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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 22, 1993                   TAG: 9309220239
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RINER                                LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL BOARD `BUTTERED UP'

Perhaps operating on the premise that the way to a school board's heart is through its members' stomachs, an Auburn High School student lobbied for continued funding for two community canneries the best way he could Monday - with freshly canned apple butter.

Senior A.J. Bain and five parents, teachers and county residents made the case for continued funding of the canneries at the Montgomery County School Board's first public hearing on the 1994-95 budget.

Bain, who said the canneries help people through tough economic times, handed out the apple butter to board members and the superintendent. He said it came from "a batch of apple butter that is just about as good as you'll ever find."

The county funds canneries at Auburn High School in Riner and Blacksburg Middle School. The canneries originated to support "Victory Gardens" during World War II, but county families have used them in the half-century since to save money by preserving produce from gardens and farms, supporters say.

During the summer, the School Board announced it would consider closing the Blacksburg cannery and consolidating its operations at Riner. The room used for the cannery at Blacksburg Middle School would be used to alleviate a classroom space crunch, according to John A. Martin, assistant superintendent for support services.

But Joyce Hendricks, a Blacksburg resident who has used the cannery there for seven years, said the Riner facility is too small. Moreover, she said, the canneries bring together an interesting mix of people and provide an important service for residents.

The canneries, said parent Tom Kegley, are part of the fabric of the community. "If you start pulling out threads from a fabric, the cloth disintegrates," he said.

School Board Vice Chairman Robert C. Goncz said the issue is on the table because the Board of Supervisors has said it will not supplement the canneries' operation in the coming budget year. Besides taking up potential classroom space, the fees charged at the canneries do not support their operation, he said.

The board did not take any action and has three more budget hearings scheduled in the next three weeks at the Shawsville, Blacksburg and Christiansburg high schools.

Other parents and representatives of individual parent-teacher associations and the Montgomery County Council of PTAs urged the board to budget funds for a plethora of needs, including increased teachers' salaries, additional classroom space for schools in the fast-growing Riner area and a full-time guidance counselor at Riner Elementary School.

by CNB