By Bob Tagert

First of all I want to apologize to our readers and advertisers. You all may have noticed that the paper quality on the May issue is inferior. Our printer took it upon themselves to print us on a lower grade paper without discussing it with us. Two months in a row they have been out of the paper we normally use so we are forced to accept a lesser grade. The pandemic made us move from a glossy cover to a 50 pound bright and now this. My apologies for the paper but be assured that the content is the same “quality” content that you have come to depend on. A recap of said content is below.

As Old Town Alexandria ponders about the future of the emerging pedestrian walk in the 100 block of King Street, we took a Road Trip to check out the Loudoun Walking Mall in Winchester, Virginia. Let’s hope that the results of our endeavor on lower King Street ends up like this Walking Mall.

Sarah Becker takes us back to the Democratic Convention of 1924 in her History column.

The Business Profile takes on a different vent with a piece about the Murals of Del Ray. The mural on the cover is no longer and wasn’t in Del Ray. Does anyone remember this one? Watch for info about an upcoming contest on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Meg Mullery introduces you to “Sophia” the Little Yellow Sofa in this month’s Personality Profile column. Sophia gets around and is very special to those in the Blue Ridge area.

Doug Fabbioli discusses “Agritourism” in his Exploring Virginia Wines column while Matt Fitzsimmons highlights one of the Virginia’s “Forgotten Wineries” in Grapevine. In Let’s Get Crafty Tim Long checks out St. Barths, Rhum, Ti’ Punch and Cuban Cigars.

Beth Crabtree interviews local DMV sailor Mark Burrows in From the Bay and Julie Reardon gives us her take on Rich Strike and his chances at the Belmont in To the Blue Ridge. Check out the Caribbean Connection and read about the Caribbean’s newest Reggae hit – check out the video on the Caribbean Connection post on our website.

Open Space’s Lori Welch Brown recalls “For the Love of Dads” and reminisces about her father John. Speaking of Fathers – be sure to treat the Dads in your life to something special on the 19^th!

Let’s also remember to fly our Flay high on the 14^th in celebration of Flag Day 2022 and plan something you love to do to welcome in summer on the 21^st – it the longest day of the year!