The Valley Today

For some kids in our area, Friday's school lunch is the last meal they can count on until Monday's breakfast. Janet Michael checks back in with Elise Stine-Dolinar of Bright Futures Frederick/Winchester to talk about the hidden hunger in our local schools, and how neighbors across Winchester and Frederick County are helping more than 1,200 students get fed every week. Elise walks through what goes...

New lanes on I-81, a brand-new bridge at Exit 313, and longer turn lanes on the roads you drive every day: VDOT's Ken Slack is back with the latest on the road work around the Northern Shenandoah Valley. Janet Michael checks in with Ken, communications specialist for VDOT's Staunton District, on the big highway projects that make headlines and the smaller fixes that change your daily drive. Ken ex...

North Mountain Vineyard & Winery's first Ravenwood Faire is almost here — and owner Jill Edlich says getting a 90-vendor medieval festival ready on a working vineyard has been its own kind of harvest season. Janet Michael and Kary Haun catch up with Jill for Shenandoah County Tourism Tuesday, checking in on everything that's changed since February: a new accessible walkway, a horse arena, and a vi...

Grab a team, grab a driver, and get ready to venture across the Northern Shenandoah Valley — for a good cause. Janet is back on the Zooms with Gina Hilliard, president of the Luray-Page Chamber of Commerce, and Greg Stockton, development director for Seniors First, to talk about the Valley Venture Scavenger Hunt, an app-based fundraiser happening October 17th across six counties. Greg walks throug...

The Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association is bringing back its fall symposium after a pandemic-era hiatus — and this year it comes with a theme, a full slate of local experts, and a challenge for every gardener in the room. Janet talks with Candace DeLong, Frederick County's Virginia Cooperative Extension agent, and Chris Jorgensen, president of the NSV Master Gardener Association...

A brand-new, 36-foot pink mobile mammography unit just rolled into the Shenandoah Valley — and Janet Michael is sitting right next to it on the Winchester Medical Center campus to find out what it means for local women's health. On this Community Health episode, Janet talks with Jenny Grooms , Executive Director of Valley Health Foundations and Jason Craig, Senior Director of Community Health abou...

Wings & Wheels is coming back to the Winchester Regional Airport on Saturday, October 3rd, and it's free to get in the gate. Janet sits down with Taylor Coumes of the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber and Pete Warren of United Bank to talk about how this beloved community event — think warbirds, classic cars, Air Force simulators, and food trucks — has grown to draw more than 3,000 people a year, a...

It's Tourism Tuesday, Berryville/Clarke County edition, and that means one thing every September: Art at the Mill is back. Janet Michael is joined by Nathan Stalvey, Executive Director of the Clarke County Historical Association, for a full rundown of what's new this fall — from the juried art show's opening weekend to a brand-new exhibit exploring the little-known history of Black horsemen in Cla...

When a disaster destroys your home, the shelter is never meant to be the ending point — it's step one. Janet Michael sits down with Deb Fleming, Executive Director of the American Red Cross of the Greater Shenandoah Valley, for a deep dive into the Red Cross's Shelter Resident Transition (SRT) program: the behind-the-scenes work of moving disaster survivors out of shelters and into permanent, sust...

After a record-breaking summer, the YDC is diving straight into a packed fall season — and Executive Director Sarah Fishel joins Janet Michael at the YDC's Loudoun Street home to walk through all of it. From a brand-new after-school program to two beloved traditions making their long-awaited return, there's a lot happening at 302 S. Loudoun Street in Old Town Winchester. Sarah shares how the new Y...

A local 5K is doing double duty this year — raising money for scholarships and keeping a beloved friend's memory alive. Host Janet Michael is joined by Guy Curtis, Director of Marketing at Laurel Ridge Community College, along with Julie Judy and Meredith Speir-Cavalier, co-founders of The Recovery Connection, to talk about the Laurel Ridge Community College 5K and the scholarship it supports in h...

Would your car still have AM radio if automakers got their way? Janet sits down with Andrew Shearer, President/Owner of Royal Broadcasting, which owns The River 95.3 and Fox Sports 1450, to talk about why AM radio still matters, and why it might disappear from new cars for good. Andrew breaks down why AM signal reaches places FM and cell service can't, what the American Red Cross has to do with an...

It's Tourism Tuesday, Berryville/Clarke County edition, and Janet is on the Zooms with Martha Reynolds, Executive Director of Barns of Rose Hill, for a rundown of a huge year: new exhibitions, a brand-new midweek concert series, and a completed 10-year endowment challenge. From a colorful new exhibit inspired by Brazilian music to a can't-miss documentary premiere, Martha walks through everything...

It's the Shenandoah Valley's biggest fall tradition, and it's turning 52. Host Janet Michael sat down with Darla McCrary, co-chair of the Shenandoah Valley Apple Harvest Festival, at the Espresso Bar on Winchester's Old Town Walking Mall to talk pie contests, pony rides, and pints of hard cider. The Rotary Club of Winchester has put on this festival for over 50 years, raising an estimated $1.5 mil...

Even a veteran law enforcement officer can almost get scammed — and that's exactly what happened to Captain Warren Gosnell of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, who joins Janet Michael for Public Safety Thursday to break down how today's fraudsters are getting smarter, sneakier, and harder to spot. From spoofed voicemail greetings that used Gosnell's own name and voice to the rise of "gold exc...

Ever called the Chamber of Commerce to complain about a price hike at the Dollar Tree? Someone has — twice. On this episode of Valley Business Today, Niki Foster, President of the Front Royal-Warren County Chamber of Commerce, joins Janet Michael to clear up exactly what the Chamber is, what it isn't, and why so many people get it confused with local government. Niki walks through the Chamber's ro...

It's a two-for-one Tourism Tuesday! Host Janet Michael and Justin Kerns of the Winchester-Frederick County Convention & Visitors Bureau head to downtown Winchester's historic former bank building, The Exchange on Loudoun, to talk with co-owners Molly McGehee-Hanson and Jillian McGehee about the Last Sunday Market — an indoor artisan makers and growers market that's already drawing hundreds of visi...

Pawpaws are Virginia's forgotten native fruit — and this fall, Blandy Experimental Farm is throwing them a party. Janet welcomes back Melanie Mullinax, Communications & Events Manager at Blandy, to talk about the return of Pawpaw & Pints on September 13th, complete with a locally brewed pawpaw beer, fruit tastings, and a talk from renowned pawpaw expert Neal Peterson. From the surprising 1916 pawp...

The Dawg Days of Summer Hot Dog Crawl sold out its very first year — over 3,000 hot dogs, a live band, temporary (and a few permanent) tattoos, and fans who flew in from as far as Chicago. Janet Michael sits down in the Secret Garden behind the Espresso Bar with Brady Cloven, Executive Director of Friends of Old Town, for their monthly Old Town check-in, then welcomes Jack Owens, Director of Land...

There's a helicopter on its way to downtown Winchester right now — and it's landing on a rooftop. Janet sits down with Dawn Devine, Tammy Stevenson, and Taylor Wilmoth of the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum to talk about the museum's boldest exhibit yet: a real helicopter, craned onto the Sky Level rooftop, that kids will be able to climb into and "fly." From the four-year journey to get city a...

Hob Nob in the Valley is back — and it's still the most refreshingly nonpartisan political event you'll attend all year. Host Janet Michael sits down with Cynthia Schneider (CEO) and Taylor Coumes (Director of Event Management) from the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber, along with Brandon Lorey, President and CEO of Bank of Clarke, the event's presenting sponsor, to preview this year's Hob Nob hap...

New Market is having a moment — a new gelato shop is moving in, a grab-and-go cafe is on the way, and a furniture store is still going strong after 37 years. It's Shenandoah County Tourism Tuesday, and host Janet Michael catches up with Kary Haun from Shenandoah County Tourism, Savannah Smith from the Town of New Market, and Karla Kokkonen from The Home Store. From the soon-to-open Battlefield Gel...

When Juli Ferrell's own mother could no longer drive herself to doctor's appointments, a low-cost transportation service called WellTran became a lifeline — now, just three weeks into her new role as Executive Director of Seniors First, Juli is bringing that same personal understanding to an organization that serves thousands of seniors across the Northern Shenandoah Valley. Janet sits down with J...

NW Works is throwing its 11th annual Farm to Table dinner on September 12th — and for the first time in years, tickets to the general admission event are still available. Janet talks with communications coordinator Morgan McIntosh and CFO Todd Devine about what makes this Middletown street dinner one of the valley's most beloved fundraisers, from the locally sourced menu to the neighbors-turned-bu...

It's Community Health Day, and Janet sat down with Dr. Nick Restrepo, Valley Health's Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer, to unpack some huge news: Valley Health has just been named one of the nation's top 15 health systems by Modern Healthcare and Premier Inc. Dr. Restrepo breaks down what the award actually measures, why it took five years of data (not a lucky year) to earn it, and why he...