SperryFest 2023

{ SPECIAL PULL-OUT SECTION }

SATURDAY, APRIL 29 → 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. Festival set-up, parking opens → 10 a.m. SperryFest Begins → 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. RAAC Music: Grass Fed at Music Stage

→ 12:30 p.m. - 1 p.m. Juggling Magic by the Plaksin Men → 1 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. RAAC Music: Gold Top County Ramblers at Music Stage → 1:45 p.m. Kid’s Duck Dash Parade down Main Street led by Lady Panthers

→ 2 p.m. Kid’s Duck Dash → 2:15 p.m. Kid’s Duck Dash Winner Circle → 2:15 p.m - 3:45 p.m. RAAC Music: Gold Top County Ramblers → 4 p.m. The Great Rubber Duck Race Down the Mighty Thornton River → 4:30 p.m. Winner’s Circle → 5 p.m. SperryFest Ends → 6 p.m. Main Street Reopens → 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Volunteer Appreciation: Ducks After Dark at Quièvremont ($1 glass of wine for volunteers)

TRAFFIC Main Street will be closed to vehicles for a pedestrian friendly walkway featuring food, artisans, demonstrations, and live music.

The Black Twig Diner & Bar

KID’S CORNER

PARKING

• The main activity in the Kid’s Corner is

Please respect your neighborhood.

Park only in these lots and pick up your trash.

for kids to purchase a white rubber duck ($5) and then decorate it prior to the 2 p.m. Duck Dash race. Paint is from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• Kid’s Duck Dash Parade, led by Lady Panthers, scheduled at 1:45 p.m. down Main Street to the Main Street bridge.

• Scramble Hunt, where kids find ducks hidden throughout the festival to unscramble the name of a child's book.

• Plus: Corn hole; Kiddie pool with ducks floating; a bounce house; RCHS Cheer Squad doing a face painting/bake sale; Sebastian coloring pages SPERRYFEST • RAPPAHANNOCK NEWS & CULPEPER TIMES • APRIL 27, 2023

→ Park in Lot A and walk our trails to Main Street (0.9 miles) → Park in Lot D and walk our trails to Main Street (1.3 miles) → Limited handicap parking available at Methodist and Baptist Churches on Main Street → No event parking at Cafe and golf course

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RAPPAHANNOCK NEWS & CULPEPER TIMES • APRIL 27, 2023 • SPERRYFEST

How trails and rubber ducks link Sperryville to its scenic riverfront

Bakery Catering

An ephemeral artwork by Donna Marquisee along the trail last fall.

BY LUKE CHRISTOPHER

BY BEN PETERS he nonprofit Sperryville Community Alliance has spent much of the past year working to promote a sense of community connectedness – both literally and figuratively – through maintenance and expansion of its growing network of walking trails.

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The roughly 1.5 mile trail follows the Thornton River, a tributary of the Rappahannock River that’s part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, from Main Street eastward onto Water Street and ends near the village’s river district.

But to the community alliance, the end is only the start. Organizers hope to expand it while also creating a showcase model for how to rescue local flora and Continued on the next page

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initiative in Sperryville to inject more vitality into the river district, which can be fauna from strangulation by invasive species traced back to the inaugural that threaten to deteriorate the ecology.

SperryFest celebration in Overshadowing the effort is a broader 2019 and the first-ever “Great vision to transform Sperryville into a more Rubber Duck Race Down the walkable, pedestrian-friendly village where Mighty Thornton River.” both residents and tourists can travel by foot “Those trails exist from restaurants to shops while absorbing because of the ducks,” Sutten river scenery, and maybe even hike over to said. “We built this first Shenandoah National Park without ever trail because we had raised turning the ignition on their cars. money from the very first Sperryville resident and owner of Before duck race.” He sourced the & After Cafe Kerry Sutten, who serves as rubber duck race idea from president of the community alliance, is at the his time living in Iowa, but forefront of that movement. He noted that his

BY LUKE CHRISTOPHER the time Sutten spent as a business on Main Street has been crashed into Washington, D.C. resident twice by motorists in recent years, resulting in Kerry Sutten, seen at last year’s helped fuel his imagination nearly $30,000 in damages. “Don’t tell me this SperryFest, spearheads the trail for what Sperryville’s river is a safe village to walk in,” he said. “I mean, movement and made efforts to district could become with a we’re just lucky nobody has been hit on those spotlight the Thornton with his bit of tender love and care. two instances.” riverfront cafe.

D.C. in recent years has made sweeping changes to the Southeast neighborhood that backs the Anacostia riverfront, creating what’s known today as The Wharf. It’s dotted ecades ago, the Thornton River was with luxury apartments and trendy restaurants and is horribly polluted because of sewage host to numerous community events each year. runoff from homes and scores of “The Anacostia, nobody knew existed until the city cattle occupying its waters unchecked, according to made a conscious effort to begin to clean it up and build Sperryville resident Cliff Miller Sr. He is the sixth of along it,” Sutten said. “And even the Potomac [River], seven generations that have cultivated the 845-acre there weren't many accesses.”

Mount Vernon Farm property since 1827, which is now But, he cautioned, the mechanics of urban river home to almost the entirety of the Sperryville trail. district restoration are very different from the needs To cut back on pollution, a sewage plant was of rural Sperryville. With Sutten’s purchase of the built and the Millers removed cows from the river. building that houses his cafe, he endeavored to Rappahannock organizations have worked to improve spotlight the Thornton. its water quality and maintain the high standard “Prior to me buying this place, making a parking lot achieved since. and giving access to the river, you couldn’t get to the Over the past several years there’s been a growing Continued from the previous page

Revitalizing the river

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river anywhere in Sperryville,” he said. “Now you can walk along it, you can see it, you can notice it’s there, you worry about it being clean.”

Community clean-ups are now held twice a year that involve much more than just sweeping up trash.

Volunteers cut down vines and spread mulch, to name just a few jobs. The community alliance has a dedicated and growing group who attend, according to Trail Advisory Committee Chair Clare Lindsay.

“We’re just beginning to feel like it really is a community effort, and we’re really grateful for that volunteer spirit,” Lindsay said. Just last weekend the community alliance held a clean-up in advance of Sperryfest to clear the way of debris for the coming onslaught of yellow rubber duckies racing down the river.

Fighting Invasives

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ey to opening a window to the river, Sutten said, was creating awareness of the environment and its ecology, which is currently threatened by more than 40 types of invasive species.

Invasives, such as vines that grow like a jungle, overtake the flora and disrupt balance of the river's ecology, according to committee member Torney Van Acker. Van Acker, who oversees the invasive species removal efforts, can be found out on the trail with a chainsaw in hand to sever vines from tree roots.

“If you don’t maintain the trail, it will regrow whatever it grows. And pretty soon you won’t be able to pass through,” he said. Vines left unrestrained will otherwise suck the life from trees.

Trees perform a number of critical functions to protect the riverbank. If their root structure were to be disrupted along the riverbank it would cause excessive erosion. They also provide a canopy over the river to shade water, keeping it cool and protecting the trout

RAPPAHANNOCK NEWS & CULPEPER TIMES • APRIL 27, 2023 • SPERRYFEST

A vision to transform Sperryville into a more walkable village where both residents and tourists can travel by foot from restaurants to shops while absorbing river scenery. and other ecology that call it home.

Fish could be harmed if subjected to warming waters in direct sunlight.

“What we’re trying to do is preserve what we have so we can enjoy it,” Van Acker said.

The community alliance, with the help of the Piedmont Environmental Council’s Rappahannock County representative Laura O’Brien, secured a $50,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry to immediately help pay for removal of invasives.

Recapturing the trail from invasives began recently and is expected to continue for at least five years, according to Sutten. They’ve since planted more than 60 native plants and trees along the trail.

O’Brien, described by Van Acker as an “ex-officio” member of the trail committee, attends each of their meetings and also helped the community alliance last year obtain a nearly $20,000 grant from the PEC’s Krebser Fund for Rappahannock County Conservation to conduct two studies that outline plans for managing invasives and aspirations for how to maintain and expand trails.

Those studies have become guiding documents for the alliance as they press forward.

“It’s really great that all the work they’ve been doing has been really intentional and backed by these studies and other technical experts,” O’Brien said. PEC places a strong value on public access to nature, informing the organization’s decision to become so heavily involved in the community alliance’s projects. “I see myself as like a resource to help guide their vision for it and the vision the community has,” she said.

“I’m really excited about this project particularly because, obviously you might think Shenandoah National Park is right there, but I think the Sperryville trail really serves a different niche for the community,” O’Brien said. “Because not only is it hyperlocal access to nature but it’s also improving the walkability of the community and connecting these previously disparate parts of the community that are difficult to access on foot.”

Expanding beyond the village?

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hile the community alliance is presently concentrated on fighting invasives, potential expansions to the trail loom over the imaginations of those involved. Connecting the trail to Shenandoah National Park, Eldon Farms, Old Hollow and Pen Druid are all ideas that have been floated. Most recently, the trail has grown from just over a mile to about 1.5 miles after a quarter mile was added from Water Street down to the river district,

according to Van Acker.

Currently the trail is entirely located on the private land of seven different residents, but it’s mostly concentrated on the Miller’s Mount Vernon Farm.

“This seriously would not happen if it were not for Cliff Miller senior and junior,” Sutten said. “The Millers were instrumental in helping us get this going.”

Miller Sr. and his son, Cliff Miller Jr., have played a significant role in the project allowing it to exist on their land.

“We just think it’s a wonderful thing that they’ve done,” Miller Sr. said of the community alliance’s efforts. Miller Jr. is leaving Rappahannock for California soon, and his father will remain steward of the land that’s been held in their family for generations.

“My family has been here for 200 years, so we’re committed,” Miller Sr. said. “And we’ve seen a lot of things happen, and I would say that in the last 25 years … the whole area around Sperryville has gotten much more enjoyable for people to come as they tour the mountains.”

“The trail system is a great asset,” he said.

But with the trail located on private property, concerns of liability arose.

While all the current property owners agreed to host part of the trail, the community alliance is working with an attorney to develop landowner agreements to ensure property owners aren’t held liable for mistakes made on the trails by its patrons.

“This really all starts with [private landowners'] generosity and willingness to allow the public to use these trails across the land and work with partners to restore and enhance those trails and the river alongside it,” O’Brien said.

The drawing up of an agreement also stands between the alliance expanding the trail further. Community alliance leaders haven’t engaged in discussions with landowners who don’t already have part of the trail on their land.

Once they create an agreement with landowners who currently allow the trail on their property, they’re hoping it will have applicability for when they approach others for future expansions.

“I think having a good landowner agreement in place is going to be really key to being in a position to go and approach others who we think might be a good opportunity for expanding the trail,” Lindsay said.

“The landowners have to protect themselves,” she said. “They’re offering this up for the public good.”

The most immediate expansion would be to develop a bridge, which would be very expensive and technically complicated, that could get pedestrians across the river and connect it to Pen Druid Brewing on the east side of the village, according to Linsday.

A stretch goal would be to connect the trail to the national park. There is a segment of Shenandoah near Oventop Mountain that juts out toward Sperryville on Oventop Mountain Lane north of Central Coffee Roasters that Sutten believes could be connected to the trail should leaders reach agreements with several landowners and successfully lobby the park to re-open the long-closed trail that leads up to the mountain – two substantial obstacles.

SPERRYFEST • RAPPAHANNOCK NEWS & CULPEPER TIMES • APRIL 27, 2023

BY LUKE CHRISTOPHER

Cliff Miller Sr. is the sixth of seven generations that have cultivated the 845-acre Mount Vernon Farm property since 1827, which is now home to almost the entirety of the Sperryville trail.

“If you could bring it into the park, it is just a great kind of boon for the community because you can come to enjoy the businesses and services we have, hike into the park, and Oventop is stunning,” Sutten said.

Sutten had a number of informal conversations with park Superintendent Pat Kenney, a Castleton resident, about the potential of expanding the trail into the park. In an interview, Kenney was uncertain about the Oventop idea since he’s been unable to discern how long the trail has been closed or why it was shuttered by the park in the first place.

He said they no longer have personnel on staff who were working at the time the trail was shut down to provide an account of the rationale.

“Obviously we’re interested in working with gateway communities like Sperryville and always open to conversations about ideas, but we’ve not seen any real, official proposals from them,” Kenney said of the community alliance.

More immediately, the alliance is working to add directional and educational signage to the trail.

“We’ll have some nice mapping signs and a couple of really cool interpretive signs that talk about the health of the river and some of the challenges, and why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Lindsay said. Adding benches, space for students, and more recreational amenities along the river for kids to play on are also on the agenda.

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{ S E B A S T I A N ’ S S T O R Y ART BY CAROLE PIVARNIK • WORDS BY KERRY SUTTEN }

The Rappahannock Food Pantry

is happy to celebrate the village of Sperryville and SperryFest.

Good Luck – and May the Best Duck Win!

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RAPPAHANNOCK NEWS & CULPEPER TIMES • APRIL 27, 2023 • SPERRYFEST

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Sperryfest!

A day of fun, friends, tourism, support of local businesses. and a song or two...

Stop in a Shop… you might find

You might find a home with the Kohlers

(with a nod to The Mills Brothers)

(with a nod to The Music Man)

A Million Dollar Baby

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It was a lucky April shower It was the most convenient door I found a million dollar baby In the Sperryville Corner Store

76 farm homes catch the morning light with 110 hill sides right behind, there are more than a billion trees springing up like weeds, flowing streams of every strength and size.

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There are sunny days and big storms in the mountains blue, thundering, thundering, all along the chain.

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One can always count on the stars so true.

She was selling pizza And when she made those eyes I kept buying pizza Until the crowd got wise.

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Breezes dance across hay fields that sway with hues, big broad views, lovely valleys, too.

Incidentally, if you should run into a shower Just step inside my cottage door And meet the million dollar baby From the Sperryville Corner Store.

There are farms here of every size that you can find, big estates, a country place, a getaway for two.

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The Best, One Home at a Time

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RAPPAHANNOCK NEWS & CULPEPER TIMES • APRIL 27, 2023 • SPERRYFEST