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PAGE 2WEEKEND

Community | news | Per spect ive

[Charity Benefit]

A sellout crowd of 400 paid up to $30 in order to sample soups from 16 eateries and kitchens last Sunday. It was “Souper Bowl II,” a benefit for

the Rescue Mission of Roanoke and RAM House. Held in the Taubman Museum of Art atrium, it was actually the first Souper Bowl - last year’s inaugural event was snowed out. Patrons took home handcrafted soup bowls donated by area potters. 2nd Helpings Café, Metro!, Lo-

cal Roots, Rockfish, Flanary’s and the Happy Belly Deli were among the local restaurants that entered soups in a People’s Choice contest. The Regency Room at Hotel Roanoke had the most votes for “She-crab soup.” Above: Local Roots owner Diane Elliott serves up a smile with her sweet potato soup topped with ricotta, molasses and walnuts.

Souper Party at Taubman

Photo by Gene Marrano

Souper Bowl II A Rousing Success

City, County Schools Get High Marks

G r a n -din Court Elementa-ry, Crystal Spring El-ementary and Pres-ton Park E l e m e n -tary have all received the 2011 Virginia Index of Per-formance (VIP) Awards from Governor Bob McDonnell and the State Board of Education. Crystal Spring and Grandin Court received the Board of Ed-ucation Excellence Award and Preston Park received the Board of Education Competence to Excellence Award.

Crystal Spring principal Kathy Tate wasn’t sure at first why Crystal Spring was singled out- then she named everyone from the t e a c h e r s and PTA to bus drivers and cafeteria work-ers as being responsible for the Excellence Award. “It’s a mat-ter [of] being life long learners,” said Tate as to why the governor bestowed the VIP award. “We have very high expectations.”

From bus drivers who “get the kids to school on time,” and a cafeteria staff that serves nutri-tious meals, Tate said many are involved in making the South Roanoke school stand out. An “outstanding preschool pro-gram,” said Tate helps prepare students to be “well prepared,”

[Education]

Roanoker Receives Presidential AwardFor the second straight year, a

Roanoke native has received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on young professionals in the early stages of their independent re-search careers.

Catherine Bradshaw, an asso-ciate professor in John Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, was selected along with 84 other young researchers. Roanoker Dare Goodrum, an assistant profes-sor in the Department of Im-munobiology at the University of Arizona, received the award in 2009.

Bradshaw, 35, is a graduate of North Cross School. Her re-search at Johns Hopkins focuses on bullying as well as ways to make schools safer for students, and eliminating student mental health problems and substance abuse later in life.

In December, she joined the other award recipients in a spe-cial ceremony in Washington, DC, where she was recognized for her achievements and had a chance to meet President Obama.

“He was incredibly generous and personable,” said Bradshaw of the president. “When we met with him, he talked about how

important science and research is. He spoke about trying to increase funding for research,” a comment which was well re-ceived by the group.

Bradshaw’s path toward a budding career as a mental health researcher began at home. “Ed-ucation was very, very important to our family,” she said. “My grand-father set aside some money for my sisters and me to pay for our post-secondary education, and all of us have gone on to get at least a master’s degree.”

Bradshaw, who is married, at-tended kindergarten at Crystal Spring Elementary School but

transferred to North Cross for the remainder of her education. “I was very pleased to able to go to North Cross for 12 years,” she said. “The small learning envi-ronment really helped me a lot just because of my learning style

being very inter-active.”

One teacher in particular, Dr.

James Palmieri (now an associ-ate professor at Virginia Tech) was especially motivational for Bradshaw. Palmieri had done research on the AIDS virus—a different route than Bradshaw would one day take—but her

- By Gene Marrano

[Honors]

Free Clinic Looking For More Volunteer Dentists

Now a year old, the free-standing Dr. G. Wayne Fralin Free Clinic on Tazewell Avenue originated at the Roanoke Res-cue Mission that is located just around the corner on 4th Av-enue. Offering medical ser-vices and mental health options to the homeless, the clinic also hopes to expand its dental service. Last Friday two local dentists, Drs. Wharton Ramsey and Dan Thompson, spent the bet-ter part of a day taking x-rays and pulling teeth from those who cannot afford dental care elsewhere.

“You have to be homeless,” said Rescue Mission director

of development and finance Lee Clark about the eligibil-ity criteria. The clinic itself, which operates like an urgent care center according to Clark, opened last month on property the Rescue Mission had pur-

chased and then renovated.

All of the physicians who

spend time at the clinic are volunteers. “We don’t have any on staff,” noted Clark, who said the Rescue Mission is “working hard” to have dentists available on a weekly basis. The medical center is affiliated with the Vir-

[Health]

Kathy Tate

> CONTINUEDP2: Schools

> CONTINUEDP2: Presidential

> CONTINUEDP2: Clinic

Dr. Wharton Ramsey (right) and hygienist attend to a patient at the Dr. G. Wayne Fralin Free Clinic.

Ride!Sweet

P3– Chocolates and a free showing of Willy Wonka helped Roanokers heed the call to regular winter bicycling.

BindsMusic

P4– RSS Columnist Fred First debunks the critics and offers an outstanding perspec-tive on music’s power to heal, inspire and transform.

FrenzyFeline

P6– Roanoke Public Libraries ever-creative event director hosts a party for 51 cats and everyone lives to tell about it.

DebutGallery

P9– Acclaimed artist Jane Lillian vance is set to pre-mier new works at her gal-lery opening in downtown Roanoke on Feb 3rd.

Fred First

John Bradshaw, Catherine Bradshaw, and Matilda Bradshaw shortly after the award presentation ceremony.

Western slope snow showers are expected Thursday through Saturday with sun and clouds for the remainder of the area. Temperatures will top out in the upper 30s Thursday with 40s on Friday and Saturday.Sun and clouds are in the forecast on Sunday with highs in the upper 40s.

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for first grade and beyond; Spanish taught in the 4th and 5th grades helps those who will take up the language in high school. Credits earned for Spanish at Crystal Spring can apply towards high school requirements as well.

Teachers are willing to tutor after hours, “just to assure that all kids succeed, [and] they don’t get paid for it,” added Tate. “Wonderful,” instructional assistants help out in the classroom as well. She also cited parents and the PTA, which has “provided a ton of technology.” The PTA has made sure each teacher has a laptop and is working on supplying interactive whiteboards for each classroom.

Parents also take advantage of special nights at Henry’s Memphis Barbeque, Mag-gie Moo’s and Sonic, when 10% of the pro-ceeds goes to Crystal Spring. “Some extra money,” is how Tate put it.

The VIP award is based on each school’s student achievement and for far exceeding minimum state and federal accountability standards during the 2009-10 school year. “It takes all of us,” said Tate as to how Crys-

tal Spring was honored, “we’re always on the go.” Tate also said that Crystal Spring meets Standards of Learning benchmarks “every year.”

County Schools Also Honored: three schools in Roanoke County also earned the 2011 Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) Awards from Governor McDonnell and the State Board of Education: Cave Spring Ele-mentary, Clearbrook Elementary and Cave Spring High School,

This is the third straight year Cave Spring Elementary School has received the Gover-nor’s Award and the second year for Clear-brook Elementary School.

“I’m very proud of the staff, students and parents of these three schools,” said Roanoke County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Lorraine Lange. “Receiving the Governor’s Award is a result of a tremendous amount of effort and dedication.”

To qualify for the Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence, schools and school divisions must meet all state and federal achievement benchmarks for at least two consecutive years. Other guidelines pertain

to nutrition and physical activity.Twelve schools in Roanoke County

earned the Board of Education’s Excellence Award, the second-tier honor in the VIP program. Statewide, 323 schools statewide earned the Excellence Award. The elemen-tary schools in Roanoke County are: Back Creek Elementary, Bonsack, Glen Cove, Glenvar, Green Valley, Masons Cove, Oak Grove and Pen Forest. Glenvar and Hid-den Valley middle schools also received the award.

Seven schools in Roanoke County earned the Board of Education’s Competence to Ex-cellence Award, which recognizes schools and divisions that have met all state and fed-eral benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and are making progress toward VIP objectives. Named were Burlington, Fort Lewis, Herman L Horn, Mount Pleasant, Mountain View and W.E. Cundiff elemen-tary schools, and Glenvar High School.

By Gene Marranogmarrano@cox.net

> Schools From page 1

interaction with Palmieri “piqued my inter-est in getting a Ph.D. and pursuing higher education.”

After graduating from North Cross in 1993, she attended Mary Washington Col-lege before graduating from the University of Richmond in 1997. A master’s degree from the University of Georgia followed in 1999, and she earned her doctorate from Cornell University in 2004. She then joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins.

The Baltimore resident, who works with school districts all across Maryland and is the recipient of several grants from the US Dept. of Education, learned in October of 2009 that she was being considered to be the department’s nominee for the Presiden-tial Early Career Award. She submitted her c.v. and letters of recommendation, includ-ing one from Maryland Chief Superinten-dent Nancy Grasnick, the longest-serving chief in the country.

A month later, the Dept. of Education confirmed that she was their nominee and would be sent on to the White House Of-fice of Science and Technology for the final cut. Right around Labor Day of last year, Bradshaw received notice that she would be joining some seven dozen other talented researchers as winners in the 2010 competi-tion.

Bradshaw said that while there is no cash prize or research grant presented for the award, it does have its benefits, as she points out, “It will open some doors for me as far as collaboration on projects and people ap-proaching me to get my input on things.” She’s already been asked to write two re-search briefs for an upcoming White House summit on bullying.

Like any good teacher, she has words of advice for current high school students who may be wondering about their own direc-tions in life. Her advice: take advantage of

what’s made available to you. “I valued the opportunity for leadership

at North Cross,” she said, where she was captain of the lacrosse team and editor of the school yearbook.

Bradshaw also encourages girls to seek out role models, which was something of a challenge for her. “There weren’t as many professional women then, so I didn’t have as many role models as the kids nowadays,” she said.

As her career progresses, Bradshaw said she hopes her work makes a difference in the lives of students, and results in more than just academic papers and journal ar-ticles.

Said Bradshaw, “I hope that the research I do isn’t just research for research’s sake.”

> Presidential From page 1

ginia Association of Free Clinics. Those seeking services do not have to

be a resident of the parent Rescue Mission. Anyone who is homeless, uninsured and unemployed is eligible for clinic services, according to Clark. A nurse, case manager and a receptionist are on staff at the clinic. Those with more serious problems are re-ferred to local hospitals.

Full mouth x-rays were taken of new patients, with images sent to a laptop com-puter screen where Ramsey and Thompson could look for teeth that needed work. “It really helps to deliver patient care fast,” said Clark of the technology available. There are four dental exam rooms at the clinic; Ram-sey and Wharton worked two rooms each last Friday. Clark anticipated beforehand that 60-100 teeth might have to be pulled.

Clinic personnel also preach dental hy-giene to the homeless that seek help there: brushing on a regular basis, flossing, etc. Laura Padgett, a dental hygienist who also works in Bedford, is the clinic coordinator for the dental practice: “my goal is to have a dentist here [at least] every Friday.”

She’d like to have one volunteer dentist come in every day at some point in the near future. “Any help we can get would be much appreciated,” said Padgett. “[hope-fully] more dentists will get the message.”

To that end Ramsey, president of the Roa-noke Valley Dental Society, said he would spread the word about volunteering at the Fralin Clinic. “It’s a way they can give back to the community,” said Ramsey as he took a short break between patients. Ramsey said he chips in on a “semi-regular basis.”

“There’s definitely a need,” said Padgett about the uninsured homeless who cannot afford regular dental care. Of the 6 to 8 pa-tients that might be seen when a dentist is available, “six are in pain,” she noted. One man who came in recently had never had his teeth cleaned- at the age of 52.

Better-looking teeth might give someone more confidence when it comes to looking for a job. “Its definitely a ministry,” added Padgett, who is also looking for volunteer hygienists to work alongside the dentists.

For more information about volunteering contact: laura.Padgett@rescuemission.net or call 777-7671.

By Gene Marranogmarrano@cox.net

> Clinic From page 1

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All six Salem schools and the Division, as a whole, received a pat on the back this week as Gov. Bob McDonnell and the Vir-ginia Board of Education honored Virginia’s elite public schools.

Andrew Lewis Middle School, Salem’s sole middle school with over 900 students in grades 6 through 8, is one of just 110 Virginia public schools to earn the Gov-ernor’s Award for Educational Excellence. This prestigious award is the highest honor given in the Board of Education’s incentive program for schools and school divisions known as the VIP – Virginia Index for Per-formance. This is the second straight year Andrew Lewis has won this honor.

To qualify for this honor the state says a school must - “Meet all state and federal achievement benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and meet Governor Mc-Donnell’s goals for achievement in elemen-tary reading; enrollment in Algebra I by grade 8; enrollment in college-level courses; attainment of advanced diplomas and ca-reer and industry certifications…”

The Salem School Division is one of just eight divisions statewide to garner the Board of Education’s Excellence Award. Salem’s four elementary schools - East Salem El-ementary, G.W. Carver Elementary, South Salem Elementary and West Salem Elemen-tary - also earned the Board of Education’s

Excellence award. In addition, Salem High School was awarded the Board of Educa-tion’s Competence to Excellence award.

“Our students, their families, and all of the terrific people who have answered the call to serve Salem’s children deserve this recog-nition and much more,” says Salem Super-intendent, Dr. Alan Seibert. “We are blessed to carry out our core business of teaching and learning in a community that places great value on its young people. When our children thrive, our community thrives, so credit for this recognition is shared with ev-ery citizen of Salem.”

Salem Schools Earn Excellence in Education Award

Contact David atdave@davidperryonline.com

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I DO.

newsRoanoke.com 1/28/11 - 2/3/11 |The Roanoke Star-Sentinel |Page 3

The Americans for Prosper-ity (AFP) town hall bus rolled into Roanoke with former Governor, Senator and now Senate Candidate, George Al-len aboard. He made an ap-pearance at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood along with state AFP director Ben Marchi and local doctor, Dane McBride.

Last Monday, Allen for-merly declared himself a can-didate for the U. S. Senate for 2012. Since that time he has been touring the state with the AFP town hall tour, meeting with constituents and partici-pating in question and answer sessions regarding the new healthcare law and other is-sues.

Ben Marchi, the 3rd state director for AFP, is leaving his position soon to be a new dad and entrepreneur, forming his own home healthcare com-pany along with his wife. He said, “I intend to create some new jobs because my child was $40,000 in debt at birth.”

He explained that AFP was touring the state with Allen because, “he has been involved from the very beginning, es-pousing lower taxes and ac-tually listening to people and their problems . . . as Governor he cut wasteful spending and reformed the welfare rules, a full year before the federal government got around to it. He has been a friend to the taxpayers.”

Allen said he was glad to be back in the Star City and to see so many familiar faces. He started right in on the health-care law by stating that, “we as Americans do not like dic-tates and mandates, we are for freedom and personal respon-sibility, for opportunity for all people. The government says you must buy a certain prod-uct and that is abhorrent. Peo-ple don’t realize that when the federal government says you

must increase Medicaid, it re-sults in higher college tuition costs in our state . . .We have to defund this monstrosity.”

He spoke at length about the personal health savings account, which individuals would own, that would cover major medical expenses. He said someone should not be tied to a job they dislike sim-ply because a family member has a disease that would not be covered under a new plan because it is considered a pre-existing condition. Under a health savings account, you are not stuck to a certain em-ployer or beholden to the gov-ernment. The plan goes where you go.

Allen also spoke at length about competition. “You are lucky if you have two insur-ance companies to chose from at your job for health insur-ance. There are all kinds of companies that want to offer competition and will do so. There reason that there is not any competition is because it is a government rigged sys-tem that does not offer op-tions. Insurance should be sold across state lines and be competitive.”

Chants of “run George run,” echoed throughout the ball-room as Allen finished his speech.

Dr. Dane McBride, a Roa-noke allergist, shared his views on the healthcare law. He gave compelling reasons why he thinks Obamacare should be repealed. McBride said there are three points to consider from the doctor and patient perspective. “First, it will rip apart the doctor patient rela-tionship. Obamacare will in-stitute ‘pay for performance’, making the doctor worry about cost of care instead of quality of care. Second, is DUS, ‘Doctor Unavailability Syndrome.’ What good is a

shiny new insurance card if there is no doctor available to see you? Third, Obamacare will drive private practice into the ground. It will shift medi-cal care to the large medical centers, where costs are driven up. A private practice doctor will charge a fraction of what the large medical centers will charge. The answer is to un-leash markets, not unleash the government.”

One local doctor in the au-dience spoke up and said he charges $800 for a colonos-copy, whereas the hospital charges $4500, and he had the patient bills to back up his claims. Another audience member said he recently lost his health insurance of more than 30 years and blamed it on the new healthcare law. Now, under the new plan his employer offers, he cannot be covered due to a pre-existing condition.

Marchi closed by remind-ing people that the time to rally about the healthcare law has passed. “It is now time to reach out to your neighbor, to contact your representative, to send a letter to the editor. You have a unique opportunity to sway public opinion by speak-ing out.”

Allen Declares For Senate, Holds Healthcare Town Hall in Roanoke

George Allen

Five Boy Scouts who have achieved scouting's highest ad-vancement honor were recog-nized at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Sunday, January 16. All five scouts are members of BSA Troop 17 sponsored by St. John's Episcopal Church.

Will Douthat - a Junior at Patrick Henry High School & The Roanoke Valley Governor's School

Son of John & Kelly DouthatTyler Lystash - a Senior at

North Cross SchoolSon of John & Dara Lystash,

Roblyn & Harry BrandChristopher Moore - a Senior

at North Cross SchoolSon of Chris & Forrest MooreMorgan Moskal - a Senior at

North Cross SchoolSon of Joe & Pam MoskalJamie Willis - a Sophomore at

Virginia TechSon of David & Cydney Wil-

lis, Paige & Jack Matthiesson

Five Achieve Rank of Eagle Scout

Photo - Left to right: Will Douthat, Jamie Willis, Morgan Moskal, Patton Coles (scout leader) Tyler Lystash, Christo-pher Moore. To earn the Eagle Scout rank, a scout must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service, and outdoor skills. He must earn a minimum of 21 badges, complete an Ea-gle Scout Leadership project that benefits an area non-profit organization and have a minimum of 120 volunteer hours. The organizations that benefited from the five scout projects are: Roanoke City Department of Parks & Recreation - Murray Run Greenway, North Cross School, the Discovery Center on Mill Mountain, and the Va Museum of Transportation.

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&S u r f T u r f

Downtown Bike Jaunt and Willie Wonka Provide For Very “Sweet Ride”RIDE Solutions has been do-

ing its part in the last few years to promote alternative trans-portation options, as a way to make the quality of life and the environment better in the Roa-noke Valley. Through its BikeR-oanoke.com website and riding events it has encouraged people to take up bicycle riding as one viable alternative.

But what to do when the weather turns cold and people long to return to the comfort and warmth of their automo-biles? For starters, offer cold weather riders a sweet from Chocolatepaper, the confec-tionary haven on Market Street downtown. That’s what ambas-sador River Laker has been do-ing this winter; the Carless Brit has been stopping bikers in the street, asking for comments about riding in the winter and why they do it. In return he of-fers them a voucher good for a

treat at Chocolatepaper. RIDE Solutions called it the

“Sweet Ride.” It celebrated the effort by offering hot chocolate at Chocolatepaper last Sunday, along with a 20-minute bike ride through the streets on a cold, crisp day and a free showing of Willie Wonka and the Choco-late Factory at the Shadowbox Cinema on Kirk Avenue. “We wanted to just step back and say [bicycling] is fun,” said RIDE Solutions program director Jer-emy Holmes, “just like eating a chocolate bar.”

“You just have to give your-self permission to do it,” said Michael Meiser about riding in cold weather. “The hardest part

is [just] stepping out the door and doing it.” Chris Robitalle told Laker that “as long as I have my music, I’m good,” even in the cold weather. Working with Laker was a natural: “he’s out there every day on his bike and is not afraid to go up to people,” said Holmes.

“If I saw someone riding around during this past month or two when its been cold…I’d holler out to them to stop,” said Laker. All but a few agreed to a quick interview and a photo, which wound up on bikero-anoke.com. He then explained Sweet Ride and offered a voucher for Chocolatepaper. Laker sees more bikers on Roanoke roads overall, even in cold weather. Riding in the winter is all about mind over matter: “once you’re out there, its all right.”

Capturing the stories of peo-ple who ride bikes every day, primarily for transportation, was another reason to offer the Sweet Ride incentive. “They’re

out there doing this all the time,” said Holmes of an initiative not geared toward the “Lycra clad,” crowd.

“Bicyclists are every day peo-ple,” noted Holmes, who sees evidence that more people are riding bikes on a regular basis in Roanoke. More businesses are interested in the “bicycle friendly” designation and the bike racks offered by Ride So-lutions, which also encourages carpooling and mass transit op-tions.

“We’re very eager to get more [racks] out,” said Holmes, who also recognizes the City of Roanoke for installing ad-ditional racks as well. “That’s another piece of evidence that people need them.” Holmes es-timates that 20 RIDE Solutions racks have been installed in the downtown area and at venues as far away as the Mojo Café on Brambleton Avenue and Lord Botetourt High School.

“People tend to put their bikes away when it gets cold,” said Holmes. We were trying to encourage people to still ride in the winter.” We just wanted to come at it kind of light and fun [with Sweet Ride] and recog-nize the folks that are doing it.” He anticipates that something like Sweet Ride will return next winter in some fashion, reward-ing cyclists who ignore the cold weather to keep riding on two wheels.

See more comments from cold weather bikers, plus route maps, etc. at bikeroanoke.com

Cyclists head out for a ride throughout downtown Roanoke before watching the movie “Willie Wonka.”

By Gene Marranogmarrano@cox.net

Jeremy Holmes describes the day’s Sweet Ride activities.

PersPectivePage 4 | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 1/28/11 - 2/3/11 newsRoanoke.com

The Roanoke Star-Sentinel

The Roanoke Star-Sentinel is published weekly by Whisper One Media, Inc. in Roanoke, Va. Subscriptions are available for $44 per year. Send subscrip-tions to PO Box 8338, Roanoke, VA 24014. We encourage letters from our readers on topics of general interest to the community and responses to our articles and columns. Letters must be signed and have a telephone number for verification. All letters will be verified before publication. The Star-Sentinel reserves the right to deny publication of any letter and edit letters for length, content and style.

All real estate advertised herein is subject to national and Virginia fair housing laws and readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis.

Communi ty | News | Perspect ive

Publisher | Stuart Revercomb | stuart@newsroanoke.com Features Editor | Cheryl Hodges | cheryl@newsroanoke.comNews Editor | Gene Marrano | gmarrano@cox.netProduction Editor | Leigh Sackett | leigh@newsroanoke.comTechnical Webmaster | Don Waterfield | webmaster@newsroanoke.comAdvertising Director | Bill Bratton | advertising@newsroanoke.com

540-400-0990

Although my dear boy is now twenty-seven years old, he was once much younger; at which time the following observations were recorded.

He tries. There is no question about it. He tries.

Cailan, my young-est son.

Example: the laun-dry.

I asked him to do a load of clothes. He considers calling the `battered child' hotline, shrugs his shoulders and de-cides to throw me a crumb. He packs whites and colors together. "White's a color too, Dad," he mumbles irritably as I protest. The washing machine is hum-ming along. I check it. I look inside. Clothes going round and round; soap powder being slung all over the place.

And no water. Dry clothes; dry soap pow-

der; round and round."How did you do that, son?" I

asked, more mystified than an-gry. He answers without turn-ing his head, deeply engrossed in his seventh viewing of the same Daffy Duck cartoon that morning.

"Dunno. Pushed a coupla buttons."

I think the reason he hates to do laundry is that there's no TV near the dryer. He thinks we're a poor family.

If I were a good parent, I would not reveal the follow-ing to you. Instead, I would sit down and have a heart to heart with him. But, since I know I can trust you to hold this in confidence, I confess that deep

within me, I harbor the misgiv-ing that Cailan has no true bent or talent for cleaning . . . any-thing.

To say there are times when I suspect his heart is not truly in his work, would qualify me

for the "Understate-ment of the Century Award."

It is not mete, you might chide, for a parent to make such conclusions of incapacity about his offspring, but I sincerely believe, ex-amining the facts as

they exist, that he will ever care one in the least about the mechanisms of

cleanliness.The other morning I faltered

down the stairs in a state of profound caffeine deficiency. I think I made it to the counter and peered closely. "Yo, Garvin," said I, "Who put the asphalt in the pitcher?"

"It's coffee.""What is?""The stuff in the pitcher.""Isn't light supposed to pene-

trate coffee? Shouldn't it pour?""Dunno. Never drink the

stuff. Made it for you."I felt like a heel. Note his use of very short

sentences. In the morning he watches cartoons [and at noon, eventide and well into the wee hours] and the less he speaks, the more cartoon he is able to hear. Not wishing to miss one nuance of animation, he rations his words with an impressive husbandry.

Another thing: he seems to be under the illusion that drawers and doors can only be closed by

(that they are only responsive to) parental pressure; that the same one who opened them is not required by any proddings of obligation, to close them.

He also believes, with the same fervor and dedication which energizes those of us who believe that the earth is round, that there exists in some distant, but readily accessible land, a Carrot Fairy. Cailan has devel-oped what will probably prove to be an immoderate taste for carrots. He scrapes them and walks off. He NEVER cleans up his mess; but when he comes back, the heap of carrot shav-ings is gone. Conclusion to the 9 yr old mind?

Carrot Fairy."Cailan, I'm the one who

cleans up your mess.""What mess?""The one you leave in the

sink.""In the what?""Sink?"I get a blank stare. This is

understandable. Given the fact that the sink is principally a place where things are cleaned, it is clear why he would have never heard of it.

"It's the white hole in the counter near the refrigerator."

Always orient a child with a point of reference he can, be-cause of multiple visits under-stand. Basic rule of parenting, really.

All prayers welcome.

Look for Lucky’s books locally and on-line: The Oath of Hippo-crates; The Cotillian; A Journey Long Delayed.

A Father’s Diary #1

Lucky Garvin

Contact Lucky atinfo@theroanokestar.com

A friend of mine is writing a book about people and places along the Crooked Road. On one of his interview excursions he spoke to a miner in far West-ern Virginia. “Music’s nice and all, but it really don’t amount to nothing. It’s just fluff.” On a similar note, one language ex-pert has recently called music “auditory cheesecake, a delight-ful drug that could vanish with no harm to the species.”

I disagree.A rebuttal could

fill books, and in fact, has. But my thoughts about the subject here will be brief, and reinforced by two re-cent facts: the brain can now be watched diagnostically to re-veal the extent and location of brain areas active when we listen to or play music, or rehearse it in our heads.

The second new reality that throws music into a different light (or to a different pitch might be a more appropriate word) is the understanding contained in the word neuro-plasticity: the brain is capable of far more change and adapta-tion than we have believed. And music, not surprisingly, is one of the influences that can change a brain.

I’d like to briefly suggest just a few of the fascinating functions of music, which I offer to coun-ter the cheesecake verdict.

Music and MemoryI have a high school reunion

in June. I see on the web page the faces of those I should remem-ber, but I can’t quite recover the sense of who we were to each other. Then I listen to the mu-sic of our times (Beatles, Stones, Bob Dylan, the Moody Blues) and while the music may not help me remember the name

of an old girlfriend, it builds an emotional bridge to those times with these very people. The mu-sic of our times is like a book binding that holds together the chapters of our lives. That’s not fluff. When I’m 64, I’ll still hear the music.

Music and the Changeable Brain

Our grandson has a birth-damaged brain, and what he will be capable of, physi-cally and intellectu-ally, is unknown. But he loves music. It reaches him, and this is encourag-ing. Discoveries of the brain’s ability to change over time (the neuroplasticity I mentioned) have recently abolished

many of our former certainties about limits to a brain’s ability to repair, recover and re-allocate functions around injured re-gions of the organ.

Neurologist Oliver Sacks’ 2007 book, Musicophilia, is a fascinating study of the thera-peutic role of music. Parkinson’s sufferers can be released from their rigidity and inability to initiate movement. Tourette’s Syndrome sufferers playing percussion together lose their impulsive tics and outbursts. Memory, music and emotions all activate the same regions of the brain, so Alzheimer's suffer-ers, with music, find lost mem-ories and experience genuine pleasure.

Another recent book called “The Brain That Changes Itself” shares a variety of cases of hu-man brains injured by events like the strokes our grandson suf-fered at birth. The afflicted show abilities and behaviors altered in amazing ways by experience, by determination and merely by

“taking thought.” Those changes can be confirmed by new ways to see the brain “light up” as it thinks and perceives. “Chang-ing your mind” has taken on a vastly new meaning and poten-tial. Our family hopes that mu-sic will have a reorganizing ef-fect on our grandson’s brain and mind in its quest to think, feel, remember, move and sing.

Music and CultureSophisticated brain scanners

are not necessary to witness the energy of music on those under its spell. Just watch an animated Friday night crowd listening to Sally Ann or Shady Grove. Music is to dance as a warm wind is to the lifting leaves of a forest. Since the very earliest human history, music’s power and permanence throughout all civilizations may be because of its ability to bind us together in motion, emotion and common identity.

I think about this when I consider that many southwest Virginia communities—with Floyd as a shining example—are known for their ongoing cel-ebration of music across a wide range of genres. Much of it is drawn from Appalachian roots, which were handed down in turn from our settler-ancestors and the reels, chants and ballads they brought with them from Germany and Africa, Scotland, Ireland and elsewhere. Our “traditional” music is a kind of cultural memory we cultivate each time we play the old-time tunes.

So a night of music in the heart of town or a house con-cert from a living room or single banjo ringing out in the night air from a front porch repre-sents one of the most human things we do. Making music is a healing enterprise for our heads and our hearts, our homes and humanity that we joyfully cre-ate for good. We are bound to-gether by the beat of the music of our lives.

And for those who can hap-pily live without music . . . Let them eat cheesecake!

Further Reading: http://bit.ly/frVMo5

Fred First / Floyd County VABooks: slowroadhome.com

Blog: fragmentsfromfloyd.comtwitter.com/fred1st

http://about.me/fredfirst

Music: Binding Our Lives Together

Fred First

During my recent attendance at the COP16 U.N. Global Climate Change Conference in Can-cún, I learned from a friend and colleague about a soul-filled book published in 2007 by environ-mentalist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken bril-liantly titled “Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Com-ing.” It is a visionary prescription for healthy ways of living that honor Earth and its inhabitants. A summary of Hawken’s overall message can also be viewed at http://www.blessedunrest.com/video.html. The book has been endorsed by Jane Goodall, Bill McKib-ben, Terry Tempest Williams, David Suzuki, and numerous other scientists and activists. For the life of me, I don’t know why I had not heard about this incredible book until the Cancún conference.

“Blessed Unrest” is a field guide of hope-filled creative possibilities for social and environmen-tal action in a wounded world. And we are its wounded healers.

Hawken’s arresting title refers to the emergence of a million nonprofits around the world that work toward interconnected, intertwined issues like ecological sustainability, economic justice, human rights protection, political accountability, and peace. Many of these organizations can be found via an online commercial-free database at www.wiserearth.org. I located 33 groups listed within 10 miles or so of Roanoke including the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the National Organization of Women, the Blue Ridge Orchid Society, Total Action against Poverty, and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. These global nonprofits are the keepers of the flame, so to speak, for right action in our world of nearly 7 billion souls. Representing thousands of dis-ciplines or practices, they do not share a charis-matic leader or unifying ideology. As Hawken declares plainly in his book, these nonprofits are “humanity’s immune response to toxins like political corruption, economic disease, and eco-logical degradation.” Their diverse emergence identifies what is humane and not humane in a wounded world, just as our immune system rec-ognizes self and non-self.

For a moment, let me return to the idea of three interacting factors that promote sustainable de-velopment: environmental soundness, economic viability, and social equity. In response to one of my recent columns, one reader accused me of being a “thumb-sucking socialist” for my call for sustainable development (see “How to Make a Cow,” http://newsroanoke.com/?p=8162). In a world of 7 billion people, we simply must learn to share our resources in common purpose as a single species on an ancient planet. Call such an estimable goal whatever you wish.

In 1992, the United Nations Conference on En-vironment and Development, informally known as the Earth Summit, convened in Brazil with nearly 20,000 attendees to produce a comprehen-sive action plan called “Agenda 21.” The plan is divided into four major sections with more than

2500 specific actions to deal with our most urgent global problems:

• Social and economic dimensions (including ways to combat poverty and promote human health)

• Conservation and management of resources for development (including chapters on the atmosphere, defores-tation, agriculture and rural develop-ment, freshwater resources, and haz-ardous wastes)

• Strengthening the role of major groups (including NGO’s, local au-thorities, trade unions, farmers, busi-

ness and industry, and the scientific and techno-logical communities)

• Means of implementation (including finan-cial resources, education, international coopera-tion, and capacity-building strategies)

A quick online search for “Agenda 21 follow-up” yields millions of hits to show how govern-ments and agencies around the world have re-sponded through the past two decades to the clarion call of the United Nations for action. Humanity imparts a substantial and relentless footprint on Earth’s column of life: from atmo-sphere to bedrock. “Agenda 21” provides a clear blueprint for local, national, and global action in just about every area of governance that affects our environment. Despite the lack of significant change at the international level since 1992, im-portant environmental and social progress has been made by individuals, corporations, and lo-cal governments around the world with billions of dollars invested in sustainable development projects. Certain change is happening from the bottom up across the planet.

Indeed, a “Blessed Unrest” confronts us daily with its drive toward equity and sustainabil-ity. The movement has emerged time and again throughout our recent history, each time widen-ing the context beyond ourselves to include the world around us. Now, thankfully, it has a ho-listic view of the human condition. It embraces our species within its broad social and ecological contexts with an eye toward the distant future.

I heartily recommend Hawken’s book, “Blessed Unrest,” to my readers here in the Roanoke Val-ley and beyond. In this new year, let us all vow never to rest until we have achieved environmen-tal soundness, economic viability, and social eq-uity across the globe. That is my blessed hope in 2011.

H. Bruce Rinker, Ph.D.Ecologist, Educator, and Explorer

brinker@northcross.org

H. Bruce Rinker, PhD

Blessed Unrest: A Story of What’s Right about a Wronged World

Local Crossword for 01/28/2011

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15

16 17 18

19 20 21 22

23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

35 36 37 38 39

40 41 42

43 44 45 46

47 48 49 50 51

52 53 54 55

56 57 58 59 60

61 62 63 64 65 66 67

68 69 70

71 72 73

www.CrosswordWeaver.com

ACROSS

1 Genius 4 Submit for consideration 9 Lay

12 Error 14 Scots' neighbors 15 Yawn 16 Russian Marx 17 Fashionable 18 Bode 19 Emotional states 21 Computer pointer 23 Capital of the Ukraine 25 Ribald 26 Roman Catholic Church heads 29 The other half of Jima 31 Whining speech 35 Resort hotel 36 Tents 39 Estimated time of arrival 40 Set of supplies 41 Washer's partner

42 Boxer Muhammad 43 Only 44 Magic city? 46 Tangle 47 Vice __ 49 Beverage 50 Dowdy 52 It was re-planted in the middle of

McClannahan Street where it didn’t belong in the first place

54 Part of the "KKK" 56 Not as false 58 Side note 61 Burden 62 Give back all of the money 66 Recount 68 Agency (abbr.) 69 Roanoke's Polish sister city. 70 A natural reason for Roanoke? 71 Chatter 72 Radio detection and ranging 73 Rock group

DOWN

1 College football conference (abbr.) 2 Chowder ingredient 3 We smooth the wrinkles out - ----

specialty. 4 Wash 5 Epoch 6 __ in 7 Time zone 8 Sounds alike 9 Army Surplus supplier in

downtown Roanoke 10 Dueling sword 11 X 13 Chap 15 Orange cheese 20 Record 22 Has 24 Shake 25 Local home originally known as

'Rock of Ages' from a rock ledge on which it stands.

26 Roanoke's Russian sister city. 27 State 28 Daddy 30 Cowboy John 32 Clothing stitches 33 This Roanoker developed a move

called the Gorilla Press Slam and is in the WWF Hall of Fame.

34 Common people 37 Hubbub 38 __ of the covenant 44 Sparse 45 Flightless birds 48 Gain knowledge 51 Doors 53 Flub 55 Strata 56 Roman garments 57 Back On The ____ is a kid's

consignment shop in Tanglewood Mall.

59 Darling 60 Women's magazine 61 Nonprofessional 63 Government agency 64 Spacecraft detachment 65 Wing 67 Long-term memory

Star-Sentinel Crossword

By Don Waterfield

Find the answers online: NewsRoanoke.comHave a clue and answer you’d like to see?

email: puzzles@newsroanoke.com

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The three gray-suited workers hover like bees over the gracefully-shaped nose of the most beau-tiful train I have ever seen. OK, so I am a hillbilly at heart but still, not only is it reminiscent of a super-sonic aircraft, but even more so like an intergalac-tic spacecraft. The men lean across the sensuous shape, their reach extended by aluminum booms, and enthusiastically remove every spec of dirt. Slack-jawed tourist that I am, I snap some photos and board the train. Next stop: Hangzhou.

There is no conductor slowly making his way down the aisle punching some antiquated data terminal; all seats are assigned automatically in the ticketing process, and access to the platform, and thence to one’s assigned carriage and seat, is totally controlled. Automatic scanners confirm and check as one makes their way to their seat. The flow of passengers is amazingly smooth and orderly. I’m soon ensconced in my comfy seat, next to a Chinese businessman who politely hides behind his newspaper, coming out to grin at me now and then.

An hour ago I arrived at Shanghai’s Hongqiao rail station, and was taken aback by both the scale of the place –large enough to have its own weather systems I’m sure- and its beauty; the design and its execution. Video screens six stories tall show constant footage of what I assume to be China at her best, and equally expansive timetable screens clearly display all pertinent information about the trains’ comings and goings. As a proud American I was more than a bit humbled, a feeling which continues to dog me on this trip.

I barely detect movement when the train pulls out of the station; I see the world through the windows accelerate. This is a non-stop train to Hangzhou, an ancient city known for its beauti-ful lake, green hills, and Buddhist temples. Since this svelt transporter moves at 345 km per hour we arrive there in less than 30 minutes. That’s 100 miles at 214 miles per hour. “Oh yeah, we do this all the time back home,” is the spirit I want to con-vey to my silent, grinning seatmate, but I come up short.

The entire 175km line to Hangzhou is elevat-ed on graceful concrete piers, seventeen meters above the flat, uninspiring plains of the Yangzi river delta. On this day a thick haze blankets the region, and we fly by industrial complexes which feature dull and lifeless architecture. Farm plots nestle amid the industry, and occasional clusters of apartment towers rise abruptly in the haze. The rail line crosses and parallels stretches of multilane highway, much of it under construction. There’s plenty of traffic, its pace sedate compared to this rocket on rails.

Arriving in the ancient city I finally swim away from the frenetic scene which is the Hangzhou rail station, and armed with street map and com-pass I make my way to Hangzhou’s pride and joy: West Lake.

The willow trees sway in the soft breeze, and the 600-year-old Su Causeway stretches invitingly across the lake, dreamily disap-pearing into the fog. Walking across the lake on a path on this thin strip of land, I’m enchanted by the meditative feel of the place. Across the lake, I climb the forested hills and pause on an outcropping of rock, over-looking the Yue Fei Temple and the lake below.

Hangzhou has been here a while, at least since the Qin dy-nasty of 221 BC. Marco Polo passed through here in the 13th century and described it as one

of the most splendid cities in the world. One thing responsible for Hangzhou’s enduring fame is its position as the southern terminus of the Grand Canal. This 7th century engineering feat links the Yangzi and the Yellow River basins via an 1800km-long canal. This astonishing feat is still unmatched in many ways, the canal still being the longest in the world. Today, Chinese tourists, and a few foreigners, come to Hangzhou in droves to stroll the causeway and shores of West Lake and to visit the city’s traditional Chinese gardens of timeless design and meticulous upkeep.

Later, I’m strolling the pleasing paths of one such garden, Yuyuan Zin. I lean over the railing of a half-moon footbridge and stare mesmerized at hundreds of lily blossoms in the water below. On each side of the bridge, Peach and Plum trees overhang the rippling pool. Their foliage sighs in the afternoon zephyr, and I feel the centuries-old, calming ambiance.

Hoofing it back to the rail station, I’m munch-ing street food –dumplings- and it quite hits the spot. Soon I’m in my seat on the train and under-way to Shanghai. As I gaze at the landscape speed-ing by as night falls on the Yangzi plains I think of what a brash American businessman told me a few days previous, in a conversation about the high speed rail system. “We could never do that in the United States,” he stated flatly, ”due to all the hassle with lawsuits over property rights, and our not-in-my-backyard attitudes.” Hmmmm, I won-dered. I hope he’s wrong about that. “Anyway,” he added with a hearty laugh, “When China wants to do something she just does it!”

Traveling beyond familiar surroundings always stretches one’s patterns of thinking, and for me, this foray into mainland China is no exception. It’s good for me, I know. But as I make my way through Shanghai’s French Concession, far below the bright colored lights of the skyscrapers around People’s Square, I’m feeling just a bit of something I haven’t felt in a while: homesick. As much as I love to travel, there are times when I wish there was a high-speed train heading in that direction.

Riding the Hangzhou Express

Contact John Robinson atjwrobinson77@gmail.com

Labrador retrievers were bred to swim; they have webbing between their toes to prove it. At a farm, we would walk our Labs through the woods and around to an open space were they could run. When they crested the hill, the pond came into view and they would race down and jump in. One of them would splash out till he was halfway immersed, then drop his head and drink the cool water with sloppy gusto.

Let that be an image for us as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity concludes: that we all splash with gusto into the inviting waters of the Holy Spirit. In a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the congregation at Corinth, he said, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (I Corinthians 12:13, NIV). Great things can hap-pen when we get immersed in God’s Holy Spirit.

Last year, a survivor was pulled out of the rubble of Haiti’s earthquake after eleven days. Normally the body can’t last that long without water. Similarly, we can last for a while without a sense of the Holy Spirit’s presence, but when we drink in the Spirit like a partly immersed dog drinking water in a pond, we find surprising re-freshment, renewal, and inspiration.

Baptists have a history with drinking spir-its. A bunch of us fought for prohibition. One of the earliest pastors of Calvary Baptist spoke out strongly against drinking alcohol. I hope he preached as strongly in favor of drinking of one Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. Historian Leon McBeth writes that, “Baptists accepted the per-sonality and deity of the Holy Spirit and defined His work from a biblical perspective in such areas as inspiration, comfort, and illumination of Scripture” (The Baptist Heritage, Broadman Press, c. 1987, p 68).

True Baptists continue to trust the Holy Spirit to inspire, comfort, and illuminate our under-standing of Scripture; and we trust the Spirit to

guide other people’s understanding of scripture, even when it differs from our own. We recog-nize that the Spirit is alive and active within every child of God. Together, we make up the “body of Christ.”

The image of the body had been used by oth-ers for subjugation in the first century: certain people were in control and the rest were simply to respond to the direction of the head. For Paul, the body of Christ was different. In the body of Christ—a group who worships and serves God together—there is no hierarchy. A commit-tee chair is no more important than the person who has never been nominated to a committee. A pastor is no more important than the person who was baptized last weekend.

Imagine how grotesque the body of Christ would look if we all were hands, or if we all were eyes, or ears, or noses. Paul presents a humorous picture of what happens when a foot or ear se-cedes from its place of service to the whole body. It’s less humorous when it actually happens in a church – as when someone is offended and se-cedes from a place of service out of spite. Even lacking one person, the body is no longer whole and healthy.

Broadening this picture, each community of faith is a part of the larger body of Christ and has unique gifts to offer the Roanoke Valley and the world. There is a congregation for each person who seeks to be immersed in God’s Holy Spirit. Together, let us pray for unity through the one Spirit. As each church drinks of the Spirit with gusto—conservative or progressive, urban or rural, large or small—we take part in spreading the good news of Christ to a society that needs to be able to trust churches and Christians once again.

Donna Hopkins Britt is pastor of Calvary Bap-tist Church in Downtown West: 608 Campbell Avenue, SW; web site, calvaryroanoke.org.

One Spirit, One Body, One Church by Donna Hopkins Britt

Preacher’s Corner

China’s latest high speed train prepares to depart Shanghai.

Dogs are such well loved creatures; the main reason, of course, being that they love us so well to begin with - they are our constant companions no matter where we are or what we have done in life. I don’t believe my life was empty before we got our dog Ruby, but now I can’t imagine life without her. I guess I just didn’t realize what I was missing.

We found Ruby at Angels of Assisi’s about a year ago. On the one year anniversary of her arrival in her home I kissed her and this is what I told her: I loved you so much when we brought you home this day a year ago but I love you so much more today. Then I thanked her for being such a good dog and great friend.

Ruby truly does adore me, and I know she would lay down her life for me. She makes it very clear that she is ours. That kind of surrender and love leaves you with no other choice but to adore her right back. It also leaves me in awe, wishing that I could love everyone more like she does.

But God says we can be like this. It is exactly why Jesus asked

the fishermen to come and fol-low Him. He knew they could be His disciples; He knew they could love like Him; He knows all of us can. There are many examples and whispers of God’s love in the world, and one very clear one that I am blessed to know is the love of my faithful dog.

May you recognize and cher-ish that gift from your pet as well and strive to love as they love. Tell them thank you with this homemade special dog treat. Have the kids or grand-kids help you make it and teach

them about the great gift of a dog’s love.

Liver Chip Cookies For Dogs2 cups Whole wheat flour 1/3 cup Butter -- melted 1 Egg -- beaten 6 tablespoons Water 1/4 cup liver -- dried or jerky-style treats -- chopped

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, butter, egg, and water. Mix well.

-Blend in liver bits. Turn onto a greased baking pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cool and cut.

Ruby’s Liver Chip CookiesThe Happy Chef by Leigh Sackett

Ruby crosses the creek on her first camping trip.

Page 6 | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 1/28/11 - 2/3/11 newsRoanoke.com

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Anyone within a few blocks of Roanoke’s Downtown Library last Thursday evening who did NOT have a cat, that’s C-A-T, in tow had to feel terribly out of place. Reminiscent of something out of a Hitchcock movie, the dark cold evening saw bundled up passers-by -- hurrying to escape the frigid temperatures-- quietly converg-

ing on the Library – most with a pet carrier containing a cat in hand. For the uninitiated, the awkward confusion was broken by a hearty “WHERE is YOUR cat?” by another cat-less pedes-trian who found the scene quite amusing.

Turns out that a lot of Roa-nokers were headed to their first-ever “Cat Party” sponsored by Roanoke’s Main Library. The event was promoted through ads and flyers featuring a gor-geous “shoulder shot” of a fluffy feline whose spellbinding amber / green eyes seemed to beckon even those who are not so fond of cats.

The event “drew around 200 people and about 51 cats,” es-timated River Laker (Creative

Development at City of Roanoke), who put together the plan after learning of photographer Vickie Holt’s work, which has raised pet adoption rates by as much as 30% since shelters began using her in-novative approach to showcase animals in need of a home.

Holt combined what started out as a hobby - taking photographs and video - and her love of animals, and came up with the idea of providing high quality photographs of animals awaiting adoption to post online. It has worked so well that she is now also training others in hopes of spreading the method across the country.

Holt says, “It is the duty of every human heart to do everything possible to find a home for every animal before its time is up. An ef-fective online photo is a great first step.” Holt was also in attendance at the Cat Party, which seemed to be a group in nearly constant motion, as people mingled with cats in crates, cats on leashes, and cats draped over their owners, leaving some to wonder who was showing off whom.

Laker mentioned one couple who each had a cat perched on their shoulder for the entire evening. The animals looked deceptively

content and complacent unless someone got too close, in which case they got a loud warning hiss, which most found quite enter-taining. One lady brought her one-eyed cat which she had adopted from Angels of Assisi—a success story for a compromised animal who found a loving home.

Two young ladies from Roanoke College said they “saw the flyer downtown and we had nothing to do so we figured, ‘why not? Let’s go to the Cat Party.’” They didn’t stop there; they painted their faces

with a fairly good “Cats” look and brought their cat along for good measure.

Laker found this was the first time he could not get the crowd to settle down, even when it came time to perform the “Cat Talk” skit he had prepared; ap-parently everyone was just hav-ing too much fun cat-mingling and enjoying the camaraderie. He said “this time it was impos-sible to get everyone quiet—I’ve never had that happen before. Most people were content to just hang out with their cats,” which was fine by Laker. The program managed to go on as planned, with just a bit of background noise.

In addition to highlighting the work of both Angels of As-sisi and Holt, the event reaped tangible goods; partygoers were asked to bring a donation of cat food or litter. Laker was clearly pleased that they “got a huge amount to donate to Angels of Assisi.” He added that he has gotten “really great feedback, people really enjoyed this event; it’s just no one had the nerve to do it before.”

“Cat Party” a Big Hit at Roanoke’s Downtown Library

Discovery Shop - “Upscale Retail” For A Worthy CauseSince 1995 the Discovery

Shop at Townside Festival Shop-ping Center on Franklin Road has been raising money for the American Cancer Society by selling quality new and gently used merchandize, including fashionable clothing and shoes. All of the revenues generated by the shop go to the Roanoke chapter of the American Cancer Society. “We cover all of our ex-penses from sales,” explains the Discovery Shop’s manager, Amy Peck, who calls her position the “best job” she’s ever had. “We don’t cost the American Cancer Society anything.”

The Discovery Shop has a boutique-like atmosphere—one stressing one-on-one in-teraction between the shop’s staff and customers, akin to the kind of personal shopping ex-perience one has at a fine ladies store, men’s store, or depart-ment store. “You get a little bit more attention from the people, and we actually help you with your selection,” says Peck, who labels it upscale resale.

“We offer more fashion items [including many] that actually are brand new. It’s a difference in atmosphere - a difference in quality and customer service.” The local Discovery Shop grew out of the conviction of several leading American Cancer Soci-ety volunteers, who figured that Roanoke would be a good loca-tion for such a facility.

“We were fortunate in that as

soon as people recognized the difference in quality between what we offer at Discovery Shop vs. what a thrift store might of-fer, we soon developed a very large and happy customer base”, said Peck, who used to work for Event Zone. Related to the slug-gish economy perhaps, over the past year-and-a-half it has expe-rienced a tremendous upsurge in traffic.

Donations have also risen. “More and more people are making sure that their excess goods—whether it be clothing or fine home furnishings and such, goes on to serve a sec-ond purpose,” said Peck, who attributes the up tick to both the economy and the fact that people are thinking more in terms of green. Consequently, “we’ve been able to contribute more to the American Cancer Society, [to] help more patients and their caregivers here in the Roanoke Valley.”

The Discovery Shop has a base of 125 volunteers, who are always busy promoting the shop and encouraging people to do-nate items. Shop personnel visit civic and religious groups, and make presentations to inform the public about its existence and mission.

The Discovery Shop also con-tacts realtors about people who are moving or downsizing, as well as retirement homes, to ask about donations. Peck knows people in the home organiz-

ing field who encourage their customers to donate items they eliminate from cluttered closets and attics. Some have contrib-uted to the shop for years and continue to do so—what Peck calls “returning donations. It can come from anywhere and everywhere.”

Those items that don’t quite fit in are donated to other not-for-profit organizations in the Roanoke Valley: the Rescue Mission, women’s shelters, the Veteran’s Administration in Salem and area churches. “We make sure that [all] items do-nated go to somebody that can use it,” said Peck, who is the only salaried staff member for the Discovery Shop. She came to her present job at the shop after working with other not-for-profit organizations much

as the United Way. Before that she was a cus-

tomer and a donor. “Like a lot of other savvy women, I enjoy the thrill of the hunt - finding a beautiful item [for] much, much less than the retail price. I had always been a fan of the Discovery Shop.” When the job became available five years ago, she applied for it. While she en-joyed her time with the Event Zone, which organizes down-town Roanoke events, she calls the Discovery Shop “the best job I’ve ever had.”

Those interested in volunteer-ing with the Discovery Shop can contact Peck at amy.peck@can-cer.org, or by calling 345-2572.

By Melvin E. Matthews, Jr.info@newsroanoke.com

Roanoke bicyclists and mo-torists will notice a new type of pavement marking called a "shared lane marking" or "sharrow" to help them safely navigate city streets.

According to Mark Jamison, manager of the city's Transpor-tation Division, drivers as well as cyclists are often confused over proper etiquette and traf-fic laws for navigating streets safely. "Sharrows indicate where a bicyclist should ride when the lane is too narrow for a conventional bike lane or for a car and a bike to travel side by side," he says. "Additionally, they help to make motorists aware that a particular street is on a designated bike route and that the motorist should expect to see cyclists."

Jamison says Transportation has completed installation of sharrows in seven downtown locations, along streets such as Church Avenue, Second Street, Gainsboro Road, and William-son Road. Additional sharrow locations will likely be added in the coming months.

Sharrows have been used on an experimental basis in some U.S. cities, but were not ap-proved for national use by the Federal Highway Administra-tion until about a year ago. "In

addition to safety and aware-ness benefits, these initial sharrows will help designate the downtown connection be-tween the Mill Mountain and Lick Run Greenways," says Ja-mison. "Ultimately we want to promote cycling as a healthy and safe alternative to motor-ized transportation."

Tom Carr, Roanoke's Direc-tor of Planning, Building and Development and staff to the City of Roanoke Bicycle Advi-sory Committee, says sharrows are a part of an overall effort by the city to promote bicycles for commuting as well as recre-ational use. In 2010, Roanoke became one of only four Vir-ginia cities to be designated as Bicycle Friendly Community" by the League of American Bicyclists. This year, the com-mittee will join other Virginia groups to increase awareness of the advantages of cycling and how to do so safely.

"Bicycling is a great way to get exercise, reduce your car-bon footprint, and enjoy the beauty of the Roanoke Valley, but safety is key," says Carr. "Sharrows will help us all share the road more effectively."

For more information, con-tact Mark Jamison at 540-853-2676.

'Sharrows' Help Roanoke Drivers, Cyclists Share The Road

Kyleigh Smithey holds "Clay-ton," who more than accom-modated his many admirers by behaving on his leash.

Angels of Assisi brought "Skittles" the calico cat, who is up for adoption.

Roanoke Library Events Coordinator, River Laker, in front of artist Paula Sunny Smith's cat and lion backdrop, prepares to entertain the audience with the "Cat Talk" skit.

Roanoke College students Brittany Frye (L) and Lauren Griggs took a respite from studies to attend the Cat Party.

Sam the Burmese cat is happy to be shown off by his owner Debra.

By Cheryl Hodges • cheryl@newsroanoke.com

The shop looks more “upscale resale” than thrift store, says manager Amy Peck.

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Virginia Tech's club hockey season ended its home sched-ule on a bit of a down note last weekend, blowing a 5-2 lead on Saturday to finish in a 5-5 tie with East Carolina. The Pi-rates knotted the game with 17 seconds left and neither team scored in overtime. About 3000 hockey-starved fans made their way to the Roanoke Civic Center on Saturday, including a strong walk-up crowd that stretched around the outside of the building.

The Hokies then set their sites on Liberty for Sunday's home fi-nale but the Flames came to the Roanoke Civic Center looking for revenge from a 6-1 home loss against Tech back on No-vember 6th. Liberty lived up to their name and came out on fire, scoring the first 3 goals of the game, and never looked back. Trailing 6-3 late in the third period, Virginia Tech had a chance to cut into the lead with

a 5 on 3 power play, but were unable to capitalize, as Liberty held on for a 6-3 win. After five road games to end the regular season Virginia Tech will begin its run through the Mid Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs on February 18th. If the club moves on, the Southeast

Regionals and the ACHA na-tionals beckon. For more infor-mation regarding the team and their run for the playoffs, check out www.virginiatechicehockey.com.

Hokie Hockey Squad Stumbles in Gearing Up for Playoffs

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Roanoke Catholic scored the game's first 17 points as the Celtics easily dispatched Craig County 68-35 at the Catholic gym Monday night. Roanoke Catholic's height advantage made it a cakewalk as the Celtics led 61-21 af-ter three quarters, allowing head coach Bill Hodges to go liberally to the bench. Catholic (8-5) was led by Andre Washington and Matt Moats, each scoring 17 points. Ben-nett Holley added 12 and Wayne Radford 11 for the Celt-ics. Forest Morris tallied 13 to lead the Rockets.

Roanoke Catholic Rolls in 68-35 Win Over Craig County

Catholic's #41 Matt Moats drives the baseline for two of his 17 points Monday night.

Cave Spring Knocks Off Salem 69-66 in River Ridge Classic

Cave Spring used an up-tempo offense to build a 14-point third quarter lead as the Knights held on for the River Ridge win Tues-day night at the Cave Spring gym. The Knights were able to maintain a nine point lead with less than a minute to play be-fore a late Salem run came up short.

Storm Furrow led the Cave Spring attack with 25 points, while Tyler Kemp and Aaron Cupp added 11 each for the Knights.

Seth Carroll led the Salem scoring with 20 points. Both teams are now 2-4 in River Ridge action.

Cave Spring senior #11 Michael Cole pulls up on the baseline against Salem Tuesday night.

Knight's #33 Amin Abuhawwas looks to come down safely as Salem's #44 Marty Bishop defends.

Several thousand enjoyed Hokie Hockey last Saturday.

By kevin Gilmurrayinfo@newsroanoke.com

By Bill Turner • info@newsroanoke.com

By Bill Turnerinfo@newsroanoke.com

District races are set for the home stretch and everyone is hoping to position themselves for the opportunity to advance past the district tournaments and on to the regionals. Here’s a look at what’s going down for our area teams.

Patrick Henry still leads in the Western Valley, but the Patriots opened the door to contenders when they lost at home to GW Danville last week. Things don’t get any easier for PH, as they have to travel to talented Franklin County Friday night. At 0-5, William Flem-ing will need a quick turnaround and a lot of help to advance.

Alleghany took care of busi-ness with their win over North-side Tuesday night, and the Mountaineers look to be on cruise control to win the Blue Ridge. Northside and William Byrd will now look for a favor-able seed in the district tourna-ment.

The River Ridge is still up for grabs as Hidden Valley and Christiansburg remain unde-feated in the district at 5-0. The Blue Demons visit Hidden Val-ley Friday night for the first of two games between the leaders. This one will give a good idea how good Christiansburg re-ally is after the Blue Demons opened with 14 straight wins. Cave Spring and Salem are battling to hopefully claim the third seed.

On the girl’s side, PH and Fleming are sitting in the third and fourth position in the Western Valley. Lord Botetourt is looking for separation from the rest of the Blue Ridge as the Lady Cavaliers look to be the team to beat. In the River Ridge, Hidden Valley is still chasing Pulaski County for the top spot, with Salem and Cave Spring seemingly destined for the 3 and 4 spots. The Glenvar girls have slipped in the Three Rivers and now trail Radford and Floyd County.

In the unusual games of the week we turn first to the Rad-ford boys for our top pick, as a normal high school game usually lasts 32 minutes. But, last Saturday the Bobcats en-dured 64 minutes of playing time without a single overtime. Radford played Blacksburg in a tournament game at Floyd in the afternoon, then traveled down Rt. 221 to tangle with Cave Spring that night. The Bobcats won both, and hope-fully the team managers got some overtime benefits after washing two sets of uniforms.

And, how about those Roa-noke College cagers, who

trailed at Bridgewater by 6 points with 11 seconds left in the game. Salem High product Melvin Felix hit a three pointer and, after a steal, Corey Poin-dexter tossed one in from near midcourt at the buzzer to force overtime. The stunner clearly shook Bridgewater as the Ma-roons won by 10 in OT.

Now, to the infamous mail-bag, where a die-hard Hokie

came running to the Great One for some advice. The letter came unsigned, which usually means it gets ignored. But, a second glance got

my attention and re-quired me to dust off my Columbo trench

coat to ID the perpetrator. The writer started off by call-

ing me a comedian, obviously trying to get under my skin. But actually, I found that flattering. In 1974, I had the opportunity to talk to Rodney Dangerfield and he’s one of the zaniest guys I’ve ever seen; so I’ll accept the comedian moniker.

Next, the poor ‘ol Hokie took an 180-degree turn and agreed that Tech football scheduling, which he called ‘hooey,’ needs revamping. Then, he pointed the blame for all this at, well, I’ll just call him Madam X. He pointed out that Madam al-ways had an excuse for avoid-ing quality opponents who wouldn’t work toward ‘mutual advantage’. I’ve seen the term ‘mutual advantage’ in personal ads, but never in football. Fi-nally, the writer folded his tent and asked me, of all people, “what should we do”? Hint-play my Maroons!!

I wanted to help the guy, so I looked for clues. For starters, he had a propensity for using parenthesis around numbers. He said he was a season ticket holder (4)--I wasn’t sure if that meant he’s had tickets for four years or he has four seats. Next, he indicated he was a Tech grad (67)--does that mean, I asked myself, he’s 67 years old, gradu-ated in 1967 or took 67 years to graduate? Finally, he said he was a Golden Hokie, which means he has money and a couple VT yard ornaments.

My Columbo instincts worked and I figured the guy out, so I’ll ID him in a sinister way only he will know. I used to use Mannix for my detective rationale until Mannix kept leaving his office and driving down the Pacific Coast High-way, where some thug was al-ways trying to force him off an 100-foot cliff into the ocean. If Mannix was so smart you’d think he would take a back road after this scene repeated itself seventeen times.

Well, Mr. VT grad, if I’ve got you pegged, how about send-ing me some support money for that black cat I took off your hands. Oh, and say hi to Caro-lyn for me-she’s a sweetheart.

My assistant coaches have asked me to hold off before re-vealing my defensive trick play. So, check back next week when I’ll draw it up in a photo.

Meanwhile, send your inqui-ries to: info@newsroanoke.com

Around the Hardwoods with Wild Bill

Bill Turner

By Bill Turnerinfo@newsroanoke.com

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The Roanoke College Maroons are pumping big money into the Salem economy, according to figures from the college’s Maroon Card program. In the 2009-2010 academic year, nearly $358,000 in “Maroon Money” was spent in area retail busi-nesses. Seventeen local businesses, a combination of national chains and locally-owned businesses mostly in Salem, participated in 09-10 and made sales to Maroon Card holders. Top earners of Maroon Money sales were Sheetz, CVS, Mac and Bob’s, Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea, Salem Pizza and Frank’s Pizza. Today there are 21 businesses on board.

“The Roanoke College community is a big part of the vibrant business atmosphere in Salem and the Roanoke Valley,” Mark Noftsinger, Vice Presi-dent of business affairs, said. “We’re pleased to see how the Maroon Money off-campus vendors are benefitting from this program.”

A 2008 economic impact study indicated that College related spending, including student spending in the community and visitor spending, had an estimated total impact on the Roanoke

Valley of $98 million dollars annually.Since 2006, the Maroon Card has served as the

ID card for Roanoke students, faculty and staff. The Maroon Card also serves as a facility access card, a library card, a meal plan card and provides access to students’ financial aid for books. In addi-tion, each card includes debit accounts where stu-dents, parents, faculty and staff can deposit funds through an online portal.

The Maroon Money account can be used any-where the card is accepted to purchase goods, ser-vices and meals at the participating vendors, in-cluding the Roanoke College Bookstore. Maroon Cards also include a Dining Dollars Account, which can be used for meals at the Sutton Com-mons and the Cavern on Campus, and a Book-store account, which can be used in the College Bookstore.

For more details on the Maroon Card program and a complete list of vendors, visit www.roanoke.edu/marooncard.

Maroons Pump Big Money Into Roanoke Valley Economy

LewisGale Physicians opened a full-service optical center in Salem this week, making it the first for the physician group. Pa-tients will find an array of prod-ucts from high-end sunglasses such as Armani and Gucci to more than a 100 different types of specialty lenses you typically won’t find at retail outlets.

In addition, Ophthalmolo-gist Richard R. Johnson, M.D., is on-site to provide eye care

and surgery for the entire family including eye exams.

“Patients will find products that are specifically designed to fit their unique eye care needs to ensure they receive the best vi-sion possible for their prescrip-tion,” said Matthew Tucker, Li-censed Optician for the optical center.

Specialty products include a children’s line of glasses, oc-cupational lenses designed for

computer work, and sports/recreational glasses tailored for a variety of activities including motorcycle riding, swimming, and baseball.

“We wanted to offer patients a one-stop shop for eye care services on our Salem cam-pus,” said Victor E. Giovanetti, President, LewisGale Regional Health System. “This is a first for LewisGale Physicians but a much needed service for many of our patients who rely on our health system to meet all their healthcare needs.”

The optical center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome; eye exams by appoint-ment only. For more informa-tion about the optical center, patients can call 540-772-3771. For more information see www.lewisgale.com.

LewisGale Opens Full-Service Optical Center

School Of Medicine Professor Named Journal's Reviewer Of The Year

Dr. C. Kathleen Dorey, pro-fessor at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, was named the 2010 Review-er of the Year for Current Eye Research this week.

The journal's editors se-lected Dorey for the recogni-tion because of her "frequent, timely and pertinent contri-butions made during 2010."

"There are so many people who contribute their time and expertise to the scien-tific community by reviewing articles," Dorey said. "I am pleased and humbled."

Dorey has reviewed more than 30 articles for Current Eye Research in just the last two years.

"Kathy is an outstanding asset to our team and the sci-entific research community," said Dr. Cynda Ann Johnson, dean of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

"She is well-deserving of this recognition."

Dorey joined the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Med-icine in July 2009 as a profes-sor of basic sciences. Among her many responsibilities at the school, Dorey has helped implement and execute prob-lem-based learning (PBL) into the curriculum. Her

current research addresses the influence of inflammation on retinal neovasculariza-tion. Dorey has an adjunct appointment as a professor at the Virginia-Maryland Re-gional College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dorey has a distinguished academic record, with signifi-cant research related to retinal diseases and teaching experi-ence in research, cell biology, embryology, and histology. Dorey received her bachelor's degree from the State Univer-sity of New York, Buffalo, and a master's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She completed her Ph.D. from Georgetown Uni-versity and post doctoral work at the University of Southern California.

By Alison Matthiesseninfo@newsroanoke.com

Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore is pleased to announce that at-torneys Travis J. Graham, Max-well H. Wiegard, and Spencer M. Wiegard have been named partners with the Roanoke based law firm.

“Travis, Max, and Spencer are impressive personally and professionally,” said G. Michael Pace, Jr., Managing Partner of Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore. “Each has demonstrated an outstanding work ethic and dedication to our clients. Their contributions continue to be a tremendous asset to both Gen-try Locke and the clients we serve.”

Travis Graham joined Gentry Locke’s Commercial Litigation group after having previously practiced for a number of years in Tennessee. He represents parties in the state and federal courts of Tennessee and Virgin-ia. His practice focuses on trust and estate litigation, products liability, medical malpractice

claims, and general commercial disputes. Travis is a frequent consultant, writer, and lecturer on issues of civil procedure.

Travis received his under-graduate degree from Virginia Tech, and graduated from The University of Tennessee College

of Law in 1998 as the class vale-dictorian. Following law school, he served as law clerk to Senior United States District Judge Glen M. Williams in Abingdon,

Virginia. Travis also served as an adjunct professor of law at The University of Tennessee.

Max Wiegard represents cor-porations and individual clients in environmental, real estate and land use litigation, com-mercial transactions, and zon-ing matters. Max serves on the Executive Council of the Real Estate Section of The Virginia Bar Association, is Chair of the VBA’s Young Lawyers Divi-sion Roanoke Mentorship Pro-gram, and volunteers with the Blue Ridge Legal Services Pro Bono Hotline. He is currently a participant in the Roanoke Re-gional Chamber of Commerce’s 2011 Leadership Roanoke Val-ley program.

Max is also a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the Maryland State Bar. Other memberships include the Vir-ginia Association of Defense Attorneys, The Virginia Bar As-sociation, Roanoke Bar Asso-ciation, and the American Bar Association.

Max earned his law degree from the College of William and

Mary's Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 2004 and received a B.A. from the University of Vir-ginia in 2001.

Spencer Wiegard primar-ily represents clients in the con-struction industry. He assists clients with drafting and negoti-ating contracts and agreements, mediation and litigation, and in complex mechanic's lien cases. Spencer represented a major steel fabricator in contract ne-gotiations for the World Trade Center/Freedom Tower project in New York City. A portion of his practice also involves rep-resenting firearm retailers and counseling clients in creating firearms carry policies.

Spencer was designated a 2010 Super Lawyers® Rising Star in Construction Litigation. For several years, he has served as a statewide coordinator for Pro Bono hotlines for The Virginia

Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Spencer has served on the Board of Directors of the Military Family Support Centers since 2006, is an As-sociate Member of Associated General Contractors, an Execu-tive Committee member of the Associated General Contrac-tors (Roanoke Division), and is a member of the William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review. He is a member of The Virginia Bar Association, the Roanoke Bar Association, and the American Bar Associa-tion.

Spencer earned his law degree from the College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 2004 , and a B.A. from the University of Virginia in 2001.

For more information visit www.gentrylocke.com.

Gentry Locke Names Three New Partners

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Artist, Jane Lillian Vance, announced plans to premiere several recently completed works at the February 3rd public opening of her new gallery located at 309 1st Street in Roanoke. Excitement has been building in recent weeks as passers by have watched the downtown gallery space come to life with nearly 100 brilliantly colored paintings and a festoon of Buddhist Prayer Flags. Several of the 8ft x 10ft signature works featured in the gallery have never been shown in public and several others from private collections will be on display opening night.

The gallery opening follows a flurry of international interest in Vance’s paintings after her work was featured in the documen-tary “A Gift for the Village” produced by Jenna Swann and Tom Landon. The film chronicles seven friends as they traveled from the Blue Ridge Mountains to a village in western Nepal to deliver a painting by the artist about Tsampa, a Tibetan amchi-lama-doctor and mind-healer. Jane Lillian Vance is the first woman and first westerner to be granted permission to produce such a piece. The team was welcomed with an elaborate festival celebrating the art-ist, the work and the man it honors. A Gift for the Village docu-ments the remarkable story of their trip -- offering unprecedented access to a vanishing tradition. The film’s US premier was held at the Taubman Museum of Art in September of 2010 where it received standing ovations at both sold out screenings.

“Over 400 people attended the reception at the US premiere where I shared several paintings that appeared in the film,” said Jane Vance. “Following that evening, there were so many requests to view the larger body of my work – a gallery seemed the most logical next step.”

Jane Lillian Vance’s highly narrative, Tibetan-focused and stu-diously detailed oil paintings have always been concerned with bridging the space between East and West but went largely with-

out public notice, until several years ago when internationally ac-claimed art critic Suzi Gablik visited Vance and began their great friendship, writing about her paintings in Satish Kumar’s Resur-gence magazine, and in Images of Earth and Spirit, an English anthology of spiritual contemporary art.

“They are gorgeous and spectacular and they are powerful,” says Gablik. “Engaging and alluring.”

The February 3rd Jane Lillian Vance Gallery opening will in-clude The Honorable Scott DeLisi, Ambassador to Nepal who hosted the World Premiere at his home in Katmandu in the sum-mer of 2010.

“Ambassadors are charged, among other things, with build-ing bridges between cultures and societies,” wrote Ambassador DeLisi in remarks offered at the Taubman Premiere. “Jane and Jenna and the others who created A Gift for the Village are true Ambassadors.”

Vance lives in Blacksburg, Virginia where she is currently ad-junct professor of The Creative Process through the Department of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech, as well as a public school aide for middle-school-aged children with special needs. She adores her two children, daughter, Iris Lillian Vance and son, Em-erson Arthur Siegle. When they were young, she spent a year in New Delhi, India, and another year in Kandy, Sri Lanka, home-schooling her children and researching South Asian art. Vance continues to create paintings with brilliant detail, vivid iconog-raphy of Tibetan Buddhism, Hinduism, and the folk arts of the Subcontinent as well as the Appalachian Blue Ridge Mountains. Her paintings are in private collections on four continents.

For information about Jane Lillian Vance visit: http://www.jane-vance.com

Acclaimed Artist Jane Lillian Vance To Premier New Works at Gallery Opening in Downtown Roanoke

Blue Ridge PBS premieres “On the Road: Roanoke Arts” a program that will remind view-ers of the creative talent and vi-brant arts organizations that can be found across the Roanoke Valley.

“On the Road: Roanoke Arts” includes short stories about Roanoke treasures such as the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and Roanoke Ballet Theatre. A segment on the Music Lab at Jefferson Center showcases a state-of-the-art recording stu-dio where teens learn about music performance, recording arts and the music business. Also featured is Studio Roa-noke, a black-box theatre that specializes in the development and production of new works. These and other segments were selected from the ongoing Blue Ridge PBS “On the Road” se-ries, which features short, local-interest stories that are broad-cast at various times throughout each day.

“Through ‘On the Road,’ Blue Ridge PBS shines the spotlight on some of the gifted individu-als who make our area a rich, lively artistic hub,” said Susan Jennings, the City of Roanoke’s arts and culture coordinator. “The city is pleased to support this project that spreads the word about the great arts and cultural offerings in the region.”

“For over 40 years, Blue Ridge PBS has offered front row seats to world-class symphonies, Broadway shows and the best in

documentary film,” said James Baum, station president and CEO. “As a community-owned multimedia organization, we are proud to use our ‘On the Road’ series to help raise aware-ness of the growing arts scene in the Roanoke Valley.”

A couple of the “On the Road: Roanoke Arts” stories include information on free opportuni-ties to experience the arts. Art In Roanoke (AIR), for example, is a City of Roanoke project that provides temporary outdoor art installations in city neighbor-hoods and public places. “On the Road: Roanoke Arts” shows several AIR sculptures that peo-ple can enjoy anytime.

Art by Night, held during the first Thursday of every month, is a free evening event that show-cases Roanoke’s thriving arts community. Visitors can take the self-guided walking tour among the diverse galleries in the downtown area, where there are exhibit openings, demon-strations, refreshments and live music.

“On the Road: Roanoke Arts” was made possible in part with a grant from the City of Roanoke, through Roanoke Arts Commis-sion. All “On the Road” stories are also available in streaming video at BlueRidgePBS.org. The program will air on Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. and Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

Jelly Bean is an example of the public arts made possible in part by Art In Roanoke, a project the City of Roanoke estab-lished to provide art in city neighborhoods and public places. This sculpture is located in South Roanoke Village at 2224 Crystal Spring Ave. The artist is John Clement of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Blue Ridge PBS Celebrates Roanoke Arts With Special Broadcast

Community leaders and of-ficials from the Virginia Mu-seum of Fine Arts (VMFA) and Radford University gathered on Thursday evening, Jan. 20, for a preview of “Van Gogh, Lich-tenstein, Whistler: Masterpieces of World Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,” an exhi-bition commemorating the mu-seum’s 75th anniversary.

The exhibition features the work of about 30 artistic mas-ters from around the world. Featured pieces include those from masters such as Post-Im-pressionistic icon Vincent Van Gogh, American impressionist James Abbot McNeil Whistler, pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, and contemporary artist Sally Mann.

During welcoming remarks, Radford University President Penelope W. Kyle told guests about the history and 18-month planning process associated with the exhibition. “Suddenly we at Radford were getting stars in our eyes,” Kyle said, referenc-ing the kinds of cultural op-portunities planners envisioned for the community when the Covington Center for Visual and Performing Arts opened in 2009. “Now the stars are not just in our eyes,” said Kyle. “They’re on our walls.”

Hosting the classic exhibition is a wonderful opportunity for Radford University to provide southwest and southside Vir-ginia residents with a chance to see timeless works of art they

may not have otherwise seen in their lifetimes, according to Kyle.

During comments presented later in the evening, VMFA Di-rector Alex Nyerges discussed the museum, its 75th anniver-sary celebration and expressed his gratitude and excitement about partnering with Radford University on the venture.

Built in Richmond in 1936, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was designed with one purpose in mind, according to Nyerges: to serve as the state's flagship art museum and head-quarters for an art educational network bringing masterpieces from throughout the ages into every corner of the common-wealth.

With the success of the VMFA exhibit, Bay sees unlim-ited potential for the RU Art

Museum to establish itself as a major destination “hotspot” for the art community. “I want this to be the first of many [special exhibitions],” said Bay. “There’s so much more we can now make happen.”

To be selected by the VMFA to house the exclusive art exhi-bition, the RU Art Museum was upgraded to include improved climate control systems, mu-seum -standard lighting and enhanced security measures.

RU Art Museum hours are Monday thru Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The exhibit will run from Jan. 21 - March 4, 2011. Admission is free. For ad-ditional information, please call 540-831-5754.

Radford City Mayor Bruce Brown and his wife, Cary, exam-ine the painting "Wheat Field Behind St. Paul's Hosptial, St. Remy" by Vincent Van Gogh. on display at Radford University.

Van Gogh, Other Masterpieces on Display at RU

"Disarmament" was painted by Jane Vance in the days sur-rounding the one year anniversary of Morgan Harrington's disappearance. Morgan was a student of Jane's at Tech and was scheduled to travel to Nepal with her this past summer.

Page 10 | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 1/28/11 - 2/3/11 newsRoanoke.com

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Almost 10 years after the his-toric Virginian Railway station at Williamson Road and South Jefferson Street was nearly de-stroyed by fire, the restoration project that is underway re-ceived a major gift of $50,000 from the Roanoke Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. The chapter expects to issue an invitation for bids on Phase I of the reconstruction in February.

Jeffry Sanders, chapter presi-dent, said his organization is able “to make this contribu-tion because of the support the public has given for our excur-sion train rides and other fund-raising projects.” The public also supports the chapter’s contribution to the recovery of the “Lost Engines of Roanoke”

project in cooperation with the Virginia Museum of Transpor-tation and others, he said.

In addition to more than $900,000 in public grants re-ceived for the restoration project, James Cosby chapter treasurer and chairman of the Virginian Railway Restoration Committee, said the chapter has also pledged over $100,000 in contributed services and over $100,000 in Virginian Railway artifacts. The chapter has also raised over $50,000 in private and corporate con-tributions bringing the total of grants and contributions for the station project to more than $1.2 million.

Cosby also acknowledged the contribution of the chap-ter’s restoration partner, the

Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, in joint work for the past decade. “The public should know that,” he said. Sanders, chapter president, said the preservation group “has helped this project tre-mendously. Without their con-sistent support and expertise, particularly in dealing with grant applications and other technical information, it would have been more difficult to achieve our goal.”

Another group, the Friends of the Virginian Railway, made up of Virginian veterans and other interested people, has also contributed significantly toward the project, Sanders said.

For more information visit: http://www.roanokenrhs.org

$50K Contributed for Station Restoration

Back when Marilyn Ran-dall was a kid, she didn’t have to send a friend request in order to become someone’s friend.

“When I see kids with their heads buried in laptops, or texting on cell phones, it disturbs me to think of how technology has changed the way our kids socialize,” said Randall, who has authored a series of children’s books on friendships including For Faithful Friends, The Best of Best Friends and Share From the Heart (www.marilynran-dall.com). “Our social net-works are actually raising our kids to be extremely un-social, and I think it’s chang-ing society for the worse.”

Randall’s point is that the way kids make friends, and learn how to value those friendships, becomes the way they look at friendship as they grow to adulthood. If the only socialization that our kids learn is from cy-berspace, friendships will become less valuable in their lives, and as disposable as email.

“If we allow our kids to learn that all you need to do to make and keep friends is to click ‘accept friend re-quest,’ then we’re devaluing the power of friendship,” she added.

“Conversely, if all they have to do to end a friend-ship is click on ‘block user,’ then friendships become fleeting and easy to discard without a second thought. It also causes this ‘all about me’

mentality, prompting many children to grow up without consideration for others be-cause they haven't learned to properly interact with oth-ers.”

Randall wants children to learn about friendship out-side of cyberspace, more like the last generation of kids who grew up without PDAs and ready access to Internet social networks.

“When I was a kid, we didn’t have cyberspace,” Ran-dall said. “The only space we knew was where the as-tronauts went and the space in our backyards. We didn’t meet in chat rooms. We met at the park or the playground. And we didn’t just talk -- we played and we interacted and we learned about the world around us through experi-ences together. I’m afraid the next generation of kids will miss out on that socialization because of their dependence on technology to manage their friendships.”

Randall’s tips for parents who want to help their kids better value their friendships include:

Balance Cyberspace with Real Life -- If your kids use social networks, make sure they actually get together with their online friends once a week to do something. Take the time to make your home available, even if their friends simply come over to share a pizza. Help your kids balance cyberspace with the real world.

Limit Internet Use -- A generation ago, parents would limit the amount of television they would al-low their kids to watch, and monitor what they watched. Place time limits on the time your kids spend online in the same way, and monitor which sites they use to chat with their friends.

Set An Example -- Show your kids how you interact with your friends, and show them the value those long term friendships have in your life. If your kids see that you have long-term, close and fulfilling friendships with others, they’ll emulate those kinds of relationships in their lives.

“It’s ironic to me how the existence of all these different communication technologies has actually managed to make us feel more distant from each other,” Randall added. “We all have multiple email addresses, online profiles and cell phones, but somehow we feel more far apart than ever before. Maybe what we need to do is teach our kids to put the computer down, and go outside and play with their friends.”

Marilyn Randall is a re-

tired award-winning veteran graphic artist whose mission is to help restore traditional values to the next generation of children.

Making Friends Without FacebookChildren’s Book Teaches Kids About Friendships Outside of Cyberspace

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