Hoot and Holler seeks storytellers for Bristol Rhythm & Roots
Roanoke-based storytelling collective Hoot and Holler is bringing its live stage show to the 22nd annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion in September and is seeking participants to share their music festival stories.
Hoot and Holler is looking for stories that evoke the spirit of music, capturing its transformative power and the memories it creates, according to a news release.
Storytellers who want to participate should submit a summarized version of their festival-themed story, including what compels them to share. Participants whose stories are chosen will receive coaching to finetune their stories into 6- to 8-minute versions that will be presented on Sept. 10. Chosen storytellers will receive a weekend pass to the festival.
Submit stories to hootlee540@gmail.com by Aug. 25.
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Jo Wimbish Memorial Scholarship established at Danville Community College
A newly established endowed scholarship named for a longtime educator will support a Danville Community College student who is studying liberal arts or nursing.
The Jo Wimbish Memorial Scholarship will be given to one incoming freshman or returning sophomore from Halifax County, according to a news release announcing the award.
Wimbish was a teacher for 37 years and spent most of that time teaching kindergarten at South of Dan Elementary, where she also volunteered after she retired. Some of her former students who went on to careers in health care served as caregivers during her final illness. She died in April.
Selections will be based on scholastic achievement, financial need and good citizenship. Eligible students must have a final high school GPA of 2.5 or have maintained a minimum GPA of 2.5 while attending Danville Community College. Recipients may reapply for successive years.
For more information on scholarships, visit danville.edu.
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Grants will provide farmers market vouchers to kids across Virginia
Grants totaling more than $50,000 will provide kids across the state with vouchers they can redeem for healthy food at local farmers markets.
The funding comes from the MolinaCares Accord, in collaboration with Molina Healthcare of Virginia, according to a news release about the grants.
The program, which began in 2019, will distribute more than $50,000 to organizations in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Russell County, Washington County, Greene County and Petersburg, focusing on places where food deserts and the high costs of fresh produce make it difficult for children to sustain proper nutrition.
Here is how the program is being implemented in each area of the state:
- Friends of the Lynchburg Community Market will work with local preschool programs and summer youth programs to issue 900 vouchers to area children.
- Roanoke’s Local Environmental Agriculture Project, or LEAP, will work with the West End Farmers Market to provide 715 vouchers to low-income communities in the area.
- The Russell County Health Coalition will work with the Russell County Farmers Market to provide 1,500 vouchers to youth.
- Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Family Nutrition Program will provide 1,600 vouchers to youth throughout nine SNAP accepting farmers markets in Southwest Virginia.
- Greene Commons Group will distribute 240 vouchers near Stanardsville.
- The River Street Market in Petersburg will distribute 1,500 produce vouchers to children.
In 2022, Molina funded the Healthy Kids Bucks program at six farmers markets in Southwest
Virginia, serving more than 625 kids, according to the release.