ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602190092
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-14 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
Planet finder has tie to Wytheville
WYTHEVILLE - The son-in-law of a Wytheville lawyer and historian was one of the subjects of a Time magazine cover story last week involving the discovery of new planets.
Geoffrey Marcy, son-in-law of Mary Kegley Bucklen, was one of two San Francisco State University astronomers who announced the discovery in January of the second and third planets to be identified orbiting two different stars. The first planet circling a star other than the sun was identified only four months earlier.
Marcy gave Bucklen a tour of the observatory where he works in San Jose, Calif., when she visited him before the announcement was made at a San Antonio astronomers' meeting.
Marcy has visited Wytheville. ``He really likes it here. He climbed to the top of Sand Mountain, and he went over to Skeeter's for hot dogs, and had an airplane ride over the area,'' she said.
When she met him for the first time, she asked what kind of astronomy he did. He said he looked for undiscovered planets. ``Well, I sort of laughed, but I'm not laughing anymore,'' she said.
Art exhibit marks Black History Month
CHILHOWIE - An exhibit of painting, sculpture, prints and pottery celebrating Black History Month is on display at The Art Place in Chilhowie through Feb. 29.
The exhibit was arranged by the Radford University Graduate Art Students Association.
Other February activities include a meet-the-artists reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The Art Place, created by Edna Love of Pulaski, is open from 1 to 5:30 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. each Thursday, and 10 a.m. to noon Fridays. Appointments for groups at other times can be made by calling 980-6982 or 686-8498.
Community college leaders to meet
WYTHEVILLE - The president of Radford University will be host of a meeting March 21 with presidents and representatives of community colleges on how the university can work more closely with their faculty members and communities.
Douglas Covington announced the meeting last week in Wytheville at the signing of an agreement with Wytheville Community College, allowing graduates of the two-year college to transfer to the university as juniors.
``Dr. Covington has a vision of Radford University being the regional university for this part of the state,'' said community college President William Snyder. The agreement also promotes a second goal, he said, of ``creating for our students a seamless system of continuous education from kindergarten through graduate school.''
Covington said the agreement could serve as a model for other colleges and universities. He said he wants the agreement to be more than symbolic. ``We want it to have practical meaning.''
``To meet competitive pressures in the world today, we can no longer work in isolation,'' said Bruce Blaylock, dean of Radford's College of Business and Economics. ``This partnership will create a synergy ... and together we will create a future far brighter than either of us could accomplish alone.''
Chamber to celebrate 50th anniversary
WYTHEVILLE - Members of the Wytheville-Wythe-Bland Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 50th anniversary at a Half-Century Gala scheduled for April 20. The event will be from 7:30 p.m. to midnight at the Wytheville Community Center.
The gala will replace the chamber's traditional annual dinner, although some business will be conducted at the start of the gathering: announcement of election results for the board of directors, the Citizen of the Year, and Farmer of the Year.
The celebration will include live music, dancing, hors d'oeuvres and party favors. Tickets will be $20, available only to chamber members. Attire is semiformal.
``We feel our golden anniversary calls for a special celebration, and we want to do something for our members a little more spectacular than the usual annual dinner,'' said Linda DiYorio, chairwoman of the committee planning the event. ``Therefore, we are going to have a grand gala, complete with music, dancing and chamber memorabilia.''
Chamber Executive Director Jennifer Jones said chamber memorabilia is being gathered for display ``so that we can reflect on our past, see how far we have come.''
Fund begun to buy art center carpet
PULASKI - Janie Hardwicke, a volunteer at the Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley, has started a fund to replace the worn carpet at the center's headquarters at 21 W. Main St., Pulaski.
The replacement cost is estimated at more than $3,000. Contributions will be kept in reserve until there is enough money for the project.
The center also is continuing its ``Find Five'' fund-raising challenge, in which each Fine Arts Center member is asked to recruit five new members each year.
The annual ``Art & More'' auction, which is the center's biggest fund-raiser, has been set for April 27.
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