tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70269842149927318192024-03-12T17:28:13.486-07:00faces of culpeper ..... a photo blogPhotographs of people from Culpeper, VA. by Rich CrowleyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-70752258502465103932017-02-17T11:06:00.001-08:002018-01-23T16:19:12.185-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A NEW APPROACH</h2>
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SOME OF 2016/17 IN REVIEW</h3>
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<b>A NEW APPROACH</b></div>
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As of January 23, 2018 there have been over 132,000 views of this blog site THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT I CAN SHARE WITH YOU IS THAT THIS PRETTY LADY, MY WIFE ANDREA, AND I HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR 51 YEARS AS OF JANUARY 28TH.</h4>
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Now....it is high time that I break out some pictures of Culpeper and create a new blog for the first part of 2017!</div>
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It has been quite a year in many ways. I think I pretty much regained my health after an awful time and possibly even decided what I am going to do with the rest of my life. One thing I have finally figured out is that many different people look at different parts of my photography work (Faces of Culpeper .... a Photo Blog, Faces of Culpepeper by Rich Crowley facebook, and Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper in the Culpeper Times), but not so many see them all. I want my blog visitors to see some of the other pictures so I have decided that from now on I will reprieve newspaper and facebook shots in these "Faces" blogs that I do. It sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? It does to me!</div>
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So............let's get to it. </div>
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I took this picture of Chole White in front of the town Christmas tree just before I went back to California for Christmas this year. Chloe and her husband got married this year so this is a big one for them, plus they moved to Culpeper with 13 year old Rex. Chloe is an accountant btw. </div>
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It was just a couple of weeks before Christmas and I had just returned from visiting my son and grandkids in California. I really needed some Christmas kind of pictures for my facebook page, "Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley." I was walking past the Lollipop Station and glanced in the window. There was a scene that really tickled me. There was Old St. Nick checking out some toys. I could not get in there quick enough to grab the picture.<br />
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I looked inside the Legacy Barber Shop as I walked down W. Davis Street. Then I went past two more stores before I thought that I better go back and check it out. These guys were not so sure of who I was or what I was doing but I convinced them that it was cool and then they were all in. Nice guys buy the way. The owner on the left is Leon and the one on the right is "Danny Boy." Something that you don't see on my facebook is the number of people who view the various pictures, but I do! These guys had almost 2400 in three days!! Average for my pictures is between 500-600. Then a month later I just stopped by to make sure that they had seen the posting. I got a heroes welcome! Leon knew who I was immediately. The picture had done just what I hoped it would do....draw a lot of attention and increase business. It is a funny thing, though....there have been several business owners who have turned me away. The Culpeper Times is mailed to 18,000 homes and my picture each week is prominently placed and very large. Free Advertising!!! However, a few people act like I am trying to steal their car or something, even after I show them a sample. Their loss big time!</div>
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Oh, I love this picture. I almost never take a picture with such a big smile but I saw her smiling like that when I walked into Martins and I would not rest until I had gotten that smile again and had a picture. If I could just make a poster of it for my wall..... I would smile all the time. What a doll!</div>
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She is Jennifer Detwiler and she is studying to be a special needs teacher. We need more people just like her. </div>
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I found a treat the day that I wandered into Culpeper Music Store. There I found these two "road dogs" which is what we called traveling rockers in the old days on the West Coast. I had a ball talking with Rogers Jones (a bass player that I had a few jokes for) and David Gilmore a singer (and a good one), guitar player and songwriter. Time flows gently for me when I am with experienced musicians. I am comfortable with educators, photographers and musicians..... maybe musicians most. They are a different breed of cat and a good breed. I thought I would put them in black and white to make them stand out.<br />
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Of all the things I have done in my life, I have loved being a dad the most... it makes me smile when fathers and their kids are out doing something together. You can tell by the poinsettias that it is before Christmas and these two were at Lowes together. The little guy was all dressed up for school and the dad was obviously proud. I only have first names, but the father is Donovan and the son is Julius.</div>
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Now this is truly interesting and quite unique. These are two amazing people. I cannot tell you everything, but I will fill you in on enough for you to gain appreciation for their lives. Felicia served in the Red Cross for 30 years which included tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Keith is retired military and served two tours in Iraq and also in Desert Storm. He worked in Army intelligence and then worked for the government in McLean. He was the Post Commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars and has served on our City Council for 12 years. Felicia with support from Keith, has open an amazing bee store which is as much a service as a business. They sell bee products, but even more importantly they educate. Upstairs is a kind of lecture hall with a glass bee hive which you can see in the picture above. That is for observation especially for children. Groups are welcome. You will have to learn the rest for yourself, but it is a great place to take your kids. It is on W. Davis St.<br />
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I spent most of December in California where I have a son and four grandkids. When I got back it was only about a week until Christmas and I wanted to get a Christmas tree picture for my "faces" facebook page. When I got to the tree lot I found Gariel Randolph,who I learned was an areo space engineer, standing on his tire and tying his Christmas tree on top of his SUV. I felt lucky that he was there and was such a nice guy. His family was waiting patiently inside the vehicle.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brian Hubbell is the manager of the new Murray Gas Station and convenience store. It is located in the </span><br />
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When I drove passed this woman she was literally bouncing as she walked and she had a big smile on her face. I found a place to park and chased her down. She told me that she "just love my job" and she said that her customers were the reason why. She receives positive feedback from them all the time. I will tell you that Monique Carpenter is truly a delight and it was a lot of fun talking with her, but I had to cut it short or the people would not get their mail. </div>
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I met Rachel Patterson because of her coat. We have had some bitterly cold days and nights this winter and I wanted a picture that demonstrated just that. Enter Rachel with her fur lined hood and she was exactly what I wanted....thanks to her. She is studying to be a dental hygienist plus she is a wedding photographer (I did that for 32 years). Her business is called Briatley Images. </div>
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These next two groups of pictures are of some of the nicest people I have met while shooting for my blog and for my facebook. After I published the picture of this group I got a number of notes from people telling me that they were the nicest folks ever. They certainly were great with me. They are Lauren, Tanner, Samantha, Remington(baby) and Bandit.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AqOMvKyaWOw/WJTzYgT5xlI/AAAAAAAAGak/XFPhgITcY6s7RpovGr4hImxQkShOTnAdQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AqOMvKyaWOw/WJTzYgT5xlI/AAAAAAAAGak/XFPhgITcY6s7RpovGr4hImxQkShOTnAdQCLcB/s640/IMG_7149.JPG" width="640" /></a>John Fischer, his wife Kate and children Abby, Mara and Jack were on there way to IHOP when I caught them in the parking lot. They had seen me and wondered if I was "the guy that took pictures for the Culpeper Times." Well I am and they were most cooperative. <br />
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The picture says it all..... two guys crazy about each other, father and son....Mike Mardeusz and Cameron. </div>
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There were quite a few grandparents Christmas shopping at the same time I was out and about. I talked with several, and this lady was particularly sweet. We exchanged thoughts about the dilemmas that we grandfolks have trying to choose toys that are "acceptable" for today's grandchildren. Then Maude Taylor surprised me when she shared with me that she is 86 years old. Amazing! As they say, "You wear it well."</div>
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Now here is a pair of look-alikes! The most common demographic shopping in the stores for Christmas was young mothers and their children who were too young to understand what was happening. These two, Amy Compton and Tenley, are especially cute and I had to get them for one of my publications. It turns out that I used them in two. </div>
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Admittedly, I am jumping around with my pictures in this blog. I was, however, particularly impressed with the number of people I met during this Christmas season who were doing volunteer work. These three are a good example. Their church congregation took turns covering the Salvation Army station at Walmart. I found that to be a nice service. These three are: Penny Tatro, Dawn Bender and Lexie Hobson. </div>
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This is Sam Huff and he is a groomer at Petsmart. The women in the shop were quick to tell me that it had been a long time since they had a man in their department. Well, they do now. </div>
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John and Alice Brown are some of the nicest people that I have met while taking photos around the Peper. I found these guys in the Hallmark store a couple of weeks before Christmas. I learned that John is a retired retail manager and that they have two sons. </div>
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These guys look like all business here, but they were all laughs and jokes up until I took the picture. Fun guys! They wanted this young lady in the picture because she was at the store buying tires. They kept referring to her as , "the happy customer." She certainly looks like it in this picture! We are at Town Tires where they feature used tires, but lots of them look new. On the left is Rodolfo who is a "worker" and then a manager, Antonio, the "happy customer" and manager, Carlos. </div>
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Carmen Musso works at the new and improved Ciro's. Previously she worked for almost three years and the original and ready for a make over, Ciros. She is a long time, loyal employee who has personality plus. When I posted Carmen Musso on my "Faces" facebook page... it lit up with people viewing her picture. </div>
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<b>LETS WRAP THIS ONE UP</b></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">I am going to end this blog today with this feel good picture. It may be the most viewed picture ever on my facebook page that I call, "Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley/ facebook" These guys all work at Jersey Mikes and I caught them as they were getting ready to close. A friend told me they are BFFs. Anyway, thanks to Courtlyn Harris, Chase Jenkins and Haley Dover for the picture.</span></h3>
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That is it for this time. I hope you enjoyed seeing just a few of the interesting faces that live and work in Culpeper, Va.</h4>
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Be sure to watch for my weekly contribution to the Culpeper Times. It is called Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper.</h4>
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AND</h3>
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<b>MY FACEBOOK PAGE... Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley/facebook </b></div>
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<b>This one changes at least three times a week. It receives 3/4,000 visits a week.</b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-48829339656488646362016-10-10T17:09:00.003-07:002017-02-16T09:24:01.785-08:00JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong>Visits to this site as of February 16, 2017...... over 102,000.</strong><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">FACES OF CULPEPER....... IN CASE YOU MISSED IT</span></h2>
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It seems that summer flew by and here we are in fall..... although it does not feel like fall. I have met lots of fun and interesting people as usual, but some of them, in fact about half of them, are not aware yet of this blog and/or my "Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley" facebook page, which has 3000 to 4000 visits a week. Come on people where have you been? Probably 65% of the people I talk with are aware of the Culpeper Times feature I do which is called "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper." What is really odd is that almost all of them think the newspaper snapshot is called "Faces of Culpeper." We all have work to do. Occasionally I will use one picture in two of the features I do, but pretty rarely. Lots of people only see the snapshot in the paper and so I thought I would enlighten them with some of the facebook pictures and some of you facebook readers with a few of the"snapshot" featured pictures. If that made sense then let's get started. </div>
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My place of honor (first picture) goes to Cynthia Cooper who was enjoying the surf board at the new Lake Pelham facility by the Old Country Store. Boy, she was good! She is a nurse at the Facquier Hospital. </div>
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This guy just blew me away when I saw him walking towards Lowes with this Tritan Cockatoo on his shoulder as though it happened every day. He is Jason Parker and he has lived here about 10 years. He works for MICRON which is headquartered in my hometown of Boise, Idaho. Yep, that is a diaper!</div>
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Farmers' Market is where I saw this family. Gary, Beth and Jax.... seems that they are pretty important in the local youth athletic activities. </div>
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Yessir your Honor!! I had no idea this gentleman who was helping me at the store he manages..... was the Mayor of Culpeper. He flattered me by saying that he had wanted to meet me because of my pictures. He is Michael T. Olinger.</div>
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This is not exactly a face but it is a familiar place (nice rhyme). One day I watched Wendy's get leveled and took pictures of several stages of the destruction. There was another photographer standing over by the fence, but it was hot and he gave up before the job was done. I just parked my car across the street and sat in the air conditioning snapping an occasional shot. They are building a new version of Wendy's there. I could never quite figure out why it did not do better. Maybe this new version will be a big hit. I hope so. </div>
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This is MPO (Master Police Officer) M.E. Grant<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Alex Mabrey who is the kitchen manager for Grill 309. I cornered him for a shot because of his tattoos. I am hoping to do another of these blogs on tattoos and I am building a stock of pictures for when that happens. </td></tr>
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I met this girl (where else?) but Yowell Meadow Park. Every time I went walking there, she was running and would lap me about four times. She runs very smoothly. Her name is Alice Fougere and she is from France and is here visiting friends. She graduated from college there with a degree in "Wines and Spirits." I know a lot of people who probably think they have earned that degree through experience. She was second in the 4th of July race and won both of the categories she entered in the Rixeyville race. </div>
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A new experience for me was absentee voting. These two cheerfully helped me. They are James Clements who is the General Registrar for Culpeper and Melissa Hart who is the assistant Registrar. I wore my "I Voted" sticker all day, but no one notice or commented if they did.</div>
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These guys were raising money for disabled kids by selling stickers that could be placed on the police cruiser. They called the event, "Tag a Cruiser." L-R, Boogie (provided music for the event) MPO Grant, Jason Smith, Richard Maylan, Sanford Reeves, and "DownTown" Ed Brown from station 1O3.5 WJMA.<br />
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I do get around it seems. I spend quite a bit of time with my camera in my car and it was a good thing on this day. One day as I was leaving Lowes I noticed that they had roped off one whole end of their parking lot. They had a number of big ticket items for sell like trucks and tractors and I can't remember what else. They were cooking hot dogs and had cokes and chips and since it was lunch I thought I would stop in and buy some. It had to be for a good cause I reasoned. It was better than that..... it was free! They were also having a free drawing for some power tools. This neat lady was managing all of that. Her name is Cindy Butler and she is a "Pro Service Specialist" for Lowes.<br />
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Mitchells Presbyterian Church is famous and historical and is down Rte. 522. It is known for its murals that were begun in 1888 and finished (sort of) seven years later. They are in remarkable condition partially because this gentleman, Tom Thomas restores them if they begin to have problems. Tom owns a business called Fineline Architectural Detailing.<br />
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These cheerful runners are Sandy and Paula Hall. For some reason I was surprised to discover that they are among the most significant cogs in the Culpeper business wheel. I would bet that along with all the other skills and habits they have, that approachability has worked well for them.<br />
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I had no idea that Jo Stillwell was so popular when I put her in my "Faces" facebook page. The board lit up, as it were. She got a ton of hits on her picture. She has been employed at Ferguson Plumbing for about 15 years and must have done it well given all the attention she garnered.<br />
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How do you sparkle when you are lifting this much weight? I get the feeling that this is not alot for her. Deb Panagos was working out at Zambora's when I met her. She is a School Social Worker for the Facquier County School system. We need people like her. I was surprised to discover that her father in law and I worked at Herndon High School at the same time in the 70s. She was not surprised..... she said that she meets people all the time who knew him<br />
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On a Saturday not long ago there was a rally and a walk at Yowell to raise money to help end Alzheimer's disease. I was lucky to get a picture of these guys. They just wanted me to call them the Grace Retirement Village Team.<br />
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I am just throwing in a ray of sunshine. One day as I was driving up to my house (we live at the end of a cul de sac). I spied this butterfly on one of my sunflowers. It was large enough to be seen from the street. He or she stuck around until I tiptoed up and took this picture. It never fails to make me feel good and to remember how beautiful our world is.<br />
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Did you know that there is a small airfield (well, not so small 600 foot runway) at Lenn Park? This gentleman is one of the main reasons that it is so bright and shiny..... he mows it every week...His name is Nic Burns and he is the president of (hang on) the Culpeper Model Barnstormers' Radio Control Model Airplane Club. The young woman is a junior member and her name is Patricia Antal. If you might be interested contact Ernie Padgette at 703 244 7465 or visit their website at www.cmbclubrc.com<br />
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Now that is a killer smile! This is Kelsey Carlson and she is the owner of the Green Roost. My wife and I always visit there when we are downtown. Guys, here is a hint..... (now this never happens to me, but...)if you have ever gotten in a bit of trouble with your wife or girlfriend and need a gift that says, "I'm Sorry!" Don't go the boring flower route. The Green Roost has these very cool bracelets called Alex and Ani bracelets. Your wife will be so impressed that you even knew about them and they are reasonable. It will look like you put lots of thought into the gift and here is the really good thing...... Kelsey will help you pick out the best one. Hope I did not blow you cover, Kelsey. Here is a warning ....to my eye they don't look so look so great, but trust me... your wife will go nuts. You are welcome. </div>
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I met this guy outside of the Culpeper Sport and Racquet Club. He's got one of those names that should have made him a star at an Ivy League college (Now starting at quarterback for Harvard..... Ford Thomson!!!! and the fans go wild.) He is a Culpeper native who works in Saudi Arabia as an English teacher to non English speakers. He was just home for a month. I think people are interesting who go out and experience the world. I enjoyed talking with him.<br />
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Now these folks have become sort of friends of mine. They are James and Brittany Laughorn and they own the Grill 309 next to the State Theatre. Grill 309 is a happening place. The workers are all cheerful and friendly as are the owners. They are open 11-11 Monday through Saturday and 10 to 8 on Sunday so people can catch the games. Brittany wanted to make sure that I knew that they feature 12 different kinds of beers and although I am not a drinker.....there we go..... 12 of them. BTW for others like me there are lots of other drink options. If you don't at least try it you will be missing out. Grill 309<br />
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Here is Titus and his owner Rob McPeak. They have been residents of the Peper for about a year now. Rob has a wife and three kids. He retired from the military and they looked around because they had no limits on where they could go and they picked Culpeper. When I asked him why Culpeper he just said, "Cause it's such a great place to live." Amen to that!<br />
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LET'S GO FOR THE BIG FINISH!!!<br />
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This is all the fun I can handle so I am going to end right now. <br />
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This little lady has the name, Macruth. She is always bubbly and seems happy. She speaks to everyone as she is walking at Yowell Meadow Park. However she has a story. She has come here to work in her sisters saloon where she is a hairbraiding specialist. She came all the way from Cameroun, Africa where she still has children. <br />
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<b>THANKS FOR VISITING. BE SURE TO CHECK OUT: </b><br />
<b>FACES OF CULPEPER BY RICH CROWLEY FACEBOOK</b><br />
and<br />
<b><u>RICH CROWLEY'S SNAPSHOT OF CULPEPER </u></b><br />
<b><u>in the</u></b><br />
<b><u>CULPEPER TIMES </u></b><br />
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<b><u>this blog is adding approximately 1000 new readers every 10 days.</u></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-83483789958812891822016-08-03T19:54:00.000-07:002016-10-10T14:08:24.240-07:00<div>
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<h2>
IT'S BEEN A LONG LONG TIME</h2>
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As you know if you have been following my blog, it has been a long time since the last one. I have had a long run of poor health. Before Thanksgiving I had surgery that did not turn out well and that required emergency follow up surgery. The combination left me sick for a long long time with a painfully slow recovery. Infact, I feared that I would never recover. It took about eight months before I began to be close to normal. During that time it was with great effort that I kept my "<b>Snapshot of Culpeper</b>" going in the Culpeper Times<b>.</b> It required a lot of planning to go out in very short bursts and grab shots for my <b> Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley Facebook </b>page. Clearly this blog suffered. But I am back...... at least for a while. It seems pretty clear to me that sooner rather than later I am going to have to move nearer to the Heart Center in Fairfax. In the meantime I intend to have fun with all of my projects, so let's get going<br />
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<b>(note, as of 10/08/2016 there have been over 71,500 visits to this blog)</b></h3>
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<b>FACES AND PLACES OF CULPEPER</b></div>
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I am always on the lookout for faces for these projects. There are many many interesting faces in this town. It was a very short time ago that I ran into these guys at IHOP. They are at a fun time of life and personify the joy of many of the faces that I run into. Left to right: <br />
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Drew, Cameron, Max, Ben, Skippy and Wyatt</div>
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I have thought about places I will miss if I leave Culpeper. We are fortunate to have streams and "runs" that pass through our area and make for beautiful scenes. Since I originally came from Idaho, I had never heard the term "run" as it refers to a waterway. When we studied the Civil War we thought names like "Bull Run" were interesting, but did not have a true idea of where those names came from. Mountain Run meanders through much of our landscape and I think is especially pretty at Lenn Park. In fact because it is so peaceful and picturesque there that it is one of my top two or three places in the area in general and possibly my favorite for photography.</div>
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Messieurs-dames, venez manger des crepes francaises les plus formidables du monde!! Elles </div>
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sont vraiment delicieuses!!</div>
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Ladies and gentlemen, come eat the most wonderful French crepeps in the world!! They are really delicious!! </div>
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The customers are Eric Bynum a local musician and Laura Bynum a writer/artist who has had her own show in the Loft.</div>
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The chef is Zach Foxley a local resident and graduate student at George Mason. However, his fledgling crepe business is just starting to grow so keep an eye on him...... the best is yet to come.</div>
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Homes in transition is a nice way of saying that there seems to be a lot of houses, especially on the edge of town, that are falling apart from old age and neglect. I am always curious about them and want to go inside, but I rarely do. I walked into an old barn that is pretty close to CCHS and came face to face with a coyote. That sort of cured my curiosity for a while. When I see a house like this I always remind myself that at one time this was a new and beautiful home and someone was excited<br />
about moving into it. What happened in the meantime? At this house I saw this toy resting on the front porch. <br />
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And this outhouse in back.<br />
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Back to faces..... this is Judy Owen and she is a school bus driver for Culpeper County Schools. For my money she and the others like her are among the most important people in Culpeper. We never hear about school bus drivers unless there is a wreck involving a school bus somewhere. Every day here in the Peper thousands of kids are safely transported to and from schools. Unsung heroes is what they are. This one was very grateful that I singled her out and gave some attention that translated to all the bus drivers. As you are driving around some time just think about how it would be if there were forty kids behind you... each one full of energy....and each one counting on you to get them to school and home safely. I personally am thankful that there are responsible people who are willing to do this job. I made her picture extra large to indicate how important I think she and her peers are.<br />
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This is a face and a place. First we are at the Old House Vineyard and this is the manager of the the "House" which has many attractions including fine dining. Her name is Deborah McCall. Note the beautiful vineyards behind her. <br />
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Hard working Dude. This is Bruce Butler and his assistant Billy Truslow power washing my house. These guys work hard and in pretty extreme heat. The company motto is, "Keepin It Clean."<br />
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Kandy and Andrew, as you can see on their sleeves, are helpful employees at the UPS store. They make life easy when you go there. This month I am going to give them a big challenge.... I am going to ship an antique rocking chair to Colorado and I trust they will get it there safe and sound.<br />
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This is another important place. What can I say? This obviously is Eastern View High School. Every time I go there or by there, I am amazed at the amount of land that is committed to the school and community at this facility. <br />
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I may have mentioned before that one of the hardest things to do when you move to a new town is find medical people that fit with you and that you feel confident with. Well, we struck gold with Shannon Butler who is our dentist. She is so thorough and patient and kind.<br />
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When I posted them in my facebook I noted that they did not tell me what the joke was, but I was hoping that it was not on me. I did check my clothing though. It is hard to look at this and not smile. These young women are: Sarina, Alicia, Destinee and Rachael.<br />
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On my facebook page which is also called, "Faces of Culpeper" I decided to picture people in the Peper who worked at the drive through windows and the various fast food restaurants. Lorena, Edson and Kaleshia work the window at Burger King.<br />
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Beautiful old house. There are several of these in town. This one is a biggie!<br />
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Chad Buracker is a long time employee at Mike's Glass. I saw the business sign and boldly walked into the back work area and had Chad show me how you cut glass.. It looks amazingly easy when he does it. <br />
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I think there must be an art community or at least an "artsy" community where everyone knows Patty Werick. She owns the art gallery/studio called, <i>The Loft </i>where there is alot of art for sale, plus art workshops and tons of fun and rewarding things. She is at 107B on East Davis and is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday starting at 11am on Friday and Saturday and 12 on Sunday.<br />
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Andrew Dearing was outside of my dentists office when I noticed him. He told me that he is an aspiring musician among some other things. He looks like a movie star to me. My facebook <b>, Faces</b> <b>of Culpeper by Rich Crowley </b>reports to me the number of views each picture has. Andrew got about 1200 views and then stopped. All of a sudden in the last two weeks he has picked up about 1000 more! That has never happened before!<br />
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I heard a lot of people say that they never thought they would live long enough to see a picket line in Culpeper but we did and it lasted a long time. As always each side gave a little, but you would have to say that the workers won this one. Ken Wheeler, Richard Payne and Bob Decker were picketing the day I took the picture. Good job guys!<br />
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WEDDINGS IN THE PARKS</h2>
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On three occasions since I have been doing this blog, I have happened upon couples who were preparing to get married in the park. Two of them in Yowell and one in Mountain Run Lake Park. One was a couple of years ago and two were this year. </div>
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This wedding occurred at Mountain Run Lake Park. Groom is Dino Tracey, Bride is April Tracy and Dino's son is Brayden.</div>
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I did not get down to see this wedding but hollered to them from the bridge and got a wave. These newly weds are: Constance (also pictured below) Hepner Bielanski and her husband John Walter Bielanski.<br />
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<b>Back to faces and places </b><br />
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The railroad runs through us.<br />
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There is nothing quite like being a grandfather. This is Clyde Zopp and his granddaughter.<br />
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This is the famous Shawn Moss who is the owner of "Shawn's Smokehouse Company located on Sperryville Pike. I am told that he recently opened another in Warrenton. One thing I know for sure is that the food is good.<br />
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Jonathan and (bashful) Rebecca James with baby Lilly.<br />
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I first learned about this place about a month ago. It is a beautiful and growing Assisted Living facility, <i>The Culpeper.</i><br />
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Larry Myers could be called a "dog whisperer." The dog with him here is in training. As we took this picture, lots of people came by and spoke with him. When he was on my Facebook people wrote testimonials about him. He must be good and he has a mild personality.<br />
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TEACHERS</h2>
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I was lucky enough to attend my grandson, Nathan's little kindergarten "graduation" program at Yowell Elementary. This is Nathan and his teacher, Mrs. Butterfield who is very popular with the parents and the kids. As they say, "She is really nice!"</div>
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This friendly person who I found riding her bike near IHOP is Alyssa Labuda and teaches third grade at Emerald Hill Elementary.<br />
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Demonstrating that teachers never stop giving, I discovered these two helping on a fund raiser at Shawn's BBQ. Both of these ladies teach at Pearl Sample. They are Carly Pope a music teacher and Alex Ramsey a first grade teacher.<br />
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Isn't it interesting that this sits right in the middle of town?<br />
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Filming a public service announcement for the city at Meadow Run Lake are: Jonathan Krawchuck in blue who is the station manager for our local tv station and Jeff Stanfill the technical director.<br />
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Jason Theil at his store called, "The Shop" which boasts an eclectic array of products for sale.<br />
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This is Tracia Thao Phan</div>
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If you look closely you will see that this tree is loaded with green apples.</div>
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Sam Withrow called me one day to come see the chair he had made and so I did. He did a great job. When I put this in the Culpeper Times I noted that, "Sam puts the 'good' in good old boy."</div>
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One of the things that I always long to do when different flowers are in bloom is to take pictures of a pretty person or of children deep in them. This time it was black eyed susans and I found Nicole Platel-Aspray to pose for me. Would it surprise you if I told you that this was taken in front of the empty Belk store?</div>
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<b>BIG FINISH</b><br />
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Since it has been several months since I wrote and pictured a blog, I have about 20 more pictures to include. However, I think I have gone about as long as I dare for this one. This will be my last entry this time.<br />
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For the nine years that I have lived in Culpeper, I have driven past this facility and wondered about it. It is on Bragg Road and several acres covered with wood to be shipped. Trucks are rolling in and out with loads of finished lumber. The day before I visited 85 trucks passed through. Last year they shipped 145 million feet of lumber from this lot. My son had told me that this was the largest operation of its kind in the United States. I believe it.<br />
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Frankly I was a little bit intimidated about going in because there were signs like this one and about wearing hard hats etc. while on the property but finally my curiosity won out. I went in and met Matt Fincham who is the Operations Manager for the lot. He educated me (this is one of five locations for this company.) Joe Daniels, a culpeper resident is the owner. I hope to be able to talk with him for the next blog. Then he drove me around the facility in his cart until I saw the place that I wanted to use to take a picture. <br />
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Here's Matt. I guarantee that these pictures do not adequately represent the size or scope of this yard. Here are a couple of other angles.<br />
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Thanks for sticking with me so long today. I hope you saw lots of new people and even learned a thing or two. I promise that I won't be so long next time.<br />
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Remember that I have my "<b>Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper" </b>every week in the Culpeper Times <b>AND </b>my facebook which I call, <b>Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley. </b>I have a very large readerships of my three projects and I want to thank you for supporting me.<br />
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Until next time.......<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-54517910362305127172016-01-29T14:11:00.000-08:002016-08-06T10:02:40.532-07:00Culpeper in Black and White.... just a peek!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been shooting and writing this blog for a lot of years now. Six years to be exact. This is blog number 56. This winter has been a challenging one health wise and I have had a lot of time to think. Among other things I thought about our town and the hundreds of people I have included in this blog. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough and so I added a "Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley" facebook page which has an amazing readership. I pondered the value of these efforts and whether the time and effort spent was meaningful to the readers. Those questions are still to be answered, but I did decided to do one blog in black and white for a change of pace. AND just for this one I am changing style with very little writing and lots of photos. Many of these pictures you may have seen before some not at all. The more avid a follower you are, the more likely it is that you have seen some.</div>
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So.......................................at least for the time being, and as long as I get satisfaction, I will continue to chronicle the "Faces of Culpeper." </div>
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So this is the latest, the least colorful and the one with talking pictures. </div>
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<b>AS OF JULY 26, 2016 OVER 66,000 VISITORS HAVE BEEN TO THIS BLOG</b></div>
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We have at least one person who is more than just a mail clerk..... he is a friend. </div>
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A former Marshal </div>
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A friend to kids<br />
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We are home to a national cemetary</div>
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This young woman has recorded more views on my facebook than anyone else!<br />
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A legend, so I am told.</div>
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Just one of the hundreds in Culpeper who sport tattoos. It seems like everyone does.</div>
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Another tattoo.<br />
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Cute families are everywhere.<br />
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....and pretty girls<br />
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We have many magnificent old homes!<br />
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Moms and daughters<br />
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The flooded walking bridge in Yowell Park.<br />
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Duh!<br />
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Geese!<br />
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I used to hate having this industrial part of town be the first thing you would see. Now I kind of like it.<br />
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That's the big show for this time. I hope a gave you a cross sectional peak of the Peper. <br />
Be sure to check out my Facebook page...... "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/facesofculpeperva/" target="_blank">Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley</a>" it changes every other day. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-68500430745863771182015-11-05T12:29:00.000-08:002018-01-23T16:22:15.808-08:00Haven't I Seen You In The Newspaper?<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>As of February 18, 2016 there have been over 58,000 visits to this blog</b></div>
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As I approach each new blog I have a quandary.... what theme should I make this one about? I have had beards, merchants, tattoos, people who work in 100 degrees etc. Sometimes I just have a collection of people that I have met and found interesting. This is sort of one of those times except that each one of these people have appeared (or will) in the <i>Culpeper Times </i>piece<i> </i>called <i>Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper. </i>Side note... I actually had someone refer to the newspaper piece as "your Snapshot"... as in, "I look for your Snaphot every week." Because I post this blog, <i>Faces of Culpeper, </i>and the the Facebook page, <i>Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley, </i>most people refer to all of my work as "Faces" and that's ok by me! However this man referred to it correctly and I was surprised and honestly, pleased. So all of these were or will be in my <i>Snapshots of Culpeper. </i>Let's get to it! <br />
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This man's name is Al Wray. He is an interesting guy who is a retired American Airlines pilot. He still loves to fly and he still does it all the time in his own private plane. During the last political election he, and some others, volunteered their planes and their skills to get some of the Republican candidates from one place to another. That is an impressive service. Of course, it is not uncommon for Al to be helping one person or another who needs his help. His wife told me that he can fix anything. They live in an interesting neighborhood just out of town that has an airstrip. In fact all of the homes are built around that strip and each has a hanger. That makes it easy to just wheel out and take off. I hear a plane overhead right now! It might be Al.......... </div>
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These friends of ours have a good looking family. They are the Seeleys and are roasting wieners at a fire pit in Lenn Park on a picnic with Andrea and me. It is a favorite spot for us to take our grand kids. I would like to tell you that the Seeleys are such a together group that they actually do their roasting in a perfect line, but naw...... we posed them. It looks like they could cook that way, though. Pictured from left to right are Gavin, Lexi, Pappa Trent (works at Micron), Ethan, Tess (in front) and Mamma Corinn (she is the bookkeeper at Emerald Hill Elementary School). </div>
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At the "Savor and Sip" event held downtown, I was looking for some new faces to feature in one of my pieces or another. I saw Adwela Dawes who looked unique with his hat and his imposing size and knew that he was someone I had to meet. He turned out to be a life long resident of Culpeper and very willing to talk with me. He is the singer of Adwela & the Uprising, a band that was going to play on the covered stage near the depot. I hung around and talked to their manager and found out that they had been on tour but were about to take a break to work on an album. I listened to their first three songs and I think they are quite good. Reggae is not really my thing, but it is theirs and they excel at it. Good luck!<br />
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I am usually happy when I get a picture that I know I can use for this blog. Occasionally<br />
I am VERY happy about the picture because of who is in it. I feel very lucky to have been the photographer who caught these two at Baby Jim's and recorded them for posterity. Sweet ladies and important in the history of our town. Baby Jim's is a landmark in the "Peper" and these two are icons. Paula Jenkins (Miss Jenkins) on the left owns the establishment with her son. I was told that she became involved in Baby Jim's in the mid 50s. That is a long time ago! Janet Jarrells on the right, told me that she had worked there for "25 or 30 years." That is cool! I understand that Baby Jim's was opened sometime around 1947. It was recently named one of the top breakfast restaurants in the state. Congratulations!<br />
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One of the most difficult things that you have to do when you move to a new area is to find doctors that you are comfortable with. I had an orthopedic issue and Dr. Craig Reigel was recommended to me. His office is at the Virginia Orthopedic Center directly across from the Culpeper Hospital. He has practiced his specialty for 26 years now. I found him to be very engaging in his manner and conservative in his approach to my injury. I guess this is one are in which I have to look no further for my doctor. Oh, by the way..... my foot is better. <br />
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These guys look very awake for 6:30 am. It was my wife's birthday and I had asked her what she wanted for breakfast on her special day. She said, "Donuts in bed." What????? Oh well if that is what she wanted her wish was my command and so I headed to <i>Dunkin Donuts </i>leaving early enough that I could get over and back before she was up. I entered the store right at 6:30 and here were these guys chatting it up and having a good time. I went back to my car for my camera and they were most gracious. Turns out that on days they play golf they gather at DD for coffee and donuts. Really friendly and easy going (at least at <i>Dunkin Donuts </i>early in the morning). I am going casual myself and giving you first names in no order: Chris, Jay, Tony and Carmen...it is up to you to sort it out. Oh, the donuts in bed were a big hit!!<br />
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I honestly had not been to the Farmers' Market near the depot this year. I figured that I would be missing a significant part of the Culpeper culture if I never stopped in. So I did and discovered this engaging woman and began a conversation with her. She is Monica Briggs and she and her husband, Tim have owned the <i>Sunshine Acres Farm </i>for more than thirteen years. They raise pesticide free produce which appeals to a lot of people. The have five children and seven grandchildren....makes for an interesting life. If you would like more info you can reach her at briggsmonica@aol.com.<br />
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<b>This is Eric Zamora and this whole entry is something new for me. </b></div>
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For years I have driven down Montanus and seen the signs that read "<b>Zamora Mixed Marshall Arts" </b>and then most recently "<b>Zamora Boxing Gym." </b>Over time I had stopped by several times and finally had to admit that I just could not figure out when they were open. A couple of weeks ago I thought I would head over in the early evening and see if anything was cooking at that gym. As I pulled up I observed about sixteen people in the parking lot running laps. Most of them were men, but there were three women.<br />
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I grabbed my camera and headed inside fully expecting to see something out of a Rocky Balboa movie..... hot, dark and sweaty. I was in for a surprise because there was a large, bright, clean, and cool gym area with lots of people working out. The owner, Eric Zamora came over and we chatted for a while.<br />
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I made an appointment to come back and get some pictures. Eric is a young father with a wife and three kids. He is a former boxer and a well respected trainer. The gym is associated with four professional fighters, three men and one women. They feature a variety of <b>classes for kids, teens and adults plus one on one training. </b><br />
I photographed part of a training session with Eric and one of the pro fighters , Roque Zapata (Rocky) who moved here in the sixth grade from Panama. He is also a security officer and fights professionally at Bantam Weight. He told me that people mistake him for Eric's son since they are together so much.<br />
Go by in the evening and just look in. Eric will make time for you. I think this is a great fitness option and more.<br />
540 2223 5360<br />
zamoraboxing@yahoo.com<br />
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We may not be experiencing a boom in commercial growth, but it sure seems like we are slowly and surely improving our economy. This new business is <i>Breeze Printing </i>and is owned by the enthusiastic Robin Kruczek. Robin has been a graphics designer for over thirty years and now brings her considerable talents to Culpeper. They are located at 114 N. West Street. These are Culpeper people who are invested in our town. Her husband Kevin, owns <i>Breeze Auto Full Service Repair. </i><br />
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The first time that I heard the name Roque Castro I was visiting my son's family in Fresno, California. I was looking up this blog and decided to see what else might be online about Culpeper. The first thing to pop up was a five or six minute promotion sponsored by the Office of Tourism and it featured Roque Castro. Roque does a lot of things and this promotional piece focused on his re purposing business, "<i>Yesterday Reclaimed." </i>The information about him was interesting but the piece was beautiful and fabulously done. I thought to myself, "Hey, I'd like to live there!" I resolved to meet him and although it has taken over a year, I finally did it. First, the name is pronounced "Ro Kee" and is a name from Guam where his father lives. This guy is interesting! He has so many skills and interests. His main business is developing software and he and his partners have clients in many of the main population centers of the world. Because it is so spread out and is online he has the luxury to live and work where he chooses. Since Roque felt like his growing up experience was so good here in Culpeper, he wanted his four children to have the same experience..... so here he is with his wife.<br />
We have alot more yet to hear from him. I should note that he is the artist who created the "<b>Love Sculpture" by the Depot. </b><br />
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This lovely lady is Paige Read and I got to spend a bit of time with her the other day. Paige is important to all of us because she is the Director of Tourism and Economic Development for Culpeper. Impressive! Paige is an interesting person. She and her husband have not found their future home just yet. Since she plans to plant her roots deep they are looking for a decent size piece of land to build on and have not found just the right one. She came to us from the Virginia State Tourism Department and loves Culpeper. Paige is especially interested in the agricultural aspects of the economy plus she is interested in keeping the downtown area fully leased and dynamic. I think she can help do it! I asked her what she liked best about "the Peper" and she quickly replied: "I love that it is a progressive small town with a rich history." Me, too!<br />
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Lately the <i>Olde Country Story </i>has become one of our favorite places to frequent because my wife has fallen in love with their fresh homemade bread. I have to admit it is pretty great. The <i>Olde Country Store </i>is not only interesting, it is amazing because of the array of products and the large number of people who are shopping there.... locals and tourists. This week we had to drive around for a minute to find a parking spot. It is well known that the owners are Mennonites and that many of the workers are in traditional Mennonite dress. That all adds to the mystic of fine baked pies, cakes, breads etc..... plus their sandwiches are the best. They have most of their products bulk wrapped and did I say that everything is fresh? If you haven't been....then you've got to go. This is Dorcas Martin who waited on me and graciously let me take her picture. <br />
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I find some pretty cool places and pretty cool people around this town. This guy is one of those people. I think it is safe to say that he is one of the few people I have met who enjoys talking as much as I do. When we were together it was a flurry of words! I say this about so many people but, Mike Duby is one interesting dude. He owns a fitness studio called, <i>Applied Science Fitness Studio </i>and like him, it is unique. He specializes in "Private One on One Strength Training." He has quite an array of equipment but you will never be working out with a crowd. It seems to me that it offers a great opportunity for those who prefer being able to be private in their exercise. Give him a shot...<br />
540 812 5532 or appliedsciencefitnessstudio.com<br />
or just drop in like I did<br />
217 E. Culpeper Street and don't let the entrance fool ya<br />
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<b>NOW FOR THE BIG FINISH!!!!!!</b><br />
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Like everyone else, I am in love with Culpeper in the Fall. The leaves are especially magnificent this year! I really wanted a picture that highlighted the leaves and the color and was special. Not a run of the mill picture but one like you would rarely be lucky enough to see. First I had to find some places that would be visually perfect, then I had to figure out who to shoot in the leaves and how to present them. For some reason I could not make the two come together. My wife suggested that first I find the leaves and then just knock on the door of the house and see if the owner would come out and let me take their picture in their leaves. I was extremely skeptical, but I wanted that picture so I went to a couple of houses and knocked and no one was home. Then I accidentally wandered into the Oak Lawn neighborhood and saw the perfect tree. So I screwed up my courage and took my card and camera and went to the door. The caregiver spoke to me through a crack in the door (can you blame her?) and took my business card to the owner. She came right back and invited me in. There I met Jake Cassidy one of the most delightful women I have had the pleasure to chat with. She told me that her name is really Elizabeth Cassidy, but no one calls her Elizabeth.... everyone calls her Jake. I learned from her that she and her family physician husband moved to Culpeper and to that very house in 1966! I would not have guessed it but Jake is 94!! She has three children, two boys and a girl. I asked if we could take her picture and she reached for her sweater. This is the result! Thanks, Jake!<br />
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<b>That's it for this time</b><br />
<b>Don't forget to look for <i>Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper </i>weekly in the <i>Culpeper Times</i></b><br />
<b><i>and </i></b><br />
<b>Regularly check my facebook page, <i>Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley </i></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-19146753563006498452015-09-18T09:21:00.003-07:002016-11-15T16:30:26.820-08:00Tattoos Of Culpeper.... Again!<div style="text-align: center;">
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I have been doing my "Faces" blog now for five years. I have featured hundreds of people, sometimes with themes and sometimes random. This is the third blog about people in the peper who sport tattoos. I have to admit that I find them interesting and always enjoy meeting the people. This blog should burst any misconceptions about who gets tattoos, because all kinds of people do. Almost everyone that I ask to photograph for any of my pieces readily agrees. The longer I do my blog, facebook and "Snapshot" the easier it is because so many know my work. However, this time I had two ladies turn me down....that is unusual. They were both heavily and tastefully tattooed and would have really added to the blog. Too Bad! A number of people including a tattoo shop owner expressed the opinion that not as many men are getting tats now as women. The shop owner told me that his business runs about 20% men and 80% women. That validated my experience. When I thought I was done I counted by gender and found that I had 12 women and 6 men. Sooooo .... I went to where there are always tattooed guys, <i>Golds Gym</i>. Sure enough. <br />
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Well enough conversation let's get to it.... Tattoos of Culpeper.... Again!<br />
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When I went to Golds Gym to find guys with tats, Nick Swett was the first guy I ran into. He is a big guy... about as tall as I am but a whole lot bigger. He works hard at that! He is a construction worker and works out four or five times a week. He told me that his tattoos below left were all tribal.<br />
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And this one is an "old token Indian" tattoo if I understood him correctly.<br />
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Then I cracked up when I saw this tattoo on this tough guy. Let's see, tribal, Indian and Pig Pen. Works for me!<br />
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<b>MAKING LEMONADE</b><br />
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Shortly after one of our massive rains of the summer I was driving past Yowell Meadow Park and spotted Nicole Vissone fishing. I have seen alot of people in general fishing this year and several of them were young woman, but Nicole was fishing with her boyfriend and they were not fishing in the pond.... they were fishing in the flooded areas of Yowell Meadow Park.....AND they were catching fish! Talk about being given lemons and making lemonade! When I stopped to talk to them I saw some tattoos peeking out on Nicole in a couple of places and we had to talk. <br />
Nicole is a student at Germanna studying police science. In the meantime she works for the school in security. </div>
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See, a little peek on the leg! <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_-qh4ZWDP-0/Vb2RWH5GwaI/AAAAAAAAE3I/grl1422mgQE/s1600/IMG_4976z_edited-1%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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And on the back</div>
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And a gun and roses on the thigh!</div>
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She has quite a display of quality work from the back. When someone has so many tattoos, I get general information about them and their email on the spot and then send them a copy of the pictures. I asked them to tell me about the tats so that I can explain them here on this blog. Unfortunately I was not able to get an explanation from Nicole. Maybe the email address I had was wrong, but Nicole if you see this, please email me and tell me about the art.</div>
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This is Allen Jenkins who works at Lowe's. Until he joined Lowes, he spent most of his life breaking and training horses. He still does that as his second job. Like everyone's, Allen's tattoos tell stories. His first tattoo on top came when he was 19 and he really liked the tv show, "The Saint." As I recall that was the symbol they opened the show with. The cross was designed by his Godmother at a time when he needed a reminder of the real direction in his life. </div>
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Tiffany Yowell... beauty and beast?<br />
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I met Tiffany Yowell at Dick's Sporting Goods a couple of months ago when I was looking for a "Face of the Week" which was then a new feature on my Facebook page. I also call that "Faces of Culpeper" but I added "by Rich Crowley." Who would not want to feature this face? Tiffany told me that she had been a "pretty good" soccer player and so googled her. There were several newspaper articles about her achievements on the soccer field including a ton of awards and recognition for her skill. A couple of times her "aggressive play" was mentioned. I thought to myself, "This young lady has the face of an angel and the competitive heart of a beast!" I don't know her well but she was a college scholarship athlete until injury forced an early retirement. Then to top that off she shared with me that she had seven tattoos. Seven!! By the way.... in real life she is a full time student at Mary Washington University.<br />
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Here is one tattoo with several facets. There is a piano keyboard.... she plays piano. There are music notes to represent her families' love of music and the words, "in the arms of an angel" which is the favorite family song.<br />
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On Tiffany's foot is a soccer ball representing her love for the game that she played long and well.<br />
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On her shoulder is this message in memory of her grandpa.<br />
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This butterfly is made from the her initials along with her mother's.<br />
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This was added right after the first surgery she had on her knee. There would be two more surgeries before she was done.</div>
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That is a lot of tattoos on this woman and she told me that she is not done. </div>
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<b>BFF</b></div>
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Brittney Wright and Tiffany are, as they say, BFFs. She attends JMU studying health science. Brittney has the best planned tattoo that I have ever seen. Talk about long range planning. I will explain it below.<br />
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This obviously is two baby elephants with their trunks joined to make a heart. Brittney told me that someday she would marry and have two kids. Not 1 or 3 but 2! At that point she will have the names of each added above an elephant. She certainly is a forward thinker!!<br />
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Michael Cregger works at <i>Automotive Options</i> and among other things is an excellent detailer. The tattoos on his forearm represent peace and love. Michael's passion in life is skateboarding. His tattoo "One Love" is his dedication and love for skateboarding....plus when he finds the right woman he can tell her that it is for her. :)</div>
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I met Tracy Shipe outside of the 7-11 on the corner where you turn to go to Mountain Run Lake Park. I commented on her tattoos and we were off and running. I asked if I could shoot them and she suggested that we do it at Mountain Run Lake Park instead of in the parking lot. She has a great deal of symbolism in her art and so I will quote below what she wrote me about it.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uWMDvlyUTwI/Vb-zf0dMdSI/AAAAAAAAE5E/0j4fUuJ7p2s/s1600/IMG_5592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uWMDvlyUTwI/Vb-zf0dMdSI/AAAAAAAAE5E/0j4fUuJ7p2s/s320/IMG_5592.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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"The leaf symbolism refers to mother earth."<br />
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This can be hard to see at first, but it is a beautiful</div>
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A g<span style="text-align: center;">iant plus for me was Tracy telling me that she has not let her friends photograph</span><br />
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In black is Jorge Perez who works construction... his tattoos honor friends that have died plus some honor his Mom and Dad.</div>
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CJ Fincham in red works for Presidential Detailing and says that he has allowed his arms to be a "sketch pad" for tattoo artists. They are complex and interesting and random. </div>
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One of the things that I love about summer is that if you are looking for tattoos, they are right out in the open. I noticed this one in<i> Target</i> on the arm of Katie Beatty who works at the animal hospital. As you can tell there are two roses, but what might not be quite as clear is that above the roses is the name of Katie's daughter, Ava Rose. <br />
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On July 4th I ran into Robert Hawkins at the car show on E. Davis. Robert has his share of tattoos which he acquired in "various cities." Robert left Culpeper in 1966 and worked as an iron worker until her retired and returned here in 2013.<br />
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I was delivering a magazine to one of my wife's friends and saw </div>
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This arm of Jessica's is serious business! The tattoos represent the past, present and future. In no real order.... the roses represent Alice in Wonderland. The bird represents freedom.<br />
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Jessica is a paramedic (EMPT) for Prince William County and she continues to live her life in spite of the</div>
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I ran into Taylor Radan at the post office. She was trying to address an envelope to her husband, her baby was tired and fussy, and I wanted to talk about her tattoo. I might have been the straw that broke the camel's back, but talk about a gracious woman......she stopped and gave me all the information that I needed. Taylor is a stay at home mom whose husband is deployed in Kuwait. She wrote me this about her tattoo: "The lock and key symbolize a nine year long friendship. We have not seen each each other for years but our friendship never faded, so I got the tattoo to show that we would always be friends."<br />
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If you have followed me on any of my outlets (blog, facebook, "Snapshot of Culpeper) you will have seen this guy before. He is Antonio Yates and he is the owner of <i>Antonio's Classic Barber Spa</i>. In addition he is a competitive body builder with a competition coming up in October. He told me that his tats are all religious and tribal. <br />
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This is Amy Mariyasov and obviously some one hurt her so badly that it was like a spike through her heart...... pretty sad. She works at the 7-11 near Mt. Run Lake Park. </div>
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This man lives not too far from me and was moving into his new house when I spotted his arm and came back to talk to him. This is James Pennell who works (if I got this right) at Workers Builders First Source. He and his wife have three kids. His tattoo wraps around his upper arm and honors two fathers: God and our biological fathers. In actuality the inside part of his arm is in respect for his father in law who died too soon. </div>
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This is Jennifer Bywaters who owns an online business making handmade jewelry. Mosts of her products are for children and some that I saw were very clever as well as attractive. Her business is called BBbead boutique. You can reach her by email at BBbeadboutique@gmail.com. She had her tattoo done shortly after her baby was born. It is a mommy and baby bird together. </div>
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Jessica Wester Marks has quite a few tattoos, but this one is obviously the one most noticed. It is a butterfly and cherry blossoms. </div>
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Juan Lord only has three tattoos. This one is a beautiful picture of his deceased mother. </div>
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Juan is in the Air Force and currently going to school. </div>
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These two are the initials of his children. I have to note that Juan's arms are big enough to tattoo an aircraft carrier on. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mLO93y2Wrh8/VfnLaQaIp2I/AAAAAAAAFJQ/u7cgeke6cDA/s1600/IMG_6301z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mLO93y2Wrh8/VfnLaQaIp2I/AAAAAAAAFJQ/u7cgeke6cDA/s640/IMG_6301z.jpg" width="425" /></a>Miarra Robinson is a hair stylist at the <i>Hair Cuttery</i>. She was in a big hurry when I asked her to pause just a second for a picture which she graciously did. All of our communication was by email and got a little confused at times. The scissors on her forearm are obviously acknowledgement to her career which she loves. The tattoo near her collar bone says "Strong woman, in Hindi."</div>
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Russell Furr is a Master Plumber who lives in the Peper with his wife and three kids. He told me that all of his tattoos are "Bio mechanical designs" and that the artist is Thom Little. These tats are pretty complex and a bit scary.</div>
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This happy face belongs to Tracey Farrar who has a total of five tattoos. This one was the most visible. Tracey is a single mom and a sign language interpreter. We can't see everything here, but the flowers are hibiscus and iris and in there somewhere is "I love you" in sign.</div>
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Kendall Peters is a Tanning Consultant at <i>Tan City . </i>She has just this one tattoo and her sister has a matching one. It demonstrates their bond forever. </div>
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<b>THIS IS A SPECIAL MAN AND SO I WILL MAKE HIM MY BIG FINISH FOR THIS BLOG.</b></div>
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Frank Whorton works in Federal Security. He was previously in the military but left because of the severe wounding he received in Afghanistan. He is a true wounded warrior who has gone through much difficult work and pain to get where he is today.... he still has a ways to go. When I talked with him he seemed to have a great attitude. I am personally impressed with him and grateful to him for serving all of us. Besides, his dead lifting is impressive. </div>
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This, of course, the Grim Reaper siting on a clock that is ticking someones' time away. You will notice that it has two red lines running down from it. Frank said that when they had completed the tattoo, that his blood was running down his arm just like that and he got the artist to grab some red ink and make it permanent. </div>
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<b>THAT IS ALL FOLKS.... HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT! IT WILL BE SEEN BY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND YOU ARE ONE OF THEM.</b></div>
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<b>SOME FRIENDLY REMINDERS:</b></div>
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1. This is one of three photo related presentations that I do about Culpeper, Virginia.</div>
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2. Be sure to check out my newest and very hot facebook page: <i>Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley</i></div>
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<i>3. The Culpeper Times</i> runs a weekly feature called, <i> Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper. </i>It is located inside the front cover and you cannot miss it. </div>
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4. A bit of education..... my last name is pronounced, CRO LEE the first part is just like the name of the black bird.</div>
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Feel free to write me at <i>richcrowle@gmail.com</i></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-67745223784281923412015-07-25T08:24:00.003-07:002016-11-15T15:58:56.892-08:00Summer in Culpeper....with some teachers, a principal and other cool people. 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This blog started differently than it ended up. I intended to do a summer blog on teachers. There was one big problem.... I couldn't find them. Where do you find teachers? In the school, right? Well not so much in the summer. If they are not there then they could be almost anywhere. It seems like teachers should check in with someone... maybe me...I needed them. Anyway, I wanted a whole bunch of teachers and was very lucky to get as many as I did (this group probably qualifies as a "bunch") and fortunately I found great ones! The good news is that in the meantime I ran into some other really cool things and people that I wanted to photograph like: border guards at Mountain Run Lake Park, the fun staff at a tanning spa, agreeable golfers, and the guys working at CJ's Ice Cream (No way those guys don't sneak just a little ice cream. But one is the owner's son so, who cares?) and so on. It probably turned out to be a bit more fun with the mixture we ended up with.</div>
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<b>Let's get on with it, but be sure to take it one step at a time. </b></div>
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<b>A School Principal</b></div>
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Since three fourths of my career was as a high school administrator, I wanted to be sure to get a picture of a principal busy working during the summer. Although I live very close to Culpeper County High School I have never met the principal, Jeff Dietz. So I made an appointment with him. We had a nice conversation "talking shop" as he put it. He has the same personality as all the good principals have that I worked with. When you start talking about school his eyes light up. He has been the principal at CCHS for ten years and has been an educator for twenty. He and his wife have four kids and the oldest is 19 years old and a student at UVA. Two more are in high school and the youngest is in elementary school. Jeff will be busy this summer seeing to it, along with his staff members who are there during the summer, that everything is ready when the kids come back. As certain in life as death and taxes.... is the fact that the students will come back to school, ready or not. Among other things, Jeff will have seen that: the building is in good shape; that he has a qualified teacher for every subject; that each teacher has a room each period and that two teachers are not accidentally scheduled in the same room; that there is a seat for every student every period; that the classes are balanced by period and within county size limits; supplies have been ordered; all the computers are working; AND that as many kids as possible get the exact schedule they want. I know I overlooked some things but I got most of them. People often wonder what school employees do when the kids are not there..... I can tell you that they work and that they have to be very detail oriented. CCHS will have almost 1100 students next year. </div>
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<b>Let's look at some of the teachers I found.</b></div>
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Mandy Tuel Roberts is a third grade teacher at Farmington Elementary School. She has just completed her third year and loves her job. When I asked her what her favorite part of the job is, she quickly replied that it was watching the kids learn and grow. She is taking graduate courses this summer working on her Master's degree.<br />
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Just as I was coming to the realization that I was not going to find enough teachers to complete a summer blog on just teachers, I passed this attractive couple coming out of UPS. On a lark I asked, "Any chance that one of you is a school teacher?" The man said, "She is." What luck! A teacher indeed! Julie Switzer is the new French teacher at Culpeper County High School. She has been in town about six months and comes to us from Northern Pennsylvania. Her "friend" is Tim Moniz (they are good enough friends that they stood fairly close for this picture, or maybe very close). Tim is the manager of a yacht club in Boston. Welcome to the Peper!<br />
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I went to Floyd T. Binns to catch a couple of teachers as they left summer school for the day. These two very graciously stopped and chatted with me. They are spending a good part of their summer helping students who, for one reason or another, need a little extra work. On the left is Sheryl Simpson who teaches sixth grade math. She has taught in the Peper for seven years. Her own two children have provided her with five grandkids. Nice! Connie Hadley is also a math teacher, and teaches at Culpeper County High School. She has taught there for four years and teaches Algebra 1 and 2. She has twin 19 year olds.<br />
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Every school that has a teacher like Khaled El-Nemr is very lucky. I was told that he is the kind of guy that readily helps new teachers; is a master of technology; is always willing to share his knowledge; and on and on. Here he is on his summer vacation. He is teaching summer school, but the school day was over and he got into casual clothes and began planting flowers to make his school look prettier... it is not his job, he is just one of those guys. He teaches advanced math classes to middle school students and really enjoys that work. He is originally from Palestine and he and his wife have a three year old.<br />
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Now people will know how this bit of gardening happened. Nice!<br />
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I saw these three having a picnic at the park honoring our war veterans and naturally saw a perfect picture that I could take. It became doubly perfect when I discovered that the mom is a teacher! Add to that, she is close to friends of ours from Fairfax that we have known since the 70's and who moved to Culpeper at least 20 years ago, and you have a small world, even for Culpeper. She is Mandy Kalec and she is a reading coach at Emerald Hill Elementary School. She works with students in Kindergarten through Fifth grade. She is with her daughters Noelle and Emmy Brown.<br />
It doesn't get better than this!<br />
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Here is a husband and wife team of teachers. Shaun Summerscales teaches 6th grade US History and 8th grade Civics. Melissa teaches 6th grade English. They were expecting four days after I took this picture.<br />
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One of the first summer programs that I visited was "Kid Central" held at Culpeper Middle School. There I observed Linda Gray who is a para-educator working with some kids. During the school year Linda works at Farmington Elementary School. (note: I have never included underage children in my blog unless they are with their parents. This is an exception because each of these children has a media release.)<br />
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<b>LET'S LEAVE OUR EDUCATORS FOR THE MOMENT</b><br />
Here are some other people I wanted to include who are working hard, but enjoying their summer.<br />
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I have wondered if tanning salons get any business in the summer. I mean, it is hot and sunny out side and a lawn chair in the back yard would get the job done.... or so it seems. So I dropped into Sun Tan City to talk with them and see if any customers were in there. Yep, in fact there were a lot of customers and most of their booths were occupied. I guess it is good preparation for the beach, or maybe the best way to tan evenly or perhaps a lot of other reasons. At any rate I was wrong, wrong, wrong. However once inside I ran smack dab into these two colorful charmers, Keeley Jones who is enrolled at Germanna in the nursing program is on the right and Courtnie Thomas who is the manager is on the left. We had a fun conversation and honestly...... I was lucky to escape without a new tan for both me and my camera. <br />
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When it gets hot I always head for CJ's ice cream stand to do a little cooling off and to see who else is there. I have mentioned a couple of times that Chuck Shewbridge, the owner, is a friend of mine who I have known since he was about 15 and I wasn't. That is his son, Jake up there on the left doing a great imitation of his dad at the same age. Jake attends Culpeper County High School and helps out at the ice cream stand during the summer. Sahas Thumma is the other guy who was working when I stopped by. He is a student at Radford.<br />
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I have to admit that sometimes I run into the very most interesting and totally unexpected things imaginable. I was thinking about pictures for this blog and realized that I had never gone to Mountain Run Lake Park in the evening....always during the day. So I drove out and pulled in almost exactly at 8 pm. As I crested that first hill on the way in, out of the corner of my eye I detected movement in the woods. I slowed way down and peered since it was dusk and saw a man in complete camouflage. He was wearing a jacket with some gear strapped on it and one of those floppy wide brimmed hats. In that lighting he was not easy to see. Besides it was about 90 degrees and very humid.<br />
I determined to park and walk in there and see what he was all about. That probably would not have been a great decision. However, I did not need to because these three were in the parking lot and were very open in talking with me about what they were doing. <u><br /></u><br />
Left to right: Agent Miguel Calderon, Supervisor Adam Aviles, Agent Wilbert Flores<br />
Here is the shocker two of them are agents with the United States Border Patrol normally assigned in Texas and Arizona and it turns out that they were practicing "trailing and tracking." There were others still in the woods. Apparently there is a training facility in Front Royal and they use Mountain Run Lake Park for their exercises because it is a large open area with various types of terrain. <br />
There is a K-9 component to this activity and the two dogs here are very accomplished. They were not, however, crazy about being in the same picture so I took each team's picture seperately.<br />
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Agent Flores and Prins-e </div>
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Agent Calderon and Falko </div>
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That turned out to be quite and adventure. I doubt that very many people know that these excercises take place in our town. </div>
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<b>Here are some more people at summer sport or leisure.</b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E20bdVINO1w/VbO0S_LH1EI/AAAAAAAAEwA/7K2cljWb-VE/s1600/IMG_5573x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E20bdVINO1w/VbO0S_LH1EI/AAAAAAAAEwA/7K2cljWb-VE/s640/IMG_5573x.jpg" width="425" /></a>Summer is always great for golfing so I dropped by the Culpeper Country Club and found these two guys hard at it.....well maybe just at it, forget the hard part. They stopped for a minute for me and were very gracious and fun. Turns out that Win Carithers on the right is a past president of the Country Club and currently sits on the Board. He is golfing with Scott Hine who works with him at Integrity Home Mortgage. It was a great golf day and after sharing a golf story with me they got back to business. </div>
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This is a great lady! I interrupted her run at Yowell during the midday with the temperature near 90 for a picture. Most people would have told me to get lost, but she stopped and, as you can see, graciously gave me a beautiful smile. In the days when I was running I always hated to stop because it broke my momentum and my concentration and it was hard to get it back. This is Traci Fowler and she is a good sport. She also reminded me that I took a picture of her with her friends five years ago when I was building my very first Faces of Culpeper photo blog. I believe that this is the fifty fourth of these blogs.</div>
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There is nothing on a hot day like a nice cup of ice cream or better yet of frozen yogurt as is the case here. This pair of mother/daughter look alikes, Susannah and Sophie Barnes stopped at Sweet Frog in the heat of the day to cool down a bit. </div>
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<b>IT IS TIME FOR THE BIG FINISH.... REALLY BIG</b></div>
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School days, school days, good old golden rule days!</div>
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Can anyone believe it is time for school to start? Of course we all know that we are starting school much earlier than normal in Culpeper. The snow days have just kept pushing us farther and farther into June, but the real advantage is better preparation for the AP and SOL tests. Our kids will have more weeks of instruction to prepare them for these very important tests. Good call School Board! These two children checking out their school are brother and sister and undoubtedly the cutest elementary students in all of Culpeper. Of course I am biased in favor of my own grandchildren, Nathan and Charlotte.</div>
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<b>Well that wraps it up boys and girls. I hope you found some things to make you smile. By popular demand my next blog will be tattoos again. </b></div>
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<b>Don't forget to look for my piece (it is hard to miss) in the <i>Culpeper Times called, Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper.</i></b></div>
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<b>And finally I have really jump started my Facebook Page called (guess what?) Faces of Culpeper. It is going like gangbusters and is fun. Be sure to visit and like it.</b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-20916112002688870432015-06-16T11:50:00.000-07:002016-11-15T15:09:57.752-08:00Rub a Dub Dub, Three Men in a Tub<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RyuXCdRZQEo/VX3va4usotI/AAAAAAAAEb4/Z74vkv-sq0k/s1600/rich%2Bgrandpa%2Band%2Bchase_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RyuXCdRZQEo/VX3va4usotI/AAAAAAAAEb4/Z74vkv-sq0k/s400/rich%2Bgrandpa%2Band%2Bchase_edited-1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I recently had a reader drop me a note suggesting that I feature more local merchants in my blogs. Although it is rare for me not to have several merchants in each of my "Faces of Culpeper" blogs, I will work on having more. However, as I thought about local merchants, the nursery rhyme in this blog title came to mind. It goes: "rub a dub dub three men in a tub and who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker and all rowed out to sea." I thought it would be a great idea to find those three occupations and feature them as Culpeper merchants. There were a couple of problems.... I could find no candlestick maker, and I discovered that most meat is delivered to the stores already cut. Oh, well.... if you look carefully you will find a butcher, a baker and a cheese maker and that will just have to do. I have also thrown in a few entrepreneurs and some other cool people. So..... let's get to it.</div>
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<b>Summer is here!</b></div>
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First a tip of the hat to summer..... it is here and it is hot! These two were cooling of by rowing at Mountain Run Lake Park. I don't think they know that I took this. If you know them.... please let them know.</div>
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<b>The Butcher </b></div>
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Alright! Here is the butcher already. This is Will Gaines and he has been a butcher and now also meat manager for Martins for eleven years. He has been in Culpeper as long as they have. I often note Culpeper people that have long commutes somewhere. In a reversal, I will tell you that Will commutes an hour to get here for work every day.</div>
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<b>Park Workers</b></div>
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It stayed cold here for a long time and the leaves were late in coming out. My wife and I walk in Yowell Meadow Park almost every day and often comment on how well the park is maintained. Occasionally we see men on lawn mowers racing across the open spaces, but rarely if ever see the guys who work on the trees and who see that certain areas are nicely maintained. This morning I discovered these guys at the "Kennifer" memorial, just about to get in their trucks and head out. They had to have started work very early. That memorial, by the way, commemorates a couple of Culpeper residents who were attendants on the airplane that was crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11. These men are: Shane Breeding who has worked for the city for 15 years, Mike Wright (7 years) and Andy Newman (26 years). I would love to be able to photograph all the workers who keep that park up, but for now these three will have to represent them. Thanks, guys!</div>
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<b>Presenting Culpeper Photograph</b></div>
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In March of 2014 I took a great shot (he said humbly) of East Davis Street in the snow. Here my wife Andrea and I are presenting a framed copy to Group Sales Director, Tom Spargur and Editor, Anita Sherman to hang in the office of the <i>Culpeper Times. </i><br />
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<b>Wizards at TechBox</b></div>
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I needed something copied off a thumb drive that was invaluable to me and I wanted to be sure to take it to a place that I was confident could handle it. I decided to try the TechBox and I was not disappointed. In addition to getting my job done, I had a nice conversation with the store manager, Larry Brown (that is Larry in the middle) and discovered that he is originally from Iowa. Since I am originally from Idaho we had something to connect us since lots (make that LOTS) of people mix those two states up. I often have people tell me that Idaho is not really a Western state. What??!!!</div>
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Anyway.......the two handsome dudes with him are technicians, Chris Burg on the left and Devin Hopkins on the right. I am pretty sure that they can fix anything thing computer related. Know what else is interesting? They have a part of the store dedicated to products for lefties..... you know, left handed people. There are things like: a left handed computer keyboard; left handed can openers, left handed scissors and serving spoons, and the list goes on. One last thing is that they have a children's book about being left handed....very cool. </div>
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<b>The Baker</b></div>
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<b>Moving Meadows Farm on E. Davis Street is a great store to visit.</b></div>
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Right on the premises they mill their own wheat.</div>
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Here are the two types of wheat they use. On the left is Hard White Wheat and on the right is Hard Red Spring Wheat which is higher in protein. </div>
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Wally Hudson uses his unique mill to grind the wheat. Notice it is in the street window so that you can watch the process. He even posts the times in the window when he will be grinding so that you can plan to be there and watch. <br />
I have known for a while that the Moving Meadows Farm had opened their store on E. Davis. I finally stopped in and am very glad that I did. This place is fun. Wally and Amy Hudson are the owners and they make the very best bread from start to finish right in the store so you can observe it. Besides they offer free delicious samples of the various kinds of bread. It is a great place to take kids for a fun and tasty bit of education.</div>
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They also sell fresh meat that they have raised on their farm. They have: beef, goat, chicken and turkey plus farm fresh eggs.</div>
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<b>New Yoga in the Peper</b></div>
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This woman is a very ambitious entrepreneur. Her intent is to impact the wellness of the citizens of Culpeper in a positive way. She has just opened a studio downtown and the name of her business is P<i>ranapiloga. </i>The name comes from "pran" (vital energy/life force) and a combination of pilates and yoga. <i> </i>Her name is Rebecca Elsen and her motto is <i>breathe-believe-become</i>. Rebecca is demonstrating a couple of traditional yoga positions here. Note that she is in jeans and a tshirt. That is because she wants everyone to know that her approach is welcoming and casual. "This is a studio for everyone... all shapes and conditions ..... yoga is for every 'body'." At noon on the first Wednesday of each month she offers a "get acquainted" free session. She is located at 133 East Davis Street, Suite 360 Downstairs. You can contact her at info@pranapiloga.com or just drop in. </div>
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<b>Retiring Teachers</b></div>
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I think that many of the heroes of our time are teachers. Monica and Kim Williams have given their lives to the children of Culpeper and now they are retiring after long careers in the Culpeper County school system. Kim has completed 42 years of teaching in public schools with all but three being in Culpeper. Monica is right behind him with a total of 40 years of service, 39 of them in Culpeper. Kim has been an art teacher plus a track and field and cross country coach. Monica has been a kindergarten teacher for thirty eight years.... bless her heart. Can you imagine how many Culpeper lives have been touched by these two? However, there comes a time to move on and now is the time for the Williams. When they first came to Culpeper they were the first people from out of state (Pennsylvania) to be hired by our school system. They were so unique that the newspaper did a story complete with pictures of them in their apartment creating lesson plans. In the near future they will be moving to West Virginia where they are going to be ski instructors at the Canaan Valley resort. That doesn't sound too bad! Good luck folks and thanks for all you have done for our kids.</div>
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<b>Rolling Thunder</b></div>
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I guess everyone knows that each Memorial Day there is a gathering of motorcyclists at the Vietnam Memorial in DC. Many of the participants are veterans of the Vietnam War. I was lucky to catch these two returning from the event and pulling into their driveway. I asked if they would let me get a shot of them to commemorate that activity and they graciously agreed. They are Dwight and Desiree Cox and they have been going to Rolling Thunder since 2001. They told me that the best part of it is how appreciative and emotional people are. Dwight is a union electrician.</div>
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<b>Sweet Frog</b></div>
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Linda Kidd came to Culpeper to open a store and the store she picked is a winner! She opened <i>Sweet Frog </i>four years ago and it has been part of the buzz ever since. If you are not familiar, <i>Sweet Frog </i>is a premium frozen yogurt bar with several flavors and endless toppings. You create your own combination. If you haven't been..... what are you waiting for? It is located in the strip mall right next to the Suntrust bank.<br />
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<b>Trolley Bus</b><br />
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I am making this one extra large because I think one of the fun quaint things about Culpeper is that our bus system consists of trolley car facsimiles. AND....... because I have wanted to get a picture of one of them and the driver forever so now having it, I am making it big! This is Austin Faulkner and he has been driving for Culpeper the last three years. Before that he was a union crane operator for thirty five years. He and his wife, Sheila have been married for forty nine years! That is a pretty good life I would say. </div>
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<b>Coupon Tease</b><br />
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Just a little tease about a product that will become available in the near future. I can tell you that it is called <i>Coupon Crank </i>and that it will be a money saver for merchants and customers. This is DJ Moberley who is the creator and entrepreneur<br />
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<b>The Cheese Maker </b><br />
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This rounds out my three men in a tub scenario. There are many talented people in the Peper and this guy is certainly one of them. He is Jeffery Mitchell and in actuality he is the owner of the <i>Culpeper Cheese Company </i>which really makes him a wine and cheese merchant and a major Culpeper entrepreneur. Before entering this business Jeffery worked for Kodak and also was a very skilled photographer in his own right, who worked providing stock photos for the news media. I asked him to hold one of his photos for my "faces blog". This shot of the Capital is the only one he had in his store, but it is a goodie.<br />
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Now for the <b>BIG FINISH!!</b><br />
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<b>Mellifera Homestead</b></div>
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This is one of the most enlightening visits I have made while creating this blog. Chris and Vy Goddard are most interesting people. They are in the process of following a "back to basics" concept of living and product creation. They are the creators and entrepreneurs of Mellifera Homestead. In their brochure they say that "we try our hardest to do what is healthiest for us, our animals, our bees, and our environment." They keep bees and chickens plus they grow a garden. They estimated that fifty percent of their summer veggies come from their garden. <br />
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These guys have five beehives and that number is growing. After they harvest for themselves, they sell the surplus at the Culpeper Farmers market and upon request. They are members of the Northern Piedmont Beekeeps Association. </div>
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Vy is engaged in making products made from natural sources. Some of these are: Beeswax Lip Balm, Beeswax Lotion Bar, Beeswax and Tallow Balm, and Homemade Soap. </div>
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To learn more about them and their products you can contact them at: vy@melliferahomestead.com</div>
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That does it for this edition....number 52 of the Faces of Culpeper series. You may find it interesting to know that to date we have had over 44,000 visits to this blog! </div>
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My <i> Faces of Culpeper </i>Facebook page is rapidly building quite a following... so be sure to check it out. I just started a "Face of the Week" feature that is already proving to be a draw. Let me know if you would like to be a featured face. </div>
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<b>Don't forget that every single week I have a large picture in the <i>CULPEPER TIMES NEWSPAPER. </i> My piece is called "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper" and is the first thing you see when you open the cover page. </b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-85725811654537695192015-04-17T08:35:00.000-07:002016-11-15T16:03:38.878-08:00Canines of Culpeper and Their Humans (Dogs and People, People and Dogs)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Once again here I am downtown and I do not have a dog with me..... that is because I am one of seven people in Culpeper who doesn't own a dog. Maybe it is twelve without a dog, but whatever it is, it appears to be a small number. When I saw someone that I wanted in this blog I quit asking if they had a dog and started asking what kind of dog they had. This is the honest truth: of those I asked that question to ..... not one did not own a dog. My son suggested that I do this blog on Culpeper people with dogs and here we are! I have blogged about beards and tattoos before and the number of folks with those two items pales compared to those with dogs. I found interesting dogs and fun dogs, not so friendly dogs and lots of dogs...... enough that someday I will do a second dog blog.... I like that little rhyme! This project has been alot of fun! So let's get right to it and meet some of these dogs and check out the humans who claim to own them.</div>
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Norah Manus is a Type 1 Diabetic. That means that she was born with diabetes. Diabetes is a disease of the pancreas which is the insulin producing organ. The purpose of insulin is to cause cells to accept the glucose or sugar that is the fuel for our bodies. Without insulin a person can starve to death even while consuming large amounts of food, because the glucose never gets to where it can be burned. Diabetic symptoms are high blood sugar and excessive thirst and unusually frequent urination. Left unchecked, major organs are damaged and often blindness is a result. If left unattended it is life-threatening. I have Type 2/Adult Onset Diabetes. Norah and I each take approximately five insulin shots a day to keep our bodies in balance. High or low blood sugar can cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms that occur and in the extreme can be life threatening. I can self report when I get the symptoms, but it is much more difficult if not impossible for a child to do the same. Clover, a <b>Golden Lab,</b> is a highly trained <strong>service dog</strong> and he can tell when Norah's sugar is rising or falling to dangerous levels. When that happens Clover bumps Norah.... repeatedly if necessary until she receives insulin if the sugar is too high or glucose if the sugar is too low. He is an amazing animal and it is a great thing that dogs like this are available.<br />
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On a very cold day in the park I found Bradley Bennet, his daughter Ava and Huck, their T<strong>oy Poodle</strong>. Bradley runs a marketing business called <i>Big Bamboo Marketing. </i>He is a very engaging guy.</div>
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I used this group picture as the "Big Finish" in my last blog and the teaser for this blog about people with dogs. So they get double exposure from me. Vicky Hale and sons Hunter, and Jackson are here at <i>Wash and Wag </i>with Clementine. She has just been all spruced up and really shows it.... glued on earrings, painted nails and all. Clemintine, of course is a B<strong>loodhound</strong>.... a great big bloodhound! Vicky told me that Clementine looks "regal" in this picture.... ummmmmmh. She, (Vicky not Clementine), is a dentist who lives in Culpeper and practices in Orange.<br />
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This was fun! These big old <strong>St. Bernards</strong> were among the best behaved dogs I have shot for this blog. Burkley, on the left is just one year old and weighs 175 pounds. Bernie on the right, is three and weighs a mere 135! That is like two extra people in the house and in the car and in the... whatever! As I said though, they were well behaved. Their owners are Pat and Leigh McPartlin. Pat is a Deputy Sheriff in Fairfax County. Leigh is (hang on now) the Executive Assistant to the CEO of Ortho Virginia which is the largest orthopedic group in NOVA and Richmond. These guys have lived in the Peper for the last five years and came from Northern Virginia by way of Warrenton. They told me that they had always been small town people in their hearts. Now they are small town people in their bodies and their minds.<br />
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Andrew and his D<strong>oberman</strong>, Dieter<br />
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Here we have Julie Mies Asst Manager at <i>Wag and Wash</i>. She is grooming her mom's dog, Kona who is a <strong>Poodle.</strong> Kind of cute how her eyes disappear in all of that fluff. Julie helped me on this blog. She put me in touch with some of the people here.<br />
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Leighann Leary and Olive<br />
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I often say that if I want a specific kind of picture I will always be able to find it in Yowell Meadow Park. This is another example. One day I was looking for people in the Peper and their dogs ..... especially the more exotic dogs for a picture. My wife and I were walking in Yowell and lo and behold here comes a couple with a pair of big frisky dogs. Perfect! The dogs have Celtic names: Ciara and Keili. Their breed is <i><strong>Bouvier des Flandres</strong>. </i>Pretty cool! As for the owners, they are Pat and Richie Rose. Richie recently retired from British Airways and Pat is a Phlebotomist at Fauquier Hospital. Oh, Phelbotomist means that she is a medical professional who draws blood from people for a variety of tests. Anyway these dogs were certainly well mannered and Pat and Richie are very interesting people. <br />
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Shawntell Grayson and her friend, Cairo. Shawntell works as a finance officer in Reston and so has a long commute every day. Cairo is a <strong>Shitzu</strong>.<br />
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This is Mandy Murphy and her <strong>Dutch Shepherd</strong>, Gator. Mandy lives in Orange where her father trains dogs, but she is training Gator. Not a resident, but a face that often spends time in the Peper.<br />
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I have featured David Eddy in this blog before. The first time I met him at his most interesting store, I noted that he kept two <strong>Standard</strong> <strong>Poodles</strong> with him. They seem to have a great temperament. David told me that this summer would mark fifty years that he has been in this same store called, <i>David Eddy's!</i> That is an amazing accomplishment. It is a fabulous store. Right now David is recuperating from a knee replacement but says it is getting better all the time. The dogs are Gabby on the left and Olivia on the right. If you have not been in this store yet you really owe it to yourself to stop by. <br />
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It was not as easy getting pictures of people and their dogs as I thought it would be. So I took my camera just about everywhere hoping that someone might be out walking their dog in the cold. One day I was driving down Ira Hoffman and saw this man with his long saw (laying on the ground here) topping off a smallish tree and his dog was with him. I whipped around and caught up with James Franklin and Chico. James is a life long resident of Culpeper who moved to Myrtle Beach recently. He was home for just a brief time when I found him. Chico is a pure breed <strong>German Shepherd</strong>. A couple of years ago James agreed to cut down a pine tree for a man who gave him Chico in exchange for his work. Now three years old, Chico was one at the time. He is a big old friendly dog.<br />
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These guys are the kind of people that make me want to keep doing this blog. Friendly, happy, cooperative and pretty darn interesting besides. They are Justin and Ayern (love that spelling!) Barton. He is a carpenter who is skilled in working creatively with wood and repurposing old pieces into new creations. She works for Family Preservation Services and Environmental Systems Services (whew). I know for sure that she has an important and difficult job, but there is just not enough room here to go into it. She is also a clothing designer who previously had an interesting online company. Perhaps one day they will combine their talents and create a combination store featuring both sets of skills. That would be cool! Right in the front of this group is their <strong>Bulldog</strong>, Sherman. Since we are dealing about dogs... he is the most important...the star of this picture. It seems to me that Bulldogs consistently have the greatest names. Sherman (as in Sherman Tank) is a good example.</div>
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You can tell from the background that we are in downtown Culpeper. In fact, we are on E. Davis and kitty corner from the Depot. Amazingly, right there was Ashlee Smith and these two beautiful <strong>Siberian Huskies</strong>. That is not something that you see on the streets of Culpeper too often. These guys are going to be big dogs someday, but right now they are pups. Nala with the purple scarf is only four months old. Simba on the right is nine months. Ashlee is a dog groomer and really had these dogs under control.<br />
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Sometimes dogs just don't do what you want them to. I met Dan Hill and his son, Aiden on my second visit to the dog park at Mountain Run Lake Park. The dog is named "Blue" and if you could see his eyes, you would know why. He is and <strong>Australian Shepherd</strong> and he has a mind of his own. Dan wanted Blue to be over by him for the picture and so did I, but Blue wanted to be a little ways away. You can see who prevailed. Dan works in direct mail and he also has an adult child.<br />
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My very first visit to the dog park and I ran into this group. James Clinton and his girlfriend, Alicia Strathman were there with their kids and their <strong>Pit Bulls</strong>, Luke and Whiskey. They just recently moved to the Peper from the Manassas area. He is a school bus driver and she is a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) auditor. Her daughter, Alyssa Guiffre is standing in front of her and Jordon and Hayden Clinton are James' kids. They are, as they say, a blended group.<br />
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I ran into Judy Van Skike and her <strong>Great Dane</strong>, Zeus just outside the dog park. He is a handful, but stood still for this shot. Judy is an office administrator.<br />
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Parker Alexander is a horseback riding instructor and her friend is Missy. Missy is a <strong>Border Collie</strong>.<br />
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We had our challenges getting this shot. First the wind was really blowing... not just a little, but hurricane force winds. Well...... maybe that is a slight exaggeration or a gigantic exaggeration, but trust me it was blowing. Second have you ever shot a picture of a family where one member is four years old? It is an experience. Cameron is four and he willingly gave me two minutes and eighteen seconds and then he was pretty much through. Bella, the dog had no use for me or my picture at all. Thank heavens for India, who is seven and was perfect in every picture not to mention the mom, Jamie Clancey who does not know how to take a bad picture. All of that said, it came out darn good don't you think? Unfortuately the oldest child Jayce who is eight was not there. I would have loved to have all the kids in this picture. Jamie is one of the most interesting people that I have happened onto in the four plus years I have been producing this blog. She and her family came to Culpeper the same year that we did and so are going on eight years of Culpeper residence. She has a private counseling practice AND she is planning to run for the Town Council! I am excited for her. I have to learn exactly what her goals are, but I will tell you that she is sharp! She comes from a family that has been actively involved in politics. Her father is James Dyke who was the Secretary of Education for Virginia. I was working in education at the time he was the State Secretary and I had a lot of respect for him. So look out, Culpeper.... here comes Jamie Clancey and she is a winner!<br />
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I had recently been shooting behemoth size dogs, some weighing 150 to 180 pounds and was on my way to pick up my cleaning when I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. Near Chilli's restaurant was Yolanda Chitwood and she was carrying what appeared to be a small toy. Seriously, the toy appeared to be one of those that you can get out of a machine using a mechanical shovel that you carefully manipulate to grab it and then drop in the opening. A task that is the closest thing to impossible, by the way. Or maybe it was a small toy the kind you win at the State Fair when you knock over just enough milk bottles or pop enough balloons to claim the cheapest possible prize. However, as I watched the toy moved and I rolled down my window and said, "Tell me that's a dog you are carrying." She told me exactly that because that is what it was. This dog weighs an amazing 1.5 pounds and is a <strong>Havapoo</strong>, a combination between Poodle and Havanese, a rare Cuban breed. Yolanda breeds these dogs and informed that they are a great family dog, cuddly and non shedding. If you are interested in learning more about this tiny guy or getting one like him (or her), Yolanda can be reached on email at <a href="mailto:Yollieroo3@gmail.com">Yollieroo3@gmail.com</a><br />
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<b>BIG FINISH</b><br />
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<b>This is the tale (no pun) of two dogs and their K9 officers.</b><br />
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The Culpeper Police Department K9 team consists of two officers and their dogs. First is Officer Eric Grant and Titan, a <b>German Shepherd</b>. You can see from the pictures below that Titan and Officer Grant have a very friendly relationship. In the first picture below, Titan does some face licking and in the second gets his ears scratched. <br />
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Officer Eric Grant and Titan. <br />
Officer Grant is a fourth generation policeman. His great grandfather began it all in Pittsburgh; then his grandfather was a Washington D.C. officer; his dad was a motorcycle cop right here in Culpeper... and now Eric. He began his career at age 19 as a community services officer. Eric is a Culpeper "lifer".... he has lived here all of his life. Titan is used primarily for "automobile scans and tracking." If while scanning, the dog detects drugs then the officer has just cause to search the car. Officer Grant alerted me to the fact that he and Titan are "more laid back" than the other half of the team. However he said with a smile, "Titan bites just as hard!"<br />
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<b>Next the other half of the CPD K9 team</b>.<br />
I met with Officer David Cole and his dog, Jackson on a Saturday afternoon in the front parking lot of the police station. Officer Cole was just as advertised... all business. When he got Jackson out of the car there was no nuzzling between Officer Cole and his dog. There could not have been even if Officer Cole wanted because Jackson was focused and totally ready to do what he was asked to do. There is a lot of energy in that dog. He is a <b>Belgium Malinois </b>and has shorter hair, a more pointed face and is larger that a German Shepherd. Other than that, the two breeds resemble each other a lot. Jackson's job is the same as Titan's and they both have excellent track records. Officer Cole has been on the K9 team in Culpeper for three years and an officer here since 2007. <br />
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Officer David Cole and Jackson<br />
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I was impressed with these two men for very different reasons. Truthfully, I would not want to run afoul of either one. As I observed them and their dogs it was obvious that they are close to polar opposites. I kept thinking about Officer Grant's comment about the fact that despite their differences, one dog bit just as hard as the other. I thought that was an apt analogy about these two men....one more laid back and one more intense. But I'll just bet that they both bite hard.<br />
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<b>WELL..... THAT'S IT FOR THIS ADDITION. HOWEVER DOING IT WAS SO INTERESTING AND FUN THAT THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE A PART TWO SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE!!!</b><br />
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In the meantime, don't forget to follow my pictures and words in the <b>Culpeper Times. </b>My piece is called, Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper.<br />
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Thanks for checking us out here. If you have comments or questions, I can be reached at richcrowle@gmail.com</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-5345563425046607762015-03-18T10:38:00.000-07:002016-11-15T16:07:15.120-08:00Slip Sliding Into Spring In Culpeper, Virginia<div style="text-align: center;">
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Spring here we come......</div>
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After a seemingly long and brutal (well snowy at least) winter, spring startedcoming pretty quickly.</div>
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In Culpeper it was a last big snow and two days later 59 degrees. Most of us were really ready for that. </div>
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When I saw a neighbor after the last storm clearing his walk with a snow blower, I took a picture and quickly got in touch with the editor of <i>The Culpeper Times </i>to make sure it was published the very next week which it was. I knew that snow would be gone in a week and so would the memories ..... well sort of. So as I write this it is March 16 and 73 degrees. This time I think we really have spring. So let's slip and slide into it the Culpeper way and visit some residents through my pictures. </div>
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Just up the street from my place I found Anthony Beltran snow blowing his sidewalk. I parked my car and walked back to him and he stopped for a minute to chat with me. We had not met before. I learned that Anthony is the vice president in charge of Safety and Risk Management for Comfort Systems USA. They are located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland which is just above Andrews Air Force Base. Now, that is a drive! Anthony told me that he has three kids and a "lovely wife."</div>
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Hopefully this is the last storm of the season!!</div>
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When all this dirty snow melts, maybe, just maybe it will be spring, but this stuff doesn't melt quickly. When there is no more of this, we are there......spring.<br />
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<b>A SPRINGLIKE BUSINESS</b></div>
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Girl Scout Cookies for sale! It is that time again when enterprising girls and their parents find a place where there are people and set up for business selling yummy cookies. The girl scouts here are Skyler and Laelia. Skylers' father is Peter Revutin. He wanted to make sure that I understood that this was not an "official" sales location, but more an entrepreneurial activity on the part of the girls. My granddaughter was also selling these cookies and I bought six boxes from her so I was not in the market.<br />
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<b>SIGNS THAT SPRING IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER</b></div>
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Brave new flowers poke their heads above the ground.</div>
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A sure sign of spring is young moms walking their kids and wearing short sleeve shirts. It was just a tad chilly, but these stay-at-home moms did not care because they had their children out in the sunshine and were enjoying the weather themselves. Heather Stegeman and Anjlai are on the left and Rachel Horn and Emily are on the right. Rachel also has a child in kindergarten. They are such pleasant people. </div>
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While looking for people who were showing signs of thinking it is spring, I met this charming lady. She had slipped out for lunch and was enjoying the sunshine. That is a great smile! She was on E. Davis right across from the L O V E sculpture. If you look closely you will see that the bench is just a couple of feet away from a small drift of snow. She is Trisha Canedy and she came to us from Cape Cod. I have never met anyone from there before. She has two kids and is a hairstylist at <i>New Way Imagine Salon. </i></div>
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Wow, this is quite a group of kids with their moms at the Memorial Park. These ladies were just enjoying a nice day at the park with their kids. When they told the kids to come over for a picture, they amazingly came immediately and even posed themselves. When kids behave like that, mothers smile like this. On the left is Shannon Easterlin with Wes, Izzy and Brooke..... pretty sure that is not the correct order. On the right is Alana Warshaw with Seamus, Duncan and Kathryn.<b><br /></b>
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Do you know what makes this picture special? It is the fact that it is a three generation picture. I have never wandered into one of those before. Mom and Grandma were just having the best time with little Joshua. Mom is Brandy Edwards and Grandma is Pamela Taylor. When I asked where they came from originally, they said all over, because they had been military.</div>
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A sure sign of spring is new babies at the farms. These are Clydesdales.<br />
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I am so pleased to have gotten this picture. Culpeper is surrounded by farms and farmers and yet they are the hardest people for me to get pictures of. Why? Because they are always working, that's why.... AND not working where you readily see them. These two guys were completing a transaction buying and selling the hay you see on the truck. Allen Tuel on the left grows that hay and sold it to Milton Nicholson. They both have been around here a loooong time. Allen is a "lifer". He owns one hundred acres of land. When I commented about how hard farmers work, he looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and said, "Naw, I just get to play.... driving tractors and things." Allen shared with me that when he was a young man he walked four miles from home to work on this very land that he now owns and four miles back. He earned $1 a day! He must have loved it because he is still here. Milton has lived here 45 years. He originally came from the Skyline Drive area. <br />
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What does this have to do with spring? I think everything! Spring signals a rebirth or a new start. Who ever made this romantic sign clearly was starting a new phase of life when it was planted pointing down the driveway to their home. In addition, there are beautiful spring flowers at the base.<br />
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<b>AND NOW FOR THE BIG FINISH..... THIS TIME IT IS A TRIBUTE</b><br />
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I was saddened when I heard the news that <i>Clarke Hardware</i> was closing in June. I have only been here about seven years, but I was told about this store when I first was thinking about moving to Culpeper. I probably didn't buy enough there, but I made a few key purchases. I was thrilled that they had <i>Radio Flyer </i>toys. The little red wagons reminded me of a time when I was very young and when kids played outside and rode wagons. You would put one knee in the wagon, hold onto the tongue with one hand, hold on to the side with the other hand and propel the wagon by pushing on the ground with the free leg. I immediately bought a <i>Radio Flyer </i>rocking horse(see below) for my grand kids. There have been a lot of miles logged on that horse that someone named Kathy. In business since 1906..... wow!<br />
Well, this little lady, Carrie Breeden, has been working there for the last 27 years and if Clarke Hardward is iconic, then she is an icon herself. What a sweet soul! As I talked with her it was clear that her emotions were pretty near the surface. I don't think she will mind me telling you that she is 82. She explained to me that for years before she came to Clarke that she worked at the store that was where <i>Taste </i>is now. I could not quite get the concept of the store, but I think it was something like the old <i>Montgomery Wards. </i><br />
I am sure that everyone joins me in wishing her godspeed. <br />
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Kathy will always be a reminder of Clarke Hardware to the Crowleys.<br />
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Well that is it for now. Be sure to visit the "Faces of Culpeper" Facebook page and "like" us. Also checkout my weekly feature in the <i>Culpeper Times </i>called, "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper."<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-59457971865412466612015-01-11T09:40:00.001-08:002016-11-15T16:09:35.347-08:002015 Starting a new year in Culpeper<div style="text-align: center;">
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Welcome to Culpeper, Virginia 2015. I had a very busy December and Christmas. We spent two weeks in California with our son Jeremy, his wife Shelly and their four kids and had a ball. Then back to the Pepper just a few days before Christmas. Some of our traditions had to be changed this year and it became the first Christmas eve and morning that Andrea and I had spent alone ever! We made the most of it and spoiled each other a bit. However it was a very nice Christmas with celebrations on both coasts and fun with all of the grandkids except one who could not come east this year. Then I bought a new car taking advantage of the year end sales and now I am eagerly awaiting this new year. As I looked about for faces to shoot, I discovered that everyone had just slipped back into their own routines. That is part of what makes life great. All of these people let me interrupt their lives for just a few minutes. Thanks to all of them. Let's get on with seeing them they are all very cool people. </div>
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I have known Misty Turner ever since I moved to Culpeper seven years ago. So I have known that she is a hairstylist, but I had never visited her salon until recently. It is where she plies her trade and works her magic. She has a very loyal (and sometimes vocal) following. I can see why. In addition to regular stylist skills, in October Misty passed the prestigious ABCH exam which is very difficult and has less than 50% passage rate on first attempt. Passing that test makes her an American Board Certified Master Haircolorist! The customer, Rose, was most gracious in allowing me to take her picture while having her hair done. Coincidentally I discovered that Rose is from my hometown of Boise, Idaho. It seems like their are quite a few of us here. Most of the Idaho transplants work for Micron which is a Boise based company with a plant in Manassas. However that is not why Rose is here. Back to Misty..... you can contact her at: HairbyMisty.com or 540 547 2002.<br />
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I wanted to do a picture for my <i>Culpeper Times</i> feature called, <i>Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper, </i>that showed how low the gas prices had gotten here in the Pepper. I recruited Robin Mulkern a stay at home mom who writes as yet unpublished, childrens books, to pose by the gas price sign. Within two days it had dropped to $1.99 and as I write this it is $1.95. So sorry Robin, we did not make the paper on this one because the prices won't land in one spot long enough. So far, that is good news.<br />
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I was busy waiting for my wife at TJMAXX (meanwhile she was busy waiting for me to pick her up at Belk.....just a small communication breakdown. :) SORRY!!!) when I saw this young man working at the dressing room desk. I could not resist making him one of my "faces of Culpeper." This is Bobby Zajkowski and he is very cordial as you can see and appears to like his job.<br />
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Davis street was brightened a bit when Jill Engh began working at Harriet's General Store. Pretty smile.<br />
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There is a tasty new restaurant/donut shop in town. You can see that it is the famous <i>Dunkin Donuts. </i>I used to stop by the shop in Fairfax occasionally and so it is very nice to have one here.<br />
This onehas a drive thru for convenience or just a quick hit. They also feature sandwiches, soft drinks and coffee.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NQGynTnpZ18/VKwNwhMptnI/AAAAAAAAD5g/zBiBKQAgnSM/s1600/IMG_2721zx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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Pravina Patel is the manager.<br />
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This is the crew. This picture started out as perfectly centered against the wall of donuts and only included Pravina and Sam, the gentleman on the left of her. However, they started grabbing other people and calling for still more and soon the whole group was there. For me that was perfect, the more the merrier. The only problem was that we had lost our perfect centering and customers were starting to line up behind me. There are few people in the world that are more anxious than people whose mouths are watering for donuts. So...... as an act of self preservation I hurried and shot the picture...uncentered. As I am writing on this blog they have been open about ten days and I have purchased 14 donuts. That is more donuts than I have had in the last five years..... they are that good!<br />
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I was fortunate to catch this man in a quiet moment at <i>Sleepy's Mattress </i>so I could grab his picture. This nice guy is Ryan Davis and he is a genuine resident of Culpeper. He graduated from CCHS and now works at <i>Sleepy's.</i><br />
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It is that time of year....darn it! It is time to start thinking about filing taxes. Lettie Glenz and America Rodriguez were outside the Liberty Tax office and it was freezing. They kept their smiles and I got their picture. They are dressed as the Statue of Liberty if you hadn't guessed,and these two attract attention. By the way, Lettie, along with her husband is the co-owner of this Liberty Tax. I told him that she needed a raise and he agreed.<br />
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It seems that most of the time I shop at Staples, Monica Newman is the woman that takes my money or maybe I should say that she checks me out. Since that is case, I could not resist putting this great smile in my blog.<br />
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Eddie Decker has lived in Culpeper four years. He is from New York (pretty sure he says New Yawk) and works at Culpeper Light and Power Department. He lives here with his wife Stacy and has two daughters. AND his truck looked spotless. Every other vehicle was covered with salt and grime, but Eddie's sparkled.<br />
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<b>BIG FINISH</b><br />
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My next blog is going to feature people of Culpeper and their canine pets.... their dogs. It seems that everyone but me has one. Here is Vicky Hale from Culpeper who is a dentist with her office located in Orange, She is with her two sons and Clementine her Bloodhound which she refers to as her child. Notice that Clementine has ear rings and that her nails are painted. There will be lots more of these kinds of pictures in the next blog. If you want to be a part of it, email me at richcrowle@gmail.com<br />
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That's it for now. Keep an eye out for me so that you too can be one of my Culpeper faces. Be sure to check out my picture in the <i>Culpeper Times </i>each week. My feature is called <i>Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper.</i><br />
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<b>HAPPY NEW YEAR!</b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-80758477285759278802014-12-01T08:30:00.001-08:002016-11-15T16:20:23.527-08:00A Touch of Culpeper Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It certainly seems like Christmas goods appeared early this year. I read several places that people were complaining about Christmas displays and advertising starting before Halloween. I kind of feel the same way, but I asked my wife to give me her read on it and she said that she loved it. She loves the Christmas season and would be happy if it was six months long. Well, that is probably an exaggeration, but this can be such a fun time of year. Culpeper is a great place to be at Christmas. I read in the paper that our town was among the "top ten holiday destinations" in Virginia. Let's check out some holiday people. </div>
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<b>MY CHRISTMAS SONG</b><br />
Here is a Christmas song I wrote and sing. It is called<br />
<i>On That First Christmas Day</i><br />
The video was conceived and produced by<br />
Gabrielle Crowley<br />
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Lowe's had their artificial trees out real early and I saw these two pretty ladies in the store and asked if I could take a picture of them in the trees. They were both most gracious. This is Megan Burrows (mom) and Lily (daughter) Megan works at Plow and Hearth. Interestingly her husband owns Shenandoah Spice Company. </div>
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Just as I approached these guys I heard the man say, "Let's get the big one." What a cute family this is! The little guy in the middle... Jacob, has tons of personality. Before I get ahead of myself I should introduce the rest. Dad is Steve; Mom is Tricia: Jacob I already introduced; baby is Joshua. They are the Kiblers. Steve is a software engineer and accounting executive. They were doing some early Christmas wreath shopping at Target and they did buy the big one. </div>
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The first snow of winter falling on the Christmas tree lot on the corner of Ira Hoffman and Business 29.<br />
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The Star Exponent had just run a picture on their front page of <i>Cameleer</i> with the statement, "Cameleer on East Davis Street always has the prettiest Christmas displays." They certainly have one of the best, anyway I headed down there to see who was shopping. These folks, Kathi and Kees Dutilh, are very new to the area, actually Sperryville, and were looking at things Christmasy. They have moved down from Northern Virginia. </div>
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This was taken on a very cold day and we were all bundling up. I was at one of my favorite stores, <i>My Secret Stash</i>, when I met Gayle Wilson who was shopping. What a delightful person! She had already purchased some candy (the main reason that I go there) and was checking out some Christmas items. I learned that Gayle is an artist and that her pottery and handwork is on display at the <i>Loft Gallery</i>. I saw some pictures of her work and it is impressive. </div>
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One of really nice things about Culpeper is that the streets are decorated for special occasions. <br />
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<b><i>City sidewalks busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style. In the air there's a feeling of Christmas</i></b><br />
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Davis Street is a treat during this season. The window displays remind me of "back in the day."<br />
Let's check some out.<br />
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Top and bottom, <b><i>My Secret Stash</i></b><br />
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Top and bottom <b><i>Cameleer </i></b><br />
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<b><i>Green Roost</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Lollipop Station</i></b><br />
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<b> MORE PEOPLE IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT</b><br />
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There is a brand new Christmas tree lot just south of town towards Charlottesville right next to the <i>Old Country Store.</i> The day I went by it was pretty busy. I met these guys and grabbed their picture. This is Peter and Norma Nelson with their daughter Ella. Obviously they were selecting a tree. They run an assisted care facility in Riva. That is taxing and important work.... they must be good people.<br />
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I have to admit that for a long time I had my eye on this spot in<br />
<i>Cameleer</i> for one of the shots for this Christmas blog 2014. One day I stopped in with my wife for just at few minutes and viola (!) here were two perfect subjects. They are left to right, Kaitlin Rousell who is a hairstylist apprentice and Suzanne Wood who is a Head Start teacher. I really respect teachers! Merry Christmas you two and thanks for letting me photograph you.<br />
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That's going to do it for this season. As this is my final blog of 2014 I want to sincerely thank all of the people who have appeared in my <i>Faces of Culpeper </i>blog. You have all been great and provided a lot of interest for lots of people. This blog has now been visited over 35,000 times!<br />
Also don't forget to check the <i>Culpeper Times </i>every single week for my, "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper" piece.<br />
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<b><i>MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!</i></b><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-39145022146543821322014-11-07T08:37:00.000-08:002016-11-15T16:33:38.386-08:00miles of smiles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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MILES OF SMILES ... HAPPY PEOPLE</h2>
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of CULPEPER, VIRGINIA</h2>
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This grandson makes me smile!<br />
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Where has this year gone? Oh, sure I know we still have almost two months left, but it seems like just last month I was posting my blog on tattoos (extremely successful and wide-read btw). That one added a lot of new followers. The last blog was the summer one and now we are well into a rainy, but beautiful fall.</div>
Time to move on with the year. Thanks to everyone who has appeared in my "Faces of Culpeper" over the last four years. I think about 600 of you have graced (frankly I think that "graced" is a dumb word when you really mean "appeared" She "graced the cover of <em>People Magizine." </em>Not so much in my opinion. ) my blog pages. This is far more about pictures than words, so I am going to quit with the words so that you can get on with the pictures. <br />
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<strong>Here we go.........</strong></div>
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BJ's Ice Cream moved this summer and nobody told me. One day I had my mouth all set for the creamy stuff and drove over to an empty lot. BJ..... a sign that you moved would have eased my angst. They are out by the new Old Country Store. I decided that I was going to do pictures of smiles for this blog and thought what better place for great smiles than BJs. Amber Taylor (left) Heather Helmick, obliged me big time. Nice happy faces to lead off a blog about happy faces. Both of these young women are recent high school graduates and are either going or planning to go to Germanna Community College. </div>
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This is the same store in a new place. Being in the open makes it look more bright and shiny and smiley than ever before!</div>
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Sometimes I just get lucky. I had gone downtown to get some "smile" pictures and immediately ran into sisters Jennifer Richardson and Jillian Peatross. Good luck on my part and amazing smiles for this blog. Nice people and pretty to boot! Jennifer moved away about a year ago and was back to the Pepper for a visit. Jillian is a resident who manages the Best Western in Ruckersville. </div>
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Ok! I have seen the store on Davis Street called "Taste" for a long time, but had never gone in to see what was there. Surely nothing that would appeal to me , I thought. Actually it took a friend of mine in Fairfax who has been my barber for 25 years to motivate me to go in. He had been to Culpeper and been to "Taste" and was blown away by how cool it was. So I went in and talked with George Farrar, who is the owner, and Corey Deighan, who is his assistant. Really nice guys and a most interesting establishment. George owns another in Fredericksburg plus a "chocolate" store that just opened there. I can tell you that you have to experience this store to appreciate it. You will love it. I am so sure of it, that I will give you a free 8x10 picture of George and Corey if you don't....... just kidding. </div>
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KANAKLES!!!! Just the mention makes my mouth water. On most of my visits downtown I use the parking lot behind Kanakles. Then I torture myself by walking on the brick walkway that runs right alongside of the bakery. It smells like heaven and I always want to dash in the back door, grab a pastry (any will do, they are all delicious), and make a run for it. Naw.....I always want to go in and buy something. Occasionally I do just that. Kanakles is one of thosse few places in the Pepper that is known way beyond beyond the city limits. People come from far and wide just to get a taste of their products. Here are Stephanie Jones and manager Beth Whitt who will help you and always greet you with big smiles. They are a part of the "Miles of Smiles" for sure. Their motto is visible on the wall behind them: "A Balanced Diet Is A Cookie in Each Hand."</div>
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My wife took her sewing machine to the 145 Art and Design Studio for an evaluation. There I met </div>
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Noreen Smith who is the owner. This studio is all about sewing and I thought Noreen was a most pleasing person to meet. She took care of my wife very nicely. Noreen is a most skilled and talented seamstress and quilter etc. </div>
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<b>Culpeper Chamber of Commerce</b></div>
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I can honestly say that I have never shot anyone for my blog or for my, <em>Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper, </em>that are anywhere near as fun as these three. What a trip! First I told them that I wanted a picture of them for my blog, <em>Faces of Culpeper, </em>and the result was the first picture above. Then I advised them that the theme of the blog is, "Miles of Smiles" and they started mugging. What a cast of characters! Here is the thing..... these ladies are amazing professionals who do a great job at the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce, but they do know how to have fun. They are: Linda Dodrill who is the Social Media Coordinator; Martha Snider (in black) who is the Membership Coordinator; and far right in back is Debbie Stohlman the Acting President/CEO of the Chamber. <br />
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Not far from my house is the <i>Jiffy Lube </i>franchise for Culpeper. I generally get my oil changes done there and sometimes a couple of other things. I have intended to include this crew in one of my blogs for a long time and my "Miles of Smiles" theme was perfect. The really big problem is finding them when they are not busy. It took me several visits to find the right time to get this shot. They were a good bunch to work with although it appears that a couple of them did not get the "smile" memo. They have one young woman, Jessica, who works there and I regret that she was not working at the time I was able to get this picture. The manager, Mike Huffman is on the far right on the back row. The others in no order are: Ed Klaus, Danny Wright, Jason Newcomer</div>
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Shawn Sawyer, Dane Rinehard and Ryan Zorich.<br />
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This was a tough one! Even since I moved to the Pepper, I have enjoyed eating at the China Garden. In my opinion they have a great buffet and they stay very busy. Sooooo, I went in to get a picture of a couple of the waitresses and almost all of them ran for cover. Shy bunch... all except the tall young lady pictured here. In fact in order for me to get two employees in my shot they went into the back and found the other lady to get in the picture. Whew! I try to be low key, but we had quite a show going for the patrons. My angel helper is Crystal Lin here on the right....however, they told me that I probably would not be able to understand the other woman's name. So I suggested that they try me and after some confusion they told me it is Fanny. That one I get, but I know her real name is much more complicated and is not, Fanny. Great place and great Chinese food. If you have not been there then be sure to go. </div>
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A friend of mine, Jenn Clubb, suggested that I check out the newest dance school in Culpeper where she works. So I made an appointment and went over to talk with the owner of <i> Marie School of Ballet, </i>Ms. Amber Marie Daigler. It was an interesting visit. First I waded through about twenty feet of young girls who were eagerly and excitedly waiting for their lesson. Then up the stairs to the studio and office where Amber and I sat down to chat. Amber Marie comes to us from Nevada. As an adolescent she was accepted into the Nevada Ballet Company and she left home for Las Vegas to study and dance. She subsequently danced on many stages in Las Vegas. She brings all of that skill and background to our town to teach our children. Amber is nothing if not ambitious. She has in the works, a presentation of the <i>Nutcracker </i>this December. The community is welcome and can purchase a seat or a group may purchase a table for the evening. By the way, the school has open enrollment and is still taking students. You may want to check it out. <i>www.marieschoolofballet.com</i><br />
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<b>PETE'S PIZZA</b><br />
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I am going to have my big finish be a family of some of the nicest people in Culpeper. Everytime I enter their restaurant I am greeted with great smiles, and since this blog is my first about smiles and the happy people of Culpeper, there was no way I could not include these guys. Lately there has been a great deal of attention to the new food businesses that have opened in town...and that is big news. However, many of the very best places to eat have been here for a long time. For example, Pete's opened February 6, 1976... if my math is correct that makes 38+ years. They told me that their place is the "longest established restaurant under one owner in Culpeper." That is pretty cool. I will tell you this: Not only do their pizzas taste great, but in their case a "large" pizza is really a "huge" pizza. AND the Philly Cheese Steak is the best in my opinion. So who are these people? They are the Katrakilis family, Pete, Eleni and daughter Georgia. Check them out ... you won't be sorry.<br />
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So ends my first blog of the smiles (miles of them!) of the happy people of Culpeper. Hope you enjoyed it. Please visit my "facesofculpeper" Facebook site and "like" it. <br />
Every week I have a photo feature on the inside cover of the <i>Culpeper Times </i>called "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper." All of the faces shown here have been featured there. Hmmm<br />
You can contact me at:<br />
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facesofculpeper@gmail.com<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-70457731569121074642014-08-29T08:13:00.001-07:002016-11-15T16:37:21.418-08:00Summer 2014 in Culpeper, Virginia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This summer seems to have flown by faster than most. I guess I was traveling for a good part of it and the school year is beginning earlier, so maybe those are factors. Anyway, a lot went on in Culpeper and I grabbed a glimpse of some of it. The Fourth of July is always a treat and then as an added plus, I got to meet new people who are doing fun things. The Crowleys had a family reunion and I will show all of us together in this blog. Earlier in the summer I posted my blog on people in the Pepper with tattoos and if you have not viewed it, just go to the next blog down after you read this one. So let's look back a little on the summer past and let's meet some new faces. </div>
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Fourth of July</h2>
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It may be a bit difficult to see exactly what this is, but it is a colonial color guard marching up Davis</div>
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Street and through the car show audience on the Fourth of July. It looks like there might be a couple of extra stars on this flag, but having these guys representing patriotism was pretty darn cool. </div>
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This year's car show on July 4th was especially fun for me. I asked this handsome couple (Lesley and Chris) to pose by the 1956 stretch Cadillac for me. I was really excited to see this particular car and to see that it is not restored, but in original condition. Emmaculate is the word for this car. In the sixties I was in a band that had a few regional hits in the Northwest part of the United States. We bought this exact car only black and white and played throughout the Western states endlessly. This car was totally dependable and was way ahead of its time. Everything on it was power; power brakes, power windows, power antenna etc. just an amazing automobile. We never carried a penny of insurance on it....whew!...dodged a bullet on that one. We were a five man band, The Fabulous Chancellors, and we had a driver and towed a trailer. Great memories. </div>
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Hats off to these guys who served to preserve our freedom. </div>
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CULPEPER HAS BEEN INVADED....</h2>
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......And I am excited about it! Tanom Motors of Culpeper is manufacturing a new motorcycle like vehicle that goes from 0-60 in under four seconds!!. It is a reverse tricycle called the Invader. </div>
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They advertise this vehicle as a "Three wheel adrenalin rush" and I'll bet it is. </div>
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The bodies will be manufactured right here in Culpeper and then they will be married with a hot hot Yamaha engine. The plan is to eventually employ 300 people at the plant and produced four thousand Invaders a year. </div>
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Here is Chris Hall who is the plant manager. He was most patient with me. I really wanted shots of the Invader and I called him again and again until they had a couple that were ready for prime time. These sweet babies start in the $50,000 range so I won't be getting one this month, but I love seeing them out on the road and certainly have pride in the fact that they are manufactured in Culpeper. </div>
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It's summertime and the livin is easy</h2>
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Well sort of......... I carried my camera almost everywhere for a solid week and saw lots of interesting and fun things. </div>
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If I am purposely looking for photos, Mountain Run Park is usually worth a drive-through. On this day retiree Leon Hurt was fishing away. He says he does that a lot and always eats what he catches. He was a great guy to talk with. He worked for forty three years for New England Stone as a stone mason and that is hard work. Now he spends some of his hard earned retirement time in this beautiful spot fishing and relaxing. He reminded me of the line from the song, "Summertime." It goes like this: "It's summertime and the livin is easy, fish are jumpin and the cotton is high."</div>
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Gregg Deal is a relatively new member of the Culpeper community and quite an artist. Although Gregg has skills in lots of areas and does great work as a portrait artist, I chose to put a couple of pictures that are near and dear to him. These are paintings of Native Americans. Gregg is a Native American himself who is from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe in Northern Nevada. He is an outspoken advocate for American Indian rights and is often a spokesperson on the issue of the name of the Washington Redskins football team. Gregg is also a performance artist which is quite fascinating. Google him to get a taste of exactly what that is. </div>
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I find Gregg to be an interesting guy. We had a chance to visit quite a bit when I visited his studio. I want to remind you that he is an excellent commercial artist who has fine art work for sale. He also accepts commissions. Now, full disclosure ....... I had a wedding and portrait photography business in Fairfax County for lots and lots of years. It turns out that I photographed the wedding of Gregg and his cute wife, Meagan several years ago, but it took us a while to figure that out. </div>
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Dudes building decks! I think the economy is recovering..... at least in the deck building part of it. This summer seems to have been a great one for people adding decks to their homes. I saw these three guys building one in my neighborhood and stopped to chat and get a picture. These guys are serious workers.... they hardly looked up. Every day I pass the deck that Enrique Marshall, his brother Desmond Marshall and Daniel Theis built in our neighborhood. It is attractive and looks very very solid. BTW.... they work for True Built Construction. </div>
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You would never know that big black clouds were rolling in and thunder was rumbling when I took this shot. You might figure out however that I was standing out in the middle of Davis Street in order to get the angle. It is times like that when I think, ROAD KILL!!!! On the way to an appointment, I saw this guy sitting in front of the Raven's Nest and really hoped he would still be there when I came back in about a half an hour but honestly did not hold out much hope. What I did not realize is that Chuck Bowen was in no hurry. He likes to come down to the Nest, get a cup of coffee (or something), and settle down in this chair on the sidewalk with a good book and spend some serious reading time. I would never be able to read like that and not be totally distracted by the traffic and who was driving by. Chuck seemed to be handling all of that very nicely. He is a free lance writer and seemed very content. BTW, that is a plant behind him and not some crazy hairdo. Not very good camera technique. </div>
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This year I have become very attracted to a Culpeper park on the outskirts of town called Lenn Park. We became acquainted with it when Andrea was looking for a place with fire pits for a cookout with grandkids. There are several at Lenn Park plus baseball fields, a covered area for group gatherings, a model airplane field, a sweet playground, a beautiful stream, historic Civil War sites and more. It is just a fun place. <strong>My picture with my grandson, Chase, at the top of this blog is taken near one of the fire pits at the park. My wife, son, daughter in law and their four kids had an old fashion wiener roast followed by smores.</strong> </div>
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I think that this portion of the stream running through the park is so fun that I asked our friend Brooke Clubb to pose in the middle of it for me so that I could share the beauty of both Brooke and the stream with all of you. This spot is great for wading. Brooke is going to college in the West in a little town in Idaho that is my mother's hometown, Rexburg. BYU Idaho is there. It is in an area that is not too far from West Yellowstone and the Idaho side of the Teton Mountains are clearly visible just outside or town. </div>
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This couple was walking on the trail that goes from the entrance of the park for almost exactly one mile. It is a nice two mile walk, or hike, or bike. These young people were so cordial and stopped and chatted with me. They were just enjoying each other and the beauty of the park. Karie Kovacs and Jarrett Sites are students at Germanna Community College. </div>
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Ok, so I really do see the most unique things and meet the most interesting people.... I admit it. I had a guy at the Culpeper Times say to me: "So do you just carry your camera around and run into interesting people?" I said, "Pretty much." This is one of those people and something that you simply don't see every day. Once again I found something a bit unusual and interesting. I saw this man with this gear and I am pretty sure that he was bent over with his face in the water....maybe it was just very near the surface of the water. I was driving up the trail in Lenn Park to the part of the stream where I planned to shoot Brooke (above) when I saw him and I hoped mightily that he would be there when I came back. A half an hour later I returned to the spot with little promise that he would still be there..... but he was. This is Jason Stanley and he has a metal detector in his hand.... must be waterproof... and he was busy in Mountain Run Stream looking for Civil War relics. He had worked his was downstream a half a mile and had not discovered anything yet, but that area is so rich in Civil War history that I can't imagine that he did not find something that day. It was enjoyable talking to him. I found out that he is an electrician, is married and has four kids. </div>
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Now to a whole different part of the park.</div>
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I mentioned earlier that Lenn Park has baseball diamonds along with other features. One day I saw that a group was gathering near the ball field and went over to see if there was a photo op there. When I handed one man my card he handed it right back and said, "Yeah, I know you.... you are the photographer guy." I love it when people know who I am even if they couldn't tell you my name, because it makes everything easier. Of course the fact that I was carrying a camera may have had something to do with the recognition also. Sooo I learned some things from these guys. They play in the Culpeper Church Softball League which has been in existence for over thirty years. There are ten teams in this league. From left to right they are: Nate Viar, Marvin Hinchey and Kevin Pope.</div>
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MISCELLANEOUS SHOTS</h2>
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The depth and breadth of the industries in Culpeper amazes me. Lately I have seen a number of large freight trucks with massive loads of hay. Generally I have seen them on Route 29 somewhere in the vicinity of Southern States and Martins. I have not been in a situation where I could follow them to see where they were going, but I have wondered. Some of them have the newer big round rolls of hay but some still go with the kind on this load. I obviously could not flag them down and hold up traffic while I tried to get my shot ..... can you imagine? So I was pretty happy to be driving down Rte 666 and see this big old rig coming at me. I turned around at the first opportunity and chased them down.... to what I assume is the Payne farm. The driver was Steve Ankrom and the truck belongs to Payne Hay and Straw Inc. This load was destined to a "large horse farm" in North Carolina. Apparently this company services the entire Mid Atlantic region. Steve educated me a little and told me that this is a family business and it is run by a father and son. I should note that he says the Paynes are "very very fine people." I believe him!</div>
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It is not everyday that you see a guy walking around dressed like this on a 90 degree day, but I saw this one. Antonio Yates is a personal trainer turned hair stylist. His new shop located in Hilltop Plaza has been open for about seven or eight months and business is good. He not only does haircuts and styles, he offers shaves and "the latest trends." He is a life long resident of Culpeper and would love to see you drop by. </div>
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Ok, here comes the big finish, the piece de resistance, the crown jewel etc.</h2>
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Here we are in all of our glory... the Rich and Andrea Crowley family! I love them all! </div>
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Amen!!!</div>
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Well that's it for this time. Hope you enjoyed it. You can direct comments and/or suggestions to: <a href="mailto:facesofculpeper@gmail.com">facesofculpeper@gmail.com</a></div>
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Don't forget to check out my weekly feature in the <strong><em>Culpeper Times. </em></strong>We call it, "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper."</div>
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For the next blog I will be looking for smiles so get yours ready. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-23199408407726164112014-08-12T10:01:00.000-07:002016-11-15T16:56:15.188-08:00Tattoos! Do We Have Tattoos in Culpeper? You Bet We Do!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is my third blog on tattoos since I started the almost famous "Faces of Culpeper" photo blog. Those of you who follow me will recognize this picture from a couple of years ago....but lets keep it a secret for now.... more later. I am more interested in why people have tattoos than the tattoos themselves. I know for a fact that they do not get tattooed because it feels good.</div>
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When I first started collecting pictures for this blog I had decided that I would just list the person's name and perhaps his/her occupation and let the tattoos speak for themselves. Then my granddaughter told me that half of the fun was knowing what the symbolism was in the tattoos <strong>so you will notice as you work your way through that more and more information will be presented with the pictures the further you get into the blog.... at least in most cases</strong>. </div>
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I asked almost everyone why they get tattooed. Some seemed to have never thought about it and some were very thoughtful and insightful in their responses. After they gave their answer, I challenged them with questions like: why didn't you write a song or a poem or paint a picture as an art tribute instead of getting tattooed? That is when they had to think. I was surprised at how many people had put a lot of thought into exactly what they wanted in each tattoo and what it represented. But a lot just said, "Because I like them." I was only surprised a few times by which person had a tattoo. I know almost anyone might have them these days and boy did I get good at spotting them..... even in the winter. <strong>There have to be a lot of tattoos lurking under suits and ties and dresses and business attire that I never found</strong>. Gold's Gym was a great equalizer....everyone is in workout duds there and in almost all cases, if they have tats you can see them. </div>
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The way I worked was this: I approached people and told people who I am and that I was working on a photo blog on tattoos and would like to photograph theirs. I would take the picture and get their email. I would then email the picture and ask them for an explanation. Some responded back but a few did not. Several gave me very thorough and somewhat long answers that I had to shrink to make everything fit.....apologies to those folks. <strong> </strong>I think you will agree that I got a real good representation of Culpeper tattoos. Thanks to everyone shown here. </div>
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You will see that Culpeper tattoos come in large, small, tiny, complex, simple, colorful, black and every other variety you can imagine. Some of the art is outstanding. All is interesting. </div>
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<strong>Finally, I ask a couple of people I knew to tell me why they chose to be tattooed and their experiences surrounding those decisions. The main responder was my friend Janell Saxton Billings who is the daughter of friends of mine and who lives in Boise, Idaho. She has several significant tattoos that she covers up for work, and that are impressive. A special thanks to her for her amazing insights and quotes. I put her initials (jb) after her contributions as well as the initials of others who made comments that I liked and placed them here and there. You will note responses from these people in <em><u>CAPS, BOLD, UNDERLINED AND ITALICS.</u></em></strong><strong> To get us going, here is the first quote:</strong></div>
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<strong><em><u>I WOULD LIKEN YOUR QUESTION (why do you get tattoos?) TO SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF, "WHY DO YOU LIKE PIZZA?" OR "WHY DO YOU LIKE/LISTEN TO RAP MUSIC?" AND MY ANSWER IS, "I JUST DO."jb</u></em></strong></div>
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Let's see some tattoos from the Pepper. Wahoo!!!</div>
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This rather dramatic looking young woman is Ada Rivera and she told me that she is a student. When I asked her the significance of her tattoos, she told me that she just likes skulls. Obviously and she also has her husband's name among the other images. </div>
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Kris Lafontaine is a field engineer for radiation cancer therapy</div>
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Look closely....this is one of the more interesting ones I have seen. Now I wish I had ask him about it. <br />
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Heather is a mom and a talented writer among other things. Sometimes people put painfully personal things in their art. This one says, "Beautiful Disaster".... </div>
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This is a modern day adaptation of Shiva with the arms indicating the highs, lows and midpoints of her life. "Brutal" is the adjective that she says best describes some of her life experiences. </div>
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Kasey Blackwell</div>
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<strong><em><u>"I FEEL LIKE MY TATTOOS ARE THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND MY BODY IS THE CANVAS."jb</u></em></strong> </div>
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Christian R. Stanley works in paving company. I actually really like the saying on his arm. It is self explanatory. </div>
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Kimberly Rosewarne.... Certified Nurses Aide. I saw her at the 7-11 getting gas and she was pumping gas, talking on her phone, and posing for me......multitasking. We said we would get together to get info on her tats and photograph a couple of others, but it never happened and so I have no idea if there is any symbolism to her artwork but I'll bet there is. </div>
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Holly ....Is a mom who has memorialized her cats in a tattoo. </div>
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Stephanie Sharp recently certified as a dental asst. At the time I took this she was going to school for her license as a dental hygienist. Her tattoo invites you to follow your heart...or hers. </div>
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This is Laurel Engh. She was working at Martin's and I noticed her "happy" tattoo. I have seen statements of love, horror, sadness etc., but not one that is just happy. I have a feeling that she likes that song, "Happy" too. She has the rose, because her sister's name is Rose and just added the bee for the heck of it. It makes for a nice tattoo....one that made me smile. </div>
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Steve Sabol</div>
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I have noted several times that we have a lot of interesting older men in Culpeper. It will not be too long before I will join their ranks......well, I hope it will be several years, but anyway, this guy is one of them. He is Steve Sabol and I stopped him in Walmart for a chat concerning his tattoos. Right away he said they were "the most foolish thing I have ever done!" I found out that Steve was a navy vet and that he served from 1951 until 1970. I hope he won't mind if I reveal at this point that he lied about his age so that he could enlist at age 17. Steve is a life long resident of Culpeper. Steve has the variety of tattoos that servicemen wore "in the day." At that time tattoos were not common, but were often worn by our warriors. One of his says, "Death Before Dishonor." The other one is an eagle. He is a really interesting and upbeat guy. It was my pleasure to have met him. Sometimes I just get lucky. </div>
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<strong><em><u>"I HAVE NEVER BEEN ONE TO CONFORM, I JUST DO THIS FOR MYSELF."ks</u></em></strong></div>
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This is Heather Tyler and she moved to Culpeper two years ago from Texas. I was swinging my grandson at the park when I ran into her. She tells me that she has 13 tattoos in total and she is not done. The "3" behind her ear is for her 3 sons. The rose is in memory of her mom. </div>
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This is Freda Kennedy and she works at Harriet's General Store in Culpeper. Her artwork grabbed me right away. She kindly sent me some explanations. These are her words:</div>
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The angel on my neck my daughter drew when she was about 4 and she was in church with us and drew it during service when the pastor was talking about angels.</div>
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She drew the figures on my finger as our Wedding bands for our 14th Wedding anniversary.</div>
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The heart was once a Victoria Secret design.</div>
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This full sleeve represents her daughter, Lexi who is now 10. You can see her name in the blocks with “mom” she loves Hello Kitty. The Japanese art represents artwork from my favorite designer Simone Legno here is his link: <a href="http://www.tokidoki.it/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">www.tokidoki.it</span></a> </div>
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If I have this right....this girl represents Snow White who is her favorite character. Hmmmm, Snow White is a lot hotter than I remember her. </div>
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The heartbeat represents her husband and ends with a J for his name John, or his nickname, Joker. </div>
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The little guy is a tokidoki character representing her love for Starbucks. </div>
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This is Kate Shrewsbury who along with her husband owns Harriet's General Store. Even my editor said, "Kate Shrewsbury has a tattoo?!!!!" Surprise, she does and here it is. Here is what she said about this set of tattoos: "The penny represents my Dad, he died when I was a kid and always said, 'a penny for your thoughts.' The artichoke inside the penny represents my grandmother, who lived in the artichoke capital of the world and taught me how to love good food. The poppies are simply because I love poppies." She is adding to it as we speak. I have really enjoyed Kate because she is a person that almost no one suspects would have a tattoo, but she does and a serious one. I blew any thought of her keeping that tat a secret when I showed this very picture in the Culpeper Times in my "Snapshot of Culpeper." Just today a lady told me that seeing Kate's tattoo in the paper has emboldened her to display hers which she has sort of kept as a semi secret. </div>
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And.......here's the husband, Acie. His explanation is simple....these are for his wife who "hangs the "sun, moon and the stars for me"</div>
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And voila!.....Shrewsburys a deux. This is the "family crest" and consists of their children's initials: C, C, B</div>
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I think I mentioned that Harriet's seems to be a gathering spot for the tattooed.....at least I have seen several tattooed folks there. This is Brett Conyers and that is a really cool rhino...excellent work!</div>
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Let's see.....it was 24 degrees outside...seriously, and Brett was wearing shorts! I told him that he must be a better man than me, but there is one other possible explanation..... Check out the elephant on the left....really good stuff!</div>
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<strong><em><u>"MY FATHER WAS A VERY CONSERVATIVE MAN.... BEFORE HE DIED HE TALKED TO ME AND SAID: LIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLESTS, RIDE A MOTORCYCLE, GET A TATTOO...."ks</u></em></strong></div>
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I was at Belk doing a little bit of shopping but mainly looking for guys with beards for my "Beard Blog," when I saw Marcus Terranova, who is a network marketer, walk in with a very attractive woman whom I assume is his wife and a darling little girl who is his daughter. I was not actively trying to find tattooed people but when I see them, I act. Marcus is one of those guys who looks really tough and may be, but is very polite and engaging. The tattoos on his head and neck really caught my eye and I asked if I could photograph them for this blog. He told me that he has tattoos "all over." So we got the head shots and his arm and then to my surprise right there in Belk he pulled up his shirt to reveal the work on his chest and back. The work on this guy is not only extensive but amazing. Check it out.....and remember, there is more.....lots more. </div>
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I thought this artwork was exceptional!</div>
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This guy was a great find for me. I was in Walmart scouting for guys for my "Beards" blog and I saw Peter Smith shopping in the tools. He is a big guy and was sorting of scowling but I asked him if I could talk to him for a minute about his beard. He said we could do that and so I explained about my blog etc. and asked about taking some shots of his beard and he agreed. Then since I am always looking for interesting tats I asked about his and found that he has a cornucopia of them. He explained them all to me....I will let you just look, but interestingly they are almost all related to the band KISS. By the way..... Peter is a corrections officer!</div>
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We'll leave Peter with this one on his calf. <br />
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I stopped by Steve's Tattoos and found him busily at work on Samantha Hughes. She was getting her seventh tattoo and this time it is a skull. </div>
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<strong><span style="background-color: #ffe599;"></span></strong> <strong><em><u>"SO THAT WAS MY REPRESENTATION OF COMING OUT OF THE DARK, EMBRACING MY INNER STRENGTH AND GROWING, INSTEAD OF BECOMING A VICTIM OF MY CIRCUMSTANCES. I HAD THE CHOICE AND ABILITY TO CHANGE. I WANTED THE PERMANENT REMINDER OF WHERE I HAD COME FROM AND WHAT I HAD BEEN THROUGH AND THAT "I" MADE THE CHOICE TO BECOME A BETTER PERSON IN SPITE OF ALL THAT."jb</u></em></strong></div>
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It is hard to miss the tattoo on Amanda Morris' neck.... so of course I asked her about it, but I was not quite ready for the answer. Amanda works at Target and also is a volunteer there (I had no idea that Target had volunteers) and at the hospital and at the jail. She mostly acts as an interpreter. This name Beto on her neck is the name of her husband who passed away a few years ago. She also had a couple of others. </div>
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A brother who she also lost</div>
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At least this appears happy. Although she has experienced some tough life times....she is an upbeat person. I respect that. </div>
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I had just taken a picture of the restaurant general manager at the new Panera Bread and was walking past their windows when I saw the tattoos on this guy's arm and turned right back around. This is a cool couple and we had a great conversation and shot some pictures of his tattoo and planned to shoot more of both of them, but it did not work out. They are Hannah Wiley and Hans Ugaz and just very recently moved to Culpeper from Dumfries. They are quite taken with their new town. </div>
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I sent this picture to Hans because he had said that he would give me an explanation of his tattoos. I am afraid that he has forgotten me. </div>
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This happy lady is Monica Newell and as you can see she has a significant number of tattoos. This lady is an artist, a songwriter, and a writer who is currently working on a comic book. She has formerly been the owner of a couple of art galleries in the area and now also teaches art. Let's see.....is it safe to say that she is art involved? I think so. I did not get all of her tattoos, but the ones I got are pretty cool. </div>
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The tattoos include a Mexican embroidery detail; a Budda and Elvis and a Native American boy riding an eagle. </div>
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<strong><em><u>"I GOT MY FIRST TATTOO IN 1991 IN COLORADO SPRINGS FROM A GUY NAMED 'SNAKE'." mn</u></em></strong></div>
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This is the nicest guy and he has the yellowest car I have ever seen! He also had the cutest little girl hanging on his leg. She is Shayla which explains the tattoo. </div>
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Two sisters here, Jessica Jarrells and Megan Edwards and both of them sparkly ladies. </div>
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Jessica has her son's footprint on her ankle. She also has two others "in transition" that we won't be showing right now. </div>
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Here is Megan showing off what she calls "her heritage." </div>
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This, of course, is a feather and it is a remembrance of her "granddad."</div>
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<strong><em><u>"I JUST LIKE THEM! WHAT OTHER REASON CAN THERE POSSIBLY BE?"jj</u></em></strong></div>
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I was rehabbing from some surgery and walking very slowly at Yowell when Renee Thomas walked briskly past me. I caught sight of the tattoos on her arm and decided to wait for her to walk the entire route. As I approached her it was safe to conservatively say that she was apprehensive about this guy who was coming up to her and more than a little suspicious of me. When she told me that she is a corrections officer that explained everything. Renee had great tattoos, I think she said she had ten, and she let me photograph several of them. </div>
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I let a bit of shadow get on this one, but oh, well. The main theme for this lady involves butterflies. She said that for her they represent new beginnings....new freedom.</div>
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Renee also has the name of her daughter on her along with Minnie. </div>
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Here is a biggie!!!! Renee Thomas is a forever fan of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson! He is on her more than once as you will see. Right below Michael is a ring of butterflies. </div>
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EEOOOWW!!! This one is almost spooky and is one her upper back. It is all we could show tastefully and is another Michael Jackson! With just his eyes peeking out and watching you, it is a bit weird. Renee was a very gracious woman to share so much with me. </div>
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I say over and over both in my blogs and in my <em>Snapshot </em>feature that people in Culpeper are "nice." I have searched for another word, but "nice" just fits and so once again I will say that Brandon Santos pictured here, is a really nice guy. We had a funny meeting. I had headed out to get pizza and pulled into a parking spot with the nose of my car facing the store. My window was down. I had just stopped when a car pulled into the spot right next to me only facing the opposite way, that is, his truck faced away from the same store that the nose of my car faced. His window was also down and so there we were about three feet apart just looking at each other. So, I said, "How you doing, man?" He said, "I am doing good how about you?" I said, "What you doing here?" He said, "I came to get pizza." I said, "Me too, but I was wondering if we could talk about your tattoos for a couple of minutes before we go in." He said, "Sure." And there you go we chatted about his tattoos. Brandon is a chef who is originally from Brooklyn.</div>
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Brandon told me that his tattoos are about the struggle <br />
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You can tell where this lady works. She is Rhonda Higgens.</div>
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I did not get a full explanation. I just know that she said it represented the song of her life. </div>
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When I first met Diana she was working at Target and had a shirt that went up to her neck and sleeves that covered her wrists. In fact, if a friend of hers had not alerted me that she had a "ton" of tattoos I would never have known. She told me that she has, "15 tattoos total at the moment," but she is planning on "plenty more." Here are some of the visible ones starting with the chest piece above. That piece she says was "a random idea that was started by one star. It is incomplete at the moment."</div>
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Diana got this rose the day her grandmother died. She loved roses.</div>
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This is for her mother who passed away from cancer. Those are her birth and death dates and says, "Earth has not sorrow that heaven cannot heal." </div>
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In case you could not tell, this is a zombie pinup. Diana loves zombies and she loves pinups and wanted a tattoo "like no one else has." I think she got it. </div>
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<strong><span style="background-color: #ffe599;"></span></strong> <strong><em><u>"THIS IMAGE CAME TO ME IN A DREAM AND THEN IT WAS A TATTOO THAT I ALWAYS WANTED, BUT I COULD NEVER ARTICULATE IT WELL ENOUGH FOR AN ARTIST TO RECREATE WHAT I WAS SEEING IN MY MIND'S EYE."jb </u></em></strong></div>
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I got referred to this guy, Adam T. McKay....cool dude. In addition to working at Culpeper Pawnbroker he is founder and CEO of <em>Team Deuces</em> a sort of conglomerate of various types of businesses which include: cars, clothes and community. </div>
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With a few exceptions, Adam's tattoos are tribal symbols.</div>
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These two friends, Kandi and Savanah share an interest in tattoos. Interestingly enough neither of them is particularly crazy about the one on their wrist. </div>
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I have no idea what they are, but they seem pretty cool to me. </div>
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When I shoot someone with a tattoo I always get their email so that I can send them their picture and ask them about the significance of the tattoos. Most people respond, but some don't and that is cool. If they ever tell me what these are about, I pass it on to you. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hDx5H8_Y7t8/U2WIS9nzizI/AAAAAAAAC6I/wvH_auDdWS4/s1600/savanah.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hDx5H8_Y7t8/U2WIS9nzizI/AAAAAAAAC6I/wvH_auDdWS4/s640/savanah.JPG" width="425" /></a></div>
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I have lots of examples of complex or big tattoos, but there are also some small ones. This is a Christian symbol and I believe the smallest tattoo in this blog....maybe anywhere! </div>
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<strong><em><u>"I HAVE LEARNED TO EMBRACE ALL THAT IS AND LET GO OF THAT WHICH DOES NOT SERVE ME."jb</u></em></strong> </div>
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You are pretty cool if you go by just one name, like: Jayzee or Prince or Cher etc. Well, this is Drew....just Drew. He is a general artist, but I know he specializes in airbrushing and tattoos. </div>
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I met Jessica Marfinetz and Nathan at the new Lollipop Station</div>
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I know it is a slot machine with wings, but the meaning is a mystery to me. </div>
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This is Devin Stuart whom I met at the Brandy Volunteer Fire Department where he has volunteered since he was sixteen. Right now he is in the Air Force stationed at Andrews Air Force Base, but when he can he comes home and volunteers. </div>
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Devin Stuart is an "Explosive Ordinance Disposal Expert" in other words, he is like "Hurt Locker"</div>
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This cartoon bomb with the lighted fuse honors his work with explosives. </div>
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This is Danielle Hardaway and she is obviously an athlete. She works out everyday and wins lots of competitive races. Several of her tats express her love of being in the sun and outdoors. </div>
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This turtle tattoo represents the mom (her) and the band are the little turtles which represent her babies.</div>
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She is a runner, after all....and was a full ride scholarship athlete! </div>
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This is Laura Ford and she has a variety of jobs that she does at home. I put a note in the Culpeper Times asking for anyone who believed they had special tattoos that I had overlooked to contact me. She did and she has a bunch .....12 if I am not mistaken. </div>
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The opening lines of Desiderata, one on each arm constitute her basic philosophy.<br />
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Names of children and grandchildren</div>
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The Eye of Ra.... for protection</div>
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This big guy is Gary Nurse Jr. He is a truck driver and a volunteer EMT with Culpeper Volunteer Rescue Squad. He has tigers with implanted diamonds or faux diamonds. Those kind of things make me cringe. Then on his other arm he has horns and a crest and the name "Montague." I was really curious about that and asked him what it stood for. He really surprised me by commenting that he really liked "Romeo and Juliet" and that there were two families in the play. (I taught high school English for three years and naturally this was one of Shakespeare's plays that I taught) The families were the Montagues and the Capulets and he just chose one to memorialize this play. </div>
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Hailey Crowder loves this verse which speaks for itself. </div>
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<strong><em>"THE TATTOO THAT FOLLOWED HER PASSING IS THAT REPRESENTING THE DAY OF THE DEAD IN MEXICAN TRADITION. THERE IS NO MOURNING BUT A CELEBRATION OF ALL MY LOVED ONES WHO ARE NO LONGER HERE IN PHYSICAL BODY, BUT WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF MY HUMAN EXPERIENCE."jb</em></strong></div>
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I spotted the tat on Destinee (real name) Stanley's back from quite a distance. The flowers are three cherry blossoms which are her favorites but I think the words are really cool. They say, "lead me, guide me, walk beside me. There are probably several sources for these words, but I know them from a church song called, "I Am a Child of God."</div>
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Gracie Schlapo with a understated and tasteful tattoo quoting a verse from a favorite song. That song is "After the Storm" by Mumford and Sons. Interesting. </div>
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She and friends sport arrows as a friendship bond. "An arrow can only be shot forward by pulling back."</div>
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This engaging guy is David Morries. He is a personal trainer who holds a bachelors degree in physiology and has his eye on a Phd. </div>
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Yes, Sir Officer Rochefort! Brian Rocheforte, as you can see, is really put together....like a rock! Often guys like him are the most easy going when you are taking their picture, but I've got some money that says that niceness turns to all business when he is making an arrest. Did I mention that he is a police officer in Fairfax County, my old stomping grounds? He has lots of art on him and was very patient while I shot it.</div>
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When I saw Tammy Gaskins in the aisle of Martins my first question was, "Did you win?" She was understandably just a little confused so I said, "For the most tattoos?" She has about as much art on her as anyone and is really a good sport about talking about it. An interesting aside about Tammy is that she is a part time forklift operator! How about that? Yea for women! She is also a full time mom and nine of her tattoos (she has twenty and counting) are of her children. </div>
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Here is a simple truth.... if I had taken pictures of all of Tammy's tattoos (assuming they were accessible) I would still be there shooting. So I just had to choose a couple to include here. The one above is in memory of her "Nannie" who has passed on. She says that it is her way of keeping her memory always. This is what she said about the tattoo below: "My children on my chest is the BEST mother's day gift EVER from my wonderful hubby and kids!!U only got a pic of my daughter but I also have my son on the other side now."</div>
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I hope she wins the prize someday.</div>
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<strong><em><u>"NINE OF MY TATTOOS ARE FOR MY FAMILY JUST SO I CAN HAVE THEM AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE."tg</u></em></strong></div>
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Lovely, fun, Mary Sullivan presented the biggest dilemma for me in presenting her tattoos in this blog. Mary has several tattoos that she can display if she chooses, but..... well, let me have her tell you: "My tattoos remind me to shine a little brighter. I got them on my hips because sometimes I feel like it's nobody's business what's going on in my head and they are easy to cover up if I need to." So let's check hers out..... </div>
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This is the first one Mary designed entirely on her own and obviously is on her arm. There are two skeletons representing her and her sister that are facing each other and holding a sacred heart and there is much much more. </div>
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This tattoo symbolizes earth, wind, fire and water. </div>
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The tree of life symbolizes her adventures so far. </div>
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I liked this guy because he has a sense of humor. You can see it in his eyes.....however he only gave me his first name which is Sean. The tattoo memorializes the band, the Nine Inch Nails. I don't know how many of those exist in the USA, but I suspect the band could afford to give free passes to their concerts to everyone who has one. </div>
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Angela Booker travels all the way to Fairfax everyday to her work as a receptionist at a veterinarian clinic. She loves Culpeper so much that she thinks it is well worth it. The dream catcher is dedicated to her grandmother who has passed away. Her name was AnnieBee which is why there is a bee flying from the flower. </div>
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On this arm she has her daughter's names. They are nine and four years old. </div>
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Michelle Rollins caught my eye.....well, because she doesn't seem like the type to have a tattoo. I really know better because anyone can have a tattoo these days and everyone is the "type", but still she did not seem like she would be one of those who went through with it. But, viola! Here she is and she is pretty cute about it, and still learning to be comfortable. She says this about the tat: "The fish are because I am a true pisces. A friend has a painting of a fish with a halo and horns and I felt it was me. I'm good but I can be rotten. (ah, come on now) And I am a sun lover."</div>
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This is Chris Hall and he is plant manager for Tanom Motors here in Culpeper. He is like gold to me. Now with this blog I have used him more than any other person ever in the combination of my blogs and my "Snapshot" in the <em>Culpeper Times. </em>You may remember him from the "Beards" blog.</div>
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Here is Chris with the brand new "Invader" a reverse tricycle that is the sexiest thing I have ever seen. It is going into production soon. A picture much like this was recently in my "Snapshots of Culpeper" in the Culpeper Times. </div>
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He told me that when he was younger he was really into horror and horror movies etc. That certainly is reflected on his arms. </div>
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<strong><span style="background-color: #ffe599;"></span></strong> <strong><em><u>"MY TATTOOS REMIND ME TO SHINE A LITTLE BRIGHTER."ms</u></em></strong></div>
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One of the issues that I have had in doing this blog is that I can't seem to stop working on it. I was absolutely sure that I had every picture I needed and then I passed Kim Henry as I was leaving Martins. My camera was in the car and so here is Kim who is a mother of two children. She rescued a hummingbird last year and looked up some info on that interesting creature. It is supposed to represent "light in your own darkness to embrace the enjoyment and meaning of life." She turned that into a personal tattoo. </div>
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It's looking like a big finish here. This big man is Michael Jarrell and he is one interesting dude. When I was told about him I was told that he "is a little bit scary." So................ I really did not know what to expect. What I found was a really intelligent guy who pretty much likes to keep to himself. Scary? Not so much. This guy is the manager of an "offsite records retention facility." He is thoughtful and has done more studying and knows more about tattoos and tattooing than anyone I know. He would like to have a "Japanese suit" sometime which means he would like to be covered from head to foot. He has a great start. </div>
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Now this sounds like something out of a movie, but he and his girlfriend were driving in her car and it broke down. As luck would have it they broke down in front of a tattoo parlor. After waiting around for an hour and a half for help to arrive, he gave in, went in, and got his first tattoo. The rest is, as they say, history. </div>
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Here are the tattoos on his appendages....none of the body ones were shared. Hang on to your hat!!!</div>
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There are lots more, but you get the idea.</div>
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Michael wanted an authentic experience and so the ones on his feet were done by a traditional Japanese artist. He had poked each dot.....pretty painful I hear. </div>
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<strong><em><u>"SOME PEOPLE HANG ART IN THEIR HOME, I HANG MINE ON MY SKIN."mj</u></em></strong> </div>
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<strong>AND FINALLY THE BIG FINISH</strong></div>
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Samantha Crow works in the juvenile/domestic courts of Culpeper. She has a rather impressive tattoo on her back. It is also uplifting and so I will end with it today. </div>
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In the center is the Sacred Heart surrounded by angel's wings. Samantha said that she told the artist to make the wings large enough that if they were real she could fly. She assures me that they are that large. "The wings symbolize the freedom to live and love how you choose. My tattoo was done the day of the Sandy Hook shootings. The tattoo artist said he couldn't think of a better tattoo to be working on that day." It is a work in progress...she has thirteen hours in it so far with lots more to go. </div>
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<strong><em><u>"BUT YOU ASKED THE QUESTION, 'But why a tattoo?' I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ANSWER WITH A REALLY INTELLIGENT ANSWER......HOWEVER, I HAVE FOUND THAT IN MY EXPERIENCE WITH STRANGERS, IT PROVIDES PEOPLE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO ME AND ASK QUESTIONS. IF I DIDN'T HAVE THIS DISPLAY OF MY STORY ON MY BODY I DON'T THINK THE RANDOM PERSON ON THE STREET WOULD HAVE ANY INTEREST IN WHO I AM, BUT IT OPENS A DOOR TO A CONVERSATION."jb</u></em></strong></div>
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And that's all folks. This has been a lot of fun. As the last quote above notes: I probably would have spoken to only a few of these people featured in this blog if it had not been for their tattoos. I am indebted to each one for taking the time to talk with me and allowing me into a piece of their world. Fascinating to say the least. </div>
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Be sure to look for my weekly feature in the <em>CULPEPER TIMES, </em>"Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper." </div>
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If you would like to comment or share pictures of your tattoos, write to me at: <a href="mailto:facesofculpeper@gmail.com">facesofculpeper@gmail.com</a></div>
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AND LAST </div>
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THE PICTURE OF ME GETTING A TATTOO IS STAGED....IT IS A FAKE....THANKS STEVE!</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-67511276872325847992014-05-23T21:05:00.001-07:002016-11-15T17:01:16.888-08:00Kapow!! Shazam!!! Kablooey!!!! Culpeper is exploding with growth and cool people.<div align="center">
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Here we go with another posting of Faces of Culpeper. I have met a bunch of new people that appear in this posting. Several people are new to the Pepper and others are ones that I am just now getting around to meeting. I wonder if I will get to meet everyone in town at least once in my life. I am giving it a good shot. I said, "Kapow" etc in the title because we seem to be growing so fast commercially that if you leave town for a week there will be at least one new store or restaurant when you come back. I know there are those who miss the "old Culpeper" when everyone knew everyone, but I think it is kind of exciting to see the growth. Of course, I wasn't a part of the "old Culpeper" so I am biased. Anyway there are people for you to meet so let's get started. </div>
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I have to start with my own personal favorite of the new restaurants, Jersey Mike's. Of course I still have my old favs, but I can make room for one or two more. These folks are the owners and operators Kathy and Patrick White. This is one of five Jersey Mike's that they currently have..... watch for more! I would like to say that I am working my way through their menu, but after trying two sandwiches I seem to be stuck. I always figure that if you find something you like what sense does it make to keep trying things? I guess you can identify the items that you don't like if you keep going, but I doubt that I would find anything I did not like at this place. For now I have found what I will order every time. </div>
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The first couple of weeks people were lined out the door. Now they are just busy. One thing I have noticed is that the kids who work there are very well trained. That must not be common because it really grabbed me. Good place and nice people. </div>
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I am going to leap from brand new Mike's to really well established David's. This is David Eddy and he owns a really interesting and fun store called, "David Eddy's." David moved here in 1960 from Minnesota and opened this store in 1966.....same store and same owner. That is a long time. The store is cool and fun (so is David for that matter). You can get just an inkling of what is in his store from this picture, but there are hundreds of gifts and decorative accessories to choose from. He is on Main. If you have not been there you simply owe it to yourself to go. <br />
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I turn off 29 and onto Ira Hoffman to get to my house. It is a rare day when I don't drive past CFC Farm and Home Center at least once and often several times. However, the truth is until the other day I had only gone in this store once before. So I decided to revisit that store and I am glad that I did. It has lots of interesting things there that are primarily for (ta dah!) farmers and farm work. I am not too familiar with all of that, but I enjoyed looking around. I wasn't in the store long before this lady, Karen McGowan, who is the store manager came over to help. Maybe I looked a little helpless. We ended up in the lawn and yard section as you can see. Karen has been with the company for six years and has lived in the Pepper eleven years. Nice lady! I have been contacted by the company since this picture appeared in the Culpeper Times to ask permission to use it for their publications. Hope that means good things for Karen!<br />
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The other day Andrea and I were walking around town and ended up at the Culpeper Museum in the depot. On the way I noticed this guy sitting, strumming and singing in front of the LOVE sculpture. I feel an affinity for street musicians so I headed over and met Jeremiah Raines who is not a street musician but was just singing for fun. He is a pretty religious guy and is a member of the praise team at Culpeper Baptist Church. In addition he works at Childhelp which is an extremely important organization that offers help and resources for abused children. He has his priorities in the right place. <br />
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My wife thought her life in Culpeper was complete when Panera opened. It is her second favorite restaurant right behind Chipotle which will be opening soon, by the way. This Panera has a drive through which is pretty cool. This is the manager Richard Frakes.</div>
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We had a lot of snow this winter and now we are getting tons of rain this spring. One day I was driving past the memorial park on Old Brandy Rd and Wine Street and was startled to see the entire park flooded. In the six years I have lived here I have never seen the park like this. I parked my car took my camera and started walking up and down the sidewalk by the park. I was hoping that someone would walk by, but that was pretty crazy thinking. Then I decided to flag a car down and see if the driver would pose in front of the flooded park, but they all sped by. Just as I was about to give up, this lady along with her mother and baby pulled over and she rolled her window down to take a picture of her own. I practically begged her to pose in front of the new lake, and she was very gracious and willing. She is Mia Speech and she lives in Culpeper, but works as a server at Outback Steak House in Warrenton. Just about a month after I took this picture we had another big, but rather brief storm and the park was flooded all over again. Twice I have seen it this way.........so far. <br />
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There are more new kids on the retail map in the Pepper and right on Davis Street in Old Town. My wife and I visited the Lollipop Station just a few days before the grand opening. It is a unique place and totally geared to children. The interior is alive with colors and you can just feel the enthusiasm oozing from the owners, Faith and Walter Gil. There is a plethora of things for kids like toys, cotton candy, novelty candies, a party room and a gallery for the art of children. Fun, fun, fun! My son took his little kids once during the week and then back to the grand opening. They loved it!</div>
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It was just before Easter and I happened to be near Petsmart when this really neat family walked out the door carrying a puppy. The kids were pretty excited and so was I ..... here was a perfect family of faces for my blog and for my "Snapshot of Culpeper" that is featured in the Culpeper Times. They were extremely nice and friendly. Not surprisingly he is the Athletic Director at Osborne High School in Manassas. What makes it not surprising is because school people are always cool. These guys are the Laines .... Stacy and Keith Laine and their really cute and quite rambunctious crew. I commented that it looked like they had an Easter Beagle and he replied that it was more like a "Passover Puppy." Pretty funny! They call the pup, Motzi! The little guy in the red shirt moved to a new spot every time I pressed the shutter. I love this picture because it captures personalities and is relaxed. I liked these guys. Oh, did I mention that Stacy is a professional photographer? Yep, and a good one. Check her out at: <br />
<a href="http://www.focusphotographyllc.com/">www.focusphotographyllc.com</a><br />
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Now here is something that I have never done before. I am plugging an animal rescue group that is in another town.....Madison, to be exact. Volunteers from that animal rescue come every single Saturday, rain or shine and bring some homeless pets looking for adoption. They set up in front of Petsmart or just inside depending on the weather. Shannon Junior is always here and this week Jim Tredway joined her. The Culpeper community has supported this effort for a long time and a lot of animals have been placed. So if you are thinking about a sweet dog that does not require house training.... hustle over to Petsmart. BTW, check out the reflection in the window...no not the cars! The handsome dude with the camera. <br />
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On the way to the Chamber of Commerce which is located in the old depot, I saw these guys having lunch. I am not sure that I had every paid any attention to the tables there, but this looked like a great idea for a little family picnic. These people are Erin and Dan Ference and their two cute kids. I discovered that Dan is a software engineer here in the Pepper and had an afternoon off so they decided to go bowling by way of a picnic downtown. Their kids were so well behaved that I am sure they are excellent parents. Erin is a teacher in the virtual high school for Prince William County Schools. She teaches Spanish. If you are not sure about what a virtual high school is.... Google it.<br />
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OK....this is the big finish for this time. I have always thought that Hallmark was the "go to" place for cards. So when I needed a card I visited Banner's Hallmark store here in the Pepper. I had only been there a couple of times before, and this time I was cheerfully greeted by these two shiny young women. They are left to right, Gracie Schlapo and Jenny Dellinger. Look in the picture and you will see that the store has more than cards......it simply has tons of interesting things. Check them out. <br />
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Well, that is it for now. Remember that I am always looking for interesting people and faces and may show up almost anywhere. If you have an idea of something I should shoot or an interesting theme please contact me by email at <a href="mailto:facesofculpeper@gmail.com">facesofculpeper@gmail.com</a> <br />
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Watch for my , "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper" on page two of the weekly newspaper, "The Culpeper Times"<br />
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The number of hits on my blog has been amazing, THANKS FOR READING!!!!<br />
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NEXT BLOG WILL BE ABOUT THOSE PEOPLE IN CULPEPER WHO SPORT TATTOOS!!!<br />
IT IS GOING TO BE FUN!!!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-79415225479908758992014-03-26T09:54:00.001-07:002016-11-15T17:09:27.271-08:00Beards, beards and more beards! Facial hair in the Pepper!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This time I have blogged on beards...... yes, facial hair. That is what this blog is all about....GWABs(guys with a beard). It seems to me that there certainly are more beards now than at any other time in my life. I think they are a bit like tattoos.... when I was around 20 a beard was a statement of lifestyle (hippy) or protest (anti war) in many cases. Not too many "mainstream" guys were walking around with beards. Much like with tattoos, at that time there was a bit of a stigma, but one that the hair wearer (I love that term... nice rhyme) was happy to live with. </div>
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<strong>Check this picture of me quickly because you won't see it again</strong>. I have had a beard three times in my life and the picture above shows the latest and last beard I will ever have.... 2011. I just had surgery on my cheek and neck and could not shave for a while so I grew the beard. In all due respect to some of the guys below..... I have never understood why you would grow a beard of gray or white that makes you look older. I look old enough as it is. </div>
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Now it seems at least every third guy sports a beard. One young man told me: "Having a beard is like a deer having antlers, the bigger it is the more of a man you are." Well, obviously 90 percent of the beard guys would disagree, because they are steady groomers who keep the size under control and wear a beard as a matter of fashion. However, it seems like almost everyone has one....I mean people from all walks of life, ages and professions. In this blog I feature samples from the Pepper. I am not planning to go into depth about who these people are, just briefly their name and what they do....although there may be an exception or two. </div>
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Just a comment on getting these pictures: I have mentioned before that it is not the easiest thing in the world to get people to stand while I take my pictures. I have found that most women will let me take their picture if they think their hair looks ok.... if not they will turn me down for that reason. Now I am a confident guy, but there are a lot of men who look stern and unapproachable. A few men have turned me down politely because they just don't want to and a couple have even just brusquely said, "no" and walked away. Others will say that they don't like their picture taken because they don't want anyone to know who they are and I even had a guy run from me, yelling back over his shoulder than he had three warrants for his arrest out on him. Sooooooooooooo when I decided to do this "beard blog" I expected a lot of rejection. I thought and thought about how to approach these bearded beasts. I hit on this: I simply walked up to them and said, "Can I talk to you for a minute about your beard?" Almost every man became friendly and let me shoot a picture or five which I always do. They love this facial hair.... no doubt and are pleased to chat about it. </div>
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Enough chatter.....Here we go.....showing that all types of guys are bearded (young/old and rich/poor), have all kinds of occupations, and their beards come in all shapes and sizes.</div>
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<strong>PLUMBER.... </strong>This is Ed Reno. He was the first bearded guy that I shot. I saw him walking into <strong>LOWES </strong>and stopped my car and tracked him down. I was 90% sure he would not let me take his picture, because he looks like the rugged individual that you so often see around Culpeper and those guys occasionally don't want their picture taken, but he just said, "Shoot away!" Ed informed me that his dad had been a plumber and that he is too. His wife, Diane who was with him, was a real sweetheart, I really enjoyed these guys. </div>
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<strong>MOTORCYLE CUSTOMIZING SHOP OWNER... </strong>Shane Hull. I almost never put the same person in more than one of my blogs, but I am making an exception for Shane. He is featured in my last blog for the shop he owns, but he is also a GWAB (guy with a beard) and so here he is!</div>
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<strong>LOWES EMPLOYEE.... </strong>This is Aristotle Kastrinos and he has worked at Lowes for 9 years and tells me that he is in a very serious relationship. </div>
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<strong>FATHER....</strong>This is Brian Palmer and he has a very different beard from the others... so far. He is my friend and has a very cute young family. I know he works, but as far as I am concerned, he is a dad!</div>
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<strong>MECHANIC.... </strong>I ran into David Milbourne and his family in Food Lion. He told me that he has been a mechanic his "whole life."</div>
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<strong>SCHOOL TEACHER.... </strong>Bill Davidson is a school teacher for Fauquier County Schools and lives in Culpeper. He has been nominated for "Teacher of the Year" in the high school where he works. </div>
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<strong>RETIRED GOVERNMENT WORKER.... </strong>Anthony Thompson has lived in the Pepper for the last 16 years. He spent the last few years of his work life commuting to Ft. Belvoir..whew!</div>
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<strong>PRIVATE GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR.... </strong>Shane Jefferies and his wife and two kids moved to Culpeper in the last few years. </div>
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<strong>ASSISTANT STORE MANAGER AT FOOD LION.....</strong>Paul Anderson. I have decided that the two best places to find men with beards in Culpeper are Lowe's and Food Lion. </div>
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<strong>CO OWNER OF HARRIET'S GENERAL STORE....</strong> Arie Shrewsbury.</div>
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<strong>ABC CLERK.... </strong>Nathan Rivas who may just be the winner of the thickest beard contest. He says his beard is a point of pride. </div>
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<strong>MARKET MANAGER FOR FOOD LION.... </strong>Larry Brown. Larry says he grew his beard to keep warm. </div>
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<strong>HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT..... </strong>Nate Lake is still in school and just 18, but he can grow a heck of a beard!</div>
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<strong>REMODELING AND HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING GUY.... </strong>Michael Ankrom sports one of the smallest beards....that takes a lot of clipping....or maybe not. </div>
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<strong>RETAIL MANAGER.... </strong>Tom Johnson</div>
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<strong>RETIRED WATER AND SEWER SUPERINTENDENT.... </strong>Don Echols</div>
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<strong>RETIRED TRUCK DRIVER....</strong> William Holmes Sr.</div>
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<strong>UNDECIDED.... </strong>Robert Bradford</div>
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<strong>SANTA CLAUS!!.... </strong>Mike Lawson. He really is Santa Claus at Christmas time. He also teaches Medical Education and Training. </div>
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<strong>COOK AT DENNY'S.... </strong>Ryan Moore</div>
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<strong>GENERAL LANDSCAPER AND TREE GUY.... </strong>Dan Jenkins. I have to comment .... I saw this stern looking guy sitting in his well worn pickup and thought that he might be a tough nut to crack. As it turned out Dan may have been the nicest guy of any I shot for this. </div>
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<strong>CORRECTIONS OFFICER.... </strong>Peter Smith. This guy is a KISS fan extrodinaire. Most of the skin he has showing (and some that is not) has tattoos with a KISS theme. When I post my next tattoo blog you will see many of the tats. <br />
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<strong>PROFESSIONAL DETAILER.... </strong>Bernard Settle III</div>
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<strong>SURFACE BLASTER (dynamite) AND DRILL OPERATOR.... </strong>Eric Kidd. What a cool guy! He has a broken thumb that is still in a small cast (almost through with casts). I had my thumb joint replaced a couple of years ago and so we had hand casts and painful rehab to share and talk about. It makes me cringe because I am not too far from needing the joint replaced on the other thumb. If the people I shoot give me an email address I send them a copy of the picture. Of all the people that I shot for this, he is the only one to reply with a brief "thank you" note.....AND the only man ever to do that! I am impressed. </div>
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<strong> RADIO SHACK SALES ASSOCIATE..... </strong>Howard Jefferson</div>
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<strong>PLANT MANAGER OF TANOM MOTORS .... </strong>This is Chris Hall sporting a tightly trimmed beard. I have to digress from just beards on this one. Chris is managing something that I am excited about. Tamon Motors is about to open its national plant right here in Culpeper. Watch for their product announcement. Their operation here in town will employ about 300 people. Shortly I will feature them in my "Snapshot of Culpeper."</div>
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<strong>ELECTRICAL ENGINEER FOR TANOM MOTORS.... </strong>Terry Holloway</div>
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<strong>ROAD PAVER.... </strong>George Smith. George told me that he first grew his beard in high school and has never been without it since. In fact, he said, "my face has never felt a razor." </div>
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<strong>FARM MANAGERS, MONTERRIAN FARMS.... </strong>Amazingly this is a father/son team. When I saw the father in the parking lot at Target I knew I had struck gold for my blog on beards. His is a face with a lot of character. However, when I approached him, his son stepped out of the pickup truck and I knew I had stumbled on one of the key pictures for this blog. This is Joe (father) and Josh (son) Keys. Nice guys. Oh, and you can forget any ZZ Top references....I tried it and they have started to grow a bit tired of it. By the way, both of them say that they have never shaved. Like father, like son. </div>
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<strong>SUBSTITUTE TEACHER APPLICANT.... </strong>From one extreme to another...... Jared Brumfield asked "Who doesn't have a beard?" Of course the obvious answer is (inspite of my picture at the top of this blog): ME!!!!!</div>
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<strong>CRAFTSMAN...... </strong>Seth Plaster with Plaster Family Furniture. When I asked Seth's wife what "craftsman" meant in Seth's case, she told me that he hand makes amazing custom furniture. </div>
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<strong>PROPERTY MANAGER, CAR WASH.... </strong>Junior Baker. Junior was not too sure about having his picture taken, but once again, this guy has so much character in his face and I am glad he let me take the shot. </div>
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<strong>SERVICE ADVISORS BATTLEFIELD CHEVROLET.... </strong>Patrick Coppage and Robby Allen. Robby had been helping me with my still amazing 2004 Trailblazer (ten years and absolutely no trouble) and so I talked him into letting me take a picture of his face and beard for this blog. That office had been all business until we started on beards and these guys became a riot. I had to get these two friends together showing off their beards. Fun guys! It turns out that Patrick had a "Duck Dynasty" beard until a few weeks ago. It seems like a lot of guys are trimming those down because I ran into more than my share of guys who said something like: "You should have seen it two weeks ago." That's called a near miss. </div>
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<strong>GROCERY MANAGER.... </strong>James Robertson. Food Lion is a great place to meet guys with beards. I was told several times that, "You need to see James, he has one of those 'Duck Dynasty' beards." So I went back three times before I caught him and lo and behold he was one of the guys I just mentioned who had recently done a trimming. Still a great beard! He was just a little "freaked out" with me taking his picture, but he gave me a good one. </div>
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<strong>SALES ASSOCIATE AT LOWES..... </strong>goes by "Wink." I don't know about the wink part, but he sure has a twinkle in his eyes. </div>
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<strong>RETIRED PLASTICS WORKER AND HANDIMAN......OH, MY GOSH!!!!! I DID NOT WRITE HIS NAME DOWN!!!! </strong>I remember this, though...he told me that his beard was a winter thing that when summer comes he shaves his beard and his head! Sooo if you see a guy who looks like this only without a beard, hat and hair... you may want to tell him that I didn't get his name. :)</div>
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A reader gave me his name....Richard Pierce! Glad to have it and a big thanks!!!</div>
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<strong>DRYWALL MAN (THE KIND ON STILTS) AND OWNER OF RENTAL PROPERTIES.... </strong>Floyd Miller<strong>.</strong></div>
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Whew.... that is a lot of GWABS. Once I started looking for this kind of guy, it seemed like I could not stop. Now everywhere I go I see great beards on guys that I want to get in a picture. I had so many interesting conversations with a ton of men AND only one turned me down..... only one! This was such a good opportunity to meet people (yep! people... lots of these guys were accompanied by a woman) that I would never have a chance to talk with. I can tell you this.... there will be a part two. I am finishing up a part three on tattoos and next winter will do a new blog on beards. Young, old and in between and again representing all walks of life right here in the Pepper.</div>
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There is just one beard left that I could not do a "beard blog" without......</div>
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MY GRAND FINALE.... TAH DAH!!!!! </div>
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<strong>LAWYER..... </strong>Matthew Crowley is not only an attorney in Culpeper, but in my opinion he is the best attorney in the Pepper. I might be just a little biased because he is my son, but...... it is my blog!!</div>
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OK... that is it for this time. This has been a lot of fun. I hope you enjoyed it. You can always join up to be a "follower" of this blog. Be sure to tell the guys you saw in here that you know, that they looked like a rock star..... even if they didn't. </div>
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Don't forget to check out my weekly contribution to the <strong>Culpeper Times </strong>called , "<strong>Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper."</strong></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-91435606736040266502014-02-13T12:24:00.000-08:002016-11-15T17:13:39.873-08:00Snow.....finally a big one in the Pepper! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Three years ago in September I bought a new shiny sleigh for my grandkids to use on our hill in the snow. Because we have had so little snow, in that time they have ridden it maybe.....twice. Finally some serious snow! I know it is disruptive for so many people, but I am retired and have the luxury of just enjoying the it. I started this blog in December, but I am beginning with a picture I took today (February 13) because it is a nice winter shot. Then I jump back to earlier in the winter. Once again I am featuring some really nice people. Let's get at it!!</div>
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Yeah, snow! </div>
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Earlier this morning I looked out my upstairs window and saw this man shoveling the snow in his driveway. About every fifth shovelful he would toss on one of his kids. It looked so fun and made me lonesome for the time that my children were that small. I walked up the street (I had forgotten how demanding it is to walk in deep snow) to meet this good dad and to get a picture. He was willing to stop for a minute and chat. This is Brandon Miller and he has the important job of being an air traffic controller. He and his wife have three children.</div>
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Let's go back a ways.</div>
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This is our town and we are proud of it! The city installed these new signs on all of the major entrance roads into the city. Pretty nice. I asked my friend, Amanda Mason to brighten the signs up by standing next to this one on Business 29. Amanda is the mother of two and is married to Aaron. She is an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in Fauquier County Schools. I think that is a tough job and oh so important if we are going to successfully integrate all of the students who are coming to the United States from the various non English speaking countries. </div>
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My son and daughter in law had given us a gift certificate for "It's About Thyme" which is arguably the best known restaurant in Culpeper. We had decided to go to lunch and were standing on the curb discussing whether to go to the restaurant or the deli when this nice gentleman came out of the restaurant and encouraged us to "come on in." So we did and after a brief wait, since it was full, had a great lunch. He checked with us several times to see how things were going. On his last visit to our table I asked him if he was the manager......duh! He told me that he "sort of" was the manager. I am probably only one of ten people in this town that did not know that he is the owner of the restaurant, the deli and Copper Fish. His restaurants have brought much acclaim to our town. While I was commuting to Fairfax to work, lots of people told me that they came to the Pepper just to eat at his restaurants. Now I am one of the people who knows the very well known face of John Yarnall. </div>
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During the last couple of years, I have had the pleasure to get to know Mellissa Reynolds. She is a doctor here in Culpeper and judging by the award she has won.... a darn good one. Dr. Reynolds was awarded the Hamid A. Hadi M.D. Award of Excellence in Maternal Fetal Medicine. Melissa grew up in Maryland and West Virginia. She joined Blue Ridge OBGYN in 2011. She is an interesting lady and says that she came to our town with, "a desire to care for the women of Culpeper." I heard a rumor that she is getting married this year. Stay tuned.............<br />
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I was driving past Wine St. Memorial Park the other day and noticed someone sitting on a park bench reading a magazine. That's not so unusual unless it is 25 degrees outside, which it was. You know me, I made a quick turn, grabbed my camera and went to meet her. What a neat lady! When I told her my name, she right away commented that she always looks for my "snapshot" in the Times.....big points right there! She was at the park with her dog, Sophie, and since no one else was there Sophie could romp and have a great time while she enjoyed reading and the beauty of nature. Her name is Susan Werner and she is a local Pediatrician. She sure seemed to have the personality for that work. She was interesting to talk to, but I was freezing............<br />
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Just before Christmas my wife and I took friends who were visiting from Colorado shopping in the downtown area. One of our stops was at Pepperberries and our wives had a great time shopping while we husbands chatted. The sales woman above, Sheila Lyles, came over to me rather secretly to tell me that my wife had admired a certain necklace if I wanted to consider it for a Christmas gift. I needed one more gift and so came back the next day to buy it. I really appreciated Sheila giving me the hint. She moved to our area in 2003 and along with her husband have three daughters and 5 grandchildren. </div>
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I noticed that a new shop had opened on the corner of Main Street and 522. It has the intriguing name of "Custom Rocketz" and has really hot looking motorcycles in the window. I went for a visit. I was greeted by Shane and Mary Hull who own the place. This is a specialty shop that customizes the motorcycles that everyone refers to as "Rockets." I wondered aloud if there were enough of these bikes in Culpeper to justify this kind of facility. Shane told me that they service the entire East Coast and that even though they had been open less than a week, they had been contacted by a guy in Florida to work on his machine. That, my friends, is the power of social media in spreading the word. I wish these guys the best, they certainly were friendly and patient in explaining things to me. </div>
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I was at the car wash on Sperryville Pike when I ran into (figuratively speaking) Jenny Ventura. First..... what a cute personality she has! She was getting ready to pull her mud covered jeep into the wash when I intervened and asked if I could shoot her with her vehicle. I thought it was a perfect example (although maybe extreme) of what has been happening to our cars and trucks this winter.</div>
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She was a bit embarrassed because of the condition with all the mud, although she had recently been out to a friend's farm and had blasted through some serious mud holes. The way I look at that is; why have a jeep if you are not going to put it through its paces once in a while? Jenny is a mom and is the shop manager at Shear Artistry. </div>
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These signs are all over the downtown area. I agree with the message and hope all of us can support our local merchants.</div>
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I know, I know..... I have never featured a picture of myself in my "Faces" blog, but my wife took this picture and I couldn't resist slipping myself in here. This deserves an explanation. I have mentioned several times that I was born and raised in Idaho. Although I have lived in Virginia much longer than I lived there, my roots run deep. One thing that I am fanatic about is getting Idaho potatoes. The difference between a good Idaho potato and one from anywhere else is the difference between hamburger and steak. However......... they are not so easy to get. The one place that I know of is a market in Falls Church. So yesterday while my wife was at the Dr. in Centreville, I drove clear down to Devonshire Street in Falls Church and picked up 20 pounds. You can see that I am one happy guy. It's like having money in the bank!<br />
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<strong>MARCH 3, 2014!!</strong><br />
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I am going to end as I began with a picture from the "big snow." This is a neighbor, Chantel Brausen who got dressed up and headed out for cross country skiing. <br />
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<strong>WAIT!!!! THERE'S MORE!!!!!</strong><br />
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Just as I thought we were through with old man winter and snow... March 3rd rolled around and look what happened. The picture above was taken at 10 am. It was 18 degrees!!!! When was the last time you saw Davis Street empty like this?<br />
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A guy snow blowing on the same street. </div>
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If you look closely here you can see the snow falling and blowing.</div>
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OK!</div>
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<strong>MARCH 17TH , 2014</strong><br />
<strong>ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!</strong><br />
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<strong></strong> photo by Andrea Crowley</div>
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That's it for right now. Just a reminder to keep a look out for my feature in the <strong>Culpeper Times </strong><br />
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called "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper." It is now a permanent feature and will always appear on page A2 in the upper left hand corner. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2United States42.405285855509021 -109.9230408668518116.883251355509021 -151.23163486685181 67.927320355509025 -68.614446866851807tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-52253290510886306722013-12-28T09:16:00.001-08:002016-11-15T20:57:10.854-08:00Christmas in Culpeper....in brief. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong>CHRISTMAS IN CULPEPER, VA ..... IN BRIEF</strong> </div>
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This year has seemingly been a banner year in Culpeper. The outward appearances are that lots of people are shopping and the economy is on the upswing. Spirits seem to be high. However, I spent very little of the actual Christmas season here in town and so my Christmas blog is briefer than usual. </div>
One of my sons lives in Fresno, California and so we flew out of Charlottesville on December 4th to spend about ten days before we continued on to Salt Lake City to help celebrate my mother in law's 90 birthday. When we are in Fresno in December we have a Christmas dinner with that part of the family and open our gifts to them. We were busy busy on that trip...... AND it was cold! Even Fresno, which would normally be in the 60s was in the 20s and 30s and believe me....the people there are not equipped with winter clothes....especially my grandkids. In Utah it was 8 and 12 degrees some of the nights and the highs were in the 20s. But we had a great time, especially with the four grandkids in Fresno. I can't seem to get enough of them. We were not back until after 10 pm on December 18th and then there was a lot to do before Christmas. So we missed out on the great December blizzard in Culpeper....or not so great a blizzard. But I understand there was enough snow for kids to ride down the hill behind our house. We had last minute shopping, but not much. Then we had our other two sons and their families over for what has become a traditional early Christmas Eve dinner. We had a great time! Andrea, my wife, works so hard to see that everyone has a good time and a great meal (along with major contributions of the daughters in law). Anyway.... not much time for picture taking for this blog, but what I have I will share. <br />
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SO LET'S GET TO IT!!!!<br />
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<strong>So that is how that happens!</strong></div>
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So that's how that happens! Since I have moved to Culpeper, one of the things I enjoy the most is the decorating of the downtown area for various holidays or seasons. Our downtown looks so nice.....and it is as if by magic. One day I drive through town and everything looks normal and the next day, voila...beautiful decorations. They especially grab me at Christmas time. I have wondered how they seem to just, poof, appear. I have long suspected Santa's elves, but now I know the truth. It is the city workers (i.e. Santa's elves) who make our town so lovely. Thanks, guys!</div>
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<span class="wsyaee">Thanksgiving wasn't even over when I realized that Christmas was just around the corner and I better be getting some Christmas "snapshots." This is such a great time to go to the downtown area and just walk around and browse. Of course it is also a great time to buy with all of the very special stores that we have there. My wife and I went into the store that is called, "Found" and "My Secret Stash" and found a cornucopia of candy and Christmas treats with lots of free samples. It was all soooo tasty that we just had to make a purchase. These two ladies helped and encouraged us. I think it is obvious that they have sparkling personalities to go with all the amazing treats available in the store. They are: Katie Silata who is a mom of three and Ana Rodriguez who began working there recently. Drop in and see them... you won't be sorry. <a class="aQy JVkDDf e ARATye" href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=34f9652e3d&view=att&th=1428dc72cf2e326e&attid=0.1&disp=safe&realattid=f_hofae9mm0&zw" id=":1c1" tabindex="-1" target="_blank"></a></span><br />
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<span class="wsyaee"><a class="aQy JVkDDf e ARATye" href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=34f9652e3d&view=att&th=1428dc72cf2e326e&attid=0.1&disp=safe&realattid=f_hofae9mm0&zw" id=":1c1" tabindex="-1" target="_blank"> We were in Cameleer looking for a Christmas elf when I noticed this young lady checking out tree ornaments. I could not resist taking her picture and she graciously obliged. In chatting with her I discovered that she is a school teacher. If you have followed my blog or my "snapshots" then you know that I have a real soft spot for teachers. We moved to Culpeper after I retired from public education in Fairfax County. This is Emily Wolfford and she teaches at Culpeper Middle School. She is originally from Pennsylvania </a></span><br />
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On my Christmas visit to the downtown area, I stopped at Harriet's General Store which I quickly discovered is one of the most eclectic and special of the cool stores in our town. Harriet's has to be experienced. I found a really neat glider plane that quickly took me back to my youth and that I had to buy to share with my three year old grandson. At Thanksgiving I learned that everyone from three to fifty three wanted a turn with this glider...some even asked it I would get them one for Christmas. So we got two. What a hit! Here is Arie Shrewsbury who along with his wife, Kate, own the store. He is standing near a very creative Christmas display and holding....ta dah!.....THE GLIDER.</div>
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This is a feel good story. This house is owned by a gentleman named Tony who is originally from the Philippines and it is pretty spectacular. In my opinion it is the best decorated house in Culpeper. It has a very impressive light and sound show that is run by computer through a program Tony made. He has the sound broadcast so that it will play through the radios of cars that are passing by if the just dial 107.1. The lights are synchronized with the sound. It is so fun! When Tony first came here he found that wanted to provide a gift for his kids and all the other kids in Culpeper. He has done that and then some. Tony is a Registered Respiratory Therapist and is here with two of his three sons, Carlos and Christopher. They live on Belle Avenue right at the top of the hill.....can't miss it.</div>
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Footnote: I feel very bad about this picture. I had asked to have it published in my Culpeper Times piece called, "Rich Crowley's Snapshots of Culpeper" on the 19th. While I was out of town there was some confusion and it ran the week after Christmas instead of before. Anyway, be sure to catch this display. <br />
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So, there we go....short and sweet. It is such a great season of the year and it gave me the opportunity to meet more Culpeperites who are really really cool. I hope that your season was a good one and will close here with a final:<br />
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MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-35226379698030204992013-10-19T12:20:00.001-07:002016-11-15T21:02:53.996-08:00FACES, FACES, FACES OF CULPEPER!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It seems like such a short time ago that I started doing my "Faces of Culpeper" blog. In actuality it is well over three and a half years since my first one. Conservatively, I estimate that I have featured over five hundred faces in this blog. I have only repeated two faces that I know of. That's quite a few "peperheads" that have been in my photos in this space. The "Snapshots of Culpeper" in the Culpeper Times is younger but still is a bit over three years old. Soooo....come February I will have completed my fourth year of this blog.... time flies. I have slowed down on the number of blogs but not on the great faces in each one. </div>
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Let's start this edition with local artist Beau Curtis who can be found all over town drawing and painting. He also goes on the road to other areas. In addition to selling those works he has already completed he accepts commissions for personalized work. He may be emailed at <a href="mailto:Greywolf32105@Yahoo.com">Greywolf32105@Yahoo.com</a></div>
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I received an invitation to visit Cornucopia Volunteer Farm Foundation which is located on Cherry Hill Road. This is a project to "plant, maintain, and harvest fresh produce and proteins for the hungry in Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties" and is managed by Chuck Jackson. This organization is supported by the donations of individuals, churches, groups and grants. Here are some volunteers in action. They are: Lindsey Dolan, Michael Watts (local veterinarian), Emily Watts (recently enrolled in Va Tech studying Agriculture) and Rebecca Watts. The two youngest girls are students at Epiphany Catholic School. </div>
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I stopped in to the Chrysalis Counseling Center the other day. I had been planning to do it for some time, but just hadn't.....no good reason....just hadn't. For about four years since I moved here I had been distressed by the terrible condition of the building that was to become this counseling center. I remember reading in the Star Exponent that someone named Elsie A. Stevenson had purchased the building and I was hopeful that she would improve it....at least a little. Wow! Were my expectations ever low. She made it into a showpiece and improved Culpeper at great deal with the renovation that I could see that she had done. It was not, however, until I went inside that I experienced the true beauty of the transformation. The inside of the building, in my opinion, is spectacular! The big plus to our community is that Chrysalis can provide the counseling and therapy that many in our community are in need of. Elise is impressive and engaging. I had fun talking to her. I supervised the 700 plus school counselors in Fairfax County Public Schools and so my heart is with mental help services. Now I see that they have taken over the car dealership building plus another building in the back. This program is on the move and we are the winners!</div>
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This is Eric Moon. He is my next door neighbor along with his family. He is the manager of the Mosby Meadow Market which is his family business. It is a very nice convenience store and is located on Rixeyville Road directly across from the roller skating rink. One of their claims to fame is that they sold a million dollar Powerball ticket....... but not to me! Dang, it!!!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2cCeDeMBnC8/UmLZdzyUOyI/AAAAAAAACGw/pR1itMASEKE/s1600/tat+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2cCeDeMBnC8/UmLZdzyUOyI/AAAAAAAACGw/pR1itMASEKE/s400/tat+blog.jpg" width="300" /></a>I have noted several times that we have several interesting older men in Culpeper. It will not be too long before I will join their ranks......well, I hope it will be several years, but anyway, this guy is one of them. He is Steve Sabol and I stopped him in Walmart for a chat concerning his tattoos. Right away he said they were "the most foolish thing I have ever done!" I found out that Steve was a navy vet and that he served from 1951 until 1970. I hope he won't mind if I reveal at this point that he lied about his age so that he could enlist at age 17. Steve is a life long resident of Culpeper. I was checking on the tattoos because I am currently working on another blog on tattoos that people in Culpeper have. Steve has the variety of tattoos that servicemen wore "in the day." At that time tattoos were not common, but were often worn by our warriors. One of his says, "Death Before Dishonor." The other one is an eagle. He is a really interesting and upbeat guy. It was my pleasure to have met him. Sometimes I just get lucky. He will also be in my tattoo blog which I will post sometime soon. </div>
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It seems like the signs are everywhere that Culpeper is growing and the economy is recovering. Sports Authority is a well known national store that just opened a store next to TJMAXX. They had a gala grand opening and had lots of people came to check what they had to offer. It is a nice large store with lots of interesting sports related merchandise. I think this could be a big deal for Culpeper....I hope so. This is the manager Ben Hoskyn who moved here from Virginia Beach to run the store. </div>
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It is the season for mums, mums and more mums! It seems that almost every store I go into is selling them this year. We bought three huge plants this fall....beautiful yellow plants. Two for our front porch and one for our deck. I even bought a normal size mum for the flower garden that I made just this year. This is Laura Allen. I met her when we stopped by the Shenandoah Garden Spot to check out their excellent selection of.....you guessed it.....mums! I only spoke with her briefly, but she was a most upbeat lady. I learned that she moved to Culpeper from Maine about six years ago. She recently joined the staff at Shenandoah Garden Spot. </div>
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Halloween is just a great time of year. Every day....often several times a day....I drive past the "pumpkin patch" on the corner of 29 and Ira Hoffman. What a cool place....especially for kids. In addition to hundreds of pumpkins, they have treats and recreation items.....in particular a bounce house. I stopped by and found this cute family schooling their baby early on the fine art of pumpkin purchasing. The dad is Gordon Mackison and he is a fire fighter. Mom is Cheyenne Fowler and she is a medical assistant at Medical Express. Grandpa is David Fowler and he is a park policeman. Baby is Paige Mackison and she is...well....a baby!</div>
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There are so many great things that happen in Culpeper that I am not aware of....and I'll bet that I am not the only one lacking in certain awareness. For example: I had no idea that there is a group in Culpeper called, The Early Childhood Work Group which is a part of Healthy Culpeper. Yep, there is such a group and I spoke with Tracey Forloines who has the title of coach with the Work Group. They were having an information activity in Yowell Meadow Park on Saturday. They were encouraging, "Community awareness for the citizens to know about resources for kids." Right there at their program were these three, Sergeant Jeff Dodson of the Culpeper Police Dept., McGruff (really explorer police cadet Rebecca Hilmick) and explorer police cadet Marcus Tyler.</div>
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I have noted a couple of times in this blog that I love the reality shows that deal with restoring older cars. I saw this 1977 Chevrolet El Camino in the parking lot at LOWES and had to feature it in my blog. The first thing that hit me was how long it is. I looked up the dimensions and it is 216 inches long. That is 18 feet, if my math is correct! Dats long!!!! I had a 1977 Ford station wagon when my family was young and it seemed extra long to me so I looked up the length of that wagon vs. this car (pickup...whatever...it is a hybrid). My wagon was long....225 inches which is roughly 18 and 1/2 feet! That was the last year that the American car companies made those behemoths, but they are sooo fun to look at and remember. Before I asked this guy whose name is Doug Furr if I could take a picture of him with his car, I watched him for a few minutes. He walked around the car a couple of times and would touch it here and there and brush it with his hand.....he loves this vehicle. He has been restoring it for a while and is getting close to completion. I think it is beautiful!!!! Doug is a retired guy who has lived in Culpeper for the last ten years. He worked for 43 years at Shoppers Food Warehouse!</div>
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Well, that is going to wrap up this edition of "Faces of Culpeper." Hope you enjoyed seeing our citizens and sometimes even learning about them. If you would like to you may write to me at:</div>
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Be sure to check out my weekly contribution to the Culpeper Times, "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper."</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-75858721060265220842013-07-15T17:33:00.002-07:002016-11-15T21:02:26.111-08:00Hot Rods, Motorcycles, Cute Women, Ice Cream at CJ's, Sweaty Men and Hot, Hot, Hot.....it is summer in Culpeper!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Summer is definitely upon us here in the Pepper. We had such a nice, moderate June that I was hopeful that this was going to be an exceptionally nice summer, but then we had rains every day for what seemed like forever. In fact as I launch this edition of "Faces" rain is predicted for the next four days. The last week to ten days have been beastly hot.... my car thermometer is regularly reading between 108 and 112. Gotta get that fixed. I suspect this particular Maxima was built for Death Valley or something, but it is hard for me to know how uncomfortable to be if I don't know the exact temperature. :) </div>
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Anyway, I started shooting for this blog and for my <em>Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper </em>feature in the <em>Culpeper Times, </em>and found that as it got hotter, the fewer and fewer people there were outside. Well...to tell the truth there were usually sweaty men outside working, but how many of those do you think I want to photograph? The answer is.....not many. It was almost impossible to find women outdoors (too smart) so I moved into stores and found a plethora of them. </div>
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I have a lot of shots for you this time so let's get going to see who they are.</div>
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Here it is, early in the summer and the end of the season for most youth soccer. I was at my six year old granddaughter's final game of the season. I looked at all of the parents and grandparents who had been faithful followers of these fledgling soccer stars and thought about how cool it was that most of these kids had such great support. Soccer moms are legendary in their devotion to their kids. Here are three of those moms in Culpeper. </div>
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My wife, Andrea and I will have lived in Culpeper for six years this August and I have already completed my third full year of doing the "Faces of Culpeper" blog which you are reading at this moment. Here's the deal..... she is my favorite face in this entire town and I have yet to feature her....so here goes. She is on the right in this picture with our good friend, Jenna Palmer. Andrea and Jenna are on their way to the Kennedy Center for the opening of a new ballet. One of the great things about living in the Pepper is that we are close enough to participate in cultural and entertainment events, but do not have to deal with the traffic that goes with them... at least not permanently. If you could just see my face as I took this picture you would see a huge grin. Not just because I love the subject matter, but because I am not going to the ballet. </div>
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In between rain storms the weather has been very pleasant for this time of year. As I was driving past Culpeper County High School I saw this guy and a friend enjoying the good weather on the tennis courts. Not long after I took this shot the skies opened and we had a deluge. This is Michael Leap and he is a Culpeper native and even graduated from CCHS where he was playing tennis. He graduated from Culpeper County High School in 1989 and is now a mail carrier. <br />
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Koons car lot of previously owned vehicles. A Culpeper native, Richard Pratt is the manager. Richard has lived here all of his life, but told me that this is the first time that he has actually been employed in the Peper. For the last couple of years he has worked for Koons in Fredericksburg and is excited to be near his home. They will be creating a showroom in the back half of the Verizon building which Koons has purchased. I asked him what made this car lot special and he told me that they have cars in a price range attractive to everyone plus he can get financing for any buyer. Then he added that the Koons family has been in the automotive business since 1964.</div>
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One of the great things about the Fourth of July celebration in Culpeper is the car show. Lately I have been watching, "Counting Cars" and "Fast and Loud" which are reality shows about rebuilding old cars and making them really cool hot rods. At this local car show I had my eyes open for cars that came from Culpeper when I saw this little beauty. Many of the cars are from other places and so I was really happy to find a few from the Peper. It is a 31 Ford Roadster which I am told is driven around town "all the time" by these folks. This is Frank and Dana Berry who built it and made it such a cool machine. I have to say that I am really impressed. </div>
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At the car show there was also a display of motorcycles right across from the Depot. This is Rick Asby. As I understand it, he along with his wife Sue Ann are members of the <em>Solid Rock Full Gospel Church </em> and are in charge of the Motorcycle Ministry. They have the following scripture on their business card: "Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in." Luke 14:23 Kind of fun.....and serious. </div>
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I was in Belk shopping for some new Levis and ran into this man. Like me his name is Rich, and like me, he is recently retired from Northern Virginia. He is Rich Florence and he retired from the State Department three years ago. He and his wife moved here from Alexandria. He told me that he wanted enough land to build a "garden railroad." He said that he has been working on it and that is has already gotten bigger than he planned. I hope he invites me to see it sometime.</div>
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<strong>FREE FOOD FOR KIDS</strong><br />
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This is Joseph Jackson and he is performing a very important task this summer. He is representing the USDA in helping to get food to those children who may otherwise do without. The hours are posted on the sign. There are two distribution sites for this program and they are, Yowell Park and Belle Avenue near the apartments behind TJMaxx. Joseph works for the Culpeper Headstart program during the school year. This food program makes it possible for no children in our community to go hungry for breakfast and lunch. Please advise anyone that you may know about it. <br />
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We had a great summer going and then.....<br />
<strong>IT GOT HOT HOT HOT</strong><br />
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After having a very temperate beginning to summer, in July things got hot and stayed that way! One of the favorite things for my family members to do when the weather gets hot is to go to CJ's Ice Cream for some.....you guessed it, ice cream!!! While there I spotted this cute family having their own ice cream event. This group is the Chad and Tina Smith family and they were enjoying themselves. Chad is a landscaper for Meadows Farm and Tina works for MEMCO. No word on who the person is in the background. <br />
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While at CJs eating ice cream, I commented to my son that I had trouble finding women to photograph candidly for this blog. Since it had gotten hot fewer people were out and about and those who were out were almost entirely men. Then he said:<br />
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I had not and it made a lot of sense that there would be women shopping at Target. There always are and I was pretty sure that a little heat would not interfere with that....especially since it is so nicely air conditioned. Sooooooooooooo this is who I found at Target. </div>
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I found Jessica Johnson with her son Darren. She also had a baby in a baby seat on the cart, but I failed to ask anything about that child. I must be slipping. She said, "I always see your pictures in the paper and wondered why I have never run into you." Well.........check that one off. She and her husband Kevin are former residents who moved to Leesburg for a few years and then came back for him to manage <em>Glory Days. </em><br />
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On the right is Angie Myers and on the left is her daughter Sorcha (very cool Irish name) Turnbull. They live in Orange but shop in the Pepper. I don't make this age mistake often, but I was not sure that either of them was eighteen. Well.....I was sure about Sorcha, but Angie threw me a bit. I am only concerned about that because it is prudent to get a parental release before you put a picture of a minor in a public blog such as this. It is just too much hassle to worry about so I was not only surprised that this was a mother/daughter, but very pleased. </div>
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Here is Jessica Jarrells and Aaron. Jessica works as a nurses aide at Culpeper Hospital. She is a lifelong resident of the Pepper. She was just a little shy but she is going to see in this picture that she is very photogenic. I took about six shots and she was perfect in every one. <br />
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Did I mention sweaty men? Well, these guys were working hard and it was hot. My car thermometer said 104 as I recall, but I already established that it doesn't work, but trust me.....it was hot. These guys were working on the playground in our subdivision and making it very nice. From the left are: Brian Jernigan, Bobby Wright (crew leader), Shawn Bragg and Jason Wright.<br />
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This is a great guy! I saw his bike.... and it is a beauty....sitting in his driveway and hoped the owner would make an appearance and he did. He was friendly and willing and even climbed on the bike for me. I am pretty sure that he doesn't ride without shoes. Glenn Elliot has recently returned with his wife to Culpeper. He has clocked 25 years here. He works at Custom Cabinets. <br />
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<strong>BIG FINISH!!!!!</strong><br />
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Sometimes I have a big finish for my blog....this is one of those times. I am going back to <em>Target </em>for my subject. This is (drum roll, please) Ms. Nikki Sample. She is a woman with a huge happy personality. I found out from her that she oversees all the mental health facilities from Manassas to Orange. That is impressive by itself, but here comes the biggie: Nikki is (another drum roll would be appropriate) the quarterback for the Culpeper women's football team..... here it comes......<strong>THE RAGE!!!!!</strong><br />
They play at Yowell Meadow Park on Sunday mornings. I have watched them before...although only briefly...and they mean business. If you don't believe it, just check out Nikki's left foot. That is a genuine bona fide football injury and this is some fun woman. She invited me and so I am inviting you, to join the Rage Nation on Sundays. </div>
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That does it for now. If you have comments or suggestions you can write them here or email me at:</div>
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<a href="mailto:facesofculpeper@gmail.com">facesofculpeper@gmail.com</a></div>
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also don't forget to check my weekly piece in the <em>Culpeper Times, </em>called, "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper."</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-54485942176338807562013-05-29T08:39:00.001-07:002016-11-15T21:06:57.484-08:00Bits and Pieces of Culpeper, Virginia<br />
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It seems like a long time since I have blogged here. Maybe that is because it has been a long <br />
time. I have quite an eclectic group of shots and people this time. One thing is for sure.... there is no shortage of interesting people here in the Pepper. <br />
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<strong>Just a note of explanation.... I have been asked several times why I refer to Culpeper as "the Pepper" and not "the Peper" which would match the spelling of the town's name.</strong> <strong> It seems self evident to me but, I use "Pepper" because that is how the second half of the name is pronounced. I think that "Peper" would cause confusion and that many people may pronounce that as "Peeper." Love it or hate it, that is my thinking. Pepper, Pepper, Pepper!!</strong><br />
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Soooooooooooooooo..... since this blog is all about the faces of people here in the Pepper...let's get busy. <br />
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I think that one of the hardest parts of moving into a new town is finding the health professionals<br />
that you can trust and are comfortable with. I have had a few issues and so I have quite a team of <br />
doctors in Fairfax. We are continuing to try to find doctors in this area or nearby. I have one that I really like in Charlottesville and now we have a dentist right here in Culpeper! She is Shannon Butler and is the second from the left in this picture. From the left is Mona Jenkins who is a Dental Assistant and a bonafide native of the Pepper. Then of course is Dr. Butler and then Melissa Carroll who is the office manager and also a native. Finally the person on the far right is Laurice Toker who is the receptionist. My wife was referred to Dr. Butler and had excellent experiences with her and her staff. Finally this week I decided to give them a try. They were so nice!!!! They were so professional!!!! I am sure there are many others here in town, but this is the practice for us. </div>
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It seems to me that one of the most popular places here in the Pepper is at the <strong>red box </strong>machines. Knowing that, I laid-in-wait at the one at Walgreens to capture someone in the act of renting a movie. The first guy there told me that he "hated" having his picture in the paper..... Hmmmm, I wonder how many times he has been featured in a newspaper. However, that is fine with me....I would never want to put someone in the Culpeper Times<strong> </strong>who did not want to be there. Robin Amos who is featured here was getting a movie for her kids. Robin has her own business as a bookkeeper (I just noticed that "bookkeeper" has three double letters right in a row!) for some small businesses. That job allows her to have an office in her home and maximize the her time with her two girls, who by the way, attend Emerald Hill Elementary. While Robin and I chatted she often looked over my shoulder at her car. Finally, there was some noise there and I turned around to see two of the cutest faces ever pressed up against the windshield of the car. I could not hear exactly what they said, but it had to be something like: "MOM!.....come on!!"</div>
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I have to admit that I am attracted to people with large personalities. Just look at Laurie Brown and you can tell she is one of those people. She cuts my wife's hair and my wife told me that I would like Laurie and should include her in my blog. Andrea was right. When I went over to take the shot, the whole shop came to a stand still and most of the people watched what was going on. Laurie who is the manager of the Hair Cuttery located next to the Tropical Smoothie did not miss a beat. She has four kids ages 4 to 14, runs this shop and is still smiling. Oh....she is a lifelong resident of Culpeper. </div>
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Yowell Meadow Park is an amazing place. I have long contended that if I just pitched a tent there and waited, I could get way more than enough pictures to fill 20 blogs. When I first started doing my <strong>"Faces of Culpeper" </strong>blog I prepared a rather extensive piece on the Yowell Meadow Park. I included pictures of the beautiful surroundings as well as the people who were there. To date it has remained my most popular blog. For example last week, after more than two years, it received 45 hits. The picture above shows a classic reason why. My wife and I try to walk at Yowell every morning. So often something interesting is going on somewhere in the park ....and this was at nine in the morning. As we approached the tennis courts I could see something pretty interesting and unusual happening on the basketball courts. Two men were going through a Kung Fu fight with staffs.....in slow motion. I, of course, had to find out what was cooking. First, on the left is Eric Conto who grew up in Culpeper and now works at Culpeper Wood Preservers. He has a wife and four kids ages 5-14 years.....now that I think about it, that may require a little Kung Fu training to manage. The other man is Sifu (a title of respect that means "teacher") Gordon Wicks. Gordon is from Sperryville, but works at the Culpeper Regional Hospital. He is located at the Powell Wellness Center and is a personal trainer. This is the cool part: Gordon teaches at Yowell three times a week and anyone is welcome. AND....the best part is that it is free! He teaches Qigong which is breathing control and he teaches martial arts. He is at the tennis courts every Monday and Wednesday at 6 p.m. and every Saturday at 8 a.m. Check it out!</div>
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It is amazing to watch this lady walk these four dogs. They all stay directed and they mind her! I see lots of people whose dogs are dragging them along for a walk, but not this lady! It is probably because she is a professional. Joanne McCleary is a dog trainer plus she specializes in obedience show training. She also offers training in behavior modification. These are her dogs and the shepherd on the left is a therapy dog. The little black guy on the right closest to her is very old and blind in one eye, but he fits right in with the others. Joanne has kind of an "all purpose" dog business. If you would like to contact her write to: <a href="mailto:rumples316@aol.com">rumples316@aol.com</a>. </div>
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This is Amanda Christensen who, as you can see, is into kayaking. I have been acquainted with Amanda ever since her parents moved in next door to us about four years ago. Amanda works at Micron as a manufacturer's technology trainer for photo lithography.</div>
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This is Amanda and her friend, Daniel Budd. </div>
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I recently discovered the store called, "Natural Harvest." It is in the strip mall on Route 229 directly across from the Dominion Skating Center. Because the strip mall is mostly empty, it is easy to assume that Natural Harvest is not open......but it is!! They have a wide array of healthy products and locally grown and raised produce and meats. Much of what is available is gluten free, allergy free etc. For the customer who has difficulty finding food that they are not allergic to, this is the place. They also feature a kind of tea called MTO Kombucha that is made in Orleans, VA. It promises to improve you health and body functions in many ways. </div>
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This store is owned by Gregg and Erin Hoffman who are natives of Culpeper. Their store is cool, but more importantly it is unique in its healthy offerings. You really owe it to yourself to stop by, get acquainted and see what they have that interests you. </div>
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One of the things I enjoy doing during spring is dropping by the big tent/greenhouse at Meadows Farm Nursery to see the tremendous array of beautiful flowers. This is Barbara Burger and she has worked at the Meadows Culpepper Nursery for the last fifteen years. She knows everything you need to know about plants and flowers and is kind of an institution here. This year she has moved to a brand new Meadows outlet at New Baltimore. I was just lucky to have stopped by on a day that she was helping out in Culpeper.</div>
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As I walked near the pavilion in Yowell I heard a guitar and a clear voice singing full out. I asked the young man if he would mind an audience. We talked about our backgrounds....I was the singer with the Fabulous Chancellors in the 60s (Google: Fabulous Chancellors 50s, 60s, 70s.... or ITunes) and he is in the early stages of his career. Whitney Blanchard has recently moved here from Texas. We talked about old rock n roll songs that we both know. I was impressed with his knowledge of songs from back in the day. He asked me if I knew "Earth Angel." I sure do!!! He started singing it and I joined in on harmony. It was a very cool moment..... two men about 45 years apart singing a rock classic. I have sung before thousands of people many times, but this time it was for no audience at all..... just me and Whitney singing a song we love.... "Earth Angel, Earth Angel, will you be mine........"<br />
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I was at the Windmill Heights Garden Center and met this gentleman whose name is Mason Hutcheson. It turns out that Mason is the original owner of the business and that he has fairly recently passed it on to the younger generation. He told me that he came to Culpeper in 1957 as a 4H Agricultural Extension Agent. He said that he has been growing plants for fifty years. Mason seems to be a true Southern gentleman. When I asked if I could take his picture he said I could but that he would have to keep moving and watering these hanging plants. I guess that makes this an action shot. </div>
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<strong>AND NOW FOR THE BIG FINISH......</strong> </div>
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When I encountered this group of women walking, I knew right away that they were something special. Just check out all the happy faces and enthusiasm. They call themselves, "Culpeper's Lovely Lady Lumps." They are in training for a walk to support a cure for breast cancer that will take place in October. This is not just any walk, but a SIXTY MILE walk and, "the boldest breast cancer event in history." This is truly a great cause and at this time there are 16 members in their group and all support it. From the left are Dawn Bender, Tiffany Hampton, Leslie Henry, Mona Bender, Jennifer Bender, Jessica Arnold and baby Ashlynn Hampton. They are such a positive group. Mona is a four and a half year survivor of cancer and they are rallying around her. Their goal is to raise $40,000. I believe they have raised $6,000 so far. As a twenty nine year cancer survivor myself, I encourage you to join them in their effort and make a contribution. You can contact, </div>
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<a href="mailto:jenny.bender80@gmail.com" target="_blank">jenny.bender80@gmail.com</a><br />
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That's all for now folks! Be on the lookout.... I may appear when you least expect it and ask to take your picture. Be sure to watch every week for <strong>Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper </strong>in the <strong>Culpeper Times. </strong>If you have comments or suggestions, be sure to share with me. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-90982824400831087362013-02-26T20:59:00.000-08:002016-11-15T21:10:46.097-08:00Cold Cold Culpeper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Brrrrrr! I noted in my last blog that we had gone a long time without any really cold weather. I like cold weather..... at least for a while. It must be because I grew up in cold cold Idaho. Anyway, we ended up getting plenty of cold....even for me. When it is cold outside it is a lot harder for me to find people to photograph because they are just not hanging around outside. There are places I know that will always have people regardless of the weather, but not many. They tend to be stores and restaurants.....IHop, Chick Fila, McDonalds, Walmart, Martins etc. However, next time that you are at one of those places in the winter observe what the people do. If they can, they stay in their car. If they venture out of the car they do it at high speed or at least at "their" highest speed. If a guy like me says, "Excuse me, can we talk for a second?" they look at me like I just escaped from the Looney Bin and they double time it out of there. There is no doubt that it is easier to get pictures in warmer weather. </div>
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Let's see who the champions are who stopped for a second and waited for a picture. Trust me....they represent a minority.</div>
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I really had an exact idea of the picture that I wanted to start this blog on the cold weather. I watched for several days for the right person with no luck. I was looking for a woman with a fur lined hood or a stocking cap and a scarf who could smile in spite of the cold. Then I found Amanda Halsey and she was perfect! She is not only a cutie but very conversant. Amanda lives in the Pepper, but commutes to Charlottesville to attend Piedmont Virginia Community College. She has not definitely tied down her career yet, but says it will be either in the medical field or in criminal justice. </div>
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Last summer on a day that was 100 degrees I went out to take pictures of those brave souls who were out working or playing or ....... whatever when the heat was blistering. I found quite a few interesting people that day. Soooooo......on a day when it was 20 degrees I decided that I would go see who </div>
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was out and about when it was way below freezing. They were not so easy to find. The first group I saw was a group of men working on the power lines by Wendy's. I discovered that not one of those guys lived in or even near Culpeper so they didn't work for this blog and other than those guys the town looked fairly deserted. Then I saw a lady dressed in a white coat, Claudi Wade, and I had my first brave soul of the day. </div>
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One of the things that has surprised me just little is how many people who live in Culpeper have fairly recently come from other countries. Claudie and her husband had lived a few different places in our general area for the last two years. Before that Claudie was living just outside of Paris, France. To prove it, she has a delightful accent. I asked her what the hardest adjustment from Paris to the Pepper was and she told me that there was not as much entertainment here. No kidding!! From one of the most exciting cities in the world to such a quiet town is quite a leap. However, she was not complaining and is enjoying living here.....she loves her new house. Oh....you can meet her where she works....TJMaxx. </div>
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I moved on looking for those out braving the 20 degree temperature. Did I mention that the wind was blowing which made it even colder? The truth is that there were very few men out in this weather and even the women were all clustering around stores....such as Martins. I am generally pretty bold and/or positive about approaching people for pictures. However, on this particular day I had a hard time motivating myself to get people to stand out in the cold to talk to me. I developed the approach of asking people on the way into Martins if I could photograph them for this blog and then walking into the store with them and talking by the rows of carts. It turned out that that did not really work all that well. So back out in the parking lot I found Kevin Young who says that he "hates the cold" but it is part of his job to go out and get the carts that the shoppers have left in the parking lot. He was a good sport, but even all wrapped up, he looks cold. </div>
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On the 20 degree day I learned that people from the Madison area come to Martins to shop. I ran into two ladies in a row who were out in the cold. They were both school teachers from Madison and had a free day because the schools had closed due to the threat of snow. This is Gail Wasalko and she teaches Spanish at Albemarle High School.</div>
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<strong>SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED FOR SNOW AND THERE IS NO SNOW....</strong></div>
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<strong>I GET IT......I REALLY DO</strong></div>
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Here is the buzz on closing schools for snow when there is no snow. This is for those who smugly say they would never close schools: School officials are responsible for the safety of thousands of children and they make decisions from weather reports that are generally very conservative in order to safeguard that safety. They have to make a call that they know will be unpopular (doesn't matter which way they go.....it will be unpopular) but will protect the kids. These decisions are no doubt the most second guessed decisions in the world. All school systems in order to be fiscally prudent have to use their buses over and over each day for different grade levels. A decision to close the schools once they are in session takes hours to complete because all of one grade level has to be delivered home before the buses can go back for a second round and usually that is repeated for a third round. A lot can happen with the weather in three hours it takes from start to finish. Besides that, there are hundreds of small narrow roads in Virginia that the buses have to traverse. If these roads get bad it is very likely that a car will slide off and block the road or worse, a bus will slide off the road and injure students. If you think people are upset when they have to keep their kids home you should see how they are if the kids are trapped at school. One year when I was working in Fairfax County they decided to take a chance with the weather and have the kids go to school. About ten o'clock it was obvious that the kids had to get home. With snow getting heavy and traffic snarling, buses could not get in and out of one elementary school. The children and staff were trapped in that building until 10 pm. when enough roads were cleared to start getting the kids out. Parents were absolutely beside themselves as you can imagine. Far far better to close the schools and have no school than to have children injured....even one child....or to have a busload of kids off the road somewhere. So, I really do get it....I hope you get it now. </div>
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Same day....another teacher at Martins. This charmer is Liz Ford and she is also from Madison where she teaches Kindergarten at Graves Memorial School. She is a mother of two girls. There is something special about teachers. These last two ladies gave me big smiles and chatted with me like it was balmy outside. </div>
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<strong>BARELY ENOUGH SNOW</strong></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQmHKEmFYr8/US0Q2f0s8kI/AAAAAAAABkg/HDO8hN0nXkc/s1600/snow+blog+feb+13+007abc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQmHKEmFYr8/US0Q2f0s8kI/AAAAAAAABkg/HDO8hN0nXkc/s640/snow+blog+feb+13+007abc.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We have had very very little snow this winter and since it is now the end of February, the chances of significant snow are slim to none. A couple of weeks ago, however, we had a brief but beautiful snow. I watched out the window as these kids tried to sled and snowboard down the hill, but there just wasn't enough snow. So they did the other thing that kids do in the snow....they built a fort....and a pretty good one. In the next three hours almost all of the snow melted, but the fort held firm. The next day it was still looking good and as I submitted this picture to the Culpeper Times for my "Snapshots of Culpeper" feature. I took some license and said that it lasted a week....and it would have except the next day they all came back a stomped it to smithereens. That's another thing that kids do. </div>
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<strong>RAIN RAIN GO AWAY</strong></div>
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It seems that this year we have had a lot of cold rain. On this day it was raining and was a cold 38 degrees. Thirty eight may not seem so cold but when you add significant rain and wind to that.....it is cold. On February 26th I was wrapping up this blog but thought I needed a rain picture....probably someone under an umbrella because it is hard to see it raining in a photograph, but believe me it was raining quite hard. Lots of times I take a camera with me as I go about my business and take pictures for this blog if I happen to see something that appeals to me. Other times I specifically go out with the intent of finding new faces. This was one of those times. I thought about where people feel like they must go in spite of the weather and Pet Smart came to mind. I went over to their parking lot and watched for my perfect candidate. It was raining hard enough that I had to keep the wipers going. It became clear right away that I had chosen the right place except everyone was running in and out. I saw a man with a mustache come out with an animal carrier, but I could not grab my camera and get out before he was in his car and pulling away. Then came a cute family....I think there were five of them and all but the dad had multi colored hoodies, but they really moved. Then I saw just the perfect guy. He strolled out of the store like there was no rain.....a perfect manly man. He had two heavy bags on his shoulder and looked the kind of fit that comes from workin physically. I told him who I was etc. and he was very accommodating. I took my shot and then had him climb in his car while I got the info. This is Jeff Woodall and he is a horse trainer. He lives just outside of town with his girlfriend and her daughters....I think, three. He has lived in Culpeper for ten years and the bags were not for horses, they were dog food. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night stops a man from getting food for his dogs. Hmmmmmm maybe that is a postman. Oh, well.</div>
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<em> </em>I have been saying quite often lately that we were too far into the year to have any more significant snow......Wrong!!!!! We got our biggest and best snow storm the first week of March. We even lost power for about five hours. So to make ammends I went out looking for one more picture to add to this blog although I published it about a week ago. Right in front of TJMaxx I saw DeAndrea Kontir all bundled up and her son CJ running around and around. Since DeAndrea was looking like a model or movie star, I decided that I better get her picture. She lives in Rixeyville. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OILIbFcy9ec/UT6jDyiVjfI/AAAAAAAABlk/4mK66UOYv9k/s1600/IMG_0118snapshot_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OILIbFcy9ec/UT6jDyiVjfI/AAAAAAAABlk/4mK66UOYv9k/s640/IMG_0118snapshot_edited-1.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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That's all for this time. I am always interested in new faces for my blog and for my "Snapshots of Culpeper" feature in the Culpeper Times. If you have ideas for this blog or would like to be included be sure to contact me at:</div>
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<a href="mailto:facesofculpeper@gmail.com">facesofculpeper@gmail.com</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2United States41.244772343082076 -129.023437515.722737843082076 -170.3320315 66.76680684308208 -87.7148435tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-69526563039077468212013-01-10T12:01:00.000-08:002016-11-15T21:15:17.168-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong>It's Pony Time!! My Visit to the Library of Congress Archives for Media at Mount Pony.</strong></div>
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<strong>Winter Comes to the Pepper....Christmas and All. </strong></div>
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I love the winter season! It never gets very cold here and even though no snow has stayed on the ground yet.....we have had beautiful snowfalls. Andrea and I spent a good part of December in California with my middle son and his family, but came back before Christmas and celebrated with my two sons who live in this area and their families. Just before I left for California I received a call from Cory O'Dell who invited me up to Mt. Pony to see their Christmas tree. So when I got back I called him right away to get a picture of the tree. When I got there I had the bonus of a personal tour. I had never been there before.....shame on me. It is fascinating. Long halls and halls of doors and each door leads to a work place where restoration, preservation and cataloging takes place or a vault of old films and old recordings....I mean really old.....like the oldest in existence. I met the people who worked there and who labor on our behalf to save this part of our history. I had a great time. </div>
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This blog is a bit all over the place, but who cares? In this blog I also have pictures of people preparing for Christmas downtown and a touch of winter. First, let's jump in at Mt. Pony!</div>
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As the song goes......boogaty, boogaty, boogaty shoo.....It's Pony Time!!!!</div>
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Here is the Library of Congress for media, right outside of Culpeper. It is officially listed as located at Mt. Pony. It actually is located on and in Mt. Pony since the building goes a long way underground. Here are located the archives for media such as movies and recordings. The building was built around 1963/64 for an entirely different purpose. This is where Congress would have been relocated had there been an nuclear attack or some other disaster in Washington DC. Later it became the repository for the back up supply of actual money that the United States would need to restart the economy if some disaster occurred. When it was no longer needed for either of these uses, it was purchased by David Packard and donated to the Library of Congress. Up to that point, there were several places around the country where bits and pieces of what would become the total collection were housed. Having this facility allowed the Library of Congress to centralize everything under one roof. The experts who now staff this part of the Library came from all parts of the country and gathered in Culpeper to create, restore and shepherd this amazing collection.<br />
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Here is the Christmas tree in the foyer at the Library of Congress, Mt. Pony. This is Cary O'Dell who is the Assistant to the Advisory Boards. Cary, like so many others who work at Mt. Pony came to Culpeper because of his job. He is an interesting guy and provided me with a great tour of the facility.<br />
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This Christmas tree is a lot of fun. It is decorated with ornaments of many of the big stars of film. On the very top of this tree, the angel is Shirley Temple. <br />
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On this part of the tree is Elvis, Fred Flintstone and Arnold Schwarzenegger among others.<br />
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Top to bottom: Marilyn Monroe, Laurel and Hardy, and James Dean.<br />
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This is typical of just one of the many many rooms at Mt. Pony. The shear volume of movies and other films that are maintained here under very exacting conditions is breath taking.<br />
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This is George Willeman and he is the manager of the Nitrate Vault. As I understand it, very early films were made from nitrate. They are very volitale and so have to be kept under very specific conditions. George told me that two weeks ago an early Hoot Gibson movie from the 1920s had been donated to them and it came to him to restore. It is called Superstition and had thought to be lost. George is holding a film from1918 that they just received. It is the original film of Little Orphan Annie. It is in terrible condition. You can see that this kind of film rusts. Because it is one of a kind, George is going to make a concerted effort to save some, if not all of it. I wish him good luck.....it looked like a goner to me. Before Mt. Pony was designated the as the site for saving all of these films, they were stored in a vault at Patterson Air Force Base in Springfield, Ohio. George along his wife moved here in 2007 to work his magic. <br />
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Many of those who work at Mt. Pony are the best in the United States at what they do. This is Ben Harry who is an audio transfer technician. He made a point of telling me that he worked on the presentation of the saved materials and not the restoration of them. Ben moved here three years ago from New York. He is married and he and his wife have four children ages three through nine. </div>
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This is a very specialized film projector. I think I better stick with that description. When I was in high school I worked at a movie theater in Boise, Idaho. The projectors were nothing like this one. </div>
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This lady is the face of the Library of Congress at Mt. Pony and also the voice you hear when you call to make reservations. Her name is Jenny Paxon and she came here from Ohio. She lives in Redwood Lakes..... I don't know where that is. She is the proud owner of a dog and two cats. She told me that she is really enjoying Culpeper.</div>
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This is a rather lovely atrium that is right in the middle of the building. Staff members can take a break here or eat their lunch or something that gets them out of their offices. All work and no play.....you know. </div>
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This fun lady is Dyanne Holt. You can tell by the uniform that she is "Officer" Holt. She is located at the security desk as you come in the building and makes sure that everyone has a valid reason for being there and then provides them with a pass. She has raised her family. She told me that she is a direct descendant of a Culpeper Minute Man. Pretty cool!!!<br />
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That is it for now about my visit to Mt. Pony. I hope everyone will get a chance to go there. <br />
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<u>NOW LET'S LOOK AT A LITTLE PRE CHRISTMAS WINTER</u><br />
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Before we left for California, Andrea and I went downtown to find a new nativity and to take a couple of pictures for the Culpeper Times. It was bustling, especially in the specialty shops. It reminded me of the song "Silver Bells" where it says, "Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile....."<br />
As always I met some pretty neat people.<br />
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While visiting all the fun Christmas stores in Culpeper, we stopped at Designer's Choice. There I met this mother/daughter team who were perfect for a blog picture with all of the Christmas displays that are found in that store. The daughter is Candice Southard and she is a realtor at Remax here in the Pepper. Her mom, Mary Lou Phillips, is now retired. Their family moved here in 1988 and so I think they qualify as old timers. To steal a line from certain TV commercials, but wait.....there's more! They moved here from Fairfax which is where we moved from, and Candice attended Robinson Secondary School ("Secondary" because it houses grades 7-12....about 4200 students) until they moved here in 1988. In 1989 I went to work at Robinson as an administrator! Okay, so it is not THAT great a coincidence, but I thought it was pretty neat and was something we had fun talking about.<br />
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My wife had wanted to check out the "new" store on Davis Street which features old time candy. That store is called, "Found and My Secret Stash." It is two stores in one space and there is so much more than candy , although there is a great variety of that. This is Allison Haught who is the owner. She opened the store in February and it is a lot of fun! You owe it to yourself to drop in. <br />
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This is out of order.....but, what the heck. I was cruising through some parking lots on Black Friday afternoon. I knew that all the eager beavers had completed their shopping hours ago, but I thought there would still be some people taking advantage of the bargains. I entered the Kohl's lot and there was Linda Hoffman with two BIG sacks of bargains. When my wife shops "really good sales" she comes home and says, "Crowley (she calls me that rarely, but almost always in this situation) you are not going to believe how much money I saved you." From the looks of things, Linda saved herself a bundle. In talking with her I learned that she owns the "Bonnie Reb Boot Shop" and discovered that they do shoe repair. One hour later I took a pair of dress shoes in for new heels. Linda has five children and 16 grandchildren. <br />
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And now for the big finish. I stopped at the Christmas tree lot on the corner of 29 and Ira Hoffman and found this family happily engaged in looking for a tree. The little guys were having a ball darting in and out of the rows of trees and it was a bit like herding cats to get them together for a picture. This cute family of Jason and Amie Davis includes: Jason Jr., Makayla, Zachary and Benjamin. Jason is a chimney sweep by trade and his business is Davis Chimney Service. If you have a wood burning stove or fire place then you need to get in touch with him right away. I had a chimney fire once and if there had not been several inches of snow on my roof, I may have had a disaster. That was all I needed to employ a chimney sweep once every year. This is the guy to call.<br />
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That's it for now. Don't forget to check out my "snapshots" in the Culpeper Times. If you would like to comment or connect with me for any other reason you can email me at:<br />
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facesofculpeper@gmail.com<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026984214992731819.post-21870093491380617842012-10-29T17:19:00.004-07:002016-11-15T21:18:13.419-08:00Soccer and Air Shows in Culpeper<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>Soccer and Air Fest....Fall in Culpeper</strong></div>
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Time really seems to be slipping away from me this year. After a summer filled with family from Fresno, new grand babies, the beach, surgeries, 50th class reunions and too much heat....fall has finally arrived in all of its beauty. It is my favorite time of the year and I am trying to enjoy each and every moment of it. So far, so good! Don't you just love the cool nights?</div>
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Along with fall comes the main soccer season for the little ones. My granddaughter at age 5 is participating for her second season and is really making progress. In addition to that, my son invited us to go to the Air Show with him. I have lived here for five years and never once made it. What a treat!</div>
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Let's get on with pictures and comments about people I have met at these two places. </div>
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<strong>SOCCER</strong></div>
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I am sure that as my grand kids get older and play more, I will have lots more comments about soccer but for now I will be a bit brief. One of the things that impresses me about the Pepper is the Sports Complex that is next to Eastern View High School. Coming here from Northern Va and with three sons, all of whom played soccer, I am pretty familiar with soccer fields. These are just the best. What a perk for the citizens of this community. </div>
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As I was walking to Lottie's (my granddaughter) game I saw this family walking my way. The dad was carrying a bag of soccer balls and so I knew that he wasn't just another father.....he was a coach. When I asked if I could take a picture of the Capellini family, they were most agreeable. In fact the two oldest boys who had just had their team pictures taken the week before dropped right into the accepted soccer team pose. It was really cute! The youngest has a ways to go before he gets that pose down, but the parents looked great and they were as pleasant as they look. Jeff Capellini is a civilian with the Marines and Cara is a speech clinician with the Culpeper County School system. If you have read my blogs at all, you know that I worked in public education for 42 years. I admire the people who are dedicated to the young people and so my hat is off to her. Their three boys' names are: Braden, Baylor and Beckett. I think those are fun names!</div>
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While at Lottie's game I noticed this guy sitting on a bag of soccer balls, but not really sitting near any of the fields. In fact he was sitting a ways away from two fields, but right where he could watch both of them. He had this big grin on his faces as his head moved from one field to another. I had to meet this guy, but first I shot his picture. As we talked I found out that he is Roy Flores and he that did not have a child on either field. He told me that he is married and has "three beautiful daughters" but none of them were on these teams. It turns out that he is what he calls, "sort of a league official." He oversees the U5 and U6 groups. Last December I featured Hannah and Mark a young couple who had moved here so that Mark could organize and supervise the soccer programs. Well.....Mark and Roy work together. </div>
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I love this picture! There are a lot of interesting men in Culpeper. One day I hope to do a series that truly is just faces of those men. It is hard enough to approach people and ask if I can take their picture....I think it would be much harder to say, "I think you have an interesting face, can I take a picture of it?" I suspect they would want to know why their face is interesting and very often it is because it reflects a life hard lived. This man, however has an interesting face because of the scarf, the shades, the beard.....AND the really quick smile. In talking to him I felt like he is a bit of a character and totally his own man. He seemed like he would be fun to hang out with. I feel fortunate when I run into a true character because I believe that they are the people who enrich our lives. We talked and joked a bit, but I really did not learn much about him. He is Chas...his wife is Cindy... he has a granddaughter who plays soccer and he has lived here since 2007. He is retired from the Air Force. I can just see him with Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters or even better yet.....I can see him in the next "Expendables" movie. I am going to be looking for him. </div>
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<strong>THE AIR FEST</strong></div>
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I get surprised every once in a while by the quality of some particular event here in Culpeper. One of the events that really impressed me recently was the Air Show last Saturday. First, I have to comment on the size of the show. I was not expecting anything even approaching the depth and breadth of this event. Second, it was so very well done. Culpeper should be proud. I have lived here for five years now and every year I would think that maybe I should "drop in" at the air show one of these times. Well, last Saturday my son invited Andrea and me to go with him and the grand kids to the Air Show and so we went. Man, we were so pleasantly surprised!!!!</div>
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The first thing to meet my eyes once we got past the car show was all of the planes that were lined up so that we could walk by an examine them. This picture is just a drop in the proverbial bucket of the number of planes on display. They were so interesting and I had a great time looking at them. </div>
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We had not even walked all of the way in when we heard a very large explosion and saw a huge fireball leap up from the runway. This is the smoke from the explosion. Most of the crowd began running toward the runway and everyone was very concerned. However, when I got to where I could get a good look I noticed that the fire engines on the runway had not moved. None-the-less I was concerned and quickly read the article in the Star Exponent (all the Crowleys call it the "Culpaper") Sunday morning until I noticed that they had explosives that they used to simulate bombing and other explosions. </div>
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This is the first family that grabbed my attention just inside the gate. I loved her hat and outfit and his sweater and the shades etc and had to shoot them. They are Eden and Brian Coltrane and their son Dashel. In the 60s I would note that they were "very mod." Now I will just say that they were very cool!</div>
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These guys were checking out this plane.... actually they were just standing by the plane chatting. I thought she had a familiar face and when she told me who she is I was a bit embarrassed that I had not recognized her. After all she had just been on the front page of the Star Exponent. In front with the dogs are Greg and Megan Frederick....she is running for Commonwealth Attorney. With them are friends Bill and Lida Anderson. Greg said that Bill is "The World's Greatest Custom Builder."</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lzp2zWrbDQQ/UI7Y_PU2HPI/AAAAAAAABYY/D78Zxjevy0w/s1600/Fall+blog+2012+soccr++air+show+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lzp2zWrbDQQ/UI7Y_PU2HPI/AAAAAAAABYY/D78Zxjevy0w/s640/Fall+blog+2012+soccr++air+show+019.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The funnel cakes always seem to be a big hit wherever they are. I did not get the entire line here, but people were happily waiting in line.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ODCsL7E2MZA/UI7Y5hAEDBI/AAAAAAAABYQ/Jh2DTFub6ac/s1600/Fall+blog+2012+soccr++air+show+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ODCsL7E2MZA/UI7Y5hAEDBI/AAAAAAAABYQ/Jh2DTFub6ac/s640/Fall+blog+2012+soccr++air+show+016.JPG" width="425" /></a></div>
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One of the best things about taking my camera to the events around Culpeper is that I always end up meeting special people. Here are Erick, Candice, Kayden, Karston and Kalenga. Candice grew up in the Pepper and works at the hospital. Eric has been here 12 years and has a ministry. His church is called, "His Village."</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H1FKQHtmEN8/UI7ZF2HkBoI/AAAAAAAABYg/RwlVWk8R_xU/s1600/Fall+blog+2012+soccr++air+show+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H1FKQHtmEN8/UI7ZF2HkBoI/AAAAAAAABYg/RwlVWk8R_xU/s640/Fall+blog+2012+soccr++air+show+020.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Lots of people and lots of families. Right up near the planes it was very crowded. The same was true, not too surprisingly near the food vendors. </div>
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I did not get names here, but it is obvious that these guys enjoy their jobs. These are two friendly deputies who have stopped to chat with a young man. Check the smiles. This is a friendly conversation and after I took the picture the deputy on the left waved. </div>
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More of the crowd!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NOszePd2RYs/UI7dsgn5vZI/AAAAAAAABZY/qv6IE2VYagU/s1600/Fall+blog+2012+soccr++air+show+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NOszePd2RYs/UI7dsgn5vZI/AAAAAAAABZY/qv6IE2VYagU/s640/Fall+blog+2012+soccr++air+show+026.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This group caught my eye....well first the tank caught my eye. Pretty cool to have a British tank at an air show. These folks are D Company, 23rd Battalion of the Virginia Defense Force. If the National Guard is called up then these people automatically assume the tasks that were being handled by the National Guard. Here we have Pfc Nora Lee, Spc. Ronnie Lee, "Eric" the K9, 1LT Tom Woolman and Cpl. Chris Hoover. If anyone has questions about joining, the contact is: <a href="http://www.virginiadefenseforce.net/">http://www.virginiadefenseforce.net</a> </div>
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These people were a riot. Honestly I could not keep the attention of 100% of the group to get the picture.....well to be honest all but one were giving me their best. I won't mention the person by name who wasn't, but I'll bet you can figure it out. Ah, boys, boys, boys! These are all Culpeper friends and either live here or lived here. I believe they, like me, are retired. Connie Weis, John Weis, Bob Bice, Mary Bice and Kathy Eddy. I had fun with them!!</div>
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Sometimes I like to sneak my family in my Faces blog. This is my son, Matt and his two kids, Nathan and Charolette with my wife Andrea. The other people in the picture know Andrea as Mom and Grammie. We are all residents of the Pepper. </div>
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A little camera competition for me from some non Culpeper residents. </div>
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This is extremely hard to show photographically, but it was one of the best parts of my day. The plane in the picture is a Harrier. It is unique because it can move forward, backward, up and down plus it can hover which is what it is doing in this shot. So impressive. </div>
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So...............We loved our visit to the Culpeper Airfest. If you have never gone be sure to put it on your bucket list.....or at least your calendar. </div>
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That's it for now. If you would like to contact me for any reason just write me at:</div>
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<a href="mailto:facesofculpeper@gmail.com">facesofculpeper@gmail.com</a></div>
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Be sure to watch for "Rich Crowley's Snapshots of Culpeper" in the Culpeper Times. </div>
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