Earlier this month, snow, sleet, and wind came suddenly on a Tuesday evening. People were leaving work as ice filled the roads and temperatures tumbled from 41 to 16 degrees. In a small neighborhood on the edge of Blacksburg, in the woods and fields behind the old Price’s Fork Elementary School, Thompson Lane was filling up with snow and cars were struggling to make their way home along the road.
The following day, Thompson Lane resident, Liz Hager reported that that night, helping hands from Back to Nature, a neighboring landscape and construction company pitched in unbidden to help.
“It’s pretty hilly and it’s always a disaster in the snow,” she said. “And last Tuesday it was a hot mess. No gravel. No salt. They hadn’t plowed.”
But Back to Nature, the landscaping business on Thompson Lane did come out Hager said.
With equipment and salt, muscle and community spirit, men helped get cars up the hill.
“They were out there in the dark, getting wet and cold. We really appreciated it,” Hager said.
“We’re a full service landscaping construction company,” James Ulmer, owner of the company said.
Ulmer, a 26-year-old Virginia Tech grad, started the company five years ago when he was still in school, the company now employs 30 people, and he’s just been nominated vice president of the Homebuilders Association of the NRV.
“Our business is here on Thompson Lane and people do get stuck. Everyone’s all about community here on Thompson Lane,” Ulmer said.
Asked on the phone whether he was surprised at his early success, he said,
“Most definitely. It’s been a wild ride, but with good guys helping along the way. That’s why you’re calling now.”
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“We are always at the end of the list for snow removal,”
(1575 Thompson Lane)
