Let’s be honest with each other, Charlottesville: The only thing that a “new year” means is that your old calendar is no good.
When you peel the shrink wrap from your new 2009 Desk or Wall Calendar—decorated with pictures of Labrador puppies or Batman or swimsuit models—you’ll have 365 small, white boxes to fill with events. Some of the boxes will come with holidays printed on them, things like “Fourth of July” or “New Year’s Eve.” In others, you’ll scrawl in “UVA homecoming game” or “Theater night” or “Bowling league.” Like your calendars, the events aren’t objectively important. What’s important is the mark you make.
C-VILLE decided to follow you around to some of the biggest parties and events that 2008 had to offer. We sent local photographer Aaron Farrington out to document your trail of confetti, bottles and cheer. And just like your best-laid plans, Charlottesville, Farrington gave us quite a show.
When you open your 2009 calendars and start making plans, think of the year you left in your wake. Look forward to everything, Charlottesville, while you look at what you left behind in 2008.—With additional reporting by Wistar Watts Murray.
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December 31, 2007: Satellite Ballroom
MEET THE NEW YEAR! SAME AS THE OLD YEAR?
New Year’s Eve at Satellite Ballroom arrived roughly six months after the loss of Starr Hill Music Hall; less than six months after New Year’s Eve, the Ballroom would be closed as well. But the near-capacity crowd that counted down the last seconds of 2007 did so to a pair of the city’s finest country acts, who kept ’em two-stepping ’til 2am. Mere hours from the start of 2008, nearly 500 people crowded into the Ballroom for a night of “Out with the ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ in with the new.” Couples stomped their cowboy boots during a set by local country gunslingers Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees; and, as the clock’s hands signaled the start of a new year in Charlottesville, dancers flooded the floorboards to soak themselves in confetti and tunes from locally bred bluegrass buckaroos the Hackensaw Boys. By the night’s end, crowds left behind a dusty trail and a confetti-filled kitchen.
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April 10-27, 2008: Dogwood Festival
WHO LET THE DOGWOODS OUT?
Ferris wheels and Tilt-a-whirls weren’t the only flashy baubles to blossom in McIntire Park in April. For two weeks, the 59th annual Charlottesville Dogwood Festival conquered April showers with Dogwood flowers, along with a few other fest perks: one night of fireworks, two days of barbecue, a parade that closed a few miles of road for roughly eight hours on April 26, and the annual Dogwood pageant. “When my name was called my eyes teared up with joy,” wrote Ashlyn Nicole Jenkins in her online Dogwood Queen’s Journal, “for this was a moment I had craved since I was Little Miss Madison 1995.” Every bit as much as some locals crave the amusement park rides at McIntire Park each year. Of course, as the Dogwood Festival came to a close, a rowdier bunch was participating in another local tradition…
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April 26, 2008: Foxfield Races
WHO’S WATCHING THE HORSES?
More than 24,000 people turned out for the 31st annual Foxfield Races, compared to roughly 250 security officials from the Albemarle Police Department, Albemarle Sheriff’s Office, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and more agencies. And while there were fewer charges filed by police against festival attendees—56, down from the 2007 total of 85 charges—the races ended a bit prematurely due to an afternoon downpour. Foxfield unveiled a new ticket design to discourage counterfeiting and imposed strict cooler regulations during the spring races, but Farrington’s photo tells a familiar truth: You can’t stop Foxfield. You can only hope to contain it.
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July 4, 2008: Fourth of July
SEEING SPARKS
For all of the attention given the skies on the fourth of July, hundreds kept their peepers on the pavement as they made their way to McIntire Park in search of a spot to scope out the city’s annual fireworks display. And, for many, the search for the perfect spot was the real story of the night: Despite the sprawling reach and screeching sirens of the city’s firework selections, the show itself lasted only 25 minutes. But a city can detonate a lot of explosives in less than half an hour. According to city spokesman Ric Barrick, more than 1,200 shells popped, fizzed, shrieked and ’sploded before the night came to a close. And that’s not counting the expired Roman Candles and bottle rockets you found on your lawn the next day.
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November 1, 2008: UVA vs. Miami
THE GOOD OL’ TAILGATES
“Orange you glad that UVA Blue it?” Well, at their best moments in 2008, the Wahoos treated fans to something resembling a roller coaster ride—the overtime win at home against University of North Carolina, say, or the 31-0 massacre of the University of Maryland. And check the parking lots at Scott Stadium; the fans had a good time regardless. But by the time that UVA’s homecoming game against Miami rolled around, the ’Hoos were ready to head home as well. In another overtime squeaker, the Cavaliers fell on their swords, 17-24. And then proceeded to lose the next three games. As part of a New Year’s football resolution, head football coach Al Groh replaced offensive coordinator Mike Groh, his son, with former Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon, and added Latrell Scott as wide receivers coach. Better luck in 2009, Cavs.
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November 8, 2008: Live Arts Gala
MAKING A SCENE
If you had $250 and were meant for the stage, then the annual Live Arts Gala was your best bet to spend a night in the bright lights. From 6pm to 11pm, 235 guests tucked into a load of grub from local restaurants and catering services, then were whisked off to watch snippets of LA productions from the past year, including The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, The Clean House, and High School Musical. While the shows played on, the LA staff and volunteers transformed the remnants of the gala feast into a dancehall for the evening’s AfterGlow party, which nearly filled the building to capacity and thumped in the DownStage theater until 2am. By the end of the evening, LA had a broken elevator, a theater filled with party leftovers, and a load of work to transform the building back into shape for the final performances of Flyin’ West.
