Thank you Stacey for taking these wonderful pictures of today’s Crozet Christmas parade.

And from the Newsplex’s report:

Jocelyn Thompson brought her kids to the parade. She said, “We love to come out and do things especially in Crozet. We live out here. It’s great to come out and see neighbors and friends.”

Pretty much.

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One of my favorite things about Crozet.

From the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department:

SANTA WILL BE ARRIVING ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2011 @ 3 PM
 

THE CROZET VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT WILL BE HOSTING A SMALL CHRISTMAS PARADE ON DECEMBER 11, 2011 AT 3 PM. THE PARADE WILL START AT WAYLAND DR AND TRAVEL TO THE CROZET FIRE STATION.

 
SANTA WILL MEET THE CHILDREN AFTER THE PARADE AT THE FIREHOUSE.

 
HOT CHOCOLATE AND COOKIES WILL BE AVAILABLE AT FIREHOUSE

 
ANYONE WISHING TO ENTER THE CHRISTMAS PARADE MAY CONTACT THE CROZET VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT AT (434) 823-4758 OR DROP OFF YOUR INFORMATION AT THE FIREHOUSE.

(sorry for the all-caps, but I copy and pasted)

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via press release:

The Field School of Charlottesville? convenes its annual Spirit Walk on October 21-22.

Crozet, VA, September 16, 2011: Historical haunts return once more to Crozet Avenue on October 21st and 22nd when the Field School of Charlottesville convenes its third annual Spirit Walk to celebrate the history of Crozet and Western Albemarle. The Spirit Walk gathers the Crozet community — the very past, past, and present — for a family friendly evening of visits with the likes of Samuel Miller, Paul McIntire, Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and other famous figures.

The Spirit Walk begins at the Field School where guests are greeted by a delightfully ghostly guide who shares tales of old Crozet on the short bus ride down to The Square where they then disembark to begin the short return walk up Crozet Avenue to the Field School. Along the way the guests are introduced to our famous friends who share their history of our community. The tour ends at the Field School where hot apple cider, donuts, baked goods, and the Field School’s famous home-made apple butter are available for purchase.

“We at the Field School take great pride in being a part of the Crozet community and are passionate about preserving and celebrating our community’s history. The Spirit Walk is a fun way to connect with our past and learn from those who shaped it,” said Todd Barnett, Head of School.

Tickets for the Spirit Walk are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Green House Coffee in Crozet and Greenberry’s Coffee and Tea in the Barracks Road Shopping, or at the event.

The Field School of Charlottesville is located at 1408 Crozet Avenue, Crozet, VA.

The Field School of Charlottesville is a middle school for boys with the mission to develop well-rounded boys of character and accomplishment.

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Mark your calendars to meet with our Supervisor, Ann Mallek on Monday, 24 October at 7pm at Brownsville Elementary.

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via email:

Greetings friends/patrons of the Crozet Library,

Crozet and JMRL staff and board representatives have been working with Albemarle County staff and Supervisors for some time to urge them to fulfill their promise of building the new Crozet/Western Albemarle Library.

The plans for the new library were approved by the County Architectural Review Board in April. The parking lot for the new library is currently under construction.

A small group of supporters is convinced that strong and sustained advocacy is the only way to get the new library built. We are in the process of organizing this grassroots effort as “Build Crozet Library.”

There’s a particular urgency to this effort: without seeing steps taken toward building the new building soon, JMRL will need to start reducing the collection at the current Crozet Library. The excellent staff has done everything they can to make the space work for all patrons, but the crowded conditions are not sustainable.

WED, Oct. 5, at 9:00 am:

the Board of Supervisors is holding its regular meeting in Lane Auditorium of the County Office Building.

Please consider attending this meeting and making a public comment in support of building the new library.

Please note:

Public comment is one of the top items on the agenda, so it would not take a great deal of time to show up, speak, then leave.

If you could arrive early, there is a sign up sheet available from 8:15 to 8:30 am. However, according to the BOS clerk, Ms. Ella Jordan, ?If you do not get here in time to sign up the Chair always asks if there is anyone who wishes to speak who did not have an opportunity to sign up.

Each commenter is allowed three minutes; it is not necessary to take up all of that time. Anyone can simply stand and speak their support and be done.

If you would like to speak and have concerns about what to say, please let me know. Thanks to Tim Tolson, William Schrader, and the excellent staff, we have plenty of information on the need for the library.

Thank you for your consideration. If you cannot speak, but would like to support our efforts in any other way, please just let me know.

Thank you,

Jane Kulow

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via press release:

UNCLE HENRY’S FAVORITES PLAYS OLD TIME STRING BAND MUSIC AT GREENWOOD COMMUNITY CENTER WITH BRAD SAYLER CALLING

The sound of old time string band music and dancing feet will be heard Saturday night at a country dance to raise money for groups in Albemarle County that provide life-saving support and are working to keep our community healthy. Uncle Henry’s Favorites, one of the South’s premier old time string bands, will be playing tunes at the Greenwood Community Center from 7:30 pm to 10:30 on Saturday, Sept 24. The dance is sponsored by Ann Mallek to celebrate our community’s commitment to volunteerism and citizen engagement. The event will be fun for the whole family, whether you come to listen to music or to dance. Admission at the door is a donation of your choice to the Crozet Fire Dept., the Western Albemarle Rescue Squad, the Earlysville Volunteer Fire Company or the Crozet PARC.

The lively sounds of the fiddle, mandolin, banjo and bass will be accompanied by the entertaining calling style of Brad Sayler. Brad has called dances for over 30 years and knows how to get people at any level of experience up and dancing and having a good time. While playing traditional music, Pete and Ellen Vigour, Jim Childress, and Mark Beale continue to please crowds with new shows. Jim and Pete take turns with the fiddle and guitar, Ellen plays the mandolin and various musical instruments, while Mark provides the bass accompaniment. Pete also frails the 5-string banjo for the old dance tunes. Uncle Henry’s Favorites has won rave reviews, including an appearance on national public radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and second place this year in the Traditional Band category at the Clifftop Appalachian String Band Music Festival.

And the tunes will be played for a good cause. “Our citizens are actively engaged in many community volunteer groups, and this service and dedication is a large part of what keeps our County thriving”, says Ann Mallek, Chair of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. “All Albemarle County citizens appreciate the work of these organizations, and an old time dance will be a fun way to celebrate and provide much-needed funds.” The four organizations that will receive donations from admission to the dance are all-volunteer groups. The Crozet Volunteer Fire Department, the Western Albemarle Rescue Squad and the Earlysville Volunteer Fire Company, serve Western and Northern areas of the County, have saved countless lives over many years, and provide support to neighboring counties. Another beneficiary of the evening is the Crozet PARC, working to build an affordable year round swimming and fitness program for families in the western part of the county.

Cider and baked goods will be available and the event will be fun for the whole family. There will be chairs for those who just want to enjoy the music. But if you want to dance, all dances, such as the Virginia Reel, will be taught – so don’t let inexperience keep you from attending. This band and caller promises experience isn’t necessary to have a good time at a country dance. For more information, contact Ann Mallek at 996-6159.

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via press release:

Local Crozetians, Ursula and Stephen Goadhouse play their original folk music at the Crozet Mudhouse on Saturday, September 17th at 8pm. This special event is a welcoming back of the musicians into the public after 7 years and a Benefit Show to help offset therapy cost for their son, Rumi.

Ursula is a local singer-songwriter whose music has been described as “great heartfelt passionate songwriting that will stir your insides” by Danny Schmidt. Stephen plays lead guitar, acoustic bass guitar, steel guitar and Strumstick. Together they weave sound and story of loss, love and hope. They will be joined by Scottsvillians, Jennifer and D Borishansky on djembe and fiddle for a few tunes, adding spice and grove to the music. 

The donations given at the Mudhouse show and the sales of their album, “Love is Medicine”, go to RumiRising.org to help offset the cost for supportive therapies for their son, Rumi, who has autism, Downs syndrome and hearing impairment. This will be a special night, so come enjoy the music, Mudhouse and your community!

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via email:

COUNTRY SQUARE DANCE TO CELEBRATE OUR COMMUNITY

Saturday, September 24
7:30 to 10:30 pm
Greenwood Community Center

Ann Mallek is sponsoring this event to bring the community together in a spirit of fun, dance, and commitment to groups that keep our community thriving and growing.

Your donation at the door will be a contribution to the Western Albemarle Rescue Squad, Crozet Volunteer Fire Department, Earlysville Fire Company, or Crozet PARC. Come by yourself, as a couple or dance together as a family!

Country Dance in Crozet flyer (PDF)

Note that this dance/flyer/event is “Paid for and authorized by Ann Mallek for Supervisor” but I don’t see any reason to not go, have fun and donate to your favorite local organization. Besides, right now she’s running unopposed.

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Go below the fold for tweets from tonight’s meeting. Pick your favorite tweet. I know mine. They’re in reverse chronological order.

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From Crozet Park’s newsletter:

1. Good news- after about year and half of fundraising we as a community have raised nearly $193,000 That puts us just $7,000 away from our goal of $200,000 on the community match. We have until SEPT 01 – one month to close the gap – we have that deadline from a local foundation in order to receive a grant from them.   

The July 2nd weekend events of the Swing Dance and the fireworks raised about $10,000 for this campaign. ?

2. Bad news – despite all of the fundraising we didn’t make the early June deadline to put the down payment needed for fall/winter opening on the dome so it will NOT happen for this upcoming winter season.?

3. Where does that leave us now? Finish the remaining $7,000 so we can get the local grant and helping the park raise the final portion of their part of the pledge.   

In May, the park had a large expense in replastering the pool and they still need to raise a bit more to have all of their part of the $200,000 pledge.?

Still looking for volunteers – help with planning tennis and basketball for the park AND we can always use grant writing help! Please contact us via ccp@ccp.avenue.org   
Most likely next event – Fall Party for the PARC as well as the Fall Crozet Arts and Crafts Festival going to help get that portion of the money. Upcoming Dave Mathews/ Tim Reynolds concert at Pavilion Sat Aug 20 – you can pick a charity – chose Claudius Crozet Park to be the beneficiary!!   

Thank you Crozet Community for your generous support as we all work hard in getting a year-round recreational facility in western Albemarle county!

If you’re inclined to donate:

Make checks payable to “Claudius Crozet Park” (with “Pool Dome” written in the memo section)

Mail to: Claudius Crozet Park Pool Dome
PO Box 171
Crozet, VA 22932
or
Make a donation on-line

All gifts are tax deductible

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Update 13 June – Perhaps the best explanation comes from a Newsplex comment:

If you take time to read the letter provided by the Batesville Store to its clients, which is linked in the story, the reason for closing is clearly explained. They had been operating as a country store and were under the governance of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. However, it was determined that the store did too much business to remain a country store. The only option available was for them to become a restaurant and to comply with all Virginia Health Department regulations. The owners state in their letter that the requiremetn (sic)to operate as a restaurant was not viable for many reasons.

Update 12 June: See the bottom of this post for new from the Batesville Store that they are closing. For good. Surely the State could find a way to make this work for the good of the Batesville community.

Update 12 June #2 – cvillenews has more insight.

Update 11 June: The Newsplex reports:

A store employee told CBS19 that the reason behind the shutdown wasn’t a health issue, but a safety issue. He says the store had exceeded their seating capacity.

A country store is allowed to have 15 total seats by law, but The Batesville Store has over 40. The employee was frustrated saying that the Health Department hadn’t given them a warning.

Surely someone in Batesville can shed some light on this. The Batesville Store is fantastic – the food, ambiance, smells, location, beer, music … it would be a tremendous shame if it were to be shut down by the State of Virginia.

Just received via email …

Dear Friends of The Batesville Store,

I have some sad news:

The Batesville Store is closed until further notice.

Earlier today two representatives from the state of Virginia showed up at the store without warning, informed us that we were not in compliance with certain state regulations, and basically gave us no choice except to close immediately.This came as a complete shock to Liza and me. We believed that we had been operating in compliance with all state regulations since we opened in April of 2007, and we received no indication otherwise from anyone representing the state.

In fact, we have been inspected regularly by Warren Ollinger, the representative from the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services who is responsible for inspecting the store, and he has always given us favorable reports on our operation. He never suggested in any way that we would encounter what happened today. The two representatives who showed up this afternoon told us that Mr. Ollinger initiated the complaint and the subsequent review that led to the decision to close us down.

Liza and I intend to explore this matter further. I will let you know by email about any important developments.

We cannot find words to thank you properly for your support for our humble establishment. So I hope a simple “thank you” will suffice for now.

Fondly,

Cid

Update 11 June 2011: From the Batesville Store:

MORE DETAILS ON THE CLOSING OF

THE BATESVILLE STORE

AND

HUGE BLOWOUT SALE BEGINS

SUNDAY, JUNE 12

NOON – 7:00 P.M.

Dear Fans of The Batesville Store,

As you know from yesterday’s email, the state has given us no option except to close The Batesville Store.

For the past five years, we’ve attempted to serve the community by keeping this classic, historic country store alive and thriving.Ironically, our success has proven to be our undoing.

Although we have always operated with an eye toward Virginia State Health Department guidelines (and have never been cited for a health code violation of any kind), we were in fact defined by the state as a country store and thus fell under the governance of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. We were regularly inspected by the Ag Department and were never informed of any significant problems with our operations.

However, the state representatives who suddenly appeared yesterday afternoon and shut us down without warning told us that it was decided (note the passive voice, please) that we do too much business to remain a country store. They went on to say that our only option for remaining open was to convert the store into a restaurant that would comply with all Virginia Health Department regulations.

Our kitchen is basically in compliance with Health Department regulations now. But the legalities of the store’s historic status as well as the limitations of the building itself make it impossible for us to meet the state’s other requirements for operating a restaurant.

We would have to make a host of changes in the facility to stay open legally, but because of a combination of the law and practical realities, we cannot make those changes.

So much to our regret, we are closing The Batesville Store . . .

AND SAYING GOODBYE TO OUR WONDERFUL SUPPORTERS WITH A HUGE BLOWOUT SALE – TAKEAWAY ONLY (NO TABLE SERVICE)

The sale begins tomorrow–Sunday. We will open at noon and close at 7:00 p.m.

EVERYTHING EXCEPT BEER AND WINE IS 50% OFF THE STICKER PRICE

BEER AND WINE . . . BUY ONE, GET ONE OF EQUAL VALUE FOR 50% OFF

When we say “everything,” we mean EVERYTHING.

Everything from the deli and bakery. All of our drinks. All of our groceries. All of our baking and cooking supplies. All of our serving dishes and plastic products and cooking equipment. All of our tables and chairs. All of our baskets. All of our t-shirts and caps.

WE WILL ALSO BE OPEN MONDAY AND TUESDAY NEXT WEEK (OR UNTIL EVERYTHING GOES) FROM NOON UNTIL 7:00 P.M.

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO GET
BATESVILLE STORE FOOD OR
A MOMENTO OF WHAT WAS GENERALLY REGARDED AS THE FINEST COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT IN ALL OF BATESVILLE

Thank you once again for your ridiculously wonderful support since we opened in 2007.

Fondly,

Cid and Liza

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Check out this vacation mowing service in Crozet, courtesy of Sean Connolly, a graduating senior at WAHS.

Sean contacted me and he strikes me as a quality, enterprising young man who has something that many people – young or not – lack: a work ethic and a willingness to do something that is seemingly anathema to so many: WORK.

So, if you need some vacation mowing or work done around the house, give him a call. I did (and I’m not even going on vacation).

Yes, this is sort of an ad, but no, I’m not getting paid to run it.

Related book that I’m reading: The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will(Eventually) Feel Better

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In February I asked fellow Crozetians how you would describe your neighborhood. Only Grayrock and the Highlands were described.

The HooK, in their weekly On the Block feature described Parkside Village pretty well when writing about a property I am co-marketing:

… and the location offers some attractive benefits. Parkside Village is home to lots of families– moms and dads push strollers along the sidewalks while kids ride their bikes around the cul-de-sacs.

Claudius Crozet Park is within easy walking distance and offers a variety of activities including baseball, boot camps, soccer, swimming, and art and antique shows. The summer fireworks can be seen from the front porch.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t some drawbacks. For starters, there’s the railroad tracks at the end of the parking area, just a short distance from the house. Long-time residents of Crozet may relegate the clatter of the train, which can be heard from many places in town, to background noise, but the close proximity of the tracks will undoubtedly deter some prospective purchasers.

Disclosure: I’m a real estate agent.

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C-Ville profiles the forthcoming Crozet Mudhouse.

When this vintage building on the intersection of Three-Notch’d Road and Crozet Avenue whose storied history includes, among other things, being a railroad hotel and the town grocery with a real soda fountain, opened up they knew they’d found the right location for their longtime interest in expanding to Crozet and making a coffeehouse/community meeting space for “fluid social interaction,” says Lawrence.

Related post – Crozet Mudhouse Coming Soon

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