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News

Statue standoff: Group suggests park names

While a court injunction currently prevents the statue of Robert E. Lee from being moved, the city is moving full speed ahead in an effort to change the names of local parks named for Confederate heroes.

After fielding suggestions from almost all committee members, the Charlottesville Historic Resources Committee decided on four names each for both Lee Park and Jackson Park to recommend to City Council.

For Lee Park, the committee recommended Community Park, Central Park, Market Street Park and Festival Park. For Jackson Park, it suggested Court Square Park, Courthouse Park, The Commons and Memory Park.

Most committee members agreed it was important to suggest names that had conceptual or geographical connotations to promote inclusivity rather than names referring to a single person or historical figure.

Committee member Margaret O’Bryant, who served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Monuments and Public Spaces, suggested names such as Community Park and Central Park, saying that each “expresses a centrality of our community” and in their neutrality apply to all facets of the Charlottesville population.

Committee co-chair Edwina St. Rose abstained from each vote, however, and said at the beginning of the meeting that she thought the committee should not make a recommendation.

“I believe the council has already seen quite a number of recommendations,” St. Rose said.

City Council recently received more than 2,000 suggestions through an online survey, which showed the top results as Lee Park and Jackson Park, although the survey allowed more than one submission per person and some suggest it was loaded with those who oppose any kind of name change.

Committee member Dede Smith said any future survey effort would have to be formulated in a way to allow one vote per person, calling the City Council survey a “good idea” but “flawed.”

“I don’t think we can put a lot of weight on what actually we saw,” Smith said.

St. Rose also called for a more “democratic” selection process that would be powered by Charlottesville residents, such as a referendum. “I don’t understand this process,” she said.

While the meeting was open to the public, the committee did not field any public comments because that will take place at an upcoming City Council meeting.

After the meeting, some attendees said they were disappointed by the lack of opportunity to comment. Karenne Wood, a member of the Monacan Nation, said she attended because she heard that Monacan Park—one of the more popular suggestions from the online survey—would be one of the names discussed, but she was unable to offer the tribe’s support of the name during the meeting.

Charlottesville resident Jalane Schmidt also wanted public comment and said she thought the suggestions offered at the meeting did not confront the history of each park.

“The recommendation of the [Blue Ribbon Commission], which the City Council did affirm, was that these parks were to be transformed,” Schmidt said, “and the full history…of how these spaces bolstered white supremacy was supposed to be revealed.”

Lisa Woolfork, another attendee, similarly called the selection process “tepid” and said it did nothing to recontextualize or challenge each park’s history.

“If all we might get is a renamed park, that name should be potent,” she said. “It should not be vague. It should not be general. I found this entire process frustrating and only in effect reinforcing the power dynamics that brought this problem to a head in the first place.”

Even with this process moving forward, there are those who still disagree with renaming the park. Historian and Charlottesville resident Arthur Herman says remembering the history of why the Confederate generals were commemorated in the first place is important.

“The sense of duty, the sense of honor, the courage, the sacrifice that they and other Confederate soldiers and veterans served were important virtues irrespective of the nature of the cause they served,” Herman says. “These men were not men who donned white sheets and marched with the KKK. These are not monuments dedicated to men like that.”

City Council will decide on the renaming of both parks at its June 5 meeting.

Categories
Arts

Album reviews: Juana Molina, Penguin Café and Kweku Collins

Juana Molina

Halo (Crammed Discs)

Starting with her enchanting Segundo album, Juana Molina has cultivated such an indelible style that it might seem confusing if she deviated. Her music comprises repetitive acoustic guitar patterns, wavery keyboard tones, rubbery bass figures and rhythm tracks from homemade sources like hand claps and ticking clocks—and then, there’s Molina’s voice. She’s simultaneously childlike and gentle, but totally self-possessed. Hinting at her contradictions is the cover of Halo, which finds her face, sans nose and mouth, morphed into something resembling a craggy planarian; it’s funny, but unsettling.

Halo doesn’t deviate from her previous pathways, and fans will smile at the 7/8 meter of “Cosoco,” lopsided rhythms being another salient Molina feature. There’s more electric guitar and snare on Halo, and the drum tattoo gets to be a bit much on “Estalacticas.” Molina’s strong suit isn’t such bombast, it’s the gorgeous mellotron string passages on the opening “Paraguaya”; the calmly percolating soundscape of “Cara de espejo”; the interlocking layers of “A00 B01”; the amorphous dreaminess of “Lentísimo halo.” Halo is full of kinks that might seem merely quirky, but cohere into a distinctive and still-enchanting idiom.

https://juanamolina.bandcamp.com/album/halo

Penguin Café

The Imperfect Sea (Erased Tapes)

Recently I asked a frighteningly hip friend what he was listening to, and his answer floored me: “a lot of New Age.” I figured this label—which in the ’80s signified flagrantly pretty instrumental music for organic restaurants—might apply to something else now, but indeed, he meant the classics: “Shadowfax, William Ackerman, that Windham Hill stuff.” Simon Jeffes’ Penguin Café Orchestra typified another branch of New Age, eschewing chimes and flutes for Philip-Glass-meets-Eno minimalism. Before Jeffes died in 1997, he left behind the timeless crowd-pleaser “Perpetuum Mobile.” In 2009, Jeffes’ son Arthur revived the brand as Penguin Café, producing passable ersatz PCO. The Imperfect Sea has grand moments—“Ricercar” and “Protection” are fully developed and pulse with life. But other songs drift in waiting mode. No amount of sonic window dressing can hide the stultifying monotony of “Cantorum,” while the PCO cover “Now Nothing (Rock Music)” sounds more like a George Winston homage, and not much of one. A cover of Kraftwerk’s “Franz Schubert” makes sense, but feels complacent. Reverence seems apt, but some of the elder Jeffes’ nerdy whimsy wouldn’t hurt, either.

https://penguincafe.bandcamp.com/

Kweku Collins

grey (Closed Sessions)

Straight outta Evanston, Illinois, Kweku Collins was raised by Stephan Collins, a world music percussionist who must be pleased at Kweku’s rising repute. (I wonder what he thinks of Kweku’s occasional slips into Jamaican patois—they bug me, but maybe I should lighten up.) In 2015, just out of high school, Collins released his debut EP, following it up last spring with the acclaimed, self-produced Nat Love, which put him firmly on the Chicago area map alongside Chance, Chief Keef and Joey Purp. A mostly downtempo collection, Nat Love referenced D’Angelo and Frank Ocean, whose navel-gazing predilections come through again on grey, Collins’ aptly titled latest. No tempo rises above comfortable head-nodding; the mood is weary but abiding. Collins’ music beds are appealing, as is Collins’ voice, although he relies on a pretty limited set of gestures. There aren’t melodies to speak of, as Collins often stays on one note before plunging down an interval. It gets repetitive, but guests are well-utilized, like the more authoritative Kipp Stone who comes along to mix things up on the groggy “Things I Know.”

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News

It’s electric! Silverchair employees make power moves

In his Downtown Mall office, Stuart Leitch unfolds two pedals on either side of his electric unicycle, steps onto each and begins to balance from side to side with the 14-inch wheel between his shins.

“I’ve had it for a year and a half and I’ve used it pretty much every single day,” says Leitch, the chief technology officer at Silverchair Information Systems. “I’ll take it to the dentist, the hairdresser, basically anywhere I need to go within about a three-mile radius.”

That includes his workplace. Residing only a few blocks from the mall, Leitch is hard to miss by anyone living or working nearby: They’ve likely seen him—and maybe his wife, too, on her mini Segway—zipping around. “I generally have a pretty low profile,” he says. “Even a year and a half in, I’m surprised that so many people continue to comment. They say, ‘Oh wow, there goes the future!’ …They’re fascinated.”

It took him about a week to become comfortable riding his electric unicycle, he says. His is “dangerously fast”—it can go about 25 mph for 25 minutes. The device is controlled by leaning forward to speed up and backward to slow down. And though he’s had a few accidents, he says he’s usually able to stay upright. “You’re typically going at running speed. If you’ve got your wits about you, you just run.”

Max Barbour, a Silverchair coworker and the electric unicyclist who inspired Leitch to buy his own, wasn’t so lucky with his wipeout. The spill resulted in a radial fracture in his right elbow and six weeks of recovery time, but Barbour says when he recovered, he was ready to get back on the horse—er, unicycle. His is a bit bigger at 16 inches tall, but it doesn’t go quite as fast, and he says he’ll drive halfway to work before parking his car and riding the rest of the way.

With an emerging technology, it’s sometimes hard to know the road rules. Leitch says he’s been stopped by one patrol officer on the mall, who said she was unsure of any city code pertaining to electric unicycles. She suggested he follow the same rules as a traditional cyclist.

“No person shall ride a bicycle, an electric power-assisted bicycle or moped on any sidewalk or other area designated exclusively for pedestrian traffic…provided however, that this prohibition shall not apply to on-duty police officers and other uniformed emergency services personnel,” city code says. It also prohibits roller skates, skateboards, scooters “or similar devices on wheels or runners.”

The latter would affect Nick Taucher, who also works in the Silverchair office, but uses a mode of transportation that’s a bit different from his unicycling colleagues. His is called a Onewheel and it looks like a skateboard with a giant wheel in the center. It’ll go around 15mph for about seven miles—but unlike the unicycles, which take hours to charge, his only takes about 20 minutes.

“In terms of coolness, Nick’s would absolutely win,” Leitch says.

Innovative recognition

Last week the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council named Silverchair Information Systems Business of the Year.

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News

Still relevant? New NAACP president faces charged civil rights landscape

There were times in its century-long history that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was considered a militant organization. Today, not so much. Just last week, the national organization’s board ousted its president and called for a “systemwide refresh.”

Janette Martin took the helm of the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP in January at the same time President Donald Trump took office, and her organization, like so many others, is struggling to cope in a new era of American politics that’s energized by activist groups like Black Lives Matter.

Has the NAACP been supplanted by such groups?

“No,” says Martin. “We’ve been around for 108 years, with over 2,200 chapters. We’re very careful.”

Perhaps that’s why Martin didn’t respond to white nationalists putting the city on the national stage over the Robert E. Lee statue until four days later, when she compared them to the KKK.

“When you read about how they came in the night,” says Martin, “this group—I’m not saying they’re the Klan—but I think they wanted to intimidate.” With the torches, the only thing missing was “the white sheets,” she said at a press conference.

Martin, a teacher for 30 years, is a lifetime member of the NAACP, and admits she’s more of a “behind-the-scenes person.” She said she’d been asked several times by former president Rick Turner, who was often controversial and confrontational, to take the job and had declined—until she was thrust into the position with his resignation late last year shortly after he won a heated re-election.

Moving to Charlottesville as a young woman, she was a member of First Baptist Church, where the Reverend Benjamin Bunn founded the local chapter in 1947. “People were really into the NAACP,” she recalls. “They pulled us in.” And she’s risen through the ranks, starting with passing out programs at banquets, to serving as secretary and then vice president.

She touts the venerable organization’s conferences, education programs and structure, with its 19 standing committees to deal with issues. She’d like to have six active committees here, such as education, to get people engaged rather than waiting until a crisis to act, and she needs chairs for the health, political action and membership committees, according to the chapter’s website.

Since the election, she says the local chapter has 100 new members and attendance at meetings is up. But to get anything done, the NAACP needs commitment and “people power,” she says.

The NAACP “is still relevant,” she says—and continues to battle some of the same issues. “They fought for voting rights, and now we’re right back to it.”

Says Martin, “We’d like to be the face of civil rights in the community.”

Correction: Martin moved to Charlottesville as a young woman and did not grow up here, as originally reported.

Categories
Real Estate

Madison County: Close-in, and Affordable With Panoramic Views

By Celeste M. Smucker –

Home buyers love Madison County for its beautiful scenery and its multitude of outdoor activities such as hiking, camping and fishing.  Just north of Greene County, it attracts those who value privacy at a reasonable cost, along with access to the employment, shopping, educational, recreational and cultural benefits of Charlottesville.

Buyers also appreciate Madison’s comprehensive plan that limits sewer facilities, which means they won’t soon be living next door to a large commercial development such as a subdivision or a big box store, and can be confident their chosen rural lifestyle will persist well into the future.

There is also lots of excitement about Madison’s real estate market as buyers in all price ranges are calling their agents to take advantage of great prices and continuing low interest rates.  Many are retired, but the area also attracts pre-retirees buying a second home as well as first timers, families, and telecommuters some of whom plan to grow crops or raise chickens, cattle and horses. 

Madison’s Enviable Lifestyle
People have been enjoying the Madison County lifestyle for hundreds of years.  Founded in 1792 it was named for one of the forebears of President James Madison (author of the Bill of Rights) who owned property along the Rapidan River.

Many of the agents who work the Madison market have roots that run deep there, and for them there is nowhere else to live.  One of them is Carl Broyles with Montague Miller and Co. whose grandfather ran the Old Rag Mountain Post Office before that area was part of the National Park.

“I grew up here and I will never leave,” Broyles said.  He described the beauty of the open farm land and the mountain views that draw people from all over. The area’s many outdoor activities are also high on his list of reasons for loving his birthplace.  “You don’t have to leave the county for recreation,” he said.

Patti Lillard, another Madison native and REALTOR® with Montague Miller and Co., agrees about the mountain views saying they are often what buyers state they want most when they first meet with their agent.  But what they may not realize is that Madison has way more than that to offer.  For example, she described Madison’s relaxed, rural lifestyle as a “sweet spot in its own world with green spaces and easy living.”

Lillard added that for those who want to be part of a community,  Madison is also a place where everyone knows their neighbors with many opportunities for involvement in community activities. She called the county “a little piece of heaven,” with an appealing quality of life. 

A big focus of community involvement in Madison is the local schools. Julie Holbrook, an Associate Broker with Roy Wheeler Realty Co., moved to Madison County more than 25 years ago and she and her husband raised their four children there.  She described Madison as a place where parents are very involved in school activities, but “even people who are not parents come out and support the local sporting events at the schools.”

Families are also drawn by the excellence of a school system that has been recognized 20 out of 26 years by the Virginia High School League’s Wells Fargo Cup for academic excellence. The award considers forensics, along with the annual yearbook, the newspaper, literary magazine, theatre presentations, scholastic bowl competitions, and creative writing samples.

Whether or not they are native to Madison County, agents are captivated by what it offers.  John Ince, an Associate Broker with Nest Realty, described Madison as one of his favorite counties.  He was introduced to its many wonders when his parents retired there in 1980, and said that he and his four sisters “grew fonder and fonder of the area with each family reunion.”

“You don’t have to wander far from Route 29 to understand the attraction” Ince continued. “To the west you have the spectacular Hebron Valley and the Graves Mill area which back up to the Shenandoah National Park. To the east you have the fine farms from Somerset to Locust Dale that date to the 18th and 19th century and cultivate some of the best soils in the Piedmont.

“A flyover of Madison would show it to be pretty sparsely populated with the little town of Madison showing a few clustered developments nearby but with the majority of the land just classic Piedmont farms, gently rolling fields and woods, crops along the river bottoms and the more eastern farms with their deep alluvial soils.”

Part of why people appreciate Madison County is that it is a place where home owners can escape the stress of urban life, yet still enjoy a lot of amenities without traveling a long distance. Bill Gentry with Jefferson Land and Realty looks forward to attending events at the Kennedy Center in DC. “You can be there in just an hour and a half so you can get your culture and be back in a day,” he explained.  Of course Charlottesville’s shopping, downtown mall and cultural activities are even closer.

Many home buyers also like privacy and plenty of space to spread out, and in Madison, where the smallest lot size is 3 acres, there is more “elbow room” for the money, along with great views and a nice community, Gentry said.

Outdoor activities are another reason people choose Madison.  They may come first for hiking, camping or fishing, or just to enjoy the autumn leaves in the fall or wildflowers in the spring, but  eventually they choose to relocate there and experience all of these benefits full time.

One of Madison’s most famous residents was Herbert Hoover, our 31st President, who purchased land there for a summer home later called Rapidan Camp.  Today it is sometimes referred to as the “first Camp David” or Camp Hoover.  During Hoover’s time, people often also referred to his retreat as the “Brown House,” to distinguish it from his main residence in DC.

Hoover captured some of the allure of Madison when he stated, “…even the work of government can be improved by leisurely discussions of its problems out under the trees where no bells ring or callers jar one’s thoughts from the channels of urbanity.” 

There are many ways to enjoy Madison’s outdoor activities and great scenery.  One of these is an annual fundraiser that capitalizes on Madison’s renowned trout streams. The recently concluded 11th annual 2-Fly Tournament was sponsored by Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing that has a mission “to assist in the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.”  The tournament features fly fishing teams from around the country made up of a veteran and a professional guide.

Madison’s Real Estate Market
Madison agents are enthusiastic about this year’s market. Lillard reports that as of the end of April, there had been 33 homes sold with 25 pending (under contract but not closed).  Of particular note is the average number of days homes stay on the market that has dropped from 217 in April of 2016 to 107 a year later reflecting increased demand for these properties.

And while Madison agents have clients from Fredericksburg, Richmond and Tidewater, as well as New England, Chicago and the west coast, perhaps the two most popular places to relocate from are Northern Virginia and DC.   Some move in and commute to jobs, while others telecommute during some or all of the week. 

Others use their property as a weekend getaway with plans to retire there while some just want a safe place for their family to relax and decompress on weekends away from the stress of  urban life.

Ince indicated his team had just “ratified a contract on a 100 acre farm in Madison,” at the end of April.  He said that “the country property market draws buyers from all over the country,” and that “the improving national economy has had an impact on the farm and estate market with several large farms that had been on the market for years finally finding new owners.”  He continued that while inventories for country property have been high, there have been a number of large sales recently and “we can expect to see those sitting on the fence making decisions.”

Broyles reported more buyers are now looking for land with plans to build, including some of his clients who want to retire to Madison and are now looking for the perfect piece of property.  He too advises that the higher end properties are starting to sell, and recently took a rural listing priced just under $400,000 that he expects will “go fast” in this current market.

Lillard said the under $300,000 market is busy, while homes priced at less than $200,000 sell quickly.  She is seeing a lot of clients that are retired and moving to Madison from Northern Virginia who prefer single floor living, or at least a floor plan with the master bedroom on the first floor. They like a property that is “not a hassle to maintain,”  with preferences running to brick homes with wood floors and newer windows, she added.

She also has clients in the pre-retirement age group looking for what she calls a “farmette,”  a country property with some acreage that may be a second home until retirement when the buyers expect to move to Madison permanently. 

Gentry describes farm buyers as people, often in their mid to late 40’s, who may be two income families or those doing well in their business.  In Lillard’s experience some also represent  a “movement to self sufficiency,”  including families with children who want to move out of the city and live where they can have horses, cows or goats.    

Part of Madison’s attraction to buyers from Northern Virginia and other high priced areas is the difference in real estate prices between the two markets. Someone can sell a small brick rancher in Northern Virginia, pay cash for a nice, private piece of property in Madison and still have a good chunk left over to put in an investment account to help fund their retirement, Gentry explained.

Madison also attracts a lot of first time buyers, Lillard said, who reports that of the 33 homes sold by the end of April, 18 were in the under $200,000 price range as were 10 of 25 pendings.

Broyles works with lots of younger people as well, many of them first timers with families, who purchase homes in Madison.  Often they are couples with jobs in either Charlottesville or Culpeper, and of course the location also works well for households that have a spouse working in each of the two cities.

If beautiful views, privacy and a country lifestyle are in your future, ask your agent about Madison County.  With interest rates still low, now is a great time to buy, and you can rest assured  your property will remain rural and free of development for a very long time.


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

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News

Heavy topics: Parents call for reform in city schools

By age 6, children—and girls, especially—begin to express concerns about their weight, according to a widely referenced 2011 study by psychologist Linda Smolak. For this reason, one local mother says the practice of publicly weighing students during gym class should be banned.

At press time, Christa Bennett’s petition to stop weigh-ins in Charlottesville City Schools had 91 of the 100 signatures she wanted to get.

“Why are our children being weighed? At Jackson-Via Elementary, parents are not notified that this will be happening nor are they provided with the results afterwards,” the petition says. “Weight has some correlation to health, but more and more research is coming out that indicates healthy individuals can have significantly different weights.”

The mother of a third-grader at Jackson-Via, Bennett says her daughter, Emma, hasn’t criticized her own figure, but for Emma and her peers, “it’s something that’s going to begin a problem and they may not realize it until they’re 20, looking back and wondering where their body issues started.”

She says weighing children in front of their classmates should be done with sensitivity to insecurities that kids may already be developing. “Without a compelling reason, it shouldn’t be done. And never should it happen without parental notification and follow-up,” she says.

One mother who supports Bennett’s efforts, and asked not to be named for fear her daughter would be singled out, says her second-grader at Burnley-Moran Elementary School is 8 years old, and already talking about calories and how she doesn’t like certain things about her appearance.

“With all the pressure on kids to look and act a certain way, the last thing they need is a message coming from their school that their bodies may not be ‘right,’” she says. “Especially if that message is being conveyed in front of a roomful of their peers.”

Bennett’s petition also addresses disciplining students by taking away their recess for misbehaving or forgetting homework. Emma, she says, has had her recess forfeited twice for talking in class.

“Weighing children one day and taking away recess the next is not an approach that makes sense,” Bennett says.

Though her daughter has had an enjoyable experience in school, she says, Bennett brought her concerns to the Charlottesville City School Board on May 4 and the School Health Advisory Board on May 9, when Superintendent Rosa Atkins said recess should not and will not be taken away from students. (The majority of elementary schools had this practice.)

“It isn’t over yet,” Bennett says, adding that only about 15 people heard the superintendent make that remark. “I would like for her to email or write to parents and teachers so everyone is on the same page.”

Bennett also calls for more disciplinary resources for teachers who have been taking away recess. “If you’re going to say ‘you can’t do this,’ what can you do instead?” she asks.

Patrick Johnson, the coordinator of health and physical education in city schools, says weigh-ins have been suspended since March. The School Health Advisory Board has been evaluating and updating its wellness policy since September, and he hopes to have an updated policy for the school board to review by the start of next school year.

“We have traditionally not weighed students in the spring semester, just once a year in the fall,” he says. “Due to the concern of Ms. Bennett and the updating of the wellness policy, I made sure that the PE teachers understood that we were not weighing students this spring.”

Categories
Real Estate

Lots To Do In Scenic Madison County

By Celeste M. Smucker –

While perhaps best known for its spectacular scenery, Madison County also attracts tourists coming for special events like the upcoming Hops Festival, or passing through on their way to Charlottesville and points south who decide to stop for a meal or enjoy a night in one of the county’s gracious B & Bs. 

Others are vacationers wanting a place to unwind and enjoy a leisurely week away from the stress of urban life, in some cases buying a second home in Madison so they can enjoy these benefits more often. The county’s website reports that it is home to over 13,000 permanent residents and 1,000  part time, or “recreational” residents.

Regardless of their reason for visiting Madison, these travelers have a lot to choose from.  Here are just a few of the highlights of what you can expect when you join them.

The Great Outdoors
Outdoor enthusiasts from hikers to birdwatchers to those who love hunting, fishing and camping look forward to a stay in Madison County. 

Over 32,000 of Shenandoah National Park’s acres are in Madison County, which is also home to Old Rag Mountain offering one of the area’s most popular and demanding hikes.  The 250 space parking lot available to Old Rag climbers is owned by Montague Miller and Co. agent, Patti Lillard and her husband who just signed a new lease with the National Park making it available to hikers for another ten years.  During the season the lot is full of cars bearing license plates from all over Virginia as well as many other states.

Another popular attraction is White Oak Canyon, best known for its spectacular waterfalls and old growth forest.

Madison County is also a good choice for people who love to fish. Every year three trout streams are stocked by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and there are also plenty of smaller streams with native trout. One of the county’s most famous visitors,  President Herbert Hoover, described the joy of fishing there as an “opportunity for refreshment of one’s soul and clarification of one’s thoughts by solitude.”

Camping is available in the national park as is lodging for those who prefer sleeping indoors.  Another popular choice is Graves Mountain Lodge, a privately owned facility that packs lunches for hikers and picnickers to enjoy while they are out on the trail.  If you are planning a fall trip to admire the leaves, come enjoy the annual Graves Apple Harvest Festival the first three weekends in October.  Take home some hand-picked apples and enjoy cloggers, blue grass music and local arts and crafts.

Visitors can also stay in one of Madison’s B & B’s some with interesting histories such as Ebenezer House that was built in Culpeper in 1901 as a church, and dismantled and moved to Madison in 1984. 

Wineries and A New Brewery
Another high point on any Madison visit is the award-winning wineries that offer tours and wine tastings as well as venues for special events such as weddings, music by local bands and seasonal festivals.  One of them, DuCard Vineyards, has been recognized as the greenest winery in Virginia in part for its use of sustainable practices and solar power, while in 2016, Madison’s Early Mountain Vineyards was voted #1 in a USA Today contest for America’s Best Tasting Room .

There is a lot of excitement as well about Madison’s new Bald Top Brewery, explained Tracey Gardner, Madison’s Economic Development and Tourism Director.  This family owned business described as Virginia’s First Historic Farm Brewery is open weekends, Friday through Monday and features food trucks and live music. Memberships are available and only members are eligible to take home a growler. 

Beer lovers are also looking forward to Madison’s first ever Hoover Ridge Hops Festival this Sunday, May 28 from 2:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Hoover Ridge Park featuring food trucks and craft brews from a variety of local breweries such as Devil’s Backbone, Starr Hill, Blue Mountain, Three Notch’d and many others, plus Bold Rock Hard Cider.

Furniture, Antiques and Other Shopping
When you want to take a break from hiking and sightseeing, Madison is a great place to shop.  “We have lots of antique stores here,” Gardner said.  In addition she happily reported that fine furniture maker  E.A. Clore Sons, a family-owned business started 187 years and six generations ago, was still in business.  After announcing in 2016 that it would be closing, so many orders came in that the company decided to stay open.

Bargain hunters can check out the Plow and Hearth Outlet and Country Store as well as the Lighthouse Thrift Shop, while hungry visitors may find some great snacks at Yoders Country Market featuring delicious pastries, sandwiches, soups and bulk foods.  Yoders also has a petting zoo to entertain children.  Visit madisonva.com for details.

Other Madison Highlights
Madison’s farmers’ market featuring produce from local farmers and growers is a regular summer event as well as “a place for the community to come together and enjoy some camaraderie,” Gardner said. 

For visitors who love festivals, Madison’s Taste of the Mountains Main Street Festival is back this year on Saturday, September 2, Labor Day Weekend.  The festival features Madison businesses and food vendors, live music, wine tasting and living history exhibits with lots of family friendly activities as well as  crafters from near and far. This year is the 25th anniversary of this popular event, sponsored by the Madison County Chamber of Commerce.

Whatever your interests, you will find something to love about Madison County.  Take time to explore the county’s website and check out all the options.  And after a few visits, you may join the many others who decide to make Madison County their home.  Start with a call to one of the knowledgeable, local real estate agents who can help you find the perfect  place to live.


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

Categories
Arts

ARTS Pick: In Full

That first hour on Friday after 5 o’clock is special. The window to the weekend opens up, a breeze of freedom summons—the boss is off your back, deadlines are met, the deal has closed—and it’s time to tilt a few back. Rock-solid cover band, a jukebox come to life, In Full is right there with you. Skip the slacker indie croons, and party up the pop chart from Kool and the Gang, Coldplay and Madonna to Maroon 5, Beyoncé and Bon Jovi. The Velvet People Collective opens.

Friday, May 26. Free, 5pm. Sprint Pavilion, 700 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4920.

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Arts

ARTS Picks: Haus of Belle

The drag showcase Haus of Belle offers queens, kings and femme fatales primping, preening and performing in high style. Directed by Dreama Belle, the lineup features Beverly Bouver, Bunny Nicole, Ro’Three, Ivy Dripp, Jason Cox and Latashiya Shade in addition to headliner Bert Darling, who promises on his Facebook page: “I’ll be pulling out new looks, fun numbers and maybe a few bad jokes.”

Thursday, May 25. $5-7, 8:30pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. 977-5590.

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Arts

Henry Hoke’s film work inspires a short story collection

Charlottesville native Henry Hoke remembers writing stories and poems while a student at Venable Elementary. “I think I always made things up,” he says. “I always came from places of imagination.” He left the city at age 18 to study film at NYU. After living in the world of film, first in New York and then in his current home of Los Angeles, where he writes and teaches, Hoke says, “I found my way back to literary writing.”

This month marks the release of his second book, Genevieves, a collection of short stories, just in time for his return to his hometown to teach writing at UVA’s Young Writers Workshop this summer.

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The funny thing, he says, about moving away from film is that “in getting away from it, it became very central to my work.”

One of the stories, “Genevieve Exists,” is told entirely through a movie production assistant’s notes on a script, a job Hoke once held. Another, “Wilmington,” is simply a narrative in dialogue, the conversation between two parents on a train stopped at the site of an accident. “The Host in the Dark of the Crowd” follows a character who finds his state of mind being reflected back to him in a film, as he prepares to leave an indifferent city.

The stories are strange and beautiful, with surprising elements that begin at the micro-level of language as the narrative unfolds. Sometimes this has a humorous effect, as in the beginning of “Wentz”: “No mother should ever have to bury her chicken.” (Yes, chicken.) But there is an underlying melancholy when the joke is revealed to be no joke at all, like in “Surprise Island” when competition between children has dire consequences.

In “MoNa,” what seems surreal becomes real within the story when a weapon of mass destruction evades control by humans. Hoke considered the elements of ghost stories when writing this collection. “When there’s something haunted that anchors a story, it doesn’t have to fill in the plot too much,” he says. “It can remain mysterious. A short story can do that. It can be something fleeting and direct.”

The surreal quality of his work flows from the source. “Largely my inspirations for these stories were very personal and dream-based,” says Hoke. “Especially the idea of Genevieve. The name has always been important to me and I always dream that name. Many of these stories were both dreams and ideas for movies,” he says.

And within that dream world exists Hoke’s female alter-ego. He describes his debut, The Book of Endless Sleepovers, released last October, as “much more rooted in my poetic memories of the boyhood world.” And, because he was writing his first two books at the same time, he says, “the female energy of my inspiration went to Genevieves.”

The stories are strange and beautiful, with surprising elements that begin at the micro-level of language as the narrative unfolds.

Some of the stories in his second book don’t have any gender signifiers, but when they are present, they’re female. He also explores “gender queerness and non-binary figures throughout. That sort of became a rooting part of the expression of this book,” he says. “There’s so much pressure to anchor people in signifiers that they’re used to and expect.” But he chalks that up to marketing and is comfortable allowing the reader enough room to ask questions.

His current work-in-progress is a novel centered on undergraduate film students in New York, though still written in his distinct surrealist style. “I made a rule that the book after that (which is about a father and two sons in Europe) is not going to mention movies at all,” Hoke says with a laugh.