Some great events are coming up in northern Virginia, sponsored by the Mosby Heritage Area Association. I’ve been to a few of these in year’s past and they are a fantastic learning experience.
September 17: Several members of the Mosby Heritage Area Association’s Gray Ghost Interpretive Group (GIGG) will once again be working with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, to take a new look at local history. To be held at the NVRPA’s historic Aldie Mill on the evening of Saturday September 17, “Spirited History” will include a whiskey tasting, a fine Southern dinner, commentary by master distiller Scott Harris of Catoctin Distilling in Purcellville, Va., as well as interpretation from Rich Gillespie and some members of the GGIG team.
What is a “whiskory?” It is a combination of stories and history about the local area’s distilling past along with a whiskey tasting experience. The stories extend from Mosby’s fun-loving ‘Tam O’Shanter Rangers’ to an unfortunate state revenue agent killed near Ashburn in the 1920s. It is another way to see the grain and mill economy in the Mosby Heritage Area.
For more information and to reserve your place at what promises to be a lively evening call Tracy Gillespie at Aldie Mill at 703- 327-9777.
October 29: From noon to 5 p.m., the Mosby Heritage Area Association’s Gray Ghost Interpretive Group will team up with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority to present their third installment of Scout along the Turnpike in which living history interpreters will bring alive Mosby stories along Route 50, the old Ashby’s Gap and Little River Turnpikes, from the Civil War.
Presentations will be made at the Rector House at Atoka, at Aldie Mill, and Mount Zion Church a mile east of Aldie. Visiters will get to converse with Gray Ghost storytellers, as well as hear their tales. Visit one or all the sites in any order at any time between noon and 5 p.m. The program is free to the public.