The entertainment world will never be—or look—the same again. Here, locals share memories of some of the great talents we lost this year.
Editor’s note: This list was made before the deaths this week of George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.
David Bowie
I didn’t really know him. We weren’t friends and I never touched him (though I wanted to), but David Bowie touched me—mind, heart and soul. He was the soundtrack of my teens and then my 20s, the musical background of my life with my boyfriend, and then husband.
We didn’t really fit in, my husband and I. He was a long-haired musician, and I was a rebel with a thousand causes. We were in a small town in Virginia that leaned to the right. Bowie gave us permission, in his lyrics, dress and actions, to be ourselves. To embrace being different. We reveled in it, spewing out his lyrics like we were chanting religion. We saw him twice in concert—saved and saved until we had enough money to buy tickets. I wore a white T-shirt that had an Aladdin Sane flash down the front, completely hand-beaded by me—each bead a prayer to the man who made us feel like heroes. He was (and still is) mine.
On the day he died, a big part of me went with him. I’m still reeling from the shock of it, but I always knew he was only visiting.
Jann White, artist
Prince
The loss of Prince Rogers Nelson marks the end of an era in the music industry. Prince was the last master of 20th-century popular music and performance. This tradition included many great multi-talents like Cab Calloway, T-Bone Walker and James Brown. Prince was able to master all of the facets of performance, such as superlative singing, dancing, audience interaction, showmanship and soul. He was also a spectacular songwriter/guitarist, arguably one of music’s best guitarists. But Prince’s greatest contribution was his music business acumen that allowed him to eventually own and control the fruits of his prodigious labors. 2016 took numerous talents from our realm, but Prince is the one for whom I felt the most loss…like a close family member.
Jamal Millner, musician
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen was the dark soul of our half of the century. Our sins. Our redemption. Our light and shadow. A million candles burning for the help that never came. I first found him in Robert Altman’s mournful, muddy, opium-soaked McCabe & Mrs. Miller. Then, there was his retreat into monastic Zen Buddhism and reinvention as a moody, gravelly god of frank pessimism. He was our man at closing time, dancing to the end of love from Manhattan to Berlin. He was our dark hope and our hallelujah. But everybody knows the good guys lost. In 2016, that’s how it goes.
Brian Wimer, executive director of IX Art Park
Photo by Jack Looney
Sharon Jones
Certainly there was passion from us at the Satellite Ballroom, very excited, enthusiastically jumping at the opportunity for a show with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (every time), just as there was when talking it up with customers at Plan 9 or with anyone who would listen. The band was incredibly tight, studied and together. The Dap-Kings were enough for a show unto themselves, but when Sharon hit the stage, we were putty. It was over. Hyperbole is warranted.
However, the true beauty in her performance was the democracy. We were part of the show. Sharon made sure the show was a party for everyone. Her gifts were extraordinary as a singer; her charisma was hard to chart as a performer. It was a true joy to work six shows with them, the last one being May 29, 2014, as part of her triumphant return from cancer before the relapse and almost 10 years since our first show with them.
Danny Shea, Starr Hill Presents promotion and booking
Muhammad Ali
We often think of a boisterous, “I am the greatest!” Muhammad Ali when we remember him. He told himself and the world this statement to hold himself up under the weight of many challenges; whether it was Joe Frazier, the U.S. government, racism or Parkinson’s.
We know, however, that the power of his presence was steeped in his conviction that there was something greater than himself. Muhammad’s choices were rooted in this faith and the love he shared with everyone around him no matter what religion, race or socioeconomic status. When I was a child he would read passages of the Koran to me knowing that I was not a Muslim but always talking about how to treat oneself and others. The readings, but more importantly his actions, embody his principles of unity. Muhammad was larger than life. We all lost an inspiration and a teacher.
Jennifer Tweel Kelly, Muhammad Ali family friend
Ralph Stanley
When Dr. Ralph Stanley died, we lost a national treasure. There is no other way to put it. He had a wealth of knowledge of times gone by and was representative of a golden age of music that can never be repeated. He was one of the pillars upon which the genre of bluegrass was built. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him, but the time I did spend with him, he made me feel comfortable. He welcomed me into his home and willingly shared memories of his long and well-lived life. He was an inspiration. He was a giant, and all of us Americana/country musicians stand in his shadow.
Jim Waive, musician
Florence Henderson
In her five years on “The Brady Bunch,” Florence Henderson played the mom we’re supposed to want: preternaturally calm, dippily sincere, 100 percent happy making her home. Meanwhile, in real life she went on a date with the actor who played her oldest son, was a devotee of hypnotherapy thanks to her second husband and, at 76, took fifth place on “Dancing With the Stars.” Florence could front with those shagtastic golden locks and perfect white teeth, but while she was serious about a career that spanned six decades, she never took herself too seriously. Truth is stranger, and way more fun, than fiction.
Miller Susen, actress and mom
Earl Hamner
Earl Hamner, gentleman, storyteller, citizen of the world, has moved on. We will miss his warm, Chesapeake accent, assuring us that all is right with the world, telling stories of the people he knows, in the land he loved, a most humble and generous soul. When things seem most bleak, the opening lines of The Homecoming come to mind: “It was a night of miracles, of great changes…Anything is possible if you believe it can be.” Thank you, Earl!
Boomie Pedersen, artistic director of The Hamner Theater
Alan Rickman
I was 12 years old and obsessed with the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, my introduction to Alan Rickman. I watched it every weekend, the VHS tape soon ruined. A storyteller, Rickman prized the trust of his audience. He became such a perfect conduit of wild imagination, from Galaxy Quest to the Harry Potter films, that we believed him. Rickman courted us as the dry-humored romantic. His projects My Name is Rachel Corrie in 2005 and A Little Chaos in 2014 celebrated the voice of women. We lost a truth-teller of the human spirit, adamant for our participation.
Christian Anderson, actress
Leon Russell
In 2015, LOCKN’ had the privilege of pairing Leon Russell with Tedeschi Trucks, Dave Mason, Chris Robinson and others, and reuniting him with 17 of the 23 original 1971 Mad Dogs & Englishmen members. Leon was failing—the wheelchair, the cane, the skin pallor—but the voice and the mastery of his piano was intact. He thanked me for getting Joe Cocker’s rep to agree to a Mad Dogs & Englishmen reunion and not throwing in the towel when Joe died. I said, “That’s ridiculous, we both know Derek Trucks carried the water,” because Derek had.
The rehearsal days felt like a happy high school reunion: Clearly these were old friends, and masters of their craft who’d been through a lot together. The show was landmark, and afterward Leon told me to thank my mom for letting me see the Mad Dogs movie as a kid. The last thing I told him was, “Rita Coolidge just hugged me.” He raised an eyebrow, then smiled and said, “She hugged me too.” Farewell to a master piano player and songwriter, the man in the hat, the ringleader, a superstar.
Dave Frey, LOCKN’ Festival co-founder
Merle Haggard
Years ago, while waiting backstage at the Grand Ole Opry for a music awards show to start, I watched as a very quiet, stoic and kind man walked through the back door. He went down a hallway of Rebas and Garths and Shanias and mother-daughter Judds and whatever high-hair, faux-country star was standing there, and took his seat in the audience. I wondered why Merle Haggard chose not to go through the red carpet gauntlet of press and publicity.
Then it dawned on me: He earned the right to walk in the back door. Simply put, Merle Haggard was one of the greatest voices and songwriters of any genre in my lifetime. His gift in connecting to the common man was through brutal honesty in what he wrote about: a decent job, the love of family, kindness to all regardless of class and race. Merle’s legacy lives on in the brilliance of Sturgill Simpson, the raw power of Margo Price, the brilliant songwriting of Jason Isbell and through Vince Gill continuing the tradition of the Bakersfield Sound. There will never be an artist more prolific in song and with such beauty of voice than Merle Haggard.
So here’s the thing: There’s always going to be a worse year. 1347, when the bubonic plague erupted across Europe, beginning a pandemic that would eventually eliminate at least a third of the existent human population, is right up there. 1862, when the devastating charnel house of the American Civil War reached a destructive peak, was definitely no great shakes. And 1945? Don’t get us started. But in the annals of history, 2016 is surely going to be considered one of the most infuriating, unpleasant and counter-productive years the modern world has yet seen.
Almost certainly the hottest year on record (surpassing 2015, the second-hottest), 2016 will long be remembered as the moment when the lunatics seized control of the asylum, probably robbing the world of its last chance to curtail the devastating effects of human-fueled climate change. A dismal journey around the sun marked by heartbreaking conflict and suffering, 2016 was also the year that America—long a beacon of hope for refugees and dispossessed peoples the world over—decided to elect as president the very personification of callousness and selfish indifference. The fact that the American people, marinating in a stew of fake news, Russian propaganda, FBI leaks and frivolous reporting, basically voted to deny themselves affordable health care, a strong social safety net and any chance of halting runaway income inequality is just icing on the cake.
And so, as we gaze back over the insufferable span of the last 12 months, it’s hard to even know what to say. Yes, there were flashes of unadulterated excitement and joy (the Chicago Cubs finally crushing their 108-year curse, a new Tribe Called Quest album…um, some other things, we’re sure), but overall the preponderance of miserable moments and awful outcomes outweighed just about everything else, making the very idea of a year-in-review issue almost too much to bear.
But as we are a professional outfit staffed with dedicated journalists, we are going to buck up, put our disappointment and depression aside, and take one last lingering look back at the useless year that was. And as we dissect the myriad of events that combined to make 2016 such an epic annus horribilis, we will console ourselves—and hopefully our readers, as well—with this simple truth: It can’t get much worse than this.
It can’t, right?—Dan Catalano
All the news we wished we didn’t have to print
As if it weren’t bad enough that the election lasted two years, maniacs are mass murdering people all over the world and police are still shooting unarmed black men while being targeted themselves, things sucked in Charlottesville, too. And there’s some stuff we’re sick of writing about.
Stories that won’t die
The Landmark Hotel: This derelict behemoth has been in our faces since 2009, thank you Halsey Minor. Current owner John Dewberry still promises a five-star hotel, in his own good time. He recently opened The Dewberry in Charleston to rave reviews, but it took him nine years to transform a flooded post office into the toast of the Holy City. He’s asking Charlottesville for tax rebates, and of course the Landmark will need parking. Dewberry wants the city to lease him 108 spaces for $1 a year. Which brings us to our next morass.
Water Street Parking Garage
Water Street Parking Garage: In the power struggle between Charlottesville Parking Center owner Mark Brown and Mayor Mike Signer, the city dug in its heels to deny Brown the same parking rates it charges at the Market Street Garage, and Brown didn’t help matters by suggesting he’d close the garage if he didn’t get his way. He’s suing the city, and the city is suing him. The situation further devolved when Brown filed for an emergency receivership and the city contested his hiring of former mayor Dave Norris to run CPC.
Let’s not forget that the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville had a near coup in the parking debacle, and Violet Crown hired spinmeister Susan Payne to pressure the city not to sell to Brown. Meanwhile, Albemarle is threatening to move its courts from downtown, and employees wonder if they can afford to work downtown. And no one’s reassured by the city’s promise that it’s working on it.
Racism: This year reinforced the fact that Americans can’t escape their shameful history of a country founded on the back of slavery. Early in the year, Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy and City Councilor Kristin Szakos called for the removal of Confederate statues in Lee Park and Court Square. The city appointed a blue ribbon commission to look at race, memorials and public spaces, and that public dialogue is a good thing.
But Bellamy found himself in the midst of a couple more race-based controversies. He called for a boycott of Bella’s Restaurant when its owner, Doug Muir, compared Black Lives Matter to the KKK, and he came under fire himself when a previously unknown writer named Jason Kessler dug up disparaging tweets about women, white people and homosexuals Bellamy made before being elected to office. Bellamy resigned from his teaching job at Albemarle High School as well as from the state Board of Education. And we’ve learned the term “alt-right,” which, despite its adherents’ protestations, many are convinced is a new word for white supremacism. And who’s the bigot who thought it was okay to harass Bodo’s employees?
Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy. Photo by Eze Amos
Pipeline: Perhaps the only people more exhausted than those fighting to ward off the approval of the $6 billion, 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline are the reporters covering it. Among many other wins and losses this year, a judge ruled in favor of about 40 Nelson County landowners who said Dominion—the energy giant backing the pipeline—surveyed their properties without their permission. The ACP’s construction could begin next year.
Not-so-great news
Rolling Stone defamation trial: Yeah, that was a major journalistic botch. Rolling Stone had already been thoroughly shamed before it ever got to court, and UVA’s Nicole Eramo was awarded $3 million for her portrayal as an uncaring administrator. But we’ve sat through murder trials that took fewer than three weeks, and the jury’s determination that an editor’s note warning of Jackie’s duplicity constituted republication with actual malice is so chilling that major news organizations are calling for the verdict to be overturned.
Nicole Eramo. Photo by Eze Amos
ABC: Why does Virginia still have a Prohibition era agency that hassles local businesses like Escafé because they sell too much booze and terrorizes UVA students in hopes of routing out 19-year-olds having a beer?
Bronco Mendenhall: The savior of UVA football’s first season was a 2-10 flop, but we loved the story about his family living in an RV while their $2 million house was renovated.
Bronco Mendenhall. Photo by Matt Riley
Gerrymandering: Dem-heavy Charlottesville and Albemarle are still stuck in the same congressional district as Southside and it is sliced up so that three of its four delegates in the General Assembly are Republicans, including Rustburg’s hit-and-runnin’ Matt Fariss.
Gallo: As if the wine giant didn’t have a lingering dubious reputation for producing Night Train and Thunderbird, it trademark bullied local Barefoot Bucha into changing its name in case an unsuspecting consumer can’t tell the difference between kombucha and Barefoot Wine’s white zinfandel.
Albemarle economic development: The county has long been considered unfriendly to business, and its refusal to rezone an urban ring perimeter parcel to nab Deschutes Brewery reaffirms that perception. Also a bad sign: Its first economic development director, Faith McClintic, lasted little more than a year before splitting.
City Council public comment: Yes, the decision to tighten rules at the beginning of the year with no public input was probably not a good idea, and a judge calling the prohibition against group defamation unconstitutional is also a sign that council was sort of like Mussolini making the trains run on time. But the meetings did tend to get hijacked by a few regulars. And is online sign-up really such a bad thing?
Elite Eight: We soared with Tony Bennett’s Cavs throughout a winning season and a No. 1 seed, until that fateful March Madness matchup with Syracuse when it all went bad fast.
UVA men’s basketball. Photo by Jack Looney
Jesse Matthew: This Monticello High graduate and serial killer has held the area hostage since at least 2009, when Morgan Harrington disappeared from a Metallica concert. Even tying his DNA to another Northern Virginia assault victim wasn’t enough to save Hannah Graham. Matthew is serving four life sentences.
Felon voting rights: Virginia protected its punitive and disenfranchising reputation when General Assembly GOPers took Governor Terry McAuliffe to court for restoring 200,000 voting rights en masse on April 22. Just because the 1830 constitution prohibited white felons from voting doesn’t mean it’s right.
Heroin epidemic: As if it’s not bad enough that Big Pharma and despair make opioids an appealing, yet fatal alternative for so many citizens, we have the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Task Force dealing with the epidemic by setting up junkies and then using them to buy drugs. There’s got to be a better way.
Rabid foxes: A skulk of potentially rabid foxes terrorized downtown neighborhoods last March, preying on at least three people in two weeks. One fox with a major attitude evaded capture by Animal Control and allegedly crawled into a storm drain to die, while tests from another that was trapped and killed showed no signs of rabies.
Crescent Halls heat stroke: A serious air conditioning malfunction at the 105-room, low-income apartment complex across from IX Art Park caused tensions to boil at an August 15 City Council meeting. Several residents voiced their grievances in what the Daily Progress called “an animated public comment period,” which overwhelmed council members to the point of temporarily suspending their meeting.
Unlawful filming: It was a hell of a year for men filming women and juveniles without their consent. Forest Lakes resident Thomas Eagleson is serving seven months in jail for installing secret cameras in his neighbor’s master bathroom (ahem, shower) and Adam Jamerson, from Buckingham County, was arrested for filming a nonconsenting nude shopper at the Downtown Mall’s Urban Outfitters in September. Stay tuned for his January appearance in Charlottesville General District Court.
Bryan Silva: Ah, yes. The kid famous for spouting off on social media while waving firearms and making fake gun noises (re: “gratata”) caused the first local SWAT standoff of the year when he barricaded himself inside his apartment for several hours and live-streamed videos of himself rapping and sloshing clear liquid out of a Grey Goose bottle to his millions of fans. He eventually exited his residence, with his hands in the air and his pants around his ankles. As a result of the standoff and events leading up to it (allegedly holding his then-girlfriend hostage), he is now serving one year and nine months.
Locals we lost
Howard Pape, 63, was a successful businessman who knew he had more to offer. As a result, so many have shelter thanks to the Building Goodness Foundation, which he helped found, and so many have been entertained at Live Arts, where he put those construction skills into gorgeous sets, even on the day before his unexpected February 28 death.
UVA professor Bill Lucy, 77, who died April 7, was an urban planning visionary, and his service on the Charlottesville Planning Commission helped shape the city, while his study of fatalities on rural roads made us rethink bucolic settings on narrow two-lane roads.
Ruhi Ramazani, 88, put UVA’s foreign policy studies on the map. He came to this country from Iran in 1952, a time when the U.S. was more welcoming to those fleeing for their lives, and his quiet diplomacy guided the university for decades and earned him its top honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award. He died October 5.
Eric Betthauser, called “Mr. B” by his students, was a 43-year-old music teacher at Western Albemarle High School and Henley Middle School. After he was hit and killed by a drunk driver November 22, his students remembered him as a role model who supported their passion of making music; a teacher who always made them feel accepted in the classroom.
Sydney Blair’s unexpected death December 12 at age 67 had UVA’s English department reeling. She taught in the creative writing program since she joined the faculty in 1986, and headed the program twice, leading it to national prominence.
Silver linings (or, what we tell ourselves to keep going)
Khizr Khan said what many of us were thinking when he, a Pakistani American, offered up his own copy of the Constitution to Donald Trump while speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia beside his wife, Ghazala. The couple—whose son, UVA grad and U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq in 2004—gained national attention for standing up for Muslims in America.
Grab your helmets and lube your bike chains, the verdict is finally in: After years of heated public hearings and deliberations, mountain biking (and hiking) is now permitted at Ragged Mountain Natural Area.
Those living on the east side of Charlottesville in Woolen Mills have been neighbors with the smell of sewage for decades, but a $9.33 million odor-control project administered by the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority should finally stop the stink. The final phase kicked off this summer.
Wegmans finally opened at 5th Street Station, offering 120,000 square feet of pure supermarket magic. It’s hard to pick our favorite feature: the sushi counter or the fresh fish market? The free wine and beer tastings? The 56 varieties of cookies baked daily? We can’t say for sure, but was it worth the hype? Absolutely.
Former UVA senior basketball star Anthony Gill married his girlfriend of eight years, Jenna Jamil, just two weeks after he hung up his Virginia uniform. Of course, we were elated for the soul mates because they’re young and in love—and that our story on their special day was our most-read article of the year on c-ville.com.
Opening in July, the Route 29 and Rio Road interchange project wrapped up 46 days ahead of schedule. Hard hats off to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
In September, UVA completed the Rotunda’s $58.5 million, years-long restoration effort. Woohoo for the Wahoos.
The last shall be first and the first shall be last once again this December 31, as Central Virginians wave goodbye to the old year and anticipate the new one at our 35th annual First Night Virginia. An afternoon and evening’s worth of music and magic, theater and dance, comedy and good cheer and a whole lot more on and around Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, First Night Is the low-cost, family-friendly, alcohol-free way to celebrate. And it’s a Central Virginia tradition.
First Night originated in Boston in 1975, and was taken up here in 1982, thanks to former Boston resident, Nancy Rudolph, who thought it a natural fit for our arts-loving community.
“I called the originator and asked ‘Is it alright if we start First Night in Virginia?’, Rudolph remembers. She said ‘of course.’”
Kate Spencer worked closely with Rudolph that first year, beginning the planning in early spring, securing a small grant from First Virginia Bank, and calling churches to procure their sanctuaries as performance spaces. Other performances took place at Vinegar Hill Theater, in the vestibules of Mall banks, and at the Carver Rec Center, where a steel drum band from Charlotte led the celebrations at midnight. One of the Statler Brothers sang that night, as did a pre-Dave Matthews Band member, Boyd Tinsley. Rob Coles, the fifth great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson, and his spitting image, gave his popular TJ impression, and there were fireworks, courtesy of Darden Towe. “We had about 25 different acts,” Spencer says. “The idea was that people could come and go; you did not have to stay for a full set. The performers were aware of that and accepted it. That was one of the patterns we set up initially that made it so successful—that people did not feel they were tied down.”
Piedmont Council of the Arts helped find the performers, and Blue Ridge Graphics printed the admission buttons, which, as best Spencer can remember, cost a dollar. “Lots of local people gave their time and talent. It was a real community effort. People like Nancy and Bonnie Brewer and Sandra Levine also fed anyone who came from out of town—brought them to their homes earlier in the day.”
Current FNV president Drake Van de Castle took part in some of the early celebrations, and after moving away and then moving back, wanted to introduce his nine-year-old son to the tradition. Down on the Mall that night in 2007, he ran into the executive director and offered his help, joined the board in 2008, and became president in 2009. “A lot of other First Nights haven’t survived over the years,” he notes. “At one time this was a much bigger event, but now it’s a park-once-and-everything-is-in-walking-distance. That’s some of the appeal.”
For this 35th celebration, Van de Castle says, “First Night is excited to offer a diverse slate of entertainment options for all ages,”—from a puppet show that has performed at the Kennedy Center to an aerial circus act, Scottish bag pipes, face painting, improv comedy, magic, music, dance, spirit walks and more. Two surprise gems are the Bubble Wrap Stomp and the new laser shows.”
Magician Eric Jones Over at the Paramount Theater, First Nighters can catch two performers with rich reputations. Magician Eric Jones hails from Buckingham County, honed his craft in Charlottesville during his 20s, and has performed on the CW Network, Syfy and Comedy Central. Jones was invited to open for Penn and Teller after showing them a trick in which he made coins appear and vanish from a person’s hands without his even coming near them.
“To be honest with you,” he says, “this is a homecoming of sorts. I left Charlottesville just before they reopened The Paramount Theater, so I never got to see what the renovation looks like. I’m looking forward to that.” Jones will perform his brand of “close-up magic” at 4:15, 6:30 and 9:00 p.m., with the help of a camera man, a projector, and a movie theatre-sized screen. “People can focus on the magic as they would if they were sitting right beside me on stage,” he says. “There is nowhere for the magician to hide anything, but miracles still happen.”
Singer-Songwriter Austin Ellis Raised on equal doses of rock and soul, and influenced by the soulful delivery of John Legend and the laid-back strumming of Jack Johnson, Austin Ellis combines a powerful voice with a warm acoustic style. Having already written and produced two studio albums, he auditioned for the sixth season of the NBC TV series The Voice, and was chosen by Maroon 5’s Adam Levine. Along with Josh Kaufman, Ellis created one of the season’s most memorable moments, singing the hit “Happy” by Pharell Williams. He has toured the US, Europe, and Australia and performs more than 200 shows per year.
He’ll play the Paramount at 5:30, 7:45 and 10:15 p.m. “I’m really looking forward to spending New Year’s Eve in a great place like Charlottesville with friends, family, and music,” Ellis says. “I’ll be singing a mix of original songs and what I consider essential covers that have influenced and inspired me.”
MIRA Vocal Ensemble English and Flemish-style polyphony as heard in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, augmented by gems from the Medieval era, folk songs, and works by more recent, but historically informed composers such as Benjamin Britten—that’s the rich and rare repertoire of MIRA Vocal Ensemble, the Charlottesville-based group founded by Raven Hunter in 2005.
Among the songs MIRA will perform at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, are the early Renaissance carols “Sir Christmas” and “Man, be Joyful,” Palestrina’s “Puer Qui Natus Est” a wassail or two, and William Byrd’s six-voice motet, “This Day Christ was Born.” Also, they will perform “To Drive the Cold Winter Away,” an English carol requested by the late Eric Betthauser, MIRA member and beloved music teacher at Henley Middle School. “MIRA has dedicated their concert to Eric, Sarah Armstrong (a beloved soprano who we lost in August) and Bill Anderson, a friend, MIRA fan and wonderful singer in the Charlottesville community,” Hunter says. “Three beautiful souls whose love poured out through their gorgeous voices have moved on, leaving us behind for the time being. We miss them so.”
Blue Ridge Irish Music School Charlottesville’s Blue Ridge Irish Music School teaches Irish music, dance and song for all ages at all skill levels. Its performances at The Haven at 4:15 and 6:30 p.m. will feature 15 to 20 performers—kids, teens and adults—some singing, some dancing, some playing fiddle, flute, tin whistle, guitar or bodhran (Irish frame drum), and some doing all three.
Zuzu’s Hot 5 Bring your dancin’ shoes for the joyful noise of Zuzu’s Hot 5 in Christ Episcopal Church’s Meade Hall at 9:00 and 11:30 p.m. With trumpet, trombone and upright bass, plus banjo, mandolin, guitar, ukulele and the vocal stylings of Susanna Rosen, aka “Zuzu,” the Charlottesville-based group plays New Orleans-style, Prohibition-Era jazz to warm a cold Virginia night; everything from stomps and Dixieland to 1900-1930 blues and pop. Expect numbers by Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, and Bessie Smith.
“We formed in 2012, inspired by early jazz combos of Fats Waller and the Hot 5 and Hot 7 bands of Louis Armstrong,” Rosen says. “Later ‘trad’ jazz bands, like The Firehouse 5, and contemporary ones like Tuba Skinny, and Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns influence us too.”
“My very first New Year’s Eve gig was on tenor sax, December 31, 1967,” says vocalist and guitar player Pete Vigour. “Sam Green, Brandon Rose, Doug Bethel and I met playing swing music. Everyone in the group plays several different types of music, but none of us had tried the New Orleans Dixieland band thing. So, when I wanted to give that a try, I asked all of these overqualified gents. They’ve been giving me goose bumps ever since. It’s absolutely incredible performing with them.”
“I’ve played at several First Night Virginias, including the first one in 1982. I just love Meade Hall, with its wooden floor and stone walls. When it’s packed with people on New Year’s Eve, it’s magical. We hope to conjure a party in that space that The Great Gatsby himself would enjoy.”
P.A.W.N. Laser Light Show New and spectacular this year is the choreographed laser extravaganza—eight of them, actually—beginning at 3:00 p.m. and running till midnight at the Sprint Pavilion, when the traditional ball drop will cap off the evening. The folks at P.A.W.N have staged shows for everyone from TV’s World Wrestling Entertainment to St. Louis’s Budweiser School of Business, and they’re bringing seven different laser systems to the Sprint Pavilion, including a 50-watt monster, the largest in the country, capable of burning a hole in a can of soda, or shooting up several miles into the sky. Operating that one requires official permission from both the FDA and FAA. Not to worry, however—the permits are on file, and it’s a family show with an incredible soundtrack.
“You’re going to hear a lot of great songs that you never heard before,” says Matt Falcone, owner-partner of P.A.W.N. “We have a lot of friends that are famous producers, so we’re going to bring in some of their favorite tracks. The theme changes a bit, as does the music, according to the crowd that’s present, so the show will be appropriate and fun for kids to seniors. First Night asked me to make sure I include Thomas Jefferson laser images, so you’re sure to see a few of those also.“ P.A.W.N’s shows will begin at 3:00, 4:15, 5:30, 6:30, 7:45, 9:00, 10:15, and 11:30 p.m.
Countdown The Zuzu and P.A.W.N. Laser Light Shows are just two of the five acts helping to countdown the New Year beginning at 11:30 p.m. Singer-songwriters Emily Kresky and Ryan Garst began harmonizing in the summer of 2014 and called themselves Together Soul. Garst’s roots in the Virginia mountains and Kresky’s in urban New Jersey give the duo a North meets South take on Americana, folk, blues and pop. They’ll play City Space from 11:00 p.m. till midnight.
Like in the hit television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the actors in the Washington D.C. troupe Last Ham Standing create wacky scenes and improv comedy out of audience suggestions, live and on the spot. They’ll do it for First Nighters at The Haven Sanctuary at 9:00 and 11:30 p.m.
Charlottesville’s Beatles tribute band, Abbey Road, started life as # 9 Dream, and made its public debut at First Night Virginia in 1997. Featuring founding members Paul Olko (George) and Keith Winkler (John) and new lads Barry Willard (Paul) and Billy Ballard (Ringo), this new Fab Four channels the old one, playing high-energy, feel-good shows that make some people dance and others just scream. They’ll rock the Omni Ballroom at 9:00 and 11:30 p.m.
And More! Ragged Mountain String Band and The Virginia Ramblers alternate playing bluegrass and old-time mountain music at First United Methodist, preceded by Celtic harpist and storyteller Eve Watters. Brooklyn singer-songwriters Springob & Troyer, fresh off a Minneapolis to Memphis canoe trip, play three sets of rock and Americana tunes in Christ Church’s Meade Hall. With 33 acts playing multiple shows, plus activities like the Processional at 6:30 p.m. and the Bubble Wrap Stomp for kids at 6:45 p.m., this year’s First Night offers something for everyone. And it’s truly a community affair, made possible with the help of numerous volunteers and donors. “First Night Virginia would not happen without the wonderful support from our Presenting Sponsor, Carpet Plus, as well as the support of Sloan Manis Real Estate Partners, Charlottesville Newsplex, the Omni Hotel, and the City of Charlottesville.” Van de Castle says.
Through December 29, admission for adults is $16, and children ages 6-15, $6. Kids 5 and under are free, and a family pack of 2 adults and 2 children is discounted to $38. Prices go up on December 30. Parking at the Market Street and Water Street Parking Garages is free with a FNV wristband.
If you are thinking about putting your home on the market in 2017, it’s not too soon to start preparing. Since you are probably aiming to get the best possible price with the least possible time on the market, here’s a primer of what you absolutely must do and what you should do if at all possible.
“Start early,” recommends Judy Drayer, a REALTOR® with Long & Foster. “The best thing to do is talk to a REALTOR® a couple months ahead of when you plan to list your place. There may be things to do you didn’t even think of.It serves everybody well.”
Things You Must Do “It’s critically important to have a house show well when it’s time to sell,” declares REALTOR® Byrd Abbott with Roy Wheeler Realty Co. Keep in mind that most buyers these days are looking for “turnkey” properties. This means they want a place that is fresh and clean and—above all— move-in ready. Even with a “cash allowance” buyers don’t want to repaint, replace the carpet, or remodel the kitchen.Instead, they are willing to spend more to have things in good order.
Remember, too, you will be competing with all the other properties for sale in your price range, so a key is to know the optimum price for your place. The way to arrive at this—and evaluate potential REALTORS® at the same time—is to arrange for two or three agents to visit your property and make recommendations. (REALTORS® understand that most sellers talk with several agents.)
Most agents will prepare a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) of homes in your area that have sold in the past few months. While you can ferret out this information on the internet, a REALTOR® is likely to have actually been inside the homes and know which ones had updated kitchens and baths and which had dated rugs and wall coverings.
Some of these real estate specialists may also have suggestions for tweaking your property to look its best. Research shows some house hunters won’t even get out of the car if a place isn’t attractive from the outside. This is where “curb appeal” comes into play.
“The best way to achieve curb appeal is to highlight the features your home already possesses,” advises REALTOR® Janet Matthews, with I & J Realty, Inc. “If you have tired shutters, get out the paint brush. Keep clutter off the front lawn, driveway, porches, and entry. This includes children’s toys, bikes, garden tools, and especially trashcans. Neat and tidy is always appealing!”
Once a potential buyer steps through the front door, the house absolutely must be sparkling and clutter-free. In fact, clutter is often one of the biggest problems when preparing a house for sale because it makes any place feel crowded. Store extra things elsewhere. Gift things. Sell things. Donate things.
“Staging” means presenting a property as clean, fresh, spacious, and ready for a new family to make its own. Staging may not increase the selling price, but it makes a place stand out among the competition and may well reduce its time on the market. It also means removing big displays of family portraits and mementoes. Painting is an economical investment in freshening any house and the best strategy is to stay neutral so the buyer can feel right at home. There are hundreds of shades of white and, these days, pale greys and greens are also deemed neutral.
Most potential buyers don’t hesitate to inspect closets, so be sure to eliminate musty odors and demonstrate adequate storage by minimizing items so there is empty space on shelves and clothes aren’t jammed together. (One buyer told the sellers at closing that the faint scent of fresh paint in the closets convinced them the house was in great shape.)
The good news is that many of these must-do actions don’t take a lot of money. Even if you’re not going to put your place on the market for several months, start now and enjoy a fresher, tidier house. (One family, after a month of determined spiffing up, decided not to sell after all.)
Things You Should Do “From the seller’s point of view, I suggest a pre-list inspection,” counsels Drayer. “This helps because the buyer won’t be blindsided and the seller has time to get things fixed which saves a lot of worry and possible renegotiations later.” Depending on the size of the house, inspections in our area average $350 – $450. “It is often money well spent,” she says.
For example, prior to listing their house, one couple’s professional inspection revealed dry rot on two sections of the eaves, a problem in the electrical service box, and a leak under the dishwasher. They paid an electrician $200 to fix the service box problem and the husband was able to replace the dry-rotted eaves and the leaking dishwasher hose. A re-inspection gave the place a perfect “bill of health” which they left on the kitchen counter for potential buyers to see. It made “all the difference” to the eventual buyer.
Have exact figures about mortgage balance and monthly payments, second mortgages or liens, property taxes, insurance costs, and homeowner association dues. Even if the house is owned outright, it’s still helpful to have figures for taxes and other monthly payments. Some prospective buyers will also be interested in utility bills.
Marilyn Pribus and her husband live in Albemarle County.When they sold their California house, they started preparing almost a year in advance. They donated about 1,000 books to the local library, cleaned out the closets, and got to enjoy the fresh paint and new carpeting themselves before moving.
Catch Borrowed Beams of Light in its brief return to local stages on a bill stacked with tidings of indie rock joy. Publicity photo
Adam Brock is back from the West Coast and is ready for a rare appearance as frontman of local music heroes Borrowed Beams of Light for a night of psych-influenced power pop and indie rock. New Boss, Naked Gods and Group MMS play opening sets, and Nasty’s Thomas Dean spins a late-night after-party.
Thursday, Decmber 29. $7, 9pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. 977-5590.
There’s something about Charlottesville. Recently included in “The Ultimate 50-State Road Trip for Book Lovers,” this small city’s appeal to writers and bibliophiles can be attributed to the annual Festival of the Book, Edgar Allan Poe’s enshrined West Range room at UVA, Thomas Jefferson’s library at Monticello, the Rare Book School, the Virginia Art of the Book Center, the University of Virginia’s renowned Creative Writing MFA program and an abundance of bookstores. But there’s something else, too. It’s not just a destination. Many writers choose to make Charlottesville their home. At least 40 local authors published books in 2016. There are so many, in fact, that we could not print an exhaustive list, but here are some of the highlights.
Fiction
Jane Alison, Nine Island (Catapult)
A woman in Miami translates Ovid and considers giving up romantic love.
Hannah Barnaby, Some of the Parts (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
A teen searches for the recipients of her deceased brother’s organs.
Rita Mae Brown
Cakewalk: A Novel (Bantam)
Sisters in a Southern town test social boundaries after World World I.
Tall Tail: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (Bantam)
Before solving a recent crime in Crozet, Harry must research a murder that happened in 1784.
Jen Swann Downey, Ninja Librarians: A Sword in the Stacks (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky)
Dorrie time travels to 1912 England to learn how to protect freedom of speech.
John Grisham
The Whistler (Doubleday)
A lawyer takes on a corrupt judge with Coast Mafia ties.
Theodore Boone: The Scandal (Dutton Books for Young Readers)
A 13-year-old seeks the truth when high standardized test scores indicate a cheating scandal.
Lee Clay Johnson, Nitro Mountain:
A Novel (Knopf)
A cast of Virginians grapples with mental health issues, addiction, love, loss and music.
Joel Jones, Barhoppers: The Answer Man and Other Bar Plays (Indie Theater Now)
Short, comedic plays with a philosophical bent.
Jan Karon, Come Rain or Come Shine,
A Mitford Novel (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Dooley Kavanaugh and Lace Harper tie the knot in a rustic barn wedding.
Kristen-Paige Madonia, Invisible Fault Lines (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
A teen’s search for her missing father leads her to research the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Ethan Murphy, edited by Susan L. Holland, art by Luigi Teruel, Grave New World, Slate & Ashe Series No. 4 (Echelon Graphic Novels)
Slate, an evolved zombie, and outlaw Ashe run for the hills and encounter a militia.
Anne Marie Pace, Pigloo (Henry Holt & Co.)
A young pig plans an expedition to the North Pole.
Emma Rathbone, Losing It (Riverhead Books)
A 26-year-old virgin seeks sex and love, and to avoid the fate of her maiden aunt.
Non-fiction
Rosalyn Berne, Waking to Beauty: Encounters with Remarkable Beings (Rainbow Ridge)
The author communicates with a horse and considers the presence of divinity in all creatures.
Alison Booth, Homes and Haunts: Touring Writers’ Shrines and Countries (Oxford University Press)
A study on literary tourism and our fascination with the spaces writers inhabit.
AM Carley, FLOAT: Becoming Unstuck for Writers (Be Well Here)
Writing exercises and prompts by a professional writing coach.
Mark Edmundson, Why Write? A Master Class on the Art of Writing and Why It Matters (Bloomsbury USA)
Practical advice and encouragement for writers.
Pamela Evans, The Preschool Parent Primer (IvyArtz)
Everything preschool teachers wish parents knew.
Russell Grieger, The Perfect Season:
A Memoir of the 1964-1965 Evansville College Purple Aces (University of
Indiana Press)
The author recounts his college basketball team’s perfect season.
Mary Buford Hitz, For Love of the Land: A History of the Wintergreen Community (The Nature Foundation at Wintergreen)
A historical account of conservation efforts.
Edward G. Lengel, First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His—
and the Nation’s—Prosperity (Da Capo Press)
Business lessons from our first president.
Joan Z. Rough, Scattering Ashes:
A Memoir of Letting Go (She Writes Press)
The author chronicles the challenges
and rewards of caring for an aging
parent.
Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (William Morrow & Company)
The true story of four African American women whose calculations for NASA sent rockets and astronauts into space.
Charles Shields, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, from Scout to Go Set a Watchman (Henry Holt & Co.)
This revised biography of Harper Lee addresses the posthumous publication of Go Set a Watchman.
Kristin Swenson, God of Earth:
Discovering a Radically Ecological Christianity (Westminster John Knox Press)
An exploration of divinity in the natural world.
Poetry
Patricia Asuncion, Cut on the Bias:
Poems (Laughing Fire Press)
This collection of poems tackles issues of identity, race and social justice.
For all the shit that 2016 flung at music-lovers—the loss of Prince, David Bowie, Vi Subversa, Pauline Oliveros, Leonard Cohen, Sharon Jones and many other groundbreaking artists—it’s also tossed us some pretty good local releases. The following list is by no means a complete catalog of what local bands and artists were up to this year, but it’s a solid one and a varied one. No matter what kind of music you’re into, chances are it’s being made here in town—you just have to keep your ears open for it.
WarHen Records, a small independent vinyl-only record label based in Charlottesville, operates under the motto, “We release whatever we want.” In addition to releasing records by local acts Dead Professional and New Boss, here’s what WarHen released in 2016:
The Dexateens, Teenage Hallelujah (Alabama rock ’n’ roll)
Last month’s Amherst wildfires came within 30 feet of consuming Ankida Ridge Vineyards. “The miracle is that not one home was lost, no injuries,” says Christine Vrooman. Photos courtesy Ankida Ridge Vineyards
In the darkness of night on Saturday, November 19, Christine Vrooman of Ankida Ridge Vineyards looked out her bedroom window and noticed a fire on the southwest face of Mount Pleasant. From the comfort of her bed, the unnerving scene did not seem to be an immediate threat to her home, her winery or her special vineyard plot of about two acres that produces some of the finest pinot noir and chardonnay in Virginia.
Nearby, the U.S. Forest Service teamed up with the Virginia Department of Forestry, and later a Type 3 task force from Montana. They rushed to establish strategic fire lines. Fire lines—created by making lines of cleared ground at the head of a fire—can sometimes be enough to contain a forest fire.
But Vrooman’s concern grew as she watched the flames jump a fire line and spread to the neighboring mountain. At this point, her family’s home and adjacent vineyard were still protected, but the blaze continued to encroach on their land. “We spent Sunday watching the flames and smoke grow to our north, east and west,” she says.
The Vrooman family sprang into action to save their house and farm. A beloved flock of sheep that grazes on weeds and fertilizes the vineyards was shepherded to a safer area. By Monday, the fire grew closer from the west. “We worked in the backyard all day stomping out and shoveling little flareups,” Vrooman says. Firefighters flew overhead and dumped water on the Vroomans’ backyard—3,000 gallons at a time.
As darkness fell, the family felt the worst had been avoided. “We thought we were safe,” Vrooman says. “But our eyes kept going to the smoldering hollowed-out pine tree behind us. We watched it into the evening hours,” Vrooman says. “Then the winds picked up again, and one big gust swirled the embers from the tree like a mini tornado, spewing them everywhere. After that gust, at about 9:30pm, we could see the bank where the helicopter had dumped the water behind the yard suddenly become all aglow. It spread quickly. It was growing fast toward our backyard.”
Vrooman called 9-1-1. Swift decisions needed to be made. The family gathered their evacuation bags, and shared their priorities with the firefighters. “I did tell the early arrivals that if they had to choose between saving the house or the vineyard, they were to save the vineyard,” says Vrooman. “The house can be rebuilt in a year. To get back what we would have lost in the vineyard, it would have been three to five years, with no income during that time.”
With the fire 80 yards from the home, they thought they had enough time to evacuate. Then shouts came from the other side of the building: “It’s behind the house!” shouted Vrooman’s husband, Dennis, as part of the fire encroached from the rear.
“The flames were leaping in the air all along the bank just behind the house, about 40 feet away,” she says. “It grew to about 30 feet from the house before the local fire companies made it up the mountain. Bless them all. I was never so happy to see that line of cars, trucks and lights come up our road.” She watched from the winery, where she and her daughters took refuge.
“The firefighters worked for a couple hours and felt we were out of danger and would be safe to stay at the house. We took turns staying awake all night to monitor.”
But they still weren’t in the clear. The next morning, the fire traveled down to the vineyard. Task force firefighters got there in time to stop it at the eastern fence line, about 20 feet from the vines.
“We spent the next couple days watching in every direction for anything smoldering, glowing,” Vrooman says. The fire finally moved away from the winery and the vineyard, but thick smoke hung in the air and at times burned their eyes as they worked to restore things to normalcy.
“The miracle is that not one home was lost, no injuries,” Vrooman marvels. “Those firefighters from all across the land became our friends. We kept a pot of hot coffee ready. The Amherst community baked and baked and these guys were well fed. We had several states based here: Alaska, Montana, West Virginia, Minnesota and more. They are our heroes.”
The forest fire grew to consume 11,229 acres over 10 days. The now-burnt ground surrounds Ankida Ridge on most sides, evidence of the flames that came within 20 to 30 feet of the vineyard and the house. For the Vrooman family, coming this close to losing their vineyard amplifies the meaning of its name—Ankida is an ancient Sumerian word for “where heaven and earth join.” Last month, they seemed to have a little help from the former.
Annual community celebration of the arts includes many family-friendly activities on and around the Downtown Mall. Wristbands $6-16, times vary. Downtown Mall. firstnightva.org.
NONPROFIT
New Year’s Day 5K Sunday, January 1
Race a fairly flat out-and-back, 3.1-mile course to start the new year off right and benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Virginia. $25, 11am. 5404 Wesley Chapel Rd., Free Union. cvilletrackclub.org.
FOOD & DRINK
Near Year’s bluegrass brunch Sunday, January 1
Build your own Bloody Mary with more than 40 different ingredients to sip while listening to live bluegrass music. 10:30am-2:30pm. South Street Brewery, 106 W. South St. Call for reservations: 293-6550.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Co-Dependents Anonymous meeting Thursday, December 29
Weekly meetings of a 12-step program for those looking to recover from co-dependence and maintain healthy relationships. Free, 7:30pm. St. Mark Lutheran Church, 100 Alderman Rd., and 536 Mohican Tr., Ruckersville. 962-0528.
