May is certainly a busy month for events and festivals due to such wonderful weather! If you are twittling your thumbs about what to do this weekend or next, you shouldn’t be! There are many events coming up you would not want to miss! Here are just a few to catch your attention:

5/18 2nd Annual Giles Fiddler Convention—Join us for a weekend of Bluegrass and Old Time music on the majestic New River at the Whitt Riverbend Park in Pearisburg, Virginia brought to you by Half Acre Promotions, the Town of Pearisburg and Giles County Tourism.

5/19 2nd Annual Giles Fiddler Convention

5/19 Armed Forces Day—Adventure World is hosting a special Armed Forces Day on Saturday, May 19th. For every admission, $1 will be donated to the Armed Forces Children’s Education Fund (AFCEF)!

5/19 Color College Avenue—Downtown Blacksburg will receive a splash of color during this event,  which welcomes children of all ages to create a beautiful painting on the surface of College Avenue between Main Street and Draper Road.

5/19 4th Annual Family Fun Festival—Adventure Hobbies & Toys is hosting the Fourth Annual Family Fun Festival in the parking lot of the Northgate Village Center (behind McDonald’s in Christiansburg). Besides kid’s activities, there will also be other activities led by area merchants as well as arts and crafts booths.

5/19 4th Annual New River Valley Chili Festival—Join us, as we present a fun filled day in Radford with live music, not to mention a beverage garden, children’s craft activities and plenty of food! Cadillac Ranch will be providing the live music.

5/26 1st Annual Bland County Festival of Trails—Visit with vendors to learn how you can get involved with the outdoors and purchase locally made arts and crafts. Be there at 5pm to be a part of Bland County’s official designation as an Appalachian Trail Community and stick around for a Street Dance starting at 6pm. There will be food and live entertainment all day.

5/26 21st Annual Wilderness Road Ride—This is a ride for the whole family to enjoy, with something for everyone — 5 routes to choose from ranging from a 14 mile relaxed journey for novices, to a 78 mile challenge for the fittest cyclist.  This is a must ride for cyclists of all ages and athletic abilities.

5/26 2nd Annual Bluegrass & BBQ Festival—Featuring two stages of music featuring some of the best bluegrass and mountain music, award winning BBQ, food vendors, arts & crafts vendors, antique tractor show, antique cars, kite flying, children’s activities and so much more.

5/28 Radford’s 14th Annual Memorial Day Celebration—The City of Radford presents their 14th Annual Memorial Day Remembrance and Celebration on Monday, May 28th at the Bisset Park Gazebo.

Hope you get out and enjoy some good ole’ fun outdoors and support the community!

The very popular TV show TLC provides us with some information about "Who came up with Mother's Day and why?"

Mother's Day is celebrated in many countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and Belgium. The day is used by children and husbands to honor mothers and grandmothers for all that they do in raising children.

Some historians claim that Mother's Day originates from ancient spring festivals dedicated to maternal goddesses. Greeks honored Rhea, wife of Cronus and mother of the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. Ancient Romans had a spring festival dedicated to Cybele, also a mother goddess. Called Hilaria, this celebration lasted for three days and included parades, games and masquerades.

A more modern version of Mother's Day began in the 1600s in England. Mothering Sunday was celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Small gifts were given, and a special dessert called a simnel cake was served.

In the United States, Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (famous for writing the words to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"). But it was a woman who was never a mother herself who led the campaign for national recognition of Mother's Day.

Anna Jarvis held a ceremony in 1907 in Grafton, West Virginia, to honor her mother, who had died two years earlier. Jarvis' mother had tried to establish Mother's Friendship Days as a way of dealing with the aftermath of the Civil War. Anna Jarvis began a campaign to create a national holiday honoring mothers. She and her supporters wrote to ministers, businessmen and politicians, and they were successful in their efforts.

In 1910, West Virginia became the first state to recognize the new holiday, and the nation followed in 1914 when President Wilson declared the second Sunday in May to be Mother's Day. Jarvis used white carnations as a symbol for mothers, because carnations represented sweetness, purity and the endurance of mother love. (Today, white carnations represent a mother who has died, while red carnations represent a living mother.)

Unfortunately, Jarvis became bitter over the commercialization of the holiday. She filed a lawsuit to stop a 1923 Mother's Day event and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a mother's convention where white carnations were being sold. Jarvis never married and never had children. She died in 1948.

Mother's Day continues to be a very commercial holiday in the United States. Flowers, candy and cards are typical gifts, and phone traffic is especially high on the second Sunday in May.

Visit TLC for Mother's Day ideas!

It's a tool used by house flippers all across the nation. A kitchen is the heart of a home. This is true all across the globe. The old saying that the "stomach is the way to the heart" carries a lot of truth. Kitchens are where we spend much of our time and most of that is with our families. It's the room where we nourish our bodies and our spirits.  

This one room is the showpiece of the house. You'll see it every day and your guests will see it during most visits. This means buyers want homes with up-to-date kitchens.

If you are renovating your kitchen so that you can sell your house, you need to walk the delicate balance between doing too much and not doing enough. A good place to start is by visiting a few open houses in your area. By becoming familiar with the condition of homes on the market in your neighborhood or town in your general price range, you can make an educated decision about “how much” you should do.

Kitchen designers have experience working with homeowners in your region, and so we can help you decide about the type of counter top and the most popular colors to choose. What you want to avoid is picking a gorgeous dark granite only to have the sellers ask for an allowance in their offer to “change the granite.”

When picking materials, try to cross objections off your list, and don’t cut corners. As a kitchen designer, my favorite jobs are working with homeowners who are building a kitchen they will enjoy for a lifetime. However, it’s not uncommon to update in order to sell. The return on investment can be well worth the effort. If you’re updating your kitchen in hopes of adding value of your home, be sure you use quality materials. Don’t forget to update windows or add new lighting, and when you’re updating a kitchen it’s a good time to add extra counter space, like an island, and extra outlets for mixers and counter top appliances.
The National Association of Home Builders says that kitchens remain a top priority for homeowners. Laundry rooms and master baths come in close behind.

For the third consecutive year, Virginia Tech ranks among the most environmentally responsible colleges in the United States and Canada, according to the Princeton Review, receiving the highest possible score given by the organization.
The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2012 Edition, released April 17, profiles institutions of higher education that demonstrate a notable commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities, and career preparation. The Princeton Review, in collaboration with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, evaluates colleges and universities and assigns a numerical score on a scale of 60 to 99.
Virginia Tech received a score of 99, earning the distinction as one of 16 colleges to be named to the Princeton Review's 2012 Green Rating Honor Roll.
In 2009, Virginia Tech adopted the Climate Action Commitment and Sustainability Plan which set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, and the commitment to pursue LEED Silver certification standards or better for new campus buildings. The university conducts annual assessments to measure progress on the 14 point plan every year.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 215 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 30,000 students and manages a research portfolio of nearly $400 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

The Legends of Blacksburg is exclusively marketed by Coldwell Banker Townside, Realtors. Read the Press Release for more information on the project. Visit TheLegendsOfBlacksburg.com to see floors plans and elevations!

For the first time since it was established in 2009, the 3.2-mile Run in Remembrance for the victims of the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech shootings will be held separately from the anniversary.
Virginia Tech officials moved the run to tomorrow at 8 a.m. to allow wider participation. The anniversary falls on Monday this year, and other traditional memorial events will be held then.
About 9,000 people registered for last year’s run, but it was canceled because of bad weather. Nearly 6,000 have so far registered this year, according to Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski.
Run participants are encouraged to arrive early Saturday, and to expect parking to be crowded.
The drillfield and many campus roads will be closed to accommodate the run, and several other sports events are scheduled for the first half of the day, Owczarski said.
The run will begin on the drillfield at the War Memorial Gym, wind through campus and end at the April 16 memorial in front of Burruss Hall.
The Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention will hold an open house beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and several art and other installations will be open around campus.
Along with the Run the following events will be held throughout the weekend and following week:

•     •   12:30 p.m. “Thank You” Baseball Barbecue – English Field.  Following the 3.2-Mile Run in Remembrance, please join the Virginia Tech community for a “Thank You” Baseball Barbecue to show appreciation for our first responders, public safety, and medical personnel at English Field as the Hokies take on the University of Miami.  Wear your 3.2 T-shirt or run bib to get a free meal starting at 12:30 p.m.  Food is available on a first come, first served basis. Game starts at 2 p.m.; admission is free for all fans.

Monday, April 16
    •    Midnight: Lighting of Ceremonial Candle – April 16 Memorial
A candle will be lit by members of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets and representatives of the student body at midnight. The Corps of Cadets will stand guard for 32 minutes. The candle will remain lit for 24 hours.
    •    11:30 a.m.: Community Picnic – Drillfield
An event designed for the entire community. There will be food from local vendors provided at the event; however we encourage you to bring additional food and picnic blankets if possible.
    •    7:30 p.m.: University Commemoration & Candlelight Vigil – April 16 Memorial
A university-wide commemoration and candlelight vigil will be held on the Drillfield at the April 16 Memorial. The program will recognize the 32 students and faculty who lost their lives on April 16, 2007. The event will be coordinated by Virginia Tech students representing a variety of student organizations. Please note: In order to prepare for the university commemoration and candlelight vigil, the April 16 Memorial will close at 6 p.m. It will reopen at the conclusion of the ceremony.
    •    11:59 p.m.: Extinguishing of Ceremonial Candle - April 16 Memorial
The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets will stand guard for 32 minutes prior to the 11:59 p.m. extinguishing. The candle will be extinguished and the light will be carried back into Burruss Hall, representing the commitment to never forget.

Our New River Valley team of REALTORS® continues to grow! We’d like to give a warm welcome to our newest addition, Nancy Massy.

A Realtor since 2006, Nancy began her career in Charlottesville, VA and recently transferred her license to our Blacksburg team. With a background in both sales and marketing, Nancy's
passion for helping clients with the sale and/or purchase of their home or investment properties is demonstrated through her superior customer service and attention to detail.
Call today and let Nancy's expertise help you with your real estate needs.

For more information about Nancy, visit her profile page on www.cbtownside.com, and if you’re in the office, feel free to stop by and say hello!

On April 1st in 1700, English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools' Day by playing practical jokes on each other.
Although the day, also called All Fools' Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery. Some historians speculate that April Fools' Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. These included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as "poisson d'avril" (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.
Historians have also linked April Fools' Day to ancient festivals such as Hilaria, which was celebrated in Rome at the end of March and involved people dressing up in disguises. There's also speculation that April Fools' Day was tied to the vernal equinox, or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when Mother Nature fooled people with changing, unpredictable weather.

April Fools' Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with "hunting the gowk," in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people's derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or "kick me" signs on them.

In modern times, people have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools' Day hoaxes. Newspapers, radio and TV stations and Web sites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences. In 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees; numerous viewers were fooled. In 1985, Sports Illustrated tricked many of its readers when it ran a made-up article about a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour. In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia's Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. In 1998, after Burger King advertised a "Left-Handed Whopper," scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich. These were just some of the top hoaxes of all times, read about more at The Museum of Hoaxes.

When is the last time you shopped locally? Can't remember? Well this Saturday, March 24, 2012 you have an awesome chance to participate in International Cash Mob Day! I am sure you are wondering...what is Cash Mob Day?

Cash Mobs is a new movement aimed at supporting local businesses and rebuilding communities. A Cash Mob is a Flash Mob, but instead of singing, dancing or rioting, Cash Mobbers join together and each spend $20 (or what you can afford) at a local business.

March 24, 2012 has been designated International Cash Mob Day, and over 170 Cash Mobs will be occurring across the country and around the world. Blacksburg will be joining them.  Meet on Saturday, March 24th at 11:32 a.m. at Market Square Park in downtown Blacksburg in front of the mural and then we will go to local stores to support them, meet each other and have fun!

We would love for you to come out and join us.  For more information, visit our Cash Mob Blog!

How will you be celebrating St. Patrick's Day this year? If you are unsure and need a few ideas read along, if your'e lucky you might just find a fun event to participate in! May the Luck of the Irish be with you!

Mar 15—
Elton John & Billy Joel at the Roanoke Civic Center @ 8:00 PM

Doors: Open at 6:30 PM

Ticket Prices: $38, $89, $139
8 Ticket limit per customer.

Mar 16—
NCAA Division III Final Four - Semifinals at the Salem Civic Center @ 6:00 PM

Mar 17—
McDonald's St. Patrick's Day Parade from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Where: Historic Roanoke City Market, Roanoke, VA
Price: free admission
Phone: 540-342-260 Age Suitability: All Ages

Southwest Virginia's premiere St. Patrick's Day events, the Roanoke St. Patrick's Day Celebration is now in its 23rd year and continues to grow. The festivities run from 10am until 5pm, with everyone's favorite parade, the McDonald's St. Patrick's Parade starting at 11:00am. The Celtic Festival and the parade take place right in heart of downtown Roanoke, VA. Together it's one of the largest St. Patrick's Celebrations in the entire mid-Atlantic region.

St. Patricks Day Brunch at The Hotel Roanoke 11:30 A.M.

Where: The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, Roanoke, VA
Price: Adults: $22; Children (6-12): $12; Children 5 & under: Complimentary.
Phone: 540-985-5900
Age Suitability: All Ages

From the magnificent Cliffs of Mohercomes an elegant brunch steeped in the savory traditions of The Emerald Isle. Bring the entire family and join us March 17th for The St. Patrick's Day Brunch! Our award-winning brunch buffet offering will feature a steamship of Corned Beef and Cabbage, hearty fare, hand-clapping live entertainment, flowing libations, a special kids buffet and just a wee bit of luck and good fortune for those in attendance. Tax and gratuity not included.

Leprechaun Chase 5k (for Virginia Tech Crew) 12:00 P.M.

Where: Margaret Beeks Elementary School, Blacksburg, VA               

5k Leprechaun Chase - catch the Leprechauns during this 5k race along the scenic Huckleberry Trail in Blacksburg, VA. Organized as a fundraiser for the VT Crew Club Team, who competes nationally against top rowing programs.

NCAA Division III Final Four - Championship at the Salem Civic Center @ 4:30 PM

Live Music at India Garden, Blacksburg, VA

Saturday, March 17 Tim & Maggie, flute and guitar duo, performing Irish music for St. Paddy’s Day

Castle’s Kettle & Pub—Pub owners shoot for St. Paddy’s Day opening in Blacksburg, VA

Check out the blog article on the possible opening!