Priscilla Richardson

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When I found out an 18-year-old college student had organized tomorrow's Habitat for Humanity bike race, I had trouble at first believing it. But Troutville's Seth Sprinkle, who is studying international relations at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., started this race to draw attention to Habitat for Humanity. It is expected to earn enough money for a chapter to start here in Botetourt with the aim to build a house for a family who otherwise could not afford one.

Does Habitat give away houses? No, indeed. The recipients have to take on a mortgage. And they have to contribute at least 400 hours of "sweat equity." This can be hands-on work on the house they get or on another one. And they have to keep the house in good repair. By no means is it a handout, but rather, as Sprinkle notes, a "hand-off."

Sprinkle, our Botetourt Sheriff Ronald "Ronnie" Sprinkle's nephew and son of Gordon Sprinkle of Sprinkle's Landscaping, just graduated from Lord Botetourt this spring. "With nearly a 4.0 average," he said, and with Advanced Placement work equal to 24 credit hours. So even before starting college, he has already done most of his first year's classes.

Sprinkle's interest in Habitat started when he was 14. "I worked on Habitat houses in Bluefield, West Virginia, when I stayed with my grandparents there." This, plus work as a member of Demolay, a service organization, gave him a taste of helping others.

So when organizer Sprinkle met up with Fincastle's Erryn Barkett, of Barkett-Allen Capital, an asset management firm located in the old courthouse cafe, they started making Downtown 50 a reality. They plotted a race course around Fincastle and got permission to close off the streets for the morning. The racers will compete one at a time, in teams of four, "sort of like a relay," Sprinkle said. A team will do 50 miles total, with each person taking 16 to 20 laps.

And if you have a bike and want to sign up at the last minute, registrations will be open until 8 a.m., with the race starting at 9 a.m. You can either come as a team of four, or they will place you in a team. Because sponsors have paid for many race slots, you might get lucky and not have to pay the $75 registration fee.

Why bother to race? The winning team gets a patio party at Bill Gaul's Three Li'l Pigs restaurant in Daleville. Yum, is all I can say about that.

In addition to the race, there will be food vendors and children's events, including face painting and a moonwalk. Barkett is bringing in one unique aspect: a live broadcast of the race over the Internet by Media Marshall. Plus it will be stored for re-broadcast so the racers can watch it later.

One of Barkett's motivations for helping with this race as well as the free soccer clinic he puts on in the summer is to help make a level playing field for all of Botetourt's residents.

Another way to boost young people? Help them learn an in-demand trade and meet prospective employers. Fincastle's Phillip Simmons, a building trades instructor at Botetourt Technical Education Center (B-TEC), does that in a new way.

Under Simmons' leadership, the Bank of Fincastle lent the money interest free for building materials and a lot in Santillane subdivision. His students then built the house, from foundation to finish, under the supervision of local contractors. Now 433 Frontier Way is for sale for $499,994. For that, you get 3,100 square feet full of lovely touches and an unfinished basement of 2,600 square feet.

With the success of this first house, Simmons has obtained more interest-free financing for a second house in the same subdivision. This time the Bank of Botetourt is the generous lender. Now I don't know enough about houses to know if this house is good value, but Simmons knows other things about it. "It's got good educational value for the kids," he said. "When they construct a house, they see what they would not see in a classroom."

These three men truly show the Botetourt spirit of caring.

For more information or to register for tomorrow's race, call Barkett-Allen Capital at 473-2746. For details about the house, call Todd Wampler at Wampler Realty, 992-2500.