Month: April 2013

Categories
Living

Living off the land: A Free Union garden yields produce all year long

Ryan Williamson and Laurel Woodworth keep the garden going year-round: Between trees, shrubbery, perennial vegetables, and annual plants, there’s hardly a month when something isn’t growing. Photo: John Robinson
Nathan Williamson
Ryan Williamson and Laurel Woodworth’s Albemarle property spans 19.3 acres, with room for beekeeping, mushroom logs, and 450 square feet of raised beds. Photo: Nathan Williamson

The gardens around the home of Ryan Williamson and Laurel Woodworth are a bit different than your average backyard setup—food can be found almost any month of the year. Greens are grown in mini-greenhouses, called low-tunnels, in the wintertime; fruit trees, shrubs, and vines are abundant in the landscape; bees pollinate many of the crops.

Williamson and Woodworth’s work and life are connected to the seasonal production of the garden as well—Woodworth works at a local watershed protection organization and Williamson sews polar fleece hats by hand and sells them at craft shows throughout much of the fall and winter. The couple derives much of their diet from the land they live on, and can a lot of the produce from the garden.

According to the National Gardening Association, home gardens expanded 40 percent between 2007 and 2009, so when Williamson established the initial gardens around the couple’s home near Free Union in 2006, he was part of a growing national trend. He cleared several acres of pine plantation to make room for both the studio-home and extensive plantings, slowly improving soil health by adding compost, manure, and leaves to increase the soil’s organic matter and create about 450 square feet of raised beds. He started planting peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, peas, and lots of melons—enough to can tomato sauce, pickles, and dilly beans. Lots of other plants followed in the subsequent years, including figs, flowers, thornless blackberries, and apple and pear trees that Williamson grafted by hand.

After Woodworth joined him on their homestead, the two significantly expanded the annual gardens and perennial plantings to include a few hundred asparagus plants, garlic, and lots of other vegetables. At the same time, they planted several diverse plants, including hardy kiwi, dozens of blueberries and figs, strawberries, cherries, mulberries, chestnuts, heartnuts, currants, and gooseberries. Additionally, they installed a rain garden planted with cranberries (to absorb overflow rainwater from the roof). They grow several hundred pounds of garlic and mushrooms, which they occasionally sell to area restaurants and at the farmer’s market. The key to keeping Williamson and Woodworth’s garden healthy? Using lots of mulch, planting cover crops, and installing drip irrigation to provide efficient and consistent water for the gardens.

Gardening runs deep in both Williamson and Woodworth’s families. Currently, Williamson’s sister Rachel runs Fairweather Farm in Afton, where she grows specialty teas, spice mixes, and makes tulip poplar bark baskets. Williamson and Woodworth’s gardens are similar to permaculture-style planting, which is a system of ecological design modeled on nature. Permaculture gardens frequently include perennial vegetables, multilayered fruit trees, shrubs, and vines, and other garden systems integrated with building soil health and storing water on the site to create diverse, productive, and integrated garden systems.

In recent years, Williamson and Woodworth have started keeping bees—they now have 45 bee hives, and sell honey and bees, as well as mushroom logs. “My favorite thing about our garden is the amazing diversity from annual vegetables to perennial plants,” Williamson said. “Our garden satisfies a diverse, year-round palate from strawberries, to blueberries, to tomatoes and peppers, as well as canned pizza sauce and roasted red peppers. Many delicious things can be eaten around the year.” To learn more about Williamson and Woodworth, see their farm’s website, sourwoodfarm.com.—Christine Muehlman Gyovai

Categories
Living

Keys to the city: The 23 coolest places in Charlottesville right now

Photo: Thadd McQuade

How long do you have to live somewhere before you’re considered a townie? Does it matter? Once you’re plugged in, once you know all the best spots, who cares how long you’ve been somewhere? Consider this your cheat sheet to Charlottesville. From the hippest bar stool to an unlikely view, we’ve compiled a list of the kind of places your friends won’t believe you know about. Get crackin’!

By Graelyn Brashear, Laura Ingles, Tami Keaveny, Giles Morris, Brandon J. Walker, and Caite White

SING FOR YOUR SUPPER
The Bamboo House is one of those rare places that works because of a combination of things that wouldn’t work at all on their own. On the outside, block letters title a nondescript, boxy little building north of town on 29, tucked into an opening in the tree line, that looks like it might have been the setting for a David Lynch movie. The inside is a hodge-podge of decorations, largely featuring taxidermied animals, and the menu offers a unique mix of (really good) Korean and Chinese food. One thing you definitely won’t fail to notice is the giant karaoke machine, which can be rolled out by appointment for a bizarre, semi-private singalong experience that will impress your weird friends.
4831 Seminole Trail, 973-9211

Photo: Jack Looney
Photo: Jack Looney

BARRELS OF FUN
Vineyards are hardly a novelty here anymore. For those who feel like they’ve sipped every varietal and soaked up every view, Blenheim Vineyards offers something a little different. For $25, you can get a cellar tour and barrel tasting with winemaker Kirsty Harmon (be sure to call ahead). You’ll get to taste the latest, learn a little more about local viticulture, and peer up at the sunny tasting room of the beautiful winery building through glass panels laid in the floor.
31 Blenheim Farm, 293-5366
blenheimvineyards.com

Photo: John Robinson
Photo: John Robinson

KIDS AT PLAY
It used to be that a simple pinball game in the corner of your local pizza parlor was enough to hold your attention, your top score, and your spare change. Now in the age of ubiquitous technology, we can play games on devices almost anywhere (except during takeoff). While the spirit of competitive camaraderie has changed, it can still be found in person at the Carver Recreation Center’s Teen Center. With gaming stations that include Xbox, PlayStation, and Wii, and desktop computers for homework and Facebook updates, the free center is open every day to kids 11 and older. It hosts friendly contests like Madden 2013 super bowls for real prizes and there’s even a touch of old school charm in the collection of board games and a foosball table.
233 Fourth St. NW, 970-3053
charlottesville.org

Photo: Stacey Evans
Photo: Stacey Evans

FOOT IN THE GRAVEYARD
Sucker for cemeteries? Charlottesville has some great ones. Maplewood, the city’s oldest public burying place, is a 3.6-acre oasis directly across from the old Martha Jefferson Hospital site. Created in 1826 and anchored by a towering oak tree nearing the end of its life cycle, the place oozes history. To meander between the headstones here is to tour the city’s great family names: Preddys, Carters, Massies, Burnleys, and McIntires lie here, grouped as relatives, some separated by their own wrought-iron fences.

There are no orderly rows per se, so every time you enter, fate picks your path and may deposit you in front of a grave marked 1777, or a memorial to a CSA warrior whose life was cut short, or facing a particular graceful epitaph, like Lelia Herndon’s (she died at 27 years old in 1894): “She opened her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue was the law of kindness.” You’re sure to come upon a dog walker or someone sitting on the hill in the sun, or a ghostly tour, maybe even teenage lovers in a tryst, and that’s because it’s not an out-of-the-way burial ground closed off by a gate, but rather a timeless knoll situated on an old footpath still used today by walking commuters.

When Maplewood was founded, it was farmland just outside the city limits. Today, it’s in the center of Downtown, a place you can watch the fireworks from or hear the bands playing at the Pavilion. What makes it cool, apart from the shadow patterns in which the oak limbs cut up the sunlight on the surface of the stone markers in late morning, is that it feels more alive than dead.
425 Maple St.
charlottesville.org

Photo: Elli Williams
Photo: Elli Williams

THE HEART OF ARTS
From the Downtown Mall street view, Chroma Art Projects Laboratory looks like a typical contemporary gallery—vast expanses of white wall, professionally lit works of art, and pedestals of sculpture all placed in aesthetic relevance to each other. But Chroma is much more than its foyer conveys. Follow the hallway back and you encounter a maze of nooks and spaces adorned with art. What may be the “coolest” exhibit space in town is the walk-in cooler that once chilled flowers for a former florist business. The gallery hosts the work of 14 artists-in-residence alongside three revolving shows, each with its own identity in a unique forum.
418 E. Main St., 202-0269
chromaprojects.com

Categories
News

UVA rebuilds its communications department, hands Sullivan the reins

In the nine months since UVA President Teresa Sullivan’s attempted ouster, the University’s communications department has been completely restructured—and brought directly under the president’s command. Photo: John Robinson

As the first anniversary of the attempted ouster of UVA President Teresa Sullivan approaches, a major restructuring of the upper levels of the University’s administration is underway, as still-new Chief Operating Officer Patrick Hogan reshuffles his business and fundraising chiefs. But an even bigger management shift has gotten less attention.

Sullivan has reorganized, renamed, and rehoused the University’s Public Affairs department, creating a new communications operation that is squarely focused on branding and marketing—and firmly under her control. It’s a move that both brings the school into the modern era of campus communications and gives Sullivan an even more direct role in setting the message coming out of UVA.

“President Teresa Sullivan has separated the University’s central communication function from its former location within the Office of Development and Public Affairs, a change that will strengthen both central communication and advancement communication,” reads the job description for the new position of Chief Information Officer. The opening was quietly filled on an interim basis last October by Anthony de Bruyn, former head of communications for the massive University of Texas system, who arrived a few weeks after the departure of longtime UVA spokeswoman Carol Wood.

Wood’s job hadn’t been an easy one during her last three months. E-mails released under the Freedom of Information Act following the events of last June showed she didn’t know about Sullivan’s resignation until a draft press release announcing it landed in her inbox the day before. In the hectic week that followed, Wood and her team were pulled between two masters. As she processed reporters’ requests to interview Sullivan, she also reviewed statement after statement with Rector Helen Dragas and the Board of Visitors, who ultimately hired a private PR firm to handle the fallout. But it was Wood who posted statements from faculty leaders through the UVAToday website, and when Sullivan returned to the public stage, Wood was again her gatekeeper.

The new organizational structure leaves no question as to who’s in charge. The CIO is a member of the president’s cabinet, and the whole communications apparatus answers to Sullivan’s office, including the media relations arm, now under former Daily Progress Managing Editor McGregor McCance.

De Bruyn’s arrival last year might have had something to do with his experience battling campus scandal—he manned the communications ship at UT following the forced resignation of a law school dean that ended up pitting state lawmakers against a defensive UT Board of Regents—but he wouldn’t say how much the restructuring or his hiring were influenced by the events of “Orange Spring.”

He is, however, quick to point out other changes that needed to happen at UVA.

“There was no marketing function when I arrived here,” said de Bruyn, which put it behind its peers. “It’s something the University needs.”

When he presented the restructured communications department to the Board in February, de Bruyn underscored that the department will include four new positions: three marketing gurus and a social media coordinator. The focus on branding and the Web is necessary to keep up with a changing world, he said.

“When I started my career, Facebook wasn’t around. Twitter wasn’t around. Smart phones didn’t exist,” de Bruyn said. But the school now has to meet its audience wherever they are.

What’s happening at UVA—both the centralized approach to communications and the new push to blend promotion and information—isn’t surprising, said Rae Goldsmith, an educational communications and marketing expert at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). For the last two decades, there have been big shifts in how schools present themselves to the world.

“We’ve definitely been seeing a trend, particularly at larger institutions, to move the communications and marketing functions to reporting directly to the president of the institution,” Goldsmith said.

The choice of de Bruyn to shepherd in a new era of communications reflects another change. He’s a career college communications man, as opposed to Wood and McCance, who both came to the world of public relations after many years in the newspaper business.

“It used to be they all came out of journalism,” said Goldsmith. Now, “you’re tending to see more and more people come into the role from a campus background.”

If UVA has dragged its feet, it’s in good company.

“It’s fair to say that the institutions with the strongest reputations have been a little slower to move into marketing,” said Goldsmith. That’s largely because for higher ed, marketing used to be much more simple: look good to the best students. But that’s changed. Not only is there stiffer competition for top talent, in the Twitter age, everybody’s watching—and talking.

“As the world has become more connected, institutions have realized they can’t afford not to be thinking not only about communications, but also about marketing and branding,” Goldsmith said.

The events of last June likely drove that message home for UVA’s leaders, who watched opposition to the Board of Visitors coalesce and build in real time on social media. What Sullivan’s would-be ousters had hoped would be a quiet coup turned into a national scandal.

No surprise, then, that nearly a year later, UVA communications looks a lot different, and Sullivan has circled the wagons.

“Any institution that goes through a major crisis of any kind will look at itself and say, ‘Is there something we could have done differently or better?’” Goldsmith said. “Thoughtful institutions do look and think about what [they] could have done differently. They can’t afford not to.”

Categories
News

New Juvenile Court judge, Dumler’s jail sentence, and school dollars: News briefs

Chris Dumler. Photo: John Robinson

Check c-ville.com daily and pick up a copy of the paper Tuesday to for the latest Charlottesville and Albemarle news briefs and stories. Here’s a quick look at some of what we’ve had an eye on for the past week.

Worrell named Juvenile Court judge

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Claude Worrell has served in Charlottesville for 20 years, and according to The Hook, his days as a prosecutor are almost over. On Wednesday, April 3, the Virginia General Assembly unanimously confirmed Worrell as a judge in the 16th Circuit Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Worrell represented the Commonwealth alongside Charlottesville’s lead prosecutor Dave Chapman during the murder trial of UVA lacrosse player George Huguely. He also prosecuted rapist William Beebe, stalker Jeffrey Kitze, and former City Council candidate James Halfaday. Worrell, who succeeds Dwight Johnson, will take his seat on the bench on July 1.

Dumler spends a week in jail 

Albemarle County Supervisor Chris Dumler is serving nine consecutive days in jail to make a dent in his 30-day sentence. He arrived at the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail on Friday, April 12, and will serve time until Sunday, April 21. According to a report on The Schilling Show, Dumler will resume his jail schedule of weekends only for the remainder of his term, with the first weekend of each month omitted for him to serve in his JAG reserve unit.

Dumler was arrested last October for forcible sodomy, a felony, and pleaded guilty in January to misdemeanor sexual battery. He has refused to step down from his position on the Board, defying widespread protests and calls for his resignation.

County schools’ budget gap cut in half

The Albemarle County School Board was facing a $1.2 million gap in its 2013-2014 budget, but the Board of Supervisors recently approved a tax increase that will reduce that by half. According to The Daily Progress, the tax hike will raise the current rate by four-tenths of a cent to 76.6 cents per $100 of assessed value, which will raise the annual tax bill by $10 on homes assessed at $250,000.

Albemarle County Schools Superintendent Pamela Moran was reported saying that the spending gap was a result of meeting federal and state mandates, and higher projects for student growth.

Supervisors Ken Boyd and Rodney Thomas voted against the resolution to raise the tax rate at the March 29 meeting, and Thomas said the schools should be able to find some more cuts, because “golly, we all have to tighten our belts.”

The School Board will still have to cut $600,000 to close the remaining gap, and will submit the cuts formally at its meeting on April 24.

Darden student wins Tom Tom pitch competition  

The second annual Tom Tom Founders Festival kicked off last Friday with the 10K Pitch Competition at the new iLab at UVA. The event featured 10 local competitors with ideas that needed funding, and everyone in attendance contributed $10 and a vote toward their favorite project.

The top winner was Darden student Kenny Schulman, who created Eat Drink Play, a mobile app that recommends local favorites to tourists.

The pitches ranged from an alternative energy think tank to child-designed murals painted on city fire hydrants, and according to Charlottesville Tomorrow, more than 100 people attended to hear the ideas and vote for the next big thing.—C-VILLE writers

Categories
Living

A re-opening, a new opening, and a pop-up dinner: This week’s restaurant news

Mount Juliet manager Jake Busching will soon open his tasting room and winery, Grace Estates. Photo: John Robinson

A Graceful entrance

Mount Juliet Vineyards has grown some of the finest grapes in the state for the past 14 years, with veteran winemaker Jake Busching at the helm since 2011. The Crozet vineyard will soon include a tasting room and winery, called Grace Estate, to (hopefully) open sometime this month. This will be the first vintage crafted entirely from the vineyard’s grapes.

Growing grapes and making wine is not new to Busching, who has worked with local viticulturist Chris Hill, and in the vineyards at Jefferson, Horton, and Keswick vineyards. In 2003, he moved on to winemaking at Pollak Vineyards, where he planted 25 acres of vines, helped build the tasting room, and took home top industry awards. Now he manages the 550-acre estate while selling grapes to local wineries (as well as saving some for himself). Stay tuned for Grace Estates’ opening date; the tasting room will be open Thursday to Sunday from 11am to 5pm and tastings will be $5. Visit graceestatewinery.com for more details or call 823-5014.

Horsing around

If fresh seafood, hand cut steaks, and a country drive are what you’re in the mood for, head to Scottsville to experience the newly reopened Horseshoe Bend Bistro & Taproom. An unpretentious American bistro atmosphere, it serves made-from-scratch, locally sourced dishes, and has a friendly small town bar scene (local brews from James River Brewing Company are on tap!) with live local music five nights a week. It’s open for dinner only Tuesday to Thursday and all day Friday to Sunday.

Puppy love

Gearhart’s Chocolates has launched a new (and adorable) handcrafted milk chocolate peanut butter pup. The chocolate puppies are hand-piped milk chocolate with a decorated dark chocolate face and toasted almond ears. Gearhart’s is donating 5 percent of each sale of these little guys to the Companions for Heroes, which matches rescue dogs as aides to wounded service veterans. The specialty chocolates were designed with Easter in mind, but are still available for $22 per box. More information and a link to purchase can be found at gearhartschocolates.com.

Going Greenie

Kathy Zentgraf, proprietress of mobile food cart and catering company Greenie’s, is hosting a pop-up restaurant at the Blue Moon Diner Sunday, April 21 from 5:30-10pm. Expect a, ahem, healthy dose of vegetarian and vegan fare, like the sandwich that started it all: local veggies and chevre on naan, which Zentgraf first served at the City Market. Call 996-1869 for more information.

Categories
News

What’s coming up in Charlottesville and Albemarle the week of 4/15?

Notes from the news desk

Each week, the news team takes a look at upcoming meetings and events in Charlottesville and Albemarle we think you should know about. Consider it a look into our datebook, and be sure to share newsworthy happenings in the comments section.

  • The Charlottesville City Council meets at 7pm today in Council chambers at City Hall. Up for discussion are a speed limit reduction and Stonehenge PUD critical slope waiver request, with a public hearing and voting on the long-debated Human Rights Commission.
  • The Albemarle County Planning Commission will meet at 6pm on Tuesday, April 16, in Lane Auditorium at the Albemarle County Office Building on McIntire. Commissioners will hold a work session for a Comprehensive Plan review, during which they’ll discuss the Monticello Watershed, updated capacity analysis, and explanation of recommended change to cash proffer policy for affordable housing
  • The Albemarle County Service Authority will meet at 9am on Thursday, April 18, at 168 Spotnap Rd. A public hearing will be held about the proposed 2014 Capital Improvement Program, the proposed FY 2013-2014 budget will be discussed, and the Rivanna River Basin Commission will make a request.
  • The Rivanna  Conservation Society will host a brown bag discussion forum at noon on Thursday, April 18, in the McIntire Room at the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library. Department of Forestry’s Voluntary Mitigation Program Manager Greg Evans will speak about the importance of conserving and restoring forestland.
Categories
Arts

Better Than Baghdad: Light House Studio’s young filmmakers win World Medal

Light House Studio’s young filmmakers win bronze medal in international competition.

Students of local non-profit Light House Studio received high honors this week in competition against filmmakers of all ages, from more than 50 countries. Reid Hildebrand and classmates, writer Conor Kyle, sound and assistant cameraman Greg Nachmanovtich, and production assistants Elisha Courts and Mitz Germershausen won the Grand Jury’s Bronze World Medal at the New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards on Tuesday for their documentary, Better Than Baghdad.

The film was produced with grant support from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation-Community Endowment, and collaboration between the International Rescue Committee and Light House Studio, which provides education and professional-grade equipment and editing software for Charlottesville residents ages 8-18, helping them to create films that not only win awards, but that have the potential to spark discussions of political and humanitarian importance.

Better Than Baghdad is a five-minute short, featuring Palestinian refugee Majed Alsruar, and his recollections of the Al-Waleed refugee camp on the Iraqi-Syrian border, where he and his family lived for five years before emigrating to Charlottesville. Hildebrand’s team compiled footage shot by Al-Waleed residents, news clips, and conversations with Alsruar, to effectively begin a larger conversation among viewers about, according to Hildebrand, “a part of humanity that is under-reported and misrepresented by the media and popular attention.”

Better Than Baghdad will be screened alongside 19 other “competitive shorts” at the 2013 Virginia Student Film Festival this Saturday, April 13, at UVA’s Newcomb Hall Theatre at 3pm. For more information visit vasfil.wix.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Living

Five Finds on Friday: Tracey Love

On Fridays, we feature five foods finds selected by local chefs and personalities.  This week’s picks come from Tracey Love, Event Coordinator at Blenheim Vineyards, Sales & Marketing Gal at Best of What’s Around, and founder of Hill & Holler, the host company of a series of fantastic roving farm dinners in the area.  Is there anything she doesn’t do?  Hill & Holler’s next dinner is Sunday, April 21, at the brand new Old Metropolitan Hall, featuring a menu prepared by Dean Maupin of C&O, as well as wines from Pollak Vineyards and cider from Potter’s Craft Cider.  Details and reservations here.

1)  Shredded Tofu Skin in Chili Sauce at Peter Chang’s China Grill.  “Nothing gets the mouth watering like cold, shredded, tofu skins with cilantro and a plethora of chili oil.”

2)  The Fat n’ Sassy at Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie.  “Otherwise known as a four cheese pizza disguised as ‘cheesy bread,’ studded with roasted garlic, cut into squares, and served with house-made ranch dressing.  Broccoli optional.  Extra ranch not optional.”

3)  Bucatini All’Amatriciana at Tavola.  “So simple, so good, yet impossible to re-create at home. I could eat this everyday – and the fellas at Tavola can attest to that.”

4)  Tachos at Fardowners.  “Translation = tater tot nachos piled high with all the fixins.  Best shared with friends and pints of local beer.”

5)  The Riviera at Greenwood Gourmet Grocery.  “Hands down, the best tuna sandwich, period. Filled with quality tuna, olive oil, capers, red onion and magic. Served on crusty Goodwin Creek bread.  What’s not to love?”

cville29_logo

 

The Charlottesville 29 is a publication that asks, if there were just 29 restaurants in Charlottesville, what would be the ideal 29?  Follow along with regular updates on Facebook and Twitter.

Categories
News

What’s Happening at the Jefferson School City Center?

Bridget
Greg Burroughs, Director of Futureworks, helps Bridget stuff envelopes at Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/ Albemarle. Bridget will also be working on the Literacy Volunteers’ database.

On any particular day at the Jefferson School City Center, Greg Burroughs can be found checking in on “his” employees at the Jefferson School City Center. Through his company Futureworks, Burroughs helps people with developmental and intellectual disabilities find jobs or volunteer positions.

“There’s a real sense of community here. Everywhere I go people seem kind and accommodating toward the people I serve,” said Burroughs. Since 1992 Burroughs has placed well over 100 people in positions but especially likes having his workers at the Jefferson School City Center. “Work adds meaning to our lives,” he says. “Sometimes what work we do is how we identify ourselves. Whether it’s paid or volunteer, people want to work. This is a great place to work.”

Currently, Burroughs has employees and volunteers at three of the nonprofit organizations at the Jefferson School City Center.  Burroughs finds positions ranging from three to thirty hours per week. In some cases, he heavily supervises the worker, and in other cases he takes a “hands off” approach. “It’s rewarding to see them learn new things,” he said.

Quilting group

Starting April 19th, The Women’s Initiative at the Jefferson School City Center will sponsor a weekly quilting group located in JABA’s Mary Williams Community room on Fridays from 10 am to 12 pm.  Volunteer Karen Horridge will help participants learn to quilt or improve their skills. Projects can include baby quilts, table runners, bed covers, wall hangings and tote bags.  All fabric and supplies are provided and the group is free of charge to members of the community.  For more information, please contact Eboni Bugg, LCSW at 434-202-7692 or visit The Women’s Initiative online.

Natural reality

Caesar Morton sculpture“Between Invention and Reality,” works by local artist Caesar Morton are on display at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center through June 2. Morton’s sculptures are inspired by objects found in nature. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 am to 6 pm, Saturday 10 am to 3 pm, and Sundays from 1 to 4 pm.

Looking for artists

Vinegar Hill Cafe is featuring the photography of Adam Mohr. Stop by and see his photographs of Charlottesville and other interesting places.  If you are an artist interested in displaying your work, please contact the Cafe curator at vinegarhillcafe@jabacares.org.

Nickels for healing

Common Ground Healing Arts is the recipient of Nickels for Nonprofits at Whole Foods Market throughout the month of April. Shoppers who bring their own shopping bags when they shop can choose Common Ground as the beneficiary of the 5-cent bag credit. Through hundreds of volunteer hours donated by local healing arts practitioners, and donations such as those from shoppers at Whole Foods, Common Ground’s Community of Healers program offers people in Charlottesville a variety of free and reduced-cost wellness services.

Common Ground’s outreach practitioners partner with local service providers to reach low-income children and adults, people with limited English proficiency, the elderly, pregnant adolescents, people with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses, incarcerated women, minorities, and other special populations. When possible, Common Ground identifies members of the community to train as practitioners, increasing the access of the healing arts to the community around the Jefferson School City Center.

JSCCLogoOneInchWideJefferson School City Center is a voice of the nine nonprofits located at Charlottesville’s intergenerational community center, the restored Jefferson School. We are a legacy preserved . . . a soul reborn . . . in the heart of Cville!

Categories
Arts

ARTS Pick: The Embers

Beach music veterans, The Embers keep the endless summer alive when they kick up the sand at the Surf on the Turf bash. Publicity Photo.

Still glowing

With global warming now confirmed, the weather is sure to go straight to hot, with scorching beach-worthy weather breaking out any day now. Getting ahead of that first sunburn, The Embers are headlining Surf on the Turf, an inland beach bash complete with dancing, dinner, and drinks. The quintessential band of the sand has held a special place in the hearts and feet of sun worshippers coast to coast since 1958. They play bonafide beach boogie music and they dare you to try and stand still during the Shag dance lessons.

Saturday 4/13 $125, 6:30pm. Foxfield Race Track, 2215 Foxfield Track. 888 987-8727.