Around Clarke in February/March
February
154-H Volunteer Leaders Spaghetti Dinner & Auction
Clarke County Ruritan Building. 5pm-7pm. Featuring Apple Crisp dessert from Mackintosh Farms and a live auction at 6:30. Funds from this event will support 4-H camp scholarships, educational competitions, higher education scholarships, community service projects, workshops, livestock clinics and achievement recognition programs. Contact Teri Gordon at 540-955-5164 for more info.
15 Barbara Frank book signing
Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Doors open at 5pm, event starts at 5:30. Free admission. Barbara Frank is the author of the three books of the Princess Series, Anna of Corotoman, Aggy of Zion, and Ferolene of Tincup, historical fiction novels that tell the stories of three remarkable young women in recreations of 18th- and 19th-century Virginia, and rural Georgia during the early days of the Civil Rights movement in the American South. Ms. Frank now lives on a farm in Warren County. For more information, visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.
16 HSCBA Polar Plunge
Shenandoah River and Blue Ridge Fire Hall. 2pm. Plunge into the river and help send at-risk children to High Five Sports Camp! Warm up afterwards at the Blue Ridge Fire Hall with good food and great music from Drymill Road. Presented by the Horseshoe Curve Benevolent Association. Contact Tracee at 540-554-8291 for more information.
17 Power of the Spiritual
Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Doors open at 2:30 pm, show starts at 3 pm. A show for all ages. $12 in advance, $15 at door, $8 for students, 12 & under free. Amanda Kemp and violinist Michael Jamanis blend African American history and poetry to introduce intergenerational audiences to the beauty and significance of spirituals. The production celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. For more information and tickets, visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.
21 The Bitter Liberals
Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Show starts at 8. $12 advance, $15 at door. The Bitter Liberals is a band of focused concentration and joyful collaboration, encompassing many years of musical experience. The Bitter Liberals plays all original music of texture and maturity, featuring rich story-telling, fine vocals, and the seasoned musicianship of Allen Kitselman, Mike Jewell, Clark Hansbarger, and Gary McGraw. For more information and tickets, visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.
22 Blandy Winter Olympics program for Kids
Blandy Experimental Farm, Boyce. 12:30-3pm. For kids in grades 4 to 6. $22 or $17 for FOSA members. Can you move as silently as an owl? Run faster than a fox? Hop farther than a rabbit? Join us as we investigate, watch, and simulate animals in winter at the “Blandy Winter Olympics.” Reservations required. For program details, call Steve Carroll at 540-837-1758 Ext. 287. Register at www.blandy.virginia.edu or call 540-837-1758, ext. 224.
22 Hands on History discussion
Clarke County Historical Association, 32 E. Main Street, Berryville. 11am-12:30pm. $5 admission. Learn about and discuss the new additions to the CCHA Archives. Featured items will include newly acquired aerial photographs of the county and the Historic Green Hill Cemetery records. For more information, visit www.clarkehistory.org, email outreach@clarkehistory.org or call 540-955-2600.
22 Slavery By Another Name
Historic Long Branch Plantation, Millwood. 1pm – 3pm. Walk & Talk tour from 3:30-4:30pm. Free and open to public. “Slavery By Another Name” is based on the Pulitzer-prize-winning book by Douglas Blackmon and reveals how, from the late 1870s through the mid-20th century, thousands of African-American men were arrested and forced to work off fines by serving as unpaid labor to businesses and provincial farmers. The movie will be followed by a tour of a site that experienced the effects of the Reconstruction Era first-hand. Visit www.visitlongbranch.org or call 540-837-1856 for details.
22 Painting & Drawing Group
Join Rebecca Jones for this monthly workshop at CraftWorks. Each session includes a demo, studio time and critique. Register at wvcraftworks.org.
22 Bluegrass & BBQ
Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 8. $12 advance, $15 at door. Come hear top notch Bluegrass and eat BBQ! The BBQ, provided by Jordan Springs Market, has been voted best in the valley for 4 years in a row, and will be on sale for the duration of the show. Born out of the all night jam sessions and fertile picking scene of Western North Carolina, Town Mountain has emerged as one of America’s premiere young bluegrass bands. For more information and tickets, visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.
23 Polymer Clay & Mixed Media Group
A free gathering of artists at CraftWorks. 11am-4pm, sign up at wvcraftworks.org.
27 Todd Reynolds: “Still Life with Microphone:
Bright Box Theater, 15 N. Loudoun Street, Winchester. Doors open at 7pm, show starts at 8pm. $10 for adults, $8 for students. Todd Reynolds is known as one of the founding fathers of the hybrid-musician movement and is the violinist of choice for Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, Bang on a Can, and a founder of the string quartet Ethel. Strings magazine called Reynolds’ music a “charming, multi-mood extravaganza, playful like Milhaud, but hard-edged like Hendrix.” Purchase tickets at www.brightboxwinchester.com.
28 When The Saints Go Marching In: The W.E.S. group featuring Corcoran Holt
Bright Box Theater, 15 N. Loudoun Street, Winchester. Doors open at 7pm, show starts at 8pm. $18 advance, $22 at door. Ring in Mardi Gras with the W.E.S. group paying homage to “Jazz Saints” John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Miles Davis, and more. Corcoran Holt, a Shenandoah University alum, has become one of the most sought after bass players on the NY jazz scene. Purchase tickets at www.brightboxwinchester.com.
March
1 Taarka
Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Show starts at 8. $12 advance, $15 at door. Taarka brings flavors of folk, jazz, rock, bluegrass, gypsy, and more and puts their unique modern spin on them, with mandolin, guitar, violin, bass, and soaring vocals. San Francisco Weekly calls them a “collision of Django Reinhardt and David Grisman.” For more information and tickets, visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.
7 Duvall Designs Gallery
Re-opening for 2014 season. Save the date for reception March. 15, 5-7pm.
8 Sounds of Spring
Blandy Experimental Farm, Boyce. 7-8:30pm. $10 for FOSA members, $12 for non-members, $20 for family. Explore spring through images and recordings of frogs, insects, birds, and more with Wil Hershberger. Then walk down to Lake Georgette to hear the spring peepers. Register at www.blandy.virginia.edu or cal 540-837-1758, ext. 224.
8 Tom Principato
Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Show starts at 8. $15. Legendary blues and rock guitarist Tom Principato has spent the last 40+ years entertaining audiences in Washington, DC, and around the country. He was leader of the band Powerhouse in the 1970s and has played with Geoff Muldaur, Big Mama Thornton, and The Assassins with Jimmy Thackery. For more information and tickets, visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.
9 Bill Whiting Wrap-Up Party & Auction
Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. 3-5pm. Free. Three paintings by the late Bill Whiting, a renowned Shenandoah Valley artist, will be auctioned off, with a minimum starting bid of $500. Auction starts at 4pm. For more information, visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.
13 Apple Blossom’s Got Talent – Try-Out #2
Bright Box Theater, 15 N. Loudoun Street, Winchester. 6pm. Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival is looking for the most talented performers in the area to try out for the opportunity to win a $5,000 cash prize plus other gifts and perks, to be awarded at the Festival Tent Party on May 3. For rules of participation, entry forms, and participant entry fees, visit www.thebloom.com.
16 “Monsieur Lazhar” Magic Lantern movie
Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. 3-5pm. $8. In this Oscar-nominated film, a Montreal elementary school teacher from Algeria must deal with the healing of his class after a tragic death as well as with echoes of the former life. “Leaves you hopeful and exhilarated,” said the Miami Herald. In French with English sub-titles. For more information and tickets, visit www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.
16 St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
Starring RUNA and Chamomile & Whiskey at Bright Box Theater, 15 N. Loudoun Street, Winchester. Doors open at 3pm show starts at 4pm. $20 advance, $25 at door. Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with live music from internationally-acclaimed Celtic Roots band RUNA and Central VA’s Chamomile & Whiskey, a full Irish tea bar, Irish cheese and soda bread bar, and plenty of other tasty libations. Purchase tickets at www.brightboxwinchester.com.
22 Summer Camp Fair
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 9:30am-1pm. Clarke County Parks and Recereation invite families to meet representatives from several area camps. For infomation call 540-955-5140.
22 Hope Through the Lens.
Historic Jordan Springs, 1160 Jordan Springs Road, Jordan Springs, VA. Noon to 3pm. Hope Through the Lens Photography Showcase and Sale is a creative artistic event to benefit The Red Wagon Ministry, a 501(C)(3)non-profit diaper ministry. The proceeds from this event will be used to purchase disposable diapers/wipes for babies in need and for the agencies that the ministry serves. These organizations are Congregational Community Action Project (CCAP), Frederick County Department of Social Services and FISH of Clarke County. More info at www.theredwagonministry.com or call Judy Stephenson at 540-955-0949.
22 Circa Blue Bluegrass & BBQ
Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Show starts at 8. $12 advance, $15 at door. Tight vocal harmonies, clean instrumentation, and creative arrangements keep audiences tapping their toes and dancing in their seats with this quartet of bluegrass musicians. BBQ available from Jordan Springs Market. For information and tickets, call 540-955-2004 or www.barnsofrosehill.org.
25 Introduction to Herbalism
Blandy Experimental Farm, Boyce. 2-3:30pm. $10 for FOSA members, $12 for non-members. Learn of various cultures’ historic and modern uses of herbs, then walk out to Blandy’s herb garden with Phoebe Reeve of the Shenandoah Herb Society. Register at www.blandy.virginia.edu or call 540-837-1758, ext. 224.
Current & Ongoing
Clarke County School Board meetings are held at D.G. Cooley Elementary School, 34 Westwood Road, Berryville, at 6:30pm and are open to the public. Upcoming meetings are on February 24, March 24, April 28, and May 19.
A wide variety of classes and activities is offered through Clarke County Parks and Recreation. See complete schedule at www.clarkecounty.gov/parks.
Opus Oaks offers several upcoming classes and workshops, beginning in early March and running through early April, for all ages in painting, drawing, stained glass, jewelry design, photography, and sculpture. See complete schedule at www.opusoaks.org.
