CHARLOTTESVILLE’S FREE NEWS AND ARTS WEEKLY
SEPTEMBER 23 – 29, 2026
Enough said SUPPORT US!
The midterm ballot puts abortion access front and center P.9
Sal’s downtown counter runs up against city regulations P.17
Brett Dennen breaks the barrier between artist and audience P.43
TRISTAN WILLIAMS
Allison Spillman opens up about the threats, turmoil, and tensions that drove her from the Albemarle County School Board
Hundreds of Healthcare Professionals Agree: Vote for Tom Perriello Dear Readers, As clinicians serving communities across Virginia’s Fifth District, we see the consequences of a broken healthcare system every day. Patients delay care because they can’t afford a copay. Insurance companies override clinical decisions. Rural families lose access to primary care and maternal health clinics. Tom Perriello understands the importance of healthcare access and affordability to our patients. We encourage voters to support Tom Perriello. Rep. McGuire voted to eliminate $1 trillion from Medicaid with his vote for H.R. 1 in July 2025. H.R. 1 was opposed by the American Nurses Association, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the American Medical Association, and many other healthcare organizations. Many of our patients need Medicaid to keep their families safe and secure. Rural hospitals and clinics depend on Medicaid reimbursements to stay open. Most counties in Virginia’s Fifth District currently do not have enough primary care providers. Eleven counties in our district have no obstetric care. Another labor and delivery unit in Farmville closed in December 2025, citing the “recently enacted reductions in federal healthcare funding” that Rep. McGuire supported as a reason. Tom is a proven champion for expanding affordable healthcare services. In Congress, Tom stood up to insurance lobbyists by voting for the Affordable Care Act and protecting people with pre-existing conditions and letting young people stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26. He also delivered tax credits that helped middle-class families afford health care. Tom brought federal healthcare dollars home, including support for rural clinics in Buckingham and Nelson counties. In Congress, Tom voted to make Medicaid expansion possible in Virginia. After Congress, Tom fought for healthcare coverage until the state finally expanded Medicaid coverage for 600,000 Virginians. Tom has spent the past year meeting with people in communities throughout our district. Tom has organized regular sessions with patients, caregivers, clinicians, healthcare workers, and administrators, listening to what’s working and what’s failing in our local healthcare networks. Tom supports investment in rural healthcare because he believes all Americans deserve access to quality, affordable healthcare in their own communities. Tom’s priorities are clear: reverse the funding cuts threatening our rural hospitals, rebuild maternal and primary care, restore the middle-class tax credits for Affordable Care, and support family caregivers who are holding our health system together. Tom wants to build a healthcare system that prioritizes access to care and maintaining people’s health. Tom can do this because he refuses all corporate PAC and lobbyist money. Tom answers to the patients and clinicians of Virginia’s Fifth District—not insurance executives. We urge our neighbors and community members to support Tom Perriello for Congress: early voting started on Friday, September 18! Signed, Vaia Abatzis, MD, Albemarle Dana Albon, MD, Albemarle Adrian Ardron, CRNA, Charlottesville Stewart Babbott, MD, Albemarle Maria Badaracco, MD, Charlottesville Lori Balaban, MD, Albemarle Kenneth Ballew, MD, Albemarle Thomas Barker, PhD, Charlottesville Lawrence Barnett, LCSW, Charlottesville Jonathan B. Bartels, RN, Charlottesville Michael Briggs Bauman, OD, Danville Angie Hasemann Bayliss, RDN, Albemarle Taison Bell, MD, Charlottesville Will Blackman, MD, Lynchburg William A. Blackman, MD, Lynchburg Gemila Bouber, MD, Albemarle Karen Boyle, BSN, Charlottesville Robert J. Boyle, MD, Charlottesville Robert Owen Brennan, MD, Lynchburg Renee Bricker, CCC-SLP, Charlottesville Alaina Brown, MD, Charlottesville Amanda Burns, Healthcare Administration, Charlottesville Heidi Cabot, RN, Albemarle Stephen Caldwell, MD, Charlottesville James Forrest Calland, MD, Albemarle Michael A. Caplan, MD, Danville D. Jeannean Carver, MD, Albemarle David Cattell-Gordon, MSW, Albemarle Deborah Craig Conway, RN, Albemarle Joshua Coons, MD, Charlottesville Alan Michael Cooper, MD, Lynchburg Michael Crothers, RN, Charlottesville Kelly Mercer Davidson, MD, Albemarle Mark DeBoer, MD, Albemarle John Deutsch, CRNA, Charlottesville Robert Devereaux, MD, Charlottesville Patsy Donnelly, RN, Albemarle GR Donowitz, MD, Charlottesville Kim Dowdell, MD, Albemarle Emily Drake, PhD, RN, Albemarle Colleen Druzgal, MD, Charlottesville Douglas Eddy, RT(R)(MR), Albemarle Elizabeth Enfield, RN, Albemarle
Kyle Enfield, MD, Albemarle Esteban Figueroa, MD, Albemarle Erica Peters Finan, PhD, Albemarle Molly Flannagan, MD, Albemarle William Fox, MD, Albemarle Katie Fusco, OTR/L, Charlottesville Rachel Gagen, MD, Lynchburg Ashley Garneau, MD, Albemarle Gregory S. Gelburd, DO, Charlottesville Peter A. H. Gibbs, DO, Lynchburg Matthew Gillikin, CCC-SLP, Charlottesville George Glass, MD, Albemarle Elizabeth Glover, CCC-SLP, Charlottesville Susan Goins-Eplee, RN, Albemarle Howard Goodkin, MD, PhD, Albemarle Rose Emily Gonzalez, PhD, Albemarle Susan Gray, MD, Charlottesville Wayne E. Hachey, DO, Nelson Carol Haig, CNM, Albemarle Teresa M. Haller, RN, Albemarle Louisa Hann, MD, Charlottesville Stephanie Hartman, MD, Albemarle Fern Hauck, MD, Albemarle Gregory Hayden, MD, Albemarle Evan Heald, MD, Albemarle Susan Heald, DPT, Albemarle Deborah Henderson, MD, Charlottesville Duncan Hill, MD, Albemarle Margaret Joan Hobson, MD, Albemarle Amy Hughes-Gross, RN, Albemarle Beth Hundt, PhD, APRN, Albemarle Patrick Jackson, MD, Albemarle Jeffrey Jenkins, MD, Charlottesville Anna Jesus, MD, Albemarle Danielle Johnson, DO, Charlottesville Rodney S. Johnson, Healthcare Administration, Nelson Emmad Kabil, MD, Albemarle Melissa Kehl, MD, Albemarle Margaret F. Keller, BSN, Albemarle Tracy Crowell Kilpatrick, RN, Fluvanna Sarah Knight, MD, Charlottesville William S. Knight, MD, Charlottesville Natalie B. Krovetz, RN, Charlottesville Suzanne Krzyzanowski, MD, Lynchburg
Laura J. Kuhn, RN, Albemarle Jeffrey LaFond, MD, Goochland Esther H. Larkin, FQHC Board Member, Nelson Kathryn Laughon, PhD, RN, Charlottesville Monica Lawrence, MD, Albemarle Timothy Layng, DO, Charlottesville Carolyn Lewis, PT, Albemarle Emily Little, RN, Charlottesville Keith Littlewood, MD, Albemarle Maryann Long, CNM, Charlottesville Max Luna, MD, Albemarle E. Allison Lyons, MD, Albemarle Bradley S. Malcolm, MD, Lynchburg Amy Malek, MD, Albemarle Jessica Malpass, PhD, RN, Albemarle William Manson, MD, Albemarle Amy McDonnell, FNP-C, Albemarle Nancy M. McLaren, MD, Charlottesville Kristin Mcnail, CCC-SLP, Albemarle Mark Mendelsohn, MD, Charlottesville Jessica S. Meyer, MD, Albemarle Matthew Meyer, MD, Albemarle Robert Michel, MD, Albemarle Andrew D. Mihalek, MD, Albemarle Gary P. Miller, MD, Danville Anne M. Mills, MD, Albemarle James H. Moak, MD, Albemarle Melanie Catherine Morse, PhD, Charlottesville Mo Nadkarni, MD, Albemarle Bhiken Naik, MD, Albemarle Thomas W. Nygaard, MD, Lynchburg Thomas Pajewski, MD, PhD, Albemarle Emily Parillo, RD, Albemarle Carol Rees Parrish, RDN, Albemarle Andrew Parsons, MD, Charlottesville Laura Parsons, MD, Albemarle Keri Patel, FNP-C, Charlottesville Heather Payne, WHNP-BC, Charlottesville Martha Perkins, RN, Albemarle Paige Perriello, MD, Albemarle Brian Peterson, MD, Albemarle Julie Pitti, CCC-SLP, Albemarle Margaret Plews-Ogan, MD, Albemarle Alyxandra Powers, RN, Albemarle
Robert D. Powers, MD, Albemarle Patricia Rassbach, RN, Mecklenburg Richard Ridge, PMHNP-BC, Charlottesville Kathryn Robertson, PA, Albemarle Kristi Rose, MD, Albemarle Tim Rose, RN, Albemarle Paula Rowan-Page, RN, Charlottesville Daniel Duane Rowley, RRT, Albemarle Diane Rozycki, MD, Charlottesville MJ Sacco, MD, Charlottesville Rebecca Scharf, MD, Charlottesville Jocelyn Schauer, MD, Charlottesville David E. Schmitt, MD, Charlottesville Samuel Schustek, DPM, Albemarle Laura Ashley Shaffer, PhD, Charlottesville Neeral Shah, MD, Albemarle Vanessa Shami, MD, Charlottesville Bruce A. Silverman, MD, Goochland Jessica Simmons, MD, Albemarle Katherine Smyth, MD, Albemarle Nina J. Solenski, MD, Albemarle Andrew M. Southerland, MD, Albemarle Michael Spaeder, MD, Charlottesville Savita Srivastava, MD, Albemarle Ina Stephens, MD, Albemarle Alexis Tew, CCC-SLP, Charlottesville Cesarina Thohan, MD, Albemarle Dorothy Tompkins, MD, Charlottesville William F. Tompkins, MD, Charlottesville Barb Trotter, RN, Albemarle Elizabeth Turner, CCC-SLP, Albemarle Heather L. Turner, RN, Charlottesville Ellen Volker, MD, Charlottesville James Scott Wade, MD, Lynchburg Karen Warburton, MD, Charlottesville Anna Ware, RN, Scottsville M. Leigh Warner, CCC-SLP, Charlottesville David S. Wilkes, MD, Albemarle Claudia Wisman, RN, Charlottesville Paul Wisman, MD, Charlottesville Andrew Wolf, MD, Albemarle Anne Wolf, RD, Albemarle Bradford B. Worrall, MD, Charlottesville Eric Young, PA-C, Charlottesville
Read the full list at TomPerriello.com/Heroes PAID FOR BY TOM PERRIELLO FOR CONGRESS
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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Hello, Charlottesville.
9.23.26
Thank you for reading C-VILLE Weekly. Near the end of this week’s cover story (p. 24), a kind of tell-all from former Albemarle County School Board vice chair Allison Spillman, she says, “You can disagree with me without hating me.” I had two reactions: Well, duh. No-brainer. And: But can we? I thought about that line again this weekend, when President Donald Trump barred reporters from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House because he objects to their coverage of him. You couldn’t ask for a more literal example of what happens when disagreement becomes something else: You said something about me I don’t like, so you’re no longer welcome here. Maybe that’s the sentiment beneath Spillman’s seemingly obvious statement. If we disagree with someone, what does our disagreement entitle us to do to them? I felt a sort of kinship with Spillman as I read Nathan Alderman’s story— not because I know anything about holding public office, or enduring the kind of threats and harassment she described, but because I do understand the very weird feeling of being “known” by people you don’t know. Some 20,000 of you pick up this paper each week, and I’ve spent the last couple of years using my corner of it to tell you about my daughter, my husband, my mom, my grief, my questionable decisions, the things that delight me, and the things that keep me up at night. I do that because I want you to know there’s a human here. I want you to know that behind the stories we report and the decisions we make are people trying, imperfectly, to do good work. Disagreement is inevitable, sometimes even necessary. But hatred requires forgetting that there’s a person on the other side of it. Maybe “you can disagree with me without hating me” shouldn’t feel like a particularly profound thing to say, and I wish it weren’t. But we should ask ourselves anyway: Can we?
This week’s contributors
Sean Tubbs moved to Charlottesville in 2002, and has sought to understand why development occurs the way it does. Since 2005, he’s helped innovate information gathering to try to help people know they belong and how they can have their say. Read his work on pages 13 and 17.
Kristie Smeltzer is a writer, writing coach, and teacher. Her fiction has been published by Scribes*MICRO* Fiction, MonkeyBicycle, and Atticus Review. Smeltzer earned her MFA in creative writing at the University of Central Florida. Read her work on page 35.
Hey, thanks! These generous recurring benefactors of C-VILLE have supported our work through our (now tax-deductible!) Save the Free Word campaign. To contribute, follow the QR code. Pat Allinson Terence Banks Tray Biasiolli Mary Ann Bournos Olivia Branch Claudia Murray Brindle Parker Bryant Kate Buford Beth Croghan
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Margaret Crone Martha Donnelly Helene Downs Charlotte Drummond Jane Elmore Ellen English Mike Evans Brian Foti Tom Ferrell
September 23 – 29, 2026
Pamela Friedman Reo Hatfield Marilee Hawkins Ted Heneberry Erin Houlihan Hasan Iftikhar Susan Jacobson Garth Jensen Anika Kempe
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Marcia Langsam Aaron Lawrence Michael Levatino Virginia Masterson Hilary Moorman Michael Morency Harold Morgan Michael Moriarty Catherine Moynihan
Scott & Chris Newsham Sandra Pollock Harry Purkey Scott Ransom Kevin Richardson Adam Roux Elaine Shaw Jeanne Siler John Smith
Meredith Smoot Diane Snustad David Stackhouse Cate Stetson Deborah Strong Tim Taylor William Terrell Leslie Walker Kelly Zalewski
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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THE FRONT PORCH UPCOMING CONCERTS
221 E WATER ST CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
IN THIS ISSUE
V.38, No. 38
FEATURE 24
In her own words THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
DARRELL SCOTT
THE MONTVALES
@ Potter’s Craft Cider
OCT 3
OCT 09
Chamomile & Whiskey
w/ Sweet Afton and Leah Grams Johnson @ RIVANNA RIVER CO OCT 11
THE HONEY DEWDROPS OCT 17
Acelia, Ebony Nicole, & Jo Malicotte
Gallatin Canyon
OCT 25
OCT 30
w/ Mike Burris & Emily Morrison @ RIVANNA RIVER CO
Homecoming: A Grimm Halloween: An Evening with Mariana Bell and Her Band Please Don't Tell w/ sun V Set @ SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS VINEYARDS
For tickets - www.frontporchcville.org
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Allison Spillman on why she resigned from the county school board. NEWS 9 9
VA’s ballot amendment to protect reproductive freedom. 13 Charlottesville and Chapel Hill compare notes. 17 Real Estate: Sal’s Caffe Italia’s controversial outdoor counter.
CULTURE 33 35 Tried it in C’ville: Let the sunshine in at Blue Ridge Brushes. 39 Interview: Brett Dennen previews his shows at The Guild.
48 Sudoku 49 Crossword 51 Free Will Astrology
CLASSIFIEDS 52 P.S. 54 The Big Picture
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43 Sound Choices: Shenandoah Valley’s influence on Dogwood Tales.
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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ON THE DOWNTOWN MALL
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JEFFERSONTHEATER.COM
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09-27| GLAIVE WITH TIFFANY DAY AND KURTAINS 09-30| INFINITY SONG 10-02| THE CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS WITH SPECIAL GUEST JONTAVIOUS WILLIS
10-03| NOAH RINKER WITH KYLE KELLY 10-07| FRED ARMISEN LOW TICKET WARNING! 10-09| MO LOWDA & THE HUMBLE:
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WITH SPECIAL GUEST CHARLIE COLLINS
09-30| RYAN DAVIS + ROADHOUSE BAND WITH STYROFOAM WINOS
10-01| ROBBIE FULKS WITH MICHAEL CLEM 10-02| SOUTH OF HEAVEN: EKKTOPLASM, MURDERSOME, THE ZIGGURAT 10-03| TERROR IN TASSELS, A HALLOWEEN BURLESQUE SHOW 18+ 10-04| BRISCOE WITH WILLIE PEARL BAND 10-07| AN EVENING WITH THEO KATZMAN 10-08| ANDY THOMAS 10-09| LET HER FLY: A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF DOLLY PARTON WITH REBECCA PORTER AND MORE! 10-10| THE SOUTHERN DRAG SHOW! 16+
HOSTED BY DARLING NIKKI & JACKIE OF ALL TRADES
10-15| CARSIE BLANTON WITH THE BURNING HELL 10-16| WEEDEATER WITH ZEKE, ROYAL THUNDER, YES MA'AM
10-17| ROBERT LESTER FOLSOM WITH LIZ COOPER
EAT AT THE SOUTHERN CAFÉ café opens 2 hours prior to performances RENT THE SOUTHERN!
(434) 977-5590 or rentalinfo@thesoutherncville.com
Sabre Games and Cards 106 4th St, NE, Charlottesville, VA 22902
Sabre Games and Cards September schedule
• Every Monday: Skirmish Game Open Play
• Every Tuesday: Star Wars Unlimited Twin Sons Open Play • Every Wednesday: Warhammer 40k Open Play • Every Thursday: Casual Commander • Every Saturday: D&D One-shots • September 19: Pirate Board Talk Like a Pirate One-shot • September 20: Battletech Speed Paint Challenge and Cyberpunk Red One-shot • September 25: Reality Fractures Magic Pre-release • September 27: Reality Fractures Magic Post-release • October 16: Lorcana Hyperia City Pre-release
Check out our full calendar at sabregamesandcards.com/calendar. Sign up for events through our ticket portal, and browse our online inventory. C-VILLE.COM
September 23 – 29, 2026
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JOINUS FORAN OPEN HOUSE AND SEASON PREVIEW
FIRST LOOK, SECOND ACT 530-7PM 123 EAST WATER STREET
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September 23 – 29, 2026
C-VILLE.COM
FRI OCT 2
A FIRST FRIDAY EVENT SPECIALTY DRINKS OPEN HOUSE SNEAK PEEKS
On c-ville.com Abortion access is on the ballot, plus more on the midterms.
NEWS UVA | POLITICS | REAL ESTATE | CRIME
By choice The first of Virginia’s three proposed constitutional amendments focuses on reproductive health care BY CATIE RATLIFF SUPPLIED PHOTO
C-VILLE.COM
September 23 – 29, 2026
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From wine and local beer to ice and glassware, Grape & Grain Exchange takes the errands out of entertaining
Hosting a great gathering should be about the people around the table—not the errands you have to run before they arrive. Grape & Grain Exchange, Charlottesville’s new one-stop shop for drinks, party essentials, and delivery, is making it easier to get everything together without spending an afternoon driving from store to store. Whether you’re planning a dinner party, tailgate, holiday gathering, backyard celebration, having a few friends over, or just a relaxing evening for yourself at home, Grape & Grain Exchange lets you stock the bar (and then some) from your phone or computer—and then brings it to your door within the hour or by appointment. The digital-first shop offers a curated selection of red, white, sparkling, orange, and rosé wines, with plenty of options for both adventurous drinkers and those looking for a reliable crowd-pleaser. There’s also an extensive selection of beer—including local favorites—plus hard seltzer, sake, and non-alcoholic beverages. But drinks are only part of the equation. Grape & Grain Exchange was designed around everything a host might realize they need while getting ready for guests. Customers can add bags of ice, snacks, wine and beer glasses, bar tools, and other entertaining essentials to the same order. For bigger celebrations, there’s even a dedicated keg request service. The entire process happens online: Browse the selection, place and pay for your order, and choose delivery or pickup. Local delivery is free on orders over $50 before tax, while free in-store and curbside pickup orders can be ready in as little as 15 minutes—handy for last-minute invitations or those inevitable forgotten essentials. And sometimes even the best-laid party plans underestimate just how thirsty a crowd will be. If the wine disappears or the beer cooler starts looking bare before the night is over, Grape & Grain Exchange offers mid-party delivery to help keep the festivities going. In a city surrounded by Virginia wine country, home to a thriving craft beer scene, and rarely short on a reason to gather, Grape & Grain Exchange is putting a new spin on the neighborhood bottle shop. For hosts who’d rather spend their time with their guests than running around town, the idea is simple: You handle the invitations. Grape & Grain Exchange will handle the rest.
grapeandgrainexchange.net 434-235-5025
Recipient must be 21+ with a valid government-issued ID present at delivery. Deliveries are strictly for personal consumption and not for resale. See website for delivery area, hours and details.
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September 23 – 29, 2026
C-VILLE.COM
POLITICS NEWS T
here is a lot on the ballot this November. On top of several contests that could decide which party controls Congress, Virginia is weighing three proposed amendments. The first, Ballot Question 1, reads: “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) protect the freedom to make personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management, and fertility care; (ii) protect doctors, nurses, and patients from being punished for these decisions; and (iii) allow for restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient’s health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive?” The proposed amendm ent would make reproductive care a right protected by the state constitution—and consequently much harder to revoke by future Virginia lawmakers. Since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, states have been able to set their own abortion laws, which can have far-reaching effects on access to reproductive care. Virginia is the only state in the South that does not have an abortion ban or heavily restrict access to the procedure. Nationwide support for legal abortion access has continued post-Roe, with 60 percent of Americans telling Pew Research Center in a January 2026 survey that the procedure should be legal in “all” or “most cases.” A study that asked the same question across 34 states and Washington, D.C., between 2023 and 2024 found that 63 percent of Virginians were in favor of legal abortion access. Fundraising by committees for and against the amendment reflects this trend, with Virginians for Reproductive Freedom reporting more than $2.8 million in contributions as of August 31, per the Virginia Public Access Project. VPAP found contributions opposed to the amendment totaling $444,820, with the largest committee (No Safeguards, No Deal) raising $263,887. Groups backing the amendment include: the American Congress of Obstetricians and
Virginians for Reproductive Freedom campaigned across the state on September 19 and 20, including on Grounds at the University of Virginia.
Gynecologists, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Birth in Color, Equality Virginia Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, Catholics for Choice, The League of Women Voters, and Women of Reform Judaism. Organizations opposed include: AAPLOG (American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists) Action, the Frederick Douglass Freedom Alliance of Virginia, Live Action, The Family Foundation of Virginia, and the Virginia Society for Human Life. No Safeguards, No Deal argues the proposed amendment is “vague” and would remove “safeguards for women,” take away parental rights to be involved when “a minor is considering an abortion,” and be “locked into the Constitution.”
The committee organizing in support of the amendment, Virginians for Reproductive Freedom, says it would ensure the right to reproductive care for future generations. “It would protect both the patients seeking this care and also the doctors and nurses that give this care. … This really puts health care decisions into the hands of patients and their doctors,” says Maymie Burris, VRF’s regional organizer for Harrisonburg and Charlottesville. According to Burris, VRF has knocked on more than 5,000 doors this election season, and she personally tries to knock at least 100 doors a weekend. A lot of the people she’s talked to have been excited to vote on the measure, but not everyone knows it’s on the ballot. “Especially with
ballot initiatives, it’s a little bit harder to get the word out,” she says. Deborah “Dee Dee” Denaud is one of the volunteers working with VRF in Charlottesville. She hasn’t gone door-to-door locally yet, but the 21-year-old has chalked on Grounds and handed out materials between classes at the University of Virginia. “This amendment is important to me because I’ve personally experienced how reproductive health care can improve someone’s quality of life. During my first year of college, my periods were extremely heavy and irregular. I was constantly going through menstrual products and often bled through my clothes and sheets,” says Denaud. She was diagnosed with PMOS, formerly known as PCOS, and prescribed birth control. “I want my experience to show people that birth control does much more than preventing pregnancy; it can aid in managing reproductive issues due to metabolic concerns. I am advocating for this amendment and reproductive freedom because I hope to become an OB/ GYN one day.” Before shifting into voter outreach in 2026, VRF worked with legislators to draft the language of the proposed amendment. Getting it to the ballot has been a lengthy process, and one the group says shouldn’t be taken for granted. “To even get a constitutional amendment to voters, it has to go through the General Assembly twice, there needs to be an intervening election, and the language of the amendment can’t change even by a comma, or it has to start the process all over again. So, this isn’t something where it can be overturned lightly or easily in the future. But it’s also not something that we will have another opportunity to vote on in the near future if we don’t vote ‘yes’ on it this time around,” says VRF Communications Director Mary Olivia Rentner. “This is a historic opportunity.” The full text of the ballot question, as well as a voter explanation, can be found at elections.virginia.gov.
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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Free and open to all
Active Aging Expo
Saturday, October 3, 10:00 am–1:00 pm
come + explore
70+ healthy aging resources Health screenings • Demos • Games • Giveaways!
Find more free events with artists, authors, and wellness experts during
Active Aging Week October 5–9
The Center at Belvedere • 540 Belvedere Boulevard • Charlottesville, VA 22901 • 434.974.7756 • thecentercville.org
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September 23 – 29, 2026
C-VILLE.COM
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
In the city It’s been a busy week for the City of Charlottesville, with new names in leadership and a jam-packed City Council agenda. On September 14, former deputy director of Public Works Mike Goddard was named the interim Director of Neighborhood Development Services. He has worked for the city since 2015. Two days later, India Adams-Jacobs was announced as the incoming assistant city manager. She is a new hire, but has experience in local, county, and state government—most recently serving as the town manager for Bowling Green. Her first day is September 28. Wrapping up the week, City Council held its last meeting of the month on September 21. Highlights from the dais include an update on the Parks & Rec Master Plan, an annual report from the Historic Resources Committee, and a slate of appropriations for everything from bicycle programming to accessibility enhancement planning.—Catie Ratliff
BooHoo(s) The University of Virginia football team fell 38-27 to West Virginia University on September 19, bringing an end to the Cavs’ season-starting win streak. With the loss to the Mountaineers, UVA’s overall record for the season is 2-1. The Hoos remain 1-0 in conference play and do not have another ACC matchup until October 3. The team plays Delaware at Scott Stadium on September 26, with kickoff set for 6pm.—CR
Talking it out Local leaders are coming together for the first Justice is Community Summit in Charlottesville on September 23 and 24. The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature speakers including Del. Katrina Callsen, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, and restorative justice expert Howard Zehr. More information, and a link to register to the event, can be found at c-ville.com.—CR
Peer to peer
Charlottesville and Chapel Hill officials hit the road to learn what works in both cities BY SEAN TUBBS
W
hen the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce led a delegation of government and business officials to Chapel Hill this past May, participants had the chance to see how the University of North Carolina interacts with the town it calls home. “The one thing that came up in every single session was partnerships,” wrote Quana Dennis on a blog post on the Chamber’s website. “The connection between higher education and the business community, the fare-free transit system that takes mobility off the table as a barrier, none of it fell into place on its own.” Dennis, a doctoral candidate at the University of Virginia, was one of 35 people who took a charter bus south for a three-day trip to learn about how the UNC community deals with affordable housing efforts, economic development, workforce development, and how people get around. On September 27, a delegation from the Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro will visit Charlottesville to see what they can learn from this area. Along the way they will make a stop in Richmond to see the Greater Richmond Transit Company’s Pulse bus rapid transit line. On the day the group arrives, none of the city’s buses will be running. Charlottesville Area Transit has not had Sunday service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jaunt does operate paratransit services and the University Transit Service buses will be running on a limited schedule on routes that only focus on the immediate area around UVA. The May trip gave local officials the chance to visit a community with a unified
CAT ridership in 2024 was just over 1.35 million, covering a population of 85,775 and a service area of 38 square miles.
transit system funded with an annual budget of roughly $36.5 million of which UNCChapel Hill pays a third. “I was impressed with a lot of things in Chapel Hill, but one of the things that I’m most impressed with is their integrated public transit system that’s been integrated since 1974, and the ridership is amazing in that community,” said Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson at the September 16 Board of Supervisors meeting. According to the National Transit Database, ridership in 2024 on the Town of Chapel Hill’s system reached 7.7 million with an average of 14,683 passengers each weekday and a Sunday ridership of 1,818. The system serves a population of 80,218 in a 62-squaremile service area. In comparison, Charlottesville Area Transit’s ridership in 2024 was just over 1.35 million and has a service area of 38 square miles covering a population of 85,775. Jaunt, a public service corporation with shares held
by local governments, had a 2024 ridership of 228,046. The University Transit Service is not required to report its data to the U.S. Department of Transportation because it is not federally funded. Richardson’s comments came at the end of a discussion on a funding prioritization study that is being conducted for the new Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority. The entity, for now, is set up for planning purposes only and plays no role in managing CAT, Jaunt, UTS, or any actual transit system. “We got a community that’s a sister community that’s willing to share with us,” Richardson said. “We’ve got interest from the University of Virginia in learning more about that, and we just got a lot of work to do.” Albemarle has been stepping up funding for CAT operations and will pay $3.1 million in the current fiscal year, up from $1.86 million in FY25. This year’s figure does not include the $1.42 million Albemarle will pay CAT to operC ate the MicroCAT on-demand service.
IN BRIEF
All the news you missed last week (in one sentence or less) Voter violations Virginia AG Jay Jones warns DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin that federal agents trying to dig up evidence of (vanishingly rare) voter fraud may have broken state law by impersonating other voters to snoop into their private info on Virginia’s elections website. Envelopes pushed With early voting for the November 3 election under way, local election officials announce that voting by mail still works exactly like it always has, despite failed Trump administration efforts to meddle with it. Chips down Gov. Abigail Spanberger reveals executive actions and proposed legislative slate to place tougher restrictions on data centers—but won’t (yet?) budge on rescinding their lucrative tax breaks. Uneventful drive Despite worries from area businesses, Charlottesville police say they’ve had no increase in calls for service around the new low-barrier emergency shelter at 2000 Holiday Dr.; at least 68 of the shelter’s 70 beds are reportedly filled. Try harder Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who previously joined colleagues in ruling that President Donald Trump could not be prosecuted for crimes he committed in office, says she considers her work “a great privilege to try to safeguard the Constitution and uphold the rule of law” in a UVA Karsh Institute Q&A.
STAFF PHOTO
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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15TH ANNUAL THEME
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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TOMTOMFOUNDATION.ORG/2027-FESTIVAL
Announcing our 2027 Theme: Tom Tom has always been a festival about the future — but this year, the future feels especially close. New technologies are changing how we work, learn, create, and connect. We all are witnessing seismic shifts in AI, business, science, and civic life. And a new generation is coming of age in a world full of possibility — and profound uncertainty. So this year, we’re asking: Are we ready? NEXTGEN is a theme about innovation, but it’s mainly about people -- quite literally the next generation of civic leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, scientists, students, and builders who are already shaping the world around us. This April 21-25, we invite you to co-create a celebration of music, art, and ideas, and help innovate what comes next. Read the full announcement to learn more about our 2027 theme.
Learn More
Get Involved
What does NEXTGEN mean to you? Join us for a Community Interest Meeting to share your ideas, learn more about what Tom Tom is all about, and explore how you can get involved.
From our inception, the Tom Tom Festival has been co-created with the community. Host a Community Partner Program, Submit a Session, Speak, Perform, Sponsor, or Volunteer.
Special thanks to the CVILLE Weekly for 15 years of storytelling partnership
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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New York for the Holidays December 13–16, 2026
Indulge in a luxurious Big Apple getaway full of holiday magic with the Radio City Rockettes, a Broadway show, dinner on the Hudson River, and more. Contact: linda@thecentercville.org
540 Belvedere Boulevard • Charlottesville, VA 22901 • 434.220.9737 • thecentercville.org
OTHER BOOKS BY JAMES ARE:
Local Author
William A. James, Sr. has done it again.
HIS NEWEST BOOK IS...
In, A MURDER ON FIFTH AND DICE AND THE RUIN OF FIFEVILLE,
IN THE STREETS OF VINEGAR HILL, James reveals how fear and misunderstandings caused The Charlottesville City Council to condemn and Demolish a 20 Acre Tract (30 Black businesses and 600 residents) from the Downtown area from 1958-1964.
James shows how drugdealing and gang violence led to the condemnation, demolition, and gentrification of Fifeville. It is a Sequel to his IN THE STREETS OF VINEGAR HILL, 2007. (He is writing a play based upon this latest Book)
Local Author William A. James, Sr.
In, HARD TIMES AND SURVIVAL: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN AFRICANAMERICAN SON,
Call or Write, William A. James, Sr. 434-985-8987 PO Box 6991, Charlottesville, VA 22906 Wjpublications@aol.com
James relates His Story and the Reader learns what He means when He Says: “Do not GiveIn to Adversity, but overcome it by Steady and Constant Perserverance.”
BOOKS SOLD AT: Lucy Cat in a Teachers’ Edition combines both Lucy Cat in a Cat Book and Lucy Cat in a Coloring Book for use in a classroom by Teachers, or at home instructors. It is part of a Lucy Cat Series that teaches children that we should all treat one another with courtesy, consideration, and respect despite what appears to be differences between us. For Ages 5-8.
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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The University of Virginia Bookstore 400 Emmet Street, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (on UVA Grounds). Patsy Goolsby, Manager, 434-924-1075 | bookshop@virginia.edu 2nd Act Books 214 East Main Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902 Daphne Spain, Owner, 434-202-0754 | daphnespain@gmail.com Amazon.com
REAL ESTATE NEWS
Annie Gould Gallery
Counter offense
BAR pulls review of Downtown Mall outdoor cafe counter BY SEAN TUBBS
T
he appointed body with power to approve the design of buildings and streetscapes in certain parts of Charlottesville had been expected to weigh in September 15 on a service counter that Sal’s Caffe Italia installed around one of the Downtown Mall trees. Under the city’s Development Code, staff in the Department of Neighborhood Development Services can approve elements in leased cafe spaces as a “minor historic review,” but an investigation by preservation staff determined the counter did not meet the city’s design criteria. According to a staff report, city zoning officials saw that construction was taking place in late May and met with Sal’s Giuseppe Finazzo on June 1, while the counter was still being built. Businesses on the Downtown Mall rent patio space from the city on an annual basis and must comply with all zoning rules and BAR guidelines, which were last updated in December 2024. One of those rules is that nothing in the cafe space can cause harm to the trees, and in recent years the city has cracked down on restaurants using heaters that damage trunks. Finazzo “was instructed to either remove the counter or submit an application for a Major Historic Review,” reads the materials for the BAR meeting. “The serving counter is built directly on the tree grate, less than one foot from the tree trunk on all sides.” Staff recommended that the BAR deny the request, which was made after the work was completed. They also found that other elements, such as dining counters placed
A unique art gallery located in the heart of historic Gordonsville.
along cafe railings, were placed without seeking a Certificate of Appropriateness. Finazzo applied for permission for the service counter on July 12, but included no narrative. A request for comment from him had not been responded to by press time. At the very beginning of the BAR’s September 16 meeting, Chair James Zehmer announced the group needed to go into closed session in order to “discuss with staff the limits of the BAR’s purview” over sidewalk cafes. Under Virginia’s open meeting laws, such events allow elected and appointed officials the chance to talk and ask questions without the public present. This conversation lasted about a half hour. Zehmer read a statement when they returned to Council chambers from a City Hall conference room. “Following the consultation with the city attorney’s office, it has come to our attention that the CoA application for 221 E. Main St. cannot be considered at this time by the BAR because it does not comply with City of Charlottesville Development Code,” Zehmer said. At the meeting, Zehmer referred Finazzo to Brenda Kelley in the city’s Office of Economic Development. “Ms. Kelley is here in the room this evening so that you can put a face to the name,” Zehmer said. According to the city’s permit portal, Finazzo was not eligible to apply for the permit because he does not lease the cafe space. However, he has owned 221 E. Main St. since June 1999. The city has not yet responded to a request for more information.
109 S. Main Street, Gordonsville, VA (540) 832-6352 anniegouldgallery
The new counter at Sal’s Caffe Italia is built on a tree grate, less than one foot from the tree trunk on all sides. STAFF PHOTO
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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Jim Faulconer
Court Nexsen
434.981.0076 jfaulconer@mcleanfaulconer.com
646.660.0700 court@mcleanfaulconer.com
FA R M , E S TAT E A N D R E S I D EN T I A L B RO K ER S
JEFFERSON LAKE FARM
3 cottages, 1,156 contiguous acres & river frontage $7,865,000 | MLS 677397 | Palmyra Steve White, 434.242.8355
MON T E VEN TOSO
WH I T E HALL ESTAT E
Viticultural pedigree, mountain views, custom build $6,200,000 | MLS 681132 | 134.01 acres $2,300,000 | MLS 677617 | 78.57 acres Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076
MI DLAND ROAD FARM
Italian inspired villa, 17 acres & ozone pool $4,450,000 | MLS 677366 | Madison Court Nexsen, 646.660.0700
Beautiful rolling countryside in Fauquier County $3,475,000 | MLS 679724 | 300.22 acres $695,000 | MLS 680035 | 39.00 acres Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076
OLD BALLARD FARM
OLD HOMEP LACE LN
Meticulously crafted, 5-BR, 5-BA $2,750,000 | MLS 678129 | Charlottesville Court Nexsen, 646.660.0700
BREAK H EART ROAD
Tranquility on 75 acres $1,845,000 | MLS 678211 | Crozet Steve White, 434.242.8355
3-BR, 3-BA Ranch on 73+ acres $1,950,000 | MLS 679310 | Madison Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455
BELLAI R
8.20 private acres with Blue Ridge Mountain views $1,795,000 | MLS 681853 | Charlottesville Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124
MCLEANFAULCONER .COM
FARMI NGTON
Fronting the 17th hole, 6-BR, 6.5 BA, 2.80 acres $5,950,000 | MLS 680886 | Charlottesville Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455
H YLAND RI D GE
Engineered for the future on 3.11 acres $2,795,000 | MLS 681097 | Charlottesville Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455
OLD GART H ROAD
Contemporary custom build & ideally located $1,885,000 | MLS 676570 | Charlottesville Steve White, 434.242.8355
503 Faulconer Drive, Suite 5 | Charlottesville · VA · 22903 | 434.295.1131
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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LEWIS MO UN TAI N
Investment opportunity or primary residence $1,595,000 | MLS 681711 | Charlottesville Court Nexsen, 646.660.0700
Jim Faulconer
Court Nexsen
434.981.0076 jfaulconer@mcleanfaulconer.com
BON AI RE
Historic c. 1812 Federal on 43 acres $1,485,000 | MLS 680712 | Wingina Bridget Archer, 434.981.4149
FRAYS MI LL
81.39 acres with splendid homesite & creek $995,000 | MLS 667906 | Albemarle County Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455
GLENMORE
Custom build, quiet lane & 4,400 sq.ft. $878,000 | MLS 675547 | Keswick Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455
MARWO OD DR
646.660.0700 court@mcleanfaulconer.com
FA R M , E S TAT E A N D R E S I D EN T I A L B RO K ER S
Lake Monticello 4-BR, 3 BA, move-in ready $535,000 | MLS 680872 | Fluvanna Melissa Barnes, 910.431.0542
RED H I LL RD
4-BR, 2-BA home on 40 acres with 4 division rights $1,295,000 | MLS 681536 | Charlottesville Steve White, 434.242.8355
BROKEN ISLAND
Adjacent to Rivanna River, 5,600 sq.ft., private lot $925,000 | MLS 676962 | Palmyra Liberty Kalergis, 434.962.9911
RED H I LL RD
RI D GE ST REET
Historic, 1923 Colonial Revival $995,000 | MLS 676103 | Charlottesville Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250
SMI T H FI ELD CO URT
Canterbury Hills, renovated, guest apartment $920,000 | MLS 675548 | Charlottesville Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455
VI NE YARD DR
1924 Stone farmhouse on 9.87 private acres $770,000 | MLS 681913 | North Garden Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455
1917 Farmhouse on 13 Acres, Bath County $585,000 | MLS 676000 | Millboro Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250
P ECAN LANE
HOLSI NGER COND O
10+ acres waterfront parcel $425,000 | MLS 675142 | Cardinal Steve White, 434.242.8355
Downtown retail or office space $425,000 | MLS 671743 | Charlottesville Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250
MCLEANFAULCONER .COM
503 Faulconer Drive, Suite 5 | Charlottesville · VA · 22903 | 434.295.1131
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September 23 – 29, 2026
19
Thinking of Buying or Selling This Fall?
The fall market is full of opportunity—and I’d love to help you make your next move with confidence. JENNIFER VON REUTER
434-400-9835 jvonreuter@mcleanfaulconer.com
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FA R M , E S TAT E A N D R E S I D EN T I A L B RO K ER S
OPEN HOUSE
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 12-4 PM 1623 Fowler Ridge Court, Charlottesville, VA $ 679,900
Beautiful single family home Nestled in the serene Dunlora subdivision, this exquisite Colonial-style residence, built in 2018, offers 4 Bedrooms 3.5 Bathrooms a harmonious blend of modern luxury and timeless elegance. Spanning over 3,698 square feet, this home is designed for both comfort and sophistication, making it the perfect retreat for those seeking an elevated lifestyle. The open floor plan seamlessly connects the family room, adorned with a cozy gas fireplace. Kitchen featuring upgraded countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a spacious island, perfect for entertaining or casual dining. The formal dining room provides an elegant space for gatherings, while the inviting eat-in kitchen ensures every meal feels special. The home boasts four generously sized bedrooms, including a luxurious primary suite complete with two large walk-in closet and a spa-like bathroom featuring a soaking tub and a walk-in shower. . Additional interior highlights include recessed lighting, hardwood floors, and a convenient upper-floor laundry area. The exterior features a charming deck and patio, peaceful surroundings. The lot, measuring 0.11 acres, backs to lush trees, providing a sense of privacy and tranquility. Located on a quiet cul-de-sac, this home offers a serene escape while still being close to local amenities. The attached two-car garage and private concrete driveway.
Special Offer SELLER OFFERING BELOW MARKET FINANCING CALL FOR MORE DETAILS 20
September 23 – 29, 2026
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8315 Lee Hwy #430 Fairfax, VA 22031
Cell: 703-731-3479 www.karlenetolberthomes.com Licensed: DC, MD, VA
17001 BLUE RIDGE TPK $3,595,000 GORDONSVILLE SHARON MERRICK DUKE MERRICK
(540) 406 -7373 (434) 962 -5658
5880 EMERALD LANE $1,052,000 CHARLOTTESVILLE SUSAN CAMERON RERES (434) 953 -5552 JIM MCVAY (434) 962 -3420
267 TANBARK DRIVE $989,000 AFTON CAROLINE REVERCOMB SUSAN CAMERON RERES
(434) 953 -5552
3490 STEAMER DR $419,000 KESWICK JAY REEVES
(434) 466 -8348
(434) 981 -1893
21 ACRE PARCEL
1318 GATE POST LANE $578,000 CHARLOTTESVILLE BETH ANN BOONE
MOUNTAIN VISTA SUBDIVISION $575,000 CHARLOTTESVILLE (540) 223 -3513 SHARON MERRICK (540) 406 -7373 DUKE MERRICK (434) 962 -5658
LAND
718 MERION GREENE $339,000 CHARLOTTESVILLE KATELYN MANCINI
(703) 203 -3388
TBD CARLTON LANE $325,000 AFTON SUSAN CAMERON RERES (434) 953 -5552 CAROLINE REVERCOMB (434) 981 -1893
1983 HOWARDSVILLE TPKE $285,00 STUARTS DRAFT TONY GIRARD (434) 249 -1674 MICHELLE GREGORY (434) 906-7308
CHARLOT TESVILLE 434.951.5155 | ZION CROSSROADS 434.589.2611
308 EAST MAIN STREET, CHARLOT TESVILLE, VA 22902 | 5574 RICHMOND ROAD, STE 101 TROY, VA 22974 This information is believed accurate but not guaranteed.
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Very nice Townhouse in convenient River Run. New roof and gutter leaf filters. Well maintained. Easy access to town and Penn Park. Easy walking distance to the Community pool.82
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The education Story by Nathan Alderman Photos by Tristan Williams
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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Alliso
n of
The former school board member wanted to serve her community—then the death threats started
on Spillman C-VILLE.COM
September 23 – 29, 2026
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“The race was nasty, and people said things that weren’t true,” Spillman says. “[There were] people who would walk the line of, not quite threatening, but just walking the line of, ‘I know where she lives, we ride at dawn.’” Those pressures would only worsen throughout Spillman’s term. After her criticism of a conservative student club drew national attention from right-wing activists, Spillman says she endured a deluge of hatred and death threats. “I would go back and forth, and I kept saying, ‘I can do this, I can do this,’ and then my health started to take a toll,” Spillman says. “I was going to doctors, and they’re like … ‘It’s not cancer. It’s not a heart attack. You’re just completely stressed.’”
Coordinated attacks By the time she made her final address as the at-large member of the Albemarle County School Board, Allison Spillman’s self-appointed enemies had been celebrating for more than a week. “GOOD RIDDANCE,” one posted on Facebook August 5, the day Spillman announced her resignation. “[Spillman] supported every woke initiative that came her way—and even used her M2F Trans [daughter] in ads for her School Board campaign.” A local podcaster placed a prop bet on whether Spillman would cry during her final address. Spillman didn’t. Visibly emotional, she said from the dais on August 13, “I did not come onto this board to make people comfortable. I came here to do what I believe was right for students and for the school division. Sometimes that meant standing with my colleagues, and sometimes it meant standing alone. But I have remained the person I told people I was from the very beginning, and I am proud of that.” In November 2023, Spillman won a costly, contentious race for her seat against conservative candidate Meg Bryce, daughter of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Both candidates ran on improving student achievement. But Bryce, who at the time of the campaign had withdrawn her children from public school, was linked to religious conservative groups, most notably attending a training session for school board candidates run by the right-wing Noah Webster Educational Foundation, an affiliate of the far-right group Moms for Liberty. In contrast, Spillman ran as a full-throated supporter of LGBTQ+ students, with other planks of her platform emphasizing school gun violence prevention and students’ mental health. She received 62 percent of the more than 40,000 votes cast, having raised an unprecedented $241,000 against Bryce’s $157,000, with the bulk of both sides’ sums coming from donations larger than $100. (Full disclosure: Years before joining CVILLE full-time, this reporter donated smalldollar amounts to Spillman’s campaign and volunteered as a canvasser.)
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Last fall, Western Albemarle High School’s conservative Club America, affiliated with the late Charlie Kirk’s right-wing Turning Point USA organization, invited The Family Foundation of Virginia’s president, Victoria Cobb, to deliver an on-campus speech attacking the existence of transgender people, entitled “Two Genders, One Truth.” Though WAHS’s principal at the time initially refused to allow the speech, she relented when Cobb’s organization threatened legal action against the school district. Spillman has a trans daughter who attends Western. In a post on her personal Facebook page following WAHS’s decision to permit the speech, Spillman wrote, “If the KKK wanted a speaker during lunch, would we allow that as well?” (Before his September 2025 murder, Kirk publicly espoused “great replacement theory,” a white supremacist conspiracy arguing that immigration is a plot to dilute and replace white people.) Spillman says the post “was screenshot by a teacher that I was friends with on Facebook that I thought was a safe person, and sent to Ryan Fournier, who is the [cofounder] of Students for Trump.” In May and June of this year, Fournier faced multiple arrests on charges including cocaine possession and domestic violence. In the latter incident, Fournier allegedly punched his girlfriend repeatedly in the face while drunk, climbed on top of her, and told her, “I’ll kill everyone here.” In a September 30 Facebook post about Spillman’s remarks, Fournier wrote, “This is beyond OUTRAGEOUS. … To equate [young conservatives] with one of the most evil groups in American history is disgusting and shows how unhinged the Left has become.” He posted a link to Spillman’s comments: “Let her know how you feel.” “Within 10 minutes, it was like a thousand messages,” Spillman says. “My Apple Watch was buzzing constantly. I started hyperventilating. My husband literally took it off my wrist and threw it across the room because it wouldn’t stop.” “They called my work,” she says. “They called [Spillman’s husband] Chris’ work. They bombed our social medias, personal, work. Tried to get [us] fired. I mean, it was
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an all-out attack. And I had the police watching my house. I had security watching my kids because people were saying where my kids went to school.” Select emails obtained via FOIA show Spillman receiving some words of support, alongside vehement but generally civil criticism. But other messages cross the line into hatred and abuse. “You are a pathetic malignant narcissist who possibly gave birth to a future school shooter,” reads one excerpt from a September 30 torrent of mockery and insults. The writer signs off, “Great job mom.” “You Marxist piece of shit,” one person wrote October 3, adding vulgar, racist comments aimed at Spillman’s daughter. “GO FUCK YOURSELF AND ALL OF TRANTIFA.” “You Alison are a poor excuse for a human and a disgusting person,” an October 4 email reads. “I can only hope you are perused [sic] and harassed by people living close to you that are decent people, as you are not. You deserve a miserable life and I wish that for you.” “I tell my children all the time that if you hurt someone, whether you intended to or not, you should always apologize,” Spillman said at the October 9 school board meeting. “So to the TPUSA students and your families, I am sincerely sorry. And for anyone else that I hurt, I am sincerely sorry.” While she says she has “no regrets” for keeping her campaign promise of standing up for vulnerable students, “I do feel bad that it was taken out of context ... and that people thought I was attacking other kids, because that is the last thing that I would want to do. … I don’t necessarily agree with the things that [Turning Point’s Club America] say, but I think that they had every right to be a club in the school. I was opposed to these outside speakers, these adults inserting themselves in the school day with ulterior motives.” “I really think that … several board members wanted me out on an island, and hoped that I would drown on my way back,” Spillman says of the board’s response to her comments. “And I didn’t, and I think that that also made them angry.” The June 20 resignation of public schools superintendent Matthew Haas both drove and delayed Spillman’s own decision to step down. “When the Hollymead stuff came out, and we were told the night before the public was told, I was like, ‘That’s it. We need a change in leadership,’” Spillman says. “And I knew that meant that I couldn’t step down when I wanted to, which was at the end of last school year, because I needed to help with that transition. It wasn’t fair to the members of the board, and it wasn’t fair to our acting superintendent [Dr. Chandra Hayes] to throw that in on top of it.” Spillman pushed back hard against conspiracy theories surrounding Haas’ exit and the alleged crimes of Nicholas Clark, a fifth grade teacher at Woodbrook Elementary arrested in March on charges of possessing child pornography, and Michael Swiney, a former counselor at Woodbrook and Hollymead el-
ementaries, arrested in June and charged with sexually assaulting multiple children. “There was no cover up,” Spillman says. “This intent to malign the board and say that they’re terrible people and that they should all resign and that they’re covering for a sex offender … none of that is true. … These people are agonizing over decisions and heartbroken and trying to do what’s best for the division as a whole.” In the weeks before her resignation, Spillman watched online hatred over Swiney’s case begin to ramp up. “All it was going to take was one tweet to go viral … and we’d be back to what happened in October again, and I couldn’t risk it again.” “I stopped sleeping,” Spillman says. “I had severe digestive issues. My blood pressure was up all the time every time I went to the doctor.” She described anxiety so intense that the dose of medication she’d taken to successfully manage it for 15 years no longer sufficed. “Any one of those should be too much, and it was all of that.” “I have this sense of—I don’t want to say guilt, but I don’t know,” Spillman says. “Maybe it is guilt that I left, because I feel
like I should have been able to do more. I should have lasted longer. … I felt everything so deeply, and I took everything so seriously. If I couldn’t solve a problem, I felt like I was failing.” “People were counting on me,” she says, her voice beginning to tremble. “But I also am proud of the fact that I was willing to step down when I knew it was too much, and that it was at the expense of my health and my kids and … my mental health. And I hope that people took that message and said, there’s power in that, too.” “It doesn’t mean I’m done,” she says. “It doesn’t mean I’m quiet. It just means that that avenue wasn’t working anymore.”
Structural struggles Spillman says the attacks she weathered online and in public compounded her frustration in pushing against what she described as a board too often wedded to the status quo. “I felt this immense responsibility, not just for the people who voted for me, but the people who didn’t,” she says. “I often did not feel like that responsibility was shared
among some of the other board members, and I think that’s really important.” In her fiercely competitive election, Spillman says, “I had to go out and make my stance on things and form policy views and budget ideas well before I got on the board. And the majority of my fellow board members ran uncontested and have been on there for a really long time.” “When I joined the board, I was told by the older members of the school board that we can disagree behind closed doors, but it’s better for everybody if we show a united front when we come out to vote on things,” Spillman says. “I said, the public deserves to see disagreement and to see who is voting for what, and they didn’t like that.” Given Virginia law’s limits on school boards’ powers, “we’re not allowed to insert ourselves in many situations,” Spillman says. “But there are a lot of situations where we can insert ourselves, and we can push back. … We need better structure from the board of what our roles and responsibilities are … so that we can actually evaluate the superintendent and actually make decisions on the budget.”
Currently, county staff handle most of the work regarding the school district’s budget. Spillman says keeping the board at a remove from that process limits its agency. “The budget book is intentionally 500 pages long. What we vote on is such a small amount,” she says. “It was very picked and chosen what information was given to us, and that needs to change if we’re going to be voting on a $300 million budget.” “It’s not a bad thing to openly question staff,” she says. “I want the public to see what the answers are and where their money is going … I just think that there was a difference in philosophy on how to approach the work.” Spillman also believes that the board was “way too lax” in supervising the superintendent. “We would all kind of submit comments and then the chair would put together what they thought represented everything. I don’t even remember seeing the other [comments] unless I asked for it.” “We’re not asking to step on toes … but we should be allowed to observe whenever we want,” she adds, “because that’s our job, to evaluate the superintendent. And I’m not blaming the other school board members necessarily. I think that this was just how it’s always been done.” In June 2025, the board voted unanimously to extend Haas’ contract. Spillman, away on vacation at the time, says she would have been the lone “no” vote. “I think [Haas] is a good person … and I think he did a lot of amazing things,” Spillman says. “But I think that progress should have been made sooner on achievement gaps. We had the Bellwether report. We have these issues that get brought up every single year, and we keep saying, ‘Well, we just haven’t seen the results yet.’ And I think that there was too much of kicking the can down the road.” Spillman believes that board members too often take an “it is what it is” approach to the district’s challenges. “I think that’s the wrong attitude. We need people that aren’t going to just accept the way things are.” She speaks respectfully of her fellow board members’ challenges and accomplishments, from members Judy Le and Ellen Osborne joining just before COVID hit (“talk about getting thrown to the wolves”) to Kate Acuff’s championing of the board’s policies on antiracism and trans students. “But I think that the way things have worked in the past are no longer working,” Spillman says, “and we have to either recognize that and be willing to make change, or we need to have new people on the board.” Spillman says she and board Chair Rebecca Berlin both believe the school district should look to similar Virginia school divisions for ideas on improvement. “Because we don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” she says. “Who else is doing it better? How can we improve?” “The real problem is that this is basically a volunteer position,” Spillman says. She describes working 20 to 40 hours a week on board business, on top of a fulltime job as executive director for an advocacy group for disabled, adopted, and fos-
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ter children. Hour for hour, she says board members’ compensation works out to less than minimum wage. “You’re asking those ordinary citizens to step up to the plate to bear this burden,” she says. “But they have to maintain fulltime jobs, because this doesn’t pay a fulltime salary. But if they’re not answering every single email and at every single meeting … then the public argues we’re not doing our job. How can we?”
Future focused “We don’t all agree,” Spillman says of the board, “and I don’t agree with a lot of the ways that several of the board members work. But … I think that, given the extraordinary circumstances, everyone is working really, really hard, and intentionally, to do the right thing.” Current board member Jim Dillenbeck independently confirms Spillman’s description of feeling isolated on a board largely resistant to change. “I understand why she decided to step down,” he says, “but I was sorry to see her go.” “In my view, Allison Spillman was a conscientious school board member and, although we did sometimes differ in approach to issues, fundamentally we agreed on most of the [board] policies and decisions,” Acuff says. “I am sorry that she saw the need to leave her position before her term was up, but know that the burden of negative social media and even threats to her and her family were unsupportable. No member of the [board] or any public official should have to withstand this.” Spillman’s term runs through 2027. At press time, 13 people remained in the running for an appointment to her vacant seat. Whoever the board picks to succeed her, Spillman says, “I would hope that they’re willing to take up the fight, that they’re willing to [enter] a hostile environment and still stand their ground and say … these students, these teachers—they matter, and I’m willing to stand with them and for them.” Looking back, “I’m really, really proud of the work I did,” she says. She takes particular pride in passing a resolution on secure gun storage the February after she joined the board—at the time, the second such document for any district in the state. Virginia has since passed a law mandating those rules for every school district. “But I do feel like if I had continued, the cost may have become too high,” she says. “It’s already hard enough just going out in public, because people have such strong opinions. The majority of the time, people are kind … but there’s a lot of really mean people out there, too, and they don’t see you as a mom or a person. They see just your position, and rage and vitriol, it leaks in.” “You can disagree with me without hating me,” Spillman says. “You can disagree with my policies and my decision making, and try to get somebody else to run for this position because you don’t like what I did. But attacking my family, or attacking me as a person, or threatening violence against me, is too high a cost.”
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UVA MUSIC EVENTS
Date/Time/Place
Event (* Denotes free events)
Friday, 9/25, 6:30pm Carr's Hill Field
CMB Open Rehersal * "Hoos on the Move."
Friday, 9/25, 7:30pm Old Cabell Hall
Charlottesville Symphony directed by Ben Rous The Firebird
Sunday, 9/27, 3:30pm MLK Jr. Performing Arts Center
Charlottesville Symphony directed by Ben Rous The Firebird
Friday, 10/9, 6:30pm Carr's Hill Field
CMB Open Rehersal * "¡Vamos Hoos!"
Thursday, 10/15, 10:00am & 11:30am Old Cabell Hall
Symphony Youth Concerts * for local 4th and 5th grade classes Advance reservations required
Saturday, 10/17, All day Old Cabell Hall
11th Annual UVA Flute Forum * Featuring Alexa Still
Saturday, 10/17, 3:30am Old Cabell Hall
Alexa Still Flute Recital, * part of Flute Forum
Saturday, 10/17, 7:30pm Old Cabell Hall
Faculty Artist Series #2 Featuring Ming-Hui Kuo & I-Jen Fang
Thursday, 10/22, 6:00pm Carr's Hill Field
CMB Open Rehearsal * "Rock to Rave"
Saturday, 10/24, 8:00pm Old Cabell Hall
UVA Choral Showcase on Family Weekend
Thursday, 10/29, 7:30pm Old Cabell Hall
Faculty Artists Series #3 Featuring Ragged Mountain Quartet
Friday, 10/30, 7:30pm Old Cabell Hall
Jazz Ensemble
All artists, programs, and venues are subject to change. Office: 434.924.3052;
music@virginia.edu;
https://music.virginia.edu
Box Office: 434.924.3376, artsboxoffice.virginia.edu Subscribe to at UVA”: music.virginia.edu/subscribe Subscribe to“Music our music email: music.virginia.edu/events
Mary Jae Abbitt • Brown & Eure Households • Patti Cary & Todd Stansbury • Pam & Frank Edmonds • Janna & David Gies • Julie & Geoff Montross • Susie Morris • Margaret & Chris Noland
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CULTURE MUSIC | ART | BOOKS | FOOD | DRINK
FRIDAY 9/25
CHIN UP, ERNIE B-movie badass and cameo crusader Bruce Campbell comes to town for a screening of his latest film Ernie & Emma. Veering away from the actor’s standard roles as a genre-film darling, the roadtrip dramedy—w ritten and directed by, and starring Campbell—tracks widowed pear salesman Ernie Tyler as he treks across Oregon to scatter his late wife’s ashes. The screening and accompanying Q&A highlight Campbell’s penchant for earnest storytelling and embodying everyman characters. $17.75, 7pm and 10:15pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Charlottesville, 375 Merchant Walk Sq. drafthouse.com ERNIE & EMMA, LLC
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CULTURE TO-DO LIST Wednesday 9/23
Friday 9/25
music
music
Damien Jurado. Singer-songwriter from Seattle with 18 full albums produced over 25 years of recording history. $38, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com
Acoustic Aubrey. Covers of classic R&B, jazz, acoustic rock, and more. Free, 5pm. DuCard Vineyards, 40 Gibson Hollow Ln., Etlan. ducard vineyards.com
Mood Ring: Queer and Trans Open Mic Night. Share your original music. Mic, speakers, and keyboard provided. Please bring your other instruments. Free, 7pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com
Battle of the Bands: Charlie Pastorfield & Bob Girard vs. Studebaker Jones. Two local acoustic duos square off. Winners decided by the audience. $5, 5pm. Aromas Café Charlottesville, 900 Natural Resources Dr. aromascafeandcatering.com
The Wavelength. Vintage rock, blues, and original tunes for your mid-week music boost. With special guest Kent Raine on drums. Free, 6:30pm. The Whiskey Jar, 227 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thewhiskeyjarcville.com
Bob Bennetta Trio. Live jazz. Free, 6:30pm. Afghan Kabob House, 200 Market St. afghankabobhouse.com Cavalier Marching Band Open Rehearsal. Rehearsing “Hoos on the Move.” Free, 6:30pm. Carr’s Hill Field. music.virginia.edu
stage
Cville Symphony: The Firebird. Featuring Vaughan Williams’ Violin Concerto, Ravel’s “Five O’clock Foxtrot,” Ligeti’s “Atmosphères,” and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. $12–54, 7:30pm. Old Cabell Hall. cvillesymphony.org
Holly’s Open Mic Night. Mic check to all musicians, poets, and everyone in between. Free, 9pm. Holly’s Diner, 1221 E. Market St.
words Inside the Temple: What Latter-day Saints Do in Their Most Sacred Spaces. Historian Jonathan Stapley discusses the architecture, history, theology, and worship practices of Latter-day Saint temples around the globe. Free, 5pm. Nau Hall, 1540 Jefferson Park Ave. VA250 Book Series: The American Revolution at 250. What does 1776 mean to us in 2026? Historians Frank Cogliano, Nadine Zimmerli, and Nick Guyatt discuss. Registration requested. Free, 4:30pm. James Monroe’s Highland, 2050 James Monroe Pkwy. highland.org
classes Creative Writing Workshop. Explore this year’s Writer’s Eye selections through close looking and thoughtful writing prompts. Free, 6pm. The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA, 155 Rugby Rd. virginia.edu Plein Air Painting at the Vineyards. Celebrate the beauty of Monticello’s gardens through art in this floral watercolor workshop. Led by local artist Debbie Donley. $35–40, 5:30pm. Jefferson Vineyards, 1353 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. jefferson vineyards.com Sound and Silence: A Day of Deep Listening and Meditation. Composer, teacher, and deep listener Tom Bickley leads a series of workshops on sonic meditation and deep listening, based on the work of American composer Pauline Oliveros. Free, 9:45am. Music Library, Old Cabell Hall. guides.lib. virginia.edu Watercolor Card Making Workshop. Featuring demos, practice, and design exploration. No experience necessary, all materials included.$33, 6pm. Blue Ridge Brushes Studio, 1110 E. Market St. #13h. blueridgebrushes.com
etc. Dürty Karaoke. Belt out your favorites. Free, 8:30pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellyscharlottesville.com Exhibition on Screen™: James McNeill Whistler. An unmissable chance to get to know this visually spectacular artist and the influence he has had on those who followed. $14–20, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net Justice Is Community Summit. Justice is built in community. Join neighbors, advocates, and practitioners to explore real stories and practical tools for community safety in Central Virginia. Free, 9am. The Point Church - Ridge Street Campus, 105 Ridge St. communityjusticeva.org
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September 23 – 29, 2026
FRIDAY 9/25
PRISON PICTURE Feature-length documentary Juvies shines a light on the incarceration of American youth. Directed by Leslie Neal, the acclaimed film is executive produced and narrated by Mark Wahlberg, and includes poetry narration by Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) as it follows several teenage inmates through intimate interviews. After the screening, an expert panel discussion explores the prosecution of juveniles as adults, and its lasting impact on young people, families, and communities. $20, 7pm. Light House Studio: Vinegar Hill Theatre, 220 W. Market St. isffjuvies.eventive.org
Thursday 9/24 music Alex “Big Red” Dougherty. DJ show bringing the world of Big Red to life through high-energy music, crowd interaction, spontaneous moments, and the magnetic personality that made him a star. Ages 18+. $32, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com Berto and Vincent. Wild flamenco rumba and Latin guitar. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com Darrell Scott. Multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter mines and cultivates the everyday moment. With Gina Sobel. $50–55, 7pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com Sam Barber: The American Route Tour. Multiplatinum singer-songwriter captures the experience, uncertainty, wisdom, and promise of coming-of-age. $38–81, 7pm. Ting Pavilion, 700 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. tingpavilion.com Sherrilynn and Mattie Bottle. Live music supporting your favorite local charity. All ages welcome. Free, 7pm. Maya Restaurant, 633 W. Main St. maya-restaurant.com
stage The Tempest. Embark for a brave new world and discover a story where magic fills the air, power shifts hands, and by the end, love and forgiveness take center stage. $45–75, 7:30pm. American Shakespeare Center, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. american shakespearecenter.com
classes Paint + Sip: Sunset Pines. Paint the supplied design in a step-by-step format. No experience necessary, all materials and first drink included. $44.16, 6pm. Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpk., Crozet. blueridgebrushes.com Paint + Sip: Van Gogh Vista. Paint the supplied design in a step-by-step format. No experience necessary, all materials included. $39, 6pm. Virginia Wine Collective, 1585 Avon St. Ext. blueridgebrushes.com
etc. Film Screening: The Birdcage. A gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancée’s right-wing, conservative parents. Free, 7pm. Light House Studio: Vinegar Hill Theatre, 220 W. Market St. lighthousestudio.org
Emo Night Karaoke. Supergroup of scene musicians with a setlist of 125+ of your favorite pop punk and emo songs wants you as the lead singer. $22, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com Josh Mayo and The House Sauce. One of the best musical performers in town. Free, 6pm. Högwaller Brewing, 1518 E. High St. hogwaller brewing.com Ken Farmer & the Authenticators. A priceless night of rocking good fun. Free, 6pm. Chisholm Vineyards at Adventure Farm, 1135 Clan Chisholm Ln., Earlysville. chisholmvineyards.com Ladies Of The 80s Night Out. Get ready to rewind, relive, and rock the night away. With Side Cars Band: A Tribute to The Cars. $15–20, 7pm. Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet. prnbrewery.com LockJaw Classic Rock Band. Covering fan favorites from the ’60s through the ’80s, and beyond. Free, 6pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com Pony Show. Bringing joy and nonsense through an all-original, Americana sound. Free, 5:30pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com Prabir Trio. Raga-inspired rock outta RVA. Free, 8pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellyscharlottesville.com Solo Steve. Live music on the veranda. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com The Steel Wheels. Roots and folk-rock band that has kept its stride for longer than most bands survive. $39, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com
stage The Tempest. See listing for Thursday, September 24. $45–75, 7:30pm. American Shakespeare Center, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. american shakespearecenter.com
words
dance
Justice Is Community Summit. See listing for Wednesday, September 23. Free, 9am. The Point Church - Ridge Street Campus, 105 Ridge St. communityjusticeva.org
Author Event: Kiki Petrosino. Petrosino reads from her new book, Perfect Italian, followed by a conversation with poet and bookseller Hodges Adams. Free, 7pm. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com
Argentine Tango Lessons. Community-run class with a relaxed atmosphere and a welcoming vibe. $15, 8pm. McGuffey Art Center, 201 Second St. NW. charlottesvilletango.com
Vision’s Trivia. Test your knowledge with themed trivia from tellAplay Entertainment. Free, 7pm. Vision BBQ & Catering, 247 Ridge McIntire Rd. visionbbqcville.com
Book Talk: In Search of Spatial Scripts. Author Peter Waldman discusses the most recent book in his trilogy. Free, noon. Campbell Hall, Van Lengen Lobby, 110 Bayly Dr. arch.virginia.edu
The Currys. Like if Shania Twain were a group a of cute dudes. Free, 7pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellyscharlottesville.com
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SUPPLIED PHOTO
TRIED IT IN C'VILLE CULTURE classes Paint + Sip: Field of Fireflies. Paint the supplied design in a step-by-step format. No experience necessary, all materials included. $39, 6:30pm. Hazy Mountain Vineyard & Brewery, 240 Hazy Mountain Ln., Afton. blueridgebrushes.com Slow Stitch Sanctuary. A welcoming, open stitch circle for slow stitchers and hand‐sewers/stitchers of all types and levels. Free, noon. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com Watercolor Happy Hour. Open watercolor painting session with provided supplies and access to one-on-one instructor feedback. Ages 15+. $25, 5:30pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com
etc. Film Screening: Juvies. Award-winning documentary screening with an expert panel discussion on the juvenile justice system. $20, 7pm. Light House Studio: Vinegar Hill Theatre, 220 W. Market St. lighthousestudio.org Paramount On Screen: Manhattan Short Film Festival. Discover your inner film critic by casting your vote for best film and best actor at this screening of the 29th annual festival. $13–18, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
Saturday 9/26 music Bebe Stockwell. Boston-born singer, songwriter, and performer crafts folk anthems punctuated by an unapologetically and unfiltered Gen-Z perspective. $25, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com Brett Dennen: Art is Life Tour. More than a concert, the evening is an interactive evening where music, storytelling, visual art, and audience participation come together to create a one-of-a-kind experience. $75, 5pm and 8pm. The Guild at Vault Virginia, 300 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theguild.tixr.com Cherry Red: Rolling Stones Tribute. All Stones, all the time. Free, 7pm. Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet. prnbrewery.com C’ville Jazz Congregation. Hear your favorite jazz standards in a new light. Free, 2:30pm. Albemarle CiderWorks, 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden. albemarleciderworks.com Flamenco and Beyond with Beleza and Tracy Verkerke. A unique evening combining a Brazilian, Latin, and soul-influenced musical repertoire with traditional Spanish flamenco dance. Free, 5:30pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com Jen Tal. R&B originals and classic soul. $10, 9pm. Chimm, 365 Merchant Walk Sq. chimmtaste.com Kat & The Travelers. Music for dancing after dark. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com Mike D’Antoni. Innovative fingerstyle guitar. Free, 12:30pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com Robert Jospé Trio. High-energy world-class jazz. Free, 5pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com The Montvales. Tennessee duo explores the fringes of country music. $20–25, 8pm. The Front Porch, 221 E. Water St. frontporchcville.com
dance Bop to the Top. A high-energy dance party and specially curated set celebrating “Hannah Montana” and High School Musical, along with other Disney Chanel anthems. Ages 18+. $29, 9pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com CONTINUED ON PAGE 39 TRISTAN WILLIAMS
Happy little Blue Ridge sunset The art store tucked down a less-traveled corridor in my hometown mall was one of my favorite places to frequent as a girl. Walking between aisles full of paint brushes in every size and shape, and along rows with different types and colors of paint, made it seem like anything I could imagine was possible, with the right tools and some practice. Like many of us, I don’t feed that creative side enough anymore, so when an opportunity to paint, sip, and enjoy good company arose, I took it.—Kristie Smeltzer
What Painting a vibrant sunset at a Blue Ridge Brushes paint and sip event.
Why To spend quality time being creative with my niece.
How it went We are making a painting shindig like this a tradition. Our “Sunset Lake” event took place at the Blue Ridge Brushes studio, a convenient, cozy, Market Street space. Owner/instructor Catelyn Myers greeted us warmly. My niece and I chose seats opposite each other (so we wouldn’t see each other’s paintings until the big reveal) at a table set up with canvases on easels, brushes on paper towels, and paperplate palettes dotted with bright colors for each participant. Once everyone arrived, Myers led us stepby-step from her canvas at the front of the room. She gave clear, easy-to-follow directions and tips for success. We began with a thick, bright pink horizon where the future lake would meet black mountains yet to come. Then we added a deep orange stripe above and blended where the colors met. Literally rinse and repeat with yellow, white, then blue. “Make sure you clean the yellow out of your brush,” Myers reminded us before adding the blue, “so you don’t end up with a green sky. That happens when there’s a tornado, right?” Next, we flipped our canvasses and repeated the process to create the sky’s reflection for our lake. Throughout the steps, Myers encouraged us, and reminded us that our paintings would be different—as unique as we wanted if we chose to go our own way. Background complete, we dipped our biggest brush into black and readied to create mountains. Confession time: Painting the clean-edged brushstroke for our mountains’ base felt like the most anxious bit so far. After that small exercise of bravery, Myers guided us to dot where our mountains’ highs and lows would be, to ensure nothing ended up being too same-same. With our mountains’ ridges defined, we filled in the rest of them with black. Another step was to add an elegant branch reaching over the mountains from a tree that mostly lived off the canvas’ edge in the foreground. This also felt anxiety-inducing, but
Blue Ridge Brushes hosts adult and children’s events at its downtown studio, as well as paint and sip events at a variety of local wineries, cideries, and breweries.
Myers modeled several methods to get cleanAs we wrapped up, we got our first full ly defined, thin lines using our smallest brush. glimpses of each other’s work. My niece’s Soon a bough stretched across our canvasses painting and mine were subtly different bedecked with branches holding little leaf but definitely kin, and our lovely paintings clusters. We added a white orb sun descendare tangible reminders of the fun we had ing behind the mountains and a small flock together. of V-shaped birds (how many do you need Everyone enjoyed a creative activity for a flock?) flying into the distance. The final without the burdens of setup, cleanup, or steps were to add silhouetted edges of foliage needing to have all the supplies. Inherin the foreground and the colorful indication ently those details made the experience of tiny waves on the lake. We feel childlike in its joyfulness. signed our work and the project Blue Ridge Brushes Y’all, one artist even added a blueridgebrushes.com Nessie to her lake! was complete. C-VILLE.COM
September 23 – 29, 2026
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Mary Jae Abbitt • Brown & Eure Households • Patti Cary & Todd Stansbury • Pam & Frank Edmonds • Janna & David Gies • Julie & Geoff Montross • Susie Morris • Margaret & Chris Noland
215 East Main Street, Charlottesville, VA | 434.979.1333 | theparamount.net
Scare us. But make it quick.
Our Two-Sentence Horror Story Contest is back—and you don’t need many words to terrify, unsettle, or totally creep us out.
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September 23 – 29, 2026
Submit your tiniest tale of terror for a shot at local movie and theater tickets. The winning story will rise from the dead in our October 28 issue—and be brought to life on social media by Live Arts actors. Enter if you dare, by October 9: bit.ly/horrorstories2026
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TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Music for Meals
MEALS ON WHEELS 5TH ANNUAL FUNDRAISER mes a G s P rize
September 30, 2026
at Three Notchʻd Brewing Co. 6:00-9:00pm
Join us for an evening of music and mission. Enjoy a chef-catered reception featuring a silent auction, raffle, Spin-the-Wheel game, and music. Tickets are $75/person. ROCK STAR SPONSORS
Tickets
Raffle & Silent Auction
MISSION MATCH SPONSOR: PARKE AND CORAN CAPSHAW
PRODUCER SPONSORS
Georgia Lindsey, Associate Broker, Nest Realty
PLAYLIST SPONSORS
Catherine Zuver
SONGWRITER SPONSORS Whit Douglas
FAN SPONSORS
IN KIND SPONSORS
Frost Montessori School InnovAge Virginia PACE MarieBette Café & Bakery Our Lady of Peace Peacock Auto Quantitative Investment Management Scarpa Skyline Cleaners Vivace
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Tristan Williams Photography
September 23 – 29, 2026
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Serenity Ridge Retreat Center Headquarters of Ligmincha International
Enjoy a serene sanctuary on 100 acres of woodland in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just 30 mins south of Charlottesville.
Community Events Monthly Meditation Practice in Charlottesville | September 23rd Location: Jefferson Memorial Regional Library, Downtown Charlottesville Time: 6:30-8:00 PM | Led by Lama Kalsang Nyima
Upcoming Retreats The Sleep Health Retreat | September 30-October 4, 2026 A unique sleep health retreat that combines the latest advances in sleep medicine with contemplative practices for deep rest and well-being. Sherap Chamma Retreat | October 1-4, 2026 A meditation retreat to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and inner peace. Bardo Retreat - Conversations on Death & Dying | October 6-11, 2026 Explore how spiritual practice and the healing traditions guide us through the dying process, both as caregivers and as companions.
Learn More and Register
www.serenityridgeva.org
Serenity Ridge Retreat Center | Shipman, VA
Solidarity Complete Fitness is a full-service strength & conditioning studio. Our goal is to improve all areas of fitness by providing thoughtful programming, a supportive community, and premium coaching. We are here to help you reach all of your health and fitness goals, no matter what they are.
Let’s be social! Follow us on: @cvilleweekly cville.weekly @cvilleweekly 770 Harris Street, Ste 102 • Charlottesville, VA 22903 (434) 218-0425 • solidaritycompletefitness.com 38
September 23 – 29, 2026
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Saturday 9/26 stage The Tempest. See listing for Thursday, September 24. $45–75, 2pm and 7:30pm. American Shakespeare Center, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. americanshakespearecenter.com
words A Look into the Crystal Ball: The Trump 2.0 Midterms. Larry J. Sabato, founder and director of the Center for Politics at UVA, discusses the 2026 midterms, detailing the key races, figures, and issues you need to know heading into Election Day. Free, 10am. Virginia Guesthouse, Grand Ballroom, 2017 Ivy Rd. engagement.virginia.edu Author Event: Kari Gunter-Seymour. Gunter-Seymour reads from her new poetry collection, All That Teethes Within. A conversation with Sharon Perkins Ackerman follows. Free, 7pm. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. newdominionbookshop.com New Dominion Storytime. Readings from recent storybooks and the classics kids know and love. Rain or shine. All ages welcome. Free, 11am. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. newdominionbookshop.com The Big Science Show. Two spectacular scientists share their research, followed by an open Q&A. No technical background needed, just cool science explained clearly. Free, 8pm. Holly’s Diner, 1221 E. Market St.
classes Fabric Mosaics: Create Your Own Kinusaiga Art. Craft a 9x9-inch art panel from foam board and fabric scraps—turning leftover textiles into something beautiful. Ages 16+. $30, 10am. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com Kids Acrylic Paint Class. Step-by-step guided painting instruction for your little artists. Ages 5+ recommended. $25, 11am. Blueridge Brushes Studio, 1110 E. Market St. #13h. blueridgebrushes.com Spark: A Ceremony and Workshop for Your Creative Spirit. Stephanie Wood blends ceremonial practices with hands-on activities, fostering a space to overcome creative obstacles and reconnect with innate creativity. All experience levels welcome. $35, 1pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com
etc. Charlottesville City Market. Explore fresh produce, local foods, and handmade goods from 100+ area vendors. Free, 9am. Charlottesville City Market, 100 Water St. E. charlottesville.gov Film Screening: Witches of Eastwick. Celebrate the start of Spooky Season with a darkly funny, seductive supernatural comedy about friendship, power, and the consequences of getting exactly what you wish for. $10, 7pm. Light House Studio: Vinegar Hill Theatre, 220 W. Market St. lighthousestudio.org Monticello Moments: Fall Family Days. Enjoy the sights, flavors, and fun of fall at Monticello with hands-on activities for kids. Free with admission, 10am. Monticello, 1050 Monticello Loop. monticello.org Promenade of Spooky Ladies. Dress up in your spooky best and join in a promenade from Maplewood Cemetery to the Downtown Mall. Registration required. Free, 5:30pm. Downtown Mall. spookyladies.com CONTINUED ON PAGE 42 PUBLICITY PHOTO
Art in hand
INTERVIEW CULTURE
Brett Dennen brings the audience into his act on new tour BY TAMI KEAVENY
B
rett Dennen is a fan of great songwriters, and it shows in his work. His ability to tell a story—sometimes whimsical, sometimes heartbreaking— and deliver it wrapped in infectious hooks defines Dennen’s facility as a student of folk and rock music. His unique style launched a fandom of more than 75 million streams on Spotify for “Ain’t No Reason.” Dennen toured with John Mayer, played the festival circuit, and had a number of songs placed in television shows including “Comeback Kid (That’s My Dog),” the theme song for the NBC comedy “About A Boy.” The California native grew up exploring the outdoors, writing music, and painting. On his current Art is Life tour, he mixes it all together: a live performance that incorporates storytelling, visual art, and audience participation. Brennen spoke to C-VILLE about his vision for the upcoming shows at The Guild on September 26. C-VILLE: I understand you are bringing a unique show to town. Tell us what it’s all about. Brett Dennen: It’s a concert, but it’s an interactive concert. It’s completely different every night. I do it in two sets. The best way I can describe it is I’ll have these paintings behind me and I’ll bring one of the paintings up next to me and I’ll sing a song that I choose in the moment to go with the painting. It’s pretty fun because people start seeing things in the paintings that I didn’t know were there—you know everybody has a different take. In the second set the goal is to get people to suggest songs to go with the paintings that are on stage. … I take all cards that [the audience] fills out and I put them in a box and I just start pulling them out at random. And it’s really fun because people say all sorts of things, like you just wouldn’t believe. Tell us about something fun that has happened in one of these sets? We did a wedding once during a song. These people were talking about how they wanted to get married, but they couldn’t because same-sex marriage wasn’t passed in their state, but then when it finally happened, they got married to this certain song, and so they wanted to hear that song. I was like, “Let’s reenact your wedding right now.” So the crowd turned into the wedding audience and they walked down the aisle and they got up on stage and danced to the song. I try to be open to whatever happens and thankfully the audience has always been open to it.
Brett Dennen combines a love of painting with a love of songwriting, and asks the audience to weigh in, on his Art is Life tour.
How long have you been performing like this? I got the idea for it last year and I did three weeks of shows in the Midwest trying it out and I learned a lot and I loved it. I thought, okay, in 2026 I want to try and get better at this and to take it to as many markets as I can. And it’s been a good vehicle for me to produce a lot of art because every time I do a new tour I make a bunch of new paintings for it to keep me fresh. What do you do with the paintings when you’re done with the tour? Well, I tell people if they want them, they can buy them, and if not, I’ll just take them home and I don’t know what I’ll do with them. You’ve connected your creative life to the outdoors through an annual Camp Dennen. How does that compare to performing? Well, it’s the same thing, really. It’s a bunch of people getting together. And we go to a really fun summer camp and instead of it being like a festival where I’m performing the whole time, I’m a participant. I’m there with them. We put a theme together and come up with a bunch of activities. … But it’s really about just people, coming together, getting out of town, getting off their phones, and building a community in nature.
I was in a band. I was really falling in love with the idea of writing songs and it just seemed to be that’s what I was doing. Now that I’m older and have done music for a while, I’m starting to get back into painting— it’s really attractive to me in a way that never was before. Do you have a place that you go, or a process for songwriting? It just comes. I always thought that it would be cool to have a little recording studio, but I’ve never lived in a place that has enough room for that. Where I live now, I have a little creative shed in the backyard that I paint and write in, but I’ve learned over the years that you can write a song anywhere. … The songs are just kind of always being thought about and being worked on in my head, and then there’s some times where I’ll be sitting down for hours, actually, just finishing them. But a lot of the time they’re just kind of all up in the air swirling around.
What can we expect when you come to Charlottesville? Well, I think it’s two shows on the same day, because it’s a small venue—I don’t even know if the paintings are all going to fit on the stage. … I have six big paintings. So, dare I say that these two shows might be my two favorites, How is it that you chose a musical path for just because I know that when it’s less of a your creative expression? typical venue … something about that sort of Oh, I don’t really know,. It’s breaks down the barrier beBrett Dennen just at the time that I was fintween the stage and the audiishing up with college and I The Guild ence and usually makes for a was playing a lot of music and September 26 special atmosphere. C-VILLE.COM
September 23 – 29, 2026
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Photo: Jen Fariello
Benjamin Rous, Music Director Douglas Hargrave, Music Director Laureate Kate Tamarkin, Music Director Laureate
The Firebird David Sariti, violin
Friday, September 25 7:30pm | Old Cabell Hall
Sunday, September 27
3:30pm | Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center
RAVEL – “Five O’clock Foxtrot” from L’enfant et les sortilèges LIGETI – Atmosphères VAUGHAN WILLIAMS – Violin Concerto STRAVINSKY – The Firebird Suite WINNER
Tickets
Best Classical Music Group
UVA Arts Box Office artsboxoffice.virginia.edu | 434.924.3376 Very Special Thanks to
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C A T S FA L L T R E E S A L E Join Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards at the VA Dept. of Forestry (900 Natural Resources Drive)
Saturday, October 3rd starting at 10:00 am. Come early for best selection! We maintain our own volunteer run tree nursery, concentrating on native trees and shrubs, some of which are hard to find from commercial sources. As an all-volunteer organization, we are committed to increasing public awareness of the value of trees in all environments.
Fall Planting Prepares Trees for Summer Heat!
Choose from a variety of primarily native trees and shrubs, priced from $6.00 to $16.00.
Limited to 10 per household and no more than 2 per variety.
Trees for People, People for Trees
View list of trees and upcoming talks, walks and events at: www.charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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CULTURE TO-DO LIST CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39
Sunday 9/27 music
r Virginia Prin u o Y t Sh op! COMMERCIAL, SMALL BUSINESS & PERSONAL PRINTING SERVICES
STICKERS, LABELS, PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS & SWAG
VEHICLE LETTERING & DECAL GRAPHICS
MARKETING & BULK MAIL SERVICES
SIGNS, POSTERS, BANNERS & SHOW OR FESTIVAL GRAPHICS
PRINT MARKETING & GRAPHIC DESIGN
PRINTSOURCEVA.COM • 434.975.3000
Ben Mason. Singer-songwriter with an expansive repertoire of originals and covers alike. Free, 2pm. DuCard Vineyards, 40 Gibson Hollow Ln., Etlan. ducardvineyards.com Cole Barnhill. Delivering a high-octane, no-frills rock show that leaves a lasting impression. $19, 7:30pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com Cville Symphony: The Firebird. See listing for Friday, September 25. $12–54, 3:30pm. Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center, 1400 Melbourne Rd. cvillesymphony.org glaive: God Save the Three Tour. A name synonymous with a scene that redefines pop— not by distancing itself from tradition, but by forging a new, innovative style. Prices vary, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com Michael Elswick Gathering. Jazz, blues, Latin, swing, ballads, and of course, Cambodian surf rock. Free, 1pm. Chisholm Vineyards at Adventure Farm, 1135 Clan Chisholm Ln., Earlysville. chisholmvineyards.com The Wavelength Trio. Jazzy, bluesy vibrations and vintage rock. Free, 2pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com
dance BRIMS Ceol agus Céilí: Irish Session & Social Dance. All dances taught and called by BRIMS dance instructors. All ages welcome, no previous dance experience needed. Free, 3pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potters craftcider.com
classes Fun with Funky Flowers. Create unique layered felted-wool flowers using basic slow-stitch techniques. Some basic hand-sewing experience is suggested. Ages 15+. $25, noon. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com Learn to Knit. Learn the basics of knitting. No experience needed. Leave with a pair of knitting needles, the beginning of a scarf, and enough yarn to finish it. Ages 12+. $35, 11:30am. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com Oil Painting for Everybody: Florals. Learn oil painting in an approachable and organized format. Beginner-based, but all levels welcome. Topics include color mixing, composition, values, simplification, and edges. Ages 14+. $45, 2pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com
etc. Paramount On Screen: Shrek. The endearing ogre sparked a motion picture phenomenon and captured the world’s imagination with … the Greatest Fairy Tale Never Told. $9–11, 2pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
APPLE
HARVEST FESTIVAL
MONDAY 9/28
Celebrate the spirit of the season with a weekend of orchard adventures and craft cider delights!
VOICE OF A GENERATION
Pick-your-own apples Live Music Local Vendors Petting Zoo (Saturday Exclusive!) October 3rd & 4th 10 AM - 6 PM
Trump Cidery 3550 Blenheim Rd. Charlottesville, VA
Free Admission! Follow along on social media @TrumpCidery Learn More at TrumpWinery.com/calendar/event/harvest-fest
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Ann Wilson is frequently hailed as one of the most iconic and powerful vocalists in rock ‘n’ roll history. Building on her trailblazing work and era-defining anthems of the ’70s and ’80s, the lead singer of Heart’s dynamic solo career has been characterized by her hallmark range and creative curiosity. Blending rock, folk, and orchestral influences into fresh yet familiar sonic landscapes, Ann Wilson: The Voice of Heart & Tripsitter is filled with raw emotion and thoughtful reflection from the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award-winner. $65.50–136.75, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
SUPPLIED PHOTO
SOUND CHOICES CULTURE
words Chiswell Book Club. Avid readers and wine enthusiasts get together to deep dive on a book chosen by the previous meeting’s attendees. Free, 1pm. Chiswell Farm & Winery, 430 Greenwood Rd., Greenwood. chilesfamilyorchards.com
Monday 9/28 music
Rising Star
Dogwood Tales’ new album is an alt-country love letter to the Shenandoah Valley BY JEDD FERRIS
Ann Wilson: The Voice of Heart & Tripsitter. Known the world over as a founder and the lead singer-songwriter of the barrier-breaking band Heart. $65–136, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net Ramona Martinez. Local favorite serenades with her signature mix of country western and mariachi. Free, 5:30pm. The Fitzroy, 120 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. thefitzroycville.com Vision’s Open Mic Mondays. Bring your chops and get down. Free, 7pm. Vision BBQ & Catering, 247 Ridge McIntire Rd. visionbbqcville.com
classes Crafter Hours. Bring a work in progress from home, or be surprised by a supplied beginnerfriendly craft. $5, 6pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com
etc. Trivia on Tap. General knowledge trivia with special themed days on the third Monday of the month. Hosted by Olivia. Free, 7pm. Three Notch’d Craft Kitchen & Brewery, 520 Second St. SE. threenotchd brewing.com
Tuesday 9/29 music BRIMS. Blue Ridge Irish Music School hosts an open jam. Free, 6:30pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellyscharlottesville.com Luminous: Mozart and Schumann. Marinus Concerts presents an evening of piano quartet masterpieces. $8–34, 6pm. King Family Vineyard, 6550 Roseland Farm, Crozet. kingfamilyvineyards.com Piano Works for the Left-Hand. Piano recital and lecture featuring works by Mertl, Scriabin, and Godowsky. With pianist Nicholas Ross and composer Gregory Mertl. Free, 7pm. WestminsterCanterbury of the Blue Ridge, 250 Pantops Mountain Rd. westminstercanterbury.org Rapture Open Mic Night. Hosted by The Open Mic Music Exchange/Nicole Giordano. Free, 9:30pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapture restaurant.com The New Pornographers: The Former Site of Tour. Proving itself as one of the most excellent bands in indie rock over the past 20+ years. $47–84, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
stage Vision’s Comedy Open Mic Tuesdays. Sharpen your set, or just hang out for the laughs. Free, 7:30pm. Vision BBQ & Catering, 247 Ridge McIntire Rd. visionbbqcville.com
classes Fiber Arts Fan Club. For the crocheters, knitters, felters, embroiderers, needleworkers, tatters, quilters among us. Bring your current work in progress and get crafty. Free, 6:30pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com
etc. Geeks Who Drink Trivia. Good trivia, good times. Teams of two to six people compete to win prizes like gift certificates and pint glasses, plus bragging rights. Free, 7pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com PUBLICITY PHOTO
Dogwood Tales’ Every Star in Rockingham County was released August 28 on Born Losers Records.
T
he lyrics of “McMemories,” a twangy, distortion-drenched standout from Dogwood Tales’ new album Every Star in Rockingham County, unravel like a flashback in an episode of “Friday Night Lights.” Seeing a street sign sends singerguitarist Kyle Grim’s mind reeling, and he’s suddenly recalling moments of youth—sharing a Coke at a fast-food restaurant and kissing someone by the gate at a high school football game. As the song progresses, a tinge of sadness creeps in, and by the end Grim realizes that growing up in a rural setting can be equally idyllic and stifling. “Stadium lights always felt like the only way this little town could see a good thing,” he sings. Dogwood Tales excel at this kind of fullhearted reflection. The Harrisonburg-based band formed in 2016 as a partnership between Grim and childhood friend Ben Ryan, who started playing together as part of the town’s DIY house-show scene. The pair— both wistful songwriters who find profound significance in little moments—like to anchor their songs with warm chorus harmonies, and they really found their sound when they started to favor electric guitars and added a rhythm section, pulling in shades of Neil Young, Jason Molina, and Son Volt.
The band now fits nicely into the current indie country movement led by MJ Lenderman, Wednesday, and Wild Pink—acts that lean into blasts of alternative rock but give it touches of sun-kissed pedal steel to brighten the corners. Yet where some of their contemporaries favor wry dude-isms, random pop culture references, and shady character sketches, Grim and Ryan take a more earnest lyrical path, offering vulnerable revelations with a vivid sense of place. Every Star in Rockingham County, the band’s fourth full-length album (counting a January-released collaborative effort with Euphoria Again), is largely a love letter to the Shenandoah Valley. The new set of tunes romanticizes the landscape and ruminates on formative mundane interactions that unexpectedly become emotional milestones, often with an overhang of melancholy. In “Angel Dreams,” Grim sets an intimate scene at a diner, where a depressed friend cries in their fried chicken. It feels personal and poignant, even as the song soars with a greasy riff that would please a Lynyrd C-VILLE.COM
Skynyrd fan. He goes even deeper with “Ralph Sampson” and “Mt. Jackson,” dusty rockers that explore old lore, family strife, and the bigger societal picture of small-town economic struggles. Later, on the atmospheric title track, Grim and Ryan each take a verse, offering different perspectives on a drive through the Valley, thoughts drifting to purple mountains and passing trucks. But the peaceful nostalgia eventually gives way to restless unease, and Grim wanders into an empathetic last line for anonymous outsiders stuck with their dreams in rural obscurity. “It’s so hard to focus when everything feels broken,” he laments as the song fades out. Despite the at-times heavy sentiments, the band lightens the mood with a loose edge in the studio arrangements. They fool around with vocal effects in the raucous opener “Soundcheck Infinity,” and embellish the fuzzy shoegaze guitar wails in “Shield.” It’s impressive range for a band that seems to be just getting started and still has plenty of everyday stories to turn into disarmingly honest songs. September 23 – 29, 2026
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September 23 – 29, 2026
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FOR FUN PUZZLES SUDOKU
#1
#2
#4
#5
#1 solution
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September 23 – 29, 2026
#2 solution
C-VILLE.COM
#3 solution
#4 solution
PUZZLES FOR FUN CROSSWORD BY MATT JONES
Free skate ACROSS 1. Bowl of noodles and broth, e.g. 5. What might be really low in the trunk 14. No longer in force 15. 1984 Wim Wenders film set in the Southwest 17. Blues Hall of Fame inductee ___ James 18. Sasha Baron Cohen sequel scheduled for October 2026 19. Shady Records co-founder 21. TV show that landed 207 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 22. Magician Shin ___, “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” winner 23. 1-Across with a tonkotsu variety 24. “Colorful” House Targaryen faction 26. Ticket offerer at a mini-mart, perhaps 28. Understand the lingo 29. Show initiative 30. Defrauds, say 31. Baha ___ (“Who Let the Dogs Out” group) 32. What Eli Wallach represents, in a spaghetti western title 34. Word after game or CD 38. Use a griddle 39. December refrain 40. “Ceci n’est pas ___ pipe” (Magritte caption) 41. “Midsommar” director Aster 42. Low-level unintelligent humanoid, in “Dungeon Crawler Carl”
#3
45. Exhaust output 47. Lacked roots 48. Start of the 14th title in Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series 49. Tolkien creatures from the Old English for “giant” 50. Bow nickname, in early film 51. Little Debbie offerings with striped icing 54. Actress Sommer of “A Shot in the Dark” 55. Single file 56. Brewmaster’s concoctions 57. Irritate in a big way 58. “Curious George” authors H.A. and Margret (they were married)
DOWN 1. Expresses scorn for 2. Top 3. Popular college campus sport 4. Arrakis, for instance 5. Filtered stuff 6. Suffix for spirit 7. High beams 8. It may contain just a few artificial locks 9. The “O” in the Portland suburb nicknamed “Lake O” 10. “The ___ Bennet Sister” 11. Hideous, as a Honduran hombre 12. 1993 Liz Phair studio double album 13. Demolition 16. Virtual people in a video game series 20. Oomph
It’s the pits % $ 6 6 $ / ( & 6 $ 1 ( % 2 / 2 2 9 $ / $ & 7 8 3 < 2 ' $ * 5 $ 9 ( / % $ / / 2 , / & $ 1 6 ( 1 $ 7 2 5 5 + 2 6 8 5 5 ( $ / 6 ( 3 , $ / $ 7 $ 1 ' 2 / ( , 6 , 7 0 ( 7 2 $ ' 5 $ 9 , 2 / , $ 7 ( $ / $ 3 ( 5 6 2 1 5 2 1 3 $ & 7 + 2 3 / ( 7 7 8 0 0 < 2 6 3 5 ( < 6 3 ( 1 ' 8 1 & ( 6 7 ( $ 6 + 2 3 0 2 6 + * 5 ( $ 6 ( 8 7 $ + ( 5 , ( 6 $ / 6 $ 0 , . ( % ( ( ) 6 ( ; < 7 2 2 .
#6 solution
© 2026 MATT JONES
#5 solution
ANSWERS 9/16/26
#6
24. HR rep on “The Office” 25. Sistine Chapel ceiling inspiration 27. “OMG, funny!” 31. Chicago liqueur described as “like Skittles drenched in gasoline” 33. “The Haj” novelist 34. Teeth in a factory 35. The daughter of Loki, you say? 36. It evolved from “return” 37. Like flutes, as opposed to oboes and clarinets 39. Like some tires 41. Site of France’s largest cathedral 42. Recycling bin item 43. Take turns 44. Folded marker 45. Auto designer Ferrari 46. 1955-77 defense gp. 50. “Hmm, yes ...” 52. Sing 53. Physiotherapist’s muscle test, for short
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY FOR FUN By Rob Brezsny
Scorpio
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the volcanic seas around Iceland, underwater eruptions sometimes build entirely new islands that rise from the waves as bare, black rock. During the ensuing years, wind and waves and seabirds seed them with life. Mosses, lichens, hardy plants, and nesting birds slowly transform the raw lava into a living shore. I’m rooting for you to instigate a similar process, Scorpio. My prediction: A development that initially seems stark or unfinished could become fertile ground for growth. Your perceptive instincts will recognize possibilities before they are obvious to others. Be patient with beginnings that look raw.
Sagittarius
(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I invite you to achieve minor miracles that will enable you to brag at parties about how you created something out of nothing. Not in a loud, egotistical way, but with a sly glimmer in your eye, as if you’re sharing secrets about how reality can be coaxed into generosity if you approach it with imagination and chutzpah. Yes, dear Sagittarius, I’m ecstatic to inform you that now is a favorable moment to turn scraps into usefulness, boredom into invention, and vague hunches into tangible results. Be alert! Be on the lookout! Scout around for raw materials that have been overlooked or dismissed. Half-abandoned projects? Mercurial inclinations? Fugitive fantasies? Seemingly idle conversations that reveal marvelous glints and gleams? These are examples of the “nothings” you can turn into treasures.
Capricorn
(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I’ve got a rough, tough assignment for you: Dare yourself to be startled by your own exquisite beauty. Be bold and even brazen in appreciating what a marvelous creature you are. Can you summon the necessary audacity? I think you can. Please notice the ways you have underestimated your gifts, minimized your impact, or edited out your brilliance to make others comfortable. Allow yourself to feel the tender shock of recognizing that you’re more interesting and mysteriously compelling than you’ve been trained to believe. P.S.: This will help you call on even deeper inner resources in the coming weeks.
Aquarius
(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian writer Virginia Woolf was a fount of interesting ideas. Sometimes she pushed her active mind to track them down and capture them, but on other occasions, she enjoyed gathering gems that arrived as her imagination wandered and drifted. These “moments of being” provided her with small treasures while she was walking in nature, taking a bath, or doing nothing in particular. I believe that you are now primed to experi-
(Sept. 23-Oct.22): In the 18th century, Libran philosopher Denis Diderot was instrumental in creating the Encyclopédie. It wasn’t the first compendium of the world’s knowledge, but it was the most ambitious and comprehensive. In 28 volumes, it assembled contributions from a large number of LIBRA writers, including leading figures of the French Enlightenment. Robust collaboration was key to its enduring influence. In the coming weeks, Libra, I’m hoping that you, like Diderot, will be an initiator and facilitator of rich cooperation. Conversations, partnerships, and shared projects could generate insights that none of the participants would have discovered alone. By inviting multiple perspectives into the discussion, you will help cultivate a fertile weave of ideas. ence many such pleasurable eruptions of insight. In the coming weeks, pauses and lulls and intermissions will open unexpected portals.
Pisces
(Feb. 19-March 20): For the low price of $199, I could expertly dispel that annoying curse you’ve been lugging around. But I would feel sleazy taking your cash when you are fully capable of zapping the curse yourself. So instead I will recommend that you perform the banishing ritual, then write yourself a check for $199. Here’s how. Step 1: Visualize an object that represents the curse. Imagine hurling it into a beach bonfire and watching it burn. Step 2: Bring to mind a person you believe contributes to the curse. Envision a rope that ties the two of you together, waist to waist. Then imagine yourself revving up a chainsaw, slicing through the binding, and declaring, “You have no power over me!” Step 3: Roll on the floor as you laugh and cry tears of giddy release.
Aries
(March 21-April 19): In the practice of niwaki, Japanese gardeners shape trees so they look both natural and artfully composed. They prune and style the branches to dramatize the tree’s inherent character. Their goal is to collaborate. I recommend you experiment with a similar approach in the coming weeks, Aries. Try partnering with the living processes in your sphere rather than simply imposing your will on them. Ask yourself: What is trying to flourish here? Can I coax out some useful beauty? How can I coordinate my own intelligence with nature’s intelligence?
Taurus
(April 20-May 20): Your spirit creatures for the coming weeks are the slow-moving giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands. They can live for more than a century. They conserve energy, move deliberately, and carry their protection with them. I believe you will benefit from embracing their ways in the coming weeks, Taurus. Refuse to be rushed or pressured, either by others or yourself. Proceed at the precise rate you need to. Your natural strength will thrive through your incremental steadiness. P.S.: Consider giving yourself a tortoise nickname.
Gemini
(May 21-June 21): A master perfumer composes a fragrance in three layers. The top notes are what you smell first. They’re vivid and volatile. The next layer blooms gradually, unfurling the heart notes of the fragrance. Underneath everything are the deep, resinous base notes, which don’t fully reveal themselves for hours and cling longest to the skin. Let this be a metaphor to guide your joys and pleasures in the coming weeks, Gemini. Relish the bright top notes that flare and vanish, but persist long enough for the heart to open, and longer still for the deep base notes to emerge. Gather all the rich delights, not just some.
Cancer
(June 21-July 22): It’s hard, scary work for a crab to molt its shell and grow a bigger one. As it waits for its new protection to grow, its soft, tender body is exposed and vulnerable. That’s why it often hides in rock crevices, neither moving nor eating until its armor returns. Your situation, dear Cancerian, isn’t C-VILLE.COM
nearly as dire as the poor, defenseless crab’s. But as you power through your own personal molting season, I urge you to enhance your psychic protection. You need to feel extra safe and secure.
Leo
(July 23-Aug.22): Bats navigate by echolocation. They send out sounds and interpret the echoes. But when competing for food, they may also jam each other’s sonar, generating acoustic interference that makes navigation harder for rivals. A similar phenomenon occurs in human populations. Some of the noisy talk we hear is other people’s jamming signals. Consciously or unconsciously, they’re creating interference that may make it harder for us to navigate. Now is a good time for you to learn better how to distinguish between real information and meaningless hubbub. Refine your filters.
Virgo
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Jan Tschichold was a brilliant typographer who revolutionized graphic design. He left his mark on millions of books. But later in life, he rejected some of his own rules, returning to classical typography and critiquing his earlier work as too rigid. In this spirit, dear Virgo, I will ask you if some of your long-standing rules no longer serve you. Is it possible that some of your own “best practices” may have calcified into unexamined dogma? The coming months will invite productive heresy against your past selves. You’re allowed to contradict your earlier convictions. Hint: Your vigorous evoC lution requires it. Expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text message horoscopes: RealAstrology.com, (877) 873-4888
September 23 – 29, 2026
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VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE THOMAS B. SCOTT, III, ET AL V.
Case No. CL26-l 106
GWENDOLYN WARD PUBLICATION ORDER The object of this lawsuit is to partition Gwendolyn Ward’s latent, fractional ownership interest in the real estate known as Albemarle County Tax Map No. 12000-00-00-032A0 and 6806 Porters Road, Esmont, Virginia 22937. By October 1, 2026, Gwendolyn Ward must make an appearance in this case by notifying the Court that she intends to protect her interest in the real estate before said interest becomes forfeited. This Order shall be published in the C-Ville Weekly for four consecutive weeks. ENTERED this 12 day of August, 2026 I ASK FOR THIS: J. Addison Barnhardt VSB#83132 GRISHAM & BARNHARDT PLLC 240 West Main Street, Suite 100 Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 Telephone: (434) 293-2939 Email: jab@grisham-bamhardt.com
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Judge: Cheryl V. Higgins
ORDER OF PUBLICATION Case No. JJ042116-05-00; 06-00; 07-00 VA. CODE § 1-211.1; 8.01-316, -317, 20-104 Charlottesville Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Charlottesville Dept. of Social Services v. Ashley O’Brien, Daniel Wilson Sr., Daniel Ray Wilson, Izel Nelson, and Unknown Father The object of this suit is to approve a petition for permanency planning hearing with a foster care plan with a goal of adoption and terminate the residual parental rights of Ashley O’Brien, Daniel Wilson Sr., Daniel Ray Wilson, Izel Nelson, and Unknown Father of a boy child (D.W.) born to Ashley O’Brien on 7/19/2025. It is ORDERED that Ashley O’Brien, Daniel Wilson Sr., Daniel Ray Wilson, Izel Nelson, and Unknown Father, appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before November 4, 2026 at 9:15 a.m. 8/26/26 DATE
Areshini Pather JUDGE
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P.S. THE BIG PICTURE Tasty tradition
Cville Sabroso filled the Ting Pavilion with seven hours of music, dancing, food, and cultural traditions from across Latin America on September 19. The 14th annual familyfriendly festival featured performers representing countries including Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, along with artisan vendors, nonprofits, and community organizations. Hosted by Sin Barreras/Without Barriers, the event supports the nonprofit’s work with immigrants and their families in Central Virginia.
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TRISTAN WILLIAMS
CELEBRATING THE 7TH ANNUAL CARING FOR COMMUNITY AWARDS AND 2026 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR At this year’s Day of Caring Kickoff Breakfast, United Way of Greater Charlottesville announced the 2026 Volunteer of the Year and the recipients of the 7th Annual Caring for Community Awards. These awards are based on nominations and votes by local community members. Each recipient represents an individual or organization who has gone above and beyond to serve our community and make a positive impact in the lives of others. Honorees demonstrate exceptional compassion, empathy, and service. Please join us in congratulating all the 2026 Caring for Community Award Honorees!
7TH ANNUAL CARING FOR COMMUNITY AWARD HONOREES
2026 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR We are pleased to announce Anne Cressin, a longtime volunteer at The Haven, as United Way’s 2026 Volunteer of the Year! The Volunteer of the Year Award is special because nominees must be personally recommended by a local nonprofit. This year, The Haven wanted to recognize Anne for being “a constant source of dedication, compassion, and reliability” throughtout the more than 250 hours of volunteer service she has given since they opened in 2010.
COMMUNITY PHILANTHROPY AWARD RAYLAJA WALLER & CHANIYA BROWN
For more than a decade and a half, Anne has volunteered multiple times a week and has become integral to The Haven’s daily operations, taking the lead in organizing and sorting donations including hygiene products, clothing, tents, backpacks, and other essentials, earning the title Miss Anne Queen of Organization. In all her service, she has also built meaningful relationships with The Haven’s clients and has played an instrumental role in its warm and welcoming environment.
EARLY LEARNING IMPACT AWARD JASMYNE JOHNSON YMCA EARLY LEARNING CENTER
Read more about all the awardees at unitedwaycville.org
2026 Volunteer of the Year Anne Cressin
Anne spoke about being recognized as the 2026 Volunteer of the Year for her service at The Haven: “Volunteering at The Haven allows for me to not only use my best skills, but to work with and learn from people from all walks of life. It is truly an honor to have been chosen for this award; to represent the many individuals who give of their time and talents as we work together, caring for our community in so many ways.” Notably, this year’s Volunteer of the Year award is especially meaningful as it was accompanied by a $1,000 cash contribution, to be split evenly between this year’s volunteer winner and their nominating organization! As such, both Anne and The Haven received $500 in celebration of their service and the positive impact they’ve both made on our community.
Thank you to the sponsors of this year’s Caring for Community Awards!
COMMUNITY HEALTH ADVOCATE AWARD JACKIE MARTIN GOOD FOUNDATION CVILLE FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT AWARD JANASHA BRADFORD MAHOGANY & FRIENDS BUSINESS FOR GOOD AWARD
CHARLOTTESVILLE INCLUSIVE MEDIA PROJECT SERVICE ORGANIZATION IMPACT AWARD JEFFERSON SCHOOL FOUNDATION
Learn more about United Way of Greater Charlottesville at unitedwaycville.org or @unitedwaycville on all social channels.
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