The historic village of Unison, one of the oldest settlements in Loudoun County, invites you to its 11th annual Unison Heritage Day on Saturday, Oct. 25, in the restored Unison Store Community Center and the Village Green beside it.

The fall festival will again feature wonderful food and Blue Grass music, a huge silent and live auction of already more than 100 local and regional store and gift items and the annual visit of the Piedmont Hounds, the friendly fox hounds of the nation's oldest hunt, who usually arrive about 2 p.m. to mingle with Heritage Day attendees.

The celebrated Blue Grass band Willow Branch will provide live music. Barbecue and fresh-shucked Virginia oysters and clams on the half shell are featured, with imported wines and beer, and sides and desserts by the Unison United Methodist Church.

The Quaker village of Unison, settled in the 1730s, is in two National Register Historic Districts and at the center of the nation's only historic roads district. Most village houses date to the 1700s and 1800s. Unison is at the north end of Foxcroft Road (Rte. 626), one of Loudoun's oldest and most scenic rural roads, where it intersects with historic Unison Road (Rte. 630). Driving to the village is a drive into Virginia's and Loudoun County's past.

Live and silent auction items include a week's vacation in a luxury apartment in Buenos Aires during Argentina's peak polo season; a chauffeured country drive in a vintage Rolls Royce with a champagne lunch; a canoe trip down the Shenandoah for 8 with picnic lunch; and a fishing trip for 2 with lunch on Virginia's legendary Mossy Creek fly-fishing stream.

The silent auction, 1-4:30 p.m., includes gifts of area stores, restaurants, B&BS, catering and music services and art work of well-known area artists. The live auction begins about 3 p.m.

Tickets are $30 ($25 in advance), children under 12 free. Free parking. All proceeds benefit the nonprofit Unison Preservation Society and will be used to improve the Unison Store Community Center, Village Green and the Unison-area countryside. Advance tickets must be ordered by Oct. 17; mail checks to the Unison Preservation Society, Box 606, Middleburg, VA, 20118.

For further information, please contact Harry Bigley at harrybigley@aol.com or telephone 540-554-2474.