Calling all kindergarten through third-graders. Come make a joyful noise as part of a Children’s Community Choir.
Beginning on Thursday, Jan. 31, from 4 to 5 p.m. and continuing at that same time each week for six weeks, Vicar Andy Schottelkorb of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church will lead the children in preparation for a concert on March 13. The songs will include Christian and traditional selections. 

Every classic TV fan remembers the series finales of their favorite sitcoms.  Who could forget that moment on the final episode of “Cheers” when Ted Danson, as Sam Malone, announced to a customer who tried to enter his bar after closing time, “Sorry, we’re closed?” Although I was never a fan of the show, I can clearly recall the finale of “Seinfeld” when Jerry and his gang were sentenced to a year in prison for repeated failures at being good Samaritans.  For me, perhaps the most unforgettable final episode of any TV sitcom was that of the show “Newhart,” starring comedian Bob Newhart. 

This has been a busy week.  Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and there were a record number of Virginia citizens, including hundreds of school children, visiting our beautiful State Capitol.  One of our most important visitors was Marco Leung, accompanied by Coach Marrs, of Graham High School in Bluefield.  Marco is the Model General Assembly for 2008 and was here to meet with Governor Kaine and be introduced to both houses of the General Assembly.  Model General Assembly will take place in April here at the Capitol.

Old Blue Rosenbloom looked shocked when he got to the barn.  “Heard something awful,” he said.  “It’s so awful that I didn’t want to hear it.”
“You’d better sit down,” said Beck, my ole Missouri mule.  “Never saw you so shook up.”

Soul searching

A home business, started 1 1/2 years ago, specializes in earthy, elegant accessories.

The Dex warehouse in Floyd is Volvo’s only U.S. operation, though it has others in Australia and Brazil, and Floyd is the only one selling used truck parts.

What’s the meaning of this meeting?

Don’t pass the salt

Seventy-five years ago, a group of hungry actors stepped into the lights washing the stage and performed “After Tomorrow.”
Those actors were the first Barter actors. The play, the first the now-three-quarters of a century old theater produced.
Author Sherwood Anderson, then editor of the newspaper in Smyth County reviewed that first effort.
“The play itself wasn’t much… the acting much better than the play,” he wrote. “‘After Tomorrow’ gave us, and this is really the main thing, an honest-to-goodness evening at the theater. And Barter Theatre will surely give us more.”