Tom Angleberger

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

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Readers, this week we wrap up one of our all-time most successful Ask The Readers features.

This time we nearly batted 1,000, with answers to every question except one: W ho was Ellsworth Avenue named for?

One hazard of doing these questions is that I have to hear about how great an old pizza place was or how a certain chef made the greatest dinners ever tasted. That’s nice and all, but the problem is that I only get to write about these things, not actually taste them.

But this time around things worked a little differently.

A reader asked if people recalled the Green River drink from the Lyric Shop in downtown Blacksburg.

Tina Duncan McPherson wrote in to tell me that her parents had owned the Lyric Shop, which was near the Lyric Theatre on College Avenue.

“In addition to many fountain drinks and an extensive comic book selection they did indeed have a drink called the Green River. According to my mother that stirred up many of these concoctions, it contained imitation lime syrup and carbonated water.”

Apparently, that was a recipe that turned kids into loyal customers.

“I grew up in Blacksburg and going to the Lyric Theatre for the matinee was an every-Saturday event for my childhood friends and me,” recalled Mendy McCoy Harman. “We walked to town every Saturday afternoon with two quarters jingling in our pockets. One quarter bought our movie ticket. We then went next door to the Lyric Shop to buy a Green River for 10 cents and a Sugar Daddy for a nickel.”

Sharon Thompson has similar memories of enjoying Green Rivers and Lyric movies with her sisters, but she also had a surprise for me: The Green River isn’t gone.

“Now, many years later, my sisters and I, now Roanokers, meet at every opportunity at The Grandin Theatre and after the movie we turn the corner for a Green River at Pop’s Ice Cream and Soda Bar. Those Green River sodas may be responsible for our longevity!”

I sprang into action and was soon at Pop’s sampling a Green River for myself. To be honest, I think the inventor of this drink might have simply called it “lime,” but then perhaps the name is part of the mystique.

. . .

Readers, pause a moment to cleanse your palate, because we’re about to jump from fizzy lime drinks to smushed ham.

A reader wrote in to ask about a ham spread that came in a tin  and is now hard to find. The consensus among readers was that the delicacy in question was Amber Brand Deviled Smithfield Ham. According to Smithfield, this isn’t just ham, but a blend of ham, peanuts and spices.

Delicious, said one. My mother used it in deviled eggs, said another. I always buy my father some for Christmas, said a third.

It is indeed tricky to find locally — although Hank Ebert told me it can sometimes be found at Padow’s in the Townside Festival.

It can also be purchased from Smithfield at a cost of $27 plus shipping for three, 7-ounce jars . Call  (800) 628-2242 or visit www.smithfieldcollection.com.

. . .

And now we come to Towers Shopping Center  chicken salad.

Apparently, the place and the food go together well, because readers recalled several different places that served chicken salad, including Heironimus  and the Groceria.

But Melody Hodges thinks the question might have been about her chicken salad. She operated Castleman’s there in the 1980s. She bought the restaurant from the Branch family and the chicken salad recipe was part of the deal.

“That chicken salad recipe was a little unique, it had some unique spices and that kind of thing,” she said, “but I was asked not to give that recipe out.”

So, you see readers, I’ve had a Green River and I can order the ham spread. But that chicken salad will ever be a mystery.

. . .

Speaking of the unknown, I haven’t gotten any photos of the inside of the Virginian Railway station yet, but I did get a verbal description.

Helen Phelps described the interior as “very drab-looking” with “rough dark floors” and “segregated benches.”

Perhaps this explains why photos of the place are so hard to come by.

A couple of readers wanted to know where the old station is located: it’s at the intersection of Williamson Road and South Jefferson Street.

Thanks for all your answers, folks! Now, I’m ready for your questions again. Send them in to woym@roanoke.com or leave them on my voice mail at 777-6476  (please be sure to speak clearly and spell your name). I’ll need your name, location and phone number or e-mail address.

Look for Tom Angleberger’s column on Mondays.