Local citizens are volunteering their time to host a fundraiser to benefit Virginia state trooper Kris Chapman, who was injured in an wreck with a drunk driver, and the family of Marion Police Sergeant Keith Clark, who died earlier this year. 

Following on the success of the popular Second Friday ArtWalk, Marion is kicking off a brand new event this Saturday night. It’s the Marion MusicWalk, offering live local music at a variety of venues throughout the downtown district.

Jesus keeps popping up everywhere. Folks have seen his face in cloud formations and in snow blown against a tree. He has appeared in the grain of a wooden door, and on a piece of sheet metal. Last week he showed up in the window to a prayer garden of an Orlando hospital, which is a lot more believable than when he appeared on a taco, south of the border.

Tuesday, April 22, will mark the 38th anniversary of Earth Day. According to Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia (http://www.wikipedia.en), in September of 1969, Gaylord Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin, announced that a nationwide grassroots demonstration by citizens concerned about the environment would take place the following spring. Nelson said he was behind the demonstration because he wanted concerns about the environment to be on the national agenda. On April 22, 1970, Nelson got his wish, as concern about the environment drew enough attention to begin a national movement to improve our environment and brought calls to eliminate many sources of pollution.

The scrawled sign on the rusted metal building read “Cycle Shack.” My 10-year-old son and I were trying to find used parts for a worn-out motorcycle. By the looks of the building, we were at the right place. I tried to knock, but the moment I touched the door it fell open and I stumbled in, trying to catch it. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the light, I knew I had interrupted something. Forty people that stood in the center of the room turned and stared at us. They were obviously part of a gang, a rough-looking lot. Everywhere I looked, there was leather, body piercings, tattoos and just mean expressions; and those were just the women. I knew we were in trouble, but before I could back out of the room, someone said, “What do you want?”

It’s funny how events can change your outlook of a day. Just about a month ago, on a dreary, rainy Sunday afternoon, I received a phone call. When I answered it was my old buddy, Eddie-Buck. We’d been playing phone-tag for almost two weeks and he had finally managed to catch me.

I am about to take the hint. As of today, three people have sent me the story of Conan. No, I do not mean Conan the conqueror, portrayed in films by the governor of California. I mean Conan the Chihuahua (no relation).

Lately, there has been a commercial frequently running on television. It pictures a fellow doing the old spinning dishes on long, thin wands balancing act. Unlike most acts, the fellow doing this one just isn’t very good. He has all sorts of trouble doing his act. If you haven’t seen it, you haven’t been watching TV lately.

“How many?”
If I heard that once Sunday night, I heard it 278 times.
We were coming home from Granny’s and Papaw’s, just the two of us, my eldest and I. It took me a few times, 50 or so, to catch on that he was pretending to lick the cars headed West Virginia way on Interstate 77.

Many a kid dreams of hitting it big in show business. It’s almost always a long shot.
However, four girls will get the chance to taste the acting life in the Barter Theatre’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.”