INSIDE Y’ALL COME page 3 INSIDE THE DOME page 4 LAND OF OPPORTUNITY page 6 SOUNDS LIKE page 8 SCOUTING FOR FOOD page 9
NOVEMBER 2012 VOL. 7, NO. 6
Crozet Methodist Church Finalizes Parking Lot Plan
FREEDOM WINNER page 11
SEMPER FI page 12 BRAZILIAN BEAN SOUP page 13 NEW STYLE MUD page 15 GARDEN BLINDS page 16 GAP STOPS page 17 CASTLE SALES page 19 B&N BOOKFAIR page 20 FOOD ENERGY page 21 KNOCKED OUT page 23 CROSSWORD page 24 DO DROP IN page 27 HOW TO BE COMPASSIONATE page 28 WAYNE RENO page 29 RIDGEWAY STORE page 32 RED BATS page 33 SNOWICANE page 34 NUPTIALS page 35
Treeplanters from left: Kristin Vonn, Phil Stokes, Phil Best, Pat Phillips, John Lackey (kneeling), Dan Mahon, Bob Dombrowe (kneeling), Alex Gianitsarius, Bill Mauzy, Jess Louis Vonn (sitting), Jessica Mauzy, Leslie Burns, Karl Pomeroy (kneeling), Lou Fitzgerald, Sharon Schinstock, and Karen Wannamaker.
Trails Day Plants 15 Trees in the Park Adam George of Ruckersville cruised to a first-place finish in the Crozet Trails Day 5K Oct. 21. He crossed the line, moved to Claremont Drive this year, at 18:16. Last year’s winner, nine-year-old Joseph Taylor, took the pole position at the start and finished sixth, at 22:09, first in his under-29 age group. Laura Brown was the first woman to cross. The winner of the annual race gets a bridge on a Crozet trail named for him or her.
George’s bridge will likely be near the Westhall neighborhood. Crozet Trials Crew members were joined by many other volunteers after the race to plant 15 trees in Claudius Crozet Park. Nine varieties were planted, among them a Ginkgo, River Birch, American Elm, Hackberry, Yellowwood, and a Fringe Tree, along the intended route of the park’s perimeter trail. The continued on page 10
A plan for improving the current gravel parking lot on the north side of Crozet United Methodist Church in downtown Crozet has been finalized, removing the last uncertainty plaguing the start of the Crozet Avenue streetscape project. The Crozet Avenue/Library Avenue intersection will transform from a ‘T’ to a four-way intersection, with the west side of the intersection opening to the new lot. All of the intersection will be on church property. An entry to the Blue Goose Building from Crozet Avenue will be removed, as will the existing Crozet Avenue entrance to the church lot. The Virginia Department of Transportation has agreed to be responsible for a 130-foot section of road extending from Crozet Avenue to a ‘T’ where the entry to the church lot will split to the left and the Blue Goose parking lot will connect on the right. The solution to the north lot’s access is part of a comprehensive plan for developing the 20,000-square-foot church’s parking and landscaping,
continued on page 26
Police to Switch to Geographic Staffing The Albemarle County Police Department will institute an “geo-policing” policy some time in December with the aim of improving its relationships with citizens and its knowledge of local crime conditions, police Lt. Greg Jenkins explained to a sparsely attended town hall meeting organized at the White Hall Community Center Oct. 27 by White Hall District Supervisor Ann Mallek. The county will be divided into two districts, the smaller Jefferson District on the east and north sides, and the Blue
Ridge District, encompassing western and southern Albemarle. Each district will have four sectors. Jenkins said that the Blue Ridge District will have five or possibly six officers assigned to it every day. Jenkins will be the district commander for the Blue Ridge District. The key change to the new policy is that it leaves officers assigned to the same sectors, just like old-style beat cops, rather than shifting them around, so that they can develop personal relationships with citizens and a more intimate knowlcontinued on page 32
Lt. Greg Jenkins
Crozet
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
From the Editor Proven for Generations Over the last few years Albemarle County has tried to take over the volunteer fire and rescue services that many sections of the county developed over the years to provide for communal protection and bring them under the thumb of county officials. They would deny that and contend that their aim is more benign. And while we are happy with collaboration and cooperation, our Crozet Volunteer Fire Department and Western Albemarle Rescue Squad provide service second to none under their own guidance and self-government. The county has nothing to add to their quality and can best support them by providing what additional money the volunteers ask for. Imagine the millions it will cost us if the volunteers give up in disgust and we
To the Editor Letters reflect the opinions of their authors and not necessarily those of the Crozet Gazette. Send letters to news@crozetgazette.com or P.O. Box 863, Crozet, VA 22932. The Gazette does not publish anonymous letters to the editor.
It’s Everybody’s Road I was a little shocked to hear the citizen’s story in “Old Trail Speed Limit Unreasonable,” published on October 7, 2012. First, in my view, and as a resident of the Old Trail suburb of Crozet (as I like to think of it), Allie Pesch is exactly correct: the speed limit coming down the hill into Old Trail from Hwy 250 is
must pay full freight for these services! The CVFD is now 101 years old. It has generations of knowledge and commitment at hand to inform and inspire it. Their badges, gleaming bright as they do, bear that patina of the timeproven truths. The county will take a new stab at a set of ordinances to effectively absorb these volunteer services in December. Now hear this: Don’t mess with us. Don’t fix what’s not broken. We must be prepared to stand up with our firemen and our paramedics and show our gratitude for their years of self-sacrifice. We must be ready to repay all the love they have shown us. What has made Crozet “the Land of Oz,” the magical place it is, is that we step forward to take care of each other and we don’t look for somebody else to step up for us. ridiculously slow: the visibility is excellent, the road is wide and smooth, and there are no residences until one reaches the top of the hill—which would be a good time to slow from, say, 35 m.p.h. to 25 m.p.h. Second, I regret that Allie Pesch or any others have been given the message—by the Crozet police or anyone else—that Old Trail is somehow explicitly or even implicitly off-limits to through-traffic going to or coming from Crozet, or anywhere else, for that matter. The road Ms. Pesch mentions is, of course, a public road; it is an excel-
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CROZET gazette
Published on the first Thursday of the month by The Crozet Gazette LLC, P.O. Box 863, Crozet, VA 22932.
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
The Pool Dome Gets Official Leaders from the Claudius Crozet Park board and their partners from the Piedmont YMCA held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of the dome over Crozet Pool Oct. 17. YMCA programming at the pool began the next day. The dome rises 30 feet above the pool and has a spacious feel. The pool water temperature is maintained at 80 degrees and the air temperature under the dome stays at 85 degrees to prevent condensation from forming on the dome and then falling like rain inside. Sound is a little trapped under the dome, and the pool has the familiar acoustics of any indoor pool. The dome has a life expectancy of 15 to 20 years. The fitness room has 12 exercise machines and a section of weighttraining equipment. Group exercise classes are included in the membership fee, which also covers the Y’s “stay and play” child care program, which is available on weekday
mornings and evenings. Two large TVs are suspended in front of the exercise machines. On the day of the ribbon cutting, one was tuned to CNN and the other to Fox News. Visitors were invited to tour the locker rooms and check out the shower stalls. Glass will be installed to enclose the passageway from the fitness and locker room building to the pool. The passageway will not be heated, but it will be protected from the weather. “This picture symbolizes everybody coming together,” said former park board member Heidi Sonen, who headed the fund drive to pay for the dome. She was referring to the line-up behind the ribbon. “One of the things that is so cool about Crozet is the community. This is a modern-day barn raising. Everybody came together to raise this and make it a reality. We like to think of it as a unique project. We’re a private park, but we’ve had help from the county and we have the
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From left: Heidi Sonen, who led the fundraising for the dome; Eric Amtmann, a park board member who volunteered to serve as the architect for the project; Steve Thomas, the site manager for Barton Malow, the firm that did the construction; Samuel Miller District Supervisor Duane Snow, who handled the scissors; Jessica Maslaney, the PARC’s program manager; Piedmont YMCA board chair Kurt Krueger and Denny Blank, Piedmont YMCA CEO.
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
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with great vision,” said Krueger. He singled out Cynthia Simpson, Ann Mallek, Kelly Strickland, Eric Amtmann, Robbie Maupin and Denny Blank for special recognition. “This partnership is a shining example of what a community can do together with local government.” Krueger pointed out that 1858 was the year that Claudius Crozet finished the Blue Ridge Tunnel and the year the YMCA formed in Charlottesville at the instigation of
Paul Goodloe McIntire. “This facility can supply positive, life-supporting services. Fitness is a means to an end, to building a better community,” said Krueger. Western Albemarle High School swim team coach Dan Bledsoe said the dome has had a profound impact on the school’s swimmers. The team now practices from 6:30 to 8 a.m. every morning rather than driving to the north side of
continued on page 32
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
One of Us: Jerry’s Story Giovanni Finazzo had a hard start in life. His father died when he was three and still living in his native Sicily. His mother then gave her youngest child her husband’s name, Gerolomo. But by the time he got to be known as Jerry, the maker of Sal’s Pizza in Crozet, things had gotten all right. He was born in Palermo in 1948, a couple of years after the end of World War II, and has two older brothers, one of whom, Joe, lives in Charlottesville, the other in New Jersey, and a sister in Pennsylvania. All are in the restaurant business. Jerry left school at the age of 9. The wolf was at his family’s door. He had only finished second grade. “I loved school,” he recalled, “but our system did not provide for the poor. I had to work. I worked in a barbershop, shining shoes, brushing off clothes.” Looking for work, the family moved to Switzerland when Jerry was 16. A few years later, he arrived
in New York City on Christmas Eve in 1969. His brother Carlos had come over to the States two years before. Now the rest of his family followed. Jerry got his first job in the U.S., a construction laborer, the next week. He began learning English just by listening to Americans talk. “When I was working my mother said, ‘If you ever cash a check before you bring it home I will cut your testicle.’ I did it once and I got beat for it. Left and right. There was no excuse. She had a reason. Like everybody says, this is the land of opportunity. There’s no reason to work and have nothing to show for it.” He got a job in a pizza shop and worked for free in order to learn the business. “My older brother had the idea to buy a pizzeria,” he explained. “My mother didn’t know. I had worked for five weeks and I didn’t come home with any money. So she beat me again. I had blood all over
Jerry Finazzo and daughters Tina and Tiz.
my face. So my brother explained. My mother was worried I would waste money on prostitutes. There was a lot of that around.” Meanwhile he had learned how to make a pizza crust the right way. “After six weeks I left the shop and got a job in another pizza shop.
I wanted to learn more and I had to learn the language. In that shop there was nobody that spoke Italian. Then a 13-year-old in a neighboring shop was shot and killed in a $36 robbery. I quit. I went by that shop two weeks later and it was boarded up, closed down.”
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
His brothers Joe and Carlos bought a pizzeria in New Jersey in 1972. His mother had been saving his money for him, and when the subject of whether Jerry could go in on it came up, his mother said yes, he had enough money. Until he married, his mother controlled his money. He met his wife Paula, who is Danish, while he was in Jersey. “It will be 40 years in February,” he said happily. “I’m lucky. I would never change it.” “My mother was right,” Jerry admitted. “I would have wasted my income. My mother and my grandfather both gave me good advice. “Those years were tough,” Jerry said. “Jersey was OK. I sold my shares to my brothers. Meanwhile the shopping center they were in went bankrupt and they lost everything. No customers came to the area. I found out who my friends were: I didn’t have any. Everybody was afraid I was going to ask them for money.” In 1977 Jerry and Joe came to Charlottesville and opened a pizzeria in Shoppers World on Rt. 29. “The shop couldn’t generate the rent,” Jerry remembered. “Then we got swim teams to start coming in. We did everything in our power to make things the way they were supposed to be.” After 10 years in Charlottesville, Jerry came to Crozet in 1987 on his own and took over a restaurant space then known as Joel’s Place. Crozet Pizza was the only place around making pizzas. “Oh, yes. I’m happy about that. In all my experiences in the pizza business, Crozet has the greatest people I’ve ever known. That’s why I don’t want to retire.” He’s 64 now
and it’s on his mind. Jerry has three daughters, all married—Tina, Elizabeth (who goes by Tiz), who both work at the restaurant with him, and Amanda, who is a teacher—and four grandchildren with another due soon. The Crozet Shopping Center was owned then by Frank Wood, who is now dead. “He was one of the greatest men,” said Jerry. “I liked everything about him. His word was more than a contract. People said to me, ‘That’s how he is.’ We made a deal and he wrote it in a letter. I had to give him two months’ notice if I wasn’t making a living. He felt like people had helped him and he wanted to pass on help.” Jerry put in new equipment and redecorated. He still changes the look of the restaurant every four or five years. “The customer is the owner of the restaurant,” he said. “They are the ones who give me my living. “It took a while to get established. I don’t judge people. That’s who I am. I put everything I’ve got into it.” He worked 13-hour days for years and really only saw his kids on Sundays. Nine years ago he came down with throat cancer. He survived, but radiation treatments gave him the dry-sounding voice he has now. He lost 75 pounds and also his teeth to radiation. Standing close to the oven is hard on his throat still, he said, but he no longer has to take medicines for it. He smoked, “but that had nothing to do with it,” he said dismissively. “I had no strength to lift the water to make dough,” he recalled about being sick. He was home for
four months on a diet of milkshakes and mashed potatoes. Finally he regained some weight and now he eats fish, ravioli and lasagna. He said his favorite pizza is sfpincione: anchovies, tomato sauce and onions with no cheese. “I used to put lots of stuff on it. Now it’s one or two items.” Though the pizza is clearly what Sal’s is known for, the restaurant also serves popular Italian dishes. “Most people who come in know me and my family,” said Jerry. “I appreciate their support over the years. I can’t stay home. I can’t retire. I’m too old to move to Crozet.” (He has lived in Earlysville since he first moved to the area.) Jerry is unfailingly generous to local charitable causes. Recently customers could donate part of the bill to their local church, for example. “When I see people trying to raise money, I’m with them 100 percent because I know what it is like to have to raise money. Tiz has a lot to do with this. She brings me ideas. “I never take advice from people who are younger than I am. I look in people’s faces and I can tell if they have suffered. As a boy I spent every night with my grandfather. I’ve seen everything he told me about. “I love my country—Italy—but here has more. Here you have to work for it, but there, however much
you work, you still have nothing.” Like virtually all Italian men, he is an inveterate watcher of soccer games and had the Italian professional league’s games playing on the TV in the pizzeria all the time until one day when a customer asked if the announcers were speaking Mexican. He switched to watching the British Premier League. There’s a small TV behind the counter that can be seen from the oven and he will shut off the game in the main dining room if it seems to be bothering customers, but he keeps watching. His Crozet friends Speedy Hale and Randy Layman have gone to Italy with him. Jerry goes home every year. “I can’t tell you how much fun we had,” he said. Now he is enjoying being a grandfather. He teared up at the thought of it. “I think I’m a good dad and a good granddad,” he said. “I love my grandchildren. From the first one, I’ve been on top of the world. “I’ve never made any real money. I don’t care about it. I get to see my grandkids.” Sal’s is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sundays. It’s closed on Mondays. The restaurant employs nine people on weekdays and 11 on weekends.
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Which Witch is Which? by Clover Carroll | clover@crozetgazette.com
They’re everywhere—those pesky word pairs that sound alike but mean entirely different things, and that trip us up and make us look silly when we choose the wrong one. Homophones and their (or is it there?) kin, words that are spelled similarly but sound and mean differently, can create questions when writing. Which is the write—oops, I mean right—spelling for the current context? I’m sure other languages have similar conundrums, but these close lexical cousins must surely drive English language-learners crazy. It is important to choose the correct member of the pair in order to say what you mean and not confuse your reader. Let’s see if we can sort out some of these confusing sets of doppelgangers. We are all familiar with the
straight homophones: words that sound exactly alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings, such as might and mite. Homonyms, by contrast, are words that are spelled and sound the same, but can have different meanings— as in left turn and left behind. But these don’t cause us the same kind of spelling problems that homophones do, so let’s stick with the troublemakers. ‘If you want a piece of cake, speak now or forever hold your peace.’ ‘The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website tells me that a bald eagle would be an unusual sight in Charlottesville, so if I wrote about such a sighting I would want to cite that source in my bibliography.’ ‘My heart grows sore when I hear of this regal bird being hunted as it soars over mountains and plains.’ ‘Now I think I’ll go pour myself a cup of hot cocoa while I pore over the storm-tracking maps.’ I had to double-check this last one
myself in the Oxford English Dictionary (www. oed.com), which gives two definitions of pore: an opening in the skin, or to examine carefully and closely. More thorny are the word pairs that sound slightly different, but look enough alike that it is difficult to keep the meanings straight. The most common confusion of this kind is between effect (result) and affect (have an effect on). It helps me to remember that in almost all cases, effect is a noun and affect is a verb (with a few rare exceptions), but an easy rule of the thumb is that if the word follows “the,” you should choose effect. ‘The effect of sticks and stones may be a few bruises, but cruel words will not affect me.’ ‘We hope that the effects of Hurricane Sandy will not be so severe as to affect the election.’ Figuring out when to use principal (primary) and principle (an
axiom or rule) is not so straightforward, since both may be used as nouns—the principal of our school maintains high principles of conduct, for example. One mnemonic to help students remember this difference is that “the principal is your pal” (grammar.quickanddirtytips. com). But for the most part, principal is used as an adjective: ‘the principal reason for concern is that high winds often cause power outages.’ ‘One of the emergency personnel’s guiding principles is never to touch a downed power line.’ An even tougher example of this close-but-no-cigar category is when to choose between compliment and complement. Just remember that a compliment is a flattering observation, such as ‘that color looks really good on you.’ It means the same thing whether used as a noun or a verb; ‘she complimented me on my outfit.’ The word complement is a rarer bird, meaning to go along with well, to match, or to complete—as in complementary colors. ‘That gold scarf will complement your blue suit perfectly,’ or ‘the
continued on page 22
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
9
Boy Scouts’ Food Drive Nets 1,500 Pounds of Food Boy Scouts in Troop 79, based at Crozet United Methodist Church, put out 1,300 doorhanger notices around Crozet and Batesville announcing their annual Scouting for Food drive and a few days later picked up bags of food set out in yards. A campaign for the drive outside the door of Crozet Great Valu also got a strong response from Saturday shoppers and, combined, more than 1,500 pounds of nonperishable food was donated. Last year the same drive produced 800 pounds. Fifteen Scouts and 15 adults made the effort. Through an arrangement with the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, the haul went onto the shelves of the CUMC Food Pantry, a food ministry to the area needy, now in its 26th year, that runs out of the church’s basement. “The food stays here in this community. That’s a plus,” said Mike Carmagnola, a Scout parent and
volunteer with the drive. “It seems to us that the majority of the food being donated is coming out of the older and poorer neighborhoods,” he said. The appeal asked for canned goods or other nonperishables and many cans of soups, beans and canned vegetables came in. Carmagnola said that donations of peanut butter, tuna, and other proteins are always needed. The drive took in a few dozens of those. Cereals and canned meats are also desired. “These items are expensive,” he said, “and we need them the most. These folks lack protein because it’s expensive.” The Food Pantry is feeding 200 families, about 450 people, in the Crozet area every week. The volunteer effort distributes 3,500 pounds of food a month. There is a process that recipients must go through to be eligible for the food. Carmagnola said the church handles the pantry
From left: Keith Cheely, John Effland, Amy Effland, Sandy Conley, Gary Conley, Zack Conley, Chris Carmagnola and Mike Carmagnola.
as a separate operation and special collections are held to be able to support its purchases from the BRAFB. “The food pantry is on its own,” he said. Kevin Palmer is running it now. “Everybody gets a standard basket of goods depending on what’s available,” Carmagnola said. “Eighty percent of our customers are within Crozet and some are coming to us from southern parts of the county. A lot of them are work-
ing people, some have disabilities. The area seems affluent with all the new homes, but there is definitely a need here. November and December are normally our biggest demand months.” The third Saturday of the month is the main distribution day. With volunteers coming from other area churches, too, an assembly line of workers sorts and packs 200 boxes in about an hour and then they make deliveries.
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Trails Day —continued from page 1
aim is to shade a stretch from the pavilion parking lot down to the lower Little League field and then on to a treeline on the east side of the park. “We wanted mainly natives and others that do well here,” said CTC
chief Jessica Mauzy. The Crozet Volunteer Fire Department has agreed to keep the trees watered for one year to give them a better chance to root. The CTC consulted with the park board to decide which trees to plant. They came from Watkins Landscaping in Crozet, who also dug holes in the chosen spots. The
Adam George of Ruckersville won this year’s Crozet Trails Day 5K.
Joseph Taylor finishing the Crozet Trails Day 5K.
trees were paid for by donations from Crozet citizens and businesses. The park will be a primary trail destination and will have a trail info kiosk. The CTC is now working to open entirely a creekside trail from the park to the Lickinghole Basin that would run through many eastern Crozet neighborhoods. A trail connecting eastern neighborhoods with Cory Farm and Clover Lawn on Rt. 250 was pioneered this year and is ready for improvement too. “The Crozet Trails Crew is the
dream organization we’ve been waiting for to implement the trails plan for the county,” said county trail planner Dan Mahon. “I wish we could bottle this. Jessica has really got the group going. “Originally there was some skepticism about a trail network in Crozet, but sentiment has shifted since we’ve got things going on the ground,” he said. Mahon said traffic counts on the trails at Mint Spring Valley Park are up for the last three years.
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Booker Awarded Kazakhstan Medal of Freedom John Booker of Ivy has been awarded Kazakhstan’s Medal of Freedom for his role in cleaning up and decommissioning the country’s nuclear weapons sites. “If I had known about it, I’d have gone to Kazakhstan to get it,” he said. A former colleague of his— who also got the medal—was in the country and discovered that the medals had been bestowed. Booker got possession of the medal in February but was too modest to mention it. “I kept procrastinating,” he said. But he’s used to keeping things secret. Booker was the first black man to achieve the rank of master chief cryptologist in the U.S. Navy. He grew up in Cumberland County, just west of Richmond, and joined the Navy at age 18 in 1960. He called the choice “common sense. I looked around at where black people were going and where they were not going was bigger than where they were going, jobs with little pay and no benefits. I wanted something better.” He checked out the Marines. “Then a Navy chief sat me down and told me straight.” In his 30-year career he never went to sea and was never stationed in Norfolk or San Diego, virtually unheard of in a Navy career, and he never learned to swim. “That’s the best way to be in the Navy,” he said. He spent plenty of time stationed overseas and in Washington, D.C. “I had a strategic, stovepipe-type job,” he explained. “I never had a large staff under me.” A Navy cryptologist is in a security-clearance-required job and is typically involved in translating for-
John Booker
eign signal intelligence. Booker had nothing whatever to say about what he did for the Navy. But 30 years was enough, so he retired in 1990 and went to work for a couple of years for the Veterans Affairs Department. Then he joined what was called the Defense Nuclear Agency, now known as the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. “My career was an awesome, awesome surprise to me,” said Booker. “My area was to get rid of strategic nuclear weapons and their infrastructure in the former Soviet Union,” he explained. “We wanted them nuclear-free and they wanted to be nuke-free. But they didn’t have the ability to do it. They had a peaceful outlook on the world. “They had a lot of stuff. A. Lot. Of. Stuff. The Soviets had put pretty much everything in their weaponry basket. The U.S. said, ‘We’ll help you,’ and so here we are. “I spent a lot of time in Belarus,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine,” Booker said. He had projects going simultaneously in these countries. “Weapons would be cut up, subs and aircraft. Actual bombs were defused and cut up. We destroyed launch pads for strategic weapons. Buildings would not be destroyed if they were good, but we made them unuseable for making nuclear weapons again. They had hardly any controls over their weapons.” “In Kazakhstan we disabled their test tunnels. The Russians did not want that sort of thing near Russia, near them. We filled the tunnels. That was a high priority of both governments.” The test tunnels in the Semipalatinsk region were the largest in the world at that time. “When you’re dirt poor and you don’t have your next meal, communism does not look bad. The Soviet government came along and said, ‘I’ll give you a home, food, an education and a job for life.’ The cost is you work for the Russian government and do what they tell you to do. “I managed multi-million dollar projects. They would give me the money and order me to ‘make it happen’ by a target date.” He was first in Kazakhstan in 1994. “I was a king in Kazakhstan. They rolled out the red carpet. “The Belarus Academy of Ecology and Sciences awarded me a doctorate and it was not honorary. I had to defend my thesis before an international conference. I got a standing ovation.” Booker’s first project was the clean-up of a 90-metric-ton nuclear fuel spill. “The Russians had
dumped heavy heating oil, and my job was to clean it up. It was tearing up the ecology. It was a fast, hard job, and we had to develop the means to do it. We burned it, we absorbed it. We developed a machine to pass contaminated soil through to clean it so that you could grow your garden in it. “Ukraine was mostly destruction of buildings and sites contaminated with radiation. That’s not a simple job. You don’t go in with sledgehammers. You start with chemists. The people there were very cooperative. My race was never an issue there. Only here.” He knows and can speak some Russian but mainly conducted his job through interpreters. “I came to them with truth and honesty.” He knew political leaders and ambassadors there. He has a picture of himself with former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. “He loves people. He talks a lot to people and he’s not hard to talk to. “There will never be peace,” Booker said. “There’s always going to be axes to grind. But we got together and we got things done. I would like to think I accomplished something, but there’s plenty left for other people to do.” Booker’s wife Agnes (nee Ivory) is from the Ivy area, and six years ago they built a home in the vicinity of Turner Mountain. It has what Booker called an “I love me wall” full of citations and mementos of his career. Booker works part time for the J.F. Bell Funeral Home now. “As a boy in Cumberland I helped some friends who had a funeral home and it got into me. People who are grieving need people who understand. I’m sensitive and I put my best foot forward.”
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Race Report: 2012 Marine Corps Marathon By John Andersen I had the pleasure and extreme challenge of running the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon (MCM), held on October 28 in Arlington and Washington, D.C. This was my second running of the Marathon, which is truly a special race. With an entry field of 30,000 runners, the MCM is the country’s fourth largest marathon behind the NYC, Chicago, and Boston Marathons. Walking up to the starting corral, the sheer number of runners positioned to start this race was overwhelming. From the fastest runners at the starting line to the slowest runners trying to finish under the seven-hour cutoff, the crowd stretched a half-mile along Jefferson Davis Highway just north of the Pentagon. There was a buzz in the air, as the big story was the looming arrival of Hurricane Sandy. Although not predicted to endanger runners,
strong winds and light rains were expected throughout the race. Fortunately the overcast sky and a temperature around 55 degrees made conditions perfect for running long distance. The energy at the start was elevated by blaring pop music to keep spirits high. Prior to the start, there was an emotional performance of the National Anthem, followed by a low flyover of two V-22 Ospreys— incredible military aircraft that are capable of vertical takeoff like a helicopter and horizontal long-distance flight like aircraft. You can’t help but stare in awe at American military firepower. This introduction set the stage for the underlying theme and tradition of the Marine Corps Marathon—appreciation of our Armed Services. Thousands of Marines lined the course, handing out water, food, and cheering “Ooh Rah!” as we passed by. Many runners were active servicemen and
women, and the entire course is lined with signs giving thanks and appreciation to our Armed Services members. Fifteen minutes before the runners started, the wheelchair and hand-cycle participants were off with the very big starting gun—a howitzer. Many of these participants were wounded veterans, and their determination to finish the distance without functioning legs was inspiring to say the least. Further setting the stage away from personal glory and toward those who served were the thousands of runners who ran in memory of deceased servicemen and women. During the race, I was constantly surrounded by runners with pictures on their race jersey of their parent, son, daughter, spouse, or friend who had died in the line of duty. This gave every runner of the MCM an up-close and personal look into the sacrifices made by not only our service members, but also
Dr. John Andersen after the race.
by their families and communities. The first four miles of the MCM took us through the streets of Rosslyn and Arlington and the largest and longest hill of the course on Lee Highway. There were literally thousands of spectators screaming, banging cowbells, and dressed up in Halloween costumes. After running on scenic Spout Run, the course took us over the Francis
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NOVEMBER 2012
Scott Key Bridge and the Potomac River into Georgetown. Right on cue, a patriotic runner in our pack started shouting out the history of how Key was inspired to write what became our national anthem—seeing our flag still standing after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814. Runners of the MCM were again inspired. When we arrived in Georgetown, we felt as if we had just entered a party. Bands were playing and thousands of rowdy spectators greeted us as we trekked through miles five through nine. Mile 10 took us behind the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial as we made our way to the most isolated part of the course down Hains Point, an island in the Potomac River, which holds miles 11 through 15. Passing by the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin, we then got a gut check when reaching the halfway point at 13.1 miles. Making this part interesting was the 15-20 mile-per-hour headwind, Hurricane Sandy’s first influence on the race. Along the Hains Point portion, there were large posters staked in the ground over a half-mile memorializing about 50 service members killed in action recently. This was a somber moment, as many runners were tearing up at the pictures of these men and women with smiling faces and their families and friends. Miles 16 through 19 took us around the National Mall, passing by the Martin Luther King Jr National Monument and the Korean and WWII memorials before passing under the huge shadow of the Washington Monument. No tour of the mall would be complete without a loop continued on page 31
Seasonal Flavors
MEMORIES & RECIPES FROM AN ITALIAN KITCHEN [ by elena day | elena@crozetgazette.com \
Black Beans and Eggplant I’m writing this as “Frankenstorm” is hammering the eastern portions of our state and drenching our area with a cold rain. My husband just returned from warm and sunny Brazil where he ate pineapples and other fruits he cannot name and drank avocado and cashew juices. I was inspired to make him a spicy Brazilian black bean soup to help transition him back to autumn in Central Virginia.
Brazilian Black Bean Soup 2 cups black beans 1 medium onion 3 cloves garlic 1 carrot 2 stalks celery 2 red or green sweet peppers* 1 cayenne pepper 1 tsp coriander 1 tsp cumin juice of 1 lemon or lime juice of 1 orange 1 tbsp butter 2 tbsp olive oil salt & black pepper to taste Rinse beans. Place in saucepan with 4 cups water and bring to a boil. When boiling, turn off heat
and let stand for 1 hour. Chop onions, press or chop garlic, chop carrot, celery, and peppers. Begin by sautéing onion and garlic in butter and oil. As the onion softens, add carrot, celery and peppers. Sprinkle with salt and add cayenne pepper with at least some of the seeds removed. (I don’t like things too hot!) Add beans to the pan and more water if necessary. Cook covered on low heat until beans are done. (A tight fitting lid is necessary.) Season soup with the juice of a lemon or lime and orange. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Slices of orange are an appropriate garnish but optional. *I prefer the Italian sweets or Cubanelles to bell peppers for sautéing.
* * * This month marks the end of the garden unless, of course, one continues to grow lettuces and greens of the Brassica genus. Having picked quite a large number of eggplants in anticipation of an early frost that didn’t happen (and hasn’t happened yet!), I got exercised over what to do with them all. I came upon a recipe for eggplant sauce and quickly adapted it to what I had available.
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Eggplant Sauce 2 lbs eggplant 2 red or green bell peppers (or 4 Sweet Italians) 1 medium onion 3-4 garlic cloves 1 cayenne pepper 3-4 sprigs of parsley 7-8 basil leaves 1 cup tomato sauce 1/3 cup sliced black olives 1 tbsp capers 3 tbsps olive oil 1/3 cup dry white wine Cut eggplant into 2 to 3-inch lengths, ½ inch wide. Place in colander within a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let stand and drain 30 minutes to 1 hour. Very briefly sauté thinly sliced garlic cloves and seeded cayenne pepper in olive oil. Add thinly sliced onion and parsley sprigs. Turn down the heat, stirring occasionally until onion softens. Add peppers that have also been thinly sliced. Salt sparingly (or to your taste) and continue to cook and stir until the peppers are tender. Add eggplant, tomato sauce, basil leaves, wine, olives and capers. Coat all ingredients by turning them over a couple of times. Place a tight fitting lid over the skillet and simmer for about 45 minutes, adding some water if necessary so vegetables don’t stick. The sauce should not be watery at the end. Boil pasta in salted water. Drain. Toss with 1 tbsp of olive oil (or butter). Serve topped with eggplant sauce and some grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Don’t forget to accompany the pasta dish with some crusty bread from one of our local bakeries.
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Lou Fitzgerald (center), newest Lion, with Mary Jane Kent and Phil Eaton
The Mudhouse Backs the Build Crozet Library Fund Larry and Mary Lee Swift got the last bag of The Mudhouse’s new Build Crozet Library dark roast coffee when it sold out on its debut day, Oct 21. The Mudhouse will donate $2 to the fund for every pound sold.
CROZET LIONS CLUB CORNER Lou Fitzgerald was inducted into the Lions Club at the October 8 meeting. Ms. Fitzgerald will coordinate the Lions Charter Night Dinner. On Sunday, November 25, the Lions will be serving coffee and snacks at the Afton Rest Area on I-64 to holiday travelers.
The Lions meet the second and fourth Monday of each month at the Meadows Community Building off of Rt. 240. Anyone interested in attending a meeting is welcomed. Please contact Karl Pomeroy at 9871229. Meetings start at 6:30 p.m. with dinner provided and typically followed by a presentation.
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CROZET gazette
Parkway Pharmacy
BY DR. ROBERT C. REISER crozetannals@crozetgazette.com
Some Days In my line of work I have to break a lot of bad news. One of my professors once defined Emergency Medicine as the “bad outcomes business” and some days it does feel that way. Other days I witness lives saved and bad outcomes avoided. Some days I bounce from tragedy to hope like a pinball in a machine, energy expended and replenished with each new bounce. It is hard to tell if I am strengthened by these emotional challenges or worn down, but overall I feel richer for being present at some sacred moments in my patients’ lives. On a recent day an elderly but still vital gentleman came into the ED in V-tach, our slang for ventricular tachycardia, a disturbance of heart rhythm and rate. In V-tach the ventricles, the main pumping chambers of the heart, overdrive the heart much faster than it can stand. There can be many causes for this including heart attacks. Occasionally V-tach can be a stable rhythm, but mostly it is unstable and rapidly progresses to death. This man was somewhere in the penumbra between stable and unstable. His blood pressure was dangerously low, but he was wideawake, thinking clearly and denied any pain or distress. His heart rate was around 190 beats per minute. Yours is probably around 72 as you read this. The treatment for V-tach depends on whether it is stable or unstable and the two treatments are dramatically different, so we had to decide “how unstable” this nice, witty man was. The definitive treatment for unstable V-tach is a strong electrical shock to the chest wall (cardioversion), but this is difficult to tolerate if the patient is wide
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NOVEMBER 2012
awake, and this patient’s low blood pressure made safely sedating him a challenge. Rare and life threatening events in the ED require significant manpower, and we are very good at spontaneous teamwork around these cases. We had two pharmacists, three nurses, three EMTs a respiratory therapist, several EM residents, a cardiology fellow and resident and, of course, me and the patient. This was a lively and knowledgeable crowd, and a vigorous debate about the right course of action flowed around the room. While we were still deciding, I had the pharmacists draw up a smallish dose of sedative so we would be prepared to move rapidly if need be. In the end, the patient decided the issue by slumping over, vomiting and moaning, barely conscious, finally in distress. A small dose of sedative was given and a 200-joule shock was delivered to his chest. His entire body stiffened in a massive spasm that lifted him off the bed slightly. “Whoa, that was a good one!” he declared before passing out completely as the sedative took full effect. His heart stopped briefly from the shock and then restarted, this time reset into a normal rhythm. The dozen or so team members collectively exhaled a deeply held breath and grinned. The acute crisis was over and a much smaller team would see him through the recovery of what turned out to be a small heart attack. While the staff was still celebrating, I moved on to another patient, a middle-aged lady whose cancer likely had returned. Her oncologist (cancer doctor) who had seen her through a year of treatment and six months of remission, was out of town and she was nervous and continued on page 24
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
inthegarden@crozetgazette.com
Hedges and Screens “I need to screen my neighbor’s house. What’s a good plant for a hedge?” It might well be the gardening question I’m most commonly asked. Never one for a simple answer, I usually come back with a series of questions: Do you have sun or shade? How tall do you want the hedge to be? How wide? How much maintenance do you want? (The truthful answer: zero.) The straightforward answer to this question: there is no single bulletproof hedge plant, no matter what the ads in the Sunday supplements may lead you to believe. “Hedge” can mean somewhat different things depending on where you’re from. If you visit or even fly over the UK, you will gain a true appreciation for hedges. From the air, rural England is a patchwork of fields, pastures and the hedges that demarcate them, one of the most benignly beautiful landscapes imag-
inable. On the ground, these centuries-old hedges can be harder to appreciate. Driving down a singlelane road in Cornwall, you can see nothing beyond the six-foot hedge and are always worrying about what will be coming around the next blind corner! Still, the Brits are understandably protective of their hedges and the variety of wildlife that inhabits them. But to many Americans, hedges are no more than green walls that might just as well be plastic. The question of the proper plant for your hedge really boils down to the maxim that applies when choosing any plant for your landscape: right plant, right place, as in sun/ shade, wet/dry, etc. Perhaps the toughest question you’ll face when choosing the right plant is size. Noodling around on the Internet, I came across a thread on plant selection for a Virginia hedge. A woman posed the question, noting that she wanted something “10’-15’ high, perhaps Leyland Cypress or hemlock.” At this point, your horticultural alarms should be squawking.
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home of my old friends, Crozet Cottage Gardener and her husband, Prairie Gardener. My visit revealed two very different examples of hedges. The first was the three-sided privet hedge that was there when they bought the property in 1990. It had been planted long before that and had grown to resemble a row of Monet haystacks. If confronted with the same situation, I might have bulldozed the whole lot and started over. But Prairie Gardener is a man who thrives on hard work. He attacked the 150-foot hedge, in the early years only with hand shears. He initially brought the sides down to eight feet, meaning he still had to work on a ladder, so eventually he brought it lower so he could reach it from the ground. At the top, the hedge is no more than two to three feet wide, allowing PG to easily reach across it with shears. Hedges should be slightly narrower at the top, allowing light to reach the bottom twigs, maintaining fullness. The other hedge at The Gardeners is just beginning to take shape. They anticipate selling a couple of lots, with construction of new houses expected shortly afterward, and want to screen that view. This hedge will really be more of a glade, or parkland of trees, rather than a tightly sheared row of evergreens. A few oaks are already in place, to be followed by maples, with dogwoods and shrubs serving as an understory. All of this underscores some important points about hedges: they don’t have to be evergreen. As PG noted, “I like it being deciduous, because then you get views in winter that you don’t see at the times when you’re typically out and active in
continued on page 22
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Both of these trees can easily reach fifty feet tall—assuming they survive long enough, but that’s another issue. The questioner went on to say that she actually wanted something that “went six feet high and grew fairly quickly.” Now, think about this. This perfect plant grows quickly to six feet, then somehow miraculously stops. Maybe there’s a secret OFF switch? When designing your hedge, pick your target height and width first thing, then go in search of the right plant. Most good plant labels will state the mature size of the plant but often not the ultimate size. The first might be achieved after ten years, the second after twenty or thirty years. It also pays to do additional research on size, either on the Internet or in good old-fashioned books. These sources can also provide a clue to growth rate. Be wary if they say “fast.” When picking height, consider what you’re trying to block— assuming that’s your goal—and where you‘ll be when looking toward the hedge. Standing at your kitchen window? Or perhaps seated in your living room? Your eyeballs and line of sight will be at very different heights in each situation. And of course a hedge does not necessarily have to be blocking a view. Two-foot-high shrubs can define a garden bed, for example. Or a taller hedge can provide a green backdrop that better shows off a perennial bed. And don’t forget about width. Wider plants will fill in more quickly, assuming that you can provide them room to spread. Finally, what about texture? Prickly plants like hollies, roses and barberries are good for discouraging intruders. I recently stopped over at the
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
17
by Phil James phil@crozetgazette.com
Rockfish Gap Through Afton Mountain Writing in 1900, historian Rev. Edgar Woods stated, “Rockfish Gap has always had that name, acquiring it from the river which rises in part from its base.” Afton Mountain, on the other hand, is a recent appellation, officially applied in 1998 to a summit southwest of the gap in nearby Swannanoa Golf Course. Afton village came into being in 1859 following the opening of the Blue Ridge Tunnel to rail traffic. Had the first American Indians who followed the old animal paths through this wind gap somehow been allowed to linger through the centuries, what transitions they would have seen, and oh, the endless tales they could have told! Their stories surely would have been illustrated with references to the ceaseless westerly winds lifting up streams of migrating birds and flying insects; of unmarred vistas into the eastern Piedmont lowlands and western Appalachian ranges, and night skies so clear that the secrets of the heavens were nearly revealed; with descriptions of dramatic seasonal changes with the early and latter rains draining off to the west and the east; of fogs that subdued daylight and transformed the night into a foreboding cave; of
In its heyday beginning in the late 1920s, Blue Ridge Terrace provided some of the best meals, accommodations, and customer service in the Rockfish Gap area. The Terrace’s views of the Rockfish Valley, now enjoyed only by private renters, remain unparalleled. [Courtesy of the Phil James Historical Images Collection]
the welcome arrival of the earliest greens of spring or autumn’s brilliant rainbow of colors; of majestic ice-coated trees standing like crystal monuments, or snapping suddenly and loudly beneath the frozen burden; and of the steady and certain cycles of life and death and rebirth. Aside from its dramatic natural history, modern day Rockfish Gap has been all about traffic, or better
put, travelers. The earliest settlers arrived from the Shenandoah Valley, passing first through Woods’ Gap to the north in the 1730s; for some years it was that road, the ThreeNotch’d, that received funding for improvements from the colonial government. In 1745, this Albemarle County road order was issued: “On the petition of the Inhabitants of the Uper
Howard Johnsons on U.S. Route 250 in Rockfish Gap was one of 200 new HoJo restaurants built following World War II. Opened in 1948, it complemented the adjacent Skyline-Parkway Motor Court, providing sandwiches, delicious meals and 28 flavors of ice cream to passing motorists and weary hikers. [Photo by Mac Sandridge]
part of Mitchams River leave is granted them to Clear a Road from Rock fish Gapp the nearest and best way to D.S. road.” This eventual “clearing” constituted little more than a bridle trail, for in 1751 the traveling parson Rev. Robert Rose noted that the passage through Rockfish Gap “might easily be fitted for carriages of any kind.” When later improvements were made for wheeled conveyances, the eve of modern-day surely had arrived. Rest stops soon appeared along the road in the form of taverns offering food, drink and shelter to the traveler. The Rockfish Inn was established in the gap in the 1770s. Positive public response to its ideal location led to subsequent improvements and expansions and a name change: The Mountain Top Inn. Among the travelers in 1781 who did not have time to tarry at Mountain Top were then-Governor Thomas Jefferson and several members of the Virginia legislature. They were in flight from Charlottesville, heading toward Staunton to avoid capture by British cavalry led by continued on page 18
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Rockfish Gap —continued from page 17
Colonel Banastre Tarleton. Governor Jefferson’s escape was successful, and Cornwallis’s dastardly deal went down to an ultimate defeat. In 1818, then-former President Jefferson was back at the Mountain Top Inn in Rockfish Gap. This time his fellow travelers included former President James Madison, thenU.S. President James Monroe, and Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Marshall. In party with a distinguished group of dignitaries, they comprised the Rockfish Gap Commission charged with deciding the location for the University of Virginia. Claudius Crozet surveyed through Rockfish Gap in 1839, working to determine the most favorable path for the Louisa Railroad to pierce the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1849 he was assigned the task of engineering the actual construction of that line. Land travelers in Rockfish Gap during the 1850s certainly had their senses assaulted with
Opportunity was knocking in 1891 for a future proprietor of the venerable Mountain Top Hotel in Rockfish Gap. The storied inn, advertised for sale in the pages of The Times newspaper in Richmond, had been serving travelers for well over 100 years. [Courtesy of the Phil James Historical Images Collection]
The Mountain Top Inn served travelers from the 1770s until its demise by fire in the first decade of the 20th century. Several U.S. Presidents and other dignitaries gathered at this place in 1818 to decide the location of the University of Virginia. [Photo courtesy of Waynesboro Public Library]
strange sights and sounds. Shanty villages of Irish railroad workers lined portions of the road. Dull “booms” could be heard and the ground beneath their feet vibrated as drilling and blasting took place inside Col. Crozet’s Blue Ridge Tunnel. And within view of guests at Mountain Top Inn was a most unusual sight: a steam locomotive pulling cars across the ridge top. Charles Ellett, the Civil Engineer who designed that temporary track issued this description: “The crest of the Blue Ridge is very narrow, and is passed on a curve of 300 feet radius. There is barely room for an engine with an ordinary train to stand on the summit, before the road slopes off, descending both towards the east and west, to the valleys on either side of the ridge.” Four years of Civil War saw troop movements by both armies through Rockfish Gap and along the Blue Ridge Railroad. Artillery was wheeled over the mountain. Infantrymen monitored all road and rail traffic. “Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy, if possible,” stated legendary Southern commander Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. He executed that philosophy to perfection in 1862 as he slipped his forces beneath Rockfish Gap on Virginia Central Railroad trains to begin their Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Following the cessation of war hostilities in 1865, defeated former Confederate General Robert E. Lee spent a night at the Mountain Top Inn while en route to Washington College in Lexington where he would serve as president until his death in 1870. An all-consuming forest fire swept across these mountains in 1909. The Mountain Top Hotel was among the losses and was not rebuilt. Frederick Scott and James Dooley purchased properties on either side of Rockfish Gap in the early 1900s. Dooley’s marble Swannanoa palace eventually became a base for Walter and Lao Russell’s art and philosophical pursuits. Scott’s influences at his Royal Orchard castle weighed significantly on the alignment of Shenandoah
Follow Secrets of the Blue Ridge on Facebook! Phil James invites contact from those who would share recollections and old photographs of life along the Blue Ridge Mountains of Albemarle County. You may respond to him through his website: www. SecretsoftheBlueRidge.com or at P.O. Box 88, White Hall, VA 22987. Secrets of the Blue Ridge © 2003–2012 Phil James
National Park’s Skyline Drive between Jarman’s Gap and Rockfish Gap. Since the 1930s, the gap has been prominent as the southern terminus of the 104-miles long Skyline Drive, as well as Mile “0” of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 469 miles of ridge top traverse connecting the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks. The Appalachian Trail hikers’ path between Georgia and Maine also intersects with Rockfish Gap, crossing Interstate 64 at that low point ever since the superhighway was opened across the mountain in 1973. Travelers have found one form or another of food and accommodation at Rockfish Gap for nearly 250 years, from chef-prepared meals to hoecake to kettle corn; from beds fit for Presidents to pallets beneath the stars. Their personal stories and experiences, as well as your own, when mingled with those of the earliest foot travelers, could fill a grand library to overflowing.
Titled “Scene Near Afton VA.”, this engraving from the c.1885 Album of Chesapeake & Ohio R.R. Scenery was a fanciful rendering of the always-awe-inspiring views from Rockfish Gap. [Courtesy of the Phil James Historical Images Collection]
CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
19
Western Albemarle Third Quarter Real Estate Report He’s back. For the second time in as many years Donald Trump has purchased property in Albemarle County. The notorious real estate developer and bottom-fishing investor recently scooped up Albemarle House, Patricia Kluge’s 23,500 square foot, 98-acre estate in Blenheim. Once the most expensively listed home in America at $100M, the property sold to The Donald for a relatively paltry $6.7M. Whether the property remains a “modest” family retreat or turns into a world-class 18-hole golf course remains to be seen. The important point is that Trump finds our area ripe for investment, and he has jumped in full bore. But while Trump has not entered our Crozet market, enough new folks have to keep sales on a strong upswing. The 62 sales in the 3rd quarter of 2012 represent a 29 percent jump over the same period last year. And year-to-date sales are a whopping 33 percent ahead of 2011. In fact, Crozet has already seen more sales this year than for all of 2011. And there is a good chance we will surpass the total year sales figure for 2007, sale numbers we have not experienced in five years. Total sales figures in the county were up almost 21 percent, and as the Five Year Trend of Sales Activity chart (provided courtesy of Nest Realty) shows, sale numbers are building across the area. Good news indeed! Looking at the numbers, we see the average selling price for all the third quarter sales in Crozet was $321,000. This was down four percent from the same period last year. The average price per square foot among all sales was $134, down 7.5 percent from 2011. Finished square foot prices for attached and detached homes were down seven percent and eight percent respectively, to $131 and $135 from $141 and $147. Both are a slight reversal in trends that we have been seeing through the year, but not at all worrying. Much of this price decline is due to continued sales in Westhall of some stupendously
Five Year Trend of Sales Activity (Total Number of Sales)
5 YEAR TREND
600 CHART COURTESY NEST REALTY
by David Ferrall Ferrall@crozetgazette.com
500 400 300 200 100 0
priced new homes, many of which have been selling for less than $100/sqft. As we continue to see the market work through short sale and bankowned properties, new construction being built at lower cost, and foreclosed lots, we can expect some volatility in price and cost numbers. This is all part of a market looking for its footing, which many believe has been found and is holding. This helps to establish a floor for an upswing in sales and prices. Of the 62 third-quarter sales, 27 percent (17) were attached houses. These were spread pretty evenly between re-sales in The Highlands and new construction in Wickham Pond, with several stray sales in Old Trail, Wayland’s Grant, Parkside and Clover Lawn. Of the 45 detached house sales, 33 percent were new home sales, which were concentrated pretty evenly between Westhall and Old Trail. The national builder currently building in Westhall is almost built out, and is offering pretty compelling prices as their Westhall lot costs have been relatively low. But going forward higher prices for lots in Wickham Pond and Old Trail will lead to higher new construction pricing. This will continue to help stabilize prices for all segments of the market. The number of bank owned and short sale properties sold is also down from around 15 percent last year to 11 percent this year. This will aid in price stabilization as well. Nine of the total detached sales were for properties on an acre or more, and only three of
these were on parcels of five or more acres. This continues the trend we have been seeing in the county, where sales are concentrating on smaller parcels closer to Crozet and its convenient amenities. The fourth quarter looks to continue the year’s sales successes. There are currently 72 properties under contingent or pending contract. Many of these will close before year’s end. Inventory at the end of the third quarter was down vs. the same period last year, and down 14 percent year-todate. The number of days properties are on the market is pretty consistent at around 94 for the quarter-to-quarter period, but down almost 20 percent year-to-year. The ratio of sold price to list price is up .75 percent. Properties are selling faster and at prices closer to the original list price. With a national election looming, and the ugly issue of the “fiscal cliff” not far behind, there are issues that could negatively affect the real estate market in coming months. But writing recently in the Financial Times, former deputy treasury secretary Roger Altman makes a pretty compelling case for why housing prices may have bottomed. Housing prices overall have gotten better, there is decreasing inventory, population is growing, and loan acquisition seems to be relaxing somewhat after an overreaction to the easy and abusive pre-Great Recession period. Add to the mix the Federal Reserve’s commitment to low
continued on page 31
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
upcoming community events NOVEMBER 2-4
Book Fair to Support Library Barnes & Noble bookstore in Charlottesville will support the Build Crozet Library fund drive, an effort to raise money to furnish the new Crozet Library with books, shelves, chairs, tables, desks, and computers, by hosting a book fair November 2, 3 and 4 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. (until 9 p.m. on Sunday). Barnes & Noble will donate a percentage of every purchase made by those using a special book fair voucher (tear out the one on page 3) or who mention the Crozet Library book fair to the cashier. Book fair events will include musicians, a children’s story and craft hour, local authors signing books and more. On Friday, Nov. 2, WAHS student Carly Witt will sing and perform on guitar at 7 p.m. Saturday events begin at 11 a.m. with a story and craft time with local children’s author Helen Williamson and harpist Eve Watters. At 1 p.m. 10 local authors will gather for book signings. They are: John Hanny, author of Secrets from the White House Kitchens; Anne Marie Pace, author of Vamperina Ballerina; Sandra Crowe, author of I Didn’t Sign Up for This: 7 Strategies for Dealing with Difficulty in Difficult Times; Jodi Meadows, author of Incarnate; Kay Pfaltz, author of Lauren’s Story: An American Dog in Paris; Rita Reynolds, author of Blessing the
Bridge: What Animals Teach Us About Death, Dying and Beyond; Kathleen Ford, author of a story in Best American Mystery Stories of 2012; J.L. Kimmel, author of The Yawning Rabbit River Chronicle; Jonathan Coleman, co-author of West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life; Richard Leahy, author of Beyond Jefferson’s Vines: The Evolution of Quality Wine in Virginia; Hannah Barnaby, author of Wonder Show. The jazz ensemble from Western Albemarle High School, “Bakers Doesn’t,” will play from 2 to 4 p.m. On Sunday, Nov. 4, at 11 a.m. Pete and Ellen Vigour will play traditional music. At 11:30 a.m. children’s author Helen Williamson & Eve Watters, Celtic harpist will host a story and craft time. At 12:30 the Charlottesville Waldorf School’s Eighth Grade Music Ensemble will perform and at 1 p.m. the Essay Contest winners from Brownsville, Crozet, Meriwether Lewis, and Murray Elementary Schools will read. Supporters of the Build Crozet Library fund drive can also participate in the bookfair online between Nov. 5 and 9 by using the bookfair’s ID number, 10853588, when making a purchase at BN.com/bookfairs. This year, Barnes & Noble selected the Crozet Library as its one recipient of the Holiday Book Drive donations. All purchasers during the two months from Nov. 1 through December 31 will be asked if they would like to purchase and donate a book from the Crozet
Library wish list. These book purchases will be given to the library. The purchase amounts of books donated to Crozet Library while the book fair is underway will be credited as part of bookfair earnings, increasing the donation. For more information, contact Sandra Cararo at Barnes and Noble at 434-984-6598.
NOVEMBER 3, 10, & 17
Amnesty Days at Ivy Landfill
Amnesty days for certain items will be held at the Ivy Material Utilization Center located at 4576 Dick Woods Road in Ivy on the first three Saturdays in November from 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. each day. Furniture and mattresses will be accepted Nov. 3, appliances Nov. 10, and tires Nov. 17. Amnesty items will be accepted from residents of Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville at no charge. Call the Ivy Material Utilization Center at 434-295-3306 with questions.
NOVEMBER 10
Rockfish Nights at RVCC
Rockfish Valley Community Center will host Rockfish Nights, its annual fundraising gala, Saturday, November 10. The event will feature RVCC’s annual silent auction, dinner with cash bar, and music by ACME Swing Mfg Co. Dinner will be catered by The Invisible Chef and the cash bar will feature Nelson County wines and beer. The auction features art, antiques and services from supporting indi-
viduals and businesses, as well as “The Best of the Chest” from the Treasure Chest thrift store. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for the auction, bar and appetizers. Dinner will be served at 7:15 and the concert will begin at 8:15. Tickets are $40 a person and are available for advance sale only and limited in number. They can be purchased at the RVCC office, the Treasure Chest, and on the RVCC’s website: www.rockfishcc.org. Tickets for the music and dance only are available for $20 with no admission before 8 p.m. All proceeds benefit the RVCC’s general fund. The Rockfish Valley Community Center is located at 190 Rockfish School Lane in Afton. Call 434361-0100 for more information.
NOVEMBER 10-18
J-MRL Book Sale The Friends of the JeffersonMadison Regional Library will hold their seventh annual Fall Book Sale November 10-18 at the Gordon Avenue Branch Library, 1500 Gordon Avenue, in Charlottesville. All categories of books, movies and music will be available every day. Half-price days are November 17 and 18. Sale hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. all days. Thousands of privately donated items are being offered for sale. A very wide selection of books will be available, including a number of signed or otherwise collectible titles. See the website, www.jmrlfriends. org, for a list of “Valuable and Attractive” books. Parking may be available in the Gordon Avenue Branch Library lot, which should be entered only from Gordon Avenue. Additional parking may be available at the nearby DR. HILLARY COOK
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CROZET gazette Venable Elementary School. Volunteers work throughout the year to process donated items and also to serve as staff for the sale. The Friends have donated the proceeds of their last two years’ sales to the Build Crozet Library fund.
NOVEMBER 16 & 17
WAHS Presents As You Like It
Western Albemarle High School’s Theater Ensemble will present Shakespeare’s As You Like It, a romantic comedy, which includes the playwright’s well-known “All the world’s a stage” speech, November 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the school auditorium. Advance tickets are $5 for stu-
NOVEMBER 2012 dents and $7 for adults, and $6 and $8 at the door. Live music and dessert will be available during intermission. Tickets can be purchased at the high school’s front office and in Crozet at Over the Moon bookstore or Mudhouse coffee shop. All money raised will support future student productions at Western. The Crozet Gazette Upcoming Community Events listing is intended for free, not-for-profit or fundraiser events that are open to and/or serve the broader community. Events are included at the editor’s discretion. Priority is given to special events. Space is limited. Submit event press releases for consideration to news@ crozetgazette.com. Thank you!
Numerous Local Artisans Participate in Annual Studio Tour The 18th Annual Artisans Studio Tour will be held November 10 and 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This year there are 11 locations in the Western Albemarle and Northern Nelson area featuring potters, jewelers, leather craftsman, furniture makers, wood turners, hand-forged iron by a blacksmith and flintlock makers. Just outside Crozet, Janice Arone with her one-of-a-kind clay pieces and Mary Ann Burk’s sculptured and altered porcelain can be found at The Barn Swallow (796 Gillums Ridge Road). Greenwood Studios at 5289 Three Notched Road in Crozet will host Dan Hunt’s distinctive, one-of-a-kind furniture and Nancy Ross’s functional and sculptural pottery. Just outside of White Hall, Fred Williamson returns to the tour with his turned bowls. Tom Clarkson and Cindy Hammond of Jumping Branch Studio will join him to show their stoneware and porcelain vessels. Williamson’s studio is located at 5623 Sugar Ridge Road. In Afton, visitors can admire museum-quality colonial-period long rifles made at Allan Sandy Flintlocks at 8801 Dick Woods Road. At nearby Wayfarer Forge, Gerald Boggs will show his functional and beautiful ironworks at 3261 Afton Mountain Road. Just down the road at Forma Woodworking (1287 Afton Mountain Road), Christopher
Harrison will show his finely constructed contemporary furniture and whimsical art. The Judd Jarvis Studio at 1203 Afton Mountain Road will present Jarvis’s functional salt-fired stoneware pottery. Down Route 151, a quick turn on to Avon Road will lead visitors to 2 Art Studios – Gallery 161. Tanya Tyree is known for her abstract raku-fired clay sculptures and jewelry. Sharing that space, Gary Dalton designs and builds custom furniture and Greg Sandage creates jewelry from precious metals and unique gemstones. At the Rockfish Valley Community Center (RVCC), K. Robins will be showing off her symbolic pendants, amulets and talismans. These unique pieces of jewelry are done first in wax and then cast in sterling silver. Patricia Yoder creates wheel-thrown stoneware and can be found at Rockfish River Pottery just beyond RVCC at 80 Tuckahoe Lane, behind the Tuckahoe Antique Mall. Not far away is the Nan Rothwell Studio at 221 Pottery Lane in Faber. Rothwell is known for her functional salt-glazed and stoneware pottery. At that same location, Penny J. Sipple will be showing her handcrafted leather handbags and accessories. The tour is free. For more information, call 434-295-5057 or visit www.artisanstudiotour.com.
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© J. Dirk Nies, Ph.D.
Energy Part Three: Food Choices Fall is in the air. Days are shortening and the nights oftentimes are cold. Nature is responding to this diminishing inflow of solar energy in myriad ways. Trees are tossing their leaves to the ground. Squirrels are rebuilding their leaf-lined nests and hoarding nuts. Migratory birds and Monarch butterflies are flying south to warmer climes. White-tailed deer, sheep and goats are rutting. Bears and bats are hunkering down and preparing to hibernate for the winter. Bees are clustering (when temperatures drop below 55 degrees), forming a dense ball around the queen and conserving precious energy within the hive. And as November draws to a close, many of us will gather with family and friends to share a feast around the Thanksgiving table. Especially during this season of the year when fields are fallow, orchards bare, and the weather sometimes chilly and damp, we more deeply appreciate nourishing food and warm, dry shelter: the most fundamental necessities of life. To provide these necessities, we must expend energy. Picking up where we left off last month, let’s look at our energy expenditures in the food and household sectors of our economy and where and how we expend energy
through the choices we make (perhaps unwittingly). Three governmental reviews and surveys are helpful in this regard: Energy Use in the U.S. Food System published in 2010 by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); and the Residential Energy Consumption Survey along with the Annual Energy Review both published and updated in 2012 by the Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy (DOE). These resources are available free of charge and may be accessed via the internet. There are upwards of 45,000 distinct items for sale in a typical US supermarket. Each one of these has its own history of energy expenditures. To illustrate the scope of this energy history, consider the following representative scenario for freshcut salad greens. A farmer sowed seeds of lettuce and other salad greens using a planter attachment on a tractor powered by fossil fuels. Between planting and harvest, a broadcast spreader applied fertilizer, and possibly pesticides and herbicides. These farm products were manufactured using natural gas and electricity and transported to wholesalers, retailers and farms. During times of inadequate rainfall, electric-powered water pumps irrigated the fields. At harvest, field workers continued on page 35
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Which Witch? —continued from page 8 christina@crozetgazette.com
W
ith the holidays approaching faster than ever and the calender filling with events, here are a few tips for hosting your own holiday extravaganza. When having people to your house for a party, it is important to make everyone feel at home. Incorporating personal touches from your everyday life is a good place to start. Have a signature drink and make an adult and kids version—for example, a spiked apple cider for the grown-ups and a chilled sparkling cider for the kids. Planning a meal that will allow for early prepwork and cooking some dishes ahead of time will enable you to spend more time with your guests. Have the full menu in mind, make a detailed grocery list, and work ahead as much as possible. Marinate or brine meat one to two days in advance, and the day before the event, prepare sides that
only need reheating. Having a cold or room temperature dessert is an easy way to end a delicious meal. Featuring local fare (meat, wine, veggies, cheese, etc.) in your holiday meal or party is a great way to add a conversation about the food. If children will be invited try having an activity just for them. A holiday craft or game, cookie decorating, or a holiday movie are all good ways to keep your younger guests happy. When the party comes to an end, it is nice to have a small take away gift for your guests. Have baggies prepared with ribbon ties to send a few of the cookies the children decorated home with guests. Or fill mason jars with the dry ingredients for your favorite cookies or brownies and attach the recipe. Adding a few personal touches to your party will ensure fond memories for both you and your guests.
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bland rice will complement the spicy curry to create a balance of tastes.’ Since compliment is so much more commonly used, if in doubt, choose this spelling. Less tricky are the sound-alikes illusion and allusion, which should be easy to distinguish because they have such different meanings. An illusion is a dream, a mirage, a conviction that is held in error: ‘The idea that a Fountain of Youth exists is pure illusion.’ Much rarer is the literary allusion, in which an author refers to another work through the brief mention of a word or idea in order to suggest its mood or themes. The title of the novel The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, for example, is an allusion to a notable soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “Life’s but a walking shadow… it is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.” As with compliment and complement, the word illusion is used so much more frequently that you are fairly safe choosing the “i” spelling most of the time. We cannot end without discussing the most troublesome and potentially embarrassing of all the sound-alikes: words that are both spelled and pronounced differently, but are frequently confused in writing. Did Claudius Crozet breath his last, or breathe his last on Jan. 29, 1864? Was he an immigrant or an emigrant from France to the United States? And did Crozet loose or lose the support of canal owners when he advocated for railroads? Breath is a noun that is pro-
Hedges —continued from page 16
your yard.” Also, a hedge can be composed of more than one species, giving a more natural look and providing a more diverse habitat for wildlife. Much of the world’s home gardens are quite different from ours. In Europe, hedges, or perhaps walls, define the yard with a more private space within. Now many Americans
nounced with a soft, unvoiced th, while breathe is a verb that uses a hard, voiced th (the addition of the final e is what changes this pronunciation, as in cloth and clothe, or lath and lathe). ‘When I breathe deeply, my breaths are longer and more relaxed.’ One easy way to remember this one is to recall the well-known hymn, “Breathe on me, breath of God.” Whether Crozet was an emigrant, meaning someone who has left his native country, or an immigrant—someone who has come to a new country, is mainly a matter of perspective. Both of these words refer to the act of migration —moving from one country or region to another—but the prefix determines the meaning. Im- means coming in, whereas em- refers to going out. So an immigrant is one who enters and settles in a new country, while an emigrant, is one who leaves his/her native country to settle in another. Therefore, the French would view Crozet as an emigrant because he migrated abroad, while we in the U.S. view him as an immigrant who came here to pursue a new life. Finally, the single most annoying word mix-up is to substitute loose, an adjective meaning not tight, for lose, a verb meaning to misplace. Like breath and breathe, loose uses a soft s, while lose is pronounced with a voiced s. But unlike the former, these two words are completely unrelated in meaning. Crozet did not loose the support of canal owners, but he did lose it. If you have a hole in your pocket full of loose change, you may lose some money. As we lose our grip on grammar, you may be sure that many of my screws will become loose!
want a clean swath between house and street. Is this part of a move toward more openness and egalitarianism? Or is it just a way of improving curb appeal, as in, “Look at my lovely home!” In contrast, older American homes often had substantial hedges, and as Prairie Gardener observed, “I think it’s a shame so many people have abandoned their old hedges and pulled them out…They can be green and architectural.”
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
23
By John Andersen, DVM gazettevet@crozetgazette.com
Anesthesia–Not So Scary Many of us pet owners have heard horror stories of healthy pets dying while under anesthesia for a routine procedure. Someone brings a beloved pet in for a routine spay or dental cleaning, only to have their worse fears realized with a call from the vet delivering shocking news. I am here to tell you that fortunately those days are for the most part GONE! That’s right, even for a 15-year-old dog, anesthesia done properly is very safe and is a minimal risk to your pet’s health.
So, what exactly are we talking about when we say “anesthesia”? General anesthesia is the process of giving injectable and or inhalant drugs to patients (human or animal) to render them unconscious and unable to feel any pain. In a typical small animal veterinary hospital, anesthesia is generally used for performing surgery and dental cleanings/extractions. Long ago, this process was not well refined. The drugs that put people and animals asleep were sometimes too strong and led to complications such as cardiac arrest and death. These days, anesthesia is a smooth
Boone recovering
process in trained hands. With the right combination of drugs, monitoring, and fluid and heat support, there is a minimal chance of problems occurring. In fact, in my more than 10 years of practicing veterinary medicine, I have never lost one single healthy patient unexpectedly to anesthesia. Not one. Yet I am still hyper-alert and nervous every time
we put a client’s pet under anesthesia. I fully feel the pressure that we have been entrusted with this pet’s care and we do everything we can to ensure that no errors are made. I have lost a few patients under anesthesia over the years, but these have all been fairly critical patients to begin with. All of them were
continued on page 25
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Managed by JABA Skilled staff on-site 24/7 Home-style meals, featuring local foods Reasonably priced, homey rooms with views
www.jabacares.org • 434-823-4307 Winner of the 2007 Governor’s Housing Award • Winner of the Commonwealth Council on Aging 2010 Best Practices Award
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Medicine —continued from page 15
scared. I consulted our oncology service to come down and examine her to see if the cancer had returned. Leaving her worried husband in the room she approached me privately and asked me to cancel the oncology consult. “My doctor will be back next week. He knows me and has been with me through all of this. I would just rather he be the one to … well, you know, be the one to...” and her voice trailed off. “Yes, of course,” I answered, as she clutched my hand. The intern gave me a quizzical look when I told him to discharge her, undiagnosed. I explained her request but he was clearly confused and disappointed by this ending to the encounter. “Why did she come in then?” he asked. “Sometimes it’s a process,” I told him, knowing no explanation I gave him would make sense to his young, technically focused mind. As the patient and her husband passed me on the way out they both shook my hand in deep gratitude and I wished them well. Some days are like that.
To the Editor —continued from page 3
lent way to get from Hwy 250 to Crozet, if one is going that direction, and that option for travel is obvious. What I would like to see, instead, is that residents of Crozet be welcomed to use that piece of road, to frequent the growing “town-center” of Old Trail and its nascent businesses. I regret to think that residents of Old Trail, of whom I’m one, would imagine some sort of privilege that Ms. Pesch indicated the police implied. If I was a resident of Crozet proper, I would now, especially now, as frequently as possible exercise my right to travel Old Trail Drive from Hwy 250 to County Road 691 coming to and from Crozet. We look forward to seeing you! Ed Ledford Crozet
Thanks for Crozet! Across 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Federal safety org. 14 12 15 5 Bee group 10 Pitcher 17 18 14 Copied 15 Salk’s target 20 21 16 Prescribed amount 17 Year round reason to give thanks? 22 23 20 Jeanne d’Arc, e.g. 21 Baa mamas 26 27 28 22 Felt ill 23 State positively 33 34 24 Mickey and Minnie 26 Climbed a cliff 36 37 38 29 Body language pro? 40 41 30 Anatomical pouch 33 Grad, or puckering agent 43 44 34 Waves for underwater detection 35 Ltrs. for Elizabeth 48 47 36 Reason to thank the many active citizens among us 49 50 51 40 Epoch 41 Soothers 56 57 58 42 Sound before fizz? 43 In medias _____ 60 59 61 44 Legal system on Orkney Island (anagram of LAUD) 63 64 45 Forms for dills or asparagus 47 Alphabetic quartet 6 One who really impresses? 48 O’Reilly claims it stops with him 7 Mont Blanc and the 49 Debate Matterhorn, among others 52 Leafy stimulant chewed in 8 Road in Albemarle, river in Spain East Africa 9 Jersey call 53 Felix or Sylvester 10 Frasier dog 56 Reason for future thanks? 11 Warm fiber 60 Norse thunderer 12 Twilight Cullen played by 61 Longest river in France Elizabeth Reaser 62 Linament 13 Walter or Donna 63 Badger burrow, scientifically 18 Campbell of “Party of Five” speaking 19 Delicately crocheted embellishments 64 Abated 23 _____ mater 65 Twelve per program 24 Grackles, var. 25 “_____ home. Where’re you?” Down 26 More secure 1 Clumsy ones 27 Madison furniture maker 2 Spy 28 Haloes 3 Not there 29 Bris expert 4 Org. for periodontists, et.al. 30 Dolphin coach of yore 5 Acted like Etna 31 Warmth
Kids’ Crossword
by Mary Mikalson
Down Across 1 Opposite of empty 3 Drumstick 2 Vegetable with ears 5 Squanto was one 7 Bird larger than a chicken 4 Pour this over mashed potatoes 8 Pumpkin ____ 6 Thanksgiving _____ 9 Small round bread 7 Set the _____ Solution on page 28
by claudia crozet Solution on page 30
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CROZET gazette
Gazette Vet —continued from page 23
urgent or emergency surgical cases such as removing a hemorrhaging spleen, bleeding cancers, or infected/septic organs. These animals were not good anesthetic candidates in the first place. A detailed account of a typical anesthetic procedure should clear up the mystique of anesthesia a bit. As I love to talk about my own pets, we’ll take the story of our Labrador retriever, Boone, on the day he lost his manhood, I mean, was neutered. Boone woke up that morning like any morning, incredibly eager to be fed breakfast. As is his routine, he bolted right to his food bowl, convulsing with excitement. But this morning, there would be no breakfast. It is important to have an empty stomach before undergoing anesthesia to minimize the risk of aspiration. This is when food/fluid from the stomach flows back out through a relaxed esophagus and down into the lungs. Boone knew then that it was going to be a bad day. We made our way to the office. If he were a regular client, he would have been checked in by one of the nurses. This is your last gut check as a client, when you have to sign the anesthesia consent form that clearly states that unforeseen risks can occur, including death. Yikes! We, of course, reassure people that the risks are low and we are careful. And we realize that when we are handed that leash, we have been handed something very precious to that person and we take that responsibility personally. Some people are lighthearted and humorous about it while other people are literally in tears as they see their pet leave the room. Boone’s next stop was the treatment area. He was starting to get really suspicious now as his dad started looking at him with weird things like stethoscopes and otoscopes. Then his temperature was taken. Yep, it was gonna be a bad day. After making sure his heart and lungs were fine and there were no other obvious concerns, we drew some blood to make sure his internal organs were ok. Most importantly, we wanted to make sure the liver and kidneys were functioning well to process the anesthesia. Boone got put in a run with a blan-
NOVEMBER 2012 ket and pat on the head and had to wait around for a bit. His labwork looked great, so we got Boone out and gave him his premedication—an injection of a sedative. This has a few purposes. First, it allows us to get an IV catheter into him without him resisting and fighting us. Some dogs would much rather bite us than allow us to poke them with an IV. Second, it allows us to use less gas anesthetics, which makes the anesthesia safer. Boone felt a pinch in his rear leg and wondered what just happened. In a few minutes, he started to feel good—reeeal good. Soon he forgot what he was thinking about. We got Boone up on a treatment table and our veterinary technicians (the nurses of the vet field, highly skilled and trained) got an IV in his leg and we started IV fluids. IV fluids are probably one of the most important parts of anesthesia. They help to keep blood pressure from dropping, which can cause significant problems. Next, one of our technicians gave him the “induction” agent, an IV injection of another type of sedative that rendered him completely unconscious (but still breathing) for several minutes. The nurses then skillfully inserted an endotracheal tube. This is a breathing tube that goes down into the windpipe (trachea) and to which we attach the anesthesia machine. With Boone fully out and “tubed up,” he was moved into the operating room. There was a flurry of activity as his breathing tube was hooked up to the anesthetic machine and all of the monitoring equipment was attached to him. The anesthesia machine delivers a mixture of pure oxygen and isofluorane, the gas anesthetic. This gas is what kept him under anesthesia for as long as the procedure took. There was a rubber bag on the machine that we used to give him breaths regularly as needed. Although Boone was unconscious, we were very aware of his body. He was hooked up to an electrocardiogram (EKG), which showed us real-time electrical impulses of his heart rate and rhythm. He had a pulseoximeter on his tongue that measured the oxygen saturation of his tissues. We also measured the amount of carbon dioxide in his exhaled air to make sure he was ventilating enough, keeping CO2 from building up in
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CLASSIFIED ADS ALTERATIONS AND TAILORING: Experienced seamstress with 30 years of tailoring and garment alterations experience, working from home in Crozet (Highlands). Call for a free consultation. Ruth Gerges: 434-823-5086.
FOR SALE: Double wide mobile home. 2 BRs with walk-in closets, 2 full baths, gas fireplace. All appliances included plus washer & dryer. Located in Beaver Hill Park in Crozet. Must be 55 years or older. 434-882-4002
ART YARD: Come visit local artists under the tent at 6095 Jarmans Gap Road. Almost every Saturday and some Sundays until Christmas. Fill your stockings with fine arts, felted art, culinary art. For more information, call Marissa at 434-305-2078.
GET UP, GET OUT, GET FIT: Come join the fun at Boot Camp for REAL People, an outdoor intervals class for all ages and abilities. Classes are held at Crozet Park at 5:50-6:50 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. To register or for more information, please call Melissa Miller at 434-962-2311 or visit www.m2personaltraining.com.
BABYSITTER/ MOTHER’S HELPER/ DOG WALKER: Our twin girls, 14 1/2 and 9th graders at Western, are reliable, wonderful with kids and have pet experience. Please contact Mom, Bevin at 540-4566216 or BevinsGirls@aol.com.
FARM FOR SALE: 105 acre S.W. Augusta farm in Greenville, Va. area. 1900s 3-4 bedroom farmhouse, 2 newer barns & machine barn with covered feeding area & 60 x 130 Hay storage barn. Mostly open pasture, Approx. 25 acre hayfield, some woods, well, stream, springs & large pond. Super views. Private location not visible from the road. Cattle, Horses & Hunting. Priced $745,500. Firebaugh R.E. Call Joe Glovier, Realtor 540-480-4766.
his bloodstream. And he had a temperature probe down his esophagus to let us know if his temperature dropped. And last but not least, he had a veterinary technician with a brain, eyes, ears, and a stethoscope to process all of that information and make any adjustments necessary to ensure that his anesthesia was safe and boring. Oh, and of course me, doing surgery with part of my brain and helping to watch anesthesia with the remainder. Boone’s neuter was quick and easy. He was given some injectable pain meds to help when he woke up, as well as some local anesthetic at the surgical site to numb things up for a while. Then it was time to wake up. We simply turned off the isofluorane gas and kept him breathing pure oxygen for a while. It took about 10 to 15 minutes for him to start to stir and attempt to swallow. We unhooked all of the monitoring equipment and when
LAND WANTED: Looking for a 5-10 acre parcel in Crozet area. Must be fairly level, partially cleared, & suitable for building a home on. Will assist in subdividing process and cost if necessary. Call 434-566-7124. TUTORING PAR EXCELLENCE. SAT Preparation and Academic Tutoring in Mathematics, Science, and Languages (French & Spanish). Crozet Location. Please, call 540456-6682 or email tutoringparexcellence@gmail.com. To place an ad or for more information, call 434-249-4211 or email ads@crozetgazette.com
he seemed able to swallow, we pulled the breathing tube out. Most dogs have a little freak-out moment at this point. They can’t really comprehend what in the world is going on as they regain consciousness in a cage with people wearing masks looking at them! Hoowwwllll!! There was a brief struggle as we calmed Boone down and finally he sighed and laid his head down and started to snore. He was awake, but very groggy. He stayed until it was time to go home, gradually waking up some more as the day moved on. At the end of the day we took his IV out and hooked up his leash. His first steps out of the cage were wobbly and goofy, but he quickly caught on and in no time was dragging me down the hallway, reminding me that he still hadn’t had his breakfast.
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Methodist Lot —continued from page 1
according to Mike Carmagnola, an architect who is serving as the church’s project manager for the plan. The plan has won the approval of the congregation, he said. Plans include a smaller lot connecting to Jarmans Gap Road and linking to the north lot over a terrace, a ramped concrete section of road that will offer access to the rear entry to the church. The cost of constructing the whole project approaches $1 million, Carmagnola said. The church will proceed to build the north lot next summer, at a cost of roughly $675,000, using money it got from VDOT for the property (and 30 parking spaces) the church lost along Jarmans Gap Road when it was widened. The new lot will have new handicapped access points from the front and rear of the building. The church’s former handicapped access was from the lost parking area. Carmagnola said the new lot will extend all the way from Crozet Avenue to Carter Street, taking over the existing volleyball area but not actually connecting to Carter Street. The new lot will have 64 spaces, he said, and be graded to be essentially flat. The lot will be paved and have curbs, gutters, sidewalks and shade trees. It will be able to handle another 20 cars along the curb on the lot’s church side if necessary. The bamboo stand along the edge of the gravel lot will go. The fenced playground for preschoolers will be moved to the west side of the terrace. A terrace of pavers at the rear of the church will form a plaza planted with a ring of trees, a sort of
outdoor foyer. A basketball court will be painted on the pavement and the goal posts will be nestled into landscaping islands. “Our goal is to start in May after Kingswood Preschool closes. It has 50 students and it can be busy in the lot. We don’t want to interfere with them. We’ll do it over the summer and we’ll be done before September.” The Crozet Farmers Market normally uses the lot over those months and Carmagnola is hoping the market can find a temporary alternative loca-
tion in downtown while construction is happening. “We definitely want to continue to host the market,” he said. County officials had expected to announce a schedule for starting the Crozet Avenue streetscape project at a town hall meeting set for Oct. 29 that was cancelled by the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. The last utility easements for the project, which was originally expected to happen in 2008, continued on page 31
CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
27
Augusta Health’s Crozet Clinic Switches to Drop-In Practice Augusta Health’s office in Old Trail Village in Crozet is now operating as one of the hospital corporation’s three area “convenient care clinics.” The similar offices are in Waynesboro and Staunton. The convenient care clinics do not take appointments, but see patients on a first-come, first served basis. They do not have X-ray or lab facilities. “The idea is to offer episodic acute care with weekend hours,” said Dr. Scott Just, an emergency medicine doctor who is the president of the emergency physician group that Augusta Health contracts with to staff its emergency department at the hospital in Fishersville, its convenient care centers and its urgent care centers in Weyers Cave and Staunton. The last two do have full-time doctors, X-ray and lab facilities. The Crozet clinic is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through
Fridays, and on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Typical patients at the Crozet office need attention for allergies, animal and insect bites, coughs and colds, sore throats and ear infections, fevers and flus, immunizations, routine exams and sports physicals for kids, skin infections and urinary tract infections. Most visits take 10 to 12 minutes, Dr. Just said. “We are for minor emergencies. We’re capable of caring for adults and children, except those under age two,” said Dr. Just, who earned his medical credentials at U.Va. and once worked under Gazette medical columnist Dr. Robert Reiser. Just lives in Greenwood now and is working on an MBA at U.Va. “We’ll have physician coverage here four hours a week and a nurse practitioner or a physician’s assistant. Augusta [Health]’s commitment to Crozet seems to be there
Now at Augusta Health’s Crozet clinic: from left, Linda McAllister, clinic business manager, physician’s assistant James Kinder and Dr. Scott Just, an emergency physician
from what I see,” said Dr. Just. “This model works in other places and growth is picking up in Crozet. Everybody needs walk-in care. You can come in here with anything. We want sick people. “If a patient needs to go to a hospital, we will send whichever hospital the patient chooses information
in advance so they are ready when the patient arrives,” he said. Dr. Just said that flu cases are showing up and the clinic recently gave flu shots to residents at The Lodge. “It’s started early this year,” he said, “Typically the peak is in
Be reconc iled
continued on page 29
Physical Therapy & Wellness Center 5690 Three Notch’d Road • Suite 107 • Crozet • 434-823-7628
BYE-BYE
BACK PAIN! Our doors are open as wide as our hearts and minds Come worship with us
Sunday worship 8:45 & 11: 15
Call 823-7628 for your FREE assessment! www.ptplushealth.com • Caring for Crozet since 2006
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Richard LaRue, CFS Financial Advisor
Income & Retirement Planning • Life Insurance Planning Charitable Giving Strategies • Individual Stocks* Exchange Traded Funds* • Annuity Strategies* • Mutual Funds*
P.O. Box 155 Crozet, VA 22932
rlarue@royalaa.com 434-823-2984
*Securities & insurance products offered through Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., and its affiliates, member FINRA/SIPC.
McAllister Painting Licensed and Insured Over 20 Years Experience - Free Estimates All aspects of painting Interior and Exterior Gutter Cleaning & Power Washing “No job too small”
Call Todd at 434-960-4775
Crozet Readers’ Rankings Last month’s best sellers at Over the Moon Bookstore
OCTOBER BEST SELLERS
How to Be Compassionate
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus, Bk. 3) Rick Riordan
Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn
11/22/63
Stephen King
Sneaky Pie for President Rita Mae Brown
The Algebra of Snow Ginger Moran
The Weird Sisters Eleanor Brown
ALL ENGINES POSSIBLE SMALL ENGINE REPAIR MARK PUGH
Quality work 434.823.8392 434.953.7931
cell www.allenginespossible.com
The Secret Keeper Kate Morton
F is for Effort: More of the Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers Richard Benson
A Jane Austen Education William Deresiewicz
The Casual Vacancy J.K. Rowling
Hemingway’s Girl
FITZGERALD S E R V I C E S
Mitch Fitzgerald, Owner Landscape/Mechanical Background EXCAVATING BACKHOE SERVICES • BASEMENTS • FOOTINGS • GRADING CULVERT PIPES • DRIVEWAY RESTORATION • BROWN OR BLUE GRAVEL BUSH HOGGING • BEAUTIFUL LAWNS INSTALLED • TREE & STUMP REMOVAL SNOW REMOVAL • HAULING • LP FIREPLACE LOGS INSTALLATION WATER PROPANE & DRAIN PIPE INSTALLED • SEPTIC SERVICE
540-456-8334 OR 434-960-8994
Douglas F. Seal & Sons General Contractor
(434) 960-8458 (c) (434) 823-4167
Specializing in home remodeling, including kitchens and bathrooms
Backhoe Service • Electrical & Plumbing Repairs Drywall Repairs & Painting • Walk-in Tub Installation All Work Done Personally
Serving The Area Since 1964 P.O. Box 598, Crozet, VA 22932
WE ALSO BUY OLD COINS AND CURRENCY
Gazette business card ads are affordable & effective. Call 434-249-4211 or email ads@crozetgazette.com for info.
Erika Robuck
NOV. RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommended by Anne: Adult: The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton Kids: Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue
Recommended by Elizabeth: Adult: Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney River Santo Kids: Grave Mercy: Book One, His Fair Assassins Trilogy by R.L. Lafevers
CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Wayneboro’s Wayne Theatre Restoration Enters Final Phase Nearly three million dollars of public donations, along with tax credits, have brought the Wayne Theatre Alliance to the culminating phase of the theater’s renovation. “The loan has been approved for the final stage,” said Dr. Clair Myers, Executive Director of the Alliance, which was formed as a nonprofit in 2000 with the goal of resurrecting live entertainment in downtown Waynesboro. “It appears that the [loan] closing should take place in December and final construction will start in March,” Myers said. “We’ve already done most of the infra-structure,” he explained. “Final construction on the theatre will include cutting the building in half in order to add wings to the fly tower and excavation under the stage.” The projected timeline for the project is 12 to 15 months. Myers said the new theatre should be complete by June of 2014. In the meantime, the Alliance will continue to operate regular productions every weekend at The Gateway. “Going to the Gateway” has become a popular phrase in Waynesboro and the surrounding area as patrons attend regular programs like River City Radio Hour (3rd Fridays each month), Mojo Blues Saturday night (3rd Saturday), Richard Adams Variety Show (2nd Friday) and special performances including jazz, magic,
the Boogie Kings, River City Boys, Open Mic Night, theatrical plays and other productions. “This will be one of the largest non-profit construction projects ever done in Waynesboro, maybe the largest,” Myers said. Including the work already done, the project’s total cost “will be in excess of $8 million and could be as much as $10 million,” said Myers. “The goal of the Capital Campaign Committee in the final phase is to be able to open the doors debt-free and with an endowment to ensure continuous operation.” The 1926 vaudeville/silent movie theatre was closed after a 1980 fire that began in the concession area and travelled upward into the balcony. The theatre was remodeled at that time and reopened, but some 20 years later its owners gave it to the city. The mission of the Wayne Theatre Alliance is to promote the economic vitality, educational opportunities and cultural life of Waynesboro and the adjacent region through the preservation and operation of the Wayne Theatre as a performing arts/conference center. Upcoming events at The Gateway include The Red Eye Theatre Festival on Saturday, November 3, when The Wayne Theatre Alliance and the Hamner Theatre will join forces to present the East Coast segment of this Hollins University production. For more information, visit waynetheatre.org.
Augusta Health
cost of medicines.” McAllister said the clinic is working on offering other more specialized services, but those are not yet ready for publication. “Crozet has more office space than the other clinics,” explained Dr. Just. “We’re in position to be flexible and we want to respond to what the community needs. If they need us to have earlier hours, we’ll do that. We’re open to whatever. We want to stay in this community.” By policy, the clinic’s professional staff rotates regularly among the other clinics and is in the main Augusta Health Emergency Department for a shift once a week so that they are current and familiar with health issues in the region, Dr. Just said.
—continued from page 27
February. You usually don’t see flu in October. I definitely recommend getting a flu shot earlier.” Insurance plans normally cover the flu shot. Augusta charges the uninsured $20 cash for the flu shot, cheaper than getting it at CVS, according to Linda McAllister, a business manager for Augusta Health’s convenient care clinics. She noted that the clinic charges the uninsured just $49 for an office visit. “We see a lot of people who do not have insurance,” she said. “We want to be convenient for working families. We’re very conscious of the
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BEREAVEMENTS Kathryn Ann Clark Berry, 65
September 27, 2012
George Washington Smith Jr., 76
September 29, 2012
Franklin Delano Jones, 79
September 30, 2012
Edward Barry Weinstock, 68
October 6, 2012
Teddy Miles Hughes, 65
October 7, 2012
Samuel Nakasian, 96
October 7, 2012
Elmer H. Deane, 87
October 9, 2012
William Madison Jr., 83
October 10, 2012
Richard Lee Minter, 70
October 10, 2012
James Edward Lindsey Jr., 80
October 11, 2012
Carolyn Brewer Minard, 86
October 11, 2012
Lavert A. Via, —
October 11, 2012
Viola Fern Davis Via, 82
October 11, 2012
Joyce Mahanes Sprouse, 68
October 13, 2012
Gertrude Walker Timberlake, 79
October 15, 2012
Virginia Chiles Keith, 79
October 17, 2012
Addie Roselle Taylor, 85
October 19, 2012
James Hartwell Smith, 68
October 21, 2012
Mamie Walker Wood, 96
October 21, 2012
Robert Hampton Mincer, 77
October 22, 2012
Charles Venable Minor Jr., 72
October 23, 2012
Mary Eloise Good Johnson, 86
October 24, 2012
Anderson Funeral Services Inc. Serving Western Albemarle Families Since 1967 Robert S. Anderson & John W. Anderson, Jr., D I R E C T O R S
823-5002 5888 St. George Avenue Crozet, VA 22932
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Crozet’s Favorite Flicks
Living Inspired Massage Take care of your body, and your spirit will thank you!
Trudi Dixon, CMT 5799 The Square #9 Crozet, VA 22932 434-202-4254
What’s hot now at Maupin’s Music and Video
www.amtamembers.com/livinginspired
Online booking available through Schedulicity.com
Top Rentals in October Dark Shadows
Laurie Haan Bayma
(Comedy with Johnny Depp)
Photo Solutions Consultant
CM ID 33329532 | Digitally Endorsed
Rock of Ages
Cell: 540.471.7266 Home: 434.823.2045
(Comedy with Tom Cruise)
cmdir.laurie.iam3rd@embarqmail.com
(Horror with John Cusack)
The Raven
www.mycmsite.com/lauriebayma
Prometheus
(Sci-Fi with Noomi Rapace)
Crozet, VA
Madagascar 3
(Family with the voice of Ben Stiller)
MASONRY, CARPENTRY & LANDSCAPE WORK
That’s My Boy
(Comedy with Adam Sandler)
Class “A” Contractor Looking for Small Projects
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
UVa Architecture Graduate Specializing In:
(Horror with Benjamin Walker)
Stonework, dry-laid or mortared • Hardscape, including brick paths Small additions • Remodeling • Planting, maintenance & more
Magic Mike
(Comedy with Channing Tatum)
VERSITILECONTRACTOR.COM
Moonrise Kingdom
PAUL GRADY – PGRADY@NEXET.NET – 434-823-9009 OVER 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE
(Comedy with Bruce Willis)
REFERENCES AVAILABLE
November picks PETE’S PICKS
Prometheus (new); Cincinnati Kid
1189 Crozet Avenue Downtown Crozet 434-823-4141
RICK’S PICKS
Moonrise Kingdom (new); Waterboy
EVAN’S PICKS
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (new); Cold Mountain
ON-SITE DRY CLEANING • ALTERATIONS DRAPERY • WATERPROOFING • WASH & FOLD
Maupin’s Music & Video 5796 Three Notch’d Road 434-823-2244 P
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434-823-4523
P.O. Box 36 • 5370 Three Notch’d Rd • Crozet, VA 22932
T H O R
Across from MusicToday & Next to the Laundromat
CROZET gazette
Marathon —continued from page 13
by the Smithsonian and the Capitol building. Next came the “Trail of Tears,” miles 20 to 22 over the 14th Street bridge. It’s not a pretty bridge, but a concrete freeway devoid of anything living except the MCM runners, which at this point started to resemble a bunch of zombies. This was the breaking point for many runners. I passed by hundreds of people who were now walking or simply collapsed on the freeway. Here, one of the best spectator signs of the day read: “Worst Parade Ever!” After surviving the bridge, miles 22 through 24 took us through Crystal City, which provided a much-needed burst of energy with loud music and thousands of cheering spectators. However most runners were so beaten up by then that there were few smiles and few conversations being had. They could sense that the end was close, yet so far away. Muscles were beyond tired then and pretty much everyone was
running on fumes and mind power alone. Miles 24 through 26 seemed the loneliest, most desolate in the race as we were taken through highway ramps, the Pentagon parking lot, and back to Jefferson Davis Highway. About a third of runners were walking and nobody seemed to be enjoying themselves. But alas, for the “.2” – lined with cheering spectators and Marines on both sides—we were insulted with a short but steep hill that challenged the last of our mental resolve. But with the finish in sight, few were walking. Finally I crossed the finish: exhausted, in pain, and cold, but comforted by the incredible feeling of completing a challenge that took months of hard work in preparation and hours of gut-checking mental and physical anguish in executing. Many of us are in a health slump in our lives. The rigors of work, parenting, and personal struggles often keep us from taking care of our physical and mental health. We get busy and stressed. We become inactive, gain weight, and become
Third Thursday
at The Lodge at Old Trail
Maximize Enjoyment/Minimize Stress Creating a Simply Joyful Holiday Season Thursday, November 15, 2012 • 5:30 pm Must holidays be stressful? Give yourself an evening to gather tips and techniques that bring meaning and pleasure back to your holidays. Enjoy hands-on family decorations; recipes for holiday treats, instant relaxation techniques to practice throughout the season. Appetizers, local wine, beer and holiday cheer for all!
· Lisa E Goehler Ph.D. – Mindfulness techniques for experiencing your holidays - not just surviving them Associate Professor of Nursing Research Neuroimmunology & Behavior Center for the Study of Complementary & Alternative Therapies School of Nursing
· Rev. Dr. Ed Piper – Seeking the Heart of the Holiday Season Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Waynesboro
Enjoy music by Harpist Vicky Lee
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NOVEMBER 2012
Three Cheers for Chocolate – January 17 2nd Annual Downsizing Workshop – February 21
The Lodge at Old Trail 330 Claremont Lane, Crozet, Virginia 22932 www.lodgeatoldtrail.com
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depressed. We sometimes have nothing to cheer about. And frankly no one is going to fix this for us. We are often left waiting around for something to happen, and meanwhile life starts to pass right by. Physical challenges, like training for and completing a marathon, 10 miler, or even 5K, are an incredible cure. There are few experiences in life like working hard to accomplish something totally outside your physical and mental comfort zone, and then accomplishing it! Running is at first hard work, mentally as much as physically. But through it we can become active, lose weight, become healthy, and feel good again. And almost anyone can do it! After finishing the Marine Corps Marathon, I am reminded how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken away. The survivors of the deceased service members at the MCM are living and inspired us all. As one sign read, “If you’re not challenged, you won’t be changed.”
Clip th
Real Estate —continued from page 19
interest/mortgage rates into at least 2014 and the recipe is there for continued housing strength. “Real estate is always good, as far as I’m concerned,” The Donald once quipped. This author for one is happy to see him put his money where his famously oversized mouth is here in Albemarle County.
Methodist Lot —continued from page 26
were secured in September after the county gained legal possession of The Square and circumvented a service supply obstacle caused by the railroad tracks. The project removes all the utility lines from Crozet Avenue and supplies service underground from the rear of the lots. The most recent predictions expect the project to start next spring, after the utility relocations are done.
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Pool Dome —continued from page 5
Trey Wilkerson and Rickey Haney
Ridgeway Country Store Opens in Afton Ricky Haney and Trey Wilkerson are the owners of the newly opened Ridgeway Country Store on Rt. 250 near the foot of Afton Mountain. It’s not fancy, but it’s just what they wanted, an old-fashioned country store. “We want to make it convenient for the people that live around here,” said Haney. “We do lunches and we have fresh barbecue every day with different daily specials. We also have hot dogs and BLTs.” Focusing on Afton, Greenwood and those who live on the mountain or are just passing by, they offer those items that one might really need and otherwise have to make a special trip of eight miles or more to find. Outside there are some chairs in
case a shopper wants a little fresh air and inside a long church pew provides a place to sit. The store is neat and clean and the shelves are lined with canned goods, bread, toilet paper, soaps, toothpaste, and miscellaneous toiletries, even DVDs, curtains and sheets. Nearby refrigerators hold soda, milk, eggs and cheese, plus a lot of staples and important ingredients for a homemade meal. The Ridgeway Country Store will be open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and on the weekends from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Haney is from Charlottesville and Wilkerson from Waynesboro, but they seem to have that “take care of your neighbors” attitude down just right.
Welcome, Baby!
Y
Meghan Joan Maslaney Chris and Jessica Maslaney of Charlottesville are delighted to announce the birth of their daughter, Meghan Joan Maslaney, born on Saturday, October 27, at 7:31 a.m. at Martha Jefferson Hospital. Meghan weighed in at 8 pounds and 21 inches long. Meghan has one older brother, Andrew, who is two and a half. Also welcoming Meghan are grandparents Jim and Joan Packer, of Arlington, VA, and Gary and Carolyn Maslaney, of Springfield, VA. Mother Jessica is Site Director of the Crozet PARC YMCA.
Charlottesville for practice that started at 8:30 at night, as it has for the last 10 years. “A school bus picks the team up from the pool and takes them to Western,” said Bledsoe. “Their school day is over at 4 p.m. They can have a normal day. This is exciting for me as the coach. We have 22 kids in the water even before the season starts.” Having a dome also means that no one needs to be cut from the team, he said. The WAHS girls swim and dive team has won the state championship for the past two years. Barton Malow project manager Don Taylor and site supervisor Steve Taylor were also singled out for praise. “They didn’t charge for a lot that went into this, upwards of $50,000,” said Eric Amtmann. “Phil Kirby of Barton Malow put his heart and soul in this project. He made it personal and he made things happen. There are 20 examples of situations where Barton
County Police —continued from page 1
edge of locales. The long-range goal is to build greater trust between police and citizens. “We’re looking at officers’ backgrounds now to see where they connect best,” said Jenkins. “The purpose is to leave these officers in the same sector all the time. There’s no continuity with the citizens now. “What we have now is called ‘time-of-day policing,’ three shifts with three commanders,” said Jenkins. After the change, Jenkins will be responsible for his district around the clock, not just during his shift. “This requires more ownership by the officers at the ground level,” Jenkins explained. “We’ll be getting at problems. Citizens will be given phone numbers they can call to reach the their district police supervisors.” Jenkins told a story about how he had stopped two boys who were riding bicycles recently but not wearing helmets. They were scared and thought they were in trouble. Instead Jenkins gave them two helmets bearing police decals that he happened to have with him. The
Malow just made it happen.” The pool will now be the site of a Swim for Life program that gives swimming lessons to children who can’t afford them. They will be brought in from local elementary schools. The idea is to “water-proof ” the community. Drowning is a leading cause of death for children. Soon after the dome was installed and the blower that keeps it inflated started running, residents along Hilltop Street began complaining of the noise. Phil Best and Karl Pomeroy, representing the Crozet Lions Club, built a 16-foot, L-shaped foam wall around the blower equipment, donating 40 hours of labor. The wall is 10 feet high on the north side. The foam both absorbs sound and the wall also redirects it up rather than out. “Complaints about the noise, especially the heater cycling, started immediately,” said Pomeroy. “This has certainly diminished it. It works pretty well. This was a very quick response for this problem.” Pomeroy said he expects a more decorative surface will be added to the wall for the summer season. boys were excited to wear them and their parents later contacted him with gratitude. “It’s about building trust,” said Jenkins. Jenkins, raised in Winchester, has been with the Albemarle police department for 25 years. He will be living in his district and is familiar with the Crozet area. “I’m excited about it,” he said. “We’ve always had this philosophy, but this is a better way of doing it.” Jenkins said the department had first looked at forming three districts, but it doesn’t have the manpower to staff that plan. Jenkins said he wants to form an eight- to 10-member citizen advisory committee for his district. A police substation in Crozet is not likely in the near future, Jenkins said. Judging by the number of demand-for-service calls, the Hollymead area is a higher priority, he explained. “It has the most demand now. It has the most people and it’s congested. If we get there [to establishing substations], it will be the place where officers report from their homes.” Jenkins said officer Ron Davis is investigating graffiti “tagging” at the new Crozet library construction site and some other locations in town.
CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
33
The Blue Ridge Naturalist © Marlene A. Condon | marlene@crozetgazette.com
Eastern Red Bat The Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis) is perhaps the easiest of the 16 recorded species of bats in Virginia for people to get to see well. This beautifully colored flying mammal often migrates in fall during daylight hours when its red coloring is quite noticeable. Male red bats have bright orangey-red fur while females sport a dull brick-red or chestnut pelage (the technical term for a mammal’s fur coat). Watch for red bats flying near woods and water as these animals move from northern states to southern ones. Historical accounts from the late 1800s tell of large migratory flocks of red bats flying during the day along the Atlantic seaboard, using the same routes as migratory birds. Sadly, there were no such reports during the 20th century, indicating a decline in their populations. In Virginia, it’s not uncommon to see one or more red bats flying as late as December, usually on sunny days with temperatures in the 50s when there can be midge and stonefly hatches. Midges are tiny insects related to mosquitoes, but only some species bite. The larva, or immature form, develops in water. When the adult stage is reached, the midges emerge in large numbers that can be seen as clouds of insects in the vicinity of
streams. Stoneflies also spend the immature stage of their lives in water, emerging as adults in large numbers. Red bats can easily feed on these hatches by flying through them and catching the little critters directly in their open mouths. If you are lucky enough to see red bats feeding, you will have the opportunity to watch them for several minutes as they swoop around in a limited area, providing you with great views. I’ve watched Eastern Red Bats feeding over my yard. I’ve also seen them flying in Douthat State Park in Bath County as I was birding. On December 19, 2002, my husband reported seeing two of these animals flying along route 664 near Sherando Lake in Augusta County. This road runs by a stream so there could have been a hatch to feed the bats as they flew at, or just below, tree level. The red bat feeds exclusively upon insects. Moths, beetles, plant and leaf hoppers comprise much of its diet in summer. In colder weather, flies and moths are its main sources of food because these particular insects are more active in cooler temperatures than most kinds of arthropods (invertebrate animals with jointed legs, a segmented body, and an external skeleton, known as an exoskeleton). Stomach biopsies have shown that the red bat doesn’t just feed upon flying insects. It may glean cicadas from leaves as well as take
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This female Eastern Red Bat was clinging to the wall right outside the entrance to a grocery store in Crozet. You never know where you’ll spot wildlife so keep your eyes open, no matter where you are! [Photo: Marlene A. Condon]
crickets and grasshoppers from the ground. It’s not unusual for red bats to rest on buildings during migration. If you notice one resting, keep your distance so you won’t scare it. You can get a good look by using binoculars. And, of course, never handle a bat. Although the incidence of rabies is low in our wild animals (otherwise it would wipe them all out, as it is a deadly disease), you should never chance getting bitten by trying to pick up an animal with your bare hands. Remember this general rule of thumb for all wild animals, and you are highly unlikely to ever be bitten by one unless you sit or roll over or step on one or otherwise somehow threaten the animal’s well-being. Although Eastern Red Bats inhabit Virginia, I’ve only ever seen these bats during their migration. One spring day in May I spotted one clinging upside down under the overhang of my carport. I feel confident this animal was on its way north because otherwise these bats typically hang by one foot in trees. They are thought to resemble dead
leaves, a form of camouflage which protects them from predators. The environmental role of the Eastern Red Bat is to help prevent overpopulations of a variety of insects so the environment can function properly. The bat is itself a food source for such animals as hawks, owls, and opossums. You can help all of our species of bats by allowing caterpillars to survive on your plants during the growing season. Those caterpillars that transform into moths become a prime food source for these flying mammals. (And caterpillars of all types provide a critically important food source for adult birds to feed their nestlings.) You needn’t worry about caterpillars seriously harming your plants if you create a nature-friendly garden that supports numerous kinds of predators. Predators keep caterpillar numbers limited to a level that will only impact your plants aesthetically—and only for a few weeks at that. Both herbaceous and woody plants will re-grow leaves, unless it’s late in the season when it’s time for plants to go dormant.
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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2012
Crozet
Weather Almanac
OCTOBER 2012
By Heidi Sonen & Roscoe Shaw | weather@crozetgazette.com
“T
he weather has gone crazy!” Heidi and I hear that all the time and after the derecho this summer and now Hurricane Sandy, it’s tempting to start believing it. But the weather has always been crazy. That’s what keeps us employed. When I glance back through my 100-plus-year database of weather records for Albemarle County, I’m always amazed at the crazy stuff that has happened, yet how similar the weather is now to when Claudius Crozet was dining at Crozet Pizza. Scientific studies have confirmed that neither the frequency nor severity of extreme weather has significantly increased. What has increased is the reporting. I doubt old Claudius snapped pictures with his phone and tweeted them while watching 24/7 storm coverage on his iPad. Actually, this has been the calmest and nicest year of weather I can remember here. That is, if you conveniently ignore the two huge weather events. The derecho hit on June 29 but was followed by several months of mild, tranquil weather.
Then Sandy arrived exactly four months later on October 29. Sandy was one of the strangest storms we’ve ever seen. As hurricanes go, she was pretty weak, which is normal for late October. However, as she moved up the Gulf Stream, Sandy merged with a downstream propagation of baroclinic instability. That’s meteorological mumbo-jumbo for the perfect conditions for an east coast snowstorm. Late October is too late in the year for a hurricane and too early for a snowstorm but somehow we got both at the same time. Sandy turned into a full-fledged snowicane. Or was it Hurrisnow? As unusual as this combination is, Sandy was well understood from the beginning and remarkably well forecasted. Almost all east coast storms riding the Gulf Stream continue to the north and east. However, all our best computer models were consistent in saying that Sandy would take a sudden and bizarre turn to the west and slam New Jersey. The computer models were right and the excellent forecast
was a huge advantage at tackling the storm. For Crozet, the wind gusted about 50 mph for 18 hours and nearly five inches of rain fell. The northwest winds brought cold air that dropped the snow level as low as 800 feet, right down into town. Snow was sticking just above Mint Springs Park, the Parkway was covered and Wintergreen picked up seven inches. Snow only falls about two or three times in a lifetime in October in Crozet, but it has happened two years in a row. We had wet slop last year on the 29th and about six inches on the mountains. The most amazing October snow here, however, was the three inches that fell
on October 9, 1979. The high temperature of 41 on October 30 was the coldest here in October since Halloween 1896 when the high was 32.
RAINFALL TOTALS FOR OCTOBER Many of the rain totals presented here seem too low from Hurricane Sandy. We measure with an old-fashioned manual gauge and had nearly five inches at our house and 6.77” for the month. The automated electronic gauges that we rely on for other sites may have had trouble capturing the sideways nature of Sandy’s rain.
Normal = 3.96” Crozet 6.77” Univ. of Va. 6.01” Greenwood 4.37” Charlottesville Airport
White Hall 3.71” Rockfish 3.45” Waynesboro 2.38” 4.37”
CROZET gazette
Food Energy —continued from page 21
packed these greens in boxes and loaded them on trucks for shipment to a regional processing plant. There, electric powered machinery cleaned, cut, mixed, and packaged the salad greens. Paper mills and plastic packaging manufacturers used energy to produce the shipping boxes and plastic packaging. The packaged mix was shipped in refrigerated containers by rail and truck to the local grocery store, where it is placed under lighted displays and kept under refrigeration. An advertisement touting a sale on fresh-cut greens caught our eye and we traveled by car to pick up a package or two with our other groceries. Once at home, we refrigerated these greens for a few days. After dinner, the dishes and utensils used to prepare and eat the salad were cleaned in a dishwasher. The leftovers were ground in a garbage disposal. The plastic packing was thrown out in the trash to be hauled to a landfill. As stated above, energy is used in each stage of the US food supply chain. These stages can be defines as: farm production and agribusiness (agriculture); food processing and brand marketing (processing); food and ingredient packaging (packaging); freight services (transportation); wholesale and retail trade and marketing services (wholesale/retail); away-from-home food and marketing services (food and beverage service); and (7) household food services (household). According to USDA and DOE reports, we utilize the largest fraction of food-related energy in our homes (27.8%), followed by processing (18.8%), wholesale/retail (15.6%), agriculture (14.7%), food and beverage service (12.8%), packaging (6.4%), and finally transportation (3.9%). This is astonishing! Farms account for less than 15 percent of all energy used in the food system, and commercial transportation of food accounts for less than 4 percent. I thought that energy-intensive agriculture and long-distance food transportation were supposed to be the two main culprits. Also remarkable is that both the food processing and wholesale/retail food establishment sectors of the supply chain each expend more foodrelated energy than farmers do.
NOVEMBER 2012 Perhaps most sobering, retail consumers expend the most of any sector, and nearly twice as much as farms. Where does all our household food-related energy go? Domestic energy expenditures for food-related operations include: electricity for storing, preparing and cooking food, and cleaning dishes and kitchen equipment; natural gas and liquid petroleum gas for cooking food; auto fuel for food-related personal transportation; embodied energy in purchases of food storage, preparation, and serving equipment (the energy used to manufacture and transport refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, dishwashers, pots, dishes, cutlery etc.); and part of the embodied energy in purchases of automobiles, auto parts, and auto services. Where are we heading? Energy expended on food-related activities comprised 12.2 percent of total US energy expenditures in 1997. By 2007, these expenditures had risen to 15.7 percent. This translates into about a 25 percent increase per person in just ten years! Major contributors to this trend of increased energy use were our swelling appetite for prepared, processed and frozen foods along with their attendant packaging and requirements for refrigeration. Not surprisingly, our trash also reflects our changing food choices. EPA estimates that per capita generation of municipal solid food waste increased 14.5 percent between 1990 and 2000 and an additional 10.1 percent between 2000 and 2007; or about a 25 percent increase per person in 17 years. How can we, if we so desire, be more energy efficient regarding the foods we eat? The answers are many and they reflect our different and varying circumstances. Eating more homegrown, locally grown, unpackaged and unprocessed foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, is an effective way to reduce our foodrelated energy footprint. Energy savings also can be achieved by fermenting raw foods. Reviving the old traditions of preserving can also add zest to any meal. Brewed carbonated fruit drinks like ciders, root beers and water kefirs are delicious. Cultured dairy products that transform milk into yogurt, sour cream and aged cheeses are other examples. Fermented vegetables, such as sauerkraut, pickles and kimchi, add a sharp complement to any lunch or dinner.
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Congratulations, Newlyweds! Y
Helen Samantha Berbert and Thomas McCoy Loya It is with great joy that Mike and Tanya Berbert of Salem announce the marriage of their daughter, Helen Samantha, to Thomas McCoy Loya, of Crozet. Samantha and McCoy were married on May 26, 2012 in a lovely outdoor ceremony at Old Trail Golf Club in Crozet. The ceremony was performed by dear friend, Mr. David Workman, under a chuppah made from the prayer shawl of Samantha’s beloved cousin Steve Eisenberg. Samantha’s matron of honor was Elizabeth Craighead Mills and her attendants were Sunny DeButts, Natalie Ellmann, Diana Kemmerer, and Alicia Hylton King. McCoy’s best man was Chas Sandridge and his groomsmen were Nick Barrell, Graham Berbert, Chris Jackson and Jesus Morris. Music for the cere-
mony was provided by Becky Crowder, grandmother of the bride. The readers for the ceremony were Mrs. Ann Eisenberg, aunt of the bride, and Shad Conrad, friend of the groom. Samantha is a graduate of Salem High School and the University of Virginia School of Nursing with her BSN. She is employed by University of Virginia Health System as a registered nurse. McCoy is a graduate of Western Albemarle High School and is attending Piedmont Virginia Community College majoring in Criminal Justice and Police Science. He is employed by the City of Charlottesville Police Department. The newlyweds honeymooned in Jamaica at Ocho Rios Resort. They currently reside in Crozet with their pugs Madi and Otis.
build
"Our entire family loves the Crozet Library and cannot wait to spend time at the new one. Visits to the Library are a weekly tradition which our children Camille, Luke, and Juliet look forward to."
crozet l ibrary
Now it’s your turn to... Jody Kielbasa Director of the Virginia Film Festival UVA Faculty Member
Be Part of t he Sto ry Now that the library building is underway, it’s up to us to build from the inside out. We are raising funds for all the things that make a building a library: books, shelves, chairs, tables and desks, computers... All things we will use in the new library next year.
It’s what’s inside that counts.
Donate today at: buildcrozetlibrary.org/give
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