It's been 10 years since Winona Baker left the Kelsa Church of Christ to move to Cincinnati, Ohio, but her former Sunday School students still remember her small stature and long hair neatly twisted in a bun.
   Today, her legacy remains a constant source of wisdom for those who knew her.
   "All of the people in this area call it Miss Baker's church because she is the one that got it all started and kept it going," says current pastor of the Kelsa Church of Christ Vernon Blankenship.
   Baker first arrived in Buchanan County in 1961 after her mother passed away a few years earlier of an incurable form of colon cancer in their hometown of Connersville, Indiana.
   "I had friends in North Carolina, who had been after me to come down and visit them early that summer," Baker writes in a letter to members of the Kelsa Church. "In fact, one reason why (one of them) was wanting me to come down, I found out when I got down there, was he was wanting me to assist in starting a new church in a nearby town."
   She'd heard of Mountain Mission School in Grundy before leaving Indiana and decided to visit the school on her journey south.
   When she arrived, then-Mountain Mission School President Charlie Sublett accompanied her on a tour of the campus. She told him how she'd retired from teaching and hoped to start mission work. Immediately, she says, Sublett offered her a job.
   "I rejected that offer, saying that I wasn't ready yet," she writes. "And besides, I wanted to work in a place that was poor and couldn't afford a preacher. Right away, he said there were plenty of places around there like that."
   Telling her to contact him when she was ready to begin, Sublett prepared for her return.
   In August, she called him, announcing she would arrive in Grundy in a matter of days.
   It was the beginning of another school year that week, Baker recalls. So, she had to wait a few days before Sublett found the time to drive her to Kelsa.
   At the end of a driveway that followed the creek, Baker remembers the old two-room school house.

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
   “Stay informed. Stay safe. Stay healthy.”
     That’s the advice members of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors and the public received earlier this month during an overview of pandemic flu preparedness issues presented by Virginia Department of Health officials.
     In addition to brief comments on the issue, those in attendance at the meeting also had an opportunity to listen to or watch a video on the potential for pandemic flu.
     The word “pandemic” refers to a worldwide epidemic. In this case, the “worldwide epidemic” refers to what a particular strain of flu now being watched may turn into as it continues to develop and to mutate. At present, there is no pandemic flu present.
     Bryan Stanley and Jess Powers, with the Virginia Department of Health, made the presentation to board members and the public July 6. The presentation included a VDH video on the flu. They also invited board members and the local emergency services coordinator to attend a regional pandemic flu summit in Abingdon today (Thursday).
    The video, produced by the Virginia Department of Health, advises people there is no need to panic over the flu, reminding them that the department of health is keeping a close eye on the flu and its potential spread.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today!

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
    As the Buchanan County Relay for Life event draws closer, plans are being finalized for the event which will take place August 4 and August 5 at Poplar Gap Park.
    According to Relay Chairman Margaret Wakeland, there's still time for the community to be involved in the event which raises funds for the American Cancer Society to be used in research to find a cure for cancer.
   Donations are still being accepted from both corporations and individuals and those wishing to remember someone battling cancer now, or who has lost the fight to the dreaded disease may still purchase luminaries in their honor or memory. The luminaries will be lighted Friday, August 4 and will encircle the walking track where relay walkers will walk for a 24-hour period in solidarity with cancer victims who battle the disease 24 hours, seven days a week.
   Wakeland said some 27 teams have registered to help raise funds in this year's relay event to date. The number, she said, is about the same as last year. Several new teams have joined the lineup.
    One of the new features to this year's event will be the addition of games for children from Star the Clown Amusements. The games are inflatable rides, including a slide, a bounce room and a climbing wall. Also available will be laser tag and a bubble tub.
    Cancer survivors and their caregivers are also urged to mark the August 4 relay date on their calendars since the event will begin with the traditional walks by survivors and then their caregivers.
    To make a donation to the relay event, interested persons may make checks payable to the American Cancer Society and mail them to Wakeland at P.O. Box 492, Grundy, Va., 24614.
    To purchase luminaries, which are $5 each, interested persons may see any relay team member or mail their request and check for $5 made payable to the American Cancer Society, along with the information as to whom the luminary should be in honor of, or in memory of, to Patty Mullins, P.O. Box 94, PIlgrims Knob, Va., 24634.
    "I hope we have wonderful year," Wakeland said of her hopes for the annual fundraiser. "We've had a lot of good support from the community.
    Last year, the relay raised $154,000 and this year, Wakeland said, the goal is to raise $155,000.