January on the back roads of western Virginia

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Winter woods, quiet back roads, a chill in the air as western Virginia waits for its first significant snowfall in 2016….

Baling summer hay in western Virginia

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Baling a hay field in Augusta County west of Staunton with the Appalachians in the background.

Jaclyn Oakes, young lady behind ‘Charlie’s Cure,’ will compete in Miss Virginia Pageant

An emotional Jaclyn Oakes reacts after winning the Miss Southwestern Virginia contest Friday night in Roanoke.

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Jaclyn Oakes, a 2012 graduate of Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton and the Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School in Fishersville, and a junior at Randolph-Macon College, won the Miss Southwestern Virginia pageant Friday night in Roanoke. Her talent was dance, and her platform was “Charlie’s Cure: Bringing Awareness to the Dangers of Skin Cancer.”