B. Smith Does Lee Smith highlights three stories from Lee Smith’s newest book, Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger, with music, anecdotes, and vignettes from novels as well. Featured characters are a newspaper columnist, a feisty nursing home resident, a teenager bent on salvation, and a brash country singer, among others – all with a flair for storytelling.

“The two Smiths seem made for each other,” cites the Asheville Citizen-Times. Lee Smith has said, “I am Barbara’s most avid fan and groupie.” Smith’s other adaptations of Lee Smith’s works are “Ivy Rowe,” “On Agate Hill,” and “The Christmas Letters.”

Also on tour are Smith’s original monologues “The C-Word: A Life-meets-Art Cancer Story” and “Confessions of a Clergy Wife.” Winner of the 2003 Southeastern Theatre Conference Best Actress award, Smith has recently played featured roles in regional productions of Wit, Hamlet and Doubt.

North Carolina novelist Lee Smith has written twelve novels, including the best-seller The Last Girls. Literary awards have included the Lila Wallace/ Readers’ Digest Award, the Southern Book Critics Circle Award, and the Fiction Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

“Lee is an important author for, among other things, interpreting the Western Virginia experience. We are proud to have produced several of her stories in the past.” said Lime Kiln Executive Director Kim Renz. This event showcases a talented actress portraying several of her most memorable female characters.”

Smith’s website is barbarabatessmith.com. Tickets are on sale at the Lexington Visitors Center at 106 East Washington Street, online at theateratlimekiln.com or by calling the Lime Kiln Office at 540-463-7088.

Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest is currently hosting the 22^nd Annual Summer Field School in Historical Archaeology. Eleven students are participating in 2010 and have come from all over the country, representing states including Virginia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, and Texas.  Visitors can witness the field school participants and staff archaeologists conduct site excavation on the grounds every day this week and next, and during Poplar Forest’s Independence Day celebration on Sunday.

Archaeology is ongoing at Poplar Forest with a full-time staff of professional archaeologists. Their excavations and research provide insight into the lives of the slaves that once lived on the plantation, new information about how the plantation actually operated, and important details about Jefferson’s design for the landscape of his personal retreat.

The 2010 field school is excavating at several sites on the Poplar Forest property this season – including tree stains from Thomas Jefferson’s western allée of paper mulberry trees, the site of antebellum slave cabin and the possible location of Jefferson’s stables, and the possible location of Jefferson’s vegetable garden. Numerous artifacts have been recovered, including iron nails, pieces of brick and mortar, pottery sherds, bone fragments, a coin, and a stone projectile point.

Students are posting weekly online updates about field school findings and activities, including images, podcasts and videos. This information is available at http://www.poplarforest.org/archaeology/learning-opps/field-school.

“The Poplar Forest field school truly integrates our mission of public education with our ongoing research into Jefferson’s plantation and retreat,” said Jack Gary, Director of Archaeology and Landscapes. “Not only do our students gain intimate knowledge of Poplar Forest’s history, but they also learn the basic skills of archaeological and historical research – plus, Poplar Forest gets five weeks of very enthusiastic field students.”

The five-week summer field school provides its students with a foundation in the current methods and theories of historical archaeology and offers a solid introduction to the practical skills of site survey, excavation, recording, and laboratory procedures.  Historical archaeology uses primary documents, excavation, and the study of artifacts to illuminate the lives of both influential individuals such as Jefferson, as well as the everyday lives of poorly documented groups such as the slaves that lived and worked at Poplar Forest.

Students spend 40 hours a week at Poplar Forest with time split between the current excavation site and the archaeology laboratory. They have the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art equipment, software, and outside analysts. Weekly readings and lectures by staff and noted authorities cover such topics as landscape history, plantation life, 19th century material culture, professional opportunities in historical archaeology, and the role of public archaeology. This year, the field school students have also visited Monticello, Mount Vernon, Ferry Farm and Stratford Hall to see examples of other public sites engaged in historical archaeology in Virginia and the mid-Atlantic.

Participating in the Poplar Forest field school carries five graduate credits from the University of Virginia. Designed for the beginner, participants are accepted from a wide variety of backgrounds, including graduate and undergraduate students in anthropology, archaeology, history or preservation; public and private school teachers; museum volunteers and staff; and individuals interested in archaeology, history and early American culture.

Applications for Poplar Forest’s archaeology field school are available in late winter each year. Learn more at www.poplarforest.org/archaeology.

NOTE: Members of the media are invited to visit Poplar Forest and interview archaeologists and field school students about their activities this summer. Please contact Anna Bentson to arrange a visit. The archaeology field school ends July 9, 2010.

About Poplar Forest

Poplar Forest is Thomas Jefferson’s secluded plantation and retreat home, a National Historic Landmark and recently added to the U.S. nomination list to become a World Heritage Site. Undergoing award-winning restoration and archaeology, Poplar Forest is open April through November from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Closed Tuesdays and Thanksgiving Day. Visitors to Poplar Forest each year come from all fifty states and over 30 countries.  Call (434) 525-1806 or visit www.poplarforest.org for additional information.

Lynchburg Star contest: 5:30-6pm

Out of Spite: 6pm-9pm
See more about Out of Spite on their website

Corporate Partner
Centra Cardiac Cath Lab (visit them at the beer trucks and sampling areas)

Non Profit Volunteers
Rebuilding Together (visit them at the entrance gates)

FOOD VENDORS
Vito’s
Chick-Fil-A
Bahama Sno Shack
Philippine Delight

Outdoor theatres are often created to house specific historical dramas. In Lime Kiln’s case Stonewall Country was written for the theatre space. Kim Renz, executive director, explained, “Don Baker and Tommy Spencer approached Robin and Linda in 1983 with the idea for the show, and within a year they had created the signature piece around which Lime Kiln seasons revolved for two decades.”

Founding artistic director Don Baker, who now lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, returned to Lime Kiln last year to perform as one of the narrators. Baker wrote and directed many plays at Lime Kiln over the years, and Renz says he is ecstatic so many performers from years past are involved. “It breaks out this way. We have the playwright, composer and lyricist, two former artistic directors, the band and six actors from the original team. Now that’s exciting!”

This year Tom Conway, who directed Dracula, or How’s Your Blood Count? has added more area actors to the production. “We’re building on last year’s production and its success,” said Conway, who also performed in the show in 2009. “We returned to what made Lime Kiln and Stonewall special,” he continued. “Lime Kiln was built on the oral tradition. If we are going to regain Lime Kiln’s audiences, we need to reconnect to our storytelling roots.”

Shenandoah Valley’s Robin and Linda Williams, regulars on Garrison Kieiller’s A Prairie Home Companion, provide the music for the production, with chorus help from the rest of the cast. R&L, as they are affectionately called by friends, are Lime Kiln favorites. Every year they perform at Lime Kiln, and on December 18th they will do a holiday concert at the Lenfest Center at Washington and Lee.

Staunton resident Christopher Van Cleave portrays Jackson again this year. When asked about playing the beloved iconic figure, he replied, “I had not been a Civil War buff prior to being cast in this role, but as an actor I wanted to approach this historical role well equipped with as much information and truth as I could find. The more I read about Stonewall, the more fascinated I became with this interesting human being and the more I wanted to render my portrayal respectfully, while including what could be considered the unusual eccentricities of his personality and mannerisms. An ideal goal of being a performing artist is to know what you are doing well enough so that your ego can get out of the way in order to let the role you are rendering come through most effectively.”

Former Lime Kiln Artistic Director Barry Mines and Stonewall Country veterans Cherie Sheppard, Jim Watson, (who created the role of Jeb Stuart), and Doug Harwood revise their roles from last season. Conway also chose several newcomers: April Harris, who appeared in Good Ol’ Girls last summer; Michael Brickler and George Bent, who recently performed in Ah,Wilderness! at Washington and Lee; newcomer Maria McLellan Quillin; and Brenna Dudley, a vocal performance major at the University of Wisconsin.

Gates and concessions open at 6pm, and the performances begin at 7:30. For tickets go online to theateratlimekiln.com. Tickets are also on sale at the Lexington Visitors Center at 106 East Washington Street, or by calling the Lime Kiln Office at 540-463-7088. To receive a printed brochure to an upcoming event, call Lime Kiln.

Don’t miss Poplar Forest’s signature July 4th event: a fife and drum parade, followed by the stirring reading of the Declaration of Independence from Jefferson’s back portico.

Musical performances, dancing, historical entertainment, games and living history demonstrations

Hours are 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission for adults is $5.00. Under 16 free. Poplar Forest will not charge a parking fee this year. House tours will be available at a reduced rate of $8.00.

Please call (434) 534-8120 for additional information.

Nikki has been called a vocal powerhouse and plays guitar and banjo. She has been playing music professionally for 10+ years and is currently working on my 4th release due out later this spring.

Check out her links below:

(the mother site) http://www.nikkitalley.com

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(be my friend @ myspace!) http://www.myspace.com/nikkitalley

(buy cds) http://cdbaby.com/cd/nikkitalley

(my EPK!) http://www.sonicbids.com/nikkitalley

(watch my videos!) http://youtube.com/wxbrewer

Come watch as four children step through a wardrobe and into the land of Narnia — a world frozen in endless winter, held spellbound by the White Witch, and longing for the return of the Great Lion, Aslan. The arrival of the young adventurers signals great changes. Are they the ones foretold by the prophecy of old?  Can they set the land free and hasten the return of Aslan? Or will the White Witch forever hold Narnia under her spell? Watch as the forces of good and evil struggle for control of this once peaceful land.

Performances times are Friday, June 18 and Saturday June 19 at 7 PM and Sunday June 20 at 2 PM and Friday, June 25 and Saturday June 26 at 7 PM. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors.  They can be purchased at  Baines Books and Coffee or the Appomattox Visitors Center.  Call the theatre at 434-352-8055 or visit the website www.appomattoxcourthousetheatre.com to make reservations.

The Appomattox Courthouse Theatre is a nonprofit community theatre located at 331 Court Street, Appomattox.

A number of military items have also been added including a World War I Navy uniform worn by Ensign F. W. Davis, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Davis; an Army uniform worn by Charles E. Burks during World War I, gift of Mrs. Margaret Fishkin; a Navy Wave uniform worn by Naomi M. Foster during World War II, gift of Ms. Foster; and an Army field jacket, canteen and mess kit used by Richard McLaughlin during World War II, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Les Puckett.

Also on exhibit are a tennis racket, sweater and trophy from Lynchburg tennis star Paul Pollard, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Pollard; a Lynchburg Police Department uniform and equipment, gift of Mr. Rick Scalf and Mr. Charlie Snow; a child’s dress dating to 1925, gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Pugh; and a 1915 ladies ensemble with velvet skirt, coat and scarf, gift of Mrs. Martha Strader.

“Each object has a connection to Lynchburg and its people – tangible memories of military service, art created here, and clothes worn here.  Rotating objects help with preservation and gives us a chance to share those that have not been seen before or have not been out for a very long time.  We especially appreciate the generous loans from Lynchburg and Randolph Colleges,” stated Museum Director, Doug Harvey.

The Museum is part of the Lynchburg Museum System which also operates Point of Honor, located at 112 Cabell Street.  Both sites are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.

For more information, call 455-6226 or visit www.lynchburgmuseum.organd www.pointofhonor.org.

July 12-16, 2010

How do we know what we know about the past? What is an archaeologist and why do they dig? How do architects put an old house back together?

Learn the answers to these questions and more at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest this summer. During a week-long summer day camp, rising fourth and fifth grade students will get to examine the evidence of the past, discovering through documents and artifacts how Thomas Jefferson’s octagonal retreat home was built and the grounds laid out. They will join a team of junior archaeologists to map out dig sites, sift, wash and catalogue artifacts, and interpret the findings. Participants will also take part in the historical restoration process by making and laying bricks, creating mortar, and plastering walls using the same materials and methods craftsmen used two hundred years ago.

This summer, don’t just read about history, live it, during this unique, hands-on history camp!

Details
Date: July 12-16, 2010
Time: 8:00 a.m. – Noon
Where: On the grounds of Poplar Forest
Who: For rising 4th and 5th graders
Tuition $175.00

The deadline for registration is June 18th or until the class is full (15 students). For more information and to register, please call the Education Department at Poplar Forest at (434) 534-8108 or email octavia@poplarforest.org.  

About Poplar Forest
Poplar Forest is Thomas Jefferson’s secluded plantation and retreat home, now a National Historic Landmark. Undergoing award-winning restoration and archaeology, Poplar Forest offers educational outreach programs, tours and special events. Poplar Forest is open Wednesday through Monday, April through November; except Thanksgiving Day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call (434) 525-1806 or visit www.poplarforest.org for additional information.