In October—as days grow short, nature dies back, and hints are felt of the cold winter ahead—we observe All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints Day, and the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos). Field School will join these grave celebrations with its 10th annual Crozet Spirit Walk on Saturday, October 27, Sunday, October 28, from 6:30 until 9 p.m. (or so). If you are eager to learn more about the history of Crozet and surrounding areas, put this fun and educational event on your calendar now!
Beginning at twilight and ending in full dark, Field School staff will shuttle history buffs from the school to the Square. From there, a guide/narrator will walk small groups along Crozet Ave. back to the school, conversing with student actors portraying ghostly characters from various periods in Crozet and Central Virginia history along the way. Each tour lasts about 45 minutes, and students will be selling homemade apple butter and other goodies at the school as groups return. About 25 students and 20 adults have speaking roles in the play, written by Todd Barnett and directed by drama teacher Michelle Navarre, but “the whole school is involved in some way—creating costumes, working on crew, taking water out to the actors, and selling apple butter,” said Barnett. Tickets are $10 for adults, but children under 12 are free.
“This year is the fourth in our cycle about Central Virginia and Crozet history,” explained Head of School Todd Barnett. “The first year we covered from the beginning of the republic through Thomas Jefferson, the second continued through the Civil War, and the third went up through World War II. This year we will focus on 1945 to the present day.” This year’s play will include the town’s transition from an orchard/farming community, to a manufacturing center, to its current growth and development as primarily a bedroom community. It will include the Crozet Theater, Barnes Lumber Company, the 1959 plane crash on Bucks Elbow Mountain, the building of I-64, Morton and ConAgra Foods, and Hurricane Camille—in honor of which John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival will sing “Who’ll Stop the Rain?” William Faulkner, Edgar Allan Poe, and even our own Gazette editor, Mike Marshall, will make cameo appearances. Don’t miss this spooktacular Crozet fall tradition.
UPDATE: Due to the rainy forecast, the walk has been moved to Sunday, October 28.
