A publication of the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives

COOPERATIVE FOCUS

Becoming a Nature Hero

Becoming a Nature Hero

An inside look at wildlife rescue and rehabilitation April 2025 by Amanda S. Creasey, Contributing Columnist One of the greatest thrills of spending time outside is encountering wildlife. Whether it’s a box turtle or bird, fox or frog, rabbit or raccoon, seeing native...

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Of Light & Magic

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

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.

A Museum Piece

A Museum Piece

In addition to the Elk Run Mining Company, Harrisonburg is also home to The Museum of American Jewelry Design & Manufacturing, operated by Hugo Kohl.

Pirate Ships in Northern Neck

Pirate Ships in Northern Neck

Boaters cruising Lodge Creek in Callao — an unincorporated community east of Warsaw in rural Northumberland County on Virginia’s Northern Neck — may have to do a double-take if they get anywhere within viewing distance of Dan Corder’s house.

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Opportunity

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Opportunity

Botetourt is planning to hold the Girls’ Fire Camp again this year at Lord Botetourt High School in Daleville to inform kids, especially young girls, about the option of a future career in fire rescue, and possibly to get parents interested in volunteering or becoming career employees.