OPINION: Time Is Now for Granby St Pedestrian Zone
(Charlottesville's Mall, a pedestrian-only corridor in downtown. Photo courtesy of Visit Charlottesville) BY JEFF MAISEY There has never been a better time than now for the city of Norfolk to revisit the idea of closing Granby Street in the downtown corridor and...
FOREVER STAMP: Norfolk Botanical Garden
BY JEFF MAISEY Beginning May 13, Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) will be featured on a United States Postage Forever stamp as part of the upcoming "American Gardens” series. The image from the NBG features the beautiful Bicentennial Rose Garden. “The honor of being on...
What’s Next for Virginia Restaurants, Brewpubs, and Tasting Rooms?
By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones The balance between public health and the economy has important implications for how and when Virginia re-opens restaurants and brewery, distillery, and winery tasting rooms to the public. Since mid-March most of these...
Vanguard Offers Sanitizer, Masks & More
By Jeff Maisey In the following video interview, Amelia Emr, general manager of The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery, tells Veer Magazine how the Hampton business has converted part of its operation to producing hand sanitizers. The Vanguard is also offering...
Norfolk Purchases Military Circle Mall
The Norfolk Economic Development Authority (EDA) voted unanimously to move forward with the purchase of the Military Circle Shopping Mall, located on North Military Highway. The deal was closed on Thursday, April 30. In 2014, the EDA purchased the former JC Penney’s...
VIDEO INTERVIEW: National Recognition for Lynne Seagle
By Jeff Maisey Longtime Hope House Foundation Executive Director Lynne Seagle has been honored by the National Historic Recognition Project for her work from 2000 to 2020 contributing to the transformation of the Developmental Disability field. Here is our interview...
Boardwalk Art Show Moves to October 23-25
By Brad Tuggle The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Boardwalk Art Show presented by PNC Bank is being rescheduled from the weekend of June 19-21 to October 23-25 given the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. This signature Virginia Beach event, now in its 65th...
ViBe Story Exchange: Open Call for Artists & Writers
By Kate Pittman The ViBe Creative District nonprofit announced a reenvisioned partnership for programming with ViBe Story Exchange for 2020. The partnership pairs selected visual and performing artists with the written word—a true arts & humanities collaboration....
Social Distancing
By Tom Robotham On March 6, I was scheduled to depart for Rome in the company of Jeff Maisey, the publisher of this magazine, and another friend. It was the beginning of my spring break, and I’d been looking forward not only to connecting with history, but also to...
VIEWPOINT: Keeping Up With Our Joneses
By Tench Phillips, Naro Cinema I like to do my writing in the mornings when I feel most clear-headed. I sit with my laptop accompanied by my cats and a hot cup of black coffee. My daily java ‘jones’ requires freshly ground French dark roast beans placed in our...
Violins of Hope
By Jeff Maisey If you think about, every classical music performance is a history lesson in some sense. Generally its because the musical work was written hundreds of years ago, and quite often it expresses something about each composer, whether the point in...
Hunter’s Sunrise Live at The Z
(Blue-rock guitarist/singer Jason Cale (left) in the studio with Hunter Hughes. Photo courtesy of Hunter Hughes.) By Jeff Maisey Hunter Hughes, host of WHRV’s Hunter at Sunrise digital radio program, has teamed with Zeiders American Dream Theater to present the...
Najee returns to ignite Church Street Jazz Series
By Jerome Langston Learning that we share the same first name, during my recent conversation with the contemporary jazz legend known as Najee, was just one of many interesting tidbits that were revealed during our lengthy chat. Born Jerome Najee Rasheed in New York...
Boogie Wonderland
By Jeff Maisey What could possibly be better than hearing Earth, Wind & Fire perform their essential hit “September” in September? That’ll happen Friday, September 24 when the supergroup performs at Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion in Portsmouth. Last year marked...
The New Maestro
(Maestro Eric Jacobsen on the cover of Veer Magazine. Illustration by Walt Taylor) By Montague Gammon III The newly appointed twelfth Music Director of our Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Eric Jacobsen, flew into town from his current home in Brooklyn late last month,...
CLASSICAL MUSIC: From Boston with Glee
By Montague Gammon III The Norfolk-bound Boston Trio’s founding member and pianist, Ms. Heng-Jin Park, is probably most gleeful classical musician you’ll ever encounter. In the course of one telephone chat she chuckles, chortles, laughs out loud, and generally...
ART: This Mortal Toil
(Kent Knowles, Untitled) By Jeff Maisey The Linda Matney Gallery has unveiled an ambitiously engaging new exhibition thematically centered around the human psychological condition associated with emerging from a global pandemic and similar transformative experiences. ...
MUSIC: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Circles Back
By Jim Morrison Consider one measure of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's longevity and relevance: the group of California kids playing in a jug band scored their first big article on a page alongside The Byrds and The Doors in Tiger Beat magazine. Not Rolling...
MUSIC: The Family Stone Takes You Higher
By Jeff Maisey Sly & The Family Stone will forever be remembered as one of the most influential funk/soul/pop groups of the 20th century. The band formed in 1966 and was notable not only for its multi-cultural makeup of musicians, but also in the blending...
ART: For Life & Limb
(Trumpeting: “I created this painting at my studio in downtown Washington, D.C. after a stay in Norfolk and learning about the history of the Attucks Theatre.” — Matt Sesow) By Betsy DiJulio Everyone, it seems, has heard of Matt Sesow even if they don’t own a...
New Beer from Coastal Virginia Breweries
Compiled by Staff Looking for something new to try from your favorite Coastal Virginia Breweries? Here’s a healthy sampling to get you started. Alewerks: Bitter Valentine Release Date: Early February Double IPA. 8.3% Alc by Vol Our Double IPA starts with strong...
40 Years (and counting) of Todd Jurich
By Marisa Marsey “What’s the best restaurant in Hampton Roads?” I’ve been asked that question countless times over the decades. Invariably, before I can hone my inquisitors’ focus (special occasion, seafood, Italian, French, Indian, etc.) to reply most meaningfully,...
21st Century Ironclad
By Jim Roberts Owen and Kara King delivered the first 60 cases of Ironclad Distillery Co.’s small-batch bourbon to Virginia’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in October. “As we unloaded it and took it in to their big warehouse, we’re both getting misty-eyed,”...
O’Connor Brewing wins Competitive Golden Tap Award
By Staff O’Connor Brewing Company won its second consecutive Golden Tap Award on December 13 with a total score of 23.5 points. They were followed by Smartmouth Brewing Company (19 points), Alewerks Brewing (15.5 points), Big Ugly Brewing Company (14.5 points) and...
Winter Wine Celebration from Domenick Fini
By Jeff Maisey Domenick Fini spent the past 20-some years working in various capacities to bring the general public such award-winning events as the Town Point Virginia Wine Festival, Virginia Beer Festival, Harborfest and Bayou Boogaloo & Cajun Music Festival....
The Bee & The Biscuit Deserves Great Buzz
By Marisa Marsey The Bee & The Biscuit is a honey of a place, corny as that sounds. Not just because those titular flakey, cakey quick breads are graced by butter compounded with local honey. Or because this picturesque Pungo bungalow dishing up breakfast and...
REVIEW: Rajput Indian Cuisine: Vegan and Vegetarian Buffet
By Betsy DiJulio My 1990 arrival in Virginia Beach found me Jonesin' for Indian food in the worst way. My late husband and I had moved here from Nashville where, for at least a year or two, every Sunday found me religiously slipping into the dark, exotic, and...
Green Flash Opens in Virginia Beach
By Jeff Maisey Green Flash Brewing Company’s official Virginia Beach grand opening is Sunday, November 13. The long awaited date is the day after the brewery’s breast cancer awareness event, Treasure Chest Fest, which has been held the past two years on the field...
Richmond’s Legend Brewing to Open in Olde Town Portsmouth
(Dave Gott (center) and the crew from award-winning Legend Brewing Company) By Jeff Maisey Legend Brewing Company will open a brewpub in Olde Towne Portsmouth along the waterfront in the historic, curved building that recently housed an art gallery and was the former...
BREW NEWS: Oozlefinch Opens & More
By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones Photos by Diane Catanzaro The long-awaited Oozlefinch Brewing Company has finally opened its doors to the public at historic Fort Monroe in Hampton, and it has been well worth the wait. While Wikipedia says the namesake...
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