MIDDLETOWN -- Long before the nickname had another meaning, Strasburg proudly passed itself off as "Pot Town."

The town was once a potter's paradise, an achievement that can be attributed to destiny and chance -- its clay was of high quality and its settlers brought a tradition of pottery, said John Adamson, who will showcase some of his historical collection at an exhibit opening this weekend at Belle Grove Plantation.

Strasburg resident Adamson and his wife, Barbara, will have pottery pieces on display at the plantation through November. Strasburg couples Fred and Debbie Ritenour and John and Donna Huntsberger (Debbie Ritenour and Donna Huntsberger are sisters) also will have their pottery in the exhibit. And there will be a few pottery reproductions made by Dr. Jim Kiser, of Woodstock, said Adamson, a member of Belle Grove's board of directors.

Belle Grove's mission is to keep old traditions alive and in the spotlight, so celebrating Strasburg's history with pottery belongs in the mix, Executive Director Elizabeth McClung said. There is an exhibit opening, champagne breakfast and panel discussion scheduled for this morning at the plantation. Advance reservations were required.

The exhibit debuts during Belle Grove's antique appraisal weekend, too. People are invited to bring paintings, quilts, books and more to be appraised by one of three experts. In the past, items worth as much as $50,000 have been discovered, McClung said.

Pottery can be a lucrative item to own as well. Its history in Strasburg provides some value locally.

The town became Pot Town rather easily, it seems. For starters, the clay was "really good," something Native Americans picked up on as early as 1200 B.C., Adamson said. Then, when early settlers from modern-day Germany arrived, they brought with them a tradition of pottery, seeing its importance to food preparation and storage, he said.

"It was highly useful," Adamson said. "It's part of everyday life. As early as the 1760s, settlers were making pottery."

These people likely just made pottery for their own use, he added, and nothing from that era has survived. But the foundation was laid for what was to come -- a wave of families, beginning in the early 1800s, making and marking pottery.

Adam Keister, coming from Europe around 1810, was the first to mark his work, Adamson said. The Keister family, one of several with deep pottery-making roots in Strasburg, was the first to go from making what is known as earthenware or redware to stoneware, which stores liquids better.

"You have to fire it hotter," Adamson said.

From the 1840s until the Civil War, all of the pottery was made in family-sized businesses -- as many as six active potteries going at the same time. The war disrupted the trade's popularity, but when the fighting ended, the clay creations' "heyday" was born, Adamson said.

After the war and until the early 1890s, pottery took off, with it being shipped by wagon and rail. The success drove a group of local businessmen in 1891 to form the Strasburg Stone and Earthenware Manufacturing Co. and build a factory, which is now the Strasburg Museum and includes the largest public collection of town pottery, Adamson said.

"Unfortunately," he said, "this was the end of the pottery period."

Ohio, with bigger pottery factories, led to the market becoming flooded, Adamson said. By the end of the 19th century, tin cans and glass collapsed the market.

Potters tried to survive by switching to fancier, more decorative works that had mutlicolored glazes, but that did not sustain their businesses, Adamson said. The last small pottery in Strasburg closed in 1910, and in 1913 the factory changed hands to become a train depot.

"It collapsed pretty quickly," Adamson said. "It was roaring in 1890, but by 10 years later, they knew it was over."

The job of carrying on the memory of the period is up to places such as Belle Grove. Adamson said about 35 pieces of pottery, mostly from the Ritenours and Huntsbergers, will be on display. He and his wife are not big collectors, although they enjoy what they have, he said.

"The expensive stuff is so expensive, you've got to be lucky or really, really into it to have a big collection," Adamson said.

Good fortune, in fact, is what the Huntsbergers had. They unearthed more than 130 pieces of pottery on their rental property in Strasburg. It appeared as if the bowls, jugs and other forms of pottery were used as a drain that ran for more than 165 feet.

That, Mrs. Huntsberger said, sparked her and her husband's interest into getting more involved with collecting pottery.

"They're country," she said of the pieces. "It's a part of Strasburg. We just like them. They fit in very well with our decor."

Belle Grove is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $5 to see the exhibit and be a part of the antique show and other activities. For the rest of the month, the exhibit can be seen for $8 on weekends or $10 during private weekday tours that require a reservation. For more information, call 869-2028.

By Josette Keelor -- jkeelor@nvdaily.com

BERRYVILLE -- As the Berryville Bluegrass Series nears the heart of its ninth season, founders Frank and Cyndy Jurney, of Shenandoah Farms in Clarke County, can practically just sit back and watch the music program run itself.

"We have a 480-seat auditorium, and this year we have 400 season ticket holders," says Jurney. Many of the dates are already sold out, he said, but people still come from all over the area to listen to bluegrass bands at Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville.

The next show is at 3 p.m. Sunday and will feature a CD release concert with Bill Yates and the Country Gentlemen Tribute Band Volume II. The concert will benefit the JWMS Athletic Boosters.

Amazingly, the economy has not made a dent in the crowds flocking to see the best that bluegrass has to offer, the Jurneys say.

"We were really worried [at first]," says Mrs. Jurney.

"We picked up 60 new season ticket holders last year," her husband adds. At $20 per concert on the season-ticket plan, that's no small feat. The bluegrass series keeps on truckin'.

"We've been doing this so long, since 1985," Jurney says of bringing musical talent to the area. "We're pretty much attuned to what's out there."

"We knew of 'em [local bands]," Mrs. Jurney says.

"Through our connections," her husband adds.

Jurney, 69, passionate in his love for bluegrass music, quickly jumped on board when his wife, 55, came up with the idea for hosting local and nationally known bands.

"We went from one concert, now we do six or seven during the wintertime [from October to March]," Jurney says. Mrs. Jurney formed the idea shortly after moving to the area from Maryland with her husband in 1982. She was vice president in charge of fundraising with the Shenandoah Farms Volunteer Fire Department in the 1980s and planned a bluegrass concert to raise funds.

The idea caught on and became a tradition. Before long, organizations around the area were seeking help from the Jurneys to plan fundraisers.

Mrs. Jurney, who had taken several years off from work after the move, soon returned to work and began a job as bookkeeper and the athletic director's secretary with Clarke County High School. She realized the benefit of using the concert series as a fundraiser for the CCHS Eagles Athletic Association.

Because the middle school hosts the concerts to benefit the high school, the Jurneys decided that Sunday's concert ought to give back to the middle school.

What seems to draw in the crowds is the friendly atmosphere, the Jurneys agree.

"Bluegrass is a very tight-knit community," Jurney says. "Everybody's on the same page, everybody wants the same thing" -- namely, a "nice, clean environment for concerts."

"It's alcohol-free, smoke-free," his wife says.

For the current season, the concert series has attracted the likes of Nothin' Fancy, Rhonda Vincent and The Rage, Roadside Cafe and Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out.

When IIIrd Tyme Out previously performed on the middle school's stage, so many people showed up to watch that the Jurneys were seating audience members on the stage behind the band. Concert officials joked that the audience had formed a IIIrd Tyme Tabernacle Choir, Jurney says.

"The competition for the entertainer's dollar is tough," he says.

But with perseverance and love for the musical genre, the Jurneys have solidified their footprint on the market in the Northern Shenandoah Valley. The Jurneys, both retired, keep up their lot in life for the sheer fun of it.

"We enjoy the concerts, we enjoy raising the money for the kids," says Jurney, who worked for 12 years at the Clarke County Sheriff's Office.

The couple also provide scholarships for graduating seniors in Clarke County. Last year, donations from the concert series tickets totaled $4,000, he says.

The couple, who have lived in Clarke County for 27 years, quite literally built their place in the community, fashioning into a dream home the tiny abandoned cabin in the woods they purchased on Old Oak Lane. They did not know a soul here when they moved to the country from Prince George's County and continued their lengthy commutes each day, Journey to Washington and his wife to Maryland.

"We could not be more enmeshed in a community than we are now," Mrs. Journey says.

For tickets or more information about the Berryville Bluegrass Series, call 837-2187 or visit the Web at www.berryvillebluegrass.com.

By Josette Keelor -- jkeelor@nvdaily.com

Vanessa Bittel has been writing since she was 6. Her first story, "Jane is Mad," helped her realize a passion for storytelling. The Stephens City resident now enjoys writing mysteries, especially ones that begin with a death.

Though only 15, Vanessa is working on her second book. The first one, "Glacia," a manuscript of about 8,000 words, has been set aside in favor of a new project, "The Secret of Willowyn Harbor," the novel Vanessa is planning to write for this year's National Novel Writing Month.

She will join nearly 132,000 other writers, young and old, around the world for NaNoWriMo, 30 days of near-continuous writing, which begins Sunday. NaNoWriMo has been held each year since 1999.

Writers under the age of 18 who participate may choose their own challenging but achievable word goals.

Last year Vanessa fell short of her lofty 50,000-word goal; this year she has chosen to focus instead on page count: 200 pages by Nov. 30.

"I do it for fun right now, but I think it'd be really cool to get my books published," she said.

Area children and teens interested in writing have an abundance of assistance available. From library clubs to school programs, there's something for any age, depending on the topic of interest.

Local libraries plan more programs all the time, said Donna Hughes, youth services division head with Handley Regional Library, which includes Bowman Library in Stephens City, Handley Library in Winchester and Clarke County Library in Berryville.

Bowman recently wrapped up its summer writing program, which encourages children to write about their environment and paint images with their words. Its current program, the Young Writers Program for NaNoWriMo, began on Tuesday. The club, which focuses particularly on novel writing, will meet every Tuesday in November, with a wrap-up session planned for Dec. 1.

"When we get together we give them ideas on how to get past writing blocks, take a subject and write as many descriptive words as possible," Hughes said. "I think what happens is you gain some momentum."

Samuels Public Library in Front Royal offers its Teen Creative Writing Club once a month.

"It's our most popular ongoing teen program," said Michal Ashby, youth services librarian at Samuels. Club members work on a creative piece of writing, such as a short story or novel, during each meeting.

"Everyone offers constructive criticism," she said.

"We usually do a writing exercise almost every single time," Ashby said.

Sometimes the group invites speakers, such as poets or other writers. Author Regina Doman will speak on Dec. 12 on the topic "Which comes first, the plot or the character?"

This month's meeting is today at 2 p.m. Teens are invited to come and, among other things, talk over their ideas for their novels for NaNoWriMo. The club will meet again on Nov. 28.

Samuels also partners with the Royal Oak Bookshop in Front Royal and Warren County schools on the Holiday Writing Project. Open to both public and private schools, the contest, now in its 31st year, offers children the chance to spotlight their writing, culminating in a publication of the top three winners in each grade of every school, Ashby said. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 16 at 8 p.m.

"Kids for the most part always enjoy creative writing," said Lisa Rudacille, principal at Ressie Jeffries Elementary School in Front Royal. "Writing about the holidays at the elementary level is also a big deal."

The children have fun writing about that time of year, she said. Those too young to write are invited to participate in the Holiday Writing Contest anyway.

"Sometimes they will do an illustration; they'll dictate a story," she said of younger children. "There are some ways that every child can participate."

Schools around the area work to keep writing fun, whatever the topic.

"We do a lot of nonfiction writing every day," said Christa Owens, an eighth-grade teacher at James Wood Middle School in Winchester. Her classes combine social studies with English for an hour and 40 minutes each day.

One of the year's main projects focuses on writing faux travel journals for a fictitious autobiography, or the "Oxymoron Story."

"They create a character and they will use the 12 components of culture," Owens said. "What is nonfiction is the setting; what is fiction is the problem." Students develop a fictional character and place that person in different situations depending on the unit the class is studying, traveling around the world in the process.

"They own that character and they are into that character," Owens said. "Their barrier comes down and then they're writing like crazy."

"We incorporate our writing projects into the classrooms," said Beth Huddleston, English Department chair at Daniel Morgan Middle School in Winchester. The block instruction allows for breakout groups, she said, such as literary circle time during which students can focus on writing activities.

"All students at Daniel Morgan have writing portfolios," she said. The students' writing is based on the "Write Traits," she said, which concentrate on the six traits of writing: Organization, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, conventions, and publication.

"Being able to communicate is essential in any industry they hope to do in life," said Trevor Johnson, creative writing teacher at Sherando High School in Stephens City. The student magazine attracts a large number of students each year, he said.

This year the theme is "Down the Rabbit Hole" and will welcome poetry, creative writing and art dealing with Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" or any nonsense poems or parodies students feel are fitting.

"They want to have a mad hatter tea party for it," Johnson said. "They're really impassioned about it."

The journalism class at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School in Woodstock was recently working on headlines that will grab students' attention. The class of seventh-graders learns not only how to write for an audience of peers, but also how to put together a newspaper and edit photographs.

The P.M.M.S. Press publishes four to five times a year, said Donna Burton, seventh-grade language arts teacher. "We do it as many times as we can handle it," she said.

"I like writing and reading, so this is the main reason [for taking the class]," said 12-year-old student Sarah Rhodes, as she worked with photos on a computer. Rhodes also writes stories.

"I interviewed the people in the cafeteria for each grade ... [to discover] if they were packing or buying [lunches]," she said.

Trevor Wolf, 13, enjoys writing both news and sports.

"I decided to do it just because I think it would help me learn new writing techniques, and I thought that it would be fun to write articles that the whole school would see," he said. "I like writing."

Last year, Jessica Griffith, 12, of Stephens City, developed an interest in poetry when her teacher at Robert E. Aylor Middle School in Stephens City assigned poetry exercises in class.

Jessica writes about her life, mainly what she thinks and how she feels. Poetry is her outlet, her means of self-expression.

Her two best friends and neighbors, Lizzy Lahners and Destinee Backner, both 12, are also writers. They all attended the summer writing program at Bowman this year.

Destinee writes short stories, mainly romantic vampire lore.

"That's my passion," she said, though she stressed a disinterest in the "Twilight" series, by author Stephenie Meyer.

"Most of my characters come from real life," she said, though she translates them into fiction.

"I like writing some poetry," Lizzy said. "I'm more of a realistic writer; I write about what's going on."

Mainly, though, she focuses on writing her blog, Lizzy's Book Blog, which is linked to the Bowman Library teen blog, www.hrlyouthscope. blogspot.com, and offers reviews of books she has read.

"I like blogging because I get to influence other people's opinions about books," she said. "I know from personal experience."

Since Lizzy reads at a very high level, she finds it difficult to know ahead of time which books will interest a girl her age. She relies on book reviews to help her and believes other people do as well.

An avid reader, Lizzy credits books with helping her develop her writing skills.

"I want to be a teacher when I grow up. I want to be able to do this for a long time," she said of blogging. "I want to do the blog for as long as I can."

Programs for young writers

* The Young Writers Program for NaNoWriMo, at Bowman Library in Stephens City, meets every Tuesday in November with a wrap-up session Dec. 1. For more information call 869-9000.

* The Teen Creative Writing Club at Samuels Public Library in Front Royal meets once a month. October's meeting is today at 2 p.m. For more information call 635-3153 or visit the Web at www.samuelslibrary.net.

* The 31st Annual Holiday Writing Contest for Warren County is open to grades K-12. Participants should write a short story or poem about the winter holidays to submit to Samuels Public Library. The most noteworthy submissions will be chosen at the library and passed to contest officials from the schools where the three winners from each grade will be selected. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 16 at 8 p.m.

* NaNoWriMo begins on Sunday. Participants must sign up at www.nanowrimo.org by midnight tonight. Participation is free.

-- Source: Bowman and Samuels libraries