3 minute read
HOT DIGGETY DOGS!!!!
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
410-570-8447
