15 UNDER 50 — 2025
Engineering firm owner focuses on giving back to community
By ANYA SCZERZENIE Daily News-Record
Thirty-seven-year-old Luray resident Tyler Austin is now an owner of local engineering firm Racey Engineering — but 15 years ago, he was just an intern that the company took a chance on.
“It’s a pretty cool story, right?” said Austin. “I started from the bottom and worked my way up.”
Austin was born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley and attended Virginia Tech for engineering. He became interested in engineering while attending Page County High School.
“In high school, my best friend’s brother was attending Virginia Tech and was four years older than us,” Austin said. “I was just good at math, and I decided to take a drafting class. It was one year of hand drafting and two years of AutoCAD at the tech center. And I kind of got through all that and decided to apply to tech, got into engineering.”
It was through an internship at Racey Engineering that Austin truly fell in love with the profession, he said.
“I got to see a little bit about what I was going to be doing in many facets because we’re very diverse here,” Austin said. “
Austin accepted a full-time entry-level position at Racey Engineering after college and became operations manager in 2012. He then became the company’s second principal in 2022, knowing he would take over the company entirely when its original owner, Pat Racey, retired.
He now specializes in stormwater runoff management but has had the opportunity to do a little bit of every-
Tyler Austin
thing at Racey. Many of the projects the company has worked on are in Luray, and he sees them daily.
“That’s kind of another reason why I enjoy what I do for a living because you get the community aspect,” Austin said. “You can enhance the community with these projects and kind of drive by and see them every day, things you’ve helped build and design.”
Some examples that Austin said he’s most proud of are the Main Street Bridge replacement, which the company worked on with the town of Luray and the Luray RV Resort campground.
Engineering projects are often un -
predictable, which is one of the most challenging parts of the job, Austin said.
“It’s not only design but other parameters, like construction and the weather, things you can’t necessarily predict or account for,” Austin said. “A lot of times, you have to adapt. And engineering is very much adapting, and that’s one of our core values, being adaptable to the situation.”
Austin himself has had to adapt to being a company owner, he said.
“I guess [the hardest part] is continually trying to have the vision to make sure we’re going in the right direction,” he said. “Make, you know, longer-term decisions while being in the day-to-day. Because our industry is very stressful and in-the-moment, but trying to keep the visionary role of where we’re going.”
Since becoming owner, Austin has geared the company towards giving back to the community and training upcoming engineers, taking a chance on new interns and helping them train in the field.
Austin helped establish the company’s Giving Committee, which provides scholarships to local high school students, matches employee donations to charitable organizations, and organizes fundraisers throughout the year. This year, they’re raising funds for the nonprofit Living Legacy, which runs The Rec, a youth recreation center in Luray. Since this is Racey’s first time hosting a fundraiser like this, it hasn’t been easy to get off the ground.
“It’s a slow start for our first year,” Austin said. “It’s the first time we’ve done that, so it’s a slow go. We’ve got a couple of other little incentive things we’ve been trying to think about.”
But there is no shortage of people wanting to intern at the company.
“We were just awarded as a top employer for interns in Virginia,” Austin said. “And that’s very much what we’re trying to do: find local talent and keep it up.”
One of the interns is Will Griffin, who drives across the Blue Ridge mountains from Harrisonburg daily to go to work. Like Austin when he started, Griffin is a college student. He attends James Madison University.
“It’s been great,” Griffin said. “His openness and willingness to teach is encouraging. It makes me want to stick around.”
Contact Anya Sczerzenie at asczerzenie@ dnronline.com or 540-208-6789.
Ex-911 dispatcher offers her support to those in the trenches
By ANYA SCZERZENIE Daily News-Record
When 37-year-old Luray resident Wendy Bundy finally left her job as a 911 dispatcher, she had been working there for seven years. The calls, she said, affected her too deeply.
But when she started Midnight Angel Training and Wellness, it was with the intention that no one else should have to go through the grueling job alone.
Midnight Angel offers peer support training, yoga classes, and other services to support the physical and mental health of individuals working in professions such as dispatch and jail services.
Bundy named the company after something a co-worker had called her when she came in in the middle of the night to cover for another dispatcher who was having a medical emergency. Since she often worked night shifts, the name stuck.
“It’s kind of like a tribute to that ex-
Wendy Bundy
perience, and then also to all of those still in that line of work, under the headset,” Bundy said.
Bundy got involved in 911 dispatch directly after high school. Her family lacked the funds to send her to college, and she had an uncle who worked in the field.
“I started training, actually, on the
weekends of my senior year [of high school],” Bundy said. “As soon as I graduated, I moved into full-time hours in a full-time spot. But I did not know what I was getting myself into.”
It wasn’t until after two or three years in the profession that it started “getting real,” she said. That was the time when she began getting calls that affected her deeply.
Anya Sczerzenie / DN-R
Bridgewater funeral home director’s passion alive and well
By RICHARD H. HRONIK III Daily News-Record
Daniel Chapman, director of Johnson Funeral Services in Grottoes, said he remains as committed to his job as he was on the day he started.
With no two days being the same, Chapman said he begins each day by seeing what it has in store.
“I like to get up early, get dressed, and have my coffee while I review my schedule,” Chapman said. “I just make sure everything’s in order for the day. Gosh, every day is different. I could have funerals one day, meetings with a family another, pre-arrangements another.”
However, Chapman said that the most essential part of his job is being present for grieving families. He said that while people can be distracted in day-to-day life, he and others in his profession need to focus and avoid distractions or being busy.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, but raised in Dayton, Chapman, 47, said he graduated from Turner Ashby High School without knowing what he wanted to do with his life. After taking on smaller jobs like mowing lawns and washing cars, Chapman said he inadvertently entered the death care industry.
Daniel Chapman
“I just kind of needed a job,” Chapman said. “I started off mowing grass and washing cars at the funeral home, and then it just kind of grew into what it is now.”
After studying mortuary services, Chapman obtained a license as a funeral director and embalmer and returned to Rockingham County to resume his career in earnest.
Now, after almost 30 years, Chapman says he can’t see himself doing anything else.
“I don’t know that I’ll ever retire, per se, but I’ll be here for a while,” Chapman said with a warm smile. “I don’t know how anybody retires.”
In addition to his career with Johnson, Chapman serves on the boards of the Shenandoah Valley Funeral Directors Association and the Virginia Funeral Directors Association. Chapman also serves on the advisory board for the Mortuary and Funeral Services programs for Brightpoint Community College in Richmond.
As time has passed, Chapman said he has kept the future of the funeral industry in mind, as families have shifted
their preferences from burial to cremation and as new techniques, such as water cremation or composting, have become more widely known to the public.
“I’ve got this saying, I didn’t come up with it, but it’s just stuck with me — ‘Normally because, changes what was,’” Chapman said. “I think a lot of funeral homes, because that’s how they normally
did it, is the way we continue to do things. Something at our funeral home, our owner has always been open to change. We adapt to change what they normally did as new technology comes out.”
Contact Richard H. Hronik III at rhronik@dnronline.com, 540-2083278, or on Twitter @rhronikDNR
“Some of my worst calls came between that 2009-2010 time frame,” Bundy said.
Some of Bundy’s worst calls included an officer-involved shooting, a child in a house fire, and a few more that she doesn’t like to talk about. Instead, she prefers to look towards the future and try to help those who have gone through similar experiences to her own.
Bundy’s husband, who she met on the job, still works as a dispatcher.
“So, I’ve stayed connected to that field,” she said. “And I’m just aware of, I don’t want to say the stigma, but there’s just not a great awareness that it’s okay to ask for help. And I want to be that voice for them and advocate, and also show them that it’s okay to seek that help
“It’s tricky with budget constraints too, and a lot of departments facing cuts or having to reserve those resources,” Bundy said.
Bundy was also eventually able to go to college online, studying at Lord Fairfax Community College while working at the call center during night shifts. She currently holds two bachelor’s degrees and two master’s and has written a thesis on PTSD among dispatchers.
the library was something that she said helped her a lot after she quit being a dispatcher, in addition to regular counseling.
“When I was in that phase of seeking help and kind of rediscovering myself, I started volunteering at a library, shelving books,” Bundy said. “I decided that I liked books, I liked reading, I liked research, that it would maybe be a good option for me.”
and that they should do it more proactively.”
Bundy is now a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, which is a type of certification that is intended for people who have experienced mental health struggles. Although Bundy provides support training and classes to 911 call centers and other departments, many can’t afford the services at this time, making it challenging for her business to grow.
Bundy currently teaches a criminal justice course at Germanna Community College. Eventually, she hopes to become a dean or a similar position at a community college and is aligning her Ph.D. work at Old Dominion University with this goal.
Her academic work has been in both criminal justice and library science. Volunteering at
Although she no longer works in the 911 call center, she has some advice for people currently in the trenches.
“Don’t lose hope,” Bundy said. “I think that’s just big because they see a lot of hard stuff every day.”
Contact Anya Sczerzenie at asczerzenie@dnronline. com or 540-208-6789.
Bundy FROM PAGE 2
Daniel Lin / DN-R
Dan Chapman poses for a photo in front of Johnson Funeral Home in Bridgewater.
Anya Sczerzenie/ DN-R
Orthodontist brings passion straight to the community
By LORI D’ANGELO Daily News-Record
One thing that Julia Giardina likes about being an orthodontist is that it combines two things she loves — art and science.
“I like to use my hands,” said Giardina, 32. “I consider myself to be a creative person and an artist, and I also am a bit of a physics nerd. So orthodontics is a field that marries those two.”
Orthodontics requires both an appreciation for aesthetics and an attention to detail, and that’s one of the things Giardina enjoys about the field. She also enjoys working with patients.
“I feel like a lot of people get renewed self-confidence after their journey with orthodontics, and I’m a part of that. And my team is a part of that. So that’s what I love about it,” she said.
Giardina, a transplant from Southwest Florida, came to Virginia for dental school at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. When she had the opportunity to buy an orthodontics practice in Harrisonburg, she decided to stay.
Now that she has lived in the community for four years, she said she has come to enjoy the close-knit feel of Harrisonburg.
“I like that I can just get to know people, and it almost feels like ‘Cheers’ where everyone knows your name. Like I go to Target or Costco, and I’ll go to a local restaurant and know the owner. It’s cool,” she said. “I get to see my patients out and about.”
She also likes the way people treat each other.
“I think it’s a great area because I think the community here is super kind,” she said. “I think it’s an amazing place to practice. I wouldn’t want to practice anywhere else.”
She initially developed an interest in dentistry because of her family dentist.
“I’m the first person in my family to even go to college. So no, no one was a dentist, but I had an awesome family dentist,” she said.
She completed dental school in 2019 and spent two additional years training to become an orthodontist.
“I didn’t know that I wanted to do orthodontics until I got to dental school,” she said.
During COVID, Giardina, who owns Giardina Orthodontics in Harrisonburg, also did a lot of watercolor paintings as well as some graphic design. Now that she’s a mom to a toddler, she doesn’t have as much time to do that. But she’s OK with that.
“I love being a mom,” she said. “There’s nothing else like it in the world. It makes me happy to see him smiling and growing every day.”
Giardina said that her dental team, which consists of 13 people and one therapy dog, tries to create a positive experience for patients.
“We just want our patients to have an amazing experience,” she said. “We want them to have an amazing smile. We want them to be happy.”
The office’s therapy dog, a Goldendoodle named Jerry, is especially popular with patients, Giardina
Giardina’s family dog. The family also has a cat, Neil Patrick Harris, who is 10 years old.
“I think we were watching ‘How I Met Your Mother’ when we got our cat,” she said, explaining the cat’s name.
In addition to regular braces, Giardina’s practice also offers Invisalign, which involves wearing a series of clear trays to straighten teeth or achieve an aligned bite as an alternative to braces.
“We treat adults and children with Invisalign,” she said. “We also do traditional braces, but we have kinda different options. We have silver braces. We have gold or champagne colored braces, and then we have ceramic or cute colored braces so that someone can customize what they want.”
The practice also does expanders, which can widen the jaw and prevent dental problems later on.
One thing that Giardina recommends is early treatment.
“We recommend that children around the age of 7 come in just to be evaluated,” she said. “There’s a lot of stuff that I’m trained on to evaluate, like growth and development.”
She said that early intervention can prevent the need for more complicated procedures later.
“I think we’re known for straightening teeth, but we’re experts of craniofacial growth and development,” she said. “So I can kind of take a look at how people are growing and how their teeth are growing, and I can make early recommendations that can help prevent bigger procedures.”
At her practice, she said, those initial evaluation consultations are free.
Julia Giardina
said.
“The kids love him,” Giardina said. “They are obsessed with Jerry. Everyone loves him. I think it calms people down. Even though ortho isn’t quite as scary as getting surgery or a root canal or something like that, it’s still kind of scary and new, and I think it just lightens the mood.”
However, if patients aren’t comfortable with dogs, Jerry can visit his dad, as Giardina’s husband, a chiropractor, has his practice in the same building on a different floor. Giardina said she met her husband when they were both students at the University of Florida.
While they still travel down to Florida to see their families, one thing that Giardina doesn’t miss about the state where she grew up is the heat.
“It’s so hot. There’s no seasons,” she said. “It’s just hot and hot and hotter.”
In addition to being a therapy dog, Jerry is also
“You should take your child at 7 years and older to an orthodontist,” she said. “A lot of times, it’s not going to cost any money to do that. Many orthodontists offer similar programs, where we watch children for free and then provide recommendations to help prevent more significant issues in the future. If possible, we would like to avoid extractions. If we can, we want to prevent surgeries.”
In her free time, Giardina said she enjoys traveling.
“We do still like to travel, even with the baby,” she said.
She also enjoys giving back to the community.
“My mission is to help children and animals,” she said. “In my practice, the way that I’m able to do that is I’m able to set aside funds that go directly into our community to help children and animals.”
For the past two years, the practice has funded scholarships for rising college students. It has also made donations to community organizations, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters and Blue Ridge CASA. The practice also donates to the Rockingham Harrisonburg SPCA.
“I’m a huge dog lover and animal lover in general, and so is my husband,” she said.
Contact Lori D’Angelo at ldangelo@ dnronline.com or 540-208-2623.
Tall & Small Photography, LLC
Julia Giardina, owner of Giardina Orthodontics, stands with her office’s therapy dog, Jerry.
Stanley woman saves herself from addiction, helps others
By LEE ZION Daily News-Record
Andrea Goode is approaching five years of sobriety. This means that about five years ago, she was in the throes of addiction.
Now, she’s not only turned her life around, but she is also working to turn the lives of others around as well. Her newly formed nonprofit, approved by the town just last year, has recently celebrated its first-ever graduate.
“I was homeless at one time,” she said.
Goode had been married for 17 years, from the age of 15. After her divorce came a life of hard drugs and alcohol.
“It just took me, and honestly, I didn’t want to live,” Goode said.
After that, she married Shaun Goode, who was on drugs and will remain in prison until about 2037. Goode said he has since reformed and is now sober in prison.
Even though he had an addiction at the time, he was still trying to rescue her. He kept referring her to his uncle, Gene Goode, who had a long history of lending a hand.
She cited Gene Goode, whom she described as a near stranger, for his help in intervening. He gave her a room to sleep in, and she kicked the drugs on her own — everything, including vaping, which she quit just last month.
Despite a few hiccups here and there, she has moved from strength to strength.
“We decided to use the rooms here to help other people in recovery. So we opened up Valley’s Rise Above,” Goode said.
The charity, in the center of Stanley, is working to obtain its nonprofit credentials. Goode also runs Afresh Clean-
willing to take anyone back.
The third annual Rise Above Recovery Walk will take place on Sept. 6 at Ruffner Plaza in Luray. The first year, 30 to 40 people turned out. The following year, the number was close to 100, and this year, Goode is expecting more.
The walk will also feature community resources for individuals who wish to embark on the journey or for those who have already begun their path.
Goode said she thinks it’s important to talk about addiction without the stigma.
“Lift the blanket on the problem and the issues of addiction, and let’s help each other to get to where we want to be in life. Because a lot of people we know feel like they’re stuck there,” she said.
ing Services LLC, which employs individuals in recovery. They go out and clean people’s homes.
She employs individuals in recovery to allow them to improve their lives. She has given her life to helping people from Page County who are in recovery.
James Madison University is one of Afresh’s customers, and her clients pile into a car and head there every day.
Goode also attended college and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Liberty University. She hopes to get her master’s soon.
Goode’s work has been so standout that not one but two people nominated her to be part of 15 under 50. Stephanie Purdie said that she “runs a home for people in recovery that need a safe place to stay to recover. This is in addition to owning her own cleaning business. She works tirelessly to keep people in
Andrea Goode
recovery safe while coordinating their care and helping them to live a meaningful sober life.”
Charity Shifflett also had kind words to say about her.
“She employs individuals in recovery to give them a chance to better themselves. She has given her entire life to help people from Page County in recovery,” Shifflett said.
Goode said that she’s seen people change their lives.
“We’re seeing people, once they’ve saved their money and do good, they’re able to get into their own home,” she said.
Some of them slip, but Goode hasn’t given up on anyone yet. She chalks it up to them not being ready, and she is
Helping her on that journey are the two dogs who live in the house with her. The golden retriever, Blue, is an emotional support dog. Without any training, he knows to go straight to the person who needs him the most. He doesn’t give up.
Meanwhile, Fluffy, a blue Pomeranian, is “the little yapper.” She alerts everyone in the house if something’s wrong.
Goode warned that some people hide their addiction and are functional in society. These people might be a coworker or someone you know.
She wants to reach them.
“There’s happiness on the other side,” Goode said.
Goode said that her journey from addiction to recovery has been “an amazing journey.”
“God has done so much in my life,” Goode said. “Giving back to the community helps me. It’s like my part of destiny now. I know my destiny now.”
Contact Lee Zion at lzion@dnronline. com or 540-208-3174.
Elkton mayor has no intention of leaving his hometown
By LEE ZION Daily News-Record
Josh Gooden
place is an interesting story.
“I was 18,” he said.
How he got on the council in the first
He had attended council meetings in middle school and high school, thinking that maybe someday he would run for office. But, when he turned 18, Rick
Workman, now the town’s vice mayor, was collecting signatures to run for mayor. When he saw how easy it was to run, Gooden decided to become a candidate.
“‘Well, I’ll go around and gather up some signatures and decide later if I want to pursue it or not,’” he recalls himself as saying. He was unsure even
as he turned in the signatures.
He started gathering signatures three days after high school graduation, which was also three days before the deadline. Gooden called his decision “very last minute.”
“Was on the ballot for November, got
Daniel Lin / DN-R
Andrea Goode poses for a photo in Stanley.
Josh Gooden has served on the Elkton town council since 2012 — with six years as mayor. During that time, the town has undergone significant changes.
Music teacher says the right tune begins with relationships
By RHEAGAN NELSON
Daily News-Record
Bethany Houff, 46, has been choral director at Harrisonburg High School for 22 years. She graduated from James Madison University with a degree in Music Education.
“I had a teacher in high school that pulled me aside and said, ‘You know what, you need to do this. You need to major in music,’” Houff said. “I had been thinking about it, but getting his stamp of approval sealed the deal for me, and I’m really happy with my choice.”
Houff began playing the piano at the age of five and has been
Bethany Houff
singing her whole life. She was encouraged by her music-loving family. Her role at Harrisonburg High School is “a really rewarding job with fantastic students [these] past two decades.”
Houff teaches choir and piano at the school and helps set up the musicals after the final bell. She also runs the Introduction to Music class for students who are new to the country, which Houff finds to be “fascinating and awesome.”
“What’s great about teaching music in a high school setting is that, for the most part, students
elected with the most number votes out of anyone who ran for Elkton,” he said.
Residents embraced the idea. As for the council members, the next youngest member was at least three times his age.
The residents embraced his ideas to revitalize the town and present Elkton in a positive light. For the longtime council members, it went “against the grain,” so there were mixed emotions on the council, Gooden said.
One of his early accomplishments was the Gateway Project, a joint effort between the town, the county, the planning commission, the Virginia Department of Transportation, and Shenandoah National Park. This helped beautify the communities surrounding the park, he said.
He also cited the Ben Graessle Memorial basketball court, next to the town hall. Previously, it was a dilapidated tennis court.
The project was dedicated in 2017. The town contributed $5,000 toward the project, which cost close to $100,000. The money mainly came from private funds. The basketball court was a way to honor Graessle and give back to the community.
Graessle, who was close in age to Gooden, played baseball and basketball for Spotswood High School. He was killed at an apartment in Harrisonburg shortly after being admitted to James Madison University.
Gooden played with Graessle in Little League.
are choosing to take my class. It’s not a required class,” Houff said. “The students that come into the classroom are students that want to be there, that want to sing and learn.”
Houff is one of the original faculty members of the Fine Arts Academy Community Learning of Virginia at Harrisonburg High School, which was formed 11 years ago.
“We were tasked with creating a fine arts academy to be housed at Harrisonburg High School, and there were four of us part of the original creation team,” Houff said. “it’s been fun watching the program grow and being part of its growth.”
gether to create new pieces of art for upcoming concerts.
“For me, as a musician, had I been a student in this program, I would have been completing projects with dancers and artists and writers,” Houff said.
Houff will not teach in the academy this year, dedicating her time to her main classes. However, she said she promised to continue attending the students’ performances.
The program combines various fine arts, including choir, theater, writing, visual arts, and dance. The students work to -
“I worked closely with his parents. I grew up knowing them, as well,” he said. “So that was a meaningful project to work on and dedicate toward him.”
As mayor, Gooden also supported the restoration of the town hall. This was a split vote, so it’s one of the few times he, as mayor, got to cast a tie-breaking vote.
His most recent accomplishment was the Downtown Marketplace, a pavilion that serves as the centerpiece of downtown. It hosts farmers markets and other events that ground downtown as a destination.
Not as exciting but crucially important are the town’s infrastructure improvements, including water, sewer, and
electricity. These improvements help ensure that people in the future won’t have to bear the burden of them.
The one million-gallon water tank, a project already underway, is another project. Work has already begun, and soon, the tank will be shipped to Elkton in pieces to be assembled, Gooden said.
Gooden loves being part of the community. At the time of the interview, he was looking forward to the “Push-Pedal-Pull” event, in which kids are invited to race nonmotorized vehicles on July 3.
But being the mayor is only part of his identity. Gooden is also the deputy director of economic development and tourism for Rockingham County. He
“I just really like to watch the relationship building, and I love to be a part of the relationship building,” she said.
Contact Rheagan Nelson at rnelson@ dnronline.com or 540-208-6258.
works with hotels and other lodging partners throughout the county, attracting businesses, helping them expand, and making the county more competitive for companies to relocate there.
His newest project is a 40-acre plot in the county’s industrial park. The county received a $4.5 million grant last fall to prepare the site, so when a business wants to locate in the county, the park will be ready. That 40-acre site could be used for manufacturing, including food and beverage or industrial purposes.
The “big elephant in the room,” meanwhile, is Buc-ee’s, which opened June 30.
“We had worked with them early on, with their plans for locating here, and even — between all county departments and staff, with working on them, as the site came to be and as the building’s gone up in the air,” he said.
His role in this was working with their real estate team and expediting permits.
Gooden enjoys the tourism side of his work with the county. The most challenging part is attracting new business to the area — while balancing this with the natural beauty and “cultural fabric” of the region.
“I grew up in this community, never had any intentions or plans ever to leave. I wanted to stay here my entire life. And just being able to live and be a part of all the attractions that take place in my home community,” he said.
Contact Lee Zion at lzion@dnronline. com or 540-208-3174.
Daniel Lin / DN-R
Elkton Mayor Joshua Gooden poses for a photo in front of Town Hall.
Rappahannock native grew into the grocery business
By LORI D’ANGELO Daily News-Record
Jon Henry, who trained as an artist, didn’t intend to become a grocery store owner.
“I never took a business class, which is kind of unique, I guess,” he said. “But I am pretty familiar with business and design. So I would say figuring out how to use our building and layout design and product selection just came naturally to me because I’m pretty used to storytelling.”
Henry, 35, has a BA in International Studies and Studio Art from the University of Richmond, an MA in Arts Politics at New York University, and an MFA in Studio Art from James Madison University.
Henry, who owns Jon Henry General Store, grew up in Rappahannock County, but his family has roots in the Valley.
“We always had the family farm in Mount Jackson, and that’s usually where I would get sent for the summer,” he said.
Henry ended up buying the building that became his store because he was looking for somewhere to live.
“It was, at the time, cheaper than buying a house,” he said. “But I’m a single guy, so I didn’t need a 4,000 square foot home, so we ended up turning the downstairs into the store to cover my mortgage.”
He says he learned the business side of the grocery industry in part by asking for help.
“I went down to, like, the Small Business Development Center at JMU and got a lot of help, also up to Laurel Ridge to get help from those groups,” he said. “I’m just like not afraid to ask for help because, in the art world, you always just have to be asking for help or ideas and learning from others.”
Henry said he used to do a lot of sculpture and community planning and design. He was hoping to secure a full-time teaching job when he discovered and purchased the store building.
“Then COVID came, and that really kind of wiped out a lot of art opportunities,” he said. “So I just did a full dive into the grocery business.”
Jon Henry
Henry said he purchased the historic building that became the store in 2017 and opened it in 2018.
He said the store started slowly and steadily grew over the years.
In the beginning, he said the store sold “lots of jerky, African baskets from Ghana, and then my family has always had produce, so we sold that too.”
Now, Henry said the store has over 200 produce vendors, many of which are from the Shenandoah Valley. One type of produce that the store is particularly known for is its tomatoes, Henry said.
“COVID was when we started growing into the grocery business,” he said. “When we first started, I was not looking at it as my main source of income. It was set up to help pay for my mortgage. The store was a gift shop with a side of food. Now, I would say, we’re a grocery store with a side of gifts.”
One type of gift for which the store is particularly known is its socks. He said that one of the most popular varieties of socks is the Dumpster Fire socks.
Henry said that the store, which also offers Virginia-made milk, fresh seafood, and local eggs, works with many large families to sell food in bulk.
“It’s like a warehouse sale, but you don’t have to have a membership. Even Costco and Sam’s Club and that kind of places don’t sell tomatoes and peaches in half bushels,” he said.
The store also tries to meet the needs of people with a wide variety of incomes, Henry said.
“We just offer a bunch of federal and state incentives to eat healthy for low-income families. But then, for higher income families, we have a full line of fancy food and organic stuff,” he said.
Henry said that one of the advantages of shopping locally is that your money supports the local economy.
“But, you know, we’re also like really eclectic. So what kind of grocery store can you go in and buy whole milk, a bushel of peaches, a book on how to make your shoes, a toy for your kid, and a pair of sloth socks?”
Another thing that many families like about the store is that it doesn’t sell tobacco or alcohol products.
“We do get a lot of compliments from families that we don’t have a lot of alcohol and tobacco products throughout the store,” he said.
Henry is also active in the local community. He’s a member of many civic-minded organizations, including the New Market Rotary Club and the New Market Chamber of Commerce. He also recently began serving on the New Market Town Council.
In his free time, he does shape-note singing with the Harmonia Sacra Society, which meets monthly. Shape note singing is a type of sacred a cappella singing that utilizes different shapes to represent specific positions on the musical scale.
Henry says he loves living in the Valley.
“I love the Shenandoah Valley,” he said. “I’ve lived all around the world, and I keep coming back here. I feel really lucky that I get to live in a really beautiful, dynamic place.”
Contact Lori D’Angelo at ldangelo@ dnronline.com or 540-208-2623.
Sentara RMH nurse became diabetes educator for her son
By ANYA SCZERZENIE Daily News-Record
Dayton resident Holly Huffman’s journey toward becoming a diabetes educator started with a case of poison ivy. It was her son’s case of poison ivy, which led to treatment with Prednisone, a steroid that can raise blood sugar. His Type 1 diabetes would have been caught eventually, Huffman said, but the steroid “pushed him over the
Holly Huffman
edge” and led to him being diagnosed with the disease at nine years old. That was 16 years ago.
“I have an uncle that was diagnosed when he was 13, and he’s in his late 40’s, so it’s family history,” Huffman, 46, said.
“But we weren’t expecting it.”
Though Huffman said her son is
okay now, his early days trying to manage the disease were difficult. The diabetes educators that Huffman and her son saw when he was diagnosed were, in Huffman’s words, “not so nice.”
“We took it to heart,” Huffman said. “And I was like, ‘I want to do what you do, but better.’”
Huffman grew up in Franklin, West Virginia, to parents who had never finished high school. Her mother was blind, and her father had eye problems as well.
Due to the family’s financial situation, it was not expected that Huffman would go to college, and, at first, she didn’t. She worked in the agricultural industry as a weighmaster for feed mills at Tyson until she decided to go to Blue Ridge Community College and train as a nurse.
“I hadn’t been in school since 1997,” Huffman said. “I was not prepared for college at all.”
Daniel Lin / DN-R
Pastor seeks to offer lessons that apply to everyday lives
By LEE ZION Daily News-Record
By day, he’s a branch specialist at the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Crossroads. But, on his weekends off, he’s the pastor at Pleasant View Church of the Brethren in Mount Jackson.
Isaac Stroupe, 24, of Stanley, began playing piano at the church in October 2023 on a monthly basis. The regular piano player had trouble with his eyesight, he recalled.
He was attending a different church, Brighter Days Bible Church in Mount Jackson, when the call came. Pleasant View Church of the Brethren needed a piano player, so the church secretary gave out his phone number, setting things in motion.
“So, after a while, they asked me if I’d be interested in being a guest speaker. And so it kept snowballing, and snowballing until it became a twice-a-month occurrence. And then they finally asked me, last June, to be a full-time pastor,” he said.
That’s not something that usually happens, he noted.
“It was a good connection. The puzzle pieces fit, and the Lord was in it. God’s calling was in the midst of it, and everything just seemed to fall into place,” he said.
He had no formal education as a pastor, but that didn’t stop him.
“[It’s a] calling by the Lord, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It’s not always been easy. But I’ve never thought of it as work. It’s very fulfilling; it’s a fun job.”
Stroupe described what makes his job special.
“I love helping people. I’m a people person. Peo-
Huffman earned her associate’s degree in nursing at BRCC in June 2016, then got her license in nursing after taking the NCLEX exam in Lynchburg. She was hired by Sentara only a few weeks later, beginning a yearlong stint on the oncology floor before moving on to the progressive care unit.
When Huffman began working at Sentara RMH, she was not initially a diabetes educator. However, everyone in the hospital knew that was what she wanted to be. When a position became empty in 2019 after one diabetes educator retired, Huffman’s colleagues recommended her to fill it.
“It was just the roll of the dice that in 2019, one of the ladies was retiring,” Huffman said.
Since then, Huffman has
past two years.
As a pastor, Stroupe strives to offer lessons that people can apply to their everyday lives. He wants something to challenge them and make them think.
“And I tell them every week that I need a mirror at the back of the church. ’Cause I need to preach to myself before I preach to anybody else,” he said. “That’s the truth.”
His favorite passage from the Bible is Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Meredith Moomaw, with the church, spoke well of him when she nominated him.
“He is a great public speaker. He has increased our attendance, offering is higher, generally cares about our church and its members,” she wrote.
Stroupe described himself as a “bull-headed kind of a guy.”
Isaac Stroupe
ple keep me going. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people walk in the door, having a frustration and having a problem, and I can help them. And they walk out the door feeling better and happier,” he said.
That applies not only to his job as a pastor but also at the bank, where he helps people open up accounts and cashes checks. He’s done that for the
worked to educate patients with diabetes and has continued to educate herself as well. She received her BSN at Eastern Mennonite University in 2020 and subsequently obtained her diabetes certification. To avoid bringing COVID-19 back to her house, she stayed at a hotel for a month while studying and working at the hospital.
“That whole month was great, no interruptions,” Huffman said. “I studied for my diabetes certification and passed.”
Huffman said that the most challenging part of being a diabetes educator is helping patients from diverse backgrounds find the tools they need to be successful.
“We get people who have type 1, type 2, gestational, all the different kinds of diabetes out there,” Huffman said. “We help them in the beginning,
“I like to do things that strike what I think needs to be done. And that passage reminds me to put ‘Isaac’ in the passenger seat and let God drive. Ask him for guidance before I do anything else. And usually, it makes things a lot easier.”
His mother once told him that he could always come out smelling like a rose no matter what happened.
“No matter what the situation, I’ve always made sure that God was in the midst of it. And no matter how deep the muck might be, he’s always been there to pull me right out,” Stroupe said.
Contact Lee Zion at lzion@dnronline.com or 540-208-3174.
Contributed
as diet, insulin injections and pumps. This can be difficult with patients in dire financial situations, like people experiencing homelessness or uninsured.
“It’s hard for [homeless] patients, who have insulin, to keep it cool on hot days,” Huffman said. “And so just trying to find them different ways to be successful, it’s hard.”
Huffman’s son is on an insulin pump and is now 25 years old and a construction worker. He often recommends his mother’s services to his friends and co-workers.
the middle, the end, and we see some patients now for six to eight years. Because we’re a resource, and we continue to give them that resource that
they need, guidance, and a lot of support.”
Diabetes educators teach patients to self-manage their diabetes through methods such
“He’s always telling people, ‘Hey, you have diabetes, my mom can help you out.’” Huffman said.
Contact Anya Sczerzenie at asczerzenie@dnronline. com or 540-208-6789.
Huffman FROM PAGE 8
Daniel Lin / DN-R
Isaac Stroupe, pastor at Pleasant View Church of the Brethren in Mount Jackson, poses for a photo outside the church.
Holly Huffman, left, stands with Sentara co-workers during a clinic.
Drama teacher aids in student connections
By RICHARD H. HRONIK III Daily News-Record
Jenn Middleton, a drama teacher at Skyline Middle School in Harrisonburg, is helping her students learn real-life skills through performance.
Courtesy
Before she began teaching, Middleton was a professional actress with a degree in acting from Shenandoah University Arts Conservatory in Winchester. After working as a professional actress for a few years, Middleton said she got burnt out and decided to return to Harrisonburg.
As a teacher, Middleton said she enjoys making connections with her students and their families.
“I was that kid in school that went to school because I had to, in order to do the extracurriculars,” Middleton explained. “So, I love being able to connect with the students, whether they want to be on the stage or not.”
Jenn Middleton
Middleton works with sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders in her classes and after-school programs and said she appreciates the opportunity to watch her students grow.
“There’s a student who lives and breathes theater,” Middleton said. “They want to be part of it no matter what that means, in any capacity. This student is very multifaceted in the arts and can see where their life is going to go, and they know that, no matter what their life is, they will be doing theater and the arts.”
Middleton said she moved to Harrisonburg with her family when she was five. Born in Flagstaff, Arizona, the smalltown feel of the Friendly City helped her grow as a performer.
When she’s at home, Middleton said she and her husband, Jonathan, are kept busy by their two young children, a fouryear-old daughter and two-year-old son. Middleton also said she is active at Beth El Congregation.
Middleton said that, in the future, it’s hard to see her working anywhere other than Skyline.
“I am proud of the program that I built there,” Middleton said. “I was fortunate that the program already existed when I got the job, and I am proud of what I have been able to build over the last six years.”
Middleton said she tries to teach her students real-life skills through theater, like public speaking, collaboration, and tolerance. She said she appreciated everyone who helped make Skyline’s theater productions possible.
“I feel thankful for the colleagues that I have and families that put in their time to help the program and to help me,” Middleton said. “I feel like time is so limited, and with so many families and colleagues that are volunteering their time to sell tickets for us, build sets for us, I’m just really thankful.”
Contact Richard H. Hronik III at rhronik@dnronline. com, 540-208-3278, or on Twitter @rhronikDNR
Theater producer makes art more accessible
By LORI D’ANGELO Daily News-Record
Alison Trocchia has been involved with theater for much of her life.
She began acting while a student at Montevideo Middle School and continued her studies while attending Spotswood High School.
“We did the classical musicals in high school, like ‘Oliver,’ ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘The Music Man.’”
At age 18, she produced her first play.
The play was “Stuart Little” with what was then Valley Playhouse and is now Friendly City Players.
“They just needed help, and that was a role that needed to be filled. They handed me a Rolodex and said, ‘Please fill all the stage crew roles,’” she said. “That was a really good introduction to what producing plays is actually like.”
Trocchia, 48, attended Blue Ridge Community College before transferring to James Madison University, where she met her husband, Michael Trocchia, from Long Island, New York.
They moved to Philadelphia for a few years following graduation so that Michael could go to graduate school, but they returned to the region, which is home to Alison, afterward.
Initially, when they returned to the Valley, they relocated to Staunton, and Alison worked for Augusta County Public Schools from 2007 to 2018. After Alison got a job at JMU, they moved back to Harrisonburg. Alison is now in her third position at JMU, in a job that she feels aligns with her interests.
“This is the best fit for me personally and professionally that I’ve had at JMU because it’s so immersed in the arts,” she said. “I’ve always been involved with the arts outside of work, and now it’s part of my every day, and I love it.”
She now works at JMU’s Office of Creative Propulsion as the operations and engagement coordinator.
“It’s part of the College of Visual and Performing Arts,” she
Allison Trocchia
said. “We work with faculty who are looking for other faculty to collaborate with on interdisciplinary projects. The idea is to get people out of their disciplines and working across disciplines.”
One of the projects her office has worked on is the JMU ArtsMobile, a mobile trailer that brings artwork to community events.
“It brings the art out to where people are, to reduce barriers to access to arts,” she said.
The Office of Creative Propulsion also participates in First Fridays at the Harrisonburg Innovation Hub.
“We bring in art exhibits monthly,” she said. “So far, we’ve featured student artwork. It’s open to any JMU student or faculty member and possibly community members who are artists.”
In May 2024, Alison helped cofound Eunoia Theatre, along with four other individuals.
“We found several other theater makers in the area that we shared similar approaches to theater,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in theater that reaches deeper into human experience. I am interested in things that are a little outside the norm or maybe absurd.”
Though Trocchia sometimes still acts, she feels like producing is a better fit for her.
“It matches my organizational skills, my skills in logistics, and a key part of it is the networking and collaboration,” she said.
Eunoia Theatre Company is an ensemble theater company that emphasizes collaboration.
“Our first full-length production was ‘What the Constitution Means to Me,’ and I produced that,” Trocchia said. “It was a play that centered on democracy and Constitutional rights. It was election season.”
Eunoia doesn’t have a permanent theater home; instead, it stages performances at different locations throughout Harrisonburg. Some of those locations have included the JMU, Black Sheep Coffee, The Cellar at Liberty Street Mercantile, Clementine, and the patio at Shenandoah Bicycle Company.
One of Trocchia’s recent performances benefited a local nonprofit, which provides emergency shelter and counseling to women who have experienced domestic abuse.
“The next major thing I produced was the cabaret performance at Clementine, which was one night only and a benefit for First Step, and that was successful,” she said. “We had a lot of new people in and just a lot of interest in that.”
The cabaret performance, titled “Here in the Light,” was held in March, coinciding with Women’s History Month.
Trocchia also produced “The Wool Gatherer,” a two-person play written in the early 1980s, this May.
“It’s the story of two people who have just met and spend a little time together getting to know each other, and they each have a lot of history,” she said. “It’s a clash between two individualistic people. They’re each looking for connection, but there are a lot of missed connections in this play.”
Trocchia said that producing plays at various venues throughout the area presents both challenges and opportunities.
“They all have their advantages and limitations,” she said. “We like finding spaces to fit the work that we want to produce.”
Contact Lori D’Angelo at ldangelo@ dnronline.com or 540-208-2623.
Daniel Lin / DN-R
Real estate agent enjoys helping clients find affordable housing
By RHEAGAN NELSON Daily News-Record
Danielle Sponaugle, 30, is a real estate agent for RE/ MAX Performance Realty in Harrisonburg. She works with clients to help them find more affordable housing.
“I wanted a career where I could help someone,” Sponaugle said. “Not only am I helping people, but [I’m helping] in a different way.”
She started in nursing school, but in her last semester, she decided to pursue real estate instead. Sponaugle said she “wouldn’t change it for anything” and loves helping buyers reach their goals.
“Just watching them grow with their real estate needs, finally seeing them reach their goal, and seeing them get so happy is so rewarding,” she said. “[I] just [love] helping my clients and making sure they’re all happy.”
She has worked for RE/MAX Performance Realty for five years, but she also uses her free time to help others in different ways.
Fire education officer helps inform public
By RICHARD H. HRONIK III Daily News-Record
Erin Stehle is on a mission to make sure Harrisonburg residents know how to keep themselves safe in emergencies.
A lieutenant with the Harrisonburg Fire Department, Stehle’s work as a public information officer puts her in frequent contact with members of the public to ensure they can stay safe.
“For me, my passion has always been about our community,” Stehle said. “How we empower people to help prevent that kind of injury. Especially in our most vulnerable populations.”
Erin Stehle
hle said. “We also do the smoke alarm checks, the battery checks. We’re doing our pizza night in two weeks.”
Stehle was referring to HFD’s “Free Pizza and Smoke Alarm Night,” which took place earlier this month. During the event, city residents could receive a free pizza from fire department personnel and have their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors checked simultaneously.
While her job can be challenging, Stehle said it wasn’t as hard as starting a family. Stehle lives with her husband and daughter and said she “wouldn’t trade them for anything else.”
“My hardest, most challenging part of my life is that I’m a mother,” Stehle said. “I’m married, and they are my support system because this job isn’t always easy. My daughter loves all the things, and she has given me a new perspective on what I do.”
Stehle, 36, has lived in Harrisonburg for 18 years. She lives with her husband and her 4-year-old daughter, who she described as “a force to be reckoned with.”
Some days, Stehle might be giving a demonstration to kids in city schools. Others, she might be out on the streets to remind people to check their smoke detectors, she said.
“My team and I, we focus on whatever it is when we do our needs assessment and where in a neighborhood it is we go when we’re doing calls,” Ste-
Stehle explained that, during her tenure with the department, the community’s needs have changed, especially as the city’s population has grown. Because of this, she and her colleagues in the fire marshal’s office are continually seeking new ways to make vital information more accessible. However, Stehle said the best part of her job is still meeting other people in her community.
While her work and her family both keep her busy, Stehle said she is happy to have friends and family she can rely on.
“Harrisonburg, not being from here, I feel like there’s a lot of wonderful people,” Stehle said. “I think it’s awesome for people to feel proud of their work.”
Contact Richard H. Hronik III at rhronik@dnronline.com, 540-2083278, or on Twitter @rhronikDNR
Danielle Sponaugle
Sponaugle has joined the Shenandoah Valley Builders Association this year, an organization that connects builders and other professionals in the construction industry with the community, helping to build homes for those in need.
“They help with more affordable housing and make it more affordable for people,” Sponaugle said.
She joined the nonprofit organization Blue Ridge Foster VA, which is dedicated to creating a nurturing and supportive community for foster kids and their families.
“I wanted to find an organization or nonprofit that was with kids,” Sponaugle said. “Before I did real estate, I worked with kids for 10 years. I wanted to give back to kids.”
Sponaugle said that the Blue Ridge Foster VA’s “Foster Closet” in Dayton is for families raising a foster child, and “anyone that’s fostering kids can come in and shop for free.”
She has been working with the nonprofit for five years and is now its director of engagement, contacting other businesses and nonprofits to help spread the word about what the organization does.
Sponaugle’s goal for the nonprofit is to raise awareness about the organization and host more events. There are plans for a backpack drive in either July or August, Sponaugle said.
“We collect backpacks for all the foster kids who need supplies and everything,” she said. “Just to see that is rewarding, to give back to kids that don’t have much, it’s awesome to see.”
Contact Rheagan Nelson at rnelson@dnronline.com or 540-208-6258.
Business owner seeks to help others communicate better
By RHEAGAN NELSON Daily News-Record
Colton Wolf, 26, is a Stanley resident who started his own company, White Wolf Communications Group, in 2022.
“We’re a communications and business consulting firm,” Wolf said. “We specialize in small and midsize business consulting.”
Wolf grew up in Stanley and moved to Richmond to attend college at Virginia Commonwealth University, but he moved back to the Valley during the pandemic.
Colton Wolf
“I always wanted to get an education, and I always wanted to try to find a way to pour that back into the community,” he said. “This is my way to be able to give back while also prospering at the same time.”
In addition to earning a degree in political science from VCU, Wolf also recently earned his master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. He enrolled at Georgetown virtually in 2021.
Wolf wants to break the mold with his company, a boutique firm that aims to increase its clients’ reach.
“I thought communications would be a good path for me to take because I’ve always been personable, and I’ve always been approachable and been able to network well,” Wolf said. “It’s such a broad field, and I think that it’s something that, today, is very critical because of the way that we communicate with each other, [like] social media. We’re constantly barraged with information, and
I think that makes it more difficult for small businesses and midsize regional businesses to kind of break through the noise and make an impact.”
For now, White Wolf Communications Group is online only, but Wolf’s goal is for his company to have a physical location within the next five years.
Some of Wolf’s success stories include the Shenandoah Valley Quilters Guild, the Daughter of the Stars Theater and Cultural Center in Stanley, and the Kibler Library in Stanley.
One of his goals is to make a positive impact on small and midsize businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations.
“Whatever it is that they’re doing, whether they’re selling sandwiches, or they’re a theater that’s trying to pull in local attention, or a library that’s trying to spread a message about literacy, those are the things that I wanted to be able to support,” Wolf said.
Contact Rheagan Nelson at rnelson@ dnronline.com or 540-208-6258.
Courtesy
Courtesy
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THANK YOU FOR THE POSITIVE IMPACT YOU’VE MADE ON THE COMMUNITY. CONGRATULATIONS!
WE MAKE PESTS GO AWAY
PEST CONTROL FROM VERSATILE EXTERMINATORS IN GROTTOES, VA
Phone (540) 249-5110 | (540) 743-7227
Email: papawbug@yahoo.com 11033 Port Republic Road, Port Republic, VA 24471
Erin Stehle Community Risk Reduction Education Supervisor
e Mission of the Harrisonburg Fire Department is to enhance the quality of life for the community by protecting their health, safety and welfare through re suppression, emergency medical services, prevention and public education. Erin Stehle lives that mission every day! She started her career with the department in May of 2011 as the Child Safety Seat Technician and hasn't looked back since. Her passion for serving the community and helping to ensure their safety through education has led her to her current role of Fire Prevention Education Supervisor.
Erin serves her community through programs such as re prevention education in city schools, child passenger seat checks, juvenile re setter interventions, Camp L.I.T, sensory friendly events, smoke alarm events such as pizza night just to name a few. She leads with intention, empathy, and grace. She doesn't just teach re safety; she builds relationships and connections in the community that she serves. Erin also coordinates Safe Kids Central Shenandoah Valley, where she collaborates with local agencies to reduce preventable injuries among children. Her leadership has strengthened regional coalitions, introduced innovative outreach strategies, and ensured that vital safety resources reach the people who need them most. Erin blends education, leadership, and compassion in everything she does.
Her recognition as one of the "15 Under 50" is a testament to the lasting impact that she has made and continues to make. We are grateful to call her part of the Harrisonburg Fire Department Family!
