Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 5, 1990 TAG: 9003052223
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
1. Explore is and has always been committed to helping the environment, not hurting it.
2. By creating a national park, the Roanoke River Parkway, which Explore (not the conservation group) initiated, will protect the Roanoke River gorge area. It will be further protected by the fact that the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority, appointed by our governor, owns state land along the river.
3. Explore is not a theme park! Anyone asking a few questions would clearly see the difference. Explore is an open-air musuem, by definition a recreation of a time in Virginia's history. It will have a Blue Ridge Town with more than 300 important craft artisans supplying the wares of a bygone era.
4. By having Explore, we are protecting our own heritage, one that we too easily can forget if there is not a wonderful place to help teach our children.
5. Finally, Explore will tell a story that has never been told before from the perspective of Indians. Native Americans have to tell that story, and Explore is providing the place and working with a national Native American Committee for this purpose.
Mr. Simon and the group he represents do not know what they are talking about. If he had asked, he could have known the facts. JUNE McBROOM ROANOKE
by CNB