www.roanoke.com

To celebrate 15 successful years in business, The Gem Gallery is changing it’s name to Frantz Diamonds & Jewelry.  Sherry Frantz, owner, is expanding the diamond jewelry she offers, including Infinity Diamonds from Belgium.  In an economy where most small businesses are suffering, Sherry is thriving!
To start things off, November 22nd ,  Frantz Diamonds & Jewelry will be featured in a “sticky” on the front page of the Roanoke Times. One lucky person will win 75% off any item they purchase at the store! Hundreds more will receive 20% off.
December 3rd will be an all day event on location, 3540 Electric Road. Door Prizes of diamonds, pearls, coupons, & more will be handed out throughout the day.  50% off hundreds of items! Frantz Diamonds & Jewelry will continue to offer: Gold Buying, Watch Repair, a Full Service Jeweler.
Sherry is making a new name for herself in the Diamond industry and is bringing her expertise into her store in Roanoke.  Frantz Diamonds & Jewelry is going to reflect that change to the Roanoke Valley. The steadfast reputation Sherry has earned as the premier, local jewelry store in Roanoke is now going to improve.

Frantz Diamonds & Jewelry, known as The Gem Gallery
Est. 1994 by Sherry Badii Frantz
Promenade Park. 3540 Electric Road. Roanoke, VA
www.FrantzDiamonds.com (under construction)
please contact Anita Fullmer- Savoirfairewedding@gmail.com
cell-540-797-9540 to schedule interviews, articles, advertising.

Submitted by Anita Fullmer, Director of Marketing.

My son Dalton Hughes has been hunting since age 8, now age 10. Over his 2 years of hunting with his father on our own property in South West Roanoke County he successfully took his first buck on opening day of rifle. (11-14-09) Check out this beautiful 8 point buck.

Submitted by Tonya Hughes.

The Colonial Kids youth group at Colonial Presbyterian Church recently hiked the trails at Happy Hollows Gardens off Mt Chestnut Road. Here they are pictured at the base of one of the largest oak trees in the region.

Submitted by Melissa Williams.

Do you have news or photos from your church in Southwest Roanoke County? You can share at news@swo-co.com.

Fishing at sunset. Peaceful and beautiful until the sharks started biting!
Our trip last week featured some awesome sunsets especially at this inlet where the water was on 3 sides of us. The sky stayed pink for over an hour each night.

Submitted by Tim Thornhill.

Tim Thornhill sent these photos and this message into us:

"Our Colonial Avenue Baptist fishing trip to Cape Hatteras last week was a big success as over 200 fish were caught. But more important was the fellowship and fun we always have. The guys on this trip were Chris Oliver, Brent Powell, Alva Coleman, Jim Rhodes, Darren Bridgers, Tim Vest, Ric Scott and Tim Thornhill. The trips are a great way to get to know each other better while having fun fishing in a Christian atmosphere. We go in the spring and fall. Anyone interested in joining us may contact the church for more info. Jim and Darren organize the trips and are great teachers of surf fishing. No experience necessary."

Submitted By Tim Thornhill

Back Creek Elementary Kindergarten classes visited Jeters Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 29 and had a great time. Mrs. Abbitt and her class are pictured here in the first photo. The 2nd and 3rd photos are kids from both Mrs. Abbitt and Mrs. Colitons classes feeding the baby cows.

Send your photos to news@swo-co.com.

Submitted by Karin Shuck

Sam Carr took these pictures from Bent Mountain while coming back from grandma's house.

Send your nature photos to news@swo-co.com.

Submitted by Sam Carr

Cave Spring is at home against Pulaski. Hidden Valley travels to Christiansburg.

If you're going to either game, prepare to bundle up. Here's what weather journalist Kevin Myatt says to expect:

"Cloudy, damp and chilly ... temperatures mostly in the 40s. Snowflakes are not impossible in colder areas mainly west of I-81."

For more weather news, see Kevin's Weather Journal blog.

As always, though, take pictures! You can share a news@swo-co.com.

We've been sharing reports of bear sightings around Southwest Roanoke County. The latest comes from Raynelle Lankford, who tells us:

It was very interesting reading your article about bear sightings in Southwest Roanoke County last Friday. I live at 6263 Mt. Chestnut Road and we have had bears on our street. A couple of weeks ago, my neighbor called to advised bears had gotten into our trash cans which had been left up at the street for garbage pickup on Tuesday morning. We had to go and clean up the trash from our yards and the street. Apparently the Mexicans who work up at Valhalla Winery had seen them and called my neighbor, who in turn called us. That didn’t bother me too much although picking up trash early in the morning before going to work wasn’t fun. The real scare came on Wednesday morning at 1:10 a.m. on October 7. I have two schnauzers that started barking and running through my house. I first thought there might be deer in the yard. When the deer hear my dogs barking, they usually go away. My dogs didn’t stop barking and I finally pulled myself from the bed. I went to the bathroom and looked out the back window. There sitting under my bedroom window was a large black bear. He had turned over my garbage can, had pulled out the trash and was eating. I got my husband up and went to the kitchen to turn on the back light thinking that would scare the bear away. It didn’t. He looked up toward the back door and continued eating. My husband finally started beating on the window and he then left. We all went back to bed and haven’t seen him since. My husband has been pouring ammonia over the trash to keep him away. We also heard that on Thursday last week, several garbage cans on the back side of Mt. Chestnut Road had been turned over by bears.

Well that’s my bear story. I hope he doesn’t come in my back yard again as I fear for my dogs and my family. It worries me that they would come so close to a house and not be scared of barking dogs or lights being turned on.

Have you seen a bear in Southwest Roanoke County? If so, let us know at news@swo-co.com.

OTHER BEAR SIGHTINGS IN SOUTHWEST ROANOKE COUNTY:
* Oct. 13: Judy Hensley once saw a bear in Canterbury Park
* Oct. 1: Lisa Lauria sees bear in Fairway Forest
* Sept. 22: Richard King shares photo of bear rummaging in trash can on Kings Chase
* Sept. 2: Leslie Terry sees bears in Fairway Forest