Officials with Great Eastern Management, the developer of Blue Ridge Shopping Center, and the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce gathered Sept. 21 to make sure some dirt got pitched around to mark the construction of a new 40,000 square-foot Harris-Teeter store next to Blue Ridge Builder’s Supply. It had been a long time coming for Don Wagner, a retired vice president with Great Eastern, who told a story about how early plans to site a Food Lion there had aroused a local petition drive against it. When a local electrician heard about that, he decided to mount a counter-drive. The outcome was 1,000 against, 8,000 for, Wagner said. But it took more than 15 years for those numbers to tally with corporate offices. The new store is expected to open in late 2008 or early 2009, depending on whether they can actually be prepared to serve the Christmas season.