For many who don't know Ashland, it's just a whistle stop on the railroad.

But for those who live there, it's a little community knitted together by sidewalks, the common interests of small-town life and a series of parades, festivals and get-togethers.

Mary Claire Coster is one of the dabs of glue holding the community together.

Over more than 20 years, she has helped coordinate one of Ashland's signature events, the Ashland Strawberry Faire. It is held every June, usually the first Saturday, and this year will celebrate its 25th anniversary.

"People like that small-town kind of feeling when you have events like this," she said. "It's so much fun seeing people you haven't seen in a long time, people who have moved away and come back for the fair."

Churches, charitable groups and civic organizations from throughout Hanover County set up food booths and other concessions to raise money.

Volunteers such as Coster work all year to be sure the vendors, the bands, the dance groups, the craftsmen and others are in place at the right time.

The fair usually draws 15,000 to 20,000 people, and they come fair weather or foul.

"Even in pouring rain, we've had 5,000 or more," Coster said.

Sue Watson, chairwoman of the Hanover School Board, has done more than her share of community building as director and producer of the Ashland Musical Variety Show, held semi-annually.

A cast of 300 is usually required to put on the variety show, which enlists the talents and time of townspeople and others across the Hanover area.

Singing and dancing and rehearsing together for weeks at a time provides a timeless bond, Watson said.

"It allows people to have a shared experience," she said, and to get to know each other as human beings and not just as faces on the street.

The annual Ashland/Hanover Olde Time Parade is a low-key salute to the Christmas season. Instead of celebrities, locals become the grand marshals.

Last year, Watson was a grand marshal and it gave her a different perspective on the event as she rode through town in a convertible with the superintendent of schools.

All along the parade route, Watson said, "it was a long-running conversation" as spectators shouted greetings and comments to the parade participants.

On Independence Day, the town holds its Old Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration, which includes a nonmotorized parade of bikes, strollers, pets and people.

One group always marches with lawn chairs, signaling the laid-back nature of Independence Day in a small town.