A Day of Celebration for Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area

A Day of Celebration for Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area

In other news from the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area: James Taub is now the new Public Programs Coordinator. Taub has been a well-known volunteer interpreter for the organization for several years and brings an impressive skill set to the team.

Photo courtesy

The Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area will hold a belated 25th anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 26 at the historic Goose Creek Bridge on Lemmons Bottom Road off Rt. 50 on the north side between Middleburg and Upperville.

The nonprofit, headquartered one mile from the bridge in Atoka, in 2020 marked 25 years of providing history education to area students, but deferred its celebration until after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.

The organization was founded in 1995 in response to the increased pace of suburban sprawl and the need to emphasize the importance of conservation and preservation in such a historic area.

In 2019, the VPHA officially reached a milestone of serving 50,000 total students. It also has been involved in preserving land in Loudoun, Fauquier, Warren, Clarke, and Prince William counties.

The June 26 event will take place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Goose Creek Historic Park off Route 50, about halfway between Middleburg and Upperville. It will include a continuous living history interpretation, guided tours, scavenger hunts, food, beer/wine, and musical offerings from a professional bluegrass ensemble.

At 10:30 a.m., historian Jim Broomall will speak about local Civil War history. Next, guests can take a guided tour of the site of the Battle of Upperville in June, 1863 with VPHA’s Historian Emeritus, Rich Gillespie.

That tour will be followed by a guided walk with a NOVA Parks’ naturalist along Goose Creek. The celebration also will feature history talks every 15 minutes delivered by costumed interpreters and others. They’ll cover the Revolutionary War to both World Wars and everything in between.

Music also is on the schedule. The Dargan Benders will play at noon,1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., featuring bluegrass favorites, with dancing definitely encouraged to those inclined.

The band’s lead singer, Bess Putnam, is a well-known local musician known as Blue Mountain Songbird. She’s also a VPHA board member.

Tickets include fresh oysters from the Patuxent River and are priced at $50 for adults, $20 for students, with children 12 and under admitted at no charge. For more information, go to Piedmontheritage.org for tickets and a full schedule of events. The Old Post Office