ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512150038
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
10 years ago (1985)
Dec. 5: Tom Rosenberry, a Salem firefighter, writes a book, "Stirring the Ashes," about firefighters. Using fictitious names for the men at No. 2 Station on Electric Road, he said his book was written to set the record straight about firefighters. The original title was "What the Hell Am I Doing Here?''
Dec. 7: The Famous Lunch restaurant, a Roanoke City Market fixture that boasted of serving "The BEST Hotdogs in Town," closes after 26 years. Anastasios Angelidis, the restaurant's owner, won't discuss the closing.
Dec. 10: Lakeside Amusement Park manager Wayne Saunders announces that the facility, which was damaged in the November flood, will reopen in the spring with $600,000 worth of improvements, including an indoor theater, a Treasure Island area and new Kiddieland rides.
Dec. 12: Trying to prevent a scheduled foreclosure, Jim Lindsey, a Roanoke real estate investor, buys the Grandin Theatre. Lindsey says he'll remodel the 50-year-old theater and predicts "a real bright future" for it.
25 years ago (1970)
Dec. 1: Gov. Linwood Holton participates in ceremonies dedicating Roanoke's municipal building. During the dedication ceremony, Roanoke also receives a U.S. Treasury Department award for exceeding its goal of new bond savers by 39 percent.
Dec. 6: WFIR Radio begins rebroadcasting the classic radio dramatic series "The Shadow" at 5:30 p.m. The series will be heard for 52 weeks and is recorded on tape from original shows.
Dec. 9: John T. Sayers, who was portraying Santa Claus at Crossroads Mall, and three small children escape unhurt after a fire starts near the base of Santa's sleigh. The hides of two stuffed reindeer are burned off and several trees are damaged before two automatic ceiling sprinklers extinguish the fire.
Dec. 15: A predawn blaze destroys the historic Botetourt County Courthouse in Fincastle. Twenty-eight fire trucks and about 100 firefighters from 12 fire companies labor unsuccessfully to stop the fire that began in a back furnace room in the basement of the courthouse. Treasurer's records and Circuit Court records, including deeds and wills, were spared because they were in fireproof vaults. Records in the commissioner of revenue's office, however, were lost.
Dec. 18: A study committee recommends to Roanoke City Council that Mill Mountain Zoo be enlarged to house two elephants and a hippopotamus. The committee also recommends building a new home for the zoo's bear.
50 years ago (1945)
Dec. 2: Robert B. Jennings, who opened Roanoke's first furniture store in 1888, dies at his home at the age of 78.
Dec. 4: H.J. Fekas, president of Modern Enterprises Inc., announces plans to build a community center for black Roanokers. The center, to be constructed at Wells Avenue and First Street Northwest during the summer of 1946, will have a 700-seat movie theater, a community auditorium, seven stores and a snack bar and will offer dancing and stage shows.
Dec. 18: Despite a heavy blanket of snow, the Roanoke post office receives and sends a record 379,683 pieces of mail. The total, says postmistress Virginia K. Wright, surpasses an earlier record set a year ago by more than 5,000.
The next day, the post office handles 415,448 pieces of mail.
Dec. 20: Frank E. Brown, seller of salvaged fat to soap manufacturers, says a gradual decline in donations of salvaged grease and fats by housewives has caused a soap shortage. The end of rationing, he says, has nothing to do with the decline.
Dec. 23: Mail is delivered on a Sunday. Postmistress Virginia K. Wright later says the Sunday delivery was necessary to get out all the mail that had accumulated over the weekend.
Dec. 31: Ground is broken in front of Hotel Roanoke for a well to furnish water for the air-conditioning units in the new wing.
Past Tense is a monthly feature compiled by Melvin E. Matthews Jr. to help readers recall events in the Roanoke Valley. Information is gathered from past issues of the newspaper.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB