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NEW MARKET, VA (Rocktown Now) — Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley (Alliance) announced that Dee Dee Sellers and Tim Murray of Mauzy, Virginia are the recipients of the 2025 Valley Treasure Award. The late Juanita Burtner will be honored posthumously as the 2025 North Star.
According to Alliance, by awarding a Valley Treasure and North Star, the Alliance aims to recognize community members that have done quiet but impactful work behind the scenes to preserve the Shenandoah Valley.
Over the past 20 years, there have reportedly been a number of proposals for rezoning for a large-scale truck stop at the Mauzy interchange of I-81 on what is now farmland. In 2022, the community of Mauzy, led by Tim Murray and Dee Dee Sellers, rallied together to maintain the rural landscape of Mauzy and oppose the development that Alliance said would have threatened water quality in neighboring wells and in the nearby ecologically vulnerable Smith Creek.
After this rezoning request was denied by the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors, Murray, Sellers, and the rest of the Mauzy community pursued a more long-term measure to protect the agricultural land in Mauzy. In 2024, their efforts culminated in the establishment of a new Ag-Forestal District comprising over 1,800 acres of privately owned land, the first new Ag-Forestal District, an area designated to protect forested and agricultural land, in Rockingham County in 25 years.
“Recognition of Dee Dee & Tim is well-deserved. They have ‘led the charge’ in our community for decades, protecting the natural resources and cultural heritage of the Historic Mauzy region,” said Mauzy neighbor Barbara Melby in a release. “We are honored to celebrate their amazing contributions.”
The Alliance also honors the late Juanita Burtner of Keezletown, as the 2025 North Star. This recognition is inspired by the late John Adamson and 2022 North Star, who helped with Shenandoah County’s Comprehensive Plan as a Citizen’s Advisory Committee member.
Burtner was the first woman on the Rockingham County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, was a founding member of Alliance legacy organization Community Alliance for Preservation, and she donated historically significant property to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.
Known as the “flower lady” from her early years vending at the Harrisonburg Farmer’s Market, she regularly shared her homegrown bouquets with residents of a local retirement home.
Alliance board member and friend of Burtner, Bob Threewitts says, “The Alliance recognizes a dedicated conservationist, advocate and community member. Her daily acts reflected her kindness to others as well as her love for her community. She worked and gave generously knowing our efforts to preserve our resources of land and water would benefit future generations.”
A Valley Treasure and North Star ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 8 at 2-5 PM at the Tenth Legion Mt Valley Ruritan Club. The event will feature a brief ceremony with remarks from the Alliance, Mauzy neighbors, and special guests. Karen Stultz Whetzel, who lived near Mauzy, will share historical insights about the area, including the Inn at Mauzy.
“We’re excited to host Valley neighbors near and far to celebrate Dee Dee, Tim and Juanita. After the ceremony there will be a celebration with live music by Elkton’s Blue Range Bluegrass band, light hors d’oeuvres from local caterers, and Mauzy-inspired mocktails crafted with the help of James Madison University hospitality students,” says the Alliance’s Deputy Director Kim Woodwell. “It is going to be a beautiful afternoon!”
Visit shenandoahalliance.org to register for the November 8 ceremony and for information about the Valley Treasure award and North Star recognition.