Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 30, 1994 TAG: 9406020040
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: By JOE KENNEDY Staff Writer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The festival will present noontime entertainment in the park daily through Friday and a big concert Friday night at Victory Stadium featuring Radar Rose, Spellbound and Three Dog Night. Admission is by $3 festival button, or $6 at the gate.
Saturday's doings include the First Union 5- and 10-kilometer runs at 8 a.m., the annual Sidewalk Art Show at Elmwood and environs, the Kaleidoscope Children's Theatre and more, plus a concert from The Stingrays followed by the Laser Show at 9:45 that night, in the park.
Sunday, the festival winds up with more sidewalk art and children's activities plus a concert finale that evening by Eight to the Bar. Information on all this, plus the festival softball tournament at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, is available from 342-2640.
Roanoke wouldn't be Roanoke without the James H. Drew Exposition Carnival Tuesday through Saturday at the Roanoke Civic Center's parking lot. It has free admission, the mighty midway, acres of rides and the Community Food Fair.
In 1983, a nice thing popped up in Rockbridge County near Lexington. It's Lime Kiln Arts, and it presents a season of concerts and plays in a old rock quarry or a nearby glade called The Bowl. This season opens with A Celebration of African-American Culture on June 8 through June 11. Opening night will be NAACP Benefit Night. Greta Evans will preside over a gospel music show followed by ``De Ways of De Wimmens,'' a one-act play adapted for Lime Kiln from a traditional Southern folktale. The suggested donation is $3, with proceeds going to the NAACP.
Other dates will feature soul food and storytelling, African dance, music and oral tradition, a dancing and singing workshop and, on June 11, ``To Be Sold,'' a musical drama combining slave narratives with the historical record to tell a gripping story.
Lime Kiln's signature work, ``Stonewall Country,'' previews on June 15 and 16 and opens June 17 for a run on Tuesdays through Saturdays through July 16. Don Baker and Robin and Linda Williams brought Stonewall Jackson to vivid life with this work.
``Romeo and Juliet'' from William Shakespeare previews July 20 and 21 and opens July 22. It, too, will run Tuesdays through Saturdays, through Aug. 13. The Family Folktale Festival will present three works, ``Jack and the Big Tree,'' ``Munci Meg'' and ``3 Drops of Blood'' between Aug. 16 and Sept. 1.
The Kiln's Coors Concert Series opens with the Seldom Scene on Sunday. The series will take place at 8 o'clock each Sunday through Sept. 4, finishing up with the Metro Blues Allstars. Jazz, bluegrass, country, zydeco and reggae all will be covered at one time or another. Call 463-3074 for information and reservations.
Rockbridge County also will be the site of the Third Annual Maury River Regatta on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can participate with a canoe or walk the Chessie Nature Trail, or you can take in such special events as the launching of Rockbridge's own batteau, the ``John Marshall,'' between 1 and 4 that afternoon at Zimmerman's Lock off the nature trail. The Marshall will be the first batteau to sail the Maury in a century, they say. Other batteaux will offer free rides to the public.
From 4 to 7 that evening at the Ben Salem Wayside near Buena Vista, you can buy or bring your own picnic dinner and look at displays about river lock construction. Jim Morrison and his band will perform 19th-century boatman's music. Information is at 261-7334 or 261-1221.
Roanoke's railroad history will be revived June 11 and 12 when the Norfolk and Western's Class ``J'' locomotive, No. 611, comes to town for steam excursions. On June 11 the mighty engine will haul passengers aboard historic rail cars to Pulaski for the First Annual Pulaski Depot Day in that town's restored, 1888 Victorian train station. Riders may disembark there for the celebration or continue to Glade Spring, and then come back to Roanoke.
On June 12, the 611 will travel over the Shenandoah Valley Line, passing through Buchanan, Natural Bridge and Glasgow before being replaced by diesels for the James River ride to Lynchburg and back.
Times, prices and other details are available from several outlets including the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Call there or call 366-0916 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. or 366-5211 from 6 to 10 p.m.
An estimated 35,000 people will attend the 23rd Roanoke Valley Horse Show on June 20-26 at the Salem Civic Center, where 800 to 1,000 horses are expected to be put through their paces. Crowd-pleasers will include the Jack Russell Terrier races June 24, free-style dressage competition June 25 and the Roanoke Grand Prix jumping event, with a purse of $75,000, at 2 o'clock June 26.
June 21-23 will introduce John Payne, ``the One-Arm Bandit,'' who has the best-rated rodeo act of the past several years. It involves three Longhorn steers, three mustang horses, two dogs and the mounted Bandit, who drives them all - except one of the dogs - to the top of his gooseneck trailer. He really does have only one arm.
The show is presented by the Roanoke Valley Horsemen's Association and the Junior League of Roanoke Valley.
Local Color, a celebration of cultural diversity, will take place again June 25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Kirk Avenue in downtown Roanoke. Music and entertainment from several cultures, children's activities including games from foreign countries, ethnic displays and international food, plus a car show, will be parts of the program, as will sidewalk sales from downtown merchants. The event is sponsored by the Roanoke Times & World-News, and the number for information is 342-1452.
Summer wouldn't be summer in these parts without the annual Music for Americans concert and fireworks at Roanoke's Victory Stadium. It starts July 4 at 7:30 and features music from members of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Stan Kingma's Virginians and the Music for Americans Chorus. The master of ceremonies is Stan Kingma. James Glazebrook will conduct the musicians. Admission is free, the sponsor is the Roanoke Times & World-News.
In Blacksburg, the annual Steppin' Out Festival will fill the streets near Virginia Tech with music, food, retail booths and children's activities. It will be Aug. 5 and 6, and though you may not know it, it's part of a two-month celebration called the Blacksburg Summer Arts Festival, co-sponsored by the town and the university.
Components include art exhibits at the Armory Art Gallery at Tech, outdoor concerts each Friday night from 6 to 7:30 on the lawn at Henderson Hall next to College Avenue, free Wednesday night films in Haymarket Theatre of Squires Student Center and rotating productions of two plays, ``El Grande de Coca-Cola'' by Ron House and ``Bedtime Story'' by Sean O'Casey, from Tech's Theatre Arts University Theatre. They begin June 14, and they're free in Squires Studio Theatre. Call 231-5200 or 231-5921 for details.
The Commonwealth Games of Virginia return to Roanoke and Lynchburg July 15-17 with competition sites throughout the area. Opening ceremonies will be at Victory Stadium in Roanoke the night of July 15. Thousands of amateur athletes will participate in scads of sports, including these new ones: indoor rock climbing, summer biathlon and open martial arts. To register, volunteer or obtain more information call Virginia Amateur Sports at 343-0987 or (800) 333-8274.
The Salem Fair and Exposition enters its seventh year with many of the elements that have brought success so far. It will be July 1-10 on the Salem Civic Center grounds, and it will have some 40 Deggeller midway rides, Robinson's Racing Pigs, the Bob Jones petting zoo, the Great Little Bear Show featuring three uncaged black bears, figure skaters, a wrestling alligator, crafts, produce and baked goods on exhibit and fireworks July 2, 3 and 4. Admission and parking are free. Call 375-3004.
Another noteworthy fair is the Rockbridge Regional Fair July 26-30 at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington. Cole Shows will have the midway, and there will be a tractor pull and music from the Fabulous Cruisers, a Doug Stone concert and a rodeo, plus all the time-honored exhibits. Call 463-6263.
A change of venue is in order for the 13th annual Roanoke Beach Party put on by the city's Special Events Committee. It will be August 27 at Victory Stadium from 2 to 7 p.m., with music by Key West, the Fabulous Kays and Bill Deal, Ammon Tharp and the Original Rhondels. Admission is $2, and children 12 and under will get in for free.
by CNB