.....Advertisement.....
.....Advertisement.....

Features

  • Saving Grace

    Decades have passed since the telegram arrived at the Roberts' home in Woodlawn announcing the death of PFC John Roberts while fighting in Italy.

    His sister, Grace Cole, had the front page of her World War II scrapbook reserved for news about her brother's service.

    The scrapbook remained stored underneath a table in her living room, where the rest of her albums are kept.

    The pages have yellowed over time, the glue has dried out and some of the clippings have come unstuck.

  • Davis named teacher of the year

    Princess Davis, a third-grade teacher at Fairview Elementary School has been named the Galax Wal-Mart store's teacher of the year for 2008, after she was chosen from nominees in the Twin County area.

    Wal-Mart officials presented the award to Davis during a surprise ceremony amongst family, friends, faculty, staff and students of Fairview Elementary. Her daughter and granddaughter even flew in from Atlanta for the event.

    A graduate and dedicated fan of Virginia Tech, Davis has taught third grade a Fairview for 36 years, inspiring more than 700 students.

  • Animal rescue unleashed

    WOODLAWN — A Woodlawn couple set on "helping every dog they can" has unleashed fundraising activities now that the IRS has granted non-profit status to Critters Animal Rescue and Adoption.

    Pam and Doug Scarberry have been organizing their animal rescue for about two years, and had been waiting an agonizingly long time for the federal paperwork to come through.

    They thought about quitting, but then they thought about why an animal rescue is needed.

  • Theatre Guild casts new play

    In the Galax Theatre Guild and New River Players' production of the romantic, light-hearted comedy, “I Take This Man,” a woman tricks an amnesiac into thinking he's her loving husband, leading to a hilarious series of events.

    The guild will present the play on Nov. 15 and 22 at 7 p.m., and Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. at the Rex Theater in downtown Galax.

  • HOPEfest raises money for children...

    FAIRVIEW — The 2nd Annual HOPEfest on Oct. 11 raised more than $14,000 to benefit the Infantile Scoliosis Outreach Program (ISOP) and Grayson-Carroll Shriners.

    Jennifer and Brandon Davis, of Galax, organized the event, held at the Fairview Ruritan Club.

    The couple's 3-year-old son Evan developed infantile scoliosis at three months of age.

    After spending all but three months of his life in casts and braces, Evan is hopefully done.

  • Beloved pastor passes away

    INDEPENDENCE — A minister known as having a “million friends” and who preached an estimated 6,000 local funerals has died.

    The Rev. Fred E. Jennings, 80, of Baywood, died last Tuesday.

    Jennings was born and raised in Grayson County where he spread the Word of God for more than 50-years.

  • Memorial project finally deploys

    After battling a lawsuit for the past few years regarding the placement of a veterans' monument, the City of Galax can now proceed with plans to help a group of local veterans and volunteers erect the Twin County Veterans Memorial at the Galax Public Library.

    With the suit ending in the city's favor, Galax is moving forward with securing the services of a consulting engineer for technical design and cost estimates for the memorial designed by Todd Price, an artist from Elk Creek.

  • Downtown merchants sponsor '...

    As Halloween looms near, the Galax Downtown Association prepares for the 4th Annual Halloween Monster Bash from 5-8 p.m. on Oct. 31.

    The event will feature annual favorites, such as a costume contest for prizes, games, activities, candy, live DJ music by Tyler Carpenter at the Grayson Stage and free hot dogs for the kids.

    In the spirit of a free, safe and fun Halloween for all to enjoy, creepy creatures and frightening figures have appeared in the store windows downtown, giving residents a chance to play the “Monster Hunt” game and enter to win prizes.

  • Our House

    The new coordinator of the Mount Rogers Powerhouse Clubhouse plans to match the improvements in downtown Galax with positive changes at the facility on Main Street.

    Rick Whisenhunt, the newly named coordinator and local who graduated from Galax High School in 1996, wants to boost visibility of clubhouse members in the community.

    Powerhouse is a daytime-only service center for individuals who need a little extra support in a friendly family atmosphere, he said.

    “The main thing with us is helping people with the extra challenges they face each day.”

  • Galax BBQ champs open cafe

    When Mark Davis and Cody Cline started out in the barbecue catering business as Squealers Authentic BBQ Company more than a year ago, their intentions were to become restaurant owners, serving only the best homemade foods around.

    In fact, Davis, who worked for many years at The Gazette and The Carroll News, quit his newspaper job to make a career out of barbecuing.

    Cline, a full-time mechanic at Hills Trucking, spends 50 to 60 hours a week in front of the grill, perfecting barbecue.

  • Living With Fragile X

    Little Ty Dixon seemed like a normal baby, but at age 6 his parents — Angela and Brian Dixon of Galax — found they had been blessed with something special.

    As an infant, Ty sat up and crawled early. But as he grew into a toddler, red flags went up for Angela and Brian.

    Ty didn’t walk until 19 months. And by age 3, when toddlers speak in full sentences, Ty was only saying a couple of words here and there, and potty training became a challenge.

  • Making The Grade

    Galax City Schools was one of just 26 Virginia school divisions in which all of a locality’s schools met 29 annual performance benchmarks for 2007-2008 toward “adequate yearly progress” under the No Child Left Behind Act.

    Among 132 school divisions in the commonwealth, Galax City Schools was one of the 17 divisions in which all schools made adequate yearly progress and the division as a whole made progress.

  • Galax martial artist returns to...

    Hanging up fliers and decorating cars in red, white and blue, locals are cheering on 11-year-old Alexandra Pyles of Galax and her teammates, who will appear in the next round of competition on the NBC reality show “America’s Got Talent” tomorrow, Tuesday, when the show goes live in Los Angeles at 8 p.m.

    Alexandra left for Los Angeles on Aug. 19.

    She is receiving national and regional recognition. On Aug. 18, she was interviewed by the Winston-Salem Journal and WXII Channel 12 News in Winston-Salem, N.C.

  • That Round Peak Sound

    On Saturday evening, a program saluting the Round Peak sound will be presented at the Blue Ridge Music Center.

    Paul Brown, a Washington-based newscaster and reporter for National Public Radio, will host the 7 p.m. program.

    Brown is heard most mornings coast-to-coast on NPR’s Morning Edition.

    During his youth Brown came to the Galax area to learn Round Peak music, and he remains an enthusiastic supporter of the sound.

  • River Of Music

    The Town of Fries, population 697, is the place where the country music industry really began. Located in a sheltered cove of the beautiful New River, tiny Fries had a major impact upon American music.

    Other places in Grayson and Carroll counties have a rich musical history, but Fries keeps its heritage alive in a picture-perfect setting — and those musical traditions thrive.

    In 1923, loom tender Henry Whitter, an employee of the old Washington Cotton Mill in Fries, became the first singer to record a country record.

  • Fellowship of the Ringers

    At age 3, Benjamin Galyean is already reading music, and so is 6-year-old Jesse Dittrich, who has been diagnosed with a form of dyslexia.

    For almost 10 years, Charlotte McPherson, director of the Joybell Ringers at Galax’s First Baptist Church, has taught music to numerous families as siblings and moms come together.

    Her classes range from 2-year-old tots in the Baby Bell class to home-schooled teens and 30-something mothers in Beginner Bells and Joybell Ringers.

  • Blair's musical message:...

    Where many people see only the things that divide us — race, class, gender, belief — musician Tremayne Blair sees the common spirituality that binds human beings together.

    The Galax-born singer and songwriter is pursuing a dream of spreading that message to the masses — one audience or congregation at a time, if necessary.

    On Aug. 2, Blair will host a concert at Cliffview Church of God in Galax.

  • String Stranglers & Cobbler...

    The fiddlers’ convention brings out the weird in us sometimes, from jam sessions in Port-A-Johns and kazoo parades to naked bathing in Chestnut Creek and flinging flaming instruments — all real traditions of the 73-year-old event’s colorful past.

    One constant of Galax’s annual festival is the freaky and fanciful names musicians give their bands.

    They range from the funny to the obscure to the possibly perverted — if we only understood what they meant.

  • Convention making a comeback?

    Registration for the Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention increased overall for the first time in five years.

    Last year was the fourth year in a row that registrations for the convention declined. Registrations for 2007 were down 130 from the previous year.

    But for the 73rd annual event, overall registrations were 1,817 — up 52 contestants from 2007.

    Officials with the convention’s sponsor, Galax Moose Lodge #733, say the registration numbers have never reflected actual attendance.

  • Unless you're fiddling, avoid...

    Galax’s population will soar in the coming week, as thousands of fiddlin’ fans descend on the city.

    Felts Park will open its gates at 7 a.m. Sunday for the 73rd Annual Old Fiddlers’ Convention. The competition opens Monday night and lasts through Aug. 9.

    Most of the convention’s expected 1,300 campers will show up Sunday to set up camp.

    Locals who aren’t convention-bound should avoid the place altogether or choose alternate routes, Galax police advise.

Copyright © 2013
The Galax Gazette is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Galax, Grayson, Carroll, and surrounding areas.