Tom Angleberger

The New River Valley-based reporter answers your questions Mondays in his column, What's on Your Mind?

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We have a lot of ground to cover this week, as readers answer other readers' questions about pewter plates, President Bush's radio address, livery stables and Stonewall Jackson's stained-glass window.

Actually, make that Jackson's two stained-glass windows.

The first window, as several readers told me, can be found in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

This is particularly surprising because Fifth Avenue is a historically black church.

How is that possible, you ask. Reader Graelen Stike has the answer to that, too, with some help from Pam Young at the Roanoke Library's Virginia Reading Room.

The church's first pastor, the Rev. Lylburn Downing, wanted to honor Jackson, who had created a Sunday school for slaves and free blacks, Stike explained in an e-mail.

Downing's parents had attended the Sunday school and, later, Downing was able to go to college thanks to the assistance of Jackson's in-laws, John and Margaret Preston.

To honor both Jackson and the Prestons, Downing dedicated the window in 1906. (Stike recommended the book "Civil War Tales" by Gary Walker for more information.)

That is, as far as I know, Roanoke's only Stonewall Jackson stained-glass window, but reader Robert Johnson of Lexington told me of another in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., which is next to one of Robert E. Lee.

Dining on pewter

As I wrote last week, readers sent in a few different answers to the question about a Roanoke restaurant that used pewter plates.

Well, now that all the "votes" are in, I can tell you that "Steak and Ale" was the most common answer.

Reader Terri Wise seemed to have one of the most detailed recollections of the place, possibly because she worked nearby.

"I used to work for Bank of Virginia in their check processing center on Starkey Road," she wrote in an e-mail. "Steak and Ale was one of our favorite 'special occasions' places to treat co-workers on their birthday. It sat on a hill above [Virginia] 419 where Carlos is now. The decor was like an old English country manor with lots of dark wood."

Apparently this restaurant may have carried the name "The Jolly Ox" at one time, which would account for some of the other readers' suggestions.

However, information I received about other eateries -- including Pete's Deli at the Crossroads Mall, Shoney's on Hershberger Road and another restaurant on Franklin Road (possibly pirate-themed?) -- suggests that Roanoke has been home to more than one pewter-plate restaurant.

Why people ever wanted to eat off of pewter, which I frankly find disturbing, is a question for another time.

Tuning in the president

I didn't hear from anyone who knows how to tune in Bush's weekly radio address on the radio. But one reader, Virgil Cook of Christiansburg, explained how to use the Internet to hear it:

"First of all, let the record show that I'm not a Bush fan, but I think I can still help," he wrote in an e-mail. "WTOP in Washington regularly broadcasts the speeches at 10:10 on Saturday mornings. Go to the station's Web site, www.wtopnews.com and click on the "Listen to WTOP Radio Online" link at the appropriate time. The Democrats' rebuttal is usually broadcast an hour later."

Livery stable history

Two readers, Brent Hawes of Salem and Stuart Barbour of Roanoke, were able to identify the "livery stable" that a reader spotted on South Jefferson Street.

"The old stables at Virginia Scrap Iron housed the teams that delivered building materials for the homes being built in the area before the advent of the automobile and truck," Hawes wrote in an e-mail. "There were at least six millwork and building supply companies in the area of that place."

Said Barbour: "It took a whole lot of horses to deliver things that were big in yesteryear." He said the stables' heyday was probably in the late 19th century but noted that horse-drawn delivery continued in Roanoke well into the 20th century.

Have a question? Have an answer? Call Tom Angleberger at 777-6476 or send an e-mail to tomangleberger@yahoo.com. Don't forget to provide your full name, its proper spelling and your hometown.

Look for Tom Angleberger's column on Fridays.