Leadership New River Valley 2012 met on March 15 at the Odd Fellows Hall Museum in Blacksburg with 23 of its class members present. Odd Fellows Hall Museum is such a gem for residents and visitors. Terry Nicholson, Director of Museums, shared for over 60 years, the Odd Fellows Hall served the community well. It was literally the only place Black citizens could hold social events, gather for music and enjoyment, and create a sense of community outside the local churches. When desegregation came to Blacksburg in the late 1960's, the Odd Fellows Hall was largely abandoned as a social center and the organizations lost membership as interests shifted away from secret fraternities and sororities. With the restoration by the Town of Blacksburg, the museum is open to the public and can be utilized for community functions.

What an exciting day to learn about the history of our community from one of descendants of the earliest settlers, Larry Linkous. Larry shared much about his family and the many ties to our community with stories, humor, and artifacts. Participants of the class were able to ask questions and to see early land deeds, "money", crocks, and other items unique to Montgomery County.

Christian Trejbal encouraged our class to think by providing statistics, facts, and opinions. Christian spoke on the "state of Montgomery County", much like the state of the union address. Much of this presentation focused on quality of life issues which affect not only our residents but decision makers who visit our community with thoughts of moving their companies to our area. There was certainly a great deal of passion about our community and its future direction.

The food sponsor for the month was Chamber member Hethwood Market and owner Scott Sink. Scott provided a feast for the class from breakfast through to lunch. The weather was uncooperative on Thursday despite weather reports of 80 degree temperatures with sunshine. Despite the change in weather, we were treated to a buffet outside of the Odd Fellows Hall Museum under a tent provided by Hethwood Market. Scott spoke to the class about his business philosophy and goals for Hethwood Market. Many of the class members have already make contact with Scott for catering events based upon his local products philosophy.

We closed our day with a look at the future of journalism with Jenn Mackay, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications sharing her research on journalism trends. Dr. Mackay projects that even more opportunities will be presented for co-news reporting through technology will transpire over the next six years.

The afternoon was a media montage. Steve Matuszak, GTA and Adjunct Faculty for the Pamplin College of Business opened the session with the history and role of news journalism and  media today. This opened the afternoon to hear from panelists from media outlets that serve our community. Todd Jackson represented the Roanoke Times and The 'Burgs, Karen Kylie represented WDBJ, Cindy Rollison represented Cumulus Broadcasting, Dawn Jefferies represented WSLS, and Michelle Vaught represented The Wheeler Group. The panel addressed the challenges of their profession and what our class refers to as "the bright spots". Each panelist shared examples of how they make a difference in our community. This component of the day was very  well received.