Features

Generally, legends are made by acts of great heroism: beating back an enemy, rescuing the helpless, bringing justice to the oppressed.

Another component of heroism is simply in doing: committing acts and going forward.

Curious, then, that Joe Wilson, who died on May 17 at 77 years of age, is a legend in folklore, traditional arts and roots music when he was barely known to pick up a guitar.

WOODLAWN — The summer schedule for The Studio in Woodlawn will include a variety of classes and workshops, as well as a series of self-protection classes and concealed carry firearms classes.

Located across from the Midway Shell station on Carrollton Pike in Woodlawn, The Studio opened earlier this year with a hodgepodge of choices for clients, including yoga classes, children’s theater and venue rentals. But as business owner DeeDee Wright mapped out plans for her studio space, a new opportunity for promoting community safety was presented.

By DON RICHESON, Staff

INDEPENDENCE — About 300 danced the night away at Grayson County High School’s annual Junior-Senior Prom on April 25.

The prom’s theme this year was “If Only for One Night.” The event was coordinated by GCHS teacher Amanda Brewer, who was assisted by many volunteers.

HILLSVILLE — For Heather Ramirez, last year’s Second Chance Prom was her first real prom experience.

“The funny part for me was that I wasn’t able to attend my first prom, but I helped decorate for it in high school,” she told The Gazette. “But it worked out, because the first time actually going to the prom, I went with my husband.”

Nine months after Galax resident Penny Nixon’s cat, Rhudy, disappeared from her former home in Edinburg, she resigned herself to the belief that she would never see him again. But one night, a phone call out of the blue changed everything: her pet was alive and waiting for her in a veterinarian’s office in McLean… more than 90 miles from where he’d first disappeared.

WHITETOP — The annual Whitetop Maple Festival will launch Grayson’s 2015 festival season, which continues throughout the summer and into the winter season, with over 38 events to choose from.

The Maple Festival is March 28-29 in the county’s highlands. It begins at Mount Rogers School (11245 Highlands Parkway, Whitetop) at 8 a.m. each day. Enjoy a pancake breakfast with genuine maple syrup, tapped fresh from the highest peaks in Virginia.

In an effort to prepare both staff and public for a new future, Bogeys, Galax’s answer to fine dining, held a private, small-plate dinner with wine pairings.

Owner Kenneth Belton, who was one of the restaurant’s four owners before buying out the others late last year, was on hand along with consultant Judy Brannock; new chef J.C. Botero (born in Colombia, raised in south Florida and lately of Olde Mill Resort); sommelier Steve Foster of Andes Importers of Salem, who was responsible for the wine pairing; and new staff members.

Hillsville Town Council Member David Young took these photos of the staff at Classic Creations as they worked hard at producing thousands of NFL Super Bowl shirts for the Feb. 1 event.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” said Young of the business that he and Mayor Greg Crowder helped bring to the town a little more than a year ago.

Classic Creations received its first NFL T-shirt order last year with the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl win.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., born in poverty in Atlanta and killed by an assassin’s bullet in Memphis at age 39, spent his life traveling through America as a Baptist preacher and Civil Rights activist who sought justice and racial equality for African-Americans.

His “I Have a Dream” speech established him as one of the greatest orators in American history, and his work shed a light that is still a beacon today.