Founded in 1939
Welcome to Baird’s Creek Presbyterian Church, a small community church west of Boone in a beautiful mountain setting.
We encourage you to come, visit and worship with us at 9 a.m. every Sunday.
Adult Sunday School following worship service.
BCPC Worship Services are CANCELED for Sunday, January 25, 2026.
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Valle Crucis School Reading Team Award
Small but Mighty: Valle Crucis School team places second at state Battle of the Books competition
FAYETTEVILLE — A small but mighty team of Valle Crucis School students battled it out at the state Battle of the Books competition and took second place overall.
The team of six students was the smallest at the competition, which allowed up to 12 team members.
The team is made up of Estalee Davenport, Cooper Riley, Leoria Davenport, Maia Carter, Ayla Crawley, and Georgia Fungaroli. They were coached by Elisa Lovejoy and Jane Brown.
“We’re super excited and very proud of the work they have done,” Valle Crucis Principal Bonnie Smith said. “They’ve worked hard, and it’s been good for the school and for encouraging reading.”
Battle of the Books is a reading incentive program for students in 3rd through 12th grades. Students read books and come together to demonstrate their abilities and to test their knowledge of the books they have read, according to the organization’s website. The Valle Crucis School team members each read 20 books at the middle school reading level and were then quizzed on each book at the competitions.
To get to the state level, the Valle Crucis School team won at the district level, which featured 12 teams. They then went down to Hickory and won first place at regionals, which secured their place at the state competition.
“It was very exciting,” Brown said. “We had no idea that they would win at district and regional and go on to state, but they work really hard.”
The team members were all glad they won and felt “pretty good” about their second-place finish. All members of the 2024 team had participated in Battle of the Books in the past.
The team also had some great community support, especially from their classmates, as they held a school-wide parade for the team the day before the state competition.
At the state competition, Carter said the hardest part was trying to stay calm but also to stay alert. At the state competition, there were 36 rounds.
“We knew they had talent. It’s all them. And they were so committed to it,” Lovejoy said. “It’s just a commitment beyond, I think, what we had seen in the past. We (are) very proud of them. It’s exciting for them and it’s exciting for the school as well.”
When they won second place, the announcers called the group the “small but mighty” team as they had the fewest members.
“I think we were definitely the smallest school there,” Davenport said. “Most of those (were) huge Charlotte schools — they’re big city schools that have like so many people to choose from. Here we have, what, 80 kids to choose from for middle school?”
For those wishing to participate in Battle of the Books, the team members had some advice.
Carter said to start reading as soon as the book list comes out because there are a lot of books to read. Crawley said for the boring books, get an audiobook and listen to it so you are “forced” to read the details and can’t skip over paragraphs.
Estalee Davenport recommended reading the “boring books” last so that it’s closer to the competition and will cut down on potentially rereading them. Riley said that after reading four or five Battle of the Books assignments, read one just for fun and then return to the assigned ones.
“(It’s) hard for you to stay locked in on the books if you only read once that you’re forced to,” Riley said.
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Local Girl Scouts Donate Toys to Pediatric Patients at WMC
Back row left to right: Troop Leader Heather Fungaroli, Beth Bradt (RN), Randi Lincoln (RN), Kathryn Grier (CNA), and Troop Leader Luci McGuire. Front row: Aine Vernon, Lilli Cook, Estee Martin, Eleanora Murphy-Wilson. Middle row: Georgia Fungaroli, Marion Dixon.
Read complete story here: https://www.wataugademocrat.com/news/local/local-girl-scouts-donate-toys-to-pediatric-patients-at-wmc/article_4b6ab689-e87e-5dcf-a76b-644c20ba19f8.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
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Bairds Creek Presbyterian 
Hello Pastor Keith! Fr. Allan here from Holy Cross. Just want to give a heads up that we are restarting our Cub Pack late August/early September and wanted to get the word out to your members and their families to watch for recruiting posters later this summer. If there are any parents that might be interested in helping the Pack in any leadership role, let me know. Hope you’re well. Thank you. Allan +