When Dan Perkins was a boy, growing up on Elkins Branch, his family didn't own a television or play records.
  But, that didn't stop him from dreaming of performing in front of a crowd. Today, those dreams have become a reality.
  Perkins began learning to play the guitar when he was only around 10 years old. It all began when a cousin from West Virginia gave him a cheap guitar, which his parents had purchased from Sears.
  "It was very difficult to play due to the strings being high off the fret board," Perkins says. "My father tuned it for me and showed me a few chords."
  He later bought a guitar chord book at a drug store in Grundy and began teaching himself to play.
  The hobby stuck and at 13 years old, Perkins was willing to invest in what made him the happiest.
  At approximately $50, the guitar he had his eye on was expensive for the time. But, he was determined to have it and began working on his grandfather's farm on Elkins Branch to pay for it.
  However, in the mid- to late 1950s, the sound of music began to change with the introduction of Elvis Presley and later in the 1960s, the Beatles.
  Though Perkins says he didn't appreciate Presley's impact on music at the time, he soon bought his first electric guitar around the time of Beatlemania when he was just 17 years old.
  Perkins, whose family didn't have the money for many luxuries, got through high school working several odd jobs around Elkins Branch, including working for his grandparents M.T. and Cora Shortridge on their farm and helping the janitors clean the school.
  It was the only way he was able to afford the expensive electric guitar.
  "My family was very poor due to my father being sick a lot and unable to find steady work," he says.
  The son of Emory and Alta Shortridge Perkins, he grew up along Slate Creek on Elkins Branch with his two brothers Emory "Junior" Perkins, Jr., currently of Cedar Bluff, and Lonnie Perkins, of Leemaster, and sister Linda Clemmons of Lebanon, Tenn.
  Though life was hard growing up, music was a great outlet for Perkins.
  During his junior year of high school, he formed a band, called the Vindets, and played around the region at places like the Pink Room near Haysi.
   When he graduated Grundy Senior High School in 1965, Perkins began attending Clinch Valley College, currently known as the University of Virginia at Wise.

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by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor 
  A resolution calling for the establishment of an ATV Authority in Buchanan County was adopted Monday during a meeting of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors.
  Board members have been working with all terrain vehicle riders for the past several months in an attempt to see that gates once opened to riders in the county, but now locked by CNX Gas Company are reopened. Also being discussed was the adoption of a specific trail route through Buchanan County.
  The resolution adopted Monday asks Southwest Virginia legislators to introduce legislation which would allow for the development of an ATV Trail Authority and allocate funding “to establish, insure, operate and advertise a public ATV trail from the West Virginia state line to the Dickenson-Buchanan County line, utilizing a combination of private, corporate and public lands.”
  Ron Coleman approached the board asking for adoption of the resolution.
  He spoke about the success of similar trails in neighboring West Virginia and eastern Kentucky and their impact on local economies in those states.
  ATV riders, he said, bring in additional revenues and businesses.
  He added that one trail boasted some 26,000 users and charged $19 per day for its use by riders or was open to season pass holders.
  County Administrator W.J. Caudill suggested with the current General Assembly session now almost concluded, the board had plenty of time to get support from neighboring counties, such as Dickenson, and he proposed the legislation could be readied in time for next year’s assembly session.
  He also expressed concern about wording in the resolution suggesting that direct funding for the trail could come from the Coalfield Economic Development Authority. Ultimately board members removed that language from the resolution.
  Caudill noted much footwork has already been done on establishing a trail through work with Jewell Smokeless Coal Company which previously signed easement agreements for the county to use in establishing a trail through its lands.
  “It is a good idea, but you may want to do a little footwork on it first,” Caudill said of the resolution to establish a trail authority.
  Coleman suggested it was his understanding while it is too late to for legislators to introduce the bill to create the authority in this session of the General Assembly, it was still possible for the governor to do so. He added that Del. Dan Bowling had indicated his willingness to speak with one of the governor’s aides about handling the matter in that manner.
  Further he noted while initial development of the trail began some years ago, the county has not continued to work on the project while focusing on other things.
  North Grundy Supervisor Carroll Branham suggested that the board appoint a committee to work on the project and it was agreed Branham and Garden Supervisor Buddy Fuller would serve on that committee.
  Roger Street, a member of the Lonesome Pine Trail Riders, said he was for a free public trail, but expressed concern about any attempt to charge people to ride on a Buchanan trail.
  Branham suggested that the committee should meet with the trail riders to get a trail worked out.
  David Lowe asked to be allowed to serve on the committee.
  Fuller made the motion to adopt the resolution.
  Street added that while the economic impact an ATV trail would have on the county would be great, “the people of this county just like to ride.”
  Prater Supervisor Eddie Lindsay seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.

by Scotty Wampler
Staff Reporter  
  Employees at the Grundy Issues And Answers facility applauded  the company's decision to raise the pay scale $1 across the board.
  The announcement was made Monday.
  In addition to the pay raise for existing employees, new hires will now earn $8 per hour, more than a 14 percent jump from the previous wage of $7.
  "We want to reward the employees who are here," Maida Tipping, vice president and human relations director for the company, said. "It's a thank you."
  Tipping said 2006 was the most successful year in the company's nearly 19-year history, adding the Grundy facility played a large role in that accomplishment.
  The pay increase, she said, was the company's way of showing its appreciation the the employees who made it possible.
  "Your good work and your hard work has really paid off for the company," she said to a room full of excited employees.
  "I think everybody's excited tonight," facility manager Brian Casey said. "I think production's going to be really high."
  Tipping cited low overhead and employee loyalty as the primary reasons why the Grundy facility has become so valuable to the company. She also said the facility's clients notice the quality of the workforce, with one contract on the verge of being doubled.
  "We just need a few more workers," Tipping said, referring to the amount of work the facility continues to receive. "It really is a great team. We don't have morale problems here."
  In addition to the pay increase, the company has also boosted its employee referral program, which offers a $50 bonus to workers who refer friends or family members for employment. The bonus is awarded after the referred person spends 60 days on the job. Previously, the bonus amount was $25, with a 90-day window.
  The Grundy facility opened its doors in 1995 with a beginning hourly wage of $5.
  The company is considering expanding to one or two more locations in 2007, Tipping said. Currently, the company operates four call centers -- three in Michigan -- in addition to the Grundy location.
  Monday's pay increase was exclusive to the Grundy facility.