C-VILLE Weekly | March 6 - 12, 2024

Devin Floyd and the Center for Urban Habitats are working in backyards and gardens to restore the Piedmont

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MARCH 6 – 12, 2024 CHARLOTTESVILLE’S NEWS AND ARTS WEEKLY C-VILLE.COM FREE

GREEN THUMB

Holy Temple church administrator is raising funds to renovate historic building PAGE 13 Dark chamber cabaret group Please Don't Tell to host the Spirit Ball March 9 PAGE 31

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Thank you for Thirty Wordy Years!

March 20—24, 2024 Throughout Charlottesville with special preview events around the Commonwealth Seventy Bookish Events! Highlights include:

Wordy Thirty Anniversary Party

Sat., March 23, 7—11pm Celebrate our 30th Anniversary at The Bradbury/Vault Virginia with a D.J., dancing, drinks, food, and signing lounge with Roxane Gay, Jeannette Walls, Adriana Trigiani, Ada Limón. (ticketed)

The Paramount Theater: All Day Pass

Sat., March 23, 10:30am—8pm All day, all events: Senator Danica Roem, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, bestseller Roxane Gay, and Percival Everett on tour with his newest book, all at The Paramount Theater. (ticketed)

Festival Friday on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall

Fri., March 22, 5—7:30pm Bookshops and other spots offer readings, poetry-prompts, art, and literature, and you. (free)

30th Anniversary Kickoff:

Full Schedule, Details, Tickets:

’90s Rooftop Party

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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VABook.org

Common House, Charlottesville Wednesday, March 20; 7—9pm

us

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REED ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING AWARD

Join us to celebrate extraordinary writers.

VIRGINIA FESTIVAL OF THE BOOK EVENT

2024 CEREMONY

Jonathan Vigliotti

FEATURED SPEAKER

Emily Strasser

David Folkenflik

Mario Ariza

Miranda Green

BOOK AWARD WINNER

JOURNALISM AWARD WINNER

You’re invited to join SELC, in person or virtually, as we celebrate our 2024 Reed Environmental Writing Award winners as part of the Virginia Festival of the Book.

Don’t miss your chance to hear from author Emily Strasser, NPR’s David Folkenflik, and Floodlight’s Mario Ariza and Miranda Green as they share reflections on their awardwinning work.

March 22, 2024 5:00 PM

JOURNALISM AWARD WINNER

The first 300 event registrants receive a FREE copy of Emily Strasser’s book, Half-Life of a Secret: Reckoning with a Hidden History.

Register for the in person or virtual event by scanning the QR code or visit southernenvironment.org/reed-award-registration

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CODE Building 225 West Water Street Charlottesville, VA 22902

JOURNALISM AWARD WINNER

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

Jonathan Vigliotti, CBS News correspondent and author, joins the award ceremony as our special guest speaker.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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V.36, No. 10

Charlottesville’s News & Arts Weekly CIRCULATION: 20,000 WEEKLY P.O. Box 119 Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 www.c-ville.com

Terry enjoys helping clients plan for the future.

Whether you are a student, new parent, senior, or anywhere in between, Terry can talk you through options to protect loved ones, assets, and ensure your wishes are followed.

Terry drafts Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney and Advance Medical Directives. Her personal attention to details accomplishes her clients’ unique goals in the event of incapacity or death. Terry makes sure her clients leave with a plan that is clear, concise, and manageable.

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Personalized Legal Services in Central Virginia

Facebook: facebook.com/cville.weekly Twitter: @cville_weekly, @cville_culture Instagram: @cvilleweekly

EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Richard DiCicco richard@c-ville.com

Good to grow Devin Floyd on his work to restore the Piedmont.

NEWS

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13 Historic Holy Temple church is a community fixture.

15 Area Gazan father fears for his family in Palestine.

Phone (434) 964-9152

www.terrylynnlaw.com

CULTURE EDITOR Tami Keaveny tami@c-ville.com

FEATURE 22

17 Real Estate Weekly: BOV gets an update on UVA’s Good Neighbor program.

CULTURE

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29 Galleries: What’s on view this month.

31 Feedback: Please Don’t Tell’s dark chamber cabaret.

31 Screens: Jack Fisk and Ruth De Jong are both up for Oscars.

31 All You Can Eat: The Alley Light celebrates a decade of delicious.

40 Sudoku 41 Crossword 42 Free Will Astrology

CLASSIFIED 44 P.S.

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The Big Picture

NEWS REPORTER Catie Ratliff reporter@c-ville.com COPY EDITOR Susan Sorensen EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Molly Bettiga MAGAZINE EDITOR Caite Hamilton CONTRIBUTORS Rob Brezsny, Matt Dhillon, Carol Diggs, Brielle Entzminger, Mary Esselman, Shea Gibbs, Mary Jane Gore, Will Ham, Erika Howsare, Justin Humphreys, Matt Jones, Kristin O’Donoghue, Lisa Provence, Sarah Sargent, Jen Sorensen, Julia Stumbaugh, Courteney Stuart, Paul Ting, Sean Tubbs

DESIGN AND PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR Max March max@c-ville.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Tracy Federico designer@c-ville.com

ADVERTISING advertising@c-ville.com ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Gabby Kirk (434) 373-2136 gabby@c-ville.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Brittany Keller brittany@c-ville.com Sarah Smith sarah@c-ville.com DIRECTOR OF EVENTS & MARKETING Stephanie Vogtman

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BUSINESS PUBLISHER Anna Harrison anna@c-ville.com OPERATIONS MANAGER Maddie Donegan maddie@c-ville.com CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Debbie Miller debbie@c-ville.com A/R SPECIALIST Nanci Winter (434) 373-0429 CIRCULATION MANAGER Billy Dempsey circulation@c-ville.com

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THIS WEEK Hello, Charlottesville! Thank you for reading C-VILLE Weekly. For all the justified hand-wringing about humanity’s impact on our environment’s health, there’s still a lot we don’t know or fully understand about the world we live in. Discoveries are made every day that change the way we see life on Earth, and hopefully they can help us restore a bright future for our planet. As much as human beings have damaged the place we call home, we’re also the most capable force for good in its recovery.

Devin Floyd is one such capable force. Floyd tends to an endangered part of our natural landscape, and this week’s feature dives into his work at the Center for Urban Habitats (p. 22). Carol Diggs spoke with Floyd about his grant-winning efforts to protect and restore the Piedmont grasslands—a plateau that runs from New York to Alabama, and cuts straight through our little city. As part of what he does at CUH, Floyd has often toiled in homeowners’ backyards, turning their gardens into resplendent preserves of native foliage.

Environmental reporting is an important part of what we do at C-VILLE, because nature is a part of our community. One of the best things about living in Charlottesville and the surrounding counties is how easy it is to find gorgeous natural vistas. The environment flourishing in our region is a crucial part of its character, and it’s worthwhile to recognize what locals do to care for this part of our home.—Richard DiCicco

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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3.6.24

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Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm Nau Auditorium | Room 101 Join us for an engaging dialogue delving into the diverse perspectives and ideologies of Gen Z and Baby Boomers, represented by three members of each generation. The rules: (1) Participants agree to listen with an empathetic ear, (2) Respond without becoming defensive, and (3) Strive to try to understand each other.

TROUSDALE

03-13 | BUMPIN UGLIES WITH PACIFIC DUB 03-14 | SHADOWGRASS 03-15 | STOP LIGHT OBSERVATIONS WITH EASY HONEY

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For more information please contact Glenn Crossman | 434-243-3540 | GAC4T@virginia.edu

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03-29| THE ZOMBIES-DIFFERENT GAME TOUR WITH WENDY COLONNA PRESENTED BY WTJU 03-30| SAVED BY THE 90S(18+) PRESENTED BY 102.3 THE HOOK 04-05| COREY SMITH 04-12| THE VEGABONDS WITH WIM TAPLEY &

SATURDAY, MARCH 9

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03-10| THE DISCO BISCUITS 03-15| CARBON LEAF 03-16| MASON RAMSEY: FALLS INTO PLACE TOUR WITH SPECIAL GUEST

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Hail Caesar, home from the wars…what darker fate awaits him? Suspicion, conspiracy and power lust boil up in a rush to murder in Shakespeare’s gripping political drama.

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March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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with Alexander Suh, Piano

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Tickets

UVA Arts Box Office artsboxoffice.virginia.edu 434.924.3376 Special thanks to Season Sponsor

OFFSET PRINTING MAILING SERVICES

DIGITAL COPIES BANNERS & SIGNS

“I think in the next seven days, with the seven-day bills that we just sent him, Virginians are going to finally find out where he stands.”

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—State senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, on Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has until the end of the week to act on more than 80 bills

NEWS

Rock solid PAGE 13

IN BRIEF

Exposé Carver Recreation Center was unwittingly host to a sexually explicit broadcast during a February 29 community forum on jailhouse renovations. The hybrid virtual and in-person meeting was interrupted by the moans of a naked Zoom participant who initially could not be seen by the in-house audience. But when Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Superintendent Martin Kumer’s PowerPoint presentation was paused and minimized to address the disruptions, every guest was exposed to the moaning man, who appeared to be masturbating. The Zoom meeting was swiftly closed, which booted virtual attendees from the forum. A makeup meeting has not been announced.

Closed for crash

T

he University of Virginia Board of Visitors voted March 1 to rename the school’s main library.

Now known as Edgar Shannon Library, the recently renovated building’s new name honors UVA’s fourth president and removes the name of its first president, Edwin Alderman.

The decision to rename the library comes after years of debate surrounding the legacy of Alderman, who was a proponent of the racist pseudoscience of eugenics.

“I’ve definitely heard that there’s a push because he was connected with the eugenics movement,” says Mary Grace, a UVA law student. “I definitely support renaming a building if someone is affiliated with that.”

When C-VILLE visited Shannon Library during the university’s spring

break, a few students shared their thoughts on the renaming. While not everyone was aware of the controversy surrounding Alderman, all mentioned his ties to eugenics.

“It’s been a very contentious battle over the last several years to get it renamed,” says third-year Em Gunter. “The Board of Visitors tabled the motion back in December, leading many of us, including myself, to believe that they were tabling it indefinitely. … When I saw the news on Friday that they had voted to rename it, I was shocked.”

Students were generally enthusiastic about naming the building after Edgar Shannon, who instituted coeducation and racial integration during his tenure, though several mentioned their limited knowledge of the man who led UVA from 1959-1974.

“I don’t know much about [Shannon].

I assume they checked him on the obvious stuff like eugenics,” says fourth-year grad student Jack Warfield. “I think it’s good to keep the name in line with important figures in the university’s history.”

“I’ve heard some people grumbling that, oh, there’s a dorm named Shannon,” says Gunter. “It’s like, whatever, I don’t care. It’s someone that’s not shitty.”

The renaming of Shannon Library comes a few weeks ahead of the university’s grand reopening ceremony on April 4. Though the library opened its doors in January after years of construction, several areas remain cordoned off due to ongoing renovations and book relocations.

A library representative did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

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Orange County Public Schools closed both Locust Grove Primary and Locust Grove Elementary on March 4 after a two-vehicle crash shut down part of Constitution Highway. According to Virginia State Police, the crash occurred around 5:50am. A 23-yearold driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from his vehicle. He is being treated at UVA Medical Center for lifethreatening injuries. Five others involved in the crash are being treated for minor injuries at Mary Washington Hospital.

Turning the page

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

UVA ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS

The UVA women’s basketball team upset fifthranked Virginia Tech on March 3 with a 80-75 victory at the John Paul Jones Arena. In the final home game of the season, the Hoos broke multiple records, including attendance—11,975, the most to ever watch a women’s basketball game in Virginia—and scoring—a team-high 21 points from freshman guard Kymora Johnson. The Cavs’ next game is against Wake Forest at 6:30pm on March 6, in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

UVA COMMUNICATIONS

Big win

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OUR 2024 THEME

12TH ANNUAL CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA @TOMTOMFOUNDATION

APRIL 17—21, 2024

3RD ANNUAL

DOWNTOWN MALL

BLOCK PART Y FRI. APRIL 19 & SAT. APRIL 20

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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This year the 3rd annual Downtown Mall Block Party will include the entire Downtown Mall AND the Ting Pavilion!

To keep Charlottesville dancing into the night, Fridays After Five will host a Tom Tom supercharged lineup with a headlining performance by RVA’s No BS! Brass Band. All this and much more TBA.

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LEARN MORE AT TOMTOMFOUNDATION.ORG/BLOCK-PARTY

NEWS 13

Upon this rock Holy Temple church seeks funds for renovations and recognition

By Yasu Shinozaki

SUPPLIED PHOTO

T

Holy Temple Church of God, located on the corner of 12th Street and Rosser Avenue, was built by contractor Charles Hunter Brown, who also served as the church’s pastor.

C.H. Brown was born in 1907 in Proffit, Virginia. He was one of 13 children and received little formal education. He worked for a time in the kitchen of a downtown restaurant—but Brown wanted a different career, and started working in carpentry.

“We’re talking about a period when there wasn’t much in Charlottesville for Black men to do, except maybe sweep the floor or clean somebody’s house or something,” Jefferson says. “So for him to have those kinds of aspirations said a lot about who he was.”

C.H. Brown’s company built countless houses in Charlottesville, at least half a dozen churches in the surrounding counties, and numerous commercial buildings. Brown is credited with allowing many African Americans in Charlottesville to become homeowners.

Church Clerk Clinton Johnson says Holy Temple’s construction was remarkable for another reason: The ground beneath it is

To [Angie] Jefferson, the preservation of the church is linked to the survival of the Preston Heights neighborhood amidst threats of gentrification and redevelopment. solid rock, and Brown had to use dynamite to excavate the foundation.

“I’ve heard that they didn’t believe that church would ever be built because Reverend Brown built that church on a boulder of some sort,” Johnson says. “So to me, it also had a Christian outlook that … on this rock he would build this church and the gates of hell would not prevail. So when other preachers and people were coming by

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

he neighborhood of Preston Heights is deeply linked to the legacy of one man: Charles Hunter Brown. Brown was one of the first Black contractors in the Charlottesville area and built many of the houses in the neighborhood located between Preston and Grady avenues. He also built Holy Temple Church of God, located on the corner of 12th Street and Rosser Avenue, where he served as pastor for decades.

The church has been an important fixture in the Preston Heights community since it opened its doors in 1947, providing a place of worship to countless parishioners, a community to Black UVA students, and meals to neighborhood families.

But in recent years, a lack of maintenance has caused parts of the building to fall into disrepair. Leaks have created substantial water damage in the basement and attic. The building needs a new roof and water remediation.

Brown’s daughter, Angie Jefferson, is administrator of the church, and she’s started a GoFundMe page to raise money for the renovations, with a goal of $75,000.

To Jefferson, the preservation of the church is linked to the survival of the Preston Heights neighborhood amidst threats of gentrification and redevelopment.

She describes Preston Heights as the “last true African American neighborhood in Charlottesville,” saying it is one of the few places in town where many Black families have long ties, some going back three generations.

The neighborhood is still predominantly Black, but the majority of houses that were once owned by Black residents have been acquired by LLCs. Silk Purse Properties LLC owns every structure on one side of Rosser Avenue except for two houses and Holy Temple church, according to Charlottesville tax data.

and saying that there was no way he was going to bless that rock and build a church on it, he proved them wrong.”

C.H. Brown’s son, Ralph Brown, is the pastor at Holy Temple, and runs the C.H. Brown Christian Center, which is dedicated to continuing his father’s legacy through mission work and preservation.

Ralph is also attempting to protect his dad’s work by law—in early 2021, he filed to make six houses built by his father and the Holy Temple church a historical preservation district. But he needs the consent of property owners, and the buildings keep changing hands.

Ralph Brown and Johnson stress the importance of C.H. Brown’s legacy as a pastor, as well as a contractor. Johnson says that when Brown was preaching, sometimes every parking spot would be taken on Rosser Avenue, as well as nearby sections of Grady and Preston.

The doors to the church were always left unlocked when her father was pastor there, Jefferson says. The building served as a place of solace for community members.

“Before my dad passed in 1996, he spent a lot of time in the church,” she says. “And so people knew they could always find him there. Women who had been abused, children who had run away from home, there were a myriad of situations where people came to the church.”

While its congregation has waned over the years, Holy Temple is still an important meeting place in the community. Ralph Brown serves free meals twice a month at the church.

But he is concerned that the purchase of nearby properties by outside firms makes the neighborhood vulnerable to redevelopment. He also fears lack of home ownership will lead to community members having less of a say in local politics.

“Unless you’re a property owner,” Ralph says, “you can’t move the needle a whole lot about what can and cannot be done.”

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UVA MUSIC EVENTS

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Date/Time/Place

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Friday, 3/15, 3:30pm 107 Old Cabell Hall

Mari Kimura Colloquium * composer, violinist, educator

Friday, 3/15, 8pm Looking Glass at Ix

Telemetry Concert * with Mari Kimura

Saturday, 3/16, 7:30pm Old Cabell Hall

Charlottesville Symphony Mozart and Shostakovich

Sunday, 3/17, 3:30pm

ML King Performing Arts Center

Charlottesville Symphony Mozart and Shostakovich

Sunday, 3/17, 4 pm Old Cabell Hall

US Navy Band: The Commodores * Navy's premier jazz ensemble

Wednesday, 3/20 10am B18 Old Cabell Hall

Open rehearsal / workshop * Women in Music

Friday, 3/22, 1pm Music Library in OCH

Making Noise with Corey Harris * Making Noise in the Library series

Friday, 3/22, 3:30pm 107 Old Cabell Hall

Richard Danielpour * Colloquium

Friday, 3/22, 8pm Old Cabell Hall

Women in Music * Ayn Balija & I-Jen Fang

Gail South, AAMS™

Friday, 3/29, 8pm Old Cabell Hall

Cassie Lipton, flute * Distinguished Major Recital

202 East High St Charlottesville, VA 22902 434-977-0753

* denotes free events

Finding solutions for your financial needs.

Let's map out your future together.

Financial Advisor

All artists, programs and venues are subject to change.

434.924.3052 | music@virginia.edu | Box Office: 424.924.3376 | artsboxoffice.virginia.edu

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NEWS 15

At a distance

By Andrew Hollins Ed. note—This story represents one area family’s perspective on the conflict in Israel and Palestine.

B

Bilal Koraz tries to keep up with his family back home in Gaza, as war rages on. To help get them out, he’s started a GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/help-our-family-evacuate-from-gaza.

flanked on all sides by damaged buildings and signs of combat.

“That’s honestly the only way they sleep at night,” she says. “Exhaustion. Otherwise the bombs and gunfire would keep them awake.”

Following this interview, the Koraz family home in Gaza was damaged when a neighboring house was shot by a Merkava tank, and they had to flee. They went to the refugee camps, which were supposed to be safe, but as of mid-February, the Israel Defense Forces had begun attacking those as

“That’s honestly the only way they sleep at night.

Exhaustion. Otherwise the bombs and gunfire would keep them awake.” JESSICA KORAZ

basics&beyond!

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John A. Hancock

Intermediate & Advanced Projects in Watercolor

@ McGuffey Art Center Tuesdays, 6:30-9:00 pm 8 Weeks, Starting Mar. 26th johnahancock.com

434-939-7445

@ McGuffey Art Center Saturdays, 1:30 - 4:00 pm 6 weeks, starting Apr. 13th more info: johnahancock.com hancockjohna.artist@gmail.com 434-939-7445

other spring classes: Intro to Drawing (McGuffey, Apr. 10th), Intro to Watercolor Basics, (Crozet Arts, Apr. 14th) , Sketching w/Ink & Waterolor (BSSS, May. 1st)

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well, citing terrorist activity and potential hostages being held in the area.

“He feels guilty,” Jessica says. “Because he got out and they didn’t. If he didn’t have kids, he’d go back to be with them. So would I.” At press time, about 30,000 have been killed in Gaza in just under five months of fighting. For comparison, the U.S. lost just over 7,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It’s like the cartoons, where they tie up people and leave them on the railroad tracks,” Jessica says. “His family is tied up on the railroad tracks, and the train is headed their way. But the train has brakes. We can stop the train. It’s not inevitable. It doesn’t have to be like this, but no one is listening.”

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

ilal Koraz, a Gazan-born father living in the dense forest of rural Louisa County, says his 11 family members—mostly women, children, and the elderly—have been sheltering in the family home in Gaza.

“Every day, all the time, I’m afraid to hear [the news],” Koraz says. “Just the other day, the house next to [their’s] was completely blown up.”

He pulls up pictures on his phone, scrolling through them like a reverse timeline. There are recent photos of his daughter, and pictures from 2019, when he married his wife Jessica, a Louisa County resident. There are some from Istanbul, when the couple traveled halfway across the world to meet in person for the first time. One picture is of him in Gaza with four other well-dressed, college-age men.

“These are my good friends,” he says. It looked like they were at a wedding.

His face lit up a bit as he talked about his home, but only briefly. He wore his feelings on his brow, furrowed like he had to break bad news to himself. He sighed and went quiet, but his wife elaborated.

“They were like brothers to him,” Jessica says.

She paused, hesitant to get to the end of the story.

“Were,” she says. “They’re gone now. All of them.”

The Koraz family originally came from just outside Jerusalem.

“That was before,” he says, meaning before the partition. “They came and took [our home], with everything in it. Even the pictures. We couldn’t have the pictures of our family members.”

Afterward, his family settled in the Deir Al-Balah neighborhood in Gaza.

“My father was [a] colonel with the Palestinian Authority before Hamas,” Koraz says. “He was like a policeman.”

The Palestinian Authority was the governing body established in the mid-1990s

by Fatah, a major political party in Palestine. According to Al Jazeera, “its creation was supposed to pave the way to an independent Palestinian state.”

In 2006, however, the party’s power dissolved with the rise of Hamas, as did Koraz’s father’s job. For both this reason and ideological differences, the Koraz family are about as far from Hamas supporters as the Israelis, voting against them in that year’s election. Regardless, the Korazes are treated the same as any other Arab family in Palestine.

Jessica met Koraz in 2018 on social media through his work and advocacy with a local children’s center in Gaza. The two struck up a conversation and they fell in love. Despite their distance, they decided to pursue the relationship, and arranged to meet in Istanbul. He moved to Jessica’s hometown in the U.S., where the couple now live with their three children.

Through a crackling, fuzzy reception, Koraz calls his brother in Gaza. He asks him how he’s doing, and if he wants to talk for a moment. It’s not a good time to talk, and after a few exchanges in Levantine Arabic, they trade goodbyes and hang up.

“They have to cut wood to cook or heat water,” Jessica says, after the phone call.

“And they have to find fresh water, because it’s been shut off. Just like the power. And the phones. And the internet.”

She shows me a photo: two men chopping wood in the middle of a sandy street,

SUPPLIED PHOTO

A Palestinian man in Louisa worries for his family

16

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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CHANGING LIVES, ONE WORD AT A TIME. Through the generosity of volunteer tutors and financial supporters, Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle provides free, one-to-one English and Citizenship tutoring for adult learners in our community.

370 adult students learning at Literacy Volunteers, from 48 different countries, speaking 43 first languages.

There are

I discovered that engaging with a student on their learning journey opens up a world of possibilities, for both of us.

— Judy, volunteer tutor

Learn more & join us in support of adult learners www.literacyforall.org • 434-977-3838 volunteers@literacyforall.org

17

Featuring properties for sale and rent in and around Charlottesville as well as Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange and Augusta counties

Gracious Living in Willow Pond • Picturesque farm pastoral landscape • Pond and mountain views • 69.95 acres and 12,000 finished sqft • Quality craftsmanship • Oversized living spaces • Board fencing, large bank barn and equipment shed

mls 501172

$2,895,000

Blenheim Farm • All brick Georgian • 4800 finished sq/ft • 5 bedrooms 4 full and 1 half baths

163 Saint Andrews St

“Glen Love” in Meadow Estates

ZION CROSSROADS | $509,900 • Early Virginian architecture

• Near Trump in Winery/ Great Location Spring Creek! 2484 finMonticello/Ash Lawn ished square feet on a private wooded lot • On almost 3 ac. in gated community with large brick patio. Fabulous 2-story • 6500 + fin. sq. ft • 4 home boasts formal living and dining room. fireplaces • Oak flooring, gourmet The open combination eat-in kitchen/famkitchen ily room• Geo-Thermal with fireplace connects to the HVAC system enclosed sunroom. Upper Level includes mls 502036 $2,099,000 primary suite, and 3 more bedrooms, and Commercial Property Waynesboro full in bath.

Enjoy the inviting covered front • Approximately 17.22 porch with the perfect home in the ideal acre(s) location!• Located MLS 649851 on Lew Dewitt

Blvd

• Over 25 acres of open and wooded land, creek and pond site.

• Community walking and riding trails

mls 495948

$849,000

Magnolia Farm In Louisa

• High growth commercial location

mls 501713

$1,700,000

Cape Cod Style Home in Scottsville • Covered front porch • Vaulted ceiling in the great room enhances the wall of windows with backyard views.

• Secluded master offers a walk-in closet and lavish bath • Salt water pool, koi pond, lush grounds • Horse facilities including barn & riding ring.

• Classic 2 over 2 farmhouse,ca. 1890 • Recently RENOVATED • Mini-farm,set on 4.5 open, board fenced acres, • 2 stall barn, detached 2 car garage w/ apartment • Commercial use is possible.

• Horses, farm animals, nursery, B&B, etc.

• Between Richmond and C’ville only 3 miles from I-64.

mls 500545

mls 478113

Unique Belmont Building

Country Home in White Hall

4.220.5656

• Located in DOWNTOWN BELMONT • A short walk to C’ville’s downtown mall • Great opportunity to own a mixed use property • Office suite on the 1st floor (2 offices,reception area,bathroom)and a 1 bedroom apartment on the 2nd floor • New roof,wall heat/ac units • Great front porch, private fenced yard and off-street parking.

0 Midway Road

$750,000 • Glorious MOUNTAIN VIEWS from your front porch and deck.

• Custom kitchen with gas range,granite counters & tile backsplash • Huge dining room for entertaining, plus a bright and open family room • First floor master suite and a finished terrace level • Quiet country living, great mountain views • 25 minutes to the heart of Charlottesville

CHARLOTTESVILLE | $1,850,000

One-of-a-kind property in Western Albemarle. The land is gently rolling and about 2025% hardwood with the balance in pasture. Two streams come together at a potential pond/lake site. There are several building sites that each offer a unique perspective on the glorious mountain countryside. MLS $ P r i cviews e m&l sthe ? ? surrounding ????? $ P r i621439 ce mls 496870

real estate partners

$495,000

Louisa Road

KESWICK | $535,000

4 Separate Parcels totaling 10.53 Acres with Trees and easy access off Louisa Road.

Some areas have already been cleared and ready for your vision. MLS 647864

We are ready for the Spring Market!

Whether you are looking to buy or sell, we are here to help with all of your Real Estate needs.

Contact Aaron Manis for more information!

Call/Text: 434-962-7039 – www.sloanmanis.com – aaron@sloanmanis.com sloanmanis.com

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mls ??????? mls 499612

EARLYSVILLE | $864,900

March 6 - 12, 2024 c-ville.com

• 3,078 sq ft. brick building sold as is

• Quartz countertops, stainless appliances, first floor master suite, gated security

780 Cleopatra Court

Custom Built 4 Bedroom/3 Bath home with over 3100 SF on 2.22 acres in Chestnut Ridge. Custom Cabinetry in the Gourmet Kitchen. Open Concept Floorplan. Primary Suite on Main Level. Unique Spa/Therapy Room with Dual Hot Tub and Swim Spa. MLS 649805

• More land available

18

REAL ESTATE WEEKLY

Annie Gould Gallery

Housing more BOV updated on efforts to build up to 1,500 affordable units on UVA-affiliated land

By Sean Tubbs

T

he University of Virginia’s Great and Good strategic plan helped guide the public institution to recently surpass a $5 billion fundraising goal.

One item in the plan calls for the creation of a Good Neighbor program.

“Affordable housing is one of the six issues that was identified by the community as being important to work on with UVA, and, as I understand it, affordable housing was the very top critical issue,” says Pace Lochte, assistant vice president for economic development.

UVA has identified three locations where between 1,000 and 1,500 new units would be built on land the school or its foundation owns. The Piedmont Housing Alliance has been selected to partner on developing the Piedmont housing site off Fontaine Avenue, and an out-of-town group called Preservation of Affordable Housing will develop a site at the corner of 10th and Wertland streets.

“It’s a smaller site, about two acres, but a very strategic site,” Lochte says. “It’s on the border of town and gown and across the street from the UVA Medical Center.”

The third site is at the North Fork Discovery Park, recently rezoned by the Albemarle Board of Supervisors for residential use. A partner has not yet been identified.

Timelines for each project depend on financing and the time it will take to get building permits.

“Our best guess based on our partners is early 2026 for moving dirt,” Lochte says.

As of March 1, Lochte says negotiations on agreements between UVA and the partners are still underway, and a lot of due diligence and community engagement still needs to occur.

“We’re really trying to identify how we can be complementary to the ongoing

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March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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RELIABLE. RESPONSIBLE. REALTOR.®

efforts of many in this community who have been doing affordable housing for a long time,” she says.

According to Lochte, financing will likely be dependent on low-income housing tax credits, a mechanism PHA will rely on for other affordable projects on the books, such as 501 Cherry, the Park Street Christian Church Apartments, and redevelopment of the Monticello Area Community Action Agency site on Park Street. Those projects will also be fueled by capital improvement program funds from Charlottesville.

The 10th and Wertland site will be steps away from Westhaven, a Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority site that City Council has agreed in principle to put $15 million towards.

UVA is not planning to put financial resources into the project.

“The University of Virginia is investing no taxpayer dollars, no tuition dollars, and we are leasing under long-term lease at a very low rate land that we otherwise do not have a use for,” says Jim Murray, a member of the Board of Visitors.

The two sites announced so far will be reserved for households who make less than 80 percent of area median income, which is $123,000 for a family of four.

Lochte says that could mean nurses at UVA could be eligible to live in those units.

At the end of the lease, the buildings would revert to the University of Virginia’s ownership, according to Tim Rose, the UVA Foundation’s chief executive officer.

“That would be for a future board many decades from now to figure out whether you want to demolish them, use the land for UVA purposes, or fix them up and rent them for market rate,” Rose says. “There’s a lot of things you could do. Turn them into dormitories.”

But first, they have to be built.

Here are the three locations where the University of Virginia says between 1,000 and 1,500 affordable housing units will be built on land the school or its foundation owns.

19

EAN FAULCONER INC. MCLFarm, Estate and Residential Brokers

EDGEMONT

HIGHER GROUND

27 acre estate, mountaintop retreat with 11,400 sf., 8-BR, 6.5-BA residence with many outside terraces, decks and unsurpassed panoramic mountain views! 10 miles to famed Omni Homestead Resort, 2 miles to the airport. www.highergroundva.org Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 or Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455

SWANNONOA COUNTRY CLUB

Stunning golf course atop the Blue Ridge Mtns. in Afton, Va. 20 minutes west of Charlottesville, UVA and at the gateway to the Shenandoah Valley via I-64 or Rt 250. Explore the many alternative uses for the 236 acres with sweeping views in all directions.

MLS#649416 $3,500,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124

U

N

D ER

C O

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R AC T

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 15 miles south of Charlottesville, is this rare 572-acre historic estate whose design is reputed to be the only remaining private residence attributed to Thomas Jefferson. MLS#576150 Court Nexsen, 646.660.0700 www.HistoricEdgemont.com

MILL HOUSE

Former house of noted local architect Floyd E. Johnson, on the banks of Totier Creek. Thoughtfully renovated and expanded, 5-BR, 3 full and 2 half BA. Guest house, 2-bay garage, pool, equipment shed plus 130 acres of open & wooded land. MLS#639196 $2,475,000 Court Nexsen, 646.660.0700

WAYSIDE PLACE

EAST WATER STREET

FRAYS GRANT

This 21 acre lot is situated at the end of a culde-sac that provides privacy and a quite setting among towering hardwoods, and is convenient to CHO airport and ample shopping of various kinds. MLS#640231 $269,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 or Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455

FREE UNION PARCEL

42 acre tract on Wesley Chapel Road with the right to be divided into two 21 acre parcels. Big views with clearing towards the Blue Ridge. Stream frontage on Burruss Branch. Old logging road recently cleared for easy access. MLS#647055 $799,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124

SIMMONS GAP/ ESTES RIDGE

10 acres of mature woods. Property has long road frontage and consists of two parcels being combined and sold as one. No homeowners association!

Design and build your dream residence on this very well-priced parcel. MLS#621178 $189,000 Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250

503 Faulconer Drive| Charlottesville | VA 22903 | office: 434.295.1131 | email: homes@mcleanfaulconer.com

WWW.MCLEANFAULCONER.COM

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Rare opportunity for a unique downtown office/retail condo with deeded onsite parking space! Located in the Holsinger Condo on Water Street, one block removed from the Historic Downtown Mall. Easily accessible to UVA and all Charlottesville has to offer. $495,000 Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250

WEST MAIN STREET CORRIDOR

Investment/Assemblage opportunity between University of Virginia and Charlottesville’s dynamic Downtown Mall. Property is being targeted to be classified to RX-5 in the new city zoning ordinance. MLS#30850340 $875,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124

TILMAN ROAD

Arguably the best Blue Ridge Mountain views in Ivy. On 6 landscaped acres with a custom 4-bedroom house including 2 master suites, living room, dining room, study, sunroom/eat-in kitchen and large basement with recreation room. Western school district. $1,450,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124

March 6 - 12, 2024 c-ville.com

Prime location near the University of Virginia Grounds and Barracks Road Shopping Center, steps from the Downtown Mall. Charming 4-bedroom, 3.5-bath residence rich in history, awaits its second owner. MLS#648746 $1,150,000 Mark Mascotte, 434.825.8610

DOWNTOWN PENTHOUSE

This 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath condo features extra high ceilings, a modern and open floor plan with huge windows and doors, and a large rooftop terrace with views of the Downtown Mall all the way around to Monticello. MLS#634149 $1,690,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

20

THANK YOU FRIENDS FOR A SUCCESSFUL 2023 & WELCOME NEW CLIENTS in 2024!

Michael Marino REALTOR®

434-270-4935

people.propert.architecture@gmail.com www.BinxProperties.com

PASSION FOR PEOPLE, PROPERTY & ARCHITECTURE “Michael Marino is a marvelous real estate agent. He handled both the buying and selling of our homes in Charlottesville this past fall (2023). He covered all the many details of evaluating our new home and preparing our home to sell. Michael was always available for questions and assistance on a moment’s notice. He is a skilled diplomat and negotiator. Perhaps above all, Michael is delightful to work with and gets along well with all the people involved.

His professional colleagues had great respect for his integrity and seemed to enjoy working with him. This all made these high stress transactions go very well. We would recommend Michael to everyone considering either buying or selling their home.”

Kate Tamarkin & Clifford Arnold Ashcroft

March 6 - 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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“Michael Marino helped us sell our downtown condo. We were extremely pleased to work with him and that he was working for us. He was sensitive to our concerns and stuck with us every step of the way from listing to closing, providing us with good information and – above all – calm encouragement.”

620 woodbrook Drive, Suite 6 Charlottesville, VA. 22911

Deb and David Godden The Gleason (Downtown) “...being on the other end of the country can be downright daunting.

Thankfully, we were incredibly lucky to have Michael Marino in our corner! He turned what could have been a very difficult process buying a house sight-unseen into, quite simply, the easiest and smoothest real estate transaction we’ve ever had!...

His insight helped us through the offer process as well as the post-inspection negotiations, and the attorney he suggested to us was beyond fantastic, as was the title company! All in all, we couldn’t have wished for a better or smoother experience and we are incredibly thankful for having had Michael as our real estate agent.”

Will and Estefania Lowey Owensville - Ivy “Throughout the process of working with Michael to sell my home, he not only ensured I was informed but also proved willing to patiently provide answers to challenges and questions. He inspired

We had pleasure of working with Michael Marino on the recent purchase of our home

in Charlottesville, VA. His calm of demeanor depth of knowledge allowed us to easily ily navigate some large challenges reconfidence by displaying values hon- and navigate some large challenges resulting in a successful purchase. We would use Misulting in a successful purchase. I would esty, integrity, and respect. I truly shared cheal’s services again for any future real estate transactions and recommend him highly. use Michael’s services again for any real his belief that together, as partners, our Vu &was Hanh estate transactions and recommend best Quang outcome a Nguyen meaningful, sucNorthfield cessful transaction for both seller and him highly.” buyer.”

Vo chöng tôi vira mói mua dugc cán nhà vira y nho làm vièc vói Michael Marino. Öng Sachey có phong thái dièm tinh và rát am hiéu vèDon thi truöng bät ding sán tai Charlottesville, VA nhà môt cách cán kê, và nhät Albermarle, Virginia nên giúp chúng tôi timLexington hiêu giá tri cán Dr. Lorri Cooper dâm phán thänh công dé mua bât dong sán vói giá mong muôn.

RiverlàRun Chúng tôi châc chan sê tiép tuc làm vièc voi“Vo Micheal Marino tongmua lai cho moi giao chöng tôi trong vira mói dugc cán dich liên quan dén bät döng sän. Chung tôi caolàm và tu hãovói vi dupc làm Maviêc nhàdánh vira giá y nho vièc Michael “Michael the most profeschungMarino vói öng was ây nhu môt ngudi ban. rino. Öng có phong thái dièm tinh và sional and friendly realtor I have had rátnguoi am hiéu vè thi truöng bätdich ding nhât dinhFour chúnghome tôi sè giói thiêu ban bè, thân cúa minh sú’ dung vu sán cúa in myVàlifetime. purchases, Micheal tai Charlottesville, Albermarle, Virginia and this wasMarino. my best experience. He is nên giúp chúng tôi tim hiêu giá tri cán knowledgeable, friendly, kind, and reQuang Vu & Hanh Nguyen nhà môt cách cán kê, và nhät là dâm Northfield sponsive.

A great realtor and an even phán thänh công dé mua bât dong sán better person. I recommend anyone vói giá mong muôn. looking for a great home buying experience to call Michael.”

Chúng tôi châc chan sê tiép tuc làm vièc voi Micheal Marino trong tong lai Michael Habib Mohajeri cho moi giao dich liên quan dén bät River Run döng sän. Chung tôi dánh giá cao và tu hão vi dupc làm viêc chung vói öng ây “Being a first time homebuyer can be nhu môt ngudi ban. an overwhelming experience. With Michael, it didn’t have to be. He made a Và nhât dinh chúng tôi sè giói thiêu ban great addition to my home buying team bè, nguoi thân cúa minh sú’ dung dich with his patience, honesty, and willing- vu cúa Micheal Marino.” ness to talk through the home buying Quang Vu & Hanh Nguyen process step by step. From searching to Raintree closing I always felt prioritized and supported, and with his network of people I “Michael Marino is a meticulous and knew I was in good hands. Michael genuinely cares about his clients, so if you knowledgeable real estate agent. He choose him for your realtor you will not helped us prepare and organize our property at 2401 Northfield Road, be disappointed.”

Charlottesville before listing all the way to closing.”

Kristin A Shifflett Lake Monticello

“I had the pleasure of working with Michael Marino on the recent purchase of my home. His calm demeanor and depth of knowledge allowed us to eas-

Won & Sureerat Peethum Northfield

r e C m a m m p u S Guide

Annual directory of Summer Camps, Schools & Programs for kids

published in c-ville on March 13, April 17, and May 1

INFORMATION: (434) 623-1283 • SARAH@C-VILLE.COM

21

New Larger Homesites Just Released Backing to Trees!

Semi- Custom Homes starting from $599,900 Decorated Model Home Open Daily 12-5pm

Main Level Living Homes Available with or without Basement!

Mountain View Homesites Available!

One Level Living and 2nd Floor Owner’s Suite Designs

Quick Move-In Available!

OPEN DAILY 12-5 | (434) 218-2352 NorthPointe@craigbuilders.com | craigbuilders.com/northpointe Conceptual images shown. Pricing and design subject to change

TODAY’S MARKET TAKES EXPERIENCE The Right Agent Can Lead The Way

WOODLANDS RD AREA

$549,900

$440,000

592 INDIGO LN

1105 CARLTON AVE

$2,500,000

48 MAPLEVALE DRIVE

$799,900

SOLD!

Rachel Burns 434 760-4778

Lori Click 434-326-7593

• 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms on 2+ acres • Hardwood floors, finished basement • 2,600+ sq ft of living area on a cul de sac • Garage, shed, workshop and paved drive • Generator, real fireplace, basement wood stove • 5 mins to the Reservoir, 10 mins to Albemarle HS

• 3 Bedroom, 3.5 Baths, .49 Acres • Move In Ready Custom Home • Main Level Primary Bedroom Suite • Full Finished Basement w/Bonus Room • Screen Porch, 2 Car Garage, Paved Driveway

• Commercial property in the heart of Belmont. Property consists of three city lots with a 3,420 sq ft commercial building on lots 1 and 2. Zoned CX-3. There is three phase electricity to the building. Level lot. The main level is currently a workshop and storage space. The second floor has been finished with a kitchenette, conference space and office. $2,500,000

• Lakefront living at it’s finest in a spacious, well maintained custom home • 5 Bedrooms/3 Baths located at Lake Monticello • Living room with cathedral ceilings & fireplace • Family room with pellet burning stove • 2 Kitchens perfect for large gatherings • Sunroom and glass surround deck • Generac backup generator

434.974.1500 943 Glenwood Station Ln Suite 203 Charlottesville VA 22901

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Ruth Guss 434-960-0414

March 6 - 12, 2024 c-ville.com

Bev Nash 434-981-5560

D

evin Floyd has made his knowledge of, and love for, the Piedmont into a personal vocation by working to restore it in all its ecological diversity.

Floyd is the executive director of the Center for Urban Habitats, an environmental education, research, and consulting group that he created in 2012.

But its mission really began decades ago, with a young boy raised in the mountains of northwest North Carolina.

When Floyd was about 6, his family moved to southwest Virginia, to a log cabin in the Mount Rogers area. “We lived in the woods,” Floyd recalls. “My parents made a living making crafts and working with plants, and my grandmother encouraged me to engage with nature. I spent every day outside, and absorbed so much about the animals and plants.”

Floyd earned a baseball scholarship to James Madison University and a degree in prehistoric archaeology (with minors in geology and art). He got a job as an archaeologist at James Madison’s Montpelier in Orange, and then at Oatlands in Leesburg, where he also did work as a freelance technical illustrator. Archaeology, Floyd says, requires a skill at reading landscape, which came naturally to him, given his upbringing. In addition, concentrating in this one region of Virginia was deepening his knowledge of the flora, fauna, geology, and ecological niches of this area.

His environmental interests led Floyd into a collaboration with nature-lovers, hikers, educators, and scientists in the Mount Rogers area. The result was the Blue Ridge Discovery Center, near Marion, Virginia. The nonprofit, which Floyd co-founded in 2008, has a mission to combine environmental research, education, conservation, and stewardship in a multi-faceted approach to learning about and living with the natural world.

By this time, Floyd and his wife Rachel (also a JMU graduate) had settled in Charlottesville. Floyd was working at Monticello on a major project, a plantation survey of Tufton, one of Thomas Jefferson’s farm holdings bordering Monticello. But Floyd’s interests were evolving.

“I became increasingly aware that people saw [the landscape] as here to manipulate,” Floyd says. “But I was reading it as plants responding to the geology, the soils, all the inputs of their environment.” He began looking for the areas that were still free of human intervention—and he saw a whole new world.

The Piedmont, a geological area that stretches from Alabama to the Hudson River Valley, is the most populous ecosystem in North America, Floyd points out, and has been through centuries of human habitation and activity. “But even here, all over are little pieces of ground that are undisturbed, like finding a little time capsule.” He calls these pockets “remnants,” areas that have never been developed, never been sprayed or treated with herbicides, never even been plowed.

With this personal epiphany, says Floyd, “everything changed.” He started using his environmental and botanical knowledge to create landscapes using plants specific to that particular microhabitat. His first project was designing the plantings for a homeowner’s patio; instead of the usual Virginia native or rock garden plants, he selected species that fit the site’s particular geology and microhabitat—in this case, a Piedmont mafic barren (mafic referring to the underlying rock types and barren meaning that natural plant growth is sparse).

To meet the needs of clients who wanted more detailed ecological assessments of the habitats, plants, and animals across their properties, Floyd began finding and collaborating with others in the Charlottesville area who were equally devoted and knowledgeable about this area’s ecology.

In 2014, he left his Monticello job to concentrate fulltime on the Center for Urban Habitats, a group of like-minded environmentalists and educators (including his wife Rachel), with specialties from plants, birds, and insects to landscape restoration, publications, and web design. The organization’s mix of environmental research, conservation, and education was like that which spurred the Blue Ridge Discovery Center, but instead of the wilder area of southwest Virginia, CUH’s focus was the more domesticated landscape of Charlottesville and its surrounding counties. If he was going to educate folks about their natural world, Floyd thought, “Let’s go to their backyard.”

Many of CUH’s first projects were as much educational as environmental. The Wildlife Garden at Clark Elementary School was designed as a hands-on way for children to learn ecological basics, using native plants specifically adapted to the site and exceptionally supportive for wildlife. Jackson-Via Elementary School’s Owl Magnet, which students helped build and now study as it evolves, created a habitat with the right mix of plants, insects, and animals to make a perfect hunting habitat for owls. A native pollinator sanctuary in Friendship Court (now Kindlewood) was part of a community garden project led by the Urban Agriculture Collective of Charlottesville and other community organizations. Most recently, CUH helped design and build an outdoor living classroom for science and art at Nelson County Middle School.

These and other projects—including a native plants garden in Court Square, pollinator plantings on the curb extensions along Hinton Avenue, and a path and meadows project still under construction at Ix Art Park—were created in cooperation with community partners and funded by local and state agencies, donations, and grants.

Floyd was increasingly sought out by private landowners seeking to return their property to its more native state.

One of CUH’s best-known and most ambitious projects grew out of a 2014 presentation Floyd did about the Ix Art Park project for a master gardeners group, which included

PLANTING THE SEEDS

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Devin Floyd works to recover the environment we once had—and can build again By Carol Diggs

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Bernice Thieblot who, with her husband Armand, owned a large ridgetop tract near Schuyler that included a derelict soapstone quarry. Inspired by a visit to British Columbia’s Butchart Gardens, extensive formal gardens created a century ago in a former limestone quarry, the Thieblots wanted to build an exhibition garden of native plants, and Bernice saw Floyd as “just the right person.”

“Our site is unusual,” Thieblot explains. “It’s right on the edge of both the Piedmont and the Blue Ridge [ecoregions], and the soapstone bedrock means our soil is very pH basic, which is unusual in this area. It’s also hilly, with lots of wet and dry areas. Devin came out to take a look, and was intrigued.”

Over the next year, the CUH team came out every few weeks to survey the site and its existing biota, design a plan to restore the microhabitats there, and develop a comprehensive plant list. Site work and planting began in the spring of 2016, and The Quarry Gardens opened in the spring of 2017. It now includes 14 ecozones and seven conservation areas, as well as an education center that offers exhibits on both the local ecology and the history of the soapstone industry, general and specialist tours, two miles of walking trails, and speakers on topics from native plants to geology, spiders, fungus, and moths. And because the work is never done in a garden, the CUH team leads volunteer work days every Friday morning.

The 40-acre Quarry Gardens was a massive challenge, but Floyd and CUH were willing to take on smaller, backyard projects. In 2018, a recent retiree from northern Virginia bought an Albemarle County house with a backyard that was “a disaster—the former owner had used it for doggie day care.”

Over the years, the new owner became more and more interested in native plants, and Floyd became well known in native plant circles. She invited him to take a look at her yard, and “he came out in the freezing cold, and got all excited. He told me I had the kind of soil that Jefferson and Madison had come here to farm,” she says.

CUH developed a four-zone garden plan, and preparing and planting the yard took a couple of years. At that time, the homeowner recalls, “native plants were hard to source, and expensive.” Getting a grant from a local government conservation program helped (see sidebar), but she’s still happily investing in her piece of ecological heaven. “You should see the difference. The wildflowers I have, and the birds I get here … I get hawks hunting in my yard. As they say, if you build it, they will come.”

While gardeners’ knowledge about and demand for native plants was increasing, Floyd found the ones on sale at nurseries weren’t always the same plants he was finding in unspoiled habitats. Many plants have developed specific genotypes adapted to their individual en-

TOM DALY

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Armand and Bernice Thieblot turned to Devin Floyd to transform the derelict soapstone quarry on their Schuyler property into The Quarry Gardens, which now includes 14 ecozones, seven conservation areas, an education center, and walking trails.

vironmental microhabitats. To meet that need, CUH is creating a network of local genotype native plant growers, including Twinleaf Native Nursery, Little Bluestem Nursery, Hummingbird Hill Native Plant Nursery, and private landowners.

The challenge of restoring the environment that was here originally is not all about plants. Perhaps one of CUH’s most unusual projects is the salamander crossing under Route 29 at Polo Grounds and Rio Mills roads. In the 1990s, local nature-lovers Bess and Jim Murray had located one of the largest colonies of spotted salamanders in the state, and

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Restoring a native plant community or creating a conservation-oriented landscape takes time—and money. The Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District has supported several CUH projects, including the Owl Magnet at Jackson-Via Elementary School and the above-mentioned backyard restoration.

Funding for the backyard restoration came through a grant from TJSWCD’s Virginia Conservation Assistance Program, a cost-share program for residential or other developed land uses. VCAP provides financial, technical, and educational assistance to property owners who adopt eligible “best management practices” in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Albemarle Conservation Assistance Program and Charlottesville Conservation Assistance Program are similar, with special funding from Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville.

Property owners and schools or places of worship at least a year old may be eligible for assistance to treat and control stormwater runoff, control erosion, conserve water within the landscape, improve riparian buffer areas, and promote native vegetation and wildlife habitats.

For more information, go to tjswcd.org/best-management-practices-homeowners.

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When your yard needs a little green

the amphibians needed to migrate every spring from their wooded upland habitat to their mating grounds on the floodplains across the busy highway. Working with Albemarle County, VDOT, the Virginia Safe Wildlife Corridor Collaborative, and Riverbend Development, CUH was able to get a wildlife tunnel and guide walls constructed to allow salamanders (and other creatures) to cross safely under Route 29 and fulfill their life cycle.

While the need for more research, education, restoration, and conservation are unending, Floyd is also taking on a whole new aspect of recovering ancient landscapes. Among the remnants of the prehistoric Piedmont that Floyd has been identifying are a habitat that has been ignored: grasslands. It’s a common assumption that pre-colonial Virginia was one huge expanse of forest. In fact, he says, “50 percent of the Piedmont was savannah.”

CUH has already identified more than a thousand grassland remnants in central Virginia, and is beginning to identify patterns in their distinctive biota. Many of these plants are clonal (growing vegetatively, not by sexual reproduction), which makes them literally ancient. Floyd describes finding these old-growth habitats as “coming across an abandoned cabin in the woods.”

Savannah remnants may be tiny, but they aren’t rare.

CUH has found at least 300 sites on roadsides throughout our area. “You could drive by one every day, within 10 miles of your house,” Floyd says. “There are some grassland areas at Preddy Creek Trail Park, along the paths in Hilltop Meadows. Look for green milkweed.”

Grassland remnants of a size large enough to support wildlife as well as plants are particularly rich and biodiverse. CUH has already gotten two grants from the Virginia Native Plant Society to study these savannah fragments, with a goal of conserving and protecting them for further research. In one of the study proposals, Floyd wrote, “Before we can make room [for] natural grasslands, or begin to inspire others to love and steward them, we must learn how to see them.”

Learning to see has been Devin Floyd’s life work.

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MAḎAYIN

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Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala

The Fralin Museum of Art | February 3 - July 14, 2024

IMAGE: Djambawa Marawili, Journey to America, 2019, natural pigments on eucalpytus bark, 106.25x39.25”. © 2023 the artist, courtesey of Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Center.

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WEDNESDAY 3/6

FRIDAY 3/8

MIXED WORKS

THEIR TIME HAS COME

Four renowned choreographers present an eclectic performance by the Richmond Ballet that includes imaginative works such as Awkwarium, a piece that evokes the atmosphere of a life underwater, and delves into the human experience and random (or not so random) personal encounters. Each presentation features its own choreography of contemporary and classical dance paired with curated musical selections from composers such as J.S. Bach and Hans Zimmer. $17-23, 7:30pm. PVCC Main Stage, 501 College Dr. pvcc.edu.

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A group of singers who banded together to start a local chorus in 1966 has kept the vision alive for decades as The Oratorio Society of Virginia. Together in Song: Music from the Theatre spotlights seasoned soprano singer Madeline Coffey (no stranger to performing in the area) as soloist, and includes works from musical theater and opera, ranging from Wagner to Sondheim, and Verdi to Rodgers and Hammerstein. The concert is preceded by a masterclass with Music Director Michael Slon that’s open to community members. $10-$20, 4pm. First Presbyterian Church, 500 Park St. oratoriosociety.org.

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POWERFUL VOICES

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Folk meets indie, uniting two unique, popular bands in The Tag Team Tour: An Evening with Dawes and Lucius. Dawes has an easy-going-yet-moody jangle that’s heavy on instruments with a sound matching the Laurel Canyon vibe. Lucius enjoys stand-alone success, and has contributed vocals to many other artists’ work, including The Killers, John Legend, and Brandi Carlile. $42.50-69.50, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com

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Education Panel Human Trafficking Thursday March 14, 2024 9:00 AM to 10:45 AM Hillsdale Conference Center PANELISTS

Annette Cox

Victim-Witness Manager US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Va.

Detective Michael Scheider

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Homeland Security Task Force Officer Criminal Investigations Division Albemarle County Police Department

Dr. Jennifer Andrews

Child Abuse Pediatric Specialist UVa and Foothills Child Advocacy Center

Dr. Serwa Ertl

Adolescent Pediatric Specialist Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UVa

MODERATOR

Alicia Lenahan

Executive Director Common Ground Healing Arts

www.womenunitedcville.org

@WomenunitedCville

CULTURE GALLERIES 29 Wednesday 3/6 music Beleza Duo. An evening of funkalicious samba soul. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 201 W. Main St. Downtown Mall.

Karaoke. Get your karaoke on with Jennifer DeVille. Free, 10pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

Open Mic Night. All your favorites with Nicole Giordano. Free, 9pm. Holly’s Diner, 1221 E. Market St. Wavelength. Midweek music with covers and original songs. Free, 6:30pm. The Whiskey Jar, 227 W. Main St., Downtown Mall.

dance Richmond Ballet. The state ballet of Virginia returns to PVCC for its annual performance. $17-23, 7:30pm. Piedmont Virginia Community College, V. Earl Dickinson Building, 501 College Dr.

classes

Steve Palmer at McGuffey Art Center

Watercolor Workshop. Creative journey led by watercolor instructor, Blake Bottoms. $35, 5-7pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St.

12 Monkeys. Bruce Willis travels back in time to stop a plague in director Terry Gilliam’s brilliantly twisted science-fiction thriller. $10, 7pm.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th St. Station.

SuperFly Run Club. Run around the city, then enjoy $5 pints and raffles. Free, 6pm.

SuperFly Brewing Co., 943 Preston Ave.

Thursday 3/7 music Berto & Vincent. Lively Latin guitar night.

Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 201 W. Main St. Blake Hunter & The Gatherers. Groove to an evening of live music. Free, 7pm. SuperFly Brewing Co., 943 Preston Ave. Danú. One of today’s leading traditional Irish ensembles. $19-64, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

Earn The PRN Main Stage. Come support the Pickup Band and Sonic Trails as they try to earn a future coveted spot on one of our stages. Free, 6:30pm. Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet.

Ned Oldham and Jordan Perry Duo. Vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar picking-focused tunes. Free, 7:30pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave.

etc.

Dart Night. Darts with a combination of different elimination games. Free, 6pm. Decipher Brewing, 1740 Broadway St..

Oscars Trivia Night at Light House Studio.

Get your team together for a special night of Oscars trivia. Free, 7pm. Light House Studio: Vinegar Hill Theatre, 220 W. Market St.

Friday 3/8 Brian Franke. Live music and good food.

Free, 8pm. Ace Biscuit & Barbeque, 600 Concord Ave. Cake Fight. Concert and video shoot. Free, 7pm. Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet.

Dallas Ugly. A full band performance from the Nashville indie country group. $18, 7:30pm.

The Front Porch, 221 E. Water St. C O NT I N UE D ON PAGE 3 1

Benita Mayo at New City Arts

March exhibitions

lasting objects and building material prototypes. “Inclusive Narratives: Exploring Equity On The Manifesta Bookshelf,” an interactive exhibit.

New City Arts 114 Third St. NE. In the Wel-

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library 2450 Old Ivy Rd. “Their

The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA 155 Rug-

The PVCC Gallery V. Earl Dickinson Build-

World As Big As They Made It: Looking Back at the Harlem Renaissance,” plus other permanent exhibitions.

by Rd. “Structures,” a selection of 20th- and 21st-century artworks from the museum’s permanent collection, and the Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover.

ing, 501 College Dr. “The Power of Plenty” showcases multiple printmaking styles from various artists. Through March.

Chroma Projects Inside Vault Virginia,

Grace Estate Winery 5273 Mt. Juliet Farm,

Slaughter’s “Interplay,” a celebration of the interplay of line, form, and texture, with various mediums, including paint, clay, and textile. Through March.

Third St. SE. In the Micro Gallery, “As I Found It: My Mother’s House,” Russell Hart’s selected photographs from his book of the same name. In Vault Virginia’s Great Hall Galleries, “Sculpted Harmony” by Alan Box Levine and “Sabr (Patience)” by Amdane Sanda. Through March.

Crozet. Works by local landscape artist Anne French. Through March.

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of UVA 400 Worrell Dr. The Charlottesville

Indigenous Art Takeover.

Lazy Daisy Ceramics 1709 Monticello Rd.

Crozet Library 2020 Library Ave., Crozet.

Paintings and prints on canvas, paper, and board by Eli Frantzen van Beuren.

Cunningham Creek Winery 3304 Ruritan

Les Yeux du Monde 841 Wolf Trap Rd. The Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover.

Ink and watercolor works by Gayle Keaton.

Lake Rd. “Branches + Blooms,” contemporary impressions by Amy Jeanguenat and oil paintings by Meghan Cooper.

Through April 11.

C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery 118 E.

Main St., Downtown Mall. “Happiness Blooms,” mixed-media exhibit from co-op members.

Elmaleh Gallery Campbell Hall, UVA

Grounds. “Almost Useful: The Michael Owen Jones Exhibition” explores objects at the edge of utility, curated by Glenn Adamson. JT Bachman’s “Waste Not, Want Not” transforms discarded materials into long-

McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW.

In the Smith Gallery, “Imaginary Realms: A Discourse Between Clay and Pixels.” Ceramics by Jill Averitt and digital animations by Jonah Tobias. Artist talk from 4-5pm on March 9. In the First Floor Galleries, Central Virginia Career Potters. In the Second Floor Galleries, “On a Scale,” mixed-media exhibit from the UVA Art Department.

Northside Library 705 Rio Rd. W. A multimedia exhibit with BozART Fine Arts Collective artists Judi Ely, Katharine Eisaman Maus, and Shirley Paul. “In the Quiet Room,” works by Terry Pratt.

come Gallery, “The Tao of Midlife and Menopause,” Benita Mayo’s photographs examining women’s journeys. Through March 28.

Quirk Gallery 499 W. Main St. Frankie

The Rotunda UVA Grounds. In the Upper

West Oval Room, the Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover. Through July 7.

The Ruffin Gallery McIntire Department of Art, UVA Grounds. “Escape Room,” a collection of artists’ works curated by Kim Bobier and Marisa Williamson. Through March 29.

Scottsville Library 330 Bird St., Scottsville.

A community exhibit of sunflower paintings.

Second Street Gallery 115 Second St. SE. In the Main Gallery, the Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover. In the Dové Gallery, “Tending,” personal drawings by Laura Josephine Snyder in conjunction with a film created in collaboration with photographer Kristen Finn. Through March 22.

Studio Ix 969 Second St. SE. “Loss and

the Preponderance of Thoughts,” a selection of drawings and images using repurposed items by Kimberlyn Thomas. Artist talk from 5-6pm on March 28.

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music

Jake Johnson at McGuffey Art Center

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Eli Cook. Live tunes and food and drink specials. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd.

IMAGES COURTESY OF THE GALLERIES

etc.

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Grand Opening at our

New Location!

Grand Opening

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THIS Saturday March 9th!

www.mineralsandmystics.com Facebook.com/MineralsMystics Instagram.com/mineralsandmystics

CULTURE FEEDBACK 31

Friday 3/8 Dara James and the Soul Disciples. Live blues and soul music. Free, 6pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union.

Festival Concert: A Stellar Sextet. Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival’s season opener. Free, 7:30pm. Piedmont Virginia Community College, V. Earl Dickinson Building, 501 College Dr. John Kelly. Live tunes, cider, and beer. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. Pat Metheny: Dream Box Tour. Popular jazz fusion guitarist and composer plays in support of his solo tour. $39-74, 8pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

The Tag Team Tour: An Evening with Dawes & Lucius. Two popular, eclectic bands join together as one for an evening of tunes. $4269, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

stage Anything Goes. Cole Porter’s exuberant musical about high society on the high seas.

Parental discretion advised. $10-20, 8pm.

Four County Players, 5256 Governor Barbour St., Barboursville.

Saturday 3/9 music Gimme Gimme Disco: A Dance Party Inspired

By ABBA. Be your own dancing queen at this DJ-based dance party. $15-25, 9pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

Jackson, Pendergrass, & Townsend. Upbeat and fun band. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. Josh Mayo and The House Sauce. Local band plays original tunes and classic rock covers. Free, 10:15pm. The Bebedero, 201 W. Main St. Music In The Mountains with Jimmy O. Wind down winter and listen to music. Free, 2pm.

DuCard Vineyards, 40 Gibson Hollow Ln., Etlan.

Music in the Orchard with Jon Spear. Live folk and blues music in the Orchard Room.

Free, 2:30pm. Albemarle CiderWorks, 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden.

Queeraoke. Feel free to belt it out and (hopefully) wow your friends. Free, 9pm. Holly’s Diner, 1221 E. Market St. Saturday Live. Live music and local eats.

Free, 2pm. Cunningham Creek Winery, 3304 Ruritan Lake Rd, Palmyra.

Saturday Music. Live music with Josh Davidson. Free, noon. Keswick Vineyards, 1575 Keswick Winery Dr., Keswick.

Scuffletown. Marc and John will fill the tropical conservatory with calypso, bluegrass, reggae, and blues. Free, 5pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union.

The Pollocks. Indoor, pub-style show with a lively band. $15, 7pm. The Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville.

The Spirit Ball Featuring Please Don’t Tell. Record release party for the dark and dreamy band. With duo Charming Disaster. $12-40, 8pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. C O NT I N UE D ON PAGE 3 3

By Shea Gibbs arts@c-ville.com

S

ea shanties seem to have had a moment. Could dark chamber cabaret be next?

If so, Charlottesville’s Please Don’t Tell will likely help lead the macabre movement.

After all, the three-piece band kind of made the genre up.

“I think that because we come from varied … but classical backgrounds, chamber music and our kind of salty, quirky, offbeat cabaret elements just came together,” says Christina Fleming, Please Don’t Tell’s founding member. “We have a range of themes, from introspective and difficult things that have happened to us to tributes to women in history.”

Fleming, a haunting vocalist and playful pianist who’s been a longtime Charlottesville music scene fixture, started Please Don’t Tell as a duo, alongside Nicole Rimel on cello and backing vocals, in 2020. After violinist Anna Hennessy joined for a single live show on a dark night in 2021, the trio stayed together. On March 1, they released their daunting debut recording, a six-song eponymous EP. Fleming and Rimel were music majors together at the University of Virginia, and the sound Please Don’t Tell produces today— essentially period show tunes with a focus on the frightening and subtly naughty while still being fun—“just kind of came out,” Fleming says.

That’s not to say Please Don’t Tell is without influence or precedent. But the dark cabaret lineage heard from Tom Waits, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Kurt Vile lacks the instrumentation, attitude, and commitment to recreating an 1800s aesthetic that Please Don’t Tell offers.

“There is sort of a sea shanty vibe to the storytelling. It’s slightly Brechtian,” Fleming says. “We’re always trying to come up with fun ways to make it more theatrical.”

When the band plays its Spirit Ball and record-release party on March 9 at the Southern Café and Music Hall, the trio will do so against the backdrop of a fictional ball that took place in the late 19th century. “On Saturday, March 9th, 1889, 200 attendees at the The Grand Benefit Ball believed themselves in for an evening of fancy dress and the latest music,” a press release from Please Don’t Tell reads. But they “instead reportedly disappeared without trace, orchestra and all.”

What makes Please Don’t Tell so dastardly yet delightful? The lyrics focus on struggles both internal and historical, while the music lends an irreverent obscura to these trials and tribulations.

“I started writing some of these songs a long time ago, when I didn’t know how to cope with certain things,” Fleming says. “It was just me writing at a piano, and it helped

Dark chamber cabaret group Please Don’t Tell will host The Spirit Ball with Charming Disaster, Nouveau Vintage, and DJ Cadybug on Friday at the Southern.

“It was just me writing at a piano, and it helped to be able to laugh at the harder moments in my life. It makes us resilient as humans to be able to find the absurd in the difficult.” —CHRISTINA FLEMING to be able to laugh at the harder moments in my life. It makes us resilient as humans to be able to find the absurd in the difficult.”

Fleming didn’t think anyone would hear most of the tunes, so there was no real intention of making them public-ready. Then Rimel joined her college friend for private jam sessions—just two music nerds having fun with a piano and a cello.

Hennessy’s violin added the finishing touch to the troupe, which laid down its first professional recording at Fatback Sound in Nashville with Gabe Rabben, and local Sons of Bill alum Sam Wilson, on production.

Noticeably absent a proper percussion section, the record skips and hops on piano rhythms with Wilson’s keen handling of Please Don’t Tell’s aesthetic.

“They recorded us like a true chamber group, all in the same room,” Fleming says.

“We had a lot of fun; Sam and [Rabben] were wonderful to draw into what we wanted to do. Actually, trying to find the right fit and person took some time. We wanted someone who understood our flexible, organic, quirky nature, while also being narrative.”

Fleming says her and Rimel’s love of the morbid comes from being longtime “goth kids.” Fleming drew on the affinity in her locally renowned former band In Tenebris, an alt hard-rock outfit with an undead edge. But working with Please Don’t Tell is the first time she’s made her own, truly original music.

Hennessey brings yet another influence to the bawdy ballroom with a background in bluegrass. And all three of Please Don’t Tell’s musicians come from impressive musical training—Rimel and Fleming at the hands of UVA’s music department, Fleming now being a vocal instructor, while Hennessey is the orchestra teacher at St. Anne’s-Belfield.

The Spirit Ball will feature New Yorkbased mystical folk duo Charming Disaster and synth pop two-piece Nouveau Vintage, in addition to Please Don’t Tell. For the dark chamber cabaret portion, showgoers can expect to hear the vignette-like tracks they’ll find on the band’s first EP, including the earwormy “Nearsighted,” ruefully lullabying “My Therapist,” and jaunty “Heave Ho.” Will any of those tracks be the next viral hit a la Nathan Evans’ 2021 version of “Wellerman”? Perhaps, if the spirits wish it so.

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The Darkside Experience: Pink Floyd Tribute.

Playing homage to Pink Floyd. $15-20, 7pm.

Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet.

Please Don’t Tell’s niche sound comes out of the shadows

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

Porch Dogs. Live tunes with wine, beer, and small plates. Free, 1pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd.

Goth grown up

TRISTAN WILLIAMS

C O NTI N U E D F R O M PAGE 2 9

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CULTURE SCREENS 33

Saturday 3/9 Together in Song: Music from the Theatre.

The Oratorio Society of Virginia presents works from opera, operetta, and Broadway. $10-40, 4pm. First Presbyterian Church, 500 Park St. Wavelength. Late-night party jams by local musicians. Free, 10:30pm. The Whiskey Jar, 227 W. Main St., Downtown Mall.

dance Projection: Deep Water Moves Dance Concert. Movement live, on film, and through the camera. Free, 7:30pm. McGuffey Art Center, 201 Second St., NW.

stage Anything Goes. See listing for Friday, March 8. Parental discretion advised. $10-20, 8pm.

Four County Players, 5256 Governor Barbour St., Barboursville.

Met Live in HD: La Forza del Destino.

Watch an HD screening of Verdi’s grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendetta, and family strife. $20-26, noon. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

classes Spring Flower Embroidery. Learn simple embroidery stitches that can be used to make spring flowers. $20, 2pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. Watercolor Spring Eggs. Use watercolors to paint a wooden egg. $35, 2:30pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St.

etc.

Farmers Market. Enjoy a range of products, from produce and meat to pastries and art, while supporting local small businesses.

Free, 9am. IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE.

Sunday 3/10 music AMASS: A New Mass for Old Instruments.

Early Music Access Project offers a world premiere from composer James Dargan. $10-25, 7:30pm. Christ Episcopal Church, 120 W. High St.

Chinatown. A neo-noir mystery film directed

by Roman Polanski, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. $9, 2pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

Developmental Darts. Learn the basics of darts. Bring your own darts or use the house darts. All levels welcome. Free, 1pm. Decipher Brewing, 1740 Broadway St. St. Paddy’s Day Kick-off. Family-friendly day of music, dance, and activites Free, 12:30pm.

Albemarle CiderWorks, 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden.

By Justin Humphreys

music

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Monday Music Series. Live rumba guitar from Vincent Zorn. Free, 6:30pm. South and Central Latin Grill, 946 Grady Ave., Suite 104.

etc.

Geeks Who Drink Trivia. Join host Audrey, and compete with a team of six. No signup required. Free, 6:30pm. Decipher Brewing, 1740 Broadway St. Midsommar: Director’s Cut. A nine-day pagan festival filled with flower garlands and kinship holds a bizarre undercurrent. $10, 7pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station.

Trivia Night. Unleash your big brain and have some laughs. Free, 6pm. Prince Michel Vineyard & Tap 29 Brewery, 154 Winery Ln., Leon.

Tuesday 3/12 music Josh Mayo & House Sauce Tunesday Tuesday. Bi-weekly jam session with Local Favorites. Free, 10pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

Karaoke. Sign up and sing your favorite songs. Hosted by Thunder Music. Free, 9pm.

Holly’s Diner, 1221 E. Market St. Open Mic Night. Bring your songs, poems, jokes, or words, or watch with a pint in hand.

Free, 7:30pm. SuperFly Brewing Co., 943 Preston Ave. Tow’rs. Husband-and-wife duo Kyle and Gretta Miller from Flagstaff, Arizona. $1518, 8pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. Tuesday Evening Concert Series: Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Passions of the Soul concert featuring Fasch, Locatelli, Vivaldi, Marais, Telemann, and Bach. Free, 7:30pm. Old Cabell Hall Auditorium.

Paulo Franco. Alt-country rocker plays with backing band, The Rateros. Free, 2pm.

Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union.

Vincent Zorn. Solo, wild gypsy rumba. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall.

The Disco Biscuits. Rock pioneers whose soul belongs as much to marathon dance parties as it does to live improv journeys. $45-145, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

classes Paint + Sip. Paint, sip, repeat, with a sunflower theme. $35, 2pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd.

words Profs & Pints Charlottesville: How Song Shaped Ireland. An exploration of the Emerald Isle through its music. $13, 5:30pm.

Graduate Charlottesville, 1309 W. Main St.

etc.

Beer and Bingo. Have a pint and play bingo.

Free, 5pm. The Center at Belvedere, 540 Belvedere Blvd.

Bingo Night. Five rounds of family-friendly bingo. $20, 6-8pm. Three Notch’d Craft Kitchen & Brewery, 520 Second St. SE. The Trouble With Harry. A dead man won’t stay buried in director Alfred Hitchcock’s delightful, dark comedy. $7, 6pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Fifth Street Station.

arts@c-ville.com

ongtime Albemarle County resident Jack Fisk ranks among movie-making’s greatest production designers.

His current Academy Award nomination for Best Production Design for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is well-deserved.

Another frontrunner in the category, Ruth De Jong, is nominated for her work on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. De Jong’s cinematic path to designing acclaimed mega-productions also has roots here in Charlottesville—as Fisk’s protégé.

Growing up in Charlottesville, De Jong was friends with Fisk’s daughter, Schuyler.

De Jong had no ambitions to enter the film industry, but a long conversation with Fisk led him to hire her as his assistant on There Will Be Blood. She’d studied painting and photography at Texas Christian University and movie production design nicely encompassed all aspects of her artistic training.

This is Fisk’s third Oscar nomination and De Jong’s first.

Fisk excels at recreating period settings with uncanny accuracy and naturalism, from World War II-era Guadalcanal in The Thin Red Line to Oklahoma’s post-World War I Osage Territory in Killers of the Flower Moon. His regular collaborators include well-known filmmakers such as David Lynch, Terrence Malick, and Paul Thomas Anderson.

Taught by a master, De Jong went on to assist Fisk on Water for Elephants, Tree of Life, and The Master. Her first feature-length solo production design credit was for Charlottesvillian Derek Sieg’s Swedish Auto, a small indie filmed in town that opened the 2006 Virginia Film Festival, and her career continued ascending with major movies including Inherent Vice, Us, and Nope, and the TV series “Yellowstone.”

Of her relationship with Fisk and their mutual Oscar nominations, De Jong told AwardsWatch: “You can see where my affinity for natural sets was born. Jack and I have a deep connection. We’re very best friends today in life, and I think it’s a full-circle moment, of being in the company of my mentor.

It’s almost like, ‘Is this happening?’”

De Jong’s biggest assignment to date, Oppenheimer, challenged her to create the backdrop of the “Destroyer of Worlds,” titular physicist Robert Oppenheimer. Chal-

Ruth De Jong got her start in the movie business as Jack Fisk’s assistant. Now, the Charlottesville friends are competing against each other for the Best Production Design Oscar.

lenges abounded: The period sets had to be filmable from 360 degrees in large-format IMAX 65mm and Panavision 65mm film for projection on towering IMAX screens.

In a YouTube interview with STIR, De Jong says that director Nolan also wanted his sets, including the Los Alamos scientific community, built from scratch without computer enhancements. Nolan told her they were “not making a documentary,” and she admitted that, after extensive research, they “took creative liberty,” partly for budgetary reasons.

Elsewhere in the Southwest, Fisk was painstakingly, meticulously creating 1920s Oklahoma for Killers of the Flower Moon.

Unlike De Jong, Fisk had the benefit of using CGI to expand his locations and sets, which was justifiable considering the sweeping narrative he was bringing to life. Fisk’s documentary-like verisimilitude bears out his deep research and extraordinary eye for detail with each shot densely packed with vintage trappings.

At the Oscars, De Jong and Fisk are competing against the design teams of Barbie, Napoleon, and Poor Things. Who will win is anybody’s guess. (DeJong has already won an Art Directors Guild Award for Oppenheimer for Best Period Film.) But it’s a sure thing that De Jong has officially graduated with honors, and can now rank her teacher as a colleague.

De Jong had no ambitions to enter the film industry, but a long conversation with Fisk led him to hire her as his assistant on There Will Be Blood.

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Sunday Jazz Jam. Local, regional, and national jazz musicians improvise together.

Free, 6pm. Miller’s Downtown, 109 W. Main St., Downtown Mall.

Two Academy Award nominees met in Charlottesville

Monday 3/11

Mariana Bell. Local singer-songwriter known for her evocative, soulful lyrics and sound. $25-30, 7pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrow­ head Valley Rd.

Second Sunday Bluegrass Jam. Bring your instruments and join in. Free, 2pm. The Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville.

Master vs. apprentice

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

Beleza Duo. Funkalicious samba soul tunes.

Free, 1pm. Southwest Mountains Vineyards, 5185 Stony Point Pass, Keswick.

etc.

CHRISTINA GANDOLFO / UNIVERSAL PICTURES

C O NTI N U E D F R O M PAGE 3 1

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PRESENTS:

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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like an escape roOm... but alL of downtown charlotTesvilLe IS THE ROoM.

STARTS & ENDS AT IX ART PARK REGISTER TODAY:

CVILLEPUZZLEHUNT.COM

CULTURE ALL YOU CAN EAT 35

Dining adventures The Alley Light celebrates 10 years of creativity

By Tami Keaveny

McDaniel says she worked a few sushi bar shifts, and made her foray into cooking.

Focused and calm, McDaniel credits her natural ability to a balance of versatility and perfectionism, plus working under DeBrito, who taught her that “things are never fast, and the more work it is, the better it’s going to be,” she says. The evidence is all over her menu, where she pushes beyond pastiche with dishes such as chilled jumbo lump crab, watermelon, heirloom tomato, and prosciutto with lime-basil sorbet. A seasonal dish she runs only when she “can get the good tomatoes.”

Ten years in, it’s hard to decide what’s most alluring about The Alley Light. Is it seeking out the restaurant in its titular location? Or perhaps it’s the warm welcome into its cozy, loungelike dining room. But maybe it’s scanning the chalkboard of rotating menu items that reads like culinary poetry, or perusing the sophisticated cocktail list curated by Lemon and his team.

“There’s a lot of things that go into The Alley Light,” says Dunbar. “The atmosphere, cocktails. The attention to detail. Micah’s attention to detail. Robin’s attention to detail.”

Mostly, he says, the restaurant works because The Alley Light asks its patrons to be adventurous. McDaniel says diners have grown into the food—beef cheeks and sweetbreads are popular. One young regular often dines on the bone marrow.

Sometimes it’s a customer who asks the staff to be adventurous. “The first couple years we were open, people just brought us weird things,” says Lemon. “One day, some dude brought José bear meat and wanted him to cook a bear steak.” The bear meat

tami@c-ville.com

S

TRISTAN WILLIAMS

“The running joke in art school was that I should be in culinary school.”

ROBIN MCDANIEL

Micah Lemon’s cocktail program adds to The Alley Light’s elegant speakeasy vibe.

didn’t make it onto the menu, but DeBrito did oblige the patron.

Back-of-the-house adventures are more likely to be controlled chaos. “I think that’s what I find so exciting,” says McDaniel, whose tiny kitchen went without a stove for the first five years. “There are so many things that can go wrong.” For example? “The radish snack,” she says. “It’s the most simple, but it has to be perfect, and it will put you in the weeds. Everything is cut to order.”

After discussing drink recipes that include a calamondin sour, a ramp martini, and a stick cocktail, Lemon downplays his process.

“Whatever bells and whistles you have on your plate or in your cocktail, it has to be fundamentally, unimpeachably tasty, or what’s the point?”

It’s about “tasting a time and a place,” he says. “I want people to appreciate­coming here in June, and having a bourbon peach sour from The Alley Light.”

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In 2016, he sold The Alley Light to Dunbar and McDaniel.

“Will had established a pattern of opening up ownership to his restaurant team,” says Dunbar. “He had other projects and sped up the process to allow [our] buying Alley Light.”

Just a few months into new ownership DeBrito left for an opportunity at triple-Michelin-star legend The Inn at Little Washington, and McDaniel stepped into her first job as head chef.

McDaniel studied art and design, but always felt the pull of restaurant kitchens. “The running joke in art school was that I should be in culinary school,” she says. After graduating, she returned to Charlottesville, looking to cook and learn solid technique. It was as front-of-house manager at TEN, where

TOM MCGOVERN

Chris Dunbar and Robin McDaniel’s The Alley Light continues to be an upscale dining destination worth seeking out.

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

mall and unassuming, the original Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, has served classic cocktails to celebrities and locals since 1931. The Alley Light restaurant owners, Chris Dunbar and Robin McDaniel, say it inspired Charlottesville restaurateur Wilson Richey when developing their intimate spot on Second Street SW. “Will went to Europe a lot, and … Harry’s Bar is a place that he used to always reference.

I think that was where the no sign thing kind of originated,” says Dunbar. “He always talked about how he wanted a place to have a proper cocktail, kind of a lounge setting, a little private, sort of off the path.”

It all took shape, “likely at a dinner party” with renowned chef José DeBrito, who quickly refined the menu concept from lounge fare to skillfully composed country French dishes, says Dunbar. Married couple McDaniel and Dunbar, along with DeBrito, joined The Alley Light team at the beginning. The three worked together at Fleurie, and when The Alley Light’s doors opened in February 2014, McDaniel was its pastry chef, and Dunbar took front-of-house duties a few months later.

Also on the opening staff was bartender Micah Lemon who, despite having an undergrad degree in science and a master’s in linguistics, says he sought out bartending.

Lemon had been developing his mixology through experimentation and intensive projects, (such as bottle-conditioning ginger beer for Blue Light Grill). Once tipped off to Richey’s plans, he told him: “I’m into cocktails, and I kind of like to make things yummy and spend hours doing it.”

The opening of The Alley Light was a move that brought new energy to local upscale drinking and dining. DeBrito’s culinary talent had followers, and craft-cocktail lists had been shaking things up on metro scenes since the early 2000s. DeBrito’s elegant petit plats paired with Lemon’s innovative drinks created an immediate buzz.

Then in 2015, the James Beard Foundation nominated The Alley Light for Best New Restaurant, and Washington Post food critic Todd Kliman came to town to see what the fuss was about—and left a three-star review. The attention was a game changer.

“Once we got the JB award nomination, it codified that we were good at something, and established a reputation that we made good things,” says Lemon.

Richey was a skilled restaurateur, who, to the devastation of the area’s food community, lost his life in a December 2023 car accident. At the time of his passing, he had nurtured several notable restaurant concepts into service, and fostered many careers. A big-idea man, Richey was a vivacious collaborator who believed in his people, tapped their talent, and gave them opportunities.

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THE

WINE

DOWN WHAT’S DELISH AT LOCAL WINERIES?

CHISWELL FARM WINERY 2020 Chardonnay The 2020 Chardonnay is crisp and easy drinking as we head into warmer weather! You’ll find notes of honeysuckle and yellow apples on the nose, with zippy pink grapefruit and lemongrass on the palate. Enjoy our Chardonnay with home made chicken salad, grilled shrimp, or strawberries and cream!

A historic Jeffersonian estate nestled in the Virginia countryside, Chiswell Farm & Winery invites guests to delight in locally crafted vintages, panoramic views, and warm hospitality. With a glass in hand, savor the breathtaking scenery from a rocking chair on our covered porch. Gather with friends around a dining table on the lawn to share a build-your-own charcuterie board. Or cozy up with a loved one in the historic and inviting Greenwood home. Whether you want to come up to the bar for a chat or spread out a blanket for a private picnic, there are countless ways to enjoy the best that Virginia wine country has to offer.

We serve our award-winning wines by the glass, bottle, and flight, plus seasonal specialty beverages and a tasteful selection of local and gourmet snacks. Guests are also welcome to bring their own food to enjoy with our wines.

Ages 21+ only, no dogs or other pets permitted on the property. For a family-friendly experience, visit our wine shops at Chiles Peach Orchard or Carter Mountain Orchard. Visit chiswellwinery.com for our seasonal events calendar!

Mar. 10th- Corks & Collage Workshop at 1 PM Mar. 17th- Springtime Cookie Decorating Workshops at 11:30 AM and 2 PM Mar. 31st- Open Easter from 11 AM–6 PM Mar. 31st- Adult Easter Egg Hunt at 2 PM Hours: Wed-Sun 11 am – 5:30 pm 430 Greenwood Rd, Greenwood, VA 22943 434.252.2947 • www.chilesfamilyorchards.com/chiswell

53RD WINERY AND VINEYARD

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A few notes from winegrower and owner, Dave Drillock:

WINERY

DUCARD VINEYARDS

Guide Map

PRINCE MICHEL VINEYARD AND WINERY

REVALATION VINEYARDS

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MADISON

33 HARRISONBURG

Everyone likes silver and gold!

The 2024 Governor’s Cup medal list has been released. There were approximately 740 wines entered. Fifty-Third Winery and Vineyard entered 5 wines with two gold and three silver medals awarded. The two gold medal winners were our 2021 Cabernet Franc Reserve and the 2021 Two Springs Red Blend.

The silver medal winners were

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STANARDSVILLE

ORANGE

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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MONTIFALCO VINEYARD

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HORTON VINEYARDS 29

CROZET AFTON

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CHISWELL FARM WINERY VERITAS VINEYARDS AND WINERY

REYNARD FLORENCE GORDONSVILLE VINEYARD 33 CASTLE HILL FARM CIDERY KESWICK VINEYARDS

CHARLOTTESVILLE

EASTWOOD FARM AND WINERY

ZION CROSSROADS

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SPECIAL ADVERTORIAL SECTION

LOUISA

53RD VINEYARD & WINERY

our 2021 Rock Ridge Red Blend, 2021 Norton and 2022 Viognier.

Congratulations to our winemaker, Chelsey Blevins, and everyone at Team 53!

Besides remarkable wines, there are several reasons to visit FiftyThird Winery and Vineyard this month.

On Saturday, March 9th, we are releasing our delicious, food friendly, 2023 Chardonel and celebrating with our very popular Low Country Shrimp Boil.

Purchase tickets in advance at www.53rdwinery.com.

On Sunday, March 24th, we invite

you to join us for our next “Tasting Series” of unreleased wines with a focus on wine and food pairings.

We are thrilled to have as our guest speaker, Tassie Pippert, Emmy award winning producer and the host of Un’Wine’d. Not bragging, well maybe I am, but they received an Emmy award for a show a few years ago. The show featured Fifty-Third Winery! Go to www.53rdwinery.com to sign up.

Do not wait, this will fill up fast!

So come for the wine and enjoy your visit to our meadow-like setting in rural Louisa County.

We are down-to-earth and love to share our enthusiasm with customers about our wine. We are open 7 days a week 11am – 5pm. Check our website www.53rdwinery.com or call 540894-1536 for more information.

We look forward to seeing you at the winery!

March 9th – Wine Release Day! Celebrate the release of our Chardonel with a Shrimp Boil and live music by Jim O’Ferrell March 16th- Wine Club Day with our Hello Spring Rose Release party! Live music by Luke Bobbitt and food provided by Sauce Catering. Not a member? Ask us how to join!

Open 7 days a week, 11 am – 5 pm Sat/Sun. 12-6 pm 13372 Shannon Hill Rd Louisa, VA 23093 (540) 894-5474 • 53rdwinery.com.

DUCARD VINEYARDS

March 24th - Chocolate & Wine Pairing $69

Weekends- Live music all

Open daily Mon-Thurs. 12-5 pm Fri. 12-9 pm Sat/Sun. 12-6 pm

Every Thursday: Live Music 5-8, $5 Glasses of Wine, Beer & Cider + Chip Pairings With Beer Flights All Day

WEEKLY MUSIC SERIES

Every Friday: Live Music 5-8 Every Saturday: Live Music 1-4, Eastwood After Dark with Live Music 5-8 40 Gibson Hollow Ln • Etlan, VA 22719 (540) 923-4206 www.ducardvineyards.com

EASTWOOD FARM AND WINERY GOLD MEDAL VIRGINIA WINES Our 2022 Rosé and Merlot were awarded gold medals in the 2024 Virginia Governor’s Cup. We also received seven silver medals for crowd favorites like our 2022 Viognier and 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon. We are currently offering a Gold & Silver Tasting Flight that is available seven days a week in the tasting room. We are also leading special guided tastings featuring your choice of 5- or 8- award-winning wines with the option to add a curated cheese or chocolate pairing. These guided tastings are available by reservation 7 days a week and are a chance to enjoy an in-depth tasting led by a member of our team. We look forward to welcoming you to our cozy tasting room just five miles from the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville.

New at the Winery: Join us for Eastwood After Dark featuring upbeat, danceable music every Saturday night from 5-8pm (in addition to our Saturday afternoon music lineup). Eastwood also hosts Live Music every Thursday and Friday night, as well as many special events, including our next Chef Tasting Series on March 27.

Winemaker Pop-Up: Join us on March 8th for complimentary tastings from Daring Wine & Cider Co.

Every Sundays: Music Bingo or Paint & Sip OTHER EVENTS & SPECIALS Mondays-Fridays: Lunch Specials (Pick 2 for $12) Wednesday: Chef Tasting Series, Paint & Sip; 10% off bottles (see calendar on website for specifics) Fridays: Barrels & Tanks Tasting Bar Takeover (beginning Feb 16) What about the kids?

Kids can share in the experience with their own juice tasting flights and cheese boards!

wine can be enjoyed immediately, but is recommended to hold for 2-3 years from the vintage on the bottle. Merlot 2022 will pair nicely with a light cheese like gouda or mozzarella, a duck breast, pork roast, or a chocolate torte.

We look forward to continuing to serve all of our wonderful guests this winter during our daily hours of 10am-5pm (last pour at 4:45).

We offer first come, first served seating under our tent or open seating in our outdoor courtyard.

Wine is available by the flight, glass and bottle at our inside or outside service bars, with bar service inside on the weekends! A selection of pre-packaged meats, cheeses, crackers, and spreads are available for purchase as well as our new food truck which is currently open Wednesday- Sunday from 12p-4p.

Our winter tent is up and heated for you to enjoy as well!

Winery Hours: WednesdaySaturday (12-8 PM); Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (12-5 PM)

Bring the family or friends and enjoy live music every Saturday from 12 - 4p or play a fun 9 hole of miniature golf on our new course!

(Weather permitting)

Pet friendly and large groups are welcome. Ample indoor and outdoor seating.

Saturdays – Live Music! Check out our website for the lineup and more details.

Rt 20 near the intersection with Avon Extended (5 mi from Downtown Mall) Charlottesville, VA 22902 (434) 264-6727 www.eastwoodfarmandwinery.com

Hours: Monday- Sunday from 10 am – 5 pm

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK!

KESWICK VINEYARDS 2022 Merlot An extremely vibrant wine with medium acidity. A delightful nose of red fruit, (more specifically stewed cherries), medium oak, and a touch of smoke as part of the initial experience of the wine tasting.

On the palate, there is a rush of raspberry and red currant with light tannins, and a soft finish. This

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1575 Keswick Winery Drive Keswick, Virginia 22947 Tasting Room: (434) 244-3341 ext 105 tastingroom@keswickvineyards.com www.keswickvineyards.com

MONTIFALCO VINEYARD 2022 Montifalco Estate Chardonnay The 2022 Montifalco Vineyard Chardonnay is a testament to the artistry of our winemaker.

Handpicked at peak ripeness, our grapes undergo a gentle pressing

St. Patrick’s Day: Looking for some Irish music and great wine, beer and food specials this holiday weekend? Join us March 14-March 17 for a full line-up of music, including Music Bingo on Thursday and Sunday. Double your luck!

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We are excited to welcome Master Chocolatier Ann Czaja, Dip WSET to DuCard for a special Chocolate and Wine Program.

She will share with us the history of chocolate, talk about her work in making Lindt’s fine chocolates and offer some samples of ‘raw’ chocolate for us to try, as well as a flight of premium chocolates each paired with a DuCard wine.

Tickets available on our website. https://ducardvineyards.com/ event/choc-wine-pairing/

round, seven days a week.

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

2021 Norton We’re excited to release our next vintage of Norton after being sold out for nearly a year. With notes of plum, violet, and sweet spice, this estate grown Norton has a bright acidity that is lively and fresh on the palate. This wine is perfect with Sunday roasts, BBQ, and grilled sausages!

weekend long! Check out our lineup on our website!

Enjoy making your own s’mores around our fire pits with a mug of hot mulled wine. Or, stay inside and enjoy live music with a seasonal flatbread or fondue. Eastwood has award-winning wines, on tap beers and ciders, and great lunch and dinner menus all week. We also have juice flights and cheese boards for the kids. Open yearSPECIAL ADVERTORIAL SECTION

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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to extract the purest juice, which is then fermented and aged in neutral French oak barrels. We perform bâtonnage every other week (stirring of the lees). This meticulous process results in a wine of beautiful depth and complexity, with layers of rich fruit flavors and a lightly creamy texture that caresses the palate. Not oaky, not buttery.

have any questions or special requests. We look forward to welcoming you to our Monticello Farm Winery!

Whether enjoyed on its own or paired with a variety of dishes, the Montifalco Vineyard Chardonnay is a versatile and approachable wine that delights the senses. Its vibrant acidity and well-balanced structure make it an ideal companion to seafood, poultry, creamy pasta dishes, and artisanal cheeses.

Alternatively, savor a glass of our Chardonnay as an aperitif, and let its elegance and sophistication set the tone for any occasion.

Rapidan River Raspberry During the month of February celebrate with Prince Michel’s reformulation of our Rapidan River Raspberry wine! This

From vine to bottle, Montifalco Vineyard embodies the dedication to quality and commitment to excellence that defines our winery. Join us in raising a glass to celebrate the timeless elegance and exquisite flavor of Chardonnay and experience the magic of Montifalco Vineyard. Our aim is to offer guests a serene, tranquil, and contemplative ambiance in which to savor and appreciate our winecraft.

We are open Thursday through Monday Noon-5. Final walk-in seating is 30 minutes prior to closing at which time we offer wine by the glass and bottles to go. We are an adults only farm winery. We do not accept groups larger than 6 guests. No party busses permitted.

Please visit montifalcovineyard. com, call/text 434-989-9115 or email info@montifalco.com if you SPECIAL ADVERTORIAL SECTION

1800 Fray Rd, Ruckersville, VA 22968 (434) 989-9115 montifalcovineyard.com

PRINCE MICHEL VINEYARDS

selection has a delightfully light and seductively sweet profile that boasts a memorable experience for any occasion. Exceptionally well balanced as an after-dinner indulgence, especially alongside rich dark chocolate desserts. Its vibrant raspberry notes come together in harmonious balance, making it a perfect choice for those who appreciate a little sweetness in life!

Discover Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery, an iconic East Coast estate. Family and pet-friendly,

it’s one of the oldest and largest wineries in the Commonwealth.

Also, home to Tap 29 Brew Pub, serving local craft brews and delicious pub-style food seven days a week.

Located in the heart of Virginia Wine Country, our elegant winery on Route 29 between Charlottesville and Washington DC offers wine tastings, tours, shopping, and scenic picnic spots daily from 11am.

At Prince Michel Indulge in a spectrum of wines, from luxurious craft picks such as Chardonnay and Petit Verdot, to distinctive options like the Semi-Dry Riesling from our Rapidan River series. Don’t miss our crowd-favorite Decadence Chocolate or a refreshing wine slushie for a delightful twist. We have something to offer for every palate!

Hours: Open 7 days a Week at 11 a.m.

Mondays- Team Trivia at 6 pm!

Thursdays- Happy hour with wine and beer specials starting at 3 pm Weekends- Live Music! (Music lineup on our website) 154 Winery Lane, Leon, VA 22725 (540) 547-3707 • www.princemichel.com

REVALATION VINEYARDS 2021 Merlot Typical varietal wine, fruity and unctuous. Aromas of strawberry, redcurrant, tobacco, caramel, vanilla, elderberry, and plum. Well-balanced mouthfeel with an aromatic finish where strawberries and plums

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predominate with vanilla notes.

March Hours: Friday 12pm to Sunset; Saturday 12pm to 6pm; Sunday 12pm to 5pm Holiday Mondays 12pm to 5pm; Monday and Thursday by reservation only.

Until April 30 - Exhibition of paintings by Bonny Wagner.

March 8th - Grand Opening of the new tasting room at 11am.

March 14th - Sip & Learn at 6pm: Shelley Murphy will talk about The Enslaved laborers at UVA. March 22nd - Book Club @ The Vineyard starting at 6pm: The Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb. The author will be present at Book Club

VERITAS

Big events coming up with Veritas!

Check out the lineup here: March 15th - Supper Series with Rachael Harris: Chef Rachael launches our 2024 season with farm-to-table expertise, blending

April 12th and 13th Wintergreen Music and Veritas are very pleased to unveil the next chapter of Sounds of Spring! Enjoy an exquisite meal with musical accompaniment on Friday evening at The Farmhouse at Veritas; then, the following day, head to the grove at the Veritas Tasting Room for a relaxed afternoon with wine and the talented Rosette string quartet.

April 19th - Supper Series with John Sleasman: From The Bar at Willett, experience John’s genius as he seamlessly blends genres for unforgettable dishes. Dive into Kentucky’s whiskey scene at Veritas.

April 27th - Veritas 25th Anniversary Gala: We are celebrating 25 years of excellence in true Veritas style with a black tie gala with the finest wines and our chef’s best four-course meal, all wrapped up in a wonderful dance party with music from DJ Ran Henry. This gala is open to the public.

May 10th - Supper Series with Randi Brady: With Hip-Hop in her veins, she brings cultural

Save the Date - August 10th: Mark your calendars for the one and only Starry Nights of 2024, an all-day-long event with your

favorite bands from over the years! Additional details and ticket information with be forthcoming.

The Veritas Tasting Room remains open seven days a week, 11 am - 5 pm; we look forward to seeing you soon!

151 Veritas Ln, Afton, VA 22920 (540) 456-8000

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Virginia Governor’s Cup Gold Medal Winners Bundle 2022 Sauvignon Blanc, 2021 Veritas Reserve, and 2021 Momentarius White Blend: We are so honored to have these three incredible wines recognized by the team of world-class judges who sampled over 750 entries! This trio is now available online and in the Tasting Room for $99! ⁠Join us in raising a glass to this year’s excellent line-up of medalists!

March 24th - Pruning Workshop for Wine Club Members: Pick up the pruning shears and get outside with Vineyard Manager Bill Tonkins to try your hands at pruning vines.

After a short presentation and hands-on demonstration, enjoy a hearty lunch prepared by our Executive Chef, Andy Shipman. Not a wine club member? Join today by emailing wineclub@veritaswines. com for exclusive member events, deals, and more!

appreciation and innovatively merges Hip-Hop and wines through her company, Diversified Vines, promising a one-of-a-kind experience: Where Rhyme meets Wine!

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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local flavors with Appalachian heritage in innovative dishes.

SPECIAL ADVERTORIAL SECTION

40

PUZZLES SUDOKU Complete the grid so that every row, column, and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

#2

#4

#5

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

facebook.com/cville.weekly

#1

#1 solution

#2 solution

#3 solution

#4 solution

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CROSSWORD

They’ve got chemistry

BY MATT JONES

ACROSS 1. Begs for kitty kibble 6. Device that kept Blockbuster in business 9. Can’t-miss experiences 14. Move slowly 15. Random suffix 16. “Ah, I’m such ___!”

17. Pre-Internet library feature 19. Hooded snake 20. “But before ___ ...”

21. “Pet” that actually requires seeds 23. Actor McDiarmid 24. “Dang straight” 29. Mini-albums, for short 30. Word beginning a lot of Lil Wayne album titles 31. Grass rolls 32. Hacker’s language, in the early aughts 34. Leave off 37. “Superstore” actor Santos 40. Tutor’s task 44. Dispensers that may now be interactive 45. Where frisbees may get stuck 46. Fox show with choral versions of pop songs 47. Columbus sch.

49. 1970s-’80s sitcom planet 51. Sick 52. Browser issue that might slow your computer down 58. Football position

#3

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DOWN 1. 1200, to Tiberius 2. Memorable period 3. “___ the ramparts ...”

4. Collective acknowledgement from a room of beatniks, maybe 5. Coffee urn attachment 6. Quick clip 7. From Prague 8. Singer Bebe 9. Cheese partner 10. Eerie flyer 11. 1925 Edna Ferber novel 12. Bar mitzvah reading 13. Point of view 18. “Man’s ___” (viral 2018 song) 22. Part of FWIW 24. Reviewing website 25. “Nixon in China,” for example 26. Fitness motto opening 27. Less lurid

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© 2024 MATT JONES

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C A L M C A B B R A H E W A C O L U C A S O R E O A M M O U N L I T W E S T H A R P E R L E G U M E S P E N D S A I L S S T A R T O F D N A P G S L I U C O L L E G E S L A W N N E M U S E A R T Y N E W L Y W A R M E D M E R E T A S H A M B L E P S Y S O N Y S I R I S E S H I P L A P H A P P Y M A R I O A M B I A T O M R O U T G A V E O K I N G K O N I R A N G A S S Y

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ANSWERS 2/28/24

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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#5 solution

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28. Checking proof 33. June Cleaver or Maggie Seaver, e.g.

35. Lance of the O.J. trial 36. Girl Scout group 38. Eyelashes 39. Deli counter qty.

41. Ninja, e.g.

42. In a new way 43. Toothpaste options 48. Colorful card game 50. Poses to propose 52. Contract conditions 53. Outdo showily 54. In a weird way 55. Delicious 56. Make speeches 57. Like Whataburger’s headquarters 62. Prefix with scope 64. Explosive compound 65. Some time ___ 66. Cut (the lawn) 67. Punctured tire sound

59. Like some gummy worms 60. “Didn’t I tell ya?”

61. Second tries 63. Tests of numerical aptitude 68. Millionaire intro 69. ___ Dew 70. Former capital of Nigeria 71. Observe secretly 72. Up to now 73. Comes down in a blizzard

42 By Rob Brezsny

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Aries

(March 21–April 19): “Everyone has talent.

What is rare is the courage to follow talent to the dark place where it leads.” So wrote Aries author Erica Jong. Is that true? Is it hard to access the fullness of our talents? Must we summon rare courage and explore dark places? Sometimes, yes. To overcome obstacles that interfere with ripening our talents, there may be tough work to do. I suspect the coming weeks and months will be one of those phases for you, Aries. But here’s the good news: I predict you will succeed.

Taurus

(April 20–May 20): In October 1879, Thomas Edison and his research team produced the first electric light bulb that was viable enough to be of practical use. In September 1882, Edison opened the first power plant on the planet, enabling people to light their homes with the new invention. That was a revolutionary advance in a very short time.

Dear Taurus, the innovations you have been making and I hope will continue to make are not as monumental as Edison’s. But I suspect they rank high among the best and brightest in your personal life history. Don’t slack off now. There’s more work to be done—interesting, exciting work!

Gemini

(May 21–June 20): I watched as the Thai snake charmer kissed a poisonous cobra, taming the beast’s danger with her dancing hands. I beheld the paramedic dangle precariously from a helicopter to snag the woman and child stranded on a rooftop during a flood. And in my dream, I witnessed three of my Gemini friends singing a dragon to sleep, enabling them to ramble freely across the bridge the creature had previously forbidden them to traverse.

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

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Cancer

(June 21–July 22): The horoscopes you are reading have been syndicated in publications all over the world: the U.S., Italy, France, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Netherlands, Russia, Cambodia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Ireland, and Finland. Yet it has never appeared in a publication in the U.K., where there are over 52 million people whose first language is English—the same as mine. But I predict that will change in the coming months: I bet a British newspaper

Pisces

(Feb. 20-March 20): I invite you to entertain the following theory: Certain environments, companions, and influences enhance your intelligence, health, and ability to love—while others either do the opposite or have a neutral effect. If that’s true, it makes good sense for you to put yourself in the presence of environments, companions, and influences that enhance you. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to test this theory. I hope you will do extensive research and then initiate changes that implement your findings.

or website will finally print Free Will Astrology. I prophesy comparable expansions in your life, too, fellow Cancerian. What new audiences or influences or communities do you want to be part of? Make it happen!

Leo

(July 23–Aug. 22): Author Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote, “Today it seems to me that my whole life was nothing but a string of small near misses.” If you have endured anything resembling that frustration, Leo, I have good news: The coming months won’t bring you a string of small near misses. Indeed, the number of small near misses will be very few, maybe even zero. Instead, I predict you will gather an array of big, satisfying completions. Life will honor you with bull’s eyes, direct hits, and master strokes. Here’s the best way you can respond to your good fortune and ensure the arrival of even more good fortune: Share your wealth!

Virgo

(Aug. 23–Sept. 22): Virgo advice expert Cheryl Strayed wrote some rather pushy directions I will borrow and use for your horoscope. She and I say, “You will never have my permission to close yourself off to love and give up. Never. You must do everything you can to get what you want and need, to find ‘that type of love.’

It’s there for you.” I especially want you to hear and meditate on this guidance right now, Virgo. Why? Because I believe you are in urgent need of re-dedicating yourself to your heart’s desire. You have a sacred duty to intensify your imagination and deepen your willpower as you define what kind of love and tenderness and togetherness you want most.

Libra

(Sept. 23–Oct. 22): Author Adam Alter writes, “Perfect success is boring and uninspiring, and abject failure is exhausting and demoralizing. Somewhere between these extremes

is a sweet spot that maximizes long-term progress.” And what is the magic formula?

Alter says it’s when you make mistakes an average of 16 percent of the time and are successful 84 percent. Mistakes can be good because they help you learn and grow. Judging from your current astrological omens, Libra, I’m guessing you’re in a phase when your mistake rate is higher than usual—about 30 percent. (Though you’re still 70 percent successful!) That means you are experiencing expanded opportunities to learn all you can from studying what doesn’t work well. (Adam Alter’s book is Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most.)

Scorpio

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Sometimes you Scorpios are indeed secretive, as traditional astrologers assert. You understand that knowledge is power, and you build your potency by gathering information other people don’t have the savvy or resources to access. But it’s also true that you may appear to be secretive when in fact you have simply perceived and intuited more than everyone else wants to know. They might be overwhelmed by the deep, rich intelligence you have acquired—and would actually prefer to be ignorant of it. So you’re basically hiding stuff they want you to hide. Anyway, Scorpio, I suspect now is a time when you are loading up even more than usual with juicy gossip, inside scoops, tantalizing mysteries, taboo news, and practical wisdom that few others would be capable of managing. Please use your superpowers with kindness and wisdom.

Sagittarius

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Here’s a little-known fact about me: I am the priest, wizard, rabbi, and pope of Parish #31025 in the Universal Life Church. One of my privileges in this role is to perform legal marriages. It has been a few years since I presided over anyone’s wedding, but I am coming out of semi-retirement to

consecrate an unprecedented union. It’s between two aspects of yourself that have not been blended but should be blended. Do you know what I’m referring to? Before you read further, please identify these two aspects. Ready? I now pronounce you husband and wife, or husband and husband, or wife and wife, or spouse and spouse—or whatever you want to be pronounced.

Capricorn

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “You don’t have to suffer to be a poet,” said poet John Ciardi. “Adolescence is enough suffering for anyone.” I will add that adolescence is enough suffering for everyone, even if they’re not a poet. For most of us, our teenage years brought us streams of angst, self-doubt, confusion, and fear—sufficient to last a lifetime. That’s the bad news, Capricorn. The good news is that the coming months will be one of the best times ever for you to heal the wounds left over from your adolescence. You may not be able to get a total cure, but 65 percent is very possible. Seventy-five percent isn’t out of the question. Get started!

Aquarius

(Jan. 19-Feb. 19): A psychic once predicted that I would win a Grammy award for my music. She said my dad and mom would be in the audience, smiling proudly. Well, my dad died four years ago, and I haven’t produced a new album of songs for over ten years.

So that Grammy prophecy is looking less and less likely. I should probably give up hope that it will come to pass. What about you, Aquarius? Is there any dream or fantasy you should consider abandoning? The coming weeks would be a good time to do so. It could open your mind and heart to a bright future possibility now hovering on the horizon.

Expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text message horoscopes: RealAstrology.com, (877) 873-4888

It’s so good to be

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ORDER OF PUBLICATION Commonwealth of Virginia VA. CODE § 8.01-316 Albemarle County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Commonwealth of Virginia, in re: Z.S. (dob 8/22/2007) The object of this suit is to terminate residual parental rights in Z.S. (dob 8/22/2007) and aprove foster care plan with adoption goal.

It is ORDERED that Amy Runyon, appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before April 2, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.

2/1/2024 DATE

Areshini Pather JUDGE

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The right person will join our hard working staff in a fast-paced online and print publishing environment.

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43

44

CLINICAL TRIALS

VIRGINIA: IN THE ALBEMARLE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT MOUNT MORIAH CHURCH, A Virginia nonstock corporation, Plaintiff, v.

PARTIES UNKNOWN, Defendants,

Case No.: CL24-59

ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this suit between Plaintiff Mount Moriah Church, and Defendants, Parties Unknown, is to quiet title to a parcel of land in Albemarle County. The parcel of land at issue is Parcel 30B as shown in that certain Plat Showing a Boundary Survey of Mount Moriah Methodist Church and Cemetery of Key Incorporated Land Surveyors & Land Planners signed by John A. Taggart, III on March 27, 2001 and recorded among the land records of the Albemarle County Circuit Court in Book 2023, Pages 361-64, which is part of Tax Map Parcel Number 04100-00-00-03000.

Plaintiff has filed a complaint which (i) states that there are or may be persons, whose names are unknown, interested in the subject to be divided or disposed of; (ii) describes the nature of such interest; and (iii) makes such persons defendants by the general description of “parties unknown”.

Accordingly, it is therefore ORDERED that any such interested parties unknown appear in this Court located at 501 East Jefferson Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902, on or before April 12, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., or as soon thereafter as counsel may be heard, to protect their interests.

And, it is further ORDERED that this Order be published once each week for four successive weeks in C-VILLE Weekly, a newspaper of general circulation in Albemarle County; that a copy of this order be posted at the front door of the courthouse wherein this Court is held; and that, upon completion of such publication, the clerk shall file a certificate in the papers of this case that the requirements of Virginia Code Section 8.01-317 have been satisfied.

Advancing Healthcare Through

CLINICAL TRIALS

www.uvaclinicaltrials.com

Study for Type 1 Diabetes Men and women with type 1 diabetes, 18-40 are needed for a study about the impact of an investigational medicine or exercise training on blood vessel health. Participation includes 2 outpatient study admissions (7-10 hours) and 6 brief study visits over 4 months, taking a study medication or participating in exercise training (3 times weekly) for 14 weeks, and completing questionnaires. All visits are scheduled during the week. 3 visits require blood draws.

Compensation is $700. Principal Investigator: Kaitlin Love, MD UVA Division of Endocrinology Study Coordinator: Lee Hartline Phone: 434-924-5247 / email: lmh9d@virginia.edu IRB-HSR# 210198 How clinical trials benefit you. At UVA, clinical trials are taking place every day. Because of this, UVA is an environment of care where learning, discovery and innovation flourish. And it is our patients — today and in the future — who reap the rewards, whether or not they participate in a trial. Please call the trial coordinator to enroll confidentially or for additional information.

Entered this 16 day of January, 2024

March 6 - 12, 2024

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Cheryl V. Higgins Judge WE ASK FOR THIS: Thomas M. Hendell (VSB No. 78579) Daniel R.O. Long (VSB No. 95873) TREMBLAY & SMITH, PLLC 105 East High Street Charlottesville, Virginia 22903 Telephone: (434) 977-4455 Facsimile: (434) 979-1221 thomas.hendell@tremblaysmith.com daniel.long@tremblaysmith.com

RIGHT ON TIME MOBILE DINER, LLC DBA

JAX BAR & GRILL

325 Four Leaf Lane, Suite 8, Charlottesville, VA 22903

The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINIA ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) AUTHORITY for a Beer, Wine, Mixed Beverage license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages.

Steve M. Lovern, Owner

NOTE: Objections to the issuance of thise license must be Submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www.abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.

Community

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P.S. THE BIG PICTURE

GWAR slammed Charlottesville on Monday, March 4, with a sold-out gross-out show at The Jefferson Theater.

The outrageous “Scumdogs of the Universe” were founded in Richmond in the 1980s, in part by Virginia Commonwealth University students. But current lead singer Michael Bishop is a UVA alum—a recent UVA Today piece detailed how Bishop earned his doctorate in music, with a dissertation on “A Socioesthetics of Punk: Theorizing Personal Narrative, History and Place.”

TRISTAN WILLIAMS

46

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47

3.30.24 3.30.

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BROUGHT T O YOU BY HARMONY WINE, EAS T W OOD FARM AND WINERY & C AS TLE HILL CIDER

March 6 – 12, 2024 c-ville.com

People's Choice Rosé W ine Competition | D J Double U | Local W iner ies Beatrix Ost Ar t Installation | Varieties of Wine and Cider | Shopping Experience W ine Education Sessions | À La Car te Menu Selections by The Cater ing Outf it

UVA Arts, The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation & UVA Arts Council present

A STANDING WITNESS Renowned Mezzo-Soprano Susan Graham performs Rita Dove’s poetry set to music

by Composer Richard Danielpour and Music from Copland House!

“A Standing Witness has the potential to become one of the most influential compositions of this century.” ~Vermont Public Radio

Old Cabell Hall • 7:30pm Thursday, March 21 & Saturday, March 23 Talkback with Rita Dove, Richard Danielpour, & Michael Boriskin to Follow Each Evening!

For Tickets & to Learn More:

arts.virginia.edu/standingwitness