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Blacksburg Friends Meeting Interchange Reports

The text of Blacksburg Meeting Interchange Reports are below, with the most recently received at the top and older reports below. To jump to a particular report, simply click the year listed below.

  Fall 2015 Report
Winter 2017 Report Spring 2017 Report
Spring 2018 Report

Spring 2018 Interchange Report

Walking in the Light

Once a week a group of five to eight Quakers with another church included, walk for about three miles along the Huckleberry Trail outside of Blacksburg. In the winter the group meets midafternoon; with longer light in the summer, time changes to evening. Dogs are welcome. The walk includes friendly conversation, enjoyment of the natural beauty, the coal heritage site and an occasional train. Age ranges from college students to oldsters who sometimes need to sit on a bench while the rest of the group charges on. It is an enjoyable midweek Meeting for Sharing.


Spring 2017 Interchange Report

A revitalized Adult Education Committee chaired by Deb Warren has recently held several very interesting programs on the fourth Sunday of each month following Meeting for Worship. One member is familiar with the work of Jon Watts so conducted a session for all of us to watch a segment of Quaker Speak on speaking in Meeting. One technical glitch was quickly corrected with I Phone savvy. The next month Daniel Thorp, chairman of the history dept at Virginia Tech, told of the history of the Christiansburg Industrial Institute (a town next to Blacksburg). Along with 45 other schools for freed slaves started by Orthodox Philadelphians, the Friends’ Freedmen’s Association (check the website, with records at Swarthmore) in 1862, this school grew to be the only high school for black students in the entire region. It was sold to the public school system in 1934 and in 1947 the remaining funds have been used at four Quaker Colleges for scholarships for black students (J. Henry Scattergood Scholarships). Most recently a program titled “A Dialogue on Race” was presented to draw out of our entirely white participants their early experiences with people of color, highlighting for us our white world. Sign up sheets were provided for people to work on specific issues in Blacksburg. All of these events have generated long discussions.


Winter 2017 Interchange Report

Some of our teens attend Meeting for Worship, some do not, but all are faithful to their once a month Friday evening at the Meeting House. The theme for last school year was “Seeking Our Spiritual Center” with the focus of a mirror to see themselves in a frame they decorated. They made life size images of how they wanted to be perceived and posted sayings as guideposts for adults to read and make additions. They hosted a wonderful all-Meeting evening to look over their portfolios and discuss people who had influenced them. Attendance by younger children is sporadic, but two adults are on call each Sunday. Elizabeth Briggs prepared a large notebook with a lesson plan, reading, and craft activity with a sign-up sheet to indicate which children participated. It is a treat after Meeting when we hear their enthusiastic report.


Fall 2015 Interchange Report

Blacksburg Friends Meeting would like to welcome and celebrate the recent approval of two new members to our Meeting: Nicolaus Tideman and Estill Putney.

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