
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 15, 1993                   TAG: 9307150029
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

DAY OF PLUNDER

They're big. They're bad. They're bold. They're back! The Harvey Street Pirates, Radford Riverfest raft race speed champions for the past two years, will once again ply the bounding main of the New River on Saturday, trying to make it three wins in a row.

The fourth annual Radford Riverfest, which grew out of the raft race, gets under way at 8:30 a.m. with a volleyball tournament jointly sponsored by Pepsi Cola and the Radford Chamber of Commerce.

But the noon raft race, sponsored by the Radford Chamber of Commerce, remains the main event.

"We'll have the winning raft again this year," predicted Luther Dickens, a member of the pirate band. `We're definitely the team to beat."

"We're just naturally good," he joked. "We start training two days before the race."

Dickens, who's president of Radva Corporation - the firm that supplies much of the expanded polystyrene used for flotation by Riverfest rafters - also concedes another superlative about his raftmates: "I'm quite sure we're the heaviest," he said.

He said none of the five pirates would qualify as petite. The band, which also will include Kenny Edwards and his son Tommy, a former Radford High School football standout who now plays for Virginia Tech, Roy Griffitts and Buzz Englehard, will try to beat last year's 2:07 record time over the approximately quarter-mile course in their pirate ship mockup.

Griffitts will be the unofficial captain. "I try to keep us off the rocks," he said.

Dickens estimated the crew's total weight at around 1,200 pounds, but said the raft probably would survive.

"It's unsinkable, but it depends on how much we've eaten. It has to carry a lot of weight," he said

Unfortunately, there's no prize category for bragging or for breaking the scales.

This year's Riverfest chairwoman, Mandy Martin, said prizes will be given for the fastest craft, best design, "I can't believe it floats" and people's choice, a new category.

Dickens and his pirate band may be competing against an unusual entry from Radva, a one-person, "squirrel cage" paddle-wheel arrangement.

"I'm the squirrel," said Bill Fry, a Radva employee who hopes to pedal and pilot his way to victory. He's been field-testing the craft at Claytor Lake.

While the raft race is the highlight, this year's Riverfest offers other competitive diversions, including "The Great American Outdoor Barbeque Cook-off," sponsored by Main Street Radford, and the American Cancer Society duck race.

The cook-off rules are fairly simple. "They can cook anything they want," she said. In previous years, the charcoal and gas grill entrees have included everything from seafood to venison.

At the 2 p.m. duck race, up to 500 plastic ducks, each with the purchaser's name, will be dumped from beneath Memorial Bridge. The first to reach the finish line wins.

Adopting a duck costs $5, or five for $20.

Music for all tastes starts at 11 a.m. Featured performers include adult contemporary and jazz by "The Blue Sky Band" and country music by "The Lone Starlets."

Acoustic guitarist Greg Phillips and bluegrass musicians "Full Circle" also will entertain at this year's event.

Discovery Works will provide children's activities all day. There will be food and crafts vendors too.

Admission to Riverfest 1993 is free.

To find out more about Radford Riverfest 1993, call 639-2202. For information on entering the Barbeque Cook-off, call 731-3656. The event starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m.

by CNB