Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501160025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WYTHEVILLE - The Wythe County Board of Supervisors has taken the politics out of choosing its chairman and vice chairman - at least until some future board switches back again.
At its first meeting of the year last week, the board elected Mark Munsey chairman, succeeding Tom DuPuis, and John Davis Jr. vice chairman, succeeding Munsey.
The board then unanimously approved a proposal by Davis to name future board officers on a rotating basis and take party politics out of the selection process.
Under the new procedure, starting in 1996, the supervisor representing District 1 will become chairman, and the District 2 supervisor will become vice chairman. In 1997, the District 2 representative will be chairman and District 3, vice chairman, and so on.
DuPuis pointed out that, with seven members on the board, some who served only a single four-year term might not make it to chairman or vice chairman.
Davis agreed, but said the idea remains the same. He said he would not seek re-election for the at-large board seat and that, if whoever succeeds him serves only one term, the person would not get a chance at either office since the at-large seat will come last in the rotation.
``I know it's politically naive,'' Davis said, but ``once it's set in motion, everyone gets a chance.'' He said the four most miserable nights he spent during his time on the board were those before organizational meetings, because of telephone calls urging him to push a representative of his party for chairman and because he knew, however the reorganization went each year, there would probably be hard feelings for months to come.
College musical
WYTHEVILLE - Auditions for Wytheville Community College's spring musical, ``Cotton Patch Gospel, The Greatest Story Ever Retold,'' will start at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Grayson Commons on campus.
The play, scheduled to be performed in March, retells the story of Jesus' life with music ranging from country and folk to gospel. It is based on ``The Cotton Patch Version of Matthew and John'' a book by Clarence Jordan, and presents the Gospel in a 20th-century setting in rural Georgia.
The musical score was the last one written by composer Harry Chapin.
The show has singing and nonsinging parts for men and women age 17 or older. Auditioners trying out for a singing part should be prepared to perform a one-minute selection with a tape-recorded accompaniment. A tape player will be provided.
Director Janice Scudder said selections can be anything that shows the singer's range. Nonsingers should come at 7 p.m. and be prepared to take part in some stage exercises using improvisation and some script reading.
A script and score for the play are on reserve in the college library for anyone interested in reading them in advance. Further information is available from Scudder at 228-5541.
Test drilling
WYTHEVILLE - The state Department of Environmental Quality is still waiting for data from test drilling in its attempt to pinpoint sources of underground gasoline releases in the town of Wytheville.
Department spokesman Dan Manweiler said the preliminary findings showed some groundwater contamination from gasoline. Once the source is found, cleanup will be planned.
Manweiler said there had been no new reports of gasoline odors in eastern Wytheville for more than 30 days. An underground gasoline storage tank at the Wythe County Jail, where some of the contamination has been reported, is scheduled to be removed Jan. 24.
by CNB