the Percy D. Miller Water Treatment Plant on the Shenandoah River, created the Industrial Development Corporation to expand the city’s industrial base, and helped to relocate Shenandoah Conservatory from Dayton to Winchester.

His time on council was a period of expansion as well as racial desegregation. He quietly worked to encourage other retailers to hire Black sales clerks. His daughter, Bessie Solenberger, said that his stand for equality was typical of his compassion for all city residents.

He was a member, President and Director of the Winchester-Frederick County Chamber of Commerce and received the Chamber’s “Outstanding Citizen Award” in 1964.

He was Vice President of the Winchester Jaycees where he was awarded Life Time Honorary Membership and received the Jaycees Distinguished Service Award in 1951. He received their “Boss of the Year” award in 1973.

He was a charter member of the Winchester Exchange Club. He was the Executive Secretary of the S.P.C.A. and served on the boards of the Shenandoah Valley National Bank, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. He was a member of the American Legion, the Izaak Walton League, the Judges Athletic Association, and an honorary life member of the Optimist Club.

Adrian O’Connor described Claude as “a visionary” at the time of his death in December 2007. “He was a small businessman who served both his customers and his community.”

Al Smith was born near Cedar Grove in northern Frederick County at the beginning of the Depression. His father died when he was 7 and years later he moved in with his uncle to attend Handley High School in Winchester.

Al worked his way through school delivering groceries, pumping gas and pruning apple trees for H. F. Byrd orchards. When he was not working, he ran track for Handley. He won the 440 yard dash and 880 yard dash at the state meet in both his junior and senior year.

After graduation from Handley, he served in the United States Army as a Corporal in the 354th Military Police Company. He was stationed in Newfoundland during the Korean conflict.

Al bought his first Tastee-Freez franchise in 1954. Through his company, Shenandoah Foods, Inc., he eventually owned 100 units in Virginia, West Virginia, and portions of Pennsylvania.

He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1974 and served for 20 years. He was chair of the House Democratic Caucus and was known for his ability to work with individuals from both sides of the aisle and often played the role of peacemaker.

He was also known for his ability to raise money quickly and in large amounts. As chief fundraiser for the 1981 Virginia gubernatorial campaign of Charles S. Robb, he raised more than $2.5 million, most of it from groups that had previously backed Republicans exclusively.

Al was very active in the community. He served as president of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival twice and won the Shenandoah Valley Bowl for Tourism twice.

He chaired the Board of Trustees at Shenandoah University and was instrumental in the creation of the Alson H. Smith, Jr. Library. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from the university.

He was a member of the Winchester Medical Center Board of Directors, Chair and board member of the Durell Foundation, board member of Virginia Environmental Endowment and a board member of First Bank.

Virginia Tech recognized his work with the creation of the Alson H. Smith, Jr Agricultural Research and Extension Center as did Laurel Ridge Community College with the naming of the Alson H. Smith, Jr. Technology Center.

He was named Outstanding Virginian of the Year in 2000.