Go there with me. Outside a rural village on our final day, I waded into a reservoir. The sunlight made it a cathedral. With me, waste-deep and soaked, was a girl from my team, who wanted me to baptize her. This pool was a life source for the locals, but an unsettling irony for me. You see, the slow death I brought home last time might have come from a watery Petri dish like this one, or so my doctors speculated. They also suggested I never do foreign relief work again. So, I was conflicted for all the wrong reasons, but nonetheless conflicted.

A 30-foot wall of rock castled the pool on three sides, so the dark liquid seemed mythical. Opposite us on the embankment stood the rest of our American team. For days, they had lived in third world squalor, giving their arms and backs to the project and, in Extreme Makeover style, had completed the school’s second level. And, when the final brick squashed mortar, that school could educate and house double the children within that population. This was no vacation, but an astounding show of will and faith, tethering a group to one another for life. We were family.

Right then, I was sure a baptism was the poetic farewell to India for us all; however, all that fear of repeat pathogens frazzled me. Everything in me wanted to get out of that water and tell the girl, “Just baptize yourself. I’m not going to die for this.” Selfish, I know—especially with missionary stories that involve courage over murderous natives or terrorist kidnappers—but it’s still what I was thinking, the same hidden panic that kept me away for so long. Without warning, my brain waves flashed and dropped me back to the day I landed in India and every moment that got me to that water, and more so, why I was supposed to be there.

Flash. A 17-hour flight across oceans and empires landed me in Hyderabad, a city of six million Indians in the South-Central region. Basically, the urban sprawl is Manhattan pasted in grime, smog and infinite piles of trash, and then made alive with shoulder-to-shoulder humanity and feral herd animals. Simply put, the city is magnificent chaos.

My ride to the missionary hostel was in a Land Rover-like taxi battered by years of the topsy-turvy gridlock. Indian traffic is truly death-defying; accelerate, break, horn-blast, dodge and don’t crash or kill anyone (including a cow) until you arrive. So, I gripped my seat and readied for detonation.

Through the taxi glass, I took in the complexity gluing this civilization together for millennia; the ancient spirituality and leading-edge capitalism overtop a divergent cast system, which holds hundred of millions in destitution, a few in opulence and one of the fastest emerging middle-classes on the planet. To say the country will frustrate and invigorate you all within the same millisecond is almost cliché.

Namaste, India, head bows graciously as she invites you to ignore her legions of beggars, and then turns to boast of her thriving tech economy. Still, her people are ready to confiscate any Western criticism or arrogant savior complex you might smuggle in, and then hand it back as a flower garland or cup of Chai. To be certain, she does not want to be fixed or explained, but rather enabled. This is why I’d only been back 20 minutes and had a tumor grade headache and needed to spew my airline meal somewhere fast.

Another flash, and I’m three days in the country, roving through rice land and squalid farm villages to get back to our project site. Our caravan of pasty Americans in SUVs became a celebrity event in each small community we cut through. The patriarchs gathered outside tea shacks to nod, but their children mobbed and chased our vehicles like Beiber fans.

Once, our Rover screeched and locked up to let some water buffalo move off the road, and through the windshield, I synced eyes with a 6-year-old alone in a ditch. She didn’t play or chase our vehicles, but cleaned herself. She splashed the dirty water on her dirty arms. This was India and the tormenting question was: Can I really make a difference here amidst dirty water bathing dirty arms? Just minutes later, I’d throw bricks to build a classroom for that girl.  But, was that even enough?

Before I could seriously seek answers, the next flash came and rushed me back to the mega-slum from Day Four. Numberless dirt streets and sheet metal shacks were overrun by India’s low-cast multitudes. Here, the able-bodied strained everyday until sundown, then returned to the slum and typically drank until sleep. The cycle started over the next day. Evidence of this “work hard, drink hard” existence was surface level because everything around me, including the family make-up, seemed tattered. Women swept trash into piles of liquor bottles from the night before, and clusters of children played chase in and around open sewage. The slum was a black hole, and that’s why my national host pointed to some unclaimed acreage there among the turmoil and said, “Your church must put a school here, too.” And, I agreed.

After flashing through more days of similar encounters, I was chest deep in the reservoir again. The girl I was to baptize concluded her testimony, so everyone’s eyes refocused on me and waited. Oddly, I wasn’t afraid or conflicted anymore, not about the water, not about India. Instead, this land and her people marked me dramatically in just a handful of days. And soon, I plunged the girl into that earthen spring, my arms cradled her for the breach, and we both arose drenched with a shared baptism. For her, the act was the dawn of a new faith, and for me, the next miles I must travel in my own.

Clearly, from the moment I walked off the plane, to the bonds I forged along the way, from my own war over fear and purpose, to the shimmering ripples of that baptismal, I grasped that I needed India far more than she needed me. But even still, we needed each other’s help to get restored. So, in various ways, I’ve committed the rest of my life to that pursuit.

My parting questions are these: What are you afraid to do, but know you’re destined for?  What questions torment you about our broken world, but you feel only get answered by personally going deeper into them? Perhaps, it’s time you confront fear and passivity head on and get started.

Thank you, India.

Nestled amongst the rolling hills and mountain views of Central Virginia, Poplar Forest has the uncanny ability to transport its visitors back to the 1800’s. And that power is about to be enhanced exponentially, with Jefferson himself even lending a hand.

The community is no stranger to the landscape restoration project that has been underway at the plantation. Aided by specialists in the fields of botany, pollen and soil chemistry, in addition to partnering with the Universities of Boston and Tennessee, as well as Washington and Lee, Poplar Forest’s Department of Archaeology and Landscapes has been hard at work researching and gathering data. But there’s one other very important contributor to the project.

Although a thing of the past himself, Thomas Jefferson has still managed to have an active hand in aiding the team. Jack Gary, Director of Archaeology and Landscapes for Poplar Forest, described how.

“The restoration of the landscape is being done primarily through archaeological research coupled with the documentary evidence that Jefferson left behind,” Gary explained. “… Jefferson’s design for this property was born out of his interest in different landscapes he experienced in his travels and reading, such as the neo-classical and picturesque landscapes of France and England. Jefferson blended different design elements together to make a very unique statement.”

While Jefferson’s original plan is within reach, Gary and his team still have a lot on their plate to create an accurate final product.

“We view our landscape as a combination of the ornamental grounds around Jefferson’s house, the plantation landscape of fields, barns, slave quarters and gardens and the natural landscape of the woodlands, springs and streams,” Gary explained. “We want to restore and interpret aspects of all of these landscapes, which is a pretty big task.”

The interpretation of a landscape design that is hundreds of years old is just as difficult as it sounds. Even with the aid of Jefferson’s notes, the team often relies on the hard and fast facts of science in order to guarantee the truest results.

“Jefferson left behind notes, but nothing specific enough to recreate his plan accurately. Because the landscape today is very different from Jefferson’s design we have to do a lot of research to figure out the exact locations of plantings. Through archaeological excavation and research we are able to find the locations of plants that are no longer here,” Gary said.

Their current phase of the landscaping project focuses on the ornamental grounds around the historical home. Gary explained that this includes “the restoration of a double row of trees planted between the house and the west mound, the restoration of clumps of trees and flower beds at the corners of the house and investigating the circular carriage turnaround in front of the house.”

While the projected time line for these three particular restorations spans the length of three years, the team isn’t going to rush to meet any kind of deadline. Their ultimate guiding rule is accuracy above all else.

“If we need to take more time to figure these elements out in order to restore them accurately, we will,” Gary said.

The last project of 2011 involved progress on the replanting of a double row of mulberry trees that were originally planted between the west mound and the house.

“The placement of these trees has been determined through our archaeological excavations and analysis and will be a very accurate representation of what this important landscape feature looked like around 1812 when Jefferson had them planted,” Gary said.

Poplar Forest has always been a very community-driven project, welcoming visitors weekly during its March to December season and opening the grounds to the public for several events throughout the year, such as its annual wine festival in November. The staff is always excited to share the history of this impressive landmark with all who stop by. Allowing those who are interested to keep up with the progress and future of the landscaping project is no different.

“The best way to stay updated is to come on out and visit with the archaeologists in the field as we work on these projects,” Gary said. “We’re in the field all week long excavating and always welcome visitors to come talk to us.”

Just as he lovingly supervised the laying of Poplar Forest’s original foundation in 1806, it’s easy to picture Thomas Jefferson doing the same today with the archaeologists and landscapers working to revive his dream of a beautiful, secluded hideaway in the place we too can call “home.”

Want to see the progress first-hand? Be sure to visit Poplar Forest when the season starts on March 15th. Self-guided grounds tours and 40-minute guided house tours are available during their regular hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Adults: $14

Seniors (age 60+) & Active Military: $12

College Students: $7

Youth 12-18: $6 

Youth 6-11: $2 

Under 6: Free 

Escape winter by taking a trip to a fabulous Las Vegas hotel and resort without leaving town at Amazement Square’s 11^th Annual Gathering of Goddesses Friday, February 10 from 6 to 11 p.m.  (Blizzard Date: February 24).

Each guest will enjoy a catered dinner, a wine and beer bar featuring a specialty Las Vegas drink, relaxing spa and health services donated by local businesses, an exclusive nightclub just for goddesses and other exciting casino entertainment and games.

The Gathering will also recognize this year’s Honorary Goddess, Frances Giles. As Chair of Allocations with the United Way of Central Virginia, Giles is enhancing citizens’ live and empowering them to live up to their full potential.

Make your tax-deductible reservation for the best Vegas hotel and resort in Lynchburg for $100 ($115 after February 10) by visiting or calling Amazement Square at (434) 845-1888. Proceeds support Amazement Square’s educational mission through the development and maintenance of its exhibitions and programs.

BEDFORD AREA CHAMBER ANNOUNCES NEW BUSINESS AWARD PROGRAM

The Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce has re-formulated its previous awards program. The Chamber is currently accepting nominations for its new “Excellence in Business” Awards to be presented during the Annual Business Dinner held on March 22, 2012. The “Excellence in Business” Awards introduce new award categories as well as a new system for nominating and selecting award winners.

“We wanted to recognize innovative business practices and get more participation from the general business community,” Christy Lucy, Director of Marketing and Special Events for the Chamber, said. “We believe this new system will generate a lot of enthusiasm from our membership to accomplish both of those goals.”

The new awards will have criteria pertaining to each category, however, emphasis on innovation, staying power and overall integrity of business practices will be considered when determining award finalists. The new award categories are Home-based Business, Emerging Small Business, Business to Business, Business to Consumer, Agri-Business and Nonprofit.

Anyone can nominate a company and nominees should be a member in good standing with the Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce. Self-nominations are welcome, as are nominations for more than one company. Only one nomination per company is required for consideration. The deadline for nominations is January 31, 2012. Nomination forms can be downloaded from the Chamber’s web site at www.bedfordareachamber.com or requested via phone, fax and email to clucy@bedfordareachamber.com.

The new process will also include a selection committee to determine finalists, which will then be announced and offered to the business community for a “popularity” vote. The winning businesses will be announced during the Chamber’s Annual Business Dinner held in March.

ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JOB OPENING

The Academy of Fine Arts is conducting a search for its next Executive Director.

“The Academy is entering a new phase,” Dave Bowen, Board of Trustees President, said. “We have a growing passion for the arts, for entertaining theatre, intriguing galleries, enlightening classes and exciting social events. We are looking to hire an Executive Director who will communicate this passion and strengthen the Academy’s visibility and brand. We are looking for our star.”

The Academy is also searching for a Director of Development, who will lead the initiative to restore the Historic Academy of Music Theatre.

“We are not skipping a beat,” Bowen said. “We look forward to bringing new energy to the team and are excited about the Academy’s future.”

The Academy encourages candidates with a passion for the arts and non-profit experience to apply. Those interested in applying are encouraged to visit the employment tab on the Academy of Fine Arts’ website, www.AcademyFineArts.com.  Interviews will be extended on a rolling basis.

EIGHTH ANNUAL DOWNTOWN LYNCHBURG LOFT TOUR SCHEDULED FOR FEBRUARY 25

The 8^th annual Downtown Lynchburg Loft Tour, a fundraiser for the Free Clinic of Central Virginia, will take place on February 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tour offers an opportunity to visit 8 to 10 furnished loft apartments in downtown Lynchburg.  Ticket sales benefit the Free Clinic at 1016 Main Street. Tickets will be available after February 1 for $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the tour. For more details, visit www.fccv.net or contact the Free Clinic at (434) 847-5866.

“What the Legacy Museum is about is reaching back to the past and looking for the stories of people’s lives and contributions that may have been sort of forgotten but are deemed to be important for moving ahead,” Carla Heath, museum board member, said.

Heath called to mind a phrase about knowing “where you come from to know where you’re going” and said that has been a challenge for people of African descent who, for a long time, had no history.

“In many cases, it was dismissed, as the people were dismissed,” she said. “[It's] important that those stories [be] told. Legacy has been as much about that as anything: the stories of the ‘you’s’ and ‘me’s’ of the world, not necessarily Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, but of local people who made their contribution.”

The Legacy Museum began as the Legacy Project with a singular painting called, “Lord, Plant My Feet on Higher Ground.” The painting, by local artist Ann van de Graaf, depicts many of the people and places important to the Civil Rights Movement in Lynchburg. Van de Graaf had worked with many of the people involved in the local movement and wanted to honor them. In her mural, she painted them–Garnell Stamps, Junius Haskins, Haywood Robinson, Anne Spencer and about 100 others–together, as a mighty throng.

The painting was displayed at local colleges and churches; presentations were made. Someone coined the phrase “Legacy Project” and a nonprofit was formed. Still, Van de Graaf and the other founders talked about doing more.

“We put on programs and things like that, but we realized there was so much more to African American history than the Civil Rights Movement,” she said.

What they needed, the group concluded, was a museum.

The Legacy Museum is located in a Victorian house at 403 Monroe Street in Tinbridge Hill, a historically black neighborhood. The property borders Old City Cemetery, a predominantly African American graveyard, and sits atop a steep hill locals call “thrill hollow.”

For a long time, the house–thought to have been designed by renowned Lynchburg architect, Edward G. Fry–was used as a bordello or house of ill-repute. When the Legacy Project acquired it in 1997, it was in deplorable condition.

It was in “horrible, horrible, horrible condition,” Jane White, longtime executive director of the Old City Cemetery, said. “It had some people living in it and some very bad activities going on inside and outside of it … but the house itself was a beautiful place.”

White, who was not only interested in improving the cemetery but also the surrounding neighborhood, heard the Legacy Project was looking for a permanent home. She couldn’t think of a better place than the Victorian house and called Van de Graaf with her idea.

“I called up Ann and said, ‘I’ve just got a wonderful house for you to call home, but somehow we’ve got to get a hold of it and we’ve got to get it renovated, but we would love to bring a museum into this Tinbridge Hill Community,’” White said.

After a lengthy legal process, the Legacy Project acquired the house. Architect Kelvin Moore and Tom Gerdy of Gerdy Construction Company took on the restoration. It was a daunting project. The foundation was damaged; the roof and siding were in bad shape. There was water damage and termite issues.

“It was a structure that had been completely forgotten and left to die, but luckily, people with vision realized it was a wonderful structure and it had a chance to have a second life,” Gerdy said. “It was one of those [houses] that some people would walk up to and say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ but we saw it as something like some of the visionaries saw it and saw that it could be saved and could be an addition to the community.”

Since opening in 2000, the Legacy Museum has been telling the stories of ordinary African Americans from Lynchburg and the surrounding counties through its exhibits and community programs. They have told of African Americans in the military and medical fields, and of life under Jim Crow. They have given a local face to the struggle for equal education and civil rights.

The current exhibit–”Celebrating Community!”–draws from a decade of oral histories, photos, documents and artifacts used in past exhibits. Many of these items came from the museum’s permanent collection. Others were loaned by people in the community or gathered by museum volunteers.

The volunteers “have a network of kin and friends and they use those social networks and family networks to find people who have things, and they go to those people directly,” Carolyn Bell, an interviewer for “Celebrate Community!” and a past board member, said. “Sometimes, they end up in basements and attics and barns, wherever things are stored. Those volunteer collectors are the key to any exhibit and the way we get most of the artifacts in our permanent collection.”

Some items might not look like much at first glance. For example, a tattered, hand-me-down textbook used at Dunbar High School might just look like an old book until one realizes it was all a student had to use.

“It had to pass through a lot of hands before it arrived at the African American who used it,” Bell said. “African Americans had to make do with the cast-offs from white schools because they were underfunded.”

Items like that “tell the story of ordinary, local people” and “put them in the larger context and relate them to the regional and national story of African American contributions and sufferings and progress and setbacks,” Bell said.

A new exhibit, “Trouble Don’t Last Always,” opens at the Legacy Museum in June. Dianne Swann-Wright, a Baltimore-based historian who has worked with Legacy on several past exhibits, is the curator.

The exhibit will tell the story of African Americans living in Central Virginia between 1860 and 1890. Swann-Wright called it a “transformative time,” when blacks could live together as traditional families and be paid for their labor. The exhibit will also tell little-known stories of slaves who worked in local hospitals and factories and even served in the Confederate Army.

“Trouble Don’t Last Always” is the title of a song, with “trouble” being a euphemism for slavery.

“[It] is taken from an African American spiritual that was sung during that era and is still sung today, and it means that there won’t always be these challenges,” Swann-Wright said. “One day, we’re going to have an easier life.”

The Legacy Museum is open from Noon to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday; 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday; and other times by appointment. The cost of admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for youth and children under six are free. Group rates and memberships are also available. Visit www.legacymuseum.org for more information.    

After a few months of staff dedication, Wanda was put up for adoption in the free roaming cat room. She is still shy and timid but has come to love human interaction. At three years old, Wanda isn’t much of a playful cat. She would rather just sit on the window sill and soak up the sun. Wanda is up-to-date on routine shots and spayed. She is ready to go home today.

Come meet Wanda and many other lovable animals at the Lynchburg Humane Society during shelter hours, Tuesday through Friday from Noon to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m. Visit www.lynchburghumanesociety.org to see all the adoptable pets online.

*Penelope, last issue’s “Pick of the Litter” is still available!

That’s what the New Year, and the inherent reflection upon 2011, represents to so many. Along with an opportunity to celebrate the wins of the year comes the chance to hit “reset” on the next 365 days stretching before you. Some resolve not to make resolutions. Others make a laundry list of them and vow to stick with them. Most everyone else falls somewhere in between.

Every year, our little family makes resolutions together. We write them down, save them in a memorable, but not too easy to reach place, then reread them at the start of the following year. This is less about “grading” our year and more about remembering where we were in our thoughts, prospects and hopes exactly one year earlier, and then reflecting on all that has happened in the in-between. More than anything, this tradition usually makes us realize all the blessings that happened throughout the year that we never saw coming. For us, our New Year’s list is as much about resolving and it is about remembering where we are and where we’ve come from.

The same can be said of the current state of Fifth Street in Lynchburg. Once the hub of African American commerce, life and entertainment, this vital corridor is now in the midst of a gradual awakening. City officials, historic enthusiasts and home owners around Fifth Street are among those cheering on its rebirth. And, slowly but surely, things are beginning to come alive there, though not as quickly as some would have hoped. Still, like resolutions, the plans that lie ahead for Fifth Street are as much about moving it forward into newness as they are about looking back and remembering where it has been. To truly revitalize is also to memorialize this once predominantly black epicenter of activity—the “Soul of Lynchburg.” Read more, starting on Page –, about the fascinating history of this central throughway and the next steps planned for this year that will really begin to breathe new life into Fifth Street.

And while we are in full reflection mode, take a moment to flip to Page — and look back at the very “Best of 2011,” as voted by you, the readers of Lynchburg Living. Your ballots hoisted dozens of local businesses, citizens and destinations onto the collective shoulders of our showcased pages. Whether you disagree with the elected winners or had a hand in putting them amongst the Top 3, you’ll get a sense for why so many love calling Central Virginia home.

Whatever you choose to resolve in 2012, don’t forget to take a moment to look back. Say thanks. Make peace. Offer forgiveness where needed. Then move on. Like Fifth Street, a celebrated past is an important cornerstone for the future, but its only in taking each intentional step forward that promises a future full of potential and rejuvenation.

Hometown: Corning, NY

Jeff, your song “Here I’m Home” is a very “coming of age” song about life in Lynchburg. It’s obviously struck a chord with a lot of people, locally and elsewhere [as of press time, the song's music video on YouTube had more than 16,000 hits], so how did you come up with the idea for this song?

Actually, it’s funny because literally, up until one or two days before recording the vocals for it, that song was a completely different song. The tune of it was about the same, but the lyrics were a totally different topic kind of having to do with disappointments that I felt and contributed to different things. It’s a song that lyrically, as time passes, things change so the song present tense was not at all relevant anymore but it was something I felt at the time I wrote it.

So, we had finished all the tracking and the next day was recording the vocals, and my brother, John [Carl, owner of Lynchburg-based creative agency, DuckDuck Collective], came to talk to me and was like, “I really like the song but do you really want to stick with the lyrics?” … So, I realized that was a good idea and I basically had one day to completely rewrite the song, which I hate doing because it’s totally against my writing style, but I knew I needed to do it. At the time, I knew I was on the precipice of leaving Lynchburg, so I had a lot of memories floating around. And I thought, you know, the only thing I can really draw inspiration from right now to create a song is what is actually going on in my life write now. So I toiled over that all day long and by the end of the day had enough lyrics that seemed cohesive and that fit the song that I was okay with. And that’s how the “Here I’m Home” song was born.

The music video for the song is beautifully done. How did it all come together?

Once we heard it put together, we were like, “Wow, this song has completely morphed into this completely other thing … we love it!” And John was like, we need to do a music video for this, but I only had three days in Lynchburg and was thinking, “We don’t have time for this.” But DuckDuck did absolutely amazing. You can’t beat the production quality and look of the video.

It just shows how awesome Lynchburg can be if you look at it in the right light. … After having been here three years, I’ve realized how surface impressions can be of Lynchburg and the downtown culture so I wanted to express what it meant to me and how much I really loved it and how much I would miss it.

You’re not originally a Lynchburg native. How did you end up here?

I have lived in Lynchburg for three years, on and off, and came here to go to school at Liberty [University] as did most of my siblings as well. At the time, one of my brothers lived in Lynchburg and by the time I left, another brother lived there and my third brother had just started attending there this fall so I actually have a lot of family in town by the end of it. And I wanted to be close to my brothers.

You are recently back in Lynchburg after spending some time in California. Why did you want to leave the Hill City for The Golden State?

My goal was basically just to experience a whole new chapter. I had never been out West before this trip and basically had planned a huge road trip from Virginia to Flagstaff, Arizona, where I stayed for a month with some friends. And from there, I started touring California, starting in San Diego and worked my way up the coast–going to LA, Santa Cruz, and so on.

So, I basically just wanted to start a chapter of life out there and experience something new and have more inspiration. After finishing my EP, I was like, “Man, I need to do some more writing, so that was kind of part of it too.” Lynchburg is awesome, but it can be a glorious black hole of sorts sometimes.

What’s next for you, music wise?

That’s a good question (laughs). Right now, I’m just focusing on writing, maybe recording a little more and playing some shows locally. I’m kind of at a fork in the road right now. Now that I have one EP and one project done, it’s basically like, “What’s the follow-up to that?”

I know I’m going to work on a few more projects and educate myself on the process behind that, and see where it goes. I know I love writing music though.

Jeff’s EP is available online for free at jeffcarl.bandcamp.com. Hard copies are $5. The “Here I’m Home” music video can be seen at www.youtube.com/jeffcarl.  

But something is happening at the corner of Church Street. The lights are on in the Lynchburg City Armory.

Starting with a trickle, then building to a rush, the bleachers inside the old city building begin to fill with fans. First a few dozen. Then a few hundred.

Inside is anything but quiet.

Short of ear-splitting, a DJ opposite the bleachers is cranking out high-energy hip-hop. As the crowd fills out the stands, fans stop to greet friends and family. Two dozen men are on the basketball court going through a pre-game workout. The Lynchburg Legends are in white; Raleigh Jaguars in maroon. Three game officials are standing at half court joking around before game time.

Back down to earth, the smell of burned popcorn wafts out of “The Pit,” the venue’s eatery, which serves up the kind of grub you’d expect to get at a basketball game. The charm of the Armory is in full effect. It’s the kind of place where you can run into the visiting team’s center changing in the men’s room.

Nonetheless, it does not feel like an early-season home game for a brand new, semi-professional basketball team in reliably quiet small city America. Strolling around the floor getting ready for the game, for Legends President Derek Polley, it sometimes feels altogether unreal.

Legendary Beginnings

“I’ve been working on this for two years,” Polley said. “It was surreal to sit back and watch these guys come out in their jerseys and play.”

In 2009, Polley was attending a semi-pro camp for another team in Maryland. In talking with the owner, he learned about the American Basketball Association’s (ABA) franchise program. Although Virginia now has half a dozen registered teams, the state was wide open then.

He reached out to the ABA to learn what it would take to put a team together, then got to work.

“That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing the last two years, is going down the checklist and making sure we had everything we needed, from the demographics to the venue,” Polley said. “I started reaching out to guys I knew from around the area that had played ball at a collegiate level and some who had played pro previously to see if these guys would be willing to play for another semi-pro team in Lynchburg.”

Barely more than enough players to fill out a 12-man roster showed up at the first tryout in March, but word got around, he said. Two dozen showed up in June. Thirty came in October. The first to try out for the team were all recruited by management. October’s tryout brought nothing but unfamiliar faces. Over the course of the spring and summer, most of the prospects were local, but one came from as far as Philadelphia.

The players who made the cut are all local, as is Coach Aaron Smith, a former basketball player and women’s basketball assistant coach at Lynchburg College. Players range in age from 22 to 34. Several of the players are former Division I standouts. Team captain, Damien Hubbard, played for the Liberty Flames; Jeremi Booth for the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Frisco Sandidge was a leader at Heritage High School and a Delaware State Hornet.

“I was always interested,” Hubbard said. “You’re at home. You get to play in front of your family and everybody. It’s a good opportunity for the city. During the winter months, if you’re not from here, you don’t want to go to the high school games because you don’t really know anyone.”

Familiar Moves, With a Few New Rules

On this Saturday night in December, the Legends are putting on a show, and it has fans on their feet. For the first half, though, there are more jeers than cheers. The Raleigh players are weaving through Lynchburg’s defense like the players’ feet are nailed to the floor. On offense, passes are going through players’ hands or out of bounds to no one in particular. It’s 40-32 and it looks like the Legends’ undefeated home record is about to end.

Building slowly in the second half, the team mounts a comeback. In the fourth quarter, the Legends finally trump the Jaguars, 113-103. Hubbard and Booth each leave the Armory with more than 20 points scored.

The style of play is fast-paced and definitely heavy on offense. Most of the Legends’ games have been triple-digit-scoring affairs. Although the ABA has its own set of rules, the differences from NCAA and NBA standards aren’t so great that they are immediately obvious to a casual watcher—except for the ABA’s red, white and blue ball and the association’s “3D” rule.

To encourage more defensive play, the league rewards teams that steal the ball from the offense on the back court, then score, with an extra point. It can also go into effect if the ball goes out of bounds after touching a player or official on the front court. It’s hard to follow, but at the Armory, “3D” is signaled with a pink strobe light at the scoring table–impossible to miss. And, for fans of the back-court buzzer-beater, those are good for four points.

Other than the distinctive ball, this ABA is of no relation to the ABA of the late ’60s and ’70s that brought the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets and San Antonio Spurs to the NBA in the 1976 merger.

The crowd this Saturday night is overwhelmingly made up of people in their 20s and 30s, interspersed with a few older folks and some families with small children. With an all-local team comes a fan base of folks who grew up with the players, went to school with them, know them from the neighborhood or who are flat-out related.

Legend Devon McRae’s sister, Tameka, is camping in the stands with a group of a dozen from Altavista, including her 5-year-old daughter.

“It’s very safe,” McRae said. “The staff here is very welcoming, and it’s very kid-friendly. I’d be at home anyway. This is nice and indoors. The game is definitely worth it.”

Building Up Staying Power

Although the ABA lists about 100 teams for the 2011-2012 season, the number actually playing games is far fewer. Some fizzle from lack of fan support; others from a lack of motivation. Although there are eight teams listed in Lynchburg’s Colonial Conference, only five, including the Legends, are on the schedule. The rest of the 26-game season has been rounded out playing the Raleigh team and the Greensboro Cheetahs–both from the league’s Mid Atlantic Conference.

With the team in its first year, the pay isn’t much. Polley pays players $100 to $150 per game, based on attendance, in an effort to compensate them for their time away from family and work. The team practices at least twice a week with the goal of getting in three practice sessions if players’ and staff schedules work out.

With at least one sellout 700-fan crowd at the Armory and the current team makeup, Polley sees staying power for the Legends.

“These guys love basketball,” he said. “Many of them were playing in pick-up games or in a league we organized twice a week anyway.”

Creating Impact On and Off the Court

It’s about more than just basketball. Polley said he hopes the Legends will be known just as much for the good they do in the community as their playing skills–mainly in their work with children. The team volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lynchburg, the Jubilee Family Development Center and the Salvation Army.

“Of course you want wins,” Hubbard said. “You also want wins off the court. We’re out and about with little kids coming up to us. Making them happy is good enough for us. It’s important for us to be a positive influence.”

Being a part of downtown Lynchburg’s economic development is also important to Polley. As the games are each drawing several hundred people, it’s a captive audience for advertisers, he said. He’s also hoping to get restaurants and other downtown businesses in on the crowds walking and driving past their storefronts on their way to the Armory.

“Having a team is great,” said Beckie Nix, director of the Lynchburg Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It instills more of that sense of community pride and bonds everyone together.”

Even better is the prospect of visiting teams and their supporters.

“It opens up another opportunity for not only the locals to attend something that builds community pride, but visitors can attend a game and extend their stay,” Nix said. “That makes a positive economic impact.”

The team plays four home games in January and three more in February. The full schedule is listed on the team’s website at lynchburglegendsaba.com. Tickets, which can be ordered online or purchased at the door, start at $8 for adults.

“The wisest of my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than artificial forcing,” Washington once wrote. “The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than to spend a dollar in an opera house.”

Although Washington came under fire from W.E.B. DuBois and other African American leaders of the time for his conciliatory language to white America, the impact he had on the lives of his contemporaries and the future of African Americans cannot be understated. At the Booker T. Washington National Monument, the life of this leader is not only celebrated, but it also exists to educates the public, giving them an understanding of how this man came to be a national leader and spokesperson for black Americans.

Located in Hardy, Virginia, the Booker T. Washington National Monument is a living snapshot of Washington’s life while he lived on the 20- acre farm of James and Elizabeth Burroughs. He spent the first nine years of his life there; during which time, he was a slave. Although he would later become an advisor to two presidents, an author, orator and founder of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School, his beginnings were humble.

Betsey Haynes, Park Ranger at the Booker T. Washington National Monument, says that she views the park as a site to continue conversations about race and society.

“Booker T. Washington National Monument preserves and protects the birth site and childhood home of Booker T. Washington while interpreting his life experiences and significance in American history as the most powerful African American [alive] between 1895 and 1915,” Haynes said. “The park provides a resource for public education and a focal point for continuing discussions about the legacies of Booker T. Washington and the evolving context of race in American society.”

Visitors to the monument get a better understanding of how Washington became a man of influence. Guests can watch a movie based on Dr. Washington’s autobiography, called Up From Slavery. The monument also gives visitors a glimpse of what life was life for Washington as a young slave. They can walk to the farm where he was born and lived as a slave and see the kitchen cabin where he lived with his mother, Jane—the farm cook—and his family. Although the cabin is a reconstruction of the original, the dirt floors and glassless windows of the space were built to match the original.

“They can also see the outline of the owner’s house (known as the “Big House”), and stand where Booker took his first breath of freedom when the Union soldier arrived to read the Emancipation Proclamation to the owners and the enslaved,” Haynes said.

Washington always remembered that moment, and the joy of his mother as she took him and his two siblings to West Virginia, where his father worked in the salt mines.

Considering his later accomplishments, many people often forget that Washington started his life as a slave. During his early years, he wasn’t allowed to be educated because educating slaves was illegal. Still, in 59 years, he managed to do more to bring about the American dream than most people who were born with much more than he was.

“Most people are surprised by how Booker lived,” Haynes said. “Booker was a slave so he was considered property and was not allowed to go to school to learn to read or write, although he had to carry books to school for the owner’s daughter, who was a teacher. I think this made him more determined to get an education once he got free.”

After leaving the Booker T. Washington National Monument, visitors often have a more realistic view of the day-to-day lives of slaves. Seeing the ground that Washington lived on and the home he lived in, clarifies slavery, taking it from historical fact into something tangible and real. Many find that walking the fields where slaves once toiled and seeing the views that slaves once viewed, with the knowledge that the onlookers, as free people, were not limited by the demands or desires of another makes the reality of slavery all the more powerful.

The monument is also a popular destination for parents and schools, with programs designed specifically for children that offer an enjoyable and educational visit. Through their pre-visit, on-site and post-visit activities, the park prides itself on its ability to adhere to the curriculum needs detailed in the Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools.

“There is a junior ranger program. Children ages 6 to 12 [years old] can come in and get a booklet and fill it out to earn a badge. We also have some special junior ranger programs that we schedule in the summer that kids can take part in,” Haynes explained.

Teachers can schedule curriculum-based tours for their classes and pre- and post-visit activities can be found on the park’s website.

There are also events for adults who may be interested in learning more about Washington, slavery, farming of that day or even the animals that would have been present on 19th century farms.

“We have special events throughout the year,” Haynes said. “Annual events include Juneteenth, a Harvest Time event in September, our Christmas event which is the 1st Saturday of each December. We are one of only a handful of National Parks located in this area of Virginia, so come out and visit.”

The monument is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Admission is free. Learn more online at www.nps.gov/bowa or by calling (540) 721-2094.

Events at the Monument:

The Plantation Trail is a path that takes visitors by the historic buildings of the park. Although these buildings are reconstructions of the originals, many of them can be explored. A walk along Plantation Trail will give visitors insight into what it was like to be on a 19th century farm in Virginia.

Jack-O-Lantern Branch Heritage Trail is a trail that will take visitors through the fields and forests of the park. Pick up a trail guide at the visitor’s center and have fun exploring.

Farm Area is where visitors to the park will find out about the farm animals that would have been present on the farm when Washington was a boy.

Garden Area is where visitors can learn what crops the Burroughs family grew and the techniques that were used.

Visitor Center is where the tour of the park should begin. Here, visitors are treated to exhibits, audio-visual presentations and a sales area where books on Washington, slavery and African American history can be purchased.

From the self-playing black Yamaha baby grand in the corner and the ‘20s flair meets New Orleans piano bar vibe, to the old-garage-turned-gym-now-turned-restaurant on Commerce Street in downtown Lynchburg, Jimmy’s on the James is anything but predictable. And quite frankly, that’s how owner, entertainer and sometimes chef, Jim Dudley, likes it.

“I like things that are—it’s not a word—but I like things that I call ‘funkified.’ I like things in a state of funkification,” Dudley explained of the mentality behind his restaurant. “I wanted this place to have an old school feel to it—to take the constants culinarily, musically, visually, and then funkify it, not update it, just funkify it.”

Open since October 1, 2010, Dudley’s “funkified” Southern American bistro that now bears his name and likeness plays like a “big city” eatery and, as a result, is grabbing the attention of many in and around the competitive Lynchburg restaurant scene. Voted “Best New Local Restaurant” by the readers of Lynchburg Living (see Page – for a complete list of “Best of 2011” winners), Jimmy’s on the James offers a menu rich in comfort foods. But it also serves something that no other local dinner spot does—the dying art of a multifaceted owner who also cooks and sings for his patrons.

“I get to blend my avocation with my vocation. I get to do what I have to do for a living and then find ways to enjoy myself inside of that. … It gives me a chance to perform, which I love more than anything else,” Dudley said.

Combining smooth vocals with prerecorded tracks that a former co-worker laid down for him, Dudley croons and “tickles” the ivories on his piano nightly, all in an effort to set the mood for the food.

“I can fake [playing] with my right hand; my left hand may as well be paralyzed but I can augment some things and create the illusion. But, I do do the singing. And I do consider myself as good as can be had for the material I choose to do,” he said.

Admittedly, Dudley says that part of any successful restaurant has to do with creating entertainment. Certainly, the musical aspect of Jimmy’s on the James is a unique niche, but Dudley contends that it’s only one element of the overall environment he is trying to create in his small, 38-seat restaurant. Art is also a factor in the visual equation. The restaurant’s warm, Tuscan yellow walls are punctuated by splashy black-and-white caricature paintings featuring the likes of Phyllis Diller, Ernie Kovacs, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton and George Burns. Created by Dudley’s brother-in-law, Roanoke-based artist Steve Stinson, the paintings emphasize the space’s “Roaring ‘20s” panache.

“We are creating, hopefully, a series of small wow factors that gives the sum total of a wow factor that people can’t get anywhere else, in total or in pieces,” Dudley said.

Of course, Dudley believes the largest “wow factor” at Jimmy’s on the James is the food itself. One part “healthy eating” and two parts comfort food, he created a menu that represents what he likes to eat—and he prides himself on having a discerning palate.

“I wanted to have something that was American overall and impale it with some ‘haute cuisine’ items every now and then and make it eclectic and use some other influences,” Dudley said. “I also wanted food that was authentically prepared that could really be enjoyed, that people could just say ‘Ahhh, someone who finally gets it!’”

Featuring a wide range of dishes, including Creole style pasta salad, Asian-inspired Ginger Tuna, hand-selected Filet Mignon, Jimmy’s Pasta Jambalaya, house made soups and seafood-enhanced appetizers, Jimmy’s on the James’ nightly line-up has a swath of signature staples. One of those staples is Lynwood’s Baby Cakes appetizer. Resembling hush puppies, these breaded balls come in a basket beside Creole dipping sauce, served up as a creamy crustacean sensation before the main course.

“You don’t use your fork for this one—you use your talons,” Dudley explained, grabbing a Baby Cake. “It’s equal parts of shrimp, scallop and crab meat rolled in a little bit of mayonnaise, a little sour cream and seasoning and Panko bread crumbs. A lot of good flavor with real tartar sauce. It’s a good dish to have with a cold beer or just about anything.”

Another dish worthy of washing down with any of the craft beers on tap is the “Bullet Bills Burger,” which is named after Dudley’s dad, former pro football player, Bill “Bullet” Dudley, who passed away last February.

Then there’s the baby back ribs—an oft-requested entrée with good reason.

“I do my ribs beautifully,” Dudley said. “I make my own rub up for them and lay it in a bed of oranges and onions, add cream sherry, add some liquid smoke and Worcheshire in a pan and slow cook them in the convection oven for three and a half or four hours. We put the sauce on the [hand-made] barbecue side so you can make as big or as little of a mess as you want.”

While some restaurants rely on traditional beef and chicken dishes to carry the weight of their offerings, Dudley took a different approach, selecting lamb as his menu’s meat of choice. It was this choice that unexpectedly led to the creation of what is now among their most unique menu items—the City Tavern Pie.

“I love lamb and I wanted that to be the centerpiece of the menu,” Dudley said. “And from that, I said, ‘What am I going to do with the trim from it?’ I have to do something with it if I’m paying $14 a pound for it. So that’s where the City Tavern Pie came in because I can take lamb, beef and pork and put that in a pie and it’s kind of a stew, but it’s also a pie. It looks good … it’s very comfortable with roast potatoes and carrots in a Guinness and parsley gravy, which is a nice touch.”

Southern sides are also found in abundance at Jimmy’s on the James. Succotash and spoon bread are just two of Dudley’s favorites.

“[Spoon bread] can be comforting like mashed potatoes; it’s all that same feel but it’s a different flavor,” he said. “Two hundred years ago, it was as much of a staple of people’s plates as rice or potatoes are now. It’s a genuine, authentic flavor of Virginia and the South.”

Also paying homage to his regional roots is Dudley’s appeal to the Southern sweet tooth. In fact, when it came time to create the dessert menu, he decided he had just the trick to turn an already much-loved cookie into a sinful indulgence. The result is the “F3”—deep fried Oreos topped with crème anglaise, fresh whipped cream and berries.

“People say, ‘How can you possibly improve an Oreo?’ And I respond: ‘I’ve seen me do it!’” Dudley bragged of the decadent dessert.

In true restaurateur style, Dudley likes to switch things up with nightly specials that may include seasonal fresh fish and veggies. And, in an effort to further stretch the chefs’ culinary acumen, Jimmy’s on the James now offers a Wine Dinner on the first Monday of every month. For $50, each guest receives six courses and six wines throughout the course of their meal.

“It gives everyone in the kitchen a chance to spread their wings. That’s when we try to be a little more haute cuisine and be adventurous. And it works … it’s a lot of fun,” Dudley said.

Then again, this is all part of his strategy. Keenly aware that restaurants past their one year birthday need to create menus, staff members and atmospheres that customers connect to, Dudley says he plans to keep things inventive in order to keep Jimmy’s on the James continually enjoyable and relevant.

“Every so often you have to … you don’t have to reinvent the wheel but you have to come up with a new hub cap,” he explained. “You have to do something so that your public doesn’t think you are sitting on your laurels, whether that’s changing your menu around or your curtains—something where they see you, as the business owner, are spending money on and investing on their behalf. You are constantly trying to move the bar up and do right by them.”

For Dudley, raising the bar also means expanding his space. At 1,600 square feet, Jimmy’s on the James is downright tiny by restaurant standards, especially considering it houses a full kitchen. As luck, or strategic idea dropping on Dudley’s part would have it, his nephew from Roanoke bought the 48,000-square-foot building next door in April. With construction well underway to create residential lofts, Dudley is also carving out a piece of the pie for himself in the former warehouse’s loading dock. It is there that he plans to move his office and glass in the garage doors to create another 25 seats. This area will not only serve as a place for private parties, but will also create “al fresco” seating for Jimmy’s on the James by allowing the staff to raise the garage door to bring fresh air in when the weather permits.

With hopes of having the expansion complete sometime this summer, Dudley says he will carry the live music that Jimmy’s on the James is known for throughout new space as well, thanks to a strategically placed camera in the main dining room that will project the entertainment onto a large screen in the new dining space.

In the in-between, however, Dudley is content to serenade those who come downtown to pay him a visit, soak in his silky vocals and savor a meal chocked full of flavor, and maybe just a little bit of fatty goodness.

“Come here and treat yourself. … All bets are off when you go out to eat,” Dudley said. “Have a hell of a good time and enjoy yourself!”

Learn more about Jimmy’s on the James and peruse their menu at www.jimmysonthejames.com.