Dear Loyal Patrons & Friends,
I
am sorry to have remained incommunicado for so long. As most of you
know, we have been in a great state of transition for several months
now. It's been said that nothing is permanent but change and we are
certainly proving the truth in the maxim.
As
you recall, last year we first lost our Great and Glorious Landlord,
Mr. Robert Dreifus, who passed away in January. He was a great
supporter of small businesses in general and of Mindful Hands and myself
in particular.
Then in November, with the advent of a new landlord, we lost our lease at the lower King St. location in Alexandria, VA where we have been since 1996.
After
an exhaustive but fruitless search for affordable space anywhere in Old
Town, we expanded our search to include the entire Northern Virginia
area. Then we tried select DC neighborhoods. Then Maryland. It became
more than apparent to us that, lacking the financial resources that we
had even 10 years ago before the great recession, that we simply could
not afford to be in the greater DC/Northern Virginia area any longer.
So
we started looking for more affordable places to re-locate the shop.
And we kept hearing the name of one small town from many different
people - friends, acquaintances, workshop leaders, and loyal patrons of
the shop - all of whom did not want to see Mindful Hands close its doors
forever, the only other option available to us.
That town was Staunton,
located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, just 2.5 hours from DC.
Staunton had just been named by the Smithsonian Magazine as one of the
20 best small towns in America. The town has also won accolades from
Travel + Leisure magazine, The National Trust for Historic Preservation,
and many other publications and organizations.
With
a strong commitment to the arts and historic preservation, Staunton
boasts of such cultural icons as the only reproduction in the world of
Shakespeare's Blackfriars Playhouse, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential
Library and Museum, and the Heifetz International Music Institute. Its
revitalized historic downtown boasts more than a hundred little shops,
art galleries, and antique stores, including three independent
bookstores and two independent movie theaters.
Staunton
also has a strong commitment to local farmers and the local food
movement, as well as many green initiatives. After visiting here several
times, I decided that the time was right to start anew and that
Staunton was where I wanted to do that.
We
ended up in a commercial building that, although lacking somewhat in
the historic charm that imbued our lower King Street home, is still
large enough so we can continue to offer the classes, workshops, special
events, and meditation groups that we were known for in Alexandria.
We opened in our new space in mid-May. With new beginnings and a new location, we thought a new name, more reflective of our mission, was in order. So we changed the name of the shop from Mindful Hands to Harmony Moon. We hope you like it.
Gary Goodwin, of The Inner Arts Center,
will be joining us the second Saturdays of every month for his
Mind-Body Wellness and Stuck Creative workgroups. We will be adding
other groups and classes in the very near future. Look for both some old
favorites as well as new groups. We also have started working with Cat's Cradle, a
local cat rescue group, for monthly adoption events again.
Our new location and contact information is:
* Harmony Moon
* 13 S. New Street
* Staunton, VA 24401
* (540) 885-1368
* Harmony Moon
* 13 S. New Street
* Staunton, VA 24401
* (540) 885-1368
Please come visit us, we would love to see you!
