Business

    Several hundred acres of Bedford County farmland is safe from development, thanks to action by Linwood and Pam Willoughby and two of their children.
    The Willoughbys own 350 acres in the Chamblissburg area and their daughter, Holly Willoughby, owns 205 adjoining acres. Another daughter, Rhonda Nunley, and her husband, Tom Nunley, own an additional 233 acres, separated from the others by a 600-foot wide strip of land. They all have put their land under a conservation easement with the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy.

    Marty Hamrick and Spencer Bobbitt, both from Bedford, noticed a shortage of plumbers in the Bedford area, once James Welch, a well-known local plumber, came to be in ill health.
    Both men knew Welch, who died last month.
    “I thought a lot of James,” Hamrick said. “It’s hard not to see him in parts houses in the morning.”

    The weather was perfect for the agricultural conference that Bedford County’s ag board sponsored Saturday and Central Virginia Community College’s Bedford facility.

    It was a mild sunny day, but farm fields were still muddy, so local farmers turned out for the conference. Jeff Powers, chairman of the ag board, estimated the turnout at about 100 people. This count does not include what may be the world’s friendliest dog, who came over from a neighboring house to greet people.

    Centra Health is committed to keeping Bedford Memorial Hospital open as a full-service hospital, according to E. W. Tibbs, Centra’s CEO.