Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 8, 1993 TAG: 9302080020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
& NOW THIS
Still fightingFrank Smusz continues to roam the halls of power - in Washington now.
Last week, he attended the National Breast Cancer Coalition Congressional Breakfast with 16 other members of the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation.
Smusz, 35, of Fincastle, was married to Lorraine Smusz, who died last year after a long fight with breast cancer. They became well-known during a battle with their insurance company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia, over a controversial treatment the company would not cover. Frank Smusz has taken their story to the General Assembly and lobbied legislators on breast-cancer issues.
At the Washington breakfast, Smusz said he talked to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Both were sympathetic. Harkin has lost two sisters to breast cancer, Smusz said.
Meanwhile, Smusz is waiting to hear back from first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom he met during a health care conference in Richmond in November. He wrote her last month to volunteer his support on health care reform and asked her to keep in touch with him.
Flower power
Bill Burtch, in a fit of conscience, closed his Salem florist shop last year on Valentine's Day - the most profitable time of year for florists.
Burtch said he couldn't bear, during hard economic times, to pass inflated rose prices on to his customers. A dozen roses he sold for $38.50 in mid-January would cost $70 by Valentine's Day.
The move cost Burtch some customers. And some flower wholesalers refuse to do business with him to this day, he says.
Maybe it's a sign of the improving economy, or maybe it's just a small businessman coming to his senses. Whichever, Marizel's Flowers on West Main Street will be open this Valentine's Day and - yes - Burtch will be selling roses to romantic sorts willing to shell out big bucks.
That's entertainment
Some say the New Virginians - the spirited song and dance troupe from Virginia Tech that is struggling for survival - is outdated. But Stan Kingma, former director of the group, doesn't think so. In fact, this year he's working with a new group that probably could be called the Old Virginians.
"I think there's a need to continue performing music that convention groups and families want to hear," he said.
The group is called Stan Kingma's Virginians, and is subtitled "The Adventure Continues."
Group members range from 20 to 60 years in age.
Words and deeds
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, marked the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision last month by speaking at a rally sponsored by the church that erected the "Field of Blood" alongside Interstate 64 in Augusta County.
The rally was sponsored by the Foursquare Gospel Church in Fishersville - the church that put up 4,400 red wooden crosses to commemorate the number of abortions performed in the U.S. each day.
Three days later, vandals struck the Field of Blood, pulling down two-thirds of the crosses and burning several hundred of them. The Rev. Bob Hughes, the church's pastor, said the crosses would be replaced.
Early American power tools?
The Explore Park is going to great lengths to assure that its Blue Ridge farmstead is an authentic recreation of frontier conditions.
Explore backers reassembled a house from the early 1800s and are building a log barn with period tools and construction methods.
But they allow themselves a few modern shortcuts.
The tranquility of the rustic farm scene was broken recently by the drone of a chain saw. A worker hewed a log with the gasoline-powered tool - saving himself many hours of toil.
Explore leader Robert Cutler says some compromises are acceptable. "There's\ no point in being masochists," he said.
Bin hazards
Have you noticed large trash bins jutting out in several streets in Roanoke where buildings are being renovated?
The bins are convenient for contractors, but Vice Mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. is worried that they could become safety hazards for motorists, especially at night. "They can be dangerous because you don't see them until you are up on them," he said.
Fitzpatrick thinks the city should require that tape or some other reflective material be placed on the bins. He has asked City Manager Bob Herbert to study the issue and recommend something to City Council.
Help wanted
As others have noted, President Clinton has been slow to make appointments to 3,000-plus federal positions - including the Federal Railroad Administration. Last week, a reporter asked that agency if a bill in the General Assembly requiring trains to blow whistles at trestles would be an infringement of its regulatory powers. A spokesman responded: "Without an administrator, I doubt we're going to have a policy statement - since we don't know yet what our policy's going to be."
Memo: correction ***CORRECTION***