End of an Era (?)

Today is the day that the editor of The Fincastle Herald, Ed McCoy, steps down from his 34-year journey as the news guide for the county. He began working for The Herald in August, 1984, and I started freelancing for him in October, 1984.

So we have known each other a very long time, and over the years I like to think we have become friends. He's grown a bit more libertarian in his thinking as he's aged and I've grown a bit more liberal, so sometimes our political discussions can be entertaining, but they were always thought-provoking.

My first article for Ed was about making apple butter. His criticism of the story was this: it's great writing, but there isn't any "you" in the story. None of my personality came through.

I learned to deal with that by coming up with entertaining ledes to articles (that's the opening sentence to non-newspaper folks) and then going on mostly with "just the facts." I tend to be a just-the-facts kind of writer but Ed did bring out the best in my work. He was a good editor and I learned how to give a story life under his tutelage. He taught me as much as any of my professors at Hollins. Maybe more.

Stories that I remember best include one about two sisters who played basketball, which I started out with, "It must be the Tootsie Rolls," because the two girls ate the candies before games, going up in a hot air balloon, a series I wrote in Craig County about the state of the community over there and what would happen if a county went bankrupt (something that looked very likely at that time), a story I wrote about the Social Services Angel Tree that ultimately brought in $15,000 in donations, a story about the possibility of Nestle' bringing a water bottling facility to the area, and oh gosh, I wrote so many I can't possibly remember them all or pick out a best one. There were literally thousands of them.

Ed challenged me to go beyond my comfort zone, sending me on stories I'd have preferred not to write. (I never did like to write stories that tore at my heart, the ones about sick people or people fighting the tough fight against an illness or whatever.) I wrote them anyway and always did a good job with them, usually better than I ever thought I would, because I had Ed to talk it over with before I started the article. Once I had the slant, which in the early days I often needed help finding, I could move forward and create a moving piece.

As I aged and felt more comfortable with my talent and work, I turned down stories occasionally, mostly those that involved children at the schools because I became ill every time I entered a classroom. Finally, I settled into what seemed to be my forte', government writing. That suited my "just the facts" style and allowed me to feel like I was contributing something to the community by educating them about what is going on in their county.

My editor and I had many long discussions about what was going on in Botetourt. We argued with the county over Freedom of Information Act issues, and we discussed in detail how and what we should write. We profiled person after person and multiple businesses - you can find copies of the article I wrote and he edited and published hanging on the walls of many businesses in Botetourt. Just last week someone I'd written a story about told me they had the article hanging on the wall of their home. I'm sure there are just as many with his byline hanging on the walls of businesses and homes, too.

Ed and I both love history and I wrote many pieces about the multitude of historic legacies Botetourt County has to offer, as did he and other writers. Ed actually turned a series of stories about the Civil War into a magazine/book and he gave me kudos in his preface for my help over the years, which I greatly appreciated.

When I was 10 years old I said I wanted to be the editor of The Fincastle Herald. That apparently was not to be - health issues kept me from applying for his position this time, and previous opportunities never came about when I could manage it - the last one being shortly after my mother passed away in 2000. After that the newspaper, like so many others, fell upon difficult times and I was lucky to freelance for the paper for as long as I did (I stopped in 2016, although this past September I filled in for a week while Ed took a 10-day vacation.).

However, Ed gave me the opportunity to cover the county, and the chance to fill the paper with my byline, and I will always be grateful to him for that. Because he believed I could do it, I can call myself a professional writer.

Thanks for allowing me to be a freelancer for The Fincastle Herald, Ed. May your retirement be filled with lots of hunting and good times.

Ed with his camera (2016)

Ed received a proclamation from the Board of Supervisors for his long service to the community on 12/20/2018. Pictured from left: Steve Clinton, Mac Scothorn, Ed McCoy, Billy Martin, Ray Sloan.

Ed with Supervisor Mac Scothorn. Ed called Botetourt County a great place to work, full of
beautiful lands and wonderful people.

I had to laugh because even though today (12/21) is technically Ed's last day of work, yesterday he was still taking notes like a good reporter at a meeting. (I confess I do the same.)
 

Fincastle Marketplace

For the last decade or so, Historic Fincastle, Inc., has put on a home tour and a Fincastle Marketplace (craft show) in early December. This year it was Saturday, before the snow.

Here are pictures of the craft show and some of the crafters who offered up quite a variety of goods for folks to purchase.

Donna Henderson (left) with her baked goods, cookbooks, and other items.

 

Dorothy Etzler Barnett with her wood-burned ornaments. (She's my cousin.)

Teresa Reed, hiding behind a tree. (She's my friend.)

Some of Teresa's work. Santas painted on pelt boards.

Teresa's big Santa.

Some items for sale.

More cool stuff for sale.

Pottery by Karen Wright, my friend!

Work by Allie Hogan, The Rustic Wagon. Very pretty decorations.

Karen Wright with some of her pottery. I purchased a butter dish.

The amount of talent out there is amazing. When I go to these shows I am always thrilled at the creativity of people around me. So cool.

Craft Show

The LBHS Band Boosters put on a craft show annually to raise funds. This year I went.

Lots of jewelry.

It was very crowded.

An old teacher from high school days with author Tammy C. Ferris

The book cover was drawn by Dorothy Etzler Barnett (my husband's cousin).

Some of Dorothy Etzler's Christmas ornaments she had for sale.

Like I said, it was crowded.

Cousin Dorothy.

Remembering HFI

Saturday's Historic Fincastle festival was a memory tour, of sorts. One stop had a bunch of old souvenirs and other items from the days when HFI was a force to be reckoned with by citizens and government alike.

I wrote a number of the advertisements and other things for HFI. Not everything, but a good bit of it.

HFI did a lot of stuff at one time.

Those newspaper inserts like the one on the right were the types of things I wrote for HFI.

The Festival was a big deal in its time.

HFI has put out some books and other items over the years.

I started to buy one of the tomato can labels, but I didn't.

These were some of the T-shirts. I think there was a different T-shirt design almost every year.
 

Historic Fincastle Festival

Historic Fincastle, Inc. (HFI), a local preservation organization, used to put on a festival in the Town of Fincastle annually. Then they stopped because the people who did it aged and young folks didn't care.

This would have been the 50th year of the festival if it had continued, so they had a little 50th anniversary festival to reminisce and give themselves a pat on the back.

Disclaimer: I am a lifelong member of HFI and was its president back in the late 1990s.

I went but I could not see as much as I wanted because Fincastle is a town of hills, and I can't walk up and down hills anymore.

The view from Roanoke Street looking north. These are artist booths.

A little music for atmosphere.

Looking back down Roanoke Street to the south.

Folks could buy homemade goodies.

Or look at corvettes.

Student art work.

Historic documents were on display in the courthouse.

That is a LOT of signs.

This is Rowan Miller who was touting books for sale.

These books.

This was another author selling her books. She was from Vinton.

More vendors down Main Street. I didn't go down to see these folks because I didn't think I could get back up the hill.

Thursday Thirteen

Around the Courthouse

I can't travel far or fast these days, but I did manage a little stroll around the area of the county courthouse recently. Here is what I saw.

The Douglas Building sits across from the county courthouse. It has served as a motel, tavern, law office, and
who knows what else. Someone told me it was haunted.

A sign commemorating the fire that gutted the 1848 courthouse. Note that this fire impacted the entire state: because of it, the Virginia General Assembly passed an act requiring permanent storage of vital records in the Library of Richmond.

This beautiful old car was in the parking lot. The man who eventually drove it off told me it was a 1964 vehicle that he
bought himself the year he'd graduated high school.
 

The county courthouse. I don't know when someone painted the letters gold. They used to be black.

The Civil War monument with the former "old post office" building in the background. The building currently houses
the voter registrar's office.

The remains of the old Hayth Hotel, now private housing.

Cattycorner to the courthouse sits this vacant building. It once was the Fincastle Drug Store - a title it held for
nearly 100 years, I think. I wish someone could find a use for it.

This marker marks the fact that the Lewis and Clark expedition sort of began in Fincastle.

This marker, which is on a big rock on the courthouse grounds, is dedicated to those who served in WWII.

The old Fincastle jail. It once was the Fincastle Library. Now it is the Chamber of Commerce office.

These two buildings once were part of a hotel complex. Now they serve as offices for the Virginia
Cooperate Extension Agency and county services.

The county seal sits high on the courthouse.

I've always loved the wrought iron fence around the courthouse. Isn't it grand?

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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 556th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.