Month: April 2017

Categories
Arts

Movie review: Fast and Furious series gets better and better

The Fate of the Furious starring Vin Diesel outshines the hard-driving, logic-defying stunts of the series’ seven previous films. Courtesy Universal Pictures

After 16 years—old enough, as it turns out, to finally get its driver’s license—the Fast and Furious series finally has nothing left to prove. There’s no need to explain why good guys turn bad, how a particular bit of technology works or where an improvised ramp came from that Vin Diesel somehow knew would be just the right angle to leap over and save the day in the most spectacular way possible. The Fast and Furious movies have transcended the need to make cinematic sense in any conventionally definable way; they make their own rules, no matter how absurd, then break them before things get too stale.

The Fate of the Furious
PG-13, 136 minutes
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX,
Violet Crown Cinema

The Fate of the Furious—or F8, if you will—sees the team divided as Dominic Toretto (Diesel) goes rogue under the command of mysterious supercriminal Cipher (series newcomer Charlize Theron). We meet Toretto in Havana on his honeymoon, having just married Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez). An improbable situation, perhaps, but as F8 is the first American film to be shot in Cuba since before the Revolution, director F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job, Friday, Straight Outta Compton) squeezes every ounce of color and excitement out of the island nation’s legendary car culture in a breathtaking opening race. It is there that Cipher corners Toretto with some damning information, using it as leverage for him to do her bidding. Toretto then turns on the gang after stealing an EMP device, a blow so severe that they must now team up with former adversary Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham).

Along the way are some of the most spectacular action sequences of the past decade, or at least since the best entry in the series, Fast & Furious 6. A glorious prison break, a stampede of zombified cars with auto-drive remotely activated in New York, a race to and then away from a nuclear submarine in Russia’s far north—you may forget the plot halfway through, but Gray and company know that it’s just an excuse for insane set pieces and batty dialogue.

Take a moment to consider how far we’ve come from the plot of the original films which was essentially Point Break with cars instead of surfboards. The characters aren’t even the same people. Ludacris somehow became the world’s greatest computer genius, The Rock is evolving into a literal granite monster and Tyrese Gibson’s actual role on the team is unclear as he spends most of his lines bragging and/or complaining.

This is actually a vast improvement on the first movie; platitudes about the importance of family are a lot easier to swallow if you’re willing to blow up a world-ending missile/computer/whatever, than if you’re just driving really fast. The Fast and Furious franchise started as a bro-cop B movie and turned into a playground for the best stunts and action sequences in any modern flick not called Mad Max. We might groan at how silly it is, but we need more films like what the series has become, not where it started. Here’s hoping the franchise survives long enough to be the first American movie filmed in North Korea and they have to stop a space shuttle.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

Beauty and the Beast (and Sing-along), The Boss Baby, The Case for Christ, Get Out, Ghost in the Shell, Gifted, Going in Style, Logan, Power Rangers, Smurfs: The Lost Village

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

Beauty and the Beast, The Boss Baby, Get Out, Gifted, Going in Style, Smurfs: The Lost Village, Your Name, The Zookeeper’s Wife

Categories
Real Estate

Home Owners Love Louisa’s Relaxed Country Lifestyle

By Celeste M. Smucker –

Comfortable rural living where you can see the stars at night is one way people describe life in Louisa County located just to the east of Albemarle.  Others point to its vibrant economy and central location with easy access to the three major urban centers of Charlottesville, Richmond and Fredericksburg. Second home buyers and those who love living year around on the water can choose popular Louisa locations like Blue Ridge Shores, a gated community within commuting distance of Charlottesville, and Lake Anna, a bigger development at the other end of the county.

History lovers appreciate Louisa’s rich heritage carefully preserved by the local historical society, located at the Sargeant Museum in the town of Louisa.  Residents, guests and visitors are invited to participate in a variety of activities there throughout the year including the annual family-friendly Heritage Day on Saturday, April 29, an event that offers a glimpse of Louisa’s lifestyle in the years between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.   

As elsewhere in our region, Louisa’s real estate market is hot, with inventory shortages and rising prices, and agents have high expectations for 2017 following an impressive 34.5 percent increase in sales for single family detached homes last year.

Agents also report increased interest in land sales as many buyers, frustrated by the lack of inventory in resale homes, are choosing to build instead. Others want acreage for privacy, to raise horses and cattle, or to participate in the growing trend of agri-business.

Louisa’s Lifestyle
Louisa buyers enjoy the county’s central location, and those who love the outdoors and want to enjoy the beauties of nature, are looking for  privacy, or who prefer the amenities of a gated community like Spring Creek at Zion Crossroads or Blue Ridge Shores, will also find much to choose from.

For example, Charlene Easter with Spring Creek Realty shared how much one of her buyers likes the friendliness of the community, but at the same time appreciates that “quiet time is always nearby, especially to enjoy the wide variety of birds.”

Still another Spring Creek home owner said:  “I spend a lot of time walking through the neighborhood, and I love its natural beauty, the hills and old trees.”

Maury Atkins with Roy Wheeler Realty Co. emphasized the importance of Louisa’s central location and its proximity to northern Virginia and DC, accessible via Highway 15 or Interstate 95.

He recently worked with a client who relocated to our area from Texas for a job at State Farm.  Louisa appealed because of the ease of the commute—her job is just 15 minutes away—but she was also thrilled to get a better deal both price-wise and property tax-wise compared to living closer in.

She has a lot of company.  A recent Spring Creek buyer explained that while Western Albemarle was appealing,  they picked Louisa because, “it was a better value for our dollar.”

Of course two career couples with jobs in different cities can live in the Zion Crossroads area of Louisa and easily commute to either Charlottesville, or  Short Pump, which is just 40 minutes away on the outskirts of Richmond. 

There is a special advantage for Charlottesville commuters, explained Sharon Duke, an agent with William A. Cooke, LLC who has worked with a number of what she calls split-commute couples. Whether you are driving to town in the morning or coming home after five, the sun is always behind you and never in your eyes.

Recent years have seen a big increase in commercial development in  Zion Crossroads where Louisa residents can often find much of what they need saving a trip to town.  Lowes and Walmart are popular spots and are also attractive to people who live in the east end of Charlottesville who want to avoid the congestion on 29 North.

The recently opened 5th Street Station is also a plus for Zion Crossroads dwellers who want to take advantage of Wegmans and the many other stores, services,  restaurants and even a theatre just a short drive down the Interstate.

Louisa’s History On Display at the Annual Heritage Day
Back in 1742, Louisa split off from Hanover County when it had enough families to justify a courthouse.   Named for Princess Louisa, the youngest daughter of King George II of England and Queen Caroline, it enjoys a rich history on display at the Sargeant Museum thanks to the Louisa County Historical Society located in the town of Louisa. 

Historical records dating back to pre-colonial days are available for those who want to explore the history of their property said Elaine Taylor, Director of the Sargeant Museum. She explained that Louisa’s pastoral/agricultural setting draws buyers from places like Northern Virginia and the Historical Society can help give these modern property owners a “sense of place.” 

For example, the Society has maps of old Indian paths and can also show a home owner who lived on their property during the Civil War and earlier,  by consulting maps of land grants dating to as early as 1720. 

Of course, they will also find information about historical figures and events such as Patrick Henry who practiced law in Louisa and represented the county in the House of Burgesses.  During the Civil War the Battle of Trevilian Station, the largest cavalry battle of this conflict, was fought in Louisa in June of 1864.

There is more to history, though, than learning about big events.”It is difficult for people to understand their roots without seeing [for example] hands-on ways of farming,” Taylor said, which is why the Historical Society sponsors events such as the annual Heritage Day that is all about what life was like between the two wars.

So many of the resources we take for granted today were non-existent back then Taylor explained and  “you can’t understand an agricultural county unless you can see, experience, and learn about life before electricity and mechanization.”

For example, there were no furniture stores so people made their own. To get an idea of what that entailed, Heritage Day will feature demonstrations from crafts people such as woodworkers, sawyers (carpenters who saw timber into boards) and two types of chair caners (one doing formal chair caning the other using cattail rushes) to demonstrate some of these lost arts. 

Of course animals were used for everything, and the Old Dominion Draft Horse and Mule Association will be there doing a harnessing demo. Visitors can also observe blacksmiths and horse wranglers as well as other types of crafts persons such as weavers, a spinner, a tanner, a tobacconist, telegraphers, and toymakers.

Heritage day will also have special events for the younger generation with demonstrations of how to make cornshuck dolls and how to shell and grind corn.  A Native American will teach kids about Indian sign language and face painting, Taylor said describing him as someone who “loves working with kids and showing them a quiet way to move through the world in harmony with nature.”

The festival draws people from DC, Charlottesville, Richmond and Fredericksburg and is expected to bring more than the 600 who attended last year’s event. To join the fun mark your calendar for Saturday April 29 from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m., rain or shine on the grounds of the Sargeant Museum in the town of Louisa. Plan to arrive early to take advantage of all the different events. Admission is free. Visit the Louisa County Historical Society website for more details.

Louisa’s Real Estate Market
Agents are excited about this year’s market that got off to a good start and is expected to continue to be strong.

For example, Dan Girouard, Broker and VP of Subdivision Operation at the gated community of Spring Creek said, “the market here at Zion Crossroads is doing great.  Our builders are getting ready for a very busy year and offer brand new decorated model homes for our guests to preview.  Resales are at an all-time low with only 19 currently available with an average “days on market” of 91, which is lower than Spring.”

Duke described the market as doing well “across the board,” with low inventory and “everything selling.”  She said this includes both large and small lots both in and out of subdivisions.  As long as homes are well-priced, she added they will sell.  She added that one of her Louisa buyers ended up having to look in nearby Goochland  because they couldn’t find what they wanted in Louisa. 

Duke also just sold an 82 acre piece of property to some buyers who wanted privacy, while still another prospect called about finding a 10+ acre lot because they didn’t see one for sale when they looked online.

While multiple contracts on the same house are common in some areas of Charlottesville,  agents are beginning to see that kind of interest in Louisa as well.  Duke took a listing on a “distressed property,” and was surprised when two investors competed for the chance to renovate and rent it. 

James Dickerson with Charlottesville Solutions described the current Louisa market as “improving,” from Lake Anna to Charlottesville.  He added that many Baby Boomers are retiring and downsizing, while some that are still working are buying property now—in some cases second home or vacation type property—to enjoy on weekends and eventually to live in after retirement.  He has also noticed Millennials moving out of rental and into home ownership.

Recently he had clients from far away San Francisco who wanted a lifestyle free of congestion where they could still count on having good health care.  They chose Louisa because of its proximity to DC, the mountains, and the beach, plus its easy access to Universities in both Charlottesville and Richmond. 

Dickerson added that it definitely helps that Louisa has high speed internet access across the county, which appeals to everyone, especially to telecommuters and others who work from home.

Atkins described the Louisa market as “good, strong,” adding that he is seeing price increases throughout the residential sector.  He has also seen increased interest from investors and observed the sale of “a plethora of building lots,” including some for which development was complete before the recession but never sold.  In what he sees as the “last stage of recovery,” developers are starting to seek out larger tracts for future development.

With all of this activity are there still options for first time buyers in Louisa?  The answer is yes but they need to act fast.  Duke has some first timers who can only look at property on weekends.  Unfortunately that means they have lost out on some homes that came on the market during the week and sold before the weekend arrived.

Are you longing for a quiet rural lifestyle with privacy and easy access to town?  If so, talk to your agent about Louisa, but be prepared to act quickly, as inventory is low and the well priced homes won’t last.

Celeste Smucker is a writer and blogger who lives near Charlottesville.

Categories
Real Estate

Staging a House to Sell

Soft-edged modern interior with wood colours and contemporary furniture

By Marilyn Pribus – 

“It’s critically important to have a house show well when it’s time to sell,” declares REALTOR® Byrd Abbott, an associate broker with Roy Wheeler Realty Co. “Some tweaking and paring down often needs to be done because it’s so much easier to present a staged home.” 

What Exactly Is Staging?
Often it’s hard for homeowners to really see their own dwelling because they are emotionally and financially invested in it. It’s difficult to view it as a “product” competing with other places for sale. “Staging” invites potential buyers to visualize their furniture in the spacious living room, their china cupboard in the cheerful dining room, their family’s portrait over the mantel.

Also, first impressions are crucial, so maximize curb appeal with neatly trimmed bushes, a nice green lawn, and fresh mulch on the flower beds. Have bicycles, garden equipment, toys, and trash cans out of sight. Power wash the house if necessary and have a bright, clean front door. Professional window cleaning does wonders to freshen a property.

Once inside the front door, staging comes into play. Interior design reflects the homeowner’s taste, lifestyle, and color palette, but when a property is on the market, it’s time to provide a fresh palette that is ready for someone else to move in and make their own.

First, people shopping for a home don’t want a place that needs lots of work. The biggest problem in showing many homes is Too Much Stuff. It makes any house feel small. Be ruthless in disposing of items, or at least storing them off the property. Get rid of clutter.

Next, ‘de-personalize’ the place. Remember, you want potential buyers to see themselves in the house, not your family. Store away the wedding photos, get the children’s artwork off the fridge, and their sports trophies off the mantel.

“You don’t have to take down every single personal thing,” REALTOR® Abbott says. “You want buyers to see that a real family has enjoyed this home, but they don’t need to see every last horse ribbon.”

You want lookers to recognize a house that’s friendly, tidy, and clean smelling without overpowering air freshener scents. Be especially aware of  pet odors, since animals can be a big turn-off for some people. Hide pet items (especially cat trees and litter boxes) when potential buyers are expected and remove pets from the house and yard.

Staging may be most important in an empty house, Abbott comments. “Empty rooms are perceived as being smaller than they really are, “ she says, “and having some minimal furniture helps people envision how they could fit in.”

Room-by-Room Strategies
The lighter a room, the more spacious it will appear, so open the blinds and turn on lamps. Keep rooms from looking crowded by reducing the amount or size of furniture. Painting is an economical investment in optimizing the interior of any house. The best strategy is to use a neutral color throughout, but this doesn’t mean just plain white. There are hundreds of shades of white, and these days pale greys and greens are also deemed neutral.

Since the kitchen is a key selling point, make it bright. Having too many things on the counters implies there isn’t ample storage. Still, it’s a good idea to display a few items such as a set of up-to-date canisters, a bowl of fresh fruit, and some colorful dish towels to show the kitchen is usable. Floors, counters, sinks, and cabinets (including interiors) should be spotless.

It’s also best to present rooms as having a single purpose.  For instance, make the guest room strictly a guest room rather than a combination bedroom/office. If possible, make children’s rooms gender neutral and keep them tidy with covered storage tubs. At the same time, it’s good to have a “kid zone” showing there is plenty of space to play.

Bathrooms are very personal spaces so take particular care. Get bathrobes off the back of the door and make the entire room sparkle. Keeping toiletries (especially toothbrushes) in baskets makes it easy to stash them out of sight when lookers are expected.

Potential buyers don’t hesitate to inspect closets, so be sure they are orderly and clean with nary a trace of musty odors. Demonstrate adequate storage by minimizing items so there is empty space on shelves and clothes aren’t jammed together on the rods.

Although staging is less important in garages or cellars, they contribute to the overall impression of a property. Keep things tidy. Minimize mildewy smells. If garage walls are scarred, consider a quick coat of paint. People understand that when you move you’ll have packing boxes around, but keep them orderly or spring for a short-term storage unit. Remember, you always want to present a picture of generous storage capacity.

Abbott concedes that staging may not increase the ultimate selling price of a property, but it can definitely make a place stand out among the competition and may well reduce its time on the market. Whether you stage your own house or hire a professional, remember the key points to attract would-be buyers: de-clutter, de-personalize, and stay neutral. They can really make a difference in helping a property sell.

When Marilyn and her husband prepared to move to Albemarle County ten years ago, they staged their California house by putting nearly half their furniture in storage, keeping fresh flowers everywhere, and stashing the dog’s dishes in the dishwasher while they walked her around and around the block whenever REALTORS ® showed the property.

Categories
News

Biking battle continues: Supes give the okay on studying Hedgerow

Albemarle County has an ordinance that prohibits bike riding at Ragged Mountain, but the natural area is located in Charlottesville where City Councilors have voted to allow it. Staff photo

Albemarle Board of Supervisors Chair Diantha McKeel said in February that an accelerated opening of Hedgerow Park could be an alternative to allowing biking at Ragged Mountain Natural Area, a controversial city-owned and county-located property on which both governing bodies are at odds about whether cycling should be permitted.

In an April 12 work session, the supervisors discussed the feasibility of opening the new park and all agreed to authorize an immediate conceptual engineering study for the space, which consists of 340 acres just south and west of the Interstate 64 and Route 29 interchange. It abuts Ragged Mountain Natural Area. If all goes well, the park’s construction would take place next year between May and November.

“To get to this park, you’re going to have to drive,” said Trevor Henry, the county director of facilities and environmental services. This has been a negative for cyclists looking for a location they can bike to.

Gauging the use at Preddy Creek Trail Park, which is the most similar county space to the proposed park, Henry estimates that 40 parking spaces will be necessary at Hedgerow. He also wants to allow space for about six horse trailers.

“The terrain here is incredibly steep in many places,” said Supervisor Ann Mallek, and it’s not ideal for horseback riding. “Not everything has to be available at every place.”

Each county park allows its own recreational activities, granting the estimated 800,000 people who visited them last year the opportunity to choose their destinations based on the activities they plan to do, Mallek said. And prohibiting horseback riding at Hedgerow would allow for a smaller parking lot.

But Supervisor Liz Palmer noted that when the late Jane Heyward gave the land to the county, she was adamant it be used for different kinds of recreation, including horseback riding. As for parking, on a recent Sunday afternoon at Crozet’s Sugar Hollow and Mint Springs Valley Park, she said she counted more than 50 cars in each lot.

“It’s interesting to me that it seemed a lot safer with people getting out [of their cars] with picnic bags and dogs and kids and everything to have a little bit bigger parking lot,” Palmer said.

Henry told supervisors the existing entrance into Hedgerow would first need widening, and potentially paving. He listed a number of possible issues that have design and cost implications, including the current parking lot’s location in a 100-year floodplain and proximity to a stream buffer, which could result in stream mitigation work.

The price? Henry estimates it at an initial $1.5 million; adding a pavilion and running electricity to it would cost an extra $450,000.

“I see lots of Eagle Scout projects,” said Mallek. Supervisor Rick Randolph said they’d be happy to accept any donations.

At Ragged Mountain, Charlottesville and Albemarle County officials are still at odds over who should have ultimate authority over the property.

Virginia code says localities may make rules for parks they operate in other jurisdictions, but “no ordinances in conflict with an ordinance of the jurisdiction wherein the property is located shall be enacted.”

When the Ivy Creek Foundation handed Ragged Mountain Natural Area over to the city in 2014, former foundation director and city councilor Dede Smith—not involved with either group at the time—says she doubts the city knew about the county’s ordinance that disallows biking.

“They certainly did not know about the history of the reservoir as the only clean raw water we have in the community,” Smith says. “I very much regret that the Ivy Creek Foundation gave up management, but I wasn’t there anymore at that point, so I am not privy to the decision. ICF protected the land back in the 1990s for a reason, but that was lost in the transfer.”

Adds Smith, “An important point to make in the disagreement about governmental rights of the use of the land is that the Ivy Creek Foundation had to get the approval of the county to establish the natural area. For the city to say [the county has] no rights now is simply wrong.”

A price to pay

The accelerated opening of Hedgerow Park won’t be cheap. Here’s how Trevor Henry, the county’s director of facilities and environmental services, breaks it down.

Base scope:

$1,486,000

Additive for pavilion and its utilities: $450,000

Total: $1,936,000

Annual operating cost:

Staff: $65,534

Operating: $15,810

Total: $81,344

Startup/one-time cost:

Equipment (vehicle and trailer): $66,708

Categories
Arts

Infinity Downs Farm launches with Earth Day concert

The Revivalists will headline the Blue Ridge Bowl at Infinity Downs Farm in Arrington on Saturday with support from People’s Blues of Richmond and Moogatu. Photo by Travis Shinn

In 2013, Dave Frey and his partner, fellow music promoter Peter Shapiro, started the Lockn’ Festival, a multi-genre musical blowout that takes place in late summer on the sprawling Oak Ridge Farm in the Nelson County town of Arrington. Over the past four years the event has brought an array of heavyweight acts in roots, jam and classic rock, including Tom Petty, Phish, the Allman Brothers Band, John Fogerty and members of the Grateful Dead.

With Lockn’ in place as an annual happening, the organizers are expanding their ambitions for the festival site with Infinity Downs Farm. The new venue (briefly called Nelson County Preserve before being renamed this year) encompasses 387 acres adjacent to Oak Ridge and holds the Blue Ridge Bowl, a small amphitheater that’s used as a secondary stage during Lockn’. Frey and Shapiro purchased the land in 2014 and will use it to host a range of events, including concerts, day festivals and races.

Following important infrastructure investments—drilling wells, adding power sources and installing a 56,000-gallon water tank to have a reliable supply of clean water—the owners of Infinity Downs are opening the venue this weekend, starting with a show by New Orleans-based, soul-rock band The Revivalists on April 22.

“Once we got through the improvements, we took a breath and then started to plan the next phase, more programming,” says Frey. “Now we’re ready to get back to what we do, which is promoting shows. We also want to be ambitious and pair different things with music.”

Indeed, some creative plans are in the works for the new venue, which sits right off Route 29 about halfway between Charlottesville and Lynchburg, and, according to Frey, can be scaled to hold between 1,000 and 12,000 people. A week after the April 29 opening concert, the farm will be the site of A Day at the Downs, a uniquely paired Wine and Wildlife Festival. The day benefits the Arrington-based Wildlife Conservation Center, and will blend tastings from a variety of Virginia wineries with the opportunity to view rare and endangered animals like the bongo antelope. The musical offering comes from versatile piano ace Bruce Hornsby, along with opening sets from local artists Michael Coleman and Erin Lunsford.

More regional artists will play Infinity Downs on June 17 at Community Day, another day-long event that features local food vendors, family activities and the Rockn’ to Lockn’ band competition, with six independent Virginia bands competing for three open slots on the main stage at Lockn’, which is set to return on August 24-27.

“That’s something I’m really proud of,” says Frey. “There are so many great bands in Virginia, but few opportunities for those just starting out.”

Beyond the upcoming music-focused events on the Infinity Downs schedule, which includes The Festy Experience on October 5-8, the venue will also be the site of a new craft beer festival—the inaugural Brewmasters Ball on June 2 featuring Keller Williams—and a two-day Reebok Spartan Race on June 3-4. With plenty of open space, overnight camping will be offered at most events.

Frey says he wants to add more endurance races and organized outdoor activities in an effort to get more people on the property’s seven miles of onsite hiking and mountain biking trails, blazed with help from pro trail builder Dave King, who’s sculpted bike courses for the X Games and BMX.

Besides the seven events currently on the schedule, Frey says one or two more could potentially be added at Infinity Downs this year.

“This isn’t a place where we have to have 30 events a year,” he adds. “This will be a destination. We’re going to have special events that we can build over time and hopefully grow into evergreen events.”

Get down at the Downs

When you first hear about a band called The Revivalists from New Orleans, certain sounds come to mind. Jazz and funk? Sure, bits of both are in the mix, but this Crescent City septet is more focused on blending its influences into a well-rounded rock sound. Formed in 2007, the group found fast favor in the jam band world, after an endorsement from guitarist Warren Haynes and opening slots with Gov’t Mule.

But the band’s taut grooves—colored with horn blasts and spacey pedal steel fills—often give way to catchy pop-minded hooks. Case in point is the breakout single “Wish I Knew You” from the group’s latest album, Men Amongst Mountains. The tune, which cruises with an infectious, jangly strut, hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Songs chart last fall, and the band performed it on “Conan” back in December.

The dynamic outfit gets a big boost from frontman Dave Shaw, a vocal powerhouse who delivers dance-ready earworms with an arena-ready soulful howl.

Categories
Living

Hey, neighbor! Sugar, spice and everything nice about the 19 city ‘hoods you live in

You might say that neighborhoods are a little like snowflakes—no two are the same. At least, that’s true of Charlottesville, where you’ll find family-friendly Fry’s Spring bordering the student-lined sidewalks of JPA or the lavish homes in North Downtown near the storied streets of Starr Hill. Each spot has its own vibe, its own draw—whether it’s the restaurants, the history or the brazen cat that wanders from house to house in search of food and affection. When you get down to it, we’re all just looking for a place to call home and, as the residents in this—our inaugural Neighborhood Issue—note, there’s a veritable blizzard of choices.

By Samantha Baars, Tami Keaveny, Jessica Luck, Desiré Moses, Erin O’Hare, Lisa Provence, Eric Wallace and Caite White

Jump to:

  • 10th & Page
  • Barracks Road
  • Barracks/Rugby
  • Belmont/Carlton
  • Fifeville
  • Fry’s Spring
  • Greenbrier
  • Jefferson Park Avenue
  • Johnson Village
  • Lewis Mountain
  • Locust Grove
  • Martha Jefferson
  • North Downtown
  • Ridge Street
  • Rose Hill
  • Starr Hill
  • The Meadows
  • Venable
  • Woolen Mills
Categories
News

‘Facts not quacks:’ Locals gear up to march for science

Neuroscientist Kelly Barford helped organize the April 22 local March for Science, starting at IX Art Park. On April 12 members of Cville Comm-UNI-ty met at Three Notch’d Brewing Company for a fundraiser and to make signs for the march. Photo by Eze Amos

The University of Virginia received $143 million in biomedical research funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2016. With President Donald Trump’s recent announcement that he plans to cut $5.8 billion from the NIH’s budget, local neuroscientist Kelly Barford says it’s time to march.

As a member of Cville Comm-UNI-ty, a group of UVA professors, employees, students and friends not officially affiliated with the university, Barford has helped organize a mini March For Science in Charlottesville on April 22. The official March for Science takes place the same day in Washington, D.C., and the global movement hopes to champion the vital role science plays in the economy, government and elsewhere. 

“Charlottesville is an incredible area for scientists,” she says, alluding to the city’s emergence as a hub for the biotech industry, and the many opportunities presented by the university. But a cut in the NIH budget is a major threat to local scientific advancement, she says.

“The second [threat] is, more generally, on the scientists,” Barford continues. “We tend to not communicate with the community on what we’re doing and what kind of impact that might have.”

So from 1:30-3pm on Earth Day at IX Art Park, local scientists will wear name tags that say “ask me about [insert field of study].” They, along with other science enthusiasts, will give a series of five-minute talks. And rows of booths will offer interactive activities and other information for adults and children.

At 3pm, eventgoers will march, signs in hand, from the art park to the Sprint Pavilion.

Barford brainstormed some of her sign ideas before an April 12 march fundraiser at Three Notch’d Brewing Company. “Facts not quacks,” “Don’t hate, educate,” “Protect our planet” and “Research saves lives if funding survives” made the list.

Also in attendance was Cville Comm-UNI-ty member Judy White, a molecular virologist, who will take her support for science to the nation’s capital this weekend.

“I’m probably a typical scientist who’s a little more introverted by nature,” she says. “It takes an impetus to get us out to do something like this and I think there are two things going on with the march that we support—one is that it’s a celebration of science and all it does for us every minute of the day. But also, there’s this underlying fear that science is being a bit dismissed in society—belittled a little bit—and we worry that the current administration is more on the anti-science side of the spectrum.”

She will march alongside Dan Engel, another Cville Comm-UNI-ty member who studies in the same field, and has coordinated three buses of scientists and nonscientists that will pick up marchers for the Washington, D.C., rally at Scott Stadium at 6am April 22. Each bus holds 55 people and two are already full, he says. Tickets are $50 for the general public and $20 for students (there are 17 spots left).

“People used to debate about whether the world was flat or round, and then it was established that the world is round,” says Engel. “Climate change is in that category now.

“Scientists have reached the point where we think it’s time to stand up and show our politicians on both sides of the aisle that science is really important. We are professional fact finders.”

Categories
Living

The Juice Laundry expands, The birth of Mama Meals and more

Juice Laundry founder Mike Keenan says he’ll have more specifics on the Corner location soon. Photo by Elli Williams

Fed and pampered

Whoa, baby—there’s a new meal service in town. Inspired by requests from local moms who read Heng Ou’s The First Forty Days, a book about Ou’s experience being cared for post-birth by an herbalist aunt, the Charlottesville Cooking School is now offering Mama Meals, a program of Ou’s menus intended to increase postpartum health and vitality. Owner Martha Stafford and chef Tom Whitehead prepare all of the deliveries, offering items like organic chicken bone broth, congee, crustless quiche, nikujaga (a Japanese beef stew) with snow peas and potatoes and date and almond butter bites. New parents can choose a two-week plan for $510 or a six-week plan for $1,500.

The Juice Laundry expands to UVA Corner

Come June, you’ll be able to get Juice Laundry cold-pressed juices, nut milks, smoothies and smoothie bowls on the UVA Corner. The new location will be the organic, all-vegan juice producer’s fourth—JL already operates two shops, one in the Coca-Cola building on Preston Avenue and another at The Yards in Washington, D.C., plus a satellite location at Purvelo spinning studio on West Main Street. Juice Laundry founder Mike Keenan says he’ll have more specifics on the Corner location soon.

Tropical pairing

If you’re a fan of the Cuban sandwich, keep an eye out for the El Guero food truck, run by local winemaker Derek Young. Food blogger C. Simon Davidson reports that Young will serve sandwiches that are a blend of the Tampa- and Miami-style Cuban sandwiches, featuring roast pork, ham, salami, Swiss cheese, dill pickles and mustard pressed between soft bread (a Miami Cuban staple), served with a side of plantain chips.

Categories
Arts

UVA’s Kate Tamarkin takes her final curtain call

Kate Tamarkin will conduct her final concerts with the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia on Saturday and Sunday. Publicity photo

When Kate Tamarkin was an undergraduate at Southern California’s Chapman University, orchestra conductor was not on her list of career choices. “As a female back then, it never occurred to me to even want to [do that],” the music director and conductor of the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia says. But she was studying music education, and one of the requirements for getting her teaching credential was completing a conducting course.

“I dreaded it,” she says, smiling at the memory. “I tried everything to get out of that class, and I didn’t know how I’d get through it.” Turns out Tamarkin did more than get through it—when she stood before a group of musicians for the first time, “a match was struck, and there was fire,” she recalls.

Kate Tamarkin: The Farewell Concerts

April 22
Old Cabell Hall

April 23
Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center

Dressed in purple and seated in a conference room at the orchestra’s office on West Main Street, the charismatic Tamarkin ponders her retirement this spring, following 11 years at UVA. She says that several decades after that first college conducting gig, she considers herself to literally be a conductor—something that channels music to the musicians, who express their energy to the audience, which has an emotional response that comes back to the conductor and completes the circuit. “When a concert is going well, my back gets all warm, and it’s not just the lights; I can feel that the circuit is complete,” she says.

Daniel Sender, a professional violinist and the orchestra’s concertmaster, says Tamarkin’s energy also extends to members of the symphony. “She has such a warmth from the podium, which is not to say she’s musically light,” he says. “She’s very intense, but her warmth makes the symphony an inviting and open space to make music.” And given the makeup of the group—professionals, students and members of the community—“it takes a very special person to guide those forces together,” Sender says.

Due to the current search for her successor, audiences haven’t seen Tamarkin in action since September, when she conducted the first concert of the 2016-17 season. The finalists for her job—Benjamin Rous, Adam Boyles and Cheung Chau—have been at the podium for this season’s middle three concerts, but Tamarkin will return to lead the orchestra for the final time on April 22 and 23, in a program that includes Wagner’s Overture to Die Meistersinger and Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

In reflecting on her tenure at UVA, Tamarkin points first to the musicians. “We ask a lot of them, and they give, and keep giving,” she says. “They are a tremendously talented set of people with generosity of spirit and a real commitment to music.”

She’s also enjoyed her time as a professor in the McIntire Department of Music and takes pride in having several students who have gone on to become conductors, at least one of whom started out studying economics at UVA. “I poach econ majors!” Tamarkin says with glee. “It’s quite fun; you never know where the talent is going to pop up.”

Another highlight for Tamarkin is the symphony’s youth concerts, which are a priority “because arts funding in the schools is diminishing, and it falls to other organizations to fill the gap,” she says. Elizabeth Roberts, a professional bassoon player and instructor who’s been with the orchestra for 16 years, collaborates with Tamarkin on kid-friendly scripts.

“We include lots of superheroes,” Roberts says. “And we find ways for kids to hear classical pieces that they have maybe heard on TV commercials, or something else that’s very popular. We hope our narrative helps them understand the music.”

The woman who taught herself to play the French horn as a young girl, considers Mozart a “cherished friend,” and was selected by Leonard Bernstein early in her career to lead the Chicago Symphony while he was there as a guest conductor, says she has no intention of halting her own pursuit of music when she retires after nearly four decades at the podium. Tamarkin is a certified music practitioner who plays the harp for critically ill or dying patients, and she is the creator and program coordinator of Hospice of the Piedmont’s Music by the Bedside. She’s also a musician in residence at UVA Medical Center and she plays regularly at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital.

“It’s hard to explain the magical, soothing effect of the harp,” says Tamarkin. She recently told WVTF radio that “in many cultures, they play someone out, they sing someone out, they chant someone out. …We try to watch the patient’s breathing to read all those nonverbal and verbal signals that we can receive and then match the music to the condition the patient is in, and then, hopefully, help them relax, to get to a place where the whole experience is easier.”

One experience that won’t be easy for many is Tamarkin’s departure from UVA.“Every leader brings their own style,” Roberts says. “Kate brings a great joy for the music and a joy for what she does as a conductor, educator and artist. We will all miss that joy.

Categories
Living

Timberlake’s customers are like family

Timberlake’s Drug Store and Soda Fountain is so fond of its regulars that framed photos of them are displayed on one wall. Photo by Emily Sacco

It’s quarter after noon on a Wednesday and Debbie Kirby stands behind the lunch counter at Timberlake’s Drug Store and Soda Fountain. She adjusts the side ties on her red cotton smock before filling a tall red plastic cup with cola and hustling it over to one of the three men sitting at a small, laminate-topped table nearby.

A mother sits at the counter, reading lunch options off a menu to her two small children who cautiously swivel back and forth on red-cushioned stools, their eyes fixed on the cherry pie and vanilla-frosted chocolate cake sitting expectantly in domed stands on the counter.

Kirby and a green-smocked counter lady flit back and forth across the green-and-white checkerboard floor, pouring fountain drinks, fetching silverware and fixing lunches—tuna salad platters, hot dogs with mustard and relish, BLTs.

Lined up on the counter, and on the center of every table, is a neat cluster of salt and pepper shakers, a container of yellow Splenda packets and a laminated menu propped up between a napkin holder and a sugar jar.

Photographs in slim plastic frames crowd the ledge on one of the dining room’s walls. “These are our regulars,” Kirby tells me before pointing to the men sitting at the table she delivered a soda to moments before. “You might recognize some of them.”

One of the men, a lawyer named Dayton, says he and the other men at his table come to the Downtown Mall eatery for lunch “frequently, maybe three or four days a week.” The lunch is pretty good, he says over the wire rims of his glasses, but he’s mostly here “for the service and for the company.” He can’t remember how long he’s been coming to Timberlake’s for lunch, but it’s been a while. Dayton won’t tell me his last name—“just Dayton, like Prince or something,” he laughs.

Tom McQueeney remembers, though—he says he’s been having lunch here for the past 10 or 15 years at least. McQueeney is mostly retired but currently works at Daedalus Bookshop for an hour and a half on Monday mornings, helping owner Sandy McAdams, who uses a wheelchair to get around, turn on the lights and carry books from floor to floor in the shop. McQueeney jokes about how stressed he gets on Sunday nights, knowing he has to go to work in the morning. “An hour and a half shift, that’s a long one,” I say.

“It sure is!” McQueeney replies before digging into a bag of potato chips and laughing with his lunch companions. The regulars don’t necessarily plan to meet here for lunch, but they often eat together. Once they’ve filled up one table, they’ll take over others and talk over the narrow aisles.

McQueeney asks me why I’m not a Timberlake’s regular. It’s a good question. I try to save money by bringing my lunch to work, I tell him, but I do come to lunch here every now and then. “What do you get when you come here?” he asks.

“The BLT,” I reply.

“Ah, see, that’s because [these are] the best ‘tomatas’ in town,” he says, tugging on a button on his windowpane-checkered shirt.

A man dressed in a charcoal-gray suit carries his brown bagged to-go order over to the table and asks, “What’s going on over here?”

I explain that I’m working on a story about neighborhood restaurant regulars for C-VILLE Weekly, and he teasingly asks why I’d want to talk to “these fools.”

“Can you believe it? A story in the paper,” says a fifth man, who takes a seat at a table next to the wall, right under his framed photo on the ledge, and starts paging through our paper. Today, he’s wearing the same suit jacket he wore in the photo—his shirt and bow tie are different, but they’re in the same pink-khaki-gray palette.

When Kirby brings the check, the regulars joke about who will cover it. “Give it to him!” “No, give it to that guy over there! I got it yesterday.”

From behind the register, which sits atop a dessert case full of cake slices on white paper plates with scalloped edges, each covered with a taut layer of plastic wrap, Kirby agrees to answer a couple of questions, as long as it doesn’t take too long—she’s busy.

“You get to know regulars really well over the years,” says Kirby, who has worked at Timberlake’s for 17 years. “They become your friends,” she says they’ll tell her about their problems and she’ll listen, sympathize and maybe even share a few of her own. They become like family.

“They give me a hard time, and I give it right back to them,” Kirby says, smiling.

“It’s a real family place,” she tells me, encouraging me to bring my family in with me sometime. “They live far away, up north in Boston,” I tell her.

“That’s okay. You can talk to us. And we have the best milkshakes in town,” she says with a wink.