Each year the talented students at Massanutten Technical Center (MTC) (https://www.mtcva.com/?fbclid=IwAR33Xupl6DyJEsNhr8Hp1mz4kLpFGsq8frswPGIytk4rsPo26pbMfyZV7go) have an opportunity to build a house. This is a wonderful way to learn all that it takes to put together a home. Massanutten Technical Center not only provides excellent hands-on education but gives students real-world experience at the same time.
Charles Hendricks has served on the MTC Foundation (https://www.mtcva.com/mtc-foundation) for a number of years and has had the opportunity to work in many ways to support the school. He loves that MTC brings so many resources to local students that want to learn a trade before going out into a career or continuing on at a University. This past summer he returned to teach in the architectural camp for middle school students. The quality of education provided at MTC makes our community better as these students have hands-on experiences that they will use for a lifetime. Charles says “I am always blown away by the quality of teachers and their passion for the students. Of course, the administration at MTC is also top-notch!”
The house this year will be sold through sealed bids. Gaines Group Architects is proud to have designed the current version of home they have been building now for a few years. It has an efficient and open floorplan, 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths. There is an optional stair for a full basement or that space could become a closet if your lot demands a crawl space.
If you are in the market for a new house, take a look at this project. The quality will be exceptional and the purchase of the house itself supports the students for years to come.
Charter Colony Dairy Queen may be the most unique DQ in the commonwealth. This family-owned business strives to offer their guests comfort while they are enjoying comfort food. It is a must-visit when you are in Midlothian not only for some excellent soft-serve but also to sit by the fireplace, hang out on the patio, or just enjoy the two-story-tall dining room overlooked by our country’s founding fathers. This particular location is inspired by pop art and bright color schemes, and features gorgeous light fixtures making this ice cream shop even more unique.
When it comes to chain design you might think I have seen one so I have seen them all but the small details instilled within the Charter Colony location set it apart from the rest. The Warhol-inspired theme of the restaurant creates a fun, lighthearted atmosphere for the whole family to enjoy. Aside from just being visually pleasing, this location is also a great place to hang out with friends and family! This location also offers the opportunity to bring Dairy Queen to your home with the takeaway fridge!
If you are in the Midlothian area take the time to treat yourself to some ice cream and chicken tenders at this one-of-a-kind Dairy Queen location!
We can’t believe it is already November and we are ramping up for the first Friday festivities with featured artist: Matty Tesch! Matty was born and raised in Findlay, Ohio, and later attended Bowling Green State University (BGSU) to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. Between being a freelance designer and marketing executive Tesch spends her free time painting natural subjects and experimenting with color interaction. She enjoys exploring the relationship between opposite tones and blending, pulling inspiration from light interactions on skin.
Most of her artwork focuses on ridiculous-looking animals and their relationship to color and pattern. Her peculiar subject matter branches directly from the pandemic- as the world became tenser she pursued lighthearted inspiration. “My paintings have no purpose other than my own amusement, I paint for myself and it has worked out well so far.” Her love of detail also plays a part in her work – throughout school she focused most of her energy on subject details disregarding the container itself, she solved this problem by just working on smaller “mini” pieces.
You can check out more of Matty’s colorful creations through the month of November at theCW Depot! Or check out her Instagram for her newest pieces! You can also learn more or RSVP to this event here.
Andrew Stronge was born in Sunderland, England, but moved to the states when he was young. He always had an interest in art and illustration, and he had creative parents who allowed him to express himself all over his bedroom walls. At the encouragement of extended family, Andrew went to school for web design and computer programming, but after a few years working in Charlottesville on different UVA department websites, he realized that he was moving too far away from his passion in illustration. He decided to pursue a job at a local screen printing company where he could use his artistic skills. He started off doing grunt work around the shop, but quickly moved up in the industry, eventually becoming lead designer and operations manager at one of the larger local screen printing companies.
While working full time, Andrew continued to pursue his own art, doing the occasional freelance illustration job or small craft fair, and even illustrated a children’s book called Mathematical Mischief. A charity event called Screens ‘n’ Suds in Richmond, VA inspired Andrew to combine his skills in illustration and screen printing to create his own screen-printed posters. His art has always had a strong pop-art inspired style of bright colors and bold lines, and his work in the screen printing industry had perfected his technique. This medium allowed Andrew to create unique hand made prints of his work that were much more affordable than the hand-painted canvases he had been selling, allowing him to reach a larger audience.
In 2016, Andrew decided to make the leap to leave his job to pursue Stronge Designs full time. Andrew now travels all over the east coast to show and sell his work at comic cons, craft shows, and punk rock flea markets. He occasionally sets up live screen printing events where he can educate people on the process of printing t-shirts and his posters. When he’s not traveling to a show, he is a stay-at-home dad to his 1-year-old son, Alister, and has turned a passion for collecting vintage toys into a small business called Time Capsule. Through Time Capsule, Andrew and his wife, Adrienne, sell vintage toys online and in a shop called Oddballs Collectibles in Richmond. Andrew lives at Lake Monticello with Adrienne, Alister, their two old pugs, and a very large robot and vintage space toy collection, a passion of his that you can see reflected in a lot of his sci-fi inspired work.
This month the Gaines Group had the opportunity to sponsor an event very near and dear to our hearts, Noche de Salsa 2021. This event was held by the Scholars Latino Initiative (SLI) featured a drive-through Latin dinner with margaritas along with a park and watch a salsa dance performance. SLI strives to create college opportunities for local Latinx students currently in high school through leadership coaching and academic mentorship. Scholars Latino Initiative also assists students financially by assisting in scholarship searches and dual enrollment programs through high school.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY1UYo2zDNQ&t=1s
Since its founding in 2012 SLI has found that donation amounts have tripled allowing the program to grow and incorporate even more families into their organization. As of now, SLI has a grand total of 118 alumni that have moved through the program and continued on to higher education, their alumni have attended 21 universities such as Harvard, James Madison, Virginia Tech, and many more.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY1UYo2zDNQ
Those who attended discussed the feeling of community involvement as everyone gathered in a way that was not only safe but allowed us to feel a little bit of normalcy again. We could not be more proud of our community for coming out, having fun, and supporting SLI.
