The Fun Shop Closes Its Doors
For 66 years, if you needed a birthday present, a christening gift, a toy, a tea towel or a hostess gift in a hurry, you went to The Fun Shop. In July it closed, and Council said thank you. The month also brought plans for an Allied war memorial behind the American Legion, a request to fill the new Charitable Foundation's coffers, a water tower held together partly by paint, and Well 4, again.
Council met July 13 without Councilmember Kevin Daly, and July 27 with everyone. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.
The Fun Shop Closes Its Doors
The Fun Shop closed on July 8. Council's resolution, adopted 6-0 on July 13, tells the story ▶ video. Howard and Nancy Allen moved to Middleburg in 1955, and the next year Mrs. Allen, frustrated that there was nowhere in town to buy children's clothes and toys, opened one of Middleburg's first woman-owned businesses. It grew into what Littleton called "Middleburg's Department Store," selling hunt country gifts, home decor, kitchenware, stationery, clothing and toys, and it employed three generations of Allens and a good many neighbors. Howard Allen served on Council from 1957 to 1962. Their daughter Betsy Allen Davis served on Council from 1998 to 2006 and as Mayor from 2006 to 2018. She and her sister Page Allen ran the shop to the end.
Littleton said the sisters carried on their mother's legacy "with absolute grace, dignity, care, concern," and that their biggest legacy was "the way in which they cherished their employees." Councilmember Chris Bernard, who owns a toy store himself, thanked them for bringing "a lot of smiles and joy to not just kids." Councilmember Bud Jacobs said his grown daughters always made the shop a priority when they visited, and joked that its closing "might reduce my attractiveness as a host to my kids." Councilmember Darlene Kirk said a young member of her family "just about fainted when she found out it was closing."
Betsy Allen Davis said it had "been a joy being part of this town," and that her parents told the sisters, not long before they died, to "go have some fun and do some things on your own." Page Allen thanked the staff, who threw the sisters a surprise party the night before, and the customers, who in the final days bought "all the merchandise at the last and even our fixtures."
A bench at the new Town Hall will carry a plaque for The Fun Shop, and the Middleburg Museum will hold a party for the family and staff at the Pink Box on August 18 (Loudoun Now, July 14). Littleton also suggested the MBPA let shops know that two experienced gift-wrappers are now free for Christmas in Middleburg.
A Memorial Behind the Legion
American Legion Post 295 has spent 77 years in a hundred-year-old building that needs work, Commander Gary Nickelson told Council on July 13 ▶ video. Now the Post wants to develop the three-quarter-acre lot behind it with the Royal British Legion's new East Coast chapter. Its vice commander, Steve Carney, described "an allied war memorial" at the center of a veterans' campus open to the public, with landscaping, a pedestrian connection to town, improvements to the Legion building and parking, and a new building for the Allied Veterans Foundation. The plan would help the Legion keep the building going and hire part-time staff. Council called it a wonderful presentation and offered to help.
Filling the Foundation
The new Middleburg Charitable Foundation holds $896,582.02, Councilmember Philip Miller, a board member, reported ▶ video. It can spend only its earnings, so the principal grows. Littleton laid out the long-term goal: in 15 years, about $5.5 million "and it's giving away a half a million every year." Miller, co-chairs Howard Armfield and Erik Scheps, and Kirk, also a board member, asked Council to go beyond the $20,000 in this year's budget and to commit to sharing future surpluses.
Town Attorney Martin Crim said this Council cannot bind future ones to a donation, but can make it a budget priority. Councilmember Cindy Pearson urged caution: "we can be as generous as we can, but, you know, we never know how the economy is going to go." Council agreed to revisit an extra gift from the FY '23 surplus by September, to rewrite the Town's grant policy, and to sort out which requests go to the Town and which to the Foundation, which Littleton called "a Venn diagram" (Loudoun Now, July 17).
Two and a Half Inches of Paint
The sandblasters on the Marshall Street water tower found paint "between 50 and 60mm thick. That's 2.5 inches or more" in places, Town Manager Danny Davis reported July 27 ▶ video. At the base, some anchor bolts appeared to be "more held on... by paint than by actual bolts." It is, he noted, "a 68 year old tank." The bolts are being fixed, the blasting ends August 1, the tank will be painted white again in 10 to 14 days, the temporary cell tower is gone, and school resumes August 3.
Well 4 failed its backwash test again. Davis said the nozzles under the filter sand are probably clogged with resin beads that have been sucked in "multiple, multiple times," and the only fix is to pull out all the sand and replace them. The plant's original designer has bid on the job. Mark Inboden of IES, the Town's operator, said he was confident it would work. Davis blamed the problem on the previous operator's maintenance, and Council asked for an update at every meeting.
Also This Month
- Mickie Gordon Park: about 250 people came to the County's June 29 meeting, five times the usual turnout, Littleton said ▶ video. Council approved a letter to the parks director, who meets with the Mayor and Town Manager next week. Kirk noted the County hasn't offered recreation programs in Middleburg since leaving the Community Center.
- Real estate offices: the ordinance requiring a special use permit for ground-floor real estate offices downtown passed 7-0 after a hearing at which no one spoke ▶ video.
- South Madison Street: only 15 surveys came back from the business and property owners asked. Council wants the whole town asked before anything is designed. A grant application to VDOT is due in October ▶ video.
- Town Hall: the furniture is in, but the HVAC system must be started and balanced, and the move-in will slip past July 31. Office hours will run to 5 p.m. once the Town moves in, under an updated employee handbook, approved 7-0, that replaces the fitness reimbursement with an in-house fitness room. Draft policies for the building, its grounds and disruptive persons are coming; dogs will be welcome in the hallways. The Village Green belongs to Salamander, and Council suggested renaming it the Town Green or Pendleton Street Park.
- Short-term rentals, from Richmond: Miller warned of a bill that would bar localities from regulating any short-term rental managed by a Virginia realtor, and Littleton of another that would let the state collect local lodging taxes without saying how much.
- A Supreme Court FOIA ruling means three or more Council members can't attend a citizen group's meeting without it counting as a public meeting, Crim said. The Clerk will now give notice of events such as Virginia Municipal League gatherings.
- Revenues: June's meals tax was $147,000, and the Town expects a surplus, though lodging taxes will fall short.
- Dog Daze: a $5,000 Town grant, 7-0, for the Masters of Foxhounds Association's October event, where a service dog will be given to a disabled veteran.
- People: a resolution of appreciation for Jennifer Long, the logo designer who served on the Arts Council from 2018; Punkin Lee, Susan Pollard and Emily Tye were appointed to it.
- Coming events: the Coalition of Loudoun Towns will host six Board of Supervisors debates, with Middleburg's on September 13 at the Legion. Davis floated a "Middleburg Day" for March 21, the anniversary of the Town's charter. Littleton asked the Town Manager to find out whether the Commonwealth's Attorney ever revised her policy on prosecuting local violations.
Public Comment
July 13 ▶ video
- Megan Gallagher, East Marshall Street, speaking for those working to save Mickie Gordon Park, thanked the Mayor, Council and Town Manager, and asked that the County plan better for recreation.
- Chris Gore, Piedmont Drive, asked that the Post Office bring back the public bulletin board it removed from its lobby.
July 27 ▶ video
- Councilmember Kevin Daly, North Jay Street, speaking as a resident and a disabled veteran, marked Disability Pride Month and the ADA's 33rd anniversary, and offered to push anyone curious about how accessible the town really is around it in a wheelchair.
- Public hearing on real estate offices ▶ video: no one spoke.
Tips & Wags (opinion)
Tip of the Hat to Nancy Allen, who opened a shop because Middleburg had nowhere to buy a child a toy, and to Betsy and Page, who kept it going to the end, 66 years in all. Go have some fun.
Tip of the Hat to the sandblasters, who found out what 68 years of painting over the old paint looks like.
Wag of the Finger to Well 4, now in its second year of being almost fixed. We look forward to the update at every meeting.
Wag of the Finger to the bill in Richmond that would let anyone with a realtor's license run short-term rentals wherever they like. Middleburg wrote rules that fit Middleburg; a one-size-fits-all law from Richmond would undo them.
Coming Up
- August 1: last day of sandblasting on the water tower. August 3: Charter School classes resume.
- August 18: Middleburg Museum party for The Fun Shop, the Pink Box.
- August 24: Council's only August meeting.
- September: R-2 community meeting led by The Berkley Group; Council decision on an extra Foundation donation.
- September 13: Little River District Board of Supervisors debate, American Legion.
- October: VDOT grant application for South Madison Street; Dog Daze.
Sources: the meeting videos (July 13, July 27), the Town's minutes (pending approval) and the transcripts attached to them, read by OCR because the PDFs' text could not be extracted. Quotes come from the Town contractor's transcripts; each ▶ link opens the video at the start of that agenda item.
Other sources cited:
- Loudoun Now, July 14, 2023: "Middleburg's Fun Shop Closes after 66 Years"
- Loudoun Now, July 17, 2023: "Middleburg's Charitable Foundation Seeks Early Funding Boost"