The Roanoke River Greenway is providing a gateway, connecting isolated neighborhoods to each other.

Norwich, one of Roanoke’s oldest industrial neighborhoods, might have remained forgotten to all but the families who have lived there for generations had not the Roanoke River Greenway bridged a connection.

Until the greenway jumped Memorial Avenue last May, stretching from Vic Thomas Park toward Norwich, there wasn’t really much of a reason to happen by the neighborhood despite it being just over the hill from Grandin Village.

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Guns, cyclists, and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors elections in today’s letters to the editor.

A worthy tribute to a great horse

Now that people have been led to the river, they want in.

The Roanoke River is coming into its own. It wasn’t long ago that folks didn’t bother to notice the river unless it spilled its banks. A big flood control project not only tamed the flooding beast, it brought miles more to the Roanoke River Greenway. And now that Roanokers have discovered the river, they want in it.

As Roanoke continues the process to update its Parks and Recreation Master Plan, planners are hearing over and over a desire for river access and for water sports and leisure. People like the greenways and would like even more trails that connect to their neighborhoods, but they also want access to the river.

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By Linda Martin

Re: the proposed daily fees for the Franklin County Park Beach at Smith Mountain Lake:

I strongly object to the collection of those fees. The last time the fee of $3.50 a day was imposed at the county park, I wrote to my supervisor (who was then Russ Johnson) to object. As was evidenced by the huge drop in attendance during the years it was imposed, the fee was responsible for many people not using the beach.

I live within a mile of the park, but my house is waterfront, and if I choose not to use the beach, my family can still use the lake. Consider the many, many people who do not live lake front, or even at the lake, who have been able to enjoy the beach over the past several years without the fee.

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Martin lives at Smith Mountain Lake and is a substitute teacher for Franklin County.

by Betsy Biesenbach

One of the more interesting bits of news that came out of Washington earlier this year was Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s announcement that, in the future, disabled students must be allowed to play on school sports teams if they can keep up with their able-bodied classmates after reasonable accommodations have been made.

In an Associated Press story that ran on Jan. 25, Duncan stated that disabled students should be included in sports programs so they can “benefit from the life lessons they can learn on the playing field or on the court.”

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Biesenbach, of Roanoke, is a freelance writer, title examiner and author of “Bits O’ Betsy Biesenbach.”

The Roanoke Times

Christiansburg residents eager to stretch their legs in the great outdoors have found the town lacking in adequate recreation space. But that’s changing as town leaders have begun to think more proactively about their constituents’ current and future needs.

The Christiansburg Aquatic Center and skate park as well as improvements to Depot Park are testaments to their efforts.

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Users can help bridge the gap in the Roanoke River Greenway.

If turnstiles gated the Roanoke River Greenway and required users to drop a quarter at each mile, in no time at all enough money would be in hand to bridge the remaining gap.

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By Pam Humphrey

Jerry Frawley’s commentary (“No logic in continuing Sunday hunting ban”) published Jan.21 disputed Marlene Condon’s prior submission (“Sunday hunting is no cure-all,” Jan. 11). As a thinking Virginian, I must side with Condon.

I believe the foundation of the American system is for the populace to speak through elected representatives. Evidently, four delegates represent the views of their constituents by continuing to vote against Sunday hunting.

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 Humphrey is retired from the College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville, Fla., and lives on a farm in Newport where she pursues her passion of native plant photography.

By Mark E. Petersen

To respond to a commentary featured in The Roanoke Times is a noble and civilized way to disagree with fellow human beings not known to me. So I am responding to Dan Motley’s commentary (“Roanoke deserves a vibrant future, too,” Jan. 9).

Perhaps Motley needs to climb down from his ivory tower and understand why some residents are opposed to the so-called improvements being made to Elmwood Park. Under the leadership of a former city manager some 25 years ago, Elmwood was transformed into a beautiful, arboretum-like destination for downtown employees to take a lunch break and get out of the office. It was also planned as a community space for concerts and festivals.

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 Petersen relocated to Roanoke from his native Los Angeles 15 years ago.

By Jerry Frawley

I am writing this in response to Marlene A. Condon’s commentary of Jan. 11 (“Sunday hunting is no cure-all”). While she is entitled to her opinion and is most welcome to have it published, she is not entitled to distort or play loose with the facts. This is to clear up several things she stated.

“In 2012, Virginians spoke loudly and clearly to let state legislators know that they did not want hunting expanded from six days a week to seven by allowing Sunday hunting.”

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 Frawley, of Midlothian, is retired from the military and works for a state agency.