Downtown retailers invite residents to visit downtown for all of their holiday shopping needs with over 31 retail stores to choose from.  The retailers rallied together during the most recent meeting of Merchants of Historic Downtown Harrisonburg to present a united retail front.

All of the following members will be open until at least 7pm on Fridays to give residents an opportunity to shop downtown after work.

1. Oasis
2. You Made It
3. The Yellow Button
4. Downtown Fine Furniture
5. Polished
6. James McHone Jewelers
7. Laughing Dog
8. On The Turtles Back
9. Wonder
10. Ragtime Fabrics
11. Downtown Wine & Gourmet
12. Shenandoah Bicycle Company

What better way to spend a Friday evening than to stroll through our ever expanding Downtown for Holiday shopping and then enjoy a fine meal with friends and family at one of over 25 unique and locally owned restaurants.

In this down economy shopping locally supports our Historic Downtown Community.  Buying from your neighbors means keeping your money local all while exploring the most unique gifts available.

The Arts Council of the Valley proudly presents mixed media work by Sam Hunter. The show opens Friday, November 6th from 5-7pm. There will be complimentary appetizers and beverages for the public to enjoy while viewing the challenging work of this candid artist. The variety of mediums and styles not only engages the audience but also reflects the array of issues discussed in these pieces.

“Matters of the Heart” is a series of drawings and garments that discuss the delicate and complex nature of the human health condition. In May 2008, Hunter had a heart attack that disrupted her life and consequently her art. This body of work is an exploration of her heart and her ongoing health concerns. Hunter explains, “These works are about trying to understand and assimilate the new identity that my health has insisted I create.” She chose to design fabric garments, intentionally making them appear wearable. This signifies her ownership of the emotions in response to the heart attack and the resulting quality of life.

The range of emotions Hunter experienced and still experiences can be seen in the diversity of materials used. The use of medium varies from paper and pen to fiber. The garments reference hospitable gowns that she then has “reinterpreted…in ways to illustrate specific facets of [her] health related emotions”. Each of her garments acts as a symbol of the questions she wants to ask or the questions that keep asking of her. The audience is invited to also join in and consider this inquisition.

Born in England, Sam Hunter split her formative years between Europe and the United States before settling in California in 1981. Her dream, from her earliest memories of re-drawing Sunday newspaper comic strips, was to be an artist. Sam credits a formal, British, and Shakespeare-laden education for her love of words. Her work combines degrees in both electronic engineering and art with language, and plays in the realm where the visual and the verbal intersect.

She also leverages the traditional needlecrafts she learned from her grandmothers, and a twenty year career in quilt-making, to inform the contemporary fiber pieces of her current series. A graduate of California State University Channel Islands, Sam is currently finishing the final year of a Masters in Fine Art in Intermedia at James Madison University where she teaches some of her grandmothers’ tricks in the Introduction to Fiber course. Hunter has shown work in California, New York, Colorado, and Virginia. She received Art Department Program Honors at CSUCI in California and recently received the Grant Fellowship Award from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance presents the second annual “Temptations at the Theater“ on Wednesday November 11 beginning at 6:30pm.  This fundraising event takes place at Court Square Theater with a dessert and wine reception followed by a modern comedy presented by The Playhouse.

Downtown restaurants provide all reception refreshments, showcasing the talents of local chefs and bakers.  With more than a dozen donating restaurants, the selections range from marbled cheesecake brownies, locally made Warfel’s truffles, Kentucky Derby tartlets and more.  This year’s menu will be enhanced with savory selections such as Indian spiced crackers and smoked salmon Gouda roll with caviar as well as gourmet coffee provided by local roaster, Lucas Roasting, Co.  Downtown Wine & Gourmet will provide wine tastings with full wine service provided by event coordinators during the reception.

Following the reception, the main event will take place at 7:30pm with a performance of Morning’s at Seven performed by The Playhouse.  This comedy was written by Paul Osborn and produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

“This is great opportunity to appreciate the many talented actors that we have in the Valley and to support Downtown at the same time,” says  HDR organization committee chair Glenda Rooney.

For reservations, call the HDR offices at 540.432.8922.  Tickets are $20 for HDR members and $25 for non-members.  All proceeds of this event go to downtown revitalization.  Additional event details are available at www.DowntownHarrisonburg.org.

Downtown merchants decorated walls and windows with goblins, pumpkins and spider webs in preparation for Halloween on the Square.  The regular holiday window contests in downtown Harrisonburg not only add to the festive events, but also help attract customers to the local businesses.

HDR encourages business owners to update their decorations regularly, keep their windows well-lit and participate in seasonal contests such as this one. Bright and exciting windows are a great way to draw attention to a business.

A volunteer panel of judges walked through the historic district Friday afternoon to rate each window and they named the following winners:

1^st Place: Blue Ridge Florist

2^nd Place: Wonder

3^rd Place: Laughing Dog

Runners Up: Granny Longlegs, Ragtime Fabrics

Favorite Interactive Window (special last-minute category): Water Street Cafe

“The atmosphere with all of the decorated windows definitely kicks off the festivities for the Halloween weekend” said judge, Erica Kann.  Parents and trick-or-treaters are invited downtown on Halloween to see all decorated windows and trick-or-treat from 10am to 2pm.

Halloween event details available at 540-432-8935 or www.DowntownHarrisonburg.org.

Friendly City Food Co-Op just sent an email to its members announcing a location for the downtown grocery store and that primary financing has been secured. Read the entire message and see a photo of the future site below:

Greetings! We have some very big news to share with you.

First-Position Financing Secured! The Board of the Friendly City Food Cooperative is pleased to announce that the co-op has secured its first-position financing of $484,600. This loan is at a competitive interest rate and with favorable terms that will save the cooperative a great deal of money over the long term. This loan is contingent upon continued progress in meeting other goals, including membership growth and our member loan campaign.

Location Announced! The second piece of great news is that we are finally able to publicly announce our site location: 150 E. Wolfe Street – near the corner of Wolfe and Mason, in the former Mick-or-Mack grocery store, between the U.S. post office and Dollar General. This location has excellent parking, and a strong clientele synergy with surrounding businesses, churches and residences. (See photo of the location below.)

Co-Leaser Needed. Our lease negotiations have progressed sufficiently that we felt it was important to share this information with our owner members and the community at large. The lease terms are excellent from a business point of view. However, the lease will likely carry a significant contingency: while we intend to lease 6100 sf (square feet) of a 10,100 sf space, the landlord is insisting that the additional 4000 sf also be leased at the same time. This means we cannot go to closing without another tenant in that space. We encourage all members to get the word out that there is a very marketable 4000 sf storefront available right next to an amazing new co-op grocery store!

Party! We will soon be announcing a location party soon. Keep your ears and eyes open! New Members and Loan Support So, we are very excited! This email is going out to all owner-members as well as a to larger listserv of interested community members. If you have not joined, now is the time! We have passed the $200,000 mark for the member loan campaign. But we need your support. Please consider making a loan to the co-op, increasing your loan size, or putting us in touch with that person or family in the community who might make a $5,000 or $50,000 loan to the food co-op to help us reach our goal of $600,000. For information on how to join or how to participate in the loan program, please visit our website: www.FriendlyCityFoodCoop.com.

Thank you to everyone for your support over these years. We’re almost there!

Your Friendly City Food Co-op

Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 Façade Enhancement Grants. Twelve businesses, organizations and property owners will receive awards totaling $16,000 for exterior paint, signs, awnings and other beautification projects. These façade enhancement projects will improve the appearance of downtown as well as the value of the businesses and buildings in the district.

Now in its sixth year, the Façade Enhancement Grants are made possible through a collaborative effort between the City of Harrisonburg and Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance. As a member-supported non-profit organization, HDR is grateful to our donors for making this program possible. Past grant awards have been used to enhance or renovate the exterior of buildings containing businesses such as Clementine, You Made It!, Blue Nile Ethiopian Cuisine and Cally’s Restaurant & Brewing Co.

These grant awards encourage significant private investment and create a domino effect in property improvement downtown. As part of the application, businesses are asked to submit their plans and total project costs, and each grant dollar awarded is generally matched by $4 to $6 in private investments. This year, the $16,000 in grant awards are supporting projects worth $100,000 total.

Recipients of the 2009 Façade Enhancement Grants include:

Local Chop and Grill House – $1,500

AC Studio Suites – $2,500

Asbury United Methodist Church – $500

Wetsel Complex, LLC     – $5,000

Virginia Quilt Museum – $400

The Yellow Button – $500

OASIS Art Gallery – $750

On the Turtle’s Back, LLC – $750

Granny Longlegs – $500

Franklin’s Café – $1500

Cat’s Cradle – $200

Arts Council of the Valley – $2,000

The 6th annual Halloween on the Square sponsored by Hess Orthopaedics welcomes families downtown for a day of friendly fun this Saturday, October 31 from 10am to 2pm. Wander down Main Street on a crisp autumn day with your little goblins when downtown merchants open their doors to trick-or-treaters and Court Square is filled with fun activities!

Schedule of Events (all events free unless otherwise noted):

10am-1pm: Trick- or- Treating (pick up a map on Court Square or look for orange balloons outside participating stores)

• Music and games by DJ Trish Foley
• Face painting by Scott Whitten and Valarie Smith
• Hay Rides by John Shaver
• Witches Slime and Wizard Tricks
• Merchants of Historic Downtown Harrisonburg window decorating contest
• $3 Pumpkin Painting at Harrisonburg Farmers Market
• Arts and Crafts at OASIS Gallery
• Free Reflectors & Trick-or-Treat Bags from Safe Kids Central Shenandoah Valley Coalition
• Kid’s Edgar Allen Poe crafts, poetry games, and more at the Massanutten Regional Library children’s room (part of the Big Read Finale)

1pm: Kid’s costume contest and mini parade around Court Square

2pm

• Digico Dog Costume Contest on Court Square
• Big Read Finale at Massanutten Regional Library – Edgar Allen Poe comes alive starring Scott Craig Jones!

7pm and 9pm: “Haunted Harrisonburg” walking tours by Lisa N. Ha. $10 adults, $5 children 12 and younger. Register by calling 540.432.8935

Contact Kris Ludwig, 540.432.8922 or krisL@harrisonburgva.gov, for more information.

Posted by Lisa N. Ha

I admit that living with him requires commitment. It’s a daily battle of wills, and one I don’t often win. He’s an unrepentant sloth who has no discernible hobbies outside of eating and watching the squirrels in the backyard, bathes maybe four or five times a year — and then only reluctantly — and whose idea of affection is for me to scratch his belly.

And yet, each October he emerges from his slovenly bed (where happily spends 12 hours a day or more) and takes his place among the pantheon of greats. He’s worn the wings of a decorated bomber pilot, brought home Olympic gold for his country, and championed personal fiscal responsibility years before the financial meltdown. He even has his own fan page. By the time he turns six next year, there will be no stopping him.

Make no mistake: my dog Punkermelon is the pup to beat at this year’s Digico Howl-o-ween Dog Costume Contest, to be held Saturday, Oct. 31 at 2pm on Court Square.

In fact, he’s already won his first award of the year, taking home the grand prize at PetSmart’s pet costume contest earlier this evening. The battle was hard fought and hard won; he narrowly beat out a white boxer dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and a cat in a wizard outfit who lay languid and relaxed among 20-some rowdy dogs. And yet, my family and I consider that contest just a warm up for the BIG event downtown, where Punkermelon has won first place the last two years running.

Not that we don’t welcome the competition — we do. What sets the downtown contest apart from the others is the sense of good-natured competition among the dog owners. Though I fully hope to defend our two-time championship title, the fun of the contest is not the win, it’s the atmosphere. Very few store bought costumes here, folks. This is the time for the community’s most impassioned pet lovers to come out, stand up and be recognized as the bunch of canine-dressing crazies that we are.

And so in the spirit of Howl-o-ween, where the contest shares equal billing with the chance to socialize your dog, meet other owners and get free treats, here’s a look at your competition over the years. Punkermelon is a full breed Boston Terrier who eagerly looks forward to costume time each year (honestly, he really does).

Piggy Bank, 2006. Did not place.

Bomber Pilot, 2007. First place.

Michael Phelps, 2008. First place.

Civil War Orientation Center

Last month on September 25 the Civil War Orientation Center opened after an impressive ceremony and ribbon cutting at the Hardesty-Higgins House Visitor Center.

Perhaps surprisingly to some, Harrisonburg and Rockingham County is a treasure trove of Civil War history. A number of significant battles and events occurred within our borders, and many are memorialized with historical markers, trails, museums, living history events, and even battle re-creations. The Orientation Center is ground zero for visitors and residents wishing to explore the Valley’s role in the War Between the States. Begin by watching the documentary that’s screened for free in the center, spend some time reading the museum panels lining the walls, and finally, pick up some of the free brochures — your personal road map to the Civil War bounty awaiting your discovery.

The Civil War Orientation Center was made possible thanks to a partnership between the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and Harrisonburg Tourism. An average of 5,000 people visit the Harrisonburg Visitor Center monthly, and with the addition of the Orientation Center and upcoming sesquicentennial* of the Civil War observed from 2011 to 2015, it is anticipated that more people will visit. We invite you to stop by the Orientation Center and become familiar with our local Civil War history.

*sesquicentennial = 150th year anniversary