Larry Ceola of Fincastle recently sent us a first: a video letter to the editor. In it, he documents — and complains about — the condition of the Happy Food Mart on U.S. 220 in Fincastle.

Here’s some of what he says in the video:

“I’ve driven this road for many years and in this last few years grown weary of passing through the town of Fincastle. The very thing you see as you head north is the Happy Food Mart. This used to be a very nice looking Exxon station … It seems that ever since the affiliation of Exxon terminated, this store has gone down hill badly.

“The sign face has been busted out for over a year. The cotton wood trees are growing up out of the asphalt in front of the building and beside the signs. The awnings around the building still have the faded old Exxon logos, remnants of days past. The awnings are beat up, coming apart and in disrepair, the paint is faded badly. The signs have looked like this for over a year. You’d think by now, somebody would fix it… “After many years of driving by, you just get to the point that you close your eyes and you pay no attention. I think it’s about time the Happy Food Mart clean this place up. It’s been an eyesore for long enough… All I want out of this action is to see this place cleaned up so I don’t have to look at it everyday as I drive by on my way home.”

To see the entire video — and the many comments it’s generated — see The Notebook on Botetourt View blog and look under “business.”