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Mayor David Bowers kisses the Blarney Stone

CORRECTION, Oct. 3, 2011, 11:42 a.m.: Mayor David Bowers’ first trip to Ireland was for the wedding of a Roanoker, not his most recent trip.

This summer Roanoke Mayor David Bowers visited Ireland.

My editor quickly asked, “Did he kiss the Blarney Stone?”

After Bowers referenced his trip during Monday’s Roanoke city council meeting, I was able to answer, confidently: “Yes, he did.”

And now, courtesy of Bowers, we’ve got the photo to prove it.

For those unfamiliar with the legend, those who kiss the Blarney Stone are supposedly gifted with eloquence and the powers of persuasion — certainly traits that come in handy for a politician who is up for re-election next spring.

In fact, Bowers told me this isn’t the first time he’s kissed the Blarney Stone. He also did so in the summer of 1991 — just a few months before his first, successful run for mayor.

This timeIn 1991 he traveled to Ireland “for the wedding of a girl here from Roanoke who married a boy from over there,” Bowers said.

There’s some evidence the stone is already working. He made sure I was taking notes, and then dropped this description of his “All-American Sampler Weekend” (his term, not mine):

“This past weekend, I honored the teachers,
Spoke with the blacks,
Ate lunch with the Greeks,
Went to mass with the Catholics,
Had a beer with the Irish,
Prayed with the Baptists,
Spoke with a gay and lesbian group,
And had a picnic with the conservationists.

It was a pretty busy weekend. That’s what I like about the job. This is a key that opens lots of doors for just a working class guy from Raleigh Court.”

So is the Blarney Stone working? Or is the mayor just full of blarney?

– Mason Adams