The Schoolhouse turns 100 years old this year, and we’re hosting a Centennial Celebration to celebrate!

This is a FREE event -- all you need to bring is a dish to share and a small item to place in our time capsule.

Festivities kick off around 2pm. Walk through the newly renovated building at your leisure, then make your way back to the auditorium for a presentation on the History of the Konnarock Training School by Ed Davis, plus a few stories from KTS alum Patsy Chambers and her daughter, Sandy! We’ll celebrate this milestone with a time capsule, and then gather back in the dining room for our Friendsgiving potluck meal!

Event Agenda:

2pm: Arrival, Tour the Schoolhouse, Drop off items for Time Capsule

2:30pm: Welcome, BRDC Board introductions

2:45pm: Ed Davis, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at Emory & Henry University, on “KTS: How a Church-Sponsored School Helped Save a Community'“

3:00pm: KTS alum Patsy Chambers and daughter Sandy Chambers

3:30pm: Vision for the Time Capsule, closing remarks

3:40pm: Potluck dinner in the Dining Room

Burke's Garden is a rare valley bowl with a floor that rests at 3,000' while the encircling ridge rises to around 4,000'. It is located in Tazewell County, VA, where the Appalachian Trail skirts its southern rim. The 8.5 mile long and 4-mile wide valley is often referred to as "God's Thumbprint" for its distinctive shape.

The bowl is a beautiful pastoral landscape during the summer but in the winter it is equally impressive. During February it plays host to the rare wintering birds from the far north including the golden eagle and rough-legged hawk. We will coordinate travel to the valley with registered participants. Once in the valley, we will slowly work our way around in a large loop by vehicle, searching for birds along the way. With a little luck, we will have the opportunity to put scopes on multiple raptors on the tree lines or soaring about the farm fields. It also houses the regionally uncommon red-headed woodpecker.

Interested in joining us? Please contact Lisa Benish at lisa@blueridgediscoverycenter.org or (276) 388-3155. Additional information will be sent to registered participants prior to the event.

A potential February bird list for Burke's Garden includes:

Canada goose, American wigeon, American black duck, mallard, green-winged teal, wild turkey, great blue heron, black vulture, turkey vulture, golden eagle, northern harrier, sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, rough-legged hawk, killdeer, Wilson's snipe, rock pigeon, mourning dove, barred owl, belted kingfisher, red-headed woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, American kestrel, loggerhead shrike, blue jay, American crow, common raven, horned lark, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, Carolina wren, eastern bluebird, American robin, northern mockingbird, European starling, dark-eyed junco, song sparrow, northern cardinal, red-winged blackbird, eastern meadowlark, common grackle, house finch, American goldfinch, & house sparrow