www.newrivervalley.com

Virginia Tech this week sent out this release from Cadet Jason Oberoi:

Gaddis

Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Change of Command Parade to be held May 2

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 29, 2009 - On Saturday, May 2, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets will honor its graduating seniors and its rising senior class.

At the 10 a.m. ceremony to be held on the Drillfield in front of Burruss Hall, the corps will conduct a Pass in Review to honor the Class of 2009 as they become alumni of the corps and to usher in the Class of 2010. The new cadet officers and commanders of the Regiment Command will be passed from Cadet PC Robert 09353_stegerMichael Gaddis of Hampton, Va., a senior majoring in sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, who will attend flight training with the U.S. Air Force after graduation, to Cadet John Steger of Springfield, Va., a junior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and a member of Army ROTC.

Steger

The Skipper, the corps cannon, will be fired at the beginning and the end of the ceremony and the Highty-Tighties, the Regimental Band, will play. The public is welcome to attend and this culminating event for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Class of 2009.

"I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as the Regimental Commander for the fall 2009 semester," said Steger. "I know that it will be a very demanding position with many unique leadership challenges, but I also know that I will benefit greatly from my experiences as commander."

Read more »

To prepare for a new process to issue driver's licenses and ID cards, the Christiansburg DMV Customer Service Center at 385 Arbor Drive will be closed on May 12 and May 13. The office will reopen on May 14.

The town of Blacksburg today sent out this invite to area residents:
The Blacksburg Museum is offering a Walking Tour of the historic Sixteen Squares of Blacksburg.  The tour will begin at 4 pm on Wednesday, May 6th at the Old Town Hall located at the intersection of Church and Jackson Streets.  Participants will see some of the oldest structures in downtown Blacksburg, and will discover the many reasons that the Town was settled where it was.  The tour is free and open to the public, and lasts about one hour.  To reserve your space for the tour, send an email to museum@blacksburg.gov, or phone Terry Nicholson, Museum Administrator at 540-558-0746.

The Museum offers this program in collaboration with the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg's Wonderful First Wednesdays.

This announcement arrived this afternoon from Montgomery County to announce an upcoming event scheduled for May 16:

We welcome all participants to the 2009 1^st annual Race for the Stars Memorial Run and Fun Run! This event is hosted is hosted in memory of Kathy Neff, an Auburn Elementary Star. This event is open to all walkers and runners of any age and experience.  Proceeds will benefit the Auburns Elementary Relay for Life Team, a team that raises money in support of cancer research and awareness.

For more information, see the attached file (auburn5k) or call Parks and Recreation at 382-6975.

By the end of summer, diners in downtown Blacksburg will have three new restaurant choices.

Rita’s Water Ice, a franchise Italian water ice and custard shop and Greens Restaurant and Sushi Bar are scheduled to open in 109 A and B College Avenue by mid-May.

Just around the corner on North Main Street, D.P. Dough, a franchise calzone restaurant is scheduled to open Aug. 1.

Rita's was scheduled to open earlier this year, but the date was pushed back due to construction delays. Greens is occupying the space that was formerly Pee Wee's Pit Barbecue, which closed in early April. D.P. Dough will be located in the former Emilio's restaurant, which has stood empty since the restaurant closed about four years ago.

For details, read Saturday's edition of the New River Valley Current.

--Amy Matzke-Fawcett

More than 5,300 students, volunteers and guests made this past weekend’s American Cancer Society Relay For Life event at Virginia Tech one to remember.
The event, held on the Drillfield from 6 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Saturday, raised more than $486,000 for cancer research and patient services. The 484 teams that participated set the event as the largest college Relay For Life in the country, coming in ahead of Georgetown University.
With a goal of $500,000, the students will continue fundraising through the end of August in hopes of reaching their half a million dollar goal.
Domenick Casuccio with the American Cancer Society was kind enough to send along some of Doug Hussey’s photos from the event. Click here for the other 20 photos in a slideshow.
Funds raised at Relay For Life enable the American Cancer Society to support local services and resources for cancer patients and their families. Funds also support critical cancer research and community education programs designed to teach people how to reduce their risk of developing cancer.
Other upcoming relays include: Montgomery County, Christiansburg High School, May 29; Pulaski County, Randolph Park, May 29; Giles County, Giles High School, June 26; Floyd County, Floyd County High School, July 18.
To get involved in any event, go to www.relayforlife.org

The fifth annual Police Memorial Ceremony is set for May 18 in Christiansburg.

Lt. James Bond of the Albemarle County Police Department will speak at the event sponsored by the Mongtomery County Sheriff’s Office. The ceremony is at 5 p.m. on the courthouse lawn.

The event honors law enforcement officers who died during 2008 and those from Montgomery County who died in the line of duty in recent years: Christiansburg officers Terry Griffith and Scott Hylton, Montgomery Regional Hospital security guard Derrick McFarland and Cpl. Eric Sutphin of the sheriff’s office.

In 2008, 133 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty nationwide, and 38 officers have died already this year, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

The local event is being held in conjunction with National Police Officer Memorial Week, set for May 10-16.
For more information, call the sheriff’s office at 382-6906.

Experts as well as area legislators have been invited to speak at a public forum Sunday in Blacksburg called “Tough Times: The Impact on Virginia’s Children.”

The event is designed to explore the longterm effects of poverty on children and ways that expanded unemployment insurance, access to health care and affordable child care can help, according to a news release from the New River Valley chapter of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, which is sponsoring the event.

The forum is scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m. at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, 701 Church St. It  is free and open to the public.

Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Montgomery County residents have until Friday to register for the 2009 Hazardous Household Waste and Latex Paint Exchange.

In addition to waste items such as used motor oil and used antifreeze, residents can also bring their partially used cans of latex paint to the event. Paint must be usable.

Nearly empty, dried out or otherwise useless latex paint can be discarded with your normal refuse, according to a news release from the town of Christiansburg.

Callers should have a list of items they need to dispose of at the event, and collection capacity is limited.

In Christiansburg, call Missy Martin at 382-6128, ext. 122.

In Blacksburg, call 961-1851.

In Montgomery County, call 394-2120, ext. 4083.

A portion of Virginia 621 (Craigs Creek Road) will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily next week, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Crews will be replacing pipe in the area, forcing the road’s closure near the Craig County line.