Merry Christmas, Southwest Roanoke County! And soon to be, Happy Boxing Day! Does anyone in Southwest Roanoke County celebrate Boxing Day? Or is that just in England?

Regardless, folks can soon celebrate the arrival of this week’s print edition of SWoCo and, as usual, it’s stuffed full of so much news, we can’t make it all fit.

So each week, we advise readers to “see The Notebook for more” – and, well, here you are.

This is The Notebook, and here’s a handy guide to this week’s online extras:

* More on the opening of nTelos at Keagy Village
* Mary Marie Petite’s closes, will re-open in spring
* More photos from the Pokemon Club
* More photos from the canned food drive at Cave Spring High School (that’s what the photo here is from)
* More photos of North Cross students volunteering with the Greenway Commission
* More paparazzi photos from “Madeline’s Christmas” (which starred Heidi Klockenrink of Southwest Roanoke County)
* More photos from the Colonial Avenue Baptist Church mission trip to Louisiana

AND IN SPORTS . . .
* Hidden Valley names new football, girls’ soccer coaches
* Webcast looks at injuries to Cave Spring and Hidden Valley boys basketball teams
* More photos from Cave Spring girls basketball vs. Glenvar
* More photos from Hidden Valley girls basketball vs. William Fleming
* More photos of Cave Spring boys basketball vs. Northside
* More photos of Hidden Valley Youth Wrestling
* Full results from the Candy Cane Classic

So how can you get your news and photos in SWoCo? Easy! Just share at news@swo-co.com (And a special request this week: Send us your holiday photos!)

For more information on us — and how to advertise and reach more than 90 percent of the households in Southwest Roanoke County — see below:
Read more »

We’re pleased to introduce a new comic strip to the world.

It’s called “Dead Engines,” and is drawn by Matthew Rogers of Southwest Roanoke County.

Matthew is 10 — a fourth-grader at Oak Grove Elementary — says he’s been drawing since he was at least two. Here’s what he has to say about his strip, which features characters he calls “the circle people.”

Q: Where’d the name “Dead Engines” come from?
A: “The first one I drew I gave to the school newspaper — the Tiger Times — and it was about an engine gone dead so I took the name from that.”

Q: Tell us about who the main characters are.
A: “They’re Chip and Pip. I came up with ‘em. I liked ‘Chip’ and Pip was supposed to be very hyper, so I named him Pip . . . Chip has a little scar on the side of his head so that you can recognize him. And Pip kind of has scraggly hair so you can recognize him, too.”

Q: Where’d you get the idea for these characters?
A: “I saw a smiley face and added arms and legs and hair and thought it looked kind of cute.”

Q: When did you start drawing?
A: “I’ve been drawing a long time. I started with stick figures, then came up with the circle people and started with that.”

Q: Do you remember your first drawings?
A: “ I did squiggle people when I was 2. They didn’t have any arms or legs but they were squiggles.”

Q: And what would you like to do with your talent for drawing?
A: “I just always wanted to be a cartoonist for a newspaper. My mom says it never hurts to ask.”

Indeed! You can look for more of Matthew’s work in the print edition of SWoCo, starting with our January 9 issue.

Merry Christmas, Southwest Roanoke County. When you’ve got the family gathered ’round this holiday, take a photo — you’ll probably be taking some anyway, right? Then share with us at news@swo-co.com. We’ll be posting holiday photos here as they come in. Just be sure to let us know who’s who in the photo.

To further put you in the Christmas spirit, here are some other holiday-related posts we’ve had from around Southwest Roanoke County:

HOLIDAY LIGHTS AROUND SOUTHWEST ROANOKE COUNTY:
* Dec. 15: Holiday lights: See Charlie Brown on Bunker Hill Drive
* Dec. 10: Holiday lights: Santa drives Jimmy Johnson’s car on Garst Cabin Drive
* Dec. 9: Holiday lights: A Christmas sea serpent on Back Creek Road
* Dec. 9: Holiday lights: Santa in a golf cart on Rosevale Road
* Dec. 5: Holiday lights: See the Fresca tree on Bridle Lane
* Dec. 1: Holiday lights: The Rileys on Green Ridge

OTHER HOLIDAY STORIES AROUND SOUTHWEST ROANOKE COUNTY:

* Dec. 15: Penn Forest Christian Church once again holds live nativity scene
* Dec. 15: Caroling on horseback in Southwest Roanoke County
* Dec. 15: Photos of Little Miss Roanoke Valley in Roanoke Christmas parade
* Dec. 8: Photos of Little Miss Roanoke Valley in Christmas parade
* Dec. 8: Pizzaz twirlers in Christmas parade
* Dec. 7: Photo of Southwest Roanoke County folks at Gingerbread Festival
* Dec. 5: The Lovelights tree at Tanglewood Mall
* Dec. 3: Paparazzi photos from the Roanoke County Christmas tree lighting
* Dec. 2: Photos from the Roanoke County Christmas tree lighting
* Dec. 1: Southwest Roanoke County folks bring their pets to see Santa at Tanglewood

There isn’t another business like it in the area, according to president of Professional Home Solutions, Bryan Maiden. Maiden started his new business in February 2008 but it has taken months for it to pick up off the ground.

Maiden is a graduate of Cave Spring High School and served four years in the Marine Corps, after which he decided to move back to Southwest Roanoke County where he was born and raised and where his family resides.

SWoCo sat down with Maiden to find out what his business was all about:

Q: What is Professional Home Solutions?

A: “It basically protects the customer from being burned by contractors. We find reliable contractors for the consumer who specialize in anything from tile, deck, roofing– anything to do with their house, we can find them a reputable contractor.”

Q: What do you consider in a contractor?

A: “What we push is that they are going to be there when they say they are going to be there and there price is going to remain the same. Basically, I’m with the client through the entire process. I kind of hold their hand. I basically manage everything and it’s free for the customer. The customer pays me nothing.”

Q: Why did you start this business?

A: “For one thing, most people have no idea how much something costs. I was in construction for five years before this business. This is a way that the client doesn’t have to deal with the contrator. And we find the best of the best for our clients. Another reason is that I worked for Grand Home Furnishings for years in customer service. I kept hearing frustrations from customers who’ve been burned. I wanted to start a referral netowrk so I can take care of the client and so they are happy and will want to call me again. In a town like this, your reputation is everything.”

Q: What have been some of your challenges running this business?

A: “I was very pick about what contractors I chose to work with. i had to do extensive reserach to make sure their business was reputable, that they had no complaints from the Better Business Bureau and had good referrals from their customers. It took about three months to get all my ducks in a row.”

Q: How has business been going so far?

A: “It’s been going good until the economy started going bad. But as we all know property value is continuing to go up, so any money you put into you house is well spent.”

Q: What have been some of the joys of starting this business?

A: “My customers telling me that they couldn’t believe I called them back at a reasonable time, that the contractors were actually there on time, that they were satisfied with the work that was done. That is a really gratifying feeling when you know you did your job right.”

Q: Tell me something interesting about yourself.

A: “I like to play golf. I’m an outgoing person and I seem to relate well to people. Being in sales for ten yeras I’ve kind of learned that. I love what I do. I have a wife, Elizabthel, two dogs, and 1 cat.”

Q: What do you want people to know about Professional Home Solutions?

A: “Customer service is at an all time low and we want to keep the relationship with our customers forever.”

The 10u Roanoke Roar won the Brenda King Benefit Tournament by winning four straight games. Members of the team are: Lexi Baylor, Alexa Vaughan, Hope Sitze, Amanda Wines, Hailey Singleton, Lindsay Stuart, Drew Freeland, Brianna Lockhart, Haley Green, CeCe Morgan, Lauren Huff, and Breanna Belz.

Lexi, Drew, Hailey, Breanna, Lindsay, Alexa, Hope and Lauren are all from Southwest Roanoke County.

The squad is coached by John Freeland and Jill Green.

The Brenda King Benefit Tournament was held this past weekend — Dec. 20-21. The majority of the tournament was held at Roanoke College, with other sites including West Salem Elementary and Andrew Lewis Middle.

Submitted by Bill Flippen

Do you have photos involving teams or players from Southwest Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@swo-co.com

Angelo Russo stands with some of his medals and ribbons he has received while swimming. His two favorites, he holds in his hands. Emily Flora SWoCo

Talk about being dedicated, Angelo Russo is a 9-year-old and in the 4th-grade at Penn Forest Elementary School. He loves to his three dogs and to play baseball, but swimming is his passion. And it shows.

Russo began swimming five years ago at the tender age of five. Without knowing how to swim prior to lessons at the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association (RVAA), Russo picked up on it really fast.

“When I first started and learned how to swim, I didn’t think I’d be that good because I saw how good other people swam. I thought it was highly unlikely, but I did,” Russo said.

He was a natural and is currently ranked 7th in the nation for his age group, 8 and under.

“All of our sons were beating everyone their first year,” Russo’s mother, Lori said. “So, we decided to put them in swimming year round.”

Russo is the youngest of three boys, Dominic and Salvatore, all of whom are swimmers. Read more »

We have not one, not two, but three more photo galleries of the Carter Center Aquatic Marlins at the recent Winter Classic meet. That makes a total of four, if you count our original post on Dec. 22 with a write-up about how the swimmers did.

Here we see Salvatore Russo. Sal’s time in the 100 back gives him a shot at being on the National Relay Team. His father, Joe, says that’s why he’s so excited in this photo.

Do you have photos involving teams or players from Southwest Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@swo-co.com

The Cave Spring High School choir performs at Epcot. Photo by Chuck Lionberger.

One of the highlights of the holidays at Walt Disney World is the nightly Candlelight Processional at the America Gardens Theatre at Epcot.  This performance brings choirs from across the nation together with celebrated entertainers and performers including the well-known Voices of Liberty from Epcot’s American Adventure attraction.

During the Candlelight Processional, the Christmas Story is told through words spoken by a celebrity narrator and music sung by the mass choir.

On December 13, nearly 50 members of the Cave Spring and Glenvar high school choirs traveled to Epcot to take part in two shows of the Candlelight Processional before standing-room-only crowds.

Monique Coleman from the wildly popular “High School Musical” movies was the guest narrator.

-Chuck Lionberger

Today is the last day for a Southwest Roanoke County landmark: Kingery Brothers Country Store on U.S. 220 in Clearbrook is closing. The Kingerys are retiring, and a new owner is taking over in January — with a new name and a new operation.

Business writer Jenny Boone has details on her retail blog, The Storefront.

What memories do you have of stopping at Kingery Brothers? You can share your reminisces below by clicking “comment.”

We’ve just updated our Roanoke Valley crime map with the latest offenses from Roanoke County — and Roanoke and Salem, as well. The data includes offenses through Sunday, December 15.

In the week leading up to Dec. 15, police reported two burglaries and and six larcenies in Southwest Roanoke County.

Our data delivery editor, Matt Chittum, has more information how you can use the searchable crime map.

Also on our Datasphere collection of searchable data: Holiday lights around the Roanoke Valley.