Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508140024
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
AUSTINVILLE - A new park in this area of Wythe County has officially been named the Stephen F. Austin Memorial Park.
When completed, the park will include a memorial to Wythe County native Stephen Austin, one of the founders of Texas. He was born in Austinville, a community named for his father, in 1793.
The Austin Memorial Foundation is planning a fund drive to support the memorial. The state will build a road to the park site, construct boat ramps and a walking trail, and do landscaping.
Work on the park could start as early as this fall. Information on making donations can be obtained from Tom Bralley at Premier Bank in Wytheville.
Austin was a key figure in the colonization of Texas when it belonged to Mexico. When it became independent, he was a candidate for its president but lost to fellow Virginia native Sam Houston. Houston appointed Austin as secretary of state, and Austin worked toward the eventual annexation of Texas by the United States.
Extension office to remain empty
WYTHEVILLE - Wythe County Extension Agent Jerry Miller will leave an empty space for a year when he retires Sept. 30.
Interim Cooperative Extension Service Director Clark Jones has notified the county the post will be vacant for that long, since Extension must pay benefits to employees like Miller who participate in the early retirement program. This requires the state agency to pay the equivalent of a year's salary, which is why such positions stay vacant for that long.
Jones said Extension agents from neighboring localities would cover the essential parts of Miller's work, and that a new staffing plan for the office will be developed. The county had wanted Miller's position filled as soon as possible.
Wytheville has home study available
WYTHEVILLE - Wytheville Community College will offer 19 home study courses this fall.
Participating students will work at home through learning modules containing such items as print material, audiotapes and videotapes.
Most of the classes will have their first meeting on campus at 7 p.m. Thursday in Grayson Hall Commons for course orientation, materials and textbooks. Classes in the child care field will have their orientation at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 at the same place.
The college will also offer an evening course in hotel front office operations this fall. The three-credit course will meet with instructor John Wilson, Wytheville Ramada Inn manager, from 7 p.m. to 9:40 p.m. Mondays starting Aug. 21 .
Further information on the home study and hotel classes is available from Dan Jones, chairman of the Business, Humanities and Social Sciences Division, at 223-4736 or toll-free 1-800-468-1195, extension 4736.
Dessert, auction to raise money
WYTHEVILLE - The Abingdon-based Con Vivo choral ensemble will entertain guests at the third annual Dessert & Concert in Wytheville's Elizabeth Brown Park Aug. 25.
Tickets are $15, or $100 for a table of eight, with proceeds going to the Family Resource Center. Gourmet desserts will be served starting at 6:30 p.m., with a live auction at 7:30 p.m. followed by the concert.
The 11-voice choral group was organized in 1994 and has performed at the Virginia Highlands Festival, William King Regional Arts Center and many area churches.
Residents offered water quality options
HILLSVILLE - Residents are invited to a tour of area sites that are using innovative measures to solve water quality problems Aug. 16, from noon to 8:30 p.m.
The six sites on the tour all are within the Little Reed Creek Island watershed, part of which lies within Pulaksi and Wythe Counties. The creek enters the New River at Allisonia.
The tour will include topics on innovative livestock watering systems; streambank crossings; rotational grazing systems; no-till and conventional cabbage production; timber bridge initiatives, and surface run-off control in urban areas.
The tour is sponsored by the Friends of the Little Reed Isand Creek Watershed Committee. It begins at the Farmer's Market in Hillsville at noon. For more information, call 236-7191.
Main Street entries sought
CHRISTIANSBURG - Area communities are invited to participate in the 1996 Great American Main Street awards contest, sponsored by the national investment firm Edward D. Jones & Co. and the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center.
Five communities nationwide will be awarded prizes of $5,000 to be used for revitalization efforts, along with plaques, road signs and certificates.
The entrants will be judged on a record of commercial district revitalization; support from the public and private sectors for downtown revitalization; broad-based community input and support; and innovative solutions to downtown problems.
The contest is open to any community, and any individual, group or agency may enter. The deadline is Nov. 1.
For more information, call 951-4062 or 382-1843.
Courses offered through NRCC
DUBLIN - New River Community College has a variety of independent- and distance-learning courses available during the fall semester, beginning Aug. 21.
The courses are designed for students who are unable to travel to the Dublin campus or who need to work independently.
The courses are in business, small business management, economics, world literature, history, health, marketing, music appreciation, psychology, sign language, computer software, and others.
A class meeting and orientation session for all students in all IDL courses will be Saturday, Aug. 26, at 9 a.m. in Richardson Hall.
For more information, call (800) 358-7575.
WomenWork meeting Aug. 21
BLACKSBURG - WomenWork will have its monthly general meeting Monday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. The meeting will be at the Blacksburg Jewish Community Center, Church and Roanoke Streets.
WomenWork is an all-women's group that is the planning stages of building a house for a low-income family through Montgomery County Habitat for Humanity. The construction committee will meet Sunday, Aug. 20, at 6:30 p.m. For location and information, call Sandy Brown at 381-1856. There will be a presentation on straw-bale house construction, which is the technology the group wants to use for the house.
The fund-raising committee will meet Monday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. at the Christiansburg Public Library. Individuals interested in helping WomenWork raise money for the construction of the house are encouraged to attend.
by CNB