Fredericksburg Parent

www.FredericksburgParent.NET 9 Photos taken by M&J Photography. View more of their work at: facebook.com/mandjphotos • @melissajennphotography SHUTDOWNS, SETBACKS & SCARCITY Eva opened her business on March 13, 2020—the day Virginia Governor Ralph Northam closed public schools for two weeks. Ten days later, all schools and nonessential businesses were mandated to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic event. It was nearly a fatal blow to her business. "I literally started the business March 13, 2020, which was the week before the lockdown started. I didn't know what was coming. I'm about to get out of the job I was working at UPS to make this happen, and then [COVID restrictions] happened," she says. Eva applied for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and was denied funding—another disappointment. "I tried taking advantage of the PPP loans and things but because of the timing of when I had started the business, they wouldn't give me any of that money," she says. In one of those moments of throwing up her hands, when all seemed lost and client bookings were falling through, her first wedding client moved forward unexpectedly and married at Revatone despite the pandemic. "We were breaking down scaffolding the day of the first wedding," she says. "Bless their hearts. They were great people, and they were so happy with the results. It was pretty special that they would book a wedding under those circumstances." Feeling a renewed sense of faith in her vision, she turned her attention to improving the barn to make it more event-ready and ran into her next logistical challenge—inflation. "Inflation made the project take much longer because of availability. It cost twice as much as I originally budgeted for, so, it was a long year-and- a-half," states Eva. RELAXED RESTRICTIONS & RENEWED HOPE Her saving grace came in the form of fresh guidance from Richmond in the spring of 2021—relaxed restric- tions on outdoor gatherings. It's breathed life into her young business. "It's something people crave when everybody's locked up, and they can't go anywhere—people want to be outdoors. It's beneficial to me. There were many times I wanted to give up because I just didn't think it was going to happen," Eva says. For Eva, seeing this vision through and providing event space for businesses, families, couples and the public to enjoy means a lot to her. She wants Revatone Farm to also become a place where children can roam in nature unteth- ered and kids can learn in an outdoor atmosphere. "Kids love it out here. I have all the animals; bunny rabbits, donkeys and things they can pet. I love catering to kids, and getting them outdoors to interact with the animals," she says. "I have a teacher who reached out to me. She does the- ater at the school she works at. They're going to start doing activities weekly here at the farm. I would like homeschool groups to have classes or outings here. I would be open to that." This spring, she's looking forward to hosting the Spotsylvania High School prom.* "We're going to have it here at a big tent, and we're going to open the barn doors up and let those 400 kids have a good old time out here. So that's going to be fun," says Eva. Revatone Farm 10828 Catharpin Road, Spotsylvania, VA 22553 revatonefarm.com * A brief note to our readers: As we are all well-aware by now, the situation surrounding COVID-19 is a fluid one. When we spoke with Eva McDonnell, she provided information and plans based on the past and the present at the time of our conversa- tion. Circumstances in terms of positive cases and protocols may change from the time the interview took place to when this story was published and beyond. Please check Revatone's wenbsite for changes and updates. Photo by M&J Photography.

• Cover