Mark and Rachel sit down with Executive Director of the Friends of Old Town organization, Brady Cloven, as they chat about the stories and events of the happenings in Winchester over this past year as well as revealing some news and vision for the months and year ahead.
Upcoming Events :
Mark and Rachel chat with co-founder of the Ravenwood Faire, Stacey Rowe, who shares the background of this local annual event that brings thousands to town every year for a true “medieval” experience.
Links for This Episode:
Upcoming Events :
Ravenwood Faire, October 24th-26th
https://ravenwoodfaire.ticketspice.com/ravenwood-faire-2025
High Hill “Haunted Nightmares”, October 23-26 and October 30-November 1
Mark learns more about his co-host, Rachel, as she shares all about her passion for horticulture and how her local floral arrangement business, “Rachel’s Bloomers”, was developed and has grown over the years.
https://www.rachelsbloomers.com
Upcoming Events :
Savor the World, international food, event - October 9, 5:30pm
https://godfreymillercenter.org/savor-the-world/
Dino-Con - October 12, 10am-5pm
https://www.themsv.org/events/dino-con/
Ravenwood Faire - October 18-19, 24-26
Mark and Rachel dive into the latest happenings around Winchester and also sit down with Stephanie Ryall from the city’s Board of Architectural Review, who shares how the committee plays a key role in maintaining the historic character of downtown properties.
Links for This Episode:
Upcoming Events :
Bluegrass and Bites - Sept 28, 1pm-5pm
https://visitwinchesterva.com/event/bluegrass-bites/
Frederick County Farm Crawl - October 4, 8am-5pm
https://visitwinchesterva.com/event/frederick-county-farm-crawl/
Apple Festival at West Oaks - October 5, 11am-5pm
https://www.westoaksfarm-market.com/events/apple-festival-2025
Mark chats once again with local sports podcaster, Josh Kirby, from the “Kirby on Sports” podcast as they swap stories and insights about the local high school and professional football teams with predictions of the current season.
Links for this Episode:
Upcoming Events:
Fiddles and Fifths Bluegrass and Bourbon Festival - Saturday, September 13
https://visitwinchesterva.com/event/fiddles-and-fifths/
Shenandoah Valley Apple Harvest Festival - Saturday, September 20
https://visitwinchesterva.com/event/shenandoah-valley-apple-harvest-festival/
Celebracion of Winchester Festival - Saturday, September 20
https://visitwinchesterva.com/event/celebracion-of-winchester-festival/
Mark and Rachel sit down with local historian and volunteer at the Patsy Cline Historic House, John Flood, to reminisce about the storied life of the local singer/songwriter, Patsy Cline.
Links for This Episode:
https://visitwinchesterva.com/locations/patsy-cline-historic-house/
Upcoming Events :
Annual Patsy Cline Block Party - Saturday, August 30, 10am-4pm
https://celebrating-patsy-cline-inc.square.site/annual-patsy-cline-block-party
ShenArts Fest - Saturday, September 6, 10am-5pm
Mark and Rachel sit down with Winchester-native, William Orth, as they swap stories and reminisce about what Winchester was and how it has evolved over the years!
Upcoming Events :
Moonlit Movie Series - Friday, August 15, 8:30pm: “Mufasa”
https://visitwinchesterva.com/event/moonlit-movie-series-mufasa/
Winchester Greek Festival - Saturday/Sunday, August 16-17
Greek Orthodox Church
https://visitwinchesterva.com/event/winchester-greek-festival/
Learn about the value of internships, on-the-job training, and relational marketing in a small town like Winchester as Mark and Caleb chat with Dario Savarese of Full Circle Marketing and one of his current summer interns, Lauren Racer.
Full Circle Marketing
https://www.fullcirclem.com
Sunset Series on Thursday nights - July 31
https://visitwinchesterva.com/event/sunset-series-robbie-limon/
SSMT “Living Legacy Endowment Fund” Event - August 3
https://tickets.su.edu/25-ssmt-special-events/25-08-ssmt-benefit-concert
National Night Out - August 5
https://visitwinchesterva.com/event/national-night-out/
Mark chats with J. Robert Spencer, famed for leading roles on Broadway in the “Jersey Boys” original cast and his Tony nomination in the musical “Next to Normal”, as he plans to come back to his Shenandoah University and SSMT roots to host a special event at SSMT to assist the “Living Legacy Fund”.
https://www.su.edu/blog/2025/07/10/shenandoah-university-to-hold-special-performance-to-benefit-ssmt-living-legacy-endowment-fund/
https://tickets.su.edu/25-ssmt-special-events/25-08-ssmt-benefit-concert
Mark, Rachel, and Caleb share their takes on what the top Winchester attractions are and how they compare to online lists - and learn what they know and don’t know about local history!
Listen how the desire to help and serve our community drives this local couple to create businesses for people’s personal fitness, personal pets, and personal well-being as the ICONic Talk crew chats with John and Kristin Moore.
Join Mark and Rachel as they chat with Jeremy Blaustein and Elizabeth Albert of Shenandoah Summer Music Theater to explore how this vibrant local company keeps the arts thriving in our Winchester community with behind the scenes conversations and previews of the upcoming season.
The team sits down with Jared Mounts of Jake’s Bait and Tackle to discuss the joys of outdoor activities along with his journey as a teacher, coach, and ultimately a leader in our local fishing circles.
Links for the Episode:
Frederick County Bass Homepage
Local Events:
Mark and Caleb sit down with Abby Linaburg, co-owner of Wholesome Media, to talk about the latest social media marketing trends and share practical tips to help you promote your brand more easily and effectively.
Links for the episode:
Upcoming Local Events:
ICONic Talk local sponsors:
Learn all about Claudio’s Pizza as Mark, Caleb, and Rachel chat with co-owner, Tommy Buono, as he shares his passion for soccer, pizza, and our local Winchester community - plus get the recap of last week’s Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival!
Links for the Show:
Upcoming Events:
Garden Fair - May 10-11, Blandy Farm
Murder on the Orient Express - May 9-24, Winchester Little Theater
Mark, Rachel, and Caleb share their past experiences with The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival and chat about the various events that they are excited about!
Links Below:
The Bloom’s Events:
https://www.thebloom.com/events.html
Past ICONic Talk episode about Apple Blossom…
All Things Apple BlossomICONic Talk · April 7, 2022
Caleb and Rachel officially join Mark as the co-hosts of ICONic Talk and talk about the hopes and dreams of how this podcast can impact the local community and beyond…with plenty of jokes and cackling at the same time!
What would you like to see open up in our Winchester area? Mark invites friends back to the show to discuss their viewpoints of that topic - Caleb Pearson and Rachel Racey.
Mark shares his take on what the current real estate market looks like in Winchester/Frederick County, as well as the one year follow up report to the NAR settlement that happened last year.
Upcoming Events :
Friday, March 14, 6:30pm-9:30pm @ West Oaks Market
“St Patrick’s Party”
https://www.westoaksfarm-market.com/events/st-pattys-party-at-west-oaks
Saturday, March 22, 6:30pm-8:00pm
“Sip and Savor” - live theatrical sitcom
https://friendsofoldtown.org/event/sip-savor-a-live-theatrical-sitcom/
Monday, March 24, 6pm-9pm
Ravenwood Foundation benefit screening of “A Knights Tale” @ Alamo
https://friendsofoldtown.org/event/a-knights-tale-benefit-screening-ravenwood-foundation/
Learn all about the potential future of money in this conversation with local Bitcoin expert, Gary Krause, as he shares his perspectives and knowledge on the pioneering of this leading crypto-currency.
Shenandoah Bitcoin Club:
https://shenandoahbitcoin.club/index.html
US News story on Bitcoin (February 18, 2025)
https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/the-history-of-bitcoin
Upcoming Events :
Shenandoah University, “Monte Python’s Spamalot”, February 27 - March 2
https://www.su.edu/performs/event/25-02-monty-pythons-spamalot/
Travelin’ McCoureys concert @ Backseat Events / Backseat Bar and Grill, Friday, March 7
https://www.tixr.com/groups/backseatevents/events/backseatevents-the-travelin-mccourys-128450
Celtic Fest, downtown Winchester, Saturday, March 8