As of noon Thursday, April 28, four schools are leading the Roanoke Area Youth Substance Abuse Coalition‘s Facebook challenge “Drop the Pills Before they Kill”: James River, Lord Botetourt, North Cross and Cave Spring.

The challenge continues through this Saturday, April 30, and the winning school will be announced Monday morning, May 2.

Each participating school has a post on the page each day. The school with the most “likes,” calculated proportionately based on enrollment, wins $500.

Additionally, kids that leave comments about prescription drug abuse are entered in daily contests for gift cards and other prizes.

Salem, Glenvar, Lord Botetourt, James River, Cave Spring, Hidden Valley, Community School, Patrick Henry, William Fleming, Faith Christian, Roanoke Valley Christian, North Cross, Roanoke Catholic School and Parkway Christian Academy high schools are all participating.

***This Saturday, April 30, is the DEA’s National Drug Take Back day.

Safe disposal of prescription medication is offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Salem Police Department, The Roanoke Civic Center, the Tanglewood Kroger, and at the Daleville Kroger. Click here for more information.

–Miranda Beck, special to SWoCo.

Get a sneak preview at the Open Studio Tour of Steve Mitchell’s Kiln Opening at 110 West Campbell Ave. Friday night, April 29. See the work of 5 of the Open Studio Tour artists served up with refreshments on Friday night from 6-8 p.m.  Come early and stay late, it’s a party.

The first work out of Steve Mitchell’s new wood fired kiln will be for sale at Patton Phillips Gallery 110 West Campbell Ave. Roanoke Open Studios Tour will be Saturday, April 30, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Sunday May 1, noon until 5 p.m.

Steve will load the wood fired kiln (which he designed and constructed) on April 22, fire for 2 days then allow the kiln to cool until Thursday, the 28th.

Don’t miss Steve’s new work and the new work of Chris Gryder, a Roanoke Potter with a very unique and detailed work also on the tour. Visit www.openstudiosofroanoke.com
for a printable map. Brochures and map available at the Taubman Museum. Also catch the Downtown Trolley at the Taubman and ride to the various Tour locations.

Start the 11th Annual Open Studios Tour where ever you like. Enjoy a spring day on a self-guided tour of artists homes and studios.  The tour spans Raleigh Court, Old Southwest, Downtown and South Roanoke. New work of more that 20 artists can be viewed at 7 locations.  Admission is free.

Submitted by Blue Ridge Potters Guild

Standing (from left): Remington Stanley (Glenvar Middle School), Ethan Light (ALMS), Alex Persinger (ALMS), Jeremy Eubank (Northside Middle School) and Bradley Kinder(Cave Spring Middle School). Kneeling (from left): Kyle Campbell (ALMS), Brendan Carroll (ALMS), Anthony Morris (ALMS), Zack Beard (Glenvar Middle School), Troy Mitchell (Glenvar Middle School) and Adam Spangler(ALMS). Coaches (from left): Darren Eubank, Jacob Carroll, Joe Morris and Glenn Campbell. Photo by Katelin Campbell.

The 13U Virginia Sluggers won the Easter Rally in Dublin, VA on Saturday April 23rd.

Submitted by Glenn Campbell.

Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni tapped as Keynote Speaker; Local woman featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition also part of the program

Two high-profile speakers are scheduled to be part of this year’s Roanoke Regional Housing Network Symposium: Livable Communities. The day-long symposium, organized in partnership with Housing Virginia, will be held at the Vinton War Memorial on Wednesday, May 4, 2011, beginning with opening remarks at 8:30 a.m.

Nikki Giovanni, a world-renowned poet and University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, will present the keynote address at 12:30 p.m. Giovanni will read poetry and deliver remarks that center on creating a more habitable world. Blacksburg resident Carol Crawford Smith, a former dancer who gained national recognition when she received a new house on the program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is also scheduled to be part of the day-long program.

The Roanoke Regional Housing Network provides a forum for the region’s housing interests to become proactively involved with housing issues.

Submitted by Roanoke County.

Read on for more information and a complete list of workshops at the 2011 symposium.

Read more »

Mary McDonough, who played Erin on The Waltons, will be signing her new book Lessons from the Mountain: What I Learned from Erin Walton at Barnes & Noble (Tanglewood location) on Tuesday, May 10 at 7 p.m.

For more information, call 540-776-2960.

The Park-Oak Grove Annual Spring Yard Sale is Saturday, May 14 from 8 a.m. to noon.

The yard sale will feature clothes, books, jewelry, home goods and more. All proceeds will go to the Lupus Foundation of Virginia, Roanoke Valley Chapter. The sale will be held on the patio–just follow the signs!

The Park-Oak Grove Retirement Community is located at 4920 Woodmar Drive SW in Roanoke.

For more information or to learn how to donate goods, contact Ken Schoff at 540-989-9501, email kschoff@parkoakgrove.com or visit www.parkoakgrove.com.

The Fourth Thursday Book Club will meet tomorrow, April 28 to discuss Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The book club will meet at the Headquarters/419 Library, located at 3131 Electric Road in Roanoke.

For more information, click here.

Submitted by Roanoke County Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

Ice cream enthusiasts can visit Baskin-Robbins in Roanoke from 5 p.m.-10 p.m. to enjoy ice cream for 31 cents a scoop!

Baskin-Robbins in Roanoke, part of the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, invites customers to celebrate the fifth annual 31 Cent Scoop Night tonight, April 27 from 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. at their store, located at 3620 Franklin Road SW.

During the event, Baskin-Robbins is thanking its customers by reducing prices of its 2.5 oz. ice cream scoops to 31 cents. The iconic brand is also “Scooping up Thanks for Our Firefighters” with a $100,000 donation to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). During 31 Cent Scoop Night last year Baskin-Robbins scooped more than 5 million ice cream cups and cones!

Read more here.