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Today's Features

  • Life along the Parkway

    Calvin Rice has worked along the Blue Ridge Parkway for half a century.

        He’s currently the dining room manager at the Peaks of Otter Lodge.

        Rice started working at a service station along the parkway at Otter Creek, near Big Island, right out of high school. This is 28 miles north of the Peaks and the parkway was not yet complete at that time. There was not yet a bridge carrying the road over the James River and motorists, upon reaching that point, had to get off, cross the James elsewhere and then return to the parkway.

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  • Children's Holiday Memories

    Bedford area residents welcomed in the holiday season Saturday as the streets were lined with those attending the Bedford Christmas Parade.

        “It’s nice to see the community come out,” noted Bedford Main Street Executive Director Linda Exley. “The comments were very positive.”

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  • Greens hung at historic meeting house

        The Bedford Historical Society held its annual Hanging of the Greens lunch at the Bedford Historic Meeting House.

        Hanging of the Greens is an old English tradition observed in many churches. It marks the beginning of Advent, the period leading up to Christmas. It got its name because of the green wreaths that were hung as decorations for the season. It marks the point when many churches put up their holiday decorations, leaving them up through Epiphany, which comes on Jan. 6 and marks the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child.

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  • Preserving their stories

    A lake area author has written a book on combat veterans and he came to the National D-Day Memorial last week to sign copies.

        Bob Vanderlinde knows something about serving in combat. A member of the 187th Airborne, he made two combat jumps during the Korean War. He was wounded three times and still has pieces of shrapnel in his body.

        His first jump was on Oct. 20, 1950.

        “We jumped 50 miles north of Pyongyang,” he said.

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  • Bedford's pie lady to be parade grand marshal

        Ruth Crouch has been the manager at D. Reynolds for 32 years, but she's known about Bedford as the pie lady. As a sideline, she bakes pies to order.

        “I made six this morning before I came to work,” she said when interviewed the day before Thanksgiving. 

        All told, she's baked 220 this year. That includes more than 40 for Main Street United Methodist Church's bake sales in July and August. Each year she contributes at least 40 for this fundraising event.

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  • Labor of Love

    The Shepherd’s Table served its annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner Wednesday, feeding 106 people turkey with dressing and gravy, green beans, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.

        It’s a labor of love. The Shepherd’s table provides free hot lunches to people in Bedford who are in tight financial circumstances.

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  • Turning 100

    Julius Hinsch, a resident at Carriage Hill in Bedford, turned 100 years old on Nov. 24.

        And he has some advice for the young folks of today: “Get a job and work hard.”

        Born in Germany on Nov. 24, 1908, Hinsch moved to the United States 80 years ago, settling in New York. He has been a resident at Carriage Hill since 2002.

        Hinsch has a daughter who lives at Smith Mountain Lake and a son in New York. He also has two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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  • Museum honors volunteers

    The Bedford Museum held a luncheon Nov. 13 to honor its volunteers.

        “It’s just actually a token of our appreciation to those who volunteer at the museum,” said Annie Pollard, chairman of the museum’s board.

        Pollard said that volunteers provide wide range of skills to the museum ranging from computer skills to providing information for books on Bedford area history that the museum produces.

        One current project is scanning ledger books to create digital images.

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