Leesburg, VA June 2023

Advice for what matters most, when you need it most

Congratulations to Jeffrey W. Eveland for being named to the 2023 Barron’s “Top 1,200 Financial Advisors” list, published on March 10, 2023. Rankings based on data as of September 30, 2022.

The Eveland Group

Jeffrey W. Eveland, CFP ®, CRPC ™, CPFA® Managing Director Wealth Management Advisor

703.779.2130

j_eveland@ml.com

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

3 South King Street

Leesburg, VA 20175

fa.ml.com/evelandgroup

2023 Barron’s “Top 1,200 Financial Advisors” list. Opinions are Barron’s who evaluated advisors with a minimum of seven years financial services experience and employed at their current firm for at least one year. Other quantitative and qualitative measures include assets under management, quality of practice, regulatory records, internal company documents and 100-plus points of advisor-provided data. Rankings do not reflect any client experience, endorse any advisor and are available for client evaluation only. Compensation was not received from any Advisors for the study.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (“BofA Corp.”). MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, Member SIPC and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp.

Banking products are provided by Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. Investment products: Are Not FDIC Insured Are Not Bank Guaranteed May Lose Value

The Bull Symbol and Merrill are registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation.

CFP Board owns the marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the U.S. The College for Financial Planning Institutes Corp. owns the service marks Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™, CRPC™, and the CRPC™ logo, and the certification marks Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™, CRPC™, and the CRPC™ logo. © 2023 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. MAP4960336 | AD-04-23-0125 | 472538PM-1022 |

Photo by Christy Kosnic

Architect: Cawood Architecture, PLLC

T

e f o r a N e w F e n c e ?

Beauty. Safety. Security.

Welcome to our Men’s Issue!

Yes! Summer is here! And with that, we celebrate Loudoun with our annual June Men’s issue. As Melinda, our talented editor, wrote in her May letter, I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that we are in our 5th year of publication.

It has been an amazing journey. What started as a dream, going door to door to find advertising partners with sample magazines and an idea, is now a thriving monthly chronicle of all things that make our area great. Without our partners, this would still be an idea, so I’d like to give a loud THANK YOU to all of the businesses that support us…many who have been with us from the beginning! We have focused on working with great, community-focused businesses and our hope is that you will support them as they support our work.

We take pride and pleasure in what we do. Nothing makes me happier than hearing that one of our readers has chosen an advertiser to work with or getting an email or phone call thanking us for printing an uplifting story. I got one of those calls today as I write this. A male paramedic with the Ashburn Volunteer Fire Department thanked me profusely for highlighting the women of his station in the May Women’s Issue. It was a heartwarming call and it shows that, while we make men and women a theme of our issues, ultimately we are all in this together.

To make a community great takes all of us pulling in a positive direction and rooting for each other. Thanks for reading.

June 2023

PUBLISHER

Hann Livingston | hann.livingston@citylifestyle.com

EDITORIAL COORDINATOR

Melinda Gipson | melinda.gipson@citylifestyle.com

Corporate Team

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Steven Schowengerdt

CHIEF SALES OFFICER Matthew Perry

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER DeLand Shore

DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL MEDIA Mindy Hargesheimer

ART DIRECTOR Sara Minor

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Janeane Thompson

WEB APPLICATIONS Michael O’Connell

HANN LIVINGSTON, PUBLISHER @LEESBURGLIFESTYLE

AD DESIGNER Matthew Endersbe

LAYOUT DESIGNER Kirstan Lanier

city scene

Where neighbors can see and be seen.

Want to be seen in the magazine? Tag your Instagram photos with @LeesburgLifestyle

1: The Second Annual DC Prime Tournament at Raspberry Falls raised $15K for Loudoun Cares 2: Function-N-Fitness provided pre-golfing massages to loosen up. 3: A barbecue dinner was served in the clubhouse after the tournament 4: Loudoun Cares Lives to Serve 5: The Winner’s Circle 6: 144 golfers and 25 sponsors participated, including these colorful gents 7: Dawn Keyes from Raspberry Falls and Tournament Organizer Jorge from DC Prime Photography by Melinda Gipson

We're the bank for that. Your family. Your career. Your life. You've got your hands full. We're here to make things like banking, lending and wealth management a little easier so you can focus on what really matters. We're the bank for that.

Maestro Kim Allen Kluge Tapped as Next LSO Music Director

The Loudoun Symphony selected Maestro Kim Allen Kluge as the next Music Director of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra. Kim brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, having served as the Artistic Director of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra for 27 years. Kim’s passion for music and community were evident in his concert. It was a rigorous selection process as 100 conductors from around the world applied and four finalists programmed memorable concerts. See  loudounsymphony.org for events.

Photography: Thomas N Sinclair

SimplyBe Coffee and The Clothing Closet open Downtown Locations

In late April, Tree of Life Ministries cut the ribbon at its new location for SimplyBe Coffee at 208 Church St., SE in downtown Leesburg. SimplyBe has provided 11 individuals with employment in partnership with ECHO and 18 with internships since it opened in 2021. Also celebrated was the opening of its second location for The Clothing Closet, offering new and gently used clothing and accessories, just downstairs.

Photography: Melinda Gipson

Find

Choose

Discover freedom from house repairs

Enjoy resort-style amenities steps from your door!

Little Tree Huggers Preschool Honored

On April 18, 2023 the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Awarded Little Tree Huggers Preschool the 2023 Loudoun County Environmental Excellence Award. Then, on April 20, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education announced that Little Tree Huggers Preschool is among the 2023 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools award honorees! Readers met LTH’s Lia and George Johnson back in 2020 and are delighted with their recognition. See bit.ly/LTHstory and littletreehug gersllc.com to keep in touch

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See

Want

Ashburn,

Photography: Melinda Gipson

YEA! STUDENT STARTUPS Earn Funding

Every year the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) conducts a 7-month training program that turns two dozen local middle and high-school students into real-life entrepreneurs and business owners. Co-presented by the Loudoun Chamber Foundation and Loudoun Economic Development Authority, YEA! leverages volunteer Instructors and local business mentors to help the students turn their ideas and their passions into unique business plans.

This year’s class pitched to an esteemed panel of investors in April who awarded $5,000 in investments to six start-ups they ranked higest based on their judging criteria. Along the way, students learned not just how to put together a business plan and market their products and services, but all about leadership and community partnerships, and clearly made friends for life. They gain confidence and poise far beyond their years and give all of us hope that the next generation is both willing and able to tackle some of the tough problems facing our society.

In short, the kids are okay. Here’s just a brief glimpse of this year’s winners with one extra that we think demonstrates the outsized concern kids feel for our future wellbeing.

Ethan Chisholm, a 10th grader from St. Paul VI Catholic High School, was the season’s big winner, taking home a $1,500 investment for his healthy snack for the outdoors, NaTrail. You may have

ARTICLE BY MELINDA GIPSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTY SHOUP, BLUE LION MULTIMEDIA

Ethan Chisholm

Judges

Judges

Sahasra Mogulla Mahima Atmavilas

Pranav Kalidindi

Tapthi Arun

read about Ethan already – he’s an accomplished musician and played violin with the Honors Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in February. Ethan also loves hiking, camping, fishing and mountaineering, and his presentation included shots of him on a 14,000-foot peak in Colorado. Because he was perpetually frustrated by never being able to find healthy snacks for the outdoors – they either have nuts or are loaded with sugar, not to mention the fact that their packaging ruins the scenery when discarded improperly – he created NaTrail.

The ingredients are simple: freeze-dried fruit with no added sugar, quinoa and puffed rice. Quinoa is a plant-based protein that gives long-lasting energy. Fruit lends itself to three snack flavors: Tropical Blend, Strawberry Banana, and Mixed Berry, each wrapped in biodegradable packaging. He’ll use his investment to complete work on his trademark and to complete his first production run.

If you’re skeptical something healthy can taste good, one of the judges ate half a bag of the Strawberry Banana during the panel’s deliberations. (We know because we pinched the other half and it’s great.) Locally or nationally, the snacks will be available from Ethan’s soon to be launched website natrailfoods.com , and you might just find him at the Appalachian Trail Festival in the Gap with some fellow St. Veronica’s Rangers (see p.38). When not building his business and practicing violin and piano, he’s working on attaining the rank of Master Ranger, equivalent to Eagle Scout.

What he learned from the program is, “Nothing is impossible, which seems kind of cliché, but going from just an idea in the beginning to selling an actual product in just six months is kind of incredible.” Ethan will have the opportunity to pitch his business plan at the national level 2023 YEA! Saunders National Competition June 16 so watch our Facebook feed for details.

We reached Mahima Atmavilas, a Freedom High School 10th grader and CEO of Topped With Love, at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Orlando the weekend after her YEA! pitch netted her $1,000. Her baking business focuses on providing customers with allergen-free dessert options. Her inspiration came from her mother, who is allergic to eggs, but there are many ingredients

that cause allergic reactions, she explained, and most people who suffer from these only have one or two options when they want something sweet.

She will primarily be distributing desserts through her website,  toppedwithlove.biz , but hopes to participate in the EatLoco Farmer’s Market in One Loudoun through the Fall and Winter. She could use a commercial kitchen that is available during the hours when she’s not in school (a common complaint among entrepreneurs and non-profits alike), but eventually hopes to have her own brick-and-mortar bakery –“something I’ve always dreamed of.” She adds, “For now, I want to take this business as far as I can” before college intervenes. In her spare time, she volunteers tutoring and works summers as a camp counselor.

Mahima is most grateful to YEA! for “giving me really good insight into how the life of an entrepreneur works – the hustle and the grind and the hard work that goes into it. I feel like it’s put me in a really good place for the next few years with my working ethic.”

Pranav Kalidindi, Rockridge High School 9th Grader and another $1,000 awardee, founded Stress Relief Buddy, an AI-driven app designed to be integrated with the Apple Watch in such a way that it helps prevent stress from causing health problems. His inspiration came from the sudden death from a heart attack suffered by a neighbor who otherwise seemed healthy. “He ran marathons and everything,” Pranav said.

We’ll credit him with the quote of pitch night when he said, his tool uses a “custom machine learning algorithm to predict and reduce stress. We made predicting stress and priority because once you are stressed, the damage has already been done.” That makes his own research into the precursors of stress an ongoing effort and may be one of the reasons why he is drawn to medicine as a career and wants to study neurology in particular.

Like Mahima, Pranav has taken advantage of many opportunities to advance his entrepreneurial experience and facility for solving technical issues. Working with Loudoun Innovation 4-H Club, he was invited to attend both a national Microsoft TechSpark event where he met Microsoft President Brad Smith, and the 4-H Ignite Summit in D.C. this March. Asked how a 15-year-old comes to design a machine learning algorithm, he casually notes that it’s written in Python – a

computer language he taught himself – and is housed on AWS, Amazon’s cloud service. Databases for health-related responses to stress factors also are available on the Internet, he explained. That part, he says, wasn’t as complicated as the legal issues involved in processing individual health information through the cloud and on getting Apple’s help in integrating an app into the App Store, but he is confident he has time to work all that out.

The crowd’s fan favorite, for both precociousness and charm, was clearly Abhishek Shanbhag, a 7th grader from Brambleton Middle School who founded Bizzlearn.co, a financial education company for 10to 16-year-olds. “Did you know,” he asked, “that only 24% of 18- to 24-year-olds can answer basic financial literacy questions?” The clearest indicator of this ignorance: the existence of more than $1.75 Trillion in student financial debt. Parents don’t have the time, or sometimes even the knowledge to educate their kids on the basics of how to handle money, so Abhishek has built an engaging, interactive process with modules on budgeting, investing and other topics and turned it into a learning game.

He has not only worked with web developers to produce a fully functional website but also employed AI software to create content for each of his learning modules. Because, as he allows, “AI is not always reliable,” he hopes to work with local community banks, financial advisors and personal finance teachers (“there aren’t many but there are a few”) to help validate those concepts. He’ll then license the software to school districts with an annual subscription and directly to customers for a one-time $50 payment. In asking for a $1,500 investment, he closed with, “So do yourself a favor and let the money work for you!” to hearty applause.

With the $500 he received, he’ll continue to work with UI and UX developers to expand the learning system to include more video, especially when it comes to the basics of stock investing, which he has only done himself for the last couple of years. (Remember, he’s 12 .) In much the way online traffic school videos work, Abhishek’s system presents information, then lets students apply themselves on the material with questions involving real-life scenarios. There’s even a leaderboard you can attain with answering questions correctly.

Abhishek Shanbhag

Sarina Virmani and Rhea Ganta

Mentors

What’s clear through his own experience is that you’re never too young to appreciate the value of money. He played travel soccer for six years, then started coaching younger players for $10/hour. Now he plays cricket, where he’s a team captain. While he loves the sport, he’s not thinking of going pro; when he’s older, he’d rather own the team.

Entrepreneurs Rhea Ganta and Sarina Virmani, 8th grade friends from Nysmith School, took a similar approach to the gamification of learning with their app STEMtri, designed to help students gain a love of learning through fun STEM education. Sarina credits Rhea as being the team’s wordsmith and marketer while she’s more focused on the many steps involved in bringing their project to fruition but adds, “We’re both very organized.”

Says Rhea, “One thing that makes our business different is that we’re actually middle school students that are in our target demographic. So, we have the passion, and we understand what our target demographic wants.” For fun, Sarina is both an ice skater and sings with the National Children’s Chorus in D.C. Both are on debate teams, and Rhea plays basketball and piano. “We both are in the National Junior Honor Society and both like to volunteer in our community, which will help us build meaningful partnerships,” Rhea adds.

Tapthi Arun, an 11th grader at Rockridge High School, brought an actual prototype of her ClearSafe reusable water bottle with a detachable container at the base useful for storing small items like keys or earbuds. The water bottle is BPA-free, double insulated and vacuum sealed so it can keep beverages hot or cold. With her investment of $500, she hopes to help to fund her first shipment of 100 water bottles by July, which she’ll sell on Facebook, Etsy and Amazon and in partnership with local gyms.

In her view, what makes her an entrepreneur is that, “I had an idea and I stuck with it and I did a lot of work to make it a viable business. A lot of people have ideas but it takes a lot of effort to turn that idea into something real.”

Not winning an award, but just one indication that the next generation is worried about solving the “big issues,” was Sahasra Mogulla, a 9th grader at Independence High School. Her big worry: that not enough people want to be farmers anymore, raising the specter that “everyone’s grandkids are going to be living off of pills a century from now instead of actual food.” Her Farmers In Training program is designed to encourage future farmers by giving them access to an online database for help in getting started and growing crops or livestock as well as the opportunity to volunteer and learn from others at local farms. That way, “they’ll be able to connect with local farmers in their community who will make a memorable impact” on their career choices.

Her own mother grows Indian ethnic vegetables in her spare time, while working another job, a common situation for many local farmers. Even though she didn’t come away with an investment, she’d still like to help show people that farming is a valid career choice.

Applications for next year’s students are open NOW until June 12, and the application may be downloaded here: loudounchamber.org/yea . The 20232024 program will then run from October through early May. There are also mentorship opportunities for business leaders in the community to work with a student one-on-one for several sessions during the 7-month course. If interested, you can reach out directly to the program director Faith Shoup at  fshoup@loudounchamber.org

“One thing that makes our business different is that we’re actually middle school students that are in our target demographic. So, we have the passion, and we understand what our target demographic wants.”

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A Moving Meeting with Jon Prince

Jon Inspires by Lifting Others

Jon Prince is a man filled with the gratitude and indomitable faith born of hard times. A little less than a decade ago, following a bitter divorce, he found himself living in his car. It’s not the kind of experience many people might acknowledge, but this self-effacing, soft-hearted guy freely shares it to credit his wife Veronica for her encouragement and God for blessing him with more than he ever dreamed possible.

When he moved to Loudoun County, Jon tried his hand at working with a moving company and “fell in love with it.” He says, “I think it was the people I worked with, both the employees and the customers, especially how much they appreciated how hard I worked.” When customers told him he should consider starting his own business, he thought about it, but never took it seriously until his new wife Veronica urged him to try.

So, in 2014, with $1,500 in his pocket and a work ethic he learned from Christian parents who home schooled him in rural Michigan, he founded Prince Movers. His slogan: “Let us be your hero for the day!”

He explains, “When you first meet a customer, they’re typically all stressed out, but as you start working and talking with them, they’re more at ease and trust you to take care of them.” He’s not only a good listener, but his affable charm and sense of fun make him great to be around, We love telling stories with happy endings, so of course Jon went from operating one truck with a couple of guys to a fleet of 17 trucks and more than 50 movers, serving the entire Washington DMV. He works primarily on local moves or along the Eastern Seaboard to minimize how much time his crews spend on the road. He has partnered with another local start-up, Mi-Box in Manassas to help customers with their short- and long-term storage needs. That saves Jon from having to rent costly warehouse space in a county that puts a premium on real estate.

“God has opened up a number of different paths for me to succeed,” he says frankly. He values his partnerships and his employees over property as measurements of his success, and credits the quality of his work,

PHOTOGRAPHY BY J TORRENZANO PHOTOGRAPHY

ARTICLE BY MELINDA GIPSON

Lifting Others is Jon's Mantra (With Sons Legend and Blade)

Jon Surrounded by Friends and Family at Prince Movers Stadium Ribbon Cutting

Jon's Family

Independence HS Principal John Gabriel, Jon, Football Coach RJ Windows, Athletic Dir. Ryan Rogers at Stadium Ribbon Cutting Sept. 9

5-star ratings and referrals for his organic growth. “People say, ‘Jon and his crews are crazy good movers; they are like Stairmasters!’ Those referrals were more valuable to me than any number of sales reps or ads.”

Jon stands out from his competition in other ways: his commitment to his community and his employees. Because he has a heart for youth, he’s put his name on two local venues – Ballpark Loudoun’s “Home Plate” restaurant and bar featuring “Korean Fast Casual” food and ballpark favorites, and Independence High School’s football field, now known as Prince Movers Stadium. He’s gratified that the latter sponsorship will both enhance the playing field and provide kids with needed sports equipment.

As for his workers, he explains, “When I worked for another moving company, no one ever told me I could make more money by working as an independent contractor.” Now he encourages his own workers to make

the jump and for those who have, it’s been life-changing. His workers love working for Jon, “because they see that I’m not about myself. I’m about helping them.... I want them to do well and be able to afford a home for their own families,” he affirms.

The line was made even more poignant as we interviewed Jon in his own, two-story family home purchased in Brambleton when the business began to take off. It’s where he home schools his own two boys, Legend and Blade, each of whom proudly sport Prince Mover T-shirts. Jon tears up when he talks about the joy it gives him to provide for both his family and others, and then unnecessarily apologizes.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “My business is like the only thing I’ve got; I want my family to be provided for, for the rest of their lives and something for my kids. When I think about the hard times and how far we’ve come. I’m just so grateful.”

Jon Prince At Ballpark Loudoun's Home Plate

Rockin’ The Vine Since ‘99

PUTTING A BOW TIE ON TARARA

ARTICLE BY MELINDA GIPSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEX MANGIONE PHOTOGRAPHY AND ALIMOND PHOTOGRAPHY

They’ve been “Rockin’ the Vine Since ‘99” at the Tarara Summer Concert Series (tararaconcerts. com), located at Tarara Winery, about 15 minutes north of Leesburg. But Rusty Foster, President, Bow Tie Strategies, and his team have made the production their baby since taking over management in 2016. The weekend concerts, which have drawn as many as 4,000 people each, had grown to the point that the Concert Series required professional event management. Rusty – who loves music, has a passion for community and is well-connected as a ninth-generation Loudouner – and his team seemed like the perfect people to produce the events and to leverage its popularity for local philanthropy.

Rusty’s boutique public relations and event management firm raises awareness for marquee clients like Loudoun United, Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig, the YMCA, ION International Training Center, FC Barcelona, Ms. Veteran America and Keane Enterprises, to name a few. The Bow Tie Fund, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, was created in 2014 as a fundraising vehicle focused on education and the arts with an emphasis on single-parent households. Because he says, “I grew up in a single-parent household and I know the struggle single-parents go through to

SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

Crowd for the Legwarmers

Slippery When Wet

make ends meet.” He became committed to philanthropic organizations that support such families, and to helping kids raised in single-parent households with scholarships to receive a quality education. His mother’s mantra: “never wonder what if and receiving an education is your key to advance in life.”

All a graduating high school senior needs to do to apply for a Bow Tie Fund scholarship is be from a single-parent household, send Rusty a letter explaining why they deserve assistance and what it’s for, whether a four-year, community college or technical school degree. At Loudoun County High School and through college, Rusty himself was active in concert band, marching band, and choir. So, as time went on, the Bow Tie Fund supported local band programs. One example, Park View High School in Sterling won his support for various worthy projects because of the high quality of education it provides and because 75 percent of students there receive free or reduced-price lunch assistance, so most Park View’s students fall on the less affluent end of the spectrum among county residents.

Last year alone, the concert series generated more than $30,000 for Loudoun non-profits: virtually every dollar that doesn’t pay the performers and the staff, manage the venue and save a little bit for the following year’s preparation, goes toward the Bow Tie Fund. This year, that means 19 separate events will kick off on Memorial Day Saturday and run through the last Saturday in September. Music ranges from 60s British Rock to 70s, 80s 90s and 2000era hits, Disco, Country, Southern Rock, Soul and tribute bands for The Eagles and Bruce Springsteen – something, in other words, for everyone.

Individual tickets for over 21 are $20 plus fees online, $10 plus fees for guests under 21, or $25 and $10 at the gate the day of the concert. The most cost-effective way to create a great soundtrack for your summer is to buy a

Concert Club Pass for the entire season at $175, which guarantees the attendee admission to each concert, offers early admission and a 10% discount on alcohol purchases. In addition, the Concert Series is the perfect opportunity to host a business gathering for clients or employees, a birthday or anniversary celebration. Private tents are available for reservations complete with tables with black linens, chairs, souvenir wine glasses, a custom sign and concert ticket for each guest at a cost of $45 each for a minimum of 16 guests. The Bow Tie team will even find you a great catering option. The offering is so popular, it is already sold out for five concert dates!

One unique benefit of the experience is access to exceptional Tarara wines – two reds, two whites and one Wine of the Week, which will be available for purchase on site. We say unique because in March 2021 Tarara, one of Virginia’s oldest wineries, announced that, after 32 years, it would close its tasting room. So, if you’re longing for Tarara’s exceptional “Long Bomb” red, you’ll need to buy a concert ticket.

For the beer lovers, Rusty partnered with Loudoun Brewing Co. to keep crowds refreshed with an American style IPA called Tie One On , a blonde ale with a tangerine twist called Fit to be Tied , a boysenberry-peach seltzer called Ends in a Tie, and new this season, a beer of the week, all of which were specifically created for the Tarara Summer Concert Series.

It would certainly be hard to replicate the magical Tarara setting, which has grown to be the largest outdoor concert venue in a 40-mile radius. “The lake backdrop is beautiful and makes for the perfect setting for a Saturday night during the summer.” As for what comes next, Rusty says, “[w]e’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We’re just enjoying each concert right now.”

Or as they sing to the stars in Tarara’s back meadow, It’s a Great Day to Be Alive, Don’t Stop Believing, and The Show Must Go On.

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We provide corrective exercise and massage therapy services, all performed by professionals who have been trained to address any injuries, limitations, or functional deficits.

This allows our clients to maintain their ability in whatever they enjoy doing most!

Three Decades and Going Strong

AND

524-MILE WALK ACROSS VIRGINIA SPARKS A LIFELONG PASSION

ARTICLE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY H. RYAN

Growing up in Maine meant that my first impression of Virginia was through the back window of a 1969 Ford Torino station wagon rolling toward Williamsburg. My parents were adamant about immersing their children in history, which paid immediate dividends – what 12-year-old could ever forget forging a nail while being expertly guided by a blacksmith wearing colonial garb? — and still inform my writing today.

Twenty-three years after that family vacation, I returned. This time, I would experience Virginia at an average speed of 3 miles-per-hour. My good friend, Wayne Cyr and I were six years into a twenty-eight-year quest to complete the Appalachian Trail in sections when we made the 106-mile walk from Waynesboro to Front Royal — an end-to-ender through Shenandoah National Park.

Thanks to its diagonal route stretching from Maine to Georgia, more than one-quarter of the 2,100+ mile Appalachian Trail lies within Virginia. Wayne and I walked every one of them over five trips between 1991 and 2004.

The way we hiked the trail wasn’t sequential or contiguous. We seldom picked up where we left off. This was by happenstance at first, then became a recognized and honored aspect of how we rolled. Every winter, Wayne, who lived in the Hartford, Connecticut, area at the time, and I, a native of Portland, Maine, would set about choosing that year’s destination, based on projected time off and factoring in travel time to and from the section in question. It wasn’t long into our adventure before Wayne, an analyst by trade, identified Virginia as a multi-year endeavor. Realizing it would take at least five trips of 10 to 14 days each, we jumped aboard a southbound Amtrak train in 1991 to get started.

AN UNEXPECTED COMMUTE

People often ask why we didn’t drive to the trail. It’s a great question. We decided that, with only limited time off each year to hike, we didn’t want to have to get off the trail then somehow get back to where we had parked. It ended up being easier to use

OPPOSITE PAGE: View from the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park ABOVE: The AT Crosses Skyline Drive more than 30 times

a combination of public transportation and private shuttles: people who would take hikers to and from the trail for a fee. There was no such thing as Uber back then.

On May 22, 1991, at 2:00 a.m., we stepped off a bus in Waynesboro and started walking toward Skyline Drive. It didn’t take long to realize what a dumb idea this was. By luck, an abandoned gas station appeared on our right. We scrambled behind it, laid out our ground pads and took a four-hour nap. At first light, we packed up and got back on the road. Literally, fifteen seconds later, the man who lived across the street came over to ask if we wanted a ride to the trail.

WALKING ACROSS VA BY THE NUMBERS

1991

Waynesboro to Front Royal

May 22 – June 1 | 106.6 miles

1993

Rockfish Gap to Daleville

September 9 – 22 | 133.8 miles

1997

Daleville to Bland

October 10 – 23 | 128.1 miles

2003

Bland to Damascus

September 24 – October 4 | 120.7 miles

2004

Harpers Ferry to Front Royal

December 16 – 22 | 52.42 miles

“It’s no trouble, I’ll be right back,” he said, introducing himself as “Jack.” Jack disappeared behind his house and reappeared wearing a giant grin and driving a hearse. “Should be plenty of room in here,” he said.

Jack got a big chuckle out of us. The shocked look on my face when he appeared in the hearse had been just the response to get us bantering for the whole ride. He dropped us off at the now defunct Howard Johnson’s in Rockfish Gap, where we ceremoniously stepped out of the hearse and bellied up to the breakfast bar.

The defunct Howard Johnson's in Rockfish Gap

Snow near Roan Mountain

In September 1985, the author (r) and his hiking partner Wayne (hands on hips) started their 28-year adventure

The rest of that hike was a testament to the naiveté of a couple of New Englanders thinking that the late May temps in the mountains of Virginia would emulate those at home. Instead, it was oppressively hot and humid the whole way. It was still a wonderful trip — filled with memories and punctuated by the need to plan each day around water management. But from then on, our Virginia trips would be in October or later.

FOUR MORE VISITS — FOUR HUNDRED MORE MILES

Our other Virginia trips on the AT took place in 1993, 1997, 2003, and 2004 (See sidebar). That last trip was the latest we would make in our 28-year journey, wrapping up on December 22nd and hitting a New England-ish 13-degree overnight low along the way.

There were so many good times — too many to recount here. One marvelous thing about doing a long-distance trail in sections is that every trip yields its own insights and rewards. But one overarching theme took hold: I was compelled to revisit Virginia to hike and for other reasons that the ensuing years would reveal.

THE TRAIL LEADS BACK

Ten years after my last Appalachian Trail hike in Virginia, I finally made it back. My intention was to camp in Shenandoah National Park, take photographs and work on the book about my 28-year hike that would eventually become  Appalachian Odyssey: A 28-year Hike on America’s Trail. That plan was scuttled when a friend offered her family’s otherwise unoccupied 1812 farmhouse in Strasburg for me to use for ten days.

From the moment I got done fumbling in the dark, turned an antique key in the lock and swung open the door, I had an inkling that I’d walked into the ideal spot to write. Waking up to a view of working fields with the northern Shenandoah range rising above sealed the deal. Thanks to my friend Martha’s generosity, that magical farm became my writing refuge and hiking basecamp for the next seven years. It was my great fortune to turn that antique key in the front door lock after appearances at The Smithsonian and lectures in Front Royal, Luray, Charlottesville, Stevens City, Winchester and Harrisonburg. (Sipping coffee on the porch and gazing at Signal Knob while being interviewed for a Perth, Australia podcast is another indelible memory.)

In Shenandoah National Park, the trail is often marked using stone pillars

Then, of course, there was the hiking. You can’t spend days looking at Signal Knob without wanting to scramble to the top. It was especially fitting that my friend Art and I had pre-orchestrated an experiment whereby he would try to signal me with a giant flashlight from the farm during broad daylight. (I was dubious, but it worked, thus the mountain lived up to its name again.) The Tuscarora Trail and Massanutten Trail also became favorite haunts as my writing and hiking lives intersected at last.

The farm in Strasburg was sold in 2020, but my hiking and writing affair with Virginia lives on. I tucked myself away in Abingdon for two weeks in 2021 to fine-tune the manuscript for my latest book, “This Land Was Saved for You and Me.” I have my sights set on another mountain community as my next source of solitude and inspiration. Yes, there’s something afoot between Virginia and me. I only needed to walk around a while to discover it.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Maine-based author and speaker Jeffrey H. Ryan has a passion for exploring the outdoors on foot and along the dusty paths of history. His travels on thousands of miles on both America’s most famous and lesser-known trails have inspired several books including  Appalachian Odyssey and his 2022 hardcover, “This Land Was Saved for You and Me.” When he is not researching and writing, Ryan can be found exploring the backroads of the USA and Canada in his vintage 1985 VW camper.

He will be the featured speaker, Friday, June 9th in the town of Hillsboro’s Eat, Drink and Be Literary event at the Old Stone School. The following day, June 10th, Jeffrey will be at the same venue for the Appalachian Trail Festival in The Gap — an all-day event featuring live music on The Gap Stage, dozens of vendors featuring hiking and outdoor goods, speakers and demonstrations, food, local beer and wines. His books will be available for purchase and signing at both events. See roundhillat.org .

Shenandoah Sunset

The hiking buddies celebrate the end of the trail in October, 2013

John C. Whitbeck John C. Whitbeck Jim Beglis Jim Beglis

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ELEVATING THE ART OF THE ORDINARY

MATT PAVONE RAISES THE FLAG

ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MELINDA GIPSON

Patriotic Living Room

From his garage studio in Aldie, artist Matt Pavone creates art that combines drawing, woodworking, print-making, painting and the layering of iconic images of mid-century American life to create large, colorful, evocative works.

Matt’s work is, at its heart, nostalgic. Though he is only 41, many of his cousins were older and brought with them iconography from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.  His best work evokes a childhood near the New Jersey shore where multiple households of his extended Italian family lived, played and drank coffee. Not surprisingly,

the Italian-made moka pot with its hexagonal shape has found its way into several works, embellished with colors to raise it to iconographic status.

Speaking to his process, he uses a large canvas of interlocking hearts to explain that much of his work is created using wood cutouts that he uses to transfer colors in layers. It can take days for each layer to dry before applying the next layer, and any given work can hold as many as 70 pressings to create depth, which means Matt has many works in progress at any one time. As a happy accident, the stamps themselves take on an impressionistic, one-of-a-kind beauty that has caused the artist to employ them as centerpieces of other works.

“Art is to me, language,” Matt says, which helps to explain why he uses so many universally familiar objects that “speak” volumes to his viewers from their own experience. Bowling pins, for example, tumble over themselves to remind him of shared family outings at the local bowling alley, and his first surfboard from Ron Jon’s first ever surf shop in Long Beach Island, New Jersey, which hangs on the wall, has found its way into many works. “Art expresses who I am, through colors and through the play of the objects. It's about having that dialogue, me with the canvas first, then after I put it out into the public, it’s a dialogue between the viewer and the art. I can't interfere with that. I can only focus on how it makes me feel when I create.”

We might call that emotion comfort – that feeling you get when encountering objects that were collected by those you have loved to surround you with memories of them.

In that context, Matt developed a love of the American flag from two World War II veterans, brothers, who lived across the street from each other on

Hearts

Coffeepot

Horse Flag

Matt With a Book of Prints

Walnut Street

Matt’s family’s street, and who flew Old Glory every day. “It wasn't just a Fourth of July or a Flag Day or a Veterans Day thing. Every day, there was the American flag. And so as I was growing up, I associated that image with just the normalcy of life.”

Matt has painted many flags, often with what he calls a “bubble-gumming” coloration reminiscent of a Brooklyn sidewalk where all the colors of gum combine to create a form of abstract art. His latest creations have included three-dimensional objects like steet signs and leather horse tack. He’s fascinated by how the symbology of flags can communicate even across language barriers. “I embrace that when I'm approaching the flag, because ... the American flag has meaning and context. There's something very special about it. I'm cognizant of that, and I'm also aware of sensitivities surrounding the flag. My art is based on my interpretation of my experiences and my emotional connection with color.”

Matt’s association with flag art is enhanced by his annual July 4th lectures at The Artists in Middleburg Art Studio on “The Art of the Flag.” His workshop goes back to the Revolutionary War and traces how the actual flag has changed, but also how artists like Jasper Johns and his White Flag gave rise to pop art by focusing their artwork on common, everyday objects. Jasper Johns also made use of the flag for fundraising, creating his flag “Moratorium” as a lithograph for the Committee Against the War in Vietnam in 1969.

Matt has done the same – using his flag art philanthropically. His first flag painting was donated to the Department of Agriculture where he writes regulations as his day job. The placard identifying him as the painter led many of his colleagues to ask for copies of the work, so he had the idea – additionally inspired by the stress of losing his mom to cancer in 2016 – to donate prints of subsequent works to charity. The first of those went to The American Cancer Society, sales of which brought in $1,500. The next version supported work to fight Crohn’s Disease and colitis, which runs in Matt’s family, then helped the Special Olympics out of Prince Edward Island in Canada. He also has donated art to the Loudoun Cares annual art auction. For Mobile Hope, he donated a print of his interpretation of the Venus di Milo. The flag named American Valor is destined for the American Veterans Center annual gala in November. The painting’s coloring, intended to honor those wounded in service, draws from the Purple Heart medal. All told, his donations total about $15,000 – and counting.

You can often catch his art at The Artists in Middleburg, and he will be showcasing his artwork at The Global Local on July 7 for their First Friday in Leesburg celebration. Soon, his work may also find its way into Brew Birds, his local coffee shop. Because, you know, Matt has always appreciated a really good cup of coffee.

Matt Leads "The Art of the Flag" in Middleburg

American Valor

A sample of recently sold properties in Leesburg.

When it comes to buying and selling homes virtually, “Rely on Pam”!

After retiring further south, we decided to sell our River Creek home after leaving it on the rental market for over ten years. Selling an older home in a high-end neighborhood, with a tenant in place, with $150k of needed updates, long-distance and during COVID-19 pandemic—this could have been the ultimate real-estate horror story. Instead, it was one of the easiest, smoothest house sales I’ve ever experienced. Pam handled everything and quickly sold the house for more than the asking price. Pam is the most professional and capable agent that I’ve

worked with.