| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
i can't believe i've lived in Virginia for TWO MONTHS and the local Buell contingent (the Roanoke Valley Fast & Loose) hadn't informed me there was a "Ferris Building" in downtown Roanoke!!!  that's okay, this afternoon i found it on my own:     FB  | ||
| Unibear12r |
Gosh Jerry, for a moment there I thought you were going to rant on something! Have you made it to Glenn Ferris yet? | ||
| Tank_bueller |
Sory dude, but I've never been to Roanoke (not yet, anyway)  | ||
| Jlnance |
Glad you're exploring the area. I did a little trip to Roanoke myself last summer: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/37/ 210675.html?1151979623#POST688010 Had a good time. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Jerry, That's too fu*king funny!!! Brad | ||
| Iamike |
Leave it to Ferris to find some obscure building with his name on it. And then he uses this headline to catch our attention so that we look. Come on Ferris, we want stories! | ||
| Luvthemtorts |
Thats just wrong Jerry! I went riding today and could have easily met up with you and shown you some of our finer riding spots. But NOOOO, you don't even drop a line over RVFL to let me know you are coming. COLD BLOODED  !! | ||
| Tunes |
All I want to know is, where's the wheel? | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
ok ok, here's the story. my son Wade has been visiting this weekend (his last day in the Army was Friday) and we (he, me 'n D) decided to head out yesterday in his rental car looking for a little adventure. (we elected to leave the Harley at home - hard to fit three adult peeps on it, plus we woke up to the thickest fog we've seen yet here on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and that's saying a lot.) we dropped into Hillsville to run an errand, then took 221 up to Roanoke instead of the BRP, to keep us out of the fog. when my kids were young and we still lived in Washington State, often on a lazy Sunday afternoon i'd take 'em down to the local marina and walk the docks, looking at boats, peering down into the water looking for fish, and generally whiling away the afternoon in "adventure" mode. my kids loved to do this, as did i, and we almost ALWAYS found some adventure. we were looking for the same thing in Roanoke yesterday. no, not boats and marinas, but adventure, in the form of old shops and stores to nose around in. i reasoned that Roanoke had an old downtown "core" (this was my first time to their fair city, other than stopping for gas on earlier Parkway rides), and reasoned there MIGHT be some old antique shops, restaurants, and the like to snoop around in. walking the docks, if you will. sure enough, Roanoke DOES have such a place, the old market area downtown that's been just such a place since the 1880's. we had a great time wandering around, listening to live blue grass music, admiring flowers grown by local farmers, kicking around in several eclectic shops (i found some cool new stainless steel tools - a three-piece funnel set and four-piece set of magnetic clips for hanging notes, photos and the like - for my shop in, of all places, a high-zoot kitchenware store. one can't have enough stainless steel!), and we all had a great seafood and beer lunch at Awful Arthur's. anyway, it was a cold afternoon, and starting to drizzle a bit, and we were about to head back to the car and call it a day, when "something" called out to me down a fairly unassuming-looking little side street. there didn't appear to be much "down there," but i've developed pretty good radar when it comes to such things, and we decided to walk to the end of the block, just to see what there was to see. what there WAS, was the Ferris Building! Denise and Wade didn't see it when they walked inside - the "RRIS" peeking up at the doorway threshold - but i did, and stopped and pondered for a moment. could it be? i asked the proprietor. "It says 'FERRIS' - this is the old 'Ferris Building,'" he said with a grin. cool ness!!! what we had stumbled into is the home of Roanoke Valley Printworks, which, per John Reburn, the aforementioned proprietor, has been located in the old Ferris Building for the last three and a half years. John treated us like family, and got quite a kick out of why we were so amped to have accidentally run across such a cool, unexpected "Ferris" sighting. we bought a few trinkets - John not only produces his own line of hand-printed gift cards, and does some pretty amazing painted portraiture (some of which is hanging on the wall behind him in the pic above), but also has an odd and wonderful collection of old "junque" for sale - and as we were getting ready to leave i mentioned that Denise and i would be back on the bike someday, and that we would be keen on any cool, old motorcycle-related stuff he might unearth in his future travels. with that John reached behind the counter and pulled out two pristine sheets of old letterhead, from "Carl Settle Harley-Davidson in Schenectady, New York," and asked if this might something we'd be interested in. EXACTLY! i'm not sure how old this letterhead is, but the Harley graphic on it appears that it might be an old Knucklehead, which made it's public debut 71 years ago, and the phone number listed for the dealership is simply "6-6474." for sale, i asked? "Of course!" John replied cheerfully. good, i'll take 'em both. how much? John smiled, carefully placed both sheets of letterhead in a plastic ziploc bag with a sheet of stiffening cardboard, sealed everything up nice and neat and carefully, handed the package to me, and said, "This one's on the house - this is my 'Welcome to Virginia' gift to you." how awesome is THAT?!?!? John's random act of kindness, along with our accidental discovery of the old Ferris Building, really made our day, and capped off a wonderful morning/afternoon of "walking the docks." we had a pleasant drive home on the Parkway (by now the fog had thankfully lifted), and have some wonderful, unforgettable memories on the day. thank you Roanoke, Virginia for your warm embrace. we'll be back, the next time hopefully on two wheels instead of in four. i'll post some pix of my new letterhead here in a bit. btw, that's John W. Reburn, III in photo #4 above, one of the nicest guys you'll ever want to meet. as he handed me my treasure he said, "I was just the temporary caretaker of this. I'm glad to see it's going to a good home." Thank you John. Roanake Valley Printworks John W. Reburn, III, Prop. Ferris Building 108 Salem Ave. SE Roanoke, VA 24011 540.343.0296 www.roanokevalleyprintworks.com | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
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| Leftcoastal |
VERY COOL!!! EGADS!! - There's "THE THUMB!!! Haven't seen that for a while! AL | ||
| Sleez |
very cool, thanks dood!! | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Have you made it to Glenn Ferris yet? not yet, but it's on the list. btw, turns out John Reburn's got a ribald sense of humor. tucked around the corner in the back of his shop are the "adult-themed" greeting cards, with all manner of humerous (and possibly offensive) messages, depending on the occasion at hand. mine and Denise's personal favorite focused on the liberal use of the F word, and was the original title of this thread. i'd post a pic of it, but, well, you get the idea... FB&D (Message edited by jerry_haughton on April 04, 2007) | ||
| Unibear12r |
Jerry here's a couple of teasers...  A pict of the Inn  And a view from the neat little park across the pond. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
A pict of the Inn the dirty bastards spelled "Glenn" wrong!!! | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
No they didn't that's the proper spelling, Scot's you know, for valley. Look on many bottles of Scotch (full or empty, your choice) & you'll see Glen somethingorother. But anyway I can see where this thread is going, & I know where Home coming 2008 is going to be held too..... It'll be at FERRIS-WORLD | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I can see where this thread is going... I also know where Homecoming '08 is happening... FERRIS-WORLD  ps the Glen spelling is correct, you can check on many Whisky bottles, full or empty as is your wont. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
ps the Glen spelling is correct, you can check on many Whisky bottles, full or empty as is your wont. Mr. G, check Unibear's profile... | ||
| Brumbear |
Jerry I google earthed the address there seems to be a service center or something there currently and I emailed the only hd dealer there it is in Utica maybe someones heard of this Carl settle shop. I am not even sure you care but I just figured it would be cool to get some history on the letterhead. Hope you don't mind Dave | ||
| Unibear12r |
D'oh! And I thought Glen was Irish and Glenn was Scottish! This might explain my confused and conflicted nature!  Besides I rarely start studying the bottle's label until AFTER I am through most of it's contents. Hard to tell if it's one or two Ns by then anyway!  Jerry, if you head over to, ahem, Glen Ferris stop off at Hawks Nest on the way. Nice picnic area and gift shop but the best is to walk the paths through the woods on the other side of road. You'll like what you find at their end. It's all on the 60 in W.V. before you would get to Charleston. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
ps the Glen spelling is correct, you can check on many Whisky bottles, full or empty as is your wont. hey Glenn, they got it wrong on my bottle of Glennfiddich, too!   | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
ps: EGADS!! - There's "THE THUMB!!!  | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Jerry I google earthed the address there seems to be a service center or something there currently and I emailed the only hd dealer there it is in Utica maybe someones heard of this Carl settle shop. I am not even sure you care but I just figured it would be cool to get some history on the letterhead. Hope you don't mind Dave that's fantastic Dave, i appreciate it! i Googled "Carl Settle Motorcycles" the other night when we got home, and got absolutely nothing. i'd LOVE to have some history on the letterhead, please keep me posted if you find out anything. thx again. FB | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Besides I rarely start studying the bottle's label until AFTER I am through most of it's contents. Hard to tell if it's one or two Ns by then anyway! hey Glenn, how many Ns on that bottle of NNegra Modelo you're holding below???  sorry, my fashion horse friend, this pic's too good to waste an opportunity to air it out again. FB | ||
| Blue_eyed_buellgirl |
Amazing fashion statement!  I would not be surprised if this became a new trend. That would make Glenn a trendsetter! | ||
| Blue_eyed_buellgirl |
 WOW! It has caught on faster than expected!  | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
That's a great picture, What dance is that Ferris? The Big Buell T-shirt Boogie? | ||
| Denisea |
 courtesy of Dino | ||
| Denisea |
Kim, whoops! You are WAY too fast!!!! Was digging for that photo while you already found it. Way too funny!!! | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
What dance is that Ferris? why, that's the "Glenn Ferris," of course!  (Glenn, i think you pulled off "the look" better than i did. me thinks i need a bigger Buell shirt...) |
