From left: Fauquier NAACP 1st VP and Warrenton Town Council member Renard Carlos, Fauquier NAACP member Kim Gibson, Fauquier NAACP Secretary (Communications) Taryn Weaver, President Ellsworth Weaver, Fauquier NAACP member Ann Burhans, Town Councilman and Fauquier NAACP member Bill Semple, and Fauquier NAACP Political Action Committee Chair, Nic Burhans.
AT ITS EVENING SESSION on Tuesday, February 8, the Warrenton Town Council issued a proclamation recognizing Black History Month and honoring NAACP Fauquier County Branch 7059's president, Ellsworth Weaver.
Mayor Carter Nevill presented the award, proclaiming that Dr. Weaver had made “numerous and specific contributions to the Warrenton community in the areas of education, business and commerce, community service, politics, and all other aspects of day-to-day life.”
The proclamation noted that Dr. Weaver graduated from Taylor High School in 1956, when schools in Fauquier County were still segregated; that, in addition to serving as the president of Fauquier NAACP, Dr. Weaver has served as the minister of music at St. James Baptist Church, Bealeton; that, in October 2021, Dr. Weaver was among the first graduating class of the Warrenton Police Department's Community Police Academy; and that, in June of 2020, he was among local law enforcement, church, and other community leaders who helped organize the unity rally, “Stand Together Warrenton,” at Eva Walker Park following the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis.
THE TOWN'S PROCLAMATION FURTHER READS that Dr. Weaver “is an educator, tutor, mentor, friend and ally who has made Warrenton a better place for all.”
When he spoke, Dr. Weaver expressed thanks “for the privilege of being recognized,” adding that “it wasn’t all about me.”
Dr. Weaver said, “I have a great family in Fauquier County known as the NAACP. And I also have a great family with the Warrenton Police Department. And I have a great family with the Sheriff’s Department. I just want to say, God bless all of you, and may we live in peace.”
It is with full hearts that we at Fauquier NAACP pay tribute to Dr. Weaver as well. Our Branch would like to express gratitude for his constant, steady leadership, even in the face of adversity, and for his undying patience, compassion, benevolence and committed devotion not only to our Branch, and not only to the town of Warrenton and the county of Fauquier, but to all.
A video of the ceremony is available for viewing under Archives on the Town of Warrenton's website. The reading of the proclamation begins at timestamp 29:15 and concludes at 32:31.
