Features

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.

Galax and Independence will both hold National Night Out Against Crime events on Aug. 6.
National Night Out, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, is a community-police awareness event that takes place in areas all over the United States. It is always held the first Tuesday of August.
The events are organized by local police departments, non-profit organizations and volunteer departments. The goal is to increase awareness of police programs in the community, including drug prevention, neighborhood watches, and other crime prevention efforts.

Twenty-three barbecue teams from all over the country were lined up shoulder to shoulder last weekend for the first-ever dual competition at the 9th Annual Smoke on the Mountain contest in Galax.
This year’s event featured both Memphis Barbecue Network and Kansas City Barbecue Society contests. The MBN winner in Galax is also named the Virginia state champion each year.

A total of 22 teams competed on July 19-20 in Galax at the 9th Annual Smoke on the Mounatin BBQ Championship. Barbecue teams from all over — from local contenders to nationally known celebrity cooks — gathered for the city's first dual contest, featuring both the traditional Memphis Barbecue Network competition and, for the first time in Galax, a Kansas City Barbecue Society contest. Below are the winners in each category. Watch The Gazette on Wednesday for photos and coverage of the event.

HILLSVILLE — A new idea to raise money to “flush out cancer” continues to float around the community.
A group of Galax-Carroll Relay for Life participants, Team Lifesavers, have been stealthily placing their plumbing-related fundraising tool in some high-traffic locations.
“Our team is made up of teenagers who are working in memory of those lost to cancer or in honor of those who have survived or are fighting now,” the accompanying documentation says. “Please help us by supporting our effort to ‘Flush Out Cancer.”