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Saturday A Few Old Goats Brewing or AFOG, is unveiling what has become a seasonal beer at its Buchanan location.  As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno tells us Sunflower beer was a big hit in its inaugural year.

The Sunflower beer was born out of a collaboration idea Candace Monaghan had. She runs the Beaver Dam Farm Sunflower Festival for her family farm and wanted something special to celebrate the event’s 10th anniversary.

“I didn’t even know if it could be done, but I approached them and asked if we could have a beer made” remembered Candace. “And of course, they’re amazing to work with and they’re kind of the same way. They love any opportunity to try something new. So basically we talked about like what kind of beer did we want a light beer or a heavy beer? And then we infused it with sunflower seeds.”

Ken McGraw, one of the owners of AFOG, had never heard of sunflower beer, but was up for the challenge.  He had found some brewers had combined roasted sunflower with their grain, but that was for dark beers, and they had to do something unique, a light beer finished with sunflower seeds.

“We made an American wheat ale” explained Ken. “So what we ended up having to do was use roasted and then hauled sunflower seeds. And we did what’s called basically dry seeding or wet seeding. And we made the beer, let it ferment out. And then once it was fully fermented, I took a bunch of roasted and hauled sunflower seeds and I aged the beer on fresh sunflower seeds.”

This is a small batch release.  The release is Saturday at the AFOG’s Buchanan location.  Ken says come sooner than later as the beer may sell out in as little as two weeks.  Denise Allen Membreno WFIR News.

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The Beaver Dam Farm Sunflower festival is next month but this Saturday you can head out to Buchanan and get a taste of the sunflowers…in a beer.  WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more on the collaboration between the farm and a Few Old Goats.

Candace Monaghan had an idea so she went to the new brewery in town to see if they could turn it into reality.  Candace runs her family’s Beaver Dam Farm Sunflower Festival and last year was its 10th anniversary. She approached A Few Old Goats Brewery to see if they could make a sunflower beer. Ken McGraw, one of the owners of AFOG, wasn’t sure how they would do it, but he was ready to experiment.

“One of the things that people are saying is that sunflower seeds don’t have a lot of flavor, but for some reason it extracted a ton of flavor out of the sunflower seeds and it changed the flavor profile of the beer itself and made a really interesting unique beer and people didn’t seem to really like it,” said ken.

They decided to make an American Wheat Ale.  They let the beer ferment out and once it was fully fermented, they added roasted and hauled sunflower seeds.  Ken then aged the beer on fresh sunflower seeds. Candace says this unique collaboration benefits the entire community

“Last year, it was standing room only when people were there for the beer release,” continued Candace. “You couldn’t find a seat to sit down inside, outside. The place was packed. Everybody was enjoying it and having a great time. And then, you know, maybe they went down the street and had dinner at the local restaurant or they purchased gas, which helps. It’s more than just having one event at one spot. It’s all those people that you touch in relation that you come in contact with along the way as well.”

AFOG opened the Buchanan location in October 2024.  Ken says the brewery is a cool blend of modern and rustic with great vibe. If you want to try the sunflower beer, he says the sooner the better, it could be gone in as little as two weeks. The release is Saturday. Denise Allen Membreno WFIR News.

AFOG Buchanan

Beaver Dam Farm Sunflower Festival

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The new RAM House Day Shelter on Elm Avenue that’s not quite fully operational yet has reached its previously announced capital campaign goal of four million dollars – but the executive director says they’re not quite done raising money yet. Melissa Woodson says they goal she set out at news conference outside the old RAM House location on Campbell Avenue of 4 million dollars was reached after the City of Roanoke chipped in some COVID era money they hadn’t used yet. But says Woodson, who expects to welcome day shelter guests to the Elm Avenue location within the next few weeks, inflation wrecked havoc with the original construction budget – so RAM House is looking to raise another 1.2 million dollars from donors large and small. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:

The Crumbl cookie chain has arrived in southwest Roanoke County, on Starkey Road. The line was out the door early this morning, with patrons looking to try the Crumbl chocolate chip cookie and other sweet treats. Crumbl Cookies has around 1100 locations in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. The first 100 people through the door today also took home a free Crumbl T shirt. This is the third franchise for Patrick Gardner, he owns two other Crumbls in Lynchburg and Blacksburg. How does Crumbl Cookies keep patrons coming back? Gardner also says Crumbl corporate sends out new recipes every week.

It was twenty years in the making – that’s how far back some Roanoke City Council members recall the need for an updated, covered bus shelter at the busy Valley View Walmart. They finally cut a ribbon today and on Monday the new Valley Metro bus stop, featuring two covered shelters and benches, lean rails and direct access to Walmart will be in operation.  Walmart, the City of Roanoke and Valley Metro worked together to make the new bus shelter finally happen. A previous attempt to place one on the old Sears property across the street hit a snag over an easement the city needed to make that happen. Mayor Job Cobb this morning:

The Andy Layne Trail off Catawba Road in Botetourt County that is a steep but popular shortcut to Tinker Cliffs has a new trailhead with more than twice the parking spaces, along with one mile of new trail and a footbridge over Tinker Creek. The relocation was necessary because Roanoke Cement – which owns that property – needed to expand its operations to the area where the old Andy Layne trailhead was.  Roanoke Cement/Titan America covered all the costs for moving the trailhead, building a footbridge, the one mile of new trail and the expanded parking lot, all less than a mile from the former Andy Layne Trail starting point.  The trail is a popular way for hikers to reach Tinker Cliffs along the Appalachian Trail. The late Andy Layne was a longtime, devoted trail maintainer in the valley. Linda Mulheren with the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club took part in a ribbon cutting ceremony this morning:

Roanoke College has teamed up with Google – yes, Google – for its AI Education Accelerator Program, which launched on Tuesday and will be in place when students return to the Salem campus next week. The free AI training is designed to allow newly-minted Maroon alums to have a leg up on career opportunities when they start job searching. Google artificial intelligence training and Google Career Certificates – and AI training for faculty and staff at Roanoke College – all free courtesy of Google, which has been in the news locally as the tech giant looks to build data centers in Botetourt County. As for students, the goal is to have them graduate from Roanoke College with an AI “aptitude” that will enable them to adapt to the next newest AI breakthrough – and the one after that.

The Excel Center Adult High School at Melrose Plaza is expanding, adding new teachers and growing its student population. The Excel Center debuted one year ago with around 50 students returning to earn their high school diplomas, and in addition certifications that – together with their newly-minted diploma that meets all state standards – will help them land a better job. This week several educators hired to teach electives classes are in training. Goodwill Industries of the Valleys operates the Excel Center. The Excel Center will expand to accommodate 75 students this fall, a 50 percent increase. There are 11 classrooms at its Melrose Plaza campus with room to grow, with local businesses “sponsoring” those spaces, to 300 students but that depends on funding; the Center is a line item this year in the Commonwealth’s new two year biennial budget.

Its the opening weekend this Friday night through Sunday at the Bear Theatre in downtown Roanoke for the Tennessee Williams play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as a family gathers for Big Daddy’s 65th birthday in a tumultuous reunion. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Bear runs next weekend as well, August 28th through the 30. At the Eleanor D Wilson Museum on the Hollins University campus a new exhibit – Jake McCord: Jolly Company. The late artist and Georgia native had no formal art training and painted, mostly on wood, in particular animals, buildings and women. He was a folk, naive or outside artist, Wilson Museum director Jess Ambler prefers “self taught.” Hear much more via the link to story below:

With summer starting to fade away and Fall around the corner its a good time to look for some deals on end-of-season summer clothing -and this Saturday Downtown Roanoke Inc. says the annual Sidewalk Sale is a good place to start looking for a bargain or two Brittany Smith, DRI’s marketing and communications director, says their mission is to bring people to Market Square, Campbell Avenue, South Jefferson and other downtown streets for events like Dickens of a Christmas, the St Patrick’s Day Celebration – and the Sidewalk sale, back this Saturday from 10 to 5:

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The Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub recently launched with a mission to make holistic wellness more accessible to anyone who is interested.  WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more.

The Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub is a new website that puts information on holistic practitioners and their modalities in one central place.  Founder Tara Jones says the goal is to make finding information simple everything from providers to explaining what the different modalities are.

“It’s a free online resource,” explained Jones. “We are offering think about or up to 37 different modalities now. We’ve got about 30 practitioners, everything from Reiki and meditation and yoga to therapy and counseling and aromatherapy and herbalism. It’s kind of amazing the variety that’s represented there.”

She says more and more people are looking for alternative ways to heal and stay healthy and the Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub is a gateway to that.

“One of our practitioners actually has a book,” said Jones. “She does hypnotherapy for pain management for pre- and post-surgery. So there’s a lot of crossover. People are really waking up to different ways of living and wanting to feel better. And we have lots and lots of folks that can help them do that.”

The website is offering a community giveaway-a free session with one of their providers.  No purchase is necessary.  Just go to HolisticRoanoke.com to enter by the end of the month. Denise Allen Membreno WFIR News.

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Massage, meditation, aromatherapy and yoga are examples of the modalities you can learn about when you visit the Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub website.  As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno tells us the goal of the new site is to make it easy to access holistic healthcare.

Tara Jones is a certified meditation teacher.  When she started her holistic health journey there was no centralized location for information on all the modalities available. She wanted to make it easier for anyone who is interested in holistic wellness to access it. So she founded the Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub.

“Holistic wellness is about the wellness of your body, mind, and spirit,” said Jones. “And we believe that if you heal yourself, you can heal the world around you.”

Early in her career she worked in medical offices doing administrative work and medical coding. Before she transitioned into holistic work full-time she worked for Microsoft for 5 years developing AI to produce doctor’s notes.  She says more medical professionals are seeing the value in holistic practices.

“They’re doing functional MRI scans now of folks who are meditating, and it shows the change in their brainwave patterns and the different parts of their brain that are lighting up live on the screen regulates your heart rate,” continued Jones. “So it’s not even just for their patients, it’s for them as care providers as well. Even just doing meditation every day is really gonna help you be more present for your patients.”

Jones says if doctor then teaches their patients meditation the patients will receive their treatment in a better way.  You can learn more about holistic healing at holisticroanoke.com.  Denise Allen Membreno WFIR News.