Soccer and Air Shows in Culpeper

  Soccer and Air Fest....Fall in Culpeper

 

 

 

 

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?

 

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!

 

Let's get on with pictures and comments about people I have met at these two places. 

 

 

SOCCER

 

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.

 

 

 



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!

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

THE AIR FEST

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!!!!

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.

 

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.

 

 

 

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!

 

 

 

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."

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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."

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

More of the crowd!

 

 

 

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:  http://www.virginiadefenseforce.net

 

 



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!!

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

A little camera competition for me from some non Culpeper residents.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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. 

 

That's it for now.  If you would like to contact me for any reason just write me at:

facesofculpeper@gmail.com

 

Be sure to watch for "Rich Crowley's Snapshots of Culpeper" in the Culpeper Times.