Yes, I loved my parents but I couldn't wait to get away and become an independent college student. It was September 1970.
If you've lived in Blacksburg in more recent times, say, the last 10 or 20 years, all I can say is it ain't exactly the same ..... it was more of a "real" town then. And by real I mean it didn't seem to matter that there happened to be a rather large college attached to it. It was quite self sufficient .... complete with drug stores, clothing stores, books and records, appliances, hardware stores, stereo hi-fi stores, barbershops and salons, a downtown grocery store .... and a whole lot more. Not exactly Mayberry, but not exactly Roanoke either. It was quaint, it was much slower moving, and you could find pretty much anything you wanted right inside the town limits.
Today the population is over 40,000 (counting students) but in 1970 it was half that. It was a helluva lot easier to get around !!! Most students walked or rode bicycles. No such thing as a rush hour or a traffic jam of any kind.
Anyway, the point of all this is to say Welcome. If you knew Blacksburg 30 or 40 years ago, or even longer than that, I hope you'll share some memories with us here.
For me personally, it was a time of long hair (on guys), bell bottoms, tie-dyes, sandals and bare feet, headbands, an ever-changing music scene, blacklight posters, shag carpeting, incense, bean bag chairs, and funny smells in the air at concerts.
It was a great time to be a wide-eyed teen on his own for the first time.
