Get Out Loudoun for October 2023

The Passion of Jason Masi Page

GET OUT LOUDOUN

Get Out Loudoun is distributed monthly to entertainment, tourism, and hospitality venues throughout Loudoun County. For the latest news on the music scene and other community events, go to getoutloudoun.com.

CONTRIBUTORS

TUNES

Jason Masi got a taste of performing during a high school talent show. Today, he’s one of the region’s most in-demand artists.

BREWS

ON THE COVER

Susan Styer at 703-770-9723 or sales@loudounnow.com

getoutloudoun.com

10 20 18

Honor Brewing Company’s new plant near Arcola is designed to be both a neighborhood dining destination and the launching point for its national expansion.

16

DESTINATIONS

Ready for a challenging quest? Creative Pursuits has the game for you.

WINE

After winning the 2022 Governor’s Cup, Cana Vineyards winemaker Melanie Natoli created this year’s blend of the commonwealth’s Cornus Virginicus.

BEST BETS

Get Out Loudoun’s top picks for October.

Renss Greene

Norman K. Styer

Photo by Renss Greene

Jason Masi performs on the stage at Harpers Ferry Brewing.

Wine Month Highlights Loudoun’s Creativity

BY DOUGLAS ROGERS

Many wine regions of the world are known for a signature grape: California for Cabernet Sauvignon, Oregon for Pinot Noir, Argentina for Malbec, South Africa for Pinotage and so on. So, what is Loudoun, rapidly establishing itself as a powerhouse of Mid-Atlantic viticulture, known for? What is the Loudoun grape?

Well, the answer is not yet clear–and therein lies the appeal.

“Loudoun is unique because a consumer gets to discover so many varieties in such a small space,” said Neil Wavra, celebrated chef-restaurateur (Field & Main in Marshall) who recently oversaw the judging of the 2023 Loudoun Wine Awards. “It’s a young industry so Loudoun winemakers are always experimenting, trying new things. It’s very exciting.”

Indeed, of the 15 categories judged for the awards, (a highlight of Virginia Wine Month, with winners announced at a gala dinner at Lansdowne Resort on Oct. 20) varietals ran from Albariño to Petit Verdot to Viognier with hybrids, blends, rosé, Cabernet Franc, Red Vinifera and more in between.

Of course, variety of grapes and winemaking styles is not the only unique appeal of Loudoun wine.

“The combination of history, quality crafted wines, small towns and high-tech industry make for a dynamic experience for visitors and residents,” said Doug Fabbioli of Fabbioli Cellars, regarded by many as The Godfather of Loudoun wine. Fabbioli does more than make fine wine at

the property he founded 20 years ago. He is the founder of the New Ag School, an agribusiness incubator that trains and mentors agri-business students in everything from viticulture to conservation to running a B&B.

As for the grape varietal, he says, “Look for Tannat to gain in prominence in Loudoun.”

The connection between the wine industry, local farms and restaurants is another part of Loudoun’s appeal. Locally made farm cheeses and cured meats are sold in many tasting rooms, local chefs do winery dinners (especially in the fall) and more restaurants are adding Loudoun wines to menus. All of which makes the industry more creative, profitable and self-sustaining. Talking creativity, you can see this literally on some Loudoun wine labels. At Bluemont Station Brewery & Winery co-owner David Weinschel, an avid art collector, commissioned the work of local fine artist Kevin Chadwick for the Vidal Blanc and Cabernet Franc Estate Reserve labels. The latter is a classic charcoal-style graphic of the winery’s historic main building, while the Vidal Blanc is a colorful Art Deco illustration of a woman with a bunch of red grapes for hair, grape vines for a barrette. Since introducing the unique labels earlier this year, Weinschel says bottle sales have soared.

“If there is an art to winemaking, why not let the label be the canvas,” Weinschel said.

We agree.

Don’t forget to enjoy the variety, creativity—and artistry—of Loudoun wine this Virginia Wine Month.

Meditation and Passion Jason Masi Plays Through the Changes

BY RENSS GREENE

Jason Masi isn’t hard to find.

Most any weekend, you can find two or three of his performances in Loudoun. He’ll be at wineries, breweries, restaurants—any place that would benefit from his soulful singing, murmuring, crooning, and strumming. And for all that his style can feel familiar, it can also be hard to pin down with genre conventions.

Music was a hobby for Masi when he was young. It was a way to unwind from his passion at the time, soccer.

“Because soccer was so competitive, I kind of looked at music as not being competitive and something that was just my meditation outside of something competitive, to heal me, relax and connect with friends and be social,” he said. He was still focused on soccer in college, but he got his first taste of the performing life at a high school talent show.

“We weren’t very good, but it was one of the best times I had in my life, so I was like, I should do this some more,” he said.

In college, he kept playing soccer, but he got another taste of playing in a band, first stepping in to help out with a friend’s band.

He then assembled his first band, which became known as Jubeus. It brought together jam band musicians with Masi’s songwriting focus, and it worked—after college the band moved to Richmond together, bought a van and a trailer, and traveled around playing shows. The band put out two albums, “Two Tone Circles” in 2004 and “Natural Mood” in 2007, while playing more than a hundred shows a year.

The band started to pull back around the time of the 2008 financial crisis—“I think some of the guys got nervous and they wanted to start other jobs,” he said. But, “I was like, ‘I’m not ready to stop playing music. I’m just going to keep on going.’”

He moved to the Washington, DC, area and continued with his solo career, where his style continued to evolve, both over years and from one song to the next.

“Every song is different. So, when I was pitching ‘New Sky,’ I was trying to pitch it to like adult contemporary, alt country, new Americana, so those are kind of the genres I was pitching for,” he said. “’This Moment’ and ‘In Color,’ those are the other two more recent songs, and those are kind of more indie rock, new indie, rock and pop, so they were completely different.”

Meanwhile, the modern world has also changed how musicians promote their music—people have playlists rather than albums, and Masi said musicians might only have 10 or 15 seconds to grab a new listener’s interest before they hit skip. It also means less time digging into what a particular musician is all about.

Conversely, getting deeper and deeper into the musical world meant educating himself about the roots of the music he loves. That led him

from wide-ranging acts like Bob Marley, the Grateful Dead, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to a love for soul music of the ‘60s and ‘70s, created by predominantly Black musicians—“the music that I’d been listening to all my life was really coming from that.”

“If you’re listening to modern artists, find out what inspired them, and then what inspired the people that they were inspired by, and then get back to those roots,” he said.

And sometimes he’ll be surprised by which songs people connect with—such as when an audience member asked him if he could play “Fire From Marushka”—a song he wrote in his Jubeus days starting on the day after his 21st birthday to remember the celebration. The title is based on the name of the one of the drinks he had.

“I think songs have their own personality. They have their own life. And once you’re done writ-

“I think songs have their own personality. They have their own life. And once you’re done writing them and recording them, you kind of see where they go”

JASON MASI CONTINUED

JASON MASI FROM PAGE 7

ing them and recording them, you kind of see where they go,” he said. “… I think from a writer’s perspective, you’ve just got to create, and people are going to take things the way they take them, and you’ve got to just keep on creating.”

Like most artists, he draws inspiration from his own life, and over almost 20 years playing professionally, life, too, can change. One example: marrying his high school sweetheart, Jennifer.

“I took her to my senior prom. Then she went to UVA. I went to Longwood. We grew up kind of in separate cites, but we always came back to each other,” he said. “She’s my school sweetheart, and she became a lot of the inspiration for a lot of songs.”

Like Jason, Jennifer Masi followed her passions into a career. She is now the pro bono director at the nonprofit Children’s Law Center in Washington, DC.

“She’s just like a really passionate, generous, selfless person. She inspires me every day to do better, and I really admire the work that she does,” he said. And her job provides health insurance for the solo musician, for which Jason is also grateful—“we want to advocate more for artists having more access to cheaper, more affordable health benefits.”

Another change for live musicians: the COVID-19 pandemic. That led to more focus on getting his songs played on streaming platforms and releasing a new song every quarter. He’s got one new song already finished and waiting for release and is working on two more. And perhaps the ultimate change for any career was becoming a father. His daughter is almost two years old.

“Since becoming a parent, I do think my perspective has changed, and I’m still kind of working out what my style as a parent will be,” he said. “I can’t stress how much my life has

changed since having a kid, just mentally. I think looking after her and seeing the world that she’s going be in growing up, now I’m thinking more about songs I write and what she might think of them when she grows up, and the positive I’m putting out.”

He said overall he has a positive perspective on the world, and he wants her to have the same.

“The song I wrote right before she was born was called ‘New Sky,’ about getting over this pandemic, keeping a positive perspective, kind of just looking forward to what’s ahead even though things have been challenging up to this point,” he said. “And I think we can all relate to that during what was a collective trauma for the whole world.”

He said being a musician is a humbling experience.

“There’s always going to be people that are better than me,” he said. “I need to learn from other people doing it, especially these young kids coming up—I’m like, jeeze, how are these people so good?”

But he returns again and again to the reflective roots of his songwriting and performing.

“Music really is like therapy, so you start playing and the music kind of takes you to another place,” he said.

And:

“There’s a meditative aspect to it. I think as individuals we have to kind of know our place in the world and understand how small we are in the world around us.”

And:

“I just try to dig into and enjoy every minute and be grateful, because I know I might not be able do to this one day.”

Find Jason Masi’s music and performance schedule at linktr.ee/jasonmasimusic.

“I just try to dig into and enjoy every minute and be grateful, because I know I might not be able do to this one day.”

Loudoun’s Attractions

LOUDOUN HERITAGE FARM MUSEUM

Travel through time to meet the 10 generations of Loudoun County residents who built this county and left their mark on the land. Exhibits include a schoolhouse, general store, Native American artifact display and the American Workhorse Museum Collection.

21668 Heritage Farm Lane, Sterling, VA 20164 (571) 258-3800 • heritagefarmmuseum.org

LOUDOUN MUSEUM

With a collection of more than 8,000 artifacts, the Museum tells Loudoun’s story from pre-1600 up until today, with a selection of special exhibits featuring the history of Virginia Wine, the Early Republic era, and the County’s role in the US Civil War, along with a timeline of Loudoun County history. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for upcoming events and public programs!

16 Loudoun Street SW Leesburg, Virginia 20175 (703) 777-7427 • loudounmuseum.org

MORVEN PARK

Morven Park is a 1,000-acre historic estate on the edge of Leesburg that was home to Virginia governor and agricultural pioneer Westmoreland Davis. Tours of the Greek Revival mansion include 16th century Belgian tapestries, Spanish cassones, hundreds of silver pieces, Hudson River Valley paintings, and Asian treasures. The estate also features the Winmill Carriage Museum, the Museum of Hounds and Hunting of North America, formal boxwood gardens, miles of hiking and riding trails, and athletic elds.

17195 Southern Planter Lane Leesburg, VA 20176 703-777-2414 • morvenpark.org

OATLANDS HISTORIC HOUSE & GARDENS

The 415-acre Oatlands estate, owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, offers tours of the historic mansion, extensive gardens and outbuildings that include the oldest standing greenhouse in the South. Exhibits focus on the lives of the Carter and Eustis families who building the estate, as well as the lives of enslaved people who lived and worked there.

20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane, Leesburg, VA 20175 703.777.3174 • oatlands.org

Bigger Beer:

HONOR BREWING EXPANDS WITH LOUDOUN PLANT, RESTAURANT

BY NORMAN K. STYER

Loudoun’s brewery and dining scene is getting a big addition this month as Honor Brewing Company opens its new complex near Arcola.

The enterprise started as a small Chantilly winery in 2012. Allen Cage, an Army lieutenant colonel who retired after 24 years of active duty, started making wine after learning the industry through his involvement in a global vineyard experience tourism business.

It didn’t take long to switch gears.

"You know how long it takes to make wine. We decided you could make beer in 30 days,” he said. In 2014, Honor Brewing Company launched at the Chantilly tasting room.

Cage’s son, Ryan, leads the business as CEO.

Since starting with a contract brewer in Pennsylvania, Honor Brewing has grown with the addition of a brew kitchen franchise in Fairfax and distribution into North Carolina.

The Loudoun location, and the $20 million investment, takes the operation to another level—potentially a national one.

Four years ago, the company purchased a four-acre lot in an industrial park on Trade Winds Drive along Evergreen Mills Road. Sharing the neighborhood with data centers and Solace Brewing Company across the street, the 35,000-square-foot brewery operation will be among Loudoun’s largest. The 30-barrel system is starting with seven tanks,

with room to expand to 20 and an eye to move to 24/7 production as Honor’s distribution expands throughout Virginia and then across the country.

At the other end of the large production facility is a 5,000-square-foot, nearly 400-seat restaurant designed to be a destination of its own.

Led by Michelin star chef John Dylan Snyder, the kitchen won’t be turning out typical brewery fare.

“It’s different than going to a brewhouse or going to a sports bar where you get some pizza. It’s got a full menu. It’s a first-class menu,” Ryan Cage said. A resident of the nearby Willowsford neighborhood, he said the high-quality restaurant will fill a need for families in the area.

“What we want to do here is use the brewery and its ingredients to influence and enhance our culinary journey,” said Snyder, a Georgia native who has worked in fine-dining kitchens across the country, most recently as sous chef at minibar by José Andrés in Washington, DC. “That doesn’t mean just putting beer in everything. It means using beer to create caramels. It means using our spent grain

Honor Brewing founder Allen Cage, left, and CEO Ryan Cage are welcoming customers to their new Loudoun location after four years of planning and construction.

Photos by Norman K. Styer

largest.

from the production to make pizza dough. It means taking a new version of beer-battered onion rings and seeing how we can re-introduce them.”

“We’re tying to create a story of local farm-to-table that blends with our brewery production,” he said. “I think the details translate pretty easily. The food is a little bit different but we’re having fun doing it. “

On the beer side, the Cage family has turn to a veteran brewer to head up the expansion. Director of Brewing Operations Greg Fleehart has 15 years of experience, including as head brewer with Commonwealth Brewing Company in Virginia Beach and the Precarious Beer Project in Williamsburg.

Fleehart favors Belgium bears and is known for his award-winning lagers. The commemorative beer at the Loudoun location will be “Lot 14,” a cherry wild ale named for the location of the brewery in the industrial park.

A central feature of Honor Brewing’s mission is support for veterans and first responders through its nonprofit foundation. Each month the brewery selects a charity to highlight and shares proceeds from the sales of its best-selling Classic Lager, with more than $50,000 donated to date. This month, the brewery plans to highlight the work of Veterans Moving Forward, a Loudoun-based nonprofit that trains service dogs for combat veterans. Next month, it will be the Bolder Crest Retreat in Bluemont, which has developed new therapies to aid with post-traumatic stress.

“We want to raise and give away as much money as we can,” Allen Cage said.

Honor Brewing Company’s Loudoun location is at 42604 Trade Wind Drive in Sterling. Learn more at honorbrewing.com.

The 30-barrel production system at Honor Brewing’s new Loudoun County will be among the region’s

1 50 West Vineyards 39060 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg 50westvineyards.com

2 8 Chains North Winery 38593 Daymont Ln., Waterford, VA 8chainsnorth.com

3 868 Estate Vineyards 14001 Harpers Ferry Rd., Purcellville 868estatevineyards.com

4 The Barns at Hamilton Station 16804 Hamilton Station Rd., Hamilton thebarnsathamiltonstation.com

5 Bleu Frog Vineyards 16413 James Monroe Hwy, Leesburg bleufrogvineyards.com

6 Bluemont Vineyard 18755 Foggy Bottom Rd., Bluemont bluemontvineyard.com

7 Bogati Winery 35246 Harry Byrd Hwy., Round Hill bogatiwinery.com

8 Boxwood Estate Winery 2042 Burrland Rd., Middleburg boxwoodwinery.com

9 Breaux Vineyards 36888 Breaux Vineyards Ln., Hillsboro breauxvineyards.com

10 Bozzo Family

31 October One Vineyard 7 Loudoun St., SW, Leesburg

Octoberonevineyard.com

32 Old Farm Winery 23583 Fleetwood Road, Aldie oldfarmwineryhartland.com

33 Otium Cellars 18050 Tranquility Rd., Purcellville otiumcellars.com

34 Stone Tower Winery 19925 Hogback Mountain Rd., L’burg stonetowerwinery.com

35 Stonehouse Meadery 36580 Shoemaker School Rd., Purcellville stonehousemeadery.com

36 Sunset Hills Vineyard 38295 Fremont Overlook Ln, Purcellville sunsethillsvineyard.com

37 Terra Nebulo 39892 Old Wheatland Rd., Waterford terranebulo.com

38 Three Creeks Winery 18548 Harmony Church Road, Hamilton 3creekswinery.com

39 Two Twisted Posts Winery 12944 Harpers Ferry Rd., Hillsboro twotwistedposts.com

40 Village Winery 40405 Browns Lane, Waterford villagewineryandvineyards.com

41 Willowcroft Farm Vineyards 38906 Mount Gilead Rd., Leesburg willowcroftwine.com

42 The Wine Reserve at Waterford 38516 Charles Town Pike, Waterford waterfordwinereserve.com

BREWERIES

1 Adroit Theory Brewing 404 Browning Ct., Purcellville adroit-theory.com

2 B Chord Brewing Company 34266 Williams Gap Rd., Round Hill bchordbrewing.com

3 Barnhouse Brewery 43271 Spinks Ferry Rd., Leesburg barnhousebrewery.com

4 Bear Chase Brewing 33665 Bear Chase Ln., Bluemont bearchasebrew.com

5 Belly Love Brewing Company 725 E. Main St., Purcellville bellylovebrewing.com

6 Black Hoof Brewing Company 11 South King St., Leesburg blackhoofbrewing.com

7 Black Walnut Brewery 210 S. King St., Leesburg blackwalnutbrewery.com

8 Crooked Run Fermentations Central 22455 Davis Dr., Sterling crookedrunbrewing.com

9 Crooked Run Fermentations Market Station, Leesburg crookedrunbrewing.com

10 Dirt Farm Brewing 18701 Foggy Bottom Rd., Bluemont dirtfarmbrewing.com

11 Dynasty Brewing Company 21140 Ashburn Crossing Drive, Ashburn 101 Loudoun St, SE, Leesburg dynastybrewing.com

12 Flying Ace Farm 40950 Flying Ace Ln, Lovettsville flyingacefarm.com

13 Harper’s Ferry Brewing 37412 Adventure Ctr. Lane, Hillsboro harpersferrybrewing.com

14 Harvest Gap Brewery 15485 Purcellville Road, Hillsboro facebook.com/HarvestGap

15 Honor Brewing Company 42604 Trade West Dr., Sterling honorbrewing.com

16 House 6 Brewing 4427 Atwater Dr., Ashburn house6brewing.com

17 Lost Barrel Brewing 36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg lostbarrel.com

18 Lost Rhino Brewing Company 21730 Red Rum Rd. #142, Ashburn lostrhino.com

19 Loudoun Brewing Company 310 E. Market St., Leesburg loudounbrewing.com

BREWERIES & WINERIES

1 Bluemont Station Brewery and Winery 18301 Whitehall Estate Lane, Bluemont bluemontstation.com

2 Hillsborough Brewery & Vineyards 36716 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro hillsboroughwine.com

3 Notaviva Brewery and Winery 13274 Sagle Rd., Hillsboro notavivavineyards.com

43 Walsh Family Wine 16031 Hillsboro Rd., Purcellville northgatevineyard.com

44 Williams Gap Vineyards 35785 Sexton Farm Lane, Round Hill williamsgavineyard.com

45 Zephaniah Farm Vineyard 19381 Dunlop Mill Rd., Leesburg zephwine.com

20 Ocelot Brewing Company 23600 Overland Dr., #180, Dulles ocelotbrewing.com

21 Old 690 Brewing Company 15670 Ashbury Church Rd., Hillsboro old690.com

22 Old Ox Brewery 44652 Guilford Dr., Ste 114, Ashburn oldoxbrewery.com

23 Old Ox Brewery Middleburg 14 S Madison St, Middleburg, VA

24 Solace Brewing Company 42615 Trade West Dr., Sterling solacebrewing.com

25 Sweetwater Tavern 45980 Waterview Plaza, Sterling greatamericanrestaurants.com

26 The Craft of Brewing 21140 Ashburn Crossing Dr., Ashburn thecraftob.com

27 Vanish Farmwoods Brewery 42245 Black Hops Ln., Lucketts vanishbeer.com

28 Water’s End Brewing 1602 Village Market Blvd SE #120, Leesburg watersendbrewery.com

29 Wheatland Spring Farm + Brewery 38506 John Wolford Rd., Waterford wheatlandspring.com

4 Quattro Goomba’s Brewery & Winery 22860 James Monroe Hwy., Aldie goombawine.com

Happenings

surrounding farmland have been preserved thanks to the residents, friends of Waterford and annual proceeds from the Waterford Fair that have helped preserve it.

Tickets are on sale at waterfordfairva.org. Tickets at the gate are $25 per adult per day, $20 for seniors, military and students per day, and free for children 12 and under. An Early Bird ticket, VIP special, three-day pass, and group rates are also available.

STEP INTO THE PAST AT THE WATERFORD FAIR

Every year, the residents of Waterford move their vehicles to the outskirts of the small, historic village and invite more than 30,000 outsiders into their community.

Tours of select historic homes and gardens are offered and the village is filled with more than 65 national, juried crafters; Colonial and Civil War-era reenactors; music and children’s actives—all designed to give visitors a taste of life from centuries past.

It is the 79th year for the Waterford Fair, which takes place Oct. 6-8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Hallmarks of the event also includes a special reenactment of a day in an 1880s classroom will take place in Waterford’s one-room schoolhouse, a floral design challenge and demonstration by local designer Holly Heider Chapple of Hope Flower Farm, and a large art show and sales.

The fair’s entertainment lineup includes The Danny Knicely Trio, Tupelo, The Plate Scrapers, Fiddlin' Dave Van Deventer and Morgan Morrison, and acclaimed fiddlers 12-year-old Maxwell Brown and, his 7-year-old sister River Brown. Waterford, located northwest of Leesburg, is one of three villages in the U.S. designated a National Historic Landmark District. Many of the village homes and structures, and the

Morven Park will host some of the top riders in the world competing in dressage, show jumping and cross-country over the three days during the Fall Horse Trials.

MORVEN PARK CELEBRATES EVENTING EXCELLENCE

The Morven Park International & Fall Horse Trials celebrates its 50th year of eventing competition Oct. 12-15.

Featuring dressage, show jumping and cross-country, each discipline demonstrates the horse and rider’s grace, bravery, and athleticism against the backdrop of the historic Davis Mansion near Leesburg.

The event is free and open to the public, giving visitors an up-close look at some of the top riders in the world. Morven Park is one of only six locations in the U.S. to offer an Olympic-level equestrian course.

Visitors are invited to bring a picnic and make a day of the experience. Special tailgate tick-

File Photo

Michael Seidelman demonstrates his gunsmith skills during a previous Waterford Fair.

File Photo

ets are available as are VIP hospitality tent passes for all three days of competition.

The Equestrian Center grew out of the renowned Morven Park International Equestrian Institute, one of the world's most prestigious riding academies. In addition to holding competitions and events, Morven Park also welcomes riders and show managers to rent facilities such as the indoor and outdoor arenas, stalls, and show office space. Learn more at morvenpark.org/Equestrian.

DIRECTORS WOLFE, PAYNE FEATURED AT MIDDLEBURG FILM FEST

“Rustin,” and “The Holdovers” are among the top entries to be featured as part of the lineup this year’s Middleburg Film Festival, which will run Oct. 19-22.

“Rustin,” a Netflix biopic of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin starring Colman Domingo and directed by George C. Wolfe will open the event Oct. 19. Wolfe will be presented with the Impact Award in recognition of his artistic achievement and determination to bring the long-overlooked story to the screen.

“The Holdovers,” which reunites “Sideways” filmmaker Alexander Payne and actor Paul Giamatti serve as the festival’s centerpiece film Oct. 21. Payne will be in attendance and be presented with this year’s Director Spotlight Award.

The vision of Salamander Resort and Spa owner Sheila Johnson, the Middleburg Film Festival is carefully curated selection of narrative and documentary films screened in intimate theater environments round the Town of Middleburg, along with events featuring world-renowned filmmakers, actors, and other special guests. The films include festival favorites, world and regional premieres, first-class foreign films, and Oscar contenders.

For details and tickets, go to middleburgfilm.org.

STERLINGFEST CELEBRATES 35 YEARS OF SERVICE

The Sterling Foundation will hold the community’s largest block party Oct. 7.

From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sterling Commu-

nity Center, the event will feature displays by businesses and artisans, a juried car show, and local foods. For kids there will be a festival-wide scavenger hunt, petting zoo, pony rides, crafts, and a bounce house. For adults there will be a beer and wine garden and live music.

Proceeds from SterlingFest benefit The Sterling Foundation, the Sterling Community Center Advisory Board, and the Sterling Playmakers, in support of their combined work to strengthen and beautify our hometown.

Learn more at sterlingfoundation.org.

FALL FARM TOUR RETURNS OCT. 21-22

Visitors are invited to tour more than 40 rural venues during the annual Fall Farm Tour organized by the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development.

Visitors get to see everything from livestock, flower farms, a new hemp-growing operation and Loudoun farming history to stores packed with locally grown and locally made goods and produce.

For details, including a map of participating venues, go to loudounfarms.org.

Adventurers Gather at Creative Pursuits

BY RENSS GREENE

Bloodthirsty Orks from space piloting shambling, heavily armed and armored monstrosities across scorched battlefields. Elves and dwarves wielding swords and sorcery on harrowing quests. Tanks and jets searing the earth in a Cold War turned hot. And all of them striving, battling and adventuring in a shopping center in Leesburg— fortunately, most of them only around an inch tall.

Creative Pursuits Games was founded by husband-and-wife team Dane van Norden and Kaitlin Heazel, and offers a pro-level paintball shop, a range of role-playing and tabletop games, classes, and a place for adventuring parties to gather and play.

Both are lifelong hobbyists who met through a mutual love of gaming and paintball. Van Norden convinced his group of fellow Warhammer

40,000 players to try playing on a Friday night rather than a Saturday morning, gathering at Leesburg Hobbies & Collectibles on a Leesburg

First Friday in December 2010 for the same night as the Christmas tree lighting downtown. Heazel, in a foul mood thanks to the job market, was dragged into the hobby shop that night by her dad.

“Usually, when I was in a funk and I really didn’t feel like socializing, I would start bringing up firearms or paintball because a lot of people don’t expect women to have that sort of interest necessarily,” she said.

But that didn’t scare van Norden off. Instead, they discovered their mutual love of paintball. And three months later, when van Norden set up a paintball outing on a bitterly cold February day, Heazel said she was the only one to show up.

“Everyone else chickened out. She showed up.

Photo by Reness Greene

Dungeons and Dragons players gather after hours at the tables in the back of Creative Pursuits Games in downtown Leesburg to adventure together.

So, we spent all day kicking a— together, and then we started dating afterwards,” van Norden said.

Despite their shared interests—he got her more into tabletop games, she got him more into anime—Creative Pursuits wouldn’t come to be until almost a decade later. The two first had the idea for a paintball shop, but the idea really came together with the announcement that Leesburg Hobbies & Collectibles, Leesburg’s long-tenured, now-closed hobby shop where van Norden had both worked and played, would move away from tabletop gaming.

“We didn’t think it could work on its own, but when Leesburg Hobbies declared ‘we're going to close up the gaming section,’ we said, okay, we knew we’d love to do a game shop, but we weren’t going to impose on one that existed,” van Norden said.

“We looked at our options. We could buy a house and continue with our jobs, we could move elsewhere—or we could do something really, really stupid and see what happens,” Heazel said.

They bought up Leesburg Hobbies’ gaming stock, brought in paintball equipment, and it was time to open shop. That was about six months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But once again, the team complemented each other well.

In her previous job, Heazel did a lot of work purchasing—so she already had expertise in supply chains and international purchasing. Many of the minis, game boards and other pieces the shop sells are manufactured overseas, from Malaysia to Taiwan to the U.K. When she saw ports start to close, she figured out which product lines were coming from which countries, and how to stock up. Van Norden said Heazel is “the logistical genius who kept us in business.”

“We switched from having a just-in-time inventory model, where we stocked fairly lightly, to stocking up on stuff that we knew was going to have production cut massively,” she said. “And that meant that when other stores ran out, we still had the product.”

Meanwhile, van Orden’s skills servicing and repairing paintball markers and equipment came in handy as people turned to outdoor recreation

during the pandemic, drawing business to Creative Pursuits from across the country.

Now the shop is a place not only to buy hobby supplies, but to gather, play with friends and make new ones.

The gaming world is wide, ranging from intricate hours-long games with tall, intimidating rule books like the famous Warhammer 40,000, which has players marshalling massive armies of miniatures, to roleplaying games that are more like collaborative storytelling. Van Norden brought up Betrayal at House on the Hill, which has players first making up a haunted house room-by-room, with one character secretly betraying the rest of the party. He described it as “every episode of Scooby-Doo ever, but rated R, sometimes PG-13.”

And for people who have already dipped their toes into well-known tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons, the shop is a great place to try out something different—like Traveller, a well-regarded science fiction roleplaying game notorious for killing players’ characters during character creation, before they even start the game; Team Yankee, an alternate-history tabletop wargame in which the Cold War goes hot and kicks off World War III; or Warmachine, which van Orden described as a fantasy, Lord of the Rings-like world going through its industrial revolution.

“Shenanigans ensue and you wind up with steam powered giant robots with magical brains knocking seven bells out of each other,” van Orden said.

“You also have trolls that will happily pick up a hammerhead shark and use it as a hammer,” Heazel said.

“…It was just such silly fun,” van Orden said.

Wine

Virginia First Lady, Cana Vineyards Unveil Fundraising Wine

BY RENSS GREENE

Virginia First Lady Suzanne Youngkin recently visited Cana Vineyards & Winery of Middleburg for the unveiling of Cornus Virginicus II, the second in a series of wines produced for her office by winners of the annual Governor’s Cup.

Last year, Cana’s 2019 Unité Reserve, an estate red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, won the annual Governor’s Cup from among 615 wines submitted by more than 100 Virginia wineries. Later that year, Cana winemaker Melanie Natoli was named Winemaker of the Year at the annual Loudoun Wine Awards.

The winner of the Governor’s Cup produces the following year’s Cornus Virginicus, this year a blend of 2021 Merlot and Petit Verdot grapes from Cana and Silver Creek Orchard in Nelson County. Proceeds from sales of Cornus Virginicus II will benefit the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.

“I think what's so special about this wine is it’s this beautiful, harmonious blend of both Northern Virginia and Central Virginia fruit, so I think it's a great representation of what we can do here in Virginia,” Natoli said. “This wine, coming from ‘21, it’s just beautiful, and it has some nice depth and structure to it, but there’s a soft side, which is our signature here at Cana.”

She said the project reflects her husband’s priorities.

“Glenn talks a lot about excellence. Excellence is something that we work toward and can't do by ourselves. We need scaffolding for excellence, but I think what this wine really represents is

an industry that is aspiring to be best in class,” Youngkin said.

Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom Executive Director Tammy Maxey said the foundation supports programs that teach students across the commonwealth about the importance of agriculture and how it can integrate into their daily lives.

“It is our job to connect the next generation with an understanding and appreciation of where their food comes from, and where their basic needs come from, and we thank you all for supporting us in this,” she said.

The name, Cornus Virginicus, Latin for flowering tree of Virginia, pays homage to Virginia’s state tree and state flower, the flowering dogwood, or Cornus florida.

Photo by Renss Greene Virginia Secretary of Agriculture Matt Lohr, First Lady Suzanna Youngkin and Cana Vineyards winemaker Melanie Natoli raise a toast with Cornus Virginicus II during its formal unveiling Sept. 26.

But for the people who play the games, it’s as much about the community that gathers regularly to adventure on the tables in the back of Creative Pursuits.

“This is 20 years of [Warhammer] 40K for me to the month. And people in my original play group, who were just the teenagers who gathered up in the area and were knocking each other around at the local gaming dive, two of them have gone on to be circuit champions, and one of them is a play tester, and now I’ve got a shop that stages local tournaments,” van Norden said. “It’s just funny that we’ve continued to be drawn into that world.”

At one time, the U.S. headquarters for Games Workshop, the company that makes Warhammer 40,000, was in Glen Burnie, MD. Van Norden and his friends would organize occasional “raids” to visit. Years later, those raids yielded an unexpected bounty— an expansive, intricately detailed tabletop model of a castle wall that was once on display at the Glen Burnie headquarters is now covering a table at Creative Pursuits. “Without a community, you’re lost as a gaming store,” Heazel said.

“What prompted us making the store was not, ‘oh my goodness, let's go do gaming, we'll make a killing at it and be the next Bill Gates,’” van Norden said. “No, it was, ‘oh man, if they're closing up their miniatures gaming section, how long till the group folds?’”

They said people who come to the shop come because they want to play face-toface.

“We're a bit like a bar without the alcohol,” Heazel said.

“You can buy alcohol at the ABC store. You go to a bar for an experience,” van Norden said. “You can buy everything we have to sell on Amazon—you come here for something more.”

Creative Pursuits Games is located in the Leesburg Plaza shopping center at 29 Catoctin Cir. NE.

JASON MASI FROM PAGE 17

Leesburg Plans Art in Yard Tour

Leesburg's Commission on Public Art is working to put a town-wide spotlight on the work of local artists with its inaugural Leesburg Art in Your Yard event Oct. 21.

Resident are encouraged to share or sell their photography, paintings, drawings, sculptures and other works in the comfort of their own front yard. Performance artists also are welcome to participate.

After the Oct. 7 reservation deadline, the town will create a map of participants and promote it as a self-guided tour.

Learn more at tinyurl.com/leesburgcopa.

NATURE'S ALCHEMY FEATURED AT BYRNE GALLERY

The work of celebrated local artist Regina Miele will be featured this month at the Byrne Gallery in Middleburg.

The "Nature's Alchemy" exhibit will include a selection her bold, colorful oil paintings that showcase the beauty of the region on the cusp of autumn.

The exhibition will be on display through Oct. 29, with a special reception planned Oct. 14 from 4 to 7 p.m. and a gallery talk on Saturday Oct. 21 from 2 to 4 p.m.

The gallery is located at 7 W. Washington St. in Middleburg. Learn more at thebyrnegallery.com.

An oil painting of an early fall dawn in the Virginia piedmont by Reginia Miele is among the works to be featured in the October exhibit “Nature’s Alchemy” at the Byrne Gallery in Middleburg.

Now Showing

The Heart of the Mummy: A Magpie Sisters Radio Play Mystery

- Murder Mystery Theatre

October 7 at ONO Offshore in Chantilly*│October 14, 21 & Nov 4 at Oatlands in Leesburg*

October 13 at Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville│October 20 at Tucked Away Brewing in Manassas

October 28 at Hillsborough Winery in Hillsboro│October 29 at Bright Box in Winchester

*denotes dinner theatre performances

Zombie Prom - Musical Comedy

October 14, 21, 27 & 28 at 7:00pm and Oct 15 & 22 at 2:00pm

Melekaliki-Murder - Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre

December 1 & 3 at ONO Offshore in Chantilly│December 2, 9, 16 & 17 at Oatlands in Leesburg

December 8 at Effingham Manor Winery in Nokesville

December 10 at Bright Box in Winchester│December 15 at Creek’s Edge Winery in Lovettsville

▪ Magic ▪ Improv ▪ Drag Cabarets ▪ Sketch Comedy Shows ▪ And More! Check out more upcoming shows on our website! All performances at StageCoach Theatre in Ashburn unless noted.

20937 Ashburn Road Suites 115 and 120 Ashburn, VA 20147

www.StageCoachTC.com

571-477-9444

GETOUT Best Bets

10.07.23

Lua Project

Saturday, Oct. 7, 8 p.m. Franklin Park Arts Center, $20 franklinparkartscenter.org

The Lua Project offers an engaging, soulful, celebratory, and captivating performance of their multi-ethnic influences during this Gold Star event.

10.12.23

Electric Six

Thursday, Oct. 12, 8 p.m. Tally Ho Theater, $24-$50 tallyhotheater.com

Fresh off the release of their 15th studio album, “Turquoise,” the Detroit band brings a bit of everything to their live shows: comedy rock, disco garage rock, metal, new wave and punk rock. The Surfrajettes open.

10.21.23

Feehan Brothers

Saturday, Oct. 21, 1-4 p.m. Vanish Farmwoods Brewery vanishbeer.com

The Feehan Brothers are a Virginia brother duo and up and coming Nashville recording artists whose songwriting and energy combine old country music with their distinct sound.

10.25.23

Mushroomhead

Wednesday, Oct. 25, 6:30 p.m. Tally Ho Theater, $30-$50 tallyhotheater.com

Mushroomhead blends avant-garde heavy metal with horror film-inspired costumes to Leesburg for a pre-Halloween show also featuring Fleischkrieg, Krurt Deimer, and the Hellzapoppin Circus Sideshow.

Celebrate Virginia Wine Month

Experience harvest dinners, festivals, live music in the vines and more at Loudoun’s 50-plus wineries and tasting rooms this October.