Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Within the past two weeks, the 600 millionth vehicle to drive the 60-year-old Blue Ridge Parkway appeared somewhere along its 470-mile length, its occupants and destination unknown.
Statisticians figured it out: They guessed the big day most likely was Oct. 28.
But tourism promotion is an inexact science. And in order to celebrate the milestone, parkway promoters had to a) pick a clear day on everyone's calendar (which turned out to be Wednesday, Nov. 8), b) find some travelers who'd actually traveled the parkway on Wednesday, and c) talk them into accepting some free gifts and lots of media attention.
With the event set for today near Roanoke, officials began searching Wednesday for a carload of tourists out on the parkway, to anoint them and shower them with gifts. The 500 millionth visitor was honored in 1991.
The winner needed only to be in the area long enough to make the 10:30 a.m. news conference and to be from out of state, officials said, since the prize included two nights of free lodging on a future trip to the area. A night's stay in North Carolina, admission to attractions, a local produce basket and other local goodies rounded out the package.
They found Domar Knudson and his wife, Sara, passing through Roanoke while moving from Oahu, Hawaii, to Charleston, S.C.
The search was one for the annals of tourism promotion.
Catherine Fox of the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau stood in near-freezing weather for 25 minutes trying to spot and flag down a parkway motorist who was right for the honor.
One by one, license plates of the approaching cars came into view. Missouri: Not interested. Virginia. Virginia. Virginia - oops, Connecticut. (Missing front plate prevented her from even knowing to ask that car.) Virginia. Virginia.
The scene near the U.S. 460 exit must have looked like a car wreck, with three vehicles - two belonging to the news team tagging along - pulled to the shoulder and Fox standing outside with an urgent look on her face.
Alas, it was not to be, and Fox drove north, planning to approach people in the lodge at the Peaks of Otter and satisfy a strong desire for hot chocolate. Her car phone then rang with good news: a possible winning couple had wandered into the bureau's visitor center in downtown Roanoke, where center volunteers also had been trying to locate the elusive 600 millionth parkway traveler.
Without letting on as to what was up, the volunteers noted the name of the hotel where the couple was staying.
The search finally ended in the lobby of the Super 8 on Peters Creek Road, where Fox popped the question to the Knudsons.
"Sure," said Domar, 25, a naval nuclear engineer. "That'd be terrific."
Coming from West Virginia on Interstate 64, the couple took the parkway mostly because they had extra time and it was headed in the direction they wanted to go.
Had they heard of the Blue Ridge Parkway before?
Nope, not before "we got on it and saw the road signs," Domar explained. But they said they liked it and want to come back.
by CNB