Discover Smith Mountain Lake
FALL 2016
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We’d love to hear from you!
It’s always great to hear from our readers. We enjoy receiving your comments,
suggestions, puzzle solutions, and any photos and articles that you care to submit
to us.
Please understand that it is not always possible to answer everyone, but we do read
everything that we get.
If you would like to submit a photograph or article for consideration, please observe
the following guidelines:
• We cannot return the items that you submit; please do not send originals
• For best quality, digital photos must be high resolution (300 dpi)
• Images taken from websites are generally of lower resolution and therefore
unusable
• Articles should be relevant to SML or the immediate area, including:
o History of the area
o Interesting personalities in the community
o Adventures, life experiences, etc. of people with strong ties to the lake
o SML clubs, organizations, churches
o Culture and the Arts at the lake
o Fiction and humor from local writers.
While we encourage everyone to submit anything of his or her choosing, we cannot
guarantee that we will use your submission(s). Anything that is used may appear in
any subsequent issue of the magazine. We discourage readers from submitting the
following types of content:
• News stories, political opinion and other topical pieces that “age” quickly.
• Book reviews, restaurant and theater reviews
• Event driven stories, although we may print a photo or two from time to time
• Articles designed to promote or advertise a specific business
Please send submissions to:
Discover SML Magazine
40 Village Springs Dr., Suite 25, Hardy, VA 24101
Or via e-mail to:
From Our Readers
Dear Mr. Ernandes,
Every issue of Discover has been
good in all these recent years, and
this year’s Winter issue is superb!
Tears accompanied my reading
of the Christmas story,
The Most
Precious Gift
. My laughter went
along on your road trip,
Road
Wearier
. The calendar photos,
as always, are just right for each
month.
You certainly can be proud of your
first Alex Ernandes Scholarship
Awardee. I read the fish articles
because my husband, Tom, zeroed
in on them. I checked out the
Brain Teaser and even the poem,
In the Bleak Midwinter
, struck a
chord for me.
All in all, the Discover Winter
issue 2015-16 was a pleasure to
read, and I wanted to tell you.
Tim, your Editor’s Note left me
counting my blessings. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Nancy Rae Brown
Read us online at:
DiscoverSmithMountainLake.com
Good news!
Every issue of Discover SML is available online!
• Would you rather read DISCOVER SML on your computer?
• Did you miss an issue?
• Would you like to show Discover SML to someone who is out of the area?
Ten preschoolers from the Bethlehem UMC Preschool
in Moneta will forever remember facts about how Smith
Mountain Lake was formed. These four year olds were
assigned a “project” called “5 Going on 50” SML Project,
which entailed interviewing a fifty plus year old adult in the
community who could tell them about life before the lake.
The April focus for lessons was transportation, with weekly
emphasis on railroads, cars/trucks, boats/ships, and
airplanes. This allowed their 50+ friend to share pictures of
old (vintage) cars, trucks, and boats that were taken before
and during the construction of the lake. Children reported
about various bits of local history that their older generation
friend thought was important to celebrate about the lake.
One child spoke of the goat who the construction workers
could not relocate. Another child shared how the home of
his (50+) friend’s house was flooded and left at the bottom
of the lake. One child’s great grandparent had a dairy farm
before the lake, and now has beef cattle and chickens on
a hill above the lake. One child’s grandfather helped build
Smith Mountain Lake State Park, and one child visited the
spot where his parents were married on the lake. One child
shared a picture of a wooden bridge and said it was now
under water, but this bridge (pointing to Halesford Bridge)
“is the bridge I cross on my way to school everyday”. Each
child came with a different story and reported what they
had learned. They created posters, took pictures, brought
photo albums, and one child had newspapers of the 25th
anniversary of the lake.
“As an educator, no matter what age, our goal is to find a fun
and exciting way for children to learn and then remember
what they learned. The impacts were way beyond my wildest
dreams”, said Billie Jean Elmer, teacher of the 4 year old
class. “I had thembring in their projects and share their story
during class one day, and the next Preschool day we had a
family picnic at Smith Mountain Lake Community Park in
Franklin County, where they again shared their findings in
front of their families and guests.”
These children displayed tremendous poise and confidence
as they shared the stories. “We enjoyed counting to 50,
laughing at the old cars and trucks, looking at clothes 50
years ago, and learning what a dam actually does with the
water”, Ms Elmer said.
She also loved the intergenerational bonding, which allowed
the children a special day for lunch for their interview, or
a special sleepover with “granddaddy”, or a fun night with
just granny. Many of the children have enjoyed the lake for
recreational use, but now have a greater appreciation for
the lake and its impact on their families and senior citizen
friends when it was formed 50 years ago. “5 Going on 50” is
just another joy that SML has brought to many of residents
in Bedford and Franklin counties!
Going
On
Bethlehem UMC Preschoolers Learn
about Smith Mountain Lake
