It was Christmas morning. All of the presents had been ever so carefully torn open by me and my three siblings. The adults had drifted into the kitchen for more coffee and Grandma’s famous breakfast. And I was the last one left in the parlor room—you know, the one that wasn’t the TV room but had couches, too. I must …
I have four Louisa County students at home, all between the ages of 9 and 13. Yes, our house is busy! But that also means we get a front-row seat to the incredible work our teachers, staff, and school leaders put in every day. One of the most meaningful things I’ve seen this year is the way they encourage students …
Journalism is often a tiring and thankless job. I spoke with Tammy Purcell about this very issue when I interviewed her for a profile. She understands it even more than I do, given the sheer amount of time and energy she pours into covering local government. Tammy is incredibly dedicated, passionate, and intelligent, and we were honored to feature her. …
424 of you who love Lake Anna took a survey last year. It asked questions like… what are the benefits of living here, what are the greatest threats to our community, and if you have 20 volunteers to improve Lake Anna, what job would you assign? Now, we are taking all the data and holding a roundtable discussion with all …
Last year, Best of Lake Anna was criticized by some local leaders as being merely a “popularity contest.”How can one cup of coffee be declared the best if you haven’t tried them all? But, does that mean we shouldn’t celebrate an amazing cup of coffee just because someone else doesn’t like it as much? And why shouldn’t we celebrate the …
In my 20 years in web development and search engine optimization for businesses who are looking to grow their customer base, I have learned hard lessons about expectations. The “If they build it, they will come” mentality isn’t always true. This isn’t Noah’s Ark or Field of Dreams. When I interviewed Duane Adams regarding the need for medical facilities, he …
Before I began printing The Breeze, the former publisher, Jim McCoy, made it a point to mentor me. Every week, for at least an hour, he would sit me down to share his methods and prepare me for what was ahead. Mary Jo McCoy would jokingly apologize in advance for the sheer amount of slobber and dog hair I’d encounter …
Come February, those New Year’s resolutions you made might already be fading. I get it—throughout the years, I’ve made my share of promises to myself: exercise more, eat fewer potato chips, call my friends more often. And truthfully? More often than not, I didn’t keep them. But why is that? Why do habits feel so hard to form and stick …
I never got the chance to get to know Mike Mitchell. But I wish I had. The outpouring from the community has showed us who DJ Mike was – even for those who knew him very little, or not at all. Some people have such an impact on those around them that life will never be the same after they’re …
Recently, I asked someone to kindly remove a Facebook tag from a promotional post. Unfortunately, this led to being blocked and receiving some unkind messages. I truly apologize if I came across as rude, as that wasn’t my intention. It got me thinking, though—how quickly interactions online can escalate, often without us even knowing each other. How did it become …
