Hunter Thomas discovered disc golf the summer after he graduated high school. He was bored and looking for something to do, so his brother took him out on a disc golf course. Thomas never looked back.

Thomas now runs Foundation Disc Golf, a store for both beginner and expert disc golfers.

Founded in 2019, Foundation Disc Golf began as an online store and a place for disc golfers to buy discs, apparel, and accessories, and they quickly expanded to brick-and-mortar retail store located in Forest. A large part of the store’s growth was due to Foundation Disc Golf’s online content.

“Our focus was to create content to drive traffic at the online store to help people learn about disc golf or learn different ways to get better. The content side took off in a way we never expected it to, to where the business got a lot bigger than expected,” Thomas said.

Foundation Disc Golf has five podcasts and regularly posts videos on their two YouTube channels. Disc golfers of any skill level can learn from the videos and podcast episodes. The content ranges from discussing pro disc golfers to the Foundation Disc Golf team out on the course trying out discs.

There is more to Foundation Disc Golf than podcasts and selling discs. They want to see the disc golf community flourish through engagement with residents and clubs in the area.

“There are local clubs in Lynchburg and Bedford, and Liberty University has a club team. We’re involved in all three in different ways. We just try to help support what they’re doing locally as much as we can,” Thomas said.

In 2019, Foundation Disc Golf started a tournament in Bedford with the help of the local club and Bedford Parks and Recreation. It has become one of the biggest disc golf tournaments in Virginia. The tournament and the great courses in the area have caught the eye of many.

“Bedford Parks and Rec saw how much disc golf had taken off. They built one of the best courses in the country and several of the best courses in the state, which have also become a big tourist attraction for disc golfers all over the country,” Thomas explained.

The popularity of disc golf in the Lynchburg/Bedford region soared during COVID. With lockdowns in place, many people turned to parks and outdoor activities. As Thomas put it,
“What ended up happening was so many people were looking
for something to do to get out of the house. So many people found disc golf during that time and that happened here as well.”

Disc golf has maintained that momentum because of its accessibility and affordability. Like golf, the goal of disc golf is to get the disc from the tee pad to the basket in as few throws as possible. Unlike golf, disc golf does not require a lot of equipment or money. All that’s needed to start is one disc that costs around $10 and a park with a course.

Thomas suggests that people looking to get into disc golf go to Peaks View Park in Lynchburg. Most of the holes are under 200 feet, so it is an ideal beginner course. Starting out on the wrong course or using the wrong disc can make the sport more challenging than it should be.

“The best way to get started would be to come to Foundation Disc Golf, where we have a used section of discs. You can get a disc for as cheap as $5. We have staff that make sure you won’t buy a disc that is going to make the sport frustrating,” Thomas said.

Along with its accessibility and affordability, disc golf is a very inclusive sport. There is no age limit or specific physical requirements.

“If you can walk and you can move your arm, you can play disc golf essentially. Pretty much anyone can play. I’ve taken out people in their upper 60s and I’ve taken out 5-year-olds. And everyone has fun,” Thomas said.

Hiking or walking is a great activity, but disc golf takes it to a whole new level.

“It gives you something to focus on, and you don’t realize how much you just walked. It’s a good thing for cardio and just the benefits of being outside. For me personally, it’s been a huge stress relief.”

Through disc golf, Thomas has met some of his best friends. He’s met people from all different walks of life, but they all share one thing in common, the love of disc golf.

“People are just super excited to meet, talk with you, and teach you the game. It’s something that we all love, so we just want other people to love it too.”

Home Designer Purchases This Piece of Bedford County History

The iconic antebellum-style white building that overlooks the Forest area is now operating under new ownership and a new name. But most everything else people love about the White Brick House and antique shop will remain the same.

New store owner Sarah Krycinski purchased the building on the three-acre property in early September and has renamed it Ashwood Manor Designs.

“I’m moving my store and design business there. I have teamed up with a few incredible designers as well so we can offer our design services and styling for women,” Krycinski said.

Other than one vendor leaving, all 20 women-owned businesses will stay on at the property and will continue selling items including jewelry, key chains, signs, shabby-chic furniture as well as architectural salvage, vintage furniture, and farmhouse-style items such as kitchen and baking tools.

“I thought, ‘Well I’m probably going to have to start fresh with zero vendors and I’m going to have to fill this up’ and that was a little overwhelming,” she said. “And when I met with everybody, and shared my vision and the new name and all the things that are going to be in store for us, they all decided to stay. And the best part was Peg did too.”

Peg Breiholz, owner of the White Brick House, will stay on as a vendor (as well as selling her items online) but will no longer run the 231-year-old home.
“I’m very excited about Sarah coming in and taking over,” Breiholz said. “I’ve known the property was going to be up for sale for about a year and a half so I’ve just been waiting on God’s perfect timing for this to happen.”

Breiholz added she is happy to see that the business will continue running and that all vendors—minus one—are staying. She is also excited that new vendors and commercial products are a part of Krycinski’s vision.

“The fact that I won’t have to be there all the time is a huge blessing,” she said. “It’s all going to be pretty much the same except there’s just going to be more. We hope the community continues to support Sarah and the new business. And I think they’re going to love it.”

Krycinski said her biggest goal, for now, is to get people in the door so they can experience what the shop has to offer.

“Nobody knows where it is,” she said. “A million people in Forest had no clue there was a whole retail store in a huge mansion behind Sheetz. And they wouldn’t have driven to TJ Maxx or Target or wherever because we need stores like this where we live. From little gifts for your home or for somebody moving into a home, you’re going to find that here.”

She has set up a new Instagram account for the store (@ashwoodmanordesigns) and is promoting a new designer every day on that account.

“A place like this needs social media,” she said. “There’s a ton of [new construction] happening in the Forest area. If you actually go to the top of the house and go up to the cupola, all you see is red clay, which for me is exciting because that means people are moving here and they’re escaping big cities.”

Smaller changes include painting the front door and putting up new signage. Most importantly, Krycinski is working to take the new business online.

“I have to be creative,” she said. “If we go through another shutdown, I need to be able to sell to the world because I’m not just at stake for my business failing, I’m at stake now for 20 women. I’m in charge of a lot of love and support and I have 20 families that are relying on me to make it. I’m not doing this just for myself, I’m doing this for a team of people that decided they would stay with me and believe in this.”

Krycinski said she hopes to eventually do some quarterly pop-up events and will be holding a flower giveaway twice a month from local florist, Mimosa Farms, until the end of October. She also hopes to team up with a bakery to offer baked goods.

“Come and support us,” she said. “Shop local, the world needs it.” Learn more at www.ashwoodmanordesigns.com.

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By Olivia Carter | Photos by Brett Hartley

Longtime pediatric office rebrands, relocates

Photography by Daryl Calfee

In the early 1970s, Dr. John A. Stephenson and his partner and friend Dr. Robert Milanovich teamed up with Drs. Brad Malcom and Dick Morris to start a small pediatric care facility located on Langhorne Road across from E.C. Glass High School. Their goal was to build a pediatric care facility in Lynchburg focused on strong patient-doctor relationships.

Known as Stephenson and Milanovich Pediatrics at the time, the small practice expanded quickly, moving its facilities to a house off of Old Forest Road in the mid-70s. Eventually, in the early ’80s, the practice relocated to its home of nearly 30 years, a two-story building on Richeson Drive, the road for which it would derive its name, Richeson Drive Pediatrics.

Now, nearly 50 years since its humble beginnings, the practice is marking another milestone by expanding to a new, much larger, location and changing its name as well. Under the leadership of Drs. Melody Ailsworth, Michael Padilla, Loan Kline, Kendra Simpson and nurse practitioner Tiffany Kidd, the newly renamed Lynchburg Pediatrics recently opened its brand-new 7,000-square-foot facilities on Gristmill Road and is preparing for the next season of growth and expansion.

“We are so excited to be moving into a space where we can grow, expand our services, provide educational sessions and better serve the pediatric community,” an update on Lynchburg Pediatrics’ website said. “We will continue to learn, evolve and always do what is best for our patients.”

Drawing from the strong foundations of the practice’s history, while forging forward with a new building and new ideas, the leadership of Lynchburg Pediatrics hopes to sustain its position as a stalwart in the pediatric medical community within the greater Lynchburg area.

“The move and rebranding is exciting for us because when we joined Richeson Drive Pediatrics, we knew they have such a great reputation and legacy,” Kline said. “Now, here’s our chance to ask, ‘How do we continue that legacy?’”

For several years, the physicians and staff began realizing that the practice’s former home on Richeson Drive was hindering growth more than helping. While the overall size of the building was adequate, the facilities were beginning to feel outdated and the space proved ineffective, Ailsworth, Kline and Simpson concurred.

Moving patients in and out also became difficult, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when extra safety measures were put in place to ensure social distancing and the separation of sick patients and those coming in for a regular visit.

“For a while we felt like we needed a bigger space,” Kline said. “The building we were in was [built in] 1980, so it was a little on the older side and we were kind of restricted because I think it was zoned for residential at first. We really needed a space to grow.”

According to Ailsworth, Kline and Simpson, the practice desired a building that not only expanded the patient capacity, but also allowed for the staff to offer other services such as family education classes and an expansion of the literacy program that was launched at the previous location.

Simpson, a Sweet Briar College graduate and the newest doctor on staff, joined the practice in 2019. For her, the staff’s willingness to listen to new ideas and pursue evidence-based care drew her to Richeson Drive Pediatrics.

“I wanted some input,” Simpson said. “I wanted a practice where I felt like they were interested in hearing my ideas. Somewhere where I was part of a team.”

In addition to designing the new acorn logo for Lynchburg Pediatrics’ rebranding, Simpson also came up with an exciting idea to create a welcoming atmosphere for every patient that walks through the doors of the new building.

In tandem with local artist Christina Davis, Simpson worked with every person on staff to design, draw and paint fun and unique artwork on the walls and ceilings of each examination room in the new building. Joy beamed from Simpson’s face as she walked through the freshly painted hallways, pointing out each room—featuring designs of everything from Star Wars and anime to superheroes and a galaxy—which she hopes will bring smiles to the faces of Lynchburg Pediatrics’ patients, both young and old.

“We wanted a place that was comfortable for babies through college-age kids,” Simpson said. “So, we want this to be a place where even if you are 18, you can walk in and not go, ‘Oh gosh, I’m at the baby doctor.’”

The header image on Lynchburg Pediatrics’ new Facebook page reads, “Same great care with a new name and new home!”

For Ailsworth, Kline, Simpson, Padilla and the entire staff of Lynchburg Pediatrics, the move and name change is both the opening of a new chapter and the continuation of a legacy that began with Stephenson and Milanovich’s commitment to patient-first care—a commitment that remains the central mission of the practice today.

“I think most of our patients know that we do more than just medical care,” Ailsworth said. “We are here as a resource, we are available 24/7 and we are partnering to grow healthy families.”

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Grand Opening Celebration
August 28, 2021 • 12 p.m.
Carnival-themed food and games. Open to the public.