Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
The pastor was tired of hearing all the Woe is me! talk that had been making its way around his congregation.
“The people who have the hardest time dealing with a crisis are Christians,” he said, leading into a series of tales from the Bible and contemporary life involving people who had considered themselves to be religious to a fault, until they faced one calamity or another and then lost their faith.
Shane Lam has a different perspective on calamities and what they’re supposed to do to one’s faith.
***
“Did you go to Wilson?” Lam asked me about a minute after introducing himself as the pastor at Revolution Church. I’d had a feeling a moment earlier that we’d met somewhere before, too. His question jogged my memory. “You’re … Shane Lam?” I said, not really asking for verification, but more incredulous, than anything else. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Listen to “The New Dominion Magazine Presents.”
New Dominion Magazine editor Chris Graham presents “A Revolution in Waynesboro,” featuring an inside look at Revolution Church in Waynesboro.
Show Length: 7:48
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
I don’t remember the year, but I remember the map. It might have been something from the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission, it might have been something that the three local community planners had come up with on their own, whatever. The important thing was what it had us looking like. Basically the urban metropolis of the future would begin somewhere around the top of Afton Mountain and continue out to the west toward Churchville along U.S. 250, cresting to the north in Verona along U.S. 11 and diving south to the farthest reaches of Stuarts Draft on U.S. 340. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Compiled by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
The canvas was clean. The answers to my questions would paint the picture.
What will the Greater Augusta area look like in 2025?
I asked several local leaders to weigh in on the topic. As you will see, the conversations were open and honest.
Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Apples had once grown there by the bushel, but by the time John Higgs had settled back onto the family farm in Barren Ridge, it had been overgrown for years. Not that it mattered to Higgs one bit that he had several years of work out ahead of him to turn the old apple orchard into a vineyard.
“Being from a fruit-growing family, apples and grapes are not that dissimilar. You do the same things. It was in my blood,” said Higgs, who moved his wife, Shelby, to the family farm just a short crow’s flight from the world-famous Andre Viette Nursery to make a go at the wine business. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Listen to “The New Dominion Magazine Presents.”
New Dominion Magazine editor Chris Graham presents “Vineyards in the Valley” - a webcast featuring interviews with Barren Ridge Vineyards owner John Higgs and Cross Keys Vineyards general manager Mark Parsons.
Show Length: 9:05
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Jerry Carter had this wild idea.
If you know Jerry Carter, you know I need to be a lot more specific than that.
“So Dad says, Hey, you guys want to go down to Covington? And we’re thinking, Where the heck is Covington?” said his older daughter, Sabrina.
“And then three hours later, We’re driving down to Covington,” her sister, Rebecca, chimed in.
“We went there, we get a hat. This guy sold him his hat off his head. Dad wanted a hat, so the guy sells Dad a hat,” Sabrina said.
“Dad’s been doing this his whole life. I’ve got to go to every ACC basketball arena. I’ve got to go to every Major League baseball stadium. I’m going to take (older brother) Chris to every stadium in the Northwest League,” Sabrina said.
“So when we heard it, we’re like, Yeah, we’re in,” Rebecca said. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
If you’re familiar with the name John Leonard, then you’re really in the Valley League Know.
Leonard, 38, is All Things Valley League, literally. The Eastern Mennonite High School English and journalism teacher by trade turns into a daily sports blogger in the late spring and summer at allthingsvalleyleague.typepad.com - with reports on the hitters and pitchers of the day, updates on how former Valley League stars are doing in the minors and the bigs, feature stories on players and coaches and game reports and diaries from the press box. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
It was the toughest thing that I’ve ever had to do.
I turned the corner from the living room to the deck attached to the back of the house of my friends and campaign supporters Mary McDermott and Bill Jongeward on Election Night, and all I could think was, This is the end of the world. About 100 people who had volunteered on my city-council campaign in one capacity or the other had gathered for what was supposed to be my victory celebration, and we thought it was all but a foregone conclusion. Even ardent supporters of my chief opponent had been telling me in the days leading up to Election Day that they were thinking that I was a shoo-in, and the response at the polls all Tuesday long was, I had thought, anyway, overwhelmingly positive. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Story by Elizabeth Geris
After the game of pacing between the folding tables and washing machines at the local laundromat finally reached its amusement threshold, I spotted a magazine table boasting a relatively recent Newsweek. Within minutes I was knee-deep in a story about Family Tree DNA, a Houston, Texas,-based company that will mail customers cheek swab kits, and in return for their DNA scrapings, will scientifically identify their ethnicity, mail them personalized certificates assuring the reliability of the results, and offer regularly updated, password-protected web pages devoted to the customers’ genetic info, all within a matter of a few weeks. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Story by Faryal Zubair
Fast-paced. On the go. Stressful. That’s life in the 21st century. We lack the time to do things that were once so important to us. For example, when was the last time you were able to pick up a book and read it cover to cover?
It might sound like a luxury in this day and age, but that’s exactly what Mark Kearney, a Waynesboro police officer and president of the nonprofit Book ‘Em Foundation, wants you to do. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
What if it was a possum? Or a fawn whose mother had not actually abandoned her, but would soon miss her just the same? There was dread and anticipation heading into the spring as the ticker edged closer and closer to the 50,000 plateau.
And then the Wildlife Center of Virginia got a call from someone about a common loon seen walking around the parking lot at the Green Valley Book Fair in Rockingham County.
No, I’m not talking about a crazed book lover here. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Quilts aren’t always about warm and cozy nights by the fireplace.
“They started as scrapbooks, if you will, for very functional reasons,” said Martha Degen, the coordinator of Quilts: Past, Present and Future, a monthlong celebration of the art of quilting that will feature events throughout the Central Shenandoah Valley throughout the month of September. Read more »
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by chrisgraham
What you might have missed from augustafreepress.com …
“Artsy smartsy” - Arts means more than cultural opportunities. It’s also big business in Staunton and Harrisonburg. How big? Try millions of dollars a year and growing. Get inside the Valley arts industry and learn how it works for our local economy.
“No thanks, PAC man” - Sixth District Democratic Party nominee Sam Rasoul is taking a principled stand on not taking money from political action committees and lobbyists. Will this help him on Election Day? We talked with Rasoul, local Democratic Party leaders and a pair of political analysts to get the scoop.
“Does Augusta County need an economic-development director?” - Augusta County has made it this far into its nearly four-century history without one. But can the county compete for jobs in a 21st century economy without someone on the staff at the Government Center who wakes up every morning thinking about dollars and economic sense?
“Lessons gleaned from Gloucester” - Gloucester County is in the midst of a local-government shakeup that has its roots in a shakeup at the polls last November. Are there similarities to what has been going on down in Gloucester to what we’re seeing in post-election Waynesboro?
“The other side of discrimination” - A Hershey employee was let go from his job at the Stuarts Draft plant after a racial-discrimination incident that his coworkers are saying was trumped up at best. Learn more about Bubba Smith and what has happened to him and his family in the fallout of this sad story.
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