Ledger

Like This? Click Here to Recommend

Openings

Winchester resident Bryan Biddle has opened Proforma Bottom Line Marketing, offering commercial printing services, promotional products, business documents and e-commerce solutions to local companies. The company is part of the Proforma network of more than 700 independent offices throughout North America. Contact Biddle at 535-5068 or Bryan.Biddle
@proforma.com.

The Southerlands retirement community held a grand opening Oct. 15 for its new cafe and wellness center, allowing residents to experience a quality dining experience in a casual atmosphere and improve overall health through fitness and rehabilitative services.

Morning Glory at Dutch Haven held an open house Oct. 29 for its memory-care facility at 257 Toll House Road, Maurertown. Call 436-3297.

Companies

Stage Stores Inc., the parent company of Goody's, Peebles and Stage, held its annual Fall Charity Days on Nov. 1-2 to benefit local charities and nonprofit organizations.

Martin's Food Markets and Giant Food Stores will donate $500,000 to fight hunger in their communities as a result of their annual Bag Hunger campaign. From Sept. 6-19, customers were asked to donate $1 at the checkout to area food banks and pantries. Locally, the Lord Fairfax Area Food Bank will receive $8,453, while Loaves and Fishes in Martinsburg, W.Va., will receive $4,504.

Awards

Body Art Tattoo Studio has been selected for the 2009 Best of Berryville Award in the Tattoo Parlor category by the U.S. Commerce Association. The USCA's "Best of Local Business" award program recognizes businesses that have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community.

The Henry and William Evans Home for Children recently took home two peer awards: the Winchester Education Association's Friend of Education award and the Distinguished Administrator award for Executive Director Marc Jaccard.

The Virginia Knights of Columbus has approved a $20,000 grant to Shenandoah County SEARCH Inc. to expand and modernize its group home in Mt. Jackson. SEARCH, which serves Shenandoah, Page, Rockingham and Frederick counties, is in the process of raising more than $132,000 through its thrift shop operations as well as donations to add two bedrooms and expand its living, dining, storage and laundry rooms.

Two Lord Fairfax Community College employees took home three first-place awards in the Virginia Community College Association 2009 Excellence in Communications competition. Aaron Riddle, LFCC's print and Web communication manager, won first place in the category of Course Catalogs and Schedules for the design of the spring 2009 Workforce Solutions catalog, "Partners in Your Success." Riddle also earned first place in the 3D Objects category for a megaphone designed using the theme of "Then and Now." In addition, Riddle and LFCC webmaster Curtiss Grymala took first place for the college's home page, www.lfcc.edu.

DuPont's Front Royal plant recently presented Samuels Public Library with a $6,250 grant to help sponsor reading zones for children and adults and furnishings for the library's technology and study rooms.

Personnel

Edward B. Lee III has joined Adams-Nelson & Associates as an independent commercial specialist. A Clarke County native who owned his own business for 15 years, Lee brings extensive experience in recycling technology, financing and business management. His commercial real estate career includes transactions ranging from business sales, offices and large commercial parcels to industrial warehouses, 1031 Exchanges and land.

Greg Davis has joined Frederick Block, Brick & Stone as a sales representative. Davis will be managing contractor accounts, as well as assisting with retail sales. He has over 32 years of experience in the masonry and building industries.

Whitney Crawford, a recent graduate of Shenandoah University's physician assistant program, has joined Potomac Family Practice in Leesburg.

Appointments

Dee Dee Shiley is the newest member of the Winchester Area Society of Human Resources Managers' board of directors, holding the position of hospitality chair. Shiley is the finance and human resources manager for SpecialMade Goods & Services in Stephens City.

Richard McClung, of New Market, has been chosen as one of 386 delegates to the 126th annual American Angus Association Convention, to be held Nov. 16 in Louisville, Ky.

Gary R. Frink was recently named president-elect of the nonprofit Belle Grove Plantation Inc., which manages the 1797 limestone manor house and acreage near Middletown.

The Kiwanis Club of Front Royal has elected new officers for 2009-10: Candy Lang, president; Lisa Parker, president-elect; Brenda Wells, secretary; and Terry Leckie, treasurer. Richard Hoover is the new lieutenant governor for the region, which includes clubs in Warren, Shenandoah, Clarke and Frederick counties.

Conferences

Dick Davies, stone manager at Frederick Block, Brick & Stone, recently attended the Allied Stone Industry Study Tour in Glenwood Springs, Colo. The event included tours of Colorado Yule Marble Quarry, a marble quarry and historic mill site; Pine Stone Co.; and Glenwood Spring Caverns, as well as job sites in Aspen, Colo.

Shanan Hambrick, of Winchester, an independent consultant with Scentsy Inc., a provider of scented, wickless candles, attended the company's annual convention, Shine in '09, held Aug. 13-14 at The Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.

Jane Wine, of Front Royal, and Shirley Dick, of Winchester, attended Celebrating Home's Rally 2009 conference, held Aug. 13-15 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tenn.

Certifications

Heather R. Anderson, of Winchester Environmental Consultants Inc., recently completed her EPA training to become a licensed asbestos inspector in Virginia and West Virginia. Anderson is a recent graduate with a degree in environmental engineering.

Winchester attorney Phillip S. Griffin II recently attended the Continuing Legal Education class "The Law of Fair Elections in Virginia," sponsored by the Virginia State Bar Association.

Attorney Eryk Boston recently attended Virginia Indigent Defense Council training in Alexandria. Boston is an associate at the Winchester law firm of Marilyn Ann Solomon.

Meetings

The Top of Virginia Regional Chamber held its 2010 Planning Retreat on Oct. 13 at ERA Oakcrest Realty in Winchester. Shenandoah University professor Bill Shendow, who served as director of the local chamber from 1986 to 1996, spoke on the chamber's mission in the past and its vision for the future.

Warren Memorial Hospital Auxiliary held its annual Education Conference on Oct. 14th at the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. Approximately 90 volunteers attended. The conference is held every October to bring volunteers up to date, including any changes in policy.

Financial

The board of directors of Shentel has declared a cash dividend of 32 cents per share payable Dec. 1 to shareholders of record on Nov. 10. The payout is an increase of 2 cents per share, or 7 percent, over the 2008 dividend.

-- Daily Staff Reports