Harleigh Cupp

SINGERS GLEN — According to historians, the pint-sized settlement once known as Mountain Valley hit its prime era of development in the late 1800s and continues to be saturated with strong bonds in land, religion and Funk family history to this day. Within the last year, a house built by the grandson of Joseph Funk in 1894 has been purchased and polished up by Elvin Shank who put the 3-bedroom Victorian estate on the short-term rental market for visitors to enjoy its historic charm.

ELKTON — Nothing hits the spot for a hungry Appalachian Trail hiker quite like a barn bed and a home-cooked meal and located just minutes from the base of Swift Run Gap entrance of Shenandoah National Park, is a family operation called Small Axe Farms where weary thru-hikers can find both. Small Axe Farms is owned and operated by husband and wife Alec Bauserman and Kelly Buck.

Time flies when one is focused on raising money for a cause they care about — especially in the case of the mother and son team behind 4 Hands 8 Paws. For the last five or six years, Carolyn Kenee has watched her son Peyton grow up. Now, he's an eleventh grader at Spotswood High School and heavily involved in sports. Despite getting older, Carolyn and Peyton Kenee have continued to dedicate their spare time to designing shirts, raising money and watching their not-for-profit business grow up too.