Right about now, recent high school graduates are feeling that nervous excitement in their stomachs. College starts in a month or so, and what once seemed far away is closer than ever.

‘This is a treasure. It’s just a wonderful place.‘

—Marian Dixson, Shipman

E.C. Glass grad mounts exhibit at Magnolia Foods.

Editor’s note: Ash Lawn Opera, a destination for some Central Virginia music lovers for three decades, has moved some performances from the lawn of the home of President Monroe to the newly renovated Paramount Theatre on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville. To give you a taste, here’s a review of the current production, “The Marriage of Figaro.” See box for details.

Check out these area happenings.

Art comes to life in this exhibit.

The musical — which Wolfbane will stage at Heritage High School at 8 p.m. Aug. 6-8 and 13-15 and 4 p.m. Aug. 9 — is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” a tale about a doctor whose experiments create a second personality that exposes his darkest side.

Thelma Dalmas, a naturalist, writes a weekly column for The News & Advance. Readers may e-mail her at .

Never have you been able to accomplish so much by putting on a shirt.

The tiny storefront restaurant is easy to miss amid the hustle and bustle of Wards Road. But for 15 months, the Kabab Grill been a lunch and dinner spot for shoppers, students, area Muslim families and passersby.

Ken West is a professor at Lynchburg College. His book, ‘The Shelbys,’ has been translated into Indonesian and Czech. Readers may write to West in care of The News & Advance, P.O. Box 10129, Lynchburg, VA 24506.

Tom Peloso, a Modest Mouse musician and now a Lynchburger, will play at the anniversary celebration of a local cafe.

Central Virginia offers a wealth of farmers’ markets. Here’s what’s going on at a few of them.

Thelma Dalmas, a naturalist, writes a weekly column for The News & Advance. Readers may e-mail her at .

To Antonis Ververis, presiding over a choir is similar to running a classroom.

Ken West is a professor at Lynchburg College. His book, ‘The Shelbys,’ has been translated into Indonesian and Czech. Readers may write to West in care of The News & Advance, P.O. Box 10129, Lynchburg, VA 24506.

Mustard, the Service Officer for DAV Chapter 8 and VFW Post 8184, helps unravel health care benefits for veterans.

Last year, The News & Advance ran The Rites of Life, a 10-part series that chronicled passages from the beginning of life to its end. The final story,’Keeping On,’ followed Jennis Johnson as he faced the end of a decade-long struggle with cancer.  On July 13, family and friends packed Longwood Avenue Baptist Church in Bedford for his funeral.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality. Running time: 153 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

It’s the quiz on all things Potter for the Harry hardcore.

Thelma Dalmas, a naturalist, writes a weekly column for The News & Advance. Readers may e-mail her at .

Help create history: The mosaic mural that’s going up downtown.

From a set of paints and canvases that his daughter never used the late John Howard Elder Jr. learned to paint. It became a way to unwind from a high-stress job at the Pentagon and led to a lifelong avocation.

The census includes some rarities for this area.

Check out these Fourth of July activities.

‘They come back in April every year, and if you don’t have your hummingbird feeder out, they’ll buzz around your window where it is.’

- Allen Hale,
Owner of Buteo Books

Ken West is a professor at Lynchburg College. His book, ‘The Shelbys,’ has been translated into Indonesian and Czech. Readers may write to West in care of The News & Advance, P.O. Box 10129, Lynchburg, VA 24506.

Editor’s note: Dr. Walter Holland was a U.S. Navy corpsman during World War II, who stayed in the service after the war and got his medical training. He then served in Korea. He came to Lynchburg to practice anesthesiology, and has since retired. Although not among those who stormed the beaches of Normandy, he has visited the sites, including for the 65th anniversary earlier this month. He provided this account.

The event will honor veterans and those who died to preserve liberty.

The expanded festival will offer wide variety of art, tastings and more.