out in nature
Making the Magic Happen : Behind the Scenes at Calleva
You ’ ll see Calleva ’ s logo on vehicles , tshirts and all sorts of gear around the DMV . Calleva adventurers are highly visible — out and about all year long — and there ’ s a team of key leaders behind the scenes whose passion , commitment and experience have supported its educational mission for more than two decades . We met up with a few of them last month to hear their stories .
n Eric “ Flash ” Hill
You ’ re one of a handful of Calleva “ founding fathers .” Tell us a little bit about your passion for the outdoors .
My passion is for people and teamwork . I just happen to work on a farm where I ’ m outdoors and I wouldn ’ t change it for the world ! Right now , my creative side is connecting with cooking farm raised foods for our visitors to enjoy . It ’ s exciting to be getting back into a routine with our farmto-table experiences . During Covid , our Pizza Nights brought lots of families out to Calleva Farm . We ’ re keeping those rolling this summer alongside two Dirty Dinners , which let us get creative , work with other local producers , and serve a higher end dining experience . It ’ s such a good time !
List all the roles you ’ ve had at
Calleva over the years . Haha ! So many ! We ’ ve all morphed to become what ’ s needed since the very beginning of Calleva . That ’ s one of the things I enjoy most . Here ’ s the short list : mountain biking and archery instructor ; ropes course facilitator ; Transportation / Logistics Coordinator ; Snow Club Director ; Head Mechanic and now Head Chef .
What do you love about your current role ?
Working with Calleva ’ s farming team to plan and prep menus is an exercise in creativity and teamwork that I very much enjoy . I truly love coaching our kitchen team — a group that ’ s full of great ideas . Whether we ’ re baking bread for the Farm Store or prepping a meal for a school group , we ’ re always learning and improving our products and processes . Anticipating what ’ s coming from the garden is part of it too — it ’ s fulfilling to come up with a recipe that ’ s delicious and makes the most of what we ’ re harvesting here at the farm .
What are you looking forward to this year ?
We ’ re launching a new cattle program to enhance the quality of Calleva ’ s beef , with a focus on Red and Black Angus . We ’ ll be celebrating our success with a special Steak Florentine Dirty Dinner in summer 2023 !
Tell us about a Calleva memory that makes you smile .
Wow , it ’ s hard to narrow that down ! Things that stay with you and give a good chuckle are like getting stuck on a river in the middle of a thunderstorm ; taking Snow Club students to Chile and having it snow 8 feet overnight , the energy of a field full of Pizza Night patrons on a warm summer night — and even just the contentment of Calleva cows laying in a meadow chewing their cud .
It ’ s definitely 99 percent good times around here .
42 plenty I summer growing 2022