Letter From the Editor
WHEN YOU choose a locally owned business over a national chain, you’re not just spending your money, you’re planting it. And the roots of that investment reach deep. Every dollar counts, and it...
Dave Frett: Daring to Dad
ACCORDING TO the National Fatherhood Initiative, children raised with an absent father have the odds stacked against them: they are more likely to face addiction, teen pregnancy, and obesity, and...
Felecia Turner: Fashion, fun, and a family of customers
A FAMILIAR VOICE carries across the boutique before the door even fully opens. Easy conversation, laughter, and the occasional clink of a hanger sliding along a rack fill the space. At Winey Chicks...
Monica Wiles: Turning love into lasting portraits
THE ONLY sound is the whisper of colored pencil on drafting film as Monica Wiles meticulously builds layer upon layer of color. Each stroke is deliberate, guided by the photograph before her — a...
Barbara Tolbert: She’ll be there
THE DOOR swings open, the air bringing with it the weight of the people coming and going. Some step inside briskly, scrubs rustling as they approach the counter. Others move slower, distracted,...
Letter From the Editor
A STUDENT IN our community today will walk the halls of Congress with a pinned American flag on their chest. A student in our community today will pray their knees still hold when their nerves get...
One Community One Voice: Bringing the community together
WHEN A neighborhood, city, or county works together, aligning themselves with one purpose, amazing things happen. Lynchburg’s One Community One Voice (OCOV) is a perfect example of this as the city...
Adam Wilmer: Turning grief into giving
HOW DO you measure the profound impact of a life dedicated to quietly observing, listening, and meeting the needs of others? Avonlea Laurel Ellen Wilmer’s life touched countless lives, as reflected...
Brandon Gregory: Remembering the freedom flyers
FLYING FOR love. Fighting for peace. Dying for freedom. Thirty thousand members of the U.S. Army Air Forces died while taking on this call of duty when flying from Britain during World War II. More...
Amanda Trent: Shaping justice with faith and service
AT LIBERTY University’s (LU) Helms School of Government, Amanda K. Trent’s office buzzes with activity. Criminal justice students filter in and out, seeking guidance on internships, future...
The Rev. John Heaton: Classical education, timeless care
IN THE halls of New Covenant Schools in Lynchburg, Virginia, the Rev. John Heaton moves with the measured pace of a man accustomed to both pulpit and classroom. For 27 years, he has served as...
Sydney Olivier: Beyond the call
SGT. SYDNEY Olivier smiles, overhearing one of her officers mention that he is “in the green.” He’s using emotional awareness terminology taught through Impact First Responders in Lynchburg, where...
Dr. Tom Forsberg: Heartbeats of hope
SEATED BY her grandmother outside their thatched-roof home, she gazed at them. Beneath the watchful eyes of the distant mountains and the conical hats of palm leaves and bamboo, older children...
Kenan Bell: Following the signs of service
EVERY FOUR years, the crisp January air buzzes with anticipation as a diverse crowd gathers on the National Mall. Red, white, and blue flags and banners wave from the west front of the U.S. Capitol,...
Zach and Bryanna Boyd: Collaborating and crafting wonder
THE SUN peers down from the blue summer sky through a giant canopy of green. Torbee returns her gaze from the forest floor, closing her bag and tucking away the next item on her scavenger hunt list...
Randy Dunton: Building futures, breaking barriers
“HOW DO you change poverty levels — how do you create a greater workforce participation that is going to be transformational to a city, to a county, to families, to a community?” That was the...
Alana Hudson: Building a Legacy of Giving
ALANA HUDSON is a bright, buoyant eighth grader who, with adult-level determination, has launched her own tradition of giving. When Alana was 8 years old, she came up with the idea — totally on her...
Letter From the Editor
THE SOUNDS of the self-checkout registers beep through the entire store. The short lines of people with baskets and carts move across the reflective tile like a conveyor belt and out the door. Uh,...
Letter From the Editor
You know that first breath of spring? The way the warmer air gives you goosebumps — the air is soft, full of promise, carrying hints of something new. After months of cold, we step outside, and for...
Anne Norwood: A passion for pediatric care
Anne Norwood has spent over 30 years as a nurse practitioner in pediatrics. Since she first began her medical career, pediatrics has been her overreaching goal — a calling. She has worked at Johnson...
Beth and Wayne White: Loving every day
Anything can be found at Walmart, and Beth and Wayne White knew that to be absolutely true. After all that’s where they found each other and nearly 30 years of love. It started as a blind date. Beth...
Derek and Marilyn Norfield: The wisdom of a long marriage
Few marriages can boast five decades of experience, and the Norfields are some of the few. Even more impressive, they have a lifetime of friendship, beginning for Marilyn at the tender age of 3 when...
Teresa and David Norcross: The most worthwhile thing
Their relationship started with a coincidence. David Norcross and his family were moving from New Jersey, headed south to North Carolina in the hopes of finding a good piece of property and building...
Michael and Alice McColloch: Making a house a home
Alice Primm’s background is in the niche specialty of faux painting, a discipline that has a long, fascinating history. Faux painting, said Primm, is quite simply “painting something to look like...
Kelli and Tim Birchfield: Second love exists
The depression. The heartache. The negative thoughts. They hung over a divorced Kelli Hess like a neverending fog, replaying in her mind every day like a song on repeat. No escape existed. One man...
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