John Plashal has not only spent many years identifying and photographing beautifully decaying houses, churches, schools, hospitals and other structures throughout our state but has assimilated into their respective communities to learn about their accompanying backstories. The result is "Stories of an Abandoned Virginia", a unique presentation full of powerful imagery and emotional stories revolving around local landmarks that have been "frozen in time". This is one of two presentations Plashal will deliver at the Vinegar Hill Theatre on September 21st. The other presentation is called "From Enslavement to Empowerment: The Story of the Belmead on the James" and it begins at 4PM. Those tickets are sold separately.

Join us at the Vinegar Hill Theatre on September 21st for an inspirational and educational experience that is symbolic of the beauty and the power of the human spirit. The Belmead on the James is a former plantation in central Virginia that ultimately transformed into a rural oasis characterized by a climate of intense intellectual, physical and spiritual growth for thousands of young African Americans over the course of seven decades. Made possible by the heiresses of the Drexel fortune, the life lessons learned by those that attended the St. Emma Military Academy and St. Francis de Sales School produced immeasurable moral values and guiding principles that have transcended generations of the alumni from both highly historic, but little known, schools - both of which were built on the grounds of a former Confederate General's plantation that once enslaved 130 individuals. This sharp juxtaposition of the property, made possible by a handful of saintly individuals, represents a monumental cultural achievement that deserves a permanent imprint on the continuum of African-American history.

PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO THE ROCK CASTLE GROUP, COMPRISED OF ALUMNI DEDICATED TO PROJECTS THAT PRESERVETHE LEGACY OF ST. EMMA MILITARY ACADEMY AND ST. FRANCIS DE SALES SCHOOL.