inFauquier Spring 2022

SPRING 2022

Soar into spring A flight of fancy in Fauquier County

Inside: • Flying Circus • Aerial yoga • Find out what it feels like to break gravity on horseback

connecting you to

People That Care.

Sam SVP Community President

Dave VP Loan Officer

Karen Loan Processor

Sam VP Commercial Loan Officer

Austin Loan Officer

Christy VP Branch Manager

Our Warrenton team is here and stands ready to listen to

Rick VP Loan Officer

Lynn Bank Service Representative

Jacqueline Deposit Relationship Specialist

what’s important to you. We are committed to this community, and

Sydney Bank Service Representative

we are ready to provide you an exceptional banking experience.

Come see for yourself!

Warrenton Office 128 Broadview Avenue

Susan Bank Service Representative

Linda VP Loan Processing Manager

Warrenton, VA 20186 (540) 359-7100

Donna Loan Processor

Tina Bank Service Representative oakviewbank.com | Member FDIC

It’s personal to us.

PHOTO BY RANDY LITZINGER

PHOTO BY VERN POOLE

15 FACES & PLACES 9 12 13 16 18 20

Meet the marksmen (and women) of the Condon family Peggy Khoenke: On a wing and a prayer (flying in her father’s memory) Hear the inspiring stories of two female pilots on the cutting edge of history Bees? Yes, please.

Taking yoga up in the air Suspended animation with five expert equestrians

23 27 28 29

PHOTO BY SAWYER GUINN

27

34

LIFE & STYLE

FARE & FLAIR

Native raptors are the region’s year-round cleanup crew High school drone program develops young engineers with ‘learning by doing’ sessions Weightless wonder at iFly gravity chamber The historic Skystreak was an early part of the nation’s airpower dominance

7: Fauquier tidbits • 42: The Last Word

31 34 36 38 40

Rise above your space constraints with vertical gardening Weed eater? Just do it!

Tell those pests to bug off Cheers to spring beer FISH fills a local need

ON THE COVER Warrenton-based, internationally known sporting photographer Douglas Lees loves the power, movement and unique perspective from this “under-fence” shot from a hurdle race last spring at Great Meadow.

Take flight with our contributors Freelance photographer Randy Litzinger’s longest non-stop flight was 14 hours from Los Angeles to Australia, where he got to watch a lot of movies, and take occasional strolls up and down the aisle to prevent blood clots. He wasn’t worried at all, because (in the voice of Raymond Babbitt) “Quantas never crashed”...”Never crashed.”

Managing editor Betsy Burke Parker says she’s at ease in the air, having done skydiving and rappelling in college, drifted across the Blue Ridge in a hot air balloon, lifted above the Mediterranean and Caribbean on parasails and jumping horses regularly. “A recurring dream is about being a bird, being able to fly,” she says, though actually piloting a plane has never been an attraction.

Features writer Alissa Jones wonders “if taxi cab rides in Europe count as flying.” If not, then she says the KLM and TAP 14-hour nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Lisbon were regular occurrences at one point in her life.

Food writer-restaurant reviewer Alexandra Greeley once flew 30 hours between her Long Island home and Hong Kong, with an unexpected layover in Tokyo. A bit overwhelm-

ing, she recalls, and a long several days of travel that left her wondering what day it was for quite a while.

Most of the flying John Toler has done has been in military aircraft.

While writing about the 149th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Virginia Air National Guard, “I got to ride in the observer’s position in the tail of a KC135 tanker while it refueled one of the 149th’s A-7D Corsair II fighters.”

Later, he rode in “Elvira,” their TA-7C trainer – piloted by Warrenton’s Capt. Dave Gerrish. They flew a bombing mission from the squadron’s base at Richmond International Airport to a range in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Writer and retired editor Steve Price recalls a 1983 equestrian journalist junket to Vienna for the World Cup show jumping finals. “The trip included an invitation to a formal ball at the Schwarzenberg Palace. A woman also on the trip and I twirled away to the strains of ‘Blue Danube.’

“We were waltzing away with reckless abandon until I noticed we were on a collision course with Prince Philip, there in his capacity of head of the International Equestrian Federation.

“His Highness’s bodyguard assessed the problem, and if he hadn’t

diplomatically but firmly waved us away, my partner and I might have changed the course of British history… or at least several episodes of ‘The Crown.’”

At 14, Aimée O’Grady traveled to Europe with her family. She flew, alone, to Switzerland to spend an additional two weeks with a friend.

The nine-hour flight home from Geneva back to New York as an unaccompanied minor was a long one. “I had a window seat and only got up once when the woman beside me did.”

Contributing photographer Joylyn Hannahs spent six months in flight therapy after an emergency landing in Brasilia, Brazil, where all directions for landing and escape were given in Portuguese. “Needless to say, upon my feet hitting the ground, I was looking for the easiest way home by boat.”

Although it isn’t the farthest distance she’s flown, Master Gardener Sally Semple recalls one particular journey from Washington to Florida “feeling like the longest flight when we were held on the tarmac for many hours, and all the young children, including my own, cried for the last two hours of the delay.

“For the most part, fellow passengers

The Soar Issue

were kind because, as one departing passenger told me, they felt like crying too.”

Beer writer John Daum says he once flew from a corner of eastern Europe all the way to Los Angeles in one day, making it back to the West Coast just in time for sunset … and an all-American brew.

Math teacher and mother of six, Vineeta Ribeiro’s longest flights have been the 24 hours getting to and from India. But no flight felt longer than the cross-country one when flying alone with three young children, all of whom used their feet as battering rams, according to the passengers seated ahead.

Writer-designer-outdoorsman Sawyer Guinn says his most vivid feeling of flying didn’t include an airplane. On a snowboard trip to Canada, “a jump caught my eye, a ‘tombstone kicker’ with a 60-foot gap from the top of the ramp to the landing.

“It felt like flying.”

17 hours - somehow wherever designer Vincent Sales moved to in his youth, it always ended up an 17-hour flight away from his hometown Manila.

It wasn’t too bad: the plane food was usually interesting, and the trip offered a lot of time to catch up on sleep.

Spring 2022

3

Learning to fly (but I ain’t got wings) Coming down is the hardest thing You jump up, and gravity brings you back down to earth. You reach the top of a hill, and gravity accelerates you down the other side. All neat and tidy: gravity behaves in the way Newton thought of it, a law that affects and changes the motion of something else.

That something else is often us.

But what about when you break the law – the law of gravity? What happens, we wanted to know as we soar into this spring in the Piedmont, when you defy physics? What happens when you take matters in your own hands and push out of an airplane hatch? What happens to let a bee buzz, an eagle swoop, a 175,000 pound jet airliner hang in the sky?

HIGH FLIGHT Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, – and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence.

Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air…

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or ever eagle flew And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

al jet ownership company. There was a full-color, full-page photo, a sexy looking Gulfstream G650. It shimmered silver, alluring against a wide-open expanse of blue. My mind turned to how many other things soar – literally or figuratively.

Hot air balloons, horses, the sleepy stinkbug buzzing around my living room, warmed up by the woodstove.

Just like that, the issue you hold in your hands took flight.

The writing and photo team flew into action. Aimee O’Grady was full of ideas – using her own knowledge of beekeeping to tell the story of the Rininger family’s Fern Hill Apiary, and she introduces us to second-generation (but late-bloomer) pilot Peggy Knoenke. Alissa Jones dug deep into the history of the Warrenton Fauquier Airport and did discovery about Bealeton’s crazy-popular Flying Circus.

Writer Vineeta Ribeiro and photographer Randy Litzinger checked in with Mountain View students on their mini-drone project, then followed them to iFly, right into the anti-gravity chamber as they used their own body weight in an experiment.

Five of the region’s top equestrians – in five different “extreme” horse sports, describe what it feels like to break the bond of gravity while jumping obstacles. Foxhunter Jennifer Taylor believes the horse-human bond is nothing short of magic; steeplechase jockey Barry John Foley likens the sensation to flying.

Through a wide variety of stories and takes on the theme, discover so many ways to soar into the season.

spiration Like these things always happen, two unrelated items collided to breathe life into the Soar Issue of inFauquier. Tom Petty came on my Pandora feed – his catchy Learning To Fly was rocking out on my Bluetooth. Simultaneously, I was flipping through a stack of stockpiled magazines one cold late winter evening.

I saw one word - a single, short word.

And that brought you this.

“Soar” was in doomsday headline type size on an ad for a fraction-

— JOHN GILLESPIE MAGEE JR.

Published quarterly by Piedmont Media LLC. Address 41 Culpeper Street Warrenton, VA 20186 Phone: 540-347-4222 www.fauquier.com Publisher: Catherine M. Nelson cnelson@fauquier.com 4

SPRING 2022

Welcome

Editor: Betsy Burke Parker betsyburkeparker@gmail.com Managing editor: Robin Earl rearl@fauquier.com Consultants: Anthony Haugan ahaugan@fauquier.com Jeanne Cobert jcobert@fauquier.com

Nancy Keyser nkeyser@fauquier.com

Designers: Vincent Sales Cindy Goff For advertising inquiries, contact: Anthony Haugan, ahaugan@fauquier.com

pawsawhilepetmotel.com • (540) 347-4855

The Best Full Service Pet Care Facility

NEW YEAR. NEW SMILE.

We offer different option so you can choose the best that fits your lifestyle: Aligners | Lingual Braces | 3D Printed Clear Braces | Traditional Metal Braces

361 Walker Drive, Suite 201, Warrenton, Virginia 20186 540-349-1331

mineraorthodontics.com

orthodonticsminera

MINERA ORTHODONTICS, WHERE PATIENTS ALWAYS COME FIRST!

�FC��?NG?PNGA��� 4CP?�KHGA� �CGEFP�3KOO� �C�PCN 1�B�IYPKPH���UM��PLKSUT��6HSPR����HJ�PJL

BL��PJLY��MML�LK 5K��O�NEGA?H�SCGEFP�HKOO�PNC?PIC�P� �NC����KOP��?NG?PNGA���NECNU��NC?PIC�P� �NC?PIC�P�DKN�4CP?�KHGA�,GOKNBCNO� 5�PNGPGK�?H���GB?�AC� �FUOGA?H��FCN?LU���-TCNAGOC��H?��G�E� 4C�P?H��C?HPF��CNRGAC� �KBU��KILKOGPGK����?HUOGO

�U��L��PTL�H��4 �����.4 ����4 ���EHRL�PL��H�L 4�5 ��5 �.5����

������������������������� ��������������

�0��2RHJQ�LRR�AUHK B�P�L�((/ FH��LT�UT��E1� )'(/-

�COL�UTR���PSL��U�� YOU�RK�L�L� ������213� �PY��U�YLL�OU��MH�� G�D E5�3��5�

�?HH��O�PKB?U�?P

�,�'"��(�(.)/ PK�OAFCB�HC�?�� ?LLKG�PIC�P

����VPLKSUT�KUJY�JUS�IH�PH��PJ� �LP�O��RUYY�JLT�L��

\Ōś

inFAUQUIER COUNTY TIDBITS

Star-crossed in springtime Star-gazing requires more than a cloudless night.

There’s the matter of pollution – smog and air contaminants are problems, but as big a problem is light pollution.

Fauquier County was recently recognized for trying to dim the glare and keep nighttime dark.

The International Dark Sky Association awarded the

Sky View cellphone app If you find hand-held charts hard to manage in the dark, the Sky View application turns your cellphone’s camera into a telescope. Point your camera heavenward, and the app automatically identifies stars, planets, constellations and galaxies and offers all sorts of incredible information about them.

It identifies satellites like the ISS and Hubble.

The Sky View calendar feature indicates where an object will be at a given time or date. And even if you’re out on a cloudy night or surrounded by light pollution – or outside on a sunny day with no visible stars, Sky View’s knowledge of your location takes the place of visual observation.

– BY STEVE PRICE

Sky Meadows State Park in Paris coveted International Dark Sky Park status — a distinction held by only 100 parks worldwide.

The Natural Bridge State Park in central Virginia also earned Dark Sky status last year, giving Virginia five dark sky parks, more than any state east of the Mississippi, said Virginia State Parks director Melissa Baker.

Measures taken at Sky Meadows to earn the desig-

nation included setting park lights on timers, shielding lights and ensuring beams cast down toward the ground rather than up toward the sky.

The Northern Virginia Astronomy Club hosts the “Astronomy for everyone” program monthly at the park.

Many counties, including Fauquier, employ outdoor lighting ordinances to mitigate the effects of light pollution. Fauquier’s lighting ordinance has been in place since

December 2004, with provisions limiting night lighting and glare levels in residential areas. But lighting associated with roadways, security and other special conditions is exempt from this requirement.

The resolve to SOAR Project SOAR – Success Overcoming Adversity in Recovery, has a new, active education program that promotes physical and mental wellness. SOAR offers mentoring, community support, teaches healthy coping mechanisms and helps with personal and career development.

The concept was developed by the Virginia State Police four years ago. “Representatives from non-profits in three surrounding counties were invited to attend a brainstorming meeting to address the opioid epidemic,” explains Sean McElhinney, director of a local support program. “They had tried to ‘arrest’ their way out of the crisis, and it wasn’t working.”

SOAR builds resolve by developing healthy coping mechanisms, mitigating stress and building healthy relationships.

They’re jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. And they love it!

Luther Kurtz established DC Skydiving in 2010. Based out of the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport, DC Skydiving offers one-on-one tandem jumps.

In tandem skydiving, inexperienced skydivers experience the thrill of flying through the air, tucked safely in with an experienced skydiver as their parachute floats softly down to earth. Jumpers spend four to seven minutes in the air.

It takes a 30-minute flight to attain the proper altitude and position over the drop zone. Once a pair of jumpers hop out of the plane, they freefall - without the parachute canopy open before the instructor pulls the ripcord.

Keelee Beaudet says most of the hundreds of calls she fields weekly for DC Skydiving are prospective

jumpers who are “anxious, nervous and excited at the same time.”

She explains the process to reduce anxiety, verifying there’s a half-hour of ground school before lift-off in either a Cessna 158 or a PAC aircraft.

During a tandem jump, the customer is harnessed to a professional tandem skydiving instructor and a parachute system that can sustain the weight of two people. The jump is from up to 13,500 feet high with up to 60 seconds of freefall, during which the twosome plummets to earth at 120 miles per hour.

DC Skydiving is open March to October. dcskydivingcenter.com

– BY ALISSA JONES County Tidbits

Community involvement includes the Mental Health Association of Fauquier, Verdun, Willow Circle Art, Hope Water Wellness, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Rappahannock Goodwill Industries and Pranapiloga Yoga.

“We use everything that we have accessible at Verdun,” a nearby outdoor learning center, McElhinney says, using rock climbing, ropes courses, hiking, gardening, art and more.

“The intention behind the comprehensive nature of the program is that we will introduce everyone to at least one thing that will stick, one thing that will resonate with them. We give participants a head start.”

Through local grant funding and private donors, SOAR is free. verdunadventurebound.org

– BY AIMEE O’GRADY

Rocketry challenge May 14 The American Rocketry Challenge is slated May 14 at Great Meadow in The Plains. The aerospace design and engineering event is for teams of sixth through 12th graders run by the Aerospace Industries Association. Teams can be sponsored by schools or by nonprofit youth organizations.

The event involves designing and building a model rocket – 650 grams or less in weight, 650 millimeters or more in length using NAR-certified model rocket motors totaling 80 N-sec or less of total impulse. The rocket must carry a payload of two grade A large eggs, oriented sideways. The flight duration must be 41 to 44 seconds to an altitude of exactly 835 feet.

To complete the competition, the rocket must return the eggs to earth without cracking them.

The Northern Virginia Association of Rocketry meets monthly at Great Meadow. novaar.org/drupal7 Spring 2022

7

connecting you to connecting you to

Business Business Solutions Solutions

AT OAK VIEW NATIONAL BANK, we are proud to support AT OAK VIEW so many local small NATIONAL BANK, businesses during this time. we are proud to support As many your local so localcommunity small bank, understanding businesses during thisyour time. needs focusing on the As yourand local community success of your business bank, understanding your is built and intofocusing everything needs onthat the we do. Together, let’s focus success of your business onbuilt yourinto passion and work is everything that to achieve your goals. we do. Together, let’s focus on your passion and work Weachieve are committed to our to your goals. community, and no matter yourare business needs, We committed to we our stand ready to serve you. community, and no matter your business needs, we stand ready to serve you.

Real People.

Real Results.

Real People.

Real Results.

oakviewbank.com | (540) 359-7100 | Member FDIC

Faces & Places

Meet top gun Britton Condon (and the whole Condon clan) INSIDE THIS SECTION

Story by Betsy Burke Parker Photos by Joylyn Hannahs

• Give bees a chance How sweet it is • Fauquier Airport serves as the portal to the county • Into the wild blue yonder with Women Can Fly program (and meet two women who do)

WHO WE ARE AND WHERE WE GO

Their focus is on the art of shooting Accuracy is the name of the game for the Condons: Letting the lead fly with the experts.

Staying in the moment is key. Precision is key.

Focus, muscle memory and hand-eye coordination, also key.

There seem to be a lot of keys to unlocking success in shooting sports, but three generations of the Condon family have them all in hand.

National champion sporting clays shooter Britton Condon and his wife, National Sporting Clays Association-certified instructor and competition shooter Teresa Condon, are justifiably proud of son Forbes, a Virginia Tech freshman and state champ who’s already making his own mark on the sport on a national level.

The Condons live in Upperville, train in Delaplane and compete around the nation.

Britton Condon’s father, David Condon, owns and the family operates the world-renowned David Condon Inc. antique arms sales and appraisals store in Middleburg.

Shooting is an individual sport, Teresa Condon says, but one that the entire family can enjoy together.

Her husband says that sporting clays, a shotgun course firing at moving artificial “clay pigeons” is similar to golf. Squads of shooters circle a sporting clays course together, adding a social element to the intensely mental game.

It largely comes down to training, he says.

Smoking a speeding clay disc-shaped target is a delicately balanced mix of conscious and subconscious. The shooter – competition or leisure, professional or amateur, runs through the same mental checklist, he says. “You check your foot position, your hold point, … eye on front edge of your target. Unconsciously, 10

Spring 2022

Certified shooting instructors Teresa and Britton Condon say the art of accuracy comes from training drills at the conscious level yielding way to the subconscious muscle memory and lightning-fast reflexes that take over when you call ‘pull.’ Both Condons, and their son, Forbes, are championship sporting clay shooters.

In pigeon vs. pigeon race, the real thing wins • A live pigeon flies about 90 miles per hour.

• A clay pigeon – the flying target used in sporting clays – clocks in around 42 miles per hour. when you call ‘pull,’ you go from thinking to feeling.”

Lifelong clay shooter Doug Dixon describes when he’s in the zone: “The birds look like they’re flying in slow motion, as big as trash-can lids. When it’s right, you know it because you feel it.”

Sporting clays is a sport that demands precision and focus, Britton Condon maintains. “It was imported from England” in the early 1900s, he says, similar to skeet and trap shooting, but different since in clays, shooters move around the course; trap and skeet is from a fixed position.

Sporting clays is endlessly interesting, he stresses, because “no two courses are the same, and no two days on the same course are the same. It’s like golf that way.”

How it happened Britton Condon, 52, attended Hill School and St. James in Hagerstown, Maryland. He started at University of Delaware but was recruited for George Mason University’s trap and skeet teams. He was a sport standout, winning the college nationals twice.

He’d been born into a firearms-oriented family: his father, David Condon, had started collecting firearms at age 7, purchasing his first two guns from Herb Glass Sr. in 1949.

He started dealing in 1957.

David Condon founded C&N Guns in 1959; it subsequently became the Winchester Gallery in 1975, in 1979 becoming simply David Condon Inc. since his name was by then the chief selling point.

He opened a retail store in

Faces & Places

With sporting clays, size does matter A standard clay pigeon is an upside-down saucer shaped disk, just over 4 inches in diameter and made from a mixture of calcium carbonate – limestone and pitch.

Most are blaze orange in color, but “mini” clays are black, less than 2.5 inches in diameter.

Rabbit clays are similar in size to standard clays, but they’re made with thicker walls.

“Rabbits” are sent out along the ground at speed by a purpose-built rabbit trap. A rabbit clay will frequently jump into the air to produce a random and challenging target.

Middleburg in 1983. Today, David Condon Inc. is one of the oldest and most respected dealerships in the field with more than 100,000 antique and collector arms sold to-date.

See CONDON, page 11

CONDON, from page 10 Britton Condon has been manager since 1999. In addition to consignments and sales, the shop acts as appraisers and consultants to the Smithsonian, NRA National Firearms Museum, U.S. Treasury, Department of the Interior, the Commonwealth of Virginia and more.

“We spend most of our time doing appraisals,” he explains.

“The price of guns never goes down. It’s a solid commodity, better than gold. Gold fluctuates; guns just slowly tick up.”

The store has handled some of the world’s most precious antique arms, including a Society of the Cincinnati sword, one of 50 commissioned and fabricated in France in 1783.

The Society of the Cincinnati is America’s oldest patriotic organization, established by officers of the Continental Army who served together in the American Revolution.

David Condon Inc. has sold Custer guns, Roosevelt guns, Sitting Bull guns, even one of Hermann Goering’s personal firearms.

Sporting clays – what is it?

Sporting clays is one of the world’s most popular shotgun sports, invented in Britain in the 1900s for hunters and sportsmen to sharpen their shooting skills. Taking exacting shots on an unfamiliar course is extremely challenging, but it is also a discipline a beginner can participate in and enjoy.

• Sporting clays is like golf’s individual holes visited in order.

Targets are thrown to simulate fast-moving ducks, high-flying geese, flushing pheasants, hopping rabbits and more.

• Course design is dictated by a range facility’s available terrain.

Roving courses consist of 10 to 15 shooting stations, called stands.

“David Condon is renowned in the world of firearms,” Teresa Condon says.

“He’s a walking encyclopedia.”

Britton Condon started shooting at a young age, his father taking him for lessons with world-class wingshooter and instructor, the late Jack Mitchell. “I also grew up playing tennis,” he says, “which helps since hand-eye coordination” is a big part of both.

Britton Condon won his first U.S. open in 1993, though he says competition was never the goal. “The important thing to emphasize is that at no point did I feel like I was striving to get to a certain level, to get to the championship,” he

JUST MAGNIFICENT no stress, NO PRESSURE WINES & VIEWS

ore info on e m v e

& ts en

specials.

n code to Sca se

Escape the MADNESS

says. “I just loved the sport, loved the challenge. I was always working to shoot as well as I could, totally focused on the target in that moment.”

Son Forbes Condon is following in his dad’s footsteps. He’s on the school shooting team at Virginia Tech, a range officer at the campus training grounds.

The Hill School grad started shooting with his parents at age 9. Sister, Blythe Condon started shooting at age 7, and though she’s “an excellent shot,” according to her mother, the 20-year-old Liberty University junior is studying vocal performance and opera. “We don’t force the issue with either one,” Britton Condon adds.

Teresa Condon, 53, grew up in Massachusetts, riding with Olympic three-day eventer Mike Plumb. She first came to Middleburg in 1991 to ride with Olympian Torrance Watkins. She worked as executive director of the Great Meadow Foundation and Virginia Gold Cup race director 1993 to 2003.

She married Britton Condon in 1999, largely trading riding for gun sports since “I’m not one to stand on the sidelines.” “And, otherwise, you weren’t going to see me very often,” her husband cracks.

She has earned National Sporting Clays Association instructor certification and is a B class shooter. She loves teaching beginners, especially those with no prior firearms experience.

“I teach lots of children.

I love seeing the pride they feel when they hit a target.

It’s thrilling to see them enjoy the outdoors and our right as Americans to bear arms.

I think by doing this, we’re helping create a new generation committed to conserving open space and committed to the Constitution.”

TAKE A SCENIC DRIVE AND ENJOY THE DAY AT MAGNOLIA VINEYARDS Escape to Magnolia Vineyards, a family-run boutique vineyard and winery, making small lots of mostly Bordeaux varietals, located just off scenic Route 211 in Rappahannock County. Visit us for unique wine tastings paired with cheeses & chocolates, live acoustic music on Saturdays, historic & vineyard guided walking tours, and more! Stay for the day and relax in our cozy tasting room or outside on our covered porch, beautiful deck, or surrounding grounds. Warm and welcoming hospitality, quiet country peace and great mountain views await you at Magnolia Vineyards!

Faces & Places

WWW.MAGNOLIAVINEYARDS.COM OPEN THU-MON 11:30AM-5:30PM 200 VIEWTOWN RD AMISSVILLE, VA 703-785-8190 INFO@MAGNOLIA VINEYARDS.COM

Spring 2022

11

Peggy Doyle Khoenke — born to fly Peggy Doyle Khoenke’s former home was decorated with flying paraphernalia, from plane models to large glossy images of aircraft framed and hung on the walls.

It was a home decorated by a woman captivated by flight. She loved the thrill of a low fly-by and appreciated the beauty of the land seen from the height of the clouds.

Khoenke’s career had been dedicated to healthcare and medicine as a registered nurse. But her heart soared when an unexpected inheritance suddenly gave her the means to fly.

Q: Who was your influence?

A: My father was a barnstormer, stunt flyer and air racer. His poor vision kept him out of the military, but he was a good enough pilot to be an instructor for the Civilian Pilot Training Program where he trained military pilots.

Q: Who was his role model?

A: Charles Lindbergh had a huge influence on my father.

Q: What are some of your earliest flying memories?

A: I used to fly as a passenger with my dad. When I was 2, we moved to Washington, D.C., where my father worked for the Civilian Aeronautical Administration, a precursor to the FAA He was later the chief pilot at National Airport and flew dignitaries.

This was before flight restrictions, and I would fly with them. I remember one flight to Hot Springs National Park [in Arkansas] … my father was flying Franklin Roosevelt for help with his polio.

Q: When did you start flying?

A: In my 40s. My father left me mon-

Peggy Khoenke, with her granddaughter Colleen piloting the plane. ey when he died, and I decided to use it for flying lessons.

Q: What did you do with your pilot’s license?

A: I earned all my ratings at Andrews Air Force Base and was an instructor there and then at Quantico. My ex-husband and I started an air charter company. This was all a second career, I have always been a nurse, but … I seemed to fly full-time and work in healthcare part-time.

I have done a few air races with Air Race Classic. [ARC started in 1929 and encourages educating female pilots.] The race begins in Santa Monica and ends in Cleveland.

Q: Have you influenced any pilots?

A: I taught my oldest son to fly. My granddaughter, Colleen, has three influences, me and two grandfathers. After college she told me she was considering being a flight attendant: I told her not to be in the back of the plane, be in the front.

Women take flight

Fun fact: Females are more able to handle ‘the G’s’ when flying (so why aren’t more of them in the cockpit?)

By Aimee O’Grady The members of the Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots will sponsor a Women Can Fly event at the Warrenton-Fauquier airport on Saturday, June 4.

Registration is now open.

Local flight instructor Peggy Doyle has been a member of the Ninety-Nines since she earned her pilot’s license more than 30 years ago. She volunteers at the event.

“My father flew foreign dignitaries,” Doyle recalls the beginning of her fascination 12

Spring 2022

with flying. “I was just a little girl and didn’t know who they were, but we would play cards with them in the plane.”

WCF was last held in June, 2019. That year, nearly 300 people registered for a private flight with a volunteer instructor. Prior to take-off, registrants attended a 40-minute briefing before being assigned to a pilot.

Event organizer Sarah Patten wants women to know it’s never too late to become a pilot. “I have a finance degree,” Patten says. She’s been an air traffic controller more than a

She recently received an offer from Sky West Airlines and will be flying with them at the end of the month.

Q: Where can someone who is interested in becoming a pilot get started?

A: Any Fixed Base Operations, like Fauquier Airport, will have a flight school.

APS Flight School is run out of there. Anyone age 16 and older can fly solo. You can be any age to fly.

Q: Are you involved with any other flying groups?

A: I fly with Compassion Airlift. They provide free transportation along the mid-Atlantic region for people requiring specialized medical care. Some of the patients we transport are children or patients who are unable to sit up.

We can also fly healthy people to visit sick people. If someone needs to get somewhere outside of the mid-Atlantic, we can meet up with another organization to continue the transportation. In our area, the organization flies out of Manassas Airport.

As a member of the Ninety Nines Old Dominion chapter, I volunteer to award Amelia Earhart Scholarships for women who are trying to earn their ratings and certificates.

Q: Any interesting stories to share?

A: There are so many funny stories. During an air race, which is only flown during daylight hours, two female pilots got to Hershey, Pennsylvania and landed for the night.

They couldn’t rent a car to get to a hotel.

They were old enough to fly a $700,000 plane, but not old enough to rent a car!

Warrenton-Fauquier Airport Women Can Fly Warrenton Fauquier Airport Midland Saturday, June 4 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. womencanfly.com sarah.patten@gmail.com 856-889-1566 decade. “That’s the best part about this field, you can move into it at any time.”

This is Patten’s fifth year organizing the event. “We want to show women and girls what aviation is all about.”

The briefing teaches about lift, navigation instruments and safety information.

“We have a variety of aircraft from small planes to multi-engine and even a heli-

Faces & Places

— BY AIMEE O’GRADY copter to fly,” she said.

In 2019, pilot Richard Newman flew his Beechcraft Bonanza BE-36 to the Midland airport from Leesburg to volunteer for the day. After safely taking off, again and again, he handed controls over to enthusiastic aspiring pilots who banked and turned the aircraft as they flew south over Culpeper Airport.

The mission of the event is to give girls and women hands-on experience flying, in the hope that they will consider aviation as a career choice, either in the cockpit or in any of the supporting careers in the aviation field. Boys are welcome to attend the event and take part in ground activities, and capacity permitting, may be able to go for a flight.

There’s no ceiling for these high fliers Meet two local pilots who were captains of their dream careers

By Betsy Burke Parker Life at 40,000 feet leaves you a little breathless.

But not for the reason you’d think, say two local female pilots. They took entirely different routes, but applied the same amount of hard work and dedi– Gregory and Dodge undercation to land at the exact same stand they’re in the minority. place – in the cockpit.

Gregory says that’s no reaAnusha Gregory says the son to stop promoting flight as reaction of some air passena valid career choice for girls. gers when they see her in uniShe’s secretary and scholarship form on the jet ramp takes her chair for the group Female Avibreath away. ators Sticking Together. FAST “I can’t tell you how many offers paid training for young times they think I’m the flight women looking to build flight attendant,” says Gregory, a hours, and an active Facebook Warrenton resident and cappage. The non-profit support tain who’s been flying nearly network of more two decades. “So than 13,000 memmany different Pioneers in the field bers has granted times I’ve been Raymonde de almost $200,000 asked to get Laroche became the in scholarships them a cup of during Gregory’s world’s first licensed coffee. tenure, offering female pilot in 1910.

But “I smile personal and it wasn’t until 1973 that brightly and say, professional adBonnie Tiburzi and Emily ‘sure thing! But vice and encourHowell Warner became there will be a agement in all the first female pilots on short delay bethings inside and commercial aircraft. fore we’re able to outside the flight take off.’ ” deck.

Air Force vet“If there’s anything you want eran and retired from almost to achieve, just go for it,” says three decades flying some of Gregory. “Don’t live with regret.”

FedEx’s biggest cargo jets, Debra Dodge had similar experi- Debra Dodge – ences.

Roundabout flight pattern “I’d meet someone new, alDebra Dodge, 69, retired in ways a man, at a dinner par- 2014 after almost 30 years flyty or something,” Dodge says. ing an Airbus for FedEx. She “They’d eventually ask what I lives in a meticulously restored did for a living.

1800s farmhouse near Orlean “I’d say, ‘I fly for FedEx,’ and and teaches English as a second they’d say, ‘oh, I didn’t know language through a Fauquier FedEx had flight attendants.’

County program.

“I finally got sick of this and Dodge says she doesn’t miss just started replying, ‘I drive a the stress of the work, but she bus for FedEx.’” loved flying.

She meant the 277,000 pound, “It was a little mind-blow$277 million, mach 0.78 Airbus. ing, really, but the struggle Seeing a woman at the con- was real,” Dodge recalls. “I trols of an aircraft is nothing mean, today, passengers aren’t new. But part of the less than as startled any more to see 1.5% of all female air captains a woman pilot, but I used to – women making up less than hear people saying they were 6% of all commercial pilots literally going to get off a

Part of the 6 percent of female pilots in the U.S., Anusha Gregory, above, and U.S. Air Force veteran Debra Dodge, left. plane if they heard a female to Springfield and transitionvoice from the cockpit. ing to the commercial side of “It’s a difficult lifestyle, es- flying when her husband was pecially if you want to have a stationed at the Pentagon. family.”

She signed on with FedEx, Dodge grew up in Staunton. first as second officer on their She studied German at William 727, then first officer on the and Mary, moving A300. She capto Germany in tained a Boing 757 1974. She got a job Learn to fly and an Airbus for with Lufthansa FedEx. Daughter Embry–Riddle to polish her Lowell was born Aeronautical University language skills: in 1989, and the is a private university Dodge was highfamily moved to focused on aviation and ly marketable as Orlean in 1997. aerospace programs. tri-lingual – EngDodge retired Founded in Cincinnati in lish, German and in 2014 after 26 1926, today campuses Spanish. years flying for are located in Daytona Some pilot FedEx. Today, Beach, Florida, and friends took her she teaches EngPrescott, Arizona. It is for a spin in their lish as a second the largest accredited small plane, and language for the university specializing in Dodge loved Piedmont Regionaviation and aerospace. it. She did an al Adult and CaERAU offers short abrupt career reer Educational courses and online pivot, earning Programs. “I love classes, plus academic her private piit,” she says, echprograms offered at lot’s license, reoing Gregory’s desatellite locations. turning to the sire to “give back.”

U.S. and taking She misses bea direct commising in the cockpit, but Dodge sion in the Air Force to pursue is “glad to be done with that her new passion – flying. level of stress,” she says, noting Dodge was in one of the that pilots are masters at keepfirst USAF classes that accept- ing anxiety at bay. “We’re great ed women. It was great, but it compartmentalizers. When we wasn’t easy. show up for work, we have to “Back when I went through put it in a box and move on. pilot training, as a female, you You can’t let any part of your truly had to be twice as good life intrude when you’re flying.” to be considered half as good Anusha Gregory – ‘Top as the men.”

Her first posting was at Gun’ as inspiration Williams Air Force Base in Anusha Gregory, 39, took a Phoenix. While there, Dodge more direct path to the cockpit, married a fellow pilot. though it required some outShe flew the C141 out of side influences to push her into Norton AFB, “workhorse” of flight. the military transport world.

She served 1980 to ‘88, moving See PILOTS, page 14

Faces & Places

Spring 2022

13

PILOTS, from page 13 She grew up in Manakin-Sabot. Her parents expected her to go to college, study business and eventually take over the family’s office leasing company.

She had other ideas.

“My sister lived near Dulles, and she had some friends that were pilots,” Gregory remembers exactly when the seed was planted. “I was over at her house one night – I was 17. One of the guys was asking me what I wanted to be, and I had no idea what I wanted to do.

“One of them said, ‘you know, how your brain works – very analytical, very linear, always a problem-solver – you’d be a good pilot.’”

Gregory started out studying business at George Mason University, but she never let go of her dream of flying.

“I had a ‘Top Gun’ movie poster in my dorm room.”

Her sophomore year, a friend encouraged Gregory to apply to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

“I overnighted my package to the school,” Gregory recalls her excitement.

“I called the admissions office every day.”

And, when she was accepted, “I told my parents I’m going, with or without your support.”

She took on a student loan and headed south.

Young pilot Malia Nelson, left, takes Amelia Jakum for a so-called ‘discovery flight.’

Her first year there, she was one of 10 students in the nation to earn a summer internship with Continental Airlines.

She asked fellow Embry student, Kevin Gregory, also headed for the Continental internship, if he wanted to be travel buddies for the long trip. “He was so shy. He couldn’t think of how to say no.”

Two weeks into their internship, they began dating.

The pair notched it up when they graduated, buying a Piper Cherokee 140 to rack up flight hours. They criss-crossed the country to build 500 hours flight time in five short months.

Their first professional assignments were with a fractional jet ownership company in New England. They flew business travelers and celebrities from Bill Cosby to James Taylor.

They moved to Manassas, then Warrenton, where Anusha became a captain and program manager on a special government contract. She flew a Saab 340 and a Jetstream 41, flying until 36 weeks into her pregnancy. Kevin flew corporate before signing on with Delta.

Their daughter was born in 2015. Anusha went back to work, her most recent assignment as captain of a Saberliner 65, a midsized business jet for a private family.

She’s worked with FAST for years, a strong proponent of the group’s mission of inspiring the next generation of female pilots and empowering current aviators.

She especially likes mentoring aspiring pilots, and is thrilled when they go on to pursue aviation as a career.

Prior to leaving to start her career at Republic Airways, one of Gregory’s mentees – Malia Nelson, took prospective pilot – Warrenton teen and another Gregory mentee Amelia Jakum, on a discovery Flight.

“It was a very fulfilling moment for me,” Gregory says. “I think it’s really important to help others on the same path we previously traveled.”

FAST is about to launch Project 10K, sponsoring 10,000 discovery flights for scholarship recipients.

Gregory’s advice to prospective female pilots?

“Go for it.” fastpilots.org

Healing the way it’s meant to be.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a simple, powerful, drug-free, and effective procedure for ensuring ample oxygen for literally every cell in the body. In use for more than a century, HBOT is a standalone source of healing & wellness and an adjunct therapy for traditional medical practices. Warrenton Oxygen Wellness (WOW) provides a path to health by giving the body what it needs to flourish.

At WOW, you are not a client — you are a VOP — a Very Oxygenated Person.

Visit us on Facebook and Instagram!

WOW’s mission is to enable healing and enhance wellness for any and all who walk through our doors.

• Overall Health & Wellness • Long-haul COVID • Lyme Disease • Athletic Performance/Rehab • Pre/Post-Surgical Healing

540.216.3474 WarrentonWOW.com 14

Spring 2022

Faces & Places

170 West Shirley Avenue Suite 101, Warrenton, VA 20186

Take flight from the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport Visit revamped KHWY

By Alissa Jones Warrenton-Fauquier Airport director David Darrah says small airports can easily operate in the big world of aviation. It just takes dedication to innovation.

The Warrenton Fauquier airport opened in the 1960s as a grass strip 14 miles southeast of the county seat. Purchased by the county in the 1990s, it was run by a committee. After Darrah was hired in 2012, the airport became a department of the government.

The airport has two 5,000-foot runways on 407 acres. Some 120 airplanes are hangared at the airport.

The airport call sign is KHWY. Darrah says the airport is used for privately-owned and commercial flights, hospital and emergency landings and animal rescue flights. They partner with Fauquier SPCA and programs like Pilots N Paws, in rescuing dogs in compromised situations.

Dog lover and pilot Jeffrey Locke picks up dogs from Rescue DOG and End of Life Sanctuary in Mountain City, Tennessee and ferries them to Fauquier.

“We are overpopulated and very grateful

PHOTO BY DAN PRICE

The sleek Warrenton-Fauquier Airport terminal serves as a window to the region. to the FSPCA for their tremendous help and generous donations of dog food,” says program founder Melissa Gentry.

“These dogs are highly adoptable, and we have the means to help them,” adds FSPCA’s director Devon Settle. Program dogs are examined by staff veterinarians and then offered for adoption.

Functionality and aesthetics also play an important role in drawing visitors and tenants to the airport. They made major renovations in 2020 – adding an expansive conference center, lounge, of-

fice spaces, kitchen and showers, and the airport has become a go-to place in the county for meetings and events.

The terminal’s sleek brick and glass layout was designed by Price Studios.

Darrah is quick to credit John Warren, Tyler Benton and William Earnshaw Sr. for keeping the airport running smoothly on the outside, and administrative manager Stacey Williams, for helping keep things going on the inside. fauquiercounty.gov/warrenton-fauquier-airport

Flying Circus Air Show will celebrate 1,000 shows this season

By Aimee O’Grady The Flying Circus first took flight over southern Fauquier County’s wide-open skies in 1970.

On May 1, it coasts into its 52nd year.

Weekly shows scheduled this season will focus on “the Golden Years of Flight,” characterized by the barnstorming era between the two world wars.

At the show, attendees

Flying Circus Air Show 411 Ritchie Road, Bealeton Opening Day: Sunday, May 1 Weekly shows: Every Sunday through October Times: Gates and field open at 11 a.m.; pre-show starts at 2 p.m.; airshow begins at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets: Adults, $20; children 5 to 12, $10; children under 5, free; military members, $15 (with valid active/reserve/ guard/retired military ID) Contact: 540-439-8661 or info@flyingcircusairshow.com

can see a 1929 Fleet Model 2 owned by Bryon Stewart; a 1946 Piper J-3 Cub owned by Kirk Wicker, who performs low-level aerobatics, and a 1946 Piper L-16 flown by John Corradi, who demonstrates the “Air Mailbag” pick up and offers plane rides before and after each show.

The popular Flying Circus air show runs for six months with 27 shows scheduled, every Sunday afternoon through October.

A hot-air balloon festival is planned in late August.

“We’ve performed (around) 1,000 shows at the Flying Circus,” estimates Flying Circus “air boss” David Weston.

Weston’s role is mandated by the FAA to ensure the safety

of everyone involved, he says.

Because most of the planes used in the shows are antiques, not all pilots have radios. Weston says they use a series of signals to communicate in mid-air.

Just a few years after the first show, Chris Edwards joined the team as the announcer. He’s been the voice of the Flying Circus ever since.

Weston joined the circus in

2010 as a ground crew volunteer. “I can’t tell you how many passengers I have helped into the planes for rides,” he says.

He pilots a Piper Cub and has flown in the show, but he’s served as air boss – show conductor – for the past two years.

The Flying Circus show typically includes formation flying, comedy routines, aerobatics and more. flyingcircusairshow.com

Fly high with RJ Gritter Spectators can watch pilot RJ Gritter, a member of the Warrenton Aerobatics Club, and fellow pilots perform aerobatic routines at the Warrenton Airport in the mid-afternoon any time the weather is nice.

Gritter moved to Fauquier in 2015 after landing a job as an engineer at Manassas-based Aurora Flight Systems. The North Carolina State graduate studied aerospace engineering and grew up flying. His parents are both pilots; his mother is a flight instructor, his father a test pilot.

Gritter joined the Warrenton Aerobatics Club in 2015. He flies an iconic Decathlon aerobatic training airplane when performing at Bealeton’s Flying Circus, in other air shows and competing in International Aerobatics Club competitions.

His goal is to compete in the IAC Nationals and World Aerobatic Championships. National Aerobatics day is in June.

Iac11.org

Faces & Places

Spring 2022

15

Let it bee

Native pollinators like the honey bee are integral to agriculture and a healthy biosphere.

The county is abuzz about this honey of a local product

By Aimee O’Grady Marshall-based Fern Hill Apiary owners Michael and Donielle Rininger have been working with bees for nearly 20 years.

“Michael had always had a fascination for insects and in 2004

Fern Hill Apiary’s Michael Rininger

Beyond the honey Ashley and Paul Faaborg are entering their second season as beekeepers.

In 2020, while on COVID lock-down, Ashley took an online beekeeping class and fulfilled a childhood dream.

“I remember reading the Dr. Seuss book, ‘Maybe you should fly a jet’ (as a child),” she recalls. “On one page is a man wearing a bee hood peeking into a hive. It read ‘How about a beehive hiver?’

“I wanted to be a beehive hiver.”

The Faaborgs set up one hive in their Warrenton yard, but one wasn’t enough. They put hives on land owned by Warrenton Baptist Church too.

Church member Cape Caperton helps run the church farm.

“For eight years we maintained a garden on the church property and donated food to the Fauquier Food Bank. It was an easy decision to have the Faaborg’s hives there,” he says.

The Faaborg’s children – Ellie, 7, and Ethan, 10, help in the bee business.

Ashley says members of the community are welcome to come learn about bees and tour the hive. Protective suits are provided. warrentonbaptistchurch.org 16

Spring 2022

after we built our house, he expressed an interest in bee keeping,” Donielle Rininger says.

They’ve kept as many as 40 hives over the decades, but they begin this season with just two. She says this is a “rebuilding year for our colonies.”

The couple’s home is south-facing on five mostly wooded acres. They started with a small apiary – three hives. Not long after, they added four more. Michael Rininger likens bees to “Amish ‘friend’ bread. You divide it up every couple of days and give it away and then what you have left continues to grow

Beekeeping gear With the closing of the Bee Supply Store in Remington, the Culpeper Farmers’ Cooperative Farm and Home Center in Warrenton recognized an opportunity to fill a gap in the community.

The CFC is an ideal place for beekeeping supplies since there is an expert on the premises. CFC Garden Store employee Gene Brady has been a beekeeper more than 40 years. Brady grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas near an uncle who was a beekeeper.

“The family would all gather around my grandmother’s long table for waffles, and Uncle Tom’s honey would be on the table,” he recalls. “I never developed a taste for maple syrup.”

Brady says the small insects are highly evolved. “There are amazing social aspects in the hive,” he explains. “Some bees clean the hive, the morticians remove the dead bees.

(When) pheromones change, it alerts the hive of the need for a new queen.

“The bees come together to make a new one. How did Mother Nature come up with such a highly evolved insect” that has only a four to six-week lifespan, Brady wonders.

PHOTO

BY CHRIS CERRONE

and you still have too much.

“Each season we had more swarms and nowhere to put them.” Eventually they had hives on other properties, as close as Hume and as far away as Richmond.

Honeybees are susceptible to disease, mites, pesticide and insecticide poisoning, bears, extreme weather conditions, starvation and more hazards.

This year they’re building from four nucleus colonies from Karla Eisen of The Backyard Farm in Haymarket.

Nucleus colonies or “nucs” are less populated new colonies of young bees that will ideal-

ly replace some hives that did not survive the winter. The Riningers also capture swarms from their two existing hives to populate new ones.

Last year was their best honey harvest year to date, Michael Rininger says – more than 600 pounds of honey was harvested in July.

To keep a presence at local farmers markets, Fern Hill added beeswax products to sell – handmade emergency candles and tealight candles, honeycomb candles, blocks of beeswax and beeswax sandwich wraps. fernhillapiary.com

The buzz on bees • Bees pollinate one of three bites of food we eat.

• Without bees, we would lose: 100% of almonds, 90% of apples, 90% of onions, 90% of blueberries, 90% of cucumbers, 90% of carrots • 90% of honeybees in a colony are female worker bees Threats to honeybees 1. Habitat loss 2. Climate change 3. Chemical pesticides 4. Invasive plant species 5. Diseases and parasites How to help 1. Plant a bee garden.

2. Practice chemical-free gardening.

3. Become a citizen scientist.

4. Provide trees for bees.

5. Create a bee bath.

6. Give native bees homes.

7. Teach kids to be bee stewards.

8. Support local beekeepers and organizations.

What is a bee swarm?

When hives swarm, it’s because they have over-populated their hive and split off into a new group. The bees, including a queen, leave and find a place nearby to rest while scout bees find a more permanent location to start a new hive. They can rest for hours or a few days.

The bees will “clump” onto a tree branch, bicycle or car tire well.

Beekeepers are often called in to remove or capture the swarm.

To do this, they place a box beneath the swarm and loosen the clump by cutting the branch and letting it fall or brushing it with a soft “bee brush.”

The bees then fall into the box. Many will also fly all over the place in a bee cloud over the box.

If the queen falls into the box, the other bees will follow her. If she somehow remains in the tree, the swarm will reform and the bee keeper has to try again.

—AIMEE O’GRADY

Faces & Places

dows s Windows ngDoors Siding

t one free ay your heating bill Gutters & Gutter s • Class A Licensed Contractor Leaf Protection • 36+ Years of Experience Entry & Patio • Limited Lifetime Labor Guarantee

Windows

l get from us Decks Doors ■ Gutters & Gutter Leaf Protection What you will get from usVinyl & Hardy Storm Doors VALUE, PERIOD. Plank Siding ■ Entry & Patio Doors Roofing

is THE BEST VALUE, PERIOD.

■ Windows

■ Roofing ■ Vinyl & Hardie Plank Siding

oducts,Superior first-rate craftsmanship, exceptional service. exceptional service. quality products, first rate craftsmanship, ®

®

PENRY’S AUL

WINDOW INSTALLATIONS

H

540.359.6842

• A+ Rated service from a Class A home improvement Always Free, contractor serving Northern Virginia No Pressure • A beautiful showroom with an extensive selection of quality products for any style, any budget • A Limited Lifetime Labor Guarantee • Peace of mind via our Lead-Safe Certification • A+ Rated service from a Class A home improvement • Available Financing contractor serving Northern Virginia • A local, of Angie’s List Super Service Award Winner • A beautiful showroom with and extensive selection • No-Pressure Sales quality products for any style, any budget

QUOTE

• A Lifetime Labor Guarantee

Paul Henry’s Window Inc is a Class A Licensed Contractor of mind via installation, our Lead-Safe Certification • Peace

• Available Financing • A local, Angie’s List Super Service Award Winner Family Operated Showroom Hours: 9:00am - 5:00pm • No-Pressure Sales After hours and Saturday appointments available upon request.

540.359.6842

Paul Henry’s Window Installation, Inc. is a Class A Licensed Roofing Contractor

PaulHenrysWindows.com 252 Broadview Avenue, Warrenton

Aerial yoga – it brings new meaning to hanging out

By Alissa Jones If you’re looking for master yoga instructor Gray Carr Bridgers these days, she’s probably hanging with her clients in her studio at the Main Street Wellness Center in Warrenton.

Literally.

Bridgers began teaching yoga 18 years ago. She recently added aerial yoga to her repertoire, something that adds flexibility, strength and confidence. She says she’s “a perpetual student,” constantly studying modalities she can pass to her students.

A difficult first pregnancy drew Bridgers to yoga two decades ago, looking for a physical and spiritual practice that would help her through her second.

She went through the entire nine months with ease and realized she was onto something.

She studied and became certified in yoga, determined to help others live healthier and have more flexibility. When she became a yoga therapist, yoga therapy and meditation classes were added, as well as one Bridger calls

“Breathing Deeply,” which combines yoga and ayurvedic medicine.

One-on-one classes are meant to help with anxiety, depression and eating disorders.

Aerial yoga gives a new dimension to her practice.

“It adds mental focus,” Bridgers says. “And that’s good in an insane world.”

Aerial yoga develops core strength – abdominal muscles and obliques improve right away, and so does hand strength, from pulling yourself up on bands hanging from the ceiling.

Hanging upside down helps decompress the spine and literally adds to a person’s height. “One benefit is getting the cerebral fluid flowing better,” she says.

“People report sleeping very well after an aerial yoga class.”

PHOTO BY AMELIA GRAY

The silk, or hammock, used in aerial yoga is wrapped around a big beam in the ceiling with pivots to twirl so the body is fully supported, explains Bridgers. The movements are “like the building blocks to dance, and you’re building that dance.”

Most yoga classes are quiet, but, Bridgers says, “aerial yoga can be exciting and sometimes we laugh the entire time.”

Bridgers also teaches yoga and meditation at Wakefield in The Plains where she is director of admissions. mainstreetwellness.club

251 Broadview Avenue, Warrenton, VA 20186 • 540-347-8507 • www.colvinfloors.com 18

Spring 2022

Faces & Places

Lee Highway Nursery Grounds Maintenance • Landscaping 540.347.5640 • leehighwaynursery.com

7159 Burke Ln. Warrenton, VA 20186

Spring 2022

19

Taking flight in Virginia’s horse country

PHOTO BY ALICE PORTER

Jennifer Taylor likens soaring over a jump to flying, with an extended period of suspension over the fence when all four feet are off the ground.

The biomechanics of horse jumping yields to the magical partnership you build, say experts

Allison Springer says, when done correctly, jumping feels effortless.

By Betsy Burke Parker We wanted to know ‘what it feels like’ to jump a jump – in perfect form like a show hunter, soaring over a gigantic fence like a show jumper, bounding over in rapid succession like an eventer. We wanted to know how fast is fast for a steeplechaser, and how does undulating and unknown terrain change the equation in the foxhunting field.

Hear our panel of county-based experts – in the five most locally recognizable disciplines – describe the uncanny feeling of taking flight, to slip the surly bonds of earth’s gravity – a few seconds at a time.

Jennifer Taylor Jennifer Taylor has a wide range of experience in the horse world, from steeplechasing to eventing, from show hunters to foxhunters. She’s won multiple hunter pace championships and has been top 10 in the field hunter championship several times. She operates a hunting barn and livery near Marshall.

Taylor sees more similarity than difference in the biomechanics of jumping for horse and rider, no matter what the discipline.

“There’s a common thread,” Taylor says.

You want the horse balanced and forward, 20

Spring 2022

using the same principles, even though of course there’s variation of speed involved.

“More than the other (horse jumping sports), in the hunt field you’ve got a host of external factors affecting your horse.

You’ve got hounds coming and going, you’ve got livestock and wildlife – deer and things. You’ve got dozens of other riders going the same place at the same speed.

“The rider’s responsibility is to be paying attention 360 degrees, and the jumping itself becomes pretty routine once you get into that shared mindspace with your horse. The jumps aren’t overly technical, but they can be trappy. They’re not overly Faces & Places

PHOTO BY BETSY BURKE PARKER

large, but they can be tricky.

“Ride your horse to create a light, athletic jump without a lot of rider interference. That’s your aim.”

Taylor says the feeling of taking flight with a 1,000-pound animal is magical. She breaks it down into three sections – takeoff, flight and landing.

“As the horse coils his hindquarters to take off, you feel him rock back and push off. A photo would make it almost look like the horse is rearing up as he lifts off the ground.

See HORSE, page 21

HORSE, from page 20 “Then in the flight period, it’s like a hang-time, completely light, like you’re floating. You’ll feel your horse tuck up (bringing his own legs up under his body to clear the fence). Your body becomes light because you’re relaxed and pliant.

“As the horse reaches (his legs) out to land and move off from the jump, you stay in the same position – the horse drops away from you, you don’t move away from him.

Just give with your hands so he can use his head and neck for balance.” The rider absorbs the impact of the landing through supple joints – ankle, knee, hip, spine.

“It’s a matter of squeezing and ‘moving up’ to get your horse to the obstacle at whatever pace the discipline calls for, then it’s your job to let the horse jump unencumbered.

“It’s a beautiful feeling.”

Allison Springer Elite level three-day eventer Allison Springer feels like jumping goes best when she’s built a trusting relationship with a horse.

“The rider’s job is the make the horse’s job easy,” says the Upperville-based pro. “So, out on a course, I’m looking at a cross-country fence. I want to make sure – for that particular question – the pace is correct, the length of stride I’m presenting is correct, the line of direction is correct. I want to make sure my horse understands the question.” At the upper level, jumps can be 4 feet tall and equally wide – sometimes in multiples.

“Say it’s a big table, three strides downhill to a skinny chevron. It is wiser for me to have a slightly more forward jump in, at my table. This would allow me to feel more organized for those three strides to the skinny since I can send the horse forward but contain the (length of his stride.)

“If I screw up and jump ‘in’ to the combination too slowly, the distance ‘out’ becomes really long.

“It comes from (the rider) being fit and elastic and balanced so the horse is confident you’re going to stay quiet and stay in

PHOTO BY BETSY BURKE PARKER

Jockey Barry Foley, left, says the physiology of jumping at speed is the same, but balance is key. the middle. They don’t want you to do something spastic.

“That’s my responsibility as a rider. The preparation zone should end a few strides before the fence – I don’t want to be messing with the horse while they’re preparing to take off at a jump.

“When it’s right, it’s breathtaking, effortless. The beauty comes from building a relationship with a horse, creating a language between you.

Jumping a horse feels so in synch, so in tune.”

Barry John Foley Steeplechase jockey Barry John Foley, Irish-born but based in Virginia since 2016, has ridden some 4,000 races over fences both in the U.K. and in the U.S. He says adding the element of speed to jumping – steeplechasers average 30 to 35 miles per hour – makes the rider’s job more exacting, though balance is still key.

“In the show ring, the rider can help the horse out more since you can shorten to a fence, no problem, if you’ve met it wrong. But on the racecourse, you do that and you’ve lost the race, or messed your horse’s momentum.

“Or both.

“It’s something you can’t really teach,” this ability of a rider to think as quickly as a race unfolds. It comes, he says, from hours and hours of practice, especially riding and jumping cross-country. His own educa-

Sara Katz Foley advocates using patience and repeated skill-drills when teaching horses to jump.

tion in the saddle started in the hunt field at age 7 in Ireland, and, later, from hundreds of practice fences on the schooling grounds and in races.

“The less movement you make in the saddle, the better.

The majority of the time if you interfere with a horse, it will back them off and end badly.

“Good riders make good jumpers.”

Sara Katz Foley Barry Foley’s wife, Sara Katz Foley, won the Retired Racehorse Program foxhunter championship, and trains horses in White Post.

She says teaching a horse to jump is a repetitive, but very rewarding, process.

“We do a lot of gridwork, a ton of trot fences, plenty of things to help the horse learn where his feet are.

“Once the horse understands his flatwork in the

Faces & Places

ring, I start with, literally, trotting over a single pole on the ground. Once they get that down – it doesn’t take long at all, usually – I add another, and another (spaced 4 feet apart for trot-poles) until I’m up to four poles.

“Then I add a crossrail 8 feet out from a trot pole. Once the horse is confident over that, I add a second ‘element,’ just a pole on the ground 8 feet out from the first jump. This teaches the horse to land and canter over a second ‘jump.’”

She raises the height as a horse’s confidence builds, estimating that jump training is 50% mental for a horse, 50% physical. “Like with anything else, it’s baby steps at first.

Some take to it naturally, others take longer to learn. But if you are patient, it gives the horse a chance to figure it out.”

See HORSE, page 22 Spring 2022

21

Let me help you open the door to your new home!

Jennifer Lee believes a rider’s responsibility includes producing the correct direction, speed and rhythm to attain top jumping performance.

HORSE, from page 21

Brenda Rich REALTOR® brenda.rich@c21nm.com | 540-270-1659 67 W. Lee Hwy., Warrenton Va 20186 www.c21nm.com | 540-349-1221 (Office)

Each Office Independently Owned and Operated

Jennifer Lee Marshall-based, Olympic-level show jumper Jennifer Lee enjoys teaching riders about jumping as much as she loves teaching horses about jumping.

Understanding the physiology of rider position is key.

“What I teach, from the very beginning, is that as humans, we naturally strive for balance in our own bodies.

Same, the horse also strives for balance,” Lee says. “This is why if we fall out of balance in the saddle, even a little bit, the horse shifts his own balance.

“Translating this to jump training, our job as rider is to get the horse on the right line, at the right pace, at the right rhythm and not to adversely affect the horse’s balance.

“Once we’ve done this job, it’s the horse’s job from then on. Our job finishes, other than to absorb the upward movement of the horse so we stay in balance.

“I’m a firm proponent of the rider doing their homework on the way to the fence and letting the horse do the jumping.

“Then it’s an enjoyable flight for both of you.”

2022 VERDUN ADVENTURE CAMP

Ages 10 to 16 | Mon - Fri | 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM Challenge Course – High and Low Ropes • Hiking • Wilderness Survival • Pond Kayaking • Fire Building • Archery • Swimming

2022 YOUNG EXPLORERS CAMP

Ages 7 to 9 | Mon. - Fri. | 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM Introduction to Challenge Course • Playing Games • Hiking • Fun Science Experiments • Pond Kayaking • Daily Art Projects • Fort Building • Swimming

MUDDY TRACKS

OFF/ON CAMPUS ADVENTURE!

Ages 12 to 14 | 5 Days and 4 Nights of Camping Challenge Course – High and Low Ropes • Games • Wilderness Survival • Hiking• Swimming • Kayaking • Fire Building • Climbing

MUDDY TRACKS EXTREME OFF CAMPUS ADVENTURE!

Ages 15 to 17 | 5 Days and 4 Nights of Camping Challenge Course – High and Low Ropes • Games • Wilderness Survival • Hiking • Swimming • Kayaking • Fire Building • Climbing• Fishing

verdunadventurebound.org online registration

OPEN NOW!

or use code here

Verdun Adventure Bound’s Non-Profit Mission: To support and promote youth and adult personal growth through experiential learning and to teach stewardship of the land.

17044 Adventure Bound Trail | Rixeyville, Virginia 22737 A charitable 501(C) (3) nonprofit organization.

22

Spring 2022

Faces & Places

Designed by DAPPLEPATCH DESIGNS at Breeze Printing Culpeper VA ❘ breezeprinting.dpdesigns@gmail.com

Life & Style

Commence takeoff with a regional raptor rescue Story by Aimee O’Grady

INSIDE THIS SECTION • Learning by doing Mountain Vista students visit iFly • Quantico MCB played a role in the race to Mach 1

THE WAY WE LIVE IN FAUQUIER

Suspended animation: Renewing flight patterns for raptors

PHOTO BY ERIC LINDQUIST

Two eagles fight over some breakfast at Lake Brittle. The bald eagle has staged a huge comeback due to conservation programs.

Fauquier County is home to a wide array of raptors — from commonly sighted vultures doing roadside clean-up, to majestic eagles (also, sometimes, on carrion duty), elusive owls and frequently spotted hawks from a variety of species.

With mating and nesting underway this spring, residents may be treated to an increase in raptor sightings. Dr. Jennifer Riley, director of veterinary services at the regional Blue Ridge Wildlife Center offers tips on how to keep resident raptors healthy, happy and safe.

Vultures “I’d like to begin with the vulture. It happens to be one of my favorite raptors,” Riley says, calling the vulture “the poster child for One Health.”

One Health, Riley explains, is a collaborative effort of multiple disciplines working together for optimal health of people, animals and the environment.

The vulture helps us with this effort by cleaning carrion and sparing people and other animals from the many diseases spread by decaying flesh.

“It’s in our best interests to help protect these raptors,” Riley maintains.

Fauquier County is home to both turkey vultures – distinctive with their featherless red heads, and black vultures with feathered black heads and white feathers 24

Spring 2022

on their wingtips.

Riley says both are considered environmental heroes. Both species live in family groups and are often seen perching on fences and in trees eyeing animal remains.

“These are wonderful birds to have around because of all the diseases they prevent,” Riley adds. Some people believe black vultures regularly threaten newborn livestock, but facts don’t back this up. Plus, it is a federal offense and a state crime to shoot a vulture.

Many vultures brought in to the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center are brought in because of gunshot wounds.

Like other raptors, vultures have exceptional vision and a keen sense of smell, which helps them locate carrion. A large group of vultures can pick clean a dead animal in a matter of hours.

In the wild, vultures can live up to 10 years and more than 20 when in captivity.

Eagles A more welcome raptor is the bald eagle. Riley says the bald eagle population is strong — and growing — in Fauquier.

“We have a very healthy population that is not threatened at this time,” she says. “They love to nest along rivers. It’s hard to miss an eagle’s nest because of its size; they are massive.”

Eagles typically hatch two to four eaLife & Style

glets each season. Female eagles lay one egg each day and the eggs are hatched in the order laid. This leaves later hatchlings less likely to survive.

Determining the age of an eagle is easy until they reach age 5: eagles are not fully white-headed and -tailed until they are 5 years old. They molt annually with a little more white mixed in with brown after each molt until they reach 5.

Eagles can live up to 20 years in the wild and as many as 50 in captivity.

Adolescent eagles remain with their parents for about 12 weeks, during which time they learn how to hunt.

“Eagles are predominately scavengers out to get an easy meal,” Riley says.

“The overwhelming majority of eagles we see at the wildlife center come in with lead-poisoning” because of their tendency to eat carrion such as deer carcasses during hunting season.

Often, when hunters field dress a deer, organs are left in a pile. Modern lead bullets can fragment up to 18 inches from the wound channel, and traces of lead can be found in discarded organs.

Riley cautions that a bullet fragment the size of a grain of rice is enough to kill a bald eagle.

See RAPTORS, page 25

RAPTORS, from page 24 Eagles can be treated for lead poisoning and released back into the wild, but neurological issues can develop if left untreated. Because of the neurological deficits, eagles are at higher risk of being struck by cars when they become disoriented on the side of the road, Riley adds.

One way to prevent against lead poisoning in eagles is for hunters to use non-lead ammunition such as copper. Copper bullets don’t fragment.

In spring, young eagles are being cared for in large nests with parents taking turns leaving the nest to hunt for food. Riley cautions against disturbing a nest. “If you are lucky enough to spot an eagle’s nest, it is best to leave it alone,” she says. Instead, observe from a distance through binoculars.

Hawks Seven species of hawks call Fauquier County home, and they’re as vulnerable to inadvertent human danger as eagles.

“We get a lot of hawks in the center sick with poisoning from lead and rodenticides,” Riley says, noting that hawks eat a wide variety of prey, though smaller birds and mice are two of their favorites.

“We need to maintain a healthy ecosystem for all our raptors. If you want to protect hawks, plant flowers” and provide protective cover for small rodents away from your house, Riley says. “This means creat-

Nationally-renowned wildlife center provides protection for birds, animals The Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Boyce is a full-service, wildlife teaching hospital that cares for injured, sick or orphaned native wildlife. Vets and volunteers teach the public how to be good stewards of the land and offer regular lectures, open days and learning opportunities.

Volunteers are always needed.

Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Riley joined Blue Ridge in 2016. She studied at Cornell University, and started her career treating orphaned and injured wild animals at the Belize Wildlife Clinic and at a rehabilitation clinic in Florida.

She worked at Lion Country Safari in Florida just before joining Blue Ridge. blueridgewildlifectr.org ing good habitat in which their prey species can thrive. To support the cottontails, squirrels and songbirds that many hawks eat, we need to have a healthy habitat of native insects and plants. Plant native species only and avoid using pesticides if you want to protect wildlife, including hawks.

“Something people tend to do without even thinking is discard apple cores out car windows assuming it’s a natural piece of waste. What they don’t realize is that the apple core attracts rodents to the roadside, and the rodents attract raptors such as eagles, vultures and hawks.”

Life & Style

This puts both at risk of being struck by a car, Riley says, adding that maintaining a healthy eco-system for even the smallest animals protect larger ones.

Owls Fauquier is home to wide variety of owls — from the smallest screech owl to the largest great horned owl.

“Although we have many farms and silos, Virginia lists barn owls as a ‘Tier III species,’ one of greatest conservation need in its Wildlife Action Plan,” Riley says. This is due to silos being torn down and farmland being converted into subdivisions.

Owls are not an endangered population, but they are vulnerable to the same dangers as other raptors.

“We have strong numbers of owls in our region. Their camouflage is so good that even at the center our volunteers have difficulty finding some of the smaller owls (screech owls) in cages,” says Riley.

Other threats to owls include barbed wire and even soccer nets. Residents are urged to take down soccer nets daily because of the tendency of Great Horned owls to fly into them.

In the photo on page 23, a barred owl was brought to the wildlife center with a shoulder fracture after being struck by a vehicle. A bandage was used to stabilize the break. After physical therapy, the owl recovered fully and was released seven weeks after intake.

Spring 2022

25

Private sale of your assets with absolute discretion.

Eric M. Diello REALTOR®, PSA Licensed in VA

26

Spring 2022

703.232.7265 10 E Washington St Middleburg, VA 20117 VIRGINIAHORSEANDHOME.COM

MVGS students: Propellers fully forward Drone program takes off at Warrenton magnet school

By Vineeta Ribeiro Everyone dreads the teacher who drones on, but at Mountain Vista Governor’s School in Warrenton, when computer science teacher John Faircloth threatens to do any droning, students perk up.

That’s because he is demonstrating drones that fly. Right inside the classroom.

On “Flexible learning educational experiences” Wednesdays at this half-day magnet program for 10th to 12th graders, students are excited by classes untethered from tests and grading. Classes are instead tied to hands-on activities, exploration and field experiences.

MVGS serves pupils from Fauquier, Culpeper and Rappahannock counties, one of 19 governor’s schools around Virginia.

Students in the science,

Gwen Dziemian and Jack Fincher carefully taped a pair of dangle earrings to their drone and flew it to a classmate across the room.

PHOTOS BY RANDY LITZINGER

Nicholas Cantalupo and Reese Brown used the joystick control to navigate their drone out of one classroom door and back in through another. The hands-on learning is part of ‘Flexible learning Wednesdays’ at the science, technology, engineering and math school. technology, engineering, art and mathematics program learn about robotics, electronics, chess and more, including the drone program that uses palm-sized LocoRobo quad-

copters funded by the Loeb Foundation.

As with any hands-on experience, the learning comes by doing, say students. mvgshome.org

In a recent class, Faircloth taught student drone pilots how to program their drones to fly using “the squadron effect.”

WE BUILD DECKS!

01 2 3 4 6 7 82 9 33 "-4751 3647224 871

FREE ESTIMATES!

9;<=<>?>@ABCA<EEFFGG<<FFGGEE??

FHF>GHIE@CJ;;IIFFKKEEJJ==GG>J>J@@??

PE BBF>B>L>L;LEEEGJMMM;>;;@@@@?NN;NBB<>B>@>@F@AA@AQCCCEJJJR;;;SF <<<IIIBJJBJPE PE PETFFFJ@@<@NNN FFF;;UGG;JJJ>@>G@E??;G;J<<FNF@F@QCQERERRSF SFBBBPE PETTJJ<< FFUU;;JJGGEEGGJJNNFFCCRR fo sZ[sZsZj[[g`jjgg_``j__edjje`dedt``[tt`[[m``dmmedfx_ deefx_ fx_ jj_j_`_```[`a[[alqalqlq___jjojoofo fohhh]a]]eaaee zo fb VV9V>>GL>LLFEEEGEFFFXAAAFJJJ<JJJP> NNN@@@?EEEG>>AI>AAIEIIM<MMEJJJR<<<WWW zo zo fb fb s j ` j e t ` d fZ [ \ e f[ ] j l zo fb ` [ l sssjj``j`jjeejettt```dddfZ fZ [][d\]]ded\eee`f[ f[]j]ljlzo zofb fb``[zo [llfb 9GGFFGGEEXXFF<<P> P> ??GGIIEE<<EERR ft ft fb ```[`[[l[ll 9 sj`jet`dft f{e [e``[d[[\`\\azZzz[``g`g_g_d_```aj[aajljmllzo ezo zofb fb

!

'

!!.! ! #/## ( $ $$0# ##%/%%&& &' (( ) ) )* * * ' ( + , 0

* * + + ,,.. 2 /22 /( !(0!3 //#0##! 0! ! 4 *44 * !*! ! # ##,,, !! ! ###222 121122$$$333 1 1 1 ! 03 3

Other Services Bathroom Remodels Kitchen Remodels Additions Siding Windows And More!

Y YY

s||s|jao`jaaoo`jooejf] ef] tt[`[[`idif{e zofb fb``[[ll Z[\]^]\_`abdef]_fg`[\h_\iejgk]aa^`dlhl f] idjf{e ojjoo[[[}}Z}~[ZZ~~[eed`d`aZa[Z[gg__d`d`[[mmeezo Zm[Z[_\\g]^j]^]o\]fe \__``adpbaqbdedaaef] f] __fg fg`[`[j[g\\gh_h_h_\r\ieiemejjgjjgok] k] aa^a^``dldlhhll dft zo fb fed]pjd]qp[qaia`ad``ebbbvbb_aa]]am]m]dm`e``[fe [jgjg[gj_g_hphrqere^mm`jj]àojohss]sjaj]`j`j`jljeej`ett[t``\`ddffdfuu ss ] sj`jj``j[ejjjeetett`d``d ` dft ft ao[aaood}d]dt\]]\~\```Z[ZZ[[ggg___dd`d``[[[mmmeeezo zofb fb```[[[lll _m__m_[[_[g\\gj\eeojedodfe kd ^ e d[kd ]^àh`hd]al]aj]hljll``g[[j\`\jep ] ] [[jejedd ` `^^ee[[}t}t~~ ``fo fo __[kd jjo]ojow]wjw[\]\[\i]]gig]dgmmedmooevo__v__[[_][jdj]gejdggefe `fe [[\\[\[gjggg`j`gp ^qp^]][q[]^[ii^`igg`]gà^ ` fo _ [ j ` ` [ ` ^ ^``dldlhhllggj`j`jejepp s j ` j e t ` d fzo _ [ j l x_ j _ ` a Z [ g _ d ` [ m e szo szo j`jfb `jfb ejet`t``[`[d[lfzo dllfzo x_j_j_``aZa[Z[gg__d`d`[[mmee zo oowww e_ee _[ `[`j`gljgglx_ fb o s s s j]m`jj]]mm``jejj`ee``dt\ddtt`\\g``dggodf~ doof~ [[}} }a o a aool ll\\\gg [f~

u

WWW.GHIVA.COM

Life & Style

CALL

540-439-4663 Spring 2022

27

Becoming a human experiment They’re testing science for (and on) themselves at iFly

Specialty school Mountain Vista is a gifted student magnet school drawing STEM students from seven school districts. Campuses are located at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown and Warrenton. Tenth through 12th graders attend morning STEM classes at the college before returning to their base schools for the second half of their school day. mvgs.edu

By Vineeta Ribeiro Teachers hope their students will go on to soar to great heights.

At Mountain Vista Governor’s School for Math, Science and Technology in Warrenton, students get to literally do just that.

At the culmination of their study of air resistance and drag forces, physics students embark on a trip to iFly Loudoun to defy gravity.

IFly employs state-of-the-art technology recirculating wind tunnels for bodyflight, a sort of indoor skydiving. IFly has locations in Ashburn, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.

“It’s a perfect blend of science, math and fun,” says physics teacher Allen Burton.

He accompanied a couple doz-

PHOTOS BY RANDY LITZINGER

iFly instructor Joseph Rodwell does a demonstration for the students inside the vertical wind tunnel at iFly to show the effects of gravity. en high school juniors on a recent trip to Ashburn.

Burton says students in his first-year physics course study velocity-dependent forces, air resistance being one of them. He expounds upon the cross-curricular nature of the experience. “In calculus, they learn how to solve differential equations. Then, we put that

skill to use [in physics] when we examine the real-world phenomenon of the drag force.”

MVGS director Kelly Huff went to iFly, too. “There is no better learning than learning by doing,” Huff says. She’s a big advocate of experiential education. “True science is about the process of do-

ing, and making adjustments based on the outcomes.”

Burton conducted a one-hour lab in the iFly parking lot since the group arrived before iFly opens to the public. Students were divided into teams and given a pack of coffee filters.

Teams work together to determine the mass of the coffee filters, then drop them from 6 feet high in the parking lot.

See iFLY, page 29

Remodel

Improve

Repair

KITCHENS, BATHROOMS, BASEMENTS, WHOLE HOUSE

CARPENTRY, PAINTING, TILE, FLOORING, DECKS

HANDYMAN SERVICES, DRYWALL, WOOD ROT + MORE!

Create the beautiful home

you envision

Life is full of stress. Your home projects don’t have to add more.

Many homeowners struggle to complete their never-ending list of home projects. At Gibson Home Services, we help clients prioritize their remodeling goals and accomplish their vision for their home.

540.364.1200

So, you can stop stressing over your projects and create the beautiful home you envision.

PROUD MEMBER OF

es

Sa

on

Life & Style

ic

bs

Spring 2022

SINCE

2005

Gi

28

g fyin Clie tis

s nt

Contact us to discuss your home remodeling and repair projects.

H o m e Ser

v

Inquiry@GibsonHomeServices.com GibsonHomeServices.com VA Class A Licensed & Insured

Left: On a visit to Brown Field on MCB Quantico in 1983, Johnny (left) and Rob Toler posed with Skystreak NACA 142. In storage for decades, the aircraft would later be restored.

Above: The restoration complete, NACA 142 is on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum.

D-558-1 Skystreaks led the way

Quantico warehoused rare, vintage aircraft

By John Toler

Before the National Museum of the Marine Corps opened in 2006, the Marine Aviation Museum was located in three hangars at Brown Field at Quantico.

Opened in May 1978, the facility was home to dozens of vintage Marine and Navy aircraft dating from World War I to Vietnam.

Restored aircraft, including several one-of-akind models, were displayed inside, while larger planes like the PBJ-1D – the Marine version of the B-25 — were exhibited on the deck in front of the hangars.

There were a number of unrestored aircraft parked outside, including a Grumman F9F Panther, Douglas F3D Skyknight and F4D Skyray and McDonnell F2H Banshee.

There was also a Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak that had likely been in storage at Brown Field for at least 20 years when I visited Quantico with my family in early 1983.

Race to Mach-1 As World War II drew to a close, a research project was started by the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (later, NASA); it focused on transonic iFLY, from page 28 They use sophisticated motion detectors to capture data from their coffee filter’s fall and use graphical analysis software to determine the terminal velocity of the coffee filter as a function of mass.

Then they head indoors where the fun and learning continue.

Students don special suits and take turns inside the wind tunnel

and supersonic flight.

Douglas Aircraft Company was awarded a $6,888,444 contract to design and build six prototypes. The ultimate goal was to build the smallest plane around the largest engine available.

Phase 1 consisted of three jet-powered D-558-1 Skystreaks. They were straightwinged planes that took off from the ground. They were NACA 140, 141 and 142.

Construction of the first Skystreak began in 1946 and was completed in January, 1947. Powered by an Allison J-35-A-11 axial-flow turbo jet engine with 5,000 lbs. static thrust, the aircraft had a magnesium alloy fuselage and aluminum alloy wings, built to withstand the heat buildup and the high G-forces expected to be encountered in transonic flight.

In addition to the pilot and 230 gallons of fuel, the D-558-1 carried 600 lbs. of test equipment, including 400 sensors to record heat, strain and aerodynamic pressures. In the absence of an ejection seat, the pilot could escape the Skystreak in a jettisonable nose capsule. Takeoff weight was just over 10,000 lbs. Skystreaks were originally scarlet, later painted white to improve visibility.

The first flight was made by NACA 140 at Muroc Army Air Field (later, Edwards Air Force Base) on April 14, 1947 by pilot Eugene F. May. During a test flight in August, 1947, Navy Commander Turner Caldwell set a world speed record of 640.774 mph.

– to become a sort of human coffee filter, Burton says. Students measure their own bodies and calculate their own terminal velocity.

Then they step into the wind tunnel with an instructor and see how close their calculations are to reality.

Burton says he hopes his young charges will go on to achieve great things, adding that lessons like this are the ones that stick.

Life & Style

That record was broken five days later by Marine Major Marion Carl – 651 mph.

The Skystreaks were used in a number of research flights, accumulating data on handling, tail loads, buffeting, longitudinal and lateral stability. Data collected by the Skystreaks was vital to the design of future aircraft.

In October,1947, a Bell X-1 piloted by Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager was the first craft to break the sound barrier – Mach-1.06, or 700 mph. A Douglas D-5582 Skyrocket piloted by Scott Crossfield reached Mach-2 (1,290 mph) in late 1953.

Perhaps because Skystreaks only reached Mach-.99 in level flight, they were retired in 1953, and largely forgotten by the U.S. public.

NACA 142 was stored for decades outside Quantico, later sent to the Marine Air Station at Cherry Point, North Carolina.

Volunteers with the Carolinas Historic Aviation Commission and Museum of Charlotte discovered the long-neglected craft and set about restoration in 1999.

The formal presentation of the restored Skystreak was held at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in 2001. It was unveiled by test pilot Scott Crossfield, who had flown the aircraft on its last flight in 1953.

Remarkably, NACA 140 – her surviving sister Skystreak, was also restored, and is on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola.

iFly STEM educators Von Paransun and Nicole Crespo talk with MVGS physics students at iFLY in Ashburn.

Spring 2022

29

Becky Miller

Realtor, Owner

Diamond Honor Society Realtor of the Year Sales Person of the Year

Congratulations to our 2021 Award Winners!

Chip Miller

Karen Ingram

The Smyth Team

Broker of the Year

Gold Honor Society

Platinum Honor Society

Broker, Owner

Realtor

Realtors

(540) 347-5277 • 25 S. Fourth Street, Ste. 200, Warrenton, VA 20186 • Licensed in Virginia

www.PiedmontFineProperty.com

Take your lawn & garden to new heights this year!

We’re well into spring and our lawns and gardens are off and growing – visit the Co-op for all of your lawn and garden necessities to be the best on the block this year. CFC Farm & Home Centers offer a great selection of flowers, shrubs, fruit and vegetable seeds and plants that varies between locations.

Flower pots, gardening tools, wheelbarrows, gloves, hoses, plant food, soil and more in store. Organic and traditional options are available. Stop in to your local CFC Farm & Home Center to view a full selection.

Culpeper | Marshall | Morrisville Rappahannock | Warrenton 30

Spring 2022

Fare & Flair Good grief, grow up!

Vertical gardening techniques increase yields Story by Sally Harmon Semple

INSIDE THIS SECTION • FISH program lends a helping hand where it’s needed most - here at home • Find dining .... right in your own backyard • Spring beers are in season

LIVING WELL INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

No space?

No problem.

Consider climbing the walls to make more room

By Sally Harmon Semple Piedmont gardeners have it good, with a long growing season and tons of variety for vegetable, fruit and bedding plants.

But one thing you can’t control is space.

You never have enough, lament gardeners, but there is a unique solution to what seems to be an unsolvable problem.

Try growing up.

Vertical gardening allows more growing in less space, adds intrigue to the backyard landscape and probably will yield a healthier crop.

Vertical gardening may sound like the latest craze, but commercial growers have been using this space-saving technique for decades. Growers cultivate herbs and leafy greens in hydroponic towers or on tall lit shelving systems. Tomatoes and cucumbers are trained up “high-wires” in commercial greenhouses. Even apple trees can be grown on a vertical axis, supported by a trellis and trained into a narrow shape to maximize light penetration and increase yields.

In the home plot, vertical gardening can be as basic as creative use of trellises, or as involved as building plant walls.

Crops from peas to beans, as well as vining, ground-sprawling melons and gourds are happy to get off the ground and into the air.

Tips for vertical gardening When creating vertical supports for vegetables, consider the mature length of

Tips for pallet gardens • Be on the lookout for used shipping pallets available for free at most farm stores and big-box stores.

• Check the stamped code on the pallet – avoid planting vegetables in pallets treated with methyl bromide, stamped “MB.” This pesticide has been linked to human health problems and ozone depletion.

Pallet treatment codes: HT: heat treated – helps with pest control DB: debarked — has no effect on the remaining wood KD: kiln dried — controls warping and some fungal problems MB: methyl bromide – ensures insects, weeds, pathogens and rodents do not travel on shipped items.

32

Spring 2022

PHOTOS BY RUTH ROSENBERG, PHYLLIS TURNER AND JIM HANKINS

the vine and the weight of the fruit. Sturdy trellises and fences can be constructed to encourage upward mobility.

Gourds are a good place to start for the novice vertical gardener, nice and light with up to 25-foot vines. Gently tie the gourd vine to trellis supports as it grows, using something soft like cotton clothesline, strips of old pantyhose or T-shirt material.

Melons require more serious support, but the fun of a melon archway and the space it saves on the ground are worth the effort. Support maturing melons in slings made from old sheets or t-shirts, tying each sling to the trellis. Choose a smaller, lightweight melon or pumplin variety, like Sugar Baby for an aerial garden.

Master Gardener Ruth Rosenberg uses a 16-foot cattle panel – 4-inch squares of thin but strong metal wire – for her melon arch, secured atop four T-posts set at each corner of the structure.

T-posts are 6 or 7-feet tall, narrow

Benefits of vertical gardening • Grow more in less space • Better air circulation reduces the spread of some diseases • Deters ground dwelling pests • Adds intrigue to your outdoor living space • Makes watering and harvesting easier • Less bending over for the gardener Fare & Flair

Melon vines take easily to vertical gardening, but support the heavy fruit in slings.

metal posts that can easily be driven into the ground using a heavy mallet or a special T-post driving tool. A “T” near the bottom of each post goes into the ground first, anchoring your structure below the frost line to provide vertical stability for what will become a living canopy.

Secure the panel on top of the T-posts using dark-colored zip ties.

The height of the melon arch will depend on how deep you drive the T-posts into the ground. Rosenberg’s arch is 3 to 4 feet across and just over 6 feet high.

Stacked pots and plant towers can support smaller crops like lettuce, yielding an added advantage of reduced slug damage.

Flowers that take well to vertical gardening include vining flowers like petunias and sweet potato vine.

A simple tower of three stacked pots of decreasing size makes a nice display. Bury a portion of each smaller pot in the soil of the bigger pot for stability.

Plant walls are for the more advanced vertical gardener. Wooden pallets – available for free at big box stores and feed supply stores, can be leaned against a wall and filled with soil. Note that wet soil is heavy, and the supporting wall must be protected from moisture damage.

Wooden pallets can be used as frames for free-standing plant walls.

Small herbs, succulents and other plants that can tolerate dry conditions are best choices for the garden wall since pallets dry out easily.

Store Hours Mon-Fri 8AM - 5PM Sat 8AM - 3PM

470 Broadview Avenue, Warrenton, VA 20186 540.347.3030 www.Tolsons.com

est. 1946

est. 1946

We Service We Service What We Sell What We Sell In-House and Delivery Teams In-House Technicians andTechnicians Delivery Teams We Service What We Sell In-House Technicians and Delivery Teams

STORE HOURS

WE MATCH STORE HOURS

STORE HOURS

MON-FRI 8 AM-5 PM MON-FRI 8 AM-5 PM WE THURS OPEN TIL 7 PMTHURS OPEN TIL 7 PM MATCH SAT 8 AM-3 PM SAT 8 AM-3 PM

We Match ON-FRI 8 AM-5 PM PR ICES! R ICES! URS OPEN TIL 7 PM 12 Months Same as Cash 12 Months Same as Cash Financing Available! Financing Available!

SAT 8 AM-3 PM

Prices

Months Same as Cash 470 Broadview Ave.•Warrenton, VA•20186 • 540-347-3030 • www.Tolsons.com 470Available!

Broadview Ave. Warrenton, VA 20186 540-347-3030 www.Tolsons.com nancing D E S I G N

C E NTE R

e. Warrenton, VA 20186 • 540-347-3030 • www.Tolsons.com

Designer On Site Cabinet & Countertop Sales + More

We are an authorized distributor of Greenfield, Hagerstown Kitchens, Holiday Kitchens and Marsh Furniture Cabinetry

540.349.9222 www.warrencabinets.com

470 Broadview Avenue, Warrenton, VA 20186

Warren Cabinets is located on the 2nd floor in the Tolson Appliance Building

Marshall Consulting group Certified Public Accountants

A Circle of People You can

TRUST.

PHOTO BY SAWYER GUINN

Chickweed, dandelion and wild violets, shown here, are edible, tasty and nutritious spring forage foods.

• We believe in the value of relationships • We view every client relationship as a partnership 400 Holiday Court Suite 202 Warrenton, VA 20186 540.347.2161

• We believe that our success is a result of your success

www.mcgllccpa.com

800.919.FARM (3276) FarmCreditofVirginias.com

34

Spring 2022

NMLS

#456965

A walk in the weeds Survival expert highlights delicious edible plants you likely already know

By Sawyer Guinn Spring is a favorite of gardeners who spend sun-warmed afternoons in the garden, tending the soil for harvest later in the summer and fall.

Add another, and earlier, dimension to the notion of “home-grown” through spring wild edibles.

“A lot of people just don’t realize how many wild edible plants exist right around their houses,” says Tom Brown III, a wilderness survival master instructor with more than 20 years experience teaching and a lifetime of practice. “There are plenty of plants … that people consider weeds and spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars to get rid of. And yet a lot of these plants have a lot more vitamins and minerals than the produce you buy in the stores do.”

Brown believes the shift in people’s perception about these common plants is dissociative and harms people’s connection to nature while simultaneously depriving them of an excellent resource for health benefits from nutritious local food.

“Chickweed is one of my favorites, it’s a really delicious early spring edible plant,” Brown says, adding that early season harvests tend to be more tender and more tasty.

Chickweed is also very high in vitamin c and beta keratin. Add it to salads or make

Fare & Flair

chickweed pesto by swapping out chickweed for basil.

Dandelion is another wild edible, Brown says, nutritious and full of vitamins and minerals, and easy to find. Use the leaves for salad greens, the flowers for breading and deep frying as fritters. The roots can be steeped in tea or fermented into wine.

Wild onion grows in green clumps on most lawns. Use it like a grocery store green onion as a tasty garnish or dice the bulb to saute like a white onion.

Violets are one wild edible that retains its flavor throughout the growing season, Brown says.

“The thing about violets that makes me like them so much is they never get bitter throughout the summer. The ones I harvest in August taste the same as the ones I harvest in April.”

He likens the texture to spinach, and the whole plant is packed with vitamin A and C. The flower makes a nice garnish, and a violet is a tasty treat during a nature hike.

Brown cautions foragers to “put time into learning” so they don’t harvest and ingest dangerous plants in the wild. Though, Brown adds, the modern landscape industry has actually introduced equally, or more, dangerous toxins through herbicides and insecticides, so be careful when foraging at home.

Brown offers online and in-person naturalist courses. tombrown3.com

Come out and try our award-winning wines, along with breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley. The perfect place to come and get lost, and watch your cares melt away.

Now booking weddings and events for 2022/2023

Blue Valley Vineyard And Winery 5535 Blue Valley Way,Delaplane, VA 20144 Tasting Room: 540.364.2347 bluevalleyvineyardandwinery.com

Hours: Monday – Thursday: 11AM – 5PM Friday & Saturday: 11AM – 7:30PM Sunday: 11AM – 6PM

Bug off (naturally)

Plant these plants and see insects flee Fauquier’s zone 6b-7a is perfect for planting natural mosquito-repellent garden helpers to keep you comfortable during bug season.

• Citronella grass — This easy-care, lemon-scented grass should be planted in pots because it is cold sensitive.

• Catnip — A member of the mint family, catnip has pretty little flowers in late spring and stays green well into late fall. It’s easy to raise and loves the Piedmont region’s weather conditions.

• Lavender — Lavender has beautiful light purple blooms, creating a surprisingly effective insect repellent when you crush leaves and blooms and rub on your skin. You can also make a light spray by steeping it.

Mint

Basil

• Scented geraniums — These plants prefer warm, dry, sunny climates if they live outside, but can also thrive as potted plants.

• Bee balm — Bees and hummingbirds find this colorful plant irresistible, but mosquitoes and many other pests are repelled by the sweet aroma. Also known as wild bergamot and horsemint, bee balm works best when you cut or crush it.

• Rosemary — Don’t limit rosemary to the kitchen – it’s also an effective pest deterrent.

• Chrysanthemums — Best known as “mums,” this perennial contains a natural insecticide, pyrethrum.

• Sage — Sage isn’t just for “smudging” – it’s also a natural mosquito repellent.

The soft green leaves contain caryophyllene, which bugs don’t like to inhale.

• Lemon balm — Lemon balm is easy to sow, easy to grow and it emits a natural mosquito repellent through its leaves and its small flowers in early summer.

• Basil — The strong aroma put out by growing basil is

Clinic & House Calls

Bringing medical care directly to you!

A native of St. Kitts and Nevis, Taffae Cadeau moved to New York in 2000. She attended SUNY Binghamton, graduating nursing school in 2008 and becoming a certified family nurse practitioner with a concentration in rural health in 2010.

She worked in a variety of clinical settings before relocating to Manassas in 2018, when she gained experience in primary care, urgent care, and home health assessments. On January 31, she opened the doors to Amore Care Health and Wellness in Remington. It is open for both scheduled and walk-in appointments on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She reserves Tuesdays and Thursdays for house calls. She provides affordable, personalized health care – including house calls.”

Remember...

Different plants thrive, bloom and grow at different times of year. Mosquitoes are most active in the Piedmont region from late March to late October, so consider your planting season when choosing your arsenal.

Pick plants that will be at peak pest performance on a sliding basis to keep you bug free all season. often enough to keep mosquitoes at bay near your house. Plant this tender perennial in full sun – it likes afternoon shade in the hot months (near your kitchen door so you can also use it for cooking).

• Mint — A lot of gardeners think mint is a little pushy, but this easy-to-grow garden green provides a pretty backdrop for summer flowers as well as providing essential oil to repel bugs.

• Marigold — This traditional tomato companion has a secondary benefit – repelling biting bugs.

Lavender

Call to schedule your appointment 540-264-3399 201 East Main St Remington, Va 22734 540.264.3399

201 East Main Street, Remington, VA 22734

email: info@amorecarehw.com • www.amorecarehw.com Clinic & House Calls 201 East Main Street, Remington, 22734 Bringing medicalVA care directly to you!

36

Clinic 2022 &WeHouse offer point of careCalls testing for UTIs, infectious disease Spring

(flu, strep, COVID-19), lab & diagnose testing.

Bringing medical directly toAffordable you! self pay rates.

Treatmentcare right away.

Flexible hours.

Rosemary

Fare & Flair

Lemonbalm

Flooring for every lifestyle and budget • • • • •

We offer:

Carpets for Homes, Offices, and Rentals Custom-sized Area Rugs Domestic and Exotic Hardwood Flooring Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Plank and Tile Dust-Free Sanding and Refinishing

Karla & Ike Miller will look, listen and learn to find the perfect flooring solution to fit your needs.

Miller Carpets since 1968

Malcolm is always eager to help you with all you flooring needs.

7 Main Street, Warrenton, VA 20186 (540) 347-9646 • millercarpets.com

SAUCES & NOODLES & OLIVES & WOOD & CERAMICS...

Shop in-store or online at tasteovs.com!

815 Caroline Street Fredericksburg, VA 22401 540 . 373 . 1262

122A E Davis Street Culpeper VA 22701 540 . 825 . 8415

Spring 2022

37

Light and bright

Vixen, an Irish-style red ale on offer this season at Old Bust Head Brewery, combines sweet caramel notes and a refreshing, bitter finish.

Local beers sparkle with the season this spring Story and photo

by John Daum Springtime in Fauquier offers a chance to make the transition from meaty winter brews to light, fanciful spring styles.

At Old Bust Head Brewery in Vint Hill, the taproom offers a number of seasonal favorites, including its classic amber lager, Time Lapse. This well-balanced brew offers just the right roasted accents expected from the style. Vixen, an Irish-style red ale, is a local classic and combines sweet caramel notes with a soft bitterness on the finish that is highly refreshing.

Bust Head’s super-charged saison, Diplomatic Immunity clocks in at 8.6% ABV, a unique take on the style that packs a punch.

It combines wildflowers and citrus notes to create a crisp, clean finish which makes it a nice pair with lighter spring cuisine.

Bust Head was recently lauded for their new green technology which captures carbon produced during the fermentation process and recycles it rather than allowing it to escape into the environment.

Warrenton’s Barking Rose Brewing

Company is a great place to spend a spring afternoon, with a variety of food vendors available on site.

Barking Rose brewers create beers inspired by styles from both Belgium and Germany. A great place to start is with I’m Your Huckleberry, a traditional German wheat beer – Hefeweizen — to which they add huckleberries or blueberries. Another unusual beer you will not find anywhere else in the area is the brewery’s Cuvee, a Belgian Chambourcin ale made in collaboration with nearby Molon Lave Vineyards.

This beer combines Chamboucin grapes in the mash which gives the pale ale a clean, slightly fruity finish. It has a low ABV which makes it a good daytime drink.

Another Belgian-inspired beer is Equinox, a marriage of Citra hops and apricots; it’s neither too sweet nor too bitter on the palette.

A number of area wineries have added breweries to their libation lineup. In Delaplane, Three Fox Vineyards and Brewery offers a double IPA – Hurt Juice, combining citris and Mosaic hops for an

Start smiling with a big, beautiful Harris Smile!

Start smiling with a big, beautiful Harris Smile!

Everyone Loves aEveryone Great Smile Loves Dr. Harris and his skilled team offer general, cosmetic, restorative and a better!

Great implant dentistry to help you look great and feel even Even if you have neglected your teeth for years, we can help you save them.

Everyone Smile Loves

ale with satisfying accents of grapefruit on the finish. For something with a little more spice but also balanced and highly drinkable, check out Land The (Dela) Plane. This rye IPA has more earthy notes than a traditional IPA but not as much bitterness on the back end.

For something that combines both wine and beer, order up a pint of Talkative Companion, an unusual Saison style beer brewed with Seyval Blanc juice which gives the beer-wine hybrid a floral character and more punch than a traditional Saison.

There is a wine festival in October at Great Meadow in The Plains, and beer festivals are planned this summer in Front Royal and Culpeper. greatmeadow.org

McClanahan Camera www.mccamera.com 306 W Lee Hwy 540 347 2533 info@mccamera.com

Your Digital Specialists from Cameras to Printing Hours: Monday—Friday 9:30am to 6pm; Sat. 9am to 5pm

Start smiling with a big, beautiful Harris Smile!

Photo Restoration Custom Framing

Call (540)347-2777 to schedule your consultation! Or for more information, Dr. Harris and his skilled team offer general, cosmetic, restorative and a Great visit www.HarrisSmile.com. implant dentistry to help you look great and feel even better! Even if you Early Morning & Evening have neglected your teeth for years, Appointments we can help you save them.

Smile

Call

Dr. Harris•and his skilled team offer general, cosmetic, restorative and Insurance Accepted New Patients Welcome! implant dentistry to help you look great and feel even better! Even if you (540)347-2777 to schedule your consultation!

Orwefor FINANCING AVAILABLE have neglected your teeth for years, canmore help youinformation, save them.

Ready Made Frames

PRINT IN STORE OR MCCAMERA.COM Passport Photos ~ Private Photo Lessons

visit www.HarrisSmile.com.

Jeffrey A. HArris , DDs, PC 4.8 stars on Google reviews

Call (540)347-2777 to schedule your consultation! Or for more information,

visit www.HarrisSmile.com.

Early Morning & Evening Appointments

(540) 347-2777

Early Morning & Evening Appointments

Insurance Accepted • New Welcome!

99%Patients of verified reviewers

Insurance Accepted • New Patients Welcome!

FINANCING AVAILABLE on RateABiz recommend FINANCING AVAILABLEDr. Harris.

Jeffrey Hr Arris w w wA. .Ha r i s S m ,i lDDs, e . c o m PC

420 Hospital Dr. Overlook Medical Complex ~ Warrenton (Next to Hospital) Jeffrey A. H Arris, DDs, PC

(540) 347-2777

(540) w347-2777 w w.HarrisSmile.com

jar 0222 420 Hospital Dr. Overlook Medical Complex ~ Warrenton (Next to Hospital) Discover Fauquier

420 Hospital Dr. Overlook Medical Complex ~ Warrenton jar 0222 (Next to Hospital)

w w w.HarrisSmile.com Discover Fauquier

38

Spring 2022

jar 0222 Discover Fauquier

Free Camera Check Up: Sat, May 28 9am-11am

OLD MOVIES, SLIDES, & NEGATIVES TO DIGITAL ~ CANVAS PRINT

Fare & Flair

SUPERIOR CARE WITH A PERSONAL TOUCH Our dedicated Resident Concierge is committed to providing a seamless and comfortable transition to Assisted Living for every resident. Our communities are tasteful and distinctive, with relaxing outdoor areas and private apartment suites in a variety of floorplan options. Helping our residents live healthy, fulfilling lives is our top priority. We have a variety of offerings — including fine dining, engaging programs, Pets Are Welcome ‘P.A.W ’program and resort-like amenities — to support doing just that.

WA R R E N T O N ™

RE-IMAGINE MEMORY CARE

P.A.W. PROGRAM

ARTS + CRAFTS

WELLNESS PROGRAM

OUTSIDE GARDENING

RE-IMAGINE MEMORY CARE CALL US TO LEARN MORE SPRINGHILLS.COM | 540.242.5236

mortgages made easy! making you feel right at home! we’ll help you find the best home loan to fit your unique situation.

• • • •

Low or no down payment options FHA, VA, USDA, and VHDA loans Jumbo loans–up to $3 million Purchase or Refinance

• fast pre-qualifications available

ready to serve you!

kaley hoffman 540-360-8391 kaley.hoffman@memberoptions.com nmls#2264583

uvacreditunion.org/mortgage membership eligibility required. insured by ncua. equal housing opportunity.

Mortgage services provided by Member Options, LLC (licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission, VA License #MC-5520) NMLS #194038 (nmlsconsumeraccess.org) a wholly-owned subsidiary of UVA Community Credit Union. All loans subject to credit approval.

year after year, we’re the #1 choice for mortgages!

Spring 2022

39

FISH program provides food and easily accessible recipes to Fauquier families in need

By Alexandra Greeley Fish. For some, it means seared salmon for dinner, for others it elicits dreams of a fishing trip to the lake.

Make it all caps – FISH, and it becomes one of Fauquier County’s most important community programs.

For Immediate Sympathetic Help, FISH is a 501(c)3 in Warrenton since 1983. Services include food pantry distribution, weekend meals delivered to the Warrenton Senior Center and a farmers market program.

Some 50 volunteers help out, overseen by executive director Charity Furness.

“We strive to serve the kind of food we would feed our (own) families,” Furness says.

“The food (we offer) is delicious and simple to prepare.

We put ingredients together in food kits – like dried rice and pork. We send home some

meals and some recipes.”

Meals need to be shelf-stable, she explains, for the biggest benefit to program participants.

Board member Maggie Massie says they have lots of room for the many donations they receive from area businesses and individuals – a food pantry and a place for storage, and another pantry in a nearby trailer.

FISH operates like a food bank, with fresh meats and vegetables, and lots of boxed and canned foods. Recipes are tucked into food bags.

Reaching out to find the needy is a key component of the group’s work, Furness says. “A lot of what we do is by word of mouth — Department of Social Services, food banks, churches and schools.”

Massie estimates they serve more than 200 local families each month. fauquierfish.org

Healthy, helpful recipes Creamy potato soup FISH board member Maggie Massie says the potato soup recipe was developed

by Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health – FRESH. • 4 cups water • 2 packets chicken broth • 2 can diced potatoes or 1 can corn, with liquid • 1 pouch instant potatoes or 1 cup boxed potato flakes • ½ cup bacon bits Bring water to a boil. Add potatoes or corn, return to a boil. Add instant potatoes and turn heat to low. Stir until smooth. Cook on low for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Top with bacon bits.

Muffin pan meatloaf

• 1 egg • 1 can tomato paste plus 1 can water (or 1 can tomato sauce) • ½ cup finely chopped onion • 1 ½ teaspoons seasoning blend • 1 cup fine breadcrumbs • 1 pound ground beef or ground venison Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the egg. Add the tomato paste, chopped onion and seasoning. Stir in breadcrumbs and ground meat. Spoon into muffin pan, mounding them high.

Place muffin a pan on a baking sheet and bake 60 minutes.

Pork rice bowl

40

Spring 2022

THE PAINT THE PAINTSHOP SHOPLTD LTD 51 Alexandria Pike THE PAINT SHOP 51 Alexandria PikeLTD THE PAINTVA SHOP LTD Warrenton, 20186 51 Alexandria Warrenton, VAPike 20186 51 Alexandria Pike 540-347-4484 Warrenton, VA 20186 540-347-4484 paintshopltd.com Warrenton, VA 20186 THE PAINT SHOP LTD 540-347-4484 paintshopltd.com 540-347-4484 51 Alexandria Pike paintshopltd.com paintshopltd.com Warrenton, VA 20186 540-347-4484 paintshopltd.com

• I pound ground pork • 2 tablespoon fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon ground ginger • 2 cloves garlic • 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables • ¼ cup soy sauce • 2 tablespoons vinegar • 1 small can pineapple chunks Fare & Flair

Pork rice bowl • 3 cups cooked rice Grate the ginger, crush the garlic. Brown the ground pork and ginger in a skillet.

Cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute.

Add the vegetables and cook an additional 5 minutes. Stir in soy sauce and vinegar and add the pineapple chunks with their juice.

Stir and simmer until heated through.

Serve over rice in bowls.

No-bake peanut butter treats • • • • •

1 ½ cups brown sugar 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar 1 stick butter, softened 1 ½ cups peanut butter 1 cup chocolate chips Add a half-stick of butter to a large mixing bowl. Stir in brown sugar and powdered sugar. Add peanut butter, mix well. Press into an 8x8 square pan.

In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and remaining half-stick butter.

Melt, stopping the microwave to stir and check the melting progress every 20 seconds.

Pour the melted chocolate over the peanut butter mixture, spread to cover.

Chill at least 3 hours, then cut into squares.

THE ONLY BLU ROOM® ON THE EAST COAST

Stressed? Let Your Wellness Soar!

Come in for a 20 minute session to experience a new kind of relaxation with the latest wellness technology using Ultraviolet B light and sound.

30% off all packages for first responders, teachers, military, healthcare workers, and seniors age 65+ 50% off your 1st Session Gift certificates available online or in store

WARRENTON WELLNESS

www.warrentonwellness.com 83 West Lee Highway, Warrenton, VA 540.216.2524 WarrentonWellness

@warrentonbluroom

Remembrance

The tears come unbidden.

I was in the hallway at work, and Janet casually asked, “How are you?” To that routine question, I had to tell my coworker that my brother, Saket, had died suddenly and unexpectedly in the frigid early morning hours of Jan. 31.

My words and sobs choked together.

The tears came, too, when I was telling my grown children that VINEETA March 2022 would RIBEIRO mark the 50th anniTHE LAST versary of my family’s arrival in America.

WORD My brother would have known the exact date. His photographic memory captured and retained memories that faded from others’ minds. I would need to check if it had been the 25th of March in 1972. My brother, their uncle, “would have known.”

But he is gone now.

I have to use the past tense with him now. He and his wealth of memories of our immigrant upbringing, all are gone.

My brother was taken by a pulmonary embolism that he himself diagnosed. He was lucid enough to provide his medical history to the EMTs. Asking his wife for his wallet as they took him away to the emergency room, he told her, “I’ll be back soon.”

But within the hour, he was gone.

They could not resuscitate him at Reston Hospital.

He was an incredibly generous and equally brilliant gastroenterologist who had served in the United States Air Force for more than 22 years and had retired as a decorated lieutenant colonel. He had just recently sold his practice and officially retired. Two weeks later, he died. He was my only brother, Lt. Col. Dr. Saket Kumar Ambasht.

My brother was an amazing cook and an ardent photographer and world traveler. I was so proud when he praised Warrenton’s little Faang Thai Restaurant when we took him and my sister-in-law there. They both said it was the best Thai food they had ever eaten, and that meant something, considering all the places they had traveled worldwide.

He always told the most hilarious stories. When we came to the U.S. in 1972, he biked to school to register. As a skinny 11-year old, he decided he did not like the sound of 6th grade, so he registered himself for 7th. That’s how he graduated high school at 16.

I only had one brother, so he held a 42

Spring 2022

The author and her late brother, Saket special place for my two older sisters and me. He was my parents’ first born and only son, a gift on my mother’s 21st birthday. They shared June 30 for 61 years, and I have no idea how my mom will bear the next one.

My brother and his wife had come to Virginia to help care for our aging parents who are living with my sister in Reston, also a doctor. My brother had that Monday all mapped out. First thing, he planned to take our 82-year-old mom to her ENT appointment. Later he was going to take our 89-year-old father for his hand surgery. He did spend Monday at a medical facility, but for a much darker reason.

When my sister called my cell phone in the predawn hours, I had thought it was the school system announcing a snow delay. I was grading math tests while sipping coffee and listening to Frank McCourt’s “Angela’s Ashes” on Audible. My husband of 35 years, an early riser and my personal coffee maker, was with me as we received the news.

I know I am being selfish. There are so many people who have lost family members. Last year, I attended the funeral of a friend’s grandson. Seeing the little halfsized coffin was almost too much to bear.

Seeing his young parents, paled by grief, I could not and did not want to imagine being in their shoes. It was a stark reminder that our days are numbered, yet that number is undisclosed. No matter when The Last Word

death comes, it is almost always too soon.

My brother knew this, and he lived life to the fullest. If he wanted to take a trip, he did. He lived spontaneously and fearlessly, always up for adventures.

Years ago, he wanted to go to UC Berkeley. He took off with three years of 4.0 undergraduate work at the University of South Carolina under his belt, a footlocker of his belongings and a bus ticket out West.

He found room and board with a tiny old lady who rented him a bedroom.

He chopped wood for cash to carry him through that first year of his studies.

My brother worked so very, very hard, twice the pace of anyone I have known.

He often teased that, as a gastroenterologist, he was essentially little more than a day laborer – the only difference was the pay rate.

One of my earliest memories of Saket was when I was about 7, in second grade, in Ohio. I remember standing outside our apartment, with my bare feet on the mega-pebbles. He asked me a question and I responded with “What the hell?” I had been honing my English skills with “The Young and the Restless” that my mom watched with daily devotion for decades, ostensibly to pick up English.

I got a quick smack to the side of the head. “Never say that word,” was his reprimand. I was a little bewildered but knew not to repeat the word, even though I had no idea what the hell was wrong with it.

My brother sent me a picture last summer of the van they had at their retirement home. It could seat seven and sleep four, and he planned to criss-cross the country this summer in it. How he loved to travel. There was a telescope in the van – he said he planned to relax and enjoy a slower pace of life, sleep late and gaze at the stars late at night.

Wherever you are, my brother, may you be at peace and may you have a lovely view of the stars. You were one yourself, and I will miss you for as long as I remain earthbound.

Vineeta Ribeiro is a teacher at Mountain Vista Governor’s School in Warrenton.

Her older brother didn’t like the English words she was learning from a television soap opera.

“It’s all about people … and always will be.”

At Virginia National Bank, we have an unwavering commitment to invest in the long-term financial health and stability of individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations. From the beginning, our mission has been to provide great personal service, local access to decision makers, fast response, and continuity in your relationship.

We believe that excellent customer service begins and ends with our people, which is why we say, “It’s all about people . . . and always will be.”

www.VNB.com Make an appointment today by calling 877.817.8621.

Come see why over 1,500 patients have given GoWell Urgent Care five-star Google reviews!

You can make an appointment or get in line from our website, and both virtual and in-office visits are available.

GoWell Urgent Care 75 West Lee Hwy, Warrenton, VA 20186 In Oak Springs Plaza, below Giant Food 8AM- 8PM Monday to Friday | 8AM - 8PM Saturday and Sunday

(540) 351-0662 | www.GoWellUrgentCare.com