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back to his community. As a Shriner and
Mason, he donates a part of his proceeds
from every event. In addition to St. Jude’s
Children’s Hospital, he has helped many
other charities as well as people that are
in need.
Just in the last few years Mr. Brown has
built the Carriage House Saloon and the Bank.
He continues to think of new ideas of how he
can improve the Kanawha Valley Arena and
expand his “Cowboy Town.” As long as there
are people who are intrigued and interested in
what KVA has to offer and what it can do for
its local community then it will continue to
grow bigger and better each year.
Please visit our websites for more information:
As an entrepreneur from the big city of
Charlotte, North Carolina, Tommy Brown
dreamed to have a vacation home in the
mountains. In the Spring of 1991 he came
across a run-down home nestled in the
hills of Virginia, but he saw much more
than a neglected, shabby home. He saw
a project. After years of remodeling, the
home has become a growing investment
property called The Stillhouse Manor.
Once Stillhouse had been completed and
turned into a rental home, Mr. Brown began
pursuing a new dream.
In 1998 he purchased Kanawha Valley,
which is located in the small town of
Dugspur, Virginia. The property was nothing
more than a barn and land. As he began to
think about what he really wanted to do with
this new property, he had an idea. He could
create his own “Cowboy Town.” He started
to repair and remodel the barn, by adding an
addition with multiple stalls. Next, he had the
Carriage House built. It holds carriages such
as the Cinderella Carriage, Hearse Carriage
and the most popular the Wells Fargo Stage
Coach along with many others.
The name Kanawha Valley began to
spread throughout Dugspur, Hillsville and
Galax. People came to see Mr. Brown’s
carriages. They began to call, asking if they
could come and camp, bring their horses
and ride the trails for the weekend. Being
a fellow horse enthusiast, Mr. Brown had
no problem with people coming, but he
had a vision of a way at that he could use
his property to bring revenue to Dugspur
and the surrounding towns and maybe
help other local organizations. He quickly
added full hookup sites to the back part of
the property, built a rodeo arena with full
blown bucking shoots and to top it off, one
of the nicest concession/food areas around
with bathrooms and showers also located on
the property.
Shortly after this vision the first Wagon
Train event was formed with all proceeds
going to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
More events were scheduled such as the VA
High School Rodeo Finals, Diesel Truck
Pulls, Mud Bogs, and ATV Rodeos. Mr.
Brown also hosted educational events like
a Civil War Re-Enactment and he invited
many of the surrounding schools to attend.
As Kanwaha Valley’s has grown in the
past few years, Mr. Brown has tried to give
FutureLaw
, L.L.C.
John G. “Chip” Dicks
Martin K. Johnson
Sarah D. Dicks
Timothy S. Reiniger
Roger G. Bowers
1802 Bayberry Court
•
Suite 403
•
Richmond, Virginia 23226
Phone:
804-836-1980
•
888-252-6299
•
Fax:
804-225-5508
Website:
•
E-mail:
By Brooke Brown
Dugspur • Virginia
V
