Showing posts with label Botetourt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Botetourt. Show all posts

Friday, March 01, 2024

My Voice Is Back

At some point around the first of this week, the last of the rasp that I'd been living with as an excuse for a larynx for well over a month went away.

Poof. Like magic.

Except it was a long time going, and my voice became a little stronger every day as the cold or virus or whatever it was finally began to clear my system.

The first thing I did when my voice was back was pick up my guitar and sing a song. Songs are good.

***

The issue at the bank over my name magically went away after my husband dropped off copies of our Real ID and complained to someone there. We signed the papers we needed to sign and took care of business and everything's lovely. But still. WTH was that all about?

***

Like most of the nation's population who live in a house, our house rose in value. There's been a housing shortage for a good while now, since about 2018, I suppose. The county did it's every four-year reassessment and the average increase in real estate value was about 40%. Some properties went way up, like over 100%. They were probably undervalued to begin with.

To see the whining on the Facebook, and then to hear the whining at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, you would think that these people had all been lined up against a wall to be shot. In the first place, the county supervisors have net set the tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year. Until they do that, and I guarantee it will not be the same rate as it now, there is no way to know what anyone will be paying in taxes. Do I expect mine to be more? Yes. Am I complaining about it? No. It makes my bottom line look better.

So many people seem to think they should not pay taxes at all. They think they are some gift to humanity and the ground upon which they trod is sacred and blessed, or some such BS. I think it is a privilege to be alive, and paying taxes is what I do for that honor. Do I like everything my taxes support? No. Do I agree with everything the government does? No. But these people are mean. 

They demean the supervisors when they speak to them. They are ill-mannered, noisy, confrontational, and bullish. I never saw much of this kind of demeanor at meetings until after 2016. And then it grew progressively worse and after the George Floyd riots, it really hit its stride. Some of the people talk to the supervisors like they are not even human. 

I wouldn't talk to a dog the way some of these people talk to the supervisors. What is wrong with them? Who taught these people manners? And these aren't all folks I grew up with - no. The vast majority moved in here in the 1990s and think that gives them some right to overstep societal boundaries. My family was here during the American Revolution. They haven't a thing on me. But you don't see me acting like some know-it-all buffoon at a Board meeting.


Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Building a Mountain



As I headed over to my father's the other day, I noticed that the cement plant is building a new mountain.

Maybe it's just a really big mound of dirt. Maybe it will be moved. I don't know, and don't care enough to ask.

At any rate, that dirt popping up over the trees wasn't there a few months ago. But now it is there.

I know they have been blasting a lot - it shakes the house occasionally even though this is probably at least 1.5 miles from me - but I didn't realize until I topped this hill that they were doing so much "landscaping."

The cement plant, which is the only one in Virginia, is the county's dirtiest industry, though they try very hard to pretend they are "green" and win awards in their industry for being energy efficient. Their website touts all kinds of Energy Star awards, and maybe for a cement plant they are "green" and energy efficient. The dust that gathers on the furniture and the dust that I pick up in my HEPA air filters that I have to run 24 hours a day because of my asthma tell me that they aren't exactly non-polluting.

I can see the crap that blows out of their stacks.

They occasionally are fined for noncompliance with Virginia Department of Environmental Quality regulations, but not often. That doesn't mean they are always in compliance, it just means they don't get caught. It also doesn't mean that the compliance regulations aren't too mild. For me, with my asthma, they're not strong enough.

The thing that really burns me? Most of the cement plant property once belonged to either my ancestors or my husband's ancestors. Oh, great-great-great-grandpappy, did you know what you were going to be bringing about one day?

Friday, June 02, 2023

An Outing

The evening took us away from our house and to an event hall filled with people, many of whom we knew.

The occasion was the celebration of a friend's 25th year in business. She is a massage therapist (with emphasis on the therapist), and now about 64 years old. I saw her for many years, and sent my husband to see her, and gave gift certificates to friends and family to enjoy her services (though I suspect most of those went unused, stuffed in some drawer).

It is unusual for a massage therapist to last so long; they generally wear out, from what I understand. Bing says the average career of a massage therapist is 5 to 8 years. The fact that Karen has worked for long - and kept herself in shape so that she was able to do it - was indeed something to celebrate. Giving a massage is hard work.

Despite the fact that we have 33,000 people in our county, it's really a small community. The event was held at the Kyle House, once known as Bolton's Store, in the county seat. The building is an events venue, and there were easily 50 plus people there when we arrived.

Since the most public places I have been since 2019 are grocery stores, this was a bit much for me; the sweet, cloying scent of perfumes, powders, and colognes, so many people in a smaller space than a massive market.

But I had accepted the invitation knowing that I am trying to claw my way back to civilization, having become almost - but not quite - agoraphobic during the pandemic, seldom leaving the house, only venturing out to purchase food. As for other items, let's just say the UPS man and I are on a first-name basis.

So, this was a personal test, which I passed. I am grateful that I went, happy to have seen so many familiar faces after so many years of seeing only scowls in the supermarket. These people were happy, caring on pleasant conversations, and enjoying themselves.

The people I knew included my physical therapist, whom I hadn't seen since 2019. She suffocated me in an embracing and long hug the moment I walked in the door. I stiffened at first, having determined previously that I didn't want physical contact, but she was so sincere, and I like her so much that it was only a moment of light panic, and then I hugged her back with similar intensity. 

I also saw a former county supervisor, whom I'd really enjoyed working with and was sorry to see retire many years ago, a cousin who said she wants to meet for coffee, my dear friend Leslie (another hug) and her brother, who informed us he had retired as a surveyor that very day, (I also called him by another brother's name, oops), and an ex-husband of another dear friend. I also greeted a former employer and his wife, a contractor and his wife, both of whom have known my husband most of his life, a former high school pal, a former firefighter's wife, and of course Karen, who was throwing herself this bash.

I had a couple of chicken salad sandwiches and a cookie, along with water. A pile of articles about Karen sat on the end of one table, and I only had to flip over a page before I saw my byline, again and again. I've written so much about this county and its people over the last 30 years. Of course I'd written about Karen. In fact, I wrote the first article about Karen's business, I think.

My former employer (a lawyer then, retired now) saw one of the articles and then chased me down to show me. "Here's your name," he said, thrusting the story at me. He pointed it out to someone I didn't know. "She wrote this."

Yes, I wrote that. It was nice to know it meant something to someone, or several someones, even though it was years old.

No one had on masks, including me. Everyone is over that, although I still wear one when I go pick up drugs at the drug counter. If there are going to be germs anywhere, it's in there. I had a mask in my pocket, but I didn't put it on (I admit it was tempting).

Almost everyone was dressed up, in nice work clothes or church clothes, including us (although I had on my sneakers because I can't get my orthotic in any other shoe). I enjoyed myself. My husband enjoyed it. We left after an hour, with things still going full swing, when I finally felt the perfumes and smells seeping into my lungs and felt an asthmatic wheeze coming on.

I guess I'm coming out into the world again.

Friday, May 26, 2023

I Stand With Libraries

As of this posting, my county library has received formal reconsideration requests (requests to remove) to review 13 titles. Here are some stats:

# titles challenged that Botetourt County Library does not own: 48
# titles challenged that Botetourt County Library owns: 13
# citizens challenging titles: 3
1 citizen requested a review of 12 titles
2 citizens requested a review of 1 title
# challenged titles any of the requestors said they read/viewed: 1
# times 13 challenged titles have been checked out without complaint: 278
Total purchase cost of all Botetourt-owned copies of all 13 challenged titles: $289
Estimated time/labor cost to review these 13 titles: $11,409
# years the 13 challenged titles have been on library shelves: range from 6 months to 13 years
% 13 challenged titles added to the collection before 2020: 75%

https://www.botetourtva.gov/817/BOCO-Facts-4-U

So, we're going to spend $11,500 in taxpayer dollars to review $300 worth of books because 3 people object to different lifestyles. I hope they're proud of themselves.


Monday, May 15, 2023

At Least That Is Over

Mother's Day

I don't recall when I last dreaded a Mother's Day so much as this one. There was no reason to dread it, particularly, but it is not my favorite holiday anyway. I suspect my upcoming 60th birthday had something to do with it.

So, I stayed off of Facebook with its syrupy photos of happy mothers and adorable children who are now old, stodgy adults trying to rebuild a 20th century that hasn't existed for 50 years, and tried to ignore other aspects of the holiday as well. I did my part by ensuring my husband's mother received her due as matriarch, and gave my stepmother flowers, but otherwise, I was over this "holiday" before it even began.

It's no secret that my mother and I had a bad relationship. I have had trouble with this celebration ever since I was a teenager. Hallmark doesn't sell "I'm sorry I was born and ruined your life," cards. At least, not around here. Not in the hardware store where the Hallmark cards are now.

It doesn't help when the bank hands out presents to you without even asking if you're a mom. I guess they assume everyone with gray hair has children. But not all of us have moms, or had good moms, and not all of us have children.

There are women like me who have no mothers and no children, making us what, irrelevant?

Book Banning

On the local front, I hear through my line of contacts that the library board meeting last week was a doozy, complete with screaming, invasion of personal space, and possibly throwing things (I heard two different versions of that so let's just say something happened). Someone should have called the Sheriff's Office and asked for a deputy. I hope they do that next month.

The issue, at this juncture, is LBGTQ+ books in the children's section of the library, along with some other books that show how babies are made that narrow minds consider pornographic. I have only checked out one - the only one I can find that's available as an audiobook - and didn't find any issues with it.

Of course, I have no children, so I suppose some might say I have no dog in this fight, but to be clear, neither does the person who is causing most of the uproar. My dog in this fight is this - if I want to read a book, then I want it to be available or I want the library to order it for me so I can read it, and not be stifled by these Christian Nationalists who think anything that doesn't portray what they approve of shouldn't be purchased.

As if they are the only people in this county who pay taxes. Plenty of other folks who don't subscribe to their cult pay taxes, and we want our books.

Matters of the Heart

Tomorrow, I go to see a cardiologist. I have developed a new heart murmur and my doctor wants me checked out. She's been very helpful, saying things like, "Your blood pressure is at stroke level," and "You don't have to worry about getting dementia, you're going to die of a heart attack long before that happens."

She is trying to ensure I follow through and go see this person, I suppose. She doesn't have to try that hard. I am old enough to die, but I'd just as soon it not happen right away.

This first visit will likely just be a howdy-do and the cardiologist will listen to my heart and then order bloodwork and maybe an ultrasound to start. Maybe he will do an EKG since I haven't had one in 10 years. That would make sense.

The doctor my GP wanted me to see is not taking new patients, so I'm seeing someone I know nothing about, except for what I found on the Internet. He studied internal medicine at Carilion - VA Tech School of Medicine in 2014-2017, then went on to do heart stuff in Louisiana. He can't have been in practice very long, but perhaps that means he's current on all the new stuff. Some of the older doctors still do things like they did 20 years ago.

I am trying to be positive about it, but I don't do "positive" very well sometimes.




Monday, October 03, 2022

Colonel William Preston Memorial

Botetourt County in July, 2022 (this year), dedicated a memorial to Colonel William Preston (1729-1783) next to the Botetourt County Administration Building at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield. (Isn't that a lot of "Botetourts" in that sentence? Whew.)

Colonel Preston once owned the property that is now the county's premiere industrial park, as well as home to its governing center.

Preston was an American Revolutionary War hero and local surveyor. He laid out the Town of Fincastle, which was named and still is the county seat, and many other properties as this part of Virginia began to be taken over by Europeans who forced out the Native Americans and took their land. (And I don't care who thinks that's "woke" because that is what happened.)

He also served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and held many enslaved persons.

He was a founding member of Augusta Hall, which is now known as Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA.

One of his sons, James Preston, served as Virginia Governor from 1816-1819.

After he left Greenfield, William Preston moved to Smithfield, which is on the National Historic Register of Places. He is buried there. Smithfield is located near Virginia Tech University and has connections with that school.

The memorial in Botetourt took about 20 years to finally come to fruition; I remember writing about in the newspaper as far back as 2002. The memorial is shaped a bit like a sundial, with concrete points that have information about Preston's life on them.








Thursday, September 08, 2022

Thursday Thirteen

For Thursday Thirteen today, we're visiting the Botetourt History Museum, which has a new location in the county seat.

The former location, one of the oldest buildings in town, is being moved about 50 feet from its present location to make way for a new county courthouse. The old one is scheduled to be torn down in the next year and a new one constructed.

Anyway, here are some photos from the Museum, which is now located about a block from where it used to be, and is on Main Street.

The photos, which I took from my iPhone, loaded backwards in the blog. I have no idea why.



An old switchboard from way back.

A mortar and pestle used by First Nations Settlers (Native Americans)


A stand of antique stuff. I didn't pay that close attention to what was on it.

I think, but am not sure, that this is a spindle or yarn doohickey.


This is a Chickering piano. See the captioned piece above for its history.

This small book was in an enclosed case. It's dated 1857. Just note what it says.

This is a picture of Grove Hill, owned by the Breckinridges. This large plantation once took most of the land in the area of Catawba Creek outside of Fincastle. The home burned down in 1909. Some of the bricks were hauled to New York and used in a home there.

To Have and To Hold was written by Buchanan native Mary Johnston. It was the best-selling book in 1900. It was made into a movie.

A book presser, used in book binding.

Antique tea set.

The desk from the law office of James Breckinridge.

A bad picture of an article from about 40 years ago that shows the former Museum location.

The Botetourt County Historic Society has a number of books available, both for sale and for research, if you want to sit and review them.

This was on a mantle in the main entry room; I liked the picture. Fincastle does have a Lewis and Clark connection; William Clark's wife, Judith Hancock, was raised down the road in the plantation known as Santillane.

The exterior of the new location of the museum.


___________________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 772nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Monday, August 01, 2022

Seeing A Stroke

Many years ago, perhaps around 2003, I went to interview an older woman named Emily. She was in charge of the local historic society and ran the museum.

I had worked for her about 15 years prior, spending time at the museum cataloging items. She and I had a falling out because I wanted to set up a database on the computer for the items; she wanted everything written on a yellow legal pad. I threw up my hands and quit; it was a part-time job, and I could do without the hassle. 

She didn't speak to me for years after that. I became involved in a different historic society and perhaps that helped her come around.

Anyway, since we were on speaking terms again, I went to Emily's house to interview her for the newspaper about changes in the museum (which by now was computerized, etc.) and her efforts to catalogue every school that once existed in the county.

She greeted me cordially and offered me a glass of tea. I admired her house, which was one of the older ones in town, and then proceeded to move on with the interview, asking pertinent questions about what the historical group was doing, her research, etc.

Suddenly, she began slurring her words. She looked funny to me as well, almost like she was drunk and falling over. I stopped the interview and asked her if she was ok.

She said she was diabetic and probably needed some orange juice; would I get her a glass out of the refrigerator?

This I promptly did, and then waited anxiously while she drank it.

My grandmother was diabetic and had what she called "sugar drops," but they were nothing like this. This did not seem to me to be a diabetic issue. This was scary, whatever was going on.

However, I am not a qualified health care person. When I suggested that I should take her to the doctor, who at that time was about four blocks away, she grew angry. She told me the interview was over and I should leave.

Having been tossed out of the house, there was nothing I could do but go. However, I came home and called the only people I knew who were related to her and left a message on their answering machine asking if they could check on her.

They never called me back, so the next morning I called Emily to see if she alright. I was quite anxious about her.

She told me that after I'd left, she'd driven herself to the doctor who thought she'd had a TIA.

A TIA is a transient ischemic attack, also known as a mini-stroke.

I'd never witnessed anyone having a stroke, and while I had some clue as to what to look for, having it happen in front of me was terrifying.

There are more than 200,000 TIAs in the United States annually, so this happens a lot.

The symptoms include:

  • Slurred speech and difficulty in understanding others
  • Vision problems
  • Weakness, numbness or paralysis on one side of the body
  • Loss of balance
  • Dizziness
  • Sudden and severe headache

She experienced the slurred speech and loss of balance. I'm not sure about the other symptoms but those I could see for myself.

I don't know why, but for some reason I woke up with this on my mind, so I thought I'd write about it. I hadn't thought about this person, who died long ago, or this interview, in many years but it was on my brain first thing this morning.


Tuesday, July 26, 2022

It Really Exists!




 

The Oscar Mayer Weiner mobile was in my community Saturday!


Monday, June 20, 2022

Doomed to Destruction

The photos below are of the current Botetourt County Courthouse. This structure was rebuilt in 1975 after a fire in 1970 gutted the building. The destroyed structure had been constructed in 1848, allegedly from plans provided by Thomas Jefferson.

The current courthouse is scheduled to be demolished next year. The structure has mold and due to poor upkeep by the county, it is literally falling down around the employees inside. It is also not secure given today's political climate, and it not accessible to the disabled.

So this building will in a few years be replaced by another with a similar exterior but a much larger footprint.




 

Monday, June 13, 2022

The James Breckinridge Law Office

 


This building is one of the oldest in Botetourt County's seat of Fincastle. The James Breckinridge Law Office dates back to about 1775-1780. The town was founded in 1772 and is celebrating one of those big anniversaries this year.

James Breckinridge (1763-1833) served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1809 to 1817 (back before that became a lifetime job). Prior to that he served as a state delegate.

He also served on the Board of Visitors for the University of Virginia.

I always knew this structure as a museum, but it is now slated to be torn down and then rebuilt just about 1000 feet away. The structure is making way for a new county courthouse.

Pictures before demolition are always good things. Reconstruction doesn't always happen.

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Thursday Thirteen

Here are 13 facts about my locality, based on the 2020 Census.

Total Population - 34,747 (100%)

Population in Households - 34,460 (99.2%)

Population in Families - 29,603 (85.2%)

Population in Group Quarters - 287 ( 0.8%) (this includes nursing home facilities)

Population Density - 64

Diversity Index - 16 (different races and ethnic groups. The lower the number, the less diverse. We are not diverse.)

Total HU (Housing Units)  - 15,534 (100%)

Owner Occupied HU - 11,771 (75.8%)

Renter Occupied HU - 2,011 (12.9%)

Vacant Housing Units - 1,752 (11.3%)

Median Home Value - $274,781

Average Home Value - $312,146

Housing Affordability Index - 152 (above 100 means increased affordability)


We do not have a lot of affordable housing here, although that may be improving with the addition of apartment complexes on the southern end. Appearances and actual data are not always the same. That housing affordability index number surprised me the most.

____________________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 757th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Friday, February 18, 2022

Old Newspapers

I love to look at old newspapers. This weekend, newspapers.com has its archives free to the public, and I've spent part of my day looking at old Virginia papers.

Seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. The papers I was looking at were in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

There is political news - back then, the areas that are now Republican were held by Democrats - and many editorials bat around various issues. The appointment of local judges seemed high on the radar. Also, there are stories about the price of things, businesses, agriculture, etc.

One amusing anecdotal story told about a judge in Lynchburg who always wanted order in his court. He looked to the sheriff, named only as "Bob S." in the story, to keep order. One day after a jury trial, the jury had to remain overnight. Sheriff Bob S. was looking after the 12 souls who finally reached a verdict, though they could not pronounce it until the next morning when court returned.

Good ol' Sheriff Bob S. took pity on the jurors who had to remain overnight, and he offered them some peach drink, which apparently was alcoholic, for when the jurors went back to court, they could not contain themselves and devolved into a raucous debauchery, telling jokes and laughing. The judge finally asked Sheriff Bob S. to bring about order, but as the sheriff had also partaken of the peach concoction, order was not restored because the Sheriff, in standing up to restore order, fell over, causing the jurors to laugh even more uproariously. The judge left the courtroom in a rage.

I didn't download a copy of that story, because it didn't pertain to my county, but it made me smile. We don't write stories like that anymore.

Here are some of the stories I have saved. They are all from the late 1800s, from about 1870-1890.






Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Crime in My County

Today I went to see my chiropractor. I've been seeing her for almost 20 years. We are not "friends," exactly, but I expect I'm closer to her than many of her patients. I think I am the patient she's seen the longest, or close to it.

Her office is in a small mall. It's generally quiet over there where the mall is located. It's "over the mountain" and while part of Botetourt, I think folks there often feel like the red-headed stepchild, because most activity and growth centers on this side of the mountain.

My hairdresser is also in this mall. She's the person I have settled on after years of bad Super Cuts hairstyles after my hair stylist of 30+ years retired.

The first thing I noticed when I pulled into the mall was a big, cracked window at my hairdresser's place. The window was not shattered, so no one gained entrance, but someone sure tried to break out the glass.

My chiropractor was visibly upset about this. Apparently, it happened last night, and the violence of it upset her. She is often alone with patients in the later hours at this little mall and wants to feel safe. She also wants her patients to feel safe. 

The hairdresser was nowhere to be seen and her shop was closed. The police had come and gone. Someone had thrown a huge rock at the window. I tried to think what might be in a hairdresser's shop that would entice attempted robbery but came up blank. They'd have had better luck at the dentist's office a few doors down. He, at least, would have had some drugs in there, even if it was just numbing agents.

I was not unsettled by this; I've done business with many of the folks who are or have been located in this mall and never had a problem in the 20 or more years I've been going there. But, it brings things into focus. 

We do not live in safe times. We need to lock our doors. We cannot trust that our neighbors mean us no harm.

Fear has found us here, in the backwoods, in the ruralness of home.

To feel fear is a great loss, and I'm afraid it's the ruling emotion of our times.

Monday, September 20, 2021

Celebrating 250 Years

Saturday, the county had what I suspect will be its last effort to celebrate its 250th anniversary, which was actually last year.

The committee, of which I was a small part, had planned an entire year's worth of marvelous activities, but then the pandemic hit. We all know what happened then. Events stopped, things shut down, and gatherings were taboo.

Efforts to try again this year sputtered to a halt again after the Delta variant began increasing numbers of folks with the Covid-19 virus.

However, they had a monument to dedicate, and Saturday was also the Historic Fincastle Festival, so they chose that day to dedicate the monument, hoping for a crowd.

Had things been better organized by Historic Fincastle, Inc., so that the damn music that was about 100 feet away from the courthouse had stopped for the whole 15 minutes the dedication ceremony lasted, there may have been a crowd. As it was, the musicians actually TURNED UP THE VOLUME when the dedication event started and I could barely hear most of the event. I suspect most people couldn't hear.

At any rate, the thing was dedicated. I was asked to be there because I'd edited the 250th Anniversary Magazine, which turned out to be about the only part of the celebration that came to fruition.

A sign about the event


Fincastle Mayor Mary Bess Smith gave a speech.

These are the women who made up the committee that did all the planning.

Steve Vest, former director of the Botetourt County Library
 system, wrote a song for the event.



His wife, Jayne, sang the song.
Too bad I could barely hear it.

Weldon Martin, former Executive Director of the
Botetourt County Historical Society, gave a speech.

Billy Martin, Blue Ridge District Supervisors, gave a speech.


Curtis Brown, President of the County-Wide League
 and a minister, gave a final prayer for the dedication.

The monument pre-reveal.

Here it is!

Here is a picture, from left, of me,
Billy Martin, Wendy Wingo, Lois Switzer,
 Donna Vaughn, and Angela Coon at the monument.


Thursday, August 19, 2021

Thursday Thirteen

My beautiful county of Botetourt in Virginia is home to more than 90 summits, ridges, and trails. The county is an outdoors person's paradise. Our views are spectacular. Want meadows? We have them. Want sunflowers? We have those, too. Want woods? They're everywhere.

Here is a list of 13 mountains that are in Botetourt (some just partially), in alphabetical order.

1. Back Creek Mountain

2. Broad Run Mountain

3. Brushy Mountain

4. Caldwell Mountain

5. Coyner Mountain

6. North Mountain

7. Purgatory Mountain

8. Rathole Mountain

9. Read Mountain

10. Scurff Mountain

11. Sheets Mountain

12. Timber Ridge

13. Tinker Mountain

_______________________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 719th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Wednesday, July 07, 2021

Local Artists at the Museum

On the lower floor of the History Museum of Western Virginia, they had a display of local current artisans/crafts persons' works. I was familiar with the three they highlighted.

Jake Cress is a woodworker with a sense of humor.
 


I am fairly sure the real chair he made like this is in the Smithsonian, but I could be wrong. This was a tiny replica.


Jake Cress's Hickory Dickory Dock clock. It is really cool in person.


This table by Jake Cress, with a mouse coming out of Aladdin's Lamp, is also a lovely piece of furniture.


These copper pieces were made by Porter Caldwell, who, I am sorry to say, is no longer with us. His business lives on with his understudy. The website is here.






The above three pieces were made by Bill Simmons (the corner cabinet) and Willie Simmons, his son (the second two pieces). Bill Simmons is no longer with us, but his son makes exquisite pieces, bowls like the one above, and all sorts of wood-turned pieces. He does extraordinary work. I'm not sure how Fincastle ended up with such terrific wood workers, but the little town did.

These were the last pieces I wanted to show from our adventure at the museum. Local art should be encouraged, and while I can't afford as much local work as I'd like, I enjoy showcasing it here on my blog when I can.