Nan Russell: Natural inspiration

AFP

The hints commenced with the changing landscape, traversed by dramatic colors and intriguing rock formulations. I should have expected it. Although the travel guide provided a glimpse of what was coming, I was still not prepared for the majestic beauty and expansive, as-far-as-you-could-see, dramatic terrain of Bryce Canyon National Park. Hoodoos Cast Their Spell, the…

Y, Waynesboro Public Schools team up to offer Pre-K afterschool

Chris Graham

The Waynesboro YMCA and Waynesboro Public Schools will partner in the fall to offer pre-kindergarten afterschool care at Wayne Hills, meeting a long-identified need in the Waynesboro community. “The Waynesboro Y will be providing a valuable service that many working parents have requested for several years,” said Robin Crowder, the superintendent of Waynesboro Public Schools,…

‘Long-awaited,’ ‘special,’ ‘surreal’ day for FMS grads

AFP

The final order came down, and a flurry of hats flew into the air, marking the end of 35 cadet careers at Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro. “It’s been long-awaited,” said Alex Burkard of Stuarts Draft, who began at Fishburne as an eighth-grader, and for whom the graduation ceremony on Saturday was the end of…

Ken Plum: Hail to Shenandoah, Hail

Ken Plum

The Board of Directors of Shenandoah High School Alumni Association gave me the “Distinguished Alumnus” Award at its annual banquet last weekend. Last year I wrote about my graduating class’s fiftieth reunion that I could not attend because I was out of the country. I did attend this year and was honored by the recognition….

Wilson Library acquires Signal Corps photographs

Chris Graham

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum announced today that, with the assistance of Sen. Mark Warner it recently acquired a collection of 120 Signal Corps photographs from President Wilson’s trip to Europe for the Paris Peace Conference following World War I. Many of the photographs are of President Wilson. Barbara Rohmann of Fairfax County,…

Inspirational: AWE newcomer, military vet, overcomes obstacles, pursues dreams

Chris Graham

Michael Hayes has just won his professional wrestling debut match over his teacher, Nick Dinsmore, in dramatic fashion. The hometown crowd was cheering the young Iraq veteran on all the way, so it’s one of those nice moments in sports where the fans get to go home happy. A fan comes up to shake Hayes’…

Ken Plum: Misplaced blame

Ken Plum

Public employees and unions have been getting a bad rap lately. As tax revenues have declined along with the value of public pension funds, government workers have been getting stuck with part of the blame for our current financial crisis. Local and state budgets have to be reduced to be in balance with revenue, but…

West Side Story at Stuarts Draft: ‘Aren’t you guys crazy?’

AFP

We have all heard the story of Romeo and Juliet, either through the original story or through the hundreds of adaptations. We know the characters, the star-crossed lovers, the polarized families, the hate, the passion, the tragedy. The fact that we already know this, and expect what was originally unexpected, makes it seemingly hard to…

A letter is better

AFP

Think about your mailbox. When was the last time you received a letter? Magazines, bills, business promotions, and newsletters do not count, just a genuine personal letter from a friend, sister, brother, cousin, old classmate, or neighbor. Been a while? How about the last time you sent one yourself? We live in an age of…