“It’s a serene, beautiful place,” says Hatton Ferry pole man Ashley Pillar.
FILE PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

For nearly 140 years the Hatton Ferry has been taking passengers across the James River near Scottsville, but unless local government or private funds can be raised by the end of the year, it’s curtains for America’s last remaining pole-driven ferry.

Although the historic ferry was rebuilt twice, once after it was destroyed by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, and again after a record flood in 1985, it’s finally being done in by the Virginia Department of Transportation’s multi-billion dollar budget shortfall, which has already claimed over 600 jobs and 19 highway rest stops.

“Despite the national attention in September, VDOT doesn’t want to save it,” says Steven Meeks, president of the Charlottesville Albemarle Historical Society, who had (more)

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Jackson Landers, who teaches a deer hunting course for foodies, says he wants to create a “new breed” of hunter in Virginia.
PHOTO COURTESY JACKSON LANDERS

Back in July, avid hunter Jackson Landers wondered on his blog if anyone would be interested in a semi-formal class on how to deer hunt from a locavore’s perspective. After all, what better way to eat local than to hunt for your own food? Of course, it’s hard to imagine local foodies more accustomed to shouldering a tote bag at the farmers market than a .30-‘06 through the woods in camouflage gear actually shooting and gutting a deer, but Landers says the response was immediate.

Landers, a broker with Landers Underwriting, was bombarded with emails showing interest in the class, from people as far away as San Francisco, which forced him to limit the class size. Today, he says he has about 10 people taking his class, which is in its fourth week.

“The curriculum that I’m teaching is largely a natural sciences approach rather than coming from (more)

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On Saturday, October 17 award-winning Keswick Vineyards is having its first-ever “Lucy-style” grape stomping event, inspired by the famous “I love Lucy” episode in which Lucille Ball makes a mess of things in an Italian grape vat. In fact, the folks at Keswick are encouraging you to dress up as Lucy by offering a 5 percent discount on wines if you do. There’ll also be a “best Lucy” costume contest, with prizes for the best female and male impersonations.

Sounds like a grape stompin’ good time, with music provided by Rock River Gypsies. The cost in $25 per person, which includes a glass of wine and the chance to get your feet sloppy. You may have to join Keswick’s Wine Club for this, but hey, its free. Call 434-244-3341 for more information.

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It may be getting chilly, but don’t forget the Charlottesville City Market is still open. In fact, while the Market typically runs from April through October, this year the season has been extended to November 21. Also, the Charlottesville Holiday Market, which begins November 28, has been moved to the Market location in the Water Street parking lot. While current hours are every Saturday from 8am to Noon, November hours will be 8am to 2pm. So get on down there for fresh produce, crafts, herbs, meats, and baked goods before the season ends!

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Crews were busy this morning laying the foundation for Forest Hills Park’s new “sprayground.”
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

After years of discussions and planning, major improvements to Forest Hills Park, located off Cherry Avenue, are finally becoming a reality. The $1.2 million project was put on hold by City Council last fall, due to budget concerns, but according to Parks & Rec director Brian Daly they were able to piece together funding earlier this year to update the 7.35-acre neighborhood park, the first such improvements in over half a century.

Indeed, Daly says the park’s existing wading pool, which will be replaced with a fancy new “sprayground,” is over 50 years old. The last major renovation of a city park was McGuffey Park, the little 1.1-acre park and playground next door to the McGuffey Art Center on Second Street NW. That park improvement cost the city $400,000 (the total cost of the project, thanks to $300,000 in private donations, was (more)

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Students cooking up pancakes at the 2006 event.

FILE PHOTO BY BILLY HUNT

On October 10 you won’t want to miss the fifth annual Pancakes for Parkinson’s breakfast on the Lawn at UVA, where students flip thousands of flapjacks to raise funds for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Founded in 2004, the event has raised nearly $100,000 for the Foundation. This year’s breakfast will take place before UVA’s Homecoming football game against Indiana University, so organizers are hoping for a big turnout. So you better get there early if you want some pancakes, especially those chocolate chip ones. The breakfast is free, but donations are strongly encouraged.

According to a statement released by organizers, over five million people worldwide are living with Parkinson’s disease— a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder whose symptoms typically progress from mild tremors to complete physical incapacitation. There is no known cure, and current treatments mask symptoms but do not alter or slow disease progression. In the United States, 60,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year alone.

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Pointing to big rocks that have tumbled onto his property, Maupin fears the mountain could slide.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

With rocks already starting to slide down terrain so steep it’s easier to climb than walk, a man who survived mountain-ripping Hurricane Camille 40 years ago now worries that a neighbor’s logging project could do what Camille couldn’t: bring the surface of Dudley Mountain crashing down through his home.

“When I see this,” he says gesturing to the logged property above him, “I get irked.”

Maupin says he’s worried— especially with hurricane season here— that a severe rain could cause cause the felled forest above him to liquefy, as happened in Nelson County during the 1969 mega-storm that killed 126 people.

And Maupin’s further irked at what he calls a “lackadasical” attitude by the county and the forestry department in enforcing laws about logging and land clearing, and he says that (more)

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On Saturday, September 26 there’s a fun and food filled event happening at Green Acres Lake in Stanardsville, the Green Acres Lake Festival.

According to organizers, the event will feature live music all day with Ice House Road, Country Poor Bluegrass, and Burntmill Band, with a “little local hootenanny in between.” There’ll be kayaks and canoes (courtesy of Blue Ridge Mountain Sports) to take out on the lake, games on the beach for all ages, a kids fishing tournament, arts and crafts, a big flea market, loads of raffles, and plenty of good festival food.

The event is a benefit for the Greene Acres Property Owners Association to thwart mosquito infestation of their lake. Last year, the dam there sprang a leak and they had to drain it for repair, which drained the fish population. Now they want to restock it to ensure that it has a healthy ecosystem, which means plenty of fish next year to eat all the mosquito larvae. You can go the Greene Acres website to find out more.

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UVA’s Lambeth Field area was the site of the aggressive fox attacks on August 26.
PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

It turns out that the little grey fox captured and sacrified for a rabies test died in vain, as the test that claimed its life appears, according to published statements from a health official, unable to provide a clean bill of health.

“It was a decision that was not really made rationally,” says local wildlife author Marlene Condon. “Just because it was the first fox to get into that cage doesn’t mean you can condemn to death without having good reason to do so.”

Statements by Dr. Lilian Peake, director of the state Health Department’s Thomas Jefferson District, indeed suggest that if the test were to help the bite victims or provide firm evidence about the absence of rabies, than it was as doomed as the captured animal.

Peake was quoted in a Daily Progress story after the fox’s death as saying that (more)

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Despite healthy-looking fur, the grey fox captured on Wednesday was euthanized.

After UVA’s recent bout of small mammalian terror, in which two students were bitten and a sweater was swiped, both the university and Charlottesville community can safely say they’ve seen an animal reined in as officials announced the capture and subsequent euthanization of a fox Wednesday. But was it justice? The capture has some people questioning the actions as rash and cruel, and wondering if it was the right fox— or merely an innocent animal unjustly handed a death sentence.

“It’s a shame to kill this animal to make it look like the authorities are doing something to protect the public,” says Crozet nature writer Marlene Condon, who was horrified (more)

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