On the Market.

This weekend I started reading Cheryl Dolby’s lastest book, “Layers.” The book contains four short stories that capture bits and pieces of life and life’s lessons in such a way that you’re left contemplating the story for hours afterward. The stories of healing and wisdom it shares are carefully and thoughtfully presented so that each story can be taken with you into the real world to use as you see fit. You can find Cheryl downtown on most Fridays and Saturdays with a collection her books, sculptures, and fabulous facial creams she offers for sale. Also be sure to check out her highly recommended book, “Woman Within the Web” which knocked my socks off when I read it last week.

Danielle Reed, author of the Princess Puppy Book Series, has begun selling adorable dog outfits for your little sweetie. This original doggie apparel is exclusively designed and produced in the New River Valley for your Princess Puppy. Styles for male and female dogs are available.

Each outfit runs $12.50 each and comes in extra small (up to 4 lbs.,) small (4 to 7 lbs.,) and medium (7 to 10 lbs.) You can find Danielle downtown on the City Market most Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year.

Little Creek Forge made its second City Market appearance this Saturday. From Boones Mill, VA, this company offers hand wrought iron hooks, plant stands, dinner bells, and decorative works. For more information, contact Coleman Reese at (540) 212 - 1706.

Sherry Tucciarone has introduced a mug just for the Roanoke City Market similar to the mugs she began creating several weeks ago as a joint effort with her husband. (See article.) The image is transfered onto Sherry’s hand thrown mugs, then fired for permanency. They are dishwasher and microwave safe making them a perfect addition to your cupboard. As Sherry is finishing up her final year at Hollins College this year, you’ll find her on the Market mainly on Saturdays while school in is session. You can also now view a portfolio of Sherry’s work at her new website IfItsDirt.com.

Saturday I also enjoyed a peek at some gorgeous dried flower wreaths. Unfortunately the farmer who created this wreath won’t be back for several weeks.

Additionally, I had a blast watching everyone who stopped by to enjoy the music on Saturday.

Saturday marked the last performance for the Beggar’s Circus this year, however, the Music on the Market Series will continue through September 30th.

I also found some very interesting pieces inside of Calhoun and Kipp yesterday that I thought were worth taking note of.

Like these fun martini glasses with cone shaped bottoms of solid colored glass.

And fun jewelry holders for your necklaces, earrings, and other trinkets.

There were also these whimsical cheese graters disguised as women in dresses.

Calhoun and Kipp is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 5:30pm, Saturday from 9:30am to 5:30pm, and Sundays from 12pm to 4pm, and is located at 216 Market St.

There was an article on the Market’s own Bruce Barfield in the current September/October issue of The Roanoker Magazine. The article, entitled “Through the Viewfinder,” not only gives an overview of Bruce’s life but also ideas for the active retiree. If you’d like to read it, you can find him on page RS20. I thought the article was well done and presented a nice overview of Gene’s life and work.

There was also an interesting article on page 102 of the same issue of The Roanoker entitled “Roanoke Wine Lists: Treasures and Traps.” The piece basically covered inconsistent mark ups on restaurant wines and primarily features downtown restaurants. Table50 was voted as having the best value, while Trio received the most unfavorable review with a corkage ree on one bottle of wine as high at $116. Because Trio also retail wines, the writer felt that they should therefore be able to offer the greatest value, but weren’t.

You can find The Roanoker at your local Barnes & Noble.

While I try to remain positive most of the time about the Market, sometimes it’s a rather difficult task. Being downtown most of the week means being immersed in city politics on a regular basis. And no matter what I might try to do to escape it, it seems to always be right in my face. More recently it’s issues like parking and the amphitheater that seem to have everyone riled up. And to make things worse, it’s all because City Council not only doesn’t understand what downtown Roanoke needs, it seems they don’t really care either. Council seems intent on slowly killing off the area inch by inch. The local population’s complaint, as I’ve said before, is the lack of free and affordable parking. Many of the parking garages are full and cannot offer the necessary number of spaces needed. Additionally, most of the All Right surface lots the city just took back management of have double the daily parking rates that they had previously. There are also no monthly contracts available in these lots. Garage parking rates previously increased in July as well. Yet, here we are, with the city pushing to move forward and begin charging for parking on nights and weekends throwing in shuttle buses from downtown to Carilion as a means to distract us from what’s really going to happen.

The parking fees have already created a financial burden for some downtown Roanoke employees - a situation the city chooses to turn a blind eye too. They also remain blind to the fact that slowly, year by year, many market vendors and downtown business owners watch their profit margins slip as customers travel elsewhere to places where parking is free. I hear numerous stories about how great business was 3 - 5 years ago. Now, many of these same people are making half of what they made back then with some long time running stores still unable to hire full time help. Yet, City Council remains blind and deaf to those their decisions are affecting.

The city, I think, deludes itself into believing downtown is thriving so they can vote based on their own personal agendas. (Though occasionally Lea and Wishneff seem to be showing a bit more common sense then the rest of the them.) They seem to think that once the new art museum is open in fall of 2008 that the visitors we receive from that opening will bring in the additional revenue downtown needs for parking garages especially since they’re certainly not going to complain about $6 a day parking. But what I think is really going to happen is that the city will begin to have to depend on tourists - and let us hope they come - because their actions are pushing out our own citizens. We should not be gaining tourists to lose our own locals. We should be working to retain the people who live and work here in addition to bringing in tourists. It’d be a shame to forsake one for the other, especially when the one group being forsaken are our own neighbors and friends.

However, I believe one of my biggest pet peeves is the city’s lack of foresight. The city basically gave the Center in the Square the land for the new art museum for a dollar without any sort of stipulation in regards to parking. I mean there already isn’t anywhere to park downtown around lunch time. What happens when we get the much anticipated influx of visitors? I think it would have made a lot more sense - especially since they took parking to build the museum - to have built at least a two floor parking garage at ground level below the museum with the museum built on top of it. And that naturally brings me to the Civic Center. The Civic Center has recently built more space for conventions, etc. which has taken away a huge chunk of their own parking spaces. Even before these new additions were built, visitors often had to be shuttled to the Civic Center from downtown’s Williamson Rd. Garage. If we should get all of the new visitors the city is expecting as a result of the new museum, downtown simply won’t have the space for the Civic Center to borrow. It seems to me that city should be making a contingency plan now to end this “borrowing” so that the Civic Center can come up with their own solutions. Like uh, I don’t know, building their own parking garage! Common sense just seems to evade to many city leaders lately. (Or has it always been like that and I just never noticed before?) It often seems it’s all about the Council and what the Council wants and how it will benefit the Council, not what’s best for the city and its average citizens.