C-VILLE Weekly | December 11 - 17, 2024

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EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Caite Hamilton editor@c-ville.com

experts

NEWS 9

11 ’Tis the season for giving— here’s how you can donate.

13 Monticello gets large grant for colonoware study

16 Real Estate Weekly: UVA unveils plans for new Center for the Ar ts.

CULTURE 27

29 Feedback: Indigo Girls return to the Paramount.

Tried it in C’ville: The Falconry Experience at Boar’s Head.

Sudoku

CULTURE EDITOR

Tami Keaveny tami@c-ville.com

NEWS REPORTER

Catie Ratliff reporter@c-ville.com

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CM Turner arts@c-ville.com

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Susan Sorensen

NEWS INTERN

Merrill Hart

CONTRIBUTORS

Rob Brezsny, Dave Cantor, Matt Dhillon, Carol Diggs, Shea Gibbs, Claudia Gohn, Mary Jane Gore, Maeve Hayden, Andrew Hollins, Erika Howsare, Justin Humphreys, Matt Jones, Sarah Lawson, Erin Martin, Kristin O’Donoghue, Lisa Provence, Sarah Sargent, Kristie Smeltzer, Jen Sorensen, Julia Stumbaugh, Courteney Stuart, Paul Ting, Sean Tubbs

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THIS WEEK

Hello, Charlottesville. Thanks for reading C-VILLE Weekly.

As I write this, my daughter (she’s 4) is crying because she opened one of the kitchen cabinets and it brushed her arm the wrong way. Yesterday she had a fit in the car because she dropped the top to one of her markers. The day before that, she melted down because I wouldn’t let her have a cupcake and a slice of cake at her friend’s birthday party. (“They’re made of the same thing! They’re both cake!” I kept telling her in my gentlest whisperscream.) …We’re in a bit of a “season,” as we parents like to say.

Over the weekend, she fell off a swing on the playground. There were tears, of course, but about 15 minutes later, she went back over to it and hopped on. Down she went. But again, after a time, she wanted to swing again. I don’t know if, when these types of things happen, I’m witnessing her building her resilience or becoming a masochist, but either way it made me think of this week’s cover story (p.21).

12.11.24

In it, Shea Gibbs talks to local experts about resilience—having it, getting it, why it is or isn’t important. And while my daughter seems to have what resilience coach Renee Branson calls “Rocky resilience” (the ability to get knocked down and stagger back up), I liked the idea of Branson’s “renegade resilience,” which utilizes vulnerability and boundaries to combat resilience burn-out and prioritize self-care. I’m not sure how it translates to my daughter’s recent crying jags, but I know if she had her way, it would involve chocolate cake.

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“I think the biggest thing is driving home for any young athlete that … sports are for everybody, and to get where you want to go athletically, you have to handle your business in school.”

—UVA

a December 6 reading event at Johnson Elementary

NEWS

IN BRIEF

Burnout

A December 8 fire at the University of Virginia Sigma Pi fraternity house on Virginia Avenue displaced 13 students in the middle of final exams. Charlottesville Fire Department responded to the single-structure fire around 1:30pm. The blaze caused significant structural damage, but no injuries were reported. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.

What a racket

After 10 years in business, Moose’s by the Creek will close at the end of 2024, according to owners Melinda “Moose” Stargell and Amy Benson. In a December 8 Facebook post announcing the closure, they shared, “We’ve won awards, received many accolades and reviews and have cooked many meals but none of that could’ve been possible without YOU…our customers, friends and family.” At the end of the post, they teased that “something new” will be announced soon.

New road forward

In a rare show of bipartisanship, District 5 Rep. Bob Good worked with Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine to advance the creation of an emergency access road to Wintergreen. The road will be built near Milepost 9.6, connecting Laurel Springs Drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway. “Currently there is only one road in and out of Wintergreen,” said Warner in a December 5 release. “This greatly hinders the ability of first responders to get into town, and impacts public safety for all residents.”

Suit dismissed

Following the dismissal of her Title IX lawsuit last month, complainant Jane Doe reiterated to The Daily Progress her distrust in and frustration with the University of Virginia. The December 9 article details both the complaint, court proceedings, and UVA’s response.

Doe accuses a now-former professor and department head of repeated instances of sexual harassment beginning during her January 2019 study abroad program. The professor, identified as Gabriel Finder by Charlottesville DTM, resigned prior to disciplinary

Fresh ideas

The Cherry Avenue Grocery Community and Stakeholder Engagement Project held its fourth and final Buy Back the Block event on December 9, unveiling both the results of its survey and the names of parties interested in owning and operating a grocery store at 501 Cherry Ave.

The development is on the site of the former Estes IGA supermarket, and is a collaboration between Woodard Properties and Piedmont Housing Alliance. In addition to space for a grocery store and the Music Resource Center, the project is also slated to include two apartment buildings with one-, two-, and three-bedroom affordable units.

Current plans have the development applying for a certificate of occupancy in 2027.

More than 500 people completed the survey, with 75 percent indicating they would shop at a grocery store at 501 Cherry Ave. Top priorities of respondents in selecting a grocery store were proximity to home and work, selection of fresh food, and low prices. Most surveyed preferred that the store be either a co-op or owned by someone with “deep roots in Fifeville or other historically Black communities in Charlottesville/Albemarle.”

If a grocery store is not possible, survey respondents favored options like a farmers’ market, child-care facility, or nonprofit com-

action, has been barred from working at UVA, and was stripped of his emeritus status.

UVA leadership was first informed of a “consensual relationship” between Doe and the professor in January 2020, at which point the Title IX office became involved.

Though Doe initially claimed the relationship was consensual, she later said she had reevaluated her relationship with the professor and wanted to hold him accountable.

A formal Title IX investigation was opened on March 19, 2020.

munity center. Many meeting attendees said a grocery store is still their preferred choice, and they would like additional details before moving forward with any alternative.

Beyond the survey results, those who were at the event also heard from Fifeville

Neighborhood Association President Carmelita Wood about potential groups interested in owning and operating the store: Good Food Grocery, the newly formed Food Co-op steering committee, Laziz Local Produce, and Goodwill Industries.

The final investigation report was not released until April 30, 2021.

In his memorandum opinion, U.S. District Judge Robert Ballou—a double Hoo and current lecturer at UVA law school—issued a summary judgment dismissing the suit. He further found the delay did not rise to the level of “deliberate indifference,” as stated in the suit, and said Doe’s on-time graduation with a 3.98 showed she was not prejudiced by UVA.

football standout and two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Long to NBC29 at

Four organizations have expressed interest in operating a new grocery store at 501 Cherry Ave., the site of the former Estes IGA supermarket.

GIFTS HOME DÉCOR INTERIOR DESIGN

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Bringing Clear Awareness to All Aspects of Life , with Geshe Yungdrung Gyatso

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OTHER BOOKS BY JAMES ARE:

In, A MURDER ON FIFTH AND DICE AND THE RUIN OF FIFEVILLE, James shows how drugdealing and gang violence led to the condemnation, demolition, and gentrification of Fifeville. It is a Sequel to his IN THE STREETS OF VINEGAR HILL, 2007. (He is writing a play based upon this latest Book)

Join us in the serene foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and in Charlottesville this December and January! Local Author

In, HARD TIMES AND SURVIVAL: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN AFRICANAMERICAN SON, James relates His Story and the Reader learns what He means when He Says: “Do not GiveIn to Adversity, but overcome it by Steady and Constant Perserverance.”

IN THE STREETS OF VINEGAR HILL, James reveals how fear and misunderstandings caused The Charlottesville City Council to condemn and Demolish a 20 Acre Tract (30 Black businesses and 600 residents) from the Downtown area from 1958-1964.

William A. James, Sr.

Call or Write, William A. James, Sr. 434-985-8987 PO Box 6991, Charlottesville, VA 22906 Wjpublications@aol.com

BOOKS SOLD AT:

The University of Virginia Bookstore

400 Emmet Street, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (on UVA Grounds). Patsy Goolsby, Manager, 434-924-1075 | bookshop@virginia.edu 2nd Act Books 214 East Main Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902 Daphne Spain, Owner, 434-202-0754 | daphnespain@gmail.com

Donations in motion

How area organizations are giving back this season

By Catie Ratliff reporter@c-ville.com

In addition to celebrating the season themselves, a number of local organizations are gathering donations for community members this December.

The median household income in Charlottesville is $67,177, but the poverty rate in the city is more than double the state average—23.6 percent, according to current census data. To ease the burden of holiday expenses, several area nonprofits and businesses are hosting donation drives for individuals, families, and animals experiencing hardship. C-VILLE spoke with five organizations via email about their merry-making efforts: The Salvation Army, Come As You Are Cville, Madison House, Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, and Jefferson Area Board for Aging.

Through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, 1,009 children and 191 teenagers across the Charlottesville area will receive gifts this year. Recipients qualified for the program through an application, interview, and verification process earlier in the fall, and will pick up their gifts at an assigned time.

“We are happy to be providing this service again to those who are struggling with making ends meet,” said Major Jennifer Van Meter, corps officer for the Salvation Army. “We want people to be able to celebrate Christmas without a financial burden.”

To adopt an Angel, visit one of the many trees at locations around town, including the YMCA, Walmart, and Dairy Market. The deadline for dropping off gifts is December 15.

Come As You Are Cville has partnered with several groups for its annual Christmas toys giveaway.

“By providing gifts, you are helping to level the playing field and provide opportunities for these children to experience the joy of Christmas,” said Stephane Kabesa, associate director of CAYAC. The nonprofit hopes to give gifts to 160 registered children in lower-income families in Charlottesville and Albemarle. Donations should be dropped off by December 12 at 4pm at the Jefferson School Foundation on Fourth Street, NW.

The Holiday Sharing program at the University of Virginia’s Madison House will support more than 40 families this year. Those referred to the program receive personalized gifts and need-based donations, and are welcomed by student volunteers at events throughout the season. Through a partnership with the Batten School, Madison House also provides families with food and grocery-store gift cards.

One highlight of Holiday Sharing for many students is distribution day, when children of participating families visit Madison House and decorate cookies, make gifts for parents, and play games.

Individual and business contributions to Holiday Sharing can be made year-round.

For furry friends, the CharlottesvilleAlbemarle SPCA is accepting donations to its Branches of Hope Giving Tree program through Christmas Day. There are currently six trees at businesses around town, with roughly 300 ornaments, according to Development Manager Lauren Krohn.

“Each ornament contains either a ‘wish list’ of items we use or provide [for] the animals regularly here at the shelter, food to stock our Pet Food Pantry, or a monetary donation amount that corresponds to an item or treatment (such as vaccines, microchipping, etc.) that we provide the animals,” said Krohn. “This donation drive

will benefit our resident animals here at the SPCA, as well as the families who rely on our veterinary and pantry services.”

CASPCA is expected to surpass its 2023 total of 2,658 adoptions, and has served almost 500 families in its veterinary clinic this year. Pantry services are also popular, with more than 29,000 pounds of dog and cat food distributed.

While giving trees end after Christmas, CASPCA accepts donations year-round. Popular items include pet food, dog beds, and toys.

Across its service area of Charlottesville, Region 10, and five neighboring counties, Jefferson Area Board for Aging is working to bring merriment to older and disabled

“We want people to be able to celebrate Christmas without a financial burden.” MAJOR JENNIFER VAN METER, SALVATION ARMY CORPS OFFICER

adults this December. More than 150 people will benefit from the holiday gift drive, which includes both practical and fun items.

“We hope that the gift bags will let our members know that they are loved, appreciated, and, most of all, seen,” said Teresa Cooper, a JABA volunteer service coordinator. “We were blown away by the donations and support from our community, and are so thankful. Our volunteer center is overflowing with gifts for our members.”

The donation window for JABA’s holiday gift drive has closed, but the organization always welcomes items such as arts and crafts supplies, puzzle books, and household items.

More information on donation drives and other ways to support community members can be found on the organizations’ websites.

As part of Madison House’s Holiday Sharing program, volunteers wrap gifts for recipients. The program has been ongoing since its launch in the 1970s.

COURTESY

MADISON HOUSE

NEWS Through the cracks

Monticello researchers receive funding for largest study of colonoware in history

By Andrew Hollins

For 24 years, Monticello’s Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery has been studying and cataloging artifacts left behind by early and enslaved Americans, creating an online archive that enables intersite, comparative archaeological research on slavery. Now, thanks to $354,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation and The Conservation Fund, the DAACS and its collaborative researchers will launch the largest study ever conducted on a particular kind of artifact known as “colonoware,” a type of handmade, low-fired pottery crafted by mostly Indigenous and enslaved Americans.

Through studying colonoware, co-principal investigators Beth Bollwerk and Lindsay Bloch are attempting to paint a more complete picture of how early, Indigenous, and enslaved Americans lived their lives.

“One of the main questions we hope to answer with this project is, ‘Why were people making and using colonoware?’” Bloch says. “We know that it isn’t as simple as them not being able to afford other pottery. There are likely cultural reasons why people may have wanted to cook in these rather than iron pots.”

Seventeenth- and 18th-century Americans had access to imported and commercially made pottery and cookware. Thus, when archaeologists discover colonoware, they are able to glean certain facts from both its existence and the context in which it is discovered. Where was it found? What is it made of? How was it made? The answers to these questions are how researchers are able to learn more comprehensively how the first Americans—people who did not make it into the history books—lived their lives.

The first study examining the phenomenon of colonoware was conducted in 1962 by British archaeologist Ivor Noël Hume in Colonial Williamsburg. Initially thought unique to Virginia, further study revealed similar examples of colonoware in other parts of the Mid-Atlantic.

The DAACS colonoware study has brought in a “rock star team” of archaeologists and historians that includes Mary Beth Fitts from UNC-Chapel Hill, Karen Y. Smith from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and Brandi MacDonald from the

Magic!

University of Missouri’s Archaeometry Laboratory. The study will include approximately 180,000 artifacts and fragments, and more than 600 samples from 40 sites in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

“One of the key techniques we’ll be using is laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry,” Bloch says. “You can think about it sort of like an equivalent DNA analysis for pottery, because it’s based on the unique makeup of the sample. But instead of DNA, this technique tells us the different proportion of elements that make up the pottery. By testing the pottery in this way, we will be able to compare samples and identify which pots were made with the same clay sources, because they have the same fingerprint, and we can tie that to where that clay came from.”

Researchers will also seek the input of Indigenous tribes and descendants of enslaved people in the region for their insight on how these artifacts were created and used. The Catawba Nation of South Carolina, as well as descendant communities from Monticello and Mount Vernon, are being consulted to help inform the study’s research and analysis.

“We are forging new relationships with descendant communities who are known through ethnohistory and oral tradition to have been involved in colonoware production,” Bollwerk says. “In particular, the Rappahannock Indian tribe and Pamunkey Indian tribe … have a well-documented tradition of pottery production. The Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia and the Cheroenhaka [Nottoway] tribe do, as well. We have reached out and consulted with these tribal communities as the project moves forward.”

“One of the main questions we hope to answer with this project is, ‘Why were people making and using colonoware?’”

LINDSAY BLOCH

The beauty of light and the whimsy of nature intertwine harmoniously at Virginia’s premier holiday light show at Boar’s Head Resort. Experience the nature of our rolling landscape during this illuminated lakeside stroll as an extraordinary palette of colors blanket the natural surroundings.

SUPPLIED PHOTO

Investigators at Monticello hope that by studying colonoware they will get a more complete picture of how early, Indigenous, and enslaved Americans lived.

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Annie Gould Gallery

‘Welcoming site’

UVA unveils preliminary design for new Center for the Arts

By Sean Tubbs

As the University of Virginia continues to expand onto Ivy Road, its new buildings are creating a new urban fabric for the public institution’s footprint in Charlottesville. On December 5, a committee of the Board of Visitors reviewed a preliminary design for the proposed Center for the Arts, and recommended a smaller building.

“You’re dealing here with a welcoming site to the university,” said John Nau, chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee.

The Center for the Arts would be located in the northeast corner of the Emmet/Ivy Corridor. As presented, the building would house the 1,200-seat Richard and Tessa Ader Performing Arts Center and serve as the new home of The Fralin Museum of Art and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. The Department of Music would also move to the site, freeing up space for other UVA uses at Old Cabell Hall.

“The Center for the Arts will have an internal promenade on the ground floor that builds on the design guidelines of the previous buildings developed in the Emmet Ivy District,” said Gary McCluskie, an ar chitect with the Toronto-based firm Dia mond Schmitt, which has been hired to design the arts center.

Those buildings are the School of Data Science, the Virginia Guesthouse hotel, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy. One rendering shown to the Buildings and Grounds Committee depicted the possibility of films being screened on media walls above the entrance to the theater.

The project has an internal budget of $315 million. Nau and others questioned the scale and asked whether the center is something UVA really needs to build. Another committee member asked for updated financial projections to see if the center would provide revenue by attracting shows that currently don’t have an appropriate venue in the greater community.

While part of the funding for the center comes from a $50 million donation by the Aders, the bulk of the project might depend on a $200 million capital funding request made to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the General Assembly. UVA’s Senior Vice President for Operations and State Government Relations Colette Sheehy said Richmond has already authorized preplanning work as well as given the green light to proceed with design.

“That is normally a signal from them that they are going to support the construction,” Sheehy said.

UVA President Jim Ryan said the project has been in the works for a long time. The building’s large size is comparable to what’s being built nearby, he said, and the structure would hide the Lewis Mountain parking garage. Ryan also noted that moving The Fralin would allow that building to serve as a new entrance for the School of Architecture, which is currently tucked away from public sight.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to get to the architecture school but if we wanted to create a secret spot for architecture, we succeeded,” Ryan said.

Nau expressed concern that those media screens might distract people at the busy intersection of Emmet Street, Ivy Road, and University Avenue.

“I have seen traffic come to a halt around sporting venues around the country that use these screens,” Nau said.

Earlier in the meeting, the committee also approved amending UVA’s Major Capital Plan to add $160 million for the construction of three residential buildings at the western end of the Emmet Ivy District. BOV member Bert Ellis was the lone

against doing so because he said UVA needs to

spending.

A rendering by the firm Diamond Schmitt shows the proposed Center for the Arts (right) fleshing out the Emmet/Ivy Corridor with the School of Data Science immediately to the south.

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Re-sil-ience

Local therapists and researchers take on psych’s buzziest topic By Shea

Gibbs

Re-sil-ience

Renee Branson considered herself a resilient person. She suffered a sexual assault in her late teens but soldiered on. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Ohio State University and a master’s in counseling psychology at the University of Colorado Denver. She built an outwardly happy home life and went into business helping others overcome their own adversity.

But things began to slip. Branson’s first marriage failed. She was inwardly unhappy. Finally, decades after her initial trauma, she realized she was the wrong kind of resilient. She was practicing what she calls “Rocky resilience” in her new book, Resilience Renegade

“I was operating from this place of constantly living with my boxing gloves on. It was self-sabotaging,” Branson says. “I realized there was a different way to operate.”

Branson, who grew up in Ohio but has lived and worked in Charlottesville for the past 14 years, discovered what she now calls “renegade resilience.” Unlike Rocky resilience, renegade resilience is the ability to pick your battles and avoid situations where you’re forced to repeatedly overcome trauma. It’s the ability to listen to your needs and stand up for them. It’s being proactive rather than reactive.

Branson isn’t the only therapist or researcher thinking about resilience. While the concept traditionally falls under the umbrella of psychological constructs like “emotional regulation” and “cognitive flexibility,” and has taken a backseat to buzzword attributes like “grit,” resilience is having its moment. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people are thinking about the ways we bounce back from trauma. And in November, the peer-reviewed journal American Psychologist published a special issue on the topic, “Rethinking Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth,” that “aims to provide a foundation for a new generation of resilience … research.”

Among other things, the journal’s special issue takes on the definition of the term resilience, examining it in the context of community support, systemic societal issues, and the way it’s been studied for decades.

“The general advice I would offer anyone who is thinking about resilience, self control, or other psychological processes is to try to avoid the fundamental attribution error,” says Benjamin Converse, an associate professor of public policy and psychology at the University of Virginia. “That is, we have a general tendency to try to explain people’s behavior by appealing to personality while neglecting the power of social situations.”

Understanding resilience

According to Stefanie Sequeira, an assistant professor of psychology at UVA, people tend to observe others who bounce back from

tragedy and think of them as being intrinsically resilient.

“Resilience is this process of adapting well when we are facing adversity—health problems, natural disasters, relationship problems,” Sequeira says. “Adapting requires flexibility, but that is a skill we can develop. Resilience is not a personality trait.”

Thinking of resilience as something we’re born with can actually do us harm, Sequeira says. The mindset might make people decide they are incapable of adapting to hardship and thriving, or that resilient folks don’t feel things deeply. Sequeira says being resilient doesn’t mean you don’t experience negative

emotions. Indeed, experiencing sadness is critical for resilience.

In the introductory article to the recent special issue of American Psychologist, the editors likewise call resilience “the ability to adapt successfully to adverse events.” The guest editors go on to say that resilience springs from two sources: both the psychological and social resources within individuals and communities.

Bethany Teachman, the UVA psych department’s director of clinical training, says that part of the conversation today is recognizing that individual actors are often less important than the systems making things

difficult for them. In other words, clinicians never put the onus on their patients to solve all their problems or be resilient on their own.

“We want to say, ‘you are trying to navigate the system you are in,’ as opposed to saying, ‘this a weakness in you that you are struggling with,’” Teachman says.

According to Teachman, current events like the COVID pandemic, global wars, and the recent U.S. election make overcoming adversity as ubiquitous as ever in clinical psychology. At the end of the day, clinicians help people navigate the hard things in life, and resilience is key for overcoming challenging emotions, relationships, and situations.

EZE AMOS

Resilience coach Renee Branson encourages renegade resilience—the ability to pick your battles and avoid situations where you’re forced to repeatedly overcome trauma.

Enhancing resilience

If resilience is a systemic phenomenon, anyone—from young people to adults—can grow their resilience. For parents, that might mean giving children the “right scaffolding to work through problems,” Teachman says. At the same time, an overprotective environment can hinder resilience development.

Adults who may have failed to develop the social systems necessary to enhance resilience aren’t stuck. Teachman offers several approaches, such as practicing mindfulness during hard times: gain control of your attention, be aware of what you are focusing on, and recognize that you can change your focus rather than being reactive. “That leads people to develop the acceptance they need,” Teachman says.

Clinicians often use motivational interviewing to overcome trauma. If patients feel unsure about whether or how to make a change, the clinician’s job is to help them recognize their desires, abilities, reasons, and needs. (Teachman suggests remembering the acronym DARN.) Through motivational interviewing, individuals facing adversity can find that they want to make a change and have the ability to make a change, why they should change, and the support they require to make it all happen.

Resilience can also be built on what Teachman calls “behavioral activation,” or recognizing that you are overwhelmed, taking small steps to re-engage, and finding pleasure in small rewards. Cognitive reappraisal is another technique. Say you want to be resilient after being fired from your job. The resilient person focuses on taking action on the opportunity, rather than dwelling on why the hardship happened.

“You want to look at the ways you are withdrawing from a situation or avoiding it and re-engage, even if it is a small step,” Teachman says. “It could be as simple as calling a friend.” Still, it’s difficult to tell yourself simply to change the way you feel, Sequeira says. Folks suffering from anxiety can’t just stop being anxious. Clinicians must therefore find ways to help their patients embrace change, notice “thinking traps,” and avoid catastrophizing. “It can be helpful to think about times you have felt like this before and how you bounced back” from adversity, Sequeira says.

Branson suggests considering what is physically happening to your body in times of stress. If you’re having a difficult interaction with a colleague or loved one, tell yourself that your cortisol levels are high and you can do things to lower them— practice a slow breathing technique, step away from the immediate conversation, or simply take a walk.

Community resilience

Like individuals, communities can be resilient. So, how do you know if you live in a resilient community? Branson says she sees evidence of Charlottesville’s resilience, but she also sees room for improvement. “We could be more brave and more proactive versus reactive,” she says.

Branson has transitioned from a traditional therapy practice to working with law firms and other organizations, including nonprofits, in recent years. In her work, she’s found people throughout the C’ville community who provide the services needed to help people be resilient.

But as it is for individuals, resilience is not a have-it-or-don’t-have-it phenomenon in communities, Branson says. It lies on a continuum.

“One of the things I say in my book is that resilience has several levers,” she says. “We might have times when one lever for resilience is low. For me, after the election, my ability to self-soothe was low. So I am trying to push up the lever on that while also building connections.”

Sequeira points out that research shows loneliness is detrimental to our health, and people are struggling with isolation now more than ever due to remote work and social media. To be more resilient, she says we have to “make social connections, develop relationships, find other people in the community that share the same values as you.” Community groups can not only be a source of support, but they can also give one a sense of purpose.

Parents can help guide the social systems needed to build resilience in their children, Sequeira says. Resilience keys for young people include sticking to a routine, having a sense of control, and meeting small, achievable goals—not to mention sound nutrition, hydration, and sleep.

“Teens want control, they want agency,” Sequeira says. “They are supposed to be departing from their parents and want to feel like they have some control over their environment. So for example, instead of telling teens, ‘you need sleep,’ you might ask them, ‘how are you sleeping and how is that making you feel?’” Taking a break from social media and avoiding behaviors that are “mood congruent,” like listening to sad songs when you’re sad, are also good ideas.

In soliciting articles about resilience, the American Psychologist special issue editors found several recurring themes in the research, including reimagining ways to conceptualize adversity, how we study resilience, and pathways for enhancing resilience. But what emerges most often is how we think about resilience for marginalized communities.

Teachman points out that there are some groups, such as people of color and the LGBTQ+ community, that are repeatedly put

into situations where they face adversity and attack. Those people are more likely to develop psychological issues as a result of trauma, according to Teachman, but they are also among the most likely to develop resilience.

“I think it is a really important group to highlight,” she says. “There are costs to being resilient all the time. We can’t just teach people how to cope and think that will solve all their problems.”

Rethinking resilience

Can a person have too much resilience? Like so many things in clinical psychology, the answer depends on term definition. “You cannot overdose on resilience, but there might be times when you see yourself as a highly resilient person, and that can get in the way,” Sequeira says.

Some of the clients Sequeira has worked with say they feel invalidated by the word resilience. It sounds like an individual-level skill, and they’re turned off by the idea that they just have to cope with all the bad things in their lives.

For her part, Branson doesn’t completely discount Rocky resilience, the ability to take punches and stagger back up. We need Rocky resilience. But for folks in marginalized communities, being resilient becomes too heavy a burden after so many knockdowns.

Renegade resilience, on the other hand, is a long-term solution.

“We have to put ourselves first and nurture our own needs,” Branson says. “When it really started resonating with me, both in my own life as a survivor and working with other survivors, was when I realized resilience is what sustains us.”

So often, we feel like life is about getting past whatever is plaguing us. Maybe it is a severe trauma, or maybe it’s just that ever-present feeling that “as soon as I get through this week, things will slow down.”

Branson says that’s no way to live.

Think about the way the heart works, she suggests. Your heart relies on valves to keep certain things in and other things out. In the world of renegade resilience, those valves are “boundaries and vulnerability.” Our boundaries tell the world what is and what is not okay. Our vulnerability allows us to stay open to social connections and be our authentic selves.

“Renegade resilience is something that we don’t have to wait for; it is something we can start to practice now,” Branson says. “We don’t jump out of a plane, then make sure our parachute is buckled up. Prioritizing ourselves is one of the most generous things we can do.”

EZE AMOS

Bethany Teachman, the UVA psych department’s director of clinical training, says clinicians never put the onus on their patients to solve all their problems or be resilient on their own.

Thinking of resilience as something we’re born with can actually do us harm, says Stefanie Sequeira, an assistant professor of psychology at UVA.

EZE AMOS

THURSDAY 12/12

KING OF KINGS

Break out your bedazzled jumpsuit, it’s time for Christmas with Elvis! Reigning King of Rock and Roll tribute artist Matt Lewis performs holiday hits and other classics from Elvis’ repertoire, including selections from his rockabilly era, the “’68 Comeback Special,” and the Viva Las Vegas years. Backed by the 12-piece Long Live the King Orchestra—aka Charlottesville’s own Big Ray and the Kool Kats—Lewis curls his lips and sways his hips, driving away any thought of a “Blue Christmas.” $24.75–34.75, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

CULTURE

FRIDAY 12/13

ENLIGHTENING ARTWORKS

“Let There Be Light,” the annual outdoor exhibition of light-centered artworks, returns as the days get shorter and the nights get longer. The show features glowing art installations, performances, and an appearance by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ VMFA on the Road—an artmobile showcasing the exhibition “Love, Laughter, Tears: An Artist’s Guide to Emotions.” Visitors are encouraged to bring their own flashlights and enhance the evening by dressing as an enlightened being. In case of inclement weather, the event will be moved to Saturday, December 14. Free, 6–9pm. Piedmont Virginia Community College, V. Earl Dickinson Building, 501 College Dr. pvcc.edu

THURSDAY 12/12

PEOPLE PARTY

With the mission of connecting people and supporting ideas to explore the human experience, Virginia Humanities celebrates half a century with its 50th Birthday Bash, marking a golden anniversary as the commonwealth’s humanities council. Community members are invited to revel in the achievements of the council and enjoy conversations, food, drink, and entertainment with the many partners and friends who have helped Virginia Humanities during its decades of good work. The evening features the Commonwealth’s Humanities proclamation by Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds, remarks by Virginia Humanities’ Executive Director Matthew Gibson, short poetry presentations from Empowered Players led by Jessica Harris, and more. Tickets are required for this free event. 6:30–8:30pm. Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. virginiahumanities.org

Matthew Gibson

CULTURE THIS WEEK

Wednesday 12/11 music

Open Mic Night. Open to all musicians, poets, and everyone in between. Hosted by Nicole Giordano. Free, 9pm. Holly’s Diner, 1221 E. Market St.

The Wavelength. Vintage rock, blues, and original tunes for your mid-week music boost. Free, 6:30pm. The Whiskey Jar, 227 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thewhiskeyjarcville.com

stage

The Wizard of Oz Featuring the catchy musical score from the 1939 classic film, this enchanting RSC stage adaptation sweeps us from the Kansas prairie way up high and over the rainbow. Directed by John Gibson. $29–35, 7:30pm. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. livearts.org

classes

Paint + Sip: Blazing Winter Sunrise. Learn a variety of techniques and skills to render a blazing winter sunrise scene. No experience necessary, one drink included. $45, 6pm. Starr Hill Brewery Tap Room, 5391 Three Notched Rd, Crozet. blueridgebrushes.com etc.

Art Guild. Drop by the Central Teen Zone to make some art. Bring your own project or use the materials on hand to start a new one. Ages 11–18. Free, 4pm. Central Library, 201 E. Market St. jmrl.org

Female Trouble “Crime is beauty” is the mantra in this John Waters classic, as Divine plays an unbalanced woman who bulldozes her way through a lurid life in search of notoriety. $10, 8pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Fiorano’s Karaoke. Sing your heart out at Fiorano’s Karaoke. Easy sign up and a booming sound system. Free, 9pm. Fiorano Restaurant and Bar, 5924 Seminole Trail, Ste. 101, Barboursville. fioranomediterranean.com

Rapture Karaoke. Downtown C’ville’s longest-running karaoke party. Hosted by Jenn Deville. Free, 9pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com

SuperFly Run Club. Run around the city, then enjoy $5 pints. Raffles and exclusive merchandise to be earned. Free, 6pm. SuperFly Brewing Co., 943 Preston Ave. super flybrewing.com

Trivia with Olivia. Olivia and Maggie bring you all your trivia needs. Come prepared to win with a team or meet folks here. First-place winners get a $50 Starr Hill gift card and second-place winners get $25. Free, 7pm. Starr Hill Brewery, Dairy Market. starrhill.com

Thursday 12/12

music

7th Grade Girl Fight. Local pop punk/emo mainstays. With indie-rock-gaze-pop-post-punk band LA Dies, and solo alternative/folk songwriter Charlie Shea. Free, 7pm. SuperFly Brewing Co., 943 Preston Ave. superflybrewing.com

Berto and Vincent. Join Berto and Vincent for a night of wild flamenco rumba and Latin guitar. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com

Christmas with Elvis. Elvis is in the building this Christmas as Matt Lewis takes the stage along with Charlottesville’s own Big Ray and the Kool Kats. $24–34, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

Front Porch Student Band Night. Local Front Porch student bands take the stage for an unforgettable evening of talent, energy, and creativity. Free, 5:30pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesouthern cville.com

Jam with Steve Lanza. Steve hosts a gathering where you are invited to play along. Free, 8pm. Fiorano Restaurant and Bar, 5924 Seminole Trail, Ste. 101, Barboursville. fioranomediterranean.com

Matthew O’Donnell. The Blue Ridge Bard is a cornerstone of the C’ville music scene. Free, 7:30pm. The Whiskey Jar, 227 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thewhiskeyjarcville.com

Stephen Wilson Jr. Singer-songwriter from Southern Indiana. Self-described as “Death Cab For Country,” Wilson Jr. draws from indie rock, grunge, and country to create his distinct sound. $25–30, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com

UVA Jazz Ensemble. Classic repertoire from across the spectrum of jazz history, jazz arrangements of music from diverse genres, and original compositions and arrangements by the students and director John D’Earth. Free, 7:30pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com

stage

The Wizard of Oz See listing for Wednesday, December 11. $29–35, 7:30pm. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. livearts.org classes

Art and Mingle Meet Up. An evening of art, conversation, and new connections designed to help you expand your social circle and unleash your creativity. This month’s prompt is pastel portraits. $20, 7pm. Pikasso Swig Craft Bar, 333 Second St. SE. pikassoswig.com

Swirly Ornament Workshop. Learn how to wrap a small ring for circular weaving as well as a fun swirly technique called twill weave from artist Emily Nicolaides. All materials included, plus a glass of wine or pot of tea. $50, 7:30pm. Ethos Wine & Tea, 817 W. Main St. ethoswineandtea.com

Wreath Making Class. Head for the hills and enjoy an evening with Rachel from The Watering Can as we learn to make gorgeous holiday wreaths. Take home your amazing creation just in time for the holidays. $45, 5:30pm. Hardware Hills Vineyard, 5199 W. River Rd., Scottsville. hardwarehills.com etc.

Bent Theatre Improv. A hilarious evening of improv comedy where you make the show by making suggestions for the players to act out. Free, 7pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com

Daft Punk & Leiji Matsumoto’s Interstella 5555 A rare chance to experience this animated science-fiction tale on the big screen. The film will be immediately followed by a curated selection of iconic Daft Punk videos. $15, 7pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Dart Night. Weekly luck-of-the-draw double-elimination games. Throwers get $1-off pints during play. Free, 6pm. Decipher Brewing, 1740 Broadway St.

Virginia Humanities’ 50th Birthday Bash. A community celebration marking 50 years of achievement as Virginia’s humanities council. Enjoy showcases of our history and the arts and culture we’ve supported. Free, 6:30pm. Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. virginiahumanities.org

Vineyard Puzzle Hunt. Like an escape room but at a winery. Crack codes and unravel riddles while sampling Charlottesville’s best wine, beer, and cider. Play when you want and go at your own pace. $15, available noon–8pm. Please confirm Eastwood Winery and Potter’s Cider hours beforehand. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. puzzledbee.com

Friday 12/13 music

Ali Webb & Friends for the Holidays. A blend of jazz, humor, and storytelling exploring life’s highs and lows with original songs and jazz classics. $10, 7pm. Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. batesville market.com

A Renaissance Christmas. Zephyrus’s annual almost carol-free Christmas concert, featuring music by high Renaissance composers Prez, Palestrina, Lassus, and Victoria. $5–20, 7:30pm. St. Paul’s Memorial Church, 1700 University Ave. stpauls memorialchurch.org

John Kelly. Singer-songwriter with more than two decades of solo acoustic performing experience. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwood farmandwinery.com

Josh Mayo. Masterfully done originals and covers. Free, 6pm. Högwaller Brewing, 1518 E. High St. hogwallerbrewing.com

Matthew O’Donnell. A lively night of traditional pub music, incredible covers, and an all-around good time. Free, 6pm. Starr Hill Downtown, 946 Grady Ave., Ste. 101. starrhill.com

National Public Rodeo. Original Americana music from Richmond featuring tight harmonies, pedal steel, and heartfelt songs. Free, 8pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellyscville.com

Pinkish Album Release Party. Charlottesville-based indie band with punk, emo, and pop sensibilities celebrates the release of its new album. With 7th Grade Girl Fight. Free, 10pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com

Scuffletown. The acoustic duo of John Whitlow on harmonica, accordion, and vocals, and Marc Carraway on guitar and vocals performs a unique blend of roots, jazz, world, bluegrass, and original music. Free, 6pm. Chisholm Vineyards at Adventure Farm, 1135 Clan Chisholm Ln., Earlysville. chisholmvineyards.com

The Wavelength. Dance the night away with The Wavelength, with special guest Dan Barrale on drums and vocals. Vintage rock and jazzy blues vibrations. Free, 6pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com

The Wilson Springs Hotel. Genre-defying music sprung from folk, rock ‘n’ roll, and classic country. With Holler Choir. $14–18, 8pm. The Southern Cafe & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com

stage

Coney Island Christmas Pulitzer Prize-winner Donald Margulies weaves together nostalgia, music, and merriment in this seasonal story. A holiday show for people of all ages and all faiths. $10–20, 8pm. Four County Players, 5256 Governor Barbour St., Barboursville. fourcp.org

The Wizard of Oz See listing for Wednesday, December 11. $29–35, 8pm. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. livearts.org

dance

Birth-Tay Par-Tay Dance Party. Swifties unite to dance like we’re made of starlight, and celebrate our favorite artist together. Ages 18+. $15–22, 9pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jefferson theater.com

Boot Scoot Square Dance Party. Dust off those boots for an evening of beginner-friendly square dancing. Big Silo plays driving oldtime favorites to help you move to the music. All ages and levels welcome. Free, 5:30pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com

etc.

Brewery Puzzle Hunt. This puzzle crawl takes you to the breweries on Preston Avenue. Crack codes, solve puzzles, and enjoy some of Charlottesville’s best beers along the way. $18, all day. Starr Hill Brewery, Dairy Market. puzzledbee.com

Fiorano’s Karaoke. See listing for Wednesday, December 11. Free, 9pm. Fiorano Restaurant and Bar, 5924 Seminole Trail, Ste. 101, Barboursville. fioranomediterranean.com

Holiday Evening Tours. Join us for the rare opportunity to experience Monticello after dark, decorated with the style of holiday greenery found during Jefferson’s era. $99, 5–7 p.m. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. home. monticello.org

Let There Be Light. PVCC’s 16th annual outdoor exhibition of light-centered artworks features the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Artmobile traveling gallery, glowing art installations, performances, and more. Free, 6pm. Piedmont Virginia Community College, V. Earl Dickinson Building, 501 College Dr. pvcc.edu

The Nightmare Before Christmas Tim Burton’s fearful and festive love story comes to the cidery cinema. Admission includes popcorn. $10, 6pm. Albemarle CiderWorks, 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden. albemarle ciderworks.com

Trivia with Olivia. Get the weekend started. Prizes to be won and fun to be had. Free, 6–8pm. SuperFly Brewing Co., 943 Preston Ave. superflybrewing.com

Veritas Illuminated. Back for our third season, we are continuing the tradition of our dazzling walking light trail winding through the Veritas grove and vines. $10–15, 5:30pm. Veritas Vineyards and Winery, 151 Veritas Lane, Afton. veritaswines.com

Vineyard Puzzle Hunt. See listing for Thursday, December 12. $15, available noon–8pm. Please confirm Eastwood Winery and Potter’s Cider hours beforehand. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. puzzledbee.com

Saturday 12/14 music

A Holiday in Jazz. Join us for an hour of jazzy holiday songs and some sing-along carols. Free, 7pm. Crozet Baptist Church, 5804 Saint George Ave., Crozet. crozet chorus.org

A Renaissance Christmas. Zephyrus’s annual almost carol-free Christmas concert, featuring music by high Renaissance composers Prez, Palestrina, Lassus, and Victoria. $5–20, 4pm. Trinity Episcopal Church, 1118 Preston Ave. trinityepiscopalcville.org

Andrew Marlin Stringband. American roots music from a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. $25, 8pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com

Berto Sales. Come enjoy the sounds of Brazil, Spain, and Latin America with Berto Sales. His unique fingerpicking style and contagious energy will have you tapping your feet. Free, 11am. Tavern & Grocery, 333 W. Main St. tavernandgrocery.com

Blue Healer. Classic rock and blues—plus some of the good stuff found in between— served with a side of jam. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com

Brookhouse. Brookhouse mixes rock, Latin jazz, and Americana in a way that only the son of a Cuban-American and a lifelong Virginian could. Opener Paxton Henderson plays his signature Appalachian surf sound. Free, 8pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellyscville.com

Cherry Red. This Rolling Stones tribute band plays all Stones, all the time. Free, 7pm. Pro Re Nata Brewpub & Music Hall, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpk., Crozet. prnbrewery.com

Jimmy O. Music in the mountains from a guitarist with a unique style made up of classic rock, oldies, and rockin’ country. Free, 2pm. DuCard Vineyards, 40 Gibson Hollow Ln., Etlan. ducardvineyards.com

Porch Dogs. A variety of music from mellow to rocking. Pop, rock, Americana, soul, country, and oldies—these dogs do it all. Free, 1pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com

Stanley Jordan. Guitar virtuoso displays a chameleonic musical persona of openness, imagination, versatility, and maverick daring. With old school C’ville jam band Indecision. $20–25, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jefferson theater.com

Tommy Emmanuel, CGP. His fans are in love with his unbounded talent as a guitarist of multitudes, his ability to play three parts at once, always with pure heart and real soul. With special guests The String Revolution. $37–224, 8pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

dance

Step Into the Story: The Nutcracker Enjoy a 30-minute relaxed sensory show featuring beloved selections from The Nutcracker from Albemarle Ballet Theatre. Learn steps from the ballet, hold real pointe shoes, and meet the dancers. $10, 3pm and 5pm. Albemarle Ballet Theatre, 5798 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. aballet.org

Holiday Ballroom Dance. Class for this month is American rumba, taught by Taylor Moore. Beginners welcome. No partner required. Come for the class and stay for the social dance. Festive attire encouraged. $5–10, 7pm. The Center at Belvedere, 540 Belvedere Blvd. thecentercville.org

stage

Coney Island Christmas See listing for Friday, December 13. $10–20, 8pm. Four County Players, 5256 Governor Barbour St., Barboursville. fourcp.org

The Wizard of Oz See listing for Wednesday, December 11. $29–35, 8pm. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. livearts.org

classes

Mending Workshop. Learn some simple clothing repair techniques such as fixing a hem, sewing on a button, repairing split seams, patching holes, and replacing elastic. Ages 15+. $15, 10am. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com etc.

10th Annual Wassail. Get ready for a day and night filled with live music, mulled cider, fire pits, sing-alongs, and more. $12–15, noon–9pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com

Brewery Puzzle Hunt. See listing for Friday, December 13. $18, all day. Starr Hill Brewery, Dairy Market. puzzledbee.com

Downtown Holiday Express. Take a merry trip around downtown to enjoy the festive sights. Pick up and drop off next to the fountain at Central Place. You may even spot one of Santa’s hiding elves. Free, 10am. Downtown Mall. friendsofcville.org

Elf Movie Party. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear—at our interactive movie party. $13, noon. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

CULTURE FEEDBACK

Even closer to fine Indigo Girls remain steadfast in melody and activism

By Alan Sculley

Most musicians found their activities curtailed during the pandemic. For the Indigo Girls, the COVID-19 years were a particularly creative time, resulting in a proliferation of current projects.

The duo—Emily Saliers and Amy Ray— recently released a concert film, Look Long: Together, they’re the subject of a new documentary It’s Only Life After All, and they’ve had their music reinvented for the movie Glitter & Doom. Saliers composed music for two stage musicals and Ray released a solo album, If It All Goes South. But it’s the Barbie-effect—from Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster movie featuring the Indigo Girls’ hit song “Closer to Fine”—that finds them playing their biggest venues in years.

It’s quite a schedule, even for an act like the Indigo Girls, who have been consistently active since releasing their first album Strange Fire in 1987. Most bands that debuted around that time—if they’re still together—make albums occasionally (if at all) and are considered heritage acts. That’s not the Indigo Girls.

“We still feel like we are a working band,” says Saliers by phone. “We tour and we make albums and we work, and that feels good.”

This latest spate of activity came on the heels of Look Long, the Indigo Girls’ 16th studio album, recorded pre-pandemic, and released in May 2020. A stirring effort, the record not only features the highly melodic folk-pop that has been the Indigo Girls’ signature on songs like “When We Were Writers,” “Look Long,” and “Sorrow And Joy,” it branches out on rhythmically creative songs that touch on hip-hop (“Shit Kickin’”), Caribbean music (“Howl At The Moon”), and catchy upbeat rockers (“Change My Heart” and “K.C. Girl”).

By the time Look Long was released, the pandemic had scuttled plans for a tour to support the album. Saliers and Ray played some dates in 2022 with violinist Lyris Hung, and then in 2023 returned to performing with a full band. Saliers says in both formats she and Ray play a few songs from the latest album, along with a generous selection of back catalog material.

“Some people like the band and some people like us acoustic or just stripped down,” Saliers said. “We just haven’t had the opportunity to tour with the band because of COVID and we really miss that. So it was good to put out the streaming concert, and it will be great to get back with the band.”

Look Long: Together is a unique concert special that features performances of a career-spanning set of songs (some of which include appearances by guests Becky Warren, Tomi Martin, Trina Meade, and Lucy Wainwright Roche), combined with commentary segments about the songs from Saliers and Ray. Because of the pandemic,

the two had to weave together performances from several separate film shoots to create full-band live versions of songs, and extensive editing was needed to create the finished product.

“Amy and I spent hours and hours watching it come together, making suggestions, ‘Let’s do a split screen here,’ ‘The lighting needs to be fixed here,’ ‘This camera angle is no good, let’s use this shot,’ all these meticulous choices you have to make,” says Saliers. “In the end, we worked so hard on it, we were actually a little discouraged at the 11th hour. And then watched it and were really pleased with it.”

The year and a half of working on the livestream took up some of the pandemic-forced downtime. Saliers also spent considerable time working on stage musicals that have expanded her range as a songwriter.

One thing Saliers says she has not done recently is write for another Indigo Girls album. The inspiration is building for Saliers and Ray, who have long used their musical platform to support a variety of social causes, including LBGTQ+ issues, Native American rights, immigration reform, and climate change. What’s top of mind is the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

Like many pro-choice advocates, Saliers didn’t think Roe v. Wade would be overturned and was appalled at the demise of legal access to abortion, which had been established law for decades.

“But the truth is there has been a concerted effort [to overturn Roe],” says Saliers, noting that conservative politicians and activists and certain parts of the evangelical community are among those who have mounted a strategic plan to target Roe and other progressive issues. “It’s been going on a long time. So while the thought before was shocking, it’s easy to understand how we’ve come to this place.”

Following the recent election, Saliers and Ray plan to be active in efforts to restore abortion rights, preserve gay rights, and back politicians who support progressive causes.

“As gay person who’s married, I’m like, ‘Is this my country?’ And that’s like a big question to ask,” says Saliers. “I understand the complexities of history and how things, the pendulum swings and reactions, I understand that. But when it affects people’s lives— and there’s this huge disconnect between this small group of zealots making decisions because they’re so removed from the reality of people’s lives—it’s a lot to take in and a lot to live with and a lot to manage.”

Indigo Girls perform at The Paramount Theater on December 15.

SUPPLIED PHOTO

CULTURE THIS WEEK

Saturday 12/14

Holiday Artisan Market. Stroll the grounds and shop local from artisans and makers offering a variety of handmade goods and crafted gifts. Free, noon. Tasting Room and Taphouse at Mount Ida Reserve, 5600 Moonlight Dr., Scottsville. mountidareserve.com

Holiday Market. Discover unique gifts from local artisans and vendors and enjoy the sounds of the season with live music throughout the day. Free, noon. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. east woodfarmandwinery.com

Holly Days at Highland. A morning of home crafts and holiday cheer. Create felted ornaments, seasonal centerpieces, and historic toys, along with holiday readings and coloring activities. $6, 10am. James Monroe’s Highland, 2050 James Monroe Pkwy. highland.org

Potters’ Market. Celebrate Charlottesville ceramics with us. Support local artists, see live wheel demos, and find the perfect gift for your loved one. Free, noon. Morehouse Studio, 1575 Avon St. Ext. morehouse.studio

Storytime. Featuring readings from recent storybooks and the classics kids know and love. Rain or shine. All ages welcome. Free, 11am. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. newdominion bookshop.com

Veritas Illuminated. See listing for Friday, December 13. $10–15, 5:30pm. Veritas Vineyards and Winery, 151 Veritas Ln., Afton. veritaswines.com

Vineyard Puzzle Hunt. See listing for Thursday, December 12. $15, available noon–8pm. Please confirm Eastwood Winery and Potter’s Cider hours beforehand. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. puzzledbee.com

Sunday 12/15 music

An Lár Traditional Irish Band. An afternoon of traditional Irish music featuring fast-paced jigs and reels, lyrical waltzes and melancholy airs, and folk ballads of love and adventure. Free, 2pm. Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. batesvillemarket.com

and make it even more special by bringing pies to share with everyone. Free, 2pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com

Songwriter Showcase. Featuring talented performers from our weekly open mic nights. Hosted by Theocles Herrin. $10, 6pm. The Southern Cafe & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com

Vincent Zorn. Join Vincent on the veranda for vibrant Latin guitar tunes. Free, noon. Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards, 5022 Plank Rd., North Garden. pippinhillfarm.com dance

Step Into the Story: The Nutcracker See listing for Saturday, December 14. $10, 2pm and 4pm. Albemarle Ballet Theatre, 5798 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. aballet.org

stage

Coney Island Christmas See listing for Friday, December 13. $10–20, 2:30pm. Four County Players, 5256 Governor Barbour St., Barboursville. fourcp.org

The Wizard of Oz See listing for Wednesday, December 11. $29–35, 2pm. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. livearts.org classes

Collage-A-Card. Get sentimental and make a one-of-a-kind greeting card with local artist, writer, and patient advocate, Jess Walters. Masks are encouraged for this workshop. Ages 15+. $10, 3pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com etc.

Brewery Puzzle Hunt. See listing for Friday, December 13. $18, all day. Starr Hill Brewery, Dairy Market. puzzledbee.com

Elf Movie Party. See listing for Saturday, December 14. $13, 2:15pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. draft house.com

It’s a Wonderful Life James Stewart gets a glimpse of what the world would be like if he had never been born in Frank Capra’s unforgettable fable. $10, 10am. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. draft house.com

Joan M Carlson

Indigo Girls. Over a 35-year career, the multi-Grammy-winning duo of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray have built a dedicated following across the globe. $50–100, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

Jazz Jam. Join a rotating crew of local, regional, and national jazz musicians inviting guests to “join the jam.” Free, 6pm. Miller’s Downtown, 109 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. millersdowntown.com

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation It’s the gift that keeps on giving, Clark. Enjoy the ride at this movie party with yuletide props like pine tree air fresheners, yellow glow sticks, and ugly neckties. $13, 8pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Santa is Coming. Join us for a special visit from Santa and take your own photos with jolly ol’ St. Nick. Free, noon. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com

Joan

Joan M Carlson Financial Advisor

1010 Ednam Center Suite 102 Charlottesville, VA 22903 434-984-0345

1010 Ednam Center Suite

Charlottesville, VA 22903 434-984-0345

Janasha Bradford

1010 Ednam Center Suite 102 Charlottesville, VA 22903 434-984-0345

Jelly Street Jazz. At the crossroads of lowdown dirty blues, straight-ahead ballads, and hard-swinging jazz, each performance is a smokin’ hot trip. Free, 2:30pm. Albemarle CiderWorks, 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden. albemarleciderworks.com

Jim Waive. Cool alt-country in a style so achingly pure, it will break your heart and make you fall in love all over again. Free, 1pm. Chisholm Vineyards at Adventure Farm, 1135 Clan Chisholm Ln., Earlysville. chisholmvineyards.com

Michael Johnson. Dinner as usual with some live music. Johnson has been playing country, worship, rock, and a range of music for the last 20 years. Free, 1pm. Fiorano Restaurant and Bar, 5924 Seminole Trail, Ste. 101, Barboursville. fioranomediterranean.com

Mojo Sweet Potato Pie Christmas Singalong & Pie Share. Join the merriment and sing along to your favorite holiday tunes,

Veritas Illuminated. See listing for Friday, December 13. $10–15, 5:30pm. Veritas Vineyards and Winery, 151 Veritas Lane, Afton. veritaswines.com

Vineyard Puzzle Hunt. See listing for Thursday, December 12. $15, available noon–8pm. Please confirm Eastwood Winery and Potter’s Cider hours beforehand. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com

Monday 12/16 music

DG3. Gin and jazz series welcomes trio playing modern takes on classics and standards. Free, 5:30pm. Oakhurst Inn, 100 Oakhurst Cir. oakhurstinn.com

in the dance floor area of the bar. Come feel the heat and move. Free, 9pm. Fiorano Restaurant and Bar, 5924 Seminole Trail, Ste. 101, Barboursville. fioranomediterranean.com

classes

Secret Society of Tinkerers. Join us in the Central Maker Lab after it closes as we build, craft, or code a new project each month. All materials provided. Registration required. Ages 11–18. Free, 4:30pm. Central Library, 201 E. Market St. jmrl.org

etc.

Elf Movie Party. See listing for Saturday, December 14. $13, 7pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Game Night. Meet up with others at the brewery, play a game, and have a chance to win prizes. Bring your favorite games from home. All board, card, puzzle games, and ages welcome. Free, 5pm. Starr Hill Brewery, Dairy Market. starrhill.com

Geeks Who Drink Trivia. Seven rounds of audio, visual, and live trivia for teams of up to six with prizes for answering bonus questions and gift cards for top teams. Hosted by Audrey. Free, 6:30pm. Decipher Brewing, 1740 Broadway St.

Trivia Night. Hosted by Geeks Who Drink. Six players max per team. Free, 7pm. Selvedge Brewing, 2415 Ivy Rd., Ste. 190. selvedgebrewing.com

Trivia on Tap. Five rounds of themed trivia for teams of up to six competitors. Hosted by Olivia. Reservations recommended. Free, 7pm. Three Notch’d Craft Kitchen & Brewery - Charlottesville, 520 Second St. SE. threenotchdbrewing.com

Tuesday 12/17

music

Vincent Zorn. Vincent Zorn performs solo wild flamenco rumba. Must say “olé!” Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com

words

Pursuits of Knowledge. Connect with authors and hear how they engage the past in the present through genres of biography, political history, and young adult fiction. $10–30, 6pm. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. home.monticello.org

classes

Paint + Sip: Merry + Bright. Learn a variety of techniques and skills to render a merry and bright scene. No experience necessary. One drink included. $45, 6pm. Ellie’s Country Club, 16 Elliewood Ave. blueridgebrushes.com

etc.

Black Christmas Sorority sisters face stalking, obscene phone calls, and deadly games of hide and seek in this cult classic. $10, 8pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Charlottesville Run Club. Meet at Decipher, do a 5K run, then drink beer. $1-off pints for runners every Tuesday. Free, 6pm. Decipher Brewing, 1740 Broadway St. Geeks Who Drink Trivia. Good trivia, good times. Free, 7pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com

Music Bingo. SuperFly Music Bingo is back and better than ever. Unique playlists and prizes to be won. Free, 7–9pm. SuperFly Brewing Co., 943 Preston Ave. superflybrewing.com

Poker Night. Test your luck and skill at our hold ’em poker night. Free, 7pm. Fiorano Restaurant and Bar, 5924 Seminole Trail, Ste. 101, Barboursville. fioranomediterranean.com

CULTURE TRIED IT IN C'VILLE

The sport of queens

A delightful side effect of writing this column is that people in my life now give me ideas based on their bucket lists and more obscure interests. When a friend said she’d always wanted to try falconry and asked if I would join her, “Heck yeah!” was my nigh-instant response.

Like many wheezy, middle-aged folks, the pandemic afforded me time to become emotionally invested in the birds frequenting the feeders on my deck—to the extent that I intervened when a hawk was trying to make off with one of my mourning dove friends.

In my youth, the 1982 cult classic The Beastmaster tickled my imagination. I longed to have similar furry and feathered friends, like Dar’s slippery-pawed ferrets Kodo and Podo and his majestic eagle Sharak, whose eyes he could see through. At every ren faire and theme park my family visited, the raptor shows were a must. This is all to say I’ve always been enthralled by birds of prey yet never knew much about them, until now. Kristie Smeltzer

What

The Falconry Experience at Boar’s Head.

Why

Birds of prey are very cool.

How it went

While one can’t literally learn to fly by simply touching a falcon, figuratively I floated home.

At the Boar’s Head Outfitters desk, we met our falconer. He gave us each a falcon glove and bottled water before we headed out. In hindsight, I wish I’d left the water behind. Yes, I drank it. Yes, hydration is essential, but I’m a Gen Xer (therefore, part camel), and can make it an hour-anda-half without needing water. What I found myself wanting during the experience was free hands for bird-holding or picture-taking.

As we walked to the falcon house (obvi not the technical term), our guide provided info about American falconry and regaled us with stories about the Boar’s Head’s falcons, Wily and Goldie. Mischievous Wily (think Wile E. Coyote vibes), an African auger buzzard, would be our companion for the experience. Falconry includes different types of birds of prey, such as falcons, hawks, and others, like our buzzard Wily, who is more akin to a red-tailed hawk. After collecting Wily from his abode, we walked to a picturesque spot near a pond where our falconer showed us what Wily can do.

Tempted by bits of unhatched chicks still dripping with yolk (yes, the visuals still haunt my dreams and inspire the urge to rewash my hands to avoid salmonella), Wily flew back and forth between the falconer’s glove and nearby trees. Our guide explained that it’s the food that motivates the birds, not a relationship with the handler, and that one must walk a careful line when feeding Wily to avoid him getting “fed up.” If a falcon gets full, the bird is not motivated to go back to the handler.

Soon our falconer invited us to hold Wily on our gloved wrists, after he tempted him to join us with more chicken. Even though we’d been awestruck by the beating of Wily’s wings as he flew over and around us, noth-

ing prepared me for the rush of him alighting on my outstretched arm. Falcons pack a lot of awesome power per inch, weighing in at just a couple pounds though they have about 200 PSI grip strength in their talons. It felt humbling for Wily to hold onto my arm. At one point, he did his bat impression, dangling from my arm inverted.

As I looked to our falcon whisperer for instructions, Wily let go and toppled unceremoniously onto the dirt. Let me tell you, falcons’ extraordinary vision extends to giving superior side-eye. Despite my faux

pas, my friend and I must have passed the vibe test, because our falconer commented that Wily spent a lot of time with us during our experience.

Even though we’d been awestruck by the beating of Wily’s wings as he flew over and around us, nothing prepared me for the rush of him alighting on my outstretched arm.

Boar’s Head falconry experiences with Goldie and Wily (above) are offered daily and require a reservation.

SUDOKU

Complete the grid so that every row, column, and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

#1

#3

Centers

BY MATT JONES

ACROSS

1. “Midnite Vultures” musician

5. False witness

9. PPO alternative

12. Biodiversity sci.

13. Taj Mahal city

14. Kinder chocolate biscuit bar

16. NYC mayor Ed Koch’s greeting (or just a question of evalution)

18. “Rags-to-riches” author Horatio

19. Hoppy concoction

20. Western Nevada body of water with distinctive rock structures sticking out

22. Vice ___

24. Pitcher’s asset

25. Indian lentil dish

26. In ___ (basically)

27. X in the Greek alphabet

30. Those running leisurely

32. Slow the progress of

35. The “V” in CV

36. CBS panel show hosted by Taylor Tomlinson

39. Book with routes

40. Shetlands, e.g

41. Endocrinologist’s concerns

43. Racing driver Verstappen

44. Petty squabble

48. Gobble up

49. Wanted poster abbr.

51. Overwhelmingly

52. Dale Earnhardt, Sr nickname, with “The”

57. Yucatan yell

58. “Goosebumps” author R. L.

59. Centers represented by the circled letters

61. Grades

62. “___ least consider the possibility”

63. “30 Rock” costar Baldwin

64. “Excitebike” gaming platform

65. Faucets

66. Neighbor of Cygnus and Draco

DOWN

1. Act properly

2. French academies

3. Shrinks in fear

4. Dutch airline that’s three letters in a row

5. “A Black ___ Sketch Show”

6. “Frankenstein” assistant

7. Opera highlight

8. “___ 1/2” (classic manga)

9. Ship bottom

10. Dave Mustaine thrash metal band

11. Basic gold unit

14. Basis for an “MST3K” episode, generally

15. Vague caveat

17. Linguist’s notation system, for short

21. Non-virtual, for short

23. Vegan food also called “wheat gluten”

27. Lifeguard training subj.

28. Burlap base

29. Take the cake, for example

31. Complete mess

33. “___ et messieurs ...”

34. Mrs. Garrett on “The Facts of Life”

36. Like Chris Tucker and Ed Helms, by birth

37. Reason to pull over

38. Overrule

39. Type of hiring discrimination

42. Winter Olympics item

45. “We can hope!”

46. Move unsteadily

47. Coke-owned citrus soft drink

50. Take the blame for

51. Word following tech or crypto

53. Tattoo parlor stock

54. Opera set near the Nile

55. Letters on a vaccine for whooping cough (among other things)

56. Chooses (to)

60. Consequent ending?

#5

Tuesday - Thursday, 4:30-9:00, Friday & Saturday

Saturday & Sunday Brunch 11:00-2:00

Live Jazz Every Thursday, 6:30-8:30

Unique Preparations of Classic Italian & Southern Food with Unmatched Hospitality

Proudly including Vegetarian, Vegan & Gluten-Free Selections

Born In Charlottesville, Raised in the Valley Since March 2024

Tuesday - Thursday, 4:30-9:00, Friday & Saturday 4:30-9:30

Saturday & Sunday Brunch 11:00-2:00

Live Jazz Every Thursday, 6:30-8:30

By Rob Brezsny

Capricorn

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): One of my paramount wishes for you in 2025 is this: You will deepen your devotion to taking good care of yourself. You will study and learn more about the sweet secrets to keeping yourself in prime mental and physical health. I’m not suggesting you have been remiss about this sacred work in the past. But I am saying that this will be a favorable time to boost your knowledge to new heights about what precisely keeps your body and emotions in top shape. The creative repertoire of self-care that you cultivate in the coming months will serve you well for the rest of your long life.

Aquarius

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): To fulfill your life mission, to do what you came here to earth to do, you must carry out many tasks. One of the most important is to offer your love with hearty ingenuity. What are the best ways to do that? Where should you direct your generous care and compassion? And which recipients of your blessings are likely to reciprocate in ways that are meaningful to you? While Jupiter is cruising through Gemini, as it is now and until June 2025, life will send you rich and useful answers to these questions. Be alert!

Pisces

(Feb. 19-March 20): Mysteries of the past will be extra responsive to your investigations in 2025. Persistent riddles from your life’s earlier years may be solvable. I encourage you to be aggressive in collecting previously inaccessible legacies. Track down missing heirlooms and family secrets. Just assume that ancestors and dead relatives have more to offer you than ever before. If you have been curious about your genealogy, the coming months will be a good time to explore it. I wish you happy hunting as you search for the blessings of yesteryear—and figure out how use them in the present.

Aries

(March 21-April 19): If you worked eight hours per day, seven days a week, it would take you 300 years to count to the number 1 billion. I don’t recommend you try that. I also discourage you from pursuing any other trivial tasks that have zero power to advance your long-term dreams. In a sim-

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Sagittarius

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): What is the perfect gift I could offer you this holiday season? I have decided on a large square black box with nothing inside. There would be a gold ribbon around it bearing the words, The Fruitful Treasure of Pregnant Emptiness. With this mysterious blessing, I would be fondly urging you to purge your soul of expectations and assumptions as you cruise into 2025. I would be giving you the message, May you nurture a freewheeling voracity for novel adventures and fresh experiences.

ilar spirit, I will ask you to phase out minor longings that distract you from your major longings. Please, Aries, I also beg you to shed frivolous obsessions that waste energy you should instead devote to passionate fascinations. The counsel I’m offering here is always applicable, of course, but you especially need to heed it in the coming months.

Taurus

(April 20-May 20): In 1951, minister and author Norman Vincent Peale was working on a new book. As he wrote, he would regularly read passages to his wife, Ruth. She liked it a lot, but he was far less confident in its worth. After a while, he got so discouraged he threw the manuscript in the trash. Unbeknownst to him, Ruth retrieved it and stealthily showed it to her husband’s publisher, who loved it. The book went on to sell 5 million copies. Its title? The Power of Positive Thinking. I hope that in 2025, you will benefit from at least one equivalent to Ruth in your life, Taurus. Two or three would be even better. You need big boosters and fervent supporters. If you don’t have any, go round them up.

Gemini

(May 21-June 20): I love how colorfully the creek next to my house expresses itself. As high tide approaches, it flows south. When low tide is on its way, it flows north. The variety of its colors is infinite, with every shade and blend of green, gray, blue, and brown. It’s never the same shape. Its curves and width are constantly shifting. Among the birds that enhance its beauty are mallards, sandpipers, herons, grebes, egrets, and cormorants. This magnificent body of water has been a fascinating and delightful teacher for me. One of my wishes for you in 2025, Gemini, is that you will commune regularly with equally inspiring phenomena. I also predict you will do just that. Extra beauty should be on your agenda!

Cancer

(June 21-July 22): Just 81 billionaires have commandeered half of the world’s wealth. Even worse, those greedy hoarders are usually taxed the least. That’s hard to believe! How is it even possible that such a travesty has come to pass? I also wonder if many of us non-billionaires have milder versions of these proclivities. Are there a few parts of me that get most of the goodies that my life provides, while other parts of me get scant attention and nourishment? The answer is yes. For example, the part of me that loves to be a creative artist receives much of my enthusiasm, while the part of me that enjoys socializing gets little juice. How about you, Cancerian? I suggest you explore this theme in the coming weeks and months. Take steps to achieve greater parity between the parts of you that get all they need and the parts of you that don’t.

Leo

(July 23-Aug. 22): Anthropologist Robin Dunbar theorizes that most of us have limits to our social connections. Typically, our closest circle includes five loved ones. We may also have 15 good friends, 50 fond allies, 150 meaningful contacts, and 1,500 people we know. If you are interested in expanding any of these spheres, Leo, the coming months will be an excellent time to do so. In addition, or as an alternative, you might also choose to focus on deepening the relationships you have with existing companions and confederates.

Virgo

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century. It was written by a Virgo, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her story about the enslavement of African Americans in the U.S. was not only popular, it also awakened many people to the intimate horrors of the calamity—and ultimately played a key role in energizing

the abolitionist movement. I believe you are potentially capable of achieving your own version of that dual success in the coming months. You could generate accomplishments that are personally gratifying even as they perform a good service for the world.

Libra

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22): According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will be teased with an abundance of invitations to grow in 2025. You will be encouraged to add to your current skills and expertise. You will be nudged to expand your understanding of what exactly you are doing here on planet Earth. That’s not all, Libra! You will be pushed to dissolve shrunken expectations, transcend limitations, and learn many new lessons. Here’s my question: Will you respond with full heart and open mind to all these possibilities? Or will you sometimes neglect and avoid them? I dare you to embrace every challenge that interests you.

Scorpio

(Oct. 23-Nov.21): Scorpio-born Rudolf Karel was a 20th-century Czech composer who created 17 major works, including symphonies and operas. His work was interrupted when Nazi Germany invaded and occupied his homeland. He joined the Czech resistance, but was eventually arrested and confined to Pankrác Prison. There he managed to compose a fairy-tale opera, Three Hairs of the Wise Old Man. No musical instruments were available in jail, of course, so he worked entirely in his imagination and wrote down the score using toilet paper and charcoal. I firmly believe you will not be incarcerated like Karel in the coming months, Scorpio. But you may have to be extra resourceful and resilient as you find ways to carry out your best work. I have faith that you can do it!

Expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text message horoscopes: RealAstrology.com, (877) 873-4888

CLASSIFIEDS

Public Notice: Lost Passport

I, AAREEA, resident of Charlottesville, hereby inform that my passport, bearing number A13850691, issued on August 15, 2018 by the Republic of Iraq, has been lost on November 27, 2024. The loss occurred while cycling on the Seminole Trail sidewalk. If found, please contact me at 434-882-8786 or via email at kamalaria6@gmail.com.

Cat Socializers

SPCA Rummage Store

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.

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!