ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996 TAG: 9606280025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: out & about
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS-BANKS
That tantalizing aroma you'll be following Saturday will lead straight to Christiansburg's Montgomery Museum.
Grilled hot dogs, spicy baked beans, summer salads and homemade desserts - that's what you'll find at the end of your nose. The annual "Heritage Day" celebration gets under way at 1 p.m. on the museum grounds.
The dinner will be available for $3.50. It comes with a free side order of fun and games.
Traditionally, the event features outdoor play, live music and old-time crafts demonstrations.
Frank Bersch, a whittler, will set the wood chips flying while Debbie Harowitz shows you how pioneer women pieced quilts and made clothing by weaving.
Bob Salo will demonstrate basket making and Nancy Surranders will create apple dolls.
Other participants include genealogist Carolyn Cosgriff and singer John Lemasters. Lemasters will bring his guitar and perform from 5 to 6 p.m.
All the entertainment is free and open to everyone. While you're there, make sure you see the exhibit at the museum's Lewis Miller Regional Art Center. Akiko Yamamuro of Blacksburg has a display of beautiful designs created from Japanese paper work.
For more information about Heritage Day, call the museum at 382-5644.
SOLID GOLD: WPUV - the Pulaski County radio station that's helped advance the careers of many Grand Ole Opry stars over the years - will celebrate its golden anniversary this weekend.
Station owner Billy Hale, recently named "Radio Personality of the Year" by the International Country Gospel Music Association, recalls when WPUV was the only radio station in Southwest Virginia for many years. It began operation in 1946.
Hale said more than a dozen national recording artists will help with this weekend's wingding at the First Pentecostal Holiness Church in Pulaski.
Terry Lee Goffee and Elaine Anderson (voted male and female country gospel vocalists of the year) will perform, along with Melody Beiser, Richard Kiser, W.C. Taylor and Jeff Hill.
The birthday bash begins tonight with a concert at 7 on the church grounds. Singing resumes Saturday at 10 a.m. with June Draper and a host of other recording artists. The final concert is Sunday night at 7.
The church is at U.S. 11 and Memorial Drive. There's no charge to attend the concerts but donations will be accepted.
DREAMS: They say dreams are a dime a dozen.
More than two dozen local guys and gals will put their dreams on the line Sunday when the True Value/Jimmy Dean Country Music Showdown gets under way in Radford's Bisset Park.
Organized locally by Kool Country radio, the contest is sponsored by Hudson Chevrolet, Pilot Homes and All Country. Michelle Vaught, sales manager at the radio station, said some of the best talent in the area will compete for cash prizes and the chance to perform in the state showdown to be held later this year.
"We've had a really good response," Vaught said. "Most of the acts are new and many have never done anything like this before."
The Pickup Men, a Pulaski-based band, will back up the performers at Sunday's showdown. The competition starts at 2 p.m. Admission is free.
And dreams do come true. You may just see the next Garth Brooks or Reba McEntire up on the stage Sunday.
PLAY TIME: Virginia Tech's second Theatre Arts-University Theatre summer production, "The French Farce Club," shows tonight and Saturday in Squires Studio Theatre. A final run is set for July 9-13. Curtain time for each show is at 8 p.m.
The farcical comedy, based on the Restoration plays of French playwright Georges Fedeau, is set in modern times. Director Andy Belser, a Virginia Tech alumnus, promises lots of action and slapstick humor.
Admission to "The French Farce Club" and all the summer productions is free. The plays are part of the Summer Arts Festival put on by the university and the town of Blacksburg.
JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK: The pay was poor. The food was bad. And the chances for survival were mighty slim.
Civil War soldiers created the first "dog tags," writing their names and addresses on handkerchiefs or pieces of paper and pinning them to their uniforms before marching into battle.
The men in blue and the men in gray were fathers and sons and brothers.
You can hear the stories of Civil War soldiers Saturday at the Oak Grove Pavilion in Floyd. Zion Lutheran Church will present an evening of storytelling with D.J. Keith as part of its outreach ministry.
The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available and donations will be accepted for six Floyd County community service agencies.
The church is at Virginia 615 and 693. Bring your blankets and lawn chairs for the outdoor seating. The pavilion is situated among the oaks and pines on the church lawn.
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