RelyEx Solutions

Less than Truckload shipping company in Front Royal, VA

Statistics from the US Department of Transportation show more than 700,000 registered motor carriers are traversing our highways and roads. These trucks, which can be packed with everything from bricks and stone to dog food and grocery items, keep thousands of American businesses afloat. For business owners shipping these products across the country, precise planning and high-level tracking are required. But with increasing rates and a wide range of delays to overcome, overseeing a shipment of LTL freight is easier said than done.

For overworked business owners, managing multiple shipments can seem impossible in today's freight landscape. But the reality is that many businesses rely on less-than-truckload shipments to keep their doors open. When these shipments are compromised, their business is too. But there's a viable solution: LTL freight brokers in Front Royal, VA like RelyEx provide reliable solutions to common LTL shipment problems, eliminating the stress and worry of LTL shipping.

With more than 30 combined years of LTL experience and a solutions-oriented team, RelyEx is your go-to choice for streamlined, efficient LTL shipping services. To understand the true value of RelyEx's less-than-truckload shipping options, it helps to understand first what LTL shipping is and why it's used.

Service Areas

LTL Freight Shipping Front Royal, VA

ShippingThe Basics of LTL Freight Shipping

In the freight industry, LTL stands for "less-than-truckload." It is a widely-used method of transportation for smaller shipments that don't require the space of a full truckload. In an LTL shipment, several customers' loads are placed onto one truck, which helps reduce how much it costs to ship those products.

In fact, if your freight doesn't fill an entire trailer but weighs 150-15,000 lbs., LTL freight shipping in Front Royal, VA, may be the most efficient, cost-conscious way to transport your products. That's because, in an LTL setup, you're only paying for the space your freight takes up. LTL shipping companies like RelyEx optimize LTL loads by choosing the most efficient routes at the best rates so your cargo gets to where it needs to go without any issues.

Business owners often choose LTL freight services in the following circumstances:

  • When freight is dense, large, or bulky
  • Freight exceeds a weight of 150 pounds
  • Crated or palletized shipments
  • When freight passes through distribution centers and local terminals
  • When a cost-effective freight solution is needed
  • When an entire tractor-trailer isn't needed for shipments

When it comes to LTL delivery options, there are a lot to choose from. But not every LTL broker is created equally. Some LTL companies do not have the tools or technology to track your shipments and optimize your routes. In worst-case scenarios, they may not be insured or reliable. If you're looking for an experienced LTL carrier that exceeds expectations with time-tested strategies and innovative technologies, look no further than RelyEx.

DifferenceThe RelyEx Difference

With more than two decades of experience in LTL operations, our team utilizes the power of GlobalTranz to compare rates across hundreds of approved carriers in the blink of an eye, while also providing the most cost-effective options for moving your freight. When you choose RelyEx for LTL shipping, you can leverage our expert team to handle your shipments. You can also manage the process yourself via GTZShip, which is Globaltranz's user-friendly management system. With GTZShip, you can access and compare LTL shipping rates, track your shipments, and manage your financials, all from one intuitive platform.

When it comes to LTL freight in Front Royal, VA, clients trust their products with RelyEx for many reasons, including the following:

 No-Cost LTL Freight Front Royal, VA
 LTL Freight Management Front Royal, VA

Industry-Leading Rates

Because GTZShip keeps outsized freight available, it can negotiate the best LTL rates on your behalf. Our clients can access these extra-low rates in one of two ways:

  • Work directly with our team of LTL shipping experts
  • Book your freight directly through GTZShip

Regardless of the option you choose, RelyEx's knowledgeable customer care reps will cover all of your LTL shipping options, so you can make an informed shipping and purchasing decision for your freight.

No-Cost LTL Freight Management Technology

Yes, you read that right - in addition to giving you access to industry-leading rates, RelyEx's partnership with GTZShip gives you full management of your freight. We're talking about access to reporting, tracking, and much more. This extensive visibility is essentially a one-stop shop for everything related to the status of your freight.

Unlike some LTL shipping software, this system requires no contracts or signup fees, making it simple to provide quotes and book immediately when you're ready. Whether you use GTZShip directly or rely on our team to book your freight, your company will always have access to this free technology.

 LTL Company Front Royal, VA
 LTL Shipping Front Royal, VA

Commitment to the Customer and Quality

While it's true that RelyEx provides customers with the best rates and technology in the LTL industry, we go above and beyond the normal call of duty. Why? Because we strive to treat your shipment as if it's our most important one. Put simply, we put a lot of time and effort into making sure we do things right the first time around. Our fierce commitment to the customer and to quality protects not only your reputation, but your bottom line by preventing lost customers and sales.

RelyEx excels at LTL shipping because we are:

  • Proactive problem solvers
  • Reliable partners who manage your LTL freight from beginning to end
  • Partners with strong vendor relationships
  • Attuned to client needs, with 30+ years of combined experience on the client side
  • Committed to accuracy, promptness of information, and transparency with every transaction

From dedicated LTL solutions to transactional relationships, RelyEx is here to help. Unlike other LTL companies, we get the job done right with customer-focused service, industry expertise, and Globaltranz's industry-leading Transportation Management System.

Expertise and Reliability When You Need It Most

Our dedicated team of LTL specialists provides you with the best freight visibility available, whether you need a few shipments a week or you need hundreds. In order to do so, we communicate with carriers throughout the entire shipping process, so you know your items are delivered on time. Though rare, if we spot an issue, we'll provide you with an alternative solution immediately.

Plus, if you have large quantities that need to be shipped, our team is happy to provide you with customized reporting for free. That way, you can access at-the-moment updates and important shipment documentation with a few clicks or taps.

 Shipping LTL Freight Front Royal, VA

Popular Methods of Shipping LTL Freight in Front Royal, VA

Depending on where and how often you ship LTL freight, your broker may choose a regional or national LTL carrier. Regional carriers often service a group of states within a region. National carriers have a larger footprint and can often eliminate the need to use several carriers for your shipments. RelyEx has the infrastructure and strategies for all of your LTL shipping - contact our office today to learn more about your options.

Though regional and national carriers are different, they often use similar models for shipping. Two of the most popular types of shipping methods include hub and spoke distribution and LTL consolidation.

 LTL Shipping Partner Front Royal, VA

What is Hub and Spoke LTL Freight Shipping?

In this traditional model, your shipments go through a network of warehouses, terminals, and hub facilities where your products are grouped with other shipments. Your freight then travels to local "spokes" (or terminals), where they are delivered. If you need to ship freight over short distances, this model may be a good choice to consider.

Some common benefits of the hub and spoke model include:

  • Economical and efficient
  • Improved pickup times
  • More regular delivery times
  • More visibility and easy tracking
LTL Freight Shipping Front Royal, VA
 No-Cost LTL Freight Front Royal, VA

What is Consolidated LTL Freight Shipping?

LTL consolidated shipping is a model where LTL carriers bring several shipments from different shippers to a final destination. Instead of using hubs and spokes along the shipping route to bundle freight and move cargo, LTL consolidation works by taking multiple shipments and turning them into a single truckload. This truck then makes multiple stops, where your products are delivered.

Some of the most common benefits of LTL consolidation include:

  • Less freight handling
  • Good for fragile or large freight
  • Fewer claims
  • Less cargo damage
  • Cost-effective pricing

At RelyEx, our goal is to expertly manage the movement of your freight so you can focus on your core business. With more than 20 years of combined experience with LTL freight shipping in Front Royal, VA, our team can select the most efficient and cost-effective model for your needs. That way, you can accomplish your day-to-day tasks while we handle the heavy lifting and any logistical challenges.

An LTL Shipping Partner You Can Trust

At RelyEx, we believe that trustworthy, comprehensive, and streamlined LTL shipping options are better for your business. And for us, what's better for your business is better for ours. That's why, when it comes to LTL shipping, we work tirelessly to ensure every aspect of your freight experience is embedded excellence. We take this unique approach because our management were once customers like you. They were people who, for one reason or another, had to deal with frustrating and often unsolved shipping and logistics challenges. Today, we take pride in solving those challenges and only partner with carriers who match our high standards.

If you're looking for an LTL company in Front Royal, VA that prioritizes customer service, strong communication, and proactive thinking, we're here to help you avoid delayed shipments and missed expectations.

phone-number(843) 885-3082

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Latest News in Front Royal, VA

Front Royal's Bel Air part of Historic Garden Week Tour

FRONT ROYAL — At Bel Air on Happy Creek Road, history comes alive through 250 years of families who lived there, guests they hosted and renovations they’ve made.The 1795 Classical Revival brick and stucco house at 269 Happy Creek Road, with its sweeping porches that overlook the downtown, is the ancestral home of Lucy Buck, a famous Civil War diarist who recorded her accounts with her sister and parents as the house changed hands about 15 times during the war, every time troops from either side needed a pl...

FRONT ROYAL — At Bel Air on Happy Creek Road, history comes alive through 250 years of families who lived there, guests they hosted and renovations they’ve made.

The 1795 Classical Revival brick and stucco house at 269 Happy Creek Road, with its sweeping porches that overlook the downtown, is the ancestral home of Lucy Buck, a famous Civil War diarist who recorded her accounts with her sister and parents as the house changed hands about 15 times during the war, every time troops from either side needed a place to stay.

The house will be featured along with several other historic downtown houses on the Historic Garden Week tour hosted by the Garden Club of Warren County on April 15. The tour is one of dozens of tours being held in communities throughout Virginia in mid-April.

Situated on a hill above Happy Creek, Bel Air provided a respite and exceptional lookout, said current homeowner Jeff LeHew, 62, who descends from Peter LeHew, founding father of Front Royal, previously named LeHewtown after he purchased a 200-acre property there in 1754.

Peter LeHew sold the property to the Buck Family, and Capt. Thomas Buck built the house, which his family owned for about 110 years until they sold it to the Downing family in 1906. Jeff LeHew’s father, Larry, then purchased the rundown house in the early 1970s.

“He was able to save this house,” LeHew said of his father. “He and Mom took a lot of great pride in restoring it.”

Since inheriting the house from his father in 2020, LeHew has been restoring the outside of the house, before he addresses any concerns inside.

“I promised him that I would keep this house in the family,” he said.

The local tour will highlight the history of the town and historic Chester Street, said third-time chairwoman Beth DeBergh.

“This one is more about history,” she said. “I think it’s a very rich history. It’s different, and I like it.”

LeHew was 12 when he and his family moved into Bel Air. His family added a breakfast room off of a dining room that had been added in 1906/07.

Above the breakfast room, the LeHews added upstairs rooms that offered another access point to the attic where previous owners had added plexiglass to preserve signatures of residents and guests from over the decades, including those of the Buck family.

The Buck Family, which LeHew said enslaved several people who left during the Civil War, survived the conflict. Lucy Buck later moved with her sister to a small house at 64 Chester St., which they built in 1904 after the family’s financial downturn. The Buck House, nicknamed Cozy Corner, is another downtown building featured during Virginia’s 90th Historic Garden Week, along with J.S. Petty-Sumption House and the three houses in the Warren Heritage Society Village on Chester Street.

Bel Air sits on a 24-acre lot northeast of Main Street and includes a stable and paddock for horses, which LeHew keeps for fox hunting.

Visitors to the house on April 15 will get to tour the original dining room, hall and parlor, which feature several reproductions of local Civil War scenes by famed artists Mort Kunstler and John Paul Strain. Two prints in the hall are copies of originals that hung in the house while LeHew’s father lived there and which LeHew has since removed to a home he owns in Rockland.

Receiving prime placement above a fireplace in the parlor is a Kunstler painting of sisters Lucy and Laura Buck, which imagines their meeting with Robert E. Lee when he and his troops stayed at the house.

The tour will also feature the following properties:

• Ivy Lodge, at 101 Chester St., which dates to 1819 and will serve as the tour headquarters for the tour. The house is one of the few historic architectural structures surviving on Chester Street. It was built by George Tyler in the 1850s, and Dr. Bernard Samuels donated it to the town for a public library a century later. Many others have lived there too, and it’s featured in more political, social, religious, patriotic and cultural events than any other place still standing in Front Royal. It now houses the Warren County Heritage Society and a museum.

• Belle Boyd Cottage, at 101 Chester St., behind Ivy Lodge, which was the home of infamous Confederate spy Belle Boyd. The information that Boyd gathered on Union troop dispositions helped Gen. Stonewall Jackson win the Battle of Front Royal (May 23, 1862). Her efforts also landed her in Washington’s Old Capital Prison. After the war, the cottage was an apartment building until it was donated to the Warren Heritage Society in 1982 and was moved 2.5 blocks from its original location. The house contains period pieces and items connected with Belle Boyd.

The cottage features a garden that won the Garden Club of Warren County the prestigious Garden Club of Virginia Commonwealth Award and is now maintained by the local master gardeners.

• Balthis House, at 55 Chester St., which dates to 1787 and is named for the William Balthis Family, who lived there from 1838 to 1908. It’s the oldest surviving house in Front Royal. In 2000, the Warren Heritage Society purchased the house, with its spacious gardens and several dependencies in the rear.

• The Buck House, at 64 Chester St., owned by Doug and Cathy Gleason. It’s a typical example of Folk Victorian architecture, with decorative trim on the porches and a beautifully carved newel post on the main staircase, a tour brochure explains. The house’s historical significance derives largely from Lucy Buck’s posthumous reputation as a Civil War diarist. Many of the family’s letters and other artifacts were found in the attic.

• J.S. Petty-Sumption House, at 123 Chester St., which dates to 1788 and is owned by Bill Cammack. One of Front Royal’s most significant historic log homes, it was built by George Cheek, one of the landowners named in the 1788 Charter incorporating Front Royal. Records show that James Petty lived in the house in 1831. In 1923, the property was sold to the Warren County School Board. At that time, the house was bought by Charles Franklin Sumption and moved across the street to its present site. The home has antique pine floors, massive fireplaces and a fenced courtyard.

Chester Street is also part of the walking tour in Front Royal’s Historic District.

As part of the earliest thoroughfare from Winchester crossing the Blue Ridge, it will allow visitors to stroll through two centuries of the county’s history.

The tour will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April. 15. Tickets are $30 in advance and help pay for restoration efforts for gardens on historic properties around Virginia, as well as a couple of garden club scholarships. For tickets or more information, go to vagardenweek.org/tours/warren-county-front-royal.

Fire damages Front Royal home

Seven occupants escaped a house fire in Front Royal on Friday evening.The Warren County Emergency Communications Center received multiple reports of a dwelling fire in the 1300 block of Warren Avenue shortly before 7:30 p.m. Friday, according to information posted Saturday on Facebook by the Warren County Department of Fire and Rescue.Firefighters arrived at the scene and reported a “working fire” when they discovered fire coming from the house.Seven of the home’s occupants received assistance from the ...

Seven occupants escaped a house fire in Front Royal on Friday evening.

The Warren County Emergency Communications Center received multiple reports of a dwelling fire in the 1300 block of Warren Avenue shortly before 7:30 p.m. Friday, according to information posted Saturday on Facebook by the Warren County Department of Fire and Rescue.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and reported a “working fire” when they discovered fire coming from the house.

Seven of the home’s occupants received assistance from the local American Red Cross. Five of the occupants were evaluated for smoke inhalation by EMS but declined to be transported to the hospital. There were no other reported injuries.

The Warren County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. The Facebook post notes that the fire “rendered the home uninhabitable.”

In a Facebook post, Fire Chief James Bonzano stated: “This unfortunate incident serves as a reminder that fire can strike anytime and anywhere.”

“As we approach the start of National Fire Prevention Week, we must discuss fire safety in our homes and ensure we have working smoke alarms,” he added.

Units from Front Royal, Rivermont, South Warren, Linden, Shenandoah Shores, Shenandoah Farms, Chester Gap, North Warren, and Strasburg stations responded to the fire.

BOYS

100-meter dash

1. Mayowa Ojutolayo;R-MA;10.56

2. Ahsan Abul-Qasim;Skyline;11.15

3. Brady Hamilton;Sherando;11.22

200-meter dash

1. Mayowa Ojutolayo;R-MA;22.70

2. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;22.75

3. Brady Hamilton;Sherando;22.77

400-meter dash

1. Brady Hamilton;Sherando;50.93

2. Ahsan Abul-Qasim;Skyline;51.87

3. Noah Harris;Sherando;52.80

800-meter run

1. Dylan McGraw;Sherando;2:04.51

2. Reese Sperry;Skyline;2:06.90

3. Jed Bell;Sherando;2:06.96

1,600-meter run

1. Dylan McGraw;Sherando;4:46.54

2. Clayton Rankin;Warren County;4:49.53

3. Reese Sperry;Skyline;4:50.72

3,200-meter run

1. Bryson Barnett;Chelsea Academy;10:06.55

2. Dylan McGraw;Sherando;10:17.80

3. Clayton Rankin;Warren County;10:26.77

110-meter hurdles

1. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;15.17

2. Marcellis Diamond;Skyline;16.81

3. Anthony Binibini;Sherando;17.39

300-meter hurdles

1. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;41.60

2. Blaise Skube;Warren County;44.13

3. Kaipha Brown;Skyline;44.23

400-meter relay

1. Sherando;44.21

2. R-MA (Tofa Akinde, Bade Fadamitan, Mayowa Ojutolayo, Patrick Brewer);44.14

3. Skyline;46.29

1,600-meter relay

1. Sherando;3:34.51

2. Skyline;3:42.33

3. Warren County;3:43.63

3,200-meter relay

1. Sherando;8:35.04

2. Skyline;8:55.94

3. Strasburg (Cody Ryan, Brittin Albert, Patrick Knight, Zach Bracken);9:27.24

High jump

1. Noah Harris;Sherando;6-05

2. Ahsan Abul-Qasim;Skyline;06-03

3. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;6-02

Long jump

1. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;22-01.50

2. A.J. Santiago;Sherando;21-04

3. Ahsan Abul-Qasim;Skyline;21-03.50

Triple jump

1. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;44-05

2. A.J. Santiago;Sherando;42-05.50

3. Micah Carlson;Sherando;41-00.50

Shot put

1. Malachi Vinson-Proctor;Warren County;45-08

2. Ethan Gonzalez;Sherando;45-04

3. Tyler Forbes;Central;44-03.50

Discus

1. Micah Carlson;Sherando;150-08

2. D.J. Rizzo;Warren County;138-10

3. Omari Holliday;Strasburg;133-05

Front Royal council discusses vape shop boom

Front Royal’s elected leaders say they don’t and can’t control the wave of vape shops — now at 11 — opening in town.Mayor Lori A. Cockrell brought up the subject during Town Council’s Monday work session, saying she felt compelled to do so in response to online comments about the increasing numbers of vape-related businesses in town.“We are just getting so much grief, through social media and just everyone, about vape shops in our town,” Cockrell said.Vice Mayor R.Wayne Sea...

Front Royal’s elected leaders say they don’t and can’t control the wave of vape shops — now at 11 — opening in town.

Mayor Lori A. Cockrell brought up the subject during Town Council’s Monday work session, saying she felt compelled to do so in response to online comments about the increasing numbers of vape-related businesses in town.

“We are just getting so much grief, through social media and just everyone, about vape shops in our town,” Cockrell said.

Vice Mayor R.Wayne Sealock and council members Melissa DeDomenico-Payne, Joshua Ingram, Amber Morris, H. Bruce Rappaport and Duane “Skip” Rogers attended the work session.

The mayor went on to say that posts and conversations on social media appear to claim that the town seeks out vape shops to open in Front Royal. Cockrell asked Planning Director Lauren Kopishke to explain where the town stands on the matter.

“We are not soliciting but we are also not discriminating against them either so vape stores fall under retail uses — they are selling a product,” Kopishke said. “We cannot discriminate against that product that they sell.

“So the recent vape stores that have come in, they have come in, they’ve gotten their zoning permit — I have no control, I have to sign off on the use,” Kopishke said. “If they fit the zoning category, they get approved.”

Morris said seven of the vape shops in town operate on South Street.

Council members addressed the subject last year, Morris recalled. The topic came up in recent conversations, she said.

“People think that council approves businesses,” Morris said. “So for the people watching at home, the people here tonight, council does not see applications for business permits.

“If you’re within the law and you apply for a business permit and you buy your building or you rent your space, we don’t see and regulate that,” Morris said. “But we did hear this last year and the reason it is coming is because they’re looking for THC [retail sales] to be legalized in the state of Virginia in the next two years and they’re in line for their permits to sell marijuana.”

The Virginia General Assembly plans to limit the number of permits in each locality for marijuana sales, Morris said.

Council members addressed the topic at their retreat last year.

“The problem that we ran into was the only thing we could do was tighten our zoning regulations because, as a pretty conservative council who also enjoys free enterprise, at what point do we start regulating businesses and ... at what point do you say ‘we just don’t like your type of business’ and it’s discriminatory,” Morris said.

Council implemented lighting regulations though some vape shops are violating those restrictions, Morris said. She said a person sent her a video of a new shop that opened in a former Pizza Hut with flashing lights, in violation of the town regulations.

Kopishke said her department sent notices to those businesses the next day after being made aware of the violations.

Vape store owners must submit permit applications for signs. Owners can display no more than three signs at the business, including posters in the windows, Kopishke said. The Planning Department through code enforcement sends notices to stores that violate the town limit on signs, she said. The town prohibits string lights and flashing lights and signs, Kopishke said.

Shops in the entrance corridor on North Shenandoah Avenue must use muted colors or seek approval for brighter hues, Kopishke said.

“I understand and we all understand free enterprise and we love it; that’s what builds this country,” Rogers said. “It bothers me that there are so many and they’re popping up in odd places, you know, and they’re popping up (at) an entrance to our community in bright colors.”

Rogers referred to a vape shop on Shenandoah Avenue that motorists can see as they travel on the U.S. 340-522 bridge west into Front Royal.

“Anyway, it’s kind of embarrassing,” Rogers said. “You gotta wonder why there’s so many of them coming in here.”

Rappaport suggested the town look into regulatory options such as strengthening its tobacco retail licensing; review fees that could help fund the cost to monitor and enforce the businesses; set a cap on the number of new licenses for such businesses based on population and geographic area; increase monitoring of shops to make sure they are not selling to underage customers; and restrict e-cigarettes and tobacco retailers from locating near schools and youth facilities.

BOYS

100-meter dash

1. Mayowa Ojutolayo;R-MA;10.56

2. Ahsan Abul-Qasim;Skyline;11.15

3. Brady Hamilton;Sherando;11.22

200-meter dash

1. Mayowa Ojutolayo;R-MA;22.70

2. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;22.75

3. Brady Hamilton;Sherando;22.77

400-meter dash

1. Brady Hamilton;Sherando;50.93

2. Ahsan Abul-Qasim;Skyline;51.87

3. Noah Harris;Sherando;52.80

800-meter run

1. Dylan McGraw;Sherando;2:04.51

2. Reese Sperry;Skyline;2:06.90

3. Jed Bell;Sherando;2:06.96

1,600-meter run

1. Dylan McGraw;Sherando;4:46.54

2. Clayton Rankin;Warren County;4:49.53

3. Reese Sperry;Skyline;4:50.72

3,200-meter run

1. Bryson Barnett;Chelsea Academy;10:06.55

2. Dylan McGraw;Sherando;10:17.80

3. Clayton Rankin;Warren County;10:26.77

110-meter hurdles

1. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;15.17

2. Marcellis Diamond;Skyline;16.81

3. Anthony Binibini;Sherando;17.39

300-meter hurdles

1. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;41.60

2. Blaise Skube;Warren County;44.13

3. Kaipha Brown;Skyline;44.23

400-meter relay

1. Sherando;44.21

2. R-MA (Tofa Akinde, Bade Fadamitan, Mayowa Ojutolayo, Patrick Brewer);44.14

3. Skyline;46.29

1,600-meter relay

1. Sherando;3:34.51

2. Skyline;3:42.33

3. Warren County;3:43.63

3,200-meter relay

1. Sherando;8:35.04

2. Skyline;8:55.94

3. Strasburg (Cody Ryan, Brittin Albert, Patrick Knight, Zach Bracken);9:27.24

High jump

1. Noah Harris;Sherando;6-05

2. Ahsan Abul-Qasim;Skyline;06-03

3. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;6-02

Long jump

1. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;22-01.50

2. A.J. Santiago;Sherando;21-04

3. Ahsan Abul-Qasim;Skyline;21-03.50

Triple jump

1. Stuart Pirtle;Mountain View;44-05

2. A.J. Santiago;Sherando;42-05.50

3. Micah Carlson;Sherando;41-00.50

Shot put

1. Malachi Vinson-Proctor;Warren County;45-08

2. Ethan Gonzalez;Sherando;45-04

3. Tyler Forbes;Central;44-03.50

Discus

1. Micah Carlson;Sherando;150-08

2. D.J. Rizzo;Warren County;138-10

3. Omari Holliday;Strasburg;133-05

She's going to Hollywood: Front Royal singer advances on 'American Idol'

FRONT ROYAL — Some of Charlee Allman’s earliest memories involve singing and watching “American Idol” on TV. Now, the 22-year-old Front Royal singer is headed to Hollywood to compete in the popular singing competition.“My parents had been watching ‘American Idol’ since it came on. We would have fake ‘American Idols’ during the breaks where my dad would introduce me and I’d sing and dance around,” she said. “I’ve been watching ‘American...

FRONT ROYAL — Some of Charlee Allman’s earliest memories involve singing and watching “American Idol” on TV. Now, the 22-year-old Front Royal singer is headed to Hollywood to compete in the popular singing competition.

“My parents had been watching ‘American Idol’ since it came on. We would have fake ‘American Idols’ during the breaks where my dad would introduce me and I’d sing and dance around,” she said. “I’ve been watching ‘American Idol’ for as long as I can remember.”

Allman started singing lessons at age 7, a birthday gift from her grandmother.

“That really gave me a platform because they’d have recitals, and I’ve been singing in public since I was 7,” she said, noting that she has sung the National Anthem at professional baseball, hockey, and basketball sporting events throughout the Washington, D.C., area, as well as performing at numerous events in the Shenandoah Valley.

All of that experience went out the window when she stepped in front of “American Idol” judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Ritchie, she said.

“I don’t think anything prepared me. I was very nervous. It was very overwhelming performing in front of the judges. Plus, I really struggle with anxiety and my confidence. I have for a long time,” Allman said of her audition, which was held in New Orleans. “When you’re down there and there are a lot of people with just as much talent and more you’re like, ‘wow, this is the real deal.’ I don’t think that hit me until I got in the room.”

Allman says she’s still processing the audition and the judges’ reaction, noting that she felt like she performed on autopilot. Wisely, she chose a song that was near and dear to her heart — “Broken Wing” by Martina McBride.

“That song was the first song I sang at the Warren County Fair when I was 8 or 9 years old so I figured, let’s stick to something you know. It’s a song that was comfortable and I felt it represented my singing career,” she said.

As for the judges’ reactions, Bryan gave her a standing ovation, Allman said, adding that Ritchie introduced her to his team and teased her a bit. “I really projected. Lionel Ritchie had me turn around a couple of times, wondering where all that sound came from,” she laughed.

Since announcing on Facebook that she’s moving on in the competition, Allman has been overwhelmed, and grateful, for the support from area residents as well as those farther afield.

A 2019 Skyline High School graduate and full-time student at Laurel Ridge Community College, Allman will receive her associate’s degree in general studies in May. Having formerly worked at the Warren County Department of Social Services, she said she may pursue a career in human services.

“I want to do something community based. I enjoyed [working at social services], working with children in foster care. It can be emotionally taxing, but it’s a fulfilling job,” said Allman, who lives with her parents, Tammy and Steve Allman, and her brother Gavin, 15.

“I had put ‘American Idol’ on the back burner because of school and work,” she said, adding that she applied for a virtual audition, the first step in the process, on a whim. “I never thought I’d be going to Hollywood.”

But she’s gearing up to do just that.

“My goal [in Hollywood] is to soak up as much as I can. I’ve never been around so much talent, and people who have that same love for music. It’s definitely a long time goal that’s I’ve had. I’m going to have fun with it and just do what I love.”

In the meantime, area residents can catch Allman with her acoustic partner Jon France at the Shenandoah Valley Axe Throwing Company in Front Royal at 6 p.m. April 14. She has upcoming shows locally at On Cue Sports Bar & Grill and the Virginia Beer Museum, both in Front Royal.

“American Idol” airs at 8 p.m. Sundays on ABC.

Front Royal's Bel Air Part Of Historic Garden Week

FRONT ROYAL — At Bel Air on Happy Creek Road, history comes alive through 250 years of families who lived there, guests they hosted and renovations they’ve made.The 1795 Classical Revival brick and stucco house at 269 Happy Creek Road, with its sweeping porches that overlook the downtown, is the ancestral home of Lucy Buck, a famous Civil War diarist who recorded her accounts with her sister and parents as the house changed hands about 15 times during the war, every time troops from either side needed a pl...

FRONT ROYAL — At Bel Air on Happy Creek Road, history comes alive through 250 years of families who lived there, guests they hosted and renovations they’ve made.

The 1795 Classical Revival brick and stucco house at 269 Happy Creek Road, with its sweeping porches that overlook the downtown, is the ancestral home of Lucy Buck, a famous Civil War diarist who recorded her accounts with her sister and parents as the house changed hands about 15 times during the war, every time troops from either side needed a place to stay.

The house will be featured along with several other historic downtown houses on the Historic Garden Week tour hosted by the Garden Club of Warren County on April 15. The tour is one of dozens of tours being held in communities throughout Virginia in mid-April.

Situated on a hill above Happy Creek, Bel Air provided a respite and exceptional lookout, said current homeowner Jeff LeHew, 62, who descends from Peter LeHew, founding father of Front Royal, previously named LeHewtown after he purchased a 200-acre property there in 1754.

Peter LeHew sold the property to the Buck Family, and Capt. Thomas Buck built the house, which his family owned for about 110 years until they sold it to the Downing family in 1906. Jeff LeHew’s father, Larry, then purchased the rundown house in the early 1970s.

“He was able to save this house,” LeHew said of his father. “He and Mom took a lot of great pride in restoring it.”

Since inheriting the house from his father in 2020, LeHew has been restoring the outside of the house, before he addresses any concerns inside.

“I promised him that I would keep this house in the family,” he said.

The local tour will highlight the history of the town and historic Chester Street, said third-time chairwoman Beth DeBergh.

“This one is more about history,” she said. “I think it’s a very rich history. It’s different, and I like it.”

LeHew was 12 when he and his family moved into Bel Air. His family added a breakfast room off of a dining room that had been added in 1906/07.

Above the breakfast room, the LeHews added upstairs rooms that offered another access point to the attic where previous owners had added plexiglass to preserve signatures of residents and guests from over the decades, including those of the Buck family.

The Buck Family, which LeHew said enslaved several people who left during the Civil War, survived the conflict. Lucy Buck later moved with her sister to a small house at 64 Chester St., which they built in 1904 after the family’s financial downturn. The Buck House, nicknamed Cozy Corner, is another downtown building featured during Virginia’s 90th Historic Garden Week, along with J.S. Petty-Sumption House and the three houses in the Warren Heritage Society Village on Chester Street.

Bel Air sits on a 24-acre lot northeast of Main Street and includes a stable and paddock for horses, which LeHew keeps for fox hunting.

Visitors to the house on April 15 will get to tour the original dining room, hall and parlor, which feature several reproductions of local Civil War scenes by famed artists Mort Kunstler and John Paul Strain. Two prints in the hall are copies of originals that hung in the house while LeHew’s father lived there and which LeHew has since removed to a home he owns in Rockland.

Receiving prime placement above a fireplace in the parlor is a Kunstler painting of sisters Lucy and Laura Buck, which imagines their meeting with Robert E. Lee when he and his troops stayed at the house.

The tour will also feature the following properties:

• Ivy Lodge, at 101 Chester St., which dates to 1819 and will serve as the tour headquarters for the tour. The house is one of the few historic architectural structures surviving on Chester Street. It was built by George Tyler in the 1850s, and Dr. Bernard Samuels donated it to the town for a public library a century later. Many others have lived there too, and it’s featured in more political, social, religious, patriotic and cultural events than any other place still standing in Front Royal. It now houses the Warren County Heritage Society and a museum.

• Belle Boyd Cottage, at 101 Chester St., behind Ivy Lodge, which was the home of infamous Confederate spy Belle Boyd. The information that Boyd gathered on Union troop dispositions helped Gen. Stonewall Jackson win the Battle of Front Royal (May 23, 1862). Her efforts also landed her in Washington’s Old Capital Prison. After the war, the cottage was an apartment building until it was donated to the Warren Heritage Society in 1982 and was moved 2.5 blocks from its original location. The house contains period pieces and items connected with Belle Boyd.

The cottage features a garden that won the Garden Club of Warren County the prestigious Garden Club of Virginia Commonwealth Award and is now maintained by the local master gardeners.

• Balthis House, at 55 Chester St., which dates to 1787 and is named for the William Balthis Family, who lived there from 1838 to 1908. It’s the oldest surviving house in Front Royal. In 2000, the Warren Heritage Society purchased the house, with its spacious gardens and several dependencies in the rear.

• The Buck House, at 64 Chester St., owned by Doug and Cathy Gleason. It’s a typical example of Folk Victorian architecture, with decorative trim on the porches and a beautifully carved newel post on the main staircase, a tour brochure explains. The house’s historical significance derives largely from Lucy Buck’s posthumous reputation as a Civil War diarist. Many of the family’s letters and other artifacts were found in the attic.

• J.S. Petty-Sumption House, at 123 Chester St., which dates to 1788 and is owned by Bill Cammack. One of Front Royal’s most significant historic log homes, it was built by George Cheek, one of the landowners named in the 1788 Charter incorporating Front Royal. Records show that James Petty lived in the house in 1831. In 1923, the property was sold to the Warren County School Board. At that time, the house was bought by Charles Franklin Sumption and moved across the street to its present site. The home has antique pine floors, massive fireplaces and a fenced courtyard.

Chester Street is also part of the walking tour in Front Royal’s Historic District.

As part of the earliest thoroughfare from Winchester crossing the Blue Ridge, it will allow visitors to stroll through two centuries of the county’s history.

The tour will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April. 15. Tickets are $30 in advance and help pay for restoration efforts for gardens on historic properties around Virginia, as well as a couple of garden club scholarships. For tickets or more information, go to vagardenweek.org/tours/warren-county-front-royal.

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