Morgantown Magazine - December/January 2015 by Morgantown Magazine

On a Roll

Chico Bakery makes 10,000 pepperoni rolls a day.

a whole body approach

HealthSouth MountainView helps patients across the region get back on their feet.

Year in Review We look back at the big events of 2014.

Ma d e i n M o r gantown

From massive industry to mom-and-pops, discover some of the brightest businesses in town.

b m a e h u C e I ss h T

volume 4

•

issue 2

published by

New South Media, Inc.

709 Beechurst Avenue, Suite 14A, Morgantown, WV 26505 1116 Smith Street, Suite 211, Charleston, WV 25301 304.413.0104 • morgantownmag.com

editorial director

Nikki Bowman, nikki@newsouthmediainc.com Editor

Laura Wilcox Rote, laura@newsouthmediainc.com Assistant editor

Pam Kasey, pam@newsouthmediainc.com Designer

Becky Moore, becky@newsouthmediainc.com Office & Circulation Manager

Sarah Shaffer, sarah@newsouthmediainc.com web manager

Elizabeth Roth, liz@newsouthmediainc.com Staff writers

Katie Griffith, katie@newsouthmediainc.com Shay Maunz, shay@newsouthmediainc.com Mikenna Pierotti, mikenna@newsouthmediainc.com AD DESIGNER

Elizabeth Roth photographers

Amberlee Christey Photography, Carla Witt Ford, Elizabeth Roth integrated marketing & Advertising

Season Martin, season@newsouthmediainc.com Bekah Call, bekah@newsouthmediainc.com

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Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

h en w e f i rst sat dow n

to work on “The Chamber Issue” of Morgantown magazine, some in the office were confused. “What’s the chamber?” one asked. “Do we have to write a bunch of boring business profiles?” inquired another. I admit—I also wasn’t sure what to expect in the early stages of planning this issue. While our publisher sits on the board for the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce, even I did not realize the great impact this nonprofit has—not just on area business, but on the community at large. The Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce has more than 400 members—from Mylan to the Monongalia Arts Center to Mario’s Fishbowl. The organization supports events like Small Business Saturday, and its special committees are always looking at ways to improve our beautiful city, from diversity in business to tackling transportation issues. And what about the people who make up the chamber, from its board to its members? Well, you can forget boring. It took less than five minutes with each of the folks in our “Faces of the Chamber” story, page 63, to realize they’re the real deal. Did you know the board’s chair, Frank Vitale, was the first in his family to graduate from college? He’s also a veteran and an avid WVU sports fan. Have you ever met David Fryson? He used to be a professional musician in Chicago, but now this WVU vice president serves a greater purpose right here in Morgantown, from civil rights to ministry. Then there’s 6

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

Kelly Kimble. Also the chair of Fairness West Virginia, she works for Spilman Thomas & Battle by day and fights for equality every hour of the day. She also majored in acting at WVU. In this issue we also announce the 2015 Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce Awards, and let me assure you, each winner has a unique story to tell. Among this year’s winners are businesses like City Neon (page 71). Its people are full of bright ideas, and this family-owned company has one of the few neon artists in the region. See that sign in the window at Tailpipes? That’s the work of City Neon. We also take a look at just what’s made in Morgantown, with a series of stories covering everything from power converters for airplanes to one-of-akind mine equipment (page 52). While almost everyone knows about Mylan, we’re willing to bet many of you have never heard of Davis-Lynch Glass Company. The thing is, this amazing company has been working molten glass since the 1940s. That’s one of DavisLynch’s employees on our cover. You might be surprised, but almost every article in this issue tells the story of a Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce member. From strong leaders to innovative thinkers to small business owners who aren’t afraid to dream big, we hope you find these stories as enlightening as we did.

lau r a w ilcox Rote,

Editor

Don’t forget! The final round of voting for the fourth annual BOM awards closes Dec. 12, 2014. Results will be announced in our February/March issue.

morgantownmag.com/bom

Letters to the Editor

Underground Morgantown Amazing what I have read (in Oct/Nov 2014) and would like to know much more. I have lived here 69 years and never ever knew or heard this. Thanks for the info on “Underground” and ’round Morgantown. Ruthie Kilionski, via morgantownmag.com

Super Foods I received and read your article/ publication (Oct/Nov 2014). That was a great write-up. I’m very impressed how nice it is and how great the whole magazine is. You are highly commendable the way you put it together. That’s very impressive. Dr. Rolando Garcia, Ultimate Health and Wellness, Fairmont, via email

Behind the PRT I’m just back from vacation this week and found a copy of Morgantown magazine in my office with the (Oct/ Nov 2014) article you wrote on me within. I wanted to thank you so much for the article. I was so impressed, as was everyone here at the PRT and others throughout the university as well. You really brought everything together so well from the interview/ tour that day with me here at the PRT. The article truly made me see and feel my life’s work career in this one page composition (great work). Robert DeWitt, via email

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morgantownmag.Com

A message from the Morgantown Chamber of Commerce President

Get to Know the Chamber Less than 49 employees, 335

year ago at the annual

Morgantown Chamber of Commerce dinner, I challenged our members to put into action the agenda that has been in our thoughts throughout our strategic plan development. Transportation, employee retention and recruitment through livability, economic growth strategies, regulatory issues, and research—our plan addresses all of these important issues. Over the past year we’ve tackled some adventurous projects—transportation and employee recruitment, a business opportunities summit, working with WVU to bring professional baseball to Morgantown, a comparative economic study, and state and federal lobbying efforts, among other things. We’re proud of the foundation we’ve established, but we have much work ahead of us to keep North Central West Virginia the vibrant engine of the economy it has become. The year 2015 is also bound to be exciting, as we already look forward to dozens of events, from Monongalia County Day at the Legislature to a North Central West Virginia regional summit with neighboring chambers to a Women in Business conference and monthly Business After Hours. We have a lively downtown, a strong economy, customers who appreciate local goods and services, and a skilled, educated, reliable workforce. We’re excited about this opportunity to tell Morgantown residents and visitors the stories behind the businesses that operate here—some of them visible and familiar, some of them less well known, but all contributing to the area’s diverse economy. It has been said that a people without vision will perish. Through the 8

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

commitment of our board and members, we did the work of climbing the mountain and looking off into the distance to set the course for our journey forward. From that peak the vision is inspiring—to see into the distance and wonder what the future of our community could look like and the people and business it could attract is a hope that is endless. As one Chinese philosopher said, while endless visions can be inspiring, they can also be intimidating. So much work, so little time. But the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. I invite you to join us—one step at a time—as we journey forward.

50 to 99 employees, 45

100+ employees, 44

What are the committees? • Government Affairs • Transportation • Energy • Diversity • Communications

Special Affiliations Daniel Kimble

President, Morgantown Chamber of Commerce morgantownchamber.com

• WINGS (Women’s Innovative Networking Group) • Leadership Mon • Generation Morgantown

Join today! Call 304.292.3311 or visit morgantownchamber.org

Dec/Jan 2015

Real juice bar: elizabeth roth

In This Issue

Year in Review

Made in Faces of the Champions of Morgantown Chamber Community

From dining and sports to traffic and crime, we reflect on the most memorable events of 2014.

From medicine to neon signs, our Mountaineer city creates a lot more than many locals may realize.

Meet a few of the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leaders as they change the way business is done in Morgantown.

We introduce the winners of the 2015 Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce Awardsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from City Neon to KeyLogic.

morgantownmag.Com

December/January 2015

In This Issue This Matters

Departments

16 Eat This Chico Bakery churns out 10,000 pepperoni rolls a day from its small location on Beechurst.

6 Editor’s Note 34 Across County Lines Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh is worth the drive.

18 What’s This Bright ideas come naturally to WVU’s industrial energy efficiency program. 20 Who’s This Meet WVU Alum Emily Calandrelli, the host of Fox’s Xploration Outer Space. 22 This Matters To . . . Katy Ryan helps thousands with the Appalachian Prison Book Project. 26 Shop This Service is a dream come true at Morgantown’s newest bridal boutique.

38 Dish It Out Iron Horse Tavern has quickly made a name for itself in downtown Morgantown.

16 34

28 Do This Learn to scuba dive at My Dive Shop in Westover.

81 Healthy Living HealthSouth MountainView Regional Rehabilitation Hospital gets you back on your feet. 86 The Scene See what you’ve been missing all over town. 97 Calendar Don’t miss these great events. 104 Then & Now Looking back at Christmas past.

30 Support This The Children’s Home Society of West Virginia connects foster children to permanent homes. 32 Love This Warm hearts with these cozy gift ideas.

On the Cover Elizabeth Roth captured this photo of the Davis-Lynch Glass Company's production facilities in Star City.

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

104

Eat / Love / Wear / Shop / Watch / know / Hear / read / Do / Who / what

Trim the tree

with Merck Family’s Old World Christmas blown glass, hand-painted ornaments.

Glass bulb ornaments, or baubles, debuted on Christmas trees in the 16th century. Artisan Hans Greiner invented the first designs— fruits and nuts—in Germany.

The Elegant Alley Cat, 358 High Street 304.292.4433, elegantalleycat.com $9.99 and up

Carla Witt Ford

December 2014

Carla Witt Ford 1977

Katie Griffith 1996

O Tannenbaum!

Laura Wilcox Rote 1991

Sarah Shaffer 1993

Becky Moore 1992

Here are some of our staff’s most memorable childhood ornaments. morgantownmag.Com

THIS MATTERS

From convenience stores in Buffalo, New York, 407 Beechurst Avenue 304.292.9433 to mom-and-pops chicobakery.com in Pittsburgh, Julia’s is probably the pepperoni roll you’ll find outside West Virginia’s borders, and for good reason. Samuel A. Chico, Jr., son of the company’s founder, latched onto something good when he decided to take his mother’s—Julia Chico’s—recipes and start marketing them as Julia’s Pepperoni Rolls. These days the bakery produces its goods on highly specialized equipment—industrial mixers, a pepperoni slicer with blades so sharp they are labeled hazardous before they’re disposed of, massive ovens, and a conveyor belt system. Each piece of equipment has to be specially calibrated, and timing for everything—from the rising of the bread to the setting of the cheese—has to be exact. Samuel Chico, Sr. began the company as a dairy and ice cream parlor in 1925. The business then branched into both convenience stores and a bakery. “We started with cakes, doughnuts, cookies, and breads in addition to rolls,” Rodney says. “All using Julia, the founder’s wife’s, own recipes.” But with stiffer competition came the need to find a niche. The company eventually sold the dairy and convenience store side of the business, and in the 1990s Samuel A. Chico, III, grandson of the founder, refocused the bakery on the most popular item—the pepperoni roll. Its popularity has grown exponentially since then. On the current equipment, Rodney says the company has the capacity to double or triple output, and some weeks baking takes place on Saturdays and Sundays, too, to keep up with demand. Chico’s typically sells pepperoni rolls by the case (24 5.5-ounce rolls for $32.25 or 36 4-ounce rolls for $31.75) to walk-ins, distributes them to grocery and convenience stores across the region, and offers online ordering. The bakery only produces a couple other products on a limited basis—things like Mountaineer Bread made from extra pepperoni roll materials and sold at local grocery stores. But this bakery has come far simply perfecting the humble pepperoni roll. “It’s better to do one thing really well than to do a dozen mediocre things,” Gary says. Chico Bakery

EATThis

On a Roll

Miller, bakery supervisor. The only trouble is once inside you have to These Morgantown bakers churn out more than make a choice— do you want a 10,000 pepperoni rolls a day. soft white roll double-stuffed with zesty paperthin pepperoni, pepperoni and gooey hot pepper cheese, or pepperoni and sweet provolone? They’re all addicting. That’s why the Julia’s brand It’s an unassuming white ➼ is the only pepperoni rolls sold in building on the corner of Beechurst Milan Puskar Stadium and why they’ve Avenue and Fourth Street, with factorybeen called the official snack of the style windows and simple signage. But Mountaineers. “We’re primarily a in the early mornings you can smell it a pepperoni roll bakery and we do it the block away. The warm, yeasty scent of best,” says Rodney Butcher, director of fresh bread is its own advertisement. This operations at the bakery and a 35-plusfamily-owned business, affectionately year veteran of the Chico Enterprises known as Chico’s but officially known as family of businesses. Like everyone and Chico Bakery, might not have a typical everything in the bakery, he’s lightly storefront, but the staff is happy to dusted with flour head to toe and wipes sell any hungry traveler a fresh Julia’s his hands off on his apron before a cordial Pepperoni Roll—stuffed with Hormel handshake. He’s proud, though, as are pepperoni and fresh Sargento cheese— all the employees—less than a baker’s right at the front door. Just step inside dozen—who spend their mornings baking between 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday 12,000 rolls per day. “We sell more through Friday and someone in a hairnet and white apron will take your order. “We pepperoni rolls than anyone in this state. It’s just that simple,” Rodney says. “And get a lot of walk-ins and people who want we distribute them to about 10 states.” to know what we do in here,” says Gary 16

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

written by mikenna pierotti photographed by elizabeth roth

THIS MATTERS WHAT’SThis

Waste Not

WVU’s Industrial Assessment Center is saving regional businesses millions by curbing energy loss. ➼ In 2013 the United States bested all other nations in sheer amount of energy wasted. In fact we wasted around 61 percent of all the energy we produced. And according to the U.S. Energy Administration, our industrial sector took the biggest, juiciest bite. “Any time energy is being used to convert raw materials into a finished product, you have the potential for waste,” says Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan (Gopala for short), professor of industrial and management systems engineering at WVU’s Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. Just like in a home, industrial energy waste could stem from a myriad of sources—inefficient lighting, an old heating system, improper ventilation, outdated equipment—but blow that up to an industrial scale and thousands to millions of dollars start leaking out of the cracks. Even the smallest businesses might be losing life-saving profits to wasted energy, Gopala says. “This is important because small to medium-sized businesses might not have the resources to do their own assessments to determine the problems and cut down costs,” he says. “If these businesses were able to reduce energy consumption and make the right changes, their profits would go up. If their profits went up, they would have more money to invest and create jobs. Energy assessment is an economic engine.” That’s where WVU’s Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), which Gopala directs, comes in. Engineering professor Ralph Plummer, Gopala’s mentor, drew him into the project after Gopala joined WVU in 1988. The two founded the center in 1992 as a way of teaching students about energy diagnostics and analysis. After taking over as director in 2005, Gopala, with the help of assistant director Wafik Iskander, has expanded the program.

WVU’s Industrial Assessment Center Achievements Regionally Since 1992

500+

$18 million + saved

5.4 trillion BTUs saved per year

manufacturers helped 300,000+ tons of CO2 saved

70+ students trained

So far it has helped more than 500 manufacturers save up to 5.4 trillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) per year and more than $18 million. Projects have also kept more than 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Thanks to support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other funding, small and medium-sized manufacturers who meet certain requirements and who operate within 150 miles of the campus can request an assessment. The IAC team spends time at the facility, speaks with personnel, takes measurements, analyzes processes, and generates specific recommendations with estimated costs and payback times. And did we mention it’s free? “West Virginia has fewer large manufacturing facilities compared to other states and hence they need more assistance in attaining energy efficiency goals,” Gopala says. “These are small furniture manufacturing companies, glass factories—these people are operating on razor-thin profit margins. I think it’s a huge help to them.” The center isn’t a totally new idea. It’s part of a network of 24 such DOEsupported energy auditing programs around the country; however, the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy says WVU IAC has become synonymous with energy efficiency in the region, and these days businesses are lining up for assessments. “We have a unique energy assessment protocol based on comprehensive data measurement,” Gopala says. “This protocol has been developed and tested over time.” The center’s impact doesn’t stop at dollars saved. It’s also an educational pipeline

for future engineers. This, Gopala says, is its primary focus. WVU students—both undergraduate and graduate—are chosen to work at the center, where they spend real time in the trenches. They take measurements beside blazing glass furnaces, observe intricate mechanical processes, and scribble notes while massive industrial machines roar around them. Their assignment: Learn how to save businesses money. “Our number one goal is the learning opportunity for students, but at the same time, when we go out into the industry, we work hard to save them money. Our students know we are there for that reason and they take it very seriously,” Gopala says. And they should. Energy engineering is a growing field and the IAC offers a foot in the door. Through the center students learn about real-world energy assessment methods, energy management certification and measurement verification, management systems, corporate culture, industrial supply chains, and sustainability issues. The IAC has trained more than 70 students who’ve gone on to careers in areas like quality control, energy efficiency, software development, and academia. “We select students based on their performances and their GPAs. We know they have a good head on their shoulders, but then we train them to actually go into businesses and do the work,” he says. “While we are developing this workforce, we are also promoting energy engineering and the importance of saving energy in all areas of manufacturing.” statler.wvu.edu/~wwwiac

written by Mikenna Pierotti

expecting one day to build rockets herself, but instead she found a skill for technology communication and a passion for educating others about its consequences. In addition to the aerospace program, she picked up a second program developed to teach people with STEM backgrounds how to explain the importance of new technologies to policy makers. “I found all those classes so fascinating,” she says. “We Emily Calandrelli, a Morgantown native, WVU graduate, and rocket talked about space-related projects, as well as genetically modified foods and climate scientist, hosts FOX television’s latest space exploration show. change and cell phones on airplanes and vaccinations—the whole gamut of techwas more her thing. After high school In less than a year she’s ➼ nologies that affect the public.” Emily entered WVU’s Statler College of launched high-altitude balloons, colonized Her concentrations proved fruitful soon Engineering and Mineral Resources to get Mars, and reported on the budding space after earning her master’s degrees in the a degree in civil engineering, intending to tourism industry. While it sounds like form of a somewhat suspicious email. “It become an architect. “But then,” she says, a resume set 50 years in the future, it’s sounded like spam,” she says. “It just said, simply Emily Calandrelli’s first year hosting “in my first year I saw images of students Xploration Outer Space on FOX television. floating in zero gravity.” The images were ‘Do you want to be the host of an outer of a WVU aerospace engineering team con- space show?’” That email would turn out to Just 27 years old, the Morgantown native is ducting an experiment at Houston’s NASA be her first encounter with Xploration Outer one of West Virginia’s most visible budSpace. The show’s producers intended to ding scientists, though she says she never facilities, and she was enthralled. Emily expected a career in space journalism as a dropped the plans to be an architect to pur- create an educational show aimed at high sue aerospace engineering instead. “I wanted school students and adults with no back17-year-old at Morgantown High School. to be able to fly like they did,” she says. After ground in science and tech fields. They saw “This is definitely not what I had imaggraduating from WVU—pinned with hon- videos promoting the WVU engineering ined,” she laughed one recent afternoon ors ranging from Goldwater Scholar to Ms. college with Emily in the starring role and when she was in town. “I don’t think I Mountaineer to Order of Augusta—Emily knew they had found their girl. Filming knew what I wanted to do. I’m jealous of began in spring 2014. the people who knew when they were very went on to MIT (Massachusetts Institute “We try to show off the most interestof Technology) to get a master’s in aeroyoung, but I think it’s something I had to ing things that are going on in the space nautics and astronautics. find for myself.” industry now,” Emily says. “We’ve covered Emily entered her master’s program She loved math and science, but art WHO’SThis

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

Courtesy of NASA

A Mountaineer in Space

everything from searching for intelligent life to the technologies we use to find planets outside our solar system.” Episodes have focused on the Mars Desert Research Station, a scientific research habitat in the middle of the Utah desert where researchers simulate life on Mars, and, more recently, space balloons. That space balloon episode was filmed in West Virginia with WVU’s high-altitude balloon team. Emily and her threeman crew traveled from Morgantown to Harpers Ferry to launch a WVU high-altitude balloon experiment. She recalls waking up at 3 a.m. to film the episode, expecting a relaxing trip in a hot air balloon. When she arrived the wind was roaring and the team only had 40 minutes to film what usually takes 90 minutes. “We ran through trees a few times. It was getting so windy that the balloon was picking up speed and we were intentionally running into trees to slow down. I was trying to hold on and say my lines.” It’s not all a slapstick roller coaster ride. “With entertainment and science you’d expect there to be a trade-off,” Emily says. When she was first approached about the show she had her reservations. “I was nervous they were going to want me to be more Bill Nye-ish—The sun! It’s hot! It provides energy!—and not be a serious person. I have serious degrees and I want to be taken seriously.” But Emily says she didn’t have much to worry about after all, and she’s proud of the show and its unintended benefit: “Young girls don’t really have a lot of role models in science in technology,” she says. “This show has offered me the opportunity to do that.” Xploration Outer Space can be viewed on Hulu.com, and every Friday at 7:30 a.m. on Morgantown’s local FOX station.

elizabeth roth

This Morgantown High School alum chose to study space while at WVU.

written by Katie Griffith

morgantownmag.Com

On following your passion I worry about our students now because they’re always told, “Don’t follow your passion. You’ve got to be practical.” You do. You have to be savvy and recognize that you have to be able to pay the rent, but I don’t want to give up the hope that we can find ways to be both practical and passionate in our lives.

On the importance of books They provide us with imaginative access to an experience other than our own and that itself can enhance our empathy and our ability to imagine lives beyond our own. But the curious thing about reading is that, at the same time it’s transportive and can be a kind of imaginative escape, it always also bears on our own lives in some ways. That’s the curious paradox of reading: It’s both a “not me” experience and a “me” experience.

On the most requested book The dictionary is the most requested book by far. If we did a count, it’s somewhere near a third of our letters that ask for a dictionary. It’s such an important resource for reading and for thinking.

On new developments We just started a book club at Hazelton (prison). We read our first novel—Kindred by Octavia Butler—and the conversation was hands-down one of the best discussions of literature I’ve ever witnessed. It’s not an easy book, and they had absorbed it entirely and were able to talk about it in such insightful ways. It was stunning.

ThisMATTERS TO

Katy Ryan ➼ Katy Ryan sits in a small room lined floor to ceiling with books, sifting through some of the hundreds of letters the Appalachian Prison Book Project (APBP) receives each week. Some ask for books on history, calligraphy, or science fiction. Others express gratitude for books received, and for the human connection formed by the exchange of words on paper. For Katy, it’s these letters that inform and guide the project she and her WVU students and colleagues began back in 2004. Since then the APBP has gone from working out of a student’s apartment to functioning as an official nonprofit organization. More than 15,000 books have been sent to those incarcerated in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and the letters are the tangible proof of their effect. Katy came to WVU in 2000 after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She was recently recognized for her research on matters of justice and human rights in 20th century American literature—as well as her involvement with the APBP—as the recipient of WVU’s Neil S. Bucklew Award. The honor is awarded to someone who’s demonstrated outstanding leadership, courage, and continuous support in the area of social justice. Her essays have appeared in numerous literary journals, and Demands of the Dead: Executions, Storytelling, and Activism in the United States, a collection of creative and critical writing on the death penalty she edited, was published in 2012. She also organized the Educational Justice & Appalachian Prisons Symposium that took place at WVU in April 2014. written and photographed by elizabeth roth

On the project’s future I hope the

Appalachian Prison Book Project will continue to grow and develop as an educational justice center in some ways. We’ll always do this primary needed work of sending books because it’s just so needed. It’s so important to get these books through the walls.

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

HOW YOU CAN HELP Volunteer training takes place every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Aull Center. aprisonbookproject.wordpress.com

THIS MATTERS

ShopThis

Take a Vow Morgantown’s newest boutique is all about brides. ➼ Stepping through The Vow Boutique’s front door is a little overwhelming. One minute you’re on the sidewalk, listening to the rushing traffic on Chestnut Ridge Road, the next you’re inside this little jewel box of a boutique, surrounded by purple walls and wedding dresses. There’s calming music, a pretty little seating arrangement complete with gold-framed settee, and a bouquet of flowers on the coffee table. “It’s like a cozy, girly haven,” says Kristen Frodelius, the shop’s owner. The Vow is Morgantown’s newest bridal boutique—Kristen opened the store 26

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

in November 2013. Before that she spent a few years living in New York working in the fashion industry—she has degrees in fashion, fashion merchandising, and business from WVU—but she always knew in the back of her mind that she wanted her own bridal boutique. “There are pretty dresses for all kinds of different occasions—there are pretty dresses to wear to work,” she says. “But they’re not going to ever be as special as what I’m surrounded by every day.” Kristen was one of those little girls who spent her childhood dreaming of her wedding. “I used to have a composition

notebook, and The Vow Boutique I would draw 4 Suburban Court wedding dresses 304.291.7333 thevowwv.com in it,” she says. “My childhood pet, Dancer, every time we played dressup it was her wedding day—she had about 87 weddings, I think.” As an adult, Kristen has been in practically that many weddings herself—she’s been a bridesmaid nine times so far. Every time she went through the wedding planning process with a friend she learned a little bit more about what she likes in a wedding boutique and what she doesn’t like—and further realized how few good wedding boutiques there are out there. “The more weddings I was in, the more I wanted to do this,” she says. At The Vow, shopping for your wedding gown is treated as an occasion all its own, not just a precursor to the main event. Kristen believes the wedding planning process is a precious thing and is intent

THIS MATTERS

on making every bride’s experience shopping for a wedding dress almost as memorable as the wedding day. The bride is celebrated and congratulated. She’s offered champagne. When she steps into a fitting room, an employee adds her fiance’s last name to the chalkboard outside labeled “Future Mrs.” Attendants snap a photo of her in the store, put it on a bulletin board, and post it on Facebook, like a proud friend would do. “We just try to make it really special,” Kristen says. “We want it to be a really personal, intimate experience.” The entire store revolves around brides, and in more than just the traditional ways. There are wedding gowns and bridesmaids’ dresses, of course, but there are also silly T-shirts to wear the morning of your wedding—a white tank studded

Kristen Frodelius moved back to Morgantown and opened The Vow Boutique just off of Chestnut Ridge Road soon after.

with rhinestones that spell out “The Bride” and a black version for the bridal party that says “Team Bride”—and gifts for your bridesmaids. “We like to have some funny little things on hand,” Kristen says. “We want it to be all about them and have everything they need.” The store also has a robust social media presence, where it posts photos of new gowns for fans to gawk at every week—the staff call it Wedding Dress Wednesday—and wish brides the best on their wedding day. The Vow’s signature product is an event called the Diamond Bridal Party for brides who want to take one more step to make their dress shopping experiences special. The shop has the appointment catered, complete with hors d’oeuvres, cupcakes, and champagne, and the bride and her friends and family have the store just to themselves for up to three hours. “We love doing those,” Kristen says. “We get to shut down the entire store just for you and your

entourage, and make it all about you.” Buying a wedding dress isn’t a quick, one-off purchase. Brides usually spend a lot of time trying on dresses—an average appointment at The Vow runs for an hour-and-a-half—and then there are the follow-up appointments for fittings. Over time many brides come to see Kristen as a trusted confidante. “We’ve had brides come in and ask our opinion on linens. Or they come to us with bridesmaid drama— anything like that, we become the go-to.” Kristen says. She’s formed real friendships with some clients and even been invited to weddings at the end of it all. “That’s my favorite part—becoming friends with these girls is really special,” she says. “We get to be a part of the most special time of their lives.” written by shay maunz photographed by elizabeth roth

morgantownmag.Com

d0This

Off the Deep End A new shop in Westover brings the underwater world to Morgantown. ➼ Dip your head below the surface and open your eyes. That’s one of the first hurdles to overcome if you want to learn to scuba dive. You also have to be willing to swim, headfirst, into an alien landscape. And you have to be curious, because, depending on the climate, you could enter a clear blue paradise shot through with bands of sunlight, dotted with bright fish and coral. Or you could be 60 feet down in a chilly green wonderland navigating underwater cliffs, sunken boats, and schools of shimmering bass. “When you first go down, it’s hard not to wander because you just want to see everything,” says Melody Metz, certified diving instructor and owner of My Dive Shop in Westover. “You’re under the water and you’re floating, weightless, and ‘Oh, look! A fish just went by!’ and you just have to go after it. As a diver, I understand that.” Melody looks like a diver. She’s slender 28

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

and blond with a ready laugh and the sort of confidence and amiability you’d want from someone who could soon be leading you into the deep, dark unknown. She’s dived everywhere from Key Largo, Florida, to Blue Hole in Preston County and loves it all—saltwater and fresh, tropical and continental. She’s seen sharks and jellyfish, explored massive sunken ships, and collected quite the treasure chest of stories. Sit down and hear a few and you’ll be reassured. This eight-year veteran diver knows her stuff. She can train and certify you in more than 25 diving specialties through her little shop—everything from fish identification to deep diving, where you can descend to a maximum of 130 feet. You might think diving isn’t for everyone, but Melody has worked with students young and old, strong swimmers and doggy paddlers. It’s a physical activity, and that’s one of the pluses. “People

think you’re just My Dive Shop floating along 827 Fairmont Road and it’s really Suite 206 easy. And that’s mydiveshopwv.com true when you’re in the water. It’s the getting in and getting out,” she says. “Your equipment is very heavy. Sometimes you have to walk far. A lot of what we hear about is heart attacks and heat stroke.” Still, Melody has certified children as young as 10 or 11 and she says the maximum age is—well, there isn’t one. “Anyone with any health condition should get the OK from a doctor,” she says. “Most diving accidents happen because people get careless and don’t follow the rules. Stay within your limits and you’ll be fine.” In Melody’s classes, she’ll not only teach you how to stay safe, but she’ll also help you assimilate into the local diving community—one that’s growing in West Virginia. “The number one thing I hear from new people is that they think they won’t have anyone to go with. I tell people, if you want to go diving let me know. I’ll put it on my Facebook. I’ll ask around. People are always looking for others to dive with. A lot of people who come in here have been divers for years and years. Diving is a very social club.” She says

center: Courtesy of Melody Metz

THIS MATTERS

You’re under the water and you’re floating, weightless, and ‘Oh, look! A fish just went by!’ and you just have to go after it. As a diver, I understand that.” Melody Metz, owner

you’ll find a lot of local divers frequenting West Virginia’s best known lakes and rivers—places like Summersville, Mount Storm, Blue Hole, and Tygart. Melody often swims with her family as well as diving buddies. Her teenage daughters, father, and boyfriend are all avid divers. Her father, Charlie Metz, volunteers at My Dive Shop and is the reason she started. “My dad always wanted to get certified in diving instruction. But when my sister and I came along, it got put on the back burner for about 30 years.” Melody, however, had a little fear to contend with when she earned her initial certifications. “I was actually petrified of water. When we got in the pool for the first time our instructor was like, ‘You have to take your mask off.’ I told him, ‘I have to hold my nose. I can’t do that!’ He told me, ‘Yes, you can.’ And we just worked up to it.” She later went on to get her instructor’s certification through an intensive course in Key Largo. In 2013 she earned her business degree and in 2014 she opened her shop. At My Dive Shop, divers and swimmers of all ages can find nearly everything they need for water recreation—from wetsuits and tanks to masks and fins to classes for all levels. Melody also arranges diving trips. She took a group to Key Largo in 2014 and she plans to book more—Bonaire in the Caribbean and the Cayman Islands are high on her list. Overcoming fears, getting in shape, exploring, treasure hunting—there are plenty of reasons to take the plunge and learn to scuba dive, Melody says. “The earth is more than 70 percent water. People who stay on the surface miss out on all that. It’s a whole different world under there.” written by mikenna pierotti photographed by elizabeth roth morgantownmag.Com

THIS MATTERS

SUPPORTThis

A Home for the Holidays, and Longer

Children’s Home Society of West Virginia in Morgantown helps foster children find permanent homes. ➼ Owlish eyes smile from a tiny face framed with dimples and tufts of blond curls. Maison Sharp was 1 year old when his adoptive parents photographed his first Christmas in their home, sitting with a wide grin in front of a pile of presents. From the photos you’d never guess he had been fighting a developmental condition since birth. “He was a very sick baby and there was no home that would take this child,” remembers Sarah Bittenbender, director of the Morgantown Children’s Home Society of West Virginia. The state removed Maison from his biological home in Wheeling because of parental substance abuse and neglect, and the Department 30

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

of Health and Human Resources referred his case to the Children’s Home Society for placement. Founded in 1896, the society has 13 sites around the state offering emergency shelters, after-school programs, mentorship, and foster care for more than 13,000 West Virginia children and families a year. Despite the extensive network, it was hard to find Maison a home. “Fostering a child is a huge job,” Sarah says. “People can be afraid of the unknown. They have a lot of other responsibilities and sometimes you don’t know what behaviors or issues this child may have.” In Maison’s case the issues included multiple trips to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh where doctors would hook his

heart to an IV to feed him nutrients and medication. Afflicted with short bowel syndrome, Maison had been losing weight since birth. Everything he ate passed too quickly through his body to give him any nutrients. He first met his adoptive parents, Amanda and Justin Sharp, while in the hospital. The Fairmont couple had been trying for a child of their own for five years before making the decision to foster and adopt. Through family referrals they were connected with Morgantown’s Children’s Home Society in January 2012 and began the long adoption process. Justin’s work as a coal miner allowed Amanda to stay at home. “When we sat down and talked about the children we’d be willing to take, we agreed we would be best for a child who needed a little bit of extra care,” Amanda says. “I had a lot of time I could give. I was willing to travel to Pittsburgh. I have a medical background as an EMT and a dental assistant. His conditions didn’t scare me.” Theirs was an unusually brave attitude. “One thing I hear a lot is parents not wanting to take a child into their lives and then watch it go back to the biological family.

Courtesy of Amanda Sharp

Amanda and Justin Sharp have adopted three children in need of a home, including Maison (left), who passed away in 2013.

Sarah Bittenbender, director of the Morgantown branch of Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, talks about the importance of the organization’s work.

THIS MATTERS

Raising funds The Children’s Home Society’s Little Red Stocking fundraising campaign began after Thanksgiving. Through the holidays businesses across the state will display your name on a paper red stocking in recognition of a $1 donation, with all proceeds going to the society. Steve says the organization has raised more than $90,000 with the initiative and the money stays in the area to support the local branch projects.

It’s that feeling of being devastated,” Sarah says. “The children could go home, and you could be devastated, but you would be providing a nurturing and loving home for a time when that child needs it.” Estimates show that 4,000 West Virginia children are in foster care. Many are taken from abusive or neglectful homes and have nowhere to go. The Morgantown Children’s Home Society, which covers five counties, served 39 foster children in 2013 and had 16 adoptions, more than a fourth of the adoptions in the society network statewide, says CEO Steve Tuck. Fostering and adoption is a strength of the Morgantown site, he says, but finding foster families is a struggle, especially for older children. Potential families must pass a home study to prove eligibility. They go through training, certifications, and background checks. They have to be willing to care for a child as their own. The Sharps took Maison home in June 2012 with the intention of adopting. But in May 2013, Maison was found unresponsive in his crib. His blood sugar was low and he was seizing. He was transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital

in Morgantown, where his conditioned worsened. “When it became apparent that we couldn’t save Maison, we wanted his life to mean something,” Amanda says. The Sharps discussed organ donation with the Children’s Home Society and the DHHR, who rushed the adoption process to give the family end-of-life rights. The adoption was finalized on May 16, 2013, and, three weeks later, in the arms of his mother and surrounded by family and friends, Maison passed away. The Sharps grieved for several months before opening their home again. The Children’s Home Society connected them with two other foster children: Willie, 11 months, and Alex, a newborn. The children were formally adopted in September 2014 and are growing into healthy, happy boys. Amanda tells her story at fundraisers and events for the Children’s Home Society, which held her hand through every bump of her three adoptions. The society relies heavily on government subsidies to respond to community needs, whether it’s offering mentorship services or focusing on foster care and adoption. Of the organization’s roughly $15 million budget, $10 million

comes from government support. In 2008 the society stopped charging adoption fees, calculated at 15 percent of a family’s annual income and capped at $15,000, in order to make adoption more accessible to West Virginia families. “Children’s Home Society is about finding homes for children,” says Mary White, COO of the organization. “Today you have anywhere from 1,000 to 1,200 children available for adoption (in West Virginia) and there aren’t enough homes for them. We decided that, in order for these children to have homes, we should take away any and all barriers.” Statewide the society has been aggressive in fundraising, and while the organization does accept monetary donations, what’s needed most are potential foster parents. “Justin and I always said that we needed to do what was best for the child and not for us, even if that meant the child was with us for six months,” Amanda says. “Would it be devastating? Yes. But we’re not doing this just for us. We’re doing it for them.” childhswv.org written by katie griffith photographed by elizabeth roth morgantownmag.Com

THIS MATTERS LOVEThis

Cozy Gifts Warm up this winter with our picks from local stores. 1. Kyoto iron teapot, $66.95, The Tea Shoppe, The Seneca Center, 709 Beechurst Avenue, theteashoppewv.com

2. Snowflake mug by Anna Brown, $20, Spiced Tea, $7.95, Old Stone House, 313 Chestnut Street

3. Women's North Face hooded vest, $169.99; Men's Patagonia down vest, $179.99, Pathfinder, 235 High Street, pathfinderwv.com

4. Knit coonskin hat by Kristen Bertha, $28, Appalachian Gallery, 270 Walnut Street, wvcraft.com

5. Wood stove steamer, $72.95, Rustic by Design, The Seneca Center, comfortforeveryseason.com

6. Flannel quilt kit, approximately $70, Country Roads Quilt Shop, The Seneca Center, countryroadsquilts.com

6 5

Morgantown â&#x20AC;˘ Dec/Jan 2015

morgantownmag.Com

Glass House Grandeur Beat your winter blues with a touch of spring in Pittsburgh’s stunning Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. ➼

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

organtownians love Pittsburgh. We’re used to heading up there on weekends for shopping and entertainment and to soak up a bit of the big city when Morgantown starts to feel a little small. We go for the streets lined with eclectic shops and restaurants, professional sports arenas, and worldclass acts from near and far. Few, however, think to make the 90-minute trek up I-79, through the congested Fort Pitt Tunnel and over the three rivers on Pittsburgh’s maze of bridges, just to go outside. But hear us out. Standing sentry to Pittsburgh’s legendary Schenley Park, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a sparkling glass

across county lines

It’s truly a jewel of this part of the country. It’s a historical landmark with a wonderful, interesting history and beautiful sites.”

Courtesy of phipps conservatory and Botanical gardens

Joanna Mayo, volunteer docent

sanctuary in the heart of the city. Filled with familiar and exotic plant species and flooded in natural light, Phipps is a place where flowers bloom with fragrant scents despite a foot of snow falling from the sky. In the middle of winter, when temperatures are low and seasonal affective disorder runs rampant, Phipps is a monument of spring color, summer temperatures, and sunlight inside a stunning piece of architectural history. Phipps Marketing Specialist Adam Haas describes it best: “What gets me, especially now when it’s getting dark and cold, is to walk in and be totally surrounded by greenery and the smell of things growing and flowers in bloom. It changes how you physically feel.” We can’t get enough of it. The conservatory opened in 1893,

donated to the city by Henry Phipps, a childhood friend of steel baron Andrew Carnegie, and, later, cofounder of Carnegie Steel. With the growth of his personal wealth, Phipps backed a number of philanthropic efforts, the most famous of which is the glass conservatory. “He wanted a place that would be educational and a pleasure to the people of the area,” explains Margie Radebaugh, conservatory director of horticulture and education. It was important to the philanthropist that the conservatory was free of charge and open to the public on Sundays so everyone could visit on their days off work. The conservatory was designed by Lord & Burnham, an acclaimed greenhouse manufacturer, to the tune of $100,000. The grand opening coincided with the

closing of the Phipps World’s Fair in Conservatory and Chicago. “We Botanical Gardens purchased a Adult Admission, $15 number of plants 1 Schenley Park from the World’s Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Fair that were phipps.conservatory.org brought here on train and by horse and buggy,” Margie says. The original design was expanded in the early 1900s and again a few years ago. Today the 13-room Victorian greenhouse, with elegantly curved glass walls and high ceilings, houses tropical ferns, delicate orchids, desert cacti, East Asian flora, and tropical fruits and spices inside and another six gardens outside. Admission costs have risen a bit to continue the conservatory programs, and the plants aren’t shipped from Chicago via horse and buggy any longer. They’re grown by Phipps staff or provided to the conservatory by local growers. It’s hard not to be awed by the magnificence of the building as you approach off Schenley Drive. A striking glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly, renowned blown glass artist, hangs in the atrium welcoming firsttime visitors and pass-holding regulars with twisting glass arms of gold, teal, and orange. More of the artist’s glasswork can be found elsewhere in the conservatory, in addition to bronze sculptures tucked throughout plant displays. “It’s morgantownmag.Com

across county lines

Check out these winter events at Phipps Santa Visits Saturdays and Sundays Nov. 29–Dec. 20 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Get your photo taken with Santa Claus. Free with admission

Saturdays with the Sugar Plum Fairy Dec. 13, 10:30 a.m. Join Phipps and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre for a 30-minute creative movement dance class and storytime session. Free with admission

Family Fun Days Dec. 26–30 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Crafts, plant potting, and more for families and children. Free with admission

New Year’s Eve Family Celebration Dec. 31 An early countdown begins at 8:45 p.m. Free with admission

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

truly a jewel of this part of the country,” says volunteer docent Joanna Mayo. “It’s a historical landmark with a wonderful, interesting history and beautiful sites.” Joanna, a retired lawyer, has spent 35 years in Pittsburgh. Her interest in gardening drew her to Phipps, but she stayed for the mission. “Phipps is more than gardening—it’s history, protection of plants, leadership, and sustainable planting,” she says. “It’s a beautiful place with a lot of art. I became totally engrossed in the purpose of Phipps and I love to share that with visitors.” In addition to the gardens in and around the conservatory, Phipps has become a leader in sustainable gardening and greenhouse development, having opened a Center for Sustainable Landscapes in 2013— complete with living roofs. Joanna says it’s hard to pick out what brings most people to the conservatory—it’s a mix of the natural beauty, decorative art, a breathtaking building, and environmental leadership. On one of Joanna’s most recent tours as a docent, she led a group of inner city high school kids visiting for an enrichment program. “We were about two-thirds of the way through the tour and one of the kids shyly came up to me and said, ‘I didn’t think I’d like this tour,’” she recalls. “People are inspired

and thrilled to see what’s available here.” Her favorite room is whichever one she happens to be standing in at the time. “I really love every area,” she says. “The fern room is really special to me because those are ancient plants. Those species are over 400 million years old. When I go there I’m taken to a dinosaur landscape.” Six of the conservatory’s 13 rooms rotate regularly to accommodate yearly shows. January brings an orchid and bonsai show. Phipps hosts a spring butterfly exhibit, and in autumn, a short but colorful fall display. The most popular show, however, is the winter extravaganza when guests are treated to extended hours from late November to mid-January—open 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. most days. The conservatory will be decorated with winter greenery, red ribbons, and gold lights. Poinsettias will cover nearly ever surface of the main show room, among dramatic amaryllis and fragrant paperwhites. Outside, the Winter Light Garden will greets visitors with glowing trees and light orbs. “It’s pretty spectacular, particularly if you come in the evening,” Joanna says. “But you’ll want to come early enough that you can linger.” written by katie griffith photographed by elizabeth roth

With over 40,000 sq. . of event space and 205 guestrooms, Waterfront Place Hotel is the perfect venue for your next:

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A New Kind of Neighborhood Pub

Iron Horse Tavern brings a young professionals’ space to High Street. ➼

magine your neighborhood pub went off to the city for college and came back with all these big ideas. Think tater tots served with black truffle and bacon aioli and smoked Gouda béchamel. Or a Korean pulled-pork sandwich with a spicy kimchi slaw. Kimchi, by the way, is a Korean mix of pickled vegetables, béchamel is a French white sauce, and tater 38

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

tots, of course, are delicious little rounds of fried, shredded potatoes commonly seen gracing the plates of 5-year-olds everywhere. Apparently 35-year-olds are into them, too, because that tater tot small plate is one of the most popular items on the menu of Iron Horse Tavern, one of Morgantown’s newest hot spots for dinner. With unusual food combinations, creative drink specials, and a laid-back

but sophisticated Iron Horse space, Iron Horse is Tavern also one of the few 140 High Street local establishments ironhorsetvrn.com aimed at young professionals. Iron Horse opened on High Street in June 2014, taking over the former Madeleine’s space and named after a statue in the founding partners’ hometown of Elkins—an iron horse gracing the entrance of Davis & Elkins College. The restaurant launched with the intention of combining the welcoming, low-key atmosphere of a neighborhood bar with dressed-up pub food. “Covering the right side of the menu with your hand, all you see on the left is tater tots, wings, and mac and cheese,” says Steve Dilettoso, manager and part owner of Iron Horse. “But if you look at the components to the right, it’s a little more involved. They’re high-quality products.” In Morgantown,

Dish It Out

High Street caters a lot to the younger crowd, the college crowd, the club scene, but when it comes to a bar that catered more to the young professional it was lacking.” Sarah Berardinelli, bar manager

While Iron Horse Tavern offers up great burgers and beers, the restaurant also does brunch on Sundays.

Steve says, customers are getting a kick out of the concept. It’s approachable to everyone from Mom and Dad to your high-powered lawyer friend from those college in the city days. As complex as the food, but perhaps a larger draw, is the restaurant’s drink menu. “At a lot of bars you can get the standard Jack and Coke or the regular beers on tap that you see everywhere, but what sets us apart is doing really cool things with infused liquors and offering selections of beers you really can’t find anywhere else,” says Sarah Berardinelli, Iron Horse bar manager. “Beer is a huge draw for us.” But not in the $1 pitcher specials kind of way. Both Steve and Sarah came to Iron Horse from Morgantown’s location of Mountain State Brewing Company, a West Virginia beer brewing mainstay out of Thomas, where Steve functions as marketing manager and Sarah was bar manager. Steve is still involved with

Mountain State and Sarah helps out there from time to time. “Having an affiliation with Mountain State, we really like to highlight local drafts and West Virginia beers,” she says. Twelve established West Virginia breweries are on tap at Iron Horse, rotating among 10 draft spouts. Morgantown Brewing Company’s Alpha Blonde Ale and Mountain State Brewing Company’s Seneca IPA are always available. Customers can usually expect the Bridge Brew Works Long Point Lager, North End Tavern’s Roedy’s Red, and Morgantown’s own Chestnut Brew Works. For those a little intimidated by the unfamiliar handles, the pub offers a sampler of six beers, customer’s choice. “It’s a great way to try the beers if you haven’t had them before,” Sarah says. “If you start with a sampler you can pinpoint which beer is for you.” On top of the beer selection, Iron Horse takes a creative approach to classic

cocktails with a variety of infused liquors: pear- and ginger-infused dark rum for a Dark and Stormy, bacon-infused vodka for a Bloody Mary, a lavender-infused gin in a gimlet. “There are so many good ones,” Sarah says. “We get dried ancho peppers from Garcia’s Latin Market across the street to infuse our tequila. It gives the tequila a nice spicy smokiness.” That pepper tequila is then featured in a margarita, complementing its citrus tang. “You get that nice sweet and sour from the margarita itself, but the tequila leaves you with a heat and smokiness. It’s not super hot, but you definitely feel the heat in the back of your mouth as you drink it.” Customers can usually find a new infused liquor every month, with both staff and management coming up with ideas. Sarah plans to do a peppermint stick infusion for the winter months, perhaps combined with a chocolate peppermint martini. “That’s the cool thing about infusions,” she says. morgantownmag.Com

Dish It Out

Sarah Berardinelli dishes it out

Wintry Mix ¾ ounces chai and vanilla bean infused rum ¾ ounces RumChata 4 ounces eggnog Shake and pour over ice. Optional: Top with whipped cream, fresh grated nutmeg, and gingersnap garnish. Yield: 1 cocktail

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

“You may not have something in mind, or you may, but by the time the liquor infuses you get to play around with it. It can turn itself into something completely different.” “Playing around” appears to be a bit of theme at Iron Horse. The staff and the atmosphere are nothing if not laid-back. A dark wood interior mixed with the natural light pouring through a wall of windows, high-top seating surrounding an expansive, gleaming bar, and plenty of tables and booths for a more comfy seat offer a vibe that is calm but young. At night, the lights dim but the bar stays bright. Like many neighborhood pubs, a couple of TVs line the walls, but at Iron Horse they’re not the center of attention— the ones in the back of the space are rarely even on. Less than a year old, Iron Horse is already fitting well in an area that neighboring business owners hope will become more of a young professional’s playground in the University City. “High Street caters a lot to the younger crowd, the college crowd, the club scene, but when it comes to a bar that catered more to the young professional it was lacking,” Sarah says. “I’m really hoping we’ll create an environment for that demographic.”

It seems Iron Horse already has. Steve estimates anywhere from 25 to 30 percent of the group coming in for lunch and dinner are regulars, many hailing from South Park. On any given night a group of Morgantown’s young professionals will pack the bar and window tables to take advantage of the after-work happy hour and other weekly specials. Toward the back a family wearing WVU Mountaineer gear is digging into burgers. Mom’s sipping a lavender-infused gimlet, while Dad’s got a pint of Chestnut Brew Works. On Saturdays WVU games can be found on TV. On Sundays the restaurant offers a brunch, every young professional’s favorite meal, with hearty selections like pulled pork pancakes and a portabella eggs Florentine. “We still get people coming in kind of dressed up, looking for a nice dinner, but then they sit down and get a cheeseburger and a beer,” Steve says. “You can come here and sit at the bar with wings and nice beer or sit at a table for a good steak and a nice bottle of wine. It transcends both expectations for dining.” written by katie griffith photographed by elizabeth roth

Don't Forget! The final round of voting for the fourth annual BOM awards closes Dec. 12, 2014. Results will be announced in our February/March issue.

morgantownmag.com/bom

Whether it’s Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or someone’s birthday . . . The Cupcakerie is perfect for every occassion! We deliver! thecupcakerie.com 194 Willey Street • 304.212.5464 orders@thecupcakerie.com

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Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a busy year. Businesses have come and gone, locals have rallied behind causes, and change is in the air. There have been more newsworthy events than we can list, and yet we try. Join us as we look at a few of the highlights from 2014, whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been accomplished, and what is still to come.

The Restaurant Rundown

The Shakeup

A p l a t e - f u l l o f n e w r e s t a u r a n t s h av e opened around Morgantown this year.

These food and drink establishments aren’t new, but they’ve been changing locations and opening new ones all over town.

Atomic Grill opened a satellite kitchen at 123 Pleasant Street. 123 Pleasant Street

Real Juice Bar and Café 119 Pleasant Street realjuicebarandcafe.com

Iron Horse Tavern 140 High Street ironhorsetvrn.com

Wall Street Grill 1 Wall Street

Dancing Fig has left the downtown area and moved to the café space at Zenclay—the pottery studio closed its popular coffee shop and café this year. 2862 University Avenue Apothecary Ale House and Café has expanded to include more drinking and snacking space next door. 227 Chestnut Street

Morgan’s High Street Diner 250 High Street dinerwv.com

Jasmine Grill 330 High Street jasminegrillwv.com

263 Beechurst Avenue

Pizza Al’s has opened a third location near WVU’s downtown campus. 2952 University Avenue

Tin 202 202 High Street tin202.com

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

The Bank 344 High Street facebook.com/thebank344

Provoloni’s Italian Grille 6120 Mid-Atlantic Drive

First Ward institution (under varying ownership) Mundy’s has closed. We’re hoping it’s not for good.

Carla witt ford (4); Elizabeth roth (4); courtesy of the bank

Green Arch Market 260 Green Street greenarchmarket.com

Popular college bar Mutt’s Place reopened on Beechurst Avenue after development forced it to close doors on University Avenue.

Motown Recognitions

Better Recognize! Morgantown earned the following recognitions in 2014. We always knew our snug little city by the river was all that, but we’re glad the rest of the country is jumping on board. Morgantown is #16 in Business Insider’s Top 20 Best College Towns. Morgantown is #2 in Livability’s 10 Best Cities for Affordable Healthcare. Morgantown is #5 in Forbes’ Best Small Cities for Job Growth and #54 for Best Small Cities for Business and Careers.

Elizabeth roth

Morgantown is listed on Forbes’ 25 Best Small Places to Retire.

Broken Ground

M o r ga n t ow n i s a b u s y p l ac e . A r e a l ly, r e a l ly b u s y p l ac e . O n e i n s t i t u t i o n a l o n e i s fu n n e l i n g $1 b i l l i o n o f i n v e s tm e n t i n t o t h e a r e a . C h e c k o u t 2 014’s t o p c o n t r i b u t o r s*:

New WVU projects, including public/ private partnerships, that were approved, broke ground, or had majority completion in 2014 total nearly $1 billion. These include the new art museum, renovations and new construction at WVU Healthcare, a new athletics facilities master plan that includes the baseball park near University Town Centre, and student housing projects. Mon General Hospital began expansions including the construction of a medical office park, at $75 million total, and a new $7 million radiation facility. MedExpress also built a new location to coincide with a Mon General/urgent care partnership.

Pittsburgh’s Massaro Corporation was chosen in January 2014 to begin renovations, expected to cost more than $17 million, on the new Monongalia County Justice Center taking over the former post office building on High Street. Build-out at and near University Town Centre, including an expansion to the south and west, will total more than 200 acres of retail, office space, restaurants, and housing. Chaplin Hill Business Park is filling up, having welcomed businesses including Triad Engineering, CTL Engineering, and Tiefenbach North America to the space.

*according to Morgantown Area Economic Partnership

All GrownUp E v e ryo n e’s ta l k i n g a b o u t t h e n e w C h e s t n u t B r e w Wo r k s s pac e o n B ro c k way Av e n u e .

Brewmaster Bill Rittenour announced the move in spring and it’s well under way. The fermenting tanks are up in the new space and renovations should be completed within the next few weeks. “Our opening got pushed back a little—we’re hoping to open in January—but we’re making progress,” he says. Bill says the space will include a small tap room where people can buy growlers and merchandise, enjoy limited food, and drink beer by the pint.

Morgantown Farmers’ Market grabbed #23 in American Farmland Trust’s 100 Most Celebrated Farmers Markets.

morgantownmag.Com

The West Virginia

Black Bears

Art-scapes Abound Ben Gazsi Morgantown was aflutter this year for the most recent unveiling of artist Ben Gazsi’s natural sculptures. In the spring and summer of 2014 the WVU arts graduate presented a hawk sculpted from vine, twigs, tree limbs, and hay at a West Virginia Botanic Garden fundraiser and a turtle made of similar materials at Coopers Rock State Forest. Ben says the hawk and the turtle will be his last sculpture in Morgantown for now, while he attends an MFA program at Alfred University in New York. In New York Ben is experimenting with different materials and processes, but there are tentative plans to do more outdoor sculptures in the future—maybe even one in West Virginia, though nothing is final.

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

Don Knotts statue A location has been found! The Morgantown City Council recently approved a location for a Don Knotts statue, a tribute to Morgantown’s most famous actor that has been years in the making. Project organizer John Pyles reached and exceeded the statue’s fundraising goal of $50,000 earlier in 2014, and in December the statue was approved to go up outside of the Metropolitan Theatre in downtown Morgantown. Designed by artist Jamie Lester, the statue is tentatively scheduled for a summer 2015 unveiling. WVU art museum Construction continued through 2014 on the WVU Art Museum, slated to open in 2015. “It’s nearly finished,” says Joyce Ice, museum director. “We expect it will be finished at the end of this calendar year.” After construction and before the museum opens there is a period where climate control systems must be running to ready the space for the WVU art collection. Joyce expects the museum will start accepting visitors in late August 2015.

from top: George longenecker; Jamie Lester; Courtesy of the WVU Art museum

The West Virginia Black Bears. There’s a certain ring to the name of Morgantown’s new professional baseball team. It’s simple. It’s nostalgic. Plus black bears will make an adorable mascot for all that baseball gear we’re itching to buy. The name was announced in October 2014 after West Virginians submitted more than 2,000 nominations and contributed more than 10,000 votes, according to Black Bears’ General Manager Matt Drayer. A feeder team to Charleston’s West Virginia Power, the Black Bears are slated to pitch their opening game in spring 2015. Season tickets are already on sale, while Morgantown’s stadium construction is progressing according to schedule, Matt says. The new ballpark is financed through state sales taxes and will replace WVU’s out-of-date Hawley Field as well as provide a home to the minor league professional baseball team. Matt, a WVU grad himself, and the newly named Black Bears are moving to Morgantown from New York. Both WVU and the minor league team will share the space. Stadium construction broke ground in Granville in October 2013 at an estimated cost of $21 million, and the park is expected to be operational March 17, 2015, for WVU Coach Randy Mazey and the WVU baseball team. “Coach Mazey has elevated baseball to another level, making it a mainstream sport in this community,” Matt says. “Every time I talk to someone new they want to know what’s going on. They want to see the ballpark. They’re excited for what we’re going to do in the summertime for sports, recreation, and leisure.” Come opening day, Morgantown baseball fans will sip cold drinks from an open-air concourse in a stadium similar to the Pirate’s PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Matt says. “The view will be fantastic, looking over all of Morgantown.”

Welcome Back,Gee

MorgaNtown’s Most Popular

Elizabeth roth; courtesy of WVU Arts & entertainment; courtesy of Force Field PR; nikki bowman

WVU Arts & Entertainment RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles Menopause the Musical Disney’s Beauty & The Beast

Gordon Gee returned to Morgantown from Ohio State University in January 2014 for an interim gig filling WVU’s vacant presidency. In March he accepted the position full-time and promptly toured the state’s 55 counties to reacquaint himself with West Virginia since his first WVU presidency in the 1980s. That tour, he says, has been the most powerful memory of his first year back. “West Virginians really love West Virginia,” he says. “That notion of people and place is very important to me.” Gee opened the school year with WVU’s reaccreditation, tackling university bureaucracy, announcing growth initiatives, and confronting WVU’s image as a rowdy party school. “There have been some great learning moments,” he says, addressing the riots following WVU football’s defeat of Baylor. “What happened a few weeks ago with the students was very disappointing to me. But out of that came another great moment—students taking responsibility and creating a powerful effort to change for the better.”

T h e s e a c t s w e r e am o n g the top sold - out shows in t o w n i n 2 014 , a c c o r d i n g to local venues.

Schmitt’s Saloon Ronnie Dunn Tyler Farr Craig Morgan

123 Pleasant Street Tobacco and The Hood Internet Hank3 (Hank Williams III) The Black Dahlia Murder

Community Recreation

It’s all preliminary. Nothing is certain. But city officials and leaders are partnering with WVU’s BrickStreet Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to revamp the town’s community recreation facilities. In June 2014 the BrickStreet Center began working with a consortium of groups including BOPARC, WVU, the city council, and the county commission to conduct feasibility studies on three potential recreation opportunities in Morgantown: A new ice rink, a new rec center, and an aquatic center. The BrickStreet team, made

up of graduate and undergraduate students, has been looking at facilities across the country that Morgantown could model, the types of amenities Morgantown residents would like to see and could support, as well as possible locations. “This is a vision of what we could build,” BrickStreet Director Steve Cutright says. “Community leaders have taken action to explore the possibility of world-class recreation facilities in our community.” BrickStreet will present its findings to the city, WVU, and other partners in December 2014. From there the project would move to possible funding options, according to BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Burch. “It’s a really exciting time and a chance for the public to make their voices heard,” she says. “There are a lot of special interests in public recreation that are coming to light.” In White Park, she says, folks are interested in upgrades to the ice rink, which is said to be outdated and at capacity, as well as additional swimming opportunities. “At our last meeting, track and cross-country folks came out. It’s a lot of different input from different parts of the community.” morgantownmag.Com

Grassroots Year

What is Home Rule?

Morgantown citizens and public officials are working hard to c r e at e t h e c h a n g e t h e y wa n t t o s e e i n t h e U n i v e r s i t y C i t y.

Home Rule

In October Morgantown learned it was chosen as one of 16 cities accepted for the second phase of West Virginia’s home rule experiment. The project is a pilot program launched in 2007 essentially shifting power back from a centralized state government to local municipalities. Morgantown applied in June 2014 to be considered as a second phase home rule city with an outline of five projects it would address:

Outdoor property maintenance codes. This proposal would effectively outlaw upholstered furniture and mattresses from outdoor areas, including porches, balconies, and in yards. In the city’s home rule application, it claimed the Morgantown Fire Department responded to more than 3,000 street or dumpster fires since 1979, especially following WVU football games. Destructive behavior in Morgantown was also seen following WVU’s win over Baylor in October 2014, reportedly contributing to a $45,000 in damage downtown. Public nuisance removal liens. This proposal would allow the city to place liens on nuisance properties without a court order, allowing the city to recover the costs of dealing with the violations itself.

One percent sales tax. The city is working to enact a local sales tax of 1 percent to offset the costs of Morgantown’s rapid growth, including street funding and public safety issues. With the tax Morgantown would become one of several West Virginia cities to use home rule to create a tax, including Charleston and Huntington. Resolution over ordinance. This would allow the city to use resolutions rather than ordinances to officiate intergovernmental agreements, freeing up time and allowing agreements between the city, the state, WVU, the county, and nearby municipalities to move faster.

Court technology maintenance fee. This additional municipal court fee would cover the costs of technology upgrades needed for the court’s growing case load.

The ban, which was to go into effect in early December, would prohibit commercial trucks with a gross weight heavier than 26,000 pounds that have a class seven or greater rating from Morgantown locals have been hard at work limiting heavy lifting in the downtown entering the downtown business district. Delivery trucks, emergency vehicles, and municipal area’s streets. In 2014 Morgantown City Council, hearing a grassroots movement vehicles are exempt from the ban, which essentially prohibits all those hauling extracted materito ban heavy trucks from following State Route 7 through downtown Morgantown, als through and around town from driving along High, Spruce, and Walnut streets. passed an act doing just that.

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

June

With three levels of government in our republic there’s a constant struggle between which of them—federal, state, or local—should get more of the people’s power. We often hear of the struggle between states and Washington over who gets to govern whom, but closer to home the same battle is being fought between West Virginia’s cities and the central power in Charleston. Called the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program, West Virginia has slowly rolled out an experimental initiative allowing select cities to make their own laws with the understanding that localities know what’s best for their towns. Participating cities are permitted to create acts, ordinances, regulations, and resolutions to address city-specific challenges without regard to state laws, except where those new laws would impede the federal and state constitutions, federal law, or criminal and controlled substance codes. The first cities approved were Bridgeport, Charleston, Huntington, and Wheeling. In 2013 the state legislature expanded the project to include another 16 cities. Morgantown was chosen to participate in 2014.

Movement organizers, Safe Streets Morgantown, present the ordinance proposal to Morgantown’s city council. Word quickly spreads via Facebook.

July

Council hears public comments on the proposed truck ban. The topic is controversial among locals and industry professionals. Several neighborhood associations and local delegates sign on in support of the ban.

Tackling Transportation Ten years from now our daily commutes are completely different. Morning road warriors crest a bridge over the Monongahela River that connects I-79 with Morgantown, driving into the rising sun as the city below slowly wakes. Further upstream travelers are passing seamlessly between I-79 and I-68, bypassing the traffic coming north from Fairmont, to continue on to points east and north. At the current bypass just south of town congestion has eased tremendously. There’s an easy flow around the city. Within Morgantown heavily developed roads like West Run, Van Voorhis, and Stewartstown are wide and modern. Cars no longer back up steep hills awaiting their turn through a seemingly endless cycle of lights. It’s Utopia. For a town trapped by its own traffic, this is a veritable dream. But perhaps the fantasy isn’t so unattainable. For a year the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce and a number of stakeholders, including developers, business owners, and city and county government, have discussed legislation that would give Monongalia County a say in the bloodlines pumping commerce through its major city. “Any significant improvement in our highway system is dependent on funding,” says Billy Atkins, chamber's transportation vice-chair. “Our traditional sources of funds, federal and state, are being diminished and won’t be available in the future. We came up with the idea of trying local initiatives to provide funding.” Letting Our Counties Act Locally is the name of a bill that would give county commissions a way to bring longneeded road improvements into their counties, should they choose. With public input, commissions would develop

transportation construction plans to submit to the state for approval. If approved, the construction would be financed by a local transportation sales tax of 1 percent, with revenues supplementing available state and federal funding. Once the transportation project has been paid off, the tax would disappear. “We hope to get additional funds from state and federal government if we show them we are willing to make some investment,” Billy says. In Monongalia County a 1 percent sales tax has the potential to raise $8 million per year, according to preliminary figures compiled for the committee. Invested into a construction fund, that number could reach $43 million in 10 years to build bridges and highway connectors and to modernize roads. The bill comes at a time when Morgantown is pushing for more local autonomy. Bill drafters say they’ve applied existing state government concepts to transportation issues. “We’ve taken the best ideas to incorporate into this bill,” says local development specialist and realty expert Jason Donahue. “City home rule has given cities the opportunity to levy a 1 percent sales tax. The bill is also similar to the Tax Increment Financing process. It has to have a plan, public meetings, state approval, and community approval.” The chamber has informally presented the bill to local and state politicians and plans to introduce it in the 2015 legislative session, expecting a positive response. “It’s voluntary local participation. If the counties want to pursue it they can,” Jason says. “I think it will only be used by counties with a specific need so important county leaders would raise a tax to pay for it—something that’s not easy for any elected official to do.”

August

October

The state Division of Highways sends a letter to the city asserting that any truck ban would be illegal without the state’s approval.

September

The ban heads to the council’s regular agenda and is adopted.

Two trucking businesses file suit over the ban.

New

Patterns

Traffic is everyone’s love-to-hate subject and Morgantown saw its share of changes in 2014.

The fifth phase of the High Street Streetscape Improvement Project began in May, upgrading lights, poles, parking, sidewalks, crosswalks, and landscaping along High Street. WVU approved upgrades to vehicular and pedestrian traffic patterns on the Evansdale Campus, including the recently completed realignment of the Creative Arts Center entrance on Monongahela Boulevard near the Coliseum. Several more projects are in the works, totaling $25 million over the next few years. The lights at the intersection of Route 705 and Airport Boulevard have been extended to minimize the backups during rush hours. Meanwhile the Mileground widening project, which includes the traffic circle, is still under way. The Hartman Run Bridge replacement project, estimated at $4 million, began in July and will continue through August 2015.

Alternate

Transportation WVU began the second phase of a PRT system upgrade redesigning and replacing the control system, replacing substations and electrical gear, and making tunnel repairs. MountainLine lost 2,200 hours of service, eliminating two routes.

December

The ban was scheduled to go into effect in December, but has been delayed due to pending litigation.

morgantownmag.Com

StateUpdate Gay marriage was legalized in West Virginia in October 2014 when Attorney General Patrick Morrisey dropped the state’s defense of its ban on gay marriage. A Freedom Industries chemical spill into Charleston’s Elk River left 300,000 without usable water in January 2014, prompting a federal investigation into the leak and new state regulations on chemical storage, inspection, and emergency response.

Crime

Having a Ball After a republican sweep of West Virginia’s midterm elections, democrats have lost control of one of the nation’s formerly bluest states.

Don Blankenship, former chief executive of Massey Energy and the man in charge during the April 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster that killed 29 people, was indicted in November 2014 on charges of violating mine safety laws and hiding those violations from inspectors. He faces up to 31 years in prison.

At t i m e s o u r c a l m c i t y by t h e r i v e r i s r o c k e d b y s h o c k s t o t h e c o mm u n i t y. T h e y e a r 2 014 g av e M o r g a n t o w n c l o s u r e i n perhaps the decade’s most heartbreaking crime in Morgantown, the murder of 16 -y e a r - o l d U n i v e r s i t y H i g h S c h o o l student Sk yl ar Neese, and moved us closer to a drug-free downtown.

Taking Back Walnut In the last few years Walnut Street in downtown

Morgantown was starting to look less like part of a peaceful business district and more like a seedy daytime version of downtown’s nightclub scene. The reason was synthetic marijuana, an unregulated and chemically complex drug, illegal under federal regulations, but, until 2014, permissible under state law. Beloved local hangout on Walnut, the Blue Moose Cafe, was caught between two of the culprits, X-Hale Hookah Lounge on Walnut and Mid-Nite Adult on Spruce, and felt the effects. Customers were uncomfortable with Walnut’s darkening feel, according to Gary Tannenbaum, owner of the Blue Moose Cafe, and more drug entrepreneurs were coming into town. Local leaders aggressively pursued the issue, stepping up the district’s law enforcement coverage and introducing legislation to make synthetic marijuana illegal in West Virginia. The legislation passed and took effect on June 6. Meanwhile, an April 29 federal drug bust of several downtown stores selling synthetic marijuana helped remove the drug from the city’s streets.

The Blotter

Life in Prison On January 24, 2014, Sheila Eddy pleaded guilty to first degree murder for her part in the 2012 stabbing murder of 16-year-old Skylar Neese and was sentenced to life in prison, eligible for parole after 15 years. On February 26, after a confession, Rachel Shoaf was sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges of second degree murder. Shoaf confessed to the murder six months after Neese’s July 2012 disappearance.

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

Stabbing On August 14, 2014, Devante Waites, a WVU freshman from Fairmont, was stabbed at a bar and later died. Robert Hernandez, Jr. of Maryland was indicted for the murder and is awaiting trial in 2015. Murder-Suicide Four people were shot and killed at three locations on December 1, 2014. Suspect Jody Hunt sent police on a manhunt until he was found dead that evening from an apparent suicide. One of the victims was previously involved romantically with Hunt.

Football The Mountaineers are up from last year's dismal season with seven wins and five losses in 2014. Will we make it to a bowl game this year?

Baseball Ranked 6 in the conference this year, the Mountaineers had nine conference wins and 14 conference losses in 2014, down from the 13 wins and 11 losses last year.

Women’s Basketball The Lady Mountaineers rocked their 2013–14 season with 30 wins and 5 losses, setting the record for the most season wins in program history. The top-ranked Mountaineers fell to LSU in the second round of the NCAA tournament, but is showing well again this season.

Men’s Basketball The men’s basketball team had 17 wins and 16 losses overall in the 2013–14 season. In the 2014–15 season the Mountaineers were 7-1 as of early December.

Rifle Team Reigning 2014 national champions, the WVU Rifle team is well into its 2014–15 season undefeated as of early December.

Women’s Soccer The Mountaineer women’s soccer team won the 2014 Big 12 Soccer Championship against Oklahoma, marking the team’s second Big 12 championship in two years and fifth conference title in three seasons.

How Monongalia County Voted

vs How West

Virginia Voted

Most Read on the Web M o r g a n t o w n ma g . c o m ’ s m o s t popular stories.

Shelley Moore Capito (R) Monongalia 54.3% WV 64.7%

Natalie Tennant (D) Monongalia 41.6% WV 32.1%

Tall Timber: 70,000+

Our story about WVU Football Coach Dana Holgorsen’s 8,000-square-foot Cheat Lake residence has been one of our most popular stories since it published in August 2014. Built with a bold architectural design by LignaTerra—the company of Holgorsen’s brother, father, and a third business partner—this all-inclusive cross-laminated timber structure in the U.S. is truly a forward-thinking effort.

David McKinley (R) Monongalia 57.3% Congressional District 1 63.9%

Glen Gainer (D) Monongalia 42.7% Congressional District 1 36.1%

Ballot Amendment:

Underground Morgantown: 13,500+

As old as Morgantown is, it’s no wonder we have a few secrets under our streets. In the October/November 2014 issue of Morgantown we uncovered some of those secrets to the delight of many of our readers. Dozens wrote in with their own stories to tell.

More Top Stories

Nonprofit youth organization tax exemption Monongalia: For- 11,495; against- 6,929 WV: For- 252,787; against- 155,590

The Rest is History

A New Lease on The Bank

Atomic at 123

Raise a Glass

Cheating Fate

morgantownmag.Com

From hand-blown glass to underground mine equipment, Morgantownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s roots in heavy industry still grow deep. written by Pam Kasey & Katie Griffith

photographed by Elizabeth Roth

Everything by Hand Davis-Lynch Glass Company, Morgantown’s last major glass manufacturer, looks to a lean but bright future.

urning right off of University Avenue into Star City’s industrial district abutting the Monongahela River, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the Davis-Lynch Glass Company. Perhaps a mid-sized brick building with offices on the top and a large concrete garage at the bottom where a couple of guys would take turns shaping glass. I wasn’t expecting the large, bright blue warehouse complex, right off the rail-trail, where Davis-Lynch manufactures handblown lamp parts to ship across the United States. Those couple of guys working molten glass turned out to be a couple dozen union workers. Some of them just out of high school and others well into their golden years, many working side by side as father and son. Davis-Lynch, as far as second-generation owners Robert and John Lynch know, is the last full-scale handblown glass producer in the U.S. It’s certainly

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

In the hot metal the last one in Morgantown, a city that department of Daviswas once home to a half-dozen major Lynch Glass, workers manufacturers. shape glass into large molds to create lamp It all began in 1943 when Merwin parts. Davis, a glass worker, partnered with Emmett Lynch to start the Davis-Lynch The Davis-Lynch warehouse sits just off Glass Company, hand-blowing glass lamp the rail-trail in Star City. parts in a facility where the current Star City Volunteer Fire Department stands. Finished pieces can The future of glass sparkled bright. weigh as much as 10 pounds. “I started there in 1952,” laughs Fred Powell, a factory foreman. “I’ve been here a while.” Another worker says Fred has been sweet-talked out of retirement twice, though to us he scoffs at the idea of calling it quits. “The thing about retiring is, you go from being active to sitting around all the time and you go downhill.” And Fred is nothing if not spry, even after more than 60 years working in hot metal—that’s the molten glassblowing department—finishing, decorating, and packaging and shipping at Davis-Lynch. He’s an original Jack-of-all-trades. “At one time we had more than 300 employees, but now we’re down around 50,” he says. “At one time there were seven glass factories in this area, but we’re the only factory left.”

Karen Rogers hand-paints flower designs on glass shades.

of men pull molten glass from hot ovens and evenly blow the glass into molds. In finishing, workers grind, sand, and smooth jagged edges. A foreman inspects huge glass orbs destined for the lighting fixtures of the nation’s shopping centers. In the decorating department ladies sit with brushes and bottles hand-painting delicate flower designs with remarkable skill on rows of special orders, each piece identical to the first. “I don’t know how many times I’ve painted Woodburn Circle, the Coliseum, the stadium, all that stuff,” says Karen Rogers, a decorator. Karen has been with the company 48 years. Her mother was there for 43. Brothers Robert and You’ve likely come across some of the company’s work. The While many of America’s glass factories John Lynch are second nearby L G Lamp Company buys Davis-Lynch parts to create and closed doors with the opening of foreign generation owners of sell lamps. The Morgantown History Museum has a few pieces. trade, Davis-Lynch stayed open. The the Davis-Lynch Glass Company. Star City’s street lamps are made from Davis-Lynch glass, and Davis family got out of the company years ago. Today it’s solely a Lynch family so are some of Disney World’s, according to Robert. At its peak in the 1970s, Davis-Lynch would ship six tractor-trailers full of enterprise, and production lines, though glass to New York every week. Now the company is shipping about lean, are manned. “We kept it alive by controlling costs,” John one container weekly, but business is steady and could even be says. “We didn’t go into a whole lot of debt.” The company growing. The Lynch brothers say boutique lamp manufacturers picked up more efficient equipment to cut down on fuel costs. and businesses interested in American-made products are slowly Every material that can be recycled is recycled. For two weeks gaining ground, and several of the company’s best customers every summer the factory closes for vacation. Employees get two weeks off, and skilled workers coming and going all summer are looking to expand. A third generation of Lynches is ready to take the helm. Longtime employees stay loyal when skilled glass don’t disrupt production lines. These and other measures are workers are only becoming harder to find. “I’d say there’s a good keeping an old-fashioned company in the market. “If it wasn’t future,” John says. for the Lynch family I don’t think this place would survive,” Robert agrees. “We have to look to the future,” he says, noting Fred says. “They’re dedicated to keeping it going and they know the company will take that growth one step at a time. The last what they’re doing.” thing the owners want is to expand too quickly and have to lay It’s a beautiful thing to see in action. “Ninety percent of what anyone off. “We have good employees,” Robert says. “We’re here we do has a light bulb behind it,” Fred says. “The trends change for the employees and we’re trying to keep them busy. That’s all the time, but we’re still doing basically the same thing—glass been our goal.” lamp parts.” Davis-Lynch won’t take orders smaller than twodozen pieces. The company works by volume. Workers are paid by shifts, called turns. In the hot metal department teams written by katie griffith morgantownmag.Com

Encapsulated product is

World-Class Drugmaker What Mylan manufactures in Morgantown is affordable drugs—but research the company does here also makes drugs better and safer, and its internship programs help make future pharmaceutical industry leaders.

f you know just one thing about drugmaker Mylan, Inc.’s activities in Morgantown, it should be this: The company has the capacity to make 20 billion doses of pharmaceuticals here each year. Twenty billion. That’s nearly three for every single person on the planet. How can it make so many? The answer is simple, if not at all obvious. The company’s modest-sized brick-and-glass facility visible from Chestnut Ridge Road is the unassuming facade for approximately 1 million square feet—that’s 23 acres—of pharmaceutical manufacturing space under one roof. It’s the 56

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

largest manufacturing facility of the independently weighed to ensure that each third-largest generics drugmaker in the capsule contains the world. “One in every 12 prescriptions proper dosage amount. dispensed in the U.S., brand-name or generic, is filled with a Mylan product— Mylan is one of the world’s leading generics and a lot of those are made right here in and specialty pharmaMorgantown,” says Joe Duda, president ceutical companies. of Mylan Pharmaceuticals, the company’s Mylan’s largest oral solid generics business in the U.S. dosage facility is located in Morgantown. At the simplest level, the Morgantown plant produces just two things: tablets and This operator polishes capsules. But that’s a lot more technical finished dose capsules to remove any residual than it sounds. “Many of the formulamaterial from the outer tions we manufacture are very complex,” capsule shell. Joe says. Size, coatings, and other aspects are varied precisely based on factors like the characteristics of the active ingredient, the intended rate of release in the body, and the intended site of action. “For instance, if a drug is taken to treat something in the lower GI (digestive) tract, you’d have to perhaps put a film coating around that to protect it as it goes through the acidity of the stomach,” he explains. Pharmaceuticals are pressed into shapes called microtablets, pellets, and beads, and combined into larger tablets or capsules for benefits like more uniform distribution. Lasers are used to drill tiny holes in tablet coatings for fine control over the release of active ingredients. Specialized coatings suit not only release rate, but taste, texture, identification, and other purposes.

A Global Player

Bottle-packaged product—capped with a tamper evident seal, labeled, and topped with a brochure—awaits final placement.

Mylan doesn’t just make drugs here. Through work done at a separate facility on Collins Ferry Road, it also researches and makes drugs better, in service to its mission of satisfying unmet needs. “Forty percent of patients in developing countries depend on a Mylan product if they’re being treated for HIV/AIDS,” Joe says, in one example. “Several years ago some of these therapies would cost the patient around $15,000 a year. Through our innovation, that expense is now several hundred dollars.” Another improvement addressed environmental conditions for HIV/AIDS medication. “The original product wasn’t heat-stable—and a lot of the patients who need this medication are in parts of the world where the climate is very, very warm, like Sub-Saharan Africa or Central America, and electricity and refrigeration are limited in some of these areas. We created a heat-stable formulation that has enabled us to provide the medication to more patients.” Mylan’s work in Morgantown also makes drugs safer. “Our patient safety and risk management team is here locally and takes calls from patients and health care professionals to help answer questions about drug products,” Joe says. “That team supports safety and risk management globally.” And the company’s Morgantown activities also help to make the pharmaceutical industry’s future leaders. “In 2014 we’ve brought in around 70 interns in areas like chemistry, compliance, customer relations, and IT,” Joe says. “I’ve been a mentor for pharmacy students—I’m a pharmacist by training and by license. So we do help develop tomorrow’s next leaders and next scientists here in Morgantown.” Products Mylan manufactures in Morgantown serve markets around the world. The company’s Morgantown team is a key asset, Joe says. “We have a local impact, but it goes beyond local—we have a global impact—and much of the company’s success in Morgantown can be attributed to the impressive global scale we’ve built.” written by pam kasey

| photos courtesy of mylan,

Mylan got its start in 1961 in West Virginia and has had an explosive growth trajectory. In 1992 Mylan took in $100 million in revenues. In 2002 it hit $1 billion. And in 2014 it’s projected to reach at least $7.7 billion: a sustained average of over 21 percent per year over more than two decades. Of its more than 20,000 employees worldwide, about 3,400 work in Morgantown and 5,000 to 6,000 work in the U.S. Another 10,000 are in India and the rest are in Europe, Japan, and Australia. Headquartered now in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Mylan is one of the world’s leading generics and specialty pharmaceutical companies. The company offers a global portfolio of more than 1,300 separate generic products—drugs that are equivalent to branded pharmaceuticals but manufactured by other companies after developers’ patents have expired— and also markets a number of branded pharmaceuticals. Widely used products in the U.S.-based Mylan Pharmaceuticals lineup include levothyroxine sodium, the generic version of Synthroid, a synthetic thyroid hormone; metformin, an antidiabetic; and atorvastatin, the generic to Lipitor, for hyperlipidemia. Beyond tablets and capsules, the company makes the EpiPen (epinephrine) Auto-Injector as well as transdermals, injectables, creams, dry powder respiratory products, and other delivery methods. “As a participant in the generics industry, Mylan has saved the U.S. health care system over $1 trillion over the last decade,” says Joe Duda, president of Mylan Pharmaceuticals. “That ties nicely to Mylan’s mission: We’re committed to providing access to highquality, affordable medications to the people who need them.”

inc .

morgantownmag.Com

Petitto Mine Equipment has sold specialty longwall mine equipment around the world from its manufacturing facility in Morgantown since the 1980s.

o appreciate this Morgantown manufacturer, you have to understand a little bit about longwall mining. The machine called a longwall shearer cuts all the coal across a 1,000- or 1,500-foot-wide face going deep into a mine—a mile, two miles, even three miles. It passes back and forth across the face, cutting the coal with each pass and sending it out by conveyor. As the equipment advances, the roof falls behind it. The only thing protecting the equipment at the working face is a line of perhaps a couple hundred heavy shields, or roof supports, that advance with it. Longwall mining is highly efficient, but there comes a moment when the mining company has to solve this problem: how to move those shields—which can weigh 50 tons and more—to the next mining face. The solution can be a slow, cumbersome, unsafe rigging-up of cables and winches that can cost weeks in production downtime. The better solution, for more than three decades, has been the Petitto Mule, and it’s made right here in Morgantown. The mule is a utility tractor that can cut weeks off the move and make it far safer. “The innovative aspect of our machinery is the fact that we replaced wire rope cables and winches with hydraulics and a boom,” says co-owner Jim Petitto. Jim started the company in the 58

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written by pam kasey

courtesy of Petitto Mining Equipment

manufacturing a mule

1960s with his father, Angelo S., brother, Angelo A., and brotherin-law George Marshall as a mine equipment repair company. The company patented the Mule in the late ’70s to transport heavy longwall mining components, and that became its primary focus. These days Jim and George run the company with the help of family members Jason Robbins, Michael Petitto, and Brian Petitto. Mules today are scaled to move three sizes of longwall shield: 22-ton, 40-ton, and 50-ton. With variations that include a boom, a forklift-like platform, and a transporter, there are about eight models that sell for roughly $300,000 to $700,000, depending on the specifics. Since the first mule was sold for use at a mine in Pennsylvania in 1978, the device has become the industry standard, saturating the U.S. market. “About 99.9 percent of all change-outs in the U.S. are done with our machines,” George says. Even the earliest mules sold are still operating—so the company has looked overseas to expand its market. “We were in Australia already in the 1980s, and we have 20 machines there,” George says. “We have five in Russia, two in the U.K., two in South Africa, two in China, and hopefully soon one in Norway.” The most important aspect, George says, is the happiness of the workers who use the equipment. “If the workers don’t like the machine, very likely you’re not going to sell many. Like any other automated machine, they’re afraid they’re going to lose a lot of jobs because of this machine. They find out they really don’t—it just makes their work a whole lot easier and safer.” It takes about six months to make a mule. Petitto Mine Equipment makes several at any given time at its facility off Brockway Avenue, near Marilla Park, and residents might sometimes see them transported through Sabraton between the manufacturing facility and Interstate 79. The company employs about 40 for general labor, machining, and assembly; four of the employees have been with the company for more than 40 years, and another six for more than 30. “We’ve been blessed with a great team,” Jim says. “Our employees are very dedicated and we owe a lot of our success to their support.”

Not Your Ordinary Power Supplier FCX Systems in Morgantown manufactures large-scale power converters for military and commercial use worldwide.

he next time you fly out of Washington Dulles or Charleston’s Yeager Airport, try to take a peek under the passenger loading bridge when you board the plane. Without creating a tizzy among the nearby TSA officers, crane your neck to look for a wide box with a plug snaking into the body of the plane. If that box is stamped with the letters FCX, it was engineered and manufactured here in Morgantown, and it’s the reason there’s electricity on the grounded plane to power lights, AC, and hot beverage systems.

FCX customers include “When the lights flicker for a second several U.S. military when the plane pulls in or before it takes contractors. off, that’s our unit being plugged in while the engine turns off—or vice versa,” Matt Howell, a cofounder, explains Craig Walker, CEO and president and Craig Walker, CEO, manage the FCX facility of the Morgantown-based power engineer- where the company ing company FCX Systems. In the simmanufactures large-scale power converters. plest terms, FCX engineers create power converters of all kinds. Anyplace in the world where one form of power has to be converted to another form of power—whether it’s an aircraft or a ship or a radar system or some industrial application—FCX is likely there. The United States is one of the few countries that operates on 60-cycle power. Much of the rest of the world operates on 50-cycle power. Any device that normally runs on 60-cycle power needs a converter to operate at the lower frequency. “If you travel overseas and you need a power converter for your laptop or your hair dryer or any other appliance—that’s a power converter in its smallest form,” says company cofounder Matt Howell. “We’re doing it on a much larger scale—commercial airplanes, military and industrial shipping. We do it for aircraft instead of laptops.” The company was founded in Fairmont in 1987 when Matt, Allen Wright, and three of their coworkers at another firm decided morgantownmag.Com

to stretch their courage and their creativity to go out on their own. “Frequency converters have been around for a while, but back in the 1980s it was mostly diesel-powered motor generator sets that were fairly inefficient,” Matt says. “We started FCX with the idea of getting the solid state concept into the market. The pitch was a greener unit, an energy efficient unit, something that would save you operating costs. And today that remains a very big advantage of solid state technology.” FCX launched in a kitchen before moving to a garage. For several years the five slowly built up office space in Fairmont while making daily commutes from Fairmont to Pittsburgh, where a friend had offered them some manufacturing space to build their units. Today the company employees 70 workers, most from Marion, Preston, and Monongalia counties, at its complex near Mylan Park Elementary School. Their products are on every continent. “We’re at a weather science station in Antarctica and 75 countries,” Craig says. In the late 1990s when the U.S. Air Force began developing the new F-22 fighter aircraft, it turned to FCX to undertake a major engineering effort. The F-22 was the first aircraft in the world to operate off of DC power, according to Matt. Most aircraft since the 1940s were standardized to operate using 400-cycle AC power. But DC power offers a stealth advantage. “When a plane, a fighter jet, that’s flying on AC power goes through a sophisticated radar system, it looks like a flock of birds,” Craig explains. “That same plane powered by DC power goes over that same radar system and looks like a gnat.” In building the new aircraft, the military needed someone to supply power converters on the ground that could convert the normal AC utility power to DC. It was no small task. 60

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FCX manufactures For multiple reasons, including noise, power converters in pollution, and fuel waste, planes and ships Morgantown for clients all turn off their engines when docked and over the world. switch to ground power. This AC-to-DC conversion was similar to what we see under the passenger bridges of commercial planes, but for a new application. “We were contacted by Edwards Air Force Base in California to provide this unit, which we hadn’t designed yet. We hadn’t made anything other than AC,” Matt says. The military had tried 11 other companies, including powerhouses like GE and Westinghouse, but every attempt had failed. “The majority of them smoked and flamed out,” Craig says. “So FCX did it on an R&D basis. When FCX took the unit to the test site, the test manager said, ‘Oh, another one that’s going to flame out.’ But it ran wonderfully to the point that the test manager kept it for another day to run additional tests.” After almost 30 years in business, the U.S. military, major defense contractors, and other military and commercial groups worldwide turn to FCX year after year for top-notch engineering. The company is contracted to work on the development of the F-35 fighter jet, creating multi-thousand dollar pieces of equipment to run alongside the planes as they’re constructed at the Lockheed Martin assembly facility. “This is a pretty niche market,” Craig says. “We have five to six competitors in a lot of different sizes, but what has really set our company apart for years is that we’ll do the things nobody else wants to do.” written by katie griffith

Congratulations to

The Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

From your friends at

COME GROW WITH US! Free and open to the public daily from dawn to dusk 1061 Tyrone Road, Morgantown, WV 26508 | www.wvbg.org

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Amberlee Christey Photography

Faces of the Chamber

If our team learned one thing from these three members of the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce, it’s that a lot can happen in one day. In fact, we’re not sure these folks have ever been bored. And it’s not just a bunch of committees or boards they spend their time on. They are also interested in the arts, athletics, local business, and community service. They truly want Morgantown to be all it can be. From the chair of the chamber to those who lead its special committees, we are inspired. Meet just a few of the people who are bettering our great city.

written by Laura Wilcox Rote | photographed by Elizabeth Roth

Meet

Frank Vitale

rank Vitale can’t sit still, and that’s a good thing. On any given day he may speak to an auditorium full of preteens, educate professionals about finances, and help veterans find jobs as part of VetConnection, an organization he co-founded. He teaches “for fun,” attends every WVU football game and many other WVU athletics events, loves to bow hunt and flyfish, and spends a lot of time with family. Frank grew up in New Jersey assuming he’d one day work in a factory like many in his family before him. Instead he made a name for himself. Now chair of the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and senior vice president at Clear Mountain Bank, Frank is the first in his family to earn a college degree. “I come from a family of hard workers,” he says. Back in high school, Frank didn’t think much about college because he didn’t know how he’d pay for it. “My father died when I was 10 so it formed me in a lot of ways, but then I went to the Army. It made a big difference in my life,” he says. “It gave me confidence in areas I didn’t have, and it opened up doors.” Frank joined the Army Reserves in 1991, and later the West Virginia Army National Guard. He left the military in 2008 as a captain and senior training instructor for the Officer Candidate School of the West Virginia Army National Guard. Frank received an associate’s degree from Valley Forge Military Academy & College in 1994, but WVU—and his future wife—are what brought him to Morgantown, where he stayed. He earned a bachelor’s from WVU in sociology in 1996 and an Executive MBA from the College of Business & Economics in 2010. Today his life is equal parts business, community service, and family. “I’ve tried to run them all very hard,” he says. “When you don’t come from a whole lot, you try to make the best for yourself. You try to go hard at it, and that’s what I’ve done.” Frank is currently on the WVU School of Pharmacy Board of Advisors and the Board of Advisors for the MBA program at WVU’s College of Business & Economics. He’s been teaching business finance parttime at WVU’s schools of dentistry and medicine for more than 10 years.

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Carla Witt Ford

1. Frank’s office is like a museum. Inside are tokens of his work with veterans affairs and artifacts from his nearly two decades in the military. This hat, called a shako, is part of the formal dress uniform at Valley Forge Military Academy. 2. The gavel was presented to Frank when he became chairman of the MBA Advisory Board. 3. This WVU stein was given to Frank after his first semester teaching at WVU’s College of Business of Economics. 4. President George W. Bush spoke at WVU’s Woodburn Circle in 2005, and Frank had an opportunity to meet him then. “It was very cool, considering that I had met his father and mother, President George H.W. Bush and Barbara. I met him at Valley Forge Military College.” 5. Frank never misses a WVU football game—home or away. He got this signed helmet from Coach Bill Stewart in 2011. 6. The sword Frank carried in the military academy hangs on his office wall. He served as the regimental sergeant major of the Corps of Cadets. 7. Frank met his wife, Ashley, at WVU. Together they have a 6-year-old son and nearly 3-year-old twin girls. 8-9. Frank says coining is a big-time hobby in the military, and he has quite a collection in his office. “And I don’t mean like quarters and nickels, but meaningful military coins. I have a coin from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” among others, he says. Frank has also received numerous military acclamations, including the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal with the Oak Leaf Cluster. 10. VetConnection was cofounded in 2010. “I’m passionate about helping veterans and their families find jobs. Employment, education, and health care are the three pillars of our mission at VetConnection.” morgantownmag.Com

Meet

Kelly Kimble

elly Kimble was going to be an actress. She got her BFA in acting from WVU before moving to Chicago and later returning to Morgantown for law school. She tended bar in Chicago and became friends with funny guys Chris Farley and John Candy. With all the confidence and charisma of a Hollywood celebrity, she may just be a star yet. “I never saw myself behind a desk,” Kelly says of her career as an attorney, now with Spilman Thomas & Battle. “There’s still a part of me that thinks I’m going to find an agent and be an actress. Maybe that’s next. Life begins at 50,” she laughs. Right now Kelly is a star at home, and her work is too important to let go. The Clarksburg native is treasurer and vice chair of the Diversity in Business Committee for the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce and chair of the LGBT civil rights advocacy organization Fairness West Virginia. Fairness has worked to pass the Employment/Housing Non-Discrimination Act since its inception. The act would include the LGBT category among the protected classes in the U.S. Civil Rights Act. “You couldn’t fire someone because they’re gay—because right now you can,” she says. “It’s ridiculous.” Her legal work is also important—it’s rewarding to achieve justice—and Kelly says efforts with the Morgantown chamber are crucial for an economically strong and diverse community that keeps good people and talent in Morgantown. “Part of my focus is making sure the whole population is served and feels they’re getting what they need from a consumer and a support standpoint,” she says. “We’re far more diverse than the rest of the state. There’s a lot to think about in terms of making sure everybody is served and everybody feels like this is a healthy place.” The diversity committee aims to host a summit on diversity in business in 2015. Kelly also has two teenage sons, two dogs, two cats, and a turtle named Howard. Friends say she always leaves things better than she found them, as she creates art, has rehabbed every place she’s lived, and seeks justice in her work. “I hadn’t thought about that, but I love that I’m seen that way. Maybe making my world better and somehow brighter is my life’s mission.” 66

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1. Creative endeavors are like meditation for Kelly. She picked up the guitar as a preteen. “When I’m creating is when I feel most connected to who I really am. These things feed and give voice to my soul. If I ignore them, I am not happy. It’s that simple.” 2. Running is like therapy, too. Kelly’s been running all her life, but started doing organized races about a year ago. 3. She has run half-marathons, including the Deckers Creek Trail Half Marathon and the Freedom’s Run, and she aims to run a full marathon soon. 4. When Kelly has a hard time pushing herself during a run, she sets a goal—if she can run a set number of miles, including a hill, she can have a Mario’s fishbowl. “I always take my credit card with me just in case.” 5. She’s a lover of good wine and a good deal as a member of WTSO, or Wines Til Sold Out, a large online wine discount retailer. 6. She says she’s simply always had a “thing” for Jeeps. This is her old Jeep CJ7. 7. Kelly started sketching around age 10. “It’s always been an escape.” 8. She is also chair of Fairness West Virginia. “I had always wanted to find a way to be involved in equal rights—LGBT rights in particular. I had hesitated earlier because I had young kids and I was worried about the impact on them,” she says. “We talked about it, and about bullying, but we weren’t hiding. We weren’t in the shadows, but I also wasn’t putting us all out there.” While she says Morgantown is ahead of the state in terms of equality, statewide there’s a lot of work to do. 9. Kelly also has a serious affection for boots—whether she’s hiking at Coopers Rock State Forest or just out and about for the day. “When I’m wearing boots I feel like myself,” she says. “My paternal grandparents had a farm with horses and hayfields I worked in from time to time in the summers, so I grew up exposed to that environment.” 10. Music is important to Kelly, and she loves The Weathered Road. “These folks play pretty regularly around Morgantown at venues like Gene’s and Black Bear. I especially love new, emerging artists. These guys epitomize everything I love about music—the energy, the soulfulness.” morgantownmag.Com

Meet

David Fryson

alking with David Fryson is like talking to an old friend. There’s a lot of laughter and reminiscing. “My original plan in life was to be James Brown’s drummer,” he grins. “But that wasn’t what I was called to do.” Part-time musician, part-time pastor, and full-time WVU vice president, David still plays music for fun, but his paid gig is more serious—though he also loves doing it. David heads WVU’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “This is the fun stuff,” he says. He was named chief diversity officer in 2012 before WVU President Gordon Gee made him a vice president. David received his bachelor’s in education—he was also going to be a band director—from West Virginia State University in 1979. He arrived at WVU’s College of Law in 1985 after work in the Governor’s Economic Development Office for the Rockefeller and Moore administrations. “I needed a greater credential to do some of the things I wanted to do, civil rights and otherwise, so I went to law school.” He practiced law in the Charleston area for about 20 years and, in 2001, served a term as the national vice president for the legendary Leon Sullivan’s Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America in Washington, D.C. David returned to Morgantown in 2010 after serving as chief ministry officer of a 6,000-member church called House of the Lord in Akron, Ohio. He arrived at WVU as deputy general counsel before transitioning to establish the new Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The new offices on Van Voorhis Road handle all things compliance-related, from Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity to sexual harassment investigations. The division is also involved in all levels of diversity recruitment. “We believe that if WVU is going to survive, we have to look like America. As America morphs it is important for communities to also change, and that’s very important for Morgantown.” Those efforts carry over into work with the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce, as David sits on the Diversity in Business Committee. “That’s one of the reasons I joined the chamber board— to have that level of input into not just how we’re going to look today and tomorrow, but how are we going to look in five years, 10 years?” 68

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1. A professional musician as a younger man living in Chicago, this Kanawha County native left the road to pursue a walk with God. Now a part-time pastor delivering sermons across West Virginia churches, David previously served as chief ministry officer for a progressive Akron, Ohio, church with a membership of more than 6,000. 2. David reads everyone from Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X to Johnny Cochran and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “The thing I’m most interested in is my collection of books dealing with the black experience.” 3. David’s first date with his wife, Joy, was on a day he played drums at Charleston Civic Center. “That’s one of my bands—Ebony and the Greek—in 1972,” he says of an old photograph on the wall in his home office. “We did a warmup for the Dennis Coffey guitar band. If you look closely, that’s me right there in the back.” He was about 18 years old at the time. 4. Music helps David unwind. In addition to a room full of instruments, his basement is also home to hundreds of vinyl records and many old cassette tapes. David still works on new tracks from time to time, and he once worked on an album with Charleston’s Bob Thompson. “It was a geriatric exercise album,” he laughs. “It was really pretty cool.” 5. “This is one of my favorite pictures of all time,” David says, pointing to a photo of his mother, father, two of his eight siblings and himself, hanging in his hallway. “I remember that picture like it was yesterday. It was probably 1960. Not that I’m that old,” he smiles. 6. The basement is also a haven for train enthusiasts. “What I’m modeling is southern West Virginia,” David says, adding that his grandkids aren’t quite as into trains as he was growing up. “They’re 5, 8, and 9. Here I am downstairs living out my childhood fantasies with this train, but I can’t get the grandkids to play with them.” 7. David often writes a column for The Charleston Gazette and has appeared as a political commentator on radio and TV. “I’ve probably written over 100 columns about diversity in West Virginia.” 8. Drums, keyboards, and vibraphone are just some of the music-makers in the basement. These vibes date back to 1959. 9. His book, Bitter or Better: The Adversity Principles, is available at amazon.com. Another book is in the works. 10. When David was in the fourth grade, his older brother used to bring books home and David would read them. Among the books that have stayed with him over the years are George Orwell’s 1984 and The Shadow That Scares Me by Dick Gregory.

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Morgantown â&#x20AC;˘ Dec/Jan 2015

Written by Mikenna Pierotti Photographed by Elizabeth Roth The 2015 Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce Award winners include everything from a state-of-the-art health care company to a family-owned business. “The chamber works to support and promote the people and businesses of this community,” says Jack Bowman, celebrated professor of law emeritus at WVU, frequent emcee for the annual chamber awards, and a 2015 award winner himself. Since 1920 this nonprofit organization has been an advocate for the business community, with more than 400 members throughout the state and the region. The annual chamber award winners are nominated based on both social and economic factors. These are job providers, activists, volunteers, and professionals who go above and beyond—people who work to make Morgantown better. “It’s important both to recognize those who have done important things and to encourage others to do what they can.”

YCF’s Better-Known Projects Empty Bowls Bi-County Nutrition Program Child Instrument Recycle Program West Virginia Black Heritage Festival Taylor County Community Funds Marion County Historical Society Mon River Trails Conservancy

How You Can Help Visit ycfwv.org, view the funds list, and click the donate button to give to the organization or program of your choice. You can also donate directly to YCF to support its continued operation and expansion.

considered the position. You don’t just work with one entity. You work with a combination of so many different ones.” This impact is not going unrecognized. The Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce named the organization nonprofit of the year for 2015, an honor previously given to well-known businesses like the Bartlett House and PACE Enterprises. YCF was born in 2011 from a merger between the Greater Morgantown Community Trust and the Community Foundation of North Central West Virginia. Today it creates, markets, and growing the community manages endowment funds from individuals, families, businesses, and organizations throughout the area. YCF then invests those Wi n n e r o f th e 2 0 1 5 N on Pr o f i t funds, increases their value, and distributes that money back into o f th e Ye ar Awa r d the community via scholarships and grants. The foundation works with alumni associations, animal Nick Austin, president of Your Community Foundation, welfare organizations, community growth initiatives, and arts always wanted to make a difference. “I’ve spent a lot of time programs, and scholarships are one of its biggest growth areas. working with area nonprofits, helping them fund-raise, doing “Since we started, the foundation has given out more than $1 milevent planning and coordination, garnering new assets to keep lion in scholarships. Just one of those scholarship funds has contheir goals going for the future,” he says. “The economy today is tributed more than $300,000 to date. We’ve also recently been extremely tough, especially for them.” That’s what drew him to Your Community Foundation (YCF)—a tiny organization in Mor- able to help raise $75,000 to feed the hungry in the Morgantown gantown with a mission of developing, promoting, and coordinating area,” he says. “This broader focus and being involved in so much allows us to have a bigger impact.” charitable giving in the community and the region. For Nick, winning is more than a reflection on his organizaWith two full-time employees and a 13-member, all-voluntion. “Being named nonprofit of the year when there are so many teer board of directors, the organization juggles more than 160 funds and $11 million in assets—all of which are used to better the wonderful programs in this area is not only a recognition of YCF community—from scholarships to wellness programs. “The thing but a recognition of all the donors, funds, and organizations we about the foundation is that it’s both regional and broad in focus. It work with and all their hard work.” In 2015 Nick sees YCF continuing on its upward path. “I want to deals with every aspect of life impacting people—health, education, societal needs, and sports and athletics,” Nick says. “A lot of other see us doing even more of this good work—growing our foundations foundations do tremendous work, but they are very specific in their and their funds, continuing to educate other nonprofits out there missions. The community foundation encompasses all groups from about ways we can help them, and getting the word out. We want Morgantown and regionally—all the way out to Preston and Taylor to grow. Growth is always at the top of the list. Because the more counties. In total we have about a seven- or eight-county footprint we grow the more we can put back into the community.” ycfwv.org that we work with. That was the most appealing to me when I 72

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Business of the Year. Established in 2001, EdVenture has seen tremendous growth. On any given day you might find Lydotta and Edventure of a Lifetime her team presenting at the WVU Women’s Leadership Initiative, working with a K-12 school, or crafting professional development Wi n n e r o f th e 2 0 1 5 S ma ll B u s i n e ss plans for a small business. of t h e y e ar Awa r d Despite its small size, Lydotta says her business has never been limited. “The challenges of our organization are much like “Success comes from looking forward,” says Lydotta Taylor, other businesses—be creative, stretch our thinking to encompass former math teacher turned president and CEO of The new and meaningful offerings, listen and grow to best serve our EdVenture Group, an education consulting firm with an office customers. But the benefits of being small are many and afford in Morgantown’s growing Waterfront district. This indepenus the ability to move swiftly and seize opportunities,” she says. dent nonprofit organization has a small footprint—with just “We can mobilize our team and our services to quickly customize five employees—but boasts a big impact. It provides customized offerings for our customers. And as a small business, we connect consulting, professional development and training, and curwith our employees and their families.” riculum development to school systems and businesses in West The EdVenture Group takes its place in the Morgantown family Virginia and across the country. NASA, WVU, the University of very seriously. Its employees are big supporters of the United Way, Pittsburgh, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Boys & they volunteer through Christian Help’s Christmas food and toy Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania are among its clients. giveaway, and they work with the Monongalia County Schools Founded on a desire to make a real impact on the educational Partners in Education Program. They also provide training environment, EdVenture has worked with thousands of school programs for regional nonprofits. districts, individual schools, and educators to improve everything Perhaps the biggest contribution stems from the nature of the from leadership development to public speaking. With an early focus on helping teachers integrate technology into the classroom labor—supporting and broadening access to education. Work with youth leadership programs is one example of the way a focus and on establishing community-based technology opportunity centers in schools throughout West Virginia, the group earned two on education can have tangible results. “More than 250 middle competitive Technology Innovation Challenge Grants from the school students from Monongalia County have participated in our leadership seminars to help them grow as leaders in the comU.S. Department of Education totaling more than $12 million. munity,” Lydotta says. Outside of Morgantown, the group gets “In 2001 we focused primarily on technology training,” Lydotta involved in projects like the Shinnston Community Garden in says. “Over time we expanded into areas like leadership, change Harrison County, an effort that provided more than 600 pounds management, 21st century skills, after-school programming, feasibility studies, business consulting, entrepreneurship programs, of fresh produce to local food pantries in its first year. “This award symbolizes more than 13 years of determination STEM related partnerships with WVU’s Benjamin M. Statler to succeed. We are grateful to be able to accept it based on the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, and health eduwork that we do and our impact on others,” she says. “We believe cation awareness.” Lydotta says investment in both client and community has been in each other, in the meaningful work we do, and in the power of helping others grow and succeed.” the key to success. And it’s one reason EdVenture was chosen theedventuregroup.org as the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 Small morgantownmag.Com

Morgantown â&#x20AC;˘ Dec/Jan 2015

city neon keeps the Lights on Wi n n e r o f t h e 2 0 1 5 m e d i u m B u s i n e ss of t h e Yea r Awa r d

Head out Chaplin Hill Road, put the bright lights of Morgantown behind you, and you’ll happen upon a seemingly mundane industrial building set up on a rise across from Mylan Park Elementary School. Inside, a man named Ron Jemley will probably be toiling away in the dark, heating long tubes of glass with a torch and carefully bending them into flowing words and detailed images. Later he’ll fill the tubes with rare elemental gasses—like argon and neon—and run a current of electricity through them, a process that forces atoms in those elements to discharge light. From an outsider’s perspective, the glowing tubes look like magic. “It’s a dying art,” says Carol Atkins, owner of City Neon in Morgantown. “Our neon artist is one of about five in the entire region—out of three states.” Take a look around Morgantown and chances are you’ve seen some of City Neon’s work—the vintage-inspired script in the window at Tailpipes; the red, green, and yellow lights over Don Patron Mexican Grille. But these days the business doesn’t just rely on requests for neon signs. From offices in Westover and on Chaplin Hill Road it does it all—channel lettering big and small, interior signage, graphic design, banners, digital displays, decals, T-shirts, awnings, parking lot lighting, electronic displays, and more. On top of custom sign fabrication, City Neon also repairs and refurbishes signs and builds commercial and residential buildings as City Neon Construction. “Basically we’ll do whatever the customer wants,” Carol says. The Atkins family has deep roots in Morgantown—one reason they were a shoo-in for the 2015 Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce Award for medium business of the year. “My father started the business with sign work. Then he expanded into pump and tank work and then into cranes and property

development,” Carol says. “He even bought and developed the Wes Mon Plaza.” Carol’s father was Earl C. “Bud” Atkins, a fixture in the Morgantown area for decades. A University High School graduate in 1948, Bud went to electrical school in Chicago and got into neon bending at Clarksburg Neon. In 1952 he brought those skills back to the growing Morgantown area, incorporating City Neon in 1963 and later adding a crane company. In 2013 this family-owned business celebrated 50 years. “He’d find a niche that needed to be filled and he’d fill it. Everyone knew my dad. If he said he was going to do something, he would do it.” Although he passed away in 2002, Bud’s legacy remains. City Neon now employs 40-plus people—some of whom are thirdgeneration workers or have been with the company for more than 25 years. Carol’s son also manages the sign shop, and her brother, Dave, owns and runs a separate family business, City Crane. Under Carol’s direction, City Neon regularly gives back to the community through local food pantries and, recently, the Shack Neighborhood House. Carol is active in the Westover Rotary Club, the Morgantown Technical Education Center, and the Morgantown Area Economic Partnership. In 2010 they were also honored for their work in helping St. Jude’s Research Foundation raise more than $300,000. Carol says it was a steep learning curve taking over after her father passed, but she’s proud of where they’ve come as a company, the role they continue to play in the community, and how they’re expanding—they’ve even shipped custom neon work to Alaska. “My father and mother started with nothing, and my father was able to build a strong business. It means the world that we are able to keep this place running and that we’ve never had to lay off our employees throughout the year. We pride ourselves on keeping everyone working and putting out a great product that people can rely on,” she says. “I’d love for my father to come back and see all this. I’m sure he’d give me his list of what I’ve done wrong and what I’ve done right. I’m sure he’d have a lot to say.” cityneon.com morgantownmag.Com

Wi n n e r o f t h e 2 0 1 5 La r g e B u s i n e ss o f th e Ye ar Awar d

It’s a cool day in April and hundreds of children and their families are lined up around booths at the 16th annual WVU Children’s Hospital Kids Fair at Morgantown Mall. Sure there’s a line for the bounce house, a gaggle of kids and parents doing arts and crafts, and more than a couple smiling faces sporting freshly painted designs. But some of the biggest crowds are gathered around exhibits focused on healthy eating, staying active, and handwashing habits. It’s a celebration of health and wellness like no other in Morgantown, and it’s a success every year thanks to the efforts of WVU Children’s Hospital at Ruby Memorial. Albert Wright, Jr., president and CEO of WVU Hospitals, says giving back to the community in ways like this is both a responsibility and an honor. “We are, indeed, a large business and with that comes a large responsibility to the people of Morgantown and across the state and region,” he says. WVU Healthcare has taken this responsibility to heart for more than 50 years, and in 2015 the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce will officially recognize its efforts with the Large Business of the Year Award. WVU Healthcare has a long history in the community. It dates back to the opening of University Hospital in 1960, when leaders across West Virginia made their dream of creating an advanced medical facility a brick-and-mortar reality. In 1976 the hospital employed just 1,600 people. Today it boasts more than 7,000. And Albert says it’s growing every year, with plans to add more jobs as the new 10-story tower and ambulatory care center come online. WVU Healthcare, comprised of University Health Associates and WVU Hospitals, provides care for the people of Morgantown and communities across the region. “We strive every day to 76

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

Courtesy of WVU Healthcare

Community Caring

provide high-quality, cutting-edge care to every person who walks through our doors. We also try to impact people’s lives outside the health care setting through community projects and partnerships,” Albert says. These days WVU Healthcare is a big supporter of the United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties with both a corporate gift of $30,000 and employee contributions upwards of $155,000. Employees are also offered the chance to spend paid work time participating in the United Way Day of Caring every spring, where volunteers spend the afternoon doing some spring cleaning at local social service agencies. And as a “Partner in Healthy Living” with the city’s Board of Parks and Recreation Commissions (BOPARC) since 2002, it’s contributed more than $370,000, the majority of which has supported rail-trail development like playgrounds and fitness stations. This organization also produces two of the largest community health events in the region—the annual Kids’ Fair and the WVU Healthcare Expo—and both attract 8,000 to 10,000 people every year. While the kids’ fair focuses on helping the youngest members of the community make healthy lifestyle choices and includes more than 45 exhibits on everything from the dangers of tobacco use to environmental stewardship, the WVU Healthcare Expo spreads awareness about the importance of prevention and early detection among adults. “It also gives WVU Healthcare professionals the opportunity to interact with the community and answer questions,” Albert says. Every fall more than 50 exhibits provide free health screenings and assessments, including blood pressure, breast exams, vision, and more. Community members can even get low-cost blood screenings. All in all, health care providers give more than 4,000 screenings at this event every year. “WVU Healthcare is committed to improving the health and quality of life of West Virginians,” Albert says. “We’re constantly on the lookout for ways we can improve. And we are both honored and humbled to be recognized for our efforts.” wvuhealthcare.com

Sound Logic Wi n n e r o f t h e 2 0 1 5 M i l a n P u ska r E nt r e p r e n e u r of t h e Ye a r Awar d

At first Jon Hammock, president and CEO of KeyLogic, had trouble finding his dream job. “I’m a native West Virginian. I attended WVU. But when I was getting ready to graduate I couldn’t find a job here,” he says. “I had 10 or 12 interviews but almost none were for West Virginia jobs. So I moved.” After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from WVU in 1988, Jon jumped into a career as a software programmer and analyst, earned an MBA from the University of South Carolina in 1993, became project manager and senior scientist at Westinghouse, and took over as vice president and CFO at Marada Corp. in 1995. But in the back of his mind, his dream job still beckoned. “I’d worked for large and small businesses, and they each had their own good points and challenges.” Jon had built a great career, but what he really wanted was to do something unique. “I wanted to create the sort of environment I’d always wanted to work in. I wanted this to be a business other people would love to work for, with meaningful and challenging projects that really make a difference,” he says. “I wanted my company to attract smart people who love to work in a collaborative way. It’s hard to find an environment where people really work together.” From that germ of an idea in 1999, Jon started KeyLogic, an IT solutions and management consulting company that works with both government and commercial clients. Jon says employees at his company look forward to a collaborative environment where the projects are meaningful and challenging and victories are shared and celebrated across the company. “I took those fundamental ideas that many businesses overlook and built on them. That’s how it got started,” he says. “We’ve seen continuous growth since we started.

That undoubtedly creates an atmosphere of excitement and energy. It changes how people walk through the hallways. You can feel it.” KeyLogic employs 180 people and has offices in West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania. This growing business works with federal agencies like the Department of Energy (DOE), NASA, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Army. Its projects run the gamut from defense to environment. KeyLogic has helped DOE manage billions of dollars of highly effective research and development projects and supports soldiers through the planning and implementation of advanced technologies, among many other things. “You have folks coming to work every day knowing what they do is making a difference. That really adds to job satisfaction,” Jon says. KeyLogic customers are treated to what Jon calls anticipatory service. A philosophy that calls for thinking deeply about a customer’s needs, wants, fears, hopes, and desires in order to address them in advance. “When you understand their business that well, you can anticipate their needs often before they do,” he says. “It’s our mantra and it drives our culture.” Jon’s work with KeyLogic earned him recognition as the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for this region and the 2015 Milan Puskar Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce. He’s been inducted into the WVU Lane Department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering’s Distinguished Alumni Academy. He sits on the WVU Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources Visiting Committee. And he gives back to the community wherever possible, serving on the United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties’ Board of Directors and the Foundation of Mon General Hospital. KeyLogic employees are also active in local fundraising events like Relay for Life and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. Although talent, passion, and dedication have undoubtedly taken him far, Jon attributes his success to dreaming big, picking a good team, and making deep connections. “You have to dare to believe in yourself. You have to dare to think big and take those calculated risks. And you have to have great partners. Great things happen through teamwork, so pick the right people to surround yourself with,” he says. “And never forget who the customer is. This might seem like a cliché, but it’s true. You have to be willing to form deep, meaningful relationships with your clients in order to understand and provide for their needs. In this company we talk about being trusted partners. That means being the person your clients call on their best days and being the person your clients call on their worst days.” keylogic.com morgantownmag.Com

Wi n n e r o f t h e 2 0 1 5 Ea r l L . C or e Awa r d

By his own admission Forest “Jack” Bowman, Jackson & Kelly Professor of Law Emeritus at the WVU College of Law, had a very ordinary West Virginia upbringing in Petersburg. “It was a typical small town. It was gorgeous. You knew everyone in town and everyone looked after you. It was just a great way to grow up,” he says. But unlike most early 20th century Appalachian families, the Bowmans insisted their son attend college. “My parents and I, we didn’t have much. But when they looked around, they saw that the people who’d gone on to college and earned that education generally had better lives. So they decided I was going to go, too. I was an only child, and they decided their boy was going to college.” That confidence in the value of the educational system drove Jack into a lifelong—and celebrated—career. He enrolled at WVU in 1956, became freshman class president and later student body president, and became a member of the Army ROTC. But it was the study of law that drew him deeper into his education. “It’s the one thing that keeps civilization together,” he says. “Otherwise it’s just guns in the streets. The law is a mediating influence against those forces that would tear us apart.” Following his undergraduate degree, Jack turned right around and attended the WVU College of Law, where he became associate editor of the West Virginia Law Review. After graduating in 1963, he served for four years with the Judge Advocate Generals Corps in the U.S. Army, practiced law in Charleston, and became deputy commissioner of Workers Compensation in West Virginia. And in 1974 he was named the first administrative director of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Still, it wasn’t long before his alma mater drew him back. And 78

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

Courtesy of Jack Bowman

Distinguished Service

in 1979 he joined the WVU College of Law faculty, where he taught for 23 years. “I had a chance to become a teacher at the college and I just jumped at it,” he says. “I’ve always liked teaching and taking a complicated topic and making it understandable— even interesting.” Jack was the Hale J. Posten Professor of Law from 1990 to 2000 and the Jackson Kelly Professor of Law from 2000 until he retired in 2002. During his time at the college he traveled to 31 states and two Canadian provinces, lecturing lawyers on legal ethics, malpractice, time management, stress management, and professionalism as part of the continuing legal education seminar business he’d developed. Jack’s legal career has earned him the highest honor the West Virginia State Bar can bestow upon a member, the Certificate of Merit, no less than three times. In 1995 the American Law Institute & American Bar Association gave him the Harrison Tweed Award in recognition for his contributions to continuing legal education in America. And to top it off, WVU inducted him into the Order of Vandalia—the highest honor bestowed by the university. He was also beloved by his students. Seven graduating classes named him professor of the year. In 1988 he was named Professor of the Year for all of higher education in the state. And he was named University Professor of the Year in 1998. “I just had really good students over the years. I’ve taught probably more than 3,000. They made it great.” His dedication to others doesn’t stop at the classroom. Jack has been chair of the Board of Visitors of the Salvation Army’s Evangeline Booth College in Atlanta, Georgia, and has been on the local advisory board with the Salvation Army for close to 30 years. “I enjoy the people. And the work we do—helping those who are unfortunate—it is so important in the community. For me, it’s very satisfying to be able to help people and see how these efforts pay off in their lives,” he says. “Being a parent and a teacher and serving on the Salvation Army board—those are the most important things I’ve done in my life.” As a frequent emcee at community events and awards banquets, Jack was humbled and honored when he learned the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce had nominated him for the 2015 Earl L. Core Award. “I was surprised, pleased. I knew Dr. Core well. We came to Morgantown about 35 years ago and Dr. Core and I became friends. We had a shared interest in history and community. So it’s very meaningful to receive an award named after him.” Jack continues to serve as special ethics counsel to the Pittsburghbased law firm of Burns White and remains active with the Salvation Army. He and his wife, Myla, live in Morgantown. But after more than 30 years of service to the community, it’s Jack who counts himself lucky. “All of us have been blessed in this country with opportunities we couldn’t have found anywhere else,” he says. “We have to keep paying it forward.”

Morgantown â&#x20AC;˘ Dec/Jan 2015

Healthy Living

Back on Your Feet

to run a little faster, shaving a little bit of time from your race-day mile. You’re ignoring another sort of throb deep in the knee, one which, a few months down the line, will land you in surgery. The physical therapists ➼ at HealthSouth MountainView Regional Rehabilitation Hospital hear of it almost daily—a pain that’s easy to ignore until one day it isn’t. “A lot of people put off doing something about an ache or a pain. They’ll let it linger,” says Steve Brennan, a physical therapist at the Morgantown rehab hospital.

HealthSouth MountainView Regional Rehabilitation Hospital takes a whole body approach to patient therapy.

ou’re pounding the pavement. Your feet hit the ground, again and again, with the heavy beat of a playlist loud in your ear. The musical throb is perfectly synchronized to your pace as you push yourself

“Sometimes the pain will go away and then it will come back later, and on and on. Eventually after a few years they’ll go do something about it because it becomes a bigger and bigger issue.” You’ve probably driven past Morgantown’s HealthSouth, perhaps every day, curious about the copper-colored corner building where West Virginia 705 turns into Van Voorhis Road. Most people, if they know what it is, only think of the hospital as somewhere Grandpa went for rehabilitation following a stroke. The hospital does treat those patients but it also treats many more. “We see everything from a sprained ankle caused by working in the yard all the way up to traumatic brain injuries and spinal cords,” Steve says. The hospital opened 23 years ago to provide inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services for a variety of issues. Today it takes up an 80,000-square-foot morgantownmag.Com

Healthy Living

building and employs more than 350 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, and staff. Though HealthSouth is a national corporation with more than 100 hospitals across the country, the Morgantown location opened as a partnership between Mon General Hospital, WVU Hospitals, and HealthSouth. With 80 beds in Morgantown and another 16 in Bridgeport, the hospital’s daily census sits around 70 to 80 inpatients—people needing overnight stays. Another 40 to 50 patients visit daily for outpatient services, according to Jason Gizzi, CFO and outpatient services supervisor. As a rehab hospital HealthSouth usually admits patients, young or old, via referral from a hospital or doctor. “We can treat anything,” Jason says. Typical outpatient therapy includes sports injuries, hip and knee replacements, and orthopedics, but the hospital also covers traumatic injury rehabilitation following brain and spinal cord injuries, rehab for neurological disorders like 82

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, as well as rehab following strokes and falls. As one of the area’s only pediatric rehab hospitals, HealthSouth MountainView has treated children following ATV accidents or falls from furniture as well as farmers injured by tractors. During the autumn season the hospital was readying for the yearly influx of hunting accidents. In winter, it’s skiers. “By taking pediatrics, by taking traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, we set ourselves apart,” Jason says. “When you come here you’re going to get that medical hospital component with your rehabilitation.” Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are always on hand or on-call to see their patients daily, in addition to the hospital’s required therapy component. “On the inpatient side, you go to therapy at least three hours a day—you’re getting physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapy,” Jason says. “Our ultimate goal is to get you back to your prior setting. We work on a team approach, including

the patient and their HealthSouth also offers group classes each week, family, to look at barriers and ways to open to the public, featuring a variety of options meet the goals.” from gentle yoga to In April Steve community aquatics and aerobics, as well as suptook on one of port groups for individuals the hospital’s suffering from brain injury, outpatient sports stroke, and aphasia. A Parkinson’s support group injuries. Gabrielle will begin in 2015. Sakellarides, a 29-year-old osteopathic medicine resident, had just undergone knee surgery to remove irritated tissues causing significant pain. The area had become inflamed after Gabrielle ran a marathon in 2011. “Running is pretty hard on your body,” Steve says. The repetitive shock of a foot strike is rough on the joints, typically compounded by running on hard concrete surfaces. Few marathons are on a cushioned track. When Gabrielle’s knee pains first started nearly three years ago she went to a doctor who wasn’t sure what the problem was. “All I

Letters to the editor

Our ultimate goal is to get you back to your prior setting. We work on a team approach, including the patient and their family, to look at barriers and ways to meet the goals.” Jason Gizzi, CFO and outpatient services supervisor

was told was to stop running,” she says. “Well, I didn’t want to stop running and so then I started to slow down and it wasn’t getting better.” Gabrielle’s pain worsened and simple rest didn’t help. It was the mentality Steve mentioned earlier: When runners and other habitual exercisers are told they can’t perform their sport anymore, they tend not to listen and the issues causing the pain get worse. Gabrielle went to another doctor for a second opinion and realized she needed knee surgery. In the spring of 2014, as she recovered from surgery and began rehab at HealthSouth, that mentality slowly changed. With it, her knee began to heal. Steve began Gabrielle’s therapy simply by watching her gait to find an imbalance in the stride or a weakness in the muscle. As it turned out, she had never fully recovered from another surgery on her Achilles tendon in 2010, resulting in a weakness of the right calf. That old injury was causing her to favor the right leg, put more pressure on the left, and overstress her left knee. “Primarily we did a flexibility routine and an electrical stimulation to recruit those weak muscles,” Steve says. “If we get those muscles firing, your brain will sense that they’re supposed to be firing and will start to access them more easily. Then we go through exercises.” Gabrielle started out with non-weight bearing exercises and slowly advanced to weight bearing exercises over the course of a three-month program. “I’m almost recovered,” she says. “It takes a long time to build up the calf. It’s not quite there yet, but it’s definitely stronger and I’m not having the knee pain.” It is fairly common for the hospital to see patients for a knee or ankle pain from running, but HealthSouth’s patients vary widely. “I see a high percentage of neuro and orthopedics, too. I’ve seen folks who come in with cerebral palsy,” Steve says. “The way they walk is very unique. It’s very distinctive and if they’re having issues, you have to sit and look at how they’re actually functioning.” Therapies and rehabilitation— be it physical, occupational, speech, or respiratory—at times include a stint in the heated therapy pool or time in the hospital’s simulation kitchen relearning how to cook and open a refrigerator after an injury or stroke. With speech therapy they’ll work on thinking and processing skills. “All these individuals present a little differently,” Steve says. “We break them down to figure out what the issue might be.” written by katie griffith photographed by elizabeth roth morgantownmag.Com

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Morgantown â&#x20AC;˘ Dec/Jan 2015

out & about in the mountain city

November 22-23 • The Metropolitan Theatre

The Snow Queen

Morgantown Dance and Morgantown Ballet Company presented another successful performance of The Snow Queen in late November at The Metropolitan Theatre. Their rendition of the famous fairytale written by Hans Christian Andersen attracted a packed house to the theater as dancers of all ages took to the big stage for the stellar performance, complete with elaborate costume. Morgantown Dance offers classes in ballet, ballroom, hip-hop, contemporary, and more for ages 2 through adults. Mark your calendars for the dance company’s next big show, Snow White, on April 11 and 12, 2015, at The Metropolitan Theatre. morgantowndance.org

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1 Patrick Hickle and Courtney Kline perform in the second scene of The Snow Queen in downtown Morgantown. 2 The cast is all smiles during this successful performance. 3 Zoe Simon performs as an angel during the show. 4 Katie Mossburg performs en pointe. 5 A young attendee eyes up crowns and dance attire at the gift shop. 6 Paige Coen dances as a gypsy. 7 Riley Thompson puts on makeup before the big production. 8 Brooklyn Shrewsberry is a beautiful flower. 9 Angels prepare to take a bow on stage. 10 Janie Frist smiles for the camera with her daughter Jillian. 11 Nikki Hickle plays a graceful reindeer. 12 Choreographers Marilyn Pipes, Ashley Manzo, and Desiree Witt receive flowers and applause at the end of the show. 13 Bailey Turner and the evil snowflakes dance. 14 Patrick Hickle performs as Kai under the Snow Queen’s spell. 15 Katie Mossburg helps Ashley Manzo with her headpiece before the show. photographed by gretchen moore

morgantownmag.Com

out & about in the mountain city

November 29 • morgantown

Small Business Saturday 2

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

1 Kay Fanok of the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), Terri Cutright of Main Street Morgantown, and Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dan Kimble pose outside the CVB. 2 Classics 3 Restaurant & Lounge gears up for crowds. 3 Shoppers of all ages love Small Business Saturday. 4 Nada Kisner and the team at First United Bank & Trust are ready for the day. 5 Shoney’s staff know the value of a good meal to shoppers. 6 High Street is a great place to shop. 7 The Seneca Center’s Tea Shoppe owner Lisa Biafore has tons of tea as well as sandwiches and other treats. 8 Holiday décor makes everyone smile at Elegant Alley Cat. 9 First United Bank & Trust was a proud sponsor of this year’s Small Business Saturday. 10 Amy Johns makes jewelry as part of Amalea Jewelry at The Little Studio.

courtesy of morgantown area chamber of commerce

Small Business Saturday saw townies and tourists alike take to the streets to support small and locally owned businesses. Customers enjoyed free parking and a drawing to win an Apple iPad. Registration for the drawing at Arts Monongahela on High Street included an artisan village for customers to peruse as well as a visit from the herald of Christmas himself, Santa Claus. Local children enjoyed milk and cookies, free books, and free photo sessions with Saint Nick by Smoke N Mirrors Photography, sponsored by MedExpress.

out & about in the mountain city

1 October 2 • Fairmont

Mollohan Family Charitable Foundation Fashion Show

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Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

1 Students from Pierpont Community and Technical College help to organize a show of donated fashions from around the community. 2 Event emcee Bobby Nicholas entertains guests. 3 Formalwear may have opened the event, but casual wear and a cowboy steal the show. 4 Vendors donate items for a silent auction and set up tables to sell merchandise. 5 Local jewelry and fashions are highlighted. 6 Lavish Boutique offers formalwear and accessories. 7 Models of all ages strut their stuff. 8 Alan Mollohan, Barbara Mollohan, John “Sheriff” Tiano, and his wife pose for a photo.

Carla Witt Ford

In a night of fashion, fun, and fundraising, the Robert H. Mollohan Family Charitable Foundation hosted a fashion show event in October to raise money for the various organizations and scholarship opportunities it supports. Established in 2000 in honor of former Congressman Alan Mollohan’s father, who throughout his life was supportive of educational causes, the foundation offers scholarships and summer internships in subjects ranging from journalism to business to high-tech education. Beginning at 6 p.m. on October 2, event-goers enjoyed dinner, a show, and a silent auction. Auction items, food, and volunteer time were donated by community businesses and organizations including Pierpont Community and Technical College, the Ramada Inn in Morgantown, Coni & Franc, Heston Farm Winery, and Lavish Boutique. The event raised more than $20,000 and took place at the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center in Fairmont.

morgantownmag.Com

out & about in the mountain city

Festival of Trees

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Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

Friends of WVU Hospitals kicked off the holiday season with a weekend of fun and fundraisers. Family Fun Night and the Festival of Trees took place Friday and Saturday, November 21 and 22, at Lakeview Golf Resort & Spa in Morgantown. Friday evening was full of family-friendly stations with s’mores, Christmas cookies, holiday drinks, musical entertainment, and a Santa shop where kids purchased gifts for their families. The Festival of Trees followed on Saturday with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m., and a tree auction at 8 p.m. Holiday decorations were on sale throughout the evening. 1 Santa and Mrs. Claus pose with the Friends of WVU Hospitals’ Monti Bear. 2 Jaime Billotti works on the trees before the big reveal. 3 The boys’ basketball team from Morgantown High School enjoys the festivities. 4 A group of young attendees is all smiles—and antlers—for the camera. 5 Every youngster loves a friendly black bear. 6 Jaime Billotti decorates a tree. 7 Members of Morgantown High School’s Hi-Y group get in on the fun of decorating.

Courtesy of Friends of WVU Hospitals

CONGRATULATIONS TO

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Winner of the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce's

Non-Profit of the Year FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT 43 S Beeson, Blvd. Uniontown, PA 15401

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Your local guide to life, art, culture, & more Dec/Jan 2015

December December 5–21 Mary Poppins Metropolitan Theatre, 369 High Street wvpublictheatre.org Don’t miss Mary Poppins as brought to you by West Virginia Public Theatre. Shows at 2 and 7 p.m. $26 for adults December 6–22 Holiday Show & Sale Monongalia Arts Center, 107 High Street 304.292.3325, info@monartscenter.com This annual show and sale features unique holiday gift options, including artwork made by area artists. On December 8 from 3 to 7 p.m., the Monongalia Arts Center will host the Holiday Open House, complete with seasonal refreshments. Free December 10 Sam Lamont Black Bear Burritos, 132 Pleasant Street, Wed. 6:30 p.m., blackbearburritos.com Join local singer/songwriter Sam Lamont, a rock-and-soul musician, for a dinnertime show at Black Bear Burritos’ downtown location. Holiday Christmas Jam Black Bear Burritos, University Avenue, Wed. 6:30 p.m., blackbearburritos.com Get into the holiday spirit with a festive jam at Black Bear Burritos’ Evansdale location. December 11 Holiday Read to Rover Morgantown Public Library, 373 Spruce Street, Thurs., 6:30–7:30 p.m., 304.291.7425 morgantown.lib.wv.us Children can sit down with a therapy dog and practice their reading skills in individual sessions lasting 15 minutes each. Children must be in kindergarten to participate. Registration required. Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker WVU Creative Arts Center, 7:30 p.m., Thurs. Internationally renowned for its commitment to Russian classical dance, the Moscow Ballet will captivate the entire family as 40 dancers bring this charming classic to life. $28 and up December 12 NEARBY Winter Lights & Craft Show WVU Jackson’s Mill, 160 WVU Jackson Mill Weston, Fri., 4:30–7 p.m.

December 19 Five-time Grammy winner Wynonna Judd — along with her band, The Big Noise —will bring a simpler Christmas” to you as she performs some of her holiday favorites as well as her greatest hits. $28 and up WVU Creative Arts Center, Fri., 7:30 p.m., 304.293.7469, events.wvu.edu jacksonsmill.ext.wvu.edu/events The annual celebration begins with a buffet meal Friday and continues with a craft show and tree lighting. The mill general store will hold extended hours. $12 for adults, $6 for ages 4 to 12 Rus Reppert Table 9, 40 Donley Street, Fri. 7–10 p.m. dinetable9.com Bridgeport musician Rus Reppert brings his guitar and plays music to please all types of fans. B.E. Taylor Chestnut Ridge Church, 2223 Cheat Road, Fri. 7:30 p.m., betaylor.com This Pennsylvania native brings beloved

Christmas music to life in Morgantown. $35 and up Hillbilly Gyspies 123 Pleasant Street, Fri., 10 p.m. 123pleasantstreet.com One of Morgantown’s favorite local bands takes the stage and invites you to get down at 123. December 12 &13 Live Nativity Kingdom Evangelical Methodist Church 540 Fairmont Road, Westover Fri. & Sat., 6–8 p.m., 304.292.3168 kingdomemc.com morgantownmag.Com

December 13 NEARBY Celebrate the Italian Christmas Eve tradition—the Feast of the Seven Fishes —with food, shopping, music, cooking demos, fish, and a street market. This one-day festival brings a bit of Italy to the forefront in historic Fairmont.

Adams Street & Monroe Street Fairmont, Sat., 10 a.m.–6 p.m. 304.366.0468, mainstreetfairmont.org

December 12, 13, & 19 Live Nativity Trinity Episcopal Church, 247 Willey Street Fri. & Sat., 6–9 p.m., 304.292.7364 trinitymorgantown.org Journey to Bethlehem with a nativity scene that includes live animals. Kids and families can interact and take photos with the animals. December 13 NEARBY Breakfast with Santa WVU Jackson’s Mill, 160 WVU Jackson Mill Weston, Sat., 8 a.m.–11 a.m. jacksonsmill.ext.wvu.edu/events Children of all ages get the opportunity to tell Santa what they wish for at Jackson’s Mill’s annual Breakfast with Santa. $7

A Frozen Christmas Morgantown Public Library, 373 Spruce Street Sat., 10 a.m., 304.291.7425 morgantown.lib.wv.us Make snow crafts, play games, and join in a sing-along to Disney’s Frozen. Children can come dressed as their favorite Frozen characters. December 14 MACglee Holiday Choral Concert Monongalia Arts Center, 107 High Street, Sun. 4 p.m., 304.292.3325, monartscenter.com This concert will feature the adult community vocal group in the Monongalia Arts Center’s Tanner Theatre. $5 suggested donation Nearby Christmas Card Workshop Preston Community Arts Center

Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

123 South Price Street, Kingwood, Sun., 1–6 p.m. 814.322.6463, morkthedork@hotmail.com Join workshop host Eddie Spaghetti in a Christmas card linoleum-printing workshop. Registration includes all card making materials and envelopes. $30

Morgantown Poets Monongalia Arts Center, 107 High Street, Thurs. 7 p.m., 304.292.3325, monartscenter.com The public is invited to enjoy readings from the Morgantown Poets. Free

Pop Shop Winterfest Concert 123 Pleasant Street, Sun., 1–7 p.m. 123pleasantstreet.com, popshopwv.com PopShopWV students have been rehearsing for 12 weeks to present a diverse concert, with the music of Led Zeppelin, Sara Bareilles, Lorde, Foo Fighters, and more. Donations of $5 and non-perishable food to benefit Scott’s Run Settlement House is suggested.

December 18–21

December 17

Ebenezer M.T. Pockets Theatre, 1390½ University Avenue Thurs.–Sat., 8 p.m., Sat., 2 and 8 p.m. Sun., 2 p.m., mtpocketstheatre.com Get in the spirit with Ebenezer. Original choreography done by Angela Dennis, featuring the Alchemy Dance Project, Red Stone Dance Initiative, and guest artists. December 20

Jenny Wilson Jazz Trio Black Bear Burritos, 132 Pleasant Street, Wed. 6:30 p.m., blackbearburritos.com This jazz trio with Jenny Wilson on piano, Nathan Wilson on bass, and Evan Lintz on drums will perform a dinnertime show at Black Bear Burritos’ downtown location.

Tom Batchelor Trio Black Bear Burritos, 132 Pleasant Street, Sat. 6:30 p.m., blackbearburritos.com Three members of the Tom Batchelor Band will play a mix of roots, rock, and reggae music at Black Bear Burritos’ downtown location.

Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours Waterfront Place Hotel, Wed., 5:30 p.m. morgantownchamber.org Celebrate the season with the chamber and its members.

123 Pleasant Street Christmas Party 123 Pleasant Street, Sat., 10 p.m. 123pleasantstreet.com Get in the spirit with live music from great local bands Stonewall Jackson 5ive, Jet Set Vapour Trails, and Goodwolf.

December 18

December 30

Dan Cunningham Black Bear Burritos, 132 Pleasant Street, Thurs. 6:30 p.m., blackbearburritos.com Home grown folk artist Dan Cunningham returns to Black Bear Burritos’ downtown location for an evening of acoustic guitar.

Library Movie Matinee: Dolphin Tale 2 Morgantown Public Library, 373 Spruce Street Tues., 1 p.m. 304.291.7425 morgantown.lib.wv.us The Morgantown Public Library will screen Warner Brothers’ Dolphin Tale 2, to the delight of families with little ones all across town.

main street fairmont

Experience Bethlehem, complete with a nativity scene including live animals like a camel.

December 15-18

33rd Annual Holiday Food and Toy Distribution

Join the United Way in giving time and resources to make the holidays brighter for everyone in the community. Volunteers are needed to sort and bag donated food and organize toys in preparation for the distribution. Volunteer prep takes place Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The distribution takes place Thursday.

This scale model of energy-industry equipment was produced with a 3D Printer using the latest CAD modeling software.

National Guard Armory, 99 Everlasting Lane, Mon.–Thurs., 8 a.m.–8 p.m. 304.296.7525, unitedwaympc.org/holiday-food-toy-distribution

WVU Men’s Basketball vs. Virginia Tech WVU Coliseum, Tues., 2 p.m., wvugame.com Support the Mountaineers as they take on the Hokies at home. December 31

Courtesy of united way

New Years Eve at Bartini Bartini, 350 Suncrest Town Centre Drive, Wed., 6 p.m.–3 a.m. bartinimorgantown.com Ring in the New Year at Bartini. The Soul Miners will play live at 8 p.m., followed by a DJ. A buffet starts at 6 p.m. with a champagne toast at midnight. Advanced tickets required. $50 New Years Eve with Chris Janson Schmitt’s Saloon, 245 Cheat Road, Wed., 6 p.m., schmittssaloon.com Celebrate the year to come and rock out to country music singer and songwriter Chris Janson, who has also written songs for Tim McGraw and Justin Moore. $35 and up New Years Eve with Fletchers Grove and The Greens 123 Pleasant Street, Wed., 10 p.m., 123pleasantstreet.com Ring in the New Year with two of Morgantown’s favorite local bands at 123 Pleasant Street. morgantownmag.Com

January 22 Don’t miss the Tony Awardwinning Broadway musical—Million Dollar Quartet — inspired by the true story of the famed recording session that brought together rockand-roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. Million Dollar Quartet features timeless hits like “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “I Walk the Line,” “Hound Dog” and more. $28 and up WVU Creative Arts Center Thurs., 7 :30 p.m.

January 9–31 Benedum Gallery Exhibition Monongalia Arts Center, 107 High Street monartscenter.com The Monongalia Arts Center’s January exhibition, The Most Vulnerable, features portraits by Proud Students Against Landmines and Cluster Bombs (PSALM). The portraits feature child survivors of landmines and cluster munitions. The public opening reception will be held at MAC on January 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

January 18

WVU Men’s Basketball vs. Oklahoma WVU Coliseum, Tues., 7 p.m., wvugame.com This televised game is sure to be entertaining— get your tickets early to watch as the WVU Mountaineers take on the Oklahoma Sooners at the Coliseum.

MountainStage WVU Creative Arts Center, Sun., 7 p.m. mountainstage.org Lee Ann Womack, Mac McAnally, Angaleena Presley, and Charlie Worsham take the stage as part of the live radio show. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. $13 and up

January 16 & 17 Brad Paisley WVU Coliseum, Fri. & Sat., 7:30 p.m. events.wvu.edu He’s here! Get tickets fast for this country heartthrob’s big show. Opening acts are Parmalee and The Swon Brothers. $29 and up

January 10 WVU Women’s Basketball vs. Baylor WVU Coliseum, Sat., 3 p.m. wvugame.com Support the women’s basketball team as they play against Baylor at home. January 11 Reverend Horton Heat 123 Pleasant Street, 123pleasantstreet.com Sun., 7 p.m., $25 Have fun and get funky at this 18 and over live show.

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Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

January 17 WVU Children’s Hospital Grand Bash Ruby Community Center at Mylan Park 500 Mylan Park Lane, Sat., 11 a.m.–7 p.m. wvgrandbash.com Help raise money and awareness for the WVU Children’s Hospital with a meal, soft drinks, raffle drawings, and a prize drawing every five minutes for items like a 2015 Toyota Highlander SUV or a trip to Italy. $100

January 22 How and Nosm: Deem Distinguished Artist Lecture WVU Creative Arts Center, Bloch Learning and Performance Hall & Paul Mesaros Gallery Thurs., 5 p.m., howandnosm.com This lecture will be followed by the opening reception for the exhibition at 6 p.m. Known as How and Nosm, twins Raoul and Davide Perre create large spray-painted murals across the world, as well as prints and paintings on canvas. The exhibit is open through February 26. January 24 WVU Men’s Basketball vs. TCU WVU Coliseum, Sat., 2 p.m., wvugame.com The men’s basketball team goes head-to-head with TCU in this Big 12 matchup.

Courtesy of wvu arts & entertainment

January

January 13

January 16 Comedienne Wanda Sykes, ranked among Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America, showcases her unique and hilarious view of the world in Morgantown. $28 and up

Morgantown

Suburban Lanes Plaza

304.599.7443

Clarksburg

WVU Creative Arts Center, Fri., 7:30 p.m.

114 Emily Drive Eastpointe Plaza

304.622.4434

January 28

Courtesy of wvu arts & entertainment

Corey Smith Schmitt’s Saloon, 245 Cheat Road Wed., 8–11 p.m., schmittssaloon.com Don’t miss this country, rock, and blues performer as he takes the stage in Morgantown for what’s sure to be a memorable performance. Must be 18 or older to attend. $25 and up Tauk 123 Pleasant Street, Wed., 10 p.m. 123pleasantstreet.com Instrumental rock fusion band Tauk returns to Morgantown for another crazy night at this historic music venue. January 30 Annual Chamber of Commerce Dinner Morgantown Event Center, 3 Waterfront Place, Fri., 5:30 p.m. 304.292.3311, morgantownchamber.org Celebrate the Chamber’s Annual Best in Business Awards and more. Cost is $100 per person, or $1,000 for a table of 10 people.

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SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW! For more info go to westvirginiablackbears.com or call 304.293.7910 morgantownmag.Com

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Our Social Circles

@MorgantownMag

November 21 Checking out Tin 202.

November 6 So many BOM ballots!

Don’t miss out. Join the conversation on our Facebook page: facebook.com/ morgantownmag October 22

It's official! The new Morgantown-based minor league baseball team will be called the WV Black Bears. The team will play its first game June 2015. What do you think of the name? Danno It was the best choice of the 10 people had to pick from. Still not the best, but I'll get used to it. All the rest were either stereotypical or lame coal names. One of these days we will get past the stereotyped names and realize there is more to West Virginia than hillbillies and coal. Kelly Casto Fleming I voted for Moonshiners, but perhaps some thought that was in poor taste. Susan Case Love it.

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Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015

On the Web

Our story “Underground Morgantown” on all of the tunnels and more beneath our feet has received 15,075 views on morgantownmag.com—and counting! While some content you can only get in the print edition, we strive to bring unique copy to the web, too. Check out our web exclusive, “A New Lease on The Bank,” published in October at morgantownmag.com.

You can follow us on Twitter, too. Just add @MorgantownMag for links to stories, breaking news, event reminders, and more.

October 15 Check out this beautiful fall scene captured by one of our photographers this morning!

October 8 Morgantowners are getting in the spooky spirit!

elizabeth roth

Facebook Fun

Then & Now

Santa today

Santa of yesteryear

For more photos

of Morgantown’s past, check out wvhistoryonview.org

The Morgantown Christmas Parade 40 years, people have lined the streets of downtown Morgantown to see the annual Christmas parade. The local parade was started in the 1960s by the Morgantown chapter of The United States Junior Chamber, or Jaycees, a national nonprofit organization. Mike Hopkins and his wife, Ruth, have been organizing the parade since 1986, but he’ll be quick to point out that it’s a community effort. “We have a lot of good people who volunteer to help,” Mike says. Mike grew up in Morgantown and remembers going to the parade as a child. “My mom and dad would take our family,” he says. “I remember there’s a picture of me somewhere on my dad’s shoulder down by the old Warner Theatre.”

for more than

The parade hasn’t changed much since those early days, except for maybe the lack of expensive, extravagant floats. Still, from bands to dancers, candy to cars, the parade always delights crowds. The real highlight, of course, is that man in the red suit—Santa Claus. He makes the long trip from the North Pole every year to wave to Morgantown children from atop a fire truck at the end of the parade. “Looking at those children’s eyes and having them look up at Santa—that’s what makes it all worth it,” Mike says. Then & Now is published in partnership with WVU Libraries’ West Virginia & Regional History Center. wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu

written and photographed by elizabeth roth

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Morgantown • Dec/Jan 2015