Shenandoah County Tourism started a program called Faces of Tourism in 2021 to inspire county residents to act as tourism ambassadors for visiting friends and family. The name was changed to Shenandoah County Tours last year to optimize search engines but the goal is the same and the name change worked — they now get better reach and more visitors.
Each tour includes a behind-the-scenes experience at a local hospitality business, town or attraction, followed by lunch. Tours usually run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and averaged 15-25 attendees for each one last year.
Since these tours fit in nicely with my series of articles last year on things to see and do in Shenandoah County, I’m planning to attend each one this year and share the experience with you. I also hope to encourage you to sign up for some of the tours and become ambassadors yourself! First up is the new Parks and Recreation building on Hisey Avenue in Woodstock, Woodstock Gardens adjacent to the building and lunch at Woodstock Garden Café.
In January 2023 Valley Health announced it was closing its Fitness and Wellness Center at 1195 Hisey Ave. in Woodstock, citing a decline in membership after the pandemic, and giving only two weeks’ notice to staff and members. Soon afterward Shenandoah County began to consider taking over the lease or buying the building, not only to keep the facility open to county residents, but also to provide space for the Parks and Recreation staff and programs.
After conducting due diligence and negotiating with the building owner an agreement was reached to purchase the building and Valley Health donated the exercise equipment. Most of the funding was supplied by unallocated expiring American Rescue Act funds and the county pitched in $450,000. Two medical offices will continue to rent space on the lower level, which will help pay the bills.
Now called Wellness & Activity Center, or WAC, the building is home to the Parks & Rec staff and offers all sorts of exercise equipment, exercise classes, art classes, educational classes and even a bridge club. The facility is currently open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays; and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays with plans to soon be open on Sundays. There are multiple membership categories ranging from $4 per day to $35 per month for seniors and $5 per day to $40 per month for those 16 to 54. Family and couple membership are also available and non-county residents are welcome to join at a slightly higher rate.
Parks and Recreation Director Jered Hoover led us through the new offices, an open space on the main floor created from the former massage rooms, then we checked out the large rooms full of exercise equipment. After the county took possession much of the flooring was replaced and walls were repainted, and everything looks fresh and clean. Since exercise classes are outside the department’s skill set it was decided to turn that part over to the experts.
“All of our trainers and instructors are independent contractors,” Hoover explained, giving the instructors flexibility on when and how often they work.
There was some grumbling during the purchase process along the lines of “if Valley Health couldn’t make a go of it, how will the county?” At the time Valley Health closed the facility there were 450 members. Since the WAC opened a month ago 450 members have already signed up. When we arrived at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday morning almost all of the 101 parking spaces were filled, so there is definitely a need for the facility. If you want to take advantage of this county treasure, go to www.scpr.info, call 540-459-6777 or visit the WAC.
The group then walked across the parking lot to Woodstock Gardens and John Fogle told us the history of Fort Valley Nursery, now Woodstock Gardens.
“When I was negative 3…my parents had a dream of starting a garden center or a wholesale nursery somewhere on the East Coast,” he told us. They were living in Minneapolis in the late 1970s, but his grandparents lived in Reston and they started looking for an 80- to 100-acre property. The hunt ended in Fort Valley and the family filled a U-Haul and moved east.
John’s dad Terry and his brother Randy worked all sorts of odd jobs while waiting for the plants and trees to grow large enough to sell. In 1984 they realized there weren’t many garden centers in the area to sell their products to, so they decided to open their own in Woodstock, renting space next to Shaffer’s BBQ. As the business continued to grow landscaping was added along with another partner, Warren Schennum. When Walmart came to town they pivoted to top-quality, out of the ordinary plants and continued to offer excellent customer service.
After working at the nursery as a kid, John got a business degree from James Madison University and returned to the nursery to run it, allowing his dad to retire. In dreaming about the future, he thought outside the box and looked to a garden center design expert and European garden centers for inspiration.
“They are a community gathering spot,” he said, with restaurants and wine bars. “People come when traveling and spend literally hours in these places. We wanted something like that here, where people can gather with friends, shop for a while, grab a glass of wine or lunch together.”
The dream has been realized and now “people travel up and down 81, this has become their stopping point, and one reason is we have clean bathrooms here,” he laughed. They partnered with Coe and Jean Sherrard to open Woodstock Garden Café, which was later bought by their manager Brooke Polk.
In 2020, Fort Valley’s elder partners decided it was time to really retire and chose to sell to Beaune Bros. Landscaping, which they had been recommending to customers needing landscaping skills. John worked with new owner Eric Beaune during the transition and became the face of the renamed Woodstock Gardens by making videos as John Gardens. Woodstock Gardens is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. www.woodstock-gardens.com
The Garden Center offers 5 acres of unique and native landscape plants and a greenhouse full of tropical plants, garden accessories and décor. After our history lesson Debbie Boyd showed us how to make our own succulent garden and we were provided pots, soil and plants (we made a bit of a mess but ended up with pretty pots). Then we enjoyed sandwiches from the Café. Brooke and Bryce source locally when possible and offer locally roasted coffee, in-season veggies from their garden, craft beer and wine, and vegan options, along with house-made desserts and condiments. The café is open Tuesday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Email Brenda Black at [email protected] to reserve a spot for the March tour. If you attend three tours this year and come up with an idea for a tour itinerary, you could win a $100 gift basket filled with local goodies. Go to ITINERARIES – Visit Shenandoah County for some ideas. I hope to see you there!
This post was originally published on 3rd party site mentioned in the title of this site
