Rockbridge Virginia Chamber

We’re better together.

Kendal at Lexington residents enjoy a community that together explores intellectual concepts, shares cultural experiences, and socializes in physical activities that build friendships and memories that last a lifetime. On top of all this, Kendal offers amazing amenities including a Life Care Community Model, Independent Living, Assisted Living, Rehabilitative and Long-Term Care.

Residents gather to plan events, share in activities, and grow together as participants in the surrounding Lexington community. Residents have even developed their own Kendal College program with courses ranging from ancient philosophy to fine arts and the newest technology.

Learn more about what brings us together at kalex.kendal.org and call us to schedule a tour today at 1.866.628.7251

Main Street Lexington, late 1960s or early 70s, when the street was two-way.

Welcome to Rockbridge!

We are thrilled that you have found your way to our backyard, and we can’t wait for you to experience all our community has to offer! As we enter our Centennial year at the Chamber, I am struck by how far we have come in 100 years, but also — how much our mission has remained the same. It is our role as the Chamber to ensure that our community is thriving – and that our members are gathering to get to know one another and to support the best interests of our business community.

I am often told that our community is bigger than ourselves, and I would have to agree. The abundance of natural resources, stellar restaurants, charming shops, and smalltown hospitality is what makes Rockbridge a wonderful place to live and work. In this annual guide you will hear stories of the past that are woven into stories of today — those who have fallen into or stumbled upon a wonderful place to call home. We hope that you will visit, explore, and fall in love with our community — just like we all have!

Cheers!

Tracy E. Lyons Executive Director, Chamber of Commerce Serving Lexington, Buena Vista, and Rockbridge County

Photo by Lad Sessions

The Baldwin-Echols Department Store in Glasgow, early 1890s. (Courtesy Lynda Mundy-Norris Miller)

CHAMBER LEADERSHIP

Chamber Staff

2023 Officers

Board of Directors

Corey Bachman Virginia Military Institute

Katherine Brinkley Washington & Lee University

Brian Daniel The Seclusion

Janie Harris James River Realty

Ward Huffman Huffman Insurance Agencies, Inc.

Susan Kirby Rockbridge Farmers Coop

Craig Lawhorne Vinyl Cuts / Washington & Lee

Greg Madsen Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital

Jeff Pufahl Virginia Technology Services

Zander Tallman Just Games Lexington

Tasha Walsh Connections Plus Healthcare & Hospice

Lauren Welsh Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

Sheri Wilcox CornerStone Bank

Every effort has been made to insure the accuracy of information contained in this publication. The Chamber of Commerce Serving Lexington, Buena Vista, and Rockbridge County and The News-Gazette Corp. assume no responsibility for incorrect or missing information contained herein. Please contact the Chamber with any additions or corrections. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of the Chamber and The News-Gazette Corp. is prohibited.

Bobbie Wagner, Past President

Tracy E. Lyons Executive Director

Ben Worth, Vice President Mountain Gateway Community College

Kelli Woodard, Treasurer Woodard Family Dental

Communications Director

Stacy Stevens, President CornerStone Bank

CHAMBER History

The Lexington Chamber traces its beginnings from a public meeting held on January 11, 1923. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Robert H. Tucker, professor of economics and business at W&L. William C. Firebaugh was elected secretary. A week later on Jan. 18, an organizing meeting of the new Chamber convened at the Courthouse, with approval of by-laws and election of a board of directors. Directors included Dr. Tucker; Benjamin Huger of HugerDavidson Sale Co.; Paul M. Penick, local attorney; Leo G. Sheridan, banker; Montgomery B. Corse, McCrum Drug Co; John L. Campbell; G. A. Rhodes, Mayor of Lexington; and W. R. Humphris.

The Chamber fell on hard times during the Depression. Capt. Greenlee Letcher, former president, kept the Chamber going nominally, but by 1937 the organization was all but defunct.

An April 1, 1937 editorial in the Rockbridge County News praised a group of local civic-minded individuals who were working to reorganize the Chamber. It noted that “Although civic pride is not lacking, it is found only in a limited number of individuals to an extent sufficient to call forth the energy and labor required to make organizations of this kind a success.”

A meeting of 50 local men to revitalize Chamber met April 9, 1937 at the R.E. Lee Hotel (now the Gin Hotel.) Earl L. Valentine presided. Seven directors were elected and a new set of bylaws was approved.

State Chamber President Jay Johns said in a speech to those assembled that the Chamber’s mission should be more than just “mercenary,’ and talked of the importance of preserving the atmosphere and individuality of the town as it’s greatest asset. He also spoke of promoting the

attributes of Lexington. The tourist business, bringing in the new residents and increasing enrollment at the colleges, he mentioned as prime objects of the Chamber.

C.K. Brown, of Staunton, and president of Shenandoah Valley, Inc., expressed the hope that the newly revived Lexington Chamber would also cooperate regionally and on the state level.

One direct result of this new Chamber organization was to participate in national advertising in such publications as the Atlantic Monthly promoting Lexington as a tourist and residential destination.

The reorganization appears to have stuck, The County News reported on the Chamber’s 1942 annual meeting, held at the Natural Bridge Hotel on April 7. The Atlantic Monthly advertisement was reported to have generated at least two responses from people in New York interested in living in Lexington ‘for the duration.’ The ad also appeared in a travel supplement in New York, Washington and Norfolk newspapers.

Travel and tourism promotion continued to be a core part of the Chamber’s mission for decades, and would lead to greater things.

Also in 1942, the Chamber hired its first director, Nancy McCorkle. Miss McCorkle would run the Chamber for the next 41 years.

During World War II, the Chamber assisted military personnel and students at the Special Service School at W&L.

In 1949, the Chamber formed the Community Chest, which in 1961 became a separate organization as the United Fund, then United Way. The Chamber ran the fund drive until a United Way director was hired in 1975.

1984 Nancy McCorkle retires, Lorraine Ennis hired as Director

1942 First Chamber Director, Nancy McCorkle, hired

1937 Chamber revitalized, becomes Lexington/ Rockbridge Chamber

1941 Chamber Dinner

Jan. 18, 1923 Lexington Chamber of Commerce organized

In 1965, under the leadership of Chamber president G. Otis Mead, the Chamber sought the help of Colonial Williamsburg to evaluate Lexington’s potential for tourism. The report recommended developing an organized tourism program. The Chamber office was the logical first step as a tourist information center and starting point for tours.

That summer, the Chamber launched a tour program, with high school students serving as guides. By 1970, almost 10,000 visitors a year were registering at the Chamber office.

Ultimately, the City of Lexington established a department of tourism, funded by the meals and lodging tax in the city. In 1984, Nancy McCorkle retired, and Lorraine Ennis was named Chamber director. The Chamber office moved to 107 East Washington Street, then in a few years, across the street to 110 East Washington.

In 1988, the Natural Bridge-Glasgow Chamber merged with the LexingtonRockbridge Chamber. In 2008, the Buena Vista Chamber joined forces to create the Chamber of Commerce Serving Lexington, Buena Vista, and Rockbridge County.

Sammy Moore took over the directorship of the Chamber in 1994, a position he held for twenty years. Under his leadership, in 1995, the Chamber started the Rockbridge Food and Wine Festival, now the Rockbridge Beer and Wine Festival. The Chamber’s Prep 2000 program provided scholarships for to high school seniors and brought business people, educators and students together to foster greater understanding of the needs of the workplace. The Peoples’ Choice Awards were also created to recognize educators, employers and volunteers. Monthly Business After Hours events, sponsored by the Chamber, became popular with members and the public. The Chamber’s State of the Community Breakfast became the community’s kick-off to the new year.

Moore retired in 2014, and Tracy E. Lyons became Chamber executive director. New programs were added included candidate forums in the fall prior to elections. The local Chamber became more involved regionally within the Virginia West association of Chambers along Interstate 81 from Winchester to Bristol. Chamber advocacy was a factor in the state’s approval of a plan to upgrade that heavily-travelled highway.

As the Chamber enters its second century, its staff, leadership and members will continue to work together to champion civic and economic progress for our community. We’re just getting started!

Article from the Rockbridge County News on the organizational meeting of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce.

DEMOGRAPHICS 1920 VS 2020

What a difference 100 years makes.

The data below was obtained from the 1920 and 2020 censuses. Differences in the economy and in how people lived means that some information from each census does not compare exactly, but there are still interesting insights into how different life was a century ago.

Note: The censuses did not collect the same data in 1920 and 2020. The 1920 census shows that many children left school at a young age, likely to work.

Note: in 1920, Lexington was a town, but in 2020 an independent city.

DWELLINGS/HOUSING UNITS

*The town of Lexington’s housing units was counted with Rockbridge in 1920.

Note: The 1920 census does not show total employment, and the total shown probably does not include the self-employed, professionals or office/retail employment. Fewer women in the workforce would also affect the total number employed in 1920, though of course, neither census accounts for women working in the home.

GETTING HERE

Interstate

FROM I-81 SOUTH: Take Exit 175 to reach the southern end of the county at Natural Bridge and Glasgow. Exit 188 onto Route 60 will take you east to Buena Vista, or west to Lexington.

FROM I-81 NORTH: Exit 205 will take you to Raphine, Brownsburg or Vesuvius. Exit 200 to Route 11 South will take you to Fairfield. Exit 195 onto Route 11 South will take you into Lexington.

FROM I-64: Exit 43 to VA 708 will take you to Goshen. Exit 50 to Route 60 East will take you to Lexington.

Airport

Just 30 miles north of Rockbridge County, the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD) offers the Valley convenient access to American Airlines’ global network of flights through Charlotte. All flights to/from SHD can be booked on www.aa.com from beginning to final destination in one transaction. On the day of your flight, enjoy complimentary parking close to the terminal, a quick check-in process, and worry-free luggage transportation. Travel from SHD is a far more convenient and cost-effective option than using a larger airport.

SHD also supports a robust level of business, corporate, and private aviation users daily. Many local companies utilize their own corporate aircraft and flight departments as a tool of efficiency and are dependent of SHD’s proximity to their operations in the Shenandoah Valley. Those operations are essential to our manufacturing, logistics, and medical sectors, in particular.

Rail

Rockbridge County is served by both Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. Norfolk Southern’s tracks run down the eastern side of the county through Buena Vista, Glasgow and Natural Bridge Station. CSX crosses the southeastern and northwestern corners of the county. Amtrak service is available in Staunton, Roanoke, Lynchburg and Charlottesville.

Trails, Canals, Trains & Roads

Getting to Rockbridge has never been as easy as it is now, with two major interstate highways serving the county giving access north, south, east and west. Before the highway systems were built, it was not always easy to travel here or ship goods out.

The Valley Pike, now US Rt. 11, followed the old Indian trails up and down the valley. As a result of the Treaty of Lancaster, the Iroquois were promised a marked path up the Valley which was laid out in 1745 by James Patton and John Buchanan. Initially called the “Indian Road”, it was later known as the “Great Wagon Road.”

The James and North (now Maury) Rivers offered a way for farmers and merchants to ship products out and bring in manufactured goods. Rockbridge producers would build a bateau — a large, flatbottomed boat — and float down to Richmond with wheat, corn, iron and whisky and the pole the bateau back up river with goods they couldn’t manufacture themselves.

By the late 1700s, canals along the rivers were seen as a viable way to move cargo and people inland. The James River and Kanawha Canal was started west from Richmond, with the ultimate goal of connecting with the Ohio River by way of the Kanawha River in what’s now West Virginia. By 1840, the canal was built to Lynchburg, and by 1851 reached Buchanan. In 1860, the North River Navigation Company finished a canal from Lexington down to the mouth of the Maury, where it met the James River Canal.

The canal port at Jordan’s Point became Lexington’s industrial center, but the era of canals was short-lived. Floods, damage from the Civil War and the coming of railroads doomed the canal.

The canal company sold its right-of-way to the Richmond & Allegheny Railroad, later the Chesapeake & Ohio, now CSX. Part of the old canal towpath was used to construct a rail line up to Lexington from Balcony Falls, near present day Glasgow, opening in 1881. The Shenandoah Valley Railroad completed track from Waynesboro to Roanoke in June of 1882, passing through presentday Buena Vista, Glasgow and Natural Bridge Station. Meanwhile, the Valley Railroad, begun in 1874 from Harrisonburg south through Staunton, finally reached Lexington in 1883. Another line from Staunton to Clifton Forge ran though Goshen in the northwestern part of Rockbridge.

The Valley Railroad, which became the Baltimore and Ohio, built a handsome Gothic Revival station in Lexington on McLaughlin Street, which served both the B&O and the C&O railroads. There were stations in Buena Vista, Raphine, Fairfield, Timber Ridge, Glasgow, Natural Bridge Station and Goshen.

Trains backed into Lexington because there was no way to turn around at the station. They turned around where the two railroads met at East Lexington. It was still possible to get on the train in Buena Vista in the early 1950s in the evening and wake up in Penn Station in New York City.

Rail passenger service to Lexington lasted until 1954. Buena Vista had passenger service on the Norfolk & Western, successor to the Shenandoah Valley Railroad until 1963. Rail service to Lexington ended when Hurricane Camille washed out the trestle over the Maury in 1969. Today, you can catch an Amtrak train in Staunton, Roanoke, Lynchburg or Charlottesville, but not anywhere within Rockbridge.

The automobile became the dominant means of transportation following World War I. The 1920s saw an explosion of highway construction with paved highways taking the place of dirt and gravel roads. Most of these early highways followed existing roads, and US Rt. 11 and Rt. 60 became major national thoroughfares with Lexington as their crossing point.

Just an example of what was happening shows up in an article in the Rockbridge County News’s edition of Jan. 11,1923. That story described “progress in the construction of a durable highway system,” particularly the Lynchburg-Lexington Pike, which appears to be US Rt. 501. It mentioned that the old road crossed the James River above Balcony Falls on a ferry, but that the new road would cross farther down at Snowden on a new bridge, which carried Rt. 501 over the James until the 1960s.

Travel by car on the US highway system remained fairly unchanged until the coming of the Interstate highway system in the 1960s. Highway traffic, including heavy trucks, came right through downtown Lexington and Buena Vista. Rts. 11 and 60 were the interstates of their day, and local businesses benefitted from the traffic. The Lexington bypass taking Rt. 11 around town was completed in the 1950s to alleviate some of the congestion, but Rt. 60 traffic came through town until the early 1970s. Local worshipers at Lexington Presbyterian Church old enough to remember will recall that sermons were sometimes interrupted by loud trucks coming through on Nelson Street on Sunday mornings.

Things began to change with the building of Interstate 81, starting in the early 1960s. I-81 was completed through Rockbridge County by 1965, and I-64 by the early 1970s. Now, traffic passed around the towns, and travel related businesses on Rt. 11 and Rt. 60 withered.

The organization of Lexington’s tourism program by the Chamber in the mid-1960s was in part spurred by the realization that the interstates would bypass downtown Lexington, and, along with it, the people who would stop for gas, meals, to rest or even stay overnight. A program was needed to bring visitors off those Interstate highways into town.

The interstates have reduced travel times by automobile significantly — unless there’s an accident or road construction — and solidified the car as the primary means of personal transportation, whether to a destination 50 miles away or 500.

There are alternatives to driving, of course. See the ‘Getting Here’ story on page 11 for information on getting to and from the Rockbridge area by train or airplane. Regardless of the conveyance, there’s no question that transportation today is a far remove from a century and a half ago.

Previous page, clockwise from top left: The B&O station at Raphine in the early 1900s. Early Buena Vista train station. Train crossing at Loch Laird, just south of Buena Vista. Laying track on the old canal towpath. This page, clockwise from top left: The last passenger to depart the Lexington railroad station on a scheduled train, 1954. Building the first East Nelson Street bridge, late 1930s. Lexington railroad station, 1920s.

lIve IT

The Walker Entrepreneurship Program

Honors Local Black Business Leaders

Once an important destination in the Motorist Green Book, Black-owned businesses dwindled for a half-century in Lexington, VA, until the last Black-owned storefront shut down in 2018. Five years later, Rockbridge county is experiencing a renaissance of Black entrepreneurship — all thanks to what started out as a volunteer initiative following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

During the Jim Crow era (1877–1950s), the Black community made up almost one-third of Lexington’s total population. What’s more, they started and ran more than a dozen businesses along North Main Street, four of which were featured in the Negro Motorist Green Book. As desegregation and civil rights took root in the southern Shenandoah Valley between the 1960s and 1980s, more and more Black businesses closed their doors. Their main clientele began frequenting other venues or simply left the area in pursuit of a life in desegregated America. Eventually, in 2018, the last Black-owned businesses in Lexington — The Victorian Parlour and Shenandoah Attic, owned for 27 years by a husband and wife team, ernestine and Al Hockaday — were sold to new owners.

When the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 shook the United States, it didn’t leave Lexington untouched. A volunteer group of local entrepreneurs, community members and organizations banded together to address racial inequities

in their community: The Harry Lee and Eliza Bannister Walker Entrepreneurship Program was born. Launched in the fall of 2020, the program was named after leading Black business owners in early 20th century Lexington. The Walker Program set out to establish four to six new businesses owned and operated by people of color in the community.

Fast forward to 2022: The Walker Program has:

n Trained 26 entrepreneurs over three training cohorts,

n Five of which opened a physical storefront in Lexington or Buena Vista, and

n Pledged $160,000 in start-up grants to date, all made possible by donations from community members, organizations and schools.

These efforts have been assisted in part by the Community Navigator Pilot Program, an American Rescue Plan initiative designed to reduce barriers that all small businesses, including those owned by disadvantaged groups such as veterans, women, and those from rural communities and communities of color, often face in accessing critical support. The Walker Program is part of a consortium that includes a total of six entrepreneurial support organizations for underserved entrepreneurs throughout the Shenandoah Valley, hosted by the Shenandoah Community Capital Fund. During its first year in the program, the Walker program provided more than 60 training hours and a total of 300 individual counseling hours to the 26 entrepreneurs in their program.

Below: Entrepreneur participants in the Walker Program gather at the Program office.

In 2023, the Walker program will continue to host its 11-week training program during which entrepreneurs receive education and targeted technical assistance. Following the training period, entrepreneurs can apply for grant funding to get their businesses off the ground. In addition to their cohortbased training, the Walker program offers:

n Monthly workshops on various businessrelated topics

n One-on-one business counseling

n Free legal aid through a partnership with the Washington & Lee Law School

n Free marketing assistance

n Free bookkeeping assistance

As a Walker Program graduate, Gabrielle Cash now helps run the program and supports Black entrepreneurs in Rockbridge county. Cash, an Atlanta native, knows what a flourishing Black economy should look like. “Lexington is not quite that… yet,” she says. “With that being said, I believe there’s a great deal of support in the city. Between the churches, schools, and local organizations, I haven’t come across anyone who isn’t interested in seeing the program or our entrepreneurs thrive. Our partnerships with the local universities and other organizations have been a great asset and we continue to build on these relationships.”

One of the last Black-owned businesses to close in recent years was Wendell’s Barber Shop, owned and operated by Wendell Baker for more than 50 years. It’s only fitting that Wendell’s location is now the new home of Allyson Davoll Cartwright’s Inspired to Enhance, a nail and hair salon on Lexington’s Jefferson Street. Walker Program graduate Melissa Wooding has opened up the Coffee Corner cafe inside the Rockbridge Regional Library, offering coffee, tea, cupcakes, danishes, and other pastries to Rockbridge book lovers. Justina Eason specializes in balloon installations,

balloon bouquets, stuffed balloons, and custom special occasion decorations through Tina’s Balloon Emporium. Another Walker Program participant, Trevor Stores currently manages SkyBar, an extension of the popular Blue Sky restaurant. SkyBar offers light fare, a compelling drink menu, and good vibes to town residents and visitors. In Buena Vista, Tasha Coleman of Tasha Lamar Photography & Films is in the process of opening her photography studio, Studio Create, where she’ll be offering portrait sessions, themed sessions for special occasions, and photography workshops for emerging photographers in the area.

Gabrielle Cash and the Walker Program board are intimately familiar with the challenges Black entrepreneurs face. “There are still many gaps in the opportunities and resources generally available to Black individuals in this area, as there are in the country. They encounter difficulties ranging from denial of business loans to being given the runaround when trying to secure retail space,” Cash says. “I don’t know if the importance of the Black dollar is a concept that is understood on a widespread level just yet, but I hope that is one of many things we can continue to educate on in an effort to see systemic change.”

Even though capacity and systemic barriers are major issues, the Walker Program has big plans for the future. “We’d love to offer a mentorship component as part of the program to expand the network and assistance available to the entrepreneurs,” Cash says. “Another major barrier for Black entrepreneurs is the lack of equitable access to capital. We’re raising philanthropic dollars right now to expand our grant fund to be better able to meet participants’ requests for funding. A grant of a few thousand dollars can really make a difference to put a new business in a position to get off the ground and thrive. Lastly, we’re working

to find more partner organizations that are willing to offer free or inexpensive services, such as tax assistance, accounting services, marketing help, to the entrepreneurs that go through our program.”

Though the Walker Program is currently offering training once annually, its mission goes beyond helping Black entrepreneurs succeed. Says Cash, “It is my hope that this community continues to embrace the work we are doing as a program and support the Black entrepreneurs who have great ideas and business plans. A lot of these individuals are in the process of trying to build a foundation for generational wealth for their families, and I hope our efforts through this program can better position them to do so.

Top, left to right: Gabrielle Cash, a Walker Program graduate, is program coordinator for the program. Enjoying food and drink at Sky Bar.

Bottom: Blue Tulip Beauty Supply exhibits during a holiday pop-up market at Bank of the James.

We appreciate the sharing of this story by the Shenandoah Community Capital Fund, which appeared on its blog.

The Walker & Wood Families Community Leaders and Entrepreneurs

Though he only went as far as the fourth grade, Harry Lee Walker never let his lack of higher education hold him back. His entrepreneur spirit wouldn’t let him.

Walker was born in Lexington on July 4, 1875, the same day as Washington and Lee University’s Boat Race Day. His first two names came from the name of the team that won the race.

At the age of 19, Harry Lee Walker married Eliza Bannister of Collierstown. Like her husband, she had little in the way of formal education, but she was bright and well read. She also was very active in civic groups such as the Eastern Star, Household of Ruth, the Elks, NAACP and Colored Citizens for Equal Education. In 1921 she was the host of the Virginia Federation of Colored Women’s conference at her home, Blandome. She was a passionate advocate for funding local schools, helping orphans and raising wages for women and Black people.

Harry Lee Walker lived in Lexington all his life and was well- known primarily for the butcher shop he owned in what is now known as the Willson-Walker House, today the location of Macado’s. He operated the business with his partner and son-in-law, Clarence M. Wood, Sr., beginning in 1923. It was known for its home-cured Virginia hams and other meat specialties. Walker & Wood’s Sanitary Meat Market and Grocery was a prominent Black-owned business for many years in downtown Lexington. The shop supplied the local colleges and fraternities with meat.

In 1917, the Walkers bought Blandome, the stately Italianate home at the east end of Henry Street. The home remained in the family for nearly eight decades (one of his daughters was still living there in 1985) and there are many photographs of the family posing on the house’s palatial porch. The house is now listed in the National Historic Register.

Walker made a major land purchase in 1901 — a 14-acre farm on what was then the Old Buena Vista Road just east of Lexington, running from roughly the present location of the CVS drug store the site of the Bank of Botetourt. Walker kept a pig pen and a slaughterhouse there. He lost quite a bit of the land when U.S. 60 came through in the 1930s, but he saw that there was money to be made in commercial development.

Eliza Walker was also a woman of great talents. She was active in The Nightingales singing group and appeared in pageants at First Baptist Church. She also enjoyed writing poetry in her spare time and wrote mostly in dialect.

Walker was involved in many civic organizations and was a deacon in the First Baptist Church. He liked football, livestock and state fair shows, as well as minstrel and medicine shows.

Eliza Walker preceded her husband in death at the age of 65 on Dec. 14, 1939. Harry Lee Walker died March 4, 1941, at the age of 65. They are buried next to each other in Evergreen Cemetery.

A collection of Walker family papers — including Eliza’s hand-written poems — was donated to Washington and Lee University’s Special Collections in 2007. Before the cache was handed over to the university, Walker’s surviving relatives had a chance to look through them. Grandson Alex Wood, who grew up at Blandome, recalled that as a young boy he spent a lot of time avoiding his sometimes fearsome grandmother. “She always had something for me to do,” he said at the time.

Harry Lee Walker’s son-in-law, Clarence Wood, Sr., was quite the renaissance man. He was a graduate of Virginia Union University. With his wife, Nannie Elizabeth, the Walker’s daughter, they raised six children at Blandome. Wood managed his father-in law’s business after Walker’s death.

He was a newspaper editor, real estate broker, insurance salesman, and taught night school. In the 1940s, he was the administrator of the segregated Green Pastures Recreation Area (now Longdale Recreation Area) in Alleghany County. On the old farm property bought years before by Walker, now on East Nelson Street, Wood owned a car dealership, gas station and ice cream parlor by the time he died in 1957. Nannie Wood managed the family’s enterprises until her death in 1993.

Left to right: Harry Lee Walker. Eliza Bannister Walker. Harry Lee Walker and Clarence Wood, Sr. in front of Walker & Wood Meats on North Main Street.

EDUCATION

Public Education in Rockbridge Three

Centuries Of Progress

From the 1740s to the early 1800s in Rockbridge County, education was up to individual families. Home schooling, hired tutors, and occasionally local Presbyterian ministers formed the primary means of education. Families would also pool resources to hire a teacher and build a schoolhouse. Often these schools were on land unfit for farming, hence the name ‘Old Field Schools.’ Private academies were an option for more prosperous families.

In 1810, a state fund to provide basic education to poor children was created by the Virginia General Assembly. The Literary Fund received money from escheats, fines, forfeitures and penalties due to the state. The first appropriation in 1818 of $45,000 created free schools for white children. The system reflected class distinction but it grew and is the genesis of Virginia’s public education system. That year in Rockbridge County, an education commission was established with three commissioners and a treasurer to administer the public school money coming from the state Literary Fund.

The post-war Virginia constitution of 1869 mandated the legislature establish true public schools state-wide. The Literary Fund was put under the newly constituted state board of education. On March 2, 1870, William Henry Ruffner, of Rockbridge County, was elected superintendent of Virginia’s public school system.

In 1870, when Dr. John Lyle Campbell was elected school superintendent for Rockbridge County, there were 35 schools, but only 700 of the roughly 6,000 youth in the county, Black and White, between the ages of 5 and 21 were enrolled in the elementary grades. By 1875, there were 86 schools, staffed by 89 teachers in the county school system.

Housing of schools seemed to be a recurring issue, especially in Lexington. At one point, the first floor of the Franklin Society building (now The Palms) was used as the town school. At other times, private homes were rented. Finally, in 1892, the school board bought property on East Washington Street and William Henry Ruffner School was constructed. The building is now Lexington’s City Hall.

There was no separate high school, however in 1894, Lexington High School began with the offering of advanced courses at Ruffner. In 1897, Dr. Harrington Waddell was hired as principal of the high school, a position he held until 1952.

The need for a separate high school was apparent, and the facilities of the private Ann Smith Academy on the corner of Lee Avenue and Nelson Street offered a solution. The academy trustees agreed to lease the building to the school board in July, 1903. In 1907, the property was bought by the school system, and the school board wasted no time in deciding to tear down the old building and build a new modern school building. Local opposition notwithstanding, the new high school building was completed in November, 1909. This building was for many years Ann Smith Elementary School and is now the Chi Psi fraternity.

While the state constitution required educational opportunities to be extended to all students, Black and White, the facilities were segregated. Of the school-age children in the county in 1870, roughly threequarters were white but fully one quarter were Black — a much higher percentage than today. Black children were educated in ‘colored schools,’ but attendance was low — understandably given the economic situation of most Black families in the area. By the turn of the century, though, a petition was filed with the school board for the establishment of a high school for Black students in Lexington. The first session began in the fall of 1899, but attendance was low, and after a two-year trial, the high school was discontinued.

Top, left to right: Construction of the new Parry McCluer High School in 2000. Lexington city hall was built as Ruffner School in 1892.

Inset: Dr. William Henry Ruffner, a Rockbridge native who was the first state superintendentof schools.

After a sustained campaign by African-American parents for equitable school opportunities for their children, Lylburn Downing School on Diamond Street was completed in 1927, housing the segregated Black elementary school for Lexington and surrounding area of the county.

Initially, only first through ninth grades were offered. Parents had to send their children to schools out of the county, and even out of state for high school. By the 1940s, high school diplomas were being awarded from Lylburn Downing High School. LDHS closed as a high school in 1965 when Lexington City Schools were integrated. The Lylburn Downing campus was converted to a middle school for the city, with the oldest part becoming a community center in the 1980s.

In 1902, Palmer Academy was started by a group of interested families in the BuffaloCollier’s Creek area of the county. Stock was sold and land donated, and a two-story frame building was erected on an acre of land on North Buffalo Creek. The Palmer Academy had a rigorous curriculum of language, math, literature, science, music, painting and ‘useful arts.’ All four members of the first graduating class went on to college and all became teachers. After three years of private operation, the academy became a part of the public school system, becoming Palmer High School, the first rural high school in the county. Today, it’s the Palmer Community Center.

There were many more schools throughout the county during the first half of the 20th century than today. There were school houses, some just one room, in such places as Waterloo, East Lexington, Ben Salem, Goshen, Glasgow, Riverside, and one called Unexpected School located on Big Hill Road between House Mountain and North Mountain. Over the years, many of these were consolidated into larger, more modern elementary schools. The old Lexington High School, now the site of Waddell Elementary, was built in 1929. Natural Bridge High was built in 1939.

The 1950s saw much new school construction and more consolidation. In 1950, there were 25 schools in the county and Lexington. By 1960, there were only 16. Seven new schools were built, and nine others renovated or enlarged. Among the major projects were Mountain View Elementary (1953,) Natural Bridge Elementary (1956,) Central Elementary (1958,) Lexington High School — now Maury River Middle School (1960,) and Rockbridge High School — now the private Rivermont School (1961.)

Recognizing the need for expanded technical and vocational education, the Floyd S. Kay Vocational Technical Center was built just north of Lexington in 1976. That site would also be used for the new Rockbridge County High School in 1992, which combined Lexington, Rockbridge and Natural Bridge High Schools.

Buena Vista’s schools date from it becoming a city in 1892. It operates Parry McCluer High School, a middle school and two elementary schools. In 1973, under the leadership of Dr. James Bradford, Buena Vista’s schools adopted a year-round school year for the high school. Participation is voluntary, but a follow-up study done 20 years later showed an increase in student enrollment, an increase in achievement scores, a decline in the drop-out rate and student and faculty support for continuation of the program.

Lexington became an independent city in 1966, with its own school system. It operates two schools, Waddell Elementary and Lylburn Downing Middle School, and has an agreement with the county by which city students attend RCHS.

Any discussion of local education would be incomplete without mentioning Mountain Gateway Community College (MGCC, formerly Dabney S. Lancaster Community College.) Mountain Gateway’s Rockbridge Center in Buena Vista offers credit and non-credit classes with both day and night classes. The center is home to the school’s culinary arts, massage therapy, and licensed practical nursing programs. MGCC recently released plans for the Wilson Workforce Development Center, a $5.3 million project renovating an old car dealership in downtown Buena Vista to bring more technical and trades education to the county.

Top, left to right: Palmer Community Center was originally the home of Palmer Academy and Palmer High School. The Wilson Workforce Development Center will occupy the old Courtesy Motors building in Buena Vista.

Inset: Rev. Lylburn L. Downing, Lexington native, and civic and religious leader in Roanoke. (photo courtesy Collection of the Historical Society of Western Virginia, 2007.41.2.)

love IT

Tourism in Rockbridge A Fascinating History & a Bright Future

The Rockbridge Area has a long history of welcoming visitors going back several hundred years. The county has been a natural thoroughfare for travel from the northeast into Tennessee and Kentucky from the time of the Iroquois and Cherokee to the Scotch-Irish immigrations of the 1700s. But it was several geological features that started bringing what we would call tourists coming to our area in the 1800s.

The Natural Bridge of Virginia has been a draw for visitors since the time of Thomas Jefferson’s ownership of it. By the 1830s, the Forest Inn was hosting the increasing number of people coming to see the Bridge, both Americans and even Europeans. By 1890, a large resort hotel stood on the site of the present hotel. It was said at the time that if you had visited the Natural Bridge and Niagara Falls, you were a well-travelled person.

The other draw to this area in the 19th and early 20th century were the mountain mineral springs of western Virginia and West Virginia. Wealthy people living near the coasts sought to escape the heat and disease of summertime by going to mountain resorts, where there was the added attraction of mineral waters to drink and bathe in. The Rockbridge Alum Springs was one of those mountain spas popular with Tidewater Virginians. The old springs property is now the site of the Young Life camp.

Travel to the Rockbridge area became easier with the coming of the James River Canal to Lexington in the 1850s and the railroads in the 1880s. Forty years later, in the 1920s, paved highways for automobiles opened the area from all points via US 11 and US 60.

The Lexington Chamber of Commerce, later the Lexington/Rockbridge Chamber, was involved in promoting the area to visitors and prospective residents from its early days, running advertisements in the Atlantic Monthly in the 1930s promoting Lexington as a tourist and residential destination.

The Depression and gas rationing during World War II kept most people at home, but by the 1950s, Americans were taking to the roads. Construction on Interstate 81 through Rockbridge County started in the early 1960s, and by 1966 was essentially complete throughout Virginia. I-64 took longer with the mountain crossings over North Mountain west of Lexington and Rockfish Gap at Waynesboro.

Left to right: The candlelight procession through downtown Lexington which opens the holiday season in November. Enjoying a glass of wine. Rockbridge’s iconic Natural Bridge of Virginia.

The attractions of the area were not lost on local leaders. With the wealth of historic sites, a revitalizing downtown Lexington, Natural Bridge, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the colleges, and the natural beauty of the area, the fact that Rockbridge could be a tourist destination became more apparent.

In 1965, under the leadership of Chamber president G. Otis Mead, the Chamber sought the help of Colonial Williamsburg to evaluate Lexington’s potential for tourism. The study’s author, Thomas McKaskey, noted that with the completion of Interstates 81 and 64, there would be little through traffic in Lexington. He recommended developing an organized tourism program. The Chamber office was the logical first step as a tourist information center and starting point for tours.

Within months of the release of the McKaskey report, the Chamber launched a tour program, with high school students serving as guides. There was a regular walking tour at 3 pm every day, and special custom tours could be booked. Visitors could also pick up a handsome brochure with a self-guided tour to 23 local points of interest. By 1970, almost 10,000 visitors a year were registering at the Chamber office.

But within a few years, it was plain that the tourism effort needed to evolve to a higher level. The Chamber commissioned a new study by the Martin and Woltz advertising agency of Richmond. That report, presented to the Chamber in early 1972, recommended that a professional director be hired to administer the program, to be funded by a two percent tax on meals and lodging in the city and county.

Ultimately, the City of Lexington established the Department of Visitor Relations, funded by the meals and lodging tax in the city. Richard R. Fletcher, a retired Sigma Nu fraternity executive, was hired in April, 1973 to run the new program, now fully independent of the Chamber.

Under Fletcher, the tourism program got its own home with the establishment of the Lexington Visitor Center in the Sloan House on East Washington Street. Jay Denny took over in 1975. Visitor numbers, as measured by registrations at the Visitor Center, grew 11 percent during Denny’s tenure. He focused on getting press kits on Lexington to major city newspapers and developing more self-guided walking tours of the city. Denny was succeeded by Peter Goss, who served from 1978 to 1981.

In January of 1982, Martha M. Doss took charge. Doss was a former advertising executive with a major ad agency, and she lost no time in expanding the area’s tourism program. Under her leadership, the current Visitor Center was created in the telephone company building across Washington Street. In a story in The NewsGazette at the time of her retirement in 1996, she said that the Visitor Center was the “front door to the community…. They [visitors] go out of the door with a pleasant impression and want to come back.”

The opening of the Virginia Horse Center in 1985 was a huge boost to tourism in Rockbridge. In 1993, the Visitor Center opened a satellite office at the horse center. Realizing that tourism promotion really is a regional issue, Lexington, Buena Vista and Rockbridge County consolidated their respective programs into the Regional Tourism Program, overseen by the Rockbridge Area Tourism Advisory Board, with representatives from the three jurisdictions.

continued on page 24

Left to right: High school students were the first tour guides for Lexington’s tourism program in 1965. Richard Fletcher was the first director of Lexington’s tourism program. Regional tourism program director Martha Doss oversaw dramatic growth in visitors and programs during her 14 years.

Tourism, continued from page 23

During Doss’s tenure, the area received national attention from some high-profile stories on the area, most notably a 1991 cover story in Colonial Homes magazine. The movies came to the area in the 1990s, with parts of Summersby and The Foreign Student being filled here, as well as several made-for-TV movies. When Martha Doss retired in 1996, visitor numbers had more than doubled from the time she was hired.

Jean Tardy Clark, a Rockbridge native and assistant director of the visitor bureau under Doss, was promoted to Tourism Director and remains in charge of the area’s tourism program today.

As the new millennium arrived, things were changing in what drew visitors to the area, and how the area was promoted. The internet was becoming more important both for promotion by the Regional Tourism Program and for visitors planning their trips.

In 2012, baby boomers were still the dominant demographic visiting the Rockbridge area, and sightseeing, browsing downtown shops, and visiting the historic sites and museums were top activities, according to a tourism marketing director’s report given to the area’s leaders. The report went on to say that younger generations will be even more digitally-oriented, and interested in wineries, hiking, camping, river sports and music festivals. The report urged the area to prepare for these new generations of potential visitors.

The first workshop in 2014 about connecting and balancing nature with commerce was a springboard to the outdoor recreation movement and to Rockbridge Outdoors, bringing together a group of 40 plus businesses, agencies, non-profits, etc. with the mission to collaboratively advance, create, and promote outdoor recreational opportunities in the Rockbridge area.

The creation of Natural Bridge State Park and the growing popularity of the Virginia Safari Park are bringing more visitors to the southern part of the county every year. And the North Rockbridge Trail, with Saturdays filled with small businesses, farms, vineyards and attractions in the northern part of the county are bringing the benefits of tourism to the entire county, not just the towns.

All of these and more are in evidence in 2023. Outdoor recreation brings thousands of visitors to Rockbridge’s trails, rivers and country roads. Interest in agrotourism is big, especially if you include local wineries, cideries and breweries. The growing interest in food is seen here too, with a diversity of cuisines available in local restaurants, The Freedom Food Festival in downtown Lexington is wildly popular, and the Chamber’s Rockbridge Beer and Wine Festival in September has been a consistent draw over the years. The visitor bureau’s listings on its website showcase a broad diversity of events and attractions, with something that should appeal to about every interest.

Today, over 250,000 visit the bureau’s website at lexingtonvirginia.com. Location analytics – data about where people and their mobile devices are physically located — indicated that over 800,000 people visited Rockbridge County in 2022. The combined direct visitor spending in Lexington, Buena Vista and Rockbridge County brought over $198 million to the area’s economy, and contributed $9.5 million in local tax revenue.

The vision those Chamber board members had back in 1965, and the efforts of dedicated and able tourism program directors since that time have made Lexington and the Rockbridge area a destination for day trips and longer overnight stays, and changed the economy of the area.

Top left to right: Hikers love the views from our trails. Balloons Over Rockbridge bring people to the area in early July. Friday afternoon parades at VMI.

Bottom left to right: The Maury and James Rivers are popular with canoeists and kayakers. Looking west at Buena Vista and the valley from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Work IT

Local Real Estate Industry Has Adapted To Change

In the United States, independent real estate brokers began offering homes for sale as agents of the sellers around 1900. Shortly thereafter, in 1908, the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges was formed in Chicago.

That trade association became the National Association of Realtors in 1972. The association’s members belong to one of roughly 1600 local boards or associations around the country. Members may use the trademarked title Realtor®, and are required to adhere to a code of ethics and to operate under its standards of practice.

Members may work as residential and commercial real estate brokers, real estate salespeople, appraisers, real property managers — indeed, in any aspect of the real estate industry where state licensure is required. A person may work in real estate and hold a state-issued real estate license, but unless they are a member of the National Association of Realtors, they may not call themselves a Realtor®.

For over fifty years, the Rockbridge Highlands Realtors Association has been a trusted resource for homebuyers and sellers in this community. The first local Realtor association formed in 1970, when seven local brokers organized themselves as the Lexington-Rockbridge Board of Realtors. At that time, there were just a handful of agents in those seven offices. The next decade was a time of growth in the real estate industry locally and membership grew, both in terms of agents and broker firms. To reflect membership from Buena Vista, the name of the organization was changed to the Lexington-Buena VistaRockbridge Association of Realtors.

The year 2017 saw two big changes to the organization. The first was a name change to Rockbridge Highlands Realtors, reflecting expanding membership from Realtors in Bath and Alleghany Counties. The second was the purchase of an office condominium by the association in the 30 Crossing Lane building north of Lexington.

When the association started, there was no Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in the Rockbridge area. Local broker’s offices prepared property information sheets that were distributed among the offices so that agents were aware of listed properties. Eventually, these sheets were submitted to the association’s executive and sent to an MLS provider, who then published the listings information in magazine form, which was then distributed monthly to local brokers and agents. When it came time to showing properties to prospective buyers, agents had to pick up keys at each listing office to access the homes. This was time-consuming, and depended on all keys being returned promptly to the listing office.

By the late 1990s, computers and the internet were revolutionizing many aspects of life and the real estate profession was an early adopter. The internet made it possible for listings to be uploaded to an online searchable database, accessible to all association members. It also made possible electronic keys allowing agents convenient access to homes for showings using cell phone applications.

ROCKBRIDGE HIGHLANDS REALTORS O

From the beginnings of the organized real estate profession over a hundred years ago, members of Realtor associations nationwide worked on behalf of sellers, either directly as listing agents or indirectly as sub-agents of the listing agents. However, as the real estate industry evolved, and it was recognized that buyers also needed advocacy, buyer agency became more common. Eventually, all agents could choose to represent either sellers or buyers, or both, which created a more balanced and equitable industry.

Locally, the number of local real estate professionals was relatively small until the 1970s and 80s. Otis Mead, longtime Realtor in Lexington remembers that before the start of the local association, a small group of brokers would meet for lunch at the Virginia House restaurant several times a year. Prior to the creation of a formal local association, brokers generally sold their own listings, and if a client was interested in a property listed by another broker, they would be referred to that broker.

Beginning in the 1950s, certain external forces began to stimulate the business of buying and selling homes in the Rockbridge area. The locating and growth of industries in the county and Buena Vista, and growth at the colleges brought new people here. The creation of the Virginia Horse Center in 1984 was a big driver of farm and land sales. And a steady stream of national publicity about the Rockbridge area as a great retirement destination brought newcomers who had no previous ties to the community.

During the decades of the 1970s through the 1990s, many new people became licensed brokers and quite a few new brokerage firms were started. This was a time when women became much more active in the profession. By the year 2000, it was not uncommon for a many as 18 brokerage firms to be advertising in The News-Gazette. The Great Recession of 2007–2009 cut the number of firms and the number of agents active in the business from those heady days.

Locally, the real estate market and the brokerage industry was pretty stable for the decade between the end of the recession and the pandemic outbreak in 2019. The past four years have been a roller coaster ride for real estate, with home values soaring as demand grew, outstripping supply. Then, starting last year, the rapid increase in interest rates, along with a continuing lack of home inventory, has kept sales modest.

Through all of this, our local real estate brokerage industry appears to be negotiating these headwinds. Like most people in salesrelated professions, they are by nature optimistic, and realize that the things that make this are such a great place to live will keep the phones ringing and the emails coming in.

Local Real Estate-Related Businesses

MORTGAGE BANKING

Alcova Mortgage LLC

Caliber Home Loans

City National Bank

CornerStone Bank

DuPont Community Credit Union

Farm Credit

Virginia Mountain Mortgage

PROPERTY LEASING & MANAGEMENT

H and K Properties Inc.

Harding & Associates Inc.

Security Management Inc.

Signature Property Management

REAL ESTATE SERVICES

Fresh Estates & Country Properties Inc.

H and K Properties Inc.

Harding & Associates Inc.

J. F. Brown Real Estate Services

James River Realty

James Wm. Moore

Real Estate Co.

Lexington Real Estate Connection

Rockbridge Highlands Realtors

Locher Real Estate, LLC

Old Dominion Realty

Paula Martin Real Estate Team

Security Management Inc.

Sterling Properties & Management, LLC

Vita & Associates Inc.

Waterloo Creek Farm

Wheeler & Associates Realty

See the member directory starting on page 38 for more information.

Top right: Realtors association members are active in the community.

Bottom, facing page and this page)

Local Realtors assist with sales of farms and land, development property, homes and commercial property.

Previous page, top, left to right: Rockbridge Highlands Realtors 2023 board of directors. Cutting the ribbon to open Rockbridge Highlands Realtors’ office.

Caring For Our Health Many Changes Over The Past Century

Prior to the 20th century, healthcare in Rockbridge was delivered by individual physicians — the country doctor — and people recovered from illness and injuries at home. Doctors made house calls and saw patients in their offices.

The practice of medicine was evolving rapidly by the end of the 1800s, becoming more professional and scientifically-based. New drugs and procedures were being introduced. Anesthesia and sterile techniques made surgery less risky and diagnostics such as x-ray devices made hospitals a more attractive treatment option.

The Rockbridge area’s first public hospital, Jackson Memorial, opened in 1907 in the former home of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, on Washington Street. The hospital was run by the Mary Custis Lee Chaper of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The Davidson-Tucker House next door housed a part of the hospital, via a connecting enclosed addition. The hospital would remain in the Jackson House for 47 years.

The need for a new hospital grew as both medicine and the area grew. An effort to build a new facility culminated in the opening in early 1954 of a brand new hospital, Stonewall Jackson Hospital (SJH), on the site of the present hospital on Spotswood Drive. The 65-bed facility was added onto in 1958, increasing the medical and surgical beds by 15. Another two-story patient wing was added in 1984.

To address the growing need for elder care, the hospital’s Extended Care Facility was completed and opened in 1964, providing space for 50 beds, on two floors. The same year, the SJH nursing school began accepting students.

By the late 1990s, the existing facility was increasingly obsolete and inefficient. Changing reimbursement and staffing requirements made operating the Extended Care Facility a loss to the hospital. The hospital board was faced with the choice between a major renovation to the old structure or building a new hospital. It voted to build a new facility.

Fortunately, the campus had sufficient land for a new building. The final design called for a five-story building, three above ground and two built into the slope of the site, incorporating the 1984 two-story addition, but demolishing the old single-story 1954 and 1958 construction.

Phase one of the project opened in late spring, 2002, and Phases 2 and 3, which involved renovation of the existing patient wing into the emergency department, and demolition of the old structure, took place over the following months. An agreement was made with Kendal of Lexington to take over care for the elderly formerly provided in the ECF in its Borden Center.

It was becoming increasingly difficult for rural hospitals to survive as independent entities by the 2000s, and Stonewall Jackson Hospital’s board made the decision to sell a controlling interest in the hospital to Carilion Clinic in 2005. The SJH Community Hospital Foundation has used the funds from that sale, and the sale of the remaining 20 percent ownership in 2020 to invest in the health of our community.

Solo practice and small group practices provided primary healthcare to local residents with insurance or the ability to self-pay for decades until about 20 years ago, when local health systems began buying those practices as doctors faced mounting administrative costs and the difficulties of recruiting young physicians into their practices as they approached retirement. Most local practices are now owned by Carilion Clinic or Augusta Health.

Main image: The present-day Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital facility is the third building to provide hospital care to Rockbridge.

Top right: Rockbridge Area Health Center’s expanded building opened in 2019. Bottom right: Getting the jab — Covid vaccines at RAHC.

Care for the under- and uninsured has been an issue here and nationwide for years. Non-profit hospitals are generally obligated to give emergency care, and often had to write off much of the cost. The need to provide some form of primary care, particularly to children resulted in the creation of the Children’s Clinic in Lexington in the 1950s and 60s. Volunteer doctors and nurses provided free treatment. The coming of Medicaid in 1965 helped some local people obtain primary care, particularly children, but the eligibility requirements in Virginia meant that few adults were able to qualify. A local group formed in 1992 to try to fill this need, and the Rockbridge Area Free Clinic was the result. Opening in December of 1992, the Free Clinic saw 200 patients in the first year of operation, working one night a week with volunteer providers out of a 700 square foot building on North Main Street.

The Free Clinic soon outgrew the space it was in, and in 2003, moved to its present location on Northridge Lane. By then, the clinic was serving over 2,000 patients a year. Initially, the clinic only used about half of the space in the building, renting out the rest, but over the next 15 years, it occupied the full 9,000 square feet.

A community needs assessment study done in 2012 pointed to, among other things, a need for a community health center, to provide care to anyone regardless of ability to pay. As a result, the Free Clinic became a Federally Qualified Health Center in 2014, and changed its name to the Rockbridge Area Health Center (RAHC). Rather than rely on volunteer providers for much of the care, the Health Center hired full-time doctors, dentists, nurses and other health professionals.

As the Center grew in the services it offered and in the number of patients seen, it was clear that it needed larger quarters. The RAHC board decided on a plan not unlike what the hospital did in the early 2000s – expand and repurpose the current building. In 2019, it moved into the handsome 23,000 square foot facility it currently occupies. Medical, dental, behavioral health and health education services are all offered under one roof. The Health Center served over 7,000 patients last year, offering services to uninsured, underinsured and those with insurance.

RAHC operates a dental clinic and medical office in downtown Buena Vista, and a clinic at Kendal of Lexington.

Augusta Health is playing an increasing role in providing care in Rockbridge. As mentioned, it has bought a number of practices from local doctors. Both Carilion Clinic and Augusta Health bring specialists to Rockbridge on a regular schedule, but in 2017, Augusta Health renovated a former health foods store into a multi-specialty clinic north of Lexington on Greenhouse Road. In 2021, Augusta Health opened a primary care clinic in downtown Buena Vista.

LewisGale Physicians recently opened a family medicine and specialty center in Lexington at 539 E. Nelson Street. Specialties include cardiology, obstetrics and gynecology, nephrology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and breast disease management.

Our area is fortunate to have access to a broad range of primary care doctors and specialists, an excellent centrally-located hospital and local organizations that allow anyone to get quality healthcare regardless of ability to pay.

Top: Jackson Memorial Hospital in the Jackson House in the 1920s. The initial board of directors of the Rockbridge Area Free Clinic, 1992.

Bottom: Aerial view of Stonewall Jackson Hospital mid-1960s showing the newly constructed Extended Care Facility in the foreground. Young patient getting an exam at RAHC. Augusta Health’s Multi-specialty Clinic on Greenhouse Road provides specialty care under one roof.

HOW TO START A BUSINESS IN ROCKBRIDGE

Looking to begin your journey of starting your own business? It will take a lot of planning and preparation, but the Rockbridge area offers people and resources dedicated to helping you start your business successfully.

BRAINSTORM YOUR IDEA

Turn your great idea and passions into a business. Narrow your ideas and do your research on existing companies. How can you do it better?

KNOW YOUR RESOURCES

There are several programs in Rockbridge devoted to assisting both prospective and established businesses. The Gauntlet Program, the Walker Program, and the Small Business Development Center can provide education, advising, funding opportunities, and mentors to assist you as you enter your small business endeavor.

BUILD A BUSINESS PLAN

What are your business goals and how do you even get started? The Chamber co-hosts Start Smart Workshops with the Small Business Development Center to help individuals write their own business plan. Call the Chamber to find out when the next one is scheduled.

EVALUATE YOUR FINANCES

Do you have the ability to finance all of your start-up costs? You may need a commercial loan from a local bank or other lender. Check out our trusted banks, lenders, and financial advisors on pages 47 and 52 to help you with your start-up costs.

REGISTER WITH THE GOVERNMENT AND IRS

Get all of your forms and legal documents together to get your business registered.

n Register your business with the Virginia Department of Revenue.

n Register with the IRS and obtain a tax ID number (TIN.)

n Corporate entities or fictitious name registrants should register with the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

DETERMINE YOUR BUSINESS ENTITY TYPE

Business structure affects everything from how you file taxes to personal liability. The four basic types are: Sole Partnership, Partnership, Corporation and Limited Liability Company. There are many factors to consider when choosing your structure and it will be important when it comes to your after-tax finances and your ultimate endgame.

CHOOSE YOUR PARTNERS

Running a business has proven to be a lot of work. You do not have to do it all on your own, nor should you. We have an abundance of consultants and third-party vendors that can provide expert advice to help you run your business. Visit our member directory on page 50 to find trusted members of the community that will help get the job done, anywhere from HR to your IT needs.

PURCHASE AN INSURANCE POLICY

Choose an insurance policy that is tailored to your specific needs. Ask our local trusted insurance providers on page 54.

BUILD YOUR TEAM

You should choose carefully the people you would like to see working on your team. Post your job openings on lexrockchamber. com to find your next star employee.

BRAND YOURSELF AND ADVERTISE

Create your image and gain a band of followers before your opening day. It is important in this day and age of technology and media to have a solid marketing plan to get your brand off the ground. Not a PR guru? No problem! We know just the right people for you. Contact one of our local advertising professionals on pages 46 and 56.

CONNECT WITH OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Now that you have completed the state and federal requirements, you are ready to begin the registration process for the locality in which your business will be located. Verifying the zoning of the property you plan to operate your business where is vital. Visit our partners below to secure your business license:

City of Buena Vista, Department of Economic Development

2039 Sycamore Ave.

(540) 261- 8616 | www.bvcity.org

City of Lexington, City Manager

300 E. Washington St.

(540) 462- 3700

www.lexingtonva.gov

Rockbridge County, Office of Economic Development

150 S. Main St.

(540) 463-1473

www.rockbridgecountyva.gov

Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

220 University Blvd.

Harrisonburg, VA 22807

(540) 568-3227 | ValleySBDC.org

The Advancement Foundation

245 W 21st Street

Buena Vista, VA 24416

(540) 283-7062 | theadvancementfoundation.org

The Walker Program

25 W. Washington Street

Lexington, VA 24450

walkerprogram.com

Chamber of Commerce Service

Lexington, Buena Vista, and Rockbridge Co.

18 E. Nelson St, Suite 101

Lexington, VA 24450

(540) 463-5375

lexrockchamber.com

GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

In order to succeed in business, you should always look for more ways to grow. Connect with your local Economic Development Office (see the center box for contact information) for information and resources about growing your business. Some of the best ways to grow comes from collaboration with more established brands, partnering with charity organizations or volunteering. See our list of awesome nonprofits and community organizations on page 49.

GAIN

Join the Chamber of Commerce and become a part of a community of hundreds of trusted business leaders in the area. Give us a call at (540) 463-5375 or contact via email at info@lexrockchamber.com. You’re always welcome to stop by the office at 18 E. Nelson St., Ste. 101 in Lexington.

*

Previous page: Buena Vista City Economic Development Director Kristina Ramsey (left) and Chamber Executive Directory Tracy Lyons (right) assist The BeeVe owner Madeleine Wells (c.) with the ribbon cutting for the new business

In Print, Electronic Edition and Online

In Print, Electronic Edition and Online

The News-Gazette

TheNews-Gazette.com

Informing the Rockbridge area since 1801

Informing the Rockbridge area since 1801

20 W. Nelson St., Lexington ◆ (540) 463-3113

20 W. Nelson St., Lexington ◆ (540) 463-3113

*Based on a demonstrated 2.2 readers per paid print copy, average weekly e-Edition readership, and average weekly unique visitors to our website.

*Based on a demonstrated 2.2 readers per paid print copy, average weekly e-Edition readership, and average weekly unique visitors to our website.

Over 19,000 people know a good thing when they read it!

in the fall of 2022.

Happy customer enjoying an ice cream cone from The BeeVe.

10 REASONS TO JOIN

THE CHAMBER

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SERVING LEXINGTON, BUENA VISTA, AND ROCKBRIDGE COunty

1

MEMBERSHIP BRINGS CREDIBILITY to your business. You can increase positive perception among consumers and business owners when you’re identified as a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

2INCREASE YOUR VISIBILITY in the community. As a new member of the Chamber of Commerce, you will be listed in the Chamber Directory, e-newsletter and on social media. You can also grow your business by advertising with the Chamber and sponsoring events. The Chamber will promote your grand opening/ribbon cutting ceremony and assist with public relations efforts.

3

CREATE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES. Chambers have numerous committees and serving on one of them provides a variety of networking as well as professional leadership development. You can build your business while promoting developments of keen interest to local businesses and the Rockbridge area at large.

4

GAIN A VOICE in government. Chambers take on the tough issues and oppose new regulations, taxes, fees, assessments and costs directed at small businesses. It also helps protect the principles of free enterprise and aids businesses in being treated fairly.

7 ACQUIRE CUSTOMER REFERRALS. Every day, our Chamber receives calls from individuals and businesses looking for potential vendors, where Chamber members are always recommended.

5

MAKE BUSINESS CONTACTS. The Chamber’s most fundamental mission is to generate more business activity for the community. The Chamber initiates business-to-business commerce, networking opportunities and connects local professionals.

6

GET CHAMBER NEWSLETTERS.

Our Chamber Weekly is the go-to place for local businesses and citizens. Our e-newsletters include upcoming events, options to network, educational and advertising opportunities; recognizes new members; highlights weekly specials and exclusive member-only deals; and provides access to 3,000 plus local residents.

8 CHAMBER EVENTS AND PROGRAMS provide members with great opportunities to get to know new people and expand their prospect base. Chamber events are innovative and fun ways to help members meet potential customers, clients and vendors and generate new business leads.

9PROMOTION AND PUBLICITY. With a Chamber membership, you can reach potential clients through member exclusive advertising, networking opportunities and by serving on Chamber committees.

10ACCESS TO MEMBERS ONLY discounts and services, through the Chamber Benefits Card.

2023 CALENDAR

May 6

Of The Mill” 5K Race, Brownsburg to Wades Mill

21-23 Nuthin’ Fancy Bluegrass Festival, Glen Maury Park, Buena Vista

October

1 Harvest Festival, Rockbridge Vineyard & Brewery, Raphine

21 Apple Butter Festival at Wade’s Mill

22 Washington and Lee Intercollegiate Horse Show, Virginia Horse Center

November

February

MEMBER DIRECTORY

Accountants......................................................................................................................................................pg..46

Advertising/Promotions...........................................................................................................................pg..46

Agriculture..........................................................................................................................................................pg..46

Antiques/Estate Sales/Consignments...........................................................................................pg..46

Architectural Design & Building.........................................................................................................pg..46

Art Galleries.......................................................................................................................................................pg..46

Assisted Living.................................................................................................................................................pg.46

Attorneys.............................................................................................................................................................pg..46

Attractions..........................................................................................................................................................pg..46

Banks & Credit Unions................................................................................................................................pg..47

Beauty.....................................................................................................................................................................pg..47

Bed & Breakfasts............................................................................................................................................pg..47

Books & Stationery........................................................................................................................................pg..47

Breweries & Cideries...................................................................................................................................pg..47

Cabin & Cottage Rentals............................................................................................................................pg..47

Campgrounds & Camps............................................................................................................................pg..48

Carpets & Interiors.......................................................................................................................................pg..48

Caterers................................................................................................................................................................pg..48

Childcare..............................................................................................................................................................pg..48

Chiropractors...................................................................................................................................................pg..48

Churches..............................................................................................................................................................pg..48

Cleaning Services.........................................................................................................................................pg..48

Clothing/Shoes................................................................................................................................................pg..48

Colleges & Universities.............................................................................................................................pg..48

Community Organizations.......................................................................................................................pg..49

Computer Service/Sales...........................................................................................................................pg..50

Consultants........................................................................................................................................................pg..50

Contractors & Construction...................................................................................................................pg..50

Counseling..........................................................................................................................................................pg..50

Country Clubs.....................................................................................................................................................pg..51

Dance.......................................................................................................................................................................pg..52

Dental.......................................................................................................................................................................pg..51

Drug & Variety Stores...................................................................................................................................pg..51

Dry Cleaners........................................................................................................................................................pg..51

Entertainment....................................................................................................................................................pg..51

Equine Supplies & Services.....................................................................................................................pg..51

Event Planning...................................................................................................................................................pg..51

Financial & Investment Services........................................................................................................pg..52

Fitness....................................................................................................................................................................pg..52

Florists...................................................................................................................................................................pg..52

Food & Grocery.................................................................................................................................................pg..52

Forestry.................................................................................................................................................................pg..52

Funeral & Cremation Services..............................................................................................................pg..52

Gas Stations........................................................................................................................................................pg..52

Gifts & Specialty Items...............................................................................................................................pg..52

Golf............................................................................................................................................................................pg..53

Government........................................................................................................................................................pg..53

Graphic Design.................................................................................................................................................pg..53

Hardware..............................................................................................................................................................pg..53

Holistic Health...................................................................................................................................................pg..53

Home Furnishings..........................................................................................................................................pg..53

Home Maintenance........................................................................................................................................pg..53

Hospitals & Clinics.........................................................................................................................................pg..53

Hotels/Motels....................................................................................................................................................pg..53

Human Resource Services.......................................................................................................................pg..54

Individual Members......................................................................................................................................pg..54

Insurance ..............................pg..54

Interior Design..................................................................................................................................................pg..54

Jewelry...................................................................................................................................................................pg..54

Landscaping Design.....................................................................................................................................pg..54

Lawn Care............................................................................................................................................................pg..54

Legal Services ...................pg..54

Mail Services/Shipping..............................................................................................................................pg..55

Manufacturing & Production..................................................................................................................pg..55

Marketing.............................................................................................................................................................pg..55

Medical Supply.................................................................................................................................................pg..55

Medical, Dental & Nursing Care...........................................................................................................pg..55

Mortgage Banking..........................................................................................................................................pg..55

Office Furniture & Supplies.....................................................................................................................pg..55

Personal Services..........................................................................................................................................pg..55

Pets..........................................................................................................................................................................pg..56

Photographers/Photo Finishing/Framing...................................................................................pg..56

Press/Publications/Radio.......................................................................................................................pg..56

Printing & Typesetting Services.........................................................................................................pg..56

Private Schools...............................................................................................................................................pg..56

Property Leasing & Management......................................................................................................pg..56

Public Schools.................................................................................................................................................pg..56

Real Estate Services....................................................................................................................................pg..56

Resorts...................................................................................................................................................................pg..57

Restaurants........................................................................................................................................................pg..57

Sales .........................................pg..57

Service & Repair..............................................................................................................................................pg..57

Sporting Goods.................................................................................................................................................pg..57

Storage...................................................................................................................................................................pg..57

Tax Preparation................................................................................................................................................pg..57

Taxi............................................................................................................................................................................pg..57

Travel......................................................................................................................................................................pg..58

Utilities..................................................................................................................................................................pg..58

Veterinarians....................................................................................................................................................pg..58

Vineyards.............................................................................................................................................................pg..58

MEMBERS – ALPHABETICAL

MEMBERS BY CATEGORY

ACCOUNTANTS

Imler & Imler, CPAs, PLC

Craig Imler (540) 458-3847

30 Crossing Lane Suite 103 Lexington, VA 24450 http://imlercpas.com craigimler@gmail.com

Living Water Farm Bookkeeping LLC

Terri Robertson........................................ (540) 817-0288

605 Red Mill Rd

Natural Bridge, VA 24578

http://www.gottrust.org/lwfb-llc livingwaterfarm1.tr@gmail.com

Raetz & Hawkins PC CPAs

Bo Haywood (540) 463-7121

128 South Randolph Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.raetzandhawkins.com cpa@raetzandhawkins.com

Swisher & Johnson CPAs PLC

Terry Swisher (540) 463-7131

59 Hunter Hill Road Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.swisherimler.com terry@swisherimler.com

ADVERTISING/ PROMOTIONS

Awatt Sign Company LLC

Brad Cornwell (304) 392-5080

246 Newport Rd Steeles Tavern, VA 24476

http://www.Awattsigns.com Awattsigns@gmail.com

Clyde Hill Publishing

Gregory Shaw.......................................... (206) 915-9500 Lexington, VA 24450 https://clydehillpublishing.com/ greg@clydehillpublishing.com

Mariner Media Inc.

Andy Wolfe (540) 264-0021

131 W 21st St Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://marinermedia.com andy@marinermedia.com

October Grace Media

Cindy Fellows (540) 271-7817 181 Offliter Road Stuarts Draft, VA 24447 https://www.octobergracemedia.com/ octobergracemedia@gmail.com

AGRICULTURE

Great Valley Farm Brewery & Winery

Nathan Bailey (704) 425-2631

60 Great Valley Farm Lane Natural Bridge, VA 24578 http://www.greatvalleyfarmbrewery.com nathan@greatvalleyfarmbrewery.com

McCown Farm, LLC

Morgan McCown (540) 383-2724

100 McCown Ln Rockbridge Baths, VA 24473 https://www.mccownfarm.com/ mccownfarm@gmail.com

Rockbridge County Farm Bureau Insurance

Jade Knick (540) 463-3603

2050 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450

https://farmbureauadvantage.com rockbridgecofarmbureau@vafb.com

Rockbridge Farmers Co-op Inc.

Wilson Whitmore................................... (540) 463-7381 645 Waddell St Lexington, VA 24450

http://rockbridgefarmerscoop.com wwhitmore@rfcoop.com

Seasons’ Yield Farm

Daniel Shear (703) 415-6673 165 Oakland Circle Raphine, VA 24472

http://seasonsyieldfarm.com seasonsyieldfarm@gmail.com

Serendipity Farm

Rosanne Facciolo (518) 879-6054 3983 N Lee Highway Fairfield, VA 24435 rtfacci@gmail.com

Southlex Cattle Co./Smith Farms

Margaret Ann Smith (540) 464-3368 1364 S Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.southlexcattle.com office@southlexcattle.com

Yonderyear Farm

Amanda Green........................................(540) 460-3256 1040 Adair Hl Dr Rockbridge Baths, VA 24473

https://www.yonderyearfarm.com/ amanda@yonderyearfarm.com

ANTIQUES/ESTATE SALES/CONSIGNMENTS

Circle C Auction Company

Cody Manspile (540) 784-9254 1055 Blue Grass Trail Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.circlecauction.com CircleCAuctions@yahoo.com

Lizzie’s of Lexington Elizabeth Murphy.................................. (540) 784-5233 16 W. Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lizziesoflexington.com liz@lizziesoflexington.com

Z and K Antiques

Robert Zordani (217) 714-5016 105 Houston Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.zandkantiques.com heidik@happyheidi.com

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN & BUILDING

H.E. Ravenhorst AIA

Skip Ravenhorst (540) 463-3205

19 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 ravnhrst@rockbridge.net

JPW Construction LLC

John Welsh (540) 460-7374 714 Turkey Hill Road Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.facebook.com/JPW-Construction jpwelshconstruction@gmail.com

MaxMark Homes LLC

Max Ivankov..............................................(540) 463-5302

650 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.maxmarkhomes.com max@maxmarkhomes.com

ART GALLERIES

Artists in Cahoots

Greg Sandage............................................ (540) 464-1147 21 W Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://artistsincahoots.com/ info@artistsincahoots.com

Art on Magnolia

J. David Gowdy (801) 694-1667 2067 Magnolia Ave., Ste. A Buena Vista, Virginia 24416 info@artonmagnolia.com

Brownsburg Community Association

Karen Parker

2716 Brownsburg Turnpike Brownsburg, VA 24415 https://brownsburgva.wordpress.com/bca email2kparker@gmail.com

Cabell Gallery of Virginia Art

Susan Groves (540) 461-8488

5 W. Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://cabellgallery.com susan@cabellgallery.com

Clifton Forge School of the Arts

Keely Massie............................................. (540) 862-7275

518 Church St Clifton Forge, VA 24422 http://www.cfsota.org/ cfsota.keely@gmail.com

Earth, Fire, & Spirit Gallery

Amber Poole (405) 788-9919 15 W. Washington St. Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.efspottery.com/ amberpoole@me.com

ASSISTED LIVING

Baldwin Park Retirement Community

Kristi Rose (540) 885-1122 21 Woodlee Rd Staunton, VA 24401 http://www.brightviewseniorliving.com/ krose@bvsl.net

Blue Ridge Christian Homes

Melvin Bender..........................................(540) 377-9590 85 Beulah Drive Raphine, VA 24472 https://www.facebook.com/BlueRidge-Christian-Homes-for-AdultsRaphine-160750537278552/ mcbender@earthlink.net

Heritage Hall Healthcare and Rehab

Randi Scott (540) 464-8181

205 Houston St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.heritage-hall.org

rscott@ahc.cc

Kendal at Lexington

Megan Fetzner-Whorley.....................(540) 463-1910

160 Kendal Drive Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.kalex.kendal.org

jlbuhler@kalex.kendal.org

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Scott Hill Retirement Community

Tim Nicely (540) 862-5741

800 West Ridgeway Street

Clifton Forge, VA 24422

http://www.scotthillretirement.org

sstull@lumos.net

The Legacy at North Augusta

Kate Derbas............................................. (540) 885-5454

1410A North Augusta Street Staunton, VA 24401

http://www.thelegacyatnorthaugusta.org

kderbas@thelegacyatnorthaugusta.org

Virginia United Methodist Homes, Inc

Larry Wilkinson (804) 474-8700 5101 Cox Road, suite 225 Glen Allen, VA 23060 http://vaumc.org

cwickham@pinnacleliving.org

ATTORNEYS

Baldridge and Associates Attorneys at Law

Steve Baldridge (540) 261-3055 221 West 21st Street Buena Vista, VA 24416

http://BaldridgeLawAssoc.com

Steve@BaldridgeLawAssoc.com

Mann Legal Group, P.L.L.C. Laurence Mann........................................ (540) 463-7119 15 E Nelson St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.mvelaw.com julie@mvelaw.com

Natkin & Crickenberger, P.C. Grace Crickenberger (540) 464-3283 11 S. Randolph St Lexington, VA 24450 www.lexlawpc.com

gracec@davidnatkin.com

Simons, Thurman & Fix, P.C. Nancy Hanson 1-540-463-6016 202 S. Randolph Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://rockbridgelaw.com/ nhanson@rockbridge.net

Tarris Law

Jonathan Tarris........................................... (540) 319-4111 14 East Nelson Street Suite 202 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.tarrislaw.com info@tarrislaw.com

William B. McClung P.C. William McClung.................................... (540) 463-2188 18 N Main St Lexington, VA 24450 bill@mcclunglaw.com

ATTRACTIONS

Balloons Over Rockbridge

Dee Miriello (540) 460-1901 P.O.Box 862 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.balloonsoverrockbridge.com flyballoons@yahoo.com

Boxerwood Nature Center & Woodland Garden

Karen Stanley (540) 463-2697

963 Ross Rd Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.boxerwood.org info@boxerwood.org

Brownsburg Community Association

Karen Parker 2716 Brownsburg Turnpike Brownsburg, VA 24415

https://brownsburgva.wordpress.com/bca email2kparker@gmail.com

Clifton Forge School of the Arts

Keely Massie............................................. (540) 862-7275

518 Church St Clifton Forge, VA 24422 http://www.cfsota.org/ cfsota.keely@gmail.com

Friends of Natural Bridge State Park

Robert Gilbert (540) 291-1326

6477 South Lee Highway Natural Bridge, VA 24450 http://www.virginiaparks.org/friends-nb fonsbp@gmail.com

Glen Maury Park

Edward Armentrout (540) 261-7321 101 Maury River Dr. Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://bvcity.org bvparksandrec@gmail.com

Haunting Tales-Lexington’s Ghost Tour

Sherry Cline..............................................(540) 464-2250

17 S Randolph St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexingtonvaghosttour.com clineunits@aol.com

Historic Lexington Foundation

Don Hasfurther (540) 463-6832

15 S Main St Suite 213 Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.historiclexington.org hlf@rockbridge.net

Historic Masonic Theatre

Caleb Morrison (540) 862-5655

510 Main Street Clifton Forge, VA 24422 https://historicmasonictheatre.com/ info@historicmasonictheatre.com

Jackson House Museum

Grace Abele (540) 464-7704

8 E Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.vmi.edu/museums-and-archives/ stonewall-jackson-house stonewalljacksonhouse@vmi.edu

Lexington and the Rockbridge Area Tourism Bureau

Jean Clark....................................................(540) 463-3777

106 E Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 https://lexingtonvirginia.com director@lexingtonvirginia.com

Rockbridge Highlands Realtors

Debbie Conner-Armentrout (540) 464-4700

30 Crossing Lane Suite 212

Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockbridgerealtors.com ae@rockbridgerealtors.com

Natural Bridge Historic Hotel and Conference Center

Lya Walker (540) 291-2121

15 Appledore Ln

Natural Bridge, VA 24578

http://www.naturalbridgeva.com lwalker@naturalbridgeva.com

Natural Bridge State Park

Jim Jones...................................................... (540) 291-1326

6477 South Lee Highway Natural Bridge, VA 24578

https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/ natural-bridge james.e.jones@dcr.virginia.gov

Paxton House Historical Society

Sarah Dyer...................................................(540) 404-1831

121 Maury River Drive Buena Vista, VA 24416 www.facebook.com/ paxtonhousehistoricalsociety PaxtonHouseHistoricalSociety@gmail.com

Rock the Ribbon Roundball Shootout

Travis Patterson (540) 460-3845

19 Whimbrel Lane Lexington , VA 24450 rockbridgerelaygolf@gmail.com

Shenandoah Classic Horse Show

RH Bennett (502) 664-0870

487 Maury River Road Lexington, VA 24450

http://vahorsecenter.org rbennett57@mac.com

Virginia Safari Park

Eric Mogensen......................................... (540) 291-3205

229 Safari Lane Natural Bridge, VA 24578

http://virginiasafaripark.com director@virginiasafaripark.com

BANKS & CREDIT UNIONS

Atlantic Union Bank

Thomas Moore........................................ (540) 464-6319

1197 N. Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450

https://wwwatlanticunionbank.com/home/ home thomas.moore@atlanticunionbank.com

Bank of Botetourt

Tina Simpson........................................... (540) 463-7224

65 E Midland Trl Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.bankofbotetourt.com/ info@bankofbotetourt.com

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Bank of the James Trevania Cottrill........................................ (540) 707-3144

158 S Main St

Lexinton, VA 24450

http://WWW.bankofthejames.bank tcottrill@bankofthejames.com

City National Bank (Buena Vista)

Kristin Simpson (540) 261-3010

128 West 21st Street

Buena Vista, VA 24416

http://www.bankatcity.com kristensimpson22@yahoo.com

City National Bank (Lexington)

Sara Cline (540) 464-9400

102 Walker Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.bankatcity.com sara.cline@bankatcity.com

Wicked Goat

Angela Walker (803) 371-3151 12 Little Grove Ct Glasgow, VA 24555

http://Wicked-Goat.com Wickedgoatllc@gmail.com

BED & BREAKFASTS

Amanda’s Cabins at Lazy Acres

Amanda Baxter (540) 463-1636 140 Lazy Acres Ln Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.lazyacrescabins.com/ info@lazyacrescabins.com

CornerStone Bank

T. David Grist Headquarters (540) 463-2222

54 South Main Street

Lexington, VA 24450

Lee Highway Branch (540) 464-8900

719 North Lee Highway

Lexington, VA 24450

Buena Vista Branch...................... (540) 261-1604

2235 Beech Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416 www.cornerstonebankva.com

CornerStone CARES about being the ONLY locally owned and managed bank in the area!

INNOVATION PARTNER

DuPont Community Credit Union

Michelle White (540) 946-3200

1130 N. Lee Highway Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.mydccu.com mwhite@mydccu.com

GOLD SPONSOR

Farm Credit

Bobbi Loudermilk (540) 463-5255

152 Maury River Rd Lexington, VA 24450 http://farmcreditofvirginias.com bloudermilk@agfirst.com

Truist Bank

Michael Walters.................................... (540) 463-6690 537 E Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.bbt.com/ Michael.Walters@Truist.com

BEAUTY

Lex Nail Bar

Crystal DeMott........................................ (540) 958-0913 31 W Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexnailbar.com hello@lexnailbar.com

LexingTanVA LLC

Chastity Berkstresser (540) 817-3368 104 S Jefferson St Lexington, VA 24450 lexingtanva@gmail.com

LexWax Esthetics, LLC

Christine Moncure (540) 784-8600 11 N Randolph St Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.lexwaxesthetics.com/ lexwaxesthetics@gmail.com

Salon DC

Deanna Cook (540) 464-5600 17 S Jefferson St Lexington, VA 24450 deannawcook@yahoo.com

Brierley Hill

Volker Eckhoff......................................... (540) 464-8421 985 Borden Rd Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.brierleyhill.com relax@brierleyhill.com

Church Hill at Timber Ridge

Mike Thompson (540) 324-8446 78 Sam Houston Way Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.ChurchHillatTimberRidge.com 78samhoustonway@gmail.com

Herring Hall Bed & Breakfast

Anne Herring (540) 460-3365 154 Herring Hall Rd Natural Bridge, VA 24578 http://herringhall.com/ info@herringhall.com

Osceola Mill Country Inn LLC

Emily Alesevich...................................... (540) 377-6455 352 Tye River Turnpike Vesuvius, VA 24483

http://Osceolamill.com osceolamill@gmail.com

Rose Cottage at Steeles Tavern

Jay Gilliam (540) 460-2319 105 Tem Lane Raphine, VA 24472

http://www.rosecottageatsteelestavern.com rosecottageatsteelestavern@gmail.com

Shenandoah Manor Bed & Breakfast

Nancy & Johannes Boer (612) 221-1140 325 Union Run Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.shenandoahmanorbandb.com nancy@shenandoahmanorbandb.com

Stonegate Guesthouse

Margaret Hutton..................................... (208) 399-1887 601 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://StonegateVirginia.com Hutton@StonegateVirginia.com

Sugar Tree Inn

Brenda Needham (540) 377-2197 145 Lodge Trail Vesuvius, VA 24483

http://www.sugartreeinn.com innkeeper@sugartreeinn.com

The White Tree Inn

Marie Shiraki (540) 460-5434 2070 Forest Avenue

Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.facebook.com/whitetreeinn Marieshiraki@yahoo.com

BOOKS & STATONERY

Downtown Books LLC

Paige Williams (540) 460-8184

13 West Nelson Street

Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.downtownbookslexva.com downtownbookslexva@gmail.com

The Interior Castle

Maia Browning (540) 204-5969

6 South Randolph Street

Lexington, VA 24450

https://theinteriorcastle.org emaib@aol.com

BREWERIES & CIDERIES

Brew Ridge Taps

Autumn McFaddin (540) 461-8012

11 East Nelson Street

Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.brewridgetaps.com/ brewridgetaps@gmail.com

Chaos Mountain Brewing

Joseph Hallock.........................................(540) 334-1600

6387 South Lee Highway Natural Bridge, VA 24587

http://www.chaosmountainbrewing.com jhallock@chaosmountainbrewing.com

Devils Backbone Brewing Co.

Cara Flynn.................................................(540) 462-6200

50 Northwind Ln Lexington, VA 24450 http://dbbrewingcompany.com outpost@dbbrewingcompany.com

SILVER SPONSOR

Devils Backbone Outpost Taproom & Kitchen

Dizzle Clark (540) 462-6200

50 Northwind Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://dbbrewingcompany.com/ Elizabeth.Clark@dbbrewingcompany.com

SILVER SPONSOR

Great Valley Farm Brewery & Winery

Nathan Bailey........................................... (704) 425-2631

60 Great Valley Farm Lane Natural Bridge, VA 24578 http://www.greatvalleyfarmbrewery.com nathan@greatvalleyfarmbrewery.com

Halcyon Days Cider Company

Larry Kretemeyer.................................... (540) 291-1340

4135 South Lee Highway Natural Bridge, VA 24578

http://www.halcyondayscider.com

Heliotrope Brewery

Erik Jones (540) 464-1336

128 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.facebook.com/heliotropebrew/ info@heliotropebrewery.com

CABIN & COTTAGE RENTALS

Amanda’s Cabins at Lazy Acres

Amanda Baxter (540) 463-1636

140 Lazy Acres Ln Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.lazyacrescabins.com/ info@lazyacrescabins.com

Church Hill at Timber Ridge

Mike Thompson......................................(540) 324-8446

78 Sam Houston Way Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.ChurchHillatTimberRidge.com 78samhoustonway@gmail.com

Heartstone Country Retreat

Antonia Albano (540) 463-2593

521 S Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://heartstoneretreat.com antoniaalbano2020@gmail.com

Rock River Experiences

Robert “Robin” Whipple (407) 719-4794

19 Husky Lane Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockriverexperiences.com rockriverexpereinces@gmail.com

Rose Cottage at Steeles Tavern

Jay Gilliam...................................................(540) 460-2319

105 Tem Lane Raphine, VA 24472

http://www.rosecottageatsteelestavern.com rosecottageatsteelestavern@gmail.com

Serenity Cottages, LLC

Christie Stuart (540) 377-9047 Cottage Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://serenity-cottages.com information@serenity-cottages.com

CAMPGROUNDS & CAMPS

Camp Maxwelton/Camp Lachlan

Lee & Nancy McLaughlin (540) 348-1090

946 Walkers Creek Rd Rockbridge Baths, VA 24473 http://www.maxwelton-lachlan.com/ directors@maxwelton-lachlan.com

Glen Maury Park

Edward Armentrout (540) 261-7321

101 Maury River Dr. Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://bvcity.org bvparksandrec@gmail.com

Natural Bridge KOA

Ken Conger.................................................(540) 291-2770

214 Killdeer Lane Natural Bridge, VA 24578 http://naturalbridgekoa.com

CARPETS & INTERIORS

Spencer Home Center

Eric Spencer (540) 463-7393 1398 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://spencerhc.com erics@spencerhc.com

GOLD SPONSOR

CATERERS

Bizzee B’s BBQ

Jeff Rankin.................................................. (540) 461-3523 144 Hillside Drive Buena Vista, Virginia 24416 bizzeebsbbq@gmail.com

C.H.E.F.S. Catering Company

John Stallard............................................. (540) 462-7182 302 Stoneridge Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.stoneridgecatering.com chefslex@gmail.com

DIAMOND SPONSOR

Hewitt Jamaican Cuisine

Devon Hewitt (434) 465-0000 952 Magnolia Avenue Apt. A Buena Vista, VA 24416 https://www.facebook.com/ Hewittjamaicancuisine jaman839@gmail.com

Hogback Mtn BBQ

Ruben Showalter.................................... (540) 348-3123 296 Huffman Lane Fairfield, VA 24435 http://www.hogbackmountainbbq.com info@hogbackmountainbbq.com

Lex Vegas Bistro

Troy Sheller (540) 251-7104

1140 North Lee Highway Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexbistrobus.com troy@en-flux.com

Lexington Catering Company

Mandy Miller (540) 463-3612 37 S. Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.lexingtoncateringco.com/ Slice Versa

Aaron Hill (434) 996-8272

3917 Hungry Town Road Covesville, VA 24450 http://sliceversa.com hillskitchen14@gmail.com

Yellow Brick Road Early Learning Center Inc.

Misty Camden (540) 463-7344

410 Yellow Brick Road Lexington, VA 24450

http://yellowbrickroadelc.weebly.com YBRearlylearningctr@gmail.com

YMCA Early Learning Center

Jennifer Crawley (540) 464-9622 40 Magnolia Square Suite 6 Lexington, VA 24450

https://ymcavbr.org/earlylearningcenter jcrawley@ymcavbr.org

CHIROPRACTORS

Chiropractic and Primary Spine Care of Lexington

Heath Bills (540) 464-5800 30 Crossings Lane, Suite 207 Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.ChiroPSCLexington.com support@mylexingtonspinedoctor.com

CHURCHES

First Baptist Church

Paster McKinley Williams (313) 338-6402 103 North Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.facebook.com/ FirstBaptistLexingtonVA/ firstbaptistchurchlex@gmail.com

Lexington Baptist Church

Michael Saunders (540) 463-5911 75 Old Farm Rd Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexingtonbaptistchurch.org lbc@lexva.church

Manly Memorial Baptist Church

Skyler Daniel............................................. (540) 458-7819 202 South Main St Lexington , VA 24450 http://manlybaptist.com office@manlybaptist.com

Rockbridge Church

Denise Boucher (540) 339-7985 600 Waddell Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.rockbridgechurch.net rockbridgechurchoffice@gmail.com

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church

Fashion Floors & Cabinets

Shyla Palaschak..............................(540) 464-1422

94 E Midland Trail Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.fashionfloorsandcabinets.com sales@fashionfloorsandcabinets.com

Your local source for quality cabinetry, counter tops, knobs & pulls, custom & standard size area rugs, runners & wall-towall carpeting (including wool and sisal), floor, wall & mosaic tiles, floating vinyl flooring and more.

Rockbridge Flooring Professionals, LLC

James and Casey Higgins................ (540) 464-4616

788 N. Lee Hwy. Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.RockbridgeFlooring.com rfpfloors@gmail.com

Southern Inn Restaurant

George and Sue Ann Huger.............. (540) 463-3612 37 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.southerninn.com geohuger@southerninn.com

CHILDCARE

Rockbridge YMCA

Lori Miller (540) 464-9622 790 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://ymcavbr.org/locations/rockbridge/ rockbridge-area-ymca/ lmiller@ymcavbr.org

Woods Creek Montessori

Caroline Russell..................................... (540) 463-6461 2 Dold Pl Lexington, VA 24450 https://woodscreekmontessori.org/ caroline@woodscreekmontessori.org

Father Stefan Migac (540) 463-3533 219 West Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://stpatrickslexington.com Office@StPatricksLexington.com

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Leslie Huch (540) 319-7700 55 Paxton House Drive Buena Vista, VA 24416 https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng bhuch@hotmail.com

Trinity United Methodist Church

Rev. Anita Mays Lucord (540) 463-4053 147 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.trinumc.org trinlex@yahoo.com

Virginia United Methodist Homes, Inc Larry Wilkinson.......................................(804) 474-8700 5101 Cox Road, suite 225 Glen Allen, VA 23060 http://vaumc.org cwickham@pinnacleliving.org

CLEANING SERVICES

Lambert Cleaning

Joey Lambert (540) 324-9104 2434 W Beverley Street Staunton, VA 24401

http://www.lambertcleaning.com info@lambertcleaning.com

Valley Pro Clean

Leonard Stewart...................................... (540) 461-2150

209 Maury Street Lexington , VA 24450 valleyproclean2020@gmail.com

CLOTHING/SHOES

Alvin-Dennis Inc.

Ginny Carter (540) 463-5383

102 W Washington St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.alvindennis.com/ alvindennis@comcast.net

Bigger Chicken Apparel

Justin Smith................................................ (818) 807-7393

23 Lexington Avenue Lexington, Virginia 24 450 http://www.BiggerChickenApparel.com biggerchickenllc@gmail.com

Clover Boutique

Cat McSwain............................................(404) 234-6584

14 W Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://Cloverlexington.com catgmcswain@gmail.com

Cobblestone Shoe & Leather Repair

Greg Moore................................................(540) 461-8248

121 West Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.cobblestoneshoppes.com cobblestoneshoppes@gmail.com

Lexington Shop for Pappagallo Inc.

Susan Crawford.................................... (540) 463-5988

23 N Main St Lexington, VA 24450

https://lexpappagallo.com lexpappagallo@gmail.com

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

Byers Technical Institute

Tracy Shafer.............................................. (540) 258-1028

2694 Glasgow Highway Buena Vista, VA 24416

http://www.byerstechnicalinstitute.com tshafer@byerstechnicalinstitute.com

Mountain Gateway - Rockbridge

Regional Center

John Rainone (540) 261-1211

35 Vista Links Drive

Buena Vista, VA 24416 jrainone@mgcc.edu

SILVER SPONSOR

Mountain Gateway Community College

John Rainone (540) 863-2827

1000 College Drive

Clifton Forge, VA 24422

http://www.mgcc.edu

jrainone@mgcc.edu

SILVER SPONSOR

Southern Virginia University

Tyson Cooper (540) 261-8413

1 University Hill Dr

Buena Vista, VA 24416

http://svu.edu

tysoncooper@svu.edu

Virginia Military Institute

Kevin Ryan (540) 464-7230

319 Letcher Avenue Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.vmi.edu

RyanKa@vmi.edu

PLATINUM SPONSOR

VMI Alumni Association Inc.

Thom Brashears (540) 464-7221 304 Letcher Ave Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.vmialumni.org tbrashears@vmiaa.org

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Washington & Lee University

Steven McAllister.................................. (540) 458-8740 204 W Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://wlu.edu mcallisters@wlu.edu

INNOVATION PARTNER

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

Blue Ridge Area Food Bank

Millie Winstead (540) 248-3663 96 Laurel Hill Rd., PO Box 937 Verona, VA 24482 https://www.brafb.org/ mwinstead@brafb.org

Blue Ridge CASA for Children

Juan Pablo Molina (540) 213-2272 119 West Frederick Street Staunton, VA 24401 http://www.casa4children.com info@blueridgecasa.org

Brownsburg Community Association

Karen Parker 2716 Brownsburg Turnpike Brownsburg, VA 24415

https://brownsburgva.wordpress.com/bca email2kparker@gmail.com

Buena Vista Public Library

Elaina Skovira (540) 261-2715

2110 Magnolia Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.rrlib.net eskovira@rrlib.net

Buena Vista Rotary Club

Andy Wolfe (540) 570-0596

609 East 25th Street Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.ismyrotaryclub.org/Club/Club. cfm?ClubID=5750&D=7570 andy@marinermedia.com

Cats Unlimited

Cathy DeMay (540) 458-2287 PO Box 484 Lexington, VA 24450 http://catsunlimited.org help@catsunlimited.org

Central Shenandoah EMS Council Inc.

Laurie Cook (540) 886-3676 2312 W Beverly St Staunton, VA 24401 http://www.csems.org lcook@vaems.org

Community Foundation for Rockbridge, Bath & Alleghany

Lori Turner................................................ (540) 463-0943

7 East Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.cfrba.org lori.turner@cfrba.org

Connections Plus Healthcare + Hospice

Tasha Walsh (540) 463-1848

315 Myers St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.rockbridgeareahospice.org tasha.walsh@rahospice.org

Friends of Natural Bridge State Park

Robert Gilbert (540) 291-1326 6477 South Lee Highway Natural Bridge, VA 24450 http://www.virginiaparks.org/friends-nb fonsbp@gmail.com

Friends of the Chessie Trail

Eric Sheffield PO Box 1261 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.friendsofthechessietrail.org chessietrail@gmail.com

Glasgow Public Library

Barbara Slough (540) 258-2509 1108 Blue Ridge Road Glasgow, VA 24555 http://www.rrlib.net bslough2@rrlib.net

Goodwill Industries of the Valleys Inc.

Zenith Barrett (540) 464-1117 8 Woodcote Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.goodwillvalleys.com zbarrett@goodwillvalleys.com

Goshen Public Library

Ruth Tolson................................................ (540) 997-0351 1124 Virginia Avenue Goshen, VA 24439 http://www.rrlib.net rtolson@rrlib.net

Greater Lexington Newcomers Club

John Ekin (734) 560-4249 24 Sky View Lane Rockbridge Baths, VA 24473 http://lexvanewcomers.org jmax806@live.com

Historic Lexington Foundation

Don Hasfurther (540) 463-6832 15 S Main St Suite 213 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.historiclexington.org hlf@rockbridge.net

Kappa Alpha Order

Larry Wiese (540) 463-1865 115 Liberty Hall Rd Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.kappaalphaorder.org lswiese@ka-order.org

GOLD SPONSOR

Lexington and the Rockbridge Area Tourism Bureau

Jean Clark.................................................... (540) 463-3777 106 E Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 https://lexingtonvirginia.com director@lexingtonvirginia.com

Lexington Police Department Foundation

Lori Turner (540) 462-7909 PO Box 808 Lexington, VA 24450 http://lexingtonpolicefoundation.org/ vanostens@gmail.com

Lexington Sunrise Rotary Club

Barbara Clowser (540) 463-9227 PO Box 63 Lexington, VA 24450 http://sunriserotarylexva.org info@sunriserotarylexva.org

Lexington Woman’s Club

Jeanne Alexander (225) 405-2299 PO Box 206 Lexington, VA 24450 lexvawomansclub@gmail.com

Lexington-Rockbridge Jaycees

Rebecca Williams PO Box 1488 Lexington, VA 24450

http://lexrockjaycees.org lexrockjaycees@gmail.com

Main Street Buena Vista Brooke Dalton...........................................(808) 780-6461 7 E Washington St. Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.mainstreetbuenavista.org contact@mainstreetbuenavista.org

Main Street Lexington

Rebecca Logan (540) 319-4181 PO Box 295 101 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.mainstreetlexington.org/ info@mainstreetlexington.org

Mountain City Masonic Lodge

Jesse Lyons............................................... (540) 570-3437 103 W Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.mtncity67.org jlyons@ka-order.org

Omicron Delta Kappa Society and Educational Foundation

Tim Reed.................................................... (540) 458-5336 224 McLaughlin Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://odk.org tim@odk.org

Project Horizon Judy Casteele (540) 463-7861 120 Varner Ln Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.projecthorizon.org ph@rockbridge.net

Rockbridge Area Community Services Kim Shaw (540) 463-3141 241 Greenhouse Rd Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.racsb.org kshaw@racsb.org

Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity

Lynne Johnson........................................ (540) 463-3770 30 East Preston Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://rockbridgehabitat.org office@rockbridgehabitat.org

Rockbridge Area Housing Corporation Marylin Alexander (540) 463-3242 13 Thompson Ct Lexington, VA 24450 rahc@rockbridge.net

Rockbridge Area Relief Association

Lindsey Perez (540) 463-6943 350 Spotswood Drive Lexington, VA 24450 http://raralex.org office@raralex.org

Rockbridge Area Republican Party

Doug Smith

PO Box 1101 Lexington, VA 24450

http://rockbridgegop.com cardinalpt@aol.com

Rockbridge Area Transportation System Inc.

Michelle Watkins (540) 463-3346

712 N Main St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockbridgetransportation.org rats@rockbridge.net

Rockbridge Community Health Foundation

Hattie Myers ............................................(540) 458-3596

1 Health Circle Lexington, VA 24450

http://sjhhealthfoundation.org rchealthfoundation@gmail.com

Rockbridge Conservation

Barbara Walsh (540) 463-2330

101 S Main St, 2nd Floor Lexington, VA 24450

http://rockbridgeconservation.org racc@rockbridge.net

Rockbridge County Democratic Committee

David Mayersky (540) 817-7085

11 S. Jefferson Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockbridgedemsva.blogspot.com lex.rockdems@gmail.com

Rockbridge County Public Schools Foundation

Debbie Pruett PO Box 1042 Lexington, VA 24450

https://rockbridgeschoolsfoundation.org/ rcpsfgrants@gmail.com

Rockbridge Historical Society

Eric Wilson (540) 464-1058 101 E Washington St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockhist.org

RHS@RockbridgeHistory.org

Rockbridge SPCA

Tara Rodi (540) 463-5123 10 Animal Place Lexington, VA 24450 http://rockbridgespca.net executivedirector@rockbridgespca.net

Rotary Club of Lexington Lunch

Jerry Bogacz ............................................. (540) 817-8259 PO Box 48 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.rotarylexvalunch.org bogacz.jp@gmail.com

Samuel’s Supper

Sherri M. Golladay (540) 280-6982 P.O. Box 132 Fairfield, VA 24435 https://www.samuelssupper.org info@samuelssupper.org

Shenandoah Community Capital Fund

Nick Koger ................................................(540) 595-3665 11 N. Central Ave. Suite 210 Staunton, VA 24401 http://sccfva.org hello@sccfva.org

Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc.

Brad Beacham (540) 463-1869 9 N Lewis St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.sigmanu.org nick.murphy@sigmanu.org

The Salvation Army

George Hackbarth (540) 962-6206

115 S Lexington Ave Covington, VA 24426

https://salvationarmypotomac.org/ covingtonvacorps/ george.hackbarth@uss.salvationarmy.org

United Way of Rockbridge Inc.

Jennifer Dent (540) 463-4482

218 S Main St Suite D Lexington, VA 24450 https://uwrockbridge.org director@uwrockbridge.org

Valley Program for Aging Services, Maury River Senior Services

Laura Hotinger (540) 261-7474

2137 Magnolia Ave Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://vpas.info laura@vpas.info

Virginia Headwaters Council, Inc. (BSA)

Amanda Wilt ............................................ (540) 943-6675 801 Hopeman Parkway Waynesboro, VA 22980 http://www.sjacbsa.org james.battaglia@scouting.org

Virginia Institute of Autism

Patti Cook (540) 366-8320 40 Park Place Lexington, VA 24450

http://braacroanoke.org/ braac.bv@svhservices.org

VMI Foundation

David Prasnicki (540) 464-7287 Neikirk Hall

304 Letcher Avenue Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.vmi.edu/foundation/ give@vmiaa.org

PLATINUM SPONSOR

VMI Keydet Club

Greg Cavallaro ....................................... (540) 464-7328

304 Letcher Ave Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.vmi.edu/keydet-club/ gcav@vmiaa.org

PLATINUM SPONSOR

COMPUTER SERVICE/ SALES

Virginia Technology Services, LLC

Stephanie Berkshire (540) 463-4451

30 Crossing Lane Suite 206 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.virginiatechs.com info@virginiatechs.com

CONSULTANTS

Burleson Engineering PLLC

John Burleson.......................................... (540) 817-0350

1374 Big Spring Dr Lexington, VA 24450 burlesoneng@gmail.com

Dazzle Partners LLC

David Grizzle (832) 315-8219

140 Bell Ridge Tr Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.dazzlepartners.com david grizzle@yahoo.com

John Wm. Thomas Consulting, LLC

John Thomas (202) 236-3076

116 Lee Avenue Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.johnwmthomasconsulting.com/ johnwmthomasconsulting@gmail.com

Kellen Consulting Group LLC

Scott Kellen (540) 460-3800 150 Aisling Way Vesuvius, VA 24483 https://www.kellenconsultants.com/ Skellen@kellenconsultants.com

Lexington Solutions Group

Barton (Boyd) Brown ........................ (540) 460-5068 245 Ebenezer Cir Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexsg.com bbbrown@lexsg.com

Practical Wisdom & Wellness

Nina Kauder (561) 288-0358 2222 Pine Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416 ninakauderwellness@gmail.com

Prontogenesis

Devin Robinson (540) 817-0187 42 Furnace Hill Rd Goshen, VA 24439 devin.thomas.robinson@gmail.com

Shenandoah Small Business Solutions

Jamie Goodin ......................................... (434) 944-5446 202 Miller Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.shenandoahsmallbusiness.com/ jamie@shenandoahsmallbusiness.com

Shenandoah Valley Partnership

Jay Langston (540) 568-3100 220 University Blvd., Suite 2100 Harrisonburg, VA 22807 http://www.theshenandoahvalley.com jlangston@theshenandoahvalley.com

Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center

Joyce Krech (540) 568-3227 James Madison University MSC 5502 Harrisonburg, VA 22807 http://www.valleysbdc.org krechjh@jmu.edu

Terramor Technologies LLC

Erik Somoroff .......................................... (540) 824-3420 101 Lee Avenue, # 420 Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.terramortechnologies.com erik@terramortechnologies.com

The Advancement Foundation

Annette Patterson (540) 283-7062 227 S Pollard Street Vinton, VA 24179 http://theadvancementfoundation.org innovation@theadvancementfoundation.org

TriForm Associates

Tonya Sweetser ....................................... (239) 326-2116 1217 Cape Coral Pkwy E # 162 Cape Coral, VA 33904 http://www.triformative.com tonya@triformassociates.com

Whitney, Bailey, Cox & Magnani LLC

Thomas Marando (540) 442-3750 203 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.wbcm.com info@wbcm.com

CONTRACTORS & CONSTRUCTION

ARC3 Gases

Marc Lewis ............................................... (540) 261-4300 2603 Beech Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://arc3gases.com/ marc.lewis@arc3gases.com

Austin Electrical Construction, Inc.

Catie Austin-Brown (540) 254-1085 17566 Main Street Buchanan, VA 24066 http://www.AustinElectricalConstruction.com austinel@verizon.net

Charles W. Barger & Son Construction

Charles Barger (540) 463-2106 10 Borden School Ln Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.cwbargerandson.com cbarger@cwbarger.com

SILVER SPONSOR

Clark Electric Inc.

Dusty Maxwell (540) 784-0537 and ............................................................... (540) 460-5602 2159 Spring Valley Road Lexington, VA 24450 eclark.electric@gmail.com

Commonwealth Environmental Associates Inc.

John McCoy (540) 462-6077 648 Waddell Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.commonwealthenvironmental.com jbmccoy78@gmail.com

Fatlighter Company

Gary Barker ................................................ (540) 817-5156 175 Crosscountry Lane Natural Bridge, VA 24578 gmbarker78@yahoo.com

Green Forest Surveys LLC

Chris Pappas (540) 261-1077 254 Elm Ave Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.greenforestsurveys.com cpappas@greenforestsurveys.com

Holland’s General Contractors, Inc.

Vickie Eppard .......................................... (540) 261-7404 80 Forge Road Lexington, VA 24450 vickie@hollandsgc.com

House Mountain Handmade

Tony Waddell ........................................... (828) 421-6675 251 Sterrett Road Fairfield , VA 24435

http://www.housemountainhandmade.com tony waddell@yahoo.com

Jim Stuart Excavating LLC

Christie Stuart (540) 460-3036 907 Red Hill Road Vesuvius, VA 24483 http://jimstuartexcavating.com jimstuartexc@yahoo.com

JPW Construction LLC

John Welsh (540) 460-7374 714 Turkey Hill Road Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.facebook.com/JPW-Construction jpwelshconstruction@gmail.com

Kjellstrom + Lee, Inc.

Fulton Sensabaugh (540) 885-9980

106 North Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.kjellstromandlee.com fsensabaugh@kjellstromandlee.com

Leslie Mini Excavating & Landscaping LLC

Chris Leslie (540) 348-8959

365 Dry Hollow Road Rockbridge Baths, VA 24473

http://www.LeslieExcavating.com leslieminiexcavating@yahoo.com

MaxMark Homes LLC

Max Ivankov..............................................(540) 463-5302

650 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.maxmarkhomes.com max@maxmarkhomes.com

Michael R. Arehart Inc.

Michael Arehart (540) 460-6678

5966 Lee Jackson Hwy Raphine, VA 24472

Phoenix Construction Company LLC

Melissa Hennis (540) 464-1133

328 W Midland Trail Lexington, VA 24450 www.phoenixconstructioncompanyllc.com melissa.c.hennis@gmail.com

Randy Hostetter Excavating LLC

Randy Hostetter...................................... (540) 463-4714

289 Greenhouse Rd Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.randyhostetterexcavating.com rhexcavating@embarqmail.com

Rockbridge Homes and Barns

Tim Hickman (540) 570-1601

70 Old Buena Vista Road Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.rockbridgehb.com kim@rockbridgehb.com

Spencer Home Center

Eric Spencer (540) 463-7393

1398 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://spencerhc.com erics@spencerhc.com

GOLD SPONSOR

Welsh Construction Inc.

Janeen Welsh (540) 464-1008

15A N Randolph Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.welshconstruction.com janeen@welshconstruction.com

COUNSELING

Intercept Health

Susan Kirby............................................... (540) 597-5349 5673 Airport Road Roanoke, VA 24012

http://Intercepthealth.com

jlabiosa@interceptyouth.com

Rockbridge Area Community Services

Kim Shaw (540) 463-3141 241 Greenhouse Rd Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.racsb.org kshaw@racsb.org

COUNTRY CLUBS

Lexington Golf & Country Club

Cilff Easten (540) 463-4141

141 Country Club Rd Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.lexingtongolfandcountryclub.com ceasum@lexingtongolfandcountryclub.com

DANCE

Halestone Foundation

Ann Courtney (540) 463-7444

722 S Main St Suite B Lexington, VA 24450

https://halestone.com/ director@halestone.com

Rockbridge Ballet/The Studio

Jessica Martin (540) 463-3436

The Rockbridge Ballet/The Studio PO Box 150 Lexington, VA 24450 www.Rockbridgeballet.org rockbridgeballet@gmail.com

DENTAL

Dental Health Associates

Kristina Lilly (540) 463-2134

112 Houston St., Suite A Lexington, VA 22450

https://www.mydentalhealthassociates.com/ infolexington@mydha.net

Lexington Smiles, PLLC

Erin Cassilly (540) 458-0410 123 S. Randolph St Lexington, VA 24450

http://lexingtonvasmiles.com drcassilly@lexingtonvasmiles.com

Mountain View Family Dentistry (540) 464-8700

2131 Magnolia Ave Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.rockahc.org/dental/

Robert C. Hull DDS P.C.

Robert Hull................................................ (540) 463-3826

650 N Lee Hwy Suite 1 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.hulldentistry.com drhull@hulldentistry.com

Shenandoah Dental Studio

Omar Parades (540) 464-9953 30 Crossing Lane Suite 110 Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.shenandoahdentalstudio.com appointments@shenandoahdentalstudio.com

Woodard Family Dental

Steven Woodard...................................... (540) 377-1223

113 Commerce Park Drive Raphine, VA 24472

http://www.woodarddental.com steven@woodarddental.com

DRUG & VARIETY STORES

Lexington Prescription Center

Jeffrey Goldstein (540) 784-8375

800 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450

http://lexingtonrx.com/Welcome.html

JGOLDSTEIN@LEXINGTONRX.COM

DRY CLEANERS

Town-N-Country Cleaners

Jerry Tolley (540) 463-2261

190 Walker Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://TownNCountryCleaners.com tnccleaners@yahoo.com

University Cleaners

Chad Mayr................................................ (540) 464-6900 534 E. Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://universitycleanersonline.com chad@universitycleaners.com

ENTERTAINMENT

Clyde Hill Publishing

Gregory Shaw.......................................... (206) 915-9500 Lexington, VA 24450 https://clydehillpublishing.com/ greg@clydehillpublishing.com

Datz Us Adventure & Music

William Datz.............................................(540) 463-9339 125 Cecils View Lane Lexington, VA 24450 www.datzburr.com datzburr@gmail.com

Haunting Tales-Lexington’s Ghost Tour

Sherry Cline (540) 464-2250 17 S Randolph St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexingtonvaghosttour.com clineunits@aol.com

Historic Masonic Theatre

Caleb Morrison (540) 862-5655

510 Main Street Clifton Forge, VA 24422 https://historicmasonictheatre.com/ info@historicmasonictheatre.com

Hull’s Drive-In / Hull’s Angels, Inc.

Lauren Summers.................................... (540) 463-2621 2367 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.hullsdrivein.com hullsangels@hullsdrivein.com

Just Games Lexington

Zander Tallman (540) 724-6124 29 W Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.justgameslex.com/ zander@justgameslex.com

Lime Kiln Theater

Spencer McElroy 607 Borden Road Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.limekilntheater.org office@limekilntheater.org

Rockbridge Music

Diana Schofield..................................... (540) 463-5455 205 N Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.rockbridgemusic.com rockbridgemusic@gmail.com

Shenandoah Classic Horse Show

RH Bennett (502) 664-0870

487 Maury River Road Lexington, VA 24450 http://vahorsecenter.org rbennett57@mac.com

Splash of Color Studio

MaKenna Whiting (801) 821-3702

2077 Magnolia Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.splashofcolorva.com/ splashofcolorva@gmail.com

Tommy’s Arcade

Tommy Stuart (540) 319-1207 5 W Nelson St Lexington, VA 24450

http://tommysarcade.com boss@tommysarcade.com

EQUINE SUPPLIES & SERVICES

Halo Horses LLC

Jacqueline Navarrete Townsend (480) 748-1669 487 Maury River Road Lexington , VA 24450

http://www.halohorses.com jackie@halohorses.com

Host Enterprises LLC

Torben Pedersen................................... (540) 460-2767 821 Falling Spring Road Glasgow, VA 24555 http://www.zenaminusa.net zenamin.usa@gmail.com

New Freedom Farm, Inc.

Lois Fritz (540) 855-1158 6118 Lithia Rd Buchanan, VA 24066 http://newfreedomfarm.org newfreedomfarm2016@gmail.com

Shenandoah Classic Horse Show

RH Bennett (502) 664-0870 487 Maury River Road Lexington, VA 24450 http://vahorsecenter.org rbennett57@mac.com

Virginia Horse Center Bonnie Keene.......................................... (540) 464-2952 487 Maury River Rd Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.horsecenter.org gpetty@horsecenter.org

EVENT PLANNING

ARC3 Gases

Marc Lewis................................................ (540) 261-4300 2603 Beech Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://arc3gases.com/ marc.lewis@arc3gases.com

Brooke Shehan Events

Brooke Shehan Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.brookeshehan.com brooke@brookeshehan.com

House Mountain Inn

Jamie Grue (540) 464-4004 455 Lonesome Dove Trail Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.housemountaininn.com housemountaininn@gmail.com

Lexington Catering Company

Mandy Miller (540) 463-3612 37 S. Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.lexingtoncateringco.com/

The Georges

John Gomes (540) 463-2500

11 North Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://thegeorges.com reservations@thegeorges.com

The Seclusion

Brian Daniel (540) 464-3575 425 Seclusion Lane Lexington, VA 24450

http://TheSeclusion.com info@theseclusion.com

FINANCIAL & INVESTMENT SERVICES

Edward Jones Investments (Dickman)

Daniel Dickman (540) 589-3234 221 West 21st Street Buena Vista , VA 24416

http://www.edwardjones.com daniel.dickman@edwardjones.com

Edward Jones Investments (Harris)

Christy Harris, CRPC ® ........................... (540) 463-2124 1545 N Lee Highway, Suite 1 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.edwardjones.com Christy.Harris@Edwardjones.com

Edward Jones Investments (Vance)

Dan Vance (540) 463-1999 22 W Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.edwardjones.com/index.html dan.vance@edwardjones.com

Edward Jones Investments (Woodford)

Matt Woodford (540) 463-1990 103 E Washington St Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.edwardjones.com/index.html matt.woodford@edwardjones.com

First Bank

Chris Hollish............................................. (540) 966-3100

1245 Roanoke Road Daleville, VA 24083 http://www.colmort.com colonialmortgage@colmort.com

Hipps Financial Partners, LLC

John Hipps (540) 421-8083 105 Keswick Circle Dayton, VA 22821

https://hippsfinancial.com/ JohnHipps@HippsFinancial.com

HistorInvesting, LLC

Cheryl Nester (540) 458-0407

129 South Randolph St., Suite 6 Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.historcompanies.com HistorInvesting@Protonmail.com

John Wm. Thomas Consulting, LLC

John Thomas............................................ (202) 236-3076

116 Lee Avenue Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.johnwmthomasconsulting.com/ johnwmthomasconsulting@gmail.com

LPL Financial (Cathy Shaner Carlock)

Cathy Shaner Carlock (540) 463-3362 87 Falcon Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lpl.com/ ccarlock@lpl.com

Rockbridge Asset Management Inc.

B.C. Grigsby (540) 463-3742

Lexington, VA 24450 bcg.rockbridge@btinternet.com

Truist Wealth

Elaine Nelson (540) 463-4302 537 E Nelson ., Suite 101 Lexington, VA 24450

http://bbtscottstringfellow.com enelson@scottstringfellow.com

Wells Fargo Advisors LLC (Shomo)

Randy Shomo.......................................... (540) 463-2736

101 S Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.wellsfargoadvisors.com/?cid=GC 1500055549&excid=GC1500055549 randy.shomo@wellsfargo.com

FISHING

Journey Outdoors

Christina Volpe (540) 461-8816

150 Walker St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.journeyoutlex.com christina@journeyoutlex.com

Maury River Smallmouth, LLC

Jamie Childress.......................................(540) 319-9469

24 Musket Loop Natural Bridge, VA 24578

http://www.mauryriversmallmouth.com jchildress39@gmail.com

Virginia River Guides

Derek Hutton (208) 399-1888

601 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://VirginiaRiverGuides.com trips@VirginiaRiverGuides.com

FITNESS

Center of Gravity Yoga & Pilates

Wendy Orrison (540) 462-2944

124 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexingtoncenterofgravity.com studio@lexingtoncenterofgravity.com

fLEX Fitness Studio

Wendy Orrison........................................ (540) 570-2383

314 S. Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://flexlexva.com flexlexva@gmail.com

Friends of Rockbridge Swimming

Leslie Ayers (540) 464-3663

194 Wallace Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockbridgeswims.org info@rockbridgeswims.org

Lex Running Shop, LLC

Jess Reid (540) 461-8350

41 S Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.lexrunningshop.com/ jess@lexrunningshop.com

Rockbridge Ballet/The Studio

Jessica Martin.........................................(540) 463-3436

The Rockbridge Ballet/The Studio PO Box 150

Lexington, VA 24450 www.Rockbridgeballet.org rockbridgeballet@gmail.com

Rockbridge Barbell

Red Dowdell (703) 346-0980

150 Walker Street Lexington , VA 24450 http://rockbridgebarbell.com rockbridgebarbell@gmail.com

Rockbridge YMCA

Lori Miller (540) 464-9622 790 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://ymcavbr.org/locations/rockbridge/ rockbridge-area-ymca/ lmiller@ymcavbr.org

FLORISTS

The Jefferson Florist and Garden

Jay Lewis (540) 463-9841 603 North Lee Highway Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.thejeffersonfloristandgarden.com sales@thejeffersonfloristandgarden.com

University Florist

Carolyn Tolley (540) 463-6080 165 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.universityfloristlexva.com gtolley@rockbridge.net

Yonderyear Farm

Amanda Green........................................(540) 460-3256 1040 Adair Hl Dr Rockbridge Baths, VA 24473 https://www.yonderyearfarm.com/ amanda@yonderyearfarm.com

FOOD & GROCERY

Abundant Life Kitchen

Kate Hinderer (503) 406-0979 1755 Cedar Ave. Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://theabundantlifekitchen.com abundantlifelexington@gmail.com

Cattlemen’s Market

Rosalea & Charlie Potter (540) 463-2333 538 E. Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.donaldsmeats.com Riley.buffalocreekbeef@gmail.com

Lex Vegas Bistro

Troy Sheller................................................. (540) 251-7104 1140 North Lee Highway Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexbistrobus.com troy@en-flux.com

Old Lex Mercantile

Heather Davis (540) 319-4180 113 West Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.oldlexmercantile.com contact@oldlexmercantile.com

Seasons’ Yield Farm

Daniel Shear (703) 415-6673 165 Oakland Circle Raphine, VA 24472 http://seasonsyieldfarm.com seasonsyieldfarm@gmail.com

Wades Mill

John Siegfried......................................... (540) 348-1400

55 Kennedy Wades Mill Loop Raphine, VA 24472 https://www.wadesmill.com/ john@wadesmill.com

FORESTRY

Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway

Mark Hogsed (540) 772-2992 541 Luck Ave SW, #317 Roanoke, VA 24016

http://friendsbrp.org staff@friendsbrp.org

FUNERAL & CREMATION SERVICES

Harrison Funeral Home & Crematory

Michael Lotts (540) 463-2912 714 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 office@harrisonfh1867.com

GIFTS & SPECIALTY ITEMS

Cabell Gallery of Virginia Art

Susan Groves........................................... (540) 461-8488 5 W. Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://cabellgallery.com susan@cabellgallery.com

Celtic Tides LLC

John and Mary Jo Morman (540) 464-6545 23 South Jefferson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://celtictides2.com celtictides@rockbridge.net

Cobblestone Shoe & Leather Repair

Greg Moore (540) 461-8248 121 West Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.cobblestoneshoppes.com cobblestoneshoppes@gmail.com

Curated Interiors

Helen Bisset..............................................(540) 570-6169 95 Woodridge Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://curatedbyhelen.com curatedbyhelen@gmail.com

Earth, Fire, & Spirit Gallery

Amber Poole (405) 788-9919 15 W. Washington St. Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.efspottery.com/ amberpoole@me.com

House Mountain Handmade

Tony Waddell (828) 421-6675 251 Sterrett Road Fairfield , VA 24435 http://www.housemountainhandmade.com tony waddell@yahoo.com

Just Games Lexington Zander Tallman (540) 724-6124 29 W Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.justgameslex.com/ zander@justgameslex.com

Ladles and Linens

Sarah Nicholas (540) 255-4246 13 S Main St Lexington , VA 24450 contact@ladlesandlinens.com

Lizzie’s of Lexington

Elizabeth Murphy (540) 784-5233 16 W. Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lizziesoflexington.com liz@lizziesoflexington.com

Old Lex Mercantile

Heather Davis (540) 319-4180

113 West Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.oldlexmercantile.com contact@oldlexmercantile.com

Pumpkinseeds Lexington

Siobhan Deeds (540) 464-5002

1 North Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.facebook.com/Pumpkinseeds. boutique pumpkinseedslexva@gmail.com

Purveyors On Main

Kali McLeod (540) 464-9463

29 S Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.purveyorsonmain.com/ washstreet@rockbridge.net

Roadmap CoffeeWorks

Terry & Melissa Scholl....................... (540) 462-3990 2345 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://roadmapcoffeeworks.com mscholl@lexingtoncoffee.com

Rockbridge Music

Diana Schofield (540) 463-5455

205 N Main St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockbridgemusic.com rockbridgemusic@gmail.com

Shenandoah Attic and Victorian Parlour

Debbie Darlington (540) 464-8383

17 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://shenandoahattic.com victorianparlour@shenandoahattic.com

Sugar Maple Trading Company

Cindy Hughes.......................................... (540) 458-0415

16 N Main St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.sugarmapletradingcompany.com hello@sugarmapletradingcompany.com

The BeeVe: Sweet Souvenirs

Madeline Wells (801) 874-9686

2175 Magnolia Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.thebeeve.com/ hello@southernoutlook.info

The Interior Castle

Maia Browning (540) 204-5969

6 South Randolph Street Lexington, VA 24450 theinteriorcastle.org emaib@aol.com

University Florist

Carolyn Tolley......................................... (540) 463-6080 165 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.universityfloristlexva.com gtolley@rockbridge.net

Vinyl Cuts

Ruthie Lawhorne (540) 784-3529 2077 Magnolia Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.facebook.com/vinylcutsbv/ vinylcutsbv@gmail.com

Woodlore LLC

Michael Lohr (540) 460-9469 249 Sterrett Road Fairfield, VA 24435

http://www.woodlorecreations.com/ Shawn@WoodloreCreations.com

GOLF

Lexington Golf & Country Club (540) 463-4141

141 Country Club Rd Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.lexingtongolfandcountryclub.com ceasum@lexingtongolfandcountryclub.com

GOVERNMENT

City of Buena Vista

Jason Tyree (540) 261-6121

2039 Sycamore Ave Buena Vista, VA 24416

http://www.bvcity.org jtyree@bvcity.org

City of Lexington

Jim Halasz.................................................. (540) 462-3700 300 East Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexingtonva.gov jhalasz@lexingtonva.gov

Rockbridge County

Spencer Suter (540) 463-4361 150 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.co.rockbridge.va.us ssuter@rockbridgecountyva.gov

Town of Glasgow

George Hayfield (540) 258-2246 1100 Blue Ridge Road Glasgow, VA 24555 http://www.glasgowvirginia.org ghayfield@glasgowvirginia.org

Town of Goshen

Sheila Sampson..................................... (540) 997-5545

128 Main Street Goshen, VA 24439

http:// www.goshenvirginia.com townofgoshen va@yahoo.com

Virginia Employment Commission (VEC)

Christopher Hurley (540) 332-7750

1076 Jefferson Highway Staunton, VA 24401

http://www.vec.virginia.gov fishersville@vec.virginia.gov

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Borzelleca, Marc

Marc Borzelleca (540) 414-4739 PO Box 82 Staunton, VA 24402 www.marcborzelleca.com marcborzelleca@comcast.net

COV Designs

John Morris (540) 958-1249 413 E Gordon St Covington, VA 24426 https://covdesigns.com john@covdesigns.com

James Allen Printing

Chelsea Kirby.......................................... (540) 463-9232

145 E Midland Trail Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.jamesallenprinting.com chad.allen@jamesallenprinting.com

LinkHouse Web Design

Emilie Davis............................................... (540) 212-9532

14 East Nelson Street Suite 102C Lexington, VA 24450

http://linkhouseweb.com

emilie@linkhouseweb.com

Vinyl Cuts

Ruthie Lawhorne (540) 784-3529

2077 Magnolia Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.facebook.com/vinylcutsbv/ vinylcutsbv@gmail.com

HARDWARE

Spencer Home Center

Eric Spencer (540) 463-7393

1398 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://spencerhc.com erics@spencerhc.com

GOLD SPONSOR

HOME FURNISHINGS

Curated Interiors

Helen Bisset (540) 570-6169 95 Woodridge Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://curatedbyhelen.com curatedbyhelen@gmail.com

House Mountain Handmade

Tony Waddell (828) 421-6675

251 Sterrett Road Fairfield , VA 24435 http://www.housemountainhandmade.com tony waddell@yahoo.com

Ladles and Linens

Sarah Nicholas (540) 255-4246 13 S Main St Lexington , VA 24450 ladlesandlinens.com contact@ladlesandlinens.com

Lizzie’s of Lexington

Elizabeth Murphy (540) 784-5233 16 W. Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lizziesoflexington.com liz@lizziesoflexington.com

Pink Peonies

Stephanie Hardy (540) 319-3973 2175 Magnolia Ave. Buena Vista, VA 24416 www.PinkPeoniesBV.com stephanie@pinkpeoniesbv.com

Woodlore LLC

Michael Lohr (540) 460-9469 249 Sterrett Road Fairfield, VA 24435 http://www.woodlorecreations.com/ Shawn@WoodloreCreations.com

HOME MAINTENANCE

Commonwealth Environmental Associates Inc.

John McCoy (540) 462-6077 648 Waddell Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.commonwealthenvironmental.com jbmccoy78@gmail.com

Dodson Pest Control Co.

Nathan Chaffin (540) 463-9675 2468 North Lee Highway Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.dodsonbros.com/ manager038@dodsonbros.com

Fashion Floors & Cabinets

Shyla Palaschak (540) 464-1422 94 E Midland Trail Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.fashionfloorsandcabinets.com sales@fashionfloorsandcabinets.com

Water Works Water Treatment Inc

Mark Ceuls (540) 433-5669

1760 Dealton Ave Harrisonburg, VA 22801

http://www.waterworkswater.com

mark@waterworkswater.com

Welsh Construction Inc.

Janeen Welsh (540) 464-1008

15A N Randolph Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.welshconstruction.com

janeen@welshconstruction.com

HOSPITALS & CLINICS

AirMedCare Network/Carilion Lifeguard

Benjamin Swisher.................................(540) 566-8412 346 Westlake Rd Hardy, VA 24101

http://AMCNrep.com/Elizabeth-Braddy scott.whyte@gmr.net

Augusta Health Primary Care (Buena Vista)

Susie Knick (540) 261-1315 2054 Sycamore Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.augustahealth.com

SK1550120@augustahealth.com

Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital

Greg Madsen (540) 458-3500 1 Health Cr Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.carilionclinic.org

gtmadsen@carilionclinic.org

INNOVATION PARTNER

Connections Plus Healthcare + Hospice

Tasha Walsh (540) 463-1848 315 Myers St

Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockbridgeareahospice.org tasha.walsh@rahospice.org

Intercept Health

Susan Kirby (540) 597-5349 5673 Airport Road Roanoke, VA 24012

http://Intercepthealth.com jlabiosa@interceptyouth.com

LewisGale Physicians LLC

Tracy Franson (540) 464-4900 539 E. Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://LGPhysicians.com tracy.franson@hcahealthcare.com

Maury River Family Practice

Jane Sailer (540) 258-1700 730 McCulloch Street Glasgow, VA 24555

http://www.mauryriverfamilypractice.com

VelocityCare

Allison Brelyn-Porter (540) 462-3950 110 Houston Street

Lexington, VA 24450

http://velocitycarebycarilion.com/

HOTELS/MOTELS

Hampton Inn Lexington - Historic District

Megan Hays.............................................. (540) 463-2223

401 E Nelson St Lexington, VA 24450

http://HamptonColAlto.com lxtsw hampton@hilton.com

House Mountain Inn

Jamie Grue (540) 464-4004

455 Lonesome Dove Trail Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.housemountaininn.com housemountaininn@gmail.com

Natural Bridge Historic Hotel and Conference Center

Lya Walker (540) 291-2121

15 Appledore Ln Natural Bridge, VA 24578 http://www.naturalbridgeva.com lwalker@naturalbridgeva.com

Sunset Farm

Kelly Mangione (703) 727-1478 1491 Thornhill Road Lexington, VA 24450 kesulli1@gmail.com

The Georges

John Gomes (540) 463-2500 11 North Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://thegeorges.com reservations@thegeorges.com

HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES

Goodwill Industries of the Valleys Inc.

Zenith Barrett (540) 464-1117 8 Woodcote Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.goodwillvalleys.com zbarrett@goodwillvalleys.com

PeopleLink Staffing Solutions

Debi Ruley (540) 261-2816 2293 Magnolia Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.peoplelinkstaffing.com druley@peoplelinkstaffing.com

The Leadership Partnership

Laurie Macrae........................................ (540) 460-2800 498 Union Run Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.TheLeadershipPartnership.com lauriemac@Rockbridge.net

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

Christine and Charles Bentley Theresa Bezold nelsonandrandolph@gmail.com

Janne & Tom Charland thomascharland@rocketmail.com

R. David Cox rdavidcox@earthlink.net

Susan Friski friskiknitter@gmail.com

Dave Hawkins hawkins@rockbridge.net

Mike & Jan Lowry gemikelowry@yahoo.com

Craig & Paula Moore cmhokie@gmail.com

Mark Reed mrmarkhreed@gmail.com

Dr. Chris Saylor http://drchrissaylor.com info@drchrissaylor.com

Pat Tichenor col.tich@yahoo.com

INSURANCE

AirMedCare Network/Carilion Lifeguard

Benjamin Swisher (540) 566-8412 346 Westlake Rd Hardy, VA 24101

http://AMCNrep.com/Elizabeth-Braddy scott.whyte@gmr.net

Bankers Insurance LLC

Stewart Fleming...................................... (540) 463-2141 210 E Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://bankersinsurance.net sfleming@bankersinsurance.net

Campbell Insurance

Dick Emrey (540) 458-0087

115 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.CampbellIns.com demrey@campbellins.com

Furr Insurance Agency

Glenn Furr (540) 463-4900 166 Walker St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.furrinsuranceagency.com furrinsuranceagency@yahoo.com

Goat Planning Insurance and Financial Services

Jeff Batson (540) 300-6690 7 E Washinton St., Suite 5 Lexington, VA 24459

http://www.goatplanning.com info@goatplanning.com

Goosehead Insurance - Albert Vargas

Albert Vargas (540) 300-7098 7 E. Washington St., Suite A5 Lexington, VA 24450

http://agents.gooseheadinsurance.com/ albert-vargas albert.vargas@goosehead.com

Huffman Insurance Agencies, Inc

Ward Huffman (540) 463-7719

209 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.huffmaninsuranceagencies.com/ Ward@huffmaninsuranceagencies.com

GOLD SPONSOR

Innovative Insurance Group

Ginger Janney (540) 613-8800 2670 Electric Road Roanoke, VA 24018 http://www.thinkinnovative.net ginger@thinkinnovative.net

Rockbridge County Farm Bureau Insurance

Jade Knick (540) 463-3603 2050 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 https://farmbureauadvantage.com rockbridgecofarmbureau@vafb.com

State Farm Mutual Insurance (Blevins)

Patrick Blevins......................................... (540) 463-3812 898 North Lee Highway Lexington, VA 24450 http://patrickblevins.com patrick@patrickblevins.com

Valley Trust Insurance Group

Jon Swinson (540) 261-3342

60 E Midland Trail, Suite 104 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.valleytrustinsurance.com jon@valleytrustinsurance.com

INTERIOR DESIGN

Fashion Floors & Cabinets

Shyla Palaschak (540) 464-1422 94 E Midland Trail Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.fashionfloorsandcabinets.com sales@fashionfloorsandcabinets.com

Roundtable Interiors

Cary Edgar.................................................. (919) 673-0326

205 Johnstone St. Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.roundtableinteriors.com cary@roundtableinteriors.com

JEWELRY

Artists in Cahoots

Greg Sandage............................................ (540) 464-1147 21 W Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://artistsincahoots.com/ info@artistsincahoots.com

Cabell Gallery of Virginia Art

Susan Groves (540) 461-8488

5 W. Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://cabellgallery.com susan@cabellgallery.com

Earth, Fire, & Spirit Gallery

Amber Poole (405) 788-9919

15 W. Washington St. Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.efspottery.com/ amberpoole@me.com

Hamric & Sheridan Jewelers

Robby Jones............................................. (540) 463-2022

11 W Nelson St Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.facebook.com/ hamricsheridanjewelers hamsher@gmx.com

SILVER SPONSOR

Hess & Co. Jewelers

Barbara Clowser (540) 463-1652 22 S Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.hessjewelry.com hessandco4@gmail.com

Lexington Shop for Pappagallo Inc.

Susan Crawford (540) 463-5988 23 N Main St Lexington, VA 24450 https://lexpappagallo.com lexpappagallo@gmail.com

LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Garrett Landscapes

Walter Garrett......................................... (540) 784-9647 http://www.garrettlandscapes.com garrettlandscapes@gmail.com

Waynesboro Landscape & Garden Center

Laura Hotinger (540) 942-4646 2032 West Main St Waynesboro, VA 22980 http://www.waynesborogardens.com laurawlgc@gmail.com

LAWN CARE

Garrett Landscapes

Walter Garrett (540) 784-9647

http://www.garrettlandscapes.com garrettlandscapes@gmail.com

Mountain Top Mowing & More

Cindy Bither..................................................(540) 817-3811

113 Stuart Road Fairfield, VA 24435

https://www.facebook.com/ mountaintopmowingllc/ mtntopmowing@gmail.com

Nelson Street Service Center

Melanie or Mike Camden (540) 4645253 424 E. Nelson St. Lexington, VA 24450 NSSC@embarqmail.com

Shaner’s Greenhouses Inc.

Mitchell Shaner (540) 463-2823 600 Greenhouse Rd Lexington, VA 24450 shanersgreenhouses@centurylink.net

LEGAL SERVICES

Blue Ridge CASA for Children

Juan Pablo Molina (540) 213-2272 119 West Frederick Street Staunton, VA 24401 http://www.casa4children.com info@blueridgecasa.org

MANUFACTURING & PRODUCTION

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc.

Robert Wagoner........................................ (540) 261-6131 510 Factory Street Buena Vista, VA 24416 https://www.ads-pipe.com/ William.Ferguson@ads-pipe.com

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Des Champs Technologies

Connie Loughhead................................ (540) 228-1967 2 Nikki Lane Natural Bridge Station, VA 24579 https://waterless-trap.com/ info@deschampstechnologies.com

Electro-Pure, Inc.

David Beebe (540) 460-4209 280 Rosa Lee Drive Fairfield, VA 24435 http://www.electro-pure.com epure@electro-pure.com

Everbrite LLC

Scott Branch (540) 261-2121 627 E 30th St Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.everbrite.com sbranch@everbrite.com

Micron Bio-Systems Inc.

Bob Rhoades............................................. (540) 261-2468 2329 Old Buena Vista Rd Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.micronbio-systems.com bob.rhoades@micronbio-systems.com

Modine Manufacturing Company

Thomas Johnson (540) 261-8346 1221 Magnolia Ave. Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.modine.com matthew.a.niebur@modine.com

Mohawk Industries

Todd Shail (540) 258-2811

404 Anderson Street Glasgow, VA 24555

http://www.mohawkind.com todd shail@mohawkind.com

Sayre Enterprises

Rebecca Austin (540) 261-3374

324 E 32nd Street

Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.sayreinc.com raustin@sayreinc.com

MARKETING

Becker Digital, LLC

Jeremy Becker........................................... (540) 572-0311 PO Box 532

Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.becker-digital.com/ jeremy@becker-digital.com

Bezuki Creative Services

Tanya Besmehn (571) 278-8725 20 Steeplechase Drive Lexington, VA 24450 http://Bezuki.com tanya@bezuki.com

Davey & Krista

Krista Jones (410) 562-3396

110 Old Forest Trl Stevensville, MD 21666 daveyandkrista.com krista@daveyandkrista.com

Enspire Creative

Adam Lawrence....................................... (202) 460-8112

2154 Chestnut Ave Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://enspirecreative.com adam@enspirecreative.com

LinkHouse Web Design

Emilie Davis (540) 212-9532

14 East Nelson Street Suite 102C Lexington, VA 24450

http://linkhouseweb.com emilie@linkhouseweb.com

Mariner Media Inc.

Andy Wolfe (540) 264-0021

131 W 21st St Buena Vista, VA 24416

http://marinermedia.com andy@marinermedia.com

Streamliner Media

Nicholas Ozorak (814) 853-3013

7 Bristol Ln Lexington, VA 24450

https://streamlinermedia.com nozorak@streamlinermedia.com

MEDICAL SUPPLY

AirMedCare Network/Carilion Lifeguard

Benjamin Swisher (540) 566-8412

346 Westlake Rd Hardy, VA 24101

http://AMCNrep.com/Elizabeth-Braddy scott.whyte@gmr.net

Lexington Prescription Center

Jeffrey Goldstein.................................... (540) 784-8375

800 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450

http://lexingtonrx.com/Welcome.html

JGOLDSTEIN@LEXINGTONRX.COM

MEDICAL, DENTAL & NURSING CARE

Alleghany Health and Rehab

Ann Marie Parks...................................... (540) 862-5791

1725 Main St Clifton Forge, VA 24422 http://www.alleghanyrehab.com aparks@alleghanyrehab.com

AmeriCare Plus

Janelle Caldwell (540) 463-1676

155 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.americarepluspc.com/ jcaldwell@americareplus.net

Augusta Health Care for Women

Rachel Liskey (540) 463-7751

110 Houston ST., Suite C Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.ahcfw.com/ RSmith@ahcfw.net

Augusta Health Primary Care (Lexington)

Becky Catlett............................................ (540) 463-3381

55 Comfort Way, Suite 1 Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.augustahealth.com/amg/ internal-medicine bcatlett@augustahealth.com

Carilion Family Medicine

Shonna Buzzard..................................... (540) 463-7628

108 Houston St., Suite C Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.carilionclinic.org/providers/ erika-s-kelly-do slbuzzard@carilionclinic.org

Fairfield Volunteer Rescue Squad

Scott Grant (540) 377-2848

5885 N Lee Highway Fairfield, VA 24435 http://fairfieldrescue.com sgrant@fairfieldrescue.com

Kiwi Emergency Medical Services

Matt Daniels (540) 784-9582

650 North Lee Hwy, Building 35 Suite 10 Lexington, VA 24450 matt@kiwiems.com

Maury River Family Practice

Jane Sailer (540) 258-1700

730 McCulloch Street Glasgow, VA 24555

http://www.mauryriverfamilypractice.com

Rockbridge Area Community Services

Kim Shaw (540) 463-3141

241 Greenhouse Rd Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.racsb.org kshaw@racsb.org

Rockbridge Area Health Center

Janet Beebe..............................................(540) 464-8700

25 Northridge Lane

Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockahc.org ssheridan@rockahc.org

Trio Healthcare

Sandra Donald....................................... (540) 460-0352

1725 Main Street

Clifton Forge, VA 24422

TRIO-HEALTHCARE.COM

sdonald@alleghanyrehab.com

VelocityCare

Allison Brelyn-Porter.......................... (540) 462-3950

110 Houston Street

Lexington, VA 24450

http://velocitycarebycarilion.com/

MORTGAGE BANKING

Alcova Mortgage LLC

Sarah Dudley (540) 464-1901

221 S Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.alcova.com/sdudley sdudley@alcovamortgage.com

Caliber Home Loans

Tim Braddick............................................. (540) 319-0097

898 N. Lee Hwy Suite B

Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.caliberhomeloans.com/ tim.braddick@caliberhomeloans.com

City National Bank (Buena Vista) (540) 261-3010

128 West 21st Street Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.bankatcity.com kristensimpson22@yahoo.com

CornerStone Bank (Lee Highway)

Greg Fredrick.......................................... (540) 464-8900

719 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 https://cornerstonebankva.com/LocationsHours

fredrickg@cornerstonebankva.com

INNOVATION PARTNER

CornerStone Bank (Lexington/Headquarters)

Steve Grist (540) 463-2222

54 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://cornerstonebankva.com grists@cornerstonebankva.com

INNOVATION PARTNER

DuPont Community Credit Union

Michelle White (540) 946-3200 1130 N. Lee Highway Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.mydccu.com mwhite@mydccu.com

GOLD SPONSOR

Farm Credit

Bobbi Loudermilk..................................(540) 463-5255

152 Maury River Rd Lexington, VA 24450 http://farmcreditofvirginias.com bloudermilk@agfirst.com

Virginia Mountain Mortgage

Sharon Cooper (540) 458-3715

65 E. Midland Trail Lexington, VA 24450 http://vamtnmortgage.com scooper@vamtnmortgage.com

OFFICE FURNITURE & SUPPLIES

James Allen Printing

Chelsea Kirby (540) 463-9232

145 E Midland Trail Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.jamesallenprinting.com chad.allen@jamesallenprinting.com

Old Dominion Imaging Systems, Inc.

Irby Hudson (434) 214-0422

232-A Warwick Lane Lynchburg, VA 24503 http://www.copyodis.com hudman39@gmail.com

ParknPool Corp.

John Good (540) 463-6510

40 Park Place Lexington, VA 24450 www.parknpool.com info@parknpool.com

Southern Virginia Office Equipment

Brian Bence (540) 458-0123

18 East Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.svoe.net svoe@svoe.net

OPTICAL SERVICES

Blue Ridge Eye Associates of Rockbridge County

Lindsay Petrie................................ (540) 463-9350 30 Crossing Lane Suite 107 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.seerockbridge.com seerockbridge@gmail.com

Personalized eyecare in a friendly, professional environment. Routine and medical eye exams. Same-day emergency care available. Call to schedule today!

PERSONAL SERVICES

AmeriCare Plus

Janelle Caldwell (540) 463-1676 155 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.americarepluspc.com/ jcaldwell@americareplus.net

Arc of Rockbridge

Doris Fredricksen (540) 461-0074 PO Box 657 Lexington, VA 24450 http://ArcofRockbridge.dreamhosters.com thearcofrockbridge@yahoo.com

Cobblestone Shoe & Leather Repair

Greg Moore................................................(540) 461-8248 121 West Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.cobblestoneshoppes.com cobblestoneshoppes@gmail.com

Curated Interiors

Helen Bisset (540) 570-6169 95 Woodridge Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://curatedbyhelen.com curatedbyhelen@gmail.com

House Mountain Soccer Academy

Nick Regan (202) 250-1975 401 Enfield Rd Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.housemountainsoccer.com team@housemountainsoccer.com

Mountain Creek Counseling

Susan Bedell............................................. (540) 742-7260 PO Box 338 Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.mountaincreekcounseling.com sbedell@mountaincreekcounseling.com

YBeU Life Coaching for Women

Freda Scheuer (571) 335-5212 885 Ross Rd Lexington, VA 24450-6152 http://www.ybeulifecoaching.com. Freda@ybeulifecoaching.com

PETS

Cats Unlimited

Cathy DeMay (540) 458-2287 PO Box 484 Lexington, VA 24450 http://catsunlimited.org help@catsunlimited.org

Lexington Pet Place, Inc.

Cindi Jacobs...............................................(540) 461-8314

111 West Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexingtonpetplace.com info@lexingtonpetplace.com

Rockbridge SPCA

Tara Rodi (540) 463-5123 10 Animal Place Lexington, VA 24450 http://rockbridgespca.net executivedirector@rockbridgespca.net

PHOTOGRAPHERS/ PHOTO FINISHING/ FRAMING

Global Photographic Design

Nathan Beck (540) 292-8489 5522 Watervale Dr. Crozet, VA 22932 www.globalphotographicdesign.com beckimage@yahoo.com

October Grace Media

Cindy Fellows............................................. (540) 271-7817 181 Offliter Road Stuarts Draft, VA 24447 https://www.octobergracemedia.com/ octobergracemedia@gmail.com

Rockbridge Photo Scanning

Travis Coffey (540) 458-1030 http://www.facebook.com/ RockbridgePhotoScanning rockbridgephotoscanning@gmail.com

Stylin Klickz PhotoBooth

Janice Newcomb (540) 290-4710 172 Walker Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://stylinklickzphotobooth.com stylin.klickz.photobooth@gmail.com

PRESS/PUBLICATIONS/ RADIO

3WZ

Elizabeth Braddy..................................... (540) 463-2161

392 E Midland Trail Lexington, VA 24450 http://3wzfm.com/ ewbraddy@gmail.com

Clyde Hill Publishing

Gregory Shaw (206) 915-9500 Lexington, VA 24450 https://clydehillpublishing.com/ greg@clydehillpublishing.com

Mariner Media Inc.

Andy Wolfe (540) 264-0021

131 W 21st St Buena Vista, VA 24416

http://marinermedia.com andy@marinermedia.com

Radio IQ and WVTF Public Radio

Roger Duvall (540) 989-8900

3520 Kingsbury Ln Roanoke, VA 24014 http://wvtf.org geg@vt.edu

Rockbridge Advocate

Doug Harwood........................................ (540) 463-2062 7 E Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.rockbridgeadvocate.com rbadvocate@embarqmail.com

The Cadet Foundation

Robert Morris (757) 869-6770 c/o 214 Terrebonne Road Yorktown, VA 23692-4868 http://www.cadetnewspaper.org BobM@caihq.com

The News-Gazette

Matt Paxton (540) 463-3113 20 W Nelson St Lexington, VA 24450 http://thenews-gazette.com publisher@thenews-gazette.com

Town Square Publications

Mark Waligorski...................................... (847) 427-4633 95 W. Algonquin Rd; Suite 300 Arlington Hts., IL 60005 https://www.townsquarepublications.com jdussman@tspubs.com

WMRA-WEMC Radio Network

Matt Bingay (540) 568-6221 983 Reservoir St Harrisonburg, VA 22801 http://wmra.org wmra@jmu.edu

PRINTING & TYPESETTING

James Allen Printing

Chelsea Kirby (540) 463-9232 145 E Midland Trail Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.jamesallenprinting.com chad.allen@jamesallenprinting.com

Mid Valley Press

Michelle Vandevander...................... (540) 248-5300 46 Laurel Hill Rd Verona, VA 24482

http://www.midvalleypress.com mvandevander@midvalleypress.com

Old Dominion Imaging Systems, Inc.

Irby Hudson (434) 214-0422

232-A Warwick Lane Lynchburg, VA 24503

http://www.copyodis.com hudman39@gmail.com

Vinyl Cuts

Ruthie Lawhorne (540) 784-3529

2077 Magnolia Avenue

Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.facebook.com/vinylcutsbv/ vinylcutsbv@gmail.com

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Rockbridge Christian Academy

Hunter Phillips (540) 463-5456

21 Snowy Egret Ln Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rockbridgechristianacademy.org lex4sqgospel@hotmail.com

The Bridge Christian Academy

Wesley Galford........................................ (540) 291-2332

21 Gilmores Mill Rd

Natural Bridge Station, VA 24579 http://www.thebridgechristianacademy.org nbchristianfellowship@gmail.com

Virginia Institute of Autism

Patti Cook (540) 366-8320

40 Park Place Lexington, VA 24450

http://braacroanoke.org/ braac.bv@svhservices.org

Woods Creek Montessori

Caroline Russell (540) 463-6461

2 Dold Pl Lexington, VA 24450 https://woodscreekmontessori.org/ caroline@woodscreekmontessori.org

Yellow Brick Road Early Learning Center Inc. Misty Camden......................................... (540) 463-7344 410 Yellow Brick Road Lexington, VA 24450 http://yellowbrickroadelc.weebly.com YBRearlylearningctr@gmail.com

PROPERTY LEASING & MANAGEMENT

H and K Properties Inc.

Heather Hamilton (540) 464-3922 163 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://handkproperties.com info@handkproperties.com

Harding & Associates Inc.

Virginia Chenault................................... (804) 282-1590 5006 Monument Ave Richmond, VA 23230 http://www.harding-inc.com virginia.chenault@harding-inc.com

Security Management Inc.

Michael Stearns (540) 464-4832 195 Walker St Lexington, VA 24450 https://sm.asisonline.org wjs@rockbridge.net

Signature Property Management

Kristy Higgins (540) 266-1422 5311 Lakeside Ave Richmond, VA 23220 http://www.spmrental.com

PUBLIC SCHOOOLS

Buena Vista Public Schools

Tony Francis (540) 261-2129 2329 Chestnut Ave., Suite A Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.bvcps.net/ tony.francis@bvcps.net

Lexington City Schools

Rebecca Walters.................................... (540) 463-7146

300 Diamond St Lexington, VA 24450 https://lexedu.org RWalters@lexedu.org

Rockbridge County Public Schools

Phillip Thompson (540) 463-7386 2893 Collierstown Rd Lexington, VA 24450 http://rockbridge.k12.va.us phillip thompson@rockbridge.k12.va.us

Rockbridge County Public Schools Foundation

Debbie Pruett PO Box 1042 Lexington, VA 24450

https://rockbridgeschoolsfoundation.org/ rcpsfgrants@gmail.com

Rockbridge Regional Library System

Julie Goyette.............................................(540) 463-4324 138 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.rrlib.net/ JGoyette@rrlib.net

REAL ESTATE SERVICES

Fresh Estates & Country Properties Inc.

Larry Fresh (540) 997-5219 12187 Sam Snead Highway Warm Springs, VA 24484 http://freshestates.com fresh@cfw.com

H and K Properties Inc.

Heather Hamilton (540) 464-3922 163 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://handkproperties.com info@handkproperties.com

Harding & Associates Inc. Virginia Chenault................................... (804) 282-1590 5006 Monument Aveq Richmond, VA 23230 http://www.harding-inc.com virginia.chenault@harding-inc.com

J. F. Brown Real Estate Services

Jim Brown (540) 464-1776 6 E Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://jfbrownrealestate.com jim@jfbrownrealestate.com

An intentionally small and independent firm, dedicated to the ideals of high quality brokerage with exceptional personal service!

James River Realty

Janie Harris (540) 463-2117 214 S. Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 https://www.jamesriverrealtyva.com/ jamesriverrealtor@gmail.com

James Wm. Moore Real Estate Co.

Will Moore (540) 463-7080 28 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.jwmre.com info@jwmre.com

Lexington Real Estate Connection Rick Alford................................................. (540) 463-7629 31 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://lexvarealestate.com info@lexvarealestate.com

Rockbridge Highlands Realtors

Debbie Conner-Armentrout (540) 464-4700

30 Crossing Lane Suite 212 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.rockbridgerealtors.com ae@rockbridgerealtors.com

Locher Real Estate, LLC

Wynn Locher

18 E Nelson St. Lexington, VA 24450 eastnelsonllc@gmail.com

Old Dominion Realty

Toria Brown.............................................. (540) 943-0085

19 Myers Corner Dr. Suite 101 Staunton, VA 24401 http://www.odrva.com mail@odrva.com

Paula Martin Real Estate Team

Paula Martin.............................................. (540) 460-1019 31 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.yourrockbridgeconnection.com paula@paulamartinteam.com

Security Management Inc.

Michael Stearns (540) 464-4832 195 Walker St Lexington, VA 24450 https://sm.asisonline.org wjs@rockbridge.net

Sterling Properties & Management, LLC

David Stull (540) 462-3770 21 West Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://Sterlingpropertiesandmanagement.com sterlingpropertieswestnelson@gmail.com

Vita & Associates Inc.

Joseph Vita.................................................(540) 463-9551

18 East Nelson Street Suite 102 Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.joevita.com joe@joevita.com

Waterloo Creek Farm

Bill Russell (703) 402-0823 1004 Waterloo Drive Lexington, VA 24450-6436 http://www.waterlooreekfarm.com bill@waterloocreekfarm.com

Wheeler & Associates Realty

Michelle Wheeler................................... (540) 261-8667 106 W 21st Street Buena Vista, VA 24416

http://www.wheelerandassociatesrealty.com wheelersells@hotmail.com

RECYCLING

EarthMagic Recycling LLC

Katherine Wirtanen (540) 448-1169

245 W 21st Street

Buena Vista , VA 24416

http://www.earthmagicrecycling.com earthmagicrecycling@yahoo.com

RESORTS

Natural Bridge Historic Hotel and Conference Center

Lya Walker.................................................... (540) 291-2121

15 Appledore Ln Natural Bridge, VA 24578

http://www.naturalbridgeva.com

lwalker@naturalbridgeva.com

RESTAURANTS

Appalachian Sage

Sarah Littlefair (540) 460-6506

9 East Washington Street Lexington, Virginia 24 450

http://www.appalachiansage.com appalachiansageva@gmail.com

Blue Sky Bakery and Skybar

Jimmie Zimmerly.................................. (540) 463-6546

125 Nelson Street Lexington , VA 24450 http://blueskylex.com Blueskylexva@gmail.com

Brew Ridge Taps

Autumn McFaddin (540) 461-8012

11 East Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.brewridgetaps.com/ brewridgetaps@gmail.com

Devils Backbone Outpost Taproom & Kitchen

Danielle Buckley (540) 462-6200 50 Northwind Lane Lexington, VA 24450 http://dbbrewingcompany.com/ outpost@dbbrewingcompany.com

SILVER SPONSOR

Domino’s Pizza

Thomas Durfee (540) 463-7375

23 S. Jefferson St. Lexington, VA 24450 dominos.com dominos4246@gmail.com

Haywood’s (540) 463-2508

2 North Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://thegeorges.com/haywoods/ INFO@THEGEORGES.COM

Heliotrope Brewery

Erik Jones....................................................(540) 464-1336

128 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.facebook.com/heliotropebrew/ info@heliotropebrewery.com

Hewitt Jamaican Cuisine

Devon Hewitt (434) 465-0000 952 Magnolia Ave., Apt. A Buena Vista, VA 24416

https://www.facebook.com/ Hewittjamaicancuisine jaman839@gmail.com

Holy Cow! Ice Cream

Elizabeth Kohl (540) 817-9153

103 Glen Maury Park Rd Buena Vista, VA 24416 www.facebook.com/holycowVA holycowicecream.bv@gmail.com

Lex Vegas Bistro

Troy Sheller (540) 251-7104

1140 North Lee Highway Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexbistrobus.com troy@en-flux.com

Napa Thai Cuisine

Suparat Prapong..................................... (571) 271-5485

24 N main st

Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.napathai.com napathaicuisine@gmail.com

Pronto Caffe and Gelateria

Meridith Benincasa (540) 464-1472

26 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.prontogelateria.com francesco@prontogelateria.com

Pure Eats

Kasey Potter (540) 462-6000

107 N Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.pure-eats.com kpotter@pure-eats.com

Quaker Steak & Lube

......................................................................... (540) 377-4005 30 Commerce Park Drive Raphine, VA 24472 https://thelube.com/locations/virginia/ raphine/

Salerno’s Wood Fired Pizza & Taphouse

Jason Harris (540) 463-5757 115 S Jefferson St Lexington, VA 24450 http://salernova.com salernova@gmail.com

Slice Versa

Aaron Hill (434) 996-8272 3917 Hungry Town Road Covesville, VA 24450 https://sliceversa.com hillskitchen14@gmail.com

Southern Inn Restaurant

George and Sue Ann Huger.............. (540) 463-3612 37 S Main St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.southerninn.com geohuger@southerninn.com

Subway - Buena Vista

Jason Harris (540) 261-1609 2522 Beech Ave Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.subway.com/en-us/

Subway - Downtown Lexington

Jason Harris (540) 464-3182 122 South Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.subway.com/en-us sirrah.llc@hotmail.com

Subway - Hunter Hill

Jason Harris (540) 463-1177 889 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.subway.com/en-us

Sweet Things Ice Cream Shoppe

Chris Williams (540) 463-6055 100 W Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.sweetthingsicecream.com chrisweeyams@aol.com

Sweet Treats Bakery

Shane Gonsalves..................................... (540) 463-3611 19 W Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.sweettreatsbakery.net sweettreatslexington@gmail.com

TAPS (540) 463-2504

11 North Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://thegeorges.com/taps/

The BeeVe: Sweet Souvenirs

Madeline Wells (801) 874-9686

2175 Magnolia Avenue Buena Vista, VA 24416 https://www.thebeeve.com/ hello@southernoutlook.info

The Georges John Gomes (540) 463-2500 11 North Main Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://thegeorges.com reservations@thegeorges.com

The Palms

Jeff Ramsey................................................. (540) 463-7911 101 W. Nelson Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.thepalmslexington.com palmslexva@gmail.com

Red Hen LLC

Stephanie Wilkinson (540) 460-0600 11 E Washington St Lexington, VA 24450 http://redhenlex.com info@redhenlex.com

SALES

Hevener’s Cars & Trucks

Dick Hevener (540) 261-3350 785 Longhollow Rd Buena Vista, VA 24416 http://www.hevenerscars.com hevenerscarsandtrucks@gmail.com

Magic City Ford Lexington

Penny Burch..............................................(540) 463-3196 51 Northridge Ln Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.magiccityford.com penny@magiccitymotorcorp.com

McDonough Toyota

Steve McDonough (540) 886-6201 918 Richmond Avenue Staunton, VA 24401 https://www.mcdonoughtoyota.com/ steve@mcdtoyota.com

SILVER SPONSOR

SERVICE & REPAIR

Goad’s Body Shop Inc.

J. D. Goad...................................................... (540) 463-9121 2409 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://goadsbodyshop.com jd@goadsbodyshop.com

Magic City Ford Lexington

Penny Burch (540) 463-3196 51 Northridge Ln Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.magiccityford.com penny@magiccitymotorcorp.com

McDonough Toyota

Steve McDonough (540) 886-6201 918 Richmond Avenue Staunton, VA 24401 https://www.mcdonoughtoyota.com/ steve@mcdtoyota.com

SILVER SPONSOR

Nelson Street Service Center Melanie or Mike Camden (540) 464-5253 424 E. Nelson St. Lexington, VA 24450 NSSC@embarqmail.com

Rockbridge Auto Parts, Inc.

Bert Mabry (540) 463-3181

81 E Midland Trail

Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/ bertlex@embarqmail.com

Timber Ridge Auto Center

Marty Strecker (540) 464-1997

1619 Valley Pike Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.timberridgeauto.com info@timberridgeauto.com

Valley Pro Clean

Leonard Stewart...................................... (540) 461-2150

209 Maury Street Lexington , VA 24450 valleyproclean2020@gmail.com

SPORTING GOODS

Journey Outdoors

Christina Volpe (540) 461-8816

150 Walker St Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.journeyoutlex.com christina@journeyoutlex.com

Lex Running Shop, LLC

Jess Reid..................................................... (540) 461-8350 41 S Main Street Lexington, VA 24450

https://www.lexrunningshop.com/ jess@lexrunningshop.com

STORAGE

Valley Storage

Bethany Coffey (540) 463-7278

2376 N Lee Hwy Lexington, VA 24450 http://valleystorageco.com lexington@valleystorageco.com

TAX PREPARATION

Raetz & Hawkins PC CPAs

Bo Haywood (540) 463-7121

128 South Randolph Street Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.raetzandhawkins.com cpa@raetzandhawkins.com

Swisher & Johnson CPAs PLC

Terry Swisher............................................ (540) 463-7131

59 Hunter Hill Road Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.swisherimler.com terry@swisherimler.com

TRAVEL

Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport

Lisa Botkin................................................(540) 234-8304 77 Aviation Circle Weyers Cave, VA 24486 http://www.FlySHD.com info@flyshd.com

UTILITIES

BARC Electric Cooperative

Bill Buchanan (540) 997-9124 84 High Street Millboro, VA 24460 http://barcelectric.com/ BBuchanan@barcelectric.com

Dominion Energy

Julia Pilipenko (540) 255-7692

2 Technology Dr Staunton, VA 24401

https://www.dom.com/residential/dominionvirginia-power julia.d.pilipenko@dominionenergy.com

Maury Service Authority

Jordan Combs (540) 784-8036

130 Osage Lane Lexington, VA 24450 www.mauryserviceauthority.com j.combs@msaplant.org

Virginia Technology Services, LLC

Stephanie Berkshire (540) 463-4451

30 Crossing Lane Suite 206 Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.virginiatechs.com info@virginiatechs.com

Water Works Water Treatment Inc

Mark Ceuls (540) 433-5669 1760 Dealton Ave Harrisonburg, VA 22801 http://www.waterworkswater.com mark@waterworkswater.com

VETERINARIANS

Animal Clinic of Rockbridge

Michelle Schenley (540) 463-2015

1541 North Lee Highway Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.animalclinicofrockbridge.weebly. com animalclinicofrockbridge@yahoo.com

Blue Ridge Animal Clinic PC

Allen Strecker (540) 463-7799

133 Maury River Rd Lexington, VA 24450 http://blueridgeanimalclinic.net/ bracvet24450@gmail.com

Lexington Animal Hospital

Meghan Ryan............................................ (540) 463-2715

28 Bones Place Lexington, VA 24450 http://www.lexingtonanimalhospital.vet meghanryanvmd@gmail.com

VINEYARDS

Ecco Adesso Vineyards

Tara Orebaugh (540) 817-0419

340 Ecco Adesso Lane

Fairfield, VA 24435

http://www.eccoadesso.com

info@eccoadesso.com

Great Valley Farm Brewery & Winery

Nathan Bailey........................................... (704) 425-2631

60 Great Valley Farm Lane

Natural Bridge, VA 24578

http://www.greatvalleyfarmbrewery.com

nathan@greatvalleyfarmbrewery.com

Jump Mountain Vineyard

Mary Hughes (540) 348-6730

1493 Walkers Creek Road

Rockbridge Baths, VA 24473

http://www.jumpwines.com

jumpmountainvineyard@gmail.com

Lexington Valley Vineyard

Ryan Hale (540) 462-2974

80 Norton Way

Rockbridge Baths, VA 24473

http://www.lexingtonvalleyvineyard.com

info@lexingtonvalleyvineyard.com

Rockbridge Vineyard & Brewery

Shep and Jane Rouse...........................(540) 377-6204

35 Hill View Ln

Raphine, VA 24472

http://www.rockbridgevineyard.com

rockbridgewines@gmail.com

The Hopkins Building, now the site of Wells Fargo Bank, on Main Street, Lexington, 1920s.

ADVERTISER INDEX

Kendal at Lexington.........................................................................................................................................pg..2

The Georges..........................................................................................................................................................pg..3

J.F. Brown Real Estate Services..............................................................................................................pg..4

Captrust....................................................................................................................................................................pg..7

Harding & Associates.....................................................................................................................................pg..7

Huffman Insurance Agency........................................................................................................................pg..7

Shenandoah Valley Airport (SHD).........................................................................................................pg..11

Farm Credit...........................................................................................................................................................pg..17

Virginia Horse Center...................................................................................................................................pg..17

Haley Toyota........................................................................................................................................................pg..17

W&L Dining Services.....................................................................................................................................pg..17

BARC Connects.................................................................................................................................................pg..20

Baldridge and Associates.........................................................................................................................pg..20

Hull’s Drive-In Theatre................................................................................................................................pg..20

Mountain Gateway Community College.........................................................................................pg..20

Rockbridge Flooring & More...................................................................................................................pg..20

Lexington Animal Hospital.......................................................................................................................pg..20

Welsh Construction.......................................................................................................................................pg..20

Southern Virginia University..................................................................................................................pg..20

Bank of Botetourt/Virginia Mountain Mortgage.......................................................................pg..21

Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital......................................................................................pg..21

Rockbridge Area Health Center............................................................................................................pg..25

Natural Bridge State Park.........................................................................................................................pg..28

Rockbridge Farmers Co-op......................................................................................................................pg..28

Lexington Real Estate Connection.....................................................................................................pg..28

McDonough Toyota........................................................................................................................................pg..29

C.H.E.F.S. Catering Co..................................................................................................................................pg..29

Augusta Health.................................................................................................................................................pg..29

Bank of the James...........................................................................................................................................pg..29

The News-Gazette..........................................................................................................................................pg..33

Paula Martin Real Estate Team..............................................................................................................pg.33

Raetz & Hawkins Certified Public Accountants........................................................................pg..33

Buena Vista Family Dentistry................................................................................................................pg..33

NaPa Thai Cuisine...........................................................................................................................................pg..33

City National Bank..........................................................................................................................................pg..59

CornerStone Bank.........................................................................................................................................pg..60

CornerStone CARES about helping your business succeed!

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When it comes to business banking, CornerStone has a commitment to building lasting customer relationships, providing caring personal service, being accessible and responsive, and helping your business succeed!

T. David Grist Headquarters: 54 South Main Street, Lexington, VA 24450; (540) 463-2222 Lee Highway Branch: 719 North Lee Highway, Lexington, VA 24450; (540) 464-8900 Buena Vista Branch: 2235 Beech Avenue, Buena Vista, VA 24416; (540) 261-1604

www.cornerstonebankva.com