With the Panjo, Cake Pans Take the Stage

Posted in Music on August 28th, 2011 by marklynn
With the Panjo, Cake Pans Take the Stage
You might want to lock the cupboards if Lanny and Barry Smith visit your town. This father son duo is hunting down good cake pans and turning them into old time mountain instruments. Their creations–the Panjo and the Pandolin–are beautiful and handmade. They draw on father Lanny’s experience as an expert woodworker and son Barry’s skills as a bass musician. They created the first versions of the Panjo about a year ago, sa Read More »


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Crossroads: Memories of a Pioneering Mall

Posted in History & Culture on August 21st, 2011 by marklynn
Crossroads: Memories of a Pioneering Mall
People's Drug Store coffee shop in Crossroad's Mall When Roanoke’s Crossroads Mall opened in 1961, it was like Christmas and Fourth of July combined. This was the first enclosed, suburban shopping center in all of Virginia. It drew customers and curiosity seekers from miles around. According to Steven Swain, a blogger who traced the mall’s history, “Developer T.D. Steele and his designers created a unique and popular s Read More »


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CNN To Feature Blair Mountain Tonight

Posted in Coal on August 14th, 2011 by marklynn
CNN To Feature Blair Mountain Tonight
Robert F. Kennedy Jr at March on Blair Mountain The fight to save Blair Mountain from mountain top removal coal mining has reached new heights. Tonight at 8:00 P.M. E.D.T., CNN will bring this hotly contested issue to its viewers with an hour-long documentary called ”Battle for Blair Mountain: Working In America.” If you’ve been reading The Revivalist for a while, you probably remember that West Virginia’s Blair Mountain Read More »


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Hazzard Homecoming This Weekend

Posted in History & Culture, Outdoors & Travel on August 10th, 2011 by marklynn
Hazzard Homecoming This Weekend
He might be crazy, but he ain’t dumb. Ben Jones, the actor that played Crazy Cooter on the ”The Dukes of Hazzard” TV show, is hosting one heck of a party this weekend in Sperryville, Virginia. It’s a Hazzard reunion complete with appearances by the actors that played Daisy, Bo, Roscoe, Enos, and Cletus. The cast will be joined by a stellar lineup of bluegrass acts, headlined by none other than Dr. Ralph Stanley and the C Read More »


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Does “Local Food” Sell in Appalachia?

Posted in Food on August 7th, 2011 by marklynn
Does “Local Food” Sell in Appalachia?
Harvest Table in Meadowview, Virginia You may know about Steven Hopp. He is the furry-faced husband of author Barbara Kingsolver. The couple, along with their teenaged daughter, co-wrote the 2007 bestseller “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life,” which documents the family’s attempt to grow their own food for a year. Anything they couldn’t grow, they bought locally in Southwest Virginia. The book is a charmer, a Read More »


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Props to John Brown: Harpers Ferry with Kids

Posted in History & Culture, Outdoors & Travel on August 1st, 2011 by marklynn
Props to John Brown: Harpers Ferry with Kids
Let me guess. Summer is only halfway through, and if you hear the kids play one more round of Mario Kart in the backseat, you’re going to start snatching hair. It’s understandable. After a few weeks of pool trips and local hikes, you start running short on kid activities. Lucky for you (and your children’s scalps) there’s a fix. Just point the car toward Harpers Ferry and keep on driving. When you get there, you’ll Read More »


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