After nearly 80 years, the Keezletown Community Cannery has found a new home and is under new management. The Cannery, which opened in 1942, was originally housed in the basement of the Keezletown Elementary School building before being relocated to a separate structure behind the school. As food rationing went into effect during World War II, citizens were encouraged to plant victory gardens and to preserve their produce through canning. To aid this effort, community canneries popped up all over the country.
At one point, most public schools in Rockingham County housed a community cannery. While others closed one by one, the Keezletown Community Cannery remained operational. Churches and Ruritan clubs utilized the resource to make apple sauce and apple butter — among other things — which were then sold as fundraisers. Individuals and families used the cannery, as well, to preserve what they gleaned at harvest time to stock their private cellars.
In 2017, Redeemer Classical School purchased the historic Keezletown School property and, with it, the building that housed the Cannery and all the equipment. At that time Redeemer’s Board of Directors, foreseeing the continued growth of the school, began a conversation with the Hammer’s — the husband and wife team who oversaw operations — about relocating in the Cannery.
In the spring of 2019, the time had come. “With growing enrollment and the upcoming addition of high school grades, we had run out of space to house students,” said Head of School, Ron Hoch. The quickest and most cost-effective solution for more classrooms was to renovate the building which housed the Cannery. Mr. Hoch reached out to the Hammer’s and offered to help with the relocation process. “Making sure that the Cannery had a new home where it could not only continue operations, but also thrive was a high priority for us. We value its history and the fact that so many people have benefited from its service over the years; we wanted to make sure the Cannery could continue doing just that,” Mr. Hoch stated.
Mr. Hoch spent months speaking with other area organizations and locales in hopes of finding a suitable home for the Cannery, but to no avail. Redeemer had almost given up hope when Gordon Driver, owner of G&W Ambulance, contacted the school. Mr. Driver expressed his desire to run the Cannery from his property in Hinton, VA. “We’re so excited to have someone heading the Cannery who not only knows and loves its history, but also wants to create opportunities for the Cannery to grow and thrive into the future,” says Jaye Brumfield, Redeemer’s Director of Development.
While the date for reopening has yet to be determined, all of the Cannery equipment has been painstakingly moved to Mr. Driver’s property. The next step will be to design and construct a dedicated building for community canning to commence once again.
Back at Redeemer Classical School, renovations to the former Cannery building are currently underway. When all is said and done, the revamped building will house two large classrooms, a small office, a library, and restrooms, in addition to the Fine Arts classroom already there. Redeemer intends to use the new space for their inaugural 9th grade class. The school plans to add one grade per year until they offer a full Rhetoric School (grades 9-12) in 2024.
Redeemer is accredited by Christian Schools International and the Virginia Council for Private Education. The classical approach to education emphasizes a deep and thorough understanding of history and organizes curriculum according to historic periods, which are integrated across academic disciplines. Classical education also emphasizes the literary classics and a study of Latin to further develop an understanding of language.