Today's Features

The City of Galax, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, will hold a “How to Apply” workshop for businesses located in the city's recently expanded enterprise zones on Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Crossroads Institute.

LAUREL FORK — The Laurel Fork community library may be the first that measured its books in pounds.

That's because an early summer move drove home the weightiness of its collection. Organizer Annetta Stanley estimated the books would tip the scales at more than 5,000 pounds.

That's about 3,000 books total.

A Laurel Fork native who lived in North Carolina until her return to the area about nine years ago, Stanley actually Freecycled her way into creating a community library.

Chestnut Creek School of the Arts is accepting reservations through Friday for area artisans wishing to participate in instructor orientation.

All area musicians, artists and crafts people are invited to participate on Jan. 22 from 5-9 p.m. at Crossroads Institute on East Stuart Drive in Galax.

As Charles and Ruth Frangos walk through their home, Charles reaches over to turn on the light switch embraced by a squirrel cover and points out a squirrelly museum of figurines.

In a collection worth thousands of dollars, taxidermy squirrels deck the walls, crystal figurines stack the shelves of a curio cabinet, squirrel pictures adorn the walls of the kitchen and more than 300 stuffed, ceramic, porcelain and plastic squirrels cram the two six-foot bookshelves in the living room.