September marked our class’s one year anniversary, and brought our group to the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, and Chesapeake Bay. One of the catchiest tunes that I can recall from my childhood is a song by Raffi called Down By The Bay. Unlike the character in the song we didn’t see any goats rowing boats,… Continue reading Down By The Bay
The sixth fellowship of the VALOR program surpassed our halfway mark with a visit to the Northern Neck of Virginia in what turned out being some delightful weather for the majority of our four day visit. I enjoy taking some time after each VALOR session to recall each visit and capture a few nuggets from… Continue reading Oysters, Produce and Crab Cakes, O My!
Did you know that there was a practically a whole other state if you go west of Blacksburg in Southwest, Virginia??? I only jokingly say this (slightly), knowing that Virginia had its’ southwest portion of the state from my elementary (middle?) school education. But boy did my geography teacher leave a lot out! I always… Continue reading The one VALOR trip I had to wake up before 6 am to get to on time.
I believe it is the latter, but during our time in southwest Virginia at the end of July I heard it both ways! What is more import is exactly how much this region of our great state holds. I was very surprised to see just how many different agricultural (and otherwise) industries fill this massive… Continue reading AppaLAYcha or AppaLATCHa?
I affectionately referred to the July seminar as my “staycation”. This is because it was time to explore my home region. I am a native of Southwest Virginia and have spent most of my life here. It’s a region that is often misunderstood or even ignored by others across Virginia. This is especially true of… Continue reading Staycation
During our trip to Southwest Virginia, the theme that surfaced for me is the importance of the support structure that overlays the agriculture industry in this region. I will focus on how I saw the outpouring of assistance related to ag infrastructure in Southwest. It was apparent as we traveled at most every stop that… Continue reading The Structure Supporting Success in SWVA Agriculture
We had the opportunity to visit the area of VA that I call home for our July session. Southwest VA is not easy to navigate....mountains and curvy roads, not to mention it typically takes twice as long to get anywhere! We certainly couldn't stay overnight in the same place either since we had so much… Continue reading The Views are a Little Different in SWVA
In our recent VALOR Seminar, we ventured to Southwest Virginia. My work occasionally brings me to this area, and I've become enamored with the people and landscape. For me, the theme of this seminar was community. Visiting organizations like Virginia Produce, Appalachian Harvest, and Landcrafted Foods drove this theme home. These facilities have created markets… Continue reading You’d be Wise to visit Southwest Virginia
Our latest VALOR seminar took us to Southwest Virginia. We covered a lot of ground during this visit. (I think I heard someone in the group mention we put close to 1,000 miles on the van!) This is an amazing part of the state and I saw and learned more than I expected. As I… Continue reading More Than I Expected
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” - Coretta Scott King As someone who has moved across the country a number of times, I am always extremely grateful when I am able to find myself amongst a strong community. As I reflect on our recent time… Continue reading Greatness of Community
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