ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604080075
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: LETTER
This letter is about the new Wal-Mart Supercenter and similar superstores. I believe these amount to retail genocide. How can the good people of Christiansburg not see the terrible and detrimental effect that such retail vacuums will have on our community in the long run? Sure, it's something new and different, but at what cost? For every dollar that our residents spend at this Arkansas-based chain, there is one less dollar serving our community. Shopping at locally owned stores will recycle the money in the local community and support higher-paying, specialized jobs our community cannot afford to lose. I urge my fellow town members to think about where their dollar is going before they let go of it.
David Lane
Christiansburg
Study tossed out school window
Approximately 18 months ago, committees of interested residents formed in each of the four Montgomery County regions - Auburn, Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Shawsville - to begin planning for schools within their respective areas. The committees, led by a regional administrator, were made up of a teacher and a parent from each school in the region. We were asked to propose a 20-year plan, based on what we thought were the academic needs of future students. A copy of a countywide facilities study provided each committee with important data about existing schools and options to correct deficiencies.
We received vast amounts of information about acreage required for schools, options for land purchases, and renovation vs. construction costs. We were constantly told not to consider the cost, but to come up with what was best "academically" for the students.
After much discussion, the Blacksburg committee voted unanimously for a new middle school. Looking long-range, we suggested purchase of 100 acres to build a middle school immediately. This would also be the site of a new high school. Our hopes were that once the high school was built, there could be shared facilities (auditorium, library, athletic facilities, kitchen and utilities) and teachers.
After an architectural study of the Blacksburg middle school, its value to the downtown area and a plan to renovate the school were complete, the Blacksburg proposal was bounced back to a countywide study committee for reconsideration. We were told that building a new school would cost approximately $500,000 less than renovating the present school.
The study committee held three public sessions where parents and teachers expressed strong opinions on both sides. After hearing concerns about the disruption of the children's education during a three-year renovation, the committee compromised and opted for a new school at the rear of the current school site. The current football field would be lost whatever option was taken.
With this compromise, we lost our academic advantage of sharing facilities and faculty with a future high school. Once built, the old building would be destroyed. That area would then become playing fields for physical education classes and possible town recreational use. This seemed to satisfy everyone on the Blacksburg committee, as it kept a school in the downtown area, and a new middle school could be built.
Apparently the School Board did not like our answer. It is sad, frustrating and discouraging for committee members who have invested so many hours into planning for our children's education to see that effort all but ignored. As members of the countywide space study committee and the Blacksburg committee, we have done what we were asked to do - twice.
We will continue to make recommendations based on all information, public input and our concern for what is best for the students- but we need your support. We encourage you to contact your representatives on the School Board and Board of Supervisors to express your opinion. Blacksburg Middle School will not decrease in enrollment at any time in the next 15 years. It will only increase.
Beth Brown
Blacksburg
Chris Wakley
McCoy
Lost life leaves vacuum
Mothers reaching out to daughters...
Teammates joining together for support...
Fathers comforting young sons...
Sisters consoling brothers...
Friends remembering and searching for answers...
So many hearts broken. Broken by the unexplainable loss of one tiny little woman. Anyone who did not know Angie Knowles cannot possibly conceive of how one person could touch so many lives. I am reminded of George Bush's 1,000 Points of Light. Angie was a one-woman light show! We were awed by her. She could do so much!
How do you explain the bond mothers share with one another? We share car-pooling duties, recipes, child-care advice and, yes, worries. We cheer for one another's children and we share our concerns for how each is doing. Our teen-agers would be horrified to know how much we share about them and how by that sharing we are able to piece together far more than they would like.
Angie was the smallest of gladiators. But she was fearless! And if it was a cause for children, she was the first to jump into the arena. She had the dubious reputation of being one of the few mothers I know ejected from a soccer game. It was something she was proud of. It wasn't bad sportsmanship. She believed the referee was unfair to a child. It wasn't necessarily her own child. All children were Angie's children.
She was the "Mom" many of them wished their own moms could be. She was funny, cool, and yet wise enough to know what they were up to.
As much as it hurts to lose her and as hard as it is to watch so many struggle with their own pain, can we not at the same time rejoice in what her life meant to us? She gave us too much.
I came across a letter today written by my 9-year-old son, Zach, to David Robinson, an NBA player, asking him to please autograph an enclosed basketball card to one of Angie's sons - "to my friend Ryan. Maybe it will help." It was Angie who gave Zach the NBA addresses.
It was typical of the kind of things Angie did. It is fitting that a child whose life was touched by her act of kindness should reach out to another in much the same way. That will be Angie's greatest tribute, that the lives she touched go on touching others. She left behind her best gifts - her children. In them you can see the strength, determination and the warmth of the light we saw in her.
Julia Stewart Milton
Christiansburg
Mitchell would make a difference
Polly Mitchell is running for councilwoman in her beautiful town of Pulaski and needs your support.
Mitchell served on Town Council a few years ago; her colleagues still mention she was a dedicated council member. She was responsible, as chairwoman of the recreation committee, for providing four Little League baseball fields in this town. She worked tirelessly to widen the bridge out Alum Spring Road to three lanes. She worked with BassMasters to stock Gatewood Reservoir.
She was a charter member of the Humane Society in Pulaski and still supports its programs with time and money. She is a kind, generous person who will once again serve your best interest if elected. She never runs from controversy and always tells it like it is. We need her to provide contrast to the old lock-step positions that have plagued council for so long. She will do what she promises. She will listen and try to find a solution satisfactory to the party involved and in the best interest of the community at large.
Charles ``Don'' Crispin
Pulaski
Health District celebrates success
The New River Health District has celebrated National Public Health Week this week with the theme of ``Celebrating Success!'' Today we enjoy better health, live in healthier conditions, know more about how to take care of our health, and live longer. The many successes of public health have contributed to a 30-year increase in the average life span of Americans this century.
The delivery of health care is changing hour by hour. The roles your health department will play in the future may change. We are constantly assessing the public health needs of each community. We will continue to deliver services in the areas of immunizations for children; nutritional counseling and supplementation; septic, well and restaurant permits; vital records; dentistry; family planning; maternity; sexually transmitted diseases; rabies control; and many others. We welcome your suggestions on how to improve our services to the public. I want all the residents of this area to be able to contact us at any time.
J. Henry Hershey
Director, New River Health District
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