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Good morning, Blacksburg.
A break from the gameday crowds in town, but a packed weekend of local events. In honor of the matchup with Maryland here’s your Friday random fact: the leatherback is the largest turtle on Earth, growing up to seven feet long and topping 2,000 pounds.
Have a great weekend and see you Monday!
In today's Blacksburg Connect:
🌟 Business spotlight: Rising Silo Brewery
🗳️ Early voting starts today: what to know
🏈 Saturday: Coach Franklin’s Maryland Connection
Let’s get to it.
A frontal boundary is stalling over the Appalachians this weekend, and the National Weather Service in Blacksburg says daily shower and thunderstorm chances come with it. Today and Saturday each carry a 40% chance of showers and storms, Sunday jumps to 80%, and some of the stronger storms could bring heavy rain. The pattern may not break until after the middle of next week, so think about packing a poncho for everything outdoors this weekend.
🌟 Local Business Spotlight: Rising Silo Brewery
Today's featured business is a place you have to experience to understand. Set on a working farm just minutes from campus and downtown, Rising Silo Brewery pairs small batch farm fresh beer with wood fired pizza, live music, and Blue Ridge mountain views. It is a true Blacksburg gem.
Rising Silo Brewery is a small farm brewery, restaurant, and community gathering spot at 2351 Glade Road in Blacksburg, Virginia. It operates on the same working-farm property as Glade Road Growing, a few miles from the Virginia Tech campus and downtown Blacksburg.
What makes Rising Silo unique in the New River Valley is its sourcing of ingredients from the on-site farm and other nearby farmers and foragers for use in its beverage and kitchen recipes. Beer is made with organic malts and uses well water from the property. Some seasonal beers on tap now include: Beet Drop Sour Saison (roasted farm beets), Ginger Hare Carrot Saison (roasted farm carrots), Apple Atcha Pale Lager (regional apples pressed into juice on site), Mountain Mango Berliner Weisse (wild foraged pawpaws), and the Grass Bruts IPA (with wet hops grown on site). The brewery operates a smaller 3-barrel system, offering a frequently changing selection of roughly 10–14 beers, as well as numerous non-alcoholic beverages all made in small batches in-house.
The brewery and taproom offer prepared foods as a farm-focused kitchen, with seasonal menu item features and wood-fired pizza, along with live music and events. The setting is rustic and largely open-air—a covered taproom in the barn and adjacent patio, outdoor seating, farm fields and mountain views. The taproom and kitchen are open year-round, serving lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday.
Rising Silo formed under the visioning of Greg Zielske, an avid homebrewer and Hokie graduate, the property owner Pat Bixler, and members of the Glade Road community. The idea began around 2014, and Rising Silo first offered brews to the public in 2015. The mission of Rising Silo Brewery extends beyond just making and sharing great beer - working to create a farm-based place where people can gather, eat, drink, listen to music, and connect with the local community.
This Saturday: the New River PawPaw Fest, 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. And mark your calendar for the Harvest Square Dance on Saturday, September 26, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
📌 The community board
Baked & Loaded sets its grand opening. The bakery and loaded-fries spot announced its grand opening for Saturday, September 26, with a ribbon cutting at 11:30 a.m. and the opening at noon. Details in the community post.
Vote for the Blacksburg Junior Woman's Club. The club is competing in The Solomon Organization's "Give A Chance" charitable event, with a shot at up to a $10,000 donation. You can vote once daily through Friday, October 16. Announcement post.
🗳️ Early voting starts today
Virginia's 45-day early voting period begins today for the November 3 general election. Montgomery County voters can cast ballots in person at the Montgomery County Government Center, 755 Roanoke Street in Christiansburg, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through Saturday, October 31. Check your registration and polling details through the Virginia Department of Elections or the Montgomery County Registrar's page
🏈 Saturday: Coach Franklin’s Maryland Connection
Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., the Hokies head to SECU Stadium in College Park for their first real test of the James Franklin era. Both teams are 2-0, but neither has played anybody worth measuring: Tech rolled VMI 73-3 and Old Dominion 44-21, while Maryland shut out Hampton 62-0 and won at UConn 38-14.
The matchup is personal for Franklin. He coached at Maryland twice in the 2000s, was named head coach in waiting under Ralph Friedgen, then left for Vanderbilt when the plan fell apart. At Penn State he went 9-2 against the Terps, and the last meeting was pure theater: a touchdown as time expired in a 44-7 blowout, a heated postgame confrontation, and Mike Locksley publicly fuming about the late score. The receiver who caught that final touchdown, Tyseer Denmark, now plays for Virginia Tech.
Maryland has won 20 straight non-conference games, the longest active streak in the country. The Hokies have not beaten a non-conference Power Four opponent since 2017. Something gives Saturday night on FOX or FS1.
📰 News Around the NRV
New voice for Hokie women's hoops and baseball. Virginia Tech named Jake Lyman, a 2022 graduate who spent four years as the voice of Vanderbilt women's basketball, as assistant director for broadcasting. He will call Hokie women's basketball and baseball on the Virginia Tech Sports Network. hokiesports.com
105-foot manufacturing structure heads to Christiansburg Town Council. The Planning Commission recommended a conditional use permit, with noise and lighting conditions, for a 105-foot manufacturing structure. Town Council holds a public hearing Tuesday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m., with action slated for October 6. Citizen Portal
Federal fire science hub lands at Virginia Tech. The university's College of Natural Resources and Environment is now the operational base for the Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists, backed by $192,000 a year in federal Joint Fire Science Program funding. news.vt.edu
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