Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 25, 1993 TAG: 9310250005
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Brian McConnell has been overwhelmed with national attention since a story in this newspaper last week told how he sent an automated telephone customer complaint to First Union National Bank.
The Blacksburg resident said he received more than 60 calls from newspapers and TV and radio stations across the country.
"It's just crazy," he said. "I finally had to stop answering my phone."
ABC flew him to Los Angeles, where he was a guest on the "Home" show, hosted by Gary Collins. Julia Child appeared on the same show; McConnell tasted her chocolate treats and said they were "to die for."
While in L.A., he also taped an interview with "NBC Nightly News" that was to air this past Saturday.
The story was picked up by several national networks including CNN, ABC radio and National Public Radio. A national radio talk show from Canada also carried the story.
McConnell, who designs automated telephone systems for a living, sent the automated complaint after failing to reach a live person at the bank over Columbus Day weekend.
"We'll know it's completely out of hand if Jay Leno calls," he said.
NS cars to go Hollywood
Some Norfolk Southern Corp. grain cars will be featured in an upcoming segment of the popular CBS television show "Rescue 911."
A production crew from the show will re-create the rescue of a 9-year-old Indiana boy who fell into a grain car in Indianapolis last month while playing on top of a train.
The boy, Steven Marson, was unhurt, but spent 2 1/2 days trapped in the car. He traveled 50 miles to West Lafayette, Ind., before a 2-year-old boy told his grandmother that the train was talking to him.
The grandmother, skeptical at first, heard Steven's cries for help and dialed 911.
Homer Henry of Rail-Tech Productions of Chicago, who was hired by the TV show to re-create Steven's ordeal, wrote NS public relations manager Bob Auman in Roanoke that the story "graphically displays the hazards of children playing around trains."
The episode, featuring seven NS grain cars, will be filmed on an NS siding in West Lafayette this week.
The beard - and CROP coffers - win
The Rev. Mark Radecke is looking a little scraggly these days, but he's just following orders from his parishioners at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Ever since Radecke shaved off his beard about a year ago, some in his flock have been trying to talk him into growing it back. A few weeks ago, Radecke consented to a vote on the issue.
For a $1 contribution to the Roanoke Valley CROP Walk to fight hunger, parishioners and friends could vote either to "Grow It Back" or "Keep It Off."
Radecke said he initially had hoped "the stunt" would raise about $250. It actually drew $1,343 in donations - with a narrow $121 margin to "Grow It Back."
Those donations amounted to almost one-tenth of the $15,000 total the CROP Walk raised.
The ghosts of hockey past
To survive in the Roanoke Valley, the Express hockey team will need to step over the bones of its predecessors. On Hardy Road in Bedford County, there's still a billboard for the Virginia Lancers. At the LancerLot in Vinton, the lone remaining wall from the snow-bludgeoned hockey arena still bears the bright emblem of the Roanoke Rebels. The ghosts of the Roanoke Rampage, too, lurk at the now demolished Vinton arena.
All quiet . . . very quiet
Looking lost at Towers Shopping Center, the man finally asked for directions to a shoe store.
He said he was from the Bronx in New York City, but his former wife and two sons live in Roanoke, and he visits from time to time.
The inevitable question: How do you like Roanoke?
"I can't stand it," he said. "It's like every day's a weekend. Where is everybody?"
Can you hold, please?
The Williamson Road Area Business Association finally returned some very old phone calls early this month.
For months, there was no one at the group's office - just an answering machine and no one assigned to check its messages.
Roger Dalton started work Oct. 1 as the executive director of the nonprofit economic and community development organization.
He spent his first day on the job returning about 25 calls.
Dalton, who doesn't have an assistant, said callers still may occasionally get the machine if he's out of the office. But he promises to call back in a timely manner.
Tech could help Roanoke go green
Bob Fetzer sees it as another opportunity for Roanoke and Virginia Tech to work together.
The city and Tech have cooperated on renovating Hotel Roanoke, the Roanoke Valley Graduate Center, smart highway and other projects.
Now, Fetzer has proposed that the city seek Tech's help in designing a system of green ways.
Fetzer, a building contractor and preservationist, wants Roanoke to develop a network of green ways similar to those in Knoxville, Tenn., and other cities. He has written city officials asking them to look into his proposal.
Fetzer envisions a parks system extending through downtown, along the Roanoke River and perhaps up Mill Mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
by CNB