It Usually Starts With a Question

It Usually Starts With a Question

There is a particular kind of curiosity that starts with something ordinary.

A bird outside the window. A field you have driven past for years. An old photograph. A question that begins with, "I wonder why..."

Follow it far enough and the ordinary has a habit of getting interesting.

Susan Haynes followed birds into a business she never planned to own. Yowell Meadow Park turns out to have a life that began long before playgrounds and walking paths. And in 1953, Culpeper celebrated new streetlights with enough enthusiasm to put supper tables down the middle of town.

None of those things belong together exactly.

Maybe curiosity does that better than a theme ever could.

Here is what feels worth knowing, doing and asking around Culpeper this week.

GATHER

Halloween at Ovoka is getting the GATHER treatment.

Ember & Mist on October 31 brings an open-fire dinner featuring Ovoka Wagyu, wine pairings, Latin jazz from Ver Azul and a long-table evening built for lingering after dark.

The setting is part of the experience, with autumn color, firelight, mist and one extraordinary Virginia landscape.

Susan Haynes Is Teaching Culpeper to Notice the Birds

Susan Haynes can help you outwit a squirrel, teach a class about nesting birds and tell you where she saw her first Pileated Woodpecker. What she cannot do, despite considerable effort, is persuade a Pileated Woodpecker to visit her own feeders. She has them around her house, and when one calls or appears in the yard, she stops dead in her tracks. For somebody who calls herself a "complete bird nerd," there are apparently still negotiations left to conduct.

Susan and her husband, Bob Haynes, own Wild Birds Unlimited Culpeper, which opened in July 2022. Teaching has become a regular part of the family business, from free monthly talks to summer programs for children. A homeschool class Susan started three years ago has grown from three students to 21 at a recent session, she says. The former homeschooling mother is still teaching, only now her students include people deciding what to put in a backyard feeder.

Before It Was Yowell Meadow

You probably do not need directions to Yowell Meadow Park.

But the ground had another identity long before the playground, basketball courts and walking paths.

According to Culpeper Tourism's VA250 history, in 1775 the area was known as Philip Clayton's Old Field and became a principal muster and drill ground for recruits from the Culpeper military district. More than 650 men from Culpeper, Fauquier and Orange ultimately deployed from there during Virginia's opening Revolutionary War mobilization.

So the next time you cross that very familiar field, there is another version of the landscape worth imagining.

The Night Culpeper Lit Up

Did you know Culpeper celebrated new fluorescent streetlights in 1953 with a supper table stretching from the train depot toward Main and Davis? The November 13 celebration marked what local history records describe as Culpeper becoming the first town south of the Mason-Dixon Line with fluorescent streetlights. It also celebrated 50 years of local electricity, with guests served Brunswick stew that cooked somewhere between 4 and 36 hours, depending on which source you believe.

*Sources: Culpeper Tourism's [Operation SkyGlow history](https://visitculpeperva.com/uncovered-content/operation-skyglow/) and [18 Weird and Wacky Facts](https://visitculpeperva.com/uncovered-content/18-weird-and-wacky-facts-about-culpeper-va/).*

This Week Around Culpeper

October is doing what October does best. It puts entirely unrelated things on the same calendar and dares you to choose.

This week brings nature questions at the library, free Halloween costumes, airplanes overhead, live music, Oktoberfest, local history and a ghost tour inside a building where Civil War soldiers actually wrote their names on the walls.

Pick your level of ambition.

Or browse the whole calendar and build your own.

Nature Questions, Free Costumes and Ghost Stories

**1. [The Naturalist Is In](https://www.cclva.org/event/naturalist-16085)**

Thursday, October 8 | 11 a.m.-2 p.m. | Culpeper County Library

Found something outside and have no idea what it is? An Old Rag Master Naturalist will be in the library atrium for questions about the plants, insects, animals and other mysteries the yard has been keeping from you.

**2. [Halloween Costume Closet](https://www.cclva.org/event/youth-services-program-7433)**

Saturday, October 10 | 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. | Culpeper County Library

The library has collected enough donated Halloween costumes to turn generosity into a free costume closet. Bring the kids, browse what is available and perhaps avoid buying something that will be worn for approximately 94 minutes.

**3. [Whispers in the Wallpaper](https://visitculpeperva.com/event/whispers-in-the-wallpaper-ghosts-of-the-graffiti-house-tour/2026-10-10/)**

Saturday, October 10 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Graffiti House, Brandy Station | $10

More than 65 names written by Civil War soldiers still remain on the walls of the Graffiti House. This evening follows the stories and ghost lore attached to the rooms, stairs and handwriting they left behind. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Advance registration and ticket purchase are required, with 15 places per tour. [Reserve through the Brandy Station Foundation](https://www.brandystationfoundation.com/).

Costumes, Airplanes and Ghosts

If your Saturday plans could use a little range, October 10 can take you from free Halloween costumes to airplanes to Civil War ghost stories without leaving the Culpeper area.

**10:30 a.m. - Start at the Halloween Costume Closet**

The Culpeper County Library is opening its donated costume collection for families from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Costumes are free while supplies last.

**Late morning and afternoon - Look up**

Next, make your way to [Culpeper Air Fest](https://www.culpeperairfest.com/faqs/). Admission and parking are free. Park at Culpeper County High School or Eastern View High School and take the complimentary shuttle to the airport. Gates open at 9 a.m.; the main show runs from noon to 3 p.m. Allow time for the shuttle.

**6 p.m. - End inside the Graffiti House**

Finish in Brandy Station with [Whispers in the Wallpaper](https://visitculpeperva.com/event/whispers-in-the-wallpaper-ghosts-of-the-graffiti-house-tour/2026-10-10/). More than 65 Civil War-era names remain on the walls, and the evening combines the documented history of the house with its ghost lore. The tour runs 6-7:30 p.m., costs $10 and is recommended for ages 12 and up. Book ahead through the [Brandy Station Foundation](https://www.brandystationfoundation.com/); advance tickets are required and each tour is limited to 15.

Free costume. Airshow. Haunted handwriting.

Nobody can accuse Saturday of lacking range.

Pull Up a Chair

Good food is better around a shared table.

Join the Culpeper HQ Dinner Club to hear about upcoming dinners and gatherings before the seats disappear.

Where Do You Go to Clear Your Head?

Everybody seems to have one.

A trail. A back road. A coffee shop. A bench. A winery. A church. A quiet corner nobody else thinks twice about.

**Where around Culpeper do you go when you need to clear your head?**

We want the specific place, especially if it is somewhere the rest of us might overlook.

Use the button below and tell us the place and what makes it your spot.

What Are We Missing?

Spotted an event, place, idea or local story more people should know about?

Send it our way.

The Woodpecker Remains Unimpressed

Susan has managed to turn birding into a business, a classroom and, occasionally, a competitive sport.

Susan can explain the 5-7-9 squirrel rule, run Vacation Bird School and teach a room full of people what to notice outside.

And yet one particular Pileated Woodpecker still refuses to visit her feeder.

Every expert deserves one bird that keeps things interesting.

We're rooting for Susan. Although, at this point, we have to admire the woodpecker's commitment to the bit.