Join us on the patio of the Depot for live music on July 1st, 2022.
This will be a First Friday event you won’t want to miss! On July 1st, from 5:00-7:00pm, we will host musician Lucas Schrock-Hurst for an evening of music on the patio in front of the Depot.
Lucas, also known as “Lightning Lucas”, has been writing catch, poignant, and spontaneous songs since 2008. His work is often called Dylan-esque and falls within the folk category. On July 21st, 2013, he was directly struck by a freak lightning bolt. He lived to appreciate the stage name. Check out his music here and be sure to stop by the Depot to hear him live!
Refreshments and pre-packaged food will be provided. Weather permitting, Lucas plans to play on the patio but will relocate to the covered loading dock by the Gaines Group entrance on the side of the building. We look forward to seeing many of you there!
Service to my community is my why. It has shaped our business mission statement and it drives my decisions. How can I do the most good for others often allows me to decide what committee to give time to and what non-profit to support. The one organization that does it better than any other, the one that allows me to serve your community and mine and serve those around the world, is Rotary International. So I want to invite you to come to learn more about Rotary on June 7th from 5 pm – 7 pm at Beyond Restaurant.
Service to your community, with Rotary, starts with weekly meetings to build deep friendships while learning more about the community. Each week we have speakers join us to talk about a topic, often are area non-profit, that is also doing good. These weekly meetings are important to build the community among members so when it comes time to do a service project, such as hosting the Harrisonburg Soap Box Derby, we join together not just as Rotarians, but as friends.
I am proud to be a Rotarian and would be proud to invite you to our meeting to learn more. If our weekly Tuesday morning breakfast club is not the right fit for your schedule there are other incredible groups. We often join forces in the valley and team up with other Rotary Clubs to have an even bigger impact.
Our club has helped support some amazing efforts across the valley and around the world. From the Harrisonburg Soap Box Derby to PurMadi to supporting First Step to picking up trash along Rt 42, we work hard together to do good.
When the war started Rotarians immediately sprung into action and started feeding people. The train workers did not leave their posts for a full month as they volunteered to help evacuate and Rotarians provided hot meals to the workers. They also were delivering food and heaters to bomb shelters. They had to use small vans because large trucks could not navigate the broken roads. In Kyiv, they worked hard to distribute medicine and supplies to the elderly that could not leave their homes. Many Rotarians started taking in pets that were left behind to the point where their homes appeared to be small zoos. They also worked to set up shelters in schools for those displaced, setting up sleeping and eating areas. Rotarians also started setting up water filter systems as the public water distribution systems are destroyed and wells are contaminated.
The Rotary Clubs in Ukraine have added members since the war started as they continue to recruit others that want to put #serviceaboveself. Their Rotary Club committee members meet daily to be able to have a rapid response to needs. The clubs are purchasing medical vehicles, generators, and fire trucks using Rotary Grant funds.
There are 62 Rotary clubs in Ukraine and membership is growing.
You can sponsor a family relocating to the USA HERE.
First Fridays at the Depot are full steam ahead and we are excited to feature artist Charlie Raisner at our next gallery opening on June 3rd, from 5:00-7:00pm. Charlie is a talented artist specializing in scenic watercolor paintings. He shares more about himself and his artwork below.
“There are a multitude of beautiful and interesting places around this marvelous world that God has created. I am thankful for the opportunity to represent a few of them in watercolor painting. There are many lovely sights in the Shenandoah Valley and in other locations that I have visited. I consider myself fortunate to be able to share with others my view of some of these places (and people). I do this with watercolor painting on site, or more often in studio, from my recollection and my personal photos. My paintings are representational, impressionistic and in some respects realistic. In addition to recognized extraordinary views, I look for the beautiful that often can be found in the ordinary and may be overlooked. My paintings are all original watercolors of scenes I have personally observed.
After retirement from the U. S, Government, I began watercolor painting in 1994 in a Lifelong Learning Institute at Furman University. Since then, I have taken part in numerous painting classes and workshops. In 2009 I moved to the Bridgewater Retirement Community to be near one of my daughters. I am a Signature Member of The Shenandoah Valley Watercolor Society in Harrisonburg and have taken part and received awards in their annual juried show at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. I am also a member of The Beverley Street Studio School in Staunton. I have exhibited at numerous local venues (and galleries such as OASIS).”
This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing many of you there! See the event page and RSVP here.
We are excited to feature pieces from the talented group of local artisans known as Rocktown Urban Wood. These craftsmen have a passion for making quality pieces that bring joy and function to their customer’s lives. From custom dining tables to wall hangings, mirrors, and cutting boards, their portfolio houses a variety of one-of-a-kind pieces. Each of their unique pieces is crafted from locally sourced wood and they partner with local individuals and companies to ensure surrounding resources can be used to their fullest potential.
We invite everyone to stop by the Depot on Friday, May 6th between 5:00-7:00pm to check out their work. Visit our event page here to RSVP and learn more about this event. We look forward to celebrating the arts in our community and seeing many of you there!
Cutting boards custom-made by Rocktown Urban Wood.
We are thrilled for the return of First Fridays downtown and will feature artist Lori Mier on Friday, April 1st, 2022 from 5:00pm-8:00pm. Read along to learn a bit more about Lori’s story and the influences on her work.
Lori Mier is the creator and owner of her story. She loves chai tea and sunrise hikes. She owns Blue Mountain Path Coaching LLC where she offers healing experiences as an Ecotherapist Guide, Author, and Photographer. Merin and Her Very Bright Star: A Story of Resiliency is her first children’s book. Lori is on a mission to help normalize grief and healing and hard conversations. Lori has a degree in Social Work and created a not-for-profit hiking program–Through Hiking– along with her husband to offer guided hikes to agencies and youth in foster care. She serves on the Equity Committee for Rockingham County Public Schools and also sits on the Board of Directors for RISE Foundation in Waynesboro, VA where she is committed to education, political action, and racial justice work. Although she is not originally from Virginia, Lori feels the most at home where she lives in the Shenandoah Valley with her husband and son.
It took a couple of years for Lori to call herself an artist. She never set out to be a photographer and only began calling herself one after multiple people asked if she sold the images that she captured on her sunrise and sunset hikes in the Appalachian Mountains. Originally she grew up in Minnesota, a few years on a lake resort, where she began connecting to nature; the northern lights, the great blue heron named Willie that would sit at the end of the dock every morning. What she now believes connects her to the Appalachian mountains is her time living in Oregon when she was a toddler; the place where her parents lost their lives. When she returned in the summer of 2020 to those Oregon mountains she saw how much they resemble what she knows of the Valley. Lori loves to capture the morning and evening light and share her spiritual and therapeutic connection of her hikes with others. She created an Etsy shop, Butterfly and The Storm, to do so. Her work can be seen in a gallery in Staunton, VA, Basement on Byers, and has been featured on the cover of and inside AT Journey’s Magazine and local travel brochures.
