With Daylight Savings Time coming earlier than ever nowdays, the afternoon shadows ran long Sunday afternoon for the annual Veterans Day Parade in downtown Floyd and the crowd was a far cry from what it once was in a county where service to country was once considered important and worthy of more respect and attention. [...]

Shots of Saturday’s Split Rail Eco Fair in Floyd. The event also included dedication of the new community market next to The Station on South Locust.

Community residents gathered on Locust Street Saturday morning for an old-fashioned roofing party to help put the roof on the new Farmers Market next to the Station on South Locust. The Market,  scheduled to be ready for the Split Rail Eco Fair next weekend, will host not only a Farmers Market but other events and [...]

I generally don’t post pictures of myself on this web site but reader Jeff Blakley sent in this shot taken in front of the Floyd County Store a couple of Friday nights ago. Thanks Jeff for reminding me that some of us just never grow up.

Any way you slice it, Friday nights are special in Floyd and a holiday weekend brings out even more of a crowd on the streets with music (top), street artists (right) and what Floyd is best known for: Bluegrass. This Friday night also featured the opening of new shops in the Station on South Locust, [...]

By most measures, Floyd’s first annual Town Jubilee was a success. Estimates of the attendance ranged from 1,500 to 2,500.  Wind and a chance of rain did not deter those who visited the vendors, sampled the food and enjoyed the music.

I’ll have more details and photos in this week’s Floyd Press.

Music from the big band era wafted over U.S. 221 from the pavilion at Pine Tavern Saturday night was Sway Katz played to a large crowd. Here’s a slide show of scenes from the evening.

They call the project "Empty Bowls," a local program started by Floyd potter McCabe Coolidge and his wife Karen Day. Along with New River Community Action and a lot of volunteers who cook soup, bake bread, concoct desserts and help put the event together, the project raised more than $5,000 this year for the "Backpacks for Kids" project that provides backpacks with food for needy children.

The crowd gathered before the doors officially opened at 11 a.m. at The Jacksonville Center Sunday and the soup and food flowed.

For $10, eaters picked out their own bowls and then picked from a variety of soups while listening to music from local musicians.

This is the second year for what is now a firmly-established annual event on Floyd County’s charity schedule.

 (The photos are the top of this article are a slide show. Click on the "Next" and "Previous" clinks to scroll through the photos)

The gathering at the Floyd Country Store Thursday night was billed as a "Community Conversation," conducted by New River Valley Planning District Commission as part of their Vision 2020 Plan.

As outlined by Marty Holliday ((above), program planner of the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Investment Board, the idea was also to discuss ways residents and business owners can survive the current economic crisis that has gripped the area, state, nation and world.

Lofty goals perhaps but tough times call for lofty ambitions and ambitious attempts to deal with the problems. The program drew people like community activist Phyllis Beale (below left), former Floyd Town Manager Mike Maslaney (below center) and Courthouse Supervisor Jerry Boothe (below right).

Hopefully, those who attended as icy weather threatened came away from the meeting with some ideas for dealing with an uncertain future.