Carrie Christofferson reviews the new exhibit on the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1825 visit to Loudoun County. See story, Page 10.
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ART SCENE
After nearly 50 years behind the lens, Leesburg’s Jim Clark earned the North American Nature Photography Association’s lifetime achievement award.
COCKTAILS
Mt. Defiance Cider & Distillery is celebrating the 100th batch of its home-grown absinthe with a special event at its newly combined tasting room.
HISTORY
Two hundred years ago, the Marquis de Lafayette’s farewell tour came to Leesburg. A new exhibit at the Loudoun Museum explores the hero’s welcome he received.
PAGES
Kindergarten teacher Amy Frenck is turning moments she experiences in her classroom into a second career as an author and illustrator with almost 20 children’s books to her credit
BEST BETS
Get Out Loudoun’s best bets for June.
Photo by Norman K. Styer
Trail Times
BY DOUGLAS ROGERS
Visit Loudoun
Thru-hikers doing the epic 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine this year should time their Loudoun arrival for a specific weekend in early June.
Loudoun is home to a famous 13-mile stretch of the AT known as The Rollercoaster, a rugged swooping path on the rocky forested spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains that loosely runs from Bluemont to Hillsboro via Round Hill. Those three western
Loudoun towns are official Appalachian Trail Communities, and they come together on Saturday June 7 for the sixth annual Loudoun Appalachian Trail Festival on the grounds of the Old Stone School in Hillsboro from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The free, family-friendly event toasts the beauty and stories of the trail with live music, talks, meetings with thru-hikers, a “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” art exhibition, a climbing wall, a puppet show for kids and multiple craft, food and beverage vendors.
TRAIL CONTINUED ON 5
Photo by Douglas Graham
A backpacker hikes on the Roller Coaster stretch of the Appalachian Trail between Rt. 9 and Rt. 7 on Loudoun County’s western border.
FROM PAGE 4
FROM THE BEGINNING WE PLANNED THE FESTIVAL TO COINCIDE WITH THE “BUMP” OF NOBO (NORTH BOUND) THRU-HIKERS WHO PASS THROUGH NORTHERN VIRGINIA IN EARLY JUNE. THE FIRST YEAR, ONE THRU HIKER JOINED US WITH HER DOG. SINCE THEN, WE’VE HOSTED MANY MORE.
Funds raised go to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, now in its 100th year, which helps protect the trail.
“From the beginning we planned the festival to coincide with the “bump” of NOBO (north bound) thru-hikers who pass through Northern Virginia in early June,” said Loudoun AT Festival Director Jody Brady, who helped found the festival in 2019. “The first year, one thru hiker joined us with her dog. Since then, we’ve hosted many more. We shuttle them from the trail, feed and offer camping and “trail magic.” We also invite them to join our annual thru-hiker panels of hikers past and present.”
A highlight of the event is a conversation with hiker, author and podcaster Mills Kelly on his most recent book, Virginia’s Lost Appalachian Trail.
Of course, the AT is not the only wilderness to get active in in Loudoun this summer. Just west of Hill-
sboro, Sweet Run State Park is an 844-acre greenspace nestled between the Blue Ridge and Short Hill mountains with 11 miles of hiking trails, nine miles of equestrian trails, two streams, dense forest and a wild stretch of the AT. It also has a picnic pavilion and a fishing pond stocked with sunfish and largemouth bass.
And for those who like a cool craft beverage close to their outdoor recreation, Dirt Farm Brewing recently opened a 3.5-mile hiking and biking loop on the slopes of the owner’s family farm outside Bluemont. Access the trailhead at the south end of the brewery parking lot and enjoy unspoiled Blue Ridge wilderness at a 400-foot elevation. Once back, don’t miss a refreshing pint of the Great Country American Pilsner on the sundrenched patio.
Happy trails!
www.visitloudoun.org
ART SCENE
Local Photographer Celebrated with Lifetime Achievement Award
BY WILLIAM TIMME GetOutLoudoun.com
By the age of 10, Leesburg’s Jim Clark could identify every bird in the forest by its sight and sound. The pictures he took back then with his parent’s “little point and shoot camera” sparked a life-long love affair with nature photography.
After a 49-year-career in nature photography, the photographer, naturalist, writer, speaker, and workshop leader earned the North American Nature Photography Association’s lifetime achievement award.
“First it came as a total surprise. I had no idea that I would ever get an award like that,” Clark said.
Clark, an early member of the association and its president from 2002 to 2003, said the award was based on years of using his photos to promote conservation.
With eight books, a gallery on his website, and years of working for NANPA, Clark’s photos depict nature at its most pristine. His work appears in books including the “Bird Photography Handbook,” “Between Ocean and Bay: A
Jim Clark’s love of nature, photography, and conservation was recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the North American Nature Photography Association.
Photo by Mark Ferland
celebration of the Eastern Shore,” two installations in “The Adventures of Buddy the Beaver” series, “Mountain memories: An Appalachian sense of Place,” “West Virginia: The Allegheny Highlands,” “The Ultimate Guide to Digital Nature Photography” and “Coal Country: Rising Up Against Mountaintop Removal Mining.”
Clark said he started getting serious about photography after entering graduate school for wildlife ecology at West Virginia University in 1976 and purchasing his first SLR.
After that, Clark pursued his dual passion for photography and nature, spending 30 years working as an ecologist for the Fish and Wildlife Service and ducking out into nature to take pictures in his spare time.
“One of my guiding principles is that to be a great nature photographer, you’ve got to know nature – be a naturalist first and a photographer second,” he said.
Reading books and experimenting, Clark learned the basics on his own. He worked with a Minolta system in the ’70s, back when you “took notes in an actual notebook with pencil and paper” he said. He said he really didn’t know what he was doing back then. It wasn’t until 1989 that Clark underwent a major system change.
“I was living on an island off the coast of Texas called Matagorda Island National Wildlife refuge,” Clark said. “I was the first refuge manager there, and my house exploded and burned to the ground, and I lost all my photography, everything I owned, including more than 10,000 images and all my manuscripts.”
There were only two people on the 60,000acre island that day — Clark and his assistant who had just taken his first job with the Fish and Wildlife Service. Clark said that was a rough start for his assistant who went on to have a successful career.
“It was rather devastating, but nobody was hurt and I just started back because photography was such an obsession and love of mine and passion,” Clark said. “I wasn’t going to let the fire stop me from getting back into it.”
He transitioned to a Nikon system after that, using that equipment ever since. He even got a Nikon sponsorship at one point in his career.
Clark joined NANPA in the mid 1990s. Two decades ago, he left the Fish and Wildlife Service, turning his part time photography passion into a full-time career.
His first book, “West Virginia, the Allegheny Highlands”, came about after Clark and his wife settled in Leesburg. Feeling like he needed somewhere to get away and take photos, Clark spent time in his home state of West Virginia photographing the mountains and enjoying the peaceful highlands. Shifting his focus from the mountains later, he fell in love with the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland, writing “Between Ocean and Bay, a Celebration of the Eastern Shore” in 2010.
“I got just as enamored with the coastal environment as I did with the Appalachian,” he said.
Stemming from his love of birds, Clark’s photography also focuses on wildlife.
“I’ve done everything from photographing polar bears up along the Hudson Bay to, in my backyard during the pandemic, just photographing butterflies and bees and chipmunks,” he said.
For four straight years, Clark wrote in a monthly column on nature photography for NANPA’s e-newsletter. He has also emceed NANPA’s summit, which drew in between 500 and 700 of the world’s top nature photographers. His second time emceeing, he partnered with his 10-year-old son, Carson, who had just pub-
COCKTAILS
BY NORMAN K. STYER GetOutLoudoun.com
When Mt. Defiance Distillery opened in Middleburg a decade ago, absinthe was a spirit unfamiliar to most visitors. This month, the staff is celebrating the release of their 100 batch of the anise-flavored spirit at their new location, collocated with Mt. Defiance Cider Barn just east of town.
For nearly a century staring in 1912, absinthe was banned in the United States because of concerns about the hallucinogenic effects of thujone, contained in wormwood, one of its herbal ingredients.
A modern studies debunked those fears, the ban was lifted three years before Mt. Defiance opened in 2010.
“Absinthe was one of our original spirits,” distiller Kimberly Nuckols said. The distillery produces a traditional, French-style verte absinthe created from a late 19th century recipe. Most of the botanical ingredients are grown on the property, including grand wormwood, roman wormwood and hyssop, while Andalusian green aniseed is imported from Spain and fennel from France.
Photo by Norman K. Styer
Mt. Defiance General Manager Tiffanie Gulledge and distiller Kimberly Nuckols this month are celebrating a milestone release of its absinthe. COCKTAILS
“We grow all of the herbs here on the property, which is great. It’s distilled and colored all with herbs. It’s a real, true absinthe,” she said.
“What’s amazing about our absinthe is that, first of all, it’s Loudoun grown, but it’s also seen around the world. You can find our absinthe in multiple countries, and it’s a piece of Loudoun that’s taken all over the world,” General Manager Tiffanie Gulledge said.
Nearly 20 years after legalization, absinthe is still unfamiliar to many visitors.
“Back when I first started, everybody thought it was illegal. I don’t think that that is the case anymore,” Nuckols said. “I think people have drunk it by maybe just taking a shot, and that’s not that’s not what it’s designed for. Taking a shot of 140 proof of anything is going to be fire, and you don’t get all of the flavors that that it’s meant for.”
“I think every year, for sure, more people are
aware of how it should be prepared and like different ways to use it in cocktails,” she said.
At the distillery, a popular cocktail is Death in the Afternoon, three parts Champagne and one part absinthe.
“It’s so easy, simple and so refreshing and so flavorful,” Nuckols said. “You have to wrap your head around that you’re getting all of these different flavors. It’s not something that people are used to. Once you kind of understand and get your taste buds used to that, you can really appreciate it.”
Gulledge notes that Death in the Afternoon was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway. “He said you should have three to five a day; here at Mt. Defiance we can give you three.”
Earlier this month Gulledge, Nuckols and the rest of the staff were settling into a new
COCKTAILS CONTINUED ON 21
Celebrating Lafayette
Two hundred years ago, the Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving major general of the American Revolution, returned from France to tour the country he fought to create.
During his 14-month farewell tour starting in July 1824, he visited all 24 states, receiving a hero’s welcome along the way. One of his last stops in that journey was in Loudoun County
where he met with friends including former President James Monroe who lived south of Leesburg at Oak Hill, and Ludwell Lee, his former aide-de-camp who lived east of Leesburg at Belmont.
Over the course of three days here, Lafayette
HISTORY FROM PAGE 10
was honored at several events, including an elaborate dinner on the courthouse lawn. Many of those events will be celebrated and recreated during special programs in August, but a new exhibit at the Loudoun Museum sets the foundation for that work.
“He was celebrated everywhere he went and Loudoun—and Leesburg in particular—rolled out the red carpet. We really put on a massive welcome for him,” Museum Executive Director Carrie Christofferson said.
The museum exhibit highlights his impact on the American Revolution and traces the activities of his visit.
“You get lots of detailed information about what we did, what happened here, what people were involved, how they responded to this opportunity to welcome America’s favorite friend, which is the way he’s referred to in one instance, and as the nation’s guest, which is how he was referred to throughout the tour. He made his way all around Leesburg, culminating with a really celebratory dinner on the courthouse lawn attended by many luminaries,
1 50 West Vineyards 39060 Little River Turnpike, Middleburg 50westvineyards.com
2 8 Chains North Winery 38593 Daymont Ln., Waterford, VA 8chainsnorth.com
1 Stonehouse Meadery 36580 Shoemaker School Rd., Purcellville stonehousemeadery.com
‘More
Joy Than I Ever Expected’
Loudoun Teacher Becomes Children’s
Author
BY AMBER LUCAS GetOutLoudoun.com
Steuart W. Weller Elementary School Kindergarten Teacher Amy Frenck has not only found her calling with teaching, but also with writing and illustrating almost 20 of her own children’s books, based on moments she experiences in her classroom.
Frenck has been writing stories since she was in grade school, and has wanted to be a teacher like her mother since high school. She went to school in New York for elementary education and special education, and taught
special education in New York until becoming a Loudoun kindergarten teacher in 2013.
She picked up writing again after making a vision board with her own children two years ago.
“I’m sure my mom still has some stories tucked in her attic that I wrote when I was a child, but then I kind of set it aside. I went to college and I had kids, and I just picked it up again after my kids have kind of gone off and they’re and I thought, I’m going to do this. I want to do this for my students, just as like a bucket list. I want to have this checked off my bucket list,” Frenck said.
After making the board, she wrote a story about a rabbit who was afraid to try a carrot. She watched YouTube videos and TikTok videos on how to self-publish books on Amazon before publishing the first book in the summer of 2023.
Frenck read that book to her students the following school year, and their reaction inspired her to keep writing books for her students. She said that they connected more with the story knowing that their teacher wrote it.
“I was blown away at their reaction. They were so excited to see this book, and they wanted to know if they could get it out of the library here. I just was really shocked at their reaction. I thought they’d be like, ‘Oh, great, great.’ I mean, they were fighting over the book in my classroom, trying to read it because I brought it into the room. They really inspired me to write more. So I started to write about the little moments in our classroom,” she said.
Frenck currently has 16 books on Amazon, about various classroom moments including hatching chicks and butterflies, making sock snowmen and welcoming them to kindergarten. She also has personalized books available
PAGES FROM PAGE 14
on Etsy, where parents can add their child’s name to goodnight, birthday and holiday books. She said the personalized goodnight books are especially popular as gifts at baby showers.
She had a few setbacks with the first couple books she wrote, she said, as Amazon has strict rules on publishing. However, once she got the hang of it, she easily publishes the books for her students.
Her three most popular books are “Hatching Chicks in Room 2,” “Kindergarten: What a Wonderful Year,” and her latest book, “Welcome to Kindergarten: A Special Book to Start Your Year.”
She said teachers from all over the country, and parts of Canada, reach out to her to tell her how much they can relate to her books and how the students love them. A teacher in Missouri even prompted her to write her book on preschool.
Despite her success, Frenck doesn’t write books for the money. She said she writes them for her students and about her students.
“I’m not doing it to profit off of it. I was just doing it because it was making them excited about reading…they were just so excited to see their teacher wrote a book, you know, and their teacher published a book,” she said. Her students even made sure a substitute teacher assistant knew that she had written the books in the room, Frenck recalled.
Every time she publishes a book, her students will go through and look at the illustrations and decide it was them, she said. They will also take the books on caterpillars and show the real ones in the room.
She is even making personalized books for all of her students this year as a parting gift.
PAGES CONTINUED ON 21
TUNES
Summer JAMS Kick off June 7
The Town of Leesburg’s Summer Jams concert series opens June 7 for a 10show schedule.
The series kicks off with the island sounds of Caribbean Vibe and continues on most Saturday nights through the Aug. 23 finale by Brisk.
Concerts will be held on the Town Green, 25 W. Market Street, beginning at 7 p.m. They are free and open to the public. No smoking or pets are allowed. Lawn chairs and blankets are suggested.
Concerts will be held on the Town Green, 25 W. Market Street, beginning at 7 p.m. They are free and open to the public. No smoking or pets are allowed. Lawn chairs and blankets are suggested. In case of inclement weather, the show will be cancelled.
For more information, go to idalee.org.
This year...
THIS YEAR’S LINEUP IS:
June 7 – Caribbean Vibe Steel Drum Band
June 14 – Mostly Fab
June 21 – Juliet Lloyd
June 28 – Chris Bowen
July 12 – Sela Campbell
July 19 – Gary Smallwood & Michael Fath
July 26 – Amanda Miller & Matthew Morreale
Aug. 2 – Black Sterlings
Aug. 16 – JP Jones
Aug. 23 - Brisk
lished his first book that the two worked on together.
Their series of joint children’s books, “The Adventures of Buddy the Beaver,” was the culmination of the two spending a few years together photographing a beaver family in Loudoun County and West Virginia.
“The purpose to get him to go outside was to just enjoy nature, develop a sense of confidence and patience,” Clark said. “We went on a book signing tour, he got interviewed, so that was quite an experience for me to be a father and have a young son like that.”
Clark also said he broke into photography at the right time. He said to make it as a nature photographer in today’s age, you have to develop skills like tour guiding, workshop leading, public speaking and working well with others –skills he learned from his time working for the Fish and Wildlife Service.
His biggest piece of advice was “to take small steps.”
A common acronym used in his workshops “PULL” stands for Patience, Understanding, Luck and Love – the key ingredients to successful nature photography.
“You just simply have to love being out in nature, no matter what it throws at you,” he said, adding that he still loves nature despite being bit by a grizzly bear once.
“Even when I go outside and walk to get my steps and I’ll see something that attracts my attention, I’ll make a mental note of it and then scroll back when the moment is right. … You put me outside and sit down, and you’re going to lose my attention because I’m constantly listening and watching nature.”
To learn more about Clark’s photography and writing, go to jimclarknature.com.
lh loudoun happenings 06.2025 Get
UPPERVILLE HORSE SHOW RUNS
JUNE 2-8
June opens with it 172nd running of the Upperville Colt & Horse Show, the oldest horse show in the U.S.
Over seven days starting June 2, more than 1,200 horse and rider pairs will compete in disciplines ranging from international level show jumping, hunters and equitation to local ponies, in-hand confirmation classes; side saddle; polo and more.
The show culminates on June 8 with the $200,000 Upperville Jumper Classic FEI CSI4* featuring top equestrians from across the nation and the world. The day’s entertainment also includes junior and amateur riders and the 11th Annual Horses & Horsepower car show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Throughout the week, more than 85 vendors will offer a variety of food as well as clothing, tack, leather goods, jewelry, art, housewares, and handcrafted gifts.
The showgrounds are located at 8321 John Mosby Hwy. near Upperville.
For the full schedule and details, go to upperville.com.
CELEBRATING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL
On June 7, Loudouners will celebrate their backyard access to the 2,190mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail that crosses 14 states, from Georgia to Maine.
It is the sixth year
for Loudoun’s AT Festival, a joint effort of the communities of Bluemont, Hillsboro and Round Hill.
Last year’s festival attracted some 2,000 participants for a day of live music, talks by hiking experts, nature crafts, a nature-inspired art show, a rock wall and more.
The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Hillsboro’s Old Stone School, 37098 Charles Town Pike. For full details, go to loudounat.org.
06.07
POLO SEASON OPENS AT MORVEN PARK
The Polo on the Park summer Saturday night tradition kicks off June 7.
For six weeks, visitors are invited to the historic 1,000-acre estate near Leesburg to picnic at the arena and cheer on the top polo players through two fast-paced matches.
“We’re thrilled to offer polo to the community again this summer,” said Stacey Metcalfe, Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation/Morven Park’s
Out
BANSHEE REEKS HOSTS POLLINATOR FESTIVAL
The naturalists at the Banshee Reeks Nature
Preserve will hold its annual Born to the Wild Pollinator Festival June 21. Top of Form
The family-friendly celebration of pollinators raises awareness about protecting natural areas and promotes Banshee Reeks.
This free event includes hands-on activities, educational exhibits, native plants for purchase and outdoor entertainment including music, food, face painting, and more.
The program runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The park is located at 21085 The Woods Road south of Leesburg.
Executive Director and CEO. “Each year proves to be better than the last, and it has become the can’tmiss event and the best party in Loudoun. We are excited continue the tradition this year.”
The first match begins at 7 p.m. Spectators are encouraged to picnic and enjoy their beverage of choice on the terraced viewing area next to the arena.
The matches will be held on Saturday night through July 19, with the exception of July 5.
General Admission car passes are $40 and special tailgate spots may be reserved. For the full schedule and tickets, go to PoloInThePark.org.
LANSDOWNE WOODS LITERARY FESTIVAL RETURNS
The residents at Lansdowne Woods celebrate books and writing with their fourth annual Literary Festival.
Hosted by the LWVA Writers Workshop, the event aims to bring authors, writers, and readers together for an afternoon to celebrate books and learn how to write them.
Learn more at loudoun.gov.
The festival will open at 1 p.m. and feautre more than 30 authors of all types of books ready for signing and purchase. At the same time, participants are invited to attend workshops by experts on writing (memoirs with pictures, historical novels, poetry), and on finding a publisher and marketing books. Writers will learn how to further develop their writing and discover ways to put it into print. Readers can hear fascinating inside information about the world of publishing.
The Loudoun Public Library will be there with information on writing programs and an array of titles of interest to Loudoun residents.
Authors may sign up to participate by contacting Kathleen Hughes at khughes868@aol.com or 703314-3590.
Lansdowne Woods Clubhouse is located at 19375 Magnolia Grove Square near Leesburg.
Learn more at lwva.org.
HISTORY FROM PAGE 10
and famously with 50 toasts being given in his honor,” Christofferson said.
Much of the information is documented in the detailed reporting published in the Aug. 16, 1825, issue of the Leesburg Spectator newspaper, copy of which is included in the display.
The exhibit includes items on loan from the American Friends of Lafayette as well as period pieces form the museum’s own collection and local sources to help tell the story. Among those is an 1820s Freemason’s apron and certificate—highlighting the brotherhood Lafayette shared with Monroe and George Washington. There is a sword likely to have been carried by Aldie’s John Moore as he joined local military escort for Lafayette. And there are commemorative cups and saucers and other trinkets that were sold as souvenirs during Lafayette’s tour.
Lafayette’s legacy continued to be celebrated in American long after his death in 1834.
“We’ve got a whole bunch of legacy pieces—a coin that the U.S. minted in as part of our participation in the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris that has Lafayette and George Washington on it and postage stamps that were that were
HAPPENINGS FROM PAGE 19
PRIDE IN THE VINES
The six-week Pride in the Vines celebration culminates June 28-29 with two final events.
All this month the Loudoun Wine and Winegrowers Association is offering a Passport to DC’s Wine Country with Pride in the Vines Wine Trail. Participants can visit dozens of participating wineries to pick up a passport and start collecting stamps. After 10 visits, they’ll be entered into a drawing to win prizes include private wine tastings, bottles of wine, gear, tickets to events and tours of the vineyards and wineries.
On Saturday, June 28, Williams Gap Vineyards near
created in 1957 at the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s birth,” Christofferson said.
And that continues today with the display of several pieces created by Loudoun artist Claudia Rivera, including a jean jacket painted with images of Lafayette and Monroe and a pair of shoes painted with images of Lafayette and his wife.
“It just really sort of shows how you can get inspiration from this guy and what he’s meant to America. The American Revolution might well not have resolved the way it did were it not for Lafayette,” Christofferson said.
The Loudoun Museum, located at 16 Loudoun St. SW in Leesburg, is open Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Other exhibits on display at the museum include information on life in Loudoun during the Civil War, in the early 19th century and War of 1812 period, and its agricultural heritage.
Details about the special events in August commemorating Lafayette’s visit will be announced soon.
Learn more at loudounmuseum.org.
Round Hill will host the Pride in the Vines closing celebration with a day of tastings, food trucks and live bands on June 28.
On Sunday, June 29, with the third annual Pride Drag Brunch at Two Twisted Posts winery.
For the Pride Drag Brunch, doors open at noon and the show begins at 2 p.m. Nadia Cole will be the hostess along with fellow performers Shelita Ramen and Emma Zon Prime. Tickets are $20 at the door, but advance purchase is encouraged at twotwistedposts.com.
Learn more at loudounwine.org.
Frenck said that she hopes it will help them keep all the memories they made in the classroom over the past school year.
For the future, Frenck said she will continue writing and teaching. She is also kicking around the idea of making animated videos of her books, or audiobooks.
“I am going to do them both. I’m really passionate about both. I love teaching. I’ve been teaching in Loudoun County, in the school since 2013 and I love it. And it’s nice that the two connect, you know? It’s nice that being an author and being a teacher connect, and that it supports what I do in the classroom,” she said. “I can write about it, and then when I read about it, it helps the children connect to these
COCKTAILS FROM PAGE 9
rhythm after combining the distillery and cidery operations. Gulledge joined the team in January and help spearhead the transition.
“It’s exciting because eight years ago we built the barn, and we’ve had the barn staff and distillery staff. Now we’re all together,” Gulledge said, adding the cider staff is learning more about spirits and the distillery team is learning about cider. “It’s really a beautiful thing, because we’ve always been one company, but now we get to share in celebrating each other’s crafts and friendship.”
More is in the works. They are rolling out a food menu for the first time and have plans for an upstairs speakeasy space. And there are always new flavors of cider, with a honey lavender and mint cucumber coming this month.
“It has been a really fun and busy couple months, but it is amazing. I come from a winery background, but just to see the spirit side of things,” she said. “A lot of people don’t even know that spirits are in their backyard—there’s
stories. So luckily, it’s hand in hand.”
Frenck’s advice for new authors is simple: start with what you know.
“Start with what you know and what you love and don’t give up. You know, I watched a lot of videos and then I sent it off to Amazon, and they, like I said, they rejected it at first, the first couple times because of the size. And I just had to keep going back and back and I didn’t get off. So I would say just, you know, start with what you love and what you know, and then don’t give up,” she said.
All of her books are available on Amazon and Etsy. Her paperback stories range from $9.99 to $10.99, and her personalized books range from $30-$36.
three or four distilleries in Loudoun County and to be part of one of them that’s been around the longest, it’s really cool. It’s been fun to learn all the things and all the cider and creating new flavors.”
The 100th Batch Celebration will be held Saturday, June 28 from noon to 8 p.m. In addition to handcrafted absinthe cocktails and giveaways, the program will feature a talk by Brian Robinson, the head of the Wormwood Society that educates consumers around the world about the history of absinthe.
Learn more at mtdefiance.com.
BURN THE BALLROOM
Saturday, June 7, 7 p.m. (doors)
Tally Ho Theater
PAM TILLIS
Sunday, June 22, 7 p.m.
Tally Ho Theater tallyhotheater.com
The DC-based alternative rock band partners with the U.S. State Department’s American Music Abroad program to represent American rock music around the globe.
FALLIN’ FREE
June 14, 6 p.m.
Tarara Vineyards tararaconcertseries.com
This tribute to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers brings the timeless music and spirit of one of America’s greatest songwriters.
THE NIGHTHAWKS
Saturday, June 14, 7 p.m.
Cool Spring Distillery facebook.com/CSDguy
This Lovettsville venue celebrates its opening with a full day of activities including a performance by the classic blues band to close out the celebration. Ticketed event.
06.14 06.7 06.14
The 1994 CMA Female Vocalist of the Year and daughter of country music giant Mel Tillis is known for her rich voice and timeless hits including “Maybe It Was Memphis,” “Don’t Tell Me What to Do,” and “Shake the Sugar Tree.”
06.22
06.28
ELIXER OF LIFE
Saturday, June 28, 7 p.m.
Dirt Farm Brewery dirtfarmbrewing.com
Celebrate the music and spirit of the Grateful Dead with Dirt Farm’s fifth annual Dead on the Mountain festival. $20.
Loudoun’s Attractions
CATTY CORNER CAFE
A place where cat lovers can come together, spend time in our cozy lounge, drink coffee, and get the chance to meet our amazing rescue cats. With the option of even being able to adopt and give them their forever home.
CATS - COFFEE - COOKIES
116 E. Market Street, Leesburg VA703-944-4158 cattycornercafe.com
DOUBLE X ARCHERY
Northern Virginia’s Premiere Archery Pro Shop and Indoor Range ARCHERY SERVICES - LESSONS - RENTALS
500 E. Market Street, Leesburg, VA 540-206-0041 doublexarchery.com
LOUDOUN HERITAGE FARM MUSEUM
Travel through time to meet the 10 generations of Loudoun County residents who built this county and left their mark on the land. Exhibits include a schoolhouse, general store, Native American artifact display and the American Workhorse Museum Collection.
Morven Park is a 1,000-acre historic estate on the edge of Leesburg that was home to Virginia governor and agricultural pioneer Westmoreland Davis. Tours of the Greek Revival mansion include 16th century Belgian tapestries, Spanish cassones, hundreds of silver pieces, Hudson River Valley paintings, and Asian treasures. The estate also features the Winmill Carriage Museum, the Museum of Hounds and Hunting of North America, formal boxwood gardens, miles of hiking and riding trails, and athletic elds. 17195 Southern Planter Lane Leesburg, VA 20176 703-777-2414 • morvenpark.org
Summer Starts in Loudoun
Soak up the season in Loudoun where every day brings something new. From outdoor adventures and scenic trails to live music, cultural festivals and vineyard views, this is where unforgettable memories are made. Start planning your summer here. Scan the QR code to start planning!
