The Valley Today

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...

Nathan Stalvey, Director of Clarke County Historical Association joined the conversation today to talk about a few upcoming events and give us a bit of a history lesson. Nathan told us about a yearly tradition happening at Burwell-Morgan Mill on Saturday, July 2 where they will be grinding red, white, and blue corn and grits. Burwell-Morgan Mill, also known as the Millwood Mill, is a historic gris...

We recorded today's conversation on location at Humane Society Warren County to chat with Executive Director, Meghan Bowers about Olive's Fund, their longest resident, and the ability to schedule a blind date in the month of July. While we were at the shelter, I had the opportunity to meet Tina (check out the video on the station's Facebook page) and hear about her injuries and path to recovery. M...

Our conversation for The Valley Business Today happened in the conference room at the Frederick County Economic Development office as it does whenever there is an "extra" Wednesday in the month. Shayla Rickard, Business Retention Manager for FredCo EDA joined me for the chat along with her guest, Missy Spielman, Work-Based Learning Coordinator for Frederick County Public Schools . We talked about...

We were on location for our Tourism Tuesday conversation with Justin Kerns from the Winchester/Frederick County Convention & Visitors Bureau to talk with James & Cynthia Powell from Wild Feather Farm. The couple, joined by their children/farm partners, Levi & Emerson gave us a history of how their home became their farm. We talked about the family-run venture and Cynthia's passion for farm life. W...

For our conversation today, we caught up with Dr. Jeffrey Feit, Valley Health 's Population Health & Community Health Officer to talk about long COVID, Monkeypox, and the broad range of issues that affect community health. Dr. Feit gave us an update on the current COVID situation in our communities. He talked about hospitalization numbers and vaccines. He explained that one of the far-reaching iss...

Andy Gail was back today! Our monthly conversation with United Way of Northern Shenandoah Valley with Jennifer Hall, Director of Community Investment featured Andy Gail (for his 8th visit to the show and finally a "repeat" topic) from Literacy Volunteers Winchester Area . Andy gave us an update on all the programs they have happening throughout the summer and explained how they've changed things u...

We recorded our conversation today on location at the Frederick County Extension Office to chat with several NSV Master Gardeners. Joanne Royaltey, a Program Associate in the Consumer Horticulture & Invasive Species department of Virginia Cooperative Extension led the conversation. Joining us to chat about gardening issues and the Master Gardener class itself was: Lucy Carlson, Master Gardener Lin...

Our conversation for The Valley Business Today with Top of Virginia Regional Chamber featured Kory Campbell, Director of Marketing & Communications and Vanessa McAllister, Director of Programs and Events to talk about the chamber's recent move to Winchester Regional Airport and the Community Leadership Program. The Community Leadership Program - now entering it's 26th year - is a nine-month progra...

Our Tourism Tuesday conversation today with Edison Emmons from Luray/Page County Chamber of Commerce featured Leon Stout, Stanley's town treasurer and organizer of Stanley's Homecoming celebrations happening June 29 - July 2, 2022. Now in it's 55th year, the event will feature a pageant, a carnival, a parade, live music, and more. Leon gave us all the details and encouraged everyone to follow thei...

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 localities was Town Planner...

Our conversation today with Stacy Swain from Warren County's Virginia Cooperative Extension 4-H program gave us all the details for their upcoming 4-H summer camps. Both the day camps and overnight camps have slots still available for kids 5-13 years old. The day camps will happen June 27 - July 1, 2022 from 9am - 3:30pm each day at Northern Virginia 4-H Center. The camp is broken down into age gr...

Our conversation today was all about celebrations. It's 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. This month we talked with Jennifer Coello: Vice President, Operations and Administrator for Warren Memorial Hospital and Mary Presley: Director of R...

Our conversation for The Valley Business Today featured Frank Stankiewicz, owner of Green to Ground Electrical Services and his apprentice/marketing administrator, Jake Fries. Green To Ground is a class 'A' electrical contractor serving the Shenandoah Valley and Northern Virginia region. They offer both residential & commercial services for any size job and are licensed and insured. Frank gave a b...

Our conversation for Tourism Tuesday this afternoon featured Alex Flanigan, Main Street Program Manager for Old Town Winchester . Alex gave me an update on a few events and we talked about the premise behind many of them. On the first Friday of every month, Old Town Winchester becomes an immersive gallery where visitors to the historic business district can shop, dine, and stroll while taking in l...

Our conversation today with Katie Mercer, Director of Marketing & Events for the Town of Woodstock gave us all the details for Shenandoah Valley Artfest happening on Saturday, June 25 from 2pm - 10pm. This is the third year for the event and it's shaping up to be the largest and most successful yet. Shenandoah Valley ArtFest will feature over 30 artists representing a variety of mediums from paint...

This month's conversation for Strolling Strasburg with Olivia Hilton, Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Town of Strasburg featured all the F's: Front Porch Fridays and the 4th Annual Fish Fry Float for Father's Day. And trust me, we gave her sufficient grief for her obsession with alliteration. We recorded the show at Strasburg's Town Park (my first time there) with several of Olivia's vol...

Our conversation today with Guy Curtis, Director of Marketing for Laurel Ridge Community College and Carlene Hurdle, Director of Corporate Training for Laurel Ridge Workforce Solutions focused on the details for Leadercast 2022 - The One Thing. The live rebroadcast will be hosted at both Laurel Ridge campuses later this month. Leadercast is a one-of-a-kind event hosted live this year on May 4, 202...

Our conversation for The Valley Business Today with Edie Emmons from Luray/Page County Chamber of Commerce included Lesley Mack, owner of Birdsong Pleasure Garden and a NSV Master Gardener. Lesley gave us all the details for the upcoming Gardening in the Valley Tours which will feature Luray/Page County gardens this year. The event happens on Saturday, June 25, 2022 from 9am - 4pm and is rain or s...

Our Tourism Tuesday conversation with Kary Haun from Shenandoah County Tourism landed us at Swover Creek Farm Brewery to chat with Lynn & Dave St. Clair about the brewery. Dave told us how they converted old family barn/loafing shed into their farm brewery and gave us some insight into how and why they decided to brew full time. We talked about growing hops and a collaboration with Box Office Brew...

Our conversation today with Carly Stoliker from Shenandoah Shrooms was all about mushroom farming. We talked about growing them, eating them, foraging for them and got some tips for identifying them. Carly explained how the idea to become mushroom farmers came to be, what's been involved so far, and she walked us through the process. Follow their page on Facebook: Shenandoah Shrooms to stay up to...

Our conversation today with Niki Foster from Front Royal/Warren County Chamber of Commerce was a few days later than our normal monthly chat. Niki gave us an overview of the Wine & Craft Festival and talked about it's success in spite of the heat. She gave us the details for a few upcoming chamber events: Millionaire Maker Golf Tournament happening on Friday, July 1, 2022 at 8am. New Teacher Recep...

We recorded our conversation for Traffic Safety Thursday at Frederick County Public Safety Building with Lt. Warren Gosnell from the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. We talked about the school year ending soon and the need for drivers to be more aware that children will be playing in or near streets in their neighborhoods throughout the day and evening. He also reminded us that once school is on...