Virginia's Small Wineries Get a Distribution ... - Crozet Gazette

INSIDE 

CrozEt SNaCk CorNEr 

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MoNtICEllo WINE Cup 

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WarS opEN HouSE 

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MECHuMS rIvEr 

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StraWbErry SHortCakE 

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lIttlE rED 

rIDINg HooD 

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INforMatIoN 

upgraDE 

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pagopHagIa 

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Cuba DoNatIoN 

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Happy DayS 

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SMall farMEr 

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graCEWorkS 

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SCoutINg NEWS 

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faNtaStICk! 

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WaHS gIrlS SoCCEr 

aND laCroSSE 

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lIbrary NEWS 

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MouNtaINSIDE 

MuSIC fEStIval 

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SCIENCE faIr 

WINNErS 

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bErEavEMENtS 

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the 

MAY 2008 VOL. 2, NO. 12 

Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Haymore, left, joined King Family Vineyards owners 

Ellen and David King and Jesse McDaniel, wine manager for the Crozet Great Valu, April 17 to 

transfer the first wine cases sold through the new Virginia Wine Distribution Company. 

Virginia’s Small Wineries 

Get a Distribution Company 

The Virginia legislature’s creation of 

a state non-profit company to distribute 

wines from the state’s small farm 

vineries turned into a quintessential 

Crozet moment April 17 when King 

Family Vineyards owner David King, 

in the presence of state agriculture officials, 

presented the first three cases sold 

through the new company to Jesse 

McDaniel, the wine manager for 

Crozet Great Valu. 

The Virginia Winery Distribution 

Company solves a problem created by 

a 2005 court ruling that nullified 

Virginia’s self-distribution law for instate 

wineries because it imposed an 

unfair burden on out-of-state wineries. 

Virginia wineries had objected to the 

idea of solving the constitutional problem 

by extending self-distribution 

rights to non-Virginia wineries. But 

the court did create an opening for 

self-distribution by saying, in ruling in 

another case involving the Virginia 

Alcoholic Beverage Control stores, that 

the state could discriminate against 

out-of-state wineries when it was a 

participant in the market, just as any 

retailer can choose which brands it 

prefers to sell. Thus the state chose to 

became a participant. The company is 

associated with the Virginia 

Department of Agriculture and 

Consumer Services. 

The VWDC allows wineries to sell 

up to 3,000 cases a year directly to 

retailers with the company handling 

the paperwork and payments and taxes 

on the sales. For most small wineries, 

wine distributors’ fees on sales of that 

scale make them only marginally profitable. 

The VWDC will charge $5 per 

transaction. The VWDC handled 30 

continued on page 9 

crozetgazette.com 

Crozet Historic 

District Likely 

A report on Crozet’s eligibility for 

an historic district designation has 

been shared with the Virginia Department 

of Historic Resources and its 

preliminary reaction is positive, Albemarle 

County Community Relations 

Director Lee Catlin told the Crozet 

Community Advisory Council 

recently. Once state approval is official, 

the County will have to decide if 

it wants to take the final step to apply 

for the federally-established district. A 

Crozet historic district would mean 

the town could also potentially join 

the National Register of Historic 

Places. 

An historic district is an honorary 

designation that imposes no obligations 

on property owners within 

it, according to architectural historian 

Jennifer Hallock, whose firm, Arcadia 

Preservation LLC, was hired by 


Acme Site Set 

for Clean-Up 

An investigation into environmental 

damage at the former Acme Visible 

Records plant on Three Notch’d Road 

in Crozet revealed only one location, a 

former metal degreasing station inside 

the building, in need of remediation 

and a plan to clean that up is now 

underway. 

The building’s owner, Wilson Jones 

Co., the company that invented the 

three-ring binder, was allowed to join 

the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency’s Resource Conservation and 

Recovery Act Corrective Action program 

and therefore could work with 

the Virginia Department of 

Environmental Quality on a plan to 

return the facility to productive use. 

continued on page 25

page 2 s MAY 2008 

from the Editor to the Editor 

A Cruel Tax Increase 

The Albemarle Supervisors’ decision to raise 

real estate taxes by increasing the rate to 71 cents 

per $100 of assessed value was a cruel and arrogant 

act. The County’s coffers took in a 19 percent 

increase in revenues last year and despite the 

current punishing gas price, and all the inflationary 

effects that causes, the supervisors, rather than 

economizing like everyone else is, came back 

again this year to carve another pound of flesh 

out of citizens. If they think it’s nice to raise taxes 

when the economy is down, imagine what we’re 

in for once we get back to a growing economy. 

At a community meeting with White Hall area 

voters in March, residents told Supervisor Ann 

Mallek clearly that they can’t endure current tax 

burdens on their homes and rural residents in 

particular said that taxes are the single factor that 

lead them to consider selling their properties. 

Thus County tax policies are undermining all the 

Supervisors say they are trying to do to preserve 

rural areas—and many of those measures seem to 

be more about compromising rural property 

rights—by displacing the people most invested in 

preserving open areas. 

Charlottesville Should Annex the “Urban Ring” 

Suburban voters in what the County calls its 

“urban ring” around Charlottesville are now driving 

the County’s agenda and suburban values now 

dominate the interests of rural area residents. It’s 

time for the annexation moratorium to be lifted 

and for Charlottesville to annex the urban ring. 

These County residents are de facto residents of 

Charlottesville and our political boundaries 

should finally recognize it. The County’s line 

should retreat to the City’s real outskirts. Only 

then will rural areas and small towns like Crozet 

be able to get attention for their agendas and their 

values. The revenue-sharing agreement that last 

year passed $7 million in tribute to Charlottesville 

should be voided as part of the City’s enlargement. 

Let rural areas rule themselves and let the 

City actually take responsibility for all the urban 

areas. It might even give them two-party government. 

Meanwhile, the state legislature should pass 

limits on counties’ ability to finance themselves 

largely on real estate values. To make up the difference, 

the state should raise the sales tax by a 

penny or two and return those new revenues to 

the county in which the tax was generated. A 

moral defense of the real estate tax is hard to 

make. The County government is not treating us 

as their citizen masters—“of the people, for 

the people and by the people”—but as their rent 

payers. 

N.B. 

The editor was ambushed by the flu last month 

and apologizes for not keeping his publication 

schedule. 

Greenwood Wants High-speed Internet Access 

The Planning Commission’s denial of the 

Verizon cell tower in Newtown was no loss for 

the community. The cell towers that Verizon 

intends to install seem to be mainly targeted at 

transient cell phone users and travelers on I-64 

with GPS navigation, online shopping, music, 

and e-mail. What the residents of Afton, 

Batesville, Greenwood and Newtown are asking 

Verizon to provide is High Speed Data service 

over our existing phone lines. 

Verizon has indicated that the cost to install 

the necessary electronics in the Greenwood substation 

does not fit their business model, however 

they have indicated that they could upgrade the 

Greenwood substation with the necessary electronics 

to serve Newtown, Afton, Batesville and 

Greenwood with High Speed Internet service 

over the existing telephone lines if we pay them 

$240,000. How many other businesses have the 

luxury of asking a neighborhood to put up funds 

for them to open their door for business? 

Verizon is a national company that recently 

acquired a license that would allow them to target 

Albemarle County with cell tower service. 

Keep in mind that there are already in existence 

an array of other local cellular service providers 

and satellite systems that serve Albemarle County. 

However, because of our location in the shadow 

of the mountains many of us can’t get these cell 

tower-based services and the cost of these services 

is quite high. 

Some of the planning commission members 

seemed to misunderstand exactly who was 

attempting to extend urban service, (Broadband 

Internet) into rural areas. Verizon wants to erect 

30 towers around Albemarle County, not us, … 

we just want Verizon to install a switch in the 

Greenwood substation so we can get reliable 

Broadband Internet service over the telephone 

wires that already come to our homes. 

David Booth 

Greenwood 

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Defending Your Castle 

I couldn’t help but notice the article on the 

Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club within the same 

pages as the tragic shooting spree story. I concur 

with most of the Editor’s statements, however I, 

like many others, question the full action of our 

law enforcement officials. 

Let me state, I was not present and have no 

firsthand evidence of what occurred the morning 

of March 28. Certain evidence has been released 

via our local press and we do know some of what 

took place though. As tragic as the entire rampage 

of the two teens is, we cannot overlook the 

fact that an innocent man was shot in the process. 

His intention was clear. He was attempting 

to protect his family. We know this to be true 

because he has not been charged. I find it comical 

in a bad way how it was reported by the officer 

that morning. It went in part something like this: 

“The officers were confronted by an armed individual 

who was subsequently shot.” Prior to other 

forthcoming information one would have 

thought this man challenged officers during the 

arrest of his son. 

We also know that law officials knew exactly 

who they were after and where to find them. They 

also would know a family lived there, and yet 

they chose to enter by force. This is the area that 

causes many to question. 

Were the officers denied access? Did the officer 

who shot the father identify himself? Was the 

gentleman who was shot unwilling to surrender 

his weapon? Was he given the opportunity? Was 

excessive force used knowing a family was asleep 

in the house? 

Whatever happened to “surround the house 

and demand all occupants to surrender and vacate 

the house”? A stand-off would have been much 

better if it prevented an innocent person from 

being shot. 

I would venture to say that if you broke down 

the door of one out of three homes in the wee 

hours of the morning someone would meet you 

with a gun. What did the officers expect? 

I certainly hope the answers to these and many 

more questions surface as this is investigated. 

Hopefully this won’t get swept under the rug. 

This should concern anyone who under similar 

circumstances would defend their family if someone 

started kicking down the door in the middle 

of the night. 

As Americans we do have the right to protect 

and defend ourselves, and it’s a right that should 

not be taken lightly. Within the law, a person 

should be able to take reasonable and predictable 

steps to protect himself without being shot by 

those who enforce the law. 

Tim Wright 

Afton

Crozet gazette MAY 2008 s page 3 

Crozet Snack Corner Goes Up For Sale 

Dot Hutchinson has put the 

Crozet Snack Corner, her snug, 

home-style All-American restaurant 

on The Square, on the sale block. 

She opened it 36 years ago this 

month, buying it from Pop and 

Ethel Sandridge when they moved 

their restaurant from that location 

to a building at the Rt. 250 bridge 

over Mechums River, where the 

shell of their place still stands forlornly. 

Hutchinson has been working for 

the last six years, standing virtually 

all the time, with a serious back 

problem. Now age 63, she could 

retire, but she prefers to delay that 

until her Social Security draw would 

peg at a bigger number. If doctors 

can convince her to get surgery on 

her back, she will need a long convalescence 

that she would rather not 

undergo with the business’s chores 

still on her hands. She works with 

her daughter Connie Dudley and 

granddaughter Danielle Smith 

behind the counter with her. She 

started out with her husband, who 

died of cancer 22 years ago. 

Hutchinson said she’s had “a couple 

of bites,” since she put the sale 

sign in the front window. She’ll talk 

price with someone if she is convinced 

they are sincerely and earnestly 

interested. 

“I hope I sell quick,” she said. The 

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 

your home or dorm room. Mail subscriptions 

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 

Crozet Snack Corner ladies Danielle Smith, Dot Hutchinson, and Connie Dudley 

Snack Corner has treated her “fair,” 

she said, though she won’t miss the 

“worry and aggravation” of the restaurant 

business. “Anybody in the 

business will tell you it’s a hard one 

to be in,” she said thoughtfully. “It’s 

been a long, long struggle. 

“But I sure am going to miss my 

customers,” she added. “They’ve 

been loyal to me. Some get tears in 

their eyes [over the sale prospect]. 

They want my hamburger. 

Everybody says it’s the best in 

Crozet. Even Willie Snow [a coowner 

of Theresa’s Café] says so.” 

Her secret is “fresh meat every 

King Family Vineyards’ 2006 Petit Verdot won top 

honors at the Monticello Cup Wine Competition March 

25 at Keswick Hall. The competition gathered judges— 

wine shop owners, restaurateurs and sommeliers—from 

around the state who ranked wines on a 100-point scale 

and awarded medals accordingly. 

From the nearly 100 entries, eight gold medals were 

awarded; King Family Vineyards received two. The Petit 

Verdot, a new product for the winery, received a gold 

medal and was awarded the Monticello Cup with the 

highest score of the competition. The 2006 Meritage 

also won a gold medal. The 2007 Crosé and 2005 Brut 

received silver medals. 

“We are just so thrilled to have [winemaker] Matthieu 

Finot as part of our team,” said Ellen King. “He has 

been with us for just over a year now and his wines are 

already receiving numerous awards. We had been watching 

Matthieu as a winemaker since he arrived in Virginia 

in 2003 and when the opportunity to have him at King 

Family full-time came along, we couldn’t pass it up. 

Winning the Monticello Cup is truly exciting for us. The 

wineries in this area are considered among the best in 

the state, so to be named at the top of this group is really 

an honor.” 

day and we know how to cook ‘em,” 

she said. “I’ve got homemade chili 

for my hot dogs. People are begging 

me for that recipe and I’m not giving 

it up.” Raised in Mountfair, she 

taught herself to cook as a child, she 

said, because her mother was often 

sick. 

The Snack Corner is also known 

for its homemade salads and cakes. 

The cole slaw is famous and the 

beer-battered onion rings are popular. 

Hamburgers go for $2.90 and 

cheeseburgers are $3. Breakfast 

starts at 7:30 a.m. and at 11 lunch 

begins. The Snack Corner closes at 

4 p.m. A plastic, gallon-sized mayonnaise 

jar on the counter collects 

tips. A sign at the door reads: 

“10,000 people served—10 at a 

time.” 

“We do it all here and it’s a job,” 

said Hutchinson emphatically. She 

uses about 15 pounds of hamburger 

and 30 pounds of French fries in a 

normal day. 

She has many customers who 

come in daily and some for both 

breakfast and lunch. The “lumberyard 

boys” from J. Bruce Barnes 

Lumber Co. are faithful customers. 

“I feel sorry for these people,” she 

acknowledged. “I hope whoever gets 

it will treat people like I do. I’m 

going to miss my customers. I’m 

going have to come back to visit 

them.” 

On the question of Plan B, 

Hutchinson said. “If I can’t sell it, 

then I’m not leaving. And I’m not 

going without my money in my 

hand. 

“When I opened up, there was 

the Pool Hall [now La Cocina del 

Sol] and Sal’s Pizza. We were it in 

Crozet. Now look around. 

If she can find a buyer, 

Hutchinson said she’d like to take a 

vacation at Myrtle Beach. 

King Family Wins Monticello Wine Cup 

Finot said that “Petit Verdot is a very promising grape 

in Virginia and one I like to work with. It is a grape 

that makes big wine with good color, structure, tannin 

and intensity. The best thing about the Petit Verdot for 

Virginia is that it is great by itself and good for blending 

to bring tannin structure to some of the other red varietals 

we grow here. In the vineyard, the vines produce 

small berries and it is conducive to the weather here. Petit 

Verdot will bring us the big reds we are looking for in 

Virginia.” 

Expect Delays on I-64 

Westbound For Most of May 

The Virginia Department of Transportation will be 

closing the left lane of the westbound bridge over 

Stockton Creek for at least three weeks in May to mill 

and resurface the bridge. Concrete barriers will be 

installed around the work area and motorists driving 

between Charlottesville and Crozet should expect 

delays.


Landfill Amnesty Days 

To discourage illegal dumping, 

there will be no charge to Albemarle 

County or city residents to deliver 

specified large trash items to the Ivy 

Materials Utilization Center (MUC) 

on certain Saturdays in May. 

Remember, it is illegal to transport 

refuse unless your vehicle is loaded 

to prevent material from escaping. 

Normal tipping fees will be charged 

for all non-amnesty items brought 

on these days. Hours of operation 

are from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

May 10: Furniture & Mattresses 

May 17: Appliances 

May 24: Tires (Limit of 25 tires per 

vehicle, no oversized tires accepted). 

Tabor Food Movie: 

Tabor Presbyterian Church will 

offer a free community screening of 

the movie “The Future of Food” 

June 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Church. 

The movie investigates the disturbing 

truth behind the unlabeled, patented, 

genetically engineered foods 

that have quietly filled grocery store 

shelves for the past decade and the 

complex web of market and political 

forces behind the changes. The 

film also explores organic and sustainable 

agriculture alternatives to 

large-scale industrial agriculture. 

A discussion will follow the viewing. 

Free and open to the public, 

including popcorn! Please call Rev. 

Marie Hulme Adam if you need 

childcare, at 434-882-2518. 

Humpback Rocks 

Mountain Farm 

Opens May 24 

Traditional musical events and 

cultural demonstrations offered by 

rangers with the National Park 

Service-Blue Ridge Parkway at the 

Humpback Rocks Mountain Farm, 

a re-created late 19th-century 

farm that explores Appalachian pioneer 

life, will resume May 24. 

Sunday musical events lead off May 

25 with the well-known band from 

Lexington, Breakin Nu Ground, 

from 2 to 4 p.m. Harry Baldwin 

and his draft horses will also be onsite. 

The Farm will begin a Saturday 

series for children on May 3l from 

10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The first 

one will be planting the farm garden. 

The picnic areas and visitors’ center 

are already open. Rangers are 

available every day on the farm and 

in the visitors’ center beginning 

May 24. Call 540-943-4716 

to confirm events. All events are 

free. The farm is at milepost 5.8 on 

the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

WARS Open House 

May 24 to Mark 

30th Anniversary 

Western Albemarle Rescue Squad, 

an all-volunteer rescue squad, will 

celebrate EMS Week and its 30th 

anniversary with an Open House 

May 24 at the WARS headquarters 

at 1265 Crozet Ave from noon to 

4 p.m. 

Take a tour of the building, meet 

volunteers, register for door prizes. 

Refreshments offered, plus coloring 

pages for the children. Call 

823-5103 for more information. 

MAY 10, 1-3 p.m. 

Guitar duo David Bailey & David Ferrall 


31


A letterhead from the Mechums River Mill advertised: “High Grade Family Flour–Whole Wheat Flour–Hog, Chicken and 

Dairy Feeds–Stone Ground Corn Meal.” It was destroyed by a fire in 1951. [Photo courtesy of Bill Clayton.] 

Mechums River, Virginia 

To travelers passing through the community 

of Mechums River, Virginia, things may seem 

relatively calm these days. But like an elderly 

neighbor dozing in a rocking chair, its quiet 

demeanor masks a vital, active past. 

Archaeological digs conducted in the immediate 

area uncovered pre-historic tools and arrowheads. 

Evidences of a more recent Monacan 

Indian village were also uncovered and studied. 

Eighteenth-century planters took full advantage 

of the verdant bottom lands of Mechums 

River and reaped the rich profits of their exports. 

An ancient pathway used by Native-Americans 

was intersected at this place by late-18th and early 

19th-century toll roads built to facilitate the 

transport of commodities from the Shenandoah 

Valley to markets east of the Blue Ridge 

Mountains. 

The Reverend Edgar Woods published his 

History of Albemarle County Virginia in 1901. In 

regards to the naming of the river, he noted that 

it came “from a George Mechum, who was an 

owner of land near its head. The north fork of 

Mechums was called Stockton’s Creek, and its 

south fork, now regarded as the main stream, 

Stockton’s Mill Creek, from a numerous family 

occupying their margins.” 

A three-stories-tall mill was located near the 

confluence of Lickinghole Creek and Mechums 

River at an early date. It was this vital business— 

first called Jarman’s Mill, and later, Walker’s 

Mill—that lent these names to the early settlement. 

The crossroads community was already 

well-established by 1852 when the railroad 

arrived at the eastern precipice above the river. In 

1854 a temporary track laid across Rockfish Gap 

finally connected the railroad east of the Blue 

Ridge with the rails extending westward across 

the Shenandoah Valley. The community was 

renamed Mechums River Depot when mail service 

arrived by train. 

In May, 2000, this writer was privileged to ride 

along with longtime Crozet resident Homer 

Sandridge (1916–2004) as he pointed out places 

of special interest along Brown’s Gap Turnpike. 

“The railroad came to Mechums River before 

it stopped,” Sandridge said as we paused near the 

site of the former train station at Mechums River. 

“They had to wait until Claudius Crozet came 

along and built the tunnels. My earliest remembrance 

of what my daddy did—he was working 

on Mount Fair Farm up there—he along with 

two or three other people who worked on the 

farm were cutting telegraph poles. They were 45 

by Phil James 

Charles H. and Lillian (Sandridge) Coleman’s general store 

at Mechums River was one of three stores that operated 

concurrently there. Theirs was located on the roadfront 

between the depot and the mill. It was moved a short 

distance c.1917 to make way for the “new” road (present Rt. 

240) from Crozet. [Photo courtesy of E.B. and Naomi Hicks.] 

or 50 feet long. Hauled them with a four-horse 

team to Mechums River to put them on a train to 

ship them. At that time, you see, there was a railroad 

station at Crozet, but I think the road was 

better to Mechums River. And this [depot] had 

been here longer so people were used to this being 

the station. From here [Mechums River] to 

Brown’s Gap is called the Brown’s Gap Turnpike. 

That road was built through one of the openings 

from the valley to eastern Virginia early on.” 

Many are familiar with another May date— 

this one in 1862—when Confederate General 

Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson directed his troops 

through Brown’s Gap and down the turnpike to 

Mechums River Depot. As his soldiers encamped 

in the fields around Mechums River, Jackson 

finalized his strategies in the hotel adjacent to the 

depot. While the spring-flowering dogwoods, 

redbuds and serviceberry trees bloomed all along 

the Blue Ridge foothills, Jackson orchestrated a 

series of brilliantly planned shuttle-rides on the 

Virginia Central Railroad through Claudius 

Crozet’s mountain tunnels, cunningly transporting 

his thousands of foot soldiers back into the 

great Valley of Virginia. A series of masterful victories 

ensued, and the tactics, some of which were 

continued on page 6


Mechums River—continued from page 5 

Dillard Sandridge drives his team up to the C&O Railroad siding at Mechums River Depot to off-load a 

wagonload of sand he has dredged from the nearby river. [Photo courtesy of E.B. and Naomi Hicks.] 

Oakridge School was one of the early schools that served children living in the Mechum’s River area. Today it is a private 

residence. [Photo courtesy of Mac Sandridge.] 

An early view looking east toward Mechums River Depot, located at milepost 192 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. 

[Photo courtesy of Ruby Starke Sandridge.] 


formed secretly in the railroad hotel room at 

Mechums River, have been analyzed by military 

strategists ever since. 

By springtime-1865 the fates of war had turned 

decidedly toward the Union side. Following a 

decisive victory over General Jubal Early’s forces 

at Waynesboro, the Union Army, led by Generals 

Philip Sheridan and George Custer, followed the 

rail line east over the mountains, destroying the 

steel rails and burning all of the depots and 

bridges a considerable distance past Charlottesville, 

including, of course, those at Mechums River. 

The carnage of this most un-civil war mercifully 

ended in April 1865, and all began the difficult 

task of rebuilding their ravaged lives. 

Betty Garwood Clayton, in her endearing 

1999 book Friends in High Places and Those Things 

We Hold Dear, shared some of the remembrances 

penned by much-beloved and longtime Mechums 

River resident Margaret Ragsdale. Ragsdale’s recollections 

included many images of a vibrant 

community centered around its railroad depot. A 

water tank at the depot, required to replenish the 

early steam locomotives, was kept full by a nearby 

resident who ran a pump house located where 

Lickinghole Creek emptied into the Mechums. 

A fenced “tie lot” near the depot allowed the 

penning of livestock that awaited shipment on 

the train. It also served as the “parking lot” where 

local train passengers could leave their steeds. 

Next to its gate was a large scale to weigh the 

“trade” of commercial shippers. 

A short distance from the depot, adjacent to 

the west end of the railroad bridge spanning the 

high banks of the river, was a large hotel that 

alternately served as overnight accommodations 

for the traveling public, a boarding house and a 

summer resort. 

Nearby were a public ice house, general store, 

post office, blacksmith shop and private dwellings. 

The first school serving Mechums River was 

on a hill to the west, and farther beyond it was a 

plantation home that served as a “public house” 

to early turnpike travelers. 

Among the earliest businesses in the community 

was the multi-storied water-powered mill 

built c.1790. Other businesses included a bark 

mill that processed the wagonloads of beneficial 

tree bark brought from the mountain forests. The 

bark mill eventually gave way to a cooper’s shop/ 

barrel factory that was lastly converted into a 

short-lived tomato cannery. 

A Presbyterian congregation established a 

meeting house in the Mechums River area during 

the early/mid 1700s. Before they departed in the 

early 1800s, a Baptist congregation began meeting 

nearby. Two different Baptist congregations 

still maintain houses of worship alongside a remnant 

of the old Three Notch’d Road. In an earlier 

day, their baptism ceremonies were often performed 

in the river near the mill. 

Chaos rained down on the Mechums River 

area during the afternoon of September 29th, 

1959, when remnants of Hurricane Gracie 

spawned a tornado that devastated many buildings 

throughout the region. The home and farm 

of John W. Clayton Jr. was especially hard-hit,


In 1959 Hurricane Gracie spawned a deadly tornado that seriously damaged a number of homes, farm buildings and a 

church in the Mechums River area. Eleven people were killed near Ivy. [Photo courtesy of Bill Clayton.] 

and significant damage was wrought on Mountain 

Plain Baptist Church. Tragically, 11 persons were 

killed by the twisting winds just southeast of 

Mechums River near Ivy. Ten of those fatalities 

were members of one family, including adults and 

young children. 

Hundreds of good Samaritans quickly con- 

CROZET ARTS & CRAFTS 

Spring Festival 

Saturday, May 10, 10 - 5:30 

Sunday, May 11, 10 - 5 

Claudius Crozet Park 

Crozet, Virginia 

12 miles west of Charlottesville 

434-823-2211 • www.crozetpark.org 

verged on the Mechums River area and assisted 

with clean-up and rebuilding efforts. Near Lacey 

Spring in Rockingham County, Virginia, across 

the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah 

Valley—50 miles from Mechums River—a waterstained 

bank note was found. It had been carried 

by remnants of the tornado winds that had 

snatched it from a desk in Clayton’s hilltop home 

at Mechums River. It was returned to the Clayton 

family just a few days later by the farmer who 

found it. 

The Mechums River community has experienced 

much life and more than its fair share of 

drama throughout its centuries of existence. Don’t 

let its quiet repose today fool you. 

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 

Local CCC Efforts to 

Be Remembered 

Albemarle County historian Phil James will 

present a program honoring the workers of 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s most successful 

depression-era recovery project, the Civilian 

Conservation Corps, in Albemarle County. 

Photos, artifacts and first-person accounts will be 

shared Sunday, June 8, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the 

White Hall Community Building in White Hall, 

across from Wyant’s Store.


Condon’s Corner: Cooking Made Easy 

An Introduction 

to Cooking 

Faster and Easier 

Marlene A. Condon, a nature 

writer and photographer by profession, 

is also an avid cook, making everything 

from breads to desserts from 

scratch. After testing positive for rheumatoid 

arthritis, she experimented 

with new techniques so that she could 

continue to cook without tiring herself 

out or creating undue strain on her 

painful joints. 

I have been cooking from scratch 

for many years. Along the way I 

began to suffer with excruciatingly 

painful, swollen hand joints that 

made functioning difficult. I tested 

positive for rheumatoid arthritis and 

at that point worried that I might 

not be able to continue to cook as 

avidly as I always had. My illness 

sapped my energy and my hands 

were often quite painful. However, 

being of a scientific mind (my 

degree is in physics), I did not hesitate 

to experiment. 

Although this column will help 

those who are hindered by illness or 

simply aging, it will also help those 

Spring Strawberries 

Late spring is the season for fresh strawberries, 

preferably from your garden or from a local farm. 

The strawberries sold in grocery stores have been 

bred for looks (they are often huge!) and for traveling 

well across the country, and this has been 

achieved at the expense of how good they taste. 

Grocery store strawberries tend to be incredibly 

bland and dry compared to the “real thing”! 

Luckily, these fruits are very easy to grow, so 

you really should try your hand at it if you do not 

now have a little strawberry patch to call your 

own. It’s late now to start strawberry plants but 

you can be planning ahead for next year. 

Find a spot that gets full sun and read up on 

growing these fruits. Dormant (not actively growing) 

plants can be purchased from catalogs and 

growers in very early spring. I’ll give more tips on 

planting them in a future column. Meanwhile, if 

you can buy strawberries from a local grower, I 

who are too busy because of work or 

other obligations to spend much 

time in the kitchen. 

The first step one has to take to 

cook faster and easier is to scrutinize 

the kitchen. Decide which utensils, 

cookware, and foods you use the 

most. Then place these items where 

they are most easily accessible. 

For instance, I use lots of flour 

because, unless my hands are completely 

out of commission, I make 

all of my own bread and rolls from 

scratch. Therefore I rearranged my 

cabinets so that several jars of flour 

are on the first shelf, within arm’s 

length. This saved my joints because 

I did not have to grasp a stepladder, 

and it saved energy because I did 

not have to move a stepladder 

around. 

Besides moving things inside 

your cabinets, you may also have to 

rearrange your countertop. Before 

having to coexist with arthritis, the 

only small appliance that I kept on 

the countertop was a toaster oven 

that was used every day. Eventually 

I realized that items that were used 

often—even though not as frequently 

as every day—should 

remain on the countertop as well. 

The bread machine I received as a 

gift and a stand mixer are always 

out. 

highly recommend that you do so. 

When you are selecting strawberries, look for 

deep-red, plump, moist-looking fruit. They 

should still have their little caps on, and the caps 

should be green—not dry and browning. Make 

sure the fruit is firm and emitting an enticingly 

sweet aroma. Do not buy soft or bruised strawberries 

that are leaking juice as these will very 

quickly turn moldy and start to rot. If buying 

your fruit in containers, the boxes should not be 

© Marlene A. Condon 

You should evaluate your small 

appliances. It might be very worthwhile 

to upgrade what you have or 

even to add to what you own. My 

original mixer was good for making 

small bread or roll recipes, but it was 

not big enough to handle large recipes 

that I formerly made completely 

by hand. Trying to make bread 

dough by hand was now extremely 

painful to accomplish, so I invested 

in a Kitchen Aid Ultra Power stand 

mixer. Although the Kitchen Aid 

was quite expensive, even on sale, it 

was well worth the money. Although 

I have arthritis, the quality of my 

life has not been diminished because 

I can still enjoy the superior quality 

of bread made from scratch—albeit 

with extra help! 

When actually preparing food, it 

is easier and faster to get several 

items from each cabinet at once. 

Look at your recipe. If several items 

are located in one cabinet, get all of 

them down onto your counter 

before moving on to the next cabinet 

for other items. When you have 

placed everything you need out onto 

the counters, then you can move 

them all to the spot where you plan 

to work. 

If you are tired or suffer from foot 

pain, it is easier to prepare food 

while sitting down. If you do not 


Marlene A. Condon 

own a bar-type stool, by all means 

get one. These are inexpensive and 

tall enough to allow you to work at 

the counter. As the years have gone 

by, I have had to contend with pain 

in my feet and hips. Having a seat 

to sit on while chopping vegetables 

or mixing spices literally takes a load 

off your feet! 

Cooking involves lifting as well 

as cleaning. If you own pans or 

other kitchen utensils that are heavy 

and/or difficult to clean, consider 

buying lighter-weight items that 

require less-intensive scrubbing at 

cleanup time. 

My large Cuisinart food processor 

was too difficult to clean and to 

handle with my much weaker hands. 

I donated it to a local charity and 

got a smaller and more easily held 

Black and Decker food processor. I 

also got rid of most of my glass 

bakeware and bought lightweight 

non-stick pans that are much easier 

to clean and to work with. 

This is cooking made easy! 

stained or sticky. 

If you have bought prepackaged fruit, sort 

through it when you get home to remove damaged 

or moldy pieces and then refrigerate the 

good strawberries unwashed and very loosely covered 

with plastic wrap. Use them as quickly as 

possible, perhaps coupled with fresh shortcake 

made easily from the recipe below. Once you 

make your own shortcake biscuits, you may never 

be able to eat those little sponge cakes sold in the 

stores again!


NOTE: This recipe can be doubled 

and made in a large mixing bowl to 

save the time and effort of preparing 

and cooking another batch later. 

After the extra shortcakes have 

cooled completely, wrap them in 

plastic and store in a real freezer for 

up to three months or two weeks in 

a refrigerator freezer for the best 

quality. To reheat frozen shortcakes 

in a microwave oven, you should 

use the full-power setting for 45 seconds 

to a minute (depending upon 

the wattage of your oven) to warm 

up two biscuits. Adjust the duration 

as necessary to heat more than two 

biscuits at a time. 

Tag Sale and Silent Auction 

May 10, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Sofa, pedestal table, nursery furniture, fire wood rack, small appliances, art 

work, espresso machine, 10 speed bike, youth bike, tricycle,games, toys, electric 

organ, home accessories, piano bench, iron pot rack, jewelry, University 

style chairs, butterfly chairs, oriental style rugs, skis, a Canadian vacation in 

a charming waterfront cottage plus much, much more. 

Tabor Presbyterian Church 

Tabor Street, Crozet, VA 

Easy Shortcake Deluxe 

Measure into a medium-sized mixing bowl: 

2 cups all-purpose flour 

3 Tbsp. granulated white sugar 

1 Tbsp. baking powder 

¾ tsp. salt. 

Mix the ingredients together thoroughly with a 

spoonula (a plastic spatula with curved edges that is used 

like a mixing spoon), large mixing spoon, or a fork. 

Using two butter knives or a pastry blender, cut in ½ 

cup shortening until all of the fat has been reduced to 

fine particles 

Measure into a two-cup measuring glass and whisk or 

blend well with a fork: 

½ cup milk and 1 egg. 

ABT Dancers to Perform Little Red 

Riding Hood at PVCC May 17 and 18 

Fifty local dance students at Crozet’s Albemarle Ballet Theatre and the 

Studio for the Performing Arts will perform Little Red Riding Hood, an 

original theatrical and comical ballet created by ABT director Sally Hart at 

Piedmont Virginia Community College’s Dickinson Theatre Saturday, May 

17, at 7 p.m. and May 18 at 2 p.m. New ballet, modern, and jazz works will 

round out the performances. 

Tickets are $7 and are available online at www.aballet.org/tickets or call 

by calling 823-8888. 

sales on its first day of operation and 

offers online service. 

About 70 of the state’s 130 small 

wineries have signed up with the 

company, according to Terri Cofer 

Beirne, an lawyer and lobbyist for 

the Virginia Wineries Association 

who drafted the language that created 

the company. State Senator 

Emmett Hanger of Augusta 

County—his district includes 

Crozet—sponsored the legislation. 

Local wineries that have joined 

include King Family Vineyards, 

Cardinal Point Vineyard and 

Winery, Mountfair Vineyards, 

Pollak Vineyards, and Veritas 

Vineyards and Winery. Others are 

expected to join. 

At the ceremony, Hanger called 

David King “the white knight in 

this process. I just want to thank 

you for your courage and initiative.” 

King is chairman of the new company 

and also the legislative liaison 

for the Virginia Wineries 

Association. 

“More than one person made this 

happen,” King responded. “The 

wine wholesalers were incredibly 

helpful in making it happen.” 

Commissioner of Agriculture 

Todd Haymore noted that “agriculture 

is the largest industry in 

Virginia by far,” producing $36 billion 

worth of products a year, and 

winemaking is one of Virginia’s fastest 

growing segments. “It’s one of 

the most important sectors of 

Virginia agriculture and this is an 

exciting development.” 

Haymore said that other states 

Place oven rack in middle position and start heating 

oven to 425°. 

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredient-mixture 

and pour in milk/egg combination. Mix with a 

spoonula, mixing spoon, or fork until well blended. 

Drop by heaping tablespoons (to make 12 small biscuits 

or 8 larger ones), close together but not touching, 

onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes 

in preheated oven, until lightly browned. Remove to 

cooling rack. 

Using a fork, break warm biscuit apart between top 

and bottom, place pieces on a small plate, and top with 

lots of fresh strawberries. Add whipped cream (or artificial 

whipped topping) or ice cream to complete your 

strawberry shortcake deluxe. Enjoy! 

Wine Distribution—continued from page 1 

have been following the creation of 

the VWDC and he predicted they 

will soon be copying the VWDC 

model. 

Randy Phillips, the owner of 

Cave Ridge Winery in Shenandoah 

County and president of the 

Virginia Wineries Association, 

recalled that his winery opened the 

month that direct sales were ruled 

illegal. That was bad luck. His winery 

produces 2,000 cases a year and 

he expects half of his sales now to 

go through the VWDC. 

North Branch 

School’s 

Band Fair Set 

for May 18 

Andy Waldeck will headline the 

North Branch School’s Sixth Annual 

Band Fair at Cardinal Point Winery 

on Sunday, May 18 from 1 to 5 

p.m. Pinching Cindys and two 

other bands will also perform. There 

will be live music, wine tastings, 

food, opportunities to see the winery 

operation and children’s activities. 

The event is a school fundraiser 

for the school.


Mike Elliott 

The Crozet Gazette’s 

IT Help Desk 

Running Slow? 

Information Upgrade 

by Mike Elliott 

Probably the second most asked 

question I get (keep reading for the 

first) is: “My computer seems to be 

running slow and my neighbor’s 

Internet is faster than mine. Do I 

need a new computer or should I 

upgrade my Internet service?” 

There are a number of factors in 

play here: the computer hardware, 

the software/configuration—all the 

stuff running on the system, and the 

type of Internet connection. We’ll 

look at the first two in this issue and 

look at Internet connection options 

next month. 

If you can’t remember when your 

computer was purchased, it may be 

time to freshen up. Is it running 

Windows 95, 98, or ME? Mac OS 

9? If so, then it’s definitely time to 

recycle it. The computer is likely 

under-powered and probably crawls 

when running the latest software 

applications. 

As computer makers come out 

with faster and faster equipment, 

software developers build increasingly 

complex software, necessitating 

periodic PC upgrades if you 

choose to stay current with the most 

recent software. At work, I probably 

move to a new computer every 18 

months. After four years with a 

home system, it’s probably time to 

think about some upgrades. Some 

folks don’t see the upside in an 

upgrade. The problem with using 

what you’ve got forever is that older 

operating systems and applications 

tend to come up short on the task 

of guarding against the variety of 

threats you’ll stumble across when 

using the Internet, the modern-day 

“Wild West.” 

So what can you do? With the 

cheaper prices of PCs and Macs 

these days, it may be tempting to 

Crozet’s Mike Elliott calls himself a bona fide 

computer geek who causes his family a little grief 

in his quest to stay on top of the latest news in 

computing technology. He’s got some advice to 

pass along and he’s going to do it in plain English 

in a new column: Information Upgrade. 

“My first computer was an IBM PC that I 

bought after my freshman year in college,” said 

Elliott. “That summer, I saved up money earned 

while working in a warehouse driving a forklift. I 

had a cutout picture of the computer I wanted 

hung in the forklift cage I sat in all day—it was 

my motivation.” 

consider dropping your upcoming 

economic stimulus rebate check to 

get that new PC you’ve been eyeing 

at a local retailer. (The number-one 

question I get asked is: “What type 

of computer should I buy?” It’s not 

rocket science but there are a lot of 

variables. More to come.) 

If you’ve decided to start fresh, 

you may consider donating your old 

system to “Computers 4 Kids,” the 

local high-school, or even dropping 

it off at a recycling center. If you’re 

the more adventurous type and 

looking for a tech hobby, then 

there’s a real possibility that you 

could use the same “old” hardware 

reloaded with one of the “free” operating 

systems out there. This is especially 

true if your primary use boils 

down to a few simple applications 

such as browsing websites (including 

Web-based email) and working 

on simple documents and spreadsheets. 

We’ll look at loading Linux 

on an older machine to snap it back 

into shape in a future issue. 

If you’ve just replaced your computer 

in the last year or three, then 

your computer’s capabilities are 

probably fine. Of course, that 

depends a good bit on what you’re 

asking it to do and where it’s been. 

If the bulk of your applications run 

fine, but your Internet sessions are 

sluggish, then you probably would 

benefit from a connection upgrade. 

On the other hand, if your “relatively 

new” computer is universally 

slow to respond and always seems 

busy as if it’s doing something else 

in the background, I’d be on the 

lookout for the ‘M’ word: malware. 

Malware is software designed to 

infiltrate or damage a computer system 

without the owner’s informed 

consent. 

If your system lacks adequate 

malware protection and has been 

used by someone visiting even 

remotely unsavory websites or reading 

through inboxes of junkmail, 


– 


Elliott took his B.S. in Computer Science and 

has spent the last 20-plus years as a programmer, 

database developer, and information systems 

architect in the defense industry as well as in both 

public and private commercial companies. Elliott 

is married with 4 boys and he’s presently the 

Director of Information Technology at the largest 

employer in a nearby rural county. Besides all that 

experience, he’s got a network of industry contacts 

to rely on. 

So, send your questions, tips, and stories to 

mike@informationupgrade.com and look for 

answers in upcoming issues. 

Al Reaser 

Automobile Sales Consultant 

Kiser Auto Sales Stuarts Draft, VA 

I provide a positive purchasing experience with: 

�No haggle pricing 

�A trusted small town dealer 

�Fair trade-in value 

�Respect and attention given to your wants and needs 

Let me find the EXACT late model 

vehicle YOU want. 

Phone: (434) 823-5711 

Cell: (434) 806-2049 

alreaser@gmail.com 

www.kiserautosales.com


Westhall 

(434) 981-5287 

Single Family Homes 

from the high $200’s 

Model Open: 

Fri - Mon 12pm to 6pm 

Thurs 1pm to 7pm 

Directions: I-64 West to Exit 

107. Right onto Route 250 East. 

Left onto Route 240 E at stop 

light (Crozet Ave). Follow Crozet 

Avenue for about 1 mile. Right 

onto Tabor St. Right onto High 

St. High St turns into Park Rd at 

sharp left turn. Westhall on left 

past Claudius Crozet Park. 

The best Crozet has to offer. 

Times Two. 

Westhall 

Payment-FREE for 6 months 

at all 9 Hauser Homes Communities! 

Now thru March 30, 2008.* 

Crozet.HauserHomes.com 

Carriage Park at Old Trail 

Carriage Park at Old Trail 

(434) 981-5287 

Single Family Homes 

from the mid $500’s 

Model Open: 

Fri - Mon 12pm to 6pm 

Thurs 1pm to 7pm 

Directions: I-64 West to Exit 

107. Right onto Route 250 East. 

Old Trail Drive is ½ mile on left 

at stop light. 

* Special offer available on a limited number of select fi rst-lien loan products to well qualifi ed customers for fi nancing the purchase of a new home at a Hauser Homes community in Virginia purchased on or after 02/08/08 and on or before 03/30/08, and allows the builder to pre-pay initial 

principal and interest payments for up to the fi rst six (6) months on behalf of qualifi ed buyers. Buyers remain responsible for all loan payments including property taxes, insurance, and homeowners association fees, if any. This feature cannot be combined with the SmartStep buydown program. 

Underwriting guideline limitations may result in builder’s principal and interest pre-payment amount covering a period of less than 6 months. Loan programs available through Countrywide Home Loans, however, buyer may fi nance via any other qualifi ed lender but will not be eligible for this 

offer. Ask your Countrywide Home Loans representative for further details. Programs, rates and terms are effective as of 02/08/08, are subject to change and may be discontinued at anytime. Prices, fi nancing, plans, specifi cations, time limits, features, square footages and product availability 

and other terms are subject to change without notice. Countrywide Bank, FSB and Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. are Equal Housing Lenders. © 2008 Countrywide Financial Corp. Trade/servicemarks are the property of Countrywide Financial Corporation and/or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. 

For Virginia properties only. Some products may not be available in Virginia. This is not a commitment to lend. Restrictions apply. Countrywide and Hauser Homes are not affi liated; each is independently responsible for its products and services. Countrywide Bank, 1807 Seminole 

Trail, Charlottesville, VA 22901 (o) 434-981-6664.


By Dr. roBert C. reiser 

From the Mail Bag 

Dear Dr. Reiser, 

I know I owe you BIG time for even asking—I 

am just confused. My son Tony turned two in 

February—and I had his 2 year appointment in 

late February. He has been eating toilet paper, 

books, etc—I mentioned this at 2 year—they 

thought it might be PICA—and ordered a blood 

test. 

I had blood drawn mid- March. His iron count 

I THINK was 10.2—they said it was right below 

the average—but not a big worry. 

They had some further test but a fax mishap 

led the results to be lost for about a month. 

I talked to the nurse practitioner today—she 

first asked if my husband or I were Middle 

Eastern. 

Then she told me that Tony’s iron was okay but 

it had dropped from 11 a year ago and that was 

more concerning and they wanted more blood 

work. They also mentioned that he had small red 

blood cells and that is why they wondered about 

whether we were Middle Eastern. 

So a few questions now that I have done some 

Google work—which is TOTALLY FREAKING 

ME OUT!! 

1. Anemia seems to cause small red blood 

cells—might he just have an iron deficiency 

that can be corrected and then his red blood 

cells will or can return to a normal size? 

2. The only Middle Eastern blood disease I can 

find is thalamassia—and that sounds 

HORRIBLE! I am 99.9% sure we don’t 

have any Middle Eastern blood in either of 

our families—can you get this disease without 

this heritage? 

3. She of course told me not to worry, they are 

just checking as this raises a red flag, that this 

is definitely not a cancer problem or leukemia 

problem, but I am not sure then what 

they are looking for—what COULD be the 

problem? 

Thank you for any illumination—I am taking 

Tony in for further blood work later this week— 

fun to get a syringe into 2 year old—but I really 

just want to know what we are looking at. 

Debi 

Dr. Robert C. Reiser 

Dear Debi, 

This is very common and benign. Iron deficiency 

anemia (IDA) is the most common nutritional 

deficiency in the world. The World Health 

Organization estimates that anemia, largely 

caused by iron deficiency, affects two billion people 

worldwide. Two billion! That is 30 percent of 

the world’s population. 

In some developing countries, up to 50 percent 

of preschool children and pregnant mothers have 

anemia that principally is caused by iron deficiency. 

In the United States, however, the prevalence 

of IDA among children has been declining due to 

improved iron supplementation. 

Pica refers to a perverted appetite for substances 

not fit as food, such as clay or paper products. 

Pagophagia, or pica for ice, is considered 

quite specific for the iron-deficiency state. It may 

be present in children who are not yet anemic 

and responds rapidly to treatment with iron, 

often before any increase is noted in their iron 

levels. 

Dietary issues contribute significantly to the 

evolution of IDA in infancy and early childhood. 

The two biggest factors are insufficient iron intake 

and too early introduction of whole cow’s milk 

(less than one year old). 

Children aged one to five years should consume 

no more than 20 to 24 oz of milk per day. 

Milk contains no iron and can cause microscopic 

intestinal bleeding leading to iron loss. They 

should also consume an adequate amount of ironcontaining 

foods to meet daily requirements. A 

careful dietary history is currently the most 

important screening test and is more useful than 

blood tests. In a study of 305 healthy African- 

American inner city children between the ages of 

one and five years a brief dietary history identified 

children at low risk of microcytic (small red 

blood cells) anemia 97 percent of the time. 

Dietary deficiency was defined as one or more of 

the following: 

Less than five servings each of meat, grains, 

vegetables, and fruit per week 

More than 16 oz of milk per day 

Daily intake of fatty snacks, sweets, or more 

than 16 oz of soft drink. 

The most common presentation of IDA is an 

otherwise asymptomatic, well nourished infant or 


child who has a mild to moderate microcytic, 

hypochromic (pale red blood cells) anemia. 

Sounds like Tony. 

For infants presenting with a mild microcytic 

anemia and a presumptive diagnosis of IDA, the 

most cost-effective strategy is a therapeutic trial 

of iron. That’s what I would recommend. In lessdeveloped 

countries, simple measures, such as 

cooking food in iron pots, may be effective. I like 

this strategy: just get out your mother’s big cast 

iron frying pan. 

Your kiddo does not have beta thalassemia. The 

word comes from the Greek word for sea as most 

of these patients come from regions around the 

Mediterranean Sea. 

This is a slightly simplified overview; if you 

need more in-depth decision-making I would 

need the actual lab values. Also a dietary history. 

Tony isn’t a vegan is he? 

Anyway, I understand your concern, but this is 

nothing to worry about. I do hope he keeps up 

his healthy appetite for books, perhaps eventually 

by reading them. 

Dr. Robert 

______________________________________ 

Dr. Reiser, 

Thank you—this is perfect and, yes, Tony 

drinks too much milk (who knew?). And doesn’t 

eat lots of veggies. Believe it or not, you just gave 

me the ability to sleep tonight! Thanks a million 

and a half! 

Debi


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9051 Dick Woods Road 

T his stunning 5 bedroom, 4.5-bath 

home on sits nearly 5 acres in 

Western Albemarle. Beautiful mountain 

and pastoral views. Just 20 minutes to 

Charlottesville, 10 to Waynesboro. 

Finishes include granite kitchen 

counters, custom cherry cabinets, 

magnificent built-ins, hardwood floors, 

and stainless appliances. Other features include high ceilings, lots of 

windows/light, spacious rooms, a 2-car garage and a bonus suite (bedroom & 

full bath) above the garage. The walk-out basement (1478 sq ft) is plumbed 

and ready to be finished! $709,500 

353 Newtown Road 

www.anytimefitness.com 

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375 Four Leaf Lane - Suite 106 

Western Albemarie 

823-7123 

offer expires �� May 31 2008 

T his attractive rancher 

has become better than 

new with total renovation & 

addition of a fourth bedroom 

(master or family room) and 

second full bath. Hardwood 

throughout, custom cherry 

cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, replacement windows, upgraded 

insulation, new heating & cooling system, new vinyl & deck, new plumbing 

fixtures, laundry hook-up on first floor & in full basement. Amazing mountain 

views! Convenient location between Charlottesville and Waynesboro, but with 

outstanding Western Albemarle schools! $299,900 Co-listed with owner/agent 

877-826-7799 

434-823-7799 

The Shoppes of Clover Lawn 

Route 250 in Crozet across from 

Blue Ridge Builders Supply 

www.MountainAreaRealty.com 

English Lessons for 

Spanish Speakers 

Offered at Tabor 

Church 

English language classes for 

Latinos are now in their third month 

at Tabor Presbyterian Church. 

Classes are taught by Mercedes 

Oakley, a native of Mexico and a 

retired teacher who lives in Afton. 

The focus of the class is practical 

written and conversational English 

for adults at the beginning and 

intermediate level. 

Classes, averaging three–to-five 

students, are held Sunday mornings 

at 8 a.m. in the Church social hall 

and on Tuesday evenings students 

practice conversational skills with 

volunteers, who also help with 

homework. 

This session will end in the fall 

and new classes will be offered if 

demand exists. To participate as a 

student or volunteer, call Kathleen 

Anderson at 823-5316, or the 

church at 823-4255. Those who 

Ongoing at the Hamner 

Volunteer: 

We always welcome 

volunteers to work on 

or off stage. 

HAMNER 

THEATER 

www.thehamnertheater.com • 434.361.1999 

RESCHEDULED 

Onstage May 23 - June 1 • Tickets $10 

speak Spanish only should call Angel 

Sanchez at 434-882-0044. Childcare 

is available. 

Crozet Baptist 

Seeks Donations 

for Cuba 

Crozet Baptist Church will send 

a delegation to Havana, Cuba, in 

June. Members will stay at the 

Martin Luther King Jr. Center. 

Members of Ebenezer Baptist 

Church in Havana are instrumental 

in the daily operations of the center. 

Ebenezer Baptist and Crozet Baptist 

have been sister churches for several 

years. Crozet Baptist Church holds 

a license issued by the United States 

government that allows travel to 

Cuba for religious purposes. 

When the delegation goes to 

Cuba they plan to take new twin 

bed sheet sets, towels, bath mats and 

children’s books in Spanish. If you 

would like to contribute any of 

those items, please contact Crozet 

Baptist at 823-5171. 

Ongoing at the Hamner 

Classes: 

Sundays, from 4 - 7pm 

Scene Study with 

Mary Coy 

In the Cabaret 

Saturday, May 10 - Barbara Martin & Mac Walter 

Doors / Food / Bar 6:30pm, Music 7:30pm 

Tickets $15 (includes food) by reservation only 

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.


The Crozet Lions Club put on its 69 th 

annual variety show April 4 and 5 at 

Brownsville Elementary, this year with the 

theme “Happy Days Are Here Again” and the 

stage decorated to look like a 1950s soda shop. 

Former show director Ruth Chiles (she 

wrapped up her 50 years as director last year) was 

back this year as a “sidekick,” joining Carroll 

“Woodenhead” Conley and Mike “Short Circuit” 

Maupin to make a wisecracking trio of MCs. 

Chiles took the nickname “Peaches.” 

This year’s show was directed by Carla Larsen 

and dedicated to current Lions president Bob 

Stramara. Sara Reynolds took over for Chiles at 

the piano. 

Woodenhead said that Short Circuit had met a 

man in Crozet who had a dog with him. “Does 

your dog bite?” Short Circuit asked. “No,” the 

man answered, but when Short Circuit tried to 

pet the dog, he bit his hand. “I though you said 

your dog didn’t bite,” complained Short Circuit. 

“That’s not my dog,” the man answered. 

Peaches told this story: “I ran into a high school 

friend of mine the other day. She looked great. 

No wrinkles and she hadn’t gained any weight. So 

I ran into her again. 

“I’ve been saving all these jokes for 50 years 

and I’m going to use them tonight,” Chiles 

insisted. 

Later she added, “Now that I’ve seen greener 

pastures, I can’t get over the fence.” 

Ballet dancers Haley Niesser and Laura 

Spiekerman performed on Friday and Saturday 

nights respectively. Isis Gourdet played 


Lions Club Variety Show Remembers the 50s 

The Lion’s Club Chorus Laura Spiekerman 

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“Malaguena” on the piano and the kids of the 

Hahn family, with Eric on piano, Alexander on 

violin, and Dylan and Heidi singing, performed 

“Tears In Heaven.” 

Ashley Hanger sang the Loretta Lynn song 

“You Ain’t Woman Enough” to rousing applause 

and also sang “Blue Moon Kentucky.” 

Sara Pollard sang “Blue” and “Big Deal,” a pair 

of songs about getting a little revenge for a busted 

romance. She’s been singing in the show since she 

was 11 and she got another loud round of 

applause. 

Aunt Rut’s Boys—Ray Dollins, Lloyd Dollins, 

Donald Dollins, Mark Garwood and Don 

McElwee—sang “Sixteen Candles” and “ I Love a 

Rainy Night” a capella. It was their 20th year performing. 

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Sara Pollard Diane and Company 

Isis Gourdet 

Bonnie Samuel, accompanied by Nancy 

Fleischman on piano, sang “Who Will Buy” and 

“Nobody Makes a Pass at Me.” 

Charlottesville’s Blue Country Band volunteered 

their sound system for the show and performed 

a long set of Country, Southern Rock and 

Oldies songs that went on through the intermission. 

Diane and Company did two colorful dance 

numbers and the Skyline Country Cloggers also 

danced. 

Pete Vigour and Friends played “Cluck Old 

Hen” and “Little Shortnin’ Bread,” with the 

Skyline Country Cloggers joining in for a little 

tap accompaniment to the last verses. 

John Hilker sang “Sixteen Tons” in his distinctive 

bass voice. “St. Peter don’t you call me because 

I can’t go/I owe my soul to the company store.” 

It’s a hard bind you’re in when death can’t get you 

out. 

The sidekicks, joined by Cole Sandridge pretending 

he was singing tenor, lip-synched the 

Statler Brothers’ “Do You Remember These?” and 

the show wrapped up with acting president Larry 

Claytor leading the Lions in their cheer, Roar, 

Lions Roar. A good time was had by all. The Lions 

donate all proceeds from the show to local charitable 

needs. 

Sidekick Mike “Short Circuit” Maupin, Ruth “Peaches” Chiles and Woodenhead Conley 

The Hahn Family


Barbara Barrell and Tommy 

Mechums 

View Farm 

Emphasizes 

Horses 

By Kathleen Anderson 

Mechums View Farm in Crozet 

has been owned by the Barrell family 

since 1942. When Interstate 64 

was built, part of the farm was lost 

to its construction, but about 350 

acres are still intact. It remains a 

working cattle farm, but is also 

home to about 50 horses that live in 

small herds on various sections of 

the farm. Visitors to the farm arrive 

on the entrance road through the 

“big field,” a 30-acre section where 

horses roam. 

The farm and horses are managed 

by Barbara Barrell, who is that 

increasingly rare breed, a woman 

small farmer. Although Mechums 

View is not an officially certified 

organic farm, its cattle graze in large 

pastures and are raised without antibiotics, 

growth supplements or artificial 

supplements. Similarly, 

Barrell’s horse training methods are 

not officially identified with a particular 

school or trainer, but her 

practices are decidedly in the “natural 

horsemanship” style and she is 

credited with some training “miracles” 

over the years in turning 

around especially difficult horses. 

Beside growing up with horses, 

Barrell’s background includes a long 

stint at Port-a-Ferry Farm in 

Batesville under the guidance of 

Countess Judith Gyurky, whose specialty 

was breeding and training 

Hungarian Thoroughbred horses. In 

1985, Barrell returned to Mechums 

View to help her father and since 

his death in 2002 she has managed 

the farm by herself. She has continued 

to raise and train horses and in 

1992 she began to teach riding. She 

works with each rider to make him 

or her, as she puts it, “become one 

with the horse.” 

Many riders and horses have 

found their niche at the a farm. 

Some like to participate in shows, 

others like cross-country riding or 

honing jumping skills. Some come 

to Barrell to get their riding confidence 

restored. Many enjoy the 

miles of trails on the farm. Mechums 

View also hosts the Miller School 

Equine Studies program. 

Lessons are offered for all ages, 

including adults, and transportation 

to shows and other equine events is 

available. Barrell hopes to finish a 

cross-country course this summer to 

offer field hunter training for local 

foxhunting groups. Summer riding 

camps are also available for young 

riders at the beginning and intermediate 

levels. To learn more, call 

Barrell at 823-5419. 

Mountain Plain 

Baptist Church 

A small, friendly, moderate church invites 

you to share your Sunday with us. 

Sunday School � 10 am 

Traditional Worship Service � 11 am 

Rev. Sam Kellum, Pastor 

4297 Old �ree Notch’d Road 

Travel 2 miles east of the Crozet Library on �ree 

Notch’d Rd. (Rt. 240), turn le� onto Old �ree Notch’d 

Rd., go 0.5 mile to Mountain Plain Baptist Church 

More information at 

www.mountainplain.org or 823.4160 


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Grocery Store 

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


Julie Baker accepts Youth Service Award Grant 

GraceWorks Gets 

Award for After 

School Program 

By Holly Hatcher 

Every year the Charlottesville 

Area Community Foundation 

(CACF) forms the Youth Service 

Award Committee, made up of one 

high school senior from nine local 

high schools. Taylor Fellows, a graduating 

senior from Western 

Albemarle High School, was one of 

this year’s committee members. 

The Youth Service Award was created 

by CACF to encourage youth 

to engage in philanthropy. Over the 

past six months Taylor and her fellow 

students reviewed proposals 

from local nonprofit organizations 

that applied for the Youth Service 

Award—a $10,000 grant from the 

Charlottesville Area Community 

Foundation to support a local nonprofit 

serving area youth. 

On Tuesday April 29, the committee 

members announced that 

GraceWorks was chosen as this 

year’s recipient. GraceWorks was 

founded in 2001 by Julie Baker, a 

part-time English teacher at Western 

Albemarle High School. 

GraceWorks is a hands-on afterschool 

program serving 20 disadvantaged 

children four days a week 

from two Albemarle County elementary 

schools. The children who 

participate in GraceWorks are identified 

by Family Support Workers or 

Guidance Counselors as children 

who would benefit from this program. 

GraceWorks is located on a farm 

in Albemarle County replete with 

vegetable gardens, ponds, trails 

sheep, donkeys and horses. The children 

are provided transportation 

from school to “The Barn” where 

they finish their homework, participate 

in environmental, educational, 

and fine art activities, and eat a 

healthy dinner before returning 

home. Thanks to the dedication of 

Julie Baker and that of the other 

volunteer mentors GraceWorks provides 

an opportunity for local youth 

to blossom. 

IT Desk—continued from page 10 

then there’s a good chance your 

system is being bogged down by 

spyware, adware, or a botnet program, 

the staples of malware. 

Perhaps worse, you could be infected 

with a virus that’s putting in overtime 

spreading itself to other computers. 

The very best thing you can 

do is make sure you keep your computer 

updated with the latest operating 

system patches, drivers, and 

application updates, and be sure 

you’re using a good anti-virus program 

(such as AVG —see www.grisoft.com/ww.home-and-officesecurity). 

Next, make sure to turn 

on any firewall and spyware protection 

included with your operating 

system. The latest updates to 

Windows XP and Vista provide a 

summary view of these tools in the 

“Windows Security Center.” A 

heavily infected computer will most 

likely run like molasses on a cold 

day and should be treated by someone 

very familiar with cleansing 

procedures to help minimize data 

loss and to get your system running 

again (most likely after wiping the 

disk clean and reloading the operat- 

ing system— and again, only after 

recovering and cleaning available 

data files). 

P.S.: If you provide remediation services 

for home users, let me know. 

I’d like to maintain a web-based 

directory of local providers that 

folks in western Albemarle can call 

on for help. If you have recommendations 

on the topic in this issue, or 

suggestions for a future topic to 

cover, please let me know at mike@ 

informationupgrade.com 

FYI, I refer to PCs or computers 

in a generic sense to cover mainstream 

personal computers running 

an operating system such as 

Windows, Linux, Mac OS, etc. For 

Macintosh fans out there, please 

note that although I use a Windowsbased 

PC primarily, in the past I 

have in fact, had a Macintosh computer 

on my desk as a primary system. 

If you’ve had good or bad experiences 

with one type of local Internet 

connection or another, I’d love to 

hear about it.


Girl Scout News 

By Sandy Williams 

The Scouting News Corner is 

happy to have its counterpart, “Girl 

Scouts of America” join us in reporting 

about their Troop’s activities. 

Girl Scouting and Boy 

Scouting both originated in London, 

England. Sir Baden-Powell was 

establishing the rules and goals of 

his quickly growing youth organization 

known as Boy Scouting. In the 

early years of the 1900s, girls’ roles 

in life were limited, their athletic 

ability was rarely encouraged. When 

girls in England saw the learningthrough-fun 

the boys were having, 

they approached Sir Baden-Powell 

for help. With the help of his sister, 

Agnes and wife, Olave, “Girl 

Guides” was created and began to 

thrive immediately. 

In 1911, American Juliette 

Gordon “Daisy” Low was in 

London, searching for direction in 

her life after the death of her husband. 

She met and talked 

with Baden-Powell, and became 

enthused about the “Girl Guides” 

program. When she returned to her 

home in Savannah, Georgia, in 

March of 1912, she held her first 

meeting of 18 girls. Her dedication 

to the “Girl Scouting” program has 

created one of the largest youth programs 

in the United States. Girl 

Scouts has grown to about 3.7 million 

girls. 

In future issues, we will print 

meeting times and leaders’ names. If 

you would like your Troop’s news in 

the paper, call Sandy Williams at 

979-3143 or email her at sandccpack114@hotmail.com. 

Girl Scout Troop 

572 Joins In 

International Fair 

The Crozet Junior Girl Scouts in 

Troop 572 participated in the 

International Fair at the Rockingham 

County Fairground in Harrisonburg 

March 15. The annual Council- 

Crozet 

Scouting News 

wide event invites all Girl Scouts 

from the Virginia Skyline Council 

to spend a day learning about different 

cultures and other countries in 

the World Association of Girl 

Guides and Girl Scouts. This year 

more than 35 countries were represented. 

Each troop selects a country and 

studies all facets of its culture and 

people. Junior Troop 572 selected 

Turkey. The girls spent several meetings 

learning about Turkey and their 

“Girls Guides.” One family in the 

troop has Turkish heritage and has 

visited Turkey. They shared many 

beautiful objects from Turkey as 

well as photos and memories of the 

country. 

At the Fair, the girls displayed 

posters they made and photos and 

items representing Turkey. Each 

troop’s booth offered food and small 

items from their country for five 

cents. All money collected went to 

the Juliette Low World Friendship 

Fund. Troop 572 served Turkish 

Delight, a sweet confection popular 

in Turkey. Troops also made flags 

out of paper for the opening flag 

ceremony. 

Troop 572 has been active for five 

years and many of the girls have 

been with the troop since its beginning. 

Leaders are Kathy Ridings, 

Gail Cornish and Diana Keeton. 

The troop meets twice a month and 

at the end of May will suspend 

meetings until late August. Parents 

with girls who may be interested in 

joining are invited to contact troop 

leaders at the end of summer. 

Brownsville Girl 

Scouts’ “Read 

With Me” Project 

by Margaret Lake 

“Read With Me” is Brownsville 

Troop 957’s community service 

project. On the second Monday of 

each month, these Girl Scouts spend 

an hour at Crozet Library reading to 

children ages 6 months to 36 

months. The girls arrange the space 

to be cozy and inviting for the 

Cub Scouts Meet Snakes 

Katie and a young girl from Crozet enjoy a good book together. 

infants and toddlers, with colorful 

blankets and pillows covering the 

floor. Books geared toward this 

young age are spread about the area 

so the little children can choose 

what will be read to them. 

Troop 957 is made up of fifth 

graders Olivia Battani, Rachel 

Brown, Sarah Lake Honosky, 

Maggie Hyde, Jensen Maynard, 

Amanda Morrison, and Katie 

Skurnik. These Girl Scouts’ love of 

young children is what led them to 

develop this community service 

project. They wanted an ongoing 

project that would enable them to 

build relationships with others in 

their own community. They studied 


Cub Scouts with Pack 492 at V.L. Murray Elementary School got 

acquainted with a 200-pound Burmese python at their meeting April 

29 at Mt. Olivet Presbyterian Church. Cub Scouts A.J. Ayres, Walker 

Smith and Billy Livermon held Penelope, the star of the show Snakes 

Alive. Ron Cromer of High Point, North Carolina, conducted the 

educational program featuring turtles, iguanas and a large collection 

of snakes. 

early childhood development so 

they could provide the best service 

possible. 

As one girl put it, it is great for 

the children to be read to by moms, 

dads, brothers, and sisters, but she 

loves giving the children a chance to 

become familiar with people in their 

community, too. 

The next “Read With Me” will be 

May 12 from 3:30 to 4:30 at the 

Crozet Library.


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Daily Lunch & Dinner Specials 

a GroCEry … 

Eggs, Dairy & Produce from Local Farms 

Salsa & Hummus from Red Hill Farm 

Lee’s Bees Honey from Covesville 

Bread from Goodwin Creek Farm in Afton 

King Family, Cardinal Point & Other Local 

Wines 

anD a GallEry … 

Pottery by Barbara Albert & Nan Rothwell 

Historical Prints by Phil James 

Art Cards by Alan Katz & Natalie Krovetz 

New Artwork from Bruce Caisse, Janet 

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Alexandra Souliotis as Bellomy, Megan Crawford as Luisa, Joe Quesenberry as Matt, and Ali Stoner as Hucklebee. 

A Fantastick Spring Musical 

Captivates WAHS 

By Clover Taylor 

The Western Albemarle High School auditorium 

was aglow with music and romance on the 

evenings of April 18 and 19, as a small group of 

supremely talented students delighted large audiences 

with this year’s spring musical, The 

Fantasticks. The impressive directorial debut by 

Kimberly Eavenson with musical direction by 

Tres Wells was blessed by the return of Daniel 

Hine to provide a lively interpretation of the 

jazzy, dissonant piano accompaniment, embellished 

by the celestial strains of accomplished 

harpist Daraila Evans. The Fantasticks, with book 

and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey 

Schmidt, opened Off Broadway in 1960 and 

played over 17,000 performances before it closed 

in 2002, becoming the world’s longest running 

musical. In trying to understand this non-traditional 

musical, you could think of it as a kind of 

post-modern version of Our Town. Like Thornton 

Wilder’s classic, The Fantasticks deals with first 

love, the pain of growing up, and the unbearable 

sweetness of family and home, but presents its 

nostalgic themes in the witty, abstract, and selfaware 

form that often characterizes modern 

drama and literature. As innocence finds its way 

into corruption and back again, one character 

sums up the theme: “Who understands why 

Spring is born from Winter’s laboring pain?” 

The tone of nostalgia for lost innocence was set 

in the show’s opening number, “Try to Remember 

a Kind of September,” simply and soulfully ren- 

dered by Kenley Hoover as the romantic bandit 

El Gallo along with his troupe, who just happened 

to sing like angels: Sophie Mitchell, Kaitlin 

Myers, Rachel Marshall, Leah Quesenberry, and 

Maggie Sams. Mitchell’s narration was lovely. 

Throughout the performance, Hoover’s handsome, 

expressive acting conveyed the suave amorality 

of El Gallo just right. The audience was 

invited to follow, follow, follow the players back 

to a simpler time when next-door neighbors 

Huckleby, played with panache by Ali Stoner, and 

Bellomy, played by the charming Alexandra 

Souliotis, nurture their children’s mutual attraction 

by forbidding them to see each other and by 

building a wall between their yards. These two 

sparkling mothers, gardening and scheming their 

way through the teens’ adolescence, nearly stole 

the show as they sang and danced in perfect tandem 

such hilarious numbers as “Never Say No” 

and “Plant a Radish, Get a Radish”— a real showstopper. 

The mothers even go so far as to hire El 

Gallo to stage an abduction of Luisa so that Matt 

can appear the hero and save her. 

But the show could not be stolen from the 

effervescent Megan Crawford as Luisa and the 

sincere, gentle Joe Quesenberry as Matt, who 

together expertly captured the innocence and 

wonder that lie at the heart of this show. Megan’s 

mature, crystalline voice blended perfectly with 

Quesenberry’s smooth, warm bass to convey the 

blissful poignancy of young love in “Soon It’s 

Gonna Rain” and “They Were You.” At first the 

young couple oblige their parents by falling in 



Bottom row, left to right: L.P. Desch, Stephanie Adams, Kirsten Abraham, Sarah Nieberg, Noaa Speikermann, Sophie Sjolinder; Middle row: 

Erica Bressler, Kelly Abrams, Kristen Pack, Rachel DeJong, Everleigh Stokes, Claire Johnson, Amanda Wright; Top row: Anna Almy, Cory 

Murphy, Allison Hammonds, Lexy Eckerle, Sarah Chacko, Kelsey Swanson, Grace Carpenter. 

WAHS Varsity Girls Soccer Shows Promise 

By Nick Ward 

Kevin Murphy, Western 

Albemarle High School head girls’ 

varsity soccer coach, may have 

found the fountain of youth that 

Juan Ponce de León was looking for 

in our own Crozet, Virginia. 

Murphy’s team is not out to an 

extraordinary start this season with 

a record of 5-4 (4-1 in the District), 

but the future is bright for his lady 

warriors. Eleven out of 19 of his 

players on the varsity squad are 

underclassmen. With so many 

young players, it is amazing that 

Western has played as well as it has 

against the other more experienced 

varsity teams of central Virginia, but 

the youthful athletes that the team 

possesses have played beyond their 

years. 

The pool of young talent is 

anchored by sophomore keeper, 

Lexy Eckerle. She conquered her 

varsity inexperience by using her 

outstanding athleticism and 

instincts to her advantage. Eckerle 

is willing to venture out far into the 

penalty box to aggressively make 

stops on balls away from the goal. 

She has cat-like reflexes and is comfortable 

leaving her feet to make a 

stop. Eckerle has been the wall 

behind the staunch Warrior defense, 

which is also built of many young 

players. 

A host of underclassmen see a lot 

of time for Murphy at his defender 

spots. Sophomores Erica Bressler 

and Sophie Sjolinder each contribute 

to the team greatly on the defensive 

end of the pitch. Bressler specializes 

in clearing balls once secured 

from the Warrior’s opponents and 

lofting long passes to her teammates. 

Sjolinder is a demon when 

the ball is in the air, winning lots of 

“fifty-fifty” balls using her physical 

style of play. 

Freshmen Claire Johnson, Sarah 

Nieburg, and Kelly Abrams complement 

Bressler and Sjolinder nicely 

with their relentless pressure and 

ever-running motors. Johnson is a 

great athlete who also does not shy 

away from contact. Her defensive 

drive has allowed her to become one 

of the team’s best tacklers. Nieburg 

is also extremely aggressive, and she 

uses her quickness to wreak havoc 

upon opposing forwards. Abrams, 

like Johnson and Nieburg, is a ruthless 

physical defender, but she also 

enjoys success in out-witting her 

foes with creative touch passes and 

through balls. 

The Warrior’s midfield is also 

made primarily of underclassmen, 

with sophomores LP Desch, Sarah 

Chacko, and Everleigh Stokes playing 

the majority of the minutes for 

Murphy. Desch is a very talented 

center mid who has an entire arsenal 

of weapons at her disposal. She 

is an apt dribbler, passer, and 

shooter, and her wide range of abilities 

often creates problems for 

opposing teams’ defenses. Chacko 

and Stokes each possess the foot 

skills and awareness to play mid 

field at a high level. Chacko also 

generates problems for Western’s 

opponents with her astonishing 

speed. 

Senior Stephanie Adams has done 

much of the offensive damage by 

Western so far this season, but sophomore 

Kristen Pack and freshman 

Kelsey Swanson have also found the 

goal. Pack plays outside forward for 

the Warriors, and she is a crossing 

specialist for the team. Swanson 

frustrates defenders with her ability 


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to retain possession of the ball in 

the interior of the defense and to 

find open teammates from seemingly 

troublesome positions. 

All of these players have made 

positive differences in contests this 

season for Murphy’s team and 

because of their youth, their influence 

will be felt in the local soccer 

world for years to come. With only 

one loss in the Jefferson District, the 

Warriors are still in the running for 

the district crown, and because of 

the underclassman talent that 

Murphy has found, the Blue and 

Gold should be in contention for 

the title far into the future as well. 

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WAHS Girls 

Lacrosse Team 

Looks For 

District Title 

By Nick Ward 

After losing the second game of their season, 

the girls varsity lacrosse team at Western 

Albemarle High School may have seemed like it 

was in trouble. The loss came against cross-town 

rival Albemarle High School, and it really hit 

hard. Since that early defeat, coach Nancy Haws’ 

team has yet to walk off of a field without the 

taste of victory. The Warriors possess an overall 

record of 9-1 and are undefeated in the Jefferson 

District. 

The style of play that Haws has installed in her 

team plays a large role in the squad’s success. Her 

husband, Brad Haws is also a very experienced 

lacrosse coach. “[Brad] has influenced my coaching 

style significantly,” said Haws. “He has been 

coaching the boys for over 15 years, and I have 

tried to combine his knowledge with my own.” 

Haws has developed a unique coaching philosophy 

because of her husband’s influence. Her 

team performs very much like a typical boy’s 

lacrosse team would on the field. 

“In the girl’s game, the players usually have a 

more individualized role,” said Haws. “The style 

of play that boys lacrosse teams use is much more 

team-oriented and focuses less on one or two key 

players.” 

The creative coach has seen how deadly a team 

can be when there is no obvious offensive threat, 

and because of this, her Warriors have become 

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Front row, left to right: Kellen Haley, Jordan Haws, Abby Wheeler, Sierra Wangensteen, Jordan Lynn; Second row: Laine 

Myers, Molly Schwoebel, Effie Nicholaou, Cameron Johnson [manager], Erin Jordan, Tori Woolheater, Ally Swanson; third 

row: Stephanie Warren, [coaches] Erica Perkins, Nancy Haws, Jenn Harris and Ginger Miles, Bridgett Lynn; Back row: Caitlin 

Boles, Jeanette Fellows, Caroline Turner, Alison Miller, Colleen Cozart, Mary Schwartz, and Ellen Shaffrey. 

very formidable. She has developed her players’ 

skills to where they can comfortably play more 

than one position as well as effectively accept a 

variety of responsibilities. 

“I have tried to change many aspects of our 

game so that they are more similar to the boys’. 

It has certainly contributed to our success.” 

The team’s new philosophy has made it 

extremely hard for opposing defenses to stop 

Western’s multi-talented attack. 

“Although all of our players have games when 

they contribute more than others, our squad is 

full of contributors and that is what enables us to 

win games,” Haws said. “On defense we try to 

stop the opponent’s best player, but teams cannot 

do that to us because we have so many key players.” 

Even though Haws, with her husband’s and 

her assistant coaches’ help, can take credit for revolutionizing 

the approach to the game that the 

varsity girls use, she cannot take credit for all of 

her team’s accomplishments. 

The team’s two senior captains, Mary Schwartz 

and Tory Woolheater, are fundamental parts of 

the Blue and Gold’s victories through their leadership 

and outstanding play. 

Schwartz is a two-year captain who prefers to 

lead by example rather than with words. She will 

be headed to George Mason University next year 

to play Division One lacrosse. 

“Mary is definitely our team leader. She sets 

the pace and leads by her great play and her quiet 

intensity,” said Haws. 

Woolheater is a marvelous defensive player for 

Western, and she is also a vocal leader. 

“Tory is a great communicator on defense for 

us,” said Haws. 

Western won the district last year and Haws’s 

team is making a valiant run at defending its 

title.


It’s All Happening at 

the Crozet Library! 

By Clover Taylor 

Looking for a good read, and better 

yet, someone to share it with? 

Then boogie on down to the Crozet 

Library, which seems to add a new 

fun and innovative program every 

day. Under the leadership of Branch 

Manager Wendy Saz and Young 

Adult Librarian Meredith Dickens, 

the Crozet Library now hosts both 

adult and young adult book clubs, a 

teen coffee house, a teen writer’s 

workshop, and more! 

The Crozet Library Book Group 

held its first meeting in February 

2005, and is still going strong, meeting 

on the first Monday of each 

month at the library from 7 to 8:30 

p.m., with a break in August. Always 

open to new faces, the book group 

usually draws anywhere from 15 to 

25 people—described by Ms. Saz as 

“all wonderfully friendly, engaging, 

thoughtful, and welcoming.” Group 

member Beth Hodsdon agrees. 

“What I love about it is the wide 

variety of readers who come—young 

and old, people who read for a living—like 

teachers, professors, and 

the like—and people who just love 

to read. With so many different perspectives, 

there are always surprising 

and interesting reactions.” You can 

drop in to the book group for one 

discussion of a book that interests 

you, or attend every month. Group 

members volunteer to facilitate the 

discussions, so no one is burdened 

with too much responsibility. The 

next meetings of the book group are 

May 5 to discuss The Snow Leopard 

by naturalist philosopher Peter 

Matthiessen, and again on June 2 to 

discuss A Thousand Splendid Suns by 

Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite 

Runner). 

The book group chooses the titles 

to be read for the following year via 

a voting process. This past year’s 

selections included titles by 

Hemingway, Woolf, Cather, 

Nabokov, Wharton, and of course 

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird 

as part of JMRL’s Big Read. The 

complete current list may be found 

online at www.jmrl.org/br-crozet. 

htm. The book group is currently in 

the process of gathering nominations 

for next year, so if you have a 

book you’d like to read and discuss 

with new friends, why not nominate 

a title by emailing wsaz@jmrl.org by 

May 21? 

Who says there is nothing for 

young people to do in Crozet? The 

Young Adult Book Lovers club, aka 

YABL or Yabble, is open to teens in 

grades 6–12 and meets the third 

Tuesday of the month from 

6:30–7:30 p.m. The first 7–8 teens 

who register for an upcoming discussion 

receive a free copy of the 

book to keep! How cool is that? On 

May 20 they will be discussing Heir 

Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde, in 

which a teen gets drawn into a total 

immersion virtual reality game so 

far that her life is in danger. For the 

full list log on to www.jmrl.org/prteens.htm. 

And speaking of free, why not 

attend the upcoming Free Comic 

Book Day this Saturday, May 3? 

The library is partnering with Atlas 

Comics to give away free comic 

books to patrons of all ages from 

3–5 p.m. (while supplies last). And 

from 2–3 p.m., teens are invited to 

discuss comics and graphic novels, 

including how to draw your own! 

On Friday, April 25, the library 

held its first Teen Coffee House, 

where teens could read poems, perform 

skits, sing a song, or just hang 

out. Let’s hope another one is in the 

planning stages. 

Pages: A Young Writers’ Group 

for children entering grades 4 – 6 

will meet the first Thursday of every 

month at 3:00 p.m.; that is: June 5, 

July 3, and August 7. Class is 

based on the ideas in the book 

Writing Magic by Gail Carson 

Levine. Registration is required and 

is ongoing. 

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Taking Matters 

Into Your Own 

Hands 

Homeowners who do their 

own maintenance, repair and 

construction work gain more 

than the satisfaction derived 

from working with their hands. 

They save money on labor costs 

and increase the value of their 

homes. Naturally, these ends 

can only be accomplished when 

one has the knowledge to select 

the right tools and materials 

and use them effectively. To 

assist our readers with their 

project planning, in the months 

ahead this column will provide 

a wide range of useful information 

on home improvement. 

This knowledge need not be 

limited to use by those who 

already possess an inclination 

to do for themselves. Those 

who have never picked up a 

hammer may also discover 

ideas that can save them money 

and aggravation. 

Blue Ridge Builders Supply 

and Home Center would like 

to welcome readers to our new 

monthly column on hardware, 

homeowner projects and home 

decorating topics. Founded in 

1987, we are the premiere 

locally owned supplier of building 

materials, millwork, home 

and garden supplies, tools and 

paint in central Virginia. We 

offer services like job-site delivery, 

custom-built stair systems, 

computerized paint mixing, 

and a friendly and knowledgeable 

staff to help you design 

your next project. Visit us 

today at 5221 Rockfish Gap 

Turnpike, Crozet, or call 

4343-823-1387 for information 

or directions. 

Hint: Because water travels, 

the source of a ceiling stain is 

seldom a crack in the roof 

directly above it.


Maupin Named 

Averett University 

Female Athlete of 

the Year. 

Jordan Maupin, a 2006 Western 

Albemarle High School graduate 

and the daughter of Robbie and 

Donna Maupin of Crozet, has been 

named the Female Athlete of the 

Year at Averett University in 

Danville. Maupin played in all the 

University’s 39 volleyball matches 

and 127 total games during the 

2007 season. A versatile outside hitter, 

she made 417 kills, 414 digs, 43 

service aces and 28 blocks. Maupin 

was also named to the USA South 

All-Conference and Sportsmanship 

Teams. The Cougars placed third in 

the USA South Conference with a 

record of 25-14. Averett University 

President Richard Phau presented 

the honor April 22. 

Same friendly, personal service. 

Same gentle, friendly dental care. 

Your comfort is our #1 concern. 

Jim Rice DDS • Jennifer Rice DDS 

Sherman Smock DDS (Specialist in Periodontics) 

Mountainside 

Music Festival 

Set for May 17 

Mountainside Senior Living will 

host its annual Music Festival May 

17 with eight hours of live music 

under a tent on the facility’s lawn. 

The festival will start at noon and 

end at 8 p.m. 

The day includes performances 

by Ashley Hanger, Steve North and 

Sons, the Crozet Crooners, William 

Munsey, Happy Darcus, Deloris 

Mosley, Thurmand Shifflett and the 

Joymakers, Blue Country Band, the 

Skyline Country Cloggers, and 

Stella Roach and Freddie Frazier. 

Advance tickets, available at 

Mountainside, Crozet Hardware 

and Teresa’s Café, are $9 for adults 

and $5 for children under 12. At 

the event, they will be $10 and $6 

respectively. The ticket price includes 

a free lunch with homemade hamburgers, 

baked beans, cole slaw, 

potato chips and sodas. Door prizes 

will be awarded. 

The festival is a fundraiser for residents 

at the assisted living facility. 

Mountainside will hold its animal 

show, which is free to the public, 

the next day from noon to 4 p.m. 

Kids will get a chance to get close to 

farm animals. 

Crossword Puzzle by Mary Mikalson 

ACROSS 

1. A cool, dry place to keep your 

Viognier 

4. 18 Across in France 

6. Substances used to clarify wine 

8. Nelson County winery 

10. Color of a Pinot Noir grape 

12. Some wines might have a “hint” 

of this 

13. This is cheaper than a bottle 

14. Oenological odor 

15. Common wood used to make 

21 Across 

18. A Fine Red Varietal 

19. Even Thomas Jefferson had one 

20. This is often a good one or a 

poor one 

21. This is often made out of 15 Across 

Sedation Denistry • Complete, Modern Denistry for Adults, Teens and Children 

Dental Cleanings, all types • White Fillings • Caps (Crowns), Bridges, Veneers 

Root Canals • Implants • 1 Hour Bleaching 

DOWN 

1. Winery north of Crozet 

2. Color of a Riesling grape 

3. Total Acidity _______ 

5. Kind of wine made by maceration 

7. Winery just down the road from 


9. A Fine White Varietal 

11. Usually found on a wine bottle label 

13. A young one might have a growth 

tube 

16. Sometimes needed to enter 1 Across 

17. Bottle-stopper 

18. Pulp and skins of crushed grapes 

Solution on page 27 

We’ve moved 

the Crozet office! 

Please visit us in our beautiful new 

facility located in Shoppes at Clover 

Lawn (above UVA Credit Union) 

Conveniently located on Route 250 

across from Blue Ridge Builders 

Supply. 

434.823.2290 


325 Four Leaf Lane, Suite 10 

NellYsford 

2905 Rockfish Valley Hwy 

434.361.2442 



Fantasticks—continued from page 19 

love, but soon become bored with 

the normalcy of it all and cynical 

when they discover their parents’ 

plot. They break up so that they can 

go out and experience all that life 

has to offer, a yearning Luisa 

expresses in the haunting “Much 

More;” the disturbing duet “I Can 

See It” sung by tenor Hoover and 

bass Quesenberry was a musical 

highlight. But as Matt and Luisa 

face the pain and disappointment of 

life on their own, they learn the 

value of the true love they left 

behind. Through their story we 

learn that too often, we are not able 

to recognize joy until we’ve become 

thoroughly acquainted with sorrow. 

El Gallo is assisted in his fulfillment 

of the abduction contract by 

the bumbling Shakespearean brigand 

Henry, brilliantly played by 

Caroline Barnes, and his sidekick 

Mortimer, an expert at death scenes, 

played by Michael Bill. As these two 

parodied the whole idea of theater 

and acting, their combined comedic 

talent just about brought down the 

house. Many scenes were enhanced 

by the elegant, graceful dancing of 

Sophia Li, Kelsy Harris, Justine Lisa, 

Leah Quesenberry, and Maggie 

Sams, as well as the clever antics of 

Reece Albrecht and Kim Schatz as 

The Mutes, all of whom helped to 

convey the creative chaos of the 

abduction, the despair Matt encounters 

as he tries to make his way in 

the world, and Luisa’s hollow 

attempts at happiness without him. 

The show was entirely studentproduced, 

from choreographers 

Adam Hamza and the dancers, to 

stage managers Mary Chiarella and 

Tera Morris, to set designer Alisa 

Leavesley, to lighting designer Max 

Clevenson, to costumes to publicity. 

Their efforts combined to produce 

smooth scene changes, invisible 

prop handling, and a sophisticated 

look to the production. An especially 

nice touch were the cast bios 

in the program, honoring the many 

people who shared in the work and 

the credit for creating this fresh and 

energetic production which created 

a deeply moving experience for the 

audience. 

cssatcrozet@embarqmail.com 

OPEN HOUSE 

Beaver Hill Village 

Senior 55+ Community 

Come see how Manufactured Home Living 

can be very affordable. 

A beautiful location near Crozet 

Saturday, May 10 s 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Sunday, May 11 s 12 to 4 p.m. 

Directions: From Charlottesville take 250 West, turn onto 240 at Mechums River. 

Continue one mile to Beaver Hill Lake Dr. Go to 1058. 

From Waynesboro, take 64 East to Exit 107 (Crozet) left onto 250 East; go three miles to 

Mechums River, turn onto 240. Continue one mile to Beaver Hill Lake Dr. Go to 1058. 


WAHS Looks to Raise Funds For Turf Field 

The Albemarle County School Board has accepted a $325,000 gift from 

an anonymous donor for the installation of a turf field at Western Albemarle 

High School, plus similar funds for fields at Albemarle and Monticello High 

Schools. The field will cost $700,000. The County Parks and Recreation 

Department will contribute $73,000 and, all together, Western now has 

$523,000. In order to build the field before fall, another $177,000 needs to 

be raised by June 1, according to WAHS athletic director Steve Heon. 

Donations can be sent to Western Albemarle Community Synthetic Turf 

Project (checks should be made out to “County of Albemarle” with a memo 

note “WAHS Synthetic Turf Project”) 5941 Rockfish Gap Turnpike, Crozet, 

VA 22932. The field is expected to be used by the football, soccer, lacrosse, 

and field hockey teams and by the marching band. 

Anderson 

Funeral 

Services 

Inc. 

Serving Western Albemarle 

Families Since 1967 

Robert S. Anderson & 

John W. Anderson, Jr., 

D I R E C T O R S 

823-5002 

5888 St. George Avenue 

Crozet, VA 22932


BEREAVEMENTS 

Henry S. Powell, 99 January 20, 2008 

Lynn Elizabeth Grosz March 20, 2008 

Mary Cantlay Harrison, 76 March 26, 2008 

Caroline Boxley Petty, 67 March 27, 2008 

Johnny W. Berry, 56 March 29, 2008 

Charlie Garrison, 85 March 29, 2008 

Mary Elizabeth Crooks, 82 March 30, 2008 

Joseph W. Seaman, 73 March 31, 2008 

Peggy Hughes Thomas March 31, 2008 

William Leo Shiflett, 72 April 3, 2008 

Lillian Truslow Baber, 84 April 4, 2008 

William Edward Bishop, 87 April 4, 2008 

Irvin E. Hodges, 75 April 4, 2008 

Frances Harris Hutchinson, 82 April 7, 2008 

Earl Shifflett, 63 April 7, 2008 

Earnest William Hayslett Sr., 57 April 8, 2008 

Margaret Miller Griffin, 83 April 9, 2008 

Page Jennings McGee, 69 April 9, 2008 

James Edwin Travis Sr., 94 April 9, 2008 

David Micheal Dickerson Sr., 64 April 11, 2008 

Alma Virginia Longley, 90 April 11, 2008 

Mary Alice Smith, 103 April 11, 2008 

Remona Anderson Hughes, 43 April 12, 2008 

Shaun Anthony Luck, 29 April 12, 2008 

LaVerne Harris Yonce, 72 April 13, 2008 

Nancy Bragg Baber, 64 April 15, 2008 

Madeline Shifflett Morris, 74 April 15, 2008 

James Gordon Thomas IV, 15 April 15, 2008 

Frances Marrs Wilson, 86 April 16, 2008 

Mary Alice Adams, 84 April 17, 2008 

Della Collier Wood Byram, 81 April 17, 2008 

James A. Dowd April 17, 2008 

Warren Harding Loker, 87 April 17, 2008 

Hensel Bentley Morris, 69 April 18, 2008 

Miloš Milorad Velimirovic, 85 April 18, 2008 

Laura Libby Lane Little, 80 April 20, 2008 

Jill Faulkner Summers, 74 April 21, 2008 

John Dollins, 81 April 22, 2008 

James Vernie Marshall, 86 April 22, 2008 

Steven Douglas Mills, 43 April 23, 2008 

Mildred Humphries Thurston, 92 April 23, 2008 

Dorothy Louis Critzer Jones, 89 April 26, 2008 

Acme—continued from page 1 

Acme Visible Records made filing 

systems and office furniture at 

the plant beginning in 1954. The 

plant was closed down finally in 

2001. 

An investigation of the facility 

that considered where different 

chemicals had been used over the 

years discovered that only the 

degreasing operation, which cleaned 

grease off metal supplies before they 

were used in manufacturing, 

required a clean-up, said Sarah 

Hubble, a spokeswoman for Wilson 

Jones who will be at the May 8 

meeting of the Crozet Community 

Association (7:30 p.m. at the 

Firehouse) to talk about the project. 

In a remediation plan developed 

with DEQ, two technologies will be 

used to remove contamination from 

the affected soil under the floor, she 

said. Soil vapor extraction, which 

Hubble described as “sort of vacuuming,” 

will be followed by the 

introduction of certain microorganisms 

that naturally break down solvents. 

These will recycle through the 

affected soil in a closed loop that 

gradually cleans it. It should take 

three years for the plan to work and 

it will be monitored for two more 

beyond that before the clean-up will 

be considered done. Cost of the 

clean-up is being paid by Wilson 

Jones. 

“It will be easy to manage and it 

will all be inside the building,” 

Hubble said. “DEQ will say what 

the building is fit for after the remediation 

plan is complete.” 

A waste water pond on the property 

was already remediated with 

the same techniques, she added. A 

copy of the plan will be available at 

Crozet Library. 

Wilson Jones does not intend to 

sell the 62-acre site, Hubble said. 

Part of the 76,000-square-foot manufacturing 

building is now used by 

a book publisher as a warehouse and 

the office spaces are currently for 

lease. 

Six Crozet 

Students Win 

Science Fair 

Awards 

Arun Dutta, a freshman at 

Western Albemarle High School, 

has collected a handful of awards 

this spring for his research project 

in cellular and molecular biology. In 

March, at the regional science and 

engineering fair at the University of 

Virginia, his study was named first 

alternate grand award best of show 

among 300 entries, as well as earning 

first place in its category and a 

separate award sponsored by the 

Virginia Dental Association. 

Moving on to the state fair at 

George Mason University on April 

12, Dutta won second place statewide 

in cellular and molecular biology 

and a third prize among biotechnology 

entries. A student of 

WAHS science teacher Wally 

Adesina, he titled his project “An 



Science Fair 

—continued from page 25 

Inhibitor of Cell’s Response to DNA 

Damage.” 

Ten Henley Middle School students, 

all students of Jenny Merrill, 

entered the regional science and 

engineering fair’s junior division. 

Judged separately from the high 

school students, five of them came 

home with prizes. 

David Taylor was a multiple winner, 

earning three awards for “The 

Factors in the Generation of a Static 

Charge”: first place in engineering – 

electrical and mechanical; best project 

in that category sponsored by 

the SSP Middle School Program; 

and best exhibit involving radio, 

communication or electronics from 

the Albemarle Amateur Radio 

Club. 

Other Henley award winners 

were: 

Hazel Galloway, “Feeding 

Behavior of Birds,” second place in 

animal science and the Moxley 

Science Award. 

Shuyang Chen, “How Does 

Adding Vinegar to Baking Soda 

Affect the Amount of Carbon 

Dioxide Created?” honorable mention 

in chemistry. 

Leah Ruth, “The Effect of Color 

of Artificial Light on the Photovoltaic 

Response,” honorable mention in 

energy and transportation. 

Josh Patashnik, “Tooth Trouble: 

The Effect of Common Beverages 

on Decay,” third place in medicine 

and health sciences. 

Tax Prep and Financials 

Appointments: 434-823-1420 - Fax: 434-823-1610 

beverlyk@embarqmail.com 

A Patch of Heaven, LC 

Landscape Design Services 

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for landscape design, 

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434.960.5710 

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CROZET 

BEAUTY SALON 

Mae Hazelwood - Owner 

Open Monday - Saturday 

Appointments encouraged. No credit cards. 

Full line of Paul Mitchell & Biolage Matrix 

434.823.5619 

Crozet Shopping Center


CLASSIFIED ADS 

PIANO LESSONS in Crozet, 

near the Crozet Park. Try it this 

summer! Day and evening times 

available. Ages 6 – adult. Call 

Janet at 825-9494. 

SUmmER TUTORING. 

Elementary grades 3-5. Math and 

reading. Virginia-certified teacher 

with 16 years of experience in 

local schools. One-hour lessons 

based on student’s specific needs. 

Flexible scheduling. Can help 

with transportation if needed. 

Please call Sara Witt at 

960-5298. 

JENNIE’S YARDENING can 

help you all year ‘round! No job 

too small. 10 percent senior discount 

on first job. Call Jennie 

434-531-8272. Email: jukern@ 

firstva.com 

CROzET CO-OP PRESCHOOL 

Limited openings. Unique opportunity 

for the right family available 

either for summer session 

and for next school year. We have 

a few openings in our small co-op 

school for 3-4 year olds. Our current 

student to teacher ratio is 4 

to 1. Certified teacher/reading 

specialist instructs children in 

a phonics and literacy based setting. 

Open play and learning centers 

along with reading, math, 

science and art activities on a 

daily basis. Program is currently 

3 days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 

12:30 p.m. Parents actively assist 

in the program one day a month. 

We are non-profit and costs are 

reasonable. Contact us at 

crozetschool@yahoo.com or call 

823-5039 for more information. 

Solution to this month’s puzzle 

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) 

434-823-4626 

T-Sun 5-10 

Local Wine, Beer 

and Art, 

An American Grill 

peppered with 

International flavors 

Friendly atmosphere 

Art by Meg West

Historic District 

—continued from page 1 

the County to answer the eligibility 

question. But designation 

would make property owners 

eligible for tax credits if they 

renovate qualified buildings in 

the district according to rules 

intended to preserve their historic 

character. Owners of residential 

properties would be eligible 

for a state credit equivalent 

to 25 percent of the total renovation 

cost, and for income-producing 

properties, a 20 percent 

federal credit is also available. 

“It’s a dollar-for-dollar tax 

credit,” Hallock explained. “So 

commercial properties can piggyback 

the credits and get back 

45 percent of their expenses. 

“There are regulations, but 

they are not unbearable. You can 

have additions [to the structure] 

that don’t overwhelm the original 

part,” she said. “It’s really 

helped people. It helps you 

maintain the integrity of the 

house. The credit off-sets the 

cost of doing the right thing for 

the resource.” 

There are no fine-print strings 

attached to being an historic district, 

Hallock said. 

“It’s only honorary. No limitations 

are imposed. Here are no 

review boards. You can demolish 

if you want to. But there are 

incentives. National registry is 

designed to be non-regulatory. 

It’s a documentary tool. All the 

regulations are local ones.” 

Hallock surveyed about 300 

buildings around downtown and 

the proposed boundary includes 

175 structures. Another 50 were 

identified outside the boundary. 

Buildings must be at least 50 

years old to be eligible for tax 

credits. 

The Crozet study was funded 

by a $12,500 grant from the 

VDHR that was matched by 

Albemarle County and the 

Piedmont Environmental 

Council. The sponsors wanted 

to raise public awareness about 

Crozet’s social and economic 

history, coordinate Crozet’s 

downtown development with 

historic preservation goals and 

stimulate private investment to 

renovate older buildings. 

CREEK MTN RD 

BARGAMIN 

LOOP 

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HADEN 

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Crozet Historic Preservation 

Map 3 : Primary Resources 

0 400 

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Albemarle County GDS � December 2007 � Map created by Tyson Chambers. 

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Note: The map elements depicted are graphic representations and are not to be construed or used as a legal description. 

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LOCUST LN 

Structure (Historic Value) 

Potential Historic District 

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CROZET 

AVE 

WAYLAND DR 

MYRTLE ST 

THREE 

NOTCH'D RD 

HILL 

TOP ST

Virginia's Small Wineries Get a Distribution ... - Crozet Gazette

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