It’s a Classic: The Staunton Music Festival
by Fred Wish The city of Staunton, Virginia is known as a hub for all sorts of music. Bluegrass, jazz, blues and rock ‘n’ roll have found a home in the clubs, restaurants and backyard jam sessions in this city of 23,000 nestled in the central Shenandoah Valley among the foothills of the Blue Ridge. With all the contemporary music available in Staunton, it may be surprising to some that a standout event of the year is the Staunton Music Festival’s summer celebration of the form generally known as classical music – although present-day composers also attract enthusiastic fans. 2014 marks the 17th annual gathering of world-class vocalists and instrumental performers for 10 days of the best in traditional and modern chamber music. The Summer Festival began as a modest gathering of a handful of musicians, mainly music instructors and professors from nearby colleges, who gathered for a weekend of community concerts, a project brought to life by noted harpsichordist Carsten Schmidt. The following year, a few more musicians joined in and a few more music lovers showed up to listen to and discover chamber music. Thanks to the quality of the music and the efforts of Schmidt, the festival’s Artistic Director, along with Executive Director and music historian Jason Stell and a dedicated group of Staunton Music Festival members and volunteers, the festival has expanded to its present form. This year’s festival runs from August 15 through the 24th and features performances in several venues scattered through Staunton’s historic downtown area. Notable among them are the Trinity Episcopal Church, which was built in 1855 and houses a Taylor and Boody organ, and the Blackfriars Playhouse, the only replica of the London theater famed for serving as an indoor theatrical home to William Shakespeare’s acting company. Other venues for this year’s festival include Central United Methodist Church, and Hunt Hall at Mary Baldwin College. Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church is the only location outside the downtown area and will be the site of a noontime organ recital played on that church’s own magnificent Taylor and Boody organ. The Summer Festival attracts performers from all over the world, thanks in large measure to Schmidt, whose professional travels put him in the company of musicians with the talent and team spirit to match the needs of the festival. Of the more than 60 musicians who will gather in Staunton, fully two-thirds come from outside Virginia, with many European and Canadian participants. Kathy Moore, who is handling public relations for the 2014 Summer Festival, says one reason for its success is that the festival is truly “rooted in the community.” Local residents host...
Winchester Dental Spa
Helping people fall in love with their smiles by Sasha Braithwaite photos by Monika Wertman For some, it is a normal appointment done at least twice a year. For others, it is a necessary evil. Going to the dentist has haunted many people since childhood, and it has the ability to unnerve the bravest person. However, it does not have to be that way. Dr. Tammie Miller, at Winchester Dental Spa, has centered her entire practice around not only the best care for her patients, but also ensuring that they can take a situation that is daunting for many and turn it into time well spent. Winchester Dental Spa opened in May 2014 and has already made an impressive debut with its state-ofthe-art offers and equipment. Dr. Miller, who has been in practice for 18 years, recognized that many of her patients were afraid of going to the dentist for one reason or another. She had moved her practice from Stephens City, Va., to Winchester, Va., and wanted to bring a new concept with her. She and her husband Jackie, the spa’s business manager, made it a joint effort and created a well-developed establishment that would cater to patients’ needs while striving to enhance their overall experience. “I wanted to gear it towards relaxation because a lot of people, when they come to the dentist, are really afraid, so I wanted to try to help them relax as much as I could,” Dr. Miller says. At the front of the office is a seating area decorated unlike any dentist office most have ever seen. Beautiful wood paneling fills the entire building, and professional-quality pictures taken by some of her employees are sprinkled throughout the rooms. There is a mini fridge of drinks, and cookies are baked fresh daily for patients. There are flat screen TVs in each room so the patients can watch whatever they would like, and there is also a massage chair for customer use that completely engulfs and thoroughly massages the body. And for many patients, the most important benefit is that Dr. Miller often uses a painless laser in many of her procedures. There are even more spa-like services offered, but the best part is that all of these features are complimentary of Dr. Miller. Most people see “spa” in the name and assume that procedures and visits would be even more expensive than a regular dental office. However, the prices are the same as they were when she had her practice in Stephens City before incorporating the spa aspect. “Everything is complimentary because she wants her customer to feel appreciated,” Jackie explains. “She goes...
The Purple Iris
A local hidden gem By Sasha Braithwaite photos by Monika Wertman Pulling into the Purple Iris with its 17 acres of beautifully landscaped property is enough to make any visitor forget that it is located just off of busy Route 11. A grand manor of stony structure serves as the pinnacle part of the property and gives the impression that visitors are about to encounter elegance and romantic gardens. A frame of woodlands encompasses the house and property, creating a secluded vestige of centuries past. Owners Daniel and Tiffany Harshbarger purchased the Purple Iris in March 2002. Both Daniel, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, and Tiffany had been involved in the restaurant industry since they were teenagers and were looking for an establishment to call their own. While the previous owners ran the Purple Iris mainly as a venue for weddings and events, the Harshbargers decided to not only let it continue that role, but they also expanded further, incorporating a restaurant on the second level of the house and catering on and off site. Originally named Hartwood Mansion, the house was built in 1929 as the private home of George Mulliss. He served as the vice president and director of operations at the Martinsburg mill of the Interwoven Stocking Company, the largest employer in Berkeley County during the Great Depression. According to the National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Hartwood was built and modeled after Georgian Revival Architecture and is still considered an architectural achievement in Berkeley County today. Georgian Revival, or Neo-Georgian Architecture, essentially means that the design of the home was created to look like a Georgian manor and seem older than it actually is in appearance. “It’s just magnificent—the architecture of the house,” Tiffany beams. “I never get tired of looking at it.” Known to be a wedding venue, the Purple Iris hosts an average of about 50 wedding receptions a year with 75 percent of them also being the wedding ceremony location. While their peak wedding season runs from April to October, winter weddings are not unheard of and are accommodated indoors. Almost every week the Purple Iris hosts some sort of special occasion, whether it be a major event, wedding ceremony or reception. There is a beautiful glass room adjacent to the house which seats 130 guests as well as large tent outside that holds about 220 guests. Inside are inviting rooms on the first floor where guests can mingle, get a drink from the mini bar and have designated gift and cake-cutting areas. In addition to the house, there are three rooms available for guests to...
Kitchen Kapers
14th Annual Kitchen Kapers Tour Five Fabulous Designer Kitchens by Maggie Wolff Peterson photos by Lauri Bridgeforth This will be the fourteenth year for Kitchen Kapers, a fundraiser that came about for Winchester’s Quota Club after one of its members attended a similar event in Ohio. This year’s event is Sunday, Sept. 21, from 1 to 5 p.m., and includes five designer kitchens. Each year, the club determines which non-profit organizations will receive the proceeds. This year’s Kitchen Kapers will benefit Special Love, an organization for children with cancer that organizes family events as well as Camp Fantastic, a summer camp in Front Royal, Va. Tickets for the event are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the event, and are available at Kimberly’s and Simply Charming in downtown Winchester, and The Daily Grind on Jubal Early Drive. Also, PayPal is an option. Click on www.winchester.quota.org. and follow the links. At each of the five houses on the tour, local vendors will offer a taste of their wares. These include Valerie Hill Winery in Stephens City, Va.; eM Restaurant in Old Town Winchester; The Cookie Guy in Berryville, Va., I.J. Cann’s in Winchester’s Creekside Station and Cajun Experience, the restaurant at the restored Taylor Hotel on Winchester’s Loudoun Street Mall. At each house, a door prize also will be awarded. Additionally, several retailers in Winchester have agreed to donate a portion of their receipts to Kitchen Kapers. “It’s a portion of their sales for a certain time in the day,” says Linda Vickers, event co-chair. “Whatever they sell, they give us a percentage.” Vickers, a Winchester native, says that finding houses to include in Kitchen Kapers means relying on referrals. “Word of mouth, and people I have met over the years,” says Vickers. 1. Niessner Kitchen When you’ve been in as many homes as Marty Niessner, you get a good idea of what you like. Niessner, principal of 41 Construction LLC in Winchester, has renovated a lot of kitchens. He’s torn down walls, constructed islands, installed countertops, hung lighting. He’s helped homeowners through the thicket of selecting which surfaces, appliances, flooring, fixtures and cabinetry makes the best sense for their aesthetic and budget. He’s seen drab kitchens become dramatic ones. So when he first laid eyes on the mid-century brick home in Winchester’s Whittier Acres (910 Isaac Street), he saw the bones of a good house. What he and his wife, Beth, have done with it goes beyond updating. The interior is now an architectural statement: an open floor plan on the main level that centers on a floating fireplace and focuses on the kitchen. The remodel took...
Through the Bedroom Door
by Lisa Bartell of Wisteria Cove Romantic Escape – Creating your dream bedroom This past year my husband and I started to have a “date night” every other weekend. It has strengthened our marriage and rekindled our relationship to the point where we sometimes feel like teenagers again. I think we all get into a slump or routine that married couples tend to get into: eat, sleep, work, run the kids to activities, repeat. Add to that paying the bills, grocery shopping and cleaning the house. I thought it was normal to lose the excited feeling you get like when you were first dating; that the next step was just to feel comfortable and content. Boy was I wrong. Date Night has made us both feel excited about each other again and we look forward to our time together alone. In between our dates we hold hands, send flirty text messages to each other and just make each other feel happier. I did some research on dating recently and sadly I found out that dating is starting to become a lost art form. Today single people tend to “hang out” instead of having a true date. If they do have a date, such as dinner, they are so wrapped up in their cell phones, texting and interacting on social media sights that they hardly pay attention to one another. Whatever happened to actually getting dressed up and looking good for one another like you did when you were dating? What about going to dinner or a movie or just holding hands and walking in the park? After rekindling our feelings of love and romance, I wanted to make our bedroom feel like a romantic escape. It’s not always possible due to time and finances to whisk off to a B & B or spa retreat. So I wanted us to feel when we walk into our bedroom and close the door we were in our own romantic hideaway. For years our room seemed to be the catch-all of the house from toys to magazines. It also houses my expensive European clothing rack — called a Nordic Trak (smile). It was high time to de clutter and make our room off limits to everyone else’s stuff. Tips on transforming your bedroom into a romantic escape Color palette They say that the colors red or purple bring out passion and romance and soft colors of blues and grays give you the feeling of relaxation and intimacy. So choose the color scheme that gives you the feelings you want to invoke. Use them on the walls, curtains and bed coverings. Make sure...
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