Ristorante Renato is pouring for a good cause. Sip for a Cause is a five-course wine dinner benefiting Spreading Smiles, which feeds nearly 1,300 local kids each week across 43 schools.

Seating is limited, reservations required. Reserve your seat at RRenato.com or by calling (540) 371-8228.

America turns 250 this year, and Washington Heritage Museums's annual fundraiser, Bourbon and Boxwood, is toasting the occasion in style. Now in its eleventh year, the garden party takes its name from Washington's lucrative whiskey operation at Mount Vernon and his mother Mary's love of the boxwood hedges still growing in these gardens. It's held at the Mary Washington House, the home George bought for her so she could live near family in town. She spent her final seventeen years there, and it's the last place he saw her before she died in 1789.

Proceeds benefit all five of WHM's historic properties, which receive no city, state, or federal funding.

Get tickets or become a sponsor here.

One raffle ticket, two wins. Spreading Smiles just launched its 2027 FredNats Suite Raffle, generously donated by Ray's Siding, and the grand prize is the kind of thing you daydream about at a ballgame.

Baseball season may feel far off, but a kid's next meal doesn't have to. Get your raffle tickets at givebutter.com/fred-nats-suite-nvkems.

Get ready to cheer on a hometown team. Fred City Soccer Club announced it's joining USL League Two and the USL W League starting in 2027, bringing both a men's team and a women's team to Fredericksburg for the first time.

The news was such a big deal that the City of Fredericksburg proclaimed September 23rd "Fred City Soccer Club Day." Founded by local soccer, business, and civic leaders, the club says its mission goes beyond the game: developing players, building community connections, and giving Fredericksburg a team of its own. Youth clinics, school programs, and nonprofit partnerships are already in the works before the first match kicks off in 2027.

I stopped by the welcome open house at The Griffin, and the energy in the room said it all. It was great meeting the team behind the scenes and seeing soccer fans of every age already showing up to support this.

Want to follow along? Visit fredcitysc.com or follow @fredcitysc.

When Fredericksburg-area homeowners picture a new kitchen or bathroom, many turn to Kitchens For You, a veteran- and family-owned remodeler trusted since 2012. At the helm is Chris Romero, an Army veteran with more than 30 years in construction who treats every project as if it were his own home.