Month: August 2023

if you’ve ever started a home-improvement project, put together furniture, or wanted to test drive a new hobby, you know how frustrating it can be when you don’t have the tools you need. Rather than buying new every time, the Cville Tool Library lets its members “check out a tool like a book.”

Since opening its doors at space 13 in the Visible Records building, the library has acquired more than 500 tools—from wrenches and hammers to arbor presses and pruning saws—available for its members to borrow. Started by a group of friends on Zoom, the Virginia Organizing work project lent out its first tool in March 2022 and has grown rapidly over the last year. Most of the tools have been gifted to the volunteer-run library, but more specialized equipment has been acquired through member contributions and donations. 

Because some of the tools can be dangerous, safety training is required before borrowing any equipment, and membership is only available to adults in the Charlottesville and Albemarle area. Don’t worry if you’re not the handiest—on top of lending equipment, the library hosts community workshops and classes for the uninitiated.

“Everybody has a story to tell.” That’s the core belief of WriterHouse, according to its Executive Director Sibley Johns. And while anybody can be a writer, not everyone has the tools to tell their stories and share them with the world. WriterHouse bridges that gap with writing classes and seminars aimed at storytellers of any level of experience or professional know-how.

The idea for a communal writer’s space was born in a local coffee shop (naturally). Once a week for more than three years, a group of writers would gather to workshop ideas, share drafts, and talk shop. In 2008, they founded a space devoted to that process, one that could foster an entire community of writers. Today, WriterHouse offers courses and seminars on writing fiction and memoirs, how to find an agent, and navigating the world of publishing—in addition to co-sponsoring author events, readings, and workshops throughout the year.

And their instructors speak from experience. Emily Thiede took her first courses at WriterHouse in 2015—now she’s its vice president. Her debut novel, This Vicious Grace, was one of Oprah’s top 25 fantasy novels of 2022. But her first manuscript didn’t immediately get picked up; she had to regroup at WriterHouse and work on new ideas before finding success. “The writers who tend to succeed are those who refuse to quit trying while continuously seeking out and accepting critical feedback along the way,” Thiede says. “It takes a bit of arrogance to believe that your words deserve to be in front of readers, but this field is too challenging to pursue without that belief, so embrace it—you are your first and greatest champion.”

Since her first call to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad as a kid, Chief Virginia Leavell knew that emergency medicine would be a big part of her life.

“I was in Charlottesville having breakfast with my grandmother and she went into cardiac arrest,” says Leavell. She called 911 and soon the CARS volunteers arrived. “They actually gave me a job to do—holding an IV bag— and I think that really stuck with me.”

During her time at the University of Virginia, it was this experience that drew Leavell to join the rescue squad in 2003. After graduating with a degree in psychology, it was the rescue squad that made Leavell decide to stay in Charlottesville rather than return to her hometown of Belfast, Maine. “It was just such an important part of my identity, and the place where I felt the most purpose,” she says. “There’s a strong sense of belonging within the crews and the organization as a whole.”

Now in her third term as chief, Leavell is finding new ways to help the Charlottesville community as a whole, including through the CARS Community Accessible Resources Education and Support program. From opioid overdoses to firearm injuries, CARS CARES aims to identify areas experiencing higher occurrences of specific risk factors and provide appropriate training for people in the area. “Spending more time in those communities that have the highest risk factors so that we become trusted by others, so that they are not going to hesitate to call 911 … they have an idea of what’s going to happen and who’s going to show up,” Leavell says. “Making that more accessible we hope will improve outcomes overall.”

Between her role as chief of CARS and her work with the Albemarle County Fire Rescue Community Risk & Resilience division, Leavell spends a lot of time thinking about emergency response. “The only way I fit everything into a day that needs to be fit is wearing those multiple hats at the same time, and trying very hard to take those hats off when I get home,” she says.

Leavell’s entire family is involved with CARS, including both of her children and her partner, who serves as the organization’s medical director. “My youngest was 5 days old when he attended his first board meeting with the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad,” says Leavell.

Growing up around the rescue squad, both of Leavell’s children—now 6 and 15 years old—are involved with the volunteer organization. While her older child enjoys helping with outreach events teaching about NARCAN and Stop the Bleed training, her youngest “loves to practice CPR on everybody.”

“In a lot of ways it’s sort of bringing the family into the fold,” says Leavell. “I think that I’ve just been incredibly lucky to segue so much of that into my professional work.”

When it comes to burying our dearly departed, most of us know what
 to expect: embalming chemicals, expensive coffins, concrete vaults, and other things that may not be so good for the environment. 

But is all that really necessary?

If you ask Stephanie Bonney, the answer’s a hard no. Green burial is “a more responsible way to take care of the Earth—the planet we live on,” says Panorama Natural Burial’s general manager. 

During a Panorama green burial, no toxic embalming chemicals are used, and bodies return to the earth in biodegradable boxes or burial shrouds, because “we are only introducing materials that nature can use to nurture new life.” Bodies are buried at three-and-a-half feet, where “soil is more nutrient rich, and organisms are better at doing their jobs.” (And in case you’re wondering, there’s never been a reported case of a naturally buried body being dug up by predatory animals—the farthest they dig into soil is 12 inches.) Simple river rocks, set flush to the ground with a name and birth and death years, marks the graves.

“We’re essentially going back to that principle in Judeo-Christian tradition, which is literally ‘dust to dust,’” says Chris Murray, whose family has owned Panorama Farms in Earlysville for 70 years. With the “current conventional funeral burial practices, the body basically never turns to dust.”

It was a few days before prom, and a Charlottesville  High School senior was worried. The full-length, midnight-blue dress she ordered online had finally arrived—and, even with three-inch heels, it dragged on the ground. So her mom reached out to her regular tailor, “and they told me I was too late, that there was no time to shorten the dress,” she says. 

On the recommendation of a friend, the pair turned to Kim’s Alterations on the Downtown Mall. Not only did a quick fix save the day, er, night, but the work was beautiful, says the mom. “We were thrilled!”

And the mother and daughter are not alone. According to Alicia Henry, Kim’s “is the best.” Henry says she’s shown up at the York Place shop with “everything from 1920s breeches to modern linen dresses, and [the tailor takes] care of it all with such precision. She [even] helped me with a design idea—repurposing a vintage bustier using 1940s crepe fabric—and she nailed it.”

To commemorate a century in business, His Barber Shop cut it up in April with a barbershop quartet, snacks, and visits from veteran barbers of 50 years. Founded in 1923 by Albert Staples as Staples’ Barbershop, the Barracks Road mainstay is now owned by Chris Bryant, who was also the shop’s first woman barber.

The best thing about receiving a flower delivery is, well, everything—the idea that someone thought about you enough to order you a beautiful bouquet, the smell that lingers through the house as soon as you bring the arrangement to the table, the fact that roses even exist in this broken world. But, like many of the best things in life, flowers don’t last forever, so it’s definitely not a gift that keeps on giving—unless it is? At Hedge Fine Blooms, a three-month subscription will run you $255, and afford you (or someone special) a bundle of blooms on your doorstep each month.

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early five years ago, Sharon Stone turned the page. With one kid in high school and the other going off to college, she decided to do something that would eventually touch many children’s lives. 

“I got the idea [for The Free Book Bus] one day, and I ambitiously made the website and the Facebook page that day, even though I didn’t have a bus,” Stone says. “My husband’s super into buying vehicles online, so he sold his truck so we could buy our first bus.” 

The Free Book Bus provides a wide array of reading material, ranging from children’s board books to books at an adult reading level. There’s something everyone, with a sports section, graphic novels, nonfiction, and more. Books also come in a variety of languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Dari, Nepali, Swahili, Spanish, and French. 

After an influx of refugees to the Charlottesville area last year, Stone bridged a need gap by publishing a coloring book called Welcome to Charlottesville, which was translated into seven languages. To help teach English, the book goes through the ABCs of Charlottesville (of course, B is for Bodo’s). 

In addition to books, The Free Book Bus provides personal hygiene products, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and other items that Stone says “bring joy” to the bus’ visitors. After receiving requests for perfumes and makeup, Stone now offers lipstick, Bath & Body Works cologne, and sheet face masks. Visitors on the bus can take one book and two personal care products. 

While there is no formal volunteer program, Stone sometimes receives extra help. Faith Cabell began working on The Free Book Bus in 2020. Cabell had lost her favorite book in a house fire, found another copy aboard the bus, and soon after, started helping Stone. 

Now, Cabell shows up whenever The Free Book Bus visits her neighborhood, which is typically the second Wednesday of every month. Besides reminding children of when the bus will arrive, she also helps kids select the books they’d like to read. “When I see children see something that they particularly want, and they’re happy and they’re smiling, that’s most rewarding,” Cabell says. 

In addition to the tremendous impact The Free Book Bus has left on the greater Charlottesville community, it’s reached other states, as well. Stone has spoken with someone who’s starting a bus in Kentucky, and people have approached her about franchising the nonprofit or rolling out buses in nearby counties. For now, though, Stone will continue changing children’s lives in the Charlottesville area, one book at a time.

The history of the B.F. Yancey School Community Center building spans more than six decades. The building was a segregated school until 1967, when it became a desegregated Albemarle County Elementary School. In 2019, The Yancey Community Center opened its doors, and since then it has offered countless opportunities to area residents. 

Yancey Community Center Program Coordinator Ed Brooks knows the impact the building has had on the Esmont community: His mother attended the segregated school, and his three children recently graduated from its elementary. Now he helps organize and run the dozens of programs and opportunities available, including those that focus on the center itself, such as the current exhibit about the building and community’s history, “African American Education in Esmont: Making a Way Out of No Way.” 

The programs and resources available at Yancey Community Center include yoga classes, a food pantry, a community garden, and a basketball court, and it partners with agencies ranging from Piedmont Virginia Community College and the Jefferson Area Board for Aging to the Blue Ridge Health District and Friends of Esmont to provide even more.

Thanks to the many new services and opportunities at the center, “I think people are beginning to now say, ‘Wow, the county is really stepping up this game to provide equal services to the urban ring residents as well as to the rural,’” Brooks says. “It has meant a lot in terms of helping people to think of themselves as full-fledged county citizens.”

“Save the bees!” they say. “It’s important!” they say. But how does one actually do such a thing, if you’re only a budding apiarist? That’s where the Central Virginia Beekeepers Association comes in. Founded in 1982 by two long-time beekeepers, the organization helps novices with classes, monthly idea-exchange meetings, and local events (check the group out at the Albemarle County Fair). Members will connect you with an experienced mentor and, even if you’re not interested in beekeeping, they can help you find someone to safely remove a swarm if you have one.