Church, quarry build solid relationships - Roanoke.com -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 12/8/2006
Last Visited: 12/13/2006
During the past year, VandeLinde has become good friends with David Willis, vice president of Rockydale Quarries.
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On a recent morning, Willis gave VandeLinde his "25 cent" tour of the Roanoke quarry.
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Willis chewed tobacco as the two men talked about elk hunting, Boy Scouts and business.
Past the dust and stone-crushing activity filling the 86-acre quarry, New Hope's white church steeple could be seen above the dugout mountain's sandy, grayish and rich orange tones.
As they drove along, Willis let out a deep laugh when asked whether company employees were surprised by the massiveness of the church project."Some of us might have been," he laughed.
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Willis talked about the typical community reaction to quarry work, saying, "There's always resistance.
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VandeLinde told Willis that the church's parking lot was on an incline and needed to be redesigned.
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On Nov. 19, the church held a special dinner "with turkey and all the trimmings" to honor four employees of Rockydale Quarries: Lee Wright, Willis, Steve Muncy and Chris Hughes.
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Willis said, "You want to give something back, so that's what we did."