This months Business After Hours with the Front Royal/Warren County Chamber of Commerce was hosted by Artsii located at 219 Chester Street in Front Royal.
I hadn’t been to the building before. I found it was where the Blue Wing Frog used to be, in a blue-painted brick building, and that it was next to the brick house, or what used to be The Union Hall Bar & Grille. It has parking on both sides of the building. I found a spot and noticed the back of the government center in the alley behind the building, where a supervisor’s meeting was to start in about half an hour. I walked to the front and found a sign on the front door that instructed me to continue to the other side up a ramp, then go inside and take the stairs to the second floor.
I found a few familiar faces at the top of the stairs. The Chamber’s director asked if I was going to leave early to speak at the supervisor’s meeting, as I often do. I reviewed the agenda and didn’t see much going on. The only speaking was for a public hearing on taxes for manufactured homes, and I had already covered the increased taxes and budget at a meeting two weeks prior. I simply replied, “No”.
I walked down a narrow hallway. I saw helium balloons with weights throughout the various rooms, with blue foil stars among white latex balloons. The first room at the top of the stairs was mostly empty and available for another business to rent.
Upon entering the main office, a table was set up in the center with hors d’oeuvres from On Cue Sports Bar & Grille and desserts from Garcia & Gavino. Food consisted of veggie dishes, soft pretzel bites with cheese and spicy mustard, Spaghetti & Meatballs, and four types of cupcakes with pudding and edible discs with the Artsii logo on top.
5:30 pm came and went, and it seemed like hardly anyone was present. A phone call came in, and the owner went down to lead a large group of people inside. Looking down the hallway as people came in, it seemed like a never-ending source of more and more people.
Many business leaders in the local community were present for the occasion. One of the supervisors usually attends these events, but with a county board meeting starting at 6 pm, there was no time for a quick appearance. However, other government leaders from the town council were present to welcome the new business to the town.
Given the name of the business with “Art” in its name, I started talking with the mother of the owner with interest, inquiring about what the business did. They specialize in audio, video, and light both indoor and outdoors. They had a few bucket trucks in the parking lot, as they manage many of the bulbs in the trees throughout downtown Alexandria. They also do lighting for stages at schools, churches, conferences, and museums, and can do special events like wedding venues.
The director at the Warren Heritage Society suggested selling parking spots, since roads would be closed off downtown right up to the edge of their gravel driveway. It sounded like an interesting opportunity.
I started exploring the space and found a large empty room with various light podiums on display, which could be a banquet room for dancing, with a podium in the corner and a projection screen. The room was fairly dark with dark grey walls, black floor, and even the exit sign housing was black. People occasionally came in and left, but no one stayed for too long, and I found myself joining the rest.
At one time, the owner had mentioned in conversation that there was a freight elevator with wooden doors that opened up and down in the building. It immediately took me back to my days as a stock boy in Revco, operating a freight elevator to the basement. I had to control the speed and direction, and although each floor had doors that opened the same, the elevator itself didn’t, and I’d get dizzy watching the walls move up as I went down.
Much of the buzz in the room was about the morning news that the King & Queen of England were visiting the town in two days. I woke up to a post from the Virginia Beer Museum, where the owner, in colonial attire with a British flag, announced “The British are coming!” and invited the King to Two Pint Tuesdays at 5 pm that night. Perhaps the king was there while I was at the ribbon-cutting. One could only wonder…
It was said that the town staff had been aware of the visit for four to six weeks, and it was impressive that everyone was tight-lipped about it until the last minute. I was told that one of the store owners was asked to dress down for the event, which seemed very much out of character for her and the store’s theme.
At one point in the evening, everyone was asked to move into the next room for announcements. The chamber announced that the Wine & Craft festival had sold out all of its available vendor spots and that volunteers were needed. Willy of C&C Frozen Treats announced that the 11th annual Fun Day is approaching. There were four introductions of new members to the chamber. It finally came down to the owner of Artsii introducing the company, sharing the history of renovating the building, and explaining what they do.
It then came down to the ribbon-cutting. Mike McCool, the owner of the Royal Examiner, usually brings a camera and directs everyone to get into position. Without his presence and camera, the chamber’s director took over, directing the company’s owner, who handed him the large scissors to cut the ribbon. I took one end and held the ribbon tight while the owner, his mother, and other staff got behind with the giant scissors.
After the countdown, he cut the ribbon, immediately followed by lots of cheering and clapping from all watching from the other side of the room. Afterward, photos were taken as the room returned to the first one, which was much brighter and had food.
Amid all the talking in the main room, the owner commented on the difficulty of choosing among the cupcakes offered by Garcia & Gavino, as there were 40 types he wanted, but he settled on four. He relied on another attendant’s expert advice, who informed him that the chocolate ones were the best.
Eventually, I saw a photo from my pastor and one of the archivists over at the Virginia Beer Museum, showing that the King & the Vicar (themselves) were there – a bit of a joke that they’ve had among themselves for many years. As people keep referring to me as the Mayor, I replied that the Mayor was on their way. I left with another business owner, and we found that they had already left before we arrived. We hung out for a bit while I had a Root Beer and he had a beer.
We talked about the visit scheduled with the King & Queen of England and that I might get a chance to see them. It seems like this is an event bigger than Bring Crosby’s visit, after which our stadium was built with his support, and named in his honor. It just so happens that my Starbucks account name is “King Lewie,” after the orangutan in the movie, The Jungle Book. Although no one ever says it out loud. My housewarming party when I first arrived was titled “Royal House Warming Party,” a play on the town’s name. Since my Uncle is from the UK and visits often, my Aunt & Uncle purchased a coffee cup from there with one of the previous Queen’s corgis, since I have a corgi myself.
Many businesses were posting AI-generated photos of the King & Queen visiting their establishments in good humor. Eating a pizza at a booth in the Melting Pot, Mowing yards for A1A Lawn Care, drinking martinis at Element, standing on the steps at the Virginia Beer Museum with beer glasses, spinning a mystery meal drop for On Cue Sports Bar & Grill, sitting at a picnic table at Dblock Roy’s Fish Fry, dropping by Once Upon A Child for dumplings, kayaking the Shendoah River, Looking at various teas in Dusty’s Country Store, and more.
In political discourse, some people joked about the irony of “No Kings” protests taking place while the town was enthusiastically preparing for the arrival of the King of England. Others pointed out that welcoming a visiting monarch is very different from wanting one to rule the country. One thing is for certain – just about all of the political turmoil on social media about taxes and data centers was dwarfed by the focus on the royal visit.
Around last call, I noticed that the director of the Warren Heritage Society had already listed four parking spots for auction, starting at $100 each. Before parting, I noted that parking would be a challenge, as most of downtown already had signs posted restricting parking ahead of the street closures scheduled for the next day. More parking lots and streets would be closed than in prior events, where parking was difficult.
By Wednesday night, the lowest bid on the parking spots had already reached $250, bringing the total for all four spots to $1,050. Bidding will close at 7:30 a.m. on the morning of the event. The royal visit was already having a visible economic effect downtown. I also saw major news outlets reporting from the area, interviewing many familiar faces around town, while security fences being installed looked more at home around the White House or Capitol complex during heightened security events.
