Month: February 2016

Categories
News

UVA tennis players suspended

Maci Epstein, Cassie Mercer and Skylar Morton, pictured, along with Victoria Olivarez and Meghan Kelley were suspended indefinitely from the UVA women's tennis team for reasons that aren't entirely clear. UVA Athletics

University of Virginia women’s tennis team head coach Mark Guilbeau announced that five players on the team would be suspended indefinitely for “violations of team rules” just hours before the No. 7 nationally ranked Cavaliers took on South Carolina at the Boar’s Head Sports Club January 29.

Competing without five players, Virginia was forced to forfeit one of its doubles matches and one singles match, leading the team to its first loss of the season.

Guilbeau said seniors Maci Epstein and Skylar Morton, junior Victoria Olivarez, sophomore Cassie Mercer and freshman Meghan Kelley would not be allowed to resume competitive play until he reinstated them.

While Virginia Athletics did not reveal what team rules the players violated, the Daily Progress reports the players were suspended for leaving the Boar’s Head Inn during the snowstorm that hit Virginia on January 22 and 23.

For at least three of these players, however, the ban seems to have been lifted. At the 2016 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championships that took place February 5 through 8, Kelley and Olivarez played in all three of Virginia’s matches.

In addition, Epstein was listed on Virginia’s final master lineup for the tournament.

Morton and Mercer were not listed in the lineup, and Guilbeau has not commented on whether these players remain suspended.

Categories
Arts

Sweet gifts: Bake ’N Bike helps spread the love

Bake ’N Bike will deliver chocolate-chip scones and handmade cards on Valentine’s Day. The event’s proceeds will provide bicycles to those in need. Photo: Courtesy Community Bikes

On Valentine’s Day, keep an eye out for a bunch of Cupids zipping around town on bicycles. They’ll be dressed in zany costumes—pink capes and red tutus, or even in a giant diaper with wings—and delivering warm, heart-shaped chocolate-chip scones and handmade cards to doorsteps all over Charlottesville. Some of them might even sing to you.

The Cupids’ antics are for a good cause: They’re taking to the roads for the 12th annual Charlottesville Community Bikes Bake ’N Bike event to raise money to provide free bicycles to local residents.

Charlottesville Community Bikes, located on Avon Street, is a nonprofit bicycle shop that relies on volunteers and funding from both individuals and organizations. The shop refurbishes used bicycles and bike parts, hosts cycling events and holds repair workshops and rider education classes to promote both a safer, greener riding culture.

For many years, the money raised from Bake ’N Bike was divided between Community Bikes and the Books Behind Bars program, which provides books and literature classes to incarcerated youth. This year, all proceeds from the scone sale will benefit the Community Bikes free bike program, which gives refurbished bicycles and accessories to clients of The Haven, On Our Own of Charlottesville and the Charlottesville International Rescue Committee, people who may not have the extra income to purchase a bike.

Owen Brennan, housing stabilization case manager for The Haven, says the day shelter sends three people each month to Community Bikes for a free set of wheels. Most of The Haven’s clients are homeless or precariously housed, and reliable transportation is just one of the obstacles someone might face when trying to secure a steady job to pay rent and become less reliant upon the shelter, says Brennan.

For clients at The Haven to be eligible for a bike voucher, they must have a job they can’t get to because it’s off the public bus line, or because they commute during times when bus service is limited or nonexistent. Brennan says one of his clients, who received a bike from Community Bikes, currently lives in Hogwaller and works at Tara Thai in the Barracks Road Shopping Center. He pedals 30 to 45 minutes each way, sometimes late at night. Were it not for the bike, he’d have no safe or cheap way home at the end of his shift.

Another bike recipient, who wishes to remain anonymous, was particularly touched by the kindness the Community Bikes staff showed him. He was allowed to choose his own bicycle and, like all free bike recipients, received a helmet, lock and lights. “I was helped so much,” he says. “They really cared to make sure that I’m safe when I ride. I hadn’t ridden in a long time, and the young fellow there showed me how to use the bike, explained that I didn’t need a big gear that would make me go fast. I don’t know if he was just being kind, but he made sure I would be safe riding, which I appreciated. And it’s peace of mind, knowing I have the bike when I need it.”

Annie Dunckel, a volunteer and Community Bikes advisory board member, says the shop also teaches free-bike recipients how to service their bicycles and encourages them to come back for repairs (at no cost) or just to say hello.

That sort of care can be just as important as the bike, says Brennan, who notes that it’s often difficult for people to assimilate into a community when they’ve been living on its margins for months or even years. “Community Bikes’ existence as a social hub, where folks can come and get connected to each other while working on their bikes, is really powerful for someone’s sense of who they are,” she says. “Our real hope is that [a client] can come to have a sense of identity as a participating member of the community.”

This year, Community Bikes hopes to give away 75 refurbished bikes. The organization has already raised three-quarters of the free-bike program budget thanks to grants from the Junior League of Charlottesville, Walmart and the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, says Dunckel, and she expects that funds raised via Bake ’N Bike will make up the rest.

Volunteers will bake nearly 1,000 scones in The Haven’s kitchen the day of the event, and the valentine cards will be printed at the Virginia Arts of the Book Center and personalized prior to the event. Scones will also be available for pick-up at the Bake ’N Bike distribution headquarters at the New City Arts Welcome Gallery on the Downtown Mall.

For a $20 donation to Community Bikes, one of the Cupids will deliver a half-dozen scones and a valentine to the person of your choosing. The group expects to deliver about 150 orders but can accommodate up to 175.

“It’s a little absurd when someone bikes up to your front door in full Cupid regalia. …Some people aren’t expecting a valentine delivered by bike,” says Cupid Izzy Castner, who volunteered for Bake ’N Bike because of Community Bikes’ dedication to making bikes accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Whether someone’s getting a bike to pedal to and from work or some scones to share with his loved one, the delight is palpable. And isn’t that the sweetest treat of all?

Visit cvillecommunitybikes.com for more information.

–Erin O’Hare

What is the best Valentine’s Day gift you’ve received?

Tell us in the comments below.

Categories
Living

Premier crew: Charlottesville’s restaurant wine list visionaries

Wine expert Elaine Futhey curated the C&O Restaurant’s remarkable list for more than 30 years. Photo: Michael Johnson

As we look at Charlottesville’s current landscape, it’s difficult to imagine that in the late 1960s, you could only dine out at a handful of places and none with the kind of wine lists you’ll find today. In a few decades we have summoned the vast global vino world to our fingertips—but this did not happen by chance. Over the last 20 years, some individual visionary tasters (though they wouldn’t consider themselves to be) have shaped our restaurant lists into the dynamic vinous scene we have today.

If you could pinpoint the genesis of the wine-centric movement, it might be when John Tuck opened the Gaslight Restaurant in 1961. During its three manifestations (two on Main Street and one in Barracks Road Shopping Center), just about everyone who ignited Charlottesville’s early restaurant wine scene cycled through the Gaslight—usually as a staff member, and definitely as a patron.

Tuck stocked the bar with classic bottlings from France, and he also brought in selections from Spain and California. This was before the renaissance of Virginia wines, and before most French importers ventured outside of Bordeaux and Champagne.

In the 1960s and ’70s, the by-the-glass era had not yet emerged, and most restaurants had an extensive offering of half-bottles to cater to those who didn’t want to drink more than a glass or two. The choices for dinner included the Gaslight, Lord Hardwicke’s, the Old Mill Room at Boar’s Head and The Monticello Room, where Bill Curtis (currently at Tastings) organized popular seafood buffets every Friday and Saturday night and would bring in special wines for the occasion.

In parallel to the development of the Downtown Mall, a restaurant boom ushered wine lists into a new era. Vinegar Hill Theatre and the C&O Restaurant both opened in 1976, and Fellini’s appeared in ’79, primarily catering to a cocktail scene, though Champagne flowed quite freely. And while Vinegar Hill became a movie hub, the C&O set the bar high for local lists, when Philip Stafford unveiled an assemblage of great wines that was likely the first world-class offering in Charlottesville. As the fine-dining world evolved, so did the C&O list, and eventually it was placed in the hands of Elaine Futhey.

Futhey is well-known for overseeing wine at the C&O for more than three decades. She started in 1979, but made waves even earlier. Ask anyone about Charlottesville’s wine scene, and most insiders circle back to her, beginning at the Gaslight with Tuck’s exciting selections. “In those days, Dom Pérignon was on the list for $25,” recalls Futhey.

She was likely the first person to include Virginia wine, when she added it at Galerie Restaurant (now a dilapidated building at the corner of Routes 240 and 250 near Crozet). At Galerie, she listed Archie Smith’s reds and whites from Meredyth Vineyards, “and everybody laughed, but it was okay.” Futhey says that in the beginning of Virginia’s wine reemergence, “it was really like pulling hen’s teeth to get anyone to try one.”

Another restaurant wave occurred with Miller’s hitting the scene in 1981 and Duner’s opening in 1983.

Enter Beryle Mayfield who held tenure at the Gaslight and Lord Hardwicke’s before heading up Duner’s wine list from 1985 until about three years ago. Mayfield took Duner’s through several phases, including a memorable experiment with Alsatian wines. “I got interested in them, so I put a big selection of them on the list,” he says. “It didn’t work, but Elaine came in and bought one once.”

Mayfield originally focused on classic American wines and Bordeaux, but after several trips to Paris wine bars he grew an affinity for the Loire Valley, Cru Beaujolais and Rhône reds. This shift in personal taste reflected outwardly, especially in Loire Valley wines, though “at first, it was a hard sell,” he says.

At its height, the Duner’s list had 175 selections, and Mayfield points to Curtis as a major influence. “Bill is Mr. Wine as far as I’m concerned,” he says.

The nickname is suitable for Curtis, whose Tastings, a retail/restaurant combo—one of the first of its kind—recently celebrated 25 years.

A year after Tastings opened, Metropolitain hit the market, and Vincent Derquenne (chef and wine enthusiast) generated a unique excitement about wine, as lists became less stodgy and more representative of a new generation of winemakers.

Since the early 1990s, the restaurant scene in Charlottesville has grown exponentially, but the wine lists still reflect the work of some of these early innovators, leaving us to reminisce about what it was like to drink $25 Dom Pérignon at the Gaslight.

Erin Scala is the sommelier at Fleurie and Petit Pois. She holds the Diploma of Wines & Spirits, is a Certified Sake Specialist and writes about beverages on her blog, thinking-drinking.com

–Erin Scala

Categories
Arts

Musical scale: Jazz player Randy Johnston finds inspiration in C’ville

After decades of touring and playing in the big league of New York City, jazz guitarist Randy Johnston moved to Charlottesville to start a new band and explore a musical rebirth. Photo: Antonio Porcar

As far as establishing a new local legend goes, jazz guitarist Randy Johnston’s recent relocation from Brooklyn to Charlottesville is notable. Having sat in or been featured on the records of, as he puts it, “every major organ player to come through New York City in the ’80s,” Johnston’s musical prowess is, at least among the upper echelons of the New York jazz scene, rather notorious.

“I think it was my ability to play everything and anything with a bluesy, soulful undertone,” says Johnston, explaining his popularity among musicians as a go-to sideman. “But, then again, it’s an accompanist’s job to make the bandleader look as good as possible, and I was really good at that.”

In the beginning, though, the professional opportunities were not nearly as grand, and work was pretty much nonexistent.

Specializing in jazz composition and graduating from the University of Miami’s music program in 1981 (at that time, one of only a few in the nation), Johnston decided to try his luck in the place that mothered bebop: New York City.

“When I first got there, I didn’t know anybody, didn’t have any connections,” says Johnston. “So I started playing on the streets, doing open-mics, sitting in on jam sessions—just trying to network whenever and wherever I could.”

Then while playing a stand-in gig at the Baby Grand in Harlem, Etta Jones caught a set of Johnston’s tasteful, Kenny Burrell-esque chops and wound up inviting him to gig as her guitarist.

“That was really the beginning,” he says. “Getting that job opened so many doors.”

“I got picked up by Jack McDuff,” adds Johnston. “Then I started playing with the great sax-man, Warne Marsh, and also Lee Konitz, which led to a steady gig for seven years with Irene Reid—who was known in New York as the Queen of the Ghetto.”

In the early ’90s came another pivotal moment when Johnston came to the attention of legendary soul-jazz tenor saxophonist and producer, Houston Person.

“Houston was the head of the Muse label, which later became HighNote,” says Johnston. “He liked my sound and got in touch with me and offered me a contract to make an album as a bandleader.”

The opportunity was multifaceted. At once, it provided Johnston the creative freedom to musically do his own thing (and gain clout as a headliner), while bolstering his sideman career by establishing him as a studio ace-for-hire.

“I wound up doing six or seven albums for Muse, then four for HighNote, mostly through [the] ’90s and early 2000s, and played on dozens more,” says Johnston. “And the records gave me the ability to play gigs at jazz festivals, to tour the U.S., Europe and Japan. It was really great.”

Simultaneous to these developments, another renowned blues/soul jazz legend, alto saxophonist, Lou Donaldson, heard one of Johnston’s tunes on the radio and, enamored with the style, offered him a position in his band.

“It was great playing with Lou,” says Johnston. “I stuck with him for 18 years, which is a long time.”

This past fall, weary of the continual grind and hustle of the New York City lifestyle, and having fallen in love with Charlottesville, Johnston decided to make a change.

“I lived in Richmond throughout my teens and had relatives in Charlottesville,” he says. “So the move wasn’t completely blind; it was actually something I’d thought about for quite a while.”

More than a shift in geography, the relocation was meant to push toward new creative channels, including the passing down of his skills by offering guitar lessons.

“In a sense it was definitely a rebirth,” says Johnston. “While I was accompanying all those greats in the city, people would tell me I had a unique sound, and I think that’s true. But even as a bandleader I felt like I was sort of doing what I’d always done. Now, there’s been this tremendous shift, and I’m totally devoted to exploring my own sound, doing something that is absolutely uniquely myself.”

With a new band, The Randy Johnston Group featuring Jonah Kane-West (it also includes Bobby Read on sax and John Hanks on drums), and an album due out next month, Johnston has thrown himself deeply into the project of reinvention. And at 7pm on Saturday, he will showcase the new ensemble’s funky, soul-jazz sound at Escafé.

–Eric J. Wallace

Categories
Arts

Full grown: Kristine Leschper nurtures solo project into Mothers

Rising indie band Mothers brings its studious math-rock to the Southern on Sunday. The band’s highly anticipated debut album comes out this month. Photo: Publicity photo

Don’t let the name fool you. Kristine Leschper’s solo project-turned-full band isn’t composed of anyone who has given birth in the literal sense. But considering the time, energy and love that’s gone into crafting and composing songs, in addition to the band’s energetic delivery, the four-piece math-rock outfit known as Mothers seems to possess parenting sensibility.

Leschper, 25, likes how the name rolls off her tongue, and she finds a metaphorical comparison between songwriting and motherhood.

“It came from the idea of motherhood being this sort of tragic event where you are the creator of something. It’s very much this vessel, like a piece of yourself, and then you have to kind of let it out into the world,” says Leschper. “The act of being a creator of songs is kind of tragic in the same way. You put so much of yourself into something and then you kind of let it go at the end.”

Mothers was conceived during Leschper’s junior year of college at Lamar Dodd School of Art, following two years in which she performed solo at venues around Athens, Georgia, where the group is based.

“I really enjoyed that for a while. I had always kind of wanted for it to become a full band but, to be honest, I was really terrified about playing with other people,” she says. “I didn’t feel like I would be able to keep up, as far as my musicianship and being able to play guitar.”

But after consulting with fellow musicians, some of whom she’d worked with in the past and knew through Athens’ scene, Leschper decided it was time to expand.

For drummer Matthew Anderegg, the decision was met with caution. “There was concern that a full band might not convey a lot of the things that were being implied when Kristine played alone,” says Anderegg. “Because even though it’s very minimal, it kind of implied much grander ideas and sounds and things like that.”

Guitarist Drew Kirby chimes in on the process. “We didn’t just want to add parts if it was going to get in the way or misinterpret what was already there,” he says.

Once Anderegg and Kirby were on board, a temporary bass player (live shows feature Patrick Morales on bass) stepped in to record on the band’s debut album, When You Walk a Long Distance You Are Tired.

The album, produced by Drew Vandenberg (Deerhunter, Of Montreal), will be released on February 26, and Mothers has already been dubbed a “band to watch” by Papermag, Spotify, Stereogum and other music press. Leschper is happy about the early buzz, but also finds it rather bizarre.

“It’s pretty weird and a little intimidating at times,” she says. “I don’t really feel like it’s affecting what we’re doing but it is really strange.”

She hopes the record will be viewed as a kind of separate entity from the group’s live shows, which are louder and more experimental. Leschper says the songs on the album were recorded much earlier and that the band has developed alternate versions and new material after steady touring.

“We’re more well-seasoned now,” says Leschper. “When we made the record, we’d played like a show or two, so things changed. I would say that the live shows are a little bit heavier, more figured out and more sure-footed.”

The band’s first single, “No Crying In Baseball,” which appeared on a music compilation and is not featured on the album, is one that concertgoers will only hear live.

Leschper says the song didn’t quite fit in on the album because it was written a year after the other tracks. But like other songs that Leschper has penned, there’s an emotional depth that shines through.

“There’s a kind of power and strength in it for me,” she says. “I really enjoy the catharsis of it.”

The song places an emphasis on being transparent with feelings. “At the core, it’s talking about people kind of wanting to be in control of your emotions and the fact that people are ridiculed for being sensitive, especially men,” says Leschper. “I think being overly sensitive is a quality that’s really special and it shouldn’t be so heavily criticized.”

For other songs like “It Hurts Until It Doesn’t,” which is featured on the album, she writes about finding balance between the ego and self-doubt as an artist and/or creative person.

Leschper majored in printmaking in college, and designed the art for the album, which will be offered as a limited edition with a poetry chapbook.

While the band members are eager for the album’s upcoming release, they’re looking forward to a lengthy tour and the release of another EP by the end of the year.

“I encourage people to not have specific expectations for it,” Leschper says. “I think that the most important thing about Mothers is for people to not expect it to be this singular thing because I expect that every record we make will be pretty different from the last. We’ve evolved a lot, so our records will just keep growing and changing.”

Mothers performs February 7 at The Southern Café & Music Hall.

–Anita Overcash

Categories
Arts

ARTS Pick: Post Sixty Five

Notable local band Post Sixty Five headlines a night of inspired music at the Tea Bazaar on Saturday. Photo: Ariana Miklowitz

Charlottesville’s Post Sixty Five haunts its audience with raw, melodic tracks led by Moroccan-born songwriter and guitarist Hicham Benhallam. On the new EP, i think we’ll be ok, P65 flows through sophisticated, nuanced songs, gently layered with plaintive lyrics that are full of imagery and emotion. Manatree, KNDRGRDN and Sara Curtin open the show.

Saturday 2/6. $8, 8:30pm. Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, 414 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 293-9947.

Categories
Magazines Real Estate

So many choices for a spare room

Modern interior.

So you have an extra room? Lucky you! Maybe it’s the bedroom of a now-out-in-the-world young person. Or an elderly relative has entered assisted living. Or you’ve relocated to a larger home. There are a number of choices you can make for that room, depending on your needs and interests.

Home offices popular

“The most common use for an extra bedroom is a home office,” says Todd McGee, a REALTOR® with Nest Realty. “If they have the space, most people have some sort of a home office, even if it’s just for paying bills or using the computer.”

“Home offices are so needed in today’s lifestyle,” agrees REALTOR® Linda Broadbent with Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate III. “That would be my first choice. Just make sure it has the ease of movement and the technology for a variety of uses.”

Some people design a home office that can double as a guest room by choosing dual-use furniture. For example, some desks can be completely closed to conceal a computer and printer and some file cabinets can serve as attractive bedside tables. Those old Murphy installations that used to slide out from behind shellacked closet doors to serve as a very basic bed are now well-balanced units that, when folded up, show nothing but a decorative wall panel or painting.

There can even be tax benefits for a home office. There are many restrictions, but items such as carpets, paint, furniture, and office equipment are usually tax deductible. In some cases, a percentage of home expenses such as mortgage interest, homeowners insurance, and utilities may also be tax deductible.

The space must be your only office, used exclusively as an office, and the home office deduction cannot be used to create a tax loss, although the deduction may often be carried forward. Read IRS regulations very carefully or consult with a tax professional to see if your home office qualifies.

Many other uses possible

McGee says if the extra room is more of a bonus room, it’s most commonly used as an extra “hang out” or game room, especially if there’s no basement. “Everyone likes to have a space where you can get away,” he points out.

“More than likely the extra or bonus room is finished similarly to the rest of the house,” he continues, “so you may find built-in bookcases in the space, which could be multi-functional for a media room, office, game room, or bedroom.”

 A newly free spare room offers a wonderful opportunity to recreate and decorate. Depending on your budget you might opt for new furniture, cutting-edge wall-coverings, or handsome new window treatments. Ideas abound in magazines and online.

On the other hand, you might opt to reuse, recycle, refinish, and repurpose furniture, shelving, or other “goodies” from yard sales, craigslist, or the Habitat store. A fresh coat of paint can transform a room while a special light fixture—from ornate antique to starkly modern—adds instant personality.

Some people choose to make a spare room into a true guest room so visiting family doesn’t have to sleep on the convertible sofa in the living room. In this case, it’s always wise to opt for twin beds or a trundle bed for persons who will share a room, but not a bed.

Others may opt for exercise equipment such as a treadmill or elliptical trainer. There may be space for a weight rack or an area for a yoga mat. Often a full-length mirror is added for exercisers to check their form.

Another popular option is a “project” room with ample shelving, good lighting, and a large work area. This provides space for crafts, sewing, artwork, or hobbies that can be pursued without having to put everything away when you’re finished for the day.

“Most consumers aren’t making major changes or alterations for specific uses,” says McGee. This is a smart decision, because creating unusual applications can affect a house’s eventual sales appeal. “One home I went into,” McGee recalls, “the owner was using the extra bedroom as an art studio so it had a tile floor and a sink in the corner.” This was fine for the artist, but a barrier to marketability when she was trying to sell the house.

“Consider the use,” says Broadbent, who agrees that it’s sensible to be cautious about a major conversion. “If your needs change, the room should have the ability to change. For instance, when I built my home in Dunlora Forest, I arranged it so I could have a home office, but should I ever need a third bedroom for a caregiver, I can easily convert the space.”

So if an extra room appears, take the time to check magazines, model homes, and online décor sites to find your best use. And enjoy!

##

By Marilyn Pribus

Marilyn Pribus and her husband live in Albemarle County near Charlottesville.  When their older boy left home, she replaced the red-and-blue polyester plaid rug with neutral carpeting from a remnant store, repainted the bright blue walls with a quiet beige, and created a long-wished-for home office.

Categories
Magazines Real Estate

Seniors love Central Virginia

Looking for the perfect place to retire? How about a place with Blue Ridge Mountain beauty, college town sports and culture, and world-class health care? How about an area flush with golf courses, ski slopes and early American history sites, with wineries, breweries and an exciting restaurant scene – an area with a growing community of energetic seniors centered on a bustling and expanding Senior Center?

That’s right, “we have it all,” as Senior Real Estate Specialist Karen Kehoe puts it, adding “no pollution, fabulous housing and friendly people” to the list of reasons AARP, Kiplinger, Travel, Money, Black Enterprise, Golf Digest and Relocate America have all called the Charlottesville area one of country’s best places for senior living. “And it’s safe.”

Active Seniors, Active Senior Community

Seniors already make up 14% of the population in the Charlottesville area, and a University of Virginia study projects their numbers to more than double between 2005 and 2030. “New England, New York, New Jersey, Northern Virginia . . . retirees are coming from all over,” Kehoe, says, “and they’re coming with talents and skills and interests that enrich the community. They’re coming in at 50 and 55-years old, and they’re very active. They bring in capital, and they don’t tax your schools, and they volunteer.”

“Active” is the word, all right. In a place like this, who’s retiring? Yesterday’s “retirees” are today’s “active adults,” done with the working part of life, and rarin’ for the rest of it. Central Virginia’s small-town feel plus big city amenities make it “a great place to age,” says Senior Center Executive Director, Peter Thompson. “Charlottesville is attractive to older adults because is it’s a very engaged community. That means there are opportunities for paid employment, which a lot of older adults want and need, and there are a ton of opportunities for volunteer engagement. People in Charlottesville are also active and involved in the political process. You can have access to the decision makers in our community and that’s encouraged. It’s very deep-rooted in our culture to give back. That’s particularly attractive to older adults as they wind down careers.”

A hub of activity for over 8,000 people a year throughout the region, the Center has numerous programs, most of which are open to members and non-members alike, and many of which welcome senior wannabe’s and seniors-in-training alongside the genuine articles. Lifelong Learning classes cover everything from technology to philosophy, folk dancing to foreign languages, and fitness to investing. Travel Buddy Networking offers day trips, plus longer excursions across the U.S. and abroad. Recreational clubs go fishing and bowling and line dancing, watch movies, and play bridge, chess and co-ed poker. The Old Dominion Lecture series features historians and public officials, and the Center’s musical ensembles include the Barbershop Belles & Beaux, the Still Sharp Singers, the First and the Second Wind Bands, and the Flashbacks jazz ensemble.

“Being physically active, either at the Center, or out in the community with age peers and instructors who like working with older adults, is a huge part of our programming,” Thompson says. “We have a wide variety of walking and hiking groups; we have a Retread Softball Team; we have tai-chi and yoga. Later this year we’re launching a program called Matter of Balance which helps people minimize the risk of falls, and be more independent and healthy.”

The chronic disease self-management program is just one of a growing list of evidence-based programs proven effective by academic and clinical research, and is a taste of things to come when the Center breaks ground, perhaps as early as 2018, on a new 60,000 square feet facility, tripling its present size. The new building “will build in the key components of what research shows are the keys to helping seniors stay healthy and well,” Thompson says. “We will have much better physical wellness programs, and an acre of outdoor recreation and physical fitness space. We’ll have a gymnasium and track and fitness rooms and proper exercise rooms, significantly enhanced classroom and meeting space and a performing arts auditorium, and a bigger volunteer center to build our volunteer program which is critical to what we do.”

Independence

Seniors today are increasingly drawn to independent living communities, livelier alternatives to traditional retirement homes, but with many of the same amenities, including universal design features for the safety of active but not always agile occupants. Common universal design features include “zero threshold” (no steps) entries, 3-foot wide hallways and doorways, and bathrooms with high toilet seats, walk-in showers, non-slip floors, grab bars and a 5-foot turning radius. Pot fillers over stoves eliminate the need to carry heavy pots of waters from sink to stove. Doors with lever handles and lights with rocker switches require less hand strength.

Along with these practical architectural features, such developments advertise “maintenance free living,” in which all necessary work on a home’s exterior and grounds is paid for through home association dues. “Seniors are looking for one level houses that are bright and open, with very little yards,” Kehoe says. “It’s really important to them to have the exterior of the house and the yard taken care of.”

Redfields

“The Courtyard Homes in Redfields in Charlottesville are extremely popular because of those amenities,” Kehoe says. ““A lot of these people are young – 50 to 55 – but they’re thinking of the future. A lot of them are into getting healthy. They’re thinking, ‘If I have a medical issue, I want to be close to the hospital, to shopping, to downtown.’ Redfields has walking trails and a swimming pool. It’s seven minutes away from the hospital, seven minutes away from the Downtown Mall, near restaurants, near the coming Wegman’s, near the interstate.” While many families and single adults make Redfields home, the 105 single detached homes in the Courtyard section, with their first floor master bedrooms, nine-foot high ceilings, large kitchens, and sunrooms, are especially appealing to older adults. Homeowners enjoy landscaping and lawn maintenance, snow removal, and exterior house maintenance.

University Village

Just down the road from the University of Virginia, University Village on Charlottesville’s Ivy Road in Charlottesville is a 94-unit condo community designed for independent living. Large glassed-in atriums on either side of each of the two village buildings offer great views of the city and countryside, and a perfect spot for parties.

The two-level Village Club features a bocce court, game room, library and arts and crafts studio, plus public and private dining rooms, kitchen facilities, and an outdoor patio. Dinner is served five nights a week. The lower level of the Club includes a 75-foot swimming pool, whirlpool, fitness center, showers, and another patio.

Village residents enjoy underground parking, chauffeur car service, and four well-appointed overnight guest rooms for friends and family. Most Villagers own their homes and participate in the management of the Village, electing a Board of Directors, which establishes policy and oversees the operation of the facility.

The Villages at Nahor

Located just minutes from Lake Monticello in Fluvanna County, The Villages at Nahor is an active adult community with single family and attached homes with Universal Design features and main level living designs well-suited for seniors. First floors contain master suites, sunrooms, bathrooms, and guest bedrooms, plus kitchens with custom cabinetry and eat-in bars. Each home comes with a large two-car, a paved driveway and landscaped and irrigated front and back yards. Unfinished spaces upstairs can accommodate two more bedrooms, a bathroom, and storage. The village’s extensive grounds include sidewalks, a heated pool with a pool house, a fitness center with a quarter mile fitness tract, tennis and bocce courts, putting greens, a playground and Tot-Lot, community gardens, and a picnic pavilion with a fireplace.

Maintenance-free living at the Village means weekly lawn care, seasonal landscaping, snow removal, care for common areas, and trash removal. Residents are just minutes away from Lake Monticello, PGA golf courses, and shopping and dining facilities.

RoseWood Village at Wintergreen

RoseWood Village at Wintergreen in Nellysford bills itself as “a four-season luxury resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains.” Its 16 villas sit next to the 27-hole Reese Jones Stoney Creek Golf Course. Three existing units are currently available for sale or for lease, and more lots are available for building on. The Village hopes to break ground on an assisted living complex later this year.

RoseWood is “a self-sustaining village within the Stoney Creek community,” says Development Director Shareef Tahboub. “It’s a place where folks can age in place, have care services available to them, but really get out and enjoy all Wintergreen has to offer with very little home maintenance. The idea was to create a retirement community within Stoney Creek that meets some very specific needs at Wintergreen and in Nelson County.” Villagers enjoy landscaped common areas, walking and hiking paths, and are provided with lawn care, snow and trash removal, and building maintenance.

Four Seasons at Charlottesville in Greene County

Four Seasons at Charlottesville is a gated community with a resort-like lifestyle for active adults 55 and up, retired or still working. Located 25 minutes from Charlottesville in Greene County, where it offers wonderful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the development’s 120 detached homes feature first floor master suites and two-car garages. The Four Seasons Clubhouse has an indoor pool and fitness center, plus a cyber café, card tables, billiards room, library, sports TV area and ballroom. Outdoor amenities include bocce and croquet lawns, tennis courts, a putting green, and walking trails.

The Lodge at Old Trail in Crozet

The Lodge at Old Trail in Crozet is a senior living community with both condos and assisted living and memory care facilities. The Lodge sits at the heart of Old Trail Village, a planned community of over 400 families just 12 miles from Charlottesville in Crozet, with houses, townhomes and apartments surrounding a village center. Residents enjoy full-service salon, well-equipped fitness room and underground garage parking. Also within a short walk from The Lodge is the Village Center, with shops, restaurants, healthcare providers and more.  Within walking distance are a community pool, community garden, fitness center, soccer field, golf course, and 60 acres of parkland with six miles of walking trails.

The Lodge prides itself on supporting the local arts scene, and its walls display the paintings and photographs of many community members, as well as that of regional artists such as Isabelle Abbot, John Hulburt, Suzanne Tanner Chitwood, Helen Hilliard and Camilyn K. Leone.

Camelot

As more and more Boomers reach their 60s, Kehoe says, “many from northern Virginia are moving here looking for a change.” As for her, she’s not going anywhere. “I can move anywhere that I want to, but Charlottesville is Camelot for retirees. It’s Camelot for anyone. It has everything. It constantly gets better and better and better.”

By Ken Wilson

Categories
Arts

Film review: The Finest Hours rescues itself with dramatic effects

Chris Pine stars as a reluctant hero in Disney’s The Finest Hours, a sea rescue action picture based on true events. Photo: Walt Disney Pictures

On February 18, 1952, the SS Pendleton was nearing its destination of Boston when a massive storm quite literally ripped the T2 tanker in half, killing all eight of the crew members in the sunken bow section while sending 33 survivors adrift in the still-afloat stern. As the men banded together to stay alive, a Coast Guard motorboat headed by Bernard Webber was sent out from Chatham, Massachusetts, for a rescue that’s considered to be one of the most exemplary and daring of all time.

With Disney’s penchant for telling true stories about gruff guys with hearts of gold (who miraculously never swear, despite being actual sailors), The Finest Hours takes the indisputable facts of the case—names, dates, how many people survived—and fills in the blanks as necessary. As far as Disney feel-good movies go, it’s mostly a success; leaning on a story full of characters who only seem to have one personality trait, the film wisely lets the action do the talking, never relenting on the visual thrill of the terrifying, unknowable, unconquerable behemoth that is the open sea. Humanity’s foolishness in attempting to tame it is matched only by our determination to do so.

The film stars Chris Pine, playing against type as the meek Webber. Webber is the anti-Captain Kirk, a stickler for regulation who is deeply committed to his sweetheart back home (Holliday Grainger). With a massive storm on the way, Webber is tasked with rescuing the Pendleton crew who, after losing their captain, is under the command of the decidedly un-captainly and antisocial Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck).

Perhaps this is giving the film too much credit, but director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Million Dollar Arm) makes a valiant effort to fit in undertones of people overcoming three obstacles at once: nature, their own reticence and the social structures that tell them what they can and can’t do. Sybert is disliked by the rest of the crew, yet is the only one with enough technical knowledge to navigate half of a boat successfully, and the only man levelheaded enough to think rationally when lives are on the line.

Webber is confident about what the rules dictate he ought to do, but not confident in himself. His girlfriend is the one who proposed to him, a fact that his colleagues use against him, but in which he sees no problem. Webber’s superior, Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana), acts like he’s in command but relents at the slightest resistance from his subordinates. Nobody in a position of official authority is the least bit effective, and the least commanding people are the ones who rise to the challenge.

But enough stretching. Truth be told, The Finest Hours essentially boils down to a melodramatic procedural of sea rescue protocol and Coast Guard regulations where three things happen: We meet our central characters, a ship breaks in half, a rescue boat sets out to save them. The effects look great, the CG ocean is terrifying, the performances of the leads and supporting actors are deeply invested, and it’ll make you feel good. It ain’t Das Boot, but it sure ain’t das bad.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

The 5th Wave

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

The Boy

Brooklyn

Daddy’s Home

Dirty Grandpa

Fifty Shades of Black

The Hateful Eight

Jane Got a Gun

Kung Fu Panda 3

Mad Max: Fury Road

Norm of the North

Ride Along 2

Room

Sisters

 Violet Crown Cinema

200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

Anomalisa

The Big Short

Carol

The Finest Hours

The Revenant

Spotlight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Youth

Categories
News

Beginning of the end: Let the voting begin!

Photo by Joan Marcus.

We’re going to kick off this week’s column with an unusual bit of product placement. Although we rarely endorse anything outside of C-SPAN call-in shows, we would like to take this moment to declare the Broadway musical Hamilton the best piece of politically inspired stagecraft since Frost/Nixon, and the best musical about the Founding Fathers ever (sorry, 1776). Seriously, if you need a soundtrack for the current presidential election season (which kicked into high gear this week with the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses), beg, borrow or steal a copy of the Broadway cast recording, and set aside two hours to listen to it from beginning to end. If you reach the point where Thomas Jefferson saunters in and belts out the Rush-meets-Elvis number “What’d I Miss?” (he’s been in France, see) and still aren’t hooked, then I’m not sure we can still be friends.

Anyway, as we enter this year’s completely unpredictable primary season, Hamilton provides a great reminder that American politics has always been filled with strivers and miscreants, and that our current crop of candidates—as cartoonish as some of them may be—pales in comparison to the epic characters who helped found this great nation.

Which brings us, perforce, to the current GOP frontrunners, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Now that Cruz has won the Iowa caucus vote, we can safely say the Republican Party establishment is screaming into its panic pillow. On the Democratic side, wild-maned Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders nearly pulled off an upset win against Hillary Clinton. But as we’ve said all along, the chances that Bernie will manage to engineer a repeat of Barack Obama’s winning 2008 primary campaign are infinitesimally small, and we fully expect him to be out of the race by May at the very latest.

Now all eyes turn to the New Hampshire primary, where Trump is favored to win (God help us all). The real battle on the Republican side will be for second place, which, at this writing, polls show as a four-way tie between Cruz, Rubio, Ohio Governor John Kasich and professional punch line Jeb Bush. With Rubio’s strong third-place finish in Iowa, he will probably nab second in New Hampshire (and perhaps even vault into the lead for the elephant’s South Carolina primary on February 20)—clearly the anti-Trump candidate. For the donkeys, there’s a good chance that Bernie could win this one. But as for his long-term chances, please see above.

And then (finally!) comes March 1, when 12 states (including Virginia) and American Samoa go to the polls to try to impose some order on this chaotic process. If Trump carries two of the first three GOP contests, this will be the final firewall to stop his momentum. In Virginia, expect polling place fireworks as Trump supporters find themselves confronted with the Republican Party of Virginia’s “loyalty pledge,” which will require them to either declare themselves a Republican or go home without voting. As for the Democrats, we are completely certain that Clinton will carry the day by a sizable margin.

But we were also certain that Trump would have been laughed out of the race by now, so what do we know?

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, twice-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics.