Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 7, 1995 TAG: 9507070023
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANKS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There's no place like home.
O ome of the best entertainment anywhere is in our own backyard.
Head for the Christiansburg headquarters of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library Saturday. You'll get a taste of some fine local talent and a bellyful of tasty barbecue.
The event is a benefit for the library's effort to raise money for furniture. Desks are needed to hold the new computer system at the Christiansburg and Blacksburg locations.
Four Seasons Catering will dish up the barbecue while several local musicians and performers do the entertaining.
Folk artists John and Kathie Hollandsworth of Christiansburg will perform traditional Appalachian music. John Hollandsworth, an award-winning autoharpist, is known for playing the instrument in a variety of styles. His wife and musical partner, Kathie, plays string bass, hammered dulcimer and provides vocals for the duo.
Storyteller Cat White of Pulaski, who recently produced his first audio collection of Appalachian stories and songs called "Cat Tales," will share his ballads and Jack tales. White's live performance is energetic and playful.
"If you come to my show," he says, "I guarantee you're going to lose five pounds giggling and I'll lose 10 pounds sweating."
In addition to the Hollandsworths and White, there's music by the Jug Busters, an Appalachian string band. Costumed characters, including Sparky the Fire Dog and a clown, will be there, too.
Tickets, available at the Christiansburg library on Sheltman Street, are $10 for adults or $5 for children under 12. Family tickets are $25.
The fun runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, compliments of the Montgomery County Friends of the Library.
SOUTHERNERS: Mark Twain, Richard Wright, Walker Percy, Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor and Tennessee Williams had two things in common. They all had a way with words and they all spoke the same language: Southern.
If you're a fan of Southern fiction, you won't want to miss the final run of "Grace and Disgrace." The play, showing tonight and Saturday at Virginia Tech's Squires Studio Theatre, is a dramatization of episodes from literary works by some of the South's great authors.
Directed by David Johnson, "Grace and Disgrace" features a cast of performers from the community and the university. Elizabeth McCommon, Cindy Babson, Doug Chancey, Greg Cartwright and Heywood E. James II make up the ensemble.
Curtain time both nights is at 8. Admission is free.
HOP, SKIP AND JUMP: No matter how you get there, you gotta get there.
The Blacksburg Old-Time Music and Dance Group is putting on its monthly mountain square dance Saturday, starting at 8 p.m., at shelter 1 of Montgomery County Park. As always, the event is an evening of swirly, twirly fun.
Beckie McKenzie of Blacksburg will call all the dances, so you don't have to worry if you're inexperienced. Fiddler Betty Vornbrach and the Reed Island Rounders from Sylvatus will play the tunes.
Admission is $4.50. To get to Montgomery County Park from U.S. 460, turn onto County Road across from Corning Glass Works in Christiansburg. Turn right at the yield sign and park to your immediate left.
WARM WEATHER, COOL MUSIC: The outdoor concerts are in full swing now.
Tonight, you can catch Simple Gifts at the folk concert on Virginia Tech's Henderson Hall lawn or Don and the Deltones at the classic rock show in Pulaski's Jackson Park. On Tuesday, it's Dixieland jazz by the Riverboat Ramblers in Radford's Bisset Park.
The free concerts are great for relaxing, picnicking and getting out to meet your neighbors. And what better way to hear the local musicians you keep hearing about?
For details on the upcoming concerts, check the "Music" listings in today's Arts & Entertainment calendar.
FISH TALES: None of these fish got away - they got fried!
The Mount Tabor Ruritan Club is having its monthly fish fry - a summer treat we've come to expect - this Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Mount Tabor Nursery School picnic shelter.
The meal is an all-you-can-eat deal that includes fish, fries, coleslaw, cake and beverages. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for kids under 12.
This is the big fund-raising project for the club. The Mount Tabor Ruritans sponsor Blacksburg's Fourth of July parade each year in addition to supporting other community projects. The club also provides three annual college scholarships for local students.
For more information, call 961-3315.
by CNB