Author and retired National Park Ranger Bruce W. Bytnar will be in Roanoke, Virginia on Saturday March 13 for a reading from his book, “A Park Ranger’s Life: Thirty Two Years Protecting Our National Parks” at the Tanglewood Barnes and Noble Store. The event will start at 1pm and he will be available to sign books through the afternoon.
Mr. Bytnar spent twenty seven years of his career as a park ranger on the Blue Ridge Parkway which forms the stage for many of his stories. Stop by and learn about bears, lost hikers, bad guys, fighting fires, and many of the other adventures and duties of a park ranger.
The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games are one of the areas greatest traditions. Having everything from caber tossing to sheep herding. This Scottish festival is located every year at Grandfather Mountain in Linville. Canada, and of course Scotland, were among the countries represented.
Camping is available for those that are competing in the games, or those who desire to soak in the full experience. This year, the games began with the opening ceremonies on Thursday evening following a foot race. The winner of the race ran a victory lap around the track with the torch in hand.
For anyone curious about the Highland Games and not sure which days to attend events, I would suggest a weekend pass. With my weekend pass wrapped around my arm, I journeyed towards the fog-covered Grandfather Mountain.
Scottish apparel was the first thing that greeted me, and it felt as if I had gotten off a plane in Scotland. Young and old had adorned their bodies with plaid for the events. Read more »
The LaCoste Family and friends are the best examples of southwestern Virginia family ingenuity. The family patriarch, Paul, has had a passion for his family, his friends, Floyd County, and the Blue Ridge Parkway for all his life. What better way to celebrate all four than to combine them all into one event – the Tour de Floyd.
The tour is now in its third year -a scenic 63 mile long bicycle ride with nearly half the distance along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway.
Family affair it is, because all the house members pitch in the night before to bake home-made oatmeal-raisen and scumptous chocolate chip cookies.
We are soliciting your comments and suggestions for next year’s tour. Let’s hear them? You say, “more cookies?”
I was pleased to be involved in the kickoff a couple of weeks ago for the celebration of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 75th Anniversary. While the official celebration won’t really happen until 2010, the two-state group working on the plans wanted to take note of the fact that the Parkway had its real beginnings 75 years ago this fall, when the project received initial approval for federal funding under the Public Works Administration.
I’ve written an article about the 75th kickoff event which I’ve posted over at National Parks Traveler, in hopes of bringing some national attention to our celebration. Meanwhile, for regular readers of this blog: if you pop over to National Parks Traveler, you’ll find a wealth of excellent information about all of our National Parks.
I have been terribly remiss at adding anything to this blog recently and apologize for that. There is so much going on with my Blue Ridge Parkway work that I have had no time to blog! I hope to get back to more regular posts soon, but wanted to update you on some of what is afoot:
Blue Ridge Parkway 75th Anniversary: Plans for a year 2010 celebration of the 75th anniversary of the beginning of construction are proceeding quickly. A set of kickoff events happening in Roanoke on October 9th and 10th will begin with a symposium I have arranged that will look at how an understanding of the past helps us think about the Parkway’s future. “A Living Past on a Borrowed Landscape: The Blue Ridge Parkway at 75” will inagurate a conversation about the challenges facing the Parkway. We’ll also hope to identify areas where more research about the Parkway is needed; we hope that some of that research will be presented at a larger symposium or conference in 2010. The October 9th discussion is open to the public, and I hope that many of you will plan to attend. Full details about this event and all of the other Parkway 75th kickoff plans are available here. Read more »
