Supporting Small Business

Photo courtesy of Thrill of the Hunt

Downtown Ashland Association contributes to the town’s vitality by deploying our time, funding, and voice on behalf of the community. In this uncertain time, it is more important than ever to provide local businesses with entrepreneurial resources. We have collected a list of links, information, and workshops to address businesses’ major concerns. The page will be updated regularly as the situation develops.

If you have questions or wish to schedule a confidential consultation, contact Executive Director Maggie Longest at director@ashlandvirginia.com.

Public Input Requested for Railroad Park Concept

Downtown Ashland Association requests the community's input on the concept of a Railroad Park.

We invite you to a presentation and discussion Thursday, March 5, 2020 at 7pm in Ashland Library. Come to learn about the proposal and a summary of public comments to date.

To give your own opinion, please answer the online survey:

THE CONCEPT

We suggest creating a permanent walking tour through Downtown Ashland, presented as a series of small parks. Each park or exhibit would tell a piece of Ashland's railroad story, from the 1830s through today. The goal is for the Railroad Park to showcase our town's unique story and increase foot traffic to support local businesses.

Watch the video for further explanation of the project.

An Entrepreneur’s Passion: Homemades by Suzanne

Homemades by Suzanne has been an Ashland landmark for 37 years. The successful business we know today was the inspiration of local entrepreneur, Suzanne Wolstenholme. Recently, Downtown Ashland Association talked with Suzanne and one of her partners, Kimberly Mills, to learn more.

Homemades appears to be a quaint sandwich shop tucked between Randolph-Macon College and Route 54. While it fits that bill, the shop is also the hub for takeout, catering, and a satellite location in downtown Richmond’s John Marshall Ballroom. The kitchen hums with activity from early until late, while the partners manage a complex schedule.

Suzanne has lived in the Ashland area most of her life. After realizing the corporate nine-to-five secretary life was not for her, the entrepreneur had an idea.

“Around the time I started Homemades by Suzanne, there were a lot of women going back into the workplace. The problem was, if you were tired or you wanted to do something after work, there was not a place to stop-in and pick-up something wholesome to take home for dinner. If you did not want to cook at home, the food choices were very limited.” 

Homemades by Suzanne began by preparing homestyle takeaway meals, meeting the demands of working women and their families. “I have a degree in business administration and management,” Suzanne explains. “When I graduated as a 30-year-old, I wanted to do something meaningful with my degree. I love to cook and entertain, and I wanted to use that to help make women more successful and their lives easier.” That idea evolved into one of the most well-known businesses in the region. 

Even though Suzanne, Kimberly, and third partner, Sheila Clarke, work hard managing the business, they credit their success to the individuals who work beside them every day in the kitchen. Some of the staff members have even been with the business from the start. 

“I do not think our company would be as successful, if we did not have such dedicated workers,” says Kimberly. “We have an incredible team—they are like family. They get behind us and rally when we are busy. Restaurants typically have a very high turnover rate with employees, but we have people who have been here for 30-plus years which makes for a tight knit family.”

Owning and operating a successful business has its own challenges, but Suzanne’s story of entrepreneurial excellence makes her business even more impressive. In Ashland during the 1980s, entrepreneurship was not thriving, especially not for women. This former-secretary, went back to school, took the business knowledge she acquired, and turned it into something cherished by many. The story of Homemades by Suzanne is truly remarkable, and Suzanne and Kimberly shared some advice for any aspiring entrepreneurs.

“Find something you really enjoy and want to do. As an entrepreneur, you have to make money, but do not make that your main goal,” says Suzanne. “Think about giving a service and just do the best you possibly can. Treat people the right way, and the success will build from there.”

“If you are passionate about something, then the hard work comes a little easier,” says Kimberly. “You have to be dedicated and you have to sacrifice your personal time to make your dream successful. If the work is a passion, it is a lot easier.”

You can find Homemades By Suzanne at 102 North Railroad Avenue, and learn more about them on their website and their Facebook page.

Community Spotlight: Ian Kirkland

Ian Kirkland, owner of The Caboose Market and Café, is a long-time champion of Downtown Ashland. Kirkland has owned and operated the business for more than 22 years, and is serving on the board of Downtown Ashland Association for the second time!

Ian Kirkland behind the bar at The Caboose Market & Cafe. Photo by Brittany Claud Photography.

“It is really nice to see the evolution of the organization, especially its presence in the community, over the ten years that I’ve been involved,” says Kirkland. “I feel that volunteering my time is one way to give back to the community. The community and the town have been good to The Caboose, and it is just one way that I personally can recontribute.”

Kirkland notes the increased involvement of businesses in the Association. “I feel like now we have a lot more businesses involved. When I first served on the board, there were mostly individual residents serving. It is nice to see the business community take the organization more seriously,” says Kirkland. “I have been very fortunate to work with great people. I have developed some great relationships with various business owners.”

The Caboose Market at 108 S. Railroad Ave. Photo by Hickory Bow Studio

We are deeply grateful that Ian Kirkland has been a leader in Downtown Ashland Association’s development over the past decade. Despite juggling family and operating a business, he has continued to dedicate time to help build community.

The Caboose Cafe’s farm-to-table menu. Photo by Hickory Bow Studio.

“I think the best part of Ashland is the sense of community,” says Kirland. “I think that is one of the things that works for us as a business. The relationship we have with our customers is what helps us continue to grow and take risks. A lot of people label it “quaint”, but I think it is really the underlying sense of community.”

Untold Stories 2020

Sunday, February 23 hundreds of Ashland and Hanover residents gathered for “Untold Stories: Growing Up in Ashland/Hanover—Black & White Experiences”. 2020 was the sixth annual Untold Stories event. The program proved, once again, to be a moving experience for both the presenters and the audience.

Untold Stories is organized annually by a diverse group of volunteers who come together in support of telling our community’s history with our own words. We are proud to share a brief history of the committee’s success below:

Historic photo courtesy of Ashland Museum

How Untold Stories Came to Be
by Barry Green

In late 2013, a small committee chaired by Anthony Keitt and consisting of members of the board for the Hanover Arts and Activities Center met to consider ideas for a Black History Month program the following February.  They came up with an idea to record oral histories as told by older African–Americans who had grown up in Hanover County about what it was like growing up, working, and raising families in the county in the l940’s, 1950’s, and 1960’s.

A member of the committee contacted Ashland videographer and documentarian Tom Wulf to see if he would provide guidance on editing the video recordings.  Tom advised that the Ashland Museum was in the process of planning a birthday celebration for the Town of Ashland and planned to have older town residents speak about their experiences growing up in the town.

After a discussion between the two committees, a decision was made to join the two efforts and to have both black and white citizens sit as a panel and tell their stories to a County audience.  A larger committee was created, including the Center, the Ashland Museum, the Hanover County Black Heritage Society and Downtown Ashland Association (then known as Ashland Main Street Association) to plan the program.

The first program was held at the Center in February of 2014 before a standing-room only crowd.  “Untold Stories—Growing Up in Ashland/Hanover—Black  and White Experiences,” has been held each year since at various venues.  Each has had 3 black and 3 white speakers (3 women and 3 men) who grew up in different parts of the County.  Each program has ended with songs performed by the Hanover Community Gospel Choir, a group of white and black singers who join together to bring the event to a rousing conclusion.

Sue Watson smiles in the front row of the inaugural Untold Stories event in 2014, while Beryl Carter and Woody Tucker speak.

“I am always glad to bring people together to sing together in our Community Gospel choir that concludes our Untold Stories Program. Each year we try to get a different leader –a minister of music from a different church. And we try to get singers from many different churches and choirs.
The results are impressive. The rehearsals are hard and wonderful. People are learning music that they may or may not know. And that requires working together to teach and to learn. The singers help each other learn their parts and get to know each other as the rehearsal process continues. During the actual program, the choir’s songs are the last part of the program and the audience usually gets involved as the choir sings with keyboard, bass, and drums. The spirit on stage and in the audience is impressive. Singing together brings people together. And the process of working and learning and singing together for Untold Stories receives high praise and strong reviews as people value our shared musical experience that we share with the audiences.
Choir members use words such as joy, pride, happy, human, surprising, spiritual, meaningful, and important when they talk about why they value their community gospel choir experiences. They like that the rehearsals and performances bring the individuals together. They regularly ask, ‘When are we going to do this again?’”

— Sue Watson

“I really enjoy getting to know and understand people through their stories. The more we know and understand each other the better we can get along.”

— Mary Waddy