Zolo: A Toy Story former Mayors reflect on Fredericksburg Foamhenge: a chip off the old block GREEN gumbo? $3.95
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MARCH | APRIL 2010
Contents
34 Zolo: A Toy Story These aren’t your parents’ Tinker Toys. Zolo founders Byron Glaser and Sandra Higashi design funky toys to inspire the imagination and emphasize unstructured creative play. The low-profile designers have been successful selling their toys in museum gift shops and high-end toy stores.
Your ideas are important to us, so if you’d like to recommend a story or send an event for Out&About, drop us a line at: Virginia Neighbors 520 William Street, Suite B Fredericksburg, VA 22401
42 A Language of Diplomacy Whether living in Africa, Germany, or Switzerland, Kathleen Walsh finds beauty around her. Back home in Fredericksburg, she uses her paintbrush to illustrate the plight of women in Africa and donates proceeds to causes that promote self-sufficiency and economic stability to communities around the world.
FrontDoor
9 T rends
Shoes that give you thinner thighs and a better butt?
10 Bits&Pieces
The business of flavoring your dishes and teas, and a checklist for starting spring.
11 O BSERVATIONS
Words of wisdom: be kind and work hard
13 f ocus
Three of Fredericksburg’s former mayors talk about the city, good and bad.
15 f lashback
Railway Express Agency Depot
BackYard
Or, email us at: editor@vaneighbors.com
24 P rofile
50 writer’s block
26 h umor
52 Best bites
Fronce Wardlaw helps locals rebuild their lives. A mother's look at what spring break means to her now.
Titles to help you through the Spring thaw out.
28 are we there yet?
Elmwood at Sparks, lunchtime café and nighttime fine dining restaurant
30 T RAVEL
57 Easter egg hunt; Fool's Fest;
Bizarre Stonehenge replica— Styrofoam isn’t just for packing. Mountaintop roadway draws millions annually to sample scenery and culture.
Applause 49 M USIC
UMW student Alex Culbreth shares his musical talent.
Out&About James Monroe's birthday; FredVegas poker tournament; Wonder Woman performance; and much more.
Cul-de-sac 64 Mowing by moonlight
21 COME & GET IT
C elebrate early spring produce with Louisiana’s Gumbo z’Herbes
22 HOMEGROWN
Attracting butterflies to your garden.
« Attend the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center's 13th Annual Silent Auction and Gala. See page 57.
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 3
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FR O M T HE EDI T O R
I
can’t remember exactly when I met my neighbor Allison. It was a few years ago when I was outdoors a lot, house training my puppy.
Allison would walk by with her daughter, Leah, in a stroller and Lucy, her Golden Retriever, ambling by her side. She stopped to say hello. Our dogs would chase each other around the house and I would play peek-a-boo with Leah. We didn’t talk very long. Babies and dogs diverted our attention. But during those quick conversations we shared a bit of what was going on in our lives—diets, work projects, vacation plans. Our contacts are sporadic. When it’s especially hot or cold or rainy or snowy, we rarely see each other. But I’d hardly call Allison a fair weather friend. Especially not after this past winter. During a February snow storm we lost electricity one evening. Allison lives around the corner and I could see lights shining from those houses. So I called her to see if we could spend the night, with our dog, if it got too cold inside. Of course, she said, as I had expected. Just knowing we had a place to go in case our toes froze and our teeth chattered made me feel warmer. Suddenly the power outage seemed less like a crisis and more like an adventure. I pulled out our long underwear and f lashlights and read by the fireside. And I called Allison. Thanks so much, I told her, but I think we can ride this one out. With neighbors like Allison, the world doesn’t seem like such a cold place, even during a major snow storm in a house without electricity. Neighbors such as Allison enrich our lives. At Virginia Neighbors we strive to introduce you to people who make our lives, and our world, a little better. People who are our neighbors. In this issue you’ll read about people who are using their talents to help others. Kathleen Walsh is a painter who, through her travels, has learned that art speaks a language of diplomacy all its own. Sandra Higashi and Byron Glaser design award-winning eye-popping toys, games and pottery and are active in nonprofit programs for children in developing worlds. Fronce Wardlaw, a flight attendant who lives in King George County, saw a need for housing for the elderly and people with disabilities, so she started an organization to help them. Of course, also in this issue, you’ll find a restaurant review, a tempting recipe, a look at a local musician and a list of activities in the area. We hope you enjoy this issue of Virginia Neighbors. Please let us know if you have a neighbor you think our readers would like to meet. Send me an email at stremblay@willowpub.com, give us a call at (540) 899-3999 or drop by our office at 520 William Street.
Susan Tremblay Editor
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 7
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NEWS | HISTORY | BUSINESS | TRENDS | PERSONALITIES
FrontDoor
T RENDS
Are These Shoes Hype or Hope?
Glossy magazine ads tout the benefits of “wellness” shoes such as
FitFlops, Shape-ups, MBTs and EasyTones. They’re supposed to improve posture, tone legs better than “regular” tennis shoes, improve weight loss and reduce joint stress and pain.
Did I read that right? Shoes that could basically give me thinner
thighs? With swimsuit season just around the corner I decided that was worth some research.
The Swiss MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) is perhaps the best
known of these types of shoes. According to its Web site, they are the “first physiological footwear that has a positive effect on the whole body.”
More than a million pairs have been sold in the U.S., Time
magazine reported. At $250 a pop, they’re the most expensive of the bunch too.
Hmm. MBT obviously has a positive effect on its manufacturer’s
bottom line. But what about mine?
Off to the shoe store I ran.
First, I found Skechers Shape-ups, but the store was out of my size.
That night a FootSmart catalog arrived in the mail and had not
only Skechers Shape-ups but also FitFlops that claim “30% increased buttock muscle activation,” and Reebok EasyTones that “help you burn more calories.”
Was it hype or would wearing these shoes on a walk or during a
workout have added benefits? I conducted an unscientific survey:
Adam DeSio Photo
»
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 9
FrontDoor
HYPE OR HOPE continued __________________________
Erica Driscoll runs in the $110
EasyTones and thinks “they do the trick as far as firming. I have some foot issues and they’re pretty comfy.”
Lori Butler’s FitFlops were
“comfortable and fashionable, but I can't say they made me look or feel any better in my bikini.”
That may be, but the $50 FitFlops
I tried on at Comfort One might just become my next summer go-to shoe. I never wear flimsy, rubbery flip flops, but these were substantial.
They might take some getting used
to, according to Veronica Deschambault, who found hers “easy to trip with because they were bulky. The front curved up and got caught on things.”
What makes these shoes different?
The sole curves up and it feels like
you’re walking on sand—sort of. The heel digs down and works your muscles more. Think of it as wearing two little rocking chairs on your feet—with cushions.
But is that good for your feet?
Dr. Ross Girvan, a podiatrist with the
Fredericksburg Foot and Ankle Center thinks there’s a degree of truth in all that advertising. “The shoe changes the way your foot interacts with the ground,” he said.
Does he recommend them? “Really
it depends on your foot type. They could be the greatest or the worst things. There are certain people that we do recommend the shoe for. But is it the right shoe for your foot?”
Glad you asked. Always a thorough
researcher, I did some more shopping.
Skechers Shape-ups—about $100
at DSW—felt a bit wobbly at first, then absolutely bouncy. Like Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh, there were springs on my feet!
And I stood up straighter. The
rounded heel threw my shoulders back. It was impossible to slouch.
I admit I splurged on a pair. After
walking in them I was acutely aware of the backs of my legs. But are my thighs thinner? Not yet. If that happens I may just nominate the creators for a Nobel Prize in physics. —Lisa Ferreira
10 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
A Scratch and Sniff Store
I
t all began when Robert Payne went looking for juniper berries. His mother Helga, a native of Germany, wanted to cook dishes that reminded her of her homeland. Juniper berries weren’t easy to find. So Robert and his wife, Sarah, did their research and found a supplier. Other family members and friends asked for hard-to-find spices as well. Favors turned into an online mail-order business, which in turn became the PA Dutch Tea and Spice Company on 1013 Caroline Street. The first things you see when you walk in are shelves of plain brown boxes. If you aren’t paying attention, you’ll miss the small white labels that read “Turmeric”, “Herbs de Provence”, and “African Honeybush Tea.” “You have no idea how many people look in, say, ‘Nope, it’s a shoe store’, and turn right around,” Sarah Payne tells me. While the boxes might hint at the store’s mail-order roots, they are not only functional but practical. Nothing degrades the sealed pouches of tea and spices faster than heat and light.
Don’t be shy; the Paynes and their staff welcome curiosity and questions. The first time I walked into the store when it opened six months ago, the clerk said to me, “Feel free to open as many boxes as you like. We’re a scratch-andsniff store.” A surprising number of Pennsylvania transplants come in for Kutztown sodas and Jake and Amos canned fruits, pickled vegetables and condiments. Sometimes they come in just to talk about the York county area, where the first store was located. College students and thirty-somethings on a lean budget ask for advice on how to spice up meals of beans and rice. Though the Paynes may be a long way from their mail order origins, the one thing that has endured is being able to provide that elusive spice. Inside those simple boxes is the scent of real Hungarian paprika or the aroma of a quality Earl Grey. As Sarah puts it, “We’ll give you all the neat stuff and you can do it for your family and friends.” —Elizabeth Rabin Adam DeSio Photo
Are you Ready to Spring forward?
It starts every spring: flower beds bloom, baseball, and the switch to Daylight Savings Time. On Sunday, March 7th, clocks are set forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. The clock in your car will finally have the right time since October, and you’ll wonder whether the extra hour of daylight is worth it to lose an hour of rest. As you circle the house, setting clocks ahead, make time to prepare for spring: • Change batteries. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors save lives...if they have a fresh battery. Also, change the batteries in your home and vehicle emergency flashlights. Squeeze the last drop of power out of replaced batteries by using them in children’s toys or electronic devices before you recycle! • Replace light bulbs. You’ll have stepladders out to reach BOARDING • TRAINING smoke detectors and clocks, so check light bulbs and LESSONS–HUNTER/JUMPER/EQUITATION fixtures. Consider using energy-efficient compact fluorescent Beginner to Advanced • Year Round Riding or LCD bulbs replacing standard bulbs with energy-efficient 3 All Weather Rings, Large Indoor Facility ones saves over $30 in electricity costs over their lifetime. Close to University of Mary Washington • Make or review your family emergency plan. Update phone Quality Horses and Ponies for Sale numbers, addresses and contact information, and post an Emergency Information Page where everyone can find it. • Inventory your medicine cabinets Ann Garnett: 540-842-4228 and first aid kit. Return expired 9601 Courthouse Road, Spotsylvania, VA 22553 medications to the drug store; putting them in the garbage and flushing them can be Accounting, Tax, and Financial Planning9/19/09 for dangerous and cause RoseMount_VaNnd09.indd 1 environmental problems. Individuals and Small Businesses Replace any depleted items like bandages and ointments. • Take the time to check your vehicle’s oil, coolant level, wiper fluid, tire pressure, and clean salt/sand from under the car. • Be sure your lawn mower and maintenance equipment are ready. Change oil, replace spark plugs, check tires for proper inflation, sharpen blades, and clean dust and debris from motor and deck. Put in fresh gasoline and run machine until blue-black smoke disappears to ensure there are no engine problems. • Prepare your air conditioner by disconnecting power to the outdoor condenser and clear it of debris. Vacuum the grilles and registers inside your home to ensure good airflow, and change your furnace filter. Bob Brammer, EA, ATP • Tour your house exterior and grounds. Make a list of any 804 Lafayette Blvd Fredericksburg, VA 22401-5615 needed seasonal maintenance. Don’t worry if you don’t feel motivated to do everything on the list on Sunday. Use that extra hour of daylight each day to perform what you miss. Don’t be discouraged when you try to reset the time on the microwave and only succeed at www.bobbrammer.com turning on the timer. You'll be grateful you are prepared for the coming warm weather later. —Candice Carver
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MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 11
FrontDoor
O B SER V A T I O NS
Hard Work + Kindness + Local Initiatives = Rich Life Formulating a brighter future for area women
A
ccording to Conan O’Brien, we have to heed only five words to succeed in life: Be kind and work hard. Think about it. That duo of directives does pretty much cover all the bases. I’ve been thinking about it a lot since I heard Conan utter that adage on his farewell Tonight Show several weeks ago. I believe I am nice to people, and I know I put forth an effort whenever I undertake a task. So, why isn’t the formula working? No networks are wrangling over me as they did over Conan, and I certainly haven’t pocketed millions of dollars the way he has. Is it because I’m not kind enough or because I’m not working hard enough? Or, is it possibly because my measure of success is off the mark?
12 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
I pondered these things as I departed a recent luncheon at the University of Mary Washington. Several hundred community leaders had gathered to hear a report about the status of women and girls in the Rappahannock area. The Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region painstakingly put together a profound and poignant report that examines statistics about females in our own backyard and determines what it would take for them to thrive. The research is ground breaking, and the data is daunting. The report of the Community Foundation, which will fund projects to improve the plight of area females, confirmed what Maya Angelou once said: Being a woman is hard work.
Take a look at some of the Community Foundation’s findings: • One in four women experience intimate partner abuse. • More than 11,000 women in our region have no high school diploma, and hundreds of area girls—our neighbors— dropped out of school last year, despite figures showing that a high school diploma more than doubles a woman’s earning potential. • Women make up 47% of the work force in the region. The median income of area women who work full-time, year-round jobs is $39,823. For men, it’s $53,178. • Single mothers in our region spend up to 50% of their earnings on housing and child care. • In Virginia, the annual cost of care for an infant at a full-time center is higher than a year’s tuition at a fouryear state college. • More than 11,000 women and 5,000 children live in poverty. In Fredericksburg, three-fourths of impoverished households are headed by women. • Even with high levels of education, women earn less than men in 495 of 500 occupations. In Stafford County, a woman earns 66 cents for each dollar a man makes. So, the bottom line is this: To succeed, women not only have to be kind, they often have to work harder. At the same time, we need always to assess what success means. For some, it is earning a GED; for others, it translates into shattering the glass ceiling and landing a spot in the corporate hierarchy. Those of you who have seen the Academy Award-nominated film, "Precious," have witnessed firsthand how challenging life is for one young woman in Harlem. Claireece Precious Jones, pregnant with her second child at age 16, endures unimaginable hardships in her young life. Abused by her mother and raped by her father, she grows up poor, illiterate, frustrated, fat, unloved and generally unnoticed. When she has an opportunity to enroll in an alternative school and learns to read and write, she finally is hopeful her life can head in a new direction. According to promotions for the film, “Life is hard. Life is short. Life is painful. Life is rich. Life is…Precious.” How true. The Rappahannock region is not inner-city New York, but the same tag line could apply. What the Community Foundation has done is point out the harsh realities for many females in our area. What the organization’s pioneering work hopes to do is offer alternatives for changes in direction. Conan O’Brien’s mantra still applies no matter our gender, our circumstances, or our definition of success. Life IS rich, and not necessarily in Conan’s monetary way. The richness comes from opportunities, concerted efforts, kindnesses, and hope offered to all of us who live in the Rappahannock region.
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FrontDoor
Left to right: Former Mayors, the Rev. Lawrence Davies, Bill Greenup, and Bill Beck F O CUS
Three Mayors, One Tough Job Reflections on the view from the top of city politics
B
eing mayor of Fredericksburg doesn’t give you a lot of power, but you do get a lot of visibility and a lot of flack too. Today there are four people in town who have held the job, which is now held by Dr. Thomas J. Tomzak, who took office in 2004 and is now in his second term. Virginia Neighbors talked to three of the exmayors about why they ran, and what they liked and didn’t like, and their biggest accomplishments. (A fourth, Josiah P. Rowe III, publisher of The Free Lance-Star, declined an interview request). Here’s what the others said: The Rev. Lawrence Davies, pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) in Fredericksburg held the job for 20 years before stepping down in 1996 after his fifth four-year term. It was a different city then. He’d already been on the City Council for 10 years before deciding to run for mayor, and he beat the incumbent mayor, Ed Cann, by just eight votes. It was a big step in race relations in the city, because Davies was the first black to win the office, and many whites were surprised, and a little nervous. “Later on, as time went on, I think they became more comfortable and realized that we were doing what we felt was best for the entire community,” he says. His position let him appoint more of the city’s black residents to various boards and commissions, he says, “and black citizens felt more a part of the community because they became more involved. That was a positive thing.”
14 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
Davies also played a part in making the city bigger. He was involved in the 1984 annexation of land along State Route 3, including all of what today is the Central Park shopping area. It was a hot issue in its day, and the city had hoped the extra property would help it land some industrial and manufacturing employers, “but it didn’t work out that way,” he says. But the city still got a head start on the counties in the race to grab a share of the growing retail market. He’s proud of his role in helping to launch the Fredericksburg Regional Transit system. What Davies didn’t like was the harsh side of local politics, which he says grew steadily worse during his time in office. “When I started, you could disagree with people but you could still remain friendly…then people started taking everything very personally. It wasn’t much fun at that point.” Bill Greenup joined the City Council in 1988 and spent eight years there before running for mayor, succeeding Davies. He got into local politics as part of the effort to shrink the council from 11 at-large members to seven members. The feeling was the council couldn’t get anything done and need to be a little more nimble. He beat a longtime respected council member, Sydney Armstrong, by just seven votes. The best part was working with some skilled people at City Hall, such as Jervis Hairston, the city’s chief planner for 23 years, or then-City Manager Marvin Bolinger. Both now work for Silver Companies, whose push for its Central
Park and Celebrate Virginia projects is part of why Greenup lost his re-election bid to Beck. He has no regrets, though. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we were right about that,” says Greenup, who retired in 1997 as director of what is now called the Alfred M. Gray Research Center. Other major accomplishments: Getting Fredericksburg to join the Virginia Railway Express, and keeping Mary Washington Hospital in the city in the early 1990s, when it was looking for a new location. Greenup didn’t care for the rough side of local politics either. “Everybody says, ‘Yeah, run, we need people to get in there.’ But after you’re elected… you’re just another politician.” Bill Beck was swept into office in 2000 largely by voter frustration over the proposed development of the Celebrate Virginia project. He says his supporters were worried about the kinds of changes that new development would bring. “I always saw it as just a symptom of a much larger issue, of… the government seeing its purpose as trying to collect more and more tax revenue, regardless of the impact of those taxable things on the broader community,” says Beck, who owns Beck’s Antiques on Caroline Street. But not much changed, he acknowledges, largely because supporters of the Celebrate Virginia project still dominated city government. “The first two years I couldn’t have said that the sky was blue and have the council agree with me,” he says. Like Greenup, he lost his re-election bid, to the current mayor. But he’s glad to have seen the new high school built. (City Council approved construction of the new high school during Beck’s tenure, but the school didn’t open until 2006 when Tomzak was mayor.) “When people who care about schools look at this community as a possible place to open a business and see we have good schools and pay attention to them, that lifts the whole community.” Beck’s favorite part was the ceremonial touches—ribbon cuttings or handing out keys to the city. Even those small gestures make a big difference to people, he says. “It’s a shame it doesn’t happen more now.” Like the other mayors, Beck endured his share of brickbats. Beck remembers having a pleasant chat with one resident who had a son in a wheelchair about the benefit of allowing sidewalk cafes, because persons with physical disabilities would have easier access. “She then wrote a letter to the newspaper saying that I wanted her son to sit outdoors and eat like the animals...The level of discourse can be unpleasant and I don’t miss that.”
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Special thanks to the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center for allowing us to use their facilities for this article
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Adam DeSio Photo
540-370-0695 Direct 540-845-1468 Cell Service 540-373-0100 Office 540-370-0757 fax choffman@cbcarriagehouse.com
Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 15
FrontDoor
FL A SH B A CK
Rehabilitating Historic Building For Reuse Former REA Depot is home to George Washington Regional Commission
F
or more than 40 years, the Railway Express Agency depot served a transportation industry giant. Now, the building that housed the depot is home to the George Washington Regional Commission, an agency focused on regional transportation. Shaped like a trapezoid, the single-level brick building at 406 Princess Anne St. in downtown Fredericksburg, has a shiny glass atrium and stands by the grassy hill that rises to the Fredericksburg train station. GWRC moved to its new home in the summer of 2007. But before the interior was filled with desks and computers, the building was empty for years, a casualty of the changing transportation industry. Built about 1928, the building served as a depot for the Railway Express Agency, a nationwide company owned by the railroads that transported goods by rail. Some describe it as the UPS or FedEx of its time. Joe Rose, 90, of Fredericksburg, used to work for REA. He loaded and unloaded freight and drove a delivery truck. “Every student at Mary Washington College had a big old trunk,” he said. Once goods left the train, they went to the depot, where they were picked up by a customer or delivered locally
16 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
by staff. Rose remembers a young woman who sent her laundry home to New Jersey to be washed. This practice was common for students, he explained. Rose was with REA from the 1940s through the 1950s, except for the three years that he served in Europe during WWII. In 1942 after a heavy rain, flooding immobilized the trains for a few days. The freight that was delayed included fresh fish on the way to markets. Rose realized that the fish would go bad before the trains started running again and the company would have to cover the loss. So he stood in the alley and asked people to buy the fish. “Oh yeah, people bought them,” he said. REA was profitable until the 1950s. Competing package delivery services, rate increases and changing modes of transportation led to its decline. By 1969, only 10 percent of the company’s delivery went by rail, according to a June 2006 article in Trains magazine. The company declared bankruptcy in the mid-1970s. In 1971, the oddly-shaped building was vacated. Through the years, weather-worn and ignored, it deteriorated and became just another eyesore in the former industrial corridor of Fredericksburg.
This page, Adam DeSio Photo; Opposite page, Joe Rose Photo from the Joe Wilson collection
Summer memorieS AwAit You The Railway Express Agency supplied Fredericksburg with cargo the postal service wouldn't carry. REA railcars transported everything from produce to auto parts; including circus animals. Top to bottom: Original REA depot building. Employees await train arrival beside carts loaded with outbound parcels. REA also fielded a fleet of vehicles, like this Chevrolet package truck, for local deliveries.
That is, until early 2000, when Joe Wilson saw beyond its dilapidated condition to its potential. The local business owner and former City Council member credits Herlong Associates with calling his attention to the find. “I pick these little jewels out—they have to be special,” Wilson said. He was intrigued by the building’s unique shape, “exquisite” brick work, and its ability to qualify him for a tax credit from the State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program. Wilson envisioned a restaurant with a piano bar. But when the commission expressed its interest, he went with it. Wilson enclosed the building, but relegated the planning of the interior to Bob Wilson, the executive director of the commission. The two Wilsons are not related. Local interior designer, Lou Barnett, worked with Wilson to design a functional space without losing the building's distinctive features. For example, the former loading doors have been replaced with store-front glass, but their steel frames remain. Bob Wilson likes the idea that the commission has been able to adapt this historic building for its use. “The whole commission is proud. We’ve set a good example." —Kathy Lewis
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Where Business Flourishes not here Just to make a living But to make a Difference
Visiting Angels is a family-run business that has been open five and a half years. Cathy Dickey runs the office that is tied to a franchise of over 400 businesses nationwide. Her husband, Steve Dickey, owns the H&R Block next door and helps with management while Mrs. Dickey focuses on medical care; “I have the nursing experience and my husband has the management background,” Mrs. Dickey says. “Giving the best care possible
is my main focus.” Their son Matt Dickey runs the transport service tied to Visiting Angels. The state licensed business offers care giving assistance to customers who wish to remain in their homes instead of moving to a nursing home or retirement center. They help with bathing, meal preparation and light housekeeping. Mrs. Dickey believes their office may be the only place locally that also offers a 24 hour livein service. The office is open seven days a week, with hours
9am-7pm Monday through Friday and 9am-5pm Saturday and Sunday. There is also a phone number to call if a client has an emergency after hours. The transport services assists some of their clients, but also takes many outside calls from nursing homes or the hospital to help get people around town. Mrs. Dickey loves their location at Westwood Office Park since her office is connected to her husband’s and they get free advertising from being located on the street and having the vans displayed from the parking lot. All of this allows the agency to offer the best care to the clients. As Mrs. Dickey says, “I didn’t want to be the biggest agency in town; I just wanted to give the best care.” 540-373-6906 www.visitingangels.com
real estate assistance with a Personal touch Attorney Barry Clark earned his law degree at George Mason University. Several months later, in February of 2005, he and his wife Holly opened the practice in the Westwood Office Park. As the sole practitioner in the office, Mr. Clark focuses mostly on Real Estate settlements and its components including estate planning and small business planning. Although his main focus is real estate, “Small business interests me since I had to do it for myself, “ Mr. Clark says. “When you open your own law practice, especially out of school, you’re learning how to practice law and run a business at the same time.” After living this experience himself Mr. Clark believes the most important part of his practice is making clients comfortable and making sure they do not leave the office until they know everything about their real estate settlement. “If I can help them understand the process a little
18 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
better, then I have helped them out and done a good job for them,” Clark states. With only three employees, Mr. Clark seems to give that personal touch to his work. After growing up in the Fredericksburg area, Holly and Barry Clark felt it was important to open their practice in a place where they knew people. The Office Park seemed like the perfect location: the offices are nice and the location is convenient for new customers to find since it is located right off of Route 3. 540-374-9174 / www.bclark.com
customer consistency Attorney Chad Rinard opened his private practice in Westwood Office Park in August of 2008. After graduating from Georgetown Law School in 2001 and moving to Fredericksburg in 2003, Mr. Rinard was ready to make his mark on society. “I wanted to focus solely on business law, and the easiest way to do so appeared to be to open my own firm,” Mr. Rinard says. Within business law Mr. Rinard focuses on contracts, collections and bankruptcy. Mr. Rinard takes pride in his level of service. He and his staff are in touch with their clients not only when requested but also on a monthly basis just to check in. He finds his and his employees’ rapport with the local courts also helpful. He likes his location in Westwood because of its proximity to local courthouses: Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania. While he spends about 60% of his time in court, his staff is always in the office available to assist clients. “My staff has prior experience in law offices and local court clerk’s offices,” Mr. Rinard mentions, “which has proved a big benefit to me and the clients.” Right now the practice consists of himself and two employees, but a new law clerk is joining his practice. 540-899-6465 www.crinardlaw.com
chiroPractor giving Back to the community
The Good Life Chiropractic and Wellness Center focuses not only on misalignments of the spine, but also on adjusting extremities for athletes all in the aim of better health for the individual. Since its opening in 2006 in Westwood Office Park, Dr. Penny Dudley works to help patients through pain she felt herself. After a car accident at the age of nineteen, Dr. Penny (this is how she would like to be referred to after initial introduction) spent three
years in extreme pain until she saw a chiropractor. She compared getting adjusted to turning the power back on in her body. “It was so transformative for me that I realized I need to do this for other people,” says Dr. Penny. She believes if she can help people in the way she was helped, she can provide a great service to others for the rest of her life. Although Dr. Penny has worked in chiropractics and sports medicine in several locations, she enjoys having
rateD one of the Best in the country Allied Mortgage, a national company with around 300 offices, provides assistance to homeowners with refinances and purchases. The branch located in Westwood Office Park has ranked in the top ten almost every year since its opening. Dave Garofalo, branch manager/owner, believes in being proactive instead of reactive to avoid being unprepared. He believes, “When the moving vans are lined up, you make sure everything is done correctly.” Mr. Garofalo retired from the Air Force ten years ago and chose mortgage as his second career. Now, he makes all the decisions in office even though they are tied to the national company in name. “We’re a small branch physically, but we’re big producers because we have a really good reputation in the Fredericksburg area,” he says. While Mr. Garofalo has worked with Allied Mortgage for seven years, he has enjoyed being located in the Westwood Office Park for four years. Since his office does business with homeowners up and down the interstate, the location makes it easy to draw customers from all over. The Office Park is also easy for them to find since it is right off of Interstate 95. Mr. Garofalo prides himself on the care he and his employees give their customers. They can usually match the best rate, but if they cannot they encourage clients to look elsewhere; Mr. Garofalo believes helping the customer find the best deal for them is the most important part of the job. www.alliedfred.com / 540-785-9004
her own practice. She also loves the location and parking situation for her clients that have trouble getting around. “There is only one step they have to come up,” she says. “It’s easy for people to park right in front and come in the door.” Working alone since she opened her practice, Dr. Penny welcomed a colleague three weeks ago. Dr. Chris Haller has been practicing for 32 years and plans to work with Dr. Penny while he transitions into retirement. Better health
of the individual is her focus and Dr. Penny and Dr. Haller will continue this tradition. 540-372-9866
The first rule of running a successful business is finding just the right location. Strategically located between Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia, Westwood Office Park is on Route 3, less than a two minute drive from the ramps to Interstate 95. Your business or professional practice will benefit from the easy access to either major market as well as the surrounding counties. Call or go online today for more information about how you can get your business off to a great start.
www.westwoodofficepark.com 202-329-7711 MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 19
Benefit Auction to Support FAMILIES OF THE WOUNDED FUND INC. What: Auction by Nicholls Auction Marketing Group When: Thursday April 22, 6—8p.m. Where: Courtyard Marriott in downtown Fredericksburg, 620 Caroline St. Guest Speaker: CDR Paul E. Galanti (POW for 7+ years in Vietnam Hanoi Hilton) Courtyard Marriott is hosting this auction on behalf of the Greater Fredericksburg Regional Board of the Fund. All proceeds will go to support the families of combat-wounded troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Although more than 200 needy families have received assistance from the Fund, the casualty list continues to grow. Your help is needed!
Please join us for an enjoyable and fulfilling evening as we lend support to families of our nation’s heroes. For more information contact Don Freeman at dfreeman@cbcarriagehouse.com or (540)370-1853.
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Each issue of Virginia Neighbors showcases the people, places, businesses and events in and around our region, reminding us all that our community and world is still a place of “good neighbors.”
www.virginianeighbors.com 20 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
HOME&GARDEN | TRAVEL | HEALTH | FOOD | FAMILY
BackYard
COME & GET IT
Eat Your Greens! After the excesses of Mardi Gras, New Orleans enters the
penitential season of Lent with its prohibition of meat dishes. Leave it to the land of les bon temps to devise a meatless springtime stew with such deep and inviting flavor that one feels anything but deprived! Gumbo z’Herbes, or Green Gumbo, starts with a classic base of roux and the “trinity” of onion, celery and green pepper. Smoked paprika and allspice pinch hit for ham hocks in our version, rutabaga adds depth, and a bit of filé powder provides authenticity. While fresh spring kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, and collards are traditional, you may prefer the milder spinach, chard and watercress combination featured here.
»
Adam DeSio Photo
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 21
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Gumbo z’Herbes continued ________________________________
HOMEGROWN
And feel free to omit the shrimp or, conversely, add sausage and ham. Gumbo is a very personal dish, so let your inner Cajun rule!
A Garden Metamorphosis
Gumbo z’Herbes with Shrimp
Grow your own butterflies
3 T. butter ¼ cup flour 1 medium onion, diced ½ large green bell pepper, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 large garlic clove, minced 1 cup diced rutabaga or turnip 3 cups (total) cleaned and coarsely chopped spinach, green chard, and watercress 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped or ½ teaspoon dried 1 teaspoon smoked paprika ¼ teaspoon ground allspice 1 quart vegetable broth 2 teaspoons soy sauce 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley 1 bay leaf ½ teaspoon filé powder 1 teaspoon Tabasco® sauce 2 tablespoons lemon juice ¾ to 1 pound small raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined C ooked white rice, hot sauce and lemon wedges for serving. In a Dutch oven or other large, heavy bottomed pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture (the roux) is the color of peanut butter; approximately 5 minutes. Add the onions, bell pepper, celery, garlic and rutabaga. Stir to coat the vegetables with roux and cook, stirring frequently, until wilted, about 7 minutes. Add the greens and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes, until wilted. Add the thyme, smoked paprika and allspice and cook for 1 minute to “bloom” the spices. Whisk in the broth, soy sauce, parsley and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low, stir in the filé powder, and simmer the gumbo, covered, for one hour. Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice, Tabasco® and shrimp. Cook only until the shrimp curl and turn pink, about 3 minutes. Serve with cooked rice, hot sauce, and lemon wedges. Serves 4 to 6. —Drema Apperson
22 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
I
f you’d like to add a layer of beauty to your garden this spring, you might want to consider opening a restaurant. Monarch No, not the kind that would bring hordes of strangers traipsing through your yard—not to mention irate zoning officials and health department inspectors. This restaurant is for butterflies only. Or, more precisely, butterflies and caterpillars. Butterflies—Monarchs, Eastern Black Swallowtails, Buckeyes and more—will show up during your restaurant’s grand opening and become regular customers, if you take the care to set the table just right for their kids. Raising butterflies is a rewarding experience, and if there’s a child in your life, it’s a fun and educational way to show nature in action. You’ll witness a life cycle consisting of four stages—egg; larval or caterpillar; the pupa or chrysalis; and the emerging adult butterfly. It’s a complete metamorphosis. To attract the species you’d like to see in your garden, it’s important to choose the appropriate “host” plants for butterflies to lay their eggs. There are essentially two categories of butterflies and butterflies-to-be: those who are finicky about what they eat and those who are content at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Female butterflies scout out host plants using special “claws” that contain sensing organs to scratch test potential candidates. This action automatically triggers the uncoiling of their proboscis (a straw-like organ through which they sip nectar), and—together with sight—they are able to determine the plant’s chemical composition and whether it’s appropriate for egg laying. Depending on the species, eggs are laid individually or in clusters of up to 100. Single eggs are usually “glued” to the upper side of the leaf, while clusters are typically deposited underneath as added protection against predators. Each species’ egg is a work of art; some resemble seed pearls, others are reminiscent of exotic, jeweled turbans, and some are shaped like a barrel or a bullet. A few are brightly colored and are adorned with striations, bumps or ridges. Upon hatching, larvae instinctively begin munching their eggshell, which is full of protein and vitamins. Then the caterpillar does what it does best—eat some more. Caterpillars are a diverse-looking lot. Some, such as the Eastern Black Swallowtail, resemble bird droppings when young. Others, such as the Monarch, are striped. Some have bristles,
Swallowtail caterpillar
Buckeye
Buckeye caterpillar Monarch caterpillar Swallowtail
other spines. But they’re friendly. The scary outfits are nature’s way of helping them confound their predators. Once they’ve eaten all they want, the caterpillar enters the pupa, or resting stage, by constructing a chrysalis. Each species produces a unique chrysalis. Monarchs build pale green spherical homes with a row of golden dots encasing the top. Swallowtails create structures resembling leaves. Some Skippers construct a “bed” of glued-together leaves of the host plant in which to rest. The final stage is arguably the most fascinating. After a specific incubation period, the adult butterfly emerges, unfolds and dries its wings, then takes flight, in search of nectar and a mate. Here’s a short list of the easiest butterflies to grow in our region: Eastern Black Swallowtails: They’re buffet-feeders; they like any plant in the carrot family. To attract this butterfly, plant plenty of fennel, dill, parsley or Queen Anne’s lace. Look for round, cream-colored eggs laid individually. Buckeyes: Given a choice, they’ll feast first on the leaves of cultivated plants, such as snapdragons and linaria, or the wildflower “hens and chicks.” In the wild, they’ll go for plantain, a common weed in
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fields and lawns. Their dark green, ribbed eggs resemble turbans. Monarchs are picky eaters. They’ll devour anything in the milkweed family but nothing else. Eggs are oval and pearly white. You also can raise caterpillars indoors. Simply purchase a pop-up hamper, turn it upside down and—voila!—you have an instant butterfly home. Place a potted host plant bearing eggs or caterpillars in the hamper, adding more plants as needed. Or place stems of the host plant in a glass of water, cover the opening with foil (to prevent small larva from drowning), then poke several stems of the host plant through the foil. Replace with fresh stems as needed. Since these hampers are made of a mesh-like material, there is ample air exchange, and the mesh will offer support for construction of the chrysalis. Hampers are also an excellent way to prevent vulnerable caterpillars from exposure to predators, such as birds, wasps and praying mantises. When the adults emerge, allow time for them to dry their wings. Then photograph yourself with your dining guests – and release them outdoors so the cycle of life begins anew.
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MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 23
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PROFILE
Faith Takes Flight in King George Local flight attendant-turned philanthropist takes charity to new heights
T
he power of faith can stretch beyond borders. Just ask Fronce Wardlaw, an international flight attendant by day, impassioned philanthropist by night. For the past 25 years, Fronce has been a devoted employee of American Airlines, assisting countless passengers with their needs during flight. When she touches ground in her hometown of King George, she’s supporting the needs of life’s passengers through Project FAITH, a local non-profit organization she cofounded that facilitates access to independent housing for persons with disabilities and elderly individuals with low incomes. A North Carolina native, Fronce has spent close to a decade rebuilding the lives of locals, brick by brick. Using her experience as an entrepreneur for the past 20 years, she has moonlighted by flipping, renovating and maintaining rental properties. Fronce has helped position Project FAITH as one of the most progressive and far-reaching charitable organizations in the region. Whether she’s flying the friendly skies or assisting the disabled, this Virginia neighbor is making a mark in her community. VN: Tell me a little about Project FAITH. How
did you get involved in the organization?
FW: Launching Project FAITH is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Not only does it give me a chance to give back to my community, but it lets me leverage my experience as an entrepreneur. In my opinion, telling the story of how Project FAITH started, along with presenting worthy projects and having funders realize your dreams, is the most rewarding parts of my job. VN: How did Project FAITH come about? FW: It all began with Johnny Johnson, an area resident who is learning disabled and a double amputee. In 2001, a friend of mine, Nadine Lucas, learned of Johnny’s plight and decided to lend a helping hand. She partnered with the King George Builders Association and 84 Lumber to donate a house kit. Nadine had several churches, volunteer contractors and civic groups working on the house. A year
24 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
and a half later, though, the volunteers grew tired of the community project and left, leaving the house only 80 percent complete. Nadine asked if I would help her out, and of course, I said yes! At the time, I had just finished flipping a property and had some unrestricted cash on hand, so I helped her complete the remaining portion of the house. Afterward, I wondered about all of the other ‘Johnnys’ in the area. Who was going to help them? Nadine and I reached out to retired high school teacher, Phyliss B. Ashton, and developed a plan for a larger-scale initiative. Before we knew it, we became the first official members of Project FAITH! VN: Who does Project FAITH support, and what
does your role entail?
FW: For almost a decade, Project FAITH has been providing housing for the chronically homeless, those who were habitants of sub-standard housing and those who were on the verge of becoming homeless. Currently, we employ three full-time employees and one part-time accountant bookkeeper, all of whom are strengthening the community through innovative construction efforts. I serve as the executive director, and I’m in charge of project funding, among other responsibilities. VN: Is it a position that suits your
entrepreneurial spirit?
FW: Absolutely! I’m inherently deal-driven. I have a compassion for people, but when it comes to launching new projects, if the deal does not get done, they can’t move forward. In order for our projects to move forward, there has to be someone focused on the deal aspect of things; Jamie Haverkamp Photo
someone who can secure the monies needed. In our case, those funds come from grants, which I write, federal low-income housing tax credits and other funding sources sensitive to serving low-income families. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it when we see our projects realized. VN: What are some projects
you’re currently working on?
FW: We’ve developed several housing projects that have had a direct impact on the health of numerous communities. One of these projects is Angelwood Phase I, which provides universally designed, multi-family rental units to 24 persons with disabilities. The second phase of the development, which was completed on November 30, provides 32 multi-family rentals. Our biggest initiative now, though, is the King George HELP Center. It’s going to be a 30,000-square-foot, LEED certified housing facility that will provide educational opportunities and comprehensive services to lowincome families. It’s a monumental undertaking that will serve the Northern Neck of Virginia, but it’s not without its challenges.
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VN: Speaking of challenges,
what types do you face as executive director?
FW: The economic downturn has had a tremendous affect on the organization in terms of community benevolence. Though I can get millions of dollars for a project, gathering operating funds has always been a struggle. For those who want to support Project FAITH, we would appreciate any and all tax deductible donations. —Nicholas Addison Thomas
To learn more about Project Faith, visit www.project-faith.com. To contact Fronce, e-mail her at project_faith@verizon.net.
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 25
BackYard
HUMOR
Why Bother? Bittersweet memories of family vacations
Y
ou’ve seen the advertisements—emerald ocean waves stretched out to an endless sky, tanned couples prancing through the surf, tropical drinks teasing you from a table that overlooks a blazing sunset. It’s time for Spring Break and hot, sunny fun. Even though they don’t look exactly like my vacations anymore, those splashy commercials are hard to resist. They tempt me just as my wind-chapped and wickedly white skin needs to thaw out. My husband Mike suggested returning to Clearwater, Fl., for our wedding anniversary in March. We were married there and, of course, stayed for our honeymoon. Romantic? Sure, but also sly. Mike happens to be a big baseball fan. And baseball lovers know that March in Florida is smack-dab in the center of spring training both in time and location. It’s the perfect spot to take your pick of baseball games in cozy, fan-friendly stadiums that dot the tropical landscape. And yet getting married there—800 miles away from where we lived—was my idea. As a reporter, Mike covered the infamous John and Lorena Bobbitt trials in 1994. After the trial was over, he read that John had moved to Las Vegas, and as one of a series of rather unconventional jobs, was able to legally marry people. Always on the lookout for an interesting story, my husband suggested we fly to Vegas and let John marry us. “Wouldn’t that be a great story to tell our grand kids?” he asked. Um, no. Instead, I suggested we marry during spring training in Florida. Now, Mike likes to say he threw the Bobbitt idea out there as a negotiating ploy. But Florida turned out to be the perfect compromise—beaches for me, baseball for him. Thinking about a potential trip south this year reminds me of how our vacations have evolved. Rewind to 2002. Mike and I planned to celebrate our anniversary in Florida—like we’d done in previous years “BC” (before children). Only this time, we packed up our 11-monthold son and his array of accouterments.
26 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes an over-sized SUV and a small village of Sherpa guides to carry all of a child’s stuff on vacation. The packing list looked like this: box of diapers, superexpensive “swim” diapers for the pool, baby swing, walker, stroller, beach tent, case of formula, baby food, juice, sippy cups, bottles, lots of baby clothes (since babies tend to drool and leak), sun hats, vat of baby-approved sunscreen, portable DVD player with age-appropriate DVDs, favorite toys and bed-time books. That’s quite a change from the small back pack that carried all of my worldly possessions around Europe for five weeks when I was a carefree twenty-something. The Durango groaned as we crammed and stuffed every inch of it like a Thanksgiving turkey and drove 876 miles—but who’s counting? After two days in a hot car, the seaside hotel sparkled like a mirage. Luckily, the hotel really was there and it only took a bellman’s hotel cart two trips up to the room to transport our “necessities.” We had made it to the beach—albeit sticky, wrinkled and cramped. But that’s a small price to pay for a seaside perch. And I don’t need a crystal ball to see Disney World in my future. Jay, my first-grader, was interviewed on Spotswood Elementary School’s television program. When asked the most exciting place he’d ever been, he replied “Chuck E. Cheese’s!” His answer surprised me since he’s flown on a private jet, visited states from Maine to Texas, rode a life-size Thomas the Tank Engine train, explored zoos, petted sharks at aquariums, fantasized over fossils in museums, and cheered at professional football and baseball games. Yet all that doesn’t compare to the noise and games of the local Chuck E. Cheese’s and its tall, gray mouse. Cleary the kid needs some perspective from that big, blackeared mouse down south that lives in a kingdom. Who needs the seashore for a whole week? After a while, even beaches and baseball get boring. And since we’re past the diaper and formula phase, I think we can manage this trip without the Sherpas. —Lisa Ferreira Candice Carver Illustration
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F A M I LY F U N
A Chip off the Old Block Stonehenge look-alike captures monument’s lighter side
F
olks come from far and near to marvel at its size. They get goose bumps wondering why it was built. They pose for pictures, looking small beside the big gray slabs. And they walk away having witnessed one of the most ancient, mystifying structures in the world. Sort of. Photos from Foamhenge might fool some into thinking they were taken in Wiltshire, England, at that famous circle of ancient rocks. But this Stonehenge replica in Natural Bridge, Va., is a long way from its European inspiration. Instead of great big hunks of granite, the lightweight look-alike is all Styrofoam and spray paint. And, unlike Stonehenge, there’s no mystery behind its meaning. Foamhenge was built to entertain. “I do everything to lighten the load in people’s lives and try to generate a smile on people’s faces,” creator Mark Cline said in a phone interview. “When I know I’ve done that, it helps me feel better, too.” While it took more than a thousand years to finish Stonehenge, its cushy counterpart came together in just
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six weeks. Set high on a hill amid Virginia’s scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, Foamhenge made its début on April 1, 2004. Since then, the structure has graced the pages of publications, like National Geographic Kids and USA Today, and been featured on television networks, including the Discovery Channel and MSNBC. Not bad for a sculpture that started as an April Fool’s Day prank. “It was never really meant to be there as long as it has,” said Mark, a self-taught artist who considers himself “a regular guy.” “This seems to be the one that had enough substance to remain when the joke wore off.” A sign for the site caught my eye as I passed through Natural Bridge on a trip last summer. I could barely wait to see Foamhenge for myself, but my travel companions were less enthused. Mom refused to tackle a hill for such tomfoolery, but I managed to talk my boys, ages 4 and 6, into making the trek with me. For all its kookiness, Foamhenge is a full-sized replica based on fact, matching Stonehenge in dimension as well as astronomical alignment…almost. As we wound our way
through the ring of Styrofoam pillars, it was easy to believe we were inside the mysterious monument built centuries ago in England. But my imaginary trip overseas was cut short when the boys were spooked by a life-sized wizard, added by Mark as a tribute to a friend. And we all walked away with a serious case of the willies. No doubt, The Roanoke Times isn’t the only one to call Mark an “oddball artist,” but the 49-year-old owner of Enchanted Castle Studios in Natural Bridge couldn’t care less. His vast collection of wacky works has included a herd of fiberglass elephants in Waynesboro, a flying saucer invasion in Lexington, and an array of superheroes, pirates and other funky fiberglass figures throughout Virginia. And, just down the road from Foamhenge, are Mark’s creepy Haunted Monster Museum and Dinosaur Kingdom. Fredericksburg-area residents might remember some of his sculpture, including a giant Johnny Appleseed that towered over U.S. 17 North in Stafford County. He also created some of the eclectic pieces—like a Superman that seemed to have crashed through the wall—that adorned the old Spanky’s restaurant downtown. But Foamhenge is perhaps Mark’s most popular project, and he’s turned his attention toward preserving it. In its lifetime, the quirky re-creation has been riddled with scratches, pockmarks and graffiti, and Mark has repeatedly repaired it. A sign, meant to minimize damage, warns potential vandals that their unattended cars might suffer the same fate. “You figure someone who’s nuts enough to build something like that,” Mark said, “is going to be nuts enough to hide in the woods and seek revenge on anyone who disrespects his creation.” But signs can’t stop the winds that have blown down the blocks or deter the rain and snow that has worn away at them. After all, Foamhenge is made of foam. At its current rate of deterioration, Mark predicts the structure might only last another year or two. To preserve it, he’s considering an expensive spray-on plastic and is looking for a way to fund the project. The cash won’t come through admission costs, though. Despite its popularity, there’s no charge to see Foamhenge. “I like the idea of people just driving down the road and discovering it…,” Mark said. “It’s like a free piece of candy.”
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—Lisa Chinn Foamhenge is located at Hwy 11 South. To get there, take I-81 exit 180. It’s on a bluff set back from the southbound side of Hwy 11, just south of the Natural Bridge Petting Zoo, one mile north of Natural Bridge. You need to be driving southbound to see it. Hours: Daylight, but call to verify, 540-464-2253.
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 29
BackYard
T R AV E L
Blue Ridge Parkway Began 75 Years Ago Scenic Road Remains a Top Travel Attraction
T
he secret to the enduring popularity of the Blue Ridge Parkway is like the secret to life itself: it’s how you make the trip that counts. The Parkway is not only one of the top tourist draws among all national parks, it is a 469-mile road that links two of the most popular parks in the United States, if not the world—Shenandoah National Park, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
30 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
As many as 20 million people a year explore the Parkway, although the vast majority visits in the summer or during the fall, when the leaves transform the hills. This year marks the 75th year of the beginning of work on the Parkway—a New Deal project that brought jobs and an economic shot-in-the arm to one of the most depressed regions in the country in the mid-1930s. It was a massive task, building a winding road along peaks, valleys and ridges from Rockfish Gap at the southern end of the Skyline Drive into the highest mountains in the East, at Oconaluftee in far western North Carolina. It was opened to motorists as sections were finished, at least four of them by 1939, with the entire roadway finally open in 1987. And what a trip it affords! A drive southward from the north entrance has been an inspiration for millions. Up hill and down, passing stunning panoramic views, the Parkway, with its 45-mile- per-hour limit literally makes us slow down and smell the wild roses or whatever other beauties the season shows. The genius of the road is like the limitless views of a slowly spinning kaleidoscope. No two places along this narrow thread of pavement are identical. Drive it, whether for an afternoon picnic or the entire length, and every corner brings some new variation. Armed with the free map available from the National Park Service or, better yet, a map and mile-by-mile guidebook, travelers along this byway find an almost countless assortment of trails, viewpoints, historic and cultural stops, museums, scenic surprises and side roads begging for exploration.
In Virginia, for example, the renowned Appalachian Trail largely follows the same mountaintop route as the Blue Ridge Parkway, crossing the roadway a number of times. It is one of more than 100 trails accessible from the Parkway in Virginia, ranging from short leg-stretchers to serious backpacking trips. No outing on the Parkway is complete without at least one stop for a walk in the woods. There are amenities, too, including visitor centers, stores, campgrounds and a few restaurants and lodges, but they are somewhat scattered. A spectacular example is the restaurant and lodge at Peaks of Otter, milepost 85.9. In addition, many more private amenities are readily accessed via side roads to cities and towns near the Parkway. The Parkway is a southern extension of the Skyline Drive, a two-lane road running 105 miles southward from Front Royal and likewise tracing its way along the ridge tops of the Blue Ridge, to its southern terminus at Interstate 64. On the south side of the interstate it becomes the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
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MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 31
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY continued _______________________________
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It is quite possible to plan an entire vacation—one or two weeks—around a trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway, without ever driving on an interstate. The Parkway, like the Skyline Drive, is open year-round, but weather or other road conditions sometimes requires closing portions of it. A wintertime trip can be especially enjoyable because fewer people are using the road. But a word of caution: when planning a Parkway trip in winter it’s wise to call ahead to check for closed sections. Keep in mind that most of the park’s amenities, such as gas stations, restaurants, and lodging aren’t open in the winter. One other note, cell phone reception along the Parkway varies from excellent (generally near towns) to non-existent. When the Blue Ridge Parkway was planned, in the early 1930s, one of the fathers of the project likened it to a necklace of pearls, linking the two beautiful national parks at either end. The pearls were scenic, cultural, recreational and historic gems along the path. architect Stanley Landscape Abbott, who beheld that vision, could not have imagined the future popularity of the Parkway to the millions who would one day live just hours from it along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. Travel tip: If possible, try to avoid making a long trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway on summer weekends, especially within 50 miles of the northernmost section. —Paul Sullivan For further information, visit the National Park Service website: http://www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm For a list of events celebrating the Parkway’s anniversary go to www. brp75.org. For Parkway road conditions and closings, call 828/298-0398.
by Robert Burke photography by Adam DeSio
34 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
Zolo: A Toy Story Bright and colorful, silly and whimsical, by MarjolijnHigashi Bijlefeld Byron Glaser and Sandra create toys photography by Adam DeSio that nurture the creative nature in kids. MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 35
A
small black sign no bigger than a postcard hangs on the door of a brick building in Fredericksburg, on a street lined with old warehouses. It says, in plain white letters, Zolo. But that gives no clue to what is going on inside, which is anything but plain. This is where they come up with toys like
Dino Globonz, which is 35 pieces of glow-in-thedark ‘fossil’ parts that you can stick together to create prehistoric critters. Or Zolo5, a hyacinth box of 32 of the oddest wooden shapes, including a purple eggplant-shaped thing and a red piece that looks like a kidney with white polka dots. Or Zolo Stringo Lingo, which is 50 different 5 by 5-inch colorful letter cards and a nine-foot string, so you can make your own messages. The creators of these toys and dozens of others are Byron Glaser and Sandra Higashi, two California natives who have a creative business collaboration that goes back to when they met in 1974 on the first day of classes at the Art Center College of Design, which was then in Los Angeles. Zolo is the name they came up with for their first toy, which they created in the mid-1980s when they were partners with a studio in Soho, doing corporate work. It’s a riff on zoological, since many of their playsculptures and designs hint at animal shapes and patterns. While doing some interior design for the FAO Schwarz toy store on Fifth 36 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
Using the fragrant smoke of dried sage, Robert purifies the medicine wheel at Patawomeck Band Memorial Park. MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 37
38 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
“We operate more on intuition and gut, rather than demographics or marketing studies.” Avenue, the pair decided the toy offerings were lacking. So they created a hand-carved, handpainted wood playsculpture. They tried to sell it to major toymakers like Hasbro and Mattel, who didn’t bite. “They said, ‘We love it, is it for boys or girls?’ And we said, it’s for both,” Byron says. “They said, ‘That’s not the way this industry runs.’” So they started making plans to manufacture and sell it themselves, until a buyer from the Museum of Modern Art saw it. Then Zolo went on sale at the museum gift shop, and did very well. That same year, 1986, the Zolo toy won the Best New Product Award in the Accent on Design competition. “Soon all the museums were calling,” Byron says. “A lot of doors flew open, and we were established in one of the best product catalogues in the world. It was great.” That success is actually part of the reason they wound up in Fredericksburg. After three years working with the museum they decided to sell Zolo toys on their own, but wanted to leave the city. Byron had a friend living on a farm in Stafford County, so they came south. “That’s why we moved here, because we didn’t want to do it out of New York,” Byron says. Their space in Fredericksburg, on Wolfe Street, is where they do most of their designing. Sandra and Byron have fairly simple offices lined with shelves of books and toy designs, and anchored by computers. Their main studio space is a long open room with a large work table and a drill press, supplies, a few large bright-colored tapestries hanging up, and boxes of toys and supplies stacked against the walls. The company also has some warehouse space nearby where it stores products for distribution. Sandra says their ideas for toys emphasize unstructured creative play. Like Zolotopia, a collection of 67 colorful plastic-and-foam pieces that can be stuck together to create pretty much anything you can come up with. Or the Q Cards, 52 different cards with messages such as “mend a relationship” or “passion.” There’s a lot of whimsy in their ideas. “We operate more on intuition and gut, rather
than demographics or marketing studies,” Sandra says. “And we respond as consumers, too. We think, ‘Is this something we would like?’” Byron says the products they design “have to inspire the imagination, so that you are actively involved in it. Creativity is really an important part of problemsolving, and that’s why Zolo is great, because it allows people a chance to be creative when they don’t think they are. You can take any two pieces and put them together and create something.” Their 2010 catalogue has 33 different toys and games and books. They’re manufactured overseas and sold at major toy retailers and on the Web. Zolo is redesigning its Zolo. com Web site now so it can do e-commerce and sell products directly to consumers, instead of working with toy wholesalers as they’ve done for years. There’s more to Zolo than just the two founders. Their sales and
Original wooden prototypes are kept on hand even after a toy has gone into full production.
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 39
production manager is Dan Stirling, and he commands the biggest office in the back of their studio. He’s involved in the business side, handling much of their marketing and distribution work. Another key collaborator is Deb Hirschfield, based near Chicago, who is responsible for expanding the Zolo Inc. brands and businesses. She created her own company in 1999, called Sugarbuzz, to develop novelty candy items. She met Byron and Sandra when she was working at Nickelodeon, where she managed their toy and confectionary licensing business, and then teamed up with them in 2001. So there’s candy among the Zolo products, such as Coal, a black-colored gum that finds a lot of buyers around Christmas time, and Placebo, a package of all-natural mints imported from the Netherlands. And, there’s more to these two designers than just Zolo. Before they developed the original toy the pair did corporate and retail identity design under the name Higashi Glaser Design. They still do, handling product and packaging designs, book designs and illustrations and graphics. Some clients include Crabtree & Evelyn, FAO Schwarz, Viacom and Scholastic. They’ve also gotten involved with Global Action for Children, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. Higashi Glaser has done design for the group’s annual report and is now producing a line of cards. A couple of years ago Byron’s son, Omri, designed T-shirts for the group, to help raise money. He’s now a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Though the pair have worked with some well-known clients they’ve got a pretty low profile around here. They’ve done some work locally, for Studio d’Esthetique, a spa salon in Fredericksburg, and the Bodyworks Downtown Athletic Club. They still keep a studio space in New York and do business there. “We love being here,” Byron says, and they stay busy through just word-of-mouth. “We’ve never solicited work, it just comes to us,” he says. “With products, you always have to come up with new stuff. So we’re busy.” Their business continues to evolve. Along with redesigning their Web site, they’re working on an animated version of Zolo. They’re also expanding sales overseas, and now have a distributor in Korea, where they’re finding a fast-growing market, Byron says. “We don’t really understand it, but they’re selling equal to what we’re selling here.” They also hope to find a distributor in Europe this year, he says. Back when they started out they had to make the original Zolo prototype by hand, out of foam and wood. Now they do much of their work on computers, but the demand for their particular brand of open-ended creative play is still growing, Byron says. “I think there will always be a need for well-designed products, and I think that more than ever, design has become an important part of our culture, and people are more aware of it. We love that we kind of helped create that category.” d
For more information or to order products online, visit www.zolo.com
40 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 41
A Language of
Diplomacy
Kathleen Walsh has traded in her stethoscope for a paintbrush, but her drive to improve the human condition hasn’t changed. by Marjolijn Bijlefeld photography by Jamie Haverkamp
42 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 43
Kathleen Walsh has lived all over the world— Poland, Botswana, Zaire, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Germany and Switzerland. She has worked as a nurse and helped set up and staff health clinics in three African countries.
As incidents of international terrorism increased she decided her community needed a way to talk about it, so she studied psychotherapy at Catholic University of America in Washington. She worked as a consultant to therapists for English-speaking families when she lived in Germany and again when she lived in Switzerland. She taught ethics classes in Geneva. Oh, and along the way, she has raised three children as her career diplomat husband’s postings took them to three continents. Looking for a town with a sense of place, Kathleen and her husband, Neal, settled in Fredericksburg in 1982. “Settled,” though, is not a word that describes Kathleen. Now an artist, Kathleen uses her paintings to point out what she’s learned from her years of living abroad: the world is small; people are more alike than different. To stay on level ground while living abroad, Kathleen set a goal: to learn what she could about a place and time, and then jump in. Friends, she said, wondered why she would wreck her nursing career, but, “I gained riches,” from the flexibility that living abroad required. It is precisely that flexibility that allowed her to launch into painting. Actually, she hobbled into it. The family was living in Switzerland, a country that was granting few work permits to Americans. When she broke her leg, her typical ways of staying
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busy were hampered. So she found an artist and asked to study with him. “I was always arranging things with my eyes,” she said. Her frequent travels made her even more aware of the beauty around her. “When you move reg u larly, you come alive. Your eyes do a huge amount of work.” Her latent talents have allowed her to transfer what she sees onto canvas and paper. The walls of her studio at LibertyTown Arts Workshop in downtown Fredericksburg serve as a kind of large-scale scrapbook of the past years. “Some people walk in and ask if three artists share the space,” she said, laughing. It’s easy to see why they’re confused. Three distinct styles of paintings are on display; they could well be by different people. Covering one wall, floor-to-ceiling, wall-towall is an oil painting of a single baobab tree, in dark blues and bold strokes. Smaller, framed, oil landscapes reflect pastoral scenes from the Fredericksburg area and mid-Atlantic region. The soft colors and timeless quality seem to mirror the artist. Petite and polished with a black art smock, Kathleen speaks softly—and only after taking a moment to consider what she’ll say. She slowly spins a paintbrush she holds. She smiles warmly, and it’s easy to imagine she was just this comfortable and comforting as a psychotherapist or a nurse. Stacked against a third wall are rectangular canvases with the intense reds, yellows and burnt oranges of the African landscape. The figures are more abstract, almost ghostly. Indeed, the plight of women in northern Africa haunts her. Sounding more like her former-healthcare-worker self, she repeats the statistics: illiteracy among women is 85 percent; the average number of births is nearly seven per woman, but the infant mortality rate takes a brutal toll.
Her passion rises as she talks about the work being done to help women. Her painting allows her to do some part. It is her habit to donate 15 percent of the profits from sales back to the land from which the paintings come. The proceeds from these African paintings, which will be on display at the Alexandria Symphony March 13-14, will go to Catholic Relief Services in Burkina Faso, in northern Africa. The organization is one of several that has developed a multifaceted approach to aid projects. “We used to have a single focus to our task. A clinic would provide help to the people who came there. CARE built wells. Save the Children helped one child at a time,” Kathleen said. This newer approach is designed to develop a level of self-sufficiency, education and economic stability for an entire community. “The economic stability of a region improves if you can keep girls in school until 5th grade,” she said. These programs cover the school fees so children can stay in school. They also help women generate a cash crop. The programs provide financing, agricultural know-how and marketing advice so the crops can provide cash and food. Local women are trained so that they, in turn, can teach
Above, a watercolor from Kathleen’s time in Burkina Faso entitled “White Millet”. At left, one of her many treasures... an elephant mask from Cameroon.
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 45
Clockwise from left: Burkina Rose, mixed media; Tsible Road, watercolor; Kathleen at work in her LibertyTown studio. Far right: Sunset Hill, oil, painted on location in Cow Pasture Meadow, VA.
46 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
skills to others. These trainers are given clean clothes, transportation and food, which earns them respect and keeps them physically and emotionally ready to work. It is clear Kathleen admires these programs and the people who run them. The African-inspired paintings were a diversion for her; she considers herself a landscape artist. On the most recent trip she and Neal took to Burkina Faso, she intended to paint landscapes. Canvas is unwieldy, so she traveled with watercolors. But in looking for landscapes, the people intrigued her more. “The people were the landscape,” she said, and the delicate watercolors she painted there show women on their way to market or to the river or just talking. The bolder oil paintings from Africa that she painted on her return home have a dreamy feel and become more ethereal as time passes. In the earlier works, the figures are recognizable; in the later ones, they become more shadowy. “This is the last one I did,” she said, holding up a painting with only hints of people in it. “Africa is receding,” she said. The African paintings, which feature scenes from the desert of the Sahel region, are an attempt to “render the elegance and dignity of the people while also conveying the fragility of the land and the infrastructure in which they live.” While most of her work is not as politically motivated as the African work, it all speaks a quiet language of diplomacy. In fact, it’s the lack of a political agenda that makes it so powerful. “It’s such a neutral activity; you can speak to each other.” Many times, she has found herself by a roadside painting and people stop. “They want to bring me apples from the field or something. They’re so pleased I’ve found beauty where they live,” she said. After she held some workshops and a small exhibit in Ecuador, she heard from a woman who told her that now she takes her family out in the evenings to paint, so they can see the country in a different light. The patience and solitude that art requires is
most appealing to her. “In the medical and mental health field, the work is pressing and urgent,” she said. “With art you have to develop the capacity of single mindedness.” In practical terms, that means she has to wait for a painting to speak to her. She waits for the story to appear, in the way a boat may head to the shore or clouds gather in the distance. Sometimes, that means a lot of waiting. She recalls wanting to paint a landscape at Motts Reservoir, off Riverside Drive near the Rappahannock River. She went several days and waited, looking for a story to reveal itself. One afternoon, the boathouse attendant, who had seen her arrive for a few days, asked her how it was going. “Not too well,” she confessed. “You leave too early,” he told her. “Tomorrow, come later and stay.” The next afternoon, she arrived later than usual. As the last of the anglers was packing up, and the canoes had all been stowed for the night, she apologized to the attendant for keeping him from closing. “He told me it was fine and that he would sit with me. So we sat on a bench, and a few minutes later, the sun set behind the pine trees and that orange light bounced off the water. There was my painting,” she said. d
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 47
Women’s Forum Saturday, March 20, 2010 Please join me for the 28th Annual Barbara Hicks Geslock Women’s Forum, where noted area speakers will discuss issues important to women. You’ll hear about everything from Health & Wellness to Travel & Leisure. You are invited to sign-up for our workshop: Automobile Selection & Maintenance: Choose and Maintain Your Car. Ch For details and registration visit www.womensforuminfred.org See you there,
Dan
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MUSIC
Music Archeologist Digs for Inspiration
I
got interested in music at about age 13. Punk—Rancid and NOFX. In high school I sort of went backwards and started listening to bands that influenced those two like Social Distortion and Minor Threat. Then further back to the Ramones, Sex Pistols, Clash, Patti Smith, Richard Hell. The older I get the further back I go. Recently I got into songwriters and folky stuff like Dylan and Donovan. Now Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, and Leadbelly. Alex Culbreth, a young singer-songwriter from Stafford and an University of Mary Washington senior majoring in English, is a musical archeologist who mines the past to fuel his own artistic progress. He looks backward to move
forward. He figures it’s about paying his respects to those musical giants that came before him. Alex has become a vivid presence on the local music scene. His deep, melodic voice and relaxed stage manner— plus an impressive body of original and well-crafted songs —gain him new fans all the time. Brian Tucker of Bootleg Magazine considers Alex “a conduit of what has gone before him musically—Arlo Guthrie, Patti Smith, sidewalk performers, alt-country.” Joe Isaacs of MusicMatters magazine says “Alex plays guitar beautifully in incredible tunings, his lyrics full of intelligence, historical references, and poetry.”
»
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 49
WRITER’S BLOCK
LOCAL POET OF POTTERY continued _________________________________
At 21, Alex is something of a song writing wunderkind. His wordplay would impress Dylans Bob and Thomas: Fake-leather revolutionaries Who find fault with all they see Would sell their brains and ad-libbed pains For the price of an herbal tea An Ax to Grind “I think my mom has the most passion for music out of anyone in the family—she turned me on to some jazz and blues. I played trumpet in school, but never practiced. It Alex’s debut album “The Sparrow” wasn’t my cup of tea.” Then, the Excalibur moment: “For my 13th birthday I got a guitar. I took some lessons but any real tricks I’ve learned and used in songs I’ve picked up watching other people. Someone would do a hammer-on, say, on an A minor and I’d think hey, that’s a cool sound. Open mics and live shows have been educational for me.” “Besides, for what I play I just need three chords.” Spoken like Johnny Ramone. Since the Road Began to Call my Name Alex has played at local joints such as Spirits, The Griffin and Fred Skates, but he also enjoys playing out on the road. Like this club off St. Mark’s Place in New York “a hole-in-the-wall, underground place—lots of comedians, performance artists, and poets. A lot of weird stuff going on, like this one lady who was painted completely blue with fairy wings and who read from her manuscript. A strange place but lots of fun.” Last summer, Alex and a friend headed to a Woody Guthrie festival in Oklahoma. They toured the Hank Williams’ Museum in Montgomery and schmoozed the front desk attendant to get a ticket discount. The conversation went something like this: Ma’am, my friend and I are both songwriters, like Hank Williams. Could we play you a song for some kind of songwriter discount? They got the discount. One night they slept in the bed of their truck. “It was July, in Mississippi. I think I lost five pounds in sweat.” Ah, the romance of the road! Music Hath Charms Occasionally Alex’s lyrics ruffle some feathers. “I was playing a political song at Spirits and there was this Marine sitting there. Halfway through the song, he said, “Man, shut up!” and looked like he was about to get up and punch me. He didn’t, but the weird thing is he stayed for the rest of the set, tapping his foot.” I’m Going to Nashville “Once I finish my English degree I plan to get my teaching certification, but then I want to move somewhere better for music. I’m leaning toward Nashville - a great, affordable place to live.” “I’d love to make a living off music. That’s my dream—not playing stadiums necessarily—but making enough to live. Teaching would go well, too, since I love literature.” —Rob Huffman 50 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
sucias Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, “The Dirty Girls Social Club” Anyone who’s known the kind of camaraderie that comes with having a close-knit group of girlfriends will find something of themselves in these women who meet in college and become committed to one another. Despite what they share, each has a distinct personality and perspective on what it means to be Latina in America. Together, they celebrate life’s victories, but they’re also there for each other when relationships go awry and careers get turned upside down. The book starts off a bit slowly, but if you can hang with these six ladies, they will have you laughing, crying, and rushing to the phone to plan the next girls’ night out.
$395 an hour Eliot Schrefer, “Glamorous Disasters” To paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald, the rich are different. In “The Great Gatsby,” that wasn’t a good thing. In this novel, it’s, well, a disaster. On Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Noah is just out of Princeton and tutoring rich kids for their SAT tests. His lower-middle-class childhood in rural Virginia didn’t prepare him for the scheming, drugged, over-sexed kids he tries to teach. In the end, Noah faces a choice between his values and an $80,000 check.
Maids’ powerful, poignant message Kathyrn Stockett , “The Help” What more vivid and frightening perspective to view the Civil Rights struggle than through the lens of AfricanAmericans who served as domestic workers in the Deep South? That’s the perspective provided by this
ground breaking debut novel. The story is told through the eyes of and in the dialect of black women working for white women in Jackson, Miss., during the early 1960s. The opening paragraph, narrated by the dominant domestic, Aibileen, clues the reader this will be a different type of literary journey: “Taking care a white babies, that’s what I do, with all the cooking and the cleaning... “
COMPELLING ‘Push’
Sapphire, “Push” Precious Jones is just that—precious. If only her parents had thought so. Sexually abused by her father, relentlessly beaten by her mother, and tormented because of her size in school, this African-American girl from Harlem learns to survive by disengaging. She shuts herself off from everything, including her education, until a special teacher inspires her to “push” forward, learn to read, and begin to build a better life for herself. Award-winning author Sapphire hooks readers from the beginning by letting Precious tell the story in her own words, bad grammar, misspellings and all. The inspiration for the major motion picture “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” it’s a quick and emotional read that will make you hug your own children even tighter.
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Portrait of AN Artist Francine Prose, “Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles” Prose argues the 17th Century Italian painter Carvaggio’s legacy has been revolutionary. He saw that if there was the divine, there must also be evil. Even his saints are painted in shadow, but he also sought card sharks, gypsy women, seductive boys and leering clergymen as subjects. His fruit baskets are bruised, even worm-ridden. The “dust and grit, the wear and tear,” Prose writes, were Caravaggio’s interests. He died in 1610.
—Ted Byrd, Anna Billingsley, and Lisa Chinn MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 51
BEST BITES
Virginia Country Cuisine Creativity and passion are the hallmarks of Orange’s Chef Randy Cooper
I
t’s lunchtime on Main Street in Orange. A bell on the front door tinkles repeatedly as patrons enter and exit the red brick building, greeting each other familiarly. Servers move briskly from table to kitchen to cash register while laughter and conversations scatter throughout the room. Two women waiting for a take-out order peer into a glass case displaying tempting desserts as a family peruses the menu and specials displayed on a chalkboard on the wall. Four hours later, the space is transformed. Diners sip wine and murmur softly in warm candlelight. Discreet curtains cover the chalkboard and the display case. Visible in the open kitchen, the uniformed staff quietly performs a ballet of activity, their concentration palpable as they prepare edible works of art which are whisked across the floor for presentation on white tablecloths. These are the two faces of Elmwood at Sparks—lunchtime café and nighttime fine dining restaurant—united by Chef/Owner Randy Cooper’s passion for the ingredients and techniques of his craft. Randy, a Warrenton native, worked in restaurants throughout his college career as a history major at East Tennessee State University. He notes with laughter that a liberal arts degree frequently leads to a career in the food service industry, but he truly enjoyed the instant gratification of restaurant work and the structure and systems of a well-run professional kitchen.
52 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
After training at Johnson and Wales in Norfolk, Randy began working his way up through the chef ranking system under the guidance of American and European trained chefs, starting at a guest ranch in Colorado. Returning to Virginia, he spent several years in Charlottesville at the Boar’s Head Inn, Ivy Inn, and Glenmore Country Club, before moving to the Grille at Prince Michel Vineyards outside Culpeper, where he became Executive Chef. When the owners of Prince Michel restructured and opted to close the restaurant, Randy decided to go out on his own with Elmwood Catering, named for Elmwood Farm in Orange where he and wife Laura were living. Soon, he had an opportunity to take over a former deli business in the historic Sparks building on Main Street, and in March of 2006 Randy became owner of his own restaurant, naming it Elmwood at Sparks. At lunch, the restaurant is a beehive of activity, drawing customers from businesses in the town of Orange, from the courthouse across the street, and tourists from Montpelier just a few miles away. Seemingly standard café fare is elevated to the level of fine dining under Randy’s hand. There is real country ham in the sandwiches, fresh tomatoes pureed into soup, house-made mayonnaise in the chicken salad, white balsamic vinaigrette on the artistically arranged house salad, and daily specials highlighting seasonal and local products. “I try to make it accessible, fresh, quick, and affordable, to keep the customers coming back,” says the chef.
Randy defines the dinner service at Elmwood at Sparks as “casual upscale,” but be assured there is nothing casual about his attention to the menu. It changes weekly to take advantage of seasonal ingredients, often from his own garden, which keeps Randy and his staff thinking creatively. Featured items might include a starter of lump crab in open ravioli, the “pasta” actually thin slices of butternut squash; an entrée of Retreat Farm rack of lamb with a ragout of local chard, mushrooms and blackeyed peas; or pan fried Rapidan trout dusted with pecans. The wines are carefully chosen by Randy and Laura to complement the menu, and only those they truly love make the cut for their wine list. Elmwood at Sparks offers full service catering for large and small events, and also features “Dinner-toGo” on Wednesdays (call ahead by 2:00 on Tuesday to order). Check their web site at www.elmwoodcatering.com for menus, cooking class schedules and special events, and contact them at info@elmwoodcatering.com to be placed on their mailing list. Please note: reservations are highly recommended, even for the lunch service if you’re traveling from out of town. —Drema Apperson Elmwood at Sparks 124 West Main Street, Orange, Virginia; 540-672-0060 Lunch: Monday thru Saturday, 11:00 am to 3:00 p.m.; Dinner: Thursday thru Saturday, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Jamie Haverkamp Photo
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MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 53
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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN AND AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Out&About
13th Annual Silent Auction
The Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center continues its tradition of fund raising with the 13th Annual Silent Auction. The auction will be held at the University of Mary Washington’s Jepson Alumni Center on Saturday, March 20th. Over 100 prizes are up for bid including trips, jewelry, fine art, and tickets to sporting events. Don’t miss your chance to help the museum raise money and enjoy the most anticipated event of the spring. Tickets are $85 per person or $150 for a couple and can be purchased at the Fredericksburg Visitor Center or the Museum Store. For any questions or more information, contact the museum at (540)371-3037. 3/7/2010
22nd Annual Fredericksburg Big Band Concert The Fredericksburg Big Band & Vocalists perform your favorite tunes. 2 p.m.—4 p.m. Dodd Auditorium University of Mary Washington; Free and open to the public! 3/9/2010
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Julia Child The UMW Department of History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Laura Shapiro, author of ‘Julia Child: A Life,’ will be discussing Julia Child at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium. GW Hall, UMW, Fredericksburg 3/10/2010
“Behind the Crown” “Behind the Crown: Beauty Queens & Body Image,” a Lincoln-Douglas style debate about body image and how it
is perceived within the pageant industry; a Women’s History Month event. Woodard Campus Center, Red Room; 7 p.m.; free; (540) 654-1055.
Assault. Lee Hall, The Underground; 8 p.m.; $3 in advance or $5 at the door; e-mail main@mail.umw.edu for ticket information.
EGGsplosion 2010! Join the excitement on March 27th from 11 a.m.— 3 p.m. at Curtis Park in Falmouth to celebrate spring. Enjoy fun-filled activities, including egg hunts, pony rides, moon bounces and entertainment. Price includes all activities (food not included); no charge for adults. Cost at the gate is $9. Ages 10 and under. Register online at the Stafford County Parks & Recreation web site for a discount. www.reggie. stafford.va.us/Activities
3/12/2010 to 3/14/2010
3/11/2010
Wearing of the Green
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Masters and Johnson The UMW Department of History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Thomas Maier, Investigative Reporter for “Newsday” and Author of ‘Masters of Sex,’ presents Masters and Johnson at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW,
Wear your green to Potomac Point Winery all weekend long in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day! BISTRO Specials including Corned Beef and Cabbage, Guinness Stew, and a Build a Potato Bar! Authentic Irish music on Friday March 12th from 6:30 p.m.—9:30 p.m., $5.00 cover charge. The Leprechaun Toss is back!!! For more information: potomacpointwinery.com
Wednesday, Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 1-4 p.m.; free; (540) 654-1013.
3/12/2010 to 3/13/2010
3/12/2010-3/19/2010
3/12/2010 to 5/2/2010
Vagina Monologues
UMW Senior Exhibitions
Smokey Joe’s CafeThe Musical
Senior Exhibitions at duPont Gallery on College Avenue at Thornton Street. Opening Reception from 5—7 p.m. on Friday the 12th. Monday,
This musical theatrical review showcases 39 of the greatest rock n’roll and rhythm & blues hits ever recorded. You’ll be smokin’
The seventh annual UMW production explores women’s issues; a Women’s History Month event; all proceeds benefit the Rappahannock Council Against Sexual
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 57
Out&About and stompin’ as you celebrate the songs and their famous artists, including Elvis, The Coasters, Aretha Franklin, and The Rolling Stones. Enjoy dinner and this toe-tappin’ musical from the privacy of a candlelit dining table. Time: Wednesday matinee 11:30 a.m. lunch, 1:30 p.m. show; Thursday—Saturday 6 p.m. dinner, 8 p.m. show; Sunday 1 p.m. dinner, 3 p.m. show. (540) 370-4300, Riverside Center Dinner Theater 3/13/2010 to 3/14/2010
32nd Annual Bowl for Kids Sake Rappahannock Big Brothers Big Sisters is holding its 32nd Annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake event. This event is lots and lots of fun and involves hundreds of individuals and businesses in the community. Come out and bowl with us. Massaponax Liberty Lanes 3/13/2010
8th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade Blue & Gray Brewing, Co. presents their annual parade featuring fire trucks, classic cars, high school marching band, community
organizations, Irish dancers, horses, military equipment and local pageant winners. After the parade, the St. Patrick’s Day Fundraiser sells corned beef, cabbage, and potato meals for $5 ($7 day of ). A limited number of meal tickets available the day of event. Proceeds from meals benefit local Volunteer Fire & Rescue Departments. Get meal tickets at Roxbury Mills, Cardinal Press and the brewery. Visit www. blueandgraybrewingco.com/ Events.cfm for further information. 3/13/2010
UMW Community Symphony Orchestra Join the UMW Community Symphony Orchestra for a March Musical MixContemporary Music Festival at 7:30 p.m. Hear the latest trends in symphonic music with this special concert celebrating works by living composers. Free, Dodd Auditorium, UMW 3/13/2010 and 4/10/2010
Second Saturdays Join the Fredericksburg Area Museum as we celebrate our
history with family friendly hands-on activities, the second Saturday of every month from 1—3 p.m. In addition to hands-on activities in the Museum, Hallowed Ground Tours will be offering architectural walking tours of downtown Fredericksburg. Tours leave the at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Visit www.famcc.org for more information. 3/14/2010 to 3/21/2010
59th Annual Fredericksburg Fine Arts Exhibit Regional artists display their talent and creativity competing in various media for awards. Free, 408 Canal St., Fredericksburg 3/16/2010
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Queen Victoria The UMW Department of History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Gillian Gill, Author of ‘We Two: Victoria and Albert,’ will discuss Queen Victoria at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW, Fredericksburg
33rd Annual Fools Fest One of the best, oldest and most foolish tournaments around. The April Fools Fest Ultimate Frisbee tournament was founded by Eric Knudsen in 1978. Since then it has evolved to become one of the premiere tournaments in Ultimate (Frisbee) and plays host to roughly 1,000 players and spectators each year. Not your typical game, theme teams dress to impress and elicit laughter from spectators. In recent years, the tournament has featured such attractions as showcase games, a dunking tank, beer garden, pig roast, and other fun events. The tournament is planned to take place at John Lee Pratt Park in Fredericksburg on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, (yes, it’s a three day tournament!) April 2, 3 and 4. Submit your team’s bid to play in this year’s event and spectator information at www.wafc.org/fools-fest.
58 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
3/16/2010 and 4/20/2010
Evening with an Expert Utilizing the exhibition “Our History Through A Lens: Frances Benjamin Johnston’s Photographic Survey of Old Fredericksburg and Falmouth, VA,” the Fredericksburg Area Museum’s spring Evening with an Expert Series—The Art of Photography—will focus on photography through the ages, what it means to our history, and where we are going in the technological age. Lectures will be held in the Mansard Gallery of the Museum at 7 p.m. Admission is free with reception to follow. Find out more at www.famcc.org. 3/17/2010
Capital Ale House St. Patrick’s Day Celebration We are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with Irish food, dancing, music and more. The party festivities start at 4 p.m. and last until closing. Wayne Jordan & the Eagles Pipes & Drums will be there to entertain you. Dine on Corn Beef and Cabbage, Whiskey Steak and more. Choose from hundreds of fine ales and lagers, none of which are green, and celebrate with us. 917 Caroline Street 3/17/2010
Black Student Association Fashion Show Bell Bottoms to Business Suits: Black Student Association Fashion Show, a celebration of women and the fashions that have changed their lives; cosponsored by the Black Student Association; a Women’s History Month event; Woodard Campus Center,
2nd Annual FredVegas Poker OpenFest Come out and support Rappahannock Big Brothers Big Sisters at the 2nd Annual FredVegas Poker Open April 17th through the 18th at Moose Family Center 1655, 11917 Cherry Road, Fredericksburg. All proceeds go to support the Rappahannock Big Brothers Big Sisters agency and its endowment fund. All final table players receive prizes. Pre-registration required at: www.fredvegas.net Great Hall; 6 p.m.; free; (540) 654-1055. 3/18/2010
“Pricing Beauty” Lecture, “Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model,” by author Ashley Mears; Mears is an assistant professor of sociology at Boston University who draws from her ethnographic research in London and New York to show how cultural inequalities are actively constructed and institutionalized in the fashion industry; cosponsored by the Dept. of Anthropology and Sociology and the UMW Chapter of Alpha Kappa Delta; a Women’s History Month event; Woodard Campus Center, Red Room; 7 p.m.; free; (540) 654-1037. 3/18/2010
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Rachel Carson The UMW Department of History and American Studies
presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Mark H. Lytle, Professor at Bard College and Author of ‘The Gentle Subversive,’ will discuss Rachel Carson at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW, Fredericksburg 3/18/2010–4/23/2010
Historic Fredericksburg Sponsored By
Ladies First Exhibit Join us at Ridderfof Martin Gallery on the 18th from 5-7 p.m. for the Opening Reception of ‘Ladies First: Women in the Permanent Collection.’ Exhibition runs March 19–23: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 1–4 p.m.; free; (540) 654-1013. 3/18/2010 to 5/8/2010
We the People -Musical In this inspiring and educational celebration of what makes America unique and great, everyday life is showcased in funny and touching musical vignettes that explore the deeper
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JANUARY MARCH / FEBRUARY / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 59
Out&About James Monroe’s Birthday James Monroe, fifth president of the United States, was born in a wooded area of Westmoreland County, Virginia on April 28, 1758. Before becoming president Monroe held office as a Virginia State Senator from 1790-1794, Governor of Virginia from 1799–1802 and 1811, followed by being named Secretary of State from 1811 to 1817 with a brief interruption of becoming Secretary of War from 1814–1815. As President of the United States (1817–1825) Monroe’s administration was marked by the acquisition of Florida (1819); the Missouri Compromise (1820); the admission of Maine in 1820 as a free state; and the profession of the Monroe Doctrine (1823), declaring U.S. opposition to European interference in the Americas, as well as breaking all ties with France remaining from the War of 1812. In honor of James Monroe’s birthday, on April 28th the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library will be open free of charge during its regular hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Located at 908 Charles Street in historic downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia, the museum is the largest repository in the country of artifacts and documents related to James Monroe and his family. Here you will find personal items from jewelry and clothing, to fine arts, to decorative arts such as furniture and china, as well as documents from Monroe’s life and presidency. www.umw.edu/jamesmonroemuseum meanings of the Constitution. Lunch and show are enjoyed from private candlelit tables. Time: Sat. Matinee 1-3:15 p.m.; select Tuesday & Thursday 10 a.m.–12:45 p.m., Riverside Center Children’s Theater
screen TV. $20 includes winery tours, souvenir glass, and tasting award winning wines. Lake Anna Winery, Spotsylvania; 540-895-5085
presented at George Washington Hall in the Dodd Auditorium at 8 p.m.; tickets required; (540) 654-1065.
‘Queen of Fashion,’ will discuss Marie Antoinette at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW
3/24/2010
3/25/2010 to 3/27/2010
3/21/2010
Film and Discussion, “America the Beautiful”
15th Annual Children’s Art Show
3/19/2010
UMW dining presents a Culinary Seminar, Cake Decorating 101, learn to use basic techniques to create showpiece cakes. Seacobeck Hall; 1-4 p.m.; $30 admission for public, or $25 for UMW students and staff; register by 3/15; www.umwdining.com.
The film documents filmmaker Darryl Roberts’ two-year journey exploring America’s obsession with beauty; Beth Searcy, assistant dean of Academic Services, will lead a discussion after; parental discretion advised; a Women’s History Month event; Lee Hall, Room 411, UMW; 6 p.m.; free; (540) 654-1055.
Come see the area’s youngest creative talents! Local children ages 4yrs—12th grade display their work in various media. Sponsored by Cox Communications. Artwork deadline 3/19. 408 Canal St., Fredericksburg
Fundraiser, Ribbons With a Reason The ribbons raise money for women unable to purchase business attire when entering the workforce; all proceeds will be donated to Dress for Success; 8 a.m.—5 p.m.; ribbons are $2 and may be purchased from LaNita Weisenberger in Lee Hall, Room 211; (540) 654-1044. 3/20/2010
March Madness at Lake Anna Winery Warm your toes by the fire, share some crusty bread, and enjoy a bowl of our famous soup. Games will be on the big
60 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
Cake Decorating 101
3/23/2010
Dinner and The Fredericksburg Forum A buffet dinner prior to the Fredericksburg Forum featuring broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff. Dinner will be held in the Dining Room at Seacobeck; seating 5-6:30 p.m.;$16.95 plus tax includes dinner only; reservations required by 3/15. Forum
3/25/2010
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Marie Antoinette The UMW Department of History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Caroline Weber, Professor at Columbia U. and Author of
3/26/2010
35:24:36 A free performance at 7 p.m. created by actress Ann Malinowski and company featuring real-life stories of addiction, self-loathing, and restriction that women face. A Women’s History Month Keynote Performance and a Cultural Awareness Series event; Woodard Campus Center, The Great Hall
Call Me Construction 3/26/2010–3/28/2010
3/31/2010
Fredericksburg Home & Garden Show
PRISM Dancers Showcase
This show at the Fredericksburg Expo Center delivers hundreds of experts under one roof for three days: Friday, 3/26 (1 p.m.-8 p.m.); Saturday, 3/27 (10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, 3/28 (11 a.m.-4 p.m.). Adults $7, seniors $5, and kids are free. More information can be found at www.fredericksburg expocenter.com
Diverse styles of Belly Dance from the well-known PRISM Dance group. This free show runs from 7–9 p.m. at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library Theatre. Fredericksburg
3/28/2010 and 4/25/2010
Guided Nature Tours Take a free guided tour of the woods and fields of Belmont; led by members of the Central Rappahannock Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist program; 2 p.m. 3/30/2010
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Rosie the Riveter The UMW Department of History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Emily Yellin, Author of ‘Our Mothers’ War’ will be discussing Rosie the Riveter at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW, Fredericksburg 3/31/2010
“Good Hair” Comedian Chris Rock and filmmaker Jeff Stilson explore black America’s obsession with having “good hair” and how societal pressures push individuals to subject themselves to harmful products and styling methods; a discussion will follow; parental discretion advised; cosponsored by Students Educating and Empowering for Diversity (SEED); a Women’s History Month event; Combs Hall, Room 237, UMW; 6 p.m.; free; (540) 654-1044.
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4/1/2010–4/17/2010
Romeo and Juliet UMW christens its newlyrenovated Klein Theatre with this classic tale of Romeo’s forbidden love for Juliet, and the violent hatred that dooms them to eternity Thursday— Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., No performance on April 4. Klein Theatre, DuPont Hall; $14 standard admission, $12 students and Seniors, $6 UMW ID. 540-654-1111
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4/2/2010–4/16/2010
Student Art Exhibit Held each spring in duPont Gallery, duPont Hall, the Annual Student Art Exhibition offers studio art students the opportunity to participate in a juried show. Opening Reception held from 5–7 p.m. on the 2nd, free to the public. Exhibition Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1-4 p.m. 4/4/2010
Easter Brunch Spend an ‘Eggstra’ special afternoon with your family and friends over your favorite brunch dishes & Potomac Point Winery wine! To make your reservations or for questions call Denyel at 540-446-2107 4/5/2010
Preschool Sculpture Studio Bring out the sculptor in your child. Students will create three
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 61
Out&About dimensional works of art using clay and Styrofoam. 10-11:30 a.m.; Audience: 4—6 year olds; Cost: $20 members; $25 nonmembers. To register, call Education Coordinator Michelle Dolby at 540/654-1851.
Race, County Fair.” Classes are from 9:30 a.m.—12 noon Audience: 3rd through 12th graders. Cost: $80 members; $95 non-members. To register, call Education Coordinator Michelle Dolby at 540/654-1851.
Jams, & More! Admission is $5 for adults and kids are free! For hours and vendors visit www. fredericksburgexpocenter.com.
20th Annual Multicultural Fair
4/11/2010
4/5/2010
4/6/2010
Creative Collage Art Class
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Thomas Edison
This years event features multicultural entertainment, children’s activities, international and American food, and ethnic craft vendors; Ball Circle; 10 a.m.—5 p.m.; free; (540) 654-1044.
Concert featuring the UMW Jazz Ensemble, directed by Doug Gately and featuring guest woodwind artist Chris Vadala. George Washington Hall, Dodd Auditorium; 3-5 p.m.; free; (540) 654-1012.
4/10/2010
4/13/2010
Magnolia Ball
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Robert Oppenheimer
Inspired by Earth Day, the art of collage is the ultimate recycling project. Students will study many aspects of collage by exploring examples from artists like Picasso and Matisse. They will compose collages using recycled paper and unique materials from many creative sources. 1-3 p.m.; Audience: 2nd through 8th graders; Cost: $20 members; $25 non-members. To register, call Education Coordinator Michelle Dolby at 540/654-1851. 4/6/2010 to 4/8/2010
Spring Break Art Camp Spring Break Art Camp this year will focus on two major projects. The first project is a mixed-media creation based on George Hitchcock’s “White Plough Horse in a Field of Hyacinths.” The second, a group grid mural project re-creating Gari Melchers’ colorful “The
The UMW Department of History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Paul Israel, Professor at Rutgers University and Author of ‘Edison: A Life of Invention’ will be discussing Thomas Edison at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW, Fredericksburg 4/10/2010–4/11/2010
Arts & Crafts Fair Kick off the Spring season with the Fredericksburg Arts & Crafts Faire. The products that you can expect to see are: baskets, fine art, ceramics, gourmet food, jewelry, music, paintings & photography, scrapbooking, woodworking, Victorian & Edwardian Hats, Seasonal Flags, furniture, Bath & Body Products, Candles, Handbags, Clothing, Candy,
4/10/2010
The Magnolia Ball is an event and fundraiser for Hospice Support Care. This a black tie affair at the Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center, boasting an evening of elegance with a cocktail hour and silent auction; followed by a sit down dinner and dancing to the sounds of The Fredericksburg Big Band. Admission is $90 per person, or $650 for a group of eight. 6—11 p.m.; more information at www.hospicesupportcare. org/events.
Senastions, learn the art of sushi rolling; Seacobeck Hall; 1-4 p.m.; $30, or $25 for UMW students and staff; register by 4/5; www.umwdining.com.
Jazz Festival
The UMW Department of History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Martin Sherwin, Professor at George Mason University and Coauthor of ‘American Prometheus’ will be discussing Robert Oppenheimer at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW, Fredericksburg 4/15/2010
Sushi Sensations
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Robert E. Lee
UMW Dining presents Sushi
The UMW Department of
4/11/2010
Open Hand Of Fredericksburg Hosts Shop RED Just in time for moms, dads, brides and grads. April 295h through May 1st a specialty marketplace offering high-end gifts and gourmet foods from about 100 local and regional vendors will be held at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds, 2400 Airport Avenue, to raise money for under-resourced youth through Open Hand of Fredericksburg. The faith-based, not-for-profit community development organization works to break the cycle of poverty and empower youth to become self sufficient by providing job and life skills training, character building, and mentoring, as well as employment with local businesses or non profits through its Summer Youth Worker Program. Proceeds from the marketplace will be used to fund ongoing programs. General admission is Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets are $5. A Launch party will be held Thursday, 6 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $25 and admission includes hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and live entertainment. For information and ticket purchase visit: www.shopred.org.
62 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Elizabeth Brown Pryor, Author of ‘Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee through his Private Letters’ will be discussing Robert E. Lee at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW, Fredericksburg 4/16/2010
Movies at the Museum ‘National Treasure’
gentleman’s house. It contains a collection of period furnishings, including silver, glass, porcelain, and furniture. It was built by James Mercer, first judge of the General Court in Fredericksburg. The house is open twice a year and serves as a residence. Find out more at www.preservation virginia.org/stjameshouse. 1 p.m.—4 p.m., 1300 Charles Street, Fredericksburg
Bring the whole family to watch National Treasure in the Fredericksburg Area Museum’s Mansard Gallery. Learn about national landmarks, the Founding Fathers, and explore the Museum’s galleries for treasures. Ticket prices are $3 for members, $5 for nonmembers (pre-registration recommended). Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the movie begins at 7 p.m. www.famcc.org.
4/20/2010
4/17/2010 to 4/18/2010
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: James Bond
Spring Wine Celebration Spring has sprung, and so have the new vintages. Join Hartwood Winery and a fellow guest winery from 11 a.m.—5 p.m. ,and raise a glass to the new vintages! Live music, tastings, tours and light hors d’oeuvres will delight you at this spring celebration. A complimentary glass is included in the $15 admission. Don’t forget to bring your best friend too - let him stretch his spring-fever legs in the vineyard! Hartwood Winery, Fredericksburg 4/19/2010 to 4/24/2010
Spring Opening of St. James’ House This small, gambrel-roofed house is a fine example of an eighteenth-century
The 2010 Chappell Lecture Series: Elvis Presley The UMW Department of History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Gardner Campbell, Professor at Baylor University will be discussing Elvis Presley at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW, Fredericksburg 4/22/2010
The UMW Department of History and American Studies presents the “Great Lives” free public lecture series. Jeremy Black, Professor at Exeter University and Author of ‘A History of British Isles’ will be discussing James Bond at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, GW Hall, UMW, Fredericksburg 4/23/2010–4/25/2010
Culpeper Remembrance Days A weekend of Revolutionary and Civil War living history, tours, lectures, concerts, aviation history,and more celebrating Culpeper County’s rich and varied history. Find out more at www.visitculpeperva.com.
Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman, All The World’s Waiting For You Wait no longer, Fredericksburg. Lynda Carter, the star of the 1970s TV series, Wonder Woman, will perform April 17 for the University of Mary WashingtonCommunity Symphony Orchestra’s celebrity concert. She will sing her distinctive repertoire of jazz, blues and country. The 7:30 p.m. performance is the last of the orchestra’s season. General admission tickets are $35; Friends of the Orchestra members pay $25. Orchestra supporters receive special seating, reserved parking and invitations to special receptions for the UMWCommunity Symphony Orchestra concerts. To become a member, call (540) 654-1012. For general information go to www.umw.edu/orchestra.
MARCH / APRIL 2010 | VIRGINIA NEIGHBORS 63
Cul-de-sac
Farm Livin’ Is The Life For Me By Daryl Lease Many men buy fancy sports cars to ease into middle age. I got a lawn tractor with headlights. Oh, it’s no ordinary machine. It’s lean. It’s sleek. It’s red. It has “Bronco” prominently displayed in bold, manly font. And it turns the ladies’ heads, especially the ones spitting tobacco juice out the windows of their pickups. Late on a summer evening, you’ll likely as not find me out in the back 40—well, the back .40—mowing by moonlight. (And headlights.) Alone with my thoughts, distracted only by bugs whizzing by, I ponder life’s verities (“never put your hands near the blades when the motor’s running”) and its imponderables (“Wonder if there’s enough gas in the tank to get back to the garage?”) Mostly, though, I contemplate nature. And my bumbling acquaintance with it. America is in the midst of a new back-to-the-land movement. The number of farms, mostly small ones, is rising for the first time in decades. I reckon I’m part of the movement. Sorta. No one, not even Lisa Douglas from “Green Acres,” would mistake what I do for genuine farming. I doubt my 2.3 acre slice of country would even qualify for the dreadful word “farmette.” Fact is, I’m more Fisher-Price than John Deere. My wife, Julie, is a serious earth girl. She raises plants and sells them at a local farmer’s market. She’s never cared much for vegetable gardening, though. Last summer, I insisted on veggies. Every now and then, I declared, a fellow needs to spit the bugs out of his mouth and do real work. As it happens, I’m descended from generations of farming folk. They raised most of what they ate. They drove real tractors. My parents, who kept a large garden, did their best to teach me. As a kid, though, I was more interested in baseball than butter beans. Their lessons went for naught. This didn’t stop me, of course, from imposing my will last summer. 64 www.VirginiaNeighbors.com
Julie and I set out 125 tomato plants—heirlooms raised from seed—and peppers and cucumbers and more. Our plan was to raise plenty for ourselves, the market and the food bank. Determined to get the most out of our plot, I planted the rows too close. I blithely cultivated other mistakes, too. My bumbling hit full stride when tomato horn worms arrived. They’re ghastly little beasts, masters of camouflage that skillfully blend into leaves and stalks. And, naturally, they’re voracious eaters. Shunning pesticides, Julie and I searched the garden, picking off the invaders one by one and dropping them into a deadly brew of soap and water. As they grew fatter and fouler, this job fell largely to me. I flailed about, struggling to fling clingy horn worms into the big bucket o’ death. And I spent hours simply trying to find them. “Look for the frass,” my wife advised. Such a poetic word, I thought. But what did it mean? “Droppings,” she explained. “Droppings?” asked I. Then she swore at me. Or, rather, conveyed the meaning through a common curse word. “Ohhh,” I said. “Droppings. Riiight.” Thus I became the frassmaster. The poetry man. The horn worm’s hell bringer. By summer’s end, we’d harvested a decent crop—enough for salads, neighbors and the food bank. And enough, obviously, for the horn worms. As I mowed by moonlight for the last time, I gazed across our back .40 toward the garden with satisfaction and humility. Somewhere in the hereafter, my farming forebears are amusing themselves with finger-flicking reenactments of my summer in the field. But I bet they’re pretty impressed with my tractor with headlights.
___________________________________________________________ Spotsylvania native, Daryl Lease is an opinion writer for The Virginia-Pilot. Candice Carver Illustration
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Zolo: A Toy Story former Mayors reflect on Fredericksburg Foamhenge: a chip off the old block GREEN gumbo? $3.95
MARCH | APRIL 2010
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