www.roanoke.com

The fire on Caldwell Mountain was a top story of 2008.

Like a baby's first year, The Botetourt View has taken many steps since our first blogs hit the Internet in late March. Our first print pubs came out in late April. Here are some of the stories that garnered a great deal of attention in Botetourt County. They are still online in the archives on The Notebook at www.botetourtview.com . If you feel like for Auld Lang Syne's sake they deserve another read -- scroll to the right and just hit the months. The blogs are organized by days from the end of the month to the first of a month.

NEWS:

Walgreens got nixed, came back and out again before another vote by the Board of Supervisors. In many circles this is still a source of chatter because the fault has been placed at the feet of the Board of Supervisors, but really, it's probably the economy.

Larry Ceola's video about the state of disrepair at Happy Food Mart in Fincastle has garnered 677 views as of last week. Nothing has happened in way of improvements, though we heard from Supervisor Don Meredith that a replacement sign came to be placed and was broken before it was finished, so back to square one.

The Caldwell Mountain Fire in June. The fire, likely started by lightning, made headlines for days as the smoke and fire snaked its way from Stone Coal Gap to Lee's Gap.

Dollar General opened in Fincastle and has been one of the top producing stores in western Virginia ever since.

The death north of Fincastle along U.S. 220 by apparent suicide of Roanoker Fred Hutchens left many wondering why. He was an aide to Sen. James Webb.

Truck accidents on I-81: Thanks to Jimmy Carter we have many photos of the accidents that backed up traffic for hours. Most accidents happened near mile marker 167 north of Buchanan, but Exit 150 always has it's share. Speaking of which, due to state budget woes the Exit 150 improvements have been seriously whittled by VDOT.

However, the double lanes at the intersection corner of U.S. 220 north and U.S. 11 north near Exit 150 have helped traffic flow tremendously since their September construction completion.

The supervisors re-elected Don Assaid 3-2 to be Chairman of the Board again for another year.

The overhaul of the radio system for EMS Services in Botetourt County will cost $880,000 over the next 5 years.

Botetourt County showed its Republican mettle, overwhelmingly choosing Sen. John McCain over now President elect Barack Obama by a 2-1 margin.

Sports:

Caleb Dorton graced our cover as a pitcher for the James River Knights 2008 baseball team. Dorton went on to become VHSL player fo the year with his extraordinary pitching record. The Knights made it to the state finals.

The retirement of Virginia Tech softball star Angela Tincher's jersey at James River High School. She may be one of the finest athletes in the nation, but certainly brought her high school much attention and state softball championships along the way. It was the first jersey retirement in the school's 49-year history.

Abbie Rexrode, also from James River and a softball pitcher signed with Virginia Tech, made it to the state finals as well and was Number 3 in her graduating class.

Da'Von Ross, All State high jumper and a player of the year in football for the Pioneer District, is currently playing basketball for the Knights.

Josh Holskey of LBHS, a top baseball player and second in his graduating class at LBHS, is at Campbell College now on a baseball scholarship.

MacKenzie Tyree, star volleyball player for LBHS and noted as one of the best in the nation, is now playing basketball at LBHS. She has signed with Carson Newman College to play volleyball.

Grace Blaylock of LBHS is a star guard on the Lady Cavs basketball team as a 4 year starter. She has signed with UNC Asheville to play basketball next year.

Central Academy Middle School girls' basketball team went undefeated for the season.

There were many other fine athletes and teams on our blog through out the year but we can't hit them all. If you want to scour sports-- go to the botetourtview.com and look under the sports category.

Business:

Agritoursim. Botetourt County is going the way of buying local. The Botetourt Family Farms group located at Ikenberry Orchards in Daleville and even the school nutrition program is seeking more local produce. The Wine Trail seemed to work for the three local vineyards that held events throughout the year.

On July 4, gasoline prices topped $4 per gallon. On December 12 some folks with Kroger credit cards reported gasoline prices under $1 per gallon. Go figure.

Job layoffs at some Botetourt companies and the closing of Groendyke in Buchanan leaned a tin ear to the sound of forward business progress on the major company level. Botetourt did get some new restaurants in Pomegranate and doughnut shop Blue Collar Joe's, a jewelry store in Lyons at Botetourt Commons and a new small business center in the Jamison building in Daleville. First Citizens Bank opened a new branch location at Botetourt Commons.

People:

Allyson McClellan, Hunter Monk and Josh Frate brought out the best in the community as Botetourt rallied to help these ill children.

The rescue of Dustin Hart was a tremendous thing and Deputy John Clatterbaugh, citizens Mark Brown, Phil Roach and Ricky Puckett should be highly commended.

Wendy and Bob Jones' Christmas drive Operation Christmas Cheer to help the neediest children in the county at their home -- the former Fincastle Baptist Church.

Botetourt Historical Society along with a matching grant and county funds performed a survey of the historic homes and places in the county.

Daleville resident James Bray visited Antarctica to learn how to lessen the carbon footprint not only companies leave on the world, but also each person leaves on Mother Earth.

The winter coat project "Operation Warm Winter" held by many residents of the Buchanan area in conjunction woith the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association and culminated with a trip to the Dakotas to deliver the coats and good cheer to the Sioux reservations.

Botetourt residents are constantly doing good things in the community. Click on the "people" category in The Notebook at www. botetourtview.com to refresh on just how many folks are out there helping the county, the area, our country and even the world!

Schools:

Botetourt County Public Schools via the School Board returned $1.2 million to the supervisors on July 1. Fortunately, those funds were placed in a special fund to be used by the school division with supervisors' permission. Looming state budget cuts may cause the fund a big hit for 2009-2010.

Pulsar Club at James River High School. Not many high schools anywhere have the use of the National Radio Telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia. Better yet, it seems they may have found a pulsar in their gleaning of the data! A real cheer for the team of students and especially for the teacher/sponsor Barbara Kolb who has diligently pursued the opportunity for the students as well as the school and school division.

Botetourt Buddies is an idea pursued by student Vanessa Ramos to pair special education students at Lord Botetourt High School with General Education students, and it is working well! They received a $500 grant from Exxon/Mobil and another $100 from the Botetourt Civitan. The school, principal and the two vice principals as well as the special education department have really supported the club.

James River High School and the Rocket Boys reading project culminated in a visit to Coalwood, West Virginia, and a nice meeting with author, Homer Hickam.

The manual developed by assistant school superintendent John Busher and his committee to help make sure all Botetourt teachers are on the same page in how the school division operates is a one of a kind in the Roanoke Valley.

Gifted and talented middle school students went to the Chesapeake Bay to study in late June. They were funded by the Botetourt County Education Foundation.

All of the county schools reached accreditation through SOL scores and met No Child Left Behind standards.

The Orf orchestra and Recorder ensemble music students at Cloverdale Elementary School and Greenfield elementary School played before the Roanoke Symphony in early May.

Botetourt County students do many terrific things all year but learning is the most important. Our schools have a great reputation and all of the parts--students, faculty, administration, staff and school board work together to make ours a very fine school division.

Some students from Breckinridge Elementary mug for the camera.

Interesting stuff stories:

Big Red the rooster in Buchanan. (He now has a hen companion.)

The Civil War weekend in Buchanan was a real hit!

Georgia couple married over Botetourt County near Daleville in Endeavor balloon flight.

The Mountain lion sighting in Buchanan brought comments from across the country.

The return of Albert Johnson's WWII Army Air Corps dress hat to Eagle Rock after more than 60 years passed.

The UFO over Read Mountain that never materialized on October 16. Imagine that.

The bears of Botetourt County-- the latest being a bear attack on a hunter on Saturday, Dec. 27.

Thus ends a brief review of the first 9 1/2 months of The Botetourt View! Look for a special year in photos spread from editor Dwayne Yancey in this week's print edition.

Happy New Year as we ring out the old and welcome 2009.

Saturn sun west of Fincastle fall 2008.