ON THE PORCH

Small Actions With Hugh Payoffs

by janet douberly

Christie Hoerneman

Jill LaiaconaNancy Kelly

Matt KellyDavid C. Kennedy

Lexi ManionAudrey Morgan

Ray MikulaVanessa Moncure

Pete MorelewiczPatrick Neustatter

Penny A Parrish

M.L. PowersGerri Reid

Paula RaudenbushRob Rudick

Laura SantMandy Smith

Anne TimpanoRim Vining

Tina WillNorma Woodward

Von Young

Front Porch Fredericksburg is a free circulation magazine published monthly by Olde Towne Publishing Co.

Virginia Bigenwald Grogan, Publisher.

The mission of Front Porch Fredericksburg is to connect the diverse citizenry of Fredericksburg with lively features and informative columns of interest to our community’s greatest resource, its people.

Messages from our readers are welcome. All article submissions must be received by e-mail by the 16th & calendar items the 19th of the month preceding publication.

Writers / Artists / Photographers are welcome to request Guidelines and query the Publisher by e-mail.

Front Porch Fredericksburg

PO Box 9203

Fredericksburg, VA 22403

Ad Sales: E-Mail: frntprch@aol.com

Web Site: www.frontporchfredericksburg.com

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@Front Porch Fredericksburg

The opinions expressed in Front Porch Fredericksburg are those of the contributing writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Front Porch Fredericksburg or its advertisers.

Copyright 2023

Front Porch Fredericksburg Magazine

All rights reserved.

Having lived and worked in Fredericksburg a majority of my life, I have had the privilege of watching this town for decades. In my years working up and down Caroline Street, I have seen it garlanded in a show of pretty-looking yet disgusting Bradford Pear Trees and have watched in delight as they have almost all been removed and replaced with more appropriate and even more beautiful native trees. I have meandered by the lawns and lots, both lush with life and crowded with "weeds". I have seen the impact one idea can have on our people and our ecosystem. With that in mind, and in honor of Earth Day and Arbor Day happening this month, I am making a call to small action.

As of right now, Fredericksburg still has citizens from a large variety of socio-economic backgrounds. You can find our people dwelling in everything from mansions to efficiency apartments. No matter where each of us fall in that spectrum, I believe there are small actions we can take to support our ecosystem.

One of the conditions of living in the city is that very few of us have large yards, if any yard at all. Those of us who do have yards, no matter the size, can make quite the impact by taking a close look at what we have growing in them. Many popular landscaping plants can actually grow invasively and cause a lot of harm. For example, nandina is a very popular plant in this area despite the fact it does not support our native wildlife and can go so far as to actually poison our feathered friends. English ivy is another plant plastered all over our historic city that has been labeled as being highly invasive and, as you can see on any stroll, will eagerly take over large areas, choking out other plants and eradicating biodiversity. Even our non-invasive yet non-native plants such as the boxwood (yeah, I said it) can take up a lot of space

Messages

FPF doing great commujnity work, (Black History Month in FXBG, March 2023)

Black Arts Collective

Front Porch

Thanks for the THE Beeping Egg Hunt Article (March 2023 issue)

Gari Melcher Home & Studio without providing habitat and food for our native wildlife. And while in my perfect world, reading these words would make everyone jump up and immediately eradicate all nonnative plants in their yard to be replaced by useful and stunning native plants, I understand that is not feasible. My realistic hope is that those of us privileged to have a yard in this city, familiarize ourselves with what we have growing in our yards and start making plans to slowly replace any invasive species with native plants. Adding even one native plant to your yard is a small thing to do but the ripples started by that small action will radiate out to create large impacts on our wildlife.

But what about those of us without yards? Trust me, I can talk a big talk about what people should do with their outdoor areas but I have rarely ever had one for myself. So, aside from taking a page from my book and verbally dumping plant info on anybody that stands still long enough in my presence, what can we apartment dwellers do? I'm glad I've assumed you asked! The most obvious idea is window planters. These tiny little boxes of soil can host amazing amounts of native annuals that will not only brighten your day but also the days of our native pollinators and birds. No good window for a box planter? No problem! For those of you with black thumbs, the keyboard is mightier than the sword! Contact our planning commission asking for invasive and harmful plants to be removed from the city landscaping lists. Write our Virginia politicians to show support for the current bills proposing the banning of invasive plants being sold at plant stores and box stores alike. Have a

Great Article (Fred,Strong, Anita Crossfield, March 2023) Anita is quite a local treasure. Thanks for featuring her and Kristiana.

Kevin Brown

Stacy Gerise Brush Strokes Gallery is VERY Proud of you! (March 2023 Cover Artist)

Penny A Parrish

Thank you for all you do for the FXBG community

Kitty Farley couple of extra hours? Volunteer for local organizations that promote and protect our ecosystem such as Friends of the Rappahannock, Tree Fredericksburg, and Downtown Greens. Brother, can you spare a dime? Go online and make a donation that will support the work others are doing for the cause.

There are hundreds of small actions we, as a community, can take to support the health and beauty of our town and the human and non-human beings within. And much like the plants I won't shut up about, each small action will grow and continue to support all the levels of our ecosystem.

Janet Douberly is a proud Fredericksburg citizen and currently Media Manager at Downtown Greens.

Virginia Congratulations on your 308th issue of Front Porch. This great service to our community that you & Rob began in 1997 has continued on. Keep going!!

Frank Fratoe

Virginia Thanks to you for all the work you, the writers, the artists and others put into getting that Front Porch onto my front porch each month.,

Jenny Strobel

In launching its recent Film Incentive Program, the City of Fredericksburg is encouraging on a local level what some Virginia legislators are hoping to grow statewide - film tourism, or the economic development strategy of attracting visitors to a particular place through its iconic portrayal or inspirational influence in films and television series.

Virginia, with a combination of tax credits and grants valued at $10.5 million, currently ranks 32nd among 40 U.S. states offering some form of incentive