My Favorite Places August Pick: Liberty Town Arts Workshop
Fredericksburg Sketches A visual Celebration of our community
By Casey Alan Shaw
By Callista Kathryn Dunn
AutoKnown Better dog days
We actually took a little vacation at the beach last month and when we went to visit my cousin who runs The Good Dog Inn (www.thegooddoginn.com) I could have sworn I saw a dog that was Irish Wolf Hound and Border collie and when he ran he kept both front legs together and move liked a hobby horse. Gabriel, as he is known, is happy as can be living with two Cavaliers King Charles Spaniels and a Cairn terrier. So my dear and patient wife asks me what would happen if we started breeding cars? As you can imagine this gets really complicated really fast and my addled brain doesn’t do well with big numbers but oh what the hey… remember I am the guy who tried to figure out how many baloney sandwiches have been consumed for lunch
SKETCH #10: Kenmore. I interviewed D D Lecky, who is the co-owner of Liberty Town. Q: How did you buy Liberty Town? A: Liberty Town was opened in 2002 by Dan Finnegan. He saw this old building and knew it had lots of potential. I was a potter and also in real estate. My husband, Kenneth, was a photographer. We loved Liberty Town and talked with Dan about purchasing the business 3 years ago and made a deal. Q: How many artists are here? A: There are 27 studios and 40 artists. There can be up to 60. Some artists without studios have items for sale in the emporium. Some are former artists here or are from out of town. We even have a vendor from England. Q: Do you have classes for kids? A: We have several Summer Camps as well as some Parent and Child classes on Saturdays. Betsy Curtiss has an Explore Arts camp for 5-10 year olds. Lawton Clites has a parent and child class on making quivers. Gayla Lee is making fused glass sun catchers. Hsi- Mei Yates teaches Chinese water color. Callie is enjoying her safari themed Art Camp. She is learning how to make pottery. Her favorite project has been making a brightly colored Toucan mug.
August is that most southern of months, when things finally slow down. No matter how much energy and ambition I held at the beginning of summer, by the time August rolls around, I'm simply searching for a big glass of iced tea and an available patch of shade. I've sketched the entrance to Fredericksburg's historic Kenmore house on several occasions, but this one reminds me of August . . . when there are only two states of being: You're either in the shade -- or you're not. This sketch also reminds me of how lucky we are in Virginia. I grew up in south Texas where a break from the heat during August is at even more of a premium. Oh, what we would have given for the canopy of shade trees that Fredericksburg enjoys.If you've never been to Kenmore, take one of these lazy August afternoons and go! In that same south Texas town where I grew up, I was always amazed at how many of my friends had never actually been to the Alamo, even though it was right in their backyard . . . kind of like New Yorkers who never bother to visit the Statue of Liberty. Don't let that happen to you. Kenmore possesses a great number of the qualities that make our small town so special and it's well worth the visit. Casey Alan Shaw is a local artist. He exhibits his original artwork and limited-edition prints at Art First Gallery and at www.caseyshaw.com.
THE POETRY MAN - By Frank Fratoe
Smoky Mountains or Archipelago Floating on a cloud-sea the tops of mountains stand heavenborn apart like islands in the air. No walls abound there nor cities crowded over with impasse or facade where people turn away. Just rock and wildwood border every cataract plunging down hillside to loom within haze.
606 Caroline Street Old Town Fredericksburg 373-7847 www.gemstonecreations.org Tuesday - Saturday 10-5 Wednesdays until 6:30 and by appointment
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August 2015
Front porch fredericksburg
old fashion way to leave no child behind
By Rim Vining As it gets hotter and hotter and we move into that time of year where you have to chew the air before you can inhale my brain gets addled from the heat and I start to see things…
Nobody quarrels there nor contends for power along peaceful summits grown to island-chain. Landfall is ascendant emerging as promontory risen above the clouds become an ocean aloft.
Frank Fratoe lives & writes in the city.
From My Porch
at Ford Motor Company since they started making cars. I guess the first thing we need is a monk to plant little car seedlings so we can establish dominant and recessive body panels. Muscle vs. stately. Then we get into how many generations is it going to take to shrink the engine down enough to fit under the hood of a Smart Car? Actually, when you look back at the evolution of the automobile industry it is more like the AKC than you might think. When the industry was new everyone jumped in and made cars but very few made all the parts they needed so they shared engines from Lycoming and Firestone and Goodyear were your only sources for tires. Some were really big cars and some were extremely small and then they sort of averaged out to be like a Model T. If we equate the assembly line to the puppy mill it all slides into place. As more and more cars rolled off assembly lines they became less and less unique. They lost their edge. They started to have idiosyncratic issues from over breeding until new blood could be pumped into the line. Ford actually shut down for a year to re-tool for the Model A after the T had completely run out of appeal and could not compete. Eventually the flat head engine gave way to overhead valves. Carburetors were replaced by fuel injection. Mechanical drum brakes morphed into power disc units. All of this was done to strengthen the breed and ensure survival of the assembly line. Mechanical improvements are the subtle side of car breeding. More obvious signs of tinkering with Motor Nature appear in things like the Crosley, the Scarab, the Edsel, the Mustang II and all the non-descript jelly bean cars of the late 20th century. There are more obvious attempts to actually breed a car like when Studebaker and Packard merged and shared the same parts bins and they just started designing cars around what they had on hand so Packard front ends went on Studebakers, etc. To save money the popular Triumph TR6 is actually a TR4 with different front fenders. From the windshield back they are the same car. So what is in our future? Think convertible Cube with a Prius power plant or a Harley-Davidson RV. Loud Luxury and sleeps six.
Contact Rim at autoknown@aol.com
By Jo Loving Kindness is more than deeds. It is an attitude, an expression, a look, a touch. It is anything that lifts another person. ~C. Neil Strait Ahhh, August, you signal the end of summer break, the beginning of the school year, of change. Second grade. It was a banner year for me. Our family had lived in what, to me, was the perfect home. We had a playroom, a big, fenced-in backyard, a grape arbor, and a sandbox with a canopy made from an old boat. In short, it was perfect. There were trees to climb, friends to get into mischief with, and people I had known since the beginning of my memory. My school year was to be exciting. I was pleased to have been selected as one of a group of children who were entering second grade who would be a part of a combined second and third grade class. The school year started, and I loved my teacher, the class, and the school. Then, something happened. A lot of things happened. One day, as I left the classroom, something felt strange. The kids started laughing at me. I couldn’t figure out why, except I felt that I was walking funny. Actually, I was walking like the sidekick with a limp in an old Western. It was emotionally humiliating and physically painful. My parents took me to the doctor, and we found that my hips were completely out of alignment. So, I had to go for therapy several times a week, and had to wear corrective shoes. To picture the shoes, imagine shoes that look like those worn by Forrest Gump, only in a beautiful cordovan red. I picked out the
color. I loved that rich red. That is, until I got to school, where I was teased unmercifully, resulting in subterfuge on my part. I came home, threw the offending shoes under the crawl space of the house, and lied to my parents. “Jo, where are your shoes?” they asked. “I don’t know. I must have lost them at school.” I knew these shoes were costly, but there was no way I would ever wear them again. The physical therapy continued. Halfway through the school year, my parents bought a house in a new neighborhood and I had to change schools. I didn’t like this at all. I didn’t want to leave the old house and my friends, our yard, or the familiar. I entered my new classroom with trepidation. Mrs. Bridges, the teacher, appointed a buddy to help me. Mindy Anderson was a sweet, popular girl with a beautiful smile. She always made me feel welcome, and took the buddy system seriously. It made all the difference in my transition. No one at the new school said anything about my limp, or my pigeontoed gait, because Mindy accepted me. I’m pleased to say that Mindy is still one of my most treasured friends, and is as sweet a person as she was in second grade.
Jo Loving is fully ensconced on her porch in the Dog Days of summer, thankful for Mrs. Bridges’ foresight, for Mindy’s kindness, and for the life that has flowed from those days so long ago.
Every Child Deserves A Family
Learn about our adoption opportunities Domestic & International
301-587-4400 Cradle of Hope Adoption Center front porch fredericksburg
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