Want to help a columnist?

By Darrell Laurant

Published: August 10, 2008

- Calling all presidential candidates, yet again.

I don’t know about other columnists, but my mind is sort of like a refrigerator.

I pick up ideas and put them on an inside shelf, fully intending to use them (or at least explore them further). In the meantime, though, more pressing items appear, and those earlier ideas find themselves pushed to the rear, out of sight.

When I eventually rediscover them, some have gone bad (passed their shelf life). Others, though, still seem fresh when I take a whiff — and the President of Central Virginia idea is one of them.
Therefore, in case there are those out there who still haven’t heard about this but might still be interested, let me re-explain.

The premise is, a lot of us are convinced that we could do a better job running the country than the people who are doing it now. We have a plan, and we’re not shy about expressing it.

To me, it’s a shame to waste all this wisdom, so I’ve suggested a President of (or from) Central Virginia contest. I’m looking for people who want to tell us how they would handle the economy, the Iraq war, immigration, terrorism, health care and anything else they’d like to bring up.

During August and early September, I’ll interview each candidate and write a short profile (you don’t have to tell me about any previous felonies). I’ll also do a longer story that will take a number of pressing national concerns and list everyone’s approach to it. In the end, depending upon how many contestants pop up (we’ve got about 10 now), we’ll either trim the field down or just let everyone film a short “campaign speech” to go on our Website. Then, we want the rest of our readers to vote on their favorite. Sometime in October, we’ll announce the winner.

The only rules are, we want you to stick to how you would handle the country and not provide a critique of how the current administration is doing it. For example, there could be (and is) a lot of debate about whether we should have invaded Iraq. But we’re there, so I want to know how you would get us out.

We welcome candidates from across the political spectrum, and the hope is that some good ideas will come out of all this.

If any have any questions, e-mail me at , or call me at 385-5544.

- A rock ‘n’ roll graveyard

In case you haven’t noticed, the Lakeside Drive address once home to the nightclub known at various times as Knight Gallery, Gatsby’s, the Milennium Club and the Spectrum, is now a barren flatland.

After hanging around for several years following a fire that caused the Spectrum to close, the building has finally been sent to nightclub heaven by an unsympathetic bulldozer.

Lynchburg isn’t exactly Club Central, and a lot of people gravitated to this place over the past 30 years. I spent a few nights there myself.

Therefore, I would love to hear any stories you might have about the Knight Gallery, Gatsby’s, Millenium Club or Spectrum. Did you meet the love of your life there? Have an embarrassing experience? A scary experience? Witness a particularly memorable musical performance?

If so, I’d like to know about it, so that I can write a proper epitaph.