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Features

  •
    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.

  •
    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.

  •
    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.

  •
    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.

  • 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.

  •
    Garden club celebrates 80th...

        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.

  •
    Copper has helped many over the...

    “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.

  •
    Nester heads for Halifax County

    By John Barnhart

    Staff Writer

    johnbarnhart@bedfordbulletin.com

        George Nester, Bedford County’s director of community development, is leaving for Halifax County. He takes over as that county’s administrator next month.

        Nester worked as town manager of Vinton for seven years and also as city manager of Covington. He was Franklin County’s county administrator for eight years before taking up his current job in Bedford County.

  •
    Riding with the pros

    For Johnny Martin, serving as a marshal during the Advance Auto Parts Blue Ridge Brawl Elite series tournament last week was an experience he’ll never forget.

        “It’s like an on the water classroom experience,” Martin said. “It’s the best $100 I’ve ever spent.”

  •
    R-U-Up for a Cup-a-Joe?

    When Craig Amo first opened Cup-a-Joe at the end of 2005, he did so knowing that Bedford was still suffering withdrawal symptoms from the closing of R-U-Up, a popular coffee shop. R-U-UP closed in May of that year.

  •
    A Garden A-Faire

    The Blue Ridge Garden Club held a potting party last week. This, however, wasn’t something Sheriff Brown was worried about. It was perfectly legal.

        The club decided to celebrate its 80th anniversary with a new approach to the annual spring fundraiser. Part of this is to sell container gardens. The potting party was a gathering of club members to create these gardens. They come in various sizes, each in a ceramic container, and the club’s master gardener members helped design them. No two are alike.

  • A path to healing

    A group of professionals will join together, donating their services for a pilot program to help cancer patients. It’s called A Path to Healing, and the progam starts on April 20.

  •
    90-year-old veteran recalls...

    Back in October, 1942, a young man from Brooklyn named Angelo Basile, received a written invitation from the U. S. Army to personally participate in World War II.

        Basile ended up in the 80th Infantry Division, nicknamed “Blue Ridge Division.” Its division patch, which Basile wore on his dress uniform, featured three bluish mountains. Today, he lives among those mountains. He and his wife, Mary, reside with their son, Philip, on the Bedford County side of Smith Mountain Lake.

  •
    Piecing together the past

    ne of Bedford County’s premier historic jewels, Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, opens for a new season today. Governor Tim Kaine will be on hand for this year’s event.

        Long before he became our third president, Thomas Jefferson became governor of Virginia, serving as its first governor after the Old Dominion joined 12 other colonies in declaring their independence from Great Britain. The state house where Virginia’s General Assembly still meets today was designed by Jefferson.

  •
    A new beginning

    For Kevin and Phyllis Dellis, last week marked a new beginning.

        In the early morning hours of this past Christmas Eve, Phyllis woke up to find flames in the home. “I didn’t smell any smoke,” she said. “It was foggy...The good Lord woke me up.”

  •
    The write stuff

        Although all county elementary schools participated in the Young Authors contest, Body Camp Elementary did something different.

        Brenda Dooley, the school’s reading coach, found a company that offered a kit that allowed winning stories to be turned into a bound book. Dooley took the children’s manuscripts and typed them leaving room for artwork. The children then drew pictures to illustrate their books. This took a good bit of time, but Dooley feels it was worth it and hopes to do it again next year.

  •
    Benjamin’s opens at the...

        Two old friends have joined up to bring a new food experience to Smith Mountain Lake.

        Benjamin McGehee and Matt White, owner of Mariner’s Landing, have been friends for 30 years, ever since they played Little League baseball together. When White needed somebody to take over the food service at The Pointe at Mariner’s Landing, he thought of McGehee. McGehee started Benjamin’s Great Cows and Crabs in Forest several years ago.

        “His reputation precedes him,” White commented.

  •
    Old fashioned work ethic

    If Frank Lewis missed work, people knew that something was wrong. He retired from Golden West Foods, owned by Brooks Food Group, last month after 49 years. He had perfect attendance for 45 of those years.

  •
    Loft on Lawyers Row provides...

        People looking for a historic experience in Bedford now have a new opportunity.

        The Loft on Lawyers Row opened for business last month, taking it’s first guests on Valentine’s Day weekend.

  •
    The Electric Company celebrates...

    It’s been a successful year for The Electric Company.

        The business, located on Depot Street, takes it’s name from the fact that it occupies the building that formerly housed the city’s electric department. Patti Siehien and Al DeWeese purchased the old building in the autumn of 2007, after the electric department moved to new quarters. They opened for business on Jan. 8, 2008.

Copyright © 2013

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