Floyd Virginia Magazine 2019 Fall:Winter

Spring/Summer 2014| Volume | Volume117 Issue Issue 21 Fall/Winter 2019

magazine

Floyd Virginia Your FREE

s orner C ’s a Elm

Celebrating the people of Floyd!

Fall/Winter 2019

Comprehensive Guide To

Phoen i Hardw x ood

s

Mickey G’s

All Things Floyd

Park w

ay G rille

Map of Floyd - Points of Interest - Wine - Art - Lodging Local Stories - Food - Real Estate & Land

www.Fl oyd V ir g in ia Ma g a zin e . c owww.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com m

2

www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Fall/Winter 2019

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com

3

4

www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Fall/Winter 2019

Zip the fall colors!

Follow us on Facebook or check out our website for specials and events!

Ages 3 and up • Weight limit 275lbs

www.BuffaloMountainZiplines.com Located on Black Ridge Rd one mile off the parkway (one mile form Chateau Morrisette) MP 171.5 on BRP

540-200-5234 • zip@buffalomountainziplines.com Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com

5

magazine

Floyd Virginia Your FREE

Comprehensive Guide To

Alphabetical Listing of Advertisers Page 54 For publication information, call John Brill (540) 815-1079 For additional copies, email john@brilldesigns.org

Floyd Virginia Magazine Team John Brill - Publisher Vickie Holt - Editor © 2019 FLOYD VIRGINIA MAGAZINE, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part, without written permission from FLOYD VIRGINIA MAGAZINE is prohibited. Every attempt has been made to verify the information contained in this publication. We assume no responsibility for incorrect, omitted or outdated information contained herein. We publish ads and stories without any implied endorsement of organizations, the views they express or the products/services they offer.

www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Fall/Winter 2019

Volume 11 • 2nd Issue

All Things Floyd

Pioneer of Zipline Creation Worldwide Builds Buffalo Mountain Ziplines in Floyd!................................8-11 Stonewall Bed and Breakfast is Your Home on the Blue Ridge Parkway......................12-14 Floyd’s First Hemp Farm and Store..........................................16 For the Love of Wood...............................................................18 An Art-Lover’s Dream in Downtown Floyd............................... 20 A Picture-Perfect Journey....................................................22-23 Journey to StoneHaven.......................................................24-26 Points of Interest ......................................................................28 Directory...................................................................................30 Traditional Shape-Note Singing: Alive and Cherished in Floyd County...........................32-34 A Heart for Helping...................................................................36 This Year’s Tour de Dirt Will Power Up Plenty!.........................38 Conservation and Community Reign Supreme at Fields Edge Farm...............................40 Floyd Virginia Fall & Winter Happenings 2019.........................42 Health & Wellness Takes Center Stage at Chantilly Farm.....44-45 Pizza, Music, & Drink All Rolled up into One Local Legend.....46 Tinbenders Provides Heating and Cooling Systems to Floyd County...............................48-49 Classical Music in the Mountains.............................................50 16 Hands Studio Tour Offers More Than Ever.....................52-53

6

Celebrating the People of Floyd

On The Cover The cover photo is of a view from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Parkway Grille Fine dining!

227 N Locust St Floyd, VA 24091 540-745-4770

lle Parkeway Gri eva

rill facebook.com/parkwayg Mickey G’s Bistro & Pizzeria Finally!

Real Italian!

113 Parkview Rd Floyd, VA 24091 540-745-2208

Mickey

www.Mic keyG

G’s

sBistro.co

m

Phoenix Hardwoods Handcrafted from Virginia hardwoods!

2540 Floyd Hwy N Floyd VA 24091 540-745-6403

ix Phoen ds o o Hardw

.com rdwoods

oenix-ha www.ph Elma’s Corners Local, handmade gifts and more!

540-230-8451 203 S. Locust St. Floyd, VA 24091

Elma’s

Corner

s

www.elm asco

rners.co

m

Fall/Winter 2019

Delicious Craft Beers, Food Specials, Live Music, Fun For the Entire Family, and pups too!

332 Webbs Mills Rd N, Floyd VA • 540-745-2491

www.BuffaloMountainBrewery.com Visit us on FB & Instagram!

Produce • Meats • Country Mercantile Goods

Everything’s Better at the Merc!

We are striving to improve the lives of our mountain residents and our mountain visitors by giving them healthy local farm food options as well as a selection of items that can save a trip into town.

9513 Bent Mountain Rd. Bent Mountain, Virginia

www.bentmountainmercantile.com

540-929-8046

SEASONAL HOURS: Mon – Sat 9am to 7pm, Sun 11am to 6pm

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com

7

Pioneer of Zipline Creation Worldwide Builds Buffalo Mountain Ziplines in Floyd!

By Vickie Holt

About twelve years ago or so, Robert Nickell was sitting down with some time to kill. On the coffee table next to him was a book written

by Dr. Donald Perry. Dr. Perry is a Biologist famed for studying the rain forest canopy of Costa Rica. The book was called “Life Above the Jungle Floor”, and it not only catalogued several new species, but it also inspired the 1992 film, “Medicine Man”, starring Sean Connery.

Perry’s work appeared on the covers of Scientific American, Smithsonian, and New York Sunday Times magazines, and was featured in Newsweek, Life, Geo, Paris Match, and Quick of Germany, as well as many other publications and documentaries worldwide.

What made Perry’s work so unique was that, in 1991, he was the first biologist to go up into the canopy ecosystem. No one had ever done it before, and because of it, several new species were discovered.

Among them was a monkey no one had ever seen because it lives its whole life high in the trees. There were also two new snake species no one had ever seen.

“It was really interesting,” says Nickell. But the part that interested him most was the intricate system of ropes, platforms, and hammocks Perry had created so he could spend prolonged amounts of time in the treetops. Perry had built the world’s first prototype zipline and was the first researcher to ever use one to study the rainforest canopy.

After the research was over, however, he didn’t know what to do with it. The entire infrastructure was still there, with ropes stretched tree to tree. Finally, Perry had decided to create a canopy tour where visitors could pay $45.00 to be manually hoisted into the treetops.

They would then then pull themselves along, hand over hand, from platform to platform.

After learning about the tours, Robert Nickell went to Costa Rica, had a go, and thoroughly enjoyed it. He was also privileged to meet Dr. Perry, personally! Robert tells us he was a nice guy.

Being engineer-minded and in the construction business at the time, Robert began thinking that if the ropes were pulled really tight between the trees, and if better pulleys were used, someone could just zip along the lines instead of having to pull hand-over-hand.

Robert decided present his ideas to a couple of property owners in Costa Rica. He didn’t have to try very hard to convince them. “They thought it was such a great idea that they just went for it. They just did

8

www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

it!” And that’s how Robert Nickell designed the world’s first proper, recreational zipline.

After that first zipline had been built, another thought came to Robert’s mind. “I need to be doing this!” And that was all it took. It wasn’t very long until Robert’s ziplines were being commissioned and built all around the world.

He designed and/or built in China, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, Scotland, Wales, Mexico, and more. He also built the first and biggest (to this date) zipline in Canada. Located on the east coast, North Atlantic Ziplines is huge, with its longest line stretching over twothousand feet from mountaintop to mountaintop.

Among many other places, he also built a zipline facility for Sir Richard Branson on his privately-owned Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. Three years after it was built, Necker Island got hit by a devastating hurricane. Days later, the billionaire called Robert personally to tell him the only thing left standing on the island was his zipline.

Eventually, Robert wanted to build in the United States. This time, however, he wouldn’t be building for an investor. This time, Robert aimed to own and operate the facility, himself. It would be located in North Carolina, and it would be the first the country had ever seen.

Almost immediately, there were problems. Insurance was impossible to get. Nobody in America had ever heard of ziplines, and from the sound of it, no one wanted anything to do with them.

Building inspectors had no way to inspect them because there was no one qualified. It was suggested that if he could get an engineer to sign off on the project, things could move forward. Even then, it was difficult finding an engineer willing to look at it. No one in America was familiar enough with what a zipline should be to judge the quality of the design or the completed structure.

Finally, however, Robert found an engineer who gave his design the stamp of approval. He was then approved by the county and began to build. After that, he obtained a conditional use permit, but soon hit another roadblock.

The state said that because there was no precedent for this type of facility, and because there were no inspection standards and no regulations, he would have to obtain a million dollars in insurance!

Fall/Winter 2019

Bed & Breakfast StoneHavenbnbfloyd.com

244 Christiansburg Pike NE, Floyd, VA (828) 308-5428 or (540) 745-4018

Ray’s Restaurant

Lunch, Dinner and Full Bar Take Outs • Catering • Good for children Good for groups or parties

540-745-2501 • 1041 Floyd Hwy Floyd, VA

Robert called every insurance company there was. Nobody would touch it. He’d been building ziplines all over the world for almost twelve years and there had never been a single incident or accident. Robert was baffled by the resistance. After all, insurance is written every day for amusement parks, water-sport parks, public auto-racing facilities, ski resorts, and all other manner of adventure sport businesses.

He just couldn’t understand the reluctance. So, he opened for a year with no insurance. There are no state regulations for facilities that operate for free, so for the first year, his zipline was a non-commercial experiment. The facility operated on donations; advertising to churches. Their first customers were dozens of field trips and church groups.

After a year of no accidents or incidents, Robert returned to the insurance companies to challenge the denials based on no history or precedent. “Please insure me,” he asked. Finally, in 2006, he was able to get insurance and America’s first zipline officially opened for business. Then it took off and exploded!

The local Fox news station came out and filmed a segment that aired during the evening news. The piece was so popular that calls poured into the station! There were also hundreds of hits on their website, with comments asking for more information.

As a result, Fox re-ran the story three times a day for a whole week. Signature Magazine in North Carolina also did a story, and it was the most-hit story on the magazine’s website in five years! Hundreds of people came for ziplining after having seen that article.

These two pieces of media coverage made Robert’s zipline so popular that he went from getting about sixty hits a week on his

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com

9

website to getting about 350,000 hits a month! Apart from speaking Motel!” he jokes. “But that’s a good place, we like it a lot.”

They finally settled on the location at 3253 Black Ridge Road SW to churches during that first year, Robert never advertised that zipline because it was situated only a mile off the Blue Ridge Parkway. “It just park. He never needed to.

Upon reflection, Robert says he didn’t build in the United States seemed like the right place to do it.” They broke ground earlier this until 2006 because he’d always thought the perception was that ziplines year at the beginning April, and by the end of June, everything was were for jungles and rainforests. He really didn’t think anybody in built, complete, and ready to open. Everyone was amazed!

On June 29, 2019, Buffalo Mountain Ziplines – the biggest America would be interested. But as they, “if you build it, they will zipline park in Virginia – opened to the public. Along with Joanna, come,” and boy, was that famous movie quote on the money!

Not only was Robert responsible for the first zipline in America, as Robert runs the facility with his nephew, Laith, his son, Joseph, and daughter, Makayla. In addition to well as the first in North Carolina, finding a home for his zipline park, he was also behind the first ziplines Robert also found a new home for in Tennessee, West Virginia, his family; a little house on Slate Missouri, Arkansas, California, and Mountain, about two miles from more! Most were built for other Mabry Mill…and Robert couldn’t investors, but he also built two be more tickled about it! more for himself; one in Missouri A month later during FloydFest and one in Arkansas. He has since 2019, close to eighteen hundred sold the ones in North Carolina and people tried Robert’s temporary Missouri, but he still owns the one set-up that included two, 60-foot in Arkansas and it’s still doing great! high lines that stretched 385 feet Robert and his family had each way. “It’s hard to say no to moved to Branson, Missouri to build free ziplines”. With such excellent Zipline USA after having sold the promotion, Buffalo Mountain got first one in North Carolina. At the a solid start, and now averages two time, Zipline USA was the biggest tours a day during the week and in the world. It covered 120 acres of more on weekends. land and had twelve cables; one of Robert says that the zipline which was three quarters of a mile is already contributing to the long and 350 feet high - stretching community and its economy! Not from mountain top to mountain only does he hire local employees, top. It’s still one of the biggest in the but people who have come to the world, and still probably the biggest area for the first time after seeing in United States for land area and the zipline on Facebook have been length of the cables. “With close to completely blown away by the five miles of cable,” says Robert, “it’s beauty of this region. And the a heck of big zip line”. folks at Buffalo Mountain Ziplines Robert then set his sites – especially Robert – are always on Virginia. Having spent his happy to tell new visitors about childhood just across the North the Country Store, Mabry Mill, Carolina border in Stewart, Robert the hiking trails, the music, the was often brought to Floyd with his shopping, the art, and everything family, many times visiting Mabry else there is to do and see Floyd.

Mill. Robert fondly remembers At Buffalo Mountain Ziplines, dancing at the Country Store when Robert Nickell & Joanna Nickell guests can soar through the treetops he was young; before it was the on cables that reach as high as 150 thing to do. He’d come to the jam sessions where folks would just sit around play music. In later years, feet above the forest floor while traversing distances up to 2400 feet! he’d drive all the way from Winston-Salem to dance and clog in Floyd Suitable for adventurers ages three and up, experiences include the Blue Ridge Adventure Tour which features eight ziplines for almost because there was nowhere to do it back home.

“I’ve always loved this area since I was seven years old,” says two hours of high-flying fun! There is also the Rocky Knob Treetop Robert. “Even then, in the back of my mind at age seven or eight, I Tour which can accommodate those with tighter schedules. In just was thinking man I’d love to live up here. It’s beautiful. And you know forty-five minutes to an hour, this tour features the park’s first five cables, and is perfect for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and birthday parties! just how life comes full circle…it just comes back around.”

For ages eight and up, Buffalo Mountain also offers the Full Moon Robert says that he and his wife, Joanna, looked all over Virginia to find a location that would support a large zip line, but they just Tour! Even seasoned zipliners may find this nocturnal ride a new couldn’t find the right land in the right place. They looked at Nelson experience. This tour features eight cables, as well as a host of Floyd’s County, Amherst County, Augusta County, and Montgomery County. night-time wildlife. Afterward, guests can also enjoy making s’mores They even checked Damascus and Abingdon, but multiple issues, and roasting marshmallows around a campfire.

A minimum of two guests is required for booking. For more including zoning, kept them returning them to Floyd. “We found a good piece of land out near Copper Hill,” says Robert, “but it was at information, details about the tours, booking, pricing, and group the end of six miles of narrow dirt road. The traffic would have made discounts, visit www.buffalomountainziplines.com online!

Looking forward, Robert hopes to create more zipline locations it a nightmare for customers.”

More and more, the multiple return trips began to convince throughout Virginia, as most are concentrated in the north; closer to Robert that his favorite childhood destination was the perfect place Washington, DC. The plan is for some of these to be commissioned for his Virginia-based zipline park. “We spent a lot of money going by investors, while others will be owned and operated under Robert’s back and forth, looking for land. And we spent over $1000 at Floyd growing zipline company.

10 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Fall/Winter 2019

He also wants to further develop Buffalo Mountain Ziplines in Floyd by adding more lines and features. The details are still hush-hush, but when building the ziplines, Robert discovered the site where the last moonshine still in Floyd County was busted, decades ago. He tells us that on the Buffalo Mountain Ziplines property is an area littered with the shrapnel from where authorities used dynamite to destroy the still, as well as the structure that housed it. The foundation of the building remains, as does the moonshiner’s specially-ordered car; now rusting and riddled with bullet holes.

Robert hopes to create a partnership that would result in a Moonshine Zipline Tour that would allow guests a birds eye view of the artifacts while zipping over them, followed by a walkthrough tour and commentary.

Because there has never been a moonshine museum erected in Virginia, Robert also envisions creating one as part of the main building at Buffalo Mountain Ziplines. It would be complete with artifacts, old photographs, and lots of information. Robert is very excited about these plans and hopes to make them all a reality next summer. In fact, if you have any artifacts, photos, or information pertaining to the old moonshine era that you would like to donate to this future museum, please contact Robert Nickell by calling 540-200-5234, emailing zip@buffalomountainziplines. com, or just stop by Buffalo Mountain Ziplines!

Stay tuned to further issues of Floyd Virginia Magazine for all the news and updates on this exciting new attraction in Floyd!

Buffalo Mountain Ziplines • buffalomountainziplines.com zip@buffalomountainziplines.com • Joanna & Robert Nickell 3253 Black Ridge Rd SW, Floyd, VA • 540-200-5234

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 11

Stonewall Bed Bed and and Stonewall Breakfast is is Your Your Breakfast Home on on the the Blue Blue Home Ridge Parkway Parkway Ridge When you spend time talking to the people of Floyd, you may find a common theme in many conversations. For those who weren’t born there, the story is often the same: originally from a much larger city, visited Floyd, fell in love with it, and decided to call it home!

For Sally Truslow of Stonewall Bed & Breakfast, and her husband, Scott, that’s exactly how it happened. In 2006, they were living and working multiple jobs each in Baltimore, Maryland. “We were in the ‘ratrace’,” says Sally.

It was that rat race that made the couple decide to take a trip to the mountains of Floyd where they stayed at Stonewall Bed & Breakfast. This B&B was built in 1993 by another couple escaping the rat race of New Jersey. They named the place “Stonewall” for the many stone walls that once lined the trails and paths on the property.

Sally and Scott had been looking for a place to move permanently when they saw Stonewall B&B online. It was for sale at the time, so the Truslows began entertaining the thought of purchase. They, like many others, quickly fell in love with the people of Floyd, as well as the slower pace and the beautiful area. It wasn’t long before they were seriously discussing the move. That was thirteen years ago!

12 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Sally loves to cook, and has been a caterer since 1982! In fact, she just catered her 536th wedding, earlier this year. She says her husband, Scott, is the hardest-working man she knows, and he has a personality that “could make a rock talk!” Together, they make a perfect partnership for the hospitality business.

The folks on Trip Advisor seem to agree, with many reviews praising the Truslows’ fabulous hospitality, as well as their superb breakfast!

Sally fondly remembers the beginning.

“We moved in on a Wednesday and had our first guests on Friday,” she says. “There were eight motorcycles that came in, with a total of sixteen guests on them. We greeted them to find the ladies were grumbly and agitated, and the men were a little snarky. It was a cool February day.” she recalls. “We thought we were going to die!” she jokes.

“We woke up Saturday morning and cooked a typical breakfast and watched as we had twelve of the sweetest people you would ever want to meet to come up for breakfast.”

There were only twelve because four of the ladies had not brought overnight bags with them, and so weren’t prepared for joining the breakfast table. Sally, being a resourceful and prepared woman, was able to help those ladies feel more at home by providing a few basics, like toothbrushes, etcetera. After two of them

had left to return home, the rest settled in to relax and watched a NASCAR race.

“They invited us to watch the Bud Shootout (race) with them, and we had a wonderful time,” says Sally. “And since then, they have come back multiple times and we’ve all become really good friends.”

Sally always finds joy in watching that kind of transformation in her guests. She believes God has blessed her with the gifts and talents to serve others by listening and providing support.

“There have been guests that have stayed with us for prolonged periods of time to make life-changing career decisions. Virginia Tech grad students have also stayed here so they could get away and focus.” Though Stonewall B&B does offer Wi-Fi, and though many guests do get a good mobile phone signal, some have found it convenient to turn off their devices; using the plausibility of signalloss in the remote location to cut the strings that bind them to their own ‘rat-races’. At least for a while.

Even though this B&B may feel quiet, peaceful, and tucked away in the mountains, the location is also convenient for the exploration of all the attractions to be found just ten minutes away in downtown Floyd.

Situated between mile markers 159 and 160,

Fall/Winter Fall/Winter 2019 2019

BELL’S AUTO TOWING Sa l es &

222 East Main Street • Floyd, Virginia Most Centrally Located in Floyd County!

Breakdowns or Wrecks?

Call Day or Night!

No one thinks of having a wreck before leaving home or while on vacation. Should you have such an experience, Call Bell’s!

• Vehicle Towing • Vehicle Recovery • Weekend Access • Secure Location

540.745.3364 Bethesda “House of Mercy” Floyd, Va Wilt thou be made whole? ~John 5:6

Pastor Eddie & Debbie Gallimore 540-230-9090 208 Howard Street turn on Howard Street across from Hardee’s

Good old Southern Hymns Specializing in the love of God

through Jesus Christ right here in downtown Floyd !!

Fall/Winter 2019

Sunday School 10 AM Sunday Worship 11 AM Sun & Wed Evening Worship 7 PM www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 13

just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, Stonewall is the largest and closest B&B for many of the area’s activities. For cyclists, they are even just an afternoon’s ride from the Peaks of Otter.

Scott and Sally provide their guests with information about all the local events and attractions. They even supply maps since many GPS systems are not dependable in rural and mountainous areas.

Not only is Stonewall B&B a place to stay while you explore the area, it also has eleven acres of property that feature hiking trails, a gazebo, and a porch with rockers and swings. In all this space, folks can find plenty of ways to relax, as well as take in all the nature and wildlife.

Guests can also visit with the B&B’s not-so-wild life, like the resident Australian Shepherd/Collie mix, and the two hospitality cats.

Sally tells us that guests really seem to enjoy the fur-residents, as many travelers often leave their own pets at home. But missing a pet is not necessary when Stonewall B&B is the destination. Stonewall is petfriendly; welcoming dogs in certain rooms. Just let them know if you are planning to bring your fur-baby with you.

The layout and facilities at Stonewall Bed & Breakfast are ideal for many types of gatherings. They have hosted retreats, as well as weddings, rehearsal dinners, and baby showers. One family group of seventeen men has been returning for eleven years and counting to have their Men’s Family Reunion Golfing Weekend. Partnering with the nearby Great Oaks Country Club, these men book their tee times and spend quality time with their sons, sons-in-law, and grandsons. Other families have taken advantage of Stonewall’s common area, living room, and kitchen to gather with their adult children and grandchildren.

Sally says she wants all her guests to feel included and welcome, and she wants everyone to think of Stonewall as “Your Home on The Blue Ridge Parkway”. Part of making people feel at home comes with accommodating dietary needs for the “breakfast” part of B&B. Checking for special needs is part of the booking confirmation call. Sally takes great care when serving guests with food allergies or restricted diets due to health conditions. She is also happy to accommodate those who have chosen to live vegan or gluten-free lifestyles. Once any dietary restrictions are known, Sally creates a delicious buffet menu customized for each guest. She really enjoys researching recipes and learning ways to substitute soy or tofu for her vegan guests, as well as using turkey bacon for those who don’t eat pork. Regularly, however, the breakfast menu often includes some style of egg and breakfast meat, along with fruit and muffins. There is also usually some sort of saucy dish such as gravy, Chicken ala King, or chipped beef.

For those who appreciate the philosophy of shopping local, Sally is happy to report that she gets most of her food from local stores like Slaughters Supermarket, Wade’s Grocery in Christiansburg, and the Floyd Farmer’s Market. With all this great, locally sourced food, she and Scott both enjoy creating in the kitchen. Scott’s slow cooked bacon, as well as his lo-country shrimp and grits, are guest favorites. Folks also love Sally’s Quiche Lorraine so much that she’s had requests to ship it!

“But,” says Sally with a smile, “they’ll have to come to Stonewall to get it.”

For cyclists and other active guests looking for a light meal and energy 14 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

on-the-go, Sally may prepare a simple oatmeal and send them off with a to-go bag of muffins and water for the day.

Breakfast time is special at Stonewall B&B. It’s a time when guests gather in the kitchen and get to know each other while the food is still being prepared. “The stories we’ve heard are amazing!” says Sally.

“Guests have come for the Floyd Country Store, events at Chantilly Farm, FloydFest, Rock Castle Gorge, Mabry Mill, Peaks of Otter, Virginia Tech ball games, graduation, and more! They come from all over the world! We’ve had several guests from as far away as Australia and New Zealand!”

Going into their thirteenth year as the owners of Stonewall Bed & Breakfast, Sally and Scott have hosted over four hundred guests; many of whom take advantage of the discount for returning guests to visit again and again.

When asked about the future, Sally tells us that Scott is an amazingly talented man, and that they are planning to add more private bathrooms in response to feedback. Scott likes to think of the bed and breakfast as a work-in-progress. He and Sally both continue to find ways to add value and comfort for their guests.

Sally says she would also like to have more weddings at Stonewall.

With many people wanting smaller weddings, Stonewall would be the perfect venue. Along with her experience catering weddings, Sally knows how to bring down costs and help make a bride’s dream wedding come true.

She is also working on plans for more retreats: women’s retreats, wellness, vacation from caregiving, and vacation from grief. “You can’t pour out from an empty cup,” says Sally, and she wants to help give others the chance to fill their cups. Sometimes that means just having the opportunity to play the piano, to sew, to paint, to color, or to cook.

The possibilities are endless.

“People who stay at B&Bs are unique, amazing, loving, warm and fun,” says Sally, “and they fill us. They rejuvenate us. They are the best guests in the world. The number-one comment I hear is, ‘I’ll be back’. It gives me great joy to know that I’ve poured into them and made their life just a little bit better while they stepped into my world.”

If you’d like to make Stonewall Bed and Breakfast “Your Home on the Blue Ridge Parkway” then be sure to check out their website and availability at http://stonewallbed.com and follow them on Facebook.

Stonewall Bed and Breakfast • Sally and Scott Truslow 102 Wendi Pate Trl SE, Floyd, VA • (540) 745-2861 “Your Home on the Blue Ridge Parkway” http://stonewallbed.com • facebook.com/stonewallbed/

Fall/Winter Fall/Winter 2019 2019

Largest selection of modern

Retreat to Apple Ridge Farm

furniture in the area!

Perfect for corporate retreats, weddings, or family adventures!

• Meetings & Conferences • Weddings & Receptions • Lodging & Camping • Caboose Car Bed & Breakfast • Outdoor Adventures • Zip Line • Climbing Tower

Free delivery to Floyd, VA Your support sustains our mission of Helping Kids Grow.

Call 540-982-1322 or visit appleridge.org

www.SouthernHeritageHomes.com Fall/Winter 2019

540.489.7700 • Rocky Mount, VA www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 15

Floyd’s First Hemp Farm and Store

By Colleen Redman

Patrick Sisk, Kerry Underwood, Derek Wall, and Daniel Sowers have pooled their entrepreneurial spirit and skills to launch The Buffalo Hemp Company: Floyd’s first hemp farm and retail store! They’ve spent all summer growing their first crop of premium organic hemp, and with a focus on CBD (Cannabidiol) products, have opened their storefront on Main Street in Floyd this September!

Currently, the Buffalo Hemp Company are leasing to buy a seventyfive-acre farm on Franklin Pike. That land, along with an eight-thousand square foot building and outbuildings provide plenty of room for the business to grow. Their first field acre of hemp for CBD should be ready for harvest around October, and other plants have been grown onsite in greenhouses. Some of the harvested plants to be used for free-roll CBD smokes are already hanging in a drying room.

CBD oil is an active ingredient in cannabis derived from the hemp plant. Unlike marijuana, it is not psychoactive; having no - or negligible amounts - of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Preliminary studies have shown CBD to be helpful in the treatment of anxiety, insomnia, cognition issues, and pain. Evidence suggests it can be helpful in curbing opiate, alcohol, and tobacco abuse, as well as in preventing or reducing the symptoms of withdrawal. Users have described CBD as having a calming and focusing effect that is fast-acting, non-addictive, and without side-effects.

Buffalo Hemp Company partner, Patrick Sisk, tells us, “the U.S. is pushing to be the third largest hemp producer in the world, next to Canada and China.” CBD was first legalized in Virginia in 2015 for the treatment of epileptic seizures. Since then, laws have allowed its use and availability to be expanded.

Sisk admits, however, that the industry is still evolving and still fighting long-engrained perceptions. Even after the agricultural production of hemp was legalized by Congress through the 2018 Farm Bill, there still remains some stigma around the cannabis plant.

Sisk, who grew up in Fauquier County, first came to Floyd County through an agricultural scholarship to Virginia Tech. He says he’d like to see Buffalo Hemp Company become a boon to the area. The partners hope to eventually process their crop into CBD products on site, but the changing laws may have them outsourcing that work to other states. Though Buffalo Hemp Company paid for their grower’s certificate before breaking ground, they have found that only a handful of companies in Virginia have been granted the right to process hemp.

“The demand for this product is growing quicker than it can be grown,” says partner, Kerry Underwood. “But because of our farming heritage, we’ll be able to meet that demand.” In the mid-nineties, Underwood owned and managed a Hemp store in Roanoke that sold mostly items made from hemp fabrics. He also noted that hemp was grown by our founding fathers and that cannabis has been a safe part of 16 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

our nature-based pharmacy for ages.

“To be able to grow this plant is an honor and privilege,” Underwood continued. “It can make a huge contribution to solving the ecological problems of the planet. An acre of hemp will consume over one-anda-half tons of carbon dioxide. And it’s a soil remediator, leaving the soil better than it was found. But,” he joked, “it’s not like growing tomatoes.

It’s a lot more complicated than that.”

Partner Derek Wall is more newly-come to the industry. “I knew nothing about farming,” said Wall, “but I’ve learned a lot in the last five months.” Although he and the other partners are involved in all aspects of the business, Wall said he got on board to help run the retail part of the operation.

Attracted to the challenge of creative business development in a new industry, Wall said he likes the idea of CBD products being part of the “farm-to-table” movement, as well as the local economy. The first step toward the focus on the local economy, Wall tells us, will be to hire local employees to run the shop and harvest the crop.

Unlike Wall, farming has been in Daniel Sowers family for generations. “I think the products will help a lot of people,” said the Floyd County native. Sowers criticizes how pharmaceutical companies have been responsible for many people becoming addicted to pain medications. He further points out the tendency for doctors to prescribe them like candy. However, there are studies indicating that CBD could be a promising treatment for opioid addiction, as well as prevention. Sowers says he likes growing plants and leading the way for something new.

Each member of the Buffalo Hemp Company partnership also maintains other successful businesses. Sisk and Underwood are owners of 5 Mile Mountain Distillery, Floyd County’s first distillery since Prohibition. The business features micro-distilled moonshine with Appalachian roots, and houses a tasting room and gift shop. Wall is co-owner of the Thomas and Wall Real Estate firm in downtown Floyd.

Sowers owns and operates On the Water; a Floyd kayak, canoe, and tube outfitter along the Little River. He is also a Thomas and Wall agent.

Together, the four partners manage the logistics of production, marketing and retail sales, as well as getting their hands in the dirt. “We all bring something to the table,” says Sisk. I can’t imagine doing this without any one of us.”

For more information about the Buffalo Hemp Company, follow them on social media at thebuffalohempcompany. To learn about or to purchase products, visit online at thebuffalohempcompany.com.

Buffalo Hemp Company • thebuffalohempcompany.com 540-745-TBHC (8242) • info@thebuffalohempcompany.com facebook.com/thebuffalohempcompany/

Fall/Winter 2019

build • New Homes GREEN • Remodeling with • Additions • Treated Lumber • Plywood • West Windows • Empire & Buck Stoves • Oil, Gas & Wood Stoves • Salt & Snow Shovels • Propane Refill & Exchange • Heat Pumps & Dehumidifiers • Plumbing, Electric & Paint

Wills Ridge Supply Building Materials • Lumber • Hardware ,Inc.

www.willsridge.com • 202 Lumber Lane, Floyd VA

540-745-2044

Home of “BIG JACK” & “BIG BEAR”

Green Building Products • Eco Friendly Stains & Glues • Kiln Dried Lumber Envirosafe Lumber • Hardie Board Siding • El Dorado Stone • Cultured Stone

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 17

Eric finishing a stool

For the Love of Wood

by Karl H. Kazaks

Late one morning, Corinne Graefe walked through an outbuilding much stronger joint. that is part of Phoenix Hardwoods; the fine furniture business that she Walk into the shop one day, and you may see Henry Vangunten and her husband, Bill, operate in Floyd. In the warm shadowy light, she working on his original new design; a table with a floating top. Beside examined slabs of various hardwood species, including rare specimens him, Eric McDaniel may be gluing and clamping stool legs, then setting of walnut root and burled poplar; imagining what the rough-cut lumber them aside to dry for a day. Caleb Johnson, who has been with Phoenix would become one day – a table, a stool, or a headboard perhaps. for over fifteen years, will be coming up with unique ways to use the “This is what happens when your addiction unusual scraps of highly figured lumber. is wood,” she explains. What happens when you “I get the greatest job satisfaction here out of any possess a Phoenix Hardwoods creation is you job I’ve had,” says McDaniel. “You actually get to become the caretaker for a piece of wood furniture see the end product and be proud of what you’ve which contains an undeniable, natural sense of done.” grace. No matter how large or small, the Graefe’s Bradley Lawson agrees. “I enjoy bringing to life furniture pieces all exhibit thoughtful design and something that could outlive me.” Lawson crafts craftsmanship. beds and tables and does much of the finishing Phoenix Hardwoods’ products exhibit a clear, work. practical utility, as well as an obvious connection The Graefes mostly use a linseed oil-citrus to the original tree and a genuine beauty. Take, for solvent finish; applying a minimum of three coats example, a stool with a seat that shows the warm and burnishing between coats. The tables are Bill Graefe & hue and chatoyant gleam of butternut. Or a table mostly finished with a dull, waterproof varnish.

Corinne Graefe with a top and legs made from the same piece of Preparing and finishing a burl live-edge piece is curly maple; featuring an entrancing, rippling incredibly time-consuming, but it’s the kind of figuring, as well as a live edge. Or even a headboard work which brings Corinne satisfaction. “I’ve in which the original shape and coloration of a always been interested in woodworking,” she thick walnut slab is captured in a Shaker-style relates. “I was the first girl in my shop class.” frame. “It still looks like the tree,” Bill says.

“She’s very particular...” Bill added.

Customers especially like the Graefe’s live-edge In describing how the couple partition their products, whether it be a table, a floating shelf, duties, Corinne explains, “You’ll be more likely to a box, or a vase. “People love it because it’s real,” see Bill with a chain saw and me with a chisel.”

Corinne exclaims.

Phoenix Hardwoods is particularly known for The business began in 2002, a few years after its larger pieces. Bill loves working with five-foot the Graefes opened a custom lumber operation wide logs. They are also famous for being featured built around a sawmill and a wood-drying kiln. in the rooms and lobby of Hotel Floyd. The The couple still use the mill and kiln, largely to supply wood for their company uses mainly hardwoods native to New River Valley forests, furniture business. But the kiln, it should be noted, is only the last but they will also work with hardwoods recovered from planted species. step in their slab-drying process. The first step is to dry the hardwood “Arborists bring us all kinds of amazing logs,” they say. outdoors, a year for each inch of thickness. That means a three-year In the hands of the Graefes, lumber that may have otherwise vanished drying period for a three-inch slab. in ash and smoke as firewood is harvested and given a new life; one That level of dedication to making sure everything is just right can which honors and illuminates the life that came before it in the shape also be found on Phoenix Hardwoods’ shop floor, where, in addition to and character of the original tree.

Bill and Corinne, four full-time employees build furniture by hand. To Phoenix Hardwoods is located at 2540 Floyd Hwy. N. in Floyd, be sure, they use power tools, but the machines are hand-controlled, not Virginia. For more information, follow Phoenix Hardwoods on computer-operated, and no detail is overlooked. For example, the stools Facebook, visit online at www.phoenix-hardwoods.com, or call use wedged mortise and tenon joints to connect each seat to its legs. (540) 745-6403.

This joinery technique involves hand rasping the opening of the mortise (in the seat) to create a wider opening, which allows for the insertion of Phoenix Hardwoods • (540) 745-6403 • 2540 Floyd Hwy. N., Floyd, VA a wedge into the end of the tenon (the top of the legs). The result is a www.phoenix-hardwoods.com • facebook.com/PhoenixHardwoods/ 18 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Fall/Winter 2019

Floyd County Historical Society 2019 Featured Exhibit A Year in Tribute to the Churches of Floyd County

Iconic items provide captivating glimpses into Upcoming Event at Appalachian church worship Floyd Center for the Arts and history in Floyd County.

“Floyd Shape Note Singers” The last opportunity to visit “A Tribute Floyd Churches” will be December 7 when the museum closes for the winter.

The museum will re-open in April 2020 with a new exhibit.

will present a demonstration of the shape note tradition.

Sponsored by FCHS: Nov. 9 - 10:30 to Noon Free admission.

Handicap accessible.

(540)745-3247 • 217 N. Locust Street, Floyd, VA Open April to Mid-December Museum Hours: Thurs & Fri: Noon - 4pm • Sat: 11am - 3pm

www.floydhistoricalsociety.org

Friendly Home Town Service!

C.W. Harman & Son is a family owned Farm and Building Supply business located in rural Floyd, Virginia. For over thirty years, they have offered a wide variety of competitively priced farm products and building materials.

2894 Floyd Hwy S • 540.745.2252 www.cwharmanandson.com

Fall/Winter 2019

Bird Feeders, Blades, Car Batteries, Cleaning Products, Concrete, Coveralls, Doors, Drywall, Electrical, Fencing, Fertilizer, Gravel, Heaters, Ladders, Lawn and Garden, Lumber, Mulch, Paint, Plumbing, Plywood, Pumps, Purina Feeds, Roofing Supplies, Rubber Boots, Sand, Tools, Trailers, Water Heaters, Water Filters, Windows, Wood Stoves, Vinyl Siding, and much, much, more!

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 19

An Art-Lover’s Dream in Downtown Floyd

Two doors down from the iconic Floyd Country Store, in a charming, pale blue building, is another of Floyd’s timeless treasures.

New Mountain Mercantile is a shop that has been in business for over three decades. On the welcoming front porch, folks can find an oldfashioned rocking chair and a comfy wooden bench for resting legs weary from exploring downtown Floyd. The inviting nature of both the store and its owners is evident in the colorful flowerpots, as well as the thoughtful bowl of water for the four-legged friends.

Four years ago, New Mountain Mercantile’s original owners wanted to retire, and so the store went up for sale. After hearing of the opportunity, Judy MacPhail and Nancy Bell decided they would join forces to keep this shop a vibrant spot on the Floyd shopping scene.

Both Nancy and Judy found the beauty and serenity of Floyd to be alluring. Neither could resist. Several years ago, each woman decided to make Floyd her home. Both have an eye for arts, crafts, and fashion; all of which fill the shelves and racks at New Mountain Mercantile.

Before coming to Floyd, Judy was Circulation Director with McClatchy Newspapers in Raleigh, North Carolina. When she arrived in Floyd ten years ago, her focus turned to spinning and dying wool for the beautiful yarns she created. Her craft took shape within the tiny house on her new property, and even though running the store and charitable endeavors often keep Judy from the spinning wheel these 20 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

days, folks can still find her exquisite yarn on sale at the shop.

Before her new life in Floyd, Nancy Bell had been an accountant in Chiefland, Florida. Like Judy, Nancy also applies her skills to an old-time craft. After having learned from a local master, Nancy became a topclass basket-maker; especially renowned for the colors she weaves into her creations. Shoppers can find several on sale now at New Mountain Mercantile, and Nancy will be creating more in the weeks to come.

New Mountain Mercantile supports the work of many other local artists as well. Shoppers can find clay fairies fashioned by Mary Hadden, earthy earrings made from natural materials by Penny Lane, and stained glass by Joanna Huff.

The lace-impressed pottery of Jayn Avery is a favorite of travelers near and far. Tourists stop by year after year to add new pieces of this exquisite pottery to their collections. New Mountain Mercantile also has lots of tie-dye items; featuring the work of dye-slinger, James Herndon of Beandawg Clothing Design, as well as pieces by Kalinda Wycoff, original owner of the New Mountain Mercantile! In addition to the tie-dyed tees, there are also new shirt designs made by Heather Angel. They are simple, whimsical, and punny – like the Floydian Sip! The Mercantile also offers a line of candles and wax-melts by Northern Lights, as well as essential oils, perfume oils, and incense.

They also have wind chimes by Corinthian Bells; hand-tuned to produce a sound that is both beautiful and true.

Now let’s talk about clothing! New Mountain Mercantile is also a great stop for the fashion forward! A special highlight among the Mercantile’s apparel is the Habitat line of clothing; beautiful, timeless, and distinctive. Purchasing a few pieces of Habitat will round out the most interesting of wardrobes.

And don’t forget the feet! The “Merc” not only carries Farm-to-Feet socks made in Mount Airy, North Carolina, but they also have a sock designed and named for Floyd; featuring the strings of an instrument in keeping with Floyd’s musical heritage.

Two dimensional art also has a home at New Mountain. Local artist, Marsha Slopey Paulekas, is featured along with many others. Shoppers can purchase prints of Marsha’s rendition of the Floyd Country Store, and view her latest collection of scenes and buildings from along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Don’t miss New Mountain Mercantile on your next trip to Floyd!

For more information about New Mountain Mercantile, visit them on Facebook at MercantileofFloyd, or stop by in person at 114 S Locust Street in Floyd!

New Mountain Mercantile 114 S Locust, Floyd VA facebook.com/MercantileofFloyd/ Judy MacPhail & Nancy Bell (540) 745-4278

Fall/Winter 2019

Cabin Rental Step back 100 years and enjoy the Mountains as they were when things were uncomplicated.

You can stay in an original wormy chestnut log cabin home and enjoy the comforts of modern convenience in a beautiful mountain setting. The cabin has been beautifully restored and is fully furnished with a full kitchen, two bedrooms and a bath. Relax by the fire at night and settle in comfortably.

1/2 Mile from the Stop Light in Floyd $100 per night $300 per week!

Chestnut Springs Rd NW, Floyd Virginia 540-745-2345 • 540-250-1993

All-American Restaurant and historic Roadside Inn serving daily specials & breakfast all day!

R e s ta u r a n t & M o t e l F o o d • Lo d g in g • M usi c • Break fast • L unch • Dinner

Wednesday - Meatloaf Thursday - 6 cheese Lasagna Friday - Red and Green Chili Combination Plate Saturday - charbroiled kabob or hand cut steak & bAked potato Sunday - Pan Fried Chicken

540-745-3402

w w w. T u g g l e s G a p. b i z t u g g l e s g @ s w va . n e t

3 3 5 1 Pa r k way L a n e S . , F l o y d , VA • B l u e R i d g e Pa r k way • M . P. 1 6 5 . 2 Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 21

A PicturePerfect Journey

By William Bell

I was interested in photography from an early age. I remember buying a little Kodak camera when I was in the fourth grade. My interest was rekindled in high school after taking a basic darkroom course and having access to a good darkroom for a couple of years. With this new-found passion, I then began to study the inspirational work of some of the early Masters of Photography.

Twenty years or so later, while living in Floyd County with my wife, Joanne, we were making our living at Art and Craft shows. While exhibiting at these shows, I would often see other people selling their photography. Then one day, it occurred to me that I could do it, too! I had loved the Ridge and Valley country of Virginia since I lived in Lexington as a boy. And now that I was living in the Blue Ridge, surrounded by amazing natural beauty, it seemed a dream within reach that I could make and sell landscape photographs.

Having considered printing as an integral part of the photographic process, I built my darkroom in 1989 and began to print my own pictures so I could have control of my images. I then learned how to do matting and framing, and it was time to launch my new career.

I traveled the Blue Ridge regions of Virginia and North Carolina with my large format, 4X5 camera; taking photographs of the natural beauty to be found there. I enjoyed using this big, bulky, awkward, and slow camera because it imposed discipline on the art of seeing. When I went out for a day of shooting, I would just take around twenty sheets of film. This limited number of shots for a long day of picture-making required a deliberate and thoughtful approach. Of course, I also wanted to have some film 22 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Fall/Winter Fall/Winter 2019 2019

left for the often-magical evening light.

Along with my camera and three lenses, a tripod, a handheld light meter, and a dark cloth were my essential tools. It took some time to set up and compose the image, all the while seeing the world upside down and backwards in the ground glass screen at the back of the camera! But the image quality from a 4X5 negative is impressive. It’s roughly the equivalent of a ninetymegapixel, digital camera; allowing me to make large prints with great resolution.

Upon returning to the darkroom, I would make prints from my negatives. I would then mount, matt, and sometimes frame the pictures, all in my own shops! The cameras and lenses I had were beautifully made, and the film I used was superb; the culmination of decades of refinement. And my darkroom was state-of-the-art. But then things changed.

The first digital camera I was aware of had a one-megapixel sensor and was made for NASA in the early 1990’s. The pace of development for this new technology was amazing, and it caught many people by surprise, including me! By the late 1990’s, the evolution had begun in earnest. Hundreds of new digital cameras were on offer while film and darkroom supplies were getting harder to find. I realized that if I wanted to continue my photography business, I would need to make the complete change to a digital workflow.

After working in my darkroom for eighteen years, I began to make the transition; first to wide format digital printing on canvas, and then to using a professional digital camera. This was a challenge. I was not a computer guy. But I did learn, and I’ve become a big fan of the process, as well as the beautiful prints I can make. The tools I use now allow even greater control and artistry than I had in the darkroom. I still love printing, and I still get great satisfaction from producing a beautiful image, even after printing over twenty thousand photographs!

When I go out to shoot photographs, I try to attune myself to the visual world in a special way. I see the angle and color of the light, and I imagine what the scene might be like from a different point of view or at a different time of day. I move slowly along the trail, paying attention to small details. I stop and observe. I move a little to the left or right and observe some more; sometimes looking through the camera or changing the lens. This is how I slowly work my way into a scene. From a day of photography, I can hope to get one or two special images.

That’s always a good day!

For thirty years I have been my own boss, and I like this aspect of my work. I built my own shops, I go to places that I love, and I take pictures that are pleasing to me. I have been fortunate.

Because other folks have liked some of the same things that I do, I’ve had some success in selling my work. Most days, I consider myself lucky to do what I do.

Joanne and I own the Bell Gallery and Garden in downtown Floyd, just a few steps from the light. We always have a large collection of my photographs there, in different sizes, including paper prints, and we have the work of many other artists and craftspeople as well. Please come see us.

For more information about William Bell, Joanne Bell, their art, and all the art to be found at the Bell Gallery & Garden, visit online at Bellgalleryandgarden.com. You can also follow them on Facebook at Bell Gallery.

Bell Gallery & Garden • William Bell & Joanne Bell Bellgalleryandgarden.com • 540.745.4494 For Reservations Call: 540.250.6802 info@bellgalleryandgarden.com 112 N. Locust Street, Floyd, Va

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 23

Bed & Breakfast

Journey to StoneHaven Built in 1927, the construction of StoneHaven Bed & to fill the little vase with wildflowers I would gather from the Breakfast features soapstone that was quarried in Floyd, as well wood’s edge.”

Jennifer also tells us that it was easy to play house because she as rich, original woodwork throughout. This Georgian style home is located at 244 Christiansburg Pike NE in Floyd; just one had such a good teacher. Her mother was a talented seamstress and gardener; taking pride in her cooking, as well as decorating mile from the stoplight downtown.

This B&B offers four, handsomely decorated bedrooms; her home with the labor of her hands. “I can remember lying each with a unique theme and special name. In addition to flat on my back at her feet and looking up to watch her sew,” says the comfort of private bathrooms and central air, StoneHaven Jennifer. “Catching stray threads between her lips and talking to offers wi-fi, flat-screen televisions, a library, an expansive porch, me all the while.”

Jennifer also spent many hot and a gazebo, as well as homemade summer afternoons watching her breakfasts made with organic and mother water the flower gardens. “I locally sourced ingredients. This can still smell the lovely fragrance of B&B is also just minutes away from the gardenias that graced the sides the stoplight in downtown Floyd, of our front entrance.” It was there where visitors can enjoy local, in the family’s first brick home that world-class music, fine arts and Jennifer’s mother imparted to her a crafts, shopping, dining, recreation, joy of flowers. and adventure!

Years later, Jennifer’s early adult Owners Chris and Jennifer life revolved around raising her own Miller feel that buying StoneHaven family; a task for which she kept Bed & Breakfast was their destiny, in constant touch with her favorite and according to Jennifer, it was a teacher. “I spent hours on the story that was years in the making. phone with Mama,” she says. “She In the summer of 1972, Jennifer literally taught me to cook over that was just six years old while her old rotary telephone with its tensister, Amy, was five. The girls’ dad foot cord.” had a friend named Bobby who’d With her mother’s help, it would called to say that his own girls had be in her first home as an adult outgrown their playhouse and he that Jennifer finally became what wanted to know if Jennifer and she would consider “domesticated”.

Amy might like it.

Her husband, as well as her church With a father working overtime family, would often rave about the to provide for his family and a chocolate pound cakes and chicken mother staying at home to care Chris Miller & Jennifer Miller casseroles she’d proudly make for the for three children, fancy toys and monthly fellowship meals. elaborate playhouses were a reason And thanks to her mom’s help with decorating ideas, Jennifer’s to get excited. It wasn’t long before the small, stick-built house husband would often return from work to find the furniture was unloaded and placed in the side yard.

Jennifer fondly remembers the tiny kitchen sink, the small moved and the walls newly painted! Playing house had become cabinets, and the little bench table. It even came complete with Jennifer’s passion.

In 1995, however, she found herself single and raising two checkered curtains and dishes! “Oh, the meals we made with sticks, grass, and mud!” recalls Jennifer. “My favorite task was small boys. But fate was just getting started. In 2004, Jennifer 24 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Fall/Winter 2019

T

INC

benders in

Call us for all your heating & cooling needs:

• Service & Maintenance • Gas, Oil, Wood Furnaces

• Installation • High Efficiency Heat Pumps

www.tinbendersinc.com • tinbenders@tinbendersinc.com

540-334-5841

Use the earth to heat and cool your home!

Ask us about Geothermal!

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 25

met and married the love of her life, Chris Miller, and she became enchanted with Maine when they visited for their honeymoon.

Incidentally, it was during this visit that the new couple had their first experience with a Bed & Breakfast, at the refurbished home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in Portland. During a second B&B stay at the beautiful Spouter Inn in Lincolnville Beach, Jennifer found herself admiring the vibrant blues and whites in the dining room and thinking how much fun that type of life could be.

The defining moment of their experience in Maine, however, came when they’d stopped at a well-known restaurant in Camden; famous for their lobster rolls. Unaware of the time, Jennifer and Chris had arrived when the place was closing to prepare for the dinner crowd. As they turned to walk away, they were quickly greeted by the owner who escorted them back in and insisted on serving them personally. Afterward, he walked them back out and asked if they had any plans for their future together.

The restaurant owner complemented their Southern hospitality and quickly offered a tantalizing opportunity. The man also owned a local Bed & Breakfast and was looking for the perfect couple to run it. Chris and Jennifer humbly thanked the kind stranger, but ultimately declined the offer to move to Maine.

Yet they never forgot the seed that was planted that day.

That was fifteen years ago. In May of 2018, however, the whisper of destiny that had been following Jennifer since childhood finally became a triumphant song. She and Chris purchased the old soapstone home on Christiansburg Pike and opened StoneHaven Bed & Breakfast two months later.

“It has been pure joy,” says Jennifer, “to serve ‘all who enter in’.” And that joy is reflected in the appreciation of the guests who have found their way there. As one returning guest recently emailed: “We’ll treasure the memories of gathering around your

26 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

breakfast table and we feel as though we’ve made friends with you and your other guests. We respect your sacrifice and the hard work it must take in providing much more than a room in a hotel---you are touching people’s hearts and turning strangers into family.”

For more information about StoneHaven B&B, to see photos of the beautiful rooms, or to make a reservation, visit online at www.stonehavenbnbfloyd.com. You can also check them out and follow on Facebook at StoneHaven Bed and Breakfast.

StoneHaven B&B • Jennifer & Chris Miller www.stonehavenbnbfloyd.com • (540) 745-4018 244 Christiansburg Pk. NE, Floyd, Virginia facebook.com/stonehavenbnbfloyd/

Fall/Winter 2019

Chocolates • Beverages • Baked Goods

Customize your own chocolate bar every Saturday, 1-3pm!

Cocoa Mia is a family-owned artisan chocolate salon. We offer an eclectic, friendly, and welcoming atmosphere in which to enjoy chocolate. Don’t know what you want? Let us help you find the right chocolate for you or a friend. We create hand-crafted truffles, caramels, cookies, croissants, and other chocolate confections,

Follow us @cocoamiachocolates

as well as sell chocolate bars made around the world. Enjoy Rocsato Rocsato Coffee Roasters coffee or our Coffee Roasters coffee or our house-made hot chocolate.

Melt away all the stresses of day with our sipping chocolate! We have gluten free, vegan, and a small selection of sugar free items that are sure to delight!

www.cocoamiachocolates.com 540-695-0224 • 109 E Main St, Floyd, VA

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 27

Points of Interest Bent Mountain Mercantile Bent Mountain Bistro

Floyd County, Virginia

Christiansburg

AmRhein’s Wine Cellars

81

Apple Ridge Farm

Copper Hill

Sinkland Farms Aly’s Restaurant

Copper Hill Cakes & Goodies

653 Buffalo & More

Bent Mountain Lodge

Smith’s Grocery & Hardware

Riner 612 Check

8

642 Seven Springs Farm

Check Country Store

679 The Outpost On the Water in Floyd

Bread Basket

754

s Will

Indian Valley

ge

Rid

Buffalo Mountain Brewing Company

T&E

Willis Village Mart

77

Chantilly Farm

221

Willis

Spencer’s Body Shop

Floyd Center for the Arts

Wildwood Farms General Store C.W. Harman & Son

679

Streamline Timberframe

Ray’s Pine Tavern Restaurant Lodge

Griffith Lumber

Floyd Yoga Jam

to

y G’s

Micke

Slaughter’s Supermarket

787

Phoenix Hardwoods

G.J. Ingram & Son

Wills Ridge Supply

Alum Ridge

787

221

Anahata Education Center

615

8

June Bug Center

681

e Ridg Blue way Park

Stonewall Bed & Breakfast Inn

Blue Ridge Yurts

Floyd

Tuggles Gap Restaurant & Motel Stonehaven Inn

Buffalo Mountain Getaway Cottage Buffalo Mountain Ziplines

799

Griffith Lumber

Floyd Fest Grounds Chateau Morrisette Winery

Villa Appalaccia Winery & Vineyard

Schoolhouse Fabics

8 Woolwine

Roads

Blue Ridge Parkway County Border U.S. Hwy 81

28 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Mabry Mill

58 Country Road Realty

Jerry & Connie’s House of Collectibles

Meadows of Dan

Floyd Jewelry & Autoville

FC Historical Society The Maggie

Green Label Organics Bell Gallery Little Dress Shop

Woodbury Inn

Also Roads

Red Rooster Coffee

Parkway Grille

In Meadows of Dan: • Blue Ridge Visitor’s Center • Poor Farmers Market • Jane’s Country Cafe • Poppy’s • Concord Country Store

0

ntile erca tore & Mt M try S New d Coun dhouse o Floy wn Roa n Tatto u to Dog er the S d n U

Th

Floyd Visitor Center & Cocoa Mia NRV Hearing

e S Hote tati l F on* loy d *In The Station • Elma’s Corners • A Little Monkey Business • A New Leaf Gallery • Troika

6 Miles

Fall/Winter 2019

Kids 10 and under eat free Mon. from 4-7 dine in kids menu only • • • • • • •

Summer Hours Monday 11-9 Tuesday Closed Wednesday 4-9 Thurs, Fri, Sat 11-9 Sunday 12-8

Monday night 2 pizzas $20 Brick oven pizza and calzones Catering on/off premises ABC on/off premise Fresh seafood Gluten free & whole wheat options availible Buffet weekdays

Chef’s Choice & Family Style dining available

www.MickeyGsBistro.com 540-745-2208

Wildwood Farms General Store

One of the largest daylily gardens in VA!

Unique Gifts, Home & Garden Decor Live Bluegrass Music every Saturday Night 5 minutes from the town of Floyd!

Enjoy A Delicious Meal From Our Kitchen!

Check our website for our complete menu, music schedule, & daylily price list!

M-F:10am-5pm Sat:10am-9pm Sun:12pm-5pm

540-745-5155 www.WildwoodFarmsDaylilies.com 2380 Floyd Highway South • Floyd, VA 24091

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 29

Directory Location

Contact Info

Phone

Location

Contact Info

A Little Monkey Business

www.floydmonkeybusiness.com

Email us!

Kesler Contracting & Property Management

A New Leaf Gallery

www.anewleafgallery.com

540-745-7367

Amateur Raido

www.floydamateurradiosociety.org

AmRhein’s Wine Cellars

Phone

keslercontracting.com

540-381-8500

McHale Arborscape

www.mchalearborscape.weebly.com

610-476-7195

540-745-7742

Mickey G’s Bistro

www.mickeygsbistro.com

540-745-2208

www.amrheins.com/fine-wine

540-929-4632

New Mountain Mercantile of Floyd facebook.com/MercantileofFloyd

540-745-4278

Anahata Education Center

www.anahataeducationcenter.com

540-745-5811

New River Valley Hearing

www.nrvhearing.com

540-745-8327

Apple Ridge Farm

www.appleridge.org

540-982-1322

Oak Haven Lodge

www.oakhavenlodge.com

540-745-5716

Artisan Trail

www.floydartisantrail.org

540-745-7333

Parkway Grille

facebook.com/ParkwayGrilleVA

540-745-4770

Autoville Auto Repair

540-745-4224

Pine Tavern Restaurant

www.thepinetavern.com

540-745-4482

Bell Gallery and Garden

540-745-4494

Phillips Real Estate

www.phillipsrealestateva.com

540-745-3700

Bell’s Auto Towing

540-745-3364

Phoenix Hardwoods

www.phoenix-hardwoods.com

540-745-7475

Bent Mountain Bistro

540-929-8013

Ray’s Rest

540-745-2501

540-651-2500

Reed’s Garage

540-929-4236 540-745-6448

www.bellgalleryandgarden.com www.bentmountainbistro.com

Bent Mountain Lodge Bed and Breakfast Inc

www.bentmountainlodgebedandbreakfast.com

Rorrer Well Drilling

Bent Mountain Mercantile

www.bentmountainmercantile.com

540-929-8046

SETEC

Blue Ridge Restaurant

www.floydblueridge.com

540-745-2147

Seven Springs Farm

www.7springsfarm.com

800-540-9181

Blue Ridge Yurts

www.blueridgeyurts.com

540-745-7458

Sinkland Farms

www.sinklandfarms.com

540-382-4647

Bread Basket

facebook.com/breadbasket.floydva

540-745-5382

Slaughters’ Supermarket

540-745-2908

Buffalo Mountain Getaway

www.buffalomountaingetaway.com

540-789-8335

Spencers Body Shop

540-745-5880

Buffalo Hemp Company

www.thebuffalohempcompany.com

540-745-8242

Sticks & Stones Construction

540-763-2003

Buffalo Mountain Brewing Co

www.buffalomountainbrewery.com

540-745-2491

StoneHaven Inn

540-745-4018

Buffalo Mountain Ziplines

www.BuffaloMountainZiplines.com

540-200-5234

Stonewall Bed & Breakfast Inn www.stonewallbed.com

540-745-2861

C.W. Harman & Son

www.cwharmanandson.com

540-745-2252

Streamline Timberframe

www.streamlinetimberframe.com

540-230-5505

Chantilly Farm

www.chantillyfarm.com

540-808-4984

Sustain Floyd

www.sustainfloyd.org

540-745-7333

Chateau Morrisette Winery

www.thedogs.com

540-593-3647

T & E Small Engine

www.tesmallengine.com

540-745-8383

Chestnut Springs Retreat

540-745-2345

The Maggie

www.themaggiegallery.com

540-745-8000

Citizens

www.citizens.coop

800-941-0426

The Schroeder Law Firm, PC

www.schroeder-law.com

540-745-4435

Cocoa Mia

facebook.com/cocoamiachocolates

540-695-0224

The Woodshed

540-320-3057

Country Road Realty

www.CountryRoadRealtyVA.com

276-952-6582

Thomas & Wall Real Estate

www.thomaswallre.com

540-745-8973

Dogtown Roadhouse

www.dogtownroadhouse.com

540-745-6836

Tinbenders Inc

www.tinbendersinc.com

540-334-5841

Edward Jones - David Cross

www.edwardjones.com/david-cross

540-745-6851

Tuggles Gap Restaurant

www.tugglesgap.biz

540-745-3402

Elma’s Corners

www.elmascorners.com

540-230-8451

Troika Contemporary Crafts

www.troikacrafts.com

540-745-8764

Farm Credit of the Virginias

www.farmcreditofvirginias.com

540-745-2071

Tuggle’s Gap Restaurant & Motel www.tugglesgap.biz

540-745-3402

Floyd County Historical Society

www. floydhistoricalsociety.org

540-745-3247

Turman Hardwood Flooring

www.turmanhardwoodflooring.com

276-236-9963

Floyd Country Store

www.floydcountrystore.com

540-745-4563

Under the Sun Tattoo

www.underthesuntattoo.com

540-745-3080

Floyd County Tourism Office

www.visitfloydva.com

540-239-8509

United Country Real Estate

www.edgallimore.com

540-230-9090

Floyd Humane Society

www.floydhumanesociety.org

540-745-7207

Upon the Earth Construction

facebook.com/UponTheEarthServices

540-239-2362

Floyd Jewelry

facebook.com/floydjewelry

540-745-4653

Villa Appalaccia Winery & Vineyard www.villaappalaccia.com

540-593-3100

G.J. Ingram & Son

540-745-3201

Wildwood Farms General Store

540-745-5155

Grifith Lumber Company

276-692-8754

Willis Village Mart

540-789-7241

Wills Ridge Supply

540-745-2044

www.GriffithLumber.net

Jerry & Connie’s House of Collectibles facebook.com/meadowsofdanantiques 276-952-1095

30 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

www.rorrerdrilling.com

www.soilandenvironmentaltechnology.com 540-381-0309

www.StoneHavenbnbfloyd.com

www.wildwoodfarmsdaylilies.com www.willsridge.com

Fall/Winter 2019

https://citizens.coop/fiberexpansion

Upon the Earth Construction New Construction • Decks • Landscaping Painting • Roofing • Additions

Contact David Morris for your free estimate!

Tim Telling

540-239-2362

upontheearthservices1@gmail.com

Office: 276-952-6582 • Cell: 540-695-0522

Class A #2705123178a

Proudly supporting all of Floyd County!

Fall/Winter 2019

timtellingrealty@gmail.com • www.CountryRoadRealtyVA.com

“LET US TAKE YOU HOME” 646B JEB Stuart Highway • Meadows of Dan, VA 24120

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 31

Singing school teachers traveled to Floyd regularly. This singing school photo was taken of the Topeco Church of the Brethren group with their circuit riding teacher in 1918.

Traditional Shape-Note Singing: Alive and Cherished in Floyd County

By Sheilah Elwardani

On a cool, damp morning in late August, Sheilah Elwardani of the Floyd County Historical Society found herself following signs with arrows marked simply, ‘Sing’, down increasingly narrow dirt roads, to a farm gate which led across a field and up a hill. Beyond the signs there was nothing to suggest she was doing anything other than trespassing on private property. At the top of the hill, a small barn surrounded by parked cars came into view. She stepped from her car and was immediately carried back in time. She stood for five minutes and simply absorbed the resonating a cappella music rolling strong, clear, and moving from that small building.

The Floyd Shape-Note Singers had congregated at this small venue with its excellent acoustics for a full day of traditional, Sacred Harp ShapeNote singing. She was hooked at first note.

Sacred Harp shape-note singing can trace its roots all the way back to Puritan New England during the early 1700’s. The phrase ‘Sacred Harp’ refers to the human voice as the instrument of worship most pleasing to God. Calvinist by theology, the Puritans forbade the use of instruments during worship services.

32 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Early Puritan practices minimized the use of traditional hymns and moved toward a focus on the singing of psalms. The practice of disregarding traditional, sacred hymns became tedious for Puritans during the early 1700’s, leading to a desire to reinvest services with sacred music.

Access to a musical education for the average person in Puritan New England was nearly non-existent. The answer to re-teaching harmony singing to a population with no access to traditional musical instruction was a simplified form of presenting hymns using shapes on the notes to denote how each was to be sung. Sacred Harp shape-note singing was born as a push back against Calvinist minimalism.

Soon after the development of the shapenote system, singing schools emerged, using shape-notes for the purpose of teaching laypeople the foundations of reading music.

Singing schoolteachers and composers began to produce new tunes and hymns using the new system, with an adapted four-notes to express the seven-note scale: fa, sol, la, fa, sol, la, mi.

Eventually, hymnals began to appear

using the seven-note system: do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti. Each hymn began with singing the notes of the entire song prior to beginning the hymn, leading some to affectionately dub these groups ‘the fasola-folk’. Singers were arranged in a square, with the leader standing in the center: altos facing tenors and trebles facing basses. Different parts were often entered at intervals, forging the tune in a manner similar to a round.

Singing schoolteachers found themselves in demand beyond New England and were soon traveling as circuit riders throughout the Appalachian Mountains. Teachers were commissioned by church congregations to conduct singing schools for children and young adults; often staying within a community for several weeks. The tradition of the singing school survives in Floyd with instruction in shape-note singing continuing to this day. The tradition of Sacred Harp Shape-Note singing is alive and well throughout the Mountain South and has spread across the Atlantic to Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and beyond.

Shape-note singing in Floyd County is vibrant with an active and growing group

Fall/Winter 2019

Bent Mountain Lodge Bed and Breakfast Inc. 9039 Mountain View Drive Copper Hill, VA 24079 540-651-2500 mscmom74@swva.net

Mailing Address P.O. Box 134 Copper Hill, VA 24079 Owned and Operated by Bonnie and Jesse Lawrence

Lodge, Pavilion and Gazebo Suites for weddings & reunions

www.BentMountainLodgeBedandBreakfast.com

Turman Hardwood Flooring Unfinished Flooring • Prefinished Flooring • Hardwood Pellets Turman Hardwood Flooring is produced in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwestern Virginia, where some of the best hardwoods in the country are grown. The rich color and grain patterns of the lumber produced from these forests have been used by Appalachian Artisans for centuries to create some of the finest flooring and furniture in the world today.

www.turmanhardwoodflooring.com • 276-236-9963 Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 33

Chris Wolf, (leader, organizer and teacher), of the Floyd Shape-Note Singers leads the group in a hymn at an all day singing event on August 24, 2019. known simply as the Floyd Shape-Note Singers. The group meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month throughout the year, and welcomes anyone who would like to visit or join in the singing.

The Floyd County Historical Society is paying homage to this traditional music as part of this year’s “Tribute to the Churches of Floyd County”. The current exhibit features Shape-Note hymnals from nearly every denomination in the county. The Floyd County Historical Society will host a public event on Saturday, November 9, 2019 featuring the history of shape-note singing, as well as the Floyd Shape-Note Singers at the Floyd Center for the Arts. The event will begin at 10:00 am with a brief Historical Society meeting followed by guest presenters and shape-note singers. This event is open to the public and the Historical Society invites everyone interested in this traditional music to attend.

For more information about Shape-Note singing, as well as the Tribute to the Churches of Floyd exhibition, please visit the website at: http://www.floydhistoricalsociety.com For more information about the Floyd Shape-Note Singers, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ floydshapenote.

Thurs: 11am - 9pm Fri & Sat: 11am - 10pm Sun: 11am - 9pm Closed: Mon - Wed

Floyd County Historical Society 217 North Locust Street • (540) 745-3247 www.floydhistoricalsociety.com

Everything’s Better on the Mountain!

9607 Bent Mountain Rd. Bent Mountain, Virginia

The geometric shapes on the notes denote how each is to be sung. This method is much easier to teach students with no classical music education.

34 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

www.bentmountainbistro.com 540-929-8013

Fall/Winter 2019

Why just visit?

Live & Work Here!

Experience All Floyd Has to Offer!

Traditional handcraft & renowned fine art Farm-to-table dining & farm products Bike, Hike, Float

with 40 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway and our Little River

Sip the Spirits

Strong Workforce, vibrant community life Crenshaw Lighting

Space and Land Available Accomodating a wide variety of business needs

sample our wineries, distillery & brewery

Floyd Innovation Center: Memberships available for meeting space

Move to the Music

with music Thursday-Sundays weekly & festivals throughout the year

Business Support Programs Business networking, financial resources, incentive program

2018 Floyd C4 Business Winners

YesFloydVA.org 540-745-4407

540.745.9300 info@yesfloydva.org

Floyd Visitor Center 109 East Main Street (across from the Courthouse)

Entrepreneurship • Craftsmanship • Innovation

VisitFloydVA.com Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 35

A Heart for Helping The community of Willis is nestled within the rolling hills and green pastures of southwestern Floyd County, just eleven scenic miles from downtown Floyd, down Floyd Highway, south. Willis his home to friendly neighbors who look out for each other. It’s a place where familiar faces always have a smile and a “Hi, how are you today?”

If you speed through or blink, you might miss it. It may be small, but it’s a community with a big heart, and it’s a place where everyone comes together to provide for those in need. It is with these ideals firmly in heart that Sandra Smith, manager of Willis Village Mart, started Neighbors Helping Neighbors: to help provide for those in need.

The greenhouse at Willis Village Mart is typically full of flowers and vegetable plants for your garden needs during the spring, summer and fall months. Instead of lying dormant and empty during the cold winter months, however, the greenhouse was transformed last year into a donation area and place of giving! Individuals and families in need were able to shop for muchneeded items for free. That’s right! All donated items were passed along to families in need for free. Neighbors Helping Neighbors was a go!

Many of us want to help but may not know how. With help from our neighbors, however, the greenhouse will be transformed again this year; allowing everyone in the community to be engaged in helping those around us.

Starting November first, the greenhouse doors will be open to families and individuals from 8:00am – 8:00pm, seven days a week, to shop for needed items. If you don’t find the items you need, please feel free to check back often, as new donations come in daily. Donations can be dropped off at Willis Village Mart from 8:00am – 8:00pm daily, from November 1, 2019 through March 1, 2020.

The winters in Floyd County can be brutal, and heating costs can be expensive. There’s a phrase around Willis/Buffalo Mountain/ Indian Valley in the wintertime – ‘Never mind the forecast, we make our own weather here’. Thus, gently used clothes, shoes, coats, blankets, household items, toys, etcetera are greatly appreciated, and much needed by families who otherwise may not be able to afford these things. These donations will allow families some relief from choosing between paying the electric bill and having coats and warm 36 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

By Sandra Smith

clothing for the winter. All items will be collected at Willis Village Mart and then organized in the greenhouse for easier shopping.

With a collective heart that embraces caring for others being such a prevalent part of this community, the support for this new endeavor has been overwhelming. When you consider how vast the need is across the country, one person may not be able to do a lot. But when people come together, anything is possible.

The people of Willis are honored to be able to provide a measure of relief to those who need it most, and they want to say a big thank you to everyone who donated to the cause last year!

Neighbors Helping Neighbors is just another example of the special brand of kindness and generosity that comes with living in a tight-knit community of people that have hearts grown for giving. For further information about the Neighbors Helping Neighbors program, of if you wish to donate, please call 540-789-7241.

Or, you can stop by the Willis Village Mart located at 5602 Floyd Hwy S. in Willis.

Sandra Smith would like to say thank you to everyone who donated to the cause last year and offer a thank you in advance to those who are planning to donate this year! She’d also like to thank the employees of Willis Village Mart who help collect and organize the daily donations for the greenhouse shop.

Willis Village Mart has everything you need for one stop shopping: from fresh produce, hand cut steaks, fresh cut meats and seafood, gas, groceries, craft beer, and wine. We support many local farmers with locally grown produce, honey, and crafts. Also, if you are looking for a quick dinner option, Willis Village Mart now has fresh baked pizza by the slice, and whole pizzas to go. As mentioned, we have local bedding plants for your garden and flower garden and hanging baskets to decorate your porch, as well as roses and mums in season. Shirley and Stacy Moran, owners of Willis Village Mart, have been leaders in supporting local charities, community fundraisers and events for over thirty years. Thank you so much for supporting our community, for your business, and for shopping local!

Neighbors Helping Neighbors • 540-789-7241 Willis Village Mart • 5602 Floyd Hwy S., Willis, VA

Fall/Winter 2019

SETEC

SOIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY INC.

(540) 381-0309 • (540) 392-8049

• Professional soil consulting and soil survey for rural land development and conservation • Evaluation, design, and inspection of conventional and alternative septic systems • Perc Testing, Environmental Consulting, soil sampling and analysis

Professional Soil Scientists since 1989

www.SoilAndEnvironmentalTechnology.com Virginia Authorized Onsite Soil Evaluators (AOSE) • Member VA Association of Professional Soil Scientists

540-745-3700 PhillipsRealEstate@gmail.com Doug Phillips & David Phillips Floyd’s Rural Property Specialists From 2 Ac to 600 Ac available!

PhillipsRealEstateVA.com 214 N. Locust Street

(Only 700 feet from the Red Light)

Neuro Technology™ is a giant leap forward in the medical treatment of hearing loss!

Hearing Aids can: • Increase Quality of Life and Social Activity • Increase Cognitive Function • Provide Proper Stimulation to the Brain • Reduce the Increased Risk of Dementia

Tips for Better Communication

It’s your brain that hears.

Not your ears.

• Face the Speaker - Look at the person who is talking.

• Move Closer - A distance of 3 to 5 feet is best.

Do not hold a conversation when one of you is in another room.

• Reduce Noise - Turn down the TV before talking • Speak Clearly - Enunciate consonants and vowels.

Avoid talking too fast.

Protect Your Hearing • Hearing protection should be worn anytime sound levels exceed 85 dB HL.

Do you experience difficulty hearing? We can help!

Call Today for your complete Hearing Evaluation!

www.nrvhearing.com nrvhear@shentel.net Fall/Winter 2019

201 E. Main Street, Suite 9 • Floyd VA

540-745-8327

616 W. Main Street, Suite G • Radford VA

540-731-4327

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 37

This Year’s Tour de Dirt Will Power Up Plenty!

On November 2nd, the 13th annual Tour de Dirt rolls out from Chantilly Farm in Floyd County. The annual event takes place on mostly dirt roads; providing gravel bike, cross bike, and mountain bike riders the chance to explore lesser-known roads and beautiful mountain views while touring parts of Floyd County that many visitors never get to see. More than 50% of this ride will be held on unpaved state roads.

Over the years, Tour de Dirt has grown from a grassroots ride to a full-blown bike tour event featuring four course lengths, five aid stations, and an after-party. And new this year, all proceeds will go to support the local non-profit ‘Plenty!’ Farm & Food Pantry.

Tour de Dirt founder and cycling guru, Paul Sullivan, says that what started years ago as a training ride for the local Moonstompers cycling team has evolved into an end-of-season, fall group ride for all ages and all types of riders. “This will be the fourth year the event has been held at Chantilly Farm. Since then, the event has grown; attracting more and more riders. Last year there were close to one hundred folks at the start! I figured that it was time for Tour de Dirt to raise money for a good cause.”

Plenty! nourishes the community and feeds hungry neighbors by growing and sharing food in Floyd County. As a 501c3 non-profit, Plenty! currently supports more than three hundred families per month through its food pantry, portable produce deliveries, portable pantry, and community lunches. Plenty! provides an important safety net for those experiencing food insecurity in our community.

Plenty! understands that there are many reasons a person might need assistance, such as a sudden loss of income due to a layoff, uncovered medical expense, or the death of a loved one that was also the primary provider. Many times, families need only temporary help.

While a significant portion of the 585 families who received Plenty! assistance last year struggle to feed their families on an ongoing basis, 36% visited the food pantry only once! With food and community at the core of what they do, Plenty! is excited to join with Tour de Dirt to 38 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

raise money to help support their mission.

Tour de Dirt appeals to cyclists who can ride at least fourteen miles on unpaved roads that feature a number of hills. Riders can count on gaining about one-hundred feet of elevation for every mile ridden in Floyd County. Riders should be fit, but tour founder Paul insists, “This is not a race. We are enjoying the fall scenery as we explore lesser known roads and byways.” He says, “we have always had the ‘Full Pull’ (80 miles) be a very long and serious ride, but with up to five aid stations and bail out points, it’s lots of fun and can still appeal to more than just the hard-core rider.”

Shorter lengths this year will include the Funn (18 mile), the Lite (39 mile) and the Fiddy (55 mile) rides in addition to the Full Pull.

Beginner riders can enjoy the twomile prologue around Chantilly Farm that starts the race.

Tickets include up to four aid stations plus a meal and beverage at the ‘Power Up Plenty!’ Chili Fest afterparty, held inside the Chantilly barn.

Chili, both meat and vegetarian, will be served in ceramic dishes that were handmade by local potters and Virginia Tech students. Guests are welcome to take these home after the event.

Food and live music featuring local artists will begin at noon and continue throughout the afternoon, with beverages available for purchase from Tour de Dirt sponsor, Deschutes Brewery. The chili after-party will be open to the public with $12 tickets, available in advance and at the door, for those not registered for the bike tour.

Register for Tour de Dirt and buy extra meal tickets at https:// www.bikereg.com/tour-de-dirt One of the great things about beginning and ending the ride at Chantilly Farm is that the venue provides the opportunity for participants to bring their RV’s or tents and camp for the weekend. For more information about the Chantilly Farm, visit chantillyfarm.com.

Tour de Dirt • bikereg.com/tour-de-dirt Plenty! • plentylocal.org/tour-de-dirt/

Fall/Winter 2019

Distinctive Woodworking & Stone Masonry

Sticks & Stones

Construction, Inc.

540-763-2003 Fall/Winter 2019

New Homes • Renovations Additions • Stone Masonry Custom Decks & Porches Timber Framing

Floyd VA

Class A Licensed, Fully Insured

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 39

Conservation and Community Reign Supreme at Fields Edge Farm Situated on the rolling mountainside of the Rush Fork valley in southwestern Floyd County, lies a grass-fed beef and certified natural produce operation with two guiding values: to embrace environmental stewardship and to provide nourishment to Floyd County and its visitors. The farm sits on an expanse of property that has provided for four generations of the Slusher family, and as a result, land stewardship is a primary consideration in decision-making at the farm. The health and longevity of their land is key as they look to the future of their operation and reflect on its past.

“We’ve farmed this valley for generations, and it always comes back to stewardship,” says Roger Slusher. “It’s the focus of our work.

The direction we are always working towards is how we can make this operation sustainable for the long run in order to hand it over to the next generation in better shape than how we received it. Practices like cover cropping, minimum tillage, and rotational grazing go a long way.”

“We try to be good stewards of the land, water, and air,” adds Leslie Slusher. “And through that commitment, better neighbors and community-members. It is important that we remain a positive community influence, on and off the farm. We are proud to provide for the community we cherish.”

Two years ago, with an eagerness to provide for that community, Roger and Leslie Slusher approached their local Farm Credit loan officer with a vision of raising better food. Today, they are doing just that, having gathered an abundance of local support along the way.

Fields Edge Farm supplies the area with fresh, local food, and offers farm-to-table events to help folks develop a better understanding of

40 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

where their food comes from. Farm Manager, Kat Johnson tells us, “We bring a lot to the table in Floyd County, primarily our amazingly fresh produce. Often, we harvest and deliver our products in the same day, so people can get a variety of veggies straight from the farm that maybe they haven’t experienced elsewhere.”

In addition to delicious foods, Fields Edge Farm offers agritourism experiences for the everyone to enjoy. “We’re creating opportunities to get people out to the farm to learn about the things we grow,” says Kat. “To appreciate the scenery and connect with farmers in a new way.”

Fields Edge Farm hosted their first formal event last spring for which they created a fireside gathering. A Brazilian chef served a savory feast of produce and meats from the farm. In addition to a meal, the event included music, theater, and an opportunity for people to come together and experience the parcel of picturesque countryside that has been in the Slusher family since 1892. Since the Fireside Gathering, Fields Edge Farm has hosted dinners, tours, and various other events to engage the community, as well as visitors.

For information about upcoming events at the Farm, as well as locations where you can purchase Fields Edge Farm products, visit online at www.fieldsedgefloyd.com or follow Fields Edge Farm on social media.

Fields Edge Farm • www.fieldsedgefloyd.com info@fieldsedgefloyd.com • 540-789-2347 Farm Credit of Virginias • www.fcvirginias.com Steven Bowman • sbowman@fcvirginias.com • 540-745-2071

Fall/Winter 2019

architectural design • building

StreamLine Timberframe

Inspired • Innovative • Timeless

999 Harvestwood Road Floyd VA 24091

Stop by 999 Harvestwood Road or call 540 230 5505 Steve Arthur • sarthur@streamlinetimberframe.com / StreamlineTimberframe.com ~ /StreamlineTimberframe Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 41

Floyd Virginia Fall & Winter Happenings 2019 Located atop the magnificent Blue Ridge Plateau in southwestern Virginia, Floyd is a haven of natural beauty where the people are renowned for their hospitality. There, visitors can find a vibrant culture of music, arts, local foods and wines, and outdoor recreation. Containing nearly forty miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Fall season is an incredible time to visit and view the seasonal colors. For more information about below and other events, go to VisitFloydVA.com or call Visitor Center at 540-745-4407

SAMPLING OF MAJOR EVENTS:

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 20-22 Buses at Chantilly, VW Bus Campout Sat., Sept. 21 Concert: Trial by Fire – A Tribute to Journey at Chantilly Farm Sat., Sept. 21 Fall Field-to-Fork Dinner at Patchwork Family Farm Fri.-Sun., Sept. 27-29 StakeOut Events Blue Ridge Bike Rally at Chantilly Farm Sat., Oct. 5 Floyd Arch in the Park in downtown Floyd Sat. & Sun., Oct. 5 & 6 Floyd Arts & Craft Festival at Floyd High School Sat., Oct. 12 Oktoberfest 2019 at Chantilly Farm Fri., Oct. 25 JPHarris at Dogtown Roadhouse Sat., Nov. 2 Tour de Dirt, off road bicycle event at Chantilly Farm Sat., Nov. 9 Floyd Shape Note Singers at Floyd County Historical Society Fri.-Sun., Nov. 28-Dec. 1 16 Hands Arts Tour, Thanksgiving weekend Sun., Dec. 1 Floyd Christmas Parade (rain/snow date Dec. 8) Weekend of Dec. 7-8 Winterfest Craft & Holiday event at Floyd Center for the Arts Thanksgiving weekend Christmas tree farms open for holiday trees & wreaths through Christmas 42 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

VisitFloydVA.com for more Holiday activities!

Floyd County Historical Society, Thurs - Fri, Noon to 4:00 pm, Sat, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm with the exhibit “A Tribute to Floyd County Churches” Floyd Radio Show – first Saturday of the month, September through May Live from The Floyd Country Store in the heart of downtown Floyd, Virginia! The Floyd Country Store presents a new variety show every month. A series of guest hosts perform original radio plays, comedy bits, ads, jingles, music, and more. Each show features the finest old-timey musical acts; from storytelling banjo players, to flatpicking guitarists, to hard-driving string bands.

Special Concerts, dances and workshops at the Floyd Country Store – check their website at www.FloydCountrystore.com

WEEKLY Music is happening in the town and county every Thursday through Sunday (Thursdays through October) • Hotel Floyd Music in the Mountains series, free Thursdays 6:00-8:00pm, continues through October • Floyd Country Store, Friday Night Jamboree, Saturday afternoon American Afternoon music 12:00-3:00pm, Sunday afternoon Music Jams including Oldtime and Bluegrass.

• Wildwood Farm General Store, an affiliate site of Crooked Road, has free Bluegrass music every Saturday night throughout the year. Sunday Music Jams every first and third Sunday afternoons.

• Dogtown Roadhouse features music Friday, Saturday & Sunday evenings, downtown Floyd.

• Sunday Sounds Chateau Morrisette Winery, Free music on Sunday afternoons in the courtyard through October.

• Floyd Farmers Market, Saturdays through November, 9:00am1:00pm, downtown Community Market.

Cycle Floyd Fall is a perfect time to check out Floyd’s new Floyd County Bike Guide/Map in print and on-line. Available at the Floyd Visitor Center and on VisitFloydVA.com.

More information is available online at www.VisitFloydVA. com. Or, you can visit or contact our Floyd Visitor Center, open and staffed seven days week by calling 540-745-4407 or emailing info@visitfloydva.com.

Fall/Winter 2019

Floyd Jewelry Garden Center & Christmas Shoppe • Annuals, Perennials • Trees, Shrubs, Mulch • Potting Soil • Stone Decor • Starter Plants

• Top Quality & Low Prices • Farmers Finest Produce • Butchers’ Best Meats • Deli & Fresh Bakery • Great Lunch Specials

We carry a wide Variety of Gardening Items and Decor!! www.facebook.com/FloydJewelry 610 East Main Street • Floyd, VA 24091 (540) 745-4653 • Sarah Sowers, Owner

536 Floyd Highway S - (540) 745-2908

A Business Favorite of Floyd Locals

Spencer’s Body Shop “We Take The Dents Out Of Accidents”

Voted

1st Place Body Shop 10 Annual Aw ards

by Reader ’s Ch oice

Insurance Claims Welcome!

• Complete Collision Repair - Foreign & Domestic • Modern Equipment We Carry Rental Cars • Frame machine For Your Convenience!

• Precision Measuring • Professional Refinishing • ASE Certified Technicians

“Superior Quality Workmanship”

Kenny Gardner - Owner -

540-745-5880 Fax: 540-745-5864 • Email: sbsgardners@hotmail.com 1276 Franklin Pike, Floyd, VA 24091

Fall/Winter 2019

Paints

“Locally Owned & Operated for Over 20 years”

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 43

Health and Wellness Takes Center Stage at Chantilly Farm Nestled in the rolling hills of Floyd County, only six miles from downtown, Chantilly Farm has become known as a regional destination for both camping and events. What some may not know, however, is that the nearly two-hundred-acre venue attracts many day visitors who take advantage of the natural features on the farm for the purpose of health and wellness. The team at Chantilly has made an extensive effort in recent years to facilitate and incorporate programming toward the wellness of mind, body, and soul.

So, what exactly does that mean?

At a base level, all community events promote togetherness and connectivity.

The importance of socializing and engaging with others is central to mental health. Even gatherings that may not obviously or directly relate to what we consider “health and wellness” are still able to contribute to the well-being of those who attend. Feedback from Chantilly Farm eventgoers consistently speaks about how time spent with family, friends, and newfound acquaintances is a good thing. Many have mentioned that a change from the normal routine of too much work, too much screen time, and too much negativity is what they seek in order to re-orientate and reset. Many people now finding wellness when they participate.

It is possible for everyone visiting Chantilly Farm to reconnect with what is good, as numerous events are planned toward positivity, spirituality and common benefit. The Gospel Jubilee held each year reminds attendees of the beauty in creation and invites a spirit of worship to our mountains.

At Cirque du Floyd in August, mindfulness hikes were offered, led

by Angel and Philip Grubbs. Participants were led down Chantilly’s Cairn Trail and guided through a meditative journey meant to inspire 44 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

intentionality and a connection with the present moment.

Also at Cirque du Floyd, Lynsey Wyatt led an AcroYoga workshop, which combined traditional Hatha or Vinyasa Flow yoga and acrobatics as a promotion of both physical and mental health.

Since Chantilly Farm is home to many indigenous plants known for their medicinal properties, plans are in the works to offer herbalism hikes, clean eating workshops, and other self-care related experiences.

In recent months, Chantilly Farm has played host to themed, pop-up dinners that provide an opportunity for folks to get to know one another, share a unique dining experience, support local musicians and food producers, and really taste where the goodness comes from.

Fitness is key to body, health, and allaround wellness, so visitors are encouraged to make use of the extensive trail system at Chantilly. Not only for walking and hiking, but cycling events are also popular among locals and those traveling to our area. Tour de Floyd (hosted by Paul Lecoste each Spring for road cyclists) and Tour de Dirt (hosted by the Plenty Farm and Food Bank which runs annually for mountain bikers in November) both begin and end at Chantilly Farm.

A new event coming in 2020 will be The Appalachian Journey. Having already been produced successfully in North Carolina in recent years, the Appalachian Journey is a multi-distance, mixed surface cycling event and competition.

Sporting events such as running and cross-country competitions are a regular occurrence at the Farm.

Healthy Floyd – a local organization whose mission is to promote a culture of health and wellness – has organized the Healthy Floyd 5k Run/Walk as part of the Floyd Livestock & County Fair. They host a health and wellness tent at the fair; showcasing locally-owned,

Fall/Winter 2019

Griffith Lumber Co.

Inc.

“Call Stacy (276-692-8754) or Bud (276-692-5308) for your lumber or wood product needs. We make paneling and flooring with a rustic and unique flair.”

www.GriffithLumber.net www.GriffithLumber.net 1284 Charity Hwy, Woolwine, VA • 1399 Franklin Pike, Floyd, VA

health-related businesses and service providers.

Regional businesses, civic groups, and other interested parties are encouraged to take advantage of the farm’s firstrate camping facilities and venue infrastructure to host team building and vision retreats, group campouts and more. The venue features a newly added 9-hole leisure disc golf course, as well as acres of grasslands and woodlands perfect for picnicking, campfire chats, or enjoying the abundant wildlife and natural beauty of Floyd.

For those campers seeking adventure, Chantilly Farm partners with Buffalo Mountain Ziplines for treetop flying, and On the Water in Floyd to run the river! Also, the 4,000 square foot, climate-controlled, indoor events facility serves as an ideal spot for classes, workshops, meetings, and presentations.

Need a glamping getaway for rest and relaxation? Chantilly Farm and Blue Mountain Adventures have teamed up to offer canvas platform tents that are equipped with beds and cots with linens, lanterns for bedside reading, and even Bluetooth speakers for music to soothe the mind. What more could anyone need for a relaxing weekend in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains?

Memories are made “on the daily” during event season – find what’s next at www.chantillyfarm.com by clicking on events. To learn more about hosting an event or renting facilities at Chantilly Farm, contact ashleigh@chantillyfarm. com. For camping or day visits, call (540)808-4984.

Chantilly Farm • 2697 Franklin Pike SE, Floyd, VA 540-808-4984 • chantillyfarm.com ashleigh@chantillyfarm.com facebook.com/chantillyfarm/

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 45

Pizza, Music, and Drink All Rolled up into One Local Legend Dogtown, from its beginnings, has been oriented around the idea of family and friends: fresh, delicious food made to order, great company, and comradery. Followed, of course, by lots of memorable experiences.

Dogtown Pizza started out many years ago when two friends had a chance encounter at a party. The location of this party was home to a single, wood-fired, brick oven. After John Roberts and Scott Smith combined their culinary experience, the party was brought to life with their delicious wood-fired pizza creations. Discussion soon began around the idea of further collaboration.

The property where the party took place was referred to by its owner as “Dogtown”, and the name stuck.

A crew set off across the east coast in an old farm truck with a brick oven built on its bed, baking beautiful pies everywhere they went; building the reputation of Dogtown Pizza. In the summer of 2010, however, after having travelled like this for a few years, a great permanent location presented itself. Dogtown settled in Floyd, Virginia.

In 1999, Anga Miller had purchased an old sewing factory building, previously known as “The Shirt Factory”. After extensive renovations, a large portion of the main sewing floor was then converted into a music venue called “The Sun Music Hall”. Since its grand opening in 2002, Anga’s primary goal for “The Sun Music Hall” had been to present live music from both regional and national acts. She also wanted the venue to be a place for the local community to enjoy Floyd’s many talented local artists. This is where Dogtown found its home.

With the addition of Dogtown Pizza and hearty libations, “The Sun Music Hall” took a big leap forward. It then became the landmark establishment that many Floyd residents and visitors have come to know and love as “DOGTOWN ROADHOUSE”.

Scott and Jon eventually moved on to pursue other paths in life, leaving Dogtown Roadhouse solely owned by Anga and her husband, Ed Erwin. Anga and Ed have continued the legacy of Dogtown; keeping spirits high while making improvements toward an even brighter future.

46 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Over the years, Dogtown Roadhouse has grown an amazing reputation due to its delicious, wood-fired pizza, as well as its sixteen local, regional, and national craft beers on tap! Their good name is also due to their extensive menu and full bar service.

In addition to the brick-and-mortar location at 302 S Locust Street in downtown Floyd, Dogtown has kept the spirit of its roots intact by keeping the wheels attached. With the original Dogtown Pizza Truck, the folks at Dogtown continue to cater numerous events such as festivals, weddings, private parties, game day tailgating, and more!

In essence, Dogtown has become its own culture; filled with many different characters all coming together to create a community-based experience for all.

Dogtown Roadhouse strives to provide a family-friendly environment that serves delicious pizza creations, as well as a variety of beverages. All this in one lively spot where people can enjoy the kind of great company and comradery that continues to build and foster lasting relationships.

The folks at Dogtown would like to invite everybody to visit and enjoy all the regionally crafted libations and the gourmet, wood-fired pizzas while listening to the evening’s live music. To make your experience even more memorable, Dogtown is pleased to announce their brand new, private party room!

Featuring an amazing view of Downtown Floyd, this room is a great place to host your next private event. Come create your own memorable experiences!

For more information about Dogtown Roadhouse and Sun Music Hall, to peruse the menu, to see a calendar of events, or to book catering, visit online at www.dogtownroadhouse.com. You can also follow Dogtown Roadhouse on Facebook to keep up to date on acts hitting the stage!

DogtownRoadhouse • 302 S. Locust Street, Downtown Floyd www.dogtownroadhouse.com • 540-745-6836 facebook.com/DogtownRoadhouse Wed - Thurs: 4pm-10pm • Fri- Sat: 12pm-12am • Sun: 12pm-10pm

Fall/Winter Fall/Winter 2019 2019

G.J. INGRAM & SON 2107 fLOYD hWY NORTH

540-745-3201

Hours open Mon- Sat 7 am - 6 pm. • Fax 540-745-2201

ANIMAL HEALTH PRODUCTS • PET MEDS • FEED • SEED • LIME • FERTILIZER FENCING MATERIALS • SPREADING AND SPRAYING • GATES • POSTS Chore Boots • Lawn & Garden Supplies • Cattle Minerals & Feed Priefert Equipement • Georgia Boots • Ritchie Waters & PaRts Bunk Feeders - Round Bale Feeders • Pointer Bibbed Overalls

Thanks for letting us serve you since 1945 We support the Floyd Chapter of the FFA Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com 47

Tinbenders Provides Heating and Cooling Systems to Floyd County Twenty-nine years ago, fate intervened when Alan Hartman and Rick Green met literally by accident. Rick’s car had gotten stuck in a ditch on Wades Gap Mountain. When Alan stopped to help, neither man knew it would be the beginning of a long-lasting friendship, much less an eventual business partnership!

At the time, both had been working in the HVAC business for different companies. In 1990, however, they decided to team up and open their own full-service heating and air conditioning company called Tinbenders. The whimsical name comes from the fact that the partners made their own metal ductwork to help offset initial costs. The name also reflected their additional service of making and installing metal roofing.

In those early years, the Tinbenders established themselves by installing and servicing standard HVAC equipment, gas and oil furnaces, heat pumps, and air conditioners. When the company began to grow, they hired their first employees and never looked back.

In the Fall of 1995, Rick and Alan were approached by WaterFurnace International; an alternative heating and cooling company. WaterFurnace told the partners that there was an abundant source of free, renewable energy that could be used to heat a house in the winter, cool it in the summer, and provide hot water at the tap all year round. Skeptical yet intrigued, the Tinbender boys proceeded to have themselves trained in this alternative technology, and in 1996, they installed their first geothermal heat pump system. This kind of set-up delivers an amazing four units of energy for every one kilowatt of electric energy used. That is an efficiency rating of 400%!

In addition to the geothermal, the technologies for other heating and energy systems have also advanced. Oil, gas, and heat-pump systems have all become more energy efficient. To keep up with the new technologies, Alan and Rick and all the employees at Tinbenders continue to learn with ongoing training. They also constantly upgrade their services and products as the industry moves forward.

Though located at 422 Wades Gap Road in Callaway – just five minutes from Floyd County – 80% of Tinbenders’ customers live in Floyd. The boys even take part as annual participants in the Floyd Energy Fest which is put on by SustainFloyd.

Sales and Marketing Representative, Ed Ricci, tells us that 48 www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Tinbenders have replaced three systems for the Floyd County Library, and have also improved the ductwork, replaced one system, and installed a mini split in the new kitchen at the Country Store. They’ve replaced the radiant heaters at the Floyd Firehouse, as well as the Park Ranger station, and have installed and maintained mini split systems at Big Indian Farm Bakery and Plenty! Tinbenders even do all the work for Harris Construction of Floyd, as well as dozens of residential customers.

Originally from Philadelphia, Ed first arrived in the area when he bought two-hundred acres of land on Walker Mountain in Giles County. That was 1976. By 1986, Ed was already building houses and selling them. For a while, he owned an energy management system business, and was actually a competitor for Tinbenders.

But it wasn’t an adversarial competition. Rick and Alan had just as much respect for Ed and Ed had for them. In fact, when Ed closed his business due to injury, the Tinbender boys called and asked him to come work for them. That was seven years ago, and Ed says the reason he’s still with them is because “they’re great guys to work for.”

Ed says moving to the area was the best thing he ever did, but it’s certainly different from Philly! “If you need a plumber down here,”, he jokes “they might not be available because they’ve gone hunting!”

Lots of folks in Floyd have gotten to know Ed because he’s the guy who comes out to the home or business to evaluate the need and provide and estimate.

Ed loves the moment when someone first hears his still-strong, Philly accent. “You’re not from down here, are ya?” It’s always fun and helps customers to relax and enjoy the process of the Manual J load Study – the evaluation to determine the needed system size.

Ed tells us that the people of Floyd are so happy with Tinbenders that a lot of their business comes directly from references. They also get calls when folks see the Tinbenders vans driving up and down the roads of Floyd on other appointments. All in all, Tinbenders has a great reputation in Floyd County, and all the guys at Tinbenders appreciate the support the County has provided them.

Before contacting Tinbenders for installation or replacement, Ed would like folks to know that the process begins with an in-home inspection and the Manual J load study. This evaluation includes room sizes, insulation, windows, and the direction of the sun. This

Fall/Winter 2019

Tue, Thu, Fri 9-6, Wed 9-5, Sat 8-5 Closed Sun & Mon

540-745-5382 2167 Webbs Mill RD • Floyd, VA

information allows Tinbenders to determine the correct air flow for the rooms, as well as the correct size needed for the HVAC system.

Years ago, systems were sized according to the square footage of a home with no consideration to its construction. Consequently, many systems installed were oversized. The oversizing not only caused short cycling, but it also created hot and cold spots, as well as higher utility bills. It is Tinbenders’ mission to help folks to replace their old, costly, and inefficient ones by using the load study to determine the proper need.

Comfort is Tinbenders’ goal with every installation. Their ductwork is designed so that air moving from one end of the system to the other is constant, leaving no hot and cold spots in the home. It is then sealed to prevents any loss of air. Tinbenders is primarily a Trane dealer, “It’s hard to stop a Trane!” But they are also a dealer of Mitsubishi Diamond.

Tinbenders, Inc. offers free estimates, maintenance contracts, system replacements, new installations, and 24-hour repair service. They also install geothermal systems, on demand water heaters, boilers, and radiant floor heating systems.

For more information visit Tinbenders on Facebook, for online at Tinbenders.com. You can also call (540)334-5841 to schedule your free estimate!

Blue Ridge Land & Auction Co., Inc

Real Estate is Fun & Exciting in Floyd County

Ed Gallimore, Asso. Broker www.edgallimore.com

540-230-9090

Gas - Diesel - Propane Exchange - Hardware

WILLIS VILLAGE MART

Your LOCAL One Stop Shop • 31 Years in Floyd County

Groceries • FRESH Produce • Seasonal Plants & Fruits

Tinbenders • (540)334-5841• Tinbenders.com 422 Wades Gap Road, Callaway VA facebook.com/tinbendersinc/

es & LOCAL Win eers!

60+ Craft B

D BOAR’S HEAes es

Meats & Che

OPEN 7 DAYS - 5602 Floyd HWY S. Willis VA - (540) 789-7241 11 SCENIC MILES SW OF THE STOP LIGHT

Fall/Winter 2019

Seafood & Fresh Cut USDA Steaks!

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com

49

Violinist Akemi Takayama, Maestro David Stewart Wiley, harpist Rachel Hall, and other RSO musicians in concert at Floyd EcoVillage

Violinist Elizabeth Shelor Matheson Photo by Kevin Matheson

Photo by Colleen Redman

Classical Music in the Mountains Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival (VBRMF) provides opportunities for exciting classical music that is affordable and accessible. We sponsor dynamic youth programs, provide a range of grants and scholarships to support young, promising area musicians, and provide exceptional professional concerts to the larger community.

Programming for the coming season includes: • Blue Ridge Strings: Suzuki Violin training for 3rd through 7th graders from Floyd County Schools.

Instruments are provided, as well as a weekly, hour-long lesson of classical violin instruction and an hour of “A Heart of a Child” music education. Participants and family members will attend a Roanoke Symphony Orchestra concert. Tuition is minimal, with generous scholarship support available. The program is offered in collaboration with The June Bug Center of Floyd.

• A Student Recital on November 9, providing a supportive performance venue and a professional accompanist for talented young musicians from the region.

• “Home for the Holidays with the Wileys & Bouknights” on December 22, 2019, featuring Roanoke Symphony Orchestra Maestro, David Stewart Wiley, soprano Leah Marer Wiley, cellist Misha Wiley, soprano Tara Bouknight, and baritone Philip Bouknight. The concert will be at Celebration Hall, Floyd EcoVillage at 3:00 pm and will include classical favorites for the holidays, followed by a reception.

• The Rainier Trio with Elizabeth Matheson performing on March 7, 2020, at the Floyd Center for the Arts (FCA); an event co-sponsored with the FCA. The event will include a Master 50

www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Class for young musicians from the region.

• The annual Festival Chamber Concert on June 28, 2020, under the direction of Maestro David Stewart Wiley, VBRMF Artistic Director and Music Director of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. The Concert will feature renowned violinist Akemi Takayama and musicians from the Roanoke Symphony, at 3:00 Violinist Akemi Takayama and pm in the beautiful Celebration Maestro David Hall, Floyd EcoVillage.

Stewart Wiley

There is a broad range of grants and scholarships to assist young musicians. Among them, Suzuki violin instructor Elizabeth Shelor Matheson of Floyd received the David Wiley Sr. Scholarship for further violin study and teacher training.

Photo by Heather Blake of Floyd received Colleen support to help prepare for Redman the North Carolina School for the Arts high school program, where she will be a junior this year.

VBRMF is an all-volunteer, local, non-profit affiliate of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. We work in collaboration with The June Bug Center, the Floyd Public Schools, and the Floyd Center for the Arts. We are supported by local organizations, citizens, and grants. We welcome additional community and individual involvement and support. To get involved, please contact VBRMF at info@VirginiasBlueRidgeMusicFestival.org.

We look forward to your participation, your financial support, and your presence at our concerts. If you are new to VBRMF, please introduce yourself.

Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival P. O. Box 757, Floyd, VA • VBRMF.org info@ VirginiasBlueRidgeMusicFestival.org facebook.com/VirginiasBlueRidgeMusicFestival Fall/Winter Fall/Winter 2019 2019

In Loving Memory of

Terena Meador EA 04/10/65 - 07/20/19

TTR

Tee’s Tax Resolution

Personal & Business Taxes (Tee’s Taxes) - Payroll Taxes - Bookkeeping

On behalf of her loving Husband (David Meador), Sister & Assistant (Crystal Altman), Life Long Friend & Assistant (Judy Dickerson), Family and Friends, We would like to thank all of Terena’s client’s (personal and business) and the Town of Floyd for all their years of business.

She was truly blessed by many and will be dearly missed.

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com

51

16 Hands Studio Tour in Floyd, Virginia Offers More Than Ever The 16 Hands Studio Tour has long been a pillar of the creative scene in Floyd, Virginia. Since its inception in 1998, the 16 Hands collective has offered twice-annual studio tours to the public. The first tour of the year is always the first Saturday and Sunday in May, the week before Mother’s Day. The second tour is the weekend of Thanksgiving; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Our black Friday sale is a far more pleasant shopping experience than overcrowded malls, and offers an abundant choice of unique, handmade gifts, perfect for friends and family.

During each tour, members of 16 Hands invite a peer-group of guest artists to participate; comparable in artistry and craftsmanship to the core group of 16 Hands. The guest artist line-up for each tour is different, so each tour promises new experiences.

Visiting all seven studios in one day is possible but taking two days in the Spring and three in the Fall is highly recommended.

The slower pace allows for longer conversations with the artists, more time to enjoy the snacks at each stop, and more time to spend meeting other visitors with similar interests in the beautifully crafted work. Touring is also way more fun with friends and family; allowing groups to share a love of the work, as well as the artists of Floyd.

16 Hands welcomed six new members in the Spring of 2019.

With the addition of these new members, 16 Hands now offers seven studio stops. First is Josh Manning and Hona Knudsen at 52

www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

their studio in Copper Hill. Second is Andrea Denniston and Seth Guzovsky on Poor Farm Road in Floyd. Third is Wendy Wrenn Werstlein at her studio, right off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Fourth is Ellen Shankin and Brad Warstler at their studios, nestled beautifully off Thunderstruck Road.

Fifth is Sarah McCarthy on Fairview Church Road. Sixth is Silvie Granatelli on Rock Church Road. And finally, not too far down the road from Silvie, is Benjie Osborne on Black Ridge Road. Donna Polseno presents at either Ellen or Benjie’s studio.

The 16 Hands Studio Tour not only provides a great opportunity to check out all the new things happening with 16 Hands, it also allows visitors to spend the weekend discovering all that Floyd, Virginia has to offer! Visitors will find that, just as 16 Hands has been growing in exciting new ways, the beautiful town of Floyd has also been blossoming!

For years, Floyd has been known as an eclectic town where generations of family farmers have blended with an artisan community that moved to the area in the 1970’s.

The blending of these different cultures has created a town that is truly unique; with a myriad of interesting offerings sure to entice those looking for something a bit off the beaten path.

Visitors can kick things off with a cup of award-winning, Red Rooster Coffee from the Black Water Loft. Red Rooster was founded in 2001 by Floyd natives, Haden Polseno-Hensley and Rose McCutchan, who are both still roasting some of the best Fall/Winter 2019

coffee in the world. Haden is also the son of 16 Hands member Donna Polseno, so the tour is a great chance to experience two generations of creative people, pursing their passions.

Floyd also offers a variety of great restaurants where visitors can relax and dine after a day of touring studios.

From classics like the Blue Ridge Restaurant, to the contemporary, farm-to-table cuisine found at the Parkway Grille, there is sure to be something for everyone.

Floyd is also home to two wineries, a brewery, and a distillery: perfect for those in the mood for a local drink while sharing stories from the day and considering that piece to go back and buy tomorrow.

If art, great coffee, fine dining, and locally crafted drinks were not already enough, Floyd is also home to several music venues that feature top-class entertainment.

After a Friday of visiting studios on tour, be sure catch the rare experience of the world-famous Friday Night Jamboree at the historic Floyd Country Store!

Then when it’s time to call it a day, Floyd offers a selection of different hotels, inns, and bed and breakfasts to accommodate the whole family. The locals are especially proud of their beloved Hotel Floyd.

The 16 Hands Studio Tour and Floyd County both have more to offer than ever before. Each 16 Hands Studio Tour promises new work and different guest artists, as well as familiar faces. With more members, more studios to see, and more artistic practices, 16 Hands offers a rich, broad experience that can be enjoyed in a single day, or over a weekend for immersion in fine craft. The combination of artistic diversity, along with everything else to explore in Floyd county, is a match that’s hard to beat.

To learn more about the tour, to see a list of participating artists, and to see a printable map of all tour locations, check out the 16 Hands website at 16hands.com.

16hands.com • facebook.com/16HandsTour/ Fall/Winter 2019

facebook.com/MercantileofFloyd/

540-745-4278

114 S Locust St. Floyd, Virginia Mon- Fri 11AM-5PM • Sat 10AM-5PM • Sun 12-3PM www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com

53

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS A Little Monkey Business........................... 29 A New Leaf Galley....................................... 9 AmRhein’s Wine Cellars............................. 33 Anahata Education Center.......................... 45 Apple Ridge Farm....................................... 15 Bell Gallery and Garden............................. 33 Bell’s Auto Towing..................................... 13 Bent Mountain Bistro.................................. 34 Bent Mountain Lodge Bed & Breakfast .... 33 Bent Mountain Mercantile............................ 7 Bethesda “House of Mercy”....................... 13 Better Sofas................................................. 15 Blue Ridge Folklife Festival......................... 3 Blue Ridge Yurts..........................................11 Bread Basket............................................... 49 Buffalo Hemp Company............................. 56 Buffalo Mountain Brewing Company ......... 7 Buffalo Mountain Ziplines............................ 5 C.W. Harman & Son................................... 19 Chantilly Farm............................................ 33 Chateau Morrisette Winery......................... 13 Chestnut Springs Retreat............................. 21 Citizens ...................................................... 31 Cocoa Mia................................................... 27 Country Road Realty................................... 31 Dogtown Roadhouse..................................... 4

54

www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Edward Jones................................................ 7 Elma’s Corners................................ 1, 6, & 19 Farm Credit of the Virginias....................... 55 Floyd Country Store.................................... 31 Floyd County Economic Development Authority................ 35 Floyd County Historical Society................. 19 Floyd County Tourism Office..................... 35 Floyd Jewelry.............................................. 43 Franklin County Artisan Studio & Harvest Tour..............................11 G.J. Ingram & Son...................................... 47 Griffith Lumber Company, Inc................... 45 Kesler Contracting & Property Management................... 23 McHale Arborscape.................................... 17 Mickey G’s...................................... 1, 6, & 29 New Mountain Mercantile of Floyd........... 53 New River Valley Hearing.......................... 37 Parkway Grille....................................... 1 & 6 Phillips Real Estate..................................... 37 Phoenix Hardwoods........................ 1, 6, & 31 Ray’s Rest..................................................... 9 Rorrer Well Drilling.................................... 54 SETEC........................................................ 37 Seven Springs Farm...................................... 7

Sinkland Farms........................................... 17 Slaughters’ Supermarket............................. 43 Southern Heritage Homes........................... 15 Spencers Body Shop................................... 43 Sticks & Stones Construction..................... 39 StoneHaven Bed & Breakfast....................... 9 Stonewall Bed & Breakfast......................... 29 Streamline Timberframe............................. 41 T & E Small Engine.................................... 31 Tee’s Tax Resolution................................... 51 The Maggie........................................ 27 & 45 The Schroeder Law Firm, PC..................... 34 The Woodshed............................................. 23 Thomas & Wall Real Estate.......................... 2 Tinbenders Inc............................................. 25 Troika Contemporary Crafts....................... 21 Tuggle’s Gap Restaurant & Motel.............. 21 Turman Hardwood Flooring....................... 33 United Country Real Estate........................ 49 Upon the Earth Construction...................... 31 Villa Appalaccia Winery & Vineyard.......... 53 Wildwood Farms General Store.................. 29 Willis Village Mart...................................... 49 Wills Ridge Supply..................................... 17

Fall/Winter 2019

Fall/Winter 2019

www.FloydVirginiaMagazine.com

55

56

www.Facebook.com/FloydVirginiaMagazine

Fall/Winter 2019