LeesburgTalk

Our town has an unfair burden to bear. And it has nothing to do with the cost of water or sewer services or anything as mundane as that. It has to do with the petty, self-serving politicians we are saddled with who are continually re-elected by playing games at the expense of Leesburg residents rather than bucking up and do the tough jobs they were elected to do. We offer the following correspondence from our mayor in the context that it deserves.

Webster’s Dictionary defines:

demagogue (noun) – a politician who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power

Last week, Leesburg mayor Kristen Umstattd sent this letter [PDF download] to her political supporters, rife with misleading statistics, gross revisionist history, and a utter disregard for the facts surrounding her role as the leader in the utility rate debacle.

I’d like to take a moment to address the hypocrisy in her latest bit of pamphleteering, starting with the most egregious example of demagoguery she’s trotted out lately, her call for “class warfare” between her voters and our neighbors. I’ll address the substance (or lack thereof) of her “facts” in a subsequent post on LeesburgTalk once everyone has had a chance to read her latest work of fiction.

Umstattd writes:

“Wealthy out-of-town customers will see their water bills go down significantly, while Leesburg’s middle class families will see our bills go up…” and that “they… need cheaper water because they have larger, estate-size lawns and they want to keep them green.”

Let me start by introducing Ms. Umstattd, who lives in a $400,000 house (2008) on Foxridge Dr. in Leesburg to my friend, Mary, who is an out of town customer of Leesburg’s water and sewer utilities. Mary is a single parent raising 2 children in a small home on Sherbrooke Terrace, just outside of the eastern town limits. Mary’s home is appraised at barely 50% ($226,000 in 2008) of the “estate” that Ms Umstattd resides in. She struggles to provide for her family in tough economic times and has found that her water and sewer rates doubled in 2007 because of a punitive vote spearheaded by Ms. Umstattd and her faction on the town council to play the class warfare card in an election year.

So Mary, who struggles to make ends meet with an hourly position at a company who recently left Leesburg for a more economically enlightened town to our west, is one of those “wealthy” out of towners the mayor wants us to hate so we’ll lose sight of the fact that it was she who instigated this whole debacle in the first place. Mary is the villain in this performance being presented by our mayor, while our mayor resides comfortably on the law degrees she and her husband share, enjoying cheap and plentiful water inside town, which she voted to keep cheap and plentiful by arbitrarily raising out of town rates 100% instead of keeping up with inflation and incrementally raising the rates of all customers in an election year.

This financially unsubstantiated and politically motivated rate increase led to the obvious lawsuit (the 4th the town has incurred as a direct result of Umstattd’s “service” to the voters since her first election). And now Umstattd, an officer of the court, seems to be advocating contempt of court in her letter as well by calling for a 100% or greater punitive surcharge on out of town water users without any statistical or cost data to warrant it. This is in utter disregard for Judge Horne’s order that mandates that the town reduce out of town rates by 45.51%.

Is there really any good reason for Leesburg to continue to allow this demagoguery to persist?

This week’s round-up includes two Hamilton establishments that are related. First, we stopped for lunch at Lowry’s at Wayside Seafood Market and have good things to report. When Lowry’s opened about 2 years ago, it was a bit of a surprise when fans of the old Planet Wayside first drove by to see what was now in its place. Long gone were the Planet’s funky dining room, outdoor deck, and the ancient rest stop “facilities” that were held over from its old life as a traveler’s rest area on old Rt. 7. In its place was a brand new building serving cooked to order seafood, with a full selection of fresh fish and shellfish in a great market setting.

Lowry’s now sports indoor and outdoor seating, live music on the weekends, and is the only place you’ll likely find within 40 miles to get a bushel of steamed blue crabs to pick. The lunch crowd was impressive, with the indoor seating filled and overflowing into the outdoor area by noon. The daily specials included several “salad” sandwiches with sides, including crab, seafood, tuna, chicken, and egg salad for around $6. We decided to order from the regular menu, putting the kitchen’s blue crab acumen to the test by ordering the Crab Ball Basket and the Softshell Sandwich.

The Basket came with four big balls of seasoned backfin crab meat, a couple of hushpuppies, and a choice of side dish which was cinnamon applesauce in our case. The crab balls are just smaller versions of the crabcake elsewhere on the menu and were nicely spiced with large pieces of crab and a minimum amount of filler to hold it all together. As usual, the hushpuppies were nice and crispy, with a light texture that would have gone well with a little butter. While tasty, the applesauce could have done with a lot less cinnamon, which made it a bit bitter.

The softshell sandwich was served with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce on a buttered and toasted bun, with a side of Lowry’s signature waffle-cut fries. The crab was a nice size, bigger than the bun could hold, and was very lightly breaded and cooked just so. Having grown up in Hampton Roads, one can be a bit snobby about one’s crabs. For a landlocked seafood shop at the foot of the Blue Ridge, Lowry’s does softshells better than most places I’ve dined at within a stone’s throw of the Chesapeake or Atlantic.

Our lunch with drinks and two entrees was about $25. That seems the norm for most sit-down lunch places in our area now, but still seems a bit high to my out-of-date dining sensibilities. Regardless, Lowry’s is a great place to head if you have a desire for some good seafood for lunch or dinner, or for some fresh fish to take home and cook. It should still be one of the more popular destinations for bikers on the W&OD with live music outside on the weekend, and it’s a great place to bring the kids, too. And nothing beats being able to drive a few miles to dump a basket of crabs on the table and whack away with a hammer for a weekend afternoon meal with friends. Lowry’s is at 420 West Colonial Highway (old Rt. 7), just west of downtown Hamilton at the old Planet Wayside Location.

Our second stop for the week was just a few blocks east of Lowry’s (52A West Colonial Highway) at the Hamilton General Store, which is owned and operated by the same family that runs Lowry’s. Wanting to find a bit of dessert to top off the seafood lunch, we pulled into Hamilton’s take on the classic small town general store. Much like its peers in Bluemont, Aldie, or Waterford, this is a classic general store, with local produce, organic meat, eggs, and dairy products, big jars of candy, freezers of ice cream, and the usual grocery items you might need in a pinch. Obviously the focus is on local producers, with everything from heirloom tomatoes to hand made candies for sale. The store would be an awesome destination for the family wanting a quick weekend outing. Leaving Leesburg along Dry Mill Rd. takes you on a nice, scenic 15 minute ride through neighboring horse farms and vineyards, the Loudoun Co. fairgrounds, and scenic little Hamilton. It’s certainly worth the short drive from Leesburg for a quick time warp to the early 20th century.

Finally, a quick update about one of our favorites. Thai Pan, the little Thai restaurant next to the Liberty gas station, recently received their beer and wine license. So now you can have a nice glass of wine or a Thai beer with your dinner. Enjoy!

Here’s a map to Lowry’s and the Hamilton General Store:

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Here are a couple of things to do this first weekend in August if you’re out of ideas:

Tonight and tomorrow are the last days of the Loudoun County Fair. Tonight you can catch the midway opening at 6 PM and Hansen’s Spectacular Thrill Show. Saturday evening is the ever-popular bull riding and Kiss-a-Pig, where local luminaries pucker up for charity.

For the outdoorsy types on Saturday morning, its the 13th Annual Loudoun Co. Butterfly Count,  hosted by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.

If you prefer a more sedate pace, try catching Saturday night’s Acoustic on the Green concert with the Joe Daniel Acoustic Band on the town green in front of town hall on Market St.

Finally, the Bluemont Concert Series at Dodona Manor rounds out the weekend with The Lindsay Family. (They’re playing Middleburg on Saturday night if you can’t make the Sunday concert.)

This week in the Master Gardeners’ garden at Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, we have been busy harvesting beans, cucumbers, squash and chard. We are also harvesting artichokes, peppers, lettuce and the last of our kale. We have planted more bush bean seeds – there is still plenty of time for them to grow and produce beans before cold weather sets in.

We planted more “seed” potatoes and they are already sprouting (it is still not too late to plant potatoes, either. You can try growing them in a whiskey barrel or large flower pot – but not the potatoes you get from the grocery store as they have been treated so they will not sprout). Also our sweet potatoes are flowering and are very beautiful (you could try these next year in whiskey or wine barrel – just suspend a sweet potato in a glass of water with tooth picks and when it sprouts, plant the sprouts in the soil).

We have been spraying our cucurbits with “Surround”, a clay that helps deter bugs, but have had some trouble with wilt from the squash and cucumber beetles.

Also we have been treating our tomatoes with copper dust (be very careful if you use this and use it early), compost tea and continued trimming of diseased leaves for “early blight” and are hopeful for a good harvest.

By the way, if you are interested in choices of tomatoes for next year here is a web site that compares productiveness of different tomatoes
http://www.todaysgardencenter.com/news/varietycentral/index.php?storyid=2235

Now is the time to plant fall turnips, beets, carrots, kale and lettuces. As you clear out a crop have some compost ready to put in the bed before you put in the next seeds or transplants. A handful of compost mixed into the area where you are planting will help with fertility and disease resistance.

Continue to monitor for water – remember 1 inch per week. And water less frquently and more deeply (perhaps twice per week for 30 minutes, rather than every day for 5 minutes as this will encourage deeper roots for your plants).

In the ornamental beds we are “dead-heading” (removing spent flowers from plants) and cutting back day lily foliage, coreopsis and Siberian iris foliage.

Happy gardening and if you have any questions about any of this information, or have any other gardening questions, please contact the Master Gardeners’
“Help Desk” at 703-771-5150 or email us at ex107mg@vt.edu .

Thanks again for the above information from the “Garden to Table” group of the Loudoun County Master Gardeners!  As an aside, mark your calendars now as this group will be holding a two day veggie growing symposium at the Ida Lee downstairs meeting rooms.  The dates are March 20 & 21st, and we are in the process of booking some high profile speakers!  The cost will be affordable as we are plowing our profits back into the community!  Keep posted and I’ll let you know more as the information becomes available.

Maybe someone on the town council or staff should take a look at this and get Leesburg in line for some of this free police stuff they are giving away in Washington?

The annual Leesburg Airport Open House is only a month away.  On Saturday, August 29th from 10 AM until 4 PM, the airport is open for everyone to come visit. Admission is free and you’ll have access to lots of cool aircraft like the classic B-17 operated by the Commemorative Air Force, food, plane rides, and other events for kids and adults. The always-popular hangar dance with a live swing band and dancing, classic cars, and other great events round out the open house.

Volunteers are needed to help with setting up the event, parking, providing directions, and other logistical functions. If you’d like a behind-the-scenes look at how the airport operates, consider lending a hand. You can contact Tom Toth at 703-443-8684 for more details on how to help out.

As the day grows closer, watch here for more details on events, aircraft, and other news about the open house.

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The Environmental Advisory Commission (EAC) is a great group of commissioners who are challenged with helping the town with the environmental issues while still being cognizant of the business of running a town.  Obviously, recycling plays a large part of our education efforts:  Did you know Leesburg is one of the few places that recycles plastics from 1 to 7?  This means there probably isn’t a plastic bottle or container that you need to throw into the trash.  Also, think of upgrading your recycling container.  If the blue box is filled two days after it’s emptied, you can pick up a recycling sticker from Town Hall to adhere to any trash can.

Along with recycling, the EAC has several agendas:  education, energy conservation, watershed and stream protection, wildlife stewardship, and natural lawn and gardens (i.e., things that are native, grow best without aid of chemicals).

Did you know?  The EAC recently planned and planted $10,000 worth of trees in two areas!  One was the dry storm water pond at Kincaid Forest, and the other was the flood plane area adjacent to the bowling alley on Harrison Street.

Click here for pictures of the bowling alley project.

Two new development projects have been submitted to town – both are churches.  St. Johns Catholic Church has submitted a special exception to build at the corner of North King Street and Oakcrest Manor (there is a sign on the “knoll” where they’d like to build).  Also, the Christ Community Lutheran Church has submitted to build out at the old Lowes Hardware site at Cardinal Park Drive.

More Later on What the EAC is doing for you!

Linda Shotton

Went to the Leesburg Farmer’s Market today, mostly to get some fresh eggs. Unfortunately, getting there after about 10 AM means the eggs are usually sold out from most of the vendors. But surprise! Just across the parking lot at of all places, Swim Gem, you can get fresh from the farm eggs! And for $.50 less than most of the market vendors!

This week’s round-up covers our visit to Red Kabob, located at 521A East Market St. in Leesburg. For those that know, this is the “Starbucks” shopping center and they’re located in the old Severn Mortgage space.

The dining room is spacious and immaculately clean, with a large TV and free WiFi for diners who need to be entertained while eating. But the food is the highlight of Red Kabob, as it should be. The meats are perfectly cooked, side dishes quite tasty, and portions are more than enough for one person. We had the beef and the chicken kabob plates, which came with basmati rice and a small salad and a large, locally baked pita. Along with the dinner came two very nice dipping sauces, a minty, spicy one that went very well with the beef and the classic yogurt/mint tzatziki sauce.

I can’t overstate how nicely the meats were prepared. So often, kabob restaurants have the meat pre-cooked and it ends up dry and tough as it is reheated. The chicken and beef were tender, moist, and very nicely spiced.

In addition to the main courses, we had a side order of hummus, which would have been nice with a little olive oil, but was fine by itself, with probably more tahini than some recipes, which made it quite tasty.

The owners are very enthusiastic about their new restaurant and are quite happy to offer you a taste of something else, or a little bit more of what you were having if you’re still hungry. My only regret is not realizing how large the portions are. Two full plates is really more than enough for 3 or 4 people, so you can probably get away with splitting one of the combination dishes if you want to keep the per person lunch cost under $10. Our bill for 2 dinners, drinks, and a side of hummus was $24.

The graciousness of the owners and the perfect preparation of the meats make this place a repeat visit for sure.

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Three more days before the Loudoun County Fair opens! Once again this year, the fair will present a lot of great events: a demolition derby, the Ives brothers with their motocycle acrobatics, the professional bull riding and of course the pie eating contest! Check out the schedule and buy your tickets!