Best of C-VILLE 2026 Services

Hooked on a feline

When Kari Lamb tried to coax Foster, Piedmont CASA’s resident skittish stray cat, closer to her one afternoon, she had an aha moment: This is what foster-care children often go through. “Despite the compassion and consistency offered … some kids remain understandably hesitant to trust or connect,” says Lamb, the nonprofit’s recruitment and training coordinator. […]

Susan Sorensen | August 26, 2026

Best of C-VILLE 2026 Services

Trivia pursuits

For 10 years, Debra Weiss worked as a game-show producer at a company that provided a network of live, online trivia games in bars, hotels, and restaurants. So when Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle wanted to pivot from an adult spelling bee to a different annual fundraiser, Weiss had some ideas. “I know a lot about […]

Susan Sorensen | August 26, 2026

Best of C-VILLE 2026 Shopping

Great things in store

The Earlysville Exchange calls itself “a thrift store and more.” And while its shelves are filled with everything from dishes and other household items to clothes, shoes, toys, books, and jewelry—plus art and furniture in the annex next door—it’s the “more” that really sets the place apart. Members of Earlysville’s Chestnut Grove church opened the […]

Susan Sorensen | August 26, 2026

Best of C-VILLE Best of C-VILLE Staff Picks

Watch this space

When Mary Loose DeViney recently told a customer her watch would cost more to repair than it was worth, the customer said DeViney should keep it, thinking the owner of Tuel Jewelers would use it for parts. Instead, DeViney added the watch to her “junk box.” Turns out the Downtown Mall jewelry shop’s junk box […]

Susan Sorensen | August 20, 2025

Best of C-VILLE staff picks

Inside information

The joy of hunting for the perfect tomato or apple at a farmers’ market is seriously dampened when you’re getting soaked by a downpour. Which is why a spankin’ new red building now stands where there once was only a white tent at 2775 Barracks Rd. After months of construction, the Barracks Road Farm Market […]

Susan Sorensen | August 20, 2024

Best of C-VILLE staff picks

A pig deal

The primary mission of Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry is to feed people. But last year the nonprofit, which prides itself on letting almost nothing go to waste, donated about 66,000 pounds of spoiled food to local pig farmers—keeping many tons out of landfills.  “Loaves & Fishes invests labor into inspecting all of our food […]

Susan Sorensen | August 20, 2024

Best of C-VILLE staff picks

Fair play

Every August, the grounds of James Monroe’s Highland come alive with young farmers leading their cows, pigs, goats, and chickens around a ring, in hopes of wowing a panel of judges. But the popular livestock demonstrations aren’t the only place to shine at the Albemarle County Fair. New this year: a giant sunflower competition and […]

Susan Sorensen | August 20, 2024

Best of C-VILLE staff picks

Score!

Ten days after Charlottesville native Connor Shellenberger broke the UVA men’s lacrosse team’s all-time assists record, he put a cherry on top of his storied college career by breaking the Cav’s all-time points record. “It’s unbelievable,” Shellenberger said of the feat in an interview following the March match against the University of Albany. “Just to […]

Susan Sorensen | August 20, 2024

Best of C-VILLE staff picks

Blues clues

The Charlottesville Blues Football Club, part of the United Soccer League (the largest soccer organization in North America), kicked off its first season in May. The team, whose home field is at St. Anne’s-Belfield School, is going to “build a fan base one fan at a time,” according to Brian Krow, the Blues’ co-owner. “If […]

Susan Sorensen | August 20, 2024