Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 16, 1993 TAG: 9307150175
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Donna Alvis Banks
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
OK, OK! Let's skip the steamy details.
It all boils down to mother's advice: "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."
"With pleasure," you say?
You've several good choices for good eats this weekend. For starters, there's the barbecue cook-off at Radford's Riverfest celebration Saturday. In addition to the spicy home-cooked barbecue, you'll find a smorgasbord of international and American foods. The vendors will be out in force from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the annual festival in Bisset Park.
In Newport, members of the Woman's Club are busy chopping veggies and chilling Jell-O for the annual salad supper Saturday. It starts at 6 p.m. at the Newport Recreation Center in the Giles County community.
The supper features an ample assortment of salads, as well as tasty beans and corn bread. Drinks are included in the price of $5 for adults or $2.50 for kids under 12.
If you're in the mood for fresh summer flowers, candlelight and country cooking, head for the little historic community of Newbern in Pulaski County. The Wilderness Road Regional Museum is having its annual colonial dinner Saturday.
Baked Virginia ham, fried chicken, garden vegetables, juicy melon, homemade bread (is your mouth watering yet?) and peach cobbler with sweet topping is the spread. The meal also includes smearcase (old-fashioned cottage cheese), pickles, relishes and hot and cold beverages.
Reservations for seatings at either 5:30 or 7:30 p.m. may be made by calling Daisy Williams, 674-5888; Geraldine Mathews, 980-7499; Ann Bailey, 382-2298; or the museum, 674-4835. The cost for the buffet dinner is $12.50 for adults. Children under 12 eat for half-price.
Dinner guests will gather in the reception room of the museum for an appetizer before the meal. While you're there, be sure you take in the Civil War exhibit. Photographs, artifacts and Civil War memorabilia will remain on display through July.
\ FOOT IT: The Blacksburg Old-Time Music and Dance Group will have its traditional mountain square dance Saturday night, starting at 8, at Montgomery County Park. If you want to join the group for dinner, bring a dish for the potluck meal. It begins at 6:30 in shelter No. 3.
This is an informal group of dancers and musicians who get together each month for fun and fellowship. The group's main interest is to keep up the older musical traditions of the Southern mountains.
Saturday's dance features a group from Talcott, W.Va., Jim Costa and the Bull Roarers. Costa plays fiddle in the band.
Caller Beth Molaro of Charleston, S.C., will teach all the steps. Even if you have two left feet, you can swing at this shindig.
Admission is $4. The money is used to cover the group's expenses and to support related activities such as the weekly fiddlers' jam sessions in Blacksburg.
The next dance is Sept. 11 at the park on County Road. It's across from Corning Glass Works on U.S. 460 between Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
\ OPEN-AIR AFFAIR: Outdoor concerts around the New River Valley pick up with a performance by the Blue Sky Band this evening at Virginia Tech. The versatile local group will play at 6 on the Henderson Hall lawn. If it rains, the music moves indoors to Squires Student Center.
The McKenzies will perform contemporary folk music, jazz standards, swing, ragtime and special tunes for kids at the outdoor concert Tuesday in Radford's Bisset Park. It starts at 7 p.m. at the gazebo.
Admission to the outdoor concerts tonight and Tuesday are free.
The Blacksburg Community Band will play Thursday, 7 p.m., at the Narrows Town Park. The 35-member band plays a potpourri of popular styles. Admission is $3 for adults or $1 for children.
If you're planning on attending any of the outdoor concerts, feel free to pack a picnic supper and don't forget to bring lawn chairs or blankets for the outdoor seating.
\ WHAT'S HAPPENIN'? The South Main Cafe in Blacksburg has back-to-back boogie men tonight and Saturday.
The Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, once called a "mutant hybrid of Randy Newman, Sam Kinison and Meade Lux," is the feature act at the cafe tonight. He belts out blues and boogie-woogie on the piano while drawing nonstop laughter from his following.
Admission to tonight's show is $5 if you're over 21 or $6 if you're under 21.
On Saturday, the Record Exchange is sponsoring an appearance by the Grandsons of the Pioneers. The band plays an upbeat blend of New Orleans rhythm and blues, western swing, rockabilly and two-step tunes. Because they play a whole slew of instruments, the four-man group generates a big sound.
Admission Saturday is $4 (over 21) or $5 (under 21).
Entertainment at the South Main Cafe, 117 S. Main St., starts at 10 p.m. nightly.
by CNB