European Bread and Pastries Every Day at Praha
There’s no need to go to Prague, Paris, Vienna, Italy or even Charlottesville to find European-style crusty bread, authentic bagels, or buttery pastries. Find them right here in Crozet at Praha Bohemian Bakery, open each day from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. “We pride ourselves on being a scratch bakery,” said Marketa Johnson. If you see a baked good in the store, it’s been made in the store’s kitchen.
Johnson opened the bakery, on Three-Notched Road where Crozet Tack and Saddle formerly operated, in the spring of 2023, with a selection of Czech-style pastries like Honey Cake (Medovnik), Kolac, and Teddy Squares (Misa Rezy). Honey for the pastries come from Crozet Honey, another family business co-owned by Bill Johnson. Bagels came next, also made on the premises, then baguettes and batards. Since then, the Johnsons have expanded the line of pastries as well as the variety of coffee and tea drinks, including kombucha on tap and “mocktails” made with kombucha and tea. Marketa Johnson missed the coffee shops of her home in Prague (Praha in Czech) and wanted to create a shop where patrons could linger over coffee and a pastry, or grab a fresh bagel sandwich for breakfast or lunch.
Praha also fills custom orders. The bakery makes the rolls and slider buns for Crozet Seafood Supply. If you haven’t been there for a while, stop in to see the full bakery cases and spotless, cheerful seating area. You won’t need to dress in feathers, beads or boots: “Bohemian” is how earlier immigrants described those coming to our cities and farms from Eastern Europe.
York Property Buys Piedmont Place
Piedmont Place, at 2025 Library Avenue in Crozet, sold for $5.15 million on June 14 to York Piedmont LLC. The seller was Andrew Baldwin, a broker at Core Real Estate and Development. The agent for York Piedmont is Charles E Lewis IV, son of late, beloved Charlottesville entrepreneurs Chuck and Kathy Lewis. The sales price is below the 2024 assessment of $5,532,100, but higher than the 2022 assessment of $4,445,600.
Piedmont Place houses a collection of small businesses, with a common area on the ground floor and luxury suites above. It was originally developed by Drew Holzwarth and was an initial step in the redevelopment of the former site of Barnes Lumber. In 2019 the building was sold to Andrew and Isabelle Baldwin.
Many of the businesses in Piedmont Place are small, operator-owned establishments: Rose’s Inspiration Station, CroZeli Sandwich Shop, Carolina Obanda Beauty, The Basement, Smoked Kitchen and Tap, Crozet Creamery, Horse and Hen, the Blue Ridge Bottle Shop, and Bar Botanical, the rooftop restaurant and bar.
The building suffered damage in December 2022, when a water main broke in a third-floor suite, causing water to pour through the lower floors. This closed the businesses and caused extensive damage to inventory and equipment, but the structural integrity of the building wasn’t compromised, and all of the businesses reopened in summer of 2023, with the exception of Blue Ridge Bottle Shop, which is expanding into part of the former common area.
York Property owns and manages York Place, a landmark on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. It’s similar to Piedmont Place in its collection of small local businesses, restaurants and private residences.
Waynesboro Opens Former Landfill for Public Use
For years, those coming into or leaving Waynesboro via the east noticed a huge wedge in the mountain towering over the city, looking from far away like a brown gash in a landscape of green. The open space surrounded by the city’s best views was home to huge piles of trash hauled up the steep slope by dump trucks and crushed by bulldozers. In June, the former eyesore opened as a beautiful park, drawing more than 4,000 people during its first few weeks of being open.
It’s been a long transformation. When the landfill closed in 2003, there were many conversations, as city council members came and went, about how to use the 107 acres looking out over Waynesboro and west to the northern Shenandoah Valley.
One of the most common suggestions, given the view and proximity to Waynesboro, was to create a park, and in 2014, serious planning began. By 2017 there was a concept plan, later listed as a “quality of life” improvement project in the City of Waynesboro’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan. After improving the access roads, managing the stormwater, paving the parking lot, designing overlook areas, and adding a shelter and restrooms, the area was ready for visitors who, as of this writing, are still entering the park in record numbers each day.
The construction was funded by a Virginia Department of Transportation Recreation Access Grant and a portion of the recovery funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act. The VDOT funds may be used only for the improvements associated with the access road and do require a small local match. ARPA funds are being used for the other improvements and have no local match requirement.
Still being completed are the wooded hiking and mountain bike trails, with the help of the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition. One mile is ready for hikers and bikers, and 3.5 more miles will be added.
Stephanie Seltzer of Waynesboro Parks and Recreation said Sunset Park is now included in GPS systems available on cell phones, at 300 N. Winchester Avenue, Waynesboro. Coming from Crozet, take I-64 to the top of Afton, come down 250, and at the Delphine intersection turn right, go under the railroad tracks, take the first right onto 6th Street, and then another immediate right past the recycling center and continue straight up the hillside to the parking lot. There are “Sunset Park” signs on Delphine and at the entrance to notify visitors that they’re in the right place.
The mile of finished wooded trail for hiking and biking starts just behind the restroom and pavilion. It makes a loop and returns visitors to the overflow parking lot, Seltzer said.
Ceramics, Oil Paintings at Crozet Artisans Depot
Ceramic artist Ingrid Chase of Roanoke and painter Donna Cruce Kocka of Staunton are the guest artists for July at the Crozet Artisans Depot, now celebrating its 9th anniversary. The current shows run until the end of the month. Visitors can meet both artists Saturday, July 13, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Chase’s show is titled “A Lasting Impression.” She creates functional pottery, approaching each piece in an unplanned, intuitive manner. She develops her textures and patterns with handmade pottery stamps and detailed glazing.
“The Unfolding of your Words” is the title of Donna Cruce Kocka’s show. She does oil, acrylic and watercolor painting on panels, canvas and linen. She is a Shenandoah Valley artist, has been drawing and painting for as long as she can remember, and is fascinated with the effects of light and color.
Gaslight Documents Local Fight against Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Nancy Sorrells, Augusta County Coordinator for the Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, quoted the beginning of Jonathan Mingle’s new book in her message about Mingle’s June visit to the Valley.
“Imagine one day you receive a letter in the mail that informs you that a large energy company is planning to build a massive pipeline through your property. That surveyors will be coming out soon. That they have the legal right to do so, whether you like it or not, because this project is in the ‘public interest’….”
“Well, we don’t have to imagine,” Sorrells wrote. “This book is about us.” Mingle appeared in two Valley locations and at a gathering of the Friends of Nelson in his local tour.
Mary Katherine Froehlich, owner of Stone Soup Books in Waynesboro and moderator for WMRA’s “Books and Brews” series, reviewed the book for the Crozet Gazette. Here’s her review:
“We all need to read a story like this right now! Gaslight: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Fight for America’s Energy Future by Jonathan Mingle, released in May by Island Press is a riveting account of the six-year battle over the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a tale of a community of Davids fighting the Goliath.
“We know the outcome of the battle as many in our area participated, but even if you weren’t a part of it, you know of neighbors who suffered as they received notices in the mail from Dominion Electric that their property lay in the path or close to the path of the planned Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Jonathan brilliantly sifts and condenses this narrative of players and battlefields to highlight individual stories in the Shenandoah Valley, and Highland and Nelson Counties. You will hear stories of people who put their lives on hold, and who persevered against impossible odds, who united and connected across diverse beliefs to protect their land, communities and the environment. From political maneuvers to courtroom drama and policies underlying regulatory agencies like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Jonathan illuminates and provides the reader an in-depth examination of the larger issues we face with fossil fuel energy production and consumption. Gaslight reads like a cool breeze in a ‘heat dome’ summer, inspiring us with a story of what happens when we pay a bit more attention, learn more details, and act together as a community to effect change.”
Biz Bits
In hot weather, some people turn to cold beer, others to ice cream. Both are now available at Pro Re Nata, along with pizza. The pizza and ice cream are courtesy of Dino Hoxhaj, who co-owns several “Moo Thrus,” including one in Charlottesville as well as the newer one in Crozet. Find the pizza and ice cream Thursday through Saturday afternoons and evenings.
Augusta County has applied for a Virginia Community Development Block Grant in partnership with owners of the abandoned restaurant on Afton Mountain, formerly owned by Phil Dulaney, who died a year ago. The grant for planning would be confined to how best to rehabilitate the former business property, not the entirety of the land Dulaney owned.
Albemarle Cannabis Company is the first company in the state to release a THC- and CBD-infused, natural fruit-flavored seltzer that completely complies with Virginia state law. Joe Kuhn, the owner, said Mountain High Seltzer is available for adults from the company web site, the Batesville Market and Wintergreen Exxon locally, as well as at IX Farmer’s Market weekly. Find out more at albemarlecannabiscompany.com.
