ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BOONES MILL
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
Lynn Frith will be keeping his eye on some speeders Sunday, but Boones Mill's well-known traffic officer won't be writing any tickets.
Riders in the Tour DuPont will pedal through the Franklin County town on their way to Windy Gap Mountain and then on to the finish in Roanoke of Stage 5 of the bicycle race.
To open a stretch of U.S. 220 for the riders, a mile of the county's main thoroughfare will be closed for 20 to 30 minutes, starting around 4 p.m., Frith said.
Southbound traffic will be stopped at U.S. 220's intersection with Virginia 613 just north of the Boones Mill town limits, and northbound traffic will be held up near the intersection with Virginia 684 in the middle of town.
Traffic won't be delayed until the leader is nearing U.S. 220 from Virginia 613, Frith said.
Boones Mill resident Billy Hurt said he expects a lot of motorists to be real unhappy Sunday afternoon.
Until he was told about it by a reporter Tuesday, Hurt said, he hadn't heard anything about the race.
"I don't think most people around here care much about it either way," he said. "People will be cussing for 25 miles on 220 Sunday."
Frith said he and a group of county leaders have met regularly for a few weeks to make sure Franklin County's segment of the tour goes smoothly.
The traffic delay on 220 - and on other roads the race will use - shouldn't cause major problems, he said.
The biggest problem in Boones Mill on Sunday might be finding a place to park.
The small town - known for its scenic beauty, its bickering Town Council, and Frith and his Camaro police car - is gearing up for a big day.
Vendors will sell food and souvenirs. A computerized police device will be placed next to the first curve into town to clock the riders' speeds for the crowd.
And, there will be Civil War re-enactors. The Fincastle Rifles, a Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter, will set up camp Sunday morning in Boones Mill.
Red Barbour, the commander of the Rifles, said men and women will dress in Civil War costumes, and several will set up a recruitment booth for people wanting to join the group.
The group hopes to hold shooting demonstrations with black powder muskets, and there's talk of a welcoming volley as the first rider approaches town.
Not to worry, Barbour says: Muskets won't be fired at the race leader.
"We want to do it while the first rider is in sight, on up 220," he said. "We wouldn't fire just as he was coming by. That would scare the hell out of him."
Bring on all the pageantry, Delmas Clemons says.
The Boones Mill resident will take his children to see Sunday's action.
"We need to have something in the paper besides that police car, anyway," he said.
And maybe this time he'll get to see something that excites him.
Twice before, Clemons said, he got all worked up about a scheduled Franklin County event, only to be disappointed.
In the late '70s, then-President Carter was scheduled to attend the first Boones Mill Apple Festival, but had to cancel.
A short time later, Clemons bought tickets to see country singer Willie Nelson at the Franklin County Speedway - a concert that fizzled in a controversy that may never be forgotten in the county.
Nelson canceled the show after Franklin County Sheriff W.Q. "Quint" Overton said he'd arrest the singer if he came on stage with a bottle of liquor.
"I've still got tickets that were never used," Clemons said.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Lance Armstrong\'95 winner will return Sunday. color.by CNBGraphic: Map by staff. color.