New life for an old farm stand
Waterloo Street landmark reopens as Remnant Farm Store
Fauquier students shine during Youth Art Month
Pushing limits: tackling sports, school, success
A life of storytelling
Robotic-Assisted Surgery in Our Community
Robotic-assisted surgery changes the surgical experience for both doctors and patients, improving precision and shortening recovery times. The da Vinci Surgical System is directly controlled by our trained surgeons, allowing them to perform your procedure with smaller incisions and better visualization. With this robotic platform, Fauquier Health is proud to offer minimally invasive surgical care in our community.
Benefits for the Surgeon:
•10x magnification in 3D allows a clear, close view
•Greater dexterity
• Precise micro-movements enhance surgical maneuvers
Benefits for the Patient May Include:
•Smaller incisions can mean less pain
•Faster recovery time
•Shorter hospital stay
•Reduced risk of infection
Robotic Procedures Currently Available at Fauquier Health*
General Surgery:
• Abdominal wall or ventral hernia
•Inguinal hernia
•Paraesophageal or hiatal hernia repair
•Colon resection
•Gallbladder
Gynecology:
•Hysterectomy
•Ovary removal
•Endometriosis, chronic pain and fibroids
Urology:
• Prostatectomy (prostate cancer and enlarged prostate)
•Mass and tumor removal
•Nephrectomy (kidney tumors and cancer)
•Adrenalectomy (adrenal masses and cancer)
•Pyeloplasty for ureteropelvic junction obstruction repair
• Ureteral reimplantation (ureteral stricture and obstruction)
•Radical cystectomy for bladder cancer treatment
*Not all conditions or patients qualify for robotic-assisted surgery
Nchang Azefor, MD General Surgery
Nathaniel Saint-Preux, MD General Surgery
Olga Mazur, MD General Surgery
G.Benjamin Wampler, MD General Surgery
Mohamad Salkini, MD, FACS Urology
Victoria McDonald, MD OB/GYN
FROM THE EDITOR
Homeschooling moms needed!
It’s finally spring, and as we close out the April issue I look ahead to May. This year, for our Mother’s Day feature, we are putting together a special section recognizing homeschooling moms in Fauquier County. I am a mom of a daughter and two stepsons. They are all out of the nest and married, but looking back, I can say that raising them was a joy. For the most part…there are always a few bumps along the way. But it was definitely also a challenging job. Instilling values and work ethic, managing day-to-day activities, and all the rest. I can’t even fathom being in charge of their education as well.
But I did wonder, occasionally, how I would cope with homeschooling if for some reason it was necessary. My main thought was how it would alter my relationship with them. I struggled through supervising homework when they were in elementary school. They rebelled and talked back and procrastinated (at least the boys did). It was always a contentious time that ended with all of us cranky and prickly with each other.
I mean — if I can’t get them to read an assigned book for 20 minutes without sulking, how on earth would I be able to oversee all their education? And would I be good at it? Would they actually learn from me? I had my doubts. So, I am in awe of moms (and dads) who take that on. I’ve met some homeschooling families in my travels, and they always seemed so…cheerful. Honestly, it perplexes me. But my hat’s off to them.
For this feature, I’d like to reach out to homeschooling moms who would like to participate. It would involve answering some questions by email — you can share as much or as little as you like about your experiences. If you would like to be involved, please let me know by April 1. You can reach me at pam@warrentonlifestyle. com or 540-349-2951. I look forward to meeting you and working with you.
EDITOR
Pam Kamphuis
PUBLISHER
Dennis Brack
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The Warrenton Lifestyle Magazine is published monthly and distributed to over 11,500 selected addresses. While reasonable care is taken with all material submitted to The Warrenton Lifestyle Magazine, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to any such material. Opinions expressed in articles are strictly those of the authors. While ensuring that all published information is accurate, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any mistakes or omissions. Reproduction in whole or part of any of the text, illustration or photograph is strictly forbidden. ©2025 Rappahannock Media LLC.
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On STEM… and Stems
The beautiful and beneficial intersection of STEM, creativity, and the natural world.
TUTT STAPP-MCKIERNAN
STEM, the now-familiar acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, is everywhere in both elementary and secondary education today. Quite aside from STEM’s appropriateness as preparation for many modern workplace environments, the benefits to students of STEM learning itself are well documented: with its emphasis on student-driven questioning and hands-on exploring, designing, building, and discovery, STEM has been shown to build confidence, develop critical thinking skills, nurture creativity, and establish a love of learning. Not bad!
As in every facet of education, though, whether or not STEM learning actually yields these potential benefits for students lies in the hands of those who deliver it to them: the teachers who can make it come alive, or not.
At Wakefield School in The Plains, veteran kindergarten teachers Michelle Redabaugh and Tiffany Navin mine that most precious of all educational resources–curiosity–to ensure that their students get swept up on a daily basis by the mystery, the excitement, the creativity, and the pure fun of inquiry-based learning and investigation–which of course are the underpinnings of all things STEM.
“People think STEM is just building things,” says Mrs. Navin, referring to the ubiquitous growth of “Maker-Spaces” as part of STEM opportunities in schools. “But what they don’t realize is that STEM is everywhere! We incorporate STEM into everything we do, all day long.” To Mrs. Navin, it’s science, and math, and observation, as the name implies—but it’s also being out in nature and exploring, really exploring, and knowing how to explore. It’s art. It’s creativity. It’s curiosity. It’s everything.
According to Mrs. Redabaugh, their kindergarten team’s commitment to STEM has its roots in Wakefield’s emphasis on inquiry-based learning—and combined with a teacher’s willingness to take an interdisciplinary approach to teaching material, students can be engaged with STEM -style discovery and self-directed learning without even knowing it.
Following the students’ curiosity this year, for example, involved Mrs. Redabaugh in a period of looking for ways to make all of her kindergarten classwork tie in to… DRAGONS! “We researched dragons, we read stories about dragons, sang songs about dragons, drew dragons, we did dragon puzzles, they worked with manipulatives to build dragons. We learned the Dragon Dance that’s used at Chinese New Year. It went in a lot of different directions!”
Mrs. Navin agrees. “We have the flexibility to drop everything and follow students’ leads if we want to, and it’s wonderful,” she says. “If a student asks, ‘Why are all these ladybugs flying around the classroom?’, I can say, ‘Well, let’s try and find out!’”
“Children all need to be sparked and to be recognized as being creative. Sometimes people think that is only through art, and it’s not–there’s so much more!”
—Tiffany Navin
And then they’re off, onto a new and totally unplanned direction, using inquiry to take a student’s curiosity seriously and get organized to find an answer. Such nimble responses require nimble, creative teachers who are committed to student-centered, love-of-learning classrooms, and who understand that STEM is, at its core, a way of thinking.
Mrs. Redabaugh and Mrs. Navin agree that Wakefield’s beautiful campus, and especially the school’s emphasis on using it and moving as much instruction outdoors as possible, play right into their efforts to incorporate STEM into their kindergarteners’ everyday experiences. The inspiring Outdoor Classroom, located among towering trees and just adjacent to the woods, is an important part of the kindergarten curriculum.
“They are so happy and content in the Outdoor Classroom!” says Mrs. Redabaugh.
“They improve their social skills by cooperating in group activities that are student-led. They are able to take more risks when they are in the Outdoor Classroom. They learn about environmental stewardship and how to take care of the natural world, and it improves their academic performance because everything, everything, is hands-on. When they are learning one-to-one correspondence for counting, we give each of them a little brown bag and we tell them to collect exactly ten acorns! And before they can explore and play, they have to count them out for us.”
“And I think it makes such a difference for them to have unstructured play,” Mrs. Navin adds. “They need it, just to get their hands in, and touching things, and exploring. They have the path now that goes all the way out into the woods, so they can really explore. And they all keep boots and a raincoat here at school–they need to be able to get outside, even if it is a little muddy!”
And there’s that fundamental connection again, between STEM thinking and a mindset of exploration and discovery. “I remember reading,” says Mrs. Navin, “that STEM happens naturally as children explore and investigate the world around them!”
Best Bets
What to do? There's lots going on in our area — and there's never enough time! This page and our free weekly Best Bets email newsletter (scan the code below to subscribe) aims to help you make plans and have fun.
Sacred Gardens Workshop
SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 10 A.M. - 12 P.M.
WARRENTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH MEMORIAL HALL, 341 CHURCH ST., WARRENTON
Join Mental Health Fauquier, the Warrenton United Methodist Church and Women of Warrenton on this journey through the healing power of nature. Licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist Stephanie Ramirez will lead this transformative interactive workshop of therapeutic horticulture focusing on healing through gardening. Learn to practice mindfulness through gentle gardening and connect with nature’s cycles of growth, rest, and renewal. The event will also feature a labyrinth garden guided tour, seed exchange, gardening book exchange, and a seedling activity. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is encouraged.
22nd Annual Bluebell Walk: In Tribute to Mike Stevens
SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 11 A.M. - 1 P.M.
BONNY BROOK FARM, 8446 OLD DUMFRIES ROAD, CATLETT
Join The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Julian W. Scheer Fauquier Land Conservation Fund for the 22nd Annual Bluebell Walk in Catlett, Virginia. This year’s event will be in tribute to Mike Stevens, hosted by Margrete Stevens. Each year in April, thousands of bluebells appear on the banks of Cedar Run at Bonny Brook Farm. To celebrate this rite of spring, Piedmont Environmental Council staff will lead guests on a one-mile walk through the fields to view this spectacular display of nature. Outdoor clothing and boots are recommended. Please, no pets. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited and registration is required.
Southern Fauquier Ruritan 5K Run
SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 9:45 A.M.
SOUTHERN HERITAGE FARM, 11176 ROGUES ROAD, MIDLAND
This 5K will follow a 3.12-mile course through the beautiful wooded trails of Southern Heritage Farm in Midland where you’ll travel by horses, chickens and cows for country scenery. Walkers are welcome, although strollers are not recommended due to the unevenness of the trails. Leashed dogs are welcome. Water stations are provided. Sponsored by Luckstone, All Install, and Drs. Woodside, Sentz and Associates, the event will be held rain or shine. Proceeds to benefit the community betterment projects of the Southern Fauquier Ruritan Club, a 501C3 nonprofit.
Fauquier County Cultural Heritage Festival
SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 12-4 P.M.
THE WARF, 800 WATERLOO ROAD, WARRENTON
Mark your calendars for an exciting celebration of culture and community. Hosted by Fauquier County Parks and Recreation, the Cultural Heritage Festival invites everyone to experience the rich and vibrant diversity that makes Fauquier County so unique. Enjoy local and international flavors at culinary tents and food trucks, live music and dance performances, arts and crafts, storytelling and interactive workshops. More than just a festival, this is an opportunity to strengthen bonds with your neighbors and support local businesses and artists.
The gift of time and talent
Fauquier County has always been a special, tight-knit and caring community, with generous people, organizations and nonprofits supporting those in need. But giving back doesn’t always have to mean a financial donation. Often the most valuable contribution is a gift of your time or talent. Just being there for someone who’s lonely or helping a nonprofit with one of the many tasks necessary to fulfill their mission can be as important — and rewarding. Just a few examples include things like sorting food bank donations, nurturing a community garden, or providing services you may have expertise in. There are endless needs, some of which require specific skills, but many that don’t. They just require time and a giving spirit.
Warrenton Lifestyle’s ongoing feature highlights some of the countless and always needed time and talent volunteer opportunities in Fauquier County and nearby. In this we hope to bring awareness not only to the needs themselves but the many ways you can be a part of uplifting others to strengthen even more what is already an impressive community.
Home Front Volunteer
HERO’S BRIDGE
Home Care Boutique Volunteer
FAUQUIER HEALTH
Volunteers needed to staff the Boutique, a shop in the lobby of the hospital which sells home care and medical supplies, clothing, gifts, candy, jewelry and more. Attendants will have the opportunity to fit patients for wigs and prosthetics and manage the angel wall of donated equipment available to patients. If you like retail and customer service, this may be a good fit for you. Interview, health screening, drug test, background check and training attendance required.
Information: fauquierhealth.org/volunteer-services 540-316-2910
For more opportunities to help, check the PATH Foundation’s Volunteer Hub database at letsvolunteer.org or inquire at another nearby nonprofit or organization that relies on volunteer assistance.
Hero’s Bridge is a local nonprofit dedicated to serving elderly veterans aged 65 and older to increase their quality of life through innovative programs. Many of our local veterans live in homes that are difficult for them to maintain as they age. Home Front volunteers assist with various types of yard work including mowing, weeding, trimming, leaf removal, snow removal and more. Volunteers with relevant experience also assist with home repair and modification. Individuals, groups and relevant businesses are needed. Background check and orientation attendance required.
Information: herosbridge.org 540-341-5378
Are you an organization in need of volunteers? Email editor@warrentonlifestyle.com with information.
Showcasing Creativity
Fauquier students shine during Youth Art Month
BY GRACE SCHUMACHER
By Emely Alfaro
March marks Youth Art Month across the nation, celebrating the role of the arts in education. Fauquier County students showcased their creativity last month through exhibitions, contests and performances highlighting the impact of fine arts in schools.
Fauquier County Public Schools Advanced Programs and Fine Arts Supervisor Tiffany Richtarski spoke to the community about how arts education fosters problem-solving, teamwork and confidence during the March 10 School Board meeting.
“Research consistently highlights the vital role of the arts and well-rounded education,” Richtarski said. “Studies show that students who are engaged in fine arts develop creative problem-solving skills, teamwork, confidence and countless other lifelong benefits.”
Kettle Run High School senior Christina Sowers, a choir and theater student, spoke
Recognizing outstanding student artists
about how the arts have enriched her educational experience.
“Performing arts students like me learn necessary strategies and skills to prepare for strong academic, professional and personal lives in any career field,” she said. “My music education has not only helped me define my post-secondary education plan but has made me a better student, friend and individual.”
Fauquier High School senior Maggie Arnold, an art student and president of her school’s National Art Honor Society, echoed these sentiments.
“Art education contributes educational benefits to all students by developing creative problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities,” she added. “It teaches sensitivity to beauty and order, provides a deeper understanding of multicultural values and beliefs and reinforces what students learn in other subjects.”
Richtarski also recognized 13 Fauquier County students who earned spots in the American Choral Directors Association and Virginia Music Educators Association honor choirs, two competitive programs showcasing top student vocalists in the state. Those included Tiffany Bernhardt, Cassidy Montgomery, Allison Budnik, Giana DeCastro, Lena Innocenzi and Mary Lou Paratore of Auburn Middle School; Noah Hillstrom, Lily Stucki, Ariah Noble and Mairin Doyle of Taylor Middle School; and Lula McCain, Christina Sowers and Kate Radzville of Kettle Run High School.
Liberty High School student Emely Alfaro was recognized by the Warrenton Town Council for her artwork, which was chosen to be displayed in the council chambers at 21 Main St. Alfaro, whose impressionist-style piece was inspired by Claude Monet, described it as a dreamy depiction of the African safari at sunrise in blues and purples. Youth Art Month Flag Contest and Disability Awareness Poster Contest
Each year, the Council for Art Education coordinates a State Flag Program encouraging K-12 students to design a flag based on the national or state theme. This year’s theme, “Healing Through Color,” saw four Fauquier students recognized at the state level.
L-R: Karla Kolb, art teacher Auburn Middle; Lynn Portch, art teacher PB Smith; Brian Lindenberg, art teacher Marshall Middle installing the student art in Old Town for display in the Community Art Walk during Youth Art Month.
Felix Kontanis, a student under art teacher Tisha Burke from Kettle Run High School, had his artwork selected as the first place winner in the high school category.
Chloe Chang, a student under art teacher Brian Linderberg from Marshall Middle School, had her artwork selected as the second place winner in the middle school category.
In the elementary school category, Liliana Lowe, a student under art teacher Pat Hill from C. Hunter Ritchie Elementary School, had her artwork selected as the first place winner. Winning second place was Lila Blaemire, a student at Greenville Elementary School, whose art teacher is Carol Hostetter.
Fifth-grader Riley Riahi from P.B. Smith Elementary School won the school division’s Disability Awareness Poster Contest, part of an annual initiative promoting inclusivity.
The contest, themed “Choose to Include,”
was open to all 11 elementary schools and organized by the Special Education Advisory Committee. Riley’s artwork was displayed in every school throughout March.
“I wanted to do the Disability Awareness contest because I want all kids to be included,” she said. “A lot of times, kids get left out because they are different. My picture shows all kids belonging,” she said.
Warrenton Art Walk
In honor of Youth Art Month, student artwork was on display in store windows and inside participating businesses throughout Old Town as part of the Community Art Walk, a collaboration between local businesses and Fauquier County schools. More than 95 student artworks were showcased. L
Fauquier County Public Schools has also launched a 2025 virtual art showcase featuring student artwork online. The exhibit can be viewed here
Pushing Limits
How two Fauquier County siblings tackle sports, school, and success
BY JAMES JARVIS
Warrenton students Max and Audrey Dufault aren’t just standout athletes—they’re relentless competitors with the discipline and resilience to match.
Max, a junior at Kettle Run High School, has already claimed two state championships in ice hockey and will soon head to Nationals in Dallas with his travel team, Ashburn Xtreme. Audrey, an eighth-grader at Taylor Middle School, is making waves as one of the top swimmers for Nation’s Capital Swim Club (NCAP), a powerhouse program that has produced Olympic champions like Katie Ledecky. She’s also poised to make an immediate impact on the Kettle Run swim team in the fall where her times in distance freestyle and breaststroke already rival those of the team’s upperclassmen.
But their success isn’t just about raw talent. It is the result of years of dedication, sacrifice and an unshakable mindset. These qualities have carried them through injuries,
grueling training schedules and the pressure of high-level competition.
Pushing Limits and Overcoming Setbacks
Max’s journey in sports began early. His parents signed him up for a learn-to-skate program in upstate New York when he was just a toddler, and from there, hockey quickly became his passion. He worked his way through local programs, eventually landing a spot on Ashburn Xtreme’s top team, where he has played for the past six seasons.
While hockey has been his primary focus, Max has never been one to limit himself. He has also excelled in lacrosse and swimming, earning varsity letters in both, all while juggling a demanding academic schedule that includes multiple AP and honors courses.
His biggest challenge, however, came during his sophomore year when he tore
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his ACL in a lacrosse game against Fauquier High School. The injury could have derailed his season—and his momentum as a multi-sport athlete—but Max refused to let it define him. He underwent surgery in May and committed to an aggressive rehabilitation plan, attending physical therapy three times a week and spending hours in the gym to rebuild his strength. By October, he was back on the ice, and just a month later, he was fully cleared for competition.
“I couldn’t let this take me down,” Max said. “So, almost every single day, I would be in the gym trying to put more, put back my weight, or put back on weight that I had lost, just regain that strength.”
But his recovery wasn’t just about regaining physical strength—it was a mental reset, too. With more time away from the rink and the field, he turned his focus to academics, enrolling in an economics and finance course over the summer and rediscovering his love for physics. The setback ultimately pushed him toward a future in engineering or physics, a field he now plans to pursue in college.
“I was able to finally focus on my goals of becoming an engineer or a physicist in college and see all of the opportunities and different lanes I could take in my life,” Max said.
Max’s ability to adapt and push forward— whether in sports, school, or rehab—reflects the mindset that has fueled his success. It’s the same drive that has taken him from a learn-to-skate program in New York to the national stage with Ashburn Xtreme and has helped him stay at the top, even when the odds were stacked against him.
“Anything can happen in life,” Max said. “There’s so many different things that could happen, or injuries that you could get, or situations you can end up in, but you’ve got to always be able to just push through it and focus on what you love and what you want to do.”
Swimming to the Top
Audrey has faced her fair share of challenges, too.
A standout swimmer from an early age, Audrey started swimming competitively on the recommendation of her swim coach Cherie Adair at Chestnut Forks one summer. She started with NCAP at the WARF in Warrenton, but now swims at the Freedom Center due to moving up to the next age group. She quickly became one of the top competitors in her age group, consistently qualifying for Junior Champs, a high-level championship meet for top regional swimmers, and earning Zone qualifying times, which allow swimmers to compete in multi-state championship meets against the
fastest athletes from the Eastern Zone. Both events serve as proving grounds for swimmers aiming to advance to the next level of competition.
Her best events include the 200-metre breaststroke, a technically demanding race that requires precise timing and endurance, and the grueling distance freestyle events— the 500, 1000, and 1650-yard races—where she has posted times that rank among the best in her club and beyond.
Her momentum, however, took a hit in sixth grade when she broke her ankle just before the start of the long course season. The injury sidelined her for six weeks, and when she returned, she quickly realized that her comeback would not be easy. She struggled to regain her previous speed, often finding herself behind teammates she had once outpaced. What had once been automatic now felt like an uphill battle.
But instead of letting frustration take over, she embraced the challenge. Determined to fight her way back, Audrey doubled down on her training, committing to six-day-a-week practices, including early morning sessions before school and long afternoon workouts. Some weeks, she trained twice a day, logging thousands of yards in the pool while also building back strength on land. It was an exhausting process, but she stayed focused on the bigger picture.
“I barely dropped [time] in my best events all year. But it was honestly good, though, because I was so used to always winning and getting the times I wanted, and I didn’t have to really put in as much work as I realized I needed to,” Audrey said. “So, this year, I’ve put in a ton of work.”
Her efforts paid off in a big way. Over time, she reclaimed her speed, rebuilt her confidence, and proved to herself that setbacks did not have to define her. Her perseverance reached a high point when she and her teammates broke a seven-yearold NCAP record in the 400 free relay at the National Club Swimming Association Championships, a testament to both her individual progress and the strength of those around her.
“I learned that if you put in the work, you can get the goals you want,” Audrey said.
Now, as she prepares for her freshman year at Kettle Run, Audrey is ready to make an immediate impact on the school’s swim team. Her times in distance freestyle and breaststroke are already competitive with the team’s top swimmers, and she is expected to be a major contributor in both individual events and relays.
The Role of Community and Leadership
Despite their demanding schedules, Max and Audrey have found unwavering support in their sports communities. Max credits his lacrosse and hockey teammates for helping him through his injury, while Audrey’s swim team provides both motivation and emotional support.
“We’ve all been together forever,” Audrey said. “I’ve known some of my teammates since I was six.”
For Max, sports have also been a lesson in leadership. Overcoming adversity has shaped his approach to mentoring younger players, and he takes pride in being a supportive teammate.
“These teams have helped me recognize what a leader should be and what they look like. And I’ve tried applying that to other parts of my life,” Max said. “I’ve just grown as a person so much.”
Their mother, Lauren Dufault, has seen firsthand how sports have shaped their character.
“We’re not super hard on them, but we definitely have high expectations for them,” Lauren said. “They’ve always been told if
they want to quit… we’re not forcing them into anything. But if we’re going to do it, we’re going to commit.”
Looking Ahead
Max’s immediate focus is leading Ashburn Xtreme at Nationals in April, but his longterm plans have shifted. Once set on playing Division I ice hockey, he now hopes to study engineering or physics at Virginia Tech or the University of Virginia, drawn to the chal-
lenge of solving real-world problems.
“I started just slowly realizing that if I went to college for hockey, I would lose out on a lot of experiences that I would want a lot more,” Max said. “I fell in love with science… at a really young age, and over the last two or three years, I kind of saw all the different paths I could take just in one field.”
Meanwhile, Audrey remains committed to swimming, participating locally on the swim team at Fauquier Swim Club during the summers. Her goal is to reach NCAP’s highest training group, Gold 1, and eventually compete at the collegiate level.
“I just want to make it to the highest group in NCAP, which is Gold 1 with Jeremy Lin, who was an Olympic gold medalist in breaststroke,” she said.
Though their paths are different, Max and Audrey share a strong work ethic, perseverance, and a love for their sports. They take on challenges, set high goals, and work hard to balance school, athletics, and personal growth.
As they continue pushing themselves, Max and Audrey exemplify the dedication it takes to succeed—whether on the ice, in the pool, or in the classroom. L
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HIGHLAND SCHOOL’S SUMMER PROGRAMS NEW FOR 2025!
SUMMER EXPLORERS ARE HERE!
Summer Explorers is a brand-new series of 2-week, full-day programs that offer exploration and enrichment for students ages 3 to 5. Sessions run from June 16 to August 8, 2025.
SPARK BUSINESS ACADEMY
Spark Business Academy empowers students grades 1-8 with essential financial skills and an entrepreneurial mindset. Students learn valuable skills including teamwork, independent thinking, and problem solving. This year, we’ve got 14 great Spark BUSINESS Academy camps for your students!
FAVORITE CAMPS ARE BACK!
Enrichment and sports camps for rising Grades 1-8 including art, ceramics, tie dye camp, STEAM, baseball, basketball, soccer, and so much more!
fauquierlibrary.org
FAUQUIER inFOCUS annual photo contest
Photographers with all levels of experience, send us your Fauquier County-themed photos for a chance to have them published in the July issue of the Warrenton Lifestyle Magazine. Winner and top finalists will be included in the magazine, and one will be chosen for the cover!
SCAN FOR MORE DETAILS AND TO ENTER
REMNANT FARM STORE
A New Life for The Stand
BY JENNIFER WALDERA
PHOTOS BY LUKE CHRISTOPHER
When Al Henry decided that it was time to step away from The Stand, his well-known farm store on Waterloo Street, longtime Fauquier residents Stephanie and Adam Taylor jumped at the opportunity to take over the beloved shop. In January 2025, the Taylors opened the store under the new name Remnant Farm Store, offering primarily locally sourced products ranging from produce and meat to tallow soap and sourdough as well as the couple’s own brand of kombucha.
As the owners of Remnant Farm in Orlean, the Taylors were eager to take over the farm store to continue their commitment to supporting local agriculture as well as to continue to build something their children could benefit from as well.
“We are farmers and we’re passionate,” Stephanie said. “We’ve wanted to create something for our children, a legacy we could pass on.”
The Taylors’ farm, which practices regenerative agriculture, and their store are a family operation — their children, 19-yearold Cate and 14-year-old Levi, are involved, and Stephanie’s aunt Charlene, who lives on the farm with them, pitches in, too.
“Basically, anyone who lives on the farm helps out,” Stephanie said.
The name of the shop — and the Taylors’ farm — is biblical in origin. “I found the word when I was reading the Bible before we bought our farm. It was in reference to people who are ‘set apart’ … I wanted that for our family, being more connected to farming, cultivating and understanding what it takes to be producers,” said Stephanie.
“We’re geared toward well-priced and local products — we’re being very con-
scious,” Stephanie said. “There’s a new wave of customers coming in and they want sourdough bread, local everything, and quality everything.”
In addition to their kombucha, the Taylors’ farm also sells duck eggs at the store. However, they have partnered with numerous local producers to provide a wide
range of other high-quality products. The store offers produce from Williams Orchard in Flint Hill, coffee from Central Coffee Roasters in Sperryville, and honey from Windsong Apiary in Castleton.
While there are some goods that are not produced locally, Stephanie, who has a background in nutrition and personal
training, says that all of the shop’s offerings are chosen with the intent of providing foods that you can feel good about eating. She also specializes in sourcing other products that can be hard to find like potato chips without seed oils.
For the Taylors, one of the aspects of the store that they were most focused on upon opening was keeping it similar to what locals had grown to love. And while the Taylors have strived to do just that, the start to the year was not without its challenges as they fought to avoid a steep increase in egg prices in the face of avian flu-induced shortages.
The Taylors worked hard to educate their customers about how they were attempting to minimize passing on costs and remain dedicated to keeping all of their other goods well-priced as well.
Warrenton resident Debbie Deal shops for eggs at Remnant Farm Store.
“Getting my roots in my own hometown means a lot to me”
Stephanie and Adam at Remnant Farm in Orlean.
EASTER FESTIVAL
BY BLUEBELL PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC
Stephanie said that the family is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the community through the farm store and that they’re proud to serve alongside the other like-minded businesses that support local makers and producers. For Stephanie, her favorite part of running the store lies in the relationships she’s able to build.
“The interfacing with the customers — it’s been such a joy,” she said. “I’ve been in Fauquier County for 30 years — the people have been incredible and awesome.”
While the farm store is in its infancy, the Taylors are already looking toward the future. Later this year, they hope to secure a license to sell their hard kombucha in the store alongside the soft kombucha that’s already available. They are also looking forward to being a part of the community over the long term.
“Ultimately my mission is to create a legacy to pass on to my children and my children’s children,” Taylor said. “And getting my roots in my own hometown means a lot to me.” L
355 Waterloo St., Warrenton F: @remnantfarmstore
Southern Fauquier Ruritan Club Hits the Ground Running
Recently granted a non-profit designation, the club has no plans of slowing down
BY ALEX RUSSELL
Most Fauquier residents are familiar with Ruritan Clubs and the good they do in our community. Ruritan National is an organization which emphasizes fellowship, goodwill, and community service. The organization works through individual clubs which focus primarily on rural areas and small towns where club members volunteer their time and talents helping to serve the needs of individuals, families, and other service organizations in their local communities.
There are 330 Ruritan Clubs in Virginia, with six in Fauquier County. The newest, the Southern Fauquier Ruritan Club, was formed in August 2024 when some local citizens in the southern end of the county recognized there are needs that could be addressed through the organization of a new club.
The Southern Fauquier Ruritan Club, the first of its kind to form in the region in 57 years, was created to “touch a larger region and be a more diverse organization,” according to Brenda Hisghman, the club’s president. Club leadership also includes Leon Williams as vice president, Debra Elmore as secretary, and Jessie Beard as treasurer.
Initial efforts
The club dove right in immediately to fundraise for community needs. They hosted a Fall Fiesta with a yard sale and vendors,
and a coat drive which collected over 200 winter coats that were distributed to those in need. Cash donations were made to Mary Walter Elementary School and their parent teacher organization for the construction of playground equipment. Other fundraising included Pancakes with Santa, a blood drive, and a 5K run.
The Club’s status as a nonprofit enables them to solicit donations from larger organizations.
The Mission
In the beginning, the club made a list of the kinds of projects they should embrace. Soon, four key areas were identified: helping youth, assisting seniors, providing activities for the community and improving access to transportation.
“Each project is measured against those [four] things,” said Hisghman. Currently the club is working towards two goals which would address all four areas of need.
Transportation
Transportation access is a major project for the club. Initial outreach in the southern end of the county revealed that a number of people and families of all ages, but especially seniors who don’t drive, have limited transportation options. The county offers a regional transit bus to Warrenton, but it
requires staying in town all day until the return trip. A viable option, but not a very flexible one.
As well as seniors, families with only one car are also in need of additional transportation. Lack of transportation can also make it difficult for some residents to maintain a job. The club is investigating the possibilities of a mini-van or a trolley bus to alleviate the problem on many levels.
Activity center
In their initial area survey, the club found that many residents in the southern end of the county feel that there are not enough activities for youth in the area. Warrenton offers the WARF, but the location is sometimes not feasible or convenient for southern county residents.
Along those lines, one of the club’s biggest goals identified so far has been the creation of a new youth center. In addition to providing constructive things for younger people to do, this could also serve as a place for the broader community to gather and spend time together with their friends and family. L
The Southern Fauquier Ruritan Club meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. at Bealeton Baptist Church. The club welcomes visitors and newcomers. Visit them on Facebook @Southern Fauquier Ruritan Club.
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A Life of Storytelling
NYC may welcome her one day, but for now, Fauquier enjoys the gifts of a local talented performer turned educator.
BY DANICA LOW
Stories are commonplace in conversation, and bring us together in laughter, suspense and happy endings. We enjoy people who are colorful in spirit, bring life to a party and teach us something new. We often see ourselves, or who we’d like to be, in other people.
For Fauquier resident and Kettle Run’s new full-time drama and English teacher Camden Gillespie, storytelling resonated with her from an early age. She has always loved connecting with people, but as different characters where she can be someone else.
As a young stage actor, she got to be who she wanted to be for a few moments. She found her courage knowing people weren’t seeing her on stage, but the character she was portraying.
We retell stories with imagination. We read books about characters who enlighten and teach us about history, friendship, problem solving and hope. We want to connect with others, share a message we believe in and be inspired.
Would it be fair to say that all of this is theater? Storytelling, community, an active listening audience and characters in whom we relate or see a part of ourselves. Do you want to be an actor?
You’d never know when speaking with this sophisticated, confident woman that just a few years ago she was a Fauquier High School student who fell in love with acting at Fauquier Community Theatre.
Gillespie describes her high school theater experience as enlightening but confus-
ing, with a robust program but a director who failed her. She learned her trademark resilience — and how much she loved acting — when she was simultaneously cast in the lead role in FHS’s production of “The Glass Menagerie” and as a member of the ensemble in FCT’s production of “She Loves Me.”
“I was getting to school at 6:30 a.m., going to school all day, staying for rehearsal [for “The Glass Menagerie”] after school until 5:30 p.m., and going straight to play
Gillespie in “The House on Linardi Street” as a senior at JMU.
practice [at FCT] until 10 p.m.,” said Gillespie. “That is when I really knew that acting was something I needed to do with my life.”
That confidence, and experience gained working alongside talented adult actors at FCT, would lead her to an audition and ultimately acceptance in James Madison University’s theater program after high school graduation. Gillespie’s audition, a monologue from the play “Almost Maine,” is set in a small town much like Warrenton.
Gillespie said, “If you go into an audition with the mindset, ‘I’m just going to go share something with these people and they can take it however they want,’ you can do anything.”
A small town connection
“In our small town, the people you meet along the way are always meaningful and can be especially significant,” Gillespie said.
In 2016, Gillespie was cast in FCT’s “The Little Mermaid, Jr.” under the direction of Evelyn Rice, instructional assistant at Brumfield Elementary, and under the music direction of Heath West, choral program director at Kettle Run High School.
Little did West or Gillespie know then that she would one day join him to lead high school students to reach their musi-
BY RICHARD
Gillespie in “R.U.R.,” a play by Karel Capek and directed by Dennis Beck, her final show at JMU.
FINKLESTEIN
cal theater dreams at Kettle Run.
Gillespie said, “Many years after ‘The Little Mermaid, Jr.’ ... after I’d graduated from JMU, West sent me a Snapchat saying he needed a director for Kettle Run’s spring musical, ‘Beauty & the Beast.’”
“I’d been saving to move to New York City [to act],” she said. “Something told me to wait. To take this job. I saw that these students were so dedicated to theater, and they truly inspired me.”
Gillespie put her NYC plans on hold and accepted. As theater director, she was given autonomy to create an artistic vision for the renowned musical and she thrived.
“I’ll be honest, it started as an opportunity for me to get experience directing, and it changed after seeing [the students’] commitment,” said Gillespie. “It became all about making this a great experience for them. I want to give these kids the opportunity that I wasn’t given in my high school program.”
And she is succeeding. “I’m inspired by these students every day, and seeing their growth in the craft is just amazing,” she said.
The best of both worlds
In the spring of 2024, Gillespie and West brought a full-scale musical theater production of Disney’s “Beauty & the Beast” to stage at Kettle Run for four packed performances. The show involved more than 30 high school cast and crew members,
Gillespie in Fauquier High School’s production of “Into the Woods” during her sophomore year.
Coming
up:
KRHS’s upcoming spring production of the Broadway musical “Little Women”, directed by Gillespie, will be performed May 2, 3 and 4 at Kettle Run.
numerous parent and faculty volunteers, and dozens of local business sponsors.
While acting locally in recent shows such as FCT’s “The Play That Goes Wrong” and “Annie Get Your Gun” and Storyteller Studio’s “You Can’t Take It With You,” Gillespie works to expand the theater program, including high school productions and regional drama competitions, and helps with a growing theatre program at Auburn Middle School.
“It really is the best of both worlds,” says Gillespie. “I perform locally with some really talented actors. I’m just really glad that I can be here to help cultivate [students’] talent and passion for telling stories.” L
Gillespie as Alice Sycamore in Storyteller Studio’s production of “You Can’t Take It With You” in the summer of 2024.
BY ISABELLA LASH
community
A Century of Health Care
Fauquier Health’s centennial celebration
BY GRACE SCHUMACHER
For 100 years, Fauquier Health has provided care to the community, growing from a 20-bed facility on Waterloo Street to the expansive medical center that serves the region today.
On Feb. 26, the hospital celebrated its centennial in grand fashion, reflecting on its past and looking to the future.
The daylong celebration reached every corner of the health system. Birthday cake was delivered to off-site locations, from physician offices to the sleep and wound centers, ensuring that all staff had a chance to join in the milestone and reflect on the hospital’s legacy.
Former Fauquier Health Board of Directors Chairman Steve Wojcik captured the significance of the moment, borrowing the words of Board of Trustees Vice Chair Anne Hall: “Fauquier Health is the little hospital that could.”
Modest beginnings
Fauquier County’s first community hospital opened on Feb. 26, 1925, inside the Garner House at 32 Waterloo St., now the John Marshall Building. In its first year, 344 patients were admitted to the 20-bed facility that had become known as the "Fauquier County Hospital."
Yet, as the years passed, the small hospital struggled to compete with larger medical centers in Northern Virginia, Charlottesville and Richmond. Financial difficulties forced its closure in 1940, but just a year later, local physicians banded together to form Physicians’ Hospital, Inc., reopening the facility in 1942. Wartime demand led to a 16-bed expansion.
By 1953, however, financial strains again threatened its survival.
In 1954, a citizen-led group spearheaded by businessman Tom Frost purchased the hospital, and the vision for a more
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permanent facility began to take shape. Warrenton residents Robert and Marion van Roijen donated a 17-acre site off Shirley Avenue, chosen for its accessibility and picturesque location. After nearly two years of construction, the new hospital opened its doors in December 1958.
During the dedication ceremony, Frost called it “a monument to the triumph of neighbors working together for neighbors.”
That spirit of community-driven care remains at the heart of Fauquier Health today, Heidi Jameson, Fauquier Health’s director of marketing, told FauquierNow.
The centennial celebration wasn’t just about looking back — it was also about preserving history for future generations. Inside the hospital’s lobby, guests marveled at the contents of a 1957 time capsule. In keeping with tradition, hospital staff contribut-
ed items to a new time capsule, sealing a glimpse of 2025 for future hospital employees to uncover.
“Not only will the people who open it years from now get some insight into what was happening in 2025, but it has given our staff department-wide an opportunity to reflect on what they are doing now,” said Kaylyn Wood, Fauquier Health’s community outreach coordinator.
Among the contributions: a current food services patient menu, a onesie from the Birthing Center, a wireless phone and a sealed PCR COVID test kit and a COVID treatment drug — a few reminders of the recent past that shaped modern health care. The capsule will be placed in the hospital’s lobby beneath the display case showcasing the original 1957 artifacts.
“It’s so special to be able to learn about
the history of the community you work in,” Wood added. “We’re not just celebrating 100 years, we’re celebrating 100 years of health care and successes.”
As Fauquier Health marks a century of service, it does so with notable accolades under its belt. In December 2024, the hospital was named one of the nation’s top general hospitals — one of just 36 in the country and the only one in Virginia — by The Leapfrog Group. This recognition came on the heels of an “A” Hospital Safety Grade, its second consecutive top rating after years of steady improvement.
In honor of its centennial, Fauquier Health received official proclamations from the Warrenton Town Council and the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors, along with a congratulatory letter from Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
A night of reflection and recognition
As evening fell, staff, officials and longtime community members gathered to celebrate. The Sycamore Room was filled with familiar faces and heartfelt memories. Among those in attendance were Warrenton Mayor Carter Nevill, health care leaders — including Lifepoint Health Central Division President William Haugh — and retired hospital staff members who dedicated their careers to the hospital’s mission.
One attendee, Benedictine Sister Patricia Hagarty — better known as “Sister Pat” — paused in the hallway, pointing out faces she recognized in the historical
A clipping from the Nov. 13, 1958, edition of the Fauquier Democrat.
Fauquier Health is a 97-bed acute care hospital offering surgical services, a 24-hour Emergency Department, extensive medical imaging capabilities, an Intensive Care Unit staffed with Critical Care trained physicians and more.
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Caring husband and wife team, Mark & Stacey
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photos lining the walls. Having served as a clinical dietitian at the hospital for 47 years, she still keeps in touch with former colleagues, including retired orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Snyder.
Honored during the ceremony was Robin Corcoran, a nearly 30-year member of the Fauquier Hospital Auxiliary.
President and CEO Rebecca Segal addressed the gathered crowd, recognizing the deep roots and commitment of Fauquier Health’s staff and supporters.
“Over the last 100 years, we have benefited from the hard work and dedication of many people — physicians, nurses, hospital staff and volunteers," she said. "I see a lot of people here tonight who have deep ties to Fauquier Health, Warrenton and to Fauquier County. Thank you for not only being here but for your lifelong efforts on behalf of the health care community.”
The evening also welcomed a special speaker who has known Fauquier Health nearly his entire life. Dr. Ben Wampler, a general surgeon at the hospital, shared his personal connection to its legacy.
“If you do the math, there’s been a surgeon named ‘Wampler’ working here over all but five of the years that the hospital was open,” Wampler said with a smile.
His father, Dr. Paul Wampler, established a surgical practice in 1963 that evolved into Fauquier Health Northern Virginia Surgical Specialists. As a child in the 1960s, Ben
Dr. Ben Wampler, a general surgeon, said he practically grew up in Fauquier Hospital. He shared a number of fond memories he has collected over his life and tenure.
WELCOME DR. LISA KELLY
Dr. Lisa Kelly graduated cum laude from Harvard University where she majored in Government and was a member of the varsity women’s crew team. She received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at Georgetown University Hospital, then stayed on for an additional year to serve as Chief Resident in Pediatrics.
Dr. Kelly has been with Northern Virginia Pediatric Associates in Falls Church for almost 20 years during which time she has been recognized as a top doctor by Washingtonian Magazine. She is a Clinical Instructor of Pediatrics at Georgetown School of Medicine and has won multiple teaching awards.
Dr. Kelly and her family moved to Warrenton in 2021 and are enjoying becoming part of the Warrenton community. Dr. Kelly is a horseback rider who is a member of the Warrenton Hunt and competes in local horse shows. She, her husband, daughter, dogs and horses love living in Virginia and Dr. Kelly is looking forward to being a member of the team at Piedmont Pediatrics.
Wampler often accompanied his father on weekend hospital rounds.
“I suspect my mother may have wanted me out of the house, so my father would take me on rounds with him,” he recalled. “When I grew up, I decided, okay, this is pretty cool. I want to be a surgeon too.”
For five years, he had the privilege of working alongside his father before the elder Wampler retired.
“When I first came back, it was sort of strange to start calling the doctors by their first names, but everybody was really very welcoming and just made me feel at home. But the issue we then had was, now there were two Doctor Wamplers. So everybody sort of just decided I would be called Dr. Ben.”
As the evening drew to a close, Segal raised a glass, leading a toast to the next century of service, carrying forward the same mission behind it all — a commitment to caring for neighbors.
“Here’s to the last century of caring for our community and to our next century of quality care close to home.” L
Rock Pointe Lane • Warrenton, VA 20186
• www.piedmontpediatrics.com
Dennis Rustom, MD, FAAP • Diana Chalmeta, MD, FAAP
Katherine Bovee, MD, FAAP • Lisa Kelly, MD, FAAP • Debbie Hayes, FNP-C Candace Simpson, CPNPC-PC, IBCLC • Sinéad Arndt PA-C, MSPAS
20 Rock Pointe Lane • Warrenton, VA 20186 540.347.9900 • www.piedmontpediatrics.com
Rebecca Segal, who stepped into the role of Fauquier Health’s president and CEO in September 2022, said she jumped at the chance to lead Fauquier Health on its journey and reflected on the hard work done over the past two years.
Going Into Retirement One Step at a Time
Flint Hill couple walks 1,926 miles –3,852,000 steps – through Europe, crossing three countries, mountain ranges
BY RANDY RIELAND FOR FOOTHILLS FORUM
“Take walks.”
It’s a simple bit of health advice often shared with those on the ramp to retirement.
But there are walks — and then there are w—a—l—k—s.
Two and a half years ago, Edward, then 70, and Paula Hughes, 65, started walking. By the time they finished last May, they had rambled more than 1,900 miles. While they didn’t cover all that ground in one shot, the Hughes, who moved to Flint Hill in 2020, traversed much of Europe — from Canterbury, England, through France and Switzerland and ultimately down to the heel of Italy’s boot.
Specifically, they trekked the Via Francigena, a trail that, as far back as the Middle Ages, pilgrims have followed to Rome, and then continued farther south to the tip of the Italian peninsula, from where travelers would embark to the Holy Land.
It was, as Edward put it, “a leap into the unknown.”
Completely crazy or magical journey?
Not that they were ill-prepared, at least logistically. Not long after he retired as an executive with a software company in Rome, COVID hit, and Edward spent the next two years planning. The venture was Paula’s idea, a notion she had once mused on with a friend, but hadn’t realized.
Paula, a former lobbyist for the University of California who was then overseeing a business
Edward Hughes hiking down from the Great St. Bernard Pass into Italy.
importing olive oil, spices and honey, revived the fantasy as an appropriate way to launch their retirement years. Once she confirmed to Edward that she was serious, they began mapping an experience that they couldn’t fully imagine, one unlike anything they had done before.
“Our kids thought we were completely crazy,” Paula recalled.
It turned out that they really didn’t know what they were getting into. Much of what they had read of the Via Francigena hike had come from walkers who tended to be more rhapsodic than revealing.
“None of them described the trail in its true form. Maybe they were blissful in their pain,” said Edward. “I can say it was a lot more difficult and challenging than we thought.”
There were days of pelting rain and mud sucking at their boots. Highways busy with double-trailer trucks, and places where the trail seemed to disappear. Steep and treacherous climbs.
And there was the night in Italy when they discovered the place where they planned to stay was 15 kilometers — or more than nine miles — farther away than they thought it would be. Tired and anxious, they sat on the curb and pondered their options. They concluded that their next move should be to stick out their thumbs. At the time, Edward remembers thinking, “This is nuts.”
But one of the first cars to approach stopped, and the driver asked where they were headed. “He didn’t know who we were and this was way out of his way,” said Edward. “He was an angel from the sky.”
Similar acts of kindness, though, happened with surprising frequency, he said. “It makes you believe you’re on some magical journey.”
‘Tremendous release’
Another stroke of good fortune was the birth of a grandchild, one of five from their three daughters. That cut short what originally was going to be a four-month trek from Canterbury to Rome. Instead, the first stage of their hike ended in Aosta, in the Italian Alps. Otherwise, they would have been walking in the withering heat of an Italian summer.
“We would not have made it,” said Paula.
Edward’s planning had called for them to cover roughly 12 to 20 miles per day, but otherwise they proceeded with no other purpose. Only the walk mattered.
“That really was a tremendous release from the world,” he said. It certainly helped that Edward speaks conversational French and fluent Italian. He was raised in Italy while his father was stationed at the United States Embassy in Rome. Paula also can converse in Italian.
They also literally lightened their load by hiring a service that transported their luggage to each next stop. Edward said they usually carried eight to 10 pounds each in their backpacks — three liters of water, lunch, rain gear, batteries, first aid kit and a change of clothes. They needed the batteries because they were using GPS all day.
At the start of the final stage of their journey, Edward wrote in their online blog: “We will take each step as an achievement on its own merits. At the end of each day we have earned the privilege of doing it again in the morning. The changing weather, the random animal sounds, the crunch of our steps on gravel, the rustle of wind blown leaves will be our companions. We will never be alone.”
That said, they also passed the time listening to audiobooks and podcasts together, with Edward listening through one ear pod and Paula the other. One of the most frequent questions they’ve been asked is whether they fought along the way. They didn’t, said Paula. People also wanted to know if they lost weight. They did.
Lessons learned
Along the way, there were lessons learned. Wrote Paula: “Shouting NO to gravity does not work, so if you are sliding down a hill of mud, enjoy the ride. We did not always know where we were, but we knew where we wanted to be. Stuff newspapers into wet boots. Look for water in cemeteries. In Italy, a church bell tower means a cafe/bar is nearby.”
She also made a point of collecting ceramic shards she spotted, wedged in the ground along the trail. Paula admits that what started innocently became a bit of an obsession. “I would stop and pry pieces of interest out of the soil,” she said, adding that she was “overwhelmed by the opportunities for souvenirs” as they walked through Carrara, the town in Tuscany famous for its white marble.
Paula and Edward Hughes in Apuglia, Italy, the end of their walk.
At night, she would empty her pockets and review her latest finds. Her ceramic cache might seem like so much broken and forgotten junk, but she knew it would always remind her of the ground they covered, and the time when their lives were shaped solely by a sense of place. Paula estimates that she came home with hundreds of shards, and one day may pass them on to her granddaughter, Isla, who she described as a puzzle prodigy.
Just as meaningful were the stamps they received on their “pilgrim passports” when they passed through a new town. These are documents available to people walking the Via Francigena.
At the end of the day, the Hughes would go to the local church or tourist office to get the stamp for that town where they were spending the night. Overall, they collected 148 stamps, many which can be very ornate.
“You know, you’re tired and whatever, but getting that stamp was like an infusion,” said Paula. “You know, you go into a civic center or a city hall or a church to get your stamp and they were so encouraging. Maybe you haven’t seen anyone all day and then you get that stamp and it’s like, ‘Okay, I’m good for tomorrow.’”
Ultimately, they would walk in four countries, cross three of them and navigate three mountain ranges, including the Apennine Mountains in Italy twice. Through it all, as Paula wrote, they “experienced the joy of the ordinary, and the thrill of accidental discoveries. These were our regular rewards.”
The final stamp
Their walk into retirement ended last May 16 when they reached the terminus of stage three at Santa Maria di Leuca in the southeastern tip of Italy. Fittingly, it offered its own unique sense of place. To their left was the Adriatic Sea and the hills of Albania on the horizon across the water. To their right were the crashing waves of the Ionian Sea. By now, hiking more than 12 miles a day was a breeze. At the beginning, Edward said, that
would have pushed them to the limit. They had learned much about their ability to persevere through awful weather, vertical trails and end-of-the-day setbacks. But maybe the most valuable lesson was, as Edward noted, was to “empty the mind and be grateful for every step.”
They received their final stamp from a Sister Fara, who pointed out that she was not to be confused with Farrah Fawcett. She provided a “meticulously designed” stamp that verified that they had finished the last leg of the Via Francigena.
“And that was that,” wrote Edward. “Now go out and do something crazy. Ciao” L
Randy Rieland is a reporter for Foothills Forum, a nonprofit organization that supports local news in Rappahannock County.
You can see the full blog of the walk at ildolcefarnientes.com
Clockwise from top left: Ceramic shards collected as souvenirs from the trail; Edward Hughes resting along a muddy trail in the Apennine Mountains in Italy; Some of the 148 stamps the couple received on their “pilgrim passport”; Edward and Paula Hughes in Canterbury, England at the beginning of their walk.
In Their Own Voices
Art therapy program helps students express themselves
BY KIPP HANLEY
Expressing emotions can be difficult for anyone, especially for a shy or grief-stricken elementary school student.
At Claude Thompson Elementary School in Marshall, there is a creative outlet for these children. Once a week, artist and art therapist Lilla Ohrstrom works with four fifth-grade students for an hour after school. Conducted in a judgment-free, grade-free environment, the sessions are as much about learning how to cope with life’s realities as how to paint a picture of a sunflower or use clay to make a sculpture.
“It’s not tied to academics at all, it’s about emotional expression,” principal Marypat Warter said. “Some children don’t really have the ability to understand the difference between, for example, anger and hurt, those kinds of things. [It’s] really just learning to be grown-up humans, so they need some guidance in that.”
Three years ago, Warter worked with Sandy Danielson, executive director of Artists in Middleburg, to start the art therapy class at the Marshall-area school after Danielson’s organization had received an anonymous donation. The Loudoun County-based nonprofit had worked with the elementary school in the past, bringing in guest artists from time to time to teach the
students about aspects of art that may not be included in the school’s regular art curriculum, and equipping students with “art bags” during COVID so they could do art at home. Each year, Danielson would ask the school what they needed, said Warter. So, in 2022, when Danielson asked what Warter would like for the upcoming school year, she immediately said art therapy.
“I said so many of our children are struggling with trauma and really just an inability to understand emotions in a way they should, and I would love an art therapist,” Warter said.
So. Danielson contacted Ohrstrom, a long-time studio art teacher and native of The Plains. In 2014, Ohrstrom decided to pursue a master’s degree in art therapy at George Washington University after realizing her style of
Artists in Middleburg (AiM) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that offers a variety of art classes and experiences for local artists as well as hosting monthly exhibitions. AiM also strives to nurture and promote art and art education in the community and champion creativity in the visual arts for all ages and abilities, especially the youth, through educational programs.
communicating with those in art studios took on a sort of counselor-patient relationship.
“My teaching style always had this sort of therapeutic bent to it,” Ohrstrom said. “I wasn’t trying to be a therapist, but my style was to help people really express themselves and their own voice.”
According to Ohrstrom, the children range from extremely introverted to those who may have difficulty paying attention in a classroom setting. In some cases, children are dealing with trauma like a death in the family or a death of a pet.
One way Ohrstrom draws out the feelings from her students is by something she calls “me” cards. She brings in random pictures of nature or animals or athletes and hands them out to the students. They will select a couple of images, put them on a card, and
Marypat Warter (left), principal at Claude Thompson Elementary, and Lilla Ohrstrom (right), art therapist.
then answer questions on the back based on prompts. When they are finished with that, it creates “kind of a poem,” said Ohrstrom.
“It is like the card is speaking,” Ohrstrom said. “One of the things it does when you create an art object is that you take something inside of yourself and put it outside yourself. Now, you can talk about that object instead of talking about yourself. It is a lot easier to talk about an object than a direct emotion.”
With only 262 students, it is easy for the faculty and staff to get to know the students at Claude Thompson. This makes it easier for the school to identify children that they believe may benefit from art therapy. Warter said the feedback from the families and children in the program has been overwhelmingly positive since its inception. Several parents have said they would sign their children up if it’s offered at their future middle school, said Ohrstrom.
One of the students recently told Ohrstrom her voice can now be heard thanks to the art therapy. “I used to cry all the time, and people always talk over me,” said the student. “I can speak without being interrupted.”
Another said, “I had trouble controlling my emotions. [In art therapy], I can talk without being judged.”
A few of the current students are in their third year of the program, which Danielson hopes to continue at Claude Thompson and possibly other schools.
“Even the ones that haven’t stuck with it, they come up in the hallway and give us hugs,” Ohrstrom said. “It’s been a very rewarding program in that it’s clear that the kids enjoy it. They want to be there, and they open up to me.” L
AiM Gallery
102 W. Washington St., Middleburg Open Wed.-Sun. 12-5 p.m. and by appointment theartistsinmiddleburg.org
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Fauquier’s
TOP 10
Top Sales
The ten highest-priced homes that sold between mid-February and mid-March, 2025 in Fauquier County. Data and photos from Zillow.com.
2227 PENNY
$10,750,000
Sold
6
9055
$5,100,000
$1,350,000
7255
$1,168,000
The Big Picture
“The cold weather did not stop home sales across the Greater Piedmont foot print for the month of January with sales jumping 35%. New Listings across the GPR footprint increased 13% while the average days on market jumped to 46 days. Spring may come early in the real estate market so it is important to consult your local real estate professional for more information.”
—Carrie Brown, 2025 Greater Piedmont REALTORS® President
The January Details for Fauquier County
Compared to January 2024
Median Sales Price: $733,000, up from $625,000
Sales Activity: 60, up from 45 Days on Market: 46, up from 38
Greater Piedmont REALTORS® is a trade association representing 650 REALTORS® in Fauquier, Culpeper, Rappahannock, and Madison counties.
7160 GLANAMMAN WAY, WARRENTON
$1,065,808 Sold
Air Conditioning maintenance & Clean
Check Attic for leaks
Power Wash exterior and clean window & door screens
Clean out window wells
Test smoke & Carbon monoxide detectors
Freshen up landscaping by getting rid of dead plants and adding new fresh mulch
Clean refrigerator coils
Declutter spaces
Have exterior inspected for caulk and paint
Check roof and boots that surround roof vents
Dawn Arruda
Direct: 540-729-6740
E-mail: Realtor@dawnarruda.com
Website: DawnArruda.com RossVA.com/dawn-arruda
Direct: 302-222-6703
E-mail: wendyj.reagent@gmail.com
Website: RossVA.com/wendy-johnson
wine&dine
The Darlings of the Tea Room
Fresh, hot, yummy scones celebrate spring.
BY KARLA JONES SEIDITA
Spring has finally returned to the Piedmont. I’m glad. It’s been gone far too long. Something else that’s been gone far too long are my yummy homemade scones fresh from the oven. I stopped making them around Thanksgiving when the holiday baking season started and there were just so many other things to bake. But now the holidays are gone and my yummy scones are back.
Scones are sort of like biscuits only denser and a tad bit more crunchy. They’re the darlings of the tearoom often served with clotted cream and jam. No proper English tea would be served without a plateful.
April is the month to celebrate the return of spring so why not add these easy teatime treats to your celebration. Let’s get into the kitchen!
Chocolate Chip Scones
Simple, elegant bits of good taste, these chocolate studded scones couldn’t be easier. Since you start with biscuit mix, all the work has been done for you. Just mix and bake.
MAKES 8 SCONES
EQUIPMENT - COOKIE SHEET, BAKING PARCHMENT
INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cups biscuit mix (think Bisquick) 3/4 cup buttermilk or plain kiefer (pourable yogurt)
2/3 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment or grease pan. Set aside.
2. Combine biscuit mix, buttermilk (or kiefer) and chocolate chips forming a soft dough. Do not over mix. Batter should be somewhat lumpy.
3. Pile dough onto center of lined cookie sheet. With lightly damped fingers, form dough into an even 8-inch circle.
4. Using a knife, cut into eight pie shaped wedges but do not separate. 5. Bake till bottom is nicely browned, about 10 minutes. The top will not brown much. Remove from oven. Cool slightly. Best served warm.
Cheddar Cheese Scones
Your hearty homemade stew begs for a side of these cheddar cheese scones. Or split them and fill with thinly shaved ham. For a nice touch, add a dab of mustard or chutney. This will turn traditional Virginia ham buns into gourmet treats.
DIRECTIONS
To make Cheddar Cheese Scones, just prepare the Chocolate Chip Scone recipe but sub 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar for the 2/3 cup chocolate chips. Everything else in the recipe stays the same!
Fresh
Blueberry and Sour Cream Scones
A scone eaten plain is not nearly as good as a scone eaten thickly spread with butter. Purists will opt for clotted cream and jam. Best served warm.
MAKES 8 SCONES
EQUIPMENT - 10-INCH PIE PAN
INGREDIENTS
3 cups all purpose flour
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan or coat with baking spray. Set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and butter until crumbly and uniform looking.
3. Add sour cream and vanilla. Mix till smooth.
4. Using a spatula, gently fold in berries.
Corn Bread Scones
Is it corn bread or is it a scone? It’s both! I’ve added olive oil just for the health of it.
MAKES 8 SCONES
EQUIPMENT - COOKIE SHEET, BAKING PARCHMENT
INGREDIENTS
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS
Orange, Honey and Raisin Scones
In less time than it takes to stop at the bakery and buy scones, you can whip up a batch and serve them hot from the oven. There are recipe variations, too!
MAKES 8 SCONES
EQUIPMENT - COOKIE SHEET, BAKING PARCHMENT
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons butter (softened)
3/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup buttermilk or plain kiefer (pourable yogurt)
1 egg
Grated peel of 1 thick skinned orange (about 1 Tablespoon)
Optional - powdered sugar for serving
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment or grease pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Using your fingers (or a pastry blender), work in butter till mixture is crumbly and uniform. Stir in raisins.
4. Mix in honey, yogurt, egg and orange rind. Dough will be stiff.
5. Turn onto lightly floured surface and shape into an 8-inch round (about 1 inch thick).
6. Cut into 8 pie shaped wedges and separate them.
7. Put wedges onto prepared cookie sheet spacing at least 1 inch apart.
8. Bake till tops and bottoms are light brown, about 15 minutes. Cool on rack. If desired, dust with powdered sugar for serving.
VARIATIONS
Substitute molasses or sorghum molasses for honey.
Substitute 3/4 cup fresh or dried cranberries for raisins.
Substitute grated lemon peel for grated orange peel, or omit peel all together.
Add 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, almonds, pecans or sunflower seeds. L
About the Home Economist: Karla Jones Seidita has cooked up a very tasty life. She has been a restaurant and a bakery owner, award-winning food writer, lifestyle radio host, cookbook author, country inn proprietor, and farm-to-table teacher. Currently she spends her days at her laptop and in the garden in Sumerduck. Find her at cheesecakefarms.com.
wine&dine
Think Fresh
Eat (and drink!) local
BY DANIEL DUCA
The spring makes me think of gardens, and gardens make me think “fresh.” Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, fresh scents, all around fresh ingredients. Not canned or processed, just straight from the source produce. Luckily, with our farmers market and local farm stores, we have everything we need to build healthy pantries—and cocktails.
El Pepino, also known as the cucumber margarita, gives you everything you want out of a fresh spring cocktail: the sweet, the spice, the citrus, it’s all there. Still, if you like fresh but more on the fruity side, then the Bourbon Strawberry Iced Tea will take care of you. Either way, eat (and drink!) local. Tastes better that way.
El Pepino
1.5 oz. Blanco tequila
1 oz. fresh lime juice
.75 oz agave syrup
2 quarter-inch cucumber wheels
2 quarter-inch fresh jalapeño wheels
Chili salt or Tajin
First, rim a rocks glass with chili salt or Tajin and set the glass aside. Muddle tequila, cucumbers, and jalapeños in shaker tin and muddle until pulverized, add agave syrup, lime juice, and ice into shaker tin and shake. Fine strain into the rimmed rocks glass over fresh ice and garnish with a cucumber slice.
Bourbon Strawberry Iced Tea
2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
.75 oz. rich simple syrup
2 large strawberries sliced into quarters Unsweetened iced tea to top
Blueberries
Mint Sprig
Muddle the strawberries with lemon juice in a shaker tin, add bourbon, rich simple syrup, and ice and shake. Fine stain into a Collins glass over fresh ice, then top with unsweetened iced tea. Garnish with skewered strawberries and blueberries as well as a mint sprig.
DANIEL DUCA is the founder and head bartender at Duca Bar Company, a high-end private event bartending service in Fauquier County. W: ducabarcompany.com I: @ducabarcompany P: 540-729-7667
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Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office uses Project Lifesaver technology to locate missing man
The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office used Project Lifesaver technology on March 18 to locate a missing 91-year-old man with dementia, authorities said.
The man’s daughter and caregiver called the county’s Emergency Communications Center at 3:15 a.m., reporting that he was missing from their home in The Plains and the back door was open, the sheriff's office said in a news release. She told dispatchers her father is enrolled in Project Lifesaver, a program designed to help locate people with cognitive conditions who are prone to wandering.
Deputies and emergency medical personnel responded, and Sgt. J. Welch, a Fauquier County deputy trained in Project Lifesaver, was called to assist. Welch conducted signal readings around the home and in surrounding areas but initially did not detect a signal. After moving into a wooded area near a creek and up a small hill, he picked up a faint signal and followed it northeast, according to the release.
The signal led Welch to a neighbor’s property, where he found the man inside the back seat of a vehicle. EMS personnel evaluated him before he was returned home. The search lasted 33 minutes.
According to the release, Fauquier currently has 18 citizens enrolled in the program. The cost of the tracking bracelets, approximately $300 each, is covered through donations, making the service free for families. More information about enrollment and program details is available on the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office website.
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Warrenton council weighs Main Street improvements, parklets and sidewalk cafés
Warrenton’s Town Council is weighing changes to Main Street’s infrastructure while considering a request from business owners to temporarily reinstate parklets for outdoor dining.
The discussion, which took place during a March council meeting, focused on the upcoming Main Street Improvement Project and how proposed design changes — such as expanded sidewalks and bump-outs — could impact parking, accessibility and outdoor seating.
Town Manager Frank Cassidy said the town is taking a gradual approach to transitioning from the parklet program to a new sidewalk café model, assessing space needs for each business.
The “RollOutWarrenton!” initiative, launched in May 2020, allowed businesses to expand outdoor seating in response to COVID-19 restrictions. Initially temporary, it was made permanent in January 2023 but ended in November 2024 when the council began considering a yearlong sidewalk café program to replace the parklet model.
While discussing the sidewalk café transition, the council also addressed a petition submitted in early March by nearly 20 Main Street business owners requesting parklets be reinstated until construction begins.
O’Brien’s Irish Pub’s St. Paddy’s Day Festival
O’Brien’s Irish Pub turned green on March 15-17 for its annual St. Patrick’s Weekend Festival and parade in Warrenton. Despite dreary weather, hundreds turned out for the multi-day festival, which featured dozens of vendors, musicians and dancers and Irish food. Photos by Ireland Hayes.
