FOWM Board
Bill and Cookie Chinworth
Bill is a high school math teacher, and also a veteran of the U.S. Navy, having served more than 33 years in submarines. Because Bill and Cookie spent a great deal of time moving up and down the East Coast during Navy service, she dedicated much of her married life to raising their two children until she took a job as a private school administrator. Cookie retired in 2024 and divides her time between grandchildren, volunteer work, and improving and showing off Woodson's Mill. Norfolk, Virginia, is the couple’s home; they purchased the Woodson house and mill in 2021 looking for a place of respite from city life. Bill and Cookie find great purpose in furthering the history of Woodson’s Mill and the community it serves. They are honored to continue the legacy begun over 200 years ago.
Margaret Clair
Margaret has lived in Nelson County for 25 years, serving the community in diverse ways that include membership on the boards of the Rockfish Valley Community Center, the Rockfish Ruritans, the Rockfish River Elementary School PTA, the Nelson County School Board, and most recently the Economic Development Authority. She currently is executive director of the Nelson County Community Development Foundation, leading efforts to create and make affordable housing accessible to low- to mid-income county residents. She is excited about helping make the Friends of Woodson Mill a success.
Heather Coiner
Heather owns and operates Little Hat Creek Farm, an ecological vegetable farm in Nelson County, with her husband Ben Stowe. For ten years, Heather also baked sourdough breads and pastries for farmers markets in the region, focusing on locally sourced flours and using exclusively wood heat. In 2018, frustrated by the lack of availability of local grain, she and twelve others founded the Common Grain Alliance. Heather then volunteered to lead the organization for its first two years. She has stepped away from this work, and from baking, to focus on spending time with her three young children. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to stay connected to the grain community by serving on the board of the Friends of Woodson's Mill.
Steve Dryden
Steve serves as director of the Friends of Woodson’s Mill. He brings almost three decades of experience in historic preservation, chiefly the restoration of Peirce Mill in Washington DC’s Rock Creek National Park. He wrote the first book on the mill’s history, and developed educational and public programs after it reopened in 2011. A native Virginian and big fan of wholesome, good-tasting bread, Steve is happy to participate in the revival of the region’s grain economy.
Aaron Grigsby
Aaron started his journey in traditional foodways working on small vegetable farms. While apprenticing at a bakery in Floyd, Virginia, he developed an affinity for small grains, natural leaven and wood-fired cookery. After learning to prepare maize in the south of Mexico, he pulled from his varied repertoire to pioneer the Blacksburg table-on-farm eatery, Tabula Rasa. Once the opportunity arose to carry the torch for the centuries old Woodson’s Mill—while establishing a lynchpin for the regional grain shed—the only reasonable thing to do was become a miller with Deep Roots.
Ian Gamble
Ian is a miller and co-owner at Deep Roots, and is deeply involved in the improvement and maintenance of the mill’s historic infrastructure. Milling is a new craft for Ian but his interest in good food, fostering a diverse economy and sensible work drew him in when Aaron, a longtime friend and collaborator, informed him of the opportunity. When not at the mill Ian pursues his crafts as a potter and oven-maker in rural North Carolina.
Zane Massie
Zane was born and raised in Lowesville, and is a renovation builder by trade. Appreciating tradition, Zane has always been attracted to old buildings. He majored in anthropology at Virginia Commonwealth University, and has wanted to learn more about his Massie ancestors, who have lived in Nelson County since the 18th century. He hopes to help carry forward the beauty of Woodson’s Mill so that his children, also born in Lowesville, may enjoy it as much as he has.
Nina Wood
Nina Wood’s great-grandfather and grandfather (both named Harrison Campbell) worked at Woodson’s Mill and the farm, alongside miller Ed Willis. Nina is a rural mail carrier for the US Postal Service, and has lived in Amherst County all of her life. In her spare time, she enjoys fishing and researching her family genealogy. “It is important to know my ancestors’ names and stories,” Nina says. “Woodson's Mill is very important to me because my family members worked there for many years, and the mill helped the community thrive for generations and is still producing cornmeal and flour in 2025. My passion is to see Woodson's Mill continue thriving for another one hundred years.”