Home for Christmas — Caroline, Kelly and her dog, Maize, and Dudley Carpenter share a Christmas moment at the family’s home in Cherry Lane.

Carpenter shares the story of her life in the spotlight

At the age of 26, Kelly Carpenter can look back on her life and say she has done it all.

At the tender age of 10, she had jumped head first into a life of acting, dancing and singing, attaining her first professional “gig” as Gina in an Olney Theater take on the cartoon strip, “Dennis the Menace.” Since that time, Carpenter has held lead acting and singing roles on cruise ships, among other jobs. Most recently, Carpenter entertained library patrons during the Alleghany County Library’s Holly Days event, where she sang Christmas carols. She was in the county recently to visit her parents, Dudley and Caroline Carpenter, who moved to the Cherry Lane community just off the Blue Ridge Parkway about five years ago.

Carpenter’s first foray into acting came at the age of five when she took part in a school play. “It all started when I was in kindergarten,” Carpenter recalled. “We were doing ‘A Clown Circus’ for a school play and I got the (part of) the barker. I came home with my lines and read them to my father. My father, being the eternal director that he is, said, ‘No, no, no. You’ve got to say it more like this...’ and he demonstrated.

To learn more about Carpenter and her career, visit www.geocities.com/ydsc/KellyCarpenter.

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