Join arts nonprofit MidMountain and the Rockbridge Historical Society for the launch of an installation of local historical and artistic artifacts titled Community-Building through Ritual and Pageantry, as part of the MidMountain Masquerade on Oct 25, 2025. https://www.midmountain.org/masquerade Where: MidMountain Retreat, 338 Arnolds Valley Rd, Natural Bridge Station, VA 24579 When: MidMountain Masquerade is October 25, 2025 from 2PM-10pm. RHS' "Community-Building through Ritual and Pageantry" exhibit will be on display at the MidMountain Retreat, by appointment, through January 31, 2026. The exhibit will use materials from RHS Collections – including rare documents and iconographic prints, ritual clothing and regalia donated by the recently disbanded Odd Fellows Lodge No. 58, other local Masonic lodges and leaders, and related military and artistic contexts to explore how people use symbolic images and group rituals, pageantry, performance, and music in order to both forge and affirm stronger community bonds. (fb)

Stop by our RHS Tent and display tables, right across from the Buena Vista Public Library and next to the Magnolia Street stage. There, you can browse or purchase historic maps, publications detailing Rockbridge history, or see how our area roads got their names ... ... and learn more about the local and nationwide commemorations of America's Independence, and the creation of Lexington and Rockbridge County that we and the regional VA250 committee are staging for the next three years (see Rockbridge-250 Co-Chairs Sheryl Wagner and Eric Wilson with the General Assembly's State Chair for VA250: American Revolutions, and our 37th House District Delegate, at our last community festival. You can also talk with RHS Board Members and Volunteers about our diverse sweep of programming in the next three months: from our current exhibits on Historic Toys (through December 2025), and one more recently installed at the RHS Museum highlighting Virginia's role in the American Revolution (through Oct. 26). From Nov. 5-Dec. 14, we'll shift our community attentions to the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, with another museum exhibit, our history project, community-sourced roundtable and open-mic program, and film series centered on "Virginia and the Vietnam War" ... ... and with this year's centennial of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, a quartet of events -- including a reading group about the trail's histories and charms (Oct. 28); a slideshow presentation at Natural Bridge State Park (Nov. 1), and a pair of "History Hikes" with RHS staff, conservationists, and US Forest Service Rangers (Nov. 1 to Matts Creek Shelter, & Nov. 9 to Cole Mountain). Those outings allow you to 'choose your grade,' learn from a range of professional, civic, and ecological perspectives, and deepen your appreciation for one of our region and nation's greatest environmental and cultural assets. Stay tuned here, and for upcoming feature stories in Lexington's News-Gazette for more details and teasers ahead! (fb)