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It may be the oddest spring ever.

We should be hearing the crack of baseball bats, the sounds of kids playing together on school playgrounds and the sounds of church bells around town heralding Holy Week events.

Instead. Silence.

The silence is deafening. It is all-encompassing.

It is the kind of silence you hear on a snowy winter’s morn when you rise before the dawn to find six inches of snow covering everything. Except this silence comes with bright sunshine, beautiful flowers and the warmest spring in many years.

Instead of a bustling town, Farmville is suffering through a spring filled with a deserted Longwood campus, a community calendar filled with nothing but white space and closed restaurants and shops.

The coronavirus has caused us to slow down, stay inside and clean everything. NCAA Tournament — gone. Baseball — not yet started.

It’s a the oddest spring ever.

We hope this month’s Farmville the Magazine will help fill some of the void left by the cancellations and restrictions placed on our society. Please wash your hands before reading this and make sure you are six feet away from everyone. Then enjoy. This month, our cover story is about the Heart of Virginia Community Band. Crystal Vandegrift provides an update on the Mainly Clay business and how they are doing in Downtown Farmville.

Titus continues his series on some of the best baked goodies in the area with a tasty recipe from Regina Hux on how to make sourdough cinnamon bread. I bet that smells great when it comes out of the oven.

Farmville the Magazine strives to tell the story of our very special community. Each month within these pages is the story of a community, bursting at the seams, with people that step up each day and make a difference.

There are many more stories within these pages, and we hope you will enjoy them. As this is a magazine about and for you. We welcome your ideas and invite you to share with us what you would like to hear more about by sending us a note at P.O. Box 307, Farmville, VA 23901, giving us a call at (434) 392-4151 or sending me an email at Roger.Watson@ FarmvilletheMag.com.

We publish Farmville the Magazine in the months of March, April, May, summer, September, October, November and December. Pick up a copy of the latest issue and share it with a neighbor. There is sure to be someone you know inside — a neighbor, a family member, a friend or perhaps even you.

Roger Watson is editor of Farmville the Magazine. His email address is Roger.Watson@FarmvilletheMag.com.