James River Runners Chili Cook-off

Perfect weather welcomed hordes of chili seekers at the 31st annual James River Runners Chili Cook-off on May 7, 2011. The event occurred at the River Runner’s picturesque base camp at Hatton Ferry, the location of the last pole operated ferry in America.

The event was an obvious success, with the campgrounds and parking lots full, while vigilant neighbors jealously barricaded their driveways from the revelers. $15 bought you a parking place, and a bowl and spoon, which the colorful contestants promised to fill with “ALL THE CHAMPIONSHIP CHILI YOU CAN EAT UNTIL CHILI RUNS OUT!”

The 25 chefs were vying for the $200 grand prize, but clearly all the effort was not done for the prize money. The Steve and Tim Ryalls Band provided spirited acoustic music that sometimes had to compete with the occasional freight train traversing the event.

The rules require that all chili is cooked on site. Contestants are judged on both taste and presentation. The winners? Chili lovers, and the beneficiary of this charity event, The Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad, which over the years has received $245,000 from this entertaining spring event. Paige Wilkes, part owner of James River Runners, said this year’s event raised over $12000, despite a somewhat smaller turnout.

Oh, and the contest winners this year:
1st Smokin’ Chicken Chili * (also the peoples choice award)

2nd Squeelin’ Pigs Chili
3rd White Lightnin’ * (my favorite, a corn chowder style chili)

Set Ups:
1st Giuseppes Italian Chili

2nd Slap Yo Mama Chili

3rd Dougs Maytag Chili (Made in a washing machine)

Rapture on Altamont Circle In Charlottesville ,Va

Apparently only one person in Charlottesville was found worthy on May 21, 2011.

The End Of The World May 21, 2011

Save The Date:

May 21, 2011 is The End of the World
Would Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio, lead you astray? ( His similar unfulfilled prediction on Sept. 6, 1994 must have been a misplaced decimal point or something.)
That’s right; you knew you had something else on your calendar this Saturday.

But not to worry, it is not until about 6pm, plenty of time to get those Saturday chores in. But why not make the afternoon special. I mean, the end of the world doesn’t happen everyday. And to help, Bucket List Inc. has put together some special deals that simply cannot be passed up.

The most expensive mushroom in the world is the white truffle. We are offering the worlds best for only $2700 per pound. And if you act now (for there is no time to lose) we will throw in expedited shipping from France for free. Put it on your credit card, what the hell.

And to wash it down, how about some Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque Blanc de Blanc, the most expensive champagne in the world. It is made of specially selected grapes, sold in manually painted bottles and we are bringing it to you for only $1,500. Pay nothing now, 12 easy payments.

If facing the end of the world call for something a little stronger, perhaps we can interest you in a bottle of Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac. It is aged for 100 years in barrels that were air dried for five years before use. The final product is 41% alcohol. The container is dipped in 24k gold and sterling platinum, the bottle was adorned with 6,500 brilliant cut diamonds by its designer, jeweler Jose Davalos. Only $2000000. Pay nothing until 2012!

Don’t fancy spending earths last day with you on it alone? Rent one of our high end escorts for only $10000 an hour. But act fast, supplies are limited*.

* Due to high demand, only 2 two a customer.

Call now, operators are standing by.

How To Keep Groundhogs Out Of Your Garden

How to keep Groundhogs, Raccoons, Possums and Rabbits out of your Garden


For years my urban garden has provided a free lunch for city varmints. None the less, we have been largely unsympathetic to the woes of our country cousins, whose plots are regularly ravaged by deer, and wither in times of drought. But get me started on ol’ Whistle Pig, you had better stand back.
We have hung reflectors, fired air rifles surreptitiously, and even fenced most of the yard. Like a scene from The Great Escape, the groundhogs seem to be able to fearlessly go over and under standard fencing. Last week I surveyed my flourishing lettuce, collards and cabbage, and found one of each was gone. As I watched the furry fat perp calmly waddle away, I briefly considered chemical warfare with poison. I then fantasized about deploying explosives, perhaps using “The Great Destroyer”, a commercially available anti-gopher smoke bomb, made of all three of the ingredients of gunpowder.
Realizing the neighbors might object to dead innocent bystanders, and swirling noxious clouds of smoke, I googled “electric fence”. There was a lot of speculation and conjecture, but no hard facts. Certainly, there were several products promising to keep pets and some pests out, but in an anonymous review of at least one product, two out of three rated them as junk. One person tried it, and reported that he thought it might be working, but still wasn’t sure.
The next day, there was more vegetable carnage. I rushed down to Tractor Supply, and impulsively purchased the Havahart® Battery Powered Garden Protection Kit. At $80, it was significantly less expensive than the other available units. At home, I opened the package. It contained all the materials needed to protect a small garden, including a ground rod, uprights, 250 feet of 17 gauge aluminum wire, an electric fence tester, and a warning sign. The fence energizer, powered only by 2 D cell batteries, claimed to be able to protect one mile of fence. Now I developed buyers regret. Its output seems to be only 800 volts, well below the usual agricultural electric fence voltage.
Set up was quick. I ran one wire 4 inches above the ground, another 8 inches.

When I accidentally touched the fence, I was again skeptical. Every second there was a perceptible, but not too unpleasant tingle. Realizing I had on rubber shoes, I experimentally stuck one finger in the ground, and then touched the fence. Zap! That was more like it! Then our dog contacted the wire. His loud, frightened yelps were music to my groundhog hating ears.
It has been two weeks. My garden is flourishing. Though I have yet to have the pleasure of seeing the groundhog contact the fence, I did notice an unusual sight next to the garden.

The desperate groundhog was 25 feet up an adjacent tree, no doubt plotting an aerial assault. If that’s the case, he had better realize I used to be pretty good at skeet. Pull!

The Last Tango In Charlottesville

Tango Fire: The Fire Within
The Last Tango in Charlottesville


My wife has always maintained that the world is ruled by money and sex. Money (in the form of my wife’s obsessive generosity to WHTJ and public television) got us in the front door of the sumptuous Paramount Theater. It was sex that kept us there for 2 hours Wednesday night.
It was there that the Tango Fire Company of Buenos Aires seductively danced onto the stage and performed their new show: Tango Inferno: The Fire Within.

No one knows for sure where the Tango got its name. But its place of origin is clear: the barrios, brothels, bars and dancehalls of Argentina. In the early 19th century, fortune seeking immigrants poured into Argentina. There, a dance evolved bourn of Spanish flamenco, with African influences. The men would dance the Tango together in all male practicas, perfecting their technique in order to attract the one woman for each seven men in Buenos Aires dance halls.

The Tango was scandalous, both in its lower class beginnings, and as perhaps only the third social dance where men and women actually embraced each other (the first being the Viennese waltz, followed by the Polka). None the less, by the first of the twentieth century, the dance had become a sensation in Europe. It was probably introduced there by wealthy Argentinean’s slumming sons, sent to the continent for higher education.
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The tango is always sensuous, then sinuous, then staccato, with dance periods of dominance and submission, all movement and teamwork, tension and perfection. The dictionary dryly defines it as “A Latin American ballroom dance in 2/4 or 4/4 time.” Others have tried capturing it’s essence in words. None have done it better than Comtesse Melanie de Pourtales, a famous Parisian socialite. On viewing the Tango for the first time in 1912, she purportedly said “Is one supposed to dance it standing up?".

Later, movie star Rudolph Valentino introduced the Tango to North America in the movie "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”, wearing gaucho style wide trousers and leather chaps, while holding a carnation in his mouth and a whip in his hand.

Other American Tango movies include "The Scent of a Woman", Madonna's "Evita" and "True Lies”.
And who could forget “Last Tango in Paris”, where an aging, dissolute Marlon Brando butters up 19 year old Maria Schneider. No one was dancing, but it was clear that Tango was a metaphor for careless copulation.
And shall we not forget “Dancing with the Stars“?

The Tango Fire Company of Buenos Aires was formed in 2005. Its web site says the show traces the roots of Tango, from its origins in the dance halls of Buenos Aires, to its rising popularity on the contemporary entertainment scene.

The clearly not sold out show opened to scarlet lit, sparsely furnished dancehall scene, with a lighted table and chairs downstage left and right, and the band in the center upstage. The dancers then reenacted with dance the flirtations, competitions, courtships, breakups, jealousy provoked fights and brawls that one would imaging occurring in early Argentina. The first act generally involved the dancers moving in unison as a team, accompanied by the lively band. There were dizzying costume changes, starting with the men in dark suits, reminiscent of Russian politicians, while the women were barely draped, with slit skirts.

The dances and costumes then evolved to the more modern bohemian: men in Gene Kellyesque open collar, short sleeved white shirts and black pants, women in sheer tights. The more jazz like, open form dance moves caused some in the audience to click fingers instead of clap in appreciation.

During the rather abrupt intermission, we retreated upstairs for reinforcing flutes of Champagne, and settled in for the second act. This time each of the five couples performed one after the other. The individual couples choreograph their own solos as is traditional in the world of Tango in Argentina.

The individual acts were punctuated by performances by the band, or the solo Tango singer Jesus Hidalgo. Jesus had an excellent voice, control and range. He obviously had a lot to say, but not knowing Spanish, I just didn’t get it.

The band was built in traditional Tango fashion, with piano, violin, double base and bandoneon. According to the Virginia Tech multimedia music dictionary, the bandoneon has the appearance of a square accordion, but plays more like a concertina. Although invented in Germany in the 1840’s, it quickly made its way to Argentina and became synonymous with the Argentine tango. To my musically untrained ear, it made them sound like a klezmer band. The double base player had an interesting style. He sat perched on a tall stool, plucking, slapping, but also bowing the bass. My wife’s more experienced musical ear had trouble differentiating between the various tunes they played.

My favorite female Tangoist was Yanina Fajar. She is listed on the Tango Inferno Web site as an original member, a Lead Dancer and Director of Choreography for the troup.

She seemed to have a stronger stage presence than the other women, who all looked like they needed a bigger meal allowance. Amongst the males, German Cornejo was a standout, both is his size and sheer physicality.

Not being a dancer, I would have appreciated a short, subtle example of unembellished Tango, so I could know what I was supposed to be watching for beneath the endless high kicks, flamboyant lifts, drops, axels, throws and slides. I kept waiting for the Zamboni.
At the end, the crowd grudgingly gave a standing ovation. The Fire Company responded with a quick encore, and we were done.







Afterwards, we walked home from the Paramount, through the light snow and cold streets of downtown Charlottesville. I realized that it was summertime in Argentina, with Carnival around the corner. Weather Underground informed me that tomorrows high there would be in the 80’s. Fortunately, the Tango Fire Company had given a satisfying show, and I seem to have been left with an afterglow. I’m betting tomorrow there will be a grand illumination of the phone lines at Terry Dean’s Dance Studio!

Wick Hunt

Surf City, , U.S.A. North Carolina Road Trip

Surf City, N.C, U.S.A.
And we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun
Ya, we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every boy Two girls for every boy



In 1963, Surf City became the first Surf song to hit number one. Sung by the duo Jan and Dean, it was written with the help of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. In 1991Dean helped the Huntington Beach City Council to officially brand the community as Surf City. Subsequently Santa Cruz, several hundred miles north, also established claim to Surf City, USA.

However, the only two cities actually called Surf City are on the east coast, one in New Jersey, established in 1899, and the real Surf City, in North Carolina, established later in 1949. However, unlike the song, in North Carolina, due to the proximity of the marine base in Camp Legeune, you are more likely to see two guys for every girl.


Surf City, North Carolina is a six hours and change drive from Charlottesville. To start a journey to the old southeastern beaches of North Carolina, one has to spend some time on America’s busiest highway: Interstate 95. It is a pretty sterile drive. I am eager to get to peel off at Wilson, and start the long diagonal trip across the North Carolina Piedmont into the Coastal Plain. And what’s not to like about Carolina’s 70mph speed limit, on four lane state highways that cut past picturesque farmland. Soon, I am crossing dark sluggish rivers and swamps. Here, tobacco and cotton are still sucking the life out of the pale, sandy soil. The soil gets partially renourished by the nitrogen replenishing root nodules of soybeans if the crops are rotated. Why still tobacco and cotton? Per acre tobacco yields $4000, cotton $530, corn $450, soybeans $315.
I travel through Kinston, and start approaching Jacksonville. You can tell you are approaching a military town when the pawn shops, “gentlemen’s clubs” and loan sharks equal the fast food joints. Things get interesting as you get past the city and start skirting the southern border of Camp Lejeune. Since September 1941, Camp Lejeune has been the home of “Expeditionary Forces in Readiness”, and throughout the years, it has become the home base for the II Marine Expeditionary Force, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Logistics Group and other combat units and support commands. It occupies 156,000 acres, with 11 miles of beach. It supports approximately 170,000 people. Route 17 travels mostly through scrub pine. Convoys travel past, with the trucks oddly armored against IED’s. Signs along the road warn of the potential for sudden obscuring smoke clouds, low flying aircraft, and loud explosions. Sadly, none occur.
Surf City is on Topsail Island, between North Topsail Beach, and to the south, Topsail Beach. To the north of the island is Camp Lejeune, then Emerald Isle. To the south are the beaches of Wrightsville, Carolina, Kure, Holden, and Sunset. These old southern beaches have familiar names and memories to one who has spent 59 summers vacationing on the NC coast.
Way back then you would pile in the back of a packed station wagon, between your sibs, luggage, groceries and beach toys. Then you are driven eight agonizingly boring hours down concrete highways, whose expansion joints would create a rhythmic repetitive thump-thump-thump against the retread tires, which were doomed to fail. Lunch and dinner came in a hamper, as there were no reliable places to eat, and heavens, who could afford the prices. The inevitable annual recriminations would explode from the front of the car as your parents discussed the wisdom of bypassing the previous gas station, as it turned out to likely be the last before running out, or arriving after the one station at the beach had closed at 5pm Friday for the weekend. Your father was relieved as he noted that the only telephone on the island, the payphone at the one store on the island, seemed operational. Military precision was required to empty the car’s encyclopedic contents into the cottage in the dark before everyone required a blood transfusion from the mosquitoes. And the wonder of the pre-development night sky.

The one meal eaten out if one was staying at the far southern beaches would have to happen at Calabash, hard on the border with South Carolina. This small town boasts that it is the “Seafood Capital of the World”. It now has a population of 1700, and by one count, one restaurant for every 10 residents. It started as rustic fish camps serving in the open the fresh catch from the nearby ships. It has become the name of a style of cooking, hard to define, easy to recognize. I say Calabash seafood means large portions of local fresh seafood that is lightly breaded in cornmeal, deep fried, and served immediately, usually with simple sides of hush puppies, coleslaw, and your choice of baked potato or fries. The restaurant should be open to the outside, cheap, and have a relaxed atmosphere.




To get to the island and Surf City, you cross the Inland Waterway on the “swing bridge”, which opens every hour to allow shipping to pass. The Inland Waterway was started in 1919 by the federal government buying up numerous private canals up and down the East and Gulf coasts, and linking them with new canals and channels behind the offshore islands. It proved its worth during World War Two, as coastal residents watched the horizon burn, witnessing the German U-boat’s Wolfpack sink 259 ships. And the coastal residents were almost the only to know, as it was felt this was too terrible a carnage for the public to be informed. But to the sailors, the waters off North Carolina became known as “Torpedo Junction”. The waterway was used to safely transport 90 million tons of vital supplies.

Surf City is on Topsail Island (pronounced topsul), between North Topsail Beach, and to the south, Topsail Beach. For those used to the Nags Head/ Kitty Hawk sprawl, Surf City will either be a pleasant surprise, or a disappointment. It is definitely a step back in beach time. There is only one obligatory Wings (hawking its hapless hermit crabs), and only one Hardee’s, Subway and Domino’s. The other roughly 20 restaurants are locally owned. There is one arcade, no golf, and no go carts.
In the center of town on the beach is the Surf City Ocean Pier, the last of three to survive the hurricanes. As with most piers, it has its own unique subculture, and is open 24 hours a day. It even has its own ten commandments of behavior on display at the entrance. One dedicated pier fisherman arrives early, pulling a cart piled with rods, tackle, coolers, bait, a loaf of wonder bread, a box of Krispy Kreme donuts, and a watermelon. All fishermen and women appear well nourished; the only svelte are the chain smokers. There is a four tiered hierarchy to pier life. The lowliest are those walking the pier for amusement. Next are the Bottom fishers, lining the pier. Ruling above these are the King fishers, occupying the tee shaped dais at the end of the pier. Ruling over all is “The Management”. I moved closer to read the second set of commandments governing the King Fishers domain and realized I was in violation. No one but King Fisherman may pass the white line separating the Bottom from King fisherman territory.

Catching King Mackerel is the primary game, but any large fish seems welcome to break the seemingly fruitless pursuit, though pictures in the office indicate fish are caught. Each King Fisherman has two rods. A long rod is used to throw a special anchoring weight attached to a sturdy line. A second shorter rod has a live fish hooked at the end of its line. This line is attached to the anchor line by a breakaway system. The bait fish enticingly swims on the surface, and when a large fish takes the bait, the bait line breaks free of the anchor line. You then only have to fight the weight of the fish. The various lines radiate out from the end of the pier like spoke in a wheel.
In times past you would expect to see only south eastern North Carolinian white folks on the pier, but today there were also Hispanics and Orientals.

Our cottage is what the real estate agents now apologetically call a beach box. It is a rectangular one story structure on stilts, with three bedrooms and one bathroom. But it is right on the beach. The beach is a typical modern developed product. At low tide there is an adequate gently sloping white sand stretch, ending at the umber hued crushed shell strip at waters edge. But at astronomic high tides the waves nibble at the bases of the dune below the cottage. Attempts are made at stabilization by planting neat rows of beach grasses and sea oats on the slopes. This makes the dunes look much like the scalp of a recent hair plug recipient. The island is making plans for “beach replenishment”. They estimate it will cost landowners $65 a linear foot to achieve a 75 foot beach.

The quiet post vacation season beach is more crowded than usual due to the Labor Day weekend holiday. The National Weather Service Radio robot DJ warns monotonously of Rip Currents due to the recent brush with Hurricane Earl, and intones that “only strong surf swimmers should venture into the surf, and to heed the advice of the beach patrol”. The only patrol visible was a bandy legged casually dressed policeman, driving a chopped military surplus Humvee, issuing warnings about unleashed dogs to their owners. In the morning the shufflers, strollers, striders and grim faced joggers go past. Any demographic except African American seems represented. A woman struts past, her small bikini revealing the tramp stamp tattooed on the small of her back. There are just enough GLM’s and nubiles to keep things interesting. And for the ladies, there are the bare chested, ripped Marines. Several are staying nearby with their plump wives and girlfriends, apparently on leave. One has his name, serial number and religion tattooed discretely to his torso, a reminder that after this peaceful vacation, he likely returns to a reality involving obliterating explosions and decapitations. Oh, and yes, there are plenty of surfers.

Above the water, plunging pelicans compete for airspace with the Marines vertical takeoff and landing transport, the MV-22 Osprey, clawing its way foreword through the air with its awkward looking 38.1 foot diameter twin rotors. This airplane/helicopter hybrid killed 30 test pilots and crew during it’s on again off again two decades of development.

Just below the waves, the fall mullet migration is beginning. Millions of sleek torpedo shaped fish, from several inches to a foot long rush endlessly foreword in tight formation, sucking plankton and vegetarian detritus out of the water. They never stop moving. When netted for bait, they quickly die despite being placed in oxygenated water, and when you pick them up, they are hot to the touch from their energy expenditure. They are revealed in the thin curves of the waves, or when they explode out of the water in terror, or pieces, as the wolves of the water, the toothed bluefish, slash through their masses.
In the wave swash, mole crabs and coquinas compete for valuable wet real estate, while the ghost crabs patrol the dry beach sand. Above the beach the Laughing Gull rules, but its throne in uneasy, as the Herring Gulls are becoming more commonplace.

I go out onto the beach at night and am astounded. There are absolutely no flood lights trained on the beach. After years of failed night sky activism in Emerald Isle, I had given up seeing the Milky Way. I had applauded an acquaintance that became adept at shooting out streetlights with an air rifle. I had perfected a technique utilizing a plumber’s friend duct taped to a long pole to unscrew illuminated floodlights on unoccupied beach houses. Surf City had actually passed an ordinance to insure that excessive lighting and glare are not directed at adjacent properties, neighboring areas, motorists as well as the beachfront and/or sound front to protect the extremely sensitive turtle population. Bring back the night sky!

Traveling south to Topsail Beach moves you further back in time architecturally. Here, tired looking T1-11 plywood siding, asbestos siding, and board and batten are the choice to cover the beach boxes, unless their sins are hidden by vinyl or plastic siding. But the effect is not monotonous. There are a wide variety of colors, touches, and decorations. And the house names frequently reveal something about the owners: The Legal Pad, The Recovery Room, and The Board Room (on a house decorated with surf boards).
Still, people have built the looming Coastal Castles. These four story duplexes frequently are Caribbean colored, often sculpted of synthetic stucco. They come with a pool and elevator, and each bedroom tends to have a complete entertainment center. Imagine, you drive for hours to the beach, bask in your pool, take your elevator to your bedroom, and watch one of 500 channels on your 52” TV, all unsullied by sand or salt. The irony is as outrageous as the structures. And no one could afford to risk perching one of these multi million beach behemoths next to a rising sea without inexpensive Federal flood insurance, guaranteed by you and me. Some day we will be handing the owners or heirs a several million dollar check when the inevitable occurs. Even Jimi Hendrix knew that all “castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually”.

There is a very nice free museum, which details the island history and ecology. The island’s name originated when pirates would lurk behind the island, waiting for cargo ships. The cargo ships learned to look for the topsails of the pirates behind the island. Topsail Island was a top secret site for testing guided missiles during WWII, hence the mysterious concrete watch towers, sometimes incorporated into residential housing. And there is the story of Sun City, one of the first black owned beach developments in North Carolina, started on Topsail Beach.

For 50 years the only beach open to African Americans in North Carolina was called Freeman Beach or Seabreeze, located at the north end of Carolina Beach. It became thriving resort, nicknamed Bop City for the lively music scene. Some historians credit it with inspiring shag dancing and beach music. At Topsail Beach a white Topsail businessman teamed with a prominent black physician to try to make more beaches accessible, but not without some resistance. I’m told that some of the original owners still live in the area. Sadly, the 2000 census shows not a single person living at Topsail Beach claims to be Black.


Driving home to Charlottesville my GPS tells me I have traveled not just miles, but also gained altitude. It doesn’t take long to be high above the 7 feet above sea level at Surf City and Topsail Island. I decide I would like to go back next year. I have seen that we have made some progress in understanding the importance and rhythms of the interface between the sea, land, sky and their inhabitants. There has even been some progress in how we treat each other. But I wonder how long it will take the impatient sea to again conspire with the wind to take back the island that they together made, and wash it clean, like a born again virgin. I think I would understand, and not be sad.

Wick Hunt





I bought a '30 Ford wagon and we call it a woody
(Surf City, here we come)
You know it's not very cherry, it's an oldie but a goody
(Surf City, here we come)
Well, it ain't got a back seat or a rear window
But it still gets me where I wanna go

Refrain:And we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun
Ya, we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every boy

You see they never roll the streets up 'cause there's always somethin' goin'
(Surf City, here we come)
You know they're either out surfin' or they got a party growin'
(Surf City, here we come)
Well, with two swingin' honeys for every guy
And all you gotta do is just wink your eye

repeat refrain:

And if my woody breaks down on me somewhere on the surf route
(Surf City, here we come)
I'll strap my board to my back and hitch a ride in my wetsuit
(Surf City, here we come)
And when I get to Surf City I'll be shootin' the curl
And checkin' out the parties for a surfer girl

repeat refrain

Mine Uranium in Virginia?

Mine Uranium in Virginia?
Albemarle’s Hot
In the latest development in the controversial Coles Hill uranium deposit in Pittsylvania, Virginia, The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced last month the provisional 13-member committee that will conduct the Academy’s study of uranium mining in Virginia. The committee is comprised of academics from various fields, geologists, mining and public health experts and environmental scientists.
The NAS states that “the study will provide independent, expert advice that can be used to inform decisions about the future of uranium mining in the Commonwealth of Virginia; however, the study will not make recommendations about whether or not uranium mining should be permitted nor will the study include site-specific assessments.”
Its first three meetings are in Washington, D.C., and the Danville area. The Danville area meeting is scheduled for Dec. 13-15.The Washington meetings were held Oct. 26-27 and Nov. 15-16.
The National Academy study was commissioned by the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee.
The National Academy of Science (http://www.nationalacademies.org) says it was established by an Act of Congress which calls upon the NAS to "investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art" whenever called upon to do so by any department of the government.
The NAS says that “Membership and participation in activities are voluntary. Committee members serve pro bono. Reimbursement of travel costs and subsistence support is the only compensation provided.”
The $1.4 million study will be funded through Virginia Tech by Virginia Uranium Inc., the owner of the uranium, (http://www.virginiauranium.com/)
Virginia Energy Resources Inc.( http://www.santoy.ca/s/Home.asp) which owns an approximate 28% indirect equity interest in the Coles Hill uranium deposit in southern Virginia said in it’s press release in February 2010 that “The Company looks forward to the conclusions of the forthcoming independent scientific study regarding the safety of mining at the Coles Hill site.”
However, critics of the project are scrutinizing the committee membership. The Southern Environmental Law Center, for instance, objects to Henry A. Schnell, who is with the mining business unit of Areva, the French-owned nuclear services company. The company is the world's largest producer of uranium, primarily in Canada, Africa and Eastern Europe.
"Mr. Schnell, as an employee with the industry, clearly has a financial interest in the matter and as such presents a conflict of interest that could impair his objectivity," the SELC wrote in a letter to a division of the National Academy of Sciences.
The NAS study is just one of four planned in Virginia to explore the potential impact of uranium mining in Virginia. Also planned are:
City of Virginia Beach Study PHASE #1 to estimate the water quality impacts in Kerr Reservoir from soluble contaminants and sediment transported into the lake during a worst-case storm event or accident and the additional impacts in Lake Gaston.
Danville Regional Foundation (DRF) Study will examine the regional socioeconomic effects of “the proposed uranium mine, mill, and long-term waste management on people, institutions and economies within 50 miles of Coles Hill…. Uranium mining's benefits and dangers, including its effect on property values, taxes and institutions will be part of scope.”
Virginia Coal and Energy Commission Study #2 will developed a draft socioeconomic study based on oral and written comments received by the Uranium Mining Subcommittee.

In1978 Marline Uranium Inc. company geologists, reportedly taking a short cut from one survey area to another, drove their scintillometer equipped vehicle on the dirt and gravel road bordering Coles Hill, and discovered the radioactive anomaly leading to the discovery of a deposit that at that time they estimated at 30 million pounds of uranium. However, environmental opposition led to the 1982 State ban on mining uranium in Virginia. Then low uranium prices cooled interest in exploration until uranium prices peaked in 2007 at 135/lb. Prices again fell off, but are climbing again, up to $48/lb. That, plus renewed interest in nuclear power as a non carbon energy source, has created renewed interest in Coles Hill uranium, and the estimates of recoverable uranium had risen to a quoted 119 million pounds, “potentially worth $8-10 billion dollars.” at 2007 prices. The current developer of the prospect, Virginia Uranium Inc., describes it as potentially the 7th largest undeveloped deposit in the world, and the largest in the US.

The Coles Hill prospect consists of two separate ore bodies comprising 2,940 leased acres. It is in rural Pittsylvania County in south central Virginia. The property is 6 miles northeast of Chatham, the county seat, which has a population of about 1,300 people and is 20 miles north of Danville. Significantly, the annual precipitation is four feet of rain a year, which drains to the Dan River basin, then to the Roanoke River and on to the Albemarle Sound.


The site is accessed from 29S, 119 miles south of Charlottesville. About 9 miles southeast of Gretna off 29 is Coles Road, or SR 690. It is still a dirt and gravel road that traverses Coles Hill Farm and the two ore bodies. Off the road, on a rounded grassy hill punctuated with cows and old oaks, stands an ante bellum brick home. All the plants and animals look normal. Two years ago on the opposite side of the road, exploratory drilling rigs were busy in the pasture, the water and stone dust they are dredging up being collected in plastic troughs, presumably for safe disposal. This year, they are gone. My Geiger counter quickly finds a radioactive stone flipped up by a snow plow on the side of the road. It is a piece of genuine Virginia uranium ore. In this is rich deep alluvial farmland, rock outcrops are otherwise nonexistent. If this lone outcrop hadn’t been right on the road, the Marline geologist’s scintillometer would not have detected radiation, and the uranium would have not been discovered.

The CEO of Virginia Uranium Inc. is Mr. Walter Coles, an affable 70 something year-old retired federal government employee. Coles Hill is his historic family farm, started in 1785, that along with the Bowen family’s property, sits atop the uranium. He feels he is the one to do the uranium mining and extraction right, and help the community’s economy. Not all in Pittsylvania are convinced that opening Virginia to uranium mining and milling is a good idea in their back yards.
Katie Whitehead’s family owns a tree farm in Pittsylvania County; it's on the Banister River upstream of the proposed mine and mill, but she is still concerned. In 1983, she served as information officer for the Uranium Administrative Group, facilitating public awareness and participation in the study process and public policy decision. Twenty-odd years later, she says she again sees the need for people to get accurate information in order to understand the implications of introducing uranium mining and milling in Virginia. She recognizes the complexity of the issue and has worked with both mining opponents and advocates to foster more productive dialogue. She has written a number of op-ed pieces and has served as chairman of the Dan River Basin Association Mining Task Force. As member of the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce Uranium Study Group, she also participated in writing a report titled Community Concerns Related to Uranium Mining (available online at www.halifaxchamber.net).

When asked to comment for this article, Whitehead said “Anyone working toward educational, health, and economic transformation in Virginia should not be content with easy answers from industry spokesmen but rather seek out reliable sources and ask the hard questions: To what extent has anyone actually studied people working in and living near uranium operations so as to determine the health effects of increased exposure to radiation and heavy metals? What evidence is there in real-life settings that uranium mines, a uranium mill, and hundreds of acres of tailings contribute to a diverse and sustainable economy not just for a short-sighted thirty years, but for the generations who will live with our decisions? Are there net benefits for those involuntarily put at risk by this industry? There is no single cost-benefit ratio. There is one for every scenario and every point of view. Virginians should consider a range of possible outcomes if the moratorium on uranium mining is lifted, from the realistic best case to the realistic worst case. In even the best case, those bearing the risk may see little benefit. Who will our pubic policy serve?”

Concerning the issue raised by Southern Environmental Law Center and Virginia Uranium Inc. concerning becoming a Nuclear Regulatory agreement state, according to Whitehead: “The Virginia Legislature has not even discussed whether to lift the moratorium, much less whether or not to apply for agreement state status regarding regulation of uranium mills and tailings. Virginia’s 1984 uranium study group said that, if the moratorium were lifted, it would be “essential” that Virginia become an agreement state specifically with regard to the licensing and oversight of uranium mills, and thus regulate all phases of uranium operations, not just mining. Agreement states have the option to adopt more protective standards than those of the NRC and EPA, some of which have arguably not kept pace with health research. Virginia or the federal government would also eventually assume ownership of tailings storage sites.”

Meanwhile, on the corporate front, business seems to think that this project is moving foreword and worth an investment. According to Virginia Energy Resources Inc. website:
“ On July 21, 2009, Virginia Uranium Ltd.(the private funding arm holding 100% of Virginia Uranium Inc.) merged with Santoy Resources Ltd to form Virginia Energy Resources Inc. Virginia Energy Resources Inc.’s most important asset is a 24% stake in the giant Coles Hill, Virginia uranium deposit… …Virginia also holds a 32.7% interest in the high-grade Blizzard uranium deposit in British Columbia. This asset has been damaged through a ban on uranium mining imposed by the Government of British Columbia, and is seeking compensation for damages through a court action. “
According to industry analyst Sam Kiri, writing for the Proactiveinvestors website:
Santoy management has a nose for good projects and this acquisition follows a series of similar acquisitions and joint venture agreements. With 30 years of mining exploration experience including three major gold discoveries in Eskay Creek, Snip and Brewery Creek that were subsequently put into production, Santoy’s President & CEO Ronald Netolitzky is not in the habit of acquiring companies nonchalantly. Netolitzky has strict acquisition criteria which include advanced stage projects in safe and workable jurisdictions, preferably with a resource estimate.

According to the Virginia state corporation commission filings, Virginia Uranium Inc.’s corporate board structure now contains people with very good connections to the nation’s energy industries, in addition to the previous landowners and family members.
This company also has some pretty well connected political help. Walter Cole’s brother-in-law, Whitt Clement, is a former state delegate and Virginia transportation secretary under former Gov. Mark R. Warner. And U.S. Congressional candidate State Senator Robert Hurt’s father, Henry Hurt, is a friend of Walter Coles and an investor in the project.

Charlottesville Uranium
Pittsylvania is not alone in potential uranium mining sites. Uranium is a fairly common mineral, including here in Albemarle County. What separates economically viable sites from others is the concentration of uranium and the size of the prospect. Robert Bodnar, a distinguished professor of geochemistry and geology at Virginia Tech, who supports an end to the 25-year-old moratorium on Virginia uranium mining, has commented, “I think there’s a very high probability that there are other deposits of the same size, same grade, as Coles Hill located in the eastern United States.” In an op-ed he wrote, “ Virginia has a varied geology that includes rock types often associated with economic occurrences of uranium … Lifting the moratorium on uranium mining will encourage mining companies to explore for uranium in Virginia, and this could lead to Virginia becoming the ‘Saudi Arabia of nuclear fuel.’”


The Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication 38 identifies several anomalously high radiation sites around Charlottesville. “Two of the most significant occurrences are located 6 miles northwest of Charlottesville….….. At occurrence 2 (just off Rt. 676 past Rt. 839 beyond the Whippoorwill Hollow Subdivision) extremely high levels of radioactivity were found in the soil and saprolite…. At occurrence 5 recent excavations for a housing development (within the current Whippoorwill Hollow Subdivision) exposed a broad area of… gneiss and associated schist…….Maximum levels of uranium in the mineralized schist at the surface range from 69 ppm to 140 ppm U3O8….Logs of water wells and analysis of radon gas and uranium in groundwater at occurrence 5 indicate zones of mineralization at depths of up to 131 feet.”

The same study identified 7 sites of anomalously high ground radiation levels, including the recently sold abandoned quarry adjacent to the Charlottesville reservoir
Barboursville Uranium
A website sponsored by The Friends of Barboursville, Inc. identifies another potential local uranium site:;
“At the August 29 DMME hearing, Friends of Barboursville presented several USGS and DMME studies that indicate the presence of elevated levels of uranium at the proposed mine site. The areas rich in uranium are strongly correlated with faults depicted on USGS maps. A map produced in 1981 by Leavy, Grosz and Johnson, based on this data, specifically identifies a uranium and thorium anomaly at the proposed mine site. Aerial radiometric data from flights over the Culpeper and Barboursville Basins shows an area of elevated uranium levels extending through Somerset and Barboursville, between Hardwick and Cowherd mountains. Uranium levels up to six times the regional average can be found in this area.
Before the Virginia moratorium on uranium mining, 2,000 acres of land in Orange County was under lease to uranium mining companies. Local residents were approached by Marline Corporation with offers to buy mineral rights to their land… …At least two aerial radiometric studies (a broad study of the Charlottesville quadrangle and a focused study of the Culpeper and Barboursville basins) were done in the early 1980s. Ground-level studies were also done, as part of the USGS Hydrogeochemical Stream Sediment Survey. These surveys clearly show elevated uranium levels in the Barboursville area…”
It is indeed interesting that Marline Uranium Corporation showed an interest, given the home run they found in Pittsylvania.
Nelson County Uranium
In the November 1984 Vol. 30 No. 4 Virginia Division of Minerals publication titled Uranium and Thorium Mineralization of the Northern Half of the Horseshoe Mountain Quadrangle, Nelson County, Virginia, geologists reported finding samples having anomalous uranium content of 15.3 ppm. They go on to report:
Uranium potential in the area is probably not
favorable…. However,…lithologies…
provide an interesting exploration target. …To adequately determine the
economic potential of these rocks, further work…must be conducted…


To Mine Or Not To Mine:
The Southern Environmental Law Center is against lifting the moratorium. They make the case in their Web site fact sheet, which is reproduced in part below:
If Virginia were to lift its moratorium and developed NRC-equivalent regulations, it could apply for "Agreement State" status.
-- An Agreement State replaces NRC as regulator of uranium mills and waste; Agreement States are not required to conduct an EIS for mining activities.
-- Existing Agreement States such as Arizona, Utah and New Mexico have experienced severe problems with environmental impacts from mining..
What are some potential impacts of mining and milling uranium in Virginia?
• Pollution of groundwater and surface waters from overburden, waste rock and ore, including acid drainage, tailings impoundments and other substances in drilling wastes, brines, solvents, etc., used in the extraction or processing of ore.
• Virginia would be the first state east of the Mississippi to allow mining. Virginia has significantly higher precipitation rates, more extreme weather events, including hurricanes, higher groundwater levels, larger watersheds of interconnected streams and rivers, and greater populations living in relative proximity than sites in western U.S. or Canada where uranium has been mined.
• The impact of significant storm events on uranium mining is one of the concerns yet to be adequately addressed.
• Polluted substances in the air and dust caused by extraction.
• Radon from underground mines, drill holes, surface extraction and processing operations.
• Migration of radionuclides and soil disturbances due to loss of vegetative cover.
• If Coles Hill produces 25 to 109 million pounds of uranium, according to industry measures, it will generate 15 to 65 million cubic yards of waste material. This would translate into a volume equivalent to 75 to 325 SuperWal-Marts (each having a volume of 200,000 cubic yards).
• If the moratorium on uranium mining were lifted, the impacts would not be confined to Coles Hill. Without a moratorium, uranium mining and milling could occur statewide. In the 1980s, exploratory leases were obtained for many sites in the Northern and Central Piedmont of Virginia.
The SEC feels that:
• Any scientific study of impacts should be completed and reviewed by public before authorizing study of needed regulations.
• Before any study is done, Virginia Uranium needs to 1) identify locations where uranium has been safely mined and milled & 2) provide specific plan to mine, mill and dispose of waste

I spoke with Patrick Wales, a geologist who is the project manager and spokesperson for Virginia Uranium Inc. He addressed some of SELC points, noting that: Virginia is already an “agreement state” as of 2009, but it had left regulations concerning tailings disposal and milling to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
He said there actually had been some experience mining uranium east of the Mississippi as a by product of phosphate mining in Florida. (Authors note: but not since 1998)
He feels that the statement “no experience east of the Mississippi” artificially carves out the Eastern Canadian experience. He notes that uranium was mined, until supplies were exhausted, at Elliot Lake, a populated area. He also feels a more apropos comparison area would be the uranium mining experience in France. He says they have mined uranium in an area with a very similar climate, geography, and population (though higher elevation at the mine site) to Virginia. And it was in a rural agricultural area where Limousine cattle are raised. He states they are not currently mining there only because the prospect is depleted.
He said the easiest thing that the Coles and Bowen families could have done is sold out.
Instead they hire local contractors and employees and the benefits remain in the community.

When asked about why Central Virginians should believe Virginia Uranium Inc. now, or more importantly, expect vigilance to be maintained on tailings past the 30 year expected mine life, he replied that “What are we really dealing with 30 feet down is solid granite, of which 99.4% is not uranium, it is quartz, feldspar, and mica." He said regular granite has 2-4 ppm uranium, Coles Hill has 600 ppm, of which we will try to extract as much as possible. He feels in the long term there is over abundance of caution, and rightfully so. “We want to be more cautious than needed. NRC regulates minimum of 1000 years of tailing containment. If you can’t prove you can do it, you don’t get to do it.”
When asked about the merger with Santoy, he said it provided needed capital, and at the same time provided valuable mining experience.

The argument for mining is two fold. Walter Cole’s has argued that it will be a boost for the local and state economy. He also feel that they can get it right in terms of the environment, arguing that he plans to continue living in his ancestral home 300 feet from the mine.

The second compelling argument made is energy, and the perception that we need to pursue carbon free energy sources. There are approximately 435 commercial nuclear reactors worldwide, producing 14 % of the world’s electrical energy. About 104 of these were in the United States, producing 21% of this nation’s electricity. The U.S. has the most reactors in the world, but France and Lithuania derive the highest percentage of electricity, 75%, from nuclear power.
Current world consumption is about 154 million pounds. U.S consumption is about 66 million pounds.
Of supplies, Steve Fetter, dean of the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy says:
If the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has accurately estimated the planet's economically accessible uranium resources, reactors could run more than 200 years at current rates of consumption.
According to the Nuclear Energy Agency, at the end of 2008, world uranium production met two thirds of the world reactor requirements, with the balance from secondary sources such as uranium from weapons stockpiles and preexisting reserves. Dismantled nuclear weapons currently help power 13% of the world’s reactors, and a higher percentage of U.S. reactors. Who would have thought the very weapons that once threatened civilization, would someday toast our bread. Some argue that secondary sources are now in decline. Others feel the actual amount of enriched uranium from decommissioned weapons is being underestimated, perhaps deliberately, to prop up uranium prices. The U.S. mines about 4 million pounds a year, so secondary supply or import reliance for required fuel is greater than 95%.

A study from 2009 (http://www.santoy.ca/i/pdf/43-101ColesHill.pdf) prepared jointly for the now conjoined Santoy Resources Ltd. and Virginia Uranium, pegged the potential uranium mineable to 119 million pounds. If we accept the high estimate of 119 million pounds of recoverable uranium, at today’s price per pound of $48, it will be worth 6 billion dollars. There would be enough uranium to power the United States nuclear reactors for less than 2 years.
Virginia has had a moratorium on uranium mining since 1982. Before uranium can be mined in Virginia, the General Assembly would have to lift the ban.
Virginians shall have to decide if the potential economic benefits and energy needs outweigh the potential environmental and health concerns.

Wick Hunt

Highland County Maple Festival Article in Virginia Living

http://www.virginialiving.com/blogs/virginia-living-blog/53rd-highland-county-maple-festival

Murders, Whores, Wars and Healing Waters

A Non Jeffersonian Tour of Charlottesville
Murders, Whores, Wars and Healing Waters


So you have taken your guests to Monticello. Then you toured the Rotunda. Then you walked The University’s Lawn, looked at the Pavilions and gardens, peeked into Poe’s room. Ash Lawn: check, Montpelier: check. Day two with the guests has just begun, and they are glancing at their watches. But everyone is fed up with The University. Now what? How about going on an insider’s tour of Charlottesville that doesn’t involve any of our three favorite dead Presidents. As it is a total of 8 miles. the trek could be broken into two. Start with the downtown segment, ending at Vinegar Hill, followed by vehicle ride to Belmont, Cherry Avenue and Fry’s Spring.

First, lace up your Timberlands, pump up the bike tires, or fire up the Prius, and head downtown. Your GPS should be set for 601 Park Street, at Comyn Hall.

Most recently a quiet old folks home, it was in the early 1900’s the site of a notorious murder. Beautiful Fanny McCue, found dead in her bathtub, had been shot in the chest, bludgeoned and strangled.

A sensational trial ensued, in which Fannie’s husband, third term Mayor Samuel McCue, was found guilty of capital murder. Travel south on Park Street to see the site of his botched hanging, the last in Charlottesville.

Turn left at High, then right on 4th. Half way down the block, look right to see the old stone county jail. The picturesque 18 inch solid stone walls, inside of which McCue took 20 minutes to die, have frustrated potential developers over the years. The jail currently is slated to be the object of a study to determine future uses. It is best viewed from the top deck of the adjacent parking garage.

Next, set your GPS for Wine Street, a few blocks to the north. Read the relatively new historic marker, situated on McIntire Road, which tells the story:

The house mentioned is identified by a simple slate sign.

Travel east to the corner of High St. and 9th and pass the Tarleton Oak gas station on your left. It was named for the popular, now debunked legend that Col. Tarleton (see next) camped there during his Revolutionary War occupation of Charlottesville. Further on your left will be Charlottesville’s oldest public cemetery, Maplewood, est. 1831. Here you can visit the remains of some of Charlottesville’s most prominent citizens, including Paul G. McIntire, Charlottesville’s benefactor, as well as heroes of the Civil War and several foreign wars.

Down High St, after you pass the soon to be vacated Martha Jefferson Hospital (est. 1903); take a right on Locust Avenue, then a left on E. Jefferson Street. On your left at number 1201 will be The Farm.

Occupying half a city block, it too has its own explanatory historic marker Q-27: “The Farm stands on a 1020-acre tract acquired by Nicholas Meriwether in 1735 and later owned by Col. Nicholas Lewis, uncle of Meriwether Lewis. A building on the property likely served as headquarters for British Col. Banastre Tarleton briefly in June 1781. In 1825, Charlottesville lawyer and later University of Virginia law professor, John A. G. Davis, purchased a portion of the original tract and engaged Thomas Jefferson's workmen to design and build this house. It is considered one of the best surviving examples of Jeffersonian residential architecture. Maj. Gen. George A. Custer occupied the house as his headquarters for a brief time in March 1865.”

The house is just visible from the road. The professor mentioned, John Davis, was murdered by a UVa student, reportedly leading to the creation of the UVa student governed single sanction Honor System. The Farm’s wartime history mentioned illustrated Charlottesville’s firm resolve in times of war. During both the Revolutionary war, and the War Between the States, its citizens quietly surrendered and bunkered Tarleton, and then Custer in style.

Continue down 12th; take a right onto Meade and a left onto E. Market Street. Continue to the end to visit The Woolen Mills neighborhood. This was the site since 1795 of Charlottesville’s longest running industries. The mills manufactured inexpensive wool cloth, first for slaves, then for soldiers, then civilians, only ceasing operations in 1964.

Here too you can fish the Rivanna River, view a fish ladder and a mill race, and imagine the 1800’s river bateau landing grandly named Port Pireus. Monticello is just a short hike up the mountain across the Rivanna River.

Turn around, head back up E. Market Street and take a left on Franklin Street, to visit the underbelly of Charlottesville, known as Hogwaller. On the left is the Livestock market. You can still auction livestock there on Saturdays. It is also the occasional source of amusement as citified cops have to try to corral escaped hogs and cattle.

Return, take a left on Market Street, and take a left at 9th, then a right on Garrett Street. In between 6th and 4th street was the now nonexistent 5th street, the site of one of Charlottesville’s most famous bordellos, strategically located near the C&O train station.

It was popular with townspeople, UVa students, and travelers. Apparently a common ploy was to pack bags for a trip, head to the train station, and instead go to Marguiretta’s. Virginious Dabney, in his “Mr. Jefferson’s University” said “Marguiretta Crescioli, variously described as a Creole, part Indian or black, opened what is said to have been a high-class establishment on Fifth Street in 1922, just after houses of prostitution had been outlawed by the Virginia legislature…..Marguiretta's fancy establishment was finally closed by the police in 1946 or 1949.” It is said that the police were not strangers to the Madam. Her building was torn down in 1972. During the demolition the place was mobbed by treasure seekers, as the prostitutes had concealed money throughout the building.

Continue on Garrett Street, turn left on 2nd Street NE, and then turn right onto Oak Street. Here you will find the juxtapositioned Oakwood, Hebrew and Zion cemeteries. Oakwood Cemetery, established in the 1860s, was Charlottesville’s second oldest cemetery. About 25%of its spaces were designated to be “colored”. Then, according to the African American Heritage website:
“In 1873 the Daughters of Zion, an all women African-American society, created a two-acre independent plot across Oak Street to provide a dignified resting place for those African-Americans who did not wish to be buried in Oakwood’s segregated section. … The Daughters of Zion continued to own and manage this cemetery from 1873 to sometime in the 1920s or early 1930s... . Sometime during the late 20s or 30s … (they) disbanded, and their cemetery had no official ownership until the city assumed title to the property in the 1970s….. (It) served as the burial place of many prominent African-American Charlottesville residents … (such as) Benjamin Tonsler … a pioneer educator of African-Americans for whom Tonsler Park… is named. “

Continue up the hill to Ridge Street. If you were to go right, when you intersected Main Street, you would be looking down Vinegar Hill.

Formerly a thriving black neighborhood, it was demolished during 1960s urban renewal. About all that is left is The Jefferson School on 4th Street ( the city’s first high school for blacks), and the Jokers Barber shop at 406 Commerce St.

Instead, we took a left back at Ridge Street, then a right onto Cherry Avenue. Go five blocks. As you drive past 9th through 10th Street on your left, before Buford School, you will see Oak Lawn, built in 1822.

Owned by the Fife family since 1847, it occupies an entire city block. Part of the original 338 acre tract eventually became known as Fifeville. In a chance encounter at First Fridays with former Mayors Frances Fife and Nancy O’Brien, I learned that Frances does not live there, and that the house is not visible from the road. He told an anecdote about another practically invisible neighborhood namesake. He knew someone who had been a lifelong Belmont neighborhood resident who had never known about The Belmont, built in 1837 at 759 Belmont Avenue, erected on the area’s high ground. It is unassuming because a more modern addition faces the street. The original historic façade is just visible around back from the church parking lot.

Belmont



Continue down Cherry Avenue, when it ends at Jefferson Park Avenue, take a left, and shortly after, take a right between the twin stone pillars guarding Fry Springs Swim Club. This place is second only to Blue Hole or Albemarle’s Blue Ridge Swim Club as the coolest place to be in the summer. The following history was adapted from the Fry’s Spring Beach Clubs Web site:
In 1839 James Fry built his estate, Azalea Hall, where Fry’s spring was found. Interest in the mineral rich spring water spread and the site was developed in the following years. The Jefferson Park Hotel, built in 1892, served as a resort and spa for those who came to relax and recover from various ailments. The waters of the spring were promoted as “the third most powerful of their kind in the world.” A small railroad serving the hotel, known as the “dummy-line”, carried spa-goers from the West Main train station to the hotel.

Wonderland, a menagerie, was also on the site. The Wonderland offerings expanded to include the first moving picture shows in Charlottesville. In 1920 J. Russell Dettor purchased the land. In a grassy hollow under magnificent shade trees he built a concrete swimming pool almost 100 meters in length. The Fry’s Spring Beach Club opened for business in the summer of 1921. For over a decade the Fry’s Spring Beach Club was the only venue in town allowed to serve liquor to its patrons. It is no wonder that a common joke from this time was, “Charlottesville is divided into two parts: Charlottesville proper, and Fry’s Spring improper!”

Currently the club is a bit shabby but still has loads of class. You can’t go in unless you are a member, but the springs are accessible outside the chain link fence. Follow the fence to the right of the pool entrance, push past all the poison ivy, to arrive at a gully. There you can see iron stained spring water, and the old stone and concrete structures once used to channel and hold the spring water.

There is much more to see. Plantations, estates, an observatory, a nuclear reactor, the house where the lady claiming to be Anastasia lived, the mysterious house on the hill overlooking Charlottesville that looks like Monticello that was not built by a student rejected by UVA. But I think your guests have seen enough of an insiders Charlottesville for today, and will soon go back home to Blacksburg spreading tales of the other wonders of Charlottesville.
(A useful reference is the Historic Charlottesville Tour Book, available at The New Dominion Book Shop. It has 10 walking and driving tours of Charlottesville. Some of the material and pictures for this article came from it.)
Other picture credits:
Wick Hunt
Holsinger Studio Collection, UVa Special Collections Library
The McCue murder : complete story of the crime and the famous trial of the ex-mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia. By By James H. Lindsay and John S. Patton.

Wick Hunt

Links to My Articles In "The Hook"

https://readthehook.net/86572/cover-coop-de-grass-charlottesville-eggsellent-adventure


https://readthehook.net/69451/booze-blender-jimmy-buffett-rocks-charlottesville

 http://www.readthehook.net/109095/gunnin-it-day-fishersville-gun-and-knife-show


https://readthehook.net/84352/cover-back-way-monticello-timeless-beautiful-illegal

https://readthehook.net/84266/cover-fishing-pols-shad-planking-draws-big-names-bony-food

https://readthehook.net/69186/hello-legs-rockettes-rock-jpj

http://www.readthehook.net/68736/bell-and-denk-what-way-spend-snowy-night-music-review

 http://www.readthehook.net/68485/village-jam-haiti-benefit-moves-paramount

See also my article on the Highland County Maple Festival in Virginia Living Magazine:
http://www.virginialiving.com/blogs/virginia-living-blog/53rd-highland-county-maple-festival/

How To Raise Oysters For Fun and Profit

Are you old enough to remember the ads in the back of magazines like Popular Mechanics in the 50s and early 60s? Things like “Learn Photography”, purportedly promising to teach you how to be a photography professional, but the models pictured in the ads were always scantily clad and looked cold. Or a “Learn Anatomy” textbook, with the ad copy assuring you it would arrive at your door in 6 to 8 weeks in a plain brown wrapper.

One advertisement that always caught my eye was “Raise Chinchillas for Fun and Profit”. The ads promised to set you up in lucrative and easy chinchilla farming. Chinchillas were South American crepuscular rodents that the ads claimed could be sold for their valuable fur. They would sell you the “how to” book, food and chinchillas. Since they purportedly bred rapidly, you would be herding loads of valuable mobile fur coats in a jiffy.

I met a guy who was the only person I ever knew who admitted to trying this. He said, shaking his head and looking into the distance thoughtfully, “You would not believe how many bad things can happen to a chinchilla.”

None the less, I raise oysters for fun, and hopefully someday, for profit. I do this on the Western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, at my cottage in Mathews County, Virginia, in the pristine waters of Winter Harbor. And it is one of the more enormously successful things I have tried in my life.

In 1996 I read about oyster gardening. An organization called TOGA (Tidewater Oyster Gardeners Association), along with VIMS(Virginia Institute of Marine Science) out of Gloucester Point, and CBF(Chesapeake Bay Foundation) were encouraging and educating people to raise oysters from their docks. They hoped to help use the oysters to filter and clean the bay waters, and return the oyster to its historic population numbers.

At one time oysters were so plentiful that it is estimated that they filtered the Bay every three days. Capt John Smith wrote that oysters “lay as thick as stones.” The Chesapeake Bay’s name itself is said to mean “Great Shellfish Bay” in Native American.

TOGA provided plans to house oysters in floats and sources for getting baby oysters. I thought that name “Oyster Gardening” was a little fey, that it should be “Oyster Ranching” instead, but I decided to give it a try. I ordered 1000 oysters from Ken Kurkowski at Middle Peninsula Aquaculture in Mathews. I loaded the back of my pickup truck with 10 sheetrock buckets and headed over to his oyster hatchery. I wrote him a twenty-five dollar check and we walked over to a large outdoor pool. Ken reached into the pool and handed me a small mesh bag about the size of a tangerine. “That’s a thousand oysters?” I asked. “Well, I didn’t count them one by one.” he said defensively, not understanding my question. “You estimate the animals by weight.” I don’t think he noticed all my sheet rock buckets.

Back at the cottage I opened the bag. It all felt a little like a drug deal, what with the price and the small size of the bag. The baby oysters, about one to two months old, were opalescent and about the size and shape of a newborn’s fingernail.

I placed my babies in 2 foot by 4 foot polyethylene bags with a mesh size of 1/8”. This allows food in and waste and predators out. As the oysters or “animals” as they are known to watermen “grow out” they will have to be placed in more bags of a larger mesh.

Initially I kept the bags in a “Taylor” float, made of 4” pvc pipe joined to form a 3 x 4 foot rectangle for flotation, with a wire mesh basket suspended under it to hold the growing oysters. This was secured by a rope to a piling just off my dock, and allowed to swing freely with the tide and wind. The oysters grew fast. Within a few weeks they were the size of dimes. Then disaster struck. Less than a month after getting the oyster seed, Winter Harbor was brushed by hurricane Bertha. The oysters had stampeded, breaking free from the piling and disappearing. Undaunted, I took delivery of another 1000. Looking through the woods a few weeks later I found the original 1000 under some moist seaweed, most had survived. Now I had 2000 oysters.

I had previously talked to one of Winter Harbor’s old timers. I had noticed that there were a large number of vacant oyster leases throughout the harbor. He told me that it used to be a very productive area. “Now not many,” he said, “I just can’t imagine Winter Harbor without oysters.” In fact, if you take a kayak next to the shore, you will find quite a few oysters in the intertidal zone. Col. Gloria S. Diggs (Ret.) Army, my octogenarian neighbor, can be seen every New Year’s Day, in her wellies, loading oysters into a bucket as she walks along the shore at low tide. But these are nothing compared to historical numbers, and historical sizes. I have found old foot long oyster shells in a midden.

My oysters were growing, fast. I split two bags originally containing 2000 babies into four ¼ inch mesh bags. Those bags got split into eight 3/8” mesh bags. Have you ever heard of a geometric progression? Pretty soon my oysters were chasing me off my dock. If oysters are having so much trouble in Winter Harbor and the bay, why are mine doing so well?

The basic theory of oyster aquaculture and oyster gardening has three parts: Grow them fast, grow them clean, and grow them protected. You want to grow them fast, because they become a sellable and edible size in 18 months of ideal conditions, but they become most susceptible to the two principal diseases, MSX and Dermo, at about 2 years old. Grow them clean, off the bottom, because oysters can’t move, and can be smothered by silt and natural fouling in the cloudier nutrient loaded water of the modern bay. Protect them in cages and bags, to keep birds, blue crabs, otters and cownose rays from eating them.

I was starting to feel like Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I ran the numbers. At full size, each bag can hold 150 oysters, so I was going to need space for 14 half inch mesh bags. Also, the Taylor floats proved cumbersome. They were heavy and awkward for one person to maneuver, and could only hold several bags.

Pete Perina, of Eastfield Farm came up with the solution I chose. He floats the bags by cable tying recycled 2 liter plastic soda bottles to the four corners of the polyethylene mesh bags, eliminating the need for the heavy Taylor float. Maintenance was then fairly simple. Every week or so you could easily flip the bag over, exposing the sunken side of the bag to the sun and air, clearing it of fouling organisms, allowing the oysters a free flow of water and food.

I now had room for all kinds of oysters. I became obsessed. I put in another 1000 that spring, and another 1000 that next fall. Last fall I put in 25000! At first I was reluctant to eat my babies, but the sheer numbers I was growing forced me to try to eat my way out of my personal oyster population explosion.


Speaking of eating, after years of experimentation, I have determined that oysters are best consumed after being roasted on a grill. However, for those city folks who are not allowed a grill, I have also discovered that they can be cooked in the microwave oven. This is especially handy if you have just a few. First, examine your oyster. It has two shells, which should be tightly closed. If not, discard the oyster. One shell, or valve, is flat. The other curved valve is called the cup. Place half a dozen of them on a microwave safe plate, cup side down, supporting the cup on the outside rim of the plate to preserve those precious bodily fluids. Cook on high for about a minute, or until they just open and steam. Also, oyster shooters have become popular. Place a shucked oyster in a shooter glass, add some hot sauce/and or very spicy Bloody Mary mix, and a shot of ice cold vodka.

What about eating raw oysters only during months containing the letter “R”? It was thought that eating oysters only during cold months was just a holdover from the days before refrigeration. Also, oysters produce eggs and sperm during the months with no “R”, which some felt made them taste more bland and watery.

These days the FDA plans to prohibit the sale of raw oysters obtained from the Gulf coast during the warm non “R” months. As filter feeders, oysters tend to concentrate microorganisms and pollutants. Raw oysters have been implicated in a wide variety of diseases, including Vibrio vulnificus, the most dangerous. While more typically producing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, it can result in bloodstream infections (sepsis) and severe wound infections resulting in loss of skin, kidney failure, amputations, excruciating pain, and death, especially among the immunocompromised. And Vibrio vulnificus is a particular problem in the warmer water in the Gulf Coast and Florida.
I spent last summer sexing oysters by dissecting them and looking at them under the microscope. I saw way too many creepy crawlies swimming around in them to ever truly enjoy eating a raw oyster again, at least while sober.
I asked neighbor Gloria Diggs whether she worries about eating her oysters raw. “Lawd son,” she said, “back in the 30’s my father used to pack our oysters in horse manure during the holidays to fatten them up. I’ve never been sick from an oyster!”

Oysters are prolific and versatile. In mid to late summer the mature female releases 3.5 million eggs, the male releases many times that of that number of sperm. Oysters start off male, and then as they get bigger they tend to become female, but can revert back to males as needed. Do these acrobatics have anything to do with oysters legendary effects on libido?

Much is made of oysters as aphrodisiacs, more so in popular than in medical literature. Some attribute the oyster’s alleged effect to the fact that they contain Vitamin B12, or zinc, or rare amino acids D-aspartic acid and NMDA (thought to help in the production of the sex hormones testosterone and progesterone.) Casanova allegedly fortified himself for the rigors of the coming day by consuming 50 oysters each morning. History’s first physician, Hippocrates, recommended oysters merely as a laxative. Later, his disciple Galen mistook pneumatics for hydraulics as the cause of tumescence, and recommended oyster consumption for erectile dysfunction in order to increase “wind”.

Most feel the alleged aphrodisiacal properties actually came about because of the freshly shucked oyster’s remarkable resemblance, as viewed in profile, to a women’s….well, look for yourself. I personally have never noticed any particular effect, other than those perhaps caused by accompanying beverages.

You may not have the opportunity to have as much fun with oysters as I do on the shores of the Great Shellfish Bay. But you can certainly help all oyster gardeners, and you don’t have to answer an ad in a magazine to do it. Help discourage agricultural nutrient, silt and storm water runoff, keep your septic system and municipal sewage systems up to date, monitor forestry and resource extraction discharge, discourage wetland development, fund estuarine research…. And eat oysters, just for fun.

Wick Hunt