Herbal Expertise
A guide to growing your favorite flavorful plants

Herbs have been part of our kitchens and medicine chests since medieval times, when herbal wisdom was abundant in every community and home. Today the appreciation for herbs is rising again.

Herbs are wonderful additions to a landscape—rubbing your hand across rosemary or lavender as you walk by gives a momentary lift to your spirits. Adding herbs to a meal stimulates your digestive system and your appetite preparing you to eat. Herbs also provide a nutritional boost with the vitamins they contain.

Best of all—growing them requires very little effort.

Choosing the Right Spot

The first order of business is deciding where to plant your herbs. They need about five hours of sunlight a day to be their best. If they don’t get enough sun, they get long stalks and few leaves. This makes for an unattractive, unproductive plant.

Also, don’t plant your herbs in a windy environment. Planting near a brick or stone wall can provide both protection and a warm environment for your kitchen herbs. A spot between your driveway and sidewalk could be used for a wonderful raised kitchen garden. Alternatively, you could lay stone paths through the area and let herbs grow over them.

Helping Your Herbs Thrive

The next step to having a successful herb garden is making sure you’re using the right soil. If you don’t know what type of soil you have, you can do a simple test in a mason jar with a twist-on lid. Fill the jar halfway with soil then add water until the jar is full. Shake the jar well. If the water is distributed through the soil or leaves about a third of the water undistributed, it is acceptable. (You can see photos of the Mason Jar Soil Test online.) If needed, you can amend your soil with compost and/or sand to improve the texture.

Basil, chervil, coriander, dill, lovage and sage prefer rich, balanced soils. Sandier soils are preferred by lavender, thyme, tarragon and rosemary. Cultivation information can be found on seed packages, plant tags or from the nurserymen where you are purchasing. It is assumed that most herbs thrive in hot sun with well-draining soil. But some, like lemon balm, parsley and chamomile, need conditions to be a little bit cooler so they don’t wilt in the afternoon sun. The more you know about your plants’ growing conditions and habits, the more successful you’ll be.

Some herbs, such as mint and oregano, spread and get messy over time. You can contain them by planting these herbs in a grid pattern with pavers. Separating them like this also gives you a way to walk through for harvesting.

Herbs like to dry out between watering—none of them want to have wet feet constantly. To be sure it’s time to water again you can stick your index finger in the soil about an inch deep. If it’s dry, water. If it’s damp, wait.

Growing in Pots

One idea for those with limited space is to grow herbs in pots. This will allow you to give your herbs exactly what they need.

When choosing a pot, it is best if it drains into a saucer and is at least 6 inches in diameter. If you want to grow parsley or basil, your pot should be around 20 inches deep because they have long taproots. If your pots don’t have drainage holes, add a layer of stones or clay shards at least two inches deep in the bottom of the pot before planting. If you are buying your herbs from a nursery, make sure you buy, or have on hand, a pot that is twice as big as the pot you purchased them in. Re-pot your herbs quickly in the appropriate soil and give their roots plenty of room. It is better to have your pot too large rather than too small.

You can always combine herbs that require the same conditions in larger pots to simplify. Window boxes are also great choices for growing herbs. Watch for dry soil—potted plants need more water than those planted in the ground.

Herbs in the Off Season

Thyme, rosemary and lavender plants all do fairly well for me overwintering outside. If it’s mild, I sometimes will find mint and oregano still growing near the warm stone wall in my raised bed. What a treat to have fresh mint in hot tea on a cold day!

Other herbs such as parsley and basil will hang on by a thread until spring after I move them inside for the winter. Herbs should be ignored when brought in—give them only the minimum amount of water. For the best chance of survival, move these herbs out to your covered porch when temperatures are mild.

To overwinter your larger pots of herbs, pull them up close to your house and cover with mulch or wrap.

Harvesting and Storing Your Herbs

You can enjoy your herbs even after the growing season by planning ahead. Begin storing your herbs at their peak. And don’t rush. If done incorrectly, your herbs will quickly spoil. Here are a few harvesting tips:

• Their flavor is best when harvested on a dry day after the dew has evaporated and before the sun is hot. Also, keep your herbs from producing flowers, which ruins the taste, by pinching them back.

• Most herbs can be dried by hanging small bunches in a dry room out of the sun. Once they are brittle, you can run your fingers down the stem and store the leaves in a jar with a tight lid.

• Basil, dill and fennel can be frozen on the stalk when they are picked young, small and in perfect shape. Wash them and let them dry. Lay them on a towel on a cookie sheet, flash freeze and store in a freezer container. Fresh dill can be stored in a fridge for two weeks or more in a little water.

• Flowers like borage and calendula can be clipped off the plant leaving no stem and dried on a cookie cooling rack until they feel like tissue paper to the touch. These are also best stored in jars.

Place your herb jars out of direct sunlight to prolong freshness. Your herbs will store well for a year.

All of my favorite herbs are easily started from seeds so don’t be afraid of trying different herbs that can take you on a culinary journey! When you have grown your herbs yourself, you know they are fresh, pesticide-free and have optimal flavor.

My Favorite Performers
Check out a few of the herbs
I love to use in my kitchen.

• Lovage is a striking, perennial herb that tastes like celery. It can grow up to 6 feet tall!

• Rosemary is beautiful and hardy here when planted in a warm spot. It’s a very aromatic herb and it makes a great addition to poultry. It’s a food source for bees when flowering.
You can start new plants easily from cuttings or layering branches.

• Basils can add endless flavors to foods and vinegars because there are so many varieties to grow.

• Dill is beautiful, easy and like most herbs also draws beneficial insects. Keep the blooms “pinched back” to get the most production.

• Parsley adds a nice touch to salads. It will keep in a vase of water by your sink as you use it.

Caring for Cut Flowers
Before bringing those lovely blooms inside, learn the “dos and don’ts” of taking care of your bouquet

Surrounding ourselves with flowers can improve our physical and mental health. Flowers stimulate our dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin levels—the happy chemicals in our brain. They also remind us to slow down and enjoy them before they are gone. Because as we all know, cut flowers don’t last forever. While that’s part of their charm, there are a few things you should do (and not do) to make them last as long as possible.

Do give your flowers a “spa treatment” before arranging. This is commonly called “conditioning.” I use a Chrysalis floral conditioner during this step. Fill a bucket about a third of the way up with water, making sure every stem reaches the water. Put the bucket with flowers in a cool, dark room for about three hours and allow them to rest. This will lengthen vase life by maybe four days. Follow the directions on your flower food exactly.

Don’t use a dirty container. You should never reuse a vase without washing it first. A good rule is to add a few drops of bleach mixed in water to your vases after each use and let them soak before you wash and then put them away. If your glass vase gets “cloudy” over time you can clean it with vinegar, a dishwasher rinse aid, or a toilet bowl cleaner.

Do pay attention to the water temperature. The water in your vase should be tepid—something you would like to have your feet in! And a caution here to those using a water softener: the added salts in your water will sometimes kill the flowers. If your flowers always die quickly, this may be why.

Don’t obsess over floral “foods.” Using these for cut flowers is fine but not necessary. There are all kinds of tricks people use—a penny in the vase, a shot of gin or vodka, an aspirin, or floral food packs. The best food for your plants is simply keeping the water clean.

Do remove all the leaves that will be below the water line in your vase. Not only do they look ugly, they rot, smell and make your vase water look disgusting.

Don’t use dull clippers when cutting your stems. Stems that look “stringy” when cut show it’s time to sharpen your clippers. After this step do not get distracted by your kids, the phone or your dog. Move them into your prepared water quickly so the stems don’t close.

Do have some fun arranging your flowers. There is no right or wrong—place your flowers in the vase in a way that pleases you!

Don’t spray or mist your arranged flowers. This can cause fungal issues.

Do be prepared to troubleshoot problems. If you notice a flower either not opening or wilting, remove it from your vase. Re-cut the stem and place it in hot water from your tap. Leave it in the hot water until the water temperature has cooled. Also, place flowers out of the direct sun and/or away from heat ducts.

Don’t forget to do some maintenance. Every two to three days, re-cut your stems and change the water so your flowers stay hydrated.

Pro Tips on Some of Lynchburg’s Favorite Blooms:

• Hellebores are the first to bloom and we are anxious for flowers. Resist the urge to cut them too soon. Wait until a seed pod is formed in the center of the flower before you cut it.

• Harvest your peonies when they are soft like a marshmallow and not after they’ve blown open.

• Hydrangeas should feel like paper when you cut them. Strip all the leaves off the stem. Condition them up to their necks in water with a flower food. Cover their heads with damp paper towels and leave them to sit in your basement for a couple hours. Use care when arranging them as they drink water out of a vase much faster than you think.

• If those lilies or roses you bought just won’t open, trim the stems by about an inch and stick them in HOT water. Force the issue!

• Soft necked flowers, like a zinnia, that just won’t stand tall can be made to behave by sticking a toothpick deeply through the center of the flower into the stem. Stick it far enough in that the “trick” is invisible to others.

Home Made
When a local actor/artist can’t find the modern décor she craves, she creates it herself
By Jennifer Redmond

This is the declaration of a bona fide creative, Mary Catherine Garrison, who channels her artistic energies into a diverse mix of mediums, colors and shapes. Entering her home just off historic Rivermont Avenue is to step into an artistic statement—each element placed purposefully to continue a theme or elevate the senses.

Though she’s an experienced actor with plenty of Broadway and television credits to her name, Garrison says, “Art has always been my first love.” Today, two years into making a home in Lynchburg along with her husband Marshall and son James, Garrison says she’s “sort of obsessed with interior design; I love it.”

Her eye for design is more than evident; one would be hard-pressed to find a single item that doesn’t contribute to the overall atmosphere. If Garrison didn’t already own the “right item” for a certain spot, she simply made it herself. In fact, only a few minutes into our home tour, I quickly noticed a pattern. Nine times out of 10, when asked, “Oh! Where did you find ‘such and such item’?” Garrison’s response would be: “I made it.” The entryway of their 1922 Stanhope Johnson home prominently features one of her own original oil paintings—the subject a tribute to women and the bonds they share. The living room is flanked by shelves she and Marshall built together; a bench they built that she covered with a woven fabric design; and the chair opposite was reupholstered by Garrison. Like many of her projects, she taught herself how to recover the chair as she went. “Anything you want to learn is on YouTube,” she says. “You just have to start.”

Her own pillows grace the couch, custom linen curtains shade the dining room, and—perhaps the most remarkable for its finished effect—the side hutch in the dining room was also her creative vision. By cutting each geometric shape individually with a jigsaw, adding them in an asymmetrical design to simple Ikea base cabinets, sanding them down for a flush surface and staining them to match, she elevated the piece to a dramatic finished product.

Such creative ability is amazing considering the breadth of her endeavors. From macramé plant hangers and wall décor to oil and acrylic painting and from custom ceramic pieces to furniture upholstery (and even building the furniture itself), Garrison says the only medium she avoids is knitting, simply because she doesn’t like it. (One gets the impression she would soon be a master if she did care for it!) She even creates her own clothes and custom earrings—a collection of handcrafted and thrifted vintage finds that grew so large, she launched an Etsy shop.

Her creative vision has filled their 97-year-old house with a fusion of mid-century, vintage and even “80s’ Italian stuff” such as the solid marble table prominently centered in the home’s spacious dining room.

That table, coincidentally, is the result of an online auction that Garrison didn’t expect to win, but win she did. The result was a silent Marshall when she first told him about the table, explaining, “It’s so beautiful, you’re not going to believe it!” Of course, she also had to share the table’s substantial size and weight, which is close to 2,000 pounds. Three trips to New Jersey and a lot of sweat equity later, they successfully moved the table in. Garrison says Marshall “loves it now!” Plus, they have quite the story to tell about its origin.

Moving from their previous home in the Hudson Valley, where they lived in a modest 900 square feet, Garrison was thrilled to have 2,700 square feet to work with in their new home. Not only can she fit items like their dining table, she has space to expand her style too.

“I love the juxtaposition of new and old,” she says. “And I really wanted all of these details,” Garrison says, noting the wood floors and French doors in their home plus the character of details like wainscoting, decorative trim and transom windows. “I wanted to place that against all of the modern.”

The entry represents that well with a mix of personal art, family heirlooms—the secretary belonged to Marshall’s grandmother— and statement pieces—such as the sculptural side table gifted from local family friends.

“I justify my design by saying the house was built in the Art Deco period, which was super modern,” Garrison says.

She has also incorporated plenty of plants throughout; her preference is for succulents and sculptural plants in the rooms that receive less light because they still thrive and add “visual interest.” But in the rear breakfast nook—a light-filled space—plants of all kinds surround the smaller dining table, bringing nature indoors. She says plants add soul to a room and loves having a variety of them.

Garrison has plenty more home improvement plans up that vintage sleeve of hers—fresh colors for the dining room wall, recovering a chair with leather from Moore & Giles, even making the ceramic tiles to redo the fireplace surround. One thing is for sure, where Garrison is, there will be something wonderful to discover.

Customize It
How to Bring Made-to-Order Fabrics into Your Home
By Jennifer Redmond

As much as we can all appreciate scoring a great sale item or that “too hard to resist” trend of the moment à la “The Big Box Store” down the road, there comes a time when high-quality, custom features have their place in each home. Perhaps you’ve moved into a house that you truly want to settle into and are ready to put your own unique spin on. Maybe you spotted that “one-of-a-kind, fall in love at first sight” pattern and just have to find a way to work it into your décor. Or, like me, perhaps you’ve endured enough bargains that had to be discarded far too soon and are now willing to pay the ticket price for items of quality because they’re built to last.

For all of these reasons, choosing to include some custom fabric in your home can be a wise investment. First, there are plenty of ways to use it,
from a duvet cover to window treatments and from a reupholstered chair to throw pillows.

Local design shop Southern Provisions Company offers customized items that could accommodate any style or color scheme. Clients can select any kind of various fabrics, trims and designs such as French pleats or Roman shades for window treatments.

Rebekah Moody, CEO, says that creamy linen is trending locally, especially for drapes, but it’s also okay to “mix and match patterns and, yes, you want to mix up the scale of pattern,” she says. “Too much of the same thing never looks good.”

In terms of why you would want to pay for custom items, Moody says it will look and fit much better, yielding a high-end finish. So, an investment in custom drapery would be a great choice for a visible window or a room that has more prominence in the home. Store-bought, “standard drapes are too long,” Moody says, plus “the finish is cheap.” If you have a traditional eight-foot ceiling but purchase a 96-inch curtain panel, Moody explains that the result will be a puddle of fabric on the floor.

While linen is all the rage right now, Moody explains that pure linen actually “wrinkles and the folds never come out,” so she recommends a linen blend, which is “about 55% linen [and] 45% poly; it has the look of linen, and the drape of poly.” She says the ideal uses for a linen blend are drapes, bed skirts and pillows.

If you’re considering reupholstering some chairs, Katrina Morris, owner of The Morris Manor, recommends focusing on a side chair if you choose a more delicate fabric so it isn’t worn out too quickly. Moody agrees, saying linen will stretch like “a bad pair of jeans” if used for upholstery—unless it has a backing.

Morris also recommends that you consider functionality. She asks, “Do you have children? Then upgrade and get a nice washable velvet or a performance fabric that’s thicker—there’s no reason to get a thin linen if you have children.” If you like the look of linen (which most do!), consider a performance-based fabric that has the look but will last longer. These kinds of fabric are costly but the quality can be worth the investment.

She also recommends opting for a more timeless color scheme and pattern when choosing pricey fabrics; some can run $30 to $50 per yard. So Morris says her current favorite cheetah print is something “I would get tired of, so it’s not worth the cost for a long term investment. I would go for something more timeless that will last longer” such as a striped fabric.

For throw pillows, an easy and personalized option is a monogramed pillow cover, like the ones offered at Moody’s shop. Or, you can “mix patterns and colors for whatever your favorite look might be,” she says. “The trend is to keep large items neutral and make your ‘pops’ [the] items that are relatively inexpensive,” she explains. Taking this approach means less of a cost investment when you’re ready to switch the look, whether out of preference or to create some variety throughout the seasons of the year.

Make a Statement
Turn Heads with a Ceiling Made to Shine
By Jennifer Redmond | Photography by Tera Janelle Design

Coffered Ceilings

“Adding architectural elements is our favorite way to make that ‘fifth wall’ shine,” says Tera Janelle, owner of Tera Janelle Design. These elements include coffered ceilings, or recessed panels that can be trimmed in a variety of materials to create a grid-like pattern. According to ThisOldHouse.com, one popular style is “bold beams” set in a square or rectangular grid, which then adds “dimension and character to a plain room.”

The depth and size of coffers can affect price and work outlay, and though box beams (hollow wood beams) are larger and more involved to install, they have a more dramatic effect as well.
“To me [box beams] just announce quality, stating ‘this builder took the time and expense to add beautiful detailing’,” Janell Beals writes for Houzz.com. “The millwork adds timeless character and is seen most often in traditionally-styled homes, but [it] does occasionally show up in unexpected places with success.”

Once placed, you can paint the beams and coffers the same color, or, for a more dramatic statement, or especially high ceilings, paint the inside, recessed portions of the grid a darker, more striking hue. One of those “unexpected places” that Beals notes may be using the style in a home with a rustic or farmhouse style.

Katrina Morris, owner of a 100-year-old local farmhouse known as The Morris Manor, says she has been seeing much more bead board in coffered ceilings lately. “It doesn’t have to be wide and overstated,” she says. “It’s more understated…they add a nice element.” Benefits to this look is that it’s less work-intensive, “adds timeless character,” and is less expensive. For a small bedroom, Morris says you would need only 4’x8’ sheets of bead board (these run around $20), which are then trimmed with 1”x4” pieces of wood to create the grid pattern. After install, “painting it white gives it more of a cottage flair,” Morris says. “And, it can actually help the room feel bigger; you can do this on an 8’ ceiling; it doesn’t take up ceiling space and adds great visual interest.”

Colored Ceilings

“Paint and wallpaper are a great, cost-effective way to customize your ceiling,” Janelle says, recommending that you consider darker colors. “Two shades darker than your walls [will make] a cohesive but impactful statement.”

Morris agrees, countering the myth that dark ceilings would make a room feel smaller or closed in. “If you extend the wall color onto the ceiling, you don’t create a visual break,” she explains; this approach actually has an expansive effect. Morris also adds that a room with natural light can handle a darker color—even black or navy! “With great natural light, black makes a room feel cozy but not closed in.”

Janelle adds that using the trim color in a flat finish for the ceiling will “connect your home’s color palette;” in contrast, “traditional ‘ceiling paint’ can sometimes feel cold” and detached.

Wallpaper is also an option with more removable and highly artistic choices hitting the market all of the time from a wide variety of vendors. Price points range widely as does the quality and ease of placement. For a playroom or a kid’s bedroom, a colorful or bold pattern works well to draw attention up and create a fun atmosphere. In a bedroom or larger communal space, a subtle pattern or even textured paper can work quite well to add dimension and character to the room as a whole.

“Look Up!”

In choosing the best place to make your statement, Janelle favors bedrooms. “These are the rooms where we most often lay and stare at the ceilings, making bedrooms especially fun to embrace a ceiling change,” she says.

Powder baths are a great option as well, Morris says, especially for a darker ceiling or the bead board coffers. She’s also seen bead board on ceilings all throughout the main living areas of a home, especially if it has an open layout. Morris has also seen cedar beams used but those should be left unstained or unpainted. “This choice is more for the rustic or farmhouse look,” she explains.

Whatever you choose, remember the words of designer Albert Hadley: “Ceilings must always be considered. They are the most neglected surface in a room.”

Choosing the Perfect Patio Furniture
What to keep in mind before making a big purchase
By Chris Templeton, Owner, CLC Landscaping and Rustic View Home and Garden Center

Your outdoor space can serve as a second family room. Whether you have a porch, patio, or firepit, any outdoor furniture you choose can add comfort and function. You want it to be welcoming and comfortable with beautiful, durable and functional patio furniture of all styles, sizes, colors and materials.

We’ve had our share of cold and rain in Lynchburg this past year, so you are definitely going to want to get outside with family and friends and enjoy the outdoors this spring! The perfect living space can make all the difference, and hey—why not have it look great, too?

Planning

Before selecting your outdoor furniture, you want to be crystal clear about what it is you want. Are you simply looking to add some functional space to your outdoor area? Or do you want to provide a certain aesthetic appeal using your new furniture? Your lifestyle should play a big role in choosing patio furniture, so think about how you live and how you entertain.

Without this level of planning, your outdoor space could soon consist of mismatched pieces that don’t serve any real functional purpose. Done right, however, your yard can offer you the promise of relaxation, entertainment, and fun!

Sizing Issues

Each piece of furniture will occupy space, right? It seems obvious, I know. However, while most homeowners and designers understand this, they don’t always remember to take into consideration how much space they have. For example, a simple patio won’t be able to accommodate an entire backyard’s worth of furniture without looking very cluttered and taking away from its functional use. But a gigantic garden with a couple of benches won’t make use of all the available space you have.

Take detailed measurements of the outdoor spaces you intend to place your new furniture in. This will help with your initial design selections by choosing appropriately sized pieces for each of the areas. It will also help narrow down the available options, since each piece of outdoor furniture will measure differently. It’s good to have a thorough understanding of what’s available to you.

Consider Function

Once you have your plan in place, and you know what size furniture you can accommodate, you need to think about the visual appeal that your furniture can bring to your outdoor space. However, only considering the aesthetics is very short-sighted. Any furniture, especially outdoors, must serve a purpose.

Functionality is best determined by making sure any given piece of outdoor furniture or set will work in your specific outdoor area. Since you’ve already measured the areas, you know what space you need to fill and what’s available. Once you know what furniture may fit where, and what looks good, you want to test for practical function. What do you plan to do there? If you want to be able to eat meals at your outdoor table, make sure it’s stable and sturdy. Or if you plan on hosting parties, make sure your furniture will accommodate enough people!

Don’t forget to sit down and test it out yourself! There’s little point buying several pieces of outdoor furniture that are uncomfortable and unpleasant to use, especially if you plan on sharing your outdoor space with guests.

Consider Materials

The durability of outdoor furniture is often overlooked in favor of aesthetic appeal. Outdoor furniture will be put up against the elements on a regular basis. Make sure you’re getting solid, durable pieces of furniture that can handle our temperamental Lynchburg weather! Weather-resistant cushions should also be a staple purchase when choosing any piece of outdoor furniture.

Quality

Don’t select your outdoor furniture on price alone. While it can be tempting to save money, it will ultimately be costlier if corners are cut in the interest of saving money. Buy the best quality outdoor furniture you can afford. A low-priced set of patio furniture won’t end up saving you money if it falls apart in just a few years. Invest in quality—you will not regret it.

Finally, don’t rush the process of selecting your outdoor furniture. Try to avoid the impulse to buy the first patio set you see sitting out in front of hardware stores when the weather gets nice. Keep these tips in mind and select the right furniture for your outdoor living space. Whether it’s enjoying the sunshine and warm weather outdoors with friends, or gathering by the fire pit, getting the right furniture will make a world of difference!

SAGE ADVICE ON RECIPES THAT WERE MINT TO BE

If you enjoy food but have not yet fully explored the world of fresh herbs, you are in for a treat! Most of them are easy to grow in a patio pot or backyard garden. So, throw out those old jars of bland, dried herbs in your spice cabinet, plant your own, and get ready to infuse your cooking with supercharged flavors! (For easy, herb gardening how-to tips, flip to page 57.)

My favorite way to cook with herbs is to make them the star of the dish—from salmon with lots of freshly cut dill to an ice cold Mojito with bright green mint that you can smell as much as taste! On the next few pages, learn how to create some of my favorite herb-inspired recipes that will wow your family and friends.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter

One flavorful, easy-to-grow herb is sage. Sage is a cousin of mint and has been grown and used since ancient times for medicinal purposes. My hands-down, favorite application is in a Sage Brown Butter, served over Butternut Squash Ravioli. The subtle sweetness of roasted squash and nutmeg spice combined with the rich aroma of sage butter makes for a very understated, yet unforgettable meal.

Make Some Easy Dough

To many, the idea of handmade pasta is too intimidating, but here’s a secret—it’s super easy! All you need is three common ingredients and some elbow grease.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (I like the King Arthur brand)
3 eggs (farm fresh, please!)
1 teaspoon salt (Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt will change your life)

DIRECTIONS

Mix the flour and salt together. On a baking board or (very) clean countertop, make a mound of flour with a hole in the middle—sort of like a volcano. Crack the eggs into the “crater” without letting any spill over the walls. Using a regular fork, start whisking the eggs and gradually incorporate more and more flour until it becomes a thick batter-like consistency. With your (very) clean hands, keep mixing and eventually folding in the dough. Keep folding until the dough is very firm and you have incorporated most, if not all, of the flour. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes or more.

Create My Favorite Filling

The filling for your ravioli can be as simple or as complicated as you like, but the foundation is a butternut squash puree. Here’s how you make it:

Find a nice looking, medium-sized butternut squash at your local grocer or farmer’s market, where they are typically available during late summer or early fall. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Using a regular potato peeler, peel the whole squash. Cut off the top and bottom and then cut into half-inch cubes and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Roast in the middle of your oven for 25-30 minutes, or until soft. Puree in food mill or for a few seconds in a blender or food processor. Set aside 1 cup for the filling (recipe below) and freeze the rest.

Ingredients

1 cup butternut squash puree (see instructions above)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 shallot or small yellow onion
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or half and half
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated)
Salt and pepper to taste
Eggwash: 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS

Over medium heat, melt butter in a saucepan. Chop the shallot very finely and sauté in the butter until translucent. Add the puree, parmesan, cream and nutmeg and cook for a minute. The goal is to have a mixture that is fairly dry so keep stirring over medium heat a couple minutes if necessary. Set aside.

Assemble The Ravioli

Making ravioli is fairly effortless if you own a basic pasta roller ($20 at Home Depot or Amazon), but a regular rolling pin will do just fine. I strongly advise against the over-priced electric varieties or the expensive stand-mixer attachments unless you plan to make pasta daily—or for large crowds.

DIRECTIONS

To make the pasta sheet, take a quarter of the pasta disc that’s resting in your fridge and roll out to a 6×18 rectangle. If you’re using a pasta roller, you should not go thinner than setting #2. If you’re using a rolling pin, roll it as thin as you can. Cut the pasta sheet into 3×6 rectangles and place about a heaping teaspoon of filling on one side of the rectangle. Using a pastry brush, paint eggwash along the edge of the rectangle, fold the side over, and crimp lightly with a fork, creating a sealed 3×3 ravioli “pillow.”

Whip Up The Sauce

Ingredients

1 stick salted butter (make sure it’s good quality, preferably grass-fed)
10-15 sage leaves, julienned or chopped (must be fresh)

DIRECTIONS

Melt the butter in a stainless saucepan or skillet. Add the sage leaves and cook over medium heat just until the butter starts turning golden brown.

Serve And Enjoy

Finish the ravioli right before serving by dropping carefully into boiling water for about two minutes. Serve 4-6 ravioli per plate and spoon over the sage butter. Top it off by sprinkling some chopped sage leaves on top, along with parmesan cheese and a dash of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

Tarragon Potato Salad

Tarragon is a mild yet distinct herb commonly used in
French cooking. I think it tastes like spring! Its flavor works
great in chicken salad, deviled eggs—or, like here,
paired with dill in this creamy potato salad:

Ingredients (serves 6)

2 pounds medium yellow potatoes, such as Yukon Gold
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Scrub potatoes lightly to clean and place in a large saucepan. Add enough clean, cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until tender and still a bit firm. Drain in a colander. Cover with a towel and let potatoes rest for 10 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes and cut into half-inch cubes.

In a mixing bowl, combine all remaining ingredients with potatoes and mix carefully. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and any leftover tarragon. Serve at room temperature.

Mojito with Fresh Mint

In my experience, mint is the easiest of all herbs to grow. In fact, it may be a bit too easy because it spreads quickly and, left unattended, may take over your garden! But if you like to mix your own drinks, that may not be such a bad thing.

The mixed drink Mojito is what the word “refreshing” tastes like—and mint has a lot to do with it. This traditional Cuban beverage is the perfect combination of sour, sweet and fresh… and is easy to make at home. A word of warning: The fresh flavors mask the taste of alcohol very well— so sip slowly!

Ingredients

2 cups of good, clean ice
6 ounces light rum
10-12 leaves of your
home-grown mint
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 tablespoons regular, white sugar
Sparkling water or club soda
A few slices of lime and a sprig of mint for decoration

DIRECTIONS

Pour a half cup of ice into a highball (tall and skinny) glass and set aside. Place the mint leaves and the sugar in your favorite beverage shaker. Using a muddler, crush the mint into the sugar with a twisting motion. Once the mint and sugar reaches a paste-like consistency, add the lime juice, rum, a handful of ice—and shake that shaker! Add a splash of sparkling water to your shaker and strain into a highball (tall and skinny) glass filled 1/3 with ice. Decorate with lime slices and a sprig of mint. Enjoy responsibly!

As the 75th anniversary of D-Day approaches, artifacts shed light on June 6, 1944

John Long ran a bit late to an interview about the D-Day artifacts he curates because he got a last-minute invitation to lunch with a World War II veteran.

Those are invitations you never turn down. While his lunch partner, Bobbie Johnson, served in the Pacific, Johnson knew a lot of the Bedford Boys—the 19 young men who died on D-Day on France’s shore. They represent the highest per-capita loss in the June 6, 1944 landing, which prompted the building of the National D-Day Memorial in this small Virginia town. In 1944, Bedford’s population was about 3,200. Another four soldiers from Bedford died later in the Normandy campaign. Still others were killed or wounded during the war. “Bedford lost so many men,” Johnson said.

A native of Bedford, Johnson was a crew member on B-29s, the top bombers of the day. He flew on reconnaissance missions and helped bring back B-29s as the war wound down. Johnson’s flight helmet and oxygen mask are among the thousands of artifacts that Long has cataloged and stored in the cramped basement of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation’s administration building. Johnson, who turns 93 in April, says it’s important to study history. “Lest we forget, we may have to repeat it,” he said. He has also donated books and other memorabilia to the memorial.

Long, director of education for the memorial, searched through what seems like chaos to find an artifact to share. He readily selected a box with a few possessions of Jimmy Foster, a veteran from Waynesboro, who died shortly after landing on Omaha Beach. His watch stopped at 8:25, and Long surmises that was the time of his death.

Time is now winding down for those who survived. Indeed, all of the surviving Bedford Boys have passed. As the number of living World War II veterans dwindles, the race to preserve individual stories is intensifying. Long feels the pressure every day as he wades through piles of donations to the D-Day Memorial.

“With the World War II generation passing on, we are getting things from kids, grandkids, and even great-grandkids,” he noted. One recent single donation included 200 items that must now be crammed into boxes in a space that is already overflowing.

The long-range goal is a large education facility/museum to display these relics. In the short-term, the D-Day Foundation is opening a Quonset hut this spring to display a few items. It will replace the old Army tents that have been used at the memorial for education programs for local students and visitors.

Long said they cannot accept all donations, but if an item is related to D-Day, they are keen to have it. Other unusual or rare items from World War II are also welcome, but what they want most are items with stories.

The next artifact he pulls out is a Gold Star banner, given to grieving parents to hang in their homes. This banner belonged to the family of Daniel Paul Womack, who grew up on Walnut Street in Lynchburg. Like the Bedford Boys, Womack was a member of the National Guard’s 29th Division, 116th Infantry Regiment, though he was in Company B, while the Bedford Boys were in Company A. Womack, too, was killed in the landing, and his remains were buried in the Normandy American Cemetery. A French family adopted his grave, a common practice in France, and put flowers on it every June 6.

As construction of the memorial was underway, this family contacted Bob Slaughter, the late D-Day veteran from Roanoke who was largely responsible for the creation of the memorial in Bedford. The French family was able to connect with Womack’s family, and they traveled from France for the dedication of the memorial on June 4, 2001, which was presided over by President George W. Bush.

Although the Bedford Boys are the reason the memorial is in Bedford, there are relatively few artifacts from those 19 men. Among the most poignant is a pocket-sized New Testament belonging to John Schenk. The bible, which was a gift from his mother, was found on a beach in France. Schenk’s wife, Ivylynn, later donated the bible, along with the last letter she wrote—but never mailed—to her husband. The morning after she wrote it, the dreaded telegram arrived.

That telegram was delivered too many times throughout the nation after D-Day, but the losses in Bedford were disproportionately staggering. The Hoback family lost not one, but two sons, on June 6, 1944. Slaughter was determined that the nation understand the extreme sacrifice from this one community. Before he died in 2012, he also contributed one of the rarest items in the collection.

His “Order of the Day,” the official document from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, outlined the D-Day landing to the troops going in. “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months,” the order begins. “The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.”

Slaughter had 75 of his fellow soldiers sign his Order of the Day, which was folded and taped from much handling. Of those 75, 11 died within an hour of landing and another 11 died after D-Day. “This was his most cherished memento of the war,” Long said. It is currently being restored in Richmond.

Long pulls out another box, this one containing a medic’s armband that belonged to Robert Ware, a Lynchburg physician who died on a beach before he could help anyone.

Artifacts have been donated from around the nation. One display box features two sea bags decorated by Jack Edward Rowe of Rhode Island. Rowe was a member of the Coast Guard who decorated the bag that he stored his portable typewriter and diary in. His last entry was 12:50 a.m. on June 6, 1944.

The archives also include commemorative items, such as the 1960s-vintage D-Day board game requiring players to figure out how to take the Normandy beaches. Each big anniversary, in 1984, 1994, and 2004, also created new mementos. One of the more unusual ones in the archive is a bottle of Calvados, a French apple brandy. The bottle was given to Earl Draper, a paratrooper from Texas who was among the 70-somethings who parachuted into France a second time in 1994 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Draper was injured in that jump and had to be hospitalized for a couple of days in Sainte-Mere Eglise. The town gave him the 1944 vintage Calvados, which has a whole pear inside, with etchings on the bottle to thank him for his service.

The vast majority of items in the archives are photographs, many with no names and no way to identify the subjects. There are also a few weapons, including an M-1 carbine found on a beach, restored, and later donated, but with no history attached. Of the more exciting items donated early on were some hand grenades, still live, which required a visit from a bomb squad.

Long, a longtime history buff who has been overseeing the archives for three and a half years, said they do everything they can to preserve items to archival standards, but some items will inevitably fade with time.

It’s more important that their stories live on.

Woodworker

Lynchburg Living Editor Shelley Basinger: Norman, take me back to how this hobby of yours began. Have you always had an interest in woodworking?

Norman Ogden: When I was in school, we had FFA (Future Farmers of America) and the last semester we had to work in the shop. You had to make a toolbox by hand using a handsaw and all of that.

SB: Did that spark an interest for you?

NO: It did. But after school I went and worked for a long time. When I left school, I worked at Campbell-Payne Inc. hauling and unloading cement by hand. Then I went to work at the paper mill (formerly MeadWestvaco Corp., now WestRock Co.). I worked for 46 years until I retired in 1998. That’s when I said to myself, “Well I’ve got to have something to do.” In the meantime, I had bought a truckload of tobacco sticks. I decided I was going to try to make something out of those. So I did.

Bonnie Kinnaird (daughter): The first tobacco sticks he used came from an auction and at first, Dad didn’t know what he was going to do with them. It was just part of the heritage of Virginia. He wanted them for that reason.

SB: A lot of people (including me) may not really know much about tobacco sticks. What’s the history there?

NO: They don’t use them much now. But farmers used to take all of the leaves off the tobacco and tie them onto the sticks. Then the sticks were hung in the rafters of the barn. They would put a fire underneath to dry out the leaves and prevent mold. After the tobacco dried they would take it down, tie the leaves into bundles and take the tobacco to market. They quit using the tobacco sticks mostly or some farmers quit raising tobacco altogether. Then they had these piles and piles of tobacco sticks leftover.

BK: The first thing he made with the tobacco sticks was a little stand or drying rack that would sit on a counter, about 18 inches long. This was in the heyday of country style. People used it to display towels in their bathrooms, for example. That drying rack was the beginning of it all. Little boxes came next.

NO: Bonnie said to me one day, “Now that you’ve made all of these things, what are you going to do with them?” I thought maybe I could just give them away. But we went to some craft shows and I later ended up selling at the Lynchburg Community Market.

SB: You’ve worked up to bigger pieces of furniture now. What inspires you to create?

NO: Sometimes when you start out you have a big idea. Then you get into it and it has to be changed (laughs). I make coffee tables, shelves, cupboards with tobacco stick doors, dining tables, all kinds of things.

SB: With so much interest in farmhouse style, I’m sure you’re seeing a lot of customers.

NO: Oh yeah. The reclaimed wood, the barn wood, that’s just the craze right now.

BK: Up until really the last year, we were able to find reclaimed lumber at auctions or other ways but now that it’s so popular you either can’t find it or you can’t find it for an affordable price. A lot of what Dad is doing right now is making with what he has.

NO: Everybody wants a farmhouse table. Of course, they have to have a certain size… and a certain look.

SB: Where do you do most of your work?

NO: I have a garage out back. I thought when we moved here a few years ago it had a lot of space. But it keeps getting cluttered up… and smaller and smaller.

BK: He stays very busy.

NO: I usually go down to the shop by 9 a.m. and come in by newstime—5 or 5:30 p.m. Every day.

SB: Even weekends?

NO: Every single day.

BK: That’s how you get to be 87. Doing something you love.

NO: Who is 87???

SB: Any final thoughts you want to pass along?

NO: I’m lucky to have all of my fingers. That’s the main thing. I think sometimes when I’m working with the table saw…it would be terrible after all of these years for me to lose a finger!

Find Norman’s wood furniture and décor at the Lynchburg Community Market and keep up with him on Facebook: Norman Ogden, artisan.

Liberty University Radio Drama “The Encounter” Finds Global Audience

When Chris Nelson took over Liberty University’s radio drama about five years ago, he knew he wanted to take it in a new direction. The drama had previously focused on adapting plays for radio, but Nelson wanted to do something more philosophical. “The main questions I wanted to deal with were ‘What is truth?’ and ‘Is there absolute truth?’” he says. “I gave the writers a prompt with the idea of two mountain peaks: the Peak of Reliance, a place that used truth as a weapon, similar to a legalistic society, and the Peak of Defiance, a place where truth was relative to time and circumstance. That led us to a semester of world building.” This process led to the creation of “The Encounter,” which presents a dystopian world outside our time in which the listener accompanies four characters on their adventures as they encounter truth.

The major theme of the drama is the cyclical nature of man, specifically as it pertains to mankind’s tendency to draw close to the truth, fall away from it, and be brought back to it again by a voice of truth. The characters in the drama wonder if there is any truth beyond the lies of their respective societies.

“The Encounter” will ultimately boast seven seasons, and the team recently finished recording the fifth season. The first two seasons have already been released, and Nelson hopes to premiere the third season before this summer. Nelson, who is an associate professor and the Summer Arts program coordinator at Liberty, operates as the series’ creative manager. Associate Professor Dr. Chris Underation serves as Producer and Associate Professor Kornel Gerstner serves as sound editor. Several Liberty students and other faculty members are also actively involved in the project as voice actors, writers, editors, composers, and various other roles.

“The unique thing about our show is that it is produced within an academic setting,” Nelson remarks. “Most of the voice talent for seasons one and two are college-aged students here at the university, from a variety of disciplines. The show’s music is composed by a School of Music graduate student and I have conceptual art produced by a recent graduate from the Studio and Digital Art program. I am surrounded by an amazing pool of talent here at Liberty.”

Mark McDowell, the series’ composer, has thoroughly enjoyed his experience with the show. “Composing for the series has truly been a unique experience thus far,” he says. “The storyline and main characters, within the context of the mysterious societies, laid the foundation for a diverse compositional palette. It’s been really fun working on each episode and composing music that complements the storyline.”

“‘The Encounter’ has brought a new sense of creative fulfillment to my world as an artist,” adds Jamie Cloutier, administrative assistant for Liberty’s Department of Theatre Arts and voice actor for the series. “Voiceover work is a relatively new form of performance art in my career and I have fallen in love with the unique challenges that go along with delivering a vivid storyline through the use of voice acting.”

Liberty students who participate in “The Encounter” can use the opportunity for college credit, but that is clearly not the only reason they are getting involved.

“I started writing fiction in high school, but it’s when I started writing for ‘The Encounter’ in undergrad that I realized how much I loved writing audio dramas too,” says Colton Grellier, Liberty student and lead writer of the series. “The beauty of this medium is that you engage the audience’s imagination as if they were reading a book while also having the assorted toolbox of actors and sound effects that bring the story to life as if on screen.”

“The most rewarding part of working on ‘The Encounter’ is being part of a creative team,” notes Joshua Reed, Liberty student and voice actor for the series. “Even as a voice actor I got to give my opinion on the writing and make suggestions about where the story should go. It was an awesome experience to be a part of the storytelling process.”

According to Nelson, the development, recording, and editing processes have become much more efficient as the series has progressed. “The process has evolved over time as I have learned what works best,” he says. “In season one, we had little to no time to refine or rehearse the material with the actors. To contrast that, we just recorded season five last fall and I had the cast work through the scripts throughout the semester. Those scripts went through four to five edits each and the cast was able to be more familiar with the scripts and the moments within the story. That was so helpful.”

Although he is glad that things are running more smoothly now, Nelson is also grateful for those early days of production. “We moved so quickly; we were still very green,” he notes. “But you know what? I’m happy for that learning process because it’s important for students to see that the process doesn’t have to be perfect before you start creating. I wish it was, but I’m 40 years old; I know life isn’t perfect and you keep moving, keep creating.”

Reception of “The Encounter” has been overwhelmingly positive thus far. Several episodes have won awards at the Broadcast Education Association; “The Banishment,” episode 13 of season one, won a Best of Festival award along with a cash prize last year and episodes from season two took the top two national awards this year. Additionally, the series was awarded Best New Show by the Seneca Awards in 2017.

Nelson notes that he and the entire team are honored by this recognition, but the series’ popularity amongst fans globally thrills him the most. “It’s being listened to all over the world,” he says. “In fact, right now Indonesia is a hot spot, which is just mind-boggling. But that is why we are doing this: to speak to this generation, wherever they are. I hope the audience for the show grows and that we are able to connect more people to it.”

As “The Encounter” team works on the final two seasons of the series, Nelson plans to continue to strive for excellence and to enjoy every minute of the process. “I love creating something that has meaning, and I want it to be excellent as well,” he says. “With ‘The Encounter,’ I am surrounded by like-minded students, staff, and faculty. It’s so rewarding to be surrounded by people who want excellence and who are willing to give so sacrificially to the time needed to pursue it.”

A guide to the area’s upcoming theater opportunities.

Information Compiled by
Emily Mook Hedrick

Whether you prefer mesmerizing musicals or murder mysteries, there is a little something for everyone on the local theater scene this year. But with so many talented groups, from high schools to community organizations, it can be hard to keep up with what’s playing and when. Our 2019 Theater Guide is here to help—flip through to see the year’s upcoming shows!

Endstation Theatre Company
2500 Rivermont Avenue, Lynchburg
endstationtheatre.org

Tuesdays with Morrie
“The autobiographical story of Mitch Albom, an accomplished journalist driven solely by his career, and Morrie Schwartz, his former college professor. Sixteen years after graduation, Mitch happens to catch Morrie’s appearance on a television news program and learns that his old professor is battling Lou Gehrig’s disease. Mitch is reunited with Morrie, and what starts as a simple visit turns into a weekly pilgrimage and a last class in the meaning of life.”
June 6-9 & June 12-16

The Bluest Water
“In August 1969, Hurricane Camille, the second-most intense hurricane on record to hit the United States, brought devastation to Nelson County. The Bluest Water follows survivors Jared and Liz, 50 years later, as they try to figure out what happened to a friend who lost his family to the storm, and as they remember the dead and try to heal from their own wounds.”
June 21-23 & June 26-30, special performance on August 11 at 6:30 p.m.

My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra
“My Way relives the legendary career of Frank Sinatra as four actors share more than 50 of his beloved hits that span the breadth of his career from the 1950s to the 1990s. Performing songs that include ‘Fly Me to the Moon,’ ‘Chicago,’ ‘New York, New York,’ and ‘That’s Life’ are four professional performers straight from the stages of New York City.”
July 12-14, July 17-21, July 23-28
All evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. All matinee performances begin at 2 p.m.

Wolfbane Productions
618 Country Club Road, Appomattox
wolfbane.org

Cabaret
“In a Berlin nightclub, as the 1920s draw to a close, a garish Master of Ceremonies welcomes the audience and assures them they will forget all their troubles at the Cabaret. With the Emcee’s bawdy songs as wry commentary, Cabaret explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin’s natives as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich.”
April 11-14, 18-21, 25-28, & May 2-4

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is a murderous romp filled with unforgettable music, non-stop laughs and a scene-stealing role for one actor playing all eight of the doomed heirs who meet their ends in the most creative and side-splitting ways.”
June 6-9, 13-16, 20-23, 27-29

Wolfbane’s Tempest
“At long last, this beautiful adaptation of the Shakespearean masterpiece returns to the woods of the Wolf PAC. Tempest is a tale of magic, deception, revenge, and forgiveness. Learn what happens as Prospera, the deposed Duchess of Milan, plots revenge against her foes on the remote and enchanted island of Oilean.”
August 8-10, 15-17, 29-31

The Crucible
“Winner of Wolfbane’s 2019 Audience Choice poll, Wolfbane is excited to put its unique twist on this Arthur Miller classic. In The Crucible, fear runs rampant through Salem, Massachusetts, resulting in unreasonable accusations and ridiculous behavior pitting neighbor against neighbor. Journey into the woods with Wolfbane and experience this show like never before.”
October 3-5, 10-12, 24-26

Thursday, Friday, & Saturday Performances:
All shows start at 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m.
Sunday Performances: All shows start at
6 p.m., doors open at 5 p.m.

Renaissance Theater
1022 Commerce Street, Lynchburg
renaissancetheatrelynchburg.org

Driving Miss Daisy
“When Daisy Werthan crashes her car, her son arranges for her to have a chauffeur named Hoke Colburn. Daisy and Hoke’s relationship gets off to a rocky start, but they gradually form a close friendship over the years, one that transcends racial prejudices and social conventions.”
April 19-20, 26-28 & May 2-4

Drinking Habits
“Two nuns at the Sisters of Perpetual Sewing have been secretly making wine to keep the convent’s doors open. Two reporters go undercover as a nun and priest to break the story. Their presence, combined with the addition of a new nun, spurs paranoia that spies have been sent from Rome to shut the convent down. Wine and secrets are inevitably spilled as everyone tries to preserve the convent and reconnect with lost loves.”
July 12-13, 19-21, 25-27

Mamma Mia!
“Donna is preparing for her daughter’s wedding with the help of two old friends. Meanwhile Sophie, the spirited bride, has a plan. She secretly invites three men from her mother’s past in hope of meeting her real father and having him escort her down the aisle on her big day. Join us as we present the musical sensation Mamma Mia!, based on the music of ABBA.”
October 4-5, 11-13, 17-19

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!
“In this hilarious Christmas classic, a couple struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant is faced with casting the Herdman kids—probably the most inventively awful kids in history. You won’t believe the mayhem—and the fun—when the Herdmans collide with the Christmas story head on!”
December 6-7, 13-15, 19-21

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday shows begin at 8 p.m. Sunday matinees begin at 3 p.m.

Academy Center of the Arts
600 Main Street, Lynchburg
academycenter.org

Barter Players Presents: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Historic Academy Theatre)
“Whether it’s fishing with Huckleberry Finn or convincing his friends to whitewash Aunt Polly’s fence, nobody loves life more than the irascible Tom Sawyer. Then one night in a spooky graveyard, Tom and Huck stumble upon a deadly secret. Will they be able to save Muff Potter from the treacherous Injun Joe before it’s too late? Join Tom and Huck on the most exciting adventure of their life, where they learn that man’s greatest treasure is the gift of friendship.”
March 17 at 3 p.m.

Academy Presents: Aquila Theatre’s Frankenstein (Historic Academy of Music Theatre)
“Written two centuries ago in 1818 by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus is the first true science fiction novel. Years ahead of its time, the story has since become the inspiration for countless film and stage adaptations. Frankenstein is a living, breathing, gruesome outcome of scientific discovery.”
March 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Beauty and the Beast, Jr. (A Youth Theatre Production at the Historic Academy Theatre)
“The classic story tells of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.”
April 20 at 2 p.m.

Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest Presents: Jefferson & Adams, On Stage and in Conversation (Historic Academy Theatre)
“Written by Howard Ginsberg and based on his original play, this is the story of the turbulent 52-year friendship of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Adams’ wife, Abigail. Based on the collection of letters between these prolific founding fathers—and one equally astute wife—the play fuses compelling political thoughts with passionate personal beliefs.”
April 27 at 7:30 p.m.

Community Through Theatre Presents: Follies (Historic Academy Theatre)
“A true theatrical event, this legendary masterpiece is considered by many to be the greatest musical ever created. Surreal, sophisticated, compelling, heart-wrenching and epic in scope, Follies—by musical theatre legend Stephen Sondheim and author James Goldman—uses the musical theatre as a metaphor for the collapse of American innocence and naiveté in the post-Kennedy years.”
May 10-11, May 17-18 at 7:30 p.m.,
May 12 at 2 p.m., & May 19 at 2 p.m.

City on a Hill Youth Theater
219 Breezewood Drive, Lynchburg
facebook.com/CityOnAHillYouthTheater

Ladies of the Jury
“In a small town, a jury is selected and a murder trial is held. The dramatic proceedings are amusingly interrupted from time to time by Mrs. Crane, an eccentric juror. When the jurors retire to deliberate, the first ballot is eleven for ‘Guilty’ and one ‘Not guilty.’ Mrs. Crane has her own theories and she will not give in; she knows that capitulation means sending an innocent woman to her death.”
April 4-13, times TBD

Cavalier Theatre
(Jefferson Forest High School)
1 Cavalier Circle, Forest
sites.google.com/bedford.k12.va.us/cavaliertheatrehome/home

Footloose: The Musical
“One of the most explosive movie musicals in recent memory bursts onto stage! When Ren and his mother move from Chicago to a small farming town, Ren is prepared for the inevitable adjustment period at his new high school. What he isn’t prepared for are the rigorous local edicts, including a ban on dancing instituted by the local preacher, determined to exercise control over the town’s youth.”
April 30-May 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Brookville Theatre (Brookville High School)
100 Laxton Road, Lynchburg
facebook.com/BrookvilleHighSchoolTheatre/

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats
“Cats is a sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make what is known as ‘the Jellicle choice’ and decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.”
March 28-30 at 7 p.m. & March 31 at 2 p.m.

Glass Theatre (E.C. Glass High School)
2111 Memorial Avenue, Lynchburg
ecglasstheatre.org

Hairspray
“It’s 1962 in Baltimore, and the lovable plus-size teen Tracy Turnblad has only one desire: to dance on the popular ‘Corny Collins Show.’ When her dream comes true, Tracy is transformed from social outcast to sudden star. She must use her newfound power to dethrone the reigning Teen Queen, win the affections of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a TV network… all without denting her ‘do!”
April 25-26 at 7 p.m. & May 2-4 at 7 p.m.

Pioneer Theatre (Heritage High School)
3101 Wards Ferry Road, Lynchburg
lcsedu.net/schools/hhs/about/activities/pioneer-theatre

Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
“Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe is a musical that follows the tragic life of Edgar Allan Poe and the internal struggles he faced which later on inspired his writings. The script contains many references to Poe’s poems and short stories.”
April 4-7, times TBD

Liberty Christian Academy Theatre
3701 Candlers Mountain Rd, Lynchburg
lcabulldogs.com

2019 shows are in the works. Stay tuned!

Liberty Tower Theater/Alluvion Stage Company
1971 University Blvd, Lynchburg
liberty.edu/academics/art/theatre & alluvionstage.com

The Diary of Anne Frank (Academic Performance at the Box Theater)
“In this transcendently powerful story, Anne Frank emerges from history a living, lyrical, intensely gifted young girl, who confronts her rapidly changing life and the increasing horror of her time with astonishing honesty, wit, and determination.”
March 22-23, 29-30 at 7:30 p.m., March 23, 30 at 2 p.m. & March 24, 31 at 3 p.m.
Special showings for school groups only on March 25 & 29 at 10 a.m.

Annie Get Your Gun (Academic Performance at the Tower Theater)
“Annie Oakley is the best shot around, and she manages to support her little brother and sisters by selling the game she hunts. When Col. Buffalo Bill discovers her, he persuades this novel sharpshooter to join his Wild West Show. It only takes one glance for her to fall head over heels for dashing shooting ace Frank Butler, who headlines the show. She soon eclipses Butler as the main attraction, which, while good for business, is bad for romance.”
April 12-13, 19-20, 26-27 at 7:30 p.m., April 13, 20, 27 at 2 p.m. &
April 14, 28 at 3 p.m.

Original Works
Student-written original plays: To Sail Away
(May 2 & 4 at 7:30 p.m. and May 5 at 3 p.m.)
and Treason with a Cup of Tea (May 3 & 5 at
7:30 p.m. and May 4 at 2 p.m.)

<hr

University of Lynchburg Theatre
1501 Lakeside Drive, Lynchburg
lynchburg.edu/academics/
majors-and-minors/theatre/

New Works Initiative
March 20-21 at 7:30 p.m.

Curtain Call
Mar. 29-30 at 7:30 p.m.

Student Honorary Theatre Production (title to be announced)
Apr. 18-20 at 7:30 p.m.

Dance Works Concert
May 2-4 at 7:30 p.m.

Curtain Up! Curtain Call Musical Theatre Ensemble Original Works
“Join us for our unique partnership with emerging musical theatre writers from New York City. Curtain Call sings songs written for individual students and the entire ensemble. Mature themes and language.”
May 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Randolph College Theatre
2500 Rivermont Avenue, Lynchburg
randolphcollege.edu/theatre

She Kills Monsters
“She Kills Monsters tells the story of Agnes Evans as she leaves her childhood home in Ohio following the death of her teenage sister, Tilly. When Agnes finds Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, however, she stumbles into a journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was Tilly’s refuge. In this high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and 90s pop culture, acclaimed playwright Qui Nguyen offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all.”
April 18-21 at 7:30 p.m. & April 20 at 2 p.m.

Sweet Briar Theater
134 Chapel Road, Sweet Briar
sbc.edu/arts/theatre-productions/

The Importance of Being Earnest
“The Importance of Being Earnest is the most renowned of Oscar Wilde’s comedies. It’s the story of two bachelors, John ‘Jack’ Worthing and Algernon ‘Algy’ Moncrieff, who create alter egos named Ernest to escape their tiresome lives.”
March 21-23 at 7:30 p.m. & March 24 at 2:30 p.m.

Fresh Rx program helps more people get access to nutrition education and fresh produce

If “food is medicine,” as Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Family Nutrition Program Assistant Nakesha Moore says, then it certainly makes sense that food could be prescribed as such. Thanks to a blossoming program spearheaded by nonprofit Lynchburg Grows, qualifying Hill City residents are able to receive just that.

Now in its second year, Fresh Rx, inspired by similar programs nationwide, was started by Lynchburg Grows to help people struggling with diet-related illnesses. Doctors prescribe the program, which is free (the program is funded by the Centra Foundation), and participants are then invited to a seven-week class series held at the Miller Center, taught by nutrition experts. At the end of each class (there are two opportunities per week to attend a class), participants are given a box of produce to take home.

“The goal is to give people the knowledge they need to feel empowered to make healthy decisions, for themselves and their families,” explained Shelley Blades, Lynchburg Grows Executive Director and Farm Manager. “We are just giving people what they need to make healthier decisions if they choose to—we are not here to tell them what they are doing is wrong.”

Blades said patients from low-income families, typically under or uninsured, who could benefit from a diet change are prescribed Fresh Rx by their doctors. “The doctors do write an actual prescription and to fill it they come to us,” she said. About 10-15 people go through the program in each of its three cycles per year.

At the Miller Center, Moore and Jeanell Smith—Lynchburg’s VCE Senior Family Nutrition Program Assistant, Adult SNAP-Ed—teach nutrition curriculum and offer cooking demonstrations showing participants tasty ways to utilize what they are taking home.

“This particular program is exciting because we are introducing different vegetables that people don’t normally buy,” Smith said, noting she herself gained an appreciation for Hakurei turnips through teaching the class. “We cover topics varying from how to make a menu and a grocery list, to how to read food labels or how to incorporate more activity—the expectation isn’t that everyone run a marathon but that they are a little more active than they were last week and then build on that.

“The thing that we emphasize in our classes is small, gradual changes,” Smith continued. “Making these small, incremental changes to your lives instead of thinking of this as a diet—that screams temporary. Make these small changes and they become habits and then it just becomes how you live your life.”

Physicians, often ones who have patients in the class, also show up to give presentations, which Blades said means a lot to the participants.

Joyce Booker was prescribed the program last year while on a quest to lose weight in order to have a knee replacement.

“It was great,” Booker said of Fresh Rx. “I had a wonderful doctor that helped counsel me on my weight loss. [Then, the program] opened me up to a lot of different things: of preparing food and cooking things and sharing with the other people in the class. It gave you a different perspective.”

Booker had a successful surgery in January. “I lost the weight that I needed to lose. I’m cooking right and exercising.”

Fixing fresh vegetables became easy for her through Fresh Rx.

“The way Jeanell took them and cut them up and fixed them, it gave me a different perspective on how they taste,” Booker said. “She also gave us a lot of recipes which really helped make the program work for me.”

Before Moore was teaching nutrition classes, she was in one of them (through a different program, not Fresh Rx).

“Everything that I learned in class I was excited to come home and share with my children,” Moore said. “It was not only my health habits that changed—I was also directly impacting the lives of my children through their nutrition. The improvements went way beyond nutrition—and that meant added family time … together and eating, talking about our day, away from the television.”

Blades said that this aspect of “creating community,” starting in the classes, can bring more “voices for healthy food” in area neighborhoods.

The program serves a vital role in Lynchburg’s community, both in terms of education and access. The education is important because people need to know how significantly what they eat matters.

“There is sufficient data now to show that the biggest part of our health is nutrition, what we eat,” Moore said.

A big part of your diet, she says, should come in the form of fruits and vegetables.

“You always want your plate to be colorful,” Smith said. “Fruits and vegetables bring tons of fiber to your diet, lots of antioxidants, which help prevent chronic illness, and certainly lots of vitamins.”

If fresh produce is not feasible, frozen is a suitable alternative, she added.

People with certain conditions or illnesses, like the ones prescribed into the program, can drastically improve their lives by eating properly.

“Improving your health can be directly correlated to the amount of fruits and vegetables that you eat,” Smith said. “A high fiber diet is a natural way to decrease your cholesterol. … When you think about diabetes or think about any heart condition or someone who has any kind of inflammatory issue or condition, decreasing processed sugar, which can cause inflammation, you are going to see a reduction if you can cut it out.”

These diet changes can lead to life-changing success stories, just like Booker’s. Smith and Moore have seen a number of transformations.

“I have had clients who have had their medication lowered or have been taken off of it because their diet is better,” Moore said.

Free is the key with Fresh Rx, because it allows lower income individuals to not only get the nutrition education they need, it also provides them with free produce, as well as cutting boards, veggie scrubbers, measuring cups and spoons, food thermometers and, when they graduate, a cookbook of simple, affordable recipes. The take-home box features a diverse range of vegetables, harvested at Lynchburg Grows, which varies by season but could include lettuce, beets, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes and more.

“Food in general is a basic human need—it shouldn’t be based off of your socioeconomic status,” Blades said. “Hopefully that confidence of knowing what to do, of being in control of this [health] aspect of their lives, can trickle into other aspects of their lives.”

Grow it Yourself

Starting a home garden is a great way to have easy access to affordable, fresh vegetables.

Blades recommends starting small: “Experiment and have fun.”

Start with tomatoes in a bucket and expand to herbs and lettuce. “You can grow a whole salad all on the back porch.” Radishes grow quickly and Blades said watching them progress can be encouraging for novice gardeners.

It’s a process of trial and error; don’t get discouraged and don’t expect to cultivate a massive, flourishing garden overnight.