ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Out & About DONNA ALVIS BANKS
W's to put at the top of your weekend wish list:
Wild
Wacky
Witty
WINTERFEST!
You'll find all of the above at Virginia Tech's Squires Student Center Saturday. The annual WinterFest, sponsored by the Virginia Tech Union, gets under way at noon and goes on all day.
You haven't seen wild, wacky or witty till you've seen human foosball, bouncy boxing and sumo wrestling (the kind involving average size people in extremely large blubber suits)!
How does the Velcro wall grab you? And what about antique photos, electronic tarot cards and temporary tattoos?
Theater productions, live music, puppet shows and lots of games are part of the fun, too. All of the events are open to the public and most are better than cheap. They're free.
POWERLESS AND PROUD OF IT: No power outage can stop these guys.
No Strings Attached, the award-winning local string band, will perform in a benefit concert tonight at the Wesley Foundation in Blacksburg. The music starts at 7:30.
Sponsored by the Montgomery County Friends of the Library, the event is a fund-raiser for the Children's Summer Reading Program. Tickets are $5 per person or $10 per family.
No Strings Attached features Bob Thomas, Wes Chappell, Pete Hastings and Randy Marchany. While the foursome fits easily into a compact car, it takes a bigger buggy to haul all the instruments they play: two hammer dulcimers, guitar, bass, harmonica, bouzouki, pennywhistle, flute, kalimba, synthesizers, bass and tenor clarinets, bass and tenor saxophones and percussion.
Oh, don't forget the Slinky. It comes in handy as a rhythm instrument.
In addition to playing some very fine original music, the quartet puts on a downright delightful show. Favorite songs include "Dance of the Aisle," "St. Pete/St. Thomas" and "March of the Picnic Ants."
The band has produced seven critically acclaimed albums. The latest, "Blue Roses," has everything from Caribbean and Portuguese musical flavors to Jelly Roll Morton's stride style blues.
Tickets for tonight's concert are available at the Blacksburg and Christiansburg libraries or you may buy them at the door.
THREE LITTLE WORDS: You've heard your kids say 'em a thousand times:
"Read to me!"
On Saturday, you can join in the "Family Reading Celebration," an annual event sponsored by Montgomery County Public Schools' Title 1 Program. It runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at New River Valley Mall in Christiansburg.
Listening centers and computer centers will be available for curious kids of all ages. Activities include face painting, puppet making and visits with storybook characters.
The celebration is free and open to the whole family. Check it out in the mall area outside J.C. Penney.
SYMPHONY AND SINGERS: Virginia Tech's Meistersingers and University Choir will join the New River Valley Symphony on Saturday for an 8 p.m. concert. They'll render Poulenc's "Gloria" and Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony."
James Glazebrook and Kevin Fenton will share the baton. Nancy McDuffie, soprano, is the featured soloist.
Tickets, available now at the box office in Squires Student Center and at the door Saturday evening, are $5 for adults or $3 for students and senior citizens. To make reservations, call 231-5615.
EYE SPY: Filmmaker Andrew Garrison has a knack for seeing from the inside out.
His award-winning documentary films include "One Ring Circus," an intimate look at performers in a small circus traveling through mountain towns, and "Portraits & Dreams," a revealing film about the lives of a group of Appalachian children as seen through photographs they have taken.
Garrison, who lives and works in Eastern Kentucky, is one of the pioneers of a documentary production group called Appalshop. In addition to his work in documentaries, he's also well-known for his short dramatic films.
If you tune in regularly to PBS, chances are you've seen Garrison's "Fat Monroe," a 15-minute film starring Ned Beatty. It was broadcast nationally following its premiere at the 1990 New York Film Festival. That film and another, "Night Ride," are the first two in a trio Garrison draws from Gurney Norman's short story collection, "Kinfolks." He's currently working on the third, "Maxine."
Garrison will show three of his films Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Heth Hall's Claytor Room at Radford University. He'll also talk about his work and answer your questions.
The program, sponsored by the Appalachian Studies Program, the honors program and the department of media studies, is free and open to all.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 linesby CNB