Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 3, 1993 TAG: 9305030081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke County supervisors found themselves back in the classroom for a few minutes last week - and Hollins Supervisor Bob Johnson was lucky he didn't have to go stand in the corner.
When the supervisors heard from citizens about whether the county should help widen a road to Explore, Oak Grove Elementary Principal Peggy Moles wanted to demonstrate the park's role as a hands-on outdoor classroom. She gave each supervisor an old tool, and conducted an impromptu lesson about frontier farming methods.
"As you can see," Moles said - as Johnson struck up a side conversation with Catawba Supervisor Ed Kohinke - "learning is more fun if you have some hands-on activities. Students remember 10 percent of what they read. They remember 80 percent, if you can keep their attention - Mr. Johnson!"
Moles hastily added, "Just kidding," although her tone suggested she wasn't.
"I was on your side," joked Johnson.
"Mr. Johnson is just so inquisitive," Moles explained, while her "class" snickered, "because he has a bright mind."
A grain of truth
Todd Vander Pluym, a California sand sculptor who just completed a castle at Valley View Mall, said anyone can do sand sculpting if they have the right sand. To find out, grab a handful of wet sand, squeeze it into a wad and roll it back and forth in your hand. If it holds together, it's the right kind.
The other secrets are to pack the sand as tightly as possible before you begin to carve and use a lot of water as you work. When the carving dries, it will be like sandstone, Vander Pluym said.
"Notre Dame was made out of sandstone," he said.
Bombs away
A cannonball left over from the Civil War and discovered by construction workers in January has found a new home in the Salem Museum at Longwood Park.
James and Gary Smith, uncle and nephew and both workers for H&S Construction Co., were ripping up old sidewalks along Main Street in Salem when they found the ball.
They rapped the ball to knock off dirt, washed it in gasoline and put in the pickup truck bed, where it rolled around for a week or so.
The softball-sized cannonball later was found to be live.
"We felt like fools," said James Smith.
He gave the ball to the Salem Historical Society.
State police and armed forces representatives wanted to detonate the 12-pound ball, but museum Director Nikki Martin held out until she could find a way to preserve it.
Finally, a munitions expert from Christiansburg - he declined to be identified - drilled a hole in the ball and removed the black powder. It's now harmless.
It probably dates to a December 1863 munitions raid by Union Gen. William Averell or to the skirmish the following summer between Union and Confederate troops at nearby Hanging Rock, said Martin.
Parade of pundits
When Tom Morris - perhaps the state's second-most-quoted political analyst - was sworn in Saturday as president of Emory & Henry College, who should lead the academic procession but his fellow pundit, the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato?
There was a reason, of course, aside from the fact that Sabato wanted to be on hand to show solidarity with his fellow quotesmith. Sabato moved to the head of the line because he holds a doctorate from the oldest university represented - Oxford.
The name game
Raleigh Campbell, Roanoke Valley Council of Community Services' executive director, got "a real surprise" recently when it was announced that the organization's board had named its new building The Campbell Center.
"I jokingly said that maybe the council knew something about my health that I don't know, since buildings are usually named after people who are dead," Campbell joked.
No question about it, though, he is still alive and working hard for the council. He has been its executive director for 25 years.
The building, coincidentally, is at 502\ Campbell Ave. S.W.i
Keeping the buses going
Who pays the cost for each passenger's trip on a Valley Metro bus?
The passengers?
Well, yes and no.
They pay 30 percent of the cost for a ride. The federal, state and city governments pay 60 percent.
And 10 percent comes from advertising, charter service and other local sources.
The figures were included in a report on Valley Metro's $3.2 million budget for the next fiscal year.
The federal government will provide a $898,000 subsidy to help balance the $3.2 million budget. The state will contribute $677,000 and the city $338,000.
Passenger revenues are projected at nearly $1 million.
by CNB