I was in the pool the other day, but I would rather be swimming at Duck Harbor. My pool colleague said he was so happy he moved to Virginia; he knew right away this was where he should be. He said all the years he moved around living in different places, when he set foot here in Virginia, he knew he was home. Humph, I thought, I have lived in my share of places, and I have never been anywhere that felt like this is where I should have been all along.

The Bradshaw family history at Duck Harbor is quite a lone one My parents, Brad and Nancy, purchased the first lot from Roberta Teeple in 1975. My brother, Michael, bought the adjoining lot and then another on Schnakenberg Road that I currently call home. It was very exciting to have a home at the lake as young kids, with all the beautiful natural environment to explore.

I’ve known Chuck since I was probably 15 years old. Please don’t do the math. Suffice it to say… a long, long time. My twin brother Bob and I would walk with our cousin Allyson to the farm — no flashlights, no shoes, and sometimes no shoes or sense — and Chuck would walk up to the farm too, usually with his brother David, friends, cousin Kurt, and others. We’d all hang out and eat green apples at the farm… the kind that gave us bellyaches.