Ledger

Opening
Nibblins Edibles & Gifts, which closed its previous location in the Apple Blossom Mall in October, will open in its new location at Rutherford Crossing in Winchester on Friday.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 4 p.m., and a portion of sales from 4:30 to 9 p.m. that day will benefit The Henry & William Evans Home for Children.

Nibblins' Grand Opening will be on Dec. 3 with events throughout the day including sales, drawings, giveaways and a visit with Q102 from 1 to 3 p.m.

Nibblins carries an extensive line of quality cookware and cook's tools, featuring a variety of grilling and kitchen gadgets, eclectic gourmet food items, retro candy and decadent chocolates and fudge.

To contact Nibblins, located at 229 Market Street in Winchester, call 535-0787 or visit www.nibblins.com.

Convention
The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation will host an annual convention Tuesday-Thursday at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott, offering an opportunity to learn how farmers can benefit from conservation easements.

The theme of this year's convention is "Ag Trade: Growing Opportunities." On the agenda for Tuesday is an educational workshop about the Port of Virginia and its agricultural export capabilities.

Keynote speaker J.J. Keever, senior deputy executive director for external affairs for the Virginia Port Authority, will talk about "Agriculture & Maritime: Partnering for a Brighter Future" at the convention's opening luncheon. The luncheon also will be used to recognize print and broadcast news professionals with the VFBF Journalism Awards for exemplary coverage of agriculture.

VFBF has more than 150,000 members in 88 county farm bureaus and is the largest of Virginia's farmers' advocacy groups. Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, voluntary organization committed to protecting Virginia's farms and ensuring a safe, fresh and locally grown food supply.

For information, contact www.vafb.com.

Contest winners
Farmers & Merchants Bank has announced the winners of its eighth annual photography contest to create a local color calendar for 2012.

Nancy Runion of Timberville won the grand prize with her shot of Barb's School building near Orkney Springs. Kathy McDorman of Broadway, Mike Clanahan of New Market and Jeremiah Estep of Edinburg, the youngest winner at age 12, have photos featured on monthly pages.

Runners up include Diane Morris of Front Royal, Bernice Brillman of Conicville and Laura Coffman of Timberville.

Farmers & Merchants Bank is a locally owned community bank that began operations in 1908 and now has nine branch offices in Rockingham and Shenandoah counties, Luray and Harrisonburg.

For information, contact 896-8941 or email solson@farmersandmerchants.biz.

Classes
Phillip S. Griffin II has completed the Lead Virginia Program and attended the graduation ceremonies in Richmond on Nov. 18.

LEAD Virginia is a nonprofit and non-partisan organization that educates proven leaders about regional differences, opportunities and challenges across the commonwealth.

Contact Phillip S. Griffin II at 102 South Kent St. in Winchester, call 677-4647 or 667-4711, or email jpsgpc@visuallink.com.

Dick Davies, stone manager for Frederick Block, Brick & Stone, recently attended Brick School sponsored by Pine Hall Brick in North Carolina. FBBS is the distributor for Pine Hall Brick and Pavers for the Northern Shenandoah Valley and Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

The three-day event included plant tours, brick laying competition, brick sculpting and classes on brick fundamentals, technical information and construction details.

FBBS, located in Winchester, is the leading distributor of masonry and hardscape products for the residential and commercial markets serving Winchester, the surrounding counties and the eastern West Virginia markets. Material can be delivered or picked up at their yard.

For more information contact FBBS at 667-1261 or visit www.frederickblock.com.

Awards
F. Dixon Whitworth, the Chairman of Valley Health's Board of Trustees, received the 2011 Excellence in Governance Award from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association last week.

The award honors members of VHHA member hospitals or healthy system governing bodies who have a history of making significant contributions to the health care field on state and local levels, through commitment to service and leadership.

Whitworth, the son of a Front Royal family practitioner, has served on the board of Valley Health System since 1991 and as its chairman from 2003 to the present. Under his leadership, Valley Health has grown from a two hospitals to a six-hospital, diversified regional health care system serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley and communities in West Virginia and Maryland.

For information, contact 804-965-1212 or visit www.vhha.com.

ERA OakCrest Realty Inc. has announced Lisa Behr as top performing real estate professional. She received her recognition during a "Fifty to Follow" event held Oct. 2-4 at the Ritz Carlton in Chicago.

The Fifty to Follow event provided ERA Real Estate's top echelon of sales associates an opportunity to showcase their best practices, as well as learn from industry shapers and influencers.

Contact Behr at 533-3853 or at lisa@lisabehr.com.

Appointments
MetLife Bank recently appointed Lisa Carper as a reverse mortgage consultant for the Northern Shenandoah Valley and West Virginia panhandle region.

Before joining MetLife, Carper was a reverse mortgage consultant at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage for 14 years. She graduated from Radford University with a bachelor's degree in business management. She started the Network for Aging Support three years ago and resides in Winchester.

MetLife Bank is headquartered in Bridgewater, N.J., and is a federally chartered bank and a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc.

For information about MetLife, visit www.metlife.com. Contact Carper at 327-3913 or email lcarper@metlife.com.

The Village at Orchard Ridge, a National Lutheran Community, has selected Justin Baker of Strasburg as the community's marketing coordinator. Baker will be responsible for promoting the community through various marketing channels, managing vendors and supporting the sales team.

Prior to joining The Village at Orchard Ridge, Baker held various hospitality industry positions including assistant general manager and restaurant manager for Mimslyn Inn in Luray, and night auditor for Days Inn in Christiansburg. In these positions he gained experience in managing food and beverage service, scheduling entertainment and developing marketing materials. Under Baker's leadership at Mimslyn Inn his team maintained positive guest relations and customer service that resulted in receiving the highest rating out of 17 hotels during a one-year period and was ranked in the 99th percentile of customer satisfaction.

The Village at Orchard Ridge in Winchester is a new planned senior living and health care community on 132 acres in the Shenandoah Valley.
For more information, contact www.nationallutheran.org.

Growth report
DuPont Community Credit Union, which operates nine branches in the Central Shenandoah Valley region, reported it has maintained growth for 2011.

The Waynesboro-headquartered credit union reported 17.1 percent and 0.1 percent increases in total loans funded and outstanding balances over the previous quarter, bringing its amount of total loans outstanding to $577.9 million as of the end of the third quarter. Total real estate loans funded increased 32.6 percent over the previous quarter and decreased 11.9 percent over the third quarter of 2010, bringing the total amount of real estate loans funded for the year to $76.2 million.

DCCU also reported its equity or net worth ended the third quarter at $72.2 million, signifying its continuing soundness.

DCCU is a not-for-profit, full-service financial cooperative organized to serve the ever changing financial needs of its members.

For information, visit www.mydccu.com.