Good morning, Besançon! Sistah, you beat Charlottesville's derrière in Blogs de Cuisine and FartInPlace. Sadly, aside from the fabulous Aldebert it appears your hometown heroes are all DEAD.

Meet Mr. Jefferson . . . Charlottesville's own Favorite Son . . . actually, Fifth-Great-Grandson of our number one hometown hero, Mr. Jefferson. Now, as we all know our civic father Thomas Jefferson is DEAD; however, his 5th Great-Grandson Roberts ("TJ") Coles III pictured above is very much alive. Born and reared in Albemarle County Rob is known and loved locally, nationally and internationally, performing in Madrid, Paris, Puerto Rico and throughout the United States. Recently TJ was contacted by someone from The Colbert Report proposng a skit "Who Is The Real Jefferson?" between Jefferson re-enactors Clay Jenkinson the scholarly Mr. Jefferson, Bill Barker Mr. Jefferson in Williamsburg, Virginia and Rob Coles the real Mr. Jefferson who politely gave his regrets. Guess that answered their question!

Meet Mr. BeachWalker . . . Stein “Life's a Beach” Kretsinger . . . environmental activist , adventurer, mentor, entrepreneur, and businessman. Kretsinger and team launched the BeachWalk Project February 11, 2007, a 1600-mile Miami-to-Manhattan kayak/walk promoting environmental awareness, presenting educational programs along the way to community groups with a special emphasis on children. Stein's Story is the harrowing yet strangely beautiful account of an incident occurring on April 28, 1998 at the Kilauea lava flows, Hawaii. Hometown hero no doubt; Good 'Ol Renaissance Boy unassumingly living among the Citizens of Charlottesville.

The acorn does not fall far from the oak . . . Not surprisingly, Stein's papa is a Renaissance Man in his own right. Robert "Doc" Kretsinger, as he is affectionately known around town is a man of many talents not the least of which is his ability as a carver of stone. Speaking of stone carving, our votes would find the expressive and beautifully executed "SWING" appropriately placed in front of Charlottesville's Rathaus representing Jumelage!

Meet Mr. "Trump" (above center) . . . Coran Capshaw is fondly known throughout the "other" Charlottesville, sans California-New York-Paris baggage, in which he has been beating around for quite some time. Coran's venture capitalism beginnings were humble; he lived in and worked out of a small shed-like structure near what is now the Biltmore Grill on Elliewood Avenue. Fast Forward to Coran as business genius, Coran as philanthropist and most important Coran as patron of the arts. Coran Capshaw is infamous for his support of public art projects such as the Charlottesville Pavilion; not known is his sense of fair play in dealing with individual unknown artists, one on one. Coran has helped bring Charlottesville to what it is today, a place of which Mr. Jefferson would be proud.

Meet Anson David Parker . . . We at Charlottesville-Besançon.com fully intended to include this young man, a true Hometown Hero and when we came across FartInPlace.com we were impressed with the synchronicity of his and our purpose. We use the term "FartInPlace" on Charlottesville-Besançon.com with Mr. Parker's permission. Power Ranger Parker lives his dream of energy non-dependence daily. Ranger Parker puts his pedal to the metal, powering his laptop in a most unusual manner. The Cookie Lady is one of his stops on this route as well as lunch in Lexington with his grandmother. While in Charlottesville he manages to keep us in controversy, going up against past-UVa Dean of African American Studies Rick Turner who ultimately got busted for lying to the Feds. Dean Turner was less than impressed with homeboys A-man and Scottie B reenacting a slave auction. The A-Man quietly spends time mentoring youth, positively contributing to Computers4Kids, Charlottesville-Albemarle Robotics Club, Charlottesville Community Bikes and the like. Wunderkind Parker's environmental interests and activism are multifaceted; windmills, solar energy, bicycling and running/walking. Unlike many, Parker practices his ideals often commuting between Charlottesville/Lexington on his bicycle and has on occasion run the distance. When queried as to how he was able to accomplish this feat his answer is simply "I've got feet." That's not all you have Ranger Parker!