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About 50 people gathered at Natasha’s Market Café last Saturday for an Evening of Cabaret to benefit the upcoming inaugural season of The National Music Festival (NMF) to be held in Floyd. The cabaret featured performances of classic and comical songs from the Golden Age of Cinema, Broadway and Television, performed by musicians from Floyd and Blacksburg.
“We live in Floyd now. We just bought our first chickens but are still trying to figure out Floyd etiquette,” said NMF co-founder and director Richard Rosenberg before donning a straw hat and grabbing pitch fork for a number titled Fall River Hoedown about Massachusetts axe murder Lizzy Borden. He was joined by his NMF co-founder Caitlin Patton for the tongue-in-cheek number.
Keeping with the cabaret humor, opera singer and teacher Mr. Ed Cohn sang the theme song from the old TV show about a talking horse named Mr. Ed. Rosenberg performed a Danny Kaye tongue twister, written by Kaye and his wife Sylvia Fine, and other songs.
There was plenty of spoof and satire, but there were also love songs. Cohn sang Some Enchanted Evening from the musical South Pacific. Carolyn Romano bewitched the audience with her version of the song Bewitched from Pal Joey. Patton, who wore a sequined gown, sang a contemporary song by Sarah McLachlan. Blacksburg musicians performing were Theodore Sipes, Erica Sipes and Paige Russell.
Along with the musical entertainment, cabaret attendees enjoyed dinner and dessert hors d’oeuvres prepared by Chef Natasha Shishkevish. These included Thai sea bass with rice, eggplant patties with trout, crab cakes, new potatoes with ginger caviar, key lime cheesecake, orange cake, ginger pastry and more.
At the close of the evening a “mandatory encore” featured a group rendition of the 1965 satirical song by Tom Lehrer, “Who’s Next?” First we got the bomb, and that was good, ‘Cause we love peace and motherhood. Then Russia got the bomb, but that’s okay, ‘Cause the balance of power’s maintained that way. Who’s next?
Organizers thanked the audience for coming and the café for hosting the event. Patton said the money raised from the cabaret will be used to help pay for 25 apprentice scholarships and 25 teachers for the upcoming festival. But more will need to be raised. Seed grants are being looked into and volunteers are being requested.
Apprentices and teacher mentors will come together for the festival from May 29 the June 11th. They will rehearse and perform in orchestral, chamber, solo recital, vocal, choral and chamber opera repertoire in more than 20 concerts and over 250 free open rehearsals throughout Floyd. ~ Colleen Redman The above first appeared in The Floyd Press on March 31, 2011.
Note: Watch a video of the cabaret HERE. Visit the NMF on Facebook and at their webpage HERE.
The Kind, celebrated its 25 year milestone anniversary at the Pine Tavern pavilion Saturday night. This popular jam band has a following of fans from all over the New River Valley, including many from Floyd and some who have been attending gigs since the band first started playing weekly at the onetime South Main Café in Blacksburg.
Over the years, The Kind has had as many as 20 members, with lead singer and rhythm guitarist Wendy Godley and lead guitarist and vocalist Tom Snediker remaining as original members. Wendy’s husband Rick Godley on drums, Tom’s wife Mandy Snediker (vocalist) and Steve Hunt on bass guitar make up the rest of the band’s current incarnation.
Several Floyd musicians have played with the band in the past, including Floydfest founder Kris Hodges on drums and percussionist Joringle Starchild. Starchild, along with other guest alumni, joined the band on stage.
Described on their webpage as “Hillbilly Psychedelic Folk Rock,” the band specializes in Grateful Dead cover songs, but they also play the music of other iconic bands and musicians, such as Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, and The Band.
Audience members filled the dance floor Saturday night and sang along enthusiastically to the Beatles “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and Janis Joplin’s “Piece of my Heart,” as well as to favorite Grateful Dead songs, such as “Shakedown Street,” and “Truckin.” The band will be back at the Pine Tavern for their annual Halloween gig, Wendy Godley said. ~ ColleenRedman blogs daily at looseleafnotes.com.
Post notes: See a video of The Kind at the Pine HERE. Visit the band’s webpage HERE.
~ The above first appeared in The Floyd Press on March 16, 2011.
Decked out in glitter, beads and feathers, about 250 people celebrated the second annual Mardi Gras Ball at the Dogtown Roadhouse/Sun Music Hall Saturday night. The Ball was a fundraiser to benefit Blue Mountain School, Floyd’s independent school off Christiansburg Pike, soon to mark the 30th anniversary of its founding.
Seating tickets for the ball were sold out more than a week before the event, which featured high energy dancing to live music, a series of costume contests, and a live auction of donated items called by auctioneer Tom O’Neill. Emily Williamson’s original Mardi Gras poster sold for the highest bid and a CSA produce half share from Waterbear Organic Mountain Farm got the most bids of the evening.
Spoon Fight, a band made up of Blue Mountain School alumni, Isaac Wright, Jake Thomas and Luke Thomas, drew a following of young music lovers and dancers. Other featured musical entertainment was provided by Wild Life, and the Floyd Funkstars. A Cajun menu was prepared by the Dogtown Roadhouse crew.
Last year’s Mardi Gras King and Queen, Tom Ryan and Pat Sharkey, passed on their crowns to Luke Staengl and Ellen Wright. Staengl is a Blue Mountain School founder, a current board member and a long time supporter of school. Wright, who manages Floyd Fitness Center, sold the most tickets to the event.
“It was a good turnout for a rainy night,” said event organizer and Blue Mountain School teacher Jamie Reygle. “Everybody loved it. I’ve got nothing but positive feedback.” Reygle, who is already thinking about next year’s show, estimated that ticket sales and auction items raised between $3,000 and $3,500 for the school. ~ Colleen Redman
Note: Girl’s costume contest in which each contestant performed a short dance to the Floyd Funkstars is HERE. More photos HERE.
~ Colleen Redman blogs daily at looseleafnotes.com. The above also appeared in The Floyd Press on 3/10/2011.
By Colleen Redman
looseleafnotes.com
About 40 people attended an informational meeting Thursday night at the Floyd Country Store to learn more about an organized campaign to mine uranium in Virginia.
Up until now uranium mining in the U.S. has been limited to dry and lightly populated places out west, but, with the price of uranium on the rise, a Canadian backed company, a landowner and other investors are intent on bringing it to the east, and specifically to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Before that can happen a uranium mining moratorium that dates back to 1982 must be lifted.
A group of organizers in support of the mining moratorium traveled from Pittsylvania County (about 75 miles east of Floyd) to facilitate the meeting. Deborah Lovelace, founder of the nonprofit League of Individuals for the Environment (LIFE), gave a power point presentation, outlining the uses and hazards of uranium and the logistics of mining operations.
Uranium is a radioactive metal found in the ground that’s primarily used to make nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. It’s toxic to humans and the environment, explained Lovelace, whose mother’s family is from Floyd and whose husband’s family has been farming in Pittsylvania County for 10 generations.
“It takes 1,000 pounds of ore to produce one pound of uranium, which leaves 999 pounds of mill tailings. The mill tailings retain 85% of their toxic radioactivity for 300,000 years,” Lovlelace said. Exposure to uranium adversely affects the kidney, brain, liver and heart. Neurological, genetic, and reproductive systems are also damaged by exposure. Long term storage of uranium’s toxic waste is an ongoing issue.
Pittsylvania County resident Hunter Austin reported that uranium toxicity can enter a person’s dna and be passed down to future generations. “It has been studied. Everywhere they mine uranium they have had health problems within about a 50 mile radius,” he said. A Floyd resident commented that cancer and birth defects are up by 81% in Fallujah, Iraq, because of U.S. weapons made with depleted uranium.
Those in attendance learned that a uranium mining operation involves an open pit or underground mining, a pulverizing mill, and a chemical plant. Mining photos were shown and a United States Geological Survey map was displayed, highlighting potential uranium mining sites throughout rural Virginia and North Carolina and up and down the Blue Ridge.
Do we need uranium for energy? According to Lovelace’s research, the Department of Energy had begun selling excess uranium to friendly countries. “It’s stockpiled. We buy it from Russia to keep it out of the hands of unfriendly countries.” Of the 1,100 nuclear reactors in the world only 430 are used to generate electricity. Uranium provides about 4% of the world’s non-renewable energy, Lovelace stated.
The contamination of natural resources associated with mining was discussed. One Floyd resident with West Virginia ties referred to the mining companies as terrorists, saying “What do you call poisoning our water if it’s not terrorism? Mining has already ruined half the state of West Virginia and the mining companies have taken no responsibility.”
Other frustrations raised by the group included the lack of home insurance coverage for radiation contamination or damage due to mine blasting, and the cost to taxpayers for radioactive clean up and storage.
Several studies are underway that need to be completed and reviewed before the decision about the mining moratorium will be ruled on by the General Assembly. One study is being funded by Virginia Beach due to the possibility that the city’s water supply will be adversely impacted by mining. Another study is being funded by Virginia Uranium Inc., the company seeking to mine. Organizers reported that Virginia Uranium Inc. is well funded and politically connected, which increases the possibility that the moratorium will be lifted. An estimated 110 million pounds of uranium worth almost $10 billion dollars (as reported by the Washington Post) is at stake for the mining backers.
Several people expressed concern that if the moratorium is lifted it will open the door to uranium mining all over Virginia. “If it’s lifted and they go after Pittsyvania County, it’s going to ruin everything around,” Austin said. Exploratory drilling in Pittsylvania County is already underway.
“There were 62,000 acres of Virginia land leased in 1980’s and 42,000 of those were in Pittsylvania County,” said Danville resident Karen Maute. Maute reported that uranium leases were sought in Floyd County back in the 70’s. She suggested the county pass a resolution banning uranium mining and mentioned that zoning laws can also be a tool to keep mining out of the county.
Lovelace suggested that concerned citizens educate themselves and write, call or email their local, state and federal representatives. “I’m not anti anything. I’m pro keeping the moratorium in place,” she concluded. ~ Colleen Redman
Notes: The public is invited to a follow-up meeting to strategize ways of improving public awareness about uranium mining and keeping the Virginal mining moratorium in place. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday February 8th from 7 to 9 pm at the Floyd library. This article also appeared in the Floyd Press on January 6, 2011.
By Colleen Redman
looseleafnotes.com
“He’s creating quite a buzz around here,” said Floyd Country Store owner Woody Crenshaw about renowned author and beekeeper Gunther Hauk.
Hauk, who heads up the Spikenard Farm and Honeybee Sanctuary in Floyd, spoke to a group of about 100 people at the Country Store Saturday night about Colony Collapse Disorder, a global crisis in which large numbers of honeybees are disappearing from their hives.
The event, which featured the screening of a film titled “Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?” was hosted by SustainFloyd. “You can’t think about sustainability without thinking about the honeybee,” Hauk, one of the beekeepers featured in the film said. “We are losing approximately 1/3 of our honeybee colonies every year, and we have to import 300 to 400 thousand from Australia each February to guarantee pollination on the west coast.” Pollination is the foundation of our food supply with honeybees pollinating about 40% of the food we eat.
Beautifully filmed in places around the world, Queen of the Sun is a life affirming film that features interviews with biologists, philosophers, historians, and beekeepers who speak with a sense of poetic wonder about honeybees, which have been revered as sacred since ancient times. Biodynamic, organic and commercial beekeepers are interviewed, along with city rooftop beekeepers, a 16 year old beekeeper in England and beekeepers from Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and the United States who are dedicated to sustainable beekeeping practices.
Along with footage of beekeeping and information about the healing properties of honey and the life of a honeybee, documentary filmmakers Taggert Siegel and John Betz take audiences to a Beekeepers Ball, a protest march for the legalization of beekeeping in New York City, and a play with an actress playing the role of a Queen Bee in a cage, which the playwright referred to a symbol of the soul of the world in a cage.
The film presents a combination of factors thought to be contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder, including aggressive mechanized practices in the beekeeping industry, the increasing use of pesticide spraying, mono-crop factory farming, and the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMO) into our food supply, all of which stress colonization and weaken the immune systems of honeybees and other pollinating insects, inviting a host of diseases and disorders to take hold.
Questions from the audience following the screening included one about the best time of the year to collect a swarm. “The end of April, through May and into early June,” Hauk answered. A question about the role of mites in Colony Collapse Disorder was also posed. Artificially controlling nature has a price and treating hives with chemicals is not a long term solution, Hauk pointed out. Expecting science to solve the problems of viruses and infestations with chemicals is “like saying I got sick from bad nutrition and I’m going to get better with bad nutrition.”
Loss of habitat is as an increasingly pressing issue for honeybees and many other species. With the goal of keeping the honeybee from becoming extinct, which is a real danger, Spikeard Farm is focused on research and education. One project the farm is hoping to pursue is planting more flowers on the Blue Ridge Parkway for the bees.
Although the disappearance of honeybees is alarming, Hauk believes that a crisis is an opportunity for learning. “More and more people are becoming interested. Honeybee sanctuaries are springing up everywhere. I’ll have hope till the last day and the last plant,” he said.
Notes:
A video of the evening is available HERE and another video featuring Hauke is HERE.
This article also appeared in the Floyd Press on January 6, 2011
By Fred First
We hardly need more reasons—as children or adults—to put technology, crowds, and hurry behind us and go more often to the woods. We sense a stroll in the forest is somehow good for us, and more and more, we’re learning why that is so. 
If we will submit to it, our rhythms change in a natural place free of man’s doing. Rarely is anything urgent in nature as a day or a season unfolds. We sense that. No committees or ordinances are required for decay and growth, sunlight and shade, riffle and boulder and oak tree and beetle to do what it is they do as part of an ancient and resilient corporation called an ecosystem. We’re off the clock and not in control. We need not be, and can simply be.
In the economy of nature, everything is connected to everything else, a calming integrity difficult to know in our hurried, overloaded and superficial culture.
After some while in the forest or meadow or mountaintop, our internal clocks recalibrate; our rhythms and pace change. We open up to the outer world of nature that “just is”—before, beyond, and around us since the beginning. Our greatest thinkers have sought the solitude and re-creation of wilderness to find clarity and peace, and for some, to hear the voice of God.
In our suburbs and cities and shopping malls and private electronic experiences, we are aliens to nature’s healing solace and tranquility. Our children hear warnings of the dangers “out there”—lions and tigers and bears—oh MY! And poison ivy and snakes and ikky things. And yet…
The list of health benefits of being in natural areas includes positive changes for ADHD, asthma, depression, stress and improved immune function. The research support for this is broad and solid, and it is growing every year.
I recently learned that it might be more than just the sounds, smells and sensations of the woods that give us that sense of well-being we come home with. The Japanese are studying the effects of “forest bathing” (Shinrin-yoku)
which is not what it sounds like. Forest immersion might be a better English translation. There is something in the air breathed out by the trees.
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