Floyd County High School’s Tyler Beckner defeated old nememis Tyler Sutphin of Radford Saturday night to win the 130-pound class state wrestling championship at Salem Civic Center. Beckner took the win with a late takedown to give him a 4-2 overtime win.
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Floyd County High School’s Britanny Avancini scores at the Christiansburg High School gym Saturday night as the Lady Buffs rolled over Honaker 86-55 to win the State Quarterfinals and assure a trip to the State Finals in Richmond for a third straight year. The girls play in the semi-finals at 2:00 p.m. Friday at the Seigel Center at Virginia Commonwealth Center and, if they win, the state final at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Continue reading …Flu set in on Thursday, complicating coverage of a jury trial in Floyd, intentified on Friday, creating even more problems shooting the state wrestling championship and may be on the wane today.
At least I hope so. Quarterfinal basketball tournament in C’Burg tonight. Can’t afford to miss that.
Continue reading …Chris Shackelford, the driving force behind the resident arts and crafts school at The Jacksonville Center, is leaving her post as Educational Programming Director to become director of the Chestnut School for the Arts in Galax.
Chris’ energy and personality will be sorely missed at The Jacksonville Center and her departure marks one more setback as the arts center located in the old Dairy Barn on Rte. 8 just South of Floyd struggles to find its identity and survive.
Amy and I had a studio at Jacksonville from January 2004 through March 2007. We left because the center never generated enough traffic to support a gallery and the rents were the highest per square foot in the county. I also served on the board for nearly two years and as vice president of the board for a brief while. I resigned from both because, as my granddaddy used to say, the only way to stop the pain from banging your head into a stone wall is to stop doing it and walk away.
Like many arts centers in Virginia and elsewhere, Jacksonville is always scrounging for enough money to continue. A "cultural business incubator" turned out to be long on promises and short on results. Too many tenants complained that promised services never materialized and the rent was too high for what they got in return. The center’s legacy may be one of big ambitions and unfulfilled expectations. Jacksonville has, for too long, attempted to survive from grant to grant without any long-range plan or established fund raising program. The Center’s unfocused marketing effort appeared to be based on a "if we build it they will come" philosophy.
With such a strong artistic community in Floyd County, Jacksonville could, and should, be a major part of the arts and entertainment culture but it needs strong leadership, an established long-range and marketing plan and a lot more community support to realize its potential. With talent headed out the door and tenants seeking new locations with more visibility, high traffic counts and lower rents they need to do something and do it soon.
Continue reading …The ominous warning flashed on the TV screen in the studio Tuesday afternoon: Tornado watch in several Virginia cities, towns and counties — including Floyd.
Tornadoes? Floyd? Yep. The National Weather Service cancelled the warning in less than an our but storms and strong winds moved into the area, leaving homes in Floyd County and other areas without power.
Thought tornados were a thing of the past when we left the Midwest for Washington in 1981 but several twisters came through the National Capital Region, including an F5 that touched down in LaPlata, Maryland in 2002.
Tornado watches and warnings were commonplace in Illnois and Missouri during our 11 years there but didn’t expect them to cause concern here in the mountains. According to City-Data.Com:
Floyd County historical area-adjusted tornado activity is significantly below Virginia state average. It is 5.8 times below overall U.S. average.
Which is a statistical way of saying tornadoes are rare in these parts but they can still happen.
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"Why," a Floyd County High School cheerleader asked at a recent game, "don’t you take more pictures of cheerleaders?"
Fair enough question. When I’m shooting a game, I’m on autopilot, following the action and the flow. I don’t go to a game thinking "I need to get more crowd shots" or "it’s time to focus on cheerleaders." The action on the floor rules. Sometimes the supporting elements figure into the flow of the story and I focus on the crowd, the coaches, the cheerleaders and other aspects. Sometimes not. It depends on the game. Both shots here are from Saturday’s Regional Final at Lord Botetourt High School in Daleville.
Area musicians donated their time and talent for a worthy cause at the Floyd Country Store Saturday night — a benefit concert for The Heart of Virginia foundation, a mental-health awareness organization founded by Tommy Edwards (right), the former Virginia Tech football star who battled depression and brain injury from a skateboarding accident.
Organizers say the event raised over $600 for the charity and provided the audience with music not only from Edwards but Bernie Coveney’s Natural Selection (above), No Strings Attached and Blue Mule (below).
Tech football fans remember Edwards, who was known as "Touchdown Tommy" during is days with the Hokies in the 1990s. He scored a record four touchdowns in one game in 1993. Now he wants fans to remember those who died at Virginia Tech in the shootings on April 16, 2007.
The faces on the bench of the Floyd County High School girls’ basketball team tell the story: A close regional championship final at Lord Botetourt High School in Daleville that went down to the wire. Chilhowie cut a 10 point Lady Buff’s lead down to three with less than a minute to go and the bench watched the seconds count down with nervous anticipation. But strong defense by players like Molly Brown (below). who also also helped with crucial free-throw shots in the final seconds to open up the margin and seal the victory, 54-47.
Brittany Bourne (above) heads in for a layup early in the game in the Floyd County High Scholl Lady Buffs’ 54-47 victory over Chilhowie Saturday to Capture the Region C championship at Lord Botetourt High School. Bourne led the FCHS scoring Saturday with 17 points. Brittney Avancini (below) defends the team’s slim lead late in the contest. The girls advance to the state quarterfinals against Honaker next Saturday in Christiansburg.
Floyd County High School’s girls’ varsity basketball team squares off against Chilhowie at noon today at Lord Botetourt High School.
Win or lose, the 21-3 Lady Buffs have already qualified for the state quarterfinals next Saturday and a win there will send them to Richmond for a third straight appearance in the state semi-finals.
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