Have a great Friday and weekend.

The intersection of Jefferson Street and Franklin Road. The brick building in the center is the Western Virginia Water Authority.

Trolley making the rounds

A sidewalk scene from downtown Roanoke. The Wachovia Tower is easily spotted but if you look closer you can also see the Hotel Roanoke and The Taubman Museum.

A new sign welcomes people to the Norwich Community in Roanoke as seen along Memorial Avenue at the intersection with Roanoke Avenue.

Have a great Monday!

Elmwood Park in Roanoke VA. In the distance at the end of the sidewalk is a stage where concerts at Festival in the Park are performed.

No, this picture wasn't taken along some hiking trail on the mountain. It's actually a unique scene from downtown Roanoke at Elmwood Park.

Entrance to the Roanoke City Public Library

Downtown, near the entrance to the Roanoke City Public Library, is a bell.

Or, the monument of a bell.

Bell near Roanoke City Public Library

Even if you ride past in a car along Jefferson Street and look over (just across the street from the Patrick Henry Hotel) you can’t miss it.

According to the inscription on a plaque in front, the entire monument was built to acknowledge a ship that was named for the City of Roanoke. A ship called the USS Roanoke.

I conducted a Google search for more information about the USS Roanoke and yielded this article from Wikipedia.

I don’t know about you but I never knew this, and now we both do.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Firstly, I’m a very heavy sleeper and I didn’t feel the earthquake at all. In fact, I didn’t even hear about it until later in the afternoon on Saturday when my grandmother asked me about it.

Even then I thought she was joking.

But no, there was a modest earthquake here in Roanoke over the weekend that caused quite a stir with some people.

Unfortunately, I did miss all of the excitement.

Did you feel the earthquake?

A new radio station in Roanoke called Steve FM

If you were a regular listener to a station called The Bull (frequency 106.1) then you may have realized that 106.1 no longer plays classic country.

The Bull is out and Steve FM is on

I wasn’t a regular The Bull listener but I first noticed the new station a couple weeks ago. (Obviously, I thought that station’s name of Steve FM was a good choice!)

So, what does this new station play?

Everything, so it claims by an announcer voice in-between songs.

So far I’ve heard songs across the spectrum from new country to R&B to 80’s pop on Steve FM. Aside from a brief announcer voice in-between songs I haven’t heard any live radio host on the station yet, so I suppose it’s strictly a music only station.

I still like and prefer the morning radio show on K92, but at other times of the day I have been giving this new Steve FM more of a listen.

What do you think about it?

Festival in the Park 2009 Coming Up!

Where has the year gone? It’s already almost time for Festival in the Park! Last year I had an exceptionally good time, it’s one of those events that really does seem to have something for everyone.

Usually, during one of the days I go with my family to see the exhibitors. And at night, I meet with friends to see some of the music concerts. And of course, a purchase of a funnel cake and some lemonade were both mandatory for me.

If you’ve never been I encourage you to check it out this year. For more information visit the Fesitval in the Park website.

Have a great Tuesday!

In Elmwood Park there is a monument dedicated to the mayor’s of Roanoke over the years. You can also see it from the road along Elm Avenue near the intersection with Williamson Road.

Roanoke Mayor's Monument in Elmwood Park.

It’s a very nice display all on a slightly raised platform, and with a star made of bricks at the base.

Original inscriptions of early mayors (back to when Roanoke was known at Big Lick) are still visible on the actual stone monument. I suppose in recent years a new set of markers was placed at the base on top of the bricks.

And it’s here that each mayor of Roanoke has their name and term listed, from the beginning all the way to current.

A series of plaques around the base of the monument list all of Roanoke's mayors and terms.

More times than not I pack my lunch, but that doesn’t stop me from still heading out for some sunshine, air, and light exercise.

The sights and the sounds are both entertaining and peaceful. The economy is still terrible so I hear, but some people are nonetheless out and about carrying on with their own activities. The world hasn’t stopped moving and it’s not about to stop. Likewise, this quaint corner of southwest VA still does its best to keep busy.

I have also developed a bit of a habit when I venture downtown during lunch. On most days I pick up a fresh piece of fruit while I pass by the market. I suppose I could just as easily pack an extra apple or an orange with my regular lunch.

But, how boring would that be?

I’ve come to realize that not all habits are bad. In fact, this one I could get used to.

Have a great Friday and weekend!

Downtown Roanoke Market

Photos have been, and will continue to be, a staple of Noke News. But, every now and then I have thought about having the ability to post my own videos of Roanoke.

Well, here goes nothing, as this post marks the first video posted at Noke News!

This is a simple and short video of a common scene downtown…the passing of a train. In this particular video I was standing at the top of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Bridge. The Wachovia Tower can also be seen in the background to the right.

I hope you enjoy.

As this is my first attempt at adding video to the blog, please let me know if you have trouble viewing or if things don’t look like they probably should.

(You may need Adobe Flash to view.)

There are of course other markers in the area, but this one is unique in that it gives a brief but succinct overview of Roanoke’s history.

Did you know that Roanoke was originally known as “Big Lick”?

Below is the inscription from the front and back of the marker. Photos of the actual marker are at the bottom of the post.

Roanoke

The first village here, at Pate’s Mill and Tavern on Evans’ Mill Creek, was called Big Lick for nearby salt marshes. In 1939 it was laid off as the town of Gainesborough. After the coming of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad (later N. & W.) in 1852, another village sprang up about the old Stover House that was also named Big Lick. Gainesborough became known as Old Lick.

In June, 1884, General Hunter passed here retreating from Lynchburg. In 1874 Big Lick was incorporated. In 1881, with the junction of the New Shenandoah valley Railroad with the N. & W., rapid growth began. In 1882 the name was changed to Roanoke; in 1884 it was incorporated as a city. In 1909 the Virginian Railroad operated its first train. In recent years Roanoke became the third city of Virginia.

Heavy and dreary cloud cover hovers over downtown Roanoke, as viewed from Salem Avenue (5/6/09).

So, sunshine has been scarce and clouds plentiful lately.

But, there is more than one way to look at the…we’ll call it less than preferable weather. On the one hand, the weather seems quite depressing.

But, on the other hand, it appears that most of the area foliage is quite happy. As a result most area lawns are a deep shade of healthy green. Trees along Mill Mountain are getting thicker with fresh, new leaves of the season.

Ghent Hill Park is very much in the Spring spirit after all of the recent rain.

So, all of the rainfall lately has not gone to waste or been a total hindrance.

Far from it, actually.

Even with allergy season in full force I still take every opportunity possible to go for a bicycle ride on one of the area greenways. So far this year I’ve gone to the Roanoke River Greenway and Lick Run Greenway. I’ve also made an unofficial visit to the Tinker Creek Greenway by way of exploring.

(I say “unofficial” because I didn’t even know I was on the greenway until I saw the sign after traveling a little ways. Much more on that in a future post where I will show how the Roanoke River Greenway kinda connects to the Tinker Creek Greenway.)

 (5/6/09 - As an update on the above, I read a recent article in the Roanoke Times which mentioned that federal economic stimulus money will be used to officially connect the Roanoke River Greenway to the Tinker Creek Greenway. )

Here are some various photos taken from my recent greenway visits.

 Have a great Monday!

The Roanoke River Greenway near Wasena Park. The Wasena Bridge is in the background.

Tinker Creek Greenway at Fallon Park.

The Roanoke River and Greenway (seen to the right).

Lick Run Greenway provides a special view from a ramp along I-581.