2006 People That Move Smith Mountain Lake

By Micah Gaudio

                Smith Mountain Lake is booming – no doubt about it. Now more than ever Roanoke, Lynchburg and the rest of the region is looking over its shoulder to see what we’re up to. It’s time to meet the people who make it happen. The power players taking us to the future. The innovators shaking up the norm. The creators with originality to spare. The beautiful people proving determination isn’t just skin deep. Celebrated or unappreciated, obvious or inconspicuous, these are the people shaping the future of Smith Mountain Lake.

                First, let us put the rumors to rest: Joe Montana , Michael Vick and Tom Cruise do not own homes on the Lake, and neither do Garth Brooks or Dale Earhardt, Jr. But Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek and best-selling author David Baldacci  do. Several active and retired CIA agents might be your neighbors. And, yes, Michael Jordan  played three days of golf at The Water’s Edge this summer.

                Just when you think he is perfectly content to sit back in his showcase home and count his millions, Ron Willard, Sr.  and the numerous subsidiaries of The Willard Companies have had one their biggest years to date. Willard made good on his promise for a movie theater, filled the Westlake Towne Center, and recently announced he’d successfully persuaded Carilion to build a state-of-the-art fitness facility at the corner. He also brought the Rock to the Lake, securing the Prudential name for Waterfront Properties. What’s next, another Boardwalk?

                Jack Mergner brings us Southlake Towne Center on Route 40 and teams up with

Ed Waters  to build Bridgewater Pointe and Bridgwater Grande Village and Resort. Developer John White  brings his own brand of condos from EastLake to the bridge and

Jim McKelvey expands Lakewood Professional Center. If all this development is making you dizzy, try catching up with Trey Park whose LakeWatch Plantation will become a 479-acre self-contained village including residential and commercial properties, including a 104,000- square-foot shopping center and an outdoor amphitheater.

                The Downtown Moneta project has moved more than 580,000 cubic yards of dirt. Developer George Aznavorian and real estate agent Jody Lyons  plan to begin construction early this summer on both Mayberry Hills and Downtown Moneta once the county sewer is completed. Bill Berry and Phil Floyd started filling the Westlake Village Business Park and gained approval for a mixed-use development adjacent to Booker T. Washington National Monument that includes retail and office space, residential multi-family condos and apartments.

                After an accomplished professional career, Don Fink (N) is taking the golden years of retirement to another level. So you misunderstood him when fought the chicken and you thought Center at the Lake was a pipe dream. Mr. Fink’s legacy might be the most remembered 50 years from now on a monument of tribute at the arts, education and community center of Rt. 122 in Bedford County. Marty Bowers (S) was instrumental in the Center’s launch and also reclaimed her throne as chairman of the Smith Mountain Lake Charity Home Tour with another successful year. The event netted and distributed $176k to eight local charities.

                Gills Creek supervisor Russ Johnson (P) helped bring the sheriff to Westlake and a new incubator for business start-ups. Ralph Brush (O) found a community issue that resonates with locals better than giant aquatic weeds and a new tax district, but can new laws increase water safety in 2006? We hope so. Executive Director Vicki Gardner (D) and President

Andie Gibson (AA) led the SML Chamber to record-breaking numbers of members and revenues for events.

Pat Bailey, Phyllis Schenker, Jane Sullivan Horne (R), Mary Lou McDonald (K) and

                In 2006, the Lake will be well represented with the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors as Bitsy Davis (F) of Prudential Waterfront Properties takes over as president.

                Just ask any kid around the Lake who Eric Gerner (Y) is and they’ll tell you he’s a local wakeboarding legend. More recently Gerner put SML on the international wakeboarding map with a third-place finish at the World Wakeboard Championships in Queensland, Australia.

                Dave Cappelari (M) can sell you everything you need to build a house on Smith Mountain Lake, but can he hold off the Lowe’s big box assault on small, local businesses that affects our entire country and freedom as we know it? Can Wal-Mart actually fit in at Westlake?

                Micah Gaudio (U) is somewhat responsible for anything that over-glamorizes lake living, tourism, development and this so-called propaganda machine of a magazine. Yeah, right!