“It’s been a while since we’ve had Restaurant Week here in Historic Downtown,” said Kristen Kiefer, Executive Director of Historic Manassas Inc. “Given that February is a slow month for restaurants, we saw this as a great opportunity to bring people downtown, support our local eateries, and introduce the community to new dining experiences.”
New Restaurants Spotlight
Latoya Crabbe, the Manasas woman accused of shooting and killing her estranged husband, Curtis Crabbed, was released from jail on Friday, February 21, 2025. At the county jail, she had an emotional reunion with her mother, Marilyn Martin, who patiently waited for officials to release her from the lockup she’d been in since being charged on October 21, 2024.
A short time later, at home, Crabbe waited anxiously for her three children, whom she had not seen in four months, to come home from school. “I’m relieved to be back home, but I’m still anxious about the pending trial,” she said. “The most important thing for me is to hug and kiss my babies right now.”
This combination of musicians is called “Big Fat Doug Belford Experience,” they rocked out a healthy list of covers for the appreciative crowd. The band was a combo of three members of a band called “Big Fat Daddy,” featuring Meri Schaefer, Brian Curtiss, John David Coppola on bass, and three others from Doug Belford Experience, which featured Doug Belford, Meri Schaefer, and Brian Curtiss. Meri Schaefer and Brian Curtiss play in both bands.
Sure, some of the songs are well-known covers from the heyday of rock and roll, but people dig those songs anyway. A beer or two feeds that love the staples in their rock list, including “Maneater” from Hall and Oates, “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads, and “Cinnamon Girl” by Neil Young. The tempo of the night stretched far and wide.
