The Shadow
This year, the Virginian Review is celebrating its 110th birthday! In 1914, the city of Covington welcomed a new business in town: the Covington, Virginian newspaper. It was established approximately nine years after the Daily Review was formed in Clifton Forge, Virginia.
For the next 74 years, the Covington, Virginian serviced Covington while the Daily Review serviced citizens in Clifton Forge. Then, in 1988, talks of merging the newspapers began. Some would argue, perhaps, that the idea was born after seeing the successful merge of Alleghany County High School and Clifton Forge High School in 1983. Surely the transition was fraught with disdain, resentment, and old rivalries from the students, but in the long run, it just made sense to combine the two small schools into one bigger school and the consolidation of the Alleghany County and City of Clifton Forge public school systems was complete.
In any case —regardless of what inspired the merger for the two newspapers— it was soon going to happen. The Covington, Virginian would go on to merge with the Daily Review and create what has since been known as the Virginian Review. On January 3, 1989, the newly created newspaper published its very first edition.
Owned by Richard F. Beirne II at the time of the merge, the newspaper would then be succeeded by his son, Horton Beirne in 1992, just three short years after the merge. Horton Beirne, many would agree, was born for the newspaper business. Under his father’s watchful eye, he began his career around 1956 when he worked as paper boy for the Covington, Virginian. At the time, Beirne was just nine years old.
Beirne held onto his position until he was 15, switching over to the newsroom during his years in high school. Upon graduating high school, Horton Beirne left the area to pursue his college education. Upon his return in 1972, he was rehired to the Covington, Virginian, this time working as the production manager. Two years later, he was named editor until he took over production in 1992 from his father. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Sadly, Horton Beirne passed away at the age of 67 after a long battle with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder in 2015. At that point, his family took control of the Virginian Review until 2020 when it was purchased by its successor, Scot Refsland. Refsland and the entire crew at the Virginian Review keep Beirne’s memory alive every day. There is a large photo of Beirne hanging in the new lobby, alongside several others, to honor his legacy. They also serve as a daily reminder to keep that legacy alive, along with all the values, honor, and integrity that he carried with him everywhere he went.
A large part of the Virginian Review’s inspiration to make the move from West Locust Street to West Main Street was behind Horton Beirne himself. Beirne loved his job, he loved his community, and he loved the people in it. As such, the Virginian Review’s dream was to move to Main Street where we would best keep Beirne’s legacy alive and have our office centered in the community, surrounded by her people. What better way to celebrate 110 years in business?
On Thursday, April 11, the Virginian Review held a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism at our brand new office, located at 329 West Main Street. For those unfamiliar with that address, it is next door to the post office and once housed such businesses as the Dollar General and, most recently, Jay’s Trading Post.
Josh Taylor kicked off the speeches, congratulating the Virginian Review on the move and anniversary before handing things off to several guest speakers, including Dr. John Rainone; Clifton Forge Mayor, Jeff Irvine; Covington Mayor, Tom Sibold; Chairman of the Board of Supervisors for Alleghany County, Matt Garten; and Virginia State Senator, Christopher Head. Head’s impromptu appearance was an immediate and wonderful surprise to everyone in the room.
“It’s great to be here and to be a part of this,” Head began. “…I wanted to come because Covington is part of my district and it’s really important to show support, but especially for local newspapers because I grew up in a newspaper family. My grandmother owned the Commerce News in Commerce, Georgia, and sold it before I was born, but my mother still worked there and there’s nothing like it… there’s something you can never do with a website: the framed front page right there,” Head smiled, as he pointed to the framed newspaper clipping on the wall in the front office. The senator also noted the joys of high schoolers when they see their pictures and articles in the daily newspaper and are able to clip them out and preserve them for years to come.
Mayor Sibold said, “There’s one business in Covington older and that’s Loving’s Funeral Home,” he noted of the success and longevity of the Virginian Review. Loving’s was founded on November 27, 1913, just nine months before the first printed edition of the Covington, Virginian. “…I was carrying newspapers a hundred years ago maybe, when ya’ll first opened,” the mayor joked. “The history of Covington is really important to me and I appreciate this business still being in business… Right now, this paper serves a very important part of our community. It lets people know what’s going on at home, so we appreciate you keeping that going.”
The current owner of the Virginian Review, Scot Refsland, was one of the last to speak at the ribbon cutting ceremony. Refsland talked about the many years of publishing experience he had prior to purchasing the West Virginia Daily News in 2020. At the time, that newspaper had gone out of business and “the locals missed it,” Refsland said. Upon purchasing and reviving it, he then set his sights on the Virginian Review that had recently gone up for sale.
“What I found out about newspapers is they offer, what I’m calling, proof of trust and proof of trust is literally the archives of a society. So, I have all of your families. If your family members have been here for generations, they’re all in our archives here,” Refsland said, as he pointed toward the back of the building.
What Refsland was referring to was The Virginian Review’s “Archive” section in our office. Since 1914, we have successfully preserved every single edition of our newspaper for the past 110 years. It is one feat we are especially proud of and one we invite the community to witness for yourselves the next time you happen upon Main Street.
Soon after, the official ribbon cutting ceremony took place with Refsland, the staff, speakers, and guests. Afterwards, cupcakes, water, and coffee were served to our guests as we took the time to laugh and mingle with all our visitors.
The Virginian Review wishes to thank all of our guests who took part in our special day, each one of our speakers for sharing your thoughts, State Senator Christopher Head for taking the time to drop in and show your support, our staff for all their hard work and dedication, and especially all of our readers for your loyalty and unwavering support over the years.
