The madness begins
Labor Day, the final big weekend of summer, the unofficial end of the season.
The big weekend for Carroll County and surrounding areas because this is Gun Show weekend, the event that turns Hillsville from an sleepy town of 12,000 people into a mob of more than 100,000 who prowl the flea markets in town and the endless collections of yard sales that stretch out along roads over several counties in Southwestern Virginia.
It’s an event like no other and one that everyone should see once. (Photo from the 2001 Gun Show)
Supersizing: It can happen here
Many longtime residents of Loudoun County post signs in their yards that proclaim "Don’t Supersize Loudoun!" and The Campaign for Loudoun’s Future is trying to prevent precisely that.
It may be too late. What was once a rural county an hour’s drive from Washington, DC, is now a sprawling urban community overwhelmed by traffic, crime and all the other problems that come from urbanization.
When Amy and I moved to the Washington area in 1981 Loudoun County reminded me of Floyd — a haven of country quiet just an hour’s drive from the city. But the quiet was short lived. Land speculators had already moved in, gobbling up family farms and laying out plans for lavish developments of country homes.
Some say the boom started when America On-Line decided to move its headquarters from Vienna to Loudoun County and spurred creation of a "technology corridor" along U.S. 50. Leesburg, the sleepy county seat, became just another suburban monument to urban sprawl — an endless collection of chain restaurants and shopping malls. In a few years Loudoun went from reminding me of Floyd to become a supersized clone of the Christiansburg-to-Blacksburg strip of shopping malls, car dealerships and neon signs.
Carroll County Gun Show & Flea Market
The Labor Day weekend means the annual Carroll County Gun Show & Flea Market is upon us along with yard sales on top of yard sales throughout the region.
Atticus Stovall
Test
Sweet music
I’m an unabashed fan of Windfall, the local musical group featuring Michael and Kari Thomas Kovick (above) Dave Fason and Rusty May. A shot from their recent CD release party at the Floyd Country Store. A video from Spring Into Summer in 2004.
Atticus Stovall
Shot this video of young Floyd bluesman Atticus Stovall performing at Cafe del Sol some time ago and thought I had uploaded it previously. Enjoy the music.
Punishment, phase one
The vibration on my hip meant email on my Blackberry. Breaking news from CNN. The National Football League, it said, just suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick indefinitely for admitting he ran a dogfighting ring.
The young girl just ahead of me in line at the Regal Cinemas at New River Valley Mall wore a Virginia Tech t-shirt, looked at the Blackberry and asked:
"Something important?"
"Depends on your point of view," I said. "The NFL just handed down an indefinite suspension to Michael Vick."
"It’s not enough," she said. "They should drown him like he did to those poor dogs."
Times have changed. A year ago you couldn’t have said a critical thing about Michael Vick without someone getting in your face. The former star quarterback of Tech’s football team enjoyed god-like status in the New River Valley.
Not now. Vick’s admission of participation in the cruel spectacle of dog fighting exposed a dark underbelly of life among the pampered athletes of big-time college sports. The dominoes are starting to fall.
Construction boom
Construction, remodeling and rennovation dominate downtown Floyd these days as the business district redevelopment project continues at full tilt.