Pistol Class - Crozet Gazette

Transcription

INSIDE
the
Verizon Tower
page 2
Shooting Spree
page 3
Homeless Raccoon
page 4
Old Main Street
page 5
Empty CCAC Seats
page 98
What’s for Dinner?
page 19
Greenwood Gardens
page 10
Cobra Lady
page 12
Fund Rural
Health
page 15
Rashes
page 218
Piedmont Palms
page 20
Crossword puzzle
page 21
Scouting News
page 22
Baseball Brothers
page 25
JordAn Lynn
page 26
SPilled Tea
page 27
Confirmations
page 28
Green Olive tree
Snippets
page 29
Bereavements
page 29
Western Park
page 32
crozetgazette.com
April 2008 VOL. 2, NO. 11
WARS Balks U.Va. Clinic Coming to Crozet
at County
Fee Plan
The Western Albemarle Rescue
Squad is not ready to go along with a
proposal by Albemarle County, a plan
the City of Charlottesville is also party
to, to start charging for occasions when
the squad transports patients to a local
hospital. Squad volunteers are not
warm to the idea that they would contribute their time and skill and meanwhile also generate invoices for the
County treasury. They worry that if
the public gets the idea that the County
is getting paid for ambulance services,
donations to support the WARS will
dry up.
The proposal was announced to
the squad the night before a County
meeting on it was scheduled. WARS
members didn’t like feeling caught by
surprise.
The University of Virginia Health
System will open Western Albemarle
Family Medicine in the Clover Lawn
shops on Route 250 May 1.
Two physicians on the faculty of the
University’s Department of Family
Medicine, Dr. Michael Harper and Dr.
Catherine Casey, will staff the office,
along with two nurses and a receptionist. The doctors presently have practices based at U.Va. Hospital’s Primary
Care Center.
Dr. Harper previously had a private
practice and volunteered to serve in
the Crozet office.
The clinic will care for all ages and
genders and also offer routine obstetrical care, said Jim Taylor of U.Va.’s
Health Service Foundation, which has
managerial oversight of the new clinic
as well as similar clinics established in
continued on page 26
Pistol Class
Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club
started in 1950 in the basement of the
Charlottesville Police department. It
has about 800 members now and
range facilities on Old Lynchburg
Road, a couple of miles south of the
city. Dues are $100 year and members
must also join the National Rifle
Association. It still serves as a practice
range for local police forces.
Crozet’s Phil Eaton is a trustee of
the Club and a NRA-certified firearms
instructor. On the third Thursday of
most months he teaches an evening
class on pistol shooting at the club
called First Steps. He has advanced
through all but one of the instructor
levels possible, the course to qualify as
a trainer of trainers like him. Few folks
have reached it and it’s not available
locally.
Peach trees in bloom at Chiles Orchard in Greenwood
Western Takes National
Indoor Track Championship
By Nick Ward
Four Western Albemarle runners
did the unthinkable March 15 at the
Nike Indoor National track meet held
in Landover, Maryland. They won it.
The indoor track season was over,
and after winning the AA state championship, most of the boys track team
at Western had a week off before the
outdoor season began. Eight individuals’ indoor season was not over though.
Seniors Henry Leohr, Kevin Dubowski,
and Nick Ward, along with juniors
Kyle Satterwhite, James HowardSmith, Tyler Stutzman, Adrian Sitler,
and Carlos Gomez traveled to
Maryland to run in the final indoor
meet. These athletes would be competing against the best that the United
States had to offer on the 200m oval. The highlight of the meet for the
Warriors was the Distance Medley
Crozet gazette
page 2 s April 2008
from the Editor
to the Editor
Hats Off To Our Cops
The Gazette compliments the
Albemarle County Police and the
Virginia State Police, as well as the
other agencies who supported them,
on their impressively rapid arrest of the
two teens who appear to have perpetrated the shooting spree that threatened to terrorize the Crozet area as well
as Interstate 64 travelers last week. We
are proud of their professional conduct
and the common sense they also conveyed in their statements to our understandably agitated community. We
extend our admiration and gratitude.
The teens’ arrest closes a chapter of a
sad, stupid affair and the Gazette also
offers its sympathy to their families and
commiserates in their suffering over
tragedy visited on them. Thank God,
no greater harm was done. But what
shame this is how America got to know
the name of our town.
Price per Student
Dee Weikle, in her comments in
the March Gazette, says that the
Community Engagement Budget of
$830,614 supports 6.3 staff members. According to my calculations,
that is $131, 843.49 per staff member, and that is indicative of the
problem. This has nothing to do
with teachers in the classroom, and
the cost is beyond belief.
Let’s set the price per student,
and the school board can fund their
pet projects if they want, at the
expense of the students’ education.
Great article.
Back Off the Rescue Squads
With its idea of charging patients
(or their insurance companies) that rescue squads carry to hospitals, Albemarle
County and the City of Charlottesville
are likely to dramatically demoralize
our outstanding volunteer services and,
if they are not careful, bring on a much
larger financial problem; namely the
professionalization of the first-response
medical teams. WARS volunteers are
donating, in their man-hours, somewhere in the range of $1 million to
$1.5 million per year worth of salaries.
The County is getting off cheap with
its support for the Squad now, at about
$120,000 per year for operational costs.
The Squad still raises one-third of its
budget from the grateful people of
western Albemarle. That’s proof of a
solid, trusted community bond that
shouldn’t be jimmied with. As usual,
the County would be smarter to respect
the advice of the people who do a job,
in this case the volunteer EMTs, than
to think that it knows better because it
has the authority of government at its
disposal. The County’s real problem is
not about finding new ways to bill people, but finding where it can cut its
own spending. The people are already
paying enough to get the government
services they need.
Hip Hip Hooray
Three cheers for the Western
Albemarle High School’s indoor track
team’s National Championship winning race at the Nike Nationals in
Landover, Maryland, last month. Wow,
you really do go, boys. We love it.
Scott Stinson
Bethesda, MD and Crozet
BOS still hasn’t met a subdivision it didn’t like
On March 19, the Board of
Supervisors approved a zoning
change for the Patterson subdivision in Crozet, from R-1 to R-6,
allowing for the potential of up to 6
homes per acre on the approximately 3.5 acre lot (althougth the
developer agreed to build not more
than 10 homes). The BOS approved
this change despite the Planning
Commission’s
recommendation
against the rezoning (twice) and the
objections of the surrounding community. Among the concerns of the
planning commission and the surrounding community are that the
proposed development is out of
character with the existing Grayrock
and Grayrock North communities
and that the infrastructure is not
suitable for the increased traffic
along Lanetown Road and Lanetown
Way.
Specifically, both the planning
commission and the Grayrock HOA
expressed concern that the only
entrance to the new development is
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through the existing Grayrock
North community, rather than
directly from Lanetown Road. The
Grayrock North community consists of 26 homes on a rural section
of road (18 feet wide, no sidewalks).
The concern is that the roughly
30% increase in traffic through the
community will increase the danger
to the families and over 40 children
in the community who have no
choice but to use the street for walking, biking, baby strolling, etc.
In fairness to the developer, a
number of changes were incorporated into the plan to make it more
acceptable. However, the concerns
expressed above were not addressed.
Instead of focusing on these issues,
the BOS chose to engage in an
inane discussion of exactly what
was intended by the word “edge” in
the “Development Edge” area on
the Crozet Master Plan and finally
voted 5-1 in favor of the rezoning.
The only voice of reason on the
Board came from Ann Mallek, who
actually took the time to visit the
community so she could understand
the concerns raised.
One has to wonder a) what the
purpose
of
the
Planning
Commission is, and b) what it would
take for a subdivision request to be
deemed unsuitable for the Crozet
community.
Brian Nagel
Crozet
Don’t miss any of the hometown news everybody else is up on. Pick up a free copy of the
Crozet Gazette at one of the many area locations or have the Crozet Gazette delivered to
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are available for $20 for 12 issues. Send a
check to Crozet Gazette, P.O. Box 863, Crozet,
VA 22932.
Published on the first Thursday of the month
by The Crozet Gazette LLC, P.O. Box 863,
Crozet, Virginia 22932
Michael J. Marshall,
Publisher and Editor
434-466-8939
www.crozetgazette.com
© The Crozet Gazette LLC
Crozet Gazette Route
Carriers:
Claudius Crozet Park neighborhoods:
Chris Breving: 823-2394
Western Ridge/Stonegate:
Ashley Gale: 823-1578
Cory Farm/Clover Lawn/Foxchase:
Austin Germani: 882-5976
Old Trail/Haden & Killdeer Lanes:
Andrew Periasamy: 989-5732
Planning
Commission
Rejects Verizon
Wireless Tower
in Newtown
At its April 1 meeting, the
Albemarle County Planning
Commission rejected a request
from Verizon Wireless, a company that provides cell phone
service, for a special use permit
to build a tower near Newtown
that would ensure service to
western Albemarle and motorists
on
Interstate
64.
Commissioners voted 4-3 that
the concept of the tower was
fine, but then voted 4-3 to deny
the critical slopes waiver needed
to use the site where four other
cell phone towers already stand.
Residents of Greenwood and
Afton who are frustrated by their
area’s lack of reliable high speed
Internet access had hoped the
occasion could draw Verizon
into negotiations to install land
lines as a quid pro quo for tower
approval. But that would be an
unallowable condition to the
approval,
Deputy
County
Attorney Greg Kamptner advised
the Commission, and it did not
pursue the idea seriously.
The 73-foot tower is proposed
to join four towers, the tallest of
which is 91 feet, on an old logging pad created in the early
1980s to load trucks when the
area was clearcut. Access to the
site, which is near the VDOT
Memorial overlook on I-64, is
by a former logging road off
Newtown Road. Balloon tests of
an tower elevation 7 to 10 feet
above the tree line showed the
location in the forested slope is
very difficult to spot.
County engineering staff had
approved the permit request,
saying that Verizon’s mitigation
plans for installing the tower
remedied the dangers to disturbing the slope. But planning staff
recommended against the permit, saying it was a close call,
but not sufficient to satisfy their
interpretation of the relevant
ordinances. Landowner James
Herring and county planners
agreed that there is no better
location for the tower on
continued on page 3
Crozet gazette
April 2008 s page 3
Two Teens Arrested in I-64 Shooting Spree
In a pre-dawn raid on a house on
Yonder Hill Farm March 28,
Albemarle County Police arrested
Slade A. Woodson, 19, of Afton and
a 16-year-old Crozet juvenile whose
name has not been released to the
public in connection with shots that
struck four vehicles westbound on
Interstate 64 after midnight on the
day before. The Virginia State Police
led the investigation.
A third man in the house who
confronted police with a handgun
was wounded in the chest and arms
by an Albemarle County Police officer, M.J. Easton, a school resource
officer at Western Albemarle High
School and a member of the tactical
team, who was subsequently placed
on paid administrative leave. The
wounded man, later identified as
Edgar W. Dawson, was airlifted to
the University of Virginia Hospital.
His medical condition is described
as serious but stable, and he has not
been charged.
Each teen faces 15 felony charges
stemming from the shootings on
I-64 fired from the bridge carrying
Slade A. Woodson
Greenwood Station Road and at the
westbound on-ramp at Ivy as well as
shots that blasted out the windows
of a Virginia Department of
Transportation truck parked at the
Yancey Mills maintenance shop.
Two drivers on I-64 were
wounded by glass or possibly bullet
fragments. Photos of one of the cars
hit showed a bullet hole through the
windshield directly in front of the
driver’s seat. Police closed Interstate
64 overnight from Afton to
Charlottesville after the shootings
were reported. County schools were
also closed the next day, as the
shootings evoked memories of the
sniper killings in the Washington,
D.C. area in 2002 that killed 10
and badly wounded three others.
National news organizations covered the western Albemarle shootings and Woodson’s arrest.
Police later also charged the teens
with firing into houses on
Greenwood Station Road, Dry
Bridge Road and Miller School
Road on the same night. Woodson
is also charged with shooting at a
dwelling in Waynesboro and at a
branch of the Dupont Community
Credit Union there, where security
cameras observed a 1974 AMC
Gremlin car with a black racing
stripe. Cameras showed the car held
two people.
The Gremlin, discovered the next
day abandoned off Rt. 29 north
near the Albemarle/Greene County
line, traced back to Woodson. Police
said ballistics evidence found in the
car matched similar evidence found
at the interstate overpasses. Police
recovered a .22 caliber rifle from the
house they raided off Lanetown
Road.
Woodson was arrested in January
of 2007 on felony arson and grand
larceny charges in connection with
two trucks he stole and burned. He
was subsequently convicted of misdemeanor destruction of property
charges and served several months
in jail. He was arrested in
Waynesboro in September on drunk
driving charges that were later
dropped.
Woodson’s preliminary hearing is
set for May 1. He is currently in the
Middle River Jail in Verona, in
Augusta County. The 16-year-old is
being held at the Blue Ridge
Verizon—continued from page 2
Herring’s extensive parcel, all of
which consists of critical slopes.
Verizon Wireless customers are
now “roaming” when using their
phones in our area and the network
the company is attempting to create
in Albemarle and six other counties
would provide them direct service,
according to local land use attorney
Steven Blaine, who represented
Verizon. The new network would
also provide wireless internet access
for Greenwood residents, if they
wished to subscribe to the service.
Towers are also planned for Yancey
Mills and the Parsons Green areas.
Presently, Verizon Wireless is
licensed to provide only cell phone
service in Albemarle.
David Booth, Charlie Feigenoff
and Paul Cantrell spoke on behalf
of Greenwood residents. “We want
steady land line service that is not
dependent on weather,” Booth
explained. Residents have tried satellite service, which can be spotty in
rainy weather. Verizon, a separate
company from Verizon Wireless,
Blaine pointed out, provides the
land service in the 456 exchange
and their decision not to invest in
providing high-speed access service
in the area is “a business decision” of
theirs, Blaine said. The vicinity
includes about 1,800 residents,
Booth said. In earlier discussions
with the company, Verizon has said
the service would cost about
Crozet gazette
page 4 s April 2008
has to give. Wednesday-Saturday at
7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets
$10. Opening night performance
followed by a champagne reception.
Special offer for new patrons of
the Hamner: Bring a friend for
free! Mention this listing to get one
free ticket for each purchased
ticket. For first-time visitors. Plays
only. Please phone first.
In the Cabaret, Saturday, April
26: Danny Schmidt, an Austin,
Texas-based singer/songwriter whose
musical style draws from deeplyrooted Appalachian mountain gospel to haunted English balladry,
from syncopated Piedmont country
blues to vagabond 60’s protest folkstumpery.
(Doors/Bar/Food 6:30 p.m.,
Music 7:30 p.m.) Tickets $15,
includes food, by reservation only.
For more information, call (434)
361-1999 or visit www.thehamnertheater.com.
EXPERIENCE
FIRST SATURDAYS
ROCKFISH VALLEY
COMMUNITY CENTER
AT
The former Harris house was knocked into sticks and hauled away in March to make way
for the new Crozet Library and the new Main Street that will someday connect Crozet
Avenue and Parkside Village. A raccoon ran from under the house’s front porch as it was
being crushed and was seen dashing for the bamboo stand next to Crozet United Methodist
Church. The five structures on the property, two houses, a concrete block garage, a shed and
a chicken house, were all demolished in less than a day.
Maymont to
Host Plant Sale
The Old Dominion Herb Society
will join with Maymont Foundation
to host a plant sale on the lawn of
the estate in Richmond April 26
from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. More than
50 plant and craft vendors will be
on hand and the event will feature a
plant exchange. Gardening experts
will also be giving demonstrations.
Maymont is at 1700 Hampton
Street. Admission is $2. For more
information, go to the website www.
maymont.org. Maymont is the
Victorian home of James Dooley,
who also built Afton’s Swannanoa.
Lions Club
Variety Show Set
for April 4 & 5
The Crozet Lions Club will hold
its 69th annual variety show April 4
and 5 at 7 p.m. at Brownsville
Elementary School.
The 16 acts on the program
include Albemarle Ballet Theater
dancers, Aunt Ruth’s Boys, Blue
Country, tap dancers Diane and
Company, and, of course, the wisecracking “sidekicks.”
Tickets are $6 for adults and $4
for children. The show is the club’s
largest fundraising event and all
proceeds are donated to local community needs. Come out to enjoy
local musicians and performers and
laugh along with the Lions.
SATURDAY·APRIL· 5
Pancake Breakfast . . 8:30-10:30
$6 a person / $1 off for RVCC members
Community Market . . . . . .9-2
Baked goods, fresh produce, local meat, farm fresh eggs,
bedding plants, crafts & art . . . . . . . . . . . .Admission free
Lunch / Claudia’s Cafe . . . 12-2
SPEND THE DAY!
Live Music All Day: Worm Patterson
& All Problems Solved at 10 am
~ Junior Moment at Noon
RVCC is off Rt. 151 between Nellysford & Afton,
West on Rt. 635, Rockfish School Lane ~ 434.361.0100
Get In the CVFD
Volvo Raffle
The Crozet Volunteer Fire
Department Spring Truck/Car
Raffle is fast approaching, Saturday
10 May. CVFD will raffle a 2008
Volvo S40, camille blue, 4-door,
5-cylinder, am/fm/cd, etc. Tickets
are available through any CVFD
member, at the Crozet Fire House
or at Fisher’s Auto Parts in
Crozet. Tickets are $100 each
(which includes two dinners at the
Firehouse the evening of the drawing) and only 375 tickets will be
sold.
Coming Up in
April at The
Hamner Theater
April 5: Rural Nelson Dance
Party—From Aretha to Ziggy.
Proceeds benefit Rural Nelson.
Suggested donation $5-10.
Onstage May 1–11: A Shadow of
Honor by Peter Coy. A play about
history and family, love and war,
where past and present collide with
a new generation, and something
April 12, 1-3 p.m. Guitar duo David Bailey & David Ferrall
April 19, 2-4 p.m. Pinchin Cindies
April 26, 2-4 p.m. ‘ginny Pigdogs
Crozet gazette
April 2008 s page 5
by Phil James
T
Crozet—Stepping Down Main Street
he sign says the Crozet Public Library is on
the way! Parting glances are cast toward the
splintered home site alongside Main Street in
Crozet, where a new library will someday stand.
The visage of a 132-year-old village has changed
irreversibly again.
Several decades ago Main Street endured
another season of radical change. The facade of
its most imposing structure was dramatically
altered; numerous other buildings fronting the
main sidewalk were razed and replaced by offstreet parking lots.
While envisioning the future, one does well to
not lose sight completely of the not-so-distant
past. A nostalgic stroll down the sidewalk of
1960’s Crozet reveals a village on the brink of
dramatic change, yet still content with itself.
Most of its then 90-year history of architectural
additions were still intact, albeit some with adaptive reuses.
Alongside the railroad tracks at the top of Main
Street hill, the imposing apple cold storage facility had seen much busier days. (Prior to the storage facility’s construction in 1912, a private
dwelling occupying the lot had been relocated
north of the train tracks.) Behind the cold storage plant stood an equally imposing 150-feet-tall
water tank that at one time supplied water to the
ice plant inside the cold storage and to water customers in the immediate vicinity. An elevated
rail-siding provided a coal-drop to fuel the storage facility’s power plant, which also made electricity available to nearby homes and businesses.
Near the back of the plant were a blacksmith shop
and a factory that made wooden “pins” once used
for attaching glass insulators to electric and telephone poles.
Adjacent to the cold storage building—and
sharing a wall in common—was Crozet’s movie
theater. This cement-block building had replaced
the wood-framed Curtis A. Haden store that predated the apple storage facility. The movie theater
building later was adapted for use as a barber
shop, a showroom for boat sales and a hardware
store.
Across the alleyway beside the store/theater
property was the two-story home of the Haden
family. A picket fence separated their tree-shaded
front yard from the sidewalk traffic. Their house
was used later as apartments. This apartment
building was the first of the “old Crozet” Main
Street buildings razed to provide off-street
parking.
Standing directly alongside the Haden’s yard
was the former Bank of Crozet. Built around
1908, the stately, solid building with its massive
white columns served a young, prosperous vil-
Looking north up Crozet’s Main Street about 100 years ago. Busy teamsters, businessmen and the railroad characterized
and defined the young village. [Image courtesy of Crozet Print Shop.]
With Crozet airplane pilot Rod Beitzel at the controls, photographer Mac Sandridge captured this view of downtown
Crozet from above in the late 1950’s.
lage. In its earlier days, Crozet’s post office shared
space on the ground floor. Upstairs there were
offices and a large room used for town meetings.
Like similar institutions, the Crozet bank failed
during the depression in the 1930’s. Following
reorganization, it operated under several different
names. Unfortunately, this beautiful building was
razed following the construction of a modern
bank during the restructuring of the downtown
area in the early 1980’s.
Stepping across a vehicle alleyway, the next lot
south was the site of the two-storied frame home
and storefront of C.W. Sandridge. As his Main
Street mercantile business prospered and more
space became necessary, Sandridge made plans to
build a new store on the same location. He
accomplished this goal in 1932 by jacking up his
storefront-home, placing it on logs and rolling it
to the back of the lot. He then built an impressive
continued on page 6
Crozet gazette
page 6 s April 2008
Main Street—continued from page 5
The Crozet United Methodist Church parsonage stood at the corner of Main Street and Jarmans’ Gap Road. The parsonage
was relocated following construction of the new Methodist sanctuary in 1962. [Photo by Ray “Pete” McCauley.]
Lester Washington stands at the doorway of his Crozet
Shoe Repair shop located on Main Street. The friendly
demeanors of Mr. Washington and his wife Thelma were
a special part of the fabric of downtown Crozet for many
years. [Photo by Ray “Pete” McCauley.]
In 1932 C.W. Sandridge built this large new store on the site of his home that was relocated to the back of the lot. His
gasoline pump on the sidewalk was one of four places that motorists could buy gas on Crozet’s Main Street.
two-story tile block facility in its place. It is said
that Sandridge’s store business never closed during the delicate move. The new building was
operated as a grocery store by several others until
it, too, was razed. The business was relocated to
another new building (the present post office)
during the same time as the bank relocation.
Crossing another vehicular alleyway, one comes
to the oldest commercial building still fronting
Main Street. Shared today by a popular restaurant
and equally popular barber shop, the simple twostory structure was operated at various times as a
general store, funeral parlor, grocery store, and
pool room. The early barber shop business
included showering facilities—much-appreciated
by the hordes of transient fruit pickers and truck-
ers that served the booming local fruit industry.
Stables around back held the former undertaker’s
horse-drawn hearse and the steeds required to
transport it.
Continuing south stood another two-story
building that had a variety of uses. Its two streetlevel commercial spaces at different times housed
a restaurant, a private apartment, a men’s clothing store, shoe repair shop, barbering facilities,
and flower shop. During the busier days of fruit
harvesting, the lower storefront seasonally was
filled with telephones to handle the overwhelming influx of orders for local fruits.
The next vehicle alleyway led to parking behind
the Blue Goose Building. The Blue Goose was the
trademark graphic for fruit brokers who main-
tained offices there. Sales agents had living quarters upstairs. As the fruit business ebbed, some of
the office spaces were converted to private apartments and dining was available to the public on
the main floor.
Just down the sidewalk was a long, old-styled
frame building. An earlier general store here gave
way to the Crozet Service Center, a business that
sold televisions, radios and appliances, and serviced and repaired most anything.
Crossing the vehicular street entrance beside
the Service Center, passers-by might have seen
Frank and Edwina Wyant busy around their twostory home next door, and perhaps have stopped
for a moment to chat across the privet hedge lining the sidewalk.
Anchoring the south end of this block of Main
Street is the first church building in Crozet,
belonging to Crozet United Methodist Church.
The congregation moved to this location in 1889
to offer fellowship and spiritual sustenance to a
young but rapidly expanding village. Formerly
known as Beaver Creek Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, the congregation originally met
in a log building several miles north of Crozet
(near the present-day Henley Orchards.)
Following the move to town, the growing church
was renamed Crozet Methodist Episcopal
Church, South. In 1917 they built a fine parsonage which stood on the corner of Main Street and
Jarmans Gap Road until a new sanctuary was
Crozet gazette
April 2008 s page 7
Wintergreen Performing
Arts at Delfosse Vineyards
and Winery April 12
Wintergreen Performing Arts will present the
Winds of Wintergreen Saturday, April 12, at 7
p.m. at Delfosse Vineyards and Winery in Faber.
The Winds of Wintergreen is an ensemble-inresidence of the Wintergreen Summer Music
Festival and Academy. The winery will open at
6:30. Wine and hors d’oeuvres from 8:30-10 p.m.
$40 includes concert and hors d’oeuvres; wine
will be available throughout the evening (cash
bar). For information and tickets: (434) 325-8292,
www.wintergreenperformingarts.org; info@wintergreenperformingarts.org. For directions to
Delfosse: www. delfossewine.com.
During the winter of 1978–79, Crozet was just beginning to see changes that would dramatically alter the character of
the town’s main thoroughfare. Early stages of renovation are already evident on the cold storage facility at the top of the
street.
built there in 1962. Reminiscent of the house
originally on the cold storage site, the Methodist
parsonage was physically moved to a new location across the street which bordered the rear of
the church property. The Methodist congregation
also had the blessed foresight to preserve and
adapt their 1889 edifice for future generations to
enjoy and appreciate.
The corner lot across Jarmans Gap Road from
the Methodist Church has seen continuous commercial activity since the early days of the 20thcentury. A furniture store there gave way to an
“authorized Ford dealership.” When this business
closed in the late 1920’s, its large, framed building was dismantled and recycled into two Crozet
houses. A stylish building was constructed on the
site and a joint venture provided a quaint tea
room, vehicle sales and repair, and a gasoline station. That multi-use building still stands.
This early-1960’s stroll down Crozet’s Main
Street sidewalk might help us pause as we look to
the future of downtown Crozet, and measure
what has been lost to the ages against the gains
that were made. Untold thanks are due the citizens who have sought through the years to preserve and share their memories and photographs, most especially to Steven G.
Meeks and Ray “Pete” McCauley, who
collaborated in 1983 to produce their
seminal work, Crozet—A Pictorial History.
Wintergreen Performing
Arts “Magic of Music” Ball
at Veritas Winery May 2
Enjoy a magical evening of dinner, dancing,
music, events fair and live and silent auctions to
benefit Wintergreen Performing Arts and its arts
education program May 2 at Veritas Winery in
Afton. Black tie optional. 6 p.m. Tickets $100 by
April 20; $110 after April 20, reservations
required. For information call (434) 325-8292 or
visit www.wintergreenperformingarts.org.
Phil James invites contact from those who would share recollections and old photographs of life
along the Blue Ridge Mountains of Albemarle County, Virginia. You may respond to him at: P.O.
Box 88, White Hall, VA 22987 or philjames@firstva.com. Secrets of the Blue Ridge © 2008 Phil
James
We’ve moved
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Please visit us in our beautiful new
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Conveniently located on Route 250
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Same friendly, personal service.
Same gentle, friendly dental care.
Your comfort is our #1 concern.
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Crozet gazette
page 8 s April 2008
April Showers bring …
The Crozet Community Advisory Council members now completing their first two-year terms include (from left) Beverley Ergenbright,
Michael Marshall, White Hall Supervisor Ann Mallek (ex officio), Tim Tolson, While Hall Planning Commissioner Tom Loach (ex officio),
Joanne Perkins, Ed Adam, David Wayland, Mac Lafferty, Jim Stork, Tanya Brockett, Mary Rice and Barbara Westbrook. Not shown are Gloria
Johnson, Terry Tereskerz and Veronica Warnock.
County Seeks Candidates for Crozet Advisory Council
Four current members of the
Crozet
Community
Advisory
Council are resigning at the end of
their terms this month. Ten other
members agreed to second terms.
CCAC members are selected by the
Albemarle County Supervisors to
advise the Board directly on growth
issues in Crozet and choices that
arise in the implementation of the
Crozet Master Plan.
The membership is broad-based
to incorporate a variety of perspectives and ideas and to provide citizens, businesspersons and representatives of active community groups
a chance to be heard.
The 15-member group meets
monthly on the third Thursday at
The Meadows and in recent months
has been engaged with County planning staff on critical projects such as
the Crozet Avenue streetscape project, the new Crozet Library, the
Western Park master plan, and the
description of new zoning for the
downtown commercial district.
The CCAC’s agenda for the next
term will focus on revisions to the
Crozet Master Plan, slated for an
update by the end of 2009.
Members serve a two-year term
and are eligible for reappointment
for a second consecutive term. The
CCAC has typically not met in
December or July in order to accommodate holidays and vacations.
Supervisors are soliciting applications for the five open seats.
Members who have decided not to
serve again are Ed Adam, Tonya
Brockett, Gloria Johnson and
Veronica Warnock. One seat, first
held by Duane Zobrist, has been
vacant for a year. To apply contact
the County Community Relations
Office at 296-5841 or visit the
County website at www.albemarle.
org and select the link to Boards and
Commissions on the Board of
Supervisors page. Applications will
be accepted beginning in mid-April.
New members will be given an orientation to acquaint them with current issues and zoning rules.
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Crozet gazette
April 2008 s page 9
A New York Yankee in Chief Bubba and Hubba’s
Firehouse
By Tom Loach
What’s
for Dinner?
It was Napoleon who said, “an
army travels on its stomach,” and I’m
here to tell you that if you stop by the
fire house any dinner time during the
week, you’ll see the Crozet Volunteer
Fire Department does as well.
One big difference between my
volunteer fire department in New
York and here in Crozet is the distance to the fire house. In New York,
because of the sheer density of homes
Will Schmertzler
in our community, you were only
minutes from reaching one of its two CVFD cooks Preston Gentry and Lewis Barnette
fire houses from anywhere in town.
Now, as for me, I’m strictly a meat and potato guy,
In Crozet we have members spread
which
by fire house standards is the same thing as a
far and wide all over the County, which has its benefits
picky
eater.
That said, I can tell you from experience that
and disadvantages.
On the plus side, when there’s a fire out in the coun- picky eaters in the Crozet fire house are few and far
tryside we can often have members at the location in a between. Sitting there week after week, it was amazing
to observe not just what, but how much, these guys eat,
relatively short time who can report on the conditions
The Crozet Volunteer Fire and start to prepare for fire operations.
which as I look back over my years in the fire service is
Department
named
Will
On the downside, they often don’t get to respond to why I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a really skinny fireSchmertzler its 2007 Firefighter of many of our fire calls and when they do they often arrive fighter. You have to remember that hunting and fishing
the Year at the CVFD’s annual after the fire is out and the bulk of the work has been
are a way of life for many of our members, so meat, fish
awards dinner at the Elks Club in done.
and fowl of all nature often finds its way to the table.
Charlottesville March 15.
There have been times when they simply put the meat
One answer to this dilemma is to establish what we
“There’s nobody I’d rather go into call “duty crews,” where each evening during the week on the plate and said, “don’t ask, just eat,” and, no, it all
a fire with,” said CVFD President we have members stand by at the fire house. Besides doesn’t taste like chicken.
Preston Gentry of Schmertzler. Tom providing a quick response to fire calls during the eveIt’s also surprising how many of our members are
Loach, last year’s recipient, pre- ning hours, the duty crews give members who live far
really good cooks, although some get a little carried away
sented the award.
from the fire house a chance to get together and train with the secret spice from their mother’s recipe and othA Community Service Award with other members.
ers can be a bit touchy when it comes to their cooking.
went to Dr. Meghan Custer of Ivy
Every duty crew on every night starts their tour with Just the other day I made an observation to Captain
Chiropractic.
Preston Gentry that I thought he was putting in a bit
the evening meal. Each crew for the most part does its
A Special Award went to Henry own cooking, but I admit there is the occasional pizza
too much sugar in his cole slaw, at which time he
Shaver of Albemarle Towing, who night.
reminded me that he could use his spoon for other
recently took a broken-down
things besides stirring.
fire engine to Roanoke to be
The evening meal is not the only important meal for
repaired for only the cost of
the Crozet Fire Department. When it comes to food I
gas.
think one of the true unsung heroes in the fire departOthers getting special nods
ment is Firefighter Lewis Barnette. During any proof appreciation were Trey
longed fire operation it’s Lewis who makes sure the fireDillard for the appearance of
fighters have food and water. Believe me there is no
his Clydesdales and wagon as
greater joy then seeing Lewis coming down the road in
Santa’s ride in the Crozet
the department utility truck knowing a hot meal or cold
Christmas
parade,
Mike
water is on the way. I just read one study that showed a
Maupin for being an all-around
firefighter can burn as much as 5,000 calories in a fire
good guy, Paul Seal and Barry
operation such as the day we had several weeks ago when
Sisler for providing the enterwe had multiple brush fires. On a hot day, not taking in
tainment, and Danny Patterson
enough water can lead to dehydration and worse, so a
of Patterson’s Flower Shop.
visit from Lewis is not only just appreciated, but required
The Chiefs Awards for 2007
to allow us to continue to fight the fire.
went to Glen Fink and Lewis
So there you have it, one more reason to join the
Barnette.
Crozet Volunteer Fire Department. After all, where do
The Auxiliary Award went
you get the chance to eat some really good food, albeit
to Judy Schmertzler and Donna Lewis Barnette received a Chief’s Award. On left is Chief Bubba Baber, on
somewhat exotic at time, and do it with good friends.
right is CVFD President Preston Gentry.
Pugh.
What more could you ask?
Schmertzler
Named CVFD
Firefighter of
the Year
Crozet gazette
page 10 s April 2008
Historic Garden Week Celebrates 75th Year;
Some Greenwood Homes Open for First Time
By Kathy Johnson
With the exception of a period
during World War II, the Garden
Club of Virginia has hosted Historic
Garden Week tours for 75 years
starting in 1929. This year Historic
Garden Week will be held April 20
from 1 to 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. on April 21 in the Greenwood
area.
Greenwood homes and gardeners
were instrumental in the early days
of these historic walks and one
home on the tour this year (Casa
Maria) has a particularly long history with the Garden Club and historic tours.
Construction on Casa Maria was
begun in 1918 by Mary Williams
on a “pretty site in the middle of the
Rose Hill apple orchard” as
described by Ella Williams Smith in
her 1972 book, “Tears and Laughter
in Virginia and Elsewhere.” Mary
Williams commissioned landscape
architect Charles F. Gillette to
design the gardens. Unfortunately
Miss Williams never had the opportunity to live there, dying in 1920
following a stroke.
Mrs. Wm. R. (Susanne) Massie
inherited the home from her sister,
and then gave Casa Maria to her
daughter Ella. Mrs. Smith and her
husband, Gordon, finished construction on the home and gardens.
Adjacent Rose Hill was the home of
Mrs. Massie and where the Garden
Club connection really starts.
Mrs. Massie served two terms as
president of the Garden Club of
Virginia starting in 1926. When she
was retiring as president in 1928,
she and Mrs. Herbert McKelden
Smith of Staunton, the incoming
Garden Club president, were
approached by Mrs. Thomas
Wheelright, who had just chaired
the Kenmore Restoration Committee. It was she who suggested
raising money for garden restoration
by requesting that gardens be
opened for a fee. The ladies at the
luncheon that day in 1928 agreed
and in 1929 the first of the historic
tours was held.
Raising $14,000 on the first tour
with only 13 member clubs was
quite an achievement for that time.
The second tour in 1930 was better
organized
and
approximately
$45,000 was raised. This year with
more than 3,300 members, 47 clubs
and some 200-plus gardens throughout the state, the club will raise significantly more dollars to benefit
more than 40 Garden Club of
Virginia restoration projects.
Those visiting the gardens in
Greenwood this year will have an
opportunity not only to view historic gardens, at least one of which
was started nearly 300 years ago,
but view current plantings and new
designs in these gardens and homes.
Five gardens are featured in the
Greenwood area—three of the five
making their Virginia Garden Club
debut.
Casa Maria
Parking for Casa Maria, located
at 280 Ortman Road off Route 250,
will be found on the right 0.2 mile
from 250. Guests will enter through
a walled garden towards the back of
the house. Original stone walls and
boxwood allees frame statuary and
new gardens that have been added
by the present owner, Ms. Cynthia
Tremblay. Garden lovers will find
birdbath gardens, cutting gardens,
groves of viburnum, bamboo and
Kousa dogwood. The original potting shed and an old English glass
greenhouse are still there. A roof
garden of hostas on the garage and a
tiled goldfish pool with vine-covered
trellises will offer inspiration to gardeners looking for unusual ideas
with a touch of class.
Inside, the home offers not only
well-appointed rooms and beautiful
detail, but also an opportunity to
see an Auguste Rodin sculpture, a
Georgia O’Keefe painting and finely
crafted antique furniture. Visitors
may even get a glimpse of the owner’s miniature donkey, birds, pony
and Vietnamese Potbellied Pigs.
Blue Ridge Farm
Also making a repeat performance in the historic tours is Blue
Ridge Farm. Located on the left farther up Ortman Road, past Plank
Road, this lovely English park-style
setting offers tremendous views of
the Blue Ridge Mountains both to
the east and west. The present owners purchased the farm in 2002 and
undertook restoration of both the
house and grounds. These gardens
were also originally designed by
Charles F. Gillette, with new gar-
dens created by the owners. New
vegetable gardens with raised beds
and crushed stone walkways stand
waiting for the first vegetables to
ripen.
Boxwood-lined pathways lead to
a small pavilion and additional brick
paths lead on to a terraced cutting
garden and Gillette’s rose parterre.
Blanche Sellers Ortman, one of the
earlier residents, in her 1910 privately published book, The Old
House, talked about the boxwood
flats, referring to the robins, thrushes
and catbirds that created nests
(apartments or flats) in the large
boxwoods. Visitors on the tour may
even see descendants of those same
families living there.
Bellevue
Owners Mr. and Mrs. Joseph
Gladden have offered Bellevue as
one of the first-time gardens on this
year’s tour. Part of the 1769 Crown
Grant from King George III, the
property is located on a rise with a
long view of the Blue Ridge.
Originally used as farm land by
James Durette, by 1913 the new
owner, Quincy Adams Shaw, used
Bellevue primarily as a sporting and
social center with polo games, steeplechase races and foxhunting. A
collection of Civil War maps is on
display inside and much of the interior is original.
The house was completely renovated in 2006 and the new owners
are now working on the gardens.
Visitors will see impressive English
and American box hedges, a formal
boxwood parterre, new varieties of
peonies, a range of white perennials
and both climbing and shrub roses.
In the spring, several species of iris,
lily, narcissus and tulips abound.
Bellevue is located off Plank Road
at 1100 Kingsway Road.
Ramsay
Another home appearing on the
tour for the first time is Ramsay.
Purchased in 1914 by Chiswell
Dabney Langhorne, the home was
Crozet gazette
April 2008 s page 11
The best Crozet has to offer.
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Single Family Homes
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Directions: I-64 West to Exit
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Crozet gazette
Spanish Horses Bring Cobra Tradition to Afton
By Kathy Johnson
Karen Lewis loves horses.
While horses in general are just
fine, her passion is her team of
Spanish Andalusian horses—now
12 with one more on the way—and
her dream of demonstrating the
Spanish Cobra tradition of grain
threshing.
In the ‘90s Lewis was living happily on Ocracoke Island, North
Carolina, where she had a successful
trail riding business.
In 1999, Lewis moved to Afton
and purchased her home and land
from Goodloe Saunders. In 2004, a
horse stepped on Karen’s foot and
that injury led to a life-changing
decision and the purchase of her
first Andalusian horse. During those
months, when Lewis almost lost her
foot and spent most of her time in
bed recovering from her injury, she
made the decision to fly to Spain to
search for the right horse and to
become a doma vaquero—a riding
style developed for working cattle.
In this style, ropes are not used, but
a pole is used to move cattle, thus
the term cowpoke.
The horses she found there can
be seen on prehistoric cave walls.
These are the war-horses of history,
the horses that helped change the
world. On a cold March morning
in an unheated horse barn, Lewis’s
friend
from
Spain,
Susana
Rodriquez, shared the story of the
Andalusian horse.
“The Andalusian horse is one of
the most ancient breed of horses in
the world. And, of course, one of
the oldest breed of horses in Europe.
You can find paintings of the horses
together with hunters and men in
prehistoric caves, which are from
about 12 to 16 thousand years old,”
said Rodriquez, who currently lives
in Canada. She seemed oblivious to
the cold and talked with a heavy
Spanish accent as she described
Andalusians.
“Andalusian horses are believed
to be those used by the Greeks to
conquer the world,” she said. “They
are bred for their gentleness and
kindness. They were warhorses and
they were cattle horses.
“So these horses have been kept
in Spain as pure as they could be.
They have basically been the foundation for many other breeds in the
world. They are the foundation for
horses in Italy. They are the founda-
Karen Lewis
tion for the Lipizzaners,” said
Rodriquez. The Andalusian horse
was originally a hot-blooded horse,
“as the thoroughbred is. A warmblood horse is a cross between a hotblooded horse and a draft horse.
The warm-blooded horse,” she
explained, “is a working horse, pulling carts, hauling loads.”
In Spain, Andalusians are used to
work cattle. “The cattle that we breed
for meat are not aggressive, but
because of the bullfighting industry
in Spain, those cattle are very aggressive.” She said that the quarter horses
are used to herd the cattle raised for
beef, but bulls used in bullfighting
are very aggressive and Andalusians
are used to manage them.
Andalusians are also connected
with the Spanish Cobra tradition,
which continues to this day. “In
Spain we don’t ride mares. We ride
stallions. But there is a very special
thing that only the mares do that
makes themselves useful to the
farms. It is separating the wheat
from the straw.
“We have big rounded places, like
a big round pen, that we call Eras.
They [farmers] lay their wheat out
there and they take the mares, tied
to each other at the neck—by the
‘Cobra’—and a person standing in
the middle of the Era tells the mares
to move. The mares carry behind
them a little harness that is like a
rolling pin made of wood with
pieces of metal that they turn
around and around and grind it up.”
As Rodriquez talked, her voice rose
with excitement.
“Then they take the mares away
from there and they just separate it,
grain from straw. Karen Lewis does
something
very
extraordinary
because mainly this work is done on
foot, the person who leads the
Cobra around is on foot. The fact
that Karen does it on a horse is a
very different thing. Very few people
in Spain do it these days. The fact
that she’s done it—and she has done
it in the United States—is a wonderful thing. I think it is just wonderful that she is able to do that on
a horse. She’s doing a great thing.”
The Cobra hitches each of the
mares together on very short pieces
of leather cowhide and steel.
Andurina, Salsa, Tortosa and Reina
are led in circles by calls of direction
from Lewis. “Yequa!” she said with
authority and the horses responded.
Well, mostly. Reina was, in Lewis’s
words, a “bad girl.” During the
demonstration she managed to pull
away from the group and take her
mother with her. It was cold and
Four mares are hitched together with a cowhid and steel “Cobra”
Crozet gazette
Horses—continued from page 12
perhaps she wanted to go back to
the barn. Or perhaps like any other
youngster, she was just testing the
limits.
Lewis was able to get the mother
and daughter under control. The
mare stood patiently with an almost
disgusted look at her daughter.
“She’s like her mother,” Lewis said,
talking about the young mare. “Lots
of fire.” Her mother, Tortosa, “likes
to be number one,” Lewis laughed.
“Tortosa is a show off. She’s very
proud,” said Lewis.
Before the young mare pulled
them apart, the Cobra, led by
Andurina and Lewis, was dancing
in tight circles, just as Rodriquez
had described. “Andurina’s very
humble,” said Lewis. “She keeps
everybody organized.” The final
mare is “Salsa, the oldest. She’s the
one that guides the horses to turn in
different directions. She’s in the
middle.
“I feel like I’m showing a part of
history,” said Lewis about the Cobra.
“I’m very grateful.” Lewis said her
plans for the future include showing
the traditional Cobra, possibly at
the Augusta County Fair or maybe
at the Albemarle County Fair. “It is
an ethereal experience. I may try to
rent the facility at Augusta and have
a Spanish show there.”
For more information about
Andalusian horses, Lewis can be
reached at S&S Stables at (540)
456-8520.
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Crozet gazette
WARS—continued from page 1
“They haven’t shared a lot of
information with us,” said WARS
Chief Kostas Alibertis, “like how
much per ride.” Alibertis directs the
squad’s operations. President Bill
Wood handles administrative matters. The County hasn’t revealed any
fee structures it might have in mind,
Alibertis said, though any charges
would likely be driven by Medicare
and Medicaid policies.
Formed in 1978, WARS serves
all western Albemarle including Ivy
and transports patients to three hospitals: U.Va., which gets all trauma
cases, Martha Jefferson Hospital,
and Augusta Medical Center in
Fishersville. WARS has three
advanced life-support ambulances,
a crash truck for car accidents, and
two four-wheel-drive vehicles, a
rusty Chevy Suburban and a
Cherokee, plus a trailer to carry
their John Deere Gator where it’s
needed.
“Most of the time, the ‘emergency’ ends when we get [to the
scene],” Alibertis summed up. “Most
of the time, we take care of it.” The
squad is ready every minute of every
day and its station on Crozet Avenue
near the Crozet Dairy Queen is
always manned. Volunteers answered
1,100 calls last year.
Alibertis has been a WARS member since 1985. He’s been the chief
since 2000 and did a spell in the
post in the 1990s too. Raised in
Covington, he came to U.Va. and as
one thing leads to another, he now
belongs to Crozet. He was named
the regional outstanding EMS provider last year, which carried a nomination for a Governor’s award, too.
He downplays the honor casually.
“How about we just not mention
it,” he suggested.
Talk of introducing fees is not a
complete surprise. The County has
been brooding over this egg since it
formed a committee last year to
investigate the practice in other
jurisdictions. All the local volunteer
squads—Western, Scottsville and
Charlottesville/Albemarle—as well
as the professional staffs at
Hollymead and the City stations
were represented on the study
group. The committee returned a
report on the fee idea’s pros and
cons last August. The move to fees
seems to be a trend, Alibertis
observed. Virginia Beach, for example, now charges $115 per hour for
a squad to be on hand at a high
school sports event.
“I will lose at least three or four
WARS Anniversary Open House
Set for May 24
Western Albemarle Rescue Squad will celebrate 30 years of being an
all-volunteer rescue squad with an Open House at the squad’s headquarters at 1265 Crozet Avenue May 24th from noon to 4 p.m. The
community is invited to tour the building and meet volunteers. For
more information, call 823-5103, or contact Vickey McCue at vamccue@yahoo.com.
members if we go to ‘revenue recovery’,” Alibertis predicted. “We will
lose some [people] just over the
adoption of the concept even if the
money comes to us. We will lose a
significant number of members if
the money goes to the County.”
WARS has 27 members. Twentyfive are EMTs, 19 are paramedics or
intermediate level EMTs, skill levels
that significantly overlap. The squad
also has four volunteer drivers.
“My goal as chief is to make it
cost neutral for anyone to volunteer
with us,” said Alibertis. “They don’t
have to pay out of their pocket for a
uniform. They only pay with their
time. They do it because they like
helping people. Our folks are in all
professional walks of life.”
Alibertis is an instructor at U.Va.
hospital.
WARS EMTs volunteered about
25,000 hours in 2007, he said.
“That’s just ‘in-station’ hours. That’s
not including our stand-by hours at
high school sports events or graduations or polo matches or Foxfield or
time in training classes.” Basic EMT
training requires 100 hours of class.
To be a paramedic requires a twoyear associate degree at Piedmont
Virginia Community College,
though in some states you can get
credentialed faster. Plus, WARS
requires another three months of
break-in training before new members get real responsibility on calls.
“We volunteer our time and we
want to give that,” Alibertis said. “I
appreciate the County’s financial
situation and them looking for alternative ways to raise revenue so they
don’t raise taxes.”
But that was as much of a concession as he would make to the
County’s agenda.
“We are not pushing this. This is
being pushed at us. We say if we
‘make’ the fee, so to speak, then we
don’t have to get [financial] help
from the County.” The County currently contributes $120,000 a year
to WARS according to a County
definition of operational costs,
mainly covering fuel, medical sup-
plies and uniforms, Alibertis
explained.
WARS
fund-raises
$50,000 to $60,000 a year, typically, from the western Albemarle
community to cover the remainder
of its costs, which include maintenance of its two buildings and various other expenses. WARS’s recent
annual budgets have been in
$170,000 range, Alibertis said. The
squad used to save-up for new
ambulances, but replacement vehicles are now planned for in the
County’s capital budget.
If the value of 25,000 volunteer
hours were accounted for as equivalent full-time positions, he said, it
would come to about 18 positions
costing somewhere in the $1- to
$1.5 million a year range.
“It’s phenomenal how we are supported by this community,” said
Alibertis. “It is very warming and
we don’t want to destroy that.”
Other places that have gone to fees
have seen a decline in donations, he
noted, though over time some see
donations come back. Some people
who are transported by the squad
will send in a donation afterward.
Some people just take it for granted,
Alibertis acknowledged.
“The general mood of the volunteers and the board [about the feecharging proposal] is that we are
unhappy with it,” Alibertis said.
“We have a great agency. People
drive from other counties to volunteer with us. We have a great group
of folks. The other squads are the
same and this matter has really
drawn all of us closer together. As
they say, you can fool the fans, but
you can’t fool the players. That’s the
trouble they’re running into here.
“We’re afraid about losing volunteers. We are trying to respect the
needs of the County and cooperatively find a solution. We agree that
if anything is to be done it is to be
done uniformly.
Meanwhile, squad members hope
Crozet citizens are paying attention
to the potential changes in service
terms. “I hope the citizens will speak
up. I hope there’s an outcry,” admitted Alibertis.
Crozet gazette
ASAP Panel to
Discuss Growth
Issues
Advocates for a Sustainable
Albemarle Population (ASAP) will
hold a panel discussion Thursday,
April 17, from 7:30 to 9 p.m., on
“What is the state doing—and not
doing—to help Virginia localities
deal with growth?” Moderated by
Rich Collins, the panel will include
Albemarle County Supervisor
Sally Thomas; David Blount, legislative liaison for the Thomas
Jefferson Planning District Commission; and Waldo Jaquith, creator
and keeper of the blog Richmond
Sunlight, which tracks legislation
and votes in the General Assembly.
The discussion will be held in the
library of Westminster Presbyterian
Church, 190 Rugby Road in
Charlottesville. Parking is available
behind the church.
L ove G o l f ?
See us to see it all!
Wintergreen Resort, Stoney Creek
and Old Trail
Tabor Presbyterian to Host Soup on Sundays
Tabor Presbyterian Church will host a soup and bread supper at the
church on Tabor Street in Crozet Sunday, April 6. The public is invited.
Doors open at 5 p.m. Donations welcome.
Annual Fundraiser for Rural Health
Outreach Set for April 18
The 10th Annual Evening of Art, Music and Cuisine will be held on
Friday, April 18, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Spruce Creek Gallery in
Nellysford to benefit the Rural Health Outreach Program.
This year as an added attraction the event will feature live demonstrations
by five local artists: “Flick” Flickinger, personality sculptor; Christine
Rooney, encaustic artist (a method where colors in wax are fused with hot
irons to create paintings or decorations), Nan Rothwell and Kevin Crowe,
functional potters, and Denton Middleton, a treenware woodcrafter (creating functional 18th and 19th century wood tools using no nails, glue or
joints).
The event will also host a live and a silent auction, gourmet hors d’oeuvres
by Chef Claudia Gibson, a selection of wines and brews from local vineyards
and breweries, and music by R. W. & Sherri Smith; Mongrel, Large and AllWeather Marquee.
Tickets are $45 per person and are available from Blue Ridge Medical
Center, Spruce Creek Gallery, or at the door. For more information or to
donate an auction item, call Sue Bernard at (434) 361-1859; Peggy
Whitehead at (434) 263-7322 or Judy Rendich at (434) 361-0362.
Spruce Creek Gallery is located on Route 151.
HAMNER
THEATER
www.thehamnertheater.com • 434.361.1999
Onstage May 1 - 11 • Tickets $10
In the Cabaret
Offices in Crozet
and Nellysford
434-823-7799
434-361-2440
www.MountainAreaRealty.com
Doors / Food / Bar 6:30pm, Music 7:30pm
Tickets $15 (includes food) by reservation only
Saturday, April 26 - Danny Schmidt
Rural Nelson Benefit
Saturday, April 5 at 8pm - Dance Party
Suggested donation $5-10
Coming in May: Barbara Martin
Call 434-361-1999 for reservations & info
The Hamner Theater @ The Rockfish Valley Community Center
190 Rockfish School Lane, Afton, Virginia • www.thehamnertheater.com
The Hamner Theater is a non-profit 501(c)(3) project of the Rockfish Valley Community Center in Nelson County.
Crozet gazette
Pistol Class—continued from page 1
First Steps is an official NRA course designed to teach pistol safety and a
certificate of passing it is required for an application to a Virginia county
circuit court for a concealed handgun permit. As part of the course, students
must demonstrate that they can hit a target roughly the size of an ordinary
sheet of paper at 15 yards with 10 consecutive shots landing on target, preferably grouped close together.
“It’s designed for a first-time gun owner who comes in with their new gun
in its box,” explained Eaton. The course costs $40 for non-members of
RRPC and $15 for members. For the March class, the club’s main room was
packed, with instructors at six tables, each facing two, three or at most four
students. Seventeen students took the class that night. They included white
and black men and black and white women, ranging in age from their 20s
into retirement age. For the shooting test, most brought large semi-automatics, most in the .38 or 9 millimeter caliber. Some had revolvers. Some had
.22s. Most said they wanted to apply for a concealed handgun permit, which
includes fingerprinting and a police background check. Eaton estimated that
three-quarters of students sign up for that reason. In the last five years about
1,500 people have taken the class.
The first First Step is to verify that a gun you are about to handle is
empty.
“Do you have any live ammo on you?” asked Eaton. One fellow had a
pocket full of shells that were temporarily put in a closet.
“There are three things you have to have to have a gun accident: ammo, a
gun and . . .” He paused for an answer. “A human.” That last factor is where
you get the accident cause.
“The major causes of gun accidents break down to carelessness, not doing
what you know you should do, or ignorance, just not knowing about the
gun,” explained Eaton. “And all that comes down to attitude. If you have the
proper attitude, everything will be fine.”
He stressed that a gun should be checked to see if it has ammo in it every
time before it’s moved.
The three rules of safe gun handling are: first, always keep a gun pointed
in a safe direction, meaning always away from people. With pistols especially, it can be very easy to allow its muzzle to point in an unsafe direction.
“You need to get in the habit of knowing where the muzzle is pointed so you
don’t get casual with a loaded gun.”
Second, “always keep your finger off the trigger until your target is identified and the gun is pointed at it. Then you can put your finger on the trigger.
It only takes a fraction to make a mistake.”
Third, “always keep a gun unloaded until you’re ready to use it. The last
thing you do is load the gun. You never have a loaded gun lying around.
Never touch a gun without permission. You don’t know: it might be
loaded.”
On the table, Eaton had field stripped (taken apart) his World War I-style
Colt .45 and opened the cylinder of a small revolver. Thus, neither could
possibly fire.
The seven parts of the .45 included the barrel, with its interior rifling to
Phil Eaton with students Oscar and Don Forsberg, Daniel Kent and Sarah Stassen
put a spin on a bullet and
straighten its flight and
the muzzle crown, the end
surface, which must be
kept free of nicks that
might cause a deflection
in bullets’ paths. The slide
houses the barrel, the
extractor and ejector for
removing spent shell casings, and, on top, the
front and rear sights.
There’s the recoil spring
that brings the slide back
into position to fire. The
frame includes the handle
grips and the trigger and
trigger guard, which keeps
the trigger from being hit
accidentally. There are
Phil Eaton
three safeties: the thumb
safety blocks the hammer from falling, another prevents the trigger from
moving, and another on the handle requires a purposeful grip to be taken in
order for the firing pin to release.
“The definition of a safety is a mechanical system that can fail. Never trust
one,” Eaton warned. “Never trust a safety.” The term safety began to seem
paradoxical.
Eaton keeps his instructor’s outline of the course open in front of him and
checks it systematically as he proceeds to make sure nothing has slipped by
him. He likes to proceed Socratically, posing questions that make students
offer reasons for why things are done as they are. Most haven’t thought
deeply about how guns work, but others are intent on understanding all of a
gun’s operations, including what seem like technical mechanical points. Each
had a detailed book on pistol shooting to read as part of class materials.
Eaton advised them to read it at least twice within the next month.
“The best part of it is all the responses different people will give you,” said
Eaton.
He’s been an instructor 11 years and figures he’s taught at least 500 students. He chairs the new member orientation group at RRPC. His wife
Robin also handles guns confidently.
The “action” of a gun is all the parts involved in loading, firing and unloading it. The slide stop, or release, as some call it, holds the slide open so the
firing chamber is revealed. Guns on the tables had their slides locked open.
You could see they are empty. A single-action trigger simply releases the firing pin that got cocked some other way. A double-action trigger also cocks
the hammer first.
Eaton turned next to ammo. “You must have the right ammo for your
gun,” he stressed, “not just a bullet that seems to fit.” The proper ammo for a
gun is marked on it, usually on the barrel. The type of ammo is also marked
on each cartridge. They must match before you put a shell in a gun.
When the firing pin strikes the cartridge it creates friction that sparks the
primer, which ignites the powder, which burns and builds up gasses that
propel the bullet. The amount of gas pressure determines the speed of the
bullet.
Ammo can go wrong three ways: a misfire, a hang fire and a squibb load.
A misfire is likely a shell that wasn’t manufactured properly; there’s probably a problem with the primer that caused the powder not to burn. Most
misfires happen with .22 cartridges. A misfire can turn into a hang fire, so if
you have a misfire, wait 30 seconds at least, still on aim, to make sure the
bullet doesn’t fire belatedly. A squibb load is the name for a situation in
which firing produces a strange sound. These are dangerous situations that
call for the barrel to be checked. It might be obstructed. Firing again could
cause the gun to explode. Squibbs can be caused by cartridges that have too
little or too much powder, or by contamination by moisture or gun oils.
Eaton reassembled his Colt. “The gun will tell on you if you’re not handling it properly,” he said quietly.
Next it was time to learn to aim. “Everyone has a dominant eye, the one
Crozet gazette
that’s going to take over.” To test for yours, choose a distant target point and
hold your hands overlapped together at arm’s length with a sightline gap
above your thumbs. Keeping the target in sight, draw your hands back to
your face. Which eye did the sight gap end up next to? The dominant one.
Students all tested themselves, some more than once. Some found to their
surprise that their assumption about which of their eyes was dominant was
wrong. If your left eye is dominant, turn your head to bring it along the
sights. “Your eye can focus on only one thing.”
“To shoot a good shot, you have to do seven things right at once,” said
Eaton.
First comes position. Take a stance with your legs shoulder-width apart
that makes a triangle lower base and make an upper body triangle with arms
extended and both hands gripping the gun. “Push with your right hand and
pull with your left,” Eaton advised.
Eaton admitted that in that stance he has an inexplicable tendency to
start falling forward, so he shifts his right leg slightly back.
Students selected imaginary targets on the room’s wall and, with their
eyes closed, practiced lifting their pistols to be level on target. Most were
surprised by the deviations in their first attempts, but with a little practice
their bodies intuitively picked up on the goal and soon they raised their
guns level on their targets in a natural motion, eyes closed.
The grip should be firm, “like a firm handshake,” and as high on the grips
as possible without interfering with the hammer. That gives greater control
of the gun and less trouble from recoil. The gun is completely enclosed in
the hands.
Breath control is next. “Take a couple of deep breaths,” Eaton instructed.
“You have to relax to be able to shoot well. You have to concentrate on what
you are doing. Let out a sigh. Hold your breath for 8 or 12 seconds.
Concentrate on the front sight. The target should be slightly out of focus.
Breathing takes you off your sights.”
The trigger squeeze is the “most important part of the whole thing,” he
continued. “Think of it was watching grass grow. Put the pad of your finger
on the trigger so you will pull straight back. When the trigger is pulled the
gun should not move. Trying to anticipate the release of the trigger or ‘help
the gun’ will cause the sight to drop. It should always be a surprise when the
gun fires.”
The right way to shoot has more than a touch of Zen in it. You have to
tap your subconscious in an aware way.
“You must be relaxed and calm. All your worries are gone because your
mind doesn’t have room for them. It’s a relaxing sport.”
Then comes the follow-through. Release the trigger purposefully. “The
faster shooters have all the basics down. They’re just doing them faster,” said
Eaton.
He started with guns in 1964. He never got proper training, he said. “I
never was a good shot. I didn’t get to be good until I started instructing. I
listened to myself talking to students and I got to be a pretty good shot.
Most people can be trained to be decent shots. I don’t have natural ability. I
just enjoy it.”
“Shooting was invented by men so it has to be simple,” Eaton quipped.
On the indoor pistol range, everyone wore “ears,” electronic headphones
that squelch the blast of firing—and any sound over 28 decibels—and yet
allow voices to be heard. Students took turns in the booths. The down-range
targets seemed rather small. Load, aim, breathe, fire. Eaton coached each
one. Some were calm and accurate. Bang, bang, bang. Some were calm and
just barely accurate. Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Others were nervous, worried
about how they would shoot. A few booths over, club members were practicing with .45s and the booms seemed sonic. Most students passed easily.
Each studied their targets and most folded them in their pockets. For most,
the target shooting had been exhilarating.
“We’re looking to know that you know how to get the shots where you
want them to go. Tightness of grouping is the most important thing. We
want consistency in where the shots go.”
The most important part of every exercise we do,” Eaton told the students, “is where the muzzle points. It’s so easy to move it. It’s so simple for it
to happen. You won’t realize it.
“Everybody shot well,” Eaton announced. “The important thing is to get
a steady rhythm.”
He urged them to take more advanced classes, such as Home Firearm
Safety or Personal Protection in the Home, so they could get more coaching
on shooting technique.
Students packed their guns away in cases and certificates were passed out.
They seemed pleased to have handled the guns without embarrassment, and
they took away a clear idea of how complicated it is to take a good shot.
They had a genuine respect for their guns.
The club was quiet and it was time for the instructors to sweep the range
and make everything ship-shape again.
“An armed society is a polite society,” said Eaton as the lights went out.
Crozet gazette
Dr. Robert C. Reiser
By Dr. Robert C. Reiser
Spring Cleaning
Spring is officially here, according
to the calendar, and according to
certain recent indications in the
Emergency Department. I refer neither to the current increase in fishhook finger impalements nor to the
uptick in road rashes from bicycling
mishaps. A curious case from last
week will illustrate some unusual
hazards of early spring gardening
activities.
The patient was a woman in her
late forties with a puzzling rash on
her right thumb and hand. She had
been out cleaning up some leftover
leaves on a sunny day last week
when she noticed a tingling and
burning sensation on the back of
her thumb. As the day progressed
she noticed the area became reddened and inflamed. She consulted
a local physician the next day who
confirmed her worry that this was a
brown recluse spider bite.
The patient came to see one of
my colleagues in the ED the next
day due to worsening and extension
of her rash. The rash had now
become a large flaccid blister weeping a small amount of straw-colored
fluid surrounded by intense red
streaking going down her thumb.
Due to the unusual nature of the
rash my partner asked if I and
another physician would take a look
and provide a second opinion. We
were happy to do so, and each of us
came up with separate but somewhat
overlapping theories of causation.
We agreed that a brown recluse
spider bite was highly unlikely since
the range of this spider comes no
where near Virginia, and it is estimated that over 80 percent of these
diagnoses are inaccurate, even within
its midwestern/midsouthern range.
My first impression was some sort
of burn, but the patient denied any
chemical or heat exposure. I was
then of the opinion that an infec-
tious source was most likely and
favored a MRSA-type agent, since
the inflammation was so rapidly
progressive. I was hard put to
explain why the streaking was going
down rather than up her arm however, as infections would most certainly do. My colleague favored
another type of staph that causes a
blistering type of infection (bullous
impetigo) while the third doc
thought some sort of insect bite was
the causative agent.
A dermatology consult was
obtained, but they could come to
no firm conclusions. The patient
was discharged with some topical
preparations and later followed up
by phone. The dermatologist was
kind enough to forward this follow
up to us (edited for clarity and confidentiality):
Dear Dr—, I spoke with the
patient we saw in the ED on
Monday. Turns out the key bit of
history was elicited by a local dermatologist that she saw today—she
had been squeezing limes before
heading outside, resulting in a plant
phototoxic reaction or phytophotodermatitis, which frankly I’ve
never seen in the acute phase.
In fact, prior to raking leaves the
patient had been making key lime
pie and had spilled a small amount
of lime juice on her hand. The
chemicals, known as furocoumarins,
in lime juice had caused her skin to
become abnormally sensitive to
ultraviolet light, resulting in what
could be most easily envisioned as a
very severe localized sunburn. This
explains the resemblance I saw to a
burn and also why the streaking
went down her hand like a spill
rather than up her hand like an
infection.
This “lime dermatitis” goes by
many other evocative monikers:
margarita dermatitis, club med
thigh, tequila thumb, gin and tonic
lip, bartender’s dermatitis, etc.
Many plants can sensitize skin to
sun exposure in a similar fashion.
Common ones include but are not
limited to celery (grocer’s dermatitis), parsley, parsnips, carrots (harvester’s hand), and giant hogweed
(weed whacker’s rash).
In addition other garden favorites
can cause allergic dermatitis if handled extensively. “Tulip fingers” is
seen mostly in tulip industry workers, “Lily dermatitis” is mostly in
florists who work with the beautiful
but irritating alstromeria lily, and
our own lovely daffodils may cause
an itchy rash with prolonged contact.
So get out there and enjoy the
weather but keep the citrus in your
drinks and off your skin. Oh, and
lightening your hair with lemon
juice and sun exposure? Bees love
the scent of citrus so ….
Life is curious and rich with questions. Send your medical questions
or anecdotes to the Crozet Annals
of Medicine. See your name in
print, contribute to your hometown
newspaper. Musictoday is an e-commerce company located in Crozet, VA (12 miles from Charlottesville),
providing web stores, ticketing, fan clubs, order fulfillment, and hosting for some of the world’s
largest musical, sports, and entertainment brands.
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES. Seeking motivated and energetic full time Customer Service
Representatives for our fast-paced Ticketing, Fan Club and Merchandise customer service department.
Must be computer literate, detail oriented, and have a pleasant phone manner. Experience is a plus, but
not necessary if you are a quick learner with a great work ethic. Job responsibilities include reading and
answering e-mails, assisting with inbound telephone calls, and resolving customer service issues. Our
Service Center hours of operation are 9:00 AM to Midnight. We are looking for outstanding candidates to
fill openings for mid-morning and evening shifts. An interest in the music industry is a plus.
MARKETING ANALYTICS MANAGER. Seeking a candidate to lead our marketing analytics, customer
analytics and market research efforts. Must have a proven record supporting in-depth quantitative, analytical
and research studies and an understanding of how to leverage findings to drive product development/
marketing. Position requirements include a BA in Marketing or related field; 2 years marketing experience;
expertise in MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and the Internet; and the ability to track/report measureable
activity relating to marketing/promotions. The job is for a creative self-starter that is willing to jump in and
get involved with a leading fan engagement marketing company.
EMAIL MARKETING SPECIALIST. Seeking an Email Marketing Specialist to support campaigns for premier
music and sports clients. A successful candidate will create and execute the email contact strategy, plan/
manage/proof all email marketing campaigns, and implement procedures designed to enhance online
customer sales, retention, and profitability. Knowledge of targeted email marketing, list management
segmentation, and email analytics is required. Must have proficiency with HTML 4.0, Dreamweaver,
Basic ASP to alias colors, and Photoshop. Knowledge of CAN-SPAM and email best practices preferred.
Undergraduate degree and experience with CSS are desirable. Candidates with relevant marketing
experience that are willing to learn email marketing also encouraged to apply.
INVENTORY OPTIMIZATION ASSOCIATES. Seeking full-time (M-F 9-6) Inventory Optimization
Associates. Responsibilities include cycle counting, SKU slotting and replenishment. Strong mathematical
and computer skills and previous warehouse experience are required. Must be able to stand for long
periods of time and some lifting is required. Bilingual Spanish/English is a plus.
TICKETING FULFILLMENT TEAM MEMBERS. Seeking organized and detail oriented individuals to work
during spring and summer in Ticketing Fulfillment. The Ticketing Fulfillment Team Member performs all
duties related to the fulfillment of individual ticket orders, from ticket receipt to package shipment. Starting
wage for this position is $8.00/hour, more based on experience.
We offer competitive wages, excellent benefits, and a great working environment. Health, Dental,
LTD, Life, 401K, Employee Discounts, Educational Assistance and On-site Gym are among our
benefits. Interested applicants may submit resumes and salary history to: jobs@musictoday.com
or fax to 434/923-3937. EOE
Crozet gazette
Garden Week—continued from page 10
then owned by his grandson,
Langhorne Gibson—son of Irene
Langhorne Gibson, known as “The
Gibson Girl.”
Currently owned by Mr. And
Mrs. Harry R. Lankenau, the home
includes not only the main house,
but also many wonderful outbuildings, including a yellow guest
cottage built originally in 1950 for
use by Mrs. Gibson in her retirement. A white picket fence encloses
a garden of box, bulbs and perennials, an original potting shed and a
whimsical studio constructed in
2000 from windows and doors
found on the grounds and from the
North Carolina home of Mrs.
Lankenau’s family. Boxwoods edge
brick-lined paths lead to a small
fishpond designed by Charlottesville
architect Milton Grigg.
A wonderful blend of new and
old are reflected in the gardens and
the Gibson Girl’s cottage. Inside,
needlepoint pillows created by Mrs.
Lankenau cover a red and white
checked sofa, while a whimsical
primitive painting of a blue cow
keeps watch on the wall above.
Ramsay is located at 7760 Rockfish
Gap Turnpike (Route 250)—just
1.4 miles from Ortman Road.
Piedmont
These gardens are also on the tour
for the first time. Owned by the
Wallace family, one of Albemarle
County’s earliest settlers, the present
owner is Mrs. Barbara Wallace
Chakmakian. The Wallace family
arrived here around 1734 and has
owned Piedmont continuously since
that time. The boxwood bushes
located here are said to be descended
from a trade with Thomas Jefferson
for a wagonload of red clover seed
and corn.
The main house has two distinctly different parts and it is possible that the two-story log portion
(now stuccoed) may have been built
as early as the mid-18th century.
The other half, which is two-story
brick, was constructed around 1834
by Michael Wallace. A one-story log
cabin dating from before the Civil
War is presently used as a garden
house. This is a rare opportunity for
visitors to visit this well-preserved
example of an early Virginia heritage home. This home is located just
off Route 250 on Route 691. From
250, travel north 0.4 miles on Rt.
691 to Pony Express Road. Stay left
at the fork for 0.2 mile. Go 0.8
miles to end of road.
For ticket prices and additional
information call (434) 961-5225 or
email: phale@pvcc.edu.
C’ville Newcomers
Club Luncheon
April 22
Celebrate Spring with the
Newcomers Club of Greater
Charlottesville at a luncheon April
22 at the Farmington Country
Club. Social hour will begin at
11 a.m. with lunch following at
noon. The guest speaker will be
noted garden author Catriona Tudor
Erler, who will tantalize the club
with outdoor pictures and a presentation.
Reservation/cancellation
deadline is April 16. Your check is
your reservation. Cost is $24. For
information, call (434) 980-2725
(NCGC message line) and leave
name and phone number. Visit the
club’s website at www.charlottesvillenewcomersclub.org.
Crozet gazette
By Charles Kidder
Palms in the
Piedmont
When visiting Virginia Beach, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the palms
growing in this corner of the Commonwealth and perhaps wondered if they
could be grown in Albemarle County. Believe it or not, with a careful selection of plants and growing conditions, the answer is “yes”.
The stereotypical image of a palm would have to be a graceful tree arching
over a tropical beach. This coconut palm would not be hardy much north of
Palm Beach, Florida, however, so it wouldn’t be the palm of choice for your
Crozet garden. But with over 2,600 species in 202 genera, there are a few
palms that are surprisingly hardy.
One of these is native to regions not too far from here. The scrub palmetto, Sabal minor, grows in the wild as far north as Cape Hatteras, North
Carolina; from there its range stretches across the Deep South as far as southeastern Oklahoma. As the epithet minor suggests, this palm does not reach
great heights; in fact, three to five feet is typical. Scrub palm does not usually
have an above-ground trunk, so the leaf and its pedicel, along with a long
flower stalk, are all you get. But having the growing point below the ground
confers extra hardiness, so that’s a decent trade-off for lack of height.
Sabal minor is usually considered hardy at least to Zone 7, but if you want
some extra hardiness, look for the cultivar ‘McCurtain County’. This plant
has withstood temperatures of –24ºF in Kansas!
Reputedly the hardiest palm in our part of the world is Rhapidophyllum
hystrix, the needle palm. Although native only to the coastal plain of the
Deep South, needle palm is reliably grown much
farther north. A specimen has been growing at
the National Arboretum in D.C. for many
years, and there are reports of plants surviving
in southern New England and Michigan.
Needle palm gets its name from the needlelike spines that protect its crown. They are several inches long and wickedly sharp, but not
likely to inflict damage unless you have to
weed around them. It does not have a true
trunk, but older plants will have a base composed of old leaf stems that may be about three
feet tall. The entire plant can be about ten feet
tall to the top of its central leaves.
The hardiest palm with a true trunk is the
Close-up of scrub palm leaf
Windmill Palm windmill palm, Trachycarpus
fortunei. (There are a few
other species of Trachycarpus,
but they are not often seen in
nurseries.) Native from the
Himalayas across to southern
China at elevations up to
about 7,000 feet, windmill
palms can take a good deal of
snow and cold. They are also
accustomed to cool, wet summers, which is why they thrive
in the UK and the Pacific
Northwest. Windmill trunks
can reach 45 feet in ideal conditions, but in this part of the
world 10 to 15 feet would be
more likely.
As for hardiness, estab Needle palm with snow
lished windmill palms are
º
hardy to at least –10 F. (More
on that word “established” in a bit.) I saw one of them growing in a fairly
exposed site at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden during a visit this past winter.
But in January 2007 this same plant was wrapped up like a mummy during
unusually cold and windy weather.
Which brings us to the subject of actually getting your palms to survive in
central Virginia. Here are a few tips:
When buying your palms, bigger is better. A larger, five year-old plant has
a much better chance of winter survival than a little one. Finding larger
plants pretty much means going to a nursery near the beach, rather than
buying mail-order. If you do buy a small plant, keep it in a pot for a few
years and bring it inside for the winters. When it bulks up a bit, plant it outside.
And when you do plant, do so early in the growing season. If you plant in
May, your palm will have several months to establish itself before cold
weather hits. Do not fertilize after August, since this may only encourage
tender growth that will only get blasted later.
My use of the term “established” means a plant that has been growing in
your yard for several years. So, the palm is
not only larger, but has had time to put
down a good root system.
Plant in the right site. Avoid low areas
on your property where cold air drains
to. But also steer away from an exposed
windswept location. The ideal place
would be a corner of your house that is
sheltered from north and west winds
and gets plenty of sun.
Protect young plants. As winter
approaches, mound some leaves around
the trunk of your palm and keep them
in place with a wire mesh cage.
Be prepared for some setbacks. In a
bad winter your palm may lose all its
leaves; however, new ones should come
along in the spring.
For a complete look at growing palms
in temperate climates, I recommend
David A. Francko’s Palms Won’t Grow
Here and Other Myths: Warm-climate
Plants for Cooler Areas.
So, be daring and plant a palm. In a
few years you may be able to listen to
your palm fronds rustle in the wind
while sipping one of those pink-parasol
drinks.
Photo credit: JC Raulston Arboretum
Crozet gazette
Your Local
Grocery Store
Crossword Puzzle by Mary Mikalson
Goodwin Creek
Farm Market
Delivering fresh
bread, baguettes,
dinner rolls—wild
flower honey wheat
and other varieties
The Farm at Red Hill
Dips and Salsas made fresh with organicallygrown vegetables
Mission Home Bakeshop
Fresh-baked goods and free-range eggs
Mountain-grown apples from
Crown Orchard
Check out our expanded
line of organic and
natural products
Introducing gluten-free items
Across
1. Bouncing _______ (wildflower)
4. Frank ______ (children’s author)
8. _______ All (wildflower)
12. Former state in the Middle East: Abbrev.
13. Soft, friable limestone
14. Coquettish glance
15. ______ Lanka
16. Early wildflower
18. Sings rhythmically
20. Removes by force
21. Protuberance
23. Goes down the wrong path
25. “Once more” to Jed Clampett
26. Leon ______ (author)
27. Undergraduate degree in some
Comm. schools
30. Tiny wildflowers
32. Mountain _______ (wildflower)
34. Intent or purpose
35. Opposite of “virtual”
37. An Olympic equestrian usually
has a good one
38. Biting remark
39. New cars often have these
40. Tomato or salmon mold
43. Mont ______
45. Star _________ (wildflower)
47. Beginning of goblin or bit
50. Nary a one
51. Catch sight of
52. Meadow mama
53. Mouse-sighting sounds
54. Superlative endings
55. Keep company with
Down
1. Trolley’s cousin
2. Corn division
3. Purple ________ (wildflower)
4. Saunter
5. Popeye, for one
6. Popular television drama
“The ________”
7. Patient’s enemy, perhaps?:
Abbrev.
8. Falcon-headed Egyptian god
9. These can be “super” sometimes
10. Quite a bit
11. Rents a flat in Oxford
17. The back of an animal: Plural
19. With fire: Latin
21. Cake soaked in rum
22. “Tangelo” trademark
24. Valley on the moon’s surface
26. _______ friendly
27. Dutchman’s _______ (wild
flower)
28. Orson ______ (actor)
29. Abbreviation found in an atlas: Plural
31. Western has an oval one
33. “Employing” to Jed Clampett
36. Superior of a convent
38. Blue or green pigments
39. ______ Slipper (wildflower)
40. Teen’s nemesis
41. Can house many children,
maybe?
42. Fire _____ (wildflower)
44. What ten lords did
46. Teeny
48. Be in debt
Solution on page 30
Crozet gazette
Crozet
Scouting News
Compiled by Sandy Williams
Boy Scout Troop 79
Goes to Richmond
On March 21st, members of
Troop 79 visited the newly remodeled Virginia state capitol in
Richmond to work on requirements
for the “Citizenship in the Nation”
merit badge. The Capitol building
was designed by Thomas Jefferson
and is home to America’s oldest
ongoing legislature. Mr. Jay Pearson,
the Virginia House of Delegates
Project Manager for Legislative
Education, gave a tour of the building and led the boys in a lively discussion of a “mock” bill. The “bill”
introduced was “All Virginia students must go to school Monday
through Saturday.” Despite the lively
discussions, the bill was defeated
and did not go on to the Senate.
While in Richmond, the group also
visited Belle Isle, once home to a
Civil War prisoner of war camp.
On the trip to Richmond were
Scouts: Colin Williams, Quentin
Goodbar, Nick Merutka, Sam
Merutka, John Wilder, Dan Baer,
Gavin Ratcliffe, Patrick Gorman,
Kevin Purdy, James O’Leary, Cody
Watson, Hank Conley, Steven
Effland, Ryan Evans, Ryon Smith,
Jacob Ball, and Alex Lehmann;
Leaders: Gary Conley and John
Effland; and parents: Margaret
Gorman, Jane Baer, and Lisa
Merutka and siblings Maxwell
Merutka and Connor Evans. Cub Scout Pack 79
Holds Annual Blue
and Gold Dinner
Crozet Cub Scout Pack 79 held
its annual Blue and Gold dinner at
the Crozet United Methodist
Church February 29. This dinner is
a birthday celebration of the begining of the Cub Scout program,
begun in the United States in 1930
Pack 79 used the occasion to
award many of its members with
scouting achievements. Michael
Carmagnola, Pack 79 Cub Master,
turned the MC duties over to
Webelos 1 Leaders David Donahoo
and Rich Carroll, who presented
Webelos badges to the members of
Den 8. These Webelos scouts con-
Cub Scouts and Webelos from Pack 107 visited Troop 79’s weekly meeting to see if this was the Troop they would like to join. Front row left to
right Nick Adams, Ben Crissey, Gill Tender, Wade Foster; back row left
to right: Nick Crissey, Bryce Van de Castle, Aaron Cole, Alex Brown.
Webelos Den 8 members standing on the bridge they designed and built. From left to
right: Jason Donahoo, Marcus Respeto, Anthony Sapino, Brendan Ventura, Aaron Carroll,
and Alexander Respeto. Not pictured, Ben Williams
structed a bridge adorned with the
Arrow of Light which symbolizes
the transition from Cub Scouts to
Boy Scouts that all Webelos must
undertake. Over 100 people, including scouts, family members, teachers, and friends attended the ceremony and buffet dinner afterwards
in the CUMC Fellowship Hall.
The Arrow of Light is Cub
Scouting’s highest award. It is the
only Cub award that may be worn
on the uniform of a Boy Scout. The
badge displays a universal symbol
for the sun with an arrow below.
The seven rays of the sun stand for
the seven days of the week to
remind Cubs to do their best every
day of the week as they follow the
arrow that leads to Boy Scouting. Mountain Plain
Baptist Church
A small, friendly, moderate church invites
you to share your Sunday with us.
Sunday School r 10 am
Traditional Worship Service r 11 am
Rev. Sam Kellum, Pastor
4297 Old Three Notch’d Road
Travel 2 miles east of the Crozet Library on Three
Notch’d Rd. (Rt. 240), turn left onto Old Three Notch’d
Rd., go 0.5 mile to Mountain Plain Baptist Church
More information at
www.mountainplain.org or 823.4160
Crozet gazette
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Crozet gazette
WAHS Track—continued from page 1
Left to right: Tyler Stutzman, James Howard-Smith, Nick Ward, Kyle Satterwhite on the
podium after winning nationals.
Relay (DMR). This is a unique
event that is not run at many
Virginia High School Leaguesponsored track meets. The relay
consists of a lead-off leg of 1200
meters, a second leg of 400m, a
third leg of 800m, and an anchor
leg of 1600m. The event seemed to
be tailor-made for the Western
squad as it has three tremendous
distance runners, which is exactly
what is necessary to win a DMR.
When the gun went off,
Satterwhite was off to the races running the 1200m leg. His job was to
give Ward, who would receive the
baton next, a lead to add to. Satterwhite ran a near-perfect race,
beginning at a pace that was comfortable to him in the middle of the
pack. He did not allow the front
runners’ early lead to deter him
from his own plan, which eventually worked flawlessly. As the meters
passed, it was evident that he was
the strongest runner in the field. The 3200m is Satterwhite’s best
event, and this clearly showed as he
took the lead with 200 meters left
in his race and gave Ward a comfortable lead. Ward was running only 400
meters, and the two laps that he ran
around the track in Maryland flew
by as the crowd roared. The lead
that Satterwhite gave him remained
intact, and Ward handed HowardSmith the baton.
During the first 600 meters of his
800m leg Howard-Smith ran
extremely quickly and actually
added to the lead his teammates had
given him. But near the end of his
leg, the exciting atmosphere that he
found himself in got the best of
him; thousands of people were
screaming and he was in the lead of
a national championship race.
Howard-Smith’s breakneck pace
slowed as he began his final lap,
allowing his opponents to make up
ground and ultimately take the
lead. Howard-Smith did not quit on
his teammates though, and clawed
through the pain that was piercing
his lungs and legs. He handed the
baton over to Stutzman four seconds behind the leader; still close
enough to capture their prey: a
National Title. It was critically important that
Stutzman not over-exert himself
during the early stages of his milelong race to catch up. His mental
toughness showed as he ran
smoothly and made up the distance
between him and the first-place runner before the halfway point in his
anchor leg. On the 200m track, the
turns were too sharp to make a pass
without using entirely too much
energy, so Stutzman had to remain
patient and try to make his move on
the straightaways. Stutzman came
alongside the leader three times
before their battle ended and victory
was decided. After trying to make a pass on the
previous two straights, Stutzman
began his final move in the beginning of the turn, giving him the
room necessary to regain the lead. The two front runners ran evenly
down the back straightaway, urged
on by the thunderous spectators. When the opposite turn began,
there was a new leader in the race,
and Stutzman never looked back. He ran a very impressive 4:17 mile
to complete Western’s DMR, and
crossed the finish line six seconds
ahead of the second-place team.
Satterwhite, Ward, Howard-Smith,
and Stutzman had left Crozet as
Virginia state champions, and they
returned as national champions. Verizon—continued from page 3
$250,000 to install, Booth
reported.
Commissioners Marcia Joseph
and Jon Cannon both said they
understood the high-speed access
problem because they also live in
rural locations, but their sympathy
only went so far. Both use satellite
service. “I have a hard time supporting urban services in rural areas,”
said Joseph. They accepted weak
coverage as a tradeoff of choosing to
live in the country.
Commissioner Linda Porterfield
objected to the permit on the
grounds that a fifth tower is one too
many in the same location. But her
motion got only three votes.
Commissioner
Bill
Edgerton
switched sides for the critical slopes
waiver vote, a motion to allow made
by White Hall Commissioner Tom
Loach, and the tower permit failed
4-3. The request goes to the Board
of Supervisors May 7.
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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
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Want to shape the future of affordable housing in Crozet?
Take part in a unique opportunity to help
design green, mixed income housing
adjacent to downtown Crozet
Community Design Workshop
Saturday, May 3
4 - 7 pm
Crozet United Methodist Church
fellowship hall
A joint partnership of Piedmont Housing Alliance and Charlottesville Community
Design Center. For more information, please call 984.2232 or email
info@cvilledesign.org.
Crozet gazette
Brothers Boost
WAHS Baseball
By Nick Ward
Spring is upon us, and baseball season has
finally begun. Every afternoon the ping of aluminum hitting leather can be heard coming from
the baseball diamond behind Henley Middle
School, where the varsity team plays and practices.
The Warrior’s season has not started in the
most auspicious way, but the team recently won
its district opener, and remains confident at its
chances at yet another district title. This year’s
squad is very young with only four seniors, but
its youth does not transfer into a lack of experience.
Twin brothers Ryan and Wade Hughes have
seen playing time on Skip Hudgins’ varsity team
since their freshman year at WAHS. Ryan is now
a captain on the team after starting at shortstop
since his freshman campaign. Wade is one of the
team’s top pitchers, and plays beside his brother
at third base when not on the mound. The brothers have been playing baseball since they were
four years old and they have been on the same
teams since their careers began. The duo grew up
playing at Peachtree and at Greenwood, both
local baseball parks. Neither of the boys has
grown tired of their beloved pastime.
“I find it interesting and fun,” said Wade, adding, “it’s really fun when I do well.”
“I like it [baseball] so much because I was
introduced when I was really young. It still doesn’t
seem old,” said Ryan. Another aspect of the game that both twins
agreed on liking is that they are able to play
together. The Hughes , like most brothers, sometimes clash on the field, but it helps them both to
Wade Hughes (left) and Ryan Hughes, throwing the ball.
Photo credit: Jim Freeland
concentrate and to play their best knowing that
their brother is close at hand.
“I glad that Ryan’s out there with me,” said
Wade. “He gives me someone to talk to and
someone to take my anger out on.”
Wade is a fiery competitor and does his best to
bolster his team’s chances for victory. He also
admits that frustration may get the best of him
when things do not go his way, but his brother’s
experience and maturity help him steady his emotions.
“I try my best to help him out when he gets
mad,” said Ryan. “Sometimes it’s annoying having him out there, but it’s cool,” he added with a
smirk. Like his twin, Ryan is also a fierce opponent to
play against, and does everything that he can possibly do to improve his game. During his fresh-
man and sophomore seasons, Ryan has problems
in the field and committed more errors than he
would have liked to. This season has gone differently for the third-year shortstop; he had yet to
make an error.
“I’ve put in a lot of hard work, and it’s finally
paying off.”
Just as Ryan’s fielding has improved, Wade’s
abilities on the mound have grown and turned
him into a formidable starting pitcher. Much of
this improvement can be attributed to the twins’
father, who has been an assistant coach under
Hudgins in the past, and who can now be found
coaching the Little League ranks at Peachtree,
and to their current manager, who has been in
charge of the Western baseball program since
1983.
“I’ve known him [Hudgins] for a long time,”
said Ryan. “It’s a love and hate thing with him.
He’s tough sometimes, but he’s just trying to
make you a better player.” Wade agreed, “You have to take a lot of constructive criticism. It can get old sometimes, but
you have to learn take it all in, and let some of it
go through one ear and right out of the other.”
After beginning their season with a record of
two wins and two losses, the Warriors have evident room for improvement. But as the team
grows stronger, Western will make a push for its
fourth Jefferson District title in the last five years.
WAHS Boys’ Varsity
Tennis (4-0)
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Crozet gazette
Lynn Named Central Va. Player of the Year at Western has come to an end, she
hopes that the success of the field
hockey program at WAHS continues, and that her recognition will
help bring popularity to the sport
that she loves so much. It will be
impossible to fill the tremendously
large shoes that Lynn has left behind,
but by making it obvious that field
hockey can bring so many prospects
for a grand future, she hopes that
more girls will join the WAHS field
hockey team and help it win games. By Nick Ward
After winning a state championship, being named to the AllJefferson District, All-Region, and
All-State teams, being named
Homecoming Queen, and being
honored as Virginia AA Field
Hockey Player of the Year, Jordan
Lynn, a senior at Western Albemarle
was totally weighed down with the
hardware and decorations that she
has earned. Then, recently, Lynn
added another distinction to her
already extraordinary collection: she
was recognized as Central Virginia
Player of the Year by the Daily
Progress. Lynn remains humble, although
she has been one of the most
awarded athletes in this area. “All of
these awards—I’m completely flattered,” said Lynn. “It’s really nice to
be recognized.” This modest state of mind can be
seen while Lynn is on the playing
field as well. She played center-mid
for the Warriors this past season,
which is the most important position for a field hockey team. The
center-mid plays on both the offensive and defensive sides of the field.
She is responsible for getting the
ball up the field and for setting up
the offense. The center-mid position
seems to be comparable to the point
guard position on the basketball
court.
“What’s a point guard?” asked
Lynn.
Lynn may not know what a point
guard is, but she definitely has a pass
first, shoot later mindset. Lynn had
more assists than goals during her
State Player of the Year campaign,
which is common for someone playing her position. “Mid-fielders are not usually high
scorers,” she said. “Plus, I’d rather get
an assist than score a goal anyway.”
Free Counseling
Workshop at
Crozet Library
April 12
Counselor Patricia Kirtley will
offer a free workshop on
Understanding Counseling and
Spiritual Guidance at Crozet
Library Apil 12 from 2 to 3 p.m.
For
information,
call
434-665-6162.
Jordan Lynn
There turns out to be a reason
why Lynn, who is extremely athletic, is not familiar with the game
of basketball: Lynn plays field
hockey year round, which is one
reason she is so dangerous to her
opponents on the field. “Fall, winter, spring, and summer, I am either playing or doing
something field hockey-related,”
said Lynn. “It has affected my life in
so many ways. All of my spare time
I’m playing field hockey, which is
good because it has helped to teach
me teamwork, and it has kept my
grades up. I always seem to have
higher grades when I am playing a
sport.” Lynn’s hard work in the classroom
has paid off. She has committed to
Villanova University to play field
hockey next year. She is very excited
to compete in the college ranks and
to attend such an esteemed university. “It’s awesome, for anyone playing
a sport who wants to eventually
move onto playing in college,
Division I is as good as it gets. It has
been my goal since 8th grade to play
in college, and I guess that I’ve
accomplished that goal,” said Lynn. Now that Lynn’s marvelous career
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Albemarle Ballet Theatre
Ballet, Jazz, & Modern Dance
Take
One
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Class
U.Va. Clinic—continued from page 1
North Garden and Wintergreen.
More than 6,000 square feet,
most of the first floor, of the newest
Clover Lawn building is being configured for medical use. HSF has
taken a 10-year lease on the space,
Taylor said.
“Technically, it’s a satellite office
of the U.Va. Health System and the
Department of Family Medicine to
serve
Crozet
and
western
Albemarle,” he said.
“One of the reasons that we
wanted to get to Crozet is that we
already serve patients from there
and we wanted to be more convenient for them and also because of
the obvious explosion in growth
there.”
Taylor said the office will open
with normal weekday hours but will
consider evening and Saturday times
as the practice gets established.
One class per person
maximum. Current and
previous ABT students
are not eligable.
Rob Garland Photographers
Call
823-8888
Downtown Crozet • 5798 Three Notched Road • 2nd Floor - Rear Entrance
Crozet gazette
Three Cups of Tea—WAHS Almost Hosts Mortenson for VaBook!
by Clover Carroll Taylor
On Thursday morning, March 27, everyone at
WAHS was keyed up with anticipation. Head
custodian Michael Jackson had set up the projector and sound system in the auditorium. Cafeteria
manager Richard McLernan had the huge pot of
hot water simmering for not just three, but multiple cups of tea. Teacher Liza Scallet, also owner
(with husband Cid) of the Batesville Store, had
the sandwiches and salads ready to go for the luncheon where faculty could meet the guest speaker.
National English Honor Society sponsor Beth
White and student officer Hannah Mangum had
convened a book group the day before to discuss
the bestselling Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s
Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin in
advance of the author’s visit to the school as part
of the Virginia Festival of the Book. Books had
been sold for the book signing. Librarian Clover
Taylor had her introduction written, the auditorium seating all planned out, and arrived at school
bright and early with flowers and brownies.
Students Alanna Yuhasz, Emily Simpson, Effie
Nicholaou, and Mackenzie Doss had organized a
Pennies for Peace fund drive, and were poised to
present Mortenson with a $2,000 check at the
whole school assembly at noon.
But fate had other ideas. Suddenly the word
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came crackling over the radio, dashing all these
well-laid plans against the rocks of Chance and
Unpredictability. Shootings on I-64 the previous
midnight had closed all County schools for the
day, and the whole festive event had to be cancelled. Who could have planned for that?
This kind of reversal would seem like nothing,
however, to Greg Mortenson himself, who has
been kidnapped by smugglers in Waziristan and
had two fatwahs issued against him (one by a
Shiite, the other by a Sunni) in the course of
building over 60 schools in the remote Himalayan
regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. It all started
in 1993 when, after a failed attempt to climb K2
(the second highest mountain in the world),
Mortenson was rescued by his porter Mouzafer
and nursed back to health in the tiny village of
Korphe in the Karakoram region of the Himalayas.
One key to regaining his strength—and to almost
every social encounter in this region—was cha, or
milk tea. It is customary in Pakistan to offer every
visitor a cup of tea, so with the first cup you are
regarded as a stranger. The offer of a second cup
elevates you to an honored guest. But when you
share the third cup of tea, you become family.
The allusion to this tradition in the book’s title
reveals the deep friendships he has developed
among these people.
During his recovery period in Korphe,
Mortenson noticed the children holding school
in an open field where they used sticks to scratch
their letters and numbers in the dirt. The teacher
provided by the Pakistani government came only
once a week. To pay the villagers back for saving
his life, Mortenson promised to build them a
school. Consulting with the locals on the cost of
labor and materials, he calculated that he could
build a 4-room schoolhouse for $12,000.
Returning to the States, Mortenson worked as a
nurse and lived in his car—fondly known as La
Bamba—in order to save every penny for his selfappointed mission. Using public library computers, he wrote 500 letters to celebrities asking for
help with his project—but to no avail. The only
one who answered was Tom Brokaw, who sent a
check for $100. Another early source of aid was
his mother, an elementary school principal in
Wisconsin, who invited him to speak. After hearing his story and learning that a penny buys a
pencil in Pakistan, the children decided to bring
in the contents of their piggy banks to help children halfway around the world. They raised $623
in pennies, which is how Pennies for Peace (which
has since raised 8 million pennies) got started.
But Mortenson still wasn’t close to his $12,000,
until he met Jean Hoerni, a Swiss silicon transistor pioneer and avid mountain climber, who not
only funded the first school in Korphe but also
helped Mortenson found the Central Asia
Institute, or CAI, before his death in 1997.
“If you educate a boy, you educate an individual; if you educate a girl, you educate a community,” Mortenson told the standing-room-only
crowd gathered in UVa’s Culbreth Theater that
evening. Mortenson, greeting us in a soft-spoken
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church held its annual Sacrament of Confirmation March 30
with Diocese of Richmond Bishop Emeritus Walter F. Sullivan officiating. The Gospel for
that Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, was the story of doubting Thomas. Western Albemarle
High School students confirmed included (from left) Riley Wilson, Danielle Powell, Julia
Wilson with St. Thomas Youth Minister Mike School behind her, Maggie Borowitz, Bishop
Sullivan, Jacob Houff, Matt Timko and Ellen Wilson.
Incarnation Catholic Church held its Confirmation Mass April 2 with Bishop Francis
X. DiLorenzo officiating. Shown with him are WAHS students Elizabeth Hexter, Ryan
Dettmann, and Benjamin Scheier.
VFW Post 8436 Promotes Hotline
for Military Families
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8436 in Yancey Mills is backing a national
hotline for military families run by VFW National Home, a nonprofit childcare agency in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, that assists the children and families
of those in active-duty military service and veterans. National Home offers a
number of services for military families facing problems and has social workers available. Their Hotline number is 800-851-0238, or they can be emailed
at help@vfwnationalhome.org.
VFW Post 8436 meets the second Monday of every month at their building in Yancey Mills. They number 37, mainly Korean and World War II
vets, and invite vets to join them. You must have a campaign ribbon or
medal to be eligible. Post 8436 is engaged in community service projects
and also makes sure that veterans’ graves at Rock Gate, Hillsboro, Lebanon
Presbyterian and Emmanuel Episcopal cemeteries are marked with American
flags on appropriate holidays. For more information, call Post Quartermaster
James L. Woodson at 456-6822 or President Edgar O. Woodson at
456-6821.
Crozet gazette
Crozet gazette
Green Olive Tree Snippets
Everybody likes Spring, especially Spring in
central Virginia. From the daffodils to the dogwoods, the redbuds to the robins, for all the lovely
sights and sounds and smells and feelings of this
season of rebirth we are deeply thankful.
We at the Green Olive Tree are also appreciative to the volunteers who have made our shop as
spring-like as possible. A whole week in March
was spent bagging up winter clothes and hanging
and displaying spring fashions. And, yes, cleaning!
We have prayed for additional workers to help
in our funny little community shop and our
prayers have been answered.
A community member, Sue Farrell, is the manager of Charlottesville Self-Storage in Crozet.
Inspired by our “Shoe Lady,” Barbara Kellum, she
has most generously volunteered her small personal storage space for our use. Sue personally
picks up our Christmas and other seasonal stuff
and smilingly hoists box after box into her van and
packs them into storage. This is a huge benefit.
Eleanor Kroeger has a picture of the old rented
trailer we had in the side lot complete with over-
flow and untidy donations. This particular eyesore has been gone for over a year now, but the
picture reminds us, “lest we forget,” how we have
grown and how thankful we are.
We are pleased to receive the help of a number
of teens. A special thumbs–up to Megan Adams
and others for giving up free time to help our
manager, June Andrews, on Saturdays.
David Cox recently gave after-hours time to
replace and realign the slipping glass window
panes over the main door. They had been a real
pain. And Doug Gibson recently fixed the door’s
hydraulic regulator.
We pray for our volunteers who are dealing
with health issues. Our man Friday, Jim Crowley,
is recovering nicely from open heart surgery. Jim
is also helpful making computer price labels and
installing batteries in watches and toys. Soon he’ll
be able to return to cashiering on Fridays.
Bag Sale is the week of April 21.
B e r e av e m e nts
Marjorie Virginia Baucom, 61
William A. Coughlin, 84
Betty Brown Hamilton, 85
Kenneth Ray Allen, 85
Bruno M. Conti, 62
Stouder Corbett Thompson, 73
John Franklin Wilson Jr., 84
Paul Bland Tilman Jr., 79
Joyce Coffey Foote, 77
Frances Turner Johnson, 79
Katherine Rebecca Coffey, 65
David Daniel Morris Jr., 81
Irene Garrison Morris, 87
Richard Lee Stalnaker, 50
Caroline Stuart Kelm, 88
Tarnie Givens Tarry, 104
Brownie Lester Morris, 86
Philip Poats, 89
Josie Sullivan Shifflett, 75
Joyce Hughes Ward, 81
Josephine Lackey Gray, 85
Ernest M. Purvis Jr., 76
Marylaure Armand Guyon Underhill, 57
Arlene Shifflett Hensley, 68
Jesse Frank Gunter Jr., 77
Jean Claire Post Gianniny, 81
Mary Porter Jones Haffner, 90
Kendall Hicks Nordick, 59
Joyce Wittenberger Johnson, 73
Mary Cantlay Harrison, 76
Sandra Kay Morris, 43
James Ellis McDaniel, 79
By Sheila Freeman
March 1, 2008
March 1, 2008
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March 5, 2008
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Old Trail Ground Breaking
Old Trail developer Gaylon Beights was joined
by other supporters of the project and nearly a
100 invited guests March 25 for a groundbreaking ceremony for Old Trail Village Center, the
project’s commercial area. “Ten months from
today Old trail residents will be getting their
morning paper at the Old Trail Village Center,”
Beights predicted. He said an announcement
about tenants for the first building will be made
soon. Old Trail now has 135 families living in it,
he said.
Anderson
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Robert S. Anderson &
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Crozet, VA 22932
Crozet gazette
Three Cups of Tea
Now Scheduling
Work for Spring
—continued from page 27
voice with his wide, kind smile, emphasized the power of literacy in promoting
peace. “If you fight terrorism, it’s based in
fear. But if you promote peace, it’s based
in hope.”
Mountaineer friend and CAI supporter
George McCown describes Mortenson as
“gentle giant,” who wins friends and allies
around the globe with his sincerity, humility, and the absence of any ulterior motives
than to teach children to read and write.
The female literacy rate in rural areas of
central Asia is 5 percent. Education brings
these young people hope, so that they
have a reason not to choose violence as a
way of life. He cited examples of young
women who had been members of the
Taliban, but were now working as teachers in his schools because it gave them
hope for the future.
Mortenson points out that educating
women to the 5th grade reduces infant
mortality, lowers the rate of population
growth, and improves the basic quality of
life. And educated women don’t let their
sons go on jihad.
Things worked out okay in the end—
three WAHS students were taken by
school secretary Leslie Brown to hear
Mortenson speak at the Charlottesville
Performing Arts Center on Friday. When
they met him and presented their Pennies
for Peace contribution, he assured them
he would try to come back to WAHS later
this year.
To hear a podcast of Mortenson’s
Culbreth presentation, visit http://cvillewords.com/2008/03/31/book-festivalpodcasts/. To learn more about
Mortenson’s work or to donate to his
cause, visit: www.ikat.org, www.threecupsoftea.com, or www.penniesforpeace.org.
Solution to this month’s puzzle
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Appointments encouraged. No credit cards.
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Crozet Shopping Center
Crozet gazette
ClassiFIed Ads
Yard Sale to benefit the American
Cancer Society April 12 beginning
at 7 a.m. Held at J. Bruce Barnes,
Inc. - 5755 The Square, Crozet. Rain
date April 19. All proceeds go to the
American Cancer Society. Please
come out and support us! Cooperative Preschool in
Crozet has summer/fall openings for
three- and four-year-olds. Certified
teacher/reading specialist instructs
children in a phonic and literacybased curriculum. Reading, math,
science, and art activities are prevalent on a daily basis. Children attend
on Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30
p.m. Parents actively assist with the
program and assist in classroom
approx. one day per month. Please
contact us at crozetschool@yahoo.
com or call 434-823-5039 for additional information on this unique
opportunity.
Tag Sale & Silent Auction.
Furniture, rugs, small appliances,
nursery furniture, home decor and
much more; even a two-week vacation in a secluded, Canadian, waterfront cottage. Something for everyone. Tabor Presbyterian Church, May
10, 9 a.m to 4 p.m.
Full- & Part-Time Cooks
for Mountainside Senior Living in
Crozet. Plan, schedule, prepare and
cook a wide variety of foods for residents,
employees,
and
visitors. Experience in institutional food
handling preferred. EOE. Send
resume to JABA Human Resources,
674 Hillsdale Drive, Suite 9,
Charlottesville, VA 22901 or email
asrivastav@jabacares.org.
Annual Church Yard
Sale Mt. Salem Gospel Church (at
intersection of Rt. 240 and Old
Three Notch’d Road, near the water
treatment plant). Saturday, April 12
beginning at 7 a.m. until whenever.
Lots of clothes, household items,
misc. items and a 1988 Dodge Van. All are invited stop by! Proceeds will
benefit the church building fund.
Rilly Hilly Books and
Eclectic
Etcetera
at
Greenwood Country Store: always
adding new books. In stock now at
Eclectic Etcetera: small buffet, double
bed with curved footboard, beautiful
Southwestern Native American
posters. Come see! 540-456-4681.
Patricia Louise Kirtley, M. Ed
Licensed Professional Counselor • Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Certified Spritual Coach • Insurance Qualified
Children • Adolescents • Adults • Couples
Anxiety • Depression • Trauma • Grief
Cell: (434) 665-6162 • (434) 823-1144 • E-mail: allisone19@gmail.com
On the Square (above Uncle Charlie’s Smokehouse)
1701 D Allied St. (behind Cville Coffee)
Western Park
The new “Western Park”
Albemarle County will build in
Crozet along Lickinghole Creek in
Old Trail subdivision should value
existing natural features, according
to some dozen Crozet citizens who
showed up for the County’s March
25 planning meeting in the cafeteria
of Western Albemarle High School.
County officials organized the session
to collect public sentiment on what
features the new park should include.
The 35.8 acres in the park were
proffered by Beights Development
Co. as part of the Old Trail rezoning
and the concept of a public park in
the vicinity is part of the Crozet
Master Plan. Terms of the proffer,
which included $50,000 for park
design, require the park to be
designed within two years, so work
on that is proceeding even though
the County has not got funding yet
for all the features it will include.
There is $1.8 million earmarked for
the project in the 2010-2011 County
budget. County officials say it will
take years to fully realize any plan.
Meanwhile, Rieley and Associates,
designers of Darden Towe Park near
Pantops and Walnut Creek Park in
Red Hill, have been awarded the
design job.
“We don’t want to be shoving
facilities onto the land. That’s not
the way to go about it,” County
parks and recreation director Pat
Mullaney told the group. “This park
is not just for Old Trail residents. It’s
for the Crozet community.” He challenged participants to think of ways
to make the park unique.
Roxanne Brouse from Rieley and
Associates said their firm’s plan was
to analyze the site and then organize
desired features on it. “You don’t
want to overburden the site or you’ll
wear it out,” she cautioned. Walking
the group through the recently completed design for a 18-acre park in
Rivanna Village, she pointed out
details such as its inflatable movie
screen for summer nights, a dog park
and trails of various widths.
She called Western Park—it has
yet to be officially named—“a wonderful central location, a node on
the Crozet greenway system.” But it
Rieley and Associates
Western Park
Designers Told to
Keep in Natural
The park design steering committee toured the site March 2.
has limiting factors: flood plain and
wetlands that can’t be built on, critical slopes (most rated “severe”) and
some substantial existing trees that
should be saved. There is only one
small ridge in the park area suitable
for building structures on.
Her suggestions for features
included bridges over Lickinghole
Creek, a pond, “learning platforms”
along the creek, paved or stone trails,
an amphitheater, a concession building, bandstand, playground, a serpentine mound, tennis or skateboard
facilities, and statues and fountains.
The new Old Trail swimming pool
will be adjacent to the park. She
noted that when the park design
steering committee walked the site
March 2, the group saw a marsh
hawk perched in one of its trees.
The sparse crowd formed three
small groups, each given maps of the
site, to talk over possibilities. The
ideas they returned with were to
develop the west half of the site and
leave the east half essentially natural,
to build a two-story pavilion (with
restrooms) large enough for community functions, to avoid lighting, to
find a natural contour suitable for an
amphitheater, to have a soccer field
and general athletic field, that parking for the park be coordinated with
parking for the nearby commercial
area, that bridges be built across
Lickinghole Creek and a playground,
tree house, and sand volleyball court
be built. Other ideas included a
climbing rock, a fountain, benches
along the trail, and rock dams in the
creek to create ponded sections and
small waterfalls.
The features attracting the strongest consensus were the pavilion, an
emphasis on preserving natural conditions, no lights, and a design that
respects the fabulous views from the
site. Meg West asked for the boundary to be flagged so that it is easier to
identify, and Barbara Westbrook
asked for action on a name.
The County Supervisors will eventually vote on a name, she was told,
but Crozet citizens are urged to recommend one. Brouse said a design
for the park should be done in six or
seven weeks and ready for the public
to react to. She said she felt the large
pavilion and the preserving naturalness theme had shown they have the
strongest backing and will be likely
elements of the design.

Pistol Class - Crozet Gazette

Transcription

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