Features

If your midday slump is cured by a little bit of classic county and you happen to listen to WBRF-98.1 FM, then you’ve surely heard the voice of Jason Blevins coming through your radio speakers.

A bit of a local celebrity, Blevins was voted Favorite Radio Personality in The Gazette’s 2015 “Favorites of the Twin Counties Readers Choice Awards.”

HILLSVILLE – Hillsville Pentecostal Holiness Church broke ground on its new addition on Sunday.

The church has been in its Virginia Street location since 2014. According to Pastor Jeff Pickett, on Oct. 19, 2014, the day of the first service, it was apparent that the church would need more room to accommodate the rapid growth in children’s classes.

“And we knew we could not accommodate all of the church family for any meals in a timely fashion in the temporary fellowship hall,” said Pickett.

You might already have seen the T-shirts around town, along with business marquee signs with messages of support.

You’ve probably seen the logo on Facebook: a cartoon boy’s face, colored green, with a shaggy dark haircut and a tough, determined smile, bearing the hashtag #MightyMax.

Now meet the kid behind the commotion.

Max Brown, 4, of Galax, has been mostly healthy in his young life. He’s fond of staying over at his paternal grandmother’s home on Saturday nights with his cousins to play with them, as any kid would.

The annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration was held Jan. 18 among many local African-American churches at the former Hillcrest Baptist Church building, now owned by MacMillian Ministries. The theme this year was “Fight On for Righteousness, Fight On for Justice, Fight on for Truth.”

E.W. Shupe, known affectionately as both “Dub” and “E.W.” to his friends, came home from work one Friday in 2003, feeling sick and feverish. He had just turned 21 and had a four-month-old daughter.

A week later, the Fries resident had bounced from Twin County Regional Hospital to the New River Valley Medical Center outside Radford and wound up in Roanoke, where he spent time in intensive care while physicians worked to figure out what was wrong with him.

A local couple put in countless hours of hard work to make Christmas more special for a less fortunate family this year.

For two months, John and Dorothy Frost, both in their 80s and without any children of their own, collected and shelled walnuts to sell in the area. After completing the daunting task, the couple was able to raise about $600 and decided they wanted to provide Christmas presents for some local children.

An episode of the syndicated talk show “Dr. Phil” featuring a Galax woman is set to air today, Wednesday.

Christy Adams won a contest to appear on the show, after donating to a cause that helps abuse victims.

Adams, a West Virginia native, Galax resident and local author, describes the need to address and end domestic violence as “something that’s just really close to my heart.”

Staff Report

Sara Morrison Ward, one of Galax’s past but most well-known and loved music teachers, turns 100 today.

In her eventful life, Ward also has been a composer, Peace Corps volunteer, novelist, poet and choir director.

Born on Dec. 9, 1915 in Barnet, Vt., one of three children, to Paul Knight Morrison and Ethel Merrill Morrison, her extraordinary musical ability won Ward a State of Vermont Scholarship to the University of Michigan.

Staff Reports

Christmas festivities abound this weekend in the Twin Counties, and much of the holiday cheer continues throughout the month.

Dec. 4 will be a busy day for holiday activities in Galax, with a Christmas parade, the grand opening of a new woodworking studio and a First Friday event with live music and specials in downtown shops.

The annual Galax Christmas Parade will be held Friday evening at 7, preceded by a tree-lighting ceremony in front of the police station on North Main Street.