Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 4, 1994 TAG: 9401040021
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Michael Stowe
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When the white, slippery stuff is on the ground her husband, Dan, isn't usually around.
Rarely, if ever, does he shovel the walk at their Christiansburg home.
He's kinda busy though.
Meet Dan Brugh, the Virginia Department of Transportation's resident engineer in Christiansburg.
He's the guy in charge of the state transportation crews that worked round the clock last week trying to keep the local highways clear.
Does the name sound familiar?
Brugh is the local authority on the "smart road," the proposed bypass between Christiansburg and Blacksburg and any other road project in Montgomery, Pulaski or Giles counties.
And when snow's on the ground, Brugh turns into a regular celebrity. He's quoted in the newspaper and interviewed on television daily.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Brugh, 41, has worked at the Christiansburg Transportation Department office for the last 14 years and been in charge for the last six.
A Virginia Tech graduate and still an avid Hokie fan, Brugh's got a Southern twang so heavy you'd think he grew up in the coalfields of Southwest Virginia.
It's a drawl so intriguing that you're immediately drawn to him.
Fact is, Brugh grew up in Botetourt County and none of his family members share his regional accent.
Kenita Brugh figures her husband inadvertently developed the twang to make the folks who work for him at the Department of Transportation more comfortable. Ditto for the beard he grew shortly after arriving in Christiansburg.
"That's just the kind of guy he is," his wife said.
Brugh enjoys living in the New River Valley so much that he passed up several promotions that would have taken him out of the area.
That's ironic in a sense because Brugh's not in a highly enviable position. Emotions run high when roads are planned and few state highways have been more controversial than the link from Blacksburg to Interstate 81.
At more than one public hearing, Brugh's had to face the onslaught of dozens of angry environmentalists and other opponents of the smart road and other road projects. His easy-going demeanor keeps him from getting rattled.
"As long as they aren't personal attacks at me, then I don't mind," he said. "If people are opposed to a particular road project then that's their opinion."
The only drawback to his job, Brugh said, is that he has to attend about 100 night meetings a year. That takes away from the time he can spend with his 5- and 8-year-old daughters and his 12-year-old son.
In his years of monitoring the roads, Brugh has seen some strange incidents, but one in particular stands out in his mind.
A trucker traveling north between Christiansburg and Roanoke on Interstate 81 pulled off the road about to - how shall I say this? - relieve himself.
When the guy turned back around, the rig was trucking down the curvy, downhill stretch without him.
For three miles the driverless vehicle twisted and turned its way down the mountain without hitting another vehicle.
It finally flipped on its side near the Ironto exit, but no others cars were involved.
"It certainly happened and I honestly don't know how," Brugh said.
In addition to Tech sports, Brugh is a big country music and Winston Cup racing fan - the exact opposite of his wife. She describes herself as a "classical music-drama-philosophical" type of person.
"Dan doesn't really like philosophical discussions, but he's very supportive of me," said Kenita Brugh, a graduate student in counselor education at Radford University.
Brugh is also very active at Christiansburg Presbyterian Church, where he's a deacon and past director of Sunday School.
"He's a great guy, but probably not the perfect saint I make him out to be," his wife said.
One habit she doesn't like is his occasional tobacco chewing.
"I'm not really supposed to know he does, but I don't think you can work on the highway department without doing it," she said.
This is my last column for the Current - at least for the meantime anyway. I'll be moving to this newspaper's office in Roanoke next week. I've had fun the past 17 months in the New River Valley. Thanks for making me feel so welcome.
Michael Stowe is a staff writer for the New River Valley bureau of the Roanoke Times & World-News.
by CNB