LEFT : Sinkland Farms outside Christiansburg holds an annual pumpkin festival on six weekends each fall . The festival includes multiple activities including a corn field maze .
LEFT BELOW : One of 26 booths used by antique sellers to display their goods in Cambria Station Antiques .
Ken estimates the store typically has about 4,000 volumes on its shelves , with another 10,000 books in the couple ’ s home that are available online ( oldnewriverbooks . com ). Most of their inventory is acquired from estates and book-rich families who have decided to downsize or move from the area .
Major estate purchases typically offer the owners a yield of about 20 % keepers for resale with the remainder being donated to nonprofits . Both the sales and acquisition sides of their business benefits from being near a large university like Virginia Tech .
Although you might expect this of a bookstore owner , it was obvious during our conversation that Ken is in love with books . He commented that one of his greatest pleasures of being in the business is experiencing the enormous variety of what authors have written . When asked about the problems of operating a bookstore , he mentioned not having sufficient funds to buy all the books he wanted . He realizes not everyone has the same interests as himself . In the Vaughan ’ s case , they make a point to stock a wide variety of books so any customer entering the store will find something he or she would enjoy reading .
Following an enjoyable visit , we departed Old New River Books with a used copy of “ The Shortwave Mystery ,” a Hardy Boys adventure story in a series written for young boys who dreamed of a life as exciting as that experienced by teenage sleuths Frank and Joe Hardy . After reading the book once again , I realized that after 70 years , Frank and Joe were still smarter than me .
David and Kay Scott are authors of “ Exploring the Oregon Trail ” America ’ s Historic Road Trip ” ( Globe Pequot ). The authors live in Valdosta , Georgia . Visit them at blog . valdosta . edu / dlscott .
30 Valdosta Scene | Holiday 2024