Centennial Challenge
by Susan Mills, Ph.D., Executive Director, FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Dear Friend,
 Facing daily our country’s focus on campaign primaries, economic forecasts and foreign entanglements, Congress has recently turned its attention to the National Park Centennial Fund Act (H.R. 3094) which was unanimously approved on May 7 in the House Natural Resources Committee. The next step is getting the H.R. 3094 bill to the floor, where it can be voted on by the whole House. To help get it there, the public needs to encourage members of the House to sign on as cosponsors to H.R.3094 and encourage their leadership to move the bill to the house floor. Please click to the FRIENDS website to read more about this important bill.
Show your support for the Centennial Challenge. We're one step closer to making the Centennial Challenge a reality! You can make a difference by taking two actions: (1) Encouraging your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 3094 will be an excellent push in the right direction. Click to FRIENDS' website for a list of all congressional representatives in Virginia and North Carolina. (2) Join FRIENDS the authorized friends group for the Blue Ridge Parkway to assist with FRIENDS’ advocacy efforts and Parkway programs!
Show your support for the Centennial Challenge!
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Roanoke Valley Chapter
The new steering committee of the Roanoke Valley Chapter held its first meeting June 10 at the FRIENDS office in Roanoke. Joe Gilkison has agreed to chair the chapter, with the assistance of steering committee members Bob Peterson and Maggie Toole. The steering committee has set several goals including increasing the membership to 210 by 2010, the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Roanoke Chapter will hold a general membership meeting in late summer. Plans are underway to undertake projects at the Roanoke Mountain Campground, in addition to providing indoor donation boxes at visitor centers along the Parkway.
If you are interested in working with the Roanoke Chapter, please contact the FRIENDS office at staff@friendsbrp.org.
AUTHOR TIM PEGRAM VISITS FLOYD
The Blue Ridge Parkway On Foot: A Park Ranger’s Memoir
June 11, 2008
A Commentary by Susan Roquemore, Rocky Knob Chapter Correspondent
 Edna Ferber once wrote something like: “The difference between a writer and a non-writer is that a writer writes.” The same can be said for a hiker. A hiker hikes. When you combine the passions of both you have a formidable personality and author: his name is Tim Pegram. Harness those energies with the background and knowledge of a career Forest Ranger and you have better than a writer or a hiker: you have a Storyteller. Mr. Pegram came to Floyd as the guest of the Floyd Friends of the Library to
talk about his book: The Blue Ridge Parkway By Foot, A Park Ranger’s Memoir published by McFarland and Company, Jefferson, N.C., 2007. Tim (as the audience quickly got to know him) talked about perhaps everything but the book itself.
For more details on Tim Pegram and his book, The Blue Ridge Parkway On Foot: A Park Ranger’s Memoir, click inside FRIENDS website.
Parkway News
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY AGRICULTURAL LANDS AVAILABLE FOR LEASE
The Blue Ridge Parkway announces the availability for lease of two agricultural parcels for pasturing livestock and for hay production located near Parkway milepost 229.3 at the intersection of the  Blue Ridge Parkway and U.S. Route 21 in Alleghany County, North Carolina.
Click inside FRIENDS website for more details.
Parkway section scheduled for asphalt paving reconstruction beginning June 16, 2008
(Roanoke, VA)—The 15-mile section of the Blue Ridge Parkway between US Route 220, milepost (MP) 121 and MP 136 is  scheduled for asphalt resurfacing and reconstruction. Asphalt reconstruction will include deep patching, milling, and resurfacing to begin at MP 127 and will proceed southward toward MP 136.
Click inside FRIENDS website for more details.
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Update on Viewshed Plantings
FRIENDS completed two very successful viewshed plantings in Roanoke (Va.) in March and Asheville, (N.C.) in April.
With the hot summer days of June upon us, FRIENDS staff visited the Roanoke planting site to make sure the seedlings were growing. Much to our delight, the seedlings are not only growing -- they are thriving.
 This photo at the N&W Railroad Overlook demonstrates that the seedlings are topping outside the mesh covers on the tubes. This is a sure sign of success!
The Asheville chapter co-chair, Tom Morgan, paid a similar visit to the Asheville planting site just north of the Swannanoa River Bridge. Tom reported that 69 days after the planting date the seedlings are popping up out of the tube covered in netting. He stated that, "In addition to some ferocious chiggers and a few ticks, there appears to be a fair crop of seedlings in our planting area."
If you would like to support FRIENDS efforts to plant trees to block encroaching development , please click on the Donate button below to make your contribution to FRIENDS Save Parkway Views and help us bring the children outdoors to plant seedlings on the Parkway to protect its scenic views.
Indoor Donation Boxes
FRIENDS hopes you would consider placing a small donation box at your business site and collect funds for the Blue Ridge Parkway. The boxes contain FRIENDS donation envelopes and brochures to help educate the general public about FRIENDS programs and efforts to preserve, protect and promote the Blue Ridge Parkway.
 Mary Barton in her gift shop, Willow Grove, in Roanoke, Va. tells FRIENDS that many of her customers want to know more about FRIENDS role on the Parkway. She hands them the FRIENDS brochure, and explains that the Parkway benefits from their donation and their interest in Parkway programs.
If you would be interested in placing a donation box in your business, please contact the FRIENDS office at 540-772-2992 or email staff@friendsbrp.org for more information. We appreciate your support of FRIENDS!
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Disney Store Cleaning up the Parkway
 Employees from the Disney Store in Roanoke (Va.) are stepping out on June 27 to clean up the Roanoke River Trail. June 27 is the date that Disney is releasing their newest movie, Wall-E.
Disney wanted to promote Wall-E, their latest movie about a robot programmed to help clean up. It's set in the future and focuses on how rampant, unchecked consumerism has left Earth covered with trash. And to clean up, everyone has to leave Earth and set in place millions of little robots that go around to clean up the trash and make Earth habitable again. Well, the cleanup program fails with the exception of this one little robot and he's left on Earth doing his duty all alone.
FRIENDS worked with NPS ranger, Roy Jones, to coordinate the clean-up day on the Parkway!
With visits to the Parkway increasing, it makes sense to support FRIENDS' programs such as Volunteers in Parks (VIP). Help us keep the Blue Ridge Parkway a beautiful vacation destination for tens of thousands of visitors each year! Click on the button below to make a contribution.
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Chapter News
Fisher Peak Chapter
- If you would like to help the chapter, email Dottie Bramley at pdbramley@valink.com or call her at 276-236-7658.
Asheville Chapter - The Asheville Chapter is recruiting new members to expand the chapter.
For more information regarding the Asheville Chapter, contact Tom Morgan at tmorgan51@bellsouth.net.
Rocky Knob Chapter - Contact Gloria Hilton at gjhilton1@yahoo.com if you would like to help.
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FRIENDS is proud to announce the formation of a new Peaks of Otter Chapter! We welcome this group of volunteers to the FRIENDS organization and look forward to working with them as they undertake projects at the Peaks of Otter and Bedford County.
FRIENDS is currently recruiting Steering Committee Members. If you are interested in serving on a newly formed Peaks of Otter Chapter, please contact the FRIENDS office at staff@friendsbrp.org.
National News
 From American Hiking Society's Paperless Trail - June 2008
Dispose of waste properly
Pack it in, pack it out.
- Inspect your campsite and rest areas for trash or spilled foods.
- Pack out all trash, leftover food and litter.
- Deposit solid human waste in cat holes dug six to eight inches deep at least 200 feet from water, camp and trails. Cover and disguise the cat hole when finished.
- Pack out toilet paper and hygiene products.
- To wash yourself or your dishes, carry water 200 feet away from streams or lakes and use small amounts of biodegradable soap. Scatter strained dishwater.
Visit Leave No Trace - The Center for Outdoor Ethics for more information.
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FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway offers young and old, together, the opportunity to connect with friends and family to save the Blue Ridge Parkway for their continuing enjoyment - and for future generations. The Blue Ridge Parkway connects the Shenandoah National Park with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is America's most scenic drive encompassing 469 miles traversing 29 counties in Virginia and North Carolina. Over 20 million people touch its borders annually - making it America's most frequented park treasure!
By joining Preserving the Legacy you will be supporting projects that will protect this extraordinary Parkway and adjacent land and views for yourselves and for future generations. FRIENDS is an official National Park Service partner. Please join us by choosing one of our deserving programs today!
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