Crazy Fun
Article By: Paul Long Photos By: Josh Triggs Ask the thousands of children who flock to the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum each year what they like most about it, and you’re likely to get a variety of answers. But most of their responses will probably have one common theme: It’s just a crazy amount of fun packed into one place. From Star Wars- and Harry Potterthemed programs and exhibits to general zaniness, there’s a little something for everyone at the museum. But parents and teachers alike can rest assured: It’s not just fun, it’s educational, too. According to Ryan Hall, the museum’s coordinator of marketing and membership, the common thread connecting all programs is that they feature a hands-on, educational base. This includes adult-oriented events such as jazz night and Star Wars night as well as a wide array of children’s activities. “Education is changing all the time,” said Hall, “so we have to be adaptive to changing themes.” Sometimes, he added, children put the exhibits to use in unexpected ways. For example, some have made paper airplanes and flown them into the museum’s Bernoulli blower, a device which uses fast-moving air to keep objects suspended in flight. The museum opened in 1993 on Loudoun Street in Old Town Winchester and moved around the corner to Cork Street in May 2014. Today there are 17 employees, including six who work there full-time. “We outgrew (the old location) and we wanted to provide more to the community,” said Ryan Hall, the museum’s coordinator of marketing and membership. With the move to Cork Street, the museum tripled in size. It now has 20,000 square feet of space on four floors and, according to Hall, much more natural light than it had at the old location. The move has certainly paid off; 71,000 people visited the museum in 2016, according to Hall. “It’s been a significant change for us,” he said. The fourth floor of the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum is its rooftop and contains outdoor exhibits like a Virginia native plant garden, which hosts programs with the Blandy Experimental Farm and several area garden clubs. The museum also offers bowling and giant chess on the fourth floor, and a special indoor area on the rooftop features a musical floor on which movement creates sounds ranging from classical music to crazy sounds. Perhaps the museum’s most popular exhibit, the apple picking shed, is a nod to the Shenandoah Valley’s rich apple producing heritage. While many kids may see it as just another way to have fun, the shed is really a lesson in simple machines, complete with levers, pulleys, cranks and...
Make Nest – Nestology
Article By: Paul Long Photos By: Josh Triggs Do you ever get the feeling that you’re stuck in a rut? Do you ever look around your home or, perhaps, your business and feel like you’re ready for a whole new look? Whether you just want to make a few cosmetic changes here and there, or even if you’re considering something completely different, chances are MakeNest Interiors can help. This design studio, located in the heart of Old Town Winchester, has been making dreams come true for residential and commercial clients for more than a decade now. “The most rewarding aspect of what we do is the sense of giving people a sense of excitement to come home again,” said MakeNest owner and designer Paul Miller. Miller owns the business along with his husband, Edgar McKee, who serves as a silent partner. Miller is a native of Front Royal while McKee is a native of Augusta, W.Va. Miller launched his design career in 2000, mentoring under Winchester-area designer Deborah Langfitt. He opened MakeNest Interiors in 2004 in Old Town, just a few doors down from his current location at 1 S. Loudoun St. Today the business has three employees in addition to Miller. Miller said he couldn’t be happier to be a part of the downtown Winchester business community. He chose Old Town for his studio because “I really wanted people to feel like the business is part of the community. I didn’t want a strip mall feel.” Miller sometimes spends almost as much time outside the store, meeting with customers and working on projects, as he does in the store. The showroom essentially functions as a place where clients and potential clients can see what might be possible. Miller is a strong advocate of using American-made materials for his projects whenever possible. He is also a big fan of sustainability, and, with that in mind, the wood he uses is sustainably forested. If a project has a vintage theme, its materials are re-used. Occasionally, Miller said, he will incorporate foreign-made goods into a design, but when he does, it must be indigenous to a certain part of the world and fit into a certain theme; for example, he might include Nicaraguan pottery in a project with a Central American theme. Miller said he works with local contractors on construction, painting and design aspects of a project. For Miller and his clients, the design process begins with a simple survey that allows him to gauge the client’s likes and dislikes. From there, they get together for a 30-minute appointment in the MakeNest studio. If they’re still on the same page...
Make A Wish – Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia
Article By: Tula Mason Wishes, it doesn’t matter how old you are, we all have them. All be it everyone’s wishes are important, none are more so than the children who are fighting life-threatening diseases. I have no doubt that all of you would love nothing more than to help make their wishes a reality. What could be more rewarding than to lend loving support to these children and their families, not to mention helping to provide a much-needed bright spot in an otherwise dark period in their lives? I’m sure that you have all heard of the Make-A-Wish Foundation at some time or another. This organization was founded in 1980 and began getting its first media coverage in 1982 by way of the TV show NBC Magazine. The National Make-A-Wish Foundation became incorporated in May of 1983 spawning the opening of more chapters across the nation. To date the foundation has granted the wishes of more than 270,000 children across the United States. The question is, did you know that we actually have a local chapter that serves the children of Pennsylvania and Northern West Virginia? The Make-A-Wish Chapter of Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia has served our area for 33 years. They have granted wishes to over 17,000 children with life threatening medical conditions spanning 57 Pennsylvania counties and West Virginia. It may come as a shock to you to find out that our very own Berkeley County in West Virginia is the number one area in the Eastern Panhandle in terms of requested wishes with Jefferson County running a close second. I found this to be not only surprising, but also quite a staggering number as well. In fact, with the total number of granted wishes totaling over 165 to date over the organizations 33 years, 10 wishes were granted to children from Berkeley County in 2016 alone. Furthermore, there are an additional 9 wishes from the county that have been requested and are currently pending in 2017 already. As sad as these numbers are, it makes me so proud to know that there are people willing to give of themselves and their money for our children who need help the most. It is important to note that our Make-A-Wish Chapter of Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia relies solely on us the community to refer children with life threatening diseases to them in order to make their wishes come true. It is equally as important to note that permission from the child’s parent or guardian is required before any action can be taken. So if you know of any child or family of a child in...
A Tradition at Royalicious
Article By: Paul Long Photos By: Josh Triggs Tradition counts for a lot at Royalicious Bagel Bakery and New York Style Deli. The family-owned business, located at 126 Patrick Henry Way in Charles Town, traces its roots through several generations of the Costantino family, which came to Jefferson County from New York City by way of Germantown, Md. Owner John Costantino opened the shop in 2011 with the help of his wife, Cookie, and daughter Jackie. Following Cookie’s death about two years ago, Jackie became co-owner of the shop. The Costantinos are of Russian Jewish and Sicilian descent. Their ancestors came to America through Ellis Island and settled in New York, where John’s grandfather and father operated family owned bakeries. John is originally from Queens and operated his own bakery and deli on Long Island for several years. He sold the business before making the move to Germantown in 1992. There, he owned the Royal Bagel Bakery and Deli for approximately two decades before deciding to sell it. The family was living in Jefferson, Md., and John and Cookie were doing a lot of traveling until Cookie and Jackie persuaded John to open up a location closer to home. Weary of the nearly 30- mile drive to Germantown, he agreed, and soon chose Charles Town for the new business, cutting nearly 10 miles off his daily commute. The daily drive became even shorter a year later when, about a year after the Royalicious Bagel Bakery and New York Style Deli opened its doors in Charles Town, the Costantino family made the move to Charles Town. John said he enjoys the much shorter drive to work each day. “I like it here,” he said recently, explaining that the move from New York to Germantown was a big change, and while Germantown’s population exploded, Charles Town has maintained its small town character. Royalicious Bagel Bakery and New York Style Deli makes its products fresh on the premises each day. In addition to bagels, served with cream cheese, the shop offers desserts, baked goods, New Yorkstyle hard rolls and subs and sandwiches made with Boars Head cold cuts, a staple of many New York delicatessens. The bakery also sells hard, crunchy, old-style Italian bread and New York-style hard rolls. The shop also offers catering ranging from Sunday morning bagel and pastry deliveries to graduation parties, office meetings and even baby namings, according to its website. For the benefit of Eastern Panhandle residents heading to work in Washington, D.C., or, perhaps, to jobs a little closer to home, the Royalicious Bagel Bakery and New York Style Deli opens its doors at 6 a.m....
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