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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 29, 1994                   TAG: 9405020137
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

THE OAKS B&B MAKES IT TO PBS

The Oaks Bed & Breakfast Inn will be featured in a half-hour segment of the television series Inn Country U.S.A. at 3 p.m. Saturday. The program will air on Public Broadcasting System stations serving Southwest Virginia: WBRA-TV in Roanoke, WSBN-TV in Norton and WMSY-TV in Marion.

The production crew spent three days filming at The Oaks last July. Owners Margaret and Tom Ray, who have not seen the finished version of the program, started receiving telephone calls for information and reservations following the program's airing in five other states.

"We're counting on this series to give tourism a boost in our area as it is shown over and over again all over the country," said Tom Ray.

The television program features 52 inns nationwide, and The Oaks is one of three bed and breakfasts in Virginia. The other two are Prospect Hill and The Clifton, each of which has a renowned restaurant in Charlottesville.

Since the program focuses to some extent on food, a cookbook titled "The Innkeeper's Collection" was published in conjunction with the series. Five recipes from The Oaks are included in the book.

"This cookbook contains recipes from some of the best chefs in the country, and I feel honored to be in such company," said Margaret Ray.

The Oaks has been featured in several magazines in the U.S. and Europe and holds one of the 10 four-crown ratings awarded by the American Bed and Breakfast Association.

In 1993, the inn was invited to become a member of the Independent Innkeepers' Association, an association of 250 innkeepers in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

Country Inns magazine listed The Oaks among its "Top Twelve Inns of the Year" in 1992.

Last week, The Oaks was named to the Virginia Landmark Register and endorsed for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Oaks was built in 1889 by William Luther Pierce, whose family occupied the home for nearly 90 years. It has been an inn since 1989.

by CNB