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Dear Friends:
We had a beautiful weekend in the Valley for our Barn Show and Museum Open House, but the surrounding area got rain and ice. The weatherman had made dire predictions for the area, and I think Roanoke and Salem got the worst of it. I'm staying in Waynesboro this week so I can enjoy the decorations at The Barn and the Museum. I'll be in and out at the Museum this week, so maybe I'll see some of you there. For those who weren't able to visit me at The Barn this past weekend, I'll be signing at the Museum this Friday and Saturday, December 18-19, from 12:00-3:00 p.m.
The view from The Barn-the Valley is beautiful, even on a cloudy day.I had such fun with members of the Moss on the James, Moss in the Forest, Moss at Monticello, and Pat's Blue Goose Chapters of the P. Buckley Moss Society at our annual Christmas breakfast Sunday morning. They braved the fog and drove over the mountain to celebrate Christmas with me, and one member was even in a wheelchair with a big smile on his face! Everyone brought something yummy to eat, and we shared and had a wonderful time together.
What wonderful breakfast treats we had at our annual breakfast with local chapters!
Patricia Knight of Arlington, Va., left, purchased this framed original at The Barn during the weekend show. She's a lobbyist in Washington, DC.
Signing a (prosthetic) leg may be a first for me, but isn't medical science wonderful! Tom Coulter of Madison Heights, Va., and I had a very interesting talk.I had a delightful visit with some young ladies who have been part of the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir, based in Harrisonburg, Virginia. This coming year will be the first year that they won't sing with the choir, and their mother bought them prints of Court House Chorus to commemorate the excellent training and camaraderie they experienced while part of the group.
As you know, the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children's Education's Annual Creative Mind Conference was canceled this year, and the Foundation has instead donated funds to needy and important school programs. It was such a treat for me Saturday morning to meet Christine Henry, who is a 5th grade teacher at a private school in Richmond, Virginia, and who was to have been one of the presenters at the Conference. Christine came out to The Barn and told me about the presentation she was going to give at the Conference. She told me about a project she did with her students in which she invited a Holocaust survivor to speak to her class. Then, she had the students create a book of pictures made from construction paper to illustrate the man's story. The students are so enthusiastic about the project that they want to raise money to follow the man's footsteps in real life by traveling to Europe and seeing where he was born and went to school and where he was held prisoner in the concentration camp. The survivor will lead the students on their tour of his life story. It is so very important for children to learn history, especially this part of it, so that future generations will not make the same mistakes as the past. The Foundation is going to sponsor a one-day program at the Museum at which Christine will discuss her project. We'll let you know when that is scheduled.
The decorations at The Barn were lovely, and we especially loved the tree; but, next year we want to invite teachers to have their students make ornaments to hang on the tree. This is something we did years ago, and children really loved seeing their artwork and names on the tree at The Barn. The Foundation and the Society will send out more information on the project, but the children can draw anything they want on cardboard or whatever. Won't that be fun to see! I love the things that children do. If you visit The Barn you'll see that. It's full of toys, including a Noah's Ark that I bid on at a CASA auction in Springfield, Ohio.
Isn't this a fun tree? Next year's tree will be even more fun, with decorations made by school children.In conversations I had with visitors over the weekend, I realized that many of them have loved ones serving in the military. They told me how much they miss their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, and friends and that it is especially hard not having them home this time of year. I can only imagine how those soldiers must be feeling, too, being in a strange land without their families during Christmas. I hope and pray the coming year will be a more peaceful one, both in our own country and around the world.
Love,
Pat
There were some other pictures from last weekend's show that I wanted to share with you, but they haven't come in yet.
The Moss
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74 Poplar Grove Lane
Mathews, VA 23109
(800) 430-1320
©P. Buckley Moss 2009