Chloe Rogers in UVA Drama's Twelfth Night. Supplied photo.
UVA Drama’s production of Twelfth Night is not your average play. The classic tale of mistaken identity, true love, and survival is reimagined as a musical with a vibrant, funk-jazz score from Shaina Taub. Chloe Rogers stars as Viola, a young woman who is separated from her twin in a shipwreck, and assumes a male identity as she navigates the fictional oceanside community of Illyria. Illyria’s townspeople are acted by members of De La Roll, Charlottesville Ballet Academy, and Wartime Fitness Warriors.
Through 4/7. $8-14 8pm. Culbreth Theatre, UVA Grounds. drama.virginia.edu
“More of the good, less of the bad” is the motto upon which Underground Springhouse built its sound and style. For USH, the good is a little bit of everything—reggae, country, and funk within a rock ‘n’ roll context. The most recent addition to the outfit’s genre-bending catalog, “Tallulah,” a tender, emotional ballad rooted in folk music, is a marked segue from “Thanks For Joining Me, Bobby! / Julian,” a hard rock, psychedelic romp. Each USH live show is a unique experience, with multiple mashups, surprise covers, and unexpected improvisation.
Saturday 4/1. $15-17, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 First St. S. thesoutherncville.com
Cultivate Charlottesville believes that its work in food justice is inseparable from racial justice. Access to affordable food, as well as the ability and wealth to be able to use and work land to grow food, it says, are all affected by racial inequality. Photo by John Robinson.
Why isn’t more public green space used to grow food? Highway medians, the small lawns between sidewalks and apartments, public parks, all have the potential, and Richard Morris thinks about this more than most. The co-executive director of the food justice organization Cultivate Charlottesville knows the challenges and rewards of choosing a good garden location.
The group manages a community farm plot on West Street, one on the corner of Monticello Avenue and Sixth streets, and a new location behind the Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center.
Since 2018, Cultivate has been working with residents and city departments to locate a new plot for community gardening and food justice initiatives after the loss of agricultural land to needed housing redevelopment. At the top of the list is Booker T. Washington Park. In the summer months, the organization will facilitate discussions with community members about how urban agriculture could contribute to the park.
The 9.3-acre Booker T. Washington park is not the largest park in Charlottesville, but it is one of the most heavily used. It’s home to a sheltered picnic area, a pool, basketball courts, a baseball diamond, and a playground. Since 1989, the African American Cultural Arts Festival has been held in the park annually.
Washington Park’s strong culture is tied to its history, a history that is entwined with that of the 150-acre McIntire Park. In 1926, both plots of land were gifted to the city by Paul McIntire to be used as segregated parks, with McIntire reserved for white residents and Washington for Black residents. To this day, Washington Park receives a large amount of use from Rose Hill residents on the site of the former Rose Hill plantation.
“In [1944], there was a botanical exhibit at Washington Park, and there were something like 200 entries in the exhibit,” Morris says. “We don’t know exactly how many people participated, but the point is that at one point there were a lot of Black farmers in and around the Charlottesville area, certainly way more than we have now.”
Cultivate Charlottesville’s work in food justice cannot be separated from racial justice. The land to grow food, the wealth to buy food, and low-wealth neighborhoods’ access to affordable food, have all been dramatically impacted by racial inequities. Washington Park is embedded in that legacy.
“We’ve actually gone backwards, because if you look at Black land ownership today, and even home ownership, you just don’t have that,” Morris says. “You could not recreate that event today because there are not enough Black landowners, not enough Black farmers, not enough Black gardeners.”
Cultivate Charlottesville’s mission of food equity intersects issues of financial security and affordable housing. Providing food is important, but so is community wealth building, access to transportation and green space, and access to education.
Numbers for food insecurity are drawn from an aggregation of sources including the number and kind of grocery stores, and the use of SNAP benefits or other forms of aid. School lunches also provide important data. Schools with high percentages of requests for aid with school lunches receive universal free or reduced lunches.
“So there’s six elementary schools [in Charlottesville],” says Aleen Carey, outreach and resource program director for Cultivate Charlottesville. “At four of them, the entire student body is eligible for free and reduced meals. In three of those four, the majority of students are Black. So there’s definitely a correlation by neighborhood to free and reduced meals at schools. And that’s one way you can look at it a little bit.”
Charlottesville’s food insecurity numbers are unacceptably high, Carey says. The city ranks above the state average. According to Cultivate Charlottesville’s website, 17 percent of families experience food insecurity in the city, while in the state of Virginia the number is 11 percent. Additionally, 33.3 percent of people live below the poverty level, while the national average is 13.1 percent.
“When you think about how many restaurants there are, wineries, farms, I mean people come here specifically for food,” Carey says. “So to have that high of a level of food insecurity in a place with unbelievable resources, to have a food insecurity rate that’s higher than the state, that is unbelievable.”
Cultivate Charlottesville’s Urban Agriculture Initiative seeks to partner with residents to build community health, power, and resilience by facilitating access to healthy food and building a sense of ownership of that community space.
The organization’s schoolyard gardens are education focused, with students eating food that they plant and harvest, but the urban agriculture plots are focused on production. The food grown there is shared on market days at no cost to anyone who lives in public or subsidized housing. The organization runs one to two market days each week, rotating the location between different neighborhoods, including Friendship Court, Westhaven, Midway Manor, Crescent Halls, South First Street, and Riverview, where anyone can come and get the produce for free.
Charlottesville City Schools has a new coordinator of school safety and security. Photo by Skyclad Aerial.
City schools hires safety coordinator
Regine Wright, Charlottesville City Schools new coordinator of school safety and security, will oversee the major components of the division safety model that were adopted in 2021. They include: safety and crisis-planning and training, monitoring of security systems, and the Care and Safety Assistant program.
Wright, who was hired on March 20, has hit the ground running, and spent her first week on the job meeting with principals and students, and listening to their suggested areas of improvement. She wants to build on the complex safety program already in place at Charlottesville City Schools, and make modifications as needed.
She intends to use established relationships with the CPD and different safety organizations, acting as an intermediary. “I’m hoping just to be one more link in the chain,” Wright says. “This position actually gives me a great opportunity to start meeting kids one-on-one and try to find out what their individual needs are, and if I can help facilitate getting these kids in the right program or to the right person to try to help steer them away from some of the violence.”
In addition, says Wright, school officials specifically called for tabletop exercises. “They were requesting more [tabletop exercises] so they can start talking with their management teams more on how to walk through certain scenarios, so they can already have a game plan,” she says.
A University of North Texas graduate, Wright served on the Charlottesville Police Department for eight years, initially as an officer and then as the department’s first Black female detective. She then joined the investigative team for the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission, an organization that manages 28 public defender offices and two satellite offices serving communities throughout Virginia.
Wright says she left the police department because she was “looking for a change,” but the jobs she then occupied left a void. “What I had been missing since I was [in] a police department is the connection to the community and actually feeling like I was serving,” she says. “That’s a big passion of mine, serving and giving back and helping others. And a couple of jobs I’ve held since I left the police department just weren’t really fulfilling that desire for me. When this job opened up, it seemed like the perfect solution. … Even just in the first week, it lived up to my hopes and dreams and expectations.”
Wright also has volunteered with city school students through Burnley-Moran Elementary’s Girls on the Run program, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and UVA’s summer track program for Charlottesville youth. She also conducted classroom presentations at Greenbrier and Johnson elementary schools and at CHS, and led training in the area of trauma and youth.
“My main goal,” she says, “is to get in here and, you know, talk to the principals and the administrators and teachers as well as the kids and find out what they feel like the problems are and take a load off of them to have them [not have] to deal with the problems and not having to make the contact … and let me be that middle person. So they can focus more on, you know, teaching the kids.”
Surefire recipe for disaster
A room filled with packing peanuts, fireworks, and a St. Patrick’s Day-themed party at a University of Virginia fraternity. What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot.
Shortly after 10pm on March 16, Charlottesville police and fire departments responded to a fire at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house at 165 Rugby Rd. No injuries were reported, and, while the cause of the blaze has not been confirmed, it is suspected that it had something to do with a DJ lighting off small-scale fireworks in a room overflowing with packing peanuts. Ya think?
First-year student Anastasia Arfyeva was at the Kappa Sigma house when the incident occurred. “It was so weird,” she says. “We were standing outside the house, and all of a sudden, smoke started to come out of the windows. We were literally about to go in, and it’s so scary to think we could have been inside if we showed up five minutes earlier.”
The UVA alert system reported the situation stabilized by 10:44pm. Kappa Sigma President Luke Stone has not commented on any public forum about the fire.
In brief
Even more shots fired
On March 22, Charlottesville police responded to a shots fired incident on Cedar Hill Road at Wayne Avenue at around 9:23pm. There were no injuries, but several cars were damaged by gunfire, reports The Daily Progress. On March 26, police also responded to a shots fired call near Dice Street and Sixth Street SW at around 8:30pm. No injuries or damages were reported, according to NBC29.
Assistant principal fired
Western Albemarle High School Assistant Principal Harold Hackney has been fired for allegedly allowing an intoxicated student to drive two other intoxicated students home on March 6. According to the Albemarle County Police Department, Hackney, 50, was charged with two counts of “causing or encouraging acts rendering children delinquent, abused, etc.” Each count carries up to a 12-month jail sentence and up to a $2,500 fine. The students, who had allegedly been drinking off campus before returning to school around lunchtime, will not be charged—but “certainly are subject to disciplinary procedures,” ACPS spokesman Phil Giaramita told The Daily Progress.
Western Albemarle fired its assistant principal for allegedly allowing an intoxicated student to get behind the wheel.
Charlottesville City Schools has a new coordinator of school safety and security. Photo courtesy Albemarle County.
Back in business
Good news, BBQ fans: Ace Biscuit & Barbecue is back in business. New owner Stefan Friedman, a longtime fan of the restaurant, reopened the beloved Rose Hill spot on March 23, less than two weeks after previous owner Brian Ashworth announced he was shutting down due to financial issues. “Ol’ Dirty Biscuit forever!” reads a March 21 post on the restaurant’s Instagram.
CASPCA volunteer Sarah Lloyd was recently dismissed via an emailed letter from a Richmond lawyer. Lloyd, an experienced dog walker, denies violating any of the animal shelter’s guidelines. Supplied photo.
Since hiring law firm McGuireWoods to investigate allegations of severe internal dysfunction and animal mistreatment made by more than 100 current and former staff and volunteers in January, the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA has fired two volunteers who voiced concerns about the shelter’s practices and leadership.
When experienced dog walker Louise Finger showed up at the shelter for her shift on February 21, Volunteer Manager Krystyn Dotson and another employee stopped her at the entrance, she says.
“It’s been determined that you’re not permitted to volunteer with us any longer,” one of the employees told Finger, according to an audio recording of the confrontation. When Finger, who volunteered at the SPCA for several decades, asked why, they refused to answer.
Finger’s dismissal came after she expressed concerns to Dotson, according to emails shared with C-VILLE. On February 14, Dotson sent an email to volunteers instructing them to walk all dogs by 6pm for safety reasons. The following day, Finger urged Dotson to allow extra walking time—the shelter, which typically houses 55 to 60 dogs, does not have enough volunteers to safely walk all dogs by 6pm, she said.
In response, Dotson asked Finger on February 18 if she could shadow a new walker during her shift the following day, which Finger declined to do. “With only 3 EDWs signed up, it is not a good time for me to shadow,” wrote Finger, who is among the many former and current staff and volunteers who have penned letters to the shelter’s board of directors sharing concerns.
While the SPCA may fire volunteers “at any time with or without cause or notice,” those who violate guidelines are supposed to be issued verbal and written warnings before being dismissed, per the organization’s volunteer liability waiver.
When asked why Finger was fired, board president Jenn Corbey declined to offer an explanation. “It is inappropriate for CASPCA to discuss specific volunteers or their actions,” she said in an email to C-VILLE.
After Finger’s dismissal, experienced dog walker Sarah Lloyd became worried that more volunteers could be fired for speaking out—she had attended a February 11 protest calling for new shelter leadership. “I was super careful not to break any rules,” she says. However, on March 17, Lloyd received an emailed letter from Richmond-based lawyer Buckley Warden notifying her that she had been dismissed for “repeatedly” violating guidelines, including disclosing donor information and recording employees without their permission.
“I didn’t do any of those,” says Lloyd, who volunteered at the shelter for almost four years.
Regarding the CASPCA’s decision to hire Warden to dismiss Lloyd, “we are a small organization and from time to time rely on external expertise to help us operate,” said Corbey.
In protest against the controversial dismissals, experienced dog walkers Keith Sohr, Emily Sohr, Melinda Clark, and Laura Efford resigned on March 22. Other volunteers have decreased their hours, and are afraid to express concerns, says volunteer Beth Gould.
“[Resigning] was our only power to make our voices heard,” says Emily Sohr, who volunteered at the shelter for 16 years. “Animal welfare does not appear to be the priority.”
Multiple volunteers have also raised concerns about the shelter’s high turnover and vacancies—because there is no behavior manager or dog enrichment specialist on staff, five to 10 dogs with behavioral issues are being warehoused “in a very stressful environment,” according to a volunteer who wishes to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. Additionally, volunteers accuse leadership of retaliating against volunteers by removing their access to challenging animals, among other measures.
Corbey denied accusations of animal mistreatment, citing a February state inspection that mentioned no evidence of animal cruelty or neglect. Regarding concerns about management, ‘‘McGuireWoods has received all correspondence directed to the CASPCA relevant to their review from former employees, volunteers, and members of the community,” she said.
“We hope to have the results of that review soon,” Corbey continued, “and will take appropriate action based on the findings.”
Plans for a six-story, 97-room hotel at 843 West Main St. would be a by-right development under the existing zoning. Photo by Mitchell Matthews Architects and Planners.
There has been a slight delay in the release of further details about how Charlottesville’s new zoning code will work, but at least two major projects are making their way through the system.
Earlier this month, City Council signaled it will likely allow a technical change to the existing zoning to consider a nine-story mixed-use building at the corner of Ivy and Copeley roads. Under the new zoning, that project by RMD Properties would probably be permissible without further approval, but the developer’s attorney said they want to move forward as soon as possible.
“We hope that it is something that will enable the project to move forward and give the developers some comfort and continue to invest money in the design process,” said Valerie Long with the firm Williams Mullen at a Planning Commission public hearing.
The proposed new zoning for the property is Commercial Mixed-Use 8, which would allow for this type of use. RMD’s concept would not work under existing zoning because the land is less than the two-acre minimum required for a Planned Unit Development.
The actual application will come back to the Planning Commission and City Council within a few months, after the elected body approves a zoning text amendment to eliminate the size requirement.
Rory Stolzenberg, a member of the Planning Commission, signaled his support to allow a private developer to build something on land that will provide tax revenue to the city. (The University of Virginia’s real estate foundation has been buying up land on Ivy Road for decades.)
“We might end up getting a building that is as large as contemplated here, or under the new zoning and without getting a dime of tax revenue for it, that we could be using to fund our schools and other services,” says Stolzenberg.
There’s a lot of construction on Ivy Road for projects that will not directly generate any tax revenue and do not have to conform to the city’s zoning. To the east of RMD’s site, the University of Virginia is currently constructing a 214-room hotel, the Karsh Institute of Democracy, and the School of Data Science. There’s room for many more buildings in the future.
Another large building that is in the works is a hotel proposed for 843 West Main St., which is next to the Standard apartment complex. Earlier this month, the Board of Architectural Review made a preliminary review.
“My recommendation was that this building, recognizing it is fronting on West Main, that it not turn its back and not present itself as another wall to 10th and Page,” said Jeff Werner, the city’s historic preservation and design planner.
The project is being pursued by-right under the existing zoning and would not require any special use permits. The draft zoning code would designate the property as Corridor Mixed-Use 5.
Hotels on city property do generate property tax revenue for Charlottesville, in addition to revenue from the transient occupancy tax. For a sense of scale, 315 West Main St. was assessed at just over a million dollars 10 years ago. Earlier this year, the site of the Marriott Residence Inn was assessed at nearly $24 million.
The second round of zoning rules will be released to the public on Wednesday, March 29.
Every restaurant regular has a dish that keeps them coming back, such as the charred carrots at Oakhart Social. Photo by Eze Amos.
By Carrie Meslar
Whether you’re a visitor from out of town or a local restaurant regular, there’s significant pressure that comes with the query, “Where should we go to eat?” The answer is reliant on any number of personality quirks, dietary restrictions (both real and imagined), and the experience you are seeking. Those in the know usually rely on a few standbys, and a good recommendation becomes a great one when you, with a wink and a nudge, add the insider knowledge of an item they absolutely must order.
The following list is a rundown of side dishes that have loyal followings, some have been area favorites for years, while others are newcomers that have quickly made an impression on diners.
Charred carrots at Oakhart Social
Carrots, yes carrots, have been the subject of enthusiastic conversation among friends who have had the chance to dine at Oakhart. Once they were even the subject of an ice breaker during a job interview. These charred carrots sit on a bed of buttermilk ranch, and are complemented with seasoned pecans and delicate pea tendrils. They are proof that vegetables can be complex, flavorful, and memorable.
Red hot blues from Continental Divide
There’s never been a trip to Continental Divide when I did not order the Red Hot Blues. There is something about this glorious plate of spicy blue corn chips, thickly coated with goat and jack cheese and red onion, then shoved under a hot broiler until perfectly done, that satisfies multiple cravings. It doubles as a recovery food that brings you back, and the dish sustains you through that ill-advised second or fifth margarita. If sharing with more than one person, a second order is advisable to keep friendships intact, and family feuds at bay.
Bacon-wrapped dates at Mas
It is a universally accepted phenomenon that magic occurs when things are wrapped in bacon. At Mas, the once-geriatric snack that is the date transforms into a culinary craving when it gets dolled up with a sizzling strip of bacon. The Mas version of this snack that originates from Victorian England is so beloved that, when working for a local catering company, I was asked by multiple couples if it was possible to recreate it for their wedding.
Fried oysters at Siren
The level of enthusiasm for Siren’s take on fried oysters makes it clear that Laura Fonner and her team are on to something. Described to me as “one of the most perfectly constructed bites of food in recent memory,” the fried oysters have received the kind of praise that will propel them to iconic status. They get their moment in the spotlight fried in panko, and dressed with herb aioli, lemon pearls, pickled fresno peppers, and shallots.
Polpettine al forno at Lampo
“Bring me back some meatballs!” is an expression this vegetarian never expected to hear, let alone multiple times when announcing I was headed to Lampo for dinner. Housemade mozzarella melted atop these meatballs makes for an elevated spin on the classic comfort food, and allows for maximum cheese pull. With the rise of Lampo2Go, Charlottesville residents are now able to enjoy this staple from the comfort of home. While which pizza to get might be the subject of intense debate, the meatballs come with a more simple question: How many orders are enough?
Cinnamon roll at Belle
To leave Belle without a cinnamon roll is to exhibit significant willpower. Perfectly positioned in the bakery case, these jumbo-sized rolls can play any number of roles in your day—as a treat-yourself breakfast, the perfect way to finish a meal, a balm for your sadness, or joy in the craftsmanship that is the bread at Belle. These sourdough-based indulgences have a perfect softness on the inside and just the right amount of icing coating the top.
Griddled mac and cheese at Miller’s
It’s something of a Charlottesville tradition to sit on the expansive patio of Miller’s, particularly in the summer months when the trees offer significant shade and the Downtown Mall is at peak people watching. When diving into the menu, a seasoned veteran knows the griddled mac and cheese is not to be missed. Crispy exterior and gooey cheesy interior? That’s when a staple side goes from a good choice to a can’t-resist one.
Menus, particularly entrées, can change frequently to reflect seasonality, availability, and the chef’s creativity or whims. It’s a game of chance, and something that captures your fancy vanishes as quickly as it arrives (I’m looking at you, ramps). However, when the ingredients are accessible and the masses throw their collective weight behind a dish, its existence can be tied to the restaurant in an inseparable way.
Did we miss your favorite dish? Tell us about it. living@c-ville.com
Local musician Thomas Gunn performs a rare solo show in celebration of the release of his new album of original songs. A longtime staple on the Charlottesville music scene, Gunn’s regular gig is with Batesville-based band The Pollocks, in which he plays lead guitar and co-writes with the band’s founder, Jason Pollock. He previously released two solo albums, Conversations with a Wishing Well and Don’t Change Your Mind, and contributed to Jeff Sweatman’s All the Best …From Six Feet Away. Gunn’s original work delivers a delightful fusion of folk and country with deft guitar, poignant lyrics, and unscripted humor. Pollock opens, followed by two sets from Gunn.
Friday 3/31. $18-20, 7:30pm. The Front Porch, 221 E. Water St. frontporchcville.org
For this year’s We Are C-VILLE, we asked several Charlottesvillians to write love letters to our city. The writers had the freedom to talk about whatever they wanted, in whatever form they would like. Here are five perspectives penned by David Plunkett, Miller Murray Susen, Richelle Claiborne, Michael Payne, and Edwina Herring.
A vault full of treasures
When I was a child, I was obsessed with the vault holding the rarest materials at the Alderman Library at the University of Virginia. My father worked at Alderman, and as a child-care measure my older brother and I were given what we thought was free rein over the nooks and crannies of that magnificent building; from the aircraft carrier-style stairways to the majestic quiet of the McGregor room, we explored and caroused. We saw library staff ever so carefully work on delicate materials from that mysterious vault. I didn’t really understand what was in there, but I was reasonably sure that it was treasure.
It turns out that it was! The rarest of materials may have been in there, like the Declaration of Independence Collection, the Jorge Louis Borges Collection, the manuscript of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and many more priceless items. This was my introduction to the world of books and libraries, and it is an apt metaphor—reading is a special combination to unlock a vault full of treasures.
I spent my childhood days in the libraries of the Charlottesville school system, and my weekends at the wondrous Central Library, ostensibly working on homework but more often relishing the freedom that came with the ability to pull any book with any new world inside of it off the shelf and dive in.
Reading in Charlottesville isn’t just in the libraries. This area is home to more wonderful bookstores and booksellers than you can count. The Virginia Festival of the Book draws readers and writers from around the world to gather and share. The Friends of the Library book sale brought RVs with buyers from out of state to the parking lot at the Gordon Avenue Library, before [the sale moved to its] new location at Albemarle Square (coming soon, April 1-9!).
Entire communities in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson have rallied to support libraries and reading, with strong backing from their local governments, which recognize the importance of these values. Schools, homes, churches, medical facilities…wherever you go, there are books and opportunities to share them.
When I left Charlottesville to study and work elsewhere, I just assumed that this is what every community had to offer. It took leaving to make me realize that this isn’t the case, and that Charlottesville and central Virginia are unique and special in the shared love of reading.
We are part of a community that strives to grow, learn, and connect, even when that isn’t easy. Sometimes growing, learning, and connecting takes us on different paths that are hard to reconcile, but this place tries to do just that. Our community needs the shared experience and growth that comes with reading.
Come to any JMRL library on any given day and you will see just that, people gathering and sharing, meeting and discussing, or just finding their own worlds to explore. These worlds can be mirrors to reflect themselves, windows to see what the lives of others are like, or sliding doors to walk through into these new worlds and experiences. Not every community values these things like we do, and I wouldn’t want to be in any other place.
Photo by Eze Amos.
By David Plunkett
Jefferson Madison Regional Library Director
A sharpened appreciation
I have deep family roots in Charlottesville, but I wasn’t even actually born here. Neither were my parents. My dad’s parents moved to the area from New York when he was 7, and he grew up one of eight brothers on Panorama Farms in Earlysville. He left after high school and returned when his eldest, me, was 2. I attended public school K-12 (Go Black Knights Class of ’92), played soccer and acted in community theater, and enjoyed big, rowdy family dinners at the farm. But it never occurred to me to want to live here as an adult. I blasted off after high school, sure the adventures of my real life would find me elsewhere.
I explored and made homes in some great places; from the Northeast to the West Coast to the Great Lakes to a year spent mainly overseas where home was wherever I unpacked my toothbrush. I tried out all sorts of jobs along the way, like editing textbooks, project managing website redesigns, and even working on a one-woman show. I met a great guy, and we bought a little house with an orange tree in the backyard in the Central Valley of California.
I was weathering the trials of parenting a sleep-resistant toddler while pregnant, and wondering what happened to my so-called “career,” when my mom fell ill. I was thousands of miles away feeling helpless and desperate and so afraid she would die before my children even got to know her. My stress and anxiety surfaced a truth: The most important thing to me is my relationships. And so many of the people I love most in the world are in Charlottesville.
So, like my father before me, I returned to town with a 2-year-old and another baby on the way. Thankfully my mom’s health improved, and far from me swooping in to provide them assistance, we fell into a rhythm where my parents would take our kids for at least half a day every weekend. They’ve had many adventures knocking around Panorama Farms, getting in trouble with their doting, ridiculously lenient grandfather.
Living away for so many years sharpened my appreciation for Charlottesville. I revel in the sweet, polleny springs; the muggy green summers rattling with cicadas; the golden autumns of pyrotechnic leaves; and the mild winters where bulky snow boots mostly stay in the closet. Far from the paucity of adult opportunities I’d imagined, I’ve been lucky to enjoy a wonderful work-life balance here, taking full advantage of our incredible community organizations. I’ve taught drama and playwriting at Live Arts and Village School, among others; I contribute vocals and guitar to a band at The Front Porch; I take writing classes at WriterHouse, run the Four Miler and Ten Miler every year, and have even wrassled with the Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers.
Most important of all is family time. I was with my mom in the house where I grew up when she died this past fall—our children knew and loved her well and we mourn together, which is hard but right. Holiday dinners are as huge, noisy, and joyous for our kids as they were for me. My dad cheers at his grandkids’ plays, recitals, and games, like he did at mine. I used to ride my bike past the place we live now, not really noticing it, my head full of dreams of greener pastures. I write this looking out at our green yard, in March, my birthday month, one of the many birthdays I have spent in Charlottesville, and I’m so grateful. I may not have been born here, but I’m from here through and through, and this is home.
Photo by Eze Amos.
Miller Murray Susen
Freelance Writer, Director, and Editor
Dilly dally to the downtown mall
big dreams
take small steps
in Charlottesville
drowned by fluff
it’s enough to be talented
and travel in artsy circles
or with athletic teams
or Bible study groups
if you have no roots here
don’t worry baby
you can plant them
with seeds from the
farmer’s market
and fertilize them
with coffee from
Higher Grounds
on Hardy Drive
they won’t take hold
there is no soil there
and sad to say
very few dreams to keep you company
unless you look
into the eyes of a child
i surveyed these streets
with wonder
up Gordon Avenue
to the library
where i could escape
the day to day doldrum
of my existence with
Nancy Drew or
Encyclopedia Brown
then down Rugby
passing people who thought
nothing of me
or even wondered
what i may become
one day
much less how my
invisibility to them
made me see myself
then to the Corner
for peeps in shop windows
and fried ice cream
from Marita’s Cantina
then i’d
dilly dally to the downtown mall
past historic churches
and monuments
circling back across railroad tracks
my great-great-grandfather worked on
every day
to home
i held my dreams to my chest
knowing they could not be realized
in Charlottesville
waiting for my great escape to freedom
hoping Harriet would jump out of my books
and show me the way
i found freedom in college
just in not being from
the place i was at
free to be whatever i commanded
discovering parts of me
that had gone unnoticed and undeveloped
unattended to and unloved
found it all and lost it in a
crapshoot on a corner
in downtown Newark
waiting for a bus to take me to work
i was too far away from Charlottesville
and it called me back
back to family
both blood and self-defined
back so i could discard the parts
that no longer fit me
circumventing catastrophe
by retrieving bits of old me
and attaching them to the me
right now
but the past is heavy
and one-sided
it unbalances the future
in no time
so instead
i replanted my roots
in Charlottesville
balancing the sharp edges
of responsibility
and inspiration
creating a new life
from the ashes of the old
recognizing
there’s no place
like home
Photo by Tristan Williams.
Richelle Claiborne
Singer, songwriter, actress, and poet
Envisioning better futures
What’s to love about Charlottesville? A few collected memories:
Seeing Slick Rick—newly free from exile in the U.K.—at a music venue adjacent to a curiously located ice rink (now demolished for an award-winning “unique and innovative retail and commercial office development featuring flexible space alternatives”). Being swarmed by friendly toads in the backfields of Riverview Park on a spring evening. Not having enough fingers to count the people I know prepared to get into a blood feud over the zoning of a parcel. Canvassing the beautifully modest homes along Druid Ave., once affordable to working families looking to establish roots or artists with ambiguous dreams. Getting lost in unplatted alleyways. Striking up a conversation at 3am in Lucky 7. Knowing multiple UVA professors who dream of redistributing UVA’s $14.5 billion endowment to the people of Charlottesville. Meeting the resident advisors at Westhaven and Friendship Court who are cautiously optimistic about designing the future of their own communities. Catching the militantly non-commercial programming on Charlottesville Public Access TV. Paying cash for a footlong at Jak ‘N Jil. Listening to the 100 Proof Band in Tonsler Park. Planning with community organizers in the Swanson room of the Central Library. Enjoying the Dewberry Hotel as a piece of conceptual art about the U.S. real estate market. Receiving daily emails about ambitious new ideas for something that could help the community, a few of which by-and-by turn into reality.
Of course, what makes Charlottesville a city worth loving is the people. Charlottesville at its best is an ideal it often strives for but only occasionally achieves: a place where people can come together across divides to collectively create community and envision better futures. To some, it feels as if this is already the reality of Charlottesville. To others, it feels like a dream they’ve been left out of.
Charlottesville is not immune to the trends of 21st-century America: increased atomization, rising economic inequality, a growing affordable housing shortage, corporate monopolization, the erasure of local community for increased profits, divisions accelerated by algorithms engineered to maximize time on platform.
There’s no stopping the reality that significant change is coming to Charlottesville over the coming years. But it’s up to us to determine: To whose benefit?
With cautious optimism, I continue to believe that Charlottesville is filled with people who love our community enough to collectively find good answers.
Photo by Eze Amos.
Michael Payne
Charlottesville City Council Member
We make each other better
How to measure the immeasurable?
I can’t. But I’ll try.
I love you, Charlottesville.
Here’s the shape of my Why.
I love you the way that I like to be loved.
With a clear and honest gaze.
I love you with my eyes and heart open.
Not only through a sentimental haze.
I love you beyond Beauty.
But please allow me to proceed
to briefly honor your loveliness.
For Beautiful you are indeed.
I love your elegant frame. Your good bones,
Exquisite. From eloquent skyline to rustic cobblestones.
The way the sunset blushes fuchsia, as if it is thrilled
to be settling languidly in the embrace of the hills.
I love you all-natural.
Dappled in the sunlight’s sight.
I love reaching out for a cluster of stars.
Nestled, like diamonds, in a velvety jewel box of night.
Love you festooned in Dogwood.
Crepe Myrtle. Red buds.
Love the grass under my feet
and my hands in the mud.
I love the melody and the cadence
of the river’s laugh.
As my heart dips its hands
in its restorative bath.
I love the well-trodden paths
on your gently care-worn face.
Love how your countenance reflects your
experience. And Grace.
I love you beyond Attraction.
Love is more than chemistry.
But I cannot deny my reaction
to our shared proximity.
I love to follow you into blue moonlight.
Breathing music in and out.
Your rocks, your rolls, your Symphonies.
The whispers and the shouts.
I want to dance out my troubles
until I’m Cville Strong.
Through Starchild nights that crescendo
and dissolve into daybreak and birdsong.
I love your theaters, restaurants,
venues and galleries,
Want your bakeries, beverages.
Your salt, heat and calories.
You are food and life.
Several senses of delight.
I haven’t tried everything on the menu.
But I might.
Let’s talk about Love.
Love like a light in the window.
Love like a beckoning shore.
Love like the one that knows you best.
Familiar as your own front door.
Love like visitors on their way through town.
And the ones who stay a while.
Love through years and generations.
Love through tears.
Love in truths and in trials.
Love for Family and friends that I hold dear.
Love for our neighbors.
For the eclectic, collected stories
of our community’s collaborators.
Love is not even defined by uninterrupted
togetherness.
We can also take healthy space from each other.
Sometimes love includes Leaving. Living.
Learning something new.
Sometimes love is returning home with renewed
energy and appreciation for what I have.
Returning with the knowledge that
I do love Charlottesville.
Not out of habit, or by default, or through muscle
memory, or nostalgia, or complacency,
but through my own deliberate and discerning
Choosing.
I think there’s something very life-affirming about
this kind of love.
And I just think we make each other better.
Charlottesville.
I hope that you agree.
And I feel grateful to be here. Loving you.
In the ways that I love to be.
Geeks Who Drink trivia night participants fire up their phones before competing to see who’s the smartest at Random Row. Photo by Tristan Williams.
When our kid went off to college in late August, my husband and I rejoiced. Freedom! Finally, we had our lives back! Time to work out, eat out, and party like it’s 2002 (the year before our kid was born).
We started off strong. While walking the dog one September evening we stopped by a friend’s housewarming gathering. Fifteen minutes later, we left, high-fiving each other over our social stamina.
The adventure continued—a week later we impulsively made reservations for dinner at a restaurant! Seated by 5:30pm, finished by 6:30pm, home in time for the evening news—we were living the life, just like Jerry’s parents on “Seinfeld.”
By October, we were falling asleep in front of the TV at 8:30pm, lulled by the prattle of “Emily in Paris.” Sedentary dotage beckoned like a dreamy siren call from our cushy couch. What could break the spell and lure us into the land of People Who Go Out and Do Stuff at Night?
Dangerous and wild though it sounds, the answer was (not so) obvious: trivia nights.
What
Trivia nights at local breweries.
Why
Because if anything can keep me awake past 7pm, it’s the borderline sociopathic desire to crush the friendly neighborhood competition. (Nothing says “I’m not dead yet” like coming in third out of 11 on a quiz about movies made in the 1970s.)
Vibe: low-key, flannels and fleece, dog- friendly.
Style: We used our smartphone to access and play the game (via Geeks Who Drink, a national trivia quiz service). A charming DJ led us through rounds of categories like Ten Letters and Starts with a ‘D,’ spinning upbeat oldies (“Bust a Move”) while I cursed my husband for not coming up with the no-brainer answer (somehow eluding me) to the question about an instrument made from a hollowed-out eucalyptus trunk (didgeridoo, dammit!).
Takeaway: Proudly veteran-owned. Bring a pizza and a pup, and settle in for tough questions and good beer.
Starr Hill Downtown
Vibe: Buzzy, bubbly, bopping.
Style: Bartenders Olivia and Nate wrote and hosted this trivia extravaganza, leading a packed house of 30 teams through categories like Grammy songs: Listen, then name artist and title. My husband and I—team name The Olds—strained to recognize any artist post-1999 (Me: “Pink?” Him: “Rihanna?”), while teams with names like Quiz in My Pants and Balloons Are People Too cruised to the lead. Thank god for visual round three, Famous TV Couches, where we matched five out of eight couch photos to their corresponding TV shows. That’s right, baby, The Olds were on fire, moving into 29th place.
Takeaway: Come early, bring friends, have a ball.
Photo by Tristan Williams.
Random Row
Vibe: Laid-back, sporty, a little slice of homemade pizza heaven.
Style: Emboldened by our tough new team name, The Angry Elves, we greeted our lovely Geeks Who Drink trivia host, primed our smartphones, and prepared to rule Random Row. What a shock when we actually won! A free beer … in a round-one raffle. Hey, it was a start. And people cheered! We ultimately finished 11th out of 15 teams, and dang, it felt good.
Takeaway: Like family game night, if the family were as supportive, funny, and quick as this crowd.
What did I learn in three nights of trivia? One, so many great options. Two, for a guy who listens exclusively to sports and Springsteen, my husband seems oddly adept at identifying Nicki Minaj songs. I guess trivia raises more questions than it answers.
