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

DATE: MONDAY, July 26, 1993                   TAG: 9307260005
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

THEY'LL MISS THE FLOOD OF MOTOR COACHES

But the Youngers won't make it to the New River Valley.

Their 36-foot Malibu motor coach is trapped in the garage - behind the 3,000 sandbags that have protected the couple's Princeton home from the raging rapids of the Mississippi River for the last month.

"We're real disappointed we won't make it to the convention," Youngers said in a telephone interview. "But after seeing what happened downstream I guess we are real lucky."

The Youngerses' home on River Drive sits less than 30 feet from the Mississippi, but the 66-year-old retired Amoco Oil Co. distributor said the high waters that ravaged Des Moines and other Midwest areas never reached Princeton.

The river rose about 5 feet, causing water to pour into his basement, but there was little damage and the Youngerses' home never lost power or water.

"The river's still high and you never know what could happen if we get a couple more heavy rains," he said. "There's no way we can leave here."

Pamela Kay, conventions promotions director for FMCA, said it's still uncertain how the six-week flood onslaught in the Midwest will hurt attendance at the Blacksburg convention Aug. 3-5.

"We've had a couple of cancellations, but right now we just don't know," she said.

By late Friday afternoon, 3,955 motor coaches had registered for the event to be held on Virginia Tech's campus.

Southwest Virginia is already crawling with local association chapters meeting for pre-convention rallies, and Tech officials are busily preparing for the 11,000 visitors expected this weekend.

The coaches will range in size from 28 to 45 feet and cost from $25,000 to $600,000.

Ned Lester, head of Tech's planning committee, breathed a sigh of relief last week after learning renovation work at Tech's commuter student lot would be completed by Saturday.

About 700 motor coaches will be parked there.

Bobby Crimminger, Tech's associate vice president for facilities, said crews will set up temporary lights and work late nights to finish the lot, which has been under construction since May.

"We will work day and night and expect to have it finished by Friday," he said.

Lane Stadium's parking lot will be converted into an outdoor exhibit area, and Rector Field House will house indoor exhibits and vendors selling such things as clothes, furniture and satellite television dishes for motor homes.

The convention also will feature live entertainment each night, culminating with a performance by the Statler Brothers on Aug. 5.

Area residents will be able to purchase daily passes to the exhibit area, but the entertainment will be restricted to convention participants.

The bulk of the motor coaches will arrive Saturday and Sunday, likely causing traffic congestion throughout the area. In addition to motor-home owners and families, a large contingent of vendors and exhibitors will cram into hotels.

In Blacksburg, the westbound lanes of the U.S. 460 bypass will be restricted to motor home traffic. All other vehicles will be detoured onto South Main Street.

A state police helicopter will also be used to help direct traffic.

Local officials say a few traffic tie-ups are a small price to pay for a convention expected to give a $10 million boost to the region's economy.

Sales tax receipts went up 48.5 percent during the month last year that Laramie, Wyo., hosted the summer convention.

Most of the sales usually come from diesel fuel, restaurants and coin-operated laundries. Blacksburg Town Manager Ron Secrist - fearing a repeat of Laramie's trouble when restaurants ran out of food - has held several information sessions in the past two months to prepare area business owners.

Leslie Jarrells, owner of Central Texaco on North Main Street, said he expects a lot of business from the motor coach owners but hasn't made any special preparations for the event.

"If we start running low on diesel, then we'll just order some more," he said. "I don't expect any problems."

Youngers, who has been a member of FMCA since 1971, said most of the convention participants are just friendly folks who enjoy meeting new people.

Though Youngers won't make it, 10 motor coaches from his local chapter - Mississippi Ramblers - are coming to Blacksburg.

"Boy, we'd like to be there too," he said. "It's going to be a good time."