On Nov. 30 at the Town Tree Lighting, Virginia Gresham will complete nearly two years of amazing effort and unveil 20 informational plaques affixed to Town Green lamp posts.

Produced through Virginia's efforts, each metal plaque details Guilford-centric historical tidbits for passersby to peruse for many years to come.

Several years ago, the same idea created controversy. Along with the installation of quaint lamp posts came the possibility of plaques bearing a sponsor's name. The idea of mingling business with residents' pleasurable use of the Green conspired to undo that proposal.

Enter Virginia, now a 17 year-old Guilford High School (GHS) senior.

"I was one of those people who flock from Adams to downtown and the Green after school. It's a place that just draws people together. I noticed the light posts and always wondered what the things hanging off them were for."

Already an active and community minded Girl Scout, Virginia continued on with other things occupying her at the time: hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail with her troop, led by Jane Ferrall; getting involved with GHS cross country, track, and crew teams; joining Apple Pi Robotics (she's now president) and GHS Environmental Club (she's now treasurer); becoming librarian for the GHS Choir; and working with two troop friends to establish the Locks of Love clinic at the Shoreline Relay for Life, for which Virginia earned Scouting's Bronze Award.

By spring of her sophomore year, Virginia decided to go for Scouting's highest honor, the Gold Award.

"The great thing about the Gold award is that is helps girls to do a lot of things around the community they might not be able to do in other ways," says Virginia. "My mom and I always bounce ideas off each other. When she ran into Joel Helander at the library, he said, 'I know what would be a good project for her.'"

Helander's not only the Guilford-Madison probate judge, but he's also Guilford's very diligent and gifted municipal historian. He proposed Virginia revive the plaques, sans sponsor. To do the job, Virginia would need to gather cooperation of town agencies and organizations, local merchants, and more. She'd need to research, select and write each plaque (with Helander's mentoring), determine the project cost, and raise money.

"Once I figured out in my head that it was doable, I knew I would do it whether or not it met the criteria for the Gold Award," Virginia says.

Part of the criteria is developing a lasting community project, which Virginia has since been able to ensure, thanks to a commitment from the Guilford Green Committee to maintain the plaques going forward.

In fact, Virginia accomplished everything she set out do, including writing and winning a $2,500 Guilford Foundation grant—fully half of the project's $5,000 price tag. Virginia gathered additional funding support from Guilford Green Merchants and other organizations. She also gained approval and concurrence from groups ranging from the Board of Selectmen to the Guilford Green Committee (which also contributed toward the project).

A lover of history, Virginia was one of several GHS Historic Walking Tour guides this summer as part of the Guilford Preservation Alliance (GPA) Heritage Tourism initiative (GPA is another funding supporter of the plaque program). Virginia assisted with research to form the tour. For the plaque research, with Helander's help, she had to boil down more than three centuries of Guilford history to a selection of 20 items.

"Each plaque has such a small word count, so you can only include sparse facts, but you still want it to be as interesting for everyone as possible," she says.

About a dozen share information on the Green itself, from the landmark Civil War monument to one pointing out a marker where the Episcopal Church once stood. Most historic homes and/or namesake owners are also described.

"It's like a self-guided tour, but I didn't want it to be numbered," says Virginia. "People walk onto the Green all the time as casual passersby. I wanted them to be able to lead themselves and learn a little bit about the town. I want it to have a strolling, relaxed feel."

Virginia also added some of her own perspective, as a young person who's thoroughly enjoyed the Green.

"I wanted to make some of the sites more interactive, with wording like 'within 50 yards of this once stood…' I wanted to make it more exciting for kids. That was important for me. I didn't want young kids to be left out."