Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 8, 1990 TAG: 9003081570
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Valleypointe After Hours" will be modeled after the Easter Seal Society's "Innsbrook After Hours" in Richmond, now in its third year.
Among the bands that have been booked are The Occasions, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, The Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, The Impressions, The Tams, The Chairmen of the Board and The Embers.
The concerts will be held on Thursday nights from mid-May to mid-September.
"We want to do it well," said Jeff White, the Easter Seal Society's executive vice president for development. "We want it to be a long-term project in the Roanoke Valley."
The concerts at Innsbrook, a commercial and industrial park on Richmond's West End, draw an average of 5,000 people. By the end of the summer, at least, White hopes the concerts at Valleypointe will be drawing 3,000 to 3,500 people.
"We know we're going to lose maybe six weeks due to inclement weather," he said. "But by spreading the risk across the summer, we hope we can make some money."
The Easter Seal Society has booked the same bands for Wednesday-night concerts in Virginia Beach this spring and summer. Booking the bands for two nights in the middle of the week "has really knocked the price down," White said. And after playing in Roanoke, the bands are just a few hours' drive away from weekend jobs in North and South Carolina, where beach music is always popular.
It helps, too, that one of the Easter Seal Society's board members is impressario Sonny Morris, who booked the bands at no charge through his Virginia Beach talent agency.
The Lingerfelt Development Corp. of Richmond, which owns Valleypointe, is allowing the Easter Seal Society to put on the concerts free of charge. "This is one of their ways of saying `thanks' to Roanoke," White said.
The Easter Seal Society is looking for corporate sponsors for each of the concerts. "One reason it's been so successful in Richmond is the level of corporate underwriting," he said. "Without that, we'd only be breaking even."
All net proceeds from the concerts will go to the Easter Seal Society. Most of the money will support Camp Easter Seal-West in Craig County, a summer camp for disabled children and adults. "We always run a whopping deficit over there," White said.
The money also will support the Easter Seal Society's speech and language center and its parent-infant stimulation program, he said.
Admission to the concerts will be $2.
Food, soft drinks, beer and wine coolers will be sold. Anyone who wants to buy alcoholic beverages will have to show two IDs and wear a plastic wrist bracelet. "Designated drivers" will get free soft drinks.
The Easter Seal Society has applied for a "use not provided for" permit from Roanoke County for the concerts. The Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors will consider the permit application in April.
One concern of the county's planning staff is parking at the concerts. "We'll have to have supervised parking to make it work," White admitted.
Radio stations WROV-AM and FM will co-sponsor "Valleypointe After Hours." WROV disc jockeys will host the concerts.
Blue Ridge Beverage Co. also will be a co-sponsor.
Valleypointe is off Interstate 581 and Peters Creek Road near the Roanoke Regional Airport.
by CNB