Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 17, 1993 TAG: 9302170159
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
RADFORD DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM NAMES NEW DIRECTOR
Lewis I. "Buddy" Jeffries' own "Long Way Home" has led him to be the new director of Radford's Main Street program.Jeffries, a retired military officer who grew up in Radford, returned two years ago to renovate his family's ancestral estate, Ingleside.
That property originally belonged to Mary Draper Ingles, heroine of Radford's "Long Way Home" outdoor drama, who was Jeffries' great-great-great-great grandmother.
Kathy Jordan, president of the Main Street program's board, said Jeffries was chosen from among 25 applicants.
"He has a great deal of management and leadership experience," Jordan said.
Jordan also said Jeffries got the job because of "his commitment to the area, his knowledge of its history and its people."
Jeffries, 51, will become the third director of the 5-year-old Main Street program, which is part of a national program to revitalize downtown business districts.
"I grew up here and I have a love for the place," Jeffries said. "I want do to what I can."
"In a tough economic climate, we're looking for him to build bridges," Jordan said. "It's going to take a unified effort to get the economy back in shape in the New River Valley."
"I would like to continue what a lot of people have been working on" with the Main Street program, Jeffries said. "I'd like to see Radford's downtown area continue to improve and grow."
Jeffries is a 1960 graduate of Radford High School and a 1964 graduate of Virginia Tech, where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets.
After an Army career that included a tour in Viet Nam, Jeffries retired as a full colonel in 1991. His last assignment was as dean of academic operations at the U.S. Army General Staff College in Texas.
Jeffries was hired on an 18-month contract that pays an annual salary of $24,464, said Radford City Manager Robert Asbury. He will begin work March 1.
Jeffries succeeds Charlie Whitescarver, who resigned as Main Street director in December to become manager of the Norwood Center complex in downtown Radford.
Jeffries said renovations to the two-century-old family home and its property, located west of Radford, will become a weekend endeavor.
"It's frustratingly slow, but we're trying to do it right," Jeffries said of himself, his wife, Ann, and their two children, Jeanie and John.