Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 17, 1992 TAG: 9203170175
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: EXTRA 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"No, she's more like Jackie Kennedy," argued Mike Warner.
Jackie Kennedy?
Before Jackie became Mrs. Onassis she was Mrs. Kennedy, and before that she was Jacqueline, the inquiring photographer for the Washington Times-Herald.
Mike Warner, president of Mill Mountain Theatre's board, was in high school in Washington when she interviewed him as part of his school's successful football team. And he still has the clip.
This was just part of the chitchat at Mill Mountain Coffee and KATHLEEN WILSON Tea on the Roanoke City Market on Saturday night. They come from all over and wind up evenings here where the air is filled with the smell of coffee and the sounds of people having a great time.
Mike, his wife, Carolyn, and Gail and Burt Albert of Salem lingered over coffee, lemon mousse, chocolate fudge cake and apple bavarian, sharing these lesser-known tidbits after feasting at Vanucci's earlier in the evening. And Mike wasn't the only one with a story.
Burt won $39,000 on Jeopardy a year ago, and Gail had the lowdown on host Alex Trebek.
"He's short and very good looking. And he wears lifts," she revealed.
"Gail saw him in his T-shirt," Burt said.
"He gets those broad shoulders when he puts his jacket on. It must have lifts, too," Gail laughed.
Leslie and Chip Magee and Adrienne and Andy Goldstein stopped by the dessert palace after dinner at Villa Sorrento where they said dinner was great. An evening filled with lots of Chianti and rolls.
It was the Magees' first visit to Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea. "The lighting should be softer," Chip suggested. "But I do know half the people in here. Hi, Peter!" He waved.
Leslie shared some philosophy with a British gentleman who'd been in line with them to get their coffee.
"He said, `Life is too short,' and I said, `And the line is too long,' " Leslie explained.
At this point Chip took me over to the man and introduced me.
Martin "I've heard all the J.R. jokes" Ewing came to Roanoke a couple of months ago and is still waiting for his family to join him. He works for Moore's.
"I'm drinking cappuccino and people-watching. But I'm not a yuppie," he joked with that charming British accent.
Gary Joyce, Cathy Griffin and Debbie Campbell came here after pizza and beer at New York Pizza in Vinton.
"Before that we were 12 feet under," Gary said. In a pool. Turns out all three are scuba enthusiasts.
Then Gary and Cathy shared their vacation photographs. Underwater photography from their two-week January jaunt to Egypt, where the bright colors, soft corals and exotic fish make the Red Sea one of the top three places to dive in the world.
"Nobody wanted to come back," sighed Cathy, a Roanoke stockbroker.
Chip "I know half the people in here" Magee waved me over.
"Meet Ray Ferris," he said, and I did. His group included his wife, Terri, her parents Jim and Gladys Thomas of Youngstown, Ohio, his mom, Yvonne, and friends Sam and Dawn Silek.
The Ferris entourage had been across the street for dinner at the Mediterranean (formerly Norberto's).
"I had the grouper; it was out of this world," exclaimed Yvonne Ferris, Ray's mom in the pretty purple sweater. "Gladys, taste this," she said, offering her dessert.
"Has anyone asked you for a menu?" Ray wanted to know. He thought I was a waitress.
He did have the quote of the night, though: "Since this coffee shop opened, coming here is the icing on the cake on an evening on the town."
It was a special evening for 17-year-old Bryan Futrell. He picked up 15-year-old Mandy Cielakie after the Roanoke Valley Christian School's sports banquet and took her up to the Mill Mountain Star, then here for Italian raspberry sodas and blueberry muffins.
"I asked her to go to the prom with me," he said. Her response? "She said yes," he beamed.
"Actually, I said, `Why not?' " Mandy corrected.
Mandy and Bryan weren't the only ones out on a bona fide old-fashioned, palms-sweaty, isn't-this-romantic date.
Doug Smith, a Tech engineering student, and Heidi Townsend, a UVa medical student on an externship at Roanoke Memorial Hospitals, were in the back corner doing a lot of laughing.
The evening was not exactly what they'd planned.
"We've been lost all night," Doug said. "First we went to the Comedy Club, but it was sold out. Then we went looking for `The Prince of Tides' and couldn't find it." They wandered into Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea because it was some place to start.
This was their first date.
They met at the hospital where she was working and he was volunteering for the Blacksburg Rescue Squad. "I saw her, and she knocked my socks off," Doug said unembarrassed to wear his heart on his sleeve. They were sharing a piece of Heath Bar Crunch cheesecake.
It was an all-American date. Heidi, the pretty blonde in a pink sweater, and dark-haired Doug in a green plaid shirt. So romantic, but star-crossed just the same.
"I leave in four days to go back to Charlottesville," Heidi said.
THE PARTY LINE: If you'd like to invite free-lance Mingling columnist Kathleen Wilson to a party or social gathering, call her at 981-3434; when asked for the mailbox, dial MING (6464) and press the # key. Then leave a message as directed.Or write her in care of the Features Department, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491.
by CNB