As your children reach school age—or perhaps they’ve been in school for some time now—you may find yourself considering whether private school is the right choice for them. It could be that you are currently homeschooling your child but are looking for a bit more day-to-day structure. It could be that they’re currently in public school, or it could even be that the private school they’re attending just isn’t the right fit for them. Or, like many new parents, you’re simply trying to get a jumpstart on school research so you’re prepared to make a decision once your child reaches preschool or kindergarten age. One thing is certain: Choosing when and what private school is an incredibly important decision and it’s one that looks different for every family. As a parent, you’ll know what’s best for your unique child and the way they learn in certain environments.

As you navigate the private school decision, we have a handful of tips to help make the decision easier and to guide you on the questions you should ask during private school visitations.

The Factors to Consider
Whether your child is too young to weigh in on the decision about which private school they’ll attend, or they’re old enough to consider the options, there are a number of factors to consider. 

First and foremost, consider the type of environment your child already thrives in. Do they benefit from a highly structured learning environment or does their curiosity call for a more freeform learning experience? One of the benefits of choosing private school over public school is that you can place your child in an environment that is more tailored to their individual needs. Class sizes are smaller, education is more tailored, and course offerings can vary more.

If you are the parent of a very young child and are considering private school just as they reach preschool age, there are certain queues that can help you identify what type of learner your child is. As a general rule, all people are kinesthetic, visual, or auditory learners. Typically, we are a balance of all three but have a tendency to lean toward one specific style. Understanding, even at the most basic level, what type of learner your child is will help you identify which private school may be best for them.

“The five top factors for parents and students to consider when deciding on a private school should be accreditations, course offerings, Biblical foundation, mission, and opportunity,” explained Ashley Saunders, Director of Marketing and Communications for Liberty Christian Academy. “At LCA, we are able to support our students by recognizing each student’s individual needs. We combine small class sizes, our guidance team, and full-time campus pastor to create a team of support for our students.”

Choosing whether or not to enroll your child in a parochial school—or a school that is affiliated with a religious or spiritual organization—is also a factor to consider. Within the Lynchburg, Campbell, and Bedford footprints, there is an incredible diversity among private schools so you can align your child with a curriculum that matches your family’s lifestyle and spiritual beliefs.

Also take into consideration the extracurriculars and athletics available to your child. Each private school offers a different set of opportunities—some of which aren’t often found at our local public schools, like lacrosse. Consider the musical opportunities that may be available to your child as well.

“A parent or student should consider the educational philosophy and curriculum of the school, as well as the school’s culture and values, outcomes, extracurriculars and athletic programs, and classroom size and student-teacher ratio,” said Maryanna Stands, Associate Head of School for Advancement and Director of Admissions for James River Day School.

Common Misconceptions
There are certain misconceptions attached to private schools that should be debunked as you’re navigating the private school decision, as well.

“A common misconception is that parents think there are less opportunities for their students, whether it be extracurricular or academic,” said Saunders.

“People think private schools are only for wealthy students and provide a less diverse student body,” continued Stands. “James River Day School is more diverse, both socioeconomically and culturally, than most people think. Nearly a quarter of our families receive some amount of need-based tuition assistance, and 21-percent of our students come from ethnically diverse backgrounds. We continue to focus some of our strategic efforts on diversity, equity, and inclusion as a more diverse school is what’s best for all of our students.”

As you’re visiting the local private schools that you’ve identified as potential options for your child, have a running list of some of the assumptions that you may have about that particular private school, or just private school in general. Ask pointed questions to challenge those assumptions—you may just be pleasantly surprised at the answers.  

The Lynchburg Living Best Of Awards are the result of an online nomination and voting process at lynchburgliving.com, held in July-September 2022.

Winners were first nominated in their categories; these nominees were then moved forward to the voting round. Readers could vote in as many or as few categories that they preferred and could only vote one time per email address.

The winners inside this section are the ones that received the most votes.

How this Altavista Resident Built a Life Using Age-Old Art Techniques

Most Americans delve into an industry, work on average 40 hours each week for 40 years, then retire on 40 percent of their income. But master engraver Tim George of Altavista chiseled against that mold by mastering and selling a unique artform.

Every well-designed engraving you see in this story was done by hand. No fancy machinery like air utensils, high-end microscopes, or expensive engraving pens. Only tools made from small carbide steel drill blanks, countless hours of chisel practice and refinement, and a passion to master this ageless art. 

The art of engraving is as old as time, but very few still practice the traditional hands-only techniques. Engraving is the art of carving initials, patterns, and picture art into an object’s metal components. 

The industry rose to prominence in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, and evolved further as time passed. Today, popular metal objects signatured with engravements include handguns and rifles, knives, and a wide variety of jewelry.

“What we do is so cool, and I just love it,” George said. “You’re in contact with the metal in a different way. This is closer to the way it was done thousands of years ago, going on back to cavemen carving images on the wall.” 

According to the Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA), where he is a member, George is one of 50 certified master engravers in the country.

For decades, jewelry, knife, and gun companies have commissioned George to engrave his illustrations and designs into exclusive and limited-edition products. George also extends his services to private clients, who pay upwards of tens of thousands for just one project. 

Popular features of his art include 24 karat yellow gold, 18 karat green gold, and even rose gold, in addition to multi-dimensional layering and flush.

George has been commissioned by Ruger, Colt, and even William Henry, a jewelry company that sold one of George’s masterpieces for $57,000. His work has also been featured in magazines and other publications with national circulations, like Garden & Gun.

 “Now that I’m older, I often reflect back on my career and wonder sometimes how the heck I made it,” George said.

“I was lucky in that I loved my job and really enjoyed creating something every day out of nothing. I also had, and still have, the ability to critique my work and be proud of it, but also to notice little things to improve on.

Most commissions begin with a sketch. Once approved, it may take George anywhere between a couple weeks to a year to complete one project, depending on size, features, and workload.

George’s love for art began with his grandparents.
His grandmother on his mother’s side was a painter, and his grandfather on his dad’s side was a craftsman. Both of his daughters are also entrenched in the visual arts, one being a photographer, and the other an art teacher. 

“I do think that art runs in people’s families,” George said. “This is the only thing I have ever done for a living, aside from being a ski mechanic. I like to have a flexible schedule.”

With art holding a special place in his soul, George looked for any opportunities to leverage this passion for a living. In 1981, George apprenticed under master engraver Ken Hurst, a former master for Colt Firearms. As Hurst’s company grew, George became his general manager and even trained new engravers. By 1987, large projects came to an end, so he and two other engravers formed their own company, Old Dominion Engravers, based out of Lynchburg. In 1990, as his knowledge and skill improved, George left the company to go solo—and he has never looked back.

“I still shake my head when I think back over my past,” he said. “I never thought about it much in my early days. I just wanted to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. I was trained to be a production engraver when I first started and was paid piecemeal, so I learned to be fast. Most of the better engravers that I know are fast and efficient, so that always helped.”

George works from the basement of his home. There’s nothing fancy about his 8-by-16-foot “office”—just a couple tables and tools scattered around the room. Several scratch marks blemish the floor, worn down by his chair. 

Through it all, George is thankful for health, as his craft can become physically demanding.

 “I never thought about it then, but I think about it now: I’ve never broken a bone. …If you’re cutting, you need to be moving your whole body,” he said. 

George has coated his art onto some of the nation’s most expensive collectible guns, knives, and jewelry. People often ask him if he ever experiences apprehension while handling delicate, expensive weaponry. His answer is always the same: never. 

Aside from engraving, George enjoys fishing, cigars and bourbon, and participating in the public square. He is on the Altavista town council.

“I loved growing up in Lynchburg,” he said. “I lived there for more than 30 years. I moved to Altavista about 22 years ago for family reasons and fell in love with this small town immediately. I love our parks, the YMCA, and the beautiful Staunton River that runs right through our town.”

George showcases much of his work through Instagram, where he shares photos of current projects and even videos of him at work. 

“There are very few of ‘us’ that still basically use the hammer and chisel method in the US,” he said. “I know lots of engravers that I admire that use the new modern method—air-assisted tools in conjunction with microscopes. They do incredible work. I guess I just like the way I learned the best. I like antiques and feel pleasure doing what I do the old-fashioned way.”

For more information, visit George’s Instagram profile @timgeorgeengraving. To learn more about his portfolio, visit his website www.timgeorgeengraving.com.

How Robert “DJ Mad Lad” Goins Shaped Lynchburg’s Culture

Local DJ and all-around renaissance man Robert “DJ Mad Lad” Goins’ influence on Lynchburg’s rich and complex cultural and musical identities simply cannot be overstated. At the tender age of 15, he saw that Lynchburg’s African American population lacked representation on the radio and set out with tenacity, curiosity, and ingenuity to address the problem. Goins’ fateful tale of the summer of 1966 is a testament to an individual’s capacity to enact positive change and transform a community.

In the early 1960s, Lynchburg’s radio station offerings did not come close to reflecting the vibrant diversity of the music being made or the artists making that music. In particular, soul music by Black artists had no avenue for reaching a broad local audience; access was limited to those who could afford to buy soul records.

“Growing up in Lynchburg in the ’60s, there was no soul station,” Goins recalled. “I didn’t know the difference between the different genres of music. Songs like Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On; Ahab,
the Arab; Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour; and Peggy Sue were all that I knew about in the first, second, and third grades. I didn’t know anything about Black artists because the stations
weren’t really playing those artists. Nobody played any soul music during the day. You might occasionally hear The Supremes or Chubby Checker, but those occurrences were few and far between.”

Little did Goins know that a trip to Chicago in the summer of 1966 would open up a new world of music not only for him, but also for the Lynchburg community at large.

“I didn’t know that there was such a thing as a Black radio station until 1966, when I spent the summer with my cousin in Chicago,” he said. “I heard this Black radio station and I said, ‘Wow, this is slick! I wish I could have some kind of way to get this kind of music out to everybody!’”

It didn’t take long for Goins—who was only 15 at the time—to begin turning that wish into reality. His first step was learning how to build a transmitter.

“I came across this popular electronics book called Radio-TV Experimenter, and they had this circuit board transmitter—a short-wave code transmitter—and I just started building it,” he noted. “All it did was make Morse Code noise on the air on the short-wave band. I just kept on messing with it and adjusting it and making it fall on a band where people could listen to it.” 

The next step in the process was figuring out how to get music onto the radio.

“After some trial and error and a couple of blown circuit boards, I found a way to put music on the radio,” said Goins. “It was a daily experiment until I got something that worked, and it took me the summer of 1966 to figure it out. I finally got a circuit, hooked my record player and microphone up to it, and I was on the air! I could get a couple of blocks with it.”

Along the way, Goins—who did not yet realize that he was creating an illegal radio station—consulted with two of his teachers, neither of whom were aware of their student’s project.

“I had a couple of teachers—my electronics shop teacher and my physics teacher—who told me about crystals, which are the things that put the radio waves on the air,” he stated. “They didn’t know what they were helping me do! They thought I was just really interested in the topic.”

Once Goins figured out how to get music on the air, he realized that he needed access to additional music if he wanted to start his own station. Fortunately, he had plenty of friends who were happy to share their records in exchange for guest spots on Goins’ new station, which he named WKKD (KKD stood for Krispy Kreme Donuts).

“I didn’t have too much music at the time,” Goins recalled. “Records were 76¢ back then, and that was most of my lunch money. And that was only for a two-and-a-half-minute song, so what do you do for the rest of the time? I kind of depended on my friends who bought records all \the time. If you had a record collection, you could come be on the air!”

Still unaware that his station was illegal, Goins advertised with gusto.

“I put it out there that I was putting a soul radio station on the air and nobody believed it because the only time we heard soul music was when WLAC out in Nashville came through Lynchburg around 10:00 at night,” he said. “That was my bedtime! I put up posters and flyers all over the school telling people to tune in to 630 on their radio dials to hear all kinds of soul music starting at 3:00 p.m.”

Despite any initial skepticism, WKKD quickly gained a lot of traffic—literally and figuratively. A myriad of listeners consistently drove downtown and lined the streets within WKKD’s limited range
to listen to artists like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Etta James, Otis Redding, and many more.

“Everyone seemed to like what I was doing,” Goins stated. “They would drive in range of the station, and that range was very, very limited. I lived at 1502 Pierce Street. On a good day, when it was nice and sunny, I might reach all the way past 5th Street and the Rivermont Bridge—that’s all the range it had. At 3:00, there was a huge migration of cars that parked on the side of the road so they could hear some music. Cars would line up on 12th Street and Pierce Street so they could get in range of the station. People would even dance on the side of the road!”

As WKKD’s popularity continued to skyrocket, one of Goins’ friends—who worked at a legitimate radio station—warned him that he could get into hot water.

“I didn’t know anything about radio regulations, FCC licenses, or any of that stuff,” noted Goins. “I just kept hearing from a friend of mine, ‘Yo man, you’re going to get into trouble! You might go to jail!’ And I said, ‘Go to jail for what? I’m just playing around with the radio here!’”

Ultimately, Goins did not get into legal trouble, but he was forced to shut WKKD down after about a year and a half on the air. By this point, however, Goins had already established himself as a central figure in the Lynchburg music scene and quickly embarked on the next chapter of his ongoing illustrious career—all before graduating from high school.

“There was a radio station called WDMS that played easy listening music on AM and FM all day, and they weren’t able to get advertisers,” Goins recalled. “Sponsors were calling them wanting to know where my station was so they could advertise on it. That did it. The guy [at WDMS] said, ‘We’ve got to do something about this,’ and they gave the FM—which became WJJS—to us. I didn’t know it was going to become as popular as it did—if I had known, I would have bought it! I was in eleventh grade at the time.” 

WJJS went on to become the number one radio station in Lynchburg.

These days, Goins continues to DJ a wide variety of events in and around Lynchburg and can be heard on “The Groove” WGVY, an Oldies station on 102.3 FM, weekdays at 3 p.m. With his gregarious nature, boundless curiosity, and respect for all genres of music, he also continues to lead the charge in fostering connection and innovation through music.

“I play all different genres of music with the same level of enthusiasm,” he said.
“I’m also the kind of person where, after about 15 to 20 minutes, you’re my best friend and I’m your best friend! That’s just the way I am.”  

Hazy Mountain Vineyards & Brewery Levels Up the Local Wine Experience

Driving up a meandering mountain slope just off of the Nelson 151, you’re not quite sure what you’ll find when you reach the top. But then, three-quarters of the way up, you pass through an imposing iron gate and the first glimpse of stucco, stone, and terracotta come into view and you wonder if you’ve somehow been transported from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to a remote French oasis.

That feeling of tranquility continues as you crest the mountaintop, with 180-degree sweeping views of the valley below.

If first impressions are any indication (spoiler: they are), you know your time at Hazy Mountain Vineyards & Brewery will be one for the memory books—and one you’ll want to repeat again and again.

Hazy Mountain Vineyards & Brewery opened in June of 2021—quietly at first, to allow the team to ease into their space. Perhaps what they didn’t realize though is that the “if you build it, they will come” adage would be true.

The Hazy Mountain estate is sprawling, with 35-acres under vine, an expansive tasting room, and an adjacent event space for events and weddings. The tasting room interior mirrors its rustic yet elegant exterior. Stone archways give way to sweeping pine ceilings and two bars run parallel to one another so there’s plenty of room to sample their classic varietals before committing to a bottle and some food, which can be enjoyed on one of the two floors inside of the tasting room, or out on their stone veranda.

On any given day, the Hazy Mountain grounds are full of locals and tourists alike who either chose Hazy Mountain as their one-stop destination, or who have added it as a stop along their 151 tour. Regardless of their intention, they tend to happily stay a little longer than planned as they soak up the surroundings and dive into Hazy Mountain’s unparalleled wine.

When choosing a wine to enjoy, no choice is the wrong one. While their chardonnay—fermented in French oak with a strong, toasted edge and creamy center—is their bread and butter, they aim to stick to classic varietals that everyone can rely on and enjoy.

“Where some wineries are more experimental with their varietals, we aim to stick to the classics and level up a next generation of Virginia wine,” said Michael Gagliardi, Wine Club and Events Coordinator for Hazy Mountain.

Hazy Mountain has eight white and eight red wines currently on rotation in their tasting room, ranging from familiar classics like chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon to varietals you don’t typically find at Virginia wineries, like chenin blanc.

“We planted six acres of nebbiolo in 2021,” said Luke Trainum, one of the two Hazy Mountain wine makers on staff. “It has a long growing season and can be a challenge to grow in this area, but it’s a wine we are looking forward to introducing.”

While the varietals themselves aren’t experimental, what you’ll find at Hazy Mountain is experimentation with the classics. The terrain is unique in that the south facing slopes range in elevation from 800 feet to 1,140 feet at the mountain’s crest, with the soil type varying just as much as the elevation.

“The site is unique for the area because of the rocky slopes, air flow, and temperature oscillations,” said Trainum. “It’s totally different compared to a vineyard that’s just 30 minutes away.”

It’s that unique terrain and the seven different subsoils that are found on the property that allow the Hazy Mountain team to grow classic Bordeaux-style wines and other unique varietals, like their blaufränkisch rosé, which is vibrantly colored, floral, and dry.

“No one else is growing varietals like that,” said Trainum, speaking of the blaufränkisch grape, which is traditionally grown in Central Europe and can be demanding in terms of where it will grow.

In addition to the 35-acres under vine at the Hazy Mountain estate, the team also manages a secondary production vineyard in Swoope, Virginia, which brings their growing capacity up to 90 total acres.

Their production vineyard in Swoope is just under an hour away from the tasting room and boasts a completely different climate and terrain, allowing them to grow varietals that wouldn’t otherwise survive on the rocky surface of Hazy Mountain.

“You don’t know your site that well unless you know fruit from other sites,” said Trainum.

It’s this level of intentionality—of truly understanding terroir, or regional, wine—that makes Hazy Mountain’s offering stand out.

“It’s wine that truly expresses itself,” summarized Trainum.

Wine isn’t all there is to the Hazy Mountain story—though the story could certainly end there and it would be a happy one, full of warm days on the veranda sipping chilled rosé. In addition to their 16 varietals, Hazy Mountain also offers six classic beers that are brewed on-site. Rather than overly hoppy IPAs or heavy beers with high ABV percentages, you’ll find classic pilsners, ales, and lagers that will feel refreshing at the end (or at the start) of your day.

All beers on tap are European-style, which are all about balance. There’s a hefeweizen, a Bavarian-style wheat beer that is slightly malty but unbelievably refreshing. There’s also a pilsner that’s brewed with German and Czech hops that’s easy to drink and pairs well with just about anything, especially a slice of pizza, which Hazy Mountain also serves.

The tasting room offers a full menu of expertly crafted pizzas, from a classic cheese to a mouthwatering prosciutto and fig. If you’re in the mood for a quick snack while you take in the view,
Bavarian pretzels, charcuterie boards, and beloved regional favorite Nightingale ice cream sandwiches also line their “Light Bites” menu. 

Hazy Mountain Vineyards & Brewery, unassuming at first as you make your way toward the estate, is an experience unlike any other in our area. You’re carried away, even if just for a brief moment, to the French countryside, where decades-old vines line rocky mountainsides and a history of bold and balanced wine beckons you to pull up a chair, wine glass in-hand, and simply sit and enjoy the peaceful view for a while.  

How Kathleen Olinger and Anthony Andrews are increasing early childhood education in the Hill City

Two new early child care centers are on the horizon in Lynchburg. One opened this past fall and another will open its doors this August, and both have unique ideas for filling the childcare needs for the city.

Earlier this fall, Kathleen Olinger, along with three other Montessorians, started Hill City Montessori School located  at 1301 Rivermont Ave. at the terrace level of Gospel  Community Church.

Olinger said the school offers mutual respect and collaboration between students and adults through guidance, empathy, and preparation of the environment. 

“Four of us who had worked in Montessori communities for 10 years came together to build a local school that we believed in,” she said. “So, we’ve taken all the lovely things that we’ve learned, and we’re putting it into the heart and soul of this whole city.”

Montessori education prepares students for a life of purpose from birth to adulthood. The mission of the school is to cultivate a diverse, inclusive, Montessori community through family partnerships and the preparation of the whole child. They believe in responsive education that supports not only students, but their families as well. 

“As Dr. Montessori has said, ‘establishing lasting peace is the work of education,’” Olinger said. “Through high-quality, comprehensive, and science-based education, we are able to offer appropriate and effective early childhood education—and beyond—that we believe can truly solve so many issues in our local community, and society as a whole.”

Olinger said the further she went to school for education, the more she realized traditional education was not what she wanted to pursue with teaching.

After enrolling her child in a Montessori school, she said she started to fall in love with its style and mission.

Olinger eventually became the head of school and executive director of a Montessori school and has training in Montessori leadership. 

Montessori schools focus on a child-led, comprehensive, whole education for students, Olinger said.

“It’s all about preparing for life beyond school. It’s all about preparing the human—the whole child,” she said. 

Montessori education goes beyond just academics. It’s about providing emotional, social, and basic, everyday life skills. Students don’t sit at desks, do lots of worksheets, or use much plastic. Olinger said the classrooms are cozy and students learn to use everyday items, preparing them for independence.

 “I have an extreme desire to make Montessori accessible to the average family and not just elitist,” she said. “I want to make it a program that actually gives back to the community.”

Olinger is also a certified Positive Discipline Educator and offers courses at a sliding scale for families and adults to also gain the tools and community needed to become equipped to interact in a way that offers mutual respect and collaboration and fosters healthy relationships. 

“Such skills will have a positive impact on not only the children they may have in their households or in their classrooms, but also with adults they meet as well,” she said.

Hill City Montessori School offers additional education opportunities and book clubs that are open to the greater community, often at no cost, that are specific to potty training, independence, inclusivity, and more. 

“We believe in equipping our students, adults, and fellow humans of Lynchburg, so that we can learn from one another, collaborate, and work together to create a more beautiful, healthy, and responsive community,” she said.

Olinger said there has been research to prove that students who attend Montessori schools for early childhood education do significantly better with their social and emotional skills later in life.

“So that foundation is irreplaceable,” she said.

The school offers spots for kids from birth to sixth grade.

With less than 30 subsidy providers in Lynchburg, Olinger said school leaders are also part of the community that believes in offering high-quality education in a way that is accessible and inclusive. 

The child care subsidy program through the state of Virginia subsidizes the cost of child care for qualifying families and allows them to choose education that feels right to them without the cost eliminating their opportunity.

Olinger said the biggest focus is responsive education.

“We want to be evolving and checking in with ourselves and being aware of who we are and making sure that we’re making mission-focused decisions,” she said. “We’re going to put ourselves in the heart of Lynchburg and serve the families as best as we possibly can.”

Later this year, Anthony Andrews will be opening a new preschool near Lynchburg General Hospital at 1915 Thomson Dr. called Teachable Moments Preschool.

The new school will make room for about 70 new students from six weeks to five years old.

Andrews said he has been holding onto this dream for a while—since 2006 in fact.

Andrews said Sackett Wood, president of Moore & Giles, has been an instrumental person who believed in Andrews from the beginning when he decided he had a dream of opening a preschool one day.

“Sackett asked me what my passion was and what I wanted to do with my life, and I told him that I wanted to start a preschool,” Andrews said. “He was the very first person not only to give me advice on the business side of things, but he financially invested in me as a person.”

It all started about 16 years ago with a three-month-old baby girl who died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and Andrews, a firefighter with the Lynchburg Fire Department, responded to the call. The baby was at a daycare center held at someone’s home.

When he and his wife Stephanie had their daughter, Alaya, they decided to learn more about child care and how they could prevent such a tragic situation from happening to their own baby.

“One thing led to another and we looked for quality child care, and we couldn’t find any that we really enjoyed,” Andrews explained. “It wasn’t until two years later that we found Centra’s child care center and my love for child care started blossoming from there. Everything that my daughter was learning at school, I wanted to add to or supplement that at home.”

From there, Andrews started getting more involved in child care, learning about brain development, and learning how children learn and grow.

Andrews now serves on the Lynchburg School Board, was a teacher for six years at Elizabeth’s Early Learning Center, and was the assistant director of Peakland Preschool for two years.

His upcoming Teachable Moments Preschool will begin taking potential students for a waitlist, and enrollment will begin late spring of 2023. He said onboarding for teachers will also begin around the same time.

“They don’t really tend to get enough credit,” Andrews said of preschool teachers. “We’re still in that whole mindset of ‘we’re babysitting service,’ but we’re not. We’re definitely a validated profession that’s taking care of kids and just trying to help them transition to elementary school.”

Once the 6,400-square-foot preschool opens in August, Andrews said it will meet the needs of parents who are essential workers as well as filling in a crucial hole of the child care desert in that area of the city.

“The other need is the need to fulfill an underprivileged demographic that sometimes gets swept under the rug,” he said. “If a kid comes from Diamond Hill or College Hill, sometimes there’s a stigma that they don’t deserve high quality child care, and that is false.”

He said he wants to fulfill a need of having a true, diverse student population made up of all types of students from different backgrounds.

Unique approaches to meeting needs in the community include being located on a public bus line, matching two percent of student’s tuition each year to go toward a 529 college plan, and wellness checks at the clinic, which allow kids to get ahead of RSV, common colds and seasonal allergies. 

 “We want to help identify some things that may be on the horizon when it comes down to illnesses and injuries for children and for staff but also give parents an opportunity to prevent those things from happening,” Andrews said.

Even though the preschool is private, Andrews hopes to create a nonprofit arm of the organization to tap into funding to help enrich the curriculum, books, and materials, and allow for field trips.

“I’m super excited about all the things that we have to offer now in our little world,” he said. “I’m so excited for what we have to offer Lynchburg.”  

Photos by Ashlee Glen

A Family Pandemic Project Comes to Life in the Nick of Time

Sometimes, it takes a worldwide pandemic to push you to do the thing you’ve been dreaming about. For Tim and Tonya Pafford, it was the COVID-19 lockdowns of early 2020 that made them realize it was time to stop thinking about building a “barndominium” on the 30 acres they owned in Evington and actually go for it. The result is a peaceful spot in the world that readily welcomes their family and many guests for gatherings year-round, including the holidays.

The Paffords are high school sweethearts and have three daughters, Emory, 19, Avery, 17, and Hadley, 15, and first bought the larger 155-acre farm with friends a few years prior for use as an outdoor playground. The land adjoins part of the Big Otter River so their family would come out and fish, kayak, camp, and explore the property with four-wheelers. But it was a far cry from buildable at first.

“Someone had clear cut it and sold the timber, so there were no trees, the dirt was all dug up,” Tonya said. “I couldn’t envision anything liveable to be honest, but it had really cool views and river frontage, so we all decided to take the plunge and bought it together and subdivided it.”

The original 1920s farm was named Otter Oaks Farm and, along with lots of clearing, planting, and prepping, the Paffords also re-incorporated their 30 acres and brought back the farm’s original name. Tim drew out plans for what they now call “The Barndo” on a flight from Florida to Virginia, so the general framework was ready when they broke ground in January 2020. Soon however,
the project became a family sanity saver.

All Hands on Deck

“It became a COVID party of sorts,” Tonya said. “We had wood delivered on the day Tim was told, ‘Don’t come back to work.’ And the girls were told not to come back to school. I’m a nurse so I knew I was going to be going to work, and it would be kind of a war zone. So, we just thought, this is our moment—we are selling our house and building The Barndo.”

In no time, Tim was spending long days at Otter Oaks building the project mostly by himself, with help from the girls and food runs from Tonya.

“The kids would work with Tim, but they did have to do homeschooling so they would do their schoolwork and I would bring food and we would have dinner in the construction zone, and it was our way to be together,” Tonya recalled.

Emory, their oldest daughter, is now a pole vaulter at Liberty University but she readily comes home to The Barndo.

“Helping to build the house is a core memory,” she said.

While it required all Pafford hands on deck, the vision for The Barndo was fairly straightforward, with 1,600 square feet of living space upstairs and 1,600 square feet of entertaining space below.

“Functional was the first key,” Tim said. “Good use of space. This concept was very simplistic, but we wanted to maximize every square inch possible with the simple design.”

Exterior in, The Barndo strikes a balance between rustic-industrial and warm farmhouse style. The home’s roof and metal siding are exposed galvanized metal, installed by Karlin’s Construction of Lynchburg, in a charcoal color on the house and left an unpainted natural metal on the roof. The home’s cupola was handmade in Amish country, Pennsylvania, and driven down on a truck. The oversized barn doors, perhaps The Barndo’s crowning feature, were crafted by Tim using oak harvested on a neighbor’s property.

“It actually worked out better than I thought it would,” Tim said. “It’s cool because it’s actually wood from right here. It has imperfections and they are unique planks of wood. It came together.”

Start to finish, the house build took 11 months of work from January to November 2020, moving the family in just in time for their first holiday season there.

“The first snow here was beautiful, it looked like a Hallmark card,” Tonya recalled. “It was such a relief when all of us were finally here!”

Tim added, “There’s something about crawling into your bed two minutes after unplugging your tools versus packing everything up and driving home at 3 in the morning.”

Living Large in a Smaller Space

While The Barndo has been a welcome change of scenery for the family, it did get some getting used to after moving from a larger home in Forest.

“We moved from a little over 4,000 square feet, so 1,600 square feet felt small to us at first, but we quickly learned to minimize and live more streamlined. It’s bigger than you think and there’s a lot more space than you think,” Tonya said.

The open layout flows from sitting area to dining space to kitchen, each point accommodating sweeping views of the outdoors.

“Tonya wanted the big windows, so we wrestled them up here. It took a couple of engineering minds to figure out how to crank them up, but the whole layout was based around the view,” Tim said.

The room’s height also bolsters the larger sense of space, reaching 14 feet at its peak. The family worked together to install the tongue-in-groove Southern pine on the ceiling, and Tim sealed it using a matte, non-yellowing poly from Benjamin Moore.

With the open room putting the kitchen on full display, Tonya needed it to perform well in both form and function. She chose a long navy island with quartz countertops and plenty of seating, open shelving to keep the visual space light, and even managed to squeeze in a pantry closet. The kitchen is now a place Tonya and her daughters often find themselves congregating.

“I love the big open space. You can have a lot of people in here at one time and it makes it feel super homey,” Emory said.

As they were thoughtfully designing the layout, the family made trade-offs to accommodate their lifestyle. Smaller bedroom sizes meant more living space for all. A shared room for their oldest and youngest daughters hosts a queen size bed with a bunk above. Upstairs, a loft bedroom with a vaulted wood ceiling was designed for their middle child, Avery.

“I like that it is my own room that I don’t have to share with anyone. And I like the built-in bookshelves a lot, and the ceiling,” she said of her cozy bedroom.

Tim and Tonya also added a separate drop zone on the first-floor entry to corral all the family’s belongings as they come and go. Five IKEA bookshelves were reconfigured together to make cubbies, an old barn light was rewired for the space, and a piece of wood from a 1920s home in Rivermont was hung as a coat rack. A door from the drop zone leads into the downstairs space of The Barndo, revealing perhaps its biggest asset—a large entertaining area.

Rocking Around the Christmas Trees

What began as raw concrete floors and sheetrock on the first floor quickly transformed as the family anticipated holding Emory’s graduation party in May 2021, their first big get-together in the party space. Now, channel rustic pine sourced from Blue Ridge Lumber in Fishersville, VA, covers the walls, a platform stage invites musically minded guests to pick up a guitar or sing karaoke, and circle tables decorated in holiday greenery invite all to sit back and enjoy the season’s gatherings. A roll-up glass garage door in the back lets natural light in and creates a seamless transition to the outdoors.

“We just want a big, fun family space,” Tonya said. “The house was super important to us when we first came out here, but we learned that we don’t need nearly as much as we thought. And we live so much on the outside here.”

Eventually, Tim and Tonya would like to build a larger main house and keep The Barndo as a house for the girls to stay as they all go to college, a place for guests, an Airbnb, or maybe even a future pool house.

“We want a place that our kids always want to come back to,” Tonya explained.

Home for the Holidays

Reflecting back this holiday season, the family can see how much the project created a calmer mindset for them when so much was uncertain.

“It kept us from getting caught up in what was happening. We didn’t have television,” Tonya said. “So being here, we weren’t afraid, we were all together, and if someone needed somewhere to get away, we had the ability to offer a wide open space and take walks when you couldn’t do that. It meant a lot to have a place to escape.”

It’s also not lost on them that they were able to transform their slice of land into a place of tranquility; one they can now readily offer to others, simply by opening their big barn doors.

“Both of us are very appreciative of this place,” Tonya said, “and how cool it is to look out those windows every day and see nothing but creation.”

The Wine and Cheese Pairings to Bring to Your Holiday Table

There will undoubtedly be many festive gatherings on your social calendar in the coming months—from office holiday parties and family dinners to impromptu nights huddled around the kitchen island with friends. If you’ve been charged with meal planning for any or all of those events, we’ve taken the stress and guesswork out of it for you.

The brilliant team at Everyday Sommelier walked us through wine pairing guidelines for four base cheeses, with wine at varying price points to meet any budget. Keep this reference guide—meticulously created by the professionals who know wine the best—handy as you plan your holiday parties this season.

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The Cheese

Chevre
“Chevre is a fresh goat’s milk cheese. This treat is tart, tangy, and bright with a smooth, creamy texture. The longer goat cheese ages, the more robust the flavors become and will deepen to a golden yellow color.”

The Wine

Sauvignon Blanc
“This varietal can be a chameleon in the bottle depending on where the grapes are grown and how the winemaker chooses to use them. We suggest an old-world Sauvignon Blanc that boasts refreshing citrus and balanced minerality.

The acidity of the Sauvignon Blanc will cut through the thickness of the goat cheese and bring out the nutty flavors. While many goat cheeses come smoked or flavored, we recommend plain for the best pairing.”

May We Suggest

$: Château De Fontenille Grand Bordeaux, Entre-deux-Mers France
Varietal: 40% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Sauvignon Gris, 20% Semillon, 20% Muscadelle
Fermentation: Stainless steel with sur-lie aging for 4 months
Tasting Notes: Acidity and freshness coupled with exotic fruits and citrus flavors

$$: Cantina Kellerei Tramin, Alto Adige Italy
Varietal: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Fermentation: Stainless steel
Tasting Notes: Racy aromas of grapefruit, melon, and fresh cut grass in addition to classic notes of gooseberry.

$$$: Patient Cottat Sancerre, Loire France
Varietal: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Fermentation: Stainless steel with maturation on fine lees
Tasting Notes: Prevailing aromas of acacia blossoms with a muscat-like nose of passion fruit. Full and fat, very well balanced with a touch of honey on the finish.

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The Cheese

Pecorino Romano
“Hard, salty Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk. Pecorino means “ovine” or “from sheep” in Italian. This cheese dates to Roman times when it was a common staple of the soldier’s diet.”

The Wine

Sangiovese
“The name originally translates as ‘Blood of Jupiter,’ (roman king of the gods). Whether we are talking about Brunello, Chianti, or Montepulciano, the main grape is Sangiovese. It is one of the most common varietals planted in Italy. It’s first mentioned in the mid eighteenth century and gained popularity in the 1900’s.

This wine and cheese pairing is a classic representation of ‘what grows together, goes together’. The salty and umami flavors of the Pecorino balance the medium tannins of the wine and bring out the light herbal flavors. Make sure to pair your Sangiovese with something higher in fat to bond with the acid and if there’s tomato in your dish, you might find the fruitier components of the wine come out to play.”

May We Suggest

$: Bibi Graetz Casamatta (Crazy House), Tuscany Italy
Varietal: 100% Sangiovese
Fermentation: Vineyard blending, stainless steel
Tasting Notes: Cherry and raspberry with nice acidity. Medium body with low tannins and a vibrant aftertaste.

$$: Poggio Rubino La Sorgente, Rosso Di Montalcino Italy
Varietal: 100% Sangiovese
Fermentation: Long maceration with pump over, short passage through oak barrels. Bottle aging.
Tasting Notes: Small red fruit, berry, and cherry. Beautiful fruit expression which lingers in the aftertaste. Round and balanced tannins.

$$$: Andrea Cortonesi Azienda Uccelliera, Brunello di Montalcino Italy
Varietal: 100% Sangiovese
Fermentation: 8 months in oak barrels
Tasting Notes: Aromas of tart cherry, red currant,
and almond. Firm and lively on the palate with
present acidity and well-structured tannins.

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The Cheese

Aged Cheddar
“Pasteurized, grass-fed cow’s milk that ages for at least one year to 10 years and beyond. During the aging process, lactic acid combining with the calcium may create small, desirable crystals to form in some styles. Cheddar will change flavor as the months pass, becoming increasingly sharp and tangy.”

The Wine

Cabernet Sauvignon
“This love child of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc is one of the world’s most popular varietals, with over 200 million hectoliters consumed a year. The bold tannins, bramble fruit, and integrated depth of Cabernet Sauvignon will stand up to even the biggest flavor combinations.

Wines with a long finish, desire cheeses that are complex. Salt tends to exaggerate tannins, so the lack of brine on the aged cheddar is perfect. We have chosen three Napa cabs to pair with a sharp cheddar due to the full fruit flavor, hint of graphite, and the balanced smooth vanilla of the new world oak.”

May We Suggest

$: Noah River Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa California
Tasting Notes: Complex nose brimming with bramble berry, rhubarb pie and orange peel. Bright cassis, and plum with hints of tobacco on the finish.

$$: Elizabeth Spencer Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa California
Varietal: Predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, small percentage of other red Bordeaux grapes
Tasting Notes: Balanced, medium body that offers a lot of red and black currant. Traditional elegance of Bordeaux flavors of cedar pencil, tobacco leaf and loamy soil.

$$$: Staglin Family Vineyard, Salus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa California
Varietal: 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot
Tasting Notes: Nose is driven by dark fruits and earthy, herbaceous undertones. Palate of crystalline and concentrated ripe cherries, peppercorns, cocoa nibs, and a touch of espresso.

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The Cheese

Blue Stilton
“Blue Stilton is considered ‘The King of Cheeses.’ It’s the same as White Stilton, but with cultivated blue mold veins. Creamy and pungent with a subtle sweetness. True Stilton is protected by a certification and designation and is only made in three counties in England: Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire

The Wine

Port
“A sweet, fortified (addition of distilled spirits) wine from Portugal. Recommended serving size is 3 ounces. Port is a very sweet and rich after dinner digestif. It was created to preserve red wine for the journey between vineyards in the Douro valley, ending in a town called Porto. Tawny Port, considered the whiskey of the Port world, is aged in wooden casks, and has a deep caramel, chocolate, nutty flavor.

The rule of thumb for this pairing is: The smellier the cheese, the sweeter the wine. The sweetness of the wine balances the pungent saltiness of the creamy blue cheese. In traditional English dinner customs, this would be served as the capstone to the meal. Drizzle with honey or add accompanying dried fruits.”

May We Suggest

$: Noval Black Reserve
Varietal: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Cão, Sezão
Fermentation: 2-3 years in wooden and stainless-steel vats.
Tasting Notes: Elegant and intense, displaying notes of wild fruits and nuances of balsamic and dark chocolate.

$$: Noval 10 Year Tawny Porto
Varietal: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Cão, Sezão, Tinta Roriz
Fermentation: Blend of old Ports from different vintages, matured in oak casks for an average of 10 years.
Tasting Notes: Complex aromas, young and lively fruits accompanied by hazelnut. Rich and smooth on the palate.

$$$: Maynard’s 30-year aged Porto
Varietal: Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Cão, Tinta Barroca
Fermentation: Stainless steel fermentation and at least thirty years in-bottle aging.
Tasting Notes: Deep amber and copper hues, aromas of hazelnut and vanilla. Smooth as silk with flavors of honey, chocolate, and toffee.

An online skin care shop helps women uncover their true skin

Wash, moisturize, repeat. Skin care routines can be monotonous and ineffective. After using the entire skin care store that is on your bathroom counter, your skin is often still left dry, rough, and stripped of its natural oils. The process then repeats itself. But Myscha Gaines is breaking that cycle.

In 2014, Gaines took a trip to Disney World, where she discovered the wide world of sugar scrubs. She realized they were so expensive, and the price didn’t match the quality of ingredients. So, she returned to Lynchburg with an idea—to create an affordable body scrub that was good for the skin.

“I literally just came home and said, ‘Let me see if I can recreate what I had experienced.’ I came up with a couple of different formulations solely based on the things that I already had in my house,” Gaines explained.

Her business, EmGe Naturals, began as an oil-based sugar scrub in a glass jar. It was her mother-in-law’s idea to decorate the jars, and they began to hand out Gaines’ homemade sugar scrub to family and friends.

Gaines and her husband then saw how these homemade sugar scrubs could be used for good. Profits made from the scrubs went to their nonprofit that provided first night backpacks to children entering foster care. From there, Gaines began to attend vendor events and distribute her products in local stores.

EmGe Naturals was growing, but it paused in 2015 when Gaines’ grandchildren came to live with her. Four years later, Gaines knew she needed to start making scrubs again.

“I was like, ‘Okay, what can I do to help around here? To help our household?’ We relaunched EmGe in the latter part of 2019 as an online business,” she said.

Since then, EmGe Naturals has gained a steady online clientele. For Gaines, the business is still a one-woman show. She makes local deliveries with the help of her son and mails orders as far as Alaska and Canada. Her business and products have evolved throughout the entire process.

“The product itself has been an evolution,” Gaines detailed. “The product is now more shea butter–based than oil-based. The skin benefits are phenomenal when using shea butter.”

Shea butter is full of antioxidants, such as vitamin E and A. It protects the skin from damage and improves its natural barrier. This ingredient, along with other all-natural ingredients, makes EmGe products different from other skin care products on the market.

Body scrubs are not the only products EmGe offers. Body wash, butters, lotions, and salts are also available on the online store. Gaines perfected the production of the body butters and lotions after receiving a diploma in skin care formulation in August. To achieve the best result, a routine is required, but it is a simple one.

“Anytime you’re using a scrub, you want to protect this new skin that you have revealed. A body butter or body lotion is the way to do that. Because you have exfoliated, it improves the effectiveness of your lotion. The dead skin that was there would be blocking the moisturizer from being able to impact your skin,” Gaines pointed out.

She added, “The most important thing is consistency.”

With a simple line up of a scrub followed by a butter or lotion, consistency is much easier to achieve when compared to other multi-step beauty regimens out there.

“We focus a lot on our face. We tend to neglect the rest of our body. Especially if you’re a busy mom running around, you get your face straight but forget the rest,” Gaines added.

Having an entire body skin care routine is important because having soft skin feels good on the outside, but it can feel even better on the inside. One of EmGe Naturals main goals is for the customer to “love the skin they’re in at any age.”

“If we can alleviate your dry skin for you, then that helps with your confidence. It helps you feel more carefree,” Gaines assured. “The fact is, we all feel better and carry ourselves differently when we’re feeling good and looking good.”

Select EmGe Naturals products are now available exclusively at Something Else Boutique in River Ridge Mall, or you can shop online at emgenaturals.com.

Lynchburg is filled to the brim with generous, mission-driven, philanthropic people, and the hundreds of nonprofit organizations in our area are a result of that. Across the Lynchburg region, organizations are holding the hands of those in our community who are vulnerable, hurting, or in need of extra support.

We are so honored to tell the story of just a few of them.

The Giving Back Awards are an opportunity for the community to give back to the nonprofits by nominating them a designation. This award signifies the impact the organization has made in the community and validates even further the incredible work that the organization has done throughout the year.

Flip through these pages, read the profiles of the award recipients, and consider supporting them in their number one needs and upcoming goals.