Augusta / Nelson County, VA Story By Tyler Rich The Central Virginia Blues Society came out to support one of their own in early August, at the fifth annual Summer Blues and Brews Festival that took place at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton. After hearing of their longtime friend and drummer, Robert Ballard’s, cancer diagnosis, the members of CVBS rushed to his aid.
Nelson county favorites, Fatty Lumpkin and the Love Hogs at the recently held Summer Blues and Brews Festival in Staunton, VA.
“When we found out he was sick, we were extremely sad but always kept a positive attitude because that’s the way Robert is.” says friend and band mate Andy Burdetsky. “We [The CVBS] have monthly jams at different venues all over Central VA and we have about 70 signed up members and 300 on our email list, who receive a newsletter that we send out monthly. Robert was at every jam unless he was out of town or sick ….. everyone who sat in wanted to play with Robert and they got to know what a great guy he was.” says Andy. To date the group has raised upwards of $800 to aid in his recovery, not to mention countless meals, visits, and general support.
The Delta Backburners, and Blues Friends at the early August Summer Blues and Brews Festival.
“I was really humbled by the level of support from my friends, family, and fellow musicians,” says Ballard, “It always feels better to give than to be on the receiving end of charity or gifts but words cannot express how much we appreciate everything that Andy and the CVBS have done for us! I am halfway through the six rounds of chemotherapy. There are positive signs that it is working and I feel fortunate to be given another chance.” As Robert’s recovery has gained momentum, so too has the support from his friends and family.
A major benefit called Beats For Ballard is being held on October 5th at the Rockfish Valley Community Center from 6:30 to 11PM to benefit Ballard and his family. The event will feature many of Robert’s closest friends playing, as well as having local wine and beer for sale, raffles, and a silent auction.
People wanting to learn more about the October benefit for Robert Ballard can click on the form above for a larger image. Learn how you can help out.
Via VDOT : Click on map image above to enlarge photo for greater detail.
Release Via VDOT Lynchburg District
Different traffic patterns will be used during Lockn’ Music Festival, September 4-9
Arrington, VA – Motorists who use Route 29 in Nelson County from Wednesday evening, September 4 through midday Monday, September 9 should stay alert to changes in traffic pattern, plan for possible congestion and give consideration into using an alternate route.
On Wednesday evening, contractors working for the Lockn’ Music Festival in collaboration with the Virginia State Police and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will begin setting up traffic control south of the Lovingston area. Due to the possibility of a significant crowd and resultant traffic, several changes in traffic pattern are planned, including:
Access to crossovers between Oak Ridge Road (Route 653) and Tye River Road (Route 739) will be restricted,
Through traffic on Route 29 South will use the right lane; event traffic will use the left lane, and
Through traffic on Route 29 North will use the left lane; event traffic will use the right lane.
If considering an alternate route, motorists are encouraged to use Route 151 (Patrick Henry Highway) from the intersection of Route 29/151 in Amherst County to the intersection of Route 250/151 in Albemarle County. This route is not recommended for trucks.
With additional vehicles, including recreational vehicles on Route 29 and several adjoining secondary routes, it is anticipated that there will be congestion on Route 29 North and South, Arrington Road (Route 655), Diggs Mountain Road (Route 668), portions of Oak Ridge Road (Route 653) and Variety Mills Road (Route 655). Congestion is also possible on Wilson Hill Road (Route 665) and James River Road (Route 56). In addition, a portion of Oak Ridge Road fronting the festival grounds will be closed.
The highest volumes of traffic on Route 29 are expected to occur during the overnight hours of Wednesday through early Thursday evening, late afternoon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and, during the departure period Sunday afternoon into midday Monday.
Message boards, other traffic control devices and a Traffic Hazard Advisory Radio will be used to alert motorists to these changes in traffic pattern and any major congestion issues. A Safety Service Patrol unit will also be available to assist with any incidents that may occur.
For additional up-to-date information throughout the event, please call 511 or visit www.511Virginia.org, follow VDOT on Twitter at @VaDOT, or contact VDOT’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-367-7623 (800-FOR-ROAD).
Photo Ed & Barbar Funke: Greta this female German Shepard is missing from the vicinity of Blundell Hollow Rd & Route 151 in Afton. Greta dug her way out from a fenced in area on Friday night August 23, 2013.
Afton / Greenfield
Nelson County, VA Update 8.27.13 8:30 PM
Ed Funke Greta’s owner emailed us tonight with this great news. “Greta is in recovery, they feel she’ll pull through! WOO-HOO and kudos to VT! She’ll be assessed by the orthopedic surgeon for possible surgery due to pelvic fractures. I hope the worst is behind us. Sincere thanks for you concern, as well as posting her on your site.”
We have received word Monday evening (8.26.13) that Greta has been found, unfortunately she’s been hit by a car and is enroute to the the vet.
Updates as we know.
Original post.
Not too far up the road on Blundell Hollow Rd (former MountainSide Petting Farm) we got the request to put out the word on missing Greta, a female German Shepard. Her owners, Barbar & Ed Funke say she’s been missing since Friday night – August 23, 2013. “She is a pure bread Shepard (looks like the classic Rin Tin Tin in color), weights about 75 pounds, has on a pink reflective collar with a red heart with her name and our phone numbers. I have increased from a $100 reward to a $500 reward,” Barbara says.
Their phone number is: 434-465-3543
If anyone see Greta the Funke’s would greatly appreciate your help!
Wintergreen
Nelson County, Virginia
Weatherwise it was probable the best weekend of 2013 so far. Not a drop of rain and plenty of sunshine. The perfect setting for two huge events that took place here in Nelson County, VA where our magazine is based. The Spartan Race at Wintergreen Resort hosted over 8000 participants during the weekend, and The Virginia Craft Brew Festival hosted several thousand as well down at Devils Backbone Brewing. Many of the surrounding breweries, including DBBC, walked away with some hefty trophies for their craft brews.
Above video shot by BRLM Publisher Yvette Stafford from her chest mounted Go Pro camera as she participated in the race.
Check our the galleries below from both events!- All Photos By BRLM Mountain Photographer Paul Purpura – Check out more of Paul’s work at: Photograph By Paul Purpura
Roseland
Nelson County, VA
The Virginia Craft Brewers Festival kicked off Saturday afternoon at Devils Backbone Brewing and runs through the evening. Tons of craft brewers from across the area are setup and putting some of the best custom brews on display! Tons of entertainment too!
Wintergreen Resort
Nelson County, VA Spartan Race 2013 officially kicked off Saturday morning at Wintergreen Resort. As of a few days ago, over 8000 entrants had already signed up for the challenging course that runs through Sunday.
BRLM Pubisher Yvette Stafford and 9 other teammates will be running the course Sunday morning starting at 9:30.
Check our more of Paul’s photos in our Facebook album below.
Via FBI – Taylor, 48, of the 10000 block of Thomas Nelson Highway in Lovingston, Virginia remains in custody without bond after a Thursday hearing in Nelson County.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: August 22, 2013
RE: Randy Taylor denied bond, waives his preliminary hearing
FROM: ANTHONY MARTIN, COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY
CONTACT: 434-263-7010
A bail hearing was held in the Nelson County Juvenile & Domestic Relations
District Court this afternoon for Randy Allen Taylor who is charged with
abduction in connection with the Alexis Murphy case.
Based on the evidence presented by the Commonwealth; and the
defendant’s prior record, Judge A. Ellen White, the presiding judge, denied
Randy Taylor’s request for bond and ordered that he continue to be held
without bail.
After bail was denied, the defendant waived his right to a preliminary
hearing on the felony abduction charge meaning that the case will go
automatically to the Nelson County Circuit Court Grand Jury which meets
September 24, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. The grand jury will decide whether to
indict Taylor for abduction.
Afton/Lovingston
Nelson County, VA Updated 6:17 PM 8.23.13
Since our response from Ms Lychock was posted, Sara Taylor, Manager of RVCC emailed us again to clarify her statements made in the original interview to make sure they are correctly interpreted and not lost in our original reporting.
“I said that Janet had presented her concerns to the board and that the board had reviewed them point by point. She presented those concerns by email. It is true that she did not actually meet in person with the board.”
Updated 4:38 PM 8.23.13 Since our original story posted on Wednesday, Ms. Janet Lychock emailed us with her response to our story. Generally these would be posted in the comments section of our website here, but due to an upgrade on our system that has caused a glitch in our comments box (and until recently our online calendar) comments aren’t possible right now. We are working on a fix for that now. In fairness to Ms. Lychock, her emailed response is posted below, verbatim, unedited.
It should be noted that keeping with good journalistic standards, BRLM tried two different methods to reach Ms. Lychock, both by the only email we had and a phone number, neither were successful. As discussed in our original story at the bottom, we attempted to contact all parties involved for comment. Tim Padalino – Director from the Nelson County Planning office has not responded to our two phone calls, and as of Friday evening 8.23.13, no one from Trager has returned our call thus far.
“Since the comments section on your website is broken, I am submitting the following for posting, per your request.
First of all, I want to point out that what Sara Taylor said in your article is simply not true:
“Our board met with Ms. Lychock and discussed the concerns point by point before a decision was made to move forward,” Taylor said.
The RVCC board NEVER met with me regarding this matter or any other!
I challenge you to go ahead and ask any board member and if they have any honesty at all they will tell you that it is NOT TRUE!
THE TRUTH:
What happened is that I wrote an email in early May expressing my concerns about the TBC move – specifically the odor that the roasters emit – and suggesting that they be sure to exercise due diligence in the matter.
I sent it to Stuart Mills, Sarah Jane Stewart and Gifford Childs.
NO ONE even answered my email.
The only board members who ever discussed this issue with me was Henri Weems who said that he and his wife Elaine (the actual board member) were looking up roastery emissions online and a member named Sue Chase who briefly – most generally – confronted me about it at the center one day – literally in passing as I was walking by her.
But the board certainly never met with me about it, as Ms. Taylor states, let alone discuss it “point by point”. I am not saying that the board didn’t talk about it amongst themselves. I’m sure they did, but not with me.
In fact, it was only after I had filed my petition and sought the counsel of a third party from the county that anyone from the board even contacted me to talk about this.
What did happen was that I was waiting for at least some kind of response to my email when one day a couple of weeks after writing it Ms. Taylor approached me when I was at the RVCC and told me – much to my surprise – that the board had already met and voted unanimously to let TBC in and that it was a done deal. The only “point” that she mentioned was that they would put in a smoke stack to try to mitigate the odor and that it would probably blow north “toward Ashley’s and the nearby farm.” (come to think of it, in that case, it would be blowing toward your house as well)
Shortly afterwards, I discovered that the area in which the RVCC is located is zoned Residential.
I brought this to the attention of the county Planning & Zoning director Tim Padalino who had previously told me that he thought that it was zoned ‘Business’ but then agreed that the area was indeed zoned R-1 Residential. At that time, the P&Z department had also just come up with a form that had to be filled out in order for them to look into the matter so I filled it out and – as is required in response – Mr. Padalino wrote his interpretation, the logic of which I found to be questionable at the least, and therefore appealed.
That is all that I have to say here except that my overriding objection is not a coffee house (even one that serves TB coffee exclusively) – as some people seem to think – but the roastery itself. I am well aware that such cafés are popular gathering spaces and that the RVCC has wanted to have one for a while but as I wrote in the last line of my appeal statement: a café could easily be operated without the presence of an on-site roaster.
I really wish that you had tried harder to get in touch with me for the original article but I understand your explanation and I thank you for posting my comments here.
-JL-“
Original Story from August 21, 2013 posted at 5:07 PM In a surprising move, a single objection has been filed by an Afton resident on the locating of a satellite branch of Trager Brothers Coffee in the Rockfish Valley Community Center. “We were shocked by the initial complaint to our RVCC Board Of Directors. Except for one person, the planned expansion of Trager into RVCC has received overwhelming support,” said Sara Taylor, RVCC’s Operations Manager. Taylor says RVCC began discussions with Trager back in December of 2012 and actually approved the lease in June 2013 after the green light by zoning and planning back in April. When plans were announced by RVCC a nearby resident, Janet Lychock of Rockfish School Lane, expressed concerned about locating the roastery at the center. “Our board met with Ms. Lychock and discussed the concerns point by point before a decision was made to move forward,” Taylor said.
We first told you about Trager Brothers locating their original operation in Lovingston back in our (then November 2008 issue of Nelson County Life Magazine.) Click on the cover image above to read that story on page 12.
LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS In accordance with Section 15.2 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, and pursuant to Sections 15.2-2285, 5.2-2310, and 15.2-2204 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, the Nelson County Board of Zoning Appeals hereby gives notice that a Public Hearing will start at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 3, 2013, in the General District Courtroom on the third floor of the Nelson County Courthouse located at 84 Courthouse Square, Lovingston, Virginia. The purpose of this hearing is to consider the following: Public Hearing Zoning Interpretation Appeal #2013-001, Janet Lychock Consideration of an appeal of a Zoning Interpretation dated July 11, 2013 titled, “Zoning Interpretation Regarding Permitted “Community Center” Uses.” The petition states that the appeal is in reference to a zoning interpretation of Article 2, Article 5, and Article 5 Section 1-4. The petition seeks to appeal the, “classification of coffee roastery as a part of ‘goods and services’.” Copies of the above files are available for review in the Planning and Zoning Office, 80 Front Street, Lovingston, Virginia, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or you may call the Planning and Zoning Office at 434 263-7090 or toll free at 888-662-9400, selections 4 and 1.
Above a legal notice that appeared in the Lynchburg News & Advance announcing a public hearing on the matter in early September.
Click image above to download/see all of the appeal documents filed with the Board of Zoning Appeals
A special online petition (click here) has been set up by RVCC for people to show support for the Trager move. “In just the 48 hours it’s been active, almost 400 people have already signed the petition in support of Trager moving here. One of the by products of this we were trying to create was a social environment, a place where people can engage. That comes with coffee shops. It seems like a perfect fit.” Taylor added.
As of this story’s posting around 5PM Wednesday 8.21.13 – our two phone calls to Tim Padalino – Director of the Nelson PLanning and Zoning had not been returned. Our attempts to reach Janet Lychock at the last known phone number we had were unsuccessful. And a request for comment by Trager Brothers is still pending.
A Public Hearing on the matter will start at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 3, 2013, in the General District Courtroom on the third floor of the Nelson County Courthouse.
Roseland
Nelson County, VA
The congregation of Grace Episcopal Church in Massies Mill got a huge surprise this past Monday. They were invited to the hop garden at Devils Backbone Brewing Company in Roseland to pick some of the very same hops used in varieties of DB beer.
Above our August 2013 story on the unique undertaking Grace Episcopal has take on brewing their own batch of beer at the church as they study
time periods over the ages where it was done. Click above on cover to read.
Lisa Davis (L) with DBBC Marketing and Marion Kanour (R) minister at Grace Episcopal drag some freshly harvested hops from the field. From there they will separate them out at a table.
Very neat and what a great gift!
You can see lots more hop picking pics from Grace Episcopal in their Facebook album, Just click on the picture above.
Our September 2008 (Then Nelson County Life Magazine) revealing some the the very first color pictures taken by Photographer Brower York of the tragedy that struck Nelson County, killing dozens and destroying millions in property. Click on issue above to read the entire article and see the photos starting on page 12.
Nelson County, VA Below, our 2011 story on the placing of a wreath on the marker at the Rockfish Trail Loop to remember those who lost their lives in August 1969
Nelson County’s Historical Society has an entire room devoted to the history of Hurricane Camille and its effect on Nelson County at the Oakland Museum.You can see the old photographs above along with countless more from photographer Brower York’s collection.
