The wreath-laying ceremony is an annual event, but today marked both the 267th birthday anniversary of America's first president and also marked the end of four months of renovation to the monument, which will now reopen to the public. A copy of Wolf's speech follows.
Today is an important day.
I am proud to speak in his honor. He was born in Virginia and served America and the Commonwealth in important positions throughout his life. Washington was only 16 years old when Lord Fairfax, a land baron, sent him to the Shenandoah Valley, which I represent, to join a surveying party. He spent a number of years surveying frontier areas of Virginia and what is now West Virginia. The city of Winchester, which I also represent, is where Washington had his surveying office in 1748 and his headquarters during the construction of Fort Loudoun in 1756 and 1757.