Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990 TAG: 9004190536
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
April in Appalachia, the yearly celebration at Virginia Tech commemorating the Appalachian way of life, will have a little of everything to keep alive the traditions and present them to the public. There'll be music and dance, photographs and exhibits, poetry and fiction, and some talks on Appalachian-related subjects. Most of the programs are open to the public at no charge.
On April 2, Jean Haskell Speer, director of Virginia Tech's Appalachian Studies Program, kicked off April in Appalachia with a talk at New River Community College as part of its Appalachian Awareness celebration. Speer discussed "The European Cultural Mix in Appalachia."
On April 3, award-winning Appalachian author Sharyn McCrumb read from her new novel, "If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O" and signed copies of her book.
The next day, the roamin' cameraman of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Earl Palmer, and Speer discussed and autographed copies of their new book, "The Appalachian Photographs of Earl Palmer." In the special collections area on the first floor of the library, visitors can see many of the Appalachian artifacts donated to Virginia Tech by Palmer, who collected them during his more than 60 years of rambling the mountains shooting the life of the people he loves.
A Historic Preservation Conference, "Living with Your Old House," will be held today and Saturday in conjunction with April in Appalachia. Sponsored by the New River Valley Preservation League, Virginia Tech's Center for Preservation and Rehabilitation Technology and the Appalachian Studies Program, the conference features lectures, tours of historic homes and craft demonstrations.
For information about the conference, to be held at Mountain Lake Hotel and at Virginia Tech, call Gibson Worsham at 552-4730.
An Earth Day tree-planting ceremony will be held at Solitude on the Virginia Tech Duck Pond Saturday at 4 p.m. The Appalachian Studies Program will plant a native serviceberry ("sarvis") tree near Solitude, which is to be renovated to house Tech's Appalachian Studies program.
Author William Mashburn of the mechanical engineering department of Tech will read from his book, "Mountain Summer," Tuesday at noon in Bristol, Va. He also will autograph copies of his book for school librarians in Southwest Virginia.
For more information about April in Appalachia, call 231-6551 or 231-9830.
by CNB