Piedmont Media, llc
Summer 2018
SARATOGA TRUNK Katie and Jim Fitzgerald
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Mount Gordon Farm
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Old Goose Creek Farm
Langhorne Farm
The Plains, Virginia • $9,850,000
Middleburg, Virginia • $4,500,000
Upperville, Virginia • $3,990,000
128 acres and immaculate 3 level, 13,000+ sq ft stone & shingle main house • 5 BR • 8 FP • Exceptional finishes on every floor • Caterer's kitchen • Elevator • Spa • Separate guest cottage • Pool • Farm manager residence • 3 additional tenant houses • 12 stall center-aisle stable • Pond • Extraordinary land w/incomparable views extending beyond the Blue Ridge Mts • Orange County Hunt Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
Pristine equestrian property in turnkey condition • Exceptional location • Stone home expanded to approx. 7,000 sf. includes 4 main level suites • Lovely gardens, pool, garage apartment & pond • Blackburn designed 6 stall stable w/70x210 indoor arena includes observation deck, tack room, 2 wash stalls & office • Additional 4 stall barn • Entire property is fenced and cross fenced on 26 acres & 8 paddock Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
266 acres in Piedmont Hunt • Panoramic views of the Blue Ridge, Bull Run and Cobbler mountains which surround the whole property • Improvements include 4 farmhouses, an iconic red dairy barn and many agricultural buildings • Ponds and traditional stone walls • This working farm is protected by a Virginia Outdoors Foundation conservation easement which allows 2 parcels Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905
Mayapple Farm
Waverly
Stage Coach
Middleburg, Virginia • $3,400,000
The Plains, Virginia • $2,950,000
The Plains, Virginia • $2,480,000
“Mayapple Farm," purist delight • Original portion of house built in 1790 in Preston City, CT • House was dismantled and rebuilt at current site • Detail of work is museum quality • Log wing moved to site from Western Virginia circa 1830 • 4 BR, 4 full BA, 2 half BA, 9 FP & detached 2-car garage • Historic stone bank barn and log shed moved from Leesburg, VA • Private, minutes from town • Frontage on Goose Creek • 37.65 acres Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905
Circa 1755, prime Fauquier County location, between Middleburg and The Plains • Additions in early 1800's & 1943 • Home recently restored • 62 gently rolling acres in Orange County Hunt • 4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, 6 fireplaces • Improvements include salt water pool, pool house, large party house/studio, 2 tenant houses, stone walls and pond Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905
52 acres, 3 miles from Middleburg within the Little River Historic District • Original 1780’s farmhouse has been completely renovated w/an impressive kitchen, old charm, porches & stone fireplaces • 3 bay garage has space above for overflow guests or home office • An excellent building site w/views of Bull Run & Blue Ridge Mts • New board fencing • Original stone walls, old growth hardwood trees & multiple outbuildings Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
Clarendon Farm
Old Fox Den Farm
Twin Creek Farm
Marshall, Virginia • $1,800,000
The Plains, Virginia • $1,750,000
Aldie, Virginia • $1,395,000
Absolutely impeccable custom home on 50 acres with lake frontage 10 minutes from Marshall • Beautiful millwork, extensive plantings, porches & terraces • Fantastic mountain views from oversized windows, rolling pasture & private dock • 5 bedrooms, 3 fireplaces, hardwood floors • Extremely well built home with endless amenities • Very special home in pristine condition Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
Restored 3 bedroom 1830's farmhouse on 65 acres • Multiple porches & fireplaces, lots of charm • Lovely pool, shared pond, 4 stall barn, workshop • Expansive mountain views, rolling open pasture & fully fenced elevated land • Gorgeous setting in the protected valley between Middleburg and The Plains • Conservation easement permits 2 more homes to complete the compound Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
Quiet country living on 33 acres with great proximity to the conveniences of nearby shopping, restaurants, schools and hospital • Rare find to get this acreage and have FIOS - work from home while enjoying the privacy of your own farm • Rolling acreage, stable, fencing and a bold creek • 5 BR home has been well maintained • Southern exposure with great light and lovely views • Main floor master suite and 2 car garage Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
Grasty Place
Winchester Road
Oak Ridge
Middleburg, Virginia • $800,000
Marshall, Virginia • $795,000
Warrenton, Virginia • $655,000
Charming home in desirable Melmore • Adjacent to the town of Middleburg offering proximity to town & privacy of almost 4 acres • High ceilings, lightfilled rooms, new kitchen w/granite counters & stainless appliances • Family room w/fireplace, screened-in porch • 3 BR including bright master suite w/bay window • Home office (Verizon high speed internet) & finished LL & 2 car garage Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
1.69 acres with frontage on Route 17, right off Route 66, currently zoned R-4 • New Marshall code zoning calls for Gateway District, potential office building, etc. • Solid stone house on property • Sold in "As Is" condition • Owner licensed real estate agent in VA Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905
Prime location, off Springs Road • Surrounded by large farms & estates • House circa 1890 with 2 BR, 1 1/2 BA, FP, hardwood floors, new kitchen • Garage • 2 sheds/studio potential • Tenant house • Property shares large spring fed pond • Private setting on 13.21 acres Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905
110 East Washington St. • P.O. Box 1380 Middleburg, Virginia 20118 (540) 687-5588 Country Spirit • Summer 2018
info@sheridanmacmahon.com www.sheridanmacmahon.com
From the Editor
Aaaah, The Spa
For the uninitiated, that “Spa” designation is a short-hand reference to the summer Thoroughbred horse-racing mecca at Saratoga Springs, New York, a six-week marathon from late July until early September. Over that sublime span, countless Virginians from our Country Spirit neck of the Commonwealth make the trek north, some for the full season, others for days or a week or two at a time. There’s highquality racing every day but Tuesday, at the historic and oh-so-iconic white Victorian grandstand, with the country’s finest jockeys, trainers and horses. There are major big-money stakes races and jumping races too. Our cover subjects, Jim and Katie Fitzgerald, who own and operate Chilly Bleak Farm near Rectortown, will be there during sales week in early August. They’re expected to have yearlings entered in the annual Fasig-Tipton yearling auction, where this year’s fourlegged toddler could grow into the 2020 Kentucky Derby winner. On the two nights of the select sale, millions of dollars will change hands during horse racing’s answer to the NFL draft, with just as much at stake. The Fitzgeralds will have plenty of local company in the sales pavilion, with other Virginia neighbors like Wayne and Susie ChatfieldTaylor and Andrew and Janie Motion selling, all of them profiled in this edition of Country Spirit. And we’re not just all about horses, though one other local “horse race” will be featured—the recent Middleburg mayoral contest won by town native Bridge Littleton. Megan Catherwood profiles this local boy making good, and also has a story on outgoing mayor Betsy Davis, who served a very distinguished dozen years in the same post. Speaking of auctions, M.J. McAteer has a fun feature on Purcellville auctioneer Brian Damewood, whose melodious pitches can be heard at countless local events, including the recently completed Hill School auction. Remember that Three Stooges catch phrase “if time is money, look at the clock.” The area’s foremost appraiser of antique timepieces lives near Middleburg, and what a story on his path to tick tock. We’ve got other compelling reads on music, fine dining, education and an inspiring story on a precocious Hill School fifth-grader who had a brilliant idea on how to cheer up lonely senior citizens and turned it into a school-wide community service project. There’s also part two of Olympian Jim Wofford’s tribute to the late, great horseman, Bill Steinkraus. And speaking of Saratoga, Sean Clancy’s column on his love affair with the town is also a must read. Aaaah, The Spa, and so much more closer to home, all the better to Catch the Spirit. Leonard Shapiro Editor Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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COVER PHOTO Published 6 times a year by Piedmont Media, LLC ADDRESS 41 Culpeper Street Warrenton, Virginia 20186
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PHONE: 540-347-4222 FAX: 540-349-8676 Publisher: Catherine M. Nelson, cnelson@fauquier.com
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Editor: Leonard Shapiro, badgerlen@aol.com Style editor: Barbara Sharp
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Entertainment editor: Emily Tyler
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Editor-in-chief: Chris Six, 540-212-6331, csix@fauquier.com Page designer: Taylor Dabney, tdabney@fauquier.com Contributing photographers: Caroline Fout, Missy Janes, Douglas Lees, Middleburg Photo, Crowell Hadden Contributing writers: Justin Haefner, Sebastian Langenberg, Sophie Langenberg, Lizzie Catherwood, Pat Reilly, Missy Janes, Caroline Fout, Sean Clancy, Megan Catherwood, M.J. McAteer, Jimmy Wofford Advertising director: Kathy Mills Godfrey, 540-351-1162 kgodfrey@fauquier.com Ad designers: Cindy Goff, cgoff@fauquier.com Taylor Dabney, tdabney@fauquier.com Annamaria Ward, award@fauquier.com Sawyer Guinn, sguinn@fauquier.com For advertising inquiries contact Leonard Shapiro at badgerlen@aol.com or 410-570-8447
Once again, we’re pleased to acknowledge and recognize photographers Karen Monroe and Doug Gehlsen, who are dressed in formal attire while attending and covering the Side Saddle Gala featured in this month’s issue. For our cover, they photographed our neighbors Katie and Jim Fitzgerald of Chilly Bleak Farm who are among many in our area preparing their thoroughbred yearlings for the annual auction in Saratoga Springs, New York. The tack trunk belonged to Karen’s late father and she refurbished it to pristine condition. We couldn’t help but make a reference to it for this shoot. Monroe and Gehlsen make up the dynamic duo of Middleburg Photo and we thank them so very much.
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Dealing With Chickens By the Peck By Carol Butler
I have a “vent pecking” problem. This is not something I ever imagined saying but it’s growing into an entire other-worldly experience. I’ve always been a city girl but now find myself on a farm raising chickens. It’s only ten so far but I’ve ordered six new fertilized eggs and an incubator. The woman selling fresh eggs at the Farmer’s Market said, “Oh, I hope the same thing doesn’t happen to you that happened to me.” “What was that?” I asked. “Well,” she said, “I started with ten and now I have five hundred.” I think I screamed out loud. Meanwhile, a chicken’s vent is where the egg comes out. Depending on certain irritating conditions—OR NOT—a chicken can become a “vent-pecker.” A “vent-pecker” will peck another chicken’s vent, which may then become red and raw and occasionally bleed. Once this happens, the other chickens might go after it so it’s important to stop this behavior right away. “Vent-Pecking” may happen because there’s too much light or not enough light or space or any number of other things, including being bored and “no one knows why.” Since my chickens have no space or
light issues, I figure they’re bored. So, I go to the Farmer’s Co-op to find a solution. I get some toys but I also need something to doctor the injured chicken. They have Blue Kote to put on the affected area but this is not recommended for animals used for food. We don’t eat our chickens, but the owner of the Co-op explains that it might get into their systems and therefore contaminate my organic eggs. I’m stumped until I come upon a product called “Pecker Recker.” I point this out to the owner and, judging by the expression on his face, I don’t think his buyer has ever shared with him that he’s ordered this particular product. Still, we both maintain our equanimity, and I find myself discussing “Pecker Recker” with a tall, good looking, blue-eyed man who looks as if he can handle anything. We read the package and determine it’s worth trying since it’s supposed to dull the chicken’s beak so as not to be lethal to the other chicken’s vent. I put the toys in my cart with the Pecker Recker and I know I need to do something for the injured chicken. There are numerous solutions, including chicken diapers, contacts, pinless peepers (you put these in the chicken’s nostrils so
they can see their food and water but not straight ahead to peck. I cannot explain this). I’ve already moved the chicken and a friend to a barn stall but I do need to doctor the one chicken. I decide to start by washing the affected area. Two of my grandchildren are here. We collect the eggs, oohing and ahhing over the blue and brown colors and discuss how we are going to cook them. I explain that I have a sick chicken that needs to be doctored and ask who wants to help. Both say they do, so we don rubber gloves and go to the barn. Florenzio, who takes care of the horses, holds the chicken upside down so we can examine it. Lucy, 5, says, “I’ve got to go,” and flees. Teddy, 7, does a good job of doctoring and we return the chicken and her friend to the chicken pen. Teddy, a first grader, tells me he knows you don’t need a rooster to get an egg but you do need one to get a baby chick. I ask him how he knows this because many adults don’t. He says, “From the SECOND GRADERS,” apparently surprised that I don’t know this is where everyone gets their important information. Chickens are fun, the eggs are delicious. Sometimes they can be complicated. Next time I have a problem, I’m going directly to a second-grader.
19290 TELEGRAPH SPRINGS RD, PURCELLVILLE
FIVE POINTS RD, THE PLAINS
7129 JAMES MADISON HWY, WARRENTON
3672 HALFWAY RD, THE PLAINS
23460 SALLY MILL RD, MIDDLEBURG
38085 HOMESTEAD FARM LN, MIDDLEBURG
116 ACRES | 5 BR | 7/3 BA | Offered at $8,500,000 Renovated in 2004, the 5 bedroom/10 bath 22,000+ square foot home is an entertainer’s dream with indoor pool, hot tub, bowling alley, home theater, basketball court, 2 lakes and a dock. The natural light-filled home allows scenic views from every angle. Peter Pejacsevich (540) 270-3835 Scott Buzzelli (540) 454-1399
90 ACRES | 3 BR | 2BA | Offered at $1,750,000 Wonderful opportunity for complete country living. Charming stone and stucco farmhouse with 5 stall banked barn, 1 BR/1 BA guest house. Wide plank hardwood floors, fireplaces, large porches for entertaining. Plenty of room for horses! Peter Pejacsevich (540) 270-3835 Scott Buzzelli (540) 454-1399
450 ACRES | Offered at $6,300,000 Legacy Farm now available! 450 acres in Orange County Hunt’s most prized territory. Build your dream estate amidst rolling, park-like fields stone walls, a lazy little creek and framed by unmatched mountain views. In conservation and fox-hunting easement. Peter Pejacsevich (540) 270-3835 Scott Buzzelli (540) 454-1399
25 ACRES | 4 BR | 4 BA | Offered at $1,695,000 Just 3 miles east of Middleburg off a quiet state road, “ Deer Creek” includes a lovely colonial with four fireplaces, pool, guest house, 3 stall stable, 5 paddocks and 25 acres. Much of area surrounding is in conservation easements. Little River borders much of the property. Ted Eldredge (571) 233-9978
65 ACRES | 6 BR | 3/2 BA | Offered at $2,750,000 On the National Register of Historic Places, Loretta is one of Fauquier’s most historic properties. Long private drive lined with stately trees and rolling fields within the Warrenton Hunt. Charming guest house, tenant house, studio/office, pool, horse barn, garage and other outbuildings. Peter Pejacsevich (540) 270-3835 Scott Buzzelli (540) 454-1399
10 ACRES | 9 BR | 6 BA | Offered at $1,200,000 Private and well protected compound consisting of 4 lots totaling 10 acres with 3 charming, restored & renovated houses. A unique opportunity for investors or those looking to share country life but with separate living quarters. Minutes from the Middleburg. Endless possibilities! Scott Buzzelli (540) 454-1399 Peter Pejacsevich (540) 270-3835
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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The Fitzgeralds of
K
atie Fitzgerald, a widely-respected equine veterinarian, comes by her love of horses naturally. She grew up on a farm near Carlisle, Pa., and both her parents and a brother are vets. She rode as a pony clubber as a child, yet when people asked her if she wanted the same career, she always told them absolutely not. “I didn’t want to follow footsteps,” she said. So what happened? “I liked science and I liked medicine and I was thinking about being a doctor,” she said. “Then I thought humans, or horses? It was horses.” She trained at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania and went on to an internship at the equally respected Rood & Riddle equine hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. She was working on a farm there owned by Ireland native Jim Fitzgerald, and the rest is horsey history, including a wedding and their eventual move to Middleburg three years ago.
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Chilly Bleak Farm
By Leonard Shapiro and Vicky Moon
PHOTO BY VICKY MOON
Katie and Jim Fitzgerald Katie has her own private equine practice now, including plenty of work on their Chilly Bleak Farm
in Marshall. She also takes care of Wayne and Susie Chatfield-Taylor’s horses in Front Royal. “I do everything,” she said of her veterinary work, with a keen interest in reproductive equine medicine, including breeding, foaling, and working with yearlings. “I have plenty of clients and I’m very happy with my practice” Jim Fitzgerald’s horse roots are Irish. His father loved horses and showed them in hand. Jim grew to love the sport of fox hunting in Ireland. He came to America in 1982 as a stallion groom at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington. “I took care of Affirmed, Golden Act and Exclusive Native,” he said over dinner recently at Hunter’s Head Tavern in Upperville. “I came for the experience and never went home.” He initially went on to work at several other Kentucky horse farms and also got his first taste of Saratoga. He then joined Lee Eaton, a bloodstock agent for four years, before going out on his own with a
boarding farm and sales business. He and Katie found their way to Chilly Bleak Farm in Marshall five years ago. When he met with its late owner, Jennie Darlington they discovered a mutual friend, and that sealed the deal for 150-acres. The Fitzgeralds will have six to sell in Saratoga this August, including yearlings by Uncle Mo, Will Take Charge and American Pharaoh. “You have to be an optimist,” Jim said. “I think the market will continue on a positive vibe.” The Fitzgeralds are also happy to be living in Virginia’s horse happy area. For Katie, it’s a lot closer to her Pennsylvania roots. They both are avid fox hunters. And the farm, and her veterinary practice, keeps them both busy. “People are so welcoming here,” Katie said. “It’s a different way of life. So many people all have a common interest in horses, and people who could live anywhere in the world choose to live here. There’s a reason for that. We really love it here.”
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Maggie Brown and Ann Theiss
Grace Wilkinson and Dana Connor
Friends and neighbors celebrated May 5 in the appropriate style with a Taco Dinner at the Aldie United Methodist Church. The women of the church provided the food with donations going to the Bridges of Hope-Nicaraguan Well Repair Mission.
Bill and Vi Carney
PHOTOS BY CROWELL HADDEN
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The Value of
Turning the mare Smart Woman (by Smarty Jones) and the Tiznow foal out in the a paddock is a two person operation for Susie and Wayne Chatfield-Taylor.
Morgan’s Ford Farm is a 1,000-acre oasis of lush rolling land in Warren County where the Chatfield-Taylors have been breeding thoroughbred race horses successfully for more than 30 years.
This mare, named Occasionally, was a winner at two and is a full sister to Tizahit a $200,000 winner. Her chestnut filly this year is by California Chrome, winner of the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and the 2016 Dubai World Cup. 12
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Good Breeding, Revisited
They brought the colt into the ring in the sudden hush of a host of lungs holding back their breath all at once, and the light gleamed on the walking gem, and he did in truth look like a prince who could sire a dynasty. – From “Twice Shy” by Dick Francis.
By Vicky Moon and Leonard Shapiro Photos by Vicky Moon
What a thrill… When we last wrote about our friends, Susie and Wayne Chatfield-Taylor, it was August, 1982. They were selling their first yearling, a filly by Raja Baba, which went for $240,000, at the Saratoga Sales, and we were writing about it all with our first duel byline for the Style section of The Washington Post. We used the same italic precede from a Dick Francis mystery novel in 1982, and it’s still applicable today. Thirty-six years later, the Chatfield-Taylors once again will return to the upstate New York summer equine, cultural playground this August with three yearlings to sell: a filly by Carpé Diem out of Street Interest by Street Cry, a filly by Liam’s Map out of Occasionally by Tiznow and a filly By Tiznow out of Skipstone by Montbrook. In 1982, their Morgan’s Ford Farm near Front Royal in Warren County was 370 acres. It’s now 1,000 acres of breathtakingly lush, rolling land hard by the Shenandoah River. Since that first sale, they’ve bred 500 horses. They had 14 broodmares to start and currently have 22. Each one is happy and beautiful and their babies are fabulous… especially one particularly precocious chestnut by California Chrome. To make their final breeding decisions, the ChatfieldTaylors sit down each year at a round table in their dining room, with all types of information cards and notes neatly arrayed. Call it Match.com for equines. “We spend all winter at this table,” Wayne said. A nearby fireplace makes the room warm and cozy. An architect by education and training, their home started as what he calls “a 28 X 38 Ozzie and Harriet” that took 30 years to finish with an addition “that by chance became the shape of a barn and silo for us.” Many of their broodmares were born on the farm, have gone on to race and then have returned. “That way you know their attributes,” Susie said, adding “how they move, their size, stamina and even their hind legs.” They make scouting trips to Kentucky to look at the stallions to make the final decision on which mare will go to which stallion. The late Tyson Gilpin, a beloved horseman, gentleman and agent from nearby Clarke County, represented the Chatfield-Taylors when they first started. Gilpin, who died in 2000, had racehorses and served as president of the Fasig-Tipton company that runs a number of horse sales around the country. “We still miss Tyson,” Susie said. “He taught us how to stick to the high road.” Their current bloodstock agent is Stuart Morris of Kentucky, and once again, the writers are planning to attend the August sale and watch how it all unfolds for the Chatfield-Taylors and several others from Country Spirit territory, also with yearlings in the sale. Back in 1982, Wayne said, “we’d just like to eventually have a self-sustaining horse business.” After 36 years, clearly it’s been so far, so good.
Susie and Wayne’s worldwide view of matching the mares at Morgan’s Ford Farm includes intense study of match making with compatible sires at their round table. Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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FURSMAN KENNELS The Fursman Kennels Experience From the moment you and your beloved pet drive through the entrance leading to Fursman Kennels, I would like you to enjoy and feel the beauty of the trees and flowers on either side of the winding lane, which is nearly 1 mile long. The kennel itself is beautiful and spacious and is surrounded by two-hundred-year-old oak trees. The staff who work here are very committed to the care and love of every individual dog or cat during their holiday stay. We have separate rooms for different breeds of dogs, which make it more cozy and comfortable. Each kennel has indoor and outdoor runs. We also have very large runs where we lead the dogs out several times a day at no extra charge for them to run, play and go to the bathroom..
Hours of Business
Mon-Fri: 8am-5pm | Sat: 8am-12 noon Sun: Between 9am & 10am Please call for reservations.
Things to Know About Our Kennels • Beautiful, spacious kennels • 24 hour care and attention • Dedicated, loving staff • Cozy, comfortable rooms • Veterinarian recommended • Indoor, outdoor, and large runs • Founded in 1972 • Vaccinations REQUIRED
1661 Zulla Rd | Middleburg, VA
(540) 687-6990
Best of Middleburg 2016 & 2017 14
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Artist Alan Rubin’s whimsical and engaging paintings of dogs and other critters will be on view at Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane through July. It includes “Miss ‘N’ Lynx, “ a 36” x 26” oil on canvas.
SEEN Donald Brennan, Mike Merritt, and Delegate Wendy Gooditis chat at a recent seminar at Llangollen Farm in Upperville: “A Landscape Under ThreatConserving The Blue Ridge, Northern Piedmont and Lower Shenandoah.” The gathering was co-sponsored by the Land Trust of Virginia, Mosby Heritage Area Association and the Loudoun County Preservation & Conservation Coalition to inform and encourage conservation and preserving our stunning landscape.
Vicki Edmands was spotted at the Middleburg races with her new partner, writer Marcello Antinori, along with Luna and Tobi. They also hosted a book signing at the Gentle Harvest in Marshall for his new book, “The Bride of Paraty.” The international crime serial murder mystery is set in a historic coastal town on the Brazilian coast near Rio de Janeiro. It’s a story for amateur sleuths who enjoy great characters and international settings. (And, hint, hint, also available on Amazon or check with Second Chapter Books in Middleburg.)
No matter where we travel, it seems as if there’s frequently a Middleburg connection. Recently, while having dinner with friends along the New River in Ft. Lauderdale, Imagine our delight to spot friend and former Middleburg neighbor John Evans gliding along in his yacht, Waterford, named after his farm along Zulla Road. Evans was a cofounder of cable television’s C-SPAN. This Waterford is a 101.7-foot Sovereign 100 motor yacht. The home base is identified as Middleburg, but we know it won’t fit in Goose Creek. PHOTO BY VICKY MOON
The everaffable and oh-socolorful photographer and artist Gomer Pyles was last spotted at the Zigzag Gallery in The Plains following a showing of his work.
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A Man in Motion: Saratoga Bound
In early August, Andrew Motion will load up his latest crop of yearlings on a horse van headed to Saratoga Springs in upstate New York. Then, he and his wife, Janie Motion will make the 441-mile trek north from Bluemont by car. His daughters, Lillibet, 26, and Mary, 23, will join them for a dazzling and exhausting round-theclock whirlwind schedule. This year, Motion has three yearling fillies to sell. Some will go to the Fasig Tipton select sales on Monday, August 6 and Tuesday, August 7. “I’m focusing on quality rather than quantity,” Motion told Country Spirit magazine. Although he’s not yet finalized plans, these fillies are by Carpe Diem, Cairo Prince and Tiznow. “I treat every yearling as an individual,” Motion added, “and not every yearling is suited to an August sale because they might need more time to develop. In the coming weeks, I’ll be making final decisions on who will be going to Saratoga and who might need to wait until later in the fall.” Motion, 51, grew up in the horse haven of Newmarket, England. His parents, Jo and Michael Motion of Rectortown, had a thoroughbred stud farm which included a starstudded list of clients: Nelson Bunker Hunt, the Wildenstein family and Taylor Hardin, who made Upperville’s Newstead Farm such a famous breeding establishment. Young Andrew was hooked. The family also includes his sisters Claire Nichols along with Pippa Motion and his doppelganger brother Graham, 54, who trained Animal Kingdom to win the 2011 Kentucky Derby. Andrew became interested in the breeding and sales side of the industry and worked at the Saratoga sales each summer. After boarding school, he joined Irishman Michael Osborne to work at North Ridge Farm in Kentucky. Osborne encouraged him to attend the Irish National Stud thoroughbred management program in Kildare, Ireland. From there, Motion went to work for at Sheikh Mohamed Al Maktoum’s Dalham Hall Stud in England, followed by two years working in New Zealand. He eventually followed his parents and settled in Middleburg, “And I haven’t left since,” he added. “After settling in Virginia, I spent the next ten years working under the tutelage of Frank Shipp at (the late) Joe Allbritton’s Lazy Lane Farm in Upperville. It was the perfect place to put down roots and start a young 16
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The Motion family: Mary, Andrew, Janie and Lillibet with with Verrazano x Magic Show filly, Saratoga ’17.
Janie Motion: Who Wouldn’t Want to Join In?
This Ghostzapper out of Amber Grace filly was sold in 2016 by Andrew Motion, Old Chapel Farm after she was purchased in November ‘15 for $65,000. family while growing my knowledge of the industry.” Lazy Lane campaigned the amazing Hansel, who won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1991 and also was the Champion Three Year Old Male in ’91. Motion also knew he wanted to be in the horse market on his own. “It’s very tough to start from scratch just by breeding mares and selling the progeny,” he said, adding that he decided to start by buying young foals and cutting out the risky aspect of breeding. It is, he said: “a practice in the industry referred to as ‘pin-hooking’ young horses.” Motion struck out in 2013 under the name of Old Chapel Farm. He bought two weanling fillies for a total of $10,000, “a very small sum in relative terms in the thoroughbred world.” By 2016, Old Chapel Farm surpassed $500,000 in profits. So far, his most successful sale was a filly by Ghostzapper out of Amber Grace. “I bought her at the Keeneland November 2015 sale as a foal for
$65,000 and re-sold her at the Fasig Tipton Saratoga Sale in August 2016 for $285,000,” he said, describing Saratoga as “a magical venue for selling horses. It has an electric atmosphere on sales nights that feeds on itself throughout the sale. The whole week around the sale has the feel of big business in a cocktail party atmosphere and if you take the right horse there you can be very well-rewarded.” At the sales grounds in the days before, prospective buyers such as Sheikh Mohamed’s Godolphin operation and top American trainers, including Bob Baffert, D. Wayne Lucas, Steve Asmussen and Andrew’s brother Graham come to look. As many as 70-80 potential buyers might ask to have a look. “It’s a very intense couple of days with a lot of nervous young thoroughbreds all concentrated into a small barn complex,” Motion said. “So you’ll find out how a young horse will cope with the intensity of the racetrack during these inspection days.”
For Janie Motion, “Saratoga in August is a family affair. “Typically, the girls (Lillibet and Mary) are able to coordinate the sales with their work schedules,” she said, adding. “There’s racing, parties, old friends and family, so who wouldn’t want to join, even though it’s work for Andrew. “I’m just a side accessory at the sales. Andrew has all of the workhands sharp and organized. My role is hiking, biking and I seem to be able to fit in some yoga, too. There’s always something to explore in summer time at Saratoga.” Janie has her own historic preservation consulting business, Jane Covington Restoration. “We’re both contractors and consultants, providing technical expertise for building restoration, tax credit work, and National Register Nominations,” she said. “Because Loudoun is on the front line between development and preservation, I find myself stretched thin with work for clients as well as a lot of advocacy and pro bono work.” She sits on Loudoun County’s Heritage Commission, which provides guidance for finding the right balance between developers’ rights and stewardship of Loudoun’s historic resources. Motion is now busy with a large project, focusing on the historic value of Loudoun’s unique rural road network in an effort to save these roads from massive ‘paving and straightening’ efforts. “Certainly,” she said, “there’s a happy middle between a bumpy old road and a double lane highway.” “I’m not a horseman and therefore not involved in the day-today side of Old Chapel Farm (OCF),” she added. “My wedding present to Andrew was the OCF legal structure and $50 in a bank account. My involvement hasn’t gone beyond that. I love going to the sales—especially buying the weanlings.”
National Steeplechase Foundation Cocktail Party and Silent Auction PHOTOS BY LEONARD SHAPIRO
Cricket Bedford, Anne Clancy, Emily Day, Beth Fout and Emily Hannum along with NSF board of trustee members: James Brodie, Joseph Davies, Emily Day, Charles Fenwick, Jack Fisher, Michael Hoffman, Gail Thayer, Guy Torsilieri, Richard Valentine and Blair Wyatt hosted jump racing friends, fans and supporters at the National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg on the eve of the Middleburg Spring Races.
Tad Zimmerman and Jimmy Day
Erika Offut with Lucy and Ted Zimmerman
Foxcroft sophomores Maddalena Wassinger, Marina Vanoff, Louise Whitner volunteered for the event with Cricket Bedford, a member of the Middleburg Spring Races advisory board. Lauren and Réne Woolcott
Leslie Hazel and Lindsay Kelley Robert Milbaugh with Payton Bodecker
Charlie Fenwick and Reid O’Connor
Antique Arms, Edged Weapons & Armor Since 1957
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Purchasing and consigning quality antique arms ofmedals, all types swords, knives, bayonets, uniforms, flags, belts, since 1957. Appraisers and other collectable militaria.We to the Smithsonian, thebuckles National Park Service and also thepurchase National Firearms Museum. sporting gun and military related books, gun related Recipient of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Citation for Public Service. tools, vintage ammunition, etc. If you have any antique or collectable you want Address: to Visit our shop!military or gun items thatMailing sell please contact us for more information on our 109 E. Washington St (Rt. 50) Post Office Box 7 appraisal services, consignment rates or outright sale.VA 20118 Middleburg, VA 20117 Middleburg,
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Charitable Giving and Tax Reform: By Tom Wiseman
The Good and Bad
The new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law last year will take effect in tax year 2018, and most everyone will be affected in at least some small way by one of the dozens of changes, more than the federal tax code has seen in 30 years. Let’s look at a specific group that’s particularly relevant to this community and how local contributors to charitable organizations are affected by the overhaul. Chances are if you live in Loudoun or Fauquier County, you’re a part of or contribute to one of the hundreds of area charitable organizations. Or you’ve been requested to do so relentlessly! The charitable deduction limit has been in existence for over a hundred years and, to the relief of many philanthropic hearts, the tax overhaul did not reduce it. In fact, the changes to the deductions were actually for the better. There was an increase in the adjusted gross income (AGI) limitation on cash gifts to public charities
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from 50 percent of AGI to 60 percent of AGI. Gifts of appreciated property to public charities stayed the same at 30 percent of AGI. Tom Wiseman Another plus is the repeal of the Pease limitation which reduced the benefit of charitable itemized deductions among other things. At first glance, this seems like a pretty sweet deal to charities and donors alike but alas, with the good always comes the bad. The effects of the tax law overhaul on individuals and corporations will have a large impact on who donates to public charities and how much they donate. The most notable changes are the following: The standard deduction for married individuals jumped from $12,000 to $24,000. This means the number of people itemizing will be greatly reduced and as a result, they will most
likely not be making the same size contributions as in years past. Tax rates are reduced, including the top bracket from 39.6 to 37 percent, which will lower the tax savings for an income tax charitable deduction. The Tax Reform Act doubles the “basic exclusion amount” for federal gift, estate, and generation skipping from $5.49 million to $11.2 million. Incentives to make charitable bequests by these larger estates is reduced. Some speculate that the excise taxes imposed on college/university endowments and highly compensated nonprofit employees will adversely affect charitable contributions. The charitable deduction for donations in exchange for athletic seating rights will end, which no doubt will dis-incentivize some donations. You’re probably thinking this is a little confusing and that you just want to give back to your community. We sometimes need to be reminded that saving on taxes is not the whole point and giving for the sake of helping others is what’s re-
ally important. That being said if you are looking for a smart way to give, consider a couple of options: If you’re close to benefiting by itemizing in lieu of taking the standard deduction, increase your donation and itemize instead. Look into setting up a donor advised fund “DAF.” It allows donors to make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax benefit, and then recommend grants from the fund over time. If you are 70.5 or older, consider making a direct contribution from your IRA. Contemplate making gifts with appreciated value like stock or land. In preparation for tax year 2018, start thinking about how these changes might affect you and your charitable organizations of choice. If you’re like a lot of friends and clients who filed an extension for tax year 2017, just hold onto this article until next year and you’re better suited to think about such things. I’m just relieved the tax overhaul didn’t extinguish tax extensions, or we’d really be in trouble!
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Commuters Traveling on I-66 Inside the Beltway from Loudoun County: It Pays to Share!
Visit loudoun.gov/ishare66 NEW
NEW
NEW
VANPOOL GROUPS
COMMUTER BUS RIDERS
CARPOOLS
500
$
DISCOUNT PER GROUP
New vanpoolers will receive $500 toward the vanpool’s expenses for the first three months of operation, such as the leasing of the van and gasoline. If I-66 users are not ready to form a vanpool, they can receive a $25 gift card by simply registering interest with Commuter Connections. Visit commuterconnections.org
— R E C E I V E —
100
$
— R E C E I V E —
100
$
SMARTRIP ® CARD
GAS CARD PER RIDER
New riders of the Loudoun County Premium Commuter Bus to Arlington, the Pentagon and Washington, D.C. will receive a $100 SmarTrip® card to use for the first month with the option to receive two additional $100 cards for use over the following two months.
New carpoolers will receive a $100 gas card if a new carpool is formed.
Anyone who is already a premium commuter bus rider may refer a friend to the bus service and will receive a $50 SmarTrip® card for each referral, up to a total of ten.
If I-66 users are not ready to form a carpool, they can receive a $25 gift card by simply registering an interest with Commuter Connections. Visit commuterconnections.org
While Supplies Last. Restrictions May Apply.
— R E C E I V E —
Sign-up for Rewards at loudoun.gov/ishare66 20
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Historic Garden Week A PEEK BEHIND THE FLORAL CURTAIN OF
By Barbara Sharp
Country Spirit Style Editor
This year’s “Historic Garden Week,” sponsored by the Garden Club of Virginia, featured 200 homes, gardens and historic locations, including four stops in the Middleburg area. These four breathtaking locations were sponsored by the Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club and The Leesburg Garden Club. The hunt country homes: Ovoka Farm in Paris, Kenilworth, Peace and Plenty at Bollingbrook and Foxlease Farm in Upperville were decorated with floral arrangements created and installed by teams of local garden club members, including the Middleburg and Upperville Garden Clubs. Bethann Beeman, Carol Farnow and I represented the Upperville Garden Club to provide flowers to decorate the stone center building of Foxlease Farm’s existing 19th century structures. This was a natural for Bethann, given her experience as a floral designer for events at her Salem Oaks Farm. Although photography was prohibited inside homes on the tour, the floral arrangements themselves were exempt from this restriction and I was able to capture some of the added beauty these flowers provided. The arrangement at the entrance foyer, which is nearly eight feet high, was intended to introduce visitors to the grandeur of the home through a traditional mass floral arrangement. The flowers included Casablanca lilies, curly willow, magnolia, euonymus fortunei, boxwood branches, daffodils, naked eucalyptus, and other springtime flowering branches. They were anchored in a large ivory stone urn using wire, floral foam and a lot of tape. The living room lent itself to two modern arrangements, positioned on either side of a large, black and white photograph of a woman positioned over one of the room’s
two opposing ivory-colored stone fireplace mantels. We used two round, stainless steel containers to hold Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick painted black. (For the origin of the name “Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick,” see “Why is My Plant Called Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick” by Gene Sumi, reprinted in the 2018 archives of homesteadgardens.com.) In addition, we included Casablanca lilies, Green Ball Dianthus (a fuzzy looking flower), naked eucalyptus and salal leaves. On the opposite mantel, Bethann spray-painted cinderblocks with black paint, and added sealed plywood to provide bottom support. The cinderblocks were filled with “flaming” (red and yellow) parrot tulips, mimicking reds and yellows in the adjacent artwork. In addition, the arrangement included yellow, large-cupped daffodils, blue hydrangeas, euonymus, bells of Ireland, curly willow, palm leaves and yellow tulips. We purposely used a limited palette and design to avoid distracting from the art in the room. The room’s center table had a vegetative landscape arrangement placed in a massive, African wooden dough bowl. This included blooming daffodils, tulips, yellow narcissus, bells of Ireland and pansies, with the top covered by green moss.. Given the beauty and grandeur of the setting, our mission was to complement the space with flowers. We’re grateful to have won a blue ribbon for best design of all the houses for our efforts from the judges appointed by Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club. Proceeds from the garden tour fund the restoration and preservation of historic public gardens and landscapes, a research fellowship program and a centennial project with Virginia State Parks.
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Everyone is Mon Ami at Julien’s Cafe
By Leslie VanSant
The door opens and three people quickly walk into Julien’s Cafe & Market, shaking raindrops from their coats. A silver-haired Frenchman sitting at a table drinking coffee greets the group warmly with a wave and “Bon soir.” Long-time local Middleburg resident Vivian Warren responds, “Bon soir, Jean Michel.” In a brief exchange that occurred in less than a minute, you get a sense of Julien’s Café & Market, located at 3 W. Washington Street in Middleburg, and owner Jean Michel Lacaze. It’s all about the people. Jean Michel and his wife of 32 years, Francoise, have owned and worked in restaurants around the world. For 25 years, they’ve been a fixture in the Fauquier and Loudoun restaurant scene. Many who remember The Bistro, Frogs and Friends, or Tadpole Café now frequent Julien’s. Named after the couple’s son, the Café provides residents and visitors alike with
PHOTO BY LEONARD SHAPIRO
Jean Michel and Francoise Lacaze
The menu artwork is by Jean Michel, turn it horizontal and see a frog and turn it vertical and see a horse. lunch and dinner option Friday to Tuesday from 11 to 9. It’s a family friendly environment, with a robust selection of French and Italian wines and classic menu standards. Lacaze was practically born in a restaurant. His parents owned a restaurant in Bordeaux, France, where he would spend much of his time because it was family. “I learned how to work in every part of a restaurant from the start – maintenance,
cleaning, cooking, preparing and working with people,” Lacaze said. “Working with people is my favorite part.” In 1968, the young Frenchman came to Washington, D.C. to attend Georgetown University. Of course, he also got a job working at a French restaurant. “I worked at Rive Gauche and Sans Souci, classic French places in D.C. at the time,” he said. “These were the places where people in
politics, the fashionable set came to dine and be seen.” After completing his French military service, Lacaze returned to the United States and embarked upon a career in restaurants. In 1975, he opened his first establishment, Chez Grand-Mère, a French bistro, on M Street in Georgetown. A few years and many miles later, he now finds himself in Middleburg, still enjoying what he does. “For me it is about people, our customers, our staff, we are all part of the restaurant and its success,” explains Lacaze. Having been in the business for most of his 68 years, Lacaze has seen trends come and go. He stays true to his French roots in the restau-
rant while exploring the new. Diners will always find the classics on the menu, such as Croque Monsieur, or the Chicken Breast with Brie on Croissant. But new items constantly appear in the lineup, specials of the moment, eager to become old favorites. “Restaurants have a life of about five years before they need to be refreshed,” Lacaze said. “A new style, new menu, all things you adjust to work with your customers.” Lacaze is in the process of doing just that and has begun this cycle to refresh Julien’s. His plans include making one half of the restaurant more “fashionable” and keeping the other side true to the casual French café and bar feel. New menu items are featured in daily photos posted to their Facebook page. No matter what changes, Jean Michel Lacaze will still be there, serving a meal or a glass of wine. And always with a smile and a “bon soir.” Learn more at julienscafe.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/ julienscafeandmarket.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCES TO LAST A LIFETIME. Apply today for the 2018-19 academic year. Our students take the skills they learn here with them to the best colleges and through life. We are an independent school serving grades 8 through 12, with small classes, dedicated faculty, full STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) curriculum, excellent athletics, and a remarkable record of graduates excelling at top universities. Call 540-687-5581 today or visit www.middleburgacademy.org to learn more and to schedule a tour and experience Middleburg Academy for yourself.
middleburg Academy Learn Lead Serve
Ayush will attend the University of Virginia, and Lilly will attend Sewanee: The University of the South. 22
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Grades 8-12 35321 Notre Dame Lane, Middleburg, VA 20117 540-687-5581 facebook.com/middleburgacademy
instagram.com/middleburgacademy
@middleburgacdmy
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Father’s Day June 17, 2018
Don’t Drop the Ball! The Fun Shop has many wonderful gifts from elegant Ties, Belts & Hats to great Gag Gifts!! For the Golf Nut or Baseball Fan, The Whiskey or Wine afficionado to the Beer Drinker, the Traveler or Gardener to the Bookworm and Civil War nut.
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Gertraud Hechl +1 (540) 454 2437 gertraud.hechl@bonhams.com A DIAMOND, EMERALD AND RUBY BROOCH, circa 1900 Sold for $26,250
bonhams.com/dc © 2017 Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. All rights reserved. Bond No. 57BSBGL0808
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
For Middleburg’s New Mayor, It’s All About the Process By Megan Catherwood
Bridge Littleton, Middleburg’s newly-elected next mayor, is a selfdescribed “process guy.” That will be a useful trait as he presides, beginning July 1, over Town Council meetings. When the gavel passes from six-term incumbent Betsy Allen Davis, Littleton will become responsible for ensuring local government business is conducted according to the 16-page “Rules of Procedure” tacked to the town hall meeting chamber’s back wall. Yet Middleburg residents know their incoming mayor is about more than just process, and they turned out in record numbers on May 1 to make their choice overwhelmingly known. Littleton swept the threeway race with 67% of the vote. “Middleburg is small enough that you can engage with people directly,” said Littleton, who seeks conversation wherever he goes and listens carefully to what he hears. During the election run-up, “I did a lot of walking, knocking on doors, and was licked by a lot of dogs. My blue jacket is covered in pet hair and about 7,000 different scents.” As mayor, he hopes to create additional forums for outreach and discussion, in both virtual and realworld settings. “We can do a better job of using social media, if we keep things easy, fact-based and to one subject at a time on Facebook and Instagram,” he said. Annual Town Hall gatherings at the Community Center are on his agenda, although he added, “People are always welcome to attend or follow Town Council meetings” now live-stream broadcast on Facebook and YouTube. “There’s a huge misconception about the town, that Middleburg is this big, affluent community,” Littleton said. “In fact, $56,000 is the average income in the town of Middleburg, compared to $120,000 in Loudoun County. We have no big horse farms within the town limits. You’re four times more likely to live in poverty in Middleburg than in Loudoun.” Creating greater economic security by building up the town’s financial reserves from 20 to 100 percent of the annual (approximately $5 million) budget is an important goal, he believes. “From Here, For Here,” Littleton is an eighth generation local whose love of his hometown is evident,
Mayor Bridge Littleton with his father Trowbridge Littleton. as is his infinite capacity for detail and deliberation. He relishes deep engagement with the complexities of governance, whether it’s 5G cell tower legislation, utility rates and aging water lines, economic incentives for local businesses, or making sure Middleburg’s unique and historic qualities are not compromised by Loudoun County expansion plans. “I like to think about the broad problem, come up with a measurable definition of success and then develop a strategy to execute,” he said. “Knowing your definition of ‘done’ for a project is also really important.” A University of Richmond law school graduate, Littleton is president and co-founder of Middleburgbased HELLEN Systems, which implements public-private partnerships with the federal government to develop GPS backup systems. He has served as a Middleburg Town Council member, vice president and board member of the Middleburg Museum & Pink Box, an executive committee member of the Virginia Municipal League and Middleburg planning commissioner. Littleton has great admiration for outgoing Mayor Davis. “Betsy has been such a wonderful ambassador for Middleburg” within the wider county, the Commonwealth and even nationally. Asked what circumstances he will face that his father, Trow (Trowbridge) Littleton, might never have imagined early-on in his own 34year tenure on the Town Council, the mayor-elect responded, “True, true urban sprawl. People have always been interested in protecting Middleburg but now it is just four miles away. And the complexities of new technologies related to infrastructure.” Then the 43-year-old mayor added, without irony, “the level at which the younger generation has become engaged in county and town activities.”
Outgoing Mayor Betsy Davis Ending a Remarkable Run By Megan Catherwood
Betsy Allen Davis, whose twelveyear tenure as mayor of Middleburg comes to a close this month, recently experienced an unfamiliar yet liberating sensation. “I went to the July calendar on my phone,” she said, “hit the ‘delete all future events’ button and realized that for the first time in twenty years, I am no longer scheduled to attend Town Council meetings.” Meetings were seemingly countless—not only the twice-monthly Council sessions, but also many evenings either in committee or out representing Middleburg at various functions. “We spent lots of time ‘talking trash’ (as in removal), the sewer system . . . and then there were the really big decisions that were going to last, like Salamander (the resort development). We looked long and hard at every aspect, every detail. On Salamander, it turned out to be the right decision.” When Davis was approaching her two-decade mark on the Council (including these last six, two-year terms as mayor), she decided not to seek 2018 re-election. Happy to reflect on the “privilege of having worked with everyone on the Town Council, the police, people at the county, state and federal levels…all wonderful and very respectful,” Davis also seemed ready to free up space for herself and her family. “Spending more time with my four grandkids” topped the list. Davis was quick to add, “I do have another job with plenty to do!” referring to co-ownership (with her sister Page Allen) of The Fun Shop, Middleburg’s iconic “everything store,” founded in 1956 by their mother, Nancy Allen. That “ job” may also end soon: they recently put the property and real estate on the market and hope to sell the business soon, as well. A math major at the University of Mary Washington. Davis has always loved the challenge and precision of working with numbers. From an early age she was prepared for the minutiae that comes with town oversight. “I would sit and love watching my mother do the shop’s accounts in the evenings. She was never a penny off, and I’m the same way.” At age nine, she began waiting on customers and wrapping gifts, later moving on to bookwork, buying and
PHOTO BY VICKY MOON
Betsy Davis bill-paying. “I still love to wrap and I’m very fast at it, but don’t get out on the floor very often.” Her primary role is in the accounting/finance side of the family business. Like Bridge (Trowbridge) Littleton, who succeeds her as Mayor July 1, Davis is a Middleburg native. Years ago, the two lived next door to each other and she thinks the world of the 43-year-old man whom she once babysat when he was a small child. “I describe him as the whole package,” she said. “Energetic, wellliked, well-respected. Bridge is just always ‘doing,’ always has an idea and wants to make the town better. I am thrilled – as both outgoing mayor and as a citizen.” “I’m not really politically inclined,” Davis said, adding that Council members (mayor included), “don’t run on party lines, we run as our individual selves. We are motivated to just get involved, help our town.” Her first exposure to planning and governance was through a hands-on “Our Town” workshop at the Middleburg Community Center. “It was really fun. We worked in groups at tables with big sheets of paper to draw out our vision of the ideal Middleburg.” What vision sketched by Davis and her group on that sheet of paper decades ago is hard to know. But it wouldn’t be surprising if it mirrored a statement included in her gracious farewell, posted on the Town of Middleburg website. “I am so very proud of how we have continued to grow and move forward with the times,” she wrote, “and yet have tried very hard to not lose our identity and charm.”
Come join us at the Fun Shop
June 14, 2018 Terry Bell is Retiring!!
Stop by to enjoy a piece of Cake, a drink and other goodies and Thank & reminisce with Terry about all the years she has served you, watched your children grow and become parents themselves!!
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REAL Estates:
Gone Away is set on a knoll with 360-degree breathtaking views, between Middleburg and The Plains on the Zulla Road. The main house at Gone Away has four bedrooms and seven bathrooms. This turn-key farm between Middleburg and The Plains is set on a knoll with 360-degree views. The exquisite home has been remodeled completely with attention to every detail. The main house has four bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Upon stepping inside to the gracious foyer, which runs the entire width of the house, one is greeted with the view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Formal and informal rooms on the main level make this an entertainer’s dream. The main level master suite opens onto the flagstone terrace and includes a luxurious bathroom with soaking tub, his and her vanities and private commodes, two walk-in closets and abundant storage. The chef ’s kitchen offers every imaginable amenity from the professional gas range, commercial 26
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Gone Away
refrigerator, to built in barista bar and wine coolers. The stone terrace, just off the kitchen, includes a second gas range, smoker, bar and terrace seating. The terrace provides covered and open seating areas, all designed to take in the far-reaching view. The swimming pool completes the outdoor entertaining package. The 83 acres are completely fenced and crossfenced, using the best conservation practices. Gone Away Farm received the John Marshall Water Conservancy Award for 2017. The land is protected by a VOF Conservation easement, so it enjoys reduced property taxes. The land includes four ponds, poultry yard, chef ’s garden and mature landscaping. For the equestrian, the farm offers two barns, a riding ring and three run in sheds. Located in the Orange County Hunt terri-
tory, the farm has miles of ride-out opportunities. A sophisticated security system and monitored gate ensure private enjoyment of the farm. The back-up generator insures comfort, even during a power outage. The offering includes a charming three-bedroom, two-bath farmhouse for a tenant or farm manager and a well-designed one-bedroom cottage close to the main house for guests. The location offers convenient access to either I-66 or the Dulles Toll Road if commuting is desired. A paved driveway leads to the home from Zulla Road, and is accessed through state-of- theart security gates. Listed $4,980,000, together with most furnishings by Emily Ristau of Thomas and Talbot Real Estate (540) 687-7710 and www.THOMAS-TALBOT. com.
1.
3.
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1. The chef’s kitchen offers every imaginable amenity from the professional gas range, commercial refrigerator, to built in barista bar and wine coolers. 2. For those who enjoy hosting guests, Gone Away is an entertainer’s dream. 3. There are numerous formal and informal rooms on the main level. 4. The 83 acres are completely fenced and cross-fenced and includes four ponds, poultry yard, chef’s garden and mature landscaping. 5. The terrace provides covered and open seating areas, all designed to take in the farreaching view.
5. Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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NOTICE
It’s Always Farm Fresh at
A S P H A LT PAV I N G
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We are currently paving in your area. With our crew and equipment close by, we are offering prompt service and reasonable rates to all area residents for a short time. Please call immediately if you are interested in having any asphalt paving done this year.
WE DO:
HOUSE DRIVEWAYS • PARKING LOTS FARM LANES • LONG LANES • DRIVEWAYS PRIVATE ROADS • PATCHWORK NEW HOMES GRADEWORK • SEAL COATING BASEWORK • ASPHALT MILLINGS Maybe you have a small area you would love to have blacktopped but you can’t afford to pave the whole thing right now. We install partial driveways. We can pave an area by your house just big enough to park your vehicles, or we can install as little as one load for you.
Tired of a Dust Bowl in the Summer and a Mud Hole in the Winter? Don’t Fuss ... CALL US!
Free Estimates • Fast Service • Quality Work Full-Service Asphalt Paving Please call John Donohue for a FREE ESTIMATE
(571) 255-9187
1843218 28
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Licensed and Insured
By Sophie Scheps In 2016, Elaine Boland and her daughter, Bernadette, opened up Side Saddle Café in Middleburg, serving true comfort food made from the highest quality ingredients and named for Bernadette’s passion for riding aside. The journey to their restaurant’s location began over a decade ago at their own Loudoun County family farm, Fields of Athenry. “At first we started out with two sheep,” said Bernadette. “My sister and I got them on Easter Sunday. We started selling eggs and lamb sausage at a farmer’s market in Purcellville.” The family became actively involved in 4-H and raised their animals on traditional, commercial feed. After dealing with different family illnesses, Elaine read a book by famed nutritionist Weston A. Price and switched their livestock to all grass-fed. Their whole family began to notice the effect of these higher quality proteins on their own health and Elaine began her mission to share this knowledge and her products with the greater community. In 2008, the Bolands opened up their farm store in the basement of their house and earned a large following. After the perfect space became available in Middleburg, they were ready to take their business plan to the next step. “We used to have the Middleburg Hunt point-to-point organizational meetings here, when it was the Fox’s Den,” Bernadette said. “We loved the fireplace, loved the coziness of it, and we always said, if this place ever became available, it would be such a cool place to have.” Now the café has grown to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, with happy hours featuring live music and, as of this past January, the farm store. Patrons can shop for local meats and other products that stock the freezer while they wait for a table. “It gets people questioning and talking,” said Bernadette. “It’s a good conversation starter.” The number one selling product is their bone broth, made from simmering meat bones and vegetables
PHOTOS BY SEBASTIAN LANGENBERG
Bernadette Boland for many hours until a rich broth full of vitamins and minerals develops. Drinking a cup a day has been linked to many health benefits, including helping with Lyme Disease. The family now raises a variety of animals on their own farm and leases about 600 acres throughout the area to supply their store and café. “We go through one or two whole steers a week and five to eight lambs a week,” said Elaine. “We probably butcher six to ten duck per week and two to three geese. We went through 600-700 turkeys last year. We have the feed mixed for us, it’s our recipe. No corn or soy, and it’s non-GMO. It’s taken us years to develop.” All the food served at the Side Saddle Café is organic and they’re expanding to include local produce, including potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes this year. The focus remains on offering food Elaine would serve to her family. No corners are ever cut. “We are committed to you,” said Elaine. “We are committed to this land and Loudoun County.” The Side Saddle Café is open Wednesday for lunch, Thursday for lunch and dinner, and Friday-Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each week features new specials made with seasonal ingredients.
GRANDVIEW
Spectacular custom home – 25 acres – excellent Warrenton Hunt location – incredible pool – main level master suite – breathtaking mountain views – more land available $2,100,000
WALNUT SPRINGS
Springs Road estate location - Two parcels 25 acres & 29 acres - very spacious English country house - main lvl master suite - 9 stall stable - $1,695,000
HORSE PACKAGE
Professional riding ring – 28-ac – board fencing – stable – large country house – separate in-law suite – pool $998,000
SPCA and Allen Real Estate have partnered to improve the lives of Fauquier County animals in need. Allen Real Estate makes a generous donation for every real estate transaction in the name of your family or pet.
OLD MILL FARM
BUILDING LOTS
WOODLAND RETREAT
COMING SOON
Timber frame house – 20 acres of rolling forest – frontage on Historic Carter’s Run – wide plank heart pine floors – beamed ceilings – sunporch - $549,000
540-229-1770
Hardwood floors on both levels - 4 fireplaces, fabulous covered porch and deck - work shop - front and back staircase - updated baths – DC side of Warrenton - $635,000
Allen Real Estate and SPCA
Extraordinary location in Warrenton Hunt - Superbly private yet three miles from Warrenton – one-level with pool - pristine pasture – Great Run running through$1,200,000
Joe Allen, Broker
WINDSOR RETREAT
ARBORVITAE
C. 1890 and 1935 – rare late medieval architecture – massive chimneys – unusual brick patterns – terraced gardens – 111 acres very convenient to Warrenton $2,200,000
TIMBER FRAME
Massive stone fp - pine, cherry and oak floors - Viking appliances – massive beams – lovely views - conservatory - pool with waterfall $1,100,000
Two parcels side-by-side – 8 acres each – road frontage on paved country road – approved 4 BR perc – wooded – light covenants - $179,000 each
Mid-Century Modern – private oasis on 6 acres – updated kitchen/baths – lovely hardwoods – stone fp – walking trails – 1BR guest house - $449,000
the Historic District • Est 1990 43 Culpeper Street • Warrenton, VA 20186
540-347-3838 • www.allenrealestate.com
Tray Allen, Broker
540-222-3838 Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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THOMAS & TALBOT REAL ESTA
DELAPLANE MEADOWS ~ 54.34 ACRES
UPPERViLLE HOUSE~ .64 ACRE
ROCKHAVEN ~ 27+ACRES
Agents:
Susie Ashcom Cricket Bedford Catherine Bernache Snowden Clarke John Coles Rein duPont Cary Embury Barrington Hall
30
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
MOUNT AiRy~ 120 ACRES
No. 2 SOUTH MAD P.O. BOX 500, MiDDLEB
TELEPHONE:
A STAUNCH ADVOCATE LAND AND ESTA
Phillip S. T
Celebrating his 56th
www.THOMAS
A Sales Record of H
ATE ATOKA RD ~ 1 ACRE
WiNDy RiDgE~ 81 ACRES
STONEWALL ~ ..23 ACRES
CREEK RiDgE~ 23.09 ACRES
DiSON STREET BURg, ViRgiNiA 20118
(540) 687-6500
E OF LAND EASEMENTS ATE AgENTS SiNCE 1967
Thomas, Sr.
h year in Real Estate.
S-TALBOT.com
Agents:
Julien Lacaze Anne V. Marstiller Brian McGowan Jim McGowan Mary Ann McGowan Rebecca Poston Emily Ristau
Historic Proportion
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
31
Outdoors is Where it Happens for John Pemberton
T
otal Sportsman Outfitter started as a dream of husband and wife team John and Sarah Pemberton, and has now become a full-fledged company. They provide everything from hands-on demonstrations, corporate events, organized hunts, and guided kayak tours. The Pembertons are locals through and through. “I’ve been a farrier in the area for 25 years,” said John Pemberton. “I grew up fox hunting and showing in the area. My daughter fox hunts and shows, my son plays polo. We’re very involved in the community here.” And so, it was only natural that the Pembertons would develop a business that both utilizes and helps to preserve local land. Growing up, Pemberton was always involved in all types of hunting. “A family friend taught me to deer hunt,” he said. “His name was Bill Compton and unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago. He was an amazing man; he was paralyzed and still got out hunting. It never let it stop him from doing anything. He was probably one of the best hunters I have ever known.” Pemberton took what others taught him and added his own intuitive twist. “I have some things I do fairly different,” he said. “I do things based off what I see the birds do on different properties. People set decoy rigs to try and guide them to the spot they want them, and I set decoys to look like the way birds have been
By Sebastian Langenberg
John Pemberton
PHOTO COURTESY
standing out in the field.” As Pemberton learned himself, he began to instruct others and the business started to form naturally from his love of teaching. It started as a waterfowl guide service, but quickly grew from there. It’s not just the Pembertons, but also their American Lab Retrievers, Max and Rosser, who retrieve the birds on command. “Max can be de-
scribed as a surgical tool,” Pemberton said. “Rosser is more blunt force trauma.” Today, members of their hunt club can hunt turkey, dove, deer and bear on the numerous properties the business rents in Loudoun and Fauquier counties. They currently have five fields planted with crops, the better to attract doves and other wildlife. Another one of their popular services is bowfishing trips, mostly because no experience is necessary. “By the end of the trip, not only do we have them shooting a bow, but we have them successfully shooting fish,” said Pemberton. Bow-fishing actually occurs at night, on a shallow boat with lights shining down into the water. The lights illuminate everything going on under the surface. “It’s really amazing to see all the fish and to see the ecosystem in action,” he said. “Especially coming from reel fishing, where you struggle some days to find fish, and then you go to bow-fishing, and there’s fish everywhere.” The business also continues to evolve. “We’re working on chartering trips to other locations and looking at fishing off the coast in the Outer Banks and in the Chesapeake Bay,” he said. Whether you’re looking for someone to guide you down the Shenandoah, or teach you how to hunt deer, Total Sportsman Outfitter is your onestop shop for all outdoor activities. Find out more on their website www.totalsportsman.com.
Celebrate with Experience & Taste
Farm to Kitchen to Table Fresh locally-inspired meals are just the beginning. From business receptions and weddings to intimate parties around town, À la Carte orchestrates your perfect event, personalized down to the last creative detail.
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Corporate n Weddings n Social n Picnics n Party 2 Go
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Country SpiritSpirit • Summer Country 9.5”2018 w x 5.87” h
May 2018 issue
Experience the Nation’s Most Advanced Indoor Shooting Range! Spacious floorplan with two customer lounges, a cafe, and a large retail area. Firearms training by some of the best instructors in the industry.
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We're open 7 days a week, 9 AM to 9 PM! eliteshootingsports.com 703-335-2750
FOLLOW US! Conveniently located off of I-66 and Prince William Pkwy 7751 Doane Dr, Manassas, VA 20109 Recreational Shooting | Defensive Training | Concealed Carry Courses | Firearms Training for Youth and Adults | Group and Corporate Events | Facility Services | and More! Country Spirit • Summer 2018
33
A Sparkling Idea
Brightens Enjoy our safe, friendly, and beautiful 500-acre campus!
Friends of Foxcroft Spring Forward to Summer Fun & Fitness
Tennis Membership & Lessons $200 (summer) $400 (annual)
(private, semi-private, and group lessons are offered as a separate option and cost) Contact: karin.thorndike@foxcroft.org
Join both & save $100
Pool Membership & Lessons
Fun for the whole family! $300
(private, semi-private, and group lessons are offered as a separate option and cost)
Contact: karin.thorndike@foxcroft.org
Fitness Center Membership (Women Only)
$350 (annual)
* State-of-the-art cardio equipment * Weight-training machines & free weights * Stationary bikes * Indoor track Contact: michelle.woodruff@foxcroft.org 22407 Foxhound Land Middleburg, VA 20118
540.687.555 www.foxcroft.org/auxiliary_programs
34
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Seniors Lives By Leonard Shapiro
Patty Arwine, a precocious fifth grader at Middleburg’s Hill School, was in the car one morning last fall heading toward campus when she turned to her mom and said she’d just come up with a “sparkling” idea. She’d been thinking, as only 11-year-olds can think, about her late grandfather, Joe Arwine, and how she might be able to make a difference in the lives of other senior citizens. Joe had lived in the family’s home until he’d passed away five years earlier when Patty was only six. He was deaf, but she and Joe had their own way of communicating and had forged a special bond she still vividly recalls. “He was adopted from Alaska and hadn’t seen his own father and mother since he was very young,” Patty said. “We were his PHOTO BY LEONARD SHAPIRO only relatives. He had a nice Patty Arwine room in our house and a lot of photos all around, but it was still kind of gloomy. It’s something that stayed with me. “So I woke up that morning with this idea. I thought senior citizens could use more conversations with kids, and for us to let them know they’re not forgotten and still are a large part of our community. Maybe find someone who doesn’t have a lot of people
around them. My idea was to let younger students have conversations with them through letters and drawings and give them some sparkle.” Patty’s eyes sparkled constantly as she spoke about the implementation of that idea. At Hill, it became a reality with a now school-wide project called “Letters For Hope.” Students in every class, from junior kindergarten to the eight grade, have been writing letters and cards or drawing pictures that are then sent to three senior citizens. They include a former longtime Hill teacher, the father of another teacher, and the grandfather of a fifth-grader. The project eventually will begin sending similar letters of hope to residents in nearby assisted living facilities, nursing homes and hospitals. There’s a box in the front lobby of Hill’s main building where many of those letters, including some from faculty and staff members, are submitted, then eventually sent to recipients in a separate decorated box. Some students put pictures of themselves with their letters, others write inspirational messages, and hearts are frequently drawn on the notes or envelopes. Patty gave a rousing speech about her idea before a student assembly a few months ago—and yes, she used the “sparkle” word that day, as well. The project also was mentioned on Hill’s Facebook page, and apparently was noticed by someone on the staff of Northern Virginia Congresswoman Barbara Comstock. Her office sent out special certificates of appreciation to Patty and the student members of her committee who meet every week, write five generic letters each themselves, and have helped her implement her idea. And on Tuesday, April 24, those students met and spoke with Comstock at her invitation in her Washington office, spent 15 minutes with her, then took a tour of the Capitol Building led by one of her Congressional staffers. Kelly Johnson, Hill’s director of enrollment, immediately signed on as the group’s faculty advisor after Patty came to her with that initial idea. “She told me she wanted to bring hope and sparkle to people’s lives,” Johnson recalled. “How do you not love that? I said of course I’d be happy to do it, but she doesn’t really need much help. I told her mom this girl is going to change the world. She inspires people to be better. And at that age, it’s just so remarkable.” Carmen Arwine, Patty’s mother and a former second grade teacher, said “it’s been really cool to watch it evolve. That’s what’s so great about Hill. They allowed her to act on her idea. They gave her the freedom to make it happen, and that’s such a gift. It’s something so simple but it can make such a difference. You don’t need money, you don’t need a computer.” Apparently, all you really need is just one little girl’s sparkling idea. “It’s about making other people happy,” Patty Arwine said. “And that makes me happy.”
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Patty Arwine and her classmates visited Rep. Barbara Comstock in April. Front Row: Lilah Weisberg, Patty Arwine, Ally Blunt, Flora Warr, Ella Johnson, Audrey Quinn, Maya Caballero, Maddie Bryson. Back Row: Maddie Johns, Kelly Johnson and Congresswoman Barbara Comstock.
8255 East Main Street Marshall, VA 20115 mdvip.com/NorrisRoystonMD
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
35
A Cup of Coffee
Saratoga Has Always Been So Special By Sean Clancy
Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist Red Smith said it best. “From New York City you drive north for about 175 miles, turn left on Union Avenue and go back 100 years.” Those were Smith’s directions to Saratoga Springs, New York, home of the best Thoroughbred racing in this country (world!). This summer, Saratoga opens July 20 and runs through Labor Day. The purists say 40 days of racing is too long and perhaps they’re right, as turf writer Joe Palmer—right up there with Smith for me—once wrote, “Saratoga has kept on with its quiet ways, and its reward is that a little of the old time yet lingers. A man who would change it would stir champagne.” Racing six days a week, two nights of highdollar drama at the yearling sales, morning sunrises, languid breakfasts, lingering nightcaps, all in the crisp, Adirondack air—Saratoga has it all. For Thoroughbred participants, it’s Showtime, a chance to put your hand on the table, see what you’ve got compared to the rest of the world. Are you right or are you wrong? There’s nothing like the clarity of a finish line or an auctioneer’s gavel; careers are made and broken right there in
the sales ring or on the racing oval. As owners and trainers agonize over their decisions, their moves, racing fans salivate over their potential, their performance. When I was a kid, Saratoga was summer. My brother, sister and I would pile into the horse van in the middle of the night (Dad said Sean Clancy the horses shipped better at night) and pile out on the loading chute outside the barn. Old jumpers with names to match – Town And Country, Odd Man, Smokum Scout – would walk off the van and into the cauldron. We walked Dad’s horses under the trees, rode our bikes (no shoes, no helmets, cut-off jean shorts) to breakfast, opened a lemonade stand one summer, swam in the quarries outside town, ripped our hands and knees on the alpine slides in Vermont, spilled spaghetti on our Searsucker at the Italian place with the blue awnings. Some kids had Disney World, we had Saratoga. We won
a few, lost a bunch and made summers last forever. I rode steeplechase races at Saratoga for 13 years. Same thing, winning a few and losing a bunch, Hokan upset the New York Turf Writers Cup in 1998, the best day of my career. When I retired in 2000, it was an easy decision, I was ready, an old man in a young man’s game, I didn’t have any other questions to answer, well, except for one. How do I get back to Saratoga? How do I get to spend the whole summer in Saratoga? That’s when The Saratoga Special came to life, a daily racing newspaper that’s chronicled the sport since 2001. It’s madness, brilliant madness. Early mornings, epic afternoons, late nights, all sprinkled in and around arduous deadlines. So come see and read us this summer. The Saratoga Special is particularly popular at the Morning Line Kitchen on the backstretch of Saratoga every morning. Grab a coffee and a copy, walk to the rail, watch and—most importantly—feel, the horses amble past, the sun come up, slicing through the mist and you’ll know what Smith, Palmer and all the greats were talking about when they talked about Saratoga. In a few months, I’ll pack the car, leave the garden to overgrow, say a teary goodbye to Annie and Miles and drive north, turn left on Union Avenue and, yes by God, go back 100 years.
Scenic Shenandoah River Properties in the Prime Hunt Country of the Blue Ridge
Lighton • 3072 Swift Shoals Road, Boyce VA 22620 • $1,250,000
•Nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Hunt, this charming home encompasses 25 acres of sweeping lawn, lush pastures with boarded fence •From the columned front porch, one enters into the gracious foyer with curved staircase •The formal living room features a wood burning fireplace •Formal dining room with bay window •Old oak panel den with fireplace •Library custom built book shelves •Kitchen with large granite island and generous counter space •Large windows encompass the breakfast nook
Highlands • 3056 Swift Shoals Road, Boyce VA • $895,000
• Set on a hill overlooking rolling pastures with views of the Blue Ridge Mountains this 28 acres is located in the _ Blue Ridge Hunt • First floor master suite with soaking tub • Spacious open kitchen, living dining area, breakfast area, _ dining room, high ceiling • Three additional bedrooms upper level • Lower level is finished with a bedroom, walk-in closet __and full bath • Recreation Room, with plenty of storage and outside _ _ _ access with full house generator • Other property on 25 acres is available adjacent to this __property please see MLS# CL10198994
Maureen Cunningham Realtor® M: 540-454-7101 O: 540-454-7101 www.momomoves.com 36
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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The Auctioneer’s Chant is Brian Damewood’s Muse By M.J. McAteer
Brian Damewood’s profession is not something learned from books. It entails both sales and entertainment, and substantial sums of money. It’s also conducted at warp speed. He works in barnyards or ballrooms, meaning he might be in boots and jeans one day, a tuxedo the next. His coworkers are known as “ring men.” If you happen to know that a “ring man” is an auction bid spotter, then you’ve guessed that Damewood is a professional auctioneer. As a self-professed generalist, Damewood is highly visible in this area, often selling all manner of personal property, including automobiles, real estate, machinery, farm equipment, and antiques. His biggest auction: the sale of a $2 million farm. His largest audience was 2,000. The shortest had three items and ended after 10 minutes. Damewood comes by his trade naturally, if not, at first, willingly. His father, Craig, has been an auctioneer since the ’70s, and still runs Damewood Auctioneers in Purcellville. A decade ago, when Damewood, now 32, was fresh out of college, he wanted to shape his own identity and, with photogenic good looks, his choice was to become a TV newsman. Unfortunately, he hated the job. He believed many of his stories were unnecessarily hurtful, and that bothered him—a lot. He told his fiancée, Catherine, he wanted to quit and she took it well, he said. Now married, they have a two-year-old daughter, and Damewood has become a vital part of the family business.
Brian Damewood
PHOTO BY M.J. MCATEER
“Whether we’re helping people move on to another stage of their lives, or helping a nonprofit stay functioning for another year, we provide a service,” he said. “That’s a positive thing.” Damewood started out as his father’s apprentice. First, he was a ring man, requiring an eagle eye and the ability to push people to bid higher-affably, of course. A good ring man possesses a theatrical flourish to keep everyone entertained and energized. He also must make sure momentum never flags.
These days, Damewood attributes much of his success to his regular ring men--Sam “The Hitman” Grasso, Ike Swart, and Hunter Raines— and to the crackerjack office crew that keeps it all running smoothly. Damewood had to become proficient at many skills before he could graduate to auctioneer, from dealing with unruly buyers and difficult sellers to developing expertise about the wide array of items he sells. The most exotic skill of all involved the ability to do “the chant,” that fast-as-a-blur delivery of the amount currently bid (“the have”) and the bid sought (“the want”). It took many hours of numbers drills and counting practice to own the chant. “You’ve got to do it over and over again,” he said. “It has to be like breathing—involuntary.” In May, Damewood did two major fundraisers in Middleburg, the Hill School’s annual auction and the Middleburg Humane Foundation’s Blue Jean Ball at the Middleburg Community Center, where about 170 guests dressed in fancy cowboy boots and hats, and evening wear dined on Southern comfort food. By evening’s end, the Humane Foundation had raised twice as much as it did last year. “Without Brian, honestly, we would not have the numbers we have,” said Melanie Burch, the director of development. “Brian has a way of getting the asking amount to quantities that are comfortable for everyone in the room.” Perhaps that’s because Damewood himself has found a career that he finds comfortable. “I love a live auction,” he said. “My job is very fun.”
Griffin & Errera Orthodontics Culpeper • Warrenton • Middleburg
38
Over 40 years of experience! 179 Broadview Avenue Warrenton, VA 20186 Ph: 540-347-1888
Adults & Children 107 W Federal Street #14 Middleburg, VA 20118 Ph: 540-687-4000
info@geortho.com
www.geortho.com
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Thanks for a great Virginia Gold Cup! Hope to see you back this fall!
80th running of
pari-mutuel betting bring your cash!
October 27, 2018 vagoldcup.com
RACES RUN RAIN OR SHINE GATES OPEN AT 10AM.
First of eight races at 12 noon Questions, please call 540.347.2612 Country Spirit • Summer 2018
39
Lynn Wiley Likes To Sell The Quality Of Life By Leonard Shapiro
Working in the local real estate business for most of the last 30 years, Lynn Wiley always has to laugh when one of her home-seeking clients asks her if it’s really necessary to have an interest in horses before moving to the heavenly hunt country of Virginia. No, she answers them, not at all. Instead, she talks about her own experience since she relocated from her native Roanoke to The Plains in Fauquier County. “I was showing a house to a woman coming out here from Great Falls and she said ‘can you live out here and not have a horse?” Wiley recalled. “I said ‘absolutely, and I’m proof ’… When you move here, life is not going to come knock on your door. You have to go find it, whether it’s horses, or being involved with the church or so many other things this whole community has to offer. It’s just a wonderful place to live.” For many years, Wiley ran her own real estate agency in The Plains with her husband Jim, until he retired several years ago. She’s now with Washington Fine Properties, and has taken full advantage of so many benefits the surrounding community offers. That does include horses, but in a different sort of way. For the last few years, she’s been on the board of the Middleburg Spring Races. When its chairman, Lauren Woolcott, asked her to
Lynn Wiley
PHOTO BY CROWELL HADDEN
join, Wiley said she told her “I really don’t know anything about horses. She said to me ‘but you know people.’ This year, we lost our staff in January, so everyone on the board had to take a job. I did the program, sold the advertising, for the first time ever.” She’s also extremely active in the local con-
High Speed Internet Solutions for Rural Areas
servation and preservation movement as a board member of the Piedmont Environmental Council and now chairman of its development committee. “I don’t like asking for money,” she said, “but I do like gathering people and getting things done.” One of the most important things she helped get done several years ago involved Dominion Power trying to install new power lines that would have come right down Interstate 66, threatening the bucolic countryside all around. Wiley asked her friend, actor Robert Duvall, who also lives in The Plains on a farm she once sold him, if he would host a fundraiser to help fight the power company. “We made $180,000 that night,” she said. “More than 450 people showed up. Dominion had been a thorn in our side, but they moved the lines. They don’t come through here.” In addition to the equine question, many clients also often ask Wiley if urban sprawl will, at some point, creep west and reach the still mostly pristine countryside. “My answer is as long as you elect a board of supervisors with that [conservation/preservation] in mind, you’ll be okay,” she said. “If that changes, you’ll be threatened. So far, so good, as opposed to Loudoun and Prince William. I just can’t understand how so many municipalities would let some people’s greed outweigh the quality of life, because once you lose that, it’s gone forever.”
MIDDLEBURG COMMON GROUNDS
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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He isn’t a Time Lord but he may well be the very last of his kind: a healer who makes house calls – to cure whatever ails your computer.
Doktor Who? By Mara Seaforest Born into the uneasy technological renaissance of Cold War Berlin, Klaus Füschel grew up rigging wires on rooftops to pick up American television programs. As a teen, he tested the limits of every new electronic device that came along; he knew his way around the circuits of the future and navigated them with ease. As a young man, success brought him a bonus with Virginia Palmer, a beautiful young woman who had traveled to Berlin from Fauquier County, to pursue a doctorate in musicology. Sparks flew and before long, Klaus was married, raising three children in the wedding district of the German capital, and practicing his wizardry at Siemens. The young family heard the universe call. They packed up their satchels in response and found themselves in New Jersey. The universe has a sense of humor and so does Klaus. “The best thing about New Jersey is that it’s a lot closer to Fauquier County than Berlin.” The more he visited the gentle Virginia countryside, the more he loved it. All Fauquier County lacked was a major international corporation like Siemens in need of a wizard. “But,” says Klaus,” there were hundreds of small businesses and interesting people with home offices all using a crazy range of computer systems with a habit of breaking down or being hard for users to figure out.” That was music to Klaus’s ears.
He rebranded himself “Dok Klaus Computer Care” and opened his practice as a doctor: a specialist who makes house calls. Even when his diagnosis begins with “I’m sorry; I’m so sorry,” he always has a cure up his sleeve. And that makes life worth living for those of us in Country Spirit country who live with computers. Past and present clients have given Dok Klaus Computer Care five-star reviews via several different online review sites. A typical reviewer will mention how their computer broke down at a critical moment in a lifeor-death project and how The Doktor saved the day.
The Doktor is in
Dok Klaus loves Middleburg and enjoys his visits to the village. If you have an ailing computer, or a new one whose mysteries you need help figuring out, Dok Klaus will arrange a visit for triage, on-site treatment or useful advice for ongoing home care. He doesn’t have a Tardis but he does have the technology to manage many problems remotely as well. If time is an issue, pack up your electronic patient and drive it to the “clinic” at 335 Waterloo Street in Warrenton, where Klaus and his staff perform their restorative magic from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturdays. From anywhere in Fauquier County and nearby settlements, message Dok Klaus, klaus@dokklaus.com, or call him at 540-428-2376.
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The Chai Jazz Trio with Randy Martono-Chai recently performed at an evening of classic jazz at Buchanan Hall in Upperville. MartonoChai, the son of missionaries, emigrated from Taiwan to California “to be raised in the American life.” An award-winning flute, organ, and piano player, he received a dual degree in Music Performance and Jazz Studies from the Shenandoah Conservatory. He is currently the Music Director for Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax and an instructor with the Piedmont Community School of Music in Upperville.
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
MR. PING AND MR.PONG For anyone attending the races at Charles Town on April 15, if you thought you were seeing double, you were. Mr. Ping and Mr. Pong, shown here in the receiving barn, ran in the fourth race. The chestnut twins, just one day shy of their three-year-old birthday, were bred by John Casey and are by Denis of Cork out of Washingtonian by Domestic Dispute. They finished in fifth and sixth place in a 4½ furlong maiden claiming race. And oh, trained by Larry Curtis of Middleburg. PHOTOS TO COADY PHOTOGRAPHY.
The Upperville United Methodist Church recently held its first annual Spring Weiner Roast. The event included a concert featuring the Ashby Run Bluegrass band, hot dogs, baked beans, cole slaw, chips and desserts. Shown here L to R: Donna Lloyd, Larry Lloyd, Mike Neish, Pat Kelley, Jack Wood, Ed Johnson, Pastor John Kelley and Luke Grimmelbein. PHOTO BY LEONARD SHAPIRO
Anne Sittmann Arundel on behalf of the Side Saddle Chase Foundation (SSCF) presents a donation check to Dan Studnicky, director of individual giving of the Land Trust Alliance in Washington, D.C. at the SSCS’s benefit Gala on Saturday April 14, at Tranquility Farm in Purcellville. PHOTO BY MIDDLEBURG PHOTO
ARTISTS IN MIDDLEBURG Sandy Danielson, executive director of Artists in Middleburg on West Washington Street hosted and mounted a student exhibition from Middleburg Montessori, Claude Thompson Elementary and Foxcroft. Joy Wu, class of 2020 at Foxcroft exhibited her digital print “Library Shapes” which was taken inside the Audrey Currier Library. She was inspired by the lines and patterns in the space. Music to roam the gallery by was provided by Emory Hill and Addie Hill from the Community Music School of the Piedmont. PHOTO BY VICKY MOON
All Tickets $10 at the Door For More information, visit www.aplacetobeva.org Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Pam Dickson: Spreading By Leonard Shapiro
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Pam Dickson has taken loving care of her clients’ dogs and cats for over five decades at her Fursman Kennels near Middleburg. She’s also brought joy to countless children and their parents, as well as wounded warriors and their families, with a selfless commitment to performing good deeds any way she can. Her incredible dogs have been with her every woof of the way. In the beginning, there was Rocky, then Treasure Chest, followed by Treasure Two and in recent years Breezy. She trained them to perform a wide array of tricks and tasks, and then she took them to schools, hospitals and rehab facilities to strut their stuff and be available for hugs and cuddles. Over the years, with the help of “my incredible clients and friends”
she’s also raised funds for many important causes, including much-needed medical equipment for local hospitals. When she visits sick children, there are toys for one and all, most contributed by her countless supporters. Dickson came to the U.S. from her native England in 1965, the better to recover from the emotional trauma of losing her father. Growing up on a farm in tiny Little Penn in Staffordshire—“one pub, one post office,” she said—she’d always wanted to visit America. She knew no one, but on her first trip, she was determined to meet a famous English polo player she’d read about, John Gordon Bennett, who lived at Rutledge Farm in Middleburg. She knocked on his door one day, and he offered her a job, which she later accepted. Before long, she was looking for a place to open a kennel.
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Joy One Bark at a Time A local real estate agent showed her the property where she now lives, but at the time “this was the dirtiest, filthiest place on God’s earth.” Still, seeing the possibilities, Dickson rented it for $30 a month, then began cleaning it up herself. Not long after she purchased it, Fursman Kennels was launched and soon was flourishing under the direction of a woman who treats every boarded animal on the property as if it was her own. Rocky was her first American dog, purchased for $35 in Marshall. “I’d always dreamed about having a good dog to train like Rin Tin Tin,” she said. “I trained him to do everything. If you were drowning, he’d rescue you. If you were lost, he would find you. I started taking him to schools and he’d do a 30-minute performance.” It’s been like that with all her dogs over the years, and “it cannot just be
any dog,” Dickson said. “It has to be special. You want an eye-catcher, big and strong, but also quiet and loves to be touched. Sick children can do anything with my dogs, and the dogs are happy and want to do this kind of work. Their tails are wagging and their eyes light up.” As she talks about them all, her eyes light up as well. She’s been recovering in recent months since fracturing both her legs in a freak accident at the kennel. But Breezy and Dickson should soon be back at at schools and hospitals, spreading joy wherever they go. “A lot of these children, they’ve never even touched a dog,” Dickson said. “I love to do it, and the dogs love to do it. It’s really just amazing what dogs can do for people.” And what Pam Dickson can do for dogs. And people, too.
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Leesburg Fitness Center with By Leonard Shapiro A golf-cart catastrophe seven years ago has turned into a gift that will keep on giving as long as Freddie Hetzel has anything to do with it. And he’s had plenty to do with it, because a near fatal accident in 2011 that left him a quadriplegic also allowed him to find a purpose in his life far beyond dealing with his own injury. Hetzel was heading to the driving range at the River Creek golf course near Leesburg that day when his cart tipped on an embankment, rolled over him as he tried to jump clear, then pinned him under water in a nearby pond. Fortunately, help arrived just in time to rescue him. His C4 vertebra was dislodged and his spinal cord damaged, but not severed, and he was in surgery for six hours. As he said in a recent interview, “your life changes forever.” There were months of hospitalization and rehabilitation, and Hetzel learned that the more he moved, even if it meant walking with a harness holding him upright, the stronger he got. His insurance eventually ran out, he said, when it appeared that he wasn’t making more significant progress. But Hetzel, a long time Leesburg resident and the son of a former pro basketball player, was fortunate enough to have a strong family and friend support system and was the beneficiary of a significant local fundraising effort. About five years ago, Hetzel started raising money himself in order to build a therapy facility that could meet the needs of similarly injured individuals, as well as victims of stroke, multiple sclerosis, brain trauma and other disabilities. The culmination of those efforts
came last Sept. 1 with the opening of Leesburg’s Ability Fitness Center on the 17-acre Paxton campus of the Arc of Loudoun, a non-profit with multiple programs and services for children and adults with disabilities, and their families.
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Mike Erheart, who has MS, works on a leg machine at Ability Fitness Center in Leesburg. “The body is not designed to just sit on its rear end all day,” Hetzel said.“It needs to move.” Ability uses state-of-the-art equipment to make that happen, and also has a tireless and masterful physical therapist, Helen Parker, to coordinate programs and work with patients. There are now 23 clients, some on “scholarships” to help defray the $500 per month cost not always covered by insurance. Mike Erheart of Manassas, has MS, leaving him, he said, “with stiff legs so I can’t walk very well. I started here in January and I couldn’t bend them. With this equipment, now I can, and I’ve come a long way.” So has Hetzel since he initially started dreaming about starting the center. “When Fred was injured, he rehabbed at some of the best places in the country,” Parker said. “He
realized there weren’t many places that had the equipment he needed to help him progress. Fred and his friends said this was a venture worth working toward. And now, it’s just a super cool thing to watch.” Hetzel lives near the course where he was injured. He’s a 2000 graduate of the University of Richmond’s law school initially involved in land development and still works part-time for a local home builder. He uses the center Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and continues to raise money to purchase more equipment and provide financial aid. “A lot of people in this situation, it just drains their finances,” he said. “They need help, but they can’t afford it. We’re trying to do something about it. We’re in our infancy, but I believe we’re going to change a lot of lives and make a difference for a lot of families.”
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Gaucher Making Impact on Middleburg’s Economic Development By Leslie VanSant
“Economic development isn’t about buying, it’s about shopping,” said Jamie Gaucher, the Business and Economic Development Director for the Town of Middleburg. In one simple sentence, Gaucher (pronounced ‘GoShay’) summed up the philosophy that underpins his approach to economic development: the importance of the social experience. Gaucher joined the town’s professional staff in July, 2017. Since then, he’s spent his time getting to know the rhythms, places and people that are Middleburg. Standing 6-foot-4, people notice Gaucher when he enters the room. His firm handshake combined with an easy-going manner instantly put people at ease. When he speaks, his intensity and passion for his work are instantly evident. With more than 20 years experience, Gaucher is new to Middleburg but not economic development. Before moving to Virginia’s Piedmont last year, he and his wife lived in Vermont, and prior to that, West Virginia. Most recently, he’d been working in Middlebury, Vermont. Sitting outside at Common Grounds, Gaucher explained his non-traditional approach to helping
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
PHOTO BY VICKY MOON
Middleburg’s Business and Economic Development Director, Jamie Gaucher recently announced workshops are planned for members of the Middleburg Business and Professional Association and others. A number of seminars on digital and online marketing are in the works. The announcement was made at the May 8 Biz Buzz meeting held at Sonabank on West Washington Street. communities build their economic futures. Traditional economic development focuses primarily on the tax base, so bringing in businesses that will improve that bottom line is
the first consideration. He views his work more as a social experiment, helping a community thrive by making a strategy that fits with the soul of the place and managing change that is inevitable. “Middleburg is a strong town because it is not a colonial economy, meaning that capital is kept in this community,” he said. “The business owners are here, we have four banks in town which helps, and, of course, multiple wealth management service providers.” Gaucher went on to list the additional strengths of the town, including its cultural infrastructure, and what he sees as the often overlooked education component—Hill School, Foxcroft, Middleburg Academy and the Middleburg Charter School. He views the schools as the area’s largest employers, and their extended local alumni as an untapped resource for the town. “The Christmas Parade is unlike any other parade I have ever seen,” he said. “Watching the horses, riders and hounds come down the street is something people want to experience.” Building on that experience, with the goal of wanting people to live, work and play here guides his work, and will continue to drive it when
Mayor-elect Bridge Littleton takes office on July 1. According to Gaucher, the biggest challenge facing Middleburg is the lack of diversity, which he explains in relation to housing, retail, infrastructure, restaurants and more. “There is abundant office space at different price points available in town right now,” he said. “But housing is a real challenge that is recognized at all levels. There is a limited geography, but we are exploring all the options.” One such option under consideration is Federal Street. Gaucher said exploring redevelopment options that prioritize mixed use—creating a place where people can work, live and play—are critical for long-term success. The next step will be finding companies that fit within that cultural infrastructure. Gaucher is also helping the town’s established businesses address the issues facing them. “We’re hosting a job fair and a digital and technology training session, both free, to help meet the needs of our current businesses,” he said. “This is something we’ll all be doing together—businesses, residents, visitors—keeping Middleburg vibrant.”
An Elegant Gala on the Side PHOTOS BY MIDDLEBURG PHOTO
Alexandra Arabak, Hannah Debeljak, Bernadette Boland and Patrick Burns. The Side Saddle Chase Foundation’s Benefit Gala took place at the elegant Tranquility Farm near Purcellville. The evening’s events began at the field stone manor house with an oyster and Prosecco welcome with music by the Atoka Springs Duo. There also was a Maker’s Mark tasting with Rob Johnston, dressed to the nines in a formal kilt, complete with the proper accessories. Gala guests moved on to the party barn festooned with spring flowers, twinkling lights and a tempting array of silent auction and vendor items from GoodSport by Sally Lowe and Grey Horse Saddlery during a cocktail hour with appetizers. A buffet dinner was followed by music and dancing featuring DJ Lindy. Catherine Kerkam and Bryan Benitz, Jr.
George Bethel and Danielle Quinn
Suzanne and Ted Lauer
Rob Johnston discusses Makers Mark whiskey Tranquility Farm
Maggie Johnston, Ashley Russell, Anne Sittman Arundel, Bernadette Bolan, Hannah Debeljak, Devon Zebrovious, Alexandra Arabak, Sarah Hansard and Robin Somers-Strom Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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& PHOTO BY VICKY MOON
PHOTO BY MIDDLEBURG PHOTO
In a typically thrilling Gold Cup, a grueling four-mile timber race, the eight-year-old chestnut Zanclus prevailed in a field of six. L to R: Virginia’s Secretary of Agriculture Bettina Ring, jockey Kieran Norris with trainer Neil Morris behind, owner Sara Collete (in white hat) and husband Bruce Collete of Pageland Farm in Casanova, sharing The Gold Cup with Sophie Vella and Celeste Vella in blue.
Cate Magennis Wyatt was recently elected to chair the Great Meadow Foundation Board Of Trustees in The Plains.
THIS PHOTO BY VICKY MOON
PHOTO BY VICKY MOON
Bunny Mellon’s Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) has unveiled a bronze replica statue of Paul Mellon’s famed racehorse, Mill Reef. It now stands on the Upperville farm in the very same courtyard where the original sculpture by John R. Skeaping, R.A. once stood. Mill Reef, named after the Mill Reef Club in Antigua where the Mellons owned property. Mill Reef was foaled in 1968 at Rokeby Stables. The great turf horse horse was trained by Ian Balding in Europe. He won 12 of 14 races including: the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes, and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The private OSGF was established by Mrs. Mellon: “to support and inspire fresh thinking and bold action on the history and future of plants, including the art and culture of gardens and landscapes.” 50
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Robin Richards accepted a crystal bowl award as the breeder of Just Call Kenny, the 2017 Champion Virginia Bred Older Horse, at the 40th Annual Virginia Thoroughbred Awards (VTA) on the eve of The Gold Cup. VTA Executive Director Debbie Easter presented the award. Other locals honored included Audley Farm Equine, Diana and Bert Firestone, Lauren and Renè Woolcott and the late Oliver Iselin III.
Robert Duvall, our favorite Academy Award-winning actor, was among those gathered for a bit of tailgate activity at The Gold Cup while his wife, Luciana Pedraza, took a photo as hostess Robin Keys looks on. Also of note: Mr. Duvall was recently honored at a Gala Reception to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Scenic Virginia in Richmond. He was presented The Richmonds Medal by HRH Prince Richard, The Duke of Gloucester, for his devotion to conservation in Virginia.
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PHOTO BY LEONARD SHAPIRO
Harriet and David Condon at the Piedmont Regional Art Show & Sale at Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains.
PHOTO BY MIDDLEBURG PHOTO
At the Hill School Auction, the theme was Cosmic Celebration. Just ask Jan Lehman, Joyce Koons, Angela Killinger and Krister Killinger.
THAT
The Middleburg Tennis Club recently broke ground for a new indoor court facility expected to be up and running later this year. Pictured left to right: Drew Arnett, Steve Diehl, Max Clatterbuck, Tim Whitacre, Paul Mayer, Anthony Pinkard, Holder Trumbo, Joe Spytek, Trevor Scott, Vaughn Gatling, Katylou Gray, Arch Moore, Dale Schulz, Keith St. Germain, Anne Walker, Kevin Brundle, Bill Stern, Tara Wegdam, Jay Wood, David Leudemann, Bethann Mascatello. Kids: Gavin and Leah Flemming.
Jack Doyle rode Bob Kinsley’s Lyonell to victory in the $75,000 Temple Gwathmey 2½ mile Hurdle Grade II Stakes Race for trainer Elizabeth Voss at the Middleburg Spring Race meet at Glenwood Park. PHOTO BY CROWELL HADDEN
PHOTO COURTESY
Sally Price, executive director of the Land Trust of Virginia (LTV) and Chairman Chris Dematatis recently welcomed over 300 guests to the organization’s 20th annual Garden Party at Rose Marie Bogley’s Peace and Plenty Farm at Bollingbrook in Upperville. Jacqueline B. Mars was honored as Conservationist of the Year for Leadership and Lifetime Achievement and Mike Smith was named Landowner of the Year. PHOTO BY LEONARD SHAPIRO
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Jimmy Wofford with Bill Steinkraus
Bill Steinkraus: A Hall of Fame Rider, Writer and Friend By Jim Wofford
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The late, great Bill Steinkraus showed his Hall of Fame equestrian talent early in his life, winning both the ASPCA Maclay Trophy and the Good Hands Finals (the saddle seat national championships) at Madison Square Garden in 1941. That same year, he entered Yale to begin his college education until World War II interrupted both his riding and educational plans. He joined the 124th Cavalry Regiment, did his initial military training at Fort Riley, Kansas, and served in the China-Burma-India Theater until 1945. Like most combat survivors, he rarely spoke of his war experiences. He did once mention that the only positive thing he learned from war was that, despite grinding fatigue and horrible conditions, he could always “put one foot in front of the other.” Bill returned to Yale after the war, graduating in 1949. He studied the writings of Gen. Harry D. Chamberlin during this time, and told me that Chamberlin had a major influence on his own riding and teaching. In the fall of 1952, returning home from his first Olympics, in Helsinki, Finland, Bill was a member of the U.S. Nations Cup team at the National Horse Show then held every November at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Bill’s ride that year was Democrat, quite a horse. He was Col. F. (Fuddy) Wing’s ride in the 1948 London Olympic Games, and competed on the 1952 bronze medal team with Capt. John Russell. In November, 1952, Bill quickly established himself when he and Democrat jumped the whole week without a knockdown. He won every individual class he entered with Democrat at the Garden that year. They also won every individual class at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (then an international show) and the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. No wonder Bill later remarked, “Democrat was probably the most generous horse I have ever ridden.” During his riding career, Bill maintained an even temperament, never seeming in a hurry, never flustered, always cool and composed. Bert de Némethy once remarked to me that he had to “jump up and down and wave the American flag at him” to get Bill to call on his horse for extraordinary exertions to support a team effort. I believe Bill could tell when his horse was having a good day and reacted accordingly. His long-time traveling groom, Dennis Haley, loved Snowbound, Bill’s 1968 gold medal-winning mount, almost as much as he loved Bill. Dennis told me that during the USET show-jumping team’s European tours, he would stand at the in-gate after Bill warmed up for a jump-off. It
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PHOTO BY VICKY MOON
Bill Steinkraus with fellow U.S. Equestrian Team members Neil Shapiro and Joe Fargis at the Aachen, Germany Horse Show in 1972. Coach Bert deNemethy and a horse show official in front. didn’t always happen, but if Bill looked at him and winked, Dennis would immediately turn to a groom from a foreign team and bet on “Cap’n Billy.” Dennis told me he paid his considerable bar-bill with his winnings. Bill’s feel for his horse partly explains the extraordinary effort he and Snowbound produced to win their gold medal in Mexico City. In his early 40s by then, Bill must have realized Snowbound was having a good day, and it was now or never for his individual career. Bill was famous for his style, and the effortless, flowing way his horses went around the course. But on that day, over the biggest show jumping course that will ever be built (the rules have since been changed), Bill ignored smooth and flowing for as dramatic a display of “git ‘er done” as I’ve ever watched. One of the many ways he improved the horse world was in leading the reorganization of the FEI leadership structure. An important part of that effort was in the imposition of term limits on members and officers. Any study of Bill’s life would be incomplete if it did not mention his writing ability. A major part of his success during that period of much-needed change at the FEI was his ability to write clear and convincing papers in
defense of our proposals. His two books on riding, “Riding and Jumping,” published in 1961, and “Reflections on Riding and Jumping” (1991), are both marvelous and deserve the place of honor in any horseman’s library. It’s hard to explain Bill’s influence to the modern world. His long fight with cancer robbed us of his best years, but he made the world a better place. It’s typical that Bill, who always had the last word, wrote his own obituary. One got a hint of his inner feelings about horses in the closing paragraph of his last book. “No throne,” he wrote, “can compare with the back of a horse, and there is no way in which man can come closer to nature than by becoming one with a horse.” I watched many warm-up arenas during my time, and when good riders warmed up, their supporters and staff paid close attention. When Bill warmed up, other riders paused and the entire arena watched closely. We all knew we were watching something different, and something better. Cap’n Billy was a close friend, and a friend of all who loved horses. With his passing, the horse world has lost one of its greatest horsemen. But we have his example and his writings to guide us, and all we can do, in his memorable phrase, is to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Perspectives on Childhood, Education, and Parenting
“
Mrs. Eldredge’s arm has stayed around me since first grade. It is around me now, giving me the courage to learn new things, to write books, to explore new areas. Fear has not slowed me down academically, because I always had that arm around me. – Dr. Edward Hallwell in Connect (1999) describing the life-changing effect of an important teacher.
By Tom Northrup What percentage of a child’s life between birth and age 18 do you think is spent in schools? In posing this question over the years to many adults, I recall only a few who answered correctly. Approximately 15 percent is the answer. Most assume it’s much more. This means, of course, that during these formative years much of a child’s “education” is occurring outside of schools and that families really matter. Children who have the good fortune to have parents who provide the requisite balance of nurture, structure, and latitude are more likely to do well in school and to have a stronger foundation for adulthood. That being said, over this past half century as a teacher and school leader, I have observed a significant number of children who did not enjoy the advantage of a strong home grow to become high functioning adults, effective as parents and successful in their careers. While multiple factors play a role in these enviable outcomes, I have concluded that, with respect to schooling, the two most important are: a family-like school culture coupled with teachers who
have the benefit of smaller classes. In such environments, teachers have the time to be present for every student, to recognize each student’s learning needs and strengths, and to know each of them on a personal level. According to conventional wisdom, the princiTom Northrup pal benefit of smaller class sizes and lower student-teacher ratios is that students will “learn” more, with the evidence being higher standardized test scores. Recent research and my observation challenge this assumption. There are certainly no guarantees that children will score higher on a test at a fixed point in time. Often they do, but sometimes they don’t. Either way, my experience has proven to me that a caring school culture and smaller classes offer more significant and non-quantifiable benefits for the student and the teacher. In schools where students feel respected, loved, and heard and where teachers are given the time and encouragement to know, understand, and lis-
ten to their students, both parties will feel psychologically safe and secure. Under these conditions, children are more likely to become internally motivated, which is essential for lifelong learning and growth. Yvonne Miller, one of Hill School’s most beloved teachers, died earlier this year. She had retired in 2012 after teaching fourth graders here for over four decades. We received numerous tributes from her former students - some now older or middle-age adults and some college-age. All had a consistent theme. Affectionately known as “Killer Miller,” her legacy was multi-dimensional. Academically, she demanded preparedness and accountability. Equally important on a personal level, she understood what each of her students needed. This was sometimes an available and willing ear or often a kind word to help a child cope with a difficult family issue. Despite the reality that children spend a relatively small percentage of their childhood and adolescence in schools, an individual teacher has the potential to have a life-changing impact on many. All children deserve to have an arm—like Mrs. Eldredge’s—around them throughout their lives.
“We’re extremely GRATEFUL our grandchildren are at a school that LOVES what they do as much as HILL does.” “At The Hill School, the climate and environment is one of complete acceptance. The teachers have always made us feel welcome, even when it is not a planned visit. They are happy to have us there – they know the grandparent role is important and they embrace that. Our grandchildren are fortunate to be in such a magical environment.”
Gail & Kevin Kuchem, Hill Grandparents Palmer, The Hill School Class of 2024 Davis, The Hill School Class of 2027
When you visit our village-style campus in Middleburg, VA you’ll learn how we develop students with strong character, self-confidence, a sense of community, and a lifelong love of learning.
Serving students in Junior Kindergarten through 8th grade since 1926 TheHillSchool.org
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
STOnyHURST
KEnTHURST LAnE
yORKSHIRE HOUSE
Middleburg ~ Own a piece of local history. Meticulously renovated c.1890 VA fieldstone manor house set on 94 acresonly 1 mile from town. Features formal Living Room, Dining Room, Family Room, gourmet kitchen, 3+ Bedrooms, 3½ Baths, Office & 2 porches. Original hardwood floors, 5 fireplaces & custom cabinetry throughout. Extensive landscaping includes 200+ new trees, rebuilt stonewalls & new driveway. Gardens, pool, 2 barns, workshop, old tenant house & 4-board fencing. 1 division allowed. $4,750,000
The Plains ~ Custom Federal residence with 6 BR, 7 BA’s on 2+ acres. High ceilings, hardwood, marble & antique ceramic tile floors, 7 fireplaces & exquisite details. Clive Christian Kitchen w/LaCornue stove & Breakfast Rm. Formal LR, DR, Library, Great Rm, Master BR Suite w/fireplace, luxury Bath, His & Her Walk-in Closets. Guest BR suite on 3rd level. Walkout LL has Family Room, Media Rm, Music Rm, Weight Rm, Wine Cellar, 2nd Kitchen, Guest BR Suite. Attached 3-car garage w/Apt. $2,195,000
Warrenton ~ This fully renovated brick home by Swiss architect Henri de Heller in 1938 sits on 5+ professionally landscaped acres in downtown Warrenton. House has influences from the Modernistic Movement & listed on the Nat’l Register of Historic Places. 4 BRs, 5.5 BAs, formal Living Room, Dining Room, Den, Conservatory, gourmet Eat-in Kitchen, Family Room & 6 fireplaces. The grounds have over 100+ species of trees, shrubs, flowers, terraced gardens & stonewalls all centered around a sunken garden. 3-car Garage. $1,775,000
MADISOn & FEDERAL ST.
UPPERVILLE HOUSE
THE OLD BOARDIng HOUSE
Middleburg ~ Bring your company to Middleburg. Excellent commercial investment opportunity in downtown Middleburg. One commercial building which appears like two buildings that are adjoined on the corner of Madison and Federal Streets. Offers 4 separate entrances. Mixed Use includes retail & office spaces. Includes 7 parking spaces off Federal Street. Active business in one building. Seller desires to rent back. Priced below recent appraised value. Zoned C-2. $950,000
Upperville ~ Stunning c. 1843 Greek Revival style home in historic village of Upperville. Classic center hall design w/hardwood floors & double porches in front & back. Formal Dining Rm & Living Rm w/fireplaces, Family Rm, Kitchen, 4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths, enclosed Sunporch for office or Bedroom. Upgrades include new electric, boiler, roof, gutters, windows, baths & kitchen, AC & water system, parking area, fences & landscaping. 2-car detached garage & potting shed. Turn-key. $890,000
Delaplane ~ Located in the historic village, this 4 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath home has been meticulously renovated. Features original hardwood floors, 5 fireplaces, formal Living Room, Dining Room & Library. All new gourmet Kitchen, Baths & Master Bedroom Suite. Re-plastered walls, new lighting, new furnace/AC, sound system, extensive landscaping, fenced back yard, expansive rear terrace, covered front porch $699,000 & detached 2-car garage. Move in ready!
PARKER STREET
SALLy MILL ROAD LAnD
HATCHERS MILL COTTAgE
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Upperville ~Adorable 2 Bedroom, 1 Bath cottage on almost half an acre in the heart of the historic village of Upperville. Great weekend home, hunt box or 1st time home located within walking distance to Hunters Head Tavern, shops, PO & churches. Features lots of windows, front porch and hardwood floors. Living Room and large eat-in kitchen. Freshly painted on the inside and refinished wood floors. Spacious back yard and includes a shed. Property being offered "As Is.”. Great commuter location. $250,000
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Middleburg ~ Desire a Middleburg address? Then build your dream home on one of 3 parcels available on 3 or 4+ acre parcels just East of town. Located in an area of lovely homes just South off Rte 50 at the corner of Sally Mill Road. Settings offer cleared home sites with pastoral views. Ideal commuter location w/EZ access to both Dulles Int'l Airport & downtown DC. All parcels have permitted septics, private access easements & covenants. $285,000- $299,000
Marshall ~ 3 Bedroom, 3 Bath one-level cottage on a large horse farm. Features open Living Room with fireplace & Family Room with fireplace & built-ins. Freshly painted, re-sanded wood floors & new carpet. Country kitchen, separate laundry room & mudroom. Ample parking & rear deck overlooks rolling hills & pond. Security deposit, credit report & references required. No pets & no smokers. Available June 15th Shown by appointment only. $3,500/mo Plus Utilities
CRICKET BEDFORD office: 540.687.7700 THOMAS AND TALBOT REAL ESTATE Middleburg, Virginia 20118 (540) 687-6500 www.THOMAS-TALBOT.com
cell: 540.229.3201 http://www.2hdb.com/cricketsells www.THOMAS-TALBOT.com
Offers subject to errors, omissions, change of price or withdrawal without notice. Information contained herein is deemed reliable, but is not so warranted nor is it otherwise guaranteed.
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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Perseverance Pays Off for Mahon and Her Horse of a Lifetime By Justin Haefner
Danny Mahon has gone through a difficult, occasionally heart-wrenching time over the last four years to overcome seemingly endless obstacles with her horse, Ronaldo. It eventually paid off handsomely, with Mahon helping him emerge from a place of fear to become a USEF Horse of the Year and her very own “horse of a lifetime.” Mahon, 19, started riding at age five in Prosper, Texas, and later lived on an 88-acre ranch, helping train over 100 horses, including many problem horses. She was introduced to hunter/jumpers when ElizaPHOTO COURTESY beth Lasater, a boarder at the ranch, connected her with Danny Mahon and Renaldo are expected to compete Debbie DiVecchia, who gave at this year’s Upperville Horse Show, June 4-10. Mahon her first experiences in the show ring. in him. I begged my mom to follow Then came Ronaldo, now her top through with the procedure, treathunter. ments, and rehab.” “When he first came into the Eighteen months and $25,000 latbarn, he was absolutely dangerous,” er, Ronaldo was physically sound and Mahon said. “When I’d walk in his Mahon began riding for Sandra Ruiz stall, he’d stand up and try to strike and Peggy Jones at Sanmar Farm in at me; he’d attack the grooms; he Culpeper in March, 2015. Once again, wouldn’t stand for the farrier and the horse regressed, and in March, he’d jump the fence and run away 2016, Mahon decided to turn him out. when he was turned out.” Then, in late April, she took him “When we started together, he to one last show, in Lexington, Kencouldn’t even think about jumping a tucky, and entered him in a junior rail on the ground. He’d walk into hunter class on a whim. the ring, stand in the middle and “We placed last in every class, alshake with his eyes rolling back in though I thought that this was a huge his head. It took several weeks for victory because we had successfully him to trust me enough to jump jumped all eight jumps,” said Mahon. around a small course.” “The next week he won the Handy There were many more horse Hunter class and I thought that that hiccups along the way, and Mahon was the best day of my life,” she said. eventually found herself in Virginia Mahon took Ronaldo back to Ocworking for Santa Catalina Farm in ala for the 2017 winter circuit, and he Waterford, where she began riding finished 11th in the country. with 33 Our MeditationRings are based on the ancient Tibetan Prayer Wheels. The practice of turning the prayer Ronaldo in the High Junior Jumpers. class wins, 9 classic wins, 10 chamwheel helps increase good karma and purify negative thoughts. Based upon these same principles our MeditationRings are designed to have one or several outer bands that you can physically spin aroundAnd then came a serious setback—a pionships and eventually was named he actual ring, this is said to bring the wearer good luck and fortune and a sense of serenity and peace.” career-threatening injury. 2017 USEF Horse of the Year in the People were telling me my horse Older 3’6” Small Junior Hunter dihad a bad mind and there was nothing vision. He also won the 2017 USEF physically wrong with him,” Mahon Reserve Horse of the Year overall said. “He acted like someone was go- title in the Junior Hunters. ing to kill him, and he refused to go in Mahon was also awarded the the ring, let alone jump. We could not 2017 Francis Rowe Perpetual Trofigure out what was wrong with him.” phy by the VHSA for exhibiting the Finally, the horse went to Middle- highest level of horsemanship and burg veterinarian Kent Allen at Vir- sportsmanship. This year, Mahon is Sanmar Farm’s ginia Equine Imaging. A full-body scan detected a front suspensory injury. professional rider, as well as running Mahon and her parents were be- her own horse operation in Upperville. “He taught me what compassion ing pushed to euthanize Ronaldo, but she said “the only thing I could really is, and gave me a deep underthink of was everyone else in his life standing of what true horsemanship had given up on him, and I knew I entails,” Mahon said. “I’ll never have 524 Fletcher Dr, Warrenton, VA 20186 • (540) 341-8840 • warrentonjewelers.com couldn’t. I felt he had something else another horse like Ronaldo. Ever.”
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Country Spirit • Summer 2018
At Anthony’s: A Go To Spot in Purcellville By M.J. McAteer
If you live in or around Purcellville, it would be surprising if you hadn’t eaten at Anthony’s. And once you had eaten there, it would be even more surprising if you hadn’t gone back. An early lunch crowd on a recent rainy Tuesday boasted a regular at every table. Brad and Betsy Quinn of Purcellville (party of four), who are partial to the eggplant parm and the rigatoni with sausage, said they’ve been coming to the restaurant since it opened about 10 years ago. “Excellent food, a family atmosphere, always pleasant,” Brad Quinn said. In another booth, Martha Robin of Leesburg (party of four), said she’s been a customer for many years, too. “When in Purcellville, this is the place we come to,” she said. “You always bump into someone you know.” Satisfied customers seem to be the rule at Anthony’s,
Anthony’s owner Khalil “Tony” Keya and the reason is simple-owner Khalil Keya. He’s a man with strong opinions about how to run a restaurant, and he’s put in plenty of hard work and long hours to turn Anthony’s into a local favorite. “I always say three things,” he noted. “Good products,
PHOTO BY M.J. MCATEER
good customer service, reasonable price.” If the food is not right, his employees know that it must be made right – and right away. No complaint is too small. “Even if a customer says it’s too hot, or too cold, I need to know,” he said. “I al-
ways fix the customer.” There actually is no Anthony, per se, but Keya, 50, has gone by the nickname of “Tony” since he was young. He is from a family that was involved in hotels and restaurants in Afghanistan, until the war against the Soviets put an end to that. When he was 14, his family moved to the Washington, D.C. area, where they continued to work in the food business, including running a restaurant with an Italian and Mediterranean menu like Anthony’s. When Keya first laid eyes on the building that now houses his restaurant, he thought the location on Purcellville’s heavily trafficked main drag, West Main, was a natural. Yet, on a Friday night, when he and his friend, Andy Ghuzian (of Andy’s Pizza in Lovettsville and Leesburg), decided to check out the restaurant operating there, they were the only customers in the place.
It was no surprise that enterprise folded, and the two men subsequently partnered in getting a new eatery up and running as an Andy’s. The partnership didn’t last long, though, and when Keya went solo, he changed the name to Anthony’s. These days, he needs a staff of 25 to keep up with business on a Friday night. The restaurant is open every day for lunch and dinner, with a full bar and a wine list as long and affordable as its menu. The marinara and pizza sauces are made daily in house, and the calzones don’t hold back on the cheese. These days, Anthony’s owner gets management help from his son, Bijan, and his brother, Abdul, but he is still on site five days a week, all day, talking to customers and keeping a watchful eye. Running a restaurant, he said, is a lot like making a bonfire. “If you don’t put the wood on, it’s going to die.”
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A Surgical Touch Makes It All Tick, and Tock By Leonard Shapiro
Joe Jabbour has the heaven-sent hands of a plastic surgeon, evidenced by a not-long-enough distinguished career in that specialty, with a thriving practice in New York City. It ended prematurely when those very same hands rebelled any time he put on a pair of surgical gloves, causing an allergy of itching and swelling and ultimately forcing him out of the operating room. He stopped doing surgery at 52, performed other medical-related work, including becoming an expert witness in malpractice cases. But those hands did not stay idle for all that long. Jabbour and his wife moved to the Middleburg area a dozen years ago, and babysitting one night for their granddaughter in Fairfax, Jabbour noticed an adult education pamphlet sitting on his daughter’s coffee table. He picked it up and read a blurb about a class in clock repairing. “I’m pretty good with my hands,” Jabbour said with a smile. “Over the years, my wife and I had purchased some antiques. You find a bargain at an auction that’s not quite a bargain after you have to repair it. So, I thought if I learn to repair clocks, I’ll know what the problem is and it might be an easy fix.” As a youngster, Jabbour often took wristwatches apart just to see what made them tick, “but I never did put them back together.” So he decided to take that course, sponsored by the Potomac Clock Guild, and eventually became that group’s president. He also met someone in the class who was about to start another adult course in clock appraisal, and he decided to sign up, too. “I figured if I know how to appraise a clock,” he said, “I’ll be in a better position to know when to buy them.” And so, Jabbour decided to take both classes. Clearly a quick learner, it was not long before he was giving a lecture on appraising himself to a group of clock and watchmakers. When he finished, several of them told him he ought to start his own appraisal business. “They said there was no clock appraiser in Northern Virginia,” Jabbour said. “Jewelry apprais-
Swedish clock circa 1800.
Joe Jabbour
PHOTO BY LEONARD SHAPIRO
ers will do clocks and watches along with other antique items. Then I searched on the internet, and there really was no one in this area who actually specialized in clocks and watches. In my past life as a surgeon, I always specialized. I liked the idea.” Jabbour is now a member of the American Watch and Clock Institute (AWCI), serving as chairman of its ethics committee. He’s also with the International Society of Appraisers (ISA) and follows the guidelines of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP). “If you’re going to create an appraisal report to be used for legal implications with the IRS, for example, ” he said, “it has to be USPAP compliant.” Jabbour fields many phone calls from potential clients asking him to appraise their clocks. He first asks them to send him a photograph, the better to decide whether it would be worth their while for the full cost of a professional appraisal, typically between $600-$800. “In some cases, market conditions don’t jus-
tify the cost,” he said. “Sometimes these things have sentimental value, but not market value. I try to let people down easily. I try to dissuade them from spending the money.” Jabbour said he does about a halfdozen appraisals a month all around the Washington area and yes, this is one doctor who still makes house calls to do it up close
and personal. The highest-priced item he’s ever appraised was a $1.6 million Phillipe Patek watch. He also likes to tell the story about a man who called him who had purchased a certain Rolex watch model in 1962 for a few hundred dollars. When he took it to a repair shop and was offered $10,000 on the spot. “He thought that maybe he better find an appraiser and he got in touch with me,”Jabbour said. “I appraised it for $40,000 because its was a particular variation of a particular model. Some of them can go over $100,000.” Jabbour still collects and fixes his own antique clocks and also is transitioning into learning more about pocket watches and chronographs, which have stopwatches built in. Most of all, he’s fascinated “by the intricacy of all the movements and of the workmanship. “It’s an exciting new chapter in my life,” he said in an email. “While it does not result in great financial gain, I have the opportunity to examine and study complicated pieces and more importantly, to meet the very interesting owners of such items, hear their stories of acquisition or help them to understand family-cherished possessions.” Best of all for his clients, they’re definitely in very good hands, and better yet, no gloves necessary.
Above, from left to right:The movement of a 1900 Swiss calendar watch; Dial of the circa 1720 pair case watch; A circa 1720 Pair Case with an outer case to protect the inner case with its movement; A “Railroad Grade” watch had many requirements. One of these is to be “Lever Set” This rquired that the train man had to unscrew the bezel and lift the lever in order to set the time of the watch. This prevented inadvertent changing of the time when winding. This is a circa 1900 Hamilton RR pocket watch 58
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
Country Spirit • Summer 2018
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JoHN CoLEs
“ Specializing in Large Land Holdings” oaKENDaLE
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tHE PLaINs ~ oakendale Farm is the epitome of an exquisite virginia hunt country estate in prime orange County Hunt territory. From the William Lawrence Bottomley designed Manor house to the meticulously manicured gardens, grounds, dependencies and the hundreds of acres of surrounding pastures with protected view-sheds. 837 acres @ $17,990,000 ~ 333 acres @ $8,990,000
tHE PLaINs ~ World class equestrian facility comprised of 115 acres in the oCH territory. the U shaped complex encompasses an 80’ x 180’ lighted indoor riding arena connected by a breezeway to the 12 stall center-aisle barn and extraordinary living and entertaining quarters overlooking the outdoor ring. additional structures include tenant houses and large heated equipment barn. $4,400,000
MIDDLEBURG~a graceful & charming 5 bedroom French Country home is set amongst nearly 40 serene acres enhanced by majestic trees, rolling lawns and fenced paddocks. this property also includes a 7 stall center-aisle barn with office, additional 4 stall barn with apartment, indoor arena, and tremendous ride out potential. Located in the orange County Hunt territory. $3,200,000
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HUME~Great elevation, fantastic views, open land, woodlands and river frontage on the Rappahannock River. 726.66 acres in 14 parcels, all of which are 50 acres or larger. accessed from Hume Road and from Black Rock Ford. Mixed game for hunting. Great opportunity for tax credits. $2,979,306
UPPERvILLE ~ c.1823, this stunning 6 Bedroom, 3.5 Bath, offer is one of the grand manor homes in the famed horse country of Upperville on 34 acres. Recently renovated, the home offers wonderful indoor and outdoor living areas. Porches, gardens, barns, paddocks, riding arena, pond, pool and magnificent views from the Bull Run to Blue Ridge Mountains. $2,950,000
tHE PLaINs~stone posts and walls mark the entrance to the 133 acre country estate of Landmark. as the driveway gently rises, curves and then circles in front of the handsome two-story stone manor house, one notices that the home is sited perfectly to enjoy the expansive mountain views from the Bull Run to the Blue Ridge. the setting for this four bedroom, four bath residence is further heightened by the massive boxwoods and the stately trees. $2,790,000
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MIDDLEBURG ~ 145+ acres of land in sought after location on Mountville Road near Foxcroft school. several home sites with wonderful views and vistas yet extremely private, half wooded and half pasture with over 2,000 feet of Goose Creek frontage. Minutes from Middleburg with easy access to Dulles International airport and Washington DC. Middleburg Hunt territory. $2,465,250
THOMAS AND TALBOT REAL ESTATE (540) 687-6500 Middleburg, virginia 20118 60
HUME ~ Impeccably maintained, this is an exquisite 118 acre horse farm with ten fields and paddocks of 4 board fencing, gently rolling land and panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains with glimpses of skyline Drive. In addition to the stucco and stone main residence, there are guest and tenant homes, numerous barns and run-ins to house 25 horses comfortably, and an indoor dressage ring. $2,450,000
540-270-0094
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MIDDLEBURG ~ Exquisite custom home designed for indoor and outdoor living and entertaining on 23 private acres minutes from Middleburg. Grand rooms with 12’ high ceilings and beautiful moldings, elegant main level master suite with fireplace and French doors to terrace. Nearly ¼ mile of frontage on Goose Creek. Charming Guest Cottage. $2,249,000
www.Thomas-Talbot.com
Offers subject to errors, omissions, change of price or withdrawal without notice. Information contained herein is deemed reliable, but is not so warranted nor is it otherwise guaranteed.
Country Spirit • Summer 2018