Civic clubs are struggling to survive in many cities these days.

The causes of their malaise have been well documented — a dwindling sense of community in our society, lack of time, people working at home instead of in office buildings, too many hours watching television. As a result, many clubs are now aging disproportionately, their numbers dropping with each obituary.

Peter Sheldon isn’t sure why he never learned to swim.

If it weren’t for the language, Rick Pillow would almost qualify as an honorary Estonian.

If Ed Embrey starts forgetting who he is, it’s not advancing age — it’s music overload.

You can always tell with kids. No matter what they might say to you, they make their true feelings clear with their faces, their body language and their tone of voice.

Are you unemployed and in Bedford? Debra Skeens would like to help (the unemployed part, at least).

What is it with Brookville High?

When it comes to Jonathan Ervin, a man who lives with AIDS, seeing is not necessarily believing.

Barbara Perry is sitting this one out — physically, at least. But that doesn’t mean that this week’s Senate confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor aren’t uppermost in her mind.

The family wants to have a forensic scientist examine Lewis’ remains. The problem is, his body is buried on the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is federal land.

Herb Moore likes to tell a story that says a lot about the Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship.

The Rev. David Stewart remembers what it was like when the threshold between middle school and high school seemed more like a chasm.

The plan was not to have a plan, just a destination: the Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, D.C., sometime around the middle of July.

‘There’s research to show that if you’re involved in drumming for more than 15 minutes, there’s a quantitative change in your brain chemistry. Brisk repetitve behavior is something your body likes, and it rewards you with a shot of endorphins.‘

- Ed Mikenas

Brad and Beth McDouall made the front page of our newspaper before they even moved here. And not in a good way.

SWEET BRIAR — How do you re-create the Great Nelson County Flood onstage?

The timing of Watkins Abbitt Jr.’s announcement for re-election in the 59th Virginia House district said a lot about his political savvy.

On this warm Monday evening, it wasn’t about the root beer — or even the ride.

You’ve heard of low-budget movies. This, according to producer Greg Starbuck, was a no-budget movie.

I’ve never been part of the “lock the door and throw away the key” crowd, but I was more than a little surprised to read that 20-year-old Jo-El Trent was given just eight years in prison for shooting Robert Brown Jr. twice in the chest outside the Lynchburg Public Library on January 26.

APPOMATTOX — Good thing Lisa Slayton isn’t a corporate CEO. She’d be drummed out of the club.

“The Canal on the James: An Illustrated Guide to the James River and Kanawha Canal,” the life’s work of T. Gibson Hobbs, has been published.

Zablon Kuria used to sell insurance. Now, he’s selling hope.

BEDFORD — This was, Kay Waff admitted, a new experience for her.

Going beneath the tennis court’s surface ... .

Like all newspaper columnists, I have issues. Here are two of the most recent …

There was a period earlier this year when I was a criminal.

A Washington Post article put the words ‘Lynchburg’ and ‘fun’ together in the same sentence.

Sam Wegert has been able to live out every kid’s dream.

The headline in our newspaper Friday morning — the very top headline, no less — told the world: “LU pulls plug on Democratic club.”

In terms of shock value, this was the equivalent of “VMI freshmen forced to do pushups” or “Taliban leaders oppose plans for new disco.” The mystery here is not that Liberty University decided to disassociate itself from the college’s Democratic club, but that the club was ever allowed to exist in the first place.