The Brothers Breakell Produce a Bumper Crop

centered
on
community.
family.
you.
september 2009
The Brothers Breakell Produce a Bumper Crop
by Jill Hufnagel
photos by Mary Anne Marx
When now 10-year-old Jackson Breakell went on a kindergarten artichoke. Jackson explains, “They take a long time to grow and it
field trip out to Apple Ridge farms, something powerful took root. may not make it. But I sure would like to see it.” This year they’ve
There, he was mesmerized by tree after tree of fresh, ripening fruit. also grown cantaloupes and cukes, along with their first-ever stab at
Jackson recalls, “I loved experiencing the joy of growing something grapes and pumpkins.
you could eat.” It was after that trip that mom Lauren suggested
Of the veggies they’ve grown, Jackson has found that “summer
they start a little plot of their own. A gardening newbie and self- squash are the best. We love them. One plant with enough sunlight
proclaimed city girl, Lauren helped Jackproduces up to two dozen squash.” While
son plant from seed flowers, tomatoes,
tilling one day, they stumbled across an
and carrots that first year. For Lauren, the
enormous old squash shell. When they
impetus was simple: ”I wanted a tomato. A
opened it, inside were ten seedlings.
real tomato.” While the carrots were a no“So,” says Lauren, “we grew them right
go, the rest of the garden was a success.
there. Reduce, reuse recycle.”
Two years later, older brother Thomas
The family’s commitment to that model
was invited to participate in a fourth grade
is central to their approach to living and
4-H gardening competition. While Thomas
gardening. In years past during periods
wasn’t especially interested, Jackson was
of drought, the family has saved their
thrilled at the prospect. Together, the brothshower water and used this simple grey
ers entered the contest, which culminated
water approach to keeping their garden
in judging by a master gardener and a 1st
thriving. Composting, too, makes fertile
place win for the brothers Breakell.
product of their everyday waste—from cofFast forward a few more years and that
fee grounds to vegetable peelings and the
Alex and Jackson Breakell show off the fruits of
tiny plot has quadrupled in size, thanks to their labor.
new corn-based packaging. And no pestithe family’s growing interest in Jackson’s
cides. Ever. In the works is a rain barrel
crop. This year, he enlisted brother Alex, 19, and the two buddied project, all of which has grown out of what Lauren jokingly calls
up to create a tex-mex garden full of peppers, tomatoes, corn, and husband Stan’s “slowly brainwashing us to become more green.”
even black beans! Their big coup: they’ve successfully started an
Another piece of the familial camaraderie evident in their back
— Continued on page 6
Circle the Block Party ‘09: same funky music, only cooler.
See you October 3rd at 3!
She Said...
Brent Stevens
publisher
[email protected]
Jill Hufnagel
editor
[email protected]
Amy Takacs, Creative Outlet
graphic designer
[email protected]
Lisa Bowers
advertising representative
[email protected]
353.2380
Mary Anne Marx
photographer
[email protected]
345.6279
Johnny Meidlinger
internet kung fu
The South Roanoke Circle
2707 Richelieu Avenue
Roanoke, VA 24014
540.293.2114
southroanokecircle.com
Our intent is to provide a
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that celebrates community
and fosters connection
among neighbors. In so doing,
we seek to strengthen the
neighborhood bond, to encourage our children to share their
voices, and to nurture a future of
collective growth. Finally, we wish
to share in the discovery of the
people and places that make this
neighborhood thrive.
~
We reserve the right to refuse
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copyright 2009
Writing Associates, LLC
all rights reserved.
This summer we took our fam—our three kiddies and my parents—up North to the Big City.
First to Providence and then to the real thing: Boston. As I quickly discovered, we were the
country mice. And we all had our own curious and telling fascinations with our newfangled
urban surroundings.
In preparation for a long van ride and a week’s worth of hotel stays, I put together backpacks for each of the kids full of stuff designed to keep them occupied. The best laid plans. I
know, I know. It’s all so obvious. But what did take hold were some paperback journals I got
for the boys. In the pages inside was a space for them to draw a picture and below it were
a few lines for a caption. I had envisioned them full of colorful line drawings of the postcard
sights. Instead, what compelled each member of our traveling band was so very at odds with
mama’s snapshot visions.
Henry’s journal has a drawing of a sink with a bug in it, followed by hastily scrawled
cranes, and a mountain of what we guessed was salt that he spied while on the interstate. Of
course it does. The idea of scaffolding over a pedestrian walkway was mesmerizing to this
little small-town boy. (Am I in hot water for thinking Roanoke a small town? Can I get an out
if I’m a D.C. sprawl native?) And every green space was an opportunity: to run, to let loose
of hovering adult chaperones, to take in this little oasis of vegetation in the surrounding skyscrapers.
For Cole, it was all the smoking--and the cigarette
butts. Walking hand in hand with me over a city block
in Boston, he decided to count the butts he spied in this
single stretch of concrete. When he hit 72, his counting off almost sing-songy in sync with our steps, I felt
my stomach turn. I visually panned out to attempt to
estimate the number of butts across the city’s breadth.
Yikes. Or in Cole’s lingo: “DUSGUSTING!”
For Scarlett, it was the fashion. Sitting at a sidewalk café for dinner one night, she drank it in, along
with her hip Boston bubble tea. The street-length skirts,
the funky jewelry, the glamour of it all. She spoke only
to lean into my shoulder, hand cupped, and whisper:
“Did you see how beautiful her skirt was?” and “Oh
wow. I just love that hair. Don’t you?” Truth be told, I
felt a little green.
For my mom, it was the subway. Between the
crowds and the filth, the whole shebang threatened
to send her. While she never did confess it, I’m fairly
certain she had visions of tiny hands come untangled from big ones, of doors set to auto-pilot
separating a lone wee one from our pack. Of tears and police officers and kinder lost and
found on the platform. Or maybe it was a simple case of the heebie-jeebies thanks to all that
sweat-to-sweat contact. After all, it was summer in the city.
And for my dad it was the hotel mini-bar. If he was astounded at the $7 bottle of Evian,
he was downright flabbergasted at the $15 container of chocolate covered raisins. “Look at
this thing. 7 ounces. Come on.” He revisited this conversation more than once, each time with
fresh amazement and an enthusiasm that matched. When he flipped through the room service
menu, complete with $8 coffees, well, I think you can imagine.
For me, I think I was most compelled by this glimpse into what made each of them stop and
take notice. It became a sort of education about my travel companions. What they observed,
I observed. And I observed that seven people in a minivan pulling up to a big city hotel is a
clown-car like sight, no matter how you slice it. I observed that trolleys and taxis and elbowto-elbow subway rides are not for the weak at heart. I observed that 7-11 ice creams while
sitting on the steps of a statue in Providence make for a beautiful snapshot. I observed that
in order to steer this crew, I had to slow my pace about five notches, hang beside them, and
listen in on their own experiences of this urban adventure. And for me--a mach speed kind of
gal, a crazed multi-tasker on steroids--I observed that when I slow down, I actually . . . well,
observe.
around town!
Found at the corner of 27th St and Crystal Spring: woman’s engraved
gold cuff bracelet. Call 580-0370 to identify.
Found on the Crystal Spring Playground: a “Leatherman” pocket knife
and multipurpose tool. Call 343-3267 to identify.
2
The Jefferson Street Realist
By David S. Bowers
When your kid goes and breaks a bone, it changes your life--especially if it happens in the summer. Then it changes your summer;
and that, my friends, is just not cool.
Our boy is fearless when it comes to physical challenges. I’m
stunned he made it to the age of eight before fracturing something
or another. He was goofing around at the pool, doing some kind of
trick jump off the side, and WHAMO he whacked the top of his foot
on the top of the wall. Ding-a-ling broke three, maybe four, metatarsals in his right foot. In layman’s terms: he messed himself up real
good.
The added shame of this, other than the fact that it
hurt badly for awhile, was that he did it the night
before the City-County swim meet. Some of you
know that Noah is a pretty fair swimmer. It
disappointed quite a number of people that
he couldn’t participate in the meet.
Kids are funny, though. The night of
the accident, after we got home from
the x-ray and heard from Dr. John that
he would need a cast the next day,
Noah burst into sobs and said “I want
to swim in the meet! Can’t I swim
anyway?” Brave little soldier, makes
Daddy so proud!
I’m hoping that was his true, deep
down, honest feeling about it, because
by the next morning he had moved on.
In fact, I don’t remember the exact words,
but he said something like, “Oh good, now I
don’t have to swim!”
As a parent who wants his son to be happy, I
don’t want to push him if he doesn’t like swimming. Don’t
want to force him through the soon to come two-and-a-half hour
practices, sometimes twice a day. But as a swim fan, and a future
provider of college funds, I really, really hope he keeps it up. You
know what I mean? You want to nudge your kids in what you think
is the right direction, but by eight or nine, it’s obvious they have their
own ideas, too. He would choose baseball over swimming any day
of the week. For now, we will just keep up with both.
Back to the broken foot: the other ironic thing about this incident is that he was doing the same goofy jump into the pool that his
mother had scolded him to stop doing earlier in the day. Therefore,
the first autograph on his cast said, “Listen to your Momma! Love,
Momma.”
When asked why he did it anyway, he replied, “I forgot.” Super.
That’s like Steve Martin’s line, “I forgot armed robbery was illegal.”
I forgot. How in the world are we going to keep him out of trouble
if he’s using that kind of logic?
Then again, this is the same boy who, when getting his cast the
day after his injury and the doctor asked him if it hurt, he asked,
“Where?” So maybe when he says, “I forgot,” he really forgot. All
the more reason we need that swim scholarship.
He hasn’t complained about having the cast, and seems to be
taking it with a positive attitude. My son’s the kind of boy that might
bawl his eyes out if you tell him we ran out of Spaghetti-Os, but he
just says, “OK whatever” when you explain that he just hosed the
rest of his summer. That’s a healthy attitude toward the big picture,
so that bodes well for his long term outlook. Very much like his
Granddaddy Boschen.
We keep the itching to a minimum with a nightly Benadryl, and
he’s now in a waterproof cast, so he can bathe and go to the pool.
He’s even enjoying hopping around like a kangaroo. He moves so
fast on one leg I’m scared he’s going to pitch forward and go head
first into the concrete. Two weeks after the break, he is now allowed
to use a cast shoe, and put weight on it, but he prefers hopping
and dragging himself around.
The next question is: do we go on our beach trip
as planned? For now we are leaning toward
going, but this is the first time I ever bought
trip insurance, so it would not be a financial loss if we cancelled. It might send
me over the edge to cancel, because
I’ve never needed a vacation more in
my entire life. On the other hand, if
he gets sand in that cast, I can only
imagine the torture that might cause:
an irritated, whiny boy, and rattled,
tormented parents.
We got some rubber thing that
you put over the cast and suck the air
out, which we are told works great to
keep out the sand. But it’s huge. Looks
like a big whale flipper. He says it looks
funny. Uh oh. Vanity alert! Tween years
rapidly approaching!
Side note along those lines, we have noticed
this year that Noah is more concerned about what he
wears for different occasions. Usually his choices are completely
misguided, but that he actually cares shows that he is changing. Kid
will be staring at himself in the mirror combing his hair for an hour
before we know it.
Writing this made me think of this Springsteen lyric:
“And I combed my hair till it looked just right and commanded
the night brigade
I was open to pain and crossed by the rain and I walked on a
crooked crutch
I strolled all alone through a fallout zone and came out with my soul
untouched
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, when they said “sit down”
I stood up
Ooooh, growin’ up”
There’s my little boy hobbling on his crutch, but taking it like a
man; learning lessons at the pool, but not listening to his Momma;
hopping around like a goofy kangaroo, but worried that he’s wearing a cool shirt. So maybe this injury has been inconvenient for his
parents, but for Noah it was a meaningful transition. Growin’ up,
alright, yes indeed he is growing up.
David is a 40ish working husband and father of one. He’s quick
to tell you how things ought to be, but real slow to do anything about
it.
Listen
to your
Momma!
Love,
Momma
Circle the Block Party ‘09:
same funky music, only
cooler.
See you October 3rd at 3!
3
4
Old Locomotive Finds New Locale
The last of its kind and the only one left that was built here in Roanoke, the 1151
steam locomative has been sitting on the tracks at the Virginia Scrap Metal & Iron
Co. since 1950.
It was moved on August 21st from the South Roanoke location on Jefferson Street to
the Virginia Museum of Transportation, where it should feel right at home, so close
to its birthplace in 1911. The Class M2c 1151 engine was built at the N&W East End
Shops. The former workhorse will now rest again, its restoration hinged on future
funding.
Photos by Mary Anne Marx
5
Continued from page 1 —
yard project is the natural relationship among the boys and the
garden. Jackson loves to garden and 12-year-old brother Thomas
wants to be a chef when he grows up. He likes using the gardenfresh ingredients as inspiration—and the rest of the family enjoys
trying out his local fare. The most recent endeavor—making bread
and butter pickles, which the boys have been eating by the jarful.
This summer, they have also had to put their heads together to
attempt to combat their most recent challenge: a backyard bunny,
who has been nibbling on their bounty. Together, the boys have
tried all sorts of schemes to foil the rabbit’s handiwork: roof slate
fencing, snares care of Alex’s innovations, dog patrol, even sprinkling the hair they saved from their last cuts to attempt to throw off
the rabbit’s interest. “Once,” laughs Jackson, “ I even touched him,
but then he sprang off as fast as his legs would carry him.”
While the bunny continues to elude them, Jackson and his brothers remain steadfast in their gardening. As the plot has grown, so
have their plans. Next year, they’re considering adding a blueberry
bush. And as for next year’s theme, they’re taking requests!
Circle the Block Party ‘09: same funky
music, only cooler. See you October 3rd
at 3!
All proceeds benefit local charities so please come on out
to support local non-profit organizations in our valley!
Outdoor concerts are held at the Downtown
Roanoke Rail Car Lot on Salem Avenue between
1st St. & Jefferson. Must be 21.
www.firstfridaysroanoke.com
Sept. 4th: Worx
Charities benefitting: Ronald McDonald House, Child
Health Investment Partnership (CHIP) of the Roanoke
Valley, Clean Valley Council, Children’s Trust, Roanoke
Adolescent Partnership, Children’s Home Society, Bradley Free Clinic, Council of Community Services, Roanoke
Valley Interfaith Hospitality, League of Older Americans,
Apple Ridge Farm, St. Francis Service Dogs
Oct. 2nd: The Kings
Charities benefitting: Mental Health America of
Roanoke Valley, VA Jason Project, Conflict Resolution,
Greenvale School, Camp VA Jaycee, Commonwealth
Catholic Charities, YWCA, Western VA Foundation
(Center in The Square), Adult Care Center, Roanoke
Adolescent Partnership
Marketplace
Positions available TENOR and BASS Section leaders
Need a NANNY, just call ANNIE! References
available upon request. Will sit at your home.
Please call 375-7302 if interested, and
ask for Annie.
St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Roanoke seeks a
tenor and bass section leader for the St. John’s Choir. Mature
musicianship, high sight-reading skills and community team
participant are all required. Solos are a fringe benefit but not
expected. Additional services at Advent/Christmas and Lent/
Easter in addition to Wednesday evening and Sunday rehearsals
and services. Fair and competitive wages offered. Inquiries and
a job description request should be sent to Minister of Music,
David Charles Campbell at [email protected].
Are you keen on clean? Annie will clean your
house top to bottom. Just give her a call at
375-7302 and your house will sparkle.
6
A Brief History of Fructose
Corn Syrup
It’s the latest most talked about controversial ingredient in our
foods, the topic of debates between nutritionists and medical researchers on one side and food processors and marketers on the
other. It’s a sticky, sweet, syrupy substance that has infused its way
into a vast variety of foods consumed by the majority of people living in developed and developing countries.
It is derived, of course, from the food which comprised the staple
of the Native American diet and which was completely unknown to
the Europeans who “discovered”, explored and ultimately settled
the North American continent. Early American settlers would not
likely have survived without the sustenance provided by corn. They
learned how to grow corn because it was a reliable crop. Gradually, corn came to be valued not just as a means of subsistence but
also for its ability to be dried and transported. It became not just a
dependable food crop but a commodity to be traded.
Chemical fertilizers, introduced in the late 1940’s, gave corn
crops a huge boost. Hybrid corn grows especially well with the
help of chemical fertilizers. Farmers could produce greater and
greater quantities of corn. For awhile, they experienced a heydey,
until they ran head first into the unyielding economic principle of
supply and demand. More available corn meant more competitive
pricing which meant less profit
per bushel. Before long, farmers were losing money on each
bushel of corn brought to market.
Which brings us to corn’s
next big boost...government
subsidies. When Uncle Sam intervened to make up for the deficit, farmers had the incentive
they needed to continue growing corn, even when there was
clearly a surplus. Something had
to be done with that mountain
of corn. Enter high fructose corn
cyrup..
Admittedly, I have oversimplied a great deal, but I’m writing an article, not a book, and
I need to get to my main topic
at some point. For a fascinating and comprehensive history
of corn the plant, corn the crop,
and corn the commodity, read
Michael Pollan’s excellent book,
The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Even
if you have never given corn a
thought beyond how much you
loved listening to the kernels
pop and watching the aluminum rise when you held your
Jiffy Pop over the campfire, The
Omnivore’s Dilemma is worth
your time.
Now, onto the current bad
boy of the nutrition scene: high
fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Food
scientists learned to extract it from the surplus of corn sometime in
the 1970’s. It is derived from corn starch by using enzymes to
yield glucose and more enzymes to convert about half that glucose
into fructose. HFCS is almost chemically identical to table sugar;
each is about half glucose and half fructose. What makes HFCS
so attractive to food manufacturers is that it has a longer shelf life
than sugar, it maintains moisture better than sugar does, and it is
cheaper than sugar. The same food product can be produced for
less money, hence more profit for the food processor. Now all that
corn can be put to use. For better or worse depends on where you
are in the food processing chain.
Since the 1980’s, HFCS has been the main sweetener in most soft
drinks and is very common in many processed foods, including breakfast cereals, salad dressings, yogurts, and peanut butter. Accord-
Hippocrates’
Corner
ing
to
Michael
Pollan,
the
average American’s intake of HFCS
by Alise Magnuson, M.D.
has climbed from 45
Guest Contributor
pounds per year in 1985
to 66 pounds today. That’s in
addition to our usual consumption
of all other sugars. This increase is
not only because we tend to eat larger
portions and drink bigger gulps than we
once did, but also because HFCS has become
ubiquitous. Just try to find a loaf of bread in an
average chain grocery store that does not have HFCS
as one of its first 5 ingredients. I looked at no less than 5
brands before I found a loaf that did not contain HFCS. Of
course, my corn-fed kids complained that it tasted weird.
Not coincidentally, the prevalence of obesity has increased
signficantly since the 1980’s. Presently, 3 out of every 5 Americans is overweight. One out of every 5 is obese. The prevalence
of obesity among young people
has been increasing at an alarming rate for the past 25 years. A
number of chronic, debilitating
and costly illnesses, once diagnosed only in adults, are becoming more common in teens and
children in the U.S. and around
the world. For example, adultonset diabetes is now more commonly referred to as Type II diabetes or insulin-resistant diabetes
because it is no longer a disease
seen exclusively in adults.
Research regarding the specific ill effects that HFCS may have
on our metabolism and our overall health is still in its infancy and
is currently inconclusive. Current
research does support the theory
that the prevalence of HFCS in
our food supply is directly responsible for the obesity epidemic.
However, overly zealous claims
about HFCS being “unnatural”
or a “poison” only detract from
the real problem, which is that
we eat too much sugar, including too much high fructose corn
syrup, and too much processed
food in general. Cutting back a
bit would be a good thing for
most of us, except of course for
the food processing industry and
the corn farmer. It would be a bit
ironic if we allowed a substance
derived from the plant that is
credited with keeping our ancestors alive through lean winters to
become one of the ingredients that ultimately fattens and debilitates
a vast majority of our population.
We do have a choice. We can drink fewer soft drinks and other
sweetened beverages. We can buy less processed food and more
locally grown food. We can prepare more meals at home using
fresh ingredients. Even just one more home-cooked meal a month
could make a difference. Basically, we can all afford to eat a little
less and move a little more.
Alise Magnuson has lived in Roanoke for seven years and has
been a pediatrician since 1995. She is trying to practice what she
preaches about nutrition and exercise but is not quite ready to give
up chicken tenders.
7
KidSpeak
Principal Profile
Brighter Futures
Name: Kathleen Tate
School: Crystal Spring
Years teaching: 36
How did you get here? Transferred to Crystal from
Round Hill Montessori
What inspires you? Gardening – working in the dirt!
What exhausts you? Whiny people
What’s your secret indulgence? Retail Therapy
What’s your favorite book? Moby Dick
What’s your best school memory? Annual school
picnic to Kennywood Amusement Park
And your worst?
teacher
Being scolded by my first grade
What would your classroom theme song be?
“Shout”
Junior Kindergarten 3 - Grade 12
How would you spend the perfect summer day?
At any beach.
s!DVANCEDCOLLEGEPREPARATORYCURRICULUM
sCOLLEGEPLACEMENT
s&OREIGNLANGUAGEINSTRUCTIONBEGINNINGIN*UNIOR+INDERGARTEN
s%XTENSIVEATHLETICANDlNEARTSOFFERINGS
s%XTENDEDDAYBUSSERVICEANDlNANCIALASSISTANCEAVAILABLE
What’s your down the road dream? Retirement –
lots of time with my husband and grandchildren
To schedule a tour, or for more
information, please contact
Deborah C. Jessee at 540-989-6641,
ext. 330, or DJESSEE NORTHCROSSORG.
Discover the Possibilities
Cats in the ‘Hood by Olivia DeMattia,
Ansleigh Graeff and Taylor Summerlin
The kids used their imaginations.
8
KidSpeak
The Time Machine:
It’s that time
again . . .
back to school
shopping!!!
Please take advantage of those sales and help
U.S. Kids Care’s
Mission School Supply Drive 2009
It’s our 5th year of helping out kids in the Roanoke
Valley get a great start to the school year
Recipients this year include:
Children of Immigration & Refugee Ser vices
Head Start
Interfaith Hospitality Net work
The Presbyterian Community Center
The Boys & Girls Club of Roanoke
Collection day is at Crystal Spring Elementary
Black top and someone will be there to collect
while U.S. Kids Care members go out into the
neighborhood to collect supplies.
September 6th • 1:30 - 3:30 pm
SCHOOL SUPPLIES NEEDED:
new or slightly used backpacks • graph paper • pencils
pens • dividers • folders • ruled paper (college and wide)
calculators • erasers • organizers/binders
pencil boxes/cases • rulers • spiral notebooks
protractors/compasses • markers
crayons (16 or 24 pack) • glue sticks • Elmer’s glue
Marble Composition books • colored pencils
index cards • Kleenex • Scissors (blunt or sharp)
An Invitation to Write With Me . . .
by Claire Winters
It was a stormy night. You had just finished your new invention.
You invited your friends Amy, Joe, and Frank over to try and guess
your new invention. “Is it a duplicator?” asks Amy. “No,” you say.
“Is it a transformer?” asks Joe. “No,” you say again. “Is it a super
calculator?” asks Frank. “No,” you say yet again. “Then what is it?”
Amy, Joe and Frank ask. “It’s a time machine!” you say. “Awesome!”
says Amy. “Cool!” says Joe. “Amazing!” says Frank. “Do you want
to use it?” you ask. “Do we ever!” they say. “Well, then we have to
have a sleepover,” you say. “Okey-dokey artichokey!” they say.
That night, all of you have the same
dream. You’re back in the time of
the Knights of the Round Table.
You meet wizards and sorceresses. You fight dragons,
giants, goblins and trolls.
You learn spells and potions. Then, it is time
to say good-bye. Then
you wake up. It is time
to have breakfast. You
have waffles and bacon to eat. You have o.j.
and water to drink. Then
it is time to try out the time
machine. You race to the
basement. You go to the time
machine. You say the password to
make the door open up. You step inside and close the door. Then you’re at ........
It’s up to you to finish it! Why? Because it’s a cliffhanger! A cliffhanger is a story that you get to end. Just you! You don’t have to get
help from parents. You can make it totally up! When you’re done,
you can e-mail it to me. I’ll put it in the next newspaper. My email
address is [email protected]. You can address it to Majorie
Winters or Claire Winters.
Claire Winters is a second grader at Crystal Spring Elementary
School. When she is not writing her book reviews for the South Roanoke Circle, you will usually find her reading. She also loves to play
with her twin brother Jack, her dog Izzie, and her hamster Hammy.
Her other interests include dance, piano, gymnastics, soccer, tennis,
skiing and snowboarding.
Now it’s your turn.
9
Kate Ericsson, M.T., M.Ed.
On-Site Computer Repair & Upgrades
Custom Built Computers
Reading specialist and
private tutor
Residential & Commercial
www.monsterpconline.com
540.915.1655
[email protected]
PC DOCTOR
(540) 819-6862
10
Photographer Barry Wolfe:
Swapping the Putter for the Lens
Palette Profiles: a series of articles profiling neighborhood artists
By Lillian King Meidlinger
Take out your Ukrops discount card and give it a good look.
The photographs of Roanoke sites that you see were done by South
Roanoke’s very own Barry Wolfe.
Photography is not, however, Barry’s day job. He has been a
dentist for nearly 40 years, specializing in periodontics. A Baltimore
native, Barry was a Speech and Drama major at the University of
Virginia, then went to dental school at the University of Maryland.
After that he was in the Airforce for two years and then spent another two years studying his specialty at the University of Kentucky.
He came to Roanoke in 1974 because his first partner’s wife was
from Roanoke. Barry’s current practice, Wolfe and Penn Limited, is
located on Starkey Road.
Barry’s interest in photography began when he was in dental
school. It was mostly a family hobby though he did have his own
darkroom. However, for many years the majority of Barry’s pastime
activities revolved around golf and obsessively so (“which is pretty
much the way I do everything,” quips Barry). He was involved in
playing, administration, volunteer activities, and ended up being
president of the state golf association. Still, though golf was his obsession, photography was always an interest of Barry’s. In 1997,
he received a mass mail invitation to a one-day photography workshop put on by Gerlach Nature Photography at the National Wildlife Federation in Washington, DC. He went just for fun as part of a
getaway weekend to DC. That’s when Barry got the bug. “”I was just
absolutely blown away; it was incredible,” he says.
After the workshop in DC, Barry went to a one-week workshop
in the upper Peninsula of Michigan (also led by the Gerlachs). One
morning while sitting outside in a field, waiting for the light to come
up. Barry had an epiphany. He declared, “This is more fun than
golf!” That was it. Barry’s obsession began switching from golf to
photography (“same disease, different hobby,” he muses). He found
himself thinking about taking pictures as he was on the golf course.
The hobby got really serious and Barry sought out more formal training. He attended workshops all over the country and beyond.
Barry started with the “conventional stuff”. That is, he was using film and
making his own black and white prints at
home. Color was more problematic, as he
was having slides processed and printed
elsewhere. Though he had no experience
with computers, Barry suddenly realized
and was attracted to the fact that with a
computer you could print you own color
prints. Then he began thinking “why use
film when I could capture things digitally?”. At this point, his art really exploded
into mostly color work. Barry had to learn
about computers and purchased a Macintosh with the same exact set up as his sonin-law so he could ask for help when needed. He went to Missoula with the Rocky
Mountain School of Photography and
learned about PhotoShop for photogra-
phers. It was through
opportunities like this
that he got to be pretty
competent with what
he wanted to do on
computer. As far as what
he was photographing, the
“subject matter changed as
my experience grew,” Barry says.
In the beginning, he did a lot of macro
photography (tiny things blown up big). He took pictures of lots of
flowers, which was nice but didn’t really do it for him. Eventually
his vision “evolved into visual appreciation of small parts of a big
picture.” Now, almost all of Barry’s work is of common items viewed
differently. The art is colorful, bold, and uncluttered.
Barry has always been one to look at the minute detail of things,
perhaps because of his dental training where he is used to looking
at small things in obsessive detail. He has no formal training in composition but has always just taken pictures of the way he sees things.
“It may change, and I will let it change as it changes,” says Barry.
His interest is in following his own vision, not pleasing a particular
audience. “If someone likes it, great; if they don’t, that’s fine, I still
do. I am not producing for an audience, I am producing for me.” For
Barry, photography is a peaceful, calming creative outlet that he can
do when and if he wants.
Nevertheless, Barry has found an audience. The interior designer/architect of the Stonewall Jackson Inn in Staunton is a good friend
of Barry’s. She had the idea to decorate the hotel with architectural
details of Staunton. She knew Barry’s work and liked it so Barry went
there to take pictures for the hotel’s decor. He created the digital files
but had no involvement in printing or framing and so signed them
digitally. Little did Barry know the pictures were going to be huge,
and so his name is too. His pictures are the sole art of the hotel: they
appear in every room and public space.
Barry often finds subjects for his art as he walks
for exercise, taking note of things that catch his eye
then returning to capture the sight with his camera.
Most recently he has been finding the forms of letters
and numbers in natural things and is making a collection of these. Barry and his wife, Libba, are avid
travelers and now their travel is planned around desired photographic shoots. They have traveled all
over the United States, to Tanzania, New Zealand,
Argentina, and the Antarctic. Most recently they two
spent two weeks in Paris. “It is really a blast for me,
I just have a great time,” says Barry.
Barry does all his own printing, matting, and
framing in his home on Avenham Avenue. He has
his own business and sells his art primarily through
Signature Nine Gallery. (NB: Signature Nine recently moved to a new, downtown location at 301
S. Jefferson Street - go check it out!)
11
12
Jocks on Your Block
by Kate Ericcson
When you put the word “aerial” in front
of ballet, all notions of this traditional dance
form go out the window. Satin toe shoes give
way to rappelling cables, long and lithe bodies to athletic ones of all shapes and sizes,
and a hushed performance hall to the outside wall of a public building. Suspended in
space, dancers push past the boundaries of
known ways to move in gravity as they rappel and dance on a wall.
Aerial dance is an offshoot of modern
dance that has been in practice only for the
past 15 years. There is no established technique or training method as of yet, and that
is were Jenefer Davies, Dance Artistic Director at Washington and Lee is stepping in. She led and directed the
first spring term aerial dance class
at W&L that culminated in a public performance last May. She
only accepted 12 students, all
of whom had to be dancers or
athletes. “I had to turn away a
W&L Aerial performers in “So High” featuring music of
the same name by John Legend. The piece was choreogood many people who weren’t
graphed by Kenneth Hopkins (center) with assistance
physically fit enough. Because
from Emily Wallace (left) and Ellie Hanson (right).
we only had six weeks to put this
together, I needed people who
missed the other 2 that Jenefer directed in Roanoke during
were already athletes or dancers.
her
tenure as Executive Artistic Director of Roanoke BalIt would have been harmful to the stulet Theater, you can see the entire W&L spring performance
dents’ bodies to do the very taxing work
that features Emily on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/
required of aerial without having some level
wlunews
of fitness to begin with,” said Jenefer.
Kate studied modern dance in college as well, but never perOne of the selected dancers was a South Roanoke native and
W&L graduate: Emily Wallace. Graduating with an Art History formed on the side of a building.
major and dance minor, Emily was thrilled to be in the company of
swimmers, runners, basketball players and dancers selected to join
the spring term class. Even though the first day of class was devoted
to disclaimers and the immediate building of arm and core strength,
Emily felt lucky to be part of “a dance form of the future,” she said.
“The most amazing thing to me was what the non-dancers had to
offer. This is such an athletic form of dance, and they contributed in
amazing ways. The basketball player dribbling his ball up the building was my favorite,” said Emily.
The training and preparation for the two performances was rigorous. They spent 5 weeks training in a “black box” theater inside,
experimenting with wires and harnesses and doing exercises to develop skill and confidence in the dances that they choreographed
themselves. “Everyone noticed they were stronger by the end of the
class,” said Emily. There was only one week of outside training with
the professional rigging company, ZFX, which is one of the top two
industry leaders in the country in aerial work. “They have rigged
Peter Pan and Mary Poppins on Broadway among countless other
musicals. They were amazing to work with and since they’d never
rigged anything like our show, they contributed in an artistic way
and were as excited as we were about the results,” added Jenefer.
What Emily didn’t expect, other than so many sore muscles and
long hours of training, was the reception of the show. “We stopped
traffic when we were performing,” said Emily. “People saw what we
were doing, parked their cars, and came over to the grassy area to
watch us dance with their mouths wide open.” Washington & Lee
is one of the few universities to support this experimental form of
dance, and Jenefer intends to keep researching and publishing with
experiential classes like Emily’s. This year’s class was supported by
a Mellon Foundation grant but will need to be renewed through another source of funding the next time. Jenefer plans to offer the class
every other year as she continues to research and present on aerial
dance at a national level.
Working in Nantucket this summer, Emily plans to look for a job
in the art history field doing art administration or education. She has
every intention of continuing to dance, but realizes that it will most
likely be on terra firma.
If you were not able to see the spring performance at W&L, or
13
14
Economics 24014
Unified Managed Accounts: A Peek into the Future
by Paul J. Higgins, Vice President, UBS Financial Services Inc.
As investors have gained a greater appreciation for paying a
fee for ongoing advice and investment management services rather
than commissions, they have been generally met with mutually exclusive options. Individuals today can typically choose from among
advisory programs that may include mutual funds or separate account money managers that provide personalized and professionally managed portfolios or ETFs, to name a few.
When deciding which program to choose investors usually consider relative advantages and disadvantages of each investment type and the
amount available for investment. Typically each investment program has its
own account, which results in separate
statements and performance reporting.
That’s beginning to change. Recent
innovations now allow investors to combine these options into one account and
receive a single, comprehensive statement and quarterly performance report
that incorporates all of the account holdings. These accounts are called Unified
Managed Accounts (UMAs).
Participating in a UMA usually begins with a questionnaire to determine
your personal investment objectives and
tolerance for market risk. Based on your
answers, an asset allocation comprised
of multiple asset categories (e.g., stocks,
bonds, cash) is presented. Once you
agree upon an allocation, or modify it
to your satisfaction, it’s time to select the
appropriate investments.
Individuals work with their financial
advisor to determine an appropriate
investment vehicle for each asset class
comprising the asset allocation recommendation. For instance, do you fill the large cap equity allocation
with a mutual fund, ETF or a separate account manager?
Once the investor has implemented the asset allocation recommendation with ETFs, mutual funds and separate account managers, he or she will begin to receive statements and quarterly performance reports that typically will detail the performance of each
individual investment as well as the complete portfolio.
An important feature of a UMA is a rebalancing service. Too
often, investors who started out properly diversified find that they
have drifted away from that allocation due to the different performance results of the individual components of the portfolio. For
example, the outperformance of stocks relative to bonds will cause
an allocation to become more weighted to stocks, increasing the
overall risk of that portfolio.
Rebalancing is the exercise of periodically reviewing the portfolio to see where it has drifted away from its initial allocation
and selling the positions that have become overweighted. The cash
proceeds are then used to buy more of those positions that had
become underweighted.
While rebalancing neither assumes a profit nor guarantees protection against a loss, it serves two important functions. It helps to
manage portfolio risk by ensuring that better performing and potentially more risky positions do not become too great a portion of
the portfolio. It also serves as a discipline to buy investments when
they are cheaper and sell those when they are more expensive.
UMA accounts typically offer to automatically rebalance the
portfolio based upon prescribed triggers (e.g., when a position is plus or
minus 10% from its initial allocation)
and on a periodic basis--typically annually, though more frequent rebalancing may be available.
The future has indeed arrived
with the advent of UMA accounts, and
investors have every reason to be excited.
Paul Higgins is a Vice President with UBS Financial Services and
a Principal of the Trinity Wealth Management Group. He can be reached at
540-855-3381 or paul.higgins@ubs.
com.
It is important that you understand the
ways in which we conduct business and the
applicable laws and regulations that govern
us. As a firm providing wealth management
services to clients in the U.S., we are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) as an investment adviser
and a broker-dealer, offering both investment
advisory and brokerage services. Though
there are similarities among these services, the
investment advisory programs and brokerage
accounts we offer are separate and distinct,
differ in material ways and are governed by
different laws and separate contracts.
It is important that you carefully read the agreements and disclosures that we
provide to you about the products or services we offer. While we strive to ensure
the nature of our services is clear in the materials we publish, if at any time you
seek clarification on the nature of your accounts or the services you receive,
please speak with your Financial Advisor.
For more information, please visit our website at www.ubs.com/workingwithus.
The information contained in this article is based on sources believed reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. This article is for informational
and educational purposes only and should not be relied upon as the basis for a
purchase decision.
15
Sunday, September 13, 2009
9:15 am
10:30 am
Continental Breakfast and
Sunday School for all ages
Worship followed by
BBQ and Potluck Luncheon
South Roanoke
United Methodist Church
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Senior Minister: Pastor “Stan” Wright
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www.srumc.com
The Purpose of Religion
Sermon Series by Pastor “Stan” Wright
Join us for
KickOff Sunday
Our New Pastor
Pastor “Stan” Wright
Director of
Music Ministries
Richard D. McClure
Instrumental Ensemble
Handbells
Chancel Choir and Praise Team
For Parents
Children’s Ministries
Youth Ministries
Parents of Young Children
Monthly activities for fellowship
Jelly Bellies (2-1/2 - preK) Wed. 1:15 pm
Featuring The ABC’s of the Bible
Sundays 5:30 pm
Monthly Fun Activities •
Retreats • Service Projects
…especially for Moms….
“M.O.P.S.” (Mothers of Preschoolers)
Meeting September 15, 11:30 a.m.
Junior Mints (K-grade 2) Tues. 3 pm and
Peanut M&M’s (grades 3-5) Thurs. 3 pm
Featuring The Great Bible Race