Jade Lewis sinks a shot at the foul line. Photos by Garland Gay, special to The Botetourt View

As promised earlier, click here for a photo gallery of the Lady Terriers Christmas Classic’s final day, including many shots by photographer Garland Gay of Lord Botetourt’s winning game over Staunton River. The Lady Cavaliers took the final game 46-40.

Click here for a wrap-up of the tournament on varsity.roanoke.com, including an account of the Lord Botetourt ladies’ festive socks, seen below. We also have this post from Lord Botetourt’s win over Heritage in Saturday’s round.

And here’s the link to photos from the Lord Botetourt boys in the championship game at the Northside Invitational Tournament the same night.

The Lady Cavaliers' festive socks.

Bland Painter of Troutville and owner of Thriftway Market died Monday. He had been ill for several months with pancreatic cancer. He died of an apparent heart attack, however. He told The Botetourt View last summer that the truck he is pictured in above was very much like the early delivery truck they had when he was a young fellow.  He kept a journal in the store for those using the Bicentennial Bike Route 76 and the hikers on the Appalachian Trail could sign in, as he served both due to the store’s location.

Thriftway as a store has been an icon in Troutville for almost a century. Painter was 83.

Father Time clock from a recent Rebel Yell auction.

Here are a few public events in Botetourt County for New Year’s Eve:

Buchanan begins events at the Library on Main Street at 8 p.m. and a free movie at the Buchanan Theatre, “My Man Godfrey” plays tonight at 9. The town will ring in the year listening to church bells.

Fincastle rings in the New Year at midnight as hundreds gather on Courthouse square. Yes, the man in the tower does have a shotgun. He fires the gun at 12 midnight and the churches ring their bells across the town. Have pics of your celebration? Send to news@botetourtview.com

Dee Sheffer of Daleville, a former English teacher at Lord Botetourt High School, retired last summer after 30 years of teaching. She remembered Patrick Kay, who died in the car crash on U.S. 11 north of Troutville early today. With tears in her eyes, Sheffer recalled that he and his family had moved here from Denver. “He was a sweet boy, a good kid. I enjoyed having him in class.” She believes he graduated from LBHS in 2007, (no one was at the school today due to winter break). “It is very tragic for the family,” she said, shaking her head. “I can see him sitting in class in my memory.”

Sheffer was also the sponsor for YOVASO, a group concerned with teen driver’s safety.

Lord Botetourt High's Ryan Alderman elevates for a dunk in the Northside Invitational Tournament final. Photo by Jared Soares, The Roanoke Times

The Lord Botetourt boys’ basketball team played Tuesday in the championship game of the Northside Invitational Tournament. We have a gallery of photos from Roanoke Times photographer Jared Soares: click here to see the Cavaliers in action.

Ultimately, the Minutemen won the game 61-57, to give Lord Botetourt second place in the tournament. Click here for the game story on varsity.roanoke.com.

Meanwhile,  the Lady Cavaliers won the Lady Terriers Christmas Classic at William Byrd High School, beating Staunton River in the final.  Check back here for photos from that final, but here’s a link to the story on the tournament’s last night.

These middle school girls sang a Taylor Swift song.

Twenty- one young people came out for Open Mic Night on Saturday, Dec. 27, to listen to the Rose Brothers and participate in a little lip synching and singing to hits themselves. Joe Jennings and George Ewen maintained the sound system for the event. The Rose Brothers put on a good show for the crowd. Mostly middle school aged girls and a few teens came to the event. One mother, Kathy Teaford, said she hoped that the event would become a regular event “to give the kids something to do.” See the photos

The wind is blowing hard in Botetourt County and at least one report of a power outage on Pattonsburg Road in Buchanan has been noted. Blowing snow blanketed Daleville in the past twenty minutes. New Year’s Eve promises falling temperatures and ringing in the new year should bring temperatures in the teens.

Mario Fantz Carcioppolo is trying to make the best of the abandonment of Carini's.

The former owner of Carini’s Gino Monterosso has left town owing the Town of Buchanan over $5,000 in meals taxes and some of the employees got stiffed on the final paycheck. The case is under investigation by the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office.

On December 21 a sign appeared on the door that stated, “Closed for vacation,” said building owner Mario Fantz Carcioppolo. Carcioppolo lives in Ohio. He received a call from a friend of the Carini ownership who said that the fellow had left to go back to Italy. “I was stunned, I had my teen daughter in the car and we were going to her birthday dinner. We went closer to home to eat and then I drove here.”

Though hurt by the move, Carcioppolo offered the former staff a job helping him clean the dining area and kitchen and gave them a little party. Carcioppolo believes in making lemonade out of life’s lemons. The building is pristine and looks like it is ready for the next group of diners.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone, ” he said referring to being left high and dry. “Whatever people do is going to come back to them. They don’t need me to add to it.” Carini’s had two years left on the lease and after pulling out the calculator, Carcioppolo figures it was very close to $50,000 plus some back rent.

He is looking for a buyer for the building or a new reliable restaurant in the site. He would think a new Mexican restaurant might fit the bill. It has three floors and an open bay area in the basement that could be used for a James River related business, he said. He painted the basement of the building in November and upstairs since he returned.

The building will be listed in February if he can’t find a new business to go into the site. “It has been a successful site obviously.” (Referring to the back meals taxes owed to the town.) As for Mario Carcioppolo, he is trying to make the best of a bad situation until he can get back to his life in Ohio.

One person died and two others were injured after a fiery wreck in Botetourt County early this morning, Virginia State Police said.

Spokesman Sgt. Rob Carpentieri said 18-year-old Patrick T. Kay, of Daleville, was killed when the 1997 Honda Civic he was driving crashed and caught fire.

Kay was traveling northbound on U.S. 11, just north of Gravel Hill Road in Troutville, about 12:30 a.m., Carpentieri said. He entered a curve and lost control, crossed into the southbound lanes and then swerved back into the northbound lanes. He overcorrected and went over the right shoulder. The car overturned and caught fire.

Kay was partially ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, Carpentieri said.

Two passengers in the vehicle with Kay, a female juvenile whose name was not released because of her age, and Ethan Kyle Jones, 19, of Botetourt County, were taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Carpentieri was unsure of their conditions. He said a local resident heard the crash and ran to the scene, helping to pull the juvenile from the fire. He was unsure if Jones was able to get out himself.

State Police investigators were still working to determine if the occupants were wearing seatbelts.

– Jordan Fifer, The Roanoke Times

The McClellan family a few days before Christmas! That's Allyson in the white hat.

Last but not least on the updated list is Allyson McClellan of Cloverdale, the little blonde dynamo whose big heart and personality can fill a room. Allyson is a second-grader at Cloverdale Elementary School and a precious young child. Allyson has rhabdomyosarcoma a rare type of cancer. she has been embraced mightily by her community. As a small child she had kidney cancer, so this is a second battle with a different type of cancer. The out pouring of support for her and her family has been miraculous from her brother’s middle school friends to complete strangers, people have opened their hearts and wallets and most importantly her mother Michelle has said on her care page, “offered up their prayers” for the little girl and her family.

The family has had the loss of a loved one, Michelle’s father, to deal with in the midst of the treatments. Fundraisers have been held including Allyson’s 5K in early October. People have reached out to the family.

Yet it hasn’t been an all bad year. On Fridays in the fall, Emily the older sister and her friends cheered on the sidelines along with Allyson at the LBHS football games.

The family got to ride on a donated hot air balloon ride and picked the leaves from tree tops from the gondola basket. Her brother Nathan’s football team, the Botetourt Crusaders coached by Dad Chris McClellan, won the rec league Super Bowl in their age group.

In spite of the harshness of treatments, so far so good. Allyson has three chemo treatments left and those will end on January 21. On good weeks she gets to go to school all week. She and her best friend Bridget Peeters, all smiles after a fun holiday school party, have been watching television. They are typical little girl friends enjoying time together. Allyson gives big hugs dressed in her striped tights and red and white Christmas frock and fur hat. It was so good to see her full of fun again.

The family wanted to thank every one who has helped make the treatments more bearable and for all of the support from the community. “Botetourt is a wonderful place,” said Chris McClellan in the front yard of their home. So far so good. 2009 they hope will be a better year.