The House & Home Magazine: April/May 2019

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your complete home resource guide and lifestyle magazine Essex • Northern Neck • Middle Peninsula • Gloucester • Richmond • Williamsburg

Spring Arts Arts in the Middle Gloucester Arts Festival

Spring Bulbs

A burst of color

Grace & Grit From the Bleachers to the Batters www.thehouseandhomemagazine.com

April/May 2019

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April/May 2019

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PUBLISHER James L. Blanks EDITOR Janet Evans Hinman CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Zora Aiken Beth and Dan Fedorko Janet Evans Hinman Rebekah Madren Jackie Nunnery Linda Landreth Phelps Dianne Saison Deb Weissler ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER Kirstin Canough ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES James L. Blanks: 804-929-1797 Hilton Snowdon: 804-384-6986 JLB Publishing, Inc. P. O. Box 2564 • Tappahannock, VA 22560 Office: 804-929-1797 • Fax: 1-888-747-2267 thehouseandhomemag@gmail.com

The House & Home Magazine is a free, four-color publication that specializes in providing home ideas, real estate, and lifestyle articles.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from JLB Publishing, Inc. The information contained herein are opinions of sources and interviews.

JLB Publishing Inc. claims no reliability or accuracy to any information contained within. The House & Home Magazine is published for reference purposes only and is not materially responsible for errors.

The House & Home Magazine is published bimonthly and is distributed at over 500 locations throughout Essex, Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, Gloucester, Richmond, and Mechanicsville as well as subscriptions, direct mail, and trade shows.

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April/May 2019

Contents

The House & Home Magazine • April/May 2019

www.thehouseandhomemagazine.com

14 Reedville Fishermen’s 48 Grace and Grit Museum An experience 52 Find a Farmers with local history

18 R/V Virginia

Welcomes You Aboard

24 Spring Bulbs

A burst of color

30 Bed & Breakfast for the Birds

Houses, feeders and baths

36 Gloucester Arts

Festival Returns for 2019

40 Zing in to Spring with Rhubarb

44 From One Survivor to Another

Rappahannock Roundstern puts the River at your fingertips

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Market

It’s the seasonal social scene

58 From the Bleachers to the Batters

66 Let the Fun-due Begin

70 Arts in the Middle 72 Chesty Puller God, County, Corps…Virginia

80 Fine Properties 90 Jamestown

400 Years of democracy and diversity

94 There’s Nothing

General About General Surgery

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Reedville Fishermen’s Museum an experience with local history

By Jackie Nunnery

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eedville is an area rich with stories of men and women tied to life on the water. In fact, the very existence of the village is based on harvesting the riches of the surrounding waters. Formed in 1874 when Elijah Reed brought his menhaden fishing business to Cockrell Creek from Brooklin, Maine, it is now, nearly a centuryand-a-half later, one of the major landing ports for commercial fishing in the United States.

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MORE HISTORY THAN ONE BUILDING COULD HOUSE The Reedville Fishermen’s Museum is actually a collection of four buildings and a pavilion located on property once owned by Captain Reed. It is fitting that the museum sits on Main Street or Captain’s Row, an area that has been declared a National Historic District for its collections of spectacular Victorian homes of the day. When the museum first opened in 1988, it occupied the William Walker House, built in 1875 and currently the oldest house in Reedville. It sits amongst the

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“WE’RE ENCOURAGING ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY TO COME IN, THERE’S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE” other meticulously restored Victorians, but instead of exhibits, it is now furnished inside to represent a waterman’s home at the turn of the twentieth century.

THE PAST ON DISPLAY The Covington Building, built in 1995 with a generous donation by Frank Covington, now houses the permanent and changing exhibits related to life in Reedville and the surrounding waters. The exhibits on view on weekends through April are a mix of history, education and present-day life in Reedville. Among them — A Sister’s Legacy: Sarah and Jennifer Haynie’s Iconic Images of Reedville, an exhibition of photographs that two local sisters have taken of Reedville and the surrounding area; and Good Bones: Building a Butler Boat, which will use one of the boats built by local George M. Butler to show visitors different parts of a skiff and help them understand how they are built.

BUILDING HISTORY THROUGH SHIPS AND TRAINS Across the way in the Pendleton Building are the Boat Shop and Model Shop. Like Santa’s elves, volunteers in these shops tinker away at their specialties of woodworking, boat building, and model making. Visitors are encouraged to stop by and see what projects the teams are always busy working on.

In addition to building a wooden skiff each year to raise money for the museum, the volunteers in the boat shop put in many hours to refurbish the Foggy River, a 42-foot deadrise used by the Education Committee to demonstrate different methods of oystering, crabbing and fishing. Previous projects have included the restoration of the other three vessels in the museum’s historical fleet — more on that in a minute.

Once on display only during Christmas, the model trains are now more than just a family holiday tradition. A replica of the Northern Neck Railroad, built in 1997 now has a permanent home here. Never heard of the Northern Neck Railroad? It was first proposed in 1920 as a link between Fredericksburg and the Northern Neck, moving both passengers and freight. Maps in the exhibit show the proposed tracks running down the center of the Northern Neck before forking off to end at White Stone on one side and Reedville on the other. The idea never caught on with investors and the Northern Neck Railroad never came to be, except in 1/87th scale of the actual size.

The first set of tracks laid featured a depot in Heathsville, complete with the distinctive courthouse and Rice’s Hotel/ Hughlett’s Tavern as they would have appeared in the 1920s to the 1930s when the railroad was planned. The train also makes its way through Reedville, passing by the beautiful homes of Captain’s Row, some of which are still under construction, before moving on to White Stone and Irvington.

Modelers under the supervision of Bob Dillon are responsible for many of the detailed, handmade replicas of homes and boats you see as the train moves through the Northern Neck.

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A FLEET OF HISTORICAL BOATS AWAIT In addition to a pilot house and boats on land, there is also a small historical fleet docked on the creek behind the museum.

The Claud W. Somers, a 1911 skipjack was not only restored by the museum, but it was also upgraded to a passenger vessel so visitors have the opportunity to sail on a working, historical boat down Cockrell Creek and into the lower Chesapeake.

Another way to experience history is on the Elva C., a 1922 deadrise that in its early days was primarily used for fishing and oystering. Today, it is a popular way to experience the surrounding waters on every other Friday afternoon during the season. Both boats are recognized by the National Register of Historical Places and the Virginia Register of Historical Places.

A historical craft of a different type, the John Smith Barge, the Spirit of 1608, is a replica of the type of boat John Smith used during his exploration of the Northern Neck coastline in 1608. Built by museum volunteers based on Smith’s notes and written eyewitness accounts, the barge has been featured in documentaries and often travels around the region to special living history events, complete with costumed interpreters.

ALL OF THIS AND MORE There is more to experience at the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum, and they are making it easy for families to learn and experience together. In addition to low admission fees for all, they are part of the Blue Star Museum program, one of more than 2,000 museums nationwide, offering free admission to active duty military personnel and their families.

“We’re encouraging anybody and everybody to come in, there’s something for everyone,” said Lee Langston-Harrison, museum director since 2017.

This year the museum is also participating in Virginia’s “American Evolution,” highlighting Virginia’s significance in American history over the past 400 years. As LangstonHarrison noted, “The destination is worth the drive!” H 16

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R/V VIRGINIA

R/V Virginia on the Rappahannock River. Photo courtesy of VIMS. Photos by Mark Lowell unless otherwise indicated

Welcomes YOU Aboard

By Deb Weissler

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n a blustery, sunny morning, the Rappahannock River is a sea of whitecaps from shore to shore as we cross the Robert O. Norris Jr. Bridge. Our destination is the home port for the R/V Virginia at the Ampro Shipyard & Diesel on Carters Cove just upriver in Weems. Even in this protected cove, the 93-foot vessel tugs at its moorings as if eager to depart, its hatchet bow striking an impressive pose alongside tugs and barges moored nearby.

To enter the boat’s interior, we step over a two-and-a-halffoot bulkhead, evidence that this newest research vessel has

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been designed and built for heavy seas. In fact, the Virginia is the most advanced research craft in her size and class of any boat in the country. Although already a working vessel, formal christening won’t take place until April 2019. Following a year of side-by-side comparisons of the two boats, the Virginia will replace the smaller and soon-to-be decommissioned R/V Bay Eagle, a converted oil rig tender that has been in service at VIMS since 1987.

Compared to many other vessels in its class, the Virginia has surprisingly roomy passageways, overheads, and ladders.

Clearly, she was designed for civilian personnel more at home on land than at sea. Designed by JMS Architects of Mystic, Connecticut and built by Méridien Maritime Réparation of

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was chartered by an engineering firm for the Office of Naval Research to conduct radar and infrared imaging of humpback whales off the Virginia Capes. The vessel’s 2019 calendar is filling fast.

The deck gear on board will enable researchers to perform bathymetric and seismic surveys, deep-water plankton surveys, and coring operations using its stern and side-mounted cranes that can deploy trawl nets, dredges, scientific buoys, and the new generation of robotic vehicles, ROVs (remotely operated underwater vehicles) and AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles). The state-of-the-art dynamic positioning system allows the boat to return to the same sampling stations month after month, year after year to provide unbiased data findings.

With a large working deck, 500 square feet of wet and dry laboratory spaces, and comfortable berths, the boat can accommodate eight to nine scientists and a crew of three for 12-hour days or seven scientists and five crewmen for 24/7 operations. With the ability to desalinize sea water into fresh, potable water via reverse osmosis, the only limitations for extended voyages are its food supplies. With a well-equipped galley, the staff takes turns preparing meals.

CAPTAIN JOHN OLNEY, JR.

VIMS’ NEWEST RESEARCH VESSEL OPENED ITS HATCHES AND PASSAGEWAYS TO THE HOUSE & HOME MAGAZINE PRIOR TO ITS APRIL CHRISTENING. WELCOME ABOARD!

Québec, Canada, this state-of-the-art research vessel took almost seven years from concept to completion.

The Virginia combines the dreams and desires of VIMS’ scientific community to provide a much improved platform for scientific fisheries surveys in a cost-effective package.

For the first time, VIMS researchers can access almost all of the geographic ranges of the fishes they study, many of which summer in the Chesapeake Bay while migrating along the continental shelf in colder weather.

The vessel will support VIMS’ Multi-species Fisheries Research program and the Virginia Shark Monitoring and Assessment program among others, as well as taking on external party charters. The week prior, the Virginia

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For Captain John Olney, Jr., the Virginia is his weekday office while tied up at the dock. A graduate of James Madison University and former charter fishing boat captain out of Hatteras, NC, Olney has been a VIMS boat captain for ten years, captaining the R/V Bay Eagle. Brought on board during the early stages of the design process, Olney and his crew provided input into the propulsion and control systems necessary to optimize the boat’s performance and fuel consumption. He captained the Virginia on its maiden voyage from Canada.

“We took delivery the last week of September 2018. We came out the St. Lawrence and came through the north side of Nova Scotia and brought it down the coast in just eight days, running 24 hours with a six-man crew working 12-hour shifts,” Olney recalls. “On one occasion we saw 40-knot winds and eight to ten-foot swells during the trip and the boat handled the rough seas really well. You couldn’t work in conditions like that, but you can transit if you are forced to.”

The Virginia has seen limited duty since arrival at home port, since the crew is still commissioning various aspects of the vessel for licensing purposes. “We just received our Letter of Designation as a research vessel from the Coast Guard in January,” explains Olney. “A research vessel must comply with a lot of laws pertaining to trawl nets and fisheries methods that require proper licenses and permits. We are still commissioning some of the onboard systems as well, such as the dynamic positioning system and the automatic trawling system, so we are still in the early phases of preparing to do full science work.”

Its propulsion system is unique. “Two main engines are tied to a single transmission and that allows us to run on both engines when we need full power or hydraulics or run on just one engine when we’re transiting, which saves a lot of fuel.

It has an omni directional bow thruster, triple rudders, and

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(above left) The boat’s well-equipped galley. Photo courtesy of VIMS. (below left) VIMS scientists send out a trawl net from the rear deck. Photo courtesy of VIMS. (right) The controls of the boat’s dynamic positioning system.

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a twin-diesel, single-screw, controllable pitch propeller that can hold the boat within a meter of a desired location, which definitely maximizes our data accuracy,” Olney points out.

“The downside of this engine/ transmission synchronization is that the main propulsion shaft can only turn in one direction. So, we change the pitch of our propeller in order to achieve forward or reverse. It’s quite unique.

The plus side is that it gives us infinite control of speeds. Top forward speed is approximately 13 knots, but it burns a lot of fuel. Nine to nine-and-a-half knots is ideal cruise speed for our hull’s displacement.”

R/V Virginia on her mooring at Ampro Shipyard in Weems

ENGINEERING Keith Mayer’s enthusiasm makes it plain he is most at home below decks in the engine room. Touring the warren of pipes, valves, gages, engines, transmission, generators, and control panels every hour, he is quick to spot any problem that may arise.

Mayer has worked at VIMS for five years, starting as the Mate on the Bay Eagle. When he came on board, the new boat was just in the planning stages, so he participated in the entire process, from concept, design, and construction.

Staying ahead of the project by obtaining his necessary licenses, he arrived on the Virginia with a 100-ton captain’s license.

Traveling back and forth to Canada while the boat was under construction, Mayer spent the last three months of construction full time at the shipyard, working seven days a week, often working 13 hours a day doing pre-inspections and commissioning the various systems.

The working relationship between VIMS engineering and Méridien Maritime Réparation was second to none.

Mayer has a variety of skill sets that suit him well as the Virginia’s chief engineer. He has a background in machine shop work as well as HVAC installation and repair. He has owned a construction company that utilized heavy equipment and has spent a great deal of time on the water.

“Bringing the boat down from the shipyard was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Meyer enthuses. “To see flat steel on the floor in a shipyard transformed into this awesome vessel The House & Home Magazine

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and bringing it home was an incredible experience! As far as the boat rides and handles, I wouldn’t change a thing. Kudos to the designer!”

MATE Taylor Moore worked as a marine tech for the Multispecies Research Group at VIMS before coming on board as Mate. Already a licensed boat captain for smaller crafts, Moore has not yet qualified to captain a boat the size of the Virginia, but plans to do so at some future date. He worked on the Bay Eagle for four years before being offered the position of Mate on the new vessel.

Moore seems to be a jack-of-alltrades, standing watch, assisting in the engine room, and maintaining the boat’s impressive array of electronics and advanced technology. “I’m sort of a floater,” he laughs, “wherever I’m needed that’s where I go. With just a three-man crew there’s a lot of overlap. And having worked with the scientists in my previous position, I understand their needs.”

Moore is the technology guru on board, keeping the computers up and running, monitoring the various systems, keeping the scientists networked, and is the expert when it comes to the boat’s radar and dynamic positioning system.

He is in charge of the boat’s electrical and networking systems that can handle torrents of data collected by both onboard and field sensors and lab instruments.

He was shocked when he first stepped on board by the boat’s size and the level of systems sophistication. Having worked in construction while in high school, he could only envision what the boat might look like based on drawings and warehouse photos. The real thing has surpassed his expectations.

As we step ashore, the slight movement we perceived onboard ceases, but it’s clear that in both fair and foul weather the Virginia represents the future of bay and ocean exploration by VIMS scientists and external parties. The vessel is easily adaptable to a variety of scientific projects and research such as environmental impact studies, the servicing of oceanobserving systems, off-shore energy exploration, core sampling, and species surveys. If the crew’s expectations and observations hold true, the Virginia may serve as a model for others to emulate. H 22

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(left) Captain John Olney, Jr. and Mate Taylor Moore on the bridge. (center) VIMS logo on boat’s stack. Photo courtesy of VIMS. (right) Engineer Keith Mayer at home in the engine room.

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Bearded iris. Photo courtesy of Kirstin Canough Photos courtesy of Brent & Becky’s Bulbs unless otherwise noted

Spring Bulbs

By Jackie Nunnery

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WE DIG SPRING BULBS: A BURST OF COLOR AND THE PROMISE OF WARM DAYS AHEAD

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(left to right) Dutch Iris ‘Carmen’; Allium giganteum; Asiatic lily ‘Netties Pride’ with Acanthus spinosus

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fter months of looking at drab, lifeless landscapes, who wouldn’t be excited to see hints of springtime and its bountiful, colorful blooms? These early bloomers usually come in the form of bulbs, which are an easy choice for gardeners, since plants grown from bulbs tend to be easier to establish than ones grown from seed or plants. And as much as spring is about enjoying spring flowers, it’s also a time to think about planting more bulbs for continuous color throughout the summer.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BULBS AND OTHER LUMPY, BUMPY THINGS The term bulb covers a group of perennial plants that grow from fibrous bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes, and tuberous roots. You’re probably more familiar with bulbs than you realize, since garlic, onion, ginger, and potatoes are all from that family. While certain bulbs on your dinner plate can be delicious, they also make a great choice for your garden. That’s because bulbs are basically a plant in a protective package.

While dormant, the bulb shields the plant from cold or drought until the days begin to grow long and warm and it’s safe to come out.

When planting bulbs, it’s best to start with loose, welldraining soil. Too much moisture and bulbs will rot. And since many bulbs are a delicious treat for deer, voles, and other woodland creatures, planting is a good time to think about critter-proofing your bulbs. You can protect the bulbs by planting them in cages or lining the hole with hardware cloth The House & Home Magazine

or sharp gravel to discourage foragers from digging them up.

Using gravel has an added advantage of helping with drainage.

You can repel hungry critters with non-edible bulbs such as daffodils or snowflakes. Use these alone for worry-free planting or use them as protection around your more edible bulbs.

Though exact planting guidelines will depend on the specific bulb you are planting, the general rule of thumb is to use three times the size of the bulb for the depth of the hole and space between each bulb. For example, two-inch bulbs would be planted six inches deep and be spaced six inches apart. And while most flowering plants love the sunshine, a few, like snowdrops, can tolerate some shade.

One last thing to keep in mind when choosing your bulbs — bloom times. Select plants with different bloom times throughout the spring and summer (or even the fall), so that something is always coming into bloom while others are finishing.

SPRING FLOWERING BULBS: A LONG SLEEP AND A BEAUTIFUL AWAKENING “When we plant bulbs in the fall, we’re planting hopes for the spring.” — Brent Heath Whether the flower comes from a bulb, corm or rhizome is not important, what does matter is how cold hardy they are, and that will determine when you plant them. Spring-flowering bulbs are planted in the fall, just after the first frost, which in Virginia’s Zone 7 is usually sometime between mid-October and December. Bulbs need a little time to develop roots before the cold dormancy sets in, which is needed to produce blooms in the spring.

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THE DUTCH MASTERS When you think spring blooms, tulips are probably the first flower to come to mind.

Who hasn’t fallen in love at the pictures of vast rows of tulips in bloom, complete with a windmill in the background?

The Netherlands has a long history with the tulip, dating back to the sixteenth century when it was first imported from present-day Turkey. Based on the shape of the flower, the name tulip, comes from the Persian word for turban, tulipan.

The Dutch were smitten with the flower almost immediately after its arrival. They were often featured in paintings and by the mid-seventeenth century, so popular that they created the first economic bubble. “Tulip Mania” drove up the prices of bulbs so much that they were used as currency until the market crashed.

Today, roughly three-quarters of the world’s flowering bulbs come from the Netherlands, many of them still tulips.

Today’s tulips come in a variety of shapes and colors: classic single blooms; double-flowered, peony-like blooms; simple and elegant lily-flowered tulips; and lavish, feathery parrot tulips. Each has a very different look, along with a choice of single or multiple colors, so you’re definitely not limited to what you can plant.

Another reliable winter-hardy bulb, the bright, sunny daffodil is a close second to the tulip, unless you live in the Gloucester area, where daffodils reign supreme. The “Daffodil Capital of America,” Gloucester boasts the Daffodil Festival every April and is the home of Brent & Becky’s Bulbs.

Brent Heath, the “Brent” of Brent and Becky’s, believes that the daffodil’s popularity stems from its cheery, eyecatching color. “Yellow is the first color your eyes see,” he says. And a bonus to the beauty? Like all bulbs in the Amaryllis family (snowdrops and snowflakes are others), “they’re deerproof,” he says.

The variety of color and form is not quite as extensive as tulips, though there is still a lot to feast your eyes on. In addition to the classic yellow, daffodils come in white and shades of orange — subtle apricots and deep corals to intense orange — and in many color combinations. You can also choose from a dozen different types, from bold trumpet, 26

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large-cupped, and double daffodils, to dainty tazetta and jonquilla daffodils, among others.

EARLY RISERS AT THE EDGE OF WINTER AND SPRING Can’t wait for early spring to see flowers?

Try planting snowdrops (galanthus) or snowflakes (leucojum). These cold-hardy plants send up simple white flowers and grassy green leaves in March.

If you’re searching for more color, crocuses, with their pinks, purples, and yellows, will make you dream of warmer weather. One in particular, crocus tommasinianus, or the woodland crocus, spreads easily, creating a blanket of color.

Because of their short stature, growing just three inches tall, they are best paired with other plants. And because they tolerate some shade, they do well at the base of shrubs or trees. Other early risers to try: winter aconite (buttercup) and cyclamen.

SPRING IN FULL BLOOM Though tulips and daffodils get most of the attention in spring, there are other flowers that have their own advantages.

Allium (ornamental onion): A stand out in any garden for their height, color, and size of the globe-like flower head.

Late spring to early summer bloom.

Anemone (Grecian windflower): Anemone blanda is a low-growing plant with dark centers and daisy-like petals. Because of its low height, it is a great companion plant for taller springblooming bulbs like tulips or daffodils.

Early to mid-spring bloom.

Asiatic Lily: A hardy lily with tall leafy stems and trumpet-shaped blooms from spring to early summer.

Hyacinth/Grape Hyacinth: Full of fragrance and color, these flowers grow in a distinctive column shape, roughly ten inches high. Grape hyacinths are similar but on a much smaller scale.

Early to mid-spring bloom.

Iris (Dutch): the Dutch iris Carmen produces tall, slender plants with lavender blooms and a striking splash of yellow. This particular iris works well, appropriately enough, as a cut flower, since it usually blooms around Mother’s Day. Late spring to early summer blooms.

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(left to right, top to bottom) Crocus tommasinianus surrounds Hellebrous hybridus; Gladiolus callianthus mixes with roses and choleus; Mid-season mix of daffodils and tulips; A shady duo of Caladium ‘Summer Pink’ and carex grass; Dahlia ‘Happy Single Flame’ is favored by pollinators like this Monarch butterfly; Zantedeschia ‘Picasso’ or calla lily with larkspur in the background; Colorful mix of Daffodil ‘Thalia’, Tulip ‘Red Emperor’, and ‘Blue Magic’ grape hyacinth; Canna ‘Australia’ 27

SPRING PLANTED BULBS: A SHORT NAP FOR SUMMER BEAUTY

(above) Anemone blanda with violas or ‘Johnny Jump Ups’ (below) Catalogue garden at Brent and Becky’s

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Spring isn’t just a time for enjoying abundance. It’s also a time to get your hands dirty for color later on. Some bulbs do not need or want a cold dormant period. Tender bulbs, as they are called, are planted when the soil warms up to about 60 degrees, for color throughout the summer.

Calla Lily: Graceful vase-shaped blooms and spotted green leaves. While white is a popular choice, the Calla is also available in yellow, pink, and purple. It blooms all summer and sometimes into early fall.

Canna: A bold, tropical plant, beautiful for both its foliage and flowers.

Leaf colors can be green or deep red, with some green/yellow or green/white variegated varieties too. One of the few flowering bulbs that like to get their feet wet, it will do well in areas with lots of moisture. Given its height, it works best in the background of planting beds. It blooms mid to late summer.

Gladiolus: A truly stunning plant

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SPRING ISN’T JUST A TIME FOR ENJOYING ABUNDANCE. IT’S ALSO A TIME TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY FOR COLOR LATER ON. with its tall stalks of flowers that come in a rainbow of colors.

Given its height of two feet or taller, this plant works best as a backdrop to shorter plants. Glads often need be staked because of their height, but shorter plants can also act as a support.

They bloom in mid to late summer.

Dahlia: There is such a variety in shapes, sizes, and colors, that sometimes it’s hard to believe they are all the same plant. Be it the opulent dinner-plate dahlias, spiky cactus dahlias, pom poms, or daisy-like mignons, they offer endless opportunities to experiment. They bloom in early to midsummer. With deadheading (removing spent blooms), dahlias will give you a wonderful second bloom after the heat of the summer into early fall.

AFTER THE PARTY IS OVER All good things must come to an end and that includes blooming seasons. Once flowering bulbs finish blooming, the greenery will start to yellow and die back. Here is where patience and companion planting pay off. Despite its not-soattractive appearance, it’s important to leave the foliage in place until the greenery turns yellow and flops over. Once

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that happens, you can cut the stems and leaves off. Because bulbs use their foliage to produce energy for blooming, cutting it off too soon will affect the bulb’s ability to produce flowers for you the next season. Planting bulbs with different bloom times or using other plants will help hide the process.

Daylilies or ornamental grasses are both great choices for camouflage because of their fullness.

With tender bulbs, a little extra care is needed to get through Virginia’s winters. There are a few ways to do this: dig up the bulbs after the first frost and store them in a cool, dry, freeze-free spot until spring; plant them in raised beds and provide an added layer of mulch before winter; or plant them in containers and move them, container and all, into a cool, dry, freeze-free place for the winter. Once spring arrives, it’s time to start the whole process over again.

Spring and summer flowering bulbs are an easy option for gardeners to beautify their landscapes, whether they have green thumbs or not. With the sheer variety of choices and versatility in location — doing well indoors and out, in containers or in the ground — it would be difficult to imagine a landscape without them. So get out there and start digging. H

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B r e a & k d f e B Birds ast for the

By Beth Fedorko and Dan Fedorko

HOUSES, FEEDERS AND BATHS

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FEEDING AND HOUSING OUR NATIVE BIRDS ADDS A SPECIAL MAGIC TO YOUR PROPERTY

ttracting birds to your yard is a rewarding and exciting hobby that has grown in popularity since 1900. Before homeowners decided to attract birds to watch and appreciate them, birding involved not so much observation but killing and collection. Birds of all types were harvested for their feathers used in the thriving women’s hat industry of the nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries. It took 30

the efforts of turn-of-the-century conservationists to educate people that bird watching was a better option to bird collecting for personal or commercial purposes. The fact that several bird species (Passenger Pigeon and Carolina Parakeet included) went extinct at the dawn of the twentieth century was a poignant wake up call. So backyard bird feeding, housing, and watching in America began almost simultaneously.

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BIRD FEEDERS Attracting birds to your property begins with providing them food. You can do this by planting native trees and shrubs. The fruits and foliage of these plants naturally attract birds to eat the berries or insects on the buds and leaves. In addition to the plantings you may provide seeds, mealworms, nectar and suet to attract a variety of birds. The types and styles of bird feeders are almost as varied as the birds that flock to them.

Sunflower and safflower seeds attract many different kinds of songbirds from Northern Cardinals and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks to Pine Siskins and White-breasted Nuthatches.

Unfortunately, they appeal to squirrels and larger birds like European Starlings, Common Grackles, and Blue Jays that can gorge on the seed and bully the smaller birds away from the feeders. One of our favorite sunflower seed feeders is tube-shaped with feeding ports on the bottom and a weighted perch ring that will allow Cardinals and smaller birds to dine, but once a larger bird or squirrel sits on the perch the counterweight closes the seed ports.

Other sunflower feeder styles include platform feeders with a wooden frame and wire mesh inside. If you hang this feeder six feet from the ground and at least 15 feet from trees, squirrels can’t access it. Another style of sunflower feeder is the hopper that resembles a little house with clear front and back and perches with a counterweight to discourage squirrels and large birds. These are usually mounted on a pole with a 17-inch wide, cone-shaped squirrel baffle positioned below the feeder.

Nyjer (thistle) seed attracts American Goldfinches, House Finches, our wintering Dark-eyed Juncos, and Pine Siskins.

Clear tube feeders with many little feeding ports and perches are the most popular style but mesh bags are a good choice too. Over time the seed at the bottom of the tube can get moist and compacted. Dumping out and disposing of these seeds is important each time you add more seed to the feeder —it deters mold that is unhealthy for songbirds. Cleaning all of your bird feeders is essential to prevent the spread of illness in our feathered visitors. Do this twice a year in spring and fall with dish detergent and a long-handled brush, followed by a ten percent bleach solution. Soak and then air dry. Rake, shovel and dispose of seed and hulls on the ground in the spring to prevent mold growth in warm weather.

If you want to attract woodpeckers, Downy, Hairy, RedBellied, and Pileated, in addition to other birds to your yard, offer suet. Homemade or purchased in cake form, it provides necessary fats to birds. A simple cage suspended from a chain or nailed to a tree is one option. We like the cage that keeps the cakes inside away from squirrels and larger birds, but allows woodpeckers to hang upside down (which they are quite comfortable doing) and eat from the bottom while smaller birds enter from the sides. We’ve noticed that European Starlings and Blue Jays have attempted to fly up and stab at the suet on the bottom of the cage. Purchased suet with hot pepper added doesn’t bother birds but the squirrels stay away!

If you want to attract Eastern Bluebirds, Carolina Wrens and other insect eating birds to your yard, offer them dried mealworms. You can place them in a small cup inside a cage The House & Home Magazine

American goldfinch group. Photo courtesy of Beth Fedorko and Dan Fedorko 31

BIRDHOUSES CAN ADD A DECORATIVE TOUCH TO YOUR PROPERTY AND COME IN MANY STYLES

Purple Martins and their ‘apartment building’

feeder or mix them with seed on the platform feeder.

Nectar and fruit eating birds love sugary treats. Oranges cut in half and skewered on a board attract Baltimore or Orchard Orioles. Grape jelly on orange-hued Oriole feeders is another alternative. Raisins soaked in water overnight and placed on your platform seed feeder attract Eastern Bluebirds, Northern Mockingbirds, Cedar Waxwings, and American Robins.

A popular warm weather visitor is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Hummingbird feeders can be simple red and clear plastic or fancy glass with decorative metal feeding ports.

Alternatively plant red flowering plants such as Cardinal vine, Wave Petunia, and Scarlet runner bean to attract hummingbirds. Do not use red dye in the feeder. Make your own nectar by dissolving one part sugar in four parts boiling water. Clean feeder and replace nectar every few days to avoid mold growth.

BIRD BATHS In addition to attracting birds to your yard with food, you can bring in more birds, especially those migrating through in spring, with a water source. Birdbaths and fountains are a lovely decorative feature in your yard and are as varied as the birds they attract. Vintage concrete birdbaths are especially popular and can be found at estate sales and flea markets.

Glazed ceramic and copper birdbaths are easy to clean and add a note of elegance to your landscape, especially when tucked in among your flowering plants.

Heated birdbaths are a welcome winter respite when the temperatures reach below freezing.

Here are some things to consider when adding a birdbath to your property.

Have the water move. You don’t need electricity to create an enticing sprinkle or ripples in your birdbath. Solar powered fountains and battery-operated water wigglers draw in birds that see the sun glinting off the moving water. Water depth should be one to two inches.

Have a rock or twigs in or across the birdbath for easy perching and drinking.

Baths positioned on stands are attractive to smaller birds where baths on the ground attract Mourning Doves and, if

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April/May 2019

Pileated Woodpecker on suet feeder. Photo courtesy of Beth Fedorko and Dan Fedorko A Blue Jay on a platform feeder. Photo courtesy of Beth Fedorko and Dan Fedorko

A House Wren pokes its head out of a nesting box

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you’re lucky, Northern Bobwhite. Keep the birdbaths clean and free of algae and droppings by changing the water frequently and scrubbing with a stiff brush.

BIRD HOUSES Now that you’ve attracted birds to your yard with food and water, offer them shelter. Songbirds that nest in tree cavities will be the main tenants of birdhouses. Common yard residents are House and Carolina Wrens, Eastern Bluebird, Carolina Chickadee, Whitebreasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Tree Swallows, and House Sparrows. Like birdbaths, birdhouses can add a decorative touch to your property and come in many styles, depending on the type of bird you wish to attract.

Wood is the best material for birdhouses.

You have your choice among birdhouses that look like your house, lighthouseshaped houses, barn-shaped houses, houses made from reclaimed wood and antique embellishments offer charming whimsy in your yard and shelter for songbirds. Sources for unique houses are your local wild bird store, garden centers, and craft markets.

Keep these important bird-friendly considerations in mind when selecting a decorative birdhouse. The size of the opening determines which bird will nest in the house. Wren house openings should be 1-1/8 inches, Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, and Nuthatch openings should be 1-1/4 inches and Bluebirds prefer a 1-1/2-inch opening. Ventilation between roof and wall keeps the air circulating and the heat out. Drainage holes should be on the floor or the four corners. One wall or the roof should be hinged so you can clean the house out after the nestlings have fledged. Place the house on a tall, sturdy pole or tree with the opening facing anywhere from east to south. Perches are not necessary and may help unwanted predators like snakes from entering the house. If you use a traditional Audubon-style wooden Bluebird house, you must use a snake baffle on the pole or place a tube of hardware cloth (wire mesh) around the opening. We have sadly witnessed black snakes entering a Bluebird house to get the chicks inside. Snake proofing any birdhouse on a pole is a good idea.

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April/May 2019

(left to right) Terra cotta nesting bottle. Carolina Chickadee in vintage birdhouse. Photo courtesy of Beth Fedorko and Dan Fedorko. Carolina Wren at mealworm feeder. Photo courtesy of Beth Fedorko and Dan Fedorko.

Another style of birdhouse associated with colonial America is the clay or terra cotta bottle style. Its origins are from Europe where the bottles were used to lure and trap birds so their eggs could be harvested. In modern times, these decorative birdhouses are hung on the sides of homes or trees as a decorative and practical accent that harkens back to our colonial roots.

The Purple Martin, our largest swallow in the eastern U.S., will migrate in spring and summer to apartment-style houses placed high on poles. Bluebirds and Tree Swallows also nest in martin

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apartments and will aggressively defend the entire complex for themselves.

Martin apartments, in wood or metal, are painted white to reflect light and summer heat. A group of gourds suspended on crossbars on poles are a historically traditional style of martin house. Common knowledge that martins and swallows are good for mosquito control is not entirely true. They do eat mosquitoes, but they also feed on a large variety of flying insects.

Eastern Screech Owls may take up residence in a wooden “owl box� placed high on a tree. Squirrels may try to take

up residence first. You can deter them by nailing a large piece of flashing around the opening. Years could go by before you find owls roosting in the box in early spring. Plans for building your own owl boxes can be found online through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Feeding and housing our native birds adds a special magic to your property.

Decorative and bird-friendly options are numerous and fun to add to your spring and summer landscape. Add a birdie bed and breakfast haven in your yard, then sit back and enjoy these entertaining visitors and residents. H

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DON’T JUST SAVE THE DATE, SAVE THE MONTH OF JUNE 2019

RETURNS FOR 2019

D

on’t just save the date for the 2019 Gloucester Arts Festival. Save the entire month of June. Presented by the Cook Foundation, the Gloucester Arts Festival will return June 1-30, 2019 for a month-long celebration of the arts that will bring together plein air painting, Seward Johnson painted bronze statues, music, workshops, demonstrations, artist gatherings, mural painting, and community paint events for artists of all experiences and ages.

The 2019 event — which kicks off and culminates with free community concerts — features an artist invitational where more than 20 artists from the mid-Atlantic region will paint ‘en plein air’ at various scenic spots around the county and compete for more than $20,000 in prize money.

Plein air painting gained favor with the French impressionists as they took their canvases out of the studio to paint outside (‘en plein air), in order to capture the effects of transient light. “They sought to create an art of movement, candid poses and composition, emphasizing the natural light and the viewer’s quick study,” said Adrianne Ryder36

April/May 2019

AN ARTIST’S “FRESH EYE GENTLY AND UNPRETENTIOUSLY REMINDS US TO LOOK UP FROM OUR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVICES AND TAKE NOURISHMENT FROM THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD IN WHICH WE ARE SO FORTUNATE TO LIVE.”

Cook Joseph of the Cook Foundation.

“Not fussy or belabored, plein air painting is increasingly appreciated by today’s collectors and painters, with the number of plein air festivals increasing across the United States.”

The power of art, and plein air painting, helps celebrate “places we all inherently recognize and with which we feel a connection, vistas that revive our senses, both grounding and uplifting us, making our hearts soar with the joy of seeing what we love, as we breathe in deeply,” Joseph said. An artist’s “fresh eye gently and unpretentiously reminds us to look up from our technological devices and take nourishment from the beautiful world in which we are so fortunate to live.”

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The Gloucester Arts Festival has secured Kenn Erroll Backhaus, a Master Level artist in both the Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionist Society, as judge and juror of the plein air painting event. He is a member and past president of the Plein Air Painters of America, the oldest and most prestigious plein air organization in the country, and has regularly judged national-level shows.

Just like in its first year, the Gloucester Arts Festival committee anticipates the contemporary plein air artists to capture the beauty of life along the rivers, fields and communities in Gloucester. Artwork will be displayed at Arts on Main and will become a part of the Heart of the River collection that was started in 2017, the first year of

the festival. More than 5,000 people are expected to attend the festival throughout the month. Plan to be among them by mapping out your festival itinerary.

GLOUCESTER ARTS FESTIVAL EVENT LINE UP Symphony Under the Stars Free Family Concert & Nocturne Paint Out Saturday, June 1 For the thirteenth year, and its third time as part of the Gloucester Arts Festival, the Cook Foundation will present the Symphony Under the Stars, a free family concert on Main Street featuring the Virginia Symphony orchestra. Attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or 37

PLEIN AIR PAINTING GAINED FAVOR WITH THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONISTS AS THEY TOOK THEIR CANVASES OUT OF THE STUDIO TO PAINT OUTSIDE blanket and to arrive early. In the event of forecasted rain, the concert will be held at LightHouse church on George Washington Memorial Highway. Prior to the concert, festival artists will be on site painting in plein air. Paintings from this Nocturne Paint Out will be on display at the Stewart Gallery on Main Street throughout the festival.

Sculptures on Main Throughout the Month Seward Johnson painted bronze statues will return to Main Street for the community to enjoy.

Plein Air Painting June 1-6 Plein air painting will take place at various scenic locations throughout Gloucester. There will be two public opportunities for the community to engage with the artists.

Meet the Artists Dinner June 4 In this ticketed event held at Brent & Becky’s Bulbs, attendees can meet the plein air artists and watch them in action.

Painting Demonstrations June 1, 2 and 8 The community is invited to watch and learn from award-winning artists.

Patrons Party & Gala June 7 In this ticketed event for art patrons, the Heart of the River 2019 Plein Air Art Collection will be unveiled at Arts on Main.

Paint Main 2.5 & Muralist Painting & Music June 8 Festival artists and locals will converge on Main Street to paint the downtown ‘en plein air. A muralist — Amy Bartlett Wright from Rhode Island, a native of the Eastern Shore — will continue to paint her commissioned mural on Main Street during this event. The mural will be a celebration of the landscape and heritage of the county’s watermen. Soundscapes 38

April/May 2019

will perform on Main Street during the event, too.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Art Mobile & Chrysler Museum Glass Blowing Exhibit June 8 VMFA Art Mobile visits Main Street alongside the Chrysler Museum of Art Glass Blowing Exhibit.

Paint Main Reception June 9 A public reception at the Stewart Gallery on Main Street will showcase the works from festival artists and locals from Paint Main 2.5.

Arts at Abingdon Concert June 13 Join the Arts at Abingdon Church for a concert with the Kitchen Dwellers.

U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Band Community Concert June 30 Closing out the festival, the U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Band will perform a free community concert. H

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BECOME A PATRON OF THE ARTS Interested art enthusiasts are invited to become Art Patrons and collect painting selections created by the talented festival artists. The exceptional works in oil, acrylic, watercolor and pastel will be priced in the $500 to $2,000 range and unveiled during the Patrons Party & Gala on June 7 at Arts on Main.

Art Patrons who buy a prepurchased certificate for $500 will

be able to choose paintings before the public offering — creating a unique opportunity to acquire a beautiful, original, plein air painting for a personal collection while helping support the curation of the Heart of the River Collection. The pre-purchase certificate also gives Art Patrons preferred access to festival events.

Learn more about Gloucester Arts Festival at gloucesterartsfestival.com.

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COLORFUL, TANGY RHUBARB IS ALWAYS A SPECIAL TREAT AND AN INTERESTING ADDITION TO A SEASONAL MENU

IN TO

WITH

RHUBARB

By Janet Evans Hinman

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April/May 2019

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pring is in full bloom and that means the arrival of a rainbow of delicious spring produce at local grocers and farmers’ markets.

Colorful, tangy rhubarb is always a special treat and an interesting addition to a seasonal menu, although enthusiasm for this early blooming vegetable seems to vary by region — it’s much beloved in some areas and mostly overlooked in others.

Rhubarb grows like crazy, even though it only produces for a short window of time. It’s available from late winter to early spring, with a peak season from April to June. It’s a plant that’s incredibly easy to grow and will continue to come back and produce year after year. It’s one of only two perennial vegetables; the other is asparagus.

Rhubarb plants are resistant to diseases and pests, and even the smallest garden can accommodate the plants, which sprout from thick, short rhizomes. Its rosy stalks and green leaves, often sporting red veins, are decorative as bedding plants, and it blooms before most spring flowers.

Rhubarb stalks look much like celery and have a tart flavor

and bright color ranging from deep red to light pink to pale green. It’s delicious in all kinds of sweet treats but also works well in savory dishes. Also known as pieplant, rhubarb is most often cooked with sweeteners and a variety of fruits in baked desserts like crumbles, cakes, and pies. It’s also tasty tossed with honey, sprinkled with a bit of salt and cracked black pepper, roasted briefly and added to salads or served with meats.

When shopping for rhubarb for a recipe, look for thin, red, crisp stalks. To prep, rinse well, then trim the bottoms and the tops. If there are any leaves, slice them off and discard.

Rhubarb leaves are toxic to consume; they contain oxalic acid.

It’s best to keep pets away from the leaves. If the stalks are stringy, remove the tough parts with a small paring knife, as you would for celery.

Rhubarb is low in calories and high in fiber. It’s also rich in vitamins A, C and K, as well as potassium, magnesium and calcium. One cup of cooked rhubarb contains as much calcium as a glass of milk.

Add this unique vegetable to your diet and your garden.

Get inspired by trying one of our seasonal rhubarb recipes and put a little zing in your spring.

RHUBARB STRAWBERRY LATTICE PIE The sweetness of strawberries complements the tartness of rhubarb in this pie. You can use raspberries instead of strawberries, if you prefer.

Ingredients: • 1 3/4 pounds rhubarb, sliced into 3/4-inch pieces (6 cups) • 6 ounces strawberries, coarsely chopped (1 cup) • 1 1/2 cups, plus one tablespoon granulated sugar (divided) • 1/4 cup cornstarch • 1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon orange juice • Coarse salt • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces • 2 circles of pre-rolled and refrigerated pie dough (for a 9-inch pie) • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus a pinch more to dust surface for preparing crust • 1 large egg, lightly beaten, for egg wash • Sanding sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To make the filling, mix together rhubarb, strawberries, granulated sugar (1 1/2 cups), cornstarch, zest and juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

For crust, fit one circle of dough into a 9-inch pie plate, making sure the dough fits over the lip of the plate. Combine 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon flour; sprinkle in bottom of the crust. Pour in filling; dot top with butter. Refrigerate while making lattice strips for top crust.

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Roll out the remaining circle of dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut the circle into at least 15, 1/2-inch strips using a pastry cutter. Lay 8 strips vertically across pie. Fold back every other strip halfway and lay a horizontal strip across the center of the pie.

Unfold folded strips, then fold back remaining strips.

Lay another horizontal strip across pie. Repeat folding and unfolding strips to weave a lattice pattern. Repeat on remaining side.

If needed, trim top strips to a 1-inch overhang, fold strips under the bottom crust and press together to seal around edges, crimp as desired. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Brush crust with egg wash, and sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Bake pie on middle rack, with a foil-lined baking sheet on bottom rack to catch juices, until pie is vigorously bubbling in center and bottom crust is golden, about 1 1/2 hours. (Loosely tent with foil after 1 hour if crust is browning too quickly.) Transfer pie to a wire rack, and let cool for at least 2 hours (preferably longer) before serving.

Pie can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

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RHUBARB OAT BARS These chewy rhubarb bars provide just the right amount of tartness and sweetness.

Ingredients: • 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb • 1 cup packed brown sugar, divided • 4 tablespoons water, divided • 1 teaspoon lemon juice • 4 teaspoons cornstarch • 1 cup old-fashioned oats • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour • 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut • (If you don’t like coconut, use 1/2 cup nuts or 1/2 cup extra oats instead.)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions: In a large saucepan, combine the rhubarb, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium; cook and stir for 4-5 minutes or until rhubarb is tender. Combine the cornstarch and remaining water until smooth; gradually stir into rhubarb mixture.

Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; set aside.

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In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, coconut, salt and remaining brown sugar. Stir in butter until mixture is crumbly. Press half of the oats mixture into a greased 8-inch square baking dish. Spread with rhubarb mixture. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture and press down lightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.

April/May 2019

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB SANGRIA When you’re ready to kick back on the deck with an icy-cold beverage, try this refreshing sangria, a combination of two of spring’s star ingredients.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients: For syrup • 2/3 cup granulated sugar • 2/3 cup water • 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped rhubarb • 1 cup coarsely chopped strawberries • 2 tablespoons lemon juice For sangria • 1 750-mL bottle chilled rosé wine • 1 1/4 cups strawberry-rhubarb syrup • 1 cup club soda (or prosecco) • 1 cup sliced strawberries • mint leaves, thin rhubarb stalks • ice (optional)

Directions: For syrup Combine sugar, water, rhubarb and strawberries in a medium saucepan. Boil over medium-high until the fruits turn mushy when pressed, 8 to 9 minutes. Strain, using the back of a spoon to press liquid out of fruit. Stir in lemon juice. Cool completely. Syrup will keep, refrigerated, up to 1 week. If there’s leftover syrup, use it for another beverage concoction in the same way you would use simple syrup.

For sangria Combine the wine, syrup, club soda (or prosecco) and sliced strawberries in a pitcher. Add mint leaves and ice (if desired). Pour into glasses and garnish with a small rhubarb stalk. H The House & Home Magazine

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FROM ONE SURVIVOR TO ANOTHER The Survivor rests easy at June Parker Marina in Tappahannock.

River at Your Fingertips RAPPAHANNOCK ROUNDSTERN PUTS THE

By Janet Evans Hinman

T

here’s no better starting point for a happy ending and a new beginning than the moment when two survivors find each other. It was love at first sight when Nate Parker of June Parker Marina in Tappahannock laid eyes on the 37-foot Chesapeake Bay-style round stern deadrise that would become his own personal Survivor. The journey hadn’t been as smooth as a summer sunrise cruise on the river. There had been some rough water along the way.

On July 30, 2017, Parker survived an explosion and fire at the marina. He spent months recuperating from his injuries and enduring intensive burn treatments, all of which gave him time to think about the future, as well as new directions and fresh adventures. Parker and his long-time friend Richard Moncure, tidal river steward with Friends of the

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Rappahannock, had spent many pleasant hours spinning ideas of how to share their knowledge of the river and its aquaculture with inquiring minds among locals and visitors alike. The pair share a love of adventure and all things Rappahannock — and both have a healthy dose of river water running through their veins.

Parker and Moncure first met at the marina when they were both 13 years old. Parker was pumping gas, and Moncure was pulling crab pots. “We were both so interested in what the other was doing, but the meeting was extremely quick,” Parker said. Their paths shadowed each other through middle school and little league sports, and they became good friends in high school.

Both attended Hampden-Sydney College and later went on separate adventures — Parker to the Virgin Islands and Moncure to Zambia. The pair returned from their journeys with a new appreciation for the river and its environment. “We realized how much we love it, what is happening on it and the history of it,” Parker said. “We want to make sure everyone else appreciates it as much as we do.”

April/May 2019

Parker and Moncure join forces often. Moncure has a Friends of the Rappahannock office right at Parker’s marina, and they have cooperated on programs and shared ideas for years. Together, they crafted a plan to “put the Rappahannock at your fingertips,” resulting in a jointly owned corporation, Rappahannock Roundstern, specializing in charters for exploring all the wonders of the river — fishing, touring and learning. But first, the plan involved some serious boat shopping.

They initially thought of launching their venture with a Carolina Skiff, a popular boat for inshore and bay fishing across coastal areas, but soon decided that a classic Chesapeake deadrise was just what they needed to highlight the waterman’s experience, as well as the history, fisheries, science and recreational aspects of the river environment. “We saw those old handmade boats disappearing one after another,” Parker said. “We felt as if they were historical floating works of art and wanted to keep some afloat for the next generations to see, appreciate, and learn aboard.”

The Chesapeake Bay deadrise workboat is a traditional fishing vessel used in the bay and its tributaries. Watermen have used these boats year-round for everything from crabbing and oystering to catching fish or eels. More recently, they’ve become popular recreational vessels as well. Traditionally wooden hulled, the deadrise is characterized by a sharp bow that quickly becomes a flat V shape moving aft along the bottom of the boat. A small cabin structure lies forward and a large open cockpit and work area aft. The round stern style, so named for its rounded rear end, is said to have made it a little easier for watermen tonging for oysters to work both with and against the tidal water flow from both ends of the boat, Parker explained.

The deadrise workboat is the official boat of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The engine-driven deadrise and its modern recreational kin evolved directly from the sailing skipjacks of the late nineteenth century. Skipjacks are elegant V-bottom, shallow-draft workboats developed by watermen for oystering and crabbing.

Parker’s and Moncure’s first boat shopping excursion ended in disappointment. “We were about 30 minutes late,” Parker said. They toured a round stern deadrise named Ashley’s Hope.

“From the moment we stepped on board, I thought I was going to have to pull Nate off that boat,” Moncure said. “Another guy came up with cash and bought it right in front of us, but we knew we were more in love with the round stern than ever before.”

Their second attempt was a bit more daring. In the middle of February 2018, in fog and drizzle, they set out from Reedville, Virginia to Crapo, Maryland in Parker’s 18-foot Edgewater boat, and the journey made them wonder about making it back to Tappahannock in one piece. That’s the odyssey that brought Parker to his Survivor. “It was love at first sight,” said Parker. “I knew it was meant to be.”

After the marina fire, burn treatments and the challenging journey to Maryland, Parker explained, “I was ready for my boat. This old girl needs to stay around, and I need to stay around,” he said. They bought the Survivor and drove her back The House & Home Magazine

The ladies are ready for a cruise.

Fair winds and following seas send the Survivor off on a voyage.

THE CHESAPEAKE BAY DEADRISE WORKBOAT IS A TRADITIONAL FISHING VESSEL USED IN THE BAY AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. WATERMEN HAVE USED THESE BOATS YEAR-ROUND FOR EVERYTHING FROM CRABBING AND OYSTERING TO CATCHING FISH OR EELS. 45

The Chatty Lou (left) with Captain Richard Moncure and the Survivor with Captain Nate Parker are the pride of Rappahannock Roundstern.

to Reedville that very day, and so she became the flagship of Rappahannock Roundstern.

Her passage back to Tappahannock took place over the next few months — from Reedville to Windmill Point in White Stone, then to Simonson in Richmond County, then to Sunset Pointe Marina in Urbanna. Survivor got a checkup and some maintenance on dry land at the marina, then spent another few weeks back afloat acclimating again to the water.

Parker noted that when a wooden boat sits on dry land for a length of time, the boards dry out and shrink, so the vessel

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must sit in the water for a while soaking and swelling — a nerve-wracking process because the boat is taking on water until the boards swell enough to become watertight. On May 30, 2018, with the help of Herb Osburn, Parker brought the Survivor home to Tappahannock, where she has been afloat ever since.

The Deltaville Maritime Museum helped Parker and Moncure trace the roots of the Survivor, built in 1960 by the late J. Edmond Harrow of Deltaville. The vessel had spent its entire life in commercial oystering, crabbing and fishing. Before her move

to Tappahannock, the Survivor had been hard at work on the Eastern Shore for an “old salt” in Crapo, Maryland.

Deltaville has a rich history of deadrise boat building. A great many watermen built boats for themselves, and when one of them built a particularly handsome and able craft, word spread and other watermen often asked that he duplicate the model for them. That’s how oystermen and crabbers became boat builders — they simply built boats by eye, maybe carving a model first.

The Survivor was built by the process known as “rack of eye,” a phrase that

April/May 2019

Survivor hosts a fishing charter.

rings mysteriously in the mariner’s mind, but simply means building a boat without the use of plans. The technique requires experience and sensitivity to the way the shape of each hull influences a boat’s behavior. Local traditions and prevailing conditions in various areas of the Chesapeake Bay generally determined the appearance and design. “These fellows went out and found the straightest tree they could find, cut it down, took it back to the boatyard and built a boat with it,” Parker said.

As luck would have it, not long after the Survivor was docked at Parker’s marina, Ashley’s Hope came back on the market, and this time Parker and Moncure weren’t late. They seized the moment, bought the boat and renamed her the Chatty Lou, adding another deadrise to the Rappahannock Roundstern fleet. The 37-foot vessel was built in 1953 on the Corrotoman River and spent the majority of her life as a recreational boat. For about ten years, she had belonged to Christchurch School. Under Moncure’s care, the Chatty Lou arrived at her home in Simonson on July 15, 2018, although if the summer charter season gets busy, she may be spending more time in Tappahannock. “These are special boats, full of their own uniqueness,” Parker said. “Learning their intricacies is our pleasure.”

Captains Moncure and Parker are looking forward to a lively spring and summer season on the water. They envision hosting school groups, fishing trips, Bald Eagle tours, nature excursions or vineyard visits. “We want to provide a special experience for everyone who steps on board either boat,” Parker said. “We’ll put the Rappahannock River at your fingertips.”

Survivor gets a checkup “on the hard,” or on dry land.

THE SURVIVOR WAS BUILT BY THE PROCESS KNOWN AS “RACK OF EYE,” A PHRASE THAT RINGS MYSTERIOUSLY IN THE MARINER’S MIND, BUT SIMPLY MEANS BUILDING A BOAT WITHOUT THE USE OF PLANS.

To book a charter on either boat, call Nate Parker at (804) 313-0099 or Richard Moncure at (804) 214-0447, or visit Rappahannock Roundstern on Facebook. H

She’s pretty as a picture. In the foreground is a painting in progress by artist George B. Jennings. To see the finished product, and other works by Jennings, visit gbookerjennnings.com.

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Photos courtesy of Bernadette Barclay

Grace Grit AND

E

very day, Tanner Robertson, a senior at St. Margaret’s School in Tappahannock, suits up, ties her long hair back, smears eye black above her cheeks, and practices or plays softball.

It’s her passion, and she has been playing softball since she was five years old.

Robertson plays shortstop with the St. Margaret’s Scotties and balances a demanding academic load to achieve her dream of playing college ball.

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In November 2018, Robertson signed a letter of intent to play Division I softball with the Lancers at Longwood University and compete in the Big South Conference.

It’s her dream come true, and Robertson describes her love for the game as “Irreplaceable,” saying, “There’s nothing I would rather do.”

Since she also plays travel ball with Richmond Storm, nearly every weekend she travels long hours to play club teams and tournaments across the South. She plays during her summers, on holidays, and occasions when other girls are at the prom, April/May 2019

out with friends and dating, or working nights and weekends.

“It’s a life,” says St. Margaret’s softball coach Rob Pierce, who has seen Tanner and other girls he coaches create exciting careers for themselves playing softball.

“Girls who succeed exhibit heart and passion for the game.” And, a lot of them start early. “Some girls pick up the ball before they can walk,” says Pierce.

Elizabeth “Biz” McCarthy admires Robertson for her drive and love of the game. “When it’s softball time, that’s it,” says McCarthy. She says Robertson “doesn’t let up.”

McCarthy knows this level of intensity and commitment well. She started playing as soon as she could pick up a ball.

At four years old, she was in Little League and then played travel ball for nearly nine years, including through high school.

The House & Home Magazine

McCarthy played four years for St. Margaret’s as a pitcher and first baseman and went on to play for Longwood University, where she is considered one of the best pitchers to ever wear the Lancer uniform and one of the best pitchers ever seen in the Big South Conference.

The determination and teamwork McCarthy showed on the field inspired Rebecca Kelley to attend St. Margaret’s as a junior, where she knew the team had a great reputation. Though she was an experienced player, she says she struggled with balancing academics and athletics.

“It was really tough at first,” she says.

She had to learn to better organize her time, develop study skills, and commit to hard work in the classroom. “Softball

gave me the work ethic and the positive attitude,” she says.

Kelley had a “great support system” at school and at home, something she also credits for her success. Her family kept a demanding schedule, helping Kelley 49

practice and compete with the Scotties and in travel ball, sometimes driving two hours one way to make a practice in addition to trips for games and tournaments across the South.

“It’s a great way to be seen by colleges, and it really pays off,” says Kelley who is currently a sophomore playing with the Golden Eagles at Clarion University in Pennsylvania.

“There are lessons they learn on the field about teamwork and resilience,” says St. Margaret’s Director of Athletics, Cynthia Walker. “They build character and learn positive life skills that are so important to a solid foundation for life.

And the grit they develop carries them through into a successful career.”

“Softball is known in sports as the game of failures. Everything is measured by how you don’t succeed. It’s one of the toughest sports, mentally,” says Heather Chastain.

Chastain learned those lessons well and carried them with her through Little League and travel ball competition, plus four years playing as a catcher at St. Margaret’s, and through a successful Division I college career at Western Carolina University in North Carolina where she graduated cum laude.

Chastain admits it was tough once she stopped playing competitively and says at first she “didn’t know what to do.” She soon realized she needed to change her mindset and credits softball for “preparing you for anything.”

She joined Fellowship of Christian Athletes, put her faith to work, ministered to youth, and found her passion working with kids. Today Chastain teaches eighth-grade math, is working on a master’s degree, and coaches two middle school softball teams.

“The future I have with softball is my motivation,” says Autumn Courtney, a freshman Scottie pitcher. Her sight already set on playing college ball, Courtney psyches herself up for practice or competitive play nearly every day.

Waiting for practice to start, she taps on her cell phone playlist and cranks up the volume on Thunderstruck by AC/DC. Pumped up by playtime, she focuses on a positive outcome and strides calmly out on the field, her long blond braid tossing in the breeze. Another young girl with grace and grit, determined to make her dreams come true. H 50

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FIN D A

IT’S THE SEASONAL SOCIAL SCENE

By Zora Aiken

Kilmarnock Farmers Market. Courtesy of River Realm 52

April/May 2019

I

f it’s Saturday morning between April and autumn, there’s a good chance a farmers market is close. For many reasons, it’s worth the effort to find one.

“Raising the market” has a literal meaning for these outdoor markets. Starting shortly after dawn, early shoppers can watch the remarkable transition that takes place as a grassy field or a tree-lined path gives way to a true pop-up mall filled with white tents accented by the occasional brightly colored canopy. Weekend entrepreneurs set up their EZ-Up tents hoping the displays will result in sales.

By the opening hour, most vehicles are gone, and walls and tables and baskets are properly decorated, covered, or filled as sellers await buyers.

Traditional farmers markets keep the traditional focus, selling plants, flowers, and food. Bunches of cut flowers and an assortment of plants for home, landscape, or garden add their shapes and colors to the market scene. Buyers will find bushels of ripe produce—tomatoes and onions, cabbages and peppers, peaches and apples, the availability dependent on the season. Shoppers may also find cheese or yogurt, seafood and meats, including a surprise for many, bison.

In addition to the fresh foods, a traditional market often sells preserved items like jams, sauces, pickles and much more.

Honey is a must. Bakery tents may be a first stop for the scones, bread varieties, muffins and ethnic specialties. Not every item is found at every market—that’s part of the fun of a market search. Keeping track of what’s sold where gives shoppers the reason to plan a return to a weekly or monthly market.

Many communities include other categories in their offerings so artists, artisans, and crafters are able to show their wares.

The mix is varied, from original paintings and photographs to stained glass panels, fabric art, decorative metal, ceramics, children’s clothing, and woodwork from toys to furniture. Outdoor décor includes metal sculpture, garden art, and unique birdhouses. Jewelry booths are typically crowded all day—a person can always use a special addition, and the markets are the ideal place to show one-of-a-kind pieces. Soaps, candles and health products may also be found. Some markets host a couple of alpacas—an immediate The House & Home Magazine

Photo courtesy of River Realm

DELTAVILLE, MIDDLESEX COUNTY On the grounds of the Deltaville Maritime Museum, the Holly Point Farmers Market has the perfect setting to show and sell local produce, meats, honey and more alongside a variety of artwork and crafts. Tents are set up along a tree-lined path to the waterside dock, where visitors can view the museum’s antique boats.

When and where: 9 to 1, fourth Saturday of each month, June through September. Special markets in May and November. Deltaville Maritime Museum/Holly Point Nature Park, 287 Jackson Creek Road, Deltaville.

Contact: www.deltavillemuseum.com 804-776-7200

Photo courtesy of the RHHT Foundation

HEATHSVILLE, NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY Heathsville’s market is sponsored by the nonprofit historical landmark Rice’s Hotel / Hughlett’s Tavern. Every market has a theme: April’s includes an Earth Day celebration, a Wine/Brew/Spirits Tasting Festival, and the Tavern Quilt Guild’s annual show and sale. May’s theme is “Going to the Dogs.” See future themes on the website.

Time and place: 9 to 1, third Saturday of the month, April through October, behind the old Northumberland Courthouse just off Route 360 in Heathsville. Contact: www.RHHTFoundation.org 804-580-3377

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hit with the children, with the products made from their warm wool a longer-lasting hit with everyone.

Information booths are also popular. Visitors can get tips on gardening, birding, oyster-growing, houseraising, or land-conserving.

Animal-rescue groups may be represented, at least one of which assigns volunteers to stroll around the market with hopeful canine adoptees, thereby providing maximum exposure. Cats and kittens wait at the booth for potential adopters.

An individual market may focus on a particular theme, perhaps based on the time of year (think Halloween) or perhaps an idea (think pleinart painting). Wine and beer vendors may be on site for tastings and sales, but they are located in a separated section of the market. A dog parade might be part of a special market, but even without that designation, observers at any market may be entertained by the informal parade of dogs walking their owners, definitely a meet-and-greet for owners and pets.

Live music contributes to the market atmosphere, from folk and gospel to bluegrass, country, oldies and sometimes requests. The music often prompts a few children to dance, bringing smiles to the adults nearby. Everywhere in the market, friends find each other and catch up on the rest of the neighborhood. Depending on the market, food booths may provide breakfast or lunch sandwiches, snack specialties, drinks, or smoothies.

It’s impossible to predict exactly what will be found at a specific market. Some vendors change, and even the same vendor may bring different items to sell.

Some days, an adjacent field may be filled with a surprise exhibit of beautifully maintained antique cars, whose owners are happy to discuss all things automotive.

Good food, good music, good shopping, good company. Enough reasons to set Saturday mornings aside, find a farmers market, and adopt a good summertime habit.

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IRVINGTON, LANCASTER COUNTY

Photo courtesy of River Realm

With space for over 100 vendors, the Irvington Farmers Market shows a something-for-everyone selection of arts and crafts alongside its farm products. Buyers will find local seafood, meats, cheeses, and homemade breads and bakery. The market was voted the Best Farmers Market on Virginia’s East Coast by Virginia Living Magazine two years in a row.

Time and place: 9 to 1, first Saturday of each month, May through November, at Irvington Commons, 98 King Carter Drive. Contact: www.town.irvington.va.us 804-480-0697

KILMARNOCK, LANCASTER COUNTY Kilmarnock’s market is a traditional farm to table and bay to table market, a place where fresh items from farms and bay are available for the community by the community. It’s a harvester/producer only market, so sellers must grow, raise, harvest (for wild-caught seafood) or make the products they are selling.

When and where: 9 to 1, fourth Saturday of each month, May through October, at Town Centre Park in Kilmarnock, 150 N. Main Street. Contact: www.kilmarnockva.com 804-435-1552 April/May 2019

TAPPAHANNOCK, ESSEX COUNTY At the Tappahannock Farmers Market, shoppers will find plants, cut flowers and a variety of fresh local foods—meats and seafood, seasonal produce, cheeses, baked goods and more. Art and craft tents are joined by information booths, including one for the Tappahannock/Essex County animal shelter, which brings adoptable dogs and cats.

When and where: 9 to 1, third Saturday of each month, April through November in historic downtown Tappahannock. Contact: www.tappahannockmarket.com 804-443-4945

Photo courtesy of River Realm

Photo courtesy of Tappahannock Farmers Market

Photo courtesy of Williamsburg Farmers Market

WILLIAMSBURG URBANNA, MIDDLESEX COUNTY Famous for its November Oyster Festival, Urbanna has much more to offer all summer. The Urbanna Farmers Market is held at Taber Park. Artists and crafters join food sellers for a varied market selection, and music sets the background mood. After the market, children may enjoy a dip in the park’s swimming pool.

When and where: 9 to 1, second Saturday of each month, May through September, at Tabor Park, corner of Rappahannock Avenue and Bonner Street.

Contact: www.urbanna.com/farmersmarket 804-832-3113 The House & Home Magazine

The stated mission of the Williamsburg Farmers Market is to sustain, foster, and operate a weekly farmers market for growers and producers to sell fresh seasonal food and farm products direct to consumers in Williamsburg. A partial list of items sold includes produce, seafood, cut flowers, organic vegetables, baked goods, honey, and eggs.

When and where: 8 to 12, every Saturday, April through October, in Merchant’s Square between Boundary and Henry Streets. Contact: www.williamsburgfarmersmarket.com 757-259-3768 55

Photo courtesy of York County

YORKTOWN, YORK COUNTY With its waterfront location at Riverwalk Landing, Yorktown Market Days offers a spectacular view of the York River, with live music, food trucks, cooking demos, a variety of food vendors, plus work from local artists. Shoppers will find seasonal produce, fresh seafood, meats, breads, honey, handmade soaps and candles, even gourmet dog treats.

When and where: 8 to 12, every Saturday April 13 to October 26 (except May 4 and October 5) with special markets later in year, at Riverwalk Landing in Yorktown. Contact: www.visityorktown.org 757-890-3500

KING GEORGE, KING GEORGE COUNTY The King George Farmers Market stated mission is “to support county producers by opening and expanding markets for their wares, and to advance understanding, education, and cooperation between producers and the community…” Only producers from King George or Westmoreland Counties may sell at the market.

When and where: 8 to 12, every Saturday, April through October, at King George Middle School, corner of Route 3 and Route 206. Contact: www.thefarmersmarket.co/kinggeorge-farmers-market.com

MATHEWS, MATHEWS COUNTY The Mathews Farmers Market motto is “Make it, Bake it, or Grow it.” With that in mind, shoppers can expect a seasonal array of fruits and vegetables, with organic produce a specialty. Native plants, baked goods, and handcrafted gifts are also on display. At some markets, there may also be a gardening demonstration or other special event.

When and where: 9 to 1, every Saturday, April 6 to October 26 (except September 14, for Mathews Market Days) at the Historic Courthouse Green in Mathews. Contact: www.mathewsmainstreet.org H 56

April/May 2019

The House & Home Magazine

57

FROM THE

, Ralph as Shackleford) Tommy gl ou D , n in h ght) Dr. Joe C e; (front row ck row left - ri alderson and Harry Clark a (b : re a d re Beamer Team. Pictu k Fogg, Jr. B dcats Baseball dle row) Pat Carneal, Dicrtesy Trent Carson and Tim il W k oc n n a h id pa Photo cou The 1949 Tap Osbourn and Tom Fogg; (m hester Brooks.

C d n a ky s in vi a W D s, hie Davi y Garnett, Arc Carneal, Sonn

TO THE

ison

By Dianne Sa

I

n our region — and perhaps the nation — there is no better herald to the start of spring than the crack of a bat as its whacks a baseball and crowds cheering for their home team, whether they are professionals or just a professional-looking bunch of little leaguers. Baseball is an iconic American sport, and across the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula its roots go so deep, that baseball is at the heart of its culture and identity.

Although many have laid claim to baseball’s origins, the earliest known

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form of the sport was invented in North America during the mid 1700s, with variants of the game called “batball,” “town ball,” “one ol’ cat,” and “four old cat.” Interestingly, it was during the Civil War that baseball grew in popularity. Union militia introduced the game to the Confederacy, with thousands of men learning to play. Soldiers from the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck returned from war telling stories of “Blue and Grey Baseball Games,” when opposing armies would play against each other one day and would be shooting at each other the next. After Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, soldiers from both sides played baseball together to pass the time. When the war was over, baseball became a building block of Reconstruction.

Albert Spaulding, co-founder of Spaulding Athletics, best described baseball’s importance after the Civil War in his 1911 work, America’s National Game, writing: “Modern Baseball … received its baptism in the bloody days of our Nation’s direst danger. It had its earliest evolution when soldiers, from the North and South, were striving to forget their foes by cultivating, through this grand game, fraternal friendships with comrades in arms.”

By the early 1900s, Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula residents, from soldiers to civilians, had caught “baseball fever.”

It was a time when few people had radios, television had yet to be invented, and baseball was the only form of local entertainment. Nearly every town that had a post office had a team — from Ottoman, Lively, Kinsale, Sharps, Montross, Reedville, Weems, Dunnsville, Callao, and Colonial Beach to every town in between. During that time, the game was segregated and the black teams were just as strong, with Tappahannock, Warsaw, Hyacinth, Battery, Hustle, Scottstown, Sharps, Westmoreland, White Stone, Pine Valley and the “Big O” Dodgers amongst the many drawing fans.

Game days were most Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Towns would shut down — with nearly every business closing their doors — as folks headed over to the local ball field to socialize, wager and share food and drink as they watched their hometown heroes.

Who were those outstanding men on the diamond? They were the local grocer, undertaker, mailman, waterman, lumberjack, candy salesman and neighbor. These were not professional players — they were men whose love of baseball transformed them from milkman to pitcher and from close friend or family member to rival as soon as ball caps and uniforms were donned.

Local legend Jim “The Mummy” Coates, who played for the New York Yankees alongside Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra, got his start in baseball on the Northern Neck. Coates, born in Farnham, played first for Lively, but in a scandalous move was swooped up by Ottoman, who offered Coates $5 a game — money he and his family sorely needed. Coates, now a two-time MLB All-Star (1960) and Yankees World Series Champion (1961, 1962), cherishes his memories of playing semi-pro baseball in Warsaw, when people would come from near and far to “hoot and holler” for their team.

Coates was recruited to Warsaw, which once boasted two semi-pro teams, by Billy Walker, Sr., a businessman and sports enthusiast who played on Warsaw’s early semi-pro team, helped The House & Home Magazine

Bob Sanders, with his glove in the air, and Billy Walker, with a ball in his mitt, were stars of Warsaw’s semi-pro team. Photos courtesy of Chris Sanders

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(above left) Uniforms, like this one from the 1950s, were limited and given out to the best player available on game day. Photo courtesy of Dianne Saison (above right) The 1930 Warsaw Team: Kneeling (l-r) are A.J. “Juddy� Sanders, Lowery R. Sanders, Frank Yeatman, Jr., Norman Settle and T.D. Marks. Manager Ike B. Hall, top left, followed by Berry Sanders, Dr. Warren B. Rains, Avery B. Sanders, George Washington Schools, Larry Sanders and Assistant Manager Howard H. Scott. The batboy is Clarence Sanders. Photo courtesy of the Richmond Co. Museum. (below left) The 1907 Tappahannock Team, who travelled to games by boat, beat Warsaw for the Rappahannock Valley Championship. Photo courtesy of the Essex Co. Museum (below right) Ticket stubs on display from early baseball games in Essex. Photo courtesy of Dianne Saison

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sponsor and manage it in later years, and was responsible for sending several players to major league tryouts — including Coates, Kermit Sanders, Buddy Delano and Billy Walker, Jr. “People didn’t have a lot of money back then,” local baseball, basketball and all-around sports coaching legend Ken Blackley explained. “But what they did have was the love of baseball. Mammoth crowds would come to watch these talented players. We had the cream of the crop.”

The lack of money didn’t hinder players from looking professional on the field. Off the field, players went to great lengths to keep their equipment game ready. Gloves were small and handmade, bats were often hickory saplings cut down and whittled, and when a ball was lost, the kids who retrieved it would get a free drink or occasionally 10 cents to a dollar. When Warsaw’s Mac Lowery was a lad, local youth got angry with his retriever, who they felt stole their money after the dog would run off with the ball. Players were also frugal with their spikes, stuffing them with cardboard or rags when soles wore out. When the padding in a catcher’s glove wore thin, a cut of beef was bought and stuffed inside the glove to protect hands from being burned by a hard pitch.

The early rules of the game were also unique. It was common for batters to tell the pitcher where they wanted the ball thrown, and you could lob a base runner out by directly hitting him with the ball. Outs were caught “on the fly” — or after the first ground bounce of a ball — and foul balls or strikes were enforced to cut game times. Pitchers were known to tamper with balls — using Vaseline or cutting into seams to alter its trajectory. One visiting team even froze a ball, keeping it in a cooler so that it barely flew when hit. The rules, and sometimes lack thereof, only added to the rapidly growing fan base.

“From the first warm day of spring, you could almost smell the leather from the gloves and the rawhide from the balls,” M.B. Seward said in Close Ties, a historical baseball publication put out by Richmond Co. Intermediate School. In the late 1940s, the sport was such a local phenomenon that Major League Baseball Sportscaster Arch McDonald aired a 10-minute national segment about Warsaw’s semi-pro team and the town that had gone “baseball mad.” At that time, there were almost as many teams as there were churches, and Tappahannock and Warsaw boasted semi-pro teams who were elite.

Barnstorming teams who toured the nation playing exhibition games came to play them, drawing crowds upwards of 3,000 people. Memorable visiting teams included The House of David, a religious cult with long-haired and wild-bearded players known for their athletic antics, and Donkey Ball teams who brought their own trained donkeys to the game, and batters would have to jump on a donkey to go around the bases.

“Those donkeys would kick and buck our players off or just go in the complete wrong direction,” Coates said, adding that when the other team was up, the donkey would round the bases like a professional. The circus-like atmosphere delighted attendees, but the heated contention between juggernauts Tappahannock and Warsaw drew huge crowds.

The rivalry between the teams dates back to 1905, when they first crossed in a double-header. The second game was 8-7, Warsaw, when an Essex runner was called out stealing home. Pandemonium ensued, the game was never finished, and a feud was born. Games between the two were famous for The House & Home Magazine

the fierce competition, but also stage-worthy tomfoolery. The epic “Funeral at Home Plate” was one of those spectacles.

“It was in the 30s when Tappahannock had been boasting that in an upcoming match against Warsaw they were going to ‘kill ‘em,’” recalls Chris Sanders, of Coggin Furniture, whose father played first base for Warsaw in the 40s and raised him in the game. “T.D. Marks was catching for Warsaw, and he and Ed Garland planned a funeral for the Tappahannock Team.”

After building a pine box and borrowing Marks’ hearse, the coffin was draped with a sash that read “Here lies the Tappahannock Baseball Team, may they rest in peace.” The team drove the hearse to Tappahannock in a funeral procession, acted as pallbearers, wore black armbands on their uniforms and went to the middle of the field and held a service “burying” the team.

(They never buried the casket, but the effort was all-out showmanship.) “I tell you, you have to be pretty confident to pull a stunt like that,” Billy Walker, Jr., said in Close Ties, noting that Warsaw happily won the game, afraid to go home if they lost after such grandstanding.

Garland was also known to target some of Tappahannock’s most fervent fans, like Dr. Warner, Dr. Chinn, Louis Carreras and Wesley Lowery. He would load cigars to explode when lit, handing them out to those fans. The joke backfired, however, when one man didn’t bat an eye after his cigar exploded. He just took out a pocket knife, cut off the bad end and kept smoking it.

Hiring out professionals players was also common. In 1948, Warsaw sent for “The Outlaw Pitcher Max Lanier,” but when he stopped at Lowery’s in Tappahannock to get directions,

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(above) Jim “The Mummy” Coates and Whitey Ford celebrating their win in Game 4 of the 1961 World Series. Photo courtesy of Jim Coates. (above center) Jim “The Mummy” Coates went from the semi-pros in Warsaw to the Major Leagues as a Yankee, winning the World Series in 1961 and 1962. Photo courtesy of Dianne Saison. (above right) Chesapeake League Championship trophies from the 1948 and 1949 Warsaw Tigers and the 1935 Tappahannock Team. Photo courtesy of Dianne Saison (right) The Tappahannock team, circa 1900 with Carson Phillips, third from left - front row, William Latane Cauthorne, left -middle row, Covey Anderson, second from left - middle row, and Allan Latane on the extreme right.

Photo courtesy of the Essex Co. Museum

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locals scooped him out from under their rivals. The games were also fantastic for those who loved a good wager, with bets on anything from where a batter would hit, to who would get on base or sweep a series.

“All baseball season, my dad and uncle would be in a big pout,” remarked Lowery, whose father backed the Warsaw team and uncle financed Tappahannock’s, adding that despite the heated exchanges there were never any lasting hard feelings.

The games were also laced with humor. Warsaw would host a Ladies’ Day, where admission was free for women.

Loyal fans and town jokesters, Garland and Frank Yeatman, once decided to dress up as women. They used croquet balls suspended in the bosom of their dresses, but the noise of them clicking together set the entire grandstand to laughing, and they were soon discovered, having to pay after all.

In another game, a fly-hit by Guy Balderson, who was playing for Sharps against Stevensville, flew into the woods and knocked a possum out of a tree. To the crowd’s delight, the opposing fieldsman came out of the woods with the dazed possum in one hand, the ball in the other and the game went on.

Baseball also made communities stronger. The citizens of Warsaw and Tappahannock went above and beyond their own means to finance lights for night games. Men like Walker, Sr., ensured that players like Coates had gloves and shoes.

Family members and neighbors made sure uniforms were mended, gloves were oiled, and trucks were ready to transport their local heroes to the next game. It was a time of picnic baskets, hot dogs, cold pop, and fellowship. That love of the game remains part of regional culture today. There is a popular local saying, “That kid was born with a bat in one hand and a glove in the other.” Baseball is our universal community connection. So, the next time you see the crowds at Little League or kids playing ball in their front yard, remember — this area has always been beautifully “baseball mad.”

The House & Home Magazine extends it heartfelt thanks to the many people who helped contribute to this article, including Ken Blackley, Chris Sanders, “Mac” Lowery, Jim and Dot Coates, Tim Beamer, and the Essex and Richmond County Museums. H The House & Home Magazine

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65

LET THE

-due FUN BEGIN!

By Linda Landreth Phelps

WHO DOESN’T LOVE SPEARING BREAD WITH MINIATURE PITCHFORKS, DIPPING IT IN HOT, OOZY CHEESE, AND EATING IT IN THE COMPANY OF FRIENDS? 66

F

ondue qualifies as both tasty food and fun entertainment. Who doesn’t love spearing bread with miniature pitchforks, dipping it in hot, oozy cheese, and eating it in the company of friends? The practice originated in eighteenth century Switzerland,

April/May 2019

a time when both cheese and wine were important industries there. The name derives from the French word, “fondre,” or melt. The simple meal utilized ingredients that were commonly found in most homes, and each of the 26 cantons (states) in Switzerland developed its own traditional recipe. Each component of a Swiss fondue plays an important role. Most recipes we see today incorporate a combination of two classic cheeses, Gruyère and Emmenthaler, for a mixture that’s not too sharp or bland, melted together in a dry white wine for taste. A binder such as flour or cornstarch is added to thicken the mixture and keep it from separating. Common tweaks are the addition of Kirsch (a clear cherry brandy) for tartness, and garlic for added flavor. Dippers are any crusty, hearty bread, cut in cubes. Other countries have developed their own recipes and names for this style of dining.

However, there are variations on the cheese theme. Meat fondue is altogether different, though similar in concept. Instead of cheese, oil or broth is heated to a high temperature and chunks of meat and vegetables are cooked.

Various dipping sauces are generally provided.

Dessert course fondues are usually caramel or chocolate-based with pound cake, fruit, or marshmallows used as dippers. Shredded coconut or miniature chocolate chips may be used for coating.

Whatever the recipe, fondue is meant to be a communal meal, so there are basic etiquette guidelines to follow for consideration of fellow diners. To eat cheese fondue with style and grace, spear a piece of firm bread with a long fondue fork and dip it into the pot. A crusty piece will stay on the fork better when it’s heavy with cheese.

Next, dunk the bread cube gently to coat, swirling in a figure-eight pattern to avoid the formation of a hard skin.

Resting and rotating the fork on the lip as it drips back into the pot is both neat and smart. Let it cool a bit, because nothing ruins a meal like tongue-blistering cheese.

It’s considered poor form as well as unsafe to eat directly from the sharp fondue fork, since it goes right back in the pot with everyone else’s. Use a dinner fork to snag that chunk off the long-handled one and onto the plate, please.

Never scoop the cheese directly from the pot or dip food with your fingers, and double dipping is strictly forbidden. Scraping the bottom of the empty pot with a spoon to harvest every last morsel of gooey cheese is completely

The House & Home Magazine

acceptable if you’re eating at home.

It may seem like there are a lot of rules involved, but fondue is a fun meal as well. The most playful rule of all is “the pledge.” If someone loses a piece of food in the pot, the pledge decrees that the fellow diners are allowed to decide on a consequence. This can be as simple as buying a round of drinks, or kissing everyone at the table.

For the serious history buffs reading this, fondue’s initial popularity in the United States resulted from a socialistic experiment. Historically, bucolic Switzerland preserved its dairy industry unscathed throughout world conflict by its policy of neutrality. This created a glut of artisanal cheeses just when the market for gourmet goods disappeared in the grim aftermath of World War I. In response, the industry banded together in the creation of a cheese cartel, Schweizer Kaseunion, or Swiss Cheese Union, which ruled with an iron fist for 80 years, until its collapse in the 1990s.

Under their agreement, cheese makers were strictly limited in the types and quantity they were allowed to produce, and prices were artificially manipulated. Rebels were driven underground to market their small batches of rogue cheese. In the 1960s, the union decided they needed to boost demand for their product. How could they get masses of people to consume buckets of cheese?

The answer was fondue, and they sold it successfully via global ad campaigns featuring fit, blonde models wearing ski sweaters, huddled around bubbling vats with forks in hand. As a result of this aggressive marketing, every ‘70s American bride could expect at least one fondue set among her wedding gifts.

Fondue gatherings were then considered all the rage — the most sophisticated way to throw a party ever invented.

If you wait long enough, everything comes full circle, and so it is with fondue, now enthusiastically embraced by a new century. The world has discovered fondue’s cheesy awesomeness, and there’s no going back. Get your own party started with these recipes.

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CLASSIC SWISS FONDUE Ingredients:

Directions:

• 1 clove garlic, halved • 8 ounces dry white or rosé wine • 1 teaspoon lemon juice • 2 cups grated Gruyère cheese • 2 cups grated Emmenthaler cheese • 1 teaspoon cornstarch • 1 tablespoon Kirsch, if you prefer it tart • Cubed French bread, to serve

Rub the inside of the fondue pot with the cut clove of garlic. Pour wine and lemon juice in and heat gently until bubbling.

Reduce the heat to low and gradually stir in grated cheeses. Continue to heat until cheeses melt, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, thoroughly blend cornstarch and Kirsch, then stir into melted cheese mixture and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes until mixture is thick and smooth, stirring frequently. Have patience; this step may take time. Whatever you do, never allow the fondue to boil.

Serve with crusty bread cubes.

BEEF FONDUE WITH DIPPING SAUCES

BE IT MEAT, CHEESE OR CHOCOLATE, GATHER YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND LET THE FUNDUE BEGIN!

Ingredients: • 1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into 3/4-inch cubes • 3 to 4 cups canola oil • Vegetables such as green beans, pearl onions, or asparagus spears Curry Sauce • 1/2 cup mayonnaise • 2 to 3 tablespoons curry powder • 2 to 3 tablespoons 2 percent milk • 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce Mustard Sauce: • 1/4 cup mayonnaise • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard • 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce • 1 garlic clove, minced

CHOCOLATE & RED WINE FONDUE

Onion-Horseradish Sauce: • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion • 1/4 cup mayonnaise • 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish • 2 to 3 teaspoons water • 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Ingredients:

Directions:

Directions:

In three separate bowls, whisk the curry sauce, mustard sauce and onion-horseradish sauce ingredients together. Pat the meat cubes dry with paper towels to avoid popping of hot oil. Heat the canola oil in a fondue pot to 375 degrees.

Use fondue forks to immerse the meat and vegetables. (If it doesn’t boil furiously at this point, the oil is too cold.)

Continue to cook until meat and vegetables reach desired doneness. Serve with sauces.

Combine all ingredients and heat over low heat until thoroughly melted. For dipping, use fresh fruits such as strawberries and orange slices, banana or pineapple chunks.

Angel food and pound cake, or any cookies that hold up when dipped and can be skewered will be amazing.

Chocolate-coated Oreos and Fig Newtons, anyone? Just go wild and allow your taste buds be your own personal guide to chocolate bliss. H

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• 1 bag of best quality semisweet chocolate chips • 2 tablespoons salted butter • 1/2 cup red wine, such as Pinot Noir • 2 heaping tablespoons of apricot preserves

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he 5th Annual Arts in the Middle Fine Arts Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday, June 1 & 2, 2019, at the picturesque Hewick Plantation in Urbanna. With great reviews from our artists and visitors and the tremendous honor of being voted “Best of Art Event” by Virginia Living Readers for the second consecutive year makes this an event not to be missed. This annual juried fine arts show features up to 100 artists from across the country, live musical performances from area musicians, the ever-popular Arts in the Middle Champagne Tent and local food artists offering culinary creations. This family friendly, fun and inspiring community event has something for everyone with works in 9 mediums, children’s activities like the build a boat and sailing pond and even history with the historic home on the National Register of Historic Places. New this year is the addition of the VMFA’s new state of the art traveling museum and art studio, VMFA on the Road: An Artmobile for the 21st Century. The Artmobile allows visitors to experience works of art from the VMFA collection up close and promises to make this year’s event especially exciting.

The festival is free to attend with parking adjacent to the show grounds and the trolley will be running between the show and Urbanna. While visiting the show you can take the trolley into town for some shopping and dining in the scenic waterfront town.

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Arts in the Middle is dedicated to its mission of outreach and support for the arts in our community.

In 2018 we were able to offer our first annual gift to the art teachers in county schools, a commitment we plan to continue annually to help with program enrichment materials and activities. Our partnership with the Middlesex Museum and Historical Society provides local artists the opportunity to showcase and sell their work. Visitors to these exhibits also learn about the history of Middlesex County.

Bringing a show of this magnitude to fruition each year is the direct result of the tireless work of hundreds of volunteers, our generous sponsors and the never ending support from the community. Support provided by Middlesex County, the Town of Urbanna, The Virginia Commission of the Arts and all of our corporate and individual donors allows us to continue our mission. Anyone interested in volunteer or sponsorship opportunities please email artsinthemiddlefestival@gmail.com.

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Lieutenant General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller at Semper Fidelis Memorial Park, Quantico, Virginia. Photo courtesy of Amaury Laporte

CHESTY PULLER God, Country, Corps … Virginia

By Rebekah Madren

“DON’T FORGET THAT YOU’RE FIRST MARINES! NOT ALL THE COMMUNISTS IN HELL CAN OVERRUN YOU!” ~ CHESTY PULLER 72

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LIEUTENANT GENERAL LEWIS B. “CHESTY” PULLER, ONE OF THE MOST DECORATED MARINES IN HISTORY.

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ll over the world this evening, Marines will lie down after cleaning their rifles thoroughly and declare, “Goodnight, Chesty Puller, wherever you are.” Every Marine knows the quotes and accomplishments of Lieutenant General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, one of the most decorated Marines in history.

Brigadier Gener Every Virginian can be proud of Chesty al Lew B. Puller, circa 1952 is Puller’s origins — Virginia. His legendary life Photo courtesy of . began in the Tidewater region, on First Street in th Lewis B. Puller C e West Point, in 1898. The grandson of a Civil ollection (COLL/794) at th War veteran, he explored the beloved smalleM C orps Archives an arine town streets and scenery. Stories say that as a d Special Collections young man, he idolized the renowned Stonewall Jackson. He was graduated from the local West Point High School in 1917.

Entering the Virginia Military Institute in the fall of 1917, he studied at the same instituchest tion where Stonewall Jackson had been an instructor before The was blown off in battle and replaced with a steel one.

War Between the States. Puller departed from VMI after a year to Others quip that his stout chest began the nickname, or that begin training as a Marine, saying, “I want to go where the guns “chesty” is the Marine way of saying cocky. are.” His medals of valor from his 37-year military career are In the spirit of Chesty Puller’s iconic status, the Marine Corps now on display at VMI. mascot, a bulldog, was named “Chesty Pullerton” in 1957. TraAfter serving globally as both enlisted and officer in the dition says that the Germans called the Marines “teufel hunden,” Marines, he returned to his home turf upon retirement. Settling or “devil dogs,” after the battle at Belleau Wood during World in Saluda, Virginia, he was a faithful member of Christ Church War I. The name Devil Dog stuck, leading to the selection of Episcopal with his wife Virginia Montague Evans. They are laid the bulldog as the USMC mascot. Bulldogs embody the same to rest together at the Christ Church Parish cemetery. qualities Marines admire: tenacity, strength, fearlessness and a It’s said that Puller wore the Episcopal Crusader’s Cross fighting spirit. Currently, Chesty Pullerton XV is in service. around his neck into battle. And the Crusader’s Cross surely Along with Puller’s name, his own words are alive and well saw plenty of action alongside, as Puller built his military career in the Marine Corps today. His epic quotes are known as “Pulthrough his commitment to God, Country, Corps — a Marine lerisms.” Here are some of the favorites: Corps precept. Puller served as a Corporal up to Lieutenant “In the Marine Corps, your buddy is not only your General in the Marines, in conflicts in Central America to Cenclassmate or fellow officer, but he is also the Marine under tral China. He acquired 53 military honors and awards, which your command. If you don’t prepare yourself to properly could be considered a small thing compared to his grand legacy train him, lead him, and support him on the battlefield, among Marines. “There is absolutely no doubt that Puller is the then you’re going to let him down. That is unforgivable in mythological hero of the Corps — the very icon of the entire the Marine Corps.” Puller was known and loved for caring for institution,” says Jon T. Hoffman, a biographer of Puller. even the youngest Marine.

In admiration, Marines sing the cadence, “If it’s good “Take me to the Brig. I want to see the ‘real Marines.’” enough for Chesty, it’s good enough for me.” Even though the Some of Puller’s comments during a battalion inspection. general himself admitted that the source of his nickname “Ches“Where the hell do you put the bayonet?” Puller’s apparty” is unknown, folklore says differently. Some say his human The House & Home Magazine

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“SON, WHEN THE MARINE CORPS WANTS YOU TO HAVE A WIFE, YOU WILL BE ISSUED ONE.”

Lewis Puller with Nicaraguan National Guard Detachment, circa 1931. Lewis Puller and William Lee pose for a photo with Carlos Gutierrez and Carmen Torrez, members of the Nicaraguan National Guard Detachment. Photo courtesy of the Lewis B. Puller Collection (COLL/794) at the Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections

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ent statement while attending a flamethrower demonstration. Puller intended to stab whomever he set on fire.

“Son, when the Marine Corps wants you to have a wife, you will be issued one.” Legend says that this was Puller’s response when a young Marine asked permission to get married. Marine spouses today have been known to wear t-shirts that say, “I was issued.”

“Don’t forget that you’re First Marines! Not all the Communists in hell can overrun you!” These were some of Puller’s words at the intrepid battle of the Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War in late 1950, where his leadership remains well known.

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Crew of USS Augusta, Shanghai, 6 April 1935. Lewis Puller can be seen sitting in the front row, third from the right. Photo courtesy of the George Thomas Gibbons Collection (COLL/4924), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections.

The conflict had begun six months previously, when on June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. For a few weeks, North Korean forces dominated the engagement, driving South Korean forces (supplemented by American and UN forces) down the peninsula to the Pusan region. Eventually, coalition forces were consolidated enough to form a solid defense at the famous Pusan Perimeter.

Army General Douglas MacArthur then formulated a risky amphibious flanking maneuver to land coalition forces at Inchon, halfway up the peninsula, in order to divide the North Korean forces. The plan worked. Following a successful landing at Inchon, the coalition forces regained the advantage, decimated North Korean forces on the southern half of the peninsula and drove northern forces all the way to the Chosin reservoir, near the Chinese border.

Unfortunately, the coalition forces could not anticipate China’s involvement in the conflict in late October. Throughout November, coalition forces fought Chinese forces with moderate success. But determined to end the conflict with a unified Korean peninsula by Christmas, General MacArthur ordered an aggressive offensive strategy which left American forces spread thinly near the Chosin Reservoir. This left them susceptible to Chinese advances.

On November 27, 1950, 30,000 of the US X Corps, which included the 1st Marine Division of which Colonel Puller was a part, were completely surrounded by 120,000 of the Chinese 9th Corps Army. In Puller’s own words, “We’ve been looking for the enemy for some time now. We’ve finally found him. We’re surrounded. That simplifies things.”

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ALL OVER THE WORLD THIS EVENING, MARINES WILL LIE DOWN AFTER CLEANING THEIR RIFLES THOROUGHLY AND DECLARE, “GOODNIGHT, CHESTY PULLER, WHEREVER YOU ARE.”

Grave of Chesty Puller in Christ Church Parish cemetery.

Marine Corps Birthday Celebration, MCDEC, Quantico, Virginia, 10 Nov. 1969. From the Lewis B. Puller Collection (COLL/794) at the Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections

Lewis “Chesty” Puller and Family, circa 1952. Wife Virginia, and their children Lewis Jr., Martha, and Virginia. Photo courtesy of the Lewis B. Puller Collection (COLL/794), Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections

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From late November to early December 1950, during brutal 40-below-zero temperatures, Puller and his men fought their way out of the Chosin Reservoir. The 1st Marine Division suffered immense casualties, approximately half of its 25,000 Marines (more than 7,000 deaths were due to the freezing conditions). Yet, Marines today still recount that battle as one of the Corps’ finest moments. The heroic actions by those men to stand and fight against overwhelming odds and unbelievable weather conditions prevented the complete annihilation of the Army X Corps.

Some may say withdrawal deserves no honor. But Chesty would say, “Retreat! Hell, we’re just attacking in a different direction.” And it is due to the unwavering leadership of men like Chesty Puller that allowed thousands of young men to return home. Puller received his 5th Navy Cross (among other awards) for his bravery and wisdom during the battle of the Chosin Reservoir.

In all, Puller was decorated with 53 awards for his service.

A sampling of his awards includes the Navy Cross (awarded 5, more than any Marine), Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart Medal, World War I Victory Medal, American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and National Defense Service Medal.

While his medals may lie still at VMI, the honoring of Puller remains active in the twenty-first century, among Marines and on the Middle Peninsula. Locals and travelers drive daily along Route 33, “Lewis Puller Memorial Highway.” In 1972, a Virginia historical marker was placed at the intersection of General Puller Highway (Virginia Route 33) and Christchurch Drive. The marker states, “In Christ Churchyard immediately to the north lies buried Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell Puller, USMC. He led Marines in 19 campaigns from Haiti and Nicaragua through the Korean War, receiving 53 decorations and the admiration and affection of those he led. He was a Marine’s Marine and is a tradition of Virginia and our nation’s history.”

The Annual Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller run is heartily organized by the Marine Reserve detachment at Fort Lee. In 2018, the 64-mile run from Fort Lee through Saluda and West Point was completed again, ending at Puller’s grave at the cemetery at Christ Church Parish. More than 250 Marines participated in the relay, which takes place around November 10, the birthday of the Marine Corps. The Reverend Stuart Wood of Christ Church spoke at the service, and the Marines toasted Gen. Puller, laying wreaths on his grave.

The ceremony included singing the Marine Corps Hymn, of which the last verse rings, “If the Army and the Navy ever look on heaven’s scenes, they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines.” And, Chesty Puller leading the heavenly Marines is not beyond the realm of ethereal possibility. H April/May 2019

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Jamestown

By Jackie Nunnery

The first General Assembly took place 400 years ago in the church built in the center of Jamestown Fort.

Photos courtesy of Preservation Virginia

400 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY AND DIVERSITY

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ention Jamestown and people usually bring up John Smith, Powhatan and Pocahontas, or a summer family vacation spent at the Jamestown Settlement. But Jamestown’s historical significance is so much more than that. It’s history that reverberates to this day.

In 2007, Jamestown celebrated the 400th anniversary of its founding, and this year those at Historic Jamestowne are commemorating the 400th anniversary of the first representative assembly in the western hemisphere and the arrival of the first Africans in mainland English America.

HISTORIC JAMESTOWNE: Digging for clues into our shared history When you visit Jamestown Settlement, you’re visiting a recreation and reenactment of life in the first permanent English colony and the stirrings of a new nation yet to be. Travel just two miles down the road to Historic Jamestowne, located on 90

Jamestown Island, and you’re seeing the work of Preservation Virginia as it literally unearths and rediscovers the history left behind from our first settlers.

JAMES FORT: Once lost, now found Like tales of the lost city of Atlantis, stories were told about the lost James Fort throughout the years. Eyewitness accounts from 1837 claimed that the fort, built in 1607 by the settlers, “was submerged in the James River.” The account, located on the Historic Jamestowne site, continues, referring to “a lone cypress tree 100 yards off the western shore of Jamestown Island as the marker of where the first ships moored to the trees.” The National Park Service conducted an archeological dig but found no evidence of the fort.

A graduate student at the College of William and Mary visited the site in 1963, skeptical about the lost fort having washed away at the eroded section of the island. In 1994 this same man, now Dr. William Kelso, Emeritus Director of Archeology at Jamestown Rediscovery, theorized that “the April/May 2019

standing 17th-century brick church tower was built near the center of the original fort, referring to a written account that “a pretty chapel” stood “in the middest” of the fort.

Believing that later churches would be built on the same sacred ground, Kelso launched the Jamestown Rediscovery Project, searching for evidence of the early fort walls between the church tower and the James River. Within just a few years, the team knew it had found what it had been looking for — the earliest remains of James Fort.

Excavations are continuing at the Angela site. Visitors can hear Angela tell her story in addition to seeing the latest artifacts uncovered.

THE MEMORIAL CHURCH: “in the middest” of the fort and central to democracy Just as a church was central in locating the fort’s whereabouts, a church was also key to a budding democracy. Settlers completed a second church just off the site of the first, again central to the fort when they expanded beyond its three walls. The existing brick church, of historical significance itself, was completed in 1907 to commemorate Jamestown’s 300th anniversary and to protect the site of the churches built in 1617 and later.

Despite near-constant strife with man and nature since the very beginning of the settlement 12 years earlier, it was here in the church that a group of men met for the first time in the summer of 1619 to create laws for the new colony. The first General Assembly shared power amongst a governor, a council appointed by the Virginia Company, and representatives, called burgesses, who were chosen by free, white males throughout the colony.

The establishment of the assembly became a foundation of a democratic society based on the rule of law and the will of the people.

The first session ran from July 30 to August 4, and though its configuration has changed, evolving into a bicameral House and Senate, its structure became the model for other colonies and has met continuously ever since.

To recognize this important milestone, Historic Jamestowne will hold a series of living history programs, including a reenactment of the first General Assembly, archeology lectures and walking tours.

The Memorial Church is scheduled to reopen in April of this year with new glass The House & Home Magazine

Excavating the Angela site to find clues to the lives of the first enslaved Africans.

Visitors can see and hear from researchers digging up America’s earliest history.

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Excavations on the north side of Memorial Church

Within the walls of the Memorial Church, excavations revealed the previous church foundations.

panels in the floor that will allow you to see the brick foundations of the original 1617 church, as well as the 1639 and mid-1680s versions.

THE ARRIVAL OF AFRICANS AND HUMAN TRADE TO OUR SHORES As men were gathering in the summer of 1619 to debate laws and govern themselves, it is in stark contrast that another group of people were seeing their very humanity taken away.

The summer of 1619 also saw the first groups of enslaved Africans arrive at Jamestown, just as the first successful and labor-intensive crop, tobacco, was taking off in popularity.

Originally from Angola, they were captured and forced to march hundreds of miles before boarding the ship San Juan Bautista, which was bound for Mexico. As the San Juan traveled the Gulf of Mexico, privateers on the White Lion and Treasurer attacked, taking 50-60 slaves with them. If any of the Angolans thought their luck had changed along with the ships, they were wrong. The White Lion arrived in Point Comfort (present-day Hampton), Virginia in August, followed by the Treasurer a few days later.

John Rolfe recorded that “20 and odd” slaves were “bought” by those well-off and well-connected, such as Governor Yeardley, despite no laws permitting slavery at the time. These Africans, now living and laboring throughout the James River Valley, were the first of what eventually would be millions that endured grueling conditions in the colonies and American South over the next 250 years.

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The shadow of John Smith is cast on the church tower that was built as part of the fourth and final church.

History comes to life through costumed historical interpreters.

Originally from Angola, Angela was one of the first enslaved Africans to arrive on our shores

Virtually all of the first African’s names were lost to history, but the life of a woman named Angela or Angelo, purchased

by Lt. William Pierce, is coming to light as his New Town property is excavated. The team at Historic Jamestowne, according to their site, is “looking for evidence of Pierce’s house, outbuildings, and gardens as well as artifacts that can shed light on the household’s activities, diet, and structure. Angela would not have arrived with many, if any, personal possessions, so recovering African artifacts is unlikely.”

In addition to seeing the archeological dig where she lived and worked, this spring and summer, visitors can “meet Angela” as she shares stories about her home in Angola and her new life in Virginia.

Though Jamestown was not the first English colony — Roanoke Island 20 years prior has that claim — Jamestown would be the first permanent settlement and pivotal in events whose effects continue to be felt today. Jamestown’s history is our history. We must fully explore and understand our history, as both inspiring and painful as it can be, to move forward and together as a people and a nation. H The House & Home Magazine

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H E A L T H

Reginald Mason, M.D.

General

Surgery

THERE’S NOTHING GENERAL ABOUT

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sk Melvin D. Schursky, Jr., M.D. what most people want to know when they find out he is a general surgeon and he’ll tell you – “so what is it that you do?”

His answer? Think lumps and bumps. Heartburn relief.

Gallbladders. Vascular. Appendicitis. Colonoscopies. Nearly every surgery related to cancer treatment. Lungs.

Certified by the American Board of Surgeons, Dr. Schursky and Michael J. Francis, M.D. of Riverside Surgical Specialists – Gloucester conduct well over 1,250 surgeries and procedures each year. Their Virginia Middle Peninsula practice is located on the medical campus of Riverside Walter Reed Hospital.

As general surgeons, Dr. Francis said, it’s their job to provide the best care possible while “always keeping the patient and what they are comfortable with at the center of what we do.”

In Tappahannock, Wirt Cross, M.D. and Reginald K. Mason, M.D. practice with Riverside Surgical Specialists – Tappahannock, which is located on the medical campus of Riverside Tappahannock Hospital.

“With many aspects of medicine, you treat a patient,” Dr. 94

Meet the Riverside General Surgeons of the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck.

Cross said. “In surgery, we fix patients.”

Whether it’s in the Middle Peninsula or Northern Neck areas, “we strive to provide a wide range of surgical care right here at home so patients don’t have to travel,” Dr. Schursky said.

Sure, there are elements of their practice that help them stand out. For one, they provide the region with one of the only single-port laparoscopy centers, giving patients the option of having minimally invasive surgeries that can reduce pain, bleeding and chance of infection.

But more than that, they are members of the community.

“I’m not from a small town, didn’t grow up in a small town, but I love practicing in a small town,” Dr. Mason said.

“Each day, here, you feel like you make a difference.”

Patients are often surprised by the scope of what the Riverside general surgeons do, Dr. Schursky said, explaining that “we really are a family taking care of people. You aren’t just a bump or a lump or a hernia.”

“Every case we work on has a story associated with it,” Dr. Cross said. “For every patient we work with, we know it’s one of the biggest days of their life. We try to be cognizant of that.”

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H E A L T H

Melvin D. Schursky, Jr., M.D.

Michael Francis, M.D.

INTRODUCING OUR SURGEONS There’s nothing general about general surgeons. Riverside’s General Surgeons are highly trained, offering a wide spectrum of integrated and specialized surgical expertise as well as general surgery.

Riverside’s comprehensive array of surgical services, anchored by the exceptional surgeons below, treats conditions large and small: from hernias and hemorrhoids to larger organ systems.

RIVERSIDE SURGICAL SPECIALISTS – GLOUCESTER 7554 Hospital Drive, Suite 303 Gloucester, Virginia 804-693-3400 Melvin D. Schursky, Jr., M.D. Dr. Schursky chose general surgery because he “loves the broad range of surgical care that he provides for all ages at Riverside Surgical Specialists.”

General surgery also provides Dr. Schursky with opportunities to continually use the latest in advanced, minimally invasive surgical techniques. As he puts it, “My goal is to provide excellent, state-of-the-art care to all patients in our community.” He has a special interest in surgical treatments for venous stasis disease and breast cancer related surgery. Dr. Schursky uses a new, minimally invasive procedure to treat varicose veins and their underlying cause with little or no pain.

Dr. Schursky graduated from Temple University School of Medicine and completed a fellowship in surgical critical care at Boston Children’s Hospital. He has been board-certified by the American Board of Surgeons since 2009.

Michael J. Francis, M.D. After receiving his medical degree from New York Medical College, Dr. Francis completed a surgery residency at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Oakland, California, and a fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital/Rutgers Medical School. He served the Navy for 21 years, including two tours in the Persian Gulf, before retiring as a captain.

Board-certified by the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery and the American Board of Surgery, Dr. Francis specializes in laparoscopic surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, endoscopy and colonoscopy. He has published articles in nationally recognized journals and has held numerous leadership and teaching positions in his field.

When it comes to his bedside manner, Dr. Francis will tell you openly that “I am an introvert. I am not overly expressive.

I will tell patients exactly what’s going on and be very direct.

But at the same time, and I hope patients see this, on the The House & Home Magazine

Wirt Cross, M.D.

Reginald Mason, M.D.

inside I see every patient as a wife, a mother, a father, a brother.

I see their connection to their families and see it as my job to do the very best I can to help them heal.”

RIVERSIDE SURGICAL SPECIALISTS – TAPPAHANNOCK 659 Hospital Road Tappahannock, Virginia 804-443-6232 Wirt Cross, M.D. Dr. Cross received his medical degree at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. He completed a general surgery residency at Saint Agnes Hospital with supplemental training at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Shock Trauma, all in Baltimore.

Dr. Cross was an intern at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center and received the Defense Meritorious Service Medal while serving with the National Security Agency. He also served as a medical officer in the Navy, achieving the rank of lieutenant commander. Dr. Cross has had articles published in nationally recognized journals.

He started out wanting to go into family medicine, but then discovered how much he enjoyed surgery.

Dr. Wirt Cross provides general surgery services, including a focus in laparoscopic hernia, gastrointestinal procedures, vascular surgery (specifically dialysis access and endovascular approaches to peripheral vascular disease), as well as endoscopies and colonoscopies.

Reginald K. Mason, M.D. Dr. Mason was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy in 1992 and remained in the Naval Reserve until 2000 while earning his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He completed residency training at Saint John’s Hospital and Medical Center and returned to active duty in the Navy, where he was department head of General Surgery at Yokosuka Naval Hospital as well as Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital until 2004.

Dr. Mason is board certified by the American Board of Surgery. He is a member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons as well as the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract.

Dr. Mason provides general surgery services, including noninvasive treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as well as medical modalities, advanced techniques for hernia repair, laparoscopic surgery for the gallbladder and colon, and advanced treatment for diseases of the intestine, including colonoscopy.

Dr. Mason believes in establishing trust with his patients to facilitate the best possible outcomes. H 95

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