The Roanoker - November/December 2017 - 11

APRIL, 1987: "In the summer
of 1986, Rigo Lopez struck
out on his own. Scouting the
streets of major metros in North
Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, he found a
sympathetic ear in Roanoke. A
real estate broker here told him
Roanokers would appreciate a
truly authentic Mexican restaurant." -Gary Winker, writing
about the opening of (the first) El
Rodeo, on Williamson Road.

DECEMBER, 1988:
"Statistics Will
Tell You Anything
Award: In two surveys released in the
fall, Psychology Today
found Roanoke to be
the 12th most stressful city in the U.S.,
while a Zero Population Growth survey
found Roanoke the
10th least stressful."

JANUARY, 1989: "The
dumpster behind the Texas
Tavern will be designated
an EPA Superfund Site.
And, recognizing the
extreme growth potential of
the History Museum. E.T.
will donate his mother's
wedding gown." -Mitchell
Bowden, executive director
of the Roanoke Valley History Museum, as a part of
"Predictions '89."

OCTOBER, 1986: "The only way to get from this side of 419 to the
other is to have been born over there." -Roanoke County resident Gerard Bijwaard, speaking to the county planning commission about needs for
improvement to the Tanglewood area.
APRIL, 1993: "Virginia Tech is
still in Blacksburg . . . Richard
Morgan is now playing pick-up
ball in Duluth . . . North Carolina is still wherever it is too . . .
John Crotty says the best benches
in the NBA are in Houston:
'No splinters and a nice little
contour for your butt.' . . Ralph
Sampson is thinking of going
to Duluth to see if he can pick
up some minutes as a back-up
center." -"Mind-Numbing College Minutiea," April Fools' parody
of Doug Doughty's still-going-strong
"College Notes" columns.

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THEROANOKER.COM

"The most developed
interchange along
I-81, which runs
from east-central Tennessee to the Canadian border? Try Exit
44 in Botetourt County, where county
commissioners and big business clash
over things like the 132-foot Hardee's
sign." -Priscilla Richardson, writing
about the congestion and bottlenecks at
what is now Exit 150.
7

MARCH, 1991: "I'd like to make Victory
Stadium the Super Bowl of these Saturday
night bull rings, such as mine in Franklin
County." -Franklin County race promotor
Whitey Taylor, on why he should be allowed to
hold car races in Victory Stadium.

APRIL, 1992: (April Fool's selfparody of The Roanoker.)
9

JANUARY, 1997: "Beth Macy.
Wife, mother, journalist and
twice-weekly rising star columnist
for The Roanoke Times, who
captures the sweet details of life
and circles them with the magic
of clean crisp prose." -Norma
Lugar, writing in her piece "100
Contemporary Names You Need
to Know," about the current bestselling author.

MARCH, 1990:

APRIL, 1998: "After more
than 80 hours on the bus, the
three most important questions when riding the bus:
1. Where is my money? 2.
Where is my ticket? 3. Where
are the restrooms?" -Chuck
Kincaid from "Postcard from
Bismarck," about the ride
with two contest winners to see
Garth Brooks perform.
15

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 1999: "Our
vision and dream would be a Random
Acts of Kindness Day, in which all of
us would look for opportunities to do
something kind and special for our
neighbors, visitors or perhaps for total
strangers." -The Roanoker founder,
owner and publisher Richard Wells,
expressing hopes to give back to the community in celebration of the magazine's
25th anniversary.
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CONTINUED

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | 11

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The Roanoker - November/December 2017

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