Nearby

     He was proved right, after overcoming several roadblocks to turning his whimsical notion into reality. “No one believed a legitimate team could be put together in six months,” says Fitch, 61, who also worked on the Caribbean Basin Initiative for the Reagan administration. Fitch tried to persuade the Jamaican government and private companies to sponsor a team, but all turned him down. The Jamaican track team did not want to help, either, fearing injury to its runners. However, Fitch found a friend in the head of the Jamaican military. “He was the only one who believed I could pull it off,” Fitch recalls. “He gave me his best sprinters and a helicopter pilot to be the driver.” Fitch put up about $120,000 of his own money, mostly to fly the newly formed team to pre-Olympic competitions in Europe. “Our goal was to beat several teams and not be an embarrassment by coming in last.” In fact, at one event, Jamaica beat 10 teams. Fitch recouped his investment, thanks to the popularity of Jamaican bobsled team T-shirts, designed by his wife, along with the proceeds from the sale of the story to Walt Disney Pictures for the movie Cool Runnings. The team did not qualify for the finals at Calgary, but its performance was respectable—and Fitch used remaining funds to sponsor Jamaica’s 1992 bobsled effort in Albertville, France.

     Such out-of-the-box thinking by Fitch, who has been Warrenton’s mayor for 11 years, and by numerous other civic leaders helps explain why this northern Virginia town with a population of 8,000 may be one of the most progressive municipalities in America, focused on economic efficiency, historic tourism and quality of life. Situated about 50 miles from Washington, D.C., and 25 minutes west of Fredericksburg, Warrenton is “a classic crossroads community,” according to town manager Kenneth McLawhon—close to the cultural action in the nation’s capital but also at a peaceful remove from suburban sprawl. Located in Fauquier County and in the heart of wine and hunt country, Warrenton has been very proactive about managing its growth.