Discover Campbell County October 2022

CAMPBELL COUNTY

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for rushing the

tailback #4 Jamier Fleming looks for his best

while Altavista linebacker #2 Ladainian Stone tries to break free of a blocker to make a tackle in the annual football game between neighboring Campbell County Schools. Allen Bailey/ Altavista

Aerial shot of Blue Ridge Rock Festival. Photo by Jim Davis/TopFlightofDanville.com Equipment: DJI Mavic 3 Drone

Patrick Henry’s Grave and Law Office, his

House and other outbuildings, rare family artifacts in the E. Stuart James Grant Museum Room, the Museum Shop, and a growing network of interpretive scenic trails.

Quarter Place, which is a half-mile long trail culminating at the Enslaved & African American Cemetery, integrates, in a meaningful way, the birth, life, perseverance, and resilience of those enslaved by Henry into the history of Red Hill and the nation’s founding.

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VETERANS HONORED FOR SAVING LIVES

Pair of U.S. military Veterans at Valor Farm saved three drowning victims July 4; share the vision and mission of the National Center for Healthy Veterans

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY WESTBROOK

While the nation was celebrating Independence Day this summer, disaster struck a large extended family swimming in the Staunton River at English Park in Altavista. If it had not been for two U.S. military veterans walking in the park at that time, likely three people from that family would have died by drowning.

That the veterans happened to be in the right place at the right time was more than coincidence, and the fact that they themselves are both alive and able to jump in to save lives is in itself a miracle.

On Saturday, Sept. 24 at Valor Farm in Altavista, Sgt. Connie Peresata (U.S. Army, retired) and Cpl. Robert “Bob” Lyon (U.S. Marines, retired) were honored with medals for heroism and certificates from the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Following the ceremony, they gave an interview with the Altavista Journal in which they recounted the events of July 4, shared the challenges veterans face, and the explained the

importance of Valor Farm.

It’s a miracle Connie is still alive

Both Connie and Bob survived recent major health crises, along with the despair and depression that far too many U.S. veterans face.

In January 2021, Connie was feeling unwell, but months of being turned away from treatment at the Salem VA Hospital (because, she was told, there were no appointments available) meant that by the time her condition was diagnosed, it had advanced to a near-fatal condition.

She says that she is one of many veterans who have gone to the Salem VA for treatment, only to be turned away. She made the trip there for one appointment only to be denied admission, being informed that her appointment was cancelled. The pain she was experiencing that day rendered her unable to talk, and so

Shown above, U.S. Military veterans Bob Lyon and Connie Peresata display the medals and certificates they received from the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution for their heroic lifesaving actions in Altavista this summer. On opposite page, the recently completed community center is the first of four that will eventually dot the rolling Virginia hills at Valor Farms. Each will be surrounded by its own village of tiny homes where the veterans will sleep. The community centers include the dining halls where they will eat together, space for meetings, activities, and relaxation, along with laundry rooms and more. There is even a fitness center with equipment donated by Planet Fitness.

“That could’ve been me,” she realized.

Her health condition, when finally diagnosed, had deteriorated to stage four cancer - a rare form of squomous cell carcinoma. It was not the more well-known skin cancer variety, but one that attacked the inside of her body. This extremely aggressive cancer invaded Connie’s head, face, and neck. With the lack of timely treatment, it had spread to her sinus, jaw, and lymph nodes, particularly decimating the latter.

It was the people at Valor Farm, people who became family to her, that helped her through the dark times. In May, while at the Farm, she received a call from the VA hospital informing her that she had stage 4 cancer, but the facility would not be treating her. “If I had not been here, I don’t know if I could have survived. My family came running when they heard me scream into the phone, ‘You’re gonna let me die?!’

“When the VA says over the phone that they aren’t going to help you with stage four cancer, you need Valor Farm,” she declared. “I cannot impress enough the importance of their help.”

On June 10, 2021, she underwent emergency surgery through civilian channels, at the University of Virginia Cancer Center. She was later informed that without that surgery, she would have been dead within two days, as her lymph nodes had started to burst.

“My surgeon, Mark Jameson - and God - saved my life,” she emphasized.

Veterans helping veterans rebuild their lives

Her friends at Valor Farm, including Bob, were with her to see her through recovery. Two weeks before the Sept. 24, 2022 award ceremony, Connie received the report that she is now cancer-free. “Everyone embraced me,” she mentioned. She does not take any pain medications, either, and she learned to talk again following the surgery.

Also in September, she joined a group of 12 veterans on a 20-mile hike. She was one of six who made it all the way through to the end, 15 months after her surgery. “I trained for it with Bob here at the farm and at the Peaks of Otter.”

she wrote a message, “Please let me in,” she pleaded. She even had an open wound. Yet still she was turned away.

“I went to my car in the parking lot, and I couldn’t take it another minute,” she recalls. “They [the VA staff] don’t understand that their words will be the last words that many of us will ever hear.” She was despairing to the point of suicide, and recalled that she frantically looked in her car but couldn’t find her weapon. So she started driving. “I couldn’t take it another day. The pain was terrible. I thought, ‘I must not matter.’ My life was not worth a petri dish for a test. It was not worth an x-ray or a CT scan. ‘How do I live with that?’”

Connie added that just a few months after her ordeal at the Salem VA, another vet from the Lynchburg area went to the same hospital, parked in the same parking lot that she had, was likewise turned away, and returned to his car and shot himself.

The achievement was about more than completing a hike. “The VA had nothing like that for me. We veterans thrive on a challenge.” The mental, emotional, and physical challenge of the hike appeal to that innate nature of the warrior. That is why the National Center for Healthy Veterans succeeds in meeting the needs of the veterans: “It takes veterans - the generals are veterans, too. [Gen. Jeffrey Horne and Gen. Bob Dees, both retired, are the founders of the National Center for Healthy Veterans and the leaders of the program.] They understand. They have seen the rawest sights a human can see,” Connie explained.

“You come here with everything all pent up inside. We can’t talk to the average civilian about what we have seen and what we are experiencing and feeling. We’ve been subject to the darkest dark, and we need someone who’s been there.”

Bob added, “When I came here, I didn’t know that generals commit suicide, too. We hear the statistic that 22 veterans a day

Valor Farms was launched only two years ago and has come a long way in that short time. The first of four community centers, which will be the hubs of the eventual four villages of 20-30 tiny homes each (with 100 homes total), has been completed, several homes in that village are completed and either occupied or will be occupied soon, and more homes are under construction (as pictured). This program helps veterans struggling with physical, mental, and emotional health issues to find healing and rescue from isolation and suicide, which has taken a terrible toll on this nation’s veterans.

commit suicide. I didn’t realize it, but officers come home broken, too. They have sent people to their deaths, made tough decisions, faced winless situations with impossible choices. Both generals lost close friends, high ranking officers, to suicide. Valor Farm is their response.”

Bob has his own amazing story of survival

When life went off the rails for Connie last year, Bob was there as a friend to walk with her through the dark times. He has been through his own struggles, and this summer Connie was able to return the favor.

Before coming to the program here in Campbell County, Virginia, he walked that dark road of hopelessness, as well. “I tried to commit suicide. I had spiraled into depression and despair, and I saw no point in going on, nothing left to live for,” he recalls.

The VA’s solution was temporary confinement in a mental hospital and giving him lots of medication. “They give you meds

and send you home. That’s the government solution” to the national crisis of veterans committing suicide. “Here, at Valor Farm, they work you to death,” he quipped with a grin.

The individually tailored help that he and each of the vets who come stay at Valor Farm receives has been life-changing for Bob. It’s no wonder that he is a firm believer in the organization’s’ policy to build and conduct its work using only money from donations. “There’s no government funding; the government, if it gave money, would want to control it.” It is precisely this nongovernmental, alternative, faith-based approach he has seen work in his life and the lives of others.

“I was on 19 pain meds and psych meds before, and I’m not on them anymore.” He compared the traditional Veteran’s Administration approach with the innovations at the National Center for Healthy Veterans. “At the VA, they try to fit everyone into the same cookie cutter therapy. Here, we recognize that everyone is different. We’re not round pegs being forced into a square hole here. Instead, it’s adaptive treatment. The grounds

Veterans including heroes Bob Lyon and Connie Peresata are finding physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing at the National Center for Healthy Veterans’ Valor Farms facility in Altavista, after the hardships and suffering they face while struggling to reintegrate into civilian life. The tiny homes village provides the residents a place of their own and yet a community of which they learn to become a part.

for the program are incredible. They’re using a lot of methods of treatment here that doctors have wanted to use for veterans but were denied by the VA. And here, it’s about healing mind, body, and spirit. God is always a part of it.”

In addition to overcoming his deep depression, Bob also has faced physical health challenges. This summer he had heart surgery. As part of his recovery, he has been walking, and Connie has been there, walking with him. In fact, it was this walking that put them in the right place at the right time to intervene on July 4 at English Park.

From tragedy to rejoicing in English Park

It was in the early evening of July 4 that Bob and Connie were walking in English Park. “It was all God’s timing,” Connie observed. “We had planned to take a break for Bob to rest, but he was feeling good, so we kept going.”

As they approached the area near a popular swimming hole in the Staunton River with a rope swing suspended from a tree, they

heard screams. They quickly realized that they were not screams of fun from a group of young people swimming in the river; they were screams of terror.

Connie and Bob’s military training kicked in, and they assessed the situation: a large extended family, none of whom spoke English, only Spanish, and who did not have any lifesaving skills. There were two bodies lying on the ground, unmoving. There was no cell phone signal there at the riverside, so Bob scrambled back up the bank and called 911. A third body was brought out of the river.

Connie had served as a combat flight medic in the army, and she did some quick triage, evaluating who had the best chance of survival and who would benefit the most from immediate treatment. The three drowning victims included a boy, approximately 13-15 years old, a young man, and another man who was a little older.

“They had no oxygen, no pulse, pupils fully dilated, the skin color looked bad,” she narrated.

She decided to treat the boy first and began CPR. Although the

The Staunton River at English Park in Altavista, in particular this well-known swimming hole with the rope swing, was very nearly the scene of three drown ing deaths this summer. Thankfully, volunteers including veterans Bob Lyon and Connie Peresata - along with members of the Altavista Police Departmentquickly arrived on the scene and helped turn the near tragedy into a story of heroism.

family was milling around in a panicked frenzy, one man caught on to what she was doing and mimicked her actions on one of the other victims. Connie estimated that they had been in the water for about five minutes (pointing out that the water being as cold as it was likely gave the drownees a better chance of survival), and it had been another three minutes until she and Bob had arrived. It took her two more minutes to assess the situation and begin treatment.

The medic recalls giving chest compressions, and she got the boy up - not easy because he was deadweight - and got his lungs to expand. “There was no sign of life. It had been seven minutes. I laid him down on the ground, and he had a little seizure and started to vomit.”

She realized, “I saw God at work. There had been no life, and then he was vomiting.”

Meanwhile, Bob was on the phone with the emergency call center for nine minutes until the police arrived, followed by the EMS paramedics from Campbell County Rescue Squad.

[This next part is information provided by the Altavista Police officers who responded to the call.] Three APD officers arrived on the scene and observed what Connie had already done. One, Jeff Williams, was a brand-new rookie in only his third week of field training. Connie pointed him toward an unconscious man, and he ascertained that the victim had no heartbeat. “I ensured that his airway was open, and I began CPR chest compressions. I started speaking to him, introducing myself, letting him know that I was with him,” he said in an interview.

The senior officer, Sgt. Larry Rigney, assisted Williams. After some time, Williams felt the man’s heart start beating again. “It

was beating like it was glad to be beating again,” he described. “He went from dead to alive in moments. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced!” Within 10 minutes, the man was able to get up and walk up the bank of the river by himself.

Meanwhile, the third Officer, Scott Earhart, helped an exhausted Connie in assisting the other victim. She knew the boy had turned the corner when he spoke. She had heard the family saying the boy’s name, and she was talking to him, trying to coax him back to consciousness. Finally several minutes after he had vomited and started breathing again, he said very quietly, “Alexander,” correcting her mispronunciation of his name.

In the end, all three victims were able to walk on their own and all declined transport to the hospital. The family members, still hysterical, gathered their belongings with help from Connie and Bob. The two veterans stuck around in case they needed to provide the emergency personnel with information.

“I was a combat flight medic during the First Gulf War, and I’ve kept up my medic certification. I’ve saved people’s lives before in the military, but that was my first time seeing someone come back from the brink of death like that,” Connie marveled.

The two heroes said that they didn’t ever get any other names of the family, didn’t know where they were from, and never heard what became of them. But these two know that God brought them to be in the right place to help those in need and to witness a miracle.

Assets to the community

We here at Valor Farm are an asset to the community

of Altavista and Campbell County, not a threat. We shop, exercise, go to church in the community. We are a part of this community. I want that message to get to the people of Altavista,” Connie stated.

Bob added that just the week before the Sept. 24 award, Connie saved the life of another area man. She was being interviewed about the incidents of the July 4 rescue by Channel 7. Right in the middle of the interview, the cameraman had a heart attack, and Commie’s training again allowed her to react immediately and help the man.

The two heroes both expressed their heartfelt desire to see more veterans get the help that the National Center for Healthy Veterans provides rather than becoming a part of that heartbreaking statistic of 22 veteran suicides every day in the United States.. Bob pointed out that there are already discussions about starting other facilities like Valor Farm in other parts of the country. “We’re hoping this new concept may spread; we hope that there will be many farms like this across the nation.” A second farm in another state is reportedly in the preliminary planning stages.

Connie added, “We want to encourage other veterans that don’t know about Valor Farms and its positive influence. I want other veterans who are broken to know that it’s safe to come here. I want to tell them that I might have been in the same place they are now.” And where once she felt no value or purpose to her life, thanks to Valor Farm and God’s influence in her life, she now can say, “I have purpose. I want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to another veteran.

“God showed me that day at the river, He will make a way.” She wants veterans who come home broken in body and spirit, not to have that same sense of despair, fear of poor treatment, denial of treatment.

Brigadier General Jeffrey Horne, U.S. Army (retired) is one of the founders and leaders of the program. He eagerly shares the vision of the program with those who will listen. He effectively communicates both the heart-wrenching tragedy of veterans in need of help and his conviction that God has opened the avenue to help them through the work of the National Center for Healthy Veterans. Yet he also rolls up his sleeves and works hard at the physical labor of building the center.

During a volunteer work day on the farm, he was working with a group of young men on beginning the building of a conference and welcome center/ hotel while multitasking and also answering interview questions about Sgt. Peresata and Cpl Lyon. “Bob and Connie exemplify the greatest virtues of American veterans everywhere. Like all of us, they are still improving their lives by working together with people here at Valor Farm. The National Center for Healthy Veterans is very thankful to the first responders and all the others who helped,” he stated.

To learn more about the crucial work of the National Center for Healthy Veterans, to make a financial donation to the cause, or to find out how to volunteer with the organization, visit the website www.healthyveterans.org, email contact@healthyveterans. org, or call (888) 317-4677. The farm is located at 980 Wards Road, Altavista. •

TIMBERLAKE TAVERN

Historic Campbell County venue gains renewed purpose

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY WESTBROOK

Community and history. Perhaps these two words best sum up the essence of Timberlake Tavern, a gathering place for community and an events venue. The sprawling, three-story structure that exudes graceful southern charm, is approaching its centenary under new ownership.

And of course the other important words associated with the Tavern are lakeside life. The Tavern was one of the first buildings erected on the new lake which was established in 1926, and to this day the structure remains largely the same as it was when it first opened in 1929.

In October 2020, Etta Legner and Tom and DD Gillett bravely purchased the Tavern in the midst of covid-related restrictions. They all live on the lake, and they wanted to take an active role in the preservation of the historic building while putting it to good use as an events and community center.

Their bold step paid off. “The building [and grounds] needed some maintenance and TLC,” explained DD. “Covid gave us the

time to do that work.”

The work included a new roof, gutters, and siding (on the back of the house); rearranging the upstairs rooms and furniture; renovating the bathrooms; painting; landscaping; and restoring the garden.

Meanwhile, they started hosting some events. By November of that year, they held their first event - outside on the tavern’s wraparound porch. The first wedding under the new ownership took place in March 2021. “Business has been steady ever since,” DD reported.

Timberlake Tavern’s staff is happy to host all kinds of events: small porch party, birthday party, celebration of life, anniversary party, wedding, wedding reception, rehearsal dinner, baby or bridal shower, company picnic, family reunion, and even business seminars. The facility can comfortably accommodate 80-90 guests inside. Outside in good weather an additional 50 can be added.

Shown above, this painting of the Timberlake Tavern, created by a friend of owner Etta Legner, hangs in a place of honor in the main hall. Pictured at right, in renovating the Tavern after they purchased it, co-owners Etta Legner and Tom and DD Gillett found under layers of paint and wallpaper what must have been the original 1929 wallpaper in a bedroom of the Timberlake Tavern. The historic finding has been framed and hangs in an upstairs hallway. On opposite page, the wide facade of Timberlake Tavern is festively decorated for its ribbon cutting ceremony in July. The long wraparound porch beckons visitors to come and sit a spell.

The festivities included Frosty, Santa, carriage rides, kids’ activities, “snowball” battles (using cotton snowballs; kids and adults alike loved it, the owners reported). This year there will be a children’s Santa shop in which kids can buy gifts for family, friends, and teachers. Everything will cost only a dollar. “We intend to have carriage rides again. Christmas was a big deal last year; it will be again this year,” Ms. Gillett stated.

Last year the weather was ideal for a Southern outside Christmas carnival - crisp and cool, but beautiful and sunny. While the proprietors cannot control what the weather will be like this year, they are already planning this year’s event. The Lexington Carriage Company (from Lexington, VA) will be back with carriage rides again, for instance, and hot cocoa and cookies will be available on the porch.

The Christmas spectacular at Timberlake Tavern is open to the public, Gillett pointed out. It takes place the first Sunday in December, starting at 1 p.m. There will not be much advertising for it, other than announcing it on Facebook and spreading the news by word of mouth. “It was a lot of fun last year, and we look forward to it being a lot of fun again this year,” she added.

The Tavern offers more than event facilities. The rooms upstairs have been repurposed as AirBnB rental suites. They include a twobedroom apartment with full kitchen, bathroom, and living room,

‘We’ve seen birthdays, showers, and other parties with 40-60 people and a catered sit-down dinner,” DD observed. The trend is moving toward larger and more elaborate gatherings than in past decades, she noted. There was even a bouncy house on the front lawn at one recent event.

The tavern also hosts various events for the lake community. “We wanted to give back to the community, so we have events for the community here,” Etta commented. Friday Night Cheers used to be held at people’s homes, but during covid it moved to the tavern, where it continues to meet. Other community events have included Timberlake Board meetings, garden club, cards club, and more. “We have a lot of community activities. This was always the clubhouse, and they enjoy it.”

Holidays often involve community gatherings, including Memorial and Labor Days as bookends to the summer season, Christmas, and Friendsgiving.

Last year’s Christmas season exemplified the kind of positive interaction and community spirit between tavern and lakeshore community. Etta and DD shared how one resident who has been very supportive of the tavern built a 22-ft. Christmas tree for the tavern’s front lawn. Around 15-20 members of the community pitched in to help construct it and set it up. The tree went up Thanksgiving weekend but remained dark until the first weekend in December, when the Tavern hosted a big community Christmas celebration.

as well as a one-bedroom apartment, an efficiency apartment, and a two-room “Bridal suite.” The latter is included as part of a package for weddings, with one or two nights’ stay (bride and bridesmaids can stay the first night, and the newlyweds the second).

The one-bedroom apartment is rented out full-time year-round, so there is always someone in residence at the Tavern. The other accommodations can hold a total of up to 14 guests. Sometimes for weddings out-of-own guests and family stay there, the owners related.

At other times, the guests are summer vacationers looking for a lake holiday. The Tavern can offer swimming, fishing, kayaking, and canoeing; the property includes a dock in the lake. There are also water toys available for guests’ use, and Etta offers pontoon boat rides.

Although the Tavern began as and again today serves as an events facility, it has not always been thus. The history of the tavern is one of its many charms, and the owners are happy to

recount this history and the tales of the inn’s past.

Timberlake Tavern opened in 1929, just three years after the establishment of the lake. At that time, there were few homes along the lake shore. The Tavern property included a nine-hole golf course, and the tavern served as the clubhouse for both the golf course and the community.

Eight rooms upstairs provided opportunity for people to come and stay at the lake in the summertime to enjoy the swimming and fishing. The only major structural differences between then and now are the exterior stairs leading to the balcony (providing an entrance for guests staying upstairs) and the configuration of the upstairs rooms. One of the many interesting tidbits that DD and Etta shared was that the third floor back then was the maid’s quarters. Today it houses the efficiency apartment.

While the historical records from the tavern’s early days are somewhat limited, one significant source of information is an article which appeared in the Southern Virginian magazine.

The property remained like that until the early 1950s (although

“Marilyn” is a 1947 Ford Super Deluxe that is part of the Timberlake Tavern family. The burgundy colored vehicle is in pristine condition. People can hire Mari lyn - complete with chauffeur Tom Gillett (the owner) - to give them a ride in style to a special event.

the exact date it ceased to function as a clubhouse and inn is not known). It was rented out to various groups, including the nascent Timberlake United Methodist Church congregation, which had its beginning right there in the Timberlake Tavern in 1953 before moving to its permanent home a few miles away down Timberlake Road. The church still maintains a connection to the lake community, though, DD noted: the church still holds baptisms in the lake.

BMW rented it for a time as housing for out-of town workers who had come to Lynchburg temporarily to work on construction of the first commercially owned nuclear ship, Etta said.

A contractor named Thompson purchased the tavern and moved his family there in 1955. He turned the upstairs into apartments for housing his workers. He built several spec houses around the lake; his daughter still lives in one of them, Etta and DD stated.

The family lived on the property until approximately 1972, when the Glasco family bought it and occupied it until 2006.

They lived on one side of the downstairs, with their bedrooms upstairs. The other side of the ground floor was turned into an apartment. Although the contractor divided up the home and put up partitions, he did so in such a way that the hardwood floors were undamaged, the current owners pointed out admiringly. The floors today are still the original ones. People who live along the lake today remember playing on the tavern’s spacious lawns as children during the Glasco family’s residency.

In 2006, the home and its furnishings went on the auction block - literally, Etta narrated. As the bidding continued without slowing, eventually three families who lived at the lake realized they were bidding against each other and instead decided to pool their resources, purchasing it as a joint venture. They restored it to its original usage as a venue, removing the ground floor partitions and renovating it. Eventually one family, the Viars, bought out the shares of the other two families. They owned and operated it until selling it until they sold it to the current owners.

Another important source of history not only for the Tavern

Two of the Timberlake Tavern’s owners, Etta Legner and DD Gillett, sit on the porch of their event venue and Air BnB historic property with a glimpse of the lake behind them. The place has sat on the hillside overlooking the lake for nearly a century, serving as a community gathering place, among other uses.

but for the whole lakeside is Doug Washington, the community historian. He wrote a book in 1995 titled Timberlake: Gem of the Piedmont. He wrote not only about the lake’s founders and the early days, but also about the Native American presence. One particularly interesting account placed Thomas Jefferson walking through the property from Poplar Forest to visit his friend who lived nearby at Closeburn.

A piece of history that also figures into the current facility is Marilyn. Marilyn is a piece of that same time. More specifically, Marylin is a 1947 Ford Super Deluxe. She can be rented out for special occasions, whether or not one is holding an event at the tavern. Tom provides chauffeuring.

When Etta, Tom, and DD purchased the tavern in 2020, they were unable to hold a ribbon cutting because of covid restrictions. They finally were able to do so this summer. Those attending the event were able to see the charm, rich history, and ongoing benefit to the community which Timberlake Tavern provides.•

Shown above, the tastefully decorated areas at Timberlake Tavern offer comfortable accommodations with perks such as fresh-cut flowers, snacks, and a coffee bar in each guest room. They invite visitors to relax and enjoy their time at the lake.

SEA TOW SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE

Featured on Weather Channel’s “Deep Water Salvage”

STORY BY ADAM POWELL | PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTED

A local business that specializes in helping stranded local boat owners and assisting with the removal of sunken vessels throughout Smith Mountain Lake was showcased on the season finale of The Weather Channel’s “Deep Water Salvage” on August 7.

Rick and Nancy Ellett of Sea Tow Smith Mountain Lake joined forces with a dive team from Lake Hickory Scuba in North Carolina to raise a nearly 40-year-old 28-foot cabin cruiser that recently sank into the lake adjacent to a dock near channel marker R22.

“It was sunk at the docks. It looks like a bilge pump had failed. It was a 28-foot 1984 Carver cabin cruiser (that had sunk). The bow was still out of the water,” said Sea Tow’s Rick Ellett in a recent interview, adding that the water depth was approximately 12 feet at the stern of the sunken vessel. “We contracted divers out of Lake Hickory, North Carolina. They came up and helped us, gave us a hand. We got that one up and got it hauled out for disposal.”

Sea Tow SML has raised numerous boats throughout Smith Mountain Lake this year, with the Lake Hickory Scuba team providing assistance on half of those jobs.

Sea Tow SML has done a number of dramatic jobs over the years, including one that involved a vessel that had gotten stuck to the edge of a dam, and was on the verge of going down a waterfall.

“We have done this year eight of these such recoveries,” said co-owner Nancy Ellett. “Four of them, we had the Lake Hickory divers come. The other four, we did with our Sea Tow team here.”

“We’ve recovered boats anywhere from a jet ski to 45-foot boats,” she continued. “We’ve done cruisers, house boats, roundabouts, and sailboats, although there’s a little bit of danger with sailboats. Because when you go to raise a sailboat with lift bags under it, you’ve got to make sure you’re doing them level, so that mast doesn’t fall over and hit somebody, because it could kill them. We’ve had a couple of boats that have sank that turned upside down. That’s a little more tricky.”

The recovery project filmed for Deep Water Salvage took place in early May, shortly after the owner of the sunken cabin cruiser reached out to Sea Tow Smith Mountain Lake for assistance.

The Elletts got in touch with the folks at Lake Hickory Scuba, who agreed to come up to Smith Mountain Lake for the recovery. A single camera operator with a drone filmed the recovery for

Once the Sea Tow and Lake Hickory Scuba crews successfully rose the sunken vessel, shown above, it was towed along Smith Mountain Lake to an adjacent location for final disposal. The project was completed in a single day, over a period of several hours. On opposite page, crews from Sea Tow SML and Lake Hickory Scuba prepare to go down and pull a nearly 40-year-old 28-foot cabin cruiser that sank into Smith Mountain Lake adjacent to a dock near channel marker R22. Lake Hickory Scuba divers placed air bags underneath the sunken vessel, which were then inflated to rise the vessel to the surface.

Deep Water Salvage. Due to the fact that there was just one camera operator, the television production did not get in the way of the vessel retrieval efforts.

“It was one guy with a camera,” Mr. Ellett said of the video production.

“He also had a drone. He did a couple of video interviews,” Mrs. Ellett added.

The divers from Lake Hickory Scuba dove underneath the sunken vessel and positioned airbags in various strategic places around the footprint of the cabin cruiser. When the bags were filled with air, they slowly raised the sunken vessel out of the mud and back up to the water surface.

It’s a painstaking process, as the air levels in the bags must be distributed evenly in order to avoid the sunken boat flipping over back onto the lakebed.

“You’ve got to get lift bags under it. We had four lift bags on that boat, as I recall. Two 4,000 lift bags and two 2,000 pound bags,” Rick Ellett said. “They (Lake Hickory Scuba) use all of our equipment, except for their dive gear.”

“That was the job of the divers,” added Nancy Ellett. “They have be able to go down there, place the lift bags, put straps

around them to be able to hold them to the boat, and once they get that done, the lift bags are inflated. All of the equipment is ours - the lift bags, the straps, the compressors, pumps, manifolds. Everything we need to use is ours. The divers just came to strictly go down and attach everything for us. You’ve got to watch it and inflate it evenly, so you don’t turn the boat. Recoveries can be dangerous, because you have divers underneath the boat. If something goes wrong, they could still be under that boat.”

“The reason we like the Lake Hickory Scuba divers is because they are very professional,” Mrs.  Ellett added. “They work well with our captains. They have the proper equipment. They have underwater headsets, where they can communicate with one of their team members, who stays on the dock. So if something goes wrong, there’s communication immediately.”

Although the Deep Water Salvage project mostly went according to plan, a strap on one of the lift bags broke during the rising of the vessel. The broken strap brought a little drama to the production of the television show.

“One of the lift straps broke,” Mrs. Ellett indicated. “And when that happens, it starts going back down. Then you have to start all over, and rig it with different straps and start raising it again. The

Deep Water Salvage crew, they loved that. Because they like to do shows when things go wrong.”

Once the vessel was raised up to the water surface, a combination of three pumps - two two-inch pumps and a threeinch pump - began pumping water out of the vessel. After the water was removed from the vessel, it was towed to an adjacent location down the lake for final disposal.

“Once we raise them up with those lift bags, then we’ve got to put pumps on them. We start pumping them out,” Mrs. Ellett said. “You’ve got to pump all the water out of it. Then you’ve got to tow it somewhere.”

The Elletts explained that it’s important for anyone desiring to have a vessel raised up from the lake to have a plan in place for what will happen to the vessel once it is raised.

“Is it going to be destroyed, or is it going to be refurbished? You’ve got to have a plan with what you’re going to do with it once you get it up,” she said.

Nancy Ellett also recommended that boaters have marine insurance to cover the potential costs of having to raise a sunken vessel. And for those who don’t live at the lake year-round, it’s always a good idea to have a friend or relative keep an eye on your boat, especially if it’s still sitting in the water.

“They should have a good marine insurance policy to cover

such costs, because they are very expensive,” she explained. “Particularly if there is any kind of an oil spill. When we recover a boat like that, we always have absorbent pads that we put all around the engine compartment. Because as you start raising it, those oils sometimes start coming up.”

“People who particularly live out of town, and aren’t here to look at their boats every day, they need to have somebody paying attention. Because once they start going down, they’re gone,” she continued.

Seeing their work chronicled on The Weather Channel was exciting for the Elletts and Sea Tow Smith Mountain Lake staff, and they’ve experienced some very interesting things over the years in their efforts to raise vessels that are no longer seaworthy. But their primary focus remains on assisting local boaters along the lake with everything from starting up an inoperable motor to bringing gas if a vessel runs out.

As their name suggests, Sea Tow also offers tows for those vessels that cannot be restarted right away.

“Our main function is assistance out on the lake. Tows, jump starts, fuel drops, and assistance to boaters to enhance their boating experience. We’re like peace of mind on the water,” Rick Ellett said.•

A single-camera operator came to Smith Mountain Lake this past spring to film the efforts of Sea Tow SML and Lake Hickory Scuba to retrieve a sunken vessel in Smith Mountain Lake. The footage of the retrieval of the vessel was featured on an episode of Deep Water Salvage on The Weather Channel.

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THE DEPT. STORE ANTIQUES

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEBRA FERRELL

Rain showers couldn’t dampen the spirits in Brookneal on September 11 when vendor booths lined Main Street as multiple events went on during Main Street Strong. Everything kicked off early at the Brookneal Farmers Market as it enjoyed a very successful market on the last day of the regular season.

Adding to the fun was the 11th anniversary of The Dept. Store Antiques on Main Street that was open all day featuring 11% off for customers. Free refreshments and a rug hooking demonstration were offered. A drawing for a $25 gift certificate drawing was held at 5 p.m..

There is lots more fun coming up this fall in Brookneal that you won’t want to miss. On October 29th the Brookneal Fall Festival will be held with a town-wide Trunk or Treat held on Main Street for Halloween on October 31.

Small Business Saturday is set for November 26 as well as The Dept. Store & Antiques Christmas Open House from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

On December 1 at 7 p.m. everyone is invited to attend the annual Brookneal Christmas Parade.

The following day on December 2 there will be a town-wide Christmas Open House from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. •

The Dept. Store Antiques is going strong after 11 successful years in Brookneal. Visitors poured in September 11 to help celebrate the store’s anniversary and special savings on thousands of desirable collectibles. From left, Assistant Manager Chris Jennings, Manager Brenda Pool, and business owner Jeff Carpenter.

BLUE RIDGE ROCK FESTIVAL

Brookneal music lover attends festival at VIR

STORY BY DEBRA FERREL | PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTED

The Blue Ridge Rock Festival held September 7-11 at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, VA proved to be a successful event other than rain on Saturday interfering with some shows.

A regular attendee at the annual festival is Matt Crews of Brookneal who loves hard rock and metal and attends concerts all through the year. “For the most part I attend a lot of concerts all year long, not just Blue Ridge; most concerts are indoor venues, some are outdoor, but not many,” he explained on Friday.

Although many chose to camp out at VIR, Crews went back and forth to his home in Brookneal every day.

He has listened to hard rock and metal since he was 14. “The music resonated greatly with me when I first heard it and I haven’t listened to any other genre since then. The festival lived up to my expectations for the most part and I got to see all the bands

I wanted to see except for ones I missed on Saturday because it poured down rain most of the day,” says Crews. “My favorite band I saw this year was a tie between Shadows Fall and Lamb Of God; I love both bands’ music and their performances and sound were flawless!”

Crews attended last year’s festival held at White Oak. He explains that he thought there were things that were better at VIR than White Oak, but likewise there were aspects that were better at White Oak.

“The layout was better at White Oak, not hills to climb and all in a very flat area, the stages were closer together and less distance to walk at White Oak. At VIR, the parking situation was better, the parking lots were flat and not full of holes and ruts. There were more food vendors at VIR and the food lines were

Shown above at top left, the band Shadows Fall. Above, bottom left is the band Anthrax. Photos by Matt Crews. Pictured above at right, aerial shot of the festival. Photo by Jim Davis/TopFlightofDanville.com. Equipment: DJI Mavic 3 Drone. Pictured above at right, aerial shot of the festival. Photo by Jim Davis/TopFlightofDanville.com. Equipment: DJI Mavic 3 Drone. On opposite page, The Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022, held in early September at Virginia International Raceway, brought a number of shuttles carrying attendees who parked at the Danville-Pittsylvania County Fairgrounds through Milton to the festival site. Aside from a parade of RVs and campers coming through Milton on Wednesday, and departing on Monday, Milton was not heavily impacted as previously feared. Photo by Jim Upchurch.

shorter because of the better variety. The sound systems were great at both venues.”

Most of the concerts he regularly attends all year long are in Richmond, VA; Bristow, VA; and Raleigh, NC.

To compliment his love of music, he also collects various kinds of hard rock and metal memorabilia including patches, stickers, guitar picks, posters, key chains, and other items.

Another of his great loves is photography. He makes use of his camera by taking pictures of bands as well as sunsets, clouds, nature, and buildings. “Anything really that I think would make a good picture,” he shares.

He has been taking pictures ever since he was a teenager, but got very serious about it around ten years ago or so. “I have always loved taking pictures and actively look around

everywhere I go for something that would make a good picture,” he says in closing.

Indeed, if anyone follows him on Facebook, it’s apparent that photography is something he excels at with his (almost) daily posts of gorgeous shots of nature as well as photos of the numerous scenic, historical venues he visits.

So what is the Blue Ridge Rock Festival? The festival, touted as the “The FAN DRIVEN Rock Experience,” had humble beginnings, starting out in 2017 as a smaller festival held in a vineyard in Concord, VA. They had yearly events until the onset of the pandemic. In 2020, pretty much anything was cancelled. In 2021 the festival was held at (White Oak) Blue Ridge Amphitheatre in Pittsylvania County. •

RAIN CAN’T STOP AVOCA HARVEST FESTIVAL

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY WESTBROOK

1: The good folks from DeVault Vineyards in Concord – Tim Johnson, Christie Torrence (center) and their team have a great time at the festival, pouring samples of their wines for visitors to taste. 2: What’s a festival without live music? This year’s Avoca Harvest Fest music line-up included One Lane Bridge (pictured) and Karlee Raye. Having a roof-covered bandstand proved to be important on a rainy day for keeping the equipment (and musicians!) dry. 3: Americana Artist Fay Harris had a booth at the Avoca Harvest Festival featuring sev eral of her paintings. But at this event, pride of place went to her painting of Avoca. 4: Rain can’t dampen their enjoyment of the Avoca Harvest Festival! While in several of the past years the weather has been perfect on the day of the festival (formerly Avoca Harvest Jubilee and Wine Festival), this year’s rain kept the attendance figures low, but those who braved the elements had a great time, as the smiles on these women’s faces testify. 5: One of the family-friendly attractions at the Avoca Harvest Festival this year was the petting farm. The po nies, goats, llama, and (not pictured here) cow didn’t seem to be bothered by the rain. 6: The stately Victorian mansion of Avoca always makes a beautiful backdrop for special events, such as the Harvest Festival. 7: An ever-popular exhibit at Avoca’s various events include living history interpreter Dawn Doss and her spinning wheel. She set up shop in the cabin on the Avoca grounds and demonstrated the historic craft of spinning wool into yarn.

NORTH HALIFAX MARATHON

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEBRA FERRELL

Visitors crowded in September 11 at the North Halifax Volunteer Fire Department fundraising marathon for food, music, dancing, fellowship, and much more. These two tiny dancers from the We’ve Got Rhythym Dance Academy in South Boston were joyously dancing when The Bullet Band took the stage. We’ve Got Rhythym Dance Academy out of South Boston is a regular part of the annual North Halifax Volunteer Fire Department Marathon that raises money for the facility. Food, music, dancing, and games are included on this special day. Madame J Face Painting was a big hit with the kids at the Marathon as she decorated their happy faces for the afternoon. She also specializes in glitter tattoes, maturity belly, full body painting, and Halloween painting. We’ve Got Rhythym Dance Academy dancers also presented two tap dancing solos by the senior dancers in the troupe.

THE SIGHTS OF FALL

Fall sports & activities

1: The Altavista Varsity Football Cheerleading Squad and the student section come to Friday night football loud and enthusiastic for the Colonels. Some of the students went bananas in their school spirit. 2: The Rustburg varsity football cheerleaders pep up the fans on the visiting side in the Red Devils’ contest with the Altavista Colonels at English Stadium in Altavista. 3: The Marching Colonels pull double duty in the fall, playing in the stands and performing a halftime show at home football games, as well as competing in a series of marching band competitions on Saturdays. This year’s show theme is “The Greatest Showman.” 4: The spotlight is on the Pride of Altavista, the Colonels Marching Band at English Stadium as they perform their 2022 show, “The Greatest Showman.” Courtesy Caleb Westbrook.

Rustburg and Altavista share a long-time neighborly rivalry as fellow Campbell County schools. In their match-up on the gridiron this fall in Altavista, Red Devil linebacker #32 Marquavion Rosser and defensive end #88 Thomas Goff make a sandwich of a Colonel ball carrier. Photo by Allen Bailey.

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