ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 6, 1996 TAG: 9607080065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
It looked like a holiday Friday at most businesses, but it wasn't. Many workers just took the day off, combining Thursday's Independence Day holiday with Saturday and Sunday for a four-day weekend.
``On this floor, everyone's gone,'' lamented Mary Pugh, a human resources secretary at James River Corp.'s headquarters in Richmond. ``There's no one else here. ... I'm all alone.''
For people who work at Virginia's packed tourist venues, however, Friday was anything but a day at the beach.
``We're completely sold out. My switchboard has been lit up all morning,'' said Holly Butler, an operator at the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach.
``Our lodges were full - and the campgrounds - we're pretty full,'' said Lyn Rothgeb, a spokeswoman for Shenandoah National Park. She said the four-day holiday weekend was as busy as the fall foliage season, when leaf peepers crowd the park.
Postal employees, federal employees and many city employees were expected at work Friday, but Gov. George Allen gave state workers the day off. Thus, Virginia's historic Capitol was filled with tourists instead of legislators, lobbyists and bureaucrats for a change.
Dora Lunsford, who leads Capitol tour groups, said about 250 visitors had seen the Capitol by early Friday afternoon.
``It's one of those mixed-up days, some people are working and some aren't, but you can tell the state workers are gone,'' she said. ``We deal with the tourists, so we're open every day of the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.''
The holiday doesn't apply to the state police, who braced for one of their busiest weekends of the year. About 75 percent of the agency's employees will work this weekend, said spokeswoman Mary Evans.
Even though Shenandoah Park was crowded, Rothgeb said a lot of the park's staff had decided to take Friday off.
``This office [in Luray] is pretty much a ghost town.''
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB