Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501240023
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
EMORY - Emory & Henry College is getting an annual $25,000 grant for four years from the C.E. Richardson Benevolent Foundation of Pulaski to renovate a men's dormitory.
The total grant of $100,000 will renovate Waterhouse-Carriger Hall, built between 1904 and 1908 as the first dormitory on the 150-acre campus.
The foundation was established in 1979 through Richardson's estate. He was a former member of the Holston Conference of Colleges board. The foundation provided a grant for the renovation of the college's Van Dyke Student Union in 1985.
VDOT sets Va. 94 hearing
CRIPPLE CREEK - The Virginia Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Sheffey Elementary School on proposed improvements to part of Virginia 94.
The school is located at Virginia 94 and Virginia 640 in Wythe County. Two alternatives to improve the road from Cripple Creek to Virginia 94 and Virginia 605 will be discussed.
Residents will be able to record oral comments at any time during the meeting. Written comments will also be accepted during the hearing or up to 10 days afterward.
Wythe seeks school waiver
WYTHEVILLE - The Wythe County School Board is joining other school systems in the region hit by ice storms last year in seeking a state waiver allowing 1995-96 classes to start before Labor Day.
State law prohibits the opening of schools before Labor Day without a waiver from the Virginia Department of Education.
The board is also sending its representatives in the General Assembly a letter of opposition to the establishment of charter schools in Virginia.
Asbury Center adding wing
WYTHEVILLE - The Asbury Center at Birdmont has started construction of a $1.2 million assisted-living wing to be completed by the end of 1995.
It is designed for up to 38 people who do not need full-time nursing home care but whose health is too fragile for independent living in the retirement center building.
With the new addition, the center will employ about 220 people, with an annual budget approaching $5 million.
The center opened in 1971 at Wytheville with 39 nursing home beds. By 1980, it had added two health center nursing units for a total capacity of 152 residents.
An outpatient rehabilitation center opened in 1983, and a community ambulance service in 1985. Its first cottage was built in 1987. It now has four, with a fifth to be built in the spring.
Lutheran pastor Pacific-bound
WYTHEVILLE - The Rev. Steve Ridenhour of Wytheville will leave near the end of January to be part of a Lutheran delegation visiting congregations in Papua New Guinea.
Ridenhour became pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Wytheville in October after serving as pastor for 10 years at Trinity Lutheran Church in Pulaski.
The Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the companion synod for Papua New Guinea under a program designed to link synods around the world.
Synod Bishop Richard Bansemer will also be part of the six-person group. Bansemer recruited Ridenhour, as chairman of the synod's Global Outreach Committee, to take part in the trip.
Ridenhour has spent recent weeks being immunized against typhoid, malaria, hepatitis, tetanus and other diseases in preparation for leaving. He expressed appreciation to his church council and congregation for their support on the trip. He is scheduled to return by Feb. 23.
Nominations sought
WYTHEVILLE - Nominations are being sought for the annual Wytheville Community College Distinguished Service Awards program.
It includes a Distinguished Teaching Award to a full-time or part-time faculty member and a Distinguished Service Award acknowledging outstanding service to the college. Each award carries a cash prize, and the teaching award winner gets a special fund for personal academic enrichment.
The program was established in 1990 by Nathaniel W. Pendleton Jr. and his family in memory of his father, Nathaniel W. Pendleton Sr., who was instrumental as a legislator in establishing the college and getting it funded.
by CNB