Crossroads Tabletop Tavern, a Manassas-based game pub, has put out a call to local historians for information about the building that it's inhabited since 2018.

According to Crossroad's post to its Facebook page, the building that houses the tavern located at 9412 Main Street will celebrate its 111th birthday. The tavern wants to mark the occasion by finding out more about the building's history, but they've only been able to go back as far as 1984.

The building had been a bar up to that point, but Crossroads owner and founder John Hornberger says that there's proof that people used to live in the building.

"The building may have been apartments since it has the wiring and remnants of bathroom facilities that would have gone along with those kinds of things," says Hornberger.

Hornberger also talked about an artifact from back when the bar was known as Jake's. In a drop ceiling above the kitchen not visible to the public's view, signatures of the people who took part in a drinking contest are seen. If participants drank all six of the bar's original beers in one night, their names would be added to the ceiling.

Another piece of the puzzle in the history of the building comes from the world of pop music, along with other landmarks in old town Manassas the building was featured in the Steve Winwood music video for the song "Back in the High Life Again."

Hornberger also plans to officially name the building if he can't find out its official name. His choice would be the Baggins Building, a nod to the character of Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Crossroads plans to have a month-long celebration for the building, including a weeklong birthday celebration, an overnight gaming session for select invitees, and a month-long sale on games.

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Athletes will be allowed to return to the runway in the spring. 

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Gateway Comics and Toys will participate in Free Comic Book Day, a worldwide event, on Saturday, August 14.

This year will mark the 20th time the event has occurred and involve more than 2,000 participating comic shops in 60 countries.

Gateway plans to host special guests at both their Fredericksburg and Woodbridge locations to celebrate the occasion.

Those who visit the Fredericksburg store at 2368 Plank Road will see the local business Reclaim Arcade joining the festivities. Reclaim Arcade offers the experience of retro arcade gaming similar to those popular in the 1980s and 90s. Reclaim Arcade also owns Reclaim Video, which offers a similar nostalgic experience but with VHS tapes.

Other guests will include Fredericksburg-based Freddy Donuts, as well as an appearance by local comic creator Charles McElvy. McElvy is known for his creation Spider Squirrel which is published through his own label Xion Press.

Among the guests for Gateway's Woodbridge location, at 3112 P.S. Business Center Drive, just off Smoketown Road, will be writer/artist Jonathan Luna, known for his series Alex and Ada, published through Image Comics. Luna will be joined by local comic book writer and artist Lauren Keely whose book 20XX was also published through Image Comics.

Also appearing will be cosplayer Laney Jade, pop culture podcast host of The Great Geek Refuge Mike Lunsford, and Dave's Dogs providing food for the event.

Free Comic Book Day was originally founded by Joe Field, the founder of Flying Colors Comics, which is based in Concord, California, to introduce comics to new readers while giving thanks to current fans.




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To all artists who use the sidewalk as their medium of choice, Stafford County wants you.

The Stafford County Economic Development and Tourism Board, the count's Museum and Cultural Center, and the North Stafford and Stafford Rotary clubs are currently looking for artists to participate in the county's first sidewalk art event known as Via Colori Stafford.

The groups are recruiting artists to participate in a Via Colori piece, where they will create a patchwork of different pastel murals to be drawn on the sidewalks. The art form is a modern version of a centuries-old tradition that can be traced back to 16th century Italy when artists would paint religious icons in the courtyards of cathedrals.

Artists will be given a square to paint in the commuter lot located off of Exit 140 in Stafford, where the public is invited to attend and watch the artists create their works.

Each square artist will be sponsored by a business, organization, or family with the proceeds, after expenses, to benefit the museum and various services in the region. The event is expected to have 100 artists from various arts organizations. So far, 40 have signed up for the event.

Stafford Economic and Tourism recently held an event in anticipation of Via Colori Stafford called Via Tutori for the artists that had already signed up, which gave them a primer on the art style by those experienced in the medium.

Via Colori Stafford will occur at the commuter lot off of Exit 140 in Stafford on Sept. 25 and 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information is available online.










With new equipment comes new beers.

The Water’s End Brewery in Woodbridge upgraded some of its brewing equipment this month. The brewery took to  Facebook to announce it had received new fermenters at its Potomac Mills location, which can ferment 20 bbls or barrels.

So what does this mean?

U.S. breweries measure beer volume in barrels. The conversion from one U.S. barrel is 31 gallons, allowing the brewery to create 620 gallons per batch.

Now, Water’s End can offer more and different beers to their customers than they have in the past. The first brews to come out of the new fermenters will be big batches of popular summertime beers 'Trip to Tahiti' and 'HopDrop'. Both beers will be offered on tap and in six-packs of 12-once cans.

The brewery also announced the return of two of their classic brews, The Greatest Beer in the World (A Tribute), named after the song The Greatest Song in the World (A Tribute) folk-metal band "Tenacious D."

Water’s End Brewery Potomac Mills location just across from the shopping mall, at 14397 Potomac Mills Road in Woodbridge. The brewery also has another nearby location at 12425 Dillingham Square in Lake Ridge.


The Fredericksburg Nationals today announced the lineup for the 2021 FredNats Concert Series. The FredNats and their event programming partner, Oak View Group, will welcome five acts between August 20 and October 16.

The new FredNats Concert Series will accommodate over 5,600 fans with seating options in luxury suites, stadium seats, and seating on the field.


The Prince William County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening of the new Warrior Challenge Obstacle Course in Locust Shade Park.

Potomac Local News was there for the ceremony in Triangle, which attracted many representatives from the Prince William County Government, Quantico Marine Corps Base, as well as state officials

Located about a mile from the Marine Corps base, the obstacle course was created to give a place for residents in both the county and the base to get outside and exercise. The course, according to county parks and recreation department director Seth Handler-Voss, is inspired by the television show American Ninja Warrior where contestants run through a challenging obstacle course.

"I'm looking forward to seeing all the active duty, veterans, and residents coming out and enjoying the park," said Col. Michael L. Brooks, new Commander for Marine Corps Base Quantico.

The TV show is a spin-off based on a Japanese show called Sasuke that has been active since 1997, Sasuke was renamed Ninja Warrior when it was shown in the United States in the early 2000s.

The funds for the course came from a combination of a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense from their Defense Infrastructure Community program, one of only 15 such grants that were awarded this year. That grant was matched with another $250,000 in funding from Prince William County for a total of $500,000.

"This is the partnership between the County and Marine Corps Base Quantico, getting the grant for this course solidified that partnership. I'm extremely excited about the continued partnership with Col. Brooks as commander of the base and to continue that partnership in all activities including infrastructure, transportation. However that partnership rolls out, it is essential for the county," said Andrea O. Bailey, Potomac District Supervisor.

The opening of this course comes with new growth for the Quantico area, the base broke ground for their new wargaming facility in Sept. 2020. Quantico also awarded a contract to Dominion Energy to update the base's energy infrastructure. Both are aspects of the coming growth that Quantico will experience over the next few years.

There are plans to connect the obstacle course to the Potomac Heritage Scenic Trail which runs through Prince William County and now ends in neighboring Stafford County.

"The trail will connect through the Marine Corps Museum to this park and terminate in Stafford County who will take it from there and then go down to the Chesapeake Bay," said Handler-Voss.

Another opening will occur at Locust Shade Park in September when a new mountain bike trail will be opened to the public. Other amenities at the roadside park, located between Interstate 95 and Route 1, at 4701 Locust Shade Drive, include a mini-golf course, and a pond for fishing and paddle boating.

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You can’t say Prince William County taxpayers don’t support the arts. 

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A new exhibit was launched this month at the Manassas Museum called “Manassas Faces,” which uses faces of city residents to tell the story of life in Manassas.

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