Arts, Leisure and Sports

KNOXVILLE, TN. – The Rail Yard Dawgs picked up where they left off on Saturday night, eliminating the top-seeded Knoxville Ice Bears with a 3-1 win at Knoxville Civic Coliseum on Easter Sunday. Gehrett Sargis, Mac Jansen, and Nick Ford scored for Roanoke, while Sammy Bernard saved 27 shots in net.

Roanoke simply tried to outlast Knoxville in the third period, taking only two shots on net but surviving the 11 shots sent by the Ice Bears. Stead left the net with two minutes to play, but the Ice Bears couldn’t score on their 6-on-5 chances, as Roanoke advanced to the President’s Cup semifinals for the second time in franchise history.

Roanoke will host the Huntsville Havoc for Game One of the SPHL semifinals on Thursday night. Tickets will go on sale Monday morning at 10:00 a.m EST.

ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs roared to life in Game Two [last night] thrashing the top-seeded Knoxville Ice Bears 5-1 on Saturday night at Berglund Center. Gehrett Sargis scored twice, while Nick DeVito, Travis Armstrong, and Brant Sherwood added goals for Roanoke.

Roanoke is on the road for Game Three [today] at Knoxville with a spot in the President’s Cup semifinals on the line. Puck drop is slated for 5:05 p.m. EST.

Mill Mountain Zoo is closing in on the $50,000 it wants to raise for renovating the “Zoo Choo,” small scale train that circles the mountaintop zoo. Education manager Bambi Godkin was live in studio this morning: she said they hope to have the Zoo Choo and the updated train tracks running again “soon.” Hear the complete conversation from this morning below; watch it on Facebook.

A volunteer-led effort called Roanoke Hidden Histories has raised almost 100-thousand dollars so far of the 160-thousand needed to produce a virtual documentary on African American History in Roanoke – including some of its more painful and troubling aspects – and create a sculpture honoring Henrietta Lacks. A virtual reality education tool will emphasize that “hidden history,” says Roanoke City Council member Trish White-Boyd. The “Hidden in Plain Sight” news conference yesterday was held outside the Berglund Center complex – once home to a thriving African American neighborhood before it was demolished and residents were relocated. The Harrison Museum of African American Culture at Center in the Square is helping to fund raise for the multi-phase project.

Trish White-Boyd

A volunteer-led effort called Roanoke Hidden Histories has raised almost 100-thousand dollars so far of the 160-thousand needed to produce a documentary on African American History in Roanoke – including some of its more painful and troubling aspects – and create a sculpture honoring Henrietta Lacks . The “Hidden in Plain Sight” news conference today was held outside the Berglund Center complex – once home to a thriving African American neighborhood before it was demolished and residents were relocated. The Harrison Museum of African American Culture at Center in the Square is helping to fund raise for the multi-phase project. A virtual reality education tool will also emphasize that “hidden history,” says Roanoke City Council member Trish White-Boyd:

Minor league baseball rosters are often stocked these days with young players from countries where Spanish is the principal language, and the one they grew up with – you can see evidence of that at the major league level as well. Locally a woman employed by the Salem Red Sox works to help players improve their English – further connecting them to the team and the community. WFIR’s Gene Marrano has more, “In Depth.”