WTJU

The 2021 Virginia Festival of the Book schedule of virtual events is now online. This year's festival will take place from Saturday, March 13th to Friday, March, 26th, and all events will be FREE to attend. Most of the more than 40 events will be available to watch on Zoom and Facebook Live, with live captions. Video recordings from all events, with transcripts, will also be available for on-demand viewing. Explore the full schedule at vabook.org/Schedule. 

Telling True Stories Online is Big Blue Door’s 5-session course designed to show students how to find and tell their own stories. Whether funny, tragic, or inspiring, students learn how to find the material and form it into a cohesive tale with a beginning, middle, and end. Participants meet Sunday afternoons from 1:30 to 3 via Zoom to explore and develop story material as they learn to find their voice and their place in their own narratives. The next class starts March 14th.   For pricing information and to register, go online to BigBlueDoor.org.

It was never a good idea, and now it's illegal in Virginia to leave your dog out in cold weather. As temperatures drop, PETA is alerting dog guardians to a new state law that prohibits leaving dogs chained up or tethered outside when the temperature is 32 degrees or below—and reminding them to take their dogs indoors or face legal consequences. "Dogs are flesh and blood, not picnic tables, so if it's too cold outside for you, it's too cold for your dog!" says PETA. "Animals depend on us for everything from food, water, and shelter to keeping them safe and happy—and the law now recognizes that that includes not leaving them to shiver in the cold." The new law has more restrictions.  For details, go online to PETA.org/features/new-anti-tethering-law-dogs-in-virginia.

(ANNCR NOTE: SORRY, IT'S THE ONLY URL WE COULD FIND - JUST SAY "HYPHEN BETWEEN EACH WORD".)

Starting this March, Hospice of the Piedmont will offer a quarterly virtual event series called Community Conversations. The events will be community discussions around different end-of-life topics. The first will take place at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10th, and will focus on taking control of your medical care and finding your voice as a patient at the end of life. Community Conversations will include a thought-provoking dialogue between President & CEO Ron Cottrell and Dr. Tim Short, the Chief Medical Officer & Director, Education Institute, both from Hospice of the Piedmont. For registration or more information, visit hopva.org/communityy-conversations.

Virginia’s spring fire season and the 4 PM Burning Law officially begin Monday, February 15th. The law prohibits burning before 4 p.m. each day between February 15th and April 30th if the fire is in, or within 300 feet of woodland, brush or fields containing dry grass or other flammable materials. For more information on wildland fires in Virginia, go online to dof.virginia.gov/fire.

It might be weeks or months until Virginia is able to offer a COVID 19 vaccine to the general population. But the state has created a new portal where anyone can put their name on a waiting list to get a vaccine. All you have to do is go to vaccinate.virginia.gov or call 877-829-4682 and answer a few questions to determine your eligibility group. Once you’re on the list, you’ll get an email, text or phone call from the health department when it’s time for you to get a vaccine.

Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle is actively recruiting new volunteers to become tutors to adults in Central Virginia. New volunteers will be trained online to tutor an adult using online video platforms. The next training opportunity for new volunteers will begin on Saturday, March 13th at 10 a.m. Anyone interested in joining an upcoming training session can visit literacyforall.org/tutors to register. 

While the full-scale return of live classical music concerts may be months off, local enthusiasts may continue to enjoy new virtual performances commissioned by the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, featuring international artists. The second of three mini-festivals will take place from Thursday, March 4th through Sunday, March 7th, with a single major classical work released at 10 a.m. each day. The four video recordings will be shared free of charge on the festival website, cvillechambermusic.org, and will be available through the middle of May.

MIMA, an acronym for Modern Improvisational Music Appreciation, is a Charlottesville-based nonprofit that builds community through collaborative music-making. Their new program is MIMA Ad Lib, a taste of what MIMA is about, working with underserved populations, mostly kids, to create collaboration through music. It happens on Tuesdays from 6:30 to 7:30, online during the pandemic. You can find links to all their events on the MIMA Music Facebook page.

Voting is now open for the Rompfest Band Contest. You're invited to vote online for your favorite band in the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum’s Virtual Band Contest. You choose the winning band to play on the main stage at the annual ROMP festival on June 23rd to 26th in Owensboro KY, and on the Jagoe Homes after party stage. The winning band will be announced on March 17th. Go to Rompfest.com to cast your vote, up to one vote per person per day, now through March 14th.

Scholarships are available for the Monroe Mandolin Camp to be held from September 15th through the 19th in Monteagle, Tennessee. This five-day instructional workshop with experienced instructors also has tracks for banjo, guitar, fiddle, bass, and harmony singing. To apply for a scholarship, submit a video of yourself playing either mandolin, banjo, fiddle, or guitar, along with an essay describing your goals for attending the camp. Scholarships are open to any age player. Mandolin and banjo submissions will be accepted through Monday, March 15th. Fiddle and guitar submissions will be accepted through Thursday, April 15th. For more information, visit monroemandolincamp.com.

The Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Spring Lecture Series will begin with “Better Backyard Tomatoes,” featuring gardening author Ira Wallace of the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 4th, on Zoom. Visit PiedmontMasterGardeners.org/events to register for this free program and others in the series, scheduled for 7 p.m. each Thursday in March.