C-VILLE Weekly | January 18 - 24, 2023

Last week’s “Up to Standards? Virginia education department proposed new history standards” should have said that Ma’asehyahu Isra-Ul is chief lecturer at the Leading By History collective and an educational specialist. In addition, our profile of Dashad Cooper on page 11 incorrectly stated the date of this November’s election (it’s on Tuesday, November 7). And Cooper is not the only person of color in the House District 54 race. C-VILLE regrets the

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Hello, Charlottesville! Thank you for reading C-VILLE Weekly. I’m not sure if I’d be considered a fashionable person—I certainly have a personal style, but whether that makes me fashionable might be best left to my friends and family to decide. Still, I think we can all learn from the obviously stylish folks we talked to for this week’s cover story (p. 20).

This feature sought out the insights of individuals whose lifestyles, values, and outlooks deeply affect the way they dress their bodies and decorate their homes. It’s certainly not the definitive list—Charlottesville’s got style for days—but I think it’s a wonderful representation of our colorful town. Writer Mary Esselman gathered our group of artists, entrepreneurs, and nuns and fashioned a brisk questionnaire for each of them to respond to, which gave us a wealth of rich and varied answers. The original idea for the article, and my hope now, is for you, reader, to consider more deeply the way you dress and decorate. It’s certainly inspired me to think about why and how I style myself!

1.18.23

Fashion and interior design can often seem daunting to take on in an intentional way. The professionals that ace it for a living seem to do so effortlessly. But everyone starts by experimenting, trying something on, putting together new combinations, and seeing how everything fits together (or doesn’t). What matters most is the effort you put in each time.—Richard DiCicco

“We love to quote King in and around the holiday. ... But then we refuse to live King 365 days of the year.”

BRIEF

Cyclist, pedestrian killed

On January 12 at around 10:55pm, a cyclist was struck by a vehicle while traveling east on the 2100 block of Ivy Road. The person was taken to the hospital, and died there of their injuries. The cyclist was not wearing a helmet, had on dark clothing, and did not have bicycle lights, according to the Charlottesville Police Department. The following day, two pedestrians were hit by a vehicle at the intersection of Route 29 and Rio Road East at around 6:50pm. One victim was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other was taken to the hospital.

New names

The Albemarle County School Board unanimously voted to change Meriwether Lewis Elementary School’s name to Ivy Elementary during its January 12 meeting, even though the majority of respondents to a community survey preferred keeping the name. Born in Ivy in 1774, Lewis, who led the Lewis and Clark expedition with William Clark, and his family owned slaves. Charlottesville City Schools has also launched a community survey regarding renaming Burnley-Moran and Johnson elementary schools, which honor the division’s first female principals, Carrie Burnley and Sarepta Moran—who were both active members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. A virtual forum discussing the names will be held on January 26.

Free cuts

The 100 Black Men of Central Virginia is fundraising to provide over 1,000 free haircuts at House of Cuts Barber Studio for Charlottesville and Albemarle County’s middle and high school students, in response to the recent rise in shootings. To donate, visit linktr.ee/100cuts.

Pot of gold

Return of SROs?

After replacing school resource officers with unarmed safety coaches, Albemarle County Public Schools is considering bringing police back into Albemarle High School, in response to parents’ complaints about fights, truancy, vaping, sexual assault, and other student misconduct.

“Working with the police department to hire and assign a highly effective, well-trained school resource officer to work in that community will be very important,” Superintendent Matt Haas told The Daily Progress.

In October, the school division said it was investigating an incident involving members of AHS’s junior varsity football team, but did not identify it as a sexual assault. Multiple minors were charged with crimes related to the incident, according to county police.

Several parents urged the county school board not to reinstate SROs during the board’s January 12 meeting, pointing to the negative impact SROs have had on students of color and disabled students, among other marginalized groups.

Lara Harrison of the Hate-Free Schools Coalition called on the board to address the root causes of student misconduct, such as by increasing trauma informed staff training and hiring more mental health professionals. “The fact that the anti-racism policy is being touted. … It can’t live alongside having SROs,” added Amanda Moxham of the coalition.

During a January 11 meeting with school board member Judy Le, parents claimed student misconduct is occurring in bathrooms and other private spaces at AHS, reports the Progress.

In response to the backlash against his SRO proposal, Haas said during the board’s meeting that the school is working on other measures to address misconduct, including hiring a new dean of students for behavior intervention and installing single-occupancy restrooms and vape detectors.

If hiring one SRO helps reduce misconduct, Haas will try to hire more, he told the Progress. The school board will vote on any potential SRO budget requests in the spring.

Youngkin backs abortion restrictions

On the first day of Virginia’s General Assembly session, Republicans Del. Kathy Byron and Sen. Steve Newman introduced bills banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, excluding cases of rape, incest, and when the pregnant person’s life is in jeopardy. Doctors who perform abortions after this threshold could be charged with a Class 4 felony, and face up to 10 years in prison.

Other Republicans have introduced even stricter abortion measures—Del. Marie March has proposed a complete abortion ban, while Sen. Amanda Chase has filed a bill that says life “begins at conception.”

Gov. Glenn Youngkin supports the 15-week ban, according to the Daily Press. He has previously said he would “gleefully”

sign any legislation “to protect life.” However, with the Democratic majority in the Senate, abortion restrictions are unlikely to pass this legislative session.

Reproductive rights groups have criticized the proposed bills, while anti-abortion advocates have praised them.

“Byron’s proposed bill would deny Virginians the fundamental right to control their own bodies, lives, and futures,” said Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia.

“[We applaud] the governor’s effort to pass a reasonable bill to move Virginia forward towards more complete protection for every human life,” said Olivia Gans Turner, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life.

— Rev. Bernice King, daughter of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., calling on politicians to address systemic racism, police violence, and other injustices on her father’s birthday

Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Matt Haas is considering bringing school resource officers back into Albemarle High School in response to student misconduct.

JOHN ROBINSON

STAFF PHOTO

Matt Haas

Gov. Glenn Youngkin

Meriwether Lewis will now be known as Ivy Elementary School.

SUPPLIED

PHOTO

Head start?

Legislators push for early recreational marijuana sales

By Brielle Entzminger reporter@c-ville.com

Since Virginia legalized marijuana in 2021, laws surrounding the drug have been hazy. Though adults 21 and over can legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow up to four plants at home, it will not be legal to sell weed until January 1, 2024. State Democrats unsuccessfully tried to speed up that timeline last year—but now, legislators on both sides of the aisle are pushing to start recreational sales ahead of schedule.

In the House, Republican Del. Keith Hodges has proposed a bill that would allow pharmaceutical and industrial hemp processors to begin selling recreational weed on July 1, but prohibit the state from issuing marijuana licenses to other retailers until July 1, 2024. Democratic state Sen. Adam Ebbin has proposed a bill with the same timeline. While the proposals have drawn support from marijuana advocates pushing for recreational sales to begin before next year, some advocacy groups have criticized them for giving corporations an advantage, and removing social equity provisions included in the monumental 2021 legislation.

Under current law, the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors is required to establish standards and requirements for license applicants who have been convicted of a misdemeanor marijuana crime—or whose parent, child, sibling, or spouse has been convicted of one— as well as applicants who have lived in an area disproportionately policed for marijuana crimes (or an economically distressed area) for at least three of the past five years. People who graduated from a historically Black college or university in the state also qualify for a social equity license.

Hodges’ bill, HB1464, would instead mandate standards and requirements for “any preference in the licensing process for applicants that intend to operate a marijuana establishment in an historically economically disadvantaged community.”

Ebbin’s bill, SB1133, would mandate “criteria by which to evaluate and grant license preference to applicants who have resided for at least four of the last five years … [in] a historically economically disadvantaged community.”

By allowing pharmaceutical and industrial hemp processors to sell recreational weed before small businesses, and giving preference to applicants opening dispensaries in economically disadvantaged communities, these bills invite corporations and other outside actors to exploit these areas, and do not guarantee people harmed by the decades-long war on drugs will be pri-

oritized in the licensing process, says Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice.

“It’s a removal of the focus of the disparate impact of prohibition … and from individuals and families that have been targeted,” says Higgs Wise. “[This] appears to be the compromise across chambers to really encourage the false narrative of urgency to sales.”

The bills introduced by Hodges and Ebbin remove the word “equity” from multiple positions and organizations overseeing the legal marijuana market, and detail provisions for historically economically disadvantaged communities, rather than those specifically impacted by marijuana prohibition. Additionally, HB1464 no longer requires the Cannabis Control Authority to appropriate marijuana tax revenue to prekindergarten programs for at-risk children, the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, substance use disorder prevention and treatment programs, and public health programs. Republican Del. Michael Webert has proposed a bill, HB1750, that would delay retail sales to January 1, 2025, and remove social equity license requirements, too.

Higgs Wise worries about the long-term repercussions of marijuana laws without strong social equity provisions—as more states move toward legalizing marijuana, they could follow the commonwealth’s lead.

“Virginia has got to look across borders … and not only talk to people with the most money and the biggest mouths, which are the pharmaceutical companies,” says Higgs Wise, pointing to social equity issues within other states’ cannabis markets, like California and Illinois.

However, Virginia NORML is in support of the early sales bills, stressing the need for a safe, legal market as soon as possible.

“These bills seek to address some of the most immediate policies for adult use retail sales,” says the organization’s Executive Director JM Pedini. “The priority for the General Assembly this session ought to be public and consumer safety when it comes to retail sales—not who gets to make money first or next off of those consumers.”

The ever-changing proposals surrounding retail sales are confusing people interested in opening dispensaries, says Higgs Wise. Sirak Getachew, who plans to open a CBD dispensary in Richmond this spring, hopes to eventually sell legal weed at his business, but is worried about the social equity requirements.

“It just seems like we are on the sideline with nothing,” he says. “It seems like the war [on drugs] is never over.”

David Treccariche, owner of Charlottesville CBD dispensary Skooma, echoes similar concerns regarding early sales and licensing.

“Out-of-state money has influenced our locally elected officials against the betterment of their constituents,” says Treccariche. “The greatest injustice is to the victims of the state. … Those individuals should be given cannabis licenses and grants as easily as they were given summons and tickets.”

It remains to be seen which of the proposed bills—if any—have a fair chance of passing this legislative session. Gov. Glenn Youngkin has yet to clarify his position on a legalization timeline, which is “creating a hurdle, specifically for House Republicans, on the issue,” says Pedini.

“It’s a removal of the focus of the disparate impact of prohibition.”

CHELSEA HIGGS WISE, MARIJUANA JUSTICE

Skooma’s David Treccariche says “out-of-state money has influenced our locally elected officials against the betterment of their constituents.”

EZE AMOS

Training for life

Wartime Fitness Warriors uses boxing to help at-risk youth

By Carol Diggs

As a professional boxer, George Rivera fought under the name “Wartime.” Growing up poor and mixed-race, he learned to fight to survive. But now he’s taken on a different battle: Inspired by his late sister, Rivera is turning his Charlottesville gym into a nonprofit called Wartime Fitness Warriors, using boxing to help at-risk young people ages 6-24 build strength, discipline, and self-respect

“Boxing changed my whole mental outlook,” says Rivera, 44. “It gave me purpose. And that’s what I want to pass on to these kids.”

Rivera grew up in the Harlem projects. “We called where we lived the Vietnam Building, because it was war inside and war outside” (thus his boxing name), and when he was a senior in high school, the family got out. They moved to Lake Monticello, where his aunt lived.

“It was total culture shock,” says Rivera. “Farms, trees—I’d never seen a praying mantis.” This was 1996—and many kids in Fluvanna County had never seen a Black-Puerto Rican kid. “Coming where I came from, we were big on respect … so my brother and I would get into altercations. I got labeled.”

After high school, a friend suggested Rivera take up boxing, and connected him with Charlottesville youth coach Joe Mallory, who also ran a boxing gym. Rivera says boxing “helped me with my anger. Hitting that bag, you’re releasing so much tension—it made me calmer, more relaxed, helped me focus.”

After Mallory’s gym closed, he went on to train at the Staunton Boxing Club. Within a few years, he was fighting as an amateur (45 wins, five losses), and by 2005 as a pro (14 wins, eight losses, two draws).

But Rivera had a wife and family to support, so boxing was always a sideline. Eventually, he left the ring, but continued his involvement in athletics as a volunteer football and basketball coach.

Then, in 2018, a heart-to-heart talk with his younger sister, Daniela Johnson—“a beautiful spirit”—set Rivera on a new path. In the middle of a conversation one night, “she turned to me and said, ‘You have to get back into boxing, into coaching—you’re great at it. You have to cut that safety net [of having a full-time job and coaching on the side.]’ And I thought, ‘You know what, she’s right.’” A week later, Johnson fell asleep at the wheel on her way home from her night job, and was killed.

Her death spurred Rivera to take the leap and start his own gym, where he could train and coach full-time. Wartime Fitness opened in Fluvanna in 2019, and moved to a larger space in Charlottesville on Juneteenth 2021.

His gym drew a diverse group of clients from all around the area—and a lot of kids Rivera could see “were already getting judged, labeled, or getting bullied. I understood where they were coming from.” He began working intensively with the kids he calls “misunderstood” (he resists the label “disadvantaged”), getting to know their parents and their teachers, becoming another supportive presence in their lives.

“I tell these kids, ‘You don’t have to box competitively; you are here to train yourself, mentally and physically. When you’re in this building, you have to do your best.’ Confidence is powerful, and we’re here to build confidence.”

Rivera’s long-term plan for the Warriors includes renovating a space on Cherry Avenue to include classrooms and computers, so kids can get help on their schoolwork as well as their footwork. “I want this to be a safe haven, a community for them,” he says. In the meantime, Rivera is busy recruiting more club members whose dues will help support the mission, seeking grant money, starting a GoFundMe page, and building ties with schools in the area.

And through it all, he can feel his sister’s presence: “Her energy is here. She was always positive. We’re working to put that back out into the world.”

“Confidence is powerful, and we’re here to build confidence.”

GEORGE RIVERA

Former boxer George Rivera started Wartime Fitness Warriors to serve as a safe haven where young people can build strength, confidence, and self-respect.

EZE

This beautiful luxury townhome has everything you want. As you enter you are greeted in a light filled foyer. The bottom floor has a great multi-purpose room which is a perfect guest suite with attached bath or additional large family/recreation room. On the main level you find an open floorplan including your living room, dining room & upgraded gourmet kitchen with oversized island. Enjoy the view of Carter Mountain from your living room. Perfect for entertaining inside & out with a lovely deck with plenty of space to cookout or relax. Head up to the bedroom level. There you’ll find a large master bedroom with two closets including a walk-in & master bathroom with double vanities & beautifully tiled shower. Two more bedrooms including another with a walk-in closet, bathroom, & laundry complete that level. As a bonus, the pulldown attic stairs lead to additional storage space which is a rarity in a townhouse. Perfect location minutes from UVA, Downtown, Wegmans, & I-64. The Avinity neighborhood is a true community where neighbors know each other. Enjoy the dog park, clubhouse, playground & full gym or meet your neighbors at a wine social or weekly food truck. Come see your new home today! $450,000

Previous model home is now ready for you to move in! This like-new home in the newly soldout Village Oaks neighborhood is perfect for thosewanting easy, single-level living. The open floorplan with LVP floors allows the natural light to flow through the home. The upgraded kitchen with an ample diningspace includes a island with bar is perfect for entertaining. With easy access to the patio and large yard, it is ready for hosting a backyard BBQ, playing in the yard, oryour favorite canine friend. The large owner’s bedroom has an attached bath with double vanities and an adjacent large walk-in closet. Two additional rooms, full bath,and laundry room completes the inside. The two-car garage has space for additional storage. The neighborhood takes care of the lawncare, trash, and snow removal;so you can relax on the weekends or simply walk across the street to the pool on a hot day. There is also a playground and clubhouse for when you want to entertainaway from home. All of this with a quick commute to Charlottesville and I-64. Come see your new home! $350,000

Soapstone Ln

Albemarle County

This gorgeous, one of a kind, 7,000+ sq. ft. home in Bentivar features 6 Bedrooms, 5 Full and 2 Half Baths. The Grand curved staircase, archways, columns, dental molding, built - in cabinetry & woodworking throughout are easy to impress. Main level bedroom suite attached to formal office. Wraparound decking and massive screen porch overlook your private 2+ Acres. Tremendously large eat-in kitchen flows to the 2nd Staircase. The upper level features 3 bedrooms, plus a Master Suite with a private sitting room, balcony & double

be whatever you can imagine! All

can you want? Bentivar is ideally

$985,000

Spacious & Ideally Located

Move right in! 5 Bedroom Earlysville Rd Ranch on a full finished basement apartment. Main level kitchen just updated with NEW Appliances & Counters. Abundant light fills this space; just off the Sun Room. Upstairs features Hardwood Flooring, 3 Bedrooms & 1.5 Bathrooms, Large Living Room with Wood Burning FP, Dining Area, Sun Room & Large Rear Deck. The Terrace Level apartment set up has a Kitchen, Full Bath, 2 Bedrooms & FP. Inspection Completed. Major Infrastructure work completed recently, including:

Northeast City of Charlottesville

Locust Grove Home with Mountain Views & Tremendous expansion potential! Custom Kitchen; Fin

SERENITY DRIVE

Monte Sereno Stunning Blue Ridge Mountain views from the top of the hill to the west. Far reaching vistas define this property. Perfect for building a spectacular estate home. Create your own covenants and restrictions. 5 lots make up this unique subdivision, with 4 two acre lots and one five-acre lot. High speed internet is available now. One owner is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Va. Located one mile off 29 North off of Frays Mill Rd. Less than 10 minutes for all conveniences. $1,500,000

WESTWOOD ROAD

ONE LEVEL LIVING. The Water view dominates the interior spaces from most rooms in this fabulous, new, waterfront residence. Expansive views from two full length decks promise hours or days of relaxation. The front door opens to the great room with a wood burning fireplace and hardwood floors that flow through the first floor. A bright open kitchen with gorgeous countertops and appliances. Complete one floor living with master suite featuring a walk-in shower and double vanities. 2 additional bedrooms with a full bath, stack unit washer and dryer hookups. The terrace level offers more water views even from the laundry room! A large family room, an additional bedroom and full bath round out the finished rooms. Large unfinished room can serve as storage, studio, or workshop. Includes a one-year builder warranty. $500,000

CHURCH PLAINS DRIVE

Beautiful 2.15 acre lot set in a quiet neighborhood, in the western school districts. A bright open floor plan with vaulted entrance and turned staircase. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, full unfinished basement plus a large 2 car garage. Hardwood floors throughout the first floor. Large, bright kitchen with island, pantry, and terrific breakfast room. The kitchen looks into the family room that features a wall of windows and a fireplace. The wrap-around front porch takes in the lovely setting. Deck overlooks the large yard with room to play and a great place to garden. $625,000

For a price

How will recent assessments affect property taxes?

By Sean Tubbs

There’s a long way to go until the end of 2023, but key metrics are coming in on how the real estate market fared in the last 12 months. But what impact will this new information have on transactions between now and December?

“Assessed values are a number that people look at, and while by law they are supposed to be 100 percent of market value, they are a backwards-looking valuation, rather than a value that reflects today’s market,” says local realtor Jim Duncan.

But those numbers will have an effect on property taxes for this year, and local governments will have to decide what they’ll do with the millions of dollars in additional revenue.

Albemarle County set a record this year with average assessments up 13.64 percent over 2022. Last year’s assessments in Albemarle were up 8.4 percent.

In Fluvanna, property values are up 13 percent for 2023. Figures for Louisa County will come out later this spring, as will assessments for Nelson and Greene.

Charlottesville’s assessor has not released the figures for the city. The average increase in 2022 was 11.67 percent. Currently Charlottesville is expecting a $5 million surplus in the current fiscal year, but that figure will increase if the trend extends to the city.

But even if the numbers are backward looking, they still inform understanding about how things have worked. Perhaps the large increase in Albemarle will fuel more appeals, but County Assessor Peter Lynch told the Board of Supervisors on January 11 that there were not many challenges in Albemarle last year.

“They understood what was going on with the market,” Lynch said. “They knew people were bidding up the sales on houses and that the assessments would be higher.”

Lynch also said he is aware that the increase may not be easily understood, given a general sense that recession is on the horizon. Yet, the assessment increases can be explained by a closer look at last year.

The number of home sales was down in 2022, but sales prices con-

tinued to increase. Data compiled by the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors shows that sales volume decreased 19.9 percent from November 2021 to November 2022 for the whole region, but the median sales price increased 9.6 percent over the same period to $399,000.

If the bubble does burst this year, assessments in future years could be lower. In 2009, the average assessment was down in Albemarle 2.59 percent, beginning a decline that lasted several years until property values began to increase.

There’s also the potential impact on rents. Lynch told Albemarle Supervisors that the assessments of apartment buildings went up 28.2 percent.

“Apartments are a hot commodity in the real estate market and its really the difference between that’s an income stream that is sought after,” Lynch said.

While every property’s case is unique, the more expensive the house, the larger the assessment increase is likely to be. Homes over $2 million have an average increase of 15.29 percent compared to 9.13 percent for properties under $150,000.

KESWICK LANE

Dramatic, open floor plan custom built by Shelter Associates, in Keswick Estate. Thoughtfully designed large comfortable living areas, and a stunning formal dining room.The wide cased openings allow for graceful flow throughout the first floor. Gorgeous marble countertops in the kitchen with fabulous custom cabinets and lighting.The extended exterior living space sets this home apart with a sunroom and terraces. The open turned staircase leads to a full, partially finished terrace level. Set on over 3 acres, this elevated, private parcel backs up to an adjacent horse farm. Many beautiful features including: custom moldings, sunken English gardens, geothermal heating, 3 car garage and 2 master suites on the main level.

CLUB DRIVE

Enjoy Resort Style Living in Keswick Estate with newly remodeled Keswick Hall and Country Club. French Normandy style home set on a 2.7acre corner, wooded lot. Elegant and gracious custom designed residence, built by Baird Snyder. Light filled, comfortable rooms, thoughtfully planned. Interior archways, arched windows and doors. A 20’ high sweeping entry with curved staircase. Custom door design and carved white statuary marble fireplace mantel. Cast stone work on the exterior Solid mahogany arched, leaded beveled glass front doors lead to the limestone foyer. Extensive gardens and terraces.

CALL SHARON

Over 25 years of Real Estate experience. email: callsharon.today@yahoo.com cell: 434.981.7200

Data compiled by the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors shows that sales volume decreased 19.9 percent from November 2021 to November 2022 for the whole region, but the median sales price increased 9.6 percent over the same period to $399,000.

Annie Gould Gallery

unique art gallery located in the heart of historic Gordonsville. 109 S. Main Street, Gordonsville, VA • (540) 832-6352 anniegouldgallery

Area realtor Jim Duncan says that while people always look at assessed values, “they are a backwards-looking valuation, rather than a value that reflects today’s market.”

A Southern Albemarle estate with 1.5 miles of frontage on the James River with 540± acres of highly fertile, gently rolling landscape. Historic farmhouse dating to the late 1700s offers extensive views of the river. Under conservation easement with the VOF. MLS#630470 $4,865,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

BLACKBERRY HILL FARM

Blue Ridge Mountain views from this impeccable country property with an attractive, well designed and selfsustaining 5,525 finished square foot residence on 38± acres. Three car garage and barn designed for 3 stalls along with finished second floor office/full bath. Many amenities such as a full house generator, solar panels and geothermal HVAC. The perimeter is fenced and a mix of woods, two pastures and spring fed stream. A peaceful oasis easily accessible to Charlottesville and Washington DC region. MLS#634846 $1,550,000 Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250

SOUTHWIND ESTATES

3 separate parcels with commanding Blue Ridge Mtn. views,level building sites 15 minutes from Charlottesville. Sites have been perked, have wells, and ready for your dream home. MLS#632482 $375,000 (7.8 acres), MLS#632490 $275,000 (2.4 acres), MLS#632487 $175,000 (2.0 acres), Court Nexsen, 646.660.0700

BRIDLEWOOD TRAIL

Private Keswick residence on 18.6 acres with views of the Southwest Mountains. 3-bedrooms, 1.5-baths with wood floors, screen porch and 2-car garage. Open and wooded land. Easy access to Charlottesville and UVA. MLS#634905 $695,000 Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250

GIBSON’S HOLLOW

Ivy area! A 249 + acre hidden, private Arcadia controlling its own little valley up to the mountain ridge top building sites. Multiple parcels and subdivision rights make it a conservation easement candidate. MLS#634183 $4,000,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124 or Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

DUDLEY

Unique 88-acre property with 4-BR home. Property includes two-car garage, storage shed/ shop and 3760-sqft multipurpose building. Beautiful mountain and lake views just 4 miles from Charlottesville. MLS#635483 $1,275,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

RED HILL

10 miles south of Charlottesville, a beautiful 283 acres, rolling to hilly, mostly wooded tract, borders Walnut Creek Park, with lake and miles of trails. This land has pastures, trails, creeks and a river! Many homesites, NO EASEMENTS. MLS#634310 $1,995,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

EVERGREEN HILL

A private 18 acre horse farm, with 4bedroom main residence, 1-bedroom cottage, beautiful 8 stall center aisle barn, outdoor riding ring, and several fenced pastures and hay fields. Twostory colonial home, circa 1961, has an updated kitchen and bathrooms, and a spacious main level master suite. Situated near the main house is a 1-bedroom, 1-bath cottage, a large heated shop, and a storage building. This is the perfect, small farm, a manageable size with access onto 570 plus acres of parkland with trails. MLS#632164 $1,295,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

HATTON RIDGE FARM

175 acre grazing farm with 2/3 mile frontage on the James River. Impressive 4-5 bedroom, brick Georgian home, circa 2000 in excellent condition. Fertile James River bottomland for gardens, plus many recreational uses. MLS#632477 $2,670,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

BROOMFIELD FARM

29 acres fronting Blenheim Road, a small agricultural and residential subdivision with CCR’s, but NO HOA. 2 buildable lots, with an historic red barn and silo, and an 8-stall stable. MLS#624834 $495,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

MOUNTAIN ROAD

RIVER LAWN FARM

ESTATE PARCEL IN AFTON

Stunning mountain views available on this attractive 14± acre property, possessing lovely streams and woods. This parcel is only 1.5 miles from Route 151 Brew Trail, with easy access to Wintergreen, Charlottesville & UVA. MLS#629702 $399,000 Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250

820 CONDO

Well-designed corner condo consisting of an exceptionally bright great room with high ceilings, fullyequipped kitchen, ample space for both relaxed living and dining, 1-BR/1-BA, and inviting private balcony/ terrace. Views of the Downtown skyline and mountains. MLS#634496 $285,000 C. Dammann, 434.981.1250

CROZET AREA

Beautiful building lot -3.3 acres, fronting on a quiet paved county road. Land is mostly in pasture, some woods, creek and elevated homesite with panoramic views of mountains, pond, and surrounding pastoral area. Less than a mile to Harris Teeter at Crozet. MLS#636349 $450,000 Jim Faulconer,434.981.0076

Under VOF easement but with divisions into already predetermined parcels. MLS#585228 $4,400,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

K’DEE FARM

Embodying the essence of country life! 214+/- acre farm with spacious main residence, 3-car garage with apartment, dependencies & farm buildings. Many agricultural & recreational uses. Easily accessible to Charlottesville, Orange, I-95 & DC region.

MLS#636896 $1,975,000 C.Dammann,434.981.1250

FRAYS MILL

Mostly wooded preservation tract of 81.395 acres next to Frays Mill Subdivision in highly desirable Northern Albemarle. This beautiful gently rolling land has a great, private homesite with Blue Ridge Mt. views, and creek on property. MLS#608509 $995,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

SIMMONS GAP ROAD

5-acre lot with mature hardwoods. Great opportunity to build with no HOA. Private building site amongst beautiful woods. Located between Free Union and Earlysville but so convenient to Charlottesville & UVA. MLS#621177 $140,000 Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250

Great building lot in Ivy! Over 2.5 acres less than 6 miles to Charlottesville and UVA. Your future dream home could sit on this beautiful, wooded land, the perfect combination of country and city access.

Murray Elementary School District. MLS#634897 $165,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

TURKEY SAG ROAD

33-acre property with beautifully constructed 3 to 4-BR home. Home features great room with dramatic stone FP and panoramic views and large master suite with private deck. Peace, privacy and tranquility unsurpassed, but close to town. MLS#635341 $1,875,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

MURPHY’S CREEK FARM

Wonderful gently rolling parcel of land with just under 26 acres, 18 miles south of Charlottesville. The land is wooded (mostly hardwoods) with an elevated building site, stream/creek, total privacy, and long road frontage. MLS#619394 $229,500 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

GARTH ROAD

11.73-acre, buildable lot in Western Albemarle! One of a kind location and a rare opportunity to purchase a large lot in an estate neighborhood 10 minutes to town. 2 division rights and is gently rolling with a small stream bisecting the property. MLS#628219 $795,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

GREENTREES

94+ acres 20 minutes from Charlottesville. Originally part of a 188-acre tract, two parcels may be purchased separately or together, with 2 developmental rights each. Mostly maturing pine and very long public road frontage.

MLS#635861 $700,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124

SUNNYSIDE

Remarkably large parcel located convenient to Charlottesville and UVA. Exceptional Blue Ridge views, charming farmhouse (in need of restoration).

LYNX FARM LANE

Charlottesville style Who’s got it, and how to get yours in 2023

To help you start the new year with a fresh look, we spoke to striking and unsung style heroes around town, and asked these questions: How would you describe your style? What inspires the way you dress, or the way you style your home or work space? What would you like people to know about you—who you are, what you care about—just from looking at your style? How would you advise readers looking to define their own style in 2023? (These responses have been edited and condensed for length.)

By Mary Esselman

Family FASHIONS

William “Will” Jones, III, Yolonda Coles Jones, and their children, William IV, Yosiah, Samari, and Shiloh

William IV (Age 9): “I like turtlenecks and blazers and I like hip-hop, street. Laid-back New York, pro fighters, street dirt bikers, my older sister, my dad, hip-hop dancers.”

“I care about myself and my family. I’m respectful. I can sometimes have an attitude and sometimes not. I can control myself. I want to look cool.”

“Style how you want in whatever makes you feel good.”

Yosiah (Age 9): “Skaters and BMXers.”

“I’m a gamer. I care about my family. I’m not a threat.” “Pick what you think looks good.”

Samari (13): “I would describe my aesthetic as kind of hippie street wear. I wear a lot of baggy clothes, and a lot of different colors and patterns.”

“When I go out, I usually dress up a little. I just want people to know that I care about what I look like. I have this rule that I try to follow where I don’t wear the same outfit too many times. It helps me to not feel boring, or basic. Sometimes I don’t care though.”

“Try new things, always switch it up until you find a style that you love. Think about what you want people to think when they look at you and build your style off of that. Enjoy and express yourself, feel beautiful, ’cause you are.”

Shiloh (14): “Alternative grunge, like if I had a job, my entire wardrobe would be black and white with maybe some dark earthly colors splashed around. Lots of jeans, hoodies, and platforms. Can’t forget the beanie.”

“I’m going to wear what makes me feel comfortable on some days and beautiful others, sometimes both. If it’s a pair of sweats and my dad’s hoodie, or a corset and high heels, or a tuxedo, I’m simply doing me, and me has a lot of versions.”

“I went through being a very cutesy girly-girl, to being goth (as much as I could living with conservative grandparents), to not even knowing what my gender was. I still don’t know! Only to settle with this very neutral grungy look, so I guess you just gotta roll with the punches, and allow yourself room to grow and discover, and make sure you’re doing the same for those around you.”

Yolonda (Age 40): “Eclectic, ethnic, regal, intuitive, soulful, sensual.”

“I’m unapologetically true to my whole self. I don’t follow trends. I wear what feels good to my body, my soul, my mind, and my heart. I appreciate functionality, flow, energetic alignment, and comfort.”

“What does your soul say?”

Will (Age 40): “I think my style is simple. Pretty true to south Jersey and Philadelphia culture. Clean white tee and jeans to pink slacks with a fitted hat. … I wear a lot of Prolyfyck gear and Black-owned clothing as a way to support—and hopefully help steer our culture away from—spending money with companies who don’t appreciate our lives.”

“I care about culture and staying true to who I am. While also being willing to explore [and] adopt new things that feel true to who I actually am as a Black-bodied person. In our disenfranchisement we have had to find our way back to our ancestors’ ways, and my style is part of my journey.”

“I would only advise humans to find out who they are. And go from there. Be true to who you are and be true to who you have grown to be. No one can judge you for that.”

Yolonda Coles Jones is founder, coach, and consultant of Empowered People™ Coaching & Consultancy. Will Jones is a barber and founder of Prolyfyck Run Creww.

DECADES of decoration

Elizabeth Pelly

“I love walking into a room that looks like it took decades to decorate. Paintings and pictures climbing up the walls, books covering bookcases, trinkets and curiosities on every tabletop. In dressing, I am not afraid to go out on a limb—you can wear anything if you wear it with confidence.”

“It’s not about price, it is about what speaks to you. There is a great quote by Elsie de Wolfe (regarded as America’s first interior decorator) that sums me up: ‘I am going to make everything around me beautiful—that will be my life.’ My beautiful thing might not be what you consider beautiful, but I hope you will find it at least interesting.”

“Style, whether home or self, should feel right. A house that’s beautifully designed should still be comfortable, cozy, and lived in. And a look, whether black tie or everyday, should make you feel good in your own skin.”

Elizabeth Pelly is a co-owner of Merrie Mill Farm & Vineyard.

TRISTAN WILLIAMS

On a ROLL

Courtney Commander

“I tend to mix a little bit of femininity and masculinity in my style. I love to style myself in a comfy but cute way. You often may find me in some comfy, dressier pants and a T-shirt (my T-shirt collection is out of this world) or vice-versa in sweatpants but a nicer sweater.”

“In a professional setting, I dress for how I want to be perceived. If I’m going for a run, I dress in a way that makes me feel good about the workout I’m about to do. I want to communicate to others that I am a kind and caring person.”

“Wear what makes you feel comfortable and most like you! Get that piercing or tattoo. Wear all the patterns if that’s what makes you feel like you!”

Creating a PERSONA

Jocelyn: “I’ve been thinking a lot about nostalgia, dressing like the ’80s and ’90s, wearing cut-offs and flannels at home. Also, I experienced this huge change from being a public-school teacher to becoming this author [of My Monticello]. So I kind of moved from printed dresses and cardigans, to suits and jackets, like a kind of armor, but also to create a new persona.”

Billy: “When I think about style I always want to look like a supervillain in an action movie. I love the way supervillains dress. You’ve got the brilliant person in the volcano who’s slightly flamboyant. And I’m like: That. I like that.”

Jocelyn: “I love things that are inviting, where someone recognizes something, or they’re like, ‘Oh, I like that too.’ Just general warmth.”

Billy: “I wear stuff that makes me happy. I just bought a shirt that I ordered from like, Walmart, and it’s a pickle with sunglasses, and it says, ‘Dill with it.’ It’s such a childish thing to have. But it just makes me really happy. I just try to wear what brings me joy.”

Billy: “Just look around and see what you like, and then copy it. That’s what I always do with art and music and everything else. It’s just like, figure out your fashion heroes.”

Jocelyn: “It also can be good to look at an old book of photography or something that’s out of time then mix things together in a way that feels interesting to you.”

Jocelyn Johnson is an author and Billy Hunt is an artist.

FAITHBASED fashion

Sisters of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery

“As women monastics, our ‘style’ is inspired and expressed by the life we have chosen. The deepest values we believe in are the inspiration of all our daily doings. Each sister expresses these values differently, which is what makes our community life so engaging and enriching! Faith, hope, love are the source of it all, and this makes for equanimity and enrichment, and a good bit of the spice of life!”

“We hope that people seeing us, speaking with us, buying cheese from us can pick up our love for God and love for them—each one of them—precious in God’s sight and in ours.”

“For your readers looking to define their ‘style’ in 2023, may it always include others, especially the others whom no one pays much attention to, who ‘fall through the cracks,’ who need most of all respect and concern, love and care.”

Our Lady of the Angels Monastery is a school and community of Trappist-Cistercian nuns, self-supported by cheese-making since 1990.

Jocelyn Johnson and Billy Hunt

Courtney Commander is the founder of mobile pop-up skating company De La Roll.

TRISTAN WILLIAMS

SUPPLIED PHOTO

WEARING a story

Ian Dillard

“Comfort. Cool, classic. Easy.”

“What I’m wearing, in a way, tells the story of how I got here and where I’m going. I have coats from my grandfather, Timex watches from my uncle, and T-shirts from my dad. And through my time in fashion, I’ve developed friendships with people who are starting their own lines. Being able to wear part of their story, and tell and expand that story is something that I love to do.”

“There’s no Prime Minister of Fashion. There’s your personal taste and your personal life. You set the standard. You set the rules for yourself.”

Ian Dillard is co-founder and manager of Quattro Tizi, and a SolidCore coach.

Beauty of the WEIRD

Annie Drury

“Colorful and eclectic and comfortable. I was born curious and find inspiration in all that is ‘other,’ be it other people, centuries, locations, cultures.”

“I really cherish people who think outside the box, especially finding likeminded appreciation in the beauty of the weird.”

“If you’re making your space, fill it with things you love. It doesn’t have to match. If you see something [or] someone that makes you clock, ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ don’t be afraid to try it. Make it your own. Be playful. Have fun. Be open to things that make you feel curious and creative. Dress for the life you want.”

Annie Drury is a hospitality designer, curator, and owner of Neon Soul vintage store.

TRISTAN WILLIAMS

SUPPLIED

PHOTO SUPPLIED PHOTO

WINE DOWN

WHAT’S DELISH AT LOCAL WINERIES?

53RD WINERY AND VINEYARD

2021 Chardonnay

With perfect balance of a soft mouthfeel and crispness, our Chardonnay has the aroma of fresh clementine and apple. Flavors of pear, white flowers and yellow apples help this wine pair with a wide variety of foods. Enjoy with roasted parsnips and carrots, smoked chicken, or an apple pie!

We are open 7 days a week, 11am to 5pm offering our 100% Virginia wine by the bottle, glass and tasting flights.  Enjoy your visit at our intimate, meadow-like setting in rural Louisa County.  we offer well-spaced indoor and outside seating and customers are welcome to bring their own picnic baskets, chairs and blankets. Children and pets are welcome, but pets must always remain outside of buildings and on a leash.  Quality wine, friendly staff at a great escape! Visit our website, www.53rdwinery.com.

Jan. 21st & 22nd – Wine Club pickup Weekend (Not a member? Ask us the next time you visit!)

Open 7 days a week, 11 am – 5 pm 13372 Shannon Hill Rd Louisa, VA 23093 (540) 894-5474 • 53rdwinery.com

CASTLE HILL FARM CIDERY

Barrel Tasting Experience Saturday, January 21st

Ticketed Event

Interested in the art of barrel aging? Join us for an exclusive Barrel Tasting event with Cidermaker Don Whitaker. During this 90-minute experience, attendees will:

-Taste three barrel-aged ciders and explore the nuances between the different spirit barrels utilizing our custom cider tasting wheel

-Learn more about the barrel aging process during the Q&A

-Have an opportunity to purchase a specialty growler of the barrel aged cider of their choice. Each is a limited production.

Visiting Castle Hill Cider

Our expansive cider barn features a variety of ample seating including Adirondack chairs overlooking the rolling countryside and lake; farm tables for larger parties; as well as bistro seating and cozy couches for smaller groups. Inside the Tasting Room, you’ll find bistro seating and a roaring fireplace. Outdoors, there are a variety of options including patio and firepit seating available year-

round (weather permitting), and plenty of green space to walk the grounds or throw a football.

Castle Hill Cider welcomes all guests! We offer non-alcoholic beverage options and a delicious food menu. Well-behaved dogs on a leash are also welcome both indoors and outside. Dogs must remain leashed and with their owners at all times.

Saturdays and SundaysWeekend Brunch Tasting 11am3pm

Winter Hours

Thursday & Friday 1-7 Saturday & Sunday 11-5

6065 Turkey Sag Rd. Keswick, VA 22947 Tasting Room Text/Call: 434.365.9429 www.castlehillcider.com

CROSSKEYS WINERY

2020 Blanc de Noirs

The 2020 Blanc de Noirs has a deep aroma of white peach, almonds, and brioche. The acidity on the tongue is balanced with a rich mouthfeel and fleshy fruit flavors which lead to a finish of coconut and fresh baked bread. Traditional method sparkling wine is a long labor of love; and we love the result.

CrossKeys Vineyards is a family owned and operated winery located in the heart of beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Our approach is to grow, by hand, the highest quality fruit using careful canopy management and yield balance to achieve 100% estate-grown wines that are truly expressive of the varietal and soils here at CrossKeys. Our first vines were planted in 2001 and we have only grown since then. Our 125acre estate currently houses more than 30 acres of vines with plans for more planting in the future. We currently grow 12 varietals of grapes all used to produce our one of a kind award-winning wines.We offer wine tastings throughout the

day. Our knowledgeable tasting room associates will guide you through tasting our wines whether you are a novice or a seasoned veteran. We love large groups and want to make sure your experience at CrossKeys Vineyards is extraordinary. We request that large groups call the vineyard 48 hours in advance to set up a reserved group tasting. The group will have a reserved table, staffing, and a cheese plate included with price.

Chardonnay, this wine is the perfect addition to any celebration OR just because -why not?!

Our uncrowded rural Madison County area has mountains, streams and plenty of beautiful views along scenic back roads. The tasting room is near hiking and biking trails along the Shenandoah National Forest and is a perfect respite after your day out! Enjoy some peace and quiet relaxation in this challenging environment. Sit on our lawns and sip or pick up a bottle or three of our award-winning wines to take home. Reservations available and recommended (especially for Saturdays). No reservation fee or minimum purchase. Walkups accommodated on a spaceavailable basis. To order wine for local delivery or UPS shipping, visit our website!

Open daily – Mon-Thurs. 12-5 pm Fri. 12-9 pm Sat/Sun. 12-6 pm

staff to help make memorable experiences for our guests, build our local wine club, and so much more. Give us a call or email for more information: info@ hortonwine.com

Open Daily from 10 am – 5 pm

6399 Spotswood Trail, Gordonsville, Virginia (540) 832-7440 • www.hortonwine.com

REVALATION VINEYARDS

2021 Pinot G ris

Our 2021 Petit Manseng is a A fresh, aromatic wine that can be sipped on its own or as an accompaniment to a light dish. With aromas of apple, honeysuckle, hazelnut, lime, and white peach. A well- balanced, aromatic wine, with slight salinity, notes of fresh green apples, honeysuckle, hazelnuts, and white peach with a zesty lime finish. Stop by the tasting room to enjoy this wine by the bottle or in a flight.

Mondays through ThursdayWinery Tours (by reservation only) at 12:30 pm

Fridays- Fiesta Fridays (11-5pm) reservations suggested

Sundays- Taste of Europe Dinner Series (tickets required) from 5-8 pm; check our website for weekly menus!

Jan. 21 – Spanish Themed Wine Dinner (advanced ticket purchase required)

Open Daily from 11- 7pm 6011 E Timber Ridge Rd, Mt Crawford, VA 22841 (540) 234-0505

https://crosskeysvineyards.com/

DUCARD VINEYARDS

2020 XOXO Sparkling

The 2020 XOXO – Hugs and Kisses – is the newest vintage of our sparkling wine. A 75/25 blend of Viognier and

Weekends (Fri-Sun) - Live music Friday-Sunday all month long. Check out our website for details and the musical artist lineup!

40 Gibson Hollow Ln • Etlan, VA 22719 (540) 923-4206 www.ducardvineyards.com

HORTON VINEYARDS

2017 Pinotage

Pinotage was created in 1925 in South Africa when scientist cross bread a Pinot Noir and Cinsault together. They were having problems, as does most of the world, getting Pinot Noir to grow. The Pinotage grapes are darker than Pinot Noir in color and the bold tannins are unlike its counterpart.

WE ARE HIRING!

Want to work in a fun and unique industry? Come visit us at Horton! We’re looking for tasting room

Visiting

Revalation Vineyards is a familyowned vineyard, located in Madison’s Hebron Valley. Our property offers stunning views of the Blue Ridge mountains from the porch of our 1830’s log cabin tasting room. Enjoy our wine by the bottle or choose one of our flights which feature five different wines. Reservations are requested for indoor, porch or outdoor seating and can be made on our website. Walk-ins are welcome whenever space is available.

Hours

Nov. 1 – Apr. 30 Hours: Friday 12 –sunset, Saturday/Sunday 12pm to 5pm

All Month – Vibrant paintings by Kim Gardner are being exhibited until the end of February.

Friday, January 20 - Book Club @ The Vineyard

2710 Hebron Valley Road, Madison, VA 22727 540-407-1236 www.revalationvineyards.com

January 18 –24, 2023 c-ville.com @cville_weekly facebook.com/cville.weekly

CULTURE

FRIDAY 1/20

FARE GAMES

Botanical Fare’s Drag Bingo is a game night like no other. Come ready to play multiple rounds to win merch, gift cards, and more. Hosts Chicki Parm and Cake Pop! (right) serve realness and keep the party rolling, while the café serves up the vegan eats. Take a break between games to watch a dazzling performance from special guest Thea Trickality. $15, 6:30pm. Botanical Plant-Based Fare, 421 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. botanicalfare.com

SUNDAY 1/22

EAR CANDY

Minneapolis-based quartet Night Moves returned from the COVID-forced break with unfinished business. The band’s new EP, The Redaction, is a short, melancholic listen packed with big pop hooks and American twang. The EP, which marks an evolution for the band, opens with “Fallacy Actually,” a “dense cosmic romp” full of layered synth, high harmonica, and soft flute. The stand-out track, “As Innocent Looking As Candy,” is a timely tune that pairs upbeat tempos with thought-provoking lyrics that examine gun violence. $15-17, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 First St. S. thesoutherncville.com

SATURDAY 1/21

FIELDING THE FUTURE

Mary Alice Hostetter understood the power of words and stories very early on. Her new book, Plain: A Memoir of Mennonite Girlhood, chronicles her journey to define an authentic self amid a rigid religious upbringing in a Mennonite farm family. Over the course of the book, Hostetter leaves behind the fields and fences of her youth, growing beyond the prohibitions of her church, and coming to terms with her sexuality. Hostetter is joined in conversation by author Sharon Harrigan. Free, 4pm. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com

Speculative memoir

Collective mythologies unite The White Mosque

By Sarah Lawson arts@c-ville.com

In Sofia Samatar’s latest book, The White Mosque, the author and James Madison University professor weaves stories from her life together with histories of a group of Russian Mennonites who migrated to what is now Uzbekistan. Ak Metchet, which means “white mosque,” is the name of the Uzbek village that was settled by 19th-century Mennonites known as the Bride Community, followers of a false prophecy of the second coming of Christ, their bridegroom. This eponymous mosque serves as an engine for wide-ranging explorations of identity, home, and belief, sparked by Samatar’s curiosity about the story that Ak Metchet might have become known as such because of the whitewashed church the Mennonites built there. It may be a mosque that is a church that is a village (that is now a book)—but that is just one telling of it.

From this central troubling of language to the vast unknowability of our lives, the author wonders, “How do you know whether you’re on a pilgrimage that will foster wholeness or just aimlessly roving?” Aboard a bus called the Golden Dragon, rumbling across Uzbekistan with other tourists on a Mennonite history tour, taking part in a very literal pilgrimage, Samatar puzzles the ways we build a sense of self and how we embrace community and history. “We are inhabited by archives, steeped in collective memory, permeated with images and impressions, porous to myth,” she muses. She examines the imprecision but also the joy that these stories and their imperfect language and interpretations afford us, probing the intersections of present and past, family and faith, Muslim and Mennonite, all juxtapositions reflected in her own life.

The child of a Somali Muslim who married a Mennonite missionary from Nebraska, Samatar recounts, “How often I’ve been told I’m false, impossible, unreal. Somali and Swiss Mennonite: no one can make it work.” She grapples with a “magpie existence,” cataloging her experiences as a child, a mother, a novelist, an academic, and someone whose life was inexorably shaped by beliefs she no longer adheres to. A person whose body was perhaps never fully accepted as part of the religion that is, to some, also an ethnicity, a white identity that overlooks the majority of contemporary Mennonites of color around the world.

Still, to think of The White Mosque as her memoir is to oversimplify and flatten, to overlook the light sparked by the conjunction of her own experiences with those of the 19th-century Mennonites. Rather, this is a speculative memoir, a multi-genre mosaic, and an outgrowth of Samatar’s other published books of speculative fiction, most notably her previous book, Monster Portraits, a fantastical yet autobiographical collaboration with her brother. A past finalist for the Italo Calvino Prize, her fabulist experimentalist style in fiction, now adapted to the nonfiction form of The White Mosque, is transcendent, a feat of transmogrification by means of poioumena, a work of metanarrative about the process of writing, which simultaneously transforms the act of reading into one of pilgrimage—or roving, albeit with aim and exuberance.

In her extensive research, Samatar traces the history of Mennonites, whose pacifism has led them to be “people leaving their homes time after time,” and for whom martyrdom is a prominent theme (see also the popularity of a “guess the martyr” game that the author

played at Mennonite youth retreats). She tells of encountering Ak Metchet in a history class, forgetting it only to later encounter the story again in a photograph, which in turn motivated her to undertake years of research before and then again after the pilgrimage that forms the backbone of The White Mosque. She reads and re-reads the accounts of the pilgrims as well as the subsequent histories written about them. She finds in them the unerring faith of believers, and “language to shift the breath.” Samatar makes the choice to retell the past in the present tense, twice over, through the Bride Community pilgrims’ experiences, but also her own pilgrimage, which takes place in 2016. She inserts refrains back to previous sections, simultaneously echoing songs sung in a round and the process of working through a thought aloud, uttering words until the phrase has the intended mouthfeel.

Samatar often references other works; fragments of novels, biographies, poems, and songs seep in to create fractal re-imaginings, doggedly asking: “How do we enter the stories of others?” As readers, we are immediately alongside and, at last, fully immersed in this inquiry.

“To be very close to the very foreign is one definition of haunting,” writes Samatar, and The White Mosque is a vivid, feverish haunting that is alive with the same “historian’s alertness to those small details that clarify the past” that the author appreciates in her research. It makes her own book a captivating and compulsive read. A different writer might have concluded by framing the pilgrimage experience as life-changing, a dramatic moment of becoming, of self. Instead, Samatar squares off with this narrative expectation, naming it and then putting it aside: “I thought it was the promise of integration, of seeing myself as one, of finally claiming emphatically I Am, but instead I saw them, those others, how variously and chaotically They Were.”

In the end, it feels like a vital reminder that the search for wholeness, for self, is never undertaken in solitude, is always informed by our communities, our ancestors, and the stories we inherit about them—just as much as the future will be informed by the stories we tell about ourselves.

Wednesday 1/18 music

Berto and Matt. Brazilian and Latin treasures will make you smile from the inside out. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com

Open Mic Night. Charlottesville’s longest running open mic night. Free, 9pm. Holly’s Diner, 1221 E. Market St. 234-4436.

Jim Waive. Classic country tunes from the man with a velvet voice and impressive beard. Free, 7pm. Blue Moon Diner, 606 W. Main St. bluemoondiner.net

etc.

Bingo. Four games that increase in difficulty with prizes to match. Free, 6pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com

Hard Target Rattlesnakes will be punched tonight. $10, 7:45pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Thursday 1/19 music

Berto & Vincent. Wild gypsy rumba. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com

Spafford. The band is known for its improvisational ability and off-the-cuff extended jams. $20-25, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jefferson theater.com

Wavelength Trio. Vintage rock and blues. Free, 6pm. Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet. prnbrewery.com

words

Artist Talk and Guided Meditation with Mariana Parisca. The artist will touch on the inspiration for the works in her exhibition, “Her Deeds.” Free, 5:30pm. Second Street Gallery, 115 Second St. SE. second streetgallery.org

Eyes on Art. Specially trained docents engage people with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers in meaningful discussions about art. Free, 2pm. The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA, 155 Rugby Rd. uvafralinartmuseum. virginia.edu

The Art in Life: Fashion Makeup. D’angelo Thompson, Kaydee Kyle-Taylor, and Isaac Meyers explore the art of fashion makeup. Free, 7pm. Online. kluge-ruhe.org and uvafralin artmuseum.virginia.edu

The Era of Integration. Journalist Jill Lawrence and psychologist Pamela Gipson Banks discuss the recent culture wars over how race is taught in public schools. Free, 11am. Online. engagement.virginia.edu

What if we held an election and everyone came? A conversation with E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport on their recent book, 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting Free, 11:30am. Garrett Hall, 235 McCormick Rd. karshinstitute.virginia.edu

etc.

JSAAHC’s 10-year Anniversary. Celebrate the Jefferson School African American Center’s 10-year anniversary with live music, drinks, and more. $50-80, 5:30pm. Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. jeffschoolheritage center.org

National Theatre Live—The Seagull Emilia Clarke makes her West End debut in this 21st-century retelling of Anton Chekhov’s tale of love and loneliness. $11-15, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

Aboard a bus called the Golden Dragon, rumbling across Uzbekistan with other tourists on a Mennonite history tour, taking part in a very literal pilgrimage, Samatar puzzles the ways we build a sense of self and how we embrace community and history.

Sofia Samatar will read from The White Mosque as part of the Charlottesville Reading Series on Friday, January 20 at New Dominion Bookshop.

SUPPLIED PHOTO

Acting in ‘The Twilight Zone’

Live Arts wraps mystery in fishing enigma with The River

By Julia Stumbaugh arts@c-ville.com

Aman catches a silver trout, which turns into a “glimmering girl with apple blossom in her hair” before fading away. Though he grows old searching for her, he will find where she has gone, pledges the narrator of William Butler Yeats’ ethereal 1897 poem “The Song of Wandering Aengus.”

This yearning poem’s lyrics open and close Jez Butterworth’s The River, a play that will turn the Live Arts stage into a fisherman’s cabin perched on a cliff above a trout-filled river, from January 20 to February 11.

What happens on this moonless night, says Director Robert Chapel, is “something akin to what one might see while watching an episode of ‘Twilight Zone.’”

Chapel, professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, led more than 50 productions as executive director of the Virginia Theatre Festival (formerly the Heritage Theatre Festival), and ran the UVA Department of Drama for more than 25 years. He says The River is like no other production he has introduced to Charlottesville audiences. “This is a very different play than they are used to me directing,” Chapel says. “I think it’s going to be fun to get their response.”

The River takes place on a single stage set, the remote cabin where fishing enthusiast The Man (Steve Tharp) brings his guest, The Woman (Christina Ball). What appears to be a simple setup is complicated by the introduction of The Other Woman (Caitlin Reinhard)—as well as the unsettling feeling that the chronology of the play is not as it first appears.

“We have found in rehearsal that the play has evolved, and the understanding of the play has evolved, as rehearsal has gone on,” Chapel says. “It’s not an easy play to decipher on the first reading.”

Ball and Reinhard bring what Chapel describes as a “different kind of energy” to each of the two diametrically opposed women, and the entire cast’s understanding of the play continues to grow alongside their characters.

Friday 1/20

music

Kat & The Travelers. Americana tunes. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com

Tim Ryalls and Barry Collins. The acoustic duo performs a blend of classic rock, blues, and country tunes. Free, 6pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com

dance

Square Dance Party. A beginnger-friendly dance with Boot Scoot Square Dance Party. Free, 5:30pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com

stage

The River. Live Arts’ production of Jez Butterworth’s bewitching and mysterious play stars Steve Tharp, Christina Ball, and Caitlin Reinhard. $22-27, 8pm. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. livearts.org

words

Charles Marsh. Professor Marsh discusses Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who

“I try to be more of an editor than a director, because I was an actor once in my lifetime and I never liked a director necessarily standing over me and telling me exactly what to do,” Chapel says. “We’re all working together on this.”

Artistic Director Susan Evans introduced Chapel to The River when she asked him to return to Live Arts to direct it. He agreed before reading the play because he had already fallen in love with Butterworth’s writing while attending New York productions of The Ferryman, a journey to rural Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 1980s, and Jerusalem, which received international acclaim for its punchy portrayal of modern-day Britain. When he picked up The River for the first time, Chapel was introduced to what he describes as a poignant and poetic new side of the playwright.

challenged Hitler and was involved in the plot to kill him. Free, 1:30pm. Online. olliuva.org

Charlottesville Reading Series. Amy-Sarah Marshall and Sofia Samatar read from their works. Free, 7pm. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com

CreativeMornings with Maria Chavalan Sut. A breakfast lecture for the creative community. Free, 8:30am. New City Arts, 114 Third St. NE. creativemornings.com

outside

Playdates at the Playscape. BYO snacks and buddies and enjoy outdoor play. $20, 9:30am. Wildrock, 6600 Blackwells Hollow Rd., Crozet. wildrock.org

etc.

Botanical Drag Bingo. Enjoy a drag show and play bingo to win prizes. $15, 6:30pm. Botanical Plant-Based Fare, 421 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. botanicalfare.com

I Am Not Your Negro The film explores the lives of leaders of the Civil Rights movement from the perspective of author James Baldwin. Free, 7:30pm. PVCC’s V. Earl Dickinson Building, 501 College Dr. pvcc.edu

Saturday 1/21 music

It took Chapel several read-throughs to cement his understanding of the story. “When I first read it, I gasped,” he says—but that doesn’t mean he wants audiences to spend their time agonizing over the story’s ambiguity. Butterworth’s intent, Chapel says, is for the audience to encounter The River, not solve it.

The River

Live Arts

January 20-February 11

The River runs 80 minutes with no intermission, and many people will likely leave the production with questions, and maybe spend the drive home thinking it over. “You just have to play the play for its truths, and play the text, and let the audience decide what they will,” says Chapel.

words

Berto’s Latin Guitar Brunch. Enjoy the sounds of Brazil, Spain, and Latin America with Berto Sales. Free, 11am. Tavern & Grocery, 333 W. Main St. tavernandgrocery.com

Brisk. Sip on wine and enjoy live tunes. Free, 1pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com

Conley Ray & The Joneses. Old and new country favorites. $10, 7pm. The Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. batesville market.com

Tara Mills. Original folk and roots music. Free, 2:30pm. Albemarle CiderWorks, 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden. albemarle ciderworks.com

The Michael Elswick Gathering. Jazz, blues, ballads, and Latin tunes. Free, 5pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com

stage

The River. See listing for Friday, January 20. $22-27, 8pm. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. livearts.org

Janasha Bradford. Celebrate Janasha Bradford’s recent children’s book, Malcolm’s Master Plan to Gazillionaire, with a reading and Q&A. Free, 10:30am. Bluebird & Co., 5792 Three Notched Rd., Crozet. bluebirdcrozet.com

Mary Alice Hostetter: Plain Celebrate the release of Mary Alice Hostetter’s memoir. Free, 4pm. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com

Storytime. Readings of recent favorites and classics. Free, 11am. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com

classes

Human Milk Show-and-Tell. Share knowledge and learn something new at this handson breastfeeding workshop. Free, 11am. Our Neighborhood Child Development Center, 1015 E. Market St. ourneighborhood.community

outside

Playdates at the Playscape. See listing for Friday, January 20. $20, 9:30am. Wildrock, 6600 Blackwells Hollow Rd., Crozet. wildrock.org

Live Arts presents The River by Jez Butterworth, directed by Robert Chapel, and starring Caitlin Reinhard, Steve Tharp, and Christina Ball.

“When I first read it, I gasped.”

ROBERT CHAPEL

WILL KERNER

CULTURE SCREENS

Poe at heart

etc.

Family Studio Day. Enjoy free art materials, prompts, and coloring pages. Free, 10am. Second Street Gallery, 115 Second St. SE. secondstreetgallery.org

The Goonies Movie Party. Are you good enough? $14, 1pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

The Royal Tenenbaums. A clan’s estranged patriarch loses his home and learns that his ex-wife plans to remarry. $8, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

Sunday 1/22 music

Brady Turner. Enjoy winter at the winery with live music. Free, 1pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarm andwinery.com

Night Moves. The Minneapolis-based quartet’s psychedelic new song “Fallacy Actually,” is a head-spinning swirl of layered synths, harmonica, and guitar. $15-17, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com

The Highway Department. A new duo featuring singer-songwriter Doug Bishop and drummer David Jacobs. Free, 1pm. The Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. batesvillemarket.com

Tyler Burkhardt. Acoustic guitar. Free, 2pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com etc.

Frozen Sing-Along. Join Anna as she sets off on an epic journey—with mountain man Kristoff and Olaf the snowman—to find her sister Elsa. $8-10, 2pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. the paramount.net

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition). The journey draws to a close. $10, 1pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Tuesday 1/24

music

Thunder Music Karaoke. Sign up to sing or just enjoy the show. Free, 9pm. Holly’s Diner, 1221 E. Market St. 234-4436.

Tunesday Tuesdays with Josh Mayo and The House Sauce. Local and regional acts hit the stage. Free, 9:30pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com

Vincent Zorn. Olé. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. the bebedero.com

words

The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times Discuss Wild Virginia’s January book club read, by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams. Free, 7pm. Online. wildvirginia.org

outside

Playdates at the Playscape. See listing for Friday, January 20. $20, 9:30am. Wildrock, 6600 Blackwells Hollow Rd., Crozet. wildrock.org etc.

Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night. Teams of two-six people play for prizes and bragging rights. Free, 8pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com

The Pale Blue Eye is a middling American Gothic whodunit

By Justin Humphreys arts@c-ville.com

Writer and director Scott Cooper’s film of Louis Bayard’s novel The Pale Blue Eye is a reasonably engaging American Gothic mystery. It offers visually appealing historical fiction and, at just over two hours, doesn’t overstay its welcome. But with a mediocre script and lead performances that don’t equal its pictorial loveliness, the film only sporadically delivers on its promising premise.

Set in 1830 in the Hudson River Valley, former detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) is enlisted by West Point to solve a cadet’s ritualistic murder. Landor becomes acquainted with cadet Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), taking him on as his assistant and sleeper agent within the student body. As the murders continue and Landor weaves his way through a sea of red herrings, insidious secrets begin to reveal themselves.

The basic plot device is clever: Poe, the future inventor of the modern detective story doing actual sleuthing. It’s not Poe’s first appearance as a crime-solver on film— The Man with a Cloak explored the same conceit—but The Pale Blue Eye really owes a debt to Shakespeare in Love. Throughout

the film, we see Poe encountering flashes of his eventual masterpieces. The Tell-Tale Heart is the most obvious, as is Augustus Landor’s name, which Poe openly says inspired his immortal Auguste Dupin. There are other similar allusions that are spoilers.

The script is fine and diverting, but it gets convoluted. It suffers from too many secondary and tertiary characters, which prevents all but a few of them from being fully fleshed-out, and from transcending clichés like the stiff-backed military school commandant. Likewise, some of the dialogue is excruciatingly blunt, like Landor’s rant at West Point’s chiefs about their soul-crushing regimen. But beyond these flaws, some of the characters work well, and the audience is, at times, cleverly misled.

Like many current movies, the below-theline talent is superior to the script. The cinematography nicely evokes the requisite period feel with its brownish, appropriately dreary color palette. The moody lighting in the 19th-century homes and taverns is particularly noteworthy. The costumes, production design, and overall creation of the film’s milieu are very good.

As far as the cast goes, the two leads are the only drawbacks. Bale spreads his artificial edginess with a wide brush. His gruff, mum-

bled, syncopated delivery gets tiresome quickly. And although Melling almost supernaturally resembles Poe, his Virginia accent is affected, and he overplays the great writer as an excitable oddball. Neither performance is terrible—they just needed reining in. Meanwhile, the supporting players appear to be having a ball, and their enthusiasm registers well on screen. Gillian Anderson shines as the neurotic Julia Marquis, wife of West

The Pale Blue Eye

R, 128 minutes Netflix

Point’s physician (well-played by the reliable Toby Jones). Charlotte Gainsbourg and Timothy Spall, among others, perform admirably. Robert Duvall has a small but critical role as Jean Pepe, an elderly antiquarian.

All in all, The Pale Blue Eye adds very little to historical fiction, or to the cinematic Poe canon. It’s worth watching for its visual attractiveness and has its moments, but don’t come expecting a story of Poe-like quality. This is no Murders in the Rue Morgue, and Cooper’s tale runs short on both mystery and imagination.

January 18 –24, 2023 c-ville.com @cville_culture facebook.com/cville.weekly

In The Pale Blue Eye, Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) enlists a young Edgar Allan Poe to help solve a murder at West Point.

BY DAVID LEVINSON WILK

Cat Socializers

Cat socializers allow our cats to receive one-on-one attention and interact with other cats. The socializers get to know each cat and talk about them with potential adopters.

Dog Handlers

Our dogs need volunteers to help them get all of the exercise and affection they deserve! Dog Handlers are responsible for taking dogs on walks, to playgroups and other activities.

SPCA Rummage Store

All proceeds from the SPCA Rummage Store go to support our homeless animals in need. We need help sorting through donations and setting up displays at the store.

Offsite Adoption & Fundraising Events

Our animals attend many fundraising and adoption events. If you like being out and about and around animals, this gives you the opportunity to do both!

PART-TIME HELP WANTED

Hours

Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. to assist with morning routine of two adult disabled young women.

Must have valid VA driver's license, reliable vehicle, proof of insurance, and driving record. More hours are possible.

Reply to barbara.whary@gmail.com

POSITION FOR ENTRY TO MID-LEVEL CONTRACT ADMINISTRATOR

Skeo Solutions is a small, employee-focused consulting firm providing innovative, collaborative, and multidisciplinary solutions to complex and pressing issues in environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic opportunity. Skeo’s primary clients are Federal and local governments.

We seek a team-oriented Associate Contract Administrator to join Skeo fulltime to support contract administration, with full-time options ranging from 30 to 40 hours per week. Applicants should be extremely detail oriented, responsive, and be reliable, clear communicators, and be comfortable managing the administrative elements of different contract types (labor hour, firm fixed price, etc). While the position is remote, applicants are encouraged to work in our Charlottesville, Virginia office and must be available during Skeo’s regular business hours (9 AM to 5 PM Eastern).

Elements of this work will include:

•Working collaboratively with Skeo work managers and experienced contract managers to ensure smooth and compliant implementation of a wide variety of contracts.

•Managing the administrative elements of various contract types (time & materials, firm fixed price, etc.)

•Developing systems, training, and processes that promote clarity and transparency for Skeo staff and clients.

•Tracking multiple details and deadlines across and within contracts, including but not limited to the period of performance, client deliverable deadlines, and internal reporting and accounting.

•Setting up systems using Skeo software and protocols to ensure Skeo employees can meet the needs of clients and internal reporting.

•Tracking and supporting subcontractor tasking and invoicing.

•Assisting with preparing and submitting cost estimates, budgets, and invoices catered to varying contract types.

•Performing research and analysis to explore new systems or improve existing ones.

•Ensuring all systems, protocols, cost estimates, and invoices are correct.

•Performing quality assurance and control activities of both your own and other’s work; and

•Being accessible to support Skeo and clients with administrative support during normal working hours.

Skeo promotes a healthy work-life balance. However, there are times when it may be necessary to work more than full-time to meet tight deadlines. Skeo expects all staff to reflect Skeo’s operating principles: dignity, respect, compassion, integrity, and accountability. Applicants should be able to multi-task, be meticulous with details, collaborate well with teams, be responsive, maintain a positive attitude, and have excellent communication skills.

Required Qualifications:

• An undergraduate degree in accounting, business, or another related field

• Three to five years of relevant experience and/or a graduate degree

• Demonstrative ability to track and manage details

• Strong, friendly, and professional communication skills to support Skeo staff and our clients

• Ability to manage projects

Preferred Qualifications:

•Experience working with a company that supports a wide range of contracts, especially fixed price and time and materials

• Experience with Deltek and JAMIS

• Experience supporting Federal, state, or local governments or clients

Please submit the required application materials by January 27, 2023, by following this link: https://skeo.applicantstack.com/x/apply/a2b5yqwkd0xu . Interviews are expected to begin February 13, 2023, with a hiring decision made by late February 2023. Decisions will be made based on resumes, performance on skill exercises, and recommendations. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

POSITION FOR SENIOR ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE MANAGER

Skeo Solutions is a small, employee-focused consulting firm providing innovative, collaborative, and multidisciplinary solutions to complex and pressing issues in environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic opportunity. Skeo’s primary clients are Federal and local governments.

We seek a team-oriented senior accounting and finance manager to join Skeo fulltime, with full-time options ranging from 30 to 40 hours per week. Applicants should understand and be capable of planning, developing, and implementing policies, procedures, and compliance systems to ensure complete, accurate, and GAAP and FAR-compliant financial accounting. Skeo will expect applicants to apply their knowledge, ensuring compliance by cross-referencing our policies and procedures. Skeo supports clients with multiple contract types, including time and material, fixed price, and cost-plus fixed fee. While the position is remote, applicants are encouraged to work in our Charlottesville, Virginia office and must be available during regular business hours (9 AM to 5 PM Eastern). Examples of job responsibilities include:

Elements of this work will include:

•Developing and implementing a system of detailed account reviews and reconciliations to ensure transactions are accurate, appropriate, and well-documented. Reviews include both contracts related as well as corporate transactions. Skeo expects applicants to participate in regular paid training on GAAP and FAR topics to ensure consistency with government contracting best practices.

• Performing internal and external reporting, including but not limited to compiling and reviewing materials for corporate tax returns, any state or local financial reports, incurred cost submissions, internal management reports tied to revenue projection and staff utilization, and other financial requests.

• Developing and maintaining an annual corporate budget, providing cash flow, forecasting, and other reports as required for responsible budget management and internal reporting.

• Staying prepared and responding to all internal and external audits.

• Working collaboratively with Skeo work managers and experienced contract managers to ensure compliance of a wide variety of contracts.

• Supporting payroll and employee-related circumstances that influence payroll, such as processing timesheets, preparing payroll, overseeing employee changes, overseeing payroll-related deductions and payments such as 401(k), and creating and implementing a system to ensure the accuracy of deductions and payments.

• Leading proposal pricing and cost estimates, including developing reports to monitor pricing and indirect rates, conducting research, and participating in training to understand contract pricing issues and ensure compliance.

Skeo promotes a healthy work-life balance. However, there are times when it may be necessary to work more than full-time to meet tight deadlines. Skeo expects all staff to reflect Skeo’s operating principles: dignity, respect, compassion, integrity, and accountability. Applicants should be able to multi-task, collaborate well with teams, be responsive, conduct thorough and reliable research, maintain a positive attitude, and have excellent communication skills.

Required Qualifications:

• No less than an undergraduate degree in accounting or another directly related field

• No less than five to eight years of experience providing corporate accounting and finance services with expertise doing the work

• Working knowledge of GAAP and FAR-compliant financial accounting

• Demonstrative ability to track and manage details

• Strong, friendly, and professional communication skills to support Skeo staff and our clients

• Ability to perform and manage all aspects of the work

Preferred Qualifications:

•Experience working with a company that supports a wide range of contracts, especially fixed price and time and materials

• Experience with Deltek and JAMIS

• Experience supporting Federal, state, or local governments or clients

• CPA

Please submit the required application materials by January 27, 2023, at the following link: https://skeo.applicantstack.com/x/apply/a2b5yqwn0zwr. Interviews are expected to begin February 13, 2023, with a hiring decision made by late February 2023. Decisions will be made based on resumes, performance on skill exercises, and recommendations. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Andrea Douglas

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center opened its doors. It’s a milestone achievement that wouldn’t be possible without the steely determination of Executive Director Andrea Douglas, whose hard work has solidified the historic school firmly in the heart of Charlottesville. Under Douglas’ leadership, the JSAAHC offers a variety of rich cultural programming, including art exhibitions, lectures, live music, theater productions from Charlottesville Players Guild, and more. jeffschoolheritagecenter.org

Look for our feature on the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in the next issue of 434, on stands February 15.

Age: Legal

Pronouns: She/her

Why here: Grad school

Worst thing about living here: Stores don’t open before 10

Best thing about living here: I eat well

Favorite hangout spot: Crush Pad Wines

Bodos order: Egg cheese plain bagel

Favorite restaurant: Bizou

Where do you start and end a night out: Crush Pad Wines

Who is your hero: My mother

Best advice you ever got: Mind your business

Biggest lie you’ve ever told: I don’t lie

Proudest accomplishment/ achievement: Being part of JSAAHC’s accomplishments

Describe a perfect day: 95 degrees Do you have any pets: Nasi

Most embarrassing moment: I own my stuff, so not embarrassed

Favorite writers: Nikki Giovanni

Favorite book: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera Most-used app on your phone: Instagram

What song are you listening to right now: Pat Benatar, “Shadows of the Night”

What’s a song you pretend you don’t like because it’s embarrassing that you love it? Again, I don’t get embarrassed

Last text you sent: Yeah

Most-used emoji: If you could be reincarnated as a person or thing, what would you be: Butterfly

Best journey you ever went on: All of the cross-country trips I have ever taken

Next journey: PR

Favorite curse word: Fuck that shit

What have you forgotten today: My keys

Stay tuned for more back page content, including HotSeat, The Big Picture, and You’ll be Happy to Hear. To respond to the Question of the Week, submit HotSeat suggestions, feel-good stories, or The Big Picture images, email arts@c-ville.com