ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 26, 1996 TAG: 9604260029
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: The Tipoff
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES
TOY STORIES: Today through Sunday, the stately rooms of Historic Avenel, Bedford, will be filled with beautiful dolls, vintage trains, handmade teddy bears, miniatures, dollhouses and more for show and sale during "Dolls, Trains & Things! A Spring Marketplace at Historic Avenel." The display will be open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today and Saturday and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. A luncheon will be available 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. each day on the porch and lawn of the home built around 1838 for William M. and Frances Steptoe Burwell. Admission to the annual fund-raiser is $3 for adults; $1.50 for students. Call 586-0394.
The Hoffman Challenge Doll Collection, including soft-bodied play dolls, ceramic dolls and theme dolls, will be featured at the White Oak Mountain Quilters Guild Quilt Show today (10 a.m.-5 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m.-4 p.m.) at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Danville. Old doll cribs and doll quilts also will be shown. A full-size sampler quilt will be raffled. Admission is $3. Call Judy Jones (804) 685-3592.
Teddy bear artists and dealers from all over the United States will exhibit their wares in The World of Teddy Bears show, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at the Airport Marriott Hotel. Bob Denver "Gilligan" bears will be featured and Carla Kulka of "Have A Heart" will be the guest artist. Admission is $4 for adults and $1 for children.
The Roanoke/Salem Comic Book & Collectible Expo, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at the Salem Civic Center, will feature gold- and silver-age comics, nonsport cards, collectible toys, action figures, comic art and appearances by guest artists. Admission is $1.
THESE BUDS FOR YOU: Biology professor Khidir Hilu's lecture on man's usage of plant life kicks off the annual Wildflower Pilgrimage sponsored by the Science Museum of Western Virginia. The talk, at 7 tonight in Hopkins Planetarium, Center In the Square, Roanoke, will be followed by an informal reception. On Saturday and Sunday the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Native Plant Society and the Roanoke Valley Bird Club will lead walks through varied terrain. For schedules and registration, call 342-5727.
The Blue Ridge Orchid Society will show and sell orchids and supplies and answer questions about orchid culture Thursday through May 4 at Roanoke's Valley View Mall. The free show will open around 2 p.m. Thursday and will be open during regular mall hours for the remaining days. Call 951-1604 or 951-0172.
FAMILY AFFAIR: Five cast members of "The Waltons' TV Family" will serve as Grand Marshals for the 41st Annual Vinton Dogwood Festival on Saturday. They'll sign autographs 1:15-2:40 p.m. at the Vinton Memorial Building. Other highlights will include musical entertainment, the queen crowning and reception at 11:30 a.m.; an antique automobile show; and, of course, the parade at 3 p.m.
BARD BURNS: The Scottish Society of the Virginia Highlands will present excerpts from a new musical about the life and loves of Scotland's Robert Burns on Sunday at 2 p.m. The performance of "The Legend of Robbie Burns," in the Jefferson Ballroom of The Patrick Henry Hotel, will cost $8 for general admission or $5 for society members. Call 342-5857.
HOOPS, THERE IT IS: The Harlem Wizards, the renowned entertainment basketball team, will dazzle and dumbfound home team Roanoke Valley Half-Baked Lizards on Sunday in a display of trickery, teamwork and humorous antics. There also will be an audience-participation half-time show, a postgame autograph session and Wizard souvenirs for sale. Admission to the event in Virginia Western Community College's gym will cost $5 in advance; $6 at the door; $2 for children under 12. Call 857-7312.
SIBLING SYNERGY: One sister is an artist, the other is a schizophrenic in "My Sister's Sister," the third play in the autobiographical trilogy, "A Family Album." Writer and Obie award-winning performer Julie Portman's dialogue and acting melds with composer Paul Reiser's music to depict a family determined to be "just the way they are." The performance will be at 8 p.m. Thursday in Hollins College's Hollins Theatre. Tickets cost $5; $1 for students. Call 362-6269.
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