Piedmont Virginian Magazine Spring 2022

BOOKS: IN PURSUIT OF JEFFERSON | MUSIC: KID PAN ALLEY’S HEART HEALING ALBUM

REFUGES

DINING

The Big Easy Finds Its Way to C’VILLE

Bringing SHAKESPEARE to the Piedmont

GETAWAYS

A Resort Nestled in NATURE

BLESSED ARE THE

CHEESEMAKERS FAITH AND TLC PRODUCE A SMALL MIRACLE

SPRING 2022

“The Hunt in Belvoir Vale” by John Ferneley Sr. Photo courtesy of National Sporting Library & Museum

Historic

Middleburg Virginia

Visit Middleburg and create your own wonderful memories VA Fall Races

April

• April 30

Opening: Storied Friends; Marguerite Henry and Wesley Dennis National Sporting Library and Museum

Jumping Rocks Photography

May

• May 1

Middleburg Hunt Point-to-Point Races at Glenwood Park • May 17 Celebrating the Arts in Middleburg May 17-22 Docu Week at the Community Center May 20-22 Middleburg Concert Series Music Festival May 21 Art in the ‘Burg • May 28

June

• June 3 • June 6-12

Dog Daze: Inaugural Sporting Dog Event (MFHA sponsored) at Glenwood Park Opening: A Decade Afield, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the National Sporting Library and Museum The 169th Upperville Colt & Horse Show, America’s oldest horse show, Upperville

Create your own

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Jodi Miller Photography

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Photograph by Camden Littleton

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FEATURES SPRING 2022 • VOLUME XVI • ISSUE 1 ART

6

Out of the Mouths of Babes Kid Pan Alley’s new album “Maybe Next Year”

BY SUE BALDANI

WINE

ART

22 Old is New Again at Old Farm Winery at Hartland

36

A Little Bit of Everything

History and tradition enhance the flavor

And more with Cathy Zimmerman

BY KAITLIN HILL

BY KAITLIN HILL PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAMDEN LITTLETON

L I T ER AT UR E

CONSER VAT I ON

DINING

8

26

40

In Pursuit of Jefferson

A Resort Nestled in Nature

By Derek Baxter

REVIEW BY JENNIFER WALDERA

10 Secret Charlottesville

By Marijean Oldham

REVIEW BY JENNIFER WALDERA EDUC AT I ON & CONSER VAT I ON

12 St. Margaret’s School

The Big Easy Finds its Way to C’ville

Wintergreen’s diversity is captivating

Good Times at Southern Crescent

BY GLENDA BOOTH

BY JENNIFER WALDERA PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAMDEN LITTLETON

REFUGE IN THE PIEDMONT HISTORY

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44

Refuge in the Piedmont

Simon Godwin brings Shakespeare to the Piedmont

BY KAITLIN HILL

Tunnel Vision

The Blue Ridge Tunnel at Rockfish Gap

BY GLENDA BOOTH

Creating a classroom on the Rappahannock River

BY JENNIFER WALDERA FOOD

16 Blessed are the Cheesemakers

Faith and TLC produce a small miracle

BY BILL KENT

APOLOGIES

In our last issue, we mistakenly omitted a credit for this lovely painting.

It is “Grandpa’s Shed” by Nancy Keyser

FOUNDING EDITOR: Walter Nicklin

CO-FOUNDERS: Arthur W. (Nick) Arundel, Sandy Lerner

PUBLISHER Dennis Brack EDITOR Pam Kamphuis SENIOR EDITOR Gus Edwards FOOD EDITOR Kaitlin Hill Dr. Shannon Moore | Dr. Lisa Butterfield | Dr. Barbara Masiello Lifestyle

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SALES DIRECTOR Jim Kelly ACCOUNTING Carina Richard-Wheat CIRCULATION MANAGER Jan Clatterbuck 540.675.3338 CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Glenda Booth, Katilin Hill, Bill Kent, Camden Littleton, Jennifer Waldera The Piedmont Virginian is published quarterly

by Rappahannock Media, L.L.C. 309 Jett St., Washington, VA 22747 540.349.2951, pam@piedmontpub.com Subscription inquiries: 540.675.3338 All editorial, advertising, reprint, and/or circulation correspondence should use the above address, or visit the website: piedmontvirginian.com The editors welcome but accept no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and art. Reprints or bulk copies available upon request. Subscription rates: $29.95/one year, $49.95/two years. © 2022 by Rappahannock Media, LLC. ISSN # 1937-5409 POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Piedmont Virginian, P.O. Box 59, Washington, VA 22747.

CONTRIBUTORS

Glenda Booth, a freelance writer and editor who lives in Northern Virginia, writes about natural resources, historic sites, interesting people, public policy, travel, and other topics for magazines, newspapers, and online publications. She grew up in Southwest Virginia and received degrees from Longwood University and the University of Virginia.

Classic Design • Traditional Techniques • Artisan Made

Kaitlin Hill is a Culinary Institute of America trained chef with a B.A. in history from the University of Richmond. After completing her culinary degree, she worked in New York as a professional pastry chef, recipe tester for Saveur magazine, and editorial assistant to renowned food critic Gael Greene. In 2015, she returned home to Washington, D.C., where she currently runs a catering business and works as a freelance writer and photographer.

The author of seven novels, a Fodor’s Guide and a history of Atlantic City, Bill Kent attended Oberlin College where he majored in English and Religion. His first journalism was for the Georgetowner. He went on to become a correspondent for the New York Times and a book reviewer for the Times, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Kirkus Reviews. His writing has appeared in more than 40 regional and national publications. He has taught writing and journalism at the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers and Temple universities.

Camden Littleton is a professional photographer and digital marketing consultant who lives in Charlottesville. When not photographing and creating content, she hangs out with her poodle, Grace (@gracelittleton on Instagram) and explores menus, music, and mountains with friends and family throughout the Piedmont. She grew up in Middleburg and graduated with B.S. in communications from Appalachian State University.

Jennifer Waldera shares her hunger for, and curiosity about, food, drinks, and exploration as a freelance writer for numerous Mid-Atlantic and online publications. Read more of her work at jenniferwaldera.com and follow her travels at @ jlwriter on Instagram.

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PERFORMING ARTS

Out of the Mouths of Babes Songs that heal our hearts

BY SUE BALDANI

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Foundation, along with the Phillip A. Hughes Foundation, he adds, allow many schools in Fauquier and surrounding counties, which don’t have a lot of funding, to take part at almost no cost.

From working with over 70,000 children throughout the years with Kid Pan Alley, and diving into every imaginable topic such as special needs, mental health and diversity, Paul finds that children view things very differently from adults. “Children look at things in a very unique and refreshing way. They don’t have the same experiences going in that we adults have, so they often have a way of looking at things that can actually

COURTESY OF KID PAN ALLEY

uring the height of COVID-19 in 2020, how many of us thought in terms of “maybe by next year?” Maybe by next year we can be with our families again, maybe by next year we can go out with our friends, and maybe by next year we can celebrate holidays and milestones together.

Kid Pan Alley, a nonprofit organization founded in Virginia in 1999 that gives children a platform to express their feelings through songs, recorded an album and song titled after this sentiment. “Maybe by Next Year” was released this past December, and it features a collection of songs written and created by children that deal with the struggles and fears experienced during the pandemic. It was their sixth studio album.

“One of the best ways to work through stuff that’s difficult is to take it and turn it into something creative, because the creative act allows you to reshape it, allows you to step back, and allows you to give it meaning,” says founder and artistic director, Paul Reisler, who is also very well known in the music industry as a composer, producer, song writer, performer and recording artist.

Kid Pan Alley works with children in various schools all over the country, including Hawaii, and in many local schools right here in Virginia. “We’ve done a lot of things over the years in Fauquier County, and are going to be doing some more this spring,” he says. The PATH

PERFORMING ARTS

Left: Paul Reisler with students participating in Kid Pan Alley activities during preCOVID days.

change our point of view. I continue to discover that in the thousands of songs I’ve written with kids.”

When COVID hit in March of 2020, he and his team worked hard on transforming what they were doing to the virtual world. “Ryan [Benyo, director of licensing and creative] and I have a lot of experience, so the technical stuff was not that difficult,” says Paul.” I’ve been making records since 1975, and Ryan, from Rappahannock County, is a recording engineer out in Los Angeles.”

He said the production of “Maybe by Next Year” came about naturally; he didn’t set out to make an album dealing with the pandemic. “We had so many songs that came up about kids’ struggles, hopes and the challenges they were going through with COVID, and it occurred to me that we had way more than an album’s worth of

material. We started thinking about creating an album about six months ago [they released an EP of four of the songs within three or four months of the pandemic] and finished most of it by October. There are 11 different songs on the album and many are hopeful, such as the title track, ‘Maybe

by Next Year.’”

Other songs are about challenges such as “Staring Out My Window” and “Dead On Arrival.”

The songs, he says, are deep, have insight and are very meaningful.

All Kid Pan Alley albums are expertly produced and recorded by professional artists, and have included such well-known names as Amy Grant, Sissy Spacek, and Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn.

Members of the band Alabama also asked to take part in an album.

“Many artists want to give back to children, and they recognize the quality of the songs and the fact that we have had people of their caliber on our recordings, so actually, we don’t have any trouble finding artists to perform the songs,” says Paul.

During COVID, the recording of the songs was somewhat of a creative process itself. Through some innovative software, they found a way to successfully do it. “Ryan would record some things in California, and I would record people here, and we also did a lot of recording remotely,” says Paul.

Paul and Ryan also played instruments on the album. “Ryan is a wonderful musician, and plays keyboard and bass, and a lot of the guitar was me,” he says. Others he has worked with over the years, like Howard Levy, cofounder of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, also contributed.

“Maybe by Next Year” can be purchased on Amazon and streamed on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other music services. To listen to some great music, find out more, and support this wonderful organization, go to kidpanalley.org.

PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

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7

LITERATURE

Secret Charlottesville: A Guide To The Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

By Marijean Oldham REVIEW BY JENNIFER WALDERA

I

f you’ve lived in or around Charlottesville for even a brief time, you’re likely aware of the area’s well-known hot spots to explore local history from that of several of the Founding Fathers of the United States to contemporary cultural icons like Dave Matthews Band. Avid tourists and locals alike have found their own favorite food and drink destinations and there’s the obvious evidence all around that Central Virginians have an affinity for horses, farming, wine-making, and beer brewing—and many locales in which to enjoy all of those. While there is a plethora of places in plain sight to explore and experience what the area has to offer, a multitude of lesser known treasures are available to dig up and author Marijean Oldham is unearthing those gems in her newest book, Secret Charlottesville: A Guide To The Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure.

Oldham, a resident of Charlottesville since 2005, has already published two editions of 100 Things to Do in Charlottesville Before you Die. She describes her most recent guide 8

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as “a good blend of inside information, historical background, and tongue-incheek funny stuff to keep readers entertained. It’s also an extremely practical guide to find interesting things to do or see with visiting guests, or when you’ve run out of ideas for what to do.”

Oldham says that she’s been writing stories since she was a small child and then majored in English, with a focus on creative writing, before moving into a career in public relations. She transferred her love of reading into a career in writing and enjoys creating compelling stories.

After the publications of the first two editions of her first book she wanted to expand on those ideas.

“There are several entries in 100 Things that include off-the-beaten path ideas and Secret Charlot-

LITERATURE

tesville was an opportunity to write about only those interesting, and sometimes hidden, things to do and see. It was also a chance to tell many stories behind what visitors and locals see in everyday life in Charlottesville and the surrounding area,” says Oldham.

Oldham’s guide speaks to travelers and locals with various interests including history, architecture, food, farming, sport, and more. From where to watch polo to the best place to find fried chicken, and from secret swimming holes and gardens to historic church graveyards, Oldham has tackled finding all of the interesting and entertaining ways to enjoy Charlottesville and the surrounding areas.

“I love to hike and visit wineries. I also like to eat at many of our independently-owned restaurants.

In fact, I’m sure I could fill a book just with Charlottesville food,” Oldham says.

While Oldham does offer some solid recommendations for food and for hikes, she also shares where to snuggle baby goats, find an award-winning skate park, engage in geocaching, scope out some speakeasies, and even explore the history of those not traditionally associated with the region like Georgia O’Keefe, Edgar Allan Poe, and Lewis and Clark.

While Oldham knows plenty of the places to see, she cuts no corners in filling out the vital details for readers so that the guide presents a full picture of what each area has to offer.

“I talked to many people about what to highlight.

I also polled followers on social media. I did a ton of research by engaging the Historical Society, reading up on our historic markers, researching nonprofit organizations, reading local media articles, and interviewing interesting people. I talked to historians, journalists, realtors, librarians, people whose families have been here for generations, folklorists, and gossip hounds,” Oldham explains.

While her newest publication offers plenty of guidance for the area, Oldham’s best advice to both newcomers and locals is to “get out and walk around.

Walk as much as possible, or ride a bike. Walk from Belmont to UVa grounds. Get out into the woods and hike our trails. Dine at our small, locally-owned restaurants and visit some of the small, established wineries that make their own wine!”

Once you peruse Secret Charlottesville and all of its destinations, you can check out Oldham’s newest (third edition) of 100 Things to Do in Charlottesville Before You Die when it comes out in spring of 2022.

PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

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9

LITERATURE

In Pursuit of Jefferson Traveling Through Europe with the Most Perplexing Founding Father

By Derek Baxter REVIEW BY JENNIFER WALDERA

W

hile there are literally thousands of tomes dedicated to the study of Thomas Jefferson—his history, travels, and autobiographies—there are likely few works that are both as educational and entertaining as Derek Baxter’s In Pursuit of Jefferson - Traveling Through Europe with the Most Perplexing Founding Father. It reads like a novel.

Virginia native Baxter, a lawyer and UVa alumnus, found himself in a personal rut just a bit over a decade ago. Although enjoying life with his wife and two children, he also sought to find purpose and meaning outside of the day-to-day routines of commuting in and around Northern Virginia. He began to explore and stumbled upon an obscure work of Jefferson’s: Hints to Americans Traveling in Europe.

The travel guide, a 5,000-word letter Jefferson wrote in the late 1700s to two young American men looking for guidance, detailed an itinerary of his own travels through the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France with a focus on eight “Objects of Attention.” The discovery of this work led Baxter and his family on an eight-year journey that followed Jefferson’s travels throughout Europe, albeit in a much less orthodox fashion.

The very first adventure into Jefferson’s travels was at the Marathon du Médoc where Baxter and wife Lianna would have the opportunity to 10

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LITERATURE

Snider Snider visit some of the exclusive vineyards that Jefferson visited, yet in a far different fashion. While the marathon offers access to wine from incredible vineyards that Jefferson visited, and also provides access to impeccable food, it also features tens of thousands of runners in costume. Baxter, naturally, chose to dress as Jefferson, and the accounts of the marathon are nothing short of hilarious.

His detailed account of travel showcases Baxter’s stops in locations they never would have known to visit. “Sayorge in the Alps, never would have thought to have gone there, but it was an amazing experience,” says Baxter.

However, as a result of the COVID pandemic, their travels following Jefferson’s guide eventually culminated in more local Virginia stops instead of the intended final European destinations. Each chapter is peppered with entertaining details and the humorous nature of Baxter’s jovial storytelling, but his children’s takeaways in the final days of travel throughout Virginia (e.g., Paris, Va., instead of Paris, France) underscores the value of their travel as a family, as well.

While Baxter shares that he is upbeat and doesn’t take himself too seriously—and it resounds throughout his work—the one thing that he did take seriously as he explored deeper into Jefferson’s past was the issue of Jefferson’s relationship with slavery.

“I had an evolution of thought about Jefferson. I still respect him and admire him, but there’s a lot of problematic history and that became clear to me. I was going to focus on his being a traveler, but you can’t break it apart neatly; it was all intertwined.”

Baxter’s book explores the in-depth details of Jefferson’s travels through his entertaining and contemporary lens while also casting new light on crucial period in history. In Pursuit of Jefferson: Traveling Through Europe with the Most Perplexing Founding Father became available in March, 2022.

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St. Margaret’s

Classroom on the River At St. Margaret’s School, the Rappahannock River is at the heart of a comprehensive new program as the institution celebrates its centennial

BY JENNIFER WALDERA

N

estled at the northeastern edge of the town of Tappahannock, seat of Essex County, the riverfront campus of St. Margaret’s School serves as a center of learning and home to girls in grades eight through 12 (as well as postgraduate students). Now in its 100th year, the Episcopal school has implemented a new River Program, taking advantage of its location on the Rappahannock River to benefit the students and the local community, while also effecting positive change for waterways throughout Virginia.

Colley Bell, St. Margaret’s Head of School, says the Rappahannock River, itself, was the motivation to begin the program in the school’s centennial year. He points to the fact that St. Margaret’s is one of the few schools in the nation with 1,000 feet of river frontage just steps from its main buildings and classrooms. Bell also nods to the significance of the Rappahannock River’s rich history of helping sustain the Rappahannock Indian tribes for 11,000 years, the fact that it acted as an entry point for John Smith and his English settlers in 1608, and the fact that the river became an economic artery of the Chesapeake region. It is that rich history, as well as the ability to effect change through studying the waterway, that helped to inspire the River Program.

“The River Program aligns perfectly with the school’s mission of ‘As we grow in age, may we grow in grace,’ says Bell. He says that St. Margaret’s School is taking the time to educate girls on the importance of the Rappahannock River, both historically and environmentally.

The river has played a significant role in U.S. history and it plays a role currently in sustaining vibrant, healthy, communities in the area.

BY PARKER MICHELS-BOYCE

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PHOTOS BY PARKER MICHELS-BOYCE

“The River Program is about teaching our students that we are all—St. Margaret’s, our town, state, and country—interconnected,” says Cupper Dickinson, St. Margaret’s dean of school.

Dickinson says that, through the River Program, the school has worked with various organizations, including the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Friends of the Rappahannock River, and Three River Soil and Water Conservation, to implement the cross-curricular college prep program that combines science, technology, engineering, art, and math (S.T.R.E.A.M.). Through these partnerships, students have had opportunities such as building a rain garden to control runoff, performing water quality testing and salinity tests, and participating in oyster farming.

“The complexities of the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed are profound. Our students will gain an intense appreciation for the river in the context of our times with climate change, expanding housing developments, conservation, the marshes, and host of other forces upon the river,” says Bell.

Bell says he believes that the River Program “… expands student learning and comprehension immensely” because students are not bound by textbooks in classrooms and can apply their classroom learning to that which is happening outdoors.

Moreover, in addition to academics, the River Program also is incorporated into athletics, with sports like kayaking, sailing, stand-up paddle boarding, canoeing, swimming, tubing, and boating, with the help of a faculty member.

“The school is growing its athletic program as we emerge from Covid. We believe it’s important that the girls need to be out on the fields or the water, learning to be supportive teammates and competing with integrity, humility, and dignity,” explains Bell.

In addition to the students’ participation in St. Margaret’s School River Program, Bell also points to the school’s motto of growing in grace and mentions how that intertwines with daily life at the school.

“The presence of the river, and its ever-changing nature, reminds us of something larger than ourselves. In the early mornings, you’ll see students and faculty, alike, pausing to watch the sunrise over the water. We see grace in a physical sense rising over the Rappahannock. It is a humbling experience prompting personal and quiet reflection.”

The River Program “expands student learning and comprehension immensely” because students are not bound by textbooks in classrooms St. Margaret’s is one of the few schools in the nation with 1,000 feet of river frontage running past its campus.

ST. MA RGA RET ’S SCHOOL TA PPA H A N N OC K , V I RGINIA Situated on the banks of the Rappahannock River, St. Margaret’s School is an all girls boarding and day school for grades 8-12 and postgraduate. For 100 years, St. Margaret’s has been challenging girls with a dynamic college preparatory curriculum rooted in Episcopal tenets. St. Margaret’s girls enjoy a holistic experience that utilizes the river across academic and recreational programs.

Learn more at www.sms.org.

St. Margaret’s New Head of School, Colley W. Bell III

ST. MARG AR E T ’S SC HO O L

444 Water Lane, Tappahannock, VA / 804.443.3357 / admit@sms.org

FOOD

BY SERA PETRAS PHOTOGRAPHY

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FOOD

Blessed are the Cheesemakers Faith and TLC produce a small miracle in Crozet

BY BILL KENT

BY CAMDEN LITTLETON

Y

ou’ve heard what they say about answered prayers.

A little more than 30 years ago, seven Roman Catholic Trappist nuns bought a 507-acre dairy farm in Crozet, about 13 miles west of Charlottesville, hoping to make cheese.

“We believe in the importance of work and manual labor,” says Sister Barbara Smickel, assistant prioress of Crozet’s Our Lady of Angels Monastery. “Making something of value for the community is part of the way we pray.”

That importance goes back 10 centuries to the French Abbey of La Trappe, where the order—officially called the Benedictine Cistercians of the Strict Observance—was founded. Among the many rules St. Benedict established for monks was that of self-sufficiency. Those seeking the tranquility of the cloister must also support themselves by creating something they could sell or trade.

Cheese is just one of many things for which the Trappists, then and now, are noted, the most famous being beer, brewed by 10 monasteries in Europe and one in the United States, just outside of Boston. That same monastery also makes a blueberry preserve that celebrity cook Rachel Ray called “divine.”

In Virginia, Berryville’s Holy Cross Monastery sells whipped honey and fruitcake. The largest American Trappist monastery, Gethsemani in Kentucky, offers a cornucopia of goodies, some made on site by the monks, others from off-site suppliers. The Gethsemani monks taught the Crozet nuns how to make cheese, though at least one nun privately thought the result was a bit too “stinky.”

The Crozet nuns wanted to create a cheese that was different, traditional and gentle on the nose. Named for the Dutch town (where it is pronounced “howda”), Gouda has been made since the 12th century, historically in small batches by women. Today, most Gouda is made in vast diary factories in Europe and the United States. Go to your supermarket’s specialty cheese section and you will probably find it in mild, sharp, aged, and smoked varieties.

Sister Barbara Smickel (above) has been making Gouda cheese at Crozet’s Our Lady of Angels Monastery for more than 30 years. At 85, she is the last of the original seven founding sisters.

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About 30 times a year, the nuns give themselves an extra hour of sleep, don work clothes and gather in the cheese barn (left). Batches of two-pound wheels (center) sell quickly, especially during holidays.

For the nuns, cheesemaking (right) is a form of prayer.

the order, it did not change the order’s penchant for modesty, humility, and inner silence—a silence that begins every day at 3 a.m., continues through seven group prayer sessions, individual prayer, several hours of manual labor, and mostly vegetarian meals (eggs and cheese, of course, but no meat), a shower, and concludes at 7:30 p.m. “We get about seven hours of sleep,” adds Sister Barbara, 85, who joined the order when she was 19 and is the last surviving member of the nuns who founded Our Lady of Angels. “That’s just about right.”

But back in 1991, lurking in all that silence in Crozet’s newly founded Our Lady of Angels, was a tiny seed of doubt. What would happen if nobody bought the cheese?

The nuns had a mail order list of candy customers from Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey in Massachusetts.

While the taste for sweets is not the same as that for cheese, “…we thought we would send everyone on the list an order form. We hoped enough might be interested in the first batch,” Sister Barbara recalls.

That was when a Washington Post food editor hungry for story ideas asked an official at the Virginia Department of Agriculture if there was anything new under the Virginia sun about food production.

“She visited with us and, after she wrote about us, Batch Number One sold out in about a month.”

“Mirabile dictu?” I ask. A miracle?

“Mirabile dictu!” Sister Barbara agrees.

On about 30 days each year, more often in the fall dur-

BY SERA PETRAS PHOTOGRAPHY

The version the nuns wanted to make would be relatively mild. Once encased in wax and aged for a few months, it could be shipped without refrigeration throughout the United States. Better yet, it could be made with machines that already existed at the farm they were buying.

“We thought it would be a piece of cake!” Sister Barbara remembers. “We were so naïve.” It took nearly two years of filing paperwork, multiple inspections, and cumbersome difficulties with the equipment before they were ready to begin. “Fortunately, some of our sisters are mechanically skilled.”

They are also talented at gardening (they grow much of what they eat), carpentry, plumbing, and other inclinations required for a relatively isolated life in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. That, as well as repairing, cleaning, and maintaining machinery, added to doing the dishes, cleaning, cooking, mending clothing, and so many day-to-day chores, have a greater purpose.

“It’s a way for us to pray.”

Marketing, advertising, and promotion are not. The world’s most famous contemporary Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, inadvertently became an international celebrity in 1948 upon the publication of his bestselling autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain. No one—least of all Merton himself—believed that his memoir of spiritual yearning would speak to a world troubled by the Cold War and a rootless younger generation. Though Merton’s book inspired others to join

FOOD

ing the holiday feast and gift season, five of the 12 nuns currently cloistered at Our Lady of Angels will give themselves an extra hour of sleep because cheese making is so strenuous. After prayers, a morning shower, more prayers, and a light breakfast, a half-dozen or so will go down the hill to the cheese barn, where, long before the sun rises, they will await the truck bringing 7,000 gallons of fresh, whole unpasteurized milk from grass-fed cows.

The milk comes from Dairy Farms of America, a national co-op based in Kansas that also happens to be America’s largest diary supplier. “We’re very grateful to them,” Sister Barbara explains. “Every dairy farm is in some kind of co-op and our needs are on the small side. These people take care of us well.”

The milk goes into an enormous double boiler, where it is pasteurized. After it cools, the nuns add a bacterial culture, followed by rennet (an acidifying agent that, in medieval times, came from an animal’s digestive tract— the nuns use a rennet made in a Wisconsin laboratory).

These substances cause the milk to clot into curds.

Sister Barbara’s favorite part of the process is dunking her gloved arms into the vat and using a “harp,” a large wire whip, to gently scrape and pull the curds away from the vat’s edges. “I feel like I’m stirring a big

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pot. It’s just wonderful. It’s like praying—I feel like I’m doing something that is important that’s going to make something really beautiful.”

The beauty happens two months later, after the curds have been drained and transferred into round plastic bowls to give it its wheel-like shape, rinsed, rested, and covered in wax. (Note: the French word for cheese, fromage, comes from the Latin formaticus, to put in a mold) Before a batch is sold, the nuns cut up a wheel and eat it. They’ll try it at room temperature sliced with fruit from their orchard, grated on pasta, and baked as macaroni and cheese, or on a grilled cheese sandwich. The nuns used to make their own bread. “Then we found out that if the slightest bit of yeast gets into the cheese barn, it can ruin the whole batch. For a while the sister who did the baking had to take an extra shower afterward. We still couldn’t be absolutely sure the yeast wouldn’t spoil the cheese, so now we eat day-old bread donated to us by a local grocer,” says Sister Barbara.

The sisters have never had a batch go bad. Only two mail order customers complained. “Both thought it would be sharper. We offered them their money back.

One took the money. The other we never heard from.”

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BY SERA PETRAS PHOTOGRAPHY

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After a long day of prayer and contemplation (above right) the nuns will treat themselves to cheese on crackers or toasted bread.

“We eat it slowly,” Sister Barbara says.

I ask, “Have you ever grown tired of the cheese, or want to make something else?”

“Never,” Sister Barbara insists. “It’s part of the work we do. It’s part of the way we pray for ourselves, and our community.”

About half of the mail orders for cheese include a request for prayers. “When we go into town to go to the supermarket or run an errand, we wear our habits so people can see us and ask for us to pray for them. When people come here to buy the cheese, they’ll ask us then.”

The sisters pray for each and every person who asks, regardless of that person’s denomination, religious beliefs, or affiliation. During the pandemic, the nuns added prayers for first responders and medical workers.

“It’s important to believe that something you can do can be more important than you know,” Sister Barbara says. “If you can taste that in the cheese, then you know why we’re here.”

On one of my last vacations before the pandemic, I ate a rich slice of Grayson cheese in the dining room of the Balanced Rock Inn, a five-star hotel in Bar Harbor, Maine.

When I came back to Virginia, I bought more Grayson in my local Whole Foods.

Getting a Grayson (made by Galax’s Meadow Creek Dairy), or any other from Virginia’s 51 cheesemakers, into a hotel dining room or grocery store requires another kind of work than merely making a very good cheese.

In 30 years, the sisters have refused all offers from wholesalers, distributors, and entrepreneurs who promised to mainstream their cheese. They have not sought celebrity endorsements. Right now, if you want Monastery Gouda, you have three ways to get it.

The most pleasant is to go to the monastery. It’s in a lovely setting, across the narrow Moormans River, up a gravel road at the top of a grassy hill. Though the monastery’s residential areas are closed to outsiders, you are encouraged to walk around, take the air, enjoy the splendid views.

Just inside the chapel entrance is a small cloakroom open every day but Sunday between 2 and 4 p.m.

There you can buy a two-pound wheel for about as much as you would pay for a very good artisanal or imported cheese. The nuns don’t offer it in smaller sizes and I didn’t see any free samples. You pay by cash or check—the sisters don’t take credit cards.

FOOD

the website but then took it down because the recipe might cause people to use too much cheese at a time. For us, eating the cheese is a special thing. It can be comforting. We limit ourselves to one wheel a week. We eat it slowly.”

While mail order sales increased during the pandemic, cheesebuying visitors to the monastery declined. That seed of doubt returned: What would happen if people stopped buying cheese?

Then, last year, the 700 Club, the evangelical Protestant syndicated television show, reran a news segment about the cheese that had first aired five years previously. While Protestants have differed with Roman Catholics on many things over the last four centuries, the 700 Club evangelicals loved the sisters’ cheese.

And just like that, Batch 900 sold out.

When someone pointed out that this represented the 30th anniversary of their cheesemaking enterprise, the sisters had a little celebration. They ordered out for pizza.

The next day, they started Batch 901.

The second way to get the cheese is by mail. You print the form on the monastery’s website (olamonastery.org) and enclose a check. Postage within the DMV (as well as West Virginia) is included in the price. The sisters do not mail to foreign countries.

The third way is to go to Feast, a farm-to-table restaurant and specialty shop in Charlottesville, where you can buy it sliced to order.

“It’s a real crowd pleaser,” says co-owner Kate Collier, who also eats the cheese on toast with chutney or apple butter, and grated on grits. “My mom thinks it has magical powers.”

Collier decided to carry the cheese 20 years ago when she spent a week with the nuns filming a documentary about their lifestyle.

“I was won over by the way they honor the beauty of the landscape and the purity of their work.”

Among those who buy the cheese from Feast are Ashley Harper and Dave Matthews, Renee and John Grisham, and Virginia Tourism Corporation Boardwoman Susan K. Payne, who includes it with other regionally produced items in annual gift boxes.

When Collier runs out of the cheese, she has to drive out to the monastery and pick it up. The nuns don’t deliver.

Sister Barbara is unaware of any restaurant that serves the cheese, or if it is part of a celebrity chef ’s recipe. “Someone sent us a recipe for a fondue that used a lot of cheese. We put it on

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WINE

Old is New Again at Old Farm Winery at Hartland History and tradition enhance the flavor

BY KAITLIN HILL

“I

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much a social event and apparently Randy Rouse was quite the character.”

For Rouse, the Aldie property was a place for parties, whereas Hickox’s first exposure to the area manifested as manual labor. He remembers, “One of my best friends from high school, his grandparents had a farm near there. So, when I was 13 or 14, I started going out there with him to spend time there and hunt there.” He adds, “I really came to admire them. And so, working on their farm [felt] like going to see my grandparents.”

As Hickox’s closeness to the family grew, so did his list of responsibilities.

“If we were going to be there and hunt there, we had to earn our keep,” Hickox jokes. He adds, “I can’t tell you how many miles of fencing I had to repair.

I also had to tag beef, and—how do I put this—make sure they didn’t reproduce.” He finishes, “That was early youth imprinting. It was a time in my life where I really valued time spent on the farm more than any place.”

Now, decades later, Hickox says, “I still felt a draw toward that area,” and, as the land was being developed, a desire to “preserve it and share it with others.”

The process of transforming an old farm into the Old Farm, started from the ground up, figuratively planting a seed. After reaching out to the new property developer Hickox recalls, “I said ‘that would be a really nice neighborhood for a winery.’” And while questions about zoning might have scared off weaker souls, Hickox shares, “I saw that as a challenge, as I always do. And I had already planted that seed. That was three years ago.”

Although the property changed hands and COVID placed a major pause on the project, Hickox persisted. He remembers,

BY KAITLIN HILL

t was, in many ways, a coming home of sorts,” says Jon Hickox of his latest project, Old Farm Winery at Hartland.

Following the success of The Winery at Bull Run, Old Farm offers oenophiles and local history lovers a new experience with the same Hickox touch. The site, which is steeped in Loudoun and fox hunting history, also has personal significance to Hickox, who worked across the way as a teen. For his return to Aldie, Hickox balances modern luxury, historic preservation, and, of course, exemplary wines as only he can.

Aptly named, Old Farm Winery sits on a 35-acre property that can be traced to the 1700s. Hickox shares, “There’s a house there that dates back to the 1800s, based on construction. But there is a barn there that dates back to the late 1700s, early 1800s.”

A history buff and avid artifact hunter, Hickox found additional proof that helped determine the age of the area. He shares, “I metal detected the area…and the first thing I found was a candlestick holder.” He surmises, “They must have gone down with a candle in hand, knocked the candle over, it burned out and there it lay for 250 years or so.” To Hickox’s delight, one finding was even dated.

He laughs, “Then I found a coin that goes back to 1800 on the dot.

A ‘one-eight-zero-zero’ one-cent piece. I also found colonial shoe buckles and Tombac buttons.”

In the mid-1900s, the property was purchased in its entirety by Randy Rouse of Loudon-Fairfax Hunt fame, where he was Joint Master of Foxhounds for 55 years. During this period, the farm enjoyed its share of famous visitors. “The Kennedys and multiple presidents had been out there,” Hickox tells. He adds, “It was very

COURTESY OF OLD FARM WINERY AT HARTLAND (2)

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Below: Jon Hickox with his wife Kim and daughters Lilly, left, and Delaney, right.

Bottom: The Ribbon Cutting took place on October 28, 2021 and included, staff, family, and members of the local wine community.

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The interior and porch are next on the list to have ready by spring or summer of 2022. He says, “Back in the day, the porch would have been the spot, and when it’s done it will be back to that.” In the meantime, guests can enjoy the Old Farm Winery experience on the sprawling outdoor lawn, dotted with picnic tables, or in the sleek outdoor bar.

Crucial to that experience is Hickox’s impressive year-one wine list. Guests can celebrate the land’s fox hunting history with a bottle of 2020 Tallyho, a crisp blend of Vidal Blanc, Traminette, and Seval Blanc. Or opt for the 2020 Petit Verdot, with notes of bramble fruit, rhubarb, and oak. Hickox says, “Nine different offerings for wine is a strong starting lineup. And it covers a spectrum.”

There is even a sparkling Blanc de Blanc and hard cider which, Hickox says, “is pretty amazing to have for an opening year.”

Always the planner, Hickox makes his wine from grapes he planted 10 years ago in Rappahannock County. He notes, “As soon as I opened Bull Run, I said, ‘I need to commit to being selfsufficient with our grape production.’” Hickox’s inner monologue resulted in an eventual 50 acres in Rappahannock, 10 acres of Nor-

BY KAITLIN HILL (3)

“Three, four months into COVID we picked up the plans again…

I reached out to Loudon County and there were many people in the county government who were very helpful.”

Hickox notes that his experience building The Winery at Bull Run helped him here, saying, “I know what I need. In terms of infrastructure, you have to put in the power, the gas lines, the Fios lines, the sewer, and the water. It’s like a little town. But that is the way it’s set up for success.”

There were unique challenges, too, mostly pertaining to the historical structures Hickox was determined to preserve. Of the farmhouse he details, “There was termite damage that went all the way up to the second story, which is just unheard of.” He adds, “So walls had to be rebuilt and stabilized because structurally it wanted to fall over tomorrow.”

For Hickox, to honor the original house meant matching the original materials. He worked with a mill in Front Royal to replicate the original Dutch siding, he replaced windows with new but historically consistent styles, and saved the old metal roof. Hickox says, “I had to sand it, scrape it clean, and paint it.”

ton grapes planted in Willowsford, and 12 acres newly planted at Old Farm. “We have plenty of grapes for what we are producing now, but I am trying to stay ahead and plant more. I have always thought it is important to strive to contribute more grapes to the winery economy.”

Like at Bull Run, Hickox plans to offer tours and a wine club, but with both expertly curated to honor Old Farm’s Hunt Country past. “We’ll focus on the architecture of the historic house, talk about the fox hunting tradition, and the history of Loudoun.” He adds, “Fox hunting can be an isolated community. I thought it would be neat that virtually anyone can be exposed to the story of it and the history of it, and give people access to the experiences of this place.”

The wine club is all about access as well. Joining the Founding Foxes Wine Club comes with a bevy of perks including food and wine discounts, no-fee table reservations, exclusive wine releases, free events, and use of the members-only patio which will open in the summer. Hickox notes, “The wine club is an interesting model; because, if you visit just two or three times a year, it literally pays for itself.”

With so many ways to engage, the Old Farm experience promises to be at the same level of excellence for which Hickox is known. But more, it’s the chance to slow down, step back in time, and enjoy a glass of remarkable wine in a lovely setting. As Hickox says, “It’s a unique experience, surrounded by history yet with all the conveniences that modern technology allows us.”

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NATURE

A RESORT NESTLED I N N AT U R E Wintergreen’s native diversity is captivating

BY GLENDA C. BOOTH PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE NATURE FOUNDATION AT WINTERGREEN

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NATURE

M

ost people recoil at the sight of a skunk and fear its famous spray, but there’s a charming little rarely-seen skunk weighing around one to two-and-half-pounds out in the woods at the Wintergreen Resort. The eastern spotted skunk, Spilogale putorius, has a black coat, four white stripes, and a white patch on its nose and in front of its ears. Spotted skunks are nocturnal, elusive, and almost tame, in contrast to Virginia’s other, feistier striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis. “It’s a very intriguing, cute little animal,” says Mike Fies, a state wildlife research biologist.

Populations in the state have declined since the 1940s and Virginia lists the spotted skunk as “in need of conservation action.”

This little skunk is but one of Wintergreen’s outdoor treasures.

Wintergreen is an all-season resort in Nelson County and promotes its many recreational choices, from tennis to swimming to skiing, but the resort is also a “green” experience across its 13,000, mostlywooded acres. Some of the most pristine land in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay is here, says Doug Coleman, executive director of The Nature Foundation at Wintergreen.

It’s a “unique spot,” emphasizes Coleman, located at one of the narrowest points in the Blue Ridge Mountains, mountains which have some of the most floral and faunal diversity in the world, he notes. From atop the mountain, people can see three physiographic regions: the Blue Ridge, the Piedmont, and the Valley and Ridge Provinces.

Founders’ Goal Wintergreen’s founders designed the complex to preserve the core of the natural environment and limit its human use. They viewed nature as an asset, a draw, both tangible and intangible.

And while there are two golf courses, swimming pools, ski slopes, and tennis courts, Wintergreen is “an island of recreation in a sea of wilderness,” said one of its founders, Don Faulkner.

Of the original 13,000 acres, more than half is open space.

Much of it is protected by covenants and the foundation manages more than 2,000 acres.

The South Fork of the Rockfish River tumbles down the mountain as you drive up the mountain to the resort.

Plants In the region’s history, the mountains were the last territory to be logged and developed, so the area has some “very old plants,” according to Coleman, including some old-growth trees such as 500-yearold eastern red cedars. Scientists are finding indicators in the shrub and herbaceous plant communities that may date back more than 1,000 years. Since parts of the mountain were never plowed, the forest floor has been relatively undisturbed over the years.

A Wintergreen brochure says that native flowering plants “sprout from the last winter’s snow and spread over every woodland, rock cliff, meadow, and wetland.” Spring brings a multi-colored, botanical explosion all over the mountain, including mountain azaleas, May apples, bloodroot, rhododendrons, mountain laurels, and lady slippers. In May, several thousand trilliums carpet the forest floor. Skunk cabbages’ fruit heads emerge in June.

Summer brings a burst of yellow flowers — asters, coneflowers, black and brown-eyed Susans — and woodland and oxeye sunflowers. Other summer bloomers: bee balm, wild bergamot, and columbine.

Witch hazel plants sport yellow ribbon-like flowers in the fall.

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Above L-R: Sassafras leaves in the fall.

This tree has three distinctly different shaped leaves.; Interrupted Fern; Trillium Grandiflorum with tiger swallowtail butterfly

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| SPRING 2022

BY DIMA HOLMES

BY KEN LAWLESS

NATURE

NATURE

lobelias, and magenta ironweed plants, as many deciduous trees put on their fall color show.

Researchers are studying the interrupted fern, likely a very old plant in the forest understory. The fern’s stems grow only about half an inch a year. In April, when ferns sport their distinctive fiddleheads, morel mushrooms emerge from the soil.

The Nature Foundation manages Crawford’s Knob Natural Area Preserve, which is on Wintergreen’s property, of 1,387 acres of mature hardwood forest and home to a rare mountain wetland called a mountain-piedmont basic seepage swamp, which supports red maples, white ash, yellow birch, orchids, lilies, ferns, grasses, and sedges.

Wintergreen has a full-time forester who monitors forest conditions and coordinates research projects.

THE NATURE FOUNDATION AT WINTERGREEN www.twnf.org The foundation is a research and education center that offers programs through guided hikes, scientific conferences, school programs, and on-site youth and adult programs. The foundation maintains more than 30 miles of trails, conducts surveys and studies, monitors mountain streams’ water quality, and advises Wintergreen property owners. Trail maps are available at the Mountain Inn and on the foundation’s website.

The foundation welcomes volunteers to help with plant propagation and sales.

Wildlife Using mounted cameras, researchers have tracked the spotted skunk, along with whitetail deer, flying squirrels, coyotes, bobcats, and black bears. Wintergreeners consider the black bear to be the resort’s unofficial “mascot.” Black bears prefer to forage away from people and rarely attack humans, experts say. Spring visitors to the resort may spot cubs following mom through the woods searching for food, feeding on grasses, leaf buds, skunk cabbages, and unsuspecting deer fawns. To avoid attracting black bears, Wintergreen’s managers urge homeowners to bring in their bird feeders by April 1.

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| SPRING 2022

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Lucky visitors might also spot opossums, red foxes, and minks. Timber rattlesnakes emerge from their winter dens in April. Colorful salamanders, among them the red-backed, marbled, white-spotted slimy, northern dusky, and southern two-lined, slither around in cool, damp areas and leaf litter from spring through autumn.

A narrow swath of Wintergreen is home to animals that have a limited range, like wood warblers and certain amphibians.

Wintergreen is a hotspot for birdwatchers who delight in sighting cedar waxwings, owls, ravens, and bald eagles.

Some keen observers occasionally see golden eagles. Devils Knob, at nearly 4,000 feet, is the highest peak at Wintergreen and on the flyway for fall migrating raptors. Monarch butterflies, too, migrate through in spring and fall and their caterpillars feed on several milkweed varieties.

The foundation’s nature center brings wildlife up close with a selection of taxidermied birds including a red-tail hawk, barred

owl, indigo bunting, and ruffed grouse. Exhibits trace the region’s history back to the Archaic Period, 8,500 to 10,000 years ago, and houses displays of arrowheads, a pestle, and a grinding stone.

Archaeologists also excavated a slate gorget fragment, part of a necklace, here. Exhibits describe the 1700s transition from local Native Americans to settlers and their life on a 19th and 20th century mountain homestead. Visitors can learn about native plants grown from seeds and spores in the center’s greenhouse.

Wintergreen is a place to marvel at woodland wildflowers, listen to crows cawing in the distance, watch leaves flutter down to the ground, and yes, hope to see a spotted skunk.

“Nature sells the place, not ski slopes and golf courses,” Coleman stresses. “People want to be part of the concept of living in their church of conservation in a protected place.”

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Creating new lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge

Simon Godwin Brings Shakespeare to The Piedmont

BY KAITLIN HILL

BY KK OTTESEN

“S

hakespeare himself went on tour during a pandemic. He went to rural areas to throw plays when he couldn’t be in London because of The Plague. So, it felt like we were following noble footsteps in that journey,” shares Simon Godwin, Artistic Director of The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington. Godwin joined STC in September 2019, relocating from London to the District. At the onset of the COVID pandemic, much like Shakespeare, Godwin retreated to the countryside with his wife and two twin girls, settling in The Plains.

Now, about two years on, Godwin shares the unique opportunities living in the Piedmont region has offered him and the ways in which he is contributing to his community as only he can.

Hailing from St. Albans, UK, about 45 minutes from bustling London, Godwin started his career in entertainment at an early age. “I had wanted to be an actor,” Godwin says of his theatrical roots. He continues, “When I was 12, I did a BBC Costume Drama Series called Five Children and It, which is an E. Nesbit novel.”

The six-episode series which aired in the early ’90s gave Godwin his start and led to additional

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fession I enjoyed but trying to find a skill that I would be better suited for. Directing transpired to be that very thing.”

Godwin started directing at age 19 while studying English at the University of Cambridge and, as he says, “I really haven’t stopped directing since.” From Cambridge, Godwin went on to direct plays “on the fringe of London and in cities like Northampton and Bristol” before returning

PHOTOS BY KAITLIN HILL

TV spots. “I was a childhood actor, and I wanted very much to be an actor. But as I carried on doing bits and bobs of television in my teenage years, I realized I wasn’t actually very good at acting,” Godwin adds with a laugh.

Godwin pivoted from onscreen to behind-the-scenes as he desired to remain in the industry. “When I got to university, I was searching for a way to stay in the pro-

to London to work at the Royal Court, The Royal Shakespeare Company, and more recently, the National Theatre UK. Though he had built an impressive résumé in the UK, Godwin’s decision to come west was in part driven by a desire to focus on Shakespeare and take his career to the next level. He remembers, “There are very few theaters in the world that are based around Shakespeare, and [Shakespeare Theatre Company] is a great example of one. I had directed a lot of Shakespeare by this point, and he was really my first love.”

Godwin expands, “I had been the number two in quite a lot of theaters in England, so the idea of actually being in a leadership role was very compelling.” Godwin was hired to take over for Michael Kahn who had been the theater’s director since 1986.

His family factored into the decision to move too. He recalls, “I was excited about America and all the possibilities that it presented to us as a family.”

The Godwin ménage initially settled in Georgetown where they stayed for six months. As the pandemic began to reach crisis level, Godwin was offered the opportunity to escape to the countryside by friend, Piedmont resident and long-serving STC Board Member, Anita Antenucci.

Godwin shares, “It was down to Anita’s great matchmaking that we moved. We were invited to move to the Oak Spring Garden Foundation.” The Oak Spring Garden Foundation is a 4,000-acre property in Upperville, Virginia, established by the

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late Rachel “Bunny” Mellon. The Foundation’s mission of sharing the residence, garden, estate, and impressive Oak Spring Library with the public takes many forms from fellowships and residences to workshops and exhibits showcasing Mellon’s love of the natural world. Godwin explains, “The Foundation supports artists who are researching gardens or inspired by gardens or in someway supporting Mrs. Mellon’s memory…And there is artist housing there.” He continues, “They had some housing available, we moved there, and it was just a very blissful experience.”

After six months at the “pastoral utopian” Mellon estate, Godwin and his family sought to make their rural escape a permanent home base. Godwin remarks, “My wife, who had grown up in the countryside just outside of Cambridge, had always wanted to live a rural life. We thought,

‘This is amazing. How can we live here permanently?’”

With work in Washington and a desire for homelife in Virginia, Godwin’s dilemma of where to settle was again aided

by Antenucci who offered him a base of operations in Adam’s Morgan for when he needed to be in Washington, allowing Godwin to find a house in the country for his family. He shares, “It was an amazing gesture of kindness.” As for finding a place to live, he shares, “So then we found an old farmhouse near The Plains. It’s an old house there where we have a long-term rent. The house was really characterful and beautifully done. We just thought, ‘This is going to be the home for us’…and we’re fully paid up inhabitants of Virginia.”

It didn’t take long for Simon and his family to embrace their new community and, in turn, be embraced. He shares, “It’s

been brilliant to be able to meet other people in the area, in Middleburg, The Plains, and Marshall.” And those new connections came in clutch as the Godwins set up shop in their new lodgings. “When we took the house, it was unfurnished. And lots of local people, very sweetly, lent us settees, sofas, chairs, and tables to get us started.” He adds with a laugh, “I’ve also been taken out horse riding quite a lot, which is not something I really have ever done before.” And concludes, “In that respect, we have really benefited from the kindness of the Virginia community. There have been great overtures of kindness which feels very unique in the world.”

And for Godwin’s part, contributing to the community meant bringing Shakespeare to The Piedmont. “The Stoics say, ‘The obstacle is the way.’ And so, when you don’t have a theater you have to find a thePIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

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ater.” He continues, “It was about looking around and working out who are the local people? Where are the local sites, the local amphitheaters, the old converted wineries where we could show films and do some very low key performances?” He continues, “And I discovered, that Virginia has an incredible core set of beautiful outdoor spaces, resources, and landscapes.”

Godwin not only discovered some of Virginia’s best venues for Shakespearean plays, he found demand for them too. He explains, “[There] is a hunger in Virginia for culture and a hunger for dialogue, for Shakespeare, for intellectual engagement and debate. And that has been really delightful.”

Born out of this desire was Simon’s Circle, a group Godwin describes as, “An attempt to recruit people not only from the country, but also from the city, to have a big presence in the countryside. And my pledge to this group is to keep doing Shakespeare soirees, evenings of readings of sonnets, and gatherings around the theme of classical theater.” He finishes, “I’m very

committed to keep serving the community that I am now a part of, and I can’t wait for more opportunities to evolve and dialogues to happen.”

With local help, Godwin put together a viewing party in Rectortown for a live broadcast of Romeo & Juliet and aired “Shakespeare Hour Live” from Rectortown Methodist Church and The Hill School auditorium.

With the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s new season starting in September, Godwin will be spending more time in Washington where he is working on a lineup ranging from classic to contemporary.

He says, “We are doing a revival of a play we were doing when the pandemic shut us down. It’s a James Baldwin play, The Amen Corner. More commercially, we’re doing a musical featuring the songs of Britney Spears at Christmas. And we’ll do Much Ado About Nothing, Merchant of Venice, and a play about Ira Aldridge who was the first Black actor to play the role of Othello in England in the 19th century.” Godwin adds, “There are a lot of big questions about

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identity, about change, love, opportunity, ambition and justice. These are all touched on in our season to come.”

When asked about what he’ll bring to the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Godwin points to the organization’s mission statement. He says, “The mission statement, as I am evolving it, is ‘Vital stories, audaciously shared.’” He continues, “It’s that we not necessarily feel we are burdened by history, but we were available to be playful and quick and responsive and contemporary.”

Though work will undoubtedly mean more time spent in the city, Godwin shares, “The family home will always be in the countryside.” Godwin’s commitment to keep Shakespeare in the countryside certainly speaks to his own ability to be playful, quick, responsive, and contemporary.

With plans for continued engagement between STC and the Piedmont region, Godwin, and his family, are undoubtedly welcome additions the community they now call home.

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ART

A Little Bit of Everything... and More of the Same with Cathy Zimmerman STORY BY KAITLIN HILL PHOTOS BY CAMDEN LITTLETON

W

hen it comes to Middleburg-based artist Cathy Zimmerman, there is more than meets the eye. Like her whimsical paintings of Hunt Country landscapes that so often spill off the page onto the matte, her big personality, many talents, and enthusiasm for life are uncontainable. And while her accomplishments are widespread—from artistic pursuits to equestrian endeavors, and even water-witching—what she most takes pride in is being a friend to many and putting family first.

“I grew up just over the hill,” shares Zimmerman gesturing beyond the pond of her Middleburg farm. “My mother had a Christmas tree operation.” Born, raised, and still living in Middleburg, Zimmerman has built a fascinating life filled with a long list of interests based on the belief that, as she says, “‘Bored’ is a bad word in my book.” Influenced by her mother, Zimmerman has lived by this credo since childhood when she tested the waters of many of her talents-later-turned-professions. She shares, “My father died when I was 12. And, my mother was just amazing. She didn’t believe in feeling sorry for herself. She just kept us busy.

She got us moving.”

As a child, keeping busy led to an affinity for art and horseback riding, two skills she would carry with her through life and that would go hand-in-hand. Of her early introduction to painting, she says, “Since I was a little girl, I’ve always painted…I had two uncles that painted a lot, and they would give me art supplies.” And the same applies to riding, a pastime she picked up in infancy. She shares, “There’s a picture in my bathroom…and I’m 18 months old, sitting on this pony. So, I have no memory of not riding.”

Zimmerman attended The Hill School, where she met her first art teacher, Emily Sharp; then on to Garrison Forest School in Baltimore, before her artistic inclinations took her to the Corcoran College of Art and Design. While there, she met husband, Tad Zimmerman. She laughs, “Instead of getting my degree, I got my ‘M.R.S.’—I got married.”

The two married in 1977 and, after stops in Philadelphia, Charlottesville, and Richmond, returned to the family farm in Middleburg where they built their house. Perhaps more than a degree, Zimmerman’s marriage to Tad afforded her the opportunity to raise her children and pursue her passions in the place she loves most. She says, “My husband commuted to Washington for many, many years. And, I would get as much done 36

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ART

Zimmerman’s connection to the land goes further than her art; she is also a practicing water witch.

Here she paints while her dog Tippett waits patiently.

around the farm so he wouldn’t be stressed over the weekend. But in the end, he was the one spoiling me by doing that commute so that we could raise our children here.” She adds, “Because of my husband commuting to Washington, I’ve been so lucky. I get to have fun all day.”

With sons Jack and Teddy now grown, these days having fun all day means caring for a near-Noah’s Ark of animals, returning to riding, picking up the paintbrush, water witching, and being the community’s go-to babysitter.

Zimmerman’s brood has always included countless critters. She shares, “My parents encouraged me. I think one of my first jobs was to raise 15 baby pigs on a bottle.” On her patio, two terriers and a Labrador lounge in the sun, and nearby a potbelly can be heard oinking playfully. She jokes, “It’s rare that we don’t have something living in our laundry room, like puppies, chickens, or tadpoles.”

With sleeves full of tricks, Zimmerman not only raises chickens, she hypnotizes them. “My mother taught me that,” she remembers. “It’s sort of an after dinner parlor trick.” She adds, “I had to do something on stage to get a drama credit to graduate from boarding school, and I can’t sing…My headmaster, who I adored, asked if he got me a chicken could I [hypnotize] it. So, he got me a chicken and I hypnotized it in front of 400 people to get my diploma.”

Unsurprisingly, horses are still a huge part of her daily routine too.

Earlier in life she was an avid foxhunter, before a few serious accidents slowed her down. “Twelve years ago, a horse flipped on me,” Zimmerman shares seriously. “I was pretty broken up but very lucky.” Quickly returning to laughter she jests, “I am basically a miracle.”

For most riders, such a catastrophic injury would be enough to hang up the saddle, but Zimmerman took it as a hint to “slow down on horses” and get a different perspective, literally.

Zimmerman says, “I’m on a horse in this beautiful countryside and [I] see so much more than I would in a car or on a bicycle or anything else…

And basically, I paint what I see.”

Her watercolor landscapes have that rare quality of being easy to get lost in. They are positively transportive. Depictions of Fall Farms and Hungry Foxes in Snow bring to mind chilly air and wooly sweaters, while PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

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ART

Let’s Play

Summer Pond and Summer Road Wildflowers seem to radiate warmth.

And as much as her paintings draw viewers in, they spring off the canvas into the very heart of whichever room they hang. Zimmerman explains, “I started extending the painting and I don’t know why I started doing that.” She is referring to the tree limbs, wildflowers, foxes, thistles, cattails, and birds that expand past the canvas onto the matte and to the edges of the frame.

Her equestrian incidents have even encouraged her to try different mediums. She explains, “At one point, I had to wear a halo. I couldn’t look down. So, these great friends of mine started me on oil [paints].”

Like her watercolor work, her Spring Blooms in oil have the appearance of stretching beyond the page as if the tulips and forget-me-nots could perfume the room.

Between riding and painting, her connection to the land is easy to understand. She says, “There is a serious part of me too. And, I am adamant about land and habitat conservation, easements, and saving gravel roads.

Being out in nature makes you want to be a conservationist.”

Though, being Cathy Zimmerman, her connection to the land goes well beyond the boundaries of the easily explainable. “It’s called waterwitching,” Zimmerman notes. “When we built the house, we hired a dowser to find water, and it didn’t work for him. But I watched him and, oh man, did it work for me.” Zimmerman describes the process as, “You take a forked stick and hold it a certain way. When you get over water, it pulls the stick down. Hopefully, you find a vein and mark it.” She adds, “Well-drillers would call me when they were having problems. So many were calling me that I started charging for it.”

“Apparently very few people can feel it…It’s cool that there are some things in this world that you can’t explain,” Zimmerman concludes.

While undoubtedly accomplished, undeniably creative, and even unexplainably mystical, Cathy Zimmerman is unquestionably human. Of all she does, perhaps her most remarkable attribute is her ability to make time for her children, grandchildren, and the kids of the community.

“Since I am flexible with my day, I can take care of the children…So the grandchildren, ages three and five, just come running yelling ‘Boppy, Boppy!’ We’re Boppy and Doodad to them.” She adds, “And, a lot of local kids know they can call on me in a pinch.” Like her childhood, she 38

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provides a plethora of activities from painting, of course, to fishing in the pond and sledding.

“Everybody knows they can call on me,” Zimmerman remarks. She adds, “I like to think you get more out of life if you take time for everybody. Never act like you are in a rush, never act like you are busier than the person next to you. If you’re thoughtful in that way, you end up being happier.”

Zimmerman’s life lessons are worth listening to and are perhaps best summed up in a prayer she has said since childhood. She recites, “Let me see all the beauties of life. Let me appreciate all you have given me. And let me know when to step up and step back.”

With that thought in mind, Zimmerman looks out across her fields of cattle and Christmas trees, past the pond she enjoys swimming in and the lawn her grandchildren so frequently cross. When asked if she has plans for the next chapter in her life she says wisely, “To continue just the way I am and do my best to have fun every day.”

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39

DINING

The Big Easy Finds its Way to C’ville Good times roll at Southern Crescent

BY JENNIFER WALDERA PHOTOS BY CAMDEN LITTLETON

W

hen it comes to cuisine, Charlottesville has much to boast about. Southern staples like ham biscuits, fried chicken, and decadent takes on macaroni and cheese abound alongside Italian, Mediterranean, and Spanish eats, French-inspired foods, and even some solid sushi. But also settled among these global and local fares is another surprising spot, Southern Crescent Galley and Bar, serving up authentic New Orleans-style food and drinks in the coziest of settings.

Husband-and-wife team Lucinda Ewell and Ian Day opened this quaint-yet-stylish restaurant on Mothers’ Day 2016. It beckons pedestrians in Belmont to join the crowd at the bar, grab a table, or sit on the warm magnolia-lined patio with its tropical bar to enjoy their rum-based curated cocktail menu and New Orleansinspired dishes.

“We wanted to offer a beautiful space combined with food and drinks that evoke New Orleans and provide an island vibe. We raised our son on a sailboat and spent three years sailing the Caribbean islands. I also grew up in New Orleans. The combination of these locales was our inspiration,” says Ewell of the genesis of Southern Crescent.

Ewell and Day ensure that they provide

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an authentic experience by sourcing ingredients that are key to that goal, while also supporting local purveyors, as well.

“Seafood is wild-caught USA, except the conch, which comes from the Bahamas. All produce is local. Bread for po’ boys comes from Leidenheimer Bakery in New Orleans. Bread for Muffulettas comes from

Gambino’s Bakery in New Orleans. Pies come from Lynette Meynig at Family Ties and Pies,” Ewell says.

Southern Crescent is, at heart, a familyrun restaurant. Lucinda runs the kitchen and Ian does a little bit of everything.

Meanwhile, Andrew Ewell, their son, manages the bar and the front of house while Andrew’s wife, Anna, wears many hats, contributing to a number of facets of the restaurant. Ewell’s bar program is known for both its extensive collection of rum and its cocktails.

“We feature a rum-focused cocktail program that utilizes only fresh-squeezed juices and house-made syrups, infusions, shrubs, and liqueurs. Our cocktail menu changes seasonally and always features a combination of classic tiki concoctions, house originals, and New Orleans classics. We also feature the area’s most extensive rum collection, with over 80 different offerings on hand,” Lucinda shares.

“A good way to think about our cocktail program is that Andrew has been gathering knowledge for two decades. He was an English professor for many years, living and traveling throughout the country and abroad, and in addition to spending a lot of time learning about cocktail history and culture as a patron at some of the best bars

DINING

Left: Owners, Ian Day and Lucinda Ewell on the porch during the first 2022 snowstorm Above left: The lush entrance in summer time and the groovy tree swing.

Above right: Chef Lucinda Ewell and her incredible gumbo with topped with grilled shrimp.

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DINING

COCKTAIL RECIPE Here’s how to make a proper Sazerac:

Fill a rocks glass with ice and set aside while assembling the following in a mixing glass: 2 oz. Rye whiskey (preferably Rittenhouse) .25 oz. simple syrup 10 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Dump the ice from the rocks glass and spray with 6 sprays of Absinthe (preferably Herbsaint)

Top: Sunday brunch on the wrap around Victorian porch Above: Anna Shearer and Andrew Ewell behind the bar with the ingredients of the Sazerk.

in the country, he also brings a professor’s research skills and curiosity to his approach to drinks, unearthing old recipes as well as updating classic drinks with refined modern techniques,” she says.

The 1920’s home-turned-restaurant is architecturally interesting from the outside and the ambience inside is warm and welcoming.

“The house was built in 1923. We rezoned it as a commercial property in 2009, 42

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as Hinton Avenue was developing into Belmont’s main commercial corridor. It’s a transportive experience. Our guests feel like they’re on vacation. From the magnolia trees on the side patio to the tropical outdoor bar, as soon as you enter the property you feel like you’re somewhere else. People often say they feel like they’re in Key West.”

In addition to the care the family gives to their food, drinks, and guests, they also ex-

Fill the mixing glass ¾ full with ice and stir 50 rotations or until frost develops on the outside of the glass.

Strain into the chilled absinthe-rinsed glass.

Express the peel of a lemon over the drink and “clean” the glass by running the skin side of the peel over the lip of the glass; then drop the peel in the drink and serve.

DINING

While they closed briefly during the pandemic, the restaurant reopened in July of 2020 and eventually became what locals saw as a safe and warm environment with the same quality food and drinks as well as outdoor seating, heaters, blankets, and open-air fire pits.

When asked what makes Southern Crescent unique, Ewell responds, “The gumbo and po’ boys instantly invoke the flavor of New Orleans. And the cocktails—incorporating rums from all over the Caribbean, as well fruits and herbs like passion fruit, allspice, hibiscus, and guava—invoke the tropics.”

“We also give people a friendly, neighborhood vibe. People make friends here, fall in love here, get married here. We want people to continue making memories here.” tend that by giving back to the community.

“We’ve worked with the Chris Long Foundation, and we’ve donated meals to The Haven and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

We’ve also hosted Taste of Home, which stages pop-ups serving food by refugee chefs in order to help preserve their native cultures and cuisines,” says Ewell.

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HISTORY

Tunnel Vision The Blue Ridge Tunnel at Rockfish Gap

BY GLENDA C. BOOTH PHOTOS BY PAUL WAGNER

W

ith craning necks and gaping mouths, the drab gray nestlings were camouflaged in a teacupsized nest on a dark, rocky ledge about 20 feet high, eagerly anticipating a parent’s food delivery. An Eastern phoebe pair was raising their young near the entrance of Nelson County’s Blue Ridge Tunnel at Rockfish Gap on Afton Mountain, 22 miles west of Charlottesville.

Adult Eastern phoebes typically choose structures like bridges, decks, and eaves of buildings for nesting sites. Here, they chose a historic railroad tunnel which opened to the public on November 21, 2020, and had more than 130,000 visitors by the end of 2021.

The phoebe family symbolized the allure of this 4,273-foot underground passageway, dug mostly by hand in the mid-1800s before the invention of dynamite, an engineering marvel for that time.

“Until you go there, you just don’t get the tunnel,” says Paul Wagner, who directed a documentary film about it, entitled The Tunnel. “There’s something symbolic, metaphoric. There’s something powerful about the notion of a tunnel.”

Adventurers love to amble through, albeit gingerly, as it becomes almost pitch black in the middle. History buffs like Bill and Ann Tinkler, both retired educators from Durham, N.C., relished the “novelty to walk through an old railroad tunnel. There’s a lot of history here,” he says. Nearby, a dad and his family were there because his son, Theodore, age three, “is into trains.”

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Below: Tunnel visitors at the western portal in the distance Right: Western portal with tracks in the19th century

HISTORY

Magical There’s something magical, mesmerizing about it. Visitors stroll along in near darkness under an arch of hard, raw, greenstone rock.

In the distance is a tiny, white orb of light, the other opening, that grows larger and larger as you approach it. It’s nearly impossible to determine how far away that dot of daylight is, but it’s a magnet, pulling walkers ever closer.

Early American leaders like President George Washington championed canals and rivers for commercial transportation be-

tween Virginia’s Tidewater and Western regions, but by the mid1850s, some argued that canals would be inadequate and impractical. Claudius Crozet, who had studied engineering in France and served in Napoleon’s army, had another idea – burrow through Afton Mountain.

Crozet came to the United States at age 26 in 1815, taught engineering at the U.S. Military Academy and then was chief engineer for the Virginia Board of Public Works. He was a founder of the Virginia Military Institute and president of its board. Thomas Jefferson called him “by far the smartest mathematician in America.”

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HISTORY

LEFT: Western portal of the Blue Ridge Tunnel before restoration.

CENTER LEFT: Expert tunnel surveyor Donald Kelley explains how the Irish dug the Tunnel.

CENTER RIGHT: A contract for the labor of enslaved workers.

BOTTOM: Exploring the Tunnel by torchlight.

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HISTORY

Grueling Construction

MORE INFORMATION At the heart of the tunnel’s history are the 800 Irish imThe Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel Foundation: migrant workers and around 300 enslaved men who built it blueridgetunnel.org between 1850 and 1858, working eight-to-10 hours a day.

National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark information: The Irish workers came to America to escape the famine in asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historicIreland. They lived with their families in nearby shanties landmarks/crozets-blue-ridge-tunnel and initially earned $1.00 a day.

Slave masters regularly rented out their enslaved workers “The Tunnel”, a film, directed by Paul Wagner and in those days, but these owners insisted that their slaves not produced by Ellen Casey Wagner for American Focus: do any blasting, not because the owners were altruistic, said youtube.com/watch?v=IRJGKjT-ahQ Wagner, but because they wanted to protect their financial livelihood. “It’s just so revealing of the way slavery worked as an institution,” Wagner offers. “It helps you see just how twisted ing feat that took around eight years. Crozet devised ventilation it really was.” The enslaved workers labored as blacksmiths or floor- and drainage systems and had to battle skeptics who questioned whether the two parts would actually align. “When the crews fiers who cleared away the rock debris after the detonations.

Clues to the construction methods are visible today, like grooves nally ‘holed through’ on Christmas Day, 1856, not only did the in the hard rock walls. Workers hammered long star drills into the tunnels meet exactly, but Crozet’s calculations were found to be so rock, filled the cavities with volatile black powder and fuses, and lit precise that only one-half-inch separated their alignment,” says the the powder. The blasting filled the work area with debris. It was cold, National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks website, where the nasty, dangerous work. Some suffered injuries like lost fingers. Some tunnel is listed.

It was the longest railroad tunnel in the nation in its day. To were lost to cave-ins and explosions. Forty died from cholera.

Usually, a 100-member crew labored on one side of the moun- reduce the volume of rocks to remove, Crozet chose a Romantain and another 100 on the other side, inching along to meet in esque or elliptical shape, not the more common circular design the middle. They built 20 feet a month, a superhuman engineer- with vertical walls. Parts were lined with bricks. It is 16 feet wide

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HISTORY

VISITING THE TUNNEL

nelsoncounty.com/blue-ridge-tunnel

The tunnel is located at the convergence of the southern entrance of Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive, the northern entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Appalachian Trail, and U. S. Bicycle Route 76. Both Interstate 64 and U. S. 250 cross over the tunnel at Rockfish Gap. Traveling through the tunnel will be a stirring experience for a variety of visitors: hikers and cyclists of every level, wildlife watchers, history enthusiasts, railroad buffs, heritage tourists, school children on field trips, and more.

The Tunnel is open from sunrise to sunset daily, and can be accessed from both ends. Roundtrip the trail is 4.5 miles. The tunnel is not lit, so bring a flashlight or headlamp. The footing may be uneven, wear comfortable shoes.

to accommodate trains and has a 51-foot descent from west to east. At its deepest point, it is approximately 700 feet below the surface.

In 1858, the first train rumbled through. The tunnel provided rail access through the Blue Ridge Mountains, connecting the Piedmont with the Shenandoah region. Trains carried products like imported goods and oysters from Virginia’s eastern region to the west and farm products from the west to the east.

In 1944, the tunnel closed and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad replaced it with another tunnel 40 feet below. In the 1950s, Dixie Bottled Gas Corporation built two, 12-footthick concrete bulkheads to store propane, but this did not succeed and in 2019, workers removed the bulkheads.

A Tunnel Vision The tunnel was largely forgotten until 2001. Allen Hale, then a member of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors, convinced the board to explore the tunnel’s restoration and use it as a pedestrian trail. The county hired Dr. Gary Rogers, a consultant and Virginia Military Institute professor, to do a feasibility study. In 2007, the county bought the tunnel from CSX for $1.00. In 2020, the tunnel and entry trails opened, 19 years after the project was conceived.

The dark, quiet environment is not totally devoid of wildlife. In addition to the phoebes, state experts have identified three species of bats in their winter hibernacula: little brown, big brown, and tricolor. Other observers have found long-tailed salamanders and they are hoping to spot cave salamanders.

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West Trailhead 483 Three Notched Mountain Highway, Waynesboro *Note: The West Trailhead is not ADA accessible and there is significant elevation change and stream crossings.

East Trailhead 215 Afton Depot Lane, Afton. *Note: The East Trailhead is fully ADA accessible and is a less strenuous experience.

The project cost $5.4 million and received local, state and federal funding, involving multiple partners: Virginia Department of Transportation; Commonwealth Transportation Board; city of Waynesboro; Woolpert, Inc.; Fielder’s Choice Enterprises, Inc.; Whitesell group; Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel Foundation.

Allen Hale is the “kingpin,” says Taylor. Hale comments, “It’s been a long haul, but it’s fantastic. There’s nothing quite like this in the country in terms of age, design, and the way it’s preserved.

It’s perfectly preserved as in 1858 when the trains came through.”

Dan Burke, a former University of Virginia history professor, adds, “It’s magical. Everyone will marvel when they go through and will want to come back.”

Hale sees joy in parents and youngsters who often bring lanterns into the tunnel. “Every time I’ve seen people there, they are having a good time. This will open them to wanting to know more,” Hale says.

Walking through evokes awe and goosebumps, but for sure, pure admiration for the workers who put their lives at risk to blast through Afton Mountain.

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