
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 12, 1993                   TAG: 9305110469
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Short

HERITAGE FOUNDATION ORGANIZING IN RADFORD

The proposed Radford Heritage Foundation will take its first steps toward existence at an organizational meeting Thursday with the naming of a temporary board of directors.

The foundation's chief proponent, Lewis I. "Bud" Jeffries, has said the new entity would "identify, document, preserve and promote Radford's heritage, past present and future" to create an identity for the city.

Jeffries, who is chairman of the Chamber of Commerce's tourism committee, said at a meeting earlier this month that the foundation would preserve the city's "long and colorful history" and develop ways to put it on display for visitors.

He said the foundation would pick up where the city's Centennial Committee left off last year.

Among ideas Jeffries floated at the earlier session was the possibility of a city museum that "documents our heritage from the Native American period to the present."

He also suggested establishing a railroad museum, a program to record oral histories from the city's older residents, restoration of existing buildings with historical significance and historical markers throughout the city.

Also in the works are plans to upgrade the long-running outdoor historical drama, "The Long Way Home."

Thursday's meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. in the community room at the First National Bank of Christiansburg's Radford Office.

by CNB