Spotting Exceptional Customer Service Wendy Lewis Page 7
Calendar
Halifax County Student Art Show Page 10
Elsabe Dixon
Reflecting Forward Page 13
Balancing History, Art and Life
See Page 5
Page  2 March 2020
Remember playing 45s on your record player? Then it may be time to schedule your colonoscopy.
The American Cancer Society has updated its recommendation for colon cancer screenings to start at age 45 for those at average risk.* Because colon cancer develops with few symptoms, a colonoscopy is one of the most widely used screenings to help find precancerous polyps that can be removed before they could turn into cancer.
Talk with your provider about scheduling a colonoscopy.
844.GO.SOVAH
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SovahHealth.com
Photo by Michelle Dalton Photography
Editor’s Note
How do you feel? A little offbalance today? Elsabe Dixon, pictured on the cover, offers insights into how to keep things on an even keel. Her experience of balancing art exhibits, history displays, and community life at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History provides insights that can be applied to daily life. See page 5. Maybe your mind and body aren’t in sync with each other. For advice on how to find equilibrium, read “Meditation Moment” on page 6. Calming your mind is difficult if your environment is a mess. For help with that read “Throw Out the Mess & Organize the Rest” on page 11. Do you need a more balanced diet? There’s a great recipe for Chicken Marabella on page 13. Want to develop better physical balance? Try standing on a BOSU ball pictured on page 13. If all else fails, maybe sipping a well-balanced glass of wine will help. See what that means on page 8. Finally, balance your screen time with an equal amount of reading time. Start with The Warmth of Other Suns reviewed on page 12. Even Mother Nature is getting into the act by giving us equal hours of day and night on March 19. There will be days this month when your spirits are as high as the sky; other times you might hit rock bottom. My wish for you is that most days will be in perfect balance. Sincerely,
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. Clothes: Rippe’s 100 Years of Fashion, 559 Main St.
March Contents
3 Editor’s Note
5 Elsabe Dixon Balancing History, Art and Life by Joyce Wilburn 6 Blessings Fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg 7 Spotting Exceptional Customer Service by Courtney Dodson 8
The Wine Spot / Sipping the Balance by Dave Slayton Meditation Moment by Casey Molloy Davis
10 Calendar 11 Throw Out the Mess & Organize the Rest by The Recycling Queen 12 Book Clubbing The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson / review by Diane Adkins 13 Reflecting Forward Balancing on Life’s BOSU Ball by Linda Lemery
Around the Table / Chicken Marabella by Annelle Williams
14 Tips for Filing Tax Returns by Sam Jackson On the Cover:
Elsabe Dixon stands beside the costume worn by Camilla Williams in Madame Butterfly on exhibit at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History. See Calendar on page 10. Photo by Michelle Dalton Photography.
Evince Magazine Page 3
THE
OICE OF BALANCE
CEO / Publisher Andrew Scott Brooks Editor Joyce Wilburn (434.799.3160) joycewilburn@gmail.com Copy Editors Jeanette Taylor • Larry Wilburn Contributing Writers
Diane Adkins, Cathy Cole, Casey Molloy Davis, Courtney Dodson, Lewis Dumont, Kimberly Eaton, Adam Goebel, Barbara Hopkins, Kathy Hurt, Sam Jackson, Karan Johnson, Telisha Moore Leigg, Linda Lemery, C.B. Maddox, Kevin Matheson, Carla Minosh, Recycling Queen, Dave Slayton, Joyce Wilburn, Annelle 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 Sam Jackson Marketing Consultant (434.709.3528 sam@showcase magazine.com
Kim Demont (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 April stories, articles, and ads is Friday, March 20, at 5:00 p.m. Submit stories, articles, and calendar items to joycewilburn@gmail.com.
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.
EVINCE MAGAZINE 753 Main St. Suite 3, Danville, VA 24541 www.evincemagazine.com For subscriptions to Evince, email info@evincemagazine.com. Cost is $24 a year. © 2020 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 March 2020
Evince Magazine Page 5
Elsabe Dixon Balancing History, Art, and Life by Joyce Wilburn
DMFAH Director Elsabe Dixon and Education Facilitator Wenn Harold talk to a P.C.C.A. Head Start class after their morning of Museum activities. They were accompanied by teacher Jasmine Bratton, assistant Jordan Evans, and driver Julia Wiles. Photo by Michelle Dalton Photography
B
orn in South Africa, educated in America, and equipped with copious work experience, Elsabe Dixon, a married mother of three adult children, is leading the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History into a new direction of inclusiveness and community building. On a rainy February day she sits behind her desk in the Executive Director’s office and explains, “Everyone needs access to culture and a cultural center. If you live in isolation from big cities, you might not have access to one. You don’t see the big exhibits if you can’t travel. Every town needs a cultural center where people come together to celebrate their own culture and be exposed to other cultures.” With a passionate voice and a consciousness formed by years of international travel and living in other countries, she continues, “The Museum just received a Virginia Humanities grant to redo our (introductory) video to be more inclusive---Confederate history, Civil War history, civil rights history.” Thinking about the former home of Major William Sutherlin that forms the center of the Museum, she continues, “We also want to concentrate on the building, not just one era of its history but what was on the property in the past including Native American history.” She explains that the 1858 mansion was built on the crest of a hill
where anyone standing on it could see in all directions. “It’s logical to think that other groups used this exact campus as an outpost to see for miles and miles,” she comments. Elsabe’s love of history is equal to her love of art. A native of Dundee, South Africa, she studied graphic design and ceramics at Pretoria Technicon in Pretoria (now known as Tswane), South Africa. Her future husband, Rick, was also in Pretoria working at the American Embassy as a member of the Foreign Service. Their paths crossed and after six months of whirlwind dating, the young couple married and moved to Chatham, Virginia, Rick’s hometown. Both worked at Chatham Hall. “I was the youngest ever faculty member teaching ceramics,” she recalls while smiling at the memory, “and Rick was head of the history department.” Over the next several decades, the couple welcomed three children, lived in Germany for a year, and moved to Northern Virginia for twentyeight years. Elsabe squeezed in time to earn a bachelor’s degree in art from Averett College in 1991 and a master’s degree from George Mason University in cross disciplinary studies. Art classes at GMU were combined with history, literature, science, or other subjects to create a cohesive narrative about something specific. She also gained museum experience working for the Glenstone Foundation and ran a non-profit in Washington, D.C. for a decade or more.
Having those skills and knowledge paved the way for Elsabe to direct Danville’s only art and history museum that celebrated the 45th anniversary of its founding on September 13, 2019, the month after she became its director. Since that day, she has invited all to become Museum members by saying, “This is an interactive space for people to come together under an umbrella where they can freely have conversations about local concerns and also experience something new from outside.” Her hope is that when visitors are exposed to something different, it can trigger new and better ways of thinking and planning for the future while building the community’s history. Balancing the Museum’s dual mission of presenting history and art while making community life better is a challenge that Elsabe Dixon is energetically accepting and encouraging you to support. • For more information, visit 975 Main Street, www. danvillemuseum.org, or call 434.793.5644. See story on page 11.
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
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Page 6 March 2020
Blessings fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg Nothing’s secret long enough; nothing dies well. --Kwon The old white man in the back of the mostly black congregation of Roland Street Grace Worship Center was not the anomaly; perhaps his stark and neat suit for the Sunday evening second service was. Services were usually more casual here, jeans, maybe a collared shirt. Part Bible study, part worship service, part homeless shelter, we were studying Proverbs that day in March, starting with that scripture about the beginning of fear and wisdom. It was too cold for air and yet not warm enough outside without a sweater; people sat a little chilly in the sanctuary, a converted old two-story grocery store. A baby whimpered in his mother’s arms, and she took him out while looking back at the white man on his own sitting on the last row of folding chairs. The service hadn’t started and was kind of quiet, with only Lilbit
Russ (sixty years old if a day) playing stride piano to “Blessed Assurance,” his notes distant like rain before thunder. People alternately talked, prayed, and greeted each other with “Blessings” or “Blessings to you.” I never knew them, Mandy Blue’s babies. I only knew they died alone, in a garage, probably crying, so young, and everyone thought
she would die too after that pain. With her mother and stepfather passed...we were all she had, me, Fallon, and my mother Mean Keisha. I take that responsibility seriously. I take it to mean something good for Mama Mandy. At almost twenty-seven now, I look at the old white man looking at me. I think nothing stays broken, nothing bad stays gone, nothing sad gets stolen away, but he should have stayed gone. There is a rhythm of rain on the tin roof. I’m Kwon. I volunteer here, usually keep small things fixed, help with the free outreach meals, tutor the little ones in English, sweep up when needed. I’m behind the scenes, and I like that. But that night Sister Annette had a spring cold that deepened, and I had to lead the bible study for her. Glad it’s a Sunday because during the week I’m sometimes not here; I’m at home either grading papers or working on my doctorate. Old White Man looks at me. I say nothing. I turned the page to another scripture, started talking about kindness and how we need to love one another. The old man didn’t look at the booklet he held before him. He kept his eyes on me, steady. I bet they gasped before they went to sleep, her Isabelle and Beau. I know they gouge her heart with their memories. She wouldn’t watch Aunt Fallen’s girls until they were older. And he never came to help her then, her father. I look at him now, her father. I often think what gives the world a dangerous grin? What’s dead is like a cello’s loose bow across the
grain. Bruised sense. Low sounds of blood baying. He would do some hurt here, her father, Mama Mandy Blue’s daddy. When I looked back there a second time, the old man was gone. It didn’t matter. I knew him and I knew he would be back. I should have picked up the phone then. But I didn’t. I told myself I wasn’t sure, when I was, and even if it were Mandy Blue Eyes’ daddy, what difference would it make? He had to be almost eighty now. Mandy Blue was nearing forty-five if not past it. It had been almost thirty years. I wouldn’t bring ghosts to her like rain in a rusty bucket unless I was sure. Why’s he back now? I bet he’s dying. Well, aren’t we all? Old Man came back about three weeks later in the soup line. He drank potato soup from the bowl, tore his donated barley bread with his left hand and the right side of his teeth. He sat alone, never mixing with the others. And he kept looking at me. And it was warmer now, almost ending April and soon to be May. And there was the old white man again, bent, with eyes sharp, fierce and light blue. And his hands curled on black-suited knees like an old falcon’s talons. And I was sure now. “Blessings, Dr. Corinth,” I say as I sit down beside him on a folding chair holding a cup of coffee I didn’t even want. “Blessings to you,” he responds. He knows our ways now. I lean in. “Maybe you should leave and not come back.”
Evince Magazine Page 7
Spotting Exceptional Customer Service by Courtney Dodson
From the moment one drives into the service lane next to the desk of Service Advisor Wendy Lewis at Steve Padgett’s Danville Honda, one knows that they and their cars are in good hands. Wendy greets her customers with a smile and an efficient run-down of what is going to happen to the car, how much time the service will take, how much the potential cost will be, ways to cut or safely defer certain service options, other things to consider, and more. She makes car talk easy to understand! In addition, Wendy has made suggestions at Honda that have been implemented-- things that allow customers to make service payments, over time, if necessary. Wendy really embodies top-tier customer service, and the Padgett Team at 4050 Riverside Drive is lucky to have her. They benefit greatly from her consistency in the service department. It is without question that she deserves high praise and recognition as a Spotting Exceptional Customer Service Award winner. 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.
Page 8 March 2020
Photo by Dave Slayton
The Wine Spot Sipping the Balance by Dave Slayton
H
a member of the Master Court of Sommeliers
ave you ever heard the phrase “this wine has good bones”? It means the same thing as structure or balance. Balance refers to a wine’s key components: tannin, alcohol, acidity and residual sugar.
of the palate and distracts from the wine’s flavor. Alcohol also adds weight to wine, therefore, too much and it may feel heavy on the palate. Too low in alcohol and it may be too sweet or too thin and light.
Tannin might cause your mouth to pucker. It is a dry, cottony, astringent sensation, like when the dentist puts cotton gauze in your mouth. Wine Enthusiast states, “Tannins, a group of bitter and astringent compounds, can be found abundantly in nature… in the wood, bark, leaves and fruit of plants as various as oak, rhubarb, tea, walnut, cranberry, cacao and grapes.” A cup of strong black tea is often used as an example of the drying sensation of tannin. Too little tannin will cause a wine to taste overly soft and flabby. Tannin usually feels astringent giving your mouth a dry feeling whereas acidity will taste sour and have the reverse effect of making you salivate.
Residual sugar is the natural grape sugar left after fermentation-the process where yeast converts grape sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide. Residual sugar is balanced by acidity. Too much sugar or not enough acidity and the wine will likely taste syrupy sweet. Too much acidity can make a wine taste sharp like a freshly cut lemon and make your mouth pucker.
Too much alcohol and the wine tastes hot and boozy in the back
Cheers!
For a winemaker, making a wine that is balanced is a challenge, but the reward is good wine. I leave you with this quotation, “A balanced wine is one in which the last glass tastes better than the first.” Jeffrey Patterson, proprietor and winemaker at Mount Eden.
The poses and breathing practiced in yoga are intended to prepare the body to sit comfortably for extended periods of time in meditation. Photo by Clark Davis.
Meditation Moment by Casey Molloy Davis, RYT
Yoga is the unity of breath, body, and mind. When we heighten our awareness of breath, body, and mind, we are able to control each of them in ways that help establish balance. We are continually asked to focus on a myriad of tasks and assignments that can distract us from physical and mental balance. The body is constantly working to achieve homeostasis by regulating body temperature, pH, and fluid levels. Luckily, these physical functions occur without our conscious control. The mind, however, takes constant effort to balance. The mind can be likened to a chattering monkey, or a hamster on a wheel, a busy little animal creating endless noise. This mental chatter can drown out the innate quiet and calmness that reside within. What we often
forget, however, is that we have a choice in our interpretation and reaction to the constant stream of thoughts. We can be swept away in the current, or we can choose to selectively listen, cultivating a filter for finding what is true. Much like the ebb and flow of the tide, emotions rise and fall in response to both internal and external forces. How we handle or react to our emotions has a strong impact on physical health. Sometimes we may feel like a child learning to walk as we stagger forward trying to continually catch our balance. In the end, with continued effort and practice, we finally learn to walk. This balance comes from our core, our center. When we move from that centered place within, we will always find balance.
Evince Magazine Page  9
Page 10 March 2020
March 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
March 1 (thru May 24)
Camilla Williams Exhibit: Williams was born in Danville and became the first African American to sing in a major American opera company in NYC. Exhibit will feature her opera costumes including Madame Butterfly. DMFAH
Guided Walking Tours: Millionaires Row, Holbrook Street and Tobacco Warehouse District. Danville Historical Society. www.danvillehistory.org 434.770.1974 DMFAH: self-guided audio tours Brosville Library: 11948 Martinsville Highway www.pcplib.org 434.685.1285 Danville Public Library: 511 Patton St. readdanvilleva.org 434.799.5195 DPL Westover Branch: 94 Clifton St. www.readdanvilleva.org 434.799.5152 Gretna Library: 207 A Coffey Street, www.pcplib.org 434.656.2579 Gunn Memorial, Caswell County Public Library: 118 Main St, Yanceyville, NC www.caswellcounty. gov/library 336.694.6241 Halifax County Public Library: 177 South Main St. halifaxcountylibrary.org 434.476.3357 History Research Center and Library: 340 Whitehead St,, Chatham www.pcplib.org 434.432.8931 Mt. Hermon Library: 4058 Franklin Turnpike www.pcplib.org 434.835.0326 Pittsylvania County Public Main Library: 24 Military Drive, Chatham www.pcplib.org 434.432.3271 South Boston Public Library: 509 Broad St. 434.5575.4228 www.halifaxcountylibrary.org From Virginia to Parliament: Photos and commentary celebrate the 100th anniversary of Danvillian Lady Nancy Langhorne Astor’s election to the British Parliament. Langhorne House Museum, 117 Broad St. Danville free 2-5pm Saturdays or by appointment 434.793.6472
March 1 (thru 28)
Winter Market: Danville Community Market, 629 Craghead St. Saturdays 9am-1pm
1002 Main St. Danville 3:15pm www. TheWedClubDanvilleVa.org
The 1940s, 1950s, 1960s DMFAH 11am-1pm
March 6
March 14
Science After Dark: special presentation of Back to the Future II in the DSC Digital Dome Theater Enjoy fun hands-on Explore Science: Earth and Space activities and all exhibit galleries. 5:30-9pm show time 6:30pm. free for DSC members and college students with ID; $5 for others
March 7
Danville Symphony Winter Pops Concert: A Tribute to John Williams: Star Wars, E.T. Adventures, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and more. 7:30 p.m. George Washington H.S Auditorium, 701 Broad St. free www.danvillesymphony.net
Ongoing
March 1
Music for Cello and Piano: The duo Anime and Grazia, comprised of Julia Goudimova and Anna Billias, will perform Edward Grieg’s Sonata for Cello and Piano and other works by Scandinavian composers. 4pm Emmanuel Episcopal Church 66 North Main St. Chatham
March 2
Gardening Q&A: Have your gardening, lawn, and landscaping questions answered by Danville Master Gardeners Virginia Cooperative Extension Office, 326 Taylor Drive, Suite 100; noon-4pm 434.799.6558 danvillemastergardeners@gmail.com
March 8
Halifax County Student Art Show: opening reception 2-4pm Prizery The exhibit will be on display throughout March from 9am-5pm Monday through Friday.
Socks in the Frying Pan: A multiawards winning trio from County Clare, Ireland, their dynamic vocal harmonies, virtuosic musical ability and on-stage wit makes them one of the most sought-after groups in Irish music. $8-$28 The Prizery 7:30pm Old Dominion Classic Sports Car Club Meeting: O’Kelly’s Deli, 877 Piney Forest Rd, Danville 6:30pm
March 4
Smokestack Theatre Presents: free program The Wednesday Club,
Free Admission: DMFAH 10am-5pm
March 15
Free Admission: DMFAH 2-5pm
March 17
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Gardening Q&A: Have your gardening, lawn, and landscaping questions answered by Danville Master Gardeners Virginia Cooperative Extension Office, 326 Taylor Drive, Suite 100; 9am-1pm 434.799.6558 danvillemastergardeners@gmail.com
March 18
Inspired Design: presented by interior designer Melinda Bell Dickey The Wednesday Club 1002 Main St. Danville free and open to all 3:15pm www.TheWedClubDanvilleVa.org
March 21
Indoor Yard Sale: Danville Farmers’ Market, 629 Craghead St. 9am-1pm Coffee & Cars: Old Dominion Classic Sports Car Club 9-10:30am Crema & Vine, 1009 Main St, Danville 434.548.9862
March 9 (thru April 13)
Forms in Clay: pottery class DMFAH on Mondays 6:30-9pm $95 for DMFAH members/$105 for others. 434.792.5355 Registration required.
March 9
Gardening Q&A: Have your gardening, lawn, and landscaping questions answered by Danville Master Gardeners Virginia Cooperative Extension Office, 326 Taylor Drive, Suite 100; noon-4pm 434.799.6558 danvillemastergardeners@gmail.com
March 3
March 2020
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 29 30 31
March 11
The Neighbor Next Door: DHS Tour Guide Joyce Wilburn will lead a virtual tour of the streets around The Wednesday Club and tell anecdotes about the houses and their former residents. A trivia contest, Segway demonstration, and prize drawings will follow. The Wednesday Club, 1002 Main St. free and open to all 3:15pm www.The WedClubDanvilleVa.org
March 12
Public Scanning of photographs: for the book, Danville and Pittsylvania County Memories:
The deadline for submitting information for the April calendar is Friday, March 20, at 5:00 p.m. Please send just the basic information following the format on these pages to joycewilburn@gmail.com.
All That Jazz Chatham Rotary Auction: dinner, open bar, auction 6pm Chatham Hall $75 www.chathamrotaryclub.com
March 24
Gardening Q&A: Have your gardening, lawn, and landscaping questions answered by Danville Master Gardeners Virginia Cooperative Extension Office, 326 Taylor Drive, Suite 100; 9am-1pm 434.799.6558 danvillemastergardeners@gmail.com
March 27, 28 & 29
Smokestack Theatre: presents Art 7:30pm on Friday & Saturday; 2:30pm on Sunday DMFAH $15 online; $20 at the door adult language www.eventbrite.com
March 30
Gardening Q&A: Have your gardening, lawn, and landscaping questions answered by Danville Master Gardeners Virginia Cooperative Extension Office, 326 Taylor Drive, Suite 100; 9am-1pm 434.799.6558 danvillemastergardeners@gmail.com
Evince Magazine Page 11
Plan Ahead
it away. Why? Because it might contaminate the entire dumpster of plastic. For example, a plastic motor oil container might have only a few drops of oil in it, but when that container is compressed during the recycling process, the oil might leak out and cover other items. The entire dumpster of items is then rejected. If recyclables are in a plastic bag, the bag is not recyclable here. Empty the plastic bag into the recycling bin and recycle the plastic bag at a grocery store.
April 1
Inflatable Intestine Tour: Snap some selfies from inside an inflatable intestine as representatives from UVA & Massey Cancer Centers and Hitting Cancer Below the Belt explain how colorectal cancer develops and what you can do to prevent it. Averett Student Center, 204 Woodland Dr. 4-7pm free Judy Strauser and Ann Sylves have a little fun preparing for the Attic Sale.
Throw Out the Mess & Organize the Rest
April 3
The Rainier Trio Concert: fun and familiar works including Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, Joplin’s Elite Syncopations, Meditation from Thais and Dvorak’s Songs My Mother Taught Me Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 66 North Main St. Chatham free 7pm
April 4
Attic Sale: DMFAH 9am-1pm See adjacent story. Bridge to Bridge Run, Bike, Fun Run: Begin and end at the Community Market, 629 Craghead St. Danville. benefits Danville-Pittsylvania Cancer Association bridge2bridgedanville.com
April 5
Stratford Tennis Club and Southside Tennis Association Open House: 3-5pm 182 Churchview Drive Danville www. StratfordTennis.com 434.799.9165
May 2
Derby Day: DMFAH $40 4-8pm
The 360 Decluttering Project by The Recycling Queen
The Goal: Every day for 360 days, spend fifteen minutes organizing one small space.
D
o you have a lot of items you don’t want, but they are too good to throw away? What are you going to do with them? Three popular choices are: donating, recycling or selling. February is a terrible month to have an outdoor yard sale but the perfect time to organize your inventory. Whether you are planning a sales event in the spring or looking for a place to donate your gently used items for someone else to sell, here are a few tips from Ann Sylves, organizer of the 15th Annual Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History Attic Sale. 1. Label tablecloths and curtains with their length. Label bed linens with size. Tie together sets of sheets and pillowcases or sets of tablecloths and napkins. Label what is included. 2. Clean or wash everything. No one wants to buy dirt. 3. Label items that are oneof-a-kind or very unusual. Shoppers won’t buy what can’t be identified. If you are donating an item to the DMFAH Attic Sale, put
a suggested price on rare or valuable items. Otherwise, the sellers might not know its worth. 4. Bundle items. Shoppers might overlook CDs at $1 each, but six for $5 is a done deal. 5. Put batteries in things that need them. An added plus is that it’s a great way to get rid of half-used batteries. If recycling is your choice, take newsprint, steel cans, aluminum cans, types 1 and 2 plastic, cardboard, mixed paper, and glass to: Piedmont Mall (southwest corner), Kings Fairground Plaza, Ballou Park Shopping Center, South Boston Road/Halifax Road (across from Public Works facility), and Piney Forest Road (beside the Astoria Hotel). Check the bottom of each plastic container. If the number inside the triangle is greater than 2, throw it away. It cannot be recycled in this area. Remove the caps and throw them away. They are probably not #1 or 2. Rinse the items to be recycled. If it can’t be rinsed clean, throw
Computers, small household devices, and other electronic devices can be taken to the collection site located at the Public Works Warehouse Building, 998 South Boston Road. For security reasons, if it contains sensitive information, you might want to remove the hard drive. Search the internet to learn how to remove a hard drive from your brand of computer. Household batteries can be tested and recycled at Interstate All Battery Center, 418 Trade Street, Danville. www.interstatebatteries.com Cellphones, MP3s, and ink cartridges can be recycled at Target. Do you still have Christmas cards taking up space? Some churches including Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 540 Central Boulevard, Danville are collecting the fronts of cards to use as notecards for their prison ministry next Christmas. If you want to support the DMFAH, donate your good items to their Attic Sale that will be held on Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4. Items will be accepted daily starting on Monday, March 30. Clothes, shoes, and TVs are not accepted. Call 434.793.5644 for more information. There are many other options for donating, recycling, and selling. Pick your method of saving the environment while throwing out the mess and organizing the rest. Send Evince your organizing success story. Email 300350 words and a picture to joycewilburn@gmail.com. Include your name. It you want to remain anonymous because everyone thinks your house is perfect and it’s not, your name will not be published.
Page 12 March 2020
Book Clubbing a review by Diane Adkins
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
The Warmth of Other Suns, one of the books in The Zora Canon, is the story of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North starting in World War I and continuing into the 1970s. Six million made the journey. Wilkerson interviewed 1200 people before settling on the lives of three of them to tell this story: Ida Brandon Gladney, a Mississippi sharecropper’s wife who moved to Chicago during the Depression; George Swanson Sterling, a Florida fruit picker who moved to New York City in the 1940s and found work as an attendant on the railroad; and Robert Pershing Foster, a surgeon who moved to California from Louisiana in the 1950s. Although in the South they faced injustices in the workplace and humiliations both petty and large every day, the primary reason driving them North was racial terrorism. Beatings and lynchings inflicted on their families and friends made them leave everything they knew to find something better for themselves and their children. Wilkerson portrays this as an immigration within our own borders, calling the South, the Old Country, and the North, the New World. They faced racism in that New World as well. Nonetheless, in a survey of those who took part in the Great Migration, the question, “What do you like about the North?” evoked answers that always mentioned freedom---freedom to pursue dreams, to speak, to act, to work, to live a normal life. Wilkerson’s epilogue and methodology are important statements of how this book came to be and shouldn’t be missed. Her genius is that she makes sure we hear the stories, not just the statistics and the sociological claims and theories, when we consider the Great Migration. She weaves numbers and vignettes and academic studies into the narrative, but what is remembered when the book is closed is the people. We feel their fear and horror and rejoice in their freedom. We find hope in their resistance, persistence, overcoming, and humanity. • Diane’s Note: Zora, an online space for women of color, has compiled a list of one hundred masterworks by AfricanAmerican women and calls it The Zora Canon named for the great writer Zora Neale Hurston. The list is divided into time periods. It contains fiction, nonfiction, poetry, plays, and anthologies. The sheer range of genres and the time span in which the works were written demonstrate that the extraordinary writing by African-American women has been available for over 160 years—even before Emancipation. Awareness of this fact should lead us to plumb the depths of this list and be intentional in adding them to our 2020 reading lists. How might we as Americans be changed if we did? Diane S. Adkins is a retired director of Pittsylvania County Public Libraries.
Evince Magazine Page 13
Reflecting Forward Balancing on Life’s BOSU Ball by Linda Lemery
F
ive mornings a week my alarm rings early and I try to be at the YMCA pool by 5:30. After swimming, I exercise, walk, measure my blood pressure (yay) and weight (ugh), dress, have coffee, and arrive at work by eight o’clock. Why do I do all this? For balance. There are all kinds of balance. Though all these activities contribute to physical balance, spending ten minutes exercising while poised on the BOSU ball with my legs shaking seems most directly related to cultivating a calmer demeanor. If both my head and body are not totally in the moment, I could fall. If I’m not aware of where my body parts are every second, I begin to tip. I have to concentrate even more ferociously when I add weights to my balancing challenges. And when I step off that ball, I know exactly where all my body parts are, and, for a short time, I’m totally in touch with myself. I feel in balance and that leads me toward growth and being in balance. We live in a complicated world. We’re all struggling to juggle multiple tasks to make the world a better place, to contribute to others as part of a reciprocity for the privilege of living, to take care of ourselves, to grow, to be in balance mentally as well as physically. The continual juggling takes its toll. We need exercise, nutritionally adequate meals, sleep, clean water, fulfilling work, respectful understanding of others, outlets for meaningful contribution, strong relationships, safe housing, enough income to pay our bills, the ability to
make good choices about how we spend time, the chance to express gratitude and to accept what we can’t change, the time to think, rejuvenate, and grow in healthy directions. Undoubtedly, this list is incomplete. But my point is: when we’re not honoring our needs in each area, we’re not in balance. If we don’t make an effort to correct the imbalance, we pay for that choice later. If we don’t track or measure some element about each thing that’s important to us, then we have less chance of correcting problems that are causing an imbalance in our lives. Swimming is my very favorite exercise even though I’m the slowest swimmer ever. My second favorite exercise is the BOSU ball, because it teaches me a lesson in mindfulness every time I’m on it. One web site states that “BOSU” stands for “both sides up,” meaning that one can use it either the way it’s pictured or upside down. I track my progress by spending a minimum of ten minutes slowly exercising on the BOSU ball as pictured. Holding a squat position for twenty seconds is torture. Bending in half and touching the floor and holding that position for twenty seconds happens on good days. Those are the days I know I’m doing things right, not just with my physical exercise but with diet and mindfulness. When I can adapt that balance measurement to the other things I need to balance in my life, things go better. Something to think about. About the Author: When she not trying to stay on a BOSU ball, Linda Lemery llemery@ averett.edu works as Circulation Manager at Averett University’s Mary B. Blount Library in Danville. She welcomes reader comments.
by Annelle Williams Some recipes need to be saved, savored and shared. Years ago when I was learning to cook for more than just a few people, I bought a cookbook written by a caterer. She suggested finding two really good recipes and mastering them, so that whenever guests were being served, they would expect one of your specialties. Chicken Marabella is one of those go-to recipes. Not only does it taste delicious with layers of bold flavor, but it has to be marinated overnight, so all the work is done the day before your special meal. The recipe’s name and the ingredients make me think it is of Mediterranean descent, but it’s not. It came from New York City and the Silver Palate Cookbook. Author and Chef Sheila Lukins opened a catering business in 1977 that morphed into prepared-meals-to-go and finally the Silver Palate Cookbook which gave us all her culinary secrets. This interpretation is from Ina Garten’s book Cook Like a Pro. I made a few suggestions in parentheses that worked best for me.
Chicken Marabella (8 servings) 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 cup red wine vinegar 1 1/2 cups large pitted prunes 1 cup large green olives, pitted (buy the pitted ones and slice them) 1/2 cup capers, including the juice (3 1/2 ounces) 6 bay leaves 1 head of garlic—cloves separated, peeled and minced 1/4 cup dried oregano (dried, not powder)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (2) 4-pound chickens, backs removed and cut in 8 pieces (I used 4 bone-in breasts cut in half and 8 bone-in thighs) With kitchen scissors, remove any excess fat and skin. 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed 1 cup dry white wine, such as pinot grigio
Combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, 2 tablespoons salt and 2 teaspoons pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces to a large zip-lock bag and pour in marinade (or divide into two large bags). Close bag and turn until all chicken is coated. Refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally to be sure the marinade is getting into all the chicken pieces. Preheat the oven to 350o. Place the chicken in one layer in a large roasting pan, skin side up, with the marinade (or divide into two smaller pans). Sprinkle with brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Pour the wine around (not over) the chicken. Roast 45-55 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken is 145o. Remove the pan from the oven. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Transfer the chicken, prunes and olives to a serving platter and drizzle with pan drippings. Delicious served with basmati rice. Questions or comments? Email me: AnnelleWilliams@comcast.net I look forward to hearing from you!
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Tips for Filing Tax Returns by Sam Jackson
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complicated tax iling your state return) consider and federal hiring a CPA or other income tax tax professional to returns can be prepare and file a daunting task, your taxes. If you whether you work do, don’t wait until with an accountant April to make that or prepare them decision. It could yourself. With a cost you either in bit of organization time or money. and preparation, Some CPAs or tax it’s possible to services may charge make it a smooth, Geoge A. Brooks, CPA, Partner, HH&N. more the closer you painless process come to the April 15 and maximize your federal deadline. If you wait too potential refund. Certified Public long, you might need to file an Accountant George A. Brooks of extension. Harris, Harvey, Neal & Co. has these tips: 4. Consider a QCD If you’re 70 1/2 or older and are required 1. Be organized “Keep to take RMDs (Required together all documents that Minimum Distributions) from an you receive in the mail or IRA, you can make a Qualified via email,” Brooks wrote in Charitable Distribution from an email. Documents might your IRA payable directly to a include W-2s, 1099-INTs, qualified charity. Brooks said 1009-DIVs, 1099-Rs, and SSAthis is very helpful for taxpayers 1099 for Social Security. Make who do not have enough copies of everything and keep deductions to itemize. The them organized in a file. Have Qualified Charitable Distribution last year’s return handy for will help lower the taxpayer’s reference. The Internal Revenue gross income and may decrease Service’s website states that the the amount of Social Security length of time to keep records subject to income tax. It may varies, but in most cases, save also help to keep your Medicare records for three to seven years. premiums lower since a higher premium is charged for 2. Plan for college Consider Medicare Part B and Part D to setting up a 529 Plan for individuals with higher income college savings. These plans amounts. provide a tax-advantaged way for parents and guardians to 5. Find resources If you don’t save and invest in education feel confident in your ability to for their kids. “The 529 Plan prepare a return and don’t want rules allow withdrawals for to pay a professional, there are such expenses as college other low-cost options. Free tuition, private school tuition, File Alliance (freefilealliance. fees, books, room and board, org) is a nonprofit group of computers and other qualifying tax software companies that education expenses,” Brooks partners with the IRS to help wrote. Virginia taxpayers can prepare and e-file returns. deduct up to $4,000 in 529 Plan Your income cannot exceed contributions per account, per $66,000 a year to qualify for year on state tax returns. The the service. The Volunteer excess contributions are carried Income Tax Assistance (VITA) over to future tax years. program offers free income tax return preparation services 3. Choose wisely If you had for taxpayers earning up to major changes in your life $52,000 annually. For more in 2019 (marriage, divorce, information, call 434.793.5627. starting a business, or a more
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