ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 14, 1997 TAG: 9704140071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: & Now This
A steady rain didn't stop the parade of Roanoke Valley residents who dropped off used tires Saturday. They brought 15,000 of them.
It was the Roanoke Valley's first Amnesty Day, and scores of residents seized the opportunity to get rid of their unwanted tires for free.
Michelle Bono, city spokeswoman, said she was surprised so many people turned out despite the miserable weather. "I don't know how many tires we would have gotten if it had been sunny."
The goal had been 10,000 tires, but volunteers made that Friday when they drove around the city cleaning up illegal tire dumps and collecting old tires from curbs.
The response Saturday filled two trailers at Crossroads Mall and Towers Shopping Center, and residents had to be diverted to the large collection site at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Officials were so pleased with the outcome of Amnesty Day that they hope to do it again, Bono said.
The city normally does not pick up tires at the curb with other garbage. Residents must take tires to the trash transfer station on Hollins Road Northeast and pay the $2 fee.
-BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER
McKeithan Park is well defended
The medieval war machine built in Lexington last week did what it was supposed to do.
The trebuchet - a larger and more powerful cousin of the catapult - flung a 75-pound river rock about 250 yards.
The machine's first test failed. The rock got caught up in the netting of the trebuchet's sling.
However, several adjustments were made, and the second throw produced the 250-yard hurl.
"It was a sight to see," said Grigg Mullen, a VMI engineering professor who worked on the project.
About 100 people, including Virginia Military Institute professors and cadets as well as members of the Timber Framers Guild of North America, worked for four days to build the machine. They set up camp in McKeithan Park just outside Lexington.
The trebuchet, made from hardwoods such as hemlock, has a frame that's 15 feet tall and a throwing arm that's 22 feet long.
The question now is: What will become of the mammoth piece of artillery?
Mullen said the trebuchet will stay in McKeithan Park for now.
-TODD JACKSON
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB