October 19, 2011

3:45 p.m.

Fred First: 
Nothing Ordinary: The Aesthetics of Place In Language and Light

“Nothing Ordinary: the Aesthetics of Place in Language and Light”  weaves an entertaining and thought-provoking montage from the folk author-photographer’s portfolio of lyrical and visual compositions.  Photos have accumulated since 1970, evolving from film to digital in 2000, centered on the natural world.  The writing began in 2002, when First discovered the joys of composing and framing in language, much as he had done for decades with light and shadow.  In both media, he attempts to illuminate relationships to nature, to place, and to community at every level, from marriage to mountains.  With keyboard and camera, First discovers the leading edges of an evolving “personal ecology” of connectedness.  His presentation is a field trip that invites others to go with him.  Fred follows his muse from an oak desk in northeastern Floyd County, encouraged along by his wife and a big yellow dog.

October 26, 2011

3:45 p.m.

Joseph A. Hall
Miracle on the Hudson: A Survivor’s Story:

Americans were riveted to their seats on January 15, 2009, as US Airways Flight 1549 landed on the Hudson River with 155 passengers on board.  One of those passengers is our speaker today.  Joseph A. Hall, Vice President in Quality and Change Delivery for Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina will share  the events leading up to the plane crash, the plane crash itself, and the events following the crash, including how this experience has changed his life.

A native of Marion, North Carolina and a graduate of Clemson University (with BS and MBA degrees), Hall held positions with several companies, including Fiji Photo Film USA and Michelin Tires prior to joining Bank of America.

Hall and his wife are the parents of two sons and make their home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

November 2, 2010

3:45 p.m.

Dr. Jennifer Braaten, President of Ferrum College
Dr. Pamela Fox, President of Mary Baldwin College
Dr. Tiffany Franks, President of Averett University
Regional Impact and the Role of Higher Education

Colleges and universities can play a significant, deliberate role in helping regions innovate, reinvigorate, and thrive in challenging, competitive times.  Three smaller independent college/university presidents will share insights about the various ways colleges can help build stronger local economies.  Dr. Tiffany Franks became the first female president of Averett University in 2008.  She has 24 years of senior-level administrative experience, most recently as Executive Vice President at Greensboro College.  Dr. Braaten has served as the first female president of Ferrum College since 2002 and was previously President at Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska.  Dr. Fox has been President of Mary Baldwin College since 2003.  Prior to coming to Mary Baldwin, she served as Professor of Music, Dean and Assistant Vice President for Strategic Planning at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

*November 9, 2011

3:45 p.m.

Dr. Gretchen Cohenour studied English and art at St. Edward’s University, completing her final undergraduate year at Oxford University.  She received her M.A. in English and a M.A. certificate in Women’s Studies from Texas Tech University and completed her Ph.D. at the University of Rhode Island.

Prior to joining the Averett University faculty as Assistant Professor of English at the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year, Dr Cohenour taught at Warburg College in Iowa.  For over a decade, Dr. Cohenour has taught writing and literature courses, including courses in Gothic literature, Shakespeare, Romanticism, British novels and women’s literature.  She also teaches courses abroad in England and Wales.  In addition to carrying out her teaching responsibilities, Dr. Cohenour has published academic articles and presented papers at professional conferences.

Dr. Cohenour is married to Thomas Lorenc, an active-duty hospital corpsman at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital.    

November 16, 2011

3:45 p.m.

Melissa Charles and Dreams Made Real Adventures
Dreams Made Real in the Performing Arts

Danville native, Melissa Charles, went from playing Daisy Mae in Li’l Abner during her senior year at George Washington High School to performing cross the country in professional theatres.  She earned a B.A. in Drama from the University of Virginia and went on to perform in prestigious theatres such as the McCarter Theatre, Surflight Theatre and California Music Circus.   As a member of Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, Melissa has worked in a variety of mediums in the performing arts, including film, TV and commercials.  Credits include As the World Turns, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, Big Love and Las Vegas, and commercial campaigns for Mattel, Papa John’s and Nobel Smile.  Returning to her roots in 2008, Melissa started DMR (Dreams Made Real) Adventures, a production company which has produced over 15 shows and dozens of classes and workshops in the performing arts.  Her latest venture is the Union Street Theatre, Danville’s first Black Box Theatre, opening in the summer of 2011.

Melissa will perform selections from classic and contemporary musical theatre and showcase her directing skills with excerpts from past and upcoming productions through DMR Adventures.  She will also speak about her journey as a professional actress from a small town in Virginia to New York City and Los Angeles and back home.

November 30, 2011

3:45 p.m.

Tom Chewning
Ann Vandervliet Stratton
A Smart Beginning for Our Children

Smart Beginnings Danville Pittsylvania  (SBDP) is one of 28 school readiness coalitions in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Smart Beginnings coalitions strive to strengthen the system of individuals and organizations serving children from birth to five years of age.  The goal is to ensure that children enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life.  As a result of tackling early childhood education and development, this endeavor strengthens the state and local economies.  For every $1.00 invested in early childhood development, there is up to a $17.00 return on that investment.  That investment results in reduced retention rates, special education costs, social services and prison beds.

February 1, 2012

3:45 p.m.

Gary Grant:
Tobacco, Textiles and Danville’s Identity – Then and Now

Danville native Gary Grant’s enthusiastic support of historic preservation and artistic endeavor spans almost four decades.  His service includes ten years on Danville’s Commission of Architectural Review and the State Review Board for Historic Preservation.  He has served on the Virginia Commission for Arts and is currently a board member of Virginians for the Arts.

Mr. Grant’s contract projects include serving as field historian for the Historic American Engineering Record.  The result of that 1978 study led to the city’s Tobacco District designation in the National Register in 1981.  With historian, Mary Cahill, he is co-author of Victorian Danville, a book about some of Danville’s foremost architectural landmarks.

In spring 2011, Mr. Grant helped the Schoolfield Preservation Foundation inaugurate the Schoolfield Museum and Cultural Center in the historic Welfare Building at 917 West Main Street.  The facility focuses on Danville’s rich textile heritage and the legacy of the mill village, Schoolfield, and will be the topic of today’s presentation.

February 8, 2012

3:45 p.m.

February 15, 2012

3:45 p.m.

Clara Garrett Fountain
Ella's Quilt

While researching the Yates family last year, Clara Garrett Fountain took a second look at a quilt handcrafted by Mary Ella Aiken, sister of Miss Augusta, which hangs in the Danville Museum.

Ms. Fountain realized that quilts were more than mere decoration.  They revealed memories of the artist, especially during the Victorian age when “crazy” quilts like Ella’s were immensely popular.

Our speaker will trace the Yates family back to 1833, then detail the intricate handiwork of Ella Aiken.  Through photographs, she will show how Ella’s quilt was constructed as a pattern of blocks, each block assembled from irregularly shaped fabric samples and embellished with embroidered motifs.  The forgotten meanings of these motifs reveal much about Ella, Augusta, and the times in which they lived.

February 29, 2012

3:45 p.m.

Joanna Catherine Scott
An Innocent in the House of the Dead

Born in England and raised in Australia, best-selling author, Joanna Catherine Scott now calls Chapel Hill home.  Named in 2010 Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow, Joanna is a graduate of Australia’s University of Adelaide and received her master’s degree from Duke University.

Whether she expresses herself in poetry or prose, this award winning writer is a master at crafting compelling portrayals that show her deep concern with important contemporary issues.  Her popular 2008 novel, The Road from Chapel Hill, was inspired by the true story of a runaway slave and deals with resistance to the Confederacy in Civil War North Carolina.  Her stand-alone sequel, Child of the South, follows the same characters through the state’s attempts at reconstruction.

An Innocent in the House of the Dead, which Joanna describes as a “collaboration with one of the innocents on Death Row, North Carolina, who is now my adopted son,” is her newest work.  In today’s presentation, Joanna will be reading and discussing poems from this gripping collection.

March 7, 2012

3:45 p.m.

Dr. Charles K. Stallard
Botanical Gardens for Southern Virginia

Dr. Stallard will offer a brief history of the project to bring public gardens to Southern Virginia and present a media-supported review of two major projects already underway in Halifax County.  The Gardens at Edmunds Park, now under construction, will cover approximately ten acres and will feature a broad range of theme plantings and garden types.  The second project, scheduled to begin construction in 2014 when South Boston completes the process of replacing bridges and roads in the area , will be the Cotton Mill Park Garden.  This site, also about ten acres, was once the site of the Damask Cotton Mill in South Boston.  Two structures remain on the site and are registered historic landmarks.  A tower and smokestack will become garden focal points.

Dr. Stallard will discuss also the economic, aesthetic, and educational value of such public green spaces.

MARCH 14, 2012

3:45 p.m.

Dr. Robert E. Denton, Jr.
The Political Climate of 2012 National and State Elections

Since 1992, Dr. Robert Denton has served as political analyst for WSLS News Channel 10, the NBC affiliate in Roanoke and on Fox 21/27.  Since joining the staff at Virginia Tech, Dr. Denton has participated in more than 1500 interviews on national, state and local television, radio and print media.

Dr. Denton will present an overview of the 2012 Presidential election and the 2012 Virginia Senatorial race.  In his discussion of the Presidential election, he will include such factors as the role Virginia plays as a battleground state, the primaries, including the Virginia Republican Primary, and national strategies and tactics.  His overview of the 2012 Virginia senatorial race will feature the history and key factors involved in this election.  Dr. Denton will also leave time for a “fun” question and answer session..