Recently, we’ve been working on a (surprise) family history book for my dad, Ron Halsey, for his birthday in August.

We compiled a photographic family history of Eli Hamilton Halsey and Lillian Blanche Smith, Dad’s grandparents. It is 102 pages hardcover, 8.25″ x 10.75″ and can be ordered print-on-demand. It takes about two weeks for delivery.

We think this will be a great, affordable service we can offer writers for small runs or print-on-demand type books (like family histories!)

Using family photographs, tintypes, genealogies, stories, and some recent images, we have made a chronological photo history of the lives of our Alleghany ancestors.

We also drew a map of the northwest section Alleghany County where Eli & Lillian lived and marked important family homes, churches, and schools.

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Get your marketing materials for the Memorial Day Business & Tourism Expo at Village Park in Sparta, the kickoff event for the 2010 Summer Jamboree at Imaging Specialists.

If you’re planning an exhibition at the Expo, there is still time to get your signs or banners, flyers, sales sheets, or any other handouts you need. Place your order before May 14 to ensure you get everything in time for the Expo.

Call Today- 336-372-3002 or email claire@imagingspecialists.net for pricing and availability.

Wreath photo by Stewart Royall of Studio Roxie for Reeves Ridge Tree Farm.

Imaging Specialists is working on a new resource for our area. Emma Jean’s Blue Ridge Almanac will feature information for Alleghany and Ashe Counties in North Carolina and Grayson County, Virginia.

The almanac will be packed with calendar info, area services, humor, advice and lots more! This new resource will also include affordable ad space for area merchants and a reasonable selling price!

For more information on ad pricing or sales, to submit recipes or questions for Emma Jean or to just contact us, go to www.emmajeansalmanac.com.

Imaging Specialists was fortunate to be able to assist Alleghany Ministerium’s Solid Rock Food Closet with their 1st annual Empty Bowls event taking place April 16, 2010 at Village Park in Sparta.

We printed Announcement Letters, Event Admission Tickets, Flyers, Posters, and Raffle Tickets. We also created a web page for the event. The Raffle Tickets were for an original pottery piece by Alleghany Artist Bet Mangum, in whose honor the event will be held. We shot photos of the pottery and printed them onto the tickets and flyers and added them to the website.

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We are getting ready to go to press with the latest (March 2010) Alleghany Historical - Genealogical Society, Inc. newsletter. A large section of the newsletter focuses on the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Alleghany County is proud to celebrate this anniversary because of our close relationship with it. A few notable ties are:

1. Work was begun on the Parkway at Cumberland Knob, Alleghany County, N.C. September 11, 1935.
2. Midpoint of the Parkway is in Alleghany County near Mahogany Rock Overlook, elevation 3436′, mile marker 235 of 469 total miles. (Mahogany Rock is also a popular hawk watching site.)
3. First section of Parkway to be completed and open was 7.641 mile stretch from U.S. Highway 21 to Air Bellows Gap in Alleghany County, N.C.
   

   Sculpture of Robert Doughton on the Alleghany County Courthouse lawn.

4. Alleghany native, U.S. Representative Bob Doughton sponsored original bill.
5. Doughton Park in Alleghany & Wilkes Counties is the largest recreational area in the entire park.
6. The Blue Ridge Parkway is the most visited U.S. National Park.

We’ve also added an article on the 50th anniversary of the monster March 1960 snows and efforts to develop a county historical museum.

Imaging Specialists regularly generates and prints the Newsletter for the Historical Society and several other groups in the area. Contact Claire today for pricing. Call 336-272-3002 or email claire@imagingspecialists.net.