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News from the Roanoke Valley for June 19, 2009.
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Community | News | Per spect iveJune 19 - June 25, 2009 TheRoanokeStar.com
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TalksTitoP3– Tito the Builder came to Roanoke to give his take on America at the annual Repub-lican BBQ last week.
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The Roanoke City School Board met with Superin-tendent Dr. Rita Bishop and the school division attorney Monday in a closed meeting, where ramifications of the Department of Education report on the Standards of Learning scandal at William Fleming was the focus. What wasn’t decided, said Roanoke schools attorney Tim Spencer, was the fate of princi-pal Susan Willis or four other Fleming staff members.
“There was no discussion of any personnel item with the school board, while the superintendent or the [school system’s] legal counsel was
present,” said Spencer. In fact, Bishop and an at-
torney for the school board were asked to leave the room at certain points in the meet-ing, said Spencer. School Board Chairman David Car-son, Bishop and other board members in attendance let Spencer do the talking.
“This was just merely an opportunity for [the School Board] to receive [legal advice] …
on process and procedures that are outlined by state regulations regarding per-sonnel matters, as well as the
Approaching a 30th anniver-sary celebration in September, the West End Center on Pat-terson Avenue in Roanoke re-ceived an overdue facelift last weekend. Roanoke County supervisor Charlotte Moore’s Dreamscapes landscaping busi-ness donated the “manpower” – Moore included – while local nurseries and home improve-ment centers donated plants, flowers, trees and mulch.
When Moore visited the center, she took one look at the after school hub for inner city children and realized it could use her services. “We’ve been here every day this week,” said Moore last Saturday. A grant helped pay for the upgrades and several dozen volunteers donated their time.
Annette Patterson’s Ad-vancement Foundation, which works with non-profits to se-cure funding, helped coordinate the make-over.
According to Patter-son, the Foundation’s mission is to “help build sustainability and capacity. We go in and do strategic planning, [working] one on one with the directors.”
Patterson and West End Board members have asked former donors to, pledge $1,000 or more. The favorable response has been “unbeliev-able,” she said.
A $2 million campaign that will wipe out the center’s debt
and begin an endowment is about $175,000 towards its goal. Patterson, whose hus-
band, Patrick, is run-ning for the Board of Supervisors in Roa-noke County’s Vinton
District, wanted to help the West End Center “make the most of it,” when the 30th anni-versary celebration takes place in a few months.
“Peacebuilders,” tutoring and literacy programs based at West End Center, has resulted in higher graduation rates and much lower incidents of teen pregnancy for children attend-ing, according to Patterson. “It is like a community. The kids
feel safe.”Sounding like the school
guidance counselor that he is, Patrick Patterson was roll-ing up his sleeves to help with the landscaping. “Investing in students …and kids is the best investment a community can make,” Patterson said. The facelift last weekend was just one more example of “a real commitment to the kids.”
Board member Frankie Rob-bins vowed that if she beat a problem with vertigo she would volunteer at West End Center – and that’s what has happened.
Photo by Gene Marrano
Patrick Patterson helped with landscaping at the West End Center.
Still No Secretary for Bowers; Miller recognized
Silver Tears CampersBorn in Roanoke
Just when you thought you’ve seen it all, you run across something unique, original, and by some es-
timation, extraordinary.In fact, a warning to the reader: you
will probably want (maybe even “need”) one of these after you read this.
Tucked away in a quiet corner in Roa-noke’s Industrial Center, John Davis runs his small company, Silver Tears Camp-ers. He refers to himself as an “industrial designer,” but “artist” and “craftsman”
would also be apt descriptions.Davis designs and manufactures cus-
tom teardrop campers. The design first hit the American
highway in the 1940s. They were usu-ally hand-built in neighborhood garages from surplus war materials, so the tear-drop was a personal statement.
According to Davis, “Silver Tears Campers expands the personal state-
Photo submitted
Despite his protest that “the mayor needs a secretary,” David Bowers didn’t get his way Mon-day night, when city council vot-ed down his request 4-2 to save Joyce Johnson’s job, even on a part time basis. Bowers made the last minute plea when another secretary in City Clerk Stephanie Moon’s office decided to retire. Johnson, a victim of budget cuts, was offered a job in parks and recreation but may turn it down a year short of full retirement. Bowers has said on more than one occasion that he can keep a secretary plenty busy, even though the M a y o r ’s position is part time.
Councilman Court Rosen said before the vote that he didn’t want to “micromanage things,” and wondered if employees in other departments affected by cuts “might want someone to go to bat for them,” like Bowers was for Johnson.
Gwen Mason accused the Mayor of “having difficulty com-municating,” with Moon on how to handle his workload among others in her department. It was Moon who made the decision to cut Johnson’s position. “It could easily be taken care of with a dis-cussion,” said Mason.
Vice Mayor Sherman Lea said he was “not comfortable even
[City Council]
Cleaveland Touts Getting Back to the Fundamentals
The Botetourt lawyer says one of the reasons he wanted the Republican nomination for the 17th District House of Delegate seat was that “the nation must return to basic values.”
Cleaveland won a tough June 9 primary, taking 28 per-cent of the vote to runner-up Chris Head’s 24 percent. He beat three other GOP primary candidates also, living in an outpost of the sprawling 17th District – southern Botetourt County. Fellow Republican William Fralin – who came out in strong support of Cleave-land after his win on primary night - is retiring after three terms.
“We can make it pretty simple and go back to the fundamentals in the [Virginia Republican Creed] and put ourselves in a position where we’re all proud to be Ameri-can again,” Cleaveland said in
Bill Cleaveland
Bill Cleaveland wants to “get America back on track.”
No Decision on Fate of Fleming Administrators
[Community]
> CONTINUEDP3: Council Notes
> CONTINUEDP2: Cleaveland
West End Center Gets Makeover
Photo by Gene Marrano
School Board chair David Carson (center) and Superinten-dent Rita Bishop (left) after closed meeting on Monday: “no comment.”
[William Fleming]
> CONTINUED P2: Camper
> CONTINUEDP2: William Fleming
> CONTINUEDP3: West End Center
Jon Kaufman
Page 2 | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 6/19/09 - 6/25/09 TheRoanokeStar.com
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ment into a road epic….you’ll travel light, but smart, with everything you need, and nothing you don’t.”
Instead of expensive (and polluting) RVs, or large campers pulled by huge trucks, the teardrop is light enough to be pulled by a small car.
“It makes for a great long weekender…you don’t have to have a special vehicle, you can even pull it with a Mini Cooper,” Davis said. “It’s as green as green gets…it may even be greener than a tent [when you factor in the vehi-cles needed to haul a tent and other camping necessities].”
Davis is a Roanoke native, earning a word-of-mouth reputation for quality crafts-manship over the years with his custom made furniture. Most recently, however, he’s stretched his creative wings by designing and building a cowboy bunkhouse. He also built a rolling studio for Moore & Giles, a leather company based in Forest, using a 31-foot Airstream camper.
The body of the teardrop is constructed from ma-hogany plywood and solid ash woods, reminiscent of the beloved “woody wagon” from the 1940s.
Interior features incorpo-rate custom cabinetry, a 47” x 72” bed, recessed Zenon lighting, European hinges, storage, and much more, in-cluding a comprehensive gal-ley.
It should be noted, how-ever, that while the standard
features are impressive, the potential for customization is virtually limitless.
“You can tour the US in it,” Davis said.
Or, at least use it for a distinctive, economical get away.
According to the compa-ny’s website, one can: “Ma-neuver it deftly through the woods to the creek bank. Fry trout in the open-air kitchen. Rub your hands across the figured maple countertop. Read that novel in the light of the kerosene lantern. Fall asleep to the sound of rain on the aluminum roof. Dream of tomorrow’s adventures. Get up and go.”
To find out more, visit sil-vertearscampers.com, or call John Davis at 540-427-3370
> Silver Tears From page 1
By Pam [email protected]
a phone interview last week.“The word “greed” comes to
mind when you think about ultimately what has gotten us as a nation into the position that we’re in now,” Cleaveland said, referring to the ongoing recession. He wants to take the state back to free enter-prise, which he said is not the corrupt practices of recent years.
“It is not greed and ex-cess,” he said. “It’s individual responsibility. It requires us to have some awareness that there are others around us who are not as favorably situ-
ated. I’m not talking about handouts; I’m talking about fair dealing. If you’re a good business person, fair dealing is at the heart of your opera-tion.”
The 58-year-old former prosecutor believes those values will differentiate him from challenger Gwen Mason (D-Roanoke). “I think the record will bear that out,” he said. “I’m a conservative in-dividual fiscally and socially. I am convinced we need to go back to some fundamental ways in the way we approach government and in the way
government approaches its citizens.”
His platform consists of economic development is-sues, education as a way to help businesses, and off-shore drilling as a payment for transportation concerns. “Encouraging the economy” is a high priority. To do that, he supports public and pri-vate partnerships while work-ing with localities to seek new jobs. Educational facilities must better prepare students for the work environment, he said, so he supports coopera-tive ventures between schools and businesses and encour-ages public, private and home school efforts.
Drilling for natural gas off the Virginia coast could offer a way to pay for transporta-tion upgrades.
“It would be unwise for us not to look at that to generate some funding for transporta-tion,” Cleaveland said.
The civil litigation attorney specializes in defense work and personal injury. His 30 years of legal practice began in 1979 when he came to Roanoke City as a criminal prosecutor. He worked with the Commonwealth’s Attor-ney’s Office until 1984, and for the next 18 years worked
with two law firms. In 2002, Cleaveland became a solo practitioner, practicing law in downtown Roanoke. In 2008, he moved his office to south-ern Botetourt County.
Cleaveland has also served as substitute General District Court Judge in the 23rd and 25th Judicial Districts, but he resigned that post this year to run for the House of Del-egates seat.
“I tried to approach the campaign by being who I am, so people will see who I am and who they are getting,” he said. “When we started out, we talked about wanting to be a servant of the citizens, and I can honestly say with confi-dence that we could not have been without even one of the people who supported us and still made this work.”
Now he hopes the momen-tum of the primary will pro-pel him forward as he begins his campaign.
“I want to do everything we can to unify the Republican Party and keep this as a Re-publican seat in November,” he said.
By Anita [email protected]
> Cleaveland From page 1
legal ramifications and ap-propriate actions to be taken by the board and the school division, in regards to the re-port released by the Virginia Department of education,” Spencer said.
Spencer also said there was no timetable on decid-ing what to do about Willis, two hall principals, the test-ing coordinator and a special education specialist.
“This board had a num-ber of questions [about] the process that we might see - should there be any adverse employment action,” he said.
Rita Bishop said in a state-ment released last week:
“Because the Department of Education report refer-ences personnel, I will not be taking any questions. We take allegations very seriously in everything we do. Students
are always first. We self-re-ported a number of apparent violations that involved stu-dents and cooperated fully with the investigation. Once again, students are first. Fur-ther comment is not appro-priate while we evaluate find-ings and develop action plans for moving forward-particu-larly insofar as they involve particular students and per-sonnel. Apparent violations appear to be contained to a single school and should not affect the hard work of teach-ers at William Fleming and throughout the entire divi-sion. Any student issues will be addressed.”
> William Fleming From page 1
By Gene [email protected]
Interior features include: a 47” X 72” bed, custom cabinetry with inset doors, drawers and book-matched fiddleback olive ash veneers, hidden hatch under cushions for storage and to secure the port-a-potty, electronics options and a roof vent with a 3 speed temperature control.
The Teardrop body features mahogany plywood and solid ash woods. All exterior metal trim is aluminum or custom wood trim and the tail lights are ‘39 Ford teardrop LED tail lights. All wood edges and joints are sealed with West System epoxy.
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“I loved it from the begin-ning,” Robbins said. She has tutored and mentored children in the past – on Saturday she picked up a paintbrush.
“We’ve seen what happens with these kids – they seem to love to rise to expectations. They’re wonderful children.”
Executive Director Kay Hale said the privately funded West End Center (mostly individ-ual donations) is more than a building. Hale, a Roanoke Col-lege graduate who has served West End more than 25 years, said youth mental health ser-vices are a rarity in the African American community. Most of those who come to the center are at the lower end of the eco-nomic scale and the childcare rates are low.
“We are here to give kids the skills they need…and [a chance] to be happy,” said Hale. “We have a chance to make a difference.”
The overdue landscaping
and painting last weekend helped brighten things up a bit. “We’ve needed this for a long time,” said Hale, adding that the sprucing up will probably continue on some level (the West End Center is located on three pieces of property) until
September. “We’re on our way,” Hale re-
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By Gene [email protected]
talking about the issue in public,” before the 4-2 no vote with David Trinkle absent. Only Anita Price voted with Bowers to reinstate Johnson’s job.
Council may try to find $3,000 for after prom parties held every spring at William Fleming and Patrick Henry, after the $1,500 allocated for each was eliminated in the most recent budget. School activist Chris Craft told council from the podium that it was more expensive to clean up a car wreck caused by a student that may have partied else-where after the prom - rather than at safe, drug and alcohol free school-based after prom events.
Miller recognized: after more than 30 years of service, George “Killa” Miller is retiring from Roanoke City Schools. The longtime football and wrestling coach at William Fleming was honored with a resolution by Roanoke City Council Mon-day. Miller (nicknamed “Killa”) was a P.E. teacher and hall principal at Fleming, a principal at Noel C. Taylor and the school division’s director of ath-letics for the past three years.
Vice Mayor Sherman Lea noted that his son played football for Miller at Fleming, where the coach also became a mentor.
“He has that kind of impact on young people,” said Lea.
Miller, who played football and wrestled at Elizabeth State College, said the resolution was “an honor of high distinction.”
Council also voted to amend the plan for Wil-liam Fleming’s new athletic facilities, which will now include a field house adjacent to the football field. Architect Richard Rife said the placement of the field house would not interfere with a possible expansion of the new football stadium to 6,000 seats from the planned 3,500. The larger number would allow Fleming to host regional AAA play-off games.
By Gene [email protected]
> Council Notes From page 1
Roanoke City Schools have been battling for the past few years to make a comeback: closing unneeded schools, shuffling attendance zones, changing superintendents, trying to convince doubt-ers that an over-age academy would work.
The recent pay raises for central administration staff, while teachers got nothing, was a minor PR disaster.
The first-ever graduation last week of students from Forest Park Academy - some are in their 20's - featured smiles, hugs and tears from students, teachers and staffers.
Less than a dozen dropped out and more than 100 did, or will, graduate by the end of the summer. Others wait to get in. The overage academy, in its first year, seems like a winner.
The sorry saga at William Fleming over who didn't take Standards of Learning exams threw a bit of a cloud over last week's commencement ceremony, in large part be-cause Fleming's principal and four other school administra-tors did not attend their own school's graduation. Reported-ly, they helped certain students avoid having to take SOL tests that could have brought down
the school's overall score and left it unaccredited.
If there is blame to assign, those at fault should be pun-ished. But then changes need to be made by putting sys-tems in place that won't allow school staff to shuffle kids out of classes that require SOL testing without permission from central administration. Officials also need to look again at the No Child Left Be-hind mandates that cut fund-ing to schools that don't meet Standards of Learning bench-marks.
As School Board chair David Carson has said, it’s backwards
– the schools that need help (more teachers, tutors, reme-dial programs etc.) should not be the ones subject to funding losses.
Here's hoping the powers that be learn from the present unseemly situation and make the appropriate changes that won’t allow it to occur again in the future.
By Gene [email protected]
Our Take: Changes at RCPS are Needed to Help Those Who Need it Most
Saturday, June 13th was a beautiful, sunny day and it served as the backdrop for the Roanoke Valley Republi-can BBQ at Fallon Park. The BBQ is held annually to meet new people interested in the Republican Party and what it stands for. This year was no exception thanks in part to the large turnout. Several hundred people came out to enjoy Hen-ry’s Memphis BBQ with all the trimmings and to listen to the Roanoke Valley Bluegrass Pick-ers, a local band. Entertainment for the kids included a large in-flatable slide and maze, as well as face painting.
Helen McCurdy, a first time attendee, said, “I appreciated the fact that a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance were said before the meal.” Laura Moore, another first time attendee, said, “I really enjoy the family atmosphere. My son Zachary ran right to the inflatable slide and made two new friends. We were made to feel so welcome right from the start.”
The BBQ also featured sever-al local politicians, among them Rep. Bob Goodlatte and Del-egate William Fralin, both of whom spoke to the large crowd. One special surprise guest was the Republican nominee for At-torney General, Ken Cuccinelli. Ken drove down from Northern Virginia to speak and let people
know about his upcoming de-bate with the Democratic nomi-nee next weekend. He implored everyone to work hard to elect him for Attorney General, Bob McDonnell for Governor and to re-elect Bill Bolling for Lt. Governor. He said the Repub-licans have a very strong ticket this year and an ambitious plan to bring jobs and energy explo-ration to the Commonwealth.
Mike Bailey, an event orga-nizer, said, “Bob McDonnell is the Jobs candidate. He has the job of helping Virginia to pros-per by promoting the values of the Republican Party. The Roanoke Valley Republicans are helping Bob by nominating good candidates and increasing the number of people involved in our political process. Today was just such an effort and a successful one at that.” Mike Bream, also an event organizer, said, “We are already reaching out to people with conservative values, people who believe in the Constitution as it was writ-ten by our Founding Fathers. We just need to turn this coun-try in the right direction, and this BBQ helped bring people together who can achieve the goal of small government and low taxes.”
Also in attendance were Tito Munoz and his wife Debo-rah. Tito is more commonly known as “Tito the Builder,”
Virginia’s own version of “Joe the Plumber.” He first came to national attention last fall when he came onto the campaign trail for the Presidential election. He appeared with Sarah Palin as she toured Virginia, and Tito has appeared on the Fox News Channel at least six times on various shows. Tito has a very powerful message for his audi-ences, sharing his personal sto-ry of how he came to American from Columbia as a teenager with no money. He worked hard, made something of him-self and now owns his own con-
struction company. His tag line is “I was born in Columbia, but I was made in America.” Tito became an American citizen last fall and nothing makes him prouder now that he can vote.
The event was sponsored by the Roanoke County, Roa-noke City and Salem Republi-can Committees as well as the Roanoke Valley Republican Women. For more information on any of these groups call 540-776-3199.
by Carla M. [email protected]
Republicans Rally Around Cuccinelliand “Tito” at Annual Bar-B-Que
Tito Munoz addresses the crowd at last Saturday’s rally.
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> West End Center From page 1
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PersPectivePage 4 | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 6/19/09 - 6/25/09 TheRoanokeStar.com
The Roanoke Star-Sentinel
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Star~Sentinel Crossword
By Don Waterfield
Local Crossword for 6/19/2009
1 2 3
4 5
6 7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15
www.CrosswordWeaver.com
ACROSS
1 Surface to air missile 4 El Qahira 6 Bend 7 Male parent 9 Deli order
10 Cut grass 11 Roman two 12 Mountain in our city limits 13 Gall 15 Pixie
DOWN
1 A natural reason for Roanoke? 2 Relief 3 Mrs.'s companion 4 Infant's disease 5 Roanoke''s Polish sister city. 6 National police 8 Punching tool
10 Upset 12 Bad (prefix) 14 Balloon gas (abbr.)
Local Crossword for 6/19/2009
1 2 3
4 5
6 7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15
www.CrosswordWeaver.com
ACROSS
1 Surface to air missile 4 El Qahira 6 Bend 7 Male parent 9 Deli order
10 Cut grass 11 Roman two 12 Mountain in our city limits 13 Gall 15 Pixie
DOWN
1 A natural reason for Roanoke? 2 Relief 3 Mrs.'s companion 4 Infant's disease 5 Roanoke''s Polish sister city. 6 National police 8 Punching tool
10 Upset 12 Bad (prefix) 14 Balloon gas (abbr.)
Now that I’m older, people often ask me when I’m go-
ing to retire. I tell them, “When I stop loving it, I’ll stop doing it.” But there’s a deeper motivation: it’s in the ER that I most often meet ‘my betters.” People who have lived through shapings of fearful and demanding intensity, and become indi-viduals – often unsung - of remarkable dimension and scope. Not uncommonly, the ‘shaping’ reveals or develops a core of courage, or honor, or perseverance. But it is of two courageous individuals I wish to speak.
He was a big African-American who came to our ER with pneumonia. We got that squared away, and I had a moment of free time. I’d noticed a tattoo on his fore-arm: US Army.
“Being 80 years-old, you must have served in World War 2. He looked at me and nodded.
“He was in Europe,” he wife volunteered. “Gunnery Ser-geant in the Quartermaster’s Corps,” added another of the gathered family.
“So you must have been a member of the Red Ball Ex-press,” I said.
His gaze snapped towards me. “How’d you know that?” he rumbled.
“What is that… that Red Ball thing?” several of the family asked together, look-ing at each other.
I looked at him, “You nev-er told them about being a hero?”
“Wasn’t no hero. Just doin’ my job.”
But the family persisted and I explained that in the European Theater, World War 2, African Americans drove to Hell and back each day to supply the troops; bombs, firefight, snipers and the like notwithstanding.
The legendary Red Ball Express.
It turns out that ‘Gunny’ had been caught in the siege of Bastogne by German troops for several weeks. He gave a brief outline to a story none of his fam-ily had ever heard. “For four weeks, I never heard so much shoo-tin’, so many explosions, seen so much dyin’ and heard so much prayin’ – even from atheists. One of them athe-ists told God not to send Jesus there, for it warn’t no place for a boy.” Gunny looked down at his hands, down over long, untended, unremembered years. “Yeah, my group – and plenty of oth-ers - got surrounded in Bas-togne… Battle of the Bulge,” he whispered from far away. Coming back abruptly to the present, he added, “Till Ol’ Georgie Patton swung ‘round a couple regiments and freed us up. Week later, I was back pushin’ supplies.”
I shook his hand and thanked him what he had done. I told him the guys of the Red Ball were incredible. He simply said, “We had to be incredible.”
And then there was Tes-sa…
I met her only once and then too briefly; too briefly to learn from her how to pre-pare to die with grace. I read the obituaries and fully real-ize one day I shall be among the featured. How will I go? I can only hope to do half as well as she.
Forty-four year-old Tessa was dying the hard way: slowly and inevitably. Her death from wide-spread cancer would come soon, and unlike Gunny’s case, no amount of courage, resolve, or good fortune would save
her; no reprieves would be granted, no regiments to lift the seige. Death held her gaze and moved slowly to-wards her. But be-fore her end, Tessa must suffer. The cancer caused pe-
riodic build-ups of fluid in her right lung. As I
walked into her Bay, meeting her for the first and only time, she quipped, “I’ll give you a nickel to stick a needle in my lung.” Thoracentesis; intro-duce a needle, draw off fluid; the lung can now expand, Tessa can breath again… for now. Death grinned; Tessa joked. Such humor can only spring from a bulwark of in-ward, hard-anchored cour-age. If there is a grim proto-col for dying, Tessa ignored it as she gently tossed humor in the air. Tessa, dying, taught us how to live.
I know nothing of the met-rics of courage. If I am ever called upon to exhibit brav-ery on such a scale I have no idea how I shall perform. It is one thing to sit in the stands analyzing that event; quite another to face the on-com-ing bull.
In Tessa’s case it must be said that the conflict we can-not win says all of us that truly matters. I wonder when death comes for me if, like Tessa, I can laugh, and, like Tessa, take from Death the final word. What I say of her is this: God must have had some very important work for her on the Other Side, since he crafted her so specially on this one.
Lucky Garvin
Contact Lucky [email protected]
Gunny and Tessa
For the most part, I have lived most of my life "under the radar."
As a child I was so painfully shy that I managed to miss twelve straight Junior High School Spanish classes with-out being marked absent. To borrow a title from the musi-cal "Chicago" I was "Mr. Cello-phane." Last week, all of that changed.
While visiting my wonderful father-in-law Hank in the hos-pital, I noticed a nurse looking at me in a rather strange way. She wore a searching expres-sion, her brow furled as if she was trying to solve a difficult puzzle.
"Where do I know you from?" she asked, tightening a blood pressure band around Hank's upper-arm.
"Well, I am in the hospital quite often," I responded, hav-ing slept on at least half of the gurneys in Roanoke over the years.
"No, she answered," wag-ging her finger in my direc-
tion, "I know, you're the guy who wrote about his dog Ros-coe in the newspaper!"
Folks, I was floored. My face was awash in a deep blush. This was the first time that I had been correctly iden-tified in public by someone I had not previously met. The sensation was both exciting and confusing. Throughout the years I have often been mistaken for other people but rarely recognized as myself.
Many years ago, while trav-eling to Florida to visit my Mom, a lovely young woman approached me in the Fort Lauderdale airport terminal, threw her arms around my neck and exclaimed "Kenny, it is so nice to see you, where's Lucille?" We momentarily en-joyed a lingering embrace, (or at least I did) then separated. Begrudgingly, I explained that I possessed no information as to Lucille's whereabouts, and although my name was Jon, she was more than welcome to address me as Kenny, Larry
or any pseudonym that struck her fancy. Embarrassed and apparently dis-appointed, my mys-tery greeter with-drew and deserted me at the baggage claim.
Wherever I go I am either mistak-en for someone's Uncle Hobart, or I strike my fellow humans as completely invisible. When traveling for business in Park-ersburg, West Virginia with my friends Tom and Angel-ique, we stopped in a local eatery for a bite prior to a sales meeting. When the three of us entered the establishment (together) the perky hostess directed herself towards Tom and Angelique inquiring "Ta-ble for two." My two befud-dled business partners turned their heads to the left as if to make sure that I was, in fact, still standing next to them, as I glanced into a nearby mirror
to verify my pres-ence as well. Later, when the meals arrived, my order was the only one missing, as was the waiter's tip when it came time to settle up.
How can some-one be so eminent-ly forgettable?
I take some pride in my ability to recog-nize people and remember-ing their names. It's impor-tant, although I nearly lost my summer job one year for fail-ing to visually verify a musical celebrity. As an employee of Jones Beach Theatre in Long Island, New York, my job was to serve as an usher for the musical concerts staged at the venue. Boasting an impressive line-up of acts from a variety of musical genres, the theatre hosted everyone from Blue Oyster Cult to Mel Torme that summer.
My best friend Neil, a tall,
well muscled fellow who worked as a security guard at the front gate of the theatre fell ill one evening after consum-ing fourteen pre-performance cocktails. As any good friend would, I volunteered to man Neil's post while he revisited his last several meals. Secu-rity was light that evening as the headlining act, The Benny Goodman Orchestra, ap-pealed to an older crowd. Neil told me that all I needed to do was look menacing (me?) and everything would be alright.
The evening went without incident, until, just prior to Showtime, an older gentleman raced up to the gate and blew right past me. Not known for my speed, I was able to cap-ture the gate crasher just be-fore he reached the backstage entrance. Blocking the door, I asked for the man's ticket. The man explained that he did not have a ticket and that he was with the band. Determined to represent my fallen friend Neil, I argued with this fellow
for several minutes, until the backstage manager brushed me aside and escorted the man inside. Later, I glanced inside the theatre, and recog-nized that fleet-footed fossil who out ran me. The speedy senior playing his clarinet on stage was, the stat himself, Benny Goodman. I had been hoisted on my own petard, defeated by the very pet peeve which continues to torture my tangled identity.
To the friendly nurse who correctly diagnosed that iden-tity, it was a pleasure to meet you and I appreciate your kind comments about my writing. With the aid of this angel of mercy, I no longer feel trans-lucent, and that blip on the radar screen? It is I, Hapless Jon, not "Kenny" or your "Un-cle Hobart", just little old me, the man who would not allow Benny to toot his flute without a ticket.
Jon Kaufman
From Cellophane to Brick Wall – How I Got My Identity Back
Contact Jon [email protected]
When I was little I was a bit on the particular side when it came to food. Growing up in Charles-ton WV, I lived on the following: bagels and cream cheese from Ray’s Deli, ravioli from Leonoro’s and grilled cheeses and chocolate pudding from the Charleston Tennis Club. These items (and pizza) pretty much constituted my entire diet in my younger years. (It was a tough regimen to maintain but I somehow managed to pull it off until roughly the age of 16.) Obviously, I have branched out a bit (is there anything now I don’t like?) but the old favorites still do something for me. I still bite into a bagel with cream cheese and feel the comfort of home – that warm, soft, carefree place called childhood. It can transport me to that time growing up in Charleston, much like those familiar smells that take us all back in time. Chlorine rushing into my nose always takes me back to my life as a competitive swimmer. There I am on those blocks at age14, as if it was yesterday. I can’t step into my church, Raleigh Court Presbyterian, without thinking of the church I grew up in, Kanawha Presbyterian, simply because they both have that old church smell. It is so wonderful to remember the Jesus I first met as a child as I rediscover Him, now, in my late 30s. Our memory of the past is a funny thing, it informs us about who we are today more than I think most of us realize. I am extremely thankful that my past consists of warm bagels, a well-loved smelly old church, hours in the pool, the mountains and woods of WV and a loving family that helped me discover all these things and so much more. As you may note below, however, I am a tad more sophisticated with my bagel toppings these days . . .BagelsCream CheeseRed OnionTomatoesSmoked Salmon/LoxBlack PepperCapers
-Slice the bagels down the middle-Toast the bagel slices
-Spread the cream cheese to your liking-Cut thin slices of red onion and lay on top -Garden fresh thick slices of tomato go on next -Then the smoked salmon or lox piled on top -Grind fresh pepper on top and then sprinkle with capers*If you are making this for dinner serve it with some yummy potatoes chips if you want to be really bad. If you feel the need for some green, some steamed asparagus might be quite nice.
Bagels and Lox
The Recipe of the Weekfrom The Happy Chef
by Leigh Sackett
PersPectiveTheRoanokeStar.com 6/19/09 - 6/25/09 |The Roanoke Star-Sentinel |Page 5
Gosh, the time has so rapidly come and gone. Just five
years ago on June 14th my family and I celebrated our 1st Sunday at Cave Spring Baptist Church. Now the time has come for us to go. We rejoice in the years we've enjoyed and friends we've made. Truthfully, words are inadequate to describe what the sweet Lord Jesus has done in our hearts and lives dur-ing this time. Before I start to blubber, may I give you the reason for my column today? Regrets!
Yes, regrets are part of a person's life. It seems that when we are young we regret the things we did, and when we are old we regret the things we didn't do. But life's just like that isn't it. Some live their lives in the tomorrows and very often others live their lives in the yesterdays. Churches do that. In our collective minds we remem-ber "what it was like when Reverend Dr. So-and-so was our Pastor"! We often talk of "how it was" as we recall the wonderful things the Lord did for us back in the day.
Is your God only a yester-day God?
In some cases (rare as they may be) there are the vision-aries who constantly expect what God is going to do. We live our lives in total anticipa-tion of what's going to hap-pen next. The next lost per-son to pray to receive Christ,
the next Mission opportunity or the next project on our agenda. It seems to be the way we're wired.
Truthfully, the Lord is the Lord of TODAY!!!!!
Remember that the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
I suppose one could ask what that has to do with this column. My answer to that is too often we live our lives in the what has happened or in the hopes of what will hap-pen all the time passing on the WHAT IS HAPPENING!
I recently conducted a wedding for friends back in Tidewater where I was privi-leged to pastor Bethel Bap-tist Church for 15 years. We had watched the couple to be married grow up in the church. They were the model couple in every way, but what I want to point out has little to do with the wedding.
At that wedding my friend Kim Curling came up and (while musing over the large crowd gathered there that day) said, "Chip, we re-ally didn't know what we had when we had it, did we?"
I looked into that big man's eyes and saw the sorrow of
wasting the right now. His point was crystal clear. We were so distracted during our years of ministry that we failed to savor the moment. What a loss. What a tragedy that we can allow ourselves to be so captivated by some-thing we don't have that we fail to appreciate what we do have.
So let me conclude my fi-nal column in this passage by saying, "I am enjoying the moment; I do hope you are as well!" May the sweet Lord Jesus bless you as you find your way through your TO-DAY!
Your Pastor and friend, Pastor Chip Roberson
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Whoever coined the phrase “shy as a violet” must have had little ex-
perience with that delicate denizen of the woods and meadows. My recent experience with this wildflower con-vinced me that the violet is anything but shy.
When a violet plant voluntarily took up residence in my herb gar-den, I hesitated to remove it. After all, its purple blossoms added a vi-brant touch of color, tucked between the verdant clumps of oregano and the graceful green spires of chives. The heart-shaped leaves were attrac-tive, and its subtle scent evoked memories of my teenage years when salesgirls at Woolworth of-fered samples of violet perfume. Moreover, the flower is edible. Visions of violet blossoms sprin-kled on my salads or candied to decorate cakes convinced me it qualified to remain among my herbs.
Thus that single violet plant seduced me, and I left it to grow amidst the tarragon, oregano, basil and chives. To grow – and multiply. Before long the bare soil around the mother plant was pep-pered with tiny seedlings. I discovered that each flower produces a seed pod that pops open, re-leasing dozens of miniscule seeds.
Soon all the space between my herbs was filled with purple violets, despite my efforts to re-move the seedlings with a cultivating fork. With a touch of regret, I tugged at the mother plant, but its roots held firmly. Using my trowel to up-root it, I discovered an underground system of roots and rhizomes that threatened to conquer the entire garden and choke out the original oc-cupants.
Deciding that control of this aggressive plant was impossible, I placed it in the same category as wiregrass and dandelions and determined to eradicate it. Each clump I removed left behind enough rhizomes to assure a healthy stand of vi-olets for the future. What began as a single “shy” violet squatter had staked out its claim. And each year I must struggle to control it.
This spring as I dug out the violets, I reflected on the subtle way the flower seduced me, not-ing the similarity to some personal relationships.
Have you ever been taken in by some helpless individual’s flattering words and apparent fragility? Once you suc-cumb, you face increasing demands, until you find yourself under the control of an allegedly vulnerable person.
The shy, sweet individual may use these attributes to gain whatever
she wants. (Yes, it’s often a female, although sometimes these tactics have been used by those of the op-
posite gender.) As a teacher, I was always on guard to avoid
the charm of sweet little girls or flattering boys who attempted to gain favors. Their beguiling behavior tempted me to reward them by choos-ing them for special jobs, such as passing out pa-pers or pencils, being first in whatever activity was at hand.
As parents, my husband and I often encoun-tered similar attempts by our children to soften our reserve concerning certain wishes they en-tertained. On one such occasion my husband had refused to let them get a dog because (1) he felt the city was no place to own a dog and (2) they could enjoy the company of other dogs who lived in our neighborhood. A third, unmen-tioned objection was the trouble and expense of boarding a pet when the family needed to leave town.
The children formed a conspiracy, with the as-sistance of a friend whose dog had given birth to a litter of six puppies. The friend brought a puppy to our house and Dad was exposed to his daughter’s helpless look of longing as she played with the puppy. He gave in and we became dog owners – and dog lovers.
Ultimately, I surrendered to the violets as well. Although each spring I remove the seedlings, I’ve compromised and actually enjoy the positive characteristics of the clumps of color that spring up among the herbs. I admire their charming attributes, but I definitely do not describe this hardy, aggressive plant as “shy.”
Shy begonias anyone?
Mary Jo Shannon
Shy as a Violet?
Contact Mary Jo [email protected]
Celebrating All That We HavePastor Chip Roberson Says Goodbye
Preacher’s corner
For all the times you made me hold that darned ladder;For all the times you said, "if you throw that tennis racquet again, we're going home," and I threw the tennis racquet again, and we went home;For that time you wanted to go hiking in the Smokies, and I wanted to go to Amy Harris's pool party, and I pitched such a fit halfway to the Smokies that you turned the car around and drove us home at breakneck speeds, only to give in half an hour later after I pitched anoth-er fit, and we went to the Smok-ies, and had a nice time;For beating me every time at ev-ery sport and every game, many years after I was sure I was bet-ter than you;For the thirty-seven times you told me the name of the same green-metallic beetle, while each time I was thinking about some girl or some song I'd like to write, or some song I'd like to write about some girl, only half an hour later to see a green me-tallic beetle, and wonder what kind it was;
For the times you crushed between your fingers some-thing sweet-smelling, or sharp-smelling, or minty-smelling, or putrid, and shoved it toward my nose, say-ing, "Nature snort;"For all the arguments we've had about re-ligion, and all the agreements we've had about politics;For all the times we've called each other "smart-a--," audibly or otherwise;For every time you should've made fun of me for the way I split wood, and the vast major-ity of times that you did;For all those really stupid ideas I've had, which you vehemently opposed, until you knew I'd go through with them anyway, at which point you supported me;For all those trips I've taken, and you've secretly worried about, even while you tried to project all your concerns for me onto "my mother;"For teaching me to light the
water heater—and to rake with full, ef-ficient strokes, and curse at the weed-whacker, and spread the peanut-butter clean out to the crust;For all the creative ways you pun-ished me, with just enough conse-quence to sting, and just enough humor
to tell stories about later;For finding your craft, your voice, and a fulfilling sense of place—for living my aspiration and giving me a sense of belong-ing, even as odd as I feel to live vicariously through my father; For all those times, all those lessons, all your friendship and love, this father's day I bought you an ice-cold bottle of beer, Which I'm drinking now as I write you this poem,All the while thinking, man, he would've enjoyed this. Thanks, Dad. Love you. I'll spot you that beer sometime. -- NLF
A Father’s Day Poem For Dad
Fred First
Last weekend I purchased “Roasting Vegetables in a Bag” from a farmer’s market. In the bag were kale leaves, new po-tatoes, kohlrabi, green beans, spring onions and young car-rots. The directions were to cut to similar size pieces, coat with a little oil (olive is a good choice and a zip-lock bag makes it easy) and seasonings – I used Spike – Mrs. Dash would work or any other seasonings, place on a cookie sheet in a 375° oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, turn vegetables and roast for another 10 or so minutes until veggies are tender and crisping. Any vegetables would work – mix and match with what is plen-tiful and in season. This is a great, easy and delicious way to prepare and then eat a wide va-riety of good-for-you vegetables all year long. Zucchini, yellow squash and onions are another good combo. It's hard to be-lieve that something this easy could taste this good. To round out this meal, a plan might be to have some fish or chicken bak-ing in another pan, when done,
dinner is served – add some-thing cold and crispy like cu-cumber, celery and carrot slices for balance.
If you are grilling, then you may want to roast vegetables or fruit on your grill along with your meat, chicken or fish. They add color, texture, flavor and nutrition without adding many calories. You can use a grilling basket, grilling pan, skewars for kebabs, or tuck into aluminum foil for a roast/steam.
Here are some ideas for grill-ing vegetables from www.ex-tension.org :
Cut vegetables into large, flat pieces of even thickness throughout each slice. You can cut them into smaller pieces af-ter cooking.
Add flavor to vegetables with olive oil (or another type of oil) and seasonings. Lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, brush with oil and season. Turn them over and repeat on the other side.
Use marinades to add flavor. Be aware that sugar-based mar-inades cause the exterior of the
vegetables to blacken. Use both moist and dry heat
to cook your vegetables. Grill the vegetables until they have nice grill markings on both sides. Remove them from the grill and place into a bowl or pot. Cover tightly with plastic wrap to prevent the steam from escaping for five to 10 minutes. This will finish the cooking pro-cess of the vegetables without drying them out.
Try these ideas to add flavor, color and fiber to your menu with grilled fruit:
Sprinkle wedges of apple or pear with cinnamon and a touch of brown sugar. Grill for about five minutes per side.
Brush peeled, whole bananas with canola or sunflower oil and add to the grill just until the fruit turns golden and has grill marks, or about five minutes per side.
For a fun alternative to the summer classic s’mores, cut a 3/4-inch-deep slit down the length of an unpeeled banana. Pry the slit open and stuff with 2 tablespoons of chopped dark
chocolate or your favorite candy bar. Wrap the banana in foil and grill for about five minutes on each side.
Grill peaches and nectarines for a side dish to go with steak or pork tenderloin. After cook-ing, the fruit can be diced and made into a salsa or relish by adding fresh herbs, chili pep-pers and lime juice or vinegar.
As the vegetables keep com-ing in this summer season, switch them up, try new sea-sonings and make it easy on yourself by roasting and grilling them.
To find out about Virginia Cooperative Extension pro-grams in your area, go to www.ext.vt.edu/
For The Living Well Newslet-ter go to: http://sites.ext.vt.edu/livingwell/
You can contact me at [email protected].
Extension Connection: A Simple and Delicious Way to Enjoy Seasonal Foods
By Deb [email protected]
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Focus on education
To the tune of “I Believe I Can Fly,” the first class to graduate from Forest Park Academy last Thursday received plaques in-dicating they would finish high school. Closing exercises for Forest Park opened on the site of a closed elementary school in northwest Roanoke, took place at Virginia Western Commu-nity College.
Forest Park is an alterna-tive school for over-age stu-dents. Some had dropped out of school, others had fallen behind; all benefited from the smaller classes and extra atten-tion at Forest Park. Some gradu-ates were several years beyond typical high school senior age.
Principal Eric Anderson read from a poem that seemed to say it all: “When you’re up against the trouble, meet it squarely face to face.” Most did; less than a dozen students dropped out during the school year. An-other 17 could graduate with a high school diploma in August if they take and pass the Stan-dards of Learning tests. Gradu-ates wore their home school colors from William Fleming or Patrick Henry and could walk with those seniors during com-mencement exercises the next day if they chose to do so.
Anderson, hugged by many students when they came on stage to receive plaques, likened
graduates to caterpillars last September. “You became new…you became adults [through a] molting process,” he added.
“With no work there will be no play,” said Reticia Wash-ington, one of two students to address fellow students, Super-intendent Rita Bishop, School Board Chairman David Carson, parents and well-wishers in at-tendance. Washington thanked the academy “for allowing me a second chance…to better my life.”
Umeko Jones didn’t get far into her address before break-ing into tears. She was “hon-
ored and proud,” calling edu-cation “the memory of blood, sweat and tears. With a little hard work it can take me where I want to go.” Jones recalled that she almost “gave up” on school before being lured back to For-est Park.
Bishop, who also put together an overage student academy in Lancaster, PA, said the 98 first year graduates that had all passed six SOL tests amounted to a feat that was “pretty impres-sive.” Bishop praised the “cour-age” of the Roanoke City School Board for its decision to close Forest Park Elementary, despite neighborhood protests, and fund the academy.
She also mentioned some of the unique obstacles these returning students had to deal with – like raising children while going to school. “[Some] of you have faced challenges that are so overwhelming.”
“We have been truly amazed at what you accomplished this year,” Anderson said just before graduates came up on stage.
Forest Park Academy Graduates First Class
Teachers (foreground) and Forest Park graduates wait for closing exercises.
Desree Gates is congratu-lated by Superintendent Rita Bishop, as Forest Park prin-cipal Eric Anderson (center) looks on.
By Gene [email protected]
Principal Susan Willis, Hall Principals Bill Downie and Michael Hill, Guidance Co-ordinator Keith Smith and a special education coordi-nator were all absent from last Friday’s commencement exercise for William Flem-ing High School. But for the 350 graduates, the day was all about optimism and looking ahead.
Willis and Downie, im-plicated with the others in steering some students away from Standards of Learn-ing tests in order to keep the school’s overall performance grade higher, were listed in the program as taking part in the ceremony, but they were replaced without fanfare by others from the school.
Mayor David Bowers, one of many city council and school board members on hand, talked about the com-mitment made by the city to build a new high school at William Fleming, something that becomes a reality this fall.
“Next [school] year in Sep-tember we start a new begin-ning,” said Bowers.
Assistant principal Susan Morris, filling in for Willis, noted that “the walls may come down [but] the memo-ries will remain.”
Guest speaker Nikki Gio-vanni, the noted poet and Vir-ginia Tech professor, related the story of Christopher Co-lumbus and his quest to seek the New World, “We sail on… we continue to learn some-thing – you must sail on.”
Salutorian David Krawczyk said the education received at Fleming “will allow us to go
forward with a new approach,” while valedictorian Jesse Jen-kins hailed fellow students as “quite possibly the greatest people I’ve ever known.”
William Fleming’s troubles related to the SOL testing scandal seemed to matter lit-tle, if at all, as seniors walked the stage to receive their hard-earned diplomas, part of the last class at the old campus.
Fleming Graduation Not Marred by Scandal
Fleming graduates are all smiles as the last class of the old school.
By Gene [email protected]
Community School is the proud sponsor of its own steel drum band, the “Community School World Pan Band.” Cur-rently consisting of 18 mem-bers, 16 students age 7 through 13, as well as two parents, the program is under the direc-tion of Richard Rudolph. The band traveled to VA Beach last month to attend the 7th An-nual Caribbean Steel Drum Festival, featuring some 20 steel bands from all over the country.
The Community School stu-dents were some of the young-est members participating, winning a silver medal and trophy with a score of 89 (out of 100).
In the history of this festi-val, the Community School World Pan Band, only a year old, is the first band to receive a silver medal.
Steel bands performed se-lections of their own choice to showcase each student’s strengths and the vast rep-
ertoire of steel band music. World Pan Band played se-lections from rock to calypso from the culture of the Carib-bean. Each band was evalu-ated by the judges in the areas of style, content, presentation and execution of proper fun-damentals of steel band per-formance.
The festival was divided into
the categories of elementary school, middle school, high school, community centers and private studios and col-leges. World Pan Band was in the private studio group be-cause the program is being ad-ministered through Quest Academy of Roanoke.
Community School Band Wins Silver in National Festival
Community School student Elena Lloyd enjoys performing in the Caribbean Steel Drum Festival.
Twenty-one would-be per-formers, ranging in age from 5 – 16, gathered at Patrick Hen-ry High School this week to master acting, singing, danc-ing, theatrical makeup, props, and costuming skills through interactive workshops. Their ultimate goal was to produce and perform a professional, top-quality musical entitled “The School Survival Guide,” all within just five days.
“This is the most accessible, comprehensive theater experi-ence for kids throughout our region,” said Dr. Mary Souder, director of The Junebug Cen-ter for Storied Arts, which has been conducting these theater camps all over the Roanoke and New River Valley for the past five years.
Souder has witnessed many accomplishments at the Junebug Center in Floyd since
she arrived six years ago. The Center employs a full-time professional dance teacher, as well as a professional theater instructor, and several artist interns to work with children and adults at all levels.
The script for this past week was original, Souder said, as well as all of the choreography; it was written at three levels in order to accommodate all the talents of the children in-volved. The performance takes place at the Patrick Henry High School auditorium Fri-day, June 19, 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $3 each and may be pur-chased at the door.
The Junebug Center will present the famous Grimm fairy tale “Brementown Mu-sicians” at the Dumas Center (108 Henry Street) Saturday, July 18 at 10:00 a.m. They will also conduct a Shakespearean Verse Workshop August 23 at the Dumas Center. Those interested may contact Mary Souder for ticket prices and information at 540-745-6550. The Center also conducts workshops and performances throughout the year at area schools and community ven-ues. There is a full fall season of storytelling, theater, and dance already scheduled.
Visit www.junebugcenter.org for more information.
Kidstock Theater Camp Comes to Roanoke
By Deborah K. [email protected]
sPorts 6/19/09 - 6/25/09 |The Roanoke Star-Sentinel |Page 7
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is looking for men’s and women’s lacrosse officials for high school and youth games in our area.
Why officiate lacrosse?• Fastest growing sport in America• Great exercise• Extra money• Associate with great student athletes
USLacrosse Men’s Officials Clinic will be June 27-28 at Roanoke College.
All materials will be provided and you will earn a LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATION.Go to www.swvla.com to register for this FREE clinic. You must be a member of USLacrosse in order to attend the clinic –
join USLacrosse at www.uslacrosse.org.
Sign up NOW as the clinic is FREE to the first 40 registrants. Women’s clinic will be held later in the fall.
No experience needed – free training from USLacrosse is provided. The game of lacrosse (men’s and women’s) is growing rapidly
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Everybody in the Pool: the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association summer swim meet season has begun. Olympic Park traveled to Hid-den Valley Country Club for a meet Monday night. Hidden Valley bested Olympic Park 1037 to 594.5 in an interdivi-sion battle. Annual power-house Hunting Hills racked up the most points after the first week of competition with 1947.50. (visit swimrvaa.com for complete results).
Photo by Bill Turner
Hidden Valley freestyle swimmers (L-R) Lauren Janes, Maddie Robinson and Drew Freeland.
Photo by Bill Turner
Hidden Valley swimmer Jared Adams leaves the platform.
Title Game: In the Cave Spring National Major Little League championship game at Starkey Park Sunday, the Roa-nokers defeated the Braves 8-7, in extra innings.
Photo by Bill Turner
Roanoker Cody Amos slides to the plate as CS Braves catcher Hayden Houlus attempts to get down the tag.
Photo by Bill Turner
Roanoker lefty Luke Marston hurls a pitch in Sunday’s game.
Faith Christian School girls basketball coach Pat Wolfe has resigned after eight sea-sons at the school.
“Our hearts are heavy at Coach Pat Wolfe's resigna-tion,” Athletic Director Jeff Garner said. “We will miss his leadership, mentoring, and wisdom, both on and off the court. We are indebted to Coach Wolfe for his many years of sacrifice of time away from family and career to pour his heart, knowledge, skill, and life into our student athletes.”
Wolfe came to Faith Chris-tian in 2000, establishing a Middle School and JV boys program. In 2002, he began Middle School and JV girls programs as well. After tak-ing a year off in 2003, Wolfe returned in 2004 as the Head Girls Varsity Coach.
In his five seasons at the helm, Wolfe led the Warriors
to three VACA South Region championships, including a state championship in 2007-08. His record during those years was 82-35, an impres-sive .700 winning percentage, including a 39-6 conference record.
“More than merely a suc-cessful coach with a great won-lost record and champi-onships won, Pat has, more-over, been a man of great integrity and Christian char-acter who has been a wonder-ful role model for our young ladies,” Sam Cox, the Head of School at Faith, said. “He leaves a great legacy here at the school—and in the lives of a generation of young la-dies. He will be missed.”
By Matt [email protected]
Wolfe Steps Down as Coach at Faith
Pat Wolfe leaves Faith Christian
sPortsPage 8 | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 6/19/09 - 6/25/09
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GreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreenGreen
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REENACTMENT OF THE 1909 GREAT RACEJune 14 - July 12, 2009 New York City to Seattle, Washington
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JON W. GRIESENBECK, Owner/Driver - [email protected] Tom Honer, Co-Driver
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Hall of Famer: Roanoker Fielding Brewbaker won the 36th annual Roanoke Valley Hall of Fame (HOF) men's golf championship with a three-round total of 204 for a decisive 7-shot victory Sunday. Marshall Bailey was second with a three round total of 211.
Dot Bolling won her 8th Hall of Fame crown as the top female. Hidden Valley CountryClub won the team tourney by 35 strokes. The HOF cham-pionship was held at TheWaterfront on Smith Moun-tain Lake.
Fielding Brewbaker tees off The Waterfront.
Photo by Bill Turner
Readers: A dad and I have been
emailing recently. He’s ex-tremely involved in his daughter’s recruiting. I be-lieve he’s at the point where he may be pushing some coaches away! Here’s the most recent email that I re-ceived.
Hi Coach Houser,There has still not been one
word from Coach Z at ABC College. I even sent her an-other email requesting that she call or email my daughter, Doris, just to tell her exactly where she stands. I also sent her another video of Doris. And nothing. Do you know how many different ways I’ve tried to tell the coach that she needs my daughter on her team! Oh, well. Meantime,
Coach M at JKL University the coach at XYZ College both say Doris is welcome to join their programs. The XYZ deal even includes $$$!! But Do-ris has her heart set on ABC. It blows my mind that this coach won't have the courtesy to even say "buzz off ".
Hey Dad:It's great to hear from you.
Wish you had better news to share with me.
My advice: Let it go. Let Doris do with all this what she wants.
Let me share some expe-riences and thoughts with you.
First, let’s look at this re-jection from a player’s point of view.
One of my former players had her heart set on a divi-
sion I school. But the school hadn’t really shown a lot of interest. They believed that she was too small. There's nothing her parents could do. There was not a lot the player could do. And emailing, calling, mailing, and even stalking the coach isn’t the answer. If the coach isn’t interested, then he isn't interested.
Dad, she may attend that Division I school and not be a part of the team. She may make the team, yet never play a minute. She may attend and play!!! She may attend a smaller school and play. But, Dad, it’s all up to her.
As coaches & parents, we’re just here to help, coun-sel and help pick up the piec-es if there’s a crash; which, we do gladly.
Right now Doris has to make the same choices as my ex-player had to make:
Keep on trying to get that school to recruit her,
Go ahead and attend that
school, and let the chips fall where they may, or;
Give up on that school and look for a different pond to splash in.
And it’s her choice. Not yours - hers.
Second, let’s look at this from the college coach’s
point of view. Coach Z may be making
a mistake by not recruiting Doris. But, Dad, Coach Z has made up her mind. Two or three or fifty-three more emails won’t change her mind. She may not be receiv-ing your emails because she may have blocked your ad-dress. However, if you con-tinue to harass her, you may force her to dig her heals in even deeper. Or you turn the coach further against your daughter because she real-izes that you and her are a package set! Let it go.
Well, you’re probably ask-ing, “What SHOULD parents do to help their children?”
Hey, I’ve talked to several
parents of Division I athletes and I’ve discovered that I could compile a list of twen-ty actions parents can do that are helpful, and about fifty actions that are not only use-less, but could be detrimen-tal. But are a few things that we all agreed upon. Parents should:
a) Send the daughter’s skills tape to any team’s coach that she may be interested in and start doing this as soon as the skills tape is complet-ed. I did my stepdaughter’s first tape in the spring of her sophomore year and started sending it out immediately.
b) Encourage the child to reach out to college coaches & make inquiries.
c) Ask the child’s high school or club coach to help in this process. They’re in-put in more respected by col-lege coaches that the parent’s bombardment.
d) Assist the child with setting limitations on college choices. For example, af-fordability, major, etc.
e) Counsel the child on the college that may be her “best fit”: rural/urban, big/small,
miles from home, etc.f ) Help the child keep up
with deadlines (applications, SAT’s, etc) and encourage the child to meet those deadlines (if they refuse, hey, it’s their future, not the parents!);
g) Provide the child with the opportunity to maintain their physical fitness: other sports, weight room, athletic club membership, etc.;
h) Encourage the child to ensure college coaches have her club schedule.
i) Encourage the child to send emails, texts, etc. to the college coaches that she maintains an interest in.
FinallyIt really can’t be said
enough - It’s up to her. You be there to help, encourage, support, remind. But she has to make the final decision, and she has to live with it.
Tom Houser Head Coach, 2009 Roa-
noke Juniors 16’s NationalDirector, STAR Volleyball Camps JOVC Qualified in
2006 and in 2009 www.coachhouser.com
Hey Coach! No One’s Calling Me Back...
Tom Houser
Former French Open champion and current ESPN Ana-lyst Luke Jensen will be conducting a clinic at Hunting Hills Country Club Wednesday, July 1, 6:00 pm - 7:15 pm as a part of the club’s Pro and Collegiate Tennis Festival.
Jensen, the only player in professional tennis history to play with either hand, will take part in an exhibition match with Hunting Hills head tennis pro John Barker, as well as instructor Steve Gallagher. It will be the third year that Jensen has appeared at the event.
A decorated ATP career, Jensen’s includes victories over Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker and Jim Courier. He was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup squad in 1991 and 1992 and captured the 1993 French Open Doubles championship with his brother, Mur-
phy.Jensen has worked as a tennis analyst for ESPN since 1994,
and was named the Head Women’s Coach at Syracuse Univer-sity three years ago. The Pro and Collegiate Tennis Festival will also feature a college exhibition match featuring players from Radford and Virginia Tech.
The event is open to the public. The cost is $35.00 per per-son for the Pro and Collegiate Tennis Exhibition with a buffet dinner or $10.00 per person for admission to the exhibition. Call 540-774-8880 for more information or to reserve space. Hunting Hills Country Club is located at 5220 Hunting Hills Drive in southwest Roanoke County. By Matt Reeve
Luke Jensen Coming Back For Tennis Clinic
TheRoanokeStar.com 6/19/09 - 6/25/09 |The Roanoke Star-Sentinel |Page 9
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Article on Rolling Thunder and Vets Appreciated
Dear editor, I just wanted to let you
know how much I enjoyed the article about "rolling thunder" in your paper. I was in Bedford to see them and was appalled at the lack of recognition from the town of Bedford. We were told even the D-Day Memorial staff were not notified about the group coming.
This group takes time from work, family and other activi-ties to ride for this cause and the people don't even make an effort to show appreciation
for what the vets did. I spoke at length to one of the POW’s from the Vietnam War. He served twice in Vietnam and was a vet of 20 years. I told him several times how much I appreciated his service and that I was free only because of service people like him. He was very humble and polite. He seemed to be so apprecia-tive that someone took the time to say "thank you."
Your paper certainly did them justice and, I, as a flag waving American, just wanted to say "thank you" for the ar-ticle.
Marilyn MoreheadRoanoke, Va.
Letter to the editor
> JuneRoanoke Public Library Events for JuneStoryteller, Autumn Morning Star - Main Library 706 S. Jeffer-son St. Roanoke June 19, 2009, 10:00 am - 11:00 amStoryteller, Autumn Morning Star - Williamson Road Library 3837 Williamson Rd June 19, 2009, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
> June 22 - 26Bible Baptist Church - VBSBible Batist Church located at 2929 Garden City Blvd, invites you to Polar Extremes, our 2009 VBS. The excitement will begin on Monday June 22nd @ 6:00pm- Sat. June 27th. The fun begins with Bible Study, games, snacks, crafts, music and other extreme activi-ties. Classes are provided for ages 2-18 years. For more info, call 427-0121.
> June 25Hope for America Roanoke RallyPenn Forest Worship Center 3735 Chaparral Dr. Roamoke, VA 24018Doors open at 6pm and Rally be-gins at 7pm. Admission is freewww.hrarallies.org
> July 1Mayor’s Open HouseThe second annual “Mayor’s Open House” will be held on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 in the Mayor’s Office, 215 Church Avenue, S. W., Room452, Noel C. Taylor Municipal
Building. The open house times will be as follows:9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m. or5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.Appointments are not necessary, but citizens are encouraged to
contact the Mayor’s Office at (540) 853-2444 or by email [email protected]
community caLendar
Have an item for the cal-endar? E-mail it to [email protected]
The KIVA (Kids In the Valley Adventuring) folks were once again doing what they do best…accomplishing great things for the valley, learning, developing relationships and having a blast! KIVA kids and adults most recently planted tress at the Dan Wright Trailhead of the Murray Run Greenway.
“We were planting a tree donated to us by the Roanoke Home De-pot. The kids helped dig the hole, spread the left over dirt around the park and plant the tree. What a great day,” said KIVA’s Chip Dona-hue.
Upcoming KIVA events include:Family Nature Club Presentation at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports
BlacksburgJun 18 7:00pm - Jun 18 8:00pmWant to learn more about Family Nature Clubs or want to start one
of your own? Come out as KIVA shares our PowerPoint presentation and stories from past KIVA adventures. We will introduce the Chil-dren and Nature Network's FNC toolkit.
KIVA Day Camp for NWF's Great American Backyard CampoutJune 27 9:30am - 4:30pmJoin the National Wildlife Federation and KIVA for KIVA Day
Camp! We will set up tents at the lovely Roanoke Mountain Camp-ground in the morning and have activities scheduled throughout the day. Then, come dinner-time, we will pack up and go home! Check out http://www.nwf.org/backyardcampout/ for more information
KIVA Kick-nic at Booker T. Washington Park in RoanokeJuly 11, 9:30-12:30 PMCome out and play with us at the wonderful Booker T. Washing-
ton Park. (Kick-nic = kickball and a picnic: awesome, huh?) Join us as we play with a ball donated by Dick's Sporting Goods and then we will have a walk along the Lick Run Greenway for a picnic in the shade. Come out and bring a picnic basket full of yummies for your family.
KIVA is a free family nature club. Find out more at www.kidsad-venturing.org.
KIVA Summer Events
The newest addition to North Cross School’s Hancock Library is a book that many of the youngest students will find particularly inter-esting when they return to school in the fall. The book, “Mama D & Me,” was authored and illustrated by North Cross teachers and printed by a NCS parent.
Written by Junior Kindergarten Teacher and alumna Heather Donaho, the children’s book chronicles a young boy and his en-counter with several animals and insects. As he comes across each one, he tries to catch them, but they escape his grasp. In the end, he realizes that Mama D's spirit lies within each one.
Junior Kindergarten Teacher Jennifer Luc-kay provided the book’s illustrations. Parent John Mitchell, who owns Salem Printing, do-nated the production costs to print the book.
The book was developed as part of Do-naho’s thesis work studying Words Help Us Heal: The Impact of Bibliotherapy on Chil-dren. The book’s subject was inspired by the July 2007 death of Donaho’s mother-in-law who unexpectedly had a heart attack related
to her earlier breast cancer diagnosis.Donaho hopes to sell the book locally and
plans to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Founda-tion.
Donaho, who is also the school’s head vol-leyball coach, has been teaching at North Cross for nine years. She received her Bach-elor’s degree from Roanoke College and her Master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Virginia.
North Cross Teacher Authors Children’s Book
Heather Donaho is a kindergarten teacher – and now an author.
The Mount Pleasant Public Library Branch (interim location) is now open. The library is lo-cated at 2918 Jae Valley Road across from the fire house, in the former beauty shop (beside the Mt. Pleasant Garage). The library branch will still have its regular hours. A note of thanks goes out to Supervisor Mike Altizer for pushing through an "emergency resolution" on the Board of Supervi-sors that made all this possible. (Mount Pleasant Elementary School, where the library is normally located, is being renovated.)
Mount Pleasant Library Moved
The KIVA (Kids In the Valley Adventuring) folks were once again doing what they do best -- accomplishing great things for the valley, learning, developing relationships and having a blast! KIVA kids and adults most recently planted tress at the Dan Wright Trailhead of the Murray Run Greenway. “We were planting a tree donated to us by the Roanoke Home Depot. The kids helped dig the hole, spread the left over dirt around the park and plant the tree. What a great day,” said KIVA’s Chip Donahue.
vaLLey BusinessPage 10 | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 6/19/09 - 6/25/09 TheRoanokeStar.com
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With the completion of Wil-liam Fleming High School, J.M. Turner will have delivered the second state-of-the-art Ro-anoke public high school, on time..
Both Patrick Henry (com-pleted in January of 2008), and William Fleming (completion set for this month), utilized a practice called “construction management.” The compre-hensive approach applies stra-tegic management techniques that allow for efficiency, from the architectural drawings, to setting the budget, to the fi-nal ribbon cutting. With both schools, J.M Turner partnered with Rife and Wood Architects to meet two critical objectives, controling the project timeline and the costs, while assuring quality for the project owner – in this case, Roanoke City Pub-lic Schools.
The obvious benefit is the taxpayer’s best interests are represented from start to fin-ish. Compensation is not con-tingent on the final cost of the project, thus eliminating con-flicts of interest. Costly chang-es are virtually eliminated due to advanced planning along-side the architects throughout the course of the project.
Patrick Henry’s first phase, completed at the end of 2005, included asbestos abatement and the subsequent demoli-tion of existing structures, the construction of a new 3-story building that will house class-rooms, dining services, the library and school adminis-tration. Normal daily school functions occurred simultane-ously during construction – al-lowing the students to watch the project up close, as well as play an earth-friendly role.
In an effort initiated by Rob-ert Turcotte of Entre Comput-ers, J.M. Turner, Rife + Wood, Cycle Systems, Roanoke City Schools, Patrick Henry High School and Clean Valley Coun-cil teamed together to provide students a unique experience related to the Phase I construc-tion of their new high school.
Upon returning to school for the 2005/2006 academic year, students were offered the op-portunity to manage a recy-cling program for construction material waste on the construc-tion site of the new high school. Under the guidance of the sci-ence department, interested students worked with Turner to coordinate the recycling of corrugated construction waste. Students spent a total of 79 hours on the project, including organizational meetings, waste container painting in school colors, and weekly hands-on recycling activities. Ultimately, a total of 15,320 pounds of ma-terials were recycled.
The new William Fleming High School replaces the ex-isting campus-style facility, involving construction of a 2-s-tory academic wing containing all of the core classrooms and laboratories, as well as the re-lated teacher offices and work areas. The academic wing shares a common lobby with the adjacent arts and athletic wings. The lobby area hous-es the 2,500 seat game gym, auxiliary gym, locker rooms, training area, weight room and wrestling room, in addition to the administration suite, teen health center, media center and a 500 seat cafeteria and kitchen.
The Fine Arts wing houses a 450 seat main theater and ad-jacent black box theater, band and chorus rooms, dance stu-dio, art classrooms and photo lab. The classrooms and perfor-mance areas are all equipped with state-of-the-art data and communications systems, fa-cilitating long distance learn-ing opportunities.
The second phase of the project includes construction of two new field-sports prac-tice fields, new baseball field, new softball field, and 6 new tennis courts. Separate parking areas provide parking for stu-dents, faculty, and visitors, as well as bus drop-off areas and bus parking.
The efficiency and cost con-
trol measures managed during construction of the school al-lowed for a separate but related project to include a new 3,000-seat football, soccer, lacrosse and track stadium on the site.
According to the Virginia Department of Education’s website, 16 new public high schools have been built in the state over the past 6 years. These projects have added, or replaced, an average of 152.5 square feet per student, at an average cost of $165 per square foot. In comparison, the new William Fleming building of-fers 166 square feet (almost 10% more space than the aver-age) at a cost of $136 per square foot. When considering those statistics, Roanoke City Schools managed to build the new high school at a cost 17% less than the Virginia average.
Fleming and Patrick Henry Buildings Come in on Time
Contact Stephanie [email protected]
Patrick Henry construction, by the
numbers:
6,200 Gallons of Paint618,000 Bricks
507,000 Concrete Blocks1,404,200 Pounds of Mortar
William Fleming spaces, by the numbers:
295,000 Square Feet1,800 Students2,500 Seat Gym454 Seat Theater
Aerial shot of the new facilities nearing completion at William Fleming High School.
Patrick Henry High School
Bobby Welch, a May gradu-ate from National College’s ac-counting program, was recently hired by the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc. (RCAP), as a finance clerk. Bobby had completed his ex-ternship with RCAP in May.
“After working with Bobby and realizing his skill level, passion to learn, professional stature and his team player at-titude, we knew he was defi-nitely someone we wanted on our team,” said RCAP’s Donna Robbinson.
National College Informa-tion Technology Department Chair Roger Hodges, along with three students, David Abell, Kip Bartholomew and Josh Dunbar, recently spent the day at the To-tal Action Against Poverty Tran-sitional Living Center (TAP/TLC) installing a computer lab. The lab consists of four comput-ers donated to TAP by National
College. Hodges noted that the students learned a lot from the project and they even want to do another install project to get more experience.
“They did an excellent job,” said Hodges, “it is good to see
that they have learned so much and applied it so well. It is espe-cially gratifying that they recog-nize the benefits of this sort of community service project.”
Kip Bartholomew, Josh Dunbar, David Abell and Roger Hodges of National College install computer lab at TAP/TLC.
Higher Education Briefs
The Roanoke Valley Preven-tion Council is one of the lead-ers nationally in using grant money doled out by the Drug Free Communities program at the federal level. So says Jack W. Claypoole, who adminis-ters the program for the White House. Claypoole was keynote speaker during a program sponsored by the Prevention Council at Hotel Roanoke re-cently, entitled “Strengthening Virginia Communities: Best Practices and Environmental Strategies using the Drug-Free Community Support Pro-gram.”
The newly formed Commu-nity Coalitions of Virginia and the Dept. of Alcohol Bever-age Control co-sponsored the one-day event, where groups from around the state came to swap success stories and pick up tips on how to further re-duce youth drug and alcohol abuse in their hometowns. Local high schoolers involved with the Prevention Council and RAYSAC (Roanoke Area Youth Substance Abuse Coali-tion) program also took part.
A former law enforcement officer and director of a behav-ioral health center in South Carolina, Claypoole was ap-pointed to his White House position in 2006 by then-drug czar John Walters. “We think its one of the best prevention efforts our nation has,” said Claypoole, who oversees the 800 Drug Free Communities grants currently in effect.
The Prevention Council must reapply every five years and was awarded a second grant in 2008. “Local prob-lems need local solutions,” said Claypoole. “[These] grants are designed to bring the com-
munity together, identity the problems … that are unique to the community and then give the community a connection to the national strategy – and resources.”
Claypoole hailed the in-volvement of young people in the Prevention Council and RAYSAC programs. “Kids have to lead the way … other-wise we are totally in the dark.” While in Roanoke, Claypoole met with school and law en-forcement leaders, and with Juvenile and Domestic Rela-tions Court Judge Phil Trom-peter. (As is customary, RAY-SAC gave away a new car to a local high school senior on Sunday at Valley View Mall. A senior from each local high school, chosen from those who elected to attend after prom parties, was handed a set of keys to the vehicle. One key worked.)
When it comes to being ef-fective it is more than just poster slogans. “The silver bullet is community involve-ment,” said Claypoole. Na-tionally, prescription drug abuse has taken center stage recently. “They are available in the household.” In some cases teens are attending real estate open houses with their par-ents, then looking in medicine cabinets for prescribed drugs, which can be dangerous when mixed.
Overall youth drug and al-cohol use is down about 24% nationally in the last five years and where community coali-tions have been funded tobac-co, marijuana and alcohol use is reduced, according to Clay-poole. “They are helping save kid’s lives at a faster rate.”
The Roanoke County Pre-
vention Council, through periodic survey of middle and high school students, has detected downward trends when it comes to abusive sub-stances, but it is always a battle and parents are constantly urged to get more involved. County high schools have set up sub-committees made up of students, counselors and teachers, designing programs that help discourage substance abuse.
Prevention Council coordi-nator Nancy Hans said repre-sentatives from 22 grant recip-ients statewide converged on Roanoke for the conference, which was a training session in part on environmental strate-gies: “what do we see in our communities that we could change, that we could do dif-ferent, to make these healthier community norms … to [en-courage] more positive behav-iors. We can only do that as a community together.”
Identifying Drug-Free Strategies Focus of Conference in Roanoke
By Gene [email protected]
Photo by Gene Marrano
Keynote speaker Jack Clay-poole addresses the Roanoke Valley Prevention Council.
arts & cuLtureTheRoanokeStar.com 6/19/09 - 6/25/09 |The Roanoke Star-Sentinel |Page 11
River Laker’s most recent claim to fame began when he sold his old Volvo station wagon and vowed to go “carless” for at least six months. In a valley that isn’t always pedestrian-friendly that was noteworthy, if not a bit nutty.
River’s self titled CarLess Brit experiment, which people have followed online through his Tumblr blog and videos, has en-ergized a discussion about mak-ing Roanoke more pedestrian and bike-friendly… and about when an automobile is truly needed.
The six-month long experi-ment, encouraged in part by Jer-emy Holmes of Ride Solutions, an arm of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, has led some to hail River, while others question his sanity in this auto-happy society. It has also led to at least one more CarLess par-ticipant, Chris Howell, a North-side Middle School teacher who lives in Old Southwest.
“I think its something that ordinary people can do,” said Howell, who was visiting Lak-er’s recently opened CarLess Brit Museum in downtown Roanoke, with her two small children in tow.
Some critics have claimed that it’s easier for Laker to go CarLess because he was single and didn’t have kids to shuttle around. Howell said that until December at least she will take a bus to her job at Northside. Around home, “we’ve got some fun bikes,” she added.
The new museum was pre-viewed last week, with a grand opening planned for July 1, which will be held in conjunc-tion with a joint exhibit at the nearby Virginia Museum of Transportation.
“It gives us some legitimacy,” said Laker of the liaison with the VMT.
At the preview opening last week, invited guests and art patrons viewed bikes and bike parts, photos of Laker traveling via two-wheeler and listen to music of sorts being played on a contraption fashioned from parts.
Laker said he has read media reports from outside the Roa-noke Valley about the “direct cultural impact of the CarLess
Brit experiment.”After July 1, he expects the
museum to be open at the tem-porary location (inside the old Angler’s Café site on 2nd St.) for about five months. Laker is also looking for reliable volun-teers to man the CarLess Brit Museum during gallery hours; contact him at [email protected] if interested. Laker announced that he has also de-
cided to continue his own Car-Less experiment for another six months.
“It’s just exciting to be a part of it,” said Laker concerning the dialogue on going auto-free that his odyssey has sparked.
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CarLess Museum Preview Opening
Photo by Gene Marrano
Photo sneak-peekers check out Laker’s museum.
By Gene [email protected]
Gamut has gone down to the wine cellar and emerged with a fine “Vintage Durang”, an evening of short works by Christopher Durang. Perfor-mances will be Thursday, July 9, 7:30 pm, Friday, July 10, 8:00 pm, Saturday, July 11, 8:00 pm, Thursday, July 16, 7:30 pm, and the closing performance, Friday, July 17, 8pm.
The vintage pieces include “The Actor’s Nightmare”, “Fu-neral Parlor”, “DMV Tyrant”, “Canker Sores and other Dis-tractions” and “Medea”. Direct-ed by Jayne Brill, these comic short pieces feature Barry Bed-well, Stevie Holcomb, Miriam Frazier, Michael Ridenhour, Amy Looney, Allen Thomp-
son, Mary Evelyn Tielking, Patrick Kelly, David McCall, Phil Boyd, Heather H. O’Bryan, Micah Crizer and Patrick Ken-nerly. Tickets are available at the Jefferson Center box office, 540-345-2550, or toll free 866-345-2550; $12 adults, $8 stu-dents and MMT season ticket holders.
Along with the Gamut per-formances, LoLo Monae pres-ents the 3rd annual “Gang of Lost Souls” art show. There will be an opening reception at 5:00 pm, July 9, before the perfor-mance of “Vintage Durang”.
For further information, con-tact Miriam Frazier, Artistic Di-rector, Gamut Theatre, at [email protected] or 540-380-3168, or
LoLo Monae at 540-958-0255.Gamut Theatre Returns with “Vintage Durang”
Jonathan Byrd, Doug and Telisha Williams and Danny Schmidt give Roanoke their best dur-ing their Americana in the Round performance at the Main Branch of the Roanoke Public Library on Tuesday night. The well promoted and attended “Emerging Artists” music series has become a strong draw for the Library in recent months. For more info go to http://emergin-gartists.tumblr.com/
Father’s Day Weekend
www.amrheinwinecellars.com
540-929-4632
at the Winery
1:00 - 5:00 PMMusic by Ron Swan
Lunch on the Lawn
Lunch on the LawnSat & Sun
The Roanoke Valley branch of the National League of Pen Women will be presented with a 2009 Perry F. Kendig Award as an outstanding arts & cul-tural organization. The writer’s group, which offers modest scholarships for local women returning to college (to study creative writing) and conducts a poetry contest every year, will receive the award from the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge at the Taubman Museum of Art, Wednesday, June 24.
Among the other eight Ken-dig Award winners is former Roanoke Mayor Nelson Harris, who envisioned arts and culture as an economic development tool while in office.
The Roanoke Pen Women are involved in numerous proj-ects throughout the year, often working with children. They also teach the art of writing to all age groups in schools. Branch president Peggy Ann Shifflett, a retired Radford University pro-fessor, says the 100-year-old-plus national organization is “made up of women who dem-onstrate talent in arts, letters and music composition. There are about 250 branches.”
“Everybody needs criticism of their writing,” says Shifflett about the value of groups like the Pen Women; “positive and sometimes negative.”
Shifflett also owns the Cottage Curio shop in Salem, where she sells locally made Appalachian
arts & crafts, often featuring area writers as well. Shifflett has written several books, including “The Living Room Bed,” which is due out this summer.
The Roanoke Valley Pen Women also delve into other forms of media, such as the artistic quilts some members stitched together last year.
“The league promotes and conducts literary educational and charitable activities,” says Shifflett, noting that working with young people is a major goal.
The annual $100 college scholarship, given to the winner of an essay contest, is to be used for incidentals.
“Mainly it’s a way of encour-aging younger women …we’re behind them,” says Pen Women member Becky Mushko. “We’d like to see them do well in their area of the arts in college.”
Mushko taught in Roanoke
City schools for 27 years and has now published a handful of books, with several more proj-ects, including a middle school grade novel, in the works. In-volved with several writers groups besides the Pen Women, Mushko said, “Writers groups can also help you find publica-tion sources.” Her blog may be found at peevishpen.blogspot.com.
The Roanoke Valley branch of the National League of Pen Women meets monthly at the Daily Grind on Rt. 419 in Roa-noke County.
“We come together to share our work … and invite speak-ers,” says Shifflett. “We support each other. We’re just a very ac-tive group of women.”
Visit roanokepenwomen.blogspot.com for more infor-mation.
By Gene [email protected]
Pen Women Receive Kendig Award
Photo by Gene Marrano
Becky Mushko and Peggy Shifflett are with the award-winning Pen Women.
Roanoke has a Saltwater Fish Store!
• Large selection • Live corals
• Aquariums & equipment • Delivery & set-up
• Maintenance for home or business540-580-7755 1428 Roanoke Road
(Across from Lord Botetourt High School)
T-F 3-7 pm, Sat 12-6 pm, Sun 1-5
Page 12 | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 6/19/09 - 6/25/09 TheRoanokeStar.com
On DEMAND is available for residential customers in Cox Roanoke serviceable areas. Cox Digital Cable and digital receiver and remote rental required. Programming subject to change. Installation, taxes and fees additional. On DEMAND channels cannot be recorded. Other restrictions apply. ©2009 CoxCom, Inc., d/b/a Cox Communications Roanoke. Gran Torino © 2008 MATTEN PRODUCTIONS GmbH & Co. KG. © 2008 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. Bolt © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Last Chance Harvey ©2008 Overture Films, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.Friday The 13th © MMIX New Line Productions, Inc. and Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Valkyrie © 2008 UNITED ARTISTS PRODUCTION FINANCE LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Hotel For Dogs © 2009 DREAMWORKS LLC AND COLD SPRING PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Troop 17 St. Johns Episcopal Boy Scouts were recognized recently for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout with their Scout Master Patton Coles. They are from right to left: Alex Cecil (son of Mike and Pam), Sam Prescott (son of Matt and Catherine), Quint Coles (son of Patton and Mimi), Scout Master Coles, Holt Bibee (son of Tim and Vickie), and Spencer Moore (son of Chris and Forrest). Since 1910, only 5 percent of all Scouts have attained the Eagle Scout rank.
Eagle Scouts
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