Country ZEST & Style Summer 2024 Edition

MIDDLEBURG MUSEUM

HIGH ACRE FARM

THE PLAINS, VIRGINIA

263 acres between Middleburg and The Plains | c. 1909 brick Georgian main residence | Gorgeous millwork & fine finishes | 7 fireplaces | 4 bedrooms

Lovely rolling and elevated land with mountain views | Mix of open usable land and mature woods |

Extensive stone walls, notable formal garden & terraces 3 tenant houses and multiple farm buildings

$5,850,000

Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

helen MacMahon 540.454.1930

CLIFF MILLS ROAD

WARRENTON, VIRGINIA

118.49 acres, gently rolling land, mature woods, ample pasture Spring fed stocked pond, creeks & mountain views

Residence built in 1958, remodeled in 2020, brick and frame exterior, 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, fireplace, hardwood floors, stainless steal appliances 7 stall barn with office/apartment w/full bath, 60 x 90 indoor arena, 90 x 120 outdoor arena & detached 2-bay garage which can handle 4 plus vehicles | Property is fenced and cross fenced | Private but minutes to town

$2,400,000

Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

Brian MacMahon 703.609.1868

UPPERVILLE LAND

UPPERVILLE, VIRGINIA

Excellent Loudoun County location minutes to Upperville and Middleburg | Surrounded by large properties all mostly in conservation easement | Land is gently rolling, stone walls, mountain views, mature woods and decent pasture | 4-bedroom perc site and an existing well

$1,195,000

Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

Brian MacMahon 703.609.1868

THE COVERT

THE PLAINS, VIRGINIA

227 acres on Zulla Road | Extraordinary property with wonderful mix of open and wooded land | Extensive trails | Natural habitat Wildlife abounds | A true sportsman’s paradise | Beautiful building sites with rolling terrain | Views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and views of the Bull Run Mountains | Pond | Improved by a hard surfaced road through entire property | Extremely private yet minutes to town

$5,675,000

helen MacMahon 540.454.1930

BRICQUEBEC

MARSHALL, VIRGINIA

House front veranda on main level & second story | Craftsmanship & detail throughout | 5 BR, 6 1/2 BA, & 4 FP | Impressive staircase, moldings & mantles | 14.6 mostly wooded acres, access through stone pillars & hard surfaced driveway | Spring fed pond, walkways, gardens & mature plantings | Improvements include greenhouse & workshop

$2,100,000

Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

NEW MOUNTAIN ROAD

ALDIE, VIRGINIA

60 wooded acres on top of a ridge | In conservation easement, trails throughout, elevated building sites, 1500 ft of frontage on Little River 25 minutes to Dulles, close to Aldie and Route 50

$990,000

Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

HEDGEWOOD

LINCOLN, VIRGINIA

Circa 1835, 49.8 acres | Main house with 7 FP, 5 BR, 2 full & 2 half BA | Gourmet kitchen | Large front porch & terrace, landscaped gardens & pool | Lower level is partially finished with temp. controlled wine cellar, media room, mechanical & storage areas Guest house newly renovated with 2 BR, 2 baths | Manager’s cottage with 2 BR & bath | Large banked barn, 4-stall stable with hay and storage, water, and electricity $2,895,000 lynn Wiley 540.454.1527

WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA

Mountain top setting

703.609.1905

703.609.1868

SAINT LOUIS ROAD

PURCELLVILLE, VIRGINIA

Hard to find 9.58 acres between Middleburg and Purcellville | Mountain views, woods and pasture with frontage on Beaverdam Creek

$600,000

Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

Hats Off to a Decent Idea

Welcome to “MAKE AMERICA DECENT AGAIN,” the eureka creation of Middleburg Mayor Bridge Littleton and Vice Mayor Chris Bernard. They said they decided that enough was enough and, according to their website, “we found ourselves yearning for a return to the core values that truly make America great: decency, respect, and unity.” And so, they’re selling hats, t-shirts and coffee mugs, all with their MADA slogan.

Details: https://makeamericadecent.com

The MADA cap.

Fit to a T-shirt. A decent coffee mug. Sip and Savor Bottle.

Hats on for Middleburg Vice Mayor Chris Bernard and Mayor Bridge Littleton.

Personalities, Celebrations and Sporting Pursuits

© 2023 Country ZEST & Style, LLC.

Published six times a year

Distributed and mailed throughout the Virginia countryside and in Washington and at key Sporting Pursuits and Celebrations

MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 798

Middleburg, Virginia 20118

PHONE: 410-570-8447

Editor: Leonard Shapiro badgerlen@aol.com

Art Director

Meredith Hancock Hancock Media

Contributing Photographers:

Doug Gehlsen

Crowell Hadden

Sarah Huntington

Nancy Kleck

Douglas Lees

Camden Littleton

Karen Monroe

Tiffany Dillon Keen Donna Strama

Official Fine Artist

Linda Volrath

Contributing Writers:

Drew Babb

Emma Boyce

Sean Clancy

Denis Cotter

Philip Dudley

Mike du Pont

Valerie Archibald Embrey

Jimmy Hatcher

Laura Longley

Hunt Lyman

M.J. McAteer

Joe Motheral

Jodi Nash

Chip Newcombe

Tom Northrup

Ali Patusky

Melissa Phipps

Pat Reilly

Linda Roberts

John E. Ross

Constance Chatfield-Taylor

John Sherman

Peyton Tochterman

John Toler

Leslie VanSant

Louisa Woodville

For advertising inquiries, contact: Leonard Shapiro at badgerlen@aol.com or 410-570-8447

ON THE COVER

Teamwork at a cover photo shoot is essential, even within the studio setting, where each team member contributes significantly to realizing the magazine’s creative vision. Responsibilities range from arranging equipment and managing lighting to guiding poses and expressions of the subjects in front of the camera. Karen’s meticulous attention to detail and her discerning eye are indispensable assets that enhance the quality of every project we undertake, including photographing Vicky Lewis, Dorsey deButts and Jennifer Long, the three talented women on the cover who also know plenty about teamwork in guiding the Middleburg Museum.

/ Country Zest and Style / @countryzestandstyle / @countryzestand1 www.countryzestandstyle.com

of NOTE

BE ON THE LOOKOUT through this issue of

for the hummingbird.

He appears in two ads and the first two readers to find him (one each) will receive a gift from THE RED TRUCK Rural Bakery, with locations in Warrenton and Marshall. Send your reply to badgerlen@aol.com

FASCINATING FOLKS ALL AROUND

By Leonard Shapiro

Our gorgeous area of the countryside is populated by a magical mix of fascinating folks, young and old, farmers and financiers, natives and newbies.

I’m often asked how we’re able fill the magazine with so many compelling articles, and my answer is simple enough. Around every corner, behind every tree, virtually anywhere you look out here there’s a tale to be told about something or someone--their profession, their history, their passion and so much more.

Our cover story this month focuses on the Middleburg Museum, which is moving its location and about to launch a capital campaign that will allow it to keep telling the rich and colorful history of the people, places, and so many other things about the town and its surrounding area. The three women on the cover are helping to preserve the past for future generations. Many thanks to Vicky Lewis, Dorsey deButts and Jennifer Long and their fellow board members.

Speaking of colorful, we lost force of nature Ann MacLeod in April a few months short of her 102nd birthday. She was the subject of a story that appeared in this magazine when she was 96 and about to spend her 60th August attending the races at Saratoga Springs, where she also played grass court tennis several times a week. You can read it again this month.

Tal Mack, a long-time and beloved educator at The Hill School who composed poetry, planted a zillion seeds and taught several generations of students the art of writing and plenty more, is remembered in this issue by his Hill colleague and ZEST columnist Hunt Lyman, the school’s dean of academics.

And Jerry Payne, who grew up in the 1950s poor and very curious in a tenant house on Llangollen Farm in Upperville, is fondly recalled in print and on film by his lifelong friend, Delaplane documentary film maker Tom Davenport. Jerry’s nickname back then was “Osmosis” because he loved all things biology, then became an expert on animal decomposition and its use in forensic science.

Elsewhere in this summer issue, don’t miss our two-page spread on a memorable victory in the prestigious Maryland Hunt Cup by a horse owned by Zohar and Lisa Ben-Dov at their Kinross Farm near Middleburg.

John Toler has an illuminating piece about a long-gone but hardly forgotten girls boarding school in Warrenton and its fabulous founder, Mademoiselle Lea M. Bouligny.

A few weeks ago, a young man from Marshall made his own history when he was selected in the third round of the NFL college draft by the Los Angeles Rams. Blake Corum, a record-breaking University of Michigan running back, became only the second payer from Fauquier County ever drafted, and Salamander owner Sheila Johnson held a draft night watch party for him at the resort. ZEST was there, too, with photos to prove it.

As always, there’s so much more. And with two months to savor it all until our August edition, we’re delighted to add a touch more ZEST to your summer reading.

Leonard Shapiro

410-570-8447

Badgerlen@aol.com

Doug Gehlsen and Karen Monroe of Middleburg Photo

MIDDLEBURG COUNTRY ESTATE

30 acres | $5,900,000

Middleburg – Wonderful Tuscan-inspired estate has an “Old World” warmth that is welcoming and elegant in its simplicity. The main residence is custom built with extraordinary quality and boasts 5 bedrooms, 8 1/2 baths, 8 fireplaces. The luxurious primary suite is on the main level with a sun room and access to the pool a few steps away; additionally, the floors are heated and there is a spa shower, huge Jacuzzi and a wet bar. For guests, a separate driveway leads to a four bedroom house, with over 2500 square feet of wonderful living space. The equestrian will be pleased to find a center aisle stable with 8 stalls, wash stall and tack room. There are two large paddocks, with board fencing and a run-in shed.

BRIGHT PROSPECT

103+ acres | $2,700,000

The Plains – Gorgeous property in 2 parcels. Main residence features open floor plan, high ceilings and beautiful wood flooring. Spring fed pond with the magnificent Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. Fine shops, restaurants, vineyards and excellent schools are all nearby.

HEARTHSTONE

.46 acres | $1,295,000

Warrenton – Stunning 3 level historic brick home offers 5000 SqFt of beautifully updated living space, surrounded by gorgeous gardens and towering trees. A gourmet country kitchen, high ceilings and gleaming wood floors. Walk out level studio apt. and renovated 1 BR Guest House.

JOHN MOSBY 4 acres | $3,250,000

Middleburg – New estate home ready for the most discerning buyer. Exquisite details include museum quality tiles, heated bathroom floors, designer lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, sauna, wine cellar, stone counter tops and every amenity for gracious living. Also: heated pool, fire pit, outdoor kitchen and 3 car garage.

STEEPLECHASE RUN

.10 acres | $1,229,000

Middleburg – Spectacular 3 level home offers care free country living. This gorgeous town home features 3 spacious bedrooms, 3 full baths, and a powder room. The home was completed with every amenity, detail and precision of quality that the builder was proud to offer.

Howard Allen: A Photographer and So Much More

By Denis Cotter

It’s been nearly ten years since the late Howard Owen Allen (1920 – 2015) passed away, but he left behind a treasure trove of photographs documenting a way of life in Middleburg and its surrounding area, some of them going as far back as his teenage years.

The son of a well-known Winchester physician who once half-jokingly told him he had delivered half the babies in their home town, the road Howard took in becoming a renowned local photographer who also chronicled the equine pursuits of Jackie Kennedy and her children took countless intriguing twists and turns.

Not long after Howard married Nancy, his wife of 67 years, in 1948, the young couple moved to Washington, D.C. where he took a job as a layout artist in the promotions department of The Washington Post. He was there for three years, but grew restless with the 9 to 5 desk-bound routine. Thanks to the Post’s chief photographer, he secured a position with John DiJoseph, owner of Reni Photographers, a commercial photography operation. His new address at 1319 F Street, NW, was less than a mile away from the Post’s long-time headquarters on 15th Street.

DiJoseph was famous for his 1945 photo of a leggy Lauren Bacall draped across an upright piano being played by Vice President Harry S. Truman. DiJoseph gave Howard all his early training in professional photography.

In 1955, DiJoseph received a call from The Post asking if he could send a photographer to accompany a reporter doing a story in Middleburg on Margaret Greer, a well-known interior decorator. The Post couldn’t afford to lose a photographer for an entire day, so Howard got the assignment.

At the end of the session, Mrs. Greer’s secretary asked him if he knew any photographers who might be job hunting. The local photographer, Thomas Neil Darling, had recently died and his widow was looking for someone to continue the business. Howard said he didn’t know anyone, but decided to visit the widow.

The next day, Mrs. Darling came to Arlington to have dinner with Howard and Nancy and by evening’s end, Howard had agreed to move to Middleburg. Eventually, he bought the business, renamed it Allen Studios, and it endured for decades. Meanwhile, Nancy opened The Fun Shop, which grew to become an iconic Middleburg destination loved by locals and visitors alike until it closed last year.

Howard’s father, Lewis Mines Allen, had a brief moment of international fame in 1938 when King Edward VIII of England abdicated his throne. It turned out that Dr. Allen had delivered Wallis Warfield – later Wallis Simpson – decades

Photo by Leonard Shapiro Howard and Nancy Allen.

It turned out that Howard Allen’s

father, Dr. Allen had delivered Wallis Warfield – aka Wallis Simpson –decades earlier in Maryland.

earlier in Maryland.

Howard was the oldest of three boys, with brothers Lewis born in 1922 and Douglas in 1923. By the time they were in their late teens, Walt Disney had created Donald Duck’s nephews. Not surprisingly, the Allen boys were sometimes called Huey, Louie, and Dewey.

As he described in an oral history at the Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg, Howard had an idyllic childhood on Clifford Street. An avid amateur photographer, he had a darkroom in the basement of his parents’ house. He attended Handley School through the 8th grade, then Episcopal in Alexandria, graduating in 1938.

Howard enrolled at Princeton University, intending to major in architecture. He was halfway through his junior year when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Howard signed up with the American Field Services (AFS), an organization based in New York founded during World War I.

AFS ran ambulance services, transporting wounded soldiers from the battlefield to field hospitals in the rear. Being actively involved in the war effort, but saving lives rather than destroying them, fit with his brave and gentle character.

Howard served with AFS from December, 1942 through December, 1944. He drove ambulances in Syria, North Africa, and Italy, aligned with the 8th Army of the British military and with the Forces Françaises Combattantes (FFC).

After AFS, Howard joined the U.S. Navy for three years before returning to the U.S. In 1947, on his way to a training course, he was injured in a railroad accident and was honorably discharged. He moved to New York City to study for a year at the Arts Students League on the GI Bill.

On May 8, 1948, at Christ Episcopal Church in Winchester, Howard wed Nancy Lee Coble, a childhood friend. They were married for 67 years and had

Howard Allen’s iconic photo of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy with her daughter Caroline on her pony and son John in the front seat graced the cover of Vicky Moon’s book, The Middleburg Mystique.

two daughters, Page and Betsy. During the presidency of John F. Kennedy, Middleburg became “a most congenial spot” for Mrs. Kennedy, who rode to hounds here and became a pony club mother.

Howard’s daughters also were in pony club, setting the stage for an enduring friendship between Howard and the first lady. He valued her concern for her children’s privacy and became the trusted, unofficial family photographer. He made classic pictures of Jackie and her children, Caroline and John, many not published until 50 years after JFK’s assassination in Howard’s 2013 splendid coffee table book “Unforgotten Times.”

One of his memorable photos also graces the cover of The Middleburg Mystique by author Vicky Moon, which has sold more than 27,000 copies.

Betsy went on to become the mayor of Middleburg, and she and Page managed the highly successful Fun Shop. Howard prospered for decades as a commercial photographer and also covered sporting events throughout the area, especially equine ones.

He always retained an interest in art and drawing and was a gifted caricaturist. Every year, he got together for golf with his brothers. Lewis had a successful career as a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer who brought shows like Tru, A Few Good Men, and Annie to commercial life. Douglas was a successful stockbroker in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Nancy Allen died in July, 2015. Four months later, Howard passed away. They are not forgotten.

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“America’s Best Bakery Destinations”

Joey Snider’s Story Is No Pipe Dream

By Leonard Shapiro

For over four decades, master plumber and water treatment specialist Joey Snider was the president and CEO of J.R. Snider Ltd. in the Middleburg, Virginia area. A highly skilled professional technician and savvy businessman, the wide range of services he and his company provided were widely regarded by countless clients over the years and made his brand a household name.

When Joey retired and sold his business in April, 2023, he turned his attention and his passion to another pursuit, writing about his wide-ranging experiences out in the field and behind a desk and offering sage advice to “those coming up behind you.”

The result: Joey’s extremely entertaining first book, “If Water Runs Through It, We Do It: Memoirs of a Plumber.” He described it as “a compendium of short stories, lessons learned and the adventure of a service plumber from apprentice to seven-figure business owner.”

“Share the knowledge you gained from those who went before you. That is why I’m writing this book,” Joey noted in the preface. “I hope that I can attract the audience of those at a crossroads in their life and also those who may have influence over young people who are deciding how to make a living doing something they enjoy.

“I hope my short stories, my opinions and my advice are interesting and inspirational to both young men and women curious about the trades. If this book helps one person find a hidden passion, then I will be very happy and proud and consider my time well spent.”

There’s plenty of sage of advice and many lessons learned, not to mention lots of fun reading along the way. Consider for example, Joey’s top ten list of items that somehow managed to get flushed down a bottled up toilet over the course of his fascinating career.

“One of America’s best small-town bakeries” TRAVEL+

They included: a mouse trap, with mouse attached; reading glasses; toilet paper holder with spring attached; perfume bottles; marijuana pipes; GI Joe figurines; popsicle sticks; hygiene products; makeup mirrors and, “last but not least…a wallet in a public men’s room. (Yes, it was a little dingy, but returned to its rightful out-of-state owner.)”

Then there was a customer who needed the drain to a stopped up sewer line cleaned. When the job was successfully completed, the homeowner came outside to see what had caused the problem.

“No worries,” Joey’s assistant told him. “Just some condoms that got caught in an elbow just before the septic tank.”

“That’s impossible,” said the man of the house. “I don’t use condoms!!!”

Needless to say, Joey wrote, “we collected our payment quickly and headed to our next call.”

And just what does it take to truly be a professional plumbing service provider? Joey asked in the book.

“It all comes down to intestinal fortitude,” he answered his own question. “Fortitude means courage. But used after the word intestinal, you now have a human characteristic or trait that comes from the gut. Now we mix courage with determination and that, my friends, is one of the most important pieces of being a professional service plumber, and just a good human being, for that matter.”

Also for that matter, it perfectly describes Joey Snider, plumber, now author and clearly just a good human being.

Kristi and Joey Snider

Call It the Green

Tsteel, cast-iron and copper pipes, as well as stay on top of the ever-changing technological advancements. Everything is Wi-Fi compatible, from your water heater to your water softener.

The salary and benefit packages for today’s technicians are mind blowing. The skill set is both mechanical and technical. The new blue collar worker is using both their back and their brain. That sounds like a very rewarding career to me.

As we know, the need for toilets, sinks, showers, and sanitary facilities for bathing and cooking will go on forever. So will the need for those people who install and maintain such fixtures , and the infrastructure for these facilities.

For those who realize that technology has revolutionized the blue collar job description, the world is at your fingertips. Yes, you still need to use your hands and your back to some degree, but you have a job where you are challenged , both mentally and physically.

This industry needs people willing to work with both their hands and their mind. Very soon plumbing fixtures will be touch-less with Wi-Fi capabilities. Who’s going to be able to install and maintain these new products that will make our lives better?

I can honestly say that my knowledge as a master plumber, gas fitter, alternative septic systems, and water well provider will soon be only half of what will be needed.

This revolution can’t be defined by the color of a collar in my opinion, but if a color has to be given, I’d call it a green collar job. Not just because of being environmentally friendly, but also because of the salary it will demand for the first in line who aren’t afraid of the challenges awaiting the new tradesmen!

From Joey Snider’s new book, “If Water Runs Through It, We Do It! Memoirs of a Plumber.”

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The Piedmont Symphony Orchestra hosted their annual gala “Symphony in Bloom” on Saturday, April 27th at Wildcat Equestrian Farm. Guests enjoyed stunning views, a silent auction, and a one-of-a-kind performance by solo artists Emily Casey and Nakia Verner, including the famous “Flower Duet” by Lakme. The PSO gala raises critical funds in support of their mission to bring musical excellence to the Virginia Piedmont.

Kate O’Konski (Violin, PSO executive director), Jon Carr (Trombone), Alisha Coleman (Clarinet), Stacia Stribling (Flute, PSO Board - Players Committee Chair), Lulu Baer (Violin) and Devyn Wilcox (Cello, PSO Board - secretary).

Host Najaf Husain

Hostess Margriet Langenberg-Husain

PSO Conductor and director of music Glenn Quader and his wife, Michelle.

Don and Anita Sherman

PSO String quartet

Stacia Stribling, Glenn Quader and Devyn Wilcox

Devyn Wilcox

At iFly, You Fly

By Joe Motheral

Indoor sky diving sounds like a classic oxymoron, at least until the development of the vertical wind tunnel in the early 1960s.

Sky diving itself can be traced back to the late 18th century, and the indoor version is now accessible to the general public, including a Loudoun County facility called iFly located at One Loudoun in Ashburn that opened in 1998, with similar facilities nationwide.

The flyers wear tight fitting suits with handles provided by iFly in part to insure the instructor has something to hang on to.

Dwight Miller is the Ashburn iFly general manager and explained how the system works.

“We invented the recirculating wind tunnel for flight and continue to lead its innovation to allow us to deliver the dream of flight to everyone,” he said. “Four fans in the optimal flow quality position drive the air around a single and efficient loop. The airflow is narrowed below the flying chamber to speed and smooth the flow for maximum enjoyment.”

Alan Metni was iFly’s founder and first CEO. According to Dwight, “Alan’s commitment to innovation led to the creation of cutting edge wind tunnel technology, making iFly the world leader in vertical wind tunnels.”

The action in the wind tunnel resembles all the earmarks of sky diving. An instructor and his client make all manner of moves, up and down, twisting, turning, rising and falling. The instructor handles the client throughout one minute of flight time. At one point, a ZEST reporter watched an instructor get into the tunnel by himself and swoop up to the top of the building and back down again.

According to the iFly website, “each flight within the wind tunnel lasts 60 seconds. However, total flight length depends on the package that you choose. When jumping out of an airplane, the free fall portion lasts approximately 45 seconds. If you reserve a package that contains two flights, you will have two turns in the wind tunnel with an instructor lasting 60 seconds each.”

And is it scary?

“Generally, no,” the website added. “There’s no jumping, no falling, and no experience is needed. You simply float on a column of air. There is no sensation of falling or anything that would make you feel motion sickness.”

One father and his ten-year old son were waiting to for a chance to “try something new.” At iFly, children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent.

First timers must go through a training session before they skydive. According to iFly, “You will get a lot of important and helpful information as well as some preflight practices of your flying positions.”

If a client has flown within three months of his next flight, no training session is required. The flyers wear tight fitting suits with handles provided by iFly in part to insure the instructor has something to hang on to.

Flyers should allow about an hour and 45 minutes to accommodate their sky diving—preparation, suit fitting and instructions followed by an absolutely thrilling and unforgettable 60-second joy ride.

Details: https://www.iflyworld.com

Photo by Joe Motheral

An iSky instructor in a vertical wind tunnel.

Better Understanding AVIAN FLU

By Jennifer Riley

The current bird flu outbreak, more formally referred to as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), started in early 2022 in the U.S. and the situation is continuing to evolve.

We’ve seen the virus first found in wild birds show up in commercial and backyard poultry, wild and domestic mammals, and even humans. Our work as wildlife professionals at the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Millwood, in conjunction with all of our actions as humans, can help mitigate the spread.

Typically, HPAI circulates at low levels in wild bird populations, with outbreaks swiftly resolving without major impacts on domestic animals, humans, or broader wildlife populations. However, the current outbreak has been ongoing for over two years and is not staying limited to the wild bird population. It also does not appear to be going away any time soon.

The primary concern arises from the virus’s potential to mutate and better adapt to infect humans. Influenza viruses, often originating in animal populations, undergo constant genetic changes through mutations, occasionally leading to the virus’s ability to infect new host species.

This poses a significant risk, as when bird flu viruses jump from avian to mammalian species, they can acquire mutations that facilitate human-tohuman transmission, potentially sparking major pandemics.

While the overall risk of bird flu transmission to humans remains low, it is not insignificant. Most human infections result from direct contact with infected birds or exposure to contaminated environments such as live poultry markets.

To mitigate the risk, proactive measures are essential:

• Seek guidance from wildlife professionals or use appropriate personal protective equipment when handling wildlife, especially birds and mammals.

• Ensure the safety of backyard poultry by closely monitoring their health and promptly addressing any illnesses with a poultry veterinarian. Limit poultry travel whenever feasible.

• Prevent pets from free-roaming; they may come into contact with infected wildlife without displaying symptoms. Promptly consult a veterinarian if free-roaming pets exhibit signs of illness.

• Exercise caution around visibly ill domestic animals and those appearing healthy, particularly if you have a compromised immune system.

• Support wildlife hospitals and research efforts aimed at protecting both wildlife and public health.

Within our hospital, stringent safety protocols are in place to minimize disease transmission. Initial examinations of high-risk species are conducted outdoors, and staff members follow strict personal protective equipment guidelines. Quarantine measures are enforced for animals awaiting test results, reducing the risk of spread among hospital patients.

Since early in the outbreak, Blue Ridge has participated in surveillance of this disease through a study at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. We test every higher-risk species (waterfowl, raptors, game birds, etc.) as well as birds and mammals with neurological signs.

Over the past two years, we’ve been fortunate to have just three positive HPAI cases in our hospital—a black vulture from Prince William County, a great horned owl from Jefferson County, WV, and a black vulture from Fredericksburg.

By adhering to guidelines, supporting wildlife hospitals, and fostering a holistic approach to health, we protect ourselves and also safeguard the wellbeing of our environment and the diverse species that inhabit it.

Jennifer Riley, DVM, is hospital director for the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Millwood, the only dedicated wildlife hospital in Northern Virginia. Details: www.blueridgewildlifectr.org

Photo Courtesy of Blue Ridge Wildlife Center Well-protected Blue Ridge Wildlife Center staff members examining a bird and looking for signs of avian flu.

BOOKED UP

WORDS WITH WINE

Mark your calendars for Thursday, June 27 when The National Sporting Library & Museum will host Words and Wine with author, horse lover and oenophile, Lettie Teague. She will discuss her book, Dear Readers and Riders, the new biography of Marguerite Henry, the much-beloved best-selling children’s book author of Misty of Chincoteague and 58 other mostly horse-centric books.

Devon Settle, the granddaughter of Wesley Dennis, the acclaimed illustrator, and Marguerite’s long-time collaborator and friend, will also be on hand. Devon is the executive director of the Fauquier SPCA in Warrenton.

Lettie Teague has been The Wall Street Journal’s wine columnist since 2010. Before that, she was the executive wine editor and columnist for  Food & Wine magazine. She is the author of two books  Wine in Words and  Educating Peter, and co-author and illustrator of Fear of Wine. Her writing has won three James Beard Awards, including the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. Most importantly, Teague has been a fan of best-selling children’s book author Marguerite Henry since she was nine.

In certain circles, Marguerite Henry’s name inspires immediate recognition and pronouncements of a committed admiration that has likely spanned decades. She wrote 59 books with millions of copies sold, and nearly 80 years of her life spent writing them—or responding personally to the stacks of fan mail she received. Her books included the Newbery Award winner King of the Wind, and the glowingly reviewed Justin Morgan Had a Horse. This new one Dear Readers and Riders, not only serves fans, but also offers more about the ‘‘mother of Misty.’’ It offers insight into the bestselling writer’s profoundly public lifestyle and the glamor of New York salons and soirees.

The event will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., to purchase tickets (with or without the tasting) https://www.nationalsporting.org/index.php/nslm/event_details/1366/

Lettie Teague

Help Wanted For Churches of Upperville

By M.J. McAteer

WANTED: A new director(s) for the Churches of Upperville Outreach Program (CUOP).

QUALIFICATIONS: Willingness to donate a few hours a week to a food program that benefits needy families in the Upperville area.

COMPENSATION: The karma that comes from making the proverb “Charity begins at home” a reality.

For 30 years, Mount Pisgah Baptist, Trinity Episcopal, Upperville Baptist and Upperville Methodist have combined forces to supply food baskets to needy families in the area through their Churches of Upperville Outreach Program.

Longtime village resident Betty Lee started the program, but for the past 24 years, Patty Nicoll and her husband, Peter, Upperville residents for 40 years, have served as voluntary directors. Locals may know the Nicolls from the years Peter spent managing the Red Fox Inn while Patty supervised the front desk.

The Nicolls’ are now ready to pass the mantle, and they hope that some “new blood with fresh ideas” might see this story and step forward to take over the CUOP.

That new blood would be tasked with overseeing a four-time-yearly distribution of food to 26 local families—98 people in all, including 55 children. They’re chosen through recommendations from Upperville church members and administrators at Banneker Elementary in Middleburg, Claude Thompson

Patty and Peter Nicholl

Elementary in Rectortown and W.G. Coleman Elementary in Marshall. All three have a disturbingly high percentage of students living in poverty.

At Valentine’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, the CUOP gives out the baskets. Families of five or more get four, mid-sized families get two and small households get one. The baskets are actually large, sturdy banana boxes with hand holds recycled from the Seven Loaves Services food bank in Middleburg.

Each is packed with about $150 of groceries that include “everything that you need for a holiday meal plus shelf-handy items,” Patty Nicoll said. All told, the CUOP gave away about $16,000 of food last year.

The Nicolls do some accounting and outreach work throughout the year, but the weeks before each distribution are extremely busy.

Although many volunteers help with packing and delivering the baskets, they estimate that they spend about 45 hours on the shopping, sorting, packing and distribution for each of the giveaways. They hit Costco and Walmart to stock up on nonperishables about two weeks before a distribution Closer to the delivery days, they shop again for perishables. Turkeys are given out at Thanksgiving and Christmas, with hams for Easter.

Ayrshire Farm gives the CUOP about 160 pounds of ground beef for the Valentine’s Day distribution.

This year, Foxcroft students contributed dyed eggs and home-baked cupcakes to the Easter baskets.

At Christmas, the Upperville Garden Club and the Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club contribute gift cards, and Slater Run Vineyards is in its seventh year of holding a crab fest with proceeds earmarked for the CUOP. This year’s fest is on August 16.

The Upperville Colt & Horse Show also supports the charity.. And the night before Thanksgiving, the churches hold a community service and all the offerings they collect go to the CUOP. Individuals help out with donations, as well.

“Middleburg has a lot of resources, but the folks out here have less,” said Patty Nicoll. “The CUOP is a worthwhile, lovely program.”

And now, it also needs a charitable someone or two to help it keep on helping others. The Nicolls would be happy to offer details on what directing the CUOP involves. Contact them at pnicoll1378@gmail.com.

Photo by M.J. McAteer

Photo by Peter Nicholl

A Thanksgiving feast from the Churches of Upperville.

9 Steps to Prevent Water Damage to Your Home

By Tim Burch

One of the most common and costly forms of property damage is home water loss. If water issues go unnoticed for an extended period or aren’t tended to promptly or properly, it can lead to significant structural issues, black mold, and costly repairs. Taking steps now to minimize or prevent water damage can go a long way in protecting your home.

Prevent Water Damage Indoors

1. Install water leak detectors.

There are two types of water leak detectors: water line monitor/shutoff devices, which can turn off the main plumbing, and water sensors that are placed in leak-susceptible areas to alert homeowners when water is found.

Shutoff devices monitor the flow of water into your house from the water main. They use a computer algorithm to determine when there’s a leak and shut the water off when a leak is detected. Several BOWA clients have installed these and reported that the systems have found and alerted them to slow leaks in various fixtures. Most systems are accessible by a phone app which can be used to turn the water back on after an alert.

Water alarms can alert you when a leak is detected by using water and moisture detection sensors. Place these systems near washing machines, dishwashers, sump pumps, water heaters and toilets to monitor leaks that might otherwise go unnoticed. Some sensor systems can turn off one area of the plumbing like a washing machine connection or a water heater.

2. Monitor your water bill.

Some water leaks can go unnoticed. Spotting significant jumps on your bill from month to month can help identify water loss undetectable to the eye, such as a leaking pipe, excessive lawn watering, continuously cycling water, or a leaking water heater.

Tim Burch

3. Replace appliance hoses every five years.

Washing machine and refrigerator hoses should be replaced every five years to prevent potential damage from corroded or worn-down materials. Opting for high-quality materials, such as reinforced steelbraided hoses as opposed to rubber, can provide an extra layer of protection against damage.

4. Listen for the sound of running water in your home.

Simply listening for running water can help you to identify issues early. Water leaks from sinks, toilets, and showers, can sometimes be heard through your home’s walls or floors. Investigating these unusual sounds early can help you to catch and resolve issues before they worsen.

5. Look for signs of leaks and drips. Look for drips and leaks around your dishwasher, refrigerator, sink cabinet, toilets, and washer at least once per year. Stained or discolored flooring around your appliances can be an indication of a nearby leak. Any discoloration of ceilings, walls, or flooring should be checked to ensure there is not a leak. Roofs should be inspected at five years, then every

one-to-two years, to verify pipe collars, sealants, and flashings are in good condition.

Prevent Water Damage Outdoors

6. Maintain trees, shrubs, and other vegetation. Minimize vegetation around underground water pipes to prevent damage caused by nearby roots. This online database can help you identify where to plant specific types of trees to prevent roots from bursting underground water pipes.

7. Turn off and drain outdoor hose bibs.

When temperatures fall, disconnect hoses and turn off and drain outdoor faucets to prevent water from freezing in and rupturing your water pipes.

8. Keep your gutters clear.

Avoid water overflow by keeping your gutters clear of leaves and other debris. Point your downspouts away from your home to direct the flow of water away from the house’s foundation.

9. Maintain positive slope.

A common cause of water issues in our area is buildup of mulch in planting areas adjacent to the home. Years of adding mulch can create a slope toward the house, which then funnels water toward the foundation. Whomever does your gardening should regularly inspect the areas immediately surrounding your home and other structures, making adjustments as needed to reestablish a grade away from the house.

Avoid costly emergencies by taking steps to prevent water damage in your home. If there is anything we can do to be of assistance, let us know!

Tim Burch is a vice president and owner of BOWA, an award-winning design and construction firm specializing in luxury renovations ranging from kitchens and primary suites to whole-house remodels, equestrian facilities, and custom-crafted homes. For more information, visit bowa.com.

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Assessing And Improving Cardiovascular Fitness

By Mark Nemish

Ready, Set, Gather the Family!

Hand Crafted by select Western Pa. Old Order & Eastern Pa. Amish Craftsman families

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Family Owned & Operated Since 1973

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Dealing in Amish Outdoor Furniture Located in Loudoun County Since 1973. 540-338-2060

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Hand Crafted by select Western Pa. Old Order & Eastern Pa. Amish Craftsman families

55 E. Colonial Highway (Old Rt 7) Hamilton, VA 20158 Parking in rear

55 E. Colonial Highway (Old Rt 7) Hamilton, VA 20158 Parking in rear

Family Owned & Operated Since 1973

Hand Crafted by select Western Pa. Old Order & Eastern Pa. Amish Craftsman families

Dealing in Amish Outdoor Furniture Located in Loudoun County Since 1973. 540-338-2060

Family Owned & Operated Since 1973

55 E. Colonial Highway (Old Rt 7) Hamilton, VA 20158 Parking in rear Everyday Low Prices

Dealing in Amish Outdoor Furniture Located in Loudoun County Since 1973.

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55 E. Colonial Highway (Old Rt 7) Hamilton, VA 20158 Parking in rear

Ionce again want to discuss the importance of being fit, especially in your middle and later years in relation to longevity and delaying all-cause mortality disease states such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.

It’s never too late to improve your fitness level and it’s never too late to accomplish that goal. Improvement begins with a mindset of aspiring to improve your fitness. Far too often I see people of all ages who are active in the gym but have no sense of accomplishment. They do the same workouts day in day out and with no method of progression.

In order to achieve improved cardiovascular fitness, first accurately assess your current fitness level to form a basis of self-comparison and a baseline from which to set goals.

There are many methods of assessing fitness levels: running tests like the 2-mile Cooper Test, beep tests, step tests, and sub-maximal treadmill/bike tests. All are fine and can provide some estimate of aerobic capacity or VO2max, but unfortunately, they also can be inaccurate.

A true VO2max test, which uses gas exchange, is much more accurate. However, it requires an all-out effort and is very difficult to perform for most individuals, especially the elderly or unfit.

I prefer to assess aerobic capacity through a very small pinprick of blood to assess the level of lactate accumulating in circulation when exercising.

Through a step-wise, short series of five-minute bouts of exercise, these lactate concentration tests allow me to evaluate one’s fitness at the cellular level. In addition, the tests do not take much time, are very accurate, and easy for the exercising individual to perform.

Equating certain blood lactate levels with the speed on a treadmill or watts (power) on a bike in conjunction with associated heart rate data will give a very nice picture of an individual’s current fitness level. The higher the intensity one can achieve (speed or power) associated with lower lactate levels, the better the aerobic capacity.

There are many researchers in the aging field who identify metabolic disfunction at the cellular level as the genesis of poor health conditions. More specifically, mitochondrial dysfunction due to over-nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle has been identified as a key component.

If you remember back to Biology 101, your mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell, the site where energy (ATP) is generated. Without getting too far down the rabbit hole, mitochondrial dysfunction can result in greater oxidative stress, which can exacerbate a whole host of all-cause mortality disease states.

Great functioning and abundant mitochondria in muscle are a function of higher fitness levels. Since mitochondria consume lactate as a fuel, the fitter individual is one who has less lactate accumulation in circulation when running at higher speeds or pedaling at higher watts.

As a result, testing your lactate in response to specific training intensities is a vast way of assessing mitochondrial function and thus overall health.

Training with low-moderate intensity and long duration and/or high intensity interval training (HIIT) protocols improve your function significantly. Size and number of mitochondria is something I will outline in depth in the next issue.

Mark Nemish is currently the owner/director of Precision Health Performance, dedicated to optimizing the health and fitness of people in need of lifestyle change. He’s the long-time head strength and conditioning coach for the Washington Capitals (2007-23) and Nashville Predators (1998-04) in the NHL.

Mark Nemish and the Stanley Cup

A Fox to Remember at Middleburg Community Center

By Joe Motheral

In 2016, Jamie Gaucher, then the Town of Middleburg’s Director of Business and Economic Development, came to sculptor Goksin Carey and asked, “Would you like to sculpt a fox?”

“What kind of fox do you want?” Goksin asked. “We want a six-foot fox,” came the reply. “I said, ‘okay, lets do it.’”

The result: what has become that iconic fox sculpture located in front of the Middleburg Community Center.

“It took three weeks to do the sculpture,” Goksin said. “My students assisted me with warming the clay and the metal framework. It was a big project.” She was fortunate to have a taxidermy fox to use as a prototype. It was, she said, “a fox in action, jumping out. I always worked with the eyes. The eyes need to talk to you. If they don’t talk to you then it won’t get into action.”

Once the sculpture was coated in bronze, it was unveiled at the 2019 Middleburg Christmas Parade. “One thing I noticed was people coming by touching the fox’s nose,” she said. “They say when they do that they have luck.”

A native of Turkey, Goksin said, “I love horses. I did commissions and I’m working on two large fighting horses now.”

The community center fox project cost $30,000 and was funded by donations from multiple organizations and individuals, including $10,000 from the town, and various amounts from the Middleburg Garden Club, local businesses, residents and raffle ticket sales.

Jamie Gaucher felt the town needed to personify its heritage, which includes a long history of fox hunting. A New York City native, Gaucher said the town could accomplish that goal with an installment similar to the 11-by-16-foot charging bull sculpture on Wall Street.

Goksin still teaches at AIM and at the National Sporting Library. She’s been working on a statue of Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey. “I’m hoping it will be in the Turkish consulates all over the U.S.,” she said.

She described her sculpting process as working from the inside out, starting with the skeleton then the muscles and the skin.

She explained how she got started working with clay to form the figures of horses. “I couldn’t draw a line. At this age of 50 my dream told me to sculpt horses…I went to the ‘clay house’ and said I wanted to sculpt horses. And they laughed at me. Sculpt something easy they said.”

She paid no attention and began doing equine sculpture. She wanted her work critiqued, so she

went to the America Academy of Equine Art, where she spent one week attending an equine sculpting workshop.

“You don’t know art,” she said, adding she was told, but “the composition is good. We will teach you the sculpting technology and you are ready to fly.”

Bluegrass & BBQ

Sunday, June 30th

Middleburg United Methodist Church 15 West Washington Street Middleburg, VA

Free Admission • Donations Appreciated For more information contact (540) 687 6492 middleburgumc@verizon.net • middleburgvaumc.org featuring: Wally Hughes Shannon Belski Lisa Kay Howard Robbie Benzing

Schedule of events:

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM — Bluegrass Concert

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM — Sunday Service with bluegrass, country music, hymns, psalms, readings and prayers

12:30 PM — BBQ Lunch

Sculptor Goksin Carey and her most famous fox.

Good farming starts from the ground up at Ayrshire Farm

Ayrshire Farm’s compost site is a hub of life supporting regenerative agriculture

TBy Katie Wais, Ayrshire Farm

o the untrained eye, Ayrshire Farm’s compost plot in Upperville might not look like much: A mostly bare swath of machine-leveled land that’s dotted with piles of dirt, some in tall mounds and others in low, tidy rows. It stands in stark contrast to the 800 acres of lush pastures and vegetation that surround this corner of the farm. Yet, the seemingly unremarkable patch is teeming with life.

Farm Manager Chris Damewood grabs a yellow-handled shovel and breaks open a small cavity in one of the larger mounds. He reaches in with both hands and pulls out a clump of the rich, dark humus that’s writhing with worms.

Red wigglers, he notes.

The red wigglers are the most visible residents here, but they’re far from alone. There’s a whole community of tiny neighbors – bacteria, fungi, and other microbes – all working together toward a common goal of recycling organic matter into valuable fertilizer.

“You have signs of life here,” Damewood says. “When you see that, you know that life will be there again and that things will grow.”

At Ayrshire Farm, composting plays a crucial role in the practice

Photo by Katie Wais, Ayrshire Farm

Chris Damewood, Farm Manager at Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, inspects a handful of compost flush with red wiggler worms.

of regenerative agriculture, where the health of the soil is paramount and farming harmonizes with nature. Composting gives the farm a natural means of improving the land, helping sustain its roughly 460 heritage-breed cattle. The herd is composed of Scottish Highland, Ancient White Park and English Longhorn cattle – hardy animals that live outside year-round and are specifically bred for grazing and foraging rather than high-density feeds. Healthy soil leads to healthy grass. And healthy grass leads to delicious beef.

“If you have good soil health, you have good cattle,” Damewood says. “It’s really that simple.”

Producing the best beef possible is the farm’s top priority. But in many ways, Ayrshire is just as focused on growing grass: equal parts rancher and grass farmer, rooted in the principal that caring for grass by mimicking the natural habits of grazers and the cycles of nature produces healthier animals and healthier meat.

Life-Giving Substance

Today, Ismael Cortes Arellano, primary caretaker of the farm’s compost site, is working a blend of potash, gypsum and a broad-spectrum mineral product called Azomite into a row of compost. At an internal temperature of 160 degrees, the compost is piping hot, releasing a cloud of steam as the tractor slices into the mound.

Once raw material makes its way here, it’s added to existing compost in careful ratios and arranged in windrows where temperature and moisture levels are monitored daily. It sits in those rows for about three months and is churned up as needed with the help of a massive Aeromaster compost turner. It’s then

left to cure for about a year, or it can be spread right away on the farm’s pastures, replenishing the soil and grass with vital nutrients following a period of cattle grazing.

Elsewhere on the farm, compost is added to garden beds to nourish vegetables, fruits, and flowers – mana for the many pigs, chickens, pollinators, and people who call this land home.

Other farmers and gardeners throughout the region also depend on this life-giving substance. One such customer is the nearby Oak Spring Garden Foundation. While waiting for her truck to be loaded with compost, Christine Harris, director of the organization’s Bio-Cultural Conservation Farm, says that Oak Spring has been using this compost since 2019 for everything from direct sowing to amending beds.

“It’s really hard to find good, quality compost,” Harris says. “Ayrshire’s is just great and a really nice consistency.”

Making Use of What You Have

Almost just as important as creating and sustaining life, compost is also the end of the road for many items at Ayrshire Farm. It’s where spent things go instead of the landfill: grass cuttings and yard waste, garden debris, pine shavings and bedding used by farm animals, as well as manure from poultry, pigs, cattle and horses. Kitchen scraps and food waste from Hunter’s Head Tavern– the farm’s own restaurant just down the road in Upperville – is also sent here several times a week. It’s a luxury many restaurants can’t afford to outsource and one of the simple acts that sets both Ayrshire Farm and Hunter’s Head

Similarly, the compost site is the final destination for another unavoidable byproduct of farming: unused parts of slaughtered animals, such as organs, offal, bones, hooves and other inedible scraps. While the farm makes a point of trying to use every part of every animal, there are some things that just can’t be consumed or repurposed. At other farms or slaughterhouses, those parts would normally be picked up by a rendering company and turned into tallow, grease, or highprotein meat and bone meal.

Home composters are told they can’t compost meat, and that’s for good reason. It takes an incredible amount of organic matter to break down those parts, and maintaining the proper temperature is a true act of science. The farm is also able to test regularly for bacteria like E. coli and salmonella to ensure everything is safe.

Damewood acknowledges that some people are a little uneasy with the notion of composting meat, but he’s a firm believer in making use of what you have. Meat is incredibly high in nitrogen, which is a crucial component of composting, and many commercial composters rely on bone meal or “hoof and horn” feeds to compensate. Using what the farm already has makes good sense – practically, financially and environmentally. Plus, there’s a certain poetry in this trajectory of life.

“It’s the complete cycle,” Damewood says. In the end, Ayrshire Farm’s compost site is more than just a patch of dirt; it’s a living testament to the interconnectedness of our planet – a cycle of life, renewal, and stewardship that serves as a beacon of sustainability in an ever-changing world.

On a fabulous early Spring afternoon, friends, family and racing fans turned out in fine form. What could be better than handsome horses, fried chicken and a sip (or more) of something?

Photo by Vicky Moon Elizabeth Locke with Michael R. Taylor, chief curator and deputy director for art and education at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Photo by Vicky Moon

Sylvain Cordier, Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts , and Elinor Crane.

Photo by Doug Gehlsen of Middleburg Photo

Tiz A Giant won the $30,000 Virginia Equine Alliance Maiden Hurdle Race, run in memory of Paul R. Fout. In the winner’s circle with the trophy: Rene and Lauren Woolcott, Anne Clancy, Miles Clancy, Graham Watters, Peggy Steinman, Sean Clancy of Riverdee Stable, Jack Fisher and Millicent Jordan.

Photo by Doug Gehlsen of Middleburg Photo Graham Watters rode Tiz A Giant to victory.

Photo by Vicky Moon Cate Magennis Wyatt with daughter Cat Wyatt.

Photo by Vicky Moon A sparkling trophy display.

VIRGINIA HORSE RACING SCHEDULE 2024

Colonial Downs Summer Thoroughbred Racing Schedule in New Kent, VA

July 11 - September 7

• Racing every Thursday, Friday & Saturday

• ”Festival of Racing” Day featuring the Grade 1 Arlington Million - Saturday Aug. 10

• Virginia Derby Day along with a stakes-filled under card - Saturday Sept. 7 (details at colonialdowns.com)

Shenandoah Downs Fall Harness Racing Schedule in Woodstock, VA

September 14 - October 27

• Racing every Saturday & Sunday at 1:05 PM

• FREE ADMISSION, FREE PARKING, FAMILY FRIENDLY

• $650,000 Virginia Breeder’s ChampionshipsSunday October 27

(details at shenandoahdowns.com)

NSA Sanctioned Steeplechase Spring Meet Schedule

• Sunday, October 6: Foxfield Fall Races in Charlottesville

• Saturday, October 12: Middleburg Fall Races at Glenwood Park

• Saturday, October 26: International Gold Cup Races at Great Meadow

• Saturday, November 2: Montpelier Hunt Races in Montpelier Station

(details at nationalsteeplechase.com)

MARYLAND

TIMBER! A DREAM COME TRUE

By Leonard Shapiro

On the morning of Saturday, April 27th, Lisa Ben-Dov woke up early at Kinross Farm outside of Middleburg and told her husband, Zohar Ben-Dov, “I have a good feeling. I have a good feeling today.”

Blackhall, their ten-year-old chestnut gelding, was entered that afternoon to run in the 127th edition of the $100,00 Maryland Hunt Cup, America’s most important timber race. They had previously entered a horse in the prestigious event three times, with their best showing a second place finish in 2013.

The fourth time was a charm, though it surely didn’t start out that way.

Early on, two-time Hunt Cup winner Vintage Vinnie, trained by Joseph Davies with Teddy Davies up, had opened a 30-length lead over the field of eight others. By the time the race entered the final stretch, Blackhall, ridden by British jockey Charlie Marshall, had made up all of that ground, then jumped past Vintage Vinnie over the last hurdle and prevailed by a narrow neck.

Blackhall was also trained by Joseph Davies, who has experienced this race from all angles throughout

A sterling silver-lidded flagon is now given to the winning owners as a gift. It is a replica of the original trophy awarded to the winner of the Maryland Hunt established in 1894. The thumb grip on the lid is embellished with a cast version of the Maryland State Seal.

Photo by Douglas Lees Zohar Ben-Dov and jockey Charlie Marshall at the presentation.

Photo by Crowell Hadden

Zohar and Lisa Ben-Dov at home at Kinross with Max and the Maryland Hunt Cup trophies.

Photo by Crowell Hadden

MARYLAND HUNT CUP

the years, riding winners and training them, as well. He has taken Blackhall out hunting from Kinross, and after his recent victory, brought him back to the farm for some down time.

Charlie Marshall, 26, has an impressive point-to-point record in England. But when Davies called him and asked him to ride Blackhall in the Maryland race, it would mark Marshall’s first ever trip over timber.

He came to the U.S. ten days early to practice, and admitted after winning the Hunt Cup that he initially had his doubts about whether he was doing the right thing. But the more he practiced on Blackhall, the more his confidence increased, and a second place finish in a warm- up race the week before the Hunt Cup convinced him he was on the right horse and in a race he could handle.

This year was the fourth running for the current trophy which is the eighth Challenge Cup in the race’s history, as seven cups have been retired in the past. In order to retire the trophy, it must be won three times by the same owner, not necessarily with the same horse, nor by successive wins.

The four-mile Maryland Hunt Cup course includes 22 rock-solid timber fences, most set at four feet, with the third jump a towering five feet. The trip around the course at Worthington Farm has been described by former jockeys as “intimidating” and requires unerring accuracy from the horse and its rider.

Zohar Ben-Dov watched it all unfold from the hill near the farm’s main house overlooking the entire race course. He had what he described as a perfect vantage point as his horse inexorably rallied from far behind to pull out the victory in the final few yards.

“What a thrill, and I’m still thrilled” he told ZEST two weeks after the race. “I always wanted to do it since we first came to Virginia. It’s been my dream, and it’s been a long journey.”

Lisa Ben-Dov said as she watched a filmed replay of the race ten days later, “I was still nervous, even though I knew he’d won. In our horse racing career, this is the one to have, the race you want to win. It’s just a wonderful, wonderful dream, our heart’s desire really.”

And definitely a very good feeling, as well.

Photo by Douglas Lees

Trainer Joe Davies with Blackhall and jockey Charlie Marshall after the race. Davies has trained seven winners of the Maryland Hunt Cup and has also won it three times as a rider.

Photo by Douglas Lees Blackhall, with Charlie Marshall up, closing at the finish for the victory.

Photo by Douglas Lees Blackhall shows excellent form with Charlie Marshall over one of the towering timber fences.

Crowell Hadden is a staff photographer for Country ZEST and Douglas Lees is a winner of The Maryland Hunt Cup Association’s S. Bryce Wing trophy and a two-time Eclipse Award honoree.

Photo by Crowell Hadden It is known as the Challenge Cup.

8801 Sculpture Werks

FOR BLAKE CORUM, AN ANXIOUS NIGHT TO REMEMBER

By Leonard Shapiro

More than a hundred family and friends gathered in a spacious meeting room at Middleburg’s Salamander Resort & Spa recently to witness one of the most important events in Blake Corum’s life, not to mention one of the more nerve wracking evenings he’ll ever experience.

It was April 26, the second night of the NFL college draft, and the Marshall, Va. native, a 5-foot-8, 205-pound All-American running back at the University of Michigan, was literally on the edge of his seat as the national telecast of the second and third rounds began shortly after 7 p.m.

He was not a first-round pick the previous night, just as most had expected. But several teams and countless so-called draft experts had told him his future almost certainly would be determined 24 hours later. That’s why he was at Salamander, where resort owner Sheila Johnson also attended what started out as a rather raucous watch party, only to turn tense as pick after pick came and went through the entire second round.

Johnson has known about Blake’s athletic prowess for years. His grandfather, David Pierce, manages her Zulla Road farm outside Middleburg. She hosted the party, grabbing a microphone just before the telecast began.

“It’s an honor to have you all at Salamander,” she told the crowd. “I wanted to do this out of love. I couldn’t be more proud of this hometown hero. I so admire you spiritually, your value system, your work ethic. It is my pleasure to celebrate you tonight.”

Blake also spoke briefly, clutching two cell phones in his hands in anticipation of soon getting a call from a team that might pick him.

“I just want to thank you all for coming,” he said. “You being here means a lot. I hope it turns out good.”

Actually, it turned out swell.

The 32 picks in the second round came and went without his name being

Photo courtesy of University of Michigan Blake Corum

Totem #35/Colorblock #7

(Ballston, VA Commission – August 2023)

Christopher Petite

called. But at 10:25 p.m., almost 3 1/2 hours after it all began, one of his phones lit up. Shortly thereafter, so did his face. The Los Angeles Rams, who lost the Super Bowl in February, were on the line, and at 10:29 p.m., they selected him in the third round, the 83rd pick overall.

He will join a team that already relied heavily on running back Kyren Williams, who gained 1,144 yards and scored 12 touchdown last year. But Blake is expected to share playing time with Williams in 2024, giving the Rams one of the best backfield tandems in the league.

When Blake’s name was announced, the Bluemont Room at Salamander erupted in sheer joy. Blake had been sitting on a couch in front of the big screen TV with his girlfriend Makiah Carr to his right, and his father James to his left. His three younger sisters, Skye, Starr and Rainn, were there, too, along with grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and so many more. When the grand news came, they all were on their feet, many hugging Blake, and each other, too.

“That was a lot of anxiety there,” James Blake said when the room calmed ever so slightly. “Sitting here was not easy. But you know what, where he was going to go, that’s where God intended him to be.”

“It was very tough,” Blake told Country ZEST. “When you feel like you’re the best running back in the draft and you keep waiting for something to happen, you start to wonder. But God had a plan, and I’m going to Los Angeles. It’s all good.”

And surely about to get even better.

Experiences

Rich in Flavor

Indulge in vibrant and flavorful creations meticulously prepared with the finest locally sourced ingredients from Virginia’s Piedmont region.

As Virginia’s newest Forbes Five-Star restaurant, every exquisite bite sets a new standard for culinary excellence.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro

Blake Corum on the edge of his seat waiting to be selected with his father James Corum far right in white shirt.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro Sheila Johnson welcomes the crowd to the NFL draft watch party at Salamander Resort.

Scott Gates was at Middleburg Books recently to talk about his book, Hard Road South.  Most appropriate, the book is set in Middleburg right after the civil war.

OUT & ABOUT

A tree was dedicated on Arbor Day in memory of Joanne Pearson Cole, long time executive director at the Middleburg Community Center.  Tim Cole, Jocelyn Cole, Lester Cole and Casey Poe gathered in front of the tree, near the playground.

Photo by Donna Strama

Photo by Donna Strama

Photo by Donna Strama

A group of enthusiastic humans and a pair of canines gathered at Middleburg Town Hall for Middleburg Clean-Up Day.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro At Art in the Burg, artist Carol Turman does a paint job on young Curry Johnson.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro Angelica Boleta does a bit of multi-tasking art at her booth.

Bluegrass, BBQ and Nostalgia at United Methodist Service

By John E. Ross

he Sunday service on June 30th at Middleburg United Methodist Church will be a little different than what most folks around here are used to. Foot tappin’ bluegrass music will bookend the service. Music begins at 11 a.m., the service at 11:30, followed by more bluegrass and then barbeque for all at 12:30.

Performing will be renowned bluegrass and country musicians, Wally Hughes and Lisa Kay Howard of Airmont. They will be joined by Shannon Bielski and Robbie Benzing for this musical service at the historic church on Washington Street.

In addition to using his fiddle and dobro, Hughes will play modern and traditional tunes on the centuryold violin belonging to parishioner Leah Ferguson’ s father, Luther Dawson of Baltimore. To her, he was Daddy Lu. Dawson was in high demand for social events like the reception given by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Demme for their son on his 21st birthday.

century-old violin. The difference between a violin, Wally says, is mainly how it’s played.

As covered by the Feb. 18, 1912 Baltimore Sun, the Demme’s soiree was “held at their residence . The rooms were tastefully decorated with ferns and cut flowers, entwined among colored electric lights, the dining room being transformed into a grape arbor, showing clusters of grapes with an electric light in each.

The evening was spent very enjoyably. Selections on the piano were played by Miss Holmes and Mr. Defalco and on the violin by Mr. Dawson and Mr. Lind Supper was served at 12 o’clock.”

Daddy Lu was vice president of a wholesale company and not a professional musician. Leah said the last time she heard him play the violin, she was 9 or 10 years old. His favorite song was Anniversary Waltz. He married Carolyn Davis on Christmas day, 1912. Every Christmas, Leah recalled, he would sing the song to her as he played it on the violin.

Selections performed at Bluegrass and BBQ by Wally and Lisa Kay’s quartet will include Ashokan Farewell as well as traditional hymns.

Details: https://middleburgvaumc.org/.

Photo by John E. Ross Leah Ferguson and bluegrass musician Wally Hughes admire Daddy Lu’s

An Eagle Scout Project That’s Just Ducky

By Monique Lynch

When Ryan Lynch, a rising sophomore at the Howard Gardner School and a member of Boy Scout Troop 2950 in Middleburg, was searching for an Eagle Scout project, it made perfect sense to seek some advice from the rangers at Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane not far from his home.

“We could use some duck boxes,” Ranger Caleb Goodin told him.

Ryan had some familiarity with bluebird boxes, so building the duck boxes was a perfect fit. Ranger Goodin pointed him to designs available from the Audubon Society website, and Ryan was off and soaring.

According to the Ducks Unlimited website, “wood duck females typically build their nests in tree cavities near wetlands. When a prospective cavity is found, a wood duck hen will land in the tree and carefully inspect the site for a variety of characteristics, including size, shape and security from predators and the elements.

“In many areas, wood ducks have difficulty finding suitable natural nesting sites. Wood duck boxes

provide a man-made alternative, where hens can nest in relative safety from predators. The deployment of large numbers of nesting boxes can be used to help increase local or regional populations of wood ducks in areas where natural cavities are limited.”

The Eagle project process is long and detailed. Scouts are expected to create a proposal, and have it approved by the beneficiary and by Troop and District Scout leadership. There are guidelines and requirements for every step, from acquiring materials to financial management to supervision of others during work sessions to final reporting and reflection.

Ryan’s work started last fall and culminated in the installation of four newly constructed duck boxes in four separate ponds at Sky Meadows on April 29. The initial plan was to ask local businesses to support the project with donations of materials, but Ryan quickly learned that many businesses have limited budgets for donations and are more likely to offer discounts. This meant asking family and friends for donations.

An outpouring of financial support allowed him

to visit TW Perry Lumber in Leesburg for the cedar wood and Nichols Hardware Store in Purcellville for most of the hardware. Metal predator guard cones were ordered online to keep intruders from climbing the posts to enter the boxes.

The major challenge involved the steel posts needed to mount the duck boxes above the water in the ponds. Most big box stores only carry posts up to 10.5 feet high for fencing. Eventually, Ryan checked with Long Fence and connected with Ken Gallagher, who has worked with Eagle projects in the past and helped Ryan determine the best materials and dimensions.

When Ryan told him he did not have a way to pick up 12-foot steel posts from Chantilly, Ken volunteered told drop them by on his way home. Even better, Long Fence donated the posts.

Ryan formed a network of people with just the right knowledge and skills to help him along the way.

A family friend and Eagle Scout Jason Kolowski, the owner of Piedmont Woodshop, also lent his expertise as a master of woodworking. Jason taught Ryan to safely make the correct cuts and follow the building designs to construct the duck boxes.

Ryan, who started as a Cub Scout in the first grade, will be honored as an Eagles Scout at a special ceremony. This summer, he’ll work as a counselor at Scout Camp Snyder in Haymarket. And surely he’ll spend time at Sky Meadows watching some delighted ducks in their new homes.

Eagle Scout Ryan Lynch and one of the four duck boxes he recently built and installed at Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane.

“Osmosis” Went On to Make More Llangollen History

By Leonard Shapiro

Llangollen Farm in Upperville has a rich and colorful history, particularly when it was owned by Jock Whitney and his then wife, Mary Elizabeth Altemus who often entertained lavishly, with guest lists often containing high profile names from the worlds of business, politics, horse racing and entertainment.

Also growing up on the farm in the 1950s was Jerry Payne, the oldest child of Mason Payne, who managed the dairy operation, and his wife Becky, who worked as a cook. Before many of the parties, young Jerry often was dispatched to nearby streams to pick wild watercress for salads and mint for the juleps always served on Kentucky Derby Day.

Jerry attended the old Marshall High School, and rode the bus to school every day. That’s where he befriended Tom Davenport, who’s family owned a farm in Delaplane nine miles away. Tom was two years younger, but they became great friends, bonding over their love of the outdoors, sports, and hunting and fishing and staying in touch for the rest of their lives until Jerry passed away this past March at his home in Georgia.

Tom Davenport became one of the nation’s most talented documentary film makers and also founded Folkstreams, a nonprofit with a mission is to “find, preserve, contextualize, and stream documentary films on American folklife” on the web. Also, to “have each film accompanied by helpful materials prepared by the filmmakers, folklorists, and others about the making of the films, the lives of the film subjects, and the cultural traditions shown in the films.”

One Davenport documentary, “Where Do They All Go (2013),” focused on none other than Jerry Payne, known by the nickname “Osmosis” back in high school because of his love of all things biology.

Tom Davenport recalled that, “Jerry described his family as ‘hunter gatherers.’ His father and mother came from Appalachian backgrounds, with only grade school educations, but Jerry’s mother encouraged him to get an education so he could leave the farm. Jerry once said, ‘When I got to college and they closed the door of the classroom, we were all equal.’”

Jerry attended Virginia Tech and supplemented his scholarships by working and studying through a cooperative program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. He then transferred to the University of Tennessee to continue in this co-op program while completing his bachelors degree.

He went on to earn a Masters at Clemson, then went back to Oak Ridge and worked as a regular employee in the National Laboratory for two years in small mammal ecology. He returned to Clemson to earn a doctorate, and carried out

Schoolboy Jerry Payne back in the 1950s.

his research in animal decomposition.

Working with a beloved teacher, entomologist Dr. Edwin Wallace King, Jerry did a remarkable study of insect succession, using dead baby pigs he collected from local farms.

The decomposition study attracted national attention in Time Magazine and Scientific American and became a foundation of modern forensic science. Jerry donated his 16mm time-lapse footage of a decomposing baby pig to the Smithsonian Institution, and on Youtube the clip has over two million views.

After earning his doctorate, he accepted an appointment with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, settling in Byron, Georgia, and working at the Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory where he remained until retirement in 1994.

In an article that appeared on the Folkstreams website, Jerry once described his work as that of an “agricultural scientist in the field of entomology and a research entomologist,” adding that, “working in fruits and nuts” he actually got to do ecology as well as a broader range of studies.

According to Tom Davenport, after retiring from the Agriculture Department, “Jerry and his wife Rose devoted themselves to their 80-acre nature preserve near Macon, Georgia, which they walked nearly every day in the tradition of Darwin and his wife.

“Both he and Rose excelled at the taxonomy of birds, butterflies, and native plants, and they were active in naturalists circles in Georgia where they often bird and butterfly watch with their friend Father Francis Michael Stiteler, the abbot of the Trappist Monastery of the Holy Spirit near Conyers, Georgia.

“He really was a remarkable guy, and quite a character,” Tom Davenport said. “Back then, he was like a big brother to me. He knew so much about natural things. I learned so much from him. I was just in awe of him.”

More rich and colorful Langollen history, for sure.

The late Jerry Payne and his wife, Rose.

Photo by Crowell Hadden Jerry Payne grew up on the Llangollen estate.

GOLD CUP

On the first Saturday in May, through rain and more rain, the horses loved it. The spectators were prepared for the Virginia Gold Cup and other races at Great Meadow in The Plains.

For

In

Photo by Doug Gehlsen of Middleburg Photo.

the presentation to the winners of the Virginia Gold Cup: Will Allison, Al Griffin, Graham Watters, Sophia Vela Tanner with the trophy, owner Dolly Fisher, Phoebe Fisher. John Fisher and Schoodic’s trainer Jack Fisher.

Photo by Doug Gehlsen of Middleburg Photo.

the $75,000 Virginia Gold Cup, Timber Stakes over Four Miles, Schoodic with Graham Watters up, won by two lengths with a time of 8:57 3/5.

Photo © by Vicky Moon This spectator has obviously been to a steeplechase or two or more.

Photo © by Vicky Moon Make way for little ones.

Photo © by Vicky Moon Shannon and Jim Davis make one wonder, was it really raining?

Photo © by Vicky Moon Another day at the office.

Photo © by Vicky Moon These boots were made for walking, not so sure about the footwear on the right.

Bella Voce

Jill Poyerd: Portrait of a Landscape Artist

PSO audience favorites Emily Casey and Nakia Verner return for a triumphant performance of beloved opera arias and duets for our stellar season finale. Also on the program is Rossini’s spirited Italian in Algiers Overture and Beethoven’s moving Symphony No. 7. Come celebrate another great performance IN GRAND STYLE with the PSO! Students 18 and under are FREE! with Emily Casey & Nakia Verner Sunday, June 9, 2024 - 3PM

By Joe Motheral

iving in the Leesburg area, artist Jill Poyerd has a wealth of gorgeous scenery to inspire her painting of local landscapes.

She once focused mainly on doing portraits, but over the last ten years, “I kind of got burned out with them.” These days, she mostly concentrates on landscapes as an art style she calls Contemporary Realism. Her work has been displayed in the Art of the Piedmont auction in Middleburg for the past six years.

Her landscapes depict scenes with combinations of open fields bordered by trees, with water, barns, fauna and flowers. Viewing her work often evokes the sensation of driving in rural areas or taking walks through the countryside in

Jill starts out by photographing a particular scene, and “then I make a sketch with just the outlines. Then I transfer that to tracing paper and put that on the paper (that she’ll paint on), and I retrace it with whatever lines I want. If I don’t like it, I just put it on a new piece of paper.”

Jill admitted it can be a difficult process but, “You do all that planning and your chance of success is so much higher.” She puts grid lines in addition to the outlines of the main parts of the upcoming painting. “I use it to ensure proportions/dimensions right in the sketch. They’re loose reference points.”

All that is merely a prelude to her actually painting. Once the sketch is on the paper to her satisfaction, she fills it in with oils or water colors.

Upcoming PSO Concerts & Events:

Another offshoot of her artistic style is something called “monochromatic.” These are outlines of sketches using one dark color. “I tend to like natural colors,” she said. “I sometimes like monochromatic. With monochromatic, you can visually read.”

How does she decide what to paint?

“For me it’s usually the beauty and balance seen in nature or the desire to capture the moment in time,” she said, adding that her own favorite artists are William Bougeureali and John Singer Sergeant, who also painted many memorable portraits

Jill’s routine involves going once a week to the Gallery on Loudoun Street in Leesburg along with her artist friend Libby.

“It takes me about two months to complete a painting,” she said, giving plenty of credit to Libby because “we encourage each other.”

She described herself as “an artist who can’t just paint anything. I don’t enjoy taking commissions because I find that I don’t have the passion for the painting.”

Jill also teaches art online, with videos on YouTube with 75,000 followers. In those instructional videos, she describes the process for selecting a subject, with visual and vocal aids and following through with the steps leading up to a completed painting. They can be viewed at www.jillpoyerd.com

Photo by Joe Motheral Jill Poyerd surrounded by her work.

Passing on a Foxcroft Teacher’s Love of Film

By Bethany Stotler

Foxcroft’s video production program started more than 15 years ago when Ginny Riley first started working at the school. The Warrenton native fell in love with the process of making short films with students and decided to pursue filmmaking in graduate school.

Cut to 2019: After several years working in the film industry in Los Angeles, Ginny returned to the place where it all began, passing down her love of film to Foxcroft students. Now in its sixth year, the program has already graduated three students who have continued their film studies in college.

Alexa Cuozzo, Class of 2023 from Leesburg, was one of Ginny’s first students to study film beyond Foxcroft. As a sophomore, she explored the technical side of filmmaking over her three years there, during which she declared a film making academic concentration and received an Inspired Learning Grant to support her endeavors. Her experience led to her enrolling in a conservatory style BFA program at SUNY Purchase in Westchester County, New York.

Ginny and Alexa sat down with Bethany B. Stotler, Foxcroft’s director of communications and marketing, to talk about the school’s film program. The following conversation appeared in the Foxcroft Magazine.

GR: When I worked here in my first iteration, I started making some videos for the school and had so much fun working with the kids. It never

occurred to me that this could be my career until I started filming for Foxcroft, and that’s what led me to go to grad school for video production and then to work in the business in Los Angeles. When I came back part time in 2019, I was looking for a full-time teaching job in video production. Luckily things worked out at Foxcroft again. I referenced classes I took in grad school and created the program from scratch.

BBS: What were your expectations for the program?

AC: I didn’t realize how technical film was. There are so many more layers than I can wrap my head around. Before I knew anything about it, I thought it was going to be ‘here’s how to push record; here’s how to turn on a light.’ Foxcroft really expanded what I knew.

GR: I wanted to give kids a solid groundwork and have the confidence to make a movie a step above what you would shoot on your phone and edit in iMovie—something not necessarily professional yet, but on the way. I wanted to refine all those skills and discuss what makes storytelling effective and everything technical behind it.

BBS: If you had to share one highlight of your experience teaching or as a student in the program what would that be?

AC: The ability to make my love for film into an academic concentration helped me a lot. It allowed me to make my thesis film, and that was such a learning process for me. I loved how one-on-one and personal everything was. Whenever I had a question, there was an answer. Having that kind of relationship with your teacher because of how small the classes are made all the difference for me.

GR: Having kids come through the program and decide to pursue it in college afterward is such a big teaching win. As a teacher, any connection you can make with a student, small or big, it’s all those moments that fill your cup so much.

Photo Courtesy Foxcroft School Foxcroft graduate Alexa Cuozzo and her inspirational film instructor at the school, Ginny Riley.

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Linden – Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with rolling hills, fenced pasture and woodlands, 4 ponds and scenic views in all directions. Perfect for those who hike, hunt and ride horses..

EDEN GLEN 7+ acres | $3,295,000

Middleburg – This extraordinary property is a sanctuary of natural beauty and refined living. The setting is serene, offering a private retreat from the bustle of everyday life while still providing easy access to Dulles International Airport and downtown Washington.

Middleburg Museum Moving in a HISTORIC DIRECTION

By Peyton Tochterman

In the heart of Middleburg, where the shops line the streets with a kind of polished nostalgia, there exists an extraordinary place—the Middleburg Museum.

Conceived not in the boardrooms of big city planners but during the humble beginnings of a Beautification Committee meeting led by visionary Cissy Bunn in 1990, the museum on Madison Street began its life as a place where weary travelers could find a restroom and locals could catch up on town happenings.

Enter architect Vicky Lewis, who returned after thirty bustling years to breathe life into a new venture. Alongside President Dorsey deButts, the pair dreamed of more than just a pit stop but a center of community and history.

With Vicky’s impressive résumé, which included stints at the Smithsonian and The Museum of the Bible in Washington and the George Bush Museum in Dallas, and Dorsey’s relentless passion for Middleburg’s heritage, the museum is emerging as the central repository of local artifacts and untold stories. The 13-member board includes Jennifer Long, also pictured on the ZEST cover with Dorsey and Vicky, who produces graphics, branding and computer design work for some of the nation’s most well-known companies.

“Our mission is to wrap the community and its history around every visitor like a warm blanket,” Dorsey said. “We’re not just about horses and hounds but about the stories of the people and places that make up this area—the 24 villages, each with its tale, within a 20-mile radius of our doorstep.”

The board is a collection of personalities and skills, all united in the task of telling these often overlooked stories. Tales of unknown farriers, to Middleburg leading the way in the Commonwealth of Virginia to successfully desegregate.

Vicky Lewis

Jennifer Long

“Our mission is to wrap the community and its history around every visitor like a warm blanket.”

—Dorsey deButts

The museum goal is to bring forward all members of the community, honoring their contributions through exhibits that focus on the four main periods of local history:  land grants and the Native Americans, the tobacco and wheat plantations, the horse country, and finally the modern period of heritage and stewardship.

Powered entirely by donations and volunteers, the museum faces the usual challenges—a financial strain being foremost. Yet, it thrives on its community connections, hosting events like map exhibitions by revered local historian Eugene Scheel, and the story of Henson and Lucinda Willis and their family, who founded Willisville.

Each exhibit and program is carefully selected to support the museum’s mission of education and preservation. This includes their modern stewardship initiatives which emphasize the importance of preserving local lands, streams, and farms.

A stroll through the museum offers a variety of experiences. One-third of the visitors are locals, for whom the museum’s area map and timeline evoke a rush of memories and affirm their place in the region’s history. Another third are from the mid-Atlantic, often in town for weddings and eager to dive into the diverse tapestry that is Middleburg, extending beyond the equestrian to the historic and culturally rich.

The final third come from as far afield as Europe and the West Coast, each finding something uniquely personal in the museum’s exhibits.

The museum isn’t just a place to visit; it’s an active community player. Collaborations with other museums, local artists, and community groups help enrich the offerings and ensure a broad and inclusive portrayal of Middleburg’s heritage.

Looking to the future, the museum has big plans. These include reestablishing its presence in the beloved Pink Box location this summer, developing a community garden, and expanding its educational programming with events like a July reading of the Declaration of Independence and a Juneteenth picnic.

“Our board is profoundly active,” said Dorsey, pride evident in her voice. “They’re not just figureheads; they are doers, involved in every aspect from curating exhibits, printing materials, and leading installations.”

For a visitor, the Middleburg Museum offers a gateway to understanding a community that is about so much more than its picturesque facade. It’s about the rich, layered histories of the people who have shaped this area from its founding days to the present—a story the museum tells with both reverence and a keen eye to the broader context of American history.

In essence, the Middleburg Museum is not just preserving history; it’s making it. One story, one exhibit, one visitor at a time.

THOMAS & TALBOT ESTATE PROPERTIES

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Upperville – The main residence is a retreat for grand living with an impressive total of over 10,000+ sq ft. Find comfort in the inspired and unique spaces to live, gather and entertain or simply enjoy the breathtaking lake and pastoral views. The farm features 2 horse barns with a total of 29 stalls, 4 run-in sheds, riding ring with competition footing, fenced paddocks with automatic waterers and trails to ride out.

MARTINGALE RIDGE .44 acres | $2,450,000

Middleburg – New home located in “The Vineyards,” a community of exquisite homes sited within the 340-acres of the Forbes 5-Star Salamander Resort. Nestled in the heart of Virginia horse country, this move-in ready home offers elegant living with the desired main level bedroom, an open kitchen and living room with fireplace, also a covered porch and wonderful custom fire pit.

Photos by Doug Gehlsen of Middleburg Photo

Dorsey deButts

Whether the Weather for D-day

More than 130,000 soldiers, 7,000 ships, and 12,000 aircraft participated in D-day, the largest amphibious assault in history. Fewer than 5,000 troops were killed during the landing. Landing at low tide, D-day soldiers avoided most beach obstacles placed by Germans to wreck their landing craft.

By John E. Ross

On the night of 5 June, 1944, the incessant drone of aircraft after aircraft carrying paratroopers and towing gliders bound for Normandy and D-day reverberated over Southwick House, SHAEF’s advanced headquarters a couple kilometers inland from the Royal Navy’s massive base at Portsmouth.

Sweethearts Jean Farren and Harold Checketts, naval ratings who plotted weather maps for SHAEF, were returning to their quarters after attending a birthday party in town. Hearing the planes, Jean began to cry, terrified she’d made mistakes on her weather maps and had helped send thousands of men to their deaths.

In 2011when I interviewed them, now married, at their dinner table for the book The Forecast for D-day and the Weatherman behind Ike’s Greatest Gamble Jean started to tell the story. Then her voice faded, she bowed her head and dissolved into tears. Such was the pressure she and her colleagues had been under when making the most fateful forecast in history.

A weather plotter notes temperature, barometric pressure, wind direction and speed, cloud cover, and precipitation around a dot marking a precise location on a map. Meteorologists then connect the dots – like contours in the sky – creating a weather map.

they’d made mistakes on their maps, that the forecast was

and they had helped send thousands of men to their deaths.

Had D-day failed, at least 12 months would have been required to launch a new invasion of northern France. World War II would likely have been prolonged in Europe for a year.

If so, the western Allies would have joined up with the Russians at the Rhine instead of the Elbe in central Germany. Result: no West Germany. The most effective units of French resistance were the communists. Given an additional year, the communists would have earned enough public support to dominate the French National Assembly when France was liberated. Result: no NATO. Imagine our world history over the past 75 years without NATO.

The fulcrum for making an accurate forecast lay largely across the shoulders of SHAEF’s chief meteorologist, James Martin Stagg. Stagg was a geophysicist at heart who had risen through the ranks of Britian’s civilian weather bureau, the Met Office, into the role of coordinating meteorological services for the Army as the war began.

Jean Farren and Harold Checketts plotted weather maps at the Allies headquarters. Returning from a birthday on the night D-day was launched, they heard plane after plane heading for Normandy. Jean burst into tears, terrified

wrong,

The Allies advanced headquarters were located in Southwick House, a 19th century manor a few kilometers inland from the great Royal Navy base at Portsmouth.

Fast moving warm and cold fronts sweeping across Ireland, England, and northern France on 4 June, 1944 would have caused D-day to fail had the invasion been launched as intended on 4/5 June

In keeping with SHAEF’s protocol of appointing Englishmen as senior commanders of air, land, and sea and Americans as their deputies, Stagg’s deputy was USAAF Col. Don Yates. Together, their responsibility was to meld forecasts from three different weather “centrals,” the US Strategical and Tactical Air Force, the Royal Navy, and the Met Office. The three used different methodology and never agreed!

Weather data was provided by Met Office stations throughout the UK, weather ships and weather reconnaissance flights over the Atlantic, resistance units in occupied countries, and intercepted German radio transmissions. The latter were instrumental in breaking the German’s much vaunted Enigma code.

In addition, though the Republic of Ireland was officially neutral, its weather service. Met Éireann provided data to the Met Office. Observations taken by Maureen Sweeney, a postal clerk on Blacksod Point in far northwestern Ireland would be of critical importance in the forecast for D-day.

At 2130 Double British Summer Time (DBST) on 3 June, SHAEF’s supreme commander, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, was meeting with his senior commanders to decide whether to launch the invasion on the following day as originally scheduled.

Though skies were mostly clear with gentle winds barely ruffling the leaves outside of Southwick, Stagg stood before the group and reported that 4/5 June would see “disturbed conditions in the Channel and assault area.” Winds could reach Force 5 and cloud would be low and thick.

These conditions were far worse than minimums set for D-day: wind about 11 mph, surf no greater than 6 to 8 feet, and light cloud. If Stagg’s forecast for high wind and low cloud was correct, paratroopers would be wildly scattered, bombers could not hit their targets, and landing craft would be swamped. On this report, Ike decided to postpone D-day until better weather was forecast.

During the following night’s supreme commanders’ meeting at 2130 DBST, the weather was as foul as the previous night’s had been fair. Gusting winds drove heavy rain against Southwick’s windows. Stagg reported that this vigorous cold front with would likely pass over the channel and Normandy during the night with variable periods of cloud and diminishing wind for the next few days. Stagg, as was protocol, then left the room and waited in the hall.

A little while later Ike came out and to his weatherman said, “Well Stagg, we’re putting it on again; hold the weather to what you’ve told us and don’t bring any more bad news.” D-day was formally launched on the night of 5 June.

The vast invasion involving 1.5 million troops, 142,000 vehicles, 12,000 aircraft, 16 million tons of supplies, and 7,000 ships with 195,000 sailors was set in motion. Two weeks later on the alternative dates with low tides and partial moon, the worst storm in 40 years swept through the English Channel.

Said Eisenhower later, “I thank the Gods of War we went when we did.”

Copies of The Forecast are available at Middleburg Books.

The Allies chief meteorologist, James Martin Stagg, was a geophysicist.

A dour Scot, he was roundly disliked by Americans who felt one of them should make the forecast.

In a pocket of his tunic, Ike carried a note to broadcast taking full personal responsibility if D-day had failed. Instead he was able to announce, “I thank the Gods of war we went when we did.”

A Life Changing Event for a Leesburg Vet

Zanotto grew up riding horses and was the first in his family to compete

By Jan Mercker

Gustavo Zanotto clearly remembers the day his first show horse died from colic. The devastating event made a lifelong impression on the handsome Brazilian veterinarian, who joined the team at the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in January.

“I remember that day,” he said. “I said, ‘one day, I’m going to be a vet.’ I wanted to be a surgeon so no other horse is going to die. That has been my whole life.”

Since then, Zanotto’s path has shifted from critical care to equine sports medicine. He now cares for some of the region’s top sports horses at one of the country’s most prestigious horse hospitals–and is embracing life in Loudoun.

Zanotto was born in Rio de Janeiro and moved to the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba as a child.

Curitiba, the capital of the Brazilian state of Parana, borders the famed Argentine Pampas and shares a thriving horse culture with its neighbor to the south. Curitiba is also a hub for the cattle trade, and Zanotto’s love of horses was born on his family’s cattle farm.

“The southern part of Brazil is almost a blend between Brazil and Argentina and Uruguay…It’s a beautiful place,” Zanotto said. “There are a few places in the world that are very unique because of the weather for breeding horses, and southern Brazil is one of them.”

In some ways, Loudoun reminds him of home.

“It’s very similar. You have these pockets where the culture around the horse is very similar,” he said. “People travel around the world riding horses. They do the circuit here, they do Europe. It’s very similar.”

Zanotto grew up riding horses and was the first in

his family to compete. Zanotto was a show jumper with a little dressage in the mix.

Zanotto found a riding barn in Curitiba and started show jumping. His family had limited resources so he started competing with a horse from the cattle farm he had trained as a show jumper. Losing his first show horse to colic was a catalyzing event and set him on his path to working with elite sports horses. He initially was interested in surgery but eventually found his calling in the field of equine sports medicine.

Zanotto completed his veterinary degree at the Federal University of Parana, followed by an internship and a master’s degree in veterinary surgery from the University of Sao Paulo. He moved to the US in 2013 for an internship in equine musculoskeletal radiology at Colorado State University and stayed on to complete an equine sports medicine and rehabilitation residency in 2019.

Welcome to your best life.

“I started to get more excited about the idea that we could work on orthopedics and could involve the imaging field,” Zanotto said.

In 2020, he joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, as a clinical assistant professor of equine sports medicine and imaging, moving into the position of service chief for the department in 2022.

When an opportunity to join the EMC team arose, Zanotto jumped at the chance. He had spent time in Loudoun while training with the noted hunt country veterinarian Kent Allen, owner of Virginia Equine Imaging in Middleburg, in 2017. Zanotto was impressed with Allen’s approach and the caliber of horses he treated.

“It was a different view, and I loved the way he was practicing,” Zanotto said.

EMC’s state-of-the-art facilities and the ability to work with the MidAtlantic’s best athletic horses were a big draw.

“The Equine Medical Center is a well-known place within our community,” he said. “It was something I always wanted to achieve–working on this level of horses with great professionals around me. Being part of this team, you’re getting to the top, and that’s definitely part of the decision in coming here.”

Zanotto’s day-to-day at EMC includes lameness exams, creating treatment plans and follow-up at the impressive Leesburg facility.

“It requires a lot of maintenance to be able to perform at the highest levels,” he said. “It’s a way for us to help someone that’s specialized–understanding the needs of a sport horse that can be different from pasture pets and others. The expectations of treatments and outcomes are different.”

Zanotto is an avid outdoorsman who said learning to snowboard was one of his favorite non-work-related aspects of his time in Colorado. He arrived in Loudoun in the middle of winter and hit the ground running at work. As he gets his bearings, he’s looking forward to exploring the region and taking advantage of spring and summer in his new home.

Veterinarian Gustavo Zanotto

UPCOMING EVENTS

Culpeper Graded Sale

Drop off Thursday, the day before the sale – 7:00AM-3:00PM

Friday, June 7th @ 10:30AM

Friday, July 19th @ 10:30AM ** PLEASE NOTE DATE

10220 James Monroe Highway Culpeper, VA 22701

See Culpeper Sale Barn Tab on Website For More Information

Marshall Graded Sale

Drop off Thursday, the day before the sale – 7:00AM-3:00PM

Friday, June 14th @ 10:30AM

7404 John Marshall Highway Marshall, VA

See Marshall Sale Barn Tab on Website For More Information

Poultry and Small Animal Auction

Animal Take-in day of the sale from 8:00AM- 11:00AM June 15th, 2024 at 12:00PM

Contact: Stan Stevens (540)631-3523 or Emillie Stevens (540)222-2312

Expecting:

No out of state birds • All poultry to be in cages 25% commission on ALL ITEMS

Held at the Fauquier Livestock Market

Check us out on FB or our website at http://www.FauquierLivestockExchange.com

Fauquier Livestock Exchange does not guarantee any items sold. Not responsible for accidents.

HERE & THERE

This is an original lithograph print by artist Lloyd Kelly done by hand at Geo. Miller and Sons, NYC, the oldest traditional print maker in America. Steve Miller assisted the artist, who did all 18 plates, in the production of 300 prints. The paper is Arches, a French museum quality conservation paper. This artwork was spearheaded by United States Equestrian Team President William Steinkraus to honor the United States Equestrian Team’s individual 1984 Gold Medalist Joe Fargis on Touch of Class in Los Angeles. Fellow team gold medalists Conrad Homfeld, Melanie Smith, Leslie Burr and Anne Kursinski are also featured. A limited number of the original prints autographed by Joe Fargis, president of the show and artist Lloyd Kelly will be available at this year’s Upperville Horse Show, June 2-9.

Tiffany Dillon Keen has designed this tree inspired scarf based upon the iconic trees on the horse show property along with her marvelous photos of them. The scarf is now part of the official Upperville inspired merchandise at the show.

Country ZEST and Style Official Fine Artist, Linda Volrath has shared with us. “Through the Round Bales”, 9 x 12 original oil, © Linda Volrath. A spirited scene conveying the energy and passion of the Upperville Colt and Horse Show.

An exciting exhibit at the National Sporting Library & Museum: “Rodney Jenkins: The Red Rider Project” is set to open on Monday June 2, just in time for the horse show season in Upperville. Writer and researcher Nick Ellis of Southern Pines has donated his lifetime archive on Jenkins. And when Julie Banner and Colleen Yarger heard about the donation, they got in the car and drove the materials back up to Middleburg. Julie Banner, Clarice & Robert H. Smith Education and Marketing Manager at the National Sporting Library & Museum with Nick Ellis.

Bargary on Vae Patron (FR) for owner Leipers Fork Steeplechasers and trainer Leslie

Trainer Chris Kolb with jockey Michael Woodson on Mosley Natural winner of the The Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association Flat Race, at about 1 1/2 miles on the turf at Morven Park. Pete Aylor is with the five-year-old brown gelding by Union Rags out of Ireland, by Afleet Alex and is owned by Nancy Kolb.

FAMILY FUN THE LOUDOUN HUNT POINT-TO-POINT AT MORVEN PARK

Photos by Tim Sudduth

What could be more fun than the Stick Pony races?

Aguilera

Walk the Warrior and Jamie Bargary finished fourth in the 2 ¼ mile Farm Credit Maiden Hurdle for Leipers Fork Steeplechasers and trainer Leslie Young. The race was won by Brian Berry on Mr. Jefferson, owned by James Stainbrook, Vincent Bonanni and PathFinder Racing and trained by Neil R. Morris. Since 1957 Dealers and Appraisers for Fine Antique Firearms, Edged Weapons & Armor

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Purchasing and consigning quality antique arms of all types since 1957. Appraisers to the Smithsonian, the National Park Service and the National Firearms Museum. Recipient of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Citation for Public Service. Visit our shop! 109 E. Washington St (Rt. 50) Middleburg, VA 20117

We are always looking to buy vintage guns,daggers, swords,knives,bayonets,uniforms,flags,medals,belts, buckles and other collectable militaria.We also purchase sporting gun and military related books,gun related tools,vintage ammunition,etc.If you have any antique or collectable military or gun items that you want to sell please contact us for more information on our appraisal services,consignment rates or outright sale.

Mailing Address: Post Office Box 7 Middleburg, VA 20118

Te. 540-687-5642 • Fax 540-687-5649 • Email: info@davidcondon.com

Recipient of the United States Department of the Interior Citation for Public Service Toll Free 1-800-364-8416

Hours: Tues.-Fri. 10-5:30 • Sat. 10-3

109 E. Washington St. (Rt. 50) Post Office Box 7 Middleburg, VA 20117 Middleburg, VA 20118 Tel. 540-687-5642 Fax 540-687-5649

Email: info@davidcondon.com www.davidcondon.com

Jamey

Young

Manuel Aguilera Jr, Farrah Kern, Imogen Weaver before the Lead Line Pony race.

Yomar Ortiz Jr. on Blueberry with Erica Gaertner

Jaidyn Shore riding Janneydancer for owner Leslie Young and trainer Suzanne Stettinius

Manuel

Jr, Farrah Kern, Imogen Weaver before the Lead Line Pony race.

At the National Sporting Library & Museum for a reception for Honoring the Point:

THE GWYNNE MCDEVITT SPORTING DOG COLLECTION

The exhibit features 84 paintings, works on paper, sculptures, and a weathervane. Artists include Robert K. Abbett, Antoine-Louis Barye, John Emms, Marguerite Kirmse, Edmund Henry Osthaus, and Percival Leonard Rosseau.

Julie Banner, Clarice & Robert H. Smith Education and Marketing Manager and Jacqueline B. Mars, vice chairman of the board of directors

Donna and Garon Stutzman

Lena and Lennart Lundh

Laurie Volk and Robert Dove

Karen and Michael Crane

Photos © by Leonard Shapiro

Hero’s Bridge Filling Older Veterans Needs

By Emerson Leger

Hero’s Bridge in Warrenton started in 2016 after Molly Brooks, its founder and CEO, saw how veterans 65 and older she was working with as a registered nurse were struggling with issues related to their health, their housing and their finances.

“I thought as a county, (Fauquier) could do better in taking care of our older veterans,” Molly recalled. “So I filed the paperwork to start Hero’s Bridge as an actual 501(c) 3 non-profit.”

After the legal documents were filed, Brooks created four different programs— Battle Buddy, Honor Guard, Paw Patrol, and Homefront—each designed to fill every veteran’s specific needs. Volunteers, ranging from teenagers to other veterans of all ages, assist in all these programs and the organization looks out for over 300 older veterans.

The Honor Guard program helps veterans recover or replace their lost medals and records, with a number of younger volunteers leading the research effort. It also helps the veterans find lost comrades, record life stories, offer portrait sessions and host veteran socials.

The Battle Buddy program has developed into nationwide outreach that began in June, 2023. It pairs elderly veterans with a dedicated younger veteran trained to provide direct in-home services. It includes a Battle Buddy Call Center where volunteers answer telephone calls from veterans seeking help for whatever problems they’re having.

HOME SWEET HOME IMPROVEMENTS

“We really wanted any veteran in America to be able to have a Battle Buddy,” Molly explained.

The Paw Patrol team arranges home and nursing facility pet visits. They also help the veteran care for aging pets and help find them loving new homes if necessary.

Carolyn Olech, a Paw Patrol volunteer, uses two of her own dogs trained to conduct pet therapy visits at nursing homes during her visits to veterans.

“We have little American flag bandanas we put on the dogs the days of our visits, and they get so excited, the just love it,” Olech remarked.

Olech and the volunteer dogs are assigned to the Culpeper Health and Rehabilitation Center, where they visit the first and third Monday of each month.

“Each veteran prefers a different dog,” Carolyn said, “but the dogs for the most part do they intuitively own thing, and they know what works.”

The Homefront Program makes sure veterans are living in clean and safe housing. Volunteers conduct home repair tasks, from putting safety handrails in bathrooms to finding a new housing arrangement for veterans whose homes are not safe to live in, to handling lawn and yard maintenance.

“One of the things I do is design and build handicapped-accessible ramps,” said volunteer Ed Benson, a veteran himself. “That’s so a veteran in a wheelchair, for example, can get in and out of his house.”

The Homefront Program also has led to the development of The Village Project in Warrenton.

“It’s 44 cottages, and we are right now in the middle of the rezoning process, hopefully to be completed in June, which would allow us to break ground in the fall,” Molly said, adding those new homes will help relieve a local veteran housing crisis significantly.

Molly Brooks, founder of Hero’s Bridge.

New Goodstone GM Believes in Destination

RBy Chip Newcombe

aeshawna Scott, the general manager of Goodstone Inn, is no stranger to the hospitality industry. She brings two decades of experience with her to the Middleburg venue.

She studied hospitality at the University of Pennsylvania, where she “learned to love the operational side of the industry.”

Through internships, she was introduced to Hyatt Hotels where she worked for about nine years. She started as an assistant front desk manager, then kept moving up—to assistant housekeeping manager, director of guest services, and director of housekeeping, and then employee relations manager.

After her work for Hyatt Hotels, she moved to Kimpton Hotel and Restaurants, where she spent a dozen years in various leadership roles, eventually working her way up to the general manager position of the Kimpton Banneker and Kimpton Topaz Hotels, both in Washington D.C.

Her love of the hospitality industry began in her mother’s kitchen and initially, she thought she wanted to be a chef.

“I was really into cooking and messing up my mother’s kitchen,” she said with a smile.

Her first real job in hospitality was with McDonalds and she first thought she wanted to own “about a thousand of these.”

But, when she started college, she started to “really love courses like front desk management and housekeeping management and facilities management.” Working for Hyatt and Marriot reinforced her love for the operations side of the industry, where there is never a dull moment.

“I am solution driven,” she said, adding that when an issue arises, she immediately begins working to find the proper outcome.

Now, at Goodstone, she said she’ll be focused on providing an excellent experience for those who might find themselves staying or dining at the inn. Goodstone’s dining experience is farm to table, and she wants to expand that aspect of the menu.

“We sit on 265 acres of land, and it is truly my desire to continue to grow that experience,” she said. She hopes one day to develop a farmers market, where the staff grows and harvests the vegetables they sell at the market. She wants to continue to incorporate the land, which includes honey bees and an orchard, into the dining experience as much as possible.

Scott also wants to raise the visibility of the Goodstone Inn within the Middleburg community and surrounding area.

“My goal is to create awareness and visibility for the community and for Goodstone Inn,” she said. She’d like more people to know that both are destinations that people must experience because, “We are a destination.”

By working in the hospitality industry, Scott believes she has the ability to impact people’s lives in a positive way.

“We truly have the ability to positively impact a person’s mood and outlook,” she said. “That one interaction with a front desk agent or a restaurant server can be an actual difference maker for someone.”

Details: www.goodstone.com.

Raeshawna Scott is the new general manager of the Goodstone Inn.

The Windy Hill Foundation welcomed more than 200 guests to its annual “Sip and Serve” fund-raising event on April 25 at the Salamander Resort & Spa. Providing affordable housing in Loudoun and Fauquier counties for 41 years, the 2024 cocktail party celebrated the 20th anniversary of Windy Hill’s Virginia Lane neighborhood just outside the village of Middleburg.

Bill Ferster and Denis Cotter

David and Catherine Rochesster

Eloise Repeczky, Windy Hill executive director, and board member Shannon Davis.

Missy Janes and Lois Johnson-Mead

Nicole Acosta and Kim Tapper

Photos © by Leonard Shapiro

WEDNESDAYS 4:30 TO 7:30 PM MAY 15 TO SEPT. 25th

I wondered how an artificial intelligence chatbot could possibly connect with young writers and make them care about expressing themselves. Given the arrival of ChatGPT and the departure of Tal, will anyone learn to write again?

In my experience, writing is often painful. I still fear the accusation of the blank page, the doubts about how I’ve organized my material, the frustrating suspicion that there’s a better way to phrase that thought, a more precise word to convey my meaning.

My best college teacher told me that writing is never really finished, just abandoned, and the prolific William Zinsser liked to say that he hated writing but loved having written. Writing for me is characterized by friction: a frustrating need to move forward while knowing that what I have put down still needs work. Tal, in contrast, embraced the friction, because he knew that doubt’s companion is opportunity. Those uncomfortable and difficult moments are invitations not only to learn what we think, but also to learn how to think. We view writing as a product, but it’s also a process, one that shifts the way we look at the world. The value of writing is that productive struggle ultimately changes us, makes us grow. It’s not usually easy or instant, but little of real value is.

In the play “Inherit the Wind,” which Tal taught and loved, the character Henry Drummond says, “Progress has never been a bargain. You’ve got to pay for it… You may conquer the air, but the birds will lose their wonder, and the clouds will smell like gasoline.”

AI makes everyone an instant writer, and perhaps when we need to generate disposable copy, which comprises much writing in the world, it will be a boon. But let’s not confuse it with a poem or composition or essay that helps us understand ourselves, the world we live in, or the people we live with.

Let’s also remember there are good reasons the adults at Tal’s celebration, many of whom -- to get it just right -- were composing multiple drafts of their memories for the family, are deeply grateful for the lessons they learned from Tal Mack.

THE

RIDGE MOUNTAINS

Return to the Land at Hidden Creek Farm

E. Ross

Hidden Creek Farm is sequestered among the gentle foothills of Brushy Mountain a couple miles northwest of Delaplane on the road to Scuffleburg. Here and there on its green pastures dusted with buttercups, russet cattle graze and ewes watch their newborn lambs cavort on their spindly legs.

At Hidden Creek, tranquility reigns. But beneath there beats a vitality of regeneration, of renewal not just of the land and its livestock but for all those who labor and visit here. Each of the farm’s staff of seven personify renewal in their own way.

Andrea and Dendy Young bought the farm in 2015 “to escape from the chaos of the city,” as Andrea put it. They knew nothing of farming. Andrea’s background is in conflict analysis and resolution, where she focused on the implications for societies where pregnant women and their children could not access adequate nutrition. Dendy is a highly successful serial entrepreneur focused on tech startups in healthcare and security.

Their vision is to engage in responsible, regenerative agriculture nurturing healthy soil to raise nutrient-dense meats and produce free of pathogens and artificial chemicals, all the while minimizing environmental harm.

Soils of the farm’s 558 acres hold the key to accomplishing their environmental goals, Andrea said. While not as rich in nutrients as those in floodplains or on lands underlain by limestone, the soils on Hidden Creek Farm have sustained native Americans for millennia. Over the ages, these same soils had provided pasture for elk and bison.

How herds of elk and bison foraged, how they spread nutrients as they grazed, how their hoof prints optimized natural soil aeration and hydration all held clues to domestic species that would thrive at Hidden Creek, according to Andrea.

A long relaxing weekend in one of Hidden Creek’s two guest cabins or its farm house loft is perfect elixir for the chaos of city life.

Story and photos by John

This Wellsummer is cock of his walk among chickens ranging freely as you’d expect.

Gentle Red Poll cattle, known for superlative meat and milk, graze on pastures that never see fertilizer.

During their first year, the Youngs devoted themselves to getting to know their farm, its terrain, its waters, and how these relate to surrounding forests and farms. They cleared areas of invasive ailanthus, autumn olives, and choking vines and stored chipped remains as compost.

They selected breeds that would thrive on natural pasture; weather days of record high and low temperatures associated with climate change; and produce superlative meat, dairy, and eggs free of additives.

For cattle, they chose Red Polls. The breed originated in East Anglia, Great Britian, in the 1860s and is known for the quality of both meat and milk. Higher in protein and butterfat than other breeds, milk from Red Polls provides excellent nourishment for calves and makes exceptional cheese and yogurt.

Andrea described their cattle as “gentle,” easily led from pasture to pasture. Red Polls are more resistant to heat stress than widely popular Black Angus because their hides absorb less radiant energy from sun. In addition, the breed is highly genetically resistant to salmonella and E. coli bacteria, resulting in a healthier herd and safer meat.

Similar thinking led to their choice of Katahdin sheep. Developed in Maine, they shed their hair naturally rather that being sheared annually for wool. Known for the caliber of their meat, Katadins also are noted for high fertility, mothering ability, and resistance to parasites.

Pasturing cattle and sheep together enhance soil regeneration due to the different shapes of their hooves. Both are cloven-hooved. Each hoof has two toes rimmed with relatively sharply pointed horn. Cattle and sheep step differently as they graze. Sheep walk on their tiptoes, creating sharp incisions in the soil. Cattle hooves are wider. Each step creates a flattish impression. Together they create a patchwork of compression and release beneficial elements to soil similar to those of native elk and bison.

None of the livestock at Hidden Creek is fed grain. In addition to rotating sheep and cattle among pastures, the farm practices bale grazing, allowing livestock to be raised almost entirely outdoors. Chickens, as you’d expect, are free-range. Chicken coops on wheels are moved through pastures allowing fowl to feed on parasites, insects, and other natural nutrients. Their droppings naturally fertilize the soil.

In addition to selling meat, eggs, and a wide range of fresh, sustainably raised vegetables, Hidden Creek’s Farm offers curated artisanal specialties such as lemon herb butter and raw wild honey. Hidden Creek products are also available at the Whole Ox in Marshall, EverGRO in Upperville, and the Locke Store in Millwood.

Guests are always welcome at Hidden Creek by appointment. Throughout the year the farm offers farm tours, special events, and workshops. Three 18th century log cabins and a farm house loft, operated as airbnbs, accommodate overnight guests.

Details: https://www.hiddencreekfarmllc.com/

Find salad mix, beets, kale, beans, spinach and much more produce at farmers markets in Warrenton and Middleburg, and at Evergro in Upperville and The Whole Ox in Marshall.

Once a public policy wonk, Andrea is enjoying her own regeneration with a little encouragement from her companion, Gus.

A long view of the lush land at Hidden Creek.

The Land Trust of Virginia was founded in 1922 with objectives of a concern for the beautiful countryside, agricultural fields and historical sites. Jennifer and David Aldrich were honored as the Landowners of the Year. Downtown Greens property, an oasis in Fredericksburg, was cited as the Steward of the Year. And, Taylor Cole of Conservation Partners was honored as Conservationist of the Year.

Photos © by Leonard Shapiro

Ashton Cole, executive director of the Land Trust of Virginia.

Chris and Kiernan Patusky

Chris Dematatis, Brad and Bailey Davis and Gertraud Hechl.

Claude Schoch with Elaine and Childs Burden

Stephanie and Joe Spytek and Patsy Richards

What's a Land Trust of Virginia party without a garden?

Holli Thompson and Rick Leach

Melanie Burch Having Huge Habitat Impact

WBy Emma Boyce

hen Melanie Burch took over as president and CEO of Fauquier Habitat for Humanity in 2023, the need for housing in Fauquier County far surpassed the one or two homes the nationwide non-profit produced in a year. Seeing the alarming rise in homelessness and the lack of affordable housing for Fauquier’s workforce, Melanie has fought to change the status quo.

“In order to start making a dent in this whole process it’s not going to be the old traditional way of fundraising,” said Melanie, who first joined Habitat in 2019 as director of engagement, major gifts and planned giving. “While having a bunch of volunteers coming out and building one house at a time is wonderful, it doesn’t necessarily work to the benefit of those who are in need.”

With the support of the board of directors, including Chairman Charles Robinson, she has utilized state and federal funding to begin creating more housing opportunities in Fauquier, providing not only shelter but an avenue for those in need to build generational wealth.

“Melanie Burch is the third CEO since I’ve joined the board,” said Robinson, a member since 2018. “From where I sit, the board’s job is to lay out the vision and it’s the job of Melanie and her team to carry out that vision. The fact that we’re going to build eight new houses this year alone says all that

anyone needs to know (about her).”

In January, the town of Warrenton granted Fauquier Habitat $250,000 to help build 13 new homes on Haiti Street within the next two years. Along with the ARPA funding, Habitat has also received a $300,000 grant from the RappahannockRapidan Regional Commission, $700,000 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, and a $1.5 million loan from Habitat capital CDFI funds.

“We have to be creative.” Melanie said. “We have to build homes that are a good size, that are safe and effective but also affordable.”

Each Habitat home is built with the homeowner in mind, opting for sustainable and energy efficient materials over cheaper alternatives.

“We invest in a lot of new technology,” Melanie said. “We use materials that are not going to fall apart within the next 30 to 40 years. We also have a grant to put solar panels on the majority of our homes, so we’re trying as best as we can to create that net zero home.”

New homeowners are also required to take classes. Fauquier Habitat offers instruction on finances, house maintenance, and how to be a good neighbor, among others. By the end of the instruction, homeowners have the basic plumbing and electrical knowledge to handle every day issues.

“The other major difference is that Fauquier Habitat was one of the first to help put together

the Virginia Statewide Community Land Trust,” Melanie said. “We now take the land out of the cost of the sale and put that into permanent easement. That easement is there in perpetuity.”

A land trust ensures that Habitat homes cannot be sold at market value and will remain for people in need.

Looking ahead, Melanie also plans to turn a Habitat-owned building on 35 Horner Street into either 18 condos or 18 apartments.

“If we can build these 18 units, it’s 18 more opportunities for people who work in our area to come back and live here,” she said. “It is beyond difficult for the majority of people to come back into our county and survive. If they’re lucky to get back in, they’re paying upwards of 50 to 60 to 70 percent of their net income on housing.”

Despite Fauquier Habitat’s ambitious projects, Melanie and Charles Robinson both emphasize the dire housing situation in Fauquier County. The current reality is bleak. Prices continue to climb. Essential workers cannot find decent places to live in the community they serve and are forced to commute. Shelters are full. People are living out of motels for months, sometimes years.

Warned Melanie Burch, “If we don’t hurry up and talk about making creative zoning changes and planning changes to our service districts, we’re going to continue to slide downhill and our homeless population is going to continue to skyrocket.”

A new Habitat home being built in Warrenton

Melanie Burch, CEO of Fauquier Habitat

OIN A SNAP

Photo by Douglas Lees

By Sean Clancy

nly a few cross the divide. Acceptance to admiration. Foe to friend. Rivalry to revelry.

Snap Decision has done it. One of the few in my lifetime, as a jockey and now an owner, to span the chasm. He joins Lonesome Glory, McDynamo and a couple of others who have gradually won me over. Like, really won me over.

Snap Decision began his steeplechase career in 2019. I respected him as he began winning, climbing out of the maiden ranks, dominating novice stakes and elbowing for room at the top table. Now I root for him, like Miles on the mound in the bottom of the seventh of one-run game, as the big bay hurdler continues to win.

On May 11, the 10-year-old joined Uncle Edwin as the only two horses in history to win the Iroquois Steeplechase three times. The Iroquois, in Nashville, is a 3-mile rubicon of speed and stamina. We finished third with Zabeel Champion. I wasn’t disappointed.

As our jockey, Bernie Dalton, said afterward, “he ran a great race. He ran a great race. I’m absolutely delighted with him. Man, you’re beaten a length by Snap Decision.”

Yeah, a length (or so) by Snap Decision. Success can be felt in a lot of ways, especially, with a measuring stick like Snap Decision. Graham Watters knows, he’s been aboard for each of Snap Decision’s Iroquois wins.

“I’ll never come across him again. No one will. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime horse,” Watters said. “Unbelievable stuff. He’s a great horse to be a part of. He’s American history. He’s the best steeplechase horse, or one of the best steeplechase horses there ever was in America. He’s an absolute hero.”

Bred to be a star by the legendary Phipps Stable, Snap Decision won twice on the flat, before joining Jack Fisher’s stable to try steeplechasing. With the Iroquois win, he increased his steeplechase earnings to $959,400. This year, he climbed past Divine Fortune and Demonstrative and into fourth on the all-time earnings

list. Three-time champion McDynamo, two-time champion Good Night Shirt and five-time champion Lonesome Glory stand at the top.

Somewhere along the line of his 15-win, 25-start steeplechase career, I became a fan. A racing fan watching in awe. Maybe when he toted 164 pounds in a frontrunning gem in the Jonathan Sheppard. Or his, first, second or third Iroquois. Maybe when he pulled up in the mud at Far Hills and came back a week later to dominate in the Grade 2 Ferguson at the International Gold Cup. Or maybe the 10 losses, yeah, even a superhorse is human too.

Like a hitchhiker on the side of the road, I’ve gone on the Snap Decision ride.

Owned by Bruton Street US and trained by Jack Fisher, the 10-year-old son of Hard Spun added another leg of the trip in the Iroquois. He tracked French import Vae Patron, collared him with a gavel-slamming leap at the secondto-last, dug deep to and away from the last to wrestle a neck decision over the upstart novice. Five minutes and 32 seconds of brilliance.

Asked how this one compared to the others, Watters didn’t hesitate.

“Three times better,” Watters said. “Look, as you get older you know these things become more and more important.”

As a jockey and a fan, I guess.

Standing the test of time, reclaiming a crown, joining a club of one after 82 years.

Watters joined Fisher in 2021, mostly for the opportunity to ride Snap Decision. This year, they notched their fourth Grade 1 stakes win. In all, Snap Decision owns 15 wins (13 stakes) from 25 starts over hurdles. He’s missed two checks, both on soft ground at Far Hills.

“His enthusiasm,” Watters said. “Not that I get nervous, or jockeys get nervous going to the races, but I had serious butterflies today. It’s not like going out riding a no hoper and there’s no pressure. I’ve won it twice before and there’s a lot of pressure. I’m a bit nervous getting on him but as soon as I get a leg over him, he’s got his head in the air, his ears pricked, and it all goes away because it’s just you and me.”

And all of us.

Tarara Concert Series Has Something For Everyone

Enthusiastic

From soul-stirring melodies to foot-stomping beats, this year’s lineup promises something for every music aficionado.

The Tarara Summer Concert Series began in 1999 on the back deck of the tasting room at Tarara Vineyard near Leesburg with two guitar players. Today, the series has grown into a 19-week season and the facility has become one of the most sought-after live music venues in the Washington region.

The 2024 schedule kicked off on Memorial Day weekend and Tarara is marking a quarter-century of sensational music and unforgettable memories nestled in the heart of Virginia wine country.

What began as a humble gathering of music lovers under the stars has blossomed into a cultural phenomenon, drawing crowds from 22 states and Canada to experience the magic of Tarara’s enchanting setting and world-class live performances.

In honor of the 25th anniversary season, Tarara also has announced the addition of three extra dates, extending the series to a record-breaking 22 concerts that run through Sept. 28.

“For 25 years, Tarara has been synonymous with unforgettable summer nights filled with incredible music and cherished memories,” said Rusty Foster, president of Bow Tie Strategies, the management company that has produced the Tarara series since 2016. “We’re immensely proud to celebrate this milestone and express our gratitude to our loyal patrons who have made the Concert Series an enduring success.”

From soul-stirring melodies to foot-stomping beats, this year’s lineup promises something for every music aficionado. Talented artists of all styles and eras will grace the stage at Shadow Lake, with bands from all over America traveling to Tarara to have their music heard by adoring fans. Music genres ranging from the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, 2000s, Disco, Country, Rock ‘n Roll, Yacht Rock, and Classic Rock, are on the schedule.

Families, couples, corporate parties, reunions and birthday parties are just a sampling of the types of crowds that visit the concert venue at Shadow Lake during the summer.

And there’s lots more than music to entice a few other senses. Award-winning wines, beers, seltzers, and cider are available, as are gourmet bites from local food trucks. And then there’s the breathtaking beauty of Tarara’s landscape as the sun sets and the stars come out to play.

Tarara is located at 13648 Tarara Lane, about 15 minutes north of Leesburg off Lucketts Road. It’s situated on 475 acres, with plenty of parking for vehicles, tour buses, and even canoes and paddle boards with access to the Potomac River. All concerts start at 6 p.m. and doors open at 5 p.m., unless stated differently.

Details: General admission tickets, concert club passes, and private tent rentals are available online at www.tararaconcerts.com

crowds rock the Tarara Concert Series near Leesburg all summer.

MODERN FINANCE

The King’s Circuit

By Philip Dudley

Has Netflix won the streaming wars with 270 million subscribers? I think the answer is a definitive yes because Disney Plus is a remote second at 150 million, with several others vying for an even more distant third.

While Disney has a deep content library, Netflix has continued to innovate in generating subscriber growth. Take the case of Formula 1 racing.

There are real economics behind the growth of F1 and Netflix has certainly lent a hand. In fact, some attribute F1’s meteoric rise in popularity, eepcially in the U.S., solely to the series “Drive to Survive.” F1 has been around for a long time and historically has been a European sport until Liberty Media acquired the franchise in 2017 for $4.4 billion, setting in motion a rebranding and revitalization of the sport on a global scale.

Formula One Group makes money in several different ways. If a race circuit wants to host an F1 event, it must pay a premium for the privilege. The same is true for media broadcast rights and sponsorship, mainly because few sports have such a global reach. And now, enter Netflix.

When Liberty Media acquired the franchise in 2017, revenue was stagnating around $1.8 billion. In 2019, Netflix debuted “Drive to Survive” and revenue climbed north of $2 billion.

The series is now in its sixth season and still extremely popular. And revenue attributed to the F1 ecosystem has ballooned to $3.2 billion and is compounding at 25%-plus year-over-year with gross margins of 30%.

So what makes the F1 ecosystem tick? It has a strong governing body, ensuring driver safety and enforcing the rules and regulations of Formula One Group, the entity controlled by Liberty Media.

Formula One Group negotiates contracts with race venues, secures broadcasting rights and manages sponsorships. All of these things are mute without the dynamic set of F1 teams competing on the track month after month across the globe in a 24-race series in 2024, the most ever. This ecosystem thrives on the combination of exciting venues, a few bad boy drivers and aggressive marketing and sponsorship.

Revenue is shared with each team based on several factors. The highest grossing team is Red Bull at $140 million and lowest is Haas at $60 Million. Not too shabby, but the disparity also translates to performance on the track and ultimately the podium.

The path forward looks promising for Liberty Media’s investment in F1. They have injected excitement into the sport, and the partnership with Netflix has undoubtedly brought millions, if not tens of millions, of fans into the fold.

With the expansion to 24 races, there are many opportunities for fans to “live the experience” at each circuit, and sponsors are taking notice big time. Curious to experience the Yas Marina track in Abu Dhabi? You can bet thousands of F1 fans from far away places will offer a resounding yes, and be there.

Philip Dudley

Goose Creek Challenge Offers a Great Reward

By Dulany Morison

Another 1,700 trees were planted this year along almost a mile of the Goose Creek Watershed with 96 youth volunteers. It’s the result of an another successful spring for the Goose Creek Challenge (GCC), an annual initiative established in 2012 by the Goose Creek Association (GCA) to organize riparian buffer plantings to stabilize and repair stream banks.

These plantings help prevent erosion and filter pollutants, as well as provide shade for aquatic life, create corridors for wildlife travel, and improve water quality.

GCA is a small, but mighty organization with a proven track record of providing board-driven results. The GCC initiative is a good example and was developed under the leadership of Marcia Woolman, a long-time director who now volunteers. Her energy and passion fueled its success, and she developed a proud legacy of defining what it means to make an impact at the grass roots level through bootson-the-ground hard work. She brought me into the program in 2016 and it has been an honor to follow her lead.

Over the past 12 years, we’ve planted 15,700 native trees along 12 miles of stream bed with the support of over 1,200 young volunteers from local schools, scout troops, and environmental organizations.

These planting numbers may seem modest compared to larger organizations with similar programs, but our endeavor has a dual mission in that it is tied to youth education.

We teach our young participants the importance of clean water and environmental stewardship while working in the heart of the landscape. This hands-on education is critical to fostering the next generation of conservationists and has led to many repeat volunteers.

Our plantings are performed in partnership with officials from Fauquier and Loudoun County’s Soil and Water Conservation District departments. They supply the materials and tools while we take care of the logistics and provide the workforce, along with a catered lunch.

Loudoun County Senior Conservationist Pat McIlvaine is our longest active partner, and her sincere dedication to the watershed and unmatched “can-do” attitude have made her an invaluable part of the initiative. I’d also be remiss not to include a hearty thank you to my wife, Eleanor; she’s played an active role in almost every planting during my tenure.

What do all these plantings require?

Dedicated landowners willing to implement best management practices that benefit the environment. The Goose Creek watershed is fortunate to be flowing through a largely thoughtful community. That said, we have a long way to go before we restore Goose Creek to a “recreational level” of water quality and we’re always looking for more landowners for the program. If you have an interest in participating, email us at info@goosecreek.org or call 540-687-3073.

No two plantings are the same and every year we find ourselves encountering new challenges.

Sometimes we have staff to help, sometimes board members do it all. Sometimes there’s a tractor to dig the holes, sometimes we shovel our way through solid earth in drought conditions.

Sometimes our volunteers come with a zeal for productivity, sometimes they require encouragement to walk through grass. Sometimes there’s even a pandemic, but we always get our trees in the ground every spring, and the sense of reward is unparalleled.

A pair of students planting trees in the Goose Creek.

THE AUDACITY OF HUBRIS

By Vicky Moon

Scott Keller is a lifelong horseman and currently lives in Upperville with his wife, Belinda. His new book, “The Audacity of Hubris,” includes historical figures and the tensions of preRevolutionary War America. It is a tome of the daily struggles of a colonial Virginia farmer.

“Because my family has lived in Virginia for many generations, I wanted to incorporate parts of my family’s history interwoven with actual historical events in the Northern Proprietary, the original fivemillion acre land grant from King Charles II to Lord Fairfax (who married into the more well-connected family of Lord Colepepper (now Culpeper),” he recently told Country ZEST.

Scott began the book years ago when doing research on how the Virginia colony began and grew prior to the Revolution. “The idea originated with the odd relationships among the first families, including the Carters, Lees, Burwells and Washingtons,” he said.

Born into privilege but determined to make his own way in the world, Isaac Spotswood seeks a modest life on his own land. The land-grabbing, slave-owning ways of the British aristocrats and colonial leaders, including George Washington himself, clash with Isaac’s humble ambitions to build a home in his corner of the world.

Also told through the eyes of a British land baron and a local clergyman pursuing their own carnal

interests, the characters’ lives are further complicated by the predatory behavior of the colony’s most powerful men.

Woven with historical and cultural references, “The Audacity of Hubris” follows the triumphs and heartbreaks of Isaac and the woman he loves to establish a foothold in a land filled with hostile

wildlife, displaced natives, powerful aristocrats, and inflammatory revolutionaries.

Scott Keller’s vivid descriptions and exquisitely rendered relationships evoke the boundless beauty and brutal adversities of pre-Revolutionary War Virginia. “I’ve been working on this book and the upcoming Volume II for six or seven years,” he added.

Volume II will be out by mid-summer. It continues the story from the perspective of two tempestuous members of the Carter family and returns full circle from Virginia back to England. The book is available on Amazon.

Scott Keller

Remembering the Warrenton Country School

ABy John Toler

nyone coming to Warrenton over the past 70-plus years may not be aware that the Warrenton Training Center Station A, a property on the Springs Road and Shipmadilly Lane just outside of town, was not always a secure U.S. Army facility.

Many years ago, a popular country club was located there, and from 1915 to 1950, it was the home of the Warrenton Country School, a private girls’ school operated by Mlle. Lea M. Bouligny (1865-1954).

A New Orleans native and prominent educator, Mlle. Bouligny had studied French under professors at Tulane University. She taught in schools in Buffalo, New York and was the principal of a private school in Chevy Chase before coming to Warrenton in the early 1900s.

Mlle. Bouligny’s sister Jeanne was married to businessman Oscar Terry Crosby, and lived in the mansion at View Tree west of town. In 1907, Mlle. Bouligny bought, and leased-back, the 13.14-acre country club property, and by 1914, had formulated plans for a new girls’ school to operate on the site.

One of the unique features was that French would be the spoken language at the school most of the time, including during class.

The existing clubhouse would serve as the main building with new construction to follow, including additional classrooms, a gymnasium, art building, infirmary, teachers’ cottage and seniors’ cottage.

Other structures included dormitories, a stable, garage, laundry and two frame staff houses, all built by master craftsmen William F. and W. J. Hanback.

Between 1930 and 1935, significant landscape features were added to the grounds of the school, including formal and smaller gardens, an outdoor theater with a stage, and decorative stonework.

In 1926, Mlle. Bouligny sold a 2.44-acre parcel to her niece, Edna Rhodes Fitch, who had a home built there. Mrs. Fitch served as the school’s assistant principal from 1926-1949.

Aerial photo of the Warrenton Country School taken in the 1930s shows the major buildings then in use. In the foreground is Mrs. Fitch’s house; behind, from left, the main building; gardens; gymnasium complex with classrooms and dormitories; art building, infirmary and teachers’ cottage at the rear; and the senior cottage at the front.

The main building at the WCS was originally the clubhouse for a Warrenton country club. Library of Congress.

Planned enrollment was for 40 boarding students coming from around the U.S. and a few foreign countries, and day students from surrounding communities. In 1930, there were 11 teachers in residence, including four from France and one from Switzerland.

The school uniform consisted of a calf-length lavender skirt and jacket topped by an ankle-length purple cape. In order to create a spirit of competition, the students were divided into the Green and Purple teams, competing for academic standings, sports and individual awards.

Mlle. Bouligny encouraged her students to become skilled horseback riders, and while some boarding students had equestrian skills, others got their first introduction to horse sports at the school. Some of the “horse country” day students had their own horses and helped others learn to ride.

WCS students participated in horse shows competing against each other and students from other schools, and in classes at the Warrenton and Upperville horse shows. Occasionally, the school would host hunt breakfasts for the Warrenton Hunt.

Drama and theatrics also were promoted, with several play productions each year. The plays were open to the public and often held to benefit local charities. The school year ended with the traditional senior class production of “Enchanted April.”

Special activities were scheduled monthly, including trips to football games at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, museums and plays in Washington and dances at nearby boys’ schools, including Woodberry Forest in Orange and Massanutten Military Academy at Woodstock. WCS students were regular invitees to Homecoming at Stuyvesant School in Warrenton.

Sports competition with other girls’ schools included basketball and soccer games against Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, Foxcroft School in Middleburg, and St. Margaret’s School at Tappahannock. Each December, they played the girls’ varsity team at Warrenton High School.

Mlle. Bouligny was concerned about her girls having contact with local boys during their time off and established the WCS “weekend” as Sunday (with church) and Monday, denying her students the opportunity for mischief on Saturdays.

Over the years, a number of girls from prominent Fauquier County families were enrolled in the Warrenton Country School.

Hope Wallach Burrage Porter of Warrenton was a day student at WCS from 1937-42. She shared her unique experiences there in Warrenton Virginia, A Unique History of 200 Years (2021). Her friend among the boarders was Oona O’Neill (1925-1991) of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the daughter of author and playwright Eugene O’Neill, who attended WCS from 1938-40.

In early 1949, Mlle. Bouligny, then 84, decided to retire. She announced that the school would be closed at the end of the 1948-49 school year, and the property put up for sale. However, she was contacted by Thomas Grier, the owner and headmaster of a girls’ school in Pennsylvania, who offered to lease the WCS.

Mlle. Bouligny introduced Grier to the patrons of the school, the students who would be returning for the 1949-50 session and their parents, and there was a commencement in June 1950. It would be the last. A few months later, Grier closed the school and cancelled the lease, and Mlle. Bouligny put the property up for sale.

In December, 1951, the WCS and Fitch properties, totaling 16.5 acres, were sold to the U.S. government for about $190,000 “…for undisclosed purposes connected with national defense,” according to The Fauquier Democrat. “Everyone involved was sworn to secrecy as to what agency of the government was involved.”

Mlle. Bouligny left immediately but returned to Warrenton after an aroundthe-world tour. She died in August, 1954 and was buried in the Warrenton Cemetery.

The former WCS property became Warrenton Training Center Station A, and while some of the school buildings were utilized, they were replaced over the years. It’s likely that the last of the of the original structures was demolished, despite the recommendation by Fauquier County that there should be complete documentation of the existing resources and public education about the site.

A Memorandum of Agreement was established in May, 2017, which incorrectly referred to the site as the former “Warrenton School for Girls.” It further stated that a traveling exhibit of the site would be produced, but if anything was done to preserve the history of the site, it was not made public.

WCS founder Mlle. Lea M. Bouligny, photographed in the 1940s

Long-time Warrenton resident Hope Wallach Porter in her student days at WCS.

Norris Royston Jr., MD Family Medicine

8255 East Main Street Marshall, VA 20115

mdvip.com/NorrisRoystonMD

It’s Been a Grand Run

By Mark Metzger

This year marks my 17th in Middleburg owning Highcliffe Clothiers on Washington Street and my 50th in retail. And now, it’s time to retire, which I’m planning to do in September.

Why did I open my shop in Middleburg and close my other store in Washington?

I’m an avid fisherman, and when I get the rare chance to bait a hook, I take it. In my D.C. days, I’d hang a “gone fishing” note on my store’s front door and go fish. Often when I arrived  at the store the next day, there would be notes—  “where were you?…I was here…What do you mean you were fishing?”

Metzger is planning to retire.

When I put the same sign on my Middleburg door, the next day, everyone wanted to know what I caught, and the fact that people out here appreciate the pastimes and passions of their friends, neighbors and business people has always appealed to me.

When I closed my store in Washington, it was the start of a great adventure in Middleburg.

The late Wendy Pepper (a Middleburg dress designer who once appeared on Project Runway) had once worked with me in Washington. When I was contemplating the move, she suggested I meet her friend, Punkin Lee,  owner of Journeyman Saddlers, because she had some available space she wanted to fill with a retailer.

I drove out to Middleburg, met her and fell in love with her unique, four-level building. After some intense negotiations (not really), I decided it was about to become my new retail home.

The second day after I moved in, I was schooled by a lovely woman who told me that not all dogs are dogs.  Some are hounds, she told me, and I never made that mistake again.

The second week, I got a lesson on what the equestrian folks wear and don’t wear.  The  saddle seat coat I had custom made in “alternative” fabrics  as a strictly fashion piece was a style that “we” don’t wear out here.

Still, it’s honestly been a pleasure learning about all things Middleburg and its surroundings. I’ve met some wonderful people, first as customers, and now friends. I love that people honk their car horns at me on my morning walks, just to say hey. I’ll miss that, for sure.

I love that people park funny at the Safeway. I love our  Christmas Parade and wish there were hitching posts for horses in town. I love the carriage rides and those horses going clippety-clop through the village.

I love that the most coveted thing people want from my store when I retire is my stuffed fox. I could have sold it a hundred times.

I love that if you tell someone you need a hand with something, there are countless hands to pick from.

I love that I sell axes, a lot of axes, so many I’ve been questioned by the supplier as if I’m doing something nefarious. Hey, we’re in the country. People use axes.  I could go on and on. Most of all, it’s been a great run and I truly will miss each and every one of you. This community is beyond special in so many ways.

For the first part of my new chapter, I plan to learn how to take a nap and what it’s like not to work on a weekend, which I’ve done for 50 years.

And I’ll be going fishing. No notes on the door necessary.

Mark

Twilight Turns Into Sunset at Great Meadow

By Emma Boyce

Another season of Saturday night arena polo is underway at Great Meadow in the Plains. After nearly three decades operating under the moniker Twilight Polo, the much anticipated summer sport has returned for its 30th year with a few surprises, including a new name and a changing of the guard.

The newly coined Sunset Polo, headed by Twilight Polo veteran and avid equestrian Whitney Ross, hopes to continue the rich legacy of polo at Great Meadow, while also broadening its scope to polo clubs beyond the Piedmont area.

“This year, we’ll have players coming from all over,” said Whitney, noting teams from Maryland and Charlottesville, where the University of Virginia also has a prestigious polo scene. “I want everyone to feel welcome to use the Great Meadow facility instead of it sitting empty as it has been the last couple of years.”

Besides Saturday night polo, Whitney offers lessons, practice games, and tournaments at Great Meadow.

“We’re going to make it a full club again,” she said. “It’s exciting to bring it back to its roots. It’s why the facility was developed to begin with.”

Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. and there are three matches, with a tug of war for kids at halftime.

Barrel Oak will be serving wine, and there will be other food vendors.

“The 8 p.m. slot will be more competitive than it was before,” Whitney said of the featured third game. “There will be a higher caliber of polo being played which will be very exciting for the crowd to watch and be involved in.”

Managing Sunset Polo was a natural progression for Whitney. In some way or another, horses have

always been at the epicenter of her career.

A native of Charlottesville, she competed on hunters for Virginia Tech and later dabbled in sport horse breeding. After college, her focus turned to polo, playing games at UVA and Great Meadow. Soon she was managing six polo ponies for a sponsor.

“It’s addicting,” Whitney said of the sport. “Once you score your first goal, you’re hooked.”

During one of these trips to Great Meadow, she was offered a job to start the polo school for the Great Meadow Polo Club. Under her direction, the school grew into one of the largest polo schools in the country.

“A lot of people come out and watch polo and then want to try it,” she said. “That’s why we do the lessons. It’s so fun to see someone go from a general admission ticket to playing at a Saturday night.”

For the last 15 years, she managed both the school and Twilight Polo, with some help from a now departed partner. Sunset marks her first venture alone, one that seems certain to exceed the community’s expectations.

“For people who live in Northern Virginia or D.C., Sunset Polo gets you out of the city,” Whitney said. “It’s a great atmosphere. People can bring out a carload of friends and family. Kids get to run around. The adults can have a beverage. Everyone has a blast.”

Whitney Ross is excited about the first season of renamed and reinvigorated Sunset Polo at Great Meadow.

Historic Rudy’s Farm Offers Endless Possibilities

“Rudy’s Farm” is a fun, charming place to gather with friends, family, horses and more.

Once a 50-acre working dairy farm, the original house was built in 1900 without electricity or water. It’s been through several restorations keeping up with the latest mechanical and interior designs.

In 2010, the addition of a beautiful great room and connecting light-filled hallway enhanced the home and created access to the back yard and new patio made from tiles and stones from Pennsylvania. The stone and stucco exterior lends warmth and charm to the lovely setting with mature trees and gardens.

The farm features a large historic bank barn with horse stables on the lower level. Equestrians can enjoy the 80’ x 150’ riding arena; seven-stall barn, run in shed; three fenced paddocks and riding trails.

The first floor bedroom suite has a beamed ceiling, terra cotta tile floor, exterior access and lots of windows with beautiful views. The tastefully designed great room features cathedral and beamed ceiling, walnut and mahogany floors, floor-to-ceiling windows and outdoor access to the patio.

The eat-in kitchen features Hickory cabinets, a tin ceiling, built-ins, stainless steel appliances and wood floors.

The second floor offers another bedroom suite with a spa-like bathroom that includes an over-sized shower with seat and double shower heads, a beautiful double vanity and private toilet area. What can be a 3rd bedroom, den /office or sitting room has a large mirrored closet and two windows.

The historic bank barn has been carefully restored and pre-dates the house. There are no nails and screws in the barn, only wooden pegs. The upper level is 4,500-plus square feet. Sliding doors open in front and rear and there are connecting stairs to the stables below.

This charming property would be ideal for a full-time residence, weekender or operated as a B&B. Located in a quiet area surrounded with historic farms yet convenient to Rt. 7, Rt. 340 and I-81 between Leesburg and Winchester.

Rudy’s Farm

2259 Old Charles Town Rd. Berryville, VA

Price: $1,050,000

Listed by Joyce Gates

Long & Foster Real Estate 540-771-7544

joyce.gates@LNF.com

The restored farm house with an inviting front porch.

The sun-filled great room has a cathedral beamed ceiling.

Enjoy outdoor gatherings and meals on the stone patio.

There are seven horse stalls, a tack and feed room and a wash stall.

A fabulous bank barn with 4,500 square feet on the upper level.

On behalf of the residents of Windy Hill’s 310 affordable homes, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to our community for joining us in celebrating our second annual Sip & Soirée!

Over 200 of our friends and neighbors joined us at this year’s Sip & Soirée to honor and thank Windy Hill’s past leaders. Additionally, attendees had the opportunity to learn about Windy Hill’s three campaigns, which will provide the funding necessary for our Foundation to continue to flourish:

(1) The Education Fund, (2) The Home Repair Fund, and (3) The Emergency Needs Fund.

Our annual celebration is Windy Hill’s largest philanthropic event of the year. This fundraiser bolsters the Windy Hill mission, including supporting Resident Services programs aimed at enhancing the quality of life for families living in Windy Hill affordable housing communities in Loudoun and Fauquier counties.

Through sponsorships, ticket sales, and donations made at the event, we raised over $250,000!

Thanks to your generosity and support, these funds will enable us to maintain Windy Hills homes, offer educational opportunities to our residents, and allow us to respond to their needs –be it food, medical, educational, rent, or utility expenses for both children and adults.

Your kindness empowers us to foster opportunities for residents of all ages to flourish. We eagerly anticipate sharing the fruits of these endeavors with you!

THANK YOU SIP AND SOIRÉE SPONSORS!

Gloria & Howard Armfield

BCT - The Community's Bank

Lisa & Mike Catlett

Carol & Henry Chapman

Classic Concierge

Clark Construction Group, LLC

Climatic Heating & Cooling, Inc.

Bailey & Bradley Davis

Shannon & Jim Davis

Double Wood

The Ellison Family

Bob Foosaner

Terri & Matt Foosaner

Carolyn & Michael Hylton

KVB Incorporated

J. Preston Levis Charitable Foundation

Jacqueline B. Mars

Middleburg Books

Monoflo International, Inc.

Thomas & Ann Northrup

Northwest Federal Credit Union

Karin & Mark Ohrstrom

Kiernan & Chris Patusky/Slater Run Vineyards

Joseph Perta & Carl Davis

Nicky Perry & Andrew Stifler

The Piedmont Environmental Council

Rockbridge Investment Management

Salamander Hotels & Resorts

Sheridan-MacMahon Realtors

Dennis Stout & Daniel Studnicky

Thomas & Talbot Estate Properties

Tri-County Feeds, Inc.

Dea & Beau Van Metre

Virginia Housing

Suzanne & Mitch Voss

The 2024 Board of Windy Hill Foundation

The Former Board of Windy Hill Foundation

Judy Washburn

The Whole Ox

If you were unable to join us but would like to make a 100% tax-deductible donation, scan the QR Code to support the Windy Hill Foundation mission to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing to low- and lower- income families and the elderly in Loudoun and Fauquier Counties and encourages self-improvement and self-sufficiency among our residents.

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Locally Sourced, Hearth-Prepared Cuisine

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Private Outdoor Cabanas

Monthly Food & Wine Events

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Extensive Wine Selection

Private Events & Rehearsal Dinners

It’s All About Local History at Thomas Balch Library

By Laura Longley

At the end of a boxwood-lined walkway leading to the West Market Street entrance of Leesburg’s Thomas Balch Library, its recently appointed director, Laura Christiansen, is putting out a new “Welcome” mat. Never been there? Then now’s the time to visit what she calls a “oneof-a-kind place” and discover the wealth of resources Laura’s been acquiring as curator of manuscripts and archives over the past 10 years.

Over that time, working with retiring director Alexandra Gressitt, Laura has played an instrumental role in expanding the library’s extensive collection of cemetery and census records, deeds and wills, tax rolls, vital records, historic house files, maps, wills, military collections, newspapers, postcards, oral histories, and rare books.

Since its dedication in 1922 by the sons of Philadelphia attorney Thomas Balch, the library has focused its work on a special requirement—that the institution maintain and foster a section dedicated to local history. It’s done that—and much more.

Today the library is the go-to place to trace your family’s genealogy; dig into first-person accounts of the Civil War in Loudoun and Fauquier counties; discover the significant contributions of Loudoun’s Quakers to the region’s social, economic, and political life; and advance your knowledge of African-American heritage through the research of the Black History Committee of the library’s friends organization. (The library is now designated an Underground Railroad research site.)

It’s only been since the Covid 19 pandemic, however, that going to the library also has meant sitting down at your computer or opening your phone and connecting through virtual programs, social media, and YouTube channels.

Beginning in the spring of 2020, Laura has increased the library’s offerings on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (now X) and nurtured partnerships for programming with organizations such as the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area.

She’s added informative videos, recordings of authors’ lectures, and engaging chats with research experts. She’s also taken deep dives into the archives, sharing and interpreting everything from Civil War battle maps to the records of the Village of Lincoln’s “Home Interest Club.”

Founded in 1903 by women members of the Society of Friends “to discuss all topics tending to elevate and improve the home,” the group shared recipes— which Laura shares with viewers. One of them—perfect for the current strawberry season—is for “Short Cake.” The recipe is signed by Lincoln artist Cosmelia Janney.

“We have her sketchbook in our collection,” Laura said, “with beautiful sketches she did of houses in Lincoln.”

In the video, she also thumbs through the records of the “Housekeepers Club” of African-American women in Aldie who founded their organization in 1914 to help each other because, they wrote, “by working together all things are possible.”

In another YouTube video, Laura invites viewers to join her in a “homework lesson,” perusing the “sums” and lettering books of 19th century schoolboys (you won’t see penmanship like that today!).

“My main goal,” she said, “is to make everyone know they’re welcome here. It’s well known among all kinds of historical communities and educators. But I’d like to get the message out that we’re here for any age group. We’ve expanded our programs for K-12 school groups and for undergrads, and I’m eager to build on that.”

Since Leesburg reopened public facilities three years ago, Laura and Alexandra have resumed live lectures, exhibits, and DNA genealogy seminars, with many of the programs made possible through the support of the Friends of Thomas Balch Library. They’ve also reintroduced exhibits in the library’s award-winning, light-flooded addition designed by the Washington, D.C. firm Bowie Gridley Architects.

In addition, Laura has led development of a new exhibit and processing space at the Donaldson Log Cabin—the log building on Loudoun Street SW next to the Loudoun Museum. The library hosts monthly pop-up exhibits there in conjunction with Leesburg’s First Friday events.

Meanwhile, as Laura has focused on outreach, Alexandra, who retires June 23, has spearheaded the conversion of the library’s extensive catalog from the Dewey Decimal System to the Library of Congress classification system.

That conversion has helped distinguish Thomas Balch Library as an

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independent research library and separated it from the Loudoun County Public Library catalog. That initiative helped the library join more than 107 countries on the international library stage as part of Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Worldcat Discovery.

Laura is well prepared to move to Thomas Balch Library’s center stage. In addition to her work with the Thomas Balch Library over the past decade, she gained previous experience in the fields of history, library services, and library development at the Clarke County Historical Association, the Handley Regional Library in Winchester, and the Chrysler Museum of Art.

She holds bachelor’s degrees in art history and history from Berry College; a master’s degree in public history from the University of South Carolina; and a master’s degree in library and information science, also from the University of South Carolina.

Upon Laura’s appointment, Leesburg Town Manager Kaj Dentler said her “promotion represents a continuation of the legacy that Alexandra Gressitt has achieved to make the Thomas Balch Library a destination for research and learning. This also represents a unique opportunity in time to move the library forward to ensure the Balch Library continues to serve the next generation of learners in the digital age.”

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to work to grow the library’s collections and the community around it,” Laura said. “I love that Thomas Balch Library is a place where everyone can experience history firsthand by seeing something amazing in the archives, learning about their genealogy, or discovering something new about our shared past. It is a truly a unique institution, and I am honored to be selected to lead it as director.”

Details: Thomas Balch Library is located at 208 West Market Street in Leesburg. Details: balchlib@leesburgva.gov and https://www.leesburgva.gov/departments/ thomas-balch-library. For new catalog, click on the “Centennial Catalog” button.

Photo by Sarah Huntington

Laura Christensen at the Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg

It’s Smooth Sipping for Aldie Water

by Vicky Moon

By Leonard Shapiro

The Little River Runs right through the teeny-tiny village of Aldie, just a few miles east of Middleburg down Route 50, but that’s not the water you’ll be guzzling if you happen to purchase a 16-ounce bottle of “Aldie Water” now available in only a very few select locations.

And all in Aldie, of course.

“It’s Smooth,” reads the label on the bottle, a quote from a very satisfied Loudoun County water system supervisor and an expert on all things H2O. He recently sampled the water and said just that.

“Hey, it’s smooth.”

The man who is starting to put the smooth water in those bottles is none other than serial entrepreneur Tucker Withers, a long-time area resident, founder and owner with his wife Mary Ann of Aldie’s Little River Inn, and known to most locals as the town’s unofficial mayor.

You can get Aldie Water at the Inn, and it soon will be available by the case or the individual bottle at Mary Ann’s shop, Mercer Tavern Antiques, across the street from the Withers’ residence. It’s $2 a bottle or $50 for a case of 25.

The water comes from an artesian well on their property. They’ve had access to the well water for years, have used it to fill their pool (32,000 gallons) and it flows right into a little house Tucker and Mary Ann built close by their own front door for their adult children and grandchildren and the more than occasional poker game. Beer was the liquid of choice on poker nights, of course, but Aldie Water is on tap as well, you might say.

Tucker is something of a water expert himself as the elected president of the Aldie Water Company, a nonprofit that hydrates 40 Aldie homes, several local businesses and the Episcopal church. That water comes from springs on nearby Bull Run Mountain and is treated with just a tiny touch of Clorox, Tucker said. Newly bottled Aldie Water goes from artesian well to spigot to bottle with no touch of anything, and then sealed tight.

“I took it to a lab for testing over in Warrenton,” Tucker said, “and we got back a great report. It’s really good water.”

Then came a similar testimonial—“it’s smooth”—from the county water man, and before long Tucker was doing the bottling himself. He’s had some experience. Back when his daughter, Lilly, now 34, was eight, they made and sold “Lilly’s Lemonade.” Tucker had purchased 5,000 bottles, but after a few years, he and Lilly soured on making lemonade and stopped, but he kept the bottles.

These days, he’s mostly relying on word of mouth to spread the Aldie Water message. He’s also been donating cases to several local events, including a recent “Bizz Buzz” meeting of the Middleburg Business and Professional Association. Tucker said the reviews from that gathering also were favorable, as expected. After all, it’s smooth. Details:

Photo

Tucker Withers has tapped into an artesian well in his backyard for Aldie Water.

Middleburg Farmers Market Finds A Forever Home

By Leslie VanSant

The Middleburg Farmers Market is back.

After many years behind the Community Center, and then a few bouncing from locations at the National Sporting Library and Museum, Atlantic Union Bank and Middleburg Charter School parking lots, the market now has a permanent home behind the new Middleburg Town Hall.

While the location is new, many vendors are familiar faces. Some were born into farming, others are living their best lives after careers on the “inside” of an office.

C. Hess Orchards & Produce started coming to Middleburg over 20 years ago. Chester Hess or members of his team make the drive weekly from the family farm in West Virginia. Chester grows multiple varieties of apples, peaches, pears, plums and berries which he offers alongside in-season vegetables. Each weekend, samples of the fruits are offered so shoppers can decide between Stayman or Jonagold apples, or determine if the cantaloupes are sweet.

“We make all of our jams, jellies, candied pecans and pickles,” Chester said.

MM Coffee Farm sells coffee beans and freshly brewed coffee by the cup. Betty and Walt Hernandez grow the beans on the family farm in Honduras,

then roast them in Warrenton. The coffee plants are grown at different elevations which changes the shape and flavor of the roast.

Willoughby Farm & Flowers is located in Delaplane. Larry Willoughby left corporate life and started farming—his dream job—in 2017, growing peaches, vegetables and cut flowers. “I’ve got kale, spinach and romaine now, with more lettuces and arugula coming along with beets,” he said.

Tummy YumYum proprietor Sharita Rouse left her career as a dental assistant in 2017 to follow her sweet tooth. Now she sells homemade candy apples, popcorn, cakes and chocolate covered bacon.

Cobbler View Farm has been coming to the market since 2016 or “for the last four locations” joked farmer Jane Eickhoff. She started her small

farm after retiring and grows what she enjoys eating, including broccolini, sugar snap peas, radishes, lettuces and more.

“Gardening, farming, is good exercise for old people, which I am,” said Jane, who donates her excess to local food banks.

Stone Ridge Farm is a new entry to the market and will be there only for a few weeks. Maggie and Owen Doherty started their second career in 2020, growing and selling peonies. They have 11 varieties and will sell at the farmers’ market or to weddings.

Preppy Pretzel is a favorite. Daniela Stephanz Anderson has been perfecting and sharing a generations-old family recipe for hand-made and twisted Bavarian pretzels for several years. In addition to traditional favorites, this year she’s also offering pretzels topped with cheese and jalepeno, tomato and cheese and the curious Laugenecken the delicious combination of pretzel-croissant-biscuit.

Birds Bags & Beyond was started by Addy Jones with the support of her parents, Amy and David, on the premise of reuse and recycle. Addy and Amy hand-craft smart shopping bags using empty horse feed bags. They also offer homemade soaps and beautifully decorated needle felted birds.

Details: https://www.middleburgva.gov/297/FarmersMarket

year we’re excited to welcome food trucks, live entertainment, weekly contests and more!

The Children’s Entrepreneur Market will be back again this season on the following dates: June 9th - Sept. 21 - Oct. 26th

The Middleburg Farmers Market

Saturday mornings through October 26 from 9 a.m. to noon

Here are some vendors you can expect: Dark Hollow Farms

The Preppy Pretzel Hidden Creek

Double Creek Ranch

Willoughby Farm & Flowers

Hess Orchards

JNRG Healing Co.

Cobbler View Farm

Tummy Yumyum Candy Apples

MM Coffee Farm

Middleburg Crafts ... and more!

The Middleburg Farmers Market is sponsored by the Town of Middleburg to provide local agriculturalists with a retail outlet for their products. The market provides the citizens of the area with an opportunity to purchase fresh quality products from the people who produce them.

Perspectives on Childhood, Education, and Parenting

Too Much Screen Time Remains An Issue

“The cost of a thing is the amount of...life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”

—Henry David Thoreau (Walden, 1854)

By Tom Northrup

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt is, in my opinion, one of the most insightful, deeply researched, and important books of this century.

Parents, educators, and middle and high school students would be well served to not only read it, but to have ongoing cross-generational conversations about its content and recommendations. Then reread it and repeat the cycle.

Mike Wipfler, a friend, former colleague, and parent of two young children, will again join me for a conversation to discuss this book.

TOM: Throughout my life as a parent and educator it seems that “screen time” has been a major topic. A half century ago, it was about television’s impact on children and families. Marie Winn’s The Plug-In Drug (1977) was important in shaping my understanding of the challenges that this medium was presenting and how we adults should address them at home and in school.

Rereading it today, Winn’s concerns and counsel have held up very well. From the onset, she noted that, “There is, indeed, no other experience...in a child’s life that permits so much intake while demanding so little outflow.”

Mike Wipfler and Tom Northrup

The author emphasized that children watching television over 50 hours a week are not having real life experiences that prepare them to be responsible adults. Mike, what are your thoughts on the challenges and effects on children and families of the smartphone compared to television?

MIKE: I certainly agree that The Anxious Generation is essential reading about the impact smartphones have had on families and schools. But Haidt argues that the impact of smartphones has been amplified because their emergence coincided with another change in society—an increase in parental fear surrounding the real world. He observed that parents are now over-protecting their children from that world while under protecting them from this revolutionary technology. A bad combination.

Together, these forces have led to a monumental shift from “play-based childhoods” to “phone-based childhoods.” On average, pre-teens now spend about 40 hours a week on screens, and 13- to 18-year-olds spend closer to 50 hours a week. That demographic was spending a lot of time in front of screens before smartphones, but in the last ten years, pre-teens and teens are spending an additional two or three hours in front of screens per day.

This is no surprise. It’s common knowledge that tech companies work hard (and have been successful) to develop apps, algorithms, and functions meant to hold users’ attention.

The fact that many preteens and teens spend as much (or more) time on screens as their parents

spend at work should cause us all to pause and consider whether this is really the childhood that will prepare them for their adult lives?

TOM: I love Jonathan Haidt’s two simple frameworks to express his major concerns and the challenges for us to address: the emergence of “a phone-based vs. play-based childhood” and parents “over-protection (of children) in the real world and under-protection in the virtual world.”

Both Winn and Haidt note that excessive “screentime” robs children of the necessary time they need for play. Both explain in depth the crucial role that free play has in developing autonomy and competence. Winn stated that, “Child’s play is serious business in spite of its lack of ‘seriousness.’”

Nearly 50 years ago, in The Plug-in Drug, Winn was less concerned with the content of television programming. Her primary worry was that the time spent in front of a screen robbed children of time for more fulfilling activities. My memory of that time was that most families began to limit their children’s TV time–during the school week, an hour a day and on weekends a little more. And, I knew a few families who chose not to have a television in their home.

MIKE: Also, let’s remember that Marie Winn was concerned about a heavy, unwieldy box usually placed in a common space of the home. When children left the house, or even the room, they left the technology behind. Not so with smartphones; most teens take their phones everywhere (pre-teens

too, if they have a phone), and that’s a problem.

Engaging in conversation with friends, peers, and acquaintances is important developmentally, but it’s hard work and includes some risk. Phones are the path of least resistance and the option that many people prefer over the hard work of beginning and maintaining a conversation. Furthermore, the omnipresence of the phone with all its notifications (the average teen gets 192 notifications per day, or one every five minutes they’re awake), makes it incredibly difficult for teens to keep their focus and to stay in the moment.

Sherry Turkle, author of Reclaiming Conversation, the Power of Conversation in a Digital Age succinctly and eloquently defines today’s reality: “We are forever elsewhere.”

TOM: As with every technological advancement, we experience a trial and error period and begin to understand the benefits and unintended negative consequences. I believe Haidt has provided a comprehensive, yet easily understood synthesis of the pros and cons of the smartphone for children, parents, and schools.

The author offers four very specific recommendations for all of us to consider as we learn to take advantage of the best of technological advances while managing the toxicity of them. He is optimistic, as am I, about our desire and ability to do this.

MIKE: Let’s discuss his recommendations in our conversation for the next edition of ZEST.

The Hill School offers an education as unique as your child. Come visit our community to learn how our program of Total Education – strong academics and meaningful participation in art, music, sports, and theater – helps build character and confidence in our students and gets them started on the path to being happy, successful adults.

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Voted Best Private School in Loudoun County for Five Consecutive Years

PIEDMONT ROOFING

SARATOGA WAS SO VERY SPECIAL TO ANN MACLEOD

By Leonard Shapiro

Long-time Upperville resident Ann MacLeod passed away at her home on April 10, 2024 at the age of 101. In her memory, the following is a story that ran in Country ZEST five years ago.

As always, Ann MacLeod was right where she belonged a few weeks ago— sitting in her clubhouse box overlooking the finish line on opening day at the Saratoga Race Course. Old habits are hard to break, don’t you know.

“The Widow,” as she’s affectionately known to her legion of friends back home in Upperville, was celebrating 60 years since she first started coming to “The Spa” and its iconic thoroughbred racetrack. It’s quite a Ripken-esque iron-woman streak, only because she had to miss one year to give birth to her son, Colin Bruce.

Now 96, MacLeod has been a Saratoga fixture since 1958. She goes there to watch the races, to attend concerts, plays and the ballet at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and to play lawn tennis on the grass courts at the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club. (We donated a chair in her honor at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.)

She did all of the above, including the tennis, during her three-week stay. Back in Virginia, she has a regular doubles game at The Middleburg Tennis Club at least three times a week, and sometimes four if an emergency replacement is needed at the last minute. She only lives a few miles away, and yes, of course, she drives herself, so hold the Miss Daisy.

A few years ago, before a morning tennis match in Saratoga against then jockey Jerry Bailey and his wife, MacLeod had a bit of strategic advice for her own partner before they took the court.

“Always lob the jockey,” she told me.

MacLeod was a native of Staunton, Virginia. Her love affair with Saratoga began with her love affair with her late husband, Colin “Sandy” MacLeod, who passed away in 1977. They owned a 150-acre farm in Upperville and bred racehorses. Sandy MacLeod also was a successful trainer, and for a good part of every year, they had barn space at Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga.

Their own space back then was the 60-foot boat they lived on—The Dunvegan, built in 1924 and also the name of their Virginia farm. It was anchored at Lookout Point on Long Island, conveniently located for short, 20-minute commutes to the nearby racetracks.

For Saratoga, the MacLeods embarked on a three-day cruise that included chugging out briefly to the ocean, making their way to the Hudson River and then heading

Photo by Vicky Moon

Ann MacLeod, in the paddock at The Spa.

from Colin MacLeod.

upstate to Schuylerville. They docked the boat there for Saratoga’s summer race meet, only a 10-mile drive from the track.

“It was a wonderful time,” MacLeod said the other day, “and we always loved Saratoga. Sandy’s family had a box there going back to 1932. There’s so much to do in Saratoga, and over the years I’ve made so many friends. I know so many Saratogians, and it’s just a fabulous place to be.”

After her husband’s death, the Dunvegan was sold and MacLeod spent her upstate nights on dry land at several locations around town. For many years, she shared a small house that was always easy to find. You only had to look for the gaggle of plastic pink flamingos she stuck in the ground out front, far easier to spot than the smallish numbers on the house.

The last few racing seasons, she’s been staying in a home owned by a couple she met in church. And every afternoon, after some morning tennis, she’s up in her box, usually surrounded by nearby patrons she’s known for years. If anyone has extra guests, they all know someone nearby will probably have a spare seat or two for the spillover.

One afternoon a few years ago, a fellow with a thick New York accent dressed in a designer suit dropped by and sat down in MacLeod’s box. Soon, they were engaged in a spirited conversation. At the time, MacLeod had no idea who she was talking to until a friend later told her she’d been yakking with Al Pacino.

MacLeod has made countless friends in the horse world, and one of her best pals is Lenny Hale, former executive director for NYRA who now lives in Baltimore. He drove her up to Saratoga this year, and another Virginia neighbor will take her back.

She’ll surely regale him with countless stories, maybe from her days as a CIA operative in Salzburg, Austria in the early 1950s, or her work as a Red Cross volunteer in Europe during World War II, or how she helped save a historic Civil War bridge back home from greedy developers, or perhaps about her organizing her church group to feed the homeless in Washington, D.C. She still rides the church van into town with them, as well, and works the serving line.

For sure it’s been a rich, rewarding and fascinating life for Ann MacLeod, who also shows no signs of slowing down save for a little loss of hearing. She’ll surely be packing her Saratoga trunk in 2019 for her official 60th opening day. And she’ll surely find a little court time to lob another jockey, as well.

LETTER from PARIS

A Straight Shooting Nana

By John Sherman

My grandmother came from starchy New England stock.  Her forebears arrived in the 1630s.  She had a man’s haircut, carried her hand bag in the crook of her arm and wore sensible shoes.  Her laugh was full, but came infrequently.

She was born on Orange Street in Brooklyn, just before the blizzard of 1888.  Her father, a reporter in Albany for the New York Times, was part of a small group, including Theodore Roosevelt, who helped break up Tammany Hall.  He went on to become publisher. He had two daughters and, as the story goes, when he received word that his wife had given birth to another, his response was “hell and damnation.”  She was named Helen.

Her father left the Times after its sale in 1896.  I have a framed $10 check made out to Helen Spinney for her notable work in the Times essay contest on the city’s 250th anniversary.  That was 1903.  The next image I have is of her and her sister, dressed in white with big hats, holding on to a bicycle wound with crepe paper. The suffragettes.

I grew up on Long Island, just up the street from my grandmother, who had been widowed when I was two.  Her husband, Harold Lewis, created one of the most famous nurseries in the country on which we lived.

To me she was Nana.

She was a handy babysitter when my parents were out or traveling.  My most vivid memory was a huge, fully loaded pistol hanging on her bed post.  Given her nature, beware.

We played hours of “canasta” and “battleship” overlooking the nursery. At breakfast we would listen to “Rambling with (John) Gambling,” a gentle news and music show on WOR radio.  I can still hum the theme song.

Nana was a birder, not the stalker with binoculars, but as a caretaker to feed and protect them as friends.  Her substantial house was surrounded by bird feeders.  We would watch the comings and goings through a large picture window.  She taught me a wide variety of names and plumages—-the difference between a chickadee and a junco.

And there were enemies, notably the purple crackle, a sizable black bird that would swoop in to gorge, scaring away the pretty ones.  “Black robber,” she would shout, reaching for a crystal glass full of demitasse spoons.  She would pick one and hurl it at the window, scaring away the robber.  It was my job to pick up the spoons once breakfast was over.

At a certain age, it pained her to bend down.  Necessity is the grandmother of invention.  She tied a thread to the spoon for easy retrieval.

She kept a .410 shotgun behind her kitchen door.  Arriving one morning, I had to explain that the hawk hanging in her garage was a federal offense.

Nana taught me to fish, a passion that remains.  She would rent a boat from a dock in Cold Spring Harbor and row me out into the sound.  We fished with hand lines (many rods would come later).  She shamed me into learning to thread a blood worm onto a hook.  We would raise and lower the sinker, I guess to lure the bottom fish.

I now fish for just trout, or just redfish, or bonefish.  Back then, half the excitement of getting a nibble, then a bite, was never knowing what would surface.  Flounder, blowfish, eels, bluefish, porgies—-even crabs.  After a few summers she let me row.  Then my father, who had no use for fishing, bought us a five horse power Evenrude motor.

Nana was a straight-on cook, nothing complicated or frivolous. Her dishes were handed down by Puritans.  She occasionally splurged on lamb chops and, perhaps a weird bunch of asparagus.  But she stuck pretty much to the threeon-a-plate combo.  She was queen of the Waldorf salad.  Desert options rarely shifted: custard (before creme brûlée) and tapioca pudding.  Oh, and jello.  I can’t

ever recall having ice cream.

She came to visit us in France where I was stationed in the army—-defending Orleans against a Soviet attack.   It was the fall of 1966.  She would come home with shopping bags brimming with local essentials: baguettes, cheeses from Normandy, saucisse and other charcuterie and, of course, a box from the patisserie.

Up and down our street my wife would report the latest flattery from shopkeepers.  “Your grand-mere is a delight.  She speaks (schoolgirl) French.  She is so curious about food.”

A classic Nanism:  We were driving east toward Brussels when we stopped off at the champagne house Moet et Chandon.  I remember Nana drinking a glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve, always adding a cube of sugar.  In a serendipitous turn, we ended up being given an hour’s private tour by an executive.  Last, we were shown to an exquisite orangerie where he popped a bottle of Dom Perignon.  Nana, with a wry smile, turned her flute upside down.

I never thought of Nana watching much television; each year she would alternate between the New York Herald Tribune and the Times.  What remained virtually undiscovered was, perhaps, her closest friend.  Julia Child.

I watched the show one evening after my discharge.  I’ve never heard her laugh like that since taking her to see a silent film with Harold Lloyd dangling from the hands of a clock.  Particularly when Julia was in the midst of a coq au vin and the chicken fell to the floor.  She reached down, picked in up and threw it into the pot.  As a result of her enthusiasm, Nana’s guest menu was upped to include lamb Navarin, quiche Lorraine and tarte tantin.

Nana kept a diary.  It would always start with the weather and continue on: “Saw my first scarlet taninger.  May Coggins for lunch.  Went shopping.”

I read through a hundred entries over the years.  I never crossed a subjective thought.  “I’m feeling old today” or “I hate Stalin.”  She held her feelings—-like a straight flush—-close to her bosom.  No better example came the day she became a widow: “Harold dropped dead at 2:45 this afternoon.”  Direct and to the point.

Probably, the last big headlines of her life were Woodstock, the moon landing and Nixon’s election.  I never asked Nana about Nixon.

Nana Helen and her sister Polly.

Nana at 80.

4

e y o u i n y o u r r e s e a r c h o f c u r r e n t m a r k e t t r e n d s a n d y o u r s e a r c h o f l a t e s t p r o p e r t y l i s t i n g s r e s u l t i n g i n v a l u a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n f o r y o u r m o v e K r i s t i n D i

325 acres | $15,500,000

Middleburg – Estate property encompasses Bolinvar’s 100 acres–including the 22 room stone manor house, and the adjacent Canaan of Bolinvar’s 225 acres–with newly constructed state-of-the art horse training, boarding and breeding facilities.

The Plains – The epitome of an exquisite Horse Country Estate. From the Manor house to the meticulously manicured gardens, grounds, dependencies, and the hundreds of acres of surrounding pastures with protected view-sheds, Oakendale is in a class of its own. KILKENNY

Marshall – In addition to the classically beautiful brick manor house, ca. 1935, there is a stunning, newly constructed second home, both are perfectly sited for privacy and views. Kilkenny Farm includes 3 parcels which are protected by an easement with the VOF.

Delaplane – elegant and grand with exquisite symmetry, a handsome example of an early 20th century Colonial Revival. The land is gently rolling with open fields and beautiful mature landscaping. Prime horse and wine country, minutes from Middleburg.

HUNTLAND

129 acres | $9,000,000

Middleburg – This iconic estate has a rich history dating back to 1834. The stables and kennels are magnificent U-shaped buildings, each with a central courtyard, originally built with an emphasis on what is best for the hounds, the horses, and the huntsman.

LEEDS MANOR

8+ acres | $1,650,000

Markham – The stone residence is charming; the mountain views are magnificent! With an elevation of 1200’ the expansive views, in all directions, cannot be overstated. A stunning property where one can find privacy and peaceful enjoyment in nature.