We were joined in the studio today for Tourism Tuesday - Winchester/Frederick County edition - by Justin Kerns, Winchester-Frederick County Tourism Director (aka our Winchester Tourism Guy) along with his guest, Julie Armel, Deputy Director, Community Relations from The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. We talked about the amazing exhibits currently available at the museum, along with all the special events coming up and the great gift ideas, including memberships, that are available in their gift shop. For a complete list of events, exhibits and membership packages, visit their website: https://www.themsv.org/ For a complete list of all the holiday (and otherwise) events happening in and around Winchester/Frederick County, visit the Winchester/Frederick County Convention & Visitors Bureau website: http://www.visitwinchesterva.com/

We were joined in the studio today for "Municipal Monday" by Doug Stanley, Warren County Administrator. Doug gave us an updated on projects in process throughout the county as well as a few new items recently announced. We discussed the upgrade of the County's bond rating, he reminded us about the upcoming public hearing in January regarding delinquent taxpayers and told us about the sale of delinquent properties. The date of that sale will be announced once the court sets a date on December 15. In addition to that sale, we discussed the county auction held by the sheriff's office on December 1st at 9am in the parking lot of Gertrude Miller park where they will be auctioning vehicles and equipment. He also gave us an update on the Lake Front Royal Sanitary District, the county's 2 funding applications for VDOT's Smart Scale, and explained the benefits of the new software currently in place for the building/inspections department. We talked about the construction progress being made on the new middle school, the Health & Human Services Complex & Ressie Jeffries Elementary School plus an update on the potential for a new/upgraded fire station at Rivermont.

We were joined at the bus for The Valley Today by Karen Poff, Senior Extension Agent With Northern Shenandoah Valley Financial Education Program offered through Virginia Cooperative Extension Office. We talked about debt-proofing your holidays and Karen gave us some tips on budgeting during this time of spending to keep from paying a higher price when the bills roll in come January. For more information, read her blog post: https://nsvfcslivingwell.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/266/ If you'd like to download the holiday budget worksheet, click here: my-holiday-spending-plan-vce. You can reach Karen via email to [email protected] or call: 540-635-4549

We were joined at the bus for our live broadcast of The Valley Today by the Leadership Class of the Front Royal - Warren County Chamber of Commerce. We talked to them about the radio station and our current Camping for Hunger campaign. They brought donations to the bus and a couple of the students, Ray Bramble with Aire Serv & Jen Avery with Team Waller talked with us on-air about their experience so far in the program and the good it does for citizens and business owners who participate. In the second half of the show we were joined by Eka Kapiotis and Barbara Way from the Front Royal Women's Resource Center to talk about their Dare to Dream grant program. Barbara gave us a history of the program ad talked about what types of things women could use the grant money towards. For more information and an online application, please visit their website: http://www.frwrc.org/

We were joined at the bus for The Valley Business Today by Montressa Washington, Assistant Professor of Management at Shenandoah University's School Of Business. On Monday, November 14th the Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business joined 160 countries around the globe in celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW)! Activities and events around the world are designed to help all those with an entrepreneurial spirit explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. We talked about the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurs and the schedule of events happening this week. On Monday, Nov. 14, Ken Gerhart, co-owner of Calvert Brewing Company, will provide insight into being an entrepreneur in the beverage industry and discuss both creating a business from scratch and implementing new business models. This event will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Halpin-Harrison Hall, Room 222, on Shenandoah University's main campus (1460 University Drive, Winchester). Amany Jondy, co-owner of the Zeena Company, spoke on Tuesday, Nov. 15, about entrepreneurship in the fashion industry and owning an online business specializing in modern Muslim clothing. On Thursday, Nov. 17, Joaquin Jackson, owner of Kenni & Elle, will give thoughts on being an entrepreneur in the fashion industry. Jackson's company is an online business specializing in luxury socks. This event will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Halpin-Harrison Hall, Stimpson Auditorium. To conclude Entrepreneurship Week 2016, an Entrepreneur Social Event will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18, at Bright Box Theater (15 North Loudoun Street, Winchester). The event will include an "icebreaker" exercise hosted by the Lord Fairfax Small Business Development Center, networking opportunities and the presentation of Shenandoah University's Entrepreneur of the Year Award. All events are free and open to the public. For more information about Entrepreneurship Week, contact Business School Administrative Assistant Donna Fazio at 540/665-4572 or [email protected].

We were joined "at the bus" for today's edition of Tourism Tuesday - Page County edition by Priscilla Montcalm from Luray-Page Chamber of Commerce along with her guests, Megan Gordon, Program Director & Susan Betcher from Page Alliance for Community Action. We talked about their organization, the services it provides and the drug-free message it sends. We also talked about their upcoming Turkey Trot fundraiser, their Parents Against Depression event on Tuesday, November 29th at 6:30 at Luray High School and their drug disposal bag program. For more details about their organization, visit their website: www.pagecoalition.org We also talked about the great events coming up in Luray. For more details visit their website: luraypage.com L-PCCC's upcoming Sip & Create: Christmas Cookie Decorating, Nov 29th, 6:00-8:00 PM, with Bijou's Sweet Treats at Stover Hall Thanksgiving meals around the county: the Mimslyn Inn's and Page Free Clinic's benefit at Faithbrooke Barn and Vineyard Christmas Parades: December 3rd for Stanley and 10th for Luray Lamplight Dinners at Stevens Cottage: December 3rd, 5:00 & 7:30 PM in Shenandoah PMH Auxiliary's Holiday Sales and Events

We welcomed Jennifer Bell, Winchester's Downtown Manager to the Camping for Hunger bus today for our live broadcast of The Valley Today. We talked about all the great holiday happenings that will begin taking place inn downtown Winchester starting with Plaid Friday on November 25th and continuing until First Night Winchester. For a full calendar of events, visit their website: http://www.enjoyotw.com/

We were broadcasting LIVE for the News at Noon and The Valley Today from American Legion Post 53 in Front Royal today. Grand Knight John Dickhute with Knights of Columbus Council 9002 in Woodstock and Frank Nauer with Sweats for Vets. We talked about the Knights of Columbus organization, it's history, mission and what their members do for the community. Frank gave us the history of Sweats for Vets and talked about the joy on the faces of all the vets at the VA center in Martinsburg when they delivered more than 750 sets of sweats last year. If you'd like to contribute to the Sweats for Vets program, you may drop your sweats in collection boxes across Winchester/Frederick County at any Bank of Clarke County location. In Shenandoah County, you can leave your donation at your local First Bank office. Cash donations are also needed and accepted at any Knights of Columbus office in your area. Guidelines for sweats donations include:

• New sweat suits only (sets preferred)
• All sizes accepted with a focus on L, XL, 2XL
• Do not wrap the sweats in gift wrap but tie each set with Christmas ribbon
• Please add a label with the size of the sweat suit
• If possible, please put the name of the donating organization on the label
• If making a cash/check donation, please make check payable to Martinsburg Medical Center
• Sweats will be delivered to the Martinsburg Medical Center in Martinsburg, WV on January 7, 2017

For additional information about the Sweats for Vets program, contact Frank Nauer, Volunteer Services Representative at the Knights of Columbus, Pope John Paul II Assembly #2914 via email: [email protected]. To download a history of the Sweats for Vets: sweats-for-vets-history At the end of our live broadcast, our very own Randy Woodward presented a check to the Front Royal VFW from our Flag A Day promotion (pictured above) - to see a video of the presentation, please visit our Facebook page.

We were joined in the studio today by Kelli Dayrit, Community Outreach Specialist and Professor Jenni VanCuren from Lord Fairfax Community College. We talked about the novel Professor VanCuren recently published, When Shadows Fade. We talked about how she developed the characters and plot for her first novel as well as how long it took her to write and then subsequently get it published. When Shadows Fade is a mystery/thriller and can be purchased at Barnes & Noble bookstores, Books-A-Million, at the bookstore on the Middletown campus of Lord Fairfax Community College as well as from Amazon here: https://amzn.com/1480971545 Kelli reminded us that Spring Registration is currently open and we talked about their Veterans Mentor Program. LFCC is one of five community colleges in the state to receive $200,000 for an initiative titled, "Virginia Veterans Service Demonstration Project." The money received was originally part of a United States Department of Labor grant with the purpose of improving the delivery of workforce and employment services for veterans. This initiative provides veterans with college credit for the college-level learning acquired through past military service and training, coursework to obtain additional skills and credentials, and mentors to help navigate these individuals while in college. For more details about this program, visit their website: https://lfcc.edu/future-students/financial-aid/veterans-affairs/veterans-mentor-program/

We were joined in the studio for The Valley Business Today by Brittany Clem, Marketing Director for the Town of New Market and Trudy Burgess, owner of Still River Days Antiques. We talked about Trudy's journey from a career in the medical field to opening and running her own shop on Congress Street in New Market. We discussed some of the obstacles, the highlights and Trudy gave us advice on how she has made her business so successful in it's first year. She attributes marketing and social media as cornerstones to her success. You can find her on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/stillriverdays1004 On Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/stillriverdays_trudy/ Brittany also told us about all the holiday events coming up in December in New Market. For more details, visit their website: http://www.newmarketvirginia.com/