Porch talk

4 on the porch...life in fredericksburg messages

6Saving local nature...Blue heron rookery

7everything greens: garden sprouts

8In the Garden: pollinators & parks

9growing & crawling: mint to be?

10i have a friend: the colors of our lives

12tidbits...small bites of local news

13 season’s bounty: back to the grill

15vino: think outside the box

16-17Calendar of Events

18history’s stories: slaughter pen farm what’s in a cone? Carls

19 our heritage: renwick courthouse

20mental health: mental health & gun violence

21Emancipated patients: inroads & reservations

22auto known better: you can always go first class About Town

24art in the burg ...galleries in June

25Celebrate local ceramics

26 you are not alone

28companions: fun in the sun

29astrology & you poetryman: indescribable

30fredericksburg sketches

Cover Artist Lois Baird

31care-a-thon help children grow strong

5 sister city visit to schwetzingen germany

14 fxbg annual photography show

27 Compassionate care campwith the spca

Jonathan and Toni (Lipe) Stevens are an extraordinary couple, so it might be expected that their courtship would also have been a bit out of the ordinary! Both have served on the board of the Fredericksburg Food Co-oop, both had prior experience in the cooperative arena, and both are committed advocates of the Coop's mission to promote healthy eating and healthy living and working to protect and sustain our Earth.

Jonathan moved to Fredericksburg in 2015 and soon retired and became involved with the co-op years before it opened its grocery store. After serving on several committees, he became a board member and eventually served as chair of the board. Toni, who had worked in Northern Virginia for years, moved to Fredericksburg in the Fall of 2020, to be closer to her 86-year-old mother and her daughter. She continues to work remotely for a Falls Church management consulting firm.

"This was during the time of Covid, and I didn't know very many people. I saw signs for the Food Co-op wherever I went and joined right away," said Toni. "I volunteered to help man our table at the Farmer's Market at Hurkamp Park as well as on some First Fridays." Toni's volunteerism eventually led to taking on the position of secretary of the executive board. "2021 was a fantastic year for me," she said. "I was learning my way around Fredericksburg and getting to know everybody and living my best life! I couldn't have been happier."

During that same year, Jonathan experienced the loss of his wife of 50 years, Peggy, after a year-long bout with cancer. "I spent that Christmas with my