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Crowd pleasers

2023 grand-prize winner Janasha Bradford of Mahogany and Friends. Photo by Alisa Foytik.

April is here and so is Charlottesville’s annual Tom Tom Festival, flooding the downtown area with events, music, and people. The festival has grown substantially in its 12 years, and is slated to span five days, from April 17-21, with a medley of different showcases including panels on technology, entrepreneurship, social justice, and consciousness.

With such a broad docket, visitors may wonder, is it a music festival or a conference? Is it a conference or a block party? Is it a block party or a showcase of projects happening in Charlottesville?

“How about, yes and?” says Tom Tom founder Paul Beyer. “It’s both, and. I think people tend to think of things in binary terms, like this is music or this art or this is a conference. But I’m hoping people see Tom Tom as a both, and.”

Beyer welcomes the macroscopic view. He says when people come together from different areas and interests, they start having conversations and building together.

2022 grand-prize winner Cynthia Kankeu of Dr. Kanks. Photo by Anna Kariel.

“One of the core insights to me, when the festival was started, was just that there were a lot of areas of the city where people were in silos, they just weren’t talking to each other. In a city like Charlottesville, it’s just crazy, we’re not that big of a town.”

The festival has ballooned with all those conversations, inviting in over 250 speakers this year. And one word this year’s festival-goers will hear repeated frequently is, “future.” With panels discussing the future of AI, the future of financial freedom, the future of DEI, and the future of community, Tom Tom’s conversations are sure to focus on looking forward.

“The core ideas, I think, are future and community. Those are the two beating hearts of the festival,” Beyer says. “What does a shared future look like for the community?”

With a heavy emphasis on business development and investing, Tom Tom’s answer to that seems to be rooted in entrepreneurship, innovation, investment, and startup businesses in Charlottesville.

Over half of the festival’s panel discussions address startups, innovators, and investing, while over half of the festival’s steering committee comes from investment backgrounds.

Kate Byrne, a Tom Tom board member and staff member, has decades of experience in impact investing, the practice of investing in businesses for their social and environmental effects. She says business can be a catalyst for social change.

2022 crowdfunded winner Sarah Sweet of The Scrappy Elephant. Photo by Anna Kariel.

“I think what we’re trying to do is see how we can make business be a force for good and help entrepreneurs through creating jobs,” Byrne says. “So, we’re helping the workforce, we’re helping, not just a company, but the entire ecosystem that supports a company.”

Some of the major sectors Tom Tom plans to highlight include digital technology, biotechnology, medicine, and education, but smaller, solo entrepreneurs will have some of the spotlight as well.

A highlight of the Tom Tom Festival, and a chance to hear about and directly invest in some of those innovative ideas, is the annual Crowdfunded Pitch Night. Considered one of the fest’s signature events, the evening exemplifies some of Tom Tom’s goals of bringing together community and ideas to generate shared support.

The event is held in the Code Building, where 11 contestants pitch their idea for the support of the crowd.

“The pitch nights are a packed, energetic room filled with really vocal supporters,” Beyer says. “It feels almost like an athletic event because people are so engaged with what’s happening onstage, and so supportive.”

There’s a bar and a DJ, and competitors have a chance to mingle with the crowd before and after taking the stage. When their turn comes, participants are ushered on stage by a song of their choosing and have three minutes to deliver their message to the audience. Audience members then vote for the idea they want to support with tickets, each worth $5, that can be bought online or in the back of the room.

“The pitch night is like a highly engaging way for the entrepreneur to share with the community what their business is,” Beyer says. “They get to distill down their vision and why it matters to that one sentence. That is one of the most essential things that any entrepreneur needs to do is to really understand how to share a vision with their community.”

The evening is sponsored and hosted by the Community Investment Collaborative, a nonprofit that helps under-resourced entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. Many of the participants are previous graduates of CIC’s 16-week entrepreneurship workshop.

“Our program is focused more on the kind of local mom-and-pop businesses as opposed to kind of high tech, high growth businesses that are also a big part of entrepreneurship,” says CIC President Stephen Davis. “We’re focused on the folks who might start as a catering company, become a food truck, become a restaurant. Or we’re focused on the hair salon.”

Some recognizable CIC grads include Mochiko, FARMacy, Wich Lab, Alakazam Toys, High Tor Gear Exchange, Rivanna River Company, Gryphon Gymnastics, and Althea Bread.

“In our 12 years, we’ve had over 560 graduates of our workshop,” Davis says. “About 150 to 160 new businesses have launched through that and a lot of existing businesses have grown.”

In addition to the crowd’s votes, CIC offers a $5,000 grand prize to a winner selected by a panel of three judges.

“I think all in all last year there was probably about, I think, close to 1,000 votes overall,” says Davis. “It was probably around $5,000 to $6,000 in prizes from the crowdfunding part, besides CIC’s grand prize, so all in all it was over $10,000.”

Each participant gets to take home the money from the votes they earned, but there are other rewards, like exposure.

According to Davis, “the people who win aren’t always the ones who get the most out of the competition. Just about every year there have been folks who, as a part of the competition, met people who became investors or big supporters that helped the launch or grow their business. It might not be all they need to start but it might help them with the next step or one part of it.”

Davis says the strength of small businesses is integral to the strength of the community.

“Not only because those businesses are all the collective livelihoods of its owners and employees,” he says, “but in general, small businesses entrepreneurship is creating value in a community. You’re selling that value but you’re creating value whether it’s fun, food, services that are needed, anything that’s quality of life.”

Past Pitches

Mahogany and Friends

Janasha Bradford won the grand prize in 2023 for her financial literacy brand, Mahogany and Friends, which produces fun, imaginative children’s books geared toward educating kids on the topic.

“I was very nervous,” Bradford admits. “This was my first pitch ever. My business, at the time, I don’t think it was even a year and a half old.”

Bradford, a financial advisor, says that “in my career, there are not a lot of women advisors and definitely not a lot of minority financial advisors. I wasn’t introduced to that information early on. And studying, I noticed a lot of my counterparts didn’t have to really break down what some of the terminology meant, so there was an extra layer to my studying.”

Bradford started her pitch with her story. “I just said, ‘How many of you wish you’d learned about money growing up as a child? And if you did, do you think you would have made some different choices?’ Then I kind of told them why, for me, that’s a yes to both.”

With the grand prize and some working of the crowd, Bradford estimates that she raised about $10,000.

“Oh it had a major impact,” she says. Anything helps a small business, but the money from that pitch allowed her to apply to and attend Essence Fest, a cultural festival where she was able to introduce Mahogany and Friends to a crowd of over 50,000 people.

Dr. Kanks

Cynthia Kankeu is a biomedical scientist, and even when she was pursuing her Ph.D., she was working on producing her line of natural, plant-based skin and hair care products.

“I was actually struggling with dry hair myself. Whenever I wanted to define my curls, I was using products that would just leave my hair very dry,” Kankeu says. “I was wondering why I couldn’t find a product for my hair and because I couldn’t find that product, I started wondering, how could I actually make one.”

Kankeu won the grand prize in 2022. The money allowed her to take the leap, quit teaching, and move her operation to a warehouse in Richmond. Now her business is her full-time job. Dr. Kanks products can be found at the Ix Farmer’s Market, Integral Yoga, and in the Charlottesville Wegmans.

The Scrappy Elephant

That same year, in 2022, Sarah Sweet was the crowdfunded winner, taking home the most votes for her business idea. The Scrappy Elephant is a creative reuse center designed to divert art and craft materials from the landfill. Located in McIntire Plaza, the shop offers art classes, studio space to come and craft, and bulk, recycled art material of every variety.

When Sweet came to the crowdfunded pitch night, her business was located in Palmyra and she needed to expand. She heard about the event through CIC.

“It was terrifying because I hate public speaking. But it was wonderful. I just rehearsed a lot and didn’t really talk to anybody because I was so nervous,” Sweet says.

Sweet managed to raise about $2,500 from the crowd’s votes. It was just enough to afford a deposit on her new space in McIntire Plaza. But that was enough to make a tremendous difference. Sweet says her business has tripled since opening the new location. She’s expanding the store and was able to go in full-time on her passion.

“I wouldn’t be here, I don’t think, if I hadn’t won that. Or I would be in a lot of debt and owing money. So it was wonderful, it was amazing,” Sweet says.

On April 17 at 7pm, 11 contestants will have the opportunity this year to sweet talk the crowd and the judges. The ideas range from the digital sphere to social activism, and sustainability to wellness. Like past contestants, some of these ideas could become treasured features of the Charlottesville landscape in the years to come.

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News

Hide and seek

Photo by Stephen Barling.

On a recent cool morning in Gordonsville, a cadre of a half-dozen cops in street clothes assembled next to the local fire department. Their commanding officer for the day, Lt. Patrick Sheridan of the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office, was ready to get started.

“8:25!” Sheridan shouted. It was the time that the trail was laid; crucial information for anyone using a man-trailing animal, and served as the green flag in this particular race.

The first one to take him up on the challenge was Charlottesville Police Department’s Darius Nash and his 18-month-old bloodhound, Blue. Nash walked to his cruiser, cracked the back door, and out shot an energetic hound who was clearly in need of two things: affection and a bathroom, in that order.

After some slobbery kisses and a quick stop in a grassy patch next to the fire department, it was time for Blue’s favorite game: hide and seek.

Gordonsville was the site of Group A’s first day of training in the 12th annual Louisa County Bloodhound Training Seminar. The group was led by Sheridan, who has owned, trained, and employed bloodhounds in his work for over 20 years. In that time, he has traveled across the country and to Europe, both as teacher and student, and has been the driving force behind Louisa’s annual Bloodhound Training Seminar, where dozens of law enforcement organizations from throughout the state and the country send their handlers to learn from some of the best canine officers and search-and-rescue personnel in the country. The event has become so popular that there’s a substantial waiting list to attend.

“I got Annie, my first dog, in 1997,” Sheridan says. “Then there was Maggie, then Rizzo, and now Ally, so I’ve had four dogs in my career.”

He was brief in mentioning the name of K9 Maggie. Her’s is a story he doesn’t tell very often, but it’s one that, for many people in this area, he doesn’t have to: In December of 2011, Maggie was attacked by another dog while on a call for service. Initially, the attack appeared survivable, but a bacteria from the other dog’s saliva got into her bloodstream and Maggie passed away as a result. Her image can be found everywhere in Sheridan’s life, from his social media pages to the walls of his home.

Patrick Sheridan, pictured here with Ally, is a K9 officer and patrol lieutenant for the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office. As a handler and trainer for the office’s bloodhounds, he also shares his knowledge and expertise with agencies across the nation and in Europe. Photo by Stephen Barling.

Sheridan’s successes have been as well-known as his tragedies. He has been in the news often, both in this area and nationwide, and has set important case law in Virginia. Along with former Louisa County Sheriff’s Office handler Stuart “Buck” Garner, and the help of their bloodhounds, Sheridan was instrumental in catching and convicting Adam Pelletier in the rape and murder of Aimee Marie Meadows. Their work, and subsequent testimony, set the precedent that allowed bloodhound identification to be used as expert testimony in Virginia courts. Garner was again in the news in 2016, when he testified in the case of Hannah Graham—his dog was able to track the murdered University of Virginia student’s scent to the car and apartment of Jesse Matthew, more than 24 hours after she’d gone missing. Matthew was eventually convicted of her murder.

In addition to Sheridan’s duties as bloodhound handler for the department, he also manages half of the patrol division, all of the school resource officers, and event security for school events throughout the county. He’s run hundreds of calls in central Virginia as a K9 handler, and found “dozens” of people, both criminals on the lam and civilians, lost or injured in the endless woods of the Piedmont.

Officer Nash and Blue tracked the “runner” about 300 yards west on Baker Street toward Main Street in Gordonsville. Blue was a frenetic bundle of affection and slobber three minutes ago, but after Nash put on his harness and gave the order, Blue became a different dog. He was all business now.

Blue got sidetracked, and headed to a local resident’s chicken coup. “Nope,” Nash said. Theirs was a balance of communication and natural ability. Blue has the superpower, a million more olfactory receptors than a human, but he needs information and feedback in order to use it.

“When you see that head go down and that tail start wagging,” Sheridan says, “that’s when you should be ready.”

Next to Sheridan was Deputy Christian Amos of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, who will get his first dog in the coming months. He was along the trail with Nash, Blue, and the rest of the group as an observer.
“That means you’re close?” Amos asks. Sheridan nods.

Blue’s head was down now, and his tail was wagging. He rounded the corner, and looked at the porch of a local dentist’s office. He scanned the area with his nose, and darted into the apparently empty bushes. Buried inside is Terry Davis, president of the Virginia Bloodhound Search and Rescue Association. Also known as “the runner.” Immediately, Blue reverted back into the chaotic, lovable slobber machine he’d been roughly 15 minutes before. His reward: Vienna sausages and more slobbery kisses.

Humans have been using hounds to hunt since the Middle Ages. It’s believed they’re the modern descendants of the extinct Norman Hound breed. In France, they’re called “le chien de Saint-Hubert” or St. Hubert’s Hounds. In the U.K., they’re known as “sleuth hounds,” and have been employed, along with beagles and other types of hounds, in their traditional fox hunts. Tradition also holds that they were used to track the famous Scottish rebels William Wallace and Robert the Bruce during their flight from English capture in the late-13th and early-14th centuries.

Their ability to track a scent hours, even days, after the trail has been set, is well recorded. A famous story in bloodhound lore is that of the unnamed record-breaking dog in Oregon in 1954. In a newspaper article, it mentions a “local bloodhound” finding the trail of a missing family over 330 hours after they’d gone missing. Unfortunately, the family had died of exposure in the Oregon wilderness.

“They call them bloodhounds for a reason,” says Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Deputy John Lavinder, another handler and trainer from Virginia Bloodhound Search and Rescue Association. “They can use your blood, sweat, urine, or any other bodily fluid as a scent article to track you.”

Lavinder also clears up the famous Hollywood myth about running in bodies of water to get bloodhounds off your trail.

“Actually, that water takes those cells off your skin and spreads them out over a larger area, meaning the dog will be able to tell where you went and hold on to that scent easier,” he says. “You’ll just go to jail wet.”

As Nash returns from his successful hunt, the other members of Group A are standing in a circle, making small talk. The other bloodhounds bark their congratulatory remarks at Blue, as he darts toward his second home: the custom, back-seat doghouse of Nash’s cruiser, complete with its own dog bowls built into the floorboards.

The next team to take on the hunt is Officer Emma Orr, from Rock Hill, South Carolina, and her 7-year-old black and tan bloodhound, Lucy. Sheridan has known Lucy since she was a puppy, and she runs right up to him the minute she gets out of her cruiser.

Despite being from out-of-state, the handlers and trainers at the training seminar seem like they’ve known each other all their lives. Most of them have trained together before. They’ve got nicknames for one another, know each other’s dog’s names, and tease each other incessantly. Orr’s nickname is “Teeter,” which the group refuses to explain. No more evident is this camaraderie than in the way Lucy reacts to Sheridan when she sees him, jumping up for a full, standing hug, and a big slobbery kiss.

“Oh, I love this dog,” Sheridan says, grinning, “I could put people in jail with this dog.”

“I have,” Orr says, sharing his smile.

As the harness comes out, and the scent article is chosen, Sheridan again shouts the time the trail was laid, “8:25!”

Orr looks down at her partner, and gives Lucy the words she’s been waiting for: “Get to work.”

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Culture

VA Book Fest

Mojgan Ghazirad signs copies of her autobiographical novel 'The House on Sun Street' at a March 12 event at the Staunton Public Library. Photo by Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities.

The Virginia Festival of the Book is back in action March 20-24, with five days of panels, parties, and events to celebrate all things literary. Renowned authors flock to our city for engaging talks, everyone on the Downtown Mall has a book or two in their arms, and our too-long reading lists get even longer. This year’s milestone fest celebrates 30 years, with appearances by acclaimed authors such as Roxane Gay, Sarah Weinman, Percival Everett, Jami Attenberg, and Jeannette Walls. Here are a few of our recommendations for lit-lovers looking to indulge their interests, learn something new, or connect with others over the pages of a good book.

FOR THE DISRUPTORS

A UVA prof’s critical look at Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue

Bonnie Hagerman, an associate professor in UVA’s Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, discusses her debut book, answers questions, and signs copies on March 21 at the Omni Hotel. Publicity photo.

Jumping through hoops: Bonnie Hagerman debut reveals the scant media coverage of female athletes

In 1964, Sports Illustrated editor André Laguerre faced a challenge. As the temperature dropped and winter neared, so did the off-season for many sports. With a five-page spread to fill and no games to cover, Laguerre decided to run a travel story with photographs of model Babette March in a white bikini. The inaugural swimsuit issue was born.

Many of us can remember the first time we saw a cover of the controversial swimsuit issue, which catered to the male gaze and didn’t even include female athletes until a 1997 feature on tennis player Steffi Graph became a massive moneymaker. Models like Christie Brinkley, Elle Macpherson, and Tyra Banks posed scantily clad in high-fashion images that couldn’t be more out of place in a sports publication. More recently, Ronda Rousey became the first athlete to show up on the cover in 2016, followed by soccer star Alex Morgan, and tennis champ Naomi Osaka.

Why did it take female athletes so long to show up, and why are they forced to turn into models for this publication that brushes their athleticism under the rug in favor of playing up their sensuality?

Questions like these were catalysts for University of Virginia Professor Bonnie Hagerman’s debut book, Skimpy Coverage: Sports Illustrated and the Shaping of the Female Athlete.

An athlete and collegiate rower herself, Hagerman found her unique specialty of women, gender, and sport in graduate school. What originally started as a master’s thesis turned into a Ph.D. dissertation, and last year, a published book.

“I’d grown up with Sports Illustrated magazines all around the house, and I was aware of the fact that female athletes didn’t show up on the pages very often, and when they did there wasn’t much written about them,” says Hagerman. “I was interested to see which athletes they did portray, and what they did say about them.”

Two decades in the making, Skimpy Coverage dives into SI’s treatment of female athletes since its founding, examining race, femininity, identity, sexuality, stereotypical archetypes forced on sportswomen, and large-scale events such as the Olympics.

The book follows sportswomen of the past, like Wilma Rudolph, who was at one point the fastest woman in the world, and women’s tennis maverick Billie Jean King, to current-day GOATs Serena Williams and Megan Rapinoe, using them as case studies to examine female athletes’ lack of media coverage and the hoops they have to jump through for support, despite being the best in the game.

The challenges faced by these women still impact athletes today, at every level. Working at UVA afforded Hagerman first-hand experiences from student-athletes.

“Students in my classes really helped me hone what I wanted to say,” says Hagerman. “To put it in perspective, some of the issues I was seeing female athletes dealing with in the 1950s are things some female athletes in my classes are talking about. Challenges presented by expectations of femininity, the challenges of being a lesbian in sport.”

Think back to the NCAA championships in 2021, when images of the men’s and women’s basketball weight rooms went viral. The men’s much larger, and well-equipped, while the women’s measly room housed a simple rack of dumbbells.

“What was great about that was that people were upset,” says Hagerman. “They realized it was unfair, and there was a swift response.”

Support for women’s sports is growing—just look at the record-setting fan turnout for the UVA women’s basketball game against Virginia Tech. For Hagerman, recognizing these milestones is as important as working to fix what’s wrong.

“There’s been a ton of change since Sports Illustrated’s [swimsuit issue] was first published in 1964,” says Hagerman. “Title IX in 1972, Billie Jean King’s activism for equal pay, Venus Williams following up with that activism for equal pay and being successful, we see more media coverage of women on TV. There have been a number of great moments to celebrate, but we still need to recognize the challenges that remain. There’s a lot to be done.”

Whether you’re a casual Olympics watcher every four years or a die-hard lover of sports, Hagerman’s Skimpy Coverage offers a new lens through which readers can critically watch and cheer for their favorite teams—go Hoos!

FOR QUEER VOICES

Celebrate queer love, friendship, and found family

Everything I Learned,
I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant
Curtis Chin
In his memoir, Chin touches on his upbringing as a queer, Chinese American boy in Detroit in the ’80s. In the midst of homophobia and racism, Chin found sanctuary in his family’s Chinese restaurant.
Thursday 3/21 | UVA Bookstore

Better Halves: Romcom Heroines Meet Their Matches
Ashley Herring Blake & Lana Harper
Try out a new trope at this love-filled panel with two acclaimed romance writers. Blake’s Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date sees sparks fly in a fake dating scheme, and Harper’s In Charm’s Way is a light-hearted, magical enemies-to-lovers romp.
Friday 3/22 | Omni Hotel

Alternate Appalachias
Jeff Mann, Danielle Chapman & Anya Liftig
This three-person panel includes Jeff Mann, author of Loving Mountains, Loving Men: Memoirs of a Gay Appalachian, now in its second edition. Mann discusses his relationship with Appalachian culture and society as a gay man, alongside authors Danielle Chapman and Anya Liftig.
Friday 3/22 | New Dominion Bookshop

FOR THE NATURE LOVER

Animals-lovers, gardeners, farmers—it’s all good here.

Wild Asana: Animals, Yoga, and Connecting Our Practice to the Natural World
Allison Zak
Author and yoga teacher Allison Zak gets to the bottom of the dog in downward dog in her illustrated exploration of yoga poses and their animal counterparts. Then, grab a mat and try out the moves for yourself.
Thursday 3/21 Central JMRL Library

Growing Organic Food
Tanya Denckla Cobb
Learn how to grow your own food with Tanya Denckla Cobb, author of The Backyard Homestead Guide to Growing Organic Food. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs, whatever you’re planting, Cobb’s got the info on seed-starting, growing, and harvesting.
Saturday 3/23 Omni Hotel

Love for the Land
Brooks Lamb
Brooks Lamb and fellow farmers Ebonie Alexander, Michael Carter Jr., and Renard and Chinette Turner discuss dwindling farmland in the face of suburban sprawl, racial injustice among farmers of color, and other concerns. Lamb’s moving book highlights stories of small-scale farmers caring for the land.
Sunday 3/24 Ivy Creek Natural Area

FOR THE HISTORY LOVER

Stories retold, histories remembered, and ideas reborn.

The New Brownies’ Book: A Love Letter to Black Families
Karida Brown & Charly Palmer
The Brownies Book was originally published as a monthly magazine by W.E.B. Dubois in 1920. Now, it’s reimagined by scholar Karida Brown and artist Charly Palmer as a beautifully illustrated celebration of Black culture, with stories, play excerpts, poetry, art, and more.
Saturday 3/23 Omni Hotel

Book Tour: James
Percival Everett

The acclaimed author is bringing his book tour to town. Get an early peek at James, Everett’s stunning reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, this time told by “Jim.”
Saturday 3/23 The Paramount Theater

Unsung Women
Ruth P. Watson, Virginia Pye & Stephanie Dray
Get to know Maggie Lena Walker, the first Black woman bank president, in Watson’s A Right Worthy Woman, then travel to Gilded Age Boston in Pye’s The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann, and wrap it up with Dray’s Becoming Madam Secretary, a look at Francis Perkins.
Wednesday 3/20 JMRL Central Library

ICYMI

Don’t miss a second go round of readings by these authors, “as seen in C-VILLE.”

Erika Howsare
“The loveliness of deer might go without saying, but still, there it is: The more you look, the more they seduce,” writes Erika Howsare in her debut nonfiction book, The Age of Deer. Howsare appears at the Natural Born Creatures panel alongside Nicolette L. Cagle.
Thursday 3/21, JMRL Central Library.

Irène Mathieu
Referencing the milky covering that can occur on an infant’s tongue after feeding, Irène Mathieu’s milk tongue is a collection filled with precise, embodied language that explores parenthood, family, and the intricacies of existence in this world. Mathieu appears at the Family Trees & Legacies panel with Remica Bingham-Risher and Lightsey Darst.
Friday 3/22, New Dominion Bookshop.

Diane Flynt
“Behind each knobby brown orb, underneath every quirky apple name or sprightly flavor, lies a person, culture, and history. And nowhere is this history more interesting than in the South,” writes cidermaker Diane Flynt in Wild, Tamed, Lost, and Revived: The Surprising Story of Apples in the South.
Sunday 3/24, James Monroe’s Highland.

Henry Hoke
A queer mountain lion in “ellay” is the narrator of Open Throat, a novel by Charlottesville’s own Henry Hoke. If that piques your interest, pick up a copy at Queer Reimaginings, a panel moderated by Hoke with SJ Sindu and Addie Tsai.
Thursday 3/21, Omni Hotel.

Categories
News

Grit & guile, wit & wile

“For all that CLAW is a joyously raucous and sometimes chaotic event, I felt totally safe and taken care of.”—Sally, “Zsa Zsa Gabortion,” Williamson, CLAW competitor. All images from Justin Ide Photography.

Colorful lights paint the stage as Peggy Lee’s “Big Spender” plays over the loudspeaker. Sparkling from head to toe like the overhead mirror ball, a woman wearing a sequin dress and dripping in costume jewelry swaggers and sways onstage, proudly brandishing a championship wrestling belt. “Zsa Zsa Gabortion,” a persona that’s equal parts Zsa Zsa Gabor and abortion rights activist, has just been named the evening’s arm-wrestling champ.  

It’s the Saturday night before Halloween, and after a three-year hiatus, the Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers (aka CLAW)—a collective of women that’s part creative cosplay, competition, and charitable cause—have reconvened for a rowdy revelry at Champion Brewing Company. Each Carnivale-style event is held to raise money for a women-led organization or small business. The beneficiary of tonight’s bash is the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund. 

“I came to win tonight, but the real winner is BRAF,” says Zsa Zsa Gabortion. She’s right about that. The CLAWing It Back event brought in nearly $14,000, the most money raised by a CLAW gathering in its history. “All funds raised will support people from or traveling to Virginia for their abortion care,” says Deborah Arenstein, BRAF director of development. 

For more than 30 years, BRAF has been providing financial and logistical support to people who need access to abortion care. “Being back in community, talking to people about abortion access and why it matters, and having fun while funding abortion is what we all need after a very challenging summer,” says Arenstein.

While the main purpose of any CLAW event is to raise funds, it’s also about putting on a show where women’s empowerment takes center stage. The outrageous antics may seem impromptu—and many of them are—but numerous volunteers lend their time and expertise.

The first meeting on October 9—just 20 days prior to the competition—assembled the arm wrestlers, introduced them to their fearless leaders, and gave them an overview of what to expect. For each event, the wrestlers are free to adopt new personas or maintain existing ones, so character development is the main topic of conversation. Sally Williamson, a full-time parent and volunteer and activist for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, fittingly assumes the role of Zsa Zsa Gabortion. 

One of eight arm wrestlers, Williamson is joined by first timers like her as well as seasoned veterans. From 20-somethings to 50-somethings, these women come from all walks of life and are united by a spirit of collaboration. Crowd favorite “ChiCLAWgo,” a dolled-up flapper inspired by the play Chicago, is portrayed by Amy Hill, a graphic designer and marketing professional. Lucy Fitzgerald, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical & aerospace engineering at UVA, is “Fist of Furiosa,” a Mad Max-style warrior. Each competitor brings her own style of sensuality and strength, sass and smarts. One even brings her own live snake—“Eve of Destruction,” portrayed by Eve Hesselroth, owner of Clay Fitness.

USS Tightship, the referee who laid down the law (left), and Barb, half of a duo of camp counselors, and one of the night’s two emcees (right).

As the arm wrestlers brainstorm their personas, CLAW leader Claire Chandler helps them nail down character names and theme songs. Chandler has been one of CLAW’s primary organizers since 2016, when founding members Jennifer Tidwell and Jodie Plaisance turned over the reins. “As a local actress and drama teacher, CLAW has always spoken to my love of theatricality and improv,” says Chandler. “The icing on the CLAW cake has been witnessing the local community support and the amazing female friendships.” 

Chandler also serves as onstage emcee “Gail,” one-half of a duo of camp counselors; fellow middle school drama teacher and CLAW organizer Edwina Herring portrays her counterpart, “Barb.” Behind the scenes, stage manager Michelle Oliva is in charge of wrangling the wrestlers and other performers to ensure the event runs smoothly. 

The organizers share that a crucial piece of the event’s success is the entourages—wrestlers are allowed up to eight entourage members, who solicit the crowd for CLAWbucks, the mock money used for bogus betting. The goal of the entourages, dressed to complement the wrestlers’ personas, is to collect as many CLAWbucks as possible because they equal donations for the evening’s beneficiary. Entourage members offer a variety of items—3D-printed bird skull pins, bat facts zines, and candy packaged as abortion pills—in exchange for CLAWbucks.

 A few days prior to the main event, the wrestlers reunite for a mandatory safety training session. Years ago, a wrestler broke her arm, and it’s clear that the incident is never far from the minds of the organizers.“It is our job to keep you safe,” says Chandler to the competitors. 

The referee, known onstage as “USS Tightship” and offstage as UVA Associate Professor of Drama Caitlin McLeod, lives up to her character’s name when it comes to the well-being of the wrestlers. Her rules are simple but strict: keep your feet on the ground, maintain a straight plane, and stay out of the break arm position—the one where a wrestler’s arm is awkwardly and potentially dangerously bent. Seasoned wrestler Sidney Lyon, who drove from Boston earlier in the day to reprise her role as jilted bride “Kary-OK?” after another wrestler had to drop out of the competition, demonstrates the proper arm position. Then, each wrestler participates in a test match to prove she can compete safely. 

Kary-OK?, a last-minute participant, who reprised her role as a jilted bride.

“For all that CLAW is a joyously raucous and sometimes chaotic event, I felt totally safe and taken care of,” says Williamson, “which meant that I could focus on engaging the crowd to make the event enjoyable for the audience and a successful fundraiser for Blue Ridge Abortion Fund!” 

The morning of the event, the organizers, wrestlers, and entourage members meet at Champion for a dress rehearsal. A flurry of activity is squeezed into about an hour—everything from ensuring wrestlers can compete safely in their elaborate costumes to practicing the timing of dance numbers for their stage entrances. The emcees finalize the limericks they’ll read to introduce the wrestlers, as chairs are set out for VIP guests—those who donated $75 or more to attend. The stage manager lays out rules about who can and cannot access the stage. The ref establishes “Code Tyson,” the emergency protocol, and emphasizes safety once again. Wrestlers disband and are expected to return no later than 6:15pm. 

Williamson spends the pre-match time with her partner and three kids. She’s also hosting a friend from Boston, who is in town to be part of her entourage. She has her hair done professionally and preps her costume, most of which she found online. Shortly before call time, she returns to Champion to finish getting ready. 

Her entourage, also decked out in sparkles and gold lamé, includes Ezra, Williamson’s 11-year-old. He isn’t the only adolescent in attendance—“Mommie Smearest,” a Joan Crawford-esque character played by Marty Moore, is accompanied by “Christina” and “Christopher.” While CLAW may not be geared toward children, backstage certainly is a family affair. Kids run in and out of the green room, grabbing pizza and candy, while women apply makeup and practice their bits. 

On the Champion patio, excitement and nervous energy are palpable. Wrestlers and their entourages take turns assembling for photos with Justin Ide, who’s providing free photography of the event. Five minutes prior to doors opening at 7pm, Williamson huddles with her entourage, providing instructions and encouragement. A luchadora lays out CLAW merch, while the BRAF cohort prepares cup koozies, magnets, and other swag for sale. 

As soon as the Charlottesville Derby Dames, who volunteer as security personnel, allow spectators in, the entourage members get to work. Some stand close to the entrance, enticing people to hand over their CLAWbucks as soon as they set foot inside the gate. Others charm the VIP section, knowing there are big spenders in their midst. Scantily clad women stuff CLAWbucks in their corsets; shirtless men pose for photos for a fee.  

Zsa Zsa Gabortion, the evening’s big winner (left), and ChiCLAWgo, winner of the Crowd Favorite trophy, a jewel-encrusted uterus (right).

Fans filter in over the next hour until Champion’s patio reaches capacity. CLAW begins with a roar, featuring a parade of the wrestlers and their entourages. After opening speeches from the emcees and BRAF’s Arenstein, the arm wrestling gets underway. Three rounds of competition stretch out over two hours—interspersed with multiple absurd interruptions. 

There are dance-offs, an impromptu wrestling battle featuring a life-size cardboard cutout, and an intermission in which Kary-OK? sits on the stage alone after smashing her own face into a wedding cake. There are multiple breaks to bribe the three judges, Darryl “Disco Darryl” Smith, Katie “Wendy Snarling” Rogers, both of Live Arts, and a giant can of corn. The crowd cheers for wrestlers ousted early to return, like Katie Aplis’ “Vampira-bortion Rights,” and jeers when Kathryn Bertoni’s “Princess Slay-a” uses the Force to overtake Zsa Zsa Gabortion in a contested match. 

“It was pointless but entertaining. That’s CLAW, y’all,” says Chandler’s Gail at one point from the stage. 

But at the end of the night, it’s Zsa Zsa Gabortion who goes home with the bragging rights of having won the arm-wrestling competition. ChiCLAWgo wins the Crowd Favorite trophy. The spectators, entourage, and wrestlers disperse, and a small celebration among the organizers begins. They bid adieu with a “Soul Train”-style line dance and hand gestures to accompany their standard send-off, “Love, Peace, and CLAW.”

“We’re just regular people,” says ref Tightship McLeod. “But we do it all—we know how to have fun, and we help the community. That’s what happens when women run the show.” 

CLAW will return in 2023. Anyone can donate to BRAF at blueridgeabortionfund.org/donate. 

Categories
News

A ‘new and amazing life’

With third- and fourth-degree burns over 85 percent of her body, Charlie Xavier’s chance of survival was slim following an accident last September. But being reunited with her husband, André, and their two sons, London (pictured) and Julian, was what kept her strong and motivated. “The most important thing for me was to get back home to my boys,” she says. Photo: Tristan Williams.

The past 10 months have proven to Charlie Anne and André Xavier that life can change in an instant. It was early morning on September 10 when Charlie left the couple’s home to do some final construction work at their soon-to-open Patch Brewing Company in Gordonsville. Less than an hour later, a fiery explosion left the 35-year-old mother with third- and fourth-degree burns across 85 percent of her body—a level of injury that is almost always fatal.

“We now know that the survival rate for some fourth degree burns is less than 3 percent,”  says André Xavier.

Despite those vanishingly small odds, Charlie survived thanks to a series of what the couple describes as “miracles.” Nearly a year later, with a book set to publish on the anniversary of the accident, both say their lives have been transformed. In addition to the physical and emotional anguish they’ve endured, they say the experience has deepened their connection to each other, to their faith, and to the community that has rallied around them. Through the Facebook page Cheering on Charlie and the blog by the same name, they’ve built an online audience of thousands who’ve learned about the tragedy and Charlie’s recovery.

In each post, André updates their followers on the couple’s “new and amazing life.” 

“When he first started journaling, he was doing voice journaling on the car rides home,” says Charlie. “And he was doing it for me, really, you know, for me to listen to someday.”

The morning of the accident started with an argument at home. Charlie planned to spend the day working at the brewery, but André was concerned she’d been pushing herself too hard. Charlie has had rheumatoid arthritis since early childhood, and the autoimmune condition causes painful swelling of joints.

Charlie, however, was adamant. When she arrived at the brewery on Route 231, she began using an electric sander on a chalkboard for a kids’ area.

“I sort of smelled gasoline and then started slipping and I fell,” she recalls. As she fell, she dropped the sander. 

“The moment it hit the concrete, it sparked an explosion,” she says. “I was totally engulfed in flames and was slipping in the flames.” 

Screaming, she staggered to nearby gravel, where she dropped and rolled to extinguish the blaze. 

Several other people at the brewery heard her cries and called 911. Soon after, they called André and put Charlie on the phone to tell him about the accident.

“I was like, ‘What are you talking about? I don’t have time for jokes.’ And then she texted the picture of her burns,” André says. “At that moment, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ So I knew. But at the same time, I did not know the sense of danger and how serious it was.” 

The miracles the couple describes start with the Gordonsville first responders, including the swift presence of a registered nurse who happened to be minutes away when the 911 call came in. Charlie was soon airlifted to the VCU Medical Center’s burn unit in Richmond to begin what would be more than eight months of inpatient surgeries and other treatments as she battled infection, excruciating physical pain, and separation from André and the couple’s two young sons, then-4-year-old London and their infant, Julian, who was 10 months old when Charlie was burned. 

Adding to the miracle of such a rapid response in a rural area, Charlie never lost consciousness, and her face wasn’t burned. In addition to being able to communicate with André, she was able to speak with medical personnel en route to and at the hospital before the commencement of a massive effort to save her life.

“No one communicated with me how bad off I was because there was no time,” Charlie says. 

At the hospital, she was immediately sedated and had a procedure to treat compartment syndrome, a condition common in severe burn patients in which extreme pressure can lead to tissue necrosis. Doctors were able to save Charlie’s limbs. They also debrided her burns, removing gravel and the burned tissue from most of her body. 

In the weeks and months that followed, she benefited from new medical technologies, including one, Recell, that creates aerosolized skin from a patients’ own stem cells to spray on burned areas. 

The physical pain of the injuries and treatments was enormous, but the psychological impact was also devastating.

“You have the aspect of being ripped away from your family and this horrific event happening and not knowing whether or not you’re going to make it,” Charlie says. “And then just the psychological, emotional toll of just being alone. It is an opening for you to just go to a very, very dark place and to never come back.”

She says focusing on small victories helped her through. 

“You’ve got to just do it day by day and [appreciate] simple things. André, when he comes next, we’re going to watch this television program,” she says. “I’m going to get to see pictures of Halloween.”

Both say their connection to God provided comfort. 

“A lot of people when they go through a lot of challenging things in their life, you know, they either get closer to God or they’re torn away,” says Charlie. “And in my experience, in all the hardships that I’ve had, that’s always when I’ve gotten closer and it’s always when I’ve needed him the most.”

She says her belief that her survival was a series of miracles also sustained her. 

“I mean, don’t you think I can stay strong and pull through and watch for the final miracle to happen? That final miracle of being reunited with my boys, because that was the most important thing for me, was to get back home to my boys,” Charlie says. “I just couldn’t see a world where I didn’t exist in their lives, and existing as a memory just wouldn’t have been good enough.”

That determination helped Charlie get home at the end of May—a month sooner than her doctors predicted, according to William Carter, a physician who treated Charlie at the Sheltering Arms Institute, where she was transferred to undergo rehab in the spring after leaving the hospital. She impressed the medical staff with her ability to push through pain and wean herself off medication.

“If I had to make an analogy, it’s like someone who decides to—despite the fact that there is epidurals and stuff like that available—you know, [says], ‘I’m just going to have the baby naturally,’” Carter says. “That’s kind of the approach that she was able to maintain for months.”

Marriages don’t always survive tragedy, but Charlie and André Xavier say theirs has been strengthened by the vulnerability and strength they’ve seen in each other. 

“It’s definitely surpassed what we thought it could be,” says Charlie, who is currently back in the hospital for additional surgeries to close open wounds. She’ll still require years of operations, including double knee replacements.

The couple’s devotion to each other has inspired friends, including Kiri Berdan, who befriended Charlie in 2020 when both joined a local workout group for moms. 

“Sitting with André, talking with him and talking with Charlie, like everything that they do is still for other people and is out of gratitude that they have Charlie here, that she’s alive,” says Berdan. “ I think that’s the most sustaining for all of us who are still trying to support and help and do what we can. It’s just knowing that they’re still, every day, trying to be better because of the accident.” 

André says the book he’s writing, I Almost Lost Her: A Memoir of Unthinkable Tragedy carries a message that applies to everyone.

“To show people that no matter how drastic, how tragic, how hurtful, how difficult the situation is, there is always a choice,” he says. “You can choose to turn to God and be grateful. Or you can choose to be angry. But it is a choice.”

“My message is keep fighting. You can do it,” says Charlie, who plans to write her own book in the future. “And you know, honestly, if this message reaches somebody and it helps them, then everything was worth it. I had a purpose and I filled it, and what happened happened for a reason.” 

I Almost Lost Her: A Memoir of Unthinkable Tragedy will be released September 10, and is available for preorder at cheeringoncharlie.com. Courteney Stuart is the host of “Charlottesville Right Now” on WINA. You can hear her interview with Charlie and André Xavier at wina.com.

Categories
News

Fierce over 40

“I was really excited about making [my] 40s the best years of my life. And I asked myself, what have I always wanted to do that I’ve never done? And you know, the first thing that popped into my head was that you always wanted to compete in a fitness competition.” Bodybuilder Jessica Coleman. Photo: Eze Amos.

Most athletes are hitting the end of the road by age 40. Martina Navratilova hung up her racket at age 38. Soccer star Abby Wambach scored her last goal at 35. When Jessica Coleman turned 40, she was just getting started in her sport. Four years later, she won her first national bodybuilding competition, and not in a masters class for people over 40. She beat competitors of all ages.

“What ended up happening is my coach decided we were going to do the Junior USA [bodybuilding competition], which does not have a masters division,” Coleman says of the mid-May competition in Charleston, South Carolina, where she earned her professional card in the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness.

Although her first overall victory didn’t happen until she was 44, the road there began about 25 years earlier.  

“When I was younger, in college, I had started training for fitness competitions, and I had this dream of kind of taking that somewhere professionally at that point,” Coleman recalls. But it wasn’t her time yet. 

“I blew out my knee playing volleyball and life happened and later, you know, kids and family,” she says.

Over the next two decades, Coleman says she got into shape—and out of shape—many times. Then something shifted.

“I was really excited about making [my] 40s the best years of my life,” she says. “And I asked myself, what have I always wanted to do that I’ve never done? And you know, the first thing that popped into my head was that you always wanted to compete in a fitness competition.”

Jessica Coleman was the overall winner at the 2022 NPC Junior USA Championships in Charleston, South Carolina. Photo courtesy subject.

This time, she was serious. As she approached 40, she lost 30 pounds, and she wasn’t done.

“I hired a coach and I started my prep at that point,” she says. Her first goal was to compete in the figure category, which requires less musculature.

“I think I placed eighth,” she says of that first show. “At 41 I did my second show, and I came in third in the masters [division].”

Then COVID hit, and gyms closed down. Coleman wasn’t deterred. 

“I kept doing my workouts from home to kind of keep everything going,” she says. “And I couldn’t wait to get back on stage.”

When the pandemic restrictions lifted and she returned to competition, her hard work started paying off.

“Last year I did three competitions, and I started winning,” she says.

Bodybuilding is not for the weak-willed. Coleman says her training often involves hitting the gym three times a day.

“Before this past show, I was doing two hours of cardio and training for an hour and a half, and the only way I could fit that into my day was to go three times,” says Coleman, a single mother who works full time as clinical operations manager. “Now, my two teenage daughters are in travel ball, so I was also traveling on the weekends and having to take my show on the road with all my prepped meals and using the gym while I was out of town.”

In addition to having a competitive streak, Coleman says having a coach is critical for anyone serious about competing in bodybuilding.

“Basically each week he analyzes my physique and tells me, here’s what you need to eat, here’s how much cardio and here’s how much water,” she says.

Her Richmond-based coach, Sebastian Alvarez, says prepping to compete requires a wide range of caloric intake. “She goes from 5,500 in off-season to 1,000 close to competing,” he says. The “cutting” phase isn’t the only challenge. Coleman drinks a gallon and a half of water every day, and Alvarez says consuming enough to build massive muscle means Coleman has to “sit down and force feed like it’s a job. It’s incredible.”

He says Coleman’s work ethic sets her apart.

“When I first met her, she looked good but it wasn’t ‘whoa,’” Alvarez says. “In reality, I didn’t know her personality. When I started working with her and saw how meticulous she is with her training and her diet, I knew this girl was going to make it far.”

Alvarez isn’t the only one impressed with Coleman’s progress. Her 17-year-old daughter Zoe Utz, a rising senior at Monticello High School, says she’s been inspired by her mother’s hard work and achievements.

“I think it’s incredible,” says Utz, who now regularly works out with her mom and says the shared interest has brought them closer. “I’ve seen where she started, and to work as hard as she has, the discipline, the dedication to get there…when I see her happy and reaching her goals, it makes me proud to see that happen.”

With her first national victory under her belt, Coleman is taking several months to recover before preparing to compete again, this time against some of the top bodybuilders in the world. 

Alvarez says he has specific goals for her: “Improve her back, the width in her lats, bring up her hamstrings more,” he says. She’s training two fewer days per week during this period, which Alvarez says will last about three months. She’ll be back on stage competing toward the end of 2023. 

“Win one pro show and she’s in the Olympia,” Alvarez says. “I have no doubt she will do it.”

Coleman says winning a competition feels amazing, but it isn’t the greatest reward.

“I’ve experienced a lot of setbacks in my life,” she says. “And, you know, I think that what has me feeling the proudest is my ability to bounce back from all of that and turn some failures into a big success for me. Once you fall on your face a couple of times, you get back up stronger. It’s great to be at this point in my life and just feel so much freedom and strength.”

Courteney Stuart is the host of Charlottesville Right Now on WINA. You can hear her interview with Jessica Coleman at wina.com.

Categories
Arts Culture Food & Drink Guide

Summer Guide

From polo and swimming holes, to sunsets and weed, here’s our guide to the season’s hottest happenings.

1. Flix at IX

Remember the good ol’ days of drive-in movies—basking in the warm summer air, holding your portable radio close, munching on snacks? If you’ve never experienced the magic of outdoor cinema in the summer, IX and Violet Crown Theater are capturing that feeling with Flix at IX, a free weekly film series on the art park’s outdoor piazza. Stop by every Friday evening this summer for family-friendly activities, artmaking, food trucks, cold drinks, snacks, and a sunset screening of your favorite films, including Labyrinth, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Clueless, Men in Black, and Back to the Future. Free, 6pm, Fridays through August 19.

File photo.

2. Fruit picking

Savor the flavor of the season with luscious local fruits. Fresh is best, so make a day of it and pick your own plump peaches, succulent strawberries, decadent cherries, and more from these area orchards.

Carter Mountain Orchard 1435 Carters Mountain Trl. Peaches and apples.

Chiles Peach Orchard 1351 Greenwood Rd., Crozet. Strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apples, veggies, flowers, and pumpkins.

Critzer Family Farm 9388 Critzer Shop Rd., Afton. Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches, and apples.

Henley’s Orchard 2192 Holly Hill Farm, Crozet. Peaches, apples, and nectarines. 

Spring Valley Orchard 3526 Spring Valley Rd., Afton. Cherries.

3. Piedmont Master Gardeners classes

Get your hands dirty and learn a thing or two at the Piedmont Master Gardeners’ in-person Garden Basics classes. Courses will cover everything from soil and mulch to insects, and participants will leave ready to start their own perennial or vegetable gardens. Go to piedmontmastergardeners.org for more info.

4. Blue Ridge Tunnel

If lounging in the hot summer sun isn’t your thing, venture below ground at the Blue Ridge Tunnel. The abandoned railroad tunnel was constructed between 1850 and 1858 as a way to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains at Rockfish Gap. In 1944, it was replaced by a newer tunnel, and it sat without traffic until it was reopened in 2020 as an access trail. Now, walkers, hikers, and cyclists can traverse the belly of the Blue Ridge Mountains through the eerie, cavernous space. A round trip from one trailhead to the other is 4.5 miles, and walking takes approximately 1.5 hours. Packing list: flashlight or headlamp, waterproof shoes, jacket, water. Learn more at nelsoncounty.com. 

The Blue Ridge Tunnel is open from sunrise to sunset each day. Zack Wajsgras.

5. Park it

How do you get away without actually having to get away? The answer lies about 45 minutes from Charlottesville at Shenandoah National Park. Pack a picnic and go for a day hike or spend the night at one of five campgrounds. Enjoy the waterfalls, meadows, and wildlife. Just remember, if you want to hike Old Rag, you do need to buy a ticket in advance (it’s only $1.)

6. Take a dip

Hike up, jump in, cool down. The Charlottes­ville area offers ample options for taking a dip, but it’s our swimming holes that capture something special. Maybe it’s the remote, natural locations, or the feeling of discovering a hidden gem. Whatever the allure, no summer is complete without a trip to Sugar Hollow for a dip in Blue Hole or Snake Hole. Pro tip: Go on a cloudy day or a weekday to avoid the crowds.

7. Ganga-ing up

Few things illustrate how the times have changed like the location for the Virginia Grown—Cannabis Event: A weed-centric evening at The Shops at Stonefield is definitive proof that marijuana has gone mainstream. Peruse top local cannabis vendors and hear from experts who can help you get your own plants started. The event also features an art sale and live music. 5-10pm, July 2. 21-plus only.  

File photo.

8. Picnic ‘n’ polo

There’s absolutely nothing not to like about polo and picnicking at King Family Vineyards. Roseland Polo matches happen every Sunday at noon from Memorial Day weekend through mid-October, field and weather permitting (kingfamilyvineyards.com/polo/).

9. Fresh from the farm

If wholesome fun is your jam, the proliferation of farmers’ markets around Charlottesville is just the (free!) ticket. You’ll find much more than locally grown veggies and flowers, too. Meats, coffee, cheese, sweets, prepared food, and arts and crafts fill the stalls, and acoustic music is almost a sure thing. Grab a reusable bag or two and get going—your head, heart, and stomach will thank you.

Charlottesville City Market Saturday, 8am-noon, 100 Water St.

The Farmers Market at Ix Saturday, 8am-noon, IX Art Park

Sunset Market at Ix Thursday, 3-7pm, IX Art Park

Farmers in  the Park Wednesday, 3-7pm, Meade Park

Albemarle Farmers Market Saturday, 8:30am-1pm, Hollymead Town Center

10. Carter Mountain Sunset Series

Watch the sun paint the sky in electrifying hues of orange and pink at Carter Mountain Orchard’s Thursday Evening Sunset Series. Also enjoy live music, two food trucks, Carter Mountain wine, and Bold Rock Hard Cider. Don’t forget your lawn chairs and blankets, and make sure to take advantage of the golden hour glow by snapping a selfie or two. $10, 6-9pm, May 5–September 29.

Supplied photo.

11. I scream, you scream

File photo.

“Since Aristotle, happiness has been usefully thought of as consisting of at least two aspects: hedonia (pleasure) and eudaimonia (a life well lived).” That’s how the authors of “The Neuroscience of Happiness and Pleasure” begin their article on the NIH website. Here’s an easy way to get on the fast track to hedonia and eudaimonia: ice cream. Order a dish, cone, or sundae at Chap’s on the Downtown Mall; La Flor Michoacana (pop­sicles!) on Cherry Avenue; Moo Thru at Dairy Market; Ben & Jerry’s at Barracks Road; Kohr Bros. Frozen Custard on Seminole Trail; or Chandler’s Ice Cream on River Road.

Categories
Opinion The Editor's Desk

This Week: 3/13

A few years ago, Molly Conger was just your average Charlottesville resident who, to be honest, didn’t pay much attention to politics. Now she’s got more than 20,000 Twitter followers hanging on her moment-by-moment reports on local government meetings, which she’s been live-tweeting since December 2017. In this issue, Conger, in the first of what will be a bi-monthly column on city politics for C–VILLE, explains how she accidentally discovered an unmet need—for a spirited, opinionated, and very real voice explaining local government.

Conger realized that forces shaping our city manifest in decisions made at sparsely attended meetings and work sessions. The bureaucracy of these meetings isn’t designed to engage the public, but what happens there affects us all.

This week’s cover story examines how we ended up with a large, under-utilized, city-owned parking lot in what is nearly the geographic center of the city, even as planners struggle to find land for affordable housing. It’s not a simple story, and it didn’t come from one big decision, but a series of smaller ones. In the end, Westhaven and the 10th and Page neighborhood were isolated from downtown, Vinegar Hill became home to parking lots and fast food chains, and potentially valuable real estate was preserved for storing dump trucks.

It’s not clear if that land, the City Yard, will prove inhabitable (City Council has proposed funds to get the site tested), but the New Hill Development Corporation is already looking at how to redevelop the entire area. They’ve promised to work closely with residents, though reactions so far have been mixed. As with the new land use map, the city has an opportunity to correct its past mistakes, and make the right decisions this time around. We’d better be paying attention.

Categories
Living

Sharing activism with your kids

Bellamy Shoffner and her family collect coffee and eggs to help clients at The Haven, a downtown day shelter, enjoy a hot breakfast every day. Photo: Eze Amos

In 36 years of moving up and down the mid-Atlantic, I’ve never lived in a city that didn’t carry the weight of a racist past. As a teenager, I heard news of white supremacists marching through my small Maryland town. As a young adult in Greensboro, North Carolina, I marveled over stories about ’60s sit-ins, and watched as the old Woolworth building was transformed into the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. Now, in Charlottesville, parenthood has taken what I knew to be true about racism and oppression in America and propelled it to the forefront of my consciousness. As the mother of two black children, I can’t pretend I’m raising kids who aren’t targets of hate. It’s a feeling I often describe as terrifying, but experience every day as motivating.

Any parent will tell you that everything changes when a kid enters the picture, but some of us will also tell you that our need to stand up against bias and discrimination is intensified. I’ve always had an interest in activism, but there is an undeniable urgency that accompanies parenthood, a compelling need to affect change and leave the world a better place for my children. Part of ensuring my kids grow up in a world that is increasingly equitable is embracing my own power as a social justice advocate.

In late 2017, with the contributions of friends and other writers, I launched Hold the Line, a magazine that explores social justice and parenthood. HTL’s essays and articles—about race and culture, gender and feminism, being a queer parent, and parenting LGBTQ children—now have a modest but worldwide audience. We start meaningful conversations through sharing personal stories, and encourage readers to make social justice an integral part of their parenting journey. HTL it is my way of railing against the countless malignant marches of those who wish children like mine didn’t exist.

Worthy as it is, the magazine is fairly abstract to my sons, and I don’t believe I can claim to care about the world around me without raising kids who care as well. It feels crucial to make my activism clear to my kids, and help them get involved, too. I want them to know that though we may find ourselves without much, we always have something we can give. Our contributions to social equity may be in the form of our time, our friendship, or our ability to organize, but we are never without ways to help.

Together, my family toured The Haven, a multi-resource day shelter in downtown Charlottesville, to see how we could contribute. We started the Coffee + Eggs Drive as a way to help reduce The Haven’s largest kitchen costs. We collect eggs and coffee from individual donors or purchase them ourselves and periodically deliver them to The Haven. In the summer months, our donations boomed, and visiting The Haven became a normal part of my children’s daily routine. Even in the slower cold months, most mornings when my sons stumble downstairs and start foraging in our fridge for breakfast, they see dozens of fresh eggs that are awaiting a trip to The Haven. I hope my kids value that literal holding of space for the needs of marginalized members of our community. To me, the eggs are an unusual but powerful display of the small ways in which we can each make the world more equitable.

In addition to our partnership with The Haven, we recently started accepting additional coffee donations for PACEM as we learned its guests are given a warm beverage upon check-in. PACEM gives people who are experiencing homelessness overnight shelter in local churches during the coldest months of the year. As a new member of PACEM’s board, I hope that my children will take notice of my involvement with both organizations and one day mirror my commitment to community.

Also under the umbrella of HTL, my family and co-organizers host When We Gather, free public gatherings where we welcome friends old and new to join us in community-building and shared discussions about socio-political topics. With age-appropriate books and activities for the kids, and time for adults to chat, these events are a crucial part of our sustainable, visible activism. We all learn from each other as families in search of ways to effectively combat hate and discrimination in our city, state, and beyond.

Just as we question what meaningful steps we can take to help others, parents often wonder how and when to address tough topics with their kids. There’s no easy answer to this, but if we are effectively diversifying our lives, we are met with natural opportunities to tackle conversations surrounding social justice. Fill your child’s bookshelf with stories representing varying communities and identities. Respectfully attend events that inform your understanding of marginalized groups. Be age-appropriately honest when helping your children understand inequality, both historically and in the present. When I discuss racism, sexism, politics, and the like with my children, I meet them at their level and remember not to overload them with details. Talking to them is one aspect of ensuring their support of social justice, but talking is not enough. My intention is to surround them with a life representative of the values we hold close.

Inequities exist on a continuum; my adversities may not be rooted in the same tree as yours, but injustice is all fed from the same soil. I don’t know what it’s like to be homeless, but when I show my children that we house food for strangers and go out of our way to drop off donations, I am showing them that every member of our community matters. When I talk to my sons about HTL and the inclusive identities the magazine presents, I am telling them that our struggles intersect and are intertwined with the hardships of others. When we gather with friends at the library or Belmont Park and share stories and strategies for coping with the frequent unearthing of bigotry in America, my children are hearing that there are many ways one can be an activist. Above all, I hope my kids are learning an everlasting lesson: that there is no triumph in this world unless you are holding others up with you.

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Little wonder: Why it’s so hard to find affordable, high-quality child care

The YMCA’s Early Learning Center at the Jefferson School is dedicated to providing high-quality child care to the Charlottesville/Albemarle community. Photo: Eze Amos

Jessica Maslaney remembers trying to navigate the complex maze of child care options before her first child was born. “It’s a confusing process where everything matters, from cost to educational environment to teacher qualifications, and you’re just scrambling to figure it all out.” After toting her baby son to work with her at the Piedmont Family YMCA for his first seven months, Maslaney tried two different in-home care options and a commercial child care center in search of consistent, reliable care.

“The foundational issue is that you feel that nobody can watch your kids as well as you can,” she says, “so you start off kind of resenting the process from the beginning because you want more than anything to be that person. It’s an emotional journey.”

Now CEO of the Piedmont Family Y, Maslaney is part of a team dedicated to providing high-quality child care to the Charlottesville/Albemarle community through facilities like the YMCA’s Early Learning Center at the Jefferson School. While steep demand for affordable care should logically lead to increased supply, the twisted economics of child care can tie providers in knots.

Start with the cost of full-time care. “The average cost of child care for an infant in this area is $13,500 per year, and $11,000 for a toddler or preschooler,” says Barbara Hutchinson, vice president of community impact at the local United Way. At the top end, a handful of smaller centers in town charge upwards of $15,000 per year.

The biggest expense for providers is paying their staff. Because state law requires teacher/student ratios of 1:4 for infants and 1:8 for toddlers, and because child care is largely unfunded by the government, providers can’t afford to pay their staff anywhere close to what public school teachers make. “People who work in child care do not do it for the money,” says Maslaney. “We struggle with teacher retention because our teachers could go to Walmart and make $13 per hour while our pay range is $10 to $12.” That also has an effect on quality—teachers who earn a college degree in early childhood development often choose to teach in public schools, where they can receive higher pay and benefits.

Jennifer Slack, owner of Our Neighborhood Child Development Center, a private daycare near UVA, agrees that finding and retaining good teachers is a serious problem. “Child care is hard work, poorly paid, and poorly supported,” she says. “In a lot of ways, society undervalues it.”

Labor costs also limit providers’ ability to offer partial-day or off-hours care for part-time or shift workers. “Places like UVA Hospital and Sentara operate on 24-hour schedules, and Charlottesville has no child care centers that offer evenings, overnights, or weekends, so there’s nowhere for those parents to go,” says Hutchinson.

Beyond teacher compensation, child care centers have materials, insurance, and regulatory expenses. Facilities must be licensed and inspected to pass standards as specific as the depth of the mulch in the playground, and per-child square footage requirements for both indoor and outdoor space dictate how many children may be enrolled.

Simply finding an appropriate location can be daunting, and Slack calls local building and zoning codes “intense.” “We have been looking for property to expand into for years now but can’t find anything because of the combination of the high cost of commercial property in Charlottesville, the need for outdoor space for children to play, and the near-impossibility of transferring a property from residential to commercial zoning,” she says.

Even upper-income families are affected by the shortage of care. Slack’s center serves 48 children, from newborns to age 3, and charges over $1,600 a month per child (annually, that’s more than a year’s tuition at UVA), yet runs a lengthy waitlist. “There are many families who will never be able to get in, so I’d say it can be hard to find quality care at any cost,” she says.

The severe financial burden of child care expenses on a young family puts an effective lid on how much providers can charge, which makes it difficult for centers to stay afloat. “The crux of the problem is that people can’t work without child care, and child care needs to be high quality, and quality is driven by cost,” says Hutchinson. “It’s a vicious cycle not particular to Charlottesville, but one that exists all across the state and country.”

Addressing this problem is the focus of groups and agencies all across the region, and every step forward is hard-won. The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation advances initiatives such as Virginia Quality and Smart Beginnings to enhance the experience of young children in daycare centers and preschools. “High quality” providers prioritize teacher education, curriculum, and the facility’s environment and level of child interaction.

“If a baby is in child care 40 hours a week, what happens to that baby during those hours has everything to do with his or her developmental trajectory, so those hours need to be high quality,” says Gail Esterman, director of early learning at ReadyKids, a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting children and families and to working with providers to improve quality.

Maintaining options such as the YMCA’s Early Learning Center, where 92 percent of families receive financial subsidies, depends on tapping steady sources of funding. “Child care in my opinion is not financially sustainable on its own,” says Maslaney, “so you have to have diverse funding streams.” The ELC draws resources from the Virginia Department of Social Services, the United Way, and a host of public and private grants.

Hutchinson points to a generous Charlottesville community, noting that this area of the state is in “better shape than average” in terms of funding. “Both private foundations and wealthy individuals have been phenomenally invested in early childhood care, and we are blessed to be a community that has that level of support,” she says.

Families who don’t qualify for subsidized care but still struggle with high costs often look to family-based care, where kids stay in a private home with an in-home caregiver. “One of the most sustainable models for affordable, high-quality care is home child care, but there are a lot of unlicensed programs because the licensure process is so difficult and expensive,” says Slack. Virginia law requires a license to provide home care for five or more children (not including those of the caregiver); below that limit, licensing is voluntary and there are no required background checks, regulations, or inspections.

In the end, Esterman believes child care is a human rights issue, and solutions will have to be addressed as a society. “As long as people are trying to just handle it individually, as opposed to looking at it as a community, the system will continue to be a jumble,” she says. “All children deserve a high-quality start to life.”

Photo: Eze Amos

When school’s canceled—but it’s still business as usual for parents 

By Susan Sorensen

Who doesn’t love a snow day? Well, for starters, working parents.

“I’ve spent years dreading that 5:30am call/text message from ACPS,” says Elaine Attridge, a mother of three and medical librarian. “My husband’s job isn’t flexible, so it’s up to me to cobble together half-baked plans that are the best of my poor options” when school is unexpectedly canceled.

Like many moms and dads who have to show up for work on days when the flakes are falling and schools are closed, Attridge has been known to load her children up with electronics and bring them to her office. She’s lucky, she says, because “I’ve had some very tolerant bosses, but multiple days of [my kids at work with me] is hard on everyone.” You can ask friends for help, but, as
Attridge points out, “How often can
I do that and keep the friendship?”

She says she’s rescheduled work meetings and taken vacation days to stay home with her children, adding that she’s still reeling from 2013. There were so many snow days that year (some courtesy of a March blizzard that dropped 16.5 inches on the area), Attridge refers to it as the “winter of my discontent.”

Some big local employers, like UVA and S&P Global, have recognized the problem and offer employees access to back-up child care. But if yours doesn’t, here are a few suggestions for when school is shuttered.

Plan ahead! You usually have some warning before a snowstorm (or a teacher work day), which means you can line up child care in advance. If you don’t have a regular sitter (or a relative who’s willing to step in), consider Hoositting (hoositting.com), a network of UVA students who will provide babysitting on short notice. 

ACAC to the rescue. On scheduled school days off, as well as some of the unscheduled ones, ACAC’s Adventure Central (978-7529) offers a summer camp-like experience (arts and crafts, sports, and other structured activities) called Kids Day Off. Cost is $55 per child for members, and $65 for nonmembers, and hours are 8am-5:30pm.

Network with your neighbors. Create a snow-day babysitting co-op where every family takes the others’ children in turn. If you have, say, four families, you’ll only have to cover one in every four days off of school. Bonus: The kids will take some of the burden off you by entertaining each other.