ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610100026
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-11 EDITION: METRO
10 Years Ago (1986)
Oct . 5: More than 2,200 people attend a combined morning worship service in the Roanoke Civic Center Auditorium honoring the Rev. Charles G. Fuller on the 25th anniversary of his pastorship of First Baptist Church in downtown Roanoke. A dinner service in the Fullers' honor was already held at the Salem Civic Center. Save for a call from God, Fuller has said he hasn't any plans to leave First Baptist after 25 years.
Oct. 20: California playwright Michael Malkin's play "Tides," a comedy, has won Mill Mountain Theatre's first national playwriting contest. "I think a lot of playwrights feel silenced and squelched," he says. "If more theaters did what Mill Mountain is doing and put on a new play every year, there would be more voices willing to speak and that would be a good thing."
Oct. 28: Bob Keeshan, television's Captain Kangaroo, is in Roanoke to deliver the keynote address at the Mental Health Association of the Roanoke Valley's annual parent-child seminar. Keeshan feels network television children's programming has become "rather exploitive" and commercially oriented, but that children haven't changed much. "They have a better vocabulary and they have better knowledge of the world around them because of TV, but they have the same security-related questions that haven't changed since we left the cave: `Who am I? Am I loved? Do I have a future?'''
25 Years Ago (1971)
Oct. 1: Amelia Dominquez sees her family for the first time in 31/2 years when she lands at Woodrum Airport from Cuba. She is one of the last 1,000 Cubans Fidel Castro permitted to leave that nation. Her husband, 16-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son greet her on her arrival. Dominquez had remained behind with her son Miguel, who is legally prohibited from leaving Cuba and recently married. "We may never see him again," says Manuel Dominquez, her husband.
Oct. 7: David Hickerson, founder and director of the newly opened Community School in Roanoke County, believes it enables children to pursue their creative and intellectual yearnings without pressure and restrictions of grade structure, marks or competitive atmosphere. "We're trying to put a carrot in front of the children instead of a whip behind them," says another Community School advocate, Dr. Paul Wood, chairman of the psychology department at Hollins College and father of a Community School student.
Oct. 14: British television personalities Jean Burns Joice and her husband, Dick Joice, are currently appearing on WDBJ-TV's show "Panorama." Commenting on the American women's liberation movement, Jean Joice observes, "You are having an equal rights drive. We aren't. You feel discriminated. We don't. You American women want to work. British women have a very strong feeling that home is where they should be."
Oct. 27: Classes at Patrick Henry High School are suspended because of a protest by blacks. At issue is the absence of black students among the nominees for the homecoming queen and her court. A student council meeting is seeking a resolution of the matter. There have also been numerous fights and other violent incidents at the school. William Fleming and Jefferson high schools are also experiencing disturbances. Dr. Roy A. Alcorn, Roanoke school superintendent, believes new security measures will correct the situation.
50 Years Ago (1946)
Oct. 5: The Rev. William James, pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, announces that establishing a black college in the vicinity of Roanoke is under consideration. The institution would begin in an "emergency" college to allow veterans and others to meet the requirements of a bachelor's degree.
Oct. 20: Robert C. "Bob" Royer, long revered as Roanoke's "most popular citizen," dies unexpectedly at his Raleigh Court home at age 63. He earned his title "Mr. Roanoke" from his work furnishing the city top-grade entertainment in athletics and on the stage.
Oct. 23: The Roanoke Junior Chamber of Commerce overwhelmingly approves a change in its by-laws that requires new Jaycees be qualified to vote and current members to become eligible. The Jaycees believe they can't conduct an effective "get-out-the-vote" campaign when some of their members can't vote themselves.
- MELVIN E. MATTHEWS JR.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB