Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 11, 1993 TAG: 9301110034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
& NOW THIS . . .
Liquor by the lakeHard liquor finally came to the southern shore of Smith Mountain Lake last week - but it was not the brand-name stuff that restaurant owners had envisioned.
Authorities discovered the state's all-time biggest moonshine still near the Franklin-Pittsylvania county line, almost within spitting distance of Smith Mountain Lake.
Agents say the operation was capable of producing up to 3,000 gallons of white lightning a week.
The irony was not lost on lake developer Ron Willard, whose bid to sell store-bought liquor at The Water's Edge clubhouse was shot down by Franklin County voters in 1991.
"Now I know why they voted it out - they didn't want the competition," Willard said with a laugh.
Actually, Willard doesn't take too dim a view of moonshine. The Franklin County native says he earned a few bucks hauling hooch during his high school days.
In fact, Willard says he knew of six stills - four of which are now underwater - that once operated on the 800-acre Water's Edge property.
Hooch throughout history
It might seem odd that writers of a county history would be worried about libel law. But Dr. Francis Amos, who's writing a history of Franklin County, was concerned enough to ask County Attorney Jim Jefferson to give Chapter 19 a read. Chapter 19 is the 50-plus-page segment about moonshine.
"It all comes from contemporary accounts from newspapers," Amos said, "so there shouldn't be any problem, but just to make sure . . . we don't want to get the county in trouble."
Still in the works, the 544-page county history will include 100 pictures and will sell for $30.
Going for peanuts
There's a place in Roanoke now to recycle those styrofoam "peanuts" that often spill everywhere when you open boxes.
A collection center for the stuff - "expanded polystyrene" it's called - has been opened at The Packaging Store on Brambleton Avenue. Consumers can call 772-0999 for other collection center locations.
"We will assume responsibility for storing the loose-fill and preventing it from being scattered as litter," said The Packaging Store spokesman Keith Myers. "It's one of the most reusable materials made."
Soft sales
There hasn't exactly been a run on Jim-Updike-for-attorney-general T-shirts and caps since the Bedford County prosecutor formally announced last month that he is running for the top attorney's job in Virginia.
Sales kept pace with previous weeks, before Updike made his attorney general's bid official, according to Updike's wife, Marilyn. They have been selling the T-shirts and caps as an early fund-raiser since May. "But we really haven't pushed them. We just have them," Marilyn Updike said.
To date, they have sold about 200 T-shirts and 100 caps - at a price of $10 each.
Road warrior
\ Clay Fitzgerald worked all night on New Year's Eve.
And he didn't earn a dime.
Miserable?
Heck no! Fitzgerald, who runs a towing service in Fincastle and in Roanoke, was beside himself with glee.
Between Christmas and New Year's Day, Fitzgerald towed seven cars to their owner's homes, free of charge. The drivers were too drunk to safely drive themselves, so they called Fitzgerald.
He's enrolled in Towing Operators Working to Eliminate Drunk Driving (T.O.W.E.D.), a nationwide effort to keep drunken drivers off the road.
Last prom season, Fitzgerald didn't get a single call and was a bit downtrodden. But this holiday, his wife, Juanita, fielded a couple dozen inquiring phone calls about the program.
"It was great," Fitzgerald said. "I was all over the valley New Year's Eve."
Country is king
No surprise, Garth Brooks easily outpaced such acts as Michael Bolton, Metallica, Billy Ray Cyrus and Hammer in drawing the largest number of people to a single concert in the Roanoke Valley in 1992.
Brooks' concert Sept. 25 at the Roanoke Civic Center drew 10,450 people, far ahead of runners-up Metallica (8,393), Van Halen (8,230), Michael Bolton (7,982), Hammer (7,769) and Billy Ray Cyrus (6,630).
Here is a list of the top concerts, based on attendance, in the Roanoke Valley last year. It should be noted that the Roanoke Civic Center has a larger seating capacity than the Salem Civic Center. Roanoke also had more than twice the number of arena concerts. The top 10:
Garth Brooks - 10,450 - Roanoke
Metallica - 8,393 - Roanoke
Van Halen - 8,230 - Roanoke
Michael Bolton - 7,982 - Roanoke
Hammer - 7,769 - Roanoke
Travis Tritt - 7,767 - Roanoke
Reba McEntire - 7,079 - Roanoke
Clint Black - 6,828 - Roanoke
Billy Ray Cyrus - 6,630 - Salem
Conway Twitty/George Jones/Vince Gill - 6,616 - Salem