By Victoria L. Kidd

Every student who has ever been involved with a theater program is familiar with the iconic symbol of drama. The two masks—one smiling to represent comedy and another frowning to imply tragedy—could also stand as the symbol of adolescence. One’s youth is often a time period of excitement tempered with vulnerability and enthusiasm curbed by doubt. An outlet many students use to come to terms with these conflicting emotional states is theater, and students from all over the region have benefited from the tutelage of La Tasha Do’zia-Earley.

A resident of Winchester, Do’zia-Earley is an accomplished local actress and director who seems to have inexhaustible passion when it comes to introducing kids and young adults to the arts. In addition to working with municipal recreation programs and camps, Do’zia-Earley is the drama teacher for the Independent School of Winchester, a well-respected school with innovative programs for students in kindergarten through 10th grade (with 11th and 12th grade classes scheduled to begin for the 2016/2017 school year). Her program at the school complements their comprehensive and balanced approach to learning, but her involvement in the lives of young people doesn’t end when she leaves the school’s campus.

Do’zia-Earley is also the founder of the Selah Theatre Project (www.selahtheatreproject.org). The project’s mission, according to its website, is to “empower, educate, and enlighten our community with theatrical opportunities that encourage conversation and positive impact,” and they note that their programs are designed to offer students affordable artistic opportunities, regardless of their ability to pay. The philosophy behind the project’s work is built on the foundational positions held earlier in Do’zia-Earley’s career.

“I was a preschool director before,” Do’zia-Earley says. “I loved the children. I loved working with them, but I didn’t enjoy the operational aspects of that work.” Already considering a change, Do’zia-Earley was further incentivized to venture out into the world of contracting and entrepreneurship when she was approached as a prospective adoptive parent for a young man named Prince. “Life changed,” she says, reflecting on his arrival. “He wasn’t getting the attention he needed with me working full time and teaching drama classes in the evenings. I realized it was time to rethink things and reshape my career to be the best parent I could be.”

Her period of reflection gave birth to the Selah Theatre Project. The word, “Selah,” means to pause and take a breath. It’s a Hebrew word that resonated with Do’zia-Earley, both in terms of the period of life she had entered and the philosophy with which she would run the program.

“When we pause and really center ourselves in the role we hold in the production, we are asking the audience to also pause,” she explains. “We are asking them to think about what they witness and to ponder it and to start a conversation. That’s what this is all about. That’s what drama is all about. It took me some time to figure that out…Theater is a reflection of reality, and there is something powerful in watching reality mirrored on stage.”

Selah’s stage is contained within what is called a “black box theater,” a term that is used to describe a small, unadorned theater space that is designed to afford intimacy between the actors onstage and the audience. Selah’s studio theater occupies 1,100 square feet and is located at 30 East 8th Street in Front Royal, Virginia. Each year, Selah produces two original productions that regularly sell out. Additionally, Do’zia-Earley runs an outreach program in cooperation with the Warren County School System. The collective array of programming provides an opportunity for students of all ages—from preschool to high school—a chance to experience theater.

The small stage where those students experience theater has really become an oasis for those inclined to the dramatic life. Students from all counties in the Top of Virginia Region have participated in Selah programs, with many having had to drive to the D.C. Metro area to get involved in theatrical productions previously. “I’ve discovered that we need to be here,” Do’zia-Earley relays. “These students often come to call this place their ‘home,’ because it’s a place where they can really produce great work that helps them deal with the pressures of growing up. It’s a place where they form their community and they meet others who understand how they use performance to express things and discuss things and, most importantly, to understand things that are new to these emerging adults.”

That home was established in 2011 in Winchester but was relocated to Front Royal in 2013 after Do’zia-Earley recognized the county’s great need for theatrical education and programming. Selah, a fiscal nonprofit, fills that need in a way that many program participants refer to as “life changing.”

Janet Jewell says that her son has been experiencing that life changing participation for three years. “My son Ray loves it,” asserts Jewell. “As a parent, I love knowing that Tasha opens up a means of expression in many different forms, making it accessible to kids and people of all different abilities and learning styles. It’s a safe, fun, welcoming environment and you can’t help but love it.”

Selah parent Tammy Ruggiero agrees. “My daughter, Suna, says Selah is a place of good energy where she feels that people are nice to her and she feels accepted,” she says. Relaying that her daughter has “not always fit in at school” and has been subjected to bullying from time-to-time, Ruggiero indicates that she asked her daughter to focus on an activity that would lift her self-esteem. “Because she thinks so highly of La Tasha and the Selah group she decided she wanted to put her focus on acting, comedy, and storytelling. I would say Selah is a place of acceptance and development.”

Other parents indicate that the program does more than simply offer a place where young adults explore and grow. “Not only is Selah a safe place for kids to express themselves, it is a theatre where kids who are serious about the arts can receive pre-professional training and nurture their dreams,” explains Dee Sparger, whose daughters Katherine Sparger (14) and Rita Sparger (11) have been involved with the program for several years. “I love that the kids have the opportunity to be fully involved in every aspect of theatre including writing, performing, stage management, and even arts promotion. I also love that  La Tasha gets the kids out in the community, both to perform and to support other theatres and artists.”

In addition to the Sparger, Ruggiero, and Jewell families, Do’zia-Earley has touched the lives of more than 600 young people, including students from the Selah program and other programs with which Do’zia-Earley has been involved. “This work speaks to my soul,” she confesses. “It’s important, and I am humbled to have been invited into the lives of so many amazing young people. I’m appreciative of the patrons who buy tickets to the shows and the sponsors who help us continue this work. The folks who support us get it. They understand that for some people, theater is as natural as breathing. It’s their way of finding themselves. It’s not a means of escaping reality; it’s a means of observing reality and finding meaning in the even the simplest of actions. That’s something to see, and I am thankful every day that I was called to this work.”

By Victoria L. Kidd

Most of us have, at least on some level, an awareness about the extremely high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal thoughts among veterans returning from duty or otherwise dealing with experiences occurring during their service. Similarly, first responders—including police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians (EMTs)—are routinely subjected to traumatic events.

A 2015 article appearing in Veterans Today, a journal for military personnel and their families, states that many sources relay a startling assertion concerning the rate of PTSD and suicide among service members (http://bit.ly/1KWb1GS). It states that an average of 22 veterans take their lives every day in the U.S., a rate that is 50% higher than the rate of nonmilitary civilians. (As awareness of the needs of first responders has only recently started to grow, there is limited open-source information available concerning the rate of suicide and PTSD among individuals in that category, although there is evidence to support claims that the rate of suicide among these individuals is equally troubling.)

A local event in September seeks to open an honest dialogue about PTSD and suicide while providing resources and support to those who are most at risk to be affected by suicide and the life-long impact of PTSD. The event, titled Hope = Help Public Forum and Information Exchange, will be held at Clarke County High School, located at 627 Mosby Blvd in Berryville. It is being hosted by the VFW and the VFW Auxiliary (to VFW Post 9760).

The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and its affiliated VFW Auxiliary seeks to serve area veterans and their families through various programs and opportunities for fellowship. (The upcoming forum is one such program, while other activities can be reviewed by visiting www.vfwaux9760.org.)

The forum will provide attendees a chance to hear from health care professionals, mental health support agencies, and law enforcement representatives who are familiar with the specific challenges facing veterans and first responders. This panel of experts will talk about the signs and symptoms of PTSD, available treatment options, resources to consider, and other related matters.

Suicide, which often results from an individual’s long-term struggle with PTSD, will be discussed. Suicide prevention concepts and the personal recovery process for individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide (as well as ways to help those experiencing a loss as a result of suicide) will be discussed in detail.

The event is free and open to the public. According to a recent release from the organization’s executive officer, President Patricia “Pat” Dickinson, “If you are a veteran or first responder, or if you are the family member or friend of one, then this event is of particular importance to you.”

The doors will open at 10am, and the forum itself starts at 10:30am. Attendees are invited to enjoy lunch while learning more about local agencies and organizations serving and supporting veterans, first responders, and the community at a small expo immediately following the event. Individuals requiring more information should email presaux9760@va.vfwaux.com. Attending will be educational, but it may also provide insight and information that could help you to save a life or improve the quality of life for someone struggling with PTSD.

By Victoria Kidd

Five years of rallying the community has paid off for the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, but the need for support is as constant as the flow of injured and ill wildlife coming through its doors. The center (commonly referred to as the BRWC) has spent the past five years raising funds for an ambitious capital campaign and educating the community about the valuable work they have been doing since they opened their doors in 2004. Since then, this well-respected 501(c)(3) non-profit organization has diligently pursued its mission to “ensure the preservation of native wildlife in areas where development has destroyed habitat and endangered wildlife.”

In 2014 alone, 1,883 individual animals crossed the threshold of the unassuming 200-year-old cottage that currently houses the center. The cottage is owned by the Burwell-van Lennep Foundation, an organization that was established to protect a large tract of unique, historic land in Clarke County. It grants the BRWC free use of the structure and 18 acres of land surrounding it. (More information about the Foundation can be found at bvlfoundation.blogspot.com.)

While the structure—complete with its iconic country blue front door—has served their purposes, its footprint is limited in size, and it has the small, sectioned-off layout of a house built in the time before electricity and other modern conveniences.  In short, the 800-sqaure-foot space is clean and organized, but cramped and inadequate.

In that space (and the surrounding animal enclosures constructed purposefully for their work) the center saves the lives of everything from bats and baby squirrels to raccoons and bald eagles. The menagerie of animals may be as different as night and day, but they all are forever linked as patients of the center. The length of their stay and the treatment modalities applied vary, but most of them will eventually be released back into the wild.

Those who are injured seriously enough to impede their ability to live on their own in the wild may be given a job as an “animal ambassador.” Those ambassadors may take part in educational programs and outreach efforts that increase awareness of environmental issues, habitat destruction, and other problems facing area wildlife. The work is ambitious and complex, yet the team, being fully committed to the mission, makes the best of available resources and space while looking forward to what the future holds.

That future is being made possible through an active and ambitious capital campaign aimed at building a 4,000-sqaure-foot, state-of-the-art treatment facility on the same property. It has simultaneously needed to continue its fundraising efforts to simply fuel daily operations. According to its most recent newsletter, “The Center relies on private donations exclusively. It receives no funding from federal, state, or local governments.”

As such, tax-deductible donations are the lifeblood of its operations, including the onsite treatment and rehabilitation of animals and numerous educational programs throughout the region. In addition to education provided through partnerships with local schools and organizations, they also offer internships and mentoring opportunities to the next generation of animal conservation enthusiasts. Their role in rehabilitation and education is crucial, as there are only a handful of similar operations in the state.

The public’s support of that work comes in many forms, including cash donations. Other opportunities to support their efforts are announced regularly on their website (www.blueridgewildlife.org) or through their Facebook page. From participation in fundraisers championed by area businesses to regularly occurring “baby showers” (where supporters bring in items needed for the care of the center’s patients), everyone can find some way to get involved.

In September, those opportunities include the annual Creatures of the Night Soirée, an event in its 5th year. This elegant evening includes an auction that affords attendees a chance to take home a $35,500 bronze sculpture by world-renowned artist Lorenzo Ghiglieri, a pair of stunning earrings valued at $4,450, a Jamaican getaway worth $5,000, and other items. The silent and live auctions take place around the evening’s other features, including a cocktail reception, a buffet-style dinner, and musical entertainment.

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Ferrari of White Post are hosting the event on the evening of September 26, and the BRWC stands to benefit from the funds raised throughout the night. Numerous individuals and families in the area are event patrons at levels ranging from $500 to $5,000. The thousands raised annually are used to ensure the future of our region’s wildlife, according to the official invite, and this limited-seating event is usually one of the regional highlights of September.

For more information on this event, contact Director of Development Franny Crawford at (540) 550-3057. Moreover, consider following the BRWC on Facebook. You’ll find that their regular introductions to the wildlife receiving care will certainly help to put a face—be it covered in fur, surrounded by feathers, or tucked away in a shell—to a few neighbors who could use our help.

By Heidi Lynch

For one week in August the Clarke County Ruritan Fairgrounds will provide the backdrop for the pageantry of the 61st annual Clarke County Fair. There will be music and lights, rides and cotton candy. There will be announcers, derby cars, exhibitions and food—much of it fried. There will be sleek horses, big-eyed calves, fluffy bunnies, just-out-of-the-shell, and still-trying-to-get-out-of-the-shell chicks. There will also be some of those things that accompany the horses, calves, bunnies and newly hatched chicks: dust, mud, manure and all things earthy. And that’s not a bad thing.

I can google “How to curry a horse,” or “How do chicks hatch out of an egg?” and I’ll find that there’s an internet video‑or 2 or 10‑for that. There’s probably an app, too! I can ask my device of choice, be it a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, how to preserve peaches or grow the best pear tomatoes. I can consult Wikipedia on how often to milk a cow, or for the best breed of cow for milking. My boys can even generate a digital approximation of corn on their Xbox gaming system version of Minecraft.

The fair is a world away from all of that. It’s hands on. It’s the nitty gritty, the sights, smells and sounds of life in beautiful, rural Clarke County. Participants share of their time and talent, and we are witness to their efforts. Young farmers will be busy brushing down animals, swatting away flies and carrying feed, their animals on display for all to see. The meticulous stitches on quilts, the deep ruby red jar of strawberry preserves, and the pastel strokes of a watercolor landscape all proclaim: “I am born of time, dedication and creativity.” The fair is a celebration of hard work, skill and craftsmanship and a forum for finding joy and pride in that work.

The week also offers a chance for some old fashioned congregating. It offers us all an opportunity to step away from the myriad screens at work and home, and into community. It gives us a reason for being with relatives, friends, and neighbors. Families will wander the grounds, grandparents indulging grandchildren with caramel apples or an extra turn on the Zipper. Couples, young and old, will stroll past the gaming booths, pausing to try their hand at winning an oversized elephant. Clusters of friends will wait in line for rides or in the stands for the Chase Rice concert. Memories will be shared and new memories made.

Ultimately, the fair is a peek into Clarke County’s singular character; in the midst of booming counties, ours remains unabashedly small town. Clarke has retained something valuable to its sense of self, something that not only draws on tradition but also looks ahead. When my son recently banged his way through the front door, grass clippings clinging to his knees and mud dribbling off of his Crocs, he proudly announced, “I’ve decided to enter my biggest sunflower in the fair this year.”

I handed him a rag for wiping up the mud and then smiled to think that he’ll be making his own contribution to continuity and community. Inspired by what he has seen at the fair, my own little farmer can offer up his unique handiwork for display and inspiration to others. He, too, can someday say to a younger audience, “When I was a kid at the fair . . .” and pass along the baton of tradition.

The fair runs August 9–15, 2015. The Chase Rice concert, the feature entertainment, starts at 8:30pm on August 15. For more information visit www.clarkecountyfair.org.