COOPERATIVE FOCUS
Getting Lost in the Season
Exploring “a-maze-ing” fall fun September 2025 by Kari Smith, Contributing Writer There’s something about the colorful changing of the leaves and the crisp autumn air that draws people outdoors to celebrate harvest season. Pool days and beach trips are traded for...
Leading Horses to Water
On July 30, the world-famous Chincoteague Pony Swim will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
The Cheese Ministry
Rockingham County ministry provides for both dairy farmers and people in need June 2025 by Preston Knight, Contributing Writer Struggling dairy farmers needed a plan. Former Rockingham Cooperative’s Keith Turner offered something more. Hope. “Hope is a powerful...
Community Roots
Charles “Charlie” Cawley and his wife, Jane, aren’t just tree farmers. They are also the creators of holiday memories.
Of Light & Magic
Every Halloween, Noel Dickover turns the front lawn of his Centreville, Va., home into a sprawling showcase of beautifully intricate, hand-carved pumpkins, all softly aglow.
Breeding Success
Whenever Elaine Shirley leads visitors on tours of the agricultural exhibits at the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster, Md., she always stops to showcase a plywood cut-out of a dairy cow.
It’s not that the museum lacks any living livestock. Shirley, the museum’s curator, is trying to make a point. The exhibit is painted with markings matching a Sheeted Somerset — a breed that went extinct in the 1930s. She says the reason for the board bovine often catches guests by surprise.
Where Life is ‘Just Peachy’
Welcome to Fruit Hill Orchard in Palmyra, Va. August 2024 by Laura Emery, Staff Writer “Just peachy” perfectly describes life at Fruit Hill Orchard in Palmyra, Va., from July 2 until shortly after Labor Day. That’s because it’s peach season, and there are peaches...
A Showcase of Safety and Skill
Lineworker rodeo promotes camaraderie, development, peace of mind July 2024 by Jim Robertson, Staff Writer A lineman receives a phone call on a stormy night. The power is out. The kids are asleep. His wife nervously smiles as she tells him goodbye and to be safe. She,...
Called to Serve
Smith Point Sea Rescue celebrates 50 years June 2024 by Audrey T. Hingley, Contributing Columnist Nonprofit groups are often borne from need, and Reedville’s Smith Point Sea Rescue in Virginia’s Northern Neck is no exception. In 1973, a father and his two young...