Culpeper has plenty of reasons for a celebration

Holly Brear
Published: September 12, 2008

As I drove through downtown Culpeper one morning this week, I marveled at how beautiful our town is.

What caught my eye first were the full flower baskets hanging beneath the street lamps (thank you, CRI). I thought back to when Russell and I first moved to Culpeper 23 years ago; those baskets and lamps did not exist then, for the downtown renaissance was still years away.
As I drove down Davis Street, I made a blank slate in my mind and watched as the Culpeper of today unfolded. 

Classically-lettered shop signs lined both sides of the street, announcing cafes, boutiques, galleries, inns and markets. I was struck with the transformation and the unique development of this town in those 23 years with businesses any major city would proudly point to as defining its character: The Cameleer, It’s About Thyme, Sara Schneidman’s Gallery, just to name a very few.  And there in the middle of it all, still alive and thriving all these years, is the best doughnut shop in the world — Knakal’s.

As I write this letter, I am sitting and sipping coffee in a relatively new mainstay of our town, Raven’s Nest, and I listen to some of the locals at the next table as they discuss the future of the town.

I watch as Jessica briefly leaves her coffee shop to go give a hug to a friend walking by. Across the street I see Annette come out of NuWay and give another friend a hug. Up above them a gargoyle stands guard on the roof of suites at 249, a newly and beautifully renovated building. What a great town to be living in!

My recent letters to the editor have been focused on political issues. Truly we live in “interesting times.” But when November has come and gone, we are still a community no matter who is the president-elect. And I am grateful to live in such a town as Culpeper with such creative-minded and loving people. That alone is reason to celebrate.

Holly Brear
Culpeper