Floyd Virginia a beautiful little town in the Blue Ridge Mountains known for its artisans, mountain musicians, organic and subsistence farming, music festivals at Chantilly Farm,friendly people, good food, fiber optic internet service, Potters, fine artist, and a great place to live.
May is just around the corner! Make plans now for one of the hottest bluegrass events of the summer! Get tickets now at www.chantillyfarm.com and don't forget, kids 12 and under are free! #floydva#swva#bluegrass
We are always adding to Chantilly Farm for events, festivals, weddings and the campground. Just finished a dog run for campers to allow the dogs to run loose. Bark Park is the name of our dog run area however we do hope that it does not create a lot of barking as it is real close to the RV campground. I was going by yesterday and some campers were using the Bark Park with a couple of beautiful tiny dogs chasing a ball around the park.
Ed and Aleno building "Bark Park"
We can thank our Chantilly craftsmen Ed and Aleno for their skill in building the park. They did a fantastic job the dogs already love the "Bark Park".
Ed and Aleno have just finished a pedestrian bridge across the little stream to the new hiking trails "B" and "C" near campground B and the RV area. The new trails are fantastic and I will talk about them in the next blog. It will not be long and Ed and Aleno will be mowing the 40 acres of beautiful grass fields at Chantilly Farm. Their are many projects in progress at Chantilly Farm - Paul Sullivan leading new Bike Trail building effort- Terri and Camelia are decorating the interior of the Chantilly Country Store.
Chantilly Farm forest areas are just great for "Forest Bathing" and we will be writing about this in near future.
It was a pleasure for me and Dee Wallace of the LCF Group to attend the "Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council" (RBTC) Toast meeting in Blacksburg, Virginia on 1/15/15.
Networking with the members of the RBTC was a great pleasure and learning experience. We attended to learn more about the group and how we can grow Technology businesses in Floyd County.
The RBTC mission statement gives you an idea of their effort to assist the entire area expand the Technology Community.
"The RBTC exists to connect and unite the region’s technology community, grow opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurial development, and lead the way in the growth of a strong technology workforce."
Here we are with (L-R) Jonathan Whitt, President and CEO of RBTC, - Dee Wallace, LCF Group Floyd, VA, - David Larsen, LCF Group Floyd, VA, and Joy Gardner, Citizens Floyd, VA.
Jonathan Whitt - Roanoke Times Writers Group published"The STEM-H Talent shortage is real" in this Sunday's Times - It was interesting that I had just met Jonathan at the RBTC meeting 3 days ago. Jonathan is CEO of the RBTC.
Here I am networking with Thomas Weeks (Left).
One of Thomas's interest is Instructor at Lets Code Blacksburg. He was demonstrating some of the cool topics they teach at Code Blacksburg. I was very interested in the technology "Maker Classes" in small automation and computer projects. Looking forward to doing some similar classes in Floyd.
Early-bird tickets are now on sale for the 5th Annual Chantilly Farm Bluegrass and BBQ Festival
Mark your calendar's for May 22-23, 2015!!!
The
5th Annual Chantilly Farm Bluegrass and BBQ Festival features some of
the most acclaimed artists in Bluegrass and Mountain music along with
festivities that include a children's area, kite flying, arts and crafts
vendors, on-site camping, opportunities for jamming, and more! A
variety of BBQ and other delicious foods are available from vendors (not
included in ticket price).
Bring the entire family--kids 12 and under are admitted free!
Take
advantage of our special holiday promotion and get early-bird pricing
on your weekend passes for this year's festival! Adult weekend passes
are only $40 for a limited time and they make the perfect gift for any
music fan on your holiday shopping list!
St. Pierre Woodworking is on a beautiful mountain top location in Floyd County, Virginia and operated by Bill St. Pierre. Bill has been developing his business on this property for 12 years. He started with a cabinet shop and now has a full range of equipment that allows him to start with logs or reclaimed wood from old buildings and do all the processes from start to finish.
Bill's own description of his woodworking business.Here you can find furniture hand crafted in the Blue Ridge Mountains of
southwestern Virginia. I enjoy creating quality, custom furniture with
the finest materials through precise techniques and craftsmanship.
Browse around at my work, I'd love to add a lifetime of beauty in your
home with a custom piece just for you. Call Bill for your next custom wood project at 540.797.3496
The Virginia Tech style solar kiln is used to dry the larger 2" slabs
Wood Drying Solar Kiln plans Virginia tech Solar Kiln Publication 420-030
Virginia Tech Solar Kiln
Front side of solar kiln with big insulated doors - large pieces can be dried in this kiln.
Bill St. Pierre Describes his Solar Kiln
Nyle kiln
The Nyle kiln is used mostly to dry lumber and to sterilize the reclaimed lumber.
Controller for Nyle kiln
Controller for Nyle kiln. This kiln uses electric heat for drying.
Timber King 2000 sawmill.
Bill has 2 sawmills this one is the Timber King 2000 .
Air drying shed
Large air drying shed for logs, reclaimed wood or sawed lumber.
Large Oak burl
A large burl from Oak tree. This will make a beautiful custom table.
A video of BillSt Pierre Woodworking Making a
spiral Wooden Leg - this video has over 800,000
views. Woodworkers love this.
large selection of slab wood
You can also choose from a large selection of slabs and reclaimed wood.
Showroom has slabs cut from many different types of wood.
View of Buffalo Mt from St.Pierre Shop
This is the view from the St. Pierre property - That is Buffalo Mountain in the background about 25 miles from shop. Buffalo Mountain is the highest point in Floyd County, Virginia at 4000 feet.
We are pleased to work with Bill St. Pierre Woodworking. Bill shop is only a few miles from our Chantilly Farm and Bill brings one of his sawmills to some of our events at the farm.
We have been very busy with building infrastructure this year at Chantilly - New projects includes camping facilities for Rv's and Tent campers - completed ; New mulitpurpose barn getting closed to being finished. The Country Store constructed their annex at Chantilly Farm. More roads and a third Commercial entrance off Franklin Pike. Chantilly water system approved for public use. The barn construction is still in progress and a few pictures below show it looks on the festival grounds.
View of barn from festival field - the mezzanine is accessed thought the white door on the side at ground level. 40 foot deck on the festival side of building accessed though 3 sliding glass doors off the mezzanine.
We're so excited to be having Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice
return for the 5th Annual Chantilly Farm Bluegrass & BBQ Festival
on May 22-23, 2015!!! The band has chosen to make the Chantilly Farm
Bluegrass Festival their home festival--and we couldn't be more proud!
We are delighted to be working with Grayson Van Beuren in a Virginia Tech - Graduate Independent Study program at the museum. Grayson became interested in doing a study after seeing the "Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum" article in the Roanoke times by Catherine Van Noy. Grayson also visited our museum during open house last month. He started his study by making several of our historical microcomputers operational and encouraging folks to give the operating historic computers a try.
Click on photo to enlarge
L-R Grayson Van Beuren, David Larsen-Curator
Here is Grayson's Study plan.
Grayson Van Beuren
Material Culture and Humanities
Computers and Museums Material Culture Project
Independent Study Proposal
This independent study’s purpose is to explore the history of the electronic computer through its material culture. It also aims to facilitate a better understanding of the unique preservation and presentation problems surrounding this delicate and largely esoteric field of material culture.
L-R Emily Wilson -Assistant Curator, Grayson Van Beuren
The independent study will occur through a partnership with the Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum in Floyd, Virginia. The museum’s founder, retired instructor of instrumentation at Virginia Tech David Larsen, has agreed to host a part of the IS. The museum’s collection represents forty years of collecting on the part of Mr. Larsen. From the museum website:
Mr. Larsen’s expertise in the field of microcomputers, and especially the collection and preservation of microcomputers, should make this a valuable independent study for the student.
Grayson with Apple 1 computer project
The independent study will be comprised of two parts: weekly visits to the museum of three to four hours during which the student will act as an intern, learning about the presentation and preservation of computer material culture in the process, and outside research into the history of the preservation of computer hardware and other forms of material culture associated with the computing field. These two parts of the study will culminate in the student writing a 10-15 page paper summing up his experiences at the Bugbook and examining the problems surrounding preservation and presentation of computer material culture in museums and other historic institutions.
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