
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 22, 1995                   TAG: 9509220073
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI                                 LENGTH: Medium

BUY YOUR SPOT TODAY ON PULASKI MONOPOLY BOARD

Soon, citizens will be able to put a house or hotel on one of four county streets - using fake money. And fake houses.

The Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce will be selling a board game based on Monopoly to raise money for a chamber emergency fund.

The chamber will produce and market its version of the game featuring county businesses, industries, organizations and residences. The money it raises will go into a contingency account for unanticipated needs.

Chamber President Sue Berkley said the recent chamber auction, the organization's annual fund-raiser, made about $28,000 so the chamber likely will not end its year in the red.

But there have been years when it has. So one of her goals as president is to create a "rainy day" fund.

The game will have ads around the sides from county enterprises. "They're going real quickly," Berkley said at a chamber luncheon meeting Thursday.

A group of sales team volunteers have been contacting local advertisers and many others have bought board spots, sight unseen, she said.

"The playing board will feature actual locations in the county, and there will be additional properties that players can 'buy' which will feature names and residences in the county," Berkley said.

"We were looking for another means of giving visibility to the variety of businesses, industries and organizations we have right in our own county," said project head Joe Bane of Heilig-Meyers Furniture in Pulaski. "Plus, the game will offer a different advertising strategy. The names are on the board permanently so that, anytime a person opens the board, he or she sees that business or industry name."

Gary Elander, the chamber's vice president for internal affairs, said the game may even become a collector's item.

After the sale of board properties, the chamber will market the game to the public.

Any business, industry or organization that wants a spot on the board or price information should call the chamber soon at 980-1991.

by CNB