Features

CANA — St. Paul’s beloved librarian will continue to have an impact on the school and the community where she taught and touched the lives of students for 37 years.
Joyce Slate had enough time in her career to make a generational impact on St. Paul students and on their sons and daughters, as she encouraged reading, sponsored the yearbook, documented the school year with her camera, took children on field trips and threw fundraising events to be able to afford those trips.

A holiday tradition will come full circle in the City of Galax this year as the annual Community Christmas Chest project is passed back into the charge of the Galax Volunteer Fire Department.
Over the past 30 years, the fundraising project that puts together food boxes for the needy at Christmas, has been tended by the Galax Y’s Men Club, which has fostered a strong increase in community support. This year, the club has decided to give the project back to the organization that originally oversaw it.

This year, the Galax Downtown Association (GDA) will still host the city’s annual Halloween celebration, but the merchants’ organization members will make it a community event instead of trying to do it all themselves.

By SHAINA STOCKTON, Staff

It’s official: The Galax Smokehouse has become a popular hangout for many people in the community — perhaps even those who are no longer with us.
Restaurant co-owner and operator Dan Milby confirmed that the downtown Galax business will be featured this weekend on a new episode of “My Ghost Story: Caught on Camera,” a paranormal series on the Biography Channel.

Three happy babies flashed their winning smiles and dimples on Friday, when they took first, second and third place in voting for The Gazette’s 2013 Beautiful Baby Photo Contest.
This contest is an annual effort to raise funds to support The Gazette’s Newspapers in Education program, which helps to provide newspapers to local schools for educational purposes.

HILLSVILLE — Hookah Hook-up owner Ayman Anwar’s vision for his second Main Street business isn’t hazy at all — he says it’s all about the atmosphere.
The idea to open the smoking lounge next door to his Italian restaurant, Juliano’s, is unique in the Twin Counties, he said. But, he believes a unique attraction is something the town could benefit from.

FRIES — Oral-B has gone to the far reaches of the United States to visit locations named  “Manual Road” to promote its fall marketing campaign, which is intended to encourage manual toothbrush users to switch to its new product, the Deep Sweep electric toothbrush.
The company visited Manual Roads in Erath, La.; Bainbridge Island, Wash.; and Standford, Ky.; before making their fourth stop at Manual Road in Fries on Aug. 17.
The nationwide “WOW Experiment” tour is also a chance to film locals for the product’s new commercial.

Scenes from the Carroll County Agricultural Fair, held Aug. 21-26 at the Southwest Virginia Farmers Market in Hillsville. For more information: carrollcountyvafair.org

The Rotary Club of Hillsville will observe its 75th anniversary on Thursday.
The club was chartered on Aug. 8, 1938. Club meetings were held at the Hillmont Hotel on Main Street for several years.
Other meeting venues have included Mountain Top Restaurant, Blue Ridge Tavern, the Red Barn, Corner Restaurant, the Tompkins House, Shenandoah Restaurant, Captain Pete’s Seafood Restaurant, Peking Palace and Countryside Restaurant.