Sarah White’s Country Christmas Show returns for a festive evening filled with twinkling lights, decorated trees, delicious cookies, and, of course, honky-tonk tunes. The Virginia-based singer-songwriter began her career in the late ’90s, and has since performed with Merle Haggard, Justin Townes Earle, Earl Scruggs, and Dave Matthews Band. For her Christmas show, she brings together a sleigh full of local musicians, including Ian Gilliam, Brennan Gilmore, Charlie Bell, Andy Thacker, and Ramblin’ Davey, to perform classic country songs.
Friday 12/23. $18-20, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 First St. S. thesoutherncville.com
UVA club Taste of
Home's pop-up dinner
events have featured
feasts ofSyrian,
Afghani, Honduran,
Indonesian, Bengali,
and Turkish cuisines. Photo: Chelsea McClintock
With culinary delicacies stretched across white linen in the comfortable outdoor space at Belmont’s Southern Crescent restaurant, giddy gastronomes arriving to the first dinner hosted by Taste of Home in 2018 may not have realized the spread was organized by college undergrads.
One of the University of Virginia’s more than 1,000 student clubs and organizations, Taste of Home is still hosting meals four years after its founding by then-UVA student Mayan Braude. Though the journey hasn’t been without its setbacks.
The club and its rotating cast of 30 or so activist members hosts several annual pop-up dining events around Charlottesville to honor the refugee and immigrant community. So far, Taste of Home has featured feasts by nearly a dozen local chefs and home cooks across 10 dinners, lunches, and takeout services.
“It’s really important to us to kind of create a greater sense of community between the university and the surrounding area, as well as giving voices to different demographics that aren’t really elevated,” says Ella Maufair, a second-year UVA student who serves as one of Taste of Home’s co-coordinators.
Syrian, Afghani, Honduran, Indonesian, Bengali, and Turkish cuisine have all had their place in the spotlight since Taste of Home began hosting meals. Featured chefs have included sisters Jamileh and Khadija Hemmati, who fled hostility in Afghanistan in 2016, and Neta Fitria, who moved to the United States from Indonesia to get married and support her family. The cooks receive all proceeds from Taste of Home meals and consult on planning and pricing to make sure everything’s covered.
“We really do work one-on-one with the partnering chefs all the time,” says Sarah Kim, another club co-coordinator who’s in her fourth year at UVA. “We make sure they approve everything we send out and they approve of the pricing we give the public. Everything we do is for the chef…and we really get to know them as people and as friends. It’s quite humbling.”
After several dinners at locations around town into 2020, Taste of Home was forced to move its pop-ups to spaces on or near Grounds. According to Sarah Kim, another club co-coordinator, the move was driven by accessibility—the pandemic simply closed off many of the organization’s options. Some local restaurants still remain hesitant to host pop-ups.
Taste of Home innovated and expanded its mission during the shutdown, switching to “pick-up dinners” and focusing on refugee advocacy. The group launched the Taste of Home Afghanistan Emergency Relief Fund in 2021. The organization has held other events, including a bake sale, and grown its Instagram presence to help expand its reach.
Co-coordinator Layne Johnson says the organization would like to move its events back into the community next spring, when its coordinators hope to host another dinner at Southern Crescent. According to Johnson, the organization continues to grow, and its new members are inevitably students truly passionate about the mission of helping members of the refugee and immigrant community.
As it expands, the nonprofit is focused on securing grant financing through the university and beyond, and contacting more local refugees and immigrants. Taste of Home has so far developed its connections through local religious and other community organizations and is always looking for folks willing to cook for a crowd.
“The main word that comes to mind when I think about Taste of Home is ‘community,’” Johnson says. “It is about bringing people together. We see so many different faces at these events, and to support these local chefs, it feels great.”
Restaurateur and locally renowned musician Jay Pun is 100 percent Thai. But he still thinks a lot about authenticity.
In 2016, Pun traveled to his ancestral home and visited an open-air market in northern Thailand. He was on the hunt for a native lute known as a phin. He’d owned one years before, but it was decorative, nothing authentic.
Pun and his cousins happened upon a local luthier at the market. The Charlottesville native, whose family opened the area’s first Thai restaurant in 1997, bought one of the instruments—essentially a three-stringed guitar—brought it home, and began writing songs. He quickly fell in love with the instrument’s tones and traditions.
“It was similar to the way I think about food,” Pun says. “Even though I am Thai, I didn’t want it to be a gimmick and appropriate the music of another culture.”
Wanting deeply to do the phin justice, Pun researched its history. He took an online class with a Thai phin player, who pointed out the ways Pun naturally brought his Americanized influence to the instrument. He continued to work at it.
Pun formally learned his musicianship at Berklee College of Music. It was there that he also met his wife and other half of the successful world beat duo Morwenna Lasko & Jay Pun. While his family grew its local culinary footprint—they now own Thai Cuisine & Noodle House and Chimm—Pun and his wife produced several albums of their guitar and violin music, and toured around Virginia.
Lasko and Pun are still working on new music, but kids, responsibilities, and the pandemic have conspired to slow them down. And in early 2021, tragedy struck, and it deepened Pun’s love of his own heritage: Eight women of Asian descent were shot and killed while working at a spa in Atlanta. “That was a pinnacle point in my life. I came out as Asian,” Pun says.
Despite being rooted in Thai traditions since birth, Pun says he had largely assimilated to white culture. It was simply what he knew his entire life. But the Atlanta shooting woke him up and made him realize that Charlottesville in many ways doesn’t know its Asian community. Many in the community don’t even know one another.
At Chimm, Pun likes to push palates. While so much of U.S.-based Asian cuisine is watered down for local tastes, he says Charlottesville has embraced many authentic culinary styles.
And with the phin, Pun continues to push his own musical palate. He’s particularly taken with the music of northeastern Thailand. As he begins thinking about the area, its food also springs to his mind.
“It’s a bit different—it’s very spicy on its own, where a lot of the food in central Thailand is not,” he says. In the northeast, the Thai people often eat with their hands, Pun says, taking handfuls of glutinous rice and using it much as Ethiopian people use injera to scoop up delicacies. It’s a type of cuisine that has only recently started to move West.
When Pun’s family opened their first restaurant a quarter century ago, even the more Americanized version of Thai cuisine was considered adventurous.
And while the States might not be ready for traditional phin music, the time may come for that, as well.
“It’s cheesy, but it’s true—there’s a beauty that comes from the way music and food bring people together,” Pun says. “Look at any culture: blues coming from enslaved people and singing about what they’re eating and about being in the kitchen. Music and food are completely entangled.”
Tucked away in a quaint little storefront in Gordonsville is Folkling, an oasis of vintage clothing, heritage textiles, and American-made goods. Folkling is a sustainable venture dedicated to finding old things new homes, creating quality goods with makers, and taking life slow. The mastermind behind it all is Leney Breeden.
Breeden grew up in the Fan District in Richmond, where she had her hands in numerous creative ventures. Through her photography business, A Girl Named Leney, she shot portraiture work and weddings. She curated clothing for various shops, and at one point even had her own fitwear business, for which she designed and created collections.
During this time, Breeden created the Folkling Instagram account. “It started as homewares,” says Breeden. “I love curating and designing vignettes.” Breeden would thrift items from around the city, create small still lifes, post the photographs, and sell the items through Instagram.
A nomad at heart, Breeden decided to hit the road in 2017 to pursue more photojournalistic projects. Over the next two years, she’d head out for days, weeks, or even months at a time, in her Subaru Outback named Blue Moon.
“Folkling is what kept me going between photo jobs,” says Breeden. “Once I was on the road it centered more on clothing, particularly Western Wear, Native American jewelry, and old denim—really beautiful pieces that you don’t necessarily find on the East Coast.”
Then the pandemic hit, and everything stopped. All of Breeden’s photo jobs got canceled, and Folkling was all she had left. “I put my all into it, and it kind of blew up.” It got to the point where Breeden could no longer work out of her second bedroom. Then one day on a drive through Gordonsville, she saw a “for rent” sign on Main Street and knew the small town was the perfect place for Folkling to settle.
Photo: Eze Amos
The Folkling brick and mortar opened in December of 2020, and it’s chock-full of clothing and goods that Breeden’s acquired from people and places during her travels. “I would find some things thrifting on occasion,” Breeden says. “But I also just started meeting people all around the country who had stuff that they didn’t know what to do with, or things that they loved and valued, but just wanted someone to appreciate the story that went along with it, and appreciate the beauty in these old things.”
Showcasing the beauty in the old, mundane, and imperfect is part of Folkling’s mission. “We try to help people appreciate things that are worn and imperfect,” says Breeden. “Finding beauty in the imperfection of things that have withstood the test of time.”
Each item in the Folkling shop has a story, many of which Breeden researches and documents for her archives, a process that can take months depending on an item’s condition. Folkling’s inventory is constantly being refreshed as new items are ready to be sold, so you never know what you’ll find on the racks and shelves.
Vintage clothing that caters to a variety of aesthetics from the ’70s and earlier is always in stock. You might find a fun ’30s playsuit, a well-worn pair of jodhpurs, or some sturdy Levi’s. Folkling also sells antique homewares, handmade items, and American-made goods that are responsibly produced, including ceramics, rugs, and clothing made from deadstock fabrics.
Breeden curates a monthly collection of quilts from the ’40s and earlier for the shop, too. Each one is a work of art, and she tries hard to identify and document the patterns before listing them. “The quilts I find represent so much of an untold story of the women who made them,” says Breeden. “The women who made them weren’t really allowed to make art, and so they turned this utilitarian thing into a beautiful art piece. It’s a story I’m constantly captivated by.”
Folkling is open for in-person shopping Fridays and Saturdays, and online orders from folkling.co usually ship within one week.
For the last five years, Charlottesville artist Tim O’Kane has been designing new seed packets for the flowers, herbs, and vegetables that have been preserved and propagated by the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello. Recently, he spoke with us about the project and his work.
Made in C-VILLE: How did this project get started?
Tim O’Kane: Back in 2017 the Center called me, and we had a great meeting. [Local artist] Gail McIntosh had done a black-and-white engraving that they were using on all the seed packets. The Center wanted to actually show the [individual] plants in color. The whole project is sponsored by Kenneth and Teresa Wood, a couple in Philadelphia. … We started the first year with 20 plants, then we did another 20—I’m starting a new set of 20 now. So far, I’ve done something in the range of 130 paintings. And these are all historic plants documented by Jefferson—when you buy seeds from Monticello, you’re getting what Jefferson grew.
How does this project fit with your own artistic style?
I had never done botanical drawings before, but I am a realist painter … and I’ve been a gardener most of my life. But this is a real education! Peggy Cornett [Curator of Plants at Monticello] and the Center staff are amazing. I can create the drawing, then I show it to them and they correct it. I have the skill in observation—I’ve been painting for 50-plus years now—but I couldn’t do it without them. For example, in one painting in a series on pollinators, I put in bumblebees that don’t exist here. It’s a real team effort.
How did you approach creating a unified look for the packets?
Once I got this job, I started to look at old seed packets—I always liked the way they were done, before photography. I decided to go for a whole new style, a kind of pop art. Each painting has a box around the edge, to give it a three-dimensional aspect. And they all have a pretty bold composition. I really wanted to make them into good paintings, not simply illustrations.
How do you create the paintings of the individual plants?
Mostly I work at Tufton Farm [a Monticello property where the Center’s nursery is housed]. The staff may call me and say such-and-such is in bloom now. I start by photographing the plant I’m working on, so I can get the details. Then I do black-and-white studies to work out the composition and the accuracy. Then I paint in oils. The Center is in the process of having all the works framed—they’re planning to do an exhibition.
What are some of the challenges?
For some of the plants, I had to find out how to make them more dynamic. Herbs, for example—there’s no big flower. I’ve done vegetables, flowers, even fruit—tomatoes are a fruit, and the Center has so many varieties! And I’ve learned about so many new plants—blanket flowers, for example, I didn’t know about them, they’re beautiful and bloom all summer long. And Canterbury bells…
Beyond the seed packets, many of O’Kane’s plant paintings are also featured on pillows, scarves, and other objects sold at the Monticello Shop.
It’s the most wonderful time of year. Of course, for a lot of us, it’s also the most stressful, most exhausting time of year. It’s gift-giving season, and to take some of the pressure off, we’ve tapped local gifting gurus in varying arenas—like food, motherhood, drama, science—and asked them to pick a gift for the very specific people on your list. With any luck (and our experts’ helpful hints), it’ll be the hap-happiest season of all.
For Mom…
“Historically, I’ve not been a giver of material things or commercial goods as much as I have given handwritten notes inside beautiful cards. I can say that as a professional conscious relationship teacher and coach, and as someone who deeply resonates with the mother, the queen, the sage, and the lover archetypes, that reverent, intentional, attentive, and quality time spent in the energies of appreciation (‘thank you for…’), joy (activities or shares that speak to, uplift, and nourish my soul and my senses), play (full-body belly laughs), affirmation (‘I see you…’), praise and celebration (‘In honor of you…’), rest (that is lovingly held, supported, and protected), and pleasure (delicious foods, meals and treats, good conversation, pampering)—in whatever ways they take shape—can be the most powerful, restorative, deeply moving, and memorable gifts to myself or from others.” —Yolonda Coles Jones, Empowerment & Consciousness Coach, Yolonda Jones Creative
For Dad…
“I enjoy any gift from the UVA Bookstore.” —Jim Ryan, President, University of Virginia
Photo: Eze Amos
For the kid…
“How many gifts provide opportunities for parents and kids to make new friends, spend unlimited time learning and playing, and have a joyful place to work out wiggles when the weather outside is crummy? A Virginia Discovery Museum membership is just $150 a year and includes free or discounted admissions at over 500 other museums nationwide.” —Janine Dozier, Executive Director, Virginia Discovery Museum
For the athlete…
“A gift certificate to Rivanna Cryotherapy. Fran and Dawn are great massage therapists, whether you’re a professional athlete or you just need some body work.” —Chris Long, Host, “Green Light” podcast
For the activist…
“Activists confront the ongoing legacies of trauma, and sometimes undergo trauma ourselves—which we carry in our bodies. Activists are such outward-focused, go-go people that we often need encouragement to get self-care. Gift certificates for massages from Common Grounds Healing Arts are much appreciated.” —Jalane Schmidt, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
For the writer…
“Support an aspiring author (or avid reader) in your life with a patterned notebook or pretty tote from O’Suzannah. While you’re there, find a matching pouch or pen.” —Jocelyn Johnson, Author, My Monticello
For the hard-to-shop-for person…
“I shop at Michie Tavern, as they have products and gifts from all over Virginia. I also like ‘memory gifts.’ Stop at a local sandwich shop—Feast!, Markets at Tiger Fuel, Market at Grelen—pack a picnic basket and drive to the area LOVE signs and enjoy. There are many locally within a short drive. The downtown experience of a dinner and show is also a great gift!” —Olivia Branch, Member Relations Coordinator, Keswick
For the game-player…
“As someone who has invented several board games, it may seem strange that I’m not a gamer myself. I pretty much never play any games except chess. I think chess is the greatest game ever, but If I had to pick another, Settlers of Catan would be the clear winner. It’s a fun social game, and we’re lucky to have Pete Fenlon, who originally published Catan and is the current CEO of Catan Studio, living right here in Charlottesville.” —Brian Calhoun, Founder, Rockbridge Guitars (and creator of Chickapig)
For the theater-lover…
“For the classicist, a fancy quill pen or a wax sealing kit from Rock Paper Scissors—everyone should have one of those!” —Jo Manley, Marketing Consultant, American Shakespeare Center
For the poet…
“I’d recommend a book or gift card from New Dominion Bookshop, with its expertly curated poetry section and friendly staff (several of whom are UVA alums and talented writers themselves!). If you step into the shop on the right day, you may even witness a live reading by a local or visiting author who’ll be delighted to sign a copy of their book for you. After selecting the perfect volume, the poet on your gift list can enjoy a glass of wine and the convivial atmosphere at Tilman’s, right next door.” —Kiki Petrosino, Professor and Director of Creative Writing, University of Virginia
Supplied photo.
For the wine-lover…
“Gift card to Mountain House Trading Company. Wine-lovers love exploring, and I discovered Mountain House Trading when visiting the 151 wineries last year. It has everything from local honey and wine accessories to mead flights and small bites.” —Tasha Durrett, founder, Black Women Who Wine
Photo: Andrea Hubbell
For the teacher…
“Teachers are nurturers, leaders, and mentors. They’re planners, improvisers, scholars, and cheerleaders. And so one thing all teachers need by the time the holiday season rolls around is a moment for themselves. Treat the teacher in your life to a gift certificate to one of our amazing local restaurants or bakeries. I just recently enjoyed a pastry from MarieBette Café & Bakery and I bet others would, too!” —Royal Gurley, Superintendent, Charlottesville City Schools
Supplied photo.
For the STEM nerd…
“The Scholars’ Lab TinkerTank is part of the University of Virginia Library system, and it’s open to the community. 3D print your own designs for free!” —Karl Helmstetter, physics teacher, Charlottesville High School
Pro Camera's longtime
lead technician
bought the business
this year and is
ushering the store—
and, to some extent,
film photography—
into its next era. Photo: Tristan Williams
Ryan Jones bought Pro Camera on West Main from Bill Moretz just a few months ago, but he’s been helping put the place in the national flashlight for several years.
Jones, who studied media and photography at the University of Virginia, has turned himself into a go-to resource for analog camera repair. He’s been entrenched in the local photography community since his uni days, but he’s never formally studied the mechanics of cameras. Moretz, a master technician, showed him the way of the shutter.
“He gave me some pointers, and I was able to step in and start learning,” Jones says. “I just took to it—kind of had the knack. I’ve taught myself a good majority of the repairs, but it is a constant learning process.”
As Pro Camera’s lead technician since 2020, Jones became an indispensable part of the team when Moretz began working from home due to COVID. Moretz decided to retire officially by the end of the year and sold the business he founded in 1983 to Edward Bricker.
Photo: Tristan Williams
About six months ago, Jones decided it was time to move on. He had a job lined up with another photo firm in Pennsylvania and was on his way out the door when Bricker crunched the numbers. If Jones left, he figured he’d lose too much repair revenue to stay out of the dark room.
He offered to sell the place to Jones, Jones accepted, and the nearly 40-year-old business was saved.
“The position we occupy in the market is unique because this is an industry that is and has been on the decline for many years,” Jones says. “And almost because of that, it has allowed us to position ourselves advantageously and capture what is left of a dying market.”
According to Jones, other camera shops the country over claim they offer repairs on old equipment but actually send the devices to Pro Camera. The out-of-town repair submissions come from Chicago, New York, California—”all over the world,” Jones says.
One of the keys to keeping the flagging hobby afloat, according to Jones, is making sure components are available to repair old cameras. As more time passes since manufacture, designs go out of production, and camera makers stop supporting their legacy products, it becomes increasingly difficult to harvest old parts from other broken down machines. Jones has taught himself rudimentary machining and metalworking and even dabbled in 3D printing to address the component supply issue.
But as smartphone cameras become better with every new product release, how can an industry like analog photography compete? Jones says it’s not about competing for the old school shutterflies—that race to the next best thing in color and resolution misses the aesthetic point for pixel purists. And for the new school, those pro-level pocket computer/cameras have their well-documented downsides.
“Film is coming back, depending on who you ask,” Jones says. “For older folks going back to it…it is an economy of nostalgia. And young folks are finding film and the way it features in their social behavior is healthier than the digital forms of media.”
Jones says he remains committed to his ties to the local film community, which he developed working on a long-term photo ethnography of the Woolen Mills neighborhood while in school. And he only hopes to strengthen those ties. He wants Pro Camera, once a somewhat sterile storefront, to be a place for pixophiles to congregate, feel comfortable, and share ideas.
Is Charlottesville the next big not-so-point-and-click hot spot? Hard to say. Still, Jones says he’s just getting started.
“We have a lot of different goals,” he says. “The first is the marathon of manufacturing and continuing to learn how to keep these cameras circulating. But we also want Pro Camera to be approachable. …If you’re entering the store, we would love to sell you something, but we also want you to share your thoughts and share the space.”
Maybe you thought LEGO was just for kids. But for 19-year-old Liam Mohajeri Norris and his mother Emily, those little plastic shapes may win them a title, a trophy, and a cool $100,000 on in the “LEGO Masters” reality competition series.
And, Liam admits, “I do have the dream of working for LEGO.”
Roll tape back to 2004, when UVA grads Scott and Emily Norris moved back to the Charlottesville area with their new family. Emily, who was homeschooling Liam and his brothers, was on the lookout for creative toys, and scored a huge bin of used LEGO at a Waldorf School yard sale. The rest, as they say, is history.
Emily remembers Liam starting out with open play, and then working on sets to discover more ways the blocks could be used. Then came MOCs (LEGO-speak for “my own creations”—there’s a lot of jargon in serious LEGO work). His parents got into the scene as supporters and “artistic advisors,” says Emily.
Then, Liam recalls, “We had a FIRST LEGO League team that my mom coached.” At 13, Liam started a LEGO Design Club that met at the local library. Then he and his mother taught a LEGO design class at the Community Homeschool Enrichment Center; Emily, who has a master’s degree in education, says LEGO play is a good way to do team building with middle schoolers. Soon Liam was running a LEGO workshop for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Virginia on Cherry Avenue, and working out new designs with the online LEGO community.
The family moved to Tucson in 2021, but the LEGO work continued. Emily designed a studio space in their home, with places for Scott, Liam, and his brothers to work on their individual projects. Liam, now a freshman at the University of Arizona majoring in film and television, has his own YouTube channel called Brixter where he posts LEGO tutorials. He recently posted a design to LEGO World Builder, an online portal where builders can pitch their designs to other enthusiasts—and to LEGO.
What is the appeal that’s kept him playing LEGO for more than a decade? “I like that it uses both the creativity and the engineering parts [of my mind],” says Liam, citing his interests in both robotics and math. And the weekly challenges on “LEGO Masters” aren’t just making cool shapes. In the Wild West challenge, the competing teams had to design a LEGO bull rider that could survive riding on an actual mechanical bull—and look good doing it. In the Jurassic Park episode, the teams had to construct a dinosaur action scene that could stand up to live special effects—Liam and Emily (the first mother-son team in the series’ four-season run) won that round.
Liam finds working with LEGO both relaxing and therapeutic. “I like that creating with LEGO is physical, not just digital—being able to look and interact with what I’m making,” he says. “I enjoy thinking about how other people interact with it.”
And that’s a lot of people—one site estimates about 400 million worldwide (including APOL, “adult players of LEGO”) have tried their hand with the little bricks. Two million viewers are keeping an eye on the “LEGO Masters” competition.
What’s his next MOC? “A lot of the time, I’m just playing around,” says Liam. “I may have an idea, other times I’m just experimenting.” Once that led Liam to build a lion carrying a tiny African village on his back, made of more than 5,000 LEGO bricks; next time, who knows what he’ll create.
It’s a gorgeous Virginia fall. The UVA football season is nearly over, but you’re not quite ready to start your holiday shopping at area stores, and the online pre-holiday bargains can wait. So spend your weekend participating in another popular autumn pastime: exploring beautiful back roads, stopping at country markets for sandwiches or snacks, and buying local. Head out in almost any direction, and see what you find.
Polly Davis Doig at Polly’s Folly. Photo: Eze Amos
Polly’s Folly
Drive south on Route 29 toward Nelson County, and you’ll see the signs for Polly’s Folly. Owner/jack-of-all-trades Polly Davis Doig bought the almost-derelict used furniture store in 2019. “I had to gut the place,” she recalls, “but I’ve always liked a fixer-upper.” A career journalist tired of reporting the news, Davis Doig dreamed of creating the kind of community hub she remembered from growing up a farmer’s daughter in a tiny town with one store that had been started by her four-times-great-grandfather. Polly’s Folly opened in December 2020.
Next to the bar where you can order breakfast, coffee, pastries, sandwiches, quiches, and draft beers are four cooler cabinets full of local beers, wines, cider, kombucha, and cheeses (including pimentos, of course). Along the other walls and scattered on tables throughout are more displays of fresh produce, Virginia food and beverage products, dime candy, snacks, and the work of local craftspeople. North Garden-based woodworker Alex Pettigrew walked in one day and “asked if I would sell his stuff,” says David Doig, who jumped at the chance. Pettigrew put the Davis Doig in touch with several other local artisans, from Muddy Creek Pottery in Lovingston to musician and jeweler Gina Sobel. (Particularly unique: the grocery carry-alls, made from recycled cat food and feed bags.) Polly’s Folly is still evolving; watch for upcoming music events in the outdoor space behind the store. And just so you know, it’s the only place to get Shenandoah Joe’s Polly’s Folly blend—“dark like our soul,” says Davis Doig with a grin.
Kristen Rabourdin bought Batesville Market from its previous owners for $1 in 2020 and relishes
her role at the helm of the beloved store. “I’m a steward until the torch passes,” she says. Photo: Eze Amos
Batesville Market
The Batesville Market has been the heart of this little town since the 1880s—it’s seen so much traffic over the decades, the front entrance’s wooden step has been worn away to the sill. Kristen Rabourdin bought the store for $1 in 2020, when the then-owners needed to move on but wanted to ensure the store stayed open for the community. Rabourdin moved to Batesville in 2004, and loved the place. “This store is an extension of everyone’s living room,” she says.
During the pandemic, the market became a lifeline for the community (“grocery delivery services don’t come out here,” she notes). Rabourdin took the slower times as an opportunity to build a patio/performance space outside, which now hosts live music (from Irish and bluegrass to The Pollocks) and special events like Batesville Apple Butter Weekend and Oktoberfest. The market’s kitchen prepares breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and caters as well. There’s plenty of grab-and-go food and drink, and shelves of local wines, ciders, snacks, and specialty foods (like The Little Things shortbread buttons from Belmont’s Found. Market Company). Don’t forget to browse the jewelry, pottery, wooden crafts, notebooks, and cards, and soaps and creams from Afton Mountain Apothecary. Hanging above the bar is a double row of beer glasses and steins, many of them individually labeled for the Batesville Mug Club (“we’re the No. 1 beer bar in Batesville,” Rabourdin jokes). As the current owner, she sees herself as part of a long tradition. “People come in and say, ‘I came here as a child.’ Many of the local kids come here to get their first job—I’m not going to turn them away. I’m a steward until the torch passes.”
Simeon Market. Photo: Eze Amos
Simeon Market
A charming former gas station on the road between Monticello and Highland, Simeon Market was acquired by next-door neighbor Jefferson Vineyards as a way to provide food to vineyard hoppers. The market was launched in 2019 by co-owners Ashley Sieg (of Tavern & Grocery) and Billy Koenig (of the late-lamented bakery Sweethaus), aiming to create a country café and meeting place for both tourists and locals. Then came March 2020. During the pandemic, Koenig says, “We did mostly retail business—people didn’t want to sit and stay.” But as traffic and tourism has rebounded, so has the market. It now offers a selection of breakfast and lunch items to go or to enjoy on the little tables inside or outside, with lovely vineyard views. Or combine the prepared foods, lots of specialty items from crackers and condiments (pick up some Jam According to Daniel preserves) to beer and wine, and locally made tablecloths, napkins, and cutlery into the ultimate vineyard picnic basket.
Browse the craft items (jewelry, scarves, Christmas ornaments, birdhouses, and more) to find gifts for the next birthday or special occasion. But do not leave without a couple of Koenig’s specialty: Vivi’s Cupcakes, in flavors from classic to creative (black-eyed Susan, grasshopper, salted caramel, and funfetti). Named for Koenig’s daughter, Vivi’s also does specialty cakes in its online business, but after years in the hectic restaurant business Koenig enjoys his little bit of country. “It’s magical out here,” he says.
KEEP GOING
Baine’s Books and Coffee (Scottsville)
A good choice for a rainy weekend—pick up a book and a pastry or sandwich, sit down, and while away an hour or two. Then head down the block for some arts and crafts shopping.
Wyant’s Store(Whitehall)
The opposite of trendy, stocked with necessities from beer and sandwiches to fishing lures and motor oil.
Hunt Country Corner Market(Free Union)
No crafts, but sandwiches, deli, and fully prepared dinners to go. Check out the week’s menu and reserve yours.
Greenwood Grocery (Crozet)
Gourmet sandwiches, local produce, and specialty food and drink on your way to/from Route 151, Wintergreen, and Afton.
Stony Point Market(Barboursville)
Look over the selection of funky crafts, then treat yourself to a cheeseburger and a root beer float. And, if the idea of running a community/country store inspires you, this one is currently on the market.
Mountain View Tea Room (Tyro)
Really out in the country! Stop on the way to or from Crabtree Falls.
Hailey Ballard has an unusual job. When she’s not teaching first grade, she brings a bit of magic to local kids as a princess. Well, a queen, to be precise.
Back in 2020, Ballard started working for the Albemarle County Public School District in the middle of the pandemic. The district organized a drive-by character parade for students, where teachers dressed up, decorated their cars, and drove and walked around local neighborhoods. “I decided I was going to go all out, and I dressed up as Elsa,” says Ballard. One of Ballard’s co-workers noticed her costume, and a year later asked if Ballard would come to her daughter’s birthday party dressed up. It was a light-bulb moment for Ballard.
“That was my first party,” says Ballard. “I thought, ‘Why haven’t I been doing this all along?’ I have the background of working with kids, and I did a lot of theater and music in middle school and high school, and I’ve always kind of missed doing that—performing.”
That year Ballard founded Character Connections, a company that allows her to bring her love for performing back into her life in a meaningful way.
Character Connections currently offers eight movie-inspired characters who can make appearances at birthday parties, including the Ariel-inspired Mermaid Princess, the Tiana-inspired Bayou Beauty, and the Rapunzel-inspired Tower Princess. Ballard offers a variety of party packages for every occasion, with the most basic starting at $155 for a 30-minute appearance from one princess.
The most popular package, the Royal Princess Party, features a one-hour visit from one to two princesses. The Royal Princess Party kicks off with a storytime (princesses always come prepared with a book or two), and a special coronation ceremony, where the birthday kid is presented with a keepsake rhinestone tiara and an autographed certificate. Then it’s time for all the guests to get glitter tattoos, which Ballard has found to be a huge hit with kids and adults alike. The princesses’ appearance wraps up with photos, dancing, and, of course, a royal rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Other packages include party games, makeovers, and manicures, but Ballard also offers custom parties for people looking for something specific, or who want appearances from three or more princesses.
In the one year Character Connections has been open, Ballard has already brought on six other performers to help meet the demand, many of whom also work with children in their day jobs. “Our cast is amazing,” says Ballard. “They’re all so professional. I’ve been lucky to find this niche of workers.” Each character has its own intricate costume, wig, makeup, and accessories, but it’s the enthusiastic performance and charm of the actors that gives kids an unforgettable experience.
Ballard’s favorite character to play is the Snow Queen, an Elsa-inspired character. “She’s our most popular character,” says Ballard. “She’s always so much fun, and I love being able to get a little bit better at playing her at every party.” Getting to perform is a highlight for Ballard, but the best part of the job is giving kids a truly magical experience. “It is an absolute joy to bring this to kids. This is what I look forward to all week, getting to have these moments. The kids are overjoyed when we walk in. They can’t believe it, they’re so excited.”
Ballard has big plans to keep sharing the magic. On top of birthday parties for all ages, Character Connections can perform at company events and weddings, and the princesses regularly appear at community gatherings, such as the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, the Grand Illumination, and more. She also hopes to introduce more characters to the lineup, including superheroes, and would love to one day have a permanent space to host tea parties and special events.
