Join us in a special presentation tent at Riverfest this year as we welcome local authors.
Riverside Chats moderated by Mary Katharine Froehlich.
Stone Soup Books will have books available for purchase and signing.
10:15 am: “Freshwater Fishes of South River” with Paul Bugas, Co-author of Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia and retired Fisheries Manager with Virginia Dept of Wildlife Resources
- Join Paul Bugas as he talks about those finny creatures that inhabit the river that is flowing behind the interview tent. Paul is an expert on Virginia freshwater fishes. He covers how to collect, handle, observe, conserve, and protect these unique animals in Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia. We’ll be talking about how to identify fish, surprise encounters while fish watching, keystone species, conservation advances and concerns and maybe a “Fish Tale” or two! Bring your questions on fish in our South River!
11:15 am: “How Can We Help Protect Rivers?” with Harvey Ussery, author of The Small-Scale Poultry Flock
- Rivers are not only awesomely beautiful but play critical roles in whole ecologies. Sadly, many rivers are seriously degraded from a number of sources. This presentation will discuss how we as small-scale farmers and gardeners can cultivate crops and manage livestock and poultry flocks to prevent damaging runoff effects to rivers. The focus will be on three main topics: prevention of soil erosion, pollution by agricultural chemicals, and leaching of livestock and poultry manures to rivers. This talk will not be a mantra of “don’t do’s,” but will emphasize the many ways in which more beneficial practices can integrate multiple functions into one project, saving time and labor; create more wholesome and pleasant conditions on our own homesteads and farms; and support a more diverse, resilient, and abundant ecology.
Harvey Ussery’s homestead in northern Virginia has been the setting for constant experimentation toward regeneration, sustainability, and harmony with the surrounding ecology. He has shared what he has learned in numerous articles in Backyard Poultry, Mother Earth News, Countryside & Small Stock Journal, and Grit!, the newsletter of the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association. Ussery has presented widely at national and local events on poultry and other homesteading topics; maintains a highly informative website, TheModernHomestead.US; and is the author of The Small-Scale Poultry Flock (Chelsea Green 2011, Revised Edition 2022).
1:30 pm: “Hiking & Traveling The Blue Ridge Parkway” with Leonard M Adkins, “The Habitual Hiker” & award-winning author of over 21 books on hiking & exploring the outdoors Based upon the book of the same name, Hiking and Traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway provides a look at some of the scenic roadway’s 130 official trails (many within a short distance of Waynesboro), in addition to several of the other national park, state park, national forest, municipal, and private lands that come into contact with the parkway. The program includes readings from the book, a multi-media presentation of the sights and destinations to be experienced along the parkway (accompanied by authentic Blue Ridge Mountain music), and a question and answer period.
2:30 pm: “Virginia’s Mountain People” with Lynn Coffey, author of Backroads Series
- Lynn Coffey moved to the small mountaintop hamlet of Love, Virginia in 1980. She found herself living in the midst of the older generation of native mountain people and felt this disappearing way of life should somehow be documented. Without any journalistic experience, she started an eight-page newspaper called Backroads that was devoted solely to the mountain people’s culture and their unique history. After a successful twenty-five year run, six books followed that continued to record interviews with the mountain people, their activities, and humorous anecdotes that Lynn will share at this year’s Riverfest!
- Maggie Marangione, author of Across the Blue Ridge Mountains will be on hand to talk about her historical novel which is set in the early twentieth century in Elkton, Virginia during the social and political changes of industrialization, women’s equality, and the removal of mountain families for the Shenandoah National Park.
