The Valley Today

Our conversation today with Sari Carp & Hannah Bement from Sustainability Matters gave us an update on their Making Trash Bloom pilot project. We also learned details about Mowing for Monarchs as well as how the community can be more involved in the organization from volunteering and/or becoming a member to joining their board or their staff. Hannah clarified the recent news about monarchs being e...

My fun squad was back on the show today! Tony Baker, Director of Marketing for Frederick County Parks & Recreation joined me for a chat along with Allie Bodenschatz, a summer marketing intern. Tony gave us details for basicREC. The basicREC program is available to all Frederick County Elementary School aged children and provides participants with recreational opportunities before and after school!...

We were live in the studio for our Traffic Safety Thursday conversation with Lt. Warren Gosnell from the Frederick County Sheriff's Office . Our topic today was Back to School safety. We discussed school bus safety including when you should stop (almost always) and being alert when children are present. Lt. Gosnell explained the laws regarding school bus stops on roads & highways that do and do no...

Our conversation for The Valley Business Today - Front Royal/Warren County edition - with Niki Foster from Front Royal/Warren County Chamber of Commerce took place at Kell's Belles on Main Street in downtown Front Royal. Joining us for the chat was Kelly Wahl, owner of Kell's Belles. She told us how this business (and her dream) came to fruition and gave us details on the types of clothing, shoes...

Kary Haun from Shenandoah County Tourism joined me for a conversation today at Woodstock Garden Cafe. She gave me a quick overview of the Route 11 Yard Crawl and talked about how to be a vendor as well as the Traipse app component that's been added this year. You can find more information about the event on their website and on Facebook . Kary also talked about the "Five Things Friday" posts that...

Our conversation for today's show took place on Saturday at the Strasburg Farmer's Market. Joining me to talk about their growing business was Rachel Butler & Janel Louk, owners of Nana's Blue Greenhouse. The pair explained how they came to be business partners and talked about their love of flowers and how it all started with a blue greenhouse. Learn more about Nana's Blue Greenhouse on their web...

We did a bit of traveling for today's conversation. We started at the Strasburg Visitor's Center to chat with Olivia Hilton, Director of Strategic Iniatives for the town of Strasburg and Strasburg Police Chief, Wayne Sager. The pair gave me all the details (between giggles) for Strasburg's National Night Out event happening on Tuesday, August 2, 2022 from 6pm -9pm at Strasburg Town Park. Chief Sag...

We traveled to Laurel Ridge Community College for a conversation with Melissa Stange , Professor of Computer Science to get details for Drone Day happening on the Middletown campus on Tuesday, August 2, 2022 from 4pm - 7pm. Melissa gave all the details for the event which will include live demonstrations from agencies such as Virginia Department of Aviation, Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Skydio...

Our conversation for The Valley Business Today with Cynthia Schneider, CEO at Top of Virginia Regional Chamber featured Samantha Barber, Founder & President of Reaching Out Now. Sam gave us all the details for their upcoming YES Conference (Youth Empowered for Success) happening on Monday, August 1, 2022 from 8:30am - 4pm. Reaching Out Now is partnering with Shenandoah University to provide studen...

We recorded today's conversation at The Monument on the Old Town Walking Mall in downtown Winchester with Justin Kerns from Winchester/Frederick County Convention & Visitors Bureau . Joining us was Justin Tenpenny (Director of Operations) and Chryssi Elfstrom (Events Manager) from The Monument. We learned the history of how the event venue came to be located at 186 N. Loudoun Street and the plans...

Our conversation with Tyler Hinkle, Shenandoah County's Planner is part of an ongoing series following the work on Shenandoah 2045 - Shenandoah County's comprehensive plan. The planning process will unfold over the course of four years with the majority of the community collaboration occurring from 2020-2022, with input in 2023-2024. Joining us to talk about the role of the Shenandoah River was Da...

Our conversation for United Way Day featured CEO of United Way Northern Shenandoah Valley , Kaycee Childress and her guest, Dr. Tom Gromling from Dental Clinic of Northern Shenandoah Valley . Dr. Gromling gave us some history of the organzation and talked about the population they serve. Their mission is to provide basic dental care for patients of all ages who normally don't have access to dentis...

Our conversation today was gave us great information about detecting, responding and treating strokes and aneurysms. It is part of our community health partnership with Valley Health where we talk each month with administrators, physicians, and other Valley Health staff about health topics, events, and the community. Joining me today was Dr. Habibullah Ziayee , a fellowship-trained interventional...

Our conversation for The Valley Business Today welcomed back Shenandoah Community Capital Fund to talk about their newest cohort and how they're making changes to their organization to serve more entrepreneurs/small business in more ways. Joining me for the conversation was Ryan Hall & Katie Overfield-Zook, entrepreneur ecosystem builders with Shenandoah Community Capital Fund. Ryan gave us a quic...

Our conversation for Tourism Tuesday - Luray/Page County edition - with Edison Emmons from Luray/Page County Chamber of Commerce featured guest Kristina Abbatiello, Hospitality Manager at Brookside Cabins. Kristina gave us some history of Brookside Cabins and talked about the types of guests they typically see. She gave us a description of the nine different cabins they offer and we talked about a...

Our conversation today with Renee Bayliss, Creative Design & Visitor Services Manager for the Winchester/Frederick County Convention & Visitors Bureau was all about the guided walking tours of Old Town Winchester . Joining us for the chat was Mike Robinson, local author, historian and tour guide. Renee gave us a quick history of how long the tours have been happening and told us of a few others ho...

Our conversation for Extension Office Friday welcomed back Extension Agents Mark Sutphin & Joanne Royaltey from the Frederick County Extension Office. Mark & Joanne work out of the VCE-Frederick County office but also serve Clarke, Page, Shenandoah, and Warren Counties. Today we got an update on the Spotted Lanternfly invasion and talked about the expanded quarantine area. Mark & Joanne explained...

Our conversation today with Guy Curtis , Director of Marketing for Laurel Ridge Community College featured engineering professors Liz Palffy and Alex Peebles. Alex & Liz gave details for their upcoming "Exploring Engineering with 3D Design & Robotics" camp that will happen at each campus. In Middletown, it will take place on Friday, July 22, 2022 from 9am - 5pm. In Fauquier, it will take place on...

Our conversation today is part of an ongoing partnership with the US Small Business Administration highlighting small businesses as well as offering advice and resources to small businesses. Our topic today was economic development in rural communities. We talked with John Fleming , Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator for the US Small Business Administration and Alfreda Jarrett Reynolds, Director...

Our conversation for Tourism Tuesday - Old Town Winchester edition - with Alex Flanigan, Main Street Program Manager for the City of Winchester was all about events and experiences in Old Town Winchester. We talked about what goes into putting together city-sponsored events and why it's important to cater to both residents and tourists alike. We talked about First Fridays, Old Town Spirit, and the...

We met up on the Zooms screen with Rusty Holland, Executive Director from Concern Hotline to talk about his organization. Concern Hotline is a free 24/7/365 anonymous information & referral, crisis intervention, and suicide prevention hotline serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Callers can reach out to any of their 5 supported Hotline numbers, toll free, 24 hours a day. Their train...

We recorded today's show at Strasburg Town Square in the Market Pavillion to chat with Olivia Hilton, Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Town of Strasburg for our mothoy Strolling Strasbug episode. Joining us was Ally Thomas, manager for Strasburg Farmer's Market. Ally gave us all the details about what goes into putting the market together each season from April to October. We talked about...

We were live in the studio for today's conversation with Lt. Warren Gosnell from Frederick County Sheriff's Office for our monthly "Traffic Safety Thursday" episode. Our conversation focused on common sense when operating motorcycles, mopeds and ATV's. Lt. Gosnell talked about safety issues for all those types of vehicles. We talked about being reckless and the danger that creates for the driver a...

We were on the screen today with Niki Foster from Front Royal/Warren County Chamber of Commerce and her guests from Warren County Public Schools . Joining us for the conversation was Shane Goodwin, Human Resources Director and Hope Petty, Teacher Support Coordinator to talk about the dire need for new teachers across the region but specifically in Warren County. Shane explained the qualifications...

We recorded today's conversation at the offices of the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival to chat with Director, Dennis Lynch. Dennis gave us a quick rundown of the musical acts that are booked for this year's summer concert series. We talked about the preparations that go into kicking off the music festival each year. Dennis reminded us of the experience concert goers have when attending any of the...