ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120017
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: the tipoff
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES
ALMOST ATLANTA: The Olympic-style sports festival for Virginia's amateur athletes of all ages and skill levels runs today through Sunday at various sporting venues throughout the Roanoke Valley and surrounding communities. Competitions range from archery and autocross to water-skiing and wrestling.
Opening ceremonies, tonight at 8 at Victory Stadium, Roanoke, will include a Parade of Athletes and the lighting of the torch. Tickets cost $4; children 10 and younger, free. Call 343-0987.
QUEEN SINGS: Elaine Silver, the "Folk Music Queen of New Jersey," will show off her spectrum of music Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Roanoke. Silver's music - from a cappella to self-accompanied on guitar and banjo - has been reported by some listeners to have a "healing effect." Most recently, Silver has been musically exploring the imaginative world of Faerieland. CDs of her "Faeries, Dreams and Other Friends," "Open Hearts" and "Echoes of Light" will be available. Call 342-8888.
STUDENT AID: Brian Sowers was 13 when he started volunteering at the Veterans Hospital. At 15, he was named Virginia's Volunteer of the Year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. On June 6, at age 17, the Patrick Henry High School student died of a mysterious illness, leaving his family, which had no hospitalization insurance, with mammoth medical bills.
On Saturday at the Vinton War Memorial, the church and community to which Sowers gave so freely of his time and energy will hold Brian Sowers Day, featuring games, music, crafts, food and a dunking booth for local dignitaries. Proceeds will help offset Sowers' medical bills. For information, call Joe Bush at 344-1470.
AIDS AID: Sisters in the Name of Love of the Roanoke Valley, an AIDS service organization, will host its annual summer AIDS benefit gala on Sunday in the Grand Ballroom of the Patrick Henry hotel. The semiformal gathering, from 3 to 6 p.m., will include educational speakers, music by Pete Murphy and Empty Pockets and a buffet meal. Tickets cost $15 for individuals and $25 per couple. Call 982-7757.
TALENTED TRIO: Tony Ellis, Laura Lewis and Paul Kovac - collectively known as the Tony Ellis Trio - will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the newly remodeled Rex Theatre in Galax. Banjo-playing Ellis has received five composition awards from ASCAP and is a nominee for the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship Award. Appalachian dancer Lewis, a much-sought teacher of Appalachian clogging, also sings, plays old-time banjo, fiddle and guitar, and calls square dances. Kovac plays a multitude of acoustic instruments. Admission to the Rex Theatre benefit costs $8 per person. Call 236-9081.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: silver (headshot)by CNB