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Lisa Helmick is a mother, wife, nurse, cook, and entre-preneur. She moved with her husband and children from Michigan to Daleville in 2006. After the move, the Dublin na-tive didn’t want to go back into nursing full time.

However, with five chil-dren, she wanted a way to pro-vide some extra income and be there when the kids came home from school. Lisa’s sis-ter suggested that since Lisa loves to cook, she somehow turn that into a business. After talking with a woman in the Winston-Salem, North Caro-lina area who makes chicken pie, “I just started experiment-ing and playing, and came up with something I thought would be good.”

One Sunday after church Lisa served a chicken pie to her family, “and I thought ‘O. K. this is my true test right here…because with five kids I very rarely can have one [food] that all five enjoy the same thing.’” It met with unanimous approval, husband included.

Casting about for some more feedback, Lisa made two batches (each batch makes about 25 pies) and gave them away to friends and family, asking for their input. She also found the pies an inex-

pensive, yet personal gift for her children’s teachers. She hosted a luncheon for the teachers at Greenfield Elementary School

during an in-service day and says the luncheon was “a big hit.”

Her husband suggested “Easy as Pie” for the company name. But her reputation pre-ceded her, as Lisa recalls, “And a good friend of mine said, ‘You know, everyone keeps saying, ‘Oh, you’re that pie lady; let’s just go with that.’”

She started out with two basic types of pies; now she has eight, including “ChiknBroc&Chse” and “Just Chikn,” plus two dessert pies--

The Roanoke Valley’s newest local food advocate got his start as a radiation safety expert in a nuclear power plant.

Mike Scott, a southwest Roa-noke resident, recently started roanokevalleylocavore.org. The new website is designed to be the region’s one-stop shop for information on local food grow-ers and producers of all types and how to taste their wares.

It’s a big leap from Scott’s start in the nuclear power industry in 1981. Fresh out of Virginia Tech with a degree in biology and a minor in “health physics” (read: radiation safety), Scott’s job at nuclear power plants in Florida, South Carolina and Colorado was to tell workers how long they could be in certain areas of the plant before their radiation exposure got too high.

Scott followed that with a seven-year stint at the University of Vir-ginia Health Science Center, where he was involved with the handling of the radioactive materials used for medical treatments in can-cer patients.

A move to Ferrum, where his first wife had taken a new job, brought Scott, a Hinton, WV native, back to his country roots. With opportunities in the nu-clear industry scarce in Franklin County, Scott earned a master’s degree in instructional technol-ogy and found a job teaching at Franklin County High School. “You didn’t need a crystal ball”

to see that there would be a need for people who could integrate technology into the classroom, says Scott.

A few other moves ensued be-fore Scott ended up in his current posi-

tion as Coordinator of Instruc-tional Technology for Botetourt County Schools.

So how did someone versed in nuclear physics and comput-er technology end up becoming an advocate for locally-grown food? Scott blames his roots, so to speak.

“In my family background from West Virginia, I had come from a generation who con-sidered growing food a part of their lifestyle,” said Scott. “They

all had gardens. ‘Local’ was your home.”

Scott’s parents moved their family from Hinton to northern Virginia when Scott was a child to take teaching positions. Local food “was one of the things that we lost,” Scott said. “In Fairfax, we bought into this whole in-dustrial, urban food thing.”

In 2009, Scott and wife The-resa Bell joined a local com-munity supported agriculture (CSA) venture in Floyd County. For an up-front investment, the CSA delivered fresh local pro-duce once a week to the Natural Foods Co-op on Grandin Rd.

“The CSA gets you one step

Photo by Dave Perry

A man of many talents, Mike Scott warms up before a recent gig with his band MWB.

Mill Mountain Easement Back Under Review

Roanoke Choirs Bring Joy and Relief

T he recent earthquake in Haiti has prompted two of Roanoke’s premier singing groups to add a

couple of dates to their busy schedules in order to help with the ongoing relief efforts. Roanoke College Choir and the “Oriana Singers” of Roanoke College are partnering with St. Andrews Catho-

lic Church to present two concerts for earthquake relief on April 18 at 4 p.m. and on April 30th at St. Andrew’s. Both choirs have thrived under the leadership of longtime Director Jef-frey Sandborg. Read more on Sandborg and the choirs under his direction in this week’s Arts & Culture Section on 1.

Photo provided by VA Museum of Transportation

Roanoke City Parks & Rec-reation is putting the finishing touches on a presentation it will make to City Council soon - be-fore that board makes the final decision on the size of a Mill Mountain conservation ease-ment. Parks & Recreation held two public input sessions, the second one last week, to gather input from citizens on what they want protected from devel-o p m e n t and what level of building, if any, they might be able to live with.

Department director Steve Buschor says the final size of the conservation easement that City Council will vote on – 500 acres or more – has not been deter-mined. “We’re still working on that. The base of Mill Mountain is surrounded by 113 private properties,” notes Buschor. The conservation easement pub-lic meetings were designed to gather the thoughts of the pub-

[City News]

City Manager Predicts Slow Growth for Roanoke

Chris Morrill, Roanoke’s new City Manager, started off the re-cent Monday afternoon’s budget development work session with city council on a somber note. “The future ain’t what it used to be… what we do today will affect future generations,” said Morrill.

Director of Finance Ann Shawver led off the meeting by telling council that Roanoke’s sales tax generation is at the fiscal year 2004 level. In years 2006 through 2007 the city experienced six and a half percent growth. By fiscal year 2011, “the city will have had four years of consecutive decline,” said Shawver.

In 2009 Roanoke city experi-enced a five percent decline and Shawver sees “no true turn yet.” Year-to-date the city is down six-teen percent in sales tax revenue from fiscal year 2009 while the state’s sales tax revenue is only

[Economy]

Chris Morrill, Ann Shawver and Sherman Stovall parse the budget numbers.

[Buying Local]

> CONTINUEDP2: Mill Mountain

> CONTINUEDP2: Slow Growth

Roanoker Brings Wide Range of Experiences and Food to Table

Photo by Beverly Amsler

Lisa Helmick, “The Pie Lady.”

[Local Fare]

Madness?MarchP5– New Columnist Mike Keeler points out the not so hot graduation rates that go with the top NCAA teams.

TourneyTrackP7– Athletes from around the Valley compete in the Knight’s Classic Invitational Track Meet.

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> CONTINUEDP3: Pie Lady

> CONTINUEDP3: Scott

A Parks and Rec employee goes over easement place-ment with residents.

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lic concerning the top of the mountain, on acreage “that they do not wish to have in-cluded in the conservation easement.”

Where that line will be drawn could par-tially determine if there would be space for development at the top of Mill Moun-tain, such as for the restaurant proposed by Valley Forward a few years ago. “Then we’ll know specifically about the number of acres,” notes Buschor. The Mill Mountain Land Use Plan would still help restrict any development on the mountain, much of which is a city park.

About 80-100 people showed up at the two public meetings, while another 100 or more took an online survey about Mill Mountain. Buschor said it was still “too ear-ly in the process,” to draw concrete conclu-sions about what residents want to see. “We are [still] very interested in hearing what people want to say.”

With the vast majority of Mill Mountain being on a slope, most don’t want to see de-

velopment marring their view shed there, while some could live with more building near the summit. “[But] some people are adamantly opposed to building on top,” said Buschor.

Most of the mountain, except for acreage near the top, will most likely wind up in an easement, according to Buschor, who will assemble all of the information gathered for a presentation he will make to City Council. He expects another public hearing before council decides to either vote or table a vote on the easement; Buschor figures the whole process will be wrapped up by June.

Public input and the eventual vote on two easements at Carvins Cove is a model of sorts for the Mill Mountain process, ac-cording to Buschor. “The community …realizes what a wonderful asset Mill Moun-tain is – and very unique. They’re interested in making sure it’s sustainable for future generations, in one form or another.”

Mill Mountain Toll Booth Fundraiser: Originally opened in 1924, the former toll booth located on the old road that once led to the top of Mill Mountain has been steadily deteriorating and was recently damaged by a falling tree. Now an effort is underway to restore it, and a fundraiser at Rockledge Inn on Tuesday, April 6 (6:30 p.m. - 8) will aid that cause. Rockledge, now owned by Dr. Kevin and Nancy Dye, was once the home of former Mayor Ralph Smith. Tickets are $50 each for the fundraiser on Tuesday.

There has been “a tremendous ground-swell of support. People started coming out and saying they’d give money,” notes Steve Buschor. Carilion has pledged $10,000 to-wards the 26K Roanoke City wants to raise. “It’s literally falling apart,” adds Buschor.

> Mill Mountain From page 1

By Gene [email protected]

down six to seven percent. “There’s no place for this to go but up – it’s just a question of when it is going to go up,” said Shawver.

Council member Gwen Mason asked how the projections were estimated. Shawver ex-plained that it is not scientific but is a com-parison with prior months tracking which leaves a lot of gray area. Shawver attributed the severe decline in sales tax revenue to an outlier comparison in 2009 related to con-struction.

Maintaining the current level of school funding leaves the city out of balance to the tune of $10.1 million.

With the general assembly borrowing from VRS (Virginia Retirement System) to subsidize schools, there was a slight im-provement in the schools’ shortfall at $8.8 million. School Administrator Rita Bishop added what she considered two critical items – summer school and crossing guards.

Shawver explained that borrowing from VRS was like raiding the Social Security lock box. Bishop added that, “It will have to be paid back with interest too.”

The school figure lacked council’s prom-ised $500,000 yearly increase. It holds steady at the 2010 level of $1 million. Should council approve the two percent meals tax increase it would restore 23 of the 93 po-sition reductions. Bishop still favors clos-ing Round Hill Primary school. The justi-fication was that there is an opening for a

principal elsewhere and Round Hill was the only K-5 school remaining.

Morrill recommended elimination of the DARE program at elementary schools, say-ing “measuring the efficiency of DARE can’t be proven.”

Recommended cuts in public safety in-clude eliminating a training position, an assistant fire Marshall, an EMS battalion chief, a building inspector, middle school resource officers and support staff.

Council member Anita Price voiced concern on the closure of Crisis Interven-tion and Youth Haven. Price asked, “Where would they be absorbed to?”

“There is no place for them to go,” admit-ted Sherman Stovall, Director of Manage-ment and Budget.

Assistant manager Brian Townsend said, “not every community in Virginia has pro-grams like this… there is not currently a private sector provider for that service.”

Councilman Court Rosen wondered why efficiencies were not targeted earlier. Stovall said the shortfall “has forced us to look more critically at how to provide services.” He admitted that prior to this budget ses-sion it was done in a piecemeal fashion and now it will be done systematically.

Discontinuation of holiday and special event decorations was bandied about. May-or David Bowers lamented over the elimi-nation of decorations saying, “We are be-

coming a colorless, flowerless city.”

This prompted a privatization discus-sion with Bowers cautioning that the outcomes are not al-ways favorable and pointing to VDOT as an example. “We lose some control over it… there is always that profit motive,” said Bowers. Morrill agreed that “the pri-vate sector does not always do better…competition does it.” He explained that you always want to

have the ability to “take it back over again.”Parks and recreation will suffer program

reductions with closure of the main branch library on Sunday, Raleigh Court branch one night a week and the Virginia room one day a week. The Washington Park and Fallon Park pools will operate three days a week.

Further cuts in personnel were delin-eated: Judicial administration will lose a law clerk. The Commonwealth Attorney will eliminate an hourly employee. Community development and planning will lose two po-sitions and there will be no more stipends for the planning commission and board of zoning appeals members.

Health and welfare will lose five full-time positions along with a reduction in funding to outside agencies. Public works will lose three positions and building maintenance will be reduced along with curb and side-walk maintenance

Valley Metro will charge $1 for a student fare and the Star Trolley service will be re-duced by 5 hours per day.

General government takes a soft blow, losing one human resources position. The Citizen magazine and municipal calendar will be eliminated with other means found to communicate with the citizens. One Treasurer Clerk position will be reallocated for an hourly employee instead.

Technology will lose two positions and other funding for savings of $689,000.

A total of 64 positions will be eliminated and unfunded to balance the 2011 budget. A retirement incentive will be offered and acceptance required by July 1. Maximum payout is set at $9,000.

Increases in fees and fines recommended include parking ticket fines and boot re-moval, building inspections, amusement fee increases, fireworks permits and a $2 court fee for civil actions.

Bowers’ final request was for Morrill to look at economic development incentives to find “anything more we can do.”

Council will continue budget discussions on April 5 at 9:00 a.m., prior to the 2:00 p.m. council meeting, with a public hearing on the two percent meals tax.

By Valerie Garner [email protected]

> Slow Growth From page 1

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closer to people who are doing it like your grand-parents did,” said Scott. “You do make a signifi-cant financial investment. We made more effort to cook and eat locally in our house. It was a life-style change—to eat better food.”

Scott believes that eating locally could help solve the nation’s obesity epidemic. “If people have a choice to move in that direction,” said Scott, “it might change their health habits.”

Scott sees economic benefits for the region as well. Besides health care and technology, “what else can expand in terms of the economy?” said

Scott. “There is plenty of arable land that can pro-vide an economic base. This region historically could sustain huge numbers of people.”

Soon, Scott’s interest in local food collided with his interest in technology. After a meeting with the extension office at Virginia Tech, roanokev-alleylocavore.org was born. “I was looking for resources in one place,” said Scott. The extension office plans a paper version later this spring.

The website was launched in mid-February and has attracted 42 submissions from local pro-ducers who receive a free listing. The list includes

such diverse producers as the Blue Ridge Poultry Co-op, Foggy Ridge Cider and Berry Ridge Farms and Gluten Free Bakery. Scott, who runs the site on a volunteer basis and has spent around $100 for its setup, says he now receives about three new submissions a day. A Facebook page has attracted around 50 fans in just two weeks.

In addition to spearheading the new food web-site, Scott is also a “star” in a local band.

MWB (for the band’s three founding members, Mike, Woody and Brian) plays at the Coffee Pot on Brambleton Avenue and other venues on oc-

casion. Scott, who plays guitar and sings, says it all started with some guys singing at a New Year’s Eve party who had the dedication to “practice and learn a few songs.”

“I’m surprised anybody would allow us, or ask us, to play,” said Scott of the group, whose staples include Dylan’s “Tangled up in Blue” and “Ice Cream Man” by Van Halen. “If you have a lot of friends and they drink a lot of beer, they ask you to play.”

> Scott From page 1

”ChocPecan” and “MaplePecan.” The Pie Lady says her pies are a

French variation on the chicken pot pie and each contains more than a pound of chicken. The traditional pot pie is broth-based, but according to Lisa, her creations are gravy-based, using all lo-cal ingredients. The pies are frozen and can be popped into the oven and baked in about an hour.

Ideas for new flavors come from friends and family. Last year, then nine-year-old daughter, Grace, sug-

gested a cheesy chicken pie. “And my dad, who’s just an hour down the road, he called me one day and he was out on his farm and he said, ‘I would love for you to try to make a chicken fajita pie.’” Lisa’s sister suggested chicken cor-don blue. Lisa’s husband’s coworkers at Norfolk Southern were brainstorming one day and came up with chicken and mushroom. All four pies are now on the menu.

She says it truly is a family busi-ness. Lisa stamps boxes to hold the

pies, and her children fold them. “And we pay them to fold boxes, just like a job.” Usually one of the children will help on Saturdays when Lisa hands out samples and sells her pies at Ikenber-ry’s Farmer’s Market. She adds, “My husband helps me get supplies and he delivers for me sometimes.” Customers love that the pies make a delicious meal with no extras needed.

The family just finished a downstairs kitchen for the business. The commer-cial freezer, which her husband found

on Ebay, holds 120 pies. She usually bakes late at night or early in the morn-ing when the children are asleep.

Maybe one day she’ll sell her busi-ness to a corporation, but for now Lisa is concentrating on the day-to-day op-eration. There’s even the possibility of “the Pie Lady” store sometime in the future. “I would love to have a place where all Moms can sell their things…we could have a cookie section and have the pies.”

Her advice for someone wanting to

start their own business: “Go for it,” she says. “This is totally a God thing because it is a recession and it baffles me that this business is surviving and thriving.”

Call (540) 816-7227 for more infor-mation.

> Pie Lady From page 1

The Hotel Roanoke Crystal Ballroom was adorned with red and blue decorations as Roanokers gathered to celebrate Ronald Reagan and his legacy. This annual event is sponsored by the Roanoke City Repub-lican Committee as a way to honor what they consider to be one of the greatest presidents to ever serve our country.

Jim DeLong, the new Roa-noke City Chairman, welcomed guests with a video of the for-mer president at the 1996 Re-publican National Convention, featuring many scenes from his personal life as well as his presi-dency.

Pat Mullins, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, spoke about the lawsuit Attor-ney General Ken Cuccinelli has filed against the federal gov-ernment over the healthcare bill. “The true cost to file this bill was only $350, not millions as the Democrats claim,” said Mullins. “We must get rid of Boucher, Connolly and Perri-ello this November because the best is yet to come.”

Delegate Bill Cleaveland, Senator Ralph Smith and Con-gressman Bob Goodlatte all had a turn at the podium. As Cleaveland was introduced, the Carly Simon song “You’re So Vain,” was played in a not-so-subtle dig at his opponent in the November elections, Gwen Mason.

Cleaveland spoke of being honored to follow in his prede-cessor William Fralin’s footsteps. Goodlatte relayed that when Congress was in session about to vote on the healthcare bill, the entire Congressional body could hear the chants of “Kill the Bill” from the lawn outside. “People don’t realize how much a trillion dollars really is,” said Goodlatte. “A stack of 100 dol-lar bills worth a billion dollars

stands only four inches high. A stack of 100 dollar bills worth a trillion dollars stands 67 miles high.”

Lt. Governor Bill Bolling was the night’s keynote speaker. He said that he believes Virginia will go back to being a red state because the national political mood has changed dramatically in a short period of time, and because people are scared for the future of Virginia. “Right now there is a European social-ist form of government. Obama has put us 72 trillion dollars in debt and by 2020 we will be 172 trillion dollars in debt, thanks to his healthcare plan,” said Bol-ling.

He added, “Seventy percent of Independents voted for Bob

McDonnell for governor. We need to reach out to the Asians, Indians, African Americans, Hispanics and many more to tell them they have a home in the Republican Party. We have a positive message and we out-work the Democrats. We fight every day like the future of our country depends on it because it does. We will preserve the greatest nation the world has ever known, the United States of America.”

Annual Dinner Salutes Ronald Reagan

By Carla [email protected]

Roanoke Valley Cool Cit-ies Coalition, at its annual af-filiates conference held March 26, 2010 at Roanoke’s Claude Moore Education Complex, recognized the finalists and announced the winners of its “Cool Citizen Awards” for 2010. These awards are pre-sented by the coalition to in-dividuals, businesses, and gov-ernment agencies whose efforts have contributed to the overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with the coalition’s overall mission.

The 2010 “Cool Citizens Awards” finalists and winners are:

Category: Business - Win-ner - Structures Design / Build, Adam Cohen, owner

“Structures” was cited for its contribution to and work on the Center for Energy Efficient Design, currently under con-struction at the Gereau Center for Applied Technology and Career Exploration in Franklin County; also for its innovative offering of the Passive House low- or no-energy building de-sign.

Category: Media - Winner - Dan Smith, Valley Business Front

Mr. Smith was cited for his commitment to environmental responsibility in the business community, throughout his editorial career including his earlier affiliation with the Blue Ridge Business Journal and his current work with Valley Busi-ness Front.

Category: Government- Winners - Charlotte Moore, Cave Spring District Supervi-sor, Roanoke County; AND Franklin County Schools

Ms. Moore was cited for her

involvement and support of the work of Roanoke County to measure its carbon footprint, set specific reduction goals for community greenhouse gas emissions, and establish a citizens committee to further these goals through commu-nity involvement.

Franklin County Schools re-ceived recognition for its com-mitment to the Center for En-ergy Efficient Design. Teachers Neil Sigmon and John Richard-son have been closely involved with this project and received the award on behalf of Franklin County Schools.

Category: Individual -Win-ner - Mark E. Hanson

Mr. Hanson was cited for commitment to renewable energy innovation, his initia-tive in forming a local chapter of the Renewable Energy and Electric Vehicle Association through which he has recruited a cadre of volunteers to provide help with DIY renewable ener-gy systems in the community.

Category: Nonprofit - Win-ner - Sharebike (founder Ron McCorkle)

Sharebike was cited for its effectiveness in raising aware-ness of bicycling, a completely emission-free form of travel, as a viable element of our lo-cal transportation system, and for its involvement with other groups to stimulate, support and link together a wide range of community-based bicycle initiatives in the Roanoke Val-ley.

Category: Special Achieve-ment - Winner - Billy Weitzen-feld, Executive Director, Asso-ciation of Energy Conservation Professionals

Mr. Weitzenfeld was recog-nized as the driving force be-hind the Green Living and En-ergy Expo, which over the past ten years has become one of the premier energy conservation events in the country, draw-ing thousands of citizens and business people to learn and exchange ideas about energy efficiency and conservation.

Environmental Group Announces “Cool Citizen” Awards

By Mark McClain [email protected]

Picture courtesy Jeremy Holmes, RIDE Solutions

L to R: Mark E. Hanson, Ron McCorkle, Billy Weitzenfeld, Charlotte Moore, Dan Smith, Adam Cohen, Neil Sigmon, John Richardson.

The Roanoke City School Board has decided not to pursue legal action against the state over school funding after receiving legal counsel from the City Attorney's Office. Instead of pursuing legal action, the School Board is now looking into other ways to increase funding for the school division. School Board member Jason Bingham would like to start a coalition between Southwest Virginia regional municipalities and school districts to coordinate lobbying efforts to address school funding. Bingham says, “we need to start having discussions about how we can increase funding for our school divisions and meet the needs of our students.”

City School Board Decides Not to Pursue Legal Action Against State

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38 Anguish 41 Energy unit 42 Faultless 44 Gone to lunch 46 Fat 48 Entrances 49 Channel 10 around here. 50 Unit 52 Delaware 53 Wooly animals 54 Left 56 Notion 58 Atmosphere 59 Christmas song 60 Ornament 61 Bard's before

DOWN

1 Chalkboard need 2 Residence hall 3 Part of a min.

4 Not many 5 A great sci-fi writer and

Roanoke''s own. 6 Set in 8 Sprung (2 wds.) 9 Chemical salt

12 School group 13 A natural reason for

Roanoke? 14 Opposed 16 Friday (abbr.) 18 Tableland 19 Grain 20 Crafty 22 Multiplied by self 23 Science field 26 Pancake topper 27 Bread leavening 30 Winter mo. 32 North northeast 35 It glows inside our city

limits 36 We smooth the wrinkles

out - ---- specialty. 37 Worn 38 Magician 39 Love flower 40 Christmas 41 Deli order 43 Enemy 45 Teaspoon (abbr.) 47 Doctrine 49 What Moby Dick is 51 Tallest mountain nearest

to roanoke salem and vinton area and holds the broadcast towers for our television stations.

53 Dreamer 55 Negative 57 Deer

Find the answers online: TheRoanokeStar.com Have a clue and answer you’d like to see?

email: [email protected]

Star~Sentinel Crossword

By Don Waterfield

After a hard winter in the Eastern United States, spring offers a resurrection. Particularly here in the Appalachian Bible Belt, we're look-ing toward Easter.

Good Friday will find my little conservation group planting trees. It's our way to dig in and pray for the world: the vanishing songbirds, our Virginia mountains getting pulverized by coal corporations, the living streams buried in rub-ble. We could use a resurrection around here.

I say this as a Christian conser-vationist. That term is still an oxy-moron for the Christian Right, of course, long known for its anti-envi-ronmental stance.

Environmentalism is a sacrificial cult, Chuck Colson warns, on his BreakPoint Christian radio broad-cast.

Ecologists ask Americans to sac-rifice themselves for a living earth, Colson notes. Is this not human sacrifice to an idol ?

Colson, the strategist who once helped convert Christian Dixiecrats into Nixon supporters, believes Jesus is interested in free-market values, not endangered species.

Ken Ham, of Answers in Genesis, agrees. Ham's Creation Museum offers visitors displays of plastic species and automaton dinosaurs to prove that God made Creation. 4,500 years ago, Ham concedes, God did ask Noah to save all species from mass extinction.

But Christians mustn't save those species to-day. Why?

For one thing, endangered species occupy habitat desired by industries that help sponsor and steer the Christian Right.

Climate action poses a similar threat. Issues in Education, a Christian radio home-

schooling broadcast I sometimes hear, warns parents that climate change a heresy is being taught in schools. It also urges listeners to lobby for oil-drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and home-school kids with textbooks that praise deregulation and depict climate change as a hoax.

Who underwrites these messages? Various industries with little interest in Christianity. It's called coalition-building.

Just before his sudden death in 2007, Rev-erend Jerry Falwell launched a massive ad campaign warning Christians to ignore global warming as a dangerous distraction from our focus on heaven.

For what will it profit us to save the whole world and lose our souls?

The ad mangled and inverted Jesus' famous warning against materialism, but effectively supported its energy industry sponsors.

Falwell wasn't working for big energy. He was simply doing the bidding of Ralph Reed, as he'd done ever since Reed organized the Christian Coalition in 1989.

Reed is the political and business strategist widely credited for engineering today's Values Industry. His ingenious, microtargeting strate-gies made Values Voters the political force they became by 2004, when Reed was hired to herd

Christian pastors and their flocks to the polls to re-elect Bush.

By then, Reed had left the Coalition amidst finance scandals and started a consulting firm, Century Strategies taking his Christian contact list with him.

That list allowed him to mobilize Christian groups not only for political clients (like Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Virginia's Governor Bob McDonnell), but corporate giants Enron,

Koch, Microsoft, and various oil, coal, energy, big auto and timber in-terests.

These clients hire Reed to turn public opinion against regulatory policy, including climate action, EPA standards and the Endangered Spe-cies Act. Hence, disdain for environ-mental protection becomes a new Christian Value.

It's preached not only through certain Christian Broadcasters and ministries, but Reed's long-time friends Rush Limbaugh, Ann

Coulter, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity whose persistent, widely-aired efforts to wed Jesus to materialism have ironically made them the loudest representatives of Christianity on the planet.

It's an effective, values-added product to of-fer special interests media coverage, a ready-to-go lobby, a real pulpit. But does it have hidden costs?

Well, the weird marriage alliance between God and mammon is a turn-off, say my ag-nostic conservation friends. They say the vit-riol expressed by Pat Robertson, Coulter and Limbaugh, combined with a bizarre reverence for greed and self-interest, makes the Christian message sound unappealing, if not insane.

Some Christian leaders agree. Why, wonders evangelical minister Richard Cizik, should pro-life defend nine months for the unborn, but not human adulthood on a livable planet?

I myself think about the trees. Up until his death, Falwell often exhorted us Christians to defend the endangered Christmas tree. Not live trees, he warned for that would be pagan. No, we must instead save the dead, sawed-off Christmas tree from those who would destroy it.

Well, there's no chopped-off Christmas tree in the Bible. There is a tree of life, however root-ed from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelations.

Jesus said we would know a tree by its fruits. If Christians can no longer discern between real fruit and fake, live trees or dead, perhaps we've been cut off too long from our own roots. Maybe a return to the humble earth, this spring, could bring Christians and other species back to life.

Liza Field is a hiker and conservationist. She teaches English and philosophy in the Virginia Governor’s School and Wytheville Community College.

The Other Christian TreeThe Health Care Reform Bill

has passed . . . finally. The ques-tion is what does it mean and the answer one gets depends whom you ask. In an effort to clear my own thinking, I accepted a luncheon invitation from Con-gressman Bob Goodlatte. It was well-attended by the party faith-ful (of which I am not one) but I was appreciative of being included.

Bob Goodlatte, whom I have known since his days as an aide to then Con-gressman Caldwell Butler, conducted himself impressively. He has a command of the facts, a presen-tation manner that is authoritative with-out being profes-sorial, and a sense of humor that has survived his long tenure in Washington.

In his remarks he pointed out a number of serious problems, as well as some good points, in the bill as it was passed. We need not dwell on those here, since they have been bandied about, ad nauseam, for months. Two things impressed me about his talk: First, he knows why he thinks it a bad bill; second, he had almost nothing to say about what better alternative would be.

The questions from the floor he handled with aplomb but many dealt with further expla-nations of the problems rather than pushing him for better solutions. As I listened to the discussion I thought back to the history of political controversy about health policy.

In 1964 President Johnson

proposed sweeping changes in healthcare. Out of this came Medicare and then Medicaid. Although both are contributing to the financial precipice toward which we are being swept, that was not viewed as a problem when the bill became law in 1965. What upset everyone was the socialistic flavor that was

rolling across the land; it was not about the cost.

We have heard the same thing about the current legislation but those who have received the benefits from Medicare and Medicaid are, by and large, satisfied with how the programs

have worked. Al-though there was no oversight agen-

cy such as the Congressional Budget Office in 1965, govern-ment economists predicted that in 1990 the cost of the programs would be 12 billion dollars; in actual fact, in 1990 the cost was 107 billion. Now the unfunded mandated entitlements of Social Security, Medicare and Medic-aid to are in excess of 50 trillion dollars. Congressman Good-latte said, and everyone agrees, that the current rate of debt ac-cumulation is unsustainable.

Then comes the conversa-tion about getting rid of abuse, fraud, and waste in healthcare. These are laudable goals to be sure but will fall dismally short of curtailing the cost. The ad-ministration and the Demo-crats are equally disingenuous in saying there will be a debt reduction of one trillion dollars as a result of the new bill. The

CBO has to define the cost of a bill according to the rules set by Congress, the most onerous of which is that the bill must be considered in a vacuum; other programs and their needs can-not be factored into what the government can afford. It is ex-actly analogous to an individual buying a million dollar house without considering that there are 6 children to send to college while a huge mortgage has to be paid. For the supporters of the healthcare reform to suggest that it is a cost-saving measure disregards not only past history, but present and future needs be-yond health issues.

I am often asked how I feel about the legislation. I am con-fused; I am frightened; I am concerned that both sides are playing fast and loose with the facts. Of even more concern is the public’s opposition, some-times violent, to anything that will increase taxes, decrease ser-vices, or both. The ugly back-lash against some Congressman who voted for the bill will give pause to many candidates in the coming election cycle.

I left the meeting feeling somewhat better. Had the issue failed entirely, as it appeared a few months ago it surely would, then we would have faced an-other 40 years before it could again be approached. That would be too late . . . we cannot survive if changes aren’t made. But we, the people, hate change particularly when it reaches our wallets.

There are only three ways to deal with the debt of which healthcare is a huge part: Raise revenue, cut expenditures, or print money. If you think the latter works, remember hyper-inflation of Argentina.

The whole thing reminds me of having to give my chil-dren nasty tasting medicine. It had to be done. We held them down, squeezed their wee noses and made it happen. Our bad medicine will be increased tax-es, decreased services and

Congress needs to make us take our medicine, even if it costs them their jobs. To ignore the truth is to place the entire system at risk for our grandchil-dren.

We have survived huge crises in the past and not been found wanting. I hope that will be true this time, too. It will take more than high flown rhetoric and an appetite for self-interest. That applies to ordinary people just as much as it does to Congress.

The Healthcare Bill: A Watershed Moment?

Hayden Hollingsworth

Contact Hayden [email protected]

Liza Field

Contact Liza [email protected]

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Westminster Presbyterian Church invites the communityto join their Holy Week services:

April 1 (Maundy Thursday) at 7:00 p.m.A service of scripture and hymns focusing on eventsfrom the last supper to Christ’s burial.

Good Friday from noon to 3:00 pmThe church sanctuary will be open to the public forindividual meditation and prayer.All are welcome to come and go as your schedules permit.Written materials will be available to assist your meditation.

Easter morning at 7:00 a.m.Celebrating an Easter sunrise service atCedar Lawn Memorial Cemetery on Cove Road.

Easter morning at 10:30 a.m.A joy �lled worship service in the church sanctuary.

All services will be translated for the deaf.The 10:30 Easter morning service will be translated into Spanish.

Read more about the church at www.westpca.org.Westminster is located on Peters Creek Road

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Attention prospective dog owners! When se-lecting a furry compan-ion to join your midst it is not only important to select a breed conducive to your surroundings and lifestyle, but to con-sider the manner of the specific animal which wags, wiggles and pants before you. To mix and mangle a couple of stan-dard metaphors "Never judge a dog by its color."

During the late nine-ties, my wife Janet and I became enthralled with a somewhat overlooked breed of hound used mostly for hunting. The object of our de-sire, the American Black and Tan Coonhound, are beauti-ful, sleek canines, known for its baleful howl and keen tracking skills. Other than stalking an occasional parking spot at Olive Garden, neither Janet nor I hunt, yet we found a Coonhound breeder north of Roanoke and purchased a splendid pup.

Janet is a fan of Margaret Mitchell's story of the old south "Gone with the Wind," and, pre-vious to our meeting, began to name dogs after Mitchell's char-acters. Ashley, Rhett and Scarlett were already taken and choos-ing to forgo Melanie, Prissy and Pitty-Pat, we decided on Tara, in homage the esteemed O'Hara homestead. Tara was a graceful, intelligent, fearless and athletic creature that carried every trait and instinct passed down from her ancestors. Sadly, Tara went on to the great hunt in the sky a few years ago, leaving us with a Coonhound vacancy.

Rarely do we consider regen-erating the pack too quickly as the departed could never re-ally be replaced, however, six months later we were on the trail of another Black and Tan. Traveling south to Wytheville, we met up with a breeder carry-ing two dogs in the back of his pick-up. The first was a strap-ping young female, the other, a frightened, shivering pup that would not come out of her wooden travel box. For Janet, it was love at first sight. A cham-pion of the underdog and a

sucker for lost causes (she chose me didn't she?) Janet cradled the cowering little hound and claimed her as her own.

Fresh out of "Gone with the Wind" characters, we named our newest addition "Mya" and the pack was back at full strength. Several months passed and we began to notice some oddities about our new hound. Although she was nearly one year's old, Mya was still puppy sized. Could she be miniature Coonhound? Aside from her slight stature, everything seemed to spook poor Mya, especially tall men. Most of our son Will's friends stand well over six feet tall and their entrance into the home often resulted in a hasty retreat by Mya, a trail of pee splashing down the hallway in her wake. Mya's psychosis reached its pin-nacle when she emptied her bladder on Will's new sneakers as his friend Dustin attempted to pet her.

Few visitors get to see the fun side of Mya, as their mere pres-ence causes her to recoil and bolt up the stairs upon their ar-rival. In play mode, my favorite Mya maneuver is when she am-bushes Janet when she is cutting the lawn, sneaking up on her beloved mommy and biting her on the backside. Between you and I. it took me nearly a month to teach Mya that trick, however, seeing Janet's reaction is always worth the extra effort.

Like many of our female dogs of the past, Mya is in love with Shiloh, our blind, diabetic, beagle mutt. I am not sure why Shiloh has such a strong effect

on the fairer sex, but I would be willing to put on his collar and run around the house to find out. Shiloh, a former shelter dog, was once a nervous little pooch with a nasty disposition. Fighting immediately with the incumbent pack despite his lack of size, we began calling him "Weenie" because of his jerky nature.

In fact, Shiloh an-swers to Shiloh, Weenie, Shi-Weenie, The Ween, and on October 31st, Shiloween. Shiloh's

proudest moments come when he unleashes one of his signa-ture room-cleaning, toxic gas clouds which are more akin to an atmospheric anomaly than a passing fume. In fact we have named these wretched salvos "El Weenjo." Following such a blast, Shiloh cleverly has his pick of comfortable seating dur-ing the subsequent evacuation. Funny how the shelter never seems to include "unholy, life altering flatulence" on that little white description card taped to the cage.

Deciding on a pet is always a crap shoot and I implore you to look closely when making your selection. In the meantime, I am considering the purchase of a HAZMAT suit so I might weather Shiloh's storms in rela-tive comfort, with the consider-ation that Mya may think that I am some kind of costumed villain sent to earth to void her body of excess fluids. Either way, at least Lysol's stock hold-ers will be pleased.

Never Judge A Dog By Its Color

Contact Jon Kaufman [email protected]

It may be a weird connection to some, but when I think of Easter, I think of marriage. Actually, I think of the process of getting married and all that goes into it. Over the last 19 years I have done hundreds of premarital counseling sessions and have always considered it a privilege that a young couple would come and allow me to be a part of the beginning of their marriage. I have come to truly love the process of being one of many sup-porters and encouragers in a couple’s life as they embark on this amazing journey with one another.

At times, however, I have been a little amused and shocked. The most shock-ing thing in the early years, which I have now come to expect, is the initial discussion about the process. I would estimate about a third of the folks call-ing to set up the premarital counseling process seem a little put off by the fee or the 4 to 6 sessions that we schedule together.

Why is this ironic you may ask? Here are a few things I wish these couples would consider: How much are you spending on flowers? How much is the cake or cakes if the groom gets his as well? How much did the dress cost? What is the price for the food and the reception? How about the gifts for groomsmen and bridesmaids? Where are you go-ing on the honeymoon? How long have you been planning this whole thing?

Now, which of these is going to make a bigger impact on the health and longevity of your life to-gether, the wedding or the work you do on devel-oping the relationship? What will you come back to when you struggle?

Our perspective on what is most important leading up to a marriage is not always what it should be. We often emphasize and draw atten-tion to the wrong things. We pay attention to the things that we may always have fond memories of, but these are not the things that will be most important 20 years down the road.

We often do the same with Easter. Now, don’t

get me wrong. I love and have always loved col-oring eggs, going on Easter egg hunts, spending time with family, attending the Easter service, etc. I also believe that all of these things are an impor-tant part of the tradition, just as a wedding cake, dress, etc. are part of the marriage tradition. Let’s just make sure that we don’t forget the most im-portant part of the celebration.

As parents, we have the unbelievable opportu-nity to aid in our children’s moral development. I

actually believe that it is not a choice, but an obligation that we have. There will come a time in everyone’s life when they are challenged in a way that goes beyond the ordinary right/wrong, wise/foolish type of decision. At these times, it is a moral foundation that will guide them through . . . Or not.

This moral foundation does not come from the world and is not picked up accidentally. It has to be taught and modeled in a consistent manner and it begins with our understanding of who God is, who we are in relation to Him, who Christ is and what he has done

for us, and then ultimately in how He wants us to live.

With Easter we have a great opportunity to in-troduce our children to Christ. To me Easter is the culmination of the whole story, and the story is not a boring one. It begins with the story of how Christ got here, what He taught us, how He suffered and sacrificed and ultimately (this is my favorite part), how He was resurrected - validat-ing the whole Truth that we all ultimately need to know.

It is a miraculous adventure that all children will appreciate. So yes, this Easter, have an egg hunt, go to church, eat a great lunch with fam-ily, but most importantly begin or strengthen the construction of your child’s moral foundation by introducing them to Christ. They will know what to come back to when they struggle.

Don’t Miss The “Easter Opportunity”

As the NCAA basketball tournaments tipped off, re-searchers at The In-stitute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports did a little research. They looked at the graduation rates of the 65 men's and 64 women's teams, uti-lizing a metric called the APR (Academic Progress Rate) which the NCAA uses to measure teams' graduation perfor-mance. A perfect APR of 1000 equals a 100% graduation rate. If a team falls below a 925 APR - equivalent to 60% of their students graduating - they face the loss of some NCAA schol-arships.

The researchers found that women hoopsters hit the books as well as they crash the boards. 57 of the 64 women's teams in the tournament received a

passing APR grade, and 19 pro-grams have graduated 100% of

their players. All of the #1 seeded teams have graduated 100% of their play-ers, including Ten-nessee, which has famously graduated all of its players for years.

But among the men, not so much. Although all of the #1 seeded teams

received a passing score - in-cluding Kansas, which scored a 1000 APR - 19 teams out of 65 received a failing grade. Of the Sweet 16 teams, 4 of them - Purdue, Kansas State, Ohio State and Tennessee - are fac-ing NCAA sanctions for falling below 925.

Even more troubling is a 27-point discrepancy in gradu-ation rates between whites (76%) and blacks (49%), a gap

that is steadily growing. Five men's teams in the tourna-ment have graduated less than 20% of their recent black play-ers, and two teams - Maryland and Cal - have graduated 0% of their recent black athletes.

Yesterday, Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, got into the game. Noting that basketball is by far the lowest-performing NCAA sport, with 1 out of every 6 programs graduating less than 40% of their players, he is advocating making a 50% graduation rate a requirement for post-season play.

We thought that sounded good. We called Vegas, to place some money on the prospect of that happening. They laughed at us; no one takes bets on things with odds that long.

There's a reason it's called "March Madness"

Mike Keeler

Contact Mike [email protected]

Last night my wife and I offered to baby-sit for a young mom. She has four great kids new-born through age 9. As parents of older children (ages 22, 20 and 17) we had not been around little “chaps” for a good while.

It had been over 13 years since we had seen a sippy cup, baby monitors, Good Night Moon, baby food, diapers, bed time stories and the like.

Our two plus hours were a whirl of activity. Feeding, cleaning, playing games, reading books (some twice and one forward and backwards!), prayers, getting them back into bed, rocking the baby, and a glimpse back into the amazingly wonderful world of young chil-dren. They are so honest and without veneer. As Scripture says, they are a blessing from God.

While my wife is an experi-enced veteran who jumped right back into the flow after her long sabbatical, I realized how little I remembered about caring for young children and babies. (“Honey, you don’t reckon they have one of those Video-Nanny cameras rolling do ya?”). More than that, I was overwhelmed by just how trusting kids are and how much energy it takes for a mother to do the 1001 things she has to do.

Can some one help a sista’ out?

While no fan of Hillary, per-haps she is right. Perhaps it does “take a village to raise a child.” Hillary and I would likely dis-agree with who the village is (government rather than fam-ily, church family and friends) or even how the child should be raised. Yet I find myself agree-ing with her that to have healthy, well-adjusted children, we need to work together.

Do you know any single moms? Do you know any par-ents that have a special needs kid? How might it bless and en-courage them to have you come along side them and do some small act of grace for them? Or like our friend Miss Betty does, come over once a week to give mom a much needed two hour

break. Who is the young mom God has put in your life? Are you helping them or saying ‘Peace, be filled and be warmed”?

Like Miss Betty, you may find that you receive more than you give

Quigg Lawrence is the Senior Pastor at Church of the Holy Spirit located at 6011 Merriman Road in Roanoke. Visit them on the web at www.coths.org.

Help a Sista’ OutPreacher’s corner

Keith McCurdy

Contact Keith [email protected]

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Over the last couple weeks a sizeable crew of workers has been placing underground flex-ible piping that will carry new TV access for our neighbor-hood. Curious about what these folks were doing, I engaged the foreman in a conversation about who he was, where he was from and what he was doing. He ex-plained that he and the entire crew were from central Mexico. He emphasized that all men were here on work permits

while their families remained in Mexico.

He mentioned that they are fortunate to be here because the US has so many unemployed who will not do this work. The work is hard and the big-gest guy in the crew may have weighed 150 pounds. The men all worked without stopping with shovels, picks and rakes. I never saw one taking a break and when lunchtime came, the workers simply stretched out on

the grass and rested in the sun. This brings me to my ques-

tion: Why aren't these jobs be-ing filled by US workers? Are our entitlements so generous that an unemployed person can select only certain jobs that he or she considers acceptable to their narrow field of choice? It is estimated that there are 12 million or more illegal aliens working in the US. Is it really true that while our unemploy-ment stands at 9.7% nationally,

unemployed citizens refuse to fill these jobs? The February unemployment in Virginia rose to 7.2% as a result of the loss of 32,600 jobs in the state. Are our taxes supporting unemployed people that feel it is below them to work with a pick and shovel or accept other available jobs?

Are we abandoning our self-respect and transferring our personal responsibility to Rich-mond and Washington D.C.? Are we gaming the system so that if a person prefers not to work, we can simply live per-petually off government hand-outs?

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JOBS, JOBS, JOBS . . .

Just days ago President Obama signed into law sweeping health care reform legislation pushed by Congressional Democrats that will dramatically impact every family, taxpayer and small business in America. As I have said time and time again, this monstrosity, which I voted against, amounts to a big government takeover of our health care system – one that will lead to fewer choices, high-er prices and rationed care. Furthermore, the bill creates more than 159 new government agencies and programs at a cost of well over $2.5 trillion.

Almost immediately after the misguided legisla-tion was passed by the Congress, states Attorneys General began filing lawsuits against the federal government. The health care reform law includes $17 billion in new taxes on Americans who do not purchase health insurance. So far over a dozen states, including Virginia, have filed suit claiming that this individual insurance mandate is uncon-stitutional.

Never before in the history of our country has a tax been levied on individual Americans by their government with the purpose of forcing them to do something the government wants them to do. I applaud these states for taking action and I have cosponsored legislation which would prohibit funding for the implementation or enforcement of the individual health insurance mandate. All Americans should be worried anytime the fed-eral government tries to trample on or ignore our Constitution and in fact a recent CBS news poll shows that 62 percent of Americans believe that lawmakers should continue to challenge the gov-ernment takeover of health care.

In addition to mandating that folks have health

insurance, the government-run plan included in the law, will force millions out of the coverage they currently have. In fact, the nonpartisan Congres-sional Budget Office has estimated that 8-9 mil-lion people will be dumped from their employer sponsored coverage. In addition, the legislation imposes new taxes on medical devices, such as wheelchairs, and on health insurance plans, which will be passed directly on to patients in the form of higher health care costs.

To pay for this massive new government expan-sion, the legislation contains a total of $569 billion in devastating new tax increases imposed on in-dividuals and small businesses. This will result in millions of lost jobs as small businesses are forced to take money from salaries to pay new taxes. In addition, the legislation would cut Medicare for our nation’s seniors by over $500 billion.

These are some of the most troubling provisions of the new health care reform law and that is why I have cosponsored several bills that would repeal this new law in its entirety. Rather than dictating medical decisions from Washington, we should be concentrating our efforts on making premi-ums more affordable for all Americans and giving them the freedom to choose the plan that best fits their needs. While we can all agree that our cur-rent health care system needs to be reformed, the new health care law was not the right way to do it which is why we must repeal it and replace it with commonsense measures that expands access and choices while lowering costs.

- Congressman Bob Goodlatte can be reached online via his website at www.goodlatte.house.gov.

The Wrong Prescription for AmericaPeople had been waiting

breathlessly for a sober, nonpar-tisan assessment from the Con-gressional Budget Office (CBO) on the cost of ObamaCare. If it came in under the magic thresh-old of $1 trillion, there would be a green light for enacting it.

Not too surprisingly, the CBO gave Obama just what he wanted. What is surprising is that the headline is not from a conservative political publica-tion but from the front page of a mainstream, left-of-center ur-ban daily newspaper, The Ari-zona Daily Star.

The President ordered up a $950 billion price tag, and a $100 billion, ten-year reduction in the federal deficit. Presto! The CBO pulled the right number of digits out of the hat, a mere $940 billion price tag and a $138 bil-lion deficit decrease a giant drop in the gargantuan federal red-ink bucket.

It wasn’t by accident, the wire report acknowledged, without going so far as to call it sleight of hand and showmanship.

The Democrats admittedly just adjusted the numbers as needed. Is the excise tax on union members Cadillac health plans too high? Lower that, and

tax seniors retirement-plan in-terest and dividends.

It’s not like a shopping spree at Macy’s with Daddy’s credit card. It is rather like a trip to the local fruit stand with a fixed amount of money in hand, the story explained. Not that any-body could carry that much cash, not even in diamonds. Congress just adjusted the mix of grapes, oranges, and apples to make a fruit salad without bust-ing the budget.

A small difference between Congress and the fruit stand is omitted. The vendors at the farmer’s market expect payment in cash: no Monopoly money, counterfeit, rubber checks, or credit cards belonging to some-body’s as-yet-unborn grand-child. And pickpocketing is not allowed either.

Moreover, the vendors stand behind their product, which the customer can inspect and taste on the spot.

The handkerchief over Obama’s fruit salad will be whisked off only later, after the 2014 election. Even if it turns out to be sour grapes, blighted oranges, and rotten apples, the taxes have already been collect-ed, and the liabilities on future

generations incurred.One other detail: ObamaCare

will cut off the irrigation water to the private orchard, even it doesn’t actually chop it down. That will clear the way for the all-public collective-farm op-tion for which many Democrats yearn. That’s one reason they don’t care too much about the legislative details. Why fertil-ize or trim a tree that is going to be uprooted? And if there is no more fruit, guess who will be blamed: the bankrupt farmer.

CBO legerdemain is like a magic show. It is smoke and mirrors, illusion, and deception. But there is a difference. Magi-cians do not create rabbits out of thin air, but they do produce them.

If the CBO predictions are shown to be pure digital fantasy, it is not the actuaries who will suffer. As with the wild underes-timates for the cost of Medicare, imaginary numbers have real physical consequences.

The number crunchers got paid; Americans are still pay-ing.

- Jane M. Orient, M.D., is the Executive Director of Association of American Physicians and Sur-geons.

CBO Prestidigitation! It’s Official Magic

The U.S. House of Represen-tatives has passed historic leg-islation which will ensure that all Virginians have access to af-fordable health care. Virginia's families are one critical step closer to not having to worry about whether or not they can afford to see a doctor when we get sick. This is a huge step for Virginia s working families and small businesses.

This landmark legislation will stop insurance companies from denying care based on pre-exist-ing conditions, expands cover-age and care for the one million uninsured Virginians, allows young adults up to age 26 to stay covered on their parents insur-ance and reduces prescription drug costs for seniors.

Positive change in this coun-try never comes without strug-gle whether the fight is Social Security or civil rights. There

has always been resistance and controversy that come along with historic change, no mat-ter how positive. In time, the benefits of change are visible. Those who opposed change are remembered as being on the wrong side of history.

Virginia Organizing Project members fought for health care reform over the last two years through making tens of thou-sands of phone calls, knocking on thousands of doors and visit-ing the offices of their members of Congress. This is their victory and a victory for all the people of Virginia. We thank the Vir-ginia members of Congress who stood up for all of us and voted for the health care reform we desperately need.

- Janice Jay Johnson, Chair-person of the Virginia Organiz-ing Project.

Health Care Reform Right for Virginia

36522232Roanoke3.5x5_news.indd 1 3/25/10 12:52:05 PM

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North Cross attacker #8 Will Stephenson is checked from be-hind by a Cryphon defender.

North Cross Defeats New Covenant 14-1 In Boys Lacrosse

Raider attacker #16 George Revercomb gets around a New Covenant defender lead-ing to a North Cross goal.

William Byrd scored seven runs in the last two innings to break open a tight game as they defeated the Titans on the Hid-den Valley diamond Saturday afternoon.

The Terriers scored three runs in the top of the first and Hidden Valley had clawed back to within one, at 3-2, before the Byrd bats exploded.

Byrd's starter, Kevin Bowles, struck out six in picking up the win. Bowles also homered to deep left to lead off the sixth for the Terriers (3-1).

William Byrd starter Kevin Bowles delivers a pitch Saturday.Bowles was the winning pitcher and also homered for the Terriers.

William Byrd Downs Hidden Valley 10-2 in Baseball

Middle school runners wait for the starter's gun in a distance event Saturday.

Cave Spring's Elliot George looks to clear the bar in the pole vault competition.

Knights Classic Invitational Track Meet at Roanoke College

William Fleming runner Devin Dean prepares for the baton to be passed in the 400 relay Saturday.

Hidden Valley's Stefani Krkeljas warms up for the triple jump.

Recap and Photos by Bill Turner



Change isn’t necessarily a bad thing . . .

Take the Patrick Henry girls’ soccer team for example. The Patriots’ 2009 season went about as well as is possible, culminat-ing in a Western Valley District title and a 12-4 record.

The offseason, however, was hectic to say the least. The girls lost several starters to gradua-tion, and also lost their coach, rendering the 2010 season as a complete rebuilding job.

In the long run, however, all of the upheaval may end up be-ing a huge positive for the pro-gram. Just a few months ago, the school was able to lure Carrie O’Keeffe back to Patrick Henry to coach the girls.

O’Keeffe, a PH alum, is cur-rently the Head Coach at Hollins University, and had an impres-sive playing career that is sure to command her players respect. An All-CAA selection in all four of her seasons at William and Mary, O’Keeffe also played professionally in the now de-funct WUSA for three seasons with the Washington Freedom, where her teammates included U.S. National Team stars Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach.

In her first season at the helm, O’Keeffe inherits a young roster with only one senior (center midfielder Emily Davis), mean-ing she has the chance to build a program from the ground up.

“We graduated some pretty talented players last year and so we have a really young team,” O’Keeffe said. “On the other hand, these girls have the op-portunity to play together and improve together for several years.”

The younger players aren’t

bad, either. Many of the girls play club soccer for the Roa-noke Star or Valley AFC. In fact, a freshman (Trisha Jessee) leads the team in goals with 13 in her first five games.

“A lot of them have a good skill level and are very mature and willing to learn,” O’Keeffe said. “For them, it’s just learning how to play together and devel-oping some chemistry. We’ve talked a lot about how we want to play and incorporating a style of play that suits us.”

Through five games, the Pa-triots are 4-1, and interestingly, have yet to play a competitive game. They’ve shut out Pulaski 6-0, and Martinsville 6-0, and lost to Blacksburg by a score of 8-0.

“It’s definitely been strange,” O’Keeffe said. “We’re just using any game situations as learning

experiences.”With a young team, and a

new coach, it’s difficult to come up with some type of expecta-tions. So O’Keeffe and the Patri-ots have aimed high – while also trying to remain realistic.

“At the beginning of the sea-son, we said that a goal would be to win the district, and I don’t think that’s way out of the ques-tion at this point,” O’Keeffe said. “At the same time, I’d like for us to be a better team at the end of the season than we are now. I’d like for us to just get better day by day.”

Patriots Start Over With New Coach

“The truth of Christianity

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- Francis Schaeffer

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Keirin Culture Bicycles, a mostly-custom shop run by Stratton Delany, is collecting used bicycles and parts for a secondary school in Tanzania, Africa. Delany organized a bike-themed art show last weekend to raise money as well.

One of Delany’s own Ka-zane brand bikes, painted for the occasion – was auctioned off. Noted skateboarder Natas Kaupas, now the creative direc-tor for Quicksilver and owner of Designarium skateboards, hand painted the racing cycle.

Delany, who also sponsors a regional road racing bike team (see kazaneracing.com), learned about the Nianjema Secondary School in Tanzania, which is run by Virginia Tech graduate Charlie Sloan. He thought the school would be a good focus for fundraising; Delany had been to Africa before (in Gha-na) to help his father, who is an inventor.

Kazane Racing is also gather-ing used bikes and parts for the Nianjema Secondary School, for a team that will be started there. “That’s our big project for the year,” said Delany. Several of

Sloan’s friends in Tanzania will mentor the team and Delany hopes to send over 10-15 bicy-cles. “A lot of people have been really generous,” he notes.

“About 400 children now at-tend the Nianjema school,” said Delany, “all kids who never would have had a chance for an education.” Members of his Kazane racing team that attend Virginia Tech clued him in to the story of Sloan’s school.

Kierin Culture Bicycles (pro-filed in the Star-Sentinel last year) outgrew its original space in the Black Dog Salvage build-ing and moved recently to the former Angler’s Café at 310 2nd

St. NW. Ironically that store-front had been the temporary home of the Carless Brit Mu-seum, River Laker’s ode to the bicycle as an alternative means of transportation.

Delany, who moved to Roa-noke about a year and half ago, is impressed by the strides Roa-noke has made to become more bike and pedestrian friendly, in-cluding the growing greenway system. He also sees more of a market for the high-end bikes he builds. “Different … groups keep popping up everywhere.”

Bike Shop Raises Money, Collects Cycles for African School

One of Stratton Delany’s hand-painted Kazane brand bikes.


With the struggles of today’s economy comes yet another lo-cal business closing its doors.

Dave Sarmadi Imports will close in the next two months, but the service center will stay open.

The dealership has served the area for the past five years.

President Dave Sarmadi tells WSLS he’s seen a decline in business for the past two years.

He says he thought about closing last year, but decided to give the business one more test drive.

Sadly, one year later, nothing has changed.

“Every month you put mon-ey out of your pocket into the operation and pay employees and you know when you lose money you got to draw the line somewhere.“

Sarmadi says all 20 of his em-ployees have found new jobs.

He owns the building and will lease it to another party who will operate the service center.

- From News Partner WSLS 10

Dave Sarmadi Car Dealership Closing, Owner Blames Economy

Retirement plan sponsors have a dizzying array of op-tions available to them as they attempt to create a meaningful benefits package for their par-ticipants. One optional feature that may be well worth consid-ering is the Roth 401(k). A Roth 401(k) combines features of a traditional 401(k) with those of a Roth IRA. Like the traditional 401(k), the Roth 401(k) allows participants to make contribu-tions via salary deferrals. How-ever, like a Roth IRA, contribu-tions are made on an after-tax basis and participants may take tax-free distributions at retire-ment, as long as certain holding requirements are met.

Unlike contributions to a traditional 401(k) plan that are made with pre-tax dollars, con-tributions to a Roth 401(k) plan are made on an after-tax basis. The maximum contribution amount to a Roth 401(k) ac-count is the same maximum as in a traditional 401(k). For the 2010 tax year, federal laws per-mit a maximum annual contri-bution of $16,500 ($22,000 for participants age 50 and older), although employers may impose a lower limit. A plan participant may make any combination of Roth and/or traditional 401(k) contributions up to that limit.

Employee Roth contributions are eligible for an employer match, but all matching dollars are allocated to a pre-tax ac-count and are not made as ad-ditions to the Roth “account”. Also, any forfeiture amounts credited to a plan participant are added to the traditional

401(k) account rather than the Roth 401(k) account.

Like the assets in the tradi-tional 401(k), Roth 401(k) assets accumulate tax-free. However, unlike the traditional 401(k), qualified distributions may be taken tax- and penalty-free from the Roth 401(k) account. There are special qualification rules to qualify the withdrawals as tax free so it’s best to check on this beforehand.

Any employee eligible to participate in the traditional 401(k) is likewise eligible for the Roth 401(k). Unlike Roth IRAs where single individu-als with more than $110,000 in adjusted gross income (mar-ried couples who have more than $160,000 in adjusted gross income) are ineligible for con-tributions, there are no income limitations on participating in the Roth 401(k). For some plan participants, this fact alone may make participation in the Roth 401(k) more attractive; if they are ineligible to participate in a Roth IRA, the Roth 401(k) may be their only option to save for tax-free distributions.

Required Minimum Distri-butions (“RMD”) are generally required to be taken annually from assets held in a retirement account, starting when partici-pants reach age 70 ½. One ex-ception to this rule is the Roth IRA, which does not require RMDs. However, the Roth 401(k) account does not share in this exception - generally, RMDs must be taken annually as long as there are assets held in the Roth 401(k) account. If

the Roth 401(k) holder rolls his/her Roth 401(k) assets to a Roth IRA after separation from service, the RMD rules will not apply (however, the five year holding period for those assets will restart).

Your plan participants may find making the traditional versus Roth 401(k) decision dif-ficult. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. Each individ-ual must attempt to analyze the value of receiving a current in-come-tax deduction when con-tributing to a traditional 401(k) versus the benefit of contribut-ing to a Roth 401(k) and having the potential for no taxation on future distributions from the plan. Part of the decision hinges on whether personal income tax rates will rise or fall in the future – not an easy forecast to make.

Many plan participants may elect to split contributions be-tween their traditional 401(k) and a Roth account. If an em-ployee qualifies for a Roth IRA, he or she can make after-tax contributions to the Roth and pre-tax contributions to the tra-ditional 401(k). If not, then the plan participant can split contri-butions between the traditional and Roth 401(k) options.

If you decide that a Roth 401(k) plan may be appropriate for your business, you should speak with your current plan provider about implementing this feature for your plan.

Eddie Link is Senior Vice Pres-ident and a Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley Smith Bar-ney located in Roanoke VA and may be reached at 983-4908] or [email protected]

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Something’s brewing in southwest Virginia and when Scott Obenchain’s vision comes to fruition, there will be lives changed as a result. Obenchain is in the final planning stages for a new church in the Blacksburg / Christiansburg area which will look nothing like the “tradition-al” church people have come to expect. Obenchain envisions a church which will reach out to all people, but particularly those who do not already attend one.

When speaking with Oben-chain, “Blue Ridge Church” already feels like a compelling reality –his calling is so sure. He is energized as he describes what’s coming: a place for peo-ple to come exactly as they are. “I don’t want people to pretend they’re something they’re not…we want to be a church where people don’t have to pretend to be anything.” He adds that they want to do “anything we can do to tear down barriers.”

The exact location has not been chosen, but a decision is near. The location will be at a “cost-effective / people-recep-tive” place, an established venue that can hold a group of people--perhaps at a theater or bowl-ing alley…the primary goal is to find a relaxed, comfortable place with easy access. Word on that will be out soon.

The dates are already set for three “preview” services—June 27, July 25, August 22, with Sep-tember 12 being the much an-ticipated “Launch Day.”

Obenchain has already planned the messages he wants to begin with—a series on “Relationships.” He says, “the number one need in society is relationships.” That includes relationships in marriage, with kids, with parents and more. He wants to explore “what does God say about that?” He adds, “We weren’t created to be alone;

we were created to be in rela-tionships.” Blue Ridge Church will be about creating and strengthening relationships…and introducing people to a re-lationship with Jesus.

Support for the church has been coming from individuals, family, friends, and anyone that “has a heart for people.” Oben-chain has been taking leaps of faith throughout the process; he just hired a worship leader, telling him he “doesn’t have any money but he will.” He firmly believes this is something God wants him to do and “If it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill, and He’ll take care of it.” He is still in the process of organizing and fund-raising.

Obenchain seems like he is truly coming into his own con-cerning his life’s direction. He is extremely passionate and genu-ine, and somehow remarkably relaxed and laid back about his role. The goatee, casual shirt, and blue jeans will be the same whether he is out and about or in his role as pastor. He is ready.

It hasn’t always been this way. He relates how in recent years he felt this call, but “as my mind would think about the possibili-ties, fear would quickly enter, squashing those dreams. I have been up nights, restless and scared to death.” Now, he is no longer willing to run.

It was while in Chicago wrap-ping up a 20 year career with Allstate (that began in Roa-noke) that Obenchain found and began helping with Great Lakes Church, a church plant. There, he realized that “God has created me for ministry.” He has served overseas, teaching pas-tors around the world, includ-ing in Nagpur, India, where some of the pastors were beaten for attending the teaching ses-sions. Obenchain relates how “the next day those guys were

in class because they wanted to learn that much.”

Growing up in Blacksburg, Obenchain says he was not this focused all his life. He gradu-ated from Virginia Tech, where, he says “nobody had more fun than I did.” He is looking for-ward to reconnecting with old friends there who he says prob-ably won’t believe he is the same person and will “wonder what happened to this guy?”

He is jazzed about how much people are going to love being a part of this new church. “We will be focused on people…we will train and equip you to help people and when you see your brother or sister come to Christ and you’re a part of that – that’s what propels the church forward. You can’t put a price tag on things like that.” And it’s available to everyone.

Blue Ridge Church can be found at www.blueridgechurch.com. Obenchain encourages people to sign up to receive emails, and also become a fan on Facebook -- Blue Ridge Church

Something Holy This Way Comes

Scott Obenchain with his wife Lisa and daughters Nicole and Kristen (holding Taffy).

By Cheryl [email protected]

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The often-graphic subject matter affected some when he recited passages at the recent Virginia Festival of the Book, but that might be exactly what Thorpe Moeckel was looking for. The Hol-lins University English instructor, author of two collections of poems, has just released “Venison,” from Etruscan Press. It is one long-form poem, taking up about 80 pages, centered on the dress-ing of a deer felled by a hunter.

Moeckel, a hunter himself, uses vivid language to describe the dressing of a deer carcass. Wrapped around that central theme are threads of thought on family life and other matters. He lives on 18 wooded acres in north Botetourt County with his wife and daughter, where they grow as much of their food as possible. They’ve got a menagerie of animals as well. “It wasn’t hard to let the rhythms of our life … come out on the page.”

Moeckel will read from “Venison” at Roanoke College on April 6, at 7 p.m., in the Colket Center Pickle Lounge. The hour-long session is open to the public at no charge.

“The poem is rooted in the life that my wife and daughter and I lead,” said Moeckel, a Georgia na-tive who used to guide 30-day backpacking trips.

Long-form poems are a tradition that date back to Walt Whitman and earlier. “Venison” contin-ues that style. “There’s a lot of great ones that I’ve loved over the years,” said Moeckel, referring to the genre. A.R. Ammons was a big influence on “Venison.” “I’ve been teaching some of his poems [at Hollins].”

“I start with an incision behind the tendon but before that I’ve gutted the buck, covered his eyes with leaves, walked around dizzy, watching how he fell,” writes Moeckel at the beginning of Veni-son. Later, he writes that “in winter there has to be

a stove & fire to fuss over, finest heat save the body of one whose wants known so long or health’s es-sential sickness.”

There are no chapters or sections in Venison; periods “are the only place to pause.” “And there aren’t many of them,” notes Moeckel, who spent about four months writing “Venison.” He penned about 25 lines a day, give or take.

Moeckel earned an MFA from the University of Virginia after graduating from Bowdoin Col-lege. His first collection of shorter poems, “Odd Botany,” won several awards.

Copies will be available for sale at the reading on Tuesday April 6th, and “Venison” can be found at Ram’s Head and via on line booksellers.

“Venison” Offers Unusual Approach


Longtime Roanoke College Choir Director Dr. Jeffrey Sand-borg has had plenty of time—he has been the Director since 1985-- to refine and grow the college’s singing groups…and it has paid off. The College has two choirs, both of which are accomplished ensembles. The women’s “Oriana Singers,” com-prised of 28 women, recently sang with the UVA Men’s Glee Club; a highlight of their per-formance “involved signing to ‘Can You Hear Me?’ and it was a very emotional piece for the audience,” said Sandborg.

The principal group, “The Roanoke College Choir,” has up to 60 auditioned singers, and is widely recognized for its versatility, innovative pro-gramming and beautiful sound. They perform all along the East Coast and have frequently been heard here with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. In spite of the difference in numbers, Sandborg finds that he divides his time about equally between the two choirs.

Sandborg is a bit of an icon himself – in addition to being the driving force behind the choirs at Roanoke, he remains active as a clinician, adjudicator, choral scholar and more recent-ly as a composer. His conduct-ing credits are many, including major choral / orchestral works with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. Sandborg is also the Choir Director at Second Pres-byterian Church.

He is thrilled the choirs are able to use their talents to help

with the earthquake relief effort. The first concert will be on April 18 at 4 p.m. at St. Andrew’s. It will feature the Oriana Singers, the men of the Roanoke Col-lege Choir and special guests, “Looking For An Echo.”

The second concert will fea-ture the Roanoke College Choir, which will be presenting its fi-nal concert of the season as it bids farewell to its seniors, in an “eclectic blend of music, from the German Baroque to Ameri-can Gospel.” It will be held on April 30 at 7:30 p.m. Both con-certs will have a “free will” offer-ing for Catholic Charities and the American Red Cross.

Prior to the benefit concerts, The Roanoke College Choir and the Second Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir will perform a “themed” concert, called “The Bach Project.” Sandborg says this will be “great music—it is hard to describe—when people hear it, they’ll be devastated.” (That is a good thing.) This will be the fourth of the popular se-ries focusing on the music of a single composer. Sandborg ex-plains that “we discovered that Roanokers like the single com-poser theme.” Perhaps it seems more accessible to the public, but it also “appeals to music lov-ers as well.”

The concert at Second Pres-byterian Church will be held on April 11 at 4:00 p.m.

The choir “gig” has been all-encompassing for Sandborg; re-gardless where the conversation begins, it usually ends in discus-sion of choir. Finding it hard to

describe the passion he feels for his chosen profession, he shares a quote from Archibald Davi-son, one of the earliest directors of the Harvard Glee Club:

“There are few imaginable enterprises so enthralling as the directing of a chorus. To have companionship with eager men and women, whose joy it is to create beauty by breathing life and significance into music, to have a part with them in mutual accomplishment of high artis-tic ends… I cannot believe that many occupations offer greater rewards.”

For more information on Dr. Jeffrey Sandborg and both Roa-noke College Choirs, visit www.roanoke.edu/choir

Roanoke College Choirs Flourish Under Direction of Dr. Jeffrey Sandborg

By Cheryl [email protected]

It’s “No Shame” Theater night at Studio Roanoke, and Dwayne Yancey has just wrapped up a poem about, among other things, space traveling Jesus. Now Blair Peyton, self billed as the second funniest man in Ro-anoke, is on stage haphazardly plucking a guitar strung with what seem to be rubber bands. He’s performing his new song, “Baby Talk,” a sort of rhythm-less R&B cacophony complete with baby voiced “goo goo ga gas” and a rap interlude from his friend Bryan Hancock. Despite all the intentional anti-melody, I’m actually finding the song oddly catchy. As “Baby Talk” nears its swelling finally, Bryan’s duct-taped guitar breaks off at the neck.

Much of No Shame Theater shares that guitar’s make-shift, duct-tape-rigged feel. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. No Shame is like open mike meets variety show meets community center. Every Friday night at eleven, Studio Roanoke lends its stage to anyone who has, or at least thinks they have, some kind of performance that needs an audience. Any performer who arrives early enough to get one of fifteen spots gets five minutes of stage time. What performers do with that time is completely up to them within three rules: all pieces must be under five minutes, all pieces must be original, and perform-ers can’t break anything (laws, the venue… bones).

The duct-tape feel comes not only from the limited props, production value, and, occa-sionally, actor preparation time, but from the way wildly diverse pieces are joined together under one banner. It’s hard to say what one might see in a given night of No Shame. Sometimes there are poems, sketches, monologues and music. Sometimes there are puppeteers, mimes, evangelicals practicing their sermons and five minute paintings. Maybe a professional florist will come in and do a live flower arrange-ment, and then five minutes lat-er a man will be reading a poem about a disastrous, X-rated en-counter with a bear.

This Friday at 8 p.m. is the bi-annual “Best of” No Shame. The event will showcase over twenty of the best received pieces from the previous six months. De-spite the “Best” moniker, No Shame founder Todd Ristau insists Best of No Shame is not the No Shame Oscars. Ristau sees the night as a sampler plat-ter… less of a pat on the back for the performers and more of a chance for the uninitiated to get a taste of what No Shame is all about.

Ristau, now a professor at Hollins University, founded No

Shame in the back of his pick-up truck in 1986 while studying at the University of Iowa. It was founded on the same three rules it still runs on today, and since its founding Ristau has seen the idea grow into a transnational event. There are No Shames in cities all over the U.S. There’s even a high school version in Iowa, “Yes Shame,” so named because they had to institute extra rules to get permission to put it on. No Shame has been running in Roanoke since 2003. Ristau thinks the format has been successful both because it gives participants an open creative outlet, and because of the sense of camaraderie and inclusiveness a good No Shame encourages.

Ristau sees No Shame as “an experimental learning lab where an emerging playwright can get really practical experience with short pieces and direct audience feedback.”

Yet the performances them-selves aren’t what Ristau enjoys most.

“I think my favorite thing is how many people have told me that they’ve found a home,” said Ristau. “That sounds really schmaltzy, but I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they walk into No Shame and there’s an instant community.”

Ristau thinks that sense of community comes from open-ness and encouragement. All No Shame performances are not created equal, but the audi-ence is always supportive.

“We’re a theater that thrives on generosity and doesn’t really have a lot of patience for mean-ness,” said Ristau. “Everyone gets applause.”

Still, part of what keeps per-formers coming back is seeing what makes the audience re-spond most strongly.

“There’s the polite and sup-portive applause, and then if something is really good there’s thunderous applause and stomping feet,” said Ristau.

The freedom to fail combined

with desire to succeed seems to be what keeps the perform-ers coming back. Amy Alls, a singer/songwriter, said when she started out at No Shame she didn’t have a lot of confidence, but the enthusiasm of the crowd brought her out of her shell.

“Even if you [stink], you still get more confidence,” said Alls. “It is addictive, especially when you do get a good response.”

Not all pieces went over quite as well as others at this past Friday’s No Shame, but even when something does bomb it’s generally a unique bungle. This Friday’s Best of No Shame will lack some of the “will it work or won’t it” spontaneity. That may make it an easier entry point for new No Shame spectators. Of course, No Shame isn’t a spec-tator sport. So if you do hap-pen to see the show this Friday and come to the conclusion you have more talent in a single hair follicle than any of the perform-ers, No Shame regular Steve “Dogg” Glassbrenner has some advice:

“Come back next week and put on something better.”

By Case [email protected]

The Very Best of “No Shame” Theatre

Patrick Lyster performs for attendees at a recent No Shame event.

Focusing On Excellence & Artistry At Affordable Prices

WEDDINGPHOTOGRAPHY

540-312-4585

BY PROFESSIONALPHOTOGRAPHERWILLS HOLLAND

WE ARE THE ALPINE GROUPwww.alpineonline.com

VISIT OUR

STATE OF THE ART

5000 SQ FT STUDIO

SherwoodMemorial Park

-

Salem Ministers Association Annual Easter Sunrise Service Also, new this year we will present the Please join us...in the Sherwood Memorial Park Amphitheater for the

on Friday April 2nd and Saturday April 3rd at 7 pm.

A s a non-profit cemetery, Sherwood is always looking for ways to enhance our beauty, and contribute to our community. What better way is there to do that than to celebrate and pay tribute to those that serve, or have served, our country? We are proud to announce our new Veterans Garden, featuring our Veteran Circle and Memorial Walkway. By purchasing a Legacy Stone within the Walkway, you are not only honoring your Veteran—but a portion of the proceeds of each sale will go to the American Legion Legacy Scholarship. �is scholarship benefits children of military personel who pass away while on active duty. Our feature is a beautiful bronze and granite sculpture created by artist Bill Wolfe. It depicts a modern day Hero reaching out to those who have served before him. We hope that it will inspire peace and solace to our whole community. Please come out and reflect anytime. For more informa-tion please call (540)389-1677.

“The Bach Project” will be performed on April 11 at 4pm at Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke.

| The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 4/2/10 - 4/8/10 NewsRoanoke.com

Open HouseMarch 10, 8:30-11:00



Open House April 8

8:30-11:00


Notice of Nondiscriminatory Policy with Regard to Students: Faith Christian School admits students of any race, color, national, or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities, generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in the administration of educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic or other school administered programs. Faith Christian School does not discriminate on the basis of any race, color, national or ethnic origin when hiring employees.

BIRTHDAYÊPARTIESBookÊourÊplayÊroomÊcarpetedÊgymwithÊparachuteÊforÊyourÊBirthdayÊParty!HaveÊaÊ3ÊhourÊpartyÊforÊupÊtoÊ40ÊpeopleÊforÊonlyÊ$30!ReserveÊtoday!

SPECIALÊNEEDSCLASSESAVAILABLE

CallÊAboutÊOurSummerÊCamps!

SEEÊOURÊDOLLARÊMENUÊ$$$ReplaceÊdaycareÊwithÊourÊ$2ÊperÊhourÊDayÊClasses6am-6pmÊMONDAYÊTHRUÊFRIDAY!NoÊcontracts,ÊpayÊasÊyouÊgoÊclasses!

PARENTÕSÊNIGHTÊOUTFriÊ6pm-11pmÊforÊ$15SatÊAfternoonÊOutÊ3pm-8pmÊ$15AÊnewÊthemeÊforÊeachÊweekinÊourÊcarpetedÊgymÊwhileÊparentsÊhaveÊfunÊout!

anyÊ1stÊclassOfferingÊclassesÊdayÊ&Ênight

FREEPRINCESSÊBALLETÊCLASS

TuesÊ6:00-7:30GoodÊThroughÊApril

ÊCallÊForÊMoreÊInformation:Ê540-526-3341Ê753ÊUnionÊSt.,ÊSalem,ÊVaÊ24153

WearÊyourÊownÊPrincessÊGown!

[email protected]Ê6amÊ-Ê8pm

NEEDÊAÊBABYSITTERÊFORÊSPRINGÊBREAKÊWEEK?

TapJazz

Baton TwirlingLittle Gardner Classes

Jumpy JazzSpecial Needs Gym Classes

Baby Sign LanguageMommy and Me classes

After School Tutoring Available

Spanish FriendsScience & Discovery

For the 42nd year The Cave Spring Optimist Club will once again kick off the Largest Amateur Fresh Water Fishing Tournament in Virginia at Smith Mountain Lake. Proceeds from this event will benefit needy children here in the Roanoke Valley.

The Tournament will begin at 7:30 a.m., Friday, April 30th, at FoxPort Marina on Smith Moun-tain Lake and continue through 12:00 Noon, Sun-day, May 2nd. All entries must be caught and weighed in between these hours. Prizes will be awarded up to $15,000 CASH.

To be eligible for participation in the Annual Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Tournament, each individual must purchase a Non-Transferable Ticket. Tickets will be sold until 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 29th at outlets, (call 721-2451 for locations) except Foxport Marina, which will be sold until 7:30 a.m., Friday, April 30th.

The following Classes of Fish will be eligible for entry into the Tournament: Largemouth Bass; Smallmouth Bass; Muskellunge; Catfish; Crappie; Stripers. In the case of a tie in any Class, the earli-est entry will be declared the “Winner.” The Cash Awards Ceremony will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sun-day, May 2nd. A Special Prize of $300 will be giv-en away by a drawing. To be eligible for the draw-ing you must turn in your 2010 Optimist Fishing Ticket by 12:30 p.m., Sunday, May 2nd, and you must be present to win. The drawing will be held shortly after the Cash Awards Ceremony.

FOR REGISTRATION TICKETS, MAIL TO: Optimist Club of Cave Spring, Inc., P. O. Box 1276, Salem, Virginia, 24153. Please include the following information in your request: Number of tickets at $40 a ticket, name of each participant, including address, phone & email address.

Youth Tournament to be held Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

BRING YOUR CHILDREN, NO TICKET RE-QUIRED Age 12 and under with paying adult. Categories: Large Fish – Carp; Small Fish - Blue Gill, Sun Fish (Largest of the small fish). Prizes for each category will be $100, $75 and $50 sav-ings bonds. All fish must come from Smith

Mountain Lake, and must be weighed at FoxPort Marina between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Saturday, May 1st. Only one prize to any in-dividual. Awards will be made Sunday, May 2nd after completion of the Cash Awards Ceremony. All contestants must have a Social Security Num-ber. NO TICKET REQUIRED

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL FOX-PORT MARINA, 540-721-2451 and Good Luck!

The BIG Fishing Tournament is Coming, 42 years Strong!

Science of Ice Cream Washington and Lee University professor Marcia France conducts liquid nitrogen ice cream demonstration

1 p.m. Thursday April 8Williamson Road Library3837 Williamson Road540-853-2340

for all ages but kids will especially love it!

please phone to registerCrowds gather as the fish come in during last year’s tournament.

Discover the Possibilities

Symphonic Band • Chorale • Drawing • Painting • Mural Painting

• Sculpture • AP Art (Portfolio) • Graphic Design • Photography•

Web Design • Film-making • Animation • Art Appreciation •

Drama • Creative Writing • Symphonic Band • Chorale • Draw-

ing • Painting • Mural Painting • Sculpture • AP Art (Portfolio)

• Graphic Design • Photography• Web Design • Film-making •

Animation • Art Appreciation (history) • Drama • Creative Writ-

ing • Symphonic Band • Chorale • Drawing • Painting • Mural

Painting • Sculpture • AP Art (Portfolio) • Graphic Design •

Photography• Web Design • Film-making • Animation • Art Ap-

preciation (history) • Drama • Creative Writing • Symphonic Band

• Chorale • Drawing • Painting • Mural Painting • Sculpture •

AP Art (Portfolio) • Graphic Design • Photography• Web Design •

Film-making • Animation • Art Appreciation (history) • Drama •

Creative Writing • Symphonic Band • Chorale • Drawing • Paint-

ing • Mural Painting • Sculpture • AP Art (Portfolio) • Graphic

The Core of a Good Education

SPACE IS LIMITED! To register please call 540-989-6641, ext. 330.

Thursday, April 8, 20109 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Lunch is provided.

Come See For Yourself!Students in grades one through eleven are invited to

spend a day attending classes and meeting new friends.

VISIT DAY

At North Cross School, students discover the possibilities through:1:11 student/teacher ratio•Interscholastic competition in more than a dozen sports•Formal foreign language instruction in junior kindergarten •through twelfth gradeFine arts opportunities in the visual, performing, and •instrumental arts

Small Class Size

Athletics

Foreign Language

Fine Arts

North Cross School is located on a 77-acre, self-contained campus and has 100 percent college placement. Financial assistance, bus service and extended day programs are available.

The Roanoke Star-Sentinel

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