ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603080035
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S9 EDITION: METRO
10 years ago (1986)
March 1: This is National Pig Day, and the Hall of Cards at Towers Shopping Center observes the occasion by offering stuffed pigs for sale. Shop owner Barbara Brown says groundhogs have a day of their own and pigs should too.
March 7: Roanoke officials lower the weight limit on Fifth Street bridge and announce that large trucks and buses will be prohibited from crossing the bridge for fear the weight will damage the old steel structure. The city plans to strengthen the bridge during the summer. A new bridge has since been built. 25 years ago (1971)
March 5: Roanoke planning officials are still baffled about what to do with a street that has four names. In Roanoke County, the street is known as Plantation Road, but the portion inside the city limits is known variously as Hollins Road, Whiteside Street and Patrick Henry Avenue. Roanoke City Council has ordered the city Planning Department to settle on one name. Officials subsequently name the street Plantation.
March 17: The Roanoke County Highway Safety Committee asks for a traffic light at Virginia 419 and Colonial Avenue a couple of months after a woman is killed and a child critically injured in an accident at the intersection. Sheriff O.S. Foster says a lot of school buses also use the intersection.
March 24: A fire, causing about $300,000 damage to the Gross Furnace Manufacturing Co., plant in Salem, causes residents to leave their homes, knocks out electric power in the area and threatens nearby propane storage tanks. Salem and Roanoke County firefighters fight the blaze three hours before bringing it under control.
March 26: A late spring storm dumps 7 inches of snow on the Roanoke Valley, surprising residents who were easing into spring. Temperatures had been fair a few days before, and early flowers were beginning to peek above the ground. 50 years ago (1946)
March 4: J. Austin Smith, a New York park planner, predicts that in 40 or 100 years "Mill Mountain will be the towering spot in the middle of a large city."
Smith, participating in a Jaycees radio forum in Roanoke, says Mill Mountain is the logical spot for a city park and that few cities have the advantage of a mountain close to the center of the city.
March 13: Carvins Cove reservoir, being filled for the first time, rises to 5 billion gallons and is expected to reach its capacity of 6.5 billion gallons in three months. City Manager W.P. Hunter says water in the reservoir has been rising about a foot with each inch of rain since September. A filtration plant being built next to the lake is expected to be ready by August.
March 18: During the first two months of 1946, there were 375 births in Roanoke, a decline of 5 percent from the same two months the previous year. C.E. Denit, statistician for the city Health Department, predicts an increase later in the year, however, because many servicemen would be returning home.
March 21: Dr. E.W. Senter, one of three candidates for Salem Town Council, says Salem should become a first-class city in order to protect its heritage. Senter said the only way Salem can obtain high-quality school buildings and curriculum is through city status, which would allow Salem to take over school operation from Roanoke County. "The primary schools in Salem are a disgrace to a modern community," he declared. Salem became a city Dec. 31, 1967.
PAST TENSE is a monthly feature, compiled this month by Charles Stebbins, to help readers recall past events in the Roanoke Valley. Information is gathered from past issues of the newspaper.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB