Features

Teams roll into downtown Galax for Smoke on the Mountain starting Thursday afternoon, like an army setting up camp before a major, if very festive, battle.

Among the veterans of this particular challenge are Kings Cooking from Shelby, N.C. According to Smoke’s chief organizer, Ron Passmore, the team has been involved since the beginning, and their presence was a large part of why the competition took off 12 years ago.

This year’s Smoke was held July 15-16.

The heat of summer is about to meet the heat of grills getting pork, chicken and beef ready for sizzling competition: it’s time for the 12th Annual Smoke on the Mountain Virginia State Barbecue Championship, to be held this Friday and Saturday in downtown Galax.

INDEPENDENCE — Titans of the Cage fight matches will be held July 16 at Grayson County High School.

Doors open at 4 p.m. and fights start at 5. TOC Promotions will showcase its biggest card ever, featuring more than 20 fights. Some proceeds will go to GCHS athletic department.

The main event features undefeated welterweight champ Austin Cooper of Team SWMA in Wytheville against Jeremy Caviness of Team Backyard Brawlers of Hillsville.

Veterans from the American Legion Post #245 of Galax gathered on June 14, Flag Day, for a flag retirement ceremony at the Galax Public Library’s outdoor amphitheater, behind the Blue Ridge Veterans Memorial.

The ceremony has been part of American Legion ritual since 1937, a dignified disposal of flags that are deemed unserviceable, old or worn.

“In a proper service of tribute and memory and love, our flag becomes faded and worn and must be honorably retired from life,” according to an American Legion resolution in 1944.

Staff Reports

Ralph Stanley, the influential, Grammy Award-winning bluegrass musician, died June 23, 2016. He was 89.

Stanley’s death was announced by his grandson, Nathan Stanley. “My heart is broken into pieces,” Nathan wrote last Thursday in a post on Facebook. “My papaw, my dad, and the greatest man in the world, Dr. Ralph Stanley has went home to be with Jesus just a few minutes ago. He went peacefully in his sleep due to a long, horrible battle with skin cancer.”

MOUTH OF WILSON — Virginia native Anna Hickson shared these images of her family’s recent hike to the Mount Rogers Summit for a special Memorial Day dedication.

Hickson, along with her mother and her 4-year-old son, Ronan, took nearly 70 flags — decorated with the names of friends and family members who have been killed in action — on an 11-mile hike to the summit.

Once they were at the top, they planted the flags in remembrance of their loved ones’ brave service to the country.

MOUTH OF WILSON — Wilson, a box turtle who survived rehabilitation after a presumed automobile accident, has a new habitat at Grayson Highlands State Park.

Mallory Sullivan, AmeriCorps interpreter, searched the habitat — the fern gardens that were converted for Wilson’s homecoming — at the park’s visitor center on May 29. She eventually found him tucked under a window sill. Sullivan commented that this was a creative hiding place, especially since he has a plethora of logs in his habitat and plenty of soil to burrow under.

FRIES ― For several years, students from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., have paid visits to Fries during their Spring Break Immersion Program.

Visiting students volunteer with a variety of community service projects such as spring cleaning at the Riverview apartments and repairs/cleaning around the town and at the Fries Community Center. In turn, the students are immersed in the culture of the southern Appalachian region, and learn about the rich history of the Grayson County community.

The 42nd annual Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally, hosted by the Blue Ridge Discovery Center (BRDC), will be held May 6-8 (Friday through Sunday) this year.

This annual event is a tradition that dates back to 1975, bringing together like-minded nature lovers throughout the region. This year’s rally will highlight the 50th anniversary of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.