Fair time is your time

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It’s so noisy at the fair,

But all your friends are there

And the candy floss you had

And your mother and your dad.

 

Oh, to live on sugar mountain

With the barkers and the colored balloons

You can’t be twenty on sugar mountain

Though you’re thinking that you’re leaving there too soon

You’re leaving there too soon

 

There’s a girl just down the aisle,

Oh to turn and see her smile

You can hear the words she wrote

As you read the hidden note.

 

Oh, to live on sugar mountain

With the barkers and the colored balloons

You can’t be twenty on sugar mountain

Though you’re thinking that you’re leaving there too soon

You’re leaving there too soon.

 

Thanks for that, Neil Young. It’s true, you can’t be twenty and live on Sugar Mountain.

But you can be sixteen a few times each year, no matter what your chronological age. Christmas brings out our inner child, but the roles between parent and kid are established by tradition.

Vacation can do it, too—though we often spend vacation time dreaming about the future rather than living in the present.

The county fair, though—or the annual church carnival or the firemen’s carnival—that’s truly a time for all of us to be young, no matter our real ages. The food, the music, the rides, the animals, the pride in our friends (or kids of our friends) for their livestock or cooking or other talents.

For the middle-aged and elderly, we see good people we haven’t see since the last fair, and are reminded of all the good times we’ve had. All the carefree days we’ve been privileged to enjoy. All the friends who have been there when we needed them.

It may be true. You can’t be twenty on Sugar Mountain.

But who’s to say you can’t be 16 and visit from time to time.

The annual Clarke County Fair takes place August 10-16. See a snapshot of activities on page 4.

Be there, be young. Be you.

Bringing New Meaning To End Of Life

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Blue Ridge Hospice serves the souls of its patients, families, communities, and caregivers


By Jennifer Lee

“Turning to hospice is not about giving up. It’s about living your best possible life as well as you can and as long as you can with expert management of symptoms,” says Lisa Eiland, a registered nurse who has worked with Blue Ridge Hospice for almost 20 years. She and all her colleagues interviewed for this article speak with devotion and passion about their mission of providing care, counsel, and comfort to people in their last stage of life and their loved ones.

Walking into the offices of Blue Ridge Hospice (BRH) is far from a grim experience. Colorful art and lush plants line the walls and floors, an exuberant staff welcomes you, many volunteers cheerfully work stuffing envelopes or delivering meals to in-house patients, and, on this day, Chelsea the therapy dog greets everyone with a big tail wag. This is a place of healing for the spirit that serves thousands of patients and their families in Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, Page, Warren, Loudoun Rappahannock, and Fauquier counties and the City of Winchester.

Over the 30-plus years the BRH has been serving the community, its staff, services, and demands have grown exponentially. Founded by Gail Rodgers and Helen Zebarth in 1981, the organization has evolved from a small group of community leaders and volunteers with a tiny budget to a staff of over 200 employees, 900 volunteers, and a long list of outreach services ranging from medical care to music therapy to bereavement counseling.

The perception of hospice has evolved as well. People in the United States—both the medical community and public at large—have long held a fearful, distant approach to death and the dying. Children are sheltered from it, families don’t talk about it, and doctors are sworn to prolong life with any and all measures. The presence of hospice and the services it offers have allowed for a more caring, comforting, and conscious experience with the inevitable.

“Sometimes, the simple willingness to knock on the door and walk in has made all the difference for a family,” says Eiland. “I cannot express to you the unbelievable sense of privilege sitting with somebody at their bedside or standing in the back of a room full of family, surrounding someone they love. Presence. Bearing witness.”

Since the introduction of hospice to the United States in the mid 1970s, the medical community has gradually embraced the many benefits hospice provides both patients and their families. “It’s always getting better,” BRH President Ernie Carnivale says of the relationship between the hospital and hospice. “It’s about continual education and defining who plays specific roles. Our palliative care program has helped with that, too.“

An affiliate of BRH, Palliative Medicine Consultants opened in Winchester in 2008 to further bridge the gap between the hospital and hospice. The not-for-profit practice, whose team includes a physician, nurse practitioner, and licensed clinical social worker, supports its patients by working with pain and symptom management, helping define care goals and make complex care decisions, and coordinating care from various specialists. In 2013, Palliative Medicine Consultants conducted 920 consults and visits and its services are available to anyone at any age suffering from a serious, chronic, or life-threatening illness.

Critical Care

The best known and most important aspect of BRH’s mission is to provide end-of-life care to terminally ill patients and offer support for their families. This typically takes place in the patient’s home and involves professional medical staff and volunteers to help ease the dying process and provide physical, emotional, and spiritual comfort.

“The care is driven by the patient’s goals and supported by a team of highly specialized professionals that provide coordinated, interdisciplinary care to patients and families with complex needs. These include physicians, nurses, social workers, music therapists, chaplains, and volunteers,” said Eiland. “I can’t think of another nursing career that allows for such a collaborative approach and includes the care of the whole person and their family.”

In the fall of 2004, BRH opened an in-patient unit adjacent to its offices in the former Winchester Memorial Hospital on Cork Street in Winchester. The facility offers eight beds in pleasant, homey rooms for patients requiring a more acute level of hospice care than can be delivered in the home. Carnivale counts this among his proudest accomplishments since he started leading the organization 14 years ago. Working with Pat Bishop, vice president of clinical services at the Loudoun Hospital Center, and the BRH Board, he fulfilled his wish to create a place that offers 24-hour care to patients most in need or for those without a caregiver.

Carnivale’s enthusiasm and commitment to the mission of hospice is readily apparent in his easy smile and energetic demeanor, and he repeatedly credits the staff, volunteers, and community for the organization’s success. “When people receive hospice care, they live longer and better. The extra care and attention makes a big difference,” he said.

Beyond Medicine

In addition to quality care from a team of medical professionals, patients and their families are availed of a number of other services from BRH. In fact, the services have extended beyond patients to the general community. “It is ingrained in our mission to serve the community,” Carnivale said.

The Bereavement Department offers individual and group counseling to anyone struggling with loss. Programs like Camp Hope and Jammin Away the Blues for children, Teen Talk for adolescents, Music for the Soul, support groups for caregivers, and immediate support for schools that have experienced a traumatic incident are all available to anyone at no charge.

John Reese is one of three full-time bereavement counselors with BRH who administers his services through a variety of programs and says he is humbled by the work he does. “My reward in working with others is being able to be present with them during a difficult and transitional time and provide whatever support I can.”

A recently established program called Broken Silence is specifically designed for family and friends who have lost someone due to suicide. “We saw a need, not only within the hospice family, but the community,” Reese said. In some programs, such as this one, pre-registration and assessment is required in order to determine the most appropriate approach to counseling. “Everyone processes grief and loss in their own ways,” Reese explains.

Music therapists play a significant role in both patient care and the bereavement team and provide a number of programs depending on the needs and age of the person. “After an initial assessment, a plan of care is implemented that addresses specific difficulties a patient is experiencing, such as quality of life. The music therapists visit patients at their homes, in facilities, or at the Intensive Care Center where music is utilized to decrease or extinguish the difficulties the patient is having,” explains Beth Rudy, the Director of the Bereavement Department.

Merritt Navazio is one of four music therapists on staff, playing guitar for both hospice patients and bereavement support groups. In addition to his 4-year degree in music therapy, he completed a six-month internship with BRH, accrued 1200 clinical hours, and passed the exam to be a board-certified music therapist, as all BRH music therapists must be. He typically has a caseload of 25 to 30 people and “goes wherever the patients are,” he says, including homes, offices, schools, and hospitals.

“We create a peaceful environment that often extends to the relationship between the patient and family,” Navazio says. With a patient in respiratory distress, he will tailor music to match the breathing and gradually slow it down. Dementia patients who can’t speak can still sing. Grieving kids completely come out of their shells when putting their own words to pop songs. “It is a great honor to help people in this difficult time. There are many little gifts and special moments,” Navazio said of his work.

Chelsea the Golden Labrador is one star of BRH’s pet therapy program. She and her jolly owner/handler, Mary DeMott, have paid more than 250 visits to patients and families since they began volunteering in 2007. After she retired in 2004, DeMott knew she had to volunteer in some capacity. “Chelsea was the inspiration. Every dog needs a job and by the time she was ten months old, I knew what her job had to be. She was always extremely gentle and loves to be around people,” DeMott said.

Therapy dogs must pass a number of obedience and behavioral tests to become certified through Therapy Dogs International, an organization dedicated to the regulation, testing, selection, and registration of qualified dogs and handlers. In addition to visiting hospice patients and their families, Chelsea and DeMott go to the library twice a month to help children having difficulty reading and participate in Paws for People, an organization that provides therapeutic visits to anyone who might benefit from interaction with a pet.

DeMott tears up when explaining the effects of the volunteer work she and Chelsea do. “When Chelsea comes in the room and a patient is very close to death, the family says ‘Here’s a dog!’ and everyone gets a few moments of relief. I think 50 percent of the help is to the patient and 50 percent to the family,” she says.

As with any nonprofit organization, funding for BRH’s multiple programs presents an ongoing challenge. To meet part of that need, the organization now has six area thrift shops open to the public, offering everything from books to bedroom suites. The first store opened in Purcellville in 2004 and it remains the largest, in donations, sales, and space. All donations are from the community and approximately 70% of the offerings are women’s clothing, but one can outfit not only him or her self but also their children and home with the diverse selection of items.

“We offer clean, attractive, quality merchandise,” said Jacki Munn, Regional Director of Thrift Shop Operations. ‘Discover the Difference with Every Treasure’ is the stores’ tag line and the constantly rotating merchandise and attractive displays demonstrate that. “When the economy shifted a few years ago, our customers shifted. Once they saw what we had to offer, they returned. We believe in value,” Munn said.

Proceeds from the stores make up about 5 percent of BRH’s annual income and many unsold items are sent on to other local nonprofits such as the Red Cross, Social Services, and the Laurel Center. “The benefits stay in the community and people know everything is going to good causes,” said Linda Roberts, the Blue Ridge Hospice Community Liaison and a Clarke County resident.

“We have about 200 volunteers throughout the six stores and could not do this without them,” said Munn. “Everyone is vested in the cause and here for the right reasons.”

Another effort of the thrift stores is their intensive recycling program, which also accounts for about half of their income. Unsold items at the stores are sold by the pound to vendors who then ship to Mexico, Texas, and Canada. “We can now utilize practically everything,” said Roberts. “We were tipping dumpsters almost every day (before the recycling program), now it’s just once or twice a week. We wanted to take recycling to the next level. It really is a win-win.”

There are two thrift shops in Winchester, and one each in Berryville, Front Royal, Stephens City, and Purcellville. They are open for shopping and donation acceptance from 10am to 4pm Monday through Saturday.

Ernie Carnivale says the support of the community—through memorial donations, special events, bequests, grants, corporate gifts, and in-kind donations—is critical to the ongoing operations of BRH. Due to the recent federal government sequestration, Medicare reimbursements were cut by 2 percent, resulting in a $250,000 income loss. Over 85 percent of BRH’s patients are covered under Medicare.

“We are building an endowment to support our programs by developing the Blue Ridge Hospice Foundation,” said Carnivale. As well, BRH’s Butterfly Club, established in 2008, provides community residents and groups the opportunity to commit to a regular schedule of giving. Club members are recognized on the “Wall of Honor” and host and participate in house parties, concerts, and social events that raise funds for hospice.

Last year, BRH volunteers provided a cost savings of $786,636 with the donation of their time and services, and, in turn, BRH provided nearly $500,000 in charity care to patients unable to pay or without insurance for their hospice services.

The reach of Blue Ridge Hospice extends far into the community and touches many, many lives in a myriad of ways. Death may not be an easy thing to think about and the loss of our loved ones is always difficult, but it is comforting to know that there is a vibrant organization of dedicated staff, volunteers, and supporters to help in the process.

Eiland advises to “begin the hard conversations about end of life care. If you knew your time was limited, what would you want? What is left undone? Talk about choices and advanced directives. Making these decisions in advance could be one of the greatest gifts you give to those that love you, who may need to speak on your behalf someday.”

“People just come over to thank me for what hospice does,” says Roberts. “They say ‘We wish we’d called earlier.’ In the case of a terminally ill or grieving person in need, you can’t call us too soon.”

Blue Ridge Hospice is located on the fourth floor at 333 West Cork Street in Winchester. Phone is 540-536-5210 or 800-238-5678. Visit their website at www.blueridgehospice.org. For information on hospice in general, visit www.nationalhospicefoundation.org.

Community News

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Farmers Market Serves Up Local Flavors, Art and Entertainment Berryville Style 

by Geo Derick

From the BMS newsletter: The Saturday morning seasonal fun of our Clarke County Farmer’s Market (CCFM) will begin on May 3 at 8am till noon, and continue Saturday mornings through October 25th, 2014. Our wonderful area farms will be participating again as usual: MacIntosh Fruit Farm, Shallowbrooke Farms, Chilly Hollow Organic Produce, Smith Meadows Farm, Audley Farm and Life More Abundant Ranch will continue to bless us with the freshest, cleanest produce, eggs, chickens, turkey, quail, pork, lamb and beef, along with some of the finest ready-to-serve and specialty foods available. Geneva is still baking her specialties, and “A Peace of Cake” will return with their amazing array of cookies, sweet breads, granola and more.

Bonadelle will return with a larger selection of gluten free veggie burgers and glutenfree bread! Burwell-Morgan Mill will provide us with locally-milled grains and home-grown music in their tent. Geo’s Joy Herbal Medicine will now feature a line of flower essences, special teas for women, and some new salves, along with surprising seasonal specialties. Grafton School will return with their plants so lovingly grown by their students. And the Master Gardeners will be back with free advice on “growing your own” in the Northern Shenandoah Valley.

New this year will be a strawberry festival in early June; nursery plants, hanging baskets and weekly book sales by local author Betsy Munson, of Greenway Vista Farm and Nursery; shitake mushrooms & specialty pickles by Chilly Hollow Farms. Oliver Acres will return with their goat’s milk soaps, body butter and lip balm, and will be adding fresh lamb and raw local honey to their stand! Hoola Hoop performances, more musical variety, new artists and main street vendors, plus more foods to enjoy by Boyd’s Nest under the café tent. Dogs and children are always welcome! If you are an area artist, musician or a Berryville Main Street member, and would like to enhance your business or share your talent, there are tent spaces available for you at a day use fee of only $20. To schedule your days, please call or e-mail Kimber Herron at least a week in advance: 540-837-2659 ksherr@earthlink.net

 

Berryville receives Virginia Main Street Milestone Award 

Berryville Main Street and the town of Berryville were recently presented with a Virginia Main Street Milestone Achievement Award for the dedication of over 25,000 volunteer hours to the revitalization of the downtown and for creating an environment that has encouraged more than $25 million in private investment in the town’s historic commercial district. The awards were presented at Richmond’s historic Hippodrome Theater.

At the March ceremony that focused on the results of Main Street efforts, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones spoke to the audience of nearly 90 downtown revitalization volunteers and professionals from around the state about the visible results of their hard work.

“This year, you have been thinking outside of the box and using entrepreneurship as a keystone to successful downtown revitalization,” said Secretary Jones. “With entrepreneur development strategies like business boot camps and even an Ideaspace, you are bringing new ventures and amazing growth to your downtowns.”

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Director Bill Shelton said, “In the last five years, designated Main Street communities have sparked more than $217 million in private investment in their districts.” Shelton continued, “As a result, last year, there was a net collective gain of 453 jobs across the 25 Main Street downtown districts.”

“Entrepreneurship is key to revitalizing our communities. Given the proper support, anybody can pursue their dream of starting a business,” said keynote speaker Toan Nguyen, co-Founder of Impact Investment Consulting, C’ville Central, Community Investment Collaborative and C’ville Coffee. “Communities that are participating in Virginia Main Street are in a unique position to leverage their organizational skills, contacts and methodology to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in their communities.”

Oakhart and Silver Spur Serve Up Summer Learning

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By Annie Young

Just as spring finally has arrived, families are already looking for new fun ways to spend the sunny days of summer. So get out to the farms! Oakhart Farm and Silver Spur Stables offer unique programs that connect children with a lifelong love of the outdoors.

Oakhart Farm has created Kid’s Club—A Growing Odyssey. This differs from the traditional week long summer camp model. Members get to choose from a variety of programs throughout the summer growing season—and even into autumn. Each week there is a farm day with a theme based on garden growing from 8am–4pm, and two evening programs as well. Programs range from learning about the soil, farming under the stars, and harvesting and creating a delicious meal. They will serve the bounty  to Clarke County Senior Center’s senior citizens who will visit the farm that day.

Odyssey members get to choose six out of the eight sessions to attend. Sessions include a snack from the farm, a garden project to make and take home, and a full day of outdoor fun. Odyssey members also get club benefits like discounts on cooking classes and private  participation in special events such as the Beneficial Insect Release Day, Pumpkin Patch, and the Fall Garden and Seed Collection Day.

Growing Odyssey is for children ages six to twelve. Younger kids can enjoy the Tomatoes, Snails and Fairy Tales program July 21–22. This popular program has become a tradition at the farm. Children as young as three traipse through the gardens creating and imagining all the wonders around them.

“Sharing the magic of the farm with children,” is Shawna Rinker Hartsook and Becky Roper Lloyd’s mission. These two farmer-visionaries plan and create all the children’s events at the farm. The programs are taught by six Virginia-certified teachers that are all part of the Rinker–Hartsook family. “Kids are part of the culture of the farm,” says Hartsook, “We want to instill in them eating local, growing your own food, and then have them pass it on.” They hope the children’s experiences on the farm help them make decisions in the future that benefit healthy living and a healthy planet. Kids get to become part of the farming community by participating in planting, harvesting and caring for the farm.

The horses of Silver Spur

Silver Spur Farm builds programs around their love of horses and sharing that with new riders. They offer lessons for all ages, but 75 percent of their students are kids. They typically use Tennessee Walking horses, a gaited horse that doesn’t trot. These well-trained horses with good temperament have a gait that is smoother for learners—and even folks with back trouble. Lessons offer a variety of experiences, mostly in the Western riding style. Students get to ride the trails, participate in fun shows, and learn obstacle training.

Wren and Jim Roberts have shared their lifelong experience with horses at Silver Spur Stables for over ten years. Their farming lifestyle that they share with their two young children is also passed on to farm visitors. Wren Roberts talks about their students learning confidence through working with large animals, trying new skills, and caring for animals. “They build lifelong skills that are different than sports. They are learning to communicate with a living, breathing animal,” said Wren. She talks about seeing past students in the community, and how they share their happy memories about their time at Silver Spur.

Silver Spur Stables offers summer camps June 16–18, and 23–25 from 9am–2pm.  Children ages seven and older learn basic riding skills, grooming, tacking up, bathing, learning the breeds and colors of horses, trail riding and fun shows.

Silver Spur goes further into creating a fun, unique, memorable camp. Students also get to play mounted games, do a treasure hunt on horseback, and give the horses pedicures by painting their hooves.

Because Silver Spur Stables sells horses, students get to see a variety of breeds in the stables. They also have sheep and lambs, and open their stables to Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and preschool visits.

 

oakhartfarm.com

540-533-3996

822 Shepherd’s Mill Road

 

silverspurstables.com

540-535-8669540-535-8669

3399 Old Charles Town Rd

Garden Week A Welcome Sign Of Spring

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Shake Off Your Winter Doldrums During Historic Garden Week

 By Jennifer Lee

After a particularly long, cold, snowy winter, your spring fever will be well treated by touring five beautiful Clarke County homes and gardens April 26 and 27. The Garden Club of Virginia sponsors the eight-day statewide event from April 26 to May 3, with 31 tours through more than 250 of Virginia’s most lovely private homes and gardens.

Terry Chandler, a member of the Winchester–Clarke Garden Club, is serving as chairman for the local tour this year, which alternates from year to year between Clarke County and Winchester. Planning for each tour starts two to three years in advance of the event and employs the time and talents of hundreds of volunteers, doing everything from making bouquets to serving as home hosts.

“People must be willing to open their homes and grounds to hundreds of people coming through. They are very gracious to do so,” Chandler said. Historic Long Branch will serve as the hub of this year’s tour, offering a boxed lunch from L’Auberge Provencale between 11am and 1pm on April 26, followed by tea from 1 to 4pm. From there, participants may take themselves on a self-guided tour of four homes and gardens near Boyce, Millwood, and White Post.

“Each stop offers something different,” Chandler said. “Ted’s place (Ted Guariello’s Fox Spring Woods) is like poetry in motion, a great balance between organic and geometric.”

Fruit trees are one of the main features at Michael and Cleo Gewirz’s Mount Prospect home; serviceberry trees and a wide variety of perennials accent Laurie Volk’s The Barn House property; and a more formal garden incorporating boxwood and hydrangea bushes is featured at Robert and Jenny Irwin’s Swift Shoals place.

In addition to the lunch and tea served at Long Branch, there will be a garden store in a newly spiffed up garage on the property, an exhibit on the projects of the Garden Club of Virginia, and even small bouquets for visitors to take home. “They have just been wonderful to work with,” Chandler says of the staff at Long Branch.

Since 1929, proceeds from the Virginia tours have gone to support the restoration and maintenance of some of the state’s most historic and beloved gardens, including Monticello, Maymont, and Mount Vernon; and locally at Belle Grove, the Burwell-Morgan Mill, and Blandy Experimental Farm. The Garden Club of Virginia (GCV), based in Richmond, says that more than 30,000 tourists from all over the country and the world travel to Virginia for the event. Proceeds also help fund the GCV summer research fellowship programs for graduate students of landscape architecture.

The Winchester-Clarke Garden Club recently donated $25,000 to the Shenandoah Discovery Museum for the development of a rooftop garden at their new location on Cork Street in Winchester. “It was a perfect project for us to contribute to,” said Chandler. Over 100 volunteers from this club, the Greenway Garden Club, and The Little Garden Club of Winchester will participate in the Historic Garden Weekend in Clarke County.

So prepare to have your green thumb and nesting instincts inspired with this springtime tour of five uniquely appealing properties. “We’re hoping for beautiful weather and for lots of people to come out!” exclaimed Chandler.

Advance tickets at $25 per person are available at the Fire House Gallery in Berryville and Classic Touch Interiors, Kimberly’s, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, and the Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center in Winchester. Tickets may be purchased at Long Branch on the days of the event for $30 or $15 for a single site. For more information, visit www.vagardenweek.org or call Terry Chandler at 540-837-2465 or e-mail at kildere70@gmail.com.

 

Some of the properties on the tour include:

Historic Long Branch – 830 Long Branch Lane, Millwood. Take Route 50 to Rt. 624/Red Gate Rd., turn right on Rt. 626, and turn left on to Long Branch Lane.

Historic Long Branch preserves an over 200-year-old Federal brick home and former wheat plantation on 400 acres. In 1986, Harry Z. Isaacs rescued Long Branch from near dereliction, restoring the interior and adding a crenellated west wing to balance the east wing. Before his death, he established a foundation to manage the property. Long Branch boasts the only garden in the U.S. named in honor of famed British flower arranger, Sheila Macqueen, and includes herbs, hellebores, hostas, roses, and plants native to her English gardens.

The Barn House – 163 Greenfields Lane, White Post. Proceed south at the intersection of Rt. 340 and Rt. 50, turn left on Rt. 658 to White Post. Go through White Post and turn right on Greenfields Lane.

 Designed and built by neighboring landowners in 2004, this house resembles a barn and enjoys views of historic Greenway Court and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It features a stone fireplace, exposed beams, open floor plan, and hardwoods milled from fallen trees on surrounding properties. The galleried second floor showcases a collection of art from California, the owner’s home state, and objects from Colonial Peru. Two Yellowwood trees and oval beds with grasses and Oakleaf hydrangeas flank the house entrance. Serviceberry trees and perennial beds of hellebores, Nepeta, hydrangea, hostas, Coreopsis, Monarada, and an array of Narcissus and Crocus accent the property. Owned by Laurie Volk.

Mount Prospect – 233 Mt. Prospect Lane, Boyce. Take Rt. 50 to Rt. 624/Red Gate Road, turn left on Rt. 622/Swift Shoals Rd. Pass Kennel Rd. and property is on left at top of hill.

Built between 1870-1874 in the Folk Victorian style, the home recently underwent renovations to preserve the original windows, molding, hardware, flooring, and fireplaces, while allowing for modern uses. The long gravel driveway is graced by a variety of fruit trees while the front is surrounded by mature maples and pine trees. An outdoor fireplace and trellis is covered with wisteria. Several outbuildings and a fenced vegetable and flower garden complete the picture. Owned by Mr. and Mrs. Michael Gewirz.

Swift Shoals – 2060 Swift Shoals Road, Boyce. Take Rt. 50 to Rt. 624/Red Gate Rd. Turn left on Rt. 622/Swift Shoals Rd. Pass Kennel Rd. and Mt. Prospect to the driveway on left. Proceed to top of hill.

Swift Shoals, built in 2006 to resemble a New England farmhouse, rests atop a knoll overlooking the Shenandoah River with views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The home features a dining room with three quarter high paneling, an expansive kitchen with soapstone countertops and table built by a local artist, and a large family room with coffered ceiling that opens to a trellised porch covered with wisteria. The front landscaping includes a flagstone walkway, semicircle of American boxwoods, Chinese Elms, Justin Brouwer boxwoods, and Annabell hydrangeas. A large pool is sided with Limelight hydrangeas and Green Giant boxwoods, with Sweet Bay magnolia and Yellowwood trees as accents. Owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Irwin.

Fox Spring Woods – 695 Clay Hill Road, Millwood. From Millwood, proceed north on Rt. 255/Bishop Meade Rd, then turn right on Rt. 651/Clay Hill Rd. Property is on left. 

An example of how modern architecture can complement landscape design, the property offers a park-like setting and a home built in 1983, designed by renowned architect Alan Hamilton Rider. The home features a large foyer that opens into a living room with floor to ceiling windows facing the Blue Ridge Mountains. The grounds hold a terraced pool with pool house, an office, a gym, and unique trees, including a Cedar of Lebanon in the front lawn and an oak tree that is a descendant of the Waterloo Oak that stands in the Kew Gardens in London. Supposedly grown from an acorn that a soldier pocketed from the battlefield the day the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon in 1815, Ambassador Harrison Symmes later grew a seedling from an acorn from this famous tree and planted it near the gym on the property. Owned by Theodore Guariello.

Around Clarke County

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April

18 Melodime w/ NELO

Bright Box Theater, 15 N. Loudoun Street, Winchester. 8pm. $10 advance, $15 at door. Musically addictive indie-rock bursting with emotion, imagination, inspiration, and energy! Each band tells stories from the deepest recesses of their hearts and souls, and seamlessly blends the musical past with the sounds of the future. More information and tickets at www.brightboxtheater.com.

18 & 25 Flora of Virginia

Blandy Experimental Farm, Boyce. 9am–3pm. $30 for FOSA members, $35 for nonmembers. Reservations required. Marion Lobstein leads lab and field sessions using the Flora of Virginia, recognizing plant families, and more. Bring lunch, a 10x ocular, and the Flora book if you can, and dress for the weather. Register at www.blandy.virginia.edu or call 540-837-1758, ext. 224.

19 Community Easter Egg Hunt

Historic Long Branch, 830 Long Branch Lane, Millwood. Noon–3pm. Free. Hop on down for the Annual Community Easter Egg Hunt! Egg hunts, prizes, hayrides, face painting, local barbecue, gardens, museum exhibits, and more. Rain or shine.

19 Junk Food Frenzy at Veramar

Veramar Vineyard, 905 Quarry Rd., Berryville. Noon–5pm. $15 per person for food & glass of wine. Welcome spring with junk food, wine, and a game of corn hole! Reservations required. Call 540-955-5510 or visit www.veramar.com.

21 Watercolor Class

Opus Oaks Studio East, 109 First Street, Berryville. Ages 12+ $85. Six classes on Mondays 10–12 or Thursdays 7–9pm. Bring your own materials or pay $50 for a beginner set. Color mixing, composition, layering color, brush techniques, and washes will be introduced by instructor Gale Bowman-Harlow. For more information and to register, contact www.opusoaks.org or call 540-955-4226.

21 Therapeutic Riding Begins

Spring Season Opens at Blue Ridge Center for Therapeutic Horsemanship. 420 Russell Road, Berryville. BRCTH has openings for new students for an 8-week spring session beginning April 21. Serving adults and children from age 5. Lessons include grooming, horse handling and knowledge, and mounted activities. For registration and information, call Margie Youngs at 540-533-2777 or email brcthinc@hotmail.com.

22 Earth Day Tours of Arboretum

Blandy Experimental Farm, Boyce. 10am–noon. Free, reservations required. Offered in both English and Espanol. See glorious displays of spring’s flowering trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Co-hosted by Winchester Parks & Rec. Register at www.blandy.virginia.edu or call 540-837-1758, ext. 224.

22 Legendary Jazz Bassist Eddie Gomez

Bright Box Theater, 15 N. Loudoun St., Winchester. 8pm. $25 for adults, $10 for students. Two-time Grammy Award winner Eddie Gomez has been on the cutting edge of music for over four decades, playing with jazz giants such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, and Benny Goodman. He is joined by pianist Stefan Karlsson and drummer Jimmy Cobb to create jazzy, classical, and contemporary music. Get tickets at www.brightboxtheater.com.

23 Fused Glass

Opus Oaks Studio East, 190 First Street, Berryville. Ages 13+. $125. Six classes. Experienced or prior students welcome. Fusing glass in a kiln creates wonderful 2D and 3D art pieces with luminous colors, decorations, and shapes. Led by instructor Gail Gramprie. For more information and to register, contact www.opusoaks.org or call 540-955-4226.

25 Barns Youth Night with The Mailmen

Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Doors open at 7, show at 7:30. Teens-$8 in advance, $10 at door. Adults-$10 in advance, $12 at door. The Mailmen produce a unique rush of funk, pop, and alt rock with Tyler Adams on guitar/vocals, Dan Williams on drums, and Seth German on bass. Get tickets and info at www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.

26 Comedy Night with Chris Monty and Jim Gallagher

Bright Box Theater, 15 N. Loudoun St., Winchester. 7:30pm. $12 advance, $15 at door. Kaleidoscope Comedy presents two shows in one night: New York-based comedian Chris Monty is also an actor, writer, and radio host who plays all around the country. Jim Gallagher has been performing in top comedy clubs for years, as well as acting and directing. Hosted by Irwin Loring. Get tickets at www.brightboxtheater.com

26 & 27 Historic Garden Week Tour in Clarke County

Headquarters at Historic Long Branch with tours of four gardens and homes near Millwood and White Post. Saturday from 10am to 5pm, Sunday from 1pm to 5pm. Advance tickets $25, day of tour $30, single site $15. Credit card sales available at Long Branch day of. Contact tour chairman Terry Chandler at 540-837-2465 or visit www.vagardenweek.org.

26 Spring Art at the Mill Show

Running daily through May 11 at the Burwell Morgan Mill, Millwood. Sunday–Fridays, noon–5pm, Saturdays 10–5. $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, students free. The Clarke County Historical Association hosts one of the premier art shows in the region, offering over 1,500 pieces of painting, sculpture, wood, glass, and pottery, as well as artist demonstrations. Proceeds benefit the CCHA. For more info, visit www.clarkehistory.org or call 540-955-2600.

26 Immersion into Sequential Art

Opus Oaks Studio East, 190 First Street, Berryville. Ages 11+. $85 + $10 materials fee. Six classes. An exploration into the work of comics and fantasy stories, this class takes a look at the history and trends while asking “What story will we tell today?” Each person will create a story board and work on illustrations, layout, logos, characters, and color. Led by instructor Eric Cherry. For more information and to register, contact www.opusoaks.org or call 540-955-4226.

26 Ladies Night at Veramar: Line Dancing

Veramar Vineyard, 905 Quarry Rd., Berryville. 7pm–9pm. $25 per person includes dancing paired with wine and light appetizers. Leave the men at home and gather your girlfriends for a night of dance instruction and libations. Reservations required. Visit www.veramar.com or call 540-955-5510 for more info.

27 Muscle Shoals movie at the Barns

Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Doors open at 2:30, show at 3pm. Presented in cooperation with Magic Lantern Theater, this documentary celebrates Rick Hall, the founder of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and the signature sound he developed in songs such as “I’ll Take You There,” “Brown Sugar,” and “When A Man Loves A Woman.” Get tickets and info at www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.

May

2 Aberdeen Green

Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. 8pm. $15 in advance, $20 at door. Native Clarke County girl Amanda Mackintosh and her Shenandoah Valley friend Carley Chilton, both now of Nashville, bring their music, gorgeousness, and fine pipes to the stage to present their Appalachian, Americana-inspired songs influenced by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Patty Griffin, Keb Mo, Allison Kraus, and Bonnie Raitt. Get tickets and info at www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.

2 River Days Spring Fest at Sleepy Creek

Running through May 4 at Sleepy Creek Campground, Berkeley Springs, WV. Tickets $35–$50. Come down to the Potomac River to enjoy music from Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Hackensaw Boys, Grand Old Ditch, Bumper Jackson, Freedom Enterprise, Mama Corn, and more; arts & crafts vendors; puppets; boat rentals; food & beverage available on site. Visit sleepycreek.wix.com/campground for more info and tickets.

3 The Plank Stompers

Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. 7:30pm. $12 advance, $15 at door. This 4-piece band melds old time soul and bluegrass with futuristic funk, encouraging audiences to sing, dance, clap, and get down. Get tickets and info at www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-200

4 All-Star Tribute to Patsy Cline

Bright Box Theater, 15 N. Loudoun St., Winchester. 4pm. $15 advance, $10 at door. Join an all-star lineup of musicians featuring Melissa Wright, Daniel Zezeski, Dwayne Brooke, Rudy Bzdyk, and John Miller to celebrate the extraordinary music of local legend Patsy Cline. Get tickets at www.brightboxtheater.com

9 Critters

Fire House Gallery, 23 E. Main St., Berryville. Opening reception May 9 from 6–8pm. Exhibit runs through May 31. Whether it’s a cat or canary, horse or hound, Clarke County residents love their animals! Show-goers will see animals rendered on pottery, glass, and fiber, as well as paintings and wood. They’ll also have a chance to have their pet immortalized by artists specializing in animal portraiture. Visit www.firehousegalleryandshop.org for more info.

9 Bumper Jacksons Album Release Party w/ The Green Boys

Bright Box Theater, 15 N. Loudoun St., Winchester. 8pm. $12 advance, $15 at door. Album release of Bumper Jacksons’ “Sweet Mama, Sweet Daddy, Come In.” Hot and sweet, this band’s traditional jazz and pre-war country repertoire paints America’s story, from New Orleans brothels to Appalachian hollers. Performed by a sextet wielding washboard/clarinet, guitar, bass, trombone, pedal steel, and “The Suitcase” percussion set. The Green Boys, a 4-piece band from Richmond opens the show with their lively mix of bluegrass, folk and honky-tonk. Get tickets at www.brightboxtheater.com

10 Illusionist Mario Orsini

Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. 3pm. $12 advance, $15 at door. Based in Washington, DC, Mario has become one of the most in-demand magicians on the east coast. “Witness the Impossible!” Get tickets and info at www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.

16 DG Cooley Elementary Spring Carnival

34 Westwood Road, Berryville. 4-8pm. Bring the kids and celebrate spring with an exhaustive list of games, contests, and fun. Football toss, Angry Birds slingshot, face painting, bounce house with slide, obstacle course, magician, silent auction, photo booth, and much more. Activities cost one or two tickets and tickets are $1 each, $10 for 12, or $20 for 25.

18 Storytelling & Song with Ken Wade

Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. 3pm. $15 advance, $20 at door. New York-based artist, storyteller, and songster Ken Wade brings his stories, guitar, and songs for an authentic and engaging afternoon of entertainment. Get tickets and info at www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.

22 Clark Hansbarger – Dream of a Good Death: New Songs of the Old War

Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. 7:30pm. $12 advance, $15 at door. Local favorite musician (and former teacher) Clark Hansbarger takes us on a historical journey through the Civil War with stories and original songs. This show marks the release of his new album, “Dream of a Good Death,” a folk opera of sorts inspired by Drew Gilpin Faust’s book The Republic of Suffering. Performing with Clark will be a group of fine area musicians including Allen Kitselman, Gary McGraw, Mike Jewell, Rob Remington, John Friant, Joe Faber, and Kara Hansbarger. Get tickets and info at www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.

24  The Flaming Shillelaghs

Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. 8pm. $12 advance, $15 at door. The Flaming Shillelaghs are Jesse Winch on guitar, bodhran, and harmonica, Joe DeZarn on fiddle, Tina Eck on flute and whistles, and Melissa Dunning on vocals, bringing traditional Irish dance music, haunting ballads, and infectious humor to audiences for over 30 years. Get tickets and info at www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004.

24 Bring Your Pet to Long Branch Day

Historic Long Branch, 830 Long Branch Lane, Millwood. Noon to 3pm. $5 per person. Celebrate National Pet Month by bringing your pet out for special activities including pet photographs with an historical interpreter, paw prints and ornament activities, and a lecture from executive director Nicholas Redding about the role pets played during the Civil War. Local organizations attending will be the Clarke County Animal Shelter, Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, Virginia German Shepherd Rescue, homemade animal treats from Scout’s Buffet, and vendors. Call 540-837-1856 or visit www.visitlongbranch.org for more info.

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 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, workshops, and specialty summer camps for all ages in painting, drawing, stained glass, jewelry design, photography, sculpture, and more. See complete schedule at www.opusoaks.org.

Hospice Offers Comfort and Acknowledgement

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Every day, it seems, comes news of another advancement in medicine. New surgical techniques, new treatments, and—even better—new understanding of preventive care. Many diseases that only decades ago were nearly always considered terminal are now treated, cured, or managed as chronic illnesses. Medicine has also become better at “extending life” for patients far beyond what was once possible.

We have become so good at beating disease and illness, so proficient at extending life, that somewhere along the way we stopped acknowledging that sooner or later there comes an end to life—at least to the lives in our physical bodies that we drag with us from work to workout to the buffet.

We still have a hard time talking about dying, maybe because we have a hard time admitting that it will happen.

We all have been part of this—from the good doctors who, by their nature, want to save patients, to the caring sons and daughters who need to know they did everything possible. As a result, the final days and hours of so many people are spent without the comforting acknowledgment and support of family and palliative caregivers.

It doesn’t have to be this way. And, thanks to hospice and advances in palliative care, things are changing every year. As with modern medicine, modern dying has advanced far in the last five decades.

It has been nearly 50 years since Dame Cicely Saunders visited the United States to speak to Yale nursing students about a new type of specialized care for the dying, called in-home hospice. Five years later Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s international bestseller On Death and Dying made the unheard of case for terminal patients to have a say in their own destinies.

Then, 45 years ago this year the first U.S. hospice opened in Connecticut, founded by Florence Wald, the dean of the Yale School of Nursing who had invited Saunders to speak at the university in 1965.

Little more than a decade after that first hospice opened, Blue Ridge Hospice began serving people in the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge. That’s light years ahead of most of the country.

Still, until recently, one of the biggest hurdles for hospice to overcome was acceptance from the medical establishment—docs hung on to the idea that medicine was about living, not about dying.

Happily for all of us, as caring friends and family members as well as people whose time will one day come, hospice—both in-home and in-hospice care centers—has now become firmly established in practice even if not yet in everyone’s understanding.

To help with that understanding, we’re pleased to provide a profile of Blue Ridge Hospice in this Observer.

Every Man’s Trout

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By Doug Humphreys

 

Without a doubt, trout fishermen are the finest philosophers.

John Gierach wrote, “They say you forget your troubles on a trout stream, but that’s not quite it. What happens is that you begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they’re just not such a big deal anymore.”

I’m not much of a trout fisherman—honestly I’m not much of any kind of fisherman—but you don’t have to be one to understand the meaning of fishing. Mr. Gierach also writes, “I used to like fishing because I thought it had some larger significance. Now I like fishing because it’s the one thing I can think of that probably doesn’t.”

In a world where we are attacked by tweets and posts and pins that attempt to make us believe that those around us are smart or profound or maybe even bigger than they are, it’s nice to be able to escape to a trout stream as it will never be more or less than it is, and will always allow us to just be.

It is, however, easy to be intimidated by trout fishing.

Trout fisherman can be a tight-knit bunch and even though they don’t mean it, their circle can be a bit tough to penetrate. Heck, most of them will tell you that they hold themselves in higher regard than most other fishermen. They use funny phrases like roll casting and matching the hatch, and they tend to wear and use fairly specialized gear that is expensive even when you buy the cheap stuff.

A newbie to the sport can feel like they need to purchase a pile of priceless gear and learn a new language just to participate. To this I offer an enthusiastic, Pshaw!

If you have the means and aspire to stand in a stream and wag a stick with a hand-tied fly attached, I encourage it. After all, it is a romantic idea and as close as a person can come to actually being art. But if you have your dollars dedicated to other items, and you are satisfied to fish with less heroic tools, you can still be a trout fisherman.

The tools I use are the definition of simple. I use a 3-section 5’6” rod, so I can break it down and stick it in a pack, making the hiking to little trout streams easier. A micro underspin reel with 2-pound test makes sure I have a usable reel casting what is essentially a tippet. I cast a size 10 or 12 hook with a trout worm.

This is really simple, very inexpensive stuff. So much so that many of my fly casting brethren are cringing in disapproval . . . but I know they don’t really mean it.

I flick my worm into eddies behind rocks, into undercut embankments, or let it naturally float the current through pools. On days when the surface of the water is covered with the rings of feeding trout, I sometimes wish for a dry fly. But most days I prove that in a world where humans constantly try to evolve ourselves and the creatures around us beyond our true genetics, fish still like worms. Even fancy fish, like trout.

If you want to try your hand at catching trout, either as a wader-wearing, fly-wagging vision from a movie or a regular guy with a hook and a worm, you can do it right here in the Shenandoah Valley. For information, start at www.seeshenandoah.com/2009/05/fishing.html.

You may catch a fish with almost every cast, you may not catch a fish at all. But remember that regardless of the number of fish in your creel at the end of the day, the worst day fishing is better than the best day at work. This isn’t philosophical theory; it’s simply the way it is.

What new businesses, if any, would you like to see in Clarke County?

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Photos and interviews by Jennifer Lee

 

“Oh my goodness. I like the area, the small quaintness. I can’t think of anything I really need.”

— Trudi Ross, 59, Millwood

 

“A bigger chain store for competition with Food Lion. I like the supercenter idea where you can find food to cosmetics to sporting goods, all under one roof.”

— Laura Rodgers, 43, Berryville (and Millwood Postmaster)

“A park for exercise or activities like a roller rink.  And a steakhouse or upscale Italian restaurant.” — Stephanie Herron, 21, Boyce

 

“I’d like more options on this end of the county, more build-out at Waterloo (where it’s zoned commercial) with different restaurants. Berryville’s not that far but it would be really nice to have more down here.”

— Ben Detwiler, 48, Boyce (and owner of Boyce Service Center)

 

“A grocery store with a little more choice and better produce for people like me who like to cook.  Or a store like Locke’s (in Millwood) in Berryville. I don’t want to have to go to Winchester for good food shopping.”

—Barbara Batterton, Berryville

 

“I’m an athletic dude.  There needs to be more to do. A roller skating rink would be good.  And a real sports bar with pool tables and games. And a fast food restaurant, like a Sonic or Checkers, that has picnic tables outside and is open late, somewhere for kids to hang out.”

—Terrance Culbreath, 39, Berryville

 

“A movie theater.  And a bowling alley or arcade.”

—Brooke Daniels, 15 and Charlie Cantrell, 17, Berryville

 

“A skate park!”

—Tyler Sisk, 13, Ryan Boyd, 14, and Louis Gonzalez, 13 in Berryville.

 

Columnist’s Note:  I thought this would be an easy question for people given the rural (some would say boring) nature of the county, but most people really had to think for an answer and seemed pretty content with what we have.  Except the skate park kids—they were adamant!