Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 3, 1995 TAG: 9508050006
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Aug. 5: George Welch, owner of Picture That Photographics in Vinton, for the first time offers boudoir photography. He describes such pictures as those meant to "make a husband or boyfriend get his head out of his briefcase."
Aug. 6: Roanoke Police Department announces the beginning of its Crime Line, which allows people to phone in tips on unsolved crimes and possibly receive rewards.
Aug. 9 "Just A Little Bit More," a song by LifeRAFT (Roanoke Artists for Tomorrow), a group of Roanoke musicians and radio personalities, is played at 5:15 p.m. on Roanoke's radio stations. The song, inspired by USA for Africa's famine relief efforts, is to encourage donations to help the Roanoke Valley's impoverished.
Aug. 15: Ben Peyton, manager of Roanoke's black-oriented radio station WTOY (910 AM), says he's making some "very drastic changes ... " to the station. He plans to play music having more mass appeal while sustaining a base of support in the black community.
Aug. 19: Roanoke Valley residents begin cleaning up from the nearly 6 inches of rain they received from the remnants of Hurricane Danny. Valley hardware and rental stores are besieged by those needing water pumps, wet vacuums, carpet-cleaning equipment and dehumidifiers.
Aug. 20: Roanoke needs additional convention and exhibit space so that the civic center can avoid forfeiting major revenue-generating shows and athletic events, Civic Center Manager Bob Chapman tells the Civic Center Commission. The civic center is having more difficulty booking large concerts and shows because of a lull in the entertainment industry, he adds.
Aug. 23: Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke County librarians recommend creating a uniform, free library card that would allow residents to borrow books and other materials from any Valley library. Shortly afterward, Roanoke and Salem City Councils approve the proposal.
Aug. 27: For the second consecutive year, Northside Junior High School experiences an electrical outage on the opening day of the new school year.
Aug. 28: Initial reports from store officials show Roanoke Valley residents prefer Coca-Cola Classic to new Coke. "At this point, our intention is to market both brands," says Glen Davis, marketing manager for the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Roanoke. He says it isn't important to him which cola the public selects, as long as it is a Coke product.
Aug. 30: Richard L. Cooper wears a top hat and tails while pumping gas for the customers at the self-service island during the grand opening of the Hop-In convenience store at Shenandoah Avenue and Miller Street in Northwest Roanoke.
25 years ago
Aug. 1 Roanoke men, in an on-the-street poll, say the midi, the latest in women's fashions, "won't make it." Those surveyed say they prefer to keep legs in sight and the longer lengths on store racks. Women's opinions on the subject aren't solicited.
Aug. 6: The sale of the Ponce de Leon Hotel from the Ponce de Leon Corp. to the Crystal Tower Corp. is finalized. The hotel, to be called the Crystal Tower Motor Hotel, will be remodeled to include a new white quartz facade, complete interior renovation and a cocktail-dinner lounge.
Aug. 7: Contractors announce steel work at the Roanoke Civic Center coliseum should be completed by the end of next week. Once this is done, the roof will be put in place. The coliseum is scheduled to be completed Nov. 1.
Aug. 7 James Anthony and Jenifer Lypengen of Beverly Hills, Calif., winners on the ABC-Television series "The Dating Game," arrive at Woodrum Airport for a weekend at Hotel Roanoke. Hotel officials meet the pair, who are accompanied on their flight by a chaperon from Chuck Barris Productions in Hollywood.
Aug. 10: Roanoke City Council OKs a request from WBRA-TV to air unedited tapes of council's meetings beginning Sept. 14. Council members, however, remind TV officials that their meetings are public and no permission is required.
Aug. 17: U.S. District Judge Ted Dalton approves the Roanoke School Board's integration plan, keeping all-black Lucy Addison High School open and turning formerly all-black Booker T. Washington in to school administration offices. Some elementary schools remain all black, while others remain all white. But, the School Board says it will divide the city into five elementary school districts so all students can have integrated experiences.
Dalton rejects a request from white parents in the Westwood-Wilmont Farms area to direct the School Board to alter junior high school attendance lines so their children would attend a new junior high school, Ruffner, rather than Monroe.
Aug. 19 Roanoke City Council approves a resolution to hold its meetings in the chamber of the new municipal building, ending more than half a century of the council meeting in a courtroom.
Aug. 21: Frump-Frump, the elephant given to the city by the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus in April, dies of cardiac arrest during keepers' attempt to raise her from a pen at the Mill Mountain Zoo. She is laid to rest by city crews on the side of the mountain near the zoo's entrance.
Frump-Frump was named earlier this month in a contest.
Aug. 31: School officials say all Roanoke junior and senior high schools peacefully integrate. The only problems concern bus schedules. "Smooth as silk," says a school administrator about the integration. "These young people are a nice group," Principal Charles Day says of the students at his school, Addison. The sophomore class becomes the school's last senior graduating class because Addison becomes a junior high school in 1973.
50 years ago
Aug. 6: The Salvation Army Shelter in the 300 block of West Salem Avenue will be demolished; Roanoke Auto Glass Shop will be built there. Those using the army's shelter for food and lodging will be served at a moderate-price hotel until a new location is found.
Aug. 9: Downtown shopkeepers report enormous rats are roaming through buildings at night, ruining merchandise and causing a health hazard. The rats, who inhabit storm drains during the day and seek food after dark, seem to be primarily targeting restaurants and trash cans. However, clothing and dry goods stores also report trouble. Dr. A. G. Evans, the city's health commissioner, seeks assistance from the state health commissioner and the federal government to study the problem.
Aug. 12 For the first time since 1896, the six Graham sisters are having a reunion. Two haven't seen the others in 56 years. Alta Kivett of Iola, Kan., and Sallie Shayer of Golden, Colo., married and stayed in Missouri when their father moved the family to Roanoke. Bessie Buck, Delia Hill, Lottie Brookman and Virginia Thornhill say they've been "too busy" to get together but hope it won't be so long before they do so again.
Aug. 14: Japan's surrender in World War II touches off a celebration in downtown Roanoke. The following day, a parade, sponsored by the Roanoke Post No. 3 American Legion, makes its way through the downtown area to South Jefferson Street to Victory Stadium, where speeches are given.
Aug. 16: Salem Mayor J. Frank Morton says the town must embark upon its postwar building program as soon as restrictions on acquiring materials are terminated. Also, in his town manager's report, he says "we must assist in bringing about much needed improvements in the public schools ... "
Aug. 17: Former Roanoke dance instructor Helen Faville, attired in a transparent gown, performs a barefoot ballet among parked cars at a Hollywood drive-in until picked up by a police ambulance and taken to the police psychopathic ward. This is not Faville's first brush with California authorities. In April, she was picked up after performing an impromptu ballet at a performance of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
Aug. 18: Two months after it was mailed from New York, an abnormally large turtle is delivered to a Roanoke resident. The delay was caused by an improper delivery address. The animal's aberrant proportions resulted from its large box, which permitted the turtle to grow, says the mail carrier.
"Plenty of air to eat plus no exercise accounts for it," he explains.
Aug. 20: Nine-year-old Donald Wimmer, hospitalized for a serious cut on his left wrist, may have been saved by an unidentified soldier on Mill Mountain. The soldier, a medical student who was present with a female companion, applied a tourniquet to the cut and drove the boy to Roanoke Hospital. In all the excitement, nobody apparently bothered to get the soldier's name.
Aug. 25: Burlington Mills announces a four-year postwar expansion plan that involves several million workers. Immediate reconversion will occur at Vinton's Roanoke Weaving Company, a branch of Burlington Mills. Production of civilian items will resume.
Aug. 27 : City Council unanimously approves bids totaling $1,026,537.15 for construction of water supply facilities at Carvins Cove, and contracts are awarded to seven contracting companies.
Aug. 27: Hobson Book Press of New York announces the publication of "The Face of Jang," a book of poems by Marshall Fishwick of Roanoke. Fishwick is serving as an ensign with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. He is a graduate of Jefferson High School and the University of Virginia.
PAST TENSE is a monthly special feature compiled by Melvin E. Matthews Jr. to help readers remember past events in the Roanoke Valley. Information is gathered from past issues of the newspaper.
by CNB