Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 25, 1993 TAG: 9305250634
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
This is the fifth year that the Tour DuPont has been in our region and missed Roanoke. But the leaders who were quoted sounded as if they had just heard of the event. Do any of them read out-of-town or local newspapers, watch television news, or talk with people from other cities?
The fact that Lynchburg got a stage finish is particularly irritating in that no matter how inferior we may feel to Charlotte and Asheville, N.C., we have always imagined ourselves superior to Lynchburg!
The Tour DuPont is a pie of finite size. This year 17 towns and cities in this part of the country got stage starts and/or finishes. The event has quickly grown to the point that localities must bid for attention. Not only have the valley's leaders been missing the boat for the past five years, they apparently were unaware that the boat even existed!
Three years ago a couple of our leaders were informally approached about Roanoke becoming involved with this event. Their responses were, "What bicycle race?" and "We're not interested."
Look for Asheville to be a stop next year. (Here we go, feeling inferior again!)
Will somebody explain to Tim Gubala, Roanoke County's director of economic development, that he does not get paid to wait for economic opportunities to come to him? He is paid to seek them out. DICK HOWARD SALEM
by CNB