Evince Magazine August 2018

Your Food & Garbage Can Kill Page 8

Spotting Exceptional Customer Service Page 10

Regina Curtis

The Wine Spot Page 26

Giving People & Goods a Second Chance Page 3

Page  2 August 2018

3D mammography reveals more life-saving detail.

ANCER

Breast imaging that offers better accuracy and fewer callbacks can be life-saving, especially for women with dense breast tissue. A 3D mammogram at Sovah Danville Imaging Center can improve cancer detection by 40%.* Schedule your 3D mammogram by calling 434.793.1043

*breastcancer.org

August Contents

Photo by Michelle Dalton Photography

3 Editor’s Note

Editor’s Note

The woman pictured on the cover arrived in Danville with the intent of leaving but instead decided to stay and enrich our lives with her skills and talents.

Regina Curtis’ fascinating story is on page 5. Isla Wiles knows that travel enriches a person’s mind and lessons learned while away can be applied at home.

Read “Your Food and Garbage Can Kill” on page 8. Dave Slayton is playing games in “The Wine Spot” but it’s just a way to explain how different wines can enrich your life. See page 26.

Mack Williams (with a nod to Proust’s famous madeleine story) becomes nostalgic in “Enriched by Memories” on page 26. Linda Lemery writes about how raising the roof improved her life on page 28.

Not sure if her husband agrees.

You decide. Anne Adams believes her day became better while shopping because of the good service she received.

Read her nomination on page 9 “Spotting Exceptional Customer Service.”

Thank you readers and advertisers for enriching our lives with your comments and loyal support. I hope you like Evince’s new look as we start our twenty-third year of enhancing your experience of living in Southern Virginia. If you’d like to join our family of writers, advertisers, or marketing consultants, send us an email.

5 Regina Curtis Giving People & Goods a Second Chance

by Joyce Wilburn 6 The Voice of Readers

The

oice of Enrichment

CEO / Publisher Andrew Scott Brooks Editor Joyce Wilburn (434.799.3160) joycewilburn@gmail.com Associate Editors Jeanette Taylor • Larry Wilburn

7 Renovation Reality / Part 26

by Carla Minosh

Contributing Writers

Anne Adams, Ethan Brown, Diane Adkins, Kim Clifton, Telisha Moore Leigg, Linda Lemery, Carla Minosh, Casey Molloy, Dave Slayton, Isla Wiles, Joyce Wilburn, Larry Wilburn, Annelle Williams, Mack Williams

8 Your Food & Garbage Can Kill

by Isla Wiles 9 Second Thoughts / Under the Weather

by Kim Clifton

Art & Production Director Demont Design (Kim Demont)

10 Spotting Exceptional Customer Service

by Anne Adams

Finance Manager Cindy Yeatts (1.434.709.7349)

Tap Lessons / Beer by the Numbers

by Ethan Brown

Marketing Consultants For ad information contact a marketing consultant listed below.

11 Meditation Moment

by Casey Molloy Kim Demont (434.792.0612) demontdesign @verizon.net

12 Fairytales

Fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg 13 Musical Notes

by Larry Wilburn 14 Calendar 15 Spirit Awards 24 Book Clubbing / You Think It, I’ll Say It

by Curtis Sittenfeld

a review by Diane Adkins 26 The Wine Spot / Is Your Wine Enriching You?

by Dave Slayton

Enriched by Memories

by Mack Williams

27 Where Can I Find Evince?

28 Reflecting Forward

An Alternate Look at Enrichment - Raising the Roof

by Linda Lemery 29 Around the Table / Easy Summer Meal

by Annelle Williams 30 Photo Finish

On the Cover:

Photo of Regina Curtis

by Michelle Dalton Photography

Don’t Forget to Pick Up the August Edition of Showcase Magazine

Meet Some of Our Contributors

Lee Vogler (434.548.5335) lee@evince magazine.com

Sly Strader Milam (434.728.1291) sly@evince magazine.com evince\i-’vin(t)s\ 1: to constitute outward evidence of 2: to display clearly: reveal syn see SHOW Deadline for submission of September stories, articles, and ads is Sunday, August 19, at 5:00 p.m.

Submit stories, articles, and calendar items to joycewilburn@gmail.com.

Editorial Policies:

Evince is a free monthly magazine with news about entertainment and lifestyle in Danville and the surrounding area. We reserve the right to accept, reject, and edit all submissions and advertisements.

EVINCE MAGAZINE 753 Main St. Suite 3, Danville, VA 24541 www.evincemagazine.com For subscriptions to Evince, email info@evincemagazine.com.

Cost is $24 a year. © 2018 All rights reserved. Reproduction or use in whole or in part in any medium without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Sincerely, Credits: Amber Wilson: hair; Catherine Saunders: skin care and makeup; Genesis Day Spa & Salon, 695 Park Avenue, Danville.

Janelle Gammon: nails; Salon One 11, 111 Sandy Court, Danville. Clothes and accessories: Rippe’s100 Years of Fashion, 559 Main St. Danville.

Evince Magazine Page 3

Ethan Brown is the co-owner of a winery & brewing company in Danville.

Carla Minosh is a nurse practitioner and an avid antiques collector. See page 7.

Linda Lemery works as Circulation Manager at Averett University’s Mary B. Blount Library in Danville.

Page  4 August 2018

Evince Magazine Page 5

I

t’s a tale of two coffee shops in two different cities that begins on a Sunday morning at Aromas Coffee Café in Williamsburg and continues 160 miles away at Holy Grounds Café & Gathering Place in Danville.

A serendipitous encounter with the owner of both buildings led to this story. The conversation went something like this: Oh, you’re from Danville.

I own a strip mall there and am helping a new tenant, Dr. Regina Curtis, open a coffee café. She is such a wonderful person and is doing a lot of good work. I was so impressed with her that I’ve given her furniture and equipment from Aromas to help her get started.

Wow! With that voluntary endorsement from entrepreneur Don Pratt, further investigation and another cup of coffee were in order a few weeks later in Danville.

On a sunny day in July, Regina sits on a soft leather couch at the front of the Café on Piney Forest Road where conversation and smiles come easily. “I’ve wanted to open a Christian coffee shop since the 1980s when I moved here with my family from Dartmouth, Massachusetts,” she explains. After finishing the first year of college in 1982, she planned to stay in Danville for the summer and then return to school, but that didn’t happen.

“I met and married Chuck, the boy next door, and kinda stayed longer,” she quips, chuckling at the memory.

While continuing her education at Beacon University in Georgia and earning a Ph.D. in clinical pastoral counseling, Regina had a vision. “I wanted to bring people together where they could feel calm and relaxed in a welcoming atmosphere—a place where they enjoyed fellowship with good coffee and good food,” she says. Looking around at the eatery, she elaborates on the reality of that dream, “We serve homemade chicken salad, pasta salad, and potato salad, Hersey’s hand-dipped ice cream, coffee made with beans roasted at Aromas and Boar’s Head meats and pastries: crumb cake from New York City, and black-and-white cookies from Brooklyn.”

Regina Curtis Giving People and Goods a Second Chance

by Joyce Wilburn

Photos by Michelle Dalton Photography.

The menu is noteworthy and the servers are too. “They are part of a program for women that helps them to overcome their life struggles,” she says, referring to the Truth House Life Recovery Refuge for Women located at 224 Campbell Street that opened in 2015. Women must make a minimum commitment of ninety days to this faith-based behavioral residency program that focuses on freedom from substances, abuse, and codependency. Regina continues, “Our motto is: Offering hope to break every chain for transformed lives.” Participants receive room and board, job skills training, and individual weekly counseling sessions paid for with donations, fundraising, and on one occasion, a grant from the Chatham and Danville Rotary Clubs. Sessions are held next door at the Cross Roads Christian Counseling Center that has been open since 2002.

“Almost sixty women have gone through the program in the last three years and we have a three-month waiting list,” she comments and then adds, “We recommend they stay at least a year, but they can stay a maximum of two years.”

When it’s time for participants to become independent, they are given vouchers to receive free clothing and household items at the Second Time Around Thrift Shoppe located in the rooms behind the Café. “We also bank their tip money and that typically pays for a downpayment on a house or the first month’s rent in an apartment,” says Regina.

Thinking about her life’s work and looking around the busy coffee shop filled with people and the donations from Aromas and others, she succinctly summarizes her goals as she leaves for the next appointment, “Goods and people get a second chance here.”

• Holy Grounds Café & Gathering Place, 1107 Piney Forest Road, has been open since April. The public is invited to the official grand opening on Saturday, September 22, at 11:00 a.m.

• The Café is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

• For more information, visit CrossRoadsTruthHouse.org.

Page 6 August 2018

More Ways to Wheel Around Danvill e Page 6

The Voice of Readers

Happy Birthday

Page 8

Evince

Around the Tab

Let’s Celebr ate

Page 21

!

le

To the editor: I loved Kim Clifton’s article about her childhood home (“Second Thoughts” July page 9). It was beautifully written and perfectly describes the feelings many of us have about our childhood homes.

What a great tribute to her home and family. Thanks!

Harriet Beale

Berkele

Moving Around y & Lori Bidgood Danville Promot ing Tourism Page 3

To Kim: I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading the column you write every month, especially this month’s publication (“Second Thoughts” July page 9). I can relate to the article “There Is No Place Like Home.” My homeplace is in the process of changing hands as well. This was like therapy as I read your story.

Tracy Tuck Kim has a way of simultaneously making us laugh and cry, doesn’t she?

We’re To the editor: I would like to commend Linda Lemery for “The Voice of ChoiceReflecting Forward” (July page 20).

Her words are right on target. A happy successful life depends on making intelligent choices.

Carollyn Lee Peerman

on Danville!

Janet Donna • Holley Gibson Owner Owner

What a nice compliment that this column resonated with readers.

So much of life is a search for greater clarity and connection.

I’m grateful to Evince and its readers for inspiring me to dig deeper and helping me grow.

Thank you! Linda Lemery

Letters must contain the writer’s name, address and phone number.

Letters may be edited for space or style. Submission constitutes permission to use.

HOLLEY & GibsOn REALTY COMPANY

339 Piney Forest Rd., Danville, VA 24540

Office: (434) 791-2400 Fax: (434) 791-2122 Visit our website at

www.holleyandgibsonrealty.com

Tell us what you think.

Email your comments to joycewilburn@gmail.com or send mail to Evince Editor, 753 Main Sreet, Suite 3, Danville, VA 24541.

If you missed any of the stories mentioned, they are still available at www.evincemagazine.com.

Evince Magazine Page 7 We replaced the plain, tall radiator that had occupied coveted wall space with a decorated short one to fit under the third window. The white Carrara marble mantle, white woodwork, and white decorative plaster and walls created spaces where our work could commence. Tom pinned to the top of the wall a roll of finely woven cotton fabric in a Richard Morris design with honeysuckle on a green background and went searching for the right color paints. He returned from the store with no less than fifty sample colors. Using his color fans, he found just the right color scheme for the room-one that would play off the fabric colors.

Unlike HGTV shows where home renovations are completed within thirty to sixty minutes, the Victorian house at the corner of Chestnut Place and Main Street in Danville has been under a transformation for eighteen years. This series that began in April 2016 explores the truth of home renewal from someone who has been there and done that. If you missed any of the articles, visit www. evincemagazine.com. This month she writes about the music room.

L

ots of light entered the music room from the two ten-foot tall windows that ended at the floor and the third more traditionally proportioned window. The space was overly white once we had repaired all of the plaster and given all of the surfaces a coat of white primer.

A guest walked into the room one day shortly after the primer coat went on. She had seen the horrible version of the room before with closets in opposite corners intruding upon the grand space, one of which enveloped the only radiator in the room. She remarked on how wonderful it was that we had finally finished a room. I let my eyes roam the space, trying to see it as she saw it, but all I could see was a blank canvas, not a finished product. This was just the starting point for us.

Tom painted a dozen colors on the door frame searching for the perfect partner to the fabric on the wall.

Renovation Reality Part 26

by Carla Minosh

While Tom sat with paint brush in hand and contemplated the room, I spent the hot and sweaty weekend cleaning and organizing the basement. He would periodically paint a patch of color on the ceiling or the door frame, or crouch down and paint a portion of the baseboard. There were patches of colors everywhere. At some point he announced that he had found the first color in the palette for the room and pointed to the appropriate sample on the wall. I read his handwritten notation next to it, and I began to doubt his sanity...it was called “Miami Spice.”

(to be continued)

Page 8 August 2018 businesses provide bear-resistant/ proof trash cans. Bears, for example, are primarily vegetarians, routinely eating flowers (dandelions are a favorite), roots of wild vegetables, and berries. Estimates are that a bear will eat 100,000 berries a day. No Big Mac with fries in this diet.

Recently, while traveling in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, I saw an abundance of magnificent wildlife and an equal number of signs telling me not to approach or feed the animals.

Lessons learned in that country can easily be applied to Southern Virginia.

Visitors who enjoy Danville’s Riverwalk know the various wild animals that can be spotted along the Dan River: beavers, groundhogs, fox, deer, rabbits, ducks, Canada geese, osprey, cormorants, blue heron, otter, turtles, fish and more. There is little chance of a dangerous encounter. In Canada, most residents know a number to Sign in Waterton, Alberta, Canada call when wildlife is spotted close to human homes and towns. Wildlife, especially bears, are scared away using various techniques, including bear boomers--devices that feature loud noises. In cases where animals habitually frequent areas too close to humans, the animals are relocated.

In Danville, people routinely carry bread to feed the ducks that enter the trail from the river. In recent years, biologists and scientists have concluded that bread is not good for ducks. Bread is low in nutrition and can lead to malnutrition because the ducks fill up on bread and don’t eat what they should be eating (like humans do with junk food). Recently, long-time walkers and duck observers have noticed the number of white ducks has

Sign in Danville, VA, USA

Your Food & Garbage Can Kill

by Isla Wiles, Master Gardener

decreased. Could human interaction be a factor?

Canadians do not feed the wildlife and know to properly dispose of food and/or food wrappers.

Those who litter are conditioning animals to view the littered areas as buffets. Parks Canada and

People like to capture photographic memories of animals. Canadian tour bus drivers can be fined if they stop to let their passengers snap photos.

Car drivers are cautioned not to stop and approach animals in order to obtain the obligatory tourist photo.

Don’t even think about a selfie with an animal in the background! (Hmmm, I wonder: Do bears use selfie sticks as toothpicks?) Go ahead and take a camera with you on the Riverwalk. You’ll be OK. Since this trip, I have become more conscious of the need to observe wildlife from a safe distance for their sake and mine. After all, they are wild animals, not pets.

• Spring to Green 2019 on Saturday, February 2, 2019, expands its horticultural purview to include animals. Tanya Lovern of the Southside Virginia Wildlife Center will answer questions about encounters with wildlife. She is the only state- licensed and permitted wildlife rehabilitator in the Dan River Region.

Evince Magazine Page 9 hold a candle, then, to the heat indoors. That probably explains why we stayed outside as long as we could. There was nothing to do inside anyway. The television barely had three clear channels and they only showed soap operas. We soon learned that the best way to find yourself on the receiving end of a dust rag was to complain about being bored.

While recently visiting their mom, Ella Ryan, a chance meeting found some of Kim’s and Diane’s childhood friends and playmates together again at Brookdale Danville Piedmont. Ann Smith Wilson, Diane Ryan Shelton (Kim’s sister), Kim, Ella Ryan, Kathy Riddle Jordan, Lisa Smith Rowland and Treva Carter Gould. It was a special gathering because the visits were unplanned and the last time they were together was as children.

Second Thoughts

by Kim Clifton ©2018

Under the Weather Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it wrote 19th century essayist, Charles Dudley Warner. That statement was true then but is even truer today.

People don’t just talk about the weather; they obsess over it.

We’ve got so many gadgets to track the wind and the rain that we end up with more predictions than a cheap fortune-teller at a county fair. Sometimes the scenarios are so exaggerated, especially during hurricane season, that I don’t know whether to take an umbrella or to strap on some flippers and a snorkel.

This year we skipped mild temperatures entirely. The only way we could tell it was spring was that our cars changed from being covered in snow to being covered in pollen. I’m not a fan of extreme temperatures although I don’t remember it being a problem as a kid. We played in the snow for hours and never got cold. I get cold now. When Jack Frost nips at my nose, I stop it at that. I don’t own a decent pair of gloves or a windshield scraper. I’d rather use up a tank of gas while my wipers flap me a clear view. Just the thought of winter makes me shiver, but I’d still rather be cool

than warm. I look a lot better in a shawl than I do in shorts.

While some like it hot, I don’t, although I did as a child. My friends and I played kickball in the middle of the day and rode bikes until sundown. When we got thirsty, we grabbed a garden hose, not a Yeti. Since the nozzle was usually buried in the dirt, we slurped flavored water before it was fashionable...if you have a taste for grass, grime and rubber, that is. The most we did to beat the heat was run back and forth through a yard sprinkler that spouted high like a watery curtain. We’d never heard of global warming. We worried more about what happened in an end zone than we did in the ozone.

I don’t know how I stood it.

Either we didn’t get hot or we didn’t know any better. Until my mom developed terrible allergies to every blooming thing, we never had air conditioning. We only had a noisy window fan that could have easily doubled as an airplane propeller. It was big and loud, blowing more hot air than Rush Limbaugh covering the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Other times we’d set up the oscillating kind which was more

irritating than useful. It was a fickle fan…one minute it was all about you and the next it turned its back completely and focused on someone else. I don’t like those things. They aren’t cooling.

They’re a breeze tease.

As hot as it was outdoors, it didn’t

I’m officially old. I have no tolerance for temperatures below fifty or above seventy.

Drafts bother me and the wind gets on my nerves. I don’t go into a restaurant without a light sweater in case I’m seated under a vent. I’m one colander full of butterbeans-to-be-shelled from becoming my grandmother.

I’ve stopped watching the weather on television; all it shows are colorful arrows going this way and that. Those meteorologists have more tracks than the NASCAR circuit. Besides, it’s August. I already know it’s going to be muggy and there’s always a chance of thunderstorms. It’s too bad, though, that I can’t handle the heat like I did back in the day.

We may have been hot, but we really weren’t bothered.

Page 10 August 2018

Spotting Exceptional Customer Service

Tap Lessons

by Anne Adams

I want to commend Christie Parrish, the cashier at Chuck’s Meats and Deli, 4972 Riverside Drive in Danville. Several times when I have had three or more shopping bags, she has carried them to my car. Recently during a week when we seemed to have heavy thunderstorms every day, a heavy downpour arrived as I was checking out. I remarked, “I think I will wait.” Christie made room on the small check-out counter for my parcels. When she finished checking out the customers behind me, she said, “Show me your car. I’ll go get it.” She went out in the rain, brought my car to the door making sure the driver’s side was next to the store’s entrance. She then put my packages in the car and went back to work dripping wet! That’s exceptional customer service!

Thank you, Christie.

Evince and the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce want to encourage and recognize exception customer service. When someone gives you exceptional service, please let us know. In 300 words or less, tell us what happened. Email your story to joycewilburn@gmail.com or chamber@dpchamber.org. It’s a nice way to show appreciation for a job well done. We look forward to hearing from you.

Beer by the Numbers

by Ethan Brown There are lots of acronyms out there that we all love: LOL, OMG, SMH…..and the beer realm is no exception when it comes to using acronyms. The next time you are in the grocery store, your favorite bottle shop, or local brewery, take a moment and check out some of the craft beer labels or signs. You’ll see letters like ABV and IBU. The acronym ABV is expanded to mean Alcohol By Volume and is expressed as a percentage of the volume of alcohol (ethanol, in particular) in a certain volume of liquid. For example, if a beer is labeled 8% ABV, that means there are 8 milliliters (mL for short) of alcohol in 100 mL of beer. The ABV value is used in different ways by different people. When designing a beer, brewers adjust their recipes to target the ABV they want in a beer. Consumers use the information to decide how many beers they can have so they don’t become intoxicated. In many cases, brewery taprooms and restaurants will vary the serving size of high ABV beers so their customers won’t get caught off guard by having too much. Governments use the ABV to determine how much

to tax a brewery’s output--the higher the ABV of a beer, the more a brewery is taxed on that beer.

IBU, or International Bitterness Unit, is a measure of how bitter a beer is. It is a calculated number derived from factors such as the hop variety, the percentage of alpha acid a hop variety has, when the hop was added to the boil step, and how much of the hop was added.

So, the correlation is the higher the IBU, the more bitter the beer will be. In general it is a good scale to use for making decisions on how people like their beer. If you are a hophead, you’ll seek out high IBU beers, and if you don’t like bitter beers, stick to the lower end of the IBU spectrum. However, everyone’s taste buds are not the same, so the use of IBU in beer preference is highly individualized. To find your comfort zone, pick out a range of beers with varying IBUs and give them a try. You’ll then know what IBU range you are comfortable with and can use that information as you explore the ever-increasing options being presented by breweries around the world. Cheers!

Evince Magazine Page 11

Meditation Moment

by Casey Molloy, RYT

Photo by Clark Davis

W

hich experiences, relationships, or activities add richness to your life? What saps your energy and drains your spirit of its abundance?

Sometimes we are too preoccupied with the tasks at hand to contemplate what is truly important. Often, we even forget to appreciate the elements of our lives that offer us ease, peace of mind, and true happiness. In the whirlwind of doing we forget to focus on the art of being. As we force ourselves to slow down, even for a single moment, we are able to tap into the true essence of happiness that illuminates our internal light. The fuel for this internal light is different for everyone, but, as long as it is rooted in love, there is no right or wrong source of joy.

Whatever heightens your experience on this earth is worth your time and energy.

If we consider how much time is wasted on pettiness or negativity, we can understand

the wealth of benefits to be gained from filling that time with gratitude. Gratitude does not obsess or possess, it simply accepts and honors.

There are times when we don’t realize how much we appreciate something or someone until it is gone. Although change can be difficult, it offers an important lesson in acceptance, impermanence, and recognition.

Cultivate the ability to tap into the enriching elements of your life without the intrusion of a life-changing event. It is easy for the monkey-mind to become fixated upon what-ifs, worries, and an overwhelming amount of to-dos. For the sake of mental and physical health, it is vital to establish a balance between doing and being. By bringing the mind into the present moment with an adequate amount of attention and effort, our passions can become more powerful than our fears. When we are thankful every day for our existence, enrichment will flow forth like a fountain, filling our lives to the brim.

Page 12 August 2018

Fairytales fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg

S

ometimes life is just sad.

My birthday is July 28 and I turned nineteen, but didn’t nobody know to remember it, so I was surprised when Mandy Blue Eyes comes very first of August to me in our old broke-down kitchen and puts a pretty book on a dry part of the fake-wood counter. She’s holding both my baby, Kwon, and that lime-green book with darker velvet leaves on it. I think it’s delicate and almost run a finger across one smooth leaf. Mandy Blue Eyes says it’s to write down things I feel. I pull my finger back; I say I ain’t got no feelings, but that ain’t true. Mandy Blue Eyes just sad-smile, but she don’t say nothing. I put a wet dish in the drying rack and ask her flat, “Who ‘dis book fo’? Ain’t even no words on the pages.”

Sometimes it feel like you stripped wire that is burning behind a wall.

But you won’t know it.

“You write in it,” Mandy Blue Eyes says, as she smooths back blond hair that Kwon just rearranges.

I pick the book up and just hold it in dark and slightly damp fingers. Mandy Blue Eyes leaves the kitchen with me following kinda cautious three steps into our grey living room. I try to find out the angle, before I give it back, because you can’t take from people ‘less you know how much it will cost. I done learned that the hard way, but Mandy Blue Eyes she different. I keep telling that to myself.

I’ve swallowed scalded-throat tears not fit to drink, but I done choked ‘em on down.

“What I goin’ do with paper, Mandy? Who ‘dis fo?” Mandy Blue Eyes keeps moving on deeper into the house toward her bedroom, still holding my boy, who could certainly walk. So, I sit in the living room. I think about Fallon, the other girl Mandy Blue Eyes took in here, she sweet but she don’t care. Kwon, he ain’t even four yet; he don’t read. I yell out again who this book for to an empty room. I say if it’s for her to know something, I could just tell her what she want to know. Mandy Blue Eyes shakes her eyes sad looking at me, says, “Keisha, some things just for you to say to you?”

But your story ain’t gonna be sad ‘cause I’ma give you better than

what I got anyhow I can. I don’t know my folks and you ain’t going to know me much better. But that’s ‘nother then.

But I can’t think of nothing to say to me, you know, nothing I don’t already shame-know or dread having brought back from what should stay dead. I put the journal on the scratched coffee table in the living room, until I can make Mandy Blue Eyes take it back. She’s going to have to take it again which is sad ‘cause I don’t’ get too many gifts.

Still, I got nothing to say.

I’m wanna lay my heart down for you. But I don’t know how to start.

A week later, that journal sits there accusing me, like I owe it to tell tales. In passing on my way out the house to the corner convenience store, I say to Mandy Blue Eyes, “It don’t matter who I write… I mean what I write? Like a fairytale or somethin’?” Mandy Blue Eyes looks at me square in the face, shrugs as she looks up from the floor where she’s working with Kwon and his letters with wooden and colored blocks, working with him until he puts a stop to it by climbing in her lap, snuggles, and sleep-whispers his secrets into her right shoulder. I turn away; I got nothing to say.

No one ever read me no fairytales, and my own pen is a beast on the page, but maybe somehow you goin’ love me.

Three weeks later, and that journal sits there on the living room coffee table. I done looked over it and lemon-Pledged around it. I done moved it from one side to another, put it under a couple of magazines we long since read. Today, I done sat watching old episodes of “I Love Lucy” with my feet propped up beside that book, almost touching. Out of the corner of my eye, I sometimes see Mandy Blue Eyes holding my baby Kwon as she moves from one room to the other in our small weatherboard house.

And you’ll see somewhere…. how I loved you.

“Mama,” Kwon says pulling on Mandy Blue Eye’s skirt, talking and telling her about the bunny and dinosaur we got from the thrift store. Mandy Blue Eyes used to try to correct him, but now she just answers. Me, I don’t say nothing to me. I choke on a sweet grief, leaning my head back on our old, grey couch. I pick up the journal and hold it. I don’t spell so good.

Blinking back tears, I wonder why it is now I want to write.

Evince Magazine Page 13

Where’s the Music

by Larry Wilburn

Each month in this new feature, I will introduce readers to local artists and groups who are performing at the area’s many musical venues. This column is not intended to be a critique of their work but rather provide a closer look at these talented musicians, their roots/influences and what they personally gain from their artistic expression.

This column hopes to increase awareness among local audiences and expose them to styles they may not have previously considered. Our area has a rich musical presence that demands to be explored not ignored. To that end, I will be reaching into surrounding cities and counties to discover the

personal stories of those who delight us with their talents.

If you would like to recommend someone, please email lewilburn46@gmail.com and type in the subject line “Musical Notes.” You must include the name of the individual or group and reliable contact information. In the case of a group, send only the name of a spokesperson for the group.

Happy listening everyone!

Larry Wilburn has a Bachelor of Arts in Music/Classical Guitar Performance and teaches guitar at Averett University and Chatham Hall. He also offers private lessons.

Page 14 August 2018

August Calendar Abbreviation Key

• AU=Averett University, 434.791.5600 www.averett.edu • DMFAH=Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History, 975 Main St. 434.793.5644 www.danvillemuseum.org • DSC=Danville Science Center, 677 Craghead St. 434.791.5160 www.dsc.smv.org • HNT=Historic North Theatre, 629 North Main St. Danville 434.793.7469 www.TheNorthTheatre.com • PA=Piedmont Arts, 215 Starling Ave, Martinsville 276.632.3221 www.PiedmontArts.org • RSG=Reid Street Gallery, 24 Reid St. Chatham 434.203.8062 reidstreetgallery.com • The Prizery=700 Bruce St., South Boston, 434.572.8339, www.prizery.com

Ongoing

Guided Walking Tours – Millionaires Row, Holbrook Street and Tobacco Warehouse District.

Danville Historical Society. www. danvillehistory.org. 434.770.1974.

See page 12.

DMFAH self-guided audiovisual tours. 434.793.5644.

Brosville Library: 11948 Martinsville Highway www.pcplib.org 434.685.1285 Danville Public Library: 511 Patton St. www.readdanvilleva.org 434.799.5195 DPL Westover Branch: 94 Clifton St. www.readdanvilleva.org 434.799.5152 Gretna Library: 207 A Coffey Street, www.pcplib.org 434.656.2579 Gunn Memorial, Caswell County Public Library: 118 Main St, Yanceyville, NC www.caswellcounty.gov/library 336.694.6241 Halifax County Public Library: 177 South Main St. www.halifaxcountylibrary.org 434.476.3357 History Research Center and Library: 340 Whitehead Street, Chatham www.pcplib.org 434.432.8931 Mt. Hermon Library: 4058 Franklin Turnpike www.pcplib.org 434.835.0326 Pittsylvania County Public Main Library: 24 Military Drive, Chatham www.pcplib.org 434.432.3271 South Boston Public

Library: 509 Broad St. www.halifaxcountylibrary.org 434.5575.4228

August 1-15

Here Comes the BrideFashion 100 years: exhibit of vintage clothing from Danvillearea attics, family photographs from the Langhorne, Gibson, and Astor collections and images of Cliveden, Lady Astor’s summer home near London, where Meghan Markle stayed the night before her wedding to Prince Harry. 117 Broad Street Danville Saturdays 2-5pm; private tours available by calling 434.793.6472.

August 9

Music on Main: New Habit Band plays bluegrass; Main Street Plaza, Danville. 6:30pm 434.793.4636

August 10 (thru October 14)

and ran a study program at Washington &Lee University and gave DMFAH some of his paintings. free & open to the public.

August 16

Author Jennifer McGaha Meet & Greet: Flat Broke with Two Goats is a story of loss, reckoning, and healing. Reception 5:30pm South Boston Public Library; presentation 6:30pm; book signing 7:30pm. www.jennifermagaha.com

August 18

7th Annual Summer Bazaar: Danville Farmers’ Market: 60 local representatives from retail and direct sales companies 7:30am-noon 629 Craghead St. 434.797.8961

August 19

Art Show Opening Reception Art La Turque: Three artists from Turkey: Nevres Akin, Rasit Altun and Erhan Lanpir. free 5:30-7pm DMFAH

Auditions: The Little Theater of Danville for Bell, Book and Candle.

2:30pm DMFAH

August 11 & 12

August 21

DMFAH Free Admission

August 11

Local Author Fair: Meet local authors of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s books. 10am Joe Zappacosta Danville Public Library 434.799.5195.

August 12

Painting Demonstration: Three Turkish artists DMFAH 2:30-4:30

August 14

Living Well @ the Y: Zac Martin, Exercise Physiologist How Sleep Impacts Your Weight.

Lunch provided if registered by 5pm on August 3.

Program from noon-1pm Danville Family YMCA, 215 Riverside Dr. free 434.421.3060.

The Transition of Traditional Chinese Art into Contemporary Art Using the Case of Professor I-Hsiung Ju: DMFAH will present a lecture by Dr. Ling-ting Chiu 1-2pm. I-Hsiung Ju initiated

History United - Our Civil Rights-A Common Table: Danville Public Library, 511 Patton St. This session in History United’s continuing summer discussion offers a “taste” of local flavors, exploring the history and present of our region’s farming, hospitality, and local foodways. Special guests: the Health Collaborative; Lynda and Eddy Parham, owners of Loaded Goat Farm; Joshua Hearne of Grace & Main. 5:30-7:30pm Bring a dish to share. 434.924.3296 or info@ historyunited.org.

August 23

Johnny O & the Jump Out Boys: old-school Chicago blues; Main Street Plaza; 6:30pm 434.793.4636

August 24 & 26

Musical Potpourri, Songs from the Golden Years: Little Theatre of Danville DMFAH $15 8/247:30pm; 8/26-2:30pm

August 2018

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Plan Ahead September 14

Caregiver Workshop: keynote speaker Amy Goyer author of Juggling Life, Work and Caregiving; Monica Karavanic, Director of Residential at The Arc of Southside, presents “Empowering the Caregiver.” Dr. Connie FletcherWhitlow, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist Specialist will talk about caregiver stress and how to relieve it. Karen Cotta, music therapist, will provide interactive musical activities; also session for attendees to ask questions of a resource panel of specialists. Free on-site and off-site/ in home respite care. Free at Danville Community College 9:30am-2:30pm.

Continental breakfast and lunch provided. Register at 800.468.4571

September 22

Gut Check: a Barb Bancroft presentation about colorectal cancer, the impact of lifestyle, screening, how this cancer develops and how it can be prevented and treated. Barb’s humorous and engaging delivery will appeal to all. Registration required

by September 14. 434.421.3060 or Facebook.

September 28-30

AU Homecoming Hometown: party, men’s and women’s soccer games, volleyball games, distinguished alumni awards ceremony, Athletics Hall of Fame induction, tours of the newly renovated Main Hall, afternoon tailgate before the football game at night. www.averett.edu/homecoming

The deadline for submitting information for the September calendar is Sunday, August 19, at 5:00 p.m. Please send just the basic information following the format on these pages to joycewilburn@gmail.com.

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Exceptional Customer Service American National Bank Spurrier Orthodontics First Citizen’s Bank Movement Bank Danville Orthopedic & Rehab Alterations by Brenda Old Oak Wood and Stone Spectrum Medical Bankers Insurance Wrenn Yeatts

Exceptional Community Involvement Computer Bookkeeping Curves Wilkins & Co The Arc of Southside The Tabernacle PATHS URW Community Federal Credit Union SOVAH Health Danville Pittsylvania Community Services Danville Community College Averett University

Winners Exceptional Products Dominion Eye Center A-1 Custom Window Service Office Plus Four Seasons Pest Control J.W. Squite & Co Danville Paint & Supply Midtown Market Riverside Hardware Nature’s Essentials Chestnut Lane

Well Done

Danville!

Exceptional Community Spirit River District Association Danville Parks & Recreation Hot Asana Yoga Studio Ballad Brewing Danville Science Center YMCA Danville Institute for Advanced Learning & Research Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History Danville Toyota The Launch Place

Exceptional Service Harris, Harvey, Neal & Co Haymore & Holland Piedmont Regional Feeding & Oral-Motor Clinic, LLC Alloca Law Danville Women’s Care Donna Helton Schoonover Insurance Satterfield Insurance Agency OB-GYN & Associates Danville Family Vet

Page  18 August 2018

WE ARE HONORED TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR the Spirit Award for Exceptional Customer Service Congratulations to fellow award recipients and nominees. Serving Virginia since 1909.

amnb.com ANB_SpiritAwardAd_July2018_10x6-5.indd 1

7/13/18 8:48 AM

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Page 24 August 2018

Book Clubbing a review by Diane Adkins

You Think It, I’ll Say It

by Curtis Sittenfeld

Nobody reads short stories.

This is not true. Otherwise, no publisher would issue a collection of them. But every librarian will tell you that collections of short stories are the wallflowers at the prom, standing alone on the shelves while the pretty, popular novels go out dancing with multiple partners. Such a shame. Short stories can be so intense, with marvelous, deep characters and distilled plots. They, too, can be fun.

The ten stories in this collection are, in many respects, driven by their strong characters. They often have plot lines predicated on misunderstandings, wrongly interpreted interactions that characters—most of them women—see as signals of underlying desire. A good example is the story The World Has Many Butterflies. Graham and Julie, married to other people, start playing what seems to be an innocent game of “I’ll Think It, You Say It” (interestingly reversed in the book’s title) when they see each other at social events. Julie begins to think she and Graham have a special relationship developing. But sometimes a game is just a game.

Other stories in the collection reflect on an initial dislike between women—-as in Bad Latch, a story about pregnancy and motherhood, or another, A Regular Couple, about two women who were enemies in high school. What happens when they encounter each other and their respective spouses later in life illustrates how history is viewed in radically different ways by the parties involved in it. In fact, several of the stories focus on how relationships, whether sexual or otherwise, are shifted by the passage of time.

Another subject Sittenfeld plays with is celebrity--who people were before they became celebrities, as well as the people who knew them before and after. A case in point is the story Prairie Wife (a story that was impossible to read without thinking of a certain celebrity blogger/homeschooler/TV chef with the same initials).

Ten sparkling stories. They don’t deserve to be wallflowers at the dance.

Diane S. Adkins is a retired library director.

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Page 26 August 2018

T

With that in mind, I am a firm believer in sampling many different kinds of wine. One of my friends always drinks the same chardonnay regardless of food accompaniment. Even though I respect his choice, I cannot help but feel that he is depriving himself of enjoying a wide range of wonderful flavors. Another friend recently spoke of a trip to Italy that included a visit to the Accademia Gallery in Florence where she and her husband viewed Michelangelo’s David. She spoke enthusiastically of the experience as well as their enjoyment of the local Italian foods and wines. I think the food and wine enhanced their experience in Italy and enriched their souls.

o a wine maker, enrichment

likely means increasing the

sugar concentration of the grape prior to fermentation. The juice from the freshly crushed grapes contains skins, seeds, and stems. Adding sugar to it is not intended to make the wine sweeter but rather to provide more sugar for the yeast to convert into alcohol. This process is called Chaptalization named after the French chemist Jean-AntoineClaude Chaptal. Don’t confuse this with sweetening, which is adding unfermented concentrate after fermentation has taken place in order to sweeten the flavor of wine.

There is another type of enrichment that a wine lover may mention. For example, Italian wine maker, Roberto Guldener, believes wine is enrichment for the soul. He says, “Wine means effort, imagination and creativity. It is a work which we start and nature completes… a creation which needs to match life; this is what makes it so fascinating.”

Photo by Dave Slayton

The Wine Spot Is Your Wine Enriching You?

I favor not being monopolized by one wine or even one variety of wine. Experiment and explore when the opportunity presents itself, as it might when playing a game of Monopoly. Savor those moments that provide enjoyment and enrich your soul. Cheers!

by Dave Slayton

a member of the Master Court of Sommeliers

T

oo often the word

enrichment has a

connotation of monetary riches but lives can be enriched by many things including the arts and memories. Memories of time spent at my paternal grandparent’s home in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, are dearer to me than gold.

I remember being in their old house’s upper bedroom with angled ceiling on the night of a particularly powerful thunderstorm. The wattage of the lightning bolts outdid the light bulbs inside, but the bulbs’ light was more constant. The tin roof magnified the raindrop sounds into something resembling the pounding of hail, in much the same way as the wooden floors of my old grade school transformed the sound of children’s feet into the noise of thundering hooves. I remember seeing old trunks reminiscent of Blackbeard in that bedroom and imagined pirate booty inside, but, upon opening one, all I saw were winter clothes packed away for

Photo by Joyce Wilburn Could it be Blackbeard’s trunk?

Enriched by Memories

by Mack Williams the summer. (North Wilkesboro is a little far inland for pirate treasure.)

I also remember Grandmother Williams’ flaky biscuits, so fresh and hot that a solid pat of butter melted straight away oozing

from a biscuit that seemed unable to contain it. I can still taste her rhubarb pie, the memory of its bittersweetness an appropriate flavoring for nostalgic thoughts.

A special memory is that of being outside the dining room window after lunch, my childhood

butterfly net in hand as I caught butterflies for my collection from the flowers of a snowball bush. I could see family inside, still sitting and talking at the table; I guess they could see me too.

My grandparents passed in the1960s, and their home was later torn down. Gone are those enrichers: people, place, and time, but the enrichment remains where it was planted-within me.

Evince Magazine Page 27

More Ways to Whe el Around Danville

& Your FoodKill n Garbage CaPage 8

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ceptional Spotting ExService mer Custo10 Page

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Spot The Wine Page

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Around the Table

Let’s Celebrate

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Berkeley &

Moving Around Danv Lori Bidgood ille Promoting Tour ism Page 3

Where Can I Find an Evince?

Ten thousand copies of Evince are distributed each month at over 100 locations. Find your copy at:

Riverside Drive/Piedmont Drive/Marketplace Area Checkered Pig Chuck’s Meats & Deli Danview Restaurant El Vallarta Goodwill on Westover Drive Joe & Mimma’s Karen’s Hallmark Los Tres Magueyes Ruben’s 2 Witches Winery & Brewing Co. URW Community Credit Union Western Sizzlin YMCA

Main & West Main Street River District Area A La Carte Home Decor American National Bank Crema & Vine Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History Danville Public Library Danville Science Center Dell’ Anno’s Pizza Kitchen Food Lion @ Ballou Park Main Street Coffee Emporium Midtown Market Rippe’s SOVAH

Piney Forest Road Area Holley & Gibson Realty Co. Mary’s Diner Food Lion @ Market Square

Memorial Drive

Frank’s Pizza Ginger Bread House

Other

Danville Welcome Center

Franklin Turnpike Area Medo’s PCP Library Ruben’s Too Village Pizza

In Chatham Area

Community Center Chatham Health Center Chatham Public House PCP Library on Military Drive

In Tightsqueeze

American National Bank Frank’s Pizza Goodwill URW Community Credit Union

In Gretna

American National Bank Carter Bank & Trust

In South Boston

Bistro 1888 Halifax County Public Library O’ Sole Mio South Boston Halifax County Museum of Fine Arts & History Southern Virginia Higher Education The Prizery Toots Creek Antiques Mall

In Martinsville

El Ranchito Elizabeth’s Pizza Martinsville Visitor Center The Pacifica Bay Restaurant

In Yanceyville, NC

Goodwill Gunn Memorial Public Library The Drug Store

Page 28 August 2018

Reflecting Forward An Alternate Look at Enrichment – Raising the Roof

by Linda Lemery

“I

have to tell you, Steve, this puts a whole new spin on date night.” I was doubled over trying to hold two pieces of wood together long enough for my husband to screw them together with a power drill.

“Focus,” said Steve. “Be the clamp.”

Recently, Steve had built a four-foot high Quonset hut chicken run from PVC and scrap wood. The problem was it was painful bending over or crawling around on our knees, which were the two ways for us to enter the chicken run. “I just want to be able to stand up straight in there,” I whined. “I don’t want to spend any of the minutes I have left in my life scuttling around like a crab.”

“Why didn’t you say that before I built the four-foot high version?” asked Steve.

“I did. Over and over again. You just didn’t listen,” I replied.

It’s a good thing Steve’s a mathematician and adores geometry, because that’s what he used to figure out where to open up the parabolic ribs of this Quonset hut like a thoracic surgeon cracking somebody’s chest and then using a rib spreader. The next thing I knew, Steve added connectors, poles, and pieces of wood and the four-foot Quonset hut elevated to seven-feet tall. Though it took two months to rebuild the run, I now had a door to enter without feeling like a hunchback. Our friends called this new structure the Poultry McMansion and the Chick Mahal. But the royal girls, Hen-Solo, Princess Lay-a, KyloHen, and Chew-Bawka, all rushed straight for it.

So how does this relate to enrichment? Remember the enrichment activities in school?

They are additional activities that help students make connections between concepts or subject areas that deepen understanding. The chicken-run project deepened our understanding of: 1) communication: I needed to keep revisiting the advantages of not bending over so that point would lodge in Steve’s brain. Steve had to enforce my working right alongside him so that I could feel his pain.

2) practical math applications: He reviewed the geometric adjustments in exhaustive detail with me.

3) date-night trips to the home improvement store and finding the right connector for each change (important in many areas of life) 4) creative terms of endearment: No explanation is needed.

Our vocabularies and planning/ building/problem-solving/home improvement store item location and mind-reading skills were enriched during this project. We developed new neural pathways and made connections that we never wanted. We are now way behind on all our other projects.

That gives us an opportunity to enrich our time management skills so that we can somehow meet those deadlines. May the challenges that enrich our lives keep on coming!

About the author: When she’s not helping raise the roof, Linda Lemery llemery@ averett.edu works as Circulation Manager at Averett University’s Mary B. Blount Library in Danville. She welcomes reader comments.

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Easy Summer Meal

by Annelle Williams

Summer days call for creativity in the kitchen.

I don’t want to miss any of the fresh fruits and vegetables when they become available locally.

Okra is one of my very favorite summer treats.

I rinse the small pods and let them dry on towels, give them a quick shake in flour, drag them through an egg-white wash thinned with water and whisked until foamy, and finally coat with flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Add pods to a hot skillet with canola oil. Fry until browned on all sides, remove, drain and serve with sun-dried tomato aioli*. Even those who don’t care for okra love this recipe. You can make this in an iron skillet on the grill or on the stovetop. Fried okra is a great way to begin any meal. We call it the Anytime Appetizer. Next up, watermelon salad, a grilled meat and flatbread. That’s really all you need for a wonderful summertime meal. *Sun-Dried Tomato Aioli Blend in food processor: 1 tablespoon chopped sun-dried tomatoes 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Watermelon Greek Salad (6 servings) 4 cups seedless cubed watermelon, drained on paper towels 1 cucumber peeled, seeded and cut into cubes 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved and seeded 4 oz. block Feta cheese, cut into cubes 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives

1/2 small red onion cut into thin rings, then halved 3 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint, plus a few leaves for garnish 3 oz. extra virgin olive oil 1 oz. red wine vinegar salt and pepper to taste

Add sliced onion to bowl with rice wine vinegar and set aside. Combine watermelon, cucumber, tomatoes, Feta cheese, and olives and gently toss to combine. Mix extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar. Add mint, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Drain onions on a paper towel, then add to salad. Pour dressing over salad and garnish with mint leaves. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Questions or comments?

Email me: AnnelleWilliams@comcast.net I look forward to hearing from you!

Page  30 August 2018

Photo Finish

Kristen Houser Barker, keynote speaker and Executive Director for the Center for Pediatric Therapies, confers with Teresa Wiseman, Vice-President of Operations at Danville Toyota, and one of the organizers of the event.

When Danville Toyota issued a public invitation to a conference on July 14 dedicated to empowering women, more than a hundred females accepted.

Heels on Wheels was an overwhelming success and gave attendees an opportunity to learn more about car care and other important life skills.

Gena Belcher reaches for a roll in the buffet line followed by Margaret Lewis, Hannah White, and Janet Richardson. Patsy Terry Hall waits on the other side of the table.

Photos by Michelle Dalton Photography Kathy Shelton, Lindsay Payne, Bonya Tredway, and Tania Martin chat during lunch before the presentation begins.

Women of all ages spent the afternoon learning about car care, auto shopping, self-defense, and more.

In addition to the information given during the presentations, attendees received lunch, a thirty-five page booklet, and a gift bag.

Jennifer Wyatt and Scott Wyatt demonstrate selfdefense techniques.

Carmen Blair and Gabriela Blair made it a mother-daughter afternoon.

Kimberly Hodnett and Stella Hodnett wait for the next demonstration.

Pat Lea, Veronica Fitzgerald-Terry, Linda Rice, Cindi Fisher, and Susan Calvitti enjoy good food and great conversation.

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