Town of Abingdon, Virginia : March 2018

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Agenda for Town Council Meeting on 4-2-18

THE ABINGDON FARMERS MARKET’S OPENING DAY, APRIL 7TH

THE ABINGDON FARMERS MARKET’S OPENING DAY, APRIL 7^TH

Abingdon, V.A.—The Abingdon Farmers Market will kick off their regular season Saturday, April 7^th 2018. The market is located on the corner of Remsburg Dr. and Cummings Street in Abingdon, VA. There will be over 50 vendors from local farms, artisans and prepared food vendors set up to sell their goods and to promote fresh local food throughout the community. This will be the official beginning to the 2018 market season that will continue through Thanksgiving with hours of operation on Saturdays from 8am- 1pm and Tuesdays from 3pm-6pm.

The Abingdon Farmers Market fundraiser raffle ticket sales will begin at 8am April 7^th with the drawing on April 21st during the Earth Day event at 12:45pm. Tickets are $5.00 each or 5 for $20 and will be available for purchase at the AFM information table as well as at some vendor booths. We will be drawing 3 tickets.

Grand Prize is at least $250 worth of vendor merchandise and gift certificates.

First Prize is at least $150 worth of vendor merchandise and gift certificates.

Second prize is a $50 gift certificate to the Abingdon Farmers Market.

All proceeds will go toward our Farm Fresh Kids Program and on site Chef’s demonstrations.

The market hours will now be: Saturdays, 8am-1pm & Tuesdays, 3pm-6pm, through November. There are several new events planned for this season, including Chef’s demos, an Herb Festival, Berry Festival, Tomato Festival, Squashtober Fest along with other events to celebrate the bounty of locally produced foods & goods. We expect a full season, over 50 full-time vendors, offering a wide variety of local meats, eggs, cheeses, vegetables, fruits, wines, prepared foods and art & crafts. Now you can find even more of your everyday needs at the Abingdon Farmers Market.

Please contact David McLeish at (276)-698-1434 or email abingdonmarket@gmail.com with any questions. You can also visit the market website at www.abingdonfarmersmarket.com or follow us on Facebook: Abingdon Farmers Market, Instagram: abingdonmarket.

Friday, March 23, 2018

"Abingdon In Bloom" Merchant Open House on 3-25-18

Please share!

“Abingdon In Bloom” starts this Sunday with the Merchant Open House from 1:00PM to 5:00PM. Check out all the businesses that are participating and the activities happening during the event-

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Full-Time Laborer Position Available

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Budget Work Session Meeting on 3-27-18

Monday, March 19, 2018

Statewide Tornado Drill On March 20, 2018

The Town of Abingdon will be participating in the statewide Tornado Drill on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at 9:45 AM. The Town's AlertAbingdon Notification system will be activated to simulate an actual Tornado Warning Notification. This will include the Town's warning sirens, as they will sound as part of this drill. DO NOT CALL 911 in regards to warning siren inquiries! In the event that an emergency occurs during the time of the drill, the proper precautions will go into effect.

To receive the notifications from AlertAbingdon for the drill and future events, please go to alertabingdon.com or text 24210 to 888777 to sign up for alerts. To further participate in the drill itself, please sign up at http://www.vaemergency.gov/tornadodrill/.

Non-department Budget Meeting Agenda for 3-20-18:

Friday, March 16, 2018

The Award-Winning Virginia Creeper Fest returns Saturday April 28 in Abingdon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 16, 2018

Contact: Amanda Leslie Livingston

Marketing Manager

Abingdon Convention & Visitors Bureau

335 Cummings Street, Abingdon VA 24210

(276) 676-2282

The Award-Winning Virginia Creeper Fest returns Saturday April 28 in Abingdon

Abingdon, VA – The Virginia Creeper Fest is a free, family-friendly event celebrating all things outdoors, and now, in its second year, it can add “award-winning” to that list of adjectives. At the recent American Advertising Federation Awards, SWVA Chapter, Virginia Creeper Fest took home a Gold Award for the Virginia Creeper Fest advertising campaign, as well as the People’s Choice and overall Best in Show. The festival returns Saturday April 28^th to downtown Abingdon.

Virginia Creeper Fest celebrates the creation of the famous Virginia Creeper Trail, and highlights the multitude of outdoor recreation opportunities along the trail. The festival includes hands-on activities and demos for all ages, live music, food trucks, and information about how to get outside and enjoy the Creeper Trail.

Virginia Creeper Fest received the Gold designation at the 2018 AAF SWVA American Advertising Awards Gala, held February 24, 2018 at K-VA-T Corporate Support Center in Abingdon. The advertising campaign, including posters, ads, merchandise and website, were also awarded the People’s Choice Award and Best in Show. The American Advertising Awards, formerly the ADDYs, is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting over 40,000 entries every year in local AAF Club (Ad Club) competitions. The mission of the American Advertising Awards competition is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising.

Virginia Creeper Fest returns for a second year Saturday April 28, from 10:30am to 5:00pm. With activities like a climbing wall, hammock hangouts, disc dog exhibitions, and field games for the kids, tree identification along the trail and scavenger hunts, there will be plenty to keep the hard-core outdoor enthusiasts and novice nature lovers busy all day. There will be also be live music, food trucks and local outfitters throughout the day, as well as raffle giveaways.

The festival takes place in Abingdon, at the intersection of Green Spring Road and A Streets, near the trailhead. Additional activities, like nature walks and bike rides, will take place on the trail itself. A full schedule and festival guide will be available on www.vacreeperfest.com beginning April 1st.

One of the earliest rails-to-trails success stories, the Creeper Trail is now a major economic engine for Southwest Virginia, drawing over 200 thousand visitors annually.

####

2018 April Council Meeting Notice for 4-2-18:

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

2018 Agriculture Appreciation Day Proclaimed for Washington County Virginia and Localities

March 12, 2018 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2018 Agriculture Appreciation Day Proclaimed for Washington County Virginia and Localities

Washington County, VA - This March, local governing bodies, including Abingdon Town Council, Washington County Board of Supervisors and Damascus Town Council, are simultaneously proclaiming March 20, 2018 as Agriculture Appreciation Day. This date coincides with the National Ag Day, as proclaimed by the Agriculture Council of America. The Agriculture Council of America (ACA) is an organization uniquely composed of leaders in the agriculture, food and fiber communities dedicated to increasing the public awareness of agriculture's vital role in our society. The Agriculture Council of America and the National Ag Day program was started in 1973

Agriculture is the leading industry in Washington County, Virginia, and as such plays a critical economic role in the county and the towns held within. Washington County ranks statewide at the top producer for goats, sheep and lambs, number of farms, and eggs. Washington County is one of the largest livestock marketing centers east of the Mississippi, selling over $40 million in livestock. In town limits, Damascus, Glade Spring and Abingdon Farmers Markets provide local produce, meat, and artisan goods to the local community. Abingdon Farmers Market has consistently led the state in progressive efforts, including offering EBT access to low-income consumers, and has been recognized as a model market by the USDA.

Phil Blevins, Unit Coordinator and Extension Agent remarks on the importance of an Ag Appreciation Day, “Agriculture should be recognized by the citizenry because it is our largest industry and the foundation of our communities. I believe that farming and agriculture will always be important to our area, because farmers do what they do because it is part of who they are. They love the land and the animals they care for and when one enterprise doesn’t work out they will find another way to make it farming. I believe this because of the young farmers I meet who are hardworking, enthusiastic farmers that are willing to use part of their precious time be an advocate for the industry”

The push for local governing bodies to recognize National Ag Day was led by a group of participants in the Leadership Washington County Program. Each year, participants of the Leadership Washington County group are required to complete a team project after learning about local government, history and economic development. This team included members: Carter Bauman, Chris Hanor, Jeff Jones, Sara Saavedra, Wayne Stevens and Kristen White who successfully advocated for the Towns of Abingdon, and Damascus, as well as the Washington County Board of Supervisors, to proclaim the third Tuesday of March as Agriculture Appreciation Day.

Members of the community are encouraged to show appreciation for those in the agriculture industry on March 20, 2018 by using the hashtags provided below through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Social Media hashtags: #AgDayWashCo #FoodforLife #AgDay18

For more information, visit www.agday.org or contact Sara Saavedra at (276) 676-2282 or ssaavedra@abingdon-va.gov

Come Celebrate Earth Day in Abingdon!

Come Celebrate Earth Day in Abingdon!

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION, PAPER SHREDDING & E-WASTE RECYCLING

The Town of Abingdon will hold its 2018 EARTH DAY CELEBRATION on Saturday, April 21^st from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Fields-Penn House on Main Street across from the Farmers Market in Abingdon. Admission is FREE. This year there will be approximately 60 groups (non-profits, private groups, local businesses, educators and state & federal agencies) providing a great deal of fun and information to share. The theme of the event is Biodiversity: Plants, Animals & Habitats of SWVA.

Several activities are planned throughout the celebration such as a rain barrel workshop where you can make your own rain barrel to take home (registration required). MECC’s mobile solar powered energy system, SPARC-E, will be on-site for walk-through tours. There will be a free Kids Zone area with free games & prizes, a “trash to treasure” crafts tent, educational displays, face painting, and a local foods food court. Kids who bring the Earth Day flyer to the Sustain Abingdon table will receive a free “green” item! There will be a food drive to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank. Bring in two (2) cans of food and receive a free gift (one per family, supplies are limited).

Just down the street in front of the Arts Depot, we will have free document shredding and a drop-off area for electronic waste (e-waste). Any item that has a power-cord or uses batteries is considered e-waste. E-waste includes but is not limited to laptop/desktop computers, CRT /LCD monitors, hard drives, modems, plug and play devices, printers/scanners, copiers, commercial telephone equipment, fax machines, power backups, power transformers, misc. electronic business equipment, wires, cables, circuit boards, video game systems, DVD/VCR players, microwave ovens, televisions, and small electronic household appliances. This will be a free service provided by the Town of Abingdon. Items with compressors like refrigerators, ACs and dehumidifiers cannot be accepted. Other household hazardous materials (like batteries, chemicals, petroleum products and fluorescent light bulbs) can be taken to MXI Inc. during their annual HHW event in May.

For information, please contact Sarita Moore, of the Town of Abingdon Sustain Abingdon Committee, at 276-628-4321 or visit the Sustain Abingdon website: www.sustainabingdon.com or like us on facebook: www.facebook.com/SustainAbingdon.

Adventure Tourism Workshop on 3-29-18

Friday, March 9, 2018

Grand opening of Morgan’s set for March 23rd, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Grand opening of Morgan’s set for March 23rd

ABINGDON, VA. / Morgan’s announced today that the upscale restaurant will open its doors on March 23^rd, 2018 at 190 East Main Street, Abingdon, VA.

Morgan’s will offer lunch, dinner, and Sunday Brunch featuring fresh seafood, handmade pastas, local ingredients, and global inspirations. One of the featured menu items, a Wattle Seed Spiced Tasmanian Salmon, melds traditional Appalachian white bean and corn succotash with an Aboriginal Australian spice, wattle seed, and Tasmanian Salmon. Tasmanian Atlantic Salmon comes from one of the purest and most pristine environments in the world. Australia’s southernmost state is renowned for its cool, clean waters which make it an ideal location for salmon farming. Chef Stephen Gilbert will also feature lunch items such as a Bahn Mi, a traditional Vietnamese pork sandwich with pickled vegetables and a jalapeno and garlic marmalade. Brunch items will be a mixture of lunch and breakfast items including Steak and Eggs and Shrimp and Grits.

The restaurant’s concept will explore the idea of “Old world, new world, whole world,” which utilizes traditional techniques of cooking, new technologies and styles, and global influences. Through a love of travel and international culture, Chef Gilbert has been taking influences from all over the world and creatively presenting them using some of the freshest ingredients from the southwest Virginia area. Menus are changed seasonally to allow for the utilization of seasonal ingredients and to highlight chef creativity. “Experimentation and presentation are the driving points of our cuisine as we create seasonal menus and daily specials that highlight the best flavors and ingredients of that season, as well as allowing for creative explorations of these ingredients, says Chef Stephen Gilbert.”

A native of Abingdon, Gilbert graduated from Southeast Culinary Institute in Bristol, VA and began a career focused on fine dining in southwest Virginia. Since then, Stephen has developed a clientele that has followed him and continues to follow him wherever he goes. Stephen most notably has served as Executive Chef at The Tavern, Sous Chef at Bristol Motor Speedway and Heartwood, and has worked at House on Main.

The new restaurant is named for Chef Steve's intrepid world-traveling wife Morgan, a local artist and art educator whose love of exploring other cultures and talent for documenting them in art photography will be on bold display throughout the dining rooms. She is an art teacher at Lebanon High School and an art history instructor at Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon. Her students are helping make artisan style plates and bowls for the restaurant and will help her create the prints of her travel photography.

Bar Manager and Sommelier Heather Davis is thrilled to be bringing her years of experience developing cocktail and wine programs in the San Francisco Bay Area home to Abingdon. Morgan's theme of "Old World, New World, Whole World" is a perfect fit with Ms. Davis's passion for pairing traditional international spirits, beer, and wine with contemporary American cooking. Diners who belly up to the bar at Morgan's are in for an adventurous world tour of time honored classics and unique, rarely imported new finds.

"We want the bar menu at Morgan's to read like a travel guide. Expect a metropolitan-style craft cocktail menu that explores culinary combinations from all over the world, a wine list offering familiar varieties from classic regions alongside some rare exotic gems, and beer and spirits lists that celebrate old world tradition and local innovation side by side."

Morgan’s is now taking reservations for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch by calling (276) 258-5632. Reservations are recommended.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Abingdon is in bloom with spring events and activities in March and April

Abingdon is in bloom with spring events and activities in March and April

Abingdon, VA – The town of Abingdon is in bloom this spring, with outdoor activities, arts events and shopping specials taking place March 24-April 28, 2018. “Abingdon in Bloom” is a town-wide initiative, inspired by the new exhibit “Art in Bloom” at William King Museum of Art. During the museum’s special exhibit, running April 14-16, over 25 expert floral designers from the region will interpret artwork from the museum’s galleries – through flowers.

Abingdon in Bloom includes family-friendly events each weekend, March 25^th through April 28^th. Kicking off the season Sunday March 25^th, the Abingdon Merchant’s Open House offers kids activities like an Easter Egg hunt, shopping specials throughout town, and a window display contest inspired by Art in Bloom.

Other Abingdon in Bloom events include a community garden day at Fairview Historic Homestead, live scale impressionist painting on the lawn of the Martha Washington Inn and Spa, the Mid-Atlantic Garden Faire at SWVA Higher Ed Center, Earth Day, and the Opening of the Abingdon Farmers Market.

The series of events wraps up with the 2^nd Annual Virginia Creeper Fest, Saturday April 28^th 10:30am to 5:00pm. This free, family-friendly festival highlights the multitude of outdoor activities available in the region. Participants can get hands on with a rock climbing wall, yoga in the park, tree identification along the trail, scheduled bike rides, geocaching, disc dog exhibitions and clinics, stand-up paddle board demos, food trucks and live music throughout the day. More information at vacreeperfest.com

Art in Bloom is a special event at William King Museum of Art. Over 25 expert floral designers from the region will interpret artwork from the museum’s five galleries April 14-16. Visitors can tour the floral designs inspired by the exhibitions on display including Suzanne Stryk: Notes on the State of Virginia, Coal Country, Touching the Sacred, and Appalachian decorative arts from our the Museum’s permanent Betsy K. White Cultural Heritage Gallery. Admission is just $5 and includes access to all exhibitions on display.

Full list of Abingdon in Bloom events

Saturday March 24, 2018

Garden Kickoff Day at Fairview Historic Homestead, 11am – 2pm

Free event to learn about all things gardening. Guest speakers, info, local food, & giveaways.

Sunday March 25, 2018

Abingdon’s Merchants Open House, 1:00 – 5:00pm

Spring window decoration contest, one-day-only specials and sales, kids activities at Main Street Park, including an egg hunt, refreshments, and ribbon cutting for the new playground.

Sunday April 1, 2018

Abingdon Gardens at Fairview open up for planting

Claim a spot in Abingdon’s “Grow Your Own” Community Garden

March 24 – April 12, 2018

Live Scale Impressionist Painting with William King Museum of Art artist Ron Bayens on the lawn at The Martha Washington Inn & Spa.

Friday & Saturday, April 6-7, 2018

Mid-Atlantic Garden Faire at the Southwest Virginia Higher Ed Center, 8am – 5pm

Garden Marketplace, Seminars & Workshops, Plant Advice, Door Prizes, Special Youth Classes http://www.gardenfaire.net/

Saturday April 7, 2018

Opening Day of the Abingdon Farmers Market, 8am – 1pm

The region’s best farmers market, featuring farm products, crafts and gifts. www.abingdonfarmersmarket.com

April 13 – 16, 2018

Art in Bloom at William King Museum of Art

www.williamkingmuseum.org

April 21, 2018

Earth Day Celebration, 9:00am – 1:00pm

On the lawn of the Fields-Penn House, corner of Cummings Street and Main Street.

Saturday April 28, 2018

Virginia Creeper Fest, 10:30am – 5:00pm

Free family-friendly event with hands-on outdoor activities. At the trailhead of the famous Virginia Creeper Trail. www.vacreeperfest.com

####

2018 “BEST OF” Abingdon, Virginia

2018 “BEST OF” Abingdon, Virginia

Do you have a favorite breakfast spot? Do you have a favorite grocery store? We are searching for Abingdon’s BEST- chosen by you.

The month of May is Business Appreciation Month throughout Virginia. Town of Abingdon, VA Mayor, Cathy Lowe, and the Town of Abingdon Economic Development department have collaborated to create the “BEST OF” Abingdon, VA initiative.

This initiative will help promote businesses throughout the Town of Abingdon, and give them extra promotion during the month of May. Abingdon businesses play an essential role in strengthening our community through their innovation, creation, expansion, and employment of area workforce that preserves the economic well-being and quality of life for all our citizens. This initiative is a small token of the town’s appreciation for all the businesses and what they do for our community.

“As a previous small business owner for nearly 30 years,” said Mayor Cathy Lowe. “I appreciate the challenges that small business owner’s face and it is my goal to continue to promote small business development in Abingdon, VA.”

The “BEST OF” initiative will feature a public driven survey with twenty-eight (28) different categories. No one knows Abingdon better than the people who live here do or visit here do, so cast your VOTE for the “BEST OF” Abingdon, VA. The survey will run from March 8, 2018 to April 5, 2018. Click the link to participate in the survey- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BestofABN.

*Note: Only ONE ballot per email address. The email addresses will only be used for the survey and not shared in any way.

At the May 7, 2018 Abingdon Town Council Meeting, Mayor Lowe will present this initiative and read a proclamation designating May, 2018 as Business Appreciation Month. The winners of each category will be announced on the Town of Abingdon, VA Mayor facebook page and the Town of Abingdon, VA facebook page within the following weeks of May. Mayor Lowe and members of town staff will visit each winning business to give them their awards.

Thank you for your participation in the survey and for helping share the town’s passion for small business!

###