Country ZEST & Style Autumn 2023 Edition

AMBASSADOR RICHARD NOYES VIETS

STILL RIDING AT 92

INSIDE: THE FUN SHOP SAYS GOODBYE THE MIDDLEBURG MUSEUM SAYS HELLO YOU’RE IN THE ARMY NOW

HICKORY TREE FARM

THE PLAINS, VIRGINIA

304 acres | Main house, stunning guest house with garage, 2 tenant houses, manager’s house, apartment complex, pool, 5 barns, approx 60 stalls, 3/4 mile all weather sand track, pond & extensive paddocks, fencing & sheds | Panoramic views of Bull Run Mountains & the Blue Ridge Mountains | Original home site still surrounded by towering trees, garden & stone walls

$7,950,000

heLen MacMahon 540.454.1930

OUT WEST

WARRENTON, VIRGINIA

Gracious home with impressive renovated kitchen | Hardwood floors, substantial millwork and fine finishes and 4 fireplaces | Perfectly sited to enjoy the views of surrounding farmland | 5 bedrooms, home office, large family room, newly resurfaced tennis court, wonderful pool with cabana and 4 bedroom guest house with workshop/3 stall stable | Large field for turn out, 1 paddock and lovely hay field | 32 acres in 2 recorded parcels

$2,850,000

heLen MacMahon 540.454.1930

RECTORTOWN ROAD

MARSHALL, VIRGINIA

Lovely country home on private lot in the village of Rectortown | FIBER INTERNET | Open floor plan with main level suite and home office | Upper level overlooks large family room with two story vaulted ceiling and stone fireplace and two large bedrooms and second family room | Multiple porches and decks with extensive plantings - easy maintenance

$1,100,000

heLen MacMahon 540.454.1930

THE PLAINS, VIRGINIA

64 acres on a lake in two parcels and extensive Little River frontage between Middleburg and The Plains Elegant French Country stone home with a slate roof Very well-appointed home with large rooms for entertaining and an elevator | 5 bedrooms, including two large suites with balconies Full compound includes a large pool with spa and spacious pool house, pavilion, tennis court, gazebo, barn with two apartments, equipment building/garage and 2 generators | All major systems updated Open fields and rolling pasture with extensive wooded trails in prime Orange County Hunt territory

$4,900,000

heLen MacMahon 540.454.1930

RUN

MIDDLEBURG, VIRGINIA

Middleburg Hunt location House built in 2020, Amish built, quality construction, frame exterior and metal roof 3 BR, 3 1/2 BA, 11 ft ceilings, moldings, tons of light Antique french doors from the Heinz family estate 50 acres are gently rolling & useable | 40 acres are fenced 4 large paddocks & 3 small holding fields 24 x 48 barn/ farm structure w/ tack room, 24 x 14 run in shed, 12 x 36 2-bay run in shed w/ feed room, 12 x 14 tack room Mountain views, koi pond

$2,982,250

PauL MacMahon 703.609.1905

Brian MacMahon 703.609.1868

GLENDONNELL

WARRENTON, VIRGINIA

Stone Neo-Tudor home built in 1918 | Features light-filled rooms, a center hallway with arched doorways | Kitchen gives the gourmet cook all the amenities for efficient food prep | 5 wood-burning fireplaces | A separate office and gym on the first floor | 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 2 half baths Stone patio for outdoor entertaining | Detached garage with storage | 1.14 acres

$1,700,000

Lynn WiLey 540.454.1527

CATESBY VINEYARD

UPPERVILLE, VIRGINIA

44.55 acres of which 15 acres are producing grapes | 8.5 acres of Chambourcin, Traminette on 4.3 acres and Vidal Blanc on 2.1 acres | Vineyard infrastructure includes fencing, irrigation system and computerized well | Perc site for 4 bedroom home | Property is in conservation easement | Property can be converted to Residential use

$1,300,000

PauL MacMahon 703.609.1905

Brian MacMahon 703.609.1868

PIEDMONT DRIVE

MIDDLEBURG, VIRGINIA

Elegant end unit all brick townhouse Almost 4,000 sf. | Living room with additional sitting area, fireplace & built in book cases | Kitchen has it’s own outside entrance, large island, formal dining room | 3 bedrooms on the upper level include large walk in closets and laundry & two full baths | The lower level is fully finished w/ 2 private home offices, a full bath & family room w/ fireplace, additional built in cabinetry and wet bar Back garden is fully fenced and provides private outdoor space with flagstone terrace for outdoor grilling and dining

$895,000

heLen MacMahon 540.454.1930

ROBINSON LANE

WARRENTON, VIRGINIA

Potentially lovely country home on 10.43 acres in Bellevue Farms | With some clearing huge mountain views to the west House built in 1997, frame construction, beautiful floors, built-ins, gourmet kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, 2 fireplaces, 10 ft ceilings, front porch, rear terrace and deck | Improvements include detached 2 car garage with office, 2 stall barn and run in shed

$800,000

PauL MacMahon 703.609.1905

Brian MacMahon 703.609.1868

FULTON

MIDWOOD

Scaling the Heights of Mt. Rainier

By Bridge Littleton

We awoke to the call of our guide, Nickel, shouting “okay team, it’s 1 a.m., time for breakfast. Meet at the main tent, we head out for the summit at 2 a.m.”

Snug and warm in a sleeping bag and tent on the Ingraham Flats at 11,500 feet, on our third day on the mountain, it was time to make the final push to the 14,410-foot summit.

The journey started at Mount Rainier National Park’s visitor center known as Paradise at 5,000 feet. That day began at 9 a,m. from the parking lot to make the long journey to Camp Muir just above 10,400 feet.

After a five-hour hike through the winding rock and snow fields, we arrived at the 100-year-old ranger station most climbers call home their first night on the mountain. It’s constantly abuzz with activity from dozens of climbers on their way up, or down the second highest peak in the continental U.S.

The second day consisted of rope and glacier training followed by a half-day climb to the high camp on the Ingraham Flats, where we bedded by 6 p.m. to rest up for the next day’s ascent.

At 2 a,m. we were off, tethered together with crampons shrouding our boots and an ice ax in hand.

We leaned into 45 mph winds and near freezing temperatures for the final 3,500 feet. Seeing beyond five feet was virtually impossible.

By the third hour the sun began to rise, and soon the summit of Mt. Rainier came into view. The awesome slope of glacial ice was above us, pure, white, and serene. We traversed across the glacier face countless times, negotiating several crevasses as we made our way up.

Finally, at 6:30 a.m., we reached the summit of this active volcano. A large, circular flat area the size of multiple football fields stretched out before us. Small spires of steam rose from the volcano at random points across the landscape. It felt as if we were on the moon.

We remained on the summit for less than 30 minutes before beginning the 9-hour trek down to Paradise. We arrived at 4 p.m., tired, sore, and exhilarated from such an incredible journey, the overwhelming experience of seeing the world from such a unique perspective.

Bridge Littleton is the mayor of Middleburg.

Thursday evening features Jumper Classes

Friday features two Hunter Derbies

Saturday features the Miller Toyota $5,000 Hunter Classic Sunday features Hunt Night

Warrenton Horse Showgrounds @ 60 E. Shirley Ave. 540-347-9442 and warrentonhorseshow.com adults $10, children under 12 FREE

PHOTO BY VICKY MOON

PHOTO BY SUSAN CARTER

Raising the Middleburg town flag on the summit.

Mt. Rainier from 35,000 feet on my flight to Seattle.

ZEST & Style

Personalities, Celebrations and Sporting Pursuits

© 2023 Country ZEST & Style, LLC.

Published six times a year

Distributed and mailed throughout the Virginia countryside and in Washington and at key Sporting Pursuits and Celebrations

MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 798

Middleburg, Virginia 20118

PHONE: 410-570-8447

Editor: Leonard Shapiro badgerlen@aol.com

Art Director

Meredith Hancock

Hancock Media

Circulation Director

Seneca Drennan

Editorial Research

India Awe

Contributing Photographers:

Doug Gehlsen

Crowell Hadden

Sarah Huntington

Nancy Kleck

Douglas Lees

Karen Monroe

Tiffany Dillon Keen

Donna Strama

of NOTE

BE ON THE LOOKOUT through this issue of for the hummingbird.

ZECountry ZEST & Style Country

Country

Official Fine Artist

Linda Volrath

Contributing Writers:

Drew Babb

Emma Boyce

Sean Clancy

Kerry Dale

Philip Dudley

Mike du Pont

Carina Elgin

Valerie Archibald Embrey

Jimmy Hatcher

M.J. McAteer

Joe Motheral

Jodi Nash

Tom Northrup

Ali Patusky

Melissa Phipps

Pat Reilly

Linda Roberts

John E. Ross

Eugene Scheel

Constance Chatfield-Taylor

John Sherman

Peyton Tochterman

John Toler

Leslie VanSant

Louisa Woodville

For advertising inquiries, contact: Leonard Shapiro at badgerlen@aol.com or 410-570-8447

ON THE COVER

I had the privilege of hosting Ambassador Richard Viets for our cover photo shoot this month. As a diplomat, it was important to me to capture his dignified presence while also presenting him in a relaxed and approachable manner. For the shoot, I chose an original cabin chair from the RMS Mauretania dating back to 1938. I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to feature this chair on our cover, and Ambassador Viets was the ideal subject to do it justice.

/ Country Zest and Style / @countryzestandstyle / @countryzestand1 www.countryzestandstyle.com

ZEST & Style

He appears in two ads and the first two readers to find him (one each) will receive a gift from THE RED TRUCK Rural Bakery, with locations in Warrenton and Marshall. Send your reply to badgerlen@aol.com

SPEAKING OF SPORTS

By Leonard Shapiro

So who knew the Middleburg area would all of sudden become a big-time sports hotbed, and we’re not talking about cricket either, a very sore subject we’ll be happy to pitch somewhere else.

How else to explain bumping into a Heisman Trophy contender while we were having dinner at a Marshall hamburger joint a few weeks ago. That would be Blake Corum, a senior-to-be running back at the University of Michigan and a likely first-round NFL draft pick next spring.

Blake, featured in the winter issue of ZEST, grew up in Marshall, went to elementary and junior high school in Fauquier County and came home for a family visit over the July Fourth holiday. A sweet kid built like the proverbial brick you-know-what, his handshake felt like a tightening vise. He’s also fully recovered from knee surgery that sidelined him late last season.

In the final week of July, another soon-to-be shining sports star was back in the area. That would be Jordan Miller, who grew up just outside Middleburg, attended nearby Banneker Elementary and graduated from Loudoun Valley High before leading the University of Miami’s basketball team to the NCAA Final Four in March.

Described by his college coach as the most under-rated player in the country, Jordan, featured in our spring edition, was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, the 48th player selected. And ZEST readers can be assured we’ll keep you posted on both Corum and Miller’s progress with future stories.

Stay tuned.

As for this issue, we have another remarkable athlete on the cover. That would be Ambassador Richard Viets, who began riding horses at age eight, was a talented polo player and is still galloping along as an enthusiastic fox chaser at the ripe young age of 92. With no sign of slowing down, either.

We’ve got a gorgeous photo spread involving some two-and four-legged athletes, most notably a couple of young mules and their recent interaction with a group of local cyclists on a back road near Rectortown. The two-wheeled crowd was asked to help acclimate the young mules to people on bicycles, and they all behaved like champions.

Plenty of champions will be recognized during Labor Day week as they compete in the 124th Warrenton Horse Show. John Toler, a widely-regarded Fauquier historian and long-time ZEST contributor, has a lovely piece on its past, and future.

Lots of history was on display in early July with the official opening of the Middleburg Museum, and we’ve got the fabulous photos to prove it.

And finally, we’d be remiss not to mention this issue will mark the start of our fifth anniversary year. The magazine began with the inaugural August, 2019 issue, and over that span, the hope is we’ve put lots of ZEST in your reading life, with plenty more to come.

Leonard Shapiro Editor badgerlen@aol.com 410-570-8447

Doug Gehlsen and Karen Monroe of Middleburg Photo

Happy to celebrate the Grand Opening of The Middleburg Museum with Suzanne Obetz, the executive director.

IMPROVED PRICE

RED BRIDGE

107 acres | $9,975,000

Marshall – Magnificent estate of approximately 107 gorgeous acres in the heart of Virginia’s renowned horse country.

17,800 SqFt of exquisite living space and spectacular equestrian facilities which include an Olympic sized Outdoor Arena, a fabulous 12 stall Stable, 15 lush paddocks and riding trails throughout. Also includes a lovely Guest Cottage and Living Quarters for staff. Unparalleled in its beauty and charm, Red Bridge simply cannot be replicated anywhere.

MIDDLEBURG COUNTRY ESTATE

38291 JOHN MOSBY

30 acres

$5,900,000

Middleburg – Spectacular country estate with manicured lawns and towering trees. Built in a Tuscan style of architecture, with 5 BRs, 8 1/2 BAs, 8 fireplaces, heated pool & Jacuzzi. Also, 4 BR guest house, 8 stall center aisle stable and run-ins.

4 acres

$3,950,000

Middleburg – New estate home ready for the most discerning buyer. This stunning colonial includes approximately 10,000 SqFt of extraordinary living space on three finished levels. There is a heated pool, fire pit, outdoor kitchen and three car garage.

Licensed

Commonwealth of Virginia

A Dedicated Couple of Conservation Educators

By John E. Ross

What are you making, chocolate milk?” Phil Daley asked three boys stirring muddy water in the wheel barrow. “Add another shovelful of dirt,” he suggested, gesturing to a pit in the ground, “and it’s a milkshake.”

“Across the way at a picnic table, his wife, Ellie, asked another youngster how many antennae a butterfly has. Holding a bright plastic model of a tiger swallowtail, the boy answered, “two.”

“That’s right,” Ellie said. “Do you know what they do?” She went on to tell him that butterflies smell with their antennae and with their feet, too. Wide-eyed, his face beamed with amazement.

As they’ve done for decades, Ellie and Phil were volunteering at a Saturday Pop-in-Playtime at Sweet Run State Park, formerly the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship in northwestern Loudoun County.

They’ve been environmental leaders in the county for nearly 45 years. “Their persistent devotion to conservation and environmental education is exceptionally extraordinary to say the least,” said Pat McIlvaine, senior conservation specialist with the Loudoun County Soil and Water Conservation District.

In 1980, Ellie, a pre-school teacher, and Phil, an Air Force lieutenant colonel just reassigned to Washington, D.C, were looking for a house in the country in 1980 to raise their three young children. They settled on a half timber, half stone house dating from the 1750s on an acre in Lincoln.

The location proved ideal. Not only could the kids walk to school, but the

We offer many services:

Photos by John E. Ross

With binoculars close at hand, Phil and Ellie keep tabs on local wildlife from the deck of their Lincoln home.

backyard ended in a small wetland. Over the years, they planted scores of native species, including persimmons and bottlebrush for butterflies. They added a broad deck overlooking the back yard. It’s their favorite place to sit, chat with guests, and keep track of bluebirds nesting in the box by the garden.

While a part-time pre-school teacher at the Philomont Community Center, Ellie transformed her classroom with a teepee, an igloo, and a terrarium in a canoe complete with turtles, tadpoles, and crayfish. She and Pat introduced children to nature’s treasures hidden in riparian buffers. On field trips to nearby Beaverdam Creek, students waded, netted, and identified aquatic insects.

Volunteering at Banshee Reeks and Claude Moore parks, Phil and Ellie shared their interest in birds and all things outdoors. They lead nature walks and Piedmont Environmental Center-sponsored day and overnight camps for youngsters.

Phil laughs recounting the perpetual problem with his nature walks. “We’d advertise them as covering two miles in about two hours. But I’d get so carried away answering questions we sometimes didn’t go even a half-mile.” Winter nature walks were his favorite. “Nobody expected there was so much to see in the woods in winter.”

Loudoun County purchased Banshee Reeks in 1991 with the intention of creating an event venue. But kids who had taken part in wildlife walks and camps and their parents objected strenuously. Hearing their pleas, Phil and Ellie were among leaders who convinced the Board of Supervisors to create Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve in 1999.

Phil worked with Joe Coleman and others to strengthen the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Loudoun Environmental Education Alliance, the Goose Creek Scenic River Advisory Committee and the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship.

Given that Phil and Ellie have been leading summer camps, bird walks and annual bird counts, and nature hikes for nearly four decades, there’s no tallying the number of kids and adults whose eyes and minds they’ve opened to the wonders of Loudoun County’s ecology.

FOR THE BIRDS

Meet one of Phil’s former students, Spring Ligi. While in high school, she accompanied Phil on nature walks sponsored by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. To complete her bachelors’ degree at James Madison University, she had to pick between a course in statistics or one in ornithology.

She chose to study birds despite the fact that the course met at 7 a.m. “For a college kid,” she giggles, “that’s really early.”

Bitten by the birding bug, she went on to study Baltimore and Orchard Oriole behavior and earned her masters’ degree from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

Shortly thereafter, Loudoun Wildlife offered her a job developing Loudoun County’s Bird Atlas. In it she tabulated and analyzed observations by 85 volunteers who devoted nearly 6,000 hours over five years to identifying 262 species in the county. In 2019, the atlas was published as “Birds of Loudoun.”

A few years after compiling the atlas, she was offered a job as volunteer coordinator at the 884-acre Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, where Phil and Ellie Daley were active volunteers. In May, Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation Formal finalized management of the center now open as Sweet Run State Park. Spring continues as the volunteer coordinator for the park.

Located at 11661 Harpers Ferry Road about eight miles from Hillsboro, the park will be formally dedicated later this year.

—John E. Ross

FAUQUIER LIVESTOCK EXCHANGE, INC.

7404 JOHN MARSHALL HIGHWAY, MARSHALL, VA

POULTRY AND SMALL ANIMAL AUCTION

AUGUST 12TH, 2023 AT 12:00 PM

ANIMAL TAKE-IN DAY OF THE SALE FROM 8:00AM- 11:00AM

No out of state birds, All poultry to be in cages

25% commission on all poultry, 15% on all other items

Held at the Fauquier Livestock Market

CULPEPER GRADED SALE

DROP OFF THURSDAY, THE DAY BEFORE THE SALE –7:00AM-3:00PM

FRIDAY, AUGUST 11TH @ 10:30AM

10220 JAMES MONROE HIGHWAY, CULPEPER,VA 22701

See Marshall Sale Barn Tab For More Information

Check us out on FB or our website at http://www.FauquierLivestockExchange.com

Fauquier Livestock Exchange does not guarantee any items sold. Not responsible for accidents.

"Did you know butterflies smell with their feet?” Ellie asks.

Subscribe and save 10%

Say Hello to Albert Smith and Be Prepared to Smile

By Leonard Shapiro

Maybe you’ve met Albert Smith while driving into the Upperville or Warrenton horse shows, where he’s been a fixture in recent years checking parking passes and helping direct traffic.

PSO Halloween Spooktacular!

Sunday October 22, 2023 - 3PM

Spooky music by: Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Grieg, Gounoud, Mussorgsky, Hermann & more! Costume Parade on stage for kids!

Handel’s Messiah in Concert

Sunday, December 10, 2023 - 3PM

In conjunction with the St. James Church Choir of Warrenton, we present the concert version of Handel’s Messiah and a local premiere! Plus additional Holiday Classics!

PSO Young People’s Concert: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Young Artist Competition & Student Visual Art Contest

Sunday, February18. 2024 - 3PM

Experience the thrill of three gifted young musicians competing for scholarship prizes!

DUKAS - The Sorcerer’s Apprentice - with live projection of student art work!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Sunday, April 21, 2024

PROKOFIEV - “Classical” Symphony No. 1

MOZART - Symphony No. 40

MENDELSSOHN - A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Bella Voce 2.0 meets Beethoven With Emily Casey & Nakia Verner

Sunday, June 9, 2024 - 3PM

In their triumphant return, Emily Casey, soprano & Nakia Verner, soprano/alto perform timeless works for voice! PLUS Rossini’s Italian in Algiers Overture Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7!

FOR TICKETS & INFO scan the code or: www.piedmontsymphony.org

Maybe you’ve seen him mixing and serving adult beverages at a local private party, or noticed him stocking the shelves at the Middleburg Safeway, or better yet, lovingly taking care of a horse at the Middleburg Training Center. He once walked one of those Thoroughbreds around the paddock at Pimlico in Baltimore before a long ago Preakness Stakes race.

And chances are you’ve probably seen him all around the village, chatting up a friend or even a few strangers looking for a good place to grab a bite or a cold drink.

And always, you’ve seen him with a glowing smile in his face, always friendly and happy to shoot the breeze about anything at all.

“Hello, good afternoon, how can I help you?” he greeted a slightly confused driver not sure if she was in the proper parking lot one day at the Upperville Horse show in June. She was, and Albert pointed her in the right direction and called out “have a great day” as she pulled away and headed to an open spot.

Albert Smith grew up in Willisville, an historic African-American enclave near Upperville and then moved to nearby St. Louis in 1976. He attended Norfolk State, then started a sales career at the old Hecht’s Department Store in Fair Oaks shopping center in Fairfax.

“I was one of the top salesmen in the store,” he said. “I’ve always believed in customer service, helping people out as much as I can.”

After a few years, he also admitted, “I got retail burnout” and came back out to Middleburg, where he’s held a variety of jobs, including working with horses for several local owners and trainers, doing a stint on the town’s maintenance staff and then, suffering a back injury while employed at Safeway that eventually needed surgery.

He’s had serious medical issues ever since, mostly due to diabetes that went unchecked for many years. “After the surgery, I had issues with my feet,” he said. “I really hadn’t gone to a doctor for 30 years, so many of the problems I have now are my own fault.”

A week after the 2022 Upperville Horse Show, Albert got the bad news.

“I went to the doctor and he said to me ‘Mr. Smith, you’re going to lose that leg. I had really poor circulation. He found out I had diabetes, and they took it off. I was in the hospital for 14 days, then did the rehab, then the leg got infected and they had to take some more off.”

Despite that catastrophe, Albert Smith still manages to remain upbeat, and smiling all the way, crediting his family and his girlfriend, Katina Ewell with helping him stay that way.

Albert Smith walks with a prosthetic leg. He can still drive. He has a legion of friends and relatives. And smiles all the time.

“My grandfather was a blacksmith,” he said. “I had a guy who knew him tell me once ‘you are just like him, always laughing, always smiling, you never get mad about anything.’”

A Middleburg treasure, in every way.

The PSO is Generously Funded in Part By:

Luminescence Foundation & The Ben-Dov Family

The Margaret Spilman Bowden Foundation

Nicolaas and Patricia Kortlandt Fund The Wise Foundation The Crossfields Group

Photo by Dillonkeenphotography.com Albert on duty at the Upperville Horse Show.

Photo by Vicky Moon Albert Smith

We are thrilled to announce a merger with McEnearney Associates.

This strategic union marks a significant milestone poised to affirm our corporate mission: to provide unrivaled support to our agents and clients. The merger will expand the firm’s footprint to 16 offices throughout Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.

You will continue to receive the highest level of service from Atoka Properties | Middleburg Real Estate and McEnearney Associates.

Summer Solstice Feast in the Field

by Rachel Martin, Jonathan Adams and Vicky Moon

Friends of The Oak Spring Garden Foundation recently gathered in the walled garden of the Biocultural Conservation Farm (BCCF) for a Summer Solstice Feast. Seventy-plus guests gathered first for a drink or a signature cocktail Fino Bee Cobbler or Elderflower Rose Spritz followed by a family-style dinner curated by Chef Jason Neve with an impressive assortment of summer crops grown at the farm, which was originally owned by Bunny and Paul Mellon.

Jason was born and raised in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where he was submerged in the tropical surroundings of mangrove islands, sandy beaches and the wide-open sea. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has worked at an impressive list of fine restaurants in New York and Las Vegas as well as serving as Chef-in-Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Residency in Captiva Florida. Jason joined the Oak Springs Garden team as Chef and Head of Culinary Services in 2022. He now cooks for residents and guests by showcasing the bounty of the BCCF farm.

“I let nature tell me what to cook,” he said. “In reality, I start with an availability list of products from the farm and let those items guide the path. Generally, I’ll have lots of ideas and images pop to mind that I scribble in a notebook.  I’ll let all that percolate for a bit, making sure dishes will work in terms of execution--especially important when you’re cooking in a field--and then fine tune everything to form a final menu.”

Photos

Chef Jason Neve with Heather Neve prepared part of the meal with others in the pre-1860’s brick schoolhouse. One of the oldest buildings on the property, it has served as a school, chapel and granary and, now it’s where meals for residents, short course participants, and visitors are served.

Jana Adams (right in blue dress) at the farm table. All proceeds from the event were to benefit OSGF’s local Education and Outreach programs.

Dessert! Claire Cottage Cherry Clafoutis.

Culinary Intern Alec Stephens.

Trish Peva and Paul Rauser.

Wild Goose and Turkey Craw Beans, Carrot Top Sofrito.

Whitney and Jaime Ceve.

Gordon Todd Dale and Ned McCormick.

Country ZEST & Style | Autumn 2023

Harnessing the Power of AI for Living and Learning

By Hunt Lyman

In the last issue Country ZEST, I introduced AI technology such as ChatGPT and Google Bard and promised to outline how these technologies may affect us. While it’s impossible to predict all the ways AI will shape our lives, I can anticipate some changes likely to happen soon:

■ Changes in internet searches: AI poses a serious threat to Google’s dominance in online searches, offering a more individualized approach. Users can prompt AI chatbots to provide specific information instead of relying on generic search results.

■ Changes in personal organization: AI will soon help most people with tasks such as making reservations, updating calendars, and planning vacations, making personal assistants accessible to everyone with a phone or computer.

■ Changes to social media: AI systems can generate large amounts of human-sounding writing, realistic images, and videos quickly. The ability to create “deep fakes” makes it harder to separate fact from fantasy, especially on uncurated sites.

■ Changes in intimate relationships: AI chatbots, programmed to be ideal companions, may appeal to many people, especially the lonely and alienated. Forming strong emotional attachments to AI bots becomes increasingly conceivable as relationships become more disembodied online.

Additionally, AI will dramatically change how many people perform their jobs. I used AI in my classes frequently last spring, and here are a few examples from one week:

■ ChatGPT improved our alphabet for my fourth graders, creating a 25-letter version and translating a standard English passage (see box).

■ It generated a personalized, humorous 4th-grade vocabulary test using the names of my students and incorporating “dad jokes”

■ For Grandparents Day, ChatGPT suggested Bingo cards designed to elicit shared interests and created them.

■ I used ChatGPT to demonstrate each stage of the writing process for a formal expository essay, giving students a holistic view of composition from brainstorming to proofreading.

■ ChatGPT can impersonate authors and characters, so I planned a unit for my students to interview both historical and fictional people.

■ I explored ChatGPT’s potential for individualized tutoring in student writing and standardized test preparation.

■ I also gathered tools to detect inappropriate AI usage by my students and adapted the process and format of other assignments to make AI less attractive.

Many politicians and technology leaders have called for limits on AI deployment to allow time for understanding and adaptation. AI leaders are essentially begging the government to regulate them, since no one can slow down unless they all do. However, given the pace of government regulation and the competitive marketplace, it’s unlikely that AI advancements will stall. AI is exciting and engaging, but also potentially dangerous. It’s crucial for us to learn about these technologies, use them to our advantage, and consider how to limit potential pitfalls and shortcomings. The revolution is coming, and participation will not be optional.

Hunt Lyman is a long-time educator and dean of academics at Hill School in Middleburg.

ASSIGNMENT: Suggest improvements to the alphabet, eliminating letters are unnecessary and adding some for simple sounds.Then, rewrite the following paragraph using this new alphabet: “The school’s goal is to help children grow strong and happy. In doing so we prize certain abilities: the abilities to think, to demonstrate essential academic skills, to be curious and resourceful, to communicate with oneself and with others, to trust, to be grateful, to wonder. And we prize certain qualities: honesty, humility, empathy, and compassion.”

THE OUTCOME: Ðe skool’s gwal iz tu help čildren gwow strong and hapy. In doing so wi priz serṭen abilities: ðe abilities tu þink, tu demonstreit esenshal akademic skilz, tu bi kyurious and rišorsful, tu komwnikat wið wunself and wið uðers, tu trust, tu bi greitful, tu wonder. And wi priz serṭen kwalities: honesty, humiliti, empaþi, and kompašn.

Hunt Lyman

Learning to Share the Road, Two Mules at a Time

Photos by Doug Gehlsen and Karen Monroe of Middleburg Photo

By Leonard Shapiro

Mae and Kate, a pair of four-year-old Percheron mules, were waiting patiently in front of their barn at Old Denton near The Plains. The goal was to determine just how patient they’d actually remain once confronted with two dozen strangely clad and helmeted visitors about to descend on the neighborhood. That would be a group of area cyclists who pedaled onto the property at the request of Garon and Donna Stutzman, who own the farm. They wanted to help familiarize the two young mules they’ve had since April with these two-wheeled, skin-tight shorts wearing distractions they’re likely to encounter any time they pull a vehicle down country roads.

“We want to de-sensitize (the mules) to the riders and give the cyclists a little education, too, on how to react when they see them on the road,” Donna said.

Long-time area resident Chris Malone, an avid cyclist, recruited some of his fellow enthusiasts to ride over from The Plains. They came to help train Kate and Mae to their first exposure to the two-wheeled crowd. “It’s just about sharing the road,” Malone said. “The rules are all the same. I always try to impress on people the importance of the equestrian community out here, and we have to accommodate them.”

Added Garon, speaking to the cyclists just before the ride, “The goal is to see how we can all get along. You’re in just as much danger as the animal. When you do see an equine, slow down, keep talking to each other, use a calm voice, and everything should be fine.”

Some of the cyclists meet Mae and Kate.

Two wheeled and four wheeled vehicles roll down the road.

Donna Stutzman bids a good morning to her two young mules.

A tip of Garon Stutzman’s hat, on far right, shows he has his mules in hand as they follow the cyclists.

The mules reacted quite well as they made their way down Young Road.

This Sunday ride was simply divine according to Garon Stutzman and Kate and Mae behaved beautifully and the cyclists seemed to enjoy their interaction.

It’s all about sharing the road according to Chris Malone who organized the event.

530 ASHBY STATION RD | FRONT ROYAL, VA

$1,800,000 | 4 BD | 3/1 BA | 4,671 SQFT | 18.31 AC

a fully renovated 1731

The Music Man Puts Down His Baton (For Now)

Find him an audience, he’ll be there to wow you.

By Drew Babb

Photography by Sarah Huntington

Harold Hill’s got nothing on Rick Reaves, who just retired after leading bands and ensembles and orchestras for 48 years.

Not that Rick is looking to sell you 70 or so trombones. He’s always been the musical real deal. One statistic might convince you. When he was hired to direct the marching and jazz bands at Loudoun Valley High, he started out with 37 students. Within weeks they swelled to 67, and crescendoed to more than 100 the next year. The man is nothing if not magnetic.

Over his almost five decades, he’s played in or directed five drum corps, 55 marching bands, 43 jazz ensembles, 20-something professional bands, 43 Tuba Christmas ensembles, and 20 one-off musical theatre pit bands.

But wait. We need a backstory, a libretto for this conductor. Here it comes, albeit a skosh staccato.

Born and raised in Endicott, New York. As a kid, big in drum and bugle corps, starting at age 8 in the Village Colonials in Endicott. He heads south for Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. An obvious conducting prodigy, while still an undergrad, he’s loaned out three afternoons to set up a music department at nearby St. Camillus Academy. The budget is a tad tight. Rick borrows instruments from local residents. The kids share the horns.

One of his Union classmates is Nancy Johnson, daughter of Dr. Warren Johnson of Purcellville. Nancy’s hometown will eventually lure Rick to Loudoun County. Back to New York to Chenango Forks High (The principal asks Rick if the marching band can spell out “Chenango.” Rick answers, “Well sir, we’re pretty small but we can give you a pretty darn big “C.”

Next come podium stops in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he learns piano rebuilding and tuning, then Jefferson County, West Virginia, before landing at Loudoun Valley (LVHS).

Principal Ken Culbert noted: “Everybody knows you and loves you here, Rick.”

At Valley, starting in 1999, he attains legendary status. A baton-wielding banshee leading marching bands, jazz ensembles, pit orchestras for musicals, in front of drum lines prowling the halls on Spirit Fridays, judging district and regional competitions, leading private bands at vineyards, pubs and auditoriums everywhere.

He’s also no Johnny One Note. He’s also been a dedicated firefighter and a former president of the Purcellville Volunteer Fire Company.

We asked Rick Reaves to create his dream dinner party combo. The invitees: Victor Wooten, bass; Dianna Krall, keyboards and vocals; Peter Erskine or Joe Morello, drums; Benny Goodman, clarinet; Tony Bennett and Rick himself, male vocals, Pat Martino or Wes Montgomery, guitar; Stanley Turrentine, sax and Henry Mancini, arrangements; Jerry Mulligan, bari sax; Dave Steinmeyer, sax; Jim Pugh, trombone; Gary Burton, vibes.

Conductor: Rick Reaves. of course.

His next opus? “I’m going to sleep in for a while. Then I’ll get out there and help. I have to be around people.”

After the interview, Rick says bye-bye this way. “Catch Snarky Puppy’s ‘Something’ on YouTube. The singer, Lalah Hathaway, will knock you out!” (She does. A link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SJIgTLe0hc)

Rick Reaves in full conducting mode.

Tuba is a specialty.

Anne McIntosh REALTOR® M 703.509.4499

Timing Was Just Right for Tilley’s Pet Shop

By Carina Elgin

When Megan Robitaille drove through Middleburg in February and saw the “Going Out of Business” signs on the windows of the Loyal Companion pet supplies store at 5B East Washington Street, she immediately had to call her husband, Drew Robitaille.

“How about we do a pet store?” she said.

Within days, they created a new LLC, made an offer and were on their way. Even they were surprised. As Drew said, “this wasn’t on the radar.”

Megan had enjoyed shopping at Wiley Wagg, the original pet store in the same location. In fact, she said, “it must be 20 years ago the founder of Wiley Wagg, Laura Clark, taught me the importance of feeding dogs properly.”

Wiley Wagg opened in 2002, the “pet project” of local Middleburg couple Laura Gresham Clark and husband, Larry. The original shop proved so successful, they opened five bustling Wiley Wagg stores in the Washington area. All sold top quality dog food brands, happy dog toys, and other items irresistible to dog and cat lovers. In 2016, a California-based natural pet food retailer bought the stores and then rebranded and eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and liquidated.

Fortunately, Megan saw those signs just at the right time. She and Drew had recently sold their cattle farm; balancing the unpredictability of caring for cows and managing the schedules of their four children had become increasingly difficult. They were looking for a new project, and they loved the idea of making the old Wiley Wagg back into a fun, small town pet shop.

They have three bouncing Labradors and a Welsh Corgi named Tilley, the new shop’s namesake. Drew’s parents owned a feed and pet supply store in New Hampshire when he was a child, and he spent many hours there. Professionally, he’s been a show jumper

rider, photographer, and chef, but helping Megan in the store just fits.

“I’ve been feeding animals all my life, horses, cows, dogs, chickens,” he said. “And I like making sure each animal gets what it needs.”

They’ve done research to bring the best brands to town. And, carry a variety of healthy foods at different price points catering to all budgets. They purposely keep prices below those of Amazon and Chewy.

The Robitailles and store manager Cassie Craft are knowledgeable in dog food sensitivities and allergies, and can educate and recommend different products. They’ve also added new freezers so that they can offer different frozen and fresh foods, and work to sell only ethically responsible products.

There is much more than dog food. They have fun, unusual toys for all levels of chewers. They carry leashes and collars, “dog toiletries” and fluffy, cozy beds. They have significantly increased the foods and paraphernalia for cats. And they can order most anything you and your pets want.

Wiley Wagg founder Laura Clark is definitely impressed.

“Larry and I are absolutely thrilled that Middleburg’s pets and their people will have a wonderful store in Wylie Wagg’s former location,” she said. “It’s in the best of hands in the best of towns.”

Photo by Carina Elgin Drew and Megan Robitaille at their new pet supply shop in Middleburg.

It Never Gets Old For A World Class Rider

By Vicky Moon

Richard “Dick” Noyes Viets reminiscences about the first time he got on a pony. “I was not more than seven or eight years old,” he said, “when my father bought two unbroken Welsh ponies for my older brother and me.”

He grew up on a farm near Stowe, Vermont. “I inherited my horse loving genes from my mother. There wasn’t an animal alive that we didn’t learn about.” The boys rode their ponies everywhere, including to the local railroad station to wave goodbye to young soldiers boarding the train to go off to World War II.

Now, at 92, married twice and a widower, he has three grown daughters. He maintains a vigorous social life, with black tie or sporting attire at the ready. He fondly recalls a lifetime career in the foreign service and his equestrian journey around the world, speaking of the horses he owned and rode along the way.

While in India, he galloped and played polo. In Romania, he rode a horse that was 18 hands. While in Tel Aviv, Israel he bought an Arabian horse and lived on a kibbutz. In Jordan, he was on an Arabian on loan from a friend and remembered a day riding in the desert when they encountered a massive swarm of wasps in a black cloud.

“The horse stood his ground as hundreds of thousands of wasps approached. He stood stock still.” One might say in true diplomatic form, “crisis averted.”

In Middleburg, he lived at Aspen Hill with his first wife, Marina Woroniecka Viets (who died in 1989). There was a small stable. Vincent Melzac, noted art connoisseur and head of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, was a friend. He invited Viets to his sprawling Locust Hills Farm in Romney, West Virginia, to pick out a new horse. Out of 300 half wild Arabian horses, an unbroken five-year-old came up and put his head on Viets’ shoulder. Dancer lived to age 27.

Photo by Middleburg Photo Erica Picking and Dick Viets head off from Old Denton for a morning out with the Orange County Hounds.

Photo by Vicky Moon Trotski is a play on the name of Leon Trotsky.

“Riding with Dick is like watching a bird fly or fish swim,” she said. “He’s simply in his natural element.”

“There are three relationships in life,” Viets said. “First, the supreme. Second, another human, hopefully your wife, and three, the one with your horse or dog. I’ve learned so much with horses, I could write a book. Dogs are clever and can manipulate. Horses are smarter than the human on their back.”

Now, Viets can often be spotted motoring through the village, top down on his sporting car on his way to ride his horse at Mo Baptist’s stable. He spends time with Trotski, a charming brown gelding.

His riding chum, Dana Priest, said it best. “He’s ridden just about everywhere and can recall each adventure with great passion and detail.”

Richard Noyes Viets

Born 1930 and raised in Vermont

Military service: U.S. Army 1950-52

University of Vermont 1955

Harvard University

Georgetown University

Entered Foreign Service 1955

U.S. Ambassador to Jordan (1981-84)

U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania (1979-81)

U.S. State Department Deputy Chief of Mission, Tel Aviv (1977-79)

U.S. State Department Deputy Chief of Mission, Bucharest (1974-77)

U.S. State Department Director, Executive Secretariat (1973-74)

U.S. State Department International Relations Officer (1972-73)

U.S. State Department Special Assistant to the Ambassador, New Delhi (1962-72)

U.S. State Department Political and Economic Officer, New Delhi (1967-69)

U.S. State Department Commercial Officer, Madras (1965-67)

U.S. State Department Commercial Officer, Tokyo (1962-65)

Mobil (1960-62)

U.S. Commerce Department Assistant Exhibit Manager (1957-60)

U.S. Official International Communication Agency:(1955-57)

Bank of America Los Angeles (1955)

American Academy of Diplomacy

Council on Foreign Relations

Photo by Vicky Moon At home in Virginia with Trotski.

Photo by Vicky Moon

At the National Sporting Library & Museum Gala it’s all about black tie.

Photo by Dana Priest

Just after the photo shoot for Country ZEST, he was off to Bitterroot Ranch in Dubois, Wyoming.

Photo by Dana Priest Across the river and through the trees in Wyoming.

On a very recent excursion to Bitterroot Ranch in Dubois, Wyoming, Viets met up with Dana Priest, a Washington Post journalist and fellow equestrian who lives part time in this horse happy area.

Photo by Donna Strama Nathaniel “Nat” Gumbs and Millicent Scarlett, a soprano performing at Trinity Episcopal Church as part of the three-day, five stop Hunt Country Music Festival. Kudos to co-chairs Leah Ferguson and Linda Taylor and many thanks to Cary and Louise Crane for hosting a Broadway Brunch at Locust Hill.

Photo by Chris Patusky Lt. Joel Davidson, band master of the 45-member Norfolk based Navy U.S. Fleet Forces Band, captured the attention of a full house at the Middleburg Community Center with the inspiring “1812 Overture” as part of the Hunt Country Musical Festival.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro Karen Knobloch, executive director of the Hunt Country Music Festival, should also take a bow.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro

Laura Mills and Lark Payne of the Silvertones Swing Band performed at a free concert on the lawn at the National Sporting Library and Museum.

Photo by Lee Hale. Long time friends of Ann MacLeod celebrated her 101st birthday at Carol Holden’s Cripple Creek Farm: Louisa Barker, Helen Wiley, Vicky Moon, Len Shapiro, Sharyn Correy, Lenny Hale, Johnathan Miller and John Barker with Carol Holden, Sammy, Ann MacLeod and Lisa Thompson.

The Pig and I

Aconflicted bacon-loving journalist labors for six months at an industrial pig farm in this compelling investigation into the long relationship between humans and swine.

In this eye opening and lively book, journalist Kristoffer Hatteland Endresen of Norway follows a litter of piglets from birth, all in the hope of understanding what goes on inside an industrial pig farm and whether humans can ethically justify eating pork. He mucks out pig pens, cuddles a piglet, and narrowly escapes being trampled.

Drawing on history, literature, archeology, and myth, Endresen interweaves his piggery experience with surprising insights into the long and star-crossed bond between pigs and humans. Sharing new science on video-game-playing swine and pig heart transplants, he asks if pigs really are as smart as we think.

After convincing a skeptical pig farmer to take him on as a hired hand for six months, Endresen follows a litter of piglets from birth to slaughter of the most consumed animal protein in the world.

Both an engaging saga of an overlooked animal and a provocative exploration of the ethics of industrial meat, The Pig and I asks us to consider not only where our food comes from, but also the tangled history that first brought it to our plates.

The Pig and I is an intelligent, surprising and engaging saga that may change the way you think about your breakfast, that BLT at lunch or pork chops for dinner.

Endresen is a historian and journalist who has worked in the fields of writing and teaching. This is his first book.

E.F. Hutton Spoke, I Should have Listened

By Jimmy Hatcher

I’m carrying you back to the summer of 1955.

I had sold my show horse and was judging the Farmington Junior Horse Show. Mrs. Lela Ellis, the show steward, came up to me between classes and asked if I could come to Hot Springs, Virginia, two weeks before the horse show at the Homestead and help her with invitations and such.

That was a job Molly McIintosh Vere Nicoll usually did. But Molly was about to have a baby, and Mrs. Ellis needed help. I accepted immediately, went home, arranged transportation and was ready to go.

Then the phone rang. Mrs. Ellis wanted me to bring riding clothes, a tip-off that she really wanted me to ride an old horse she had retired. I called the previous rider and learned he’d been retired because he had opthalmia, a disease that can cause temporary blindness.

Mrs. Ellis called once more to see if I was still coming. I decided to go, but left my horse show clothing at home. And once I arrived at Hot Springs, it became obvious that Mrs. Ellis had “periodic forgetfulness” when I was greeted with “Jimmy Hatcher. What on earth are you doing in Hot Springs?”

I introduced Mrs. Ellis to the young lady I had gotten a ride with. She told me

to go down to the cottage the girl’s parents had rented at the Homestead and to be back by 6 o’clock for dinner.

She also told me to leave my suitcase with her and she’d have someone take it to my quarters after Ed Hutton got his things out of the upstairs. Seems that Mr. Hutton took all the upstairs bedrooms for himself because he didn’t sleep well and liked to move around from bedroom to bedroom.

Little did I guess that Ed Hutton was, indeed, financier E. F. Hutton, once married to Marjorie Merriweather Post and the father of actress Dina Merrill. As it turned out, the Ellises had also been early sponsors of Mr. Hutton when he went into the investment business.

Happily, I went down to my friend’s cottage, driving Mrs. Ellis’s Jaguar sports car. Arriving back at the appointed 6 o’clock dinner hour, I found the Ellises and the Huttons already seated at the dinner table and fortunately, there was a place setting for me.

In those days, a train to New York City came into Hot Springs, and the Huttons were catching it for an overnight trip back to Manhattan.

The clothes being worn by the dinner guests were rather interesting. Mr. Hutton was in black-tie, Mrs. Hutton and Mrs. Ellis wore short formal gowns, Mr. Ellis wore a Hawaiian shirt, and Jimmy Hatcher had on a polo shirt.

Everyone was in a great mood. Mr. Hutton was actually laughing at all my clean, corny jokes, and I was laughing at all his clean, corny jokes. His last words to me as he was leaving for the train were “be sure to call me when you finish college for a job.”

Mrs. Ellis explained to me later that week just who he was. And no, I never called him when I finished Hampden-Sydney College. Big mistake.

Years later, at a dinner in Huntland, a guest who had been CEO at E.F. Hutton’s Chicago branch listened to my story and said, “oh Jimmy, you should’ve called him. He loved horse people. He once re-uniformed the entire New York City mounted police force.”

Edward Francis Hutton (18751962) was Margorie Merriweather Post’s (1887- 1973) second husband and the father of their daughter Nedenia Marjorie Hutton, best known as the actress Dina Merrill (1923-2017)

Michelle Lacaze Is There To Help At Windy Hill

By Ronen Feldman

Any employer who’s ever had a vacancy for a crucial position can only hope that somehow, some way, the so-called “Perfect Fit” will apply for the job. In Windy Hill’s case, that’s exactly what happened when Michelle Lacaze became the foundation’s new director of resident services in late May.

In this year’s spring edition, Country ZEST featured the foundation’s 40th anniversary and its mission to provide affordable housing and residential services for lower-income families.

And now, Windy Hill has been delighted with its latest addition, because its newest member will fill a role that almost seemed impossible to cast.

Since its inception, Windy Hill has provided a variety of services, ranging from after school programs for children and financial training for adults to social services for elderly residents. It has expanded to include housing in five towns across Loudoun and Fauquier counties.

The responsibility to serve as its residents’ surrogate big sister, caring aunt and loving daughter would intimidate most. But not Michelle, a humanitarian work veteran since graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in psychology. Helping people has always been second nature to her.

“I’ve been thrilled already,” said Eloise Repeczky, executive director of Windy Hill. “She has a wealth of experience in breaking down barriers and finding opportunities for growth. It’s terrific to have her on board.”

Born in Washington D.C. to a French father and restauranteur and an Argentine mother, she became mindful of cultural barriers from an early age. The one constant in her career has been her work to benefit others.

Among her many professional experiences include being a career specialist, a social services official, New Hope Housing official to help the homeless, and even an English teacher during the time she spent in France.

Arguably her most challenging humanitarian position came when she also was an obvious choice to work with governmental organizations to process, plan for and accommodate incoming refugees from different war-torn parts of the world into the United States, making their first stop at Virginia military bases.

In recent years, Michelle worked with Afghan families at Quantico and Fort Lee, processed arrivals from Ukraine and, often being the only Spanish-speaker in the team, handled many cases from Central America.

“It’s the most rewarding experience you can have, but a difficult one,” she said. “Not the work, but the sights. You see people in pain, and you can’t help but imagine yourself and your loved ones in that same situation, anyone would. I’m proud of the work we’ve done.”

She also realized when it was time to move on. After moving to Marshall in an area where her brother Julien, who owns an antique shop, and sister Natalie, the new branch manager at Middleburg’s Atlantic Union Bank live with their families, she wanted to do good for the community. Windy Hill was a perfect fit.

“On my part,” Michelle said, “I want to do my best to make sure all Windy Hill residents are heard and that they know we’re here for them, not just with the common services, but anything they might personally need.”

In addition to its current staff, she’d like to add at least two more resident services coordinators to make sure they’re available to their residents in all five towns as much as possible. She’d also like to encourage volunteers to take part.

“I’d like to reinvigorate our connection with our residents,” she said, “and let them know they have a family in us.”

Michelle Lacaze a welcome addition at Windy Hill.

Geraldine Carroll

Charles Carroll IV, MD

Tony Wells Has All the Write Stuff

By Ronen Feldman

Not many people can say they’ve been fought over, much less by the U.S. government.

That’s just one of the many exclusive clubs Tony Wells belongs to.

Born in Britain, and not one to brag, this longtime resident of The Plains is also the only living person to have worked for British Intelligence as a British citizen and U.S. Intelligence as an American citizen.

A distinguished public servant, respected academic and renowned author, his life could easily inspire a novel. However, he’d much rather discuss anything else, like politics, history, or the lives of the remarkable people he’s met over the years, giving him a perspective Americans rarely have.

His journey with his adopted country started almost half a century ago when he came to America in the 1970s as a member of the Royal Navy to serve with the U.S. Navy and work with the intelligence community in Washington D.C.

Most of the positions he’s held and the responsibilities that came with them were so sensitive he still can’t talk about it in detail. What’s not a secret though is the impression he made on everyone around him.When he came back in 1982, a D.C. lawmaker personally petitioned for him to become an American citizen.

“It’s about professionalism, trustworthiness, and integrity,” Tony said. “We’re all human, we have opinions and we’re far from perfect, but our willingness to do our duty regardless of the circumstances, or who’s asking, is what serving our country really means.”

He would know. Over the past 40 years, he advised some of the country’s top policy makers on topics such as international relations, intelligence and other major security issues. What’s more, he renounced his British citizenship, proudly dedicating himself to the freedoms he believes many Americans neither appreciate nor understand.

“My wife, our children and eight grandchildren are as American as they come,” Tony said proudly. “Whenever I visit the UK, or anywhere else for that matter, I can’t help but wonder how I ever behaved or thought this way…I can’t wait to go back home whenever I do.”

Not everything has changed, however. He’s still a hardcore fan of the New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team, and retains a somewhat Americanized proper British accent.

He also shows no signs of slowing down. In his latest book published in April, “Guarding Against Extremism in the 21St Century: A Lesson from the Past,” he once again employed his expertise to discuss the threats of extremism to American democracy in modern times.

He frequently speaks to students, citing education as one of the most crucial issues to focus on as a nation.

“We need to make a point to invest in our children’s knowledge beyond STEM and what’s mandatory,” he said. “Both in private and public education subjects like geography, for example, are lost on American children, leaving them behind the youth in other parts of the world, thereby leaving all of us behind.”

He’s already begun work on his next book. And so, this as American as apple pie gentleman, twice as energetic as people decades his junior, will go on making the country better one conversation at a time.

Tony Wells, an author and so much more.

T H A N K Y O U W I N D Y H I L L A T 4 0 S P O N S O R S !

AHT Insurance, A Baldwin Risk Partner

Akre Capital Management, LLC

Gloria & Howard Armfield

BCT - The Community's Bank

Lisa & Mike Catlett

Clark Construction

Bank of Clarke Foundation

Climatic Heating & Cooling Inc

Bailey & Bradley Davis

Shannon & Jim Davis

Gayle & Thomas Delashmutt

Dominion Construction Group, LLC

Valerie & Guy Dove, III

The Ellison Family

The Foosaner Family

Alice & Todd Frazier

Gabrielle G. Gallegos & Scott W. Johnston

KC & Ben Graham

Good Works

Vicki & Paul Hasse

Carolyn & Michael Hylton

Lisa & Marvin Jawer

Roberta & Alexander Jeffries, Jr

The Killinger Family

J Preston Levis Foundation

Jacqueline B Mars

Monoflo International, Inc.

Ann & Tom Northrup

Oak View Bank

Karin & Mark Ohrstrom

Carla & Kevin Passarello

Kiernan & Chris Patusky

The Piedmont Environmental Council

Salamander Hotels & Resorts

Sheridan-MacMahon Realtors

Slater Run Vineyards

Page & Howard Smith

Dennis Stout & Daniel Studnicky

Thomas & Talbot Estate Properties

Judy Washburn

Helen C. Wiley

Elizabeth & William Wolf, III

YHB | CPAs & Consultants

On behalf of our residents who live in Windy Hill's 310 affordable homes, thank you to our community that helped us celebrate our 40th anniversary, and that continues to sustain our mission!

W e a r e g r a t e f u l f o r o u r s p o n s o r s w h o c h a m p i o n e d o u r 4 0 t h c e l e b r a t i o n a t S a l a m a n d e r R e s o r t i n M a y , o u r 3 0 0 + f r i e n d s w h o a t t e n d e d a n d s u p p o r t e d t h e c e l e b r a t i o n , o u r c a d r e o f d e d i c a t e d v o l u n t e e r s , a n d o u r m a n y c o m m u n i t y p a r t n e r o r g a n i z a t i o n s

T h e 4 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y m a r k s a m i l e s t o n e f o r W i n d y H i l l . I n o r d e r t o b e t t e r f u l f i l l o u r m i s s i o n o f p r o v i d i n g s a f e , d e c e n t , a f f o r d a b l e h o u s i n g t o l o w e r i n c o m e i n d i v i d u a l s , f a m i l i e s , o l d e r a d u l t s , a n d a d u l t s w i t h d i s a b i l i t i e s , w e l a u n c h e d a c a m p a i g n t o a d d r e s s d e f e r r e d m a i n t e n a n c e a n d e n h a n c e s o c i a l s e r v i c e s t h a t h e l p o u r r e s i d e n t s .

W i n d y H i l l s e r v e s p e o p l e w h o a r e m e m b e r s o f o u r c o m m u n i t y : e m e r g e n c y s e r v i c e p e r s o n n e l , t e a c h e r s , s t a f f a t g r o c e r y a n d o t h e r l o c a l s t o r e s , f a r m w o r k e r s , a n d m e m b e r s o f b u i l d i n g t r a d e s Y o u r s u p p o r t m a k e s t h i s a l l p o s s i b l e .

A s p e c i a l t h a n k y o u t o L e n S h a p i r o a n d V i c k y M o o n o f C o u n t r y Z e s t a n d S t y l e f o r s h a r i n g W i n d y H i l l ’ s s t o r y i n t h e i r S p r i n g 2 0 2 3 i s s u e F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e W i n d y H i l l F o u n d a t i o n a n d t o s u p p o r t a f f o r d a b l e h o u s i n g a n d s e r v i c e s f o r i t s r e s i d e n

John Marshall’s Boyhood

By Thomas Marshall deButts

It’s a tiny house, only 16 by 28 feet, but typical of an English-style frontier dwelling.

The Hollow, built in 1764 by Thomas Marshall (1730 -1802), was the boyhood home of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall (17551835). Located on private property in Markham, it’s included on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.

The four-room weatherboard house, originally with two massive stone chimneys, is one of Fauquier County’s earliest existing examples of fine frontier architecture. It’s a rare example of a wood frame house that is not currently incorporated into a more recent structure.

The Hollow was built prior to Thomas Marshall’s 1765 move with his family from his first Fauquier County home near Midland. No trace of the original homestead exists.

More than 10,000 descendants probably can trace their lineage back to Thomas Marshall and Mary Randolph Keith Marshall and The Hollow. Their oldest son, John, is well known to historians, and his significant contribution to the evolution of the American form of government cannot be overestimated.

Young John Marshall came to The Hollow with

his parents and four younger siblings in 1765 before his tenth birthday. He lived there until 1773, when he moved with his family to Oak Hill in Delaplane, a larger dwelling on land his father had purchased. In 1790, after serving with his father and brothers in the American Revolution, he built a house in Richmond that is beautifully preserved and maintained, Thomas Marshall, born in Westmoreland County, Virginia on April 2, 1730, was made a justice of Fauquier at age 29. His father, John Marshall “of the forest,” was a small planter, who in 1727, acquired 200 acres of depleted land on Appomattox Creek. Thomas Marshall inherited this property from his father but soon abandoned it for Fauquier County. By the time of the first court for Fauquier County, he was living on Licking Run (Gemantown community)

on land he had settled in about 1754. That year, he married Mary Randolph Keith, daughter of the Rev. James Keith, the first permanent minister of the Elk Run Anglican Church, also in Fauquier County. The first of their 15 children, John, was born on Licking Run, September 24, 1755.

The Fauquier County Deed Book reveals that Thomas Marshall leased a 330-acre tract encompassing The Hollow property from Thomas Ludwell Lee and Colonel Richard Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee in 1765. The lease was to run the lifetimes of Thomas, Mary or John, whichever was longest.

At age 35, Thomas Marshall moved his growing family to his newly constructed 1 1/2-story frame house on a beautiful rise just north of the present-day Markham. Five more children were born to Thomas

Photo by Tom deButts The Hollow

Photo The United States Mint

2005 Chief Justice John Marshall Commemorative Silver One-dollar uncirculated, obverse.

T. Huntley Thorpe III

Karen E. Hedrick

Robin C. Gulick

Boyhood Home Turns 260

In 1773, Thomas Marshall purchased 1,700 acres on the Fredericksburg-Winchester road next to Little Cobbler Mountain. On his new land to the east, he built “Oak Hill.”

By this time, he sat in the House of Burgesses from 1761 to 1767, when he was appointed sheriff of the county. He named a vestryman of Leeds after the creation of that parish in 1769 and again represented Fauquier in the Assembly from 1769 to 1773. He also sat as a member in 1775 and supported Patrick Henry in the convention of that year.

He had some military training in the Indian wars and served successively as ensign, lieutenant and captain of the militia. When the Culpeper Minute Men were formed and mustered on September l, 1775, Thomas Marshall, representing Fauquier, was a major.

acres of Oak Hill and moved his family to Fayette County in Kentucky to pursue land warrants he and his family earned as Revolutionary War soldiers. President George Washington appointed Thomas Marshall as federal whiskey tax collector. He died in Kentucky in 1802.

John Marshall, the most influential jurist in U.S. history, in an autobiographical letter written to Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, wrote, “[a]t the age of 12, I had transcribed Pope’s Essay on Man, with some of his moral essays.” By 16, Marshall reported that he “continued my studies with no other aid than my dictionary” and had “commenced reading Horace and Livy.”

When Marshall returned to Fauquier County for the Marquis de Lafayette’s farewell tour in 1825, he raised a toast:

and Mary Marshall, bringing the total number of children living in the house to ten before the move to Oak Hill near Delaplane.

When his battalion was discharged after the Battle of Great Bridge, he was transferred to the 3rd Virginia Line and marched north to join General George Washington. He was made lieutenant colonel on August 13, 1776, and on Christmas night of that year took part in the battle of Trenton. Promoted to colonel on February 21, 1777, he took command of this regiment and fought with great gallantry at the battle of Brandywine, having two horses shot out from under him. A few months later, he was elected colonel of the Virginia State Regiment of Artillery.

After the war, Thomas Marshall sold 1,000

“I can never forget that this county was the revered author of my being . . .that in this county I first breathed the vital air, that in it my infancy was cradled and my youth reared up and encouraged; that in the first dawn of manhood I marched from it. . . . Here my affections as well as my interest still remain, and all my sons are planted among you.”

Detailed information about The Hollow, and its extensive restoration, can be accessed at the website of the Friends of the Hollow, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to its preservation and restoration. [www.friendsofthehollow.org]

Photo courtesy National Portrait Gallery Supreme Court

Chief Justice John Marshall

Discover What Makes Us Experts at Educating Girls

• Designed with girls in mind, courses are interdisciplinary, collaborative & hands-on

• 1:5 faculty to student ratio supports individual learning in small class setting

• Nationally recognized riding & STEM programs

• Students thrive intellectually, socially & emotionally, guided by intentional co-curricular & residential life program

A New Flower Blooms for Bunny Mellon

By Peter Crane

Research at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation has named a new flower in honor of Rachel “Bunny” Lambert Mellon on the tenth anniversary of her death.

The flower, given the scientific name Racheliflora virginiensis, bloomed here in Virginia 110 million years ago. It was discovered in samples of ancient clays collected near Petersburg as part of project to learn what fossils can tell us about the origin of flowers.

Less than 2mm across, the fossil flower is tiny compared to flowers of its living relatives but could be studied using advanced X-ray imaging at the Swiss Light Source, a synchrotron facility in Switzerland.

Although known from just three specimens, X-ray images reveal what the different parts of the flower looked like and make possible an accurate artists reconstruction, with only the color left to the imagination.

Research with Danish colleagues shows that the flower is related to modern day sweetshrub, and more distantly to pawpaw, magnolia, and sassafras.

Several sites on the Virginia coastal plain have rocks of the right kind and the right age to preserve ancient fossil flowers. Their study helps understand how plants with flowers have transformed the world over the past 130 million years.

We all depend on these plants and the energy that they harvest from the sun. Mrs. Mellon was a tireless advocate for the importance of plants and the Oak Spring Garden Foundation was her way to help ensure that they are never taken for granted.

Peter Crane is president of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville. He joined Oak Spring after seven years as Dean of the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He is a specialist in the diversity of plant life, including its fossil history, evolution and conservation.

Drawing by Pollyanna von Knorring Artist’s reconstruction of a flower of Racheliflora virginiensis. The flower is less than a sixteenth of an inch across. The structure is accurate but the color is imaginary.

Photograph Peter Crane Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) a near living relative of Racheliflora virginiensis. One of many horticultural varieties with a flower almost three inches across.

Photograph Peter Crane Professor Else Marie Friis of Aarhus University, who participated in the project, placing a specimen for advanced X-ray imaging at the Swiss Light Source, a synchrotron facility in Switzerland.

THE HUNT COUNTRY

By Nina Carter Tabb

Mr. and Mrs. Gould Shaw, and their two daughters, Penelope and Elaine, have returned after spending August at Saratoga. They were among the spectators at the last game played here the other day by the Fauquier-Loudoun Polo Club, which has been unable to enjoy the sport for the last month, because the constant rain kept the fields too soft.

The club will send a team to Baltimore today to play the Maryland Polo Club. Going are Richard Kirkpatrick, Robert Vanderpool Clark, Hubert Phipps and C.V.B Cushman. There will consequently be no polo here today.

Miss Mary Dutton has had her houseguest this week, the Misses Margarita Stirling, Mary Theresa Norris and Marion Norris, all of Washington. Jack Butler, Jr., had with him Robert Duggan, of Long Island, and Talbot Adamson and Bill Adamson, of Philadelphia.

Mrs. Rush Rowland, of Philadelphia, was visiting Mrs. Arthur Marshall at her home, Crednal. Mrs. Rowland was honor guest at a luncheon given on Saturday, by her sister, Mrs. C. F. Rinker at her home in Upperville. Among the guests were Mrs .Peter

B. Wood of Baltimore; Mrs. Edwin H Brown, of Washington; Mrs. Raymond Knight, of Jacksonville, Florida;-all of whom are visiting in Virginia- and Mrs. Marshall

Miss Mary Webb Tyler, of Upperville has returned home from a visit to Mrs. Dorsey Cullen at Green Wood, near Charlottesville, Va.

MISS PRISCILLA MACY has returned to her home in New York after summering with her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. John C. Butler. She will come back later this fall to hunt with the Piedmont Fox Hounds.

Jack Butler, son of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Butler will enter Princeton later this month as a freshman. Charles Baird, son of the Charles Bairds of Rectortown, is going to Harvard

Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Jones were hosts at dinner on Friday at their home near Bluefield. Their house guests, Mr. and Mrs. Monty Boyd of Richmond, were present, and others included Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Hardin, Mr. and Mrs. Luddington Patton, Mr. and Mrs. Turner Wilshire, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sabin, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Sands and Mr. and Mrs. Daniel deButts, of Baltimore.

Nina Carter Tabb

Miss Nanny Fred has returned to her home Sunny Bank after visiting Col. and Mrs. Harry Whitfield on Long Island.

Robert Montague of Charleston, S. C., who is now in business in Philadelphia, recently visited his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. William Poindexter Montague at their home Melmore, in Middleburg

MISS JANET ROSZEL, who has been staying with her aunt Mrs. H, Gwynne Tayloe, and her cousin, Miss Southgate Morison, has returned to her home in Baltimore.

Mr. and Mrs. Philip Connors will return to their home near Middleburg this week. Mrs. Connors, the former Miss Connie Reagan of Lexington, Ky., is being congratulated on the birth of a son at Doctors Hospital in New York.

Nina Carter Tabb (1883-1950) lived in Middleburg and is buried at the Sharon Cemetery. She wrote for The Washington Post. This article is reprinted with permission.

© The Washington Post (1923-1954); Sep 15, 1940; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post pg. S1

Pilates Classes and French Lessons, Too

By Leonard Shapiro

Kate Knepper has plenty on her plate these days—two different part-time jobs in Middleburg and gearing up for on-line classes through Indiana University to finish her college degree. And oh yes, she’s also starting up her own business in the village that incorporates two of her passions—instruction in pilates and French.

This energetic 21-year-old dynamo plans to open a cozy 300-square foot pilates studio early this fall on the second floor above Atelier Maison at 15 East Washington Street. One of her part-time jobs is helping out at that design shop and owner Terri Pakravan has rented her the space upstairs.

The new business will be called Feminine Pilates & French Instruction, though she expects people of all ages and genders to take part. She’s also hoping to use her new space to offer tutoring in the French language, her college major.

A type of mind-body exercise, pilates was developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates. It involves a system of repetitive exercises performed on a yoga mat or other equipment to promote strength, stability, and flexibility.

Pilates advocates tout the core-strengthening benefits of the method to improve posture and balance. The system targets so-called “powerhouse” muscles, which include the glutes, hips, pelvic floor, and lower back. It also encourages deep, conscious breathing.

“It’s a mind-body balance,” Kate said. “It teaches you coordination and balance and it’s great for people in desk jobs who sit hunched over all day. It really helps posture, and a lot more.”

An avid tennis player, Kate said she always enjoyed working out. She became enamored with pilates when she was a student at Catholic University during the Covid outbreak.

“I started doing it with on-line videos I’d watch in my room, and I did a lot of walking, too,” she said. “I was pretty much staying around the dorm all day and doing all this stuff. People thought I was crazy, but I didn’t like going to gyms all that much.”

Kate took a year off from her studies and over the last year has been taking a 450-hour pilates certification program in Winchester, where she now lives. She’s already got a client list and said a number of people have already told they’re planning to take her classes.

She’ll do group work with a maximum of four participants at $35 per class. She also plans to do private one-on-one work at $90 for the hour-long sessions. The first class, she added, will be free, “Just to see if they want to keep going.

“My long-term goal is to do some pilates classes in French,” she said with a smile. “That’s when I’ll know that I’ve made it.”

Feminine Pilates is located at 13 East Washington Street in Middleburg. For more information, go to www.femininepilates.com or call 703-402-4750.

your support builds the story of home.

It’s the story of kids playing in their own yard while mom or dad cooks in their own kitchen. It’s the story of everyday security and dreams for the future. It’s the story of an affordable home a family built themselves with help from Habitat for Humanity, volunteers and you.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro Kate Knepper

Stretch It Out And Feel the Difference

By Leonard Shapiro

ADartmouth graduate with an MBA from the prestigious University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Jeff Jeffress spent the first twenty years of his career as a management consultant working with a wide variety of Fortune 500 companies.

These days, he’s delighted to focus on only one business—his own—and it takes no stretch of the imagination to understand why. Located in the bustling Gateway shopping complex in Gainesville, there’s a whole lot of body stretching going on inside his recently opened enterprise.

It’s called StretchLab, and after doing plenty of due diligence when he was deciding on the sort of franchise he’d like to own, Jeffress is convinced there’s tremendous potential based on what he’s seen since the doors opened on May 15.

Men and women, kids and seniors, runners and hikers, tennis players and golfers, even a few local junior and senior high school football players have been stretched out by the eight flexologists on duty seven days a week. They’re all certified in either personal training, physical or massage therapy and yoga instruction, as well as additional training in the art and science of the stretch.

Jeffress, an avid runner and hiker, is a stretch-ee himself but is hands off on the clients.

“Oh yeah, I’ll get stretched,” he said. “That’s a perk for me. The real perk is to see how it helps people. It makes a huge difference in their lives. One guy called and said he had just driven his car for two hours and, for the first time in 20 years, when he got out, his back didn’t hurt him at all.”

Added flexologist Kylie Lewis, also a long-time personal trainer, “many people get results almost instantly. People make huge progress right away. It’s very impressive.”

Stretching has a wide variety of benefits, including improving sports performance, increasing range of motion and flexibility, reducing muscle and joint pain, and improving posture.

There are several ways to utilize the Gainesville facility. At the moment, they’re offering a one-time $49 cost for a 50-minute introductory session. Monthly memberships are preferred, with prices starting at $179 per month or more depending on how many stretches per week and the length of each, either 25 or 50 minutes. It can be done with a one-on-one or family plan option.

“When I was looking around to see what direction I would take, I really thought people needed this kind of service,” Jeffress said. “This is different than a gym concept. There really is no place just dedicated to stretching, and the awareness of the importance of stretching is growing.

“So far, the response has been great. We already have 130 members and we’re adding to it all the time. People really are starting to see the benefits.”

StretchLab is located at 13970 Promenade Commons Street in Gainesville.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro Jeff Jeffress, owner of StretchLab. Country ZEST & Style | Autumn 2023

THOMAS & TALBOT ESTATE PROPERTIES

2 South Madison Street | PO Box 500 | Middleburg, VA 20118 Office: 540-687-6500 | thomasandtalbot.com

At Hill School, Change for

ALNELL FARM 541 +/- acres | $7,800,000

Home to 541 +/- acres of beautiful rolling hills and pasture located in Flint Hill, Virginia. This scenic property is surrounded by unspoiled countryside and expansive views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, offering a private and quiet escape to enjoy. The farm consists of 7 residences, a 10-stall barn, and 8-acre spring fed pond, all protected by conservation easement.

BEAVERDAM BRIDGE

10 acres | $2,100,000

Middleburg – Stunning, 4 level custom home with 5 BR / 5 BA and nearly 6,500 sq. ft. of living space. Surrounded by 10 private acres with mature trees, open lawns and a fenced garden.

By Leonard Shapiro

Apenny, a nickel, a dime, or a quarter can make a huge difference in the lives of countless Americans, according to the Maine-based nonprofit “World of Change” (WOC). At The Hill School in Middleburg, students from Junior Kindergarten through the eighth grade have been learning that valuable lesson.

It began when Kelly Johnson, Hill’s Director of Enrollment, and two students, then eighth grader Tim Hubbard and seventh grader Zoe Korff, attended a presentation at the Montessori School of South Riding that included the WOC founder. They learned that studies show an estimated $10 billion in change sits idle in households across America.

WOC founder Matt Hoidal thought it would be a fabulous idea to collect the scattered troves of coins to make a positive impact. He started WOC in 2017 and all that change has also made a world of difference for both donors, and recipients.

“One of the key components is to engage kids in philanthropy at a young age,” Matt told an interviewer when WOC first launched. “I can’t think of a better way to show children how they can make a difference. They will be able to take the change just sitting around their homes and decide which jar to drop the coins into and then literally watch it add up and see with their own eyes how they can make a world of change.”

Matt came to Middleburg at the end of the 2023 school year to attend a Hill

Photos by Leonard Shapiro Matt Hoidal, Zoe Kroff and Treavor Lord at a Hill School “World of Change” assembly.

It’s All About for the Better

assembly that also included several representatives of the local organizations that are the beneficiaries of all that Hill change, over $6,000 in the three years Hill has sponsored the fundraiser.

“It’s a lot of fun to collect the change and even more fun to see it all add up,” he told the students. “It’s not about just thinking about nice things. It’s doing nice things. And all of you are changing the world.”

WOC partners with established non-profits and programs, and targets 100 percent of the funds raised to provide support in six areas: housing, food security, education, financial literacy, health and wellness, and children’s play.

Zoe Korff, a rising senior at Heritage High School, said she loved the idea right from the start. She and Tim Hubbard, now entering his freshman year at Longwood College, initially helped organize a fundraiser, then explained the program to their fellow Hill students at a school-wide assembly.

That day, each child was given a change purse containing four quarters. Jars for each of the charity beneficiaries were placed in each classroom, and soon began filling up with those quarters, with lots more change to come.

“It was so simple,” Zoe said. “I’m also a sucker for puns and plays on words. But to think something so mundane as finding loose change could make such a huge difference was very appealing. It’s so simple anyone can do it. It wasn’t ‘oh, just ask your parents to write a check.’ It was ‘go look between the cushions, search for coins under the seat of your car.’”

In 2023, Hill’s change went to Backpack Buddies, Boulder Crest Foundation, Middleburg Humane Foundation, The Truth 365, Winchester Rescue Mission, and All Ages Read Together.

There were six change jars in every classroom, one for each nonprofit.   “What I love about the program is that it gives children the power to decide where their money will go,” Kelly said. “It provides them a unique sense of ownership and responsibility. They are becoming young philanthropists and are making an actual difference in the lives of people these non-profits are supporting.”

Representatives from Boulder Crest Foundation, The Truth 365, and Winchester Rescue Mission came to Hill’s assembly to offer a personal thank you.

“It’s important that children understand the difference they are making, “ Kelly said, “For representatives from the non-profits to speak directly to the students, to express their gratitude for the students’ efforts, and for the students to be given a glimpse of how their donations are transforming lives, inspires our community to do more.”

Indeed, The Hill School students are true agents of change, making a difference one coin at a time.

THOMAS & TALBOT ESTATE PROPERTIES

ROCKBURN FARM

132+ acres | $7,450,000

Marshall – c. 1828 stone manor house with 7 BRs, 8.5 BAs and 8 fireplaces. Traditional, yet elegant rooms along with comfortable family spaces. Stunning Blue Ridge Mtn views. Mature hardwood trees and antique stone walls. 2 barns, fenced paddocks, log cabin, 4 tenant houses, 2 workshops.

PARKER STREET .89 acres | $1,175,000

Enjoy a weekend retreat or full-time residence on almost one acre in the heart of the historic village of Upperville. Just minutes west of Middleburg, this 3 bedroom, 3 and a half bath home was fully renovated in 2010 by a local custom home builder for himself. Therefore, no details were spared. Move-in ready.

Zoe Korff

What Fun It Was For 66 Years

By Pat Reilly

The Fun Shop, which co-owner Betsy Allen Davis aptly called “the anchor store of Middleburg,” closed its doors July 8, 2023 after 66 years. For weeks, customers had been dropping in to pay their respects and help empty the shelves as prices dived.

“The love that we’ve gotten assures us that we have accomplished what mom set out to do—take care of the town,” Betsy said.

Betsy and her sister, Page Allen, are doing what their parents envisioned for them, retiring to pursue more of what they’d like to do, not what they have to do.

“I was nine years old when I started working here,” Betsy said. “It wasn’t child labor—I loved it.”

Photo by Leonard Shapiro Page Allen and Betsy Allen Davis with Tinker in their office on Saturday, July 8, 2023, the final day of retail fun at The Fun Shop.

Photo by Howard Allen

The original Fun Shop opened in 1956 in a small building approximately in the vicinity of the location of Scruffy’s now.

Howard and Nancy Allen, the co-founders of The Fun Shop.

On weekends, she’d work with the greeting cards, a favorite feature of the store among shoppers. She went on the payroll in 1976, when she moved back to the area after marriage. She eventually became the office manager, but somehow found time to serve as mayor of Middleburg from 2006 to 2018, bringing business expertise to the official job of taking care of Middleburg.

Before The Fun Shop opened in 1956, there were no malls or big box stores near the Middleburg area. Families had to go 50 miles to D.C. to get good school clothes at places like Garfinckel’s and Woodward & Lothrop. The late Nancy Lee Allen realized a dream when she opened her own little department store with seed money from her mother.

She started in a tiny building down Washington Street near what is now the

Safeway parking lot, then later moved into the front room of her late husband, Howard’s, photo studio and expanded to the ten rambling rooms of elegant and eclectic wares that put the fun in shopping.

She provided customers what they asked for but she also knew what they would be needing. We did it “with service and a smile,” Betsy added, “and gift wrapping, shopping advice, later loyalty points…”

Said Page, “We always tried to keep things affordable for most people.”

The village has changed and retailing has transformed exponentially. “We’ve had ebbs and flows,” Page said. “Every time there’s a new experience, people want to try it out.”

Amazon and countless other online shopping sites put a damper on momand-pop shops. The Fun Shop survived, Betsy said, “because you could touch the goods, feel them and go home with them.”

Page managed the store and did the buying. So often, she said, people would come in and say, “I’ve looked everywhere for this!” At the same time, she’d be thinking, “Why didn’t you look here first?”

One of Betsy’s favorite moments came one day years ago while she was sitting in her office near the children’s department during the holidays. That’s when she overheard a father tell his young son, “Daddy came here when he was a little boy.”

The sisters know the store was a touchstone for many people’s memories, not only their own.

Betsy summed it up, saying, “It’s sad, but it’s time.” After running the family business for so many years, she looks forward to having more time for her four grandchildren.

Added Page, “Now I’ll have time to relax. I’ll get some of the weeds out of the garden and out of my brain.” She’ll start by cruising in Europe.

The Fun Shop soon will be replaced by a steakhouse that Betsy would like to think will have a touch of the iconic but now long-gone Coach Stop restaurant. She hopes the community will embrace the new restaurant, just as it’s done with the fabulous Fun Shop over the last 66 years.

Photo by Donna Strama

Cornerstone Christian Academy Welcomes 500 New Students

Photos by Haley Toth

By Leonard Shapiro

Sam Botta will always remember the day— Feb. 6, 2022—when he and his wife Lynda were sitting at their home in Chesapeake, Virginia and livestreaming a Sunday sermon being delivered by Senior Pastor Gary Hamrick four hours away at the Cornerstone Christian Chapel in Leesburg. It was truly life changing, to say the least.

The Bottas’ local church in the Virginia Beach area had been closed because of Covid concerns and they had been told by friends about Pastor Hamrick and his ministry. They had become regular viewers of what they considered to be his inspirational sermons. And this day was no exception.

From the pulpit, Pastor Hamrick announced that Cornerstone had purchased a 90-acre property that formerly housed the Middleburg Academy until it closed in 2020. He went on to say that the church was planning to open its own school, Cornerstone Christian Academy (CCA), initially grades kindergarten through eighth, in the fall of 2023. They’ll add ninth grade the following year and eventually have all 12 and as many as 700 students.

Botta, a long-time educator and coach in both public and private schools, at the time was the athletic director at Regent University in Virginia Beach, where he had also earned his doctorate. He liked that area. He loved his job. But when Pastor Hamrick also said that anyone interested in attending the new school, or working there, needed to e-mail right away, the Bottas immediately looked at each other.

“My wife says my mouth had dropped open,” he recalled. “She pointed to me and said, ‘You have to apply.’ I said, ‘I do?’ But I knew she was right.”

Little that has happened ever since has changed his opinion. On August 22, more than 500 youngsters will descend on the school for the first bell at 8 a.m., with another 70-plus faculty and staff also on hand. And Sam Botta, Cornerstone’s first head of school, will be there to greet them one and all.

Cornerstone has made a multi-million dollar financial commitment. Over the last year, the main academic building has been totally renovated, with new flooring, re-configured offices and classrooms wired up to handle digital needs, with more to come. The gorgeous grounds feature two primary academic buildings, totaling nearly 84,000 feet, and four residential dwellings, including a sprawling manor house dating back to the 1920s, and a now totally refurbished gym and athletic fields.

On the day Pastor Hamrick announced the new school, he invited people to pre-register before the official application process began. Within five hours, 1,600 students had pre-registered from 27 different states. By the end of the week, 2,500 had responded.

Children of many Cornerstone Chapel families will make up the majority

Sam Botta, Cornerstone’s head of school.

of the student body, with youngsters from all around Loudoun and Fauquier counties and beyond also attending. They will receive a faith-based Christian education with what Pastor Hamrick has described as a “biblical world view.”

Tuition from grades K-2 will be $8,000, grades 3-5 $9,250 and grades 6-8 $10,500. Scholarships and financial aid also will be available.

The rush to sign up is obviously in no small part due to dissatisfaction from some parents with local public schools, particularly in a Loudoun County system recently roiled by controversies involving the handling of a sexual assault complaint, transgender issues and concerns about the curriculum.

“So many things were happening,” Botta said. “There was an outcry from people in the community who wanted to know what they could do to counter what they believe is diametrically opposed to what they think is the way to educate their kids…The education here (at CCA) will be at the highest level. We have hired outstanding teachers, many of them from public schools.”

Said Pam Pryor, director of communications for Cornerstone Chapel, “after watching what was going on in Loudoun and some people saying parents shouldn’t have a say, we felt we had to open the school. It will be academically rigorous with religious education.”

Botta and Pryor both used the term “calling prep” as opposed to “college prep” to describe the school’s philosophy.

“Calling prep is beyond just preparing them for college, which of course we’ll do,” Botta said. “But ten or twenty years into adulthood, we want them to be good husbands and wives, great parents, leaders in their communities. That will be the true test of how we do.”

Looking for your special place in the country? I’ve been helping people find their dream homes for nearly three decades. Let’s

Nokesville- 225 acres on Burwell Rd. with Kettle Run flowing though year round. Perfect for a family compound and recreational use. Fauquier County approved to subdivide into 11 lots. Hardwoods can be harvested for timber and income. $2,220,000 MLS # VAFQ2004514

4 Building Lots in Boyce VA- 3, 3 ac lots, 1,47 ac lot Priced from $165,000 - $400,000 All Under Contract in one week!

Markham- 2.17 acres with 4 BR perc has beautiful mountain views & great commuter access. Great price! $140,000 MLS # VAFQ2006136

Marshall- 330 S.F. office space for lease in an historic house. Utilities, parking, kitchen use included. $975.00 mo. MLS # VAFQ2003556

1350 office

A refurbished common area for relaxing and studying.

The main classroom building has been totally renovated.

The statelyManor House is undergoing a complete interior makeover

WHAT AN OPENING, WHAT A SHOW

By Carina Elgin

Several hundred local residents, town officials and just plain history buffs filled Madison Street on a warm summer night to celebrate as The Middleburg Museum officially opened its doors on June 30. Those present enjoyed this long-awaited event by meandering through exhibits, listening to music and enjoying donated refreshments.

Committed to recording, preserving and sharing the rich history of the historic village and its surrounding area, the museum began as a vision by late Town Council member Eura Lewis, who was represented by a number of relatives attending the opening. The newly renovated space at 8 N. Madison Street is ample for exhibits and events, making it a one-stop destination for those seeking information, past and present.

Suzanne Obetz, the museum’s executive director, said, “We welcome any significant piece of history you may come across. I’ve worked in other museums where there’s an existing collection to choose your exhibits from. Somehow it seems more exciting to start from scratch. Everything that comes in is important.”

Since the opening, Suzanne said she’s been getting countless calls and emails from people who want to donate items to the museum, and she’s delighted to give them a home. There also has been a steady stream of visitors every day.

At the opening, one of the most popular items on display was the sign from the old Coach Stop restaurant hanging in the museum’s front window. And in the front room, the original recipe for its famous “Hi Y’all” drink was being served. That’s how the late Loretta Jilson, the restaurant hostess and wife of long-time Coach Stop owner Brian Jilson, would greet guests walking in the door.

One of the more remarkable artifacts on display was the old bar top from the Red Fox Inn that was taken out of its restaurant during a renovation in the 1950s. That same bar top, with blood stains and all, is said to have served as an operating table for a military hospital that occupied the Inn during the Civil War. Later, it belonged to famous Middleburg author Jane McClary, who used it as her writing table many years later at her home on Zulla Road.

The recent closing of The Fun Shop after 66 years will result in a special exhibit on the town’s iconic store. The museum is getting the Fun Shop sign that hung above the front door. The family of photographer Howard Allen, who’s wife Nancy, originally owned and operated the business for many years, has donated many of his photographs that will be available for viewing.

The Middleburg Museum, as a nonprofit, relies on donations and fundraising. “The community can help by becoming a member, buying a legacy brick, or making a monetary contribution,” Suzanne said.

Several events are being planned, including the second annual chili cook-off on Oct. 13 in the Pink Box Garden next door to the museum. That also will be the site for the Christmas Tree lighting on Dec. 1, and the lighting of a menorah celebrating Hanukkah from Dec. 7-15.

Sponsors included: JS2 Enterprises - provided the wine from Slater Run Winery, Mark Metzger - provided the beer from Lost Barrel Brewery, Carol Lee – catering, Goodstone Inn - Jefferson Van Allen – catering, Etten’s Eden - flower arrangements and JSC Construction. For more information, go to www.themiddleburgmuseum.org

The Middleburg Museum Draws a Crowd and Rave Reviews

Mayor Bridge Littleton

The Middleburg Museum officially opened its doors on Madison Street recently and an enthusiastic crowd turned up to see a lot of history on display. Museum Executive Director Suzanne Obetz and Museum President Doug Myers and several of their board members joined Mayor Bridge Littleton in a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the occasion, and also paid tribute to the late Eura Lewis, who spearheaded the original effort to get it started. According to Suzanne, a steady stream of visitors has stopped in to view the exhibits ever since.

“Oh, my gosh, this is awesome.”

Photos by Donna Strama, Dorsey deButts, Vicky Moon and Leonard Shapiro

John Denegre next to his poetic tribute to the area’s dirt roads.

Linda Redwine Bell and Mary A. Fitzpatrick

Merley Lewis

Reggie Dawson, a long time Middleburg Bank executive.

Middleburg Emmanuel Church Rector Eugene LeCouteur.

Ellen Tibbs and Joanne Smith

Tucker Withers, a current board member and past president of the museum, enjoyed a Hi Y’All in the front gallery decorated in honor of late The Coach Stop.

Til Smith and Helen Wiley

Suzanne Obetz is the executive director of the Middleburg Museum.

The crowd of visitors to the museum opening spilled out onto Madison Street.

Ribbon-cutting honors went to Middleburg Mayor Bridge Littleton, Museum President Doug Myers, Museum Executive Director Suzanne Obetz and Merley Lewis, who’s late mother, Eura Lewis, initially headed the effort to make it happen.

Rachel Ledbetter, grand daughter of Eura Lewis and mother of Eura’s two great grandchildren, Mykala and James.

Country ZEST & Style | Autumn 2023

VIRGINIA HORSE RACING SCHEDULE 2023

Colonial Downs Summer Thoroughbred Racing Schedule in New Kent, VA

July 13 - September 9

• Racing every Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 1:30 PM

• Arlington Million Day - Saturday, August 12

• Virginia Derby Day - Saturday, September 9

(details at colonialdowns.com)

Shenandoah Downs Fall Harness Racing Schedule in Woodstock, VA

September 16 - October 29

• Racing every Saturday & Sunday at 1:00 PM

• FREE Parking, FREE admission

• Shenandoah County Fair Harness Meet from August 30 - Sept. 2

(details at shenandoahdowns.com)

NSA Sanctioned Steeplechase Fall Meet Schedule

Oct. 1: Foxfield Fall Races in Charlottesville

Oct. 14: Virginia Fall Races in Middleburg

Oct. 28: International Gold Cup Races in The Plains

Nov. 4: Montpelier Hunt Races

(details at nationalsteeplechase.com)

Drew Gilpin Faust to Speak and Sign Her New Book

at Long Branch Historic Home and Gardens

Thursday, September 7 at 3 p.m.

Drew Gilpin Faust has devoted her life’s work to listening to the voices of the past. With “Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury,” the time has come for her not just to listen, but to tell.

The acclaimed historian of the Civil War and the American South, Faust is the daughter of noted horse owner, the late M. Tyson Gilpin and Catharine Ginna Mellick, who lived near Millwood not far from Long Branch. Writing with great insight and candor, she illuminates an era of cataclysmic change through the choices, challenges, and dawning convictions. The book covers her childhood in segregated Virginia to her teenage years of outspoken activism to her first vote cast for a different future at age 21.

Drew Gilpin Faust knew she had been born into history. Nearly a century after Appomattox, the legacy of the antebellum South was alive in the 1950s, and, as a privileged white girl in a conservative community, she was expected to accept it without question.

But from an early age, Faust also sensed that she was born into a time of upheaval, when deep-rooted assumptions and inequities, gender as well as racial, met with challenges that shook the status quo of even rural Clarke County, Virginia.

And perhaps most of all, Faust recognized she was born into circumstances that made resistance not just a choice, but an imperative. Whether waging a perennial war with her mother over the double standard for men and women, or petitioning President Eisenhower to end school segregation when she was nine years old, the young Faust made trouble in order to survive.

Faust wasn’t the only member of her generation seeking “a way to live otherwise,” and as she entered adolescence, the civil rights, student, and antiwar movements came to full force. For Faust, that meant marching from Selma to Montgomery in the wake of Bloody Sunday, eliminating gendered curfews at Bryn Mawr, and, in the summers of 1963 and 1964, joining an integrated group of fellow teenagers on journeys through the Soviet Union and the southern United States.

All of this also meant grappling with the question of freedom and the responsibilities it might entail, with such disparate influences as Scout Finch, Albert Camus, and Chuck Berry as guides.

“Necessary Trouble” captures how the demands of this pivotal moment – to penetrate the blindness of the present, uncover the real meaning of the past, and imagine a better future – became, for Faust, the project of a lifetime. Now, with her historian’s ear tuned to the deeply personal, she offers an indelible portrait of a young woman and a nation on the cusp of change.

Faust was the 28th president of Harvard University from July 1, 2007, until July 1, 2018. She was the first woman, the first southerner, and the first non-Harvard graduate to occupy that position. Her previous books include “This Republic of Suffering,” winner of the Bancroft Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and “Mothers of Invention.” Details: www.visitlongbranch. org, tickets are $25, 540-837-1856.

Rehab and Release Doesn’t Always Work

By C.J. White Education Director, Blue Ridge Wildlife Center

At Blue Ridge Wildlife Center (BRWC), we see more than 3,000 patients each year, and our goal is to rehabilitate and then release those animals.

Unfortunately, some cannot be released due to physical or mental disabilities that would prevent them from surviving in the wild. By state law, animals that can’t be released have two options—euthanasia or placement in an accredited facility for a lifetime in captivity. Our goal for non-releasable animals is to make the most humane choice for each individual. So how do we make this decision?

Let’s take Kevin, the American Kestrel, as an example. Kevin was born in the wild, but someone found him on the ground as a baby and decided to keep him as a pet for a few weeks.

This caused Kevin to become “imprinted,” meaning that he identifies with humans rather than his own kind and has learned to rely on them

If imprinted animals are released, there’s a high chance they would walk or fly up to a person in search of food, sometimes aggressively. To some people

that would sound awesome but more often people are terrified, making it a dangerous situation for everyone involved.

A black vulture named Wednesday is also non-releasable due to imprinting. Someone found and hatched the egg against Federal law and BRWC’s advice. When surrendered at two weeks old, she was placed with other vultures with the hope to re-wild, but it was already too late.

Imprinting, unnecessary stress and pain is completely preventable by getting the animal to a proper rehab facility as soon as possible. As much as we wish for them to be wild, Kevin and Wednesday get to live the good life at BRWC with free food and rent, diet plans, bodyguards, and healthcare while helping to teach people the importance of their species in our ecosystems.

In fact, each year these “Educational Ambassador” animals provide a very compelling learning experience for thousands of children and adults.

Both birds feel comfortable around people and get plenty of enrichment in the form of consistent conditioning-based training. Both birds are also physically comfortable and don’t have any illnesses or injuries causing chronic pain.

Many wild animals deemed not releasable are suffering from chronic pain and most were adults upon admission. Keeping such animals would create a situation of constant stress in a captive environment. It would not be humane to keep them and making the best decision for each individual is always the top priority.

When individuals without a license and training attempt to rehabilitate wildlife, we commonly see it result in imprinting, malnutrition, and exacerbation of painful injuries as well as the risk of diseases that could threaten you, your family, or your pets. We always advise finders to call us at 540-837-9000 before they intervene in a wildlife situation.

The Blue Ridge Wildlife Center is the only dedicated wildlife hospital in Northern Virginia. It‘s a non-profit organization caring for native wildlife by integrating veterinary medicine, rehabilitation, education and research. For more information, visit www.blueridgewildlifectr.org.

Kevin is an American Kestrel.

C.J. White with Wednesday.

Loudoun Therapeutic Riding Has a New Executive Director

By Sebastian Langenberg

Laura Smith might be new to Loudoun Therapeutic Riding, but she is hardly new to therapeutic riding or horses.

The Lovettsville organization’s new executive director grew up in an equestrian family in Fairfax and “I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family where my father was into thoroughbred racing and breeding, as well as endurance. My sister showed horses and I did pony club and managed the barn with my mom. So, that was my childhood.”

Laura’s mother actually started Cloverleaf Equine Center (formerly NVTRP) in Clifton, so therapeutic riding is in her blood. Laura moved away from Virginia to Lexington, Kentucky for ten years, but not away from horses.

“My day job was horse racing and my volunteer work was therapeutic riding,” said Laura, who also is a talented equine sculptor and painter. She and her husband Bruce, now a Middleburg attorney, moved back to Virginia when they had their children. She was involved in other local therapeutic programs before joining Loudoun Therapeutic in April.

Loudoun Therapeutic riding offers many different programs. One of the most remarkable therapies is particularly effective helping non-verbal children begin to speak. These children have a hard time focusing on tasks in a therapists’ office. Perhaps unexpectedly, putting the child on a horse allows them to focus even more on the therapy at hand by taking them away from the structured office and directing that energy to the horse.

They have partnered with North Spring Behavioral Health Center to help children and adolescents. This helps children learn how to express and work on controlling their emotions. The children explain how they feel before and after a session, which helps them develop these emotional muscles.

Horses also provide a mirror to the patient to learn themselves in ways they might not realize.

“They sense things that people don’t,” Laura said. “The common expression is that horses react to incongruent behavior.”

If, for example, you move aggressively, a horse will pick up on that and reflect if back to you in an obvious way. This feedback loop allows you to modify your behavior, and that modification transfers over to life outside the barn. This therapy is especially beneficial to veterans with PTSD. In fact, Loudoun Therapeutic Riding has a large group of veterans that come weekly for treatments.

Loudoun Therapeutic is also a training facility for other therapeutic centers, helping to spread the healing of therapeutic riding around the country.

“We’ve been a training center for other instructors all over the country,” Laura said. “They would come in and train to be certified and sent back to other places. So we were kind of an evangelist of therapeutic ridding.”

They also are hosting the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia in August to do continuing education for instructors around the state.

Loudoun Therapeutic keeps fees low to help as many people as possible, but this comes with a different cost: these fees only cover 20 percent Loudoun Therapeutic’s overhead. The rest is made up by donations.

There are many ways to support the facility, including by volunteering, donating or attending one of their events.

For more details, go to the events calendar on the website at www.Ltrf.org.

Laura Smith with a Loudoun Therapeutic pony.

For Sheila Johnson, A Walk Through Fire

From humble beginnings as a schoolgirl and young violinist in Maywood, Illinois, Sheila Johnson rose to become one of the most accomplished businesswomen in America. A co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, she became an entrepreneur and philanthropist at the highest levels.

But that success came at a painful personal cost.

In her new book, “Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Triumph,” scheduled to be released in September, the founder of Middleburg’s Salamander Resort & Spa and first African American woman billionaire shares her deeply personal journey through love and loss, tragedy and triumph. It’s an inspiring story of overcoming toxic influences, discovering her true self, and at last finding happiness in her work and life.

Sheila grew up in a middle-class family that encouraged her love of the arts and music. But her idyllic childhood ended at age sixteen when her beloved father announced he was leaving for another woman, an act that shattered her mother and destroyed Sheila’s trust.

She vowed she’d never be in her mother’s position—dependent on a man for her sense of self-worth and for financial security. Yet when she was barely out of her teens, Sheila married a man who would take her right down that same unfortunate path.

Filled with sharply drawn, emotionally powerful scenes, “Walk Through Fire” traces the hardships Sheila faced in her marriage and her professional life.

Despite her skills as a violinist and music teacher, as well as her obvious entrepreneurial talent, she had to fight to overcome self-doubt and fears of failure.

Sheila vividly details her struggles, including battling institutional racism, losing a child, suffering emotional abuse in her 33-year marriage, and plunging into a deep depression with her divorce.

And yet, out of that pain came renewed purpose and meaning. In the third act of her life, Sheila not only made her mark as the founder of Salamander Hotels & Resorts and the only Black female co-owner of three professional sports teams, she has also, finally, found true love.

“Walk Through Fire’ is a uniquely American success story. And it is the deeply personal portrait of one woman who, despite heartache and obstacles, finally found herself and her place in the world.

A Taste of Salamander at Home

The creation of Executive Pastry Chef Jason Reaves – widely recognized for his elaborate, award-winning cake designs on the Food Network –each serving of Salamander’s Signature Cake is a treat for the taste buds. Now shipping nationwide.

866.652.5307

Talk of the Mountain Screams Crab Cakes

FARMER'S MARKET

By Ali Patusky

What began as a food stand selling only crab cakes on the side of the road has since blossomed into a restaurant and food truck selling all types of seafood and side dishes.

Bryant “Boo” Green created Talk of the Mountain Seafood in 2014 following the death of his father, drawing inspiration for the name from the reaction of his community.

“My dad was my super hero, he was my everything,” Green said. “So when he passed... I knew people were going to be talking about my dad, and they were going to be talking about me, and it was going to be the talk of the mountain, so that’s where the name came from.”

This expectation came to be a reality when his friends and neighbors expressed their support by checking in on him wherever he happened to be selling crab cakes. In the early stages, that was usually on the side of the road in Markham, or at local wineries and farms.

In 2019, the owner of the Liberty Gas Station in Front Royal, Virginia, approached Green while he was working on the side of the road. She offered him the opportunity that would lead to major growth for his business: selling his crab cakes in her store. She passed away soon after he became established in her gas station, making her an “angel” to him.

“She got me in the gas station, and then she went on home, so it was like an angel helping,” he said. “Then right away we blew up, and the [new] restaurant space became available in the same year. We just kept going right up to the top.”

Talk of the Mountain’s permanent storefront and restaurant is located at 117 E. Main Street in Front Royal, Virginia. And Green’s food also can be found at wineries, markets, and events all around the Washington area.

The mobile menu served out of a truck he recently purchased generally includes dishes and sides such as smoked mac-n-cheese, spinach and crab dip, potato salad, fried shrimp and of course, those fabulous crab cakes, both with and without gluten.

The decision to sell crab cakes came to him during a trip he took to Maryland, when he saw how popular they were with so many customers.

“We arrived in Maryland, and I was like ‘man they’re selling a lot of crab cakes,’” he said. “I did a little Googling and they were in the top five most eaten/requested things, and that’s where the idea came from.”

Green also noticed that the crab cakes he ate in Maryland were filled with breading. As a result, he prides himself on Talk of the Mountain’s crab cakes that are made “without filler…I make them big and I don’t charge a lot.”

The quality of Green’s seafood is often enthusiastically confirmed by his customers, even those from Maryland.

Chris Damewood described how he impressed two of his friends from Baltimore with Talk of the Mountain crab cakes.

“I came and picked it up and cooked it at their house and they were like ‘this is the best crab cake I’ve ever had, hands down’…They’re amazing.”

Photo by Vicky Moon

Talk of the Mountain’s recently purchased go everywhere food truck. Crabcakes not donuts.

The Warrenton Horse Show at 124 years

By John T. Toler

When considering what must be Warrenton’s most enduring tradition, the Warrenton Horse Show (WHS), organized in 1899 and still going strong today, would win hands-down. The list of founders reads like a Warrenton “Who’s Who” at the beginning of the 20th century, including Golder Davis, the show’s first president, C. W. Smith, the first manager and Edward R. W. Barker, the first secretary.

Largely through the efforts of C. W. Smith and Julian Keith, the WHS was granted its state charter in 1899. Another director was James K. Maddux, a well-known sportsman and founding member of the Warrenton Hunt who lived at Monte Rosa (renamed Neptune Lodge) at present-day 343 Culpeper Street.

The 124th WArrenton horSe ShoW

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Behind Neptune Lodge was the South Warrenton Academy, founded in 1893. In October 1899, the first Warrenton Horse Show was held on an open corner of the school property.

The two-day show was preceded by a parade from downtown Warrenton, and had classes for hunters, jumpers and draft horses. Although the event was interrupted by rain showers, the large crowds had a memorable time, and would be coming back.

The school closed in 1900, and Academy stockholders –including President A. M. Curtis and Secretary Joseph A. Ullman – signed the agreement selling the 8.74-acre property to the Warrenton Horse Show Association.

Something Old

Included in the transaction were the land, the schoolhouse, desks and furnishings. The purchase price was $1,950, and the Warrenton Horse Show had a permanent home.

Being an active community-based organization was one of the goals of the WHS directors, and in 1910, the “Social Circus,” a variety show with animals and high-wire acts, was held on the show grounds benefitting St. James’ Episcopal Church in Warrenton. Giving back to the community is a tradition that continues to this day.

In 1920, another long-lasting tradition began—the Warrenton Pony Show, started by James Maddux’s daughter Winifred. Held on the July 4 weekend ever since, it’s Virginia’s only A-rated show run entirely by a junior committee.

Something New

Over the years, show organizers have varied the types of classes and competitions. By the 1930s, draft and harness classes were replaced by additional show hunter divisions, earning recognition from the Virginia and American Horse Shows associations as “The Hunter Show of America.”

In October, 1936 during the Great Depression, The Fauquier Democrat published an eight-page “Warrenton Horse Show and Progress Edition” highlighting the importance of the event. “Horse Show week is always a time of great social activity,” according to the report. “Hotels and boarding houses are filled to overflowing, and there is much entertaining.”

The John Barton Payne Memorial Trophy was created for the 1936 show. Today, it’s presented to the winner of the Foxhunter Corinthian Class on Hunt Night. Co-President Helen Calvert Wiley has a photograph of her at age three sitting in the trophy years ago, a tradition she has continued with her children and grandchildren.

The 1940s saw more changes on the show grounds, with lights added in 1946 to allow night classes, and extra stabling erected. The U. S. Olympic trials were hosted on the grounds in 1950, first in a series of tryouts for the 1952 Games held in Helsinki.

The show marked its 50 breaking 800 entries; the record was broken again in 1950 (894) and 1951 (916).

Something Borrowed Something Blue

Another change was the construction of an exhibit building

The Warrenton Horse Show was chartered in 1899, and had a permanent home after purchasing the South Warrenton Academy property in 1900. Library of Congress.

The John Barton Payne Memorial Trophy was on display in the old Warrenton Library in 1960, attended by three ladies connected with both the library and the Warrenton Horse Show. From left, Mrs. King Stone, Mrs. Francis Greene and Mrs. C.C. Jadwin.

PHOTO BY VICKY MOON

PHOTO BY SUSAN CARTER

in 1954 by the local 4-H and Future Farmers of America. It was used for a number of years before part of the structure became the concession stand.

Part of the old grandstand was removed in 1955, and bleachers added in 1960. The schooling ring was enlarged in the early 1970s, and most of the permanent stabling demolished in the 1990s.

Those who have provided long-term service to the show are remembered in different ways. In 2019, the fencing and footing of the schooling ring were improved, and it was officially named “Bucky’s Ring,” honoring the late J. Arthur Reynolds. On a stand at ringside is a plaque honoring the memory of Charles T. Hoovler, “Ringmaster Extraordinaire.” The flagpole on the grounds honors Harold Hamby and a tree was planted in loving memory of Doris Jones.

Over the years, the show has thrived on change while preserving its traditions and core mission. As Show Manager Tommy Lee Jones said, “We stay relevant by changing with the times.”

When not being prepared or used for the Warrenton Horse or Pony shows, the show grounds have been rented to other organizations for small horse shows, car shows and church revivals.

One particularly memorable non-equestrian event organized by the Warrenton Horse Show Association was the Patsy Cline Celebration and dedication of the Patsy Cline Awards Pavilion in November, 2002. A huge success, it featured Patsy Cline impersonators, singalongs, country music bands and a 1950s car show.

On her way to get the 2023 prize list printed, Warrenton Horse Show Co-President Hilary Gerhardt said that putting on the two shows is actually a year-long effort, involving the efforts of her fellow board members, volunteers and a range of professional services. The participation of sponsors and patrons is critical to financing the operation, and the amount of money added to the local economy by the shows cannot be overlooked.

Even so, the single-ring horse show model is tough, and according to Jones, it’s getting tougher. By comparison, other rated horse shows can have multiple rings, attracting hundreds of equestrians and thousands of spectators. Held on rented or private property, they use temporary facilities for riders and horses, rather than owning and maintaining grounds year-round.

In recent years, the show faced a pandemic, and costs have increased for everything from lawn mowing to lodging for outof-town judges. Fully committed to continue bringing top- notch horse shows, the Association is studying options that will preserve the character and traditions while easing financial pressures.

“We wish to convey that the Warrenton Horse Show is a community event, and we appreciate the community coming out and supporting us,” Gerhardt said. “It is definitely a labor of love.”

In 2021, Kellsey Stern competed in the Childrens’ Hunter Class riding Happy.

Last year, Amy Gorsira won the Volunteer Award, presented by members of the Warrenton Horse Show Board. From left, Oliver Brown, Pann Drunagel, Polly Cutting, Snowden Clarke, Amy Gorsira and Helen Wiley.

Photo by Angie Pappas

Junior Johnson, a handler for Colordale Farm in Winchester, leads one of the farm’s horses.

The Warrenton Horse Show, “A Labor Day Tradition,” runs from Wednesday, August. 30 through Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023

Four Must-Have Items to Complete Your Dream Bathroom

By Tim Burch

What constitutes a dream bathroom? Well, anything you want your bathroom to be.

One person may want a large soaking tub surrounded by candles. Another may prioritize a large walk-in shower that can be turned on from their cozy bed. The possibilities are endless as long as you don’t limit your imagination. Still, there should be four must-have items in any dream bathroom:

A Walk-in Shower or Shower Room: A walkin shower or shower room can make your bathroom look larger, plus you can fill this space with as many additional features as your heart desires. Consider built-in seating, multiple shower heads or body sprays, a spa-worthy steam feature or a soaking tub. And yes, you can even have the remote feature installed to turn on your shower on from the comfort of your bed so the water is at the right temperature.

Layered Lighting: One light will be enough in your bathroom, especially for everything you have to do in that space. After all, you need to get ready for the day in the morning, prepare for bed at the end of a long day, and sometimes get into the tub for a nice

long soak. Who wants to sit under a bright light for a soak in the tub?

We recommend installing different lights throughout the space and placing many of them on dimmer switches to control the brightness and set the mood. With careful planning, you’re sure to love the look of your bathroom when the lighting is just right for you.

Luxurious Bathtub: Today, many question if a bathtub is necessary in a primary bath. If you’re someone who loves soaking to relax, then yes, it is. If not, then use the space instead to enlarge your shower or expand the closet.

There are numerous tub styles available, and we

People That Care.

recommend climbing into a few before picking out the one for you. The interior dimension, incline, shape and “fit” vary by model, and you need to be sure what you choose is most comfortable for you as you stretch out to relax.

Heated Floors: Unless you love walking on chilly tiles, you may want to consider installing heated bathroom floors. Your feet will feel amazing when you get out of the shower or bath or when walking into the room in the middle of the night. You won’t even need to sacrifice style or design to have these installed, because they can be placed under many different flooring options.

As for other items to fulfill that dream, your bathroom designer and contractor can often help make it become reality. Don’t be afraid to speak up.

Water pressure, structural considerations, storage solutions, materials selection and more are all critical in the planning stages. We always ensure that everyone is on the same page and all the necessary boxes are checked before we begin.

Tim Burch is a vice president and owner of BOWA, an award-winning design and construction firm specializing in renovations ranging from owners’ suites and kitchens to whole-house remodels and equestrian facilities. For more information, visit bowa.com or call 540-687-6771.

How’s this for a dream bathroom?

McClanahan Camera

www.mccamera.com 540 347 2533

New Aldie School Honors Henrietta Lacks

By Bill Cauley

Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman, didn’t know it at the time, but cells from a biopsied tumor in her body were going to become a part of medical history in the research to find a cure for cancer and other diseases years later..

Lacks, who died from cervical cancer on Oct. 4, 1951, at age 31, was never truly compensated for her medical contribution. At the time, no consent was required when such parts of the body were harvested during disease treatment and research.

It was an injustice which, although addressed years later, has never really been talked about. However, a new Loudoun County public school, set to open next year, will bear Lacks’ name in the hopes more people, for generations to come, will realize what major contribution this woman, although somewhat-unknowingly, has made in the advancement of medical science.

Photo Restoration ~ Movies to Digital

Henrietta Lacks Elementary School, which will be located at 41125 Collaboration Drive in Aldie, is set to house up to 960 students ranging from kindergarten through second grade. The projected opening date of the new school in August, 2024, according to Daniel Adams, spokesman for Loudoun County Public Schools, announced shortly after the school board approved the move on June 13.

In her book: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” New York-based book author Rebecca Skloot recounts the Roanoke-born native’s life and how she was a victim of institutional racism, although what happened to Lacks could no longer happen in the modern medical era, because of modern patient privacy issues, it remains a story which still needs to be told.

During her treatment for cancer in 1951, doctors extracted cells from a tumor in her body. Neither Lacks, nor her family, were told of this extraction of cells, nor were they even consulted on the matter.

At the time, such tissue removal was normal. Consent was not needed. Further study of these cells revealed they were quite different than other cells, which died during treatment. Later named: “HeLa Cells,” after Lacks, doctors discovered these unique cells were considered immortal, doubling every 20 to 24 hours.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in Baltimore, said these cells were crucial in the development of vaccines, including Polio and the COVID-19 virus. Skloot noted, in a previous interview with Smithsonian Magazine, while the discovery of these cells advanced a scientific cause in medicine, becoming an industry worth billions, the Lacks’ family were never given proper credit for Henrietta’s contribution and the family remained in poverty.

The Lacks’ family has sued for compensation. Meanwhile, many medical journals now acknowledge Lacks’ contributions to the research in the hunt for cures for cancer and other major diseases. Various articles, documentaries and films regarding the research surrounding what was discovered in those cells harvested from Lacks, have been published.

Although she would move to Baltimore County, Maryland, where she was treated for cancer and eventually died, school officials in Loudoun County felt it appropriate the new elementary school in Aldie be named in Lacks’ honor, since she was a Virginia native. There was some push-back when it came to naming the new school after her, but the motion was eventually carried and the name Henrietta Lacks Elementary School was approved.

Ian Serotkin, Loudoun County school board chairman, has said it’s possible some of the students attending this new school may not have been born, had it not been for the research and scientific advancements made possible by Lacks.

The Gift of Reading Never Grows Old

By Tom Northrup

Just over six decades ago, the high school I would be attending for my junior year gave me the gift of a lifetime— required summer reading.

At that age, I didn’t see it that way. My June, July, August plans would need to be altered— in a major way.

The first of five books on that long-ago list was Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield”, written serially over the years 1849-50, and published in papers and magazines originally. It was lengthy, and presented a daunting challenge for this less than enthusiastic reader.

Recently, watching the documentary, “Turn Every Page,” sparked these memories and motivated me to add a book to my 2023 summer list—Robert Caro’s “The Path to Power, Volume I of the Years of Lyndon Johnson (1982)”. For nearly fifty years, Caro, who

will be 88 in October, has been researching and writing LBJ’s biography. He has completed four lengthy volumes, and is currently working on the finale, Volume V.

“Turn Every Page,” filmed a couple of years ago, is the story of the half-century working relationship between two masters of their craft—Robert Caro, the writer, and Robert Gottlieb, his editor. It was deeply moving to see how these two collaborated, to observe how conflict and disagreement are critical to working together creatively, by thoughtful and emotionally mature individuals.

Fortunately, Gottlieb’s daughter, Lizzie, who produced and directed this documentary, insisted that this film be made; neither her father nor Caro would seek such a public display. Unfortunately, Gottlieb died just a month ago at age 92, and it is uncertain whether Caro will complete the final volume.

My incentive to read Caro’s Volume I was not so much historical curiosity—to learn more about LBJ’s successes and failures—but rather to gain an

understanding of and appreciation for the CaroGottlieb partnership. The results were stunning. The depth and range of the research, the insight into LBJ’s development as a man and as a politician, and the freshness of the prose, are monumental.

What was surprising was that this work was a page-turner; it seemed more like a novel, such as “David Copperfield” or Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead” (2022) than a dense scholarly text. The childhoods of these three protagonists (David, Demon, LBJ) were marked by deprivation and struggle. For better or worse, their spirit, energy and resourcefulness pushed them forward.

Whether we read, absorbed, in fiction or nonfiction, these writers offer us a pathway to become more fully human, to better understand the invisible places of the human heart and mind.

A lifetime gift.

Long-time educator Tom Northrup is Emeritus Head of School at Middleburg’s Hill School.

“Books are the quietest and most consistent of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”

— Charles W. Eliot, American educator

Middleburg American Legion Post 295 Has Proud Past

By Ronen Feldman

When Gary

Nickelson

returned to civilian life in 2015, he’d spent most of his adult life as either a soldier or a contractor for the U.S. Army. Once a soldier, always a soldier, however, and to Gary that meant helping veterans, the reason he decided to join the American Legion.

Nationally, the Legion is known for advocating for veterans through lobbying and promoting beneficial legislation. There are hundreds of posts nationwide, each dedicated to serving their communities, and Middleburg is no exception.

The post dates back almost a century when its founders purchased the first facility, making it one of the only posts in Loudoun with a physical location. Between World War II and the Vietnam War, it was among the most popular Legion posts in the country, with over 200 members.

“We’re here to help veterans navigate through civilian life,” Gary said. “There are dark paths people can go down, and the red tape in organizations like the

Department of Veteran Affairs isn’t much help. With us, these fine men and women have someone who can relate to their struggles, support their families, help them navigate the job market and even provide them with an open kitchen.”

The Middleburg Post 295 conducts monthly meetings and is funded by donations, including WWII veteran and member Franklin Payne He donated the money for a new sound system when he had trouble hearing what was being said during meetings.

“When my folks got me a membership at first I thought it was going to be a depressing discussion group filled with old men,” Gary said. “Instead I found a group of the most incredible people hoping to use their expertise and influence to better their community and inspire patriotism and service.”

Gary became the post’s commander in 2022 after serving as Vice Commander for two years. Software engineer by day, some of his life’s most important milestones happened when he was in the service.

He enlisted immediately after graduating college, and met his wife during basic training. He was deployed to Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne,

where they later had their daughter. The family became adept at moving because of his work, splitting time between Afghanistan, Iraq and Virginia. When he finally retired, moving to Loudoun County was the obvious choice.

Membership in the Middleburg post has fallen off to about 60, with the pandemic being one contributing factor. Gary hopes to increase that closer to 100 and also wants to build up the post’ s partnerships around Loudoun.

One such partnership is with the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association. Historical education and preservation are of the utmost importance to the American Legion. Partnering with schools, the Scouts and other organizations to teach children about tradition, flag etiquette, and sending girls to the American Legion Auxiliary Virginia Girls State program are a source of pride.

Other major post contributions include helping to conserve parks and other natural areas and protecting them from development. And recently, the post hosted the event to mark the promotion of Shaun Jones to Middleburg’s Chief of Police.

Gary frequently attends town council meetings, and even though commanders are expected to commit to two years, he doesn’t rule out staying longer.

“Middleburg is famous nationwide for a number of reasons,” he said. “It’s time to have the best American Legion post, too.”

Is it time to remodel?

Gary Nickelson, commander of Middleburg’s American Legion Post 295.

Celebrating Summer With Sign Language Lessons, Ice Cream and More

It’s mid-morning at The Plains Community League (TPCL) downtown and not far from the crossroads of the countryside. The 20 plus children are on the porch on Main Street having ice cream. It’s all part of a free Summer Camp program for children ages 7-13 of workforce families. Erica Young, the executive director, said: “I was not looking for this job, it found me.” She is obviously delighted. This summer they have gone on walking field trips around town to see bees making honey, a marine biology lessons and the most impressive lessons in sign language. Lunch and snacks at no charge.

During the school year the TPCL has a free tutoring program for grades 3-12. GED/ESL classes, STEAM programs and a Writers Group.

Details: www.tpclva.org

How to spell alligator in sign language

Photos by Vicky Moon

Isabelle spelled out her name in sign language for a guest.

Did someone say, “I scream?”

ZEST & Style

Readers Are Leaders at The Open Book

By Jodi Nash

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go,” said the very wise Dr. Seuss. And if leaders are readers, then Cammie Fuller, owner of The Open Book, Warrenton’s warm and welcoming book store is leading the way.

“Every town needs a book store, a place where you can plunk down in a chair, nestle in and talk about what you’re reading” Cammie said.

The librarian at St. James Episcopal School for two years, she had nowhere to send children to buy books except Barnes and Noble in Manassas. There were lots of readers, just not enough books.

“The public library is wonderful,” she said. “It fills some needs, but not all, and often a book might be checked out for months, or there’s a long waiting list,” she said.

Because she enjoyed matching kids with books that fit their personal interests and age group, students and parents both encouraged her to imagine a little bookstore on Main Street in Warrenton. She did more than that—she jumped in, opening in March, 2019, just in time to face the challenge of the pandemic. She switched the business to online only and closed the store to the public.

Cammie kept on her employees who wanted to keep working, delivering books for free to people in

lock-down mode for over three months, or running book orders to customers curbside to build up good will and stay connected to the community. It was a much appreciated gesture, and in response there was a significant surge in orders.

Always passionate about reading, Cammie has a Masters in social work from Catholic University, and a Bachelor’s in art and film from the University of Vermont. As a child, her family relocated 11 times before she entered high school to accommodate her father’s career as an engineer.

But the comfy, overstuffed chair sitting in back of the store keeps the best of home close to her heart. It belonged to her late mother, who, she said, “read all the time, to me, to her grandbabies …we shared books our whole lives.”

“The shop is a magical place, where we hope to inspire people,” she said. “What are you reading now? That conversation is important because it helps people connect in new ways. Stories matter, authenticity matters, and the freedom to choose what you read is the opportunity to grow, learn, and ultimately find our way to a better place.”

The process of selecting books is challenging, as is deciding on the number to order. Her customers are somewhat eclectic in their choices, ranging from history and politics, to fiction, children’s board games and picture books, and of course gift editions of classics.

She personally likes books with a voice, a heart, and

an authentic story backed by a genuine command of knowledge.

“I always read the first two pages of a book before I buy it,” she said, adding that if it grabs her by then, it’s a purchase.

Photo by Jodi Nash Cammie Fuller, owner of Warrenton’s Open Book.

A S Y O U R O N E - S T O P

S E R V I C E P R O V I D E R , V I R G I N I A S E P T I C I S

P L E A S E D T O O F F E R :

P u m p i n g o f R e s i d e n t i a l a n d C o m m e r c i a l

S e p t i c T a n k s a n d G r e a s e T r a p s

O p e r a t i o n & M a i n t e n a n c e ( O & M ) f o r

S e p t i c S y s t e m s

R e a l E s t a t e S e p t i c a n d W e l l I n s p e c t i o n s

S a f e , A d e q u a t e , a n d P r o p e r I n s p e c t i o n s

S e p t i c S y s t e m R e p a i r s

I n s t a l l a t i o n f o r B o t h N e w C o n s t r u c t i o n o r R e p l a c e m e n t o f O l d e r S y s t e m s

B u i l d i n g o n R a w L a n d ? B u i l d i n g o n R a w L a n d ? N e e d S o i l s w o r k d o n e N e e d S o i l s w o r k d o n e f o r y o u r p r o j e c t ? f o r y o u r p r o j e c t ?

Helen Cook Celebrates 100 YEARS In Style

By Tracie Dillon

On Saturday, June 29, Helen Cook of Lincoln, Virginia, turned 100 years old.  Helen recently got her driver’s license renewed and continues to push mow her one-acre lawn herself. She was honored at a huge community party attended by more than 200 guests to help her celebrate this milestone.

The party took place on Saturday, June 24 at the Lincoln Elementary School.   When Lincoln School was in a small building further down in the village where Breakthrough Ministries is now located, she would begin making food for the students on the farm, then walk her homemade bread and meals three miles to the school where all the other items served were homemade from scratch.

Later, she took a few-year break to raise her family (Eddie Cook, Betty Jo Martin, and Tracie Dillon).  She then returned to the current Lincoln Elementary School site and remained the Cafeteria Manager for over 50 years before retiring.

Mrs. Cook was presented an antique rolling pin she had used in her earlier years at Lincoln by school principal Dave Michener on behalf of students, staff, and parents present and past, many of them at the party.  She was presented beautiful, personally written letters from Virginia State Senator Jill Vogel and Governor Glenn Youngkin.

O u r S i s t e r C o m p a n y S o i l s , I n c ,

O u r S i s t e r C o m p a n y S o i l s , I n c ,

c a n s t a r t y o u r p r o j e c t o f f w i t h

c a n s t a r t y o u r p r o j e c t o f f w i t h p e r c o l a t i o n t e s t i n g a n d s e p t i c d e s i g n s p e r c o l a t i o n t e s t i n g a n d s e p t i c d e s i g n s

Mayor Kenneth Wine, on behalf of the Town of Hamilton, presented a proclamation declaring June 29, 2023 “Helen Cook Day” in the town of Hamilton. At the party, which included families of threegenerations of individuals she had served over the years, everyone joined in singing Happy Birthday. The event was covered by Channel 4 reporter Julie Carey and featured on the station’s news shows.

Mrs. Cook said her motto at Lincoln was always, “Service to Others.” That’s exactly the example she bestows to all who know her.  She is truly “100 Years Loved.”

Leesburg Doctor Has a Dedicated Global Presence

By Joe Motheral

At age 74, Loudoun County physician Javed Akhtar remains an active member of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA), a nonprofit, philanthropic organization founded in 1976.

Thanks to financial contributions and doctors like himself who donate their time, its mission is to provide medical and related free services for people in need.

“We have about 2,000 active members worldwide, 190 in the DMV,” Dr. Akhtar said. “Recently in Loudoun County we did the Covid injections—about 1,800, that we donated to different organizations for free. And during the Covid crisis we provided food distribution” that involved the delivery of food packages and rides for seniors.

One winter, the organization donated food and blankets to the homeless in Washington. And another time, Dr. Akhtar said, “We bought laptop computers for students in one of the poorer high schools in the District.”

Several years ago, he traveled to Bangladesh where, he said, there were “over 50,000 refugees who had fled Myanmar.” During his three-week stay, he provided medical treatment. The organization also responds to natural disasters

like earthquakes and tsunamis with medical assistance.

Once after an Indonesian earthquake, “We set up a medical clinic and ran it,” he said. “Having done so, we had the local doctors come in and we supplied the equipment.” After Pakistan was hit by an earthquake in 2010, “We came in with not only medical help but also tents, medical supplies and food. And we started schools there. We worked with the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.”

He personally visits Guatemala once a year for a week and “we donate vaccinations.”

Dr. Akhtar, originally from Pakistan, became interested in medicine because when he was in junior high school, an older brother had gone to medical school and was a practicing physician.

“We always talked about his experiences,” he said. “You make a decent living but also serve humanity—taking care of people who are grateful.”

After high school he began his own medical journey. In 1971, he earned a medical degree from King Edward Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan. He moved to the U.S. the following year and studied at the Brooklyn Cumberland Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY.

He undertook a two-year surgical residency at the Buffalo General Hospital in Buffalo, NY , then in 1976-77 completed an ear, nose, throat and beck residency at McGill University in Montreal. That was followed by two more years of study at the University of Miami.

He’s certified in his specialty and also is a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons. He’s published in the journal of the ENT and has an academic affiliation as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at SUNY at Buffalo.

After spending 38 years living in Pennsylvania, he and his family moved to the outskirts of Leesburg in 2018, where he continues to practice, and, like many of his medical colleagues, said he occasionally has time to play a little golf.

Dr. Javed Akhtar

It’s Now New York, New York for Tom Sweitzer

By Peyton Tochterman

Sitting in his comfortable Middleburg home, Tom Sweitzer reflects upon his life’s remarkable journey. From a being a runaway at the tender age of eight, finding solace in music and a church across the street from his childhood home in Altoona, Pennsylvania, to preparing for his off-Broadway debut performance this fall, Tom shared how a blend of adversity, creativity, and resilience shaped his life.

His childhood escape, albeit to a neighboring church, wearing pajamas, nonetheless, turned out to be transformative. “There was a church with a Sunday School teacher named Erdean,” he said. “She was singing and playing piano. She showed me the keys, and forty years later, I haven’t looked back.”

Today, as he prepares to perform the off-Broadway show he also wrote at The Signature Theater on 42nd St in New York City, his narrative paints a vivid story of resilience. His one-man show, “20 Seconds,” runs from Sept. 10 through Oct. 22. It’s an intimate portrayal of his life in which he plays fourteen distinct characters.

A trip to the Big Apple as a young teenager to watch Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera” sparked a fire in him. “The thrill of the organ and when the chandelier lifted off the stage, I knew I wanted to perform,” he recalled.

Tom came to Middleburg to work as a drama teacher at The Hill School, also producing a number of student productions. Ten years ago, he founded “A Place to Be” along with his long-time friend and colleague Kim Tapper, using music therapy to help transform countless lives from their facility in the village.

His own play resonates with Phantom’s themes of love, passion, and struggle,

and also aspires to relate more universally. Tom takes on the challenging roles of both his parents, bringing to life the struggle of living with his father, whose abuse left a profound impact on the family, and his emotionally neglected mother.

“The story is about my life,” he said. “It is so close to me. I play my parents. My father was a paranoid schizophrenic who truly abused both my mother and me. He was sick. He attempted suicide a number of times. He killed some of my pets. And my mother was an overweight Italian woman who consequently struggled with her own self.

“They were tortured people but also loving in their own way. This is full circle yes, and the epitome and everything that I have worked for, learned and believed in. I am an actor, a storyteller, and I have a message. By the end of the show, you see that it’s possible to forgive and it must begin with love.”

After twenty years of therapy, Tom said he’s reached a place of understanding, viewing his parents as flawed human beings doing their best. In his performance, he narrates their complex, tortured lives, and how, through understanding and forgiveness, healing is possible.

The raw authenticity of his storytelling aims to reach out to those grappling with their own trials. “It took me years to be my complete self in front of people,” he said. “I am gay. That’s what this is about.”

Sweitzer’s passion project comes to fruition through the overwhelming support from the Middleburg community. He credits their encouragement for turning his dream into a reality. Once a struggling youngster in Altoona, today he’s preparing to mesmerize New York City audiences with his remarkable life’s tale.

Tom Sweitzer is taking his one man show to an Off Broadway run.

At Royston Funeral Home, It’s a Family Affair

By Leslie VanSant

The death of a loved one is never an easy thing to manage. But the team at Royston Funeral Home stands ready when needed, day or night.

A member of the Royston clan has been helping families in Middleburg and Marshall say goodbye to loved ones since Zacariah V. Royston first opened a funeral home in Marshall in 1896. In the 1930s, the business opened its location in Middleburg at 106 E. Washington Street.

In the 1970s, it was passed on to Dr. Norris Royston, Jr., who grew up in the apartment on the second floor of the stately building. For many years, a Royston family relative, the late Tyler Gore, Jr. served as funeral director. Upon Gore’s retirement in 2018, and wanting to keep the business family run and local, Dr. Royston partnered with Carl Nichols, whose family ran a funeral home in Purcellville. In 2020, Carl turned to his son, Dale, to lead the business in Middleburg.

“Grief is different for everyone,” said Dale Nichols, the funeral director at Royston’s in Middleburg. “It can be overwhelming, with all the emotion, and it’s our job to make people feel safe as they go through the transition to life after their loved one’s death.”

Dale Nichols grew up around his family’s business in Purcellville. Following his graduation from Woodgrove High School, he graduated from West Virginia University where he earned a degree in business.

“It was after I graduated college that I realized what I really wanted to do was help people and be in the family business,” Nichols said.

He spent two years studying at the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science to learn the art of being a funeral director. His classes focused on the process of embalming, but also included psychology and grief counseling. There were also classes that taught restoration and make-up to prepare remains for burial.

“I did much better in mortuary school than I did in business school,” he said. “It was much more interesting and I felt called to helping.”

Being a funeral director is a 24-7 occupation and at Royston’s, they pride themselves on always being available. Dale now lives in the apartment over the funeral home in Middleburg, the better to facilitate excellent service. Kim Reed is the funeral director in Marshall.

“When someone dies at home, hospice or the police declare the death, then we are called in,” Nichols said, “We like to arrive within an hour, and then usually, the family members come to the funeral home the next day to discuss arrangements.”

That discussion can often be difficult, but it “helps tremendously” when family is trying to deal with grief. The team at Royston is experienced, and can help execute specific known wishes of the deceased or guide families to make choices. They consider it a measure of success if families feel relieved after their initial meeting.

It’s not an easy job, with long hours and dealing with people consumed with grief.

“ You can ’ t lose your empathy, ” Nichols said. “ So it ’ s important to take care of yourself. ”

Nichols hopes to one day pass the business on to his children if they’re so inclined.

“We are a family-run business that has been committed to this community for nearly 130 years,” he said. “And we plan on staying.”

Photo by Leslie VanSant Dale Nichols, funeral director at Middleburg’s Royston Funeral Home.

My Name is Credit, Private Credit MODERN FINANCE

By Philip Dudley

While many investors have been starved for income from the bond market since the 2008 Great Financial Crisis, the sands have been shifting in the creation of credit from traditional banks to private lenders. Are these non-bank lenders a Goldfinger-like villain or are the traditional banks to blame?

The growing demand from privately held companies, which are focused on growth, are turning to non-bank lenders for credit to meet their capital needs. This new pipeline of direct loans (circumventing the red tape of traditional banks) has efficiently and seamlessly grown to more than 20 percent of the U.S. market for below-investment grade credit.

While this may make investors cautious, it’s important to remember that these private loans are senior secured and often are floating rate with plenty of cushion in the capital stack below in the form of junior debt securities and equity. Plus, in the event of a company’s liquidation, senior secured is in the strongest position of principal protection.

Let’s consider the following scenario. When Goldfinger & Co. is in need of growth capital, it now has a more direct and efficient way to access it. The non-bank lenders raise institutional money (of which there’s a ton) and usually partner with private equity firms and their portfolio companies. This exercise of cutting out a middle man (the banks) usually results in a cleaner transaction with higher efficiency and greater term structure flexibility for the borrower.

Why the shift?

There are two obvious reasons. First is bank consolidation. Second, the regulatory landscape has changed dramatically since the Great Financial Crisis.

Like most free markets, new participants have filled a void with greater efficiencies and have thrived, while the bankers are struggling with regulatory oversight and shrinking their lending platforms. In fact, Private Credit has grown from roughly 5 percent to 20 percent-plus of the belowinvestment grade credit in the last 15-plus years. In essence, banks are slowly no longer becoming the lender of choice.

So, why take the risk? Like anything, diversification matters and adding Private Credit to a balanced portfolio may actually reduce risk, increase yield and annualized returns.

Several ways to mitigate risk begins with sound underwriting and ensuring the loan is made to scaled businesses that are in sectors with strong secular tailwinds. What about volatility? Well, because the Federal Reserve has raised rates 500 basis points in only 12 months, there have been benefits for both non-bank lenders and investors in the form of better loan terms (banks are not lending) and higher income because of floating rate features. A real win-win for Goldfinger!

Philip Dudley

A Prolific Professor Has an Equestrian Offering

By Louisa Woodville

When Charles C. (Chuck) Caramello started researching his recently published “Riding to Arms: A History of Horsemanship and Mounted Warfare,” he was fulfilling an unrealized ambition—writing books that appealed to horse people.

“I had written books and articles about literature, mainly American literature from 1850 to late-twentieth century,” he said about his 42-year teaching career at the University of Maryland. “Then I started to move toward retirement and was thinking about a second act. The second act turned out to be combining avocation and vocation (his love of riding with academia) and instead of writing about the history of literature, I started writing about the history of horsemanship.”

Caramello’s original idea was to tackle the history of dressage, but this quest morphed into something bigger: a book about horsemanship, or, more accurately, a book about the history of horsemanship, starting with the ancient Greek Xenophon.

“I knew that military history was going to be a part of it,” Professor Caramello said. After the National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg awarded him the John H. Daniels Fellowship five years ago, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

Initially the book he started was geared to a general audience, though over time that changed.

“As I got more and more involved in writing it, the natural inclination of a scholar crept in,” he said. “And it became much more of a scholarly book. So my strategy was to keep the actual body of the text, the story that the book tells, as concise as I could so that horse people would enjoy reading it, while moving a lot of material into end notes so that scholars could then follow up with anything else that they wanted. All the details.”

Now that his book has hit the shelves, the accolades are piling up. The late Olympic medalist and author James C. Wofford described it as “an authoritative survey of horse cavalry that identifies salient points in history from the Renaissance to World War I [with] a clear writing and a refreshing lack of academic jargon.”

Professor Mike Huggins, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and author of “Horse Racing and British Society in the Long Eighteenth Century” wrote how it covers “the relationship between the horseman and the horse, and their important roles in European and American military life, cavalry warfare, and equitation.”

Why a book on the history of horsemanship? Because, Caramello said, he’s loved riding since his 33-year-old daughter introduced him to that world 25 years ago.

“I was driving Dagmar to the barn all the time, and riding looked really interesting and like it might be fun, so I gave it a try and stepped out on that slippery slope,” he said.

Riding provided respite from the stress of his professional responsibilities.

“I was chair of a very large [English] department, and riding was a completely different kind of activity in a completely different kind of environment,” he said.

These days, Caramello enjoys riding his mare, Lonesome Irish, who is boarded in Sandy Spring, Maryland and is one of many he’s owned in the past decade. “I like mares,” he said. “I’ve had three!”

Just as Caramello’s interest in riding has not abated, nor has his interest in publishing. Presently he’s deep into researching and writing book number two, covering the years 1900-1950.

“My symbolic dates are 1912 to 1948,” he said, explaining that 1912 was the year Olympic Games started (including equestrian events), and that 1948 was when civilians were allowed to compete.

As with his first book, The National Sporting Library & Museum’s book collection is pivotal to Caramello’s research.

“You can be in the reading room and reading a modern edition of a classical work on horsemanship or foxhunting and then go to the rare book room and look at the first early editions of these same classical texts,” he said. “It’s really wonderful. It puts you right into contact with the original sources.”

The library’s mission matches his own—to alert both the general reading population as well as specialized scholars in the field to the history of horsemanship.

“Chuck is a longtime friend of the Library and advocate for our collection, said Reid O’Connor, NSLM’s Director of Development, noting that in the five years he’s been a John H. Daniels Fellow, Caramello has published and lectured extensively.

“Chuck’s interest in the history of riding extends beyond that of scholar and into his own experience as a horseman,” she added.

In researching the new book, Caramello said that as civilian interest in horsemanship grew, that of military men lessened.

“A lot of those books that I [referred to] in “Riding to Arms” were for military people, [but now] military riders start to disappear, and civilians are increasingly riding [and writing],” he said, adding, “Basically this new book is about is what happened in that period when horse cavalry became an anachronism and horses were no longer fundamentally used for transportation any longer.”

Another difference between this book and his last? Women.

“There are all these really interesting women writing books about horsemanship,” said Caramello, using Lida Fleitman Bloodgood, whose papers the NSLM holds, and Margaret Cabell Self as just two of more than 50 female authors who penned horse books during this period. Why so many? “It’s tied up with the emancipation of women, women suffrage, feminism, the rise of the middle class, increased leisure activity, and increased literacy,” he said.

Fans eagerly anticipate “Tiding Between the Wars,” and after it’s published, Caramello said he’ll be working on a third book. Stay tuned.

Author Charles Caramello on a recent trip to Peru

Historic Church Bids Farewell to a Retiring Leader

By Joe Motheral

The Leesburg United Methodist Church has a long and storied history dating back to the 1760s. In 1785, what was known as the Old Stone Church was built on Cornwall Street in Leesburg and later, it split into the Zionist Church and the Methodist Episcopal South in the building that is currently occupied by Leesburg United Methodist Church on West Market Street.

Now another chapter has been written with the retirement this summer of Pastor Jim Wishmyer, 67, after 16 years of ministry at LUMC.

Vernon Davis, former church historian and longtime LUMC member, said, “When Pastor Jim arrived in Leesburg (in 2007) there were various issues that required his immediate attention. However, he also devoted his time and energy to the history of Methodism in Leesburg—it being the site of the first property in the United States deeded specifically for construction of a Methodist Church. His interest in our history continued through his ministry in Leesburg.”

Phil Feeney, chairman of the church’s board of trustees, has known Rev. Wishmyer since he began attending LUMC in 2012. He described him as bringing “a wide range of ideas to the situation at hand…He goes nonstop: meetings inside and out of the church, visitations, counseling, church administration, working with youth, serving meals, singing in the choir, continuous learning, sharing a cup of coffee and stopping to ask how you are doing.”

Phil said he’ll miss him as a pastor, as a number of parishioners have indicated, but “I will hold him as a friend.”

Reverend Wishmyer has dealt with a number of issues over the years, including renovating the inside of the church, dealing with a number of maintenance issues and replacing roofs.

“But touching people’s lives has always been our main goal,” he said, adding that, “we need a more intentional outreach. Largely newcomers come to us looking for something. We need to invite people just to be able to share our story.”

Rev. Wishmyer has been a member of the Loudoun Interfaith Clergy—Jewish, Islam, Christianity, etc.—and said, “We have prayer vigils. We’ve gone before the Board of Supervisors to express our concerns related to gun violence.”

He has a list of activities he’ll pursue in his “retirement,” including helping with vacation bible school, filling in as a pastor and possibly being a substitute teacher.

A 1979 graduate of Virginia Tech with a degree in economics, he joined the Allen Corporation as a research associate in Orlando, Florida, and later was transferred to Morristown, New Jersey. During this period of his life, he said “I was actively involved in young adult church groups and began to sense a call to full time Christian Ministry.”

That led him to attend Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky starting in 1981. After a series of ministries at various churches, he came to LUMC in 2007 and he and his wife, Debbie plan to remain in Leesburg.

They also hope to do some serious traveling, including overseas, the better to achieve what he described as “a world view.”

Pastor Jim Wishmyer

Alex Nance’s Mantra: Keep Piedmont History Alive

By Peyton Tochterman

In the verdant rolling landscape of Virginia’s Piedmont region, echoes of history reverberate through the fields and mountains. It’s a land imbued with the timelessness of the past, a testament to eras bygone, yet safeguarded and cherished by the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Association (VPHA).

At the heart of VPHA is Executive Director Alexander Nance. Originally from Alexandria and formerly a military analyst and an engineer officer in the U.S. Army. Alex and his wife, Jane Latham, moved to Middleburg three years ago. He now oversees the organization’s day-to-day operations, development, fundraising, and membership.

Defined by its unwavering commitment to the preservation and promotion of the unique history, arts, and traditions of the region, the VPHA holds steadfast against the tide of immediacy, advocating for the recognition and respect of the past in all its richness and complexity.

From the hallowed halls of historic structures to the inherited lore of the Appalachians, the VPHA steers the course of conservation with a steady hand. A testament to their efforts is their headquarters, an 1801 stone farmhouse in Atoka, painstakingly restored to its former glory and now serving as a tangible, vibrant record of the region’s past for visitors.

“We’re preserving and restoring that building not only for our office space but also to host guests weekly

to demonstrate the living history of this region,” Alex said. “You can see the 200-year-old beams that form the core of the building’s structure.”

The VPHA’s mission is multifaceted, merging preservation, education, and shared community experiences. Through education and outreach programs, they breathe life into history, transforming it from static pages in a textbook to a living, dynamic narrative that reverberates through the lives of the community.

Travis Shaw, the education director, in a single year has doubled his outreach to students from kindergarten to college.

“Ian MacDougal, our Public Programs Coordinator, oversees adult education, covering a range of historical topics,” Alex added. “Our team, both staff and volunteers, are dedicated and

passionate about what they do.”

Each year, their Heritage Festival invites the public to engage with the region’s rich cultural tapestry through music, crafts, and reenactments. They also host a concert series and member appreciation events.

An essential aspect of the VPHA’s mission is its Oral History Project. This podcast initiative explores and documents first-person narratives, providing valuable insights into the region’s past.

Key to these efforts is a dedicated team of volunteers, local enthusiasts, and historians committed to preserving the region’s heritage. “Our volunteers are essential to our success,” Alex said.

“Our overriding goal is to make as much of our material accessible to as many people as possible,” Alex said, crediting members like Tara Connell, chair of the podcast committee, for their active roles in expanding the association’s reach through strategic online engagement.

The VPHA’s work is funded through grants, memberships, and donations. “We have members from California and even England,” Alex said. “Ticket sales for public programs allow us to offer free programming to students.”

The VPHA’s work serves as a potent reminder that the past is not just worth preserving but is a crucial part of our shared identity. Through their continued efforts, the spirit of the Piedmont Region is kept alive, unfolding one chapter at a time, for current and future generations to cherish and learn from.

DON’T HESITATE TO STOP BY OLD WORLD WOODWORKING IN THE PLAINS TO DISCUSS YOUR NEEDS.

Sunday, October, 22nd, 2023

4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Hollywood Heading This Way for Film Festival

By Ronen Feldman

For the 11th consecutive year, Middleburg will be hosting what has become one of the biggest events in cinema—the Middleburg Film Festival.

Grab the family and join us for tasty farm to fork food, music by the iconic bluegrass band The Seldom Scene, and a dazzling view at Ayrshire Farm. Ayrshire is Virginia's first double Certified Organic and Certified Humane farm and is permanently protected with an LTV conservation easement View their heritage animals, participate in our auction, children's activities, and more!

$1,200 - Sunset Box (Reserved table for 6 guests with premier views of the band, bottle service, and gourmet appetizers. ONLY TWO AVAILABLE!)

$110 – 1 ticket

$200 – 2 tickets

$380 – 4 tickets

$25 - 1 youth ticket (11-17)

Free 10 and under

Want to help LTV conserve more working farms?

Consider adding a contribution to our Malcolm Baldwin Farmers Fund, used to reduce easement costs for farmers across Virginia, and receive additional recognition in our event promotion.

$25 – Stockman

$50 – Rancher

$100 – Pioneer

$500+ – Trailblazer

Tickets may be purchased online at landtrustva.org, or call us at 540-687-8441

From October 19-22, it will be movie talk galore around the village, where cinephiles are invited to indulge in a wide array of movies, live music and sitdown conversations at a number of area locations with some of the industry’s biggest names and familiar faces.

The festival is like Hollywood in many ways, and at the same time everything it’s not. It’s glamorous and exciting, but also rural, peaceful and personal. Visitors get to experience the intensity of the rotating festival engagements along with the serene northern Virginia landscape.

“The festival was founded with the mission of using the power of film to inspire, educate, and engage audiences of diverse backgrounds and perspectives–and through this help build bridges of empathy and understanding,” said Susan Koch, the festival’s executive director.

Indeed, diversity is the key ingredient. The acclaim and cost of the films that are featured are as diverse as their subject matter. From blockbuster films to foreign productions with titles some are struggling to pronounce, there’s something for everyone.

The films and schedule are expected to be announced at the end of September when tickets go on sale. Just as in years past, Koch promises plenty of fabulous films and well-known boldface names.

“Our films are a terrific mix of ‘Oscar buzz’ films, independent gems you might not otherwise get a chance to see, international films, and fascinating documentaries,” she said. “Last year, there were 54 Oscar nominations among the films we screened.”

Last year’s guest list included, among others, Brendan Fraser, the most recent Academy Award winner for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He was on hand to talk about the movie that earned him the award–“The Whale.” Other past guests include Dakota Johnson, Kenneth Branagh and Ray Romano, just to name a few.

Another highlight of the upcoming festival: a concert featuring the work of a renowned film composer, which will be performed by the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Kim Allen Kluge.

“For me, the best part of the festival is having the opportunity to showcase the work of so many talented filmmakers who represent diverse perspectives from all over the world,” Koch said. “I love the conversations that take place throughout the festival, whether it’s the informal ones with other filmgoers while standing in line waiting for a film, or attending an in-depth conversation with a notable filmmaker or actor.”

Oscar-winning actor Brendan Fraser made an appearance at the 2022 Middleburg Film Festival.

I Scream, You Scream, at Auntie RaRa’s Ice Cream Truck

By Ali Patusky

Rachelle Windle, owner of Auntie RaRa’s Handcrafted Ice Cream, has always had a “creative mind.”

She studied photography at Virginia Commonwealth University and owned her own photography business before, with the help of a friend, she discovered her favorite form of art— making ice cream. Thank you Brian Jenkins, owner of the Tipped Cow Creamery in Purcellville, her hometown.

“I got the opportunity to work for a friend who randomly decided to open an ice cream shop, and he just threw me all in,” Rachelle said. “He showed me the basics of how to make ice cream, and then kinda just let me run with it. And I loved it.”

Following this experience, she started to pursue the possibility of opening her own ice cream business, drawing inspiration for the name and logo from her niece and nephew, who call her “Auntie RaRa”.

“The picture of my logo is actually me holding my nephew when I worked at the other shop, and he’s an ice cream fiend,” she said. “I just need to add my niece now to the logo.”

Still, it did not go exactly as plannned. Several weeks after she quit her job, the Covid pandemic essentially shut down the area. The good news? It gave Rachelle time to find and purchase an essential tool for the business– an ice cream truck.

“We were driving towards Fredericksburg, and we saw a guy who had three ice cream trucks,” she said. “We stopped by, and he was like ‘hey, I’ll sell you one’, so it worked out really well.”

The trial run came in the fall of 2020 and Rachelle has been “going ever since,” traveling Northern Virginia and selling her handmade ice cream out of the truck, hand-dipped scoops at a time.

A typical week usually includes making ice cream on Tuesday or Thursday, or “both depending on how busy it is”, and then selling it Wednesday through Sunday. Then she “does it all over again” every week, stopping only during the winter season. Creating new flavors and “fooling around in the kitchen” is “hands down” her favorite part of running the business.

“I’ll just walk through the grocery store and see a cereal or some random thing and be like ‘what can I do with this?’ and then I’ll get in here and try it out,”

she said. “I can make something up, and if it fails, I scratch it...It’s an art form.”

Her best-selling flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and cookies and cream are always available at the truck, while the other three flavors offered change routinely as she experiments in the kitchen. No matter the flavor, her secret to a creamy and delicious ice cream is all about the quality of ingredients.

“I make mine with 14 percent milk fat which makes it really creamy,” she said. “A lot of places, I’d say, use 10 percent.”

Her customers confirm this quality. One woman, enjoying her ice cream recently at the Buchanan Hall Farmers Market in Upperville, smiled and said, “We get some every time we come.”

The truck can be found most Wednesdays at Buchanan Hall. She also takes it to private parties, athletic and other events around Northern Virginia. In the future, she hopes to add a storefront to the business, but for now, she’s happy to have found her passion.

“I never expected to own an ice cream truck,” she said. “And then, I finally found, at the ripe old age of 34, what I really wanted to do.”

Photo by Montana Lanier Ruffner

Rachelle Windle, owner of Auntie RaRa’s Handcrafted Ice Cream.

Oh Baby, Fighter Chick Makes Her Pro Debut

By Jodi Nash

“An injury is not just a process of recovery, it’s a process of discovery.”

So says Conor McGregor, the notorious Irish fighter and the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) most marketable mixed martial arts star.

My daughter Carsyn Nash, aka Fighter Chick and a Fauquier County native, can relate. After two years off and two successive surgeries, one for a fractured tibia and ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, the other for a serious sternoclavicular joint repair, Carsyn went back into the octagon on Saturday, June 17 for her professional debut in the King of Sparta Middleweight Tournament in Superior, Colorado.

After two months of “fight camp”—intense training four to six hours a day in the various combat disciplines—she started cutting weight at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning.

I flew out, rolling into her Denver apartment in the middle of the torture. She’s 30 years old, walks around at 130 pounds, but fights at 115, with a one-pound overage allowance. After three brutal “burrito” sessions, wrapped in a portable sauna-like tinfoil suit between alternating hot baths, she sweats down to 117 pounds, 4 ounces.

Another burrito, but this time a heating pad is added. Naked, she hits 117. I pat her dry, removing every teardrop of moisture. Her eyes are sunken, her cheek bones prominent, her hip bones jutting out like headlands on a sandy beach. It’s scary, but Coach Vellor Caballero is a former Army medic. He checks her pulse, makes sure she’s still sweating. Time is short. The weigh-in is at 6 p.m. and we have traffic.

It’s a tense drive to Blue Sport Stable in Superior, with Carsyn crashed in the back seat. We unload her and her “refuel” bag, filled with Gatorade, coconut water, protein snacks, fruit and a second sweatsuit.

Inside the immense sport arena at Angry Horse Eatery, the most exotic of the MMA fighter species have gathered, mostly men glistening with sweat, tatted up, shaved or in dreads, waiting to weigh in.

Her opponent makes weight. Vellor and I hold up the blanket to shield Carsyn from sight, and she steps on the scale naked—116 pounds, 3 ounces. My heart plummets, I feel sick. Because weigh-ins are still in progress, Vellor tells her to put on her second sweat suit. He runs her for 12 minutes, then she hits the bathroom to try to evacuate every last drop of moisture from her body.

They return, up goes the blanket, and again she’s on the scale. “Carsyn Nash!! 116 pounds!!!” shouts the officiant. In a moment of prayerful ecstasy, I drop the blanket to hug my she-cub and the fight crowd gets an unexpected peep show. There is goodnatured chuckling and light applause, and someone yells “You must be mom!” Carsyn is completely unfazed, jubilant to have made weight. We wrap her up and head off to Benihana’s for hibachi eats and quiet celebration.

On Fight Day, after a long night of rehydration and breakfast with me and her siblings, we get Carsyn’s hair braided in tight cornrows at 12:15 p.m. She rests at her apartment before heading to the venue with Coach Vellor around 4 p.m.

When we arrive at the venue at 7:30, it’s a raucous atmosphere, but Carsyn is third from last on the main card so we have plenty of time to watch other matches. It goes fast. After a number of TKOs, submissions and stoppages from injuries, suddenly, she’s up, much sooner than anticipated.

She walks in to Mungo Jerry’s lighthearted “In the Summertime,” her fight song, wearing her fuzzy slippers and fight shorts. The hovering officials tell her she can’t have pockets, so a teammate zips to a merchandise stand to grab a new pocketless pair.

Now, Carsyn is in her corner dancing lightly on her feet, and intensely focused. It’s been a brutal journey, and she’s facing three five-minute rounds in the women’s strawweight division.

“Ladieees and Gentlemen, in the Blue Corner, standing 5 foot, 2 inches tall, weighing in at 116 pounds, she’s a freestyle fighter making her professional MMA debut with High Altitude Martial Arts out of Denver, Colorado….Carsyn Nashtybusiness Nasssssh!”

As she steps in to engage Serena Ochoa, she weighs 130, right where her coaches want her.

From the get-go, Carsyn seems to dominate, looking crisp and technical. She’s a natural grappler but has used her downtime during rehab to concentrate on striking. Her coaches are coaching from outside of the cage.

“Keep those feet active Carsyn! Sync it up! Double up your right Carsyn! Inside, inside. There’s no power there Carsyn…take your feet with you!”

She made some beautiful sweeps during the bout,

dropping her opponent on her back for the ground combat Carsyn loves. Then the coaching cues change.

“Stay on top – behind the elbows Carsyn. Body triangle! Close that wedge Carsyn! Knee on belly! Knee on belly! Off balance her…”

I can’t remember anything except being a lunatic beside the cage, howling “Get her Carsyn! You GO baby! Finish her Carsyn, finisssssh her!”

During a one-minute rest period, as Carsyn’s coaches cleaned up her cut eye, I realized her siblings, Gage and Lark, are gone. Embarrassed by their mama’s raging, they moved elsewhere. I don’t blame them.

Fighter Chick won by unanimous decision. She came away with a $1,000 check and a rainbow of a shiner. When I asked what she learned from this comeback experience, she said, “It felt super surreal – the first real professional training structure I’ve had. Now I know I’m a quick learner, after years of trial and error with not much guidance.”

The feedback from her coaches and sparring partners was all the same: you could have finished that fight anytime you wanted.

Carsyn put it this way, “I used all the techniques I practiced and put on a good professional show. Now I need to use my ability to ignite the brawl and hit hard when I still have the gas to move away if she throws back. If I’m better everywhere than she is, it’s okay to take that risk.”

I asked if she could hear her three coaches over the crazy crowd cacophony. “I’m lucky,” she said. “I hear only the voices I’ve been training with. Other fighters struggle with that. If you trust your coaches and HEAR them, all you have to worry about is having a sound defense, because they’re playing the rest of the game for you.”

If you say so baby…but over your mama’s mad shrieking, I don’t know how you do that.

Re-fueling after the weigh-in.

Photos by Jodi Nash And the winner is Carsyn Nash

ROCKBURN FARM BECOMES AVAILABLE

Tucked along a quiet gravel road near Upperville is Rockburn Farm, an idyllic 132-acre horse farm anchored by a classic 10,000+ square foot stone estate house originally built in 1828 and lovingly restored by the current owner.

The distinguished manor house had many additions over time and includes seven total full baths and three-half baths in the main house. Purchased in 1997, the current owners hired notable Washington, D.C. architect Merle Thorpe to complete extensive renovations. The house now offers an understated formality that combines formal spaces along with comfortable family spaces.

The surrounding gardens and plantings were brought to life by landscape architect Michael V. Bartlett and more recently by Nicole Seiss. Dotted among mature hardwood trees held within antique stone walls are lush garden beds, an ornamental water garden, pond and boxwood parterre.

Not far from the main house is a two-story log cabin and a one-room stone summer kitchen. Other outbuildings include four tenant houses, a greenhouse, two separate horse barns, over a dozen fenced paddocks , many with run-in sheds, and two workshops. Rockburn Farm is listed for $7.45 million with Cricket Bedford of Thomas and Talbot Estate Properties in Middleburg.

For details, contact Cricket Bedford at cricket@thomasandtalbot. com or (540) 229-3201.

A sunroom with flagstone floors and a wall of windows provides remarkable views of the pond and the mountains.

The 132.23 acres of open rolling land at Rockburn is contiguous to the late Paul and Bunny Mellon’s Oak Spring Farm and the property is in a perpetual conservation easement held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. It’s located within the Cromwell’s Run Rural Historic District and the Piedmont Fox Hounds hunt territory. The estate includes a farm manager’s house and three tenant houses.

A two-story portico along the back of the house offers a tranquil retreat and overlooks mature gardens with boxwood parterre and ornamental water garden.

A gourmet chef’s kitchen has all high-end appliances: a six-burner Thermador stove with a commercial grade hood, two refrigerators, island with ice maker, two sinks and abundant cabinet space

The primary bedroom is light and airy with a fireplace and a spacious custom walk-in closet with numerous handsome details and full his and hers bathrooms.

Equestrian facilities with excellent ride out at Rockburn include two full 15-stall barns with wash stalls, tack room and feed rooms. There are more than a dozen fenced paddocks and five turnout sheds.

Rockburn’s classic circa 1828 stone manor house has over 10,000 square feet with seven bedrooms, seven full baths and three half baths with sweeping views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This English regencystyle front façade was added to the stone center section of the house by the late Hubert B. Phipps, who made Rockburn his home for many decades.

The dining room has custom pine moldings, chair rail and arched doorway with pocket doors.

The large formal living room has eleven-foot plus ceilings anchored at one end with a large 24’ by 8’ bay window overlooking the farm.

The library has large cased six-over-six windows, custom bookcases with arches, moldings, a fireplace and custom painted walls by well-known designer Marcus Pluntke.

✔

You’ve WATCHED the race…

A Pair of Donkeys Find Their Forever Farm

Anne

Sean

www.riverdeestable.com

“Customer

Benefits

On a cool June morning with a heavy dew still hanging in the grass, Sally Price, executive director of the Middleburg Humane Foundation (MHF), arrived at a farm just outside Upperville to visit with a pair of donkeys that had recently been adopted from the MHF facility in Marshall.

Accompanied by Sawyer Guinn, MHF’s communications director, as Sally pulled up and got out of the car, she found four members of the Slater family waiting in the field. Mildred “Bucky” Slater, her son Fletcher, and his children, Bowen and Beck, are the new caretakers of Pepper and Clyde, the donkeys adopted from MHF.

The animals only had a short, several week stay at the MHF facility, but quickly became a staff favorite. Their gentle nature and endearing personalities made them easy to care for and even easier to fall in love with. As much as the staff was enjoying their company, the goal stayed constant in getting them adopted. Together.

That usually is no easy task, especially considering the requisite property requirements necessary to make a good home for any type of livestock, even for a pair of easy going donkeys. This time, it worked perfectly.

Bucky Slater, a long-time Upperville attorney, had been on a long hunt hoping to find mini-horses, donkeys, or particularly agreeable ponies to introduce her grandchildren to animal husbandry and all the rewarding work that goes into developing relationships with animals.

Pepper and Clyde fit the bill perfectly. A friend of Bucky’s, who heard about the donkeys’ presence at the MHF facility, initially let her know about what seemed a likely match made in heaven. Virginia Jackson, MHF Equine Coordinator, then spoke with her about the adoption, and Pepper and Clyde were soon on the way, with minimal protests about loading into an unfamiliar horse trailer.

Their new four-legged family also includes eight other horses and a slew of farm dogs and barn cats on the 100-acre property. Most importantly for the donkeys though, are Bowen and Beck. The two children will be learning the rewarding process of caring for animals by developing relationships with Pepper and Clyde.

Bowen, five, got to pick which donkey she wanted to be responsible for due to the proximity of their adoption to her birthday. She chose Pepper, the smaller of the two with a coat that resembles the gray brown dusting of fresh cracked pepper corns. Beck, a precocious two-year-old, got Clyde, who’s size dwarfs the toddler but, due to his gentle nature, is a perfect match.

The children took turns brushing Pepper and were all too eager to spoil the donkeys with baby carrots. Clyde was more than content to stand next to Fletcher Slater and take advantage of the all you can eat buffet of carrots and peppermints coming out of his pockets.

✔

“At MHF it isn’t just about finding homes, it’s about finding good homes,” Guinn said. “We’re fortunate to have the ability and resources to vet all potential adopters. We don’t take that for granted. And the Slater Farm is exactly that.”

✔

Details www.middleburghumane.org .

✔

Fletcher Slater with a new member of the family, courtesy of Middleburg Humane.

Connie Carter and Gordon Todd Dale hosted “A Summer Evening at Historic Pot House” for a Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area event. Travis Shaw, education director, spoke about the history of the circa 1700 place where potters fired bricks in the kiln used at homes such as Farmer’s Delight, Huntland, Oak Hill and Foxcroft School. A tour of the circa 1768 Pot House, the iron forge and remains of original spring was followed by a reception, which included gelato.

Linda Volrath is now the “Official Fine Artist” of Country ZEST and Style magazine. Something we feel honored to include for a talented artist who captures each moment with perfection…just look at the shadows and depths of the folds of the sheet on this horse. On top of that, she is not only creative but also amiable and enchanting. “My goal is a certain level of abstract shapes within a foundation of classical composition, color harmony and strong design,” she says. Details on price of this painting and more at https://www.lindavolrath.com

out to

at

evening

Photo by Olivia Golden Faith Fort on Cameo won the Piedmont Silver Foxes class at the Loudoun Benefit Horse Show. Nancy Hall on Dedication was second and George Zebrovius, in his scarlet

dress was third and won Best Vintage. The class was judged by Dale Crittenberger.

Nina Fout, a Jt. Master of the Middleburg Orange County Beagles, took time

visit with Betsee Parker

her Ackergill Castle on the North Sea, Wick, Scotland.

PAY ATTENTION: You’re in the Army Now

By John Sherman Part 1

This is a recall—-or the best I can make of it—-of two years in the Army in France. Lyndon Johnson was president. I confess adding a pinch or two of artistry to thicken the tale.

The 29th Base Post Office was not a combat unit.  I don’t remember having a helmet, never mind a .45 that could stop a bayonet charge.  After all, we were stationed just outside Orleans, France.

I arrived the spring of 1965, months ahead of President Lyndon Johnson’s big buildup in Vietnam.  I’m still ashamed to mention my assignment to my veteran friends.  “Luck of the draw.”

The base post office was the major collection center for about six bases in the Loire region—-a kind of Merrifield. We numbered about 50, mostly privates and corporals, a dozen sergeants and four officers, including me, a Second Lieutenant.

The operation was enclosed in a former bakery—-a very, very large bakery, (maybe 70 yards wall to wall.)  A good portion was a loading area for the nightly run to Paris.  We each had an office and a metal desk and two chairs.  Hanging anything on the wall, like a poster of the Eiffel Tower, was forbidden.  Uniformity was the army’s mantra.

Second Lieutenants are given a slew of additional duties: armorer, recreation director, graves registration, pay officer.  The most demanding was supply officer, whose burden rarely registered with us innocent incoming officers.

For me it all started with a blue, cloth textured book called the Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE).  Oblong, it opened from the top.  I can’t remember how many pages it ran; about the only items not included were ball point pens and carbon paper.

It stretched from pillow cases to gas masks, to 2 1/2-ton trucks, with a very wide in between.  The deal was, if you were short, it came out of your paycheck.  I was making $222 a month.  Those who had been in for a while treated supply like a craps table. For the clever, there was real money to be made, for the not so clever, there was constant crisis.

The Army demanded that each of the hundreds of items in the TOE had to be perfectly accounted for.  In a perverse logic, overages were just as punishable as shortages—-a reality that slapped me upside the head too late.

Dick Bonesteel, a toothpick-chewing, sly-smiling sergeant from Tennessee, was the acting supply officer who was to formally pass the job on to me.  He and a few other non-coms in the unit had fought in World War II.  He was being discharged at the end of the week to return home.

We started the inventory on page one.  Most was piddly, standard stuff: folding chairs, sorting tables, bunks, office supplies.  Then we got to the large items.

“See that big hump over there, lieutenant, that’s a 485-9 tent, canvas, field, postal operations. The poles are underneath it.”  Bonesteel continued the tour of the categories I was to inherit.

“Over there, in the corner, stacked up, are ammo containers.  And those wrapped up packages should be 500 sheets…Those small packs over there are atropine curettes in case we get gassed.”

I followed his gestures as we went trough the TOE.  The transfer took about an hour, ending with “Well, lieutenant, you’re good to go.”  We shook hands.  I signed. A week or so later, a call came from the barracks requesting sheets.  Turns out that the stack of sheets was boosted by a hidden 2x4 frame, so what looked like 500 turned out to be 200.

The unit tent, on closer inspection, was eight pup tent halves snapped together, hiding a pile of boxes and wadded-up newspapers.  The first aid kit was empty.  Panicked, I went straight for the ammo canisters.  Half were empty.  Sheets were one thing, ammo was quite another.  The shortage list lengthened.  I had been badly snookered by the amiable sergeant from Tennessee.  A stupid, trusting, bungling Second Lieutenant—-a complete dumkopf.

I put a call in to a guy who flew in with me from the States.  He worked in personnel, the thickest bureaucracy in the Army.

“I need a supply sergeant,” I said with authority.  I gave him my unit and he told me to hang on.  He returned to the phone to report that our TOE did not call for a supply sergeant.  I reminded him of our brief friendship on the flight—-and then begged him to send me someone to lift me out of my nightmare. I may even have whimpered.  “See what I can do.” Then he hung up.

Robert Thompson reported five says later.  I thought it was a mistake.  He was Black, in his late 30s or early 40s. Nothing in his dress was crisp or straight.  His brass buckle, unpolished, had slid left.  His cap was worn at a forty-five degree angle.  Most striking of all he was a Specialist 4, a rank most GIs make after two years.

I asked him when he joined the army.  He said 1951.  So, how in hell was he still a Spec. 4?

“I’ve been busted down a few times.”

For what?

“Hitting officers.”

Given my own losses, I’d have overlooked a couple of manslaughter charges. Over the next couple of days I walked him through my shame.  At every discovery he just nodded.  It seemed a sign of wisdom.  At the end, he confirmed that I was in a “pretty deep hole, sir.”

To be continued…

FOX HOLLOW

23532 Chase Hollow Ln | Middleburg, VA 20117

HICKORY GROVE

36519 Fox Haven Ln | Purcellville, VA 20132

"Fox Hollow" sits at the end of a private lane w/ a gated entry, making it very private yet serene Located only a couple miles east of downtown Middleburg, makes it a great commuter location & provides year-round shopping convenience too Some interior features include, nearly 10,000 sqft of finished living space- potential for 7 bedrooms, hardwood floors throughout, along w/ high ceilings, & every window showcases a view The Owner's suite has its own sitting area w/ a fireplace, & a very large oversized closet There are two primary bathrooms, each w/ a large shower & one w/ a soaking tub The 2nd floor also has 3 additional bedrooms, each w/ their own private full bathrooms, & the top floor has a guest suite w/ a private full bath The lower level is 2,850 sqft w/ a huge versatile main room, & has an additional 2-bedrooms, each w/ their own full bath in addition to another full bathroom & additional laundry There is a complete kitchen too that has all the essentials The basement flows nicely in and out to the pool area too, and one side of the basement is a huge workshop Fox Chase Farm fronts Little River with lots of cleared trails, allowing for exceptional hiking, camping, riding, 4-wheeling, & all your outdoor adventures This charming turnkey home is surrounded by 25+ acres of green pastures with 3board fencing, a 6-stall horse stable, automatic waterers, a heated tack room, a luxurious sand riding ring, & each paddock has access to the barn Located in the Orange County Hunt territory, there is lots of rideout too! The property provides multiple entertainment spaces and just outside of the home, is an in-ground heated pool An attached 3-car garage and large concrete parking pad were thoughtfully designed as well No HOA & Starlink Business Internet!!!

$3,375,000

"Hickory Grove" is a timeless, custom, all brick estate on 12 private serene acres conveniently located in the quaint village of Philomont With equal distance to Purcellville and Middleburg this property is an excellent commuter location! Less than a mile to the Philomont General Store, this home offers shopping convenience along w/ year-round enjoyment of the outdoors at the Philomont Community Center playground This home has been meticulously cared for & updated in the past 6 years to make it completely turnkey, offering elegant living inside and out! Just beyond the stone gated entry sits a private dogfenced yard w/ mature trees & professional landscaping Interior features include, 3 fully-finished levels of freshly painted living space w/ 9' ceilings, a large remodeled kitchen w/ all new appliances, a spacious dining room, a proper study, a 2-story living room w/ a gorgeous wallto-wall stacked stone hearth, wood burning fireplace, & a screened in porch that opens out to a luxurious brick terrace to a stunning pool The primary suite is extremely private on the first floor w/ a gas fireplace, a huge walk-in closet, a large bathroom w/ double vanities, new heated tile flooring, shower w/ a separate soaking tub, & its own private outdoor sitting area The second level has brand new carpet and paint, 2 large bedrooms w/ a jack & jill in addition to a 2nd suite! The lower level is the entire footprint of the home It presents an abundance of light, a finished rec' area w/ fresh paint & brand new carpet, along w/ a brand new full bathroom & walks out to the handy lawn & garden shed. Just on the opposite side of the home is a huge 3-car garage! The detail, quality, & charm is truly apparent & the setting is incredibly tranquil too. No HOA & Comcast Internet w/ 1200 Mbps down!!!

$1,875,000

y o r s e l l i n N o r t h e r n V i r g i n i a T h a t ’ s w h y m o r e p e o p l e t u r n t o K r i s t i n D i l l o n - J o h n s o n t o f i n d t h e t o o l s a n d r e s o u r c e s th e y n e e d t o s e i z e t h e i r i n v e s t m e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s K r i s t i n w i l l g u i d e y o u i n y o u r r e s e a r c h o f c u r r e n t m a r k e t t r e n d s a n d y o u r s e a r c h o f l a t e s t p r o p e r t y l i s t i n g s r e s u l t i n g i n v a l u a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n f o r y o u r m o v e K r i s t i n D i l l o n - J o h n s o n n o t o n l y b r i n g s h e r e x t e n s i v e e x p e r t i s e a n d k n o w l e d g e t o y o u r i n v e s t m e n t , s h e i s a l s o p a r t o f t h e p o w e r f u l m a r k e t i n g c l o u t o f M i d d l e b u r g R e a l E s t a t e & A t o k a P r o p e r t i e s Th e e x p e r t i s e o f M i d d l e b u r g R e a l E s t a t e & A t o k a P r o p e r t i e s d e l i v e r t h e h i g h e s t l e v e l o f r e a l e s t a t e s e r v i c e a v a i l a b l e i n t h e s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t i e s & N o r t h e r n V i r g i n i a P u t t h i s p o w e r f u l a l l i a n c e t o w o r k f o r y o u !

KRISTIN DILLON-JOHNSON | REALTOR® | Licensed in Virginia

153 acres

LOOK NO FURTHER, YOU BELONG IN HORSE COUNTRY

$7,880,000

Upperville – This premier estate is a paradise with the main house for grand living and entertaining; 2 horse barns, riding ring and trails to ride out. Multiple outdoor living spaces perfect for enjoying the landscape of Virginia’s horse country.

Julia O'Regan | 202-468-0751

75+ acres $4,500,000

Delaplane – Built for Channing Delaplane, Jr. in 1921, the manor house is exquisite and beautifully sited. Located within the Crooked Run Valley Rural Historic District. 10 BRs, 6 1/2 BAs. Behind the house are a pool, barns, paddocks and mature woodlands.

John Coles | 540-270-0094

541 +/- acres

$7,800,000

Beautiful rolling hills and pasture located in Flint Hill, Virginia. This scenic property is surrounded by unspoiled countryside and expansive views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, offering a private and quiet escape to enjoy.

Will Driskill | 540-454-7522

101 acres

$5,500,000

A very special and rare private sanctuary. Extraordinary location only 6 miles west of Warrenton, 45 min. to Dulles Int. Airport and one hour to the White House. With world-class construction, Stoneledge is the benchmark for a luxury countryside retreat.

John Coles | 540-270-0094

westwood

10 acres

$2,050,000

Middleburg – Very private, within the community of Atoka Chase. Renovated in 2010, spacious rooms, high ceilings and large windows. Enjoy the view - serene mountains and horse farms with their open fields lined with stone walls.

Rebecca Poston | 540-771-7520

303 acres

$3,750,000

This estate is waiting for someone with the eye for interior finishes to bring it to life. Minutes from the charming village of Sperryville and enjoys convenient proximity to Culpeper Regional Airport and Warrenton-Fauquier Airport.

Will Driskill | 540-454-7522

4 windsor lodge ln.

54+ acres

$1,750,000

Flint Hill – Offered separately for the first time, Alnell Farm's Main Residence and adjacent Guest House. Primarily one level living, with a main level primary suite. Charming guest home features 2 BRs / 1 BA, living room w/ fireplace and a kitchen.

Julia O'Regan | 202-468-0751

111+ acres

$3,300,000

Boyce – Main Residence w/ 6 BRs /4 full and 2 half BAs, 6 car garage, Swimming pool, hot tub, pool house w/ full BA, Tenant House w/ 2 car garage, Office w/ an apt building of 3 one-bedroom apts + office. Stable w/ 21 stalls, Outdoor riding arena. Rebecca Poston | 540-771-7520

107+ acres

$5,495,000

The Plains – Exceptional and surrounded by magnificent countryside with views. Stone and stucco residence, beautiful terraces. Geothermal heating/cooling, heated 20’ x 40’ pool, 8 stall center aisle stable with 14’ x 14’ stalls. Stunning indoor riding arena.

John Coles | 540-270-0094

241+ acres $2,410,000

Flint Hill – Gorgeous rolling land with spectacular views! VOF Easement allows a permanent single family dwelling, a secondary residential dwelling and nonresidential outbuildings, etc. Cannot be further divided.

Julia O'Regan | 202-468-0751

corner farm

13+ acres

$1,425,000

Boyce – Beautiful eastern views of mountains and fields. 6 stall barn, wash stall, rubber mats, tackroom and a building for hay / storage. Board-fenced paddocks with run-in sheds. Small riding arena with a stone dust base. Excellent ride-out.

Cary Embury | 540-533-0106

46 acres $1,390,000

Berryville – TURN-KEY EQUINE FACILITY with unique 3 BR / 2 BA custom designed elevated home. 3 stall center aisle barn and 1 BR / 1 BA apt. at ground level. Bi-level arrangement is most practical, offering comfort, economy and convenience.

Wayne Wilson | 540-622-8520

littleton farm

delaplane manor

alnell

george miller house

stoneledge hidden trail

millwood farm

fox meadow

zachary taylor hwy.

subject to errors, omissions, change of price or withdrawal without notice. Information contained herein is deemed reliable, but is not so warranted nor is it otherwise guaranteed.