Randy Smith for LYH

11/05/2026

Livable Lynchburg was at it again this weekend.

Bedford Avenue cleanup.

Dirt, debris, and overgrowth were cleared off the sidewalk heading up to Rivermont Ave. The holly bushes across from Golf Park Coffee were trimmed back. The "desire path" from Bedford Ave to the Dollar General was cleared of weeds and trash, then some pavers were placed.

Follow over on Instagram to learn about upcoming meetings and future projects.

Strong Towns

02/05/2026

Made some progress. It was like bailing hay. Hopefully I can get back in the next day or two and finish unless someone beats me to it. Thanks again Kimberly Dyke-Harsley for letting everyone know about this hidden gem. (4th and Filmore).

Could use some other folks pitching in who do some top-notch lawn service work. I'm looking at you Jibri Poe and Mitxh Richards (I don't know why it won't let me tag you).

02/05/2026

Community activist Kimberly Dyke-Harsley posted about this overgrown and neglected neighborhood park a few days ago. Thought I'd start chipping away at it and hopefully we can get others to join.

No idea who originally created the park so if anyone knows the history, feel free to chime in.

Thanks Elks Lodge #181 Lynchburg for the perfect wing. CORRECTION - I SAID ELKS LODGE 518 WHEN I MEANT TO SAY 181. SORRY LEONARD.

25/04/2026

There are many organizations in working hard to build and improve community. Today Pierce Street Gateway and Pierce Street Community Garden led the way with their annual Community Appreciation BBQ.

Chair yoga, Tai chi, plant sales, and service organizations were just a few of the ways to engage, learn, and meet new friends. Mayor Doris Waller was taking care of business with morning exercises. And don't forget the food! Elks Lodge #181 Lynchburg showed us all how to do it right.

If your organization is putting together an event and you need chairs or a stage, get in touch with me. It takes a village to build community and sometimes we all need a place to sit.

04/03/2026

We all know about the school to prison pipeline, but what about the school to fascism pipeline?

“You MUST be aligned politically with President Trump… GPA is not a strong factor.”

03/03/2026

Proud to have played a small part in this by coordinating the location. Great job Dannie Snyder and all the others involved.

Good news to start the week.

We’re excited to share that a photo of our officers and local high school students was selected as one of 12 winners nationwide in the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Highlighting Heroes photo contest.

The image captures officers and students working side by side last summer painting a mural focused on mental health and hope. This project began with young people who asked for support and partnership to help start the conversation about mental health. Our officers were proud to show up and stand beside them.

We are grateful for officers who care deeply about this community and aren't afraid to get a little paint on their uniforms. We are just as proud of the incredible students who used their voices, shared their vision, and worked hard to bring it to life.

Thank you to our community partners, Horizon Behavioral Health, Su***de Prevention Awareness Coalition, Get Hype Lynchburg and Hughes Supply for helping make this possible. This recognition belongs to all of you.

Here’s to starting the week with something positive and remembering that there is always hope.

You can see this photo and the others winners here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/2026-community-policing-action-photo-contest-winners

25/02/2026

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

if you get a "paperless post" evite like this, don't open it. I've gotten a couple in the last two days. When you open it, you'll be asked to log into your Gmail account. That seemed suspicious to me so I exited and deleted it. You should too. You may also see something similar to "wusu digital".

If you provided your Gmail info, go change your password ASAP.

21/02/2026

For those young folks who chose to walk out of school today and are getting pushed around in social media comments, please disregard the voices of those who discount your actions, your knowledge, and your concern about what is happening to the country you will inherit. Those voices will always choose exclusion and not inclusion. They will always choose control over collaboration. They fail to recognize that great change, more often than not, begins with youth. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (note the first word in the name of SNCC) was central to the Civil Rights movement, Fred Hampton of the Black Panthers was only 21 when he was assassinated, The Birmingham Children's Crusade, Malala Yousafzai was 17 when she won the Nobel Peace Prize, Joshua Wong was pivotal in the 2014 Hong Kong Umbrella Movement and was nominated for Time Person of the Year at the age of 18, and the list goes on and on. Do your research, understand the issues, take action, vote, and don't let the doubters dull your enthusiasm or compromise your idealism as the years pile on because that's exactly what happened to them. The world will get better if you make it so, and we're all counting on you.

20/02/2026

It happened last week!

Soulfood Delight opened their doors two months after a fire ripped through part of the building.

Go give Ms Ebony some love and some money in exchange for a plate of great food. Finally getting my fried chicken livers again (don't be a hater).

2410 12th St

12/02/2026

For the 3rd year in a row I'm helping organize a team to participate in the "Coldest Night of the Year" fundraising walk to support Miriam's House and their fight to end homelessness in Lynchburg.
If you want to join our team, The Blue Crew, donate to the team, or donate to anyone on the team, here's the link:

https://tinyurl.com/CNOY-LDC

To join or donate to the team, you'll see links in the top right of the page. To donate to a team member, click on their name. This certainly isn't a competition, but we're neck and neck with another team for 1st place!! if it were a competition, which it's not, but if it were, here is where you would keep track (not that I'm keeping track):

https://cnoy.com/location/lynchburg

Why do I choose to support Miriam's House and this event in particular? Homelessness is an issue that has become close to my heart because it has been physically close to me for many years. My workshop is located in an area that sees more than its fair share of people struggling with shelter. I have met many of these folks and many have become my friends. Miriam's House has had a direct impact on finding housing for several of these friends and I have seen how basic shelter changed their lives.

I do what I can to help on an individual basis. One year I erected an insulated tent and ez-up next to my shop and sheltered two different friends through the winter. It was a terrible way to live for months but they preferred it to sleeping in a park, an abandoned home, or a crowded shelter. While helping people one-on-one is better than no help at all, it takes organizations like Miriam's House to have a large scale impact in our community.

Please give if you can.

Thanks, I appreciate y'all.
Randy