First Voices of the Shenandoah Event a Success!

Last Thursday, July 15th, marked the launch of the Voices of the Shenandoah Event series featuring five storytellers and singer/songwriter Joshua Vana at Pale Fire Brewing in Harrisonburg, VA. Community members enjoyed an hour of river-centered original stories, music and poems from folks throughout the Shenandoah Valley, followed by an evening of live music from Joshua Vana while enjoying brews and conversation with others in the community. 

The evening was launched with an imagery-filled story from Ranger Tom Stevens about an encounter he had with a visitor at Seven Bends State Park on one of his patrols. Sandwiched in between that and the next were original performances from musician and river-lover Kevin Whalen, one of which featured flooding and some silly consequences that come along with it on the North Fork. Next, came a series of poems shared by former Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River Education Coordinator, Cindy Frenzel, written during her time connecting students with the river and our watershed at Caroline Furnace in Fort Valley. Finally, we had the opportunity to hear guest readings of a story from Liz Rogers, and a poem from Jack Chapman.

Joshua Vana’s original music, supplemented by a variety of river-related covers provided a wonderful backdrop against which folks were able to connect and/or fully be enveloped within for the rest of the evening.

Don’t forget to join us for our next two Voices of the Shenandoah events on August 13, 2021 from 5pm to 8pm at Backroom Brewery, and on September 17, 2021 from 6pm to 9pm at Swover Creek Farms and Brewery. The stories from the community and featured artists are not to be missed! Looking forward to seeing you there!

This event was made possible through the generous support of the Bowman-Shannon Grant through the Shenandoah Community Foundation, Team Abby Walters, Rappahannock Electric, and the Regulus Group.