Soap Box Derby rolls in June 23
The local competition heats up: The 2012 second-place finisher in super stock competition at the recent Family Fun Day competition held at the new Culpeper Soap Box Derby facility was Gabe Beroza, a 12-year-old first-year driver whose family has just moved to Rappahannock County, according to a report from local Soap Box Derby organizer and supporter
Thom Pellikaan. The first-place finisher: Gabrielle Beville of Linden, the Warren County eighth-grader who actually won the All American Soap Box Derby last summer in Ohio.
Beroza, grandson of Cheri and Martin Woodard, was driving the car of the Flint Hill VFD, and will be a student at Wakefield CDS this fall. (More coincidences: Last year Beroza lived in Akron, home of the American Soap Box Derby finals, but had never attended the event.)
For the Family Fun Day – a run- up to the official local Derby race on June 23 at the brand new race facility in Culpeper County – some 40 other drivers were eliminated in Gabe's division, leaving the two finalists to vie for the firstplace trophy. Beville placed second in the stock division in the local Derby finals last year but secured a trip to the finals by collecting enough rally points in regional races. In the final race between the two Piedmontbased drivers last month, Gabrielle defeated Gabe by six- thousandths of a second.
Both drivers, and 16 others representing Rappahannock County, will compete in this year’s local Derby on June 23. For more information, visit culpepersoapboxderby.com.
But please don’t eat them
What says more about summer than beautiful, large, red, yellow, and zebra- striped heirloom tomatoes? With an eye toward warmer weather, and with thoughts of what will be in the garden this year, the Inn at Little Washington is hosting a new exhibition of still life paintings by Kevin H. Adams featuring the bounty of his Little Washington garden. If you need a reminder of why the hard work of preparing your own plot of ground for planting is worth all the trouble, you’re invited to come see these delicious oil paintings.
The subjects of these portraits, some whole, some halved, posed perched on berry- basket pedestals, reveal the visual beauty of our food.
" I've done many paintings of the insides of fruits and veggies,” says Adams. “How many things in this world can you say with complete and unwavering confidence that you are the first to see? For all of these paintings, I really should have put ahead of the title, ‘ Before Lunch,’ because as soon as I finished the painting, we had these beautiful tomatoes in sandwiches or salads.”
More widely known for landscapes, Adams’ iconic painting, “Old Rag and the Piedmont,” was commissioned in a limited edition print run by Shenandoah National Park as part of its recent 75th Anniversary celebrations. The Inn at Little Washington hosted an exhibition of his paintings from in and around the park to help kick off the year- along commemoration. Prints are available through the Park’s visitors center.
Adams is represented in Washington, D. C., by Gallery Plan B and in New York City by MDH Fine Art. Adams, whose work is often on display at The Inn Shops, keeps his studio in the town of Washington opposite the Gay Street Inn, which he coowns.
His still life paintings will be on display at the Inn through midsummer, when a new crop of potential subjects will be ripening in the gardens.
So . . . get outdoors
In celebration of National Get Outdoors Day this Saturday ( June 9), Shenandoah National Park ( and all 397 national parks) will waive entrance fees. “Outdoor physical activity is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, and Shenandoah National Park is a great place to get out and enjoy hiking on our nearly 500 miles of trails,” said park superintendent Martha Bogle. The park will offer ranger- guided walks and hikes throughout the day. For a schedule of programs, visit nps.gov/shen or call 540- 9993500.
Shenandoah National Park will waive its $ 15 entrance fee on four other days this year: Sept. 29 ( National Public Lands Day) and Nov. 10- 12 ( Veterans Day weekend). If you plan to enter the park more than twice this season, you will have to seriously consider an annual pass ( they’re $ 30, and they’re good for a year).