Newsletter — July 2022

Welcome to H2, Q3, and a new FY… aka this year’s second half, third quarter, and a new fiscal year!

July was a month of excitement for the City. It started with a literal bang in our well-attended Fourth of July fireworks show and it has ended with accolades. Let’s dive in!

• Fourth of July — Colonial Williamsburg’s annual fireworks show likely hit a record number of attendees this year by CW Creative Director Bill Shermerhorn’s estimate. After a few years of understandably lower attendance, it was a blast (pun-intended!) to welcome back thousands of tourists to mark the historic occasion.
• New Economic Development Director — congratulations are in order for a familiar face on our municipal staff. Yuri Adams, previously Williamsburg’s Economic Development Specialist, was promoted to lead our Economic Development Office. Congratulations, Yuri! We are all very excited to see the work you will do. On the topic, two new business openings in Williamsburg of note are here and here. They may have something in common…
• Waller Mill’s 50th Anniversary — One of our premier parks is half a century old! I’ll save comments here and just suggest you watch the linked video ASAP.
• Top City in the U.S. — The picture I chose for this month is from a new designation of ours as one of “The 15 Best Cities in the United States”. Rated by Travel + Leisure, Williamsburg ranks with Savannah, Chicago, Honolulu, and more stand out cities as one of America’s top towns. I said in my Swearing-In Speech that Council will do our best to continue Williamsburg’s distinction as the “South’s Best Small Town” and I’m glad to see we’re still graded highly!

I hope the remainder of the summer will be a relaxing one for you. Thank you, as always for reading along. Please feel free to get in touch with me (crogers@williamsburgva.gov) with any questions or comments or ideas!

With gratitude,

Caleb

*This newsletter is mine alone and does not represent the full input of Council