Evince Magazine February 2021

The Wine Spot

Will It Be Red or White Wine for Valentine’s Day? Page 7

Enjoying DSO Concerts During COVID Page 11

Around the Table

Kim Grossman

Page 13

See Page 5

Beef Wellington & Strawberry Heart Meringues

Says Good Night, Sleep Tight

Page  2 February 2021

Photo by Michelle Dalton Photography

Editor’s Note

To sleep, perchance to dream.

With a nod to Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet, this phrase comes to mind when talking to the sleep expert pictured on the cover, Kim Grossman.

Read tips on getting a good night’s sleep from this adult nurse practitioner/goat farmer in “Good Night, Sleep Tight” on page 5. If you hear voices while sleeping, maybe your house is talking to you! That’s what Carla Minosh writes about in “Renovation Reality” on page 6. Do you have dreams or nightmares about your cluttered house? Linda Lemery feels your pain. Read “Reflecting Forward” on page 11.

Don’t forget your valentine on Sunday, February 14. Annelle Williams has a great dinner menu on page 13. Dave Slayton has a wine suggestion or two on page 7.

If you’re looking to get out of the house, use “Photo Finish” on page 14 as a guide for a trip around Danville. It’s an entertaining, local history lesson.

February Contents

3 Editor’s Note

5 Kim Grossman / Says Good Night, Sleep Tight

by Joyce Wilburn 6 Renovation Reality

What Is Your House Saying to You?

by Carla Minosh

Carols Part II Fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg 7 The Wine Spot

Will It Be Red or White Wine for Valentine’s Day?

by Dave Slayton 8 Calendar 9 Trivia Night 11 Reflecting Forward

I’m Dreaming of a Calm, Predictable 2021

by Linda Lemery

Enjoying DSO Concerts During COVID

by Mac Williams

12 Book Clubbing

One Night Two Souls Went Walking

by Ellen Cooney

review by Diane Adkins 13 Around the Table

Beef Wellington & Strawberry Heart Meringues

by Annelle Williams

14 Photo Finish On the Cover: Photo of Kim Grossman by Michelle Dalton Photography

THE

OICE OF MIDWINTER DREAMING

CEO / Publisher Andrew Scott Brooks Editor Joyce Wilburn (434.799.3160) joycewilburn@gmail.com Copy Editors Jeanette Taylor Larry Wilburn Contributing Writers

Diane Adkins, Lewis Dumont, Helen Earle, Karen Harris, Telisha Moore Leigg, C.B. Maddox, Carla Minosh, Dave Slayton, Joyce Wilburn, Annelle Williams, Mac Williams

Art & Production Director Demont Design (Kim Demont) Finance Manager Cindy Yeatts (1.434.709.7349) Marketing Consultants For ad information contact a marketing consultant listed below.

Lee Vogler Director of Sales and Marketing (434.548.5335) lee@evince magazine.com Kenny Thornton Jr Account Executive (434.250.3581) kenny@showcasemagazine.com Kim Demont Graphic Design, Marketing (434.792.0612) demontdesign @verizon.net evince\i-’vin(t)s\ 1: to constitute outward evidence of 2: to display clearly; reveal syn see SHOW Deadline for submission of March stories, articles, and ads is Friday, February 19, at 5:00 p.m.

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

Whether daydreaming with eyes wide-open or during a long winter’s nap or night dreaming while sleeping, may all the good dreams become reality and the bad dreams disappear. This is our wish for you.

Editorial Policies

Evince is a free monthly magazine with news about entertainment and lifestyle in Danville and the surrounding area. We reserve the right to accept, reject and edit all submissions and advertisements.

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Cost is $24 a year.

joycewilburn@gmail.com

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. Lizzy Lou Boutique, 310 Main Street, Danville, lizzylouboutique.com

Evince Magazine Page 3

Do you count sheep or goats to fall asleep? Read other tips on page 5.

Photo by Taylor Sanom

© 2021 All rights reserved. Reproduction or use in whole or in part in any medium without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Page  4 February 2021

Evince Magazine Page 5

Kim pets the livestock guard dogs. The short-haired dog, left, is an Anatolian Shepherd and the fluffy dog, right, is a Maremma.

A

dult Nurse Practitioner Kim

Grossman sits in a

comfortable chair on his front porch in the Spring Garden community, looks at the frolicking goats that populate the surrounding farmland, and laughs. He’s holding a card given to him by a co-worker at SOVAH Pulmonary Clinic that states, “If you have no trouble, buy a goat!” Acknowledging that the Persian proverb might be true, Kim and his wife, Marilyn, have at least seventy troubles, but they are not losing any sleep over it.

Maybe that’s due to a wealth of knowledge about the causes and effects of sleep deprivation that Kim has gathered over the last decade.

“I’ve been practicing sleep medicine at the Pulmonary Clinic for over ten years,” says the former Chief Nursing Officer at Danville Regional Medical Center. The New York native who has lived in a half-dozen states is ready to share pages of information that will help anyone who has trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. (Those facts are in the sidebars.)

“Sleep is a normal body function like breathing,” he elaborates.

“The concept of consolidated eight hours of sleep, however, is a relatively new phenomenon.

It wasn’t until the advent of the incandescent light that people thought they should stay awake and not go to sleep when it was dark.” When artificial light is the

Goats pose for the camera while waiting for lunch.

Photos by Michelle Dalton Photography.

Kim Grossman Says Good Night, Sleep Tight

by Joyce Wilburn

Why Can’t I Fall Asleep and/or Stay Asleep?

1. mental factors: Thinking about problems. Wait until morning to solve them. Instead of worrying, try to breath slowly, meditate, or pray.

2. obstructive sleep apnea: Snoring and a lack of breathing while sleeping will wake you. This condition is called apnea and is sometimes brought on by obesity.

3. drinking alcohol: It impairs your central nervous system,

relaxes muscles in your neck and throat and leads to sleep apnea. Alcohol also reduces the restorative effects of sleep by interfering with the normal cycles of deep and REM sleep.

4. lack of activity: You won’t be tired enough to sleep if you don’t exercise.

5. eating close to bedtime: Stop eating two hours before bedtime to give time for digestion.

What Should I Do/Not Do for a Good Night’s Sleep?

1. Limit naps during the day.

2. Don’t drink caffeine past noon.

3. Go to bed at the same time each night including weekends.

4. Wake up at the same time each morning including weekends.

5. Avoid heavy meals several hours before bedtime.

6. Relax an hour before bed by reading, meditating, or taking a bath.

7. Do not use electronic devices before bedtime.

8. Exercise regularly but not before bedtime.

9. Monitor alcohol intake.

10.Create a dark, cool bedroom.

norm, the retina is stimulated and the production of the hormone, melatonin, which helps a person fall asleep, is reduced. Therefore, being surrounded by light keeps people awake. Previously, when the only light source was either expensive candles or fire in a fireplace, it was customary to go to bed shortly after the evening meal. Kim picks up the story of what would have happened the next morning, “You woke up early, stoked the fire, fed the livestock and then took a nap or what was called second sleep.”

Kim can talk as easily about the effects of sleep deprivation as he does about raising goats.

Walking toward a nearby field, he explains why he and his wife of twenty-one years decided to start breeding the likable animals nine years ago. “We wanted to preserve the family farm. My hair-brain idea was that goats would control the weeds so we bought a half-dozen of them. It would have been a lot cheaper and a lot easier to buy a large bushhog and cut everything!” he says while laughing. Although the couple earned certification from the University of Tennessee as master meat goat producers, their days of raising goats might be coming to an end in a few years. Turkeys, however, are on the horizon. While that might be undecided, it’s a sure thing that whether the couple raises goats or turkeys, neither Kim nor Marilyn will lose any sleep over it.

Page 6 February 2021

Renovation Reality What Is Your House Saying to You?

by Carla Minosh The Victorian mansion at the corner of Chestnut and Main Streets in Danville has been under renovation for decades.

The owners are often asked how they decide what to do next. Here is one explanation.

If you have missed any of their stories, they can be found at www.evincemagazine.com.

Click on virtual magazines.

W

hile some say our house looks haunted and others say they feel a presence here, I have not been visited by any of our home’s previous occupants or heard even a single peep from them. That being said, however, the house has had plenty to say about all kinds of things. Its voice is loud and cannot be ignored!

While trying to decide whether

Carols II fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg Mama Mandy hugged him at the wedding, him frail and dying in his baggy suit and unlaced wingtip shoes. She was the one who led him to the reception room with crepe-paper pastel hearts.

Sadness is its own tongue spoken with no meaning, a rough stone rolling on the back of your throat until you choke it down...until it becomes a part of you and then... and then….you know sorrow, without being able to say it. You understood the rough path of how it made it to your heart cutting along the way. When I call the house phone, when I call home, Mean Keisha cusses me out, and she is always the one who answers the phone. No one answers any cell. I admit, I am a little angry at Old Man in a quiet way. I can see now how he used me and I should tell him how he used me.

I should leave, but I couldn’t really look at Old Man / Dr. Corinth now

to tackle the kitchen or the dining room for the next renovation project, the house told us when we came home one night to the sound of splashing water. The rain outside had forced its way inside, and the kitchen ceiling was bowed with the weight of water. An investigative tap with the butt end of a broomstick to the crack that was releasing the flow of water resulted in a colossal crash. The entire ceiling came down—soggy, wet plaster along with gallons and gallons of water. The house had spoken.

We would renovate the kitchen next!

It was clear that the chandelier hanging in the dining room was a mate to the one in the front parlor. When we removed the wall that divided the double parlors, the house was screaming

without those words coming up, words I didn’t have the way to say or the definition for, and his sad going kept teaching me them over and over, synonyms for loss until I couldn’t take it in the four walls of the Highway 58 Holiday Inn, and so it was always I who turned away, never Old Man /Dr. Corinth. In his end, I kept him clean enough, gave him medicine I found in the back of his suitcase that he knew and I knew would not do any real good or much dull the pain. And despite all that, I’m sorry he’s going to die soon. I will miss him. My name is Kwon.

The wedding was not a disaster, Mama Mandy wouldn’t let Aunt Fallen suffer that at her wedding. So Mama Mandy smiled and I hoped.

Strangers thought it was a happy story. Father and daughter reunited at a wedding, or father coming to see his daughter, and everyone could see he was frail. Wasn’t that daughter so good and wasn’t this something special?

But daughter hasn’t come to the Holiday Inn, and time has moved to Christmas carols piped through lobby speakers, enough that I catch myself humming the tune as I go to

for the rear parlor to match the front. Only after moving the

get our meals. Old Man/Dr. Corinth says she’ll come, but every day he’s less and less lucid for less and less time. Today, Old Man/Dr. Corinth said nothing I can speak, just those dead tongues fetching heartache and grief. Here is what I know. There is a coffee machine in the Holiday Inn, a microwave, a nightstand-safe. I heat soup in the coffeemaker. I wipe his chin when it dribbles down. Old Man/Dr. Corinth says, “Kwon, come here,” and I think now he will give in or he will let go, but he doesn’t. He wants me to help him up. Tonight, I helped him sit in the lobby. The manager knows him and waves.

He watched the people come and go, their baggage toted on a rolling cart painted a too-shiny gold, the businessmen trying to beat the coming snow.

“She will come to me,” Old Man says; he doesn’t look at me and he does not doze; he waits. I want to call Mama Mandy and Mean Keisha and home. I want home too, but I can’t leave him and maybe they will not let me in. Tonight, the speakers play Christmas muzak and Old Man hums a brokenlipped tune.

dining room chandelier to the rear parlor did we receive an 1880’s photo from the family who previously owned the house. It showed the double parlors undivided and the matching chandeliers in place.

When we noticed the fretwork between the two parlors, we knew we had to replicate it. We also realized the same corbels in the same shaped arch existed at the base of the staircase on each floor. The house let us know that those arches needed their fretworks re-created as well. We had to listen.

Not only does the house talk to us, it also listens. In fact, the house once paid attention to me and responded so quickly that even I was shocked into amazement. I desperately tried to sleep on a smothering summer night with all the screen-less windows open.

Thickly covered in insect repellent and with the sheets up to my chin, I demanded in a loud voice for an end to the mosquitoes buzzing in my ear. My angry outburst was immediately answered by the visage of a bat circling overhead around the bedroom.

Apparently, the house not only has a voice, but it also has ears and a sense of humor as well!

(to be continued)

Evince Magazine Page 7

The Wine Spot Will It Be Red or White Wine for Valentine’s Day?

by Dave Slayton

a member of the Master Court of Sommeliers

W

ill it be red wine or white wine with your Valentine dinner?

Some say red wine with meat and white wine with fish or poultry or red in winter and white in summer. I understand the reasoning for these statements but remember, taste is subjective and individualistic. I also heard someone say, “I only drink white wine because I’m afraid red wine will stain my teeth.” I say drink what pleases you.

Even if the temperature outside is freezing, have a glass of white wine if that is your preference. Consider these white wines for winter: the oaky, creamy, and buttery style chardonnay can be enjoyed by itself or with a stew. Try to serve it at about 55 degrees for the most flavor.

If you are not a chardonnay fan, try

its alternative, viognier, at about 55 degrees. It is similar in body to a creamy chardonnay. If you don’t care for heavy-bodied whites, try a chenin blanc. It has higher acidity that will stand up to heavier winter foods; just know that the sweetness level can vary from brand to brand. Serve it at about 45 degrees. Speaking of sweetness, try an off-dry (slightly sweet) reisling for heavier winter dishes, and you may be surprised how well they complement each other. Serve it at 45 to 50 degrees.

Here is one that might surprise you, albarino. Known for being an accompaniment to shellfish (lobster), give it a try with ham or turkey. Serve it at 50 to 55 degrees.

Another possibility is the full-bodied Müller-Thurgau, which may hail from

Photo by Dave Slayton

Germany, Austria, or the Alsace region of France.

Last but not least, consider a sparkling gewurztraminer (guh-voorts-truh-meener) with the demi-sec sweetness level as a companion for your Valentine’s Day chocolates. These white wines may have you recalling your last visit to the beach when you enjoyed a crisp white wine in the warm sunshine.

Here’s a midwinter toast to your individuality. Happy Valentine’s Day! Cheers!

We’re

on Danville!

Donna Gibson 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.holleyandgibsonrealty.com

Page 8 February 2021

February Calendar Abbreviation Key • AU=Averett University, 434.791.5600 www.averett.edu • 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 • PA=Piedmont Arts, 215 Starling Ave, Martinsville 276.632.3221 www.PiedmontArts.org • The Prizery=700 Bruce St., South Boston, 434.572.8339, www.prizery.com

February 4 (thru 25)

February 18

A Stitch in Time: yarn art class, knitting, crocheting; a part of the Yarn Bombing project. Thursdays 10-11:30am $5 DMFAH

Printmaking Workshop: 6:30-9pm $20/$25 Registration required. DMFAH

February 20

Ongoing Danville Master Gardeners will answer inquiries about gardening, lawns and landscaping on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 434.799.6558 danvillemastergardeners@gmail.com.

Guided Walking Tours: Millionaires Row, Holbrook Street and Tobacco Warehouse District.

434.770.1974 www.danvillehistory.org DMFAH: self-guided audio tours Camilla Williams Exhibit: Exhibit features her opera costumes including Madame Butterfly.

DMFAH Danville Civil Rights Exhibition: The Movement on permanent display.

DMFAH DSC: Learn about “Water”--its chemical makeup, the power it can generate, and the ecology of the Dan River. “Go!” highlights the intersection between the physics of machines and the biology of the human body. The J.T.-Minnie Maude Charitable Trust Creativity Lab is a makerspace offering hands-on access to craft and design tools.

February 2 (thru 23) A Stitch in Time: yarn art class, knitting, crocheting; a part of the Yarn Bombing project. Tuesdays 10-11:30am $5 DMFAH

February 6 (thru 27) Danville Winter Farmers’ Market: baked goods, meats, eggs, jams, jellies, crafts, personal care products seasonal produce 629 Craghead St. 434.797.8961

Cars & Coffee: hosted by Dominion Classic Sports Car Club.

See classic cars, sports cars, muscle cars, and more in the parking lot at Crema & Vine, 1009 Main St. Danville 9-10:30am 434.548.9862

February 2021

S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Dr. 11:30am-3:30pm Artisans at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History and GW High School art teachers have created handcrafted ceramic bowls. No soup will be served. Each ticket will specify a time allotted to pick up a bowl and participate in a chance auction.

Vouchers from area restaurants will be available for ticket holders. $20/person; $25/person after February 21 at God’s Storehouse, Karen’s Hallmark in Danville Mall and Eventbrite. www.godsstorehouse.org, Facebook, or 434.793.3663

February 22 PET-tastic Fun at the Library: Celebrate National Love Your Pet Day. Ages 4+ Create toys and treats for your pets. free 5-6pm Danville Public Library, 511 Patton St. Register 434.799.5195

February 27 DMFAH Attic Sale Drop-Off: davidc522@comcast.net

February 25

Save the Date

Life Drawing Class: 6:30-9pm $20/$25 DMFAH Registration required. info@danvillemuseum.org

February 6 Storytelling Festival: DMFAH Virtual Event

February 10 Pal-entine’s Day: Celebrate friendship. Ages 7+ Bring your friend for a night of partnerthemed crafts, activities and sweets. 5-6pm Danville Public Library, 511 Patton St. free Register 44.799.5195

February 13 & 14 DMFAH Free Admission

March 13

February 26 & 27 Empty Bowls: a fundraiser for God’s Storehouse, 750 Memorial

Danville Symphony Orchestra Concert: Peter & the Wolf 434.797.2666 www.danvillesymphony.org or email dansymorch@gmail.com for updates and details.

The deadline for submitting information for the March calendar is Friday, February 19, at 5:00 p.m. Please send just the basic information following the format on these pages to joycewilburn@gmail.com.

Evince Magazine Page 9

Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History presents

A STITCH IN TIME

Answers to 2020 in Review 1. L. A. Lakers 2. Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton 3. Joe Exotic 4. UFOs 5. murder hornets 6. Ron Rivera 7. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom 8. American Civil Liberties Union 9. Eddie Van Halen 10. Pennsylvania

Round One: 2020 in Review 1. On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant and his daughter were killed in a helicopter crash.

For what team did Kobe play before his 2016 retirement?

2. On February 5, President Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives. What other U.S. president or presidents have been impeached?

3. Tiger King was released on March 20, making an instant star out of its subject. By what name is he known?

4. On April 27, the U.S. Navy officially released three videos purporting to show what unexplained aerial phenomena?

5. On May 4, what highly venomous and invasive insect species was first spotted in the United States?

6. In July, the former Washington Redskins announced it was changing its name and would be known as the Washington Football Team. Who is the head coach of the Washington Football Team?

7. Actor Chadwick Boseman died on August 28 at the age of 43. What was Boseman’s final credited film role? Hint: It was a Netflix film based on a play by August Wilson.

8. Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18, at the age of 87. Prior to being appointed to the federal bench, Ginsburg served as general counsel for what famed civilrights organization?

9. What iconic rock legend, known for such hits as Jump and Hot for Teacher, died on

October 6 after a decadeslong battle with cancer?

10. Joseph R. Biden became President-elect in early November. In what state was Biden born?

Round Two: Queen Songs (in other words) 1. Women with prodigious derrieres 2. Subject to continuous physical force exerted on or against an object by something in contact with it 3. This group has emerged victorious 4. An epic poem about the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech lands in the present-day Czech republic 5. A murderous monarch 6. One other person has begun masticating fine particles of earth and other materials 7. Refrain from impeding me at this time 8. Those of us who are here will lull you to sleep via repetitive motions designed to simulate a neo-natal environment 9. A person whom I can cherish 10.Batty bantam item known as adulation Answers to Queen Songs (in other words): 1. Fat Bottomed Girls 2. Under Pressure 3. We Are the Champions 4. Bohemian Rhapsody 5. Killer Queen 6. Another One Bites the Dust 7. Don’t Stop Me Now 8. We Will Rock You 9. Somebody to Love 10. Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Z

oom in on the next Trivia Night Monday February 15.

For more information, email scott.jones@richmond.edu.

Be part of a

Community Knit Fiber Art Yarnbombing Exhibition and brighten the Danville Riverwalk in 2021

We are gathering Knitters, Crocheters, Fiber Artists and people with vision to help create this colorful exhibition.

Construction of the fiber art will take place from now until June. In July, we will install the fiber art along the River District Riverwalk area in Danville at specified locations.

The Yarnbombing Exhibition will be on display from July - September for all to enjoy.

If you want to be a part of this creative and fun A Stitch in Time project, contact us at info@danvillemuseum.org.

Sign up f or a class!

Enrollme nt lim to 5 peo ited ple.

Calendar

Printmaking Workshops Drawing Workshops Fiber Art Workshops Pottery Studio

see alk and Take a w ery Space the Gall ead. on Cragh

Current Exhibits

David A. Douglas Exhibit | Shadows of Place

Gallery Space at 536 Craghead Street in River District Thursday / Friday / Saturday • Noon – 8pm | Sunday • Noon – 5pm

Exhibitions

Camilla Williams | Danville’s Diva Tobacco Trade that Built Hearth & Home The Movement: Danville’s Civil Rights Danville Between the Lines 1861-1865 975 Main Street, Danville VA

Monday - Friday | 10am-5pm Saturday | Noon-5pm Sunday | 2pm-5pm 434-793-5644 975 Main Street, Danville, VA

The Civil War

danvillemuseum.org

Page  10 February 2021

Evince Magazine Page 11 shelving units in what was once a spare bedroom. Several hanging racks and two small refrigerators (for kitchen overflow) are also in there, so there’s no room for a bed anymore.

Reflecting Forward I’m Dreaming of a Calm, Predictable 2021

by Linda Lemery

I

dream of having a placid, predictable life in which our house is immaculate, my belongings are organized, clothing fits, technology works, and food stays in its storage containers. Instead, I wake up every morning wondering what personal disaster will occur next.

The house is not immaculate.

Husband Steve and I are blending working on-site and working from home. For remote work, Steve has taken over the kitchen and I’ve taken over the dining room where piles of files spill forth like slowoozing lava. Personal paperwork lurks behind the lava. In the living room, a six-foot, work-project staging table is a decorator’s nightmare. In the dining room, our son and fiancée’s textbooks teeter in stacks waiting for who knows what on a desk next to the treadmill. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are full. Piles of books I haven’t read are stored in our bedroom and in two other rooms. Maybe there’ll be space for them in my coffin.

My belongings are in a state of flux. We’re transitioning between holidays. The Christmas trees are still up in the living room and Valentine’s Day is coming. Boxed Christmas decorations wait in a bedroom for us to scurry up a ladder-- except for the ornament organizer boxes I bought to distribute family ornaments to our sons. Cute ornament organizers mean recipients are more likely to keep the ornaments, right?

My clothing changes according to my weight. Tubs hold clothes on

My technology challenges are legendary. Last fall, the old hard drive died in the middle of a frantic COVID semester when we had no time to replace it. The new one is still sitting in the kitchen.

The scanner croaked, though the copy function still works. We’re running on a maker/hacker/ rigged system that would launch other people into orbit. For us, it’s just a normal week. I have to restart my phone at least four times a day to upload data into the apps for my online weight-loss group. I’ve called the tech support people so often they know me by name. They nurse me through uninstalling and reinstalling.

Every plug in the house is occupied. Behind my dining room desk lie cables, extension

cords, and surge suppressors, with step stools judiciously positioned over a snarl of cords that reminds me of a pit of vipers. I use the stepstools to tippy-toe over the snakes rather than stepping on them and risking … whatever.

Even the food containers are failing. When Steve took out his leftover lunch soup, the container exploded all over him, the inside of the refrigerator, the floor, everywhere. “Your tech problems are catching,” was part -- not all -- of what he said.

I dream of a calm and predictable 2021. It’s not starting out that way!

About the Author: When she’s not grappling with personal disaster, Linda Lemery llemery@averett.edu works as Circulation Manager at Averett University’s Mary B. Blount Library in Danville. She welcomes reader comments.

Enjoying DSO Concerts During COVID

by Mac Williams Last fall, at the first Danville Symphony Orchestra concert, they found a way to celebrate the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven through distancing of the audience in the open air of the Carrington Pavilion. The Symphony members were also seated a little farther from each other. In December, the DSO orchestrated (pun intended) a Christmas Concert for COVID times. Orchestra members were spaced even farther from each other. Different sections, brass, percussion, strings, and woodwinds, came on stage separately and performed seasonal pieces.

As Maestro Peter Perret spoke informatively about the different instruments, I found my memory transported back to the early 1960s televised “Young People’s Concerts” in which conductor Leonard Bernstein taught music history to the young. In this respect, Maestro Perret reminded me of the late Bernstein. When the strings left to return later, the Maestro said, “We will say goodbye to the strings for now.”

A little girl in the audience took him at his word and exclaimed,

“Goodbye!” through her mask. The audience responded with laughter.

When the concert began, there was a chill in the air. By concert’s end, the sun was out with physical warmth joining the figurative seasonal warmth already filling the amphitheater.

• The next DSO concert will be Saturday, March 13, at 1:30 p.m. at The Tabernacle Church, 1978 South Boston Road in Danville and 4:00 p.m. at Grace Baptist Church, 1058 Buckshoal Road in Virgilina. Desiree Shaffer writes: We have scaled back our March concert but still are planning to

perform. Instead of playing a full concert with a full orchestra, we will offer “Peter and the Wolf” with a reduced orchestra of sixteen to nineteen musicians.

Because many children have been stuck at home and unable to attend school or see friends as usual, our goal is to reach out to them and brighten their day. We may be adding more performances of “Peter and the Wolf” this spring.

• For more information and updates, visit www. danvillesymphony.net and Facebook, call 434.797.2666 or email dansymorch@gmail.com.

Photo by Jeremy Williams

Page 12 February 2021

Book Clubbing review by Diane Adkins

One Night Two Souls Went Walking

by Ellen Cooney

This lyrical novel is appearing on lists of the best for 2020. The unnamed narrator is a hospital chaplain, and the plot follows her visits to patients on her first evening working the night shift.

Since childhood she wanted to be a minister; she remembers asking her parents what a soul is. That question has remained a touchstone for her.

Chaplains are trained to be non-anxious presences and never was this training more clearly embodied than in this woman. She begins each shift with this deeply honest prayer: “May I not screw up anyone any worse than they are already. May I do no harm that can’t be undone, probably by someone else.”

It is this willingness to admit to not having the answers that makes this character so attractive. We see her flaws. We know she questions her choices with her closest relationships. She is a cracked vessel, a “broken soul” in her own words. And yet it is precisely this lack of perfection that makes her such a good chaplain—who according to one patient, is “the one you tell your secrets to.”

And that’s what happens. A terribly injured young surfer says, “Ask me what’s holy.” A lawyer who has been impossibly rude with other staffers calmly relates an out-of-body experience he has had. A librarian shares her fear of the void. A baggage handler about to die asks her to speak to him as if he were about to board a plane.

Staffers seek her out, pull back the curtain, and show her their inner lives. Her boss recognizes her gift, saying he hopes she will always realize “I am blessed to be who I am, doing what I do how I do it.”

There is a strangeness in her own out-of-body experience. It’s a reminder that not everything that is real is measurable, that there are ineffable experiences that nonetheless shape us. That story, coupled with the book’s ending, reflects for me the words of T. S. Eliot, “And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

In a world desperate for hope, for some rescue from the pandemic and from the horrors we have ourselves created, this book has something to offer us. As the narrator says, “I believe in expecting light. That’s my job.” Perhaps it is ours, too.

Diane S. Adkins is a retired Director of Pittsylvania County Library System.

Evince Magazine Page 13

Beef Wellington & Strawberry Heart Meringues

by Annelle Williams

For our Valentine celebration, I’m preparing little individual Beef Wellingtons as the star of the show with strawberry meringues for dessert. It’s a great meal to show your quarantine partners how much you love and appreciate them. It pairs well with a pinot noir wine..

Beef Wellington I used Chef Gordon Ramsey’s recipe as a guide.

Preparation takes less than an hour prior to cooking 2 eight-ounce beef filets 16 oz. mixed mushrooms 1 T olive oil 1 T butter 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper 8 slices prosciutto ham 1 box of puff pastry* 2 egg yolks beaten with 1 T water and a pinch of salt

Chop mushrooms into small pieces. Melt 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms with a teaspoon of thyme leaves and a little salt and pepper, stirring occasionally until mushrooms give off their liquid. Continue cooking until all liquid is evaporated. Remove mushrooms to a plate to cool.

Pre-heat pan for steaks until hot. Sear cold steaks in a little olive oil over medium-high heat until browned on all sides. Remove from pan and cool.

Roll thawed pastry on floured surface into two squares to surround beef. Lay out two pieces of plastic wrap and place pastry on it. Brush with egg wash. Place four pieces of prosciutto on each, overlapping the ham and forming into a square about the size that would surround beef. Spread the mushrooms over the ham evenly.

Season seared steaks on both sides with salt and pepper and place in center of ham and mushroom squares. Using the plastic wrap to guide, fold pastry with ham and mushrooms around steak wrapping like a package. Cut away any excess pastry and press to seal. Overlapping pastry will not cook evenly. Twist ends of wrap to hold tight and put in fridge. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°. Remove Beef Wellingtons from fridge and remove plastic wrap. Score the pastry lightly on top and brush with egg wash. Place on sheet pan and bake until pastry is golden brown and cooked, about 20-30 minutes. Check beef with meat thermometer: 135° for medium-rare, 140° for medium, 145° for medium-well. If pastry is browning too quickly, tent with foil until meat reaches desired temp. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Use serrated knife to cut.

Beef Wellington & Strawberry Heart Meringues Strawberry Heart Meringues If you look at the picture of my meringues, you can see I made two mistakes. I didn’t beat the meringue enough, so it didn’t hold its peaks when piped. Also, I took the meringues out of the oven thinking they were completely cooled, but they weren’t, so they have some cracks.

4 egg whites 1 cup sugar 4 drops red food coloring

1 tsp. strawberry extract (If you don’t have strawberry extract, use almond.)

pinch of cream of tartar

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 175°. Combine sugar, egg whites and cream of tartar in the mixer bowl. Place the bowl over a smaller pan of simmering water so the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk egg whites constantly until sugar dissolves. Remove bowl from over water, add food coloring and strawberry extract. With mixer slowly beat until combined. Increase speed of mixer and beat until stiff peaks form. Put meringue in a pastry bag with a star tip (or you can use a zip lock bag and snip the corner). Pipe heart shapes onto parchment paper. Bake for 2 hours. Do not open oven while baking. Turn oven off and leave the oven door just slightly open until the meringues completely cool. Store only after completely cooled in air-tight container.

*Puff Pastry is found in the freezer section of the grocery store near the frozen rolls.

Questions or comments?

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

Page 14 February 2021

Photo Finish Looking for a fun way to learn a little local history? Drive or walk around Danville and read the historical markers that document facts, persons, events, and places prominently identified with our history. After reading each one, pause for a moment to imagine what the surroundings would have looked like at the time described on the marker.

Music Rock & Roll:

Janis Martin West Main/ Holcomb Streets near the Danville Golf Club

Pictured here are a few of the twenty markers grouped by subject. To see a complete list or to take the tour without leaving the comfort of home, visit www.dhr.virginia.gov/ historical-markers. If you use the dropdown box and select Danville, there are twenty results. If you type the keyword Danville, there are thirty-one results that include every marker in the state that has the word Danville in it. The “Danville System” marker on Patton Street is being refurbished and will be reinstalled soon.

Music - Country:

Wreck of the Old 97 Riverside Drive between Pickett & Farrar Streets The Ballad of the Old 97 was the first country song to sell a million copies.

Music - Classical: Frederick Delius North Main & Keen Streets

Sports: Peters Park

Foster Street off Industrial Avenue

Education:

Averett University 420 West Main Street

Education:

Stratford College 1125 West Main Street

Education:

Sports:

Wendell O. Scott Sr. Wendell Scott Drive off Arnett Boulevard

William F. Grasty Branch of the Danville Public Library & Yancey House 320 Holbrook Street Yancey House, a Green Book-listed lodge for African Americans during segregation, became headquarters of the local chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. The Grasty Branch of the Danville public library system, next to Yancey House, operated for black patrons from 1950 to 1969. In April 1960, a federal court order required Danville to desegregate its libraries. It will be unveiled after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

Evince Magazine Page  15 Religion:

Loyal Baptist Church 400 block of Loyal Street

Religion:

High Street Baptist Church 630 High Street

History: The Gibson Girl Main & Broad Street

History: Danville Tobacco Warehouse & Residential District 300 block Craghead Street

History: Lady Astor Main & Broad Streets

History:

Schoolfield West Main Street & Baltimore Avenue

History:

Holbrook-Ross Historic District Holbrook & Ross Streets near 900 block Main Street

History: Camilla Ella Williams

Central Boulevard (heading north) near Main Street

History:

Confederate Prison #6 Loyal & Lynn Streets

Page Page 16 16February February 2021 2021