Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 1, 1993 TAG: 9307300419
SECTION: DISCOVER PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
And when you've watched that city creep toward your once-rural home, unrolling in front of it a carpet of manicured lawns and cookie-cutter suburban houses, 48 acres doesn't seem too big a buffer to place between you and your neighbors.
"We don't fear encroachment anymore," said Leisa Ciaffone, who chose to settle with her family on Catawba Mountain after taking a job with a Roanoke law firm.
"The neighbors are great but they don't get too close," she said.
And the city's still not too far away, said her husband, Gerry, who teaches English at Patrick Henry High School.
"I like the fact that it's rural, it's quiet. It's still close enough to Roanoke but removed from it."
It used to be a lot more so.
Like several of the mountains circling the Roanoke Valley, Catawba draws a growing number of commuters with its fresh air, peaceful living and cooler climes.
It added its first subdivision in the late 1980s, when T.D. Steele sold 600 acres of his cattle farm to the developers of Equestrian Hills. Other farmers, finding it difficult to make a good living off the land, have sold off smaller lots as well.
There's no denying that's changed the character of the mountain, once noted primarily for its healing spring waters and later for a tuberculosis hospital. Still, the soothing atmosphere Bob Layman remembers from his childhood remains.
"When I cross over [the mountain], I'm in a different world," the retired electrical contractor said.
Over the years, that world has expanded to include a lot more family names, said Layman, now 75.
Surprisingly, the growth in outsiders has not translated into a population explosion, Layman said. The older families were much larger, often producing as many as 17 children. They've been replaced with retired couples or two-income families with fewer children.
Still, the numbers continue to grow. In the past 20 years, Catawba's population increased from 2,831 to 3,546.
There are, however, a lot more people passing the mountain these days - on the Appalachian Trail.
Some are thru-hikers, who hike from Georgia to Maine. Others, such as Matthew Edwards and Justin Ceradini, live as close as Roanoke.
The two 16-year-old Boy Scouts recently doused their bodies with bug spray and wiggled into their heavy backpacks for an overnight trip to McAfee Knob, just a few miles from where the trail crosses Va. 311 at the top of Catawba Mountain.
Assistant Scout Master Tom Edwards, who dropped the boys off near the entrance to the trail, said it was a popular choice for Boy Scout troops because it was both safe and exciting, with a view that extends to the Peaks of Otter.
Hikers in for the longer haul sometimes venture down to the Catawba Post Office to pick up mail, then stop at the Catawba Mercantile for hot dogs and drinks.
They get more than that, said owner Minor Keffer, who has minded the store for the past 53 years.
A group of chairs in front of Keffer's meat counter, placed close to an old stove and an always-humming television set, invite visitors to set a spell.
"Appalachian Trail walkers, they stay around quite a while," said Keffer.
He also sees his share of cyclists passing through on a cross-country trail to Oregon. So many, in fact, he had to place a sign in the window asking them to park their bikes beside the store.
The sign hangs near other symbols of change, such as a Realtor's advertisement and a flier for the sixth annual Salem Fair. Other signs hint that trust in the small-town, good-neighborliness of old remains.
"Lost - 3 Beagles named Betty, Dottie and Elroy. Call 384-6654."
A copy of the sign reappears on the other side of the mountain, in another general store, where another old-timer reflects on how Catawba has grown.
Gerald Custer, 87, remembers when his store contained one of only three telephones in the area. It was a payphone, and neighbors would knock on his door at all hours to use it.
"During World War II, when something happened to the boys overseas, people used this phone," he said.
Once, a taxi arrived with a telegram and Custer had to tell a neighbor his son was missing in action.
Custer's house adjoins the store at the foot of Catawba Mountain, on the Roanoke side. Behind it once stood the old Catawba railroad station.
"We would close our store every day when the train came in," he said.
Custer and his wife have owned the store - also a checkpoint for deer, turkey and bear - for 60 years. Like Keffer's place, it often serves as more of a gathering spot than a grocery. The two stores border the mountain like bookends.
Perhaps even more well-known than the general stores is the Homeplace, a 10-year-old family-style restaurant that draws customers from as far away as Lynchburg.
Its ample portions and country views lure Richard and Renee Kingrea from Christiansburg on a regular basis.
They come just for the restaurant, said Richard Kingrea, and have never seen the rest of the mountain.
"We think it's worth the drive," he said.
by CNB