Evince Magazine October 2017

Evince Magazine Page  1

She Said He Said Page 4

Diana Schwartz

We Love Danville!

Page 16

Making It Happen in the River District See Page 3

Photo by Michelle Dalton Photography

Page 2 October 2017

Editor’s Note

Look at all those happy lovers on our cover! River District Association Director Diana Schwartz, who moved to Danville in August, loves friendly people (page 3). Larry Oldham loves his newborn grandson (page 4). Averett students love Danville and wear “It’s a Dan Good Time” T-shirts to prove it (page 16).

It’s no surprise that Chef Annelle Williams loves to cook, but her reasons might surprise you (page 21). Sommelier Dave Slayton wants to know “Do You Have a Crush on Wine? Or Is It Love?” (page 18). Humorist Linda Lemery loves helping others but not groundhogs.

It’s complicated but funny (page 20). If you aren’t in love with your hometown, read the book that Diane Adkins reviews on page 17. Why is love so important? Carollyn Peerman has the answer on page 20. Of course, responsible journalism dictates that a discussion of the birds and bees must be included in this Voice of Lovers.

Kim Clifton stepped up to the plate and wrote “This Is for the Birds” on page 9 and Carrie Rogers covers the bee topic on page 13.

But wait! There’s more. Look at the pictures, read the event announcements and calendar, and other regular features.

Take your time. We think you are going to love this issue.

October Contents

2 Editor’s Note

The

3 Diana Schwartz / Making It Happen in the River District

by Lanie Davis

CEO / Publisher Andrew Scott Brooks President Director of Sales & Marketing Larry Oldham (434.728.3713) larry@evincemagazine.com

4 She Said He Said / Toby Leib Oldham – I Love You!

by Dena Hill & Larry Oldham 6 Renovation Reality / Part 18

by Carla Minosh

Editor Joyce Wilburn (434.799.3160) joycewilburn@gmail.com

8 Spotting Exceptional Customer Service

by Paula Mitchell

Associate Editors Jeanette Taylor Larry Wilburn Lanie Davis, Intern

9 Second Thoughts / This Is for the Birds

by Kim Clifton

Contributing Writers

10 In Apollo’s Temple

Fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg

Diane Adkins, Kim Clifton, Rachel Covington, Lanie Davis, Adam Goebel, Kristi Hall, Dena Hill, Telisha Moore Leigg, Linda Lemery, Erica Lowdermilk, Carla Minosh, Paula Mitchell, Karen Myers, Larry Oldham, Carollyn Lee Peerman, Carrie Rogers, Rachel Shaw, Dave Slayton, Jay Stephens, Lisa Tuite, Melanie Vaughan, Annelle Williams, Sonya Wolen, Peggy Wright

11 What’s Happening in the Public Libraries 12 Calendar Clips 13 Love to Eat? Love Bees!

by Carrie Rogers

Business Manager Paul Seiple (1.434.709.7349) paul@evincemagazine.com

14 Calendar

Marketing Consultants Kim Demont (434.792.0612) demontdesign@verizon.net

16 We Love Danville!

by Rachel Covington

Lee Vogler (434.548.5335) lee@showcasemagazine.com

DIY Do or Don’t / Tiered Stand

by Kristi Hall

Art & Production Director Demont Design (Kim Demont)

17 Book Clubbing

This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science

of Loving the Place You Live by Melody Warnick

a review by Diane Adkins

evince\i-’vin(t)s\ 1: to constitute outward evidence of 2: to display clearly: reveal syn see SHOW

18 Wine Spot

Do You Have a Crush on Wine? Or Are You in Love?

by Dave Slayton

Deadline for submission of November stories, articles, and ads is Wednesday, October 18, at 5:00 p.m.

Submit stories, articles, and calendar items to joycewilburn@gmail.com.

20 Why Fall in Love

by Carollyn Lee Peerman

Reflecting Forward Friends, Furniture, and a Groundhog - It’s Complicated

by Linda Lemery

22 Photo Finish

Photo of Diana Schwartz by Michelle Dalton Photography

Don’t Forget to Pick Up the October Edition of Showcase Magazine

For ad information contact a marketing consultant or the Director of Sales & Marketing listed above.

Editorial Policies:

eVince is a monthly news magazine covering the arts, entertainment, education, economic development, and lifestyle in Danville and the surrounding areas. We print and distribute eVince free of charge due entirely to the generosity of our advertisers. In our pages appear views from across the social spectrum.

They do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. We reserve the right to accept, reject, and edit all submissions and advertisements.

21 Around the Table / Why I Love to Cook

by Annelle Williams

On the Cover:

oice of Lovers

EVINCE MAGAZINE 753 Main St. Suite 3, Danville, VA 24541 www.evincemagazine.com

The “Your Hometown University” Issue www.showcasemagazine.com

| october 2017 | ShowcaSe Magazine 1

Meet Some of Our Contributors

© 2017 All rights reserved.

Reproduction or use in whole or in part in any medium without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Enjoy!

Credits: Amber Wilson: hair; Catherine Saunders: skin care and makeup; Genesis Day Spa & Salon, 695 Park Avenue, Danville.

Janelle Gammon: nails; Salon One 11, 111 Sandy Court, Danville. Clothing and jewelry: Lizzy Lou Boutique, 310 Main Street, Danville, lizzylouboutique.com

Paula Mitchell is the mother of four and a preschool teacher at First Presbyterian Day School.

Lanie Davis is a student at Averett University where she is majoring in communication studies/journalism.

Carrie Rogers is a Danville Master Gardener.

Karen Myers is the President on the Board of Directors for the Danville Speech and Hearing Center.

We now accept Visa, MC, and Discover for ad payments

For subscriptions to Evince, email cindy@showcasemagazine.com

Evince Magazine Page 3

W

hen Diana Schwartz saw

a job posting for an

Executive Director of the River District Association (RDA) in Danville, she thought it might be interesting. After visiting the City by the Dan and spending time here, she realized she wanted to be a part of Danville, with its positive mindset towards progress and beautiful downtown area. Now, after being on the job since August 1, she is thrilled to have made the move.

Diana Schwartz Making It Happen in the River District

by Lanie Davis

“It’s rare to find a place where everyone is on the same train moving together in the same direction to make progress happen,” Diana says, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm for her new hometown. Then she lists the reasons for her zeal: “You have the perfect storm, so to speak. You have the city, the county, the public, the private communities, the developers, and organizations all working together to further the development and the revitalization of the downtown area.”

The Clintwood, Virginia, native lived and worked in Ocala, Florida before moving six hundred miles to Southern Virginia. Having a “servant’s heart,” she had always enjoyed volunteer work in the northern Florida city and worked with the American Cancer Society, helping to raise money for cancer patients, before going into economic development.

“When I had the opportunity to move into chamber and economic development type work, at first I wasn’t sure it was going to be a great fit, but I quickly came to realize that actually it might be my greatest opportunity because this type of work strengthens an entire community,” she says with conviction.

During the four years Diana worked in economic development, she was able to receive credentials through Main Street America as a Main Street America Revitalization Professional, or MSARP, and is only one of nine people in the United States to do so.

Main Street America looks at revitalizing and protecting downtowns by using a four-point system focused on economic vitality, design, promotions and organization. Diana explains, “If you look back historically, downtown has always been the heart of the community.

Downtowns are a vital part of our

RDA Director Diana Schwartz is in costume and ready for the Market Monster Mash on Halloween. In the cover picture, Diana pauses on Bridge Street while riding a bike from the Danville Rides Bike Share Program. Download the Zagster App for a free one-hour ride. Photos by Michelle Dalton Photography.

lives, not only for the basics like somewhere to eat and shop but for social connectivity, which is a key part of feeling happy in your place and feeling like you’re a part of a community.”

With her training, Diana understands how to revitalize a downtown. She envisions RDA to be a one-stop shop for information on where to live, work, start a business, or have an event. She also stresses the importance of focusing on the River District. “It’s important for people to realize that what happens in the River District does not necessarily have a boundary,” says the mother of an adult daughter. “The progress that is made in the River District flows out to everywhere, not only to this community and county but the

region. There have to be places to shop and eat, things to do, and a vibrant community center.

It’s essential if we are going to be successful regionally that we make sure we are building that infrastructure to make it happen.”

Diana has been in Danville only a short time, but she says it already feels like home. “Danville has a rich history and beautiful architecture,” she comments and then continues after a thoughtful pause, “I’m drawn to water and here the river runs through the city. I love to hike. I love the Riverwalk. Honestly, more than anything though, I love the people.

I have never experienced so much hospitality.” With a big smile of contentment on her face, the new Executive Director of the RDA says

good-bye and hurries to work on the next big project.

• The River District Festival will be held October 19-22.

See page 12.

• The River District Association will be partnering with Danville Parks and Recreation for the free Market Monster Mash on Halloween, October 31, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. There will be a costume parade, trunkor-treat, a pumpkin carving contest, scarecrow stuffing, and more. Hotel Transylvania will be shown on the big screen outside. For more information, visit www.playdanville.com.

• To learn more about the RDA, visit www.danvilleriverdistrict. com or 442 Main Street or call 434.791.0219.

Page 4 October 2017

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SHE SAID

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Toby Lieb Oldham – I Love You!

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She said

A few years ago I told you that our lives were going to change. As usual, your comment was, “I don’t like change.”

You turned a deaf ear to me and it was just another typical day in paradise ending with the comment, “What’s for dinner?”

He Said

Photo by Michelle Dalton Photography

I couldn’t make you believe the depth of love you were going to experience one day when our children became parents.

I have five beautiful grandchildren, all different, yet all the same. You brag about them and their cute antics. You’re amazed about the things that they say and do and I know you love them very much. Last month when Toby Lieb Oldham was born, you had the same emotions I had when my grandchildren were born. I noticed how you teared up when you saw your son’s new baby, your first grandchild. I observed the tender look in your eyes as you held him and looked into his eyes.

Your sensitivity is one of the things that drew me to you in high school.

There is no need for me to describe the love you feel for your new family member. I can feel your love for that infant. One look at your face clearly describes your feelings for Toby Lieb Oldham.

HE SAID

by Larry Oldham How do you reach down into your very soul and describe to other people the depth of love that occurs in one day for a small baby? This is not just any child. Toby Lieb Oldham is my first grandchild, an adorable baby boy born to my son, Lance, and his wife, Vanessa. The anticipation

of his birth was much like the feeling I had when Lance, my first born, made his grand entrance. The day he arrived, I felt a burden of responsibility and a joyful feeling that this is my child; this is my reason from now until the day I die to do my utmost to insure that he is happy, protected, and cared for to the best of my ability. Those same feelings were magnified when my youngest son, Seth, was born.

You were right. Our lives changed with the birth of our grandchildren. The deep emotional attachment that I felt the moment I saw Toby brought tears to my eyes. The smiles and laughter from my son and his wife told me that their lives had been fulfilled and they were over the moon. Any parent would be happy to see his children so full of joy and excitement. That was all in a few minutes in the hospital hallway at 8:02 a.m. Now I understand what you have been trying to tell me. This is a feeling I will never forget. But wait. A few hours later, Toby was put into my arms. I have never experienced such closeness and bonding in a matter of a few minutes. The passion for another human being astounded me to my core. He never spoke to me, of course. His eyes said, “I love you.”

How can one baby boy speak volumes to a man without saying a word? How can one baby just a few hours old, melt the heart of a grandfather who thought he had experienced every emotion known to mankind? I can only say to you, Dena, that you were right. There is nothing like the joy of holding and feeling the love of your grandchild. Thank you, Toby Lieb Oldham. Granddad loves you.

He Said / She Said can be found in Showcase Magazine.

Evince Magazine Page  5

Page 6 October 2017

Renovation Reality Part 18

by Carla Minosh Unlike HGTV shows where home renovations are completed within 30 to 60 minutes, the Victorian house at the corner of Chestnut Place and Main Street in Danville has been under a transformation for 17 years.

This series that began in April 2016 explores the truth of home renewal from someone who has been there and done that. If you missed any of the installments, visit www.evincemagazine.com.

U

p in the bedroom, Tom

was making progress with

the wallpaper and was ready to work on the wainscoting. For this, we had chosen a Lincrusta pattern.

Lincrusta, a dimensional material, comes white and requires painting to match the decorating scheme. Tom used the same eight colors that were on the walls in other rooms with green as the base and bright gold as an accent.

Fortunately, these panels could be painted on a table top and installed after painting.

Working on the ceiling, however, proved more of a challenge than I had expected. We used Lincrusta on that surface too.

For this application, heavy rolls of a linseed-oil infused paper pulp product with a pattern pressed into it are used. It is thick and strong, perfect for covering plaster walls or ceilings that might otherwise show cracks. I started by thoroughly soaking it with water. Then, standing on scaffolding, I held the roll above my head as Tom applied the thick clay adhesive and we both pressed it against the ceiling with all our strength, being careful to follow precisely-marked chalk lines and working out any air pockets that would threaten the material’s ability to adhere to the ceiling. By the end of the first roll, my arms were shaking and useless. I simply lacked the upper body strength to hold up my end of the task. Fortunately,

a neighbor’s teenage son stepped in and took over. A cream-colored base was painted on with a stiff roller, a light coat of dull silver brought out the latticework of the pattern, and the alternating triangles and circles were each hit by hand with a coat of bright silver and bright gold. The trim and mantle were painted a bright greenish-gold that with the addition of a gilded overmantle mirror, brought the room together into a cohesive glorious jeweled box. All that was left was sanding the floors.

Ah, the floors! It turns out that the replacement flooring we installed when the steam line was relocated was far from a good match. As luck would have it, we needed to tear up that section of floor because the original heating company had installed the pipe tilting in the direction of the radiator, creating a pocket of water in the line just beneath the bed. This resulted in something called “steam hammer” which does just what its name says. It sounded like a gremlin was under the bed hitting the steam pipe below the flooring with all his might. This was only one of many radiators with the problem, therefore, loud hammering echoed from around the house when the heat was on.

Earplugs proved useless. The only solution was to turn off the heat when it was time for bed. Not down, but off. The difference in temperature wasn’t really discernible, however, because so many of the radiators we had installed didn’t produce heat.

We always awakened in a frigid house. Space heaters and electric blankets helped us survive the many years it took until we found a competent steam heating company from Baltimore to re-do the entire newly-installed heating system properly.

(to be continued)

Evince Magazine Page  7

Page 8 October 2017

Spotting Exceptional Customer Service

by Paula Mitchell

Recently, when my son, Dylan, purchased a used car, he wanted to have the transmission checked and the fluid changed. Before making a decision about where to take the car, he called a couple of places and asked a few questions. Every person he called seemed to talk down to him except the employees at Danville Transmissions.

Manager George Roos took the time not only to answer Dylan’s questions but to explain and help him in deciding what needed to be done, and more importantly, what didn’t need to be done.

We often hear so much negative feedback about customer service, it is nice to have a positive experience. The service at Danville Transmissions was excellent and prompt and everyone at the shop was pleasant. I highly recommend Danville Transmission. George, David, and the rest of the guys at the shop are awesome!

• Contact Danville Transmission at 434.799.1236.

Evince and the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce want to encourage and recognize exceptional customer service. When someone gives you exceptional service, please let us know. In 300 words or less, tell us what happened. Email your story to joycewilburn@ gmail.com or chamber@dpchamber.org.

Evince Magazine Page 9

Second Thoughts

by Kim Clifton ©2017

This Is for the Birds

in sweat. We discovered that synchronized celebrating was harder than it looked. After a while we’d had enough and so had Cal, except he was allowed to leave. We weren’t. We still had a job to do. His part had been replaced by someone clacking wooden sticks into a microphone.

Ours stayed the same.

Now it can be told. I am a professional actress.

With the 2017 World Series later this month, I’m reminded of a time when baseball launched my acting career. As always, I’m ahead of myself so let me give you a little back story.

My husband, Robert, and I are huge Kim looks on while film crew sets up. Inset, Cal Ripken autographed Kim’s souvenir Orioles business card. fans. Every September we would travel to and routinely working with Baltimore with the hope that celebrities like Téa Leoni, Alan we’d see our team take back Alda and Morgan Freeman. the pennant. Even if they Puh-lease. That’s nothing. My didn’t, it was always a great cousins only write the scenes. trip with sightseeing in the None of that matters without Inner Harbor and milling about actresses like me to bring the Camden Yards. As we left our stories to life...which takes us hotel one morning, a wrangler to my one morning of fame as from El Coyote Pictures of Los an extra. Robert and I waited Angeles stopped us. “How’d in the bleachers to begin along you like to be in a commercial with about fifty other equally with Cal Ripken?” the lady talented strangers who were with a clipboard asked. “We’ll also grabbed while walking. It pay you,” she added. This is was there that we were issued a moment that most people our official props…a cheap red would have shown some Solo cup and an empty hotdog hesitation, especially in today’s bun. I could tell this was going evil world. We could have to be a pretty high-dollar shoot. been the victims of human trafficking, a mugging or much Once we were all seated, the worse. Even with the voice of rehearsals began. The plan was my mother in my head warning, for us to jump up and scream “Don’t talk to strangers” when Cal Ripken hit the ball. we quickly nodded yes and That seemed easy enough. I’ve followed her through the jumped up. I’ve screamed. stadium’s gates like innocent And I’ve done both at the lambs to slaughter. same time…like at a picnic last summer when I almost sat If you’ve read my columns down on a wasp. So there we before, you know that my family were. When Cal hit the ball, we is no stranger to television with lit up the sky. It was so much two of my cousins enjoying fun -- for the first hour. After lucrative careers in the industry. the second, the autumn sun Even so, the best they can show turned up the heat and by the for it are Emmy nominations third hour we were drenched

“Now, then…when you think Cal hits the ball, remember to jump up and scream,” the director continued. I panicked. Suppose I think he crushed the ball and the person beside me thinks he bunted. Suppose I think it’s a hit and the others think it’s a foul. I needed direction. I needed instruction. After four hours, what I really needed was a shower.

I spent the better part of a morning in the sweltering heat, was ultimately paid only five bucks in cash, and my Orioles didn’t win the Series that year. Still, it was the best season ever.

Even though I never saw the commercial aired, it was an experience I’ll always treasure and it knocked having fun out of the park.

Page 10 October 2017 “Papa. Papa? Papa” Anna Margaret, aka Mandy Blue Eyes, daughter of Dr. Bartholomew Corinth

W

hen the yellow cab

carrying Papa pulled into

the driveway, Harold, my stepfather, stood up on the grand and Southern-style porch and gripped my mother’s trembling left hand. Reaching forward with his right, he said, “Bart, we would have driven ya’ll to the airport. Jeez man, take a hand sometimes, won’t you?” Papa smiled, but ignored the hand.

He wouldn’t step on that brickpaved porch. Papa just nodded to Mother. Mother carefully wiped tears smearing her mascara.

“Take care,” Mother said and pulled me into her perfumed arms whispering, “You come back.” Then she released me, searching my eyes for any doubt. I nodded to her, not really knowing you really never can come back. I know that now.

In Apollo’s Temple fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg

Daedalus hung those wings in the temple of Apollo.

A name-tag badge said Raoul something or other on a middleaged unsmiling picture, but Raoul seemed nice. Even now, I remember the smell of baby formula in the backseat of the cab and Raoul’s accented apologies.

We’re

on Danville!

Janet Donna Holley • Gibson Owner Owner

HOLLEY & GIBSON REALTY COMPANY

339 Piney Forest Rd., Danville, VA 24540

Office: (434) 791-2400 Fax: (434) 791-2122 Visit our website at

www.eraholleyandgibson.com WE’RE SELLING HOUSESSM

It was a thirty-minute drive to the airport, and Raoul asked if we wanted to hear the radio he had already turned on to some song about “getting your money for nothing and your checks for free.” Then a soulful song played about the night shift, one that I had listened to once in my bed as it rained outside. I remember we passed a corps of pine trees like bold soldiers as that yellow cab left the edges of Boris, North Carolina.

The last song I remember? Mr. Mister’s “Kyrie” wafting from the front seats, and all along Papa didn’t ask that any of the sad music be turned off. I remember twisting the hem of my pale-blue flowered top under my cardigan, admiring the shine of my grey leather MaryJane shoes. I remember I softly

sang along to all the words I knew; I just didn’t know much. Anyway, I don’t sing many songs now.

Wax brittle-crumble-dry those wings rested.

Outside the terminal, Papa put the ticket in my hand—that paper with tiny square holes along the edges and a carbon copy, all the copy pages confusing me because they said Rome and not Ireland like Papa had told me, had told Mother. I was fifteen, lost at the edges of my town and my understanding, and Papa leaned to me as we got out the cab.

“Do you love your Papa?” I nodded to him then, not understanding love really. I know that now. Luggage was taken from the back of the cab and I kept pulling and twirling a loose thread of my blouse. Papa said, “Stay close, Anna-Margaret.”

I had heard the whispers by now of Mother and Harold. The college had let him go, cutbacks, they said. Truth was he had become too radical, didn’t fit in with their image.

If pushed, he would say he couldn’t be confined by small minds, but looking back I think he just couldn’t handle the failed marriage, the dissolution of his family, and no one to reel him in from the ledge of his spectacular genius. Some cages we can carry; some we can’t.

No one needed to give Daedalus permission to build the temple. He was expected to mark his grief.

Don’t judge my Papa. He had to go on. Don’t judge me, for my slow

steps following him. I was scared, but what other choice did either of us have, even I know that. “You need to go to the restroom?” Papa said and I remember blushing that he would ask me that like I was five not fifteen. He looked at me with sharp sadness like a strap hones the knife. “Keep up, AnnaMargaret,” but I didn’t quite do it.

Looking at the magazine racks, the small high-priced restaurants, I clutched that ticket in a now sweaty palm. I had questions, and Papa let me walk behind him getting slower and slower, feeling my doubt of him like buckshot stinging. Sadness is water in your hand and no straw. I think Papa knew I couldn’t have survived, was dying even as I fell behind.

“Where are we going, Papa?” I said more to my suitcase than to him.

Papa didn’t answer me and still the crowd got thicker in opposite directions. He had to go on; he couldn’t come back for ghosts.

I heard the temple doors were tall and etched in gold.

I stopped to fix the ankle strap of my Mary Jane wedges. I looked up. “Papa. Papa?” And the crowd surrounded me in an indifferent swarm, but no Papa.

When I think of this myth now, I wonder what the sun god really thought of that Papa, his funeral rights, his grief, the child he flew over as it washed up blue-bloated on the shore.

Evince Magazine Page 11

Pittsylvania County Submitted by Lisa Tuite

Brosville/Cascade • Tuesdays: Needlework 10am Work on your own or get help.

Youth Crochet 4:30pm Learn basic stitches and get help on your projects.

• Wednesdays: Wednesdays for Wees 10am Stories and more for ages 0-5 and their caregivers.

• Wednesdays and Fridays: Activate 9am. Easy exercises to motivate and energize.

• October 2: Help, I Have a Computer Question 3pm • October 12: Embroidery 5:30pm Learn basic hand-embroidery stitches.

• October 13: Homeschool STEM 10am Join the staff for Fun with Sphero.

• October 16: Tween Time: 4:30pm ages 9-12; 4-H for Earth Day • October 19: Friends of Library Meeting 6pm Bingo will follow.

What’s Happening in the Public Libraries • October 20: Help, I Have a Computer Question 3pm • October 26: Quilting Fun 5:30pm Learn the basics of making a quilt.

Call for supply list.

Chatham • Mondays: Mother Goose on the Loose 11am stories and more for ages 0-3 and their caregivers • Tuesdays: Computer 1-on-1, 11am-noon • Wednesdays: Computer 1-on-1, 6-7pm • October 4: Preschool Storytime 10am ages 3-5.

• October 6: National Mad Hatter Day. Crochet 3-4:30pm. Learn or get help

South Boston Public Library Submitted by Jay Stephens

• Tuesdays: Itsy Bitsy PALS: 12:301:30pm ages birth-2 PALS: 2:30-4:30pm ages 2-7 Tweens and Teens: 4:30-5:30pm ages 8-17 Adult Crafts: 1pm • October 5: After-School Lego Club Session I, 5:30-6:30pm Session II, 6:45-7:45pm grades 3-6 Register at svhec.org/legoclub.

• October 10: Art @ the Library 4-5pm ages 5-17 • October 12: Meet Beth Macy, author of Truevine and Factory Man, 7pm • October 19: After-School Lego

Club Session I, 5:30-6:30pm Session II, 6:45-7:45 pm grades 3-6 Register at svhec.org/legoclub.

• October 20: Art for Adults 3-5pm ages 18+ • October 24: Art @ the Library 4-5pm ages 5-17 • October 28: Fall Fest 1-3 pm games, crafts, fun for all ages.

Costume contest at 2:30pm.

For more information, visit South Boston Public Library, 509 Broad Street, or www.halifaxlibrary.org, or call 434.575.4228

Halifax County Public Library Submitted by Jay Stephens

• Wednesdays: Itsy Bitsy PALS: 12:30-1:30pm ages birth-2 years PALS: 2:30-4:30pm ages 2-7 Tweens and Teens: 4:30-5:30pm ages 8-17 • Thursdays: Art @ the Library: 4-5pm ages 5 -17 • October 11: Adult Crafts 1pm • October 13: Easy Exercise for Adults 10am • October 17: Tea and Book Discussion Group 2:30-3:30pm • October 19: Art for Adults 10am-

noon ages 18+ • October 27: Easy Exercise for Adults 10am • October 31: The library will be giving away candy at the Town of Halifax Halloween Trick-or-Treat Trail starting at 6pm.

For more information, visit Halifax Public Library, 177 South Main St. in Halifax or www.halifaxlibrary.org or call 434.476.3357.

Gunn Memorial, Caswell County

Submitted by Erica Lowdermilk

Children • Tuesdays: Bookbaggers 3:30pm ages 6-12 • Wednesdays: Lambs and Lions 10am ages 0-5 Teens • Thursdays: 3:30-4:30 ages 12-18 Snacks provided.

Adults • October 9: Book Club 6pm.

For more information, visit 161 Main Street East, Yanceyville, NC or www. caswellcounty.gov/library or call 336.694.6241.

with your projects.

• October 11: Preschool Storytime 10am ages 3-5 • October 12: 2nd Thursday Discussion Group 4-5:45pm adults • October 17: Pumpkin Painting Craft 4-5:30pm all ages • October 18: Preschool Story Time 10am ages 3-5 • October 20: Crochet 3-4:30pm • October 26: Halloween Cupcake Decorating 4-5pm all ages • October 30: Game Night 4-6pm all ages. Play board games.

• October 31: Halloween Trick-orTreating 3-5pm kids only Gretna • Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays: Group Fitness10am. Exercise with our DVD collection. ages 18+ • Wednesdays: Preschool Read & Rhyme 10am Stories and more for ages 0-5 and their caregivers.

• Thursdays: Learn to Crochet 5pm • October 3: Homeschool Connection 11am Take a virtual tour of the globe.

DIY Craft 5pm Make upcycled Halloween luminaries. Program is free, but signup is required.

• October 10: 2nd Tuesday Recipe Club 5:30pm Theme is Appetizers and Desserts. Bring a dish and the recipe to share.

• October 17: Homeschool Connection 11am Take a virtual tour of the globe.

• October 24: Bingo for Books 5pm open to all ages free admission

• October 30: Costume Storytime 6:30-7:30pm Dress up and enjoy an evening story time.

• October 31: Homeschool Connection 11am Continue our virtual world tour.

Mt. Hermon • Wednesdays: Mother Goose on the Loose 10am stories and more for ages 0-3 and their caregivers.

• Fridays: Preschool Pals 10am stories, songs ages 3-5 • October 14: Crafty Saturday10am ages 12 and under • October 16: Knitting 6:30-8pm all skill levels welcome • October 30: Gaming with Friends 3-5pm. Play board games.

• October 31: Costume Storytime 4-4:30pm Family Movie Night 6pm Hocus Pocus.

History Research Center & Library • October 13: Friends of the Library Book Sale 9am-5pm • October 14: Friends of the Library Book Sale 10am-2pm free document shredding 11am-1pm.

• October 24: book signing with Will Melton 2-5pm Meet the co-author of Liberty’s War. • October 27: free books for nonprofits giveway noon-6pm Bring non-profit ID and boxes!

Unless otherwise noted, all programs are free. For more information, contact Gretna Library, 207 A Coffey Street, 434.656.2579; Mt. Hermon Library, 2725 Franklin Turnpike, 434.835.0326; History Research Center and Library, 340 Whitehead Street, Chatham; 434.432.8931; PCP Main Library, 24 Military Drive, Chatham, 434.432.3271; Brosville Library, 11948 Martinsville Highway 434.685.1285 or www.pcplib.org.

Danville Public Library

Submitted by Rachel Shaw

• Mondays: Storytime for ages 0-5: 11-11:30am Computer Basics: 11am-12:30pm Maker Lab Open Hours: 3-6pm • Tuesdays: Genealogy 101: Getting Started 11am-1pm Crafter’s Club: 4-6pm Fall Book Talk Series: 5:30pm • Wednesdays: Storytime for ages 0-5: 11-11:30am Mother Goose on the Loose at Westover: 11-11:30am Computer Basics: 11am-12:30pm Maker Lab Open Hours: 3-6pm • Thursdays: Intermediate Genealogy Classes: 11am-1pm Intermediate Computer Classes: 3:30pm-5pm • Fridays: Storytime for ages 0-5: 11-11:30am • October 2: Read It, See It Movie Matinee: Everything, Everything (PG-13) 11am

• October 4: Breast Cancer Awareness Tea 3-4pm • October 5: Alice’s Ordinary People: A Civil Rights Documentary screening with filmmaker Craig Dudnick 6pm • October 10: Westover Book Club 11am • October 18: Children’s Program at Westover 4pm • October 19: Let’s Talk Genealogy: Navigating Census Records 6pm • November 2: NaNoWriMo writing workshop with Fred Motley 5:30pm • November 9: Save Big During the Holidays: couponing class with Jaime 6:30pm All programs are free but require registration at ww.playdanvilleva.com.

For more information visit DPL, 511 Patton Street, www.readdanvilleva.org or call 434.799.5195. For the Westover Branch, visit 94 Clifton Street or 434.799.5152.

Page  12 October 2017

Top; Nigel owned by Deborah Tung.

Bottom: Sophia owned

by Amber DeBord

Pictured is the 2016 Best in Show winner, a watercolor by Jane Carter.

Evince Magazine Page 13

Bee keepers are now feeding bees, taking off excessive equipment, checking for mites and building up food supplies and population for the winter.

Love to Eat? Love Bees!

by Carrie Rogers, Danville Master Gardener

Love to eat? Thank the bees.

One out of every three bites of food in the United States depends on honey bees and other pollinators. Honey bees pollinate over eighty percent of all flowering plants, including seventy of the top one hundred food crops. Bees transfer pollen from one flower to another, fertilizing the plant so it can grow and produce food. Cross pollination not only helps food crops to thrive, but it assists ninety percent of our wild plants as well.

Unfortunately, colony collapse disorder or vanishing bee syndrome, a mysterious dieoff of domesticated honey bees in our area and across the United States, is a real concern. Scientists are working to discover the cause of this disorder that causes bee colonies to suddenly disappear.

Bees are also dying in large numbers because of parasites, pesticides, poor nutrition, and disease. The task of helping our bee friends to survive and flourish isn’t isolated to beekeepers. We can all help.

• Be mindful of chemical usage. Follow the directions carefully, especially in reference to the time of day

•

•

• •

•

•

for application to avoid killing pollinators. Pesticides are bad for humans; they are worse for bees. Investigate organic and natural means of pest control.

Plant a pollinator garden using a variety of native flowering plants that bloom throughout the growing season.

Provide a water source. A shallow container with small rocks for the bees to land on is ideal.

Support local beekeepers and buy their honey.

Tour a local beekeeper hive with your children. Teach them the importance of our interdependence with bees and how to protect them.

Establish a beehive in your yard. The Pittsylvania County Beekeeper’s Association meets on the second Thursday of each month in Chatham at Dadant & Sons, a beekeeping supply store, 820 Tightsqueeze Industrial Road.

Learn more at the Danville Master Gardeners annual Spring to Green event on February 3, 2018 at the Institute for Advanced Learning & Research. Visit www. danvillemastergardeners.org or call 336.340.1981.

Page 14 October 2017

October Calendar Abbreviation Key

• AU=Averett University, 434.791.5600 www.averett.edu • CRRC=Cancer Resource Center 434.421.3060 • DMFAH=Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History, 975 Main St. 434.793.5644 www.danvillemuseum.org • DSC=Danville Science Center, 677 Craghead St. 434.791.5160 www.dsc.smv.org • HNT=Historic North Theatre, 629 North Main St. Danville 434.793.7469 www.TheNorthTheatre.com • PA=Piedmont Arts, 215 Starling Ave, Martinsville 276.632.3221 www.PiedmontArts.org • RSG=Reid Street Gallery, 24 Reid St. Chatham 434.203.8062 reidstreetgallery.com • The Prizery=700 Bruce St., South Boston 434.572.8339, www.prizery.com

Ongoing

DSC Exhibit – From Here to There! explores how things move by land, sea, air.

Guided Walking Tours – Millionaires Row, Holbrook Street and Tobacco Warehouse District. Danville Historical Society. www.danvillehistory.org.

434.770.1974.

DMFAH self-guided audio-visual tours. 434.793.5644.

Public Library Events. See page 11.

Tai Chi with Wyona – A slow-moving exercise to enhance breathing, calm the mind, relieve stress $6. Ballou Rec. Center Mondays 11:15am-12:15pm & 5:45-6:45 p.m. Wednesdays 3:30pm4:30pm 434.799.5216.

Let’s Dance – Learn new dances, make new friends. Donna Robbins teaches a variety of dances in a fun atmosphere.

A partner is not necessary. Adults 18+.

Tues 7-8.30pm. Ballou Rec. Center.

434.799.5216.

Art with Judie – Learn how to paint with acrylic, oil, or water color. M/ TU – Times vary. Ballou Annex.

434.799.5216.

Kuumba African Dance – a great workout with live drumming and energetic dancing. Kids M/W 5.30pm; Adults M 6-7.30pm. 434.799.5150.

Prime Time Fitness – Low-impact aerobics workout with a mix of various dance steps. Tu/Th 9.30-11am. Ballou Rec. Center. 434.799.5216.

Zumba Classes – Hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves create a one-of-a-kind interval training fitness program with fun routines that tone and sculpt the body while burning fat. 434.797.8848.

Art with Flo – Wet-on-wet technique of oil painting. Ages 18+. W 9.3011.30am. Glenwood Community Center; 6-8pm, Ballou Annex.

434.799.5216.

African Rhythms by Nguzo Saba – West African dance to live drumming.

W 6-7pm. Pepsi Building.

434.797.8848.

Ballou Jammers – Acoustic musical jamboree. Bring a stringed instrument or listen. TH 3-5pm. Ballou Rec. Center.

434.799.5216.

Friday Night Fun and Dance – Live music provided by the City Limits Band on the first, third, and fifth Friday.

The Country Pride Band plays on the second and fourth Friday. Ages 50+.

F 7.30-10.30pm. Ballou Rec. Center.

434.799.5216.

October 1

Chatham Concert Series: Celtic, Japanese & French Impressionist Selections performed by the Silver and Strings Quartet: Kevin Matheson, violin; Bryan Matheson, viola; Julee Hickcox, flute; Helen Rifas, harp. Emmanuel Episcopal Church 66 North Main St Chatham 3pm Danville Area CROP Hunger Walk: to bring awareness to hunger and poverty issues. Ballou Park 760 West Main St. registration 2:30pm walk 3pm 434.793.6824

October 1 (thru 15)

DMFAH art shows: Photography

by Jesse Andrews in the Jennings gallery and items from the National Tobacco & Textile Museum’s collection featuring tobacco advertising from the second half of the 19th century in the Schoolfield gallery.

October 2 (thru 6)

Scholastic Book Fair: Sacred Heart Catholic School. 540 Central Blvd Danville 8am-3:30pm 434.793.2656

October 3

Landscaping Preparation and Maintenance: AU Student Center Multipurpose Room 204 Woodland Dr 7pm

Michael Morgan will open. Carrington Pavilion 629 Craghead St Danville $27.50 & $37.50 434.793.4636 www. danvilleHarvestJubilee.org

October 14 (thru 28)

Halloween Spooktacular Stage Illusion Show: Historic North Theater Prices and times vary

October 14

Fall Vendor Blender: food, face painting, painted pumpkins, corn hole games, 30 local vendors displaying art, crafts, etc. Central Blvd. Church of God, 235 Hairston St. behind Stratford Conference Center 10am-2pm Pumpkin Palooza Fall Festival: Pumpkin carving contest, games, live music, food and drinks. PA 4-8pm Roasting and Toasting Oyster Roast & Buffet Dinner: benefiting Epiphany Episcopal School. Two Witches Winery and Brewing 209 Trade St Danville 6-9:30pm $50 434.792.4334

October 19 & 20

Rummage Sale: Antiques, clothes, collectibles, housewares, and more All proceeds benefit Temple Beth Sholom.

October 19 5-9pm; October 20 7am– 5pm 129 Sutherlin Ave Danville

October 19 (thru 22)

River District Festival. See page 12.

October 20

Speed Networking: Averett graduates or other professionals are invited to talk with AU students. AU 420 W. Main St Danville 434.791.5629 or amcadams@ averett.edu

October 5, 12, 19 & 26

October 20 & 21

October 6

October 20 (thru 22)

Throw Paint at Cancer: peer-to-peer support group for cancer survivors and caregivers. Registration required.

DMFAH 4-6pm free Virginia Colorectal Cancer Roundtable Central/Southern VA: SOVAH Danville, New College Institute Martinsville, 9:15am- 2:45pm 434.421.3060.

Science After Dark: DSC 5:30-9pm $5 free for college students Jason Springs: singer/songwriter from Danville. Violet T. Frith Fine Arts Center 150 Mountain View Ave Danville 7pm $5

October 7

“It’s Going to the Dogs” Book Fest: featuring authors of dog-or-cat themed books and pet related activities.

Brewed Awakening 610 Craghead St 10am-2pm 434.483.2138 Autumn Potpourri: Callands Festival 10am-4pm Moon River Magic Art Gala: artwork of all styles and prices for sale, open bars and hors d’oeuvres. The Prizery tickets $75 catherine@prizery.com

October 12

Health Summit 2017: 8:30am4pm AU 420 West Main St. www. thehealthcollab.com/health-summit

October 13

Trace Adkins Concert: William

Entries for the Danville Art League’s annual juried art show Nature’s Pallet should be dropped off at the DMFAH 12-2pm AU Homecoming

October 20 (thru 29)

The Miracle Worker: The Prizery: Times and prices vary. www.prizery.com

October 21

Danville Family YMCA Kid’s Triathlon: a mini triathlon with swimming, biking and running.

Registration open until Oct. 14. 215 Riverside Dr. 10am $25 434.792.0621 Antique Car Cruise-In: K of C Hall, 3777 Westover Dr. Danville 4pm Danville Symphony Orchestra Fall Classical Concert with Greensboro Philharmonia: GW High School 701 Broad St 8pm free

October 23 (thru November 27)

AU Student Art Show: Jut’s Cafe 204 Woodland Dr and Blount Library 344 W. Main St

October 2017 S M T 1 2 3 8 9 10 15 16 17 22 23 24 29 30 31

W T F S 4 5 6 7 11 12 13 14 18 19 20 21 25 26 27 28

October 24

Women Composers: featuring music

by Janet W. Phillips, flute, and Dr. Anne Lewis, piano. West Main Baptist Church 450 W. Main St Danville 7pm free. See page 12.

October 26 (thru 29)

Into the Woods: PHCC Patriot Players Walker Fine Arts/Student Center Theatre Martinsville prices vary www. phccpatriotplayers.com

October 27

Canvas & Cabernet, social painting class, pre-registration & payment required. Cash bar / concessions.

DMFAH 6:30-9pm

October 28

Fall Fest 2017: featuring games, a costume contest, and activities. South Boston Public Library 509 Broad St 1-3pm free 434.575.4228 Holidays at the Museum: art class on mask-making and creating pumpkin faces. ages 7-12. DMFAH 10am-1pm $30 434.793.5644

October 29

Brews Not Bruises: a fundraiser for Haven of the Dan River Region. 10% of all proceeds will benefit Haven. Ballad Brewing, 600 Craghead St Danville 128pm Nature’s Palette: exhibit at DMFAH opening reception 2:30-4:30pm Exhibit closes December 22.

October 30

Glow with the Flow: race and block party Main Street Plaza Danville 7:15pm $20 434.799.5150 Pottery Classes: Mondays 6-9pm Preregistration & payment required $95 for DMFAH members; $105 for others 434.792.5355 to register. Persons enrolled in this class may use the studio anytime DMFAH is open.

October 31

Step by Step to Wellness: Meet at Karen’s Hallmark, Danville Mall 9:30am to walk. Meet at Nature’s Essentials, 413 Mount Cross Road, for program “Complimentary Medicine: Reflexology” 10:30am 434.421.3060 email dwhittle@vcu.edu.

Market Monster Mash: See page 3.

Upcoming November 4

Fall Bridge Street Food Truck Rodeo: Bridge Street Danville 12-6pm

November 5

Veterans Parade: 2:30pm begins at the intersection of Broad and Main Streets and ends at the intersection of Main and Craghead Streets 434.836.0745

For more events see Calendar Clips on pages 12.

The deadline for submitting information for the November calendar is Wednesday, October 18, at 5:00 p.m.

Please send just the basic information following the format on these pages to joycewilburn@gmail.com.

Evince Magazine Page 15

HELLO, HEALTH.

Danville Regional Medical Center and Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County are now Sovah Health.

It’s time to welcome health in new ways. Your local hospitals are now Sovah Health. Together we are stronger.

We’re more than two hospitals—we’re your neighbors, friends and family. We understand this region because we live here, and we’re uniting to serve your needs and nurture the health of our communities for generations to come.

From preventative care and specialty care to convenient walk-in clinics and emergency room visits, Sovah Health cares for you during every stage of life. Say hello to caring. Say hello to a healthier you. Say hello to Sovah Health.

Learn more at SovahHealth.com.

Page 16 October 2017

We Love Danville!

by Rachel Covington, Averett University Assistant Director of Community Engagement Danville, Virginia, is a city that was born and raised on two industries—tobacco and textiles.

They brought the city fame and fortune and when these prosperous businesses left the area, the city and its population were devastated. Textiles and tobacco had defined Danville’s identity, so when that was taken away, what were we to do?

in 2016. The student group seeks to cultivate leaders who can express and exchange ideas with community leaders.

To that end, members attend city council meetings to stay abreast of the city’s business, but they also meet with city council members to express the needs and desires of the college students.

In the early 2000s, several organizations and community members stepped up to encourage citizens to redefine the region’s identity. Today, the slogan for the City of Danville’s River District is Reimagine That!

In an effort to continue this ownership and investment in the city’s future, internationally known speakers have come to talk about micro place-making and how to love the city in which we live.

In addition to serving as a voice for college students, the LDHEC seeks to reverse any negative perceptions of Danville that might exist. Last spring, the group hosted Love Danville Week. Students left “love notes” around campus encouraging others to reimagine Danville.

Through post-it notes, sidewalk chalk, stickers, window paint, T-shirts, and social media, they created a buzz across campus that resulted in a wave of students, faculty, and staff also sharing why they #lovedanvilleva. Through the LDHEC, Averett students are able to see the importance of engaging in their community and the numerous ways to do it.

In addition, they are learning to love where they live! They invite you to join them.

One of these talks, presented

by Peter Kageyama, inspired a student at Averett University to challenge the status quo.

Kageyama spoke about loving where you live and simple ways to show that love. The student saw a need for Kageyama’s “love notes” on the AU campus, and he brought his idea of creating a student group of Danville “brand ambassadors” to life.

DIY: Do or Don’t?

Tiered Stand

by Kristi Hall With holiday celebrations around the corner, I discovered a perfect way to display treats! These supercheap stands spice up any get-together.

Use as a cupcake stand for a birthday or Halloween party or dessert/appetizer stand for Thanksgiving. If you have a color scheme, spray paint the plates.

Supplies: • plates of your choice • candlestick holders of your choice • glue-extra strong • spray paint (optional) Directions: 1. Start gluing! I tried to hot-glue the top of the candlestick holder to the bottom of the plate. It didn’t work. Use super glue or Gorilla Glue. If you only have

• If you would like to support the LDHEC, buy a Love Danville T-shirt for $12 or a Love Danville sticker for $2 at the CCECC, 204 Woodland

hot glue, use several layers.

2. Repeat until you have a candle holder, plate, candle holder, plate.

3. Customize. I really liked the silver plates and didn’t paint them.

I give this project five out of five stars. I spent under $10 for all supplies for two stands.

Email comments to: kristi@funtionalmovement.com.

Drive, on AU’s campus. For more information, email rcovington@averett.edu or call 434.791.7215.

With the help of the Center for Community Engagement & Career Competitiveness (CCECC), the Love Danville Higher Education Council (LDHEC) was created

Left: AU student, Frances Carlton, models the T-shirt. Above: AU student, Lindsey Fulcher, puts a Love Danville sticker on the windshield.

Evince Magazine Page 17

Book Clubbing A Review by Diane Adkins

This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live

by Melody Warnick

Peter Kageyama, author of Love Where You Live: Creating Emotionally Engaging Places, spoke in 2015 at a Danville Regional Foundation event. This year, the Foundation brought Blacksburg resident, Melody Warnick, to speak on her book, which also focuses on the importance of creating livable, attractive places that make us want to stay.

Warnick is at her most engaging when she tells the story of her family’s move from Austin, Texas, to Blacksburg, Virginia, and how she viewed it as an opportunity to re-invent herself, become somehow “more” than she was before—more pleasant, more patient, happier. But what she calls “the geographic cure” didn’t quite work. Blacksburg didn’t woo her, and though she didn’t hate it, she didn’t love it either. Her solution? Answering the broader question of what draws and connects us to our cities and towns--what place attachment entails. In the process of interviewing researchers and people doing the work of placemaking, she identifies ten place attachment behaviors. These range from walk more, to eat local, to create something new. She commits to a couple of behaviors related to each in an attempt to love where you live.

If you have read any of Gretchen Rubin’s work on happiness, some of this is going to feel familiar. It’s predicated on the ideas that underpin cognitive behavior therapy: change your patterns of thinking or behaving, and you’ll change the way you feel. So, if you want to love a place, do things that might lay the groundwork for that love to develop. Before her Danville visit, Warnick said that “people already feel a sense of loyalty and love for their town, and I help them recognize that and turn it into action to make it a place where anyone would want to live.” After Kageyama’s appearance, DRF President/CEO Karl Stauber asked, in an article in the Register and Bee, “How do you change where you live to make it more lovable for you and for others? How do you help make your place more fun and more interesting?”

I have nothing against making our region attractive, livable, and sustainable, but I read these books and comments with a sense of unease. They seem to me to come, at least in part, from a place of privilege. Many of our neighbors in Southern Virginia are too busy trying to figure out how to pay bills for life’s necessities to worry about whether or not they love where they live. Are we hearing their voices, too? When we do the work of placemaking, it has to be inclusive or it’s just more civic cheerleading. Perhaps we can do more work on the side of providing affordable childcare, eradicating poverty, confronting racism, and making sure everyone has a seat at the table. Connecting people and hearing all voices might be the most important thing that will make us a community of choice for years to come.

Diane S. Adkins is a retired library director.

Page 18 October 2017

I

n the March 2017 issue of Decanter Magazine, Grammy-award-winning singer, songwriter and actress Pink, says, “Châteauneuf-duPape made me love wine.”

Châteauneuf-du-Pape (shah-toenuf-dew-pahp) translates loosely as, “new castle of the pope” and comes from the village of the same name near the town of Avignon in southern France.

During the 14th century, this area was part of the Holy Roman Empire, not France, when there was a conflict between the French crown and the papacy that resulted in a series of popes residing in Avignon instead of Rome. This confirms what Madeline Puckette writes in her “Wine Folly” blog that wine is “like a micro time travel machine in a bottle.”

Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines are intensely flavored, full-bodied red wines made mostly with the classic southern Rhône grape trio: grenache, syrah, and mourvedre. These three grape varieties are in most of this area’s red wines, although a total of eighteen are approved

for use. That reminds me of another of Madeline’s reasons for loving wine, “During the process of fermentation, chemical processes occur that create aroma compounds. There are hundreds of these compounds found in wine and many of them are identical to flavors and aromas in other foods.”

Discovering these flavors and aromas is a seemingly neverending adventure for those who love wines. Madeline’s last reason for loving wine is also mine, you can’t know it all but it is so much fun learning all you can. ”Each bottle is an opportunity to delve into a cultural tradition and history. Each wine variety is a small piece of the earth’s geology and biology.”

The Wine Spot Do You Have a Crush on Wine?

Or Are You in Love?

by Dave Slayton

a member of the Master Court of Sommeliers

May you never stop learning about and loving wine. And the next time you are sipping on Châteauneuf-du-Pape, sing that French song you learned in childhood “Sur Le Pont d’Avignon” (The Bridge in Avignon). If you don’t remember it, consult YouTube and you’ll probably recognize it immediately and smile. Cheers!

Evince Magazine Page  19

Page 20 October 2017

Reflecting Forward Friends, Furniture and a Groundhog – It’s Complicated

by Linda Lemery

I

love to help people, but sometimes that’s more complicated than it seems. For example, this true story involves five people, two pieces of furniture, and a groundhog.

Why Fall in Love?

by Carollyn Peerman Why do we want to fall in love? Because it makes us feel completely alive! Every sense is heightened; every emotion is magnified. Everyday reality is shattered and we are flung into the heavens. When we fall in love, we hear the music of the Italian composer Puccini in our heads fully expressing our longing for passion and romantic love. It may only last a moment, an hour, or an afternoon, but that doesn’t diminish its value. We treasure the memories that we make for the rest of our lives. Romantic love can have a short shelf life and it can be devastatingly painful. So why do we buy it?

It is because “love makes one calmer about many things, and that way, one is more fit for one’s work,” said Vincent Van Gogh.

It is because “love seems to beautify and inspire all nature.

It raises the earthly caterpillar into the ethereal butterfly; paints the feathers in spring, and lights the glowworm’s lamp; it wakens the song of birds,” wrote John Lubbock. A life without love is like a year without summer. “While it

lasts, it feels just great,” said Rose Morgan as played by Barbara Streisand in the 1996 movie The Mirror Has Two Faces.

Rose, who lives with her mother, is a professor of romantic literature. She desperately longs for passion in her life. Gregory Larkin as played by Jeff Bridges, is a mathematics professor. He has been burned by passionate relationships and longs for a sexless union based on friendship and respect. They have almost nothing in common, but a personal ad brings them together.

Without physical attraction to complicate matters, Rose and Greg become best friends and soon agree to an unconventional marriage built on intellectual passion instead of sexual heat.

But when two people meet, marry, try to remain celibate and then fall in love, they realize they are courting chaos. What happens next? You will just have to see the movie. I’ve watched it so many times I’ve lost count.

It confirms my opinion, that the greatest tragedy in our lives is when we cease to love.

Once upon a time, a couple needed a queen-sized mattress. A friend offered them one if my husband, Steve, and I could pick it up. The friend was also giving away a couch and the couple wanted that, too.

Steve and I have an old trailer that we use for just such occasions, although we needed help to wiggle it out of the back gate and hook it up to the hitch on the van (which also means we had to find the hitch).

Because we were coordinating the schedules of five people with the weather, we had to plan ahead and the smallest deviation could disrupt the plan. Unknown to us, a small disruption with four legs had been months in the making.

Earlier in July, forty tomato plants had taken root and were growing in our back yard. I was excited about all the late tomatoes we would have and then the groundhog showed up. The first inkling I had of the intruder’s presence was the plants – they were pulled over instead of standing straight.

Eventually, I noticed that the green tomatoes were vanishing. Finally, one morning I saw the groundhog happily chewing – having the nerve to stand on his hind legs on a garden step so he could better reach the tomatoes of his choosing!

I snapped a bad picture and he disappeared. We blocked all the holes under the fences only to see him eating the next day and then running away by climbing up one side of the chain-link fence and down the other. At that point, a neighbor offered me a humane trap Fast forward two days.

We were rushing to leave for our carefully scheduled trip out of town to pick up the

furniture, when Steve sang out, “We got the groundhog!” There it was in the trap, looking tired. Steve put on heavy gloves, gingerly picked up the trap, set it in the back of the van and put the pedal to the metal.

We stopped ten miles outside the city limits in a densely wooded area, opened the trap door, and the groundhog streaked into the brush like a low-flying rocket. A little while later, when we arrived to pick up the furniture, we babbled on about the groundhog, bagged the mattress, (Of course, I had the right size mattress bag with me; I save everything.) crammed a tarp on top, tied it all down with ratchet ties and bungee cords, and off we went like the Beverly Hillbillies.

The next task was to wrestle the mattress and the couch up the twisting front staircase to their new Danville home. With some pummeling, the mattress arrived upstairs, but maneuvering the 7.5 foot couch with its rigid geometry was more difficult. After dark, we abandoned the couch, went to dinner, and came back in the morning to renew the attack using the narrow back stairs. Somehow we shoved that couch up two flights, shimmied it through four doorways, and landed it in its new living room. But we weren’t done.

Remember we also had to haul the old furniture down the stairs and away. We went home and collapsed.

Yes, it’s good to love helping others and the complications teach me flexibility!

About the Author: When she’s not wrestling a huge couch up a tiny staircase, Linda Lemery llemery@averett.edu works as Circulation Manager at Averett University’s Mary B. Blount Library in Danville. She welcomes reader comments.

Evince Magazine Page 21

Why I Love to Cook!

by Annelle Williams

My love for cooking is fueled by my love for feeding people. I enjoy sitting around the table, sharing good food, hearing stimulating conversation and laughter and sometimes even shedding a few tears. Food brings people together for discussions that lead to better understanding between them or just plain fun.

Our lives are so busy. Slowing down and coming together over delicious food is good for all of us.

Here’s a dish you can bring to the table with confidence that everyone will leave with a smile. It’s an apple cake made in my trusty forty-seven years old iron skillet. We bought it when we were married, seasoned it, and have been using it ever since. I’ve inherited other iron skillets that are much older from my grandmother and some from my mom and dad. I love them all and each time I use them I think about the meals that were prepared in them. They represent lots of love and I am reminded of my dad who always said it’s not what’s on the table that really matters, but who is Around the Table.

Skillet Apple Cake (adapted from Milkstreet.com) 7-8 apples peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I used a mix of Golden Delicious and Granny Smith.)

1 stick butter plus more for pan 1/4 tsp. allspice 12 T sugar

1/2 tsp. salt 2 T amaretto (or brandy) 2/3 cup flour, plus more for pan 1 tsp. baking powder 2 large eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°. Add butter to heavy pan large enough to hold apple slices. Melt butter over medium heat. Continue to cook until butter is beginning to brown, swirling occasionally. Pour butter into heat-proof bowl, leaving a small amount of butter in pan. Add allspice to butter in bowl, stir to combine and set aside. Add apple slices to large pan over medium-high heat with small amount of butter left in bottom. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and salt to apples. Stir occasionally and cook until apples have given off their liquid and it has evaporated. This takes about 12-15 minutes. Add amaretto. Stir and remove from heat after a minute. Pour apples onto plate and place in refrigerator, uncovered, until cooled (15-20 minutes).

Grease an eight-inch iron skillet with butter. Dust with flour. Mix together flour, baking powder, nine tablespoons sugar, eggs and vanilla. Whisk in cooled melted butter. Fold cooled apples into batter and pour into prepared skillet.

Sprinkle last tablespoon of sugar over top. Bake 35-40 minutes until well browned. Let cake cool completely in pan to ensure center is fully set, then turn onto plate or serve from skillet. Top with vanilla ice cream.

Questions or comments?

Email me: AnnelleWilliams@comcast.net I look forward to hearing from you!

Page 22 October 2017

Photo Finish On September 14, United Way of Danville-Pittsylvania County held its annual campaign kickoff in the President’s Suite at Frank R. Campbell Stadium on Averett University’s North Campus. The organization is hoping to raise $735,000 to help the community.

They celebrated their kickoff with guest speaker, Donald Smith, food, and games.

Captions by Lanie Davis.

All photos by Von Wellington.

For more info visit www.vonwellington photography.com or call 434.770.3553. See more pictures on Facebook.

Bernetha Saunders, Corey Williams, Merinda H. Wall, and Leonard Piercy from American National Bank socialize at the kickoff.

Tammy White from Danville Social Services and John Moody, Director of Danville Social Services, attend the kickoff.

Katina Davis, Michelle McCormick, Threllis Hall, and Keddra Walker compete on a team in a Jeopardy-style game.

Barry Richmond chats with Gary Cotta, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries of South Central Virginia.

Members of the United Way Board, Donna Higdon and Heather Satterfield, pose for a picture.

Buddy Rawley, VP for Institutional Advancement at Averett University, stops for a picture with Greg Vest, Chairman of the United Way campaign from UPS.

Patricia Ann Dudley and Faith Stamps from the Boys and Girls Club are all smiles at the kickoff.

United Way CEO Philip Haley and Phillip Gardner of the Danville Golf Club wear matching United Way shirts.

Evince Magazine Page  23 Takiya Smith, Tiana Noble, Patricia Moore, Shamar Harris, and De’Asia White paint rocks outside of the kickoff party.

Tracey and Michael Bethel smile for a picture.

Terri Haley Hall, a member of the Danville Public School Board, stands between Phil Hall and Philip Haley.

Sierra Petty, Goodwill Career Center Coordinator, and Traci Petty, Director of Community Impact and Operations at United Way, are a mother-anddaughter team.

Former NFL player and teacher at Bonner Middle School, Donald Smith, was the guest speaker. He poses with Danville Mayor John Gilstrap.

Danville Mayor John Gilstrap and Danville Public Schools Superintendent Stanley Jones are kicking it with the George Washington High School cheerleaders.

The George Washington High School cheerleaders welcome guests.

Jocelyn Coles shows Cathy Davis her handmade bridal gowns.

Terri West talks with Brandon Atkins about the campaign.

Page  24 October 2017