The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE, VA (VR) — Students from Alleghany Highlands Public Schools will be able to attend the C&O Heritage Festival free of charge on May 30, thanks to generous support from The Alleghany Foundation.
The donation covers admission costs for all AHPS students, removing financial barriers and ensuring more students can take part in the event.
The C&O Railway Heritage Festival is held at the C&O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge. It celebrates railroad history and features train rides, historic locomotive tours, vendors, live entertainment, and family activities.
The Alleghany Foundation is a nonprofit group that gives money to local projects and organizations. It was created in 1995 to support the Alleghany Highlands community.
The foundation funds programs in areas like education, health, economic development and community development to help improve quality of life in the region. Kim Halterman and Melinda Snead-Johnson, AHPS leaders, said the support for the C&O Heritage Festival helps expand student access to meaningful learning experiences.
“We are grateful for funding from The Alleghany Foundation that supports this endeavor,” they said. “We appreciate the educational value this experience provides and are excited to give all students the chance to take part in an event that connects them to local railroad history.”
In addition to the festival, students will also have access to the VA 250 Mobile Museum, located nearby outside the festival grounds. Admission to the mobile museum is free. The VA 250 Mobile Museum is a traveling, interactive exhibit designed to bring Virginia’s history directly to communities ahead of the Commonwealth’s 250th anniversary. It features hands-on displays, artifacts, and multimedia presentations that highlight key people, events, and themes in Virginia’s history.
The mobile museum is part of statewide efforts recognizing the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States, highlighting Virginia’s central role in American history through engaging, community-based education.
Halterman and Snead-Johnson say the combined experience of the festival and mobile museum will give students a meaningful way to connect local railroad history with both Virginia’s heritage and the broader story of America’s 250-year history.
“This is about giving our students hands-on access to history and helping them see how their own community fits into the larger story of Virginia and the nation,” Halterman and Snead-Johnson said.
