Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180068
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANKS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Candy is fattening and bad for the teeth. Clothes are the wrong size or the wrong color or the wrong style. Small appliances are....
No more small appliances, PLEASE.
If you've started your holiday shopping list, you may be feeling overwhelmed - and it's not even Thanksgiving yet.
Think art.
Lots of galleries around the New River Valley are offering art of every description for holiday gift-giving.
The Gallery of Local Artists, a cooperative gallery sponsored annually by the New River Arts Council, opens Saturday and runs through Dec. 31. Artists will display and sell their work in the former Furniture Market building on Main Street in Christiansburg.
You'll find paintings, photographs, fabric arts, sculpture, music, stained glass, jewelry, pottery, art furniture, books and postcards. Prices range from under a dollar to thousands of dollars.
Regular gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The gallery won't be open on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day.
For more information, call Barbara Capps at 382-2397 or Darcy Meeker at 544-7173.
Don't forget about the artists' holiday sale at Montgomery Museum in Christiansburg. The sale, which features mostly small items priced under $200, ends Sunday.
The museum will be open today and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. It's at 300 Pepper St. behind the Roanoke Street Hardee's. Call 382-5644 for information.
FESTIVALS AND BAZAARS: It's the time of year for the fall festivals and country bazaars. Check the listings in today's Arts & Entertainment calendar for the weekend's offerings.
In Pulaski, you'll find the fun at First Christian Church on Jefferson Avenue. The festival runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features handmade crafts, homemade baked goods and a hearty hot lunch. Take your pick from vegetable soup, beans, corn bread, barbecue and other tasty sandwiches.
The women at Slusser's Chapel Church of God will have their annual bazaar Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sweet preserves, jams, apple butter, hard candy, cakes, pies, bread and rolls are among the offerings. You're welcome to browse at the "treasure booth," too.
The food booth is where you'll find hot dogs, ham biscuits, fried pies and freshly brewed coffee. The church is at 1543 Mount Tabor Road just outside Blacksburg.
In Giles County, check out the arts and crafts festival sponsored by the Pembroke Montage Association. It runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Eastern Elementary School on U.S. 460. The event also features lots of hand crafted items and plenty of good food.
The list goes on. See "Etc." in today's Current for more information.
STILL GOING STRONG: Don Brown and his cohorts have been entertaining folks in the New River Valley since 1964.
Don & The Deltones still play the tunes that get the dance floor crowded.
You can shag to The Embers' "I Love Beach Music" and Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally."
Or you can slow dance to Sam Cooke's "You Send Me."
Don & The Deltones play all your favorite songs from the '50s, '60s and '70s.
Catch the band tonight and Saturday at Frizbee's in the Blacksburg Holiday Inn. The music starts at 9:30.
B.I.A.: For Steve Ferguson, it stands for "Back In Action."
Ferguson, the guitarist who formed the popular cult band NRBQ with keyboardist Terry Adams, was missing in action for nearly 20 years after he left NRBQ in 1974.
Well, he's baaaaack!
Ferguson is playing with his new band, The Midwest Creole Ensemble, and earning high marks from reviewers at Rolling Stone, Musician, Request and Billboard.
"Jack Salmon and Derby Sauce," Ferguson's debut release on Schoolkids' Records, is called "a rocking, flavorful brew of Creole-based roots music" by Billboard's Chris Morris.
"Considering the level of professionalism, polish and skilled picking displayed here that he even stepped away for a moment (let alone 20 years) is a crime," said Dave DiMartino of Musician magazine.
Ferguson, who says he has the right hand of a country guitar player and the left hand of a blues player, calls his style rural rhythm and blues.
His fans call it phenomenal.
Steve Ferguson and The Midwest Creole Ensemble performs tonight, starting at 10, at the South Main Cafe in Blacksburg. Advance discount tickets are $7, and you can get them at Ticket Master outlets, The Record Exchange or the cafe. Admission at the door is $10.
YOUNG 'UNS: Blacksburg artist Leslie Roberts Gregg has just completed a new series of paintings she calls "The Celebration of Youth." It features portraits of local children and will go on display Tuesday at Miller-Off-Main Street Gallery in Blacksburg.
A reception honoring the children and the artist will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. opening day. Members of the community are invited to stop by the gallery at 211 Wilson Ave. to meet Gregg and her young subjects.
The show will continue through Dec. 24. For more information, call the gallery at 552-6969.
LAST CHANCE: "Nuts," the newest community theater production by Playmakers & Company, has its final run tonight and Saturday at Playmakers' Playhouse in Blacksburg's University Mall. Curtain time is at 7:30 both evenings.
Director Anna Dalton says the drama is one of the best productions the troupe has ever done. Dee Davidson has the demanding job of portraying Claudia Faith Draper, a woman who must defend her life as well as her sanity when she is put on trial for murder.
The play is for adults only because it deals with sensitive material and has sexually explicit language.
Tickets are $6. Admission for senior citizens is $4.
by CNB