Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Help The Homeless Web Site

A short time ago we reported about a new organization here in Gloucester County called Help The Homeless of Gloucester, Virginia. There web site is now under construction and can be seen in it's early stages by clicking here. It will probably be a few more weeks before the site is fully up and running on it's own, but for now, we have their link covered. This is a very worthy cause that everyone in Gloucester County should get behind. In fact, it's a worthy cause for the entire state to get behind. We here this will soon be going to the papers and the news media and reaching our political leaders very soon.

So step up everyone and Help The Homeless in our own community first.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Help The Homeless of Gloucester County Virginia

There is a new program emerging in Gloucester County, Virginia called Help The Homeless of Gloucester, Virginia. A program designed to bring help and hope to the growing number of people forced into homelessness for any number of reasons these days. When one thinks of homeless people, it's usually visions of people with addictions problems or the mentally challenged. Well there is a whole new breed of homeless people these days. A very bad economy that is forcing people out of jobs, lower wages while prices continue to rise, getting injured and not being able to work, illnesses forcing one out of work, these are the many reasons we are seeing a growing population entering into homelessness. Some people do have friends and family to turn to, others are not so lucky.

People forced to live in their cars or live in tents somewhere in the woods. There are no shelters on this side of the water for families or men. There is one shelter for women and children, but a family that wishes to stay together, there is nothing. What about social services? Still nothing. Section 8 for housing is backed up for years and if you can get on the list? You will wait many years before anything comes up. What about charities? Very short term band aid help. A charity may pay for a family about one night in a local motel, that's it. There are no plans and there is no help for any family facing or in the situation of being homeless.

Even if one has the money to rent a place, many are finding themselves locked out of the rental market due to things such as income requirements that landlords have now adopted as well as being able to pass a credit check. If you just lost your home to foreclosure, your credit stinks. The reason does not matter why your credit stinks, bad credit does lock you out. Also, if you just lost your home, chances of you having enough money to pay the first moths rent, a security deposit, have all the money to get all the utilities turned on are rather slim. Are we getting the picture yet? Folks, the numbers of homeless in Gloucester County Virginia are growing daily. This problem is not going to go away either.

As you go around the county, you will start seeing flyers posted in windows and on bulletin boards for Help The Homeless of Gloucester Virginia, this organization is going to spread throughout the county over the next few months like crazy. Help The Homeless of Gloucester Virginia is looking to build real long term solutions and not just band aid programs that steal the dignity of those who are already suffering major losses. This organization is looking for volunteers for every area, donations of every kind from land to abandoned buildings, office space to office supplies, furniture, blankets, you name it. Most of all, the organization needs shelter for people now. If you can help, please call 1 757 504 5184.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Glo Quips Also Known As DE Hardit Press Web Site

While trying to find the official web site for Glo Quips also known as DE Hardit Press, we were not able to find a site for the local paper. Seems a little strange in this day and age, especially when news papers all across the country are dying a slow death due to the Internet. We wanted to code them in to our new search engine as we noticed they were not coming up in our tests. The more we dug, the more we have come to the conclusion that Glo Quips does not have an on line presence at this time. We hope that changes for their sake soon. A web site does take a lot of work, no question about it. Especially when reporting news. You not only have to contend with the press part of your business, you also have to contend with the web side as well and the pages have to be changed weekly.

You also do not want to report your entire paper on line for free either as that would just kill your paper business. It's also tough to put advertisers on your site as opposed to putting them in your paper. It's a tough call either way. I prefer an on line presence as this is where everyone is looking these days.



For all the latest news, please click on the Home button towards the top of this site.
Have a news story? Submit it above.
Some of Gloucester's most incredible history is found on this site in detail.
Gloucester, VA Links and News – A GVLN Website.
We cover what no one else will.

Gloucester County Virginia's Most Comprehensive Search Engine Is Here

We are very pleased to announce that through our partnership with Google, we have created the most comprehensive search engine ever for Gloucester County Virginia. The first of it's kind anywhere that we are aware of. So what does this mean to you? It means that you can come here and use this search engine to eliminate results for Gloucester County, NJ, Gloucester County, MA, Gloucester County, England and everything else in between. The only thing we have in our search engine is Gloucester County Virgina sites. The search engine is at the bottom of this page and has the Google logo on it so you can't miss it.

Time saving searches for everyone looking up anything for Gloucester County Virginia. Sites are no longer buried deep within the search engines. What you are looking for is now right at your fingertips. Individual businesses that do not use Gloucester Virginia in their site code will not be found at this time as each business will have to be coded on an individual basis. Because of this, we must charge a small fee for any business that wants to be included in the search results for Gloucester County Virginia. The fee is a yearly fee as we have to re code each business each year.

Go ahead and try the new search engine. It is so cool. You do not have to type in Gloucester County Virginia or any of those three key words to find what you are looking for. Type in a school name and it pops right up. No more digging or extra words to get to what you are looking for. You are going to love this new search engine, so bookmark this site now and start searching the fun and easy way.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Mark Warner Slammed On National Health Care Issue In Virginia

In this video, Mark Warner is slammed on national health care issues at a town hall meeting in Fredericksburg, Virginia. See it here for yourself.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Yorktown Fife and Drum Opens for VA Symphony Orchestra



Saturday evening, September 5th, 2009, The Yorktown Fife and Drums opened for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra at the monument in the historic area. Another fantastic performance by the band as usual. What was also nice was the performance by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. We saw their concert at the courthouse area at the end of May and it was a great concert and a lot of fun.

The concert at Yorktown was a different venue however which was very refreshing. We had a great time there which nothing less was expected. Yorktown really does a wonderful job putting on concerts, shows and events. The food and other refreshments were rather costly but what isn't these days. Ice cream for 4 was $20.00. I like the Ice Cream for 4 at under $4.00 from the store instead, but someone has to pay that ridiculous over head. So we have a lot of pictures to update our Virginia Symphony Orchestra review site as well as some new videos and pictures for our Yorktown Fife and Drum review site. We will let you know when they are all up.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Gloucester Residents Save Money On Movies Now

Click Here!
This link will take you to a site we highly recommend you check out. For less than you pay for one month of cable TV, you can get 2 years of download movies that you can rip to your hard drive, burn to DVD and watch on your TV or just stream them onto your computer and watch them. Either way, it's a great way to save a lot of money and increase your entertainment options for much less than you pay for one month of cable TV. Add this with a subscription to blockbuster home delivery and you won't even need cable or satellite TV anymore.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Get The Best Tattoos In Gloucester

Click Here!
Go to the link above and pick out the best tattoo art and get the best tattoos right here in Gloucester. Tattoos are a growing form of art that many people like to express on ones self. The link is for a site where you pick out art work that you would like expressed on your own body. Some of the best art around in the world today. Take some time to check it out.

Free Hunter Magazine To Gloucester Residents


North American Hunter

On this site you can pick up a free hunter magazine. Always keeping everyone's interests at heart here at Gloucester County Links & News. We have other offers coming soon for you fishermen, history buffs, gardeners and outdoor folks. Great way to keep your mind occupied on the positive aspects of life.

Meet Someone Special In Gloucester, Gloucester Dating


View Photos of Singles - Match.com

We decided to add this site as it is the largest and best site on the Internet for meeting new people for possible long term relationships. It can be a tough world out there and any help that anyone can get is always appreciated. So here's to meeting someone new and possibly finding the love of your life.

For The Gloucester Woman

Free Shipping on ALL U.S. Orders at FlirtCatalog.com! No code necessary. Expires 10.31.09

We have not forgotten about the women here in Gloucester that want to create a special treat for their significant other. Here is a site where you can buy a costume and create a special day, evening, weekend or what ever you like for a romantic time. Also not a bad place to check out some Halloween costume ideas either.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Gloucester Residents, Please Watch Out For New Scams

Hey everyone. Just want to send out a reminder that the scams are coming in fast and furious these days as the economy is down so the scams are up. The latest big scam which is rather old but on the grow as it is a good one, Secret Shopping. There are variations on this scam but they always play out the same way. If you are prospected for one of these positions via email, this is the first giveaway you are being scammed. These companies are not looking for people to join them. People are looking to join those companies instead. Strike one.

The folks on the other end have email addresses such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, or one of the other free service providers, strike two. You are sent an email to provide your information and it is not a legal application form, strike three. Yet people are still falling for these with these three strikes already in play. Here is the hook, $100.00 to $200.00 per assignment, plus $30.00 to $50.00 to spend as you want at your assignment. You also get to keep what you buy with the 30 to 50 bucks. In one particular case, the victim was promised at least $400.00 per week for super easy and fun work.

The inning is almost over yet the majority of victims are fully hooked in to believing the scams are real offers and that they have just been very fortunate. Well you are not. Here is the rest of the deal. Your first assignment is usually going to your nearest Wal Mart or Old Navy store and buying some items and then either going to Money Gram in Wal Mart and sending the money on to another secret shopper or go to a Western Union to do the same. The sinker for you. Once you cash the check(s) you get, which are usually Money gram checks or Western Union checks, these are fraudulent and even though you already got the money from the bank, the bank will be calling you or sending you a letter in a few days letting you know they either froze your bank account or are demanding payment from you on the bad checks.

If you have the money to cover these checks, consider it gone. It now belongs to the bank. If you didn't have the money to cover the check(s), you will have to come up with it somehow or have charges pressed against you for passing fraudulent products. So instead of you making money, you just lost a fortune if you fell for this. It's really a good scam that hooks a lot of people very quickly. Take these things into consideration. There is a certain degree of legal matters that must be accomplished before you ever even get a job offer, such as filling out a full employment application, supplying your SS number and and drivers license. These must also be presented as copies verifed by someone as part of the hiring process.

There is always a professional web site where you receive training before starting your first assignment. You will also have a manager that you report to that has decent grammar. Scammer's are notorious for bad grammar. Always question why you are sent such large amounts and are paid on the spot before performing any work. Another strike is your Money Orders being sent to you via an overnight service. Why do the scammer's use this method? Many times there is a loop hole where checks can't be detected as frauds for anywhere between 24 through 96 hours. So getting you these checks as fast as possible is very important to the scam.

I have seen some of these checks recently. They are incredibly good. They will easily pass through many banks. The bottom line here really is that you can be legally charged for forgery if you have already cashed any of these checks and you can not cover them. I'm not saying this is fair. It isn't, but the fault is also not the bank's, nor the money order issuing companies.

So please keep your best senses about you whenever looking at any offer out here. Stop and ask yourself if what you are being asked for or to do is normal. Have all the proper steps been taken? These are the warning signs that if they have not been properly adhered to, should cause you to run the other way no matter how attractive the offer. Remember this, attractive offers are the hooks. Hooks can tear you apart.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Gloucester County Auto Parts Discounts

10% Off All Auto Parts - AutoPartsGiant.com

Go to the above link and see the type of savings you can get on auto parts as opposed to the local dealers. Get the parts you need sent right to your door or shop. Now this isn't always practicle we know. But when you have time on your side, you can get real savings on your side as well.

Print Your Gloucester Pictures On Kodak Paper

Kodak Gallery

Now that you have had your vacation and taken a bunch of pictures, demand the best and print those pictures on genuine Kodak paper through Kodak's link above. Save a ton of time and money and just sign up, upload and order your prints and they will be sent to you for less than taking them to Wal Mart to be developed.

Movies Delivered To Your Home In Gloucester



Here is another way to save money. Instead of driving to the blockbuster store and renting your movies, get the movies deleivered to your mail box instead. It's cheaper and faster too. Plus look at all the gas you will save not having to drive. When you are done watching the movie, just stick it back in your mailbox and then you will get another sent to you. It's really that easy. Plus you can rent more movies for less money. So why wouldn't you want to take advantage of that?

Gloucester Residents Make Money Now On Your Vacation Home

Annual property listings for $249 at VRBO.com. Reach 80 million vacationers looking for your vacation home!

Why not make money on your vacation home? Now more than ever, everyone can use extra money. If you own a vacation home, check out the link on this post and rent your vacaction home and make some extra money this year. We here at Gloucester Links & News are dedicated to helping you find ways to make a little extra income and save money as well. It's a tough economy and so we are searching new ways to help you get through it all.

These cigarettes are not banned in public

LUCI is like the real thing
LUCI really satisfies! Everything you want, without all the junk.
Great flavors to choose from!

These cigarettes have not nor will they be banned from public use as they are not your normal or typical cigarettes. No odor, no mess, no fuss, no complaints from anyone. Luci is a new electronic cigarette that gives you all the flavor and satisfaction of a regular cigarette without the problems associated with regular cigarettes. Come check out the latest for yourself.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Never Be Taken By A Contractor Again

Find local ratings on who to hire for all your home projects. Angie's List makes it easy to find the best. Join today.
Angie's List is the site that allows you to check the ratings of local contractors based on your neighbor's experience with a contractor. Never be taken by a contractor that does lousy work, never shows up, never finishes a job or highly over charges for services again. This site also allows you to rate your contractor and let everyone else know whether the person or company you hired did a great job, fair job, bad job or never even did the job after payment. Never hire a contractor without this list.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Access Destinations Hotel Savings At 50 Percent Off


We have a question for everyone. Would you travel more or stay longer at a destination if your hotel room bill was 50 percent cheaper than the normal rates? Let's say you were heading down to Orlando Florida. Would you be more inclined to make the trip if your daily room bill was say, $60.00 instead of $120.00 per night? Would you stay in Orlando longer if you could get these types of rates? The question does not just apply to Orlando either. It applies to anywhere in the nation you want to travel to.

At the bottom of this site is a place where you can email us. This is an important question that we need your help with. We are working on seriously bringing you deals on Hotels that no one else can get or match. If this proves to be successful, we will also work on restaurant deals, ticket deals and dinner theater deals to boot. Thank you in advance to all who answer this question.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Walt Disney and Orlando Florida Tourism Numbers Down


While we were down in Orlando Florida, we noticed that travel and tourism is way down in the magical kingdom area. Although busy, the overall numbers are not where they used to be. We have not studied the Williamsburg market as of late, but we are pretty sure the numbers are not so great there either. While in Florida, we signed a number of new contracts and we are working on a national level now instead of just the Southern and Eastern part of Virginia. We are also working on bringing new deals to everyone to help make life more interesting.

In case anyone was wondering, tickets to the Disney parks went up about a month ago. Average price into any of the parks is now around $80.00 per person per day. Multiple days per person can bring the price down to about $60.00 per person. That's all pretty pricey. Add to that the $4.00 pretzel and the $4.00 soda per person and that's just a cheap snack, Disney is a very expensive venture these days.

In all fairness, there is no other place like it on earth and production is expensive. If you have never been there, we would recommend going and fairly soon before it gets even more expensive. It's worth the price when you see the show they put on and experience the Disney World difference.

Besides Disney, Orlando has so much to offer that one could not begin to do it all in even one intensive month. Seaworld, Universal Studios, all the dinner theaters, the shopping, the markets, Wet & Wild, Gator parks, glide boating, and so much more, the area is loaded with tons of fun and excitement. We will be bringing you more on this soon as we get through all the pictures we took and we will also be getting back to the local news soon too. With the economy in a slump, there are plenty of great deals to be had out there. Cheers for now.

Our Web Site Was Down Due To Technical Difficulties


Hello Everyone. We would like to take a moment to apologize for this site being down for over a week. We were down in Florida learning some new stuff to bring back and improve this and our other sites. While there, we missed our domain name renewal notice so the site went down. That's our technical difficulties we had.

We spent a lot of time in Orlando and traveled throughout the state of Florida learning about new markets and marketing. We also took over 5,000 pictures and videos to boot. So we have a lot of new stuff to share and a lot of great things we will be bringing to you. We have not put up much over the past month but that is going to change. So look for more new exciting changes in the month ahead. We had a great first year and we are looking to create an even better second year. Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Minor Changes

We have some temporary minor changes. We were out of town for the month of August and missed the .com renewal. We will get the .com back up soon, but in the mean time, we are still here. Our out of town trip means some new and very exciting changes for us. We will be bringing you some very exciting new material as soon as we have everything back the way it was.

Thank you for your patience.

Friday, July 31, 2009

220 Foot White Cloud Ship, Owner Update Information.



There is a rather large community out there that follows the ship, the White Cloud. (Pictured above). Everyone wants to know who the owner is and no one is able to easily trace this information. A name that pops up often is Gary A Wingert. Well Gary A Wingert does own a boat called the White Cloud which happens to be a 31.5ft sailboat, but he is not the owner of the 220ft White Cloud ship. The owner of the White Cloud appreciates their privacy and we should as well. Though it would be nice to know who owns her, everyone should respect the rights of the owner to remain anonymous.

On the other side of that coin is the thrill of the chase and the award of being the first to announce who the owner is and getting all the recognition for making that announcement. So in fairness to both sides, may the chase continue and may the owners remain private.



For all the latest news, please click on the Home button towards the top of this site.
Have a news story? Submit it above.
Some of Gloucester's most incredible history is found on this site in detail.
Gloucester, VA Links and News – A GVLN Website.
We cover what no one else will.


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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Gloucester County Fair Is Coming, August 12th to the 16th, 2009



The Gloucester County Fair is coming real soon. August 12th through the 16th. This is the slide show we created from last year's fair. It's also the slide show we kicked this site off with. Having attended this event for the past few years, we can say that each set up is a bit different from the previous year. Buying advanced tickets is a bargain compared to the ticket prices that need to be paid at the door. There is usually a very decent selection of food and drinks available for purchase so you should not have any issues finding something to eat and drink.

Exhibits abound by local artists and crafts folks. County information booths are usually represented around the fair as well to keep you up to date with local happenings. The official site for the fair has a lot of great information on it and we recommend you visit this page, especially if you want to include your works in the fair. Click Here to go to the main site.

Of course we will be there once again taking tons of photos and some video this time to include and let everyone remember the fun times they had, or missed. So pick a day and mark your calendar now for a date between the 12th and the 16th of August.

Gloucester Renaissance Festival, Extensive Slide Show


We shot over 11 gigs of material at the Gloucester Renaissance Festival the past weekend and here is just a small sampling of the photos. We still have a lot more to go through yet. It was a great weekend filled with a lot of wonderful people. We are working on a new site for the event for those of you who missed it and for those of you who were there and want to see more of it again.

Friday, July 24, 2009

The 100 ft ship, The Prestige Lady At Gloucester Marina


The 100ft ship, the Prestige Lady was in Gloucester last week. We had a chance to take some pictures of her and these are some of them. We have more that we will get on here soon. Beautiful boat. She was hit by a Casino Boat back in April of 2009 while docked in Texas as we did a bit of background checking on her. No fun, but she looks good now. The owners were very gracious to allow us to photograph her and post these pictures on line. The story of that along with the pictures are right HERE. (click the word - HERE).

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Renaissance Festival At The Courthouse, One Day Left. Sunday, July 19th, 2009



One day left of the Renaissance Festival. Though not a large event, it is very well done and orchestrated. If you are wondering if it's worth your time, the answer is yes. We thought it might be a snoozer, but to our surprise, it's a great time. Lot's of fun for everyone in the family of all ages. The people doing the period interpretations are fantastic and a great deal of fun to talk to. Wonderful music and dance. You have to come out and see it.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Renaissance Festival At The Courthouse This Weekend, July 18th & 19th, 2009

Gloucester is having it's 3rd annual renaissance festival this weekend, July 18th & 19th, 2009 at the Gloucester Courthouse area. We will be there taking plenty of pictures to share with anyone who misses this event for any reason. If you are not tied up with something like a wedding or vacation out of town, make sure to clear your calendar to come out to this event as it is sure to be a good time. Click Here to see more details about the festival.

The Coleman Bridge At Night


We went over to Yorktown and took some new pictures of the Coleman Bridge. They came out pretty good. We will create a photo slide show soon of all our new Coleman Bridge pictures as we have some really nice shots. This is a night shot with a nice golden hew.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drums From July 4th, 2009


Starting at 8:15 PM prior to the fireworks in Colonial Williamsburg was the Fife and Drum corp playing on stage performing a 1 hour show. The show started with the Junior corp followed by the elite members of the senior corp and then the entire senior corp. At the end of the show, the fireworks began. This year was much better coordinated than previous years. We filmed all but two tunes due to having to change batteries and cards. We are working on hosting everything we captured as fast as we can process it. Here is one of the clips from that set.

This is the Junior corp on stage.

4th of July Fireworks From Colonial Williamsburg



Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. We went over to Colonial Williamsburg this year and they did a much better job than in previous years. The fireworks were the standard 15 minutes before the grand finale, but then they had a surprise for everyone. A second grand finale started after a few minutes. Quite the surprise. After that was over, there was a third grand finale. When you thought that was over, they just kept it up. We got the 3 grand finale's on video and have them here for you.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Gothic Rock, New Web Site, Discover Gothic Metal

Click Here for one of our latest sites. We like all kinds of music. Heck we will even admit enjoying a day of Polka. This new site though is a Gothic Rock Site. Something a bit different for us, but what we like about Gothic Rock is the combination of classical music and even opera like vocals mixed with rock and roll. The band we have been featuring on this new site is Nighwish. Gothic Rock has not made a big hit in the US yet but it has been raging all over Europe and Asia for years. Here is a sample of the type of videos on our new site. It's not for everyone. But it's pretty cool all the same.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Monday, June 29, 2009

Sunset Down At Gloucester Point Beach


Here is a photo we shot tonight. Sunset at the Gloucester Point beach. The photo has not been edited at all save compressing the image to a smaller size for quicker upload.

Belle Mount Vineyards Rep Says Northern Neck Wineries Not Worth Our Time


While we were at the incredibly boring wine festival in Kilmarnock, we had a chance to talk to one of the reps for the Belle Mount Vineyards who was very convincing that the Northern Neck Wineries were not worth our time. We believe him as far as Belle Mount goes then. He claimed to speak with reasonable authority for the other winery owners in the Northern Neck as well. Well, there we do not believe him.

We had a two fold purpose for visiting Kilmarnock today. One was to check out how the area puts on events, which didn't even hit lackluster, and to stir up some interest on our upcoming project of an on line driving tour of wineries. Here is the great thing about our on line tour, it costs the owners nothing but some of their time to allow us to photograph their winery and also to give us some history and background about the winery. We designed a flyer to hand out in order to start the interest. Well we never made it past Belle Mount as the rep was not capable of listening to us and and could not see past one part of our flyer. He proved to not be worth our time. The event was not worth our time as it was a major disappointment.

So instead of talking to the few other wineries that were at the event, we just left in disgust. So now we will contact the other wineries of the Northern Neck and see if they are interested in free promotions and if they want to be included in our tour listings. Belle Mount will not be on our list from this point forward.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Kilmarnock Wine Festival, Boring Times

We decided to take a small trip over to the Kilmarnock Wine Festival today, June 27th, 2009. It was truly a very boring event. Hardly anyone there on either the vendor side or the customer side. If you were not aware of this event, there was no loss in that. We've seen several events held in Kilmarnock and let's say this one was right up there with the rest. Kilmarnock is a pretty area, but their events are not worth the time of day.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Historic St Luke's Church, English Chamber Organ



We have created another slide show. This one is about an incredible English Chamber Organ from the 17th century. This particular piece is housed at the Historic St Luke's Church in Smithfield, Virginia. This organ still works but has less than 100 plays left to it. It takes 3 people to play this piece. Historic St Luke's is trying to raise about $64,000.00 for the restoration and replication of this organ. We are asking those of you who can afford to make contributions to the fund to please do so. To learn more about the English chamber organ and where to send your much needed donations please CLICK HERE for the link.

If you send a donation to them and send us a copy of the receipt showing proof of the donation, we will send you a full size picture file of the organ that you can use to print out or take to a photo lab and have a picture printed to a size up to 16 by 20 inch prints. We maintain the copyright to the work, but we are allowing this with a proven donation to Historic St Luke's church. Thank you.

Kalmar Nyckel Exclusive Photo Shoot



Here is a slide show of some of the pictures we took of and on board the Kalmar Nyckel. The ship is incredible at every level. We will have a web site up soon featuring all the pictures we took. In the mean time, enjoy.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

White Cloud Yacht Slide Show Exclusive



While we were in Yorktown last weekend, June 20th, 2009, we had permission to shoot this ship up close. Here are the photos for everyone to enjoy.

7th Virginia Regiment, Pictures From May 30th Event



Here are a number of pictures from the May 30th event of the 7th Virginia Regiment while they were at the Historic Court House Circle. If you missed them while they were here in Gloucester, there is another opportunity to catch them on the 4th of July in Yorktown. They will be spending the day there doing their live encampment interpretations for everyone. They do a fantastic job, so be sure to take some time and to meet them.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

The White Cloud Boat, 69th Largest Yacht In The World, Across From Gloucester Point Beach Today




The White Cloud could be seen from the Gloucester Point Beach today, June 20th, 2009. She is the 69th largest yacht in the world as listed by Power and Motor Yachts. Click Here to view the report. She was previously owned by a Dutchman who liked to sail her around the world. She is now American owned and equally sailed around the world by her new owner.

We had a chance to do an extensive photo shoot and we will bring the pictures to you as soon as we are done processing them all. She is a beauty in every sense of the word. True elegance throughout.

Hampton Blackbeard Festival Web Site Is Now Up



We promised to bring you an update when we had our new site up for the Hampton Blackbeard Festival. Well it's now up and ready for viewing. Though it is not yet complete, it has over 100 pictures, 24 videos including music videos, and plenty of links. We took over 600 pictures and over 30 videos and we are still working on getting through it all. The site will continue to expand over the next few weeks, but please take the time to start viewing it now. There is a lot to see on the new site. CLICK HERE to go to the new site now.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Uncle Sam Picture, A Global Hit


While we were in Yorktown Virginia during the Memorial Day services, there was a very nice gentleman dressed as Uncle Sam, an American Icon figure. Since we posted pictures of him on some of our sites, we have been getting hits from all over the world of people interested in seeing this photo. Though this is not new to us, it does tell a story of world interest in Americanism, patriotism, democracy and our way of life. The United States is still viewed as the world leader in many areas. Chuck Thompson and TTC Media handles a lot of American history and media that attracts a lot of international attention. We put one of our photos from the Battle of the Hook into the public domain about 6 months ago and it has since been distributed to the world in 365 different languages and gets rave reviews.

It seems easy to be down in the dumps during these economic tough times, this is why it is important to realize that despite these tough times, there is still plenty of rainbows that we should all be proud of as the United States of America is comprised of all of us here in this country. It is not our Government, it is "We The People". Remember, it was our forefathers that said no to repression. It is the true heart of American Spirit. Americans have always overcome the obstacles put before us. So even though we are going through tough times, it is the American Spirit that will get us out of it all.

Virginia Symphony Orchestra Web Site Featuring Pictures And More Now Up


We just finished putting up our review site of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra from the May 30th, 2009 event held here in Gloucester. The site contains a number of pictures, some rare videos we produced last year and a links page. We will be expanding the site as we continue to go through our picture files and attend other public performances, so keep the site bookmarked if you are a fan. Click Here to see the new site.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Kalmar Nyckel Seen From The Gloucester Point Beach, Was In Yorktown This Weekend


Sunday, June 14th, 2009. The Kalmar Nyckel could be seen from the Gloucester Point beach over the weekend as this Delaware Tall Ship was giving 3 hour cruises twice a day. This ship is a replica from 1625. She is a Dutch 200 tonne Pinnace ship. It is said that the history of the Kalmar Nyckel rivals that of the Mayflower, bringing 24 settlers to the new world in 1638, to found the new area called "New Sweden", now known as Wilmington, Delaware and having made 3 more successful round trips bringing more settlers of German, Dutch, Finnish and Swedish backgrounds.

All ticket purchases for the 3 hour tour go to the upkeep of the ship. The ship is owned by the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation which is a non profit foundation. Donations are always welcome. To visit their site, please CLICK HERE. We had the opportunity to meet the Captain and the crew and were granted rare access to photograph the inside of this ship. We will be putting up a web site soon to show you the incredible shots we got. The staff were all helpful and provided us with a great amount of information and history. It was a true honor to have been aboard this ship. Their next event in the general area is going to be in Norfolk during Harbor Fest. July 3rd, 4th and 5th. We would highly recommend the trip to see this boat and to set sail with her.

Day time cruises are with pirates, ARGH! Night time cruises are more reserved sunset cruises. It's a once in a life time experience that you will never forget.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Ceol Leinn Was A Hit At The Blackbeard Festival This Year


Ceol Leinn, pronounced (Key-Ole Lane-ya), was a hit this year at the Blackbeard Festival in Hampton, VA. Not only did this band pack them in at the stage, they also went out into other staging areas around the 3 block radius and entertained us all. A tireless bunch of multi talented musicians. We had the privilege of getting to meet the band on several breaks and they were just as nice as could be.

Turns out this pirate band is no pirate band at all. Instead they are a serious Celtic band with a heavy Scottish influence that plays this event and maybe a few other shows just for a change of pace and some fun. The band gave us permission to film them as well as take numerous pictures. We put up a special web site where you can get a much better idea of the talent these folks have. We are working with them to bring to you and the entire world, some video clips of their real side, A true Celtic band experience. This will take a few weeks as they are sending us a DVD and we will have to cut and covert it into usable clips. In the mean time, you can see more videos and view their pictures by CLICKING HERE.

We have links to their main web site that also has links to their other sites of incredible talent in music and art. If you are searching for a unique show, you have just found the right choice here. The band is available to play shows all over the east coast. You may contact them through their web site or you may contact us and we will make sure they get the message that you are interested in them.

Blackbeard's Crew, So You Want To Be A Pirate?


If you have never been to a Blackbeard's Crew event, you are missing out on a great deal of fun. It's not a bunch of grown ups dressed in fancy costumes playing pirates, these folks engage their audiences and educate while entertaining you. It's great fun for the entire family. The video here gives you an idea of how the crew has fun with the children. The video was shot at the Blackbeard Festival in Hampton on June 7th, 2009.

Darcy Nair, Live at the Blackbeard Festival


Darcy Nair, Live at the Blackbeard Festival in Hampton, Virginia June 7th, 2009. A great performance by a very talented musician. If you missed this festival, you missed a lot of great talent and shows. We were there and took over 7 gigs of video and photos. We have been very busy the past few weeks shooting over 25 gigs of photos and videos, working on special surprises and putting up new web sites. We are going to be sharing some of those new web sites with you very soon. In the mean time, we have a lot of great stuff we just finished producing and getting put onto our video channel. We will be linking it here over the next couple of days.

Friday, June 5, 2009

The 7th Virginia Regiment At Gloucester May 30th, 2009


The 7th Virginia Regiment was here on May 30th, 2009 at the Historic Gloucester Courthouse circle demonstrating what life was like back during the American Revolution. These guys really know their history. Some of the demonstrations included 18th century medicine, food, the making of cloth, marching and shooting demonstrations and encampment life.

The 7th Virginia Regiment performs this service once every year. We were fortunate enough to get to meet and photograph a good number of the days demonstrations and we have a few videos we still need to put together. We will be creating a special web site hosting these pictures and videos and will announce the site once it is complete.

Historic Ware and Abingdon Episcopal Churches Becoming A Part Of TTC Media's Driving Tour



Chuck Thompson and TTC Media are creating an Historic Church Driving Tour that will feature some of the nations most incredible early American Architecture and history. The driving tour is comprised of SE Virginia historical sites and monuments such as Historic Christ Church in Weems, Historic St Luke's of Smithfield, Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg and two of Gloucester's very own, Ware Episcopal Church established in 1652 and Abingdon Episcopal Church established in 1650. Though neither one of these sites are tourist destinations, they represent incredible architectural significance and historical value.

We have spent a great deal of time and travel going around and shooting all the historic churches we could locate. We are just about finished shooting all the churches we were able to locate. Some are not even mentioned anywhere. We found them the hard way by driving by and taking a closer look and finding well hidden gems mixed between the fantastic monuments. We have only 2 sites left. Jamestown and Hampton. We will be covering Hampton this weekend and Jamestown we are working on getting covered next week. Then each individual church will have it's own site. From there we will be building the main site which will be a driving tour of some of our nations most incredible treasures.


We expect the main site to be up and running in about 2 to 3 more weeks from this writing. Once the site is up, we will make the announcement and let everyone know.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Blackbeard's Crew To Raid City of Hampton, Virginia June 6th and 7th


AARRGH! Those scurvy dogs known as Blackbeard's Crew are getting ready to raid Hampton, Virginia this weekend. Their biggest event of the year held annually in the city of Hampton, this will be their 10th anniversary. With over 100 pirates coming in from around the nation to join in on the raid, we are all in for some series trouble from these scalawags. Expect some serious sea battles, pirate songs, fencing or sword fightin and an overall great time provided they don't loot ya. We'll be there taking a ton of photos and videos of this event.

Hope to see you there. Oh yes, before we forget, we have a web site up of pictures and where we will be hosting videos for these dogs, CLICK HERE to go and see it.

Gloucester County Education, Are You Ready For This?


Is our educational system keeping up with these facts? I'm willing to bet not. See the video. You will be amazed.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Uncle Sam Wants You


We met Uncle Sam over at the Yorktown Memorial Day Service on May 25th, 2009. His message is that he wants you in the US Military. A part of living history done right by the people of Historic Yorktown.

21 Gun Salute followed by Taps at Yorktown on Memorial Day, May 25th, 2009


The Yorktown Memorial Day service was well planned out. Men and woman dressed in uniforms of past wars of our nation to honor fallen soldiers, the 21 gun salute by the various costumed men and the taps by a Civil War soldier were well done.

Yorktown Fife and Drum Corp on Memorial Day, May 25th, 2009


The Yorktown Fife and Drum Corp gives an outstanding performance at the Memorial Service in the Historic Yorktown area.

Congressman Rob Wittman in Yorktown, Memorial Day, May 25th, 2009


Congressman Rob Wittman was at the Memorial event held in Yorktown on May 25th, 2009. Pictured here with a few fans from the Yorktown fife and Drum Corp.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drums



Colonial Williamsburg hosted their annual national fife and drums competition this past weekend. We were there on Saturday May 16th, 2009 and were able to capture some great footage of many of the events. This video starts out with the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drums Alumni, hence the street cloths on these folks, followed by the Connecticut Regimen. We have more videos to put up on our You Tube channel, we just have to get through processing them. If you want to see our channel on You Tube, please CLICK HERE.

Virginia Symphony Orchestra Performing in Gloucester May 30th



Get ready for a spectacular day on May 30th, 2009. A great line up of events is heading our way. The day starts with the farmers market on route 17 at the Suzanna Wesley Church followed by Revolutionary War re enactor's that will be showing us what life was like at an encampment. This will take place at the Gloucester County courthouse historic circle. Then the day finishes off with a concert from the Virginia Symphony Orchestra playing at the grounds of the Walter Reed Hospital. That event starts at 7:30 PM. We have a video from last years performance while the Virginia Symphony Orchestra played in Yorktown. Gives you an idea of what to expect. (A great wine, cheese and classical music evening).

If you are ever wondering what events are coming up, we have a calendar at the bottom of this site that lists the county events and we try to squeeze in anything else we learn about in advance.

We requested the opportunity to record the Virginia Symphony Orchestra while they play here but they told us it would cost us $20,000.00 because of DRM. (Digital Rights Management). Since everything we do is a free service and no one pays us anything at any time, we are not permitted to record the event for you. So if you want to see the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, we recommend you be there the night of the event. (We were fortunate enough to get the footage we did last year, we can't do it again though). The show was so good last year though that we will not be missing this event and will at least try to get some photos as we can.

Abingdon Episcopal Church Historic Site



The Abingdon Episcopal Church is an incredible landmark site right here in Gloucester County. We are incredibly fortunate to not just have this one historic site, but two historic sites right here in our own back yard. We are in the process of creating a driving tour of historic churches and of course both Abingdon and Ware are on our list of sites to see. One of the most beautiful structures on the tour is Abingdon when one looks at both the inside and out. We have visited a number of churches from the Historic Christ church to Bruton Parish, Farnham to Tappahanock. Bruton Parish is incredible as is Christ Church, but for overall detail on both inside and out that is both modern and historic, Abingdon holds the crown jewel. From the triple decker pulpit to the high back pews. The cruciform design to the chandeliers. Historic Christ Church is the king in historic preservation and overall exterior design, but Abingdon holds the crown on overall ambiance and modern functionality.

Ware has the most incredible grounds and graveyard. On our up coming driving tour, each property has incredible merits, and we will point that out on our web sites. In the mean time, we have built a special review site for the Abingdon Episcopal Church. Please CLICK HERE to visit our review site. We have a number of great pictures of inside and out. We are going to be putting up similar sites for Ware and Bruton Parish very soon. We are processing the pictures for them both now.




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Blackbeard's Crew, Blackbeard Plans Raid on Hampton Virginia, Our Spy Uncovers The Story


You may have missed Blackbeard's Crew while they raided Yorktown a few weeks back, but they have their biggest event of the year coming up in June. The weekend of June 5th through the 7th in Hampton. Expect over 100 pirates from all over the East Coast to be at this event. We plan on being there and plan on raiding the pirates lair. We built a web site with pictures and a video from their event in Yorktown. CLICK HERE to view our review site. The site will expand with their events. These folks really do a great job and put on a wonderful show.

If you have never seen them, you really are missing a superb time. So clear your calendar and call your friends and get ready for a great time in Hampton with this scurvy bunch. By the way, this is their 10th anniversary, so expect a show like never seen before. Arrgh!

United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corp Video



We had the pleasure of capturing the United States Old Guard Fife and Drum Corp while they were in Colonial Williamsburg this past Saturday, May 16th, 2009. If you missed them and would like to see more, we put up a special web site where we have 7 videos and some really good pictures on the site. CLICK HERE to visit the site.

This is going to be a very busy summer with no shortage of things to do and or discover. We will try to keep you up to date as much as possible. If you missed it and we captured it, we will let you know and bring you as much as we can. So stay tuned.

Historic Christ Church


We just finished photographing the Historic Christ Church. A beautiful landmark worth a visit. Located over in nearby Lancaster county, just outside of Irvington in Weems. They have a museum that is very interactive and the church and grounds are unmatched anywhere. The drive is only about 35 minutes and not far off of route 3. Visit our review site and you can get directions. CLICK HERE to visit our review site.

On our new site we have over 100 pictures and we created a video of the church and grounds. The folks there are incredibly nice and ready to help and answer any questions you may have. If you want to make a really nice day of it, stop at the wine and cheese shop in White Stone and pick up lunch for a picnic and then stop at the Winery on the way back from the church. Don't worry, you can't miss the winery. It's the White Fences Winery and you can't miss the giant cork screws out in front. When I say giant, I mean giant. Bonn Appetite.

Scottish Bag Pipes in Colonial Williamsburg at Bruton Parish


This past weekend, May 16th to be exact, Colonial Williamsburg hosted Fife and Drums from various parts of the nation. We were there to cover the event for a few of our sister sites. While we were there we had the unexpected pleasure of capturing a gentleman playing the bag pipes outside of Bruton Parish Church before a candle light concert at the church. Normally we cover mostly what is happening around Gloucester, however, Gloucester is on the outskirts of some of the greatest places in the nation so we are expanding the site to include areas of interest to us here in Gloucester. We have a lot to post as we have been up to a lot. So even though this site has been quite for a few weeks, we have been very busy with a lot of other projects. So get ready for a lot of new excitement. Enjoy.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

FY 10 Gloucester County Budget

Gloucester County has published it's planned budget for physical year 2010. According to the submitted and published budget posted on the Gloucester County Government site, the budget is being cut by over $18 million dollars. The new budget is listed at over $104 million dollars for the county. With a county population of somewhere around 30,000 people, that is over $3,600.00 for each person in the county. Click here to get a copy of the 168 page PDF file. Under 1mb in size. Click Here to go to the site.


Okay, great we have a budget. My question isn't the budget, but instead, how much money does the county have that is well above and beyond the budget. Companies have budgets. People have budgets. It does not answer how much money is actually in the coffers and available. If school funds are being cut in the budget, why? It's a budget. How much money does the county actually have? This is the Billion dollar question. The state has been cutting the school budgets and now the schools are all crying and cutting back. It's a budget. Someone took money from somewhere and said this is what we are allowing you. Please do not explain simple economics to me. I'm aware of them and it would only be a diversion of the real question.

If I make $100 thousand a year and decide to live on a $30 thousand dollar budget, that's all it is. A budget. I still have that $100 thousand dollars a year coming in. There is still $70 thousand left unaccounted for. Anyone ever ask this question? I'm not saying or even suggesting that the county would ever even consider doing anything wrong, there is nothing wrong with the above situation.

Here is a point. During an economic downturn, if a state or a county has plenty of excess capital on hand instead of cutting the budget and funds to meet the economic situation, it would seem more logical for the state and local governments to increase spending to help fuel the economic situation. The government cutting back when capital is available just works against the people who elect the officials. If companies are laying off, if the state or county has the cash, bring some of those people in. Refuel the economy, not add to it's demise. When the economic situation reverses? Help those people back into the private sector.

Just a thought.

Friday, April 24, 2009

New Battle of the Hook Web Site

We just put up our new Battle of the Hook web site with 4 new videos and we just started adding our pictures to it. This site will take a while to complete as we have a lot of pictures to put on it and we are trying to keep the pictures a reasonable viewing size yet not to big or to small. Click Here to view the new site. We hope you enjoy the new site.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Battle of the Hook Teaser Video


This is our teaser video for the Battle of the Hook that was held back in October of 2008. We took somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 to 400 pictures that day. A few of those pictures were posted here on this site and are still on the site, but you have to use the search bar at the top of the page to get to them.

This is the first of many video slide shows we are producing from this event. We are also going to put up a web site for these videos as well as many of the pictures we took during the event. We will link the new site into this one once we have it up. We are estimating about 3 days from now.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum 10 Video Mini Series & Pictures Update

We have just finished adding the entire 10 video mini series of the Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum onto our expansion site and put them all on one page. We will soon be adding a number of pages of pictures that we just finished editing. Because of the lighting at the Abingdon Episcopal Church, the pictures had a heavy yellow hue to them that we had to clean up. There is also a few pictures that are a matter of interest. We will point them out once we have the pages up, so be sure to look for them. Click Here to go to the 10 video mini series page. From the site side bar, look for the picture pages for them.

Rodrigo Guitar Trio Pictures Link

In an effort to cut down on high end pictures and video, we are now using expansion sites to host the majority of our pictures, videos and slide shows. By using these expansion sites, we are also able to increase the amount of pictures, videos and slide shows as well as other content that we can offer. The best example of this starts here with 4 pages of pictures of the Rodrigo Guitar Trio who were recently at the Abingdon Episcopal Church on Friday night, April 17th, 2009. Click Here to view the pictures. We have put up 4 pages of pictures on this site.

We have also added links at the bottom of each page that will take you back here to the main site. Moving forward, we will be minimizing the amount of pictures, videos and slide shows on this site so that our friends on dial up will be able to access this site. Plus they should be able to access the pictures on the expansion sites as well as we are cutting down the size of the pictures yet they will be on the pages in larger size than they first appear on this site.

We hope you enjoy these expansion.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Rodrigo Guitar Trio Featuring Raymond Burley At The Abingdon Episcopal Church Friday April 17th Review



Arts at the Abingdon Episcopal Church has just finished up their concert events for the year. This ending was a very nice touch with the wonderful selection of Rodrigo Guitar Trio featuring Raymond Burley. This trio was outstanding. World class classical guitar. We had the chance to meet the members of the trio and they were all just incredibly gracious.

We asked for the chance to film them but they turned down the request for some very valid reasons. One, they felt it was to much pressure to play under knowing they were being recorded and two, one of the usual members of the trio could not make this trip so they had another person filling in who was just getting used to playing with the two usual players.

We got to spend some time with Raymond Burley who truly is a world class expert on guitar. Raymond started playing guitar when he was 10 years old. He has played with Rod Stewart and performed on tracks with Elton John and Sting. So it is interesting that he started out as a pop musician and still does a good bit of work in the Rock and Roll industry. We had him autograph one of the CD's we bought while at the event. I was surprised to find out he is left handed. He plays the guitar right handed. He had a valid point though, he was taught that way and never thought about it. If your left handed, you do not cross your hands to play the piano in a left handed manner. The point well taken.

The three performed like they had played together for years. I only detected two minor misses during the entire event and considering they just arrived in the US a few days ago, that's pretty amazing. The other two members of the trio are Arne Brattland who is from Norway and presently resides in England, and John Feeley who comes from Ireland. Both Arne Brattland and John Feeley are highly accomplished artists with world class recognition.

To learn more about Raymond Burley, Click Here to visit his web site. Truly one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. For more information on Arne Brattland, Click Here to visit a site with information on him. For more information on John Feeley, Click Here.

Here is a video to give you an idea of what you missed.