Clarke Monthly November 2017

Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid at Shepherdstown, WV Permit #3

FREE

NOV 2017

ClarkeVA.com

Clarke

NOVEMBE R 201 7

Organic Plum Studio

2

INSIDE THE OBSERVER FEATURES

• Organic Body Treatments • • Hair Removal • • Facial Offerings • • Microdermabrasion & Enhancements •

Honoring Margaret Barthel

By Edith Welliver

by appointment 30 West Main Street, Berryville | 703-967-8719 www.organicplumskincare.com

CLARKEVA.COM Life and Times in the Hawthorne Building

By Betsy Arnette

ON THE COVER “Living in a Small Town,” watercolor by Connie Fisher. Read more on page 14.

4

As the Crow Flies

5

Starbucks “Upstanders”

6

Around Clarke County

9

Aging

14

Passion for Art and Dachshunds

16

A Holiday with History

18

Broadband for All

20

Rosemont Manor Hosts Charity Benefit

22

Everyone is Welcome at Hideaway Cafe

10 12

NOVE M BE R 201 7

Clarke STAFF

Clarke

3

FROM THE EDITOR Thanksgiving Blessings From First Americans

David Lillard, Editor/Publisher Jennifer Welliver, Associate Publisher Aundrea Humphreys, Art Director Hali Taylor, Proofreader Sinead Juday, Intern

We’re told that the first Thanksgiving in the colonies was more than a celebration of the harvest. It was a coming together, a community gathering among First Americans and settlers — with prayers of hope that people who are different can live in harmony. Here are a few prayers from first peoples.

CONTRIBUTORS

Sioux Prayer

Karen Cifala Wendy Gooditis Jennifer Lee Rebecca Maynard Keith Patterson Doug Pifer JiJi Russell Claire Stuart

COVER IMAGE Connie Fisher ADVERTISING SALES

Jennifer Welliver, 540-398-1450 Rebecca Maynard, 540-550-4669 Keith Patterson, 571-235-5786

Advertising Information 540-398-1450 (Mon-Fri, 9-5)

Grandfather Great Spirit, all over the world the faces of living things are alike.

With tenderness, they have come up out of the ground. Look upon your children that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of quiet.

Grandfather Great Spirit, fill us with the light.

Give us the strength to understand and the eyes to see.

Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives to all that live.

Pueblo Blessing Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.

Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.

Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.

Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.”

Iroquois Thanksgiving Prayer We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us.

We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water.

We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.

We return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given to us their light when the sun was gone.

We return thanks to the sun, that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.

Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in Whom is embodied all goodness, and Who directs all things for the good of Her children.

Give Thanks When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength.

Give thanks for your food and the joy of living.

If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.

—Tecumseh

AD DEADLINE 1ST OF EACH MONTH

Clarke prints signed letters-to-the-editor of uniquely local interest. Letters containing personal attacks or polarizing language will not be published.

Letters may be edited. Send letters to the editor of 300 or fewer words to: editor@vaobserver.com.

CLARKE 540-440-1373

www.CLARKEVA.com

THE GROOMING SALON at

BATTLETOWN ANIMAL CLINIC

(540) 955-1151 Professional Grooming by Sara Anderson located next to the veterinary clinic at 3823 Lord Fairfax Hwy, 1/2 mile north of Berryville

Clarke

NOVEMBE R 201 7

Geothermal Geothermal Scott Scott Heating Heating and and Cooling Cooling Design • Repair • Install

All Types of Heating and A/C Equipment

Ask us about our Annual Maintenance Contracts

Fall: Tune, clean and check components of heating system.

Spring: Tune, clean and check components of A/C system. plus a 10% discount on parts and a Reduced labor rate

Sign Up Now!

Quality Work - Reasonable Rates

Scott Smith / Master HVAC (540) 379-3179 Licensed and Insured • Berryville, VA

CLARKEVA.COM Private Parties Events Fundraisers

Sheila Shriver, Fashion Consultant

540-664-0670

lularoesheilashriver@gmail.com

sheilashrivervip.com

(540) 450-8110

4

As the Crow Flies

Kingfishers Make A Big Splash Story and illustration by Doug Pifer Just as we passed the pond near the Freshwater Institute, we saw a kingfisher perched on a utility wire that ran about twenty feet above the water.

Shooting swiftly straight down like a meteor, the bird spread its wings wide just before hitting the water just a few feet away from us. The arc of water from its impact shot more than a foot into the air, and the bird was up and flying back in the direction it came from before the splash had settled.

Had we passed by a moment later we would have missed the whole drama.

Belted kingfishers repeat this process many times daily.

Like all predators, their success isn’t guaranteed. We’ve seen kingfishers dive many times and are surprised how successful most of these efforts are.

Part of the accuracy might be attributed to the white spot kingfishers typically have in front of each eye.

Some scientists call these white spots “false eyes,” and believe kingfishers use them as sighting devices to focus on prey. A kingfisher, theoretically, uses binocular vision to align the white spots while looking down its bill at a fish, like sights on a gun barrel. This allows the bird to accurately compensate for the refraction on the water’s surface that makes a fish or crayfish appear closer than it is.

Sometimes, instead of diving from a perch above the water, a kingfisher will hover briefly and launch its dive from midair. When successful it carries its prey, usually a small fish, frog or crayfish, to a perch.

Holding the prey tightly in its strong bill, it repeatedly slams it against the perch. After the prey is sufficiently stunned or

Kingfisher underwater illustration by Doug Pifer courtesy the Pennsylvania Game Commission

tenderized, the bird tosses it upwards into the air and swallows it whole, headfirst.

A kingfisher’s unique appearance suits its way of life.

Compared with most birds a kingfisher looks front-heavy.

A sword-like bill that looks far too big for the rest of the bird is supported by a large skull that flares widely at the forehead and eye sockets. The bigheaded look is accentuated by the bird’s shaggy crest and white collar.

Another odd kingfisher feature: tiny feet. Furthermore, kingfisher feet aren’t webbed as might be expected from a bird that gets its living in water. Instead, the two outer toes on each foot are fused together for most of their length. Their purpose becomes clear during

the nesting season. Kingfishers dig tunnels in sandy or clay banks in the spring, stabbing their sturdy bills into the soil.

The small feet handily scoop loose dirt backward and out of the way. After digging a narrow tunnel from 6 to 8 feet into the bank, the bird digs a nest chamber where it lays eggs and raises its young.

Photographers and bird watchers say a kingfisher is a good “scope bird.” Kingfishers typically use a favorite perch— pier post, tree root, dead limb, or stretch of utility wire—as a launching pad and dining area. So, you can set up a spotting scope or camera on a tripod and focus it on a perched kingfisher with a great likelihood that it will return to the same perch.

Clarke

NOVE M BE R 201 7

5

From Heartbreak to Change Clarke County Graduate featured in Starbucks “Upstanders”

By Karolyn Mosher

It was an image seen by millions of people around the world, and one the world would not forget. Alan Kurdi was just three years old when he lost his life trying to flee Syria with his family in 2015. Images of his lifeless body that washed ashore on a beach in Turkey shocked everyone who saw it.

Mary Poole, a 1999 graduate of Clarke County High School, was breastfeeding her nine-monthold son and scrolling through the web on her phone when images of Kurdi hit home. She said her heart broke and “as a mom nothing affected me like this photo did,” so she decided to do something.

First, she donated $20 to the United Nations refugee program, but felt that wasn’t enough. She began asking questions to members of her community, friends, and local officials if helping refugees was something they could do.

She had meetings at Town Hall to openly discuss with community members about their reservations in becoming a host city. Soon, she co-founded Soft Landing Missoula, which is a non-profit in Missoula, Montana, where she currently resides with her husband Dan, a wildland firefighter, and their

two children Jack and Grace.

The foundation was created to help families escape war-torn countries. According to the Soft Landing website, the goal of the organization is “to be a welcoming, supportive and informed community that can assist refugees to integrate and thrive.”

When Mary first started to ask questions about helping refugees in Missoula, she didn’t realize that it was a controversial topic or know government policies on relocation. She said she wanted to start a discussion within her community to see what they could do to help. She created Soft Landing Missoula to ask her community, “Is this something that we can do?”

Last year, The Starbucks Channel created an original series called “Upstanders” that was viewed by 80 million people worldwide. According to their website, the series is “a collection of short stories celebrating ordinary people doing extraordinary things to create positive change in their communities.” In its second season, the show recognizes 11 people from across the nation for their courageous and humanitarian efforts. Mary Poole was one of them. Her story is featured in an eight-minute episode.

In the episode, Mary says that her decision to help, “wasn’t based on a political battle.” She just wanted to “help a couple of people.” When she first started making phone calls to see if creating a relocation program was possible, she discovered that Montana was one of two states that had none.

She met with local and state officials to see if it was possible to help those wanting to relocate to Montana. After hard work, policies were changed to allow the first family to relocate to Missoula.

When asked about those who oppose relocation she says that it was never about changing people’s minds but about opening up a discussion. She says that there are some “really tough questions” about relocation. She says, “It’s important to sit down together and share stories and discuss the issues.”

She has made good friends out of these discussions.

In “Upstanders,” Mary,

who studied nursing and later became an arborist, is being recognized because she had no background in government policies, and yet is making a difference one family at a time.

Missoula is now home to 30 families from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Eritrea, and Syria. 200 volunteers have donated their time to help these families adjust to their new life.

For Mary, change is about listening to each other. Her parents, Cathy and Leon Warner who are still Berryville residents, are proud of her accom-

plishments. Her mother Cathy said in a phone interview, “millions of people saw the images of Alan Kurdi, but how many did something?” Mary has been getting a lot of media attention but stays down to earth. In “Upstanders” she says, “It takes tiny steps to make change, but I think anyone can do it.”

You can watch Mary’s story “From War to Montana,” at starbuckschannel.com/ upstanders and on Amazon Prime. You can also learn more at softlandingmissoula.org.

BUDGET HANDYMAN SERVICE No job too small. We do it all!

Melvin: 540-327-9130 • Susan: 540-327-1189 Mowing and Landscaping, Snow Removal, House Cleaning, Plumbing, Kitchen and Bath Renovations, more... mybudgethandyman@aol.com Licensed & Insured Visa/Mastercard Accepted

Clarke

NOVEMBE R 201 7

6

Around Clarke County Promote your event in Clarke. Send notices by the 1st of the preceding month to jennifer@vaobserver.com. Keep event descriptions to 125 words, following the format of these pages. One or two CMYK photos, saved as tiff or jpg at 200 dpi, are always welcome.

November

17

Timothy Chambers TED Talk, Book Signing and Reception

Barns of Rose Hill. 95 Chalmers Ct. Berryville. Evening with accomplished local portrait and landscape painter, founder and teacher of Iguana Art Academy and author, Tim Chambers, as he shares his TED Talk given in Chicago as well as his latest book, “Seeing Beautiful,” followed by a book signing. Chambers’s landscape paintings of Clarke County will be on display throughout the month of November. 7:30–9pm. $8 in advance, $10 at door. timothychambers.com.

18

Local Singer/ Songwriter Concert

Barns of Rose Hill. 95 Chalmers Ct. Berryville. Local singer/ songwriter Julia Kasdorf will open the show and perform original songs with her husband, Lynn, on pedal steel. $15 in advance, $20 at door. Visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004 (12–3 pm Tuesday to Saturday).

19

Community Harvest Dinner

Good Shepherd Episcopal Church. 27 Good Shepherd R.

Holiday House Tours at Mount Bleak House at Sky Meadows State Park, November 26.

Bluemont (Pine Grove). All are invited for a free community harvest dinner at 12pm following the 11am service of Morning Prayer. 540-252-5825. goodshepherdbluemont.com.

19

Turkey Trot Races

Clarke County High School. 627 Mosby Blvd. Berryville. 39th annual event features races of 2, 4 and 6 miles for runners, joggers and walkers. Awards and frozen turkeys will be given away in random drawings. 10am. Adults $13, students $10 ahead of time; adults $15 and students $10 day of race. 540-247-6475. nspecht@comcast.net.

19

Pancake Day

John Enders Fire Hall.

9 South Buckmarsh Street.

Berryville. 7am-Noon. Adutlts $8. Children $4. Children under six eat free! For information call 540-955-1110 or visit www,endersfire.com.

19

Winter Film Series: Things to Come

Barns of Rose Hill. 95 Chalmers Ct. Berryville. Critically acclaimed 2016 documentary portrays the first female in generations to hunt with eagles in Mongolia. 4pm. $8, $5 for MLT/MSV/Barns members.

Visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004 (12–3 pm Tuesday to Saturday).

23

Soul-Full Community Thanksgiving Meal

25

Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church. 210 E. Main St. Berryville. 13 local churches get together to provide a meal open to all in the community. Free.

540-955-1264.

25

Jim Barnett Park War Memorial Building. 1001 E. Cork St. Winchester. The Shenandoah Potters Guild will hold their 21st annual holiday show and sale, featuring more than 15 local artisans. Refreshments served.

10am–4pm. Free admission.

540-931-1694.

Holiday Open House

Sky Meadows State Park. 11012 Edmonds Ln. Delaplane. The Historic Area will be filled with the sights, sounds and smells of the holidays with tasty holiday treats, costumed interpreters telling stories of holidays past and music. 11am–4pm. 540-592-3556.

– 26 Pottery Show and Sale

26

Holiday House Tours

Sky Meadows State Park. 11012 Edmonds Ln. Delaplane. Enjoy special tours of the Historic Area and discover how the people who called Sky Meadows home celebrated the holiday in the past. Free admission. 11am–4pm. 540-592-3556.

Generators

We service all makes - specializing in Kohler, Generac, and Winco.

Install or Upgrade • Repair or Replacement • Propane, Natural Gas, or Diesel

Over 25 years experience providing complete service!

Gerry Pierce

|

540-533-0232

|

gwppowersolutions.com

|

Berryville, VA

Clarke

NOVE M BE R 201 7

will be decorated for the Yuletide season, and this eclectic exhibit and sale will include several works by beloved regional artists. Blue Ridge Dance Studio will perform Nutcracker excerpts at 2pm and the Clarke County High School choirs at 3pm. Free. Visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004 (12–3 pm Tuesday to Saturday).

5 28

Abba Care Christmas Open House at Rosemont Historic Rosemont Manor.

16 Rosemont Manor Lane. Berryville. View elaborate decorations in the Georgian-style mansion dating back to 1811.

Representatives from the featured charity will be on hand with information. 5–8pm.

Adults $10, students $5, children 5 and younger free.

540-955-2834.

30

Blue Ridge Hospice Christmas Open House at Rosemont Historic Rosemont Manor.

16 Rosemont Manor Lane. Berryville. View elaborate decorations in the Georgian-style mansion dating back to 1811.

Representatives from the featured charity will be on hand with information. Special music and light refreshments.

5–8pm. Adults $10, students $5, children 5 and younger free.

540-955-2834.

December

1

Tree Lighting Ceremony

Rose Hill Park. Main St. Berryville. Clarke Community Band will play carols while attendees sing along by candlelight, the Clarke County High School Carolers will sing, the parking meter contest winners will be announced and Mayor

Health Clinic Christmas Open House at Rosemont

Dickinson will officially start the holiday season by lighting the town Christmas tree. 6pm.

Free. 540-955-4001.

1

Clarke Community Band Christmas Concert

Barns of Rose Hill. 95 Chalmers Ct. Berryville. Annual concert features lively Christmas music. 7pm. Free. Visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-9552004 (12–3 pm Tuesday to Saturday).

2

Christmas Parade

Main Street. Berryville.

Bring the family to see festive floats, marching bands, fire trucks and finally Santa Claus himself at the fun annual event. 12–1pm. Free.

540-955-4001.

2

–3 Holiday House Tours

Sky Meadows State Park.

11012 Edmonds Ln. Delaplane.

Enjoy special tours of the Historic Area and discover how the people who called Sky Meadows home celebrated the holiday in the past. Free admission.

11am–4pm. 540-592-3556.

3

Yuletide at Barns of Rose Hill

Barns of Rose Hill. 95 Chalmers Ct. Berryville. Special sale of original artwork at 1pm in the Upper Gallery. The Hall

Historic Rosemont Manor.

16 Rosemont Manor Lane. Berryville. View elaborate decorations in the Georgian-style mansion dating back to 1811.

Representatives from the Dr. Terry Sinclair Health Clinic will be on hand with information.

5–8pm. Adults $10, students $5, children 5 and younger free.

540-955-2834.

6

Internet Safety Presentation

Bluemont Community Center. 33846 Snickersville Pike.

Bluemont. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department will demonstrate how to protect yourself and your family from online predators. 7–8pm. Free.

540-554-8643.

7

Danny Barnes Trio Concert

Barns of Rose Hill. 95 Chalmers Ct. Danny Barnes, the roots music legend and recent winner of Steve Martins Prize for Excellence in Banjo, is teaming up with two young creative voices of the acoustic world, mandolinist Joe K. Walsh and guitarist Grant Gordy. 7pm. $20. Visit www.barnsofrosehill. org or call 540-955-2004 (12–3 pm Tuesday to Saturday).

9

The Woodshedders Concert

Barns of Rose Hill. 95 Chalmers Ct. Five piece string band

7 Love at First Bite Catering & Event Planning Creative Menus Adorned with Flair 27 Years of Experience

540.955.4462 Lisa Trumbower-Sheppard, Owner | loveatfirstbitecatering.com

Poe’s Home Improvements New Building & Remodeling Est. 1976

No Job Too Small Bobcat and Small Backhoe Work Land Clearing • Snow Removal Tree & Brush Removal • 60’ Man-Lift Service

A.B. Poe, Jr. “Pig Eye”

540-955-3705

Clarke

NOVEMBE R 201 7

performs roots music, with Jordan Springs Market barbecue for sale. 8pm. $18 in advance, $25 at door. Visitbarnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004 (12–3 pm Tuesday to Saturday).

9

–10 Holiday House Tours

Sky Meadows State Park.

11012 Edmonds Ln. Delaplane.

Enjoy special tours of the His-

toric Area and discover how the people who called Sky Meadows home celebrated the holiday in the past. Free admission. 11am– 4pm. 540-592-3556.

ets may be purchased at Fire House Gallery. 1–4pm. $15 in advance, $20 on day of event.

540-955-4001.

10

12

Holiday Homes Tour

Historic Rosemont Manor. 16 Rosemont Manor Lane. Berryville. Three other homes in historic Berryville will be open for the tour. Tick-

GRAND EVENT CENTER WEDDING AND CORPORATE RENTALS

Let Grand Event Center give you a grand memory with our 100 years of professional knowledge and experience!

1599 Berryville Pike, Winchester GrandEventCenter.net 540-667-1400

CCEF Christmas Open House at Rosemont

Historic Rosemont Manor.

16 Rosemont Manor Lane.

Berryville. View elaborate decorations in the Georgianstyle mansion dating back to 1811. Meet Santa Claus from 5–6:30pm, Clarke Co. High School choir performs holiday music and light refreshments will be served. Proceeds benefit the Education Foundation.

5–8pm. Adults $10, students $5, children 5 and younger free.

540-955-2834.

12

Boyce Christmas Tree Lighting

Main Street. Boyce. Gather with the community to light the town tree. Free.

540-837-2901.

14

FISH Christmas Open House at Rosemont

Historic Rosemont Manor.

16 Rosemont Manor Lane.

Berryville. View elaborate decorations in the Georgian-

Letter: Clarke has got talent

Sale Ends November 30, 2017

BERRYVILLE HARDWARE 600 EAST MAIN STREET BERRYVILLE 540-955-1900

RAMSEY HARDWARE 703 N ROYAL AVE FRONT ROYAL 540-635-2547

8

Clarke County is a wonderful place to experience a community spirit that forgets no one and freely shares extravagant generosity. Recently, three differing venues have offered three differing opportunities for music to be appreciated all so community ministries to feed and love others may be realized.

I would like to publicly thank the Dixie Rhythm Band, composed of many Clarke residents, who provided a concert at Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church last Sunday, October

style mansion dating back to 1811. Representatives from the featured charity will be on hand with information.

5–8pm. Adults $10, students $5, children 5 and younger free.

540-955-2834.

16

Yuletide Feast

Barns of Rose Hill. 95 Chalmers Ct. Be welcomed with a cup of Wassail and have a holiday dinner in King’s table style, complete with traditional bûche de noël as the king and queen preside over a group of performers for your entertainment. The Master of Revels

29, 2017. This hour flew by to the hand clapping, singing, and smiles of the over 100 people in attendance. The concert provided much needed funds to help support the Clarke County Community Back Pack program. It is a unique blessing that, we, Clarke county residents, have such a community spirit, we see a need and we answer it!

May our wonderful county recognize what wonderful talent and love we possess.

Thank you to all who came and to the Dixie Rhythm band.

— Jim Smith, Pastor DMUMC, Berryville

directs the merriment and explains some of the customs of Medieval life. 6pm. $75. Visit barnsofrosehill.org (12–3 pm Tuesday to Saturday).

16

–17 Holiday House Tours

Sky Meadows State Park.

11012 Edmonds Ln. Delaplane.

Enjoy special tours of the Historic Area and discover how the people who called Sky Meadows home celebrated the holiday in the past. Free admission. 11am– 4pm. 540-592-3556.

Correction: Barns grants and event Our article in the October edition of Clarke had errors.

Our apologies.

The Barns raised $100,000 in matching funds for the first year of the Casey Endowment Challenge. We left off an important zero!

The Land O’Lakes grant check was presented by Mr. Bev McKay. Mr. Robert Boxley was in attendance and was recognized for his generous gift of the piano.

Clarke

NOVE M BE R 201 7

Aging

You said what?

Not hearing can have unintended consequences

By Karen Cifala Picture a woman sitting on the exam table getting a check-up and the doctor says, “Big breaths,” as he listens to her chest. And she says “they used to be.” We make fun of that type of misinterpretation every day and we can laugh at it, but for many people, living with a loss of hearing has farreaching implications.

Statistics show nearly 48 million people in our county experience age-related hearing losses, including seniors between the ages of 70-79, yet only one in seven uses a hearing aid, mostly due to the high cost. Medicare and most private insurance plans do not cover hearing aids, and the out of pocket costs run anywhere from $900-$3,500 or more per ear, not including the batteries and other supplies. Being unable to fully engage in life because of a hearing loss can negatively impact a senior’s health when it’s left untreated.

If you, or someone you know has a hearing loss, here are some of the symptoms and their associated consequences that you should be aware of; Anger, stress and loss of alertness that affect your daily activities. These may progress into more serious outcomes such as physical safety in completing daily activities.

Withdrawing from conversations or discussions. This may create a feeling of isolation by not admitting you can’t hear or fear of appearing weak or helpless, you just stop socializing with others.

Depression or being sad and lonely. It can creep up on you from being isolated, and may result in not only lack of socialization, but other per-

sonal risks like unhealthy eating and unintentional weight loss, sedentary days with no exercise that can create weakness and eventually loss of independence.

Signs of dementia. Even with moderate hearing loss, research shows the cognitive loss triples the risk, and a severe hearing loss increases dementia risk by five times. Muscles atrophy when you don’t use them-so does your brain when you have hearing loss.

Falls. When you have a hearing loss, you miss the signals that your ears usually pick up that help with balance.

So here is the good news: A bi-partisan bill was passed in August 2017 called the Overthe-Counter Hearing Aid Act as part of the Food and Drug Administration Reauthorization Act of 2017. Sponsored by Massachusetts Senator Democrat Elizabeth Warren with the help of Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, this bill creates a new class of hearing aids that you can purchase over the counter without a doctor’s appointment. The cost will approximately be a tenth of the cost of traditional hearing aids.

The Senate voted 94-1 to pass it, and the president signed it into law. This bi-partisan support will have a life changing effect for millions of Americans. For those with mild to moderate hearing impairment, this legislation will ensure that these hearing aids meet the same high standards as all FDA-regulated medical devises.

Make a commitment this season to get yourself and your senior loved ones engaged in the holiday conversations around the table this year. Reconnecting your loved one to

the world around them is a gift and it will greatly improve your senior’s quality of life. Bypass the old excuses for not wearing one, and let them know that technology has made great strides for hearing aids making them more user-friendly and wearable.

Where to start when purchasing or helping your senior purchase a hearing aid: Visit an audiologist. There may be a reason for the loss of hearing that a hearing aid can’t fix.

Don’t buy a cheap, lowquality hearing aid. These just amplify all the sounds making hearing conversations more difficult.

Seek out options. If you can’t afford to buy a good hearing aid or need a referral, consult these resources.

Lions Club. For information, call Sharon or Greg Hart at

9 540-955-6229. Each Lions Club is independently run, and they each have ongoing relationships with audiologists in the local areas where you live. The Lions Club has access to help make hearing aids available and help reduce costs. They provide a free service with The Sight and Hearing Mobile Screening Unit which is outfitted with two vision screening stations, two hearing booths with new state-of-the-art audiometers, and one station for glaucoma screenings.

Starkey Hear Now. The program helps low-income clients with the purchase of a hearing device. Call 800-328-8602 or email hearnow@starkeyfoundation.org, or visit www. starkeyhearingfoundation.org/ hear-now.

Audient. An alliance for accessible hearing care, Audient provides low-income hearing care through a network of providers – 866-956-5400 or go to www.audientalliance.org .

Social Services in Clarke County. Call the agency at 540-955-3700.

Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging. Call 540-635-7141 or visit www.shenandoahaaa.com.

Learn more at the Wellness Festival. On February 24, 2018, Valley Health and Shenandoah University sponsors The Lions at the Wellness Festival at Apple Blossom Mall from 10am. to 6pm. They will be doing free sight, hearing and glaucoma, and children’s vision screenings.

Encourage your senior to wear the hearing aid regularly so they can reap the rewards.

Keep them clean and take good care of them. If possible, get insurance for them to cover misplacement or loss or forgetting to take off before getting in the shower (some are waterproof though). The technology has come a long way, and some of them can even be connected to smartphones, MP3 players, TVs etc., and can be recharged similar to recharging a smartphone, eliminating the need for batteries.

Karen Cifala is a Remax agent in Clarke County. She can be reached at her office located 101 E. Main St. in Berryville, 540-955-0911, on her cell 303-817-9374 or by email kcifala@gmail.com.

Clarke

NOVEMBE R 201 7

10

Margaret Barthel, Berryville Treasure

By Edith Welliver

Berryville is lucky to have held a little population of delightful people over the years, drawn in from the surrounding county. One particular such asset is Margaret Barthel, the attractive little lady in neatly pressed slacks with numerous sidewalk conversations along the way. She is someone everyone wants to talk to.

Margaret was born in Gaylord, up by the West Virginia line. She remembers the town’s post office and granary and railroad tracks. In fact, as a child she had the rare privilege of hanging up the mail bag for a postal agent to grab from its hook as the train rolled past.

However, she entered school in Berryville while Gaylord’s small elementary school was temporarily out of service. She started at the Academy Street brick school house, of which reused bricks still survive in homes on the site. She stayed through graduation from Berryville High, before it became Clarke County High School.

In high school Margaret had a teacher for commercial subjects who formed a little orchestra and introduced her to the violin, which became a particular joy, although she wasn’t able because of gas rationing to continue out-of-town lessons. The friendship grew even after Miss Mary Roberts Pugh, nicknamed Robbie, moved away, married, was eventually widowed, suffered gracefully and independently through macular degeneration until she finally had to move to an assisted living community. Their intermittent correspondence, regular every Christmas, found Margaret as the information source about Berryville people whom Mary remembered and inquired about over the years until her death last February at ninety-nine.

The commercial courses paid off when Margaret graduated and looked for a job. For a while she joined her elder sister Clara at the telephone company, but in an odd way

the local draft board redirected her. It summoned repeatedly a young man employed at the Bank of Clarke County without inducting him. When he finally was actually called into service, the bank drafted Margaret as his replacement in the bookkeeping department.

From there she learned other new duties and became a teller for years, popular with the many many customers she tactfully served. She has a smile as she recalls the procedures with pen and ink and adding machines that have disappeared today. It was policy,

for instance, not to correct customers’ errors while they were present with others waiting.

The corrections were indeed made, but quietly when no one else would witness the mistake.

In 1963 Margaret and Clara moved from Fairfield into the house on Chalmers Court,

• Heating Oil • Kerosene • Diesel • Gasoline Full-Service Heating & AC Repair and Installation on • Oil-systems • Gas-systems • Heat Pumps 7 East Main Street • Berryville

Books make the perfect gift!

Open Wednesday thru Saturday 12–5 Sunday 12–4

Hip and Humble Antiques and Interiors

Farm Fresh Furnishings & Current Vintage Decor Aylor’s Mill 401 East Main Street Berryville, VA

540-327-5669

Over 20,000 customers have chosen to trust Griffith Energy Services, Inc. with their heating oil deliveries over the past five years!

24-7-365 Emergency Service • Great Prices, Better People…

Griffithoil.com • 800-473-5242 Doggone Dependable Since 1898 Berryville, Manassas, Charles Town Locations

Clarke

NOVE M BE R 201 7

where Margaret lives today amid the family heirlooms. She was the driver for the household, so people regularly saw the two sisters together. Margaret sadly lost Clara in 2016, but she still drives a veritable taxi service for a number of friends. When she is not behind the wheel, she loves to “dig in the dirt”, she says, growing vegetables and flowers and living close to nature as the seasons revolve.

Wars came and went. Margaret worked for the Red Cross as a volunteer, and, though she says she isn’t a “joiner”, she was—and is—active tirelessly in the church. As a very little girl she was an Episcopalian, but by the time she entered school, her family changed to Berryville Presbyterian Church, following a men’s Sunday school teacher whom her father particularly admired.

She went from the children’s Sunday school classes and community-wide summer Bible school sessions, in which a number of churches participated, to youth activities and then, with her mother and sister, to Presbyterian Women. She has especially appreciated her contacts through the women’s group with others across the district, the Presbytery. For a period she served as chairwoman for an area that included parts of West Virginia as well as the upper Shenandoah Valley.

On Sunday, November 5, Berryville Presbyterian Church awarded Margaret a well-deserved Honorary Life Membership status in Presbyterian Women, with a certificate and pin to recognize her years of devoted service. She is as much involved as time permits, rehearsing and singing with the choir, contributing to

11

QUALITY CONCRETE & MASONRY Over 20 Years Experience Sidewalks, Patios, Repairs, and More

(540) 955-4977 www.qualityconcreteandmasonryva.com

CLARKEVA.COM

Bible study circle discussions, and managing the little local treasury for an international Least Coin missions project.

When a member recently introduced the congregation to a program that creates sleeping mats made from plastic shopping bags, Margaret joined the weekly work days of the women.

She keeps the Berryville congregation aware of district, national, and international ac-

tivities by reporting from her reading of the Presbyterian Women’s Horizons publication and the wider church’s Presbyterians Today. She is an avid reader.

If you are one of the few people in Clarke County who haven’t yet met Margaret Barthel, don’t miss the opportunity. She is modestly, gently a “people person”, easy to talk to, a fountain of knowledge, and a pleasure to know.

27 N. Loudoun Street • Winchester flavorpourfection.com (540) 662-POUR (7687)

Clarke

NOVEMBE R 201 7

12

Life and Times in the Hawthorne Building

By Betsy Arnette

Hawthorne Building, Main Street. Photos by Betsy Arnette.

When Melinda Kramer purchased the Hawthorne Building from the York family in 2006, Mrs. York told her, “You’re buying a very special building because it was built in three centuries.”

The Hawthorne Building sits at the northwest corner

of Buckmarsh Street and West Main Street in downtown Berryville. An imposing Federalstyle brick building, it was built in three phases. The earliest portion of the building is the rear half that fronts onto Buckmarsh Street. Distinguished from the newer sections by its

smaller windows and rubble stone foundation, this section is presumed to have been built around 1795.

According to Mrs. York, the portion of the building that faces West Main Street was built in 1816. Treadwell Smith purchased the building at public

Be Happy With Your Skin.... with our advanced MedSpa Services

Dr. Robert Bowen is pleased to announce Tiffany Bogaty has joined our practice as our licensed esthetician!

Tiffany brings more than 15 years of medical skin care experience with popular dermatology practices. She is trained and certified in medical microdermabrasion, chemical peels, laser hair removal, HydraFacial, microneedling, and photofacial treatments.

All Makes and Models

Many know Tiffany's work, and we are very excited to have her in our office, which is conveniently located only 20 minutes from Winchester.

New Patient Special: $50 off any MedSpa service!

auction in 1830 and operated an “ordinary,” or tavern, offering food and lodging to travelers. After Treadwell died in 1872, his son Charles inherited the building. The historic photo (courtesy of the Clarke County Historical Association) was taken around 1900 with members of Charles’ family on the front steps.

In 1887, Dr. Alfred Tucker rented the building and established his medical office and a small hospital there. A Clarke

County native who attended medical school in Georgia and New York, Dr. Tucker returned to Berryville after receiving his medical degree. Dr. Tucker died in 1915.

In 1919, Archibald Cummins purchased the building from Charles Smith’s heirs. A year or so later, Cummins built the last addition to the building, on the back and adjacent to the original portion. Sometime before 1958, the front steps of the building were removed and a new interior staircase was built, leading from the street level to the main level of the building.

A mining engineer from Pittsburgh, Archibald and his bride, Anna, had honeymooned in Berryville in 1902, staying at the Crow’s Nest on Church Street. Anna was from Lynchburg and wanted to settle in Virginia. In 1903, Archibald purchased Audley, the plantation that had been the home of Nellie Custis, the adopted granddaughter of George Washington. They lived there until 1921, when Archibald sold Audley to Bernard and Montfort Jones, who turned the estate into a thoroughbred horse breeding and training center. Archibald

TIFFANY BOGATY 2000 Foundation Way Suite 3700 Martinsburg, West Virginia Exit 14 off of I-81 Monday-Friday 9am–5:30pm

WE DO IT ALL!

Cars and Trucks

Bikes and Trikes

• Brakes • Exhaust •Tires • Tune Ups • Timing Belts • Transmissions • Engines • 4 x 4

• Harley • Honda • Yamaha • Suzuki • Polaris • ATV Dirt • Street • Enduro

23 North Buckmarsh Street, Berryville

540-955-2100

www.kennysautoandtrikeshop.com

NOVE M BE R 201 7

Hawthorne Building c1900. Photo credit Clarke County Historical Association.

built Anna a new home, Caryswood, on a hill overlooking the Shenandoah River.

Archibald Cummins was a generous philanthropist. After purchasing the Hawthorne Building in 1919, he hired Clarke County’s first public health nurse and opened a clinic in what then became known as the Cummins Clinic Building. He also brought a doctor up from Norfolk twice a year to perform tonsillectomies on Clarke County children. In those days, removing tonsils was commonly thought to prevent or reduce infection.

Cummins later decided that the county needed a library, so he hired a librarian and established the “Hawthorne Library” in 1929, named after his favorite author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. The library’s books came from his own personal collection. The Hawthorne Library remained Clarke County’s only public library until the new high school, now Johnson-Williams Middle School, opened in 1954 and the books were transferred there.

Some years earlier, on a trip to Florida, Archibald had met a young man named Frank Tappan, and convinced him to

come work for him at Audley.

He paid for Frank to attend the University of Virginia for both his bachelor’s degree and his medical degree. After he graduated, Frank and his wife Alice moved into one of the upperfloor apartments of the Hawthorne Building, with Frank’s medical offices on the first floor. When Archibald died in 1933, he willed the building to Tappan. In recognition of Archibald’s kindness, Frank and Alice gave their daughter the middle name of Cummins and called her “Cummie.” When

Clarke

13

Cummie was growing up, the Tappans owned a home on the mountain, but often lived at the Hawthorne Building during the winter.

During World War II, the Hawthorne Building served as an informal bus station. According to Cummie, her father never locked the building and often he would arrive in the morning to find that soldiers who were waiting for the bus had taken shelter inside.

In 1953, Dr. Robert “Bob” York joined Dr. Tappan’s practice in the Hawthorne Building.

Five years later, Bob and Cummie married. For the first two years of their marriage, the Yorks lived in the Hawthorne Building while they renovated the former McDonald School for Boys at 314 South Church Street. Dr. York retired from practicing medicine in 1994 and, in 2006, the Yorks sold the Hawthorne Building to Melinda Kramer.

Melinda completed an extensive renovation of the building shortly after buying it. Today, the Hawthorne Building contains four offices and seven apartments. Fully leased, the building is currently for sale.

According to realtor Gillian Greenfield, there is an offer pending on the building.

Marley Grange Understated elegance - Finely appointed home built in 1997 on 76 acres btw’n Millwood and Old Chapel - 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 half baths, 5600+ sq.ft. - Very private – 10 stall barn - 224 ft. X 128 ft. blue stone ring - Fine horse property Choice ride-out – In conservation easement, bordered by farms in conservation easement. $1,995,000

540-247-5408

Tom Cammack

www.sheridanmacmahon.com

110 East Washington Street - P.O. Box 1380 - Middleburg, VA 20118

Clarke

NOVEMBE R 201 7

14

A Passion for Art and Dachshunds

By Claire Stuart

Clarke County artist Constance Belle Fisher invites you to visit her Northlight Studio open house on December 9 as part of the Top of Virginia Artisan Trail’s Open Door Tour. Influenced by the French Impressionists, Fisher loves to explore the use of mood and light in her works. She enjoys painting the old barns, churches and small

towns of rural America, and she has worked in watercolor, oil and acrylic. Her paintings are in private collections across the United States and exhibited in many competitions.

“You’ll never make a living doing that,” countless hopeful artists have heard from their parents, including Fisher. However, there are many practical

ways that determined artists can make a living, even if they are not exactly what the artist dreamed about. They pay the bills (and can be quite interesting) while artists continue to pursue their dreams of doing fine art.

Fisher, born in Pennsylvania, started showing her talent as an artist as a small child.

Animal Hospital Berryville

A full service Animal Hospital

Come see our comfortable setting!

We also do house calls.

Excellent Veterinary Medicine Excel lent Service

540-554-1021 www.housepaws.com berryvi lle@housepaws.com

When she was just in fourth grade, she won a scholarship to Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Art’s Saturday School, where she studied until her father was transferred to Baltimore. She continued to study art at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore Community College, Towson University and Johns Hopkins University.

Upon the recommendation of her high school art teacher, she applied to Hopkins’ Department of Art as Applied to Medicine. There, she worked as a medical illustrator, a highlyspecialized field in which anatomical structures have to be rendered in extremely accurate detail. Fisher spent several years at Hopkins, providing

NOVE M BE R 201 7

illustrations for doctors to use in their seminars and publications in prestigious medical journals.

“Some of my work appeared in a book on the history of cardiac surgery,” she reported.

Over the years, she worked designing ads for the Yellow Pages phone directory and as a staff artist for a four-color magazine in Washington, D.C., a job she describes as graphic oriented.

She has lived in Clarke County over two decades, and over the last ten years, has gotten back into fine art. She has continued to study with well-known artists and to keep growing her skills, and she was getting ready to head for a painting workshop.

“I’m trying to reinvent myself,” she declared, “and I try to combine different techniques.

I even did one painting with a palette knife! I quit oils years ago because the only thing you could thin them with was turpentine, and the smell was overwhelming! Now I’m into

acrylics because you can water them down, and like oils, you can still build up layers of thickness.”

While her earlier art had generally been representational, she is now exploring the freedom of abstracts. “I’m trying to be looser, more expressive. I’m hoping to evolve.”

Art is not Fisher’s only passion. She loves dogs, especially the standard long-haired Dachshunds that she has been

Clarke breeding and showing for 30 years. She has met a lot of interesting people through their connections with dogs, including her husband, whom she met at the Westminster Dog Show.

One of her dogs, Meri Cassatt, won a prize at Westminster in 1991. She and her husband are both American Kennel Club judges, and she has travelled as far as Australia for judging.

Through dog shows, she met her best friend, Sidney Frissell Stafford, whose mother was a famous photographer, Toni Frissell. Frissell had worked for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Life, and became the first woman photographer for Sports Illustrated. She photographed American troops in Europe during World War II and the rich and famous, from movie stars to Eleanor Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. She photographed John Kennedy’s wedding. When she died, she bequeathed her photos to the Library of Congress.

After her mother’s death, Stafford decided to put together a book of her mother’s photos. “She wanted me to be a part of the book project,” Fisher reported, “and I went with her to the Library of Congress.”

They sifted through mountains of photos and papers, and then, of course, the book needed a publisher. Jackie Onassis was then an editor at Doubleday, and Stafford was sufficiently connected to pitch it to her. Onassis met the women

15 at the Library of Congress and took them to lunch! The book, Toni Frissell Photographs 19331967, was published by Doubleday in 1994, with an introduction by George Plimpton, and Fisher’s assistance is acknowledged in the book.

Stafford passed away six years ago, and Fisher adopted one of her dogs, who now works as a reading therapy dog at the library.

Fisher hopes to see everyone at her Crum’s Church Road studio on December 2. Original paintings as well as limited edition giclée prints will be available for purchase. And Fisher will be happy to talk to you about dogs!

Visit her web site at: http://northlightartstudio.net

NOVEMBE R 201 7

Clarke

16

A Holiday with History

by Keith Patterson We are blessed to live in a place that hearkens back to the fondest of our memories.

The TV shows, movies, greeting cards, songs and jingles on the radio that seem so iconic in depicting the idyllic America of our collective nostalgia are actually describing the lives that we lead here in Clarke County.

And never is it more evident than during the Holiday Season, as we remember those who have come before us, who lived and loved and died and suffered and prospered and all those who are still contributing their collective threads to the rich tapestry that is our ongoing cultural heritage.

There’s an old plaque in Berryville’s town square that gives a nice synopsis of the local history. After you’ve read said plaque, look around and up or down Main Street from where you’re standing. There is abundant history in either direction. Venture into and about our happy and historic town and you will not only encounter that rich history but also discover a whole boatload of happenings, both new and

traditional, the usual raft of drama and intrigue not-withstanding, that you may want to consider for your November and December Holidays Calendars.

On Friday, December 1 from 6–6:30 pm, the Berryville Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will feature the Community Band playing Christmas carols while the local citizenry in attendance sing along by candlelight. The Clarke County High School Carolers will sing a few songs, the Parking Meter Contest winners will be announced and Mayor Dickinson will officially start our holiday season by lighting our town Christmas tree!

On Saturday, December 2, at 1pm, the annual Holiday Parade down Main Street is a tradition that goes back beyond the reaches of anybody’s memories that I’ve interviewed. It is and has ALWAYS been at 1pm on the first Saturday in December.

See you there!

Also on December 2, The Firehouse Gallery at 23 E. Main Street presents a holiday art show, “Animal Portraits,”

featuring the work of local artists, including silly cow-face raconteur, yours truly, Keith Patterson, and a wonderful new artist to the Firehouse Gallery, Michelle Sloane. The show will run through the end of the month. On Saturday, December 2, from 3–4 pm, there will be an opening celebration featuring some fine local wines and some live acoustic blues music

by Jimi Frank.

Berryville Main Street has been very busy. New Director Liz Ryan is bringing some fresh vision and a lot of energy to the scene. There has been a makeover at the Firehouse Gallery.

From the new interior paint job to the updated and improved selections of original artworks, prints, cards, jewelry, woodwork and ceramics, the Firehouse Gallery is one of Berryville’s premier destinations.

To kick-off the Holiday Season, Barns of Rose Hill, our local Cultural Arts Center, is offering-up a very special sale of 19th, 20th and 21st century artworks. This is a wonderful opportunity for art lovers, art collectors and gift-buyers. A Little

“Flowers in Vase” by Michelle Sloane.

Art Sale opens in the Upper Gallery and runs December 1– 24. The opening reception will be on December 3 from 1–2 pm.

There are several works from such esteemed and beloved artists as Don Black, Ron Heath, Ed Cooper and Eric Mohn, as well as several other works by noted local and regional artists and a set of four 19th Century etch-

ings by Sydney Robert Jones.

Whether it’s a classic 19th Century oil portrait, or beautiful, pastoral landscape, you’re likely to find a treasure at the Little Art Sale.

A few of the featured artists: Don Black came to art from a long career in music. He is now a tenured Professor Emeritus of music at Shenandoah

NOVE M BE R 201 7

17

“Grand Canal” by Keith Patterson.

“Old Man” by Russ Edwards.

University. In 1984 he began painting in oils and then began mastering watercolors. He has had major retrospectives and is represented in collections throughout the United States, Canada and across Europe.

Ed Cooper has lived, loved and painted the great outdoors since early childhood. He has won many awards for his plein air oil landscapes and has authored a definitive book on the subject “Painting Landscapes on Toned Surfaces with Alkyds.”

Eric Mohn’s watercolors are filled with the American tradition. From his Amish of

Clarke

Lancaster County scenes to his beautiful renditions of historic homes, his passion for his subject matter shines through.

Also at Barns of Rose Hill, December 3 at 2pm, immediately following the reception for A Little Art Sale, there is a Yuletide dance performance by the Blue Ridge Dance Studio. And in the performance hall at 3 pm, following the dance performance, there will be a Holidays Choral Concert by the Clarke County High School Choirs.

The Little Art Sale Reception as well as the dance perfor-

Join us for these and other upcoming events!

Managing Menopause classes • 1st Saturdays • Nov–Feb • 10:30–12 Second Sunday Wellness Series • Nov–May • 2–4 pm Wellness Wednesdays Drop-in Clinic • Dec–Feb • 11–1pm

208 N Buckmarsh St, Berryville, VA info@sanctuaryberryville.com sanctuaryberryville.com

mance and choral concerts are all free to the public.

Sunday, December 10 brings us the annual Holiday Homes Tour, presented by Berryville Main Street. Come out to Historic Berryville for a self-guided tour of private homes and Rosemont Manor, all decorated beautifully for the holidays.

All tours begin at the Firehouse Gallery 23 E. Main

Street. Homes on the tour are not wheelchair or stroller accessible. No food or drinks will be allowed inside of the homes on the tour. Refreshments are available at the Firehouse Gallery.

Free Parking is available at the municipal lot next to Dollar General or along Main Street, Church Street, and Crow Street, where there are

decorated parking meters or on Buckmarsh Street and Crow Street near the historic tour homes. Restrooms available at Firehouse Gallery.

Advance tickets are $15 per person (children 12 & under free when accompanied by adult). Tickets will be on sale the day of the tour for $20 per person at the Firehouse Gallery 23 E. Main Street.

For information and to purchase tickets visit berryvillemainstreet.org or call 540.955.4001.

Saturday, December 16 at 6pm, the Barns of Rose Hill presents the Yuletide Feast Holiday Dinner. Tickets are $75 per person. This sumptuous dining experience features extremely limited King’s Style seating. You will be greeted with a cup of Wassail and feted with delicious and kingly delights as the King and Queen preside with pride over a passionate troupe of paid, period performers for your relaxation and entertainment.

Contact barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004 for more information.

NOVEMBE R 201 7

BATTLETOWN ANIMAL CLINIC Serving the community for over 30 years.

3823 Lord Fairfax Hwy, 1/2 mile north of Berryville

Clarke

18

Clarke County Committee Working to Bring Broadband Internet Access to All

By Rebecca Maynard

(540) 955-2171

CLARKEVA.COM The Family Trust Numismatic 18 N. Church Street. • Berryville, VA 22611 (Across the Street from the Berryville Post Office)

BUY • SELL • TRADE Largest Inventory in the Area !

COINS - GOLD - SILVER - PAPER MONEY JEWELRY • ESTATES • SMALL or LARGE AMOUNTS

PAYING THE HIGHE$T PRICE$ ON SCRAP GOLD & SILVER

Come try us!

HOURS: Mon. - Thurs. 9:30AM - 5PM • Friday 9:30-5:30 Saturday By Appointment CLOSED SUNDAYS ~ Appointments Available Upon Request ~

Competitive Buyers - COME SEE!

540-955-8067 • (Fax) 540-955-8171

familytrustnumis@yahoo.com • www.johngulde.com

Next Day Granite Countertops Professional Marble and Granite Fabrication, Installation, Repair, and Maintenance of Custom Countertops, Vanities, Bathrooms and Tile Inmer Estrada, President office: 540-955-8076 cell: 703-498-1052 fax: 540-955-8249

nextdaygranite.usa@gmail.com

nextdaycountertops.webs.com

612 East Main Street, Berryville Serving Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and D.C.

Most Clarke County residents seem to love what it has to offer – beautiful scenery, a close-knit community and low population density thanks to a commitment to land preservation.

With low population density, however, comes one challenge that has only become an issue in recent years: access to reliable, fast broadband internet access. Clarke County’s new Broadband Implementation Committee is intent on addressing that challenge and invites interested community members to visit its website, www.clarkeconnect.org.

Committee member Brandon Stidham, Clarke County’s planning director, explained that the Board of Supervisors, at the recommendation of a study commissioned by the Atlantic Group, formed the Broadband Implementation Committee.

The committee consists of two Board members, Mary Daniel and Bev McKay; and two Planning Commissioners, Robina Bouffault and Scott Kreider.

The Committee meets on an as-needed basis. Meeting dates are posted to the clarkecounty.gov website.

The purposes of the Committee, which began meeting this May, are to: • Coordinate the efforts of the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission to improve broadband internet access for County residents and businesses.

•

Work with industry representatives to determine how to expand broadband internet availability and identify obstacles to this expansion.

•

Work with citizens, business owners, and stakeholders to identify broadband needs.

In the context of Internet access, broadband is used to mean any high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than traditional dialup access. About 19 million

Americans still don’t have access to broadband internet, which the Federal Communication Commission defines as offering a minimum of 25 megabits per second (MBPS) download speeds and 3 MBPS upload speeds. Those who do have broadband access often find it’s too expensive, unreliable, or has prohibitive data caps that make it unusable for modern needs.

“People have to be able to run their agricultural businesses, which is a major economic factor, right behind electricity and probably ahead of phones,” said committee member Mary Daniel, who represents the Berryville district on the Clarke County Board of Supervisors.

Both Daniel and Stidham stressed that the new committee is not a provider, but rather a means to work with providers and help residents understand their options. They hope the website will be a valuable tool in providing information.

“The first comment on the website that we got was, ‘Why

NOVE M BE R 201 7

Clarke

19

540-955-1247 800-526-6830

BERRYVILLE, VA www.lloydstransfer.com

If it’s important to you, it’s important to us.

• • • • • • • • •

isn’t the county doing anything about getting internet available for the community?’” Daniel said. “Internet isn’t regulated like a utility and nobody has to have an agreement with the county to even provide it.”

Stidham explained that a request for information was sent to all aspects of the communication industry – such as Wireless Internet Service Providers, companies that lay fiber optic cable, and companies that build cell towers, asking an important question: What efforts can the county focus on to improve broadband and telecommunications access short of investing county taxpayer dollars?

“We expected and received a wide variety of responses to that, and since receiving those responses, the county has been meeting with some of the providers,” he said.

Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) are the best option at this time for many county residents, Stidham said, and there are currently four or five WISPs serving Clarke County.

“We’re lucky to have several WISPS serving our county, considering there are places with none,” Stidham said.

The service is provided via a special antenna connected to the home or business by the provider, and the challenge is that it requires a clear line of sight to a tower or other structure that houses the provider’s

transmission antenna. This method of service can be limited by tree coverage, terrain, or other obstructions to a clear line of sight.

“The line of sight issue is a challenge, but one of the things we learned through discussions with the WISPs is that if they have a pocket of homes that are within close proximity to one another, they can put a short tower on one of the properties that has the best line of sight to where their main tower is and use that as a feeder antenna to beam the Internet to the houses in that vicinity,” Stidham said.

“A lot of folks out there probably don’t even know that that is a possibility,” he said, in terms of identifying homeowners who might be willing to have a short tower on their property.

Another effort the committee made was working to change the county’s height regulations for towers. Previously, the limit was just 100 feet and the county now allows towers in most places as tall as 199 feet with a special use permit.

One of the goals the committee would like to achieve with the website is to identify local businesses that provide free broadband Internet access to their customers. The Clarke County Library, located in the Berryville Joint Government Center, has high-speed fiber optic broadband which is available free, and the committee

hopes to soon add other businesses to the list.

In our quickly changing world, students are relying more and more on the Internet, and to help students succeed who do not have reliable access at home, the Clarke County Education Foundation has donated funding to the Kajeet Project (www.kajeet.net), which provides students with a small, portable device that allows them to connect to a lightning fast 4G network.

Any Wi-Fi-compatible device students use is filtered specifically for school assignment use; inappropriate and non-education content is filtered and cannot be accessed.

The SmartSpot makes it easy for on-the-go students to safely complete their homework and off-campus assignments without worries of abuse and unnecessary distractions.

For more information on the Kajeet project in Clarke County, visit the “News and Projects” section of www.clarkeconnect.org.

Residents are encouraged to take advantage of all the new website has to offer, and anyone with further questions is invited to attend the committee’s next meeting, which will be held Monday, November 27 at 2pm in the Joint Government building.

Dependable, Trained, Professional Personnel Local, Long Distance & International Moving Safe and Secure Storage Experienced Packing and Unpacking Services Family Owned and Operated Competitive Pricing with Superior Value FREE Estimates Check out all your movers at www.bbb.org Licensed, Bonded & Insured

Serving the Shenandoah Valley for more than 80 years.

CLARKEVA.COM

Clarke

NOVEMBE R 201 7

The Bed & Bone Experience

A Stress-Free Environment • No Kennels or Cages Now Booking for the Holiday/Winter Season.

A Unique Home Away From Home Adventure!

Large Fenced-In Yard • Special Needs Support

Basic Puppy Training • Pickup and Delivery Available

Bluemont, VA beckncallservice.com

|

540.454.7252

andrea@beckncallservice.com

CLARKEVA.COM

John H.Enders Fire Company & Rescue Squad Pancake Day 9 S Buckmarsh St., Berryville

Sunday, November 19th 7am till 12 noon Pancakes, Sausage, Eggs, Sausage Gravy, Baked Apples, Coffee, Milk, Hot Tea Apple & Orange Juice Adults $8 Children $4 Children under six eat FREE

For Information Call 540-955-1110

or visit www.endersfire.com This Ad is Sponsored By:

Loudoun Mutual Insurance Company www.loudounmutual.com

20

Rosemont Manor Hosts Open Houses to Benefit Local Charities Celebrate the warmth and magic of the holiday season with Historic Rosemont Manor during its annual Christmas Open House.

Rosemont is holding five open house events that will support a different non-profit organization each night. These events are slated from 5 to 8 p.m. in November and December at 16 Rosemont Manor Lane in Berryville, Va. “It brings us joy to open Rosemont to the public and support several local non-profit organizations,” said owner of Historic Rosemont Manor Biff Genda. “We hope everyone comes out to see the manor and the stunning Christmas decorations, but more importantly, to support the good that these charities are doing in our community.”

During the self-guided tours, guests will view the gracious Georgian-style mansion as it sparkles and shines with elaborate Christmas decorations. This year’s theme is “Home for the Holidays.”

“When you walk in the front doors you will feel like you’re walking into your own home,” said Rosemont’s Director of Weddings and Design Michael Haymaker. “The 12-foot tree in the foyer will shimmer with gold, burgundy and green. The foyer fireplace will be embellished with holiday berries in tones of red, burgundy and gold.”

The ornaments and bows for each of the five Christmas trees in the manor are hand selected

by Haymaker. Many of the ornaments gracing the tree in Rosemont’s parlor are from Germany.

This year’s open house schedule is as follows: Nov. 28: Abba Care (www.abbacare.org) Nov. 30: Blue Ridge Hospice (www. brhospice.org)

Dec. 5: Dr. Terry Sinclair Health Clinic formerly the Free Medical Clinic (www.fmcwinchester.org) Dec. 12: Clarke County Education Foundation (www.ccefinc.org) Dec. 14: FISH of Clarke County (www.fishofclarke.org)

Guests are welcome to visit the decorated Carriage House after their tour of the manor. Representatives from the evening’s featured charity will be on hand with information about its organization. Historic Rosemont Manor staff will also be available to answer questions about the history of the home, which dates back to 1811.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and free for children 5 and younger. Tickets are available at the door at each event. For more information contact Historic Rosemont Manor at 540-955-2834 or any of the featured charities.

Tucked away on 60 acres in the peaceful Shenandoah Valley, Historic Rosemont Manor was built by George Norris, the first High Sheriff of Clarke County. During the Civil War, the property was the site of the Battle of Berryville that took place in September 1864.

Rosemont was later purchased by Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr., and the estate became a haven for Presidents and other influential dignitaries who visited. Presidents Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon have visited along with Charles Lindberg, Albert Einstein and John Wayne.

Biff and Barb Genda purchased the property in 2009. Today the manor hosts grand weddings, afternoon teas, bed and breakfast stays and corporate events.

Clarke

NOVE M BE R 201 7

21

Guest Letter

Trailblazers Lacrosse Expanding

By Eric Voelkel The Clarke County Trailblazers Girls (U13/U15) and Boys (U9-U11) Lacrosse began as an idea in Spring 2015 and became a reality in Spring 2016. For two seasons now both squads have played other teams within SVYL along with Spotsylvania and Culpeper. The girls have also played a couple of private schools.

Clarke County Trailblazers is a member of the Shenandoah Valley Youth Lacrosse, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization, so donations, fundraising, and volunteers keep the teams going.

Both teams have thrived over these two seasons due to the following: players who want to learn and be challenged; a supportive community; developing a team culture whose foundation

is encouragement; volunteer support; grants; donations. We are at a stage where we are forced to expand. Our one boys team will split into two with an older U13 team now since boys are getting older. The girls team will stay the same but there are rumblings from some parents that their younger daughters want to play too so that means starting a younger elementary schoolaged team. With expansion comes the need for more players, more donations/ fundraising, more promotion, and just as important, more coaches.

I have been coaching both teams for two seasons and it is time for additional coaching blood. Why? Simply, I cannot coach all the teams still (though sometimes I think I can). Second, I want to en-

sure all the teams are not short-changed in terms of practice and game times and that they are provided different coaching perspectives.

Last, it is time to spread the wealth of volunteering for our community. We are looking for at least one boys’ coach and potentially a girls’ coach for the younger team if it comes to fruition.

Personally, I know the dedication it takes to volunteer and I see it in other sports and activities in Clarke County, which is inspiring.

As a coach I feel like I have learned more from all my players than what I have taught them. I invite any men and women who want to encourage, inspire, teach, and continue to build a positive sporting culture to step up and help.

If you know the sport already, great.

If you do not, that is okay too. There are clinics available through the US Lacrosse Association for old and new coaches to learn how to coach our kids with purpose.

Thanks again to all (too many to thank) who have supported and continue to support the Trailblazers.

The league website is: http://svyl. website.siplay.com. If you have any questions, are interested in coaching, know a boy/girl who wants to play, want to make a tax deductible donation to the Trailblazers specifically, etc. you can contact Eric Voelkel by email at cctrailblazers@gmail.com or by phone, 540-535-6769.

Give the gift of local art this season!

BRAZEN SHEEP

One-of-a-Kind Fiber Creations Aprons to Zippered Bags Potholders, Pillows, and Ponchos at Berryville Treasures 8 W. Main St., Berryville or on-line @

www.brazensheep.com

NOVEMBE R 201 7

Clarke

22

Everyone is Welcome at the Hideaway Cafe

By Claire Stuart Majestic Mountain Victorian Loudoun Co. Mountain Chalet 4 BR, 3.5 BA on 28 private ac, 2 BR, 2BA, & office 575 Windwood Lane on 3 ac with valley views, $747,000 17352 Raven Rocks Rd. $435,000 Karen Cifala, Realtor 303-817-9374 ChipSchutte.com R�/M�� R���� • 540-955-0911 101 East Main Street #103, Berryville, Va

CLARKEVA.COM

THE CLARKE COUNTY COMMUNITY BAND Will Be Performing

TWO HOLIDAY CONCERTS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST 7:00 pm

Barns of Rose Hill 95 Chalmers Ct., Berryville and

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3RD 3 pm

The Patsy Cline Theater Handley High School 425 Handley Blvd, Winchester

BOTH PERFORMANCES FREE ADMISSION

but a Free Will offering to benefit the Chain of Checks will be taken.

The band is sponsored by:

This Ad is Sponsored By:

The Clarke County Board of Supervisors, The Virginia Commission for the Arts, and The National Endowment for the Arts.

Insurance Company

Loudoun Mutual www.loudounmutual.com

Hideaway Café in Winchester has announced they are moving from the Old Post Office Building, and hope to be up and running in their new location by Thanksgiving, or December 1 at the latest.

The café has billed itself as the community’s living room — more than just a place to enjoy a cup of your favorite coffee or to grab lunch. It has been a place to gather with friends, make new friends, and meet with business colleagues.

It is a place to enjoy evening performances and for local artists to show their work. Most important, it was founded as a safe gathering place for everyone, regardless of race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity.

Some seven years ago, Victoria Kidd and her wife, Christy Berghoff, then working and living in the D.C. area, decided to buy a home and start a family. Looking for an affordable place that was good for raising children, they discovered that Winchester was the perfect spot. Now they have that home and a five-year-old daughter.

The Hideaway Café was founded by Kidd and Berghoff and their friend, Jess Clawson, about a year and a half ago. The entrepreneurial Kidd, who has an additional career as a consultant, met the previous owner of the Old Post Office Building in the course of her business. He gave her a tour of the historic building, which had been inaccessible to the public for a long time. She fell in love with it, and it meshed with her dream of creating a safe, progressive space where everyone would be welcome.

“The owner believed in our mission and gave us favorable rent to start up. We are humbled by how we’ve been adopted by the community,” said Kidd. But she recalls that, “not everyone was welcoming toward a welcoming space. We’ve experienced some rejection from some people, but it has been insignificant compared with the people who embrace us. People come here for the purpose of spending time in a space that welcomes them, no matter who they are. That was needed in this area.”

Kidd observed that owning a coffee shop has been romanticized, but she had no illusions that it would be easy. “It is a lot of work and a 24-hour commitment. But patrons know that they can get something more than a cup of coffee here. They’ll meet people who really care about them on a deep human level.”

Contributing monetarily to causes and organizations that work for the community is part of Hideaway Café’s mission. With the Caffeine For A Cause program, an entire day’s profits each month are shared. The programs helped range from Embrace Treatment Foster Care to the Adult Care Center to Millbrook High School Band Boosters.

The Old Post Office Building changed hands in June, and the new owner wanted to rent the entire floor rather than just the space that the café now occupies. That was more space than they needed, and “we couldn’t afford to renovate the rest,” said Kidd.

Clarke

NOVE M BE R 201 7

Patrons of the café wanted them to stay in business, but downtown space in Winchester is hard to find.

“I spent two months searching,” said Kidd, “looking at every possible suitable space.”

She finally located a spot at the

south end of the walking mall, next to the Cork Street Tavern, in a historic building that used to be a bakery. A bonus is that it is at ground level. The Old Post Office site is down a flight of stairs into the basement, and the possibility of eventually making it handicapped

23

accessible was always a problem to be solved. In addition, the new location has plenty of convenient parking and a larger food prep area.

Partner Jess Clawson left this past summer to pursue a different career, and Kidd says, “When Jess left, we had to

ask ourselves where we are going. Her role was central to our identity. We have a new partner, Jason Blosser, who is stepping in.”

The larger prep area means they can offer more restaurant fare, and the location at the end of the mall means that they will doubtless have more lunch and drop-in business. However, their aims remain the same. First and foremost, it will be a safe and welcoming space. They will continue to hold their monthly events. There will be spoken word evenings where people can read their poetry and short stories. There will be game nights and live music. The very popular monthly drag show will continue. The Old Post Office seated 90 people, and Kidd says that the show always sold out.

Kidd says that the Old Post Office was never intended to be a permanent spot. “It’s time for Hideaway Café to go above ground!” Watch for news of the grand opening.

Home for the Holidays in Clarke County

Family Restaurant Happy Hour Every Day 3-7pm

Private Dining for Family or Corporate Dinners ON

L COUP

SPECIA

ne eal geatlfooff. m e n o y h Bu ual value of eq , 2017 ber 15

h Decem

od throug

Offer go

16 Crow Street, Berryville 955-4730 928 Berryville Ave. Wichester 722-9560

15 East Main Street Berryville

540-955-8124

Clarke County Board of Supervisors Berryville Voting District Mary L.C. Daniel (540) 955-1971

Millwood Voting District Terri T. Catlett (540) 837-2328

White Post Voting District Bev B. McKay – Vice Chair (540) 837-1331

Buckmarsh Voting District David S. Weiss – Chair (540) 955-2151

Russell Voting District Barbara J. Byrd (540) 955-1215

County Administrator David L. Ash (540) 955-5175

ANNOUNCING NEW COUNTY WEBSITE FOR BROADBAND INTERNET INFORMATION Dear County Resident, Clarke County, as with most rural Virginia counties, has limited options available for reliable, fast broadband internet access compared to our urban and suburban neighbors. The Board of Supervisors has placed a high priority on finding ways to expand broadband internet access for all areas of the County and to inform residents and businesses of their alternatives.

To further this effort, the County announces the publication of the first website dedicated to providing information on broadband internet for citizens, businesses, and companies interested in serving the County with improved services – www.clarkeconnect.org. On this website, you will find: 

Resources to help residents and businesses determine what speed and capacity of internet access they need based on their average daily uses.



Background information on broadband internet and the types of internet service providers.



A listing of all providers that serve the County and links to their websites.



News regarding the County’s efforts to facilitate broadband expansion and the School Board’s efforts regarding broadband access for students.



Information on the County’s broadband efforts to date including development of a Telecommunications Infrastructure and Broadband Study, creation of a Broadband Implementation Committee, and modernization of zoning regulations regarding communication tower construction.

We strongly encourage you to visit www.clarkeconnect.org and use it as an ongoing resource for the latest information on the County’s broadband efforts and opportunities.

www.clarkecounty.gov

101 Chalmers Court, Suite B Berryville, VA 22611

Telephone: [540] 955-5175