Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 22, 1994 TAG: 9408220117
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Heather Hartless, her sister and parents recently enjoyed some quality family time - in a tent, near the mud, among a sea of naked bodies.
It was her father, Bob, who suggested they pay the $135 for a ticket to Woodstock. He thought it would be a good way to celebrate to his 47th birthday.
"It was great partying with my dad ... He was the one who really wanted to see Metallica," said Hartless, 23, who lives in Salem.
And, despite the "cake-batter" mud that covered everything in sight, the nine-hour wait to get a ride from the parking lot to the concert, the struggle to walk from the north stage to the south stage (where the clean port-o-potties were) - the music and the people made it worth the trip.
"Sunday was the best day - Arrested Development, Traffic, The Allman Brothers. I couldn't pick one favorite, because they all sounded so great."
But did this Woodstock have the same peace-loving, family feel as the original concert?
"If you looked for it, you could find it. There was a great couple I met - she was paralyzed from the waist down but wanted to get in the mud. So he carried her into the mud, and both were naked, splashing around."
Hartless decided to remember the true spirit of the event with a unique piece of memoriabilia: a bottle of mud.
Good shepherds
Elder Samuel Wade's phone has hardly stopped ringing since the newspaper ran its July 24 story on the former crack-house-turned-church in Roanoke's West End.
"We can't hardly get any rest," said Wade, pastor of The Good Shepherd Mission Church of God in Christ, which began services in June.
People have been calling to donate items to help get the church going: clothes for its mission, tables for its kitchen, chairs for its Sunday school, paneling for its walls.
"We had four really nice padded pews donated from an alcohol-rehabilitation center," said Estelle Wade, the preacher's wife. "People are really interested in something positive taking place."
Attendance also is on the rise, she said, with an average congregation of 18 to 20 people. "Some people are coming to stand outside, where they can hear and see in," Estelle Wade added. "I believe that in a short time they will probably be coming on in."
"We just want to thank everybody for their great response. And even the words of encouragement from some who didn't have a contribution - it's just been great."
The church, at 1306 Rorer Ave. S.W, is still in need of a used refrigerator, piano, air conditioner and microwave. For more information on services or donations, call 344-5642.
The good, the bad and the rodent
The Hotel Roanoke renovation and street construction keeps on affecting Gainsboro residents.
In a positive vein, a task force of the city, the Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Total Action Against Poverty and the Gainsboro Neighborhood Development Corp. is giving residents advice on grants and low-interest loans to fix up homes. Alvin Nash, TAP's deputy director, is taking calls at 774-7408.
Meanwhile, residents on Gilmer Avenue Northeast say they're seeing rats whose nests apparently were disturbed when old commercial buildings were torn down on nearby Wells Avenue and two uninhabited houses were moved. They've asked the city to exterminate them and the bugs they say are trooping across the alley to Gilmer.
And the fifth annual Henry Street Heritage Festival on Sept. 24 won't be on Gainsboro's Henry Street at all. Because of the nearby construction, it will be held at Elmwood Park downtown.
Motor to the voters
If you live in Roanoke, haven't registered to vote yet and can't seem to find the time to get downtown to the Municipal Building, the city is making it easy for you.
Beginning later this month, special registration centers will be set up in selected grocery and department stores, libraries, malls and state offices.
The four-way U.S. Senate race isn't the only contest on the Nov. 8 ballot. Rep. Bob Goodlatte is also running for re-election, but he is unopposed. Voters also will be asked to decide the fate of three constitutional amendments, as well as a $23-million public-works bond issue by the city.
The deadline for registration is Oct. 11. Anyone who will be 18 by Nov. 8 is eligible to vote.
The special registration period begins Aug. 31 at the state Division of Motor Vehicles office at Crossroads Mall. From there, the mobile registration booth will move around, stopping in all quadrants of the city.
A specific list of registration sites will be aired each week on Cox Cable Channel 3. The League of Women Voters also will publish a list in a future Neighbors section of the Roanoke Times & World-News.
For more information, call the city registrar's office at 981-2281.
Leftover cogs from Byrd Machine
Speaking of elections, a proven winner has emerged in Botetourt County.
A box of buttons touting the candidacy of the late Sen. Harry F. Byrd Sr. was found in a cabinet of the Circuit Court clerk's office.
Tom Moore, the current clerk, figures the buttons were sent to Robert Stoner, who served as clerk from 1939 to 1960, the heyday of Virginia's Byrd Machine.
The Byrd buttons were in a dusty cardboard box, which carried a Richmond postmark and a 3-cent Thomas Jefferson stamp. But the date had worn off.
According to the Roanoke Post Office, the Jefferson 3-cent stamp was issued in 1938 and was in use for 16 years. Byrd served in the Senate from 1933 to 1965.
Even some Botetourt County Republicans were showing their respect for Byrd.
"Rumor has it even [state Sen. Malfourd] `Bo' Trumbo was wearing one of the buttons," Moore said.
by CNB