Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 4, 1994 TAG: 9403040179
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE and ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I was borned in a time of electricity, and I ain't done nothing to be punished like this," she said.
Harold Webb, his thick coveralls unzipped to the waist despite the chilly room temperature, rocked back on his stool and flashed the grin so familiar to regulars at the tiny wooden store.
"This is real country living," he said.
Like the folks in Catawba, thousands of homes and businesses in Southwest Virginia were still without electricity or phones Thursday.
Many, like Smith, were just plain frustrated to be left in the dark for the second or even third time this winter.
The generator at Cline Brubaker's dairy farm in Callaway purred nonstop Thursday as it has several times this winter.
Hard work goes for naught without electricity on the Franklin County farm, and Brubaker and his farmhands aren't about to hand-milk 90 cows.
So at 5:30 a.m., they revved up the old standby to run the milkers, the feed belt and the 1,000-gallon tank, which warms and agitates the milk.
"A generator is something to me that's kind of like insurance," he said. "When you need it, you need it desperately. When you don't need it, it's just sitting there."
With the generator, the feed belt doesn't move half as fast as it does with electricity , but Brubaker hopes he won't need it too long.
"I'm looking forward to spring," he said. "It's been really trying to be a farmer in this kind of weather."
Victor and Vasie Simpkins of the Indian Valley section of Floyd County had been out of power for nearly a day and a half by mid-afternoon Thursday. The Simpkins were without power for nine days during last month's ice storm.
The Simpkins are on Apco's "critical customer" list because Vasie Simpkins' 85-year-old mother uses an electric breathing device. They had been trying to call the power company since their power went off but had been unable to get past a busy signal.
"It doesn't make any difference at all. We're no different than other people, and being on that list doesn't mean nothing," Vasie said.
Forget about the snow. Burnt Chimney farmer Calvin Claybourne has a schedule to keep.
After leaving work at Rockydale Quarries Thursday, he dropped by Jack Garst Agency, a feed dealer in Boones Mill, to reserve a fertilizer buggy.
"I'm hopeful," he said. "I've got plenty of hay, and I'm happy as a lark."
He plans to spread one load of fertilizer on his 50-acre farm two weeks from today, and then spread two more that Saturday.
Claybourne was one of only about 30 people who visited the store Thursday, which normally bustles with at least 150 people a day.
"Everybody today is too busy trying to saw their way out," said Stan Wells, whose father, Stanley, owns the store.
Stella Scott, who spent Wednesday night playing cards with her husband by an oil lamp, came to buy more kerosene.
"The only weather story I want is to ask Appalachian Power when they're going to get over to 684 and get me some heat," she said.
In Christiansburg, cars and trucks lined up at gasoline stations, evoking memories of the long gas lines of the 1970s during the fuel crisis.
People swarmed out from work and home in search of hot food and gas.
Eddie Miller said he called every restaurant in Blacksburg and Christiansburg until finding Pizza Inn open.
Stuart Arbuckle, general manager of the Pizza Inn in Christiansburg , said at 4 p.m. that the crowds had yet to let up.
`We're still getting it," Arbuckle said. "I thought we were going to get a breather between now and dinner, but no way."
Back in Catawba, the tiny mercantile was doing a steady business of all the usual bad-weather items: candles, flashlights, batteries, propane - and ice cream.
Smith, the cashier, offered this explanation.
"You eat the ice cream, and it makes you cold on the inside to match the cold on the outside," she said. There was no thermometer, but the inside of the heatless store didn't feel much warmer than the 43 degrees outside.
"Give me a couple of gallons of electricity," said Steve Hall as he walked in the door.
Robert Lavelle, a concrete finisher, said he's only been able to work about six days since Christmas because of the lousy weather.
Webb said he hasn't done much carpentry, either.
A few minutes later, an uncomfortable silence hung in the air until Smith commented on the shimmering, glassy beauty of the trees covering the mountains.
Webb didn't want to hear it.
"You know how much I'd like to see green limbs on those trees instead of ice," he said.
That comment probably gets a big Amen from most anyone who's suffered through this winter.
Staff writers Melissa DeVaughn and Kathy Loan contributed information to this story.
by CNB