The Warren Sentinel 2 Sections, 16 Pages

50 Cents

Serving Front Royal and

Warren County, Virginia

142nd Year No. 30 Established in 1869

October 20, 2011

Your hometown newspaper

Obituaries.................................A4Howard M. Ryon, 57, Browntown

B. Louise Barkley, 76, Rockville, M.d.

Thomas Franklin Smedley, 79, Windermere

SportsWarren County volleyball sweeps Skyline, eyes district bid

See Page B1

IndexObituaries..............A4Religion.................A5Sports....................B1Spectator...............B5Classifieds.............B7Social Scene.........B8

You&UnionIs it so wrong to love a bank?

Member FDIC

Bill Pay PersonalTouch

Online

Bank when, where & how you want.

1-800-990-4828 ■ bankatunion.com

FREE Checkingand FREE Debit Card!

By ANGELLE BARBAZON

The Warren Sentinel

FRONT ROYAL — Adjusting his cowboy hat, Steve Foster holds out a treat for his mule, Grace, who steadies her two front hooves on a small wooden box near the front of a performance ring.

The crowd of nearly 50 presses forward to get a closer look. Kids stand on their tiptoes, and cameras click and fl ash around the ring. Foster coaxes Grace with praise and anoth-er treat as the choco-late brown beauty lifts her rear hooves one by one onto the box. She balances gracefully on the 17-inch square platform.

“That’s a good girl, Gracie,” he tells the mule softly under the crowd’s roar.

Foster beams with pride and gives Grace a cue to dismount the wooden box. Letting the cheers and applause die down, he takes

a moment to gather his thoughts and steps onto the box.

“I’m living proof that God does miracles,” says Foster, 61, explain-ing that his life now is worlds away from where he was more than 13 years ago.

A LIFE LED BY FAITH

Foster had a rebel-lious streak and a rep-utation for long nights of heavy drinking, drug use and fi ghting.

“Acid, coke, crank, crystal — I did just about everything, and I found myself in jail a lot of times,” he said. “Nobody loved drink-ing and drugs and women more than me. Nobody.”

Many mornings, Foster said he woke up with hazy recollections of the night before.

“I got to the point where I couldn’t trust myself,” he said. “I didn’t have God on my mind any more than the man on the moon.

• INSIDE — Candidate Q&A’s and profiles constitutional officers, in-cluding Warren County Sheriff.

See page A5

• CANDIDATE DEBATE — Oct. 25, 7 p.m. at the Warren County Govern-ment Center, 220 N. Commerce Ave. Sponsored by the Front Royal-War-ren County Chamber of Commerce.

SFVFD audit fi nds

40 signs ‘fraud

could be present’

Check into Cash

suspect indicted

After daycare plea,

supervisors delay

expansion of camp

By ANGELLE BARBAZON

The Warren Sentinel

SHENANDOAH FARMS — Traces offi nancial mismanagement and possiblefraud saturated a report detailing resultsof an investigation of the ShenandoahFarms Volunteer Fire Department.

Warren and Clarke counties commis-sioned an audit in July of the fi re depart-ment’s financial records after severalpeople voiced concerns earlier this year.

Citizen Mathew Krysler told theWarren County Board of Supervisorsin April that he had three years of fi -

By ANGELLE BARBAZON

The Warren Sentinel

FRONT ROYAL — Voices of localchildcare providers were heard loudand clear at the Warren County Boardof Supervisors meeting Oct. 18 as theyexpressed concern over changes to asummer program for kids.

The Parks and Recreation Depart-ment has requested to expand enroll-ment, extend hours of operation and in-crease fees for the Summer in the Parksprogram introduced this past summer.

See FARMS Page A4

See FOSTER Page A6

AN

GE

LL

E B

AR

BA

ZO

N /

Th

e S

en

tin

el

Steve Foster spreads faith after conquering addiction

A man, A man, his mules, his mules, and a messageand a message

DECISION DECISION

20112011

Mule trainer Steve Foster

gets a kiss from Grace.

I should be dead, but

God spared my life.~ Steve Foster

“

Trainer Steve Foster, “Grace” and Kevin Patterson, Jr.,

kneel before the cross during a show at Warren Coun-

ty Day last July at the Skyline Soccerplex.

KEVIN SEABROOKE / The Sentinel

By KEVIN SEABROOKE

The Warren Sentinel

FRONT ROYAL — A grand jury of theWarren County Circuit Court indicted Charvez Ray Robinson, 23, of Shenan-doah Commons Way, Front Royal with forced abduction, robbery, use of a fi rearm in a felony and grand larceny.

In the criminal com-plaint, police charge Rob-inson went into the Check Into Cash establishment at 239 South St. at 10:15 a.m. on Aug. 15 talking on a cell phone.

Police say Robinson told the teller, Dawn Fincham, to “relax and no harm would come to her” and asked for all the money. The complaint says that Robin-son ordered Fincham into the bathroom

ROBINSON

See INDICTMENTS Page A5

See CAMP Page A4

➤ ‘Senior prom’ photos, A3

• R-MA homecoming king and queen , B8 ➤

The Warren SentinelA6 • Thursday, October 20, 2011

But when I would get in trouble, I would cry out, ‘Lord, you help me do this, and I won’t do it again. I promise you.’ And God has spared my life in the shootings, the fi ght-ing and all the stuff I got into. I should be dead. I should be dead, but God spared my life.”

But that realization didn’t come easily, Foster said. One morning 13 years ago, he pried himself out of bed after a fi ve-day bender.

“I don’t really know what hap-pened,” he said. “I went back in time, and I started thinking about all the people I’ve hurt and the things I’ve done throughout my life. I caught myself crying. That was something I never did do.”

Foster said he dropped to his knees and tears rolled down his face.

“I heard a little voice in my heart that said, ‘Today is your day,’” he recalled. “At that time, I didn’t know what it meant, but I remember say-ing, ‘God, if you’re real, I need you in my life.’”

Foster’s life, once steered by drugs and alcohol, became one guided by faith. Slowly but surely, his beliefs began to translate to other parts of his life, including his long-time passion for training mules.

OF MULES AND MEN

Foster’s interest in training mules started when he was a boy living on a farm in Rappahannock County where his father and fam-ily friends rode mules to go hunt-ing. As a teenager, Foster bought his fi rst mule, Pepper, for $320 with money he earned from hunting and setting raccoon traps.

“With Pepper, it was at that point that I knew mules were spe-cial,” Foster said.

Foster added more mules to his team and spent the following years rising to the top in the world of racing and competitions. And just six years ago, the light in his eyes almost disappeared. His star mule for nearly 20 years, A.J., had died.

“She was my companion,” he said. “When I lost A.J., I told my wife, ‘I’m getting out of it.’ She was ready too, I think, because we both loved that mule.”

Just a few weeks later, Foster went to what he thought would be his last mule show.

“I was sitting at the camp one night, and I was crying on the inside. Of course, I didn’t want all those cowboys to know, ” he said. “I didn’t have my girl with me.”

In walked Mike Kilmer, who Foster had known from the com-petition circuit, with a 4-month-old mule named Grace who had recently been weaned away from her moth-er. Kilmer walked the foal on a leash around the camp in hope of at-tracting buy-

ers.“At fi rst, I wanted nothing to do

with another mule,” Foster said. “But the more I looked at that little mule, the more I could see A.J. in her.”

Foster bought Grace, and the pair became inseparable. She would sit by his side on his porch like dog and followed him every-where, even inside his house.

Foster began teaching Grace tricks. He started with fetch and eventually worked up to more elaborate skills like dunking a basketball, kneeling at a cross and rearing on command.

“I’ve seen her grow right up,” said Kilmer, who raises mules in Falling Waters, W.Va. “Steve has a knack for training mules. He’s patient and spends a lot of time with them.”

LEADING THE WAY

As Foster grew closer to Grace, his faith grew even stronger. And soon, he found himself in a place that he hoped never to be again — back in jail. But this time, he wasn’t behind bars. He had begun visiting area jails and prisons to minister to inmates, sometimes with Grace by his side.

“I remember when God was lead-ing me to go there, and of course I didn’t want anything to do with that, but he kept that thought in my heart,” Foster said. “Finally, I moved on it.”

When he’s not away at mule competitions, Foster visits inmates at the Warren County Jail weekly. He tells them stories about his past and how his faith played a role in helping him escape the rigid grip of drugs and alcohol. He has even performed baptisms at the jail us-ing a donated horse trough.

“We always enjoy him coming here,” said Capt. Steven Barr, who oversees the local jail. “There’s nothing like seeing him walking down the sidewalk with that mule. The last time I saw him, he walked up and said, ‘Gracie, give him a kiss,’ and that mule just slobbered all over my face.”

Foster keeps a three-ring binder fi lled with letters and drawings he has received from inmates over the years. The letters, he said, are a source of inspiration.

“Everything in this book, it might as well have been written by the hand of God as far as I’m con-cerned,” he said, fl ipping through the pages. “When you get a letter from a young man who has turned his life around, that’s what it’s all

about.”One letter Foster received in

2007 brought tears to his eyes, he said. The inmate had listened in on his talks at the Warren County Jail but never uttered a word. The in-mate would sit on the fl oor silently with his arms and legs crossed and stare at Foster as he read passages from the Bible.

“I was blinded by my sins,” Foster read from the inmate’s handwritten letter. “I could not see, but little by little [God is] letting me see his wonderful love for me. I’ve got fi ve more years here, but it won’t be hard. I’ve got Jesus with me now, and you are the one who led me to the Lord, Jesus Christ.”

STAYING ON TRACK

Aside from faith, Foster attri-butes his strength to the people who stood by him through the good times and the bad.

“He was always a good guy and always had a kind heart, but he was living a different lifestyle back then,” said Foster’s wife, Pam.

The couple had met about 20 years ago and got married on a pair of mules.

“My wife is my best friend, my soul mate,” Foster added. “She picked me up when I used to get down. She would have a talk with me and keep me straight as best as she could. She has always been there for me.”

An unlikely friendship blos-somed more than 20

years ago with Larry

Daniel, who was Front Royal’s police chief when he fi rst met Fos-ter in his “wilder days.” Despite their different lifestyles, the two bonded.

“I once heard someone call us ‘the odd couple,’” laughed Daniel, who lives near Foster. “Stevie al-ways had this desire to serve God, and we would go on mule rides at night and talk about it. It seemed like he would get to a point, but he would have a hard time crossing over. The way he was and the way he is now is like night and day.”

Foster has made a lasting im-pression on the people who work alongside him every day. Kevin Patterson Jr. was 5 years old when he met Foster for the fi rst time. Now 25, Patterson works as one of Foster’s mule handlers and ac-companies him to all of his shows and competitions.

“He has become kind of like a second father to me. He was always there for me, and he has taught me a lot,” said Patterson, adding that working with Foster has been a rewarding experience.

IN THE MOVIES

As Foster continued to work with Grace on tricks, he entered her into competitions in Virginia and neighboring states where she dazzled judges and large crowds.

At a championship competition in Richmond three years ago, Grace attracted the attention of Doug Sloan, a wrangler who was in charge of scouting animal tal-ent for “Get Low,” a fi lm starring Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall. Seeing Grace’s talent, Sloan told Foster his mule would be perfect for the part.

Just days after Foster returned to Front Royal after winning the competition, he received a phone call from Duvall. The Virginia-born actor wanted to see Grace in action before heading to Georgia to fi lm the movie.

“He came over, and he was impressed,” Foster said. “He even pulled his checkbook out and walked up to Grace and said, “Gra-cie, ask Steve-o how many zeros I got to put on this checkbook. I told him, ‘You haven’t made enough

money for all those zeros.’ Great guy. He still calls every once in while to see how Grace and I are doing.”

Filming “Get Low” was a nerve-racking experience for Foster who had never been on a movie set be-fore, but he said Grace performed “like a champ.”

Since then, Grace has made television appearances both locally and nationally, including a per-formance on NBC’s “Today” show. Foster’s champion jumping mule, Missy, also leaped over comedian Larry the Cable Guy on his show “Only in America” on the History Channel.

Foster and his mules won’t be leaving the spotlight any timesoon. Movie producers recently visited his home on Reliance Road to discuss a new movie, “Day of the Gun.” The western will star Grace as the town hero, and her younger sister, Mattie, will play her double in a scene where she attacks a shooter.

BUILDING A LEGACY

No matter how many movies and television appearances he does,Foster said there’s nothing that compares to stepping into a ring for a show with Grace.

Foster hopes to build a per-formance space at his home next year.

“I want it to be open to children with cancer, troubled kids and re-ally anybody that needs help,” he said, envisioning a set of bleachers, a stage and improvements to the mule ring in his backyard.

Foster said he hopes sharing his story of triumph over addic-tion encourages others to seek the guidance of faith.

“If there are 50 people at a show and just one takes a step in the right direction because of something I said, it’s worth it,” he said. “I’m going to stand fi rm and continue what I’m doing. I don’t know how I’m going to go out, but I’m ready when God says, ‘Stevie, it’s time.’ I’ve had a good ride. If it ended today, I’ll know that.God never promised none of usa smooth ride, but he’ll give us a smooth landing.”

FosterContinued from Page A1

Mule trainer

Steve Foster

and Grace at A.S.

Rhodes Elementary.

At left, A.S. Rhodes El-

ementary School nurse

Ashleigh Reddle gets

a kiss on the cheek

from Amazing Grace

with the help of owner

Steve Foster. Students

voted last year for their

favorite teachers to get

a peck from the famous

mule. Reddle tied with

school librarian Mary

Russell.

Below, mule trainer

Steve Foster, left, shows

Academy Award-win-

ning actor Robert Du-

vall, right, one of Grace’s

tricks at his home on

Reliance Road. Grace

appeared in “Get Low”

starring Duvall, Sissy

Spacek and Bill Murray.

ANGELLE BARBAZON / The Sentinel

COURTESY PHOTO

ANGELLE BARBAZON / The Sentinel