Country Spirit Magazine Winter 2019

Piedmont Media, LLC

Winter 2019

The Future iS Now WITH ANNIE BISHOP, CAROLINE FOUT, FLETCHER SLATER AND NATE CHAMBERS

InSide:

Celebrating Black History Month Dinner For Two With Emily A Versatile Music Man

Fidelio

Mount Gordon Farm

Spring Glade

The Plains, Virginia • $9,500,000

The Plains, Virginia • $8,900,000

Middleburg, Virginia • $3,900,000

Prime Fauquier County location minutes from Middleburg • Unbelievable finishes throughout • Antique floors and mantels, vaulted ceilings • 6 bedrooms, 5 full, 2 half baths • 6 fireplaces, gourmet kitchen • Improvements include office/studio, stone cottage with office, spa, guest house, pool and lighted tennis court • Landscaped grounds with stream, waterfalls, boxwood and special plantings • 61 acres Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

128 acres and immaculate 3 level, 13,000+ sq ft stone & shingle main house • 5 BR • 8 FP • Exceptional finishes on every floor • Caterer's kitchen • Elevator • Spa • Separate guest cottage • Pool • Farm manager residence • 3 additional tenant houses • 12 stall center-aisle stable • Pond • Extraordinary land with incomparable views extending beyond the Blue Ridge Mts • Orange County Hunt Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930

French Country home, with renovations in 1999 & 2017 • Brick construction, slate roof • 4 bedrooms, 5 full & 2 half baths, 5 fireplaces, hardwood floors, flagstone terrace • Beautiful drive to hilltop stetting overlooking pond, lake & mountains • Improvements include pool, 2-car garage, 2 bedroom guest house & apartment • Lovely boxwood gardens • Kitchen allowance to be provided • 79.89 acres Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

Crest Hill

Mayapple Farm

Waverly

Hume, Virginia • $3,600,000

Middleburg, Virginia • $3,400,000

The Plains, Virginia • $2,950,000

203 acres in Fauquier w/nearly 1 mile of Rappahannock river frontage • Elegant stone & clapboard house • 5 BR, 4 full & 3 1/2 BA • 4 FP • Wood floors • Gourmet kitchen • Gunnite pool with stunning views overlooking Blue Ridge Mtns and private pond • Situated amongst protected properties • 5 stall Jim Fletcher barn with pristinely maintained paddocks, pasture and gdns • 2 car garage with in-law suite • Old Dominion Hunt territory • VOF Easement Alix Coolidge (703) 625-1724

A purist’s delight • Original portion of house built in 1790 in Preston City, CT • House was dismantled and rebuilt at current site • Detail of work is museum quality • Log wing moved to site from Western Virginia circa 1830 • 4 BR, 4 full BA, 2 half BA, 9 FP & detached 2-car garage • Historic stone bank barn and log shed moved from Leesburg, VA • Private, minutes from town • Frontage on Goose Creek • 37.65 acres Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

Circa 1755, prime Fauquier County location, between Middleburg and The Plains • Additions in early 1800's & 1943 • Home recently restored • 62 gently rolling acres in Orange County Hunt • 4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, 6 fireplaces • Improvements include salt water pool, pool house, large party house/studio, 2 tenant houses, stone walls and pond Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

Game Creek

Arborvitae

Belvedere

Middleburg, Virginia • $2,650,000

Warrenton, Virginia • $2,200,000

Middleburg, Virginia • $1,850,000

A remarkable property located within a private enclave just minutes from town • Stone and stucco manor house with main level master suite • 7 additional BR • 5 stone FP • Beautiful gardens, terraces, salt water pool, cabana, carriage house & stable with 2 paddocks • Lovely finishes throughout & sweeping lawn to private trails to Goose Creek • 31 acres • Private, elegant & convenient Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930

A rare example of late medieval architecture, circa 1890 & 1935 with massive central chimneys, steep roof lines, and unusual brick patterns • Five bedrooms and 3 full & 2 half baths • Double barreled ceilings, winding staircase, generous sized rooms & decorative fireplaces • Situated on 111.74 acres • Strong stream, stable with cottage & stone-walled terrace gardens Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

Gracious home with 5 BRs • Gourmet kitchen • Two-story floor-to-ceiling window display of the Blue Ridge Mountains • 3 FPs, coffered ceilings, random width rustic cherry floors • Large home office, gym, rec room, multiple porches and patios • Three finished stories, approx. 10,000 sf. • Carriage house • Garage • Privately situated on 27 acres Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

Harmony Creek

Peace, Love & Joy Farm

Potts Mill Cottage

Hume, Virginia • $1,650,000

Warrenton, Virginia • $1,550,000

Middleburg, Virginia • $649,500

Hilltop setting with beautiful distant views • Farm house circa 1920, completely restored and enlarged • 3BR, 3 BA, 2 fireplaces, wood floors, large country kitchen • 129.15 rolling & useable acres • Improvements include 3-bay equipment shed/work shop, guest house, 4-stall barn complex, riding ring, spring-fed pond and stream Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

A long hard surfaced driveway leads to this special home built in 1985 • 6 bedrooms, 5 1/2 baths, 5 fireplaces • High ceilings, large rooms with good flow • Formal garden overlooks Cedar Run • Large pond • Pool with pool house • Barn could have 4 stalls • Rolling land, very private - yet very close to Warrenton Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

2+ acres just east of town • Complete renovation • Immaculate & charming home with 3 BRs & 3 full BAs • Main level master BR • Oversized windows with excellent natural light • Quality finishes, wood floors, standing seam metal roof, stonework & large deck overlooking open yard, stone walls & pond • Move in ready • Close to town • Owner/agent Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930

info@sheridanmacmahon.com www.sheridanmacmahon.com 2

Country Spirit • Winter 2019

110 East Washington St. • P.O. Box 1380 Middleburg, Virginia 20118 (540) 687-5588

Editor’s Note

The Future Is Now and Back to the Past

5:30 p.m. Reception; 6:00-7:30 p.m. Film

THE HILL SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

130 South Madison Street, Middleburg, VA This Event is FREE to the Public (Pre-registration is encouraged) Register online at www.landtrustva.org or contact Kerry Roszel at Kerry@landtrustva.org or (540) 687-8441.

Narrated by award-winning journalist Tom Brokaw, this film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and debuted on the Discovery Channel in August 2017.

The Goose Creek Association and the Land Trust of Virginia bring you: Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman, the acclaimed film based on the book by Miriam Horm of the Environmental Defense Fund. Three rugged individualists explore how to preserve their way of life by stewarding the land and water on which we all depend. These conservation heroes learn to use the tools and methods created by law, academics, environmental groups, and their fellow outdoorsmen to forge alliances and continue to feed the world while enhancing the environment.

Rancher Dusty Crary builds a conservation easement alliance to protect the Rocky Mountain Front that his ranch depends on; farmer Justin Knopf rebuilds the fertility, biodiversity and resilience of his soil in the Kansas heartland, and fishermen Wayne Werner lobbies to establish reasonable fishing quotas that restock the Gulf

Planting Outside The Middleburg Horticultural Middleburg Middleburg Horticultural Symposium Symposium Horticultural Planting Outside The Lines Symposium This film is brought to you by:

9:00 a.m.

Registration

9:30 a.m.

Welcome and Intr

9:45 a.m.

Jane Garmey

“A Sense of Place”

Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club Middleburg Horticultural Symposium 22035 Quaker Lane Middleburg, Virginia 20117

Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club Middleburg Horticultural Symposium 22035 Quaker Lane Middleburg, Virginia 20117

The cover for Country Spirit’s first edition of 2019 is all about the past, the present, and the future— four under-40 young men and women now striving to make a difference in our community, the better to honor the traditions that make this corner of the Commonwealth so very special.

“The Future Is Now,” was once the motto of George Allen, the Hall of Fame former Washington Redskins head coach when I covered the team for The Washington Post back in the 1970s.

Allen never met a peachfuzz rookie he liked, preferring to surround himself Leonard Shapiro with grizzled old graybeard veterans who knew how to play the game.

But Middleburg’s future definitely is also now, and surely will be played forward by a new, clearly committed generation of dedicated local residents ready, willing and more than able to play right now, and in the future, as well. We’ll surely be writing about many more of them, so stay tuned.

As for back to the past, February is Black History Month in America, and we’re delighted to offer several stories celebrating the contributions of this area’s vibrant African-American community.

Journalist and author Vicky Moon (and full disclosure, also my wife) is in the process of finishing her 11th book, the illuminating story of Sylvia Bishop, the country’s first black female thoroughbred racehorse trainer.

We’re excerpting the first chapter on a remarkable woman who was born and raised in nearby Charles Town, West Virginia, where she trained at the racetrack and lived all of her life. Some of her clients had racing stables in the Middleburg area, and her grandson is now carrying on her tradition at the very same racetrack.

Leslie Van Sant has a fascinating story on several members of Middleburg’s Shiloh Baptist Church, which celebrated its 150th anniversary last year. Caroline Fout profiles Claire Louis, a very busy woman who makes all the difference in the world to residents of Windy Hill and M.J. McAteer offers an illuminating look at Banneker Elementary School in St. Louis, which began as an all-black school in the era of segregation and continues to thrive with a thoroughly diverse student and faculty population. And Ms. Moon’s story on The Green Book’s local connection is a must read.

There’s plenty more, as well—Louisa Woodville on the new director of the National Sporting Library & Museum, Sophie Scheps writing about a versatile young singer and violinist and we’ll preview the Piedmont Symphony’s upcoming young people’s concert and mentoring program.

Tuck in one winter evening with entertaining columnist Emily Tyler and some luscious recipes for any occasion. Wine columnist Peter Leonard-Morgan also has the perfect place—and vintage—to toast your special someone. It goes without saying we’d love everyone to Catch the Spirit once again!

RANCHER, FARMER, FISHERMAN

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2019

Challenges faced and solutions found in the private gardens in Connecticut and the Hud

11:00 a.m.

Fergus Garrett

“Designing with Plants the Great Dixter W

With his lecture, Fergus wants his audienc combine plants considering sense of place, ture and repetition. He will give examples o trast one plant with another, adding punctu as well as creating intimacy and movement Examples will be primarily from Great Dixt few from other gardens.

12:15 p.m.

Lunch

1:00 a.m.

Thomas Rainer

“The Beauty Within Biodiversity”

Planting Outside The Lines Planting Outside Saturday, February 23, 2019 Saturday, February 23, 2019 Lines The The Hill School

In an era of climate change and mass spec biodiversity matters more than ever. But d managing biodiverse plantings can be challe gardens. Join landscape architect Thomas voice in ecological landscape design, to lear together in nature and how to use this kno landscapes that are resilient, beautiful and practical and inspiring, this talk explores a ecology and horticulture, resulting in an int designed and managed plant community whe dynamics are encouraged within an aesthet Learn real-world strategies for crafting div of compatible species that cover the groun layers.

The Hill School 130South South Madison Madison Street Middleburg,February Virginia 20117 23, 2019 130 StreetSaturday, Middleburg, $150Virginia Fauquier20117 and Loudoun Garden The HillClub School Mail check and registration form to: Mrs.2:15 Frank p.m. Courts Greg Paige 130 South Madison Sponsored

by Lane the Middleburg, Virginia 20117Street 22035 Quaker “Four Seasons in One Day!” Middleburg, Virginia 20117 Fauquier andRegister Loudounonline Garden Club at www.flgardenclub.org Design tips, tricks and deep trade secrets a non-profit organization affiliated with The Garden your Landscape for year-round interest. Lo Sponsored the the lens by of over 25 years in public horticul Club of America and The Garden Club of Virginia Sponsored by the Fauquier and Loudoun wanderings GardenallClub over the planet, this talk wi Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club strong favorite plants and design ideas to a non-profit organizationa affiliated withofThe Garden non-profit organization affiliated with The Garden your garden. of America and of TheVirginia Garden Club of Virginia Club of America and theClub Garden Club 3:30 p.m.

Program Adjourns

Leonard Shapiro Editor badgerlen@aol.com Country Spirit • Winter 2019

3

Cover Photo Published six times a year by Piedmont Media, LLC ADDRESS 41 Culpeper Street Warrenton, Virginia 20186 PHONE: 540-347-4222 FAX: 540-349-8676 Publisher: Catherine M. Nelson, cnelson@fauquier.com Editor: Leonard Shapiro, badgerlen@aol.com Wine editor: Peter Leonard-Morgan Entertainment editor: Emily Tyler Managing editor: Jill Palermo, jpalermo@fauquier.com Page designer: Taylor Dabney, tdabney@fauquier.com Contributing photographers: Caroline Fout, Missy Janes, Douglas Lees, Middleburg Photo, Crowell Hadden Contributing writers: Justin Haefner, Sebastian Langenberg, Sophie Langenberg, Lizzie Catherwood, Caroline Fout, Sean Clancy, Megan Catherwood, M.J. McAteer, Jimmy Wofford, Leslie VanSant, Anita Sherman, Carina Elgin, Louisa Woodville, Tom Wiseman and Mike du Pont Advertising Director: Kathy Mills Godfrey, 540-351-1162 kgodfrey@fauquier.com Production Manager: Cindy Goff, cgoff@fauquier.com Ad designers: Taylor Dabney, tdabney@fauquier.com Sawyer Guinn, sguinn@fauquier.com Shelby Pope, spope@fauquier.com Annamaria Ward, award@fauquier.com For advertising inquiries contact Leonard Shapiro at badgerlen@aol.com or 410-570-8447

Don’t miss the next

COUNTRYSpirit Bringing four people together for a Country Spirit cover photo shoot from four corners of the countryside and beyond is often a daunting, but enjoyable, task. It begins with asking each if they’d like to participate, and we’re delighted when they say yes. We then come up with a mutually agreeable date and time, send off directions to the Middleburg Photo studio and then wait for the magic to happen. Many thanks, as always, to photographers Doug Gehlsen and his wife, Karen Monroe who shot this selfie on an iPhone XS. “Karen and I enjoyed our limited time with this month’s cover photo participants, they were a lively group,” Doug said. “The lighting setup was typical for this shoot, a mono-light with a beauty dish was the key light on camera left and a small octabox as the fill on the right side with a second to brighten the white background.”

As always, it worked to perfection.

The proof, of course, is on the cover.

Coming Spring 2019

Call now to reserve your space!

Contact Len Shapiro for advertising details 410-570-8447 | badgerlen@aol.com Piedmont Media

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

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Main level bedroom, au-pair suite/artist studio. 12 stall barn with wide center aisle and full second floor. Eight fenced paddocks with waterers and run-in shed. Equestrian facilities and beautiful home!

$1,500,000 | Breathtaking bucolic farm with mountain views. Four impressive buildings on the property. Stunning 3 level, 7,000+ sf barn with 3 bathrooms, office space, and studio. Brick guest house with a gourmet kitchen, custom floors & high ceilings. Summer kitchen with electricity and garage. AR1 zoned.

$1,450,000 | This gorgeous property includes Blue Ridge Mountain views and Hazel River frontage! Perfect family home or a weekend escape. 5 bed/3.5 bath main home with addl 3.79 acre parcel and guest home.

Heated pool, screened porches, a large brick veranda and ample storage space make this an ideal space for family and entertaining.

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

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By Carina Elgin

ven the beauty of our glorious Virginia Piedmont can be diminished in the dreary months of January, February and into March. Rain, mud, fog and the occasional panic over the potential for an inch or two of snow can make us all feel a bit pessimistic, as if our glass was “half empty.”

I suggest we try to appreciate it all anyway, by changing our outlook.

The trendy concept of “mindfulness” is actually beneficial to heart and soul.

Live in the moment and appreciate being alive, right here, right now, even if you think that might be Noah’s Ark stuck in the mud in your paddock or backyard. Even if it is raining AGAIN. I call it “vacation eyes,” a way of looking at things with more curiosity and adventure, as if seeing them for the first time. Places I drive by and might overlook as I yell at the political news on my Sirius radio are suddenly viewed in detail and appreciated in a different way. Look at that interesting old tree. The stone walls.

Even strip malls, while still ugly, can somehow be made intriguing, when you have to turn that mood around.

What could have been happening here 100 or 200 years ago?

Maybe my interest in seeing things in different ways began when I was small.

“Why is the nice Polish lady who is visiting us crying?” I remember vividly asking my mother in my local childhood A&P grocery store. My mother explained that our abundance overwhelmed her (especially the dog food aisle!), since her country had so little.

I learned to love helping visitors, especially from different countries.

For ten years, my job was accompanying U.S. Embassy-chosen professionals and government officials around the country. I learned to see things as they saw them, digesting the good and bad about our society.

I watched three gentlemen from different African countries in absolute awe at watching fireworks for the first time. I felt proud as Stevie Wonder sang “Ebony and Ivory” to a

very diverse group of people lying on blankets in a Chicago park. I helped a man from Papau, New Guinea ride on his very first elevator, and figure out how to get both hot and cold water out of the hotel shower.

I made all my visitors experience the sunrise and sunset at the Grand Canyon. They witnessed American hospitality everywhere and discovered the mysteries of jello salad in the Midwest. But then, I also had to try to explain why poverty and homelessness was so rampant in such a wealthy country, something I still haven’t figured out.

Our Virginia Piedmont, our glorious horse country, has beauty everywhere you go, even in the drizzle, chill and muck. By changing how we look around, we can help save some of its unique features, even beyond the pivotal land conservation efforts.

We also need to appreciate our small towns and small businesses, and not give in to chain and big box stores. Old Town Warrenton deserves your “vacation eyes,” as you visit the Old Jail Museum and other offerings. Middleburg, for all its charm, has too many empty shops, but still plenty to poke around in, and lots of good food.

Get to the Fun Shop before it closes!

The Plains has more to it than a gas station, including the AfroAmerican Historical Association of Fauquier, the terrific Baileywick Antiques, and several unique shops, galleries and restaurants. Marshall’s downtown is trying to boom into our very own foodie capital, the Sonoma of Virginia.

Check it out.

Be a tourist in your own backyard, as they say. Spend a day or at least a few hours looking at things you take for granted. Pull your friends out of the mud and winter doldrums by supporting what’s already here.

You’ll help our towns survive and have some fun, using your “vacation eyes.”

And perhaps, your glass will at least be “half full” again.

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

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New Sporting Library Head Is All About Community

By Louisa Woodville

Elizabeth von Hassell is not one to flinch from a challenge.

As director of the 65-year-old National Sporting Library and Museum (NSLM) in Middleburg, von Hassell is prepared to wear many hats in the institution’s quest to preserve, promote, and share the literature, art, and culture of equestrian, angling, and field sports.

“One of the key things that I really want to make sure we do is to continue to grow the relationship with the community,” von Hassell said in a recent interview from her office on The Plains Road.

Elegant in a dark brown suit with a brown and yellow Hermes scarf tied softly about her neck, she talked about the many activities that take place on the six-acre campus. They range from educational seminars, special exhibitions, family activities, fundraisers, book signings, members’ tours and dinners to lectures on art and movies on foxhunting.

“Our Open Late concerts continue to attract new attendees to our campus. And many love that experience so much that they decide to support us by joining our membership program,” said von Hassell, adding that members total more than 730 households. “I am so excited about the growing community support for NSLM.” Other people enjoying collections include visiting school children and community residents who attend lectures or art classes. Staffled tours are held in the art museum that houses more than 800 paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and decorative art objects.

The curatorial staff organizes three to four special exhibitions a year. One that recently closed— the The Horse and Ancient Greek Art, co-curated with Virginia Museum of Fine Arts—was awarded Visit Loudoun’s 2018 New Event of the Year. The exhibition’s catalogue won an American Horse Publication Equine Media Award.

Works of art and the special exhibitions are just one part of the NSLM. Not to be forgotten are the 20,000-plus books on angling, horsemanship, shooting, steeplechasing, foxhunting, racing, polo, coaching and wildlife. Volumes are housed on general shelves or protected downstairs in the F. Ambrose Clark Rare Book Room.

Researchers writing books and doctorates on field sports, famous horses or people are funded by the John H. Daniels fellowship; one can spy these bespectacled scholars in the stacks, or at well-lighted desks with books piled high.

The library, with its beige and white interior colors and comfortable furniture, complements the museum with its spacious rooms of paintings and sculpture. Together they form an essential part of the Middleburg community, thanks in part to the efforts of Ann Marie Paquette, NSLM’s Clarice & Robert H. Smith Educator. Paquette works with the community residents to help them learn about the collec8

Country Spirit • Winter 2019

Elizabeth von Hassell tions through a variety of activities, including monthly sketching sessions with local artists.

Von Hassell oversees the efforts that make all this happen. The staff she manages also includes two librarians, a museum curator, a collections manager, a director of communications, a facilities’ manager, a membership and events manager and her assistant. As a team, they are committed to engaging the community in the NSLM mission.

“Elizabeth has been heavily involved in sporting life and culture in the area for many years and brings tremendous goodwill with this community,” said Manuel Johnson, chairman of the NSLM board.

Before assuming her NSML position Dec. 1, von Hassell worked as director of development at the 2,700-acre historic Montpelier, home of James Madison in Orange County.

“We had some significant fundraising to do, and we worked together to accomplish some really incredible things,” she said, referring to Kat Imhoff, President and CEO of Montpelier.

During her five-year tenure, von Hassell and Imhoff raised more than $45 million—enough to finish renovating and refurbishing the historic house and to develop a ground-breaking multimedia exhibition, The Mere Distinction of Color. This last has won seven national awards.

“This is an exhibit that looks at the history of African-American slavery through current times, so it’s a complete story, and the complete story is a difficult story, honestly,” von Hassell said. Focusing on women, viewers take in the emotionally fraught history of slavery and its impact on present day race, identity, and human rights.

Another passion of von Hassell’s is the preservation of open space, essential to the viability of field sports. She practices what she preaches, having spearheaded a campaign to increase the land Montpelier holds in easement by 1,000 acres.

Such a feat is not surprising; von Hassell has a knack for connecting with people, her wide smile and brown eyes conveying a disarmingly unpretentious manner. It’s no wonder that Imhoff was thrilled in 2012, when she was able to recruit von Hassell to work her magic at Montpelier.

“I have said about Elizabeth that she when she walks in the room, the back door blows out,” Imhoff said. “She brings such energy and enthusiasm to any and all situations, but particularly places like Montpelier and the NSLM where she can link her love of open space with the traditions of the Virginia countryside.

“She also to her bones understands the value of community and bringing folks along for the ride of their life, whether it be through the lens of art, the literary vantage point, or simply gathering together.”

True enough; Von Hassell was born in Winchester and has lived in the Piedmont for the past 40 years. Her two sons —Christian, 21, and William, 24—grew up on their parents’ farm in Clarke County, where they all indulged in field sports: foxhunting, fly-fishing, canoeing, shooting, and appreciating the great outdoors.

Von Hassell is equally passionate about art, being quite the collector herself, with a trove of 18th century dressage engravings and to her credit.

Von Hassell’s passion coupled with her experience bodes well for the NSLM’s future, which includes exciting upcoming exhibitions.

“Leading the Field: Ellen Emmet Rand will open in the fall of 2019,” said von Hassell, a show that will highlight this relatively unknown 20th century artist’s portraits.

“Rand also produced numerous sporting subjects depicting her family and friends, many of whom were Masters of hunts including Middleburg, Orange County, Old Chatham, and Millbrook, not to mention a wonderful portrait of Miss Charlotte, founder and headmistress of Foxcroft,” added von Hassell.

Also on tap is NSLMology: The Science of Sporting Art that will explore how locomotion, weather, ecology, color theory, and chemistry are represented in art.

Clearly, what is Montpelier’s loss in the NSLM’s gain.

“Field sports and angling have always been part of my life, as well as the arts,” she said, “so to come back here … I couldn’t have written a more perfect job description.”

FIND OUT NOW

Country Spirit • Winter 2019

9

It Was Tally Ho in Middleburg, Circa 1900

By William H. (Mike) du Pont

N

orthern Virginia was the Mecca for foxhunting, even at the turn of the century, 1900 that is, and clearly much earlier than that. After all, George Washington was reputed to have been a foxhunter in these parts.

My grandfather, William P. Hulbert, was an avid foxhunter with the Camargo Hunt in Cincinnati, Ohio where he grew up. Incidentally, that Ohio hunt was founded by Julius Fleischman, grandfather of our friend and neighbor at Over The Grass farm, Mrs. D.L. Fleischman.

Grandfather made his first foxhunting pilgrimage to Northern Virginia around 1907 to hunt with The Keswick Hunt outside Charlottesville. He stayed at the guest house of the Randolph sisters, who were aunts of John Coles, the current MFH for our area’s Orange County Hounds.

While hunting with Keswick, Grandfather met a young man named Arthur White who informed him of a town about 75 miles north called Warrenton where some fine hunting could be had. Not too much later, Grandfather moved into the Warren Green Hotel, now housing the Fauquier County offices in Warrenton, and sampled some of the fine hunting in Fauquier and Loudoun counties.

The hunting truly was spectacular and Grandfather thought he might like to move to this area. However, he wanted a smaller place, not quite as grand as Warrenton.

One local he hunted with told him about a small village about 20 miles to the north called Middleburg. Grandfather stayed at and hunted from Mrs. Luck’s boarding house in Middleburg, a refurbished brick house in the middle of Washington Street that, until recently, was the home to a chocolate shop.

The hunting there was tops and Middleburg so suited him that Grandfather decided he might just settle there. He bought a small cottage as a hunting box at the corner of Washington and Liberty, right across the street from the Episcopal church. This building later became The Iron Jockey, a fine dress and gift emporium where we often did our Christmas shopping.

Grandfather’s mother, Elisabeth Johnston Hulbert, was established up the street at Mrs. Luck’s boarding house. His sister Carolyn, Mrs. Raymond Belmont, bought Stray Shot, a stable and cottage up the hill behind

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

COURTESY PHOTO

William P. Hulbert, foxhunting in Middleburg in 1942. grandfather’s hunting box. Stray Shot is now part of the Red Fox Inn’s complex.

The Orange County Hounds, with the help of Denny Skinker, and The Middleburg Hunt, under the leadership of Daniel C. Sands, were both just getting started. The Warrenton Hunt was well-established, with first-class hunting.

Arguably the best in the area was the Piedmont Hunt, established in 1843 by Colonel Richard Henry Dulany at Welbourne outside Upperville. Welbourne is now occupied by Nathaniel Morrison, great grandson of Colonel Dulany.

I’ve often wondered just when and how Grandfather was introduced to horses and riding. It may well have been at the Taft ranch in south Texas. Grandfather’s Aunt Tilly married President William Howard Taft’s brother, whose family had bought the ranch in south Texas.

As a teenager in the 1890s, Grandfather had been invited to Texas for a summer on the ranch. He joined the cowboys out on the prairie, rounding up cattle and driving them north to the rail stop.

One evening not too long after supper,

the cowboys bedded down for a night’s rest.

This included a fellow named Cody. He had nestled down under his blanket using his saddle for a pillow and promptly fell asleep.

The prairie got pretty cold at night, and soon a large rattlesnake slithered up next to Cody seeking warmth. Cody never budged, which was fortunate. In those days, rattlesnake bites were often terminal.

The next morning several of the cowboys awoke before Cody and in a fright, notified Dakota, the trail boss, about the sleeping snake. He knew immediately what to do. He had all the cowboys surround Cody and the sleeping rattlesnake and they quietly drew their six-shooters.

They pointed their pistols in the air and on Dakota’s signal, they all fired at once.

Cody was so startled he leaped straight in the air and ran away from the snake, at which point Dakota dispatched the rattler.

I guess the moral of this story is “be careful where you sleep.”

This is the first of several articles by William H. (Mike) du Pont, a long-time Middleburg area resident and former MFH of the Orange County Hounds.

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11

THE FUTU

By Vicky Moon The traditions of the vibrant, verdant countryside in this astonishing corner of Virginia began many generations ago. But what about the future? Who will maintain the appreciation and conservation of wide-open fields, an afternoon of racing, a delightful daffodil show or a raucous evening of dancing?

Meet four members of the next generation of movers, shakers and doers.

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With Annie Bishop Rebecca Ann “Annie” Bishop was born and raised in the area.

She attended Piedmont Child Care, Middleburg Montessori, The Hill School and Foxcroft. Her mother, Juliette Graham, also a Foxcroft graduate, was on Canada’s 1976 Three Day Event Olympic team and a member of its gold medal team at the 1978 World Championships. Her late father, Wash Bishop, trained with the U.S. Three Day team.

“I even stayed in Virginia at Lynchburg College, where I met my husband, Rob Onda,” Bishop said.

After college, they tried “the city” for a PHOTO BY MIDDLEBURG PHOTO while, “but we happily wound up back here on a funky little farm.” Their farm family includes: three Boykin spaniels—Porsche, Coco and Dabble—and Scarlett, a blue tick coonhound rescued from Texas. Add four horses, including their famous miniature, Lunchbox.

She’s served as president of the Alumni Association at The Hill School and on the school’s board of trustees as well as Foxcroft’s alumni council. “I’m so grateful for my lifelong friends and experiences that Hill and Foxcroft gave me,” she said. “It’s incredibly rewarding to be active at both schools that mean so much to me.”

Bishop, 38, currently is a partner at ZEBRA NYC where she’s an executive producer of TV commercials and digital content for consumer brands. She collaborates with ad agencies to produce commercials for major consumer brands.

Bishop said she feels fortunate to have grown up in this area.

“I firmly believe that the only way to preserve this way of life is active engagement with the organizations and people that make this area so special,” she said. “I was thrilled to be asked to join the advisory board for the Middleburg Spring Races last year.”

She’ll bring her marketing expertise to the April 20 event (middleburgspringraces.com).

“Some of my earliest memories are scrambling on the rocks at Glenwood Park while at the races with my parents,” she said.

“My husband and I actually had our rehearsal dinner at Glenwood Park. That’s how much I love the venue.”

RE IS NOW With Caroline Fout Caroline Emily Fout is also enmeshed in the Middleburg Spring Races. Her father, trainer Doug Fout, is president of the annual April event. “It’s what I most look forward to all year,” she said.

On race days, she likes to take friends on a Gator ride out into the middle of the course for a better view of the competition. And she can’t wait to point out to them “that’s my dad’s horse” as the field sweeps past. Her mother, Beth, also is deeply devoted to riding, racing and fox chasing.

Like Bishop, she attended Hill School and Foxcroft. She’s a graduPHOTO BY MIDDLEBURG PHOTO ate of Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., worked as an intern at The Scout Guide Hunt Country and is a staff writer for Country Spirit magazine. She’s now interviewing for jobs in Washington, so please pass the word.

Fout, 24, said her late grandparents met on the horse show circuit. Paul Fout eventually turned to training racehorses and grandmother Eve was a vital force with the Piedmont Environmental Council (founded in 1972) for over 20 years.

“In that time,” Fout said, “she acted as chairman of the board and was credited with protecting more land in one of her years as chairman than had been seen in the PEC’s history to that time. She was part of the effort to stop Disney from building a history theme park in eastern Fauquier County in 1993.

“Gran, as we affectionately called her, also founded the Middleburg Orange County (MOC) Pony Club, along with the MOC Beagles more than 50 years ago. Her initiative to preserve the land for younger generations was tremendous, with a lasting impact that’s appreciated and revered.”

“Steeplechasing, while not immediately evident, is an appreciation of the animal and the land. The relationship between these things is important for the sport’s survival. When people ask me the mundane question, ‘what does your family do?’ the answer almost always evolves into some larger, interesting conversation. I love having them.”

Caroline will help her parents with administrative and other aspects of the Middleburg Races and The Gold Cup on Saturday, May 4 (vagoldcup.com). She may even tote a water bucket or carry a lead shank as one of her father’s horses heads to the post.

Another vivid memory is the Upperville Horse Show, this year on June 3-9 (upperville.com).

“The lead line class was my first show, “ she recalled. “Hot and sticky under that ill-fitting, miniature show coat as my mother tried her best to keep my short body upright and elegant in the over-sized saddle.”

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

13

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THE FUTU With Fletcher Slater

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

George “Fletcher” Slater is the fifth generation of Slaters in this area, and he also has wonderful memories of the Upperville Horse Show.

As a child, he helped pass out and sell show programs. His great grandfather, George H. Slater, served as president and laid out its first outside course of jumps.

George R. Slater, Fletcher’s grandfather, also served as president, as did his father, George “Nick” Slater. All the Slaters have been involved with the horse show, the Piedmont Fox Hounds and Trinity Episcopal Church. His paternal grandmother, Katherine “Kitty” Slater, wrote the informative coffee table PHOTO BY MIDDLEBURG PHOTO book, “The Hunt Country of America.”

Fletcher’s mother, Mildred “Bucky” Fletcher Slater, is an attorney in Upperville. His maternal grandmother, Mattie “Mother Ball” Fletcher, lived to be 108 and owned the first telephone and first car in Rappahannock County.

She went to college, which was rare at that time, and married William Meade Fletcher, a well-known corporate lawyer who practiced with Clarence Darrow. She gardened until age 105 and fed the poor from her garden. She shared recipes (including her celebrated candied grapefruit rind) with one and all and distributed fresh vegetables at the celebrated Inn in Little Washington.

“She took care of me when she was 102,” Fletcher Slater said, “and I was a baby. She called me a ‘bald headed, bow-legged, disturber of the peace.’”

Slater, 34, was a paralegal and a principal of West View Title Company. He’s recently accepted a position as a business banker at Middleburg Bank, soon to be acquired by Union Bank and Trust.

“I couldn’t be more excited about this news,” he said. “Union is a strong consumer and small business bank, and I was hired to serve that part of our community.”

Outside of work, he cherishes his family, Caitlin and eightmonth-old daughter Bowen. He loves to canoe on Goose Creek and ski and feels “driven by connecting with my community.

It’s been a great privilege to take the leadership role as president at Buchanan Hall (buchananhall.com).”

This is where the daffodil show will dazzle on Tuesday, April 9, or the site for a raucous evening of dancing, where legendary musicians Patsy Cline, Duke Ellington and Chauncy Brown have performed.

“My parents have always strived to be leaders locally,” he said. “They were taught the value of working hard for the community.”

Let there be no doubt. Fletcher Slater will carry on that same tradition.

URE IS NOW With Nate Chambers William Nathaniel “Nate” Chambers may be a first generation Middleburg resident, but his enthusiasm for the area is definitely old-school native. “My father, William “Bill” Chambers, has since joined us and moved out to Middleburg,” he said.

And so, let’s make it “second generation living in the area.”

Like many, Nate Chambers fell in love with Middleburg and its surroundings in his early teens. Growing up in Washington, he graduated from Gonzaga College High School and attended Shenandoah University PHOTO BY MIDDLEBURG PHOTO in Winchester, studying economics and finance.

He was instantly hooked on Middleburg.

“The open spaces, the wild animals, the amazing restaurants and all the physical activities make Middleburg heaven for me.”

Chambers’ is CEO of CS Holdings, a D.C.-based private equity firm. And more recently, he’s joined the Board of Trustees of the Great Meadow Foundation in The Plains (greatmeadow.org).

He’s also chairman of its innovative “Under 40 Board.” In working to preserve this way of life, he said: “The U-40 Board has been created to help increase and capture involvement of younger generations at Great Meadow.

“One of our primary projects has been the creation of the Meadow Club. It’s for individuals 45 and under looking to have the most unique and engaging experience at the Spring (May 4) and Fall (Oct. 21) Gold Cup races.” Great Meadow also is home to a spectacular July 4 celebration, Twilight Polo, the Virginia Scottish Games, Twilight Jumpers and many more events.

A polo enthusiast, Chambers, 31, also rides in Three Day Event competitions. He’s a three-time national champion in the American Eventing championships, two-time gold medalist in the North American Young Rider championships.

“I play recreationally to satisfy my need for time in the saddle now that I no longer compete in eventing,” he said.

Chambers is engaged to Dasha Ivandaeva, a native of Moscow who grew up in Toronto and is a fellow horse-lover.

“She’s currently qualified for the Pan American Games this summer,” he said, “and will hopefully be selected to compete there for Team Canada.”

They also have fingers crossed for her possible future Olympic competition, and she’ll most likely have some horses entered to compete at the Great Meadow International this summer (Aug. 22-25) (greatmeadowinternational.com).

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15

I’VE GOT THE HORSE

By Vicky Moon

Rita Haywood stalked the pace three wide, moved to the front near the five-sixteenths pole, surged clear in the two path around the far turn and held well clear under a drive in the lane – Equibase Company, 2012 Fierce sheets of rain make it impossible to see more than two feet of the road in front of the charter bus. A late summer storm is raking wicked winds across the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley of West Virginia.

The bus driver squirms in his seat and leans closer to the windshield, trying to get a clear view.

The immense windshield wipers beat rhythmically, but provide no reprieve. The air is thick and stale. The driver grabs a rag and rubs the windshield vapor. This delivers a trifling relief.

The 40-something passengers murmur. Despite no smoking, the odor of musty cigarette smoke is eternally entwined into the clothing fibers and hair of those addicted to the repugnant nicotine habit. The unpleasant odor wafts down the aisle. A twentysomething male passenger is listening to his iPOD. Carly Rae Jepson’s folkstyle pop best-selling single “Call Me Maybe” peals out from his earbuds three rows in front and behind the music buff as he rocks to: I threw a wish in the well Don’t ask me I’ll never tell I looked to you as it fell And now you’re in my way The tempest outside does not deter the optimistic passengers as the bus inches along the two lanes of Rt. 340 leading to the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. These gamblers on board have hope in their hearts. The red and yellow lights of the casino complex twinkle through the downpour as they approach.

The gambling and horse racing compound is owned by Penn National Gaming in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. They own, operate or have ownership interests in 27 gaming and racing facilities in 17 jurisdictions, including California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Ontario. They have 35,000 gaming machines, operate 800 table games and own 4,600 hotel rooms.

The bus halts under a large overhang and a colossal swoosh sweeps in as the bus door opens. They’ve come to this historic town, initially developed by the brother of George Washington, lured by the allure of scoring a whopping jackpot.

Many hours later, the same bunch on the bus will depart. Most will be sulking after getting soaked at the slots or taking a bath at the parimutuel windows, and never mind the rain. A fortunate few have pockets bulging with success.

Back in the stable area, trainers and grooms scramble to stop the rush of water into the stalls. Every available person grabs a shovel or spade in order to dig a trench to divert the unrelenting deluge away from their barns. Visitors have to side-step a strategically placed red bucket in the middle of the walkway meant to catch drips from above.

16

Country Spirit • Winter 2019

Debra Ketterman stands in front of Rita Haywood’s stall.

“Good girl,” she coos, stroking the filly’s sleek neck. A grey and white cat snuggles on top of three bales of hay stacked in the feed room. A bay horse not scheduled to run on this night is circling his stall and fretting. He’s a stall walker. This is what could easily be called EOCDEquine Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

A groom holds two steaming cups of coffee from the hot plate burner in the tack room.

He teeters along so as not to spill and presents one to a co-worker, a hot walker, circling the barn cooling out a bay colt. If a horse poops, a groom is there within minutes to pick up the steaming manure.

To uneducated eyes, a stable might appear to be dirty and messy. The reality is that the horses, their tack and stalls are immaculately clean.

No matter what…this was going to be a long, chilly night.

Jeff Runco, a leading trainer, has two horses in the feature race—Navy Chapel and Notayankeefan. Runco began his equine career as a jockey and, in the past 30 years, his stable has grown from a half dozen horses to around 40. He’s always been happy at Charles Town and since the slots came in and created generous purses, he’s extremely happy. With 16,641 starts as of the date of this race, his lifetime earnings have exceeded $37 million. He continues as a viable competitor and has no intention of letting up.

Over near the track, in the cavernous casino, there are 4,000 slot machines inside the faux Vegas wagering multiplex that’s open 21 hours a day. Long past the last race at 11 p.m. and the wee hours of dawn, the 15,000-plus visitors can catch a bus back home, or trudge to their cars in the six-level parking garage.

As with the bus bunch, they’ll also leave with heavy hearts and lighter wallets.

An automated button has replaced the onearmed bandit slot machine of your grandmother’s day. A numbing omnipresent computerized droning supplants the bygone clamorous resonance of winning bells for triple cherries.

Flashing incandescent neon is the lighting of the moment. A high-fat food court beckons the gluttonous; pizza is $2.50 a slice. Smokers and non-smokers are segregated, yet visitors suffer burning eyes no matter where they wander.

Compulsive gamblers metastasized to stools at the slots are oblivious to the race about to go off. There’s a Western Union desk for cash advances. Credit card machines spit out more bills, big and small. The town’s median income is $32,538 and the population is 5,945.

It’s almost ten o’clock this August night of 2012. Six horses line up in the starting gate, shifting and stomping. A seventh horse, Nicknmina, has been scratched by the veterinarian.

Outside, announcer Jeff Cernik beckons the seven horses for a race around the half-mile track, the $50,000 Sylvia Bishop Memorial Race. The familiar bugle horn refrain announcing “Call to Post” is a now a recording.

Back when the track opened in 1933, a live professional bugler did the honors.

Hall of Fame jockey Bill Hartack started

his career here and went on to win the Kentucky Derby five times. Joe Servis began as a jockey in the 1950s, then worked as a trainer and later a steward. Two of his sons took up the sport. Jason Servis’s horses won more than $1 million in 2004 and he’s a leading trainer in New Jersey. His brother, John Servis, won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness with Smarty Jones in the spring of 2004.

A pair of hardcore racing punters (think of the modern-day version of Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson, iconic characters from the popular 1955 musical, “Guys and Dolls”) linger inside the track clubhouse in front of a bank of television monitors. They’re drinking beer from a paper cup. One clutches a hot dog slathered in mustard and sauerkraut. Tucked in the frayed pocket of his lucky blue plaid shirt, he has a ticket for a 7-1 exacta, a daring $20 investment.

The outriders, trainers, jockeys and grooms outside are drenched from the unrelenting

RIGHT HERE

PHOTOS © VICKY MOON

Above, at Charles Town in the 1960s, Sylvia greets yet another winner. At right, Sylvia Bishop during the early 1950s. rain. The track surface is a sloppy soup of mud.

“And... they’re... off in the $50,000 Sylvia Bishop Stakes,” the announcer bellows.

In less than 90 seconds, a chestnut filly named Rita Haywood wins by 4½ lengths.

Trained by Debra Ketterman, the filly wins $30,600 for her effort. It’s a far cry from the $2,275 Sylvia Bishop, the first African American woman to train race horses, won in her biggest victory. And yet, the horses trained by Ketterman have $3,314,634 in earnings.

One of the modern Guys and Dolls characters sets his beer down on a table, pulls a betting ticket out of his plaid shirt and slaps his friend

on the back. “I got the horse right here,” he says.

He walks outside in the now misty evening to the winner’s circle, crowded with grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends of the late Sylvia Bishop. His $20 exacta bet pays $318.

At least one customer on this night did not get soaked.

The man with the hot dog turns to his pal,

his right cheek smudged with bright yellow mustard. He wonders out loud: “Who was this Sylvia Bishop anyway?” © 2019 Vicky Moon from the forthcoming book Sylvia: Had A Way With Horses ISBN # 9780-9617683-7-9 (This article is not to be printed or copied in any form without permission.) Ms. Moon can be reached at vickyannmoon@aol.com Country Spirit • Winter 2019

17

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Banneker Elementary Survived Segregation

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

By M.J. McAteer

anneker Elementary may be a small school, but it has a big heart, and words such as “community” and “family” come up a lot when its educators and students talk about it.

“We have that small, intimate connection,” said Tootie Warner, who went to school at Banneker and has been its clinic specialist and parent liaison now for more than 20 years.

Since it opened in 1948, Banneker, named for Benjamin Banneker, who helped survey the borders of the District of Columbia, has been a centerpiece of St. Louis. The village, which lies six miles northwest of Middleburg, was settled after the Civil War by former slaves, and Banneker began life as a “colored” school.

It’s the only once-segregated black school still on the roster of active public schools in Loudoun County.

Banneker’s 160 students aren’t as local as they once were, though. The school draws from as far away as Aldie and Purcellville, said Principal Robert L. Carter, and black children make up just 4 percent of a student population that is 70 percent white and 22 percent Hispanic.

Just like the bigger public schools in Loudoun, Banneker is equipped with tech tools such as Chromebooks and iPads, and it emphasizes the same multi-modal approach to learning.

“We want to make sure the kids are not missing anything by being at a small school,” the principal said.

But smallness has its advantages.

With just eight classrooms, Banneker’s teachers and staff know all the children on sight, and most by name.

“It feels a lot more like family,” said second-grade teacher Neville Bossi, who grew up in rural Maine and likes the school’s small-town feel. “The kids know we are looking out for them.”

During the segregation era, Banneker and the one- and two-room black schoolhouses that preceded it had dedicated teachers, just like today, but, they had nowhere near the resources.

Principal Carter said Loudoun County showed its commitment to Banneker recently by spending $80,000 on new interior and exterior doors for the school. Sadly, it didn’t always show the same sort of love to black schools.

For example, in the winter of

1952, Ethel R. Smith, the lead teacher at Willisville School, just a few miles from St. Louis, had to write to the school superintendent to Banneker Principal ask for money for heat that Robert L. Carter had not been forthcoming.

“Dirt don’t burn,” she wrote, in a memorable turn of phrase.

That finally did the trick, and the county produced the money for the school to buy wood and coal.

Last year, when Banneker turned 70, its “Dirt Don’t Burn” celebration of equal education was a big day in St. Louis. The celebration included speeches, prayers, and musical interludes, Boy Scouts, local politicians, historians, and stories about life during separate but unequal times.

A plaque was dedicated and excerpts were read from an entry about the school submitted to the Congressional Record. Much local history shared that day came from the Edwin Washington Project, a private effort to preserve the history of Loudoun County’s early black schools.

Warner was a student at Banneker during integration. The 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court decision made segregated schools illegal. Nevertheless, parts of Virginia held out against the law until the 1970s, and Banneker wasn’t integrated until 1968.

Warner said in the beginning at the integrated Banneker, the races were wary, especially the parents.

The two camps of children more or less separated themselves at lunch and during classes. Recess, though, was another story.

“When we hit the playground, everything was different,” she said.

“Everybody knew everybody.”

And they still do, said Jo Myzk, who has gone from kindergarten through fifth grade at Banneker.

“It is like a little community,” said the fifth-grader, adding that she’ll miss that closeness when she heads to the much bigger Blue Ridge Middle School in Purcellville next fall for sixth grade. (Banneker is K-5.)

“The teachers are very kind here,” said 11-year-old Myzk. “I’m very upset about leaving Banneker next year.”

Programs with a Purpose at the Windy Hill Foundation

By Caroline Fout

Claire Louis, Windy Hill Foundation’s resident coordinator, knows all the ins and outs of public service quite well.

“I’ve worked as a teacher, a counselor, in child welfare services, in foster care,” said Louis, a New Jersey native. “You name it, I’ve done it.”

Founded in 1981, the Middleburg-based Windy Hill Foundation is committed to providing safe, low income and workforce housing to residents of Loudoun and Fauquier counties. It serves 800 people in Middleburg, The Plains, Marshall and Brambleton. In 2006, Windy Hill partnered with AmeriCorps, leading to the addition of a number of programs crucial to the foundation’s success.

“Windy Hill is truly an organization that lives its mission,” Louis said, adding that in trying to help families move toward self-sufficiency, the foundation works with a diverse group of residents living in the four communities.

With a bachelor’s in print journalism from Howard University and a Masters in education from the University of Southern California, Louis has been its resident coordinator for 11 years. She’s seen the foundation’s programs become an invaluable and popular aspect of daily life for residents of all ages, and particularly in the Windy Hill Community just west of Middleburg.

Programs include after-school assistance, summer camps, senior activities, study buddy support, and more. There’s a computer lab, transportation assistance and healthy-child programs, as well.

The Windy Hill Foundation has a number of programs for seniors, including providing transportation.

“We have five after-school programs in Loudoun and Fauquier counties, and we have partnered with Fauquier County schools, Loudoun County schools, non-profits, food banks, children’s museums, and churches,” she said. “Just about anyone you could think of. It’s amazing. We’re successful from the support of the greater community”.

Study Buddy Support, a one-on-one elementary school tutoring program, is the foundation’s longest running program. Louis and the Windy Hill staff keep and analyze data based on children’s report cards to better understand the effect the programs have on the participants.

“We have a 100 percent high school graduation rate,” Louis said, “Kids who participate in after school programs are more active and involved in

class, and 70 percent either maintain or improve their grades”.

As for higher education, the after school programs prove to be just as invaluable.

“I’ve seen four of the children, now young adults, who participated in our after school programs head to college,” Louis said. “And for many of these families, they are the first in their entire family to go to college.”

Senior programs also are very much a part of the foundation’s mission, and there is a strong 75 percent participation rate.

“We want to get older adults out of isolation,” Louis sad. “Isolation is a leading cause of depression, and we want to get them out of that mindset.

It’s really important to us that our residents are a part of the community that surrounds them.”

Volunteers also play a significant role at Windy Hill, and some have been involved for over 14 years. Windy Hill’s partnerships also are strong, and provide a a wide range of support from the surrounding community.

“It really takes a village, and we have a strong village,” Louis said. “People really want to help.

Our team of four coordinators who work many, many hours are dedicated to the residents they serve and have a passion for what they do. And our board couldn’t be more supportive.”

Louis has been with the foundation for eleven years, and her inherent love for giving back is quite obvious.

“I wouldn’t even describe it as an interest for me,” she said. “It’s a calling, it’s what I was meant to do.”

THE HILL SCHOOL Serving Students in Junior Kindergarten Through 8th Grade

Individualized, caring attention with a 6:1 studentteacher ratio

Outdoor science center, ponds and wetlands

Educating confident and happy children since 1926

137-Acre campus located in historic Middleburg, VA

Total education: academics, art, music, drama and athletics for every student

Bus Service and Before-and-After School Care | TheHillSchool.org Country Spirit • Winter 2019

19

Tom Wiseman

Teach Those Children About “Big People’s Money” Early On

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Recently, my six-year-old son, William, went to his first “guys’ lunch” with a few of my adult friends.

Before we left the house, he said, “Dad, you know how I’ve been doing chores like feeding the dogs at your house, and helping with barn chores in Mommy’s barn?”

I said, “Yeah buddy…Why?” “Well after our guys’ lunch,” he said, “can we go to our favorite store and may I use my own money to buy a toy? You Tom Wiseman know, how big people use their money?”

I thought to myself, “Wow, I’ve got a little businessman on my hands!”

William’s question brought to mind one of the most common issues I see in our role as wealth managers. Over my 34year career, I’ve worked with many families through three or four generations. Yes, I’m that old. Some children grow up not knowing the value of a dollar. I call it the “silver spoon” or “entitled” syndrome; they’re handed everything in life and come to expect it as they grow older.

At this point, you might be asking yourself why in a financial column am I rambling on about parenting? Well, the challenge for professionals in our world is that we “inherit” these adults.

When they gain access to their trust funds, or inherit a windfall, they have no idea how to handle it. The funds the last generation worked so hard to build are squandered on frivolous things.

Lately, I’ve read a number of articles and information on the importance of teaching children the value of hard work and the importance of earning money at an early age. A consistent allowance for age-appropriate chores is a great way to teach this lesson. Feeding the dog, clearing the table, or picking up toys.

It’s as simple as that.

Along the same vein, young men and women going to college and entering the workplace have very little idea how the “Money World” works. They’re not taught this in most schools and it’s an increasing problem in our modern world.

As they get a little older, take your child to the bank, or to your financial planner’s office. Explain to them how a salary works or the antiquated art of balancing a check book. If they have a 529 account or other savings vehicles set up for them, show them a statement and the benefits for them in the long run.

I’m far from being an expert on raising children, still learning on the fly. I do know there was satisfaction in the way William counted out his quarters to buy his latest Lego obsession.

Since his first purchase, there seems to be a little more incentive to do his chores. Start them young.

Sean Clancy

Some Resolutions: Better Late Than Never

The gym is packed. Fourteen machines, most in use, grind and groan like old cars on cold mornings. Old men, mostly, grind and groan with the machines. Knee braces and wrist bands, sore hips and new hips, cotton polo shirts and ’90s Reebok sneakers, belly fat and gray heads.

Fox News rants from a corner TV, ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption rattles from another. Women with tennis rackets walk past the door, some smile as they look through the glass, a few pump their fists, others blush and shake their heads, most don’t notice at all.

“New Year’s resolutions…”

“Bleeping New Year’s resolutions.”

I step onto the treadmill that faces the door, punch the quick start button, the digital clock begins, one hour of my life ticks down as I think of New Year’s resolutions.

“Bleeping New Year’s resolutions.”

Ten pounds.

Write more. Write better.

Fewer gifts and more time. Your friends, your family, you... I... don’t want blue shirts, sea salts and candles for Christmas. We want your time, that’s all. Time for a drink, a run, a laugh, a dinner.

Time for a chat. Time for interest. Time for commitment to a cause. My wife, Annie, and my son, Miles, they simply want my time. Find the time.

Run a marathon. From Nice to Cannes. From anywhere to somewhere.

Read more books. Read less Twitter.

Write more letters. Write fewer posts.

Call your mother. Call your kid. Call your friend.

Ten pounds.

Go to a John Prine concert. An art opening in D.C. And a Nationals game on a sunny summer afternoon.

Understand Shakespeare, memorize the 44 presidents in a row (yes, 44) and learn all the words to the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (those are for you, Miles).

Sean Clancy Get a dog. Rescue a dog.

Don’t be a dog.

Start the Running Club of Middleburg. One that meets every Saturday morning. One that inspires and includes. Start the Environment Club of Middleburg, working to eliminate one-use plastic. Start with straws, then grocery bags, then Styrofoam.

Make more money. Save more money. Don’t worry about money.

Steward the land. Somehow, see eye to eye with those who differ on the stewardship of the land.

Ten pounds. Be quick but don’t hurry.

Stickball at Welbourne.

Finish the book you’re writing. Good or bad, published or unpublished. Finish it.

Clean out the attic. Build an office. Fix the screen door. Renovate, finally.

Watch – help – the Middleburg Training Center flourish with fast horses, festive owners and fine horsemen. Toss Colonial Downs in there, too.

Ten pounds.

Go fishing with Doug Fout and Laird George.

Shooting with the Bishops. Hunting with Robert, George and John. Golfing with Chris Ambrose.

Hiking with Jack and Cynthia (the Appalachian Trail is right there). Singing with Jamie and Amy. Walking with my wife. Anybody else want to do something? Just call.

Open a business in town. Well, at least, support a business in town. Have you seen the empty spaces?

Support local, live music.

Build a stone wall. Plant a tree. Garden.

Turn off your phone during dinner.

Ten pounds.

Drink less. Dry January is a good start, I’m 23 days in. Eight to go.

Win races at the Gold Cup and Glenwood Park.

Take Miles to see Hamilton. Anything at the Kennedy Center. Skiing. The Globe Theatre. London. Paris. Greece. The Outer Banks with our Maryland friends. His cousin’s wedding in June.

The Baseball Hall of Fame induction in Cooperstown. The Grand Canyon. Goose Creek on the last day of school. Saratoga in August.

Escape with Annie, somewhere for a day, a week, a weekend, an hour.

Make deadlines. Meet deadlines.

Ten pounds.

I look at the clock, still ticking. I wipe sweat from my brow. I read the plaque for the late Walter Woodson above the door.

Be the one who reaches out.

And, somehow, step off the treadmill.

Annual Winter Sale Starts February 1st!

21 East Washington St. Middleburg VA 540.687.3686 - cdrigden.com Country Spirit • Winter 2019

21

Henry Thomas Alken (British, 1785 - 1851) A Confident Approach, c. 1850 oil on canvas | 14 x 14 inches Collection of Lorian Peralta-Ramos

Sidesaddle Exhibition Continues

John Lavery (Irish, 1856 -1941) Hazel Trudeau, later Lady Lavery (1880-1935), Mounted Sidesaddle on Lily-Beau, c. 1904-6 oil on canvas | 23 x 17 inches Private Collection

Johan Joseph Zoffany (German, 1733-1810) The Drummond Family, c. 1769 oil on canvas | 41 x 63 inches Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

John Wootton (British, 1682-1764) Preparing for the Hunt, c. 1745 oil on canvas | 47 x 49 inches Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

The National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) in Middleburg continues its popular exhibition, Sidesaddle, 1690-1935 through March 24.

In art and sport, the poised equestrian riding aside embodies the essence of elegance, power, and grace.

Hidden beneath the flowing skirts of the rider is the sidesaddle, the design of which has evolved dramatically in response to the physical demands of sporting women (and sometimes men) requiring a firm seat as they began to meet the challenges of jumping and galloping across the countryside.

The exhibit presents a revealing perspective on the history and culture of women as equestrians, their depictions in sporting art, and the evolution of sidesaddle tack and attire represented in British, Continental, and American art from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

It showcases over 60 paintings, works on paper, and sculptures on loan from museums and private collections.

The co-curators of the exhibition, which began last September, are Dr. Ulrike Weiss, lecturer at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and Claudia Pfeiffer, the George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Curator of Art at NSLM.

George Stubbs (British, 1724-1806) The Countess of Coningsby in the Costume of the Charlton Hunt, c. 1760 oil on canvas | 25 x 29 Âź inches Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Country Spirit • Winter 2019

23

On Racing

They’re Off and Running Again After a Banner Year

By Jeb Hannum The Virginia horse racing industry had a milestone year in 2018.

The horsemen and breeders from across the industry—flat, harness, and steeplechase racing, under the umbrella of the Virginia Equine Alliance (VEA)— worked successfully to secure passage of House Bill 1609.

This important legislation, sponsored by Fauquier resident and Delegate Mike Webert, enables racing fans to bet on historical horse racing machines at the race track or at the Off Track Betting (OTB) sites.

The races have had the identifying features removed and create a faster- paced betting experience and have shown to be very popular in other states. The passage of the legislation led to the purchase of Colonial Downs Race Track in New Kent County by a new management team with considerable racing and gaming experience.

Virginians once again will be able to enjoy live racing at the track. Colonial Downs will reopen in April with a 15-day meet scheduled to start on April 8. Local steeplechase fans will be pleased to know that the race schedule will include two or three jump races at the same track each week.

The VEA also has negotiated an agreement with the new track owners to receive a percent-

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

age of revenue from the historical racing machines. This money will support all aspects of the racing industry.

Of note, funds will be used to sponsor the Shenandoah Downs harness meet held annually in Woodstock at the Shenandoah County Jeb Jannum Fairgrounds.

The VEA will provide operational funds to support the Virginia Gold Cup’s two days of premier steeplechase racing in Fauquier and the VEA will provide purse funds to the Middleburg Spring and Fall races, the Montpelier races in Montpelier Station and the Foxfield races in Charlottesville.

In an exciting development, the VEA is launching a new program to support the local point-to-point races, the majority of which are located in or around Fauquier County. The VEA is sponsoring a Starter Reward Program where any horse that starts in a flat, hurdle or timber race that is owned by a Virginian or trained in Virginia, shall receive $200 per start.

The point-to-points are steeplechase race meets that are not sanctioned by the National

Steeplechase Association (NSA) and thus have a slightly more relaxed atmosphere and somewhat smaller crowds.

The participants are often the same as can be found competing at the NSA races Middleburg Spring Races, Saturday-April 20 at Glenwood Park and the Virginia Gold Cup, Saturday-May 4 at Great Meadow in The Plains. The races are run by the local foxhunts and are often a starting point for young horses and young riders.

The timber races are the main focus and the horses competing over the 3-mile courses are often seen later in the spring and fall at the sanctioned meets, where they will compete for purse money.

The VEA believes the Point-to-Point Starter Reward Program will encourage new owners and riders and help to increase the number of horses competing at the races. If you haven’t been to a point-to point, come out and enjoy a fabulous day of thrilling racing.

Jeb Hannum is the executive director of the Virginia Equine Alliance (VEA). Additional information about the VEA can be found on www.virginiahorseracing.com. The Virginia Spring Point-to-Point schedule can be found on www.centralentryoffice.com.

Gates open 10am First race 12:30pm rain or shine

virginia gold cup races

Saturday May 4, 2019 Great meadow, the plains

pari-mutuel bettinG Don’t forget your cash, it’s the only way to play!

Tickets can be purchased online or at harris teeter.

Questions, please call 540.347.2612 or vagoldcup.com

Questions, please call 540.347.2612 or vagoldcup.com Country Spirit • Winter 2019

25

New Town Administrator Davis is a Goo-Goo Kind of Guy

By M.J. McAteer

Danny Davis is a “goo-goo,” a term coined in the 19th century for believers in the power of good government at the town and city level.

The new town administrator for Middleburg thinks that “local government is the most important level of government, because you are closer to the people and closer to the issues.”

That mindset is a first-rate fit for Middleburg.

Although the town proper has fewer than 800 residents, “Middleburg has always had a strong sense of place,” said Martha Mason Semmes, whose retirement after eight years as town administrator opened up the job for Davis.

“It is concerned with preserving its history and its landscape,” she added. “Any time an issue comes up, Middleburg wrestles with it with passion and care.”

In short order, her successor, who began work in November, has discovered how true that is.

“Middleburg doesn’t act much like a small town,” Davis said. “Going to town meetings, I’m blown away by people being so vociferously engaged.”

Davis was one of 51 candidates who applied for the town administrator position. Mayor Bridge Littleton said he beat out the competition based on the depth of his knowledge and the breadth of his county-wide relationships.

Just as important, the mayor said, Davis shares the community’s strong belief in “the special place that Middleburg is, and [he has] the vi-

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

sion to protect it.”

Although Davis is only 37, he brings 14 years of public-sector experience to his new job. The Georgia native first arrived in the area in 2000 to attend Patrick Henry College, where he moonlighted on Republican Lori Waters’s successful campaign for Danny Davis, the Broad Run seat on the Middleburg’s new Loudoun County Board town admitstrator of Supervisors. He subsequently earned a master’s degree in public administration from George Mason University in 2013.

Davis worked for about 12 years for Loudoun government, including five years as chief of staff for county administrator Tim Hemstreet.

That was followed by two years as Purcellville’s assistant town manager. He also has served on the boards of Visit Loudoun and the nonprofit Leadership Loudoun.

Most recently, Davis was president and executive director of an assisted living facility in Ashburn, but he discovered that he missed working in the public sector.

He and his wife, Angela, and their three daughters live just east of Gilbert’s Corner, and they’re devoted members of Reston Bible Church. In his free time, Davis likes to play golf and hike with the family at Sky Meadows State

Park in Delaplane and along the Potomac River.

On the job, learning about Middleburg has been Davis’s first priority. “It’s all about stepping into a place and listening and learning,” he said.

And he has quite a laundry list of learning to do.

The town administrator’s duties are diverse and many--implementing the budget, making sure tax dollars are allocated effectively, overseeing contracts and land development issues, preparing reports for the town council, bridging any gaps between the county and the town, and keeping town services up to snuff.

Improving Middleburg’s website will be high on Davis’s to-do list, too, and, over the long term, he’ll be a strategic player in the plan for Middleburg to build a new town hall. The present facility on Marshall Street is so small that the main room does triple duty as council chambers, a lunch room, and a meeting space for any occasion attended by more than three people.

Davis will not be setting any policies for the town.That’s the job of the seven-member town council and the mayor.

“The council gives guidance, and I execute on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “The hardest part is getting everything done all at the same time.”

Far from being overwhelmed by the scope of his responsibilities, though, Davis said he relishes having such a broad, multifaceted mandate.

“Days aren’t typical in this world,” he said.

“It’s exciting, and I don’t want to be bored.”

Small chance that could happen for such a committed goo-goo.

Celebrating the Country Spirit

The Goose Creek Association and the Land Trust of Virginia are sponsoring the screening of “Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman,” the acclaimed film based on the book by Miriam Horn of the Environmental Defense Fund on Friday, February 22 at The Hill School in Middleburg starting at 6 p.m.

Three rugged individualists explore how to preserve their way of life by stewarding the land and water. These conservation heroes learn to use the tools and methods created by law, academics, environmental groups, and their fellow outdoorsman to forge alliances and continue to feed the world while enhancing the environment.

Rancher Dusty Crary builds a conservation easement alliance to protect the Rocky Mountain Front that his ranch depends on. Farmer Justin Knopf rebuilds the fertility, biodiversity and resilience of his soil in the Kansas heartland. And fisherman Wayne Werner lobbies to establish reasonable fishing quotas that restock the Gulf of Mexico.

The documentary is narrated by award-winning journalist Tom Brokaw. It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was aired on the Discovery Channel in August, 2017.

Admission is free and refreshments will be served at the Hill School’s Sheila C. Johnson Auditorium (130 S. Madison St., Middleburg) starting at 5:30 p.m. Pre-registration is encouraged. For further information, contact Kerry

Roszel at kerry@landtrustvaorg or 540-6878441 or register online at www.landtrustva.org.

The following day, the Middleburg Horticultural Society will hold its annual Garden Symposium, “Planting Outside The Lines,” on Saturday, February 23, also at The Hill School from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Sponsored by the Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club, the symposium will feature four expert speakers.

Jane Garmey will open the session at 9:45 a.m. with a lecture on “A Sense of Place” and the challenges faced and solutions found in the making of private gardens in Connecticut and the Hudson Valley in New York.

At 11 a.m., Fergus Garrett will speak about designing with plants considering sense off place, color, shape and repetition. At 1 p.m. Thomas Rainer will discuss “The Beauty Within Biodiversity” in an era of climate change. And Greg Paige will be the final speaker at 2:15 p.m. with “Four Seasons in One Day,” providing design tips and tricks in jazzing up the garden all year.

Same-day registration begins at 9 a.m. on the day of the symposium with a $150 fee that includes

lunch. To register online, go to flgardenclub.org.

For further information contact Elaine Burden at 540-687-6940 or elainburden1@aol.com.

On Tuesday, April 9, the Upperville Garden Club’s Spring Daffodil Show will be held at Buchanan Hall in Upperville starting at 2 p.m.

Accredited by the American Daffodil Society, it draws some of the top competitors from around the mid-Atlantic region. Contestants will be bringing daffodils from their home gardens to compete in a wide variety of divisions including large cupped daffodils, small cupped daffodils, double daffodils, one or more flowers to a stem to mention just a few.

Thousands of daffodils will be on display, and local garden clubs also will compete to create the best arrangement of a specified design.

There will be free refreshments, a “Daffodil Boutique” full of unique gift items and a raffle. Buchanan Hall is located 8549 John S. Mosby Highway (Route 50) in Upperville. Admission is free.

Contact Mary Forte at 540-364-2842, mary@ marysalpaca.com or Wendy Lind Andrews, 703-408-0719, wendy@peterbay.net.

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

27

Attorney Bucky Slater: The Law Was Always In Her Blood

By Leonard Shapiro

Her great-grandfather, known as Judge James. B. Thornton, wrote the definitive law book on the preparation of documents for property transfers in 1854. Her grandfather, William Meade Fletcher, practiced law with Clarence Darrow and argued cases before the Supreme Court. And her father, James William “Jim Bill” Fletcher was a legendary attorney in Rappahannock County.

Was it any wonder that Mildred Fletcher Slater, known far and wide in these parts as “Bucky,” followed in all of their giant footsteps and became one of Virginia’s most respected attorneys.

She has a thriving practice based in Upperville that also includes daughter Kate, like her mother and grandfather, a graduate of the University of Richmond’s T.C. Williams Law School, and two of her invaluable, devoted assistants, Candy Glascock (36 years) and Cissy Rice (25 years).

Jim Bill Fletcher often took little Bucky to the office or to court, and one day asked if she’d like to see the jail. They visited, and “he locked me in for the day.” Bucky also recalled that her father was particularly beloved in Rappahanock County’s African-American community.

“They called him White Jesus.”

Bucky knew early on what her life’s work would be. At age seven, Jim Bill took her on a visit to his old law school, where she met the dean, William T. Muse, who had taught her father.

“I told Dean Muse that I’d be going to his law school when I grew up,” she said. “He was a bit shocked when I actually did show up. I had four of my father’s law school professors.”

Bucky went to law school in an era when few women were following that career path. There were only three in her class. She was the first woman elected to office in the school’s history as vice president of the Student Bar. She also may have been the first law student suspended (only briefly) for wearing a mini-skirt.

Law school worked out well in another way.

That first year, she met her future husband, George Nicholas “Nick” Slater, a University of Virginia graduate. As a child, Bucky Slater had once gone foxhunting at the Slaters’ family home, “Westview” in Upperville. She told her father that day “when I grew up I would live there,” she said. “Another premonition that came true.”

They married in 1970, spent eight years in Richmond—Bucky, the attorney, Nick in the banking business—before moving to Upperville because they didn’t want Kate raised in a city. In Richmond, her practice was mostly criminal and divorce work (she didn’t much like the latter). She now mainly focuses on real estate, probate, trusts and wills.

Several years ago, then Virginia Senator John Warner asked her to consider becoming a federal judge in 1991, but she liked practicing law too much to serve on the bench. She 28

Country Spirit • Winter 2019

Mildred “Bucky” Fletcher Slater at her Upperville law office. erville Mildred Fletcher Slater of Westview, Upp • Attorney at Law d Member • University of Richmond Law School Boar Member ncil Cou • Episcopal High School Old Boys l Church • Two time Vestry Member of Trinity Episcopa • Master of Piedmont Fox Hounds of • Federal Judicial Commission for Selection Federal Judges Committee • Member of the Harry Byrd Leadership for College Scholarships by then • Previously Offered Federal Judgeship Senator John W. Warner • Fourth Generation of Attorneys W. Fletcher • Practiced Law with her Father, James ford Craw r Slate arine Cath and daughter, Chaired • Her Grandfather, William Meade Fletcher mond, VA Rich of ion miss Com on orati the State Corp

has served on a Federal Judicial Commission to select federal judges, and as a member of the Virginia State Bar Ethics Committee and the Virginia Medical Malpractice Board.

Kate and her husband, Penn Crawford, are both attorneys, and live in Richmond. Now a mother of two, Kate spends some time working in the Upperville office and does a lot of trial work, including criminal law. Kate also knew what she wanted to do at a very young age.

“She was four, and one day, she started talking back to me,” Bucky said. “I told her I couldn’t stand it any more and she said ‘I can’t help it mom, it’s all this lawyer blood in me.’”

Nick and Bucky’s son, Fletcher, also lives in Upperville, and has followed his father’s path into banking. He recently joined the Middleburg Bank as business banking relationship manager, and he’s a new father, too.

PHOTO BY CROWELL HADDEN

Fletcher spent quality toddler time with his now deceased great grandmother, Martha Ball Buckner Fletcher, also known as “Mother Ball.” She also helped raise Bucky Slater and was the inspiration for her nickname, as well.

Mother Ball, who died in 1996 at the age of 108 on Bucky’s birthday, (Sept. 12) was a descendant of Mary Washington, George Washington’s mother. She lived in Little Washington and when Bucky was in court, Mother Ball watched Fletcher until she was 104. She once called him a “baldheaded, bowlegged disturber of the peace.”

Bucky Slater has been known to be a tad feisty at times herself, not to mention a fine horsewoman who began foxhunting as a child.

She stopped when her children came along, then resumed riding and served as Master of Piedmont Foxhounds for six years before retiring from the field in 2005.

She still officiates at local steeplechase and point-to-points, and is very easy to locate.

Bucky Slater has gone from wearing miniskirts to sporting magnificent hats, an acquired taste after Nick’s mother, Kitty Slater, travelled to Europe and brought one home.

“I never really liked to wear them, but she came back with this beautiful hat,” Bucky said.

“I tried it on, and Nick went crazy over it. As you get older, they’re wonderful. They hide your wrinkles and bad hair and keep the sun out of your eyes. People don’t concentrate on your bad features. They look at your hat.”

But when you look at Bucky Slater, you’ll also see a loving wife (48 years), mom and grandmother, not to mention a widely-respected attorney who truly adores her work. Remember, she’s got a little of that lawyer blood in her, as well.

Senator Jill H. Vogel Legislative Update The 2019 Senate Session convened January 9th at the Capitol followed by the Governor’s State of the Commonwealth Address. The buildup to the legislative session has been a long one and it is also a celebration of the 400th anniversary of the General Assembly. Formed in 1619 as the House of Burgesses, we are the oldest continuous representative body in the Western Hemisphere, meeting first in Jamestown, then Williamsburg and now Richmond.

While the Senate was not in session in the summer, it certainly did not feel that way. Committees met almost every week in Richmond to formulate the agenda for 2019. The full Senate met for two days just before Thanksgiving and the Governor briefed our Finance committees in mid-December. Meanwhile, we still do our most important work responding to hundreds of constituent requests, often more impactful and every bit as important as our legislative work.

Not surprisingly, some of that constituent work leads to legislation. In preparation for session, I met with parents, business leaders, educators, local government officials and other advocates in each of the seven jurisdictions in the 27th District. My bills are nearly complete and a partial summary of my legislation includes bills to: • Authorize carriers to offer catastrophic health insurance plans; • Allow trade associations to sponsor health benefit plans for their members; • Improve workers compensation for firefighters with cancer diagnoses resulting from toxic exposures; • Require health insurers to provide coverage for those with autism; • Establish a comprehensive school transportation safety protocol; • Address mineral rights in residential property disclosure; • Implement a pilot for feasibility of school placement of students with certain disabilities; • Move primary elections to the third Tuesday in June to accommodate school polling locations; • Revise the deposition process for corporate officers; • Reorganize the Department of Elections as an independent entity to more fairly oversee the administration of elections; • Extend sunset of economic development grant for Port of Virginia; • Create a Sex Trafficking Response Coordinator in Dept. of Criminal Justice to implement statewide plan to identify/respond to sex trafficking crimes; • Provide licensure for music therapists; • Adopt agency and board appointments in state government; • Make it a Class 1 misdemeanor in certain cases to leave children 4 or younger unattended in a vehicle, a bill strongly promoted by Frederick County’s Sheriff and others working to reduce child death from heatstroke; • Add clergy/churches to the list of required reporters of child neglect and abuse, it exempts confession, is supported by churches and is intended to facilitate reporting of child sexual abuse; • Convey Camp 7 ownership in Clarke County through partnership with Port of Virginia; • Provide resources for Shenandoah University technology incubator and Economic Development Authority; • Implement urban nutrient management for equine operations; • Provide funding for Commissioners of the Revenue; Treasurers’ and Registrars; • Provide resources for pre-school initiative; • Assist in hiring people with disabilities; • Provide resources for George Mason University IT network infrastructure; • Provide support for Fort Loudoun in Winchester; • Match funding for Turning Point Suffragist Memorial; • Extend support for the battered women’s shelter; and • Provide funding for Virginia battlefields and historic preservation.

So far, the biggest issues of session have been Interstate 81 improvements, legalizing sports gambling, the Governor’s gun control proposals, tax conformity and a budget surplus estimated at $600 million as a result of the federal tax cuts. The proposals continue to evolve and there will be further updates.

Please consider visiting the Capitol during session! We welcome families and school groups and also hope that you will contact my office any time that you have questions or concerns at 804-698-7527 or email jillvogel@ senate27.com.

Country Spirit • Winter 2019

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PROPERTIES IN HUNT COUNTRY

THOMAS & TALBOT

GONE AWAY FARM

Zulla Road, The Plains ~ Set on a knoll with views of the Blue Ridge Mtns, this 83 acre farm is well designed, offering every amenity. The main house has 4 BR, 7 BA, 4 fireplaces, gourmet kitchen & gracious entertaining spaces inside and out. 3 BR, 1½ BA tenant house; charming guest house; swimming pool; covered terrace; outdoor kitchen; 4 ponds; fruit trees and mature gardens.

Newer 4 stall barn with heated tack, feed and wash stall; 2 - 2 stall shed row barns; 3 run in sheds.

In Orange County Hunt territory. $4,495,000

RANDLESTON FARM

Bluemont ~ Beautifully sited on the western slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Randleston Farm encompasses 70 acres of lush pastures, flowering trees and English gardens. An exquisite 10,000 square foot stone manor is meticulously restored, with incredible views & borders the Shenandoah River. 20 stall stone and stucco stable, run-in sheds, all create a fabulous equestrian facility.

Additional acreage or parcels available. $3,495,000

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Millwood ~ 120 acres - 2 parcels. 3 Story Manor built around older c.1850 home of “Carter Hall’s” estate manager c.1885.

Elegant interior detailing includes 3-story curving staircase. The stable, 2 cottages & a kennel housing the Snickersville Hounds are leased separately for $5000+/mo. Pastoral views toward the Blue Ridge Mountains. Cattle, horses & alfalfa hay share the property. $2,750,000

The Plains ~ Custom Federal style residence with 6 Bedrooms, 7 Baths on 2+ acres. Features high ceilings, hardwood, marble and antique ceramic tile floors, 7 fireplaces and exquisite details. Clive Christian Kitchen with LaCornue stove and light-filled Breakfast Room. Formal Living Room, Dining Room, Library, Great Room, Master Bedroom Suite with fireplace, luxury Bath, Walk-in Closets. Guest Bedroom suite on 3rd level. Walkout lower level has Family Room, Media Room, Music Room, Weight Room, Wine Cellar, 2nd Kitchen, Guest Bedroom Suite. Attached 3-car garage with an Apartment above. $1,999,000

FOX FORD FARM

Jeffersonton ~ Unique 4 BR country house with pool and outbuildings. One and 1/2 miles of Rappahannock river frontage.

Open, rolling fields. Investment, horse farm, brewery, B&B, farming or winery potential. All around views, flowering gardens, privacy and peace. 15 minutes to Warrenton. Division potential. $1,991,000 on 239+acres or $1,443,000 on 142 acres

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Offers subject to errors, omissions, change of price or withdrawal without notice. Information contained herein is dee

WE LOVE WHERE WE LIVE

At Thomas & Talbot Real Estate we are a small, efficient and effective real estate firm with over 200 years of combined sales experience. Our continued success is in large part attributable to our full time sales staff of award winning, dedicated, competent agents. It always has been, and always will be, our philosophy to give the best service to our customers and we are convinced that a smaller company serves you better.

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

REAL ESTATE Phillip S. Thomas, Sr. Celebrating his 57th year in Real Estate

Susie Ashcom THE GRANGE

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Paris ~ Ready for all your interior finishes! This Lovely c.1770 Stone and Stucco Farmhouse has meticulous exterior renovations which include Re-Pointed Stonework, Metal Roof, 2 Large additions, Covered Porch, Basement, Buried Electric, Well and Septic. The property is Fully Fenced, has Mature Trees, and its at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains on 20+ acres with pectacular & protected views of Paris valley. $1,300,000

The Plains ~ Beautiful pastoral views to the West, this classic Virginia manor house was designed to host outdoor family gatherings as well as elegant dinner parties. Completely restored in 2012, the home also enjoys a stunning addition.

Attention to detail throughout, including a custom designed kitchen by Jan Forte – complete with marble countertops and gourmet appliances, which opens to the family room, each room featuring wood-burning fireplaces. In addition to the main residence with pool, there is a one bedroom guest house, 4-stall shed row barn, two fenced paddocks and machine shed. Located in the Northern part of Fauquier County, this 18+ acre estate sits in the middle of prime Orange County Hunt territory which showcases large estates and beautiful open countryside. Ideally located, with easy access to Interstate 66, Route 50 and Dulles International $2,999,000 Airport.

Cricket Bedford Catherine Bernache Snowden Clarke John Coles Rein duPont Cary Embury

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WINDY RIDGE

Berryville ~ Spacious 1880’s 4 BR, 3 BA farm house renovated on 82 acres. Interior details include original heart pine floors, high ceilings, 3 fireplaces, large wrap around porch, new eat-in kitchen & appliances, 2 offices with built-ins, library, large dining oom, living room, Master bedroom with fabulous Master bath.

Custom wood siding. $1,095,000

OLD BARN ROAD

Rixeyville ~ 23 acre horse property with new center aisle stable, rubber tiles in center aisle & 4 matted stalls, wash stall & tack room. Big new arena. Two Story 4 BR colonial with new kitchen appliances, new HVAC & waterfall feature at swimming pool.

Stone flooring in First Floor master suite. Hardwood thru out Living room, Dining room & Kitchen. $875,000

emed reliable, but not so warranted nor is it otherwise guaranteed

A Staunch Supporter of Land Easements

LAND & ESTATE AGENTS SINCE 1967

Middleburg, VA (540) 687-6500

Mary Ann McGowan Rebecca Poston Emily Ristau To see our fine estates and exclusive properties in hunt country please visit

THOMAS-TALBOT.com Country Spirit • Winter 2019

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It’s a Love Story for Middleburg Tennis Pro Kevin Brundle

By Amanda Rogers

In June, 2017, the Middleburg Tennis Club hired Kevin Brundle as its new director of tennis, a match that might best be described in tennis terms as “love and love.”

Brundle, 32, came to Middleburg from the Rome Tennis Center, a 60-court facility in Rome, Georgia, where he served as director of tennis and the assistant director of the Professional Tennis Management program at Berry College.

Michigan born and raised, he picked up his first racket at age 14, and began playing with his dad, a recreational player. A multi-sport athlete, baseball and soccer took up most of his time as a youngster, but being naturally athletic, he was a quick study in picking up his new sport.

Brundle soon made his high school junior varsity team, then went from playing No. 12 doubles to No. 1 on the varsity. He then walked on to the Ferris State University tennis team in Big Rapids, Michigan, and earned a full scholarship his senior year.

“I was on track to become an architect,” he said. “But I switched my major to Professional Tennis Management, with a bachelor’s in marketing. I never expected that this sport would become a part of my life one day.”

Now with over 12 years of teaching experience, he’s previously worked in two national tennis hot spots, Florida and Georgia. In Middleburg, his goal is to bring in what he hopes

in the future to bring in a more “academy” type hard courts, with another building attached feel to the club. that is solely dedicated to the pro shop and “We have a lot of good up and coming ju- offices for the teaching staff of professonals. niors in our program,” he said. “We’re form- Those offices will have an area for video analying closer relationships with sis, so players can watch film schools in the area, and we of themselves in order to anahope to bring in outside nonlyze and improve their game. members to come play and “Our membership is so compete with these kids.” active during the winter The Middleburg Tennis months,” Brundle said “Three Club, founded in 1969, has indoor courts just weren’t cutfive indoor courts, six outdoor ting it. This new facility will clay courts, two outdoor hard take us to the next level.” courts, a fitness center, outdoor The metal-structured buildpool, and restaurant. With ing will also feature a balcony over 400 members, the switch overlooking each court. from a public facility in Geor“We’re really excited about gia to a private club was a big this,” said Brundle. “As opchange for Brundle, but one of posed to our main building, the major reasons he moved his our balcony will be open, family to Virginia. meaning people will be able to “You get to consistently hear everything happening on see these people, to see their each court.” growth over time,” Brundle COURTESY PHOTO Brundle and his wife, Lausaid. “I realized pretty quickly Kevin Brundle, director of tennis ren, have a six-month old baby that this was my dream job. at the Middleburg Tennis Club boy named Zachary and reThe members of MTC make cently bought their first home people feel like they’re part of the family. You walk in each day, and you’re in Warrenton. He also loves the homey atmoinstantly greeted by people you know, and the sphere at MTC, best summed up by one of his favorite quotes. staff is easy-going and fun to work with.”

“People don’t care how much you know,” he MTC recently completed a new state-ofthe-art indoor facility that includes two indoor said, “until they know how much you care.”

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Middle-

Family friendly club New Tennis Training Center to Open Soon!

Full Memberships:

Tennis, Dining, Fitness, Swimming Club House & Special Events Awarded United States Tennis Association Mid-Atlantic Section 2018 Outstanding Tennis Facility Contact: Vaughn Gatling, General Manager Middleburg Tennis Club, (540) 687-6388 ext. 101

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

Middleburg’s Shiloh Baptist Church: A Pillar of Faith and Fellowship

By Leslie VanSant

Middleburg’s Shiloh Baptist Church, which celebrated its 150th anniversary last year, has been at the heart, not just of Middleburg’s African-American community, but of the village itself.

Its parishioners have lived and worked in and all around PHOTO BY LESLIE VANSANT the town and have had a significant impact on its devel- Liz Washington, Paul Thomas and Nancy Christian members of the Shiloh Baptist opment.

Liz Washington, Nancy church.

Christian, Paul Thomas and Lula H. Thomas (no relawho practiced in town, but also vistion) are long-time members of the ited farms to provide medical treatgreater Shiloh community. Over cof- ment and advice. fee on a recent winter evening, the Rosalie Carter, had a tremendous stories started to flow in the church impact on several generations as a basement, with Lula Thomas join- teacher, first at the Grant School in ing over the phone from her home in town and then at Banneker ElemenGeorgia. tary. She also taught at the church’s They all spoke about family, faith, Sunday School. history and the future, with the conSadly, the group also recalled, Jim versation frequently punctuated by Crow segregation was a reality in laughter.

Middleburg, despite the significant Family, by blood or association, impact made by the African Amerihas always been the critical under- can families. For example, Windy pinning of the Shiloh community. Hill didn’t have indoor plumbing unThe history of Shiloh’s families and til the late 1970s. Schools were segreMiddleburg are inter-inked, with gated until 1968. Even the Middlemany church members living east burg Community Center once was of the church building, located on segregated, with African-Americans Marshall Street, and to the west of attending the Marshall Community town in the Windy Hill area.

Center next door to Shiloh.

“We grew up on Windy Hill,” Still, while life was not always Nancy Christian said. “Every moth- easy, equal or fair, the Shiloh comer knew every child, and took part munity would always make the best in raising them. It was a community. of a situation.

You know what they say, it takes a “You always knew, if something village to raise a child, and that’s terrible happened, the community, what Shiloh was, the village.” the Middleburg community, would There was laughter, resonating be there to help you out,” said Lula with respect, as the group described Thomas. the “elder ladies” of the church who Many members of the founding would “let you know if you weren’t families who helped build Shiloh dressed properly” or showed too and Middleburg have left the area much sass or disregard for history, over the years, though many also tradition, family or God. “But you knew they were telling you come back to their roots to celebrate Homecoming every summer. And, because they cared,” said Christian.

They also described a church like many churches these days, Shicommunity that provided structure, loh is always looking for new, youngphysically and emotionally for its er members.

“We want people to know that members. It was also a giving comthey are welcome to join us to wormunity that helped make Middleship the Lord at Shiloh,” said Paul burg the town it is today.

Thomas, a Deacon at the church.

“There were a number of (Shiloh) The women echoed his sentiment members who owned businesses in town,” said Liz Washington, a Mid- that faith was the only requirement.

Shiloh began as a place for recentdleburg native, lifelong church member and its current secretary. They ly freed slaves to gather and worship. included a dry cleaner, barbershops, It evolved into a pillar that supported a restaurant, a taxi service and con- the African-American community struction and contracting businesses. during times of change and growth.

Members also played important And now, as always, Shiloh can be roles in the community, including defined as a place for all to worship a physician, Dr. Maurice Edmeade, and enjoy true fellowship.

Foxcroft Students Get Hands-On Veterinary Experience

By Kayla Lee

I pressed the No. 10 scalpel against the shaved skin of the dog’s abdomen, the blade tearing through the soft flesh in a thin line, making the initial incision.

The butterflies dancing in my stomach fluttered almost as quickly as my heart pounded.

With a deep breath, I located the first ovary and began ligating the blood vessels. In that moment, as my hands took over and my doubts began to wash away, I experienced the inexpressible feeling of truly living, as if someone had struck a match and lit my heart on fire, a fire that ripped through my body and made it come to life.

The operating room, located at the very center of the Thailand animal shelter, acted as the eye of the storm. Stark white walls surrounded the room, the whirring fan circulated cool air, and the beeping monitors drummed in a steady consistency.

On the other side of the door, over 100 dogs scurried about, creating a chaos of mangled fur and barking. Each had been abandoned or found on the street, so the shelter did the best it could to take in as many as possible. My team of nine students had come to provide treatment for the rescued animals.

Those goals slipped away as the first day of surgery arrived and I became lost in the present moment. Quivering fingers relaxed as my confidence grew throughout that first operation, exemplified by my steady hands and sure movements. When the needle slid through the skin for the last time, completing the closing suture, I suddenly noticed my complete unawareness of how much time had

COURTESY PHOTO

Foxcroft senior Kayla Lee worked at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand over the summer of her sophomore year. passed, for my focus on helping the dog felt naturally aligned with my core values.

Veterinary science fascinates me, because it evokes the qualities that are most interwoven into my own identity. I have an innate compassion for others, which translates into an intense drive to help those who cannot speak for themselves, specifically animals.

From a young age, I’ve aspired to become a veterinarian and sought out every possible experience to immerse myself into the field, including my veterinary service trip to Thailand.

Throughout my time at Foxcroft, I’ve been able to explore my interest in veterinary medicine in many ways, including the new Animal Science concentration, which supports my learning in

and out of the classroom.

In my sophomore year, I began an equestrian internship on Foxcroft’s campus with the barn manager, assisting with veterinary tasks such as bandaging and suture removal. I also learned to analyze x-rays, ultrasounds, and illness symptoms. As a junior, I interned at Virginia Tech’s Middleburg Agricultural Research Extension Center, where I worked with graduate students to conduct research in equine science and nutrition.

As a senior at Foxcroft this year, and with the financial help of the school’s Inspired Summer Learning Grant, I went to South Africa this past summer to help capture and relocate wild animals, assist with disease prevention and pregnancy testing in the field, and monitor anesthesia during small animal surgery.

Currently, I’m taking Foxcroft’s animal science class, a new addition to the curriculum. During second semester, I’ll be interning with the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Boyce, assisting with wildlife rehabilitation through blood sampling, xray analysis, veterinary care, and diet preparation.

Additionally, I’ll present my Capstone Project on the impact that ethical hunting has on animal conservation, a topic I’ve been researching.

I’m grateful to Foxcroft School, especially Experiential Learning Coordinator Beth O’Quinn, for supporting my passion for animals, for finding and arranging outstanding opportunities. I also want to thank Dr. Meghen Tuttle, my animal science concentration mentor, for her continued support.

Kayla Lee is a senior at Foxcroft..

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Natalie Lacaze, with Kate Ryan, at Sona Bank co-hosted a “Voyage in France” with Byrne Gallery as a benefit for Middleburg Humane Foundation which included a display of the artwork of Gerald Hennesy and the late Paul Hennesy.

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Mark Ohrstrom and his wife Karin hosted a fundraiser for Windy Hill-The Plains at their Old Whitewood. Ohrstrom, pictured (left) with long-time Windy Hill Foundation board member Judy Washburn and Foundation President Jonathan Catherwood, serves as chairman for The Plains arm of the Middleburg-based non-profit organization. The Foundation provides affordable housing for more than 500 tenants at locations in The Plains, Marshall, Middleburg and Brambleton. More than 100 guests attended the event, and an estimated $50,000 earmarked for Windy Hill-The Plains was raised. Windy Hill-The Plains has 19 units and 46 residents, 26 of them children.

PHOTO BY VICKY MOON

This & That

Marion MacMahon and Ann MacMahon at the Middleburg Methodist Concert for an early evening performance which included Rebecca Kellerman, Candice Mowbray and Marilyn Shenenberger. The event was sponsored by Ann MacMahon of Sheridan MacMahon Real Estate and the Bank of Charles Town.

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PHOTO BY CROWELL HADDEN Diana Bunting’s charming floral arrangement: Diana Bunting and Marci Nadler hosted an art reception “Let's stART the New Year right!” at their Bunting and Nadler gallery in Marshall.

“It’s time for some uplifting, soul-healing fine art,” they wrote. Warrenton based guest artist Daphne vom Baur’s was featured. Marci Nadler, a contemporary colorist painter works in oils, acrylics, watercolor, and ink. Daphne and Marci’s paintings will be part of the Art of the Piedmont at the Middleburg Community Center on Friday, February 22 from 6-8 p.m. to benefit the Middleburg Montessori School. And, Sandy Danielson at the Artists in Middleburg gallery on West Washington Street sends word on “Old Man Winter” on view Saturday, February 9 - Sunday, March 17.

Father John Adams, who has headed the So Others Might Eat (SOME) since 1978, with Ann MacLeod and Robin Keys of Trinity Church in Upperville serving lunch at the Washington, D.C. facility. The interfaith, communitybased organization helps the poor and homeless with daily needs of food, clothing, and healthcare. In addition, SOME helps to break the cycle of homelessness by offering services, such as affordable housing, job training, addiction treatment, and counseling, to the poor, the elderly, and individuals with mental illness.

PHOTO BY VICKY MOON

Jason Labrador: A Multi-Talented Music Man

By Sophie Scheps

The variety in Jason Labrador’s musical performances is enough to make anyone’s head spin. Between singing and playing the violin, Labrador performs with a dozen groups from Virginia, Washington, Maryland and Pennsylvania. And that’s not counting performances under the banner of his own entertainment company, Labrador Entertainment LLC, at weddings and other special events.

“I have my calendar on my phone and its first come first serve,” said Labrador. “I’m a gigging musician. We can’t put ourselves in a box, we have to be able to wear more than one hat. Growing up, I was into a lot of rap music and R&B. I never once thought I’d be playing bluegrass.”

If he’s not playing bluegrass with his traveling show that’s an ode to Hank Williams and Patsy Cline, Labrador might be with the Two River Strings Orchestra out of West Virginia, the Mercersburg Community Choir in Pennsylvania, the Pop Culture Strings in D.C., or maybe with Lucy Black Entertainment that allowed him the opportunity to perform at one of the presidential Inaugural balls.

“I don’t even look at it as different genres,” said Labrador. “I’m just trying to be musical. If I can be musical, then I can survive.”

Locally, Labrador has been singing at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville for the last 20 years and is in his third season as a violinist

Jason Labrador can belt out a tune, and make musical magic on the violin. with Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, based in Warrenton.

“I used to sing with a choir in Winchester and they rehearsed the same night as the Symphony and after singing with them for five years, I wanted a change,” said Labrador. “I decided to join Piedmont Symphony just as a volunteer. Now it’s turned into these solo opportunities, I’m the associate concert master of the symphony, it’s been a wonderful match.”

Originally from Virginia Beach, Labrador came from a family of hobbyist musicians. No-

body took the leap to becoming a professional, until Labrador, a graduate of Shenandoah University in Winchester, went in that direction.

“I knew early on that this was what I was going to do,” he said. “Now, my family was not necessarily on board. They were thinking more doctor or lawyer. Fortunately for me it was worked out this way. Being in this location has a lot to do with my success. Being in the Middleburg, Upperville, Winchester area, there is a lot more appreciation for the things that we do.”

That appreciation, combined with a very collaborative community of local musicians, has allowed Labrador to really explore his talents in many directions, including working with the youth theatre in Winchester.

“We did the show “Annie” with 51 children in the cast and it was the most uplifting moment of my career,” said Labrador. “It’s nice to be able to go to a job where nobody is complaining about what they’re doing. They were just so happy to do it” Labrador’s personal goal is to sing more.

“I’ve been wanting to break out of just being a violinist for a long time,” he said. “I’ve been a violinist my whole life but I’m a solo singer.”

Labrador’s next performance will be with Piedmont Symphony Orchestra on February 17 at 3 p.m. at Highland School’s Rice Theatre.

More details about Labrador’s repertoire can be found on his website, www.labradorentertainment.net.

UPCOMING PSO CONCERTS FOR 2019...

PSO Young People’s Concert: The Grand Canyon SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2019 - 3PM GROFE - The Grand Canyon Suite PSO Young Artists’ Competition & Student Art Contest

Celesti Voci SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2019 - 3PM A celebration of the heavenly voice...Arias, Duets and Overtures from the most beloved Operas of all time!

The New World SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2019 - 3PM H. Lee Brewster, PSO Concertmaster, violin soloist COPLAND - Fanfare For The Common Man BARBER - Violin Concerto DVORAK - Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TICKETS: www.piedmontsymphony.org The Wise Foundation

The PSO is Generously Funded in Part By:

Nicolaas and Patricia Kortlandt Fund The Crossfields Group The Margaret Spilman Bowden Foundation

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Upcycling Mother’s China

By Vicky Moon

While strolling through the Archwood Green Barns farmer’s market in The Plains at the end of the season last year, I met Dave and Christine Jennings. Their business, called Rural Squirrel, displayed a table full of handmade candles in old china creamers and teacups. Ding, ding, ding went my brain.

“If I bring you my teacups can you fill them for me?”

Of course, they offered. I also learned they’re neighbors just down the road, though in 30 plus years, we had never met. That’s all changed now. I gave them some of my “wedding china”—Spode Consul cobalt teacups and a footed cup and saucer “Heritage” by Noritake.

The Jennings entered the job force working together after college for a small firm in the mid-1970s. They traveled the country do-

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ing systems analysis work. They then made an important decision to “move where we wanted to live rather than just a place convenient to work.”

They came to Middleburg area and opened the Plant Store on Washington Street in 1977.

They continued their day job and worked the shop on weekends. It was, Dave recalled, “a wonderful opportunity to become a part of the Middleburg community.”

Three years ago, Dave, 68 and Christine, 67, retired and got into the candle business. Kate, their youngest daughter, put them to work making candles for her on-line (shopnanin. com) and brick-and-mortar fashion business (Na Nin, in Richmond).

Just over a year ago, they launched Rural Squirrel Candle on the web and at local markets in Middleburg, Berryville in Clarke County, Charlottesville, Manassas and The Village Market at the Inn at Little Washington. Their commute from home to the Green Barns is three miles.

“We both have had demanding careers,” Dave said, “and we’re now enjoying working at our own pace on products that express our own creativity.” They offer fragrances such as: fresh lavender, Virginia cedarwood and balsam fir needle.

The kitchen in their mother-in-law apartment serves as their workshop. The expanding inventory has taken over the dining room and storage room equal to 500 square feet dedicated to candles.

They begin with soy wax which burns clean-

PHOTOS BY VICKY MOON

Dave and Christine Jennings of Rural Squirrel create scented candles in upcycled objet d’art. er and longer than both paraffin and beeswax.

It’s melted in a double boiler in flakes. Once melted, the wax cools until the temperature reaches the flash point of the essential oils to be added to ensure it bonds. The wick is customtailored to the size of the container. Using the wrong size wick can cause a candle to burn too quickly with a high flame or too slowly with a low, sooty flame.

A four-ounce travel tin is $6 or three for $15.

Their up-cycled vintage vessel candles are $14.

“We also offer to turn your family heirlooms

A custom order from Rural Squirrel of mother’s footed cup & saucer set Heritage by Noritake is now a scented candle for a friend. into candles to rekindle a link to your family memories,” Dave said.

Hello, you can now even re-gift your upcycled tea cups back to your mother. After all, what goes around and watch those memories come spilling out.

In addition to the markets, Rural Squirrel Candles are available at Gentle Harvest in Marshall and Kohlmann’s Market in Richmond.

Ruralsquirrelcandle.com | 703-862-7069 Info4ruralsquirrel@gmail.com

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A Beautiful Place Conserved Forever

The Middleburg based Land Trust of Virginia has announced the donation of 101.46 acres of beautiful woodlands in the northeast section of Stafford County from businessman Andrew “Andy” S. Garrett. Garrett is president of The Garrett Companies, a large multi-state residential and commercial development organization based in Stafford. This is his second donation of land to the Land Trust of Virginia (LTV).

The property, now known as River Place, is now in conservation easement, which will forever protect the conservation values of the property, and then sell it to a landowner(s) interested in a gorgeous wooded property on Aquia Creek.

River Place had been planned for a rural residential subdivision containing 27 lots and a preliminary plan for the development of the property had been approved by Stafford County. This tract of unimproved land fronts on Aquia Creek on the east side of Aquia Creek Road, and contains a ridgeline and rock outcroppings that provide lovely views of the Creek.

Aquia Creek waters are a direct tributary of the Potomac River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. Upon completion of the transaction, Garrett expressed his appreciation to executive director Sally Price and the team at LTV. “Their efforts and hard work do not go unnoticed,” he said.

“Their sincerity is very refreshing and welcoming in a very complex and challenging world. We applaud their efforts and support their good works of conservation. The Garrett Companies are strong proponents of a balanced approach to development and working together with all parties to make the Commonwealth a better place to live and work.”

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

River Place, a 101.46-acre property in Stafford County, has been donated to the Land Trust of Virginia in Middleburg and is now in conservation easement.

“Andy’s generosity will help the Land Trust of Virginia build its capacity to do even more land conservation in the future,” remarked LTV Chairman Chris Dematatis. “His support is deeply appreciated, as is his trust in our organization.”

David S. Lionberger, Esq., a partner of the Hirschler Law Firm, added, “When Andy approached me to discuss a possible conservation donation I thought LTV was a great choice based on my work with them over many years. Their dedication to conserving lands and to maintaining a good working relationship with landowners ensure that properties are protected and that landowners have a good and informed experience conserving their properties, which facilitates future

conservation that benefits all Virginians.”

With the addition of the Garrett donation and resulting easement, LTV will hold 175 easements protecting a total of 19,228 acres in 15 counties across Virginia. LTV’s mission, for its 27 years, is to help landowners conserve their properties through conservation easements. They hold more conservation easements than any other private land trust in the state.

The Land Trust of Virginia invites landowners interested in hearing more about its easement program to contact Sally Price at 540-687-8441 or sally@ landtrustva.org. The Land Trust of Virginia is a nonprofit organization that partners with landowners who voluntarily protect properties with significant historic, scenic, or ecological value.

Local landscape artist Tom Neel’s “Bird’s Eye View.”

Local Artist’s Work Donated To Land Trust of Virginia Offices

Sally Price, executive director of the Land Trust of Virginia (LTV), has announced the organization’s move to a new and bigger location for their Middleburg-based office.

“It’s very simple,” Price said. “We have grown our staff enabling us to increase the pace of our conservation easement work and to manage all of the stewardship work required by our existing easements. We just needed more space. We went from 500 square feet to 1,900 square feet, which includes four private offices, a large open floor plan, and a conference room.”

“Conservation easements are all that we do and we’ve been doing it for 27 years,” Price added. “We now hold 174 easements across 15 counties in Virginia, totaling 19,127 acres. That is more conservation easements than any other private land trust in the state.”

With an expanding interest in easements and a growing portfolio of properties in easement, LTV’s need for the additional space had been evident for some time. Chris Dematatis, LTV’s board chair commented, “We are primed to do even more, thanks to the support we‘ve received from our donors. Our new office space will accommodate our growing staff and, in turn, allow us to grow the number of landowners that we can help to permanently conserve their properties.”

Local landscape artist Tom Neel has graciously donated two of his magnificent paintings for LTV’s new office. “Virginia’s scenic beauty has been a blessing to me as an artist and resident,” said Neel, a resident of The Plains. “LTV’s mission of preserving open space and the enduring landscape has been a blessing as well.

I know that “Bird’s Eye View” and “Making Hay” will be enjoyed by all

who visit and work here,” Neel said.

Neel is celebrated for his original oil paintings of Virginia, many of them based on scenes in Fauquier, Loudoun and Rappahannock counties. His commissions include a diverse range of themes, ranging from farms and vistas, golf scenes, animals, wildlife, cars, yachts, planes and more.

The new office, just six blocks from the previous location, is now housed in the Middleburg Professional Center. Built by Coe Eldridge and his partner, Charles Nulsen III of the University Group, the large white dairy barn-inspired structure was designed by local architect Bill Tunure. The new offices are at 119 The Plains Road, on the southwest edge of the village.

“We wanted to make this come together for LTV because we thought they’d be a good fit for the building and with the other tenants,” said Eldridge a long-time resident and Our MeditationRings are based on the ancient Tibetan Prayer Wheels. The practice of turning the pray builder in the Middleburg area. “Bewheel helps increase good karma and purify negative thoughts. Based upon these same principles our ing a nonprofit, we realized that they MeditationRings are designed to have one or several outer bands that you can physically spin around the actual ring, this is said to bring the wearer good luck and fortune and a sense of serenity and peace needed a bit of help to make this happen. We’re glad to help them.”

“We love the space,” Price concluded. “The layout is open and bright, with large windows that open onto lovely landscaping, including a small pond that attracts lots of wildlife. The private offices and a conference room surround the center open space and are glass-fronted, so light flows beautifully throughout the entire space.”

Staff members pitched in to complete the move on their own. “It’s Not valid with other offers. One per person. Expires 3/31/19 gorgeous,” Price said.

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Vineyard View

It’s All in the Family at Zephaniah Farm Vineyard

By Peter Leonard-Morgan

Bill Hatch and his family have farmed hundreds of acres of fertile Loudoun County land for the past half-century. That’s in addition to what was, until his recent retirement, his day job as a videographer covering presidential inaugurations, funerals and much in between.

In the 1970s, as the family dairy farm faced the same challenges as so many of the 400 other dairy operations in Loudoun back then, the Hatches moved into the beef farming business, raising hormone- and antibiotic-free cattle. However, a chance meeting in 2001, when Hatch was visiting his daughter then studying in a castle in the Italian Alps of all places, first planted the “grape” seed in his mind.

Upon his return to Virginia, he enthusiastically went out and purchased a thousand vines and 600 trellis posts and planted his first vines during the following Spring Break. Zephaniah Farm Vineyard was born, making the most of a then recently-introduced Virginia Farm Winery Act. It allowed farmers to grow vines and make wine, and sell their products from their premises without many of the traditional bureaucratic and tax hurdles.

Hatch’s father, Bill Sr., was a member of the Greatest Generation, serving in the U.S. Navy

Zephaniah Farm Vineyard pays homage to family history. during World War II. He remained in the Navy for 32 years, rising to the rank of Deputy Director, Naval Intelligence. The family traveled the world extensively, calling many places home for relatively short periods. But his fa-

ther’s greatest wish was to raise his family in beautiful Loudoun County.

Bill Sr. stumbled upon the quaint hamlet of Paeonian Springs, which he loved, but was unable to find a large enough property to farm.

He eventually decided on land on Dunlop Mill Road, just off Harmony Church Road, which was a fairly easy 32-mile drive to the Pentagon, his workplace throughout the Cold War. Zephaniah Hatch, the great grandfather of Bill Hatch Jr., was a steamship captain in California and Washington state, passing down the sailing genes to his grandson, Bill Sr. That family history is all memorialized in the name of the vineyard, and on a number of Zephaniah’s labels, such as ‘Three Captains Red’ and ‘Steamship White.

A trip to the tasting room at Zephaniah finds you, rather uniquely, in the family room of the original 1819 manor house built by Loudoun builder William Benton, socializing around the dining table, being served samplings from a selection of wines made from the 14 grape varietals grown in the vineyard.

Larger groups are able to reserve a time at the newly-built barn, which sits atop the winery building, a wonderful space that exudes an enticing aroma of freshly cut wood.

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The winery possesses its own de-stemmer and a Europress bladder press, with wines being aged in either French or Hungarian oak

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It’s All in the Family for Mary Ervin

By M.J. McAteer

As a teenager, if anyone had asked Mary Ervin if she’d be moving back to Northern Virginia as an adult, she would have answered “no” without doubt or hesitation.

“I was plotting my escape when I was 18,” she said.

As a teenager, too, if anyone had asked Ervin if she’d be joining the family business, her answer would have been the same.

Working for the CGE Group at Morgan Stanley in Winchester, which was founded in 2005 by her father, financial advisor C. Greg Ellison, and now includes her brother, Charles M. Ellison, was not part of her escape plan.

“People assume I have a financial degree, and that I wanted to do this since I was 11,” she said. But Ervin’s adolescent self had decidedly different ideas.

She did, indeed, manage to fulfill her 18-year-old dream and flee Northern Virginia and the Middleburg area, first landing at Boston University, and then at the University of New Orleans. She studied geology at both institutions, and her degrees eventually led her to Houston, where both she and her husband, Paris, worked in the oil and gas industry for several years.

That career didn’t turn out quite as Ervin had envisioned, though.

“She was stuck in a cubicle behind spread sheets,” said her brother, Charles, a financial advisor and a family wealth director.

When the oil markets crashed, the time had come for Ervin to make a change. Although she had managed to survive three or four layoffs and a mean case of “survivor’s guilt,” she and her husband decided to go in a new direction, literally. They quit the industry and moved to Raleigh, N.C., where, Ervin, now 32, worked the 5 a.m. shift at the front desk of a gym.

To her surprise, she really liked the job. Gym-goers asked her about her weekend, and she asked them about

their kids. The work made her realize, she said, that she wanted a profession that was “more client facing.”

As luck had it, there was an opportunity within the CGE Group as the firm continued to grow. “We were bursting at the seams and needed help,” Charles Ellison said.

The CGE Group focuses on advising other families on strategies for the growth, preservation, and distribution of wealth, and its services include retirement, trust, estate planning strategies; life insurance, annuities and assistance with meeting philanthropic goals. It currently has a client base of multi-generational families located mostly on the East Coast.

That’s a lot for two people to manage.

So, last year, after spending a couple of weeks shadowing her father and brother around the office to see exactly what they did day-in and day-out, Ervin began the Financial Advisor Associate program. It amounts to a three-year apprenticeship in financial services management with Morgan Stanley.

Her focus is now digital outreach and the “next gen”--the children and the grandchildren of what Charles Ellison calls the family stewards.

“It’s a social business,” he said, and it provides Ervin with lots of the client-facing that was absent in her oil industry career.

“My favorite part is that everyone has a story, good and bad,” she said. “It gives you sympathy and compassion.”

Working with her father and brother also has been a plus for Ervin.

“I can speak up, and my voice is heard. If I have a difference of opinion, they are all ears,” she said. “And they have no problem telling me if there is a problem.”

As to the downside of working intimately with immediate family, Ervin admitted that some things just don’t change.

“The same stuff that annoyed you when you were eight—it still annoys you.”

From Manhattan to Middleburg at the Goodstone Inn

By Sebastian Langenberg

Edward Villafane, the new general manager of Middleburg’s Goodstone Inn, has every intent of continuing its tradition of excellence for lodging and fine dining.

The Goodstone property originally was a working farm owned by a German banking family, the Warburgs. The current owner, Mark Betts, purchased it in 1996, originally intending to keep it as a working farm. However, when his family was hesitant about moving in that direction, Betts switched gears and turned the estate into a county inn.

Betts met Villafane in New York early in 2018 and they hit it off immediately. Both men had the same vision for what the Goodstone should be: “somewhere that has a true sense of place, a phenomenal restaurant, and staff who genuinely care,” Villafane said.

The 18-room Inn sits on a 268-acre property on Snake Hill Road just off the Foxcroft Road across the Benton Bridge over scenic Goose Creek. There are miles of hiking and biking trails for guests to explore and a picturesque pool. The facility also includes a spa where guests can relax and enjoy a number of different treatments, including deep tissue and even pre-natal massages.

The on-campus farm produces much of the food served to guests, a true farm-to- table experience.

You can enjoy a phenomenal gourmet meal in the

main dining room prepared by Chef Jan Van Haute, previously the executive chef at the Belgian embassy. Wine pairings are available from a 1,500-bottle cellar, and stellar sommelier Stephen Elhafdi is always available to make recommendations.

Goodstone soon will be introducing a lighter bistro menu to enjoy with cocktails served in their piano room. The Inn also recently added an activities coordinator and will be expanding its recreational offerings on the property. Many guests also are likely to visit local wineries, battlefields, and of course, the town of Middleburg itself.

Villafane has a wide breadth of experience to oversee all of the above changes. Before coming to the Inn, he opened six resorts and has worked for storied hotel companies, including the iconic Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

He started in the hospitality business as teenager, working for a neighbor who owned a restaurant and catering hall. He quickly fell in love with that way of life and decided to make it his career.

“I wanted to give that high level of service and create memories for guests,” Villafane said.

His life’s work has taken him far and wide, starting in New York City, then the Caribbean, the Hamptons on Long Island, and now Middleburg.

“When I first came here it was like a postcard,” Villafane said. “It’s a picturesque town, and the people are friendly. Everyone genuinely cares. I like that small town feel, coming from Manhattan.”

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Perspectives on Childhood, Education, and Parenting

The Lessons From Friendship Always Last a Lifetime “True friendship isn’t about being inseparable, it’s about being separated and nothing changes.”

-AUTHOR UNKNOWN

By Tom Northrup These dark winter mornings, the recent mid-January snowfall, and an anticipated weekend visit with two West Virginia childhood friends rekindled memories of my eighth grade year when I delivered a newspaper, The Parkersburg News, to 72 customers Monday through Saturday, and 104 on Sunday.

These two friends, Denny and Mike, also had morning paper routes. We often compared notes, celebrating good news and sharing disappointments.

The business model was simple— be dependable about delivering the papers and disciplined about collecting from the customers. The ideal customer was one who came to the door when we came calling to collect (typically Friday evening or Saturday morning) and agreed to pay by the month, in advance.

The more difficult ones failed to respond when we rang their doorbells. It didn’t take long to understand who was going to present an ongoing challenge.

Every Saturday afternoon, Mr. Dowler, an employee of The News, would stop by my house to collect from me. The agreement was straightforward: paperboys received two cents of the ten-cent price for a daily and five cents of the twentyfive cents for a Sunday. If everything went perfectly (it never did), I could earn almost $14 a week. Regardless, I had to come up with over $55 for Mr. Dowler.

Denny, Mike and I thought this was a pretty good arrangement, but the serious payoff, we were told, would come in December—Christmas tips.

We understood that the most important factor in keeping customers happy was for us to be consistent and predictable in the time we delivered the paper every morning. Mike took this to heart as he set his alarm for 3:30 every morning; had his papers delivered by 5 a.m., had eaten a bowl of cereal, read the newspaper; and was back in bed by 6 for another hour of sleep.

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

At 6 a.m., when Denny and I were getting started, it was still dark and cold those winter mornings, never easy to answer the bell. We both Tom Northrup recall that our customers called our homes if we hadn’t delivered their papers before 7 a.m.

In hindsight, one of the qualities that I most appreciated in my parents was the latitude they gave me to learn from my mistakes. On mornings when they were awakened by a call from an annoyed customer, my father, at breakfast, would say something like, “Tom, you are going to have to get up a little earlier.”

My friendship with Denny and Mike had begun earlier in elementary school. Our experience as paperboys was just one of many we shared growing up, including overnights, walking to school, bicycling, scouting, sports, learning to drive, road trips, and talking.

Despite being the oldest, I always considered myself the junior partner in this trio. Denny’s initiative, resilience, and ability to understand and communicate with girls, as well as Mike’s integrity, straightforward goodness, and dependability taught me a great deal.

Denny was the matchmaker in ensuring that my wife, Ann, agreed to go out with me when we were 16, and Mike drove to Philadelphia to be with me for Thanksgiving when I was a junior in boarding school.

The importance of deep childhood connections cannot be overstated, especially as we age. Ann wrote in a talk she gave at our 50th high school reunion: “there is no medication that works as profoundly as the coming together of old friends.”

The Christmas tips?

Mike did extremely well, and Denny and I did fine. But this financial bonus definitely was not the lasting “payoff.”

Community Music School Offers Instruction for One and All

By Caroline Fout

“Music is important for life. The impact it has on one’s mind is something we can’t live without,” said Martha Cotter, executive director of the Community Music School of the Piedmont (CMSP).

With a background in the investment business, Cotter’s involvement with the music school began when she and her friend, Shannon Davis, organized a children’s ensemble that met once a week. From there, the gathering evolved into a music school that began in 1994 and is now based at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville.

Sharing spaces with churches was a trend that spread, and CMSP, a non-profit 501 (c) (3), now holds classes in multiple locations, including St. Andrew Presbyterian in Purcellville, Emmanuel Episcopal in Middleburg, Grace Episcopal in The Plains, Trinity Lutheran in Stephens City, Church of our Redeemer Episcopal in Aldie. They’re also using the Old Waterford Schoolhouse in Waterford.

“Our mission is to make high quality music education extremely accessible”, Cotter said.

The music school teaches a vast array of musicians at all ages and levels, and boasts a highly qualified faculty, many of whom play and perform professionally. Private lessons run from $35 for a half hour to $70 for a full hour, and financial aid is always available to help defray the cost.

COURTESY PHOTO

It’s never too soon to start learning an instrument.

“We have students from 10 to 85 and we’re always open to any opportunity to bring music to our community,” Cotter said.

The school even has a program for first-borns to four-year-olds, in which their parents or caretakers bring them simply to experience music, to listen and become acquainted to the tones and rhythms that make up so much of our lives.

The school also performs recitals at least six times per year, all of which are free and open to the public, in addition to fundraising events.

Students participate in semesters, attending once a week in either the fall, spring, summer, or all three.

Some programs include Strings Day, in which students gather for a day to learn how to play together with string instruments. A lively

soccer game of cellos versus violins breaks up the day, with a concert showcasing all that the students have learned as the finale.

After school programs are also a large part of the CMSP curriculum. Banneker Elementary in St. Louis, is one of the hosts for these programs. In addition, the Middleburg Charter School enlists faculty from the music school to instruct both fourth and fifth grade strings.

Musical therapy is another component, and faculty members work with students to achieve long and short term goals (outside of the musical world) based on their students’ needs.

CMSP’s effective outreach to the greater community has resulted in their recent partnership with the Middleburg Lions Club to host the James Allen Bland Competition held earlier in February at The Hill School.

For those unfamiliar with the competition, the annual Bland Music Scholarships Program was established in 1948 to assist and promote cultural and educational opportunities for the musically talented youth of Virginia. Winners of local competitions advance to the state finals, in which the top six finishers receive their awards in the form of scholarships.

“It’s really a great way to get the community involved,” said Cotter, adding that, “I wouldn’t consider myself a musician. But I am an extremely appreciative audience, and to see our students progress and be proud of the work they’re doing makes my love for music grow stronger.”

Country Spirit • Winter 2019

49

If No Frills is Your Fancy, Millwood Fills the Bill

By Leonard Shapiro

Its members like to say they put the “country” in the Millwood Country Club, a charming and oh-so anachronistic nine-hole private golf course with enough different tee boxes all around to play 18 truly unique regulation holes as well as nine more on a par 3 layout. Nestled between several farms in rural Clarke County, about 15 miles east of Winchester, they also keep it plain and simple, just as most members prefer.

There is no fancy clubhouse, no food service, no valet parking, no pro shop, and no practice facility other than a turf tee in front of a net and a small putting green. There also are no starting times—simply show up and tee off. And if there’s a group or two on No. 1, just scoot off to another hole and begin the round there.

Dogs also are more than welcome to accompany members on the course, leash or no leash, much to the dismay of the occasional deer that occasionally wander out of the woods. And just about everything is done on the honor system.

Need a cart? Just sign in, grab a key, and off you go. Bringing a guest? Add their name on a clipboard nailed up in the cart shed and enjoy. Looking for a cold brewski after the round?

There’s a well-stocked fridge up in the kitchen of the modest wood-framed clubhouse and help yourself, as long as you sign for that. But please, make sure you clean up afterward.

“One of the things I like about it,” said past president Emily Day, “is that it’s really a microcosm of how a libertarian golf course environment would work. We don’t need a lot of rules.

It’s each to their own. It operates on the honor system, Yes, some people might take advantage from time to time, especially guests, but for the most part, everyone always does the right thing.”

The golf course has been around since the 1920s and is an offspring of what once was

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Country Spirit • Winter 2019

Above, the veranda at Millwood’s comfy clubhouse. Left, at Millwood for a round of golf circa 1910. Below, there are sand traps in the front and cows in the background.

known as The Blue Ridge Hunt, which focused on fox-hunting going all the way back to the late 1800s. According to the Millwood club’s web site, “around 1910, the clubhouse moved to the Clark House at the foot of what is fondly known as the Millwood Hill, at the junction of Routes 255 and 723….General John S. Mosby nearly surrendered his famous Raiders (at the Clarke House) during the Civil War. But the Blue Ridge Club’s tenancy at the Clarke House was short-lived.”

In 1915, Roland Mitchell, a New Jersey native, married Susan Page, who was born at the nearby Saratoga Farm in Clarke County.

In time, Mitchell and his wife moved their family to the Glen, an estate abutting Saratoga. Around 1915, Mitchell, an avid golfer, persuaded the Blue Ridge Club to relocate to a portion of the Glen in the hopes that a golf course also could be established.

Susan later donated this land to the club

in her husband’s memory. Today’s clubhouse stands on the portion of the Glen the Mitchells gifted in 1917. The club then leased property for a nine-hole golf course from the Meadowbrook estate just to the east of the clubouse. Peter Mayo, a well-to-do Richmond native and ardent golfer himself who lived nearby, provided funds for the course construction.

By the middle 1920s, the clubhouse, a frigid spring-fed swimming pool, and two clay tennis courts also were added. And in 1957, the land leased for the golf course was purchased and added to the club’s fold.

According to Andrew Stifler, another past Millwood president, in the early days of the golf course, the maintenance for each of the nine fairways and greens was the responsibility of nine different member families. That included mowing, weeding, gathering stray rocks and downed tree limbs and keeping the sand in the bunkers.

The current membership is as diverse as it could be—farmers, horse trainers, school teachers, shop-keepers, doctors, lawyers and retirees, among others. Nick Dunning, now 73, a member most of his life, said there also have been some big names who played the course, as well, including Bing Crosby, Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones, among others.

Dunning laughed out loud when he remembered being suspended from using the facilities for six months at age 16, when he and a few buddies disrupted a party by throwing cherry bombs down the clubhouse chimney. He also recalled that as recently as the 1980s and ‘90s, two members—one a horseman, the other a veterinarian—would play 18 holes together, throw their clubs in their pick-up trucks and pull weed-eaters out of the back. Then they’d head out on the course and perform a little doit-yourself maintenance themselves.

The price is also very right. There’s a $5,000 initiation fee, and family memberships are in the range of $1,500 a year, even less for a single. There are about 240 members, including a handful of social and out-of-town members. It’s $1! to ride nine holes in a cart and $20 for 18.

“In my mind,” Stifler said, “Millwood represents the epitome of what a country club means.

It’s laid back, it’s comfortable, social and no one puts on any airs. Everyone is respectful and enjoys each other’s company. You never have to wait to play golf. And it’s a really challenging course.”

At this delightful little club, emphasis in the country.

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Piedmont Symphony Concert Showcases Young Musicians and Artists

By Leonard Shapiro The senses of sight and sound will be taxed to the max at the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra’s next concert, with solo performances by three talented teenage musicians, complemented by a student art show that will be displayed at the venue and above the stage even as the music plays on.

The occasion is the PSO Young People’s Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17 at Highland School in Warrenton. It’s one of music director and conductor Glenn Quader’s favorite events, if only because it showcases so many talented and devoted young musicians.

“Just think about it,” Quader said. “We’ll have three kids between the ages of 14 and 17

who made a commitment years ago to really excel in music. As they go through that track, a lot of other kids wonder how they got so good.

While those kids are out playing ball, these kids are playing scales.”

Those three—pianist Thomas SeRoam Kim, 14, from Prince William County, violinist Kelsey Payne, 16, from King George County

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and saxophonist Patrick Smith, 17, from Fauquier County—each will play one concerto movement in the first half of the concert. Their work will be judged, with first place earning a $1,500 scholarship, second $750 and third $500.

They’ve gone through a competition that included young musicians from 11 Virginia counties submitting a CD of their work. From

the original entries, eight semifinalists were chosen to perform live in front of three judges.

The Final Three came from that group.

Debbie Gilbert, PSO’s principal flutist, has been coordinating the Young Artists competition since 2007. She said she’s awed every year by the talent level of all the participants.

“These are very motivated young musicians,” she said. “It takes a special kind of kid to become this involved. Many of them memorize the pieces they’re going to perform. They’re very bright and very talented.”

As for the visual art portion of the concert, that involves a contest as well, based on the music that will be played by the full orchestra in the second half of the Feb. 17 concert. The PSO will perform the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé, a 35-minute piece that includes five movements, each meant to evoke a scene typical of the Grand Canyon.

The young artists were asked to submit a work based on the scene of their choice—for example, a painting of a sunset, a rock formation, a river running through it. A separate panel judged the art entires, with the top three also receiving scholarships. All entries will be displayed on the day of the concert in the theater lobby, and a slide show will project the works during the Grand Canyon Suite performance.

The PSO’s long-time commitment to supporting young musicians also takes another fabulous form—a popular mentoring program designed for Fauquier County middle and high school students.

Funded by a grant, Quader and musicians from the symphony go into the schools and work with band and orchestra students. They’ll

offer individual instruction and then actually play along with students.

“They have a chance to see these seasoned professional musicians who can play things that they probably can’t,” Quader said. “Because we have this confidence level and reading (music) skills, then kids see right away what can make them better as musicians themselves.”

Pat Neidich, PSO’s principal trumpet player and an assistant principal at Warrenton’s Liberty High, has helped coordinate the mentoring program in recent years. It includes PSO musicians as well as members of the Capital Wind Symphony in Vienna, Va., under conductor George Etheridge.

“Fauquier is a rural county and we don’t have a lot of resources that some of the larger counties may have,” Neidich said. “With the mentoring program, instead of our students having to go seek out professional musicians, we bring the professionals to the kids.

“They get a feel for what it’s like to play with someone with that skill level. The kids love it.

Any time you get to see and then play with someone who is better than you are, it’s very inspiring. It allows them to get new information on how to play their instruments, and it motivates them to become better musicians.”

Piedmont Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition Grand Canyon Suite Carole M. Hertz Student Visual Art Contest Sunday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m.

Highland School Center for the Arts 597 Broadview Ave. Warrenton 20186 Tickets: Piedmontsymphony.org

Please join us for the 8th annual

Middleburg Community Center Friday, February 22nd, 2019, 6–8 pm Kevin H. Adams Anthony Barham Brittany Beiersdorf Ross Misia Broadhead Tiffany Budzisz Mike Budzisz Armand Cabrera Debbie Cadenas Teresa Duke Catherine Giglio Gail Guirreri-Maslyk Jillian Holland Bonnie Hoover Laura Hopkins

Cody Leeser Ron Lieberman Tim Maloney Deborah Morrow Marci Nadler Tom Neel Lee Newman Jill E. Poyerd Katherine Riedel Bill Rock Daphne vom Baur Antonia Walker Cathy Zimmerman

artofthepiedmont.org Teresa Duke Poppies with Blue Adirondack

Pre-purchase your tickets online for $20 or at the door for $30 a benefit for Middleburg Montessori School

Country Spirit • Winter 2019

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Real Estates: Game Creek

Game Creek is a spectacular stone and stucco manor house located in a quiet enclave near the village of Middleburg. The home was custom designed in the French Country style, complete with a copper roof and a large covered porch. The porch features a fireplace and a beautiful open terrace, stretching across the back of the home and into the backyard. The main entrance opens to reveal a large stone fireplace – just one of five fireplaces in the main house. French doors line the back of the home and open to access the back terrace.

The first floor master suite, with its beautiful western view, is home to another stone fireplace, large walk-in closets, and an outstanding master bath, including a steam shower and a supplemental washer and dryer. The kitchen is charming and functional, with top of the line appliances, antique finishes that create a warm, comfortable feel, as well as a magnificent, two-sided stone fireplace that serves both the kitchen and the neighboring breakfast room.

There is a butler’s pantry and a large open din54

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ing room, with a garden room and a mud room to bridge the beauty of the grounds with the elegance of the home’s interior.

The second floor is accessed by a double staircase, as well as a secondary staircase for family.

There are seven additional bedrooms, accompanied by five full baths. Notable features include a library-playroom, a bunkroom for guests, and an additional second floor balcony facing westward. Just above is an unfinished attic, while the lower level of the home provides mechanical equipment, additional storage, a temperature controlled wine cellar, an exercise room with a full bath and steam shower, and a TV/ audio space for an in-home theatre.

Resting on thirty-two acres, the grounds feature extensive trails that have been maintained to provide access for the Middleburg Hunt. In addition, there are naturalized wildlife corridors along the property and, best of all, access to Goose Creek. The creek frontage provides canoeing, kayaking, camping, and a many more options for recreational activities. The entire property

has been thoughtfully planned and beautifully maintained. Stunning boxwoods and perennial gardens surround the home, with a cutting garden and raised vegetable beds that are vital to the elegant, convenient, and private, but not remote feel of the property. In addition, there is a fourstall stable, an equipment building, and a versatile workshop for collectors and hobbyists to enjoy.

A standout feature of the land includes a large saltwater pool, complete with a natural stone diving board and a cabana. This space is easy for entertaining – connecting the casual feel of the outside porch with the elegance of the formal garden. In addition, there is a garage with an above studio, ready to serve as a space for an overflow of guests, or as a private home office.

Game Creek is 32 acres and listed at $2,650,000 by Helen MacMahon, Associate Broker at Sheridan-MacMahon, Ltd. Helen@sheridanmacmahon.com 540 454 1930 – Cell 540 687 5588 – Office

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1. The family room is on the main level 2. The library is a book lovers dream 3. A spacious open living room awaits family and friends 4. The pool includes a hot tub area 5. A relaxing spot for entertaining

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Green Book Has a Local Touch T

By Vicky Moon

he current hit movie “Green Book” has high octane Oscar buzz. The film, based on a true story, also has a littleknown connection to Warrenton.

With a copy of the 1954 edition of the actual “Green Book” in my hand, I set out on the streets of Old Town recently to discover the roots of some of the businesses listed in what was also known as “The Negro Traveler’s Guide to Travel and Vacations.”

“Green Book,” the critically acclaimed film, part of the Middleburg Film Festival last fall, is the story of Dr. Don Shirley, an eccentric and talented black concert pianist based in New York City. He goes on a deep-south performing tour in 1962, accompanied by his white, wise-cracking, Bronx-born Italian-American driver known as “Tony Lip.” They use the Green Book to find “friendly” (to African-Americans) restaurants, lodgings and businesses. Their initial off-putting relationship transforms into a deep and eventual long-time friendship that transcends race, class and the Mason-Dixon line. For the record, there were no listings in Middleburg, which does not mean there wasn’t any place for people of color to stay, most likely they found safe shelters by word of mouth.

Currently screening at many local theaters, the film has 31 marvelous, toe-tapping pieces of music. The “Green Book” took home three Golden Globe awards at from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association held at the Beverly Hill Hilton on Sunday evening, Jan 6 . Awards included: Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, Mahershala Ali for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture and Best Screenplay — Motion Picture for Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, Green Book.

The 91st Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The film has been nominated for five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor (Viggo Mortensen), Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali), Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

The 6 ½ x 5 inch, 82-page “Green Book” was first published in 1936 by New Yorker Victor H. Green (1892-1960). He gave up his job as 56

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PHOTO BY VICKY MOON

Robert Walker, 85, maintains his father’s barber business now at 23 S. 3rd St. in Warrenton. a mailman to print and sell the popular annual directory that offered a valuable and occasionally life-saving travel service in an era of Jim Crow prejudices and practices, particularly in

the south. Until the mid-1960s, many local jurisdictions even had a “sundowner” directive that barred blacks from spending the night in that location

The 1954 Green Book entries listed for Warrenton included a tourist home, a barber shop, two beauty parlors, three taxi cab services and a tailor. All were owned and operated by local black residents. Sixty-four years later, descendants of the original owners of

several businesses remain.

Robert Walker followed in his barber father George B. Walker’s footsteps. The original barber shop is listed in the old book as located on 5th St. which is now 3rd St., specifically at 23 S. 3rd.

“It was right next door,” Robert Walker, now 85, recalled, sitting in one of the two chairs in the charming and cluttered shop he’s occupied for 20 years. The place oozes nostalgia, with countless old photos on the walls, a shampoo sink, combs and clippers. A black-and-white checked linoleum floor adds a vintage touch.

The barber shop was opened in 1938 by patriarch George and, his son said, “men would come here from Manassas after work, because there was no place for them to get a hair cut.” The shop was open until 7 p.m., and to this day it remains open until that hour for much the same reason.

A 1954 graduate of segregated William C. Taylor High School in Warrenton, Robert started in the hair-cutting business at age 15 along with his now late brothers, James and Shirley.

“I try to keep the name going,” he said, adding that the best part of still operating the business is “meeting people. It’s a great experience to talk to people from all walks of life. Now guys that I knew when they were little bring their children and call me Mr. Bob.” A 17-year member of the Town Council,

Robert Walker has watched Warrenton grow exponentially.

“I’ve been here long enough to remember when the town was smaller,” he said. “The integration here was peaceful. I never felt any harassment. This is the beginning of the south here, but Richmond is different.”

A taxi service listed in my copy of the Green Book says “Joyners,” but a little research indicated this was simply a typo. Then simply called “Joynes” Funeral Home on the other side of Main St. at 29 N. 3rd St., and uncovered a little more history.

George “Woodson” Joynes, son of funeral home founder Henry W. Joynes, greeted me a few minutes later. Historically known as a “black funeral home,” Woodson Joynes said the business now “serves all people of all races and all faiths.” And, yes, indeed, he also confirmed that his father also was the taxi driver and owned four cabs, the funeral home (with branches in Falls Church and D.C.) and several apartment buildings.

“Dad got into the business during World War II,” Woodson Joynes said. “There was a shortage of public cars and there was a need for taxis.” Even automobile magnate Walter Chrysler, who lived just out the Springs Road at North Wales owned a taxi.

“Why did that gentleman want a taxi in this little town?” Woodson said. “Here you could get a taxi, but in the deeper southern cities, probably not. Like sugar, tires and refrigerators, there were very few autos built to sell from 1943 to ‘45.”

Woodson Joynes graduated from Fauquier County’s Rosenwald High School, with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Virginia Sate University in Petersburg, with an additional degree in mortuary science from Eckels College of Mortuary Science near Philadelphia.

Two other taxi owners were in the ’54 Green Book—Aubrey Bland and Clark Parker.

The Lawson Tourist home at 227 Alexandria (not Alexander as listed) Pike was also listed.

Owned by James and Lizzie Lawson, it was then directly across the street from the current DMV office. Tulip Fowler owned the beauty parlor at 123 N. 3rd St. And, the tailor, John Thomas McLain, at 205 Culpeper Street also had a large and loyal clientele.

All that within 48 hours.

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Entertaining with Emily

Winter Dinner for Two

By Emily Tyler

Broiled Pineapple, Avocado and Arugula Salad with Prosciutto wrapped Mahi-Mahi

Warm Chocolate Soufflé Cakes These little cakes are not as fussy as a classic soufflé, in fact they can be done well ahead and refrigerated, just bring them to room temperature before baking. I make them right before dinner and keep them on the counter, then put them in the oven when dinner is winding down. Once they are baked, you will want to eat them immediately, while they are hot, and why not?

This fish and salad combination has it all – sweet, sour savory and rich. Broiling the pineapple mellows it nicely. Much of this recipe can be done ahead, just sauté the fish and dress the salad last minute making it a great Valentine’s Day dinner for two. With a light dinner like this, there is plenty room for a rich, decadent dessert like chocolate soufflé cakes.

• ¼ of a fresh pineapple, cored and peeled and cut into bite size chunks • 2 teaspoons sugar • 1 avocado, diced • 4 cups baby arugula • Dressing: • 1 tablespoon lemon juice • 3 tablespoons canola oil • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard • ¼ teaspoon salt

1. On a baking sheet line with foil, toss the pineapple with the sugar and spread out on the pan 2. Heat the broiler to medium high and place the oven rack 4-5 inches from the heating element 3. Broil the pineapple for about 4 minute then turn the pieces over and broil for an additional 3 minutes or until a few brown spots appear 4. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature 5. Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to combine 6. Add the avocado and pineapple to the arugula and top with the dressing and toss gently 7. Distribute the salad between the two plates

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• 4 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate chips • ½ stick unsalted butter, plus extra for preparing baking cups • 1 teaspoon Chambord Black Raspberry liqueur • 1 whole egg and 1 yolk • 1 tablespoon & 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, plus extra for preparing the ramekins • 1 teaspoon flour • Vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries for serving

Prosciutto wrapped Mahi-Mahi • 2 6 ounce filets of Mahi-Mahi or any other firm white fish • 4 slices of Prosciutto • 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary • Black pepper (hold the salt, the prosciutto is salty enough) • 2 shallots, peeled and finely minced • 2 tablespoons butter, divided • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. In a large skillet heat to medium high, then add 1 tablespoon of butter 2. Sprinkle the filets with the minced rosemary and the black pepper 3. Wrap each filet with the prosciutto overlapping the ends 4. Place the filets seam side down in the pan, for 3 minutes then flip for an additional 3-4 minutes or until just cooked through 5. Remove the fish from the pan and keep warm 6. Add the last 1 tablespoon of butter and the minced shallots and sauté for about a minute 7. Add the lemon juice and deglaze the pan, scraping up any bit from the bottom and continue cooking for another minute or two or until the shallots have softened 8. Place the fish on top of the salad and spoon the shallots over the fish

1. In a small heavy sauce pan heat the chocolate, butter and Chambord over low heat until just melted, be very careful not to burn the mixture 2. In a small bowl add the egg, yolk and sugar and with a hand mixture beat the mixture for 8 minutes until it is pale yellow and light 3. Add the flour to the chocolate 4. Combine the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture by folding gently until well combined 5. Prepare 2 large ramekins by coating them with the butter then adding ½ teaspoon to each coating the bottom and sides of the cups 6. Divide the batter between the ramekins 7. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees 8. Line a baking sheet with parchment and place the cups on top 9. Bake for about 13 minutes or until the edges are puffed and the center still moves slightly when shaken 10. Remove from the oven, dust with powdered sugar and serve with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and raspberries if desired

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One commercial building which appears like two that are adjoined on the corner of Madison and Federal Streets. Offers 4 separate entrances. Mixed Use includes retail & office spaces.

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Berryville ~ 255 Acres of rolling land in Virginia horse country.

In 2 parcels: 82 acres now home to well known, income producing, cross country training course for 3 day event riders; 173 acres includes a 1 mile gallop, paddocks, sand arena, land equipment building, stable with income producing equine vet hospital.

Stable now has 6 stalls and can be easily expanded. Includes small apt plus 2500 sq ft of living space, now being used as office. Both parcels have lovely home sites. 255 acres: $1,900,00 OR 173.348 acres: $1,300,000 and 82.091 acres: $625,000.

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BUCKSKIN MANOR Historic home just outside of Hillsboro ~ A true treasure!

Located in the heart of VA wine country. Lovely home dating back to the 1700s on 66 acres with mtn. views. 5 BR 4½ BA main house; guest house; stable; pool with outdoor entertaining areas. Large pond. Formerly a successful B&B and could return to that use. EZ commuter access to DC. $1,700,000

Emily Ristau 540-454-9083

Licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia

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Berryville ~ Renovated 1880’s 4 bedroom, 3 bath farm house on 82 secluded acres. Interior details include original heart pine floors, high ceilings, 3 fireplaces, large wrap around porch, new eat-in kitchen and appliances, 2 offices with built-ins, library, large dining room, living room, Master bedroom with fabulous Master bath. Custom wood siding. 4400 sq.ft. of living space.

45 min to Dulles. 1 DUR $1,095,000

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THOMAS & TALBOT REAL ESTATE A Staunch Supporter of Land Easements

LAND AND ESTATE AGENTS SINCE 1967 Middleburg, Virginia 20118 (540) 687-6500

Offers subject to errors, omissions, change of price or withdrawal without notice. Information contained herein is deemed reliable, but is notCountry so warranted nor is it• Winter otherwise 2019 guaranteed.

Spirit 59

“Specializing in large land holdings”

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The Plains ~ 108 Acres, minutes from Middleburg in prime Orange County Hunt Territory with exceptional ride-out to both wooded trails and open pasture. The Stately Manor House, with it’s grand proportions and terraces, has been host to many events including charity balls and political benefits.

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Upperville ~ 536 Acres protected by a conservation easement with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation; however, division rights offer potential for additional tax credits. The land has recently been used for horses, hay, and cattle, but the gentle south-facing slope would also be ideal for grapes.There is a well-built home, which awaits your vision to reach its 21st century potential. Find peace and serenity in this historic and sought-after corner of Loudoun County $6,500,000

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The Plains ~ Sweeping panoramic views and grand trees surround this recently renovated, turn-key residence set on a private 90 Acre estate. The home has been finished to the highest standards and features three meticulously finished levels with a modern floor plan, which includes a first-floor master bedroom suite. The location is in prime Orange County Hunt Territory. $4,475,000

The Plains ~ Stunning and extensive renovation for today’s life style while incorporating salvaged antique features. Chef ’s Kitchen opens to the Family Room and Dining Room. Wood flooring, new windows, high ceilings, new trim, new tile, large open rooms, built-in bookcases, French doors to back terrace and pool. 3-car attached garage with custom finished room above including built-in bunk beds. Generator. $2,600,000

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Middleburg ~ Exquisite custom home designed for indoor and outdoor living and entertaining on 23 private acres minutes from Middleburg. Grand rooms with 12’ high ceilings and beautiful moldings, elegant main level master suite with fireplace and French doors to terrace.

Nearly ¼ mile of frontage on Goose Creek. Charming Guest Cottage. $2,249,000

100+ Acres in pristine Rappahannock County, Stonehaven offers a picturesque and tranquil retreat. Sited at the end of the private drive is the historic Stone residence, c.1745 with additional stone cottage for guests or office and tucked into the woods, is a beautifully restored 2 bedroom log cabin.

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THOMAS & TALBOT REAL ESTATE A Staunch Supporter of Land Easements

LAND AND ESTATE AGENTS SINCE 1967 Middleburg, Virginia 20118 (540) 687- 6500

subject toSpirit errors, omissions, 60 Offers Country • Winterchange 2019 of price or withdrawal without notice. Information contained herein is deemed reliable, but is not so warranted nor is it otherwise guaranteed.