Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9412210063
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Phew!
The Shenandoah Valley Travel Association has sponsored the gathering to reveal the day, hour and minute that the region's fall colors will peak.
The moment of autumnal splendor was selected previously by a ``sophisticated computer'' and kept securely in an apple butter jar in a limestone cavern until the time of revelation.
Some of the data fed into the computer included the warming trend caused by an influx of hot air during this, an election year; the degree of shine on the apple crop; and the average length of hair on the bears in the valley's parks and forests. It was not revealed who gathered this last tidbit, or his current whereabouts.
The exact moment the leaves will reach their zenith in the Shenandoah Valley is, of course, up to Mother Nature, but the official prediction is Sunday at 4:24 p.m.
Our preference, however, is to catch the fall colors on company time. A balmy weekday afternoon. Away from the office. With the answering machines on. ...
by CNB