Culture

A runner on a green, shaded passage of the Roanoke River Greenway.

Culture

30 years after it was first envisioned, the Roanoke River Greenway is the centerpiece of a still-growing network of trails

by Samantha Verrelli November 19, 2024November 19, 2024

The Roanoke Valley’s greenway system has grown to include about 40 miles of paved roads. And it’s not finished yet.

Culture

Behind the scenes of building a greenway network

by Samantha Verrelli November 19, 2024November 19, 2024

Three sections of the Roanoke River Greenway, the backbone of a 40-mile system of trails throughout the valley, are actively being built.

A woman wearing a witches hat stands on a patio with a group of people seated on chairs around her.

Culture

Tall tales take center stage at Floyd liars’ contest

by Lindsey Hull November 15, 2024November 22, 2024

Spinning tall tales is as old as the mountains, and many of today’s storytellers learned at the feet of their parents and grandparents.

At his home, Jackie Dee Cunningham shows a signed print of a work by late artist P. Buckley Moss showing the main administration building at the Virginia Baptist Children's Home. Photo by Samantha Verrelli.

Culture

How a pecan tree led to a boy’s lifelong nickname

by Samantha Verrelli November 11, 2024November 10, 2024

For Jackie Dee Cunningham, it was important to find joy in the little things. The pecan tree that stood outside Carpenter Cottage, where Cunningham stayed, meant more to him than shade on a hot summer day.

A cheese tasting offered by Kat Feete, daughter of Meadow Creek Dairy’s founder/owner Feete family, next to some of the business’s many, many medals. Photo by Shannon Watkins.

Culture

Meadow Creek Dairy puts Grayson County on the artisanal cheese map

by Shannon Watkins November 8, 2024November 7, 2024

The family-owned dairy won a gold medal at the World Cheese Awards in Norway.

Culture

A teacher and author reflects on his life in the Glade Spring home his great-grandfather built after being freed from slavery

by Susan Cameron November 7, 2024November 6, 2024

When no one hired him in Virginia, he found work in Baltimore, where he wrote a standard textbook on computer programming. Now he’s back in the home his family built in 1870.

Martinsville is gearing up to establish a system for listening to potential gun fire

Local

Martinsville police roll out gunshot detection devices on a street near you

by Dean-Paul Stephens November 7, 2024November 12, 2024

The gunshot detection system is the most recent addition to Martinsville’s Police Department since they committed to exploring new technologies to streamline their work.

A display of WWII keepsakes, displayed within a homemade shadowbox.

Local

Danville’s well-known Civil War ties overshadow much of its other history. But one man’s World War II legacy has been unexpectedly preserved.

by Grace Mamon November 5, 2024November 12, 2024

Walter Tolbert’s keepsakes from the war came to the Danville Historical Society by chance. They’re some of the only items the organization has from this time period.