Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 28, 1994 TAG: 9402280063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
State Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, certainly struck a popular chord in his efforts to change the lyrics of Virginia's state song.
When we invited readers to call InfoLine to listen to a musical rendition of the revised lyrics, some 1,500 took us up on the offer.
The bad news is, it seems most folks don't share his fervor for rewriting "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia" to take out racially offensive words such as "massa" and update them with more modern references.
Here are the returns from our informal referendum:
Hey, I like Marye's revised version. Yes, I think the General Assembly should adopt this as the state song: 323 (24%)
Heck no, let's keep the old version. It's tradition: 649 (48%)
Let's trash both versions and commission Bruce Hornsby or the Statler Brothers or some other Virginia musician to come up with an entirely new song: 368 (27%).
Marye took the news well. "That doesn't surprise me at all," he says. "I'm disappointed, but I'll stand firm" - especially when his bill comes up in a House of Delegates committee this week.
There was one surprise, though. Even though the state song has been rarely played in official gatherings over the past two decades, folks have heard it somewhere.
When we asked how many people had ever heard the song at least once in their lives, nearly three-fourths said they had.
Import-ant faxes
Joel Schlanger has been gone a year, but those faxes from Germany keep rolling in.
Every few weeks, the fax machine in the city of Roanoke finance department spits out a price list of high-dollar automobiles, courtesy of a German car broker.
The faxes are a vestige of an import-export business that Schlanger, the city's former finance director, ran out of his city office.
In December 1992, Schlanger was forced to resign because he failed to come clean with City Council about the way he used city telephone and fax machines to carry on various outside business ventures.
His successor, Jim Grisso, has not contacted the German auto brokers to take the city off the fax list. "It's not costing the city any money," he said.
A baby for Beth
Roanoke Times & World-News columnist and reporter Beth Macy and teacher husband Tom Landon traded in their baby books for the real thing Thursday night. Maxwell Macy Landon arrived under an almost-full moon at Lewis-Gale Hospital, all 8 pounds, 4 ounces of him.
Judging from the "IT'S A GIRL/BOY" banners on maternity ward doors, Max may be surrounded by girls from kindergarten to the senior prom.
"Be sure to put in that he's cute," said his mom.
Bowers' brush-off
Even being a mayor doesn't prevent you from getting the brush-off from City Hall.
Salem Mayor James Taliaferro recently wrote to fellow Mayor David Bowers to\ ask whether Roanoke would be interested in joining Salem in the cost of a new\ stadium to house the minor-league Buccaneers, hoping other Roanoke Valley\ municipalities would share the cost of keeping the pastime in the area.
In response, Taliaferro received what apparently was Bowers' all-purpose form letter (just insert individual's name here) sent to citizens who write to City Hall.
"Dear Mayor Taliaferro," the letter signed by Bowers' secretary says in part. "Mayor Bowers has reviewed your comments and asked me to thank you for taking time to let him know your thoughts and concerns. . . . The Mayor always appreciates receiving expressions from citizens about our great All-America City."
A name tag might have helped
No matter how many hundreds of thousands of dollars you spend hoping for name recognition, someone is bound to forget you.
During a recent Black History Month celebration at the VA Medical Center in Salem, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, took a back seat to Veterans Affairs Secretary Jesse Brown. Seated on stage in the second row, behind Brown, Goodlatte not only didn't get a chance to speak, he never even got a proper introduction.
Employee Relations Specialist Ricky Sampson remembered to include Goodlatte in his list of dignitary introductions - sort of.
He introduced him as "John."
by CNB