The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 40

2015 SOURCEBOOK

Coming Home

DAVID HUNGATE

It's that strong sense of families together - perhaps intensified in a context of
the impassioned competition of just moments earlier - that makes Roanoke feel
like home to so many.

Roanoke newcomer Shari Dragovich: "When I smiled into the faces of 'enemy' moms
looking thankful as I served them lasagna, and commended 'enemy' boys on a game well
played, I knew it was worth it."

BY SHARI
DRAGOVICH

40 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

I AM NOT FROM ROANOKE. I am not from Southwest Virginia, or even the East Coast. I am wife to a
post-military man, and together, we have a post-military family. Before moving to Southwest Virginia, the
last place we were from was Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
Before that, it was Gaithersburg, Maryland, and before
that? I barely remember.
But what I do remember is growing up in a place not
much different than Roanoke - that is, if you trade the
mountains for plains and the trees for corn and wheat
fields. But the communities are so similar - warm,
welcoming, family-oriented - and I have often caught
myself wondering since moving here almost two years
ago now, if maybe I really had moved home.
Well, I used to wonder, but I don't question it anymore. I know the answer. And if there has been any
single experience to cement this knowing, it was our
boys' baseball season last summer with the Roanoke
County Parks & Recreation League.
This is it. My summer has officially been swallowed
up by baseball. That was my thought as I sat slumped
over my computer reading and re-reading the email

from my boys' All-Stars coach's wife, hoping maybe
I'd read it wrong. It was a food assignment list for each
family and because I had two boys playing on the team,
I had double the food to bring.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, it is a tradition in
Little League Baseball for the players and families of
both teams to share a meal after each All-Stars game,
with the home team playing host. A noble tradition,
to be sure, but as I sat there re-reading while simultaneously rubbing smooth the deepening furrow between my brows, I could have taken all that noble Little
League tradition and left it for someone else to appreciate, much like the expensive water bottles my boys
continually left in the dugout for some other family to
take home, sanitize and enjoy.
I was already fairly exhausted from the long regular
season. Our family started Roanoke Co. baseball with
both boys on the same minor league team, coached
by my husband. Our (read, my) strategic efforts of
streamlining our baseball season quickly took a turn
to the complicated, however, when - in classic baseball fashion - one son was "called up" to play with a
major league team plagued by injury. This is when
I realized we weren't just playing sweet little "rec
league" ball. Oh no. What we had done, by default of
moving to Southwest Roanoke County, was sign on
with the pinnacle of all youth sports: Little League
Baseball.
There are a number of leagues a community's recreational department can adopt as their own: American Legion, Dixie League, Babe Ruth - the list goes
on. Southwest Roanoke County happens to support
Little League Baseball: a world unto itself, where
strong competition (understatement), a tight set of
rules (that rival those of the MLB), and emphasis on
sportsmanship combine to produce players and teams
who are models of their motto: Character, Courage,
Loyalty.
By the end of the regular season, I had to admit my
boys were genuine Little Leaguers. Both had a great
experience, having grown in both baseball prowess
and character. And despite my hand-wringing over
the inconvenience of them playing on different teams,
THE

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The Roanoker - January/February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - January/February 2015

Letters / Worth a Click
From The Editor
The Look
The Flavor
The Quiz
The Calendar
Get Outside
Dining: Four of the Valley’s Best Restaurants
On The Town
Where Are They Now?
The Source Book
Coming Home
Neighborhoods
Education
Arts & Culture
Medicine
Business
Recreation
Shopping
Retirement
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Intro
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Cover1
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Cover2
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 3
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 4
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 5
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 6
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 7
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 8
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 9
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Letters / Worth a Click
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 11
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - From The Editor
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 13
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - The Look
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 15
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - The Flavor
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 17
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - The Quiz
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 19
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - The Calendar
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 21
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 22
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 23
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 24
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Get Outside
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 26
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 27
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 28
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 29
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 30
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 31
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 32
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 33
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 34
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 35
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 36
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 37
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 38
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 39
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Coming Home
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 41
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Neighborhoods
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 43
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 44
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 45
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 46
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 47
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 48
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 49
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 50
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 51
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 52
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 53
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Education
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 55
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 56
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 57
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 58
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 59
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 60
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61A
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61B
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61C
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61D
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61E
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61F
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61G
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61H
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Arts & Culture
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 63
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 64
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 65
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 66
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 67
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 68
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 69
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Medicine
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 71
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 72
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 73
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 74
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 75
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Business
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 77
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 78
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 79
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 80
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 81
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 82
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 83
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Recreation
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 85
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 86
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 87
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 88
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 89
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 89A
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 89B
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Shopping
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 91
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 92
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 93
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 94
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 95
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 96
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Retirement
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 98
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 99
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 100
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 101
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 102
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 103
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Dining: Four of the Valley’s Best Restaurants
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 105
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 106
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 107
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 108
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 109
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 110
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 111
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - On The Town
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 113
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Where Are They Now?
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Cover3
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Cover4
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