Richard Cristy makes wooden decoys at his studio in Montebello, VA.

After hearing the violin played for the first time, violin maker Oded Kishony is putting the final touches on his creation for master violinist Max Rabinovitsj.

Ann Townsend leads a memorial service for her father, George Frazier, at Holly Memorial Garden cemetery on Saturday, July 11, 2009.  Frazier’s plane went down during World War II and his body was never recovered.

Violin maker Oded Kishony and violinst Max Rabinovitsj are collaborating on the project of a lifetime: reproducing Max’s Pietro Antonio Landolfi violin, made in about 1775.  In this installment of an occasional series in The Daily Progress, Max and Oded select spruce and maple wood for the new violin.

Set up begins for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performance at John Paul Jones Arena on Wedneday, Dec. 10, 2008.  The Boom A Ring show features six tigers, three elephants and about 30 performers.

Old Rag Mountain is a beautiful and hike located in the Shenandoah Valley northeast of Big Meadows.

Cpt. Bob Ford recently reunited with the UH-1D “Huey” helicopter he flew during hundreds of missions with the 282nd Assault Helicopter Company “Black Cats.“

Our Lady of Peace residents are getting into the Olympic spirit with a statewide competition of Nintendo Wii bowling.  Several teams compete at the Hillsdale Drive retirement community and the scores are compared with other nursing homes around the state.  For many seniors, it’s the first time they’ve ever played a video game.

Joe Giovanelli, 79, was born blind. Through playing the piano in weekly concerts, he gets joy by giving joy to others.

What exactly is it about the violins made by old-world masters such as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri “del Gesu” that gives them such exquisite voices? To this day, most of those violins remain singularly unapproachable in terms of sound quality and are handed with reverence from master to master.