Valley Homes & Style Magazine | February – March 2018 Edition
February – March 2018 Edition
Healing Through Art
Article By: M.T. Decker One of the most devastating sentences a woman or man can hear is “You have cancer.” It’s the start of a shocking roller coaster ride that can leave anyone reeling. Your life can become wrapped around that diagnosis. Treatment options, surgery, chemo, radiation; facing the options can seem worse than the diagnosis. Then there is the treatment itself. It’s a battle that is lived, and your life becomes all about the struggle. In the case of breast cancer, a mastectomy is often necessary, adding physical alterations along with the chemical ones. As one breast cancer survivor said, “The first thing people do when they discover that you’re a breast cancer survivor is they look at your chest. I mean, they just do! Like, “Oh, I see you still have two!” or “Oh gee, you have part of one,” or whatever. It can’t be helped; that’s just what you do, you look.” The Bodice Project has its roots in breast cancer awareness, but it has become something so much more. Working with Identity Crisis, a nonprofit organization that benefits Breast Cancer Awareness – Cumberland Valley (BCA-CV)— the original idea was to put a half silhouette or mannequin in each shop window in Shepherdstown, WV, each representing a breast cancer survivor. Cynthia Fraula-Hahn wanted to do something meaningful and artistic for her best friend from childhood who’d just diagnosed with breast cancer. Since she was a painter, she decided she would use plaster embedded gauze to wrap breast cancer survivors’ torsos. Then each one was painted to represent the essence of these women and men who bravely volunteered for this project. The concept was to show the reality and diversity of what breast cancer looks like, in a manner that sensitively honors each survivor through the visual arts. During the process, her friend said something that to this day sense shivers up Cynthia’s spine. She told Cynthia that going through the process of being wrapped, she no longer felt isolated and alone. It gave her a sense of community. As she began the project, she enlisted other artists in the Shepherdstown area to participate, all of whom said yes. By the end of the awareness campaign, they had amassed a significant amount of artwork displayed in storefront windows in Shepherdstown. Since the results were displayed separately, Cynthia was curious to see how they would look all together. Her curiosity was answered when they were invited to exhibit all the work at the Hagerstown Community College’s art gallery. And the Bodice Project was born. “When you wrap someone, there is this connection between the artist and the survivor,”...
Working to keep customers healthy
Article By: Bonnie Williamson Photos By: Josh Triggs She considers herself to be a translator. No, she doesn’t work for the United Nations or for an embassy in Washington, DC. Kristine Knott, the owner of Shepherdstown Pharmacy in Shepherdstown, WV, says she works to translate what doctors say or fail to say to their patients. Knott, who technically is Dr. Knott having earned her Doctorate of Pharmacy Degree from West Virginia University in 2002, says doctors are sometimes too busy to talk to patients. “We are approachable and accessible to our customers,” Knott says. “We talk to them about their prescriptions. We also talk to doctors to make sure nothing is overlooked like allergies. It’s good to have several eyes, multiple checkpoints.” Knott even made sure the physical layout of the pharmacy was conducive to communicating with customers when she started the business in 2011 with husband Luke, who assists with bookkeeping and other duties as office manager. “We can all see people as soon as they come in,” Knott says. “My staff is within earshot of conversations. I’ll eavesdrop to make sure we know what’s going on at all times. It’s like an old-fashioned pharmacy. We know everyone and they know us. We’re nice to people, which is a dying service. We try to be like the traditional pharmacy people remember. We don’t have the soda fountain kind of counter, but we try for the same feeling.” Knott says the fact that many of her customers travel miles out of their way to come to her pharmacy attests to the quality of work the pharmacy offers. “We get them their prescriptions in a timely manner, as well as making sure those prescriptions are correct and customer questions are answered. We let people know when they are due for vaccinations, too,” Knott says. Shepherdstown Pharmacy also offers its customers a variety of medical equipment supplies other pharmacies don’t such as knee braces, wheelchairs, canes, walkers or blood pressure monitors. The staff will assist customers in picking out the right product, as well as helping customers use products like nebulizers, a drug delivery device. Knott says her pharmacy is also the only one in the area that carries shoes for diabetics. “The shoes have special inserts that prevent slippage and wider toes,” Knott says. The pharmacy is a Diabetes Specialized Care Center. Staff can provide extensive training, expertise and the tools necessary for diabetic patients. Most major insurance carriers and government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid are billed for the service. The pharmacy carries a wide range of meters and other diabetes supplies with varying technology levels. Staff can...
Quality Is the Key to Delicious Dishes
Article By: Paul Long Photos By: Josh Triggs First-time visitors to the Red Fox Creamery might have a difficult time believing the popular ice cream parlor has only been in Old Town Winchester for a little more than seven years. Since opening her doors in December 2010, owner Kathy Puffinburger has seen her business quickly grow into one of the most popular destinations in town, developing a loyal following typically associated with establishments that have been here for decades. They come for Red Fox’s signature homemade ice cream cones, shakes, malts and sundaes, but they’re also drawn by the restaurant’s lunch menu, which features sandwiches, soups, salads and chili. And, for those in the mood for something that’s sweet but not necessarily cold, Red Fox Creamery offers home-baked brownies, cookies, cakes and pies. Puffinburger is flexible when it comes to her customers’ requests. “You tell us what you want,” she says, “and we’ll make it for you.” During the winter months when foot traffic on the downtown walking mall is often scarce, Red Fox might see 40 or 50 customers per day. During the warmer months, though, it’s a different story. “In the summer, if we get fewer than 200 people in a day, I’m shocked,” Puffinburger says. Nearly 15 years ago, Puffinburger was an accountant before deciding to go into business for herself. Though she lived in Winchester at the time, she had passed through the Loudoun County town of Middleburg several times and thought it would be a good place to set up shop. She started out selling Virginia-themed items. She soon began offering Hershey’s ice cream before shifting her focus to a homemade product. Despite its small size, Middleburg boasts a thriving business community. When she was there, Puffinburger said, there were 16 different places where someone could grab lunch. It was expensive, too. She was paying $3,100 a month in rent, which contributed to her decision to close up shop in 2008 and open a production facility on Cameron Street in Winchester. Now, she was paying just $500 a month in rent. She and her son and business partner, Brian Lewis, were bringing an ice cream trailer to numerous fairs and festivals throughout the area. Still, Puffinburger missed having a store where she could interact with her customers on a daily basis, so she opened Red Fox Creamery at 130 N. Loudoun St. in December 2010. It didn’t take more than a couple of months, she says, for the legal community and other downtown professionals to start showing up on a regular basis. In April 2012, she moved a few doors down the walking mall...
Farm Fresh Food All Year: A Fresh Idea
Article By: Lisa Wood Photos By: Josh Triggs Bushel and Peck, a new, farmer-focused supermarket in Charles Town, WV, makes it easier to know where your food comes from while continuing to enjoy fresh items all year long. Just like the organic craze, this is legitimately a “thing” now, and with the influx of documentaries lamenting the unsavory practices that can occur with the production of produce, grains, meat, and dairy items before they reach our dinner plates, a supermarket of this caliber is a welcomed sight. What makes Bushel and Peck’s charter all the more refreshing is that the owners only stock items from local farmers and distributors. This dedication to the prosperity of the people in the area impacts the local economy in a big way. Stocking food from farmers that practice ethical methods allows health-conscious shoppers to believe in the quality of their food again. It’s a win-win in every sense of the term. There’s something to be said about being able to ask from which farm food items were sourced and get a location that is no more than 60 miles away. It harkens to times past, when the milkman delivered fresh pints twice a week. For Todd Coyle, a member of the Jefferson Gap Coalition, which oversees Bushel and Peck, it’s a dream come true. It all started with a farmers market – the Charles Town Farmer’s Market, to be exact. This community staple, which boasts up to 45 vendors every season, services the community with very much the same principles that Bushel and Peck does. The farmers and artisans who participate are local to the area and believe in providing the customers that attended the event with natural products that were cultivated organically. The problem is that when the weather breaks and the outdoor activity season is over, access to so many local vendors in one place is gone. This not only impacts the people who enjoy the products they can find in the grassroots setting that they were unable to find in their supermarket, but also the farmers that participate, from both an economic and distribution perspective. Bushel and Peck changes that. Now people will have access to fresh, locally grown foods from accessible farmers year-round, not just from April to October. Subsequently, these farmers will be able to service the community throughout the year and remain solvent through the winter months, positively impacting their personal financial position and the local economy. Todd Coyle and Fiona Harrison were on the board that supports the farmers market. The time dedicated to the effort helped them to understand what it took to create a...
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