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
$5,300,000
Paul MacMaHon 703.609.1905
Helen MacMaHon 540.454.1930
WEST RESERVOIR ROAD
WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA
Retail parcel in Woodstock, Virginia, directly off I-81, corner of West Reservoir Road and Woodstock Commons Drive | Starbucks, Cracker Barrel, Walmart, Tractor Supply and Jersey Mikes all within eye shot Zoned B2, potential restaurant, car wash, retail or office Currently site plan approved for restaurant with pole signage
$1,900,000
Paul MacMaHon 703.609.1905
Brian MacMaHon 703.609.1868
WINDS FARM
MARSHALL, VIRGINIA
Tree
JUNO FARM
MARSHALL, VIRGINIA
163 acres of premier land in Orange County Hunt Territory on Atoka Road | 100 acres of hay & remaining is mature woodland | Wonderful riding trails and wildlife habitat | Easement allows a residential compound and comprehensive equestrian facilities including the ability to build an indoor arena Impressive mountain views, 2 ponds
$3,500,000
Helen MacMaHon 540.454.1930
BRIQUEBEC
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
$1,850,000
Paul MacMaHon 703.609.1905
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
STORE
MARSHALL, VIRGINIA
Property has been a landmark for community for decades | Major frontage on Route 50 & Atoka Rd | Commercial kitchen, beer cooler, grocery items, pizza oven, in store seating Potential to be very lucrative | Property also improved by older home, old gas station has been renovated for potential office space or storage & stone spring house | 2 lots with commercial village zoning $2,700,000
MacMaHon 703.609.1905 Brian MacMaHon 703.609.1868 ATOKA
MARSHALL, VIRGINIA
Discover the potential of this expansive 86-acre property located on Ramey Road in Marshall | This versatile land offers a mix of pastures, mature hardwoods, and scenic views, making it ideal for various rural uses | The property provides a perfect canvas whether you are looking to establish a working farm, create an equestrian haven, or build your dream home in a tranquil setting | In conservation easement
HUME ROAD
HUME, VIRGINIA
12.9 open and gently rolling acres | Prime Fauquier location, near village of Hume Bold views of mountains, no HOA, 5 Bedroom perc site | 3.49 acres are in open space easement
$420,000
Paul MacMaHon 703.609.1905
Brian MacMaHon 703.609.1868
SAINT LOUIS ROAD
JOY
By Tommy Lee Jones
There’s been a lot of discussion about Joy recently and the expression on this Jack Russell terrier’s face in the photo says it all.
Not all terriers like to take part in races, but those that do enjoy it also experience that pure freedom of soaring, flying freely feet from the ground just before they hang a toe and come crashing to earth. After doing a cartwheel through the air and landing in a heap, they scramble through the hay bales at the finish line.
Dodging the human catcher’s hands, they often run back down the raceway, usually jumping the jumps in reverse, and go back into the starting gate, panting, tails wagging and waiting impatiently to go again.
The Jack Russell breed has always been a joyful warrior, a dog of exceptional ego with an even larger heart. I like those earlier terriers best, before they were recognized by the American Kennel Club.
The Jack Russells of the 1970s were chaos and mystery, and hunters of the first order. You could breed two terriers short of leg and coat, and half the litter would be long hair and leg. Their fearlessness to tackle a rat or a lion has never varied.
Almost fifty years ago, the first terrier trial was held at the Old Dominion Hunt field trial site. Master of Hounds Joan Hopewell had returned from her native England where she had attended a trial for a hunt over there.
Needless to say, their equipment was a little primitive. The starting gate was a large wooden box that loaded from the top. The front gate was one piece with a lever, so the gate swung up all at once. The windows in the front were covered with a large gap wire that caught the teeth of more than one terrier as the gate came up. No disasters but close.
The lure was a fat fox tail claimed from a not so lucky road kill on a string that rolled up on the rear wheel of an upside-down bike. The bouncing tail kept causing the string to pop off the wheel and snag, often resulting in multiple dog fights.
My friend, Gus Forbush, and I raced our terriers at Old Dominion. Gus is a mechanical genius, a welder and hunted with Casanova at that time.
Over one winter years ago, he used spare parts lying around his shop to make a starting gate and a wheel that we use to this day. The gate was metal, individual gates that swung out when they opened and even had a bell, just like at the horse racetracks. The wheel was wide and had guides, so the string stayed straight and didn’t snag.
Robert Palmer, a member of the Casanova Board of Governors, built a set of jumps, a miniature hurdle, post and rail and a chicken coop. In June, 1977, we held the first Casanova Terrier Trial at the kennel in an old grove of oak trees.
More than 100 terriers competed. The rest, as they say, is history.
Tommy Lee Jones, long time huntsman for the Casanova Hunt.
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
Michele Husfelt
Alissa Jones
Laura Longley
Hunt Lyman
M.J. McAteer
Jan Mercker
Joe Motheral
Jodi Nash
Chip Newcome
Tom Northrup
Ali Patusky
Melissa Phipps
Pat Reilly
Linda Roberts
John E. Ross
Constance Chatfield-Taylor
John Sherman
Peyton Tochterman
John Toler
Leslie VanSant
Mike Wipfler
Louisa Woodville
For advertising inquiries, contact: Leonard Shapiro at badgerlen@aol.com or 410-570-8447
ON THE COVER
There is nothing quite like the joy of photographing dogs in our studio. Like toddlers, they demand our human antics to capture their attention—whether it's a squeaky toy or a tasty snack, no trick or treat is over the top. Each photo is a whimsical adventure, hoping to find that perfect capture and bring out heartwarming smiles. One thing is for sure: these pet parents love their furry children.
/ 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
HOT DIGGETY DOGS!!!!
By Leonard Shapiro
If you think Country ZEST is going to the dogs in this winter issue, you’re definitely barking up the right tree.
We’ve got dogs everywhere—on the cover, all over the inside pages—with stories, photos, paintings and even a few ads to stay with the theme of our first issue of 2025 and the start of our sixth year (pardon the prideful woofing) as the Middleburg area’s most popular publication. And what a fun cover, with many thanks to exceedingly patient Doug Gehlsen and Karen Monroe of Middleburg Photo.
I’d like to think that everything we print is a must read, of course, but a must-must read would be Carina Elgin’s lovely homage to Shelly, her daughter Caroline’s late, longtime service dog. And if that story doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, take a look at Dulany Morison’s moving tribute to the late Carol Lee, the woman who put the African American enclave of Willisville on the map and recently published an illuminating book on the subject.
If this is February, then it’s also Black History Month, and we have several other pieces to commemorate the occasion, including an update by Middleburg Mayor Bridge Littleton on the town’s ongoing Asbury Church project. We also have an informative feature on the Afro-American Heritage Association based in The Plains, doing important work in helping local Black families find their genealogical roots.
Denis Cotter has produced a fascinating story about the late, great Middleburg architect Billy Dew, who designed a number of buildings in the village, including the Middleburg Community Center. And fellow local historian John Toler profiles a very busy Fauquier County attorney from long ago who specialized for many years in saving countless clients from the death penalty.
On a lighter note, Country ZEST has always encouraged younger writers to get into our mix, and this issue includes pieces written by high school students at Wakefield and Highland as well as a first-person story by current University of Virginia freshman Ali Patusky. Her first college semester was spent in London, England, a long way from Charlottesville, and lucky for us, she wrote all about it.
We’ve also profiled several highly regarded local educators who have or will be retiring after memorable careers—Foxcroft Head of School Cathy McGehee and long-time Hill School art teacher and gifted artist Linda Conti. Ashby Inn founder John Sherman has long been retired from his work on Capitol Hill, but his Letter From Paris column offers some wonderful anecdotes about his time working for three different Congressmen.
Finally, congratulations to our friend and frequent contributor, Sean Clancy, who won his third Eclipse Award—the equivalent of a Pulitzer for horse racing writers—with a column on an incredible race at Saratoga last summer. For some added ZEST to your winter reading, we’re re-printing the prize-winning piece that first appeared in the Saratoga Special.
Leonard Shapiro badgerlen@aol.com 410-570-8447
Photo by Crowell Hadden Trowbridge Littleton takes his best four-legged friend, Hope, for several walkabouts daily.
Photo by Susan Lindholm
These big boys were our inspiration for the “Dog” issue. On half price burger night at Red Horse Tavern, they each get a big treat.
Doug Gehlsen and Karen Monroe of Middleburg Photo
Nestled on 75 private acres with breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountain views, this historic manor has been graced by distinguished figures such as the Phippses, Mellons, and local neighbors John and Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor and John Warner. Boasting ample equestrian facilities and two tenant houses, the estate seamlessly blends elegance with functionality. Write your name into the legacy of this extraordinary property.
ROCKBURN FARM
$5,500,000 Contact Cricket Bedford 540-229-3201 and visit https://www.thomasandtalbot. com/Property-Rockburn to see more.
Improvising At Wakefield Teaches Valuable Lessons
Imagine being live on stage, in front of 200 people, all eagerly anticipating your performance. For most, this alone would be enough to scare them silly. Now imagine you have no lines and don’t even know what the story is yet. The show must be made up in the moment, with everyone watching.
By Patrick Reidway
It’s called the art of improvisation, performing on the spot without a script, relying only on your fellow actors and the audience to support you. It’s more than enough to give even the most seasoned performer a bad case of stage fright.
And yet, “improv” has taught me more about navigating life as a high school student than I ever could imagine. Every new show, like every moment in life, brings new challenges and opportunities to grow.
The first rule of thumb, both in improv and in life, is to always start with a “Yes, and.” That concept is about choosing to accept and build on what life throws at us, rather than staying inside our comfort zone. Too often we’re tempted to respond to the unexpected with a “No, but” or an “I know best.”
“Yes, and” means instead treating every other person and every other idea we encounter as valuable and being more committed to what a team can accomplish together than to what we want for ourselves. It’s hard work, and over the last few years as a student at Wakefield School in The Plains, I’ve learned three important lessons that have helped me on and off the stage.
Learn to appreciate the unexpected. Taking chances is a large part of being an actor and improv allows those skills to shine through. Studying and performing improv has made me a better communicator, presenter, risk-taker, and creator of ideas. When asked by our theater director to create and lead Wakefield’s first improv troupe, I couldn’t resist, and we aptly named it “Wing-It.” After all, our school mascot is an owl. I encouraged my peers to join the troupe and brainstorm ideas. Our first performance was met with roaring laughter, and we can’t wait to do it again.
Find and fill the empty spaces. In eighth grade, I learned we had no meritbased scholarships for rising Wakefield Upper Schoolers. Encouraged by my advisor, I worked with the school’s director of development and our Head of School on a plan to raise funds for a series of grants, designed to reward existing students for embracing Wakefield’s motto, “Virtue and Wisdom.” After more than a year, we launched the Virtus et Sapientia Scholars’ Grants, ultimately awarding grants to eight deserving students.
Surround yourself with other “Yes, and” peers. New ideas are always stronger when embraced by a team, and building communities inside school can lead to impactful initiatives off campus. This year, I raised funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), as a 2025 Student Visionary of the Year candidate. I’ve also been fortunate to be surrounded by friends inside and outside Wakefield. Most are actors and improv enthusiasts who combine the spirit of “Yes, and,” with a passion for serving their community. Together we formed “Team Skywalker: Force for a Cure” and will raise money this winter to support this important cause. Taking chances is a huge part of both being an actor and living out Wakefield’s mission to foster character, curiosity, and clear voices in its students. And so, if ever you find yourself in front of a live audience faced with the unexpected, don’t forget your answer: “Yes, and!”
Patrick Reidway is a sophomore at Wakefield School in The Plains.
Photo Courtesy Wakefield School Recipients of the Virtus et Sapientia Scholars grants.
A Canine Companion Never to Be Forgotten
By Carina Elgin
Release, Shelly. Release.
We had to “release” Shelly for the last time this past December. Release is the Canine Companions command that the dogs know means they are no longer working, and may do as they please. We released her, peacefully, at home, to a world with no pain, lots of tennis balls and her favorite, Mrs. Pastures horse cookies.
It was hard, as it always is, to make that decision, but it is also a deep honor to respect all she gave us, by making sure she felt safe and loved as she passed.
Shelly was 13, born out of Canine Companions very selective 50-year breeding program in Santa Rosa, California. She was lovingly raised for about 14 months by the Teeter family in Davis, with back up from Kathy Zastrow. Shelly entered professional training at the Canine Companions national headquarters in Santa Rosa, under trainers Lauren Lee and Merit Buyer.
My daughter, Caroline, and I happily flew to Santa Rosa to be matched and trained with her when offered the chance, as the waiting list was longer at the Northeast Regional Center in New York.
Caroline Elgin and Shelly, her long-time faithful companion.
In her 11 miraculous years with us, Shelly loved Caroline deeply. I cannot think of a time she ever wasn’t perfect (when working), including riding on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney, snoozing as cannons flew overhead.
She was extremely smart. When learning the command for “get the shoe,” she looked at the shoe, went and got a drink of water, and then came back and got the shoe, without having to be reminded.
Once when videotaping for the annual DogFest
during Covid, we were asked to get her to pick up an egg. After a few unsuccessful tries, she turned around and brought us the entire carton.
Shelly was by Caroline’s side as she got her Bachelors degree in graphic design from the Art Institute. She was always by her side, until Canine Companions decided she should retire while we waited for her successor. It was a long, hard wait not to have a working dog next to her, but Shelly enjoyed retirement with gusto.
The first few days she seemed to wonder why she wasn’t coming, but after about day three, she waved us out the door. She was special, in so many ways.
I prayed the new dog would come before Shelly passed, much as Shelly had taken the baton from Sajen before he passed. And in April, Caroline was matched with Gabe, a noble, serious boy with a very different personality, but the same steadfast love and desire to please his girl.
Shelly was diagnosed with cancer, but with Dr. Hill at the Marshall Veterinary Clinic’s full love and respect of Shelly, we chose only to keep her as happy and comfortable as possible. Dr. Jenna Porto came to our house and helped her go very peacefully on our couch, next to “her girl.” I think she had decided Gabe was up to the job and she could move on.
Shelly, you were one of a kind and meant so much to all of us and your many fans. We hope to meet again.
Fauquier SPCA Way Ahead of Its Time
By Bill Cauley
Fauquier County was well ahead of the learning curve when it came to animal welfare.
In 1957, before Virginia mandated all 100 counties have a facility to house abused, neglected or stray animals, the late Betty Maloney and her family launched the first Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals facility in Fauquier County at her Dogpatch Farm. Located on the Springs Road in Warrenton, the family set about the task of taking care of the needy animals through this nonprofit organization.
Within two weeks of its opening, Fauquier SPCA performed a major animal rescue. It located some starving livestock in the area, taking charge of the animals, and the owner was arrested and eventually convicted of animal cruelty.
“Back then, they already had a plan in place to take care of these animals,” said Devon Settle, executive director of Fauquier SPCA. “When the state made it a requirement for each county, it was an easy transition into the state system.”
The ASPCA is well known throughout the country. Its devotion to the care and treatment of animals of all kinds is well documented. In Virginia, the Attorney General’s office has a specialized division for animal law.
“They really do a great job when it comes to pursuing animal cruelty and neglect complaints,” Settle said.
Settle, 49, initially started her career in animal care as a licensed veterinary technician 26 years ago in private practice. She joined the Fauquier SPCA staff in 2016 and her long-time experience led to her being named executive director in 2017.
She oversees many components of Fauquier SPCA and watched the organization grow exponentially.
The original shelter at Dogpatch Farm eventually became too small to accommodate a large number of animals. With only about 100 square feet of space available, it was necessary to expand.
In 1989, after receiving a donation of about 11 acres prior to its construction, the present Fauquier SPCA Shelter opened in Casanova. The property boasts 36 dog kennels, six dog quarantine kennels and three separate cat rooms, one used as a cat sunroom.
The facility also includes a spay/neuter clinic. It offers services, both to shelter and privately-owned dogs and cats. There also is a barn and fenced paddocks to house livestock.
Fauquier SPCA operates the county’s Animal Control Center, which was built in 2009. There’s also a no-kill adoption center on the campus of the original animal shelter.
Settle said while the adoption center is designated as no-kill, there are times where dangerous, aggressive animals must be humanely put down. It’s not an easy decision, Settle admitted, but when necessary, it’s the only way.
“Not every animal coming into the shelter can be adopted,” Settle said. “If there is no hope, such as a rabid animal, extreme aggressiveness, or major injury or illness, and an animal is suffering, we have to do this.”
Settle, her husband (a deputy sheriff) and 13-year-old daughter are animal lovers as well. Her daughter Morgan also helps out at the facility.
Back in 1957, when Fauquier SPCA went on its first rescue effort, few could have predicted it was going to be the start of an ongoing mission to benefit the health and welfare of as many animals as possible for the county, and surrounding areas as well.
Betty Maloney would have been proud.
Details: For more information, go to fauquierspca.com.
Devon Settle, executive director of the Fauquier SPCA is with Bam Bam and Pebbles.
Photo by Douglas Gehlsen of Middleburg Photo
At Middleburg Humane, It’s A Labor of Love
By Bill Cauley
Stephanie Bates has been an animal lover all her life.
Even as a youngster, she almost never hesitated when there was an opportunity to pick up a stray animal, bring it home and make it her own. It’s a passion she’s never outgrown.
Bates started out riding horses growing up. Soon, she got interested in adopting all kind of animals. Dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, pigs, rabbits, horses. It’s no wonder she boasts a household of some 23 animals on the farmette she and her husband live on in the Middleburg area. They have no children, but don’t tell that to the animals living with them.
“You could say they’re our family,” Bates, the board secretary of the Middleburg Humane Foundation in Marshall said of her personal menagerie.
At MHF, she sees many animals come into and leave the shelter. Most of the animals come there when surrendered by their owners, for one reason or another, or are rescued from places where they’ve been abused, neglected or underfed.
Bates said she’s seen some of the YouTube videos where someone finds a stray animal along the road or in an abandoned building, completely ignored, hungry, crying out for help. She admitted they’re hard to watch.
“We don’t see that here,” Bates said, adding staffers don’t canvas the county looking for strays. The facility takes in what’s given to it, veterinary staff attend to the needs of the new arrivals at the on-site veterinary clinic, the
Stephanie and Tessa.
animals are fed, groomed, and given comfortable quarters to live in as they await the chance to be adopted and moved to a forever home.
Even stray cats not physically living at the foundation farm are cared for. In an effort to control the cat population, under a trap, spay-neuter, return program, these “community” cats are taken care of and treated with respect.
“The thing to remember is that this is a no-kill shelter,” Bates said. “The animals that come here are not euthanized if a home cannot be located after a certain amount of time.”
The idea for MHF came about thanks to the efforts of Hilleary Bogley in 1987. Seeing the need for a way to care mostly for dogs at first, and helping find them foster homes, she started Scruffy’s Ice Cream Parlor in Middleburg as a fund-raising venture.
Over time, the shop soon led into the “Scruffy’s Strays” program, foster homes were found for many dogs, cats and other animals.
This venture led to a fund-raising program for the purpose of building a facility, which could house a shelter for stray animals coming through the project. In 1994, MHF moved into its original location on Whiting Road. That same year, the foundation received certification as a non-profit.
They moved into a new, state-of-the art, facility on Sept. 24, 2019. Located on 23 acres in Marshall, MHF has served countless numbers of animals. In 2023, more than 1,000 came through, with 496 adopted to forever homes.
With hopes of continued success, Bates, who became involved in 2008, and the MHF staff remain hard at work, seeking to care for as many animals as possible, continuing this now 31-year-old labor of love.
Better banking starts here.
We believe people have a right to expect more from the companies they do business with. And they can expect more from Atlantic Union Bank, a bank committed to serving our community. By offering fair financial solutions and honest advice, we create opportunities for families and business owners.
To find out more, please scan here.
Photo by Douglas Gehlsen of Middleburg Photo
BARNS OF ROSE HILL
MARTHA SPENCER
AND THE WONDERLAND COUNTRY BAND
BLUEGRASS & BBQ SERIES CONCERT
FEB 1 | 7 PM | $25 ADV /$30 DOOR
SERENADES FOR WINDS
MAIN STREET CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
CLASSICAL SERIES CONCERT
FEB 8 | 4 PM | $25 ADV /$30 DOOR
SWEET SOMETHING QUARTET
VALENTINE’S JAZZ CONCERT FEB 15 | 7 PM | $25 ADV /$30 DOOR
HOT CLUB OF BALTIMORE
FT VIOLINIST ELI BISHOP
JAZZ & BLUES SERIES CONCERT
FEB 21 | 7 PM | $25 ADV /$30 DOOR
THE PLATE SCRAPERS
BLUEGRASS & BBQ SERIES CONCERT FEB 22 | 7 PM | $25 ADV /$30 DOOR
NANI VAZANA
SEPHARDIC FOLK FUSION CONCERT
FEB 28 | 7 PM | $25 ADV /$30 DOOR
LÚNASA
CELTIC SERIES CONCERT
MAR 1 | 7 PM | $35 ADV /$40 DOOR ALASH
WORLD MUSIC CONCERT
TUVAN THROAT-SINGING
MAR 6 | 7 PM | $35 ADV /$40 DOOR
ONE STREET OVER
CELTIC SERIES CONCERT
MAR 8 | 7 PM | $20 ADV /$25 DOOR
KALOS
ST PADDY’S CELTIC SERIES CONCERT
MAR 15 | 7 PM | $25 ADV /$30 DOOR
DANNY GATTON FILM SCREENING MAR 22 | 7 PM | $10 ADV /$15 DOOR
At Tilley’s, It’s Barking Up the Right Tree
By Michele Husfelt
In the spring of 2023, with a blended family of four children in three different schools, and four dogs running about (they’ve since added another), Drew and Megan Robitaille were searching for a new adventure they could do together that would focus on a shared interest.
They had no idea purchasing a pet supply store would be that new adventure. Megan happened to be in Middleburg and saw the For Sale sign in front of the local pet store. She went home to pop the crazy question to Drew, “What if we buy a store?”
By that afternoon, they had an appointment to talk with the building owner and had secured an LLC. When asked about the name, Megan replied, “I had a few other business ventures all named after my pets. We needed a name quickly and Tilley, our tri-colored corgi, happened to be sitting in the kitchen. So, Tilley’s it was!”
Enjoy a delicious plate of barbecue from Jordan Springs Market in the hour before the show Barbecue and tickets sold separately.
Both Drew and Megan grew up surrounded by animals. Drew’s father owned a feed and supply store in New Hampshire and his aunt was a famed breeder of shelties. His grandparents showed huskies and participated in sled dog racing. For about five years, Drew raised cattle. Megan grew up in Virginia, riding horses and loving all the dogs in the barns, especially corgis.
When thinking about what sets Tilley’s apart from the competition, the obvious answer is the commitment to the community and personal service. They pride themselves on offering a clean, well-stocked, and friendly shopping experience.
“We are fully invested,” Drew said. “If we don’t stock something, we will find it for our customers. As a brick-and-mortar store, there is always someone to greet you and ask how that last bag of food worked.”
Because of their love for and vast experience with animals, their goal is to provide the highest quality food and products available. A few unique items include rabbit feet and ears (with hair!), freeze dried duck, dog gelato, a birthday wall of treats and toys, a seasonal section, and seven freezers of specialty foods.
One proud point that conveys their reputation for the best inventory is that “even our veterinarians shop at our stores,” Megan said. “We have something for everyone, at every price point.”
They also do cater to their four-legged customers who are known to literally drag their owners into the store, knowing the staff will be waiting to pet them, tell them how cute they are, and hand them delicious treats.
While they employ expert staff, on any given day you’re likely to see both Megan and Drew in the store themselves, chatting with all who come in, especially the “regulars.” They love when a dog comes in on a leash and he’s let go and comes right around the counter to say hello.
Just before Christmas, the Robitailles opened a second location in Georgetown. Pleasantly surprised, they realized the similarities in the community feel in both Middleburg and Georgetown and look forward to a long history of winning the favor of all their four-legged residents.
Photo by Michele Husfelt
A satisfied customer at Tilley’s in Middleburg.
Henry Flagler and Susan Lindholm
Henry Flagler Lindholm is a three year old purebred Havanese and was bred by a veterinarian in North Carolina. He’s a very loyal affectionate dog, some might say a “Velcro” dog. He’s always by his owner Susan Lindholm’s side ready for love, affection or protection.
Havanese have soft hair-like fur that must be groomed regularly, but they are hypoallergenic and very smart and always ready to please. He has a jaunty gait and human-like eyes. Henry’s colors are a recessive color scheme for Havanese and he has very light greenish brown eyes. Havanese come in many colors thereby making it difficult to recognize them. It is not recommended to give them a name that refers to their color as they often continue to change as they grow older.
Henry used to live in the Palm Beach area and really enjoyed walks to farmer’s markets and outdoor cafes. He was a regular at an Italian restaurant that served him homemade Nonna’s meatballs. He’s looking forward to making new friends here in Middleburg. Especially ones who enjoy a good cafe scene when the weather turns warmer!
Photo by Douglas Gehlsen of Middleburg Photo
Susan Lindholm and Henry Flagler.
A Tom Davenport Double Feature
“Ashpet: An American Cinderella,”
winner of 18 regional, national, and international film festival awards, and set locally during World War II.
“
Soldier Jack, or The Man Who Caught Death in a Sack”
first prize recipient at the International Festival of Children's Films and New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.
Mr. Davenport will introduce the films and take questions after the showings.
Tom Davenport is the founder and project director for Folkstreams, a website that hosts independent documentary films about American folk roots and cultures.
Middleburg Community Center
5:00 pm • Saturday, February 22nd
(back up snow date on Sunday, February 23)
Doors open at 4:30 pm.
No fee. Donations are requested via either Eventbrite (search for "Tom Davenport") or at the door. $10.00 apiece recommended for children, $20.00 for adults.
Charity event for Emmanuel Church in Delaplane to support parish outreach and further enable the food bank hosted on its grounds.
MBy Pat Reilly
any of the folk tales collected by the brothers Grimm would be at home in the old-growth forests covering the Blue Ridge Mountains, with their knotty branches grabbing the air, gnarly tree roots hugging the banks of rocky streams and the enchanting blue mists. Some of those stories did find their way here with settlers from the “old countries” of Europe, who encased them in the new culture as they retold them.
Cinematic storyteller Tom Davenport envisioned a fresh take on these twicetold tales in the 1970s, when he came back to the family’s Delaplane farm after learning the filmmaking craft in New York City.
With a 16-mm camera, neighborly actors, photogenic venues and his wife, Mimi, designing the sets and costumes, the soon to be award-winning non-profit Folkstreams was born. One of the group’s early efforts was “Ashpet: An American Cinderella”.
If you missed the premiere in the 1980s, you have another chance to see it on the big screen at the Middleburg Community Center on Feb. 22 (snow date Feb. 23), when a Davenport double-feature will show as a fundraiser for his historic neighborhood church, Emmanuel Episcopal Delaplane. The other film is “Soldier Jack or The Man Who Caught Death in a Sack.” Davenport will introduce the films and follow them with a discussion on how they were made and were Americanized.
Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. with the show beginning at 5, and it’s expected to wrap in two hours. Davenport says folk tales are not just for children, but he ensures that these films are appropriate family fare. Tickets will be considered donations to the church and will support its operations, food bank and other
Davenport Offers A Fresh Take on Twice-Told Tales
Delaplane resident Tom Davenport recipient of the 2021 Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellowship, has created forums to teach the world about different cultures and ways of life.
community outreach programs. The suggested donation is $20 for adults and $10 for children. DVDs of Davenport films will be available for sale in the lobby.
The picturesque Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Delaplane has been on site on Maidstone Road since 1859. Davenport has done a film about it also.
After graduating from Yale, Davenport spent several years in Taiwan, studying Chinese language and culture. His first film, in 1969, was about the Chinese martial art t’ai chi. When he turned his lenses on American culture, the result was Folkstreams.
When the American Folklore Society conferred the first Archie Green Public Folklore Advocacy Award to Davenport in 2009, it recognized Folkstreams as “a visionary project at a time when streaming films on the web was just emerging.”
It called Folkstreams.net “an extraordinary democratic initiative in public folklore and education, exponentially increasing the visibility of the field, and giving grassroots communities across the U.S. access to their own traditions, folklore, and cultural history.”
Orchardist, cattleman, storyteller, filmmaker, investigative reporter, award-winning cinematographer, Tom Davenport is always looking for ways to entertain and educate us on our cultural heritage.
In addition to business banking and lending, Bank of Clarke offers a comprehensive suite of business services designed to simplify operations, enhance security, and support growth.
Photo by Gabriella Garcia-Pardo/ Hypothetical Films
Beautiful 3800 s.f. House for Rent in Bellevue Farms located between Marshall and Warrenton. 3 BR, 2.5 BA on upper levels plus finished, walk-out lower level with full kitchen, bath and wood stove.
Open floor plan with stone fireplace w/ wood stove insert; 1st fl. bedroom suite; large wrap-around front deck; brick patio and stone barbeque/grill area. Quiet, country setting with pasture and pond view. Neighborhood with large lots and horse farms. Due to septic capacity, occupancy is limited to 5 persons. 10 minute drive to Marshall & 1-66 or Warrenton & Rt. 29
$3600 mo. MLS # VAFQ2015054
COUNTRY
HOMES, FARMS AND LAND
JOYCE GATES
Celebrating 28 years in Real Estate 540-771-7544 call me for all of your real estate needs joyce.gates@LNF.com 540-338-1350 office
Middleburg’s Mystique: A Gem of Fine Jewelry Design
By Laura Longley
Is it time to buy that special someone a gift, maybe for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or that auspicious—and anxious?—day when you plan to propose?
If you’re thinking jewelry, then it’s also time to step out of the comfort zone of big box chain stores and embrace the artistry of Middleburg’s Mystique. Here, just across from the post office, everything you see in Mystique’s jewelry cases is unique because founder Elizabeth Mandros has made that her business— along with building a trusted reputation and ensuring a warm welcome for all.
Whether you’re looking for something old, like a diamond-encrusted bracelet from a Middleburg estate, or something new, like a freshwater pearl pendant from The Mazza Company, or maybe something blue (or red, turquoise, green or aquamarine to be right on trend for this year’s turn to color), you’ll discover you’re in exactly the right place.
Since the 1990s, Mandros has been offering both longtime locals and first- time visitors to Middleburg the opportunity to buy pieces not only from the world’s most esteemed jewelers but also from her own custom designs, including an equestrian line as well as eco-friendly, sustainable, conflict-free jewelry.
The hands-on work for her designs is completed by an exceptional team of artisans—a master goldsmith, hand-engraver, stone setter and specialists in pearl stringing and watch services—based at her full-service shop at 123 N. Fairfax Street in Old Town Alexandria.
An Alexandria native, Mandros developed her passion and fascination with diamonds and unusual gemstones early. During college breaks and summers, she began learning about them by working in area shops and wholesale enterprises. She became convinced she’d found her life’s work when she studied in Santa Monica, California at the nonprofit Gemological Institute of America. GIA is the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones, and pearls, as well as the leading source of knowledge, standards, and education in gems and jewelry.
Mandros applies that knowledge in many ways. For a one-of-a- kind piece, just make an appointment with her to begin the design process. Inherited a fabulous collection? Meet with her to consign those items you’re unlikely to wear or share. Have a box of old pieces sitting at the back of a dresser drawer? Visit Liz and let her look through them to see what you might refashion into more contemporary styles.
And if your jewelry is a bit worse for wear? Drop it off at Mystique’s Middleburg shop, and Mandros or sales associate Shaila Millman, will safely send it to Old Town for repair, restoration, or redesign.
If you’re fortunate enough to own valuable jewelry, Mandros stresses the importance of caring for it properly. As she points out on its website, “Metals and gemstones aren’t always as impervious as we imagine. Gold, platinum and silver are fairly soft metals, making them perfectly workable for jewelry creation. However, as a result, the daily wear and tear we put on our jewelry takes more of a toll than we think. Even diamonds can chip if they’re hit at the wrong angle. We are often much harder on our jewelry than we realize.”
Prices at Mystique are comparable to those you’ll find at most fine jewelry stores, with some items under $500, with many in the $1,000 to $10,000 range. It’s also possible to find—or create—a piece that is considerably more costly.
Details: www.mystiquejewelers.com
Elizabeth Mandros, and friend.
A Big Job In A Small Space
By Charlotte deButts
What do you do when you have two tiny rooms for everything
folks want to learn about a 289 square mile area in the Virginia Piedmont? You take turns. The Middleburg Museum with 400 square feet of space and loads of subjects to address has to be picky and has to change things up each month with the expectation of covering just about everything by the turn of the next century.
Since the move to the Pink Box in September, the charming, petite history-rich Middleburg Museum has presented an exhibit on the historic gravel roads of the area (in an effort to educate all on their value and need for preservation). And also the artwork of the late Emily Talbot Sharp, Middleburg’s colorful local artist and teacher, whose large cut out wooden signs have graced the streets of Middleburg during holiday seasons since 1982.
Coming up in January is a film created by Bill
Ferster and Denis Cotter, based on the book by Marc Leepson on the Huntland farm, and a photo exhibit on the horse community of the 1920s and ‘30s. And in February, in honor of Black History Month, the story of Mickie Gordon Park will be showcased with another film (a Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area production), along with photos and artwork of the African-American community.
The word “film” seems to be a theme at the museum,
Warmth
thanks to board member and designer, Bill Ferster, who has taken over the back room of the museum for digital works to accompany temporary exhibits. With his help, the early 1800s office of Middleburg’s founder, Leven Powell, has been thrown into the 21st century. In the works are QR codes for links to more and more information and digitized oral histories of the Middleburg area of long ago, as well as computer tablets for diving down the history rabbit hole. These will create a new kind of interactive atmosphere at the museum in addition to the sparkle of chatting with old and new friends who stop by.
In this way, the museum aspires to reach more folks through multiple presentation formats of material to provide remote access to its exhibits and archives. It is first and foremost a place for the community to engage, contribute, and take away a sense of interconnectedness. To that end, it will use modern, traditional, and everything-in-between methods to cover those 289 square miles. With that kind of determination, it’s bound to cover it all by 2099.
Visit the Middleburg Museum, 12 N. Madison St. Winter hours: 11-4 Friday through Sunday
Photo Middleburg Museum
Denis Cotter, writer, and Bill Ferster, filmmaker, discuss their latest collaboration.
All In The Family And Beyond
Artist Linda Luster was staying with a friend Karen Long Dwight in Wellington and captured Zoey on the leather couch. “I got on my hands and knees and snuck up on her at eye level and whispered “Zoey”, she opened her eyes for a second and then went right back to sleep. This oil painting is 18” x 36” and Linda will have her art at this year’s Upperville Horse Show.
-
Beauregard - watercolor painted by Courtney Walker/English Labrador
Teddy - watercolor painted by Courtney Walker/English Cocker Spaniel. Courtney is the daughter of David Walker in Middleburg.
oil painted by Margaret Littleton/English Springer Spaniel.
CANDID CANINES
Find out how YOU can Aim Higher at Highland Visit our website at highlandschool.org or contact Donna Tomlinson for a campus tour that is personalized to your student’s interests. dtomlinson@highlandschool.org • 540-878-2740
Aim Higher
Highland School graduates live out our mission – to Thrive, Lead and Serve –at the most selective colleges in the United States and abroad:
Harvard • Yale • Princeton • Stanford • Dartmouth
Cornell • Brown • Columbia • Duke • Georgetown
University of Virginia • Swarthmore • William & Mary
Middlebury • Davidson • Carnegie-Mellon
Wake Forest • Washington & Lee • Colgate • Bowdoin
University of North Carolina • University of Richmond
University of St. Andrews • McGill University
West Point • U.S. Naval Academy • and many others!
Serving students age 2 through grade 12 in
Virginia Private bus transportation from
Warrenton,
Middleburg and Haymarket
John Townsend Maloney ( 1909-1955) a race horse trainer from Warrenton with Bitchy, a Boxer, by James Anthony Wills (19121993). The artist also painted portraits of George C. Marshall, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Secretary of Defense, C. E. Wilson. His work also includes presidential portraits of Harry Truman, Dwight. D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.
Many will remember Pickle, the Jack Russell, owned by the late Jimmy Hatcher.
Painted by numbers in black and white. Private collection.
No bull from this guy on a round canvas. Private collection.
Sudsy, a beloved Old English Sheepdog. Painted by Sandra Massie Forbush.
Leading with Purpose at Highland School
By Ally Blunt
At Highland School, student leaders in Key Club and Builder’s Club are not just organizing successful events, they’re building a culture of service that extends beyond their school into the broader community. These student-driven organizations emphasize leadership and community service and have become cornerstones of student life at the Warrenton school.
Key Club, a service organization in the upper school, and Builder’s Club, comprised of middle school students, are both part of Kiwanis Club International, a nonprofit organization encouraging students to engage in service activities and develop leadership skills. At Highland, these clubs offer students a hands-on opportunity to make a difference, organizing projects ranging from holiday charitable events and food drives to working with the Fauquier Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
T h e A r t s i n T h e P l a i n s
A t t h e S p a c e a t G r a c e
2 5 t h A n n i v e r s a r y
o f t h e G r a c e C h u r
While these clubs provide the framework, the student leaders who run the clubs and coordinate the projects truly make the difference.
Key Club has achieved significant success under the leadership of officers Cat Merchant, Madison Brennan, and Caroline Chitko, who designate club activities, host assemblies, and organize fundraisers. Club leaders set a goal this year of getting more students involved, and they exceeded that goal through their annual Thanksgiving food drive, collecting over 1,500 cans of food in the upper school for the Fauquier Food Bank.
“Being a part of Key Club has helped shape my perspective of the world around me,” Chitko said. “I’ve been pushed outside my limits to reach out to people and organizations. It’s been so rewarding to see all of our hard work and dedication to a great cause become actual results that better the community around us.”
In Builder’s Club, middle school students are learning the fundamentals of leadership and community service at a young age. The club meets every other week, and student leaders run the meetings, allowing for a safe environment to practice leadership skills and receive feedback from faculty advisers. This year’s president, Genevieve Randolph, and vice president, Allison O’Brien, have both been involved with Builder’s Club for three years and have benefitted from the positive effect of their involvement and the growth of their leadership skills.
“Builder’s Club has had such a big impact on my life,” Randolph said. “It’s helped me have better speaking abilities in front of others and helps me feel like I’m making a difference in others’ lives.”
Through meaningful community outreach projects, leaders of both clubs see firsthand the needs they are fulfilling in the community. Eileen Smith, executive director and board member for the Haymarket Regional Food Pantry, expressed her gratitude for Key Club.
“Our organization depends on generous donors like you to achieve our mission of ending food insecurity in our community,” she said in a recent correspondence. “There are times we have empty shelves and need to purchase additional food to meet the needs of our clients. Your donations are going directly to purchasing milk, eggs, food, personal hygiene, and basic household supplies to support us in our fight against food insecurity in our community.”
V O C E S 8
S U N D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 2 5
5 P M
R O M A N C E
S U N D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 1 6 , 2 0 2
4 P M F O O D A N D W I N E
5 P M C O N C E R T B a c k b y p o p u l a r d e m
W o r k s b y M o z a r t , S c h u b e r t ,
S c h u m a n n , D e b u s s y , a n d B r u c h
a r e p a i r e d w i t h a n e x q u i s i t e
f o o d a n d w i n e e x p e r i e n c e t o
c o m p l e m e n t t h e c o n c e r t b y
S l a t e r R u n V i n e y a r d s a n d
n
, G r a c e i n t h e P l a i n s i s p r o u d t o h o s t a r e t u r n p e r f o r m a n c e b y t h e p r e e m i n e n t B r i t i s h a c a p p e l l
R e n a i s s a n c e p o l y p h o n y t o c o n t e m p o r
The work of Highland’s club leaders reaches far beyond the projects they organize. By taking on leadership roles, these students are creating a lasting culture of service at Highland and are modeling the importance of civic engagement for their peers and future generations of Highland students.
Ally Blunt is a senior at Highland School in Warrenton.
N o m a d P r o v i s i o n s P A R A G O N P H I L H A R M O N I A E N S E M B L E - I N - R E S I D E N C E
S Y M P H O N I
g
Photo Courtesy Highland School Officers of the Highland School Key Club (left to right): Cat Merchant '26, Caroline Chitko '25, and Madison Brennan ’26."
It’s Foaling Season at Blue Ridge Farm
By Linda Roberts
Blanketed in snow and steeped in history, Blue Ridge Farm’s 500 acres roll across some of the most beautiful landscapes in Fauquier County. On the day I visited horsewoman Patricia Ramey, we watched by the pasture gate as 14 yearlings romped and ran in ever widening circles across their large field.
Ramey, who like many young girls “never got horses out of her system” as the saying goes, took her childhood interest to the next level as an adult, finding a way over the years to turn her passion into her livelihood.
She leases 250 acres from the Grayson family who have owned Blue Ridge Farm since Rear Admiral Cary T. Grayson purchased the property in 1928 for a Thoroughbred breeding operation.
Here Ramey continues her love of horses, and Admiral Grayson’s interest in breeding quality racing stock lives on, with her own skills of foaling mares for owners who don’t want to take on this specialized component of the horse business.
“I’m knee deep in foaling mares right now,” Ramey said.
With 17 foals already “on the ground,” she’s expecting 30 to 40 mares to deliver their babies this season. Most will be Thoroughbreds destined for careers as race horses, but there is the occasional
show horse mare that comes to Blue Ridge under her care to deliver the next generation’s valuable show horse prospect.
Assisting a mare with the delivery of her foal “is not something that many people want to do,” added Ramey who, in addition to her team of employees, has the assistance of cameras in foaling stalls and other sophisticated devices that send her alarms when a mare is going into labor. Despite the high-tech touches, mares have been known to follow nature’s call such as trying to foal in a pasture in a snowstorm or foaling earlier or later than anticipated.
Operating her foaling business for the last 20plus years at Blue Ridge Farm, regarded as the oldest Thoroughbred farm in continual operation in
About Blue Ridge Farm, Upperville
Founded as a thoroughbred breeding operation, Blue Ridge Farm was purchased in 1903 by Californian Henry Oxnard. Rear Admiral Cary T. Grayson bought the property from Oxnard in 1928, putting his own touches to the farm and promoting its prominence in the Thoroughbred breeding industry. Many area residents remember stallions such as Marion DuPont Scott’s Mongo and Paul Mellon’s Quadrangle, both of which following successful racing careers, were featured in Blue Ridge’s breeding program. The farm’s main house, built in 1791, was selected for the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2006. Many of the farm’s buildings date to the early 1900s.
Virginia, Ramey has seen a shift in emphasis within the industry geared to promote Virginia-bred horses. She cites monetary incentives now to breed and race a horse foaled in Virginia, making these horses eligible for higher purses at designated racetracks. Bundled against the cold chill of a January afternoon as we talked and watched the horses run, Ramey, the girl who was “absolutely crazy about horses,” grew up but did not outgrow her passion for working with horses.
Photo by Linda Roberts
Patricia Ramey visits the yearlings at Blue Ridge Farm.
AAHA Finding Their Roots in Fauquier County
By Alissa Jones
Arobust legacy of survival and triumph is documented within the walls of the Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County, located in The Plains.
While researching and weaving the tapestry of their own family histories, descendants of enslaved African Americans, Karen Hughes White and Karen King Lavore, founded the AAHA in 1992 out of a passion to help others connect with their own histories.
White and Lavore purposed to recognize and honor the more than 10,000 enslaved people in Fauquier County, from North and South America, as well as African and European Americans, who helped to shape the history of the country.
“Their family’s questions matter,” White said, “and our work is necessary because it is an important piece of the American story.”
White and businessman Mark Ohrstrom partnered to create the “Know Their Names” searchable database to properly memorialize the enslaved, who White said were treated like property, known only by their first names.
“We can never repay them for what they went through,” she added, “but at least we can be respectful and make their names known.”
The 4,269-square-foot museum of the AAHA contains 1,634 artifacts that tell the story of African American history in Fauquier County from Africa to Jamestown. It chronicles freedom from slavery and from England by following the thread through the Reconstruction and Jim Crow Eras, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Era, and Blacks in the Military.
Family members can access records of family homes, churches, schools, and county courts through AAHA’s Genealogical Library. According to White, “we also keep networking with individuals and groups to expand our repository so others can use our resources.”
The AAHA database is already one of the biggest and most extensive in the nation, but White and Lavore say they still have work to do. “We are on a mission to make sure every enslaved person from Fauquier County is documented, leaving no one behind,” White said.
Additional databases and resources available include information on 1867 voters, born free and emancipated individuals, African American marriages, and mapping. The latter offers interactive web maps that delve into the history of enslaved people in Fauquier County, including details on landowners, historical sites, African American cemeteries, military service reports, and bible records.
Currently, the AAHA’s goal is to stabilize the Morgantown School House building and grounds near Marshall, make land improvements and repairs, and then replace the roof and bell tower.
Three generations of African American children passed through its halls, from the early 1890s until it closed in 1963. The school and property were gifted to the AAHA by Sheila Johnson, owner of Salamander Resort in Middleburg, in July of 2001 and it was placed on the historic places list in 2003.
The AAHA is a non-profit, supported by the community and sponsors educational programs for traditional schools and homeschooling programs. Annual events include: The commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Black History month, Juneteenth and Blacks in the Military.
Details: www.aahafauquier.org
RURAL BAKERY
“America’s Best Bakery Destinations”
“One of America’s best small-town bakeries” TRAVEL+ LEISURE
AAHA is working toward restoring the old Morgantown School House near Marshall.
Remembering a Legendary Fauquier Attorney
By John T. Toler
Over the years, a number of distinguished attorneys have called Fauquier County home, but few have had as long and varied a career as Major Robert Augustus McIntyre (1862-1952). His name appears in many newspaper articles and countless court documents from the early to mid-20th century.
Robert McIntyre was born in Marion, South Carolina, the son of Scottish immigrant Col. Charles McIntyre and Martha Wayne Murdoch McIntyre. He came to Warrenton as a young student at Bethel Military Academy, where he studied law under Major A. G. Smith. He passed the bar in 1883 and married Major Smith’s daughter, Elizabeth Blackwell Smith (1860-1940).
The couple moved to South Carolina, where Robert practiced law until returning to Warrenton in 1886 to serve as assistant principal and Commandant of Cadets at Bethel under Major Smith. By 1890 he was largely in charge of the academy, and in 1892 succeeded Major Smith as superintendent. At that point, McIntyre also acquired the title “Major,” by which he would be known for the rest of his life.
Not long after the death of his father-in-law, McIntyre paid off the debt he owed to the Blackwell family for the BMA property. At the academy he taught classes on the law. He continued in charge of the school until 1902, at which time he focused on his legal career and state politics. Bethel closed in 1911.
McIntyre was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates for two terms, 1929-1933. He served on four powerful committees, including Privileges and Elections, Schools and Colleges, Militia and Police and Federal Regulations and Resolutions.
In Richmond, he fought bills that would require public school students to pay for their textbooks, as well as a bill that would have mandated the tuitions be collected by the state’s high schools. Other action included serving on the delegation that supported repeal of the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) in 1933, personal responsibility in the design of the Seal of Virginia (Sic Semper Tyrannis).
For many years, the McIntyres lived at Argyle on the Alexandria Pike in Warrenton, where they raised three children, Elizabeth Carter Blackwell, Agnes McIntyre Clarke and Robert C. McIntyre. They also owned Springfield Farm, a 227-acre property in Broad Run.
McIntyre had his law office in Warrenton in the same building once occupied by attorney and Civil War General H. William Payne. Involved in his community, McIntyre was a member of the Fauquier Bar Association, Mt. Carmel Masonic Lodge, Black Horse Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and St. James Episcopal Church. He was a director of the Chamber of Commerce and Fauquier National Bank.
Throughout his legal career, McIntyre was known as an effective attorney, on occasion representing both parties in a dispute.
According to the late John K. Gott, McIntyre once represented his uncle and another man, both named “Glascock” in a civil case. Their names only differed by their middle initials, and the filings sent
to the parties involved were switched, resulting in an embarrassing situation. But McIntyre still managed to settle the case.
Over his long career, McIntyre won acquittals or non-capital punishment for 76 accused murderers. His only loss was in 1943 – at age 81 – defending Loudoun County resident Thomas William Clatterbuck. He was accused of killing five people— three members of the Morris Love family, and a farm worker and his wife at the Love’s farm near Purcellville.
The killings took place on the morning of June 1, 1943, and Clatterbuck was arrested the next day. He was arraigned on June 14, with the trial set for June 30. Clatterbuck’s family, who had business dealings with McIntyre in the past, retained him on June 15.
There was a preponderance of evidence, Clatterbuck’s five-page confession, witness testimony and motive—a dispute over payment of a loan he owed Morris Love.
Presiding judge at the trial was J. R. H. Alexander,
the son of John Alexander of Warrenton, who had served with Mosby’s Rangers. Prior to being appointed to serve on the bench, he served as Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney. His son, John Alexander (1918-1986) is remembered as Fauquier County Commonwealth’s Attorney, as well as serving as a judge and also as Fauquier’s delegate to the Virginia General Assembly.
McIntyre was granted a request to re-schedule the trial to July 26. His defense strategy was twofold: Clatterbuck’s alleged overwrought mental state, supported by the testimony of mental health experts who believed that Clatterbuck suffered from dementia praecox, a form of insanity that prompts the sufferer to kill. He also claimed that due to pretrial publicity, Clatterbuck could not get a fair trial.
The legal wrangling continued until Sept.14, and was marked by testy exchanges between McIntyre and Prosecutor Charles F. Harrison. McIntyre characterized Clatterbuck as an “ignorant man,” and said the confession had been made under duress. His final argument was based on the premise that no sane person could have killed five people, proof that Clatterbuck was insane.
The jury didn’t agree and convicted Clatterbuck. He was sentenced to death on Sept. 24, with the execution to take place on Dec. 10. McIntyre filed a writ of error with the State Court of Appeals on Nov. 13, and the execution was postponed until Feb. 4, 1944.
Three reprieves based on the insanity plea were granted by Virginia Governor Colgate Darden, but after a review by the State Board of Mental Hygiene, the execution finally took place on June 16, 1944.
McIntyre’s perfect record of saving his defendants from capital punishment may have been broken, but over the next five years – until he retired from the practice of law in 1949 at age 87 – he continued to represent clients in criminal cases. These included three persons accused of murder, none of which resulted in execution.
A year after retiring, McIntyre endured a twoyear struggle with illness, dying at home at Argyle in 1952.
Major Robert McIntyre in1900, while superintendent of Bethel Military Academy.
Argyle, the McIntyre home on Old Alexandria Pike in Warrenton.
FreeKasasa Checking
• Earn high rates*
• Refunds on ATM withdrawal fees, nationwide.**
• No monthly maintenance fees, ever.
• No minimum balance to earn your rewards.
Kasasa Cash
checking
pays:
To earn your reward, enrollments must be in place and all of the following transactions and activities must post and settle to your Kasasa checking account during each Monthly Qualification Cycle:
• At least 12 debit card purchases.
• Be enrolled in and agree to receive eStatements.
• Be enrolled in and log into Online Banking.
Don’t worry if you come up short. Your account is always free. You can even earn our base interest rate. Plus, you can still earn the higher rate and refunds on ATM withdrawal fees on the next cycle if you qualify.
add free Kasasa Saver^! - an automatic way to set cash aside.
3.00 % APY*
6.00 % APY* on balances if qualifications are met, up to $25,000 on ALL balances if qualifications are met
* APY = Annual Percentage Yield. The APY is accurate as of 07/26/2024. Rates may change after account opened. For Kasasa Cash, if your daily balance is less than $25,000, the interest rate paid on the entire balance will be 5.830% with an APY of 6.00% if qualifications are met. An interest rate of .200% will be paid only for that portion of your daily balance that is $25,000 or greater. The APY for this tier will range from 6.00% to .20%, depending on the balance in your account. When Kasasa Cash qualifications are not met, the interest rate paid on the entire Kasasa Cash balance will be .010% with an annual percentage yield of .01%. All rates subject to change daily without notice.
** You will receive reimbursements for nationwide ATM withdrawal fees imposed by other financial institutions and incurred during the Monthly Qualification Cycle in which you qualified. We reimburse ATM withdrawal fees based on estimates when the withdrawal information we receive does not identify the ATM fee. If you have not received an appropriate reimbursement we will adjust the reimbursement amount after we receive the transaction receipt within sixty (60) days after the statement cycle when the reimbursement was applicable.
^ For Kasasa Saver, an interest rate of 2.960% will be paid on your daily balance; the annual percentage yield for this is 3.00%. When Kasasa Cash qualifications are not met, the interest rate paid on the entire Kasasa Saver balance will be 0.050% with an annual percentage yield of 0.05%. All rates subject to change daily without notice.
Additional information: $50 minimum deposit is required to open either account. Enrollment in electronic services (e.g. Online Banking, electronic statements) and log-ons may be required to meet some of the account’s qualifications. Kasasa and Kasasa Cash, Kasasa Cash Back and Kasasa Saver are trademarks of Kasasa, Ltd., registered in the USA. MEMBER FDIC.
BILLY DEW: An Influential Middleburg Architect
By Denis Cotter
The renowned local architect, William Bland Dew, Jr. (19082000) – known to all simply as Billy Dew – started his practice in Middleburg in the late 1930s. Over the next sixty years –with a hiatus for World War II and its immediate aftermath – he would remain in Middleburg, designing many of the town’s significant buildings and many fine homes in the surrounding area.
Dew’s birthplace was 140 miles southwest of Middleburg at Sweet Briar College in Amherst County, Virginia. Founded in 1901, Sweet Briar remains a private women’s liberal arts college and Dew’s father, William Sr. was its first treasurer and business manager – a position he held for four decades until his death.
Dew’s mother Natalie was the sister of Nathaniel Manson, chair of the school’s first Board of Directors. William and Natalie had two children – Polly Carey, born the year the college opened its doors to students in 1906, and younger brother Billy, born eighteen months later.
A 1956 history of Sweet Briar captures an idyllic early cameo of the future architect:
Photo by Howard Allen
Billy Dew goes over some of his architectural drawings in the light filled office he designed at 16 E. Washington Street, Middleburg.
Photo by Howard Allen
Billy Dew in front of his office building in Middleburg.
Photo: Denis Cotter. Billy Dew’s gravestone, Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery, Middleburg, central section.
“The entire Dew family was an addition to the zest and life of Sweet Briar. Mrs. Dew, who was Mr. Manson’s younger sister, was lovely, gracious, and beloved of everyone. She and her husband lived with laughter on their lips. They had two precious and very individual children, Polly Carey, a rosy blonde who just knew things naturally, and Billy who had started his career in art and architecture by the age of three when he used to stretch out on the floor of Miss Benedict’s office and draw, using paper and pencil bestowed by the president.”
At age 10, young Billy was sent to Virginia Episcopal, an all-boy boarding school fifteen miles away in Lynchburg. His father had decided that the rural, isolated, and overwhelmingly female environment at Sweet Briar was not best for the child’s education. At VES, Dew endured serious pneumonia and a bout with tuberculosis but recovered and often competed as an athlete.
Over one summer, he stayed for a week at the French neo-classical Nemours mansion and gardens in Wilmington, Delaware – one of the magnificent homes of industrialist Alfred DuPont. The awestruck Dew soaked in the details of the 52room house and its lavish grounds. There was even a bowling alley in the basement – a feature he would recreate in his design for the Middleburg Community Center decades later.
grade construction supply company in Lynchburg. At the same time, he passed the Virginia state exams for architectural certification. He then begann exploring northern Virginia as a possible location to practice his profession. That’s when he discovered Middleburg.
In his charming memoir, “A Backward Child,” Dew described it as “a small town, rich in history, quaint looking, with a goodly number of early 19th century brick or stone houses.” In the center of
After the war, Dew practiced for a short while in New York but ultimately returned to Middleburg. His first main project there was the 1948 Middleburg Community Center. This included not only the iconic stucco-and-limestone Federal style building, but also the entire grounds, including the swimming pool, playing field, and gardens.
Funded by the patrons of the MCC, he simultaneously designed the Marshall Street Community Center for black residents because the town, like the rest of Virginia, was still strictly segregated. Other designs included the current Atlantic Union Bank, his own office on Washington Street, and the ABC liquor store with its fanlight doorways emulating the arched doorways of the Middleburg Community Center.
Dew entered the University of Virginia in 1926, where he became interested in art and seriously considered becoming an artist, much to his father’s chagrin. He graduated in 1930 with a Bachelors degree in architecture, a few months after the Great Depression had begun. There were virtually no jobs for newly graduated architects, so he worked as a carpenter’s helper in Lynchburg.
His sister married in February, 1932 and shortly afterwards, a college friend convinced him to go with him to Europe and study architecture by the “traveland-sketch” method. Dew was fortunate to have received a small inheritance that made the trip possible. With his father’s additional financial assistance, he spent nearly three years in Europe, visiting France, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Greece, and Spain. He made drawings and watercolors of artistic and architectural masterpieces across the continent – a collection that became the initial portfolio of his abilities.
Coming home, Dew’s uncle Henry invited him to live in south Florida. After a stint as a hotel desk clerk, and as an architect for the Volk and Mass firm, he joined the prestigious Palm Beach architectural firm of Treanor and Fatio. Their wealthy society clients in Palm Beach were not suffering from the Depression and there was plenty of work.
Dew enjoyed the high-end projects, but the long hours were wearying, and the harsh Florida sunlight took a devastating toll on his eyesight. He fell quite ill from a tropical fever and was not sure he would work as an architect again. He returned to Sweet Briar to recuperate.
He soon recovered and started working at a high
town, he found “a large, 18th century inn, then in great disrepair and closed. Its stonework, general look, and simple details, seemed just the right thing to go with the attractive, unspoiled old town.”
It was then called The Middleburg Inn. The building had been slated for demolition, but was purchased by three investors – William Stephenson, Jack Vietor, and George Garrett – intent on saving it as accommodation for the foxhunting set. They renamed it the Red Fox Inn and it became Dew’s first major Middleburg commission.
He was responsible for the inn’s complete redesign, remodeling, and restoration. He used the finest local craftsmen and his own extraordinary design skills to adapt the historic structure without sacrificing its original beauty. The English-style tavern sign that still hangs at the building’s corner of Washington and Madison Streets was designed and painted by Dew himself.
The Red Fox Inn had barely been restored when America entered World War II in 1942. Dew, then 33, applied for a commission in the U.S. Navy, but X-rays revealed spots on his lungs, a relic of his adolescent health problems, and his application was rejected. He worked instead at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., supporting Naval Intelligence.
His draftsmanship skills landed him in the Identification and Characteristics Section, where he made drawings from photographs to help identify enemy ships and planes. Later, he worked in an aircraft plant that made engines for B-29 bombers. He designed special carriers to transport engine parts within the plants.
Dew built a solid architectural practice for himself, wryly calling himself “a society architect.” He was licensed in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. and was a member of the American Institute of Architects. He designed commercial buildings in Leesburg and Hamilton and designed or remodeled many significant homes in Virginia and Washington. Local projects included Rockburn Farm in Marshall, Foxlease Farm in Upperville, and Fieldstone Farm in Purcellville.
In the late 1970s, Bill Turnure, a recently graduated architect from Notre Dame in search of employment, visited the American Institute of Architects office in Mclean. He picked up a small strip of paper with the words “William Dew, telephone number, Middleburg, Virginia.” This led to a productive conversation and Turnure came to Middleburg to work for Dew for eight years before setting out on a long career of his own.
Turnure, who retired to South Carolina several years ago, recalled that Dew purchased land in Middleburg just west of town to build a house for himself. He designed it down to the last detail, but he was never able to make the commitment to actually start construction.
Dew was a fixture of the Middleburg scene. Highly sociable, an enthusiastic dancer, avid tennis player and excellent company, he actively participated in the horse country lifestyle. His memoir recalled several romances throughout his life, though he never married.
A special highlight of Dew’s time in Middleburg came in 1998 with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Community Center. Two years later, the building would serve as the location for his standing-room only memorial service.
Dew had been a regular diner for breakfast and lunch at the now-gone Coach Stop restaurant, a few yards from his office. “The Billy Dew breakfast” was on the menu in his honor – two poached eggs, orange juice, toast and marmalade, coffee. In Richmond, the General Assembly agreed to a joint resolution that noted with sadness the passing of “an influential architect and leading citizen of Middleburg.”
Photo by Howard Allen Billy Dew’s office is now the CDMX Mexican Bar and Grill.
Asbury Church Restoration Moves Forward
By Bridge Littleton
Asbury Church, constructed in 1829 in Middleburg, stands as the town’s oldest surviving church and a testament to its rich history.
Originally built for the Methodist congregation on land donated by resident Hugh Grant, the church played a significant role during the Civil War, serving as a hospital and morgue.
In 1864, it was transferred to the African American Methodist Episcopal congregation, becoming a central hub for Middleburg’s African American community and one of Loudoun County’s first free churches for all faiths. For many decades after the Civil War, it hosted a school for African American children, the first of its kind.
Asbury Church was in active use by the congregation until 1994 when they moved to Willisville. The church was left vacant and faced deterioration thereafter.
In late 2014, the Town of Middleburg acquired the building and invested nearly $200,000 in 2016 to stabilize it, preventing further decay. Recognizing
its historical significance, in 2023 the Town Council decided to allocate sufficient funding to proceed with the restoration of Asbury Church.
Fortunately, the town’s good financial health, which has been carrying a budget surplus, has enabled the funding for the project. In May, 2024, the Town Council engaged Commonwealth Preservation Group (CPG) to lead community engagement efforts, aiming to identify preferred uses for the restored building.
CPG conducted meetings with local stakeholders, including former congregants of Asbury Church, local historic groups, and citizens.
A public survey also was also launched during the summer of 2024 with the focus of gathering input to guide the building’s future functions and desired uses. A community outreach meeting was held in September to discuss the findings and gather further feedback.
CPG delivered its report to the Town in December
Bank where you breathe.
with the overwhelming support of the community and the desire for Asbury to fulfill two missions: A living history experience that tells the story of Asbury open to all, and a public space for of use by members.
The Town Council will soon be issuing two requests for proposals for architectural and preservation design services and a construction management firm to oversee the design and restoration of Asbury.
We’ve also brought in a video graphical oral history firm that will interview and record the stories and history of many of the former congregants of Asbury Church and other members of our community to ensure we capture those memories for future generations. Those interviews and video sessions will begin this spring.
The restoration of Asbury Church is an important generation project for the community. Not only will this preserve a historic structure, but it will also honor Middleburg’s heritage. Once completed, the town envisions the church as a venue for learning of all ages of its unique story and a place for community activities and events, reflecting its historical role as a communal gathering place.
This project underscores Middleburg’s commitment to preserving its past while fostering a sense of community for future generations.
The Community Music School of the Piedmont prepares children for the future, helps them connect with their parents and develop social skills from infancy–all with the use of music.
Known also as CMSP, the school based at Trinity Church in Upperville offers a variety of programs, including the renowned “Music Together” program.
Britney Elvira Howell is a Shenandoah University graduate and soon-to-becertified music therapist who works as an instructor at the school.
“We provide basic music concepts for both children and their parents,” Howell said. “People without a music background learn how to utilize music to better communicate with their children, as well as use fun music for games or a lullaby for bedtime.”
Executive Director Martha Cotter co-founded the school in 1994.
“We feel music is so important, and so we do everything in our power as a music school to bring it to the community,” she said. “We expose children to musical instruments before they’re even old, or big enough to play some of them.”
The school hosts an instrument petting zoo, allowing parents to bring their children, at times toddlers, to get to know the different instruments. They won’t be able to play them on their own of course, but even blowing into a funny looking instrument and making a sound is enough to spark a child’s interest.
“We would bring instruments they’ve never seen, and certainly have never played before, and we have everything from guitars and violins to trumpets and French horns,” Cotter said. “One child came to our petting zoo while in kindergarten and insisted he wanted to play the trumpet as a result. Despite his mother’s refusal, he kept insisting for the next three years, until in second grade she finally gave up and called us, asking if it would be possible.”
The school aims to both cultivate the children’s interest in music as well as enhance their healthy development by combining music and different therapy methods. Miho Sato, the school’s board-certified music therapist teaches numerous classes she’s designed herself to ensure children are ready to learn in a school setting.
Originally a musician, she was a voice performance student in Tokyo when she met a visiting professor from Shenandoah University in Winchester who invited her to bring her talents to America. She left her native Japan in 1999 and has been teaching Northern Virginia children ever since.
“In Japan they viewed music as little more than a therapeutic tool,” Sato said. “In fact, music provides structure, and can be very beneficial to the child’s early neurological development. Our classes include different activities like singing and chanting, playing different instruments, dancing and somersaulting. These help with improving speech development and articulation, social learning and sharpening the senses.”
According to Sato, different people respond to different types of music in different ways, both in the case of children and adults. She explained that the music that calms, stimulates or distresses us differs depending on our brain wave frequencies.
In her own case, she finds that string instruments, more specifically the cello, relaxes her without fail. Howell, on the other hand, is a big fan of Northern Mexican folk music.
Details: For more information, go to piedmontsic.org.
“Carnival
SUNDAY, FEB�ARY 16, 2025 - 3PM
The PSO Young Artists’ Competition has become a popular showcase of tomorrow’s musical talent. Experience the thrill of this live performance, as three gifted young instrumentalists compete for scholarship prizes! Our Student Art Contest is centered on the enchanting Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns.
UPCOMING PSO EVENTS:
PSO A�UAL SPRING GA�
APRIL, 2025
Details coming soon! PSO P�y�’s Show�se
SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2025 - 3PM at Buchanan Hall - Upperville, VA SounDs of Victory!
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025 - 5PM
FOR TICKETS & INFORMATION: www.piedmontsymphony.org
The PSO is Generously Funded in Part By:
Miho Sato, the school’s board-certified music therapist, introduces youngsters to their instruments.
A BEAUTIFUL INVESTMENT
HITCH HOLLOW FARM
408± acres | $5,250,000
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 to hike, hunt and ride horses.
LITTLE GEORGETOWN FARM
141 acres | $2,550,000
Broad Run – Recognized as a “Virginia Treasure” It’s features include portions of the historic Thoroughfare Gap battlegrounds, miles of private hiking trails, a picturesque orchard, woodlands, and fenced pastures. The property also boasts a 2.5-acre fully stocked pond and abundant wildlife, all set against the stunning backdrop of Biscuit Mountain.
A Lifelong Interest in Art Keeps Zimmerman at Her Easel
By Linda Roberts
“Idon’t remember not painting,” said Loudoun native Cathy Zimmerman, who makes her home with husband Tad at the couple’s charming Buttonwood Farm near the village of St. Louis.
The talented artist, whose work graces many homes in the Piedmont’s hunt country, doodled and sketched as a child, creating on paper the images that raced through her mind. Perhaps she was destined to be an artist because her uncle and great-uncle were also painters. She also recalled art teacher Emily Sharp at The Hill School in Middleburg encouraging her to keep at her craft.
After graduating from Garrison Forest School in Baltimore, Zimmerman entered the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., stopping to marry Tad in 1977.
“I got my ‘Mrs.’ instead of an arts degree,” she quipped. Still, marriage and raising a family never stifled her desire to keep painting. There is always artwork in some stage of development on her easel.
Her favorite medium is watercolor and many of these eye-catching and beautifully framed works were recently on display in Middleburg.
She also ridden all her life and makes light of injuries sustained in the hunt field and while schooling young horses. When she was laid up after one fall, her artistic life turned to oil painting to accommodate the necessary slowness in putting brush to canvas. For this energetic woman, who always keeps busy at one task or another, watercolors suit her style because they dry faster than oil painting.
Her subjects are the scenic landscapes, fields and woods that surround her life in the western Loudoun area. She doesn’t paint from photographs, but from memory. A friend once commented, “Cathy paints what you see from the back of a horse.” This elevated view affords Zimmerman a broader view of the area’s rolling terrain.
In addition to the landscapes, whimsy sometimes takes over her easel. Zimmerman creates colorful woodland creatures engaged in comical acts such as foxes pulling carts or turtles giving small animals a ride. From these scenes she produces notecards, once a popular item at The Fun Shop, no longer in business in Middleburg.
“Everyone thinks I have a studio,” she said, “but I paint in a corner of my kitchen.”
And, taking her uncle’s advice, she usually has a watercolor there in some state of completion. “It’s good to always have a painting started,” she added, the better to keep from being bored.
Her kitchen table doubles as a work space when it’s time to mat and frame one of her watercolors, and she does it all herself. Sometimes her artwork extends beyond the edges of the painting, spilling over onto the mat in pencil or watercolor, continuing the scene in a manner that the viewer wonders if Zimmerman was not quite finished with that particular piece of art.
Never one to sit still for long, Zimmerman delights in keeping her grandchildren, ages 6 and 8, after school and whenever “grandma is needed.” It greatly pleases her that granddaughter, Anna, also seems quite interested in art.
“I think she’s hooked,” Zimmerman said with a smile “And I always have art supplies here for them to use.”
Photos by Tiffany Dillon Keen Winter Jump, 20 x 26
The Community Music School of the Piedmont piedmontmusic.org 540-592-3040
Lessons offered at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville with additional locations in Fauquier, Frederick and Loudoun
From the field to Main Street, from the farm to table, this restaurant was built to nourish our community and to celebrate our region.
Locally Sourced, Hearth-Prepared Cuisine
Family Friendly Dining
Private Heated Outdoor Cabanas
Monthly Food & Wine Events
Craft Beer & Cocktails
Extensive Wine Selection
Private Events & Rehearsal Dinners
These Barns Are Made For Music and So Much More
By M.J. McAteer
One of the best-kept secrets in the Shenandoah Valley is The Barns at Rose Hill in Berryville, an arts and community center that deserves to be better known, especially for the many live performances that it offers.
The building is a bit hidden, but once spotted, The Barns makes a nice first impression. It’s set in a park amid greenery and trees, and visitors enter across an arched footbridge into a reimagined barn with a massive, red gambrel roof topped with three cupolas. Inside, there’s a tourist information center, classrooms, art galleries and a performance hall.
Last year, the facility offered about 120 different programs, said executive director Martha Reynolds. They included yoga classes, children’s dance, crafting workshops and trivia and game nights, and its art spaces hosted shows by local artists.
The biggest draw is its performance hall, boasting a busy schedule that ranges from jam sessions and open mic and film nights to classical concerts by the likes of prize-winning pianist Brian Gantz. By all accounts, the acoustics in the lofty, beamed hall are excellent. Reynolds is particularly proud of the Barns’ four concert series devoted to classical music, Celtic music, bluegrass, and jazz and the blues. Tickets for most events are a reasonable $25 and bluegrass concerts have been especially popular, partly because of the optional barbecue catered by Jordan Springs Market in Stephenson.
The Barns originally was part of a 100-acre estate that belonged to a Confederate surgeon. By 1964, when then-owner Horace Gilbert Smithy donated it to Berryville, it had dwindled to 3.5 acres, including a mansion, a tenant house and two dairy barns. Smithy’s wish was for the site to be used for “the educational, recreational and cultural benefit of the community.” That took 47 years to happen.
Berryville turned part of the site into Rose Hill Park and wanted to convert the mansion into a library and the barns into a teen center. But the money wasn’t there, and, in 1978, the mansion burned down.
The barns still stood, but in a steadily deteriorating condition. In 2004, with community volunteers--known affectionately as “barn raisers”--providing the heavy lifting, The Barns at Rose Hill nonprofit was formed.
Over six years, the barn raisers finally collected more than $2 million in public and private funding to disassemble sections of the barns and reassemble them as one structure. The overhaul preserved the original roof lines and high ceilings on the upper level and used reclaimed wood from the barn on the interior walls. The original cupolas and weathervanes were restored, and the new centerpiece for the town opened in 2011.
Reynolds has been executive director for a little more than a year, but before that, the Middleburg resident did all the marketing and outreach for the center. “I was the eyes and ears of this place,” she said.
Reynolds had been the cabin coordinator for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, overseeing the use and upkeep of 44 cabins and supervising more than 80 volunteers. That has come in handy at Rose Hill, with a staff of three but about 60 volunteers.
Such a small staff and a no-frills budget doesn’t leave a lot of money for advertising, so The Barns depends heavily on word of mouth to spread the awareness of its existence.
“We’d love to grow,” Reynolds said, “but we need to bring more people in.”
Details: For more information, go to www.barnsofrosehill.org.
A view of the exterior of the arts and community center at the Barns at Rose Hill in Berryville.
Martha Reynolds, executive director of The Barns at Rose Hill.
The Heat is On at Holtzman Oil and Propane Holtzman Oil and Propane has
locations across Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, including a fireplace store in Purcellville.
By Chip Newcome
Old Man Winter has taken hold
of our region. Temperatures have dipped into the teens and, in some places, the wind chill has dropped into single digits. Some folks enjoy winter, hoping and praying for snow to blanket the ground. Others simply cannot wait for buds to begin making their appearance on trees, signaling that warmer weather is just around the corner.
Holtzman Oil and Propane has locations across Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, including a fireplace store in Purcellville. But it’s a company that has humble beginnings, according to Todd Holtzman, its General Manager. Their focus has always been on quality and the customer experience.
working group, we value our employees and want to see them succeed, and we believe strongly in supporting every community we’re in.”
Holtzman’s experience in the fuel supply and heating industry has provided a great deal of experience when it comes to heating a home. A gas furnace, according to Todd Holtzman, is the most efficient way to heat a home “because of the high efficiency of the equipment, the ability of the gas furnace to heat the home even in the coldest temperatures and the fact that the heated air from a vent on a gas furnace is much warmer than the human body.”
He went on to discuss the benefits of gas versus electric heat.
Holtzman Heating & Cooling. While known for their fuel distribution business, Todd said, “the full home service and safety piece is very important to us and we provide a full range of HVAC services, in addition to our propane service and installation department.”
Some common service calls they see this time of year deal with HVAC calls.
“HVAC equipment is like your car, it depends on routine maintenance and care to operate efficiently. Like most of us have experienced at some point in our lives, when you don’t take the steps to maintain your equipment, you generally figure out the downside of that just as you most need it!”
Holtzman Oil has an array of solutions when it comes to home heating systems.
“I’d say since my father bought a small Gulf distributor in 1972, our goal has always been to provide quality products with fair pricing and great customer service,” he said. “One of our goals from the beginning has been to make sure a person answers the phone when our customers call, instead of a dial around menu that leaves everyone frazzled.
“That personal touch is critical to us. We’re a hard-
“There’s a misconception that the electrification of everything in a home makes things easier, more efficient and more environmentally sound. But the reality today is that much of the electricity we use is created by burning natural gas in a process where 60 percent of that energy is then lost during the creation and transmission to your home. It’s a very inefficient use of resources.”
Holtzman Propane has an HVAC department,
“Call us or stop by one of our fireplace stores to learn about all the options available,” Todd added. “There are a lot of options out there and finding a trusted resource to help walk you through them is ideal.”
Holtzman’s fireplace stores offer a wide selection of working gas fireplaces and space heaters.
“You can buy a lot of things sight unseen from the internet,” Todd said, “but we believe the best way to be happy with your investment in a fireplace or space heating equipment in your home is to actually see it first.”
General Manager Todd Holtzman
Weathering the Weather Whether You Like It Or Not
Heating Oil, Clear and Dyed Kerosene delivered straight to you.
By John E. Ross
There’s little doubt that the weather we’re going to weather this summer will be hotter and drier than usual. But what is usual? Last summer, with its back-to-back drought and deluge, is highly likely to be the new normal.
Data from the National Centers for Environmental Information suggest that mean summer temperatures will continue to notch up a degree or two every year. And spates of intense rain will become more frequent.
Of even greater concern is the likelihood of more flash droughts, the rapid onset of very dry conditions accompanied by high winds. Over the last few years, flash droughts have caused numerous wildfires that consumed homes and vast wooded acreage.
February is an excellent time to begin armoring our residences and preparing our lawns and gardens for long hot dry summers punctuated by storms delivering rain measured in inches per hour.
Mitigations for the summer assault on homes and yards range from selecting drought-tolerant plants for gardens to capturing stormwater runoff with rain barrels, rain gardens, and pervious pavements.
Gardens are a good place to begin, and there’s no better example of drought tolerant plantings than the demonstration gardens at Schoolhouse #18 on Rt. 55 about two miles east of Marshall.
Since the early 1990s, Fauquier and Rappahannock County Master Gardeners have maintained sustainable plantings in 20 small plots that showcase flowers, shrubs, herbs, vegetables, and young trees. Native species, especially those that attract pollinators and butterflies.
Most Thursday mornings, master gardeners are working on various beds. They’re delighted to help visitors plan their own gardens. Small markers identify plantings in each bed. Among features easily adaptable to most homes is the schoolhouse’s rain garden. Stormwater runoff from the parking lot of Fauquier County’s waste collection station next door flows via a long, grassy swale into a bed rimmed with fist-sized rock cobbles.
The bed is roughly 20 feet x 10 feet and about three feet deep, with a thin layer of hardwood mulch on top. Beneath is a layer of compost-amended dirt which may lie on top of a layer of clean sand. Rain gardens capture stormwater runoff and allow it to soak slowly into the water table.
Plants thriving in the schoolhouse’s rain garden include maidenhair fern, swamp sunflower and milkweed, northern blue flag iris, turtlehead, winterberry, sweet bay magnolia, and red twig dogwood. Next to the garden is a plastic box containing printouts with lists of species. And Karla Etten of Etten’s Eden on The Plains Road stocks a wide range of drought-tolerant perennials.
Similar to rain gardens, shallow rock-filled gutters lining residential sidewalks and driveways capture stormwater and allow it to percolate down into the water table instead of allowing it to flow into street-side storm drains.
Photo by John E. Ross
Steve Raggo and Sharon Holmes are among several master gardeners who help maintain the sustainable plantings in 20 small plots at Schoolhouse #18 on Route 55 about two miles east of Marshall.
The amount of water lost in rain runoff is amazing. On a roof of say, 1,000 sq. ft., one inch of rain will deposit 623 gallons of water, and roofs of most houses are twice that size. Within the incorporated limits of Middleburg, an area of about .6 square mile, one inch of rain delivers roughly 10 million gallons of water.
If that inch of rain is spread more or less equally over 24 hours, it will soak down through soil into cracks in bedrock and eventually recharge the water table from which public and private wells draw water for residential and commercial use.
To capture runoff from a gentle rain, rain barrels are a great bet. When Middleburg declared a drought emergency last year and banned outdoor plant watering, we installed a 50 gallon rain barrel.
All we had to do was build a solid and level foundation for the rain barrel and divert a downspout to fill it. Cost of the rain barrel was less than $200, and having a contractor build the base, $250. It should protect drought sensitive plants in our gardens.
Systems for capturing rainwater for use in times of drought vary in capacity, depending on one’s need. Four years ago, Joe Kline bought 17 acres in the lovely Between the Hills Valley close to Neersville and Sweet Run State Park.
Joe and his family put in a 100-foot x 100-foot garden to grow most of their own vegetables. The garden requires about 1,000 gallons of water per week to thrive. To avoid stressing the well serving the household, he decided to capture rain. From the roof of a shed near the garden, one inch of rain delivers 800 gallons.
Next to the shed, he installed huge two tanks, one holding 4,500 gallons, the other 2,500 gallons. The tanks feed a shallowly buried drip-irrigation system. Joe installed an electric pump that is wi-fi controlled allowing him to set-up an automated watering schedule for the garden.
Costing roughly $6,000, Joe’s system might be considered large by some. However to water the garden toward the end of last year’s drought, he had to haul water from a nearby pond.
Rainwater harvesting systems like Joe’s and the rain garden at Schoolhouse #18 are two of a dozen programs eligible for cost-share reimbursement through the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP), with funding from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other agencies.
VCAP is administered by the Loudoun County Soil and Water Conservation District and the John Marshall Soil and Water Conservation District in Fauquier County.
Reimbursement up to $7,000 for 80 percent of costs of conservation landscaping that includes such projects as planting of meadows, trees, and riparian buffers along streams as well as for filter strips, rain gardens and dry wells.
Those who install systems to harvest rainwater can receive up to $20,000 based on $4 for each gallon captured from a one-inch rain storm. A maximum of $20,000 is also available at $5 per square foot for removing impervious surfaces such as asphalt or concrete driveways, sidewalks, or patios and $14 per square foot for installing permeable pavements.
Establishing dry swales, wet swales, step pools, and wetlands can net property owners 80 percent cost recovery up to $20,000. Bioretention, infiltration, and green roof are reimbursed at 80 percent of costs up to $30,000.
In addition to individual property owners, VCAP funding is available to nonprofit organizations, counties, incorporated towns, and school districts. Details: The best sources of information regarding VCAP are Loudoun County Soil and Water Conservation District - http://www.loudounsoilandwater.com/, and John Marshall Soil and Water Conservation District – 540/422-8490.
To water his vegetable garden in Neersville, Virginia, Joe Kline installed two huge tanks to capture rainwater running off the roof of his shed.
Drugath
By Chris Patusky
The point being that the drought is bad but the vines do well anyway.
rought”, from the Old English word “drugath”, meaning dryness. I like that word, drugath.
Maybe they should have kept it as it was. We are suffering drugath. It sounds epic, dreadful, an irresistible force that thrashes landscapes and denies sustenance to civilizations.
Drugath. A word worthy of a supernatural adversary, a god or a goddess, whom we must call upon and convince through dance, song and sacrifice to throw down sheets from the sky to save us from “the dryness”. As it turns out, according to Wikipedia, there are seventeen rain deities roaming the western hemisphere. One of my favorite is Shotokunungwa, from the Hopi.
At a vineyard team meeting at Slater Run this year, as we approached harvest, we began to get concerned about the lack of rain. Sure, some drought is great for the vines, but this was getting out of hand. Kiernan and I considered whether we should
appeal to Chaac, the Mayan rain god. But then, we worried that an appeal to one god or goddess might insult the others, leading to a cataclysmic fight in the skies above Upperville -- who is the greatest? -- ending all hope of getting a drop from them. Or worse still, it could inspire the wrath (another good Old English word derived, it seems, from wraeththu, wow, love that one), of all sixteen jealous deities, which could not end well for us below, unless, aha, unless there is some ingenious turnabout, perhaps a clever ruse that leads inexorably to a competition amongst all, each attempting to prove themself the greatest drencher, bringing joyous rains, but then, aghh, too much rain, catastrophe!
There must be a lesson in there somewhere. Perhaps it is to pray broadly and indefinitely, leading each deity to believe that they are the object of your attention and hope. Yes, that is it, that is most certainly my takeaway.
Master Craftsmanship: Turning Your 2025 Home Dreams into Realit y
Chris Patusky is the owner of Slater Run Vineyards
Drugath Shmugath
Drugath
Oh What a Time for Foxcroft’s Retiring Head of School
By Leonard Shapiro
When the 2025-26 academic year starts this September, Cathy McGehee, Foxcroft’s beloved and outgoing head of school, admitted recently that it will be just a little difficult for her not to be hands-on involved in the educating of young women for the first time in 40 years.
“When is the right time” to retire, she asked out loud somewhat wistfully, sitting in her office recently on the 500-acre campus. She had announced last May she’ll be leaving the prestigious girls boarding school after the current academic year. “To me, it seemed best to do it when the school is in a strong place.”
McGehee, Foxcroft’s tenth head of school, has held the job for the last 11 years, a time of both unprecedented growth and monumental challenges, most notably dealing with the recent Covid pandemic.
She pointed out that in 2023, the average tenure for an independent high school leader in America was less than seven years. She’s also leaving at a time when Foxcroft has a record endowment of about $101.3 million. The current 168 students represent a 12 percent increase over the previous year’s enrollment, just a few short of its mid-170s capacity.
Foxcroft started out far smaller when the legendary Charlotte Haxall Noland—known simply to generations of students, faculty, staff and alumni as “Miss Charlotte”—founded the school in 1914. According to its website, “her dream was to create a school that girls would want to come to and hate to leave because they loved it.
“From the beginning, Miss Charlotte’s highest aim and Foxcroft’s greatest responsibility has been to educate the whole student. Her efforts to instill high
purpose, integrity, leadership, understanding, and empathy in students, along with the school’s motto — mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body) — guide Foxcroft to this day.”
And as McGehee departs, Foxcroft is most definitely in a very strong place.
How about a faculty/student ratio of 1:5 and an average class size of 12? How about enviable diversity that includes a 20 percent international student body with 26 percent U.S. students of color and 30 percent day students from around the Middleburg area?
Those 168 girls come from 22 states and the District of Columbia and 21 different countries. About 75 percent of the faculty hold advanced degrees, with a global perspective among faculty, staff and administrators that includes teaching or living in 26 countries.
On McGehee’s watch, Foxcroft has added a number of cutting edge academic programs, with a heavy emphasis on a STEAM curriculum (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) to help prepare this generation for the future techno-centric job market.
Students can pursue robotics, scientific illustration, neuroscience, and drone technology. There’s an innovation lab, a high tech space that includes 3-D printers, vinyl and laser cutters and so much more. And Foxcroft is the first girls school in Virginia to use Purdue University’s Engineering Projects in Community Service program.
The school now has 50 buildings, including several built or renovated during McGehee’s tenure. The construction of the new Mars STEAM Wing is well underway as is planning and fundraising for a future performing arts center.
McGehee’s successor, Dr. Lisa Kaenzig, was
named this past November and will take over starting on July 1, 2025. McGehee and a special committee of trustees, faculty and staff will work with Kaenzig in the coming months to assure a seamless transition in leadership.
McGehee and her husband, Dr. Read McGhee III, a retired ophthalmologist, plan to return to their native Richmond once she leaves Foxcroft. That’s where they raised their two adult daughters, and where her mother still lives. Before coming to Middleburg, she had spent the previous 19 years at St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, where she served as the Director of the Upper School from 2006-14.
She’s a member of the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Board of Trustees, is vice chair of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools Board of Directors, and serves on the VAIS Accreditation Committee. And, she said, she fully intends to “stay involved with educational causes and continue to advocate for and support girls education.”
There’s definitely some travel in her future, as well. Both she and her husband are avid hikers, and they’ve already planned a trip to Scandinavia in August at a time of year when she’s usually gearing up to start another year of teaching and guiding young women.
Clearly, she knows she’s going to miss it.
“The people you’re around are what make this work so wonderful,” she said. “And teenage girls will keep you young. My days at Foxcroft are filled with joy and laughter. And watching these young women grow in confidence and poise is the honor of a lifetime. To be part of this school’s extraordinary history has been incredibly fulfilling.”
And the same also must be said for having Cathy McGehee at Foxcroft over the last 11 years. She’ll be missed, for sure.
Courtesy Foxcroft School Head of School Cathy McGehee on the Foxcroft campus.
Perspectives on Childhood, Education, and Parenting
How to Talk to Young People
“Schools that focus on moral education...are..institutions that have clear goals and everyone knows their role in achieving (them)… As David Yeager writes in his book “10–25” when people are in their student years their primary motivation is to experience feelings of status and respect.”
Tom: Happy new year, Mike, Look forward to continuing our conversations on books we believe can be helpful to parents and educators.Thanks for suggesting Dr. David Yeager’s book, “10-25: The Science of Motivating Young People.”
I hadn’t heard of it. Then the day after you recommended it, I read David Brooks’ column. You’re on the cutting edge!
Mike: Hardly! But as someone with a teenage son and a daughter nearly ten, who also happens to run a summer camp where most of the campers and staff fall in the 10-25 age range, I knew this was a book I needed to read.
Tom: Makes sense. What are a couple of the most valuable ideas for motivating young people that you will add to your “tool kit?”
Mike: My first big takeaway was “how you talk to young people matters.”
Yeager explains that young people have a neurobiological need for status and respect from their peers and important adults in their lives, and he provides studies that demonstrate that nagging and “grownsplaining” results in anger and frustration,
—From a recent New York Times column by David Brooks
By Tom Northrup
not reflection and future planning. Yeager glibly reminds his readers that while it feels good to tell someone what to do, it can sometimes feel pretty terrible to be the person being told what to do.
Instead, he encourages adults to try “collaborative troubleshooting,” which requires a neutral tone, curiosity, and asking authentic questions. When young people feel like their perspectives matter, they are far more invested in finding solutions.
Another point that really resonated was that young people are far more capable than adults often think. As Yeager says, “Instead of thinking of the adolescent brain as fundamentally flawed due to puberty’s hormones, we can think of it as ready to change in response to the prospect of status and respect.” The question is, what pathways are available to young people to find status and respect, and how are we challenging and supporting them along the way?
Tom: Yeager’s thesis reminds me of Matthew Lieberman’s insight and advice in his book “Social–Why our Brains are Wired to Connect (2013).” This UCLA psychologist makes the case that schools and parents are often not properly responding to the “social brain” of the adolescent. He asserts that the
reason “academic performance and interest often drop in many school in junior high is that the need to belong, our most basic social motivation, is not being met.”
The challenge for educators and parents is to “stop making the social brain the enemy and figure out how to engage it”.
One of his suggestions is to place middle school students in leadership roles such as having them tutor younger students. When they are given the responsibility to teach and mentor, he has found (as I have) they perform at a high level.
Offering such opportunities promotes a sense of belonging as well as bestowing well-earned status and respect.
Mike: Adults have bemoaned the challenges of working with this age cohort since time immemorial. I think it’s time for us to update our narratives and start to see all the potential this age group possesses, so long as we remember that feelings of status and respect are the prime motivators.
Long-time educator Tom Northrup is Head of School Emeritus at The Hill School in Middleburg
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.
thehillschool.org
Voted Best Private School in Loudoun County for Six Consecutive Years
HOME IMPROVEMENT
Prepare Now, Relax Later
By Tim Burch Jr.
Escaping the cold winter weather for a few days, weeks, or months can be a wonderful way to recharge, but preparing your home before you leave is essential to ensure it remains secure, wellmaintained, and ready for your return.
From winterizing vital systems to ensuring the care of animals and grounds, every detail matters when protecting your property. A little planning up front can save you significant headaches down the road, keeping your home safe from seasonal challenges.
Preparing your home begins with winterizing your main residence and any secondary structures, such as guest or pool houses. Having plumbing systems drained and insulated is critical, especially in areas that are not regularly used.
Heating systems should be set to maintain a stable temperature, protecting both the structure and its interior. Outdoor amenities such as summer kitchens and bars, and built-in-grills also require special attention – professional shut-down services are available to safeguard these facilities against freezing temperatures
and winter precipitation.
Outdoor areas and landscaping are another important consideration. Gardens, lawns, and trees should be pruned, aerated, and fertilized for cold weather, while delicate plants and outdoor features like fountains and ponds need to be protected from frost or ice.
Professional landscaping and lawn care firms can address these needs as well as prepare pathways and driveways for winter weather with an application of sealant to prevent damage from snow removal equipment.
If your home includes features that demand specialized care, such as pools, saunas, or spa facilities, winterizing these amenities protects them from the cold weather, preventing future repairs. Pool covers, drained systems, and the maintenance of indoor ventilation are just a few steps that are important to take in order to protect these spaces.
Another essential step is securing your property while you’re away. Modern security systems, including remote monitoring, provide peace of mind and allow you to stay connected to your home even if you are miles away. Comprehensive property management services will regularly inspect your property and security systems, address any unforeseen issues, and prepare your home for your return.
The key to a smooth winter escape is involving a trusted partner early in the process. Our team of professionals at Bowa is here to help you navigate the winter upkeep of your home with expert advice and insights. With careful preparation and the right team of professionals, you can enjoy your time away knowing your home is in good hands, ready to welcome you back in perfect condition.
T. Huntley Thorpe III
Karen E. Hedrick
Robin C. Gulick
Tim Burch
Honoring the POINT: The Gwynne McDevitt Sporting Dog Collection
By Vicky Moon
What could be more appropriate for this issue of ZEST, than to feature an exhibit from the National Sporting Library & Museum which includes many dogs. This collection of 84 works of art is on loan from museum supporter Gwynne McDevitt, and will be on view through March 23, 2025. A granddaughter of Walter P. Chrysler, founder of the Chrysler Corporation, Ms. McDevitt was the daughter of Col. Edgar William Garbisch and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, famed folk art collectors and philanthropists who donated and bequeathed their collection to numerous institutions. McDevitt grew up spending summers horseback riding and wildfowl shooting at her family’s famed 18th-century Georgian-style, Pokety Farms, on the Little Choptank River in Maryland many of which were included in an incredible auction which this writer covered for several national magazines. Don’t miss this, mark your calendars now.
Details: NationalSporting.org.
James Hardy, Jr. (British, 1832–1889)
A Good Day’s Shooting, 1883 oil on canvas, 14 3/8 x 12 1/4 inches
National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023
Muss-Arnolt (German/American,
English Setter Head Study, 1913 oil on canvas, 9 1/8 x 8 3/8 inches
National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023
Robert Kennedy Abbett (American, 1926–2015)
Gwynne at Doubledee Farm, 1989 oil on board, 23 7/8 x 36 inches
National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023
Edmund Henry Osthaus (German/American, 1858–1928) Setters on Point, n.d. oil on canvas, 26 1/4 x 40 1/4 inches
National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023
Percival Leonard Rosseau (American, 1859–1937)
English Setters Drinking from a River, 1920 oil on canvas, 34 x 28 1/4 inches
National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023
Gustav
1858–1927)
Gordon
National
Robert Cleminson (British, 1844–1903)
English and Gordon Setter in the Highlands, 19th century Oil on canvas, 16 x 24 1/8 inches
National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023
Robert Kennedy Abbett (American, 1926–2015)
The Shootist, Duchess, and Domino, c.1997 oil on board, 21 5/8 x 36 1/2 inches
Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023
Percival Leonard Rosseau (American, 1859–1937)
English Setter on Point, n.d. watercolor heightened with gouache on paper, size 8 3/4 x 12 1/8 inches
National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023
Wright Barker (English, 1864–1941)
Setter Head Study, 1884 Oil on board, 9 ¼ x 7 ½ inches
National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023
Robert Kennedy Abbett (American, 1/2 inches, National Sporting Library
It’s Official: Eagles Are Our National Bird
By Annie Bradfield
Bald eagles are a common sight in Virginia’s Piedmont, often perched in trees, feeding in fields, or soaring overhead. Their presence evokes awe and national pride. So, when President Joe Biden signed legislation on Dec. 24, 2024, officially designating the bald eagle as our national bird, many were surprised to learn that it was not already official. Still, though it’s been the American national emblem since 1782, this new official status doesn’t increase protections or address the significant health threats bald eagles still face.
In 2024, Blue Ridge Wildlife Center treated 3,893 animals, including 19 bald eagles. All scavenging species at the Center are routinely tested for lead poisoning. “More than 80 percent of eagles, vultures, and opossums show elevated lead levels,” said Dr. Jen Riley, the center’s hospital director and lead veterinarian. “For adult bald eagles, it’s over 90 percent.”
Wildlife ingest lead primarily by feeding on gut piles or carcasses left by hunters using lead ammunition or by eating fish that have swallowed lead sinkers. Stomach acid dissolves the lead, allowing it to enter the bloodstream. From there, lead poisoning causes lethargy and disorientation and can lead to organ failure and death. Even moderately elevated levels increase the risk of injuries, like vehicle collisions.
Human activities have long threatened bald eagles. Hunting, pollution,
and habitat destruction drove their numbers dangerously low. In 1940, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibited harming eagles and their nests. However, by 1963, only 417 nesting pairs remained in the lower 48 states, with just 30 in Virginia.
The pesticide DDT, introduced in 1945, severely impacted eagle populations by weakening eggshells, which caused nests to fail. In response, the U.S. banned DDT in 1972, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) followed in 1973.
These protections helped the species recover. By 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated 316,700 bald eagles nationwide—four times the number a decade prior. The bald eagle was removed from Virginia’s endangered list in 2013 and the federal list in 2007. Today, Virginia has over 1,500 breeding pairs, mainly from the Chesapeake Bay to the northern Piedmont.
Despite this progress, experts stress that stronger protections are needed. Banning lead in hunting and fishing gear is crucial. Copper ammunition offers a safer alternative, but shifting hunter behavior and securing federal legislation remain challenges.
The staff and board at Blue Ridge Wildlife Center hope that the new “national bird” status may inspire more legal protections. “Predatory birds, like bald eagles, need a safe food source to thrive,” Dr. Riley emphasized. “Supporting biodiversity and keeping toxins like heavy metals out of the food web is essential.”
Annie Bradfield is executive director of the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center near Millwood. Learn more about the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center at www.BlueRidgeWildlifeCtr.org.
Dr. Jen Riley radiographs a lead poisoned bald eagle patient to look for fragments of lead in the gastrointestinal tract.
This lead poisoned eagle is showing classic early signs of weakness with drooping of the head.
Eager Beavers are Dam Good for the Landscape
By Michael J. Kieffer
Earth’s most prestigious engineer, is the beaver (Castor canadensis). No other mammal alters the shape of the landscape and is as opportunistic, excluding humans.
Beavers truly define the term “keystone species,” having once covered a tenth of the continental United States with beaver-built wetlands. Beaver ponds provide homes for hundreds of thousands of species.
Beaver legends have been a part of human culture from the time of pictographs. Flathead Indians believed that beavers were disgraced Indians, changed from their human form by the Great Spirit.
Beavers worked laboriously cutting trees and building dams and lodges as atonement for their misdeeds. It’s been estimated that 200 million beavers once inhabited the continental United States alone. Beavers cloaked the landscape from the Artic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the southwest desert to the north woods of Maine, with water and trees the only constants.
A beaver that hears the sound of running water will immediately try to locate the source and to dam it. Beavers make dams to raise the water level of a stream and to maintain this level during dry periods. Beavers will dig canals, underwater aqueducts, and channels throughout their pond and wetland, creating a safe passage from their home to their food.
Beavers are natural farmers, using nature’s system of replenishment to prosper. Their fall and winter food is tree branches that is self-stored in the muddy bottom of their ponds for easy access when the ponds ice over in the winter.
As beaver dams slow the water, soil and nutrients from upstream drop out of the water column. Soon natural herbs, such as cattails, arrowhead, pondweed, smartweed, milfoil, pond lily, and a variety of sedges and grasses begin to flourish. Beavers feed on this higher energy food source in spring and summer.
Beaver wetlands act as enormous biological filters. When storm runoff from streams and rivers rush into the stillness of the wetland, stream velocity diminishes, silt in the water adheres to aquatic vegetation, and larger particles settle to the bottom.
Species in the wetland’s underwater world, including bacteria, freshwater fungus, and phytoplankton, use organic and inorganic molecules, including human-developed pollutants, to survive, creating the base of a complex food web. Zooplankton, such as protozoans, rotifers, and tiny crustaceans, graze on the phytoplankton. Backswimmers, water striders, water boatmen, diving beetles, water scorpions, coiled mosquito larva, mayfly larva, dragonfly larva, and many other insects eat the grazers and together act as the food source for amphibians, fish, and birds.
On a grander scale, water detained is more likely to percolate down to the groundwater, raising the water table and creating springs and freshets throughout the watershed.
With recurring droughts in many areas of the country, beavers could be an easy, cost free fix to recharging ground water and keeping water on the land and out of the oceans. When trapping eliminated almost all the beaver in North America, we in effect lost 300,000 square miles of wetland and groundwater recharge.
Clean water is a leading concern for all life. In order to promote healthy waterways, it’s important to have a general understanding of what once made North America’s water so pristine—beavers.
Knowledge of beavers and the wetlands they create can only aid us in our quest to develop in a more ecologically sound manner. Imagine if we worked with a “natural common sense,” how much richer all of our lives would be.
Michael J. Kieffer is executive director of the Bull Run Mountains Conservancy.
The American Beaver
THIS & THAT
Mark your calendars now for the Garden Club of Virginia’s Historic Garden Week set for Sunday, April 27 and Monday, April 28 in the Middleburg area. Hosted by the Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club the tour will feature three properties near Middleburg. Two are next door properties with lovely gardens. Ellerslie is a recently renovated property included in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens in 2020. Benton is the home of a former Garden Club of Virginia President and included on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Also on the tour is The Pond House, a charming property with low wet areas, shady woodlands and open sunny meadows. Details: middleburg@vagardenweek.org.
The Middleburg United Methodist Church held its All Saints Day celebration on Nov. 3, including the blessing for its new Brick Memorial Walkway, a recently installed walk of bricks with the engraved names of family, friends and others. More than 50 bricks have been placed, with space for many more. Memorial bricks are not limited to church members but to anyone wanting to commemorate a loved one in the walkway next to the historic 175-year-old church. The bricks can be purchased for $150. For more information, call the church office at 540-687-6492, or write to Middlebhurg United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 284, Middleburg, VA 20118.
Attention all lovers and other strangers…this note just in…Slater Run Vineyards: Celebrate Valentine’s Day on Friday, February 14 with an intimate five course dinner curated by Provender Garden Kitchen, paired with Slater Run wines. Details at 540-878-1476 or info@slaterrun.com. Cheers.
Get out your tailgate paraphernalia and don’t forget a corkscrew and large bag for trash. With many thanks to Don Yovanovich who sent the VSA schedule for the spring races.
It’s Off To Iona, Laddie
By Leonard Shapiro
On the second Friday of August, for most of the last 21 years, Bridge Littleton, the Mayor of Middleburg, Virginia, becomes an unofficial citizen of Scotland, specifically the tiny and historic island of Iona. It’s a windswept 4.5-square mile chunk of land, rock, sand and more than enough grass to feed the cows and sheep, who also serve as four-legged maintenance workers on a unique and challenging 18-hole golf course.
Littleton happily makes the trek every summer to play in the annual Iona Open, a jolly old one-day tournament open to all comers, men and women, boys and girls, low handicappers and hideous hackers from all over the world. It’s been around since the early 1960s, and Littleton has played in 19 of the last 21, missing the 2011 event when he had a cancerous tumor removed from a kidney and the second absence in 2020 forced by the Covid epidemic.
“It’s been so meaningful and important in my life,” said Littleton, 50, who has taken his father, Trowbridge, also a long-time Middleburg golfer, to play in several Iona Opens. “It’s the most enjoyable experience you can imagine, for a lot of reasons, especially the people of Iona.”
Getting there may be the hardest part of all. Littleton used air, auto and finally a ferry that left him on dry land off the southwest coast of the large island of Mull in the Inner Hebrides and about a mile from the first tee, also 140 miles from Edinburgh.
No one except permanent residents can have a car or truck on the island, which stretches three miles long and is 1.5 miles wide. Iona is separated from the Isle of Mull by the Sound of Iona and has a population of about 150 year-round. It’s also known as “The Cradle of Christianity” in Scotland and attracts 130,000 visitors each year.
Very few of them find their way to the golf course, a 4,600-yard par 66, with a half dozen holes that run up and down the spectacular Atlantic Ocean coast. Most tourists are there to visit this vibrant center of Christian worship ever since St. Columba arrived in 563 AD. St. Columba’s monastery survived until the end of the 12th century, despite repeated Viking raids. Around 1200, the sons of Somerled– “King of the Isles” – founded a Benedictine abbey here. Pilgrimages to St. Columba’s Shrine continued to thrive, though monastic life on Iona ended with the Protestant Reformation of 1560. It’s believed the world famous Book of Kells was made here, along with other great works of art. Iona’s Abbey Museum houses Scotland’s finest collection of early medieval carved stones and crosses.
But back to the golf course, which has plenty of riveting history as well. The original nine holes on the west side of the island were laid out in 1886 by Allan MacBeth of Glasgow. Some 20 years later, the course was lengthened to 18 holes using property on the adjoining Culbhuirg Farm, owned by a professor at Glasgow University.
It was laid out on a type of land known as machair, a sandy, low-lying grassy plain by the sea that’s unique to the exposed west coasts of Scotland and
Ireland. The Scotsman newspaper wrote in 1934 that the golf course had “turf second to none.”
They call it the Iona Golf Club, though there is no clubhouse on the property, no pro shop, no motorized golf carts or any other amenities. Then again, there are no greens fees, either. Everyone walks, and pull carts are available, also at no charge. There is no entry fee for the tournament itself, though donations from ten to twenty pounds are encouraged to help with the upkeep of the nearby abbey.
On the second Friday of every August, they play the Iona Open, using only the first 11 holes on the course. No handicaps are necessary. Players simply throw out their two worst holes, so only the best nine holes count. Modest prizes are awarded, including a not so coveted wooden spoon that goes to the worst score of the day.
Littleton, who grew up in Northern Virginia and has been Middleburg’s mayor since 2018, first learned about Iona and its golf course during his course work for law school at the University of Aberdeen. A fellow student introduced him to one of his friends, Finlay MacDonald, who’s father and
grandparents were Iona natives. Like Littleton, he was an avid golfer himself.
MacDonald, who now lives there full time and is a boat captain, spent many summers on the island growing up and played in the Iona Open as a junior golfer. In 2002, Littleton traveled to Edinburgh to meet up with MacDonald and some of his old Scottish friends and took his golf clubs with him.
“I got there and it was a surprise—we were going up to Iona to play in a golf tournament,” he said. “There were four or five of us and I was there for about five days. Within the first ten minutes of being on the island, I fell in love with it. It’s a lot like Middleburg, a special place because of the people. You get there, and within half a day, you get it or you don’t. They immediately embrace you as if you’re part of the community.”
In 2015, Littleton served as captain of that year’s tournament, an honor that he said he’ll always cherish. He’s never won the event, but has had a few top ten finishes. Just as important, he has countless fabulous tales to tell about his experiences over the years.
No one will ever mistake Iona’s course conditions for the perfectly manicured fairways and greens at most American clubs. MacDonald, also the newly minted President of the Open, and several other island residents voluntarily do most of the maintenance on the course, with a little help from the cows and sheep who wander freely all around and occasionally chomp on the hole flags.
Putting is mostly an adventure, with golf balls more than occasionally bouncing away from the cup just before the lip. And in certain bunkers on the course, essentially truly natural beaches, if a player can’t get the ball back on green grass in three swings, they can drop in the fairway.
In the 2024 tournament, Littleton shot 39 for his best nine holes, and the winning score was 33. The tournament record for the best nine out of 11 holes is 29. The day after the event, he went out to the course with a friend, Rick Johnson, the owner of the Columba Hotel on the island, and they decided to play the tournament format—best nine of 11 holes.
Littleton started off with two bogies, then birdied four of the next six and added another at the ninth. On his 11th hole, he had a ten-foot putt for a par “and I missed it by an inch,” Littleton recalled.
“Rick falls to the ground and he says to me, ‘I can’t believe it. If you’d made that putt, you would have had the course record.’ I always keep a bottle of whiskey in my bag just in case someone I’m playing with breaks the course record or gets an ace. I definitely would have opened that bottle.”
And of course, he’ll definitely be back at Iona in August to celebrate his 20th year playing in the Iona Open.
“I tell people in Middleburg that you can always rebuild our town, but you can’t replace the people here,” he said. “Iona is the same. They are a wonderful, thoughtful, caring, and generous people and they welcome you with their hearts and into their homes. It’s just amazing. It’s my second family.”
This article originally appeared in Virginia Golfer Magazine, a publication of the Virginia State Golf Association.
Father Trowbridge and son Bridge Littleton played in a recent Iona Open.
Photos by Bridge Littleton Surrounded by four-legged greenskeepers, an Iona flagstick surely must taste like hay.
A Cavalier Freshman Falls in Love With London
By Ali Patusky
This fall, I completed my first semester as a freshman at the University of Virginia. I did it in London, not Charlottesville, one of 22 UVA students who applied and were accepted for the program.
When I told people I was going there, I received reactions from “That’s so cool!” to “Why would you not want to be on campus for your first semester?” It’s a valid question, but after living in the Middleburg area most of my life, I was excited by the new scenery and experiences a global city could offer.
In London, I took five courses, the two most influential being “Democracy in Crisis” and “Engaging Aesthetics/Differences.” The democracy course was a main reason I applied for the program. It was taught by a member of Parliament, Lord Stewart Wood, who offers the class exclusively to UVA students.
It was a crash course on the British government, and, as an American, it was fascinating to learn how the United Kingdom government basically is upheld by a few statutes and the principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty.
At times, it was hard to wrap my head around how one of the most historically powerful governments in the world had existed democratically for so long with such flexibility of interpretation of its powers.
However, Lord Wood explained it well.
“We generally don’t assume our politicians will become corrupt even if their powers are unbounded by law,” he said, adding that the system’s flexibility is arguably both its biggest weakness and strength.
The aesthetics class was taught by Michael Levenson, the UVA professor who started the London First program. It combined in-class readings, films, and discussions with excursions into the city to view various art forms as a way to explore how themes of race, gender, religion, and culture exist within our own lives and how they apply to a more global context.
We looked at political messaging in the vibrant street art scene of Shoreditch; pondered the meaning of life while viewing Samuel Beckett’s play, “Waiting for Godot”; examined a form of modern day slavery in Britain with the short story “Embassy of Cambodia”; and visited Sadler’s Wells to see Hofesh Schecter’s “Theatre of Dreams,” a modern dance performance.
I also explored London and loved the view from Trafalgar Square down toward Big Ben. I loved putting in my AirPods, walking all around or being on the Tube, with its complex tunnels, inconsistent gap size between train and platform, and the number people it efficiently transports.
I loved carrying a few readings and some money in a hip bag to run to One Shot cafe in Camden to study. I loved the quiet moments in Regents Park where my university was located. Surrounded by the green space, it felt like home. I loved traveling, with whirlwind weekend trips to Cardiff, Wales; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Vienna, Austria.
I also loved the fiery chestnut horse, Dante, I rode in Hyde Park, who leaped a couple of times in response to skittering leaves and reminded me of my own horse, Prince.
Those rides through Hyde Park, including the famous “Rotten Row,” frequented by upper-class Londoners during the 18th and 19th centuries, were one instance of a physical connection to history that made studying in London so unique.
It’s a city that proves how tradition and innovation can coexist despite being objectively conflictive. I didn’t just read about the Romans’ settlement of the area, I actually touched their original walls from 200 AD, then took a photo of them with my phone.
I climbed to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral and looked at a skyline shared by the Tower of London, built in the 1070s, and the Shard, built in 2007 with over 50 percent recycled material. I watched a production of Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra” in the iconic Globe Theater also performed in sign language to increase its accessibility.
In London, I lived in the past, I lived in the present, and I lived in the future.
Time now feels more like a tangled ball of yarn instead of a straight line. As Professor Levenson said,
“There’s always a birth. We always have to figure out what to do with our energies.”
In William Blake’s poem, “London,” he refers to “mind forg’d manacles.” Entering 2025, I am trying to continue to take life by the horns, with no manacles of what I think I can or cannot do to limit me.
Ali Patusky has been writing for Country ZEST since her sophomore year at Fauquier High School.
Photo by Leonard Shapiro
Ali and her mom, Kiernan Patusky, back home in Virginia
Ali Patusky at London’s Tower Bridge.
THANK YOU
For helping us provide Safe, Decent, and Affordable Housing to roughly 14%+ of the population of Middleburg, Marshall, and The Plains.
1 6 % o f t h e h o u s i n g i n M i d d l e b u r g , V A 7 % o f t h e h o u s i n g i n M a r s h a l l , V A 2 0 % o f t h e h o u s i n g i n T h e P l a i n s , V A 1 6 %
Thanks to YOU - in 2024 we...
P r o v i d e d $ 5 0 , 0 0 0 + i n f i n a n c i a l a i d t o 1 0 r e s i d e n t s : 6 c h i l d r e n , 1 t e e n a g e r , a n d 3 a d u l t s
R e n o v a t e d a n d r e f u r b i s h e d f o u r C o t t a g e s , o u r o r i g i n a l W i n d y H i l l h o m e s i n M i d d l e b u r g
R e s p o n d e d t o e m e r g e n c y r e q u e s t s t o e n s u r e t h a t b a s i c n e e d s a r e m e t a n d t h a t n o o n e h a s t o
c h o o s e b e t w e e n n e c e s s i t i e s
W e l o o k f o r w a r d t o w o r k i n g w i t h o u r e x t r a o r d i n a r y c o m m u n i t y o f r e s i d e n t s a n d s u p p o r t e r s t o
f u r t h e r W i n d y H i l l ’ s m i s s i o n o f p r o v i d i n g s a f e , d e c e n t h o u s i n g t o o u r u n d e r r e s o u r c e d n e i g h b o r s .
R e a d m o r e a b o u t o u r W i n d y H i l l p r o j e c t s i n o u r 2 0 2 4 A n n u a l
R e p o r t : w i n d y h i l l f o u n d a t i o n . o r g / f i n a n c i a l s o r b y s c a n n i n g t h e Q R c o d e
ve the Date Sip and Soirée h, 2025, 6:00-8:00pm amander Resort & Spa 00 N Pendleton St. Middleburg, VA
There’s A Story Behind Every Pen
By Leonard Shapiro
It began for Michael Hardin when someone gave him a broken seat once occupied by countless fan fannies in historic Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.
Hardin is the founder and owner of Hardin Penworks now based in Middleburg. He recently moved his business from his garage and basement at his South Riding home into the Pendleton Street complex that once housed J.R. Snider Plumbing. Hardin’s office is there. His workshop is there. And so are many of the historic materials he uses to hand craft custom writing pens.
Many of Hardin’s pens are made from the wood in old stadium or arena seats, or bats once used by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, or a piece of the famous parquet basketball court where the Celtics played in the old Boston Garden.
Washingtonians might definitely be interested in pens made of seats taken out of long-gone Griffith Stadium and soon to be demolished RFK Stadium. This University of Wisconsin alum asked Hardin if he had any wood from Camp Randall Stadium, the Badgers football facility, and of course the answer was “yes I do.”
even exist any more. I make a couple hundred pens a year and I also sell the wood to other pen makers.”
According to his website, hardinpenworks.com, “we put a lot of effort into searching the world for fine and interesting materials to create pens with stories that last a lifetime. The bottom line: a good pen never goes out of style, so we work hard to ensure our pens stand up to the test of time.”
Hardin described himself as a woodworking hobbyist going back to his high school days in his native Arkansas. He’s a Navy veteran and put those skills to use when he created wooden “shadow boxes” for retiring soldiers and sailors to store their military memorabilia.
He purchased a lathe after he was discharged and continued making the boxes as well as designing and producing custom made pens. He now has a thriving on-line business. Depending on the style and material used, most pens are priced in the $50 to $100 range but some can be considerably more expensive.
He has a day job as an IT specialist and making pens initially started as more of a hobby. But he now has something of a cult following and said his pen sales last year exceeded his regular salary, one reason he was looking for larger quarters to expand this ever-growing side gig.
“I’ve acquired wood one way or the other from 223 stadiums and representing over 250 professional teams,” said Hardin, 47. “They came from places that were knocked down or were being renovated and some don’t
“One day I just might retire and do the pen stuff,” he said. “That’s the plan.”
Photo by Crowell Hadden
Mark Hardin is the owner of Hardin Penworks on Pendleton Street in Middleburg. The stadium chair on top of the barrel is 200 years old.
Linda Spencer: Still Caring Deeply After 45 Years
By Chip Newcome
Aquick Google search will tell you that the median amount of time people stay at a job these days is 4.1 years. Linda Spencer, an indispensable do-it-all administrator at Countryside Family Practice in Marshall, definitely breaks from the median. Her start date at Countryside was June 1, 1979, just over 45 years ago.
A graduate of the University of Virginia’s School of Radiology, Spencer is a Registered Technologist in Radiology (RTR). She began her career working at Fauquier Hospital, where she also met a young physician, Dr. Norris Royston.
“I remember I was called in one night to work and we worked together closely that evening,” she said. “He said to me ‘I have an opening. Why don’t you come work for me?’” She had great respect for Dr. Royston, a long-time practitioner and area native, and thought it would be a good opportunity to work with him.
Clearly, it was an easy decision “and I said, ‘OK!’” Now, 45 years later, she’s still enjoying her time at Countryside, both working with the staff, including Dr. Royston and Dr. Robert Houska, and providing the patients with the best possible care.
“We’ve always given the best medical care,” she said.
And the secret to the length of her tenure at the practice?
“I like working with patients, and medicine, and
working with good people,” she said. “You’ve got to pick a place to work, and make certain that’s where your heart is.”
Her advice for young people just starting out in a
career is simple: find the right place to work, choose the right career path, the right people, and you will find longevity.
And her advice to someone starting out in the medical field?
“When you start this position, you need to do the very best,” she said. “You need to strive to do a step more that what is expected of you. And if this is not where you want to be, and this is not what you like to do, you shouldn’t stay. You should move on and do what is right for you.”
At nearly 70 years young, she continues to perform X-Rays, even though her “official” title is practice administrator. She’s also received her certification as a Certified Medical Office Manager, with official duties that include payroll, taxes, payables, billing, and “anything and all that would be needed to run a medical practice.”
She also oversees the staff and of course, she works with what she described as both “wonderful and knowledgeable doctors….caring people.”
But her unofficial duties are many.
“Some days,” she said, “I’m sitting all day working on administration needs and some days I’m moving all day. If you could work at any medical practice, anywhere, this is the best place to work. They aren’t just co-workers, they are family. Everyone is treated as part of the family. We really care about each other.”
Details: For more information about Countryside Family Practice, visit their website at www.cfpdocs.com.
Since 1957
Dealers and Appraisers for Fine Antique Firearms, Edged Weapons & Armor
Recipient of the United States Department of the Interior Citation for Public Service
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.
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
Linda Spencer
BOOKS STILL MATTER HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
By Hunt Lyman
As readers of this column know, I often champion the benefits of technological advances.
While social media and artificial intelligence (AI) present significant challenges and dangers, I wouldn’t trade the conveniences of modern tech for the typewriters with sticky keys I used in college. However, as we embrace these innovations, we must not let shiny new tools overshadow one of humanity’s most transformative and enduring technologies: books.
Hunt Lyman
My concern arises from several recent articles, particularly one in the October issue of The Atlantic titled, “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books,” with the subtitle, “To Read a Book in College, It Helps to Have Read a Book in High School.”
In the piece, Rose Horowitz explores a growing trend: students at prestigious universities struggle to follow the details and plot of longer works, such as “Pride and Prejudice.” The reason? Many have never read a book of comparable length or complexity.
Horowitz points to multiple causes, including a shift in middle and high school curricula driven by standardized testing. These tests focus on short passages and poems, leaving little room for full-length novels.
I’ve seen this trend first hand when I ask high school students what they’re currently studying. Far too often, they struggle to name a major work they’ve read in the past year.
Certainly many reasons are rooted in the many screens that now fill all our lives, particularly those of young people. The human brain is stimulated by the light, sounds, and movement of devices; opening a book does not entice us immediately or in the same way.
I endorse the linguist S.I. Hayakawa’s belief that reading books provides unique benefits by fostering empathy and critical thinking, ultimately leading to a deeper life.
Books have profoundly enriched my life; they help me grasp experiences and viewpoints far removed from my reality. I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t immersed in at least one full-length book. For me, reading is an essential part of my daily life.
Scout Finch, the narrator of Harper Lee’s 1960 classic “To Kill a Mockingbird,” captures this sentiment when she reflects on her own reading: “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
I’m fortunate to work at a school where free-choice reading is prioritized, from early childhood through adolescence. Becoming a reader takes time and pages; just as mileage matters for runners, there are no shortcuts to building skilled, passionate readers.
We must ensure that the wonders of technology—be it AI, the internet, or any digital innovation—don’t overshadow the miraculous power of books. Through the simple technology of black marks on white pages, we can share in the thoughts and emotions of people who may live thousands of miles away, or have lived thousands of years ago, or may even inhabit entirely fictional worlds. How extraordinary that we can form deep connections with characters born in an author’s imagination and bond with others who love the same characters and stories. Books connect real people in deep ways that transcend time and space. While I marvel at AI’s ability to write a Shakespearean sonnet about a hamburger, I also know that AI can never generate Shakespeare’s deep insights.
To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, Shakespeare will never be made by the absorption of Shakespeare. Books remain our most timeless tool for understanding and advancing the human experience.
Hunt Lyman is academic dean at The Hill School in Middleburg and has been teaching English since 1984.
At Atelier, Surprise, Delight And Whimsy
By Leslie VanSant
From the point of entry, shoppers wander the showroom, from one stylish area to another featuring furniture, accessories, light fixtures and more. The walls are painted or papered to give the feeling of unique individual rooms, despite the lack of structures dividing the shop.
Atelier Design at 13 West Washington in Middleburg was established in 2019 by Terri Pakravan to provide a brick and mortar location for her already successful interior design business. A graduate of the well-known and respected New York School of Interior Design, Pakravan has designed homes for clients from New England to Florida and many places in between.
Her approach to design blends “the architecture and the client to understand what each will bring in (to the project),” she said. And this is reflected throughout the store. The entry is dominated by statement wall with a bold designed modern wall paper.
“This paper not only makes a statement,” she added, “but it is forgiving when a wall isn’t completely straight.”
French prints of women adorn the wall, their simplicity complementing the robust design of the wallpaper. A classic leather desk features jewelry and small holiday gift items fill out the space. One display includes soft cushy slippers— whimsical and fun. A cozy dog bed rests on the floor waiting for a tired pup to lay down and curl up.
The next room is painted a dark green that perfectly offsets the art and furniture. In the center, a comfortable couch and feathered light fixture are accented by Asian accessories. Tucked away in what used to be the dressing rooms when Tully Rector’s shop was located in the same space, there’s a bright blue breakfast bar or informal dining room anchored by a blue bench and table.
You can imagine yourself feeling right at home with each turn. Pakravan does this through the furniture and the accessories velvet throw pillows and interesting art, including an iridescent blue butterfly in glass.
Houses have to also be homes. Pakravan said she considers all residents with her design approach as well as use. In Middleburg, she often suggests fabrics and colors that are pet friendly. “If the family dog or cat is allowed on the furniture,” she said, “you want to be sure that the fabric can hold up while looking as good as possible.”
Of course, the shop is also home to various sundries that make excellent hostess gifts, including the Carspari napkins, long a mainstay as the go-to brand in Middleburg.
Early’s Carpet, Inc.
Home of the Centrifuge Rug Cleaning Method
ene ts of Centrifuge Rug Cleaning
1. Prevents issues like discoloration, deformation, and unpleasant odors.
2. Helps maintain rug quality and appearance.
3. The power action of the Centrifuge ensures that deep seated dirt, debris and contaminants are effortlessly removed leaving rugs cleaner and rejuvenated.
Step by step overview of the Centrifuge Rug Cleaning process at Early’s Carpet in Amissville, VA
1.Inspection: The rug is thoroughly inspected for stains, damages, and any special cleaning requirements. This helps in determining the best cleaning approach.
2.Dusting: The rug is vacuumed by a machine that removes loose dirt and dust particles. This step is crucial as it ensures that the washing process is more effective.
3.Pre-treatment: Stains and heavily soiled areas are treated with appropriate cleaning agents to break down dirt and grime.
4.Washing: The rug is washed using a combination of manual and machine methods. This typically involves soaking the rug in water and using gentle brushes to clean the bers.
5.Rinsing: The rug is thoroughly rinsed to remove all soap and cleaning
agents. This step ensures that no residues are left behind.
6.Centrifuge Drying: The rug is placed in the centrifuge machine, which spins at high speeds until the water runs clear and extracts up to of the water. This signi cantly reduces the drying time.
7.Final Drying: The rug is then hung in a controlled drying room with proper ventilation to ensure it dries completely. This helps prevent mold and mildew.
8.Final Inspection: nce dry, the rug undergoes a nal inspection to ensure it meets quality standards.
9.Packaging: The rug is carefully packaged for delivery or storage, ensuring it remains clean and protected until it reaches the customer. Bring Early’s your soiled rugs for cleaning.
At NPCF, It’s All About Paying It Forward
By Jodi Nash
Start with the basics, like exactly what is a community foundation?
Simply put, it’s a tax-exempt, non-profit philanthropic institution, publicly supported by individuals, families, businesses and a number of other charitable organizations, which aspires to enhance the quality of life for underserved populations in a local region.
Northern Piedmont Community Foundation (NPCF) based in Warrenton does this by building a permanent endowment fund, managed by primary investment professionals; returns from these funds are then invested back into the community through a variety of grant cycles, scholarships, and programs. First conceived by Cleveland banker and lawyer Frederick Geoff in 1914, he came up with the idea of a “community trust,” where the charitable resources of Cleveland’s philanthropists (living and dead), were pooled “into a single, great and permanent endowment for the betterment of the city.” The interest earned on these funds was then distributed to meet the city’s evolving needs.
While both public and private foundations (like The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or Coca Cola Foundation) serve the public, they’re distinct in how they’re funded.
Pubic foundations must secure a significant portion of their revenue from a base of relatively small and diverse donors, while “private” foundations are funded by a single source (an individual, family or business entity). Additionally public foundations are simpler to set up and provide favorable tax benefits to the donor.
NPCF was founded in 2000 by nine concerned citizens from Virginia’s Piedmont region, who were seeking a way to meet the charitable needs of Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison and Rappahannock Counties.
From a modest start, it now manages 150 different funds, with assets of $42 million in support of local charities and community needs.
Retired in December. of 2024, Jane Bowling-Wilson, Executive Director of NPCF for a decade, described their mission in distilled terms as “get, grow and give. I call it ‘the get’ when we first acquire funds from someone. Then we ‘grow’ their money through strategic investment. Finally, we ‘give’ through competitive grants or scholarships to worthy recipients. It’s about serving others where there is real need.”
There are five basic fund types for donors to consider when initially giving funds to NPCF. Donor Advised Funds (DAF) for maximum flexibility in what a donor supports; Field of Interest Funds which focus on a broad area of interest (i.e. the arts, education, childcare, healthcare); Designated Agency Funds where a specific organization (i.e. the SPCA, Boys and Girls Club, a
“They learn what a non-profit is, why they exist, the historical origins of philanthropy, how hard it is to be fair in matching needs to funds, and how to read an IRS Form 990.”
– Jane Bowling-Wilson, Executive Director of NPCF
church or garden club) is supported; Unrestricted Funds, which support the most pressing needs of a community based on NPCF’s extensive evaluation; and Scholarship Funds.
NPCF currently manages 49 scholarship funds and 54 Donor Advised Funds. (The other fund types comprise the remainder). The objective is to address the four counties’ overall needs around shelter, animal care, food scarcity, education, and healthcare.
For those applying for a grant or scholarship for a community-based organization or program, it’s a robust competitive process with a set of grant guidelines and eligibility requirements which must be met and vetted by NPCF staff.
“The upside of us managing donor funds is we make sure the return goes where the donor wants,” Bowling-Wilson said.”Our approach to the market is conservative, long-term, and our bench mark is a 6.5 percent return on investment (with $10,000 the minimum amount of a donation).”
Warmly enthusiastic as a past educator, BowlingWilson was instrumental in creating the Youth in Philanthropy (YIP) leadership program, which provides teenagers with hand-on experience in philanthropic giving.
Started three years ago, it’s a four-county
opportunity for young people from both public and private schools to learn about altruistic giving for a positive local impact.
“They learn what a non-profit is, why they exist, the historical origins of philanthropy, how hard it is to be fair in matching needs to funds, and how to read an IRS Form 990,” Bowling-Wilson said.
YIP provides guidance, money, and mentorship to them in directly funding (through an application process) a local non-profit. Students are exposed to interview techniques, data analysis, governance, budget management, and learn to work collaboratively to problem solve.
“At the end,” she said, “we have a performance for parents, sponsors (like PATH) and NPCF Board members where they demonstrate what they’ve learned.”
Bowling-Wilson clearly has been a force of nature. Under her tenure, NPCF’s assets grew from $9 million to $42 million. Part of managing the succession plan for NPCF, Jane is confident about veteran non-profit leader Jim LaGraffe’s ability to spearhead the next chapter.
“He was executive director of Encompass Community Supports,” she said. “He’ll be excellent.” At NPCF, it’s all about paying it forward. Literally.
A number of students in Fauquier County have been involved in the popular Youth in Philanthropy program.
MODERN FINANCE
A Power Play Thanks to AI
By Philip Dudley
The rapid advancement and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly increasing global power demands, with projections indicating a substantial uptick in the coming years. According to multiple analyses and forecasts, AI’s energy consumption is set to escalate dramatically, posing both challenges and opportunities for energy providers and policymakers.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that AI could increase global electricity demand by up to five percent by 2025, adding over 80 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually. This surge is primarily driven by the energy-intensive processes of training and inference in AI models, which require high-performance computing (HPC) systems to manage vast data sets and complex calculations.
Goldman Sachs and Boston Consulting Group have both projected that by 2030, AI could account for three to four percent of global power demand, with data centers alone potentially consuming 7.5
percent of total U.S. electricity by the same year, up from about two percent in 2022.
In the U.S., the electricity demand from data centers, a significant portion of which is now being driven by AI, is expected to more than double over the next decade. This growth is not only due to AI but also due to other factors like the electrification of industries and the adaption of electric vehicles. However, the concentration of data centers in specific regions, like Northern Virginia, has already led to noticeable increases in local power consumption, with some areas experiencing a 37 percent rise in commercial power use from 2016 to 2023.
Data centers, which are pivotal in housing the hardware that supports AI, are themselves evolving to meet these demands. Traditional data centers are seeing their power consumption rates increase with the advent of AI-specific hardware that can consume up to three times the power of standard server racks. This has led to discussions about enhancing power infrastructure, including the need for new technology in power converters and more efficient data center layouts.
The environmental impact of this power demand is significant. With AI potentially consuming energy comparable to that of entire countries, there’s a
push towards sustainable energy solutions. Major tech companies are investing in renewable energy sources, like wind, solar, and even nuclear power, to offset their growing needs.
However, the current infrastructure’s capacity to handle such an increase in demand is under scrutiny, with concerns about grid reliability, especially in regions where power plants are being retired without sufficient replacements.
Looking forward, the power demands from AI are expected to influence policy, investment in energy infrastructure, and innovation in energy-efficient technologies. The focus is not only on increasing supply but also on optimizing usage through AI applications that can manage energy more efficiently, like shifting high-energy tasks to off-peak hours. This dual role of AI, as both a consumer and a potential enhancer of energy efficiency, underscores the nuanced challenge at hand.
In summary, the forecasted power demand for AI reflects a complex scenario where technological advancement meets the finite capacity of current energy systems. Balancing this demand with sustainable practices and infrastructure development will be crucial for the sustainable evolution of AI technologies.
Philip Dudley
“Goose”, watercolor by Courtney Walker Ratting Terrier, oil, English
Terrier and Spaniel, oil, English
Ratting Terrier, oil, English
Spaniel with Pheasant, oil, English
Man Teaching Water Dog to Retrieve, 1884, oil by Francis Sartorius
Two terriers, oil, English
Muster Lane, oil, by Wally Nall
LINDA CONTI: Hill’s Semi-Retiring Beloved Educator, Artist
By Leonard Shapiro
Anyone fortunate enough to know Linda Conti as a friend or colleague over the years also knew all too well that when she “retired” after 29 years teaching art and so much more at The Hill School in Middleburg, no way would she be kicking back, putting her feet up and resting on her considerable laurels.
The latest honor came her way in November when the Virginia Art Education Association (VAEA) announced that she had been named a Distinguished Fellow, a member recognized for their extraordinary service and contributions to the organization and Virginia art education. She also has been named the VAEA Art Educator for 2025.
According to the VAEA, the Distinguished Fellow designation “recognizes her outstanding contributions to the field of art education….and honors her dedication, innovative practices, and commitment to fostering artistic growth among students and educators alike.
“Anyone who has spent time with Linda quickly recognizes her infectious enthusiasm for art and education,” said Scott Russell, VAEA’s Fellows Nominations Chair. “She lives and breathes her craft, channeling her vast knowledge into vibrant classroom experiences that ignite her students’ creativity. Her innovative culture studies are particularly notable, providing students with meaningful explorations that enhance their artistic journeys.”
And despite retiring at the end of the 2024 school year, true to form, she still has a full plate these days revolving around her lifelong love of art and education.
Even before the current school year began,Hill Head of School Treavor Lord asked her to help out with Hill’s annual three day “culture study”—a schoolwide program that focuses in on a single country, from art, to music, to dance, to history to, politics, to geography and on and on. This year, they’re studying Argentina, and she’s been working part-time with Hill faculty and students to prepare for the event.
“I’m really trying not to work that many hours,” she said, “but it’s great fun to still have that connection and to see and be around the kids.”
And some of her former colleagues, as well.
Conti has already organized regular meetings at her home in Philomont with more than a dozen now retired past Hill teachers and administrators. They meet for coffee, cookies, and plenty of story-swapping. Attendees include Hill Head of School Emeritus Tom Northrup, the man who first hired her in 1996 to what she described as “a part time teaching job, but every time I met with him, he added more hours and gave me raises.”
She’s been diligently cleaning out her home studio, where she has always produced her own art, including her long-time passion—photography. She keeps discovering past unfinished work that she now has a bit more time to revisit, revise and finish. And, oh yes, she’s also volunteering at the Middleburg Seven Loaves food bank, keeping tabs on her four adult children and three grandchildren and of course, staying very active in the VAEA.
Conti has been an active member of the organization for many years in a variety of positions that included serving as regional president before moving
on to state level leadership as VAEA secretary, vice president, and four years as president, followed by two more years as a board member.
According to Russell, she has played “a critical role in representing independent schools within the VAEA community. By serving as a bridge between independent art educators and the association, she has effectively communicated the resources available to them, fostering greater inclusivity within the membership…Her unwavering dedication has ensured that the VAEA remains a vital resource for art educators and students alike.”
As a Distinguished Fellow, Conti will join an esteemed group of educators recognized for their exceptional achievements and leadership in the field. Said Russell, “this will enable her to further promote art education initiatives, collaborate with fellow educators, and contribute to the development of future leaders in the arts.”
Her own long-time philosophy of educating her students has always served her well in all areas of her life.
“Sometimes,” she said, “the best thing is to have a spectacular failure. But I’ve always wanted my students to take a chance, and even if it fails, you really do learn. They may have tried this, but it went too far, so let’s go back and try something else. It gives kids some bravery. They know they can take a chance, and they’ll learn the skills to make it right.
“It’s strange being retired,” she added, “but it’s great fun to still have that connection with the school. And I still plan to add to the world.”
For Linda Conti, there could be no other way.
Linda Conti and a Conti original in the background.
MARTINGALE RIDGE
.44 acres | $1,995,000
Middleburg – Care free living within the 340-acre, 5-Star Salamander Resort. Move-in ready modern farmhouse features a minimalistic approach that blends rustic elements with contemporary design.
Don’t
IMPROVED PRICE COMMERCIAL
503 W. WASHINGTON
Middleburg – Located on the west side of town, this 4 BR / 3.5 BA home is set back from the road on a knoll–the setting feels private and serene. Easily within walking distance to the village.
17 S. MADISON
.07 acres | $1,550,000
Middleburg – Two commercial store fronts and four residential rental units. 3 private parking spaces. Loads of charm with a stone and stucco front, + large picture windows ideal for displays.
IMPROVED PRICE
for and is move-in ready.
4 CHESTNUT ST. .28 acres | $650,000
Middleburg – Diamond in the rough! 2 BR/1 BA rambler on .28 acres, divided into two independent parcels that are fully approved by the town. Offered together or separate.
Friends and followers of the Piedmont Fox Hounds gathered to celebrate The Second Annual Twelfth Night of Christmas at Buchanan Hall
Shelby Bonnie and Kristiane Pellegrino
Cricket Bedford, Chris Baker and Carolyn Hendrickson
A bevy of beauties from the sponsors of the Small Animal Clinic at Piedmont Vet
Laird George and Natalie Wales.
George Kuk, Devon Zebrovious chatting with Glen Epstein.
Erica Tergeson and Charlie McCann
Claude Schoch and Rob Banner
Daphne Alcock with John Ryan and Mckenzie Hicks
Heritage Farm Museum Plants the Seeds of History
By Joe Motheral
The Heritage Farm Museum at Claude Moore Park in Sterling offers visitors a comprehensive farming history of Loudoun County.
Executive Director Annie Marie Chirieleison brings an extensive historical background to the museum. She majored in history at James Madison University. After graduation, she worked at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, then became the education director at the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association in Atoka.
One of the museum’s exhibits focuses on a German immigrant named George Bodner, who came to the U.S. sometime in the early 19th century. Chirieleison said, “the Bodners set up a wagon wheel repair shop in Aldie right on the turnpike. The house is still standing just after the Mill on the right headed west.”
Long-time Aldie resident Tucker Withers and his wife Marianne lived across the street from the old wagon shop. Withers said he was able to “reclaim a lot of the Bodner materials, including the working objects such as an auger and tar bucket.” Many of the exhibit’s artifacts are on loan from Withers.
Other farming exhibits from Loudoun County include “farms owned by indigenous Americans who lived in this area for thousands of years,” Chirieleison said, adding that many of the related artifacts were dug up by plowing later on. “One collection we have is from the Jenkins family, dug up artifacts actually spanning a good 10,000 years of history.”
Chirieleison said the indigenous Native Americans were originally hunters and gatherers, then became cultivators and finally farmers.
“This winter we’ll be opening our Revolutionary War history here in Loudoun, she said. “In 1775 and 1776 famers went on a rebel strike.”
The museum has records written by George Washington’s farm manager saying that the first battle of the war would be in Virginia because of the striking farmers.
“It’s interesting looking into the experience when all of the trade (with England, etc.) was disrupted,” Chirieleison said. “Our founding fathers, who were all landlords, were trying to pull more income to fund the Revolutionary War itself.”
She added that many farmers were “between a rock and a hard place. They were pro-revolution but couldn’t make ends meet.”
The museum plays host to many families, and children can actually experience milking on a life-sized
cow and visit a replica of the Waxpool General Store, which closed in 1943.
“They can actually walk into the store,” she said. “You can see groceries and know where they got their crackers. Where did they get things like pen ink or trousers, for example.”
The museum also is planning to increase the number of gardens— “Farming gardens, Community gardens, and interpretive gardens,” Chirieleison said. “As a farm museum, it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t have something growing.”
The museum opened in 2003 and is a nonprofit organization funded by memberships, grants, donations and recently with funds from Loudoun County. Claude Moore Park is a large expanse of land with ball fields, tennis courts, a gym, and swimming pools.
“Claude Moore was a doctor in World War I, a single man who bought up a lot of property here in Loudoun and Fairfax,” Chirieleison said. “He lived on this property. When he died, he left it to the National Wildlife Federation, which planned to sell the land to developers. Loudoun County stepped in and bought it.”
With the fascinating Heritage Farm Museum soon to follow.
Photos by Joe Motheral Museum director Annie Marie Chirieleison.
The Heritage Farm Museum in Sterling.
JUNO FARM:
Pristine, Protected Land in Marshall
Nestled in the heart of the Orange County Hunt territory, Juno Farm offers an unparalleled opportunity to own 163 acres of pristine, protected land in Marshall, Virginia.
SOME DETAILS:
• 100 acres of open hay fields that are ideal for hay production, livestock or farmland.
• 60+ acres of mature forest featuring white oaks, hickory, and walnut trees.
• A large fishing pond with an island, a smaller pond for waterfowl, and year-round springs running throughout the property and wetlands.
This extraordinary property, located along the historic and scenic Atoka Road just north of Rectortown, perfectly balances natural beauty and functional versatility, making it an ideal haven for equestrian enthusiasts, nature lovers, and those seeking a private retreat.
The wooded portion of the land includes towering white oaks, hickory, and walnut trees to create a natural buffer and canopy the riding trails offering easy access to nature and abundant wildlife habitat.
There are two notable ponds—one quite large and ideal for fishing, the other that attracts diverse waterfowl. The property’s multiple year-round springs further enhance its charm, ensuring a lush landscape throughout the seasons.
The wetlands on the property uniquely provide an additional opportunity for a conservation-minded buyer. Juno Farm also is a dream for equestrians, with its vast open and rolling topography, privacy, existing trails, and the ability to design comprehensive equestrian facilities within the large building envelope.
• Mountain views and privacy, with expansive vistas and a peaceful setting in a very desirable location.
Juno Farm is protected under a Land Trust of Virginia conservation easement, with its natural beauty safeguarded for generations to come. The conservation easement does allow for the construction of a private residential compound and the natural building site provides a stunning setting, including views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The property can not be divided. This thoughtful stewardship preserves the land’s ecological integrity while allowing for the construction of a residential compound and state-of-the-art equestrian facilities, including an indoor arena and other amenities.
Juno Farm is a blank canvas ready for your vision. Whether you’re planning an equestrian facility, a private estate, or a nature-focused retreat, this gorgeous land offers the space and flexibility to make it your own.
The expansive fishing pond with an island in the middle.
There are 100 acres of open hay fields that would be ideal for hay production, livestock or farmland.
A typical view—field and forest, with the Blue Ridge as a backdrop.
The Remarkable Story Of An Unlikely War Hero
By Marc Leepson
Alittle-known fact about the Vietnam War: 271 U.S. Navy sailors were lost at sea in the waters off the coast of Vietnam from 1965-73. A good portion were thrown overboard during fires and explosions. Scores of others went over the side by accident, by malfeasance, or by their own desire to end it all.
Only one American sailor during the long war in Vietnam, however, went into the drink and wound up in a Prisoner of War camp in Hanoi: Seaman Apprentice Douglas Brent Hegdahl.
The incredible Vietnam War story of Doug Hegdahl, the youngest and lowest-ranking American POW captured in North Vietnam, began at around 4:30 a.m. on April 6, 1967. That’s when Hegdahl, 20, lay wide awake in his bunk below decks on the U.S.S. Canberra, a guided missile cruiser patrolling the coast of North Vietnam.
He was working a blue-collar job on the Canberra , a World War II-vintage guided missile cruiser patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin. As an ammunition handler, he was a tiny cog in the ship’s Deck Division, the guys who did the grunt work, including swabbing the decks, painting everything that didn’t move, scrubbing toilets in the heads, and humping ammo.
Zero dark thirty that morning. Doug Hegdahl struggled to get some sleep on his triple bunk mattress as the Canberra’s guns bombarded enemy positions more than a dozen miles away. He’d heard those guns blasting away at night when he’d humped the shells and powder kegs below decks. But he’d never seen them in action. And guys who had seen night firing told him it was an amazing sight.
So, Hegdahl decided to take a look for himself. He slowly rolled his six-foot, 225-pound body out of his cramped bunk, and made his way to the gun line to take in his first night bombardment. He walked
Here is an excerpt from Marc Leepson’s new book,TheUnlikelyWarHero:
A Vietnam War POW’s Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton, the story of Navy Seaman Apprentice Doug Hegdahl, the youngest and lowest-ranking American captured in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War—and his incredible POW story.
At great personal risk, the 21-year-old memorized the names of 254 fellow prisoners and, after coming home in August 1969, shocked his debriefers by rattling off the names of the men, their ranks, and services. Hanoi had admitted holding only a few dozen, although the U.S. had reliable intelligence on scores of others. With Hegdahl’s names, 63 missing servicemen were reclassified from Missing in Action to Prisoners of War.
closer and closer to the booming guns along the narrow, teak wood deck. There was not a sailor in sight. The guns began roaring as he headed toward one of the massive eight-inch gun mounts.
“And the next thing I remember I was in the water,” Hegdahl later said, “and I can’t tell you how I fell from my ship. All I know is, I walked up on the deck, it was dark and they were firing, and the next thing I recall I was in the water.”
Said water being the Gulf of Tonkin. Just the clothes on his back—no life preserver, no ID, no glasses. He screamed for help as loudly as he could. But it was pitch dark, the guns were roaring, and not a soul was on deck. After about four hours in the water, exhaustion set in. He knew he couldn’t stay afloat much longer.
Then Doug Hegdahl heard faint voices and an object closing in on him. He looked up and saw Vietnamese men on a primitive fishing boat. “It looked like a Viking ship coming through the swells,” Hegdahl later said. He managed to raise his arms. They saw him, hauled him in, brought him to the shore—and turned him over to the North Vietnamese Army.
“I didn’t think of myself as being captured,” Doug Hegdahl later said. “I thought of myself being rescued.” It was “probably the most embarrassing capture in the entire Vietnam War.”
Two days after being pulled out of the sea, Doug Hegdahl found himself in the infamous Hỏa L ò (“WHA-low”) POW camp, the one U.S. prisoners sarcastically referred to as the Hanoi Hilton. The youngest American prisoner captured in North Vietnam, and the lowest-ranking imprisoned American there, he would be held for more than two years.
But after Doug Hegdahl come home in 1969, the young South Dakotan wrote his way into the Vietnam War history books.
About Marc Leepson
Journalist, historian, and long-time Middleburg resident Marc Leepson has written eleven books. His latest, The Unlikely War Hero, the story of the youngest and lowest-ranking American captured in North Vietnam and held in the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War, came out on December 17 (see excerpt) with a bang, selling out the first printing and becoming the No. 1 bestselling Vietnam War History book on Amazon.
A former staff writer for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, Marc has written eleven books, including Saving Monticello, Lafayette: Idealist General, What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, a Life, and Flag: An American Biography, and edited the Webster’s New World Dictionary of the Vietnam War. He also has written for many magazines and newspapers, including the Washington Post, New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal; and has contributed to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Americana, and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.
He is Senior Writer, Arts Editor and columnist for The VVA Veteran, the magazine published by Vietnam Veterans of America. From 2008-15 he taught U.S. history at Laurel Ridge Community College in Warrenton.
Marc graduated from George Washington University in 1967. He was then drafted into the Army and served for two years, including a year in the Vietnam War. After his honorable discharge, he went on to earn a Master’s Degree in history from GW in 1971.
He says that the biggest thing that’s happened to him and his wife Janna this century was the birth of his identical twin granddaughters, Daisy Simms and Nollie Alford, on May 14, 2024.
Paul Cronin, A Classic Rider Gone Away
By Emily Ristau
Paul David Cronin--father, teacher, mentor, avid equestrian and dear friend—was a native New Englander at heart and a Virginian by choice for most of his remarkable life.
A Middleburg resident who passed away on December 29 at age 86, Paul personified the word gentleman. He was reserved, private, philanthropic, thoughtful and kind and always seemed to have a twinkle in his eye.
He was great company, enjoying a good joke and kindly poking fun at his friends. He also was fiercely independent and lived life to the fullest until the end, enjoying the home in the village of Middleburg he shared with his beloved golden lab, Rody.
A lifelong equestrian, Paul grew up in Massachusetts, where he trained and showed horses and was an avid foxhunter. After receiving his Masters in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, he served for four years in the U.S. Navy from 196064 where he earned the rank of lieutenant, and later remained as a reserve.
A lifelong teacher, Paul was the head instructor and director of riding at Sweet Briar College in Amherst County, Virginia for 34 years and was designated as a Professor Emeritus there until the end of his life.
After retiring from Sweet Briar in 2002, Paul moved to an idyllic farm in Rectortown with his beloved late wife, Ann. Both Ann and Paul were enthusiastic followers of the Orange County Hounds and Paul credited his purchase of a second truck and trailer with keeping the peace in his family.
The two rigs allowed Paul to arrive at a meet early to prep his horse and Ann to arrive separately, just before the hounds moved off, after finishing her coffee in the warmth of their home. Brilliant!
Paul was an elegant rider, always on a beautifully turned out, perfectly schooled horse. He was a regular in the hunt field and served for several years as a hardworking member of the Orange County Hounds Board of Stewards.
I first met him in the hunt field on his lovely grey horse, Laddie, shortly after I moved to Middleburg. I was immediately struck by his friendly, welcoming personality. While Paul was best known for training high-level riders who went on to become Olympic athletes (Lendon Gray), and working with fellow, accomplished trainers, he also selflessly helped riders at any level who hoped to improve their skills.
Riding with Paul occasionally could be a bit intimidating. He was clearly the professor in control of the classroom and did not take kindly to a lack of attention or the failure to follow direction. He was even known to quiz riders on matters found in his book, Riding and Schooling the Sporthorse
Paul was a master instructor who was happy to share his wealth of knowledge and delighted in seeing even the smallest improvement. As tough as he could be, he also was constantly encouraging and supportive, working hard to make sure every rider got some benefit from every session.
Paul was most proud of his two sons, Peter and David, and three granddaughters. And anyone who knew him well was proud to call him a dear friend.
Photo by Douglas Lees Paul Cronin
APPRECIATION
Carol Lee’s Legacy: Resolve and Passion
CBy Dulany Morison
arol Lee was an important part of my life, and I feel blessed for the time we had together. She was a leader and a visionary, who put her heart and soul into everything she believed in.
She spoke her mind and was a force of nature, a force for good. When she committed to something, she always delivered. She touched a vast range of people through her extensive community service, highly regarded catering, and historical research. Her work advocating for Willisville was nothing short of amazing. Carol was recognized as the village mayor for decades and played a principal role in convincing Loudoun County to install a running water and sewage treatment facility for Willisville over 20 years ago.
When my journey began with her in 2016, and I learned everything she wanted to do for the village, I was astounded by her aspirations. And over the last eight years, I watched her record success after success:
• Founding the Willisville Preservation Foundation
• Hosting two standing-room only gospel concert fundraisers
• Getting Willisville listed on the Virginia Register and National Register of Historic Places
• Installing an official historic road marker on
Route 50 honoring Willisville and its history
• Participating in several traveling Willisville exhibitions
• Installing new village signs on either side of Willisville to welcome visitors and residents
• Writing and publishing A Path Through Willisville, a comprehensive book on the history of the village and the families who lived there
She accomplished all of this despite incredible health challenges that would have sidelined most of us. But she pushed through the hard moments, never complaining and keeping her focus on the next step forward.
Whenever I encouraged her to take a break or asked if she was reaching too high, she always brushed me aside and said, “We have work to do.” She was one of the hardest workers and toughest ladies I have ever known. She was an inspiration.
After a book signing in October, I knew things had changed. Carol pulled me aside at the end of the evening and had a different tone in her voice.
“Dulany, I am tired,” she said, words I’d never heard her say before.
“Carol just get some rest and you will be your old self in a few days,” I told her. “You always bounce back.”
With no change in expression, she said again, “Dulany, I am tired.”
When I saw her in her final days, my message was
simple. I assured her everything was going to be okay and not to worry. That it was all right to let herself finally get some well-deserved rest. That she should be proud of her incredible achievements. That her legacy of leadership would stand alone in the history of our community and that we would celebrate her life and contributions for generations to come.
Her beautiful celebration of life in December was the first tribute to her amazing legacy and it brought to life the wide reach of her impact.
Carol used to tell me that I was her teacher. In reality, she was my teacher. She taught the value of making a difference, speaking your mind, and following your heart. The importance of resolve and passion. To stand by your beliefs and lead by example. To turn words into action. She lived by these principles to the very end, and I will remember them forever.
Though I miss her terribly and my drives through Willisville will never be the same, I am comforted to know she is no longer in pain and free from worry. That she has her energy again and is high above making a whole new round of to-do lists.
On behalf of all of us, Carol, thank you for everything. Thank you for being true to yourself to the very end. Thank you for bringing us along for the ride. We love you and we miss you and we will see you when God calls.
Photo by Vicky Moon Dulany Morison with Carol Lee.
Weight Loss for Health
By Mark Nemish
In my last article, I discussed the concept of being metabolically flexible in relation to good health. Metabolically flexible men and women typically have good aerobic capacity (VO2max) and present with a normal body weight and lean body composition.
The next few columns will discuss the need for many to lose weight, and more specifically body fat, with the intent to improve metabolic health. What’s an ideal weight? What should my body fat be? These questions need to be answered individually, using specific measures.
One of the crudest measures of determining an “ideal” weight is using Body Mass Index (BMI). Your BMI, a function of your weight and height, classifies you as either normal, overweight or obese. It’s a quick and easy measure, but doesn’t provide enough specific information to determine if your BMI puts you in a healthy range or not. For example, a heavily muscled individual may have a BMI that’s regarded as obese, even though his/her body fat is very low.
As a result, measuring your body composition is a more accurate way of determining if your weight is in a healthy range. One of the best means of determining this is through a Dexa Scan. The dexa scan will measure your total fat and muscle mass in addition to where on the body your fat and muscle is located. This will provide a more accurate measure of body composition. It will also tell you how much visceral fat (VAT) you have and what your bone mineral density (BMD) is.
Determining your VAT gives extremely important clues into how healthy or unhealthy you may be. VAT is fat that accumulates below your abdominal muscles and in unwanted areas of the body such as around your liver and possibly pancreas.
Significant VAT accumulation could be a sign of fat spillover from full subcutaneous fat stores into these unwanted areas of the body. The accumulation of VAT if unchecked can contribute to a variety of metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
Diabetes researcher Dr. Roy Taylor describes this fat spillover effect as the “Personal Fat Threshold,” and a sign of poor health. Knowing your BMD is also important especially for post-menopausal women who are at higher risks for osteoporosis.
After assessing your baseline body composition, the next step should be embarking on nutritional eating patterns to reduce body weight and improve body fat.
Determining a personal fat loss diet first begins with assessing your current diet. I suggest using a nutrition app such as Myfitnesspal to record your current nutritional intake. Assessing your nutritional intake will provide the baseline from which to make targeted changes in nutrition that result in fat loss.
Furthermore, certain blood biomarkers can provide additional clues for more targeted nutritional intervention. In my next column, I’ll discuss important nutritional patterns of eating that help to support healthy, long term weight loss.
Mark Nemish is the Owner/Director of Precision Health Performance, a business dedicated to optimizing the health and fitness of people in need of lifestyle change. He’s spent 30 years managing the health of athletes, including 22 years as head strength and conditioning coach for the Washington Capitals (2007-23) and Nashville Predators (1998-04) in the National Hockey League.
Mark Nemish and the Washington Capitals’ Stanley Cup.
• March 13 - 15: Special 3-day afternoon meet with all dirt races
• $500,000 Virginia Derby on Saturday, March 15 - to be run on dirt as a prep race for the Kentucky Derby
• 41-day summer thoroughbred meet runs from July 9 - September 13 every Wednesday through Saturday
• 2025 Festival of Racing is Saturday, August 9
(details at colonialdowns.com)
• Saturday, April 19: Middleburg Spring Races at Glenwood Park
• Saturday, April 26: Foxfield Spring Races in Charlottesville
• Saturday, May 3: Virginia Gold Cup Races at Great Meadow
• Point-to-Point meets take place on 7 different dates in March/April
(details at nationalsteeplechase.com)
• Racing every Saturday & Sunday at 1:05 PM
• FREE ADMISSION, FREE PARKING, FAMILY FRIENDLY
• Triple Crown wagering on the Kentucky Derby (May 3), Preakness (May 17) and Belmont (June 7)
• A 7-week fall meet will run from September 13 - October 26
(details at shenandoahdowns.com)
It’s One Stop Shopping And New Ownership
By Michele Husfelt
When a business venture marries a passionate equine lifestyle, perhaps this best describes Andrew and Isabelle Baldwin’s newest acquisition, Tri-County Feeds, in Marshall.
LOANS FOR:
Homes and construction
Livestock
Barns and outbuildings
Fences and roads
And much more!
UPCOMING EVENTS CULPEPER GRADED SALE
Drop off Thursday, the day before the sale – 7:00AM-3:00PM February 7th, 2025 @ 10:30AM 10220 James Monroe Highway, Culpeper, VA 22701
See Culpeper Sale Barn Tab on Website For More Information
MARSHALL GRADED SALE
Marshall Feeder Cattle Association
Drop off is the Thursday before the sale 7:00AM-3:00PM • Friday, December 13th
See Marshall Sale Barn Tab on Website For More Information
POULTRY AND SMALL ANIMAL AUCTION
Date: February 15th, 2025
Animal Take-in day of the sale from 8:00AM- 11:00AM
Contact: Stan Stevens (540)631-3523 or Emillie Stevens (540)222-2312
No out of state birds • All poultry to be in cages • 25% commission on all poultry 15% on all other items • Food available for purchase • No puppies to be sold!
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.
Andrew’s expertise in real estate development and business acquisition, along with Isabelle’s artistic eye and their combined love for all things equine, made for a perfect match as they became the new owners of Tri-County Feeds.
Isabelle still fondly recalls girlfriends weekend shopping trips to Tri-County years ago when she and her riding buddies would travel to Middleburg for horse shows, which made her very excited for this new venture.
When the Baldwins heard of the potential opportunity to purchase the store, they jumped in their car and drove the two hours from their home in Charlottesville to talk with Bill and Jeri Jackson, the previous owners who started the company in 1978.
As Isabelle recalled, “there was such a kinship we felt with the Jacksons. It was almost like we were them 30 years ago when they started the store.”
It seemed an ideal venture, the first they could do together that aligned with their lifestyle and interests.
“We shook hands in the parking lot and closed about 60 days later,” said Andrew. Already a wonderful store, they didn’t feel the need to go in and change things or make an announcement of new ownership, so the Jacksons closed the store one evening and the next morning the Baldwins opened it as the new proprietors.
Because of the excellent staff already in place, business carried on as usual. In fact, Andrew said, “The employees are really it. They know the community and they are what make the store. They are the reason we can sleep at night, knowing they have everything under control.”
When referring to the store, one must complete the full name to appreciate all it offers. Often referred to as “Tri-County Feeds,” it’s important to finish a name which includes, “Fashions, Finds.”
Focused on providing a one-stop shop for all equestrian needs, Tri-County Feeds, Fashions, Finds is the only place in the area that offers a 12,000-square foot warehouse for horse and chicken feed, hay, and everything else needed for happy barn animals, along with 12,000 square feet of retail, including the latest trends and brands of equestrian care, clothing and accessories, jewelry, home goods, pet care, and an emerging polo section.
Currently, most major shopping places for polo gear are all in Wellington, Florida, which is quite a hike. Andrew plans to put Tri-County Feeds on the map as a complete polo shopping destination.
A few of the many future endeavors include expanding the retail to other areas, including Charlottesville, as well as continuing to enlarge the polo selection.
Isabelle said she’s excited to offer more after-hours events, celebrating local artists and gathering polo players and women from the area hunts. Recognizing the consuming nature of the horse lifestyle, Andrew and Isabelle are eager to carry on the Jackson’s stellar reputation of creating a one-stop destination for, as Isabelle remarks, “all the horse products ‘real horse people’ need.”
So, the next time you need a new polo mallet, some chicken feed, a bale of hay, a horse blanket, a new Barbour wax jacket, some warm socks, a few treats for your puppy, and a housewarming gift for a neighbor, save yourself a lot of time and stop by Tri-County Feeds, Fashions, Finds. It truly is a one-stop shop.
Photo by Michele Husfelt New owners Andrew and Isabelle Baldwin, third and fourth from the left, and their staff at Tri-County Feeds, Fashion and Finds in Marshall.
Loudoun Therapeutic Riding Has a Grand Gala
Loudoun Therapeutic Riding (LTR) celebrated its 50th Anniversary at a special Nov. 23 gala held at Salamander Resort & Spa. The event honored the remarkable horses and dedicated individuals who have contributed to LTR’s enduring legacy over the past five decades.
Guests were greeted with a special message from Virginia Senator Mark Warner at each table, congratulating LTR on reaching this significant milestone. “Reaching this milestone,” he wrote, “is truly a testament to the impact of your efforts. I commend you for your service.”
The evening began with a message from Virginia First Lady Suzanne Youngkin. An avid equestrienne and passionate advocate for Virginia’s equine industry, she spoke of the importance of therapeutic riding and LTR’s pioneering role as the first therapeutic riding center in the Commonwealth.
Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Phyllis Randall, alongside State Delegate Geary Higgins, took the stage to present a resolution recognizing LTR for its invaluable contributions to Loudoun County since 1974.
“LTR has helped nearly 14,000 individuals develop new skills, build community, and improve their quality of life,” said Chris Walton, president of the board of directors. “It was meaningful to have local, state, and federal officials come together to recognize our work and join us in celebrating this important milestone.”
Later in the evening, LTR presented its Founder’s Award to Susan McMunn for her outstanding dedication and selfless
service to the organization. Over the past 20 years, McMunn has been an essential part of the LTR community, serving in various roles including volunteer, instructor, board member, and financial supporter. Her commitment to LTR’s mission has had a profound impact on the lives of countless individuals with physical, emotional, and developmental challenges.
“Susan embodies the heart and soul of Loudoun Therapeutic Riding,” said LTR Executive Director Laura Smith. “Her dedication as both a volunteer and leader has transformed the lives of our riders and their families. We are incredibly grateful for her service and are proud to celebrate her many contributions with this well-deserved award.”
The evening also featured a screening of LTR’s 50th anniversary video, showcasing archival photos and footage from throughout its history. LTR provides therapeutic riding and other equine-assisted activities to individuals with a wide range of physical, emotional, and developmental needs.
The organization’s impact reaches throughout Loudoun County and beyond, empowering individuals to achieve their full potential through the healing power of horses.
Founded in 1974 as a pilot study for therapeutic riding, it is the oldest program of its kind in Virginia. LTR embraces the power of the horse-assisted services to promote well-being and community inclusion for people with physical, cognitive and mental health challenges. LTR is a 501(c)3 organization and relies on donations.
Details: For more information, visit https://ltrf.org/ or call 703771-2689.
Photo by Nancy Kleck
Gala emcee Laticia Headings and Loudoun Therapeutic Riding executive director Laura Smith.
Virginia Derby Now a Kentucky Derby Qualifier
The 2025 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs Racetrack has earned the distinction as a “win and you’re in” qualifying race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
Governor Glenn Youngkin recently announced the landmark event for Virginia horse racing from the winner’s circle at Colonial Downs alongside First Lady Suzanne Youngkin, Secretary of Agriculture Matthew Lohr, Delegate Amanda Batten, Churchill Downs Incorporated (“Churchill Downs”) CEO Bill Carstanjen and Churchill Downs Board Chairman Alex Rankin.
“Churchill Downs has worked with partners throughout the Commonwealth to reinvigorate Virginia’s proud legacy of thoroughbred racing and secure our place as a world class destination for racing fans and equine talent from around the world,” said Governor Youngkin. “The future for thoroughbred racing in Virginia has never been brighter and this opportunity will allow us to shine on horse racing’s biggest stage.”
The Virginia Derby has traditionally been a turf race that signified the culmination of the summer racing season. As part of a 50-point race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, the Virginia Derby will transition to the dirt track and be held on March 15, anchoring a new
four-day spring meet at Colonial Downs. The winning horse will be guaranteed a post position in the starting gate for the 151st Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
Speaker of the House Don Scott shared his enthusiasm for the announcement, saying, “It’s exciting that the Road to the Kentucky Derby will now run through Virginia. Churchill Downs has elevated the stature and economic impact of thoroughbred racing in the Commonwealth while creating jobs, generating significant tax revenue in communities around the state, and offering race fans a memorable experience at the track.”
Said Secretary Lohr, “We are thankful for the investment of Churchill Downs in the Virginia horse racing industry. In 2025, Colonial Downs will race 47 days which is up from 27 days in 2022, the last race meet before Churchill Downs acquired Colonial Downs.
“Besides adding prestigious and lucrative races for horsemen, more race days drives significant economic impact throughout Virginia’s entire agricultural sector leading to a healthy breeding industry, stronger equine infrastructure, and more employment opportunities across the Commonwealth.”
Welcome to your best life.
When it comes to your home, you deserve nothing less than a gorgeous setting to share unforgettable moments with those you love most.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin greets a skydiver at Colonial Downs, home of the Virginia Derby and now a qualifying race for this year’s Kentucky Derby.
Cup of COFFEE
A Travers Win and an Award Winning Column
By Sean Clancy
This is an excerpt from Sean Clancy’s Eclipse Awardwinning column that first appeared in the Saratoga Special newspaper.
Kenny McPeek jumped up from a frontrow box and wound his arm around and around like a hand on a cartoon clock. Todd Pletcher dropped his binoculars, stood up from a fifth-row box, leaned over the ledge and pumped his fist.
Two grown men – 119 years, 7,802 wins and 31,365 losses between them – riding every stride of two roiling 3-year-olds. The rest of the 47,844 fans rocking and rolling and riding, too. Fierceness and John Velazquez hanging tough and needing the line. Thorpedo Anna and Brian Hernandez Jr. gaining ground and needing a stride.
The finality of the finish line.
Fierceness, trained by Pletcher, held off Thorpedo Anna, trained by McPeek, by a head in the Grade 1 DraftKings Travers at Saratoga Race Course Saturday.
“Oh man, that was some race,” Pletcher said, walking down the steps and trying to regain some composure. “That filly ran unbelievable, too, didn’t she?”
Fierceness won the race. Thorpedo Anna made the race.
“Man, she ran big,” Hernandez said, pulling his dirt-packed tack off the sweat-soaked back of the least-deserving loser.
“Any other year,” McPeek said. “Any other year.” It wasn’t any other year.
Two-year-old champion Fierceness broke sharply from the outside and three-time Grade 1 stakes winner Thorpedo Anna broke cleanly from the inside. In between, Junior Alvarado shook his reins and cued Ohio Derby winner Batten Down to launch to the lead. Luis Saez allowed Haskell and Belmont winner Dornoch to engage from the outside. Batten Down led Dornoch through the first quarter mile in :23.53. Thorpedo Anna loped along the rail in third. Fierceness set up watchdog to her outside. Undefeated Curlin Stakes winner Unmatched Wisdom pulled Irad Ortiz Jr. uncomfortably into fifth. Belmont fourth Honor Marie, with blinkers on first for the first time, hung outside in sixth. Curlin runner-up Corporate Power settled to his inside on even terms with Blue Grass winner and favorite Sierra Leone on the inside.
Batten Down led Dornoch by three-quarters of a length through a half mile in :48.10. Thorpedo Anna inched ever closer along the inside and Fierceness countered every move to her outside. The leading four opened up 2 lengths on the lagging four.
Leaving the backside after three quarters in 1:11.62, Velazquez positioned Fierceness outside of Dornoch and Batten Down and a half-length ahead of Thorpedo Anna. Hernandez didn’t budge, knowing the cat had the mouse at the moment.
Midway on the turn, Velazquez, a first-run, first-one-to-the-wire specialist, moved. Fierceness dispatched Batten Down and Dornoch in strides
as Hernandez waited, shifted and followed. Sierra Leone clutched at kite tails yet again.
At the top of the stretch, Velazquez lowered and Hernandez leaned as Fierceness opened 2 daunting lengths after a mile in 1:36.06. In white-tipped gloves, Velazquez gradually ramped up his hand ride, tapped Fierceness once underhanded, a wave and a warning. Thorpedo Anna clawed but didn’t close, passing the eighth pole still down by 2 lengths. It looked over. And then it wasn’t.
Nearing the sixteenth pole, Velazquez switched his whip to his left hand and stole a quick glance. Ears flat back, Thorpedo Anna was still there gaining inches. She needed feet. Hernandez waved his whip and kept pumping strides past the wire, hoping against hope.
Fierceness earned his fifth career win while Thorpedo Anna suffered her second career loss. The length of his head decided the difference after 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.79. Sierra Leone finished 1 3/4 lengths back in third. Dornoch faded to fourth. Batten Down hung on for fifth. Corporate Power failed to close ground in sixth. Unmatched Wisdom plummeted to seventh. Last early, Honor Marie finished last.
Owned and bred by Mike Repole’s Repole Stable, Fierceness improved his bankroll to $2,666,350 in eight starts.
Pletcher and Velazquez won their first Travers with Flower Alley in 2005. Pletcher won it again with Stay Thirsty and Javier Castellano in 2011. Velazquez won it again with Code Of Honor and Shug McGaughey in 2019.
The go-to rider for Pletcher for decades, Velazquez doesn’t get the same opportunities from the highpowered barn these days. Pletcher and Repole made a decision before the Breeders’ Cup, putting Velazquez
on Fierceness and Ortiz on Noted. Fierceness won. Noted finished last. And a relationship, a friendship came full circle.
“I don’t want to call it sad because it wasn’t a true breakup, it was a different relationship. We both went a little bit in our own ways for a little while there. He went to California and he had a lot of success with Baffert. And when he wasn’t here, we were obviously using some other guys and had success there, too,” Pletcher said.
“But it was just interesting the way that this one played out. Literally on entry day for the Juvenile, Mike and I decided to go to Johnny. He had worked him the one time, loved him. It was just a gut feeling, we felt like it was a good fit, his style and the horse’s style. If you look at his last two races, that’s what Johnny does so well.”
Get a position. Make a decision. Play chess when others are playing checkers.
Back behind the jocks’ room after the Travers, Velazquez finished a press conference in English and an interview in Spanish and then hugged his 21-year-old son Michael. A long, slow, pick-you-upoff-your-feet, train-is-leaving hug. Sure, both know that there won’t be many more of these.
“He knows that his old daddy is trying his best. I don’t know how long I’m going to do this. I’m going month by month, or year by year,” Velazquez said. “It’s more rewarding now. Everybody always knocks you for the age you are, but I showed them we can still do it. At 52, mentally and physically, I’m better than I was when I was 40. There is more pride to it because the opportunities aren’t coming very often now, you’ve got to take them when they come. Put it this way: Make it count. Make it count.”
Fierceness – and Thorpedo Anna – made it count.
Coglianese Photo
Fierceness (inside) holds off Thorpedo Anna’s to win the 155th running of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga last August.
You’ve WATCHED the race…
This is what it’s like to WIN the race. It’s time to GET IN THE GAME…
Steeplechase & Flat Racing Partnerships
Racehorse Sales
RIVERDEE STABLE & CLANCY BLOODSTOOK
Sean & Anne Clancy
UPDATE FROM UPPERVILLE
By Jennifer Sponseller Webster
inter is a time to rest and recharge and if you’ve driven past the Upperville Horse Show grounds recently, you’ve likely seen it covered in a blanket of snow, and nothing but bare branches on the iconic tree canopy on the Grafton Farm side.
In a few short months, the country’s oldest horse show literally will be built from the ground up, as it has each year since 1853. Upperville will mark its 172nd
Celebrating the Upperville grounds not just in June, but all year long, is one of the show’s primary missions. Gifted by Clarice and Robert H. Smith in 2013, Grafton Farm, the “hunter side” of 19-plus acres was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
Salem Farm, the “jumper side” to the north along Rt. 50, has been graciously leased to Upperville by Shelby Bonnie. Since 2022, a new event has been added to the Grafton or Salem Farm calendar, allowing the grounds to be enjoyed and
First up in 2025 is Arbor Day Under the Oaks, now in its third year. So mark your calendars for Friday, April 25 for this free event, open to all. Guests are welcome to take a self-guided tour of Grafton Farm, explore the stream and perhaps catch a glimpse of one of the many species of wildlife that call the grounds home. Vaccinated and leashed dogs are also invited.
Just prior to the Upperville Colt & Horse Show (UCHS) a “Jump 4 Fun” show will take place on the Salem Farm show grounds May 31- June 1. Started in 2022, the idea behind Jump 4 Fun was to create an opportunity for local horse enthusiasts to experience the prestige of showing at Upperville, in a lower-key environment. Each year, the entries have sold out in a matter of days, and UCHS management made the decision last year to expand the one-day event to two
UCHS Executive Director Emily Day, explained that, “We feel the growth in
popularity of both the hunter and jumper classes, coupled with the ability to expand with new classes at the lower heights, warrants a full day dedicated to each discipline. Hosting Jump 4 Fun for two days should also help encourage an enjoyable atmosphere.
Jump 4 Fun has been a wonderful way for Upperville to welcome riders who prefer to compete at a lower height for green horses or riders.
“It’s an opportunity for those who don’t feel up to coming to the big show and for this they can come and use the facilities when the jumps and decorations are all there, yet the atmosphere is the same,” said Tommy Lee Jones, the show’s facilities manager.
Renowned for being one of the finest horse shows on the east coast, the UCHS takes place this year from June 2-8. This world class equestrian event draws competitors, spectators, and vendors from around the country and the globe to the Blue Ridge countryside.
Rich in tradition, it’s one of the few remaining horse shows to still incorporate foxhunters and side saddle competitors, as well as young riders for the leadline level up to International Hunter Derby and Grand Prix show jumping. Admission and parking are free. In addition to the Upperville Jumper Classic on Sunday, June 8, spectators can also enjoy the “Horses and Horsepower” car show on the Salem Farm side.
And finally, just after Labor Day weekend, the local community will have one final opportunity to experience Upperville at the second annual Grafton Hunter Show, on Saturday, Sept.6. This one-day event benefits the UCHS capital campaign, which exists to raise funds to support the ongoing capital improvements to the grounds.
Details www.upperville.com.
This Nomad Feels Right at Home in Middleburg
By John E. Ross
Cozy and comfortable immediately come to mind for anyone visiting Nomad Beer & Bourbon in Middleburg, about halfway down S. Madison St. between Thomas & Talbot and the Accidental Peacock. Nomad occupies the only setting of its kind in the village. The pub is located about 20 feet below street level. Come spring, its patio will sprout brightly colored umbrellas, more shielding for tables from traffic above.
Entering the tavern, guests are greeted by polished wood bar and tables. Off to the left is small room with overstuffed arm chairs and couch. Many of Nomad’s furnishings are made from recycled or repurposed materials.
With seating for about 50, Nomad’s intimate atmosphere is no coincidence. Co-owner Bob Coonce wanted to create a tavern with an ambiance like Cheers, the 1980s sitcom where everybody knows your name.
Neither brewery nor distillery, Nomad stocks the best bourbons and craftbrewed beers available in Northern Virginia. On the shelves behind the bar you’ll find Stagg, Elijah Craig, and Russell’s.
In addition, there are various varieties of Weller’s “wheated” bourbons. In them, rye is replaced by wheat in the mash from which they are distilled. Wheat was the principal grain grown by the first European settlers of Loudoun and that’s what they used to make their first whiskey.
Among good local bourbons, Nomad serves Catoctin Creek, distilled in Purcellville; Copper Fox, from Sperryville, and Mt. Defiance, from Middleburg.
For those eschewing America’s signature spirits, Nomad also stocks a wide variety of single malt Scotches, dark rums, and dangerously colorless gins and vodkas.
Nomad seems to be a great pub for sampling a number of local beers.
“When you go to a brewery, I think you can only drink beer from that brewery,” Coonce said. “When you come to a pub like this, you have your choice of 11 or 12 high-end beers.”
Among them are Solace, brewed in Sterling; Triple Crossing and Hardywood,
Bob Coonce, co-owner of Nomad in Middleburg, behind the bar.
Photo by John E. Ross
Richmond; and Zadie’s Lager, Baltimore. If those don’t wet your whistle, sample a craft-brewed cider from Winchester Cider Works.
Managing the bar is Dillon Baird. With ten years experience, Coonce said Baird is “exceptional” when it comes to customer service and mixing “amazing” drinks.” Multi-talented, when not mixing tipples, Baird plays in a rock band and teaches kids how to play musical instruments.
During cold months you can taste a bit of Coonce’s Cajun heritage in the gumbos, étouffée, and chili complemented by typical bar food on the menu. All are made from family recipes and nothing is fried. As well, you’ll find Bavarian pretzels, humus, guacamole, and similar fare.
Coonce is a little cagey when it comes to his role in the kitchen. He admits he has “contributed to all of them in one way or another.”
Nomad is his second foray as a restauranteur. His first was the Hammerdown BBQ food truck opened with a partner in 2012 shortly after he moved to the Middleburg area. So popular were the barbecues and related sides, it morphed into the restaurant in Aldie.
The name, Nomad, he drew as a description of his journey through a variety of businesses adventures as a builder of homes and owner of a number of air BnBs. For Bob Coonce, this Nomad is staying put in Middleburg.
Fine bourbon is standard fare at Nomad in Middleburg.
LETTER from PARIS
A VIEW FROM A FAR DIFFERENT HILL
By John Sherman
Once upon a time in a land far away, men and women gathered to make our world a better place. Their task was to come to agreements defined by compassion, fairness and security for all. They met on a hill overlooking the capital. They pushed and pulled and haggled, always with respect and comity. It was arduous and sometimes fractious. But in the end they found a center. And it became the law of the land.
That place and those days were not a complete fairytale. I was there during the 1970s and ‘80s—still regarded as the halcyon years. Back then, the Congress took on enormous issues with great risk of failure: equal rights, the cold war, famine, trade, old age access to health care, nuclear containment.
Given the partisan chaos and paralysis these days, I rarely confess my old attachment.
I had the great good luck to work for three of the most influential men of that era. As memories will, the offbeat are the first to surface. Following are a few.
ABRAHAM RIBICOFF
Returning from Chile and a newspaper fellowship, I was out of a job. An old friend from my days at The Hartford Courant pointed me to Abraham Ribicoff, the senior senator from Connecticut. His resume: congressman, governor, John F. Kennedy’s first cabinet appointment. Solon of solons.
Press secretary and writer, I was joining a team for his reelection run the following year. I was looking forward to seeing a campaign from inside. It turned out to be a phony race. His hapless opponent was a Black airline pilot who supported making marijuana legal.
It was customary that four of us would meet with the senator after lunch to discuss issues of the day. Two I remember vividly.
Ribicoff, who was Jewish, was getting immediate updates from his international staffer, Morris Amitay, during the 1973 Yom Kippur war between Israel and Egypt, among others. Needless to say, the senator was a close friend of Henry Kissinger. (They may have used the same tailor.) That afternoon, Morry strutted around the office, almost lecturing.
“You’ve got to call Senator Jackson about sending more aid. You’ve got to call Kissinger about the Italian embargo. You’ve got to…”. Ribicoff’s expression never changed.
The meeting over, I forgot some papers and returned to his office. The door was shut, so I went around to his back door, which was ajar. The senator, who later voted to give Arabs spy planes, was leaning over his desk. “I want you to get through your head that I am not an Israeli senator. I am a United States senator.” Morry’s service had ended.
At another meeting, the senator, who was always beautifully turned out, was eating an apple. It was difficult to stick to tax reform without watching the apple. We became mesmerized as he got down to the core and seeds. The room stopped as he proceeded to eat the entire core. Meeting adjourned.
AL ULLMAN
Realizing that Ribicoff was about to coast through his last term, I moved over to the House Ways and Means Committee. It’s new chairman was Al Ullman, who grew up at a railroad crossing in eastern Oregon. He made his way to Columbia University and studied under perhaps the century’s most influential theologian, Rhinehold Niebuhr.
He was an unassuming man, clearly rooted in Oregon’s emptiness. A man who thought that good manners was good politics. He would soon learn that all the integrity in the world was not going to unite Houston and Boston on oil quotas. That you had to use your elbows to proceed. He was the most prominent casualty in Ronald Reagan’s 1980 sweep. The eulogies at his funeral mirrored those at Jimmy Carter’s.
Our first speech outing was to New York, first to Wall Street and a gathering of hoary old men with white hair and ruddy faces. I remember the wood paneled hall, hung from the ceiling with battle flags.
We motored uptown to the Hotel Americana. A good staffer, I went up to the reservation desk to announce the congressman’s arrival. A bellhop appeared and we rode up to our rooms. The bellhop showed Ullman into his room while I waited outside. After a full minute passed, the bellhop stuck his head out of the door with quizzical look.
The room had two beds and a door to a bath.
Ullman was sitting on one, removing a prosthesis from a leg lost in a car accident. He had a welcoming smile, as if all this was quite normal. As the Ways and Means chairman, he commanded a vast empire—including almost half of the federal budget. (Clearly sharing a room was a plus for the budget.) I don’t recall his snoring.
DAN ROSTENKOWSKI
Dan Rostenkowski took Ullman’s chair after his defeat. He was a large man from Chicago. He talked from Chicago. As the protege of the city’s legendary boss, Mayor Richard Daly, he was not a man to cross. “He was Daly’s guy.”
His voice was rough and deep. He was known as “Rosty.” (When he went campaigning for Kennedy in the deep south, he lopped off the “ski.”) He came to Congress under Eisenhower and left under Clinton. When he entered a room, things stopped, diners pointed. He admitted to being the worst dressed man in congress, except for Senator Carl Curtis from Nebraska.
During my six years with him, Rostenkowski nailed more legislation to the barn door than anyone of that era. I used to liken him to a walrus, waddling around on the rocks—ungainly, massive. But when he slipped beneath the waves, he had the grace of a ballerina and the force of a bull.
I would watch him approach a hold-out on a bill he wanted passed. His voice became soft as his appeal began. He would reach out for an elbow and gently pull the truant closer and closer until their faces almost touched, all the while humming his lullaby. The seduction usually ended with a vote in his pocket.
My first speech outing with the chairman was to hometown Chicago. As we descended the steps to the tarmac, three black Cadillacs were waiting—their doors open for us to choose. The bags took care of themselves. We climbed into the middle car. I asked about the other two. “Security.” We’re talking guys with pork pie hats and guns.
We pulled up to the iconic Palmer House. There was a rush of bellhops. I was in my room in two minutes. A suite half with size of a basketball court with flowers, fruit and a fully stocked bar.
For just a moment I remembered my night with Al.
THE PERFECT HUNT BOX
FOX BROOK 18765 Silcott Springs Rd. Purcellville, VA 20132
Nestled perfectly between Middleburg and Purcellville is this 1890’s country home on nearly four acres. The heritage of this 3 bedroom home is expressed in it's original hardwood floors and windows, a traditional parlor with cozy fireplace and mantel, builtin bookshelves, and exposed brick. The exterior features include two flagstone patios, a small natural spring fed brook that runs through the property, and beautiful gardens which include dogwoods, hydrangea, daffodils, tulips, forsythia, and a cherry-tree lined driveway.
The property was thoughtfully transitioned to a horse property in 2013. There are roughly two and a half acres of pasture, 5 paddocks–including a dry lot, a renovated bank barn with two roomy stalls plus a feed room, a custom built 20 x 12 run-in shed, an Amish-built equipment shed that can double as a wash stall (with heaters), and a discrete manure pit too. This is a unique opportunity to own a manageable hunt box, just minutes to town, with high speed FIOS internet and no HOA!
Realtor®
In such an active and competitive real estate market, it pays to have the right information and insight before you buy or sell in Northern Virginia. That’s why more people turn to Kristin Dillon-Johnson to find the tools and resources they need to seize investment opportunities.
Kristin will guide you in your research of current market trends and your search of latest property listings resulting in valuable information for your move. Kristin Dillon-Johnson not only brings her extensive expertise and knowledge to your investment, she is also part of the powerful
HORSE AMMENITIES
• 3.89 ACRES
• 2+ STALL AMISH-BUILT BANK BARN
• CUSTOM 20 x 12 RUN-IN SHED
• AMISH-BUILT EQUIPMENT SHED
• HOT WATER TO BARN
• WASH STALL WITH HEATERS
marketing clout of Thomas & Talbot Estate Properties. The expertise of Thomas & Talbot delivers the highest level of real estate service available in the surrounding counties & Northern Virginia. When you're ready to move, put this powerful alliance to work for you!
