ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
A WIN FOR ROANOKE would mark the fifth in 44 years and would tie it with Cleveland, Ohio, for the most wins.
When Northeast Roanoke resident Roy Stroop jumped waist-deep into the smelly subject of trash a few years back, it never dawned on him that his effort could lead to the civic equivalent of Hollywood's Oscars.
There's a good chance it will.
Roanoke is among 30 finalists for the coveted "All America City" awards, which will be handed out by the National Civic League in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday.
Stroop and 32 other residents and city officials from Roanoke will fly to the Lone Star State today for a three-day celebration of civic pride climaxing in the awards presentation Saturday.
Ten of the finalists will receive "All America City" honors. A win for Roanoke would mark its fifth in 44 years. Cleveland, Ohio, is the only city to have taken the prize five times.
The awards are sponsored by the National Civic League. Designation as an All America City doesn't mean that a community is perfect. Rather, it's a recognition of effective problem-solving by residents, businesses, government and nonprofit organizations working together.
This time around, Roanoke officials are trumpeting three recent projects that they say fit the bill.
Stroop was involved in one of them, and it had the potential for a really big stink: where to put the valley's new trash transfer station after the region's old landfill closed. He and others served on a residents panel that developed criteria for where the station should go, its design and hours of operation. They even got down to the nitty-gritty of what kind of deodorizer to use in the facility.
By the time a final recommendation was ready, nobody yelled "Not in my back yard!" because most of the people who cared deeply had already contributed to the decision-making. The station ended up going in Northeast, not far from where Stroop lives.
"I've had more stir-up over this, I never would have imagined," says Stroop, a retired oil company worker who's led the Wildwood Civic League for 10 years.
Another of the projects is the successful redevelopment of the Hotel Roanoke.
The third is the restoration of the old Jefferson High School on Campbell Avenue Southwest into the Jefferson Center, a multi-purpose cultural center that also houses offices for some city agencies and nonprofit organizations.
"It means a whole lot for me to represent Roanoke because I love living here," said Mitzi Cotton of Northwest, who will be attending the conference with her 5-year-old daughter, Samara. "I'm very excited about talking about the Jefferson Center because that's where my child goes to [pre]school."
Also in the city delegation are students Whitney Hanes and Kate Nettles, members of Roanoke's youth symphony; Anntwine "Too-Too" Lee, a housekeeper at Hotel Roanoke; and Jane Stephenson, executive director of the Jefferson Center.
City taxpayers will pay travel and expenses for eight of the 33 participants, including Mayor David Bowers; City Manager Bob Herbert; Councilwomen Elizabeth Bowles and Linda Wyatt; and John Marlles, chief of community planning. Most of the other costs will be covered by 15 local businesses, which contributed $18,000 for the trip.
The award is probably familiar to Roanoke Valley residents.
The city won its first "All America City" award in 1952. In 1979, a joint "All America City" award was bestowed on the Roanoke Valley after the city, Roanoke County, Salem and Vinton entered the contest together.
The city won it again in 1982 and 1988. And in 1989, Roanoke County became the first county in Virginia to win the award. Other past winners include Martinsville, Blacksburg and Charlottesville.
This year's contenders are both large and small. Among those Roanoke is up against are New Orleans; Boston; Waco, Texas; and Piqua, Ohio.
Exactly what the All America City Award means is tough to gauge.
"I don't know if there is a tangible benefit you get from it," said Anne-Marie Green, spokeswoman for Roanoke County. "It's hard to measure. There was just this tremendous pride that we were able to win this. ... It was just a wonderful, feel-good event. It made us really proud."
Hollins Road North Civic League President Rick Hendricks, who's part of the local delegation, calls the award itself "nice publicity." But he foresees substantial benefits from the information sharing that finalists will do during the three-day conference.
"We're going to see what [other municipalities] do as far as mixing their government with their communities," Hendricks said. "We're going to get ideas. There are ideas there that maybe we can come back with and use to improve Roanoke even more. We're not perfect."
The weekend features a judged show in which community representatives present 6-minute videos on their city and answer questions posed by judges.
There's also some good-natured rivalry and hometown hokiness. At a trade show-style civic fair, finalist cities try to outshine each other by handing out products with local flavor.
Among other items, Roanoke's booth is giving away striped railroad caps and wooden train whistles courtesy of Norfolk Southern and apple cobbler prepared by the Roanoker Restaurant.
The city's booth also is giving away apples, which - shhhh! - are coming from Texas because local varieties aren't available until fall.
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