Local New Market News
From a community park to a museum and farmer’s market, New Market boasts plenty of exciting places to check out in the summer months. This year, though, the town is beginning a brand new tradition. The Summer Music Series: Cross Roads Fest, wh ich runs from June through to September, will bring four live music acts to New Market! With one performance each month, the new fesitval will be a great way to spend a summer evening in town.
Each Cross Roads performance is held at Rebel Park, home to the local New Market Rebels baseball team. Admission is free, and local food and drink vendors will be on site during the concerts. The festival organizers suggest bringing a lawn chair or blanket to enjoy the music, food, and drink.
At the June concert, just a few weeks ago, Wild Oatz BBQ served up hand-pulled BBQ and cucumber salad, while the New Market Rotary offered bratwurst and hot dogs with grilled peppers and onions.As if that doesn’t sound tempting enough, the event also featured a wine and beer garden.
Maryland-based bluegrass band Martin Brothers & Aspen Run played the June show, and the rest of the summer lineup is just as promising. For the full calendar and list of musicians,
visit www.NewMarketVirginia.com. You can also look them up on Facebook. Here’s to summer in our beautiful town!
Summer is off to a great start at Shenandoah Place...
We’re pleased to announce that our new sister facility, Shenandoah Terrace, officially is under construction. Also in New Market, Shenandoah Terrace
is a specialized memory care community.
It will emphasize the psychosocial and physical well-being of residents in a safe environment that feels like home. With innovative features such as a sensory room and patient-adapted kitchen,
Shenandoah Terrace has been designed with comfort and safety in mind. For more information on the new community, as well as construction updates, please check out www.shenterrace.com.
Resident Spotlight: Anna Hildreth
When Anna Moore Hildreth decided to move to Shenandoah Place two years ago, she didn’t have far to go. In 1923, Anna was born just five miles south of New Market, and, except for two years in Washington, D.C., she has lived nearby ever since. But her family’s history in the community goes back even farther than that: for years, Anna lived with her late husband, Arthur Hildreth, in a New Market home her family built in 1876! Anna and Arthur met at the local Lutheran Church, and made a life together in town. They were married for 42 years, until he passed away. Arthur was the vice president of Valley Virginia Milk Producers until it was sold to Shenandoah’s Pride in the early 1980’s, and he also served terms on the town council and as Vice Mayor of New Market. For her part, Anna cared for their daughter, Cathy, and worked as a substitute teacher of typing and short hand. She also maintained a beautiful rose garden, and enjoyed playing bridge with friends. Some of her favorite times were when she traveled far and wide with Arthur, who frequently attended conferences. Together, the couple visited Europe twice, Mexico, Canada, and Hawaii, among other places. She’s seen the world, but Anna cares deeply for New Market: recently, she gave back to the community by donating land for the wonderful, volunteer-run New Market library. She is proud of the how the land is being used.
Anna got to know Shenandoah Place by visiting Cathy, who has lived here for five years. When a room opened up across the hall from her daughter, she decided to become a resident, too. Anna likes being close to Cathy, and has enjoyed making new friends as well as spending time with some of her high school classmates who also have lived here. She thinks Shenandoah Place is a “really nice place to get old,” largely because of its “compassionate staff.” She also likes the popular Bingo games here, and thinks Melissa, our activities director, is “the best thing since sliced bread.” Anna has a good time out and about, too; she recently renewed her driver’s license through her 98th birthday. Though she doesn’t drive often anymore, Anna does visit the same hairdresser she has used for 50 years, and also takes herself and Cathy to occasional doctor’s appointments.
As a long-time resident of New Market, Anna has seen many changes to the town. She recalls when local students attended a grade school and high school in town instead of county schools, and says New Market’s population has become much more diverse. One constant has been the Shenandoah Valley Academy, here since 1908. Despite her exciting life, Anna has remained humble about her experiences: during our interview, she told me stories of other residents whom she thought would be more interesting to talk to. We very much enjoyed our conversation with Anna, and look forward to taking one of her suggestions when we feature another resident in our next newsletter.
Activity Spotlight: Bingo
Bingo may be a well known game, but you don’t truly know Bingo until you’ve played at Shenandoah Place! We take our square-filling seriously here, and the games are easily one of our most popular community events. Bingo is scheduled every Thursday afternoon for 2:30 on the dot. We play for an hour, and fit in as many games as possible during that time. Since our residents are so enthusiastic and focused, we usually can play quite a few! No one wants to waste time and miss their chances to win. Players can win multiple times in the same afternoon.For every “Bingo!” the winner gets a chip to trade in for fun prizes. On a table filled to the brim with choices, we offer candy, toiletries, and all kinds of goodies in between.
Below, you’ll notice a few pictures of a recent Thursday afternoon game. Our dedicated activities director, Melissa, spun the cage of Bingo balls and called the letters and numbers. Residents carefully followed along to fill out their boards, and many of them were pleased to win a game or two. We conducted this month’s resident spotlight interview during Bingo, and doing so provided a great example of how seriously the game is taken at Shenandoah Place. Our conversation with Anna Hildreth led to some good-natured “shushing” and requests to quiet our chatter. We did our best to comply with the residents’ wishes: if you saw all the fun our players have, you wouldn’t want to get in the way of it, either!
