YOU KNOW IT IS SUMMER IN CULPEPER WHEN................................

   

I spent some time this winter talking about what a wimpy winter we were having.  Well......summer has come with a vengeance this year.  It is hot, humid and dry.....a real scorcher!  I got to thinking about sure signs that summer has hit the Pepper.  Let's see what I came up with.

You know it is summer in Culpeper when:

The guys play shirts and skins outdoors

One thing I learned is that you know it is summer when you are out looking for signs of summer and everyone is inside. This day was a hot one, but it is never too hot if they guys are going to play a game.  Once the guys discovered that I was there to take a picture of them, only a handful of them got the ball and once they had possession they did not give the ball up until they had shot.  Oh, wait a minute!  That is almost always the case in pickup games.  Oh, well I saw the shirts and skins as a sure sign that summer was here.....oh yeah, and it was a school day and they were all out an playing.  Must be summer.

Men begin barbecuing in the heat

These guys were barbecuing at a church picnic I was attending and I hustled to my car to get my camera while I could get action pictures with meat on the grill.  I think they must have hustled with equal speed because when I got back they had the meat off the grill and the corn ready to go.  They are:  Sean Clubb on the left and Mike Paul on the right.  Their blinding speed kept me from getting the  A+ picture I wanted, so I settled for this.....about a B.

Girls start wearing shorts

They are everywhere during the summer!  It is a sure sign that we are immersed in summer heat.  This is Kayla Jenkins and she is a genuine Culpeper native!  She is taking classes at Germanna and works as the desk clerk at that Holiday Inn.

The Farm Show is held in unbelievable heat!!!!

This is Shawn Walters from the Sheriff's office and his son, Trenton.  He told me his wife was pretty tickled when they came out if matching outfits. It was darn cute, actually.   Trenton was having a great time with the animals although it had to be waaayyy over100 degrees in those buildings. 

Here we are in the arena and goats are being judged.  These young people raise and take care every day  of the animals they bring to the show.  The best ones are awarded ribbons.  Certain of the animals that are raised are auctioned off.  It is important for the young people to learn and  understand the difference between livestock and pets.

This is a group of really good looking young men. They are the ones who have raised pigs to be auctioned for market.  This was a Friday and the judging had occurred the evening before and the auction would be on Monday.  Right in the middle is a young man who is just a tad older than the others.  He is a father of one of the boys and his name is Alex O'Dell.

The Crowley grand kids come all the way from Fresno, California to visit

It is such a rare treat (once a year) to have these good kids in our home.  Left to right, Tanner, Chase, Emery and Carsen.  This year we got to have them for sixteen days.  Other grandparents will understand the joy when they arrive and the emptiness when they leave.

The Fourth of July Parade goes through town

There are lots of fun reasons to like living in the Pepper.  This parade is one of them.  It takes me back to when I was a little boy.

Here we go with just a few comments.

A policeman shakes my granddaughter's hand.

I complained when there were no horses in the parade.  This year there were some....WHOOOPPPEEEEE! To me, a parade is not a parade without some horses.

That Marlys Houston is such a clown!!!

Whew!  That was a lot of pictures.  Let me remind you of what we are doing.

YOU KNOW IT IS SUMMER IN CULPEPER WHEN......

You know it is summer when you see a young man skateboarding without his shirt.  When I walked out my front door I was met with  the first image above.  I was a bit concerned until the person  turned around and started down the hill.  Austin O'Rourke is a friend of the kid next door.  He is a musician (drummer) and says that he plays a lot of gigs.  Good for him.  Being a musician myself I can relate.....well, not to the skateboarding, but to playing rock and roll.

This young lady is Britany Walton and she has one son who is full of energy.  She went shopping at Target in great summer attire.  She works in accouting for a heating and air conditionin company. Bet they are busy.

It is summer when you see this cute family waiting for the bus in the heat and smiling.  This is the Moyo family and they have been in Culpeper for about five years.  I could tell by the musical lilt in her voice that she did not come from the Pepper.  The mom is originally from South Africa.  I suggested that she probably was accustomed to the heat and she said that she was, but not the humidity.  I learn new things all the time.

It is a great time to just hang out.  In this case hanging out in the parking lot of the Regal Cinemas.  It was hot but these two did not mind.  They describe themselves as "long time good friends."  She is Katie Kincheloe and says she lives on a farm.  He is Caleb Jackson and he said that he is just enjoying the summer.  He was pretty protective of his long time friend. 

HERE COMES THE BIG FINISH!!!!!!!

You know it is summer in Culpeper when your thermometer reads 103!!!!!

I think that wraps this blog up. You can contact me at facesofculpeper@gmail.com

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

People you should know in Culpeper, Virginia (of course!)

While doing this blog I take the time to meet lots of great people.  In many cases we would all benefit from knowing them.  I think these people are the kind of folks that we all should get just a little acquainted with.  Let's get to it.

There are few things that please me more than to see a father doing something fun and/or worthwhile with his children.  I was driving down Belle Ave and saw this dad and his son mowing the lawn together.  I thought it was very impressive.  I was running an errand and so I hoped they would still be mowing when I was able to get back.  They were and they seemed to enjoy having their picture taken together.   This is Tom Mize and his son, Will.  Tom works at Dulles Airport with the airport authority.  In addition to Will, Tom and his wife have two daughters.

These two ladies have a handful of boys.  Each one of them has one son of their own plus they were tending two more for a friend or maybe a relative.  They are true Culpeperites being born and raised here.  They are Qiana Staten and Tori Faulkner and have brought this crew to the park  to enjoy lunch outdoors.  Let me tell you......these ladies dress when they go to the park.  Just look at them, makeup....perfect; hair.....great; ....clothes....fine; and though you cannot see them....there are some serious high heels going on here.  Here is a surprise....Qiana loves to work with kids.  She used to be Marketing Coordinator for the Merrifield branch of Phoenix University. Tori is a cnc operator (whatever that is, I failed to ask) and loves to do hair.  You can tell by looking at her hair that she has some skills.  These boys were well behaved!!  I was impressed.

I like to check out Mountain Run  Park when I am looking for pictures for my blog.  Not always, but quite often I find someone who is interesting.  This is Coleman Walters (sounds like the name for a starting quarterback at Harvard) enjoying fishing.  He says he comes here every time he has a day off. He works at Coffewood Correctional Institution (he called it, "The Wood") as a corrections officer.  I understand why he would want to fish a little just to relax.  He has been married just over one year.  I can only assume that he married a very understanding woman.  Nice guy!

This is John Harden and he is a carpenter.  I caught up with him in the parking lot of Lowes.  He mostly does smaller jobs since he is a one man band.  He has been doing this independently now for over three years although he has twenty five total years of experience and is a VA Class "A" General Contractor.  His business is called Reva Ridge Construction.  You can reach him at 540 547 3787 or on his cell at 540 308 0610.

Here is Ron Collins and his daughter Anneliese.  I ran into them at the grand opening of Ace Hardware.  I quickly discovered that Ron is another Idaho boy and so we bonded easily.  He came here with Micron.  In addition to Anneliese, he has a wife, an eleven year old daughter and a fifteen year old son.

You meet the nicest people at the park.  Andrea and I took two of our grandchildren to Yowell Meadow Park to burn off some energy.  I took my camera because as I have noted,  I am paying special attention to parents and their kids this time.  This young mom was playing with her kids for quite a while before she was joined by her husband who had slipped away from lunch to spend a little extra time with his family. These folks are Dave and Danielle Wheatly and their children, Phoenix and Wren.  Danielle is a full time mom and Dave is the Associate Pastor for the Church on the Rise which is the Free Methodist Church at 522 North St.  They are originally from the Eastern Shore and they love Culpeper.

This lady was having so much fun with her daughter that I could not resist getting a picture of them.  I started to tell her who I was and why I wanted to take her picture but  she already knew me because of my "Snapshots of Culpeper" in the Culpeper Times.  She is Nicole Harmon and this is her daughter Millie.

Nicole's son Matt was also at the park, but he did not want to be in a picture.  I hope he won't be too mad at me for sneaking this one.

It seems like there are often occasions when I come oh so close to missing a shot that I want...this was one of those.   On our little visit to the park with our grand kids I had been hoping for a father/child picture.  I had no luck, but just as I was getting in my car in the parking lot on the far side of the park, I spotted Greg Gause and his four year old son Demetrius heading for the slides.  They were exactly the picture I had hoped to find that day.  I drove over to the main lot and walked over to talk with them.  As you can see, Greg was very gracious about allowing a picture.  For the past eight years he has been in Field Services.

My wife and I were on our daily walk when as luck had it I saw a perfect picture for this particular blog.  That is the good news.  The bad news is that I had no camera, no business card, no pen...in other words I was totally unprepared to take this "perfect picture."  Here was a dad and his young daughter (going into the seventh grade next fall) working on her batting for softball.  They were really working and it was fun to watch as he helped her understand batting from both sides of the plate.  I must note that this girl can already really tag that ball.  My wife reminded me that she had her phone and that you could get good pictures with it.  I went to the car and dug around in the console and found a pen, a business card with notes on the back  and a "blood sugar diary" for keeping track of my diabetes and thus armed we headed over to these two.  The father lives here in the Pepper and works at Mike's Glass and Mirrors.  His daughter resides in Fauquier County and he coaches her softball team there.  Thank heavens for cell phone cameras.  If you don't know it....this is a perfect picture....a perfect picture of love and devotion. 

I think that will do it for this time.  I have spent the last couple of weeks in Idaho and Utah.  I went to Boise for my class reunion and had a chance to bring together a few members of my sixties band, The Fabulous Chancellors.  When we hit the stage the magic was still there.  So much fun....how many people get the chance to be 18 again?  One of the people told me that we were so good in part because we played the music of the early sixties the way it was played then and is meant to be played.  I think she was right.  The people in bands now often take a stab at our music, but they miss the heart of it.  It is and was basic rock and roll from the infancy of the music.  Long live rock and roll!!!

If you have comments or questions, contact me at

facesofculpeper@gmail.com

Enjoy the summer!!

Tattoos of Culpeper Part 2

I had tremendous response on my first blog about people in the Pepper who have tattoos.  I received hits from all over the world on that blog.  Because of the response, I thought I'd do it again.  There is a never ending supply of subjects with tattoos when you are not looking for them.  However, if you go looking....they are often hard to find. Once you find them, all are willing to talk about their tattoos.  I found a nice variety of people this time,   sooo let's get right to checking them out:

Tattoos of Culpeper Pt. 2

This beautiful woman is Laura Sizemore.  My wife and I were shopping when she spotted Laura and suggested that I needed to record this woman and her tattoo.   The bird is in honor of a friend who passed away.  It symbolises a free spirit.

I noticed Melanie Herndon walking at Yowell Meadow Park.  She was kind enough to stop and talk to me for a minute about her tattoo.  This is a picture of an angel and her daughter's name, Racquel, directly under it.  It is placed on her left arm because it is the arm closest to her heart.

 

Holy smokes!!!!!!! These folks are Jerry and Katie Dufford.  I caught up with them at Walmart and they are simply a cornucopia of tattoos.  There are lots on these two and more on the way.....this is just a sample.  The truth is that they just love tattoos and maybe one or two of them have special significance, but most of them are just because they like them..... a good enough reason, I suppose. In the top picture, Jerry is sporting a spider web on his neck and Katie has a fairy in the middle of her back  and a "sister knot"  on her shoulder which matches the one her sister has.  The forearm is Japanese cherry blossoms floating in water.  Next on Katie is a  cartoon worm and last, but certainly not least in this case, Jerry has a zipper tattoo on his back.  These guys have it covered (pun intended).  They were good sports to share their body art for photographs as people walked past.

This is Brittany Boggs.  I saw her and had to know what her tattoos were about.  On her arm is a wolf which she told me represents her mom....she said it was a positive representation and I believe her.....and a floral design that she said represented faith and friendship.  Then she flipped over her arms and showed me these.  She said that she had been lied to a few times in her life and this just speaks for itself.  Her mom came up to see what was going on and she sported a few tattoos too.  I think it is a family way of expressing things for these guys.

Andrea and I were walking in the park and I had my camera along just in case I ran into something for my blog.  These young ladies asked me if I was a professional photographer because they wanted to have some pictures taken together.  I noticed right away by their clothes that they were operating on different thermostats...one for cool weather and one for hot.  Tori on the left is attending Germana Community College and wants to be a vet tech. She told me that she wants to be a vet tech because she likes animals and spiders.  Good luck with that spider thing....   Her upper arm says "mom" and has stars...I think she told me that she has eight tattoos.  Lynette has stars too because she is a "shooting star" albeit one who does not like the cold.

I pulled into the parking lot by Blockbuster one day and saw a leg sticking out of a car.  That leg had a tattoo and so I thought I would see if I could get a picture.  Scott Smith was on his phone and so I asked his girlfriend if she thought he would let me take this shot.  She thought that he would not.....but he did! You have to look kind of close here but his tattoo is  the faces of drama and theater.

Here is Julie Jarrells who is a Culpeperite through and through.  She was born and raised her and even graduated from CCHS.   I was very interested in her tattoo because it was set up kind of like a crossword puzzle.  It is the initials of her children and is different.  Let's see if I can duplicate it.

                           
                                                          B W J
                                                                  K
                                                                I W J

She has had it now for about five months.   Kinda cool!

Only one time have I  used the same person twice in my blogs, but if there is a good reason..... so here is Sarah redeux.  When I met Sarah I started a conversation with her because she has several tattoos on her arms plus a large one that circles her neck like a necklace.  I think she told me that it is called a Roman collar, although I could be very wrong about that.  Then she called my attention to the studs that are stuck in her back.  Sarah!!!!!   Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!!!!   It makes me cringe to look at this picture.  Is she tougher than me?  You better believe it!

       

I know that you are going to find this hard to believe, but...... I forgot Culpepper Day.  I realize that last year I did one whole blog on it, but this year....zip!  I had gone to my granddaughter's soccer game and the festivities flew out of my brain....until three o'clock that is.  I remembered that last year there had been a cornucopia of tattoos at the celebration and obviously I was doing a blog on tattoos so I grabbed my camera and, inspite of threatening clouds, headed downtown.  I got there at three thirty and two things were happening:  1. The vendors were starting to tear things down and....... 2. It was starting to rain.  It is a good thing that you cannot see the light rain in these pictures.  This is Chris Hollett and he has just barely moved to Culpeper from Walton's Mountain.  He has a girlfriend here and he is a heating and air conditioning guy.   I asked about the meaning of the artwork on his arms and he pretty much replied  that he just liked it.  I followed up by asking him if he had any tattoos that were significant to him and he opened his shirt to show me a portrait of his father.  I don't see my picture on any of my son's chests in the near future......or forever for that matter.

 Sometimes appearances can be deceiving.  This is Greg Norris and he looks for all the world like someone you would not want to meet in a dark alley or a lighted one for that matter.  Actually he is a nice guy and a corrections officer at Coffeewood Correctional Center which  is a Virginia State penitentiary for men that  houses about 1200 inmates.  Now, I can totally see him in that role.  He also was a mixed martial arts fighter for a while.  What we see here in the way of tattoos is just a beginning.  His goal is to have a complete body suit of ink.  Let's look at a bit of it...on his left arm amid the swirls of flame and smoke you find his daughter, Peyton's name and his grandmothers.  On his other arm is a wolf which represents his mother.  He is not the first person whom I have run into with a wolf representing dear old mom.  I don't get it, but they do, and that is what counts.  Also is a haunted house and mom and dad.  I don't think those are related...the haunted house and mom and dad I mean.   On his hairy old leg is a tribal symbol.  That is a lot of tattoos, but he has a long way to go.  By the way he loves working in the penitentiary.  When I ask him why, he said, "I am giving back to society."  If you see him on the street, just say hi, you will find  him most engaging.

I am going to wrap up this time with Katrina and her plaintive tattoo message.  Katrina is the manager of Blockbuster here in the Pepper. She told me that she has a total of six tattoos.  I usually ask people how they feel about their artwork.  She said that she is ok with all of them except some that she did on her fingers when she was very young.  She thinks that they may have cost her jobs.  At any rate, as a manager she is doing all right with her life!  Hang on for the message..... in Chinese her tattoo says,  "Love Hurts."

That is it for now, folks.  Don't forget to check the Culpeper Times every week for my feature, "Rich Crowley's Snapshots of Culpeper."

You can contact me at:    facesofculpeper@gmail.com

 

Springtime-- a visit to Five Guys Restaurant and other things.

Since winter was so mild it is hardly a surprise that spring is coming early this year.  I have seen some early flowers popping through the ground and our weeping willow in our backyard is a beautiful light green.  As much as I like winter....and I do, it feels good to have the temperatures hovering around 70 this week.   This is probably Virginia at its finest because the humidity has not shown up yet and the foliage will be making our state a garden of colors.

One of the best parts of spring is the arrival of the daffodils. They are such a beautiful flower and are among the first to bloom.  One of my favorite poems is "Daffodils" by William Wordsworth.  The last stanza is my favorite:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood

They flash upon that  inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude

And then my heart with pleasure fills

And dances with the daffodils

I am glad the flowers and flowering trees are here, but now........let's get started!

My visit to Culpeper County Hospital

While it is true that I once went to Culpeper Hospital when a friend accidentally shot himself in the leg (nope not Plaxico Burress), and another time when a guy from my church was pretty sick and I visited him, but to actually go for myself...it had not happened.  My visit was pretty benign since I just went to have some blood work done.  For going to a hospital, I had a good time...such nice and friendly people there. 

I stepped inside the door and there was RN Debbi Griffith who is listed as a "Case Manager and Patient Representative."  She, like everyone else I would meet in my visit was very friendly and welcoming.  It turns out that she has been employed at Culpeper Regional for the last 20 years!  I asked her about her family and she replied that she had married a "hometown boy" and that she had two kids.  I asked her what it was like working at this hospital and she responded, "We are like family here."

This is the receptionist who normally would be the first person you would meet if, as in my case,  Debbi was not there to say hi first.   This is Stephani Atkins, aka "Sensational Stephani"  so dubbed by the hospital president.  Although Stephani is a life long resident of Rappahanock County she qualifies as a "Face of Culpeper" because she comes to the hospital every day and so is present in the Pepper at least 8 hours a day.

Next I went to the check in station where I provided all of the pertinent personal and medical information that they needed.  I'll just bet that if I didn't like to talk so much, that this would have been a much faster process.  However, next up were these to shiny ladies and they were fun.  On the left is Carol who is an Administrative Registrar and has been at the hospital for four and a half years.  She lives in Facquier County and commutes here.  She has grown children.  On the right is Kayce (love that name) and she is an Admitting Registrar.  Whoopee! She lives in Culpeper!!!! She has two children and says that she loves helping people.

Finally I made it to the person I came to see.  This is Katrina Chapman and her name tag said that she is a "Phlebotomist."  She told me that her mom likes to ask her if that means that she messes with people's frontal brain lobe (in case you miss the joke....that procedure would be a frontal lobotomy and if you are not familiar with it then use Google).  She took my blood for me.  Now, I have had 15 surgeries so far in my life plus cancer and so I have had blood tests hundreds of times.  I am used to people having trouble hitting the vein or having to change arms etc.  Katrina did it perfectly and painlessly and on the first try.  She gets my vote.

MISCELLANEOUS

About a year ago I did one entire blog on people in the Pepper with tattoos.  It was one of the most interesting topics for me because I knew so little about it.  It is the second most read blog I have posted behind the one on Yowell Meadow Park which is somewhat of a phenomenon for  me.  The Yowell Meadow Park topic is still my most read blog most weeks although it is a least a year and a half old.

Anyway......I spotted Sarah Jahoda getting gas and got a picture of her and talked about her skin art.  I will be putting up a second tattoo blog before long and she will be in that one too.  She is an interesting lady who told me that she works seven days a week, mostly decorating cakes.  She told me that she is really a free spirit....I'll bet she is!

Some days I just feel lucky.  I wanted to get some additional pictures for this blog and was driving downtown and saw these two people loading some boxes into the Antioch Baptist Church.  It was lucky for me because I have driven past that church a hundred times and wondered about it.  I stopped to chat and learned that this church is over 150 years old (that makes it one of the oldest in town) and according to the brochure they gave me, was originally called, "The African Church."    The church has just named a new Pastor, Reverend Adrian D. Sledge  and this husband and wife team were moving in some new chairs.  They are Thelma and Robert Moss and have three children.  She is the Financial Clerk and he is a Trustee of the church.

This is Tim James and he works at CVS.  He is 18 years old and a student at Lord Fairfax.  He has lived the the Pepper for five years.  He is extremely efficient and polite and seems like a really nice guy.

FIVE GUYS RESTAURANT

OK.....I admit it, I LOVE FIVE GUYS!!!!  Their hamburgers are sooo good (voted best in Culpeper this year) and have you tried the hot dogs?  Those are both good, but it is the French Fries with vinegar that really does it for me.  These are not fries that are thawed and then served.  Nope they come fresh from the boxes of potatoe stacked by the counter and are cut and fried right on the premises.  You know what is unique about those boxes other than that they are full of Idaho potatoes?  It tells you right on the box which part of Idaho the potatoes being used that week are from.  I have mentioned several times before that I am an Idaho boy, so fresh Idaho potatoes are dude.  (I heard Randy Jackson and Will I Am on American Idol use "dude" that way.....if I have screwed it up then write it off to a guy who chose to retire in Culpeper.)

Behind the counter are Victor Rameriz who is the manager, Kelvin and Erika.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to tell you that my brother-in-law owns 25 or so Five Guys Restaurants in California, Idaho, Utah and Oklahoma.  You may not know that the headquarters of Five Guys is in Vienna, VA.  When he was thinking about becoming involved with Five Guys he and his partner came out and stayed with us one night.  We went to this very place and ate.

Here are a neat couple I met at Five Guys enjoying dinner.  They are Ali and James Hanson.  They were a lot of fun, but for about five minutes I could not get a single straight answer from Ali.   James had to come to my aid.  Just look at her and you can see a touch of devilishness there.  After a bit of conversation my head was spinning like Linda Blair's in The Exorcist.  However, once the truth came out I learned that Ali is in a Master's program in Special Education at Mary Washington and James is a Construction Superintendent.  Nice people.

These folks are also at Five Guys and attracted my attention for a couple of reason.  First, they are a group of very nice looking young people.  Second is that they are demonstrating the proper way to eat Five Guys hamburgers.  Note that each and everyone one is using the double fisted technique to hold their hamburger.  Eating at Five Guys is not for the faint of heart or the overly fastidious.  Notice the fries spilling out of the bag.....eating here is, well.... a bit messy, but oh so good.  From left these people are AnthonofTriano who works at Domino's; Chelsea Griffin who is a student at Germanna and works at Hollisters; and Jonathon Duffy who works at the Walmart Distribution Center.

NEW KIDS IN TOWN

OK...they are not so new.  They opened in December, but I did not happen upon them until just now.

I gave them my card and asked them to email me their names and additional info about their business which I believe is catering and a restaurant for New Orleans food.  They are located behind Chilis. When I get the information from them I will post it right here.

                                                  THE BIG FINISH

I have been wanting a picture of these two for a long time.  They are Wayne and Kathy Christensen and they are neighbors of mine.  Often when the weather is good, they sit on their front porch and he sings and plays for her.  It is very romantic and very fun that they do this and very sweet.  They are the best neighbors you could hope for.  I have mentioned here a number of times that I am originally from Boise, Idaho.  These guys lived about thirty miles from Boise before they moved here.  They even talk with the same accent (do we have one?) that we do and are also fans of Boise State football....notice the hat.

That is it for now.  If you want to contact me:

facesofculpeper@gmail.com

I have decided to occasionally add a bonus picture at the end that has nothing to do with the Faces of Culpeper.  This is the first.

My wife and I were visiting the  historical town of Nauvoo, Illinois when I saw these horses in a pasture near a restored farm house.  I loved the colors and the composition.