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Today's Features

  • Unsung hero: Cheek remembered for service

    When Linda and Charlie Exley first arrived in the Bedford area 19 years ago, Elisha “John” Cheek and his wife, Patricia, befriended the Yankee refugees.

        The Exleys met the local couple because Patricia Cheek collected dolls and Linda Exley had a doll shop at the time.

        “They invited us for Christmas,” she said. “They became our Virginia parents.” For the Exleys and many others, John Cheek’s death earlier this year was a heartfelt loss.

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  • Orchardist steps in to organize farmers market

    ith Bedford Main Street currently without a director, a local orchardist has stepped in to reorganize the Bedford Farmers Market.

        Along with being a son of a multi-generation Bedford County farm family, Ronnie Gross is also one of the farmer representatives on the county’s agribusiness board. Along with being part of the family orchard business, he has Mountain Valley Produce LLC, a wholesale company that distributes to restaurants and stores.

        “It gives restaurants a chance to buy local,” he said.

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  • Grace Memorial Baptist dedicates new sanctuary

    A lot of churches build additions or new sanctuaries, but the new sanctuary that Grace Memorial Baptist Church dedicated this month is something different.

        Grace Memorial is a country church, located on Robertson Road, off Dickerson Mill Road, but what was built doesn’t look like what comes to mind when you think of a country church. The 500 seat sanctuary, and the building that houses it, looks more like what you would expect a suburban congregation to build.

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  • A public affair

    An Army Reserve unit in Greensboro left for Fort Dix, N.J., last month, to prepare for duty in Iraq.

        Major Timothy Brooke, the company commander, is no stranger to Iraq. Brooke, who normally wears the uniform of the Bedford Police Department, returned early last year from a deployment there, where he served as “mayor” of Freedom Compound in Baghdad.

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  • Domestic Violence Coalition

        Along with Bedford Domestic Violence Services, there is another group dealing with the problem of domestic violence.

        The Bedford Domestic Violence Coalition isn’t a competing organization. In fact, Bedford Domestic Violence Services is part of the Coalition. Its goal is to bring individuals, direct service providers and organizations together in a collaborative effort.

        Individuals may be professionals, such as forensic nurses, employees of the victim/witness program or social workers.

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  • Riddle on the Harp

        You may have seen and heard Riddle on the Harp perform at various local venues.

        The all female group, all of them Bedford County residents, first got together around the turn of the century. It started when Patti Black’s husband gave her a gift.

        “My husband surprised me with a hammer dulcimer and kind of created a monster,” commented Patti Black, a former attorney.

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  • Business marks 50 years

        Overstreet General Repair marked half a century this month.

        Jimmy Overstreet had planned on a Navy career when his father, W. R. Overstreet started a general repair business in 1959. He was a diesel mechanic and had served on a destroyer escort, which was all diesel. This was followed by duty on the USS Ranger, an aircraft carrier.

        Overstreet was a plank owner on the Ranger, the title that members of a ship’s commissioning crew are known by.

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  • Saunders retiring after 33 years

    This is Sue Saunders’ last year as principal at Bedford Elementary School.

        When Saunders walks out of her office for the last time next month, she ends a 33-year career in education that was spent entirely in Bedford County  Public Schools.

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  • Garden club celebrates 80th anniversary

        The Blue Ridge Garden Club celebrated its 80th anniversary with a luncheon and plant sale that drew 200 people.

        The lunch and plant sale is an annual event, something the club has done for 50 years. The lunch menu has changed little over the years and, as usual, everything was made by club members, including the biscuits for the ham biscuits. Members sign up every year as to what they will make and most have a specialty.

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  • Copper has helped many over the years

    “How much do you think of this horse?”

        Lauri Bach, of Many Blessings Farm, braced herself for some bad news when a veterinarian asked her this question last month. The horse in question is named Copper – he got his name due to his color. He means a great deal to Bach for several reasons.

        To begin with, he was an 8-year-old girl’s dream. He was 2 years old when they bought him for their daughter, Lindsay, who had just turned 8.

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