Baseball is just around the corner and what better way to get ready than to attend the Fincastle Indoor Baseball Camp. This camp will take place on Sunday, March 20th from 2pm to 5pm at the Fincastle Baptist Church gym. This camp is appropriate for children aged 9 to 12 and will be well instructed by Roger White. The cost is only $5 payable at the camp but call now to register.

Other camps of interest (for more details of camps, visit www.botetourt.org/recreation)

Fincastle Karate Camp – July 6, 7, 8 at the Fincastle Baptist Church gym from 6pm to 8pm. Registration is $5 per child payable at camp. Ages 6 – 12

Fincastle Volleyball Camp – July 13, 14, 15 at the Fincastle Baptist Church gym from 6pm to 8pm. Registration is $5 per child and payable at camp. This camp is geared towards 5th to 8th grades.

Fincastle Football Camp will be held at the Greenfield Recreation Park on July 10, 11, 12

Fincastle Soccer Camp will be held at the Greenfield Recreation Park on July 17, 18, 19.

Fincastle Cheerleading Camp will be held at Fincastle Baptist Church Gym on July 20, 21, 22.

All campers will be introduced to a touch of faith.

Submitted by Botetourt County Parks and Rec

From Coach Peter Walton at Lord Botetourt High School. “We had a wonderful group of athletes and much to be thankful for as we enter the outdoor track season. I would especially like to thank Ralph Shank who coached the hurdlers and sprinters this season.”

“We wrapped up our season this past weekend at the AA State meet at Liberty University.” LBHS had 5 athletes qualify for this meet:

Michael McBane – 3200m Run

Taylor Cline – 3200m Run

Balee Williams – High Jump

Lexie Janney – 500m Dash and High Jump

Nialah Wilson – 55m Hurdles

Both Balee Williams and Nialah Wilson achieved All-State honors. Balee placed 8th in the high jump and Nialah Wilson placed 1st in the girls 55m Hurdles! Nialah had a photo finish with a time of 8.70. To our knowledge, Nialah is only the 3rd State Champion in Track and Field in school history…and she is only a sophomore. Needless to say, this is a huge honor for her and Lord Botetourt. Please congratulate these athletes when you see them.

Submitted by Coach Pete Walton

2011 Board of Supervisors (from left) Steve Clinton, Don Assaid (vice chair), Billy Martin, chairman, Larry Ceola and Terry Austin.

Upgrades  for Tinker Creek Interceptor ( TCI) and Cloverdale Water Extension were approved by Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, February 22.

Preliminary engineering for two water and sewer upgrades to improve two systems at capacity were presented to the supervisors by county officials. Studies in 2007 TCI and 2010 TCI confirmed there were a few sections of the system over capacity. The cost to do the upgrades is $2.7 million. A second phase will be introduced in five years and third phase later. The TCI  is the county’s top priority in utility development.

The Cloverdale Water Extension  is the number two priority. It will interconnect with the Greenfield water system and the Cloverdale Water Extension with goals that include more reliable water service to Vista Park, an emergency connection to the Town of Troutville and delivery of water along  both directions. The project will cost $532,000.

Both will take place in 2012.

The members of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church (PHBC) and the Mexico Mission team are sponsoring a fifth Mission trip in April, 2011 to Rio Bravo, Mexico.  This is in cooperation with the “International Christian Center for the Deaf” (ICCD).

The main purpose of this trip is to help build a residential school for under-privileged deaf children.  As a fundraiser for this mission project, members of the Mission Team will be sponsoring an All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti  Dinner & Silent Auction at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church on March 5, 2011 (rain date: March 12, 2011) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The cost of the dinner is $6 for adults and $4 for children ages 3-10. Children under three are free.   You can eat-in or take out.  Dinner includes spaghetti, bread and salad.  Drinks will be provided for eat-in dinners only.  Desserts may be purchased at the door.  The silent auction includes items for sale from local businesses, artists and craftsmen.  All proceeds go toward sponsoring a work team to Rio Bravo and any amount spend over value of items is tax deductible.

Admission to the silent auction is free and the spaghetti dinner is by reservation.  Walk-ins are welcome.  You can make reservations for the spaghetti dinner by calling the church at (540) 992-5556, extension 11.  Please leave your name and the number of tickets that you would like to reserve.  Your support of this event is deeply appreciated.

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, 4930 Country Club Road, Troutville, VA 24173, is located at the corner of Country Club and Haymakertown Road.

Submitted by Barbara Zicafoose

Friday Night Feature of “Cats and Dogs – Revenge of Kitty Galore”. The movie will be held at Read Mountain Middle School on Friday March 11th from 7:00-9:00 PM and is free to the public. Please no food or drink allowed in the auditorium.

Submitted by Botetourt County Parks and Rec

Join the Recreation Department for a fun-filled afternoon of Easter Egg Hunting Sunday, April 17. Hunts will take place at 3pm at Blue Ridge Park, Greenfield Recreation Park and James River High School Football Field. This event will take place either rain or shine. FREE of charge.

Submitted by Botetourt County Parks and Rec

The Virginia Tech Quadrille team performing at last year's seminar.

An impressive group of equine professionals will be speaking and giving demonstrations on Sunday March 20^th at the Alphine-Stuart Livestock Teaching Arena just off Prices Fork Road in Blacksburg, Va.  Registration  begins at 8 a.m. and the first session  starts  at 8:30. This free event is sponsored by the Southwest Virginia Dressage Association in conjunction with the Department of Animal and Poultry Science at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Katherine Wilson, DVM, clinical instructor of Large Animal Medicine at VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine will speak on  Equine Tick Borne Diseases, which are on the rise in our area.  Learn how to recognize the symptoms and protect your horse.

Dave Quackenbush, the only farrier in Virginia certified in the Natural Balanced Barefoot Trim, will discuss and demonstrate this method.  Find out if your horse could benefit from this approach to trimming and shoeing.

Patrizia Brooks from the Dressage Center at High Meadows will discuss and demonstrate the Art of Long Lining.  Ms. Brooks grew up in Europe and learned dressage from  German masters including Reiner Klimke and Egon Von Neindorff.  She perfected her Long Lining skills under the tutelage of Ignaz Lauschak at the Spanish Riding School.

Natural horsemanship trainer Morgan Dillard Harris working with Tuppence.

Jen Wolz, a Blacksburg attorney, horse owner and competitor, will speak on equine law topics that all horse owners and horse professionals should know.  Protect yourself by knowing the law. 

Harriet Peterson, USEF “r” judge and USDF certified instructor will lead a round table discussion of the new 2011 USDF Dressage tests.  What has changed?  What do the judges want to see? Get your questions answered here.

Robyn Walden, assistant trainer at  Impulsion Unlimited, will discuss the concept of a horse’s “rideability” and demonstrate its importance in stadium jumping.  Ms. Walden spent a year in Europe as an assistant to Olympic Show Jumping rider Laura Kraut.

Tim Jennings from Professional Auction Services will discuss buying and selling a horse at auction.  Mr. Jennings will demystify the process so you will know what to expect.

Mike Jennings, a reining competitor,  will  speak on training the reining horse and demonstrate some of the techniques used to get those incredible moves.

There will be dressage freestyle exhibitions during the lunch break. Lunch and refreshments will be available on site plus door prizes and a tack sale.

Submitted by Mary Kafura. Photos courtesy of Mary Kafura.

Lord Botetourt sophomore Nialah Wilson won the 55 hurdles in a photo finish at Saturday’s state indoor track and field state championship meet.

Wilson finished in 8.70 seconds, just .03 ahead of Jealisa Seward of Brunswick.

Read more about the meet and see results here.

It was a great  game down in Springwood where the James River Knights defeated the Radford Bobcats 56-52 and repeated as Region C champs. Patrick Pentecost was a “Beast” under the boards scoring 12 points and taking down loads of rebounds. He said after the game about the road to Richmond, ” To keep winning we have to play like we did tonight.” Intense would be a good description of how well they played tonight.  Chris Ware was a man on fire and knocked back threes and tossed them in underneath the basket to score 24 points. Hustle always describes Jordan Talbott and also Tyler Duke as they forced turnovers. John Bennett got the ball down the court under hard pressure at key times. It was a great team effort.

The Knights will likely play in  the Salem Civic Center this coming weekend as the road to Richmond continues.  Coach Mike Goad praised his team and commended the fans especially the student section for being the 6th man on the court.

Bellacino's Best Lunch sign was shattered by high winds on Feb. 25

The wind must have known voting is going on for the “Best in Botetourt.” Yesterday high winds  took out the sign promoting the 2010 Best of Botetourt lunch winner at Bellacino’s in Daleville. The slate is clean– who will be the “Best in Botetourt” 2011??

Vote here for your choices for the Best in Botetourt!