I’ve been a member of the Foothills community for almost fifty years, and I am so proud to call this my home. I first came here as a student at Converse College, and made lasting friendships while enjoying the area’s diverse equestrian activities –riding, showing, and foxhunting. I still remember the thrill of jumping the hedges at the Cotton Patch Bottoms, the site of the 1956 Olympic selection trials. After graduation, I accepted a job galloping race horses for Tony Wallace at Fairview Farms, and made this my home. I married Tony in 1975, and together we managed and operated Fairview Farms, which was then the Upstate’s only thoroughbred racehorse training facility and the producer of such nationally known stakes horses as Eclipse Award winners Chris Evert and Turkoman. I have fond memories of trips to Saratoga and Keeneland for races and sales, and visits to such historic venues as Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Hialeah and Arlington Park, but my most treasured memories are of seeing a new crop of yearlings arrive at Fairview each year and helping them mature into young athletes.

Greenspace of Fairview was my first conservation project. Located in close proximity to the Spartanburg/Greenville industrial corridor, Fairview Farms was a particularly attractive prospect for developers. In partnership with the late Herbert L. (“Bud”) Myers, a retired corporate executive and a passionate supporter of land conservancy efforts here and in Pennsylvania, I organized and managed a Regulation D Private Offering that culminated in the formation of Greenspace of Fairview, LLC. Our mission was to acquire Fairview Farms and to ensure the permanent preservation of its essential character as open space and horse country subject to very limited development. In 2001, Greenspace placed the farm under a conservation easement. Nearly two thirds of the property has been designated as commonly held open space, forever protected from subdivision and development. The remainder is comprised of shareholder owned, individual residential farms/estates ranging in size from 25 to over 50 acres, also subject to the conservation easement that prohibits subdivision and protects the essential rural character of the properties. As a result of our efforts, 1331 acres are now preserved and protected in perpetuity as Greenspace of Fairview, managed and enjoyed by thirteen shareholders who have adopted a stewardship plan to nurture and enhance the land.

My commitment to this community runs deep, like the roots I’ve put down here. Walker, Wallace & Emerson has been a proud supporter of Habitat for Humanity. I am a past president of the Tryon-Polk County Board of Realtors, and a member of the Landrum Area Business Association and the Tryon Little Theatre Board of Directors. I have served on the board of the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE), and each spring you will find me serving as a paddock judge at the Block House Steeplechase, a job that my late husband, Tony, performed for many years. I have made it a priority to support local land conservancies, community supported agriculture, and the “buy local” initiatives that are so essential to our quality of life here in the Foothills.

This area is home to a dedicated and diverse group of residents who have joined together to keep it a very special place. In order to protect and better our community, we must continue to be active and caring participants in the inevitable changes that are coming, and to direct them in a way that respects the land, natural resources, and sense of community that make this such a special place. For me, it’s all about preserving the rural character of this area, maintaining and building a strong and stable environment for our local businesses, and protecting the quality of life in a small town that offers large opportunities.