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Good morning, Blacksburg.
October shows up in shorts and sunglasses: 83 and sunny today, one more summer day for the road. Enjoy it while it lasts, because Saturday brings a cold front with showers and highs in the mid 50s. Classic October, all four seasons in one week.
In today’s Blacksburg Connect:
🏠 New property values scheduled to arrive in mailboxes by mid-November
🍂 Fall color is arriving early this year
🚒 College students are keeping Blacksburg's fire department staffed
🎬 "Faust" turns 100 tonight at The Lyric, with a live score
Let’s get to it.
Thursday, October 1
The Art of Goodbye Exhibit Reception
5-7pm, Blacksburg Museum, 204 Draper Rd SW. The opening reception for the museum's annual exhibit on how mourning and death rituals have evolved through the Colonial, Victorian, and Modern eras.
Moon Hollow Witchy Market
5-9pm, 4237 Prices Fork Rd Ste B, Blacksburg. An October-themed market night at Moon Hollow Brewing to kick off spooky season.
Christiansburg Farmers Market
Thursdays, Huckleberry Park, 300 Huckleberry Pk Dr NW. Seasonal produce and plants at the weekly market.
Friday, October 2
Hokie Village Fan Festival
3:30-6:15pm, turf field along Beamer Way. Free pregame fan fest with country duo Crawford & Power, food trucks, autographs from Hokie athletes, and Coca-Cola samples. Follows the Josh Pate and Bussin' With The Boys broadcast.
VT vs Pitt — 7pm, Lane Stadium, ESPN (sold out)
4-0 Hokies vs 4-0 Pitt under the lights. It's the Stripe Effect and the Hall of Fame Game, and a win would be Tech's first 5-0 start since 2005. Rain is in the forecast, so pack the poncho.
Bussin' With The Boys / Josh Pate live from Hokie Village
2-3pm ET. The national spotlight sets up camp on campus ahead of the 7pm kickoff.
VT Fall Family Weekend — Oct 2-4
Family socials, info sessions, and tours across the weekend. Registration through the Hokie Family Hub; football tickets are sold out.
VT swim & dive home opener — Oct 2-3
The Hokies host Penn State, Liberty, and West Virginia at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.
Listening Room Concert Series: John Hildreth + Kat Mills
Doors 5pm, music 6-8pm, Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley, 21 W Main St, Pulaski. Free, $5 suggested donation, cash bar.
Sinkland Farms 35th Annual Pumpkin Festival
Friday hours; weekends run Friday through Sunday through November 1.
🍂 Fall color is arriving early this year
The Virginia Department of Forestry released its first fall foliage report of the season this week, and the takeaway is simple: plan your leaf-peeping a little earlier than usual. A year-long drought has pushed the color cycle forward across the state, with mountain ridgetops and urban trees turning sooner than normal and some trees dropping leaves ahead of schedule. Most key viewing areas are expected to peak on the earlier side. DOF updates its foliage map weekly from late September through early November, and the pattern holds that color starts at the highest elevations and works its way down, so head for the high country first. DCR foliage reports
🚒 College students are keeping Blacksburg's fire department staffed
Cardinal News reports that volunteer firefighter numbers are declining across the country, but Blacksburg has a pipeline most departments envy: Virginia Tech students. The Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department now counts 60 volunteers, including 20 college students, a share that has grown steadily over the past decade. This fall, 19 people applied and 8 were selected in early September, 7 of them students. The department covers gear, uniforms, and training, and about 95% of student volunteers stick around until graduation. The catch is the revolving door: graduation and school breaks create staffing gaps, and some summer days it is tough to get a full truck out.
🎬 "Faust" turns 100 tonight at The Lyric, with a live score
F.W. Murnau's 1926 silent classic "Faust" turns 100 this year, and The Lyric is marking the occasion with a centennial screening tonight at 7:30pm featuring a live original score performed by The Invincible Czars. The score is brand new, blending classical, bossa nova, and a touch of heavy metal across flute, violin, and electric guitar. The Czars are an Austin-based band writing live soundtracks for silent horror films since 2007, starting at the original Alamo Drafthouse. Tickets / The Lyric / Film background / Watch the trailer
🏠 New property values scheduled to arrive in mailboxes by mid-November
Montgomery County supervisors heard an update Monday night on the 2027 reassessment. The county must reassess all property at 100 percent of market value at least every four years. Vision Government Solutions is doing the work, and the new values take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
The timeline presented to the board:
October: fieldwork, data entry, sales studies, and land values completed
Nov. 14: change-of-value notices go out
Dec. 1–15: informal appeals
December: second change-of-value notices, plus final values and Land Book completion
Owners who attend an informal review get a second notice showing whether their value changed. Watch the reassessment update
📰 News Around the NRV
Radford welcomes a $5M TripStop travel center. The family-owned Roanoke chain will build a 5,000-square-foot travel center at I-81 Exit 105 with gas and diesel fueling, truck parking, driver showers, EV charging, and two hot-food concepts. Expected to create 25 to 40 jobs and be fully operational by 2028, with the company eyeing further development in Radford. Virginia's New River Valley
Szefc stays through 2030. VT baseball coach John Szefc agreed to a contract extension through 2030, announced Wednesday by athletic director Brian White, following five straight 30-win seasons and the program's return to the NCAA postseason in 2026. hokiesports.com
The Adams at Peppers Ferry lands $23.5M in build financing. Berkadia secured the financing for the 168-unit community under construction in Christiansburg through its HUD partnership: a 40-year loan at 4% fixed. The property sits within walking distance of the region's main retail concentration and less than two miles from LewisGale Hospital. Multi-Housing News
Monecia Taylor retires. Virginia Tech's vice president for advancement retires effective October 1 after a 35+ year advancement career. She joined Virginia Tech in 2016. Virginia Tech News
Gameday notebook. Hokie RB Jeffrey Overton Jr. was named ACC Running Back of the Week after a career-high 209 yards in the win at Boston College. SI
$9.26M for women's health research. Virginia Tech mechanical engineering professor Raffaella De Vita is leading a multi-institution NIH-funded project using computational modeling and machine learning to study how hormones reshape vaginal tissue across the lifespan. Virginia Tech News
Belinda Sturm awarded the Moore Family Endowed Chair. The head of Civil & Environmental Engineering received the Board of Visitors designation. Virginia Tech News
Designing Draper Street. VT landscape architecture students spent a week in a design charrette with the Town of Blacksburg, sketching ideas for Draper Street and an art trail linking the Huckleberry Trail to the Center for the Arts. Virginia Tech News
📌 Community Board
Lost wallet near War Memorial. A poster is looking for a friend's lost wallet near the War Memorial Chapel. FB post
Walkabout Outfitter fall arrivals. New gear from Patagonia, Vuori, Cotopaxi, Kuhl, The North Face, Howler Brothers, and Prana, 1560 S Main St. FB post
Fotheringay rezoning hearing. The Board of Supervisors takes public comment on the up-to-349-home Elliston development Tuesday, Oct 13, 7:15pm, Montgomery County Government Center, 755 Roanoke St, Christiansburg. FB post
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