THINK OUTSIDE. SUMMER 2018
Get going! 25+ WAYS TO SOAK IN SUMMER PAGE 32
VIEW FINDER
Robert Llewellyn sees what we can’t
EATING GREEN
Two foragers’ tips on hyperlocal cuisine
A novice fly-fisher Paddleboard practice Popular swim spots And, of course, tubing
TAKE ME TO THE
RIVER A society of paddlers masters the Rivanna
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Wagging tails lead to Autumn Trails
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Do your research on which trails and parks are dog friendly prior to heading out on the trail. Keep your dog on a leash at all times. Make sure your dog has updated identification tags on and is microchipped. Keep your dog up to date on flea, tick, and heartworm prevention. Hiking can be high risk for exposure to parasites. Ask your veterinarian which vaccines they recommend for dogs that will be hiking partners, prior to hitting the trails. Bring lots of water and a travel bowl. Offer your dog water frequently. Allow for rest periods, especially when you are beginning to condition your dog for longer hikes. Bring extra food and treats. Dogs burn a lot of calories when exercising. Watch for signs of heat exhaustion – excessive panting, drooling, weakness, and bright red gums. Bring your dog to a veterinarian immediately if your dog is showing these signs. Bring waste disposal bags and pick up after pet.
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1/3/18 5:16 PM
In this issue COMPASS Local greens 13 Your next salad is in your backyard.
Long game 14
Tips from a first-time race runner.
Good eye 16 Time out with photographer Robert Llewellyn.
Suit up 23 Great gear from Yama Mountain.
Sneak peek 23 Today’s undergrads, tomorrow’s pros.
Worth the drive 27 Three daytrips with beautiful blooms.
Look up 28 Local birders keeping an eye on things.
On the ball 31 Darden Towe’s cricket league for keeps.
FEATURE
Events 32
Food, fests and featured workshops.
Meet you on the Rivanna 37
OUTSIDER
Water works 50
ON THE COVER: Two of the Rivanna River Paddlers. Photo by skycladap.com. COMMENTS? Email the editor at caite@c-ville.com.
PEG CAMPBELL
Safety first for the city’s pool boss.
A group of local paddlers celebrates its 13th year river-racing. Plus, 13 more ways to get in the water. 7
Charlottesville’s News & Arts Weekly P.O. Box 119 • 308 E. Main St., Charlottesville, VA 22902 (434) 817-2749 Advertising/Editorial Fax: (434) 817-2758 www.c-ville.com Facebook: facebook.com/cville.weekly Instagram: @cvilleweekly
WE ASKED THE STAFF: What’s your favorite thing to do around here in the summer?
Editorial EDITOR
Jessica Luck (x20) editor@c-ville.com UNBOUND EDITOR
Caitlin White (x45) NEWS EDITOR
Lisa Provence (x14)
“Take leisurely walks around my neighborhood at dusk. The trees are extra fragrant in the thick summer air.”
ARTS EDITOR
Tami Keaveny (x18) ARTS & LIVING REPORTER
Erin O’Hare STAFF REPORTER
Samantha Baars (x40) COPY EDITOR
Susan Sorensen
“My family loves going to Blue Hole.”
Design and Production CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Bill LeSueur (x17) artdirector@c-ville.com EDITORIAL DESIGNER
Max March (x16) GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Tracy Federico (x19), Henry Jones (x22), Lorena Perez
Advertising
advertising@c-ville.com
“Napping in the sunshine! Oh, I mean hiking...are we supposed to say hiking?”
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Spencer Dole (x30), Theressa Leak (x15), Katie McCartney (x36) PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Faith Gibson (x25) MARKETING SERVICES DIVISION classifieds@c-ville.com
“Play golf.”
Erica Gentile (x43), Alex Patterson (x42), Cindy Simmons (x39), Beth Wood (x56)
Business PUBLISHER
Aimee Atteberry (x12) aimee@c-ville.com CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Debbie Miller (x28) MARKETING MANAGER
Anna Harrison (x51) “Going to one of our local vineyards (Pollak and Jefferson are my faves) and tubing the James.”
DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Kyle Robinson MEDIA & OUTREACH SPECIALIST
Caitlin Worrell A/R SPECIALIST
Nanci Winter (x33)
Boutique fitness that doesn't break the bank
CIRCULATION MANAGER
Billy Dempsey (x32) C-VILLE HOLDINGS
Bill Chapman, Blair Kelly
“I love going to the river with my fly rod trying to catch trout and smallmouth bass. It’s peaceful and it’s great to be out in nature.”
UNBOUND, a supplement to C-VILLE Weekly, is distributed regionally. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. ©2018 C-VILLE Weekly.
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COMPASS Into the wild Learn to eat from the garden that grows itself By Erika Howsare
CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
JOHN ROBINSON
S
ome folks think of “greens” as the contents of a plastic bag in the produce section; others grow lettuce and spinach in their home gardens. There’s another vegetable paradigm, though, and it’s lurking right outside your back door. Welcome to the world of wild edibles. To walk through an ordinary backyard with Kate Knott or Rain Perrie is to experience the world coming alive in a new way, as plants that always seemed like weeds—or went unnoticed altogether—suddenly start looking like food. Knott became interested in wild edibles more than two decades ago and now teaches students at the Living Earth School, which she co-owns, how to forage for food outdoors. Together with Perrie, also a local wildcrafting expert and an herbal medicine maker at Farfields Farm, Knott introduced us to the surprising world of food that grows itself. Greens are the widest category of wild edibles, especially in spring. Knott and Perrie both believe that wild plants deliver a greater concentration of nutrients than most cultivated veggies. Dandelion, for example, is a plant that practically everyone can recognize, and it’s high in iron. “People pull it out of their gardens,” says Knott, “but it’s more nutritious than what they’ll be planting.” Every part of the dandelion is edible—leaves, flowers and root. The leaves are best in early spring, before flowers appear; they’re more tender and less bitter then, and mix nicely into a salad (add some wild onions, too!) or cook up with eggs or stews. Perrie compares dandelion root to carrot. “If you’d put carrot in your beef stew,” she suggests, “put in dandelion root instead.” There are many other uses, including making fritters from the petals, or roasting and grinding the roots to make a coffee substitute. Violet is another common plant in yards and parks. It’s recognized by its small heart-shaped leaves, which—like
Living Earth School co-owner Kate Knott says wild edibles pack more nutrients than the greens you get at the grocery store.
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AMY JACKSON
Runner’s world A budding athlete discovers a new hobby By Jessica Luck
W
hen Randi Rod says she completed a couch-to-10-mile running program, she means it. She was sitting on her couch when her friend, Holly Herring, called last fall to ask her to run the Charlottesville Ten Miler with her. Rod, 53, who hadn’t exercised much while raising her three children (her youngest is 16), laughed at the suggestion, but said she’d do it. The two showed up to the first training session, organized by Ragged Mountain Running Shop, in late October not knowing what to expect. They were in the beginners group, and were told to go around the track at UVA’s Lannigan Field twice. The women planned to walk the curves at either end and run the straightaways, but Rod says she
Words to run by
Randi Rod says if she can do it, anyone can do it. She remembers how excited she was the first time she ran two miles without walking, as well as the point when six miles no longer seemed daunting. “Just try it,” she says. “I didn’t think I would last, but once you get going, you get sucked in. Then, you don’t want to let yourself down.”
COMPASS
COMPASS
EXERCISE
remembers jogging the first stretch and thinking, “We’re never going to be able to do this.” For the next 23 weeks, Rod and Herring met every Saturday morning for official practice with their training group, and ran at least one day a week together, either around Rod’s hilly Peacock Hill neighborhood or various outdoor spots. One of the best things about running outside is rediscovering the place where you live, Rod says. One of the first solo runs the pair did—two miles—was in Claudius Crozet Park. They started on the paved trail and then branched off to one of the dirt paths. They marveled at the streams and wooden bridges they had no idea existed in their backyard. “It’s so fun to discover all this stuff,” Rod says. “You don’t see it in your car when you’re zooming down the road.” Holly Herring and Randi Rod took photos of themselves on every long run to document their journey.
Rod says another key motivator in training for the popular Charlottesville race was running with someone else. They made a pact during training that they were not going to push themselves so hard that they wanted to quit, because their goal was simple: to finish. The pair walked up hills and jogged down them, with the goal of running a 15-minute-mile pace. Their race goal was 2 hours, 30 minutes. On March 24, they crossed the finish line under pace in 2 hours and 26 minutes. The first thing they did after finishing was highfive each other, and Rod also got a big hug from Ragged Mountain co-owner Mark Lorenzoni. Rod says she wore her finisher’s medal to a celebratory breakfast at Cavalier Diner, and kept it on in the car on the way to Cape Charles, where the friends stayed overnight to celebrate their success. “We kept looking at each other and saying, ‘Can you believe what we just did? We’re rock stars!” Rod says. The pair plan to keep up their running with the goal of training for a half marathon. “After 10 miles, what’s another three?” Rod asks.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
dandelion—you can add to salads or throw into any cooked dish that normally would call for spinach. The flowers are edible, too. Perrie likes to use them as a garnish on deviled eggs for Easter; they can also be candied or made into simple syrup for adding to cocktails or sparkling water. You may not be familiar with chickweed, but once you learn to recognize its small pointed leaves and its habit of growing abundantly in lawns and flowerbeds, you’ll realize how common it is. Perrie likes to send her young children out to harvest it with the instruction, “Give it a haircut!” Trimming the tips of the plant, she explains, encourages it to grow back even more luxuriously. “Kids have an affinity for it,” she says. “They’ll shove piles of it in their mouths”—a great snack considering it’s high in iron, zinc and potassium. Substitute chickweed for basil in homemade pesto. One more abundant plant is garlic mustard, an invasive species that native-plant enthusiasts detest— but if you pull it up by the roots to harvest it, you’re doing the environment a favor even as you bring home a food that’s packed with nutrients. Get to know its leaves, which can be rounded to triangular depending on its stage of growth; look for purple stems with tiny hairs to help identify it. “It’s very nutritious,” says Knott. “You can sauté it with eggs and wild chives.” Another easy recipe: Add wild greens to a bottle of apple cider vinegar, let it sit for three to six weeks, then strain. Use in salad dressing or as a tonic full of vitamins and minerals drawn from the greens. Other edible wild greens include purple nettle, lambsquarters (also known, for good reason, as wild spinach) and wood sorrel. Most are best gathered at a particular stage so that their flavor isn’t too bitter. John Kallas’ book Edible Wild Plants is a great resource to help you get to know the life cycle of each plant, and walking with an expert is very helpful. Knott and Perrie both say that, after a while, the plants come to be known as familiar friends in all their stages. “It’s like getting to know a person,” says Knott.
FORAGE Foraging inevitably connects one with the subtleties of all the seasons, and deepens appreciation for the natural world. “This is nature’s garden that we don’t have to tend or fertilize,” says Knott. “I see adults in classes becoming enamored—‘It’s all right here?’ It’s organic, it’s not genetically modified, it’s locally grown.” Perrie notices a state of calm come over people as they, for example, sit in a group shelling black walnuts or hickory nuts. “People have a primal need to connect with their food,” she says. Many wild edibles are ready to eat right from the plant—what Knott calls “trail nibbles.” The greenbrier vine, often a plant that hikers tend to gingerly brush aside as it hangs into the trail with its sharp green thorns, offers new green tendrils in the spring which taste something like asparagus. Redbud flowers are edible, sweet and known by nearly everyone. You can also eat the young seedpods of the redbud, when they’re still fresh and green—Knott suggests adding them to stir fries. In early spring, spicebush—an understory plant you’ll find in the forest—produces bright yellow-green buds and flowers, easy to nibble as you walk, as are its new leaves. A distinctive spicy smell greets your nose when you break off a spicebush twig: a clue that these twigs can also be used to make tea. Pour boiling water over broken twigs just as you would with a teabag. Or poke twigs into meat as it’s roasting to add flavor. Spicebush berries, which appear later in the year, can even be dried and ground to use as a spice. The needles of the white pine—identifiable because they grow in clumps of five—also make a nutritious tea. Knott recommends chopping the needles first and using one palmful per cup of boiling water when you infuse. Of course, use caution when learning to forage; know your plants and consider location. Don’t gather from places where dogs are walked, where chemicals are sprayed, or on roadsides. But do bring your family, say both Perrie and Knott. “Get your kids involved,” says Knott. “Everybody loves to eat.”
Wildcrafting expert Rain Perrie suggests subbing chickweed for basil in homemade pesto.
JOHN ROBINSON
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COMPASS
ROBERT LLEWELLYN
Throughout his 50-year career, photographer Robert Llewellyn has made it his business to document the fine details—from flowers and seeds to trees and forests.
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CAPTURE
For all to see Robert Llewellyn brings the natural world into view By Susan Sorensen
T
he photographer Robert Llewellyn looks at things differently than you and I. While we might point out the colorful crocuses that dot the snow-covered front lawn of his Earlysville home, Llewellyn really sees them. And he wants to be certain a visitor does too, bending down to point out the particulars of yellow stamens and purple petals. There’s something professorial about the 72-year-old, who’s made it his business to photograph the minutest details of flowers, seeds, trees and forests, among the myriad other subjects he’s carefully examined over the course of 35 books. “We’re only here to visit the trees,” Llewellyn says as he moves from one room to another in his airy home studio. “They were here way before humans; they’re hosting us.” He places what appears to be an ordinary piece of bark on a table below a large window lined with crystals of different sizes and shapes that he’s currently using in conjunction with circuit boards to create images of cities. When he turns the wood over, it becomes something else entirely: a foreign land covered with a maze of tiny trenches that bark beetles dug as they laid their eggs. When the eggs hatched, Llewellyn explains, the beetles burrowed out. “Notice how none of them cross,” he says, clearly in awe of the trench trails, and then he points out the small holes in the wood through which the insects eventually surfaced. Llewellyn pauses at the thought of this, and then asks, “What would you see if you were looking at the world for the very first time? What would you smell? What would you hear?” He says everyone should collect something because doing so compels us to “really see the world,” to develop the skill of observation (“you see the things you choose to collect everywhere”) and changes how we view the planet. Anything Llewellyn himself sees is fodder for his work (he laughs at the memory of nearly being run over in a downtown Charlottesville crosswalk, where he’d lingered too long to photograph cracks and circles on the pavement). And although he dislikes using the word “work” to describe how he’s made his living for nearly 50 years, the teacher in him can’t help tossing out a quote by Michelangelo: “If people know how hard I work to create my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful after all.” But as numerous critics have pointed out, Llewellyn’s photography is wonderful, such as the large image of a CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
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SUMMER CAMPS AT July 15-27
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July 29-August 3
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Experience achievement through exciting hands-on projects! Explore our 230 acre campus! Make friends in an exciting new setting!
chathamhall.org/summer 18
COMPASS
CAPTURE
PHOTO: SANJAY SUCHAK
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17
snapper’s eye, just one of the photographs in his studio that demand a closer look. When asked about it, Llewellyn admits that his wife, Bobbi (a psychotherapist), bought the fish at Whole Foods (“It cost about $30,” he says, still somewhat outraged), and brought it home one evening for dinner—eyes, scales and all. Before cooking the snapper (“Martha Stewart says you’re supposed to leave the scales on” when you prepare it, he reports), Llewellyn shot the photo, which hangs near a large table covered with small skeletons, bones and skulls.
When you look around Llewellyn’s vast studio—at the carefully organized and displayed raw materials from past projects and those currently in the works; the precise, stunning photographs; three enormous computer monitors; large light tables; a Wimshurst electrostatic generator that he enjoys demonstrating—it’s all a bit overwhelming. But to Llewellyn, who’s about a year into a project that looks at our planet, something he calls the Orb Project (“since we live on one floating in vast space, spinning 17,000 miles per hour”), it’s home; the place where many of the “things that have called out to me” over the years are always within reach.
Robert Llewellyn’s home studio displays his eclectic collections: crystals, rocks, skulls, gears and other curiosities.
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COMPASS
CAPTURE
“Being a photographer is quite simple,” says Robert Llewellyn. “You start with a frame. You then must decide what to put in the frame and what to leave out. You also must decide where to put things in the frame. Things at the edge create tension. Things in the middle create calm.” Llewellyn offers the following advice to photographers who want to expertly frame what nature has to offer. The best time to photograph outdoors: “You can make a photograph no matter the time of day or the weather. Some say you cannot make good photographs at noon on a clear day. Well actually, if you look straight up you find, say, an awesome backlit forest canopy. I like to go out in what people call ‘bad’ weather—rain, snow, freezing rain, fog, wind, clouds, whatever. Play the conditions, as they say in sports. The landscape changes with the weather and seasons. The Norwegians say, ‘There is no bad weather, only bad clothes.’”
PHOTOS: ROBERT LLEWELLYN
PICTURE PERFECT
Photographing wildlife: “Sit in the rain all day and wait for wildlife to appear. Actually, except for puppy dogs and kitty cats—although I am not sure about all the cats—animals do not like humans and will run away or bite you. Real wildlife photography is an enormous skill that I greatly admire. It usually requires thousands of dollars in telephoto lenses. You may have to wait days to get the image you want. You may wait days and get nothing. Having said all that, go into the wild and see what happens; what finds you. And be ready. You may only have a moment.” Capturing landscapes: “I have heard there are rules of composition. My personality does not resonate with rules. Go out and see what calls out to you. It will wave, ‘Over here, do me.’ The test is: Would it hurt if you left it? Then explore it with your camera, with no idea what the image will look like. Make lots of images. You learn from each one. And you grow. Lie on your back. Crawl on your belly. The photograph you will like the most is the one you could not have possibly imagined. Be wild. Be bold.” SS
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COMPASS
OUTFIT
Suit up Yama Mountain brings the gear here By Caite White
B
ASHLEY TWIGGS
orn from conversations with hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2006, local gear company Yama Mountain combines founder Gen Shimizu’s love of designing and making with his appreciation for the outdoors. “Yama is the result of those passions coming together,” he says. The company’s products, which range from tarps and tents to rain mitts and skirts, are designed and manufactured in its East Market Street studio in the Linen Building. We asked Shimizu a few questions about what’s on offer right now—and what’s coming up.
COMPASS
Game plan
Why’d you base the company in Charlottesville? I moved to Charlottesville to study mechanical engineering at UVA and stuck around to explore the area. I enjoy the balance of culture and arts with ease of access to the mountains that our city provides. I love how easy it is to get out onto the trails at any time of the year.
At play on the fields (and courts) of the University of Virginia
What is your bestseller? (And what makes that product special?) Our Swiftline and Cirriform shelters are popular choices among backpackers looking for reliable and highly efficient shelters. Both use trekking poles for support rather than tent poles and weigh between one and two pounds. A combination of specialized materials with refined, minimalist designs helps achieve a high level of performance. Our customers tend to be traveling long distances, perhaps thru-hiking, or simply trying to reduce the load on their back.
By Susan Sorensen
R
Which of your products do you personally use the most (or are you currently obsessed with)? We just launched the Sassafras, our first backpack. It’s designed for activities demanding good freedom of movement and stability. We love using it for minimalist backpacking trips, trail-running, cross-country skiing and biking. It’s quickly become a favorite piece of gear and we’re excited to see where we can go with it. Yama Mountain’s Cirriform shelters— with trekking poles rather than tent poles for support— are among its most popular gear.
COURTESY YAMA MOUNTAIN
PLAY
alph Sampson, Dawn Staley. Malcolm Brogdon, Tiki Barber. Leah Smith. It’s no secret that many storied athletes have graduated from the University of Virginia. What may not be as well-known, though, is that athletes (of both the varsity and casual variety) don’t spend all their time at venues like Scott Stadium, the John Paul Jones Arena or Davenport Field. There are plenty of lower-profile outdoor spots on Grounds where anyone can enjoy a game of pickup soccer, basketball, football or softball—and who knows Hoo you might run into. Now that they’ve had some time to recover from the premature and disappointing end to their 2017-18 basketball season, Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome or Isaiah Wilkins might be up for joining you in a game of H-O-R-S-E on one of the Dell basketball courts, located near Ruffner Hall on Emmet Street. It was recently announced that two-time Super Bowl champ and UVA alum Chris Long is the featured speaker for this year’s Valedictory Exercises. But before he takes the stage on May 18, maybe you’ll find him tossing the pigskin around at Carr’s Hill Field, three acres of artificial turf on University Avenue. Washington Nationals first-baseman and former Virginia baseball standout Ryan Zimmerman won’t have much time to spare now that the Major League season has begun, but who’s to say he wouldn’t be up for a little batting practice at Copeley Field on Massie Road (across from the North Grounds Recreation Center) if he’s on Grounds come fall? Sure, Danielle Collins recently defeated five-time Wimbledon winner Venus Williams at the Miami Open, but if the one-time Wahoo and two-time NCAA national singles champ has a break between WTA events, she might swing by her former home courts at the corner of Emmet Street and University Avenue and give you a few pointers on your backhand. The next time Olympian, FIFA World Cup champion and two-time Hermann Trophy winner Morgan Brian is in town, the UVA First-Team All-American probably wouldn’t be opposed to joining a game of pickup soccer at Mad Bowl, the three-acre natural grass field behind Madison Hall that was one of the university’s original playing fields.
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Find ebooks, digital copies of your favorite magazines, and more (for free!) at:
Family Bike Fest! Strider Course, Decoration Station and Bike Handling Skill Courses for riders of all ages. Information from local city and nonprofit organizations on-site.
Sunday, May 20, 2018 10am - 2pm Blue Wheel at IX Ctr. 434-977-1870
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TRAVEL
COURTESY LEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN
COMPASS
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
A change of landscape For some garden variety, get out of town By Caite White
Between Shenandoah National Park, Ivy Creek and Ragged Mountain (among others), there are (seemingly) more than enough natural attractions in our area. But we can’t overlook Charlottesville’s proximity to other noteworthy nature spots. Here are three we’re crossing off our list this season.
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
Edith J. Carrier Arboretum
Williamsburg Botanical Garden
This living museum offers more than 50 acres of gardens, from the whimsical (a thatched-roof cottage is the centerpiece of the conservatory) to the contemplative (Asian Valley, which houses plants and trees native to Asia, provides moments of reflection). Don’t miss the Cochrane Rose Garden, which boasts more than 70 varieties of roses from nurseries in France, Italy, Germany and England.
Combining 33 acres of botanical gardens and 92 acres of forest, this Shenandoah Valley arboretum serves as a living laboratory for students of James Madison University, where it’s located. The grounds fulfill purposes of research, teaching and demonstration, as well as a brilliant display—natives, non-natives, an oak hickory forest, a lowland swale, herb and rose gardens, a pond habitat—for visitors.
Located at the center of Freedom Park, Williamsburg Botanical Garden stuns with 15 separate botanical areas, from a monarch butterfly waystation and wildflower meadow to three wetland areas and a bulb garden, which houses 15 kinds of daffodils that bloom from January to April. Sign up for a workshop and learn to garden with rocks, grow vegetables, understand snakes and more.
1800 Lakeside Ave. (Richmond)
780 University Blvd. (Harrisonburg)
5537 Centerville Rd. (Williamsburg)
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Birds of a feather
GAZE
PHOTOS: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
COMPASS
American Kestrel
American Robin
Black-billed Cuckoo
Bobolink
Common Raven
Coopers Hawk
Hairy Woodpecker
House Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Local birders on the thrill of the hunt By Lisa Martin
W
hile the average person can distinguish a bluebird from a cardinal and a duck from a goose, bird-watching hobbyists, called “birders,” revel in the vastness of the avian world. “There’s a real excitement when you’re out birding,” says Myrlene Staten, membership chair for the Monticello Bird Club. “It’s like a great game of hideand-seek.” The 165-member club, established in 1986, meets monthly at the Ivy Creek Natural Area and offers something for everyone—presentations by notable speakers, bird walks, field trips to natural areas and then some. More than the activities, it’s the camaraderie of fellow birders that draws people to the community, and the love of sharing what they’ve seen of the Earth’s 10,500 species. Many in the club are certified Master Naturalists, but it’s a recreational pursuit accessible to people at any level, starting right in their backyard. It can be as simple as a stroll through the woods, looking up, or a thrilling hunt for more exotic species. “There are degrees of birding,” says Doug Rogers, MBC president. “Some people focus on hearing the bird calls, some like to spot the birds with binoculars, and others try to photograph what they find.” (Rogers’ specialty is capturing images of birds in flight.) Many birders keep a “life list” of every species they’ve ever seen, including location and time of year, and they note the number of “life birds” (first time seeing a bird species) spotted on a particular outing. Staten, who was attracted to birding after observing a gorgeous tropical motmot in Costa Rica, says it’s a holistic activity that appeals to young and older folks alike. “It’s a stimulating hobby in so many ways— you’re listening, watching, getting exercise—and it helps to study birds to know what you’re looking for, so it keeps you mentally sharp as well.” She takes online classes and reads bird books to be able to quickly identify what she sees. Few birders will name an absolute favorite, but Rogers contemplates the existential. “If I wanted to be a bird, I’d be one of the gulls,” he says. “When you see them soaring, it looks like they’re having a really good time.”
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EARLY BIRDS Belted Kingfisher
American Crow
Black Vulture
Brown Creeper
Bufflehead
Carolina Chickadee
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Gray Catbird
Indigo Bunting
Osprey
American Kestrel
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Meadowlark
White-breasted Nuthatch
Sixteen-year-old Baxter Beamer, president of the Blue Ridge Young Birders Club, says the breadth of the hobby is virtually boundless. “I haven’t tried a form of birding that I don’t like,” he says. “There are so many ways to get into it.” The club is for birders up to age 17, run by and for the youth members, and provides an entry point for learning about bird species and conservation through meetings, field trips, camps and competitions. Beamer especially favors hawk-watching and is an official counter for the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch at Afton Mountain. “They let us sit up there and we bring teles- copes and binoculars and cameras,” he says. “It’s a major flyway for raptors.” The club is also involved in local bird-related issues, such as lobbying the Brooks Family YMCA to mitigate the recent problem of birds crashing into the large glass walls of the building. Ezra Staengl, a 14-year-old who has been a club member since he was 9, won a bronze medal in the 2017 American Birding Association Young Birder of the Year competition using photography and writing from his birding blog, Birds and Buds. “In second grade I read about the decline and comeback of the peregrine falcon, and I realized that they lived right in my area,” he says. “I love falcons, and now I see quite a lot of them.” LM
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COMPASS
CHEER
JOHN ROBINSON
“C
Wicket games Local cricket players united by love of the sport By Jessica Luck
Park place
JACK LOONEY
ome on, guys, cheer on your bowler!” The prompt sends a wave of encouragement from the fielders as one of the bowlers for the Charlottesville Cricket Club gets a running start and uses a round-arm action to hurl the leather-bound ball down the dirt pitch toward the heavily padded batter at the other end. The ball sails past the batter and hits the wicket. The team erupts in cheers, because if this were a real game, the batter would have been out. The club’s first practice session of the season in early March at Darden Towe Park consisted of an hour spent prepping the field, located directly behind the Little League diamond on the north side of the park, catching practice, then a practice game with several bowlers and batters taking turns at the pitch. The club, formed in 2002 by Dr. Prabhakar Reddi, has been using the county park as its practice and game space since 2008. Vice captain John D’Costa, who played cricket while growing up in India, says they are thankful the county helps maintain their pitch, which is a 22-yard-long dirt rectangle. During the practice, several batters rack up runs by hitting fours and sixes. A four-run hit means the ball touches the ground before bouncing over the field’s boundary in any direction (unlike baseball, a batter can hit the ball forward, backward and to either side). A six-run hit occurs when the ball sails cleanly over the boundary line. Similar to baseball, if a fielder for the opposite team catches a hit in the air, the batter is out (one of 10 ways a batter can get out). But the similarities end there; there are no bases to run in cricket. Two batters stand at the opposite end of the pitch near the wooden wicket stationed in the ground, and when a ball is hit (anything other than a four or six) the batters can run from one end of the pitch to the other. If both batters make it to the other end, that’s one run. They can run back and forth as many times until the ball reaches the hands of the wicket-keeper. Cricket is the national sport of England and thus is “like religion” in India, which was ruled by England for 200 years, D’Costa says. The members of the Charlottesville cricket team come from several countries, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Australia and the West Indies. Many are grad students or work at UVA, and the roster varies year to year. But whenever they come to the cricket field, the players “forget where they are,” D’Costa says. The ultimate goal is to send some of the Charlottesville players to the U.S. national team tryouts to compete on an international level with the best teams in the world. For now, the Charlottesville players enjoy the camaraderie at weekly practices and 12 games during their season, which runs from late March through September. But they’re always looking for more members— whether someone has never set foot on a pitch or grew up with a cricket bat in hand. The club is also starting a league on Saturdays in which anyone interested in learning the sport can play with a tape tennis ball, which is safer. The players hope to pass on the love of the sport to the next generation, so that cricket in Charlottesville and the Mid-Atlantic Cricket Conference grows. “This is something that I love to do,” D’Costa says. “I grew up with this, and I want the first generation to take it over in the future. I give my heart for this.”
Darden Towe Park comprises 113 acres and includes a Little League baseball field, three softball fields, four multi-purpose fields for soccer, lacrosse and football, four tennis courts and 3.8 miles of trails. As you drive the around the northwest side of the park, you’ll often spot outdoor-lovers in colorful life jackets loading kayaks into the Rivanna River. On the opposite end of the park, follow the sound of barking to the one-acre dog park, which seems to always have at least a couple of furry friends enjoying the fresh air.
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COMPASS
ATTEND
Get up and go! These can’t-miss summer and fall events leave no excuses for couch potatoes. Jefferson Adult and Career Education program at Piedmont Virginia Community College, it provides “an opportunity for building bridges of communication between new Americans and established residents.” Tickets: Free. Booker T. Washington Park, 1001 Preston Ave. festivalofcultures.org
FESTS Charlottesville Dogwood Festival Through Saturday, May 5 This month-long celebration of the state flower comprises events from the Charlottesville Municipal Band’s spring concert (April 22) and the Dogwood Track Classic (May 4 and 5) to a carnival (through April 22) and Grand Parade (April 21). Many events are free; tickets required for the benefit breakfast and Queen’s Ball. Various locations. cvilledogwood.com
Crozet Arts & Crafts Festival
Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13 10am5:30pm (Saturday), 10am-5pm (Sunday) More than 120 jury-selected fine art and craft exhibitors will have their handcrafted work for sale. Enjoy food and drinks—including craft beer and Virginia wine—while browsing what’s on offer or participate in a craft demonstration. Tickets: $7 for adults, free for children 12 and under. Claudius Crozet Park (Crozet). crozetfestival.com
Orange Uncorked Wine Festival at Montpelier
Saturday, May 5, and Sunday, May 6 11am-5pm Formerly known as the Montpelier Wine Festival, this 28th annual event celebrates the our local AVA with craft and art vendors, live music and tastings from more than 20 wineries. Tickets: $20 in advance ($25 at the gate) and $5 for designated drivers and those underage (13-20). James Madison’s Montpelier, 11350 Constitution Highway (Montpelier Station). orangevachamber.com
Know Good Beer and Bourbon Spring Festival
Saturday, May 12 2-6pm IPAs, browns, reds, stouts, ales and lagers—no beer is off limits at this popular annual event. All tickets include unlimited samples. A VIP ticket gets you into the festival an hour early and gives you access to a climate-controlled lounge area. Tickets: $80 (VIP), $50-75 (general admission), $20 (designated driver). IX Art Park, 963 Second St. SE. knowgoodbeer.com
Monticello Wine Trail Festival
Monday, May 7, to Saturday, May 12 1:30-5:30pm This annual festival kicks off Monday with the Monticello Cup Awards at The Jefferson Theater, recognizing wineries in the 2018 Monticello Cup Wine Competition, as well as the winegrowers and winemakers who made them. On Saturday, get a sip from 25 wineries, plus live entertainment. Snag a VIP ticket and you also gain access to catered food and exclusive wines from some of the wineries. Tickets: $80 VIP ($25 VIP designated driver), $35 general admission before May 11, $40 at the gate ($10 general admission designated driver). Sprint Pavilion, Downtown Mall. monticellowinetrailfestival.com
Albemarle County Fair
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Saturday, June 23 11am-7pm Local wines, live music on two stages (and belly dancers!), festival foods, local growers, arts and crafts—plus, your wine tasting includes a souvenir glass. Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the gate. Lazy Days Winery, 1351 N. Amherst Hwy. (Amherst). summersolsticefestival.com
Red Wing Roots Music Festival Friday, July 13, to Sunday, July 15 Josh Ritter, The Steel Wheels and Trampled by Turtles are just a few of the acts you can expect to see during this three-day celebration of roots music. Plus, take advantage of the scenery with morning bike rides, hikes or yoga sessions in the Music Meadow. Tickets: $49-139 (kids are free). 94 Natural Chimneys Ln. (Mt. Solon). redwingroots.com
C-VILLE Restaurant Week Saturday, July 14, to Monday, July 23 Two price points, three courses—eat your way through Charlottesville’s best restaurants during this biannual event celebrating all things delicious. $25 or $35. Locations vary. c-villerestaurantweek.com
African-American Cultural Arts Festival
Wednesday, July 23 7-9pm This 25th annual event is a four-day celebration of African-American culture—from literature to food to music at Saturday’s festival and health fair. Events are free, but registration is required. Locations vary. cvilleafricanamfest.wordpress.com
Albemarle County Fair
Thursday, July 26, to Saturday, July 28 4-9pm (Thursday), 10am-9pm (Friday and Saturday) Livestock showcases, food contests, cornhole tournaments, live music, carnival games and more at this annual event celebrating harvests and agriculture. Tickets: $5 general admission (kids are free). James Monroe’s Highland, 2050 James Monroe Pkwy. albemarlecountyfair.com
Virginia Craft Brewers Fest
Saturday, August 18 1-8pm Take a sip from nearly 100 breweries, a taste from a dozen food vendors and a minute in front of a local band jamming out. IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE. vacraftbrewersfest.com ERIC KELLEY
Charlottesville Festival of Cultures
Saturday, May 12 10am-4pm Now in its 15th year, this annual event celebrates Charlottesville’s cultural and linguistic diversity through food, crafts, performances and cultural vendors and demonstrations. Organized by the Thomas
Virginia Summer Solstice Wine Festival
C’ville Pride Festival
Saturday, September 15 11am-7pm For seven years, the C’ville Pride Festival (and Pride Week, which precedes it) has showcased
LGBTQ culture at this fun, welcoming, family-friendly event. Sprint Pavilion, Downtown Mall. cvillepride.org
LEARNING 4th Annual Truck Touch
Saturday, May 5 10am-2pm Face-painting, chalk-drawing and, of course, the opportunity to explore vehicles of all types—public service, emergency, utility, construction, transportation, delivery and more. Tickets: $5 per person ($20 max per family). IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE. montessoriofcville.org/truck-touch
MUSIC Fridays After Five
Starry Nights
Second Saturday (June-September) Gates at 5pm, event 7-11pm This beloved local concert series showcases local artists playing on the winery’s lawn. Bring a picnic to pair with a Veritas wine, or purchase food from the venue’s buffet. Tickets: $15-20. Veritas Vineyard & Winery, 151 Veritas Ln. (Afton). veritaswines.com
First Wednesday
First Wednesday (April-September) 5-8pm The first Wednesday of every month, visit the Crozet winery for extended hours, food trucks, live music and a spectacular view of the sun setting behind the Blue Ridge Mountains. King Family Vineyards, 6550 Roseland Farm (Crozet). kingfamilyvineyards.com
Starr Hill Brewery’s IPA JamBEERee Saturday, June 9 A celebration of all things Virginia craft brew, with Starr Hill beers on tap and collaborations with local breweries from across the Commonwealth, plus food and live music. Check website for ticket prices. Starr Hill Brewery, 5391 Three Notched Rd. (Crozet). starrhill.com
LOCKN’ Thursday, August 23, to Sunday, August 26 Bring your sleeping bag for four nights of unforgettable live performances from such acts as Widespread Panic, Sheryl Crow, Dead & Co., Tedeschi Trucks Band and Erin & The Wildfire. Tickets: $259-330. Infinity Downs and Oak Ridge Farm (Arrington). locknfestival.com
NATURE Historic landscape tour
First Saturdays (May-September) 1pm Tour the grounds of James Madison’s Montpelier to see how, over 250 years, they became a trove of champion trees and unique planting
Architecture Tours at Montpelier
thanks to great care and preservation over many generations. Tickets: Free. David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. montpelier.org
Saturdays, June 23 and August 25 1-2pm A four-part series that began in March continues on the grounds of James Madison’s home. In June, learn about the construction of the property’s buildings and how they were used by the enslaved community. In August, hear about James Dinsmore’s renovation and expansion of the house. Tickets: $4 for kids 6-14, $10 for adults. Montpelier, 11350 Constitution Hwy. (Montpelier Station). montpelier.org
Kids and Nature Festival
July 4 at Monticello
CHRIS PECORARO
Fridays (through September 8) 5pm This weekly free live concert series showcases local singers, songwriters and bands across genres. Snag a seat in the grass and take in one of summer’s most popular events. Tickets: Free. Sprint Pavilion, Downtown Mall. sprintpavilion.com
LOCKN'
Sunday, June 3 10am-1pm A petting zoo, a parade, live music, a raffle— that’s just a few of the fun things kids will encounter at this new festival. Part of the proceeds benefit local playspace Wildrock. Check website for ticket prices. IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE. ourlittleplanets.com
Wednesday, July 4 9am-noon This 56th annual Independence Day celebration includes a moving Naturalization Ceremony for new U.S. citizens. Tickets: Free. Monticello, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. monticello.org
James River Batteau Festival
Foxfield Spring Races
Saturday, June 7, to Saturday, June 24 A week-long voyage down the James, beginning at Lynchburg’s Percival’s Island. Visit one of the stops to see batteaux crews dressed in 18th century period costumes. Tickets: Free. Various locations. vacanals.org/batteau
Cut Flower Workshop
Tuesday, June 26 11am-2pm Following a guided tour of the beds and kitchen garden, Big Arms Farm’s Jenny Hopkins teaches tips on properly harvesting flowers, post-harvest handling and the basics of creating a casual arrangement. Afterward, enjoy a farm-to-table lunch prepared by Executive Chef Ian Rynecki. Tickets: $100. Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards, 5022 Plank Rd. (North Garden). pippinhillfarm.com
Big Woods Walk
Sunday, July 8 2pm Montpelier horticulturist Sandy Mudrinich leads this hike through the estate’s Landmark Forest—a rare hardwood old growth forest with towering poplars, stately oaks and sprawling beeches. Tickets: $5, free for Montpelier members. David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. montpelier.org
MISCELLANEOUS Saturday, April 28 Gates at 9am; First race at 1pm Held twice annually, this popular spring steeplechase horse race—which draws a younger, more college-aged crowd than its autumn counterpart—benefits a local charity each year. This year proceeds go to Jefferson Area Children’s Health Improvement Program. Tickets: $40-395. Foxfield Steeplechase Field, 2215 Foxfield Track. foxfieldraces.com
Charlottesville Women’s Four Miler
Saturday, September 1 8am In support of UVA Cancer Center’s Breast Care Program, this annual race draws thousands of participants—from runners to race-day volunteers. The 11-week training program begins June 16. Registration: $48-65. Foxfield, Garth Road. womens4miler.com
Best of C-VILLE party
Friday, September 7 7-11pm The best part of the year (if we do say so ourselves). Your ticket price gets you access to unlimited food, drinks and a front-row seat for local music performances throughout the night. Check website for ticket prices. Water Street parking garage (top level). c-ville.com
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Come sing with us! Mozart’s CORONATION MASS with professional soloists and orchestra Judith Gary, Conductor, with a staff of professional musicians
Audition information: 434-244-8444
consort2@gmail.com ● www.virginiaconsort.org
Murray’s Fly Shop has been in business for 55 years selling the finest tackle by Orvis, Scott, Winston and St. Croix We offer fly fishing schools for both trout and bass and a guide service. For dates and more info, visit our website. We have over 30,000 flies in stock, many of which are designed by Harry Murray and are included in his books Trout Fishing in the Shenandoah National Park and Virginia Blue Ribbon Streams.
Phone: 540-984-4212 Email: info@murraysflyshop.com Visit up at www.murraysflyshop.com 121 South Main Street (PO Box 156) Edinburg, VA 22824
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2018 Wintergreen Summer Music Festival & Academy July 8-August 5, 2018
Held at Wintergreen Resort and neighboring wineries, cideries, breweries, and venues. Plan your musical escape to the mountains today. Tickets and Weekend Experiences on sale now! Destination
•
Community
WintergreenPerformingArts.org 434-361-0541
•
Artistry
A VARIETY OF VENDORS & PRODUCTS EACH WEEK!
At the Hollymead Town Center TOWNCENTER LANE, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.
Each Saturday May-September from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm
✓ Produce/Plants ✓ Meat/Eggs ✓ Canned Goods ✓ Baked Goods ✓ Prepared Foods ✓ Artisan/Crafts ✓ Personal/Home Care Items
PLENTY OF CUSTOMER PARKING Find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/Albemarlefarmersmarket
15th Annual Charlottesville
FESTIVAL OF CULTURES Saturday, May 12, 2018 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Washington Park Free and open to the public
www.festivalofcultures.org
This is our town. .com
Organized by the Thomas Jefferson Adult & Career (TJACE) Program at Piedmont Virginia Community College
LIGHT HOUSE STUDIO Young people telling stories through filmmaking
year-round screenings and workshops at vinegar hill theatre
www.lighthousestudio.org 434.293.6992
winner los angeles film festival
official selection austin film festival
official selection nashville film festival
hot shot winner sun valley film festival
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FOUNTAI N CAVE Adventure Tours Located at:
BELMONT FARM DISTILLERY America’s First Craft Whiskey Distillery
GRAND CAVERNS A National Natural Landmark
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Kopper Kettle & Virginia Lightning Dark Chai Spice Rum Vodka Golden Gin Virginia Whiskey Apple Whiskey Corn Whiskey Moonshine Apple Pie Moonshine Peach Moonshine Butterscotch Moonshine Cherry Moonshine Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bonded Whiskey 25 Year Special Reserve Whiskey
TOURS & TASTINGS
GIFT SHOP & MUSEUM
TUESDAY-SATURDAY 11:00AM-5:00PM OPEN FIRST SATURDAY IN APRIL UNTIL DECEMBER
www.belmontfarmdistillery.com 540-825-3207 13490 Cedar Run Rd. Culpeper, Virginia
ALBEMARLE COUNTY PARKS & RECREATION
• 12 Parks • 4,100 acres of parkland • 70 miles of trails open every day to enjoy
Check out our website for info on recreational classes and sports www.albemarle.org/parks
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The water’s fine Trade in your coat for a swimsuit and your hand lotion for sunscreen—it’s finally time to come out of hibernation. We’ve compiled the best ways to take advantage of the warmer weather on the water: a kayak race down the Rivanna, fly-fishing for novices and, of course, a lazy river float. We’ll see you on the water. 37
Rivanna hosts paddlers in river regatta By Erika Howsare
“W
e’ve got a beautiful recreational river right beside the town, but nobody knows it,” says Merrill Bishop. Back in 2005, the local canoe enthusiast was hoping to make the river more visible when he organized the first Rivanna River Regatta—a canoe and kayak race that, this year, will take place on May 12. “Merrill has put in the vast majority of the legwork” to organize the regatta for the last 14 years,” says Dave Segars, a participant for most of those years. “He’s been the backbone and the sustainer of the race.” This year, Bishop is stepping back, and Segars and fellow racer Dave Dolak are taking over the lead on organizing the regatta. As Bishop points out, even though the Rivanna wraps around the city of Charlottesville and borders some of our biggest parks, it doesn’t offer much public access—and the potential for paddling a canoe or kayak isn’t always obvious. Most folks have glimpsed the Rivanna from the bridge on 29 North, above Rio Road, where, as Bishop says, “It looks pretty docile.” The bridge is also the spot where racers will put in on regatta day. “What you don’t know,” says Bishop, “and what makes the fun of this race, is that there’s 11 sets of rapids downstream from that 29 bridge.” Even better, he says, two of those are rated as Class II or II-plus rapids—meaning they take a bit of skill to maneuver. Translation: The regatta is a chance to get acquainted with the Rivanna’s wilder side.
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PHOTOS: COURTESY DAVE DOLAK
A DAY AT THE RACES
The race is 6.2 miles long and finishes at Darden Towe Park. “For a more casual paddler,” says Bishop, “it’s a two-hour trip.” Last year, winner Dolak covered the distance in just over 43 minutes (see page 41). But the regatta isn’t just for those, like Dolak, who do a lot of training; while early heats are meant for fast paddlers (mostly in kayaks), later start times cater to canoers and families who just want to experience the river. “It’s a beautiful trip,” says Bishop. “You have deer come down to the water and look at you as if to say, ‘What the hell are you doing in my backyard?’ There are bald eagles in trees above you, and big herons sometimes standing in the water.” As long as you’re willing to paddle—as opposed to just floating—you can enter this race and finish within the allotted time, says Segars. To further encourage beginners, Bishop and the other race organizers post skilled paddlers below the rapids to help anyone who gets in a jam. They also remove debris from the course a week or so ahead of time. The river can connect paddlers not only to the landscape, Bishop says, but to local history as well. At one time, he says, the Rivanna was known as the North Fork of the James River, and it served as a highway for goods, including French wine purchased from abroad by Thomas Jefferson. Oceangoing vessels could bring the cargo through Norfolk and up the James River nearly to Richmond, where they’d be stopped by a major set of rapids.
From that point, he says, “They would have to move all that stuff four or five miles by land to get above the rapids.” From there, bateaux would move the goods upstream to Charlottesville. The Rivanna isn’t easy to get close to, but there are places where you can watch the regatta, and Bishop says it’s worth a look-see. “The kayak race really gets to be fantastic,” he says. “There were 10 seconds two years ago between the firstand second-place people. Last year Dolak beat Dave Segars by probably about four or five kayak lengths.” The two nurture a “friendly rivalry,” says Segars, that has taken some interesting turns. One year, they were paddling almost neck-and-neck when Dolak’s kayak tipped over. Segars stayed with him until he righted, though Dolak urged him to “go on and win.” Other paddlers caught up with the two stalled frontrunners, but they eventually took off again and regained their shared lead. “I did finish ahead,” says Segars. “He said there was no way he would pass me. It was kind of like kissing your sister, but I did win.”
Both Pen Park and Darden Towe Park are good places to glimpse the paddlers. “We encourage people to go into Pen Park and hike down and watch the racers from there,” says Bishop. “Also, the north end of Darden Towe Park is about a half-mile above the finish line. There is one tremendous rapids, 50 or 100 feet long, right there”—a tricky place for paddlers and a rewarding place to spectate as kayakers and canoers navigate a class I rapids in a narrow stretch of the river. While the regatta’s first year brought only a couple of dozen racers, in recent years there have been more than 50, some coming from neighboring states. Last year, Bishop says, an 11-yearold girl completed the race on a paddleboard. Bishop himself has owned a canoe since the 1960s and paddled some of Wisconsin’s whitewater rivers while living near Chicago. Though he’s stepped down as race organizer, he’s still enthusiastic about the thrill of running rapids and eager to spread the word about Charlottesville’s own river. “East of town, where the railroad trestle goes over the river,” he says, “you’ve got a whale of a run. You have to do some real fancy zigzags right under the trestle or you crash into rocks that are the size of a Volkswagen.”
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GETTING AHEAD Chatting with 2017 race winner Dave Dolak By Caite White
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How did you get started kayaking? How long have you been doing it?
It all started at a young age attending a summer camp outside of Ligonier, Pennsylvania. One of the activities at the camp was “waterfront,” which involved canoeing and kayaking on the camp’s lake. It was painful to have to start first in a rowboat and then progress to a canoe to prove proficiency before they’d let us paddle a kayak solo, but paddling a kayak was my ultimate goal on that lake that week. As soon as I did I was hooked for life. I must have been around 10 years old at the time, so I’ve been paddling 40 or so years. Throughout my youth I did countless canoe and whitewater rafting trips with our Boy Scout troop and I always envied the guys and girls in the kayaks who’d pass us on the rivers. They were always going faster and always looked like they were having more fun, so I paddled a kayak as often as I could borrow or rent one since I didn’t own one yet myself.
What do you enjoy most about it?
In what seems a contradiction, I enjoy both the solitude and the people I meet. I enjoy unplugging and getting away from the rat race and other people for a few hours, yet also treasure the people I meet and friends I’ve made through the sport. Most everyone you meet paddling is friendly and willing to do almost anything for a fellow paddler. Regardless of the type of paddling we do as individuals, we share a common bond when it comes to powering ourselves across lakes or down rivers. The scenery is almost always beautiful. There is ample opportunity to observe undisturbed wildlife and the sense of peace and being one with nature is palpable. It’s a great way to relax and recharge while also getting great exercise.
JOHN ROBINSON
ast year’s Rivanna River Regatta was one of those races where everything just came together, according to its winner, Dave Dolak. The water levels were high and the river was running fast. “I covered those 6.2 river miles in 43 minutes and six seconds last year,” he says. “Beat my old record by more than three minutes.” Dolak, who by day is a marketing consultant, has been paddling in our area for more than 25 years. In fact, it was a regular meet-up between him and local paddling icon Konrad Zeller (“to paddle, eat chicken wings, get caught up with each other and talk about life in general”) that sowed the seeds of the Cville Paddlers. We asked Dolak to tell us more about getting into kayaking, how he trains and what keeps him interested in the challenging sport.
How and when do you train?
I train year-round either on the water, on land or in the gym. Most of my on-water training takes place on the South Rivanna Reservoir. When I’m in town during the summer months I do a training run right after work on Wednesdays and then join the Rivanna River Paddlers group on my inbound/ return leg of the workout. Two years ago my paddling buddy and training partner, Dave Segars, and I started paddling the whole length of the Rivanna River to prepare ourselves for some of our longer races and ultra marathons. The Rivanna from Charlottesville to Columbia is about 44 miles. Last year we did that and added some miles of the James River to Cartersville and covered those 55 miles in just a little over eight hours.
Do you have any unorthodox training practices?
Several years ago I needed a solution for those times in the winter when the reservoir is frozen, so I designed and built myself an indoor kayak ergometer out of an old NordicTrack ski machine. When the water is frozen, I just paddle in my basement. Much to my surprise, the device found somewhat of a global cult following on YouTube and I’ve built a few more of these devices for friends and, now in a strange twist due to popular demand, offer a “how to” video teaching people how to build their own.
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Paddleboarding is a whole-body experience By Samantha Baars
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TOM MCGOVERN
STANDUP SPORT t’s not as hard as it looks, says Rivanna River Company co-owner Gabe Silver. But it’s not that easy, either. “Falling off just ends up being fun and refreshing, particularly on a hot day,” he says, because it’s not unusual for people to take a spill while stand-up paddling over rapids on the Rivanna River. Silver and his wife, Sonya, launched the Rivanna River Company in 2016 with about 10 stand-up paddleboards that patrons could rent and take elsewhere, or sign up for a two-hour instructional session and guided trip down the river. Last year, they started partnering with a local fitness instructor to teach a 90-minute core workout class on the boards. The outdoorsman says firsttime paddlers are often surprised by how steady, stable and natural the sport feels. “It tends to be really fun and engaging, and not as scary or challenging or threatening as people might think,” he adds. “People of all backgrounds and fitness levels really end up having fun.”
Kick back with the James River Runners Folks at a river outfitter in Scottsville know floating. In this company’s 40 years of existence, employees have taken customers from all 50 states and 86 different countries on water expeditions—so when they say the water sport most suited for anyone is tubing, we believe them. “It’s the easiest trip you can take down the river,” says Paige Wilkes,
Folks at the Rivanna River Company have found that the activity gives paddle sports a new avenue—or waterway, if you will. “For one, it draws in new, enthusiastic participants to water sports,” Silver says. “And two, if you’ve been running the river in a canoe or kayak for a long time, you get on a paddleboard and try to stand up through some of those rapids and you’ve given yourself a new challenge.” An even more exciting sight than watching the occasional wipeout? Of the vantage point of standing on the water, Silver says this: “It’s a totally unique way to observe the reservoirs and the rivers around here. You can actually look down into it and see the fish and turtles and everything swimming by you.”
ROBERT LLEWELLYN
Grab a tube
who has co-owned James River Runners with her husband, Chris, for a decade. About 6,000 of their patrons choose to forget the paddles, the kayak or the canoe and snag an inner tube each year. After paying and signing a waiver at the outfitter’s main office on Hatton Ferry Road, eager adventurers take a bouncy truck, van or school bus ride to a drop-off location about three miles up the river. There, take your pick from a mountain of black tubes and wade on in. The float back down to the Hatton Ferry location takes between two and four hours, based on the speed of the river and the pace of the person floating. Taking a cooler? There’s a tube for that, too.
Rivanna River Company owners Sonya and Gabe Silver say falling off while paddleboarding is inevitable— but actually quite refreshing.
But remember, drinking alcohol in public is illegal—and the river runners have put a strict prohibition on hard liquor and glass bottles. But if the beverage in your cooler has an ABV, or
if you just don’t feel like going home, the outfitting company offers riverside camping, where nature-lovers can fish or kick their water shoes off and jump right back in the James SB
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CHARLOTTESVILLE
JOHN ROBINSON
STARTING LINE
The 42-mile stretch of the Rivanna, a tributary of the James, offers much for watersport enthusiasts. In our area, there are five distinct access points that make it easy to put-in.
1 Darden Towe Park
2 Riverview Park
3 Milton
Robbi Savage
KEEPING IT CLEAN Rivanna Conservation Alliance watches out for our waterways By Samantha Baars
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igarettes, car parts, cans. Bottles, batteries, bicycles. Tires, telephones. A couch. These are all things volunteers with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance have cleaned out of the 42-mile-long tributary of the James River, says Executive Director and CEO Robbi Savage, who adds, “One year, we found eight toilets.” Through the RCA, anywhere from 700 to 900 volunteers participate in one of many river cleanups each year. About 30 trained and certified volunteers monitor bacteria in the water, and more than 100 conduct benthic testing by collecting, counting and identifying the critters that live in the streams of 50 different sites. “This is important because only certain bugs can live in really clean water,” she says. “If you get slugs and leeches, you can tell the water’s really dirty. Caddisflies are intolerant of dirty water, so if you find those, the water is clean.” It’s serious business. The organization’s benthic and bacteria programs are certified by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality at the highest level, and RCA is the only nonprofit in the state to be certified for both of those programs at that grade. Overall, Savage says the health of the Rivanna is “pretty good,” though some areas in the urban ring don’t meet water quality standards. Some sites are slowly improving, and she’s monitoring little to no degradation. “Charlottesville is growing and there’s more diversity in terms of the kinds of pollution that come into our rivers and streams,” she says. “The fact that we’re just holding our own is amazing.”
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1
Darden Towe Park
to Riverview Park
Skill level required: Novice Distance: 2 miles Put-in: (Good) Wooden canoe launch at west edge of Darden Towe Park on VA Route 20 just north of Charlottesville 2
Riverview Park to Milton
Skill level required: Intermediate Distance: 4.3 miles Put-in: (Poor) Mud bank at east edge of Riverview Park on Chesapeake Street in Charlottesville 3 Milton to Crofton Skill level required: Novice Distance: 10 miles Put-in: (Poor) Mud bank at end of Randolphs Mill Road on VA Route 729
LAKE MONTICELLO
4 Crofton to Palmyra Skill level required: Novice Distance: 6.5 miles Put-in: (Excellent) VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries public boat access on VA Route 600 5
4 Crofton
5 Palmyra
Palmyra to Columbia
Skill level required: Intermediate Distance: 16 miles Put-in: (Excellent) VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries public boat access on VA Route 53 in Palmyra 6 Take-out: (Excellent) VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries public boat access on VA Route 690 across the James River from Columbia
Columbia 6
JAMES RIVER
GREAT SAIL James River’s Batteau Fest continues tradition
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hrough the 1700s and early 1800s, the James River was nothing short of Virginia’s super-highway, with bateaux transporting flour, iron, apple brandy and hogsheads of tobacco from riverfront communities to the markets in Richmond. Each summer, the James River Batteau Festival celebrates that journey, sending a flotilla of 30 batteaux—58-foot-long wooden replicas of shipping vessels dating to the mid1700s—flanked by upward of 300 canoes, kayaks, john boats, inflatable rafts and inner tubes. The boats—each manned by crews of eight people wearing period clothing—are exquisitely outfitted, with wood-burning cookstoves, cedar benches and even
CALEB BRIGGS
By Eric Wallace The annual Batteau Festival sends 30 vessels down the James on an eight-day journey.
dinner tables. There are racks of tin cookware. Old-timey chests for luggage. Hammocks. Custom refrigeration coolers for kegs of homemade beer. Sponsored by the Virginia Canals and Navigations Society, the batteaux float 120 miles from Lynchburg’s Percival Island to Maiden’s Landing in Richmond. Riding the currents for 13 to 21 miles per day, participants will camp, feast and enjoy various celebrations at stops along the way. Halfway through the adventure, for instance, the town of Scottsville throws a party, with thousands gathering at a downtown park for live music, food and events. To follow the journey (or even show up at a stop yourself ), visit vacanals.org/batteau.
Water spots Here are a few of the area’s best splash-worthy offerings.
POOLS
Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center 1000-A Cherry Ave., 970-3072 The 27,000-square-foot Smith Aquatic features two indoor pools (one competitive, one leisure), water slides, a play structure and a lazy river. Onesty Family Aquatic Center at Meade Park 300 Meade Ave., 295-7532 An outdoor pool near Woolen Mills with water slides, in-water playgrounds, a lazy river, a diving board, lap lanes and a zero-depth play area. Washington Park Pool 1001 Preston Ave., 977-2607 You’ll find a lighted swimming pool, zero-depth play area, water slides, a diving board and a mushroom waterfall here.
SPRAY GROUNDS
Forest Hills Spray Grounds 1022 Forest Hills Park Ave. Greenleaf Spray Grounds 1598 Rose Hill Dr. Belmont Spray Grounds 725 Stonehenge Ave.
LAKES
(Open 11am-7pm daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day) Mint Springs Valley Park 6659 Mint Springs Park Rd. (Crozet) Chris Greene Lake 4748 Chris Greene Lake Rd.
RON PARIS
Walnut Creek Park 4250 Walnut Creek Park Rd. (North Garden)
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JUNE 9
JULY 14
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OL SHIRT AND MEDA
RUNNERS GET A CO
AUGUST 18 46
SEPTEMBER 1
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PHOTOS: TOM DALY
n a fortuitous camping trip about four years ago, a friend handed Hannah Hickin a fishing rod. “I was like, ‘Hey, this is pretty fun.’ Ever since then, I’ve been hooked,” the 31-year-old says about the sport she already considers a “lifelong passion.” While she still casts a line from a fishing pole from time to time, the angler is most comfortable with a fly rod in her hands. “It gives me just enough to think about that I don’t have to think about anything,” Hickin says. “It’s like my reset.” On any given Saturday afternoon—no matter the season—you can find her fishing for muskie, trout or bass. Muskie are “really huge, toothy critters,” Hickin says, and while she notes they’re “extremely fun to catch,” they’re referred to as the fish of 10,000 casts, because reeling one in isn’t easy. During the colder months, she’ll hike to local mountain streams where she can find her favorite trout, the teeny-tiny brook trout, colored with flourescent pink and purple, and spotted with yellow.
FISHING FINESSE Local woman angles to attract others to her favorite sport By Samantha Baars
And when it warms up, Hickin and her friends switch over to largemouth and smallmouth bass. They’ll charter a drift boat or raft and take a whole day to float the river and fish for the nearly identical creatures. When the sun’s too hot to bare, they jump in the water. After she’s reeled one in, she sends her catch of the day back to where it came from. “I catch and release so someone else can get the opportunity to catch that fish again,” she says. And because some live in their habitats for a long time, “sometimes you can even go back and see the same fish.” She wants to make one thing clear: Fishing is not just a sport for men. “I’d like to encourage other girls to get out there and do it. It really is a wonderful sport for women,” she says. “A lot of times, girls have the best cast because it takes some finesse.” Hickin adds that the intimacy of fly fishing is what she loves most about the sport. “When you’re using a fly rod instead of your reel, you have the line in your hand,” she says. “And when you’re fighting a fish, you have a direct line to its mouth. I remember the first fish I caught that way—it overwhelmed me.”
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OUTSIDER
In the swim of things
ERIC KELLEY
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hillip Seay is very clear about his priorities. “My No. 1 concern is safety,” says the city’s aquatics manager. “I’m over the top.” For the more than 100 lifeguards employed by the city’s two outdoor and two indoor pools, whose hourly pay rate is the highest in the area, that means they’d better be on their toes. “Is this the day we may have to save someone’s life?” Seay asks of the guards. “And are we prepared to do that?” The key to staying alert, says Seay, is movement. His lifeguards work short rotations, climbing in and out of the chair during their shifts, and they take breaks every hour. Along with Operations Manager Algreatus “Gator” Batton, Seay and his head guards often perform spot checks, quizzing younger guards on emergency scenarios and running drills to test responsiveness even when they are on breaks. Seay wants to keep his lifeguards “thinking and looking” at all times. “They never know where I’m going to show up,” he says. Seay especially cautions against complacency. “You don’t know who is walking into your facility,” he explains. “You don’t know the health of that person.” Appearances can be deceiving, and regular, daily swimmers don’t always garner the same attention as rambunctious kids in the pool. “We use colorful safety wristbands for each age and level of youth swimmer so the guards can see at a glance where they should and shouldn’t be.” Beyond swinging the whistle and telling kids not to run, lifeguards also play a role in the customer service aspect of the pool experience, greeting and getting to know swimmers, interacting with parents and administering swim tests. “You sometimes have to tell a child they are not quite ready, and that’s a tough part for the guards, but consistency is important,” says Seay. “We are going to be safe, period.”—Lisa Martin
EZE AMOS
Together with his operations manager, Gator Batton, left, Charlottesville’s aquatics manager Phillip Seay staffs the city’s swim spots, including Smith Aquatic (right).
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