Lisa Helmick, pie lady

Tiffany Mann and her diamond creations.

Penny Rader stands with some of the merchandise at Brugh's Mill Exxon.

Botetourt's premiere sausage can be found at Martin's Farm on Martin's Lane in Fincastle.

The Pie Lady

Lisa Helmick of Daleville is the mother of five children, three of whom -- Grace, Luke and Sarah -- are at Greenfield Elementary School. The other two --Rachel and James --are at home. The RN-turned stay-at-home mommy has a busy business that just incorporated under the name, "The Pie Lady." Helmick specializes in to-die-for chicken pies and a scrumptious chocolate pecan pie.

Her children came like stair steps and after moving back to Virginia two years ago following an 11 year stint in Michigan, Helmick, a Pulaski native, started thinking of a healthy alternative that folks might purchase to pop in the oven on a busy night.

Said Deb Carter of Troutville, a frequent customer of Helmick's: "This is the answer to the working woman's dream," which she described as the most delicious combo of chicken pies that she has tasted.

Helmick's sister is a teacher, and last year she gave her fellow teachers a chicken pie, because that is the kind of gift she wished students and teachers would giver her, said Helmick.

"Everyone is so busy, that a nutritious meal ready to be put in the oven is just what we need on hectic days. Combine it with a salad, and dinner is served."

Her chicken pies are a variation of a friend in North Carolina's French-style chicken pie. With the help of her husband, Rob, she has developed a small menu of chicken pie varieties.

A chicken etching is featured in the dough of the top crust. The varieties are "Just Chicken" that kids love; chicken and veggie with peas, carrots, corn and green beans; chicken and 'shrooms (Rob's addition) and chicken, broccoli and cheese -- her favorite. She makes them in standard nine-inch rounds for $12 or "Chicken Littles" -- perfect for one or two people -- at $7. The dreamy chocolate pecan is $14.

After making and preparing the pies, the family helps her fold the boxes -- which Helmick stamps with a rooster and hen motif from her fondness for scrapbooking and chicken pies. Helmick then freezes the pies in her commercial-style freezer.

"Most people just place the order and pop by to get a frozen chicken pie. They take it home and cook it for an hour or until the crust is golden brown and dinner is ready!"

Helmick requires 3-4 days notice for large orders. If a person buys 5 pies then each is $1 off regular price. To place an order, call her at 992-6146 and ask for "The Pie Lady."

--Cathy Benson

Tiffany Lynn Diamonds

Tiffany Mann is a diamond broker and jewelry designer who lives in Daleville. She gives buying locally an entirely new definition.

Recently she sent around an e-mail reminding her friends and associates that diamonds make great Christmas gifts. She has been in the diamond business for years, and with a name like Tiffany -- why not? She is the third generation of diamond brokers and deems herself an independent gemologist who is also a diamond broker. Her business is called Tiffany Lynn Diamonds.

"Our company buys loose diamonds directly from importers and offers a wide variety of settings," said Mann. Some of her designs are featured above. She offers the higher end of gifts available in Botetourt this year.

She is known to scoot around Daleville on her Harley, so diamonds are not her only business. Tiffany can be reached at her Web site: www.tiffanylynndiamonds.com or by phone, 520-TIFF.

To read Tiffany Mann's Christmas poem, see The Notebook on botetourtview.com

--Cathy Benson

Sky pix

"Cloudy days are better than sunny days because of the lack of shadows," said Erryn Barkett, an enterprising man in more ways than one, but it sounds quizzical for cloudy days to better than sunny.

So who is Barkett? He is the Barkett in Barkett-Allen Capital group of Fincastle and Orlando, Fla., and he is a soccer coach, daddy and pilot--among many other interesting traits. His pilot training and small aircraft has led him to another fun side career -- he takes pictures from the air of some of the most famous football stadiums on the East Coast.

The name of the enterprise is Sky Pix, LLC. For the fan that has everything, the Sky Pix photo may be the ideal Christmas gift. And for these striking photos of full stadiums of cheering fans, indeed clouds are better than sun.

Barkett is fully licensed as a distributor by the colleges and universities that he shoots. With Bill Hopkins behind the controllers of the airplane, Barkett clicks away with his super-duper Canon digital camera with 15 megapixels.

He first took a picture of Mississippi's Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in the early '90s and that kind of hooked him on the concept. After Sept. 11, small-craft flying around stadiums became a cause for concern. The safety factor is part of the licenses, as well as doing business with the university or college and working with air traffic control at local and regional airports. The first licensed school he did was Virginia Tech last year as a "Thank You" to the world for all of the support after the April 16, 2007 tragedy.

Other stadiums he has photographed on game day include Virginia, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Ohio State, South Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee, James Madison, VMI, Alabama and Washington and Lee.

How does he do it? Well, when they went to Penn State the fans were having a white-out event, which made for an interesting shot. Before the shoot, Barkett hung around the local airport with the F-18 pilots who were flying over the stadium at game time. Barkett, Hopkins and Barkett's oldest son, fifth-grader Abe, flew overhead and got the whole scene. It is a rather awesome photo with the two jets zooming over the crowd while the Sky Pix crew puffed along above the scene.

"We are constantly adding schools," said the affable Barkett. The large print is beautifully framed and matted at $259 and the smaller also tastefully framed and matted is $99. To purchase a Sky Pix contact them go to www.Skypixonline.com or call the Sky Pix hotline at 473- 3562.

--Cathy Benson

Brugh's Mill Exxon

Brugh's Mill Exxon, located at Exit 156 on I-81, has a surprising array of gifts in the gasoline station and the store building, which is an attractive country-styled store.

They sell Webkinz, the ever popular "tween" toys, home merchandise, kitchen ware, local wine and wine accessories, garden and outdoor flags, John Deere merchandise, candles, knick-knacks and many other things you have to see to imagine. They also stock a number of other children's toy lines, including die-cast cars and trucks, and Russ Berrie toys.

They have a ton of Virginia Tech and Virginia merchandise as well. "We like to deal with a lot of things local and Virginia's Finest brands, like Virginia Diner Peanuts as well," said Penny Rader, is a co-owner.

The store is a Stop-In franchise, and is owned and operated by the Rader family of Troutville. Penny Rader is responsible for the gift shop. She tries to choose the gifts as to what the typical tourists might purchase on their way somewhere. However, they get enough local traffic in their eatery, that they get a lot of local traffic as well. The store is known for its fried chicken and daily specialties.

She noted that monogram letter garden flags are a popular gift. She re-stocks about every week and when the Virginia Tech and Virginia football seasons are going on, her store is a popular stop both going and coming along the I-81 corridor.

"We are unique in we have thousands of people per year who don't live here stop for food and gas, who also end up buying things from our gift shop. In some ways, we are one of the best kept secrets in Botetourt County," Rader said.

--Cathy Benson

Martin's

Martin's has been making sausage for sale on the Roanoke City Market and in Covington for the past 47 years, but Joe Martin has operated a store operation right on the farm, just north of Fincastle off U.S. 220 on Martin's Lane for five years. Better yet, he knows every hog that has been turned from farm animal into pork product. Buying local can be a good thing, as you know what this hog had for dinner!

Joe Martin takes all of his hogs to North Carolina to be slaughtered at a Department of Agriculture-approved site, so the pork is inspected and ready for sale after it is processed. His nephew's wife, Kim Martin, runs the store.

Here is a list of the items offered:

Meat products include sausage, smoked bacon, pork loin and pork chops, pork tenderloin, backbone, country ham, side meat.

Also available are farm-fresh eggs, a variety of produce and fruit, jams, jellies, honey and apple butter.

Martin's is open Wednesday-Friday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

--Cathy Benson