Get back in your seat

Just like teenagers, you folks think you know everything. And, while that may be true when it comes to where to get the best cup of coffee or shop for shoes, there are certain things about this town that only those of us who regularly stay after school can understand. Beyond this page, find our favorite clubs, teachers and fads from the past year, plus a Homecoming recap to keep you up on the scene.

By Chiara Canzi, Andrew Cedermark, Bill Chapman, Brendan Fitzgerald and Caite White

AV CREW
Ty Cooper, Andy Gems, Jeyon Falsini, Jacob Wolf
It’d be great to host every concert in the school auditorium, but sometimes the principal doesn’t approve. So every time we hear about a good concert that looks to be unaffiliated with the only big guy in town—that’s Coran Capshaw—we thank our lucky stars Charlottesville’s got an AV Club of sorts. This largely unseen class of Charlottesville’s movers and shakers who book and advertise alternative entertainment, lug PAs to tiny rooms and, at the end of the night, dole out cash to performers, eke out a living by providing the unglamorous but entirely valuable service of booking independent entertainment.

The club is, essentially, a bunch of one-man operations— Ty Cooper’s Sure Shot Events (comedy and more), Andy Gems at the Southern (singer-songwriters, rock), Jeyon Falsini’s Magnus Music (from metal to hip-hop) and Jacob Wolf’s Holy Smokes (indie rock)—that provide breath-of-fresh-air alternatives to the ATO and Red Light acts big enough to fill the Capshaw-affiliated rooms. Who knows? They might just make good Capshaws someday themselves.

ART CLUB
Chroma Arts Initiative
When we hear about a new gallery opening, we always wonder: Erm, is this, like, a place for art-art, or knickknacks presented as if they were art? Chroma Projects Art Laboratory, which celebrated its one-year anniversary in March, is the newest member of what we’ll call the Art Club—art-art kinds of galleries like The Bridge/PAI, Second Street and Les Yeux du Monde. Under curator Deborah McLeod, the gallery—excuse us, laboratory—has emerged as the latest space showing challenging, thought-provoking pieces by local and regional artists that pop in the window while exploding your conceptions about how good art can be locally.

DRAMA CLUB
Central Virginia Theatre Alliance
Having lots of theaters and theater companies in town is mostly good. Except that they all skim the same regional pool for limited resources and talent, and stretch thin a theatergoing audience—one that likes to spend its entertainment money on movies and concerts, too.

Enter the Central Virginia Theatre Alliance, a consortium of leaders of local theaters, from Live Arts to the Hamner to the Paramount (the newest member). The group was founded last year with the goal of avoiding another kind of high drama: the one where you can’t decide which show to go to. The Alliance means theaters now coordinate schedules so they don’t max out their audiences. They also share the goal of dividing costumes and sets in the future.

Bravo to local arts organizations working together for our sake.

NEWSPAPER CLUB
C-VILLE vs. The Hook
My blue box can beat your red box! Despite a business deal that has them sharing investors and some back-office operations, the rival factions of the newspaper club continued to duke it out in print this year, with The Hook pressing on in its excellent coverage of rail transportation, the evils of tax credits and murders that happened two decades ago three counties from here. It also saved its readers money with discount meals during Restaurant Week and the online coupons for food and Botox treatments with the addition of “Daily Deal.”

Here at C-VILLE, we took heat for our coverage of Tomas Rahal and then Patricia Kluge, our Editor-in-Chief graduated and left for college (Columbia), and we proved that given the chance, we can launch a special publication on just about any topic (see C-VILLE Pets).

DEBATE TEAM
Dredgers v. dam builders
Now 5 years old, the battle for a Community Water Supply Plan is not the sort of splash fight that a novice should wade into. The debate involves a few hotly contested elements but centers on the proposed construction of an elevated Ragged Mountain Reservoir complete with a new earthen dam that has worked pro-dredging groups like Citizens for a Sustainable Water Plan (CSWP) into a boil. Last month, both CSWP and the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority reviewed a draft water demand analysis and drew different conclusions: A new Lower Ragged Mountain Dam is both less and more necessary than the community thought. And with dam construction slated to start after the next City Council elections, you can bet that a few hydrated candidates will keep the debate raging.

TEACHER OF THE YEAR
John Hunter
Creator of World Peace Game and Agnor-Hurt Elementary School teacher
“Maybe the next big thing is a small thing,” John Hunter told a crowd in Philadelphia last month. “The interaction between a teacher and a student.” Since the launch of Chris Farina’s documentary film, World Peace and Other Fourth Grade Achievements, Hunter’s class size has expanded beyond his Albemarle County gifted courses to include an audience at the annual TED conference, where he flexed his mental muscles before the likes of Bill Gates and Al Gore. If the path to peace is a costly one, then Hunter’s contributions to the journey are priceless.

THE HOT TEACHER
Hyam Hosny
Owner, Clay Fitness + Nutrition
If pretty is as pretty does, then Hosny—who spends her days helping clients achieve a healthy weight and improve their exercise and eating habits—is high on our list of local hotties. Hosny, who not too long ago weighed 215 pounds, is now a slim stunner, certified by the American Council on Exercise and a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. In other words, she’s got killer abs, a you-know-what that won’t quit and a mega-watt smile. All that and a mission to change lives through healthy living? Well, it kind of makes us want to stop skipping class so much.

THE RETIRING COACH
Debbie Ryan
Former UVA women’s basketball coach
After 34 years as a Cavalier, Debbie Ryan, mentor to current and former WNBA stars Monica Wright and Dawn Staley, cancer survivor and overall wonder woman, bade farewell to the game she so tirelessly transformed into one of UVA’s most-followed sports. Her accolades include a 720-308 record, 11 ACC regular season titles, 24 NCAA tournaments with three Final Four appearances, three Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament titles, a Naismith Coach of the Year title in 1991 and an induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. We salute you, coach extraordinaire, and we will miss you.

THE RETIRING TEACHER
Bob Tucker
Former county executive
If there is one person who knows the intimate workings of local government better than anyone else, that person is Bob Tucker. For 20 years, he held the reins of Albemarle County and that meant going to a lot of meetings—as many as 1,700, in fact—dealing with county budgets, school budgets, city/county collaboration and the infamous revenue sharing agreement. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. Athough the last three years of his tenure were nothing less than a challenge, Tucker came out unscathed and with very few enemies. Well played, Mr. Tucker. Well played.

THE RETIRING ADMINISTRATOR
Leonard Sandridge
Former UVA executive vice president and chief operating officer
The story of Leonard Sandridge is the stuff legends are made of. Not only has he been employed by UVA since 1967—he has got to be the longest working employee, like, ever—but he also has a road named after him. Sandridge was honored by City Council in July (which is a pretty rare and awesome thing in itself), and President Teresa Sullivan threw him a little shindig for his retirement at John Paul Jones Arena attended by hundreds and hundreds of people. Did we mention that he single handedly has managed the University’s day-to-day operations for decades and has served under five UVA presidents? Pretty impressive, huh?

CLICK, SHOP, REPEAT
Relay Foods
Just when you think life couldn’t get any easier, Relay Foods makes it possible to get your groceries without leaving home. With a click—from your living room, bathroom, anywhere—you can order treats from Carpe Donut, bagels from Agnes’ Very Very Bagels, pork from Babes in the Wood, and have it all delivered the next day. In the past year, this virtual grocer was so successful that it expanded to Richmond, got a hefty sum in private investments and, best of all, has kept its promise to engage local farms and small local businesses. Recently, Relay Foods won the Rocket Award from the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council, and it even got a shout out in Forbes magazine!

GO GREEN OR GO HOME
Oliver Kuttner’s car
Even the seniors whose dads bought them Priuses turned their heads in envy when local developer Oliver Kuttner started bumping around in his Automotive X prize-winning “Very Light Car No. 98” last year. The steel and aluminum whip gets 102 miles per gallon, and coupled with $5 million in prize winnings, that’s a lot of lunchtime trips to Burger King. Now everyone wants a Very Light Car, which Kuttner’s Edison2 team funded at a loss. The next generation of Kuttner cars looks to pretty up a pretty cool concept—and take some out of its pricetag. These smart cars may dethrone the Tamagotchi (they’re still in, right?) as our generation’s hottest toy.

SCARILY WE ROLL ALONG
Roller Derby
In spite of their name, the Charlottesville Derby Dames once cruised and bruised way out in Fishersville. From far away, our homeless home team was an entertaining sideshow to local big ticket sporting events—scantily clad ladies with cartoonish names like Boob-onic Plague, Jane SkEyre and MatilDa Molish rolling into each other on skates.

But when they decided to bring the show Downtown, for monthly bouts at the Main Street Arena, it became clear that the Dames are no slouches when it comes to getting knocked around. Up close, they make sports feel like misbehavior, providing a healthy, local sporting counterweight to events like UVA football games. And did we mention they do better than the football team, all while showing us just how brutal and badass they can be?

LABOR OF LOVE (AND LEMONS)
Cappellino’s Lemondrop Cupcakes
They say there’s a baby born every minute in the United States. Credit 59 of those minutes to Cappellino’s Crazy Cakes, whose secret recipe for Lemondrop Cupcakes induced labor for nearly 60 lucky—and overdue—mommies last year.

Sure, it’s the weirdest bake sale this side of the Mississippi, but the sweet shop Downtown earned national recognition when “Good Morning America” got wind of the secret in April, spawning more coverage from “FOX & Friends” and CBS19.

Owner Dotty Cappellino says fresh lemon juice and zest might be the cause of the ladies’ labor. All we know is, if you get a baby when you eat a Lemondrop, who knows what happens when you eat a Raspberry Delight?

PIE IN OUR EYES
Pizza
Like the hands of the boys you kissed in high school, pizza joints in this town are all over the place. Certainly, there are some standouts (pizza joints, that is), but with 40-plus spots for ’za, you could eat at a different one nearly every week for a whole year. (Take some time off for summer vacation.)

This year, we added four more to the list: Little Caesar’s, Semolina, Belmont Pizza & Pub and Slice. They each boast fresh ingredients and promise not to resemble the rectangular, plasticky cheese varieties you devoured years ago, before your palate was truly refined.

THE PARTY HOUSE
Wendell Wood’s Mansion
Used to be when we borrowed dad’s car, we’d pick up our friends and go to the drive-in, the woods or an abandoned field somewhere. But now we’ve got our sights set on a new place where we wanna party: developer Wendell Wood’s mansion, easily spotted from miles away on Carter Mountain. So we’re looking forward to the day—and, really, expect it will come—when old man Wood will host a bitchin’ free-for-all (we’re talkin’ kegs, moonbounce, mechanical bull) at the huge house we all have to look at.

THE BATHROOM
Woolen Mills
Even if it’s not the place where Charlottesville goes to defecate, the Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant based in the neighborhood, Woolen Mills is more or less the place where Charlottesville’s output goes to stink. It’s not the best place to smoke a cigarette between class, but like a good school bathroom, Woolen Mills is pretty clean—save for a couple abandoned stalls with the hinges busted off. But boy, if you walk in after the wrong person, does it ever reek.

THE CAFETERIA
The Pigeon Hole
It ain’t just the stone ground grits that keep the kids coming back to the Pigeon Hole on Elliewood Avenue. It’s the fact that the friendly lunch lady (co-owner Naomi Anable) won’t judge you for cutting class to sit all afternoon at one of the hand-stained tables. Your too-cool big sister (co-owner Lex Gibson) will toss you a bagged lunch (packed by “Mom,” with a special note) and let you take a swig of her PBR before sending you back to home room. She wouldn’t normally socialize with you, but everyone’s welcome in the cafeteria.

THE FIELD
Davenport Field
UVA Baseball made us all so proud this season by attending locally the Super Regional for the second consecutive year and barely fell short of going all the way in the College World Series. We are not mad at all. In fact, we would like to spend more time at the new, spiffy field, complete with Bermuda grass playing surface—Piña coladas, anyone?—and the perfect make-out spots behind the bleachers. Make yourself comfortable. You’ll be cheering with 4,825 of your closest friends.

THE NATURE TRAIL
Biscuit Run
In high school, the trails belong to the cross country teams, the biology teachers with tie-dyed socks, and (in our limited experience) the potheads. In southern Albemarle, Biscuit Run—the biggest li’l $46 million development that never was—awaits its fate as a state park while developer Hunter Craig and his mysterious cohorts in Forest Lodge LLC await their tax credit appeal. Who will haunt the BR trails? We should know by the end of the year, when a master plan will likely be in place.

HOMECOMING QUEEN
Patricia Kluge
Former winery owner
Almost everyone loves a Cinderella story, and those who don’t, love a reverse-Cinderella story instead. How many people can claim to be both? During the last year, Kluge lost her luxe mansion, boutique real estate project and winery, which she hoped might be her crowning achievement. However, her prince came, in the form of Donald Trump, and offered her a second shot at vine-ripened glory. That’s one hell of a corsage, Donny.

HOMECOMING KING
Donald Trump
Current winery owner
Coming home? Not quite. Frankly, we’re still unsure whether The Donald has set foot on the grounds of the 700-plus Kluge acres he nabbed at auction for $6.2 million. But he decided to let Kluge and her date, husband Bill Moses, run their winery again. So, he’s at home on the arm of his Homecoming Queen, whose wedding to John Kluge he attended in 1981. Funny how the popular kids stay popular, isn’t it?

THE BAD BOY
Tomas Rahal
Owner, MAS
There’s just something alluring about bad boys. No matter what they do—TP the principal’s house, steal the rival school’s mascot—we stay interested. That’s true for Rahal, whose constant antagonism in the local live music debate (as we recall, he once referred to himself as “honeybadger” during an exchange with another area restaurateur) and sketchy traffic accident last fall isn’t enough to keep us away from his Belmont tapas spot. Night after night, the masses flock to his yellow-umbrella’d patio—all for a menu so tasty, it’s almost criminal.

THE GOOD GIRL
Holly Hatcher
Founder, The Future Fund and Director of Programs and Donor Engagement with the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation
The ultimate do-gooder, Hatcher’s the kind of gal who ran for student government back in middle school. And won. And liked it. These days, she’s walking the halls, shaking hands and taking names to rake in the dough—at least $225 at a time—for The Future Fund, a local giving circle and off-shoot campaign of the CACF aimed at attracting younger philanthropists (nerds, jocks and theater geek Gen Yers). A final vote determines the destination of all that donor money. In May, for instance, the Future Fund awarded $50,000 to the Buford Schoolyard Garden and $25,000 to the Sexual Assault Resource Agency. Good goin’, Hatcher!

THE JOCK
Mark Brown
Owner, Main Street Arena
While his rumpled physique may belie his jock status, Brown knows the answer to the question we were all asking 20 years ago (will a full-time ice rink be a successful venture in a small southern town?), and he set out to do something about it. So while he may have spent some errant energy lobbying against Downtown’s homeless peeps, he also found time to order up a plastic floor and convert Downtown’s Ice Park to the Main Street Arena. The MSA now plays host to everything from lacrosse to “futsal” (indoor soccer, non-bouncy ball). And the lobby, where you used to get microwaved nachos if you were lucky, now has real food and beers on tap.

THE PARTY GIRL
Jen Tidwell
Executive Director, CLAW USA
She’s got more guises than Lady Gaga and a social mission for each one. In the past it was merely a clown nose or beauty-queen tiara, but Tidwell’s premiere role is emcee and mastermind of “CLAW,” the ladies arm-wrestling competition that periodically sets up under a big top behind Blue Moon Diner to raise hell, charity money and awareness of local hotties. And it’s not just locals that are in on the conceit: CLAW has gone national, with Tidwell-advised chapters popping up in urban centers like Chicago, Austin and New Orleans.

THE EXCHANGE STUDENT
Tom Perriello
Former U.S. Congressman representing Virginia’s Fifth District
He may have left his former post after losing an election to Republican Senator Robert Hurt, but Tom Perriello didn’t pass up an opportunity to be in the middle of a revolution. He reportedly spent time in the Middle East, Egypt to be precise, during the protests. Now, that’s what we call a fighting spirit!

THE NERD
Heather Higgins
Spokesperson for Bike Charlottesville
With her glasses and helmet slightly askew and two Coton de Tuléar pups in tow, Heather makes for a lovable spokesperson at Bike Charlottesville, the local nonprofit that pushes bike safety, encourages two-wheel commuting and lobbies for cycle-friendly laws. (She was even on the cover of C-VILLE this past year!) As befits a Bike Nerd of her magnitude, she also holds down a day job at a—what else?—computer consulting company. Share the road, everybody. Here comes Heather!

THE PRINCIPAL
Teresa Sullivan
UVA President
UVA’s new leader likes open dialogues and the Albemarle County Fair, and wants to be sure that a greater number of teachers and students—say, another 1,500 by 2015—enjoy themselves. So far, it seems like the University’s Head Chaperone has been successful.

In March, Princi—er, President Sullivan requested that UVA staff participate in a job satisfaction survey. And while some employees took the opportunity to gripe, all respondents seemed eager to weigh in.

“I have worked at UVA since 1981 and believe this is the first time I have been asked my opinion,” wrote one. “Thanks President Sullivan.” Another few years may make her a disciplinarian. In the meantime, we say, “Crank that Soulja Boy, Sully.”

THE OVERPROTECTIVE PARENT
Ken Cuccinelli
Virginia Attorney General
If Virginia’s Attorney General insists on covering up the breast of a centuries-old Roman goddess and keeping “sexual orientation” out of college nondiscrimination charters, then he probably won’t approve of how you’re moving your hips on the dance floor. But if he asks you to keep your date at arm’s length, then just ask him how his lawsuit against the EPA is going (it’s not). That ought to distract him long enough to let you bump ‘n’ grind a bit longer.

THE LUNCH LADY
Martha Stafford
Owner and instructor, Charlottesville Cooking School
Always vigilant about healthy choices, Martha Stafford, a consultant to city schools, has totally made school lunch the coolest period ever. Adding a hint of made-from-scratch goodness, Stafford has worked tirelessly to transform the dull lunch line of greasy pizzas and hot dogs into a fiesta. What’s for lunch? Black bean and rice tacos with a pinch of sour cream and cheese, of course!

THE SCHOOL MASCOT
Goats
They’re cute! They’re furry! You’ll love them in a hurry!
After Council had its say, those darn goats are here to stay!
In backyards and in farms, they certainly do no harm.
Have them for milk, use them for cheese…goats are even friends with geese!
Gooooo Goats!