Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 17, 1995 TAG: 9504170006
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But after months of activism, Boucher returned to her palette. This month, a Blacksburg gallery opened a show of her new mixed-media work. Her art blends representational landscapes; abstract images of nature; journal entries; and found objects, including dog's teeth, feathers and leaves.
She based about one-third of the work on scenes around her Chinkapin Hill studio off Mount Tabor Road. Other settings include a glacier in Alaska, a moonrise in Idaho, a river in Maine and the Oregon coast.
But it's the 23rd exhibit, and its price, that catches the eye: "What Once Was," listed for a cool $500 million.
Take a look at the work, and the price makes more sense.
Last year, state transportation planners estimated building a Blacksburg-Roanoke-Martinsville dogleg for I-73 would cost $500 million more than using Interstate 77 between West Virginia and North Carolina.
Boucher created a wooden-slat-bound book of translucent paper. Inside, she overlaid a series of I-73 corridor planning maps with abstract images of nature; wire, to outline the route near Blacksburg; and written reflections on how she thinks the highway would change the landscape irrevocably.
Her work can be viewed in Blacksburg from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Miller Off Main Street Gallery, 211 Wilson Ave. The show closes Saturday.
As of Friday, no one had snatched up "What Once Was."
Mayor on the mend
Longtime Vinton Mayor Charles Hill is doing fine after short-notice heart bypass surgery Wednesday, Vinton Town Manager Clay Goodman said. Hill, who is in his mid-60s, had not been feeling well, so he went to his doctor for tests, Goodman said.
"He went in Monday, and they kept him," he said.
Goodman said Hill walks every day, watches his diet closely and generally is very conscious of his health.
Hill suffered a heart attack in the late 1980s, according to Goodman.
Funding facts
Maurice "Buck" Mitchell thinks an upcoming letter from the school system might surprise some Roanoke County parents.
It will show that the county is spending $5,649 per pupil on schools in the current year. That will increase to $5,959 next year.
"It might open some eyes. It will show that we are spending more on education than what some people think," said Mitchell, a member of the county School Board.
Superintendent Deanna Gordon will send the letter home with each child. It will detail the county's per-pupil spending and the source of the money. Other school systems in the state will send similar letters to parents.
The 1994 session of the General Assembly passed a law requiring each school superintendent to prepare and distribute per-pupil costs for the past, current and next school year. The legislation's intent is to provide information to the public during the budget process.
Local funds cover more than half the cost for Roanoke County schools. Of the $5,649 expenditure per pupil this year, $2,973 is local money. Next year, the county will provide $3,224 of the $5,959 projected expenditure on each student.
Gainsboro builders
Gainsboro's First Baptist Church has been honored by Habitat for Humanity for building a house at 813 Kellogg Ave. N.W.
Of the 43 houses Habitat has built in the Roanoke Valley, First Baptist's is the first built by a black congregation, said Habitat spokeswoman Amy Moore. The church invested $16,000 and built the house from July to December. A family moved in in January.
Habitat officers gave a plaque Friday to First Baptist Pastor Kenneth Wright and church volunteer coordinator Jeanette Warrington, who led the construction.
Saving Graceland
Saturday is fix-it day at Miniature Graceland, and volunteers are expected to pitch in and help owners Kim and Don Epperly whip their front-yard tourist attraction into shape again.
Because of recent health problems and vandalism, the Epperlys haven't been able to maintain their dollhouse-sized reproductions of Elvis Presley's Memphis mansion, his Mississippi birthplace and other Elvis sites. Years ago, they built the little buildings and tiny gardens in their yard at 605 Riverland Road S.E. People have come from other states and countries to see them.
To the rescue has come WSLS-TV (Channel 10), which will hold a "Spirit of Virginia Day" at the Epperlys' beginning at 10 Saturday morning. Mayor David Bowers is expected to attend.
Roanoke-area businesses have given materials to help refurbish Mini-Graceland. Donors include Plexiglas for windows from B&L Auto Glass and Mirror; carpet from Dixie Tile and Carpet; electrical wire from Eck Supply Co.; awnings from Sunnyside Awning & Tent; miniature furnishings and doors from Mini Things; and plywood, plastic pipe and cement mix from Moore's Lumber and Building Supplies. A crew of Moore's employees will help Saturday.
Tech student Nick Guarino, a friend of the Epperlys and Miniature Graceland, said he's still looking for a company that will donate a fence. Someone broke into one of the little buildings a few months ago and stole 36 Barbie dolls dressed as backup singers and the audience at an Elvis show at the Roanoke Civic Center. People have donated replacement Barbies and more than $200 so far.
by CNB