Morgantown Magazine October/November 2016

PLENTY OF ROOM(S)

With four new hotels in Morgantown in the past year, finding a place to stay isn’t as difficult as it used to be.

g i t n a r b e l e C

IT’S THE BOM

Cast your votes today for the 2017 Best of Morgantown awards!

MISSING MARSHA

Marsha Ferber disappeared 28 years ago.

Her friends still wonder what happened.

! s r Gr eat Yea

volume 6

•

issue 1

PUBLISHED BY

New South Media, Inc.

709 Beechurst Avenue, Suite 14A, Morgantown, WV 26505

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Nikki Bowman, nikki@newsouthmediainc.com EDITOR

Mary Wade Burnside, marywade@newsouthmediainc.com DESIGNER

Becky Moore, becky@newsouthmediainc.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Zack Harold, zack@newsouthmediainc.com Pam Kasey, pam@newsouthmediainc.com OPERATIONS MANAGER

Cherise Burton, cherise@newsouthmediainc.com WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Kassi Roberts, kassi@newsouthmediainc.com PHOTOGRAPHER

Carla Witt Ford, carla@newsouthmediainc.com INTERNS

Cami Coulter, Cody Roane SALES DIRECTOR

Heather Mills Berardi, heather@newsouthmediainc.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Subscription rate is $20 for 6 issues.

Subscribe by calling 304.413.0104.

EDITORIAL INQUIRIES

Unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted. Please send a query to morgantown@newsouthmediainc.com.

SCENE SUBMISSIONS

Please send photos and event information for The Scene to morgantown@newsouthmediainc.com.

MORGA NTOW N is published by New South Media, Inc. Copyright: New South Media, Inc. Reproduction in part or whole is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of the publisher. © N EW SOU T H M EDI A, I NC. A LL R IGH TS R ESERV ED

4

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

I

t’s been more than 36 years since I hiked into the brandnew Mountaineer Field, as it was called on September 6, 1980, from a parking space my parents nabbed at a friend’s house. At one point, we watched as a helicopter landed and John Denver—along with song co-writers Bill and Taffy Danoff—emerged to christen the new football venue with a performance of Denver’s relatively new international hit, “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but my presence there would become a fun conversational fact when I occasionally would run into one of the 50,000 fellow attendees. “I thought you looked familiar,” I said to the first person I met who told me he had been there too. So when I read Zack Harold’s story on the renovations at Milan Puskar Stadium, I spent a moment taking stock. Has it really been so long that it needs updates?

I’m not a Morgantown native—I was born and raised about 40 minutes south in Clarksburg, although when I was younger, Interstate 79 hadn’t been completed yet and it took longer than 40 minutes to get here. But it’s always been in my backyard, and in my heart. My parents, both natives of my hometown, actually met as students

6

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

at WVU, and got pinned one October day 63 years ago at Coopers Rock State Forest. I have lived here before and I’m happy to be back.

And as I finish my first issue as managing editor of Morgantown, I’m surprised—or maybe not—how many stories resonated with me. Such as Pam Kasey’s intriguing look back at Marsha Ferber, the nightclub impresario who launched the Underground Railroad. I learned of Ferber’s disappearance shortly after it happened in 1988, when a co-worker wrote a story about it. Back then, it never occurred to me that I would be contemplating Ferber’s fate well into the new millennium.

Then there is my brunch bill story about the vote this election season in Monongalia County to legalize the sale of alcohol beginning at 10 a.m. on Sundays instead of 1 p.m. That reminds me of my college days, four hours east in Washington, D.C. At that time, as an undergrad, I was legal to drink in West Virginia, but not D.C. This point was driven home when my parents would visit and we would go out to brunch. Sometimes my age worked against me if I tried to order a mimosa, even though I had no such trouble back home—except ironically on Sundays, of course. These days, I really do not have a hankering for a cocktail so early in the day. But if others do, I’m all for it. Cheers and happy autumn!

Letters to the Editor

My wife and I are among your new subscribers, and already I’ve seen articles that I would love to share with others … articles that help promote our area in a positive manner.

Paul Garvin, via Facebook I <3 the PRT! If the PRT were a car she would be considered a classic. I say she’s a keeper.

Lauren Coupon, via Facebook

#CaptureCampusContest

M A RY WA DE BU R NSIDE,

Editor

Follow us at . . . facebook.com/ morgantownmagazine twitter.com/morgantownmag instagram.com/morgantownmag

Congratulations to #CaptureCampusContest winner Casey DeHaven, and thanks to everyone who submitted their photos!

8

MORGANTOWN â&#x20AC;¢ OCT/NOV 2016

In This Issue

CARLA WITT FORD

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016

Missing Marsha

Plenty of Room(s)

Marsha Ferber ran the popular Underground Railroad music club when she disappeared nearly 30 years ago.

Her friends still wonder what happened to her.

New hotels in Morgantown offer modern amenities, but a dip in visitors means occupancy has not met expectations.

34

40

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

9

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016

In This Issue This Matters

28

14 Try This If it’s fall, it must be time to tailgate.

Departments 6 Editor’s Note

16

31 Dish It Out Apple Annie’s and Boston Beanery team up to form The Catering Company.

16 Know This

A book explores earlier Morgantown’s Jewish community.

48 Scoreboard

Updates at Milan Puskar Stadium mean more food options and conveniences.

9 Eat This 1 Iron Horse Tavern’s Tater Tots are to die for.

50 Across County Lines Greene County, Pennsylvania offers a variety of fall fun, including the Harvest Festival.

9 Love This 1

Prolific sculptor Jamie Lester unveils three statues of notable natives.

52 Outdoors Oak Grove Cemetery, the final resting place for some prominent figures, could use a helping hand.

20 Read This Two area bakers on the joys and tribulations of salt rising bread.

54 The U WVU’s biometrics group forges a new identity of its own.

21 Watch This The Pride of West Virginia will make its big debut in the Macy’s parade.

22 Hear This William Matheny’s career has taken off with a high-profile concert and a new album.

61 19

24 Shop This

Plow & Hearth’s seasonal offerings are no longer only online.

6 Check This Out 2

WVU’s LGBTQ+ Center provides education and support to students.

26 Watch This Chris Sarandon and Joanna Gleason perform a fundraiser for WVPT. 28 Celebrate This The Race of the Century rumbled through town on 100-year-old motorcycles.

29 Follow This Will county voters approve hunting and earlier cocktails on Sundays?

30 This Matters To …

Bernie Worley worries that a proposed ordinance could lay an egg on his chickens.

10

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

22

59 The Scene

30

61 Calendar 64 Then & Now A look at Oak Grove Cemetery today—and more than 100 years ago.

50 31

ON THE COVER We went all-out for our five-year celebration cover. Apple Annie’s new Morgantown location (see page 31) created our specialorder dream confection: a threelayered white cake with a ribbon of fresh raspberry filling and buttercream frosting, drizzled with a chocolate ganache. Our design team surrounded the cake with some of our favorite covers from over the years for a celebratory and delicious photo shoot. Styled and photographed

by Carla Witt Ford.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

11

ADVERTISE WITH US!

CALL 304.413.0104 OR EMAIL info@newsouthmediainc.com FOR MORE INFORMATION 12

MORGANTOWN â&#x20AC;¢ OCT/NOV 2016

EAT / LOVE / WEAR / SHOP / WATCH / KNOW / HEAR / READ / DO / WHO / WHAT

Mountaineer Olympians

COURTESY OF WVU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS/ALL-PRO PHOTOGRPAHY BY DALE SPARKS

The flames on the Olympic cauldron had barely been lighted when WVU sophomore Ginny Thrasher became an early hero of the 2016 Summer games in Rio de Janeiro as the first gold medalist, for the women’s 10 meter air rifle.

Of eight university athletes who competed in Brazil, three others returned with medals, including former WVU shooter Nicco Campriani, who added two golds to one from the 2012 London games, and soccer players Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence, who helped the Canadian women’s soccer team earn bronze. As the popular Facebook meme summarized: “WVU 4, Pitt 0.”

WVU 2016 Summer Olympic medalists Ashley Lawrence, Kadeisha Buchanan, and Ginny Thrasher—with Director of Athletics Shane Lyons—were recognized at the Mountaineers’ season opener against Missouri on Sept. 3.

Last year’s largest gourd at the West Virginia Pumpkin Festival in Milton was 1,061 pounds.

According to Guinness World Records, the heaviest pumpkin ever weighed in at 2,323 pounds, or, as they say in Switzerland—where it was grown in 2014—1,054 kilograms.

BALLOONS OVER MORGANTOWN If the weather cooperates, hot air balloons will dot the sky during Balloons Over Morgantown, which will be held October 13–16 with launches at Morgantown Airport. Find out more at ummbf.com

COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING Sixteen turkeys and eight hams were served at last year’s Free Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Wesleyan United Methodist Church on High Street. Folks, including families, international students, student athletes, senior citizens, and the homeless, start assembling around 12:30 p.m. Call 304.554.9465 or email karen.kelley.king@gmail.com.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

13

THIS MATTERS HAUNTTHIS

Halloween Happenings As All Hallows’ Eve approaches, it’s time to carve a jack-o’-lantern; dress up like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, a blue tang like “Finding Dory,” or some other superhero or movie character; and go in search of treats. Here are your best bets to stock up on miniature candy bars, Smarties, Skittles, and bubble gum.

Trick-or-Treat at the Cheat | October 21

The Tailgate Experience Fire up the grills: It’s football season and that means cheers, beers, and Mountaineers.

➼ THE FIRST PEOPLE TO lower their tailgates and decide, “Hey, I’m going to party here” should earn a trophy. This practice steeped in tradition is what gets fans rising early each autumn Saturday. Morgantown fans are no exception.

The age-old legend is that Milan Puskar Stadium becomes the largest city in the state on football Saturdays. Whether true or not, game days bring out the masses. Each tailgating lot, sanctioned by the university’s athletic department, serves as a network of communities. The athletic department works with the university to create these lots, says Matt Wells, the senior associate athletic director of external affairs. The Blue Lot, situated in front of Ruby Memorial Hospital, is the central hub. The rest of the lots form a sort of circle surrounding the Blue Lot. The lots also create good places for families and alumni to come and mingle with the new generation of WVU students. This is the case for Phil Browne, who has tailgated for the past four to five years. The Blue Lot, he says, “is a great atmosphere and allows us to hang out with the kids, which is who we do it for.”

Browne is a veteran on the Morgantown tailgating scene, having jumped around various lots, from Light Blue to Brown. “The Light Blue Lot is more laid back, same with the Brown Lot; you can relax with your family more in those areas,” Browne says.

Many of the lots close to the stadium are season pass only.

Don’t fret: The Burgundy Lot behind Steptoe & Johnson, as well as the Gold Lot by the Patteson Drive Kroger, offer single-game parking. Questions arise regarding the Blue Lot and access to the hospital. According to Wells, plans are coordinated the day before to have parking for employees and easy access to the Emergency Department.

One new location this year will benefit those traveling long distances. The recently built Holiday Inn on Pineview Drive has created a tailgate for hotel guests. “We offer a great two-forone experience by allowing a place for guests to stay as well as tailgate,” says general manager Todd Richmond. A shuttle service is offered to and from the stadium. A 100 x 60 foot tent is set up in the back parking lot and catering is provided by the adjoining restaurant, Atria’s.

Stock your coolers and fire up the grill: Tailgate season is in full swing. written by cody roane 14

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

Kids are encouraged to wear costumes to partake of indoor activities and trick-or-treating from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Cheat Lake Physicians.

Malloween | October 27 Kids 12 and under can dress up in costumes and trick-or-treat around the stores. A costume contest awards prizes to the top three outfits, at 6 p.m. at Morgantown Mall.

WVU Trunk-or-Treat | October 28 More than 100 student organizations will hand out candy to kids from 4 to 7:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Shell Building by the WVU Coliseum, right before the WVU women’s soccer game against Oklahoma. Kids who wear costumes get in the game free.

Harleyween | October 29 This Spooktacular featuring a costume contest and in-store poker run will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Triple S Harley-Davidson.

Trick-or-treat Suncrest | October 29 Kids 12 and under can don their costumes and go trick-ortreating around the businesses from 4 to 6 p.m. at Suncrest Towne Centre.

Rooftop Spooktacular | October 29 This event is open to ghosts and ghouls of all ages who can participate in a crazy costume contest and partake of spooky snacks, from 5 to 8 p.m., Rocktop Bar & Lounge. To enter, take at least three non-perishable food items to be donated to Scott’s Run Settlement House, or pay $5.

Granville | October 29 No door-to-door trick-or-treating; instead, there will be a trunk-or-treat party complete with a costume parade up to the social hall from 5 to 7:30 p.m., at Granville Park.

Trick-or-treating | October 31 Morgantown 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Westover 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Blacksville 6 to 8 p.m.

COURTESY OF WVU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS/ALL-PRO PHOTOGRAHY BY DALE SPARKS

TRYTHIS

KNOW THIS

Peddler, Shopkeep, Scholar, Philanthropist A new oral history book explores the development of the Jewish community in Morgantown through the stories of its families.

➼ IN 2013, ED GERSON volunteered to write a history article for Tree of Life Congregation’s bimonthly newsletter. “I began talking with longtime members of the temple,” Gerson recalls.

“After a couple interviews, names on the bronze plaques in the temple began to come to life. What began as an article clearly demanded a book—the history was so unique and the people so original.” The project became Morgantown’s Jewish Heritage: An Oral History.

The dozens of personal and handed-down family stories Gerson came to collect paint a picture of early immigrant culture 16

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

Sevlyn “Sevy” Caplan in front of her father’s shop in 1931.

It was located near where the BB&T ATM at the top of High Street stands today. Her grandfather Abe Caplan immigrated from Russia with his wife and seven kids in the early 1900s.

Abe Caplan, who spoke little English, peddled. Their children worked at glass factories for 50 cents a day, which helped support the family.

in Morgantown. “In the 1880s, all the immigration tied together.

Belgians, Italians, African-Americans coming up from the South to work in the coal mines, Russians, Lithuanians, French, they were all coming to the U.S. to work,” he says. “And Monongalia County had a great awakening at that time—primarily, the ability to transport coal, lumber, limestone, sand, and glass by railroad.

So we had money coming in.”

Many immigrating Jews had been in the clothing business or shoemakers in their home countries, and some were scholars.

“But a lot of the time they couldn’t speak much English,” Gerson says. “The easiest thing to do was, they’d be peddlers here. They’d start off in the morning with a pack with maybe jewelry, matches, little clothing items.” They would go door to door trading for eggs, cheese, and other necessities. A peddler with tailoring skills and equipment might measure a customer for a suit and deliver it later. “And if there was a lost kid, you’d ask at the next house, ‘Have you seen little Johnny?’ So they became part of the community.”

Those informal ways of making ends meet evolved into successful businesses. A peddler with a wagon might exchange for scrap metal and start a scrap yard, for example. Others got into retail with clothing and furniture stores. “One of the first was Hirschman’s,” Gerson says. That was S.D. Hirschman & Co. Clothiers, doing business at the turn of the 20th century about where Morgan’s High Street Diner operates now. “Another early business family here was Green, and also the Wolf family”—they operated Ben Green’s and Wolf’s clothiers, farther up High Street.

Opportunity came slowly for Jews in Morgantown. “WVU had few Jewish professors until the 1960s,” Gerson says. “And my interviews tell me that other Jewish professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, might have practiced but didn’t have their own shingles—they would be in the practices of other people, as associates.”

Storytellers recall a mid-century time of fellowship, when people gathered at each other’s homes rather than at restaurants or bars. They reflect on hardship and on charity. For their small number here, Gerson says, the Jewish population has had an effect on Morgantown far greater than one would expect— noting, for example, philanthropy that created the Rosenbaum Family House, the Zelda Stein Weiss Cancer Center, and other good works. “It’s hard to put into words what this place would be like without these donations. You could get by but your quality of life would be different. Our perception of what life can be would be less.”

Taken together, the book’s 20 interviews and 10 submitted personal stories and commentaries paint the picture of a people becoming part of their adopted community and the community, eventually, embracing them.

A public book release and signing party will take place at 7 p.m. October 25 at the Tree of Life temple at 242 South High Street. The 220-page book will also be available in softcover and Kindle versions through amazon.com. written by PAM KASEY

COURTESY OF ED GERSON

THIS MATTERS

CUT HERE

who’s the bom?

We all have opinions on the best local places to eat, drink, and shop, so share it! Send us your votes for who you think is the BOM—Best of Morgantown. The top contenders in each category will move on to a second round of voting.

SUBMIT YOUR BALLOT BY NOVEMBER 14, 2016

vote online @ morgantownmag.com/bom WANT TO MAIL THIS TO US? NEW SOUTH MEDIA, INC. BEST OF MORGANTOWN 709 BEECHURST AVENUE, SUITE 14A MORGANTOWN, W V 26505

Best Sushi Best Sweet Indulgence Best Vegetarian Friendly Best Winery Best Wings Best Fries Personalities

FOOD & DRINK

Best Artist

Best BBQ

Best Bartender

Best Beer Selection

Best Chef

Best Breakfast

Best Media Personality

Best Brewery

Best Politician

Best Brunch

SHOPPING

Best Burger

Best Bookstore

Best Chinese Take-Out

Best Consignment Store

Best Mexican Restaurant

Best Furniture Store

Best Fine Dining

Best Gift Shop

Best Neighborhood

Best Grocery Store

Best Outdoor Dining

Best Jewelry Store

Best Pizza

Best Pet Store

Best Place to Caffeinate

Best Place to Buy Health Food

Best Power Lunch

Best Place to Buy a Wedding Dress

Best Salad

Best Local Recreation Store

Best Sports Bar

Best Local Place to Buy Kids’ Apparel MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

17

Best Home Inspector

Best Local Place to Buy Men’s Apparel

Best Hotel

Best Local Place to Buy Shoes

Best Landscaper

Best Shopping Center

Best Mani/Pedi

Best New Business

Best Massage

DOWNTIME/RECREATION

Best Mechanic

Best Band

Best Personal Trainer

Best Dance Studio

Best Real Estate Agency

Best Festival

Best Veterinarian

Best Fundraising Event

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Best Golf Course

Best Dentist/Orthodontist

Best Gym/Fitness Center

Best Dermatologist

Best Yoga Studio

Best General Practitioner

Best Museum/Art Gallery

Best OB/GYN

Best Music Venue

Best Pediatrician

Best Radio Station

Best Physical Therapist

Best Run/Walk

GOLD & BLUE

Best Tattoo Shop

Best Coach

Best Theater

Best Female Athlete

SERVICES

Best Male Athlete

Best Architect

Best Place for Mountaineer Gear

Best Bank

Best Professor

Best Car Dealership

Best New Housing Complex

Best Car Detailing

Best Sports Venue

Best Charity/Nonprofit

Best Tailgate Spot

Best Contractor Best Day Spa Best Drycleaner Best Florist Best Hair Salon 18

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

DID WE MISS ANYTHING? FEEL FREE TO WRITE IN YOUR OWN CATEGORIES AND CANDIDATES HERE:

CUT HERE

Best Local Place to Buy Women’s Apparel

THIS MATTERS LOVETHIS

Casting Call

Need to have someone immortalized? Talk to bronze artist Jamie Lester.

➼ IT’S BEEN A MONUMENTAL YEAR —or, rather, a

➼ WHEN YOU THINK OF TATER TOTS, Iron Horse Tavern do you recall cafeteria lunches? It is 140 High Street time to put that stereotype to rest. Right ironhorsetvrn.com now. Iron Horse Tavern has concocted a smack-your-mama, crispy hipster potato coquette that elevates the tried-and-true tater tot. This grownup version of house-made Tater Tots is perfectly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and is served with black truffle and bacon sour cream aioli, smoked gouda béchamel, and fresh chives. Admit it—your mouth is watering. Go ahead, run to Iron Horse. Your taste buds will thank you.

“monument-full” year—for Morgantown sculptor Jamie Lester.

The accomplished bronze artist, who owns Vandalia Bronze, has unveiled one high-profile project after another in 2016.

In February he debuted a statue of WVU basketball great and NBA star Rodney “Hot Rod” Hundley. The larger-thanlife work, located in front of the WVU Coliseum, depicts Hundley leaping into the air with a basketball overhead, as if readying a hook shot. It serves as a nice complement to Lester’s earlier piece of Hundley’s WVU and Los Angeles Lakers teammate, Jerry West.

Then, in June, Lester unveiled a statue of Morgantown founder Zackquill Morgan in front of the Public Safety Building. Since there are no photos or quality portraits of Morgan, Lester crafted his likeness using a live model and the faces of his descendants for reference.

His most recent Morgantown unveiling was in July, when Lester debuted his statue of actor and hometown boy Don Knotts. The project was challenging, Lester says, because Knotts’ “face was like a living caricature of himself,” changing significantly between roles. Lester wanted to depict Knotts, however, not one of his famous characters, such as Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show.” He wasn’t sure he was successful—until he saw tears in the eyes of Knotts’ daughter, Karen, at the unveiling ceremony. “Sometimes you get inside it and you get too close to the piece. You can’t get a true third-person’s perspective. Every response was, ‘Oh, it’s great.’ But I wasn’t sure until Karen saw it and liked it,” Lester says. “I love to see people touched by the work. Those are the things I want to invoke in people.”

written by NIKKI BOWMAN | photographed by CARLA WITT FORD

written by ZACK HAROLD | photographed by CARLA WITT FORD

EATTHIS

Tater Tots!

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

19

THIS MATTERS Genevieve Bardwell and Susan Brown.

Salt Rising Bread Two bakers collaborate on a book about the memories, mysteries, and heartfelt love behind a uniquely Appalachian treat. ➼ FOR SUSAN BROWN, SATURDAY mornings during her childhood in Ronceverte meant crossing the Greenbrier River to visit her grandmother, who would be busy baking salt rising bread.

“I remember going to her house,” says Brown, who now lives in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania. “I would approach her back door and I could smell the bacon frying, eggs over easy, and salt rising toast. It was the most heavenly breakfast I ever had or will ever have.”

Genevieve Bardwell did not grow up eating salt rising bread. But as an adult, she became so interested in the bread— which requires a starter such as cornmeal or potatoes instead of yeast—that, when she hung out a shingle in 2010 for her own shop in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, she named it Rising Creek Bakery.

Brown and Bardwell, a native of Hudson, New York who attended The Culinary Institute of America, met 25 years ago after they both ended up in Mount Morris and realized they had a lot in common, including their love for and interest in salt rising bread. The two approach it differently.

Brown associates salt rising bread with her childhood and her family, while Bardwell’s bachelor’s degree in plant production and master’s in plant pathology pique her curiosity in the science behind what makes 20

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

the dense white bread rise—and why sometimes it doesn’t.

But they came together to write Salt Rising Bread: Recipes and Heartfelt Stories of a Nearly Lost Appalachian Tradition, published in July by St. Lynn’s Press in Pittsburgh. As the title suggests, the authors put a personal touch on the making of and making memories with salt rising bread, devoting a page each to the women who introduced it to them. Brown recalls that her grandmother put her salt rising bread starter on top of the pilot light of her gasheated hot water tank to achieve the perfect temperature to make it rise overnight.

Bardwell relays her first encounter with neighbor Pearl Haines, who first fed her the bread that, because of its density, many say tastes best toasted.

An illustration in the book—a photo of a recipe card penned in neat cursive writing that begins “In evening”—reminds readers that making salt rising bread takes time. It also provides another point that Bardwell and Brown want to get across: The knowledge of how to make salt rising bread—or raisin’ or risin’, depending on to whom you are talking—has been handed down through the generations. That, and the trickiness in getting it started, does not bode well for modern, shortcut-seeking bakers keeping the custom going. “Sadly, very few people are alive today who know how to make this delicious, yeastless bread the authentic way,” they write.

Bardwell and Brown turned to experts such as Janice Bromage of Fairview, whose story is told in a chapter titled “How Can Something Smell So Bad But Taste So Good?” That came courtesy of Bromage’s son, who asked the question

about the unique scent, likened by some to cheese, that emanates from the foamy, fermenting starter.

They also draw on accounts submitted to Brown through her online Salt Rising Bread Project, saltrisingbread.net. Says one, “... I can still smell that wonderful aroma as the bread was baking and still feel my finger burning from sticking it into the bread”—in order to place fresh butter and homemade blackberry jam inside.

Rising Creek Bakery does a brisk mailorder business, sending a large number of loaves to such non-Appalachian areas as California. Bardwell writes, “Almost daily, we receive a phone call from someone in a faraway state asking if we really do make it … then asking with a hopeful voice, ‘Does it have that salt rising smell?’”

The scent—and the fermentation, which can take as long as 24 hours—results from the wild microbes that are naturally found in typical starter ingredients such as cornmeal, flour, and potatoes. The process seems to lead to more questions than answers. The authors provide “Our List of Mysteries,” which includes inquiries such as “Where did salt rising bread come from, and who made it first?” and “What is happening when a starter does not work?” When it comes to the scientific angle, states Brown of Bardwell, “She’s more interested in it than I am.”

It’s the anecdotes that fascinate Brown, who thinks of her grandmother every time she has a taste of salt rising bread. “Part of what was wonderful about this book was collecting the heartfelt stories about eating salt rising bread. It feeds your soul as well as your body.” risingcreekbakery.com written by MARY WADE BURNSIDE

JNBPHOTO

READTHIS

THIS MATTERS SEETHIS

Mr. Logo Comes Through in a Clutch Jerry West donates his memorabilia to the West Virginia & Regional History Center.

WATCHTHIS

‘Country Roads’ on 34th Street

Mountaineers will put a little Pride in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

GREG ELLIS, WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

➼ THE STATE’S FAVORITE BAND, The Pride of West Virginia, will play for a whole new audience when it makes its first appearance this November in the 90th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. WVU’s Pride is the only college band out of the 10 bands chosen for 2016. Fans from all over the state will either be glued to the television while preparing a big meal or bundled up in New York City waiting for the familiar “Take Me Home, Country Roads” amid the floats and festive character balloons—from Pikachu to the Pillsbury Doughboy—that are the hallmark of the event.

“It’s a great honor being selected,” says Band Director Jay Drury. “We are really proud to represent the university and the state.” During the Gold-Blue Spring Game in 2014 in Milan Puskar Stadium, fans cheered with excitement when the announcement took place. As the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade banner was brought out, band members were shocked. “You could hear our excitement throughout the whole stadium,” says Austin Anderson, drum major at the time.

Drury has chosen several pieces to play for the parade, which begins at 9 a.m.

November 24. The band will march to “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Hail, West Virginia,” and a Christmas medley. When the band arrives at the stage at Herald Square in front of Macy’s, it will play “Strike Up the Band.” This will be the best bet to see the band on television—it will be broadcast on NBC. Once the band is finished and turns to leave the stage, Drury will have the band start back up with “Country Roads” in hopes of getting some of it on TV. “My favorite piece is ‘Country Roads,’ by far,” Drury says. “The first time I saw the band as a little kid was at the stadium and that was the first song that stuck out to me.”

The band has been practicing four days a week to prepare and also rehearsing during football games and WVU’s homecoming parade. “The band members work really hard and it’s going to be a lot of work, but it will be a fun and unforgettable trip,” Drury says.

The time together has drawn the band close together. “Being a member of The Pride is not being a part of a marching band or an organization, but it’s like being a part of a family, and I wouldn’t want anyone else having my back,” Anderson says. written by CAMI COULTER

➼ JERRY WEST SEEMS TO BE all over the place these days—on TV pitching a blood thinner, on the phone recruiting free agent Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors. And in June, he was at the West Virginia & Regional History Center of the WVU Libraries, donating items from his storied basketball career with the school and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The former WVU standout player who helped take the team to the Final Four in 1959 donated items including photos, video clips, newspaper articles, scrapbooks, correspondence, personal effects, oral histories, memorabilia, and jerseys featuring his famous No. 44.

West has been given a few nicknames, including Mr. Clutch, for his big plays at the last minute, and Mr. Logo, because his image is the one used to create the NBA emblem. But around Morgantown, he’s known as Jerry, or Mr. West, the man whose Jamie Lester-sculpted statue stands guard at the WVU Coliseum and who often returns to the place where it all started to make appearances and give back.

Also check out jerrywest.lib.wvu.edu. wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu written by MARY WADE BURNSIDE photographed by CARLA WITT FORD

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

21

HEARTHIS

The Sideman Steps Out After years happily playing second fiddle, singer-songwriter William Matheny is taking center stage. ➼ WILLIAM MATHENY thought he’d found his niche when he joined the band Southeast Engine in 2008 as a pianist and organ player. The band toured a lot, playing about 100 shows each year, and regularly headed into the studio to make new albums.

“I was just busy being a side-person,” he says. “I didn’t think I would ever make a record of my own again. I didn’t see that being in the cards. I thought I’d found my way. I’m a side-person, this is what I do.”

But then, in December 2012, Southeast Engine went on an “indefinite hiatus” and Matheny suddenly had a lot more time on his hands. The Mannington native began 22

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

playing gigs with different bands but also picked up his pen and began writing his own music.

Getting started wasn’t easy. It had been three years since Matheny had written a song. “It felt like I’d gained a lot of weight, had a horrible diet, and tried to run a mile,” he says. But he came back to the work every day, and eventually the songs came a little easier. “I pretty much have to make time every day to do it, or else I don’t,” he says.

“You’re not going to catch any fish if you don’t have your bait in the water.”

He noticed something about these new songs. When he was younger, playing

around Morgantown during his time as a WVU student, his music ranged from pop and punk to coffee shop singer-songwriter material. “When I listen to my old albums, it sounds like a jukebox that I picked out all the songs on.” This new material was more cohesive and mature. Matheny doesn’t care much for labels, but his thoughtful lyrics and organic arrangements land the tunes firmly within the Americana genre. “After a while you find what works for you and you find what doesn’t.”

In the spring of 2013, Matheny headed to his friend Bud Carroll’s home studio in Huntington to record a few of the new songs, with Matheny on guitar and keyboards, Carroll on drums and guitar, and another friend, Adam Meisterhans, on bass and guitar. “It was really quick that I knew, this is going to be great. These are the right people and this is the right outlet.”

Soon, Matheny began playing the material at live gigs. Carroll and Meisterhans backed him up on guitars, and he added Ian Thornton on bass and Rod Elkins on drums to flesh out the sound. “At some point we realized we were making a band, not just making a record,” he says. “The more you play

JOSH SAUL

THIS MATTERS

JOSH SAUL

with people in a variety of settings, you get tighter and tighter as a working unit.”

And the gigs kept coming. West Virginia Public Broadcasting invited Matheny and crew to perform on its popular, nationally syndicated Mountain Stage radio show.

Matheny had played the show as a member of Southeast Engine, but this time was different—it was his name on the bill, and his songs sent out over the radio waves. “I think if you’re from West Virginia—which everyone from our band is—there’s a special feeling about” Mountain Stage, he says. “It was a really fundamental part of being a teenager and a musician in West Virginia.”

Matheny’s Mountain Stage appearance would be a bittersweet experience, however.

The June 24 taping in Charleston came just days after the devastating flood that destroyed more than 1,000 homes and killed 23 people in the state. Organizers decided the show would go on, so Matheny used the opportunity to do a little good.

“We felt like we had to acknowledge it in some way.” That weekend, he released a limited-edition, hand-numbered EP called Blood Moon Singer, featuring three songs from his as-yet-unreleased album.

All proceeds from the record went to flood relief efforts. Then, two days later, Thornton organized a flood benefit at the V Club in Huntington, which featured Matheny and other local acts like Tyler Childers, Ona, and Qiet. The event raised more than $12,000.

The good karma seems to have worked in Matheny’s favor. In August, he posted a cryptic photo on his Facebook page that appeared to be a signed contract. The next day, Pittsburgh-based label Misra Records announced it would release Matheny’s debut album Strange Constellations, slated for February 24, 2017.

So now that Matheny’s career as a solo artist is taking off, is he plotting to run away to a music mecca like Nashville, New York, or Los Angeles? Nope. He’s staying put in Morgantown. Matheny, now 32, has lived here since he was 18.

He’s been plenty of other places, but finds Morgantown’s venues, fans, and other bands are more supportive than most. “There’s always been a good scene here,” he says. Plus, the life of a musician involves a lot of traveling no matter where you get your mail. “You have to be everywhere anyway, so you might as well come home to someplace you really like,” he says. williammatheny.com

THIS MATTERS

written by zack harold MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

23

THIS MATTERS

SHOPTHIS

Cultivating a Local Following

After years as a mail-order store, Plow & Hearth stokes the enthusiasm of customers looking to find the perfect products to outfit their homes—in person. ➼ PLOW & HEARTH DOES NOT sell plows, or hearths. But the store, located at Suncrest Towne Centre in the space formerly occupied by Coldwater Creek, has just about anything for the home, garden, and fireplace that anyone would want. On a tour of the store, general manager Ben Ritz points to the fireplace tools and screens in one section and the gloves, kneeling pads, and popular wind spinners that can help someone plant flowers or vegetables and decorate the space in another.

But Plow & Hearth, which opened in May, stocks so much more, and as the days grow darker and cooler, the store’s seasonal 24

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

offerings are especially relevant and afford several ways to help keep customers warm and cozy as winter looms. For instance, there is the Silly Cow hot chocolate—cute enough in its milk bottle packaging to give as a small gift and appealing enough to keep handy on a kitchen shelf. And in late September, Ritz was having an employee move the display of the Plow & Hearth brand of hand lotion, cream, and gardener’s hand scrub—in lavender and citrus grove scents—to the front of the store to greet customers who soon might need a balm for chapped skin. Nearby, portable metal fire pits promised the option of an evening of

keeping warm by a roasty fire.

Established in 1980, Plow & Hearth actually started as a mail-order company in Madison, Virginia. Today, consumers can use the catalog or, of course, shop online. But they will miss out on the wellstocked shelves of enticing food items— and samples—that beckon only at the stores that have been cropping up on the East Coast. The Suncrest Towne Centre location is the 26th retail store opened.

That includes a large selection of Plow & Hearth-branded Virginia peanuts—a top seller, Ritz says—in several flavors, including sea salt and pepper, dill pickle, butter toasted, and Old Bay, as well as two kinds of campfire mixes, smoky and spicy.

Try to order these, or the large variety of Stonewall Kitchen products—Gingerbread Butter or Cinnamon Apple Jelly anyone?— and you will be directed to a retail location instead. And when you get there, Ritz says, there is always a cookie, nut mix, sauce, or salsa out to sample. The late September offerings included a selection of peanuts as well as the Nyakers Swedish Gingersnap Cookies that come in decorative tins, perfect

THIS MATTERS

for the holidays. In summer, customers might be able to try some of the Plow & Hearth brand salsas for sale, including lime mango, spicy chipotle pepper and roasted corn, zesty pineapple ginger, and Chesapeake Bay-style blue crab varieties.

Another way that Plow & Hearth personalizes its Suncrest Towne Centre store is with a WVU display, featuring more peanuts—branded with a Flying WV on the can—as well as cocktail napkins; garden gnomes that bring the Plow & Hearth theme full circle; and “Gameday Cookies,” a charming, cloth-covered jar filled with ingredients to make a tailgate treat, complete with blue and gold M&Ms. A Steelers version with black and gold M&Ms can be found in the food section.

In addition to food, Ritz notes, Plow & Hearth also carries what he calls the “kitchen goodies” and “problem solvers”— gadgets and other unique items for the well-stocked cook. The largest might be the rotary composter. “One one side, you put the dry stuff, and on the other you put the food stuff,” Riz explains. “Then you rotate it every few days and you get fresh, new soil.”

Plow & Hearth also offers a wide selection of chimes and mobiles, from the large, loud, and deep Chimes of King David that retail for $599 to solar mobiles that light up and change colors. Those, along with colorful glass birdbaths in different designs, might be more useful in spring and summer. But the selection of bird feeders will come in handy as the weather gets cooler.

The vast selection at Plow & Hearth— ranging from Dansko and Ugg footwear and Life Is Good T-shirts to indoor and outdoor furniture—might pleasantly surprise some customers. “Our best-selling items so far have been the ready-to-wear stuff, and of course, the outdoor furniture is a big seller too.” Ritz says. In contrast to the food items that only can be found in the store, some of the larger furniture pieces have to be ordered. But they can be sent to the store, and usually for free, along with other order-only items such as a selection of bedding, rugs, and other home décor.

In September, Plow & Hearth had moved Halloween-themed merchandise— decorative jack-o-lanterns and the striped socks- and black boot-outfitted legs of

the Wicked Witch of the West that 1040 Suncrest Towne can stick out of a Centre Drive planter or from 304.241.4440 underneath a house—to the front of the store. But the shelves also already carried several items that would work as Christmas gifts, such as crocks that can be personalized with names and dates. One at the Suncrest Plow & Hearth advertises the day the store opened: May 16, 2016. “They take five to six weeks to come in because they are specially made,” Ritz says.

And sometime in October or November, Ritz expects more outdoor items—such as the last of the popular Dream Chair standalone hammocks—to give way to Christmas trees used to hang the ornaments that will be on sale for the holiday season. “We’ve had a few people that are Christmas shopping already,” Ritz says. plowhearth.com Plow & Hearth

written by MARY WADE BURNSIDE photographed by CARLA WITT FORD MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

25

THIS MATTERS

Cris Mayo and WVU President E. Gordon Gee CHECKTHISOUT

LGBTQ+

➼ SINCE SHORTLY AFTER THE FALL semester began at WVU, students, faculty, and staff have had a place to drop by, check out resources, see documentaries, attend workshops, and seek advice, with the opening of the LGBTQ+ Center. Director Cris Mayo, also a professor at the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, notes that the space, located on the ground floor of Hodges Hall off Beechurst Avenue, has been in the making for 25 years. “The community has been trying to organize it for that long,” she says. “The time was right.”

The spacious center features a large lounge, a seminar room, a computer lab, and a classroom, to be used by those who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or their allies and supporters, hence the “+” at the end of the acronym.

Members of the community can attend events— planned for mid-October were Safe Zone workshops to inform participants about the WVU program to work with those who accept LGBTQ students, as well as a screening of the documentary After Stonewall.

“The center is here to provide advocacy to students, faculty, and staff to be sure that the very equitable policies that we already have are put into practice,” Mayo says. The WVU Board of Governors adopted a guideline—Policy 44—in 2006 that has been amended a few times in recent years that addresses diversity, inclusiveness, and discrimination.

Already, Mayo says, she and program coordinator Jorge Castillo have met with transgender students “to talk about their needs on campus when we found they have run into difficulties.” For instance, Mayo or Castillo can approach the person or department in question “and talk about the need to be sensitive to the chosen name and preferred pronoun.” lgbtq.wvu.edu written by mary wade burnside 26

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

WATCHTHIS

Love Letters

Chris Sarandon and Joanna Gleason team up for a performance as a WVPT fundraiser. ➼ THE TWO-PERSON PLAY Love Letters, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, has drawn many actors together, some of whom have connections of their own. Last year, Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal, known for the 1970 film Love Story, went on a national tour with the A.R. Gurney work. Other pairs who have tackled the play, which features two characters who read letters that they wrote to each other during their lives lived apart, include Larry Hagman and Linda Gray, Robert Wagner and Jill St. John, Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels, Elizabeth Taylor and James Earl Jones, and Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross.

Interestingly, Joanna Gleason, who originated the role in 1988, and her husband, Chris Sarandon, who performed a version at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, have not actually done the play together. That will change when the couple brings Love Letters to the Metropolitan Theatre at 7:30 p.m. November 14 as a fundraiser for West Virginia Public Theatre. It all started when WVPT board president Paul Kreider contacted Sarandon, a Beckley native and WVU alum, and asked if he and Gleason would be interested. “I said, ‘Yes, absolutely, we would love to do it,’” Sarandon says during a telephone interview from the Connecticut home the couple shares.

Sarandon shot to fame when he was nominated for an Academy Award for 1975’s Dog Day Afternoon, and Gleason is a Tony Award winner for Into the Woods who has appeared in films such as Mr. Holland’s Opus. Being married will make it easier for the couple to perform the play, she says. “We are emotionally connected. You’ll be able to tell that. You’ll be able to fill in the spaces between the letters from the 25 years of history we have.”

To read the full story on Sarandon and Gleason, go to morgantownmag.com. And to get tickets for the performance, check out wvpublictheatre.org. written by mary wade burnside

GREG ELLIS, WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY; WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC THEATRE

New center offers a place to hang out or get help on WVU’s campus.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

27

CELEBRATETHIS

Get Your (Vintage) Motor Running

The Motorcycle Cannonball 2016 Race of the Century makes a pit stop in Morgantown. ➼ IMAGINE STROLLING INTO town on a warm September day, the sun shining and birds chirping. Then you hear the roar of motorcycles in the distance. If they don’t look like ordinary bikes, that’s because they aren’t. It’s the fifth annual Motorcycle Cannonball 2016 Race of the Century passing through Morgantown, headed to make an appearance at Triple S Harley-Davidson.

Riders came from all over the world— England, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Poland, Australia, and more—and 26 states. During the event, qualifying participants ride their motorcycles from one coast to the other. But the biggest aspect of the race is that the bikes have to be more than 100 years old. That means, for this year’s race, the bikes were made in the year 1916 or earlier. This requires the motorcycles to be outfitted with their original engines, transmissions, tanks, and other parts. Riders do have to add lights, brakes, mirrors, and new tires for safety.

The race started September 9 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and 3,330 miles later finished on September 25 in Carlsbad, 28

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

California, taking 16 days to complete plus a day for the riders to do major fixes on their bikes. The race takes a different route each year. Last year, motorcyclists rode from Daytona Beach, Florida, to Tacoma, Washington—about 4,100 miles.

This year, Triple S co-owner Cliff Sutherland pulled some strings and got the riders to go through Morgantown. For the race’s second day, Triple S opened its doors and shop for repairs and to let the public cheer participants on as they got ready for their third day of riding. “Every time we stop there is some type of maintenance we have to do so the bike can make it for the next day,” says Mark Loewen of Sacramento, California.

All riders have course maps that tell them where they need to go, Loewen says.

The map is a paper scroll that tells riders the mileage to the next turn. “You have to make sure you match your mileage to your directions. It’s basically an antique GPS.” The riders have plenty to do to prepare their bikes to make it across the country.

Bill Page of Augusta, Kansas, says, “They weren’t used for the purpose that

we’re using them for, so the preparation that we have to go through to make the bikes be able to go from coast to coast is to make them look like they’re old but modernize everything inside.”

Page has a 1915 Harley and he says, in the period that these bikes were made, the speed limit was about 10 miles per hour. Getting the bikes to go five times faster than that is hard work for the riders and their teams.

Says Jeff Erdman of Wisconsin, “You pretty much have to rebuild the motorcycle and get it ready to run on modern-day fuels. You have to make sure it is road-ready and safe.”

He added a front brake, modern rims, and tires to his bike.

When the bikes do break down and need to be fixed, riders work as fast as possible so they can reach the goal for that day to get a perfect score. “You have an allotted amount of time to do an allotted amount of miles each day,” Loewen says. “As long as you do those miles in that time, you have a perfect score for that day.”

Riders had to strive to make sure they made their goals each day, but it didn’t always work out that way. Erdman was patiently waiting at Triple S for his bike to arrive after breaking down. “These West Virginia hills are tough on these bikes.” He fortunately got all the parts he needed to fix his 1916 Harley so he could be back in the race for the next day. motorcyclecannonball.com written by CAMI COULTER

CASEY JO

THIS MATTERS

THIS MATTERS

FOLLOWTHIS

Sunday’s Wild Once designated a time of rest, the seventh day is now under consideration for hunting and earlier cocktails in Mon County.

➼ HEATHER STEPHENS TICKS OFF the reasons why she enjoys Sunday brunch at the Iron Horse Tavern. “I like that they have a good selection. I like the atmosphere of the place. It’s close to my home. I really think they have fantastic food, and a great selection, and a lot of it is locally sourced.”

And Stephens really likes to go to brunch before 1 p.m.—when the long line usually forms—and still enjoy a bloody mary with her meal.

Since earlier this month, Stephens and other Morgantown diners have been able to order wine and cocktails as early as 10 a.m., usually when brunch starts, rather than waiting until 1 p.m. The Home Rule Oversight Committee, and then

Morgantown City Council, approved the ordinance in early October, as the leaves began to turn the same hues as mimosas and bloody marys. The issue also has a chance to pass in the entire county during the general election on November 8.

In mid-March, the West Virginia Legislature approved a bill that allows counties—or cities with home rule—to put the decision to a vote. Before Morgantown, several other cities successfully had, including Bluefield, Charleston, Clarksburg, Lewisburg, Martinsburg, Shepherdstown, and South Charleston.

Will all of Mon County be next?

Eldon A. Callen, president of the Mon County Commission, does not know, but he does believe a direct correlation exists between the issue and another one that will be put to the voters: Sunday hunting. “I think what really motivated—actually, I know what motivated them, because they called me about it—was that people heard that the brunch bill was going to be considered and I got calls from a couple of people who said, ‘I heard they were going to start serving liquor on Sunday morning. I don’t drink. Why can’t I go hunting?”

It actually has been about 15 years since the Legislature allowed the hunting issue to go to county voters. Many jurisdictions considered it, including Mon County, where it did not pass. Recently, however, that has

changed. “Over the years, the trend has been for more and more counties to adopt Sunday hunting,” says Paul Johansen, resources section chief for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Currently, Sunday hunting is allowed—only on private land with the permission of the owner—in 22 counties, according to the DNR’s website. That means, at least for now, 33 counties, including Monongalia, do not allow it. “The pro side of Sunday hunting is that it’s a day that most people have off,” Johansen says. “Most folks don’t have to work Sunday and it provides a recreational opportunity for those interested in hunting.”

Callen also proffers the hope that Sunday hunting would be an economic boon for the state. Whatever happens on November 8, however, it will not change the date for the start of the Thanksgiving-week buck firearms season, which will be Monday, November 21. “The hunting season as established doesn’t open on that Sunday, it opens on Monday,” Johansen says. “The code also says you can’t hunt on a Sunday if it precedes the Monday opening of a biggame season. It’s kind of a moot point.”

That might be a disappointment for some hunters, but now that Iron Horse Tavern co-owner Stephen Dilettoso has his way, they can drown their sorrows in a bellini— or one of the restaurant’s new cold brewed coffee cocktails—over brunch instead, which he asserts also has positive economic implications. Before the ordinance passed, the restaurant would get out-of-state visitors from the Clarion Hotel Morgan across the street. Often, when they learned that the Iron Horse Tavern could not serve alcohol until 1 p.m., they would leave.

An economist, diner Stephens thinks of all the visitors who attend Saturday football games who might make a day of it in Morgantown on Sunday now that they can start out with a nice cocktail instead of heading back home first thing.

And as an observer who has noticed how busy restaurants previously got at 1 p.m.

Sunday, she knew the demand existed, and she looks forward to shorter lines as the ordinance will spread out brunch.

“This will help local restaurants increase their business on Sunday mornings, which could mean more restaurant options in the Morgantown area for both residents and visitors, as well as increased tax revenues.” written by MARY WADE BURNSIDE MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

29

THIS MATTERS THISMATTERS TO

Bernie Worley ➼ A CASUAL PASSERBY probably would not detect that tucked behind a fence in the Greenmont neighborhood live four chickens— Buffy, Dottie, Loretta, and Ivy. Bernie Worley, a lawyer by trade, bought them one day on a whim. “Everyone needs some chickens,” he says. He considers the “ladies” as much his pets as his Eskimopoodle mix, Buster, except he can collect their brown or white eggs for cooking or gifts. But now he fears that an ordinance under consideration by Morgantown City Council might make it more difficult to keep his chickens, which would have to be a certain distance from the road and his neighbors, who have given him permission to keep his motley crew of layers. Originally intended to promote urban agriculture, the ordinance has some gardeners and chicken owners worried about restrictions on where they can grow tomatoes or keep their flocks. It will be reworked and presented to the Committee of the Whole in late October or November, says Interim City Manager Glen Kelly. written by MARY WADE BURNSIDE photographed by CARLA WITT FORD

On how he got started I grew up in southern West Virginia but I didn’t know a thing about chickens or farming. I’m big on researching, so I bought several books and did a bunch of research. I sectioned off a portion of yard, bought a chicken coop, and that was pretty much it.

On having excess eggs They pile up. I give them to neighbors, family members, and co-workers. I collect egg cartons. Everybody knows to keep them for me. When I have 12, I give them away.

On what he feeds his flock I throw them compost: grass clippings, leftover food—sans chicken. I won’t make them cannibals. I gave them two buckets of canned tomato scraps and they ate them all in a day.

On checking with his neighbors I talked to everybody before I got them and said that I may need written permission, and if there is ever any problem, let me know immediately. There is one neighbor that I’m not close to who hasn’t said anything. Everybody else lets them in and out when I’m out of town. There hasn’t been any problem at all.

On regulating urban agriculture I just think the trend in progressive cities is to be open and inclusive and green and sustainable. I don’t think additional regulations really promote that.

If somebody has to get a permit to put in a garden for six cucumbers, they are probably not going to do it.

DISH IT OUT

The Business of Baking

The partnering of Apple Annie’s and the Beanery creates new food options in Morgantown.

I

f you’ve biked the rail-trail or driven to Point Marion to salivate over the mile-high meringue pies at Apple Annie’s, you’ve probably been excited by the location that opened on Don Knotts Boulevard in June.

Apple Annie’s was established in 1991 in Point Marion, Pennsylvania, providing a sit-down atmosphere with unique pastry and entrée options. Fast forward to 2014, when native Fairmont brothers Peter and Patrick Padula purchased the restaurant and decided to open a new location in 2016 in Morgantown. Business has been growing ever since.

To make the most of bringing Apple Annie’s to Morgantown, the Padulas, along

with the owners of Boston Beanery and Beanery American Grill—developer Parry Petroplus and lawyer Rocky Gianola— joined their businesses under the umbrella of The Catering Company, which in turn falls under the corporate control of the Boston Hospitality Group, in the summer of 2015.

All four owners have a stake in the Boston Hospitality Group and each company works as a subsidiary to the corporation.

And to serve all establishments, they brought on Todd Washburn as executive chef of The Catering Company. Coming from a managerial position at Oliverio’s Ristorante that he held for 18 years, Washburn collaborates with a team of cooks and bakers. “We work off of an order

system; they send orders of what they need.

If one local store was really busy the night before and they need [a specific ingredient], we can get it to them,” Washburn says.

“Local,” by the Catering Company standards, is within a 35-mile radius. When they bought Apple Annie’s, the Padulas wanted to work with multiple concepts within the small area. This allows the company to focus on building the local brand before expanding. Morgantown could handle a second Apple Annie’s location, Peter says, but the focus right now is getting this one renovated and products in customers’ hands.

Having The Catering Company in the same building allows the birth of not just sweet treats, but salty ones as well.

Coupled with the dessert-style brioche pastries are ones filled with pulled pork or pepperoni. Those precious West Virginia pepperoni rolls? Don’t fret, those will be offered as well.

The simple treats are the ones that fly off the shelf, however. “Cookies go like crazy,” Washburn says. “When I first started here, we were making cookies once or twice a week; now we make cookies five times a day.”

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

31

DISH IT OUT

Apple Annie’s dishes it out

NINE-INCH DUTCH APPLE PIE Select tart, firm, juicy apples.

One pound of apples equals three medium apples or 3 cups of sliced apples. This recipe uses one pastry for the bottom crust only.

Filling ¾ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/3 teaspoon nutmeg 2 tablespoons flour Six to seven cups of apples Topping ½ cup flour ½ cup sugar 3 tablespoons butter 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Peel and quarter apples, remove cores, and slice 1/4-inch thick.

2. Mix filling ingredients in mixing bowl. For more tartness, add a splash of lemon juice. Line pie pan with pastry shell. Pour mixture into pie pan with unbaked pastry shell.

3. Mix topping ingredients in separate bowl with a pastry blender until pieces are small and crumbly; sprinkle over apple mixture already in pie pan.

4. Bake for 50 minutes or until topping is crispy and golden brown. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

32

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

What allowed this unique combination in catering was the shift of the corporate offices to Morgantown, which is central to its eight locations. “One of the benefits of having a centralized kitchen is, we have more room than most restaurants to cook and bake in bulk,” Peter says. “We share Apple Annie’s and The Catering Company simply because we’ve got the storage.”

The West Virginia Grand Bash for WVU Medicine Children’s, the Bob Huggins Fish Fry, and St. Francis’ Annual Picnic were catered by the business.

The Catering Company may operate with the menus of Apple Annie’s and the Beanery American Grill, but it can create anything the customer desires. “We try to do a little bit of everything, even on special orders; people order things that aren’t offered anywhere else,” Peter says.

The joining of the companies has

created a slow rebranding process.

The High Street location still operates under the name Boston Beanery but will soon follow the other sites with a name change to Beanery American Grill, becoming one restaurant. The Boston Hospitality Group has its eyes set on July 2017. “So much is involved with changing a brand, especially one everyone is so familiar with,” Peter says. The Catering Company, he adds, “became more involved with the bakery than we ever planned, so we are putting more attention on that now.” As with any growing business, you grow into what the demand is. And right now, Apple Annie’s is thriving and ready to compete for your taste buds. written by CODY ROANE photographed by CARLA WITT FORD

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

33

D.L. Hamilton in front of the Dry House after Marsha Ferber’s April 1988 disappearance.

Missing Marsha Some time in the evening of Monday, April 25, 1988, Gary Perkins dropped his friend Marsha Ferber off in front of her Underground Railroad nightclub on Pleasant Street.

At least, he said he did.

Anyway, they’d had lunch somewhere north of Pittsburgh—that’s known.

Or maybe not.

Maybe the last place Ferber was definitely seen was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the 23rd.

She hasn’t been seen since. written by pam kasey

34

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

COURTESY OF D.L. HAMILTON

In any case, the following Sunday, May 1, her tenant Jack Herbert contacted the Morgantown Police Department to report her missing.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

35

CENTER COURTESY OF D.L. HAMILTON; COLLAGE IMAGES COURTESY OF

DUFF MCINTOSH (2); MARSHA FERBER

H

ow long would it take you to be certain someone you love has gone missing? Maybe it would come quickly: She would be absent from a job or a class, or he wouldn’t come home to cook dinner. But what if it’s an adult with grown children, no spouse, and a fluid work life? Certainty could take days.

That’s how it was with Marsha Ferber.

The chance of finding out what really happened in April 1988 now seems very slim. But the contradictions in Ferber’s last days and the not-yet-healed wound left by her disappearance keep speculation alive.

Jewish Earth Mother

36

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

writing like crazy.’ Nobody else said things like that to me. She was one of those kind of sparkplug people who could get the fire going and it seemed like a controlled burn.”

Ferber did the same with people from all camps: college dropouts, prison inmates, a single pregnant woman in need of support. “She was a hub in a wheel that, the spokes might have been very distinct, but she made the bigger circle where we could embrace one another, because that’s how much you trusted Marsha’s instincts,” Hamilton says. “She had a gift for making people feel loved and listened to. She had this little hobbit office, because she was only 5 foot. You’d be coming up the stairs and she’d say, ‘Ah, there you are, the love of my life!’

And you felt like you were.”

When a Friend Goes Missing Easter and Passover coincided on the first weekend of April in 1988. Hamilton had moved to Baltimore, and Ferber and another old friend gathered at her place for the holidays. In a phone conversation on Saturday the 23rd, Ferber enthused over the idea of buying the Metropolitan Theatre on High Street.

“Then I got a call on, I’ll say, Tuesday, in Baltimore, asking if I knew where Marsha was,” Hamilton says. “She made a point of being at the bar if it was a band that had not played there before, and that was going to happen on Wednesday. When she still hadn’t shown up on Wednesday, I knew.”

A lot of people’s lives intersected Ferber’s: Underground Office Manager Michelle Wolford, Ferber’s right hand; Randy Williams, her partner at the bar; Jack Herbert, who lived on the second floor, below Ferber, at 121 Pleasant Street. And others.

Hamilton came to Morgantown on Friday and they all hashed it out.

PHOTOGRAPH USED ON MAY 1988 MISSING PERSONS POSTER

Marsha Carol Bodin grew up in Massachusetts, then New Jersey. She and her husband, Sam Ferber, had two boys in the 1960s and ran a politically progressive bookstore in Madison, New Jersey, in the early ’70s called Make Up Your Mind. At some point, they came to West Virginia with another couple from New Jersey, to Calhoun County, and started a commune called Mudd Farm. Then the Ferbers split up.

“And that’s what caused her to move to Morgantown,” says D.L. Hamilton, who thinks Ferber made the move, with one of the boys, in the mid-’70s.

“I first knew her as someone who had a communal living space and was the ‘Jewish Earth Mother’ of Morgantown,” Hamilton says of Ferber—a woman whose memory conjures words like “witty,” “short,” “funny,” “energetic,” and “organized,” but, most often, “mother.” Hamilton was in law school at the time, and she didn’t live at Ferber’s Earth House on College Avenue but ate her meals there. The two women got involved in the formation of the Mountain People’s Co-op and, for years, co-edited The Lovin’ FORCful, the newspaper of the Federation of Ohio River Co-ops—“a very political, foodcentered paper with rampant copyright infringements of any good cartoon we could find.”

About 1981, Hamilton left Morgantown for Charleston and distant destinations of political activism. And Ferber decided to “go into the bar business,” Hamilton says. “She really didn’t like the alcohol part of it, but the music and communal part she totally liked.” Ferber started the Underground Railroad at 123 and 125 Pleasant Street in 1982.

It’s hard to overstate the hotbed the Underground ’80s was for Morgantown’s music and politics crowds. Part of that grew out of the range and caliber of acts Ferber brought in, performers like the up-and-coming Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bo Diddley, and Wynton Marsalis—an eclectic mix that drew an eclectic community. Part of it was right place–right time: With the campus radio station U92 also taking to the airwaves around then, town crackled. And part of it was ideas, through political fundraisers at the bar and talks by counterculture provocateurs like psychedelic drug researcher Timothy Leary and activist Abbie Hoffman.

But the largest part of the vitality of the scene at the Underground, and at the all-ages Dry House Ferber later started next door at 121, came from Ferber herself. “She was a real mother figure to so many young people,” recalls Todd Burge, then a WVU student and member of the bands The Larries and 63 Eyes, and since a full-time professional musician. “When I was stuck, wasn’t writing songs, going through a dry spell, Marsha said, ‘You need to get out there on the road, tour, see some of the world—you’ll start

which she would have never done before. When she would come out in the light of day, she’d joke and act like a vampire having to be out in the sun, because her world did become very nighttime–bar scene.

It wasn’t all the love and the light of days gone past.”

There were drugs—and not just cheap, social marijuana, Hamilton says. “It was cocaine, the opposite of all that. It was Contra war. It was expensive, it was stingy, it was exclusionary.”

The MPD found that Ferber was “heavily involved in the narcotics trade,” according to the case file, and Hamilton doesn’t dispute that. “Cocaine was something she wouldn’t be open about with me, because she knew I hated it. But she was in a position to have it made available to her a lot.”

Cohen doesn’t dispute it either. In the late ’90s, she chased down Not All the Love and the Light leads in the police file that she felt needed more attention. “The Deborah Cohen knew Ferber as a fun, loving aunt. “When our family would visit Marsha in Morgantown, we’d go to Maxwell’s, understanding I came to was that some of her friends knew she was and she knew everybody and their stories,” recalls Cohen of visits getting herself into things that maybe she shouldn’t, but they were kind of staying away from it. She was essentially a good person to the iconic vegetarian-friendly diner downtown. “She gave me a dream pillow and incense when I graduated from high school— and if she made mistakes, I think it was because she either had a financial issue or was trying to help somebody.” Cohen stopped that was the kind of thing she did.”

Cohen, daughter of Ferber’s older brother, was a student at the her investigation short of tracking down Perkins, the ex-convict University of Michigan when her aunt went missing. “Everybody who said he’d dropped Ferber off that Monday, at the concerned urging of her husband and parents. “Also, if Marsha had decided just assumed she’d gone on a road trip or something like that, which I don’t think was completely unusual for her,” she says. “It to disappear and wasn’t getting in touch with people—there was still a feeling that that was what was happening—we didn’t want took a while for us to realize that she was truly gone. Then my parents went into almost ‘detective’ mode. There were constant to find her anyway because that was what she wanted.”

What happened next was slow-motion wrenching. Wolford and phone calls with the police over the course of that summer, and I believe with the FBI. It was like every day there was a different an associate kept the Underground going for a while. Hamilton’s family had helped Ferber buy the buildings and, when they ended scenario as to what might have happened.”

Most scenarios acknowledged that Ferber’s motherly inclusiveness up buying them outright at auction to avoid losing their investment, “that was the beginning of 10 years of hell of me trying to hold it had become a little too inclusive. “I could tell things had gotten together as an absentee landlord,” Hamilton says. Best among the dark,” Hamilton remembers. “Marsha started smoking cigarettes,

COURTESY OF D.L. HAMILTON

“The Morgantown police would not do anything about an adult until they’d been missing for a week,” Hamilton says. “And some people said, ‘You don’t get the police involved in Marsha’s life.’

Some were sure Marsha was just out doing something. Some were convinced she’d gone into witness protection or went underground for whatever reason. I knew that wasn’t it, because her leather jacket was on the coat rack and it had some hundreds of dollars in it.”

Ferber’s purse lay in her apartment. Her Toyota Tercel sat in a pay lot. People kept feeding the meter.

On Sunday afternoon, May 1, Herbert called the Morgantown Police Department (MPD) to report her missing.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

37

club tenants was the fondly remembered Nyabinghi Dance Hall.

The city condemned the properties in the late ’90s. Morgantown native L.J. Giuliani offered to buy them from Hamilton, and he now operates the popular 123 Pleasant Street nightclub. Although Giuliani never met Ferber, he says he’s heard countless stories.

“The biggest impact for me is the foundation she laid down back in the ’80s when she opened the Underground Railroad. More than anything, we have tried to hold to the spirit and vibe that she helped cultivate on Pleasant Street.”

Contradictions Ferber would now be 75. The MPD’s case remains open—cold in the sense of “old and unsolved” but not in the sense of “inactive.”

It’s lodged with the FBI’s National Crime Information Center and Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, so potentially related evidence that turns up anywhere is shared with the MPD. During an August 2016 interview about the case, Chief Ed Preston pulled out information about evidence found elsewhere in 1996, 1997, and 1999 that turned out to be unrelated to Ferber. And there have been other instances.

Contradictions in Ferber’s last known location furrow eyebrows. Preston says the police file has it as Fort Lauderdale, on April 23. But a newspaper account from the time said she told co-workers on the 25th she was taking the afternoon off and would be back in the evening, and that’s consistent with Perkins’ story. Asked about the discrepancy, Preston says the authorities found no independent confirmation of Ferber’s location after the 23rd—no credit card receipts, no multiple eyewitnesses. No proof she and Perkins had dinner north of Pittsburgh or came back from there together. No proof, it seems, she ever came home from Florida. And, as Preston says, “Florida, that was synonymous with cocaine in the ’80s.”

Hamilton doesn’t recall Ferber having been in Florida at that time. And the MPD is keeping the Fort Lauderdale evidence from the public because the details could confirm a future informant’s true knowledge of the case.

Witness protection is still a possibility. If the FBI constructs a new identity for a witness, Preston says, it doesn’t spare the family a heartbreaking missing persons search by cluing them in, even if the search goes on for decades. Only when the person leaves witness protection voluntarily or dies in the program is anyone ever notified.

Morgantown Police Department Chief Ed Preston reviews notes from the still-open case of Marsha Ferber’s 1988 disappearance. Facial reconstruction of a body found in the Gulf of Mexico in 1999 showed it was not Ferber. “Leads have been followed all around the country for years,” Preston says.

38

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

“It was like an epiphany one winter night,” Hamilton says—this was early 2013. “‘The 25th anniversary is coming up. If I don’t do it now it might never happen.’” With a group of organizers putting key pieces in place for Memorial Day weekend—music at 123 Pleasant Street on Friday and Saturday nights, a Saturday exhibit of memorabilia at Arts Monongahela, and a Sunday picnic by the river at Twin Spruce Marina including Ferber’s favorite, barbecue tofu—a reunion came together almost organically, she says.

“Once the band Gene Pool jumped on the bill—a Morgantown band that hadn’t played for 20-some years—it was like everybody wanted to play,” says Burge of organizing Saturday’s rock ’n’ roll line-up. Th’Inbred, also popular and long disbanded, signed on, as did Burge’s The Larries and 63 Eyes and a full evening of local bands with Underground histories. “Those tickets went online and it was like, seven minutes, they sold out.” Some of the musicians had been performing through the years. “They were good back in the

PAM KASEY

Closure is Hard to Come By

n’t go ba ck They say you ca ?

But who are they ay rber la st Satu rd I saw Marsha Fe pu nk song In the blast of a Way too shor t Jones chan nel George In the stru gg le to vi ng her I’l l never stop lo ay rber la st Satu rd I saw Marsha Fe or ched flo In the sweat dren House y Dr Adja cent to a s In the ra dio wave e mosh pit In the eyes of th ay rber la st Satu rd I saw Marsha Fe my ea r She wh ispered in u ... , I’m proud of yo “Good work Todd you” I’m proud of al l of ay rber la st Satu rd I saw Marsha Fe Plea sa nt Street At 123 positively pool In an inbred gene er in g th ga In a powerf ul ily m In a grow in g fa ci rcle In an unbroken ard and ba ck and forw That spins ba ck rber I saw Marsha Fe la st d La st and la st an La st Satu rday Ly rics to rday” Ferber Last Satu “I Saw Marsha 2013 Todd Bu rge, May

FROM TOP: LISA BURGE; BOB WILLIAMS (2)

A May 2013 reunion featured performances by bands whose members Marsha Ferber had nurtured. From the top, Michelle Wolford and Todd Burge; Burge, Perry Kirk, and Mark Pool of 63 Eyes; the crowd rocks out to 63 Eyes.

’80s, but it was mind-blowing how good they were at the reunion,” he says. “You really can go back. Maybe just once.

But we went back.”

As many as 500 people may have been part of the weekend, Hamilton guesses.

Still, the questions smolder under the good feelings.

“It was great to see all the people who still were remembering Marsha 25 years afterwards,” Cohen says. “I think people sort of knew that it was somewhat of a closing ceremony kind of thing.” In her heart of hearts, she now doubts Ferber was or is hiding out. “We all knew she didn’t blend into a crowd that easily. She was not a person who could really stay out of contact.

I think she got caught up in something that she wasn’t able to

handle and that somebody did something to her, probably.”

Burge thinks about Ferber all the time but doesn’t speculate on what happened to her. “It was gratifying to see everybody at the reunion, and it was great to feel Marsha’s presence there,” he says.

“But closure? I don’t really feel that. Something would have to happen. There would have to be new information—they’d have to find something out.”

Hamilton blames cocaine. “She’s gone because of it. I don’t know that as fact, just as my truth.” She, like Burge, feels closure is hard to come by. But she seems to have found some measure of peace. “The 25-year reunion kind of brought us full circle. A big circle that, on some levels, will never be broken.

Full of love—for Marsha, for the music, for Morgantown.”

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

39

PLENTY OF ROOM(S) A check-in of the area’s new hotels reveals modern amenities—and a hope for higher occupancy.

written by

40

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

Mary Wade Burnside

I

NIKKI BOWMAN

t used to be, when the motorcyclists rolled and rumbled into Morgantown for the 10-year-old West Virginia MountainFest, visiting riders might have had to seek shelter at night at a hotel in another town. “Typically, every room is full, not just Morgantown— Fairmont, Bridgeport, Clarksburg, Waynesburg, Preston County, too,” says Cliff Sutherland, the festival’s president. Not this year, though. During the event’s late July run, not even the hotels in Morgantown maxed out.

In a way, that was a good thing, a situation alleviated by two hotels that opened in the past year just down the road from MountainFest’s Mylan Park headquarters—La Quinta Inn & Suites Morgantown and Candlewood Suites Morgantown, both in The Gateway, which is anchored by Sutherland’s Triple S Harley-Davidson. But those were not the only two hotels that entered the Morgantown landscape in recent months. Between November 2015 and April 2016, four hotels, also including the Holiday Inn Morgantown–University Area and Courtyard by Marriott Morgantown, plus the two at The Gateway, have added 474 more rooms for travelers looking for places to lay their heads at night as well as other amenities and comforts that today’s discerning consumer seeks out. That brings the total of rooms in Mon and Preston counties to 2,767, a 21 percent increase.

However, just around the launch of the first hotel, the Holiday Inn, a drop-off in the oil and gas industry meant there were fewer field workers—who had been a key target of Candlewood Suites and La Quinta—needing rooms. That, plus the addition of four hotels around the same time, caused a drop in occupancy that surprised the industry. “At Candlewood, the best occupancy rate we’ve seen is 40 percent,” says Rich Robinson, regional manager for the Morgantown-based Double J Development that built the hotel. “The ramp-up has been really slow.” Notes James Fair, general manager of La Quinta Inn: “We are not hitting projections that were anticipated by ownership, but we are staying competitive within our market. I would say we are hurting slightly, but it’s nothing we can’t bounce back from.”

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

41

The addition of hotel rooms at the same time as a drop in demand has resulted in a nearly 50 percent decrease in occupancy rates in Morgantown for the first half of 2016, down 31 percent from last year, says Bobby Bowers, senior vice president of operations at Nashville-based Smith Travel Research (STR), which tracks hotel performance and calculates the subscription-based STAR Report. “So that’s a huge drop,” Bowers says. “The occupancy rates have been horrible. They’ve been crushed. My guess is that there is a lot of supply, and growth is way, way down.”

The lack of “heads on beds” also means that the revenue per available room, or RPA, has dipped 33 percent, Bowers says. All of this presents challenges to the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is funded by the 6 percent hotel/motel tax that the organization splits with either a municipality or the county, depending on whether the hotel falls within a city’s limits or not.

In 2014, the tax provided a $1.343 million budget for the CVB; in 2015, it dropped slightly to $1.339 million.

Gauging by the first nine months of 2016, when the CVB had collected less than $750,00, that figure appears to be on track to drop even further. “We project we will collect approximately $1 million in taxes by the end of the year,” says Tara Curtis, chair of the CVB’s board of directors.

“We are definitely concerned about the drop-off in hotel/ motel tax, and we are very proactive in adjusting to any changes to our situation as needed.”

Among the CVB’s tasks is to attract visitors to the Morgantown area via promotion of existing attractions and businesses—WVU and the hospitals are two obvious targets—as well as to create and sponsor events that will help bring visitors to the area. Curtis points to Cabela’s King Kat Tournament and the recent Morgantown Marathon.

Tourism is down statewide, notes Kay Fanok, the organization’s conference, meeting, and group sales manager.

However, she adds, Morgantown, with the obvious benefit of the university, and Preston County, with its outdoor recreational opportunities, are better positioned than most.

“Morgantown and Preston counties are holding their own,” Fanok says. “There has been so much growth. I think they are going to see that it works out for everyone.”

Indeed, the Morgantown Area Economic Partnership (MAP) boasts of $1.5 billion in construction currently underway in the area. Holly Childs, the president and CEO of MAP, expects additional hotels to be built in the near future. “There were lots of hotels that built quickly,” Childs says, mentioning the interest in West Ridge Business Park and the new exit 153 off Interstate 79. “It will take a little bit of correction and then I think it will go up. It will certainly rebound and there will be more hotels coming online.

The hotel chains do their homework. There will be some additional hotels coming to the market because they know what’s coming.”

The location of each of the four new hotels makes them ideally suited for specific markets. La Quinta and Candlewood are just off exit 155 of I-79. In addition to benefiting from events such as MountainFest, there also is the hope that a proposed aquatic and track center that could open as early as 2018 at Mylan Park will provide a new 42

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

COURTESY OF LA QUINTA INN & SUITES; COURTESY OF HOLIDAY INN; CARLA WITT FORD; NIKKI BOWMAN

By the Numbers

Courtyard Street, Morgantown Courtyard by Marriott Morgantown | 460 University Town Centre, 304.599.1080 Rates: $119-$289 Total rooms: 107 Most of the rooms with king beds also have pull-out couches; double rooms have queen beds.

Last-minute shopping Guests can buy frozen dinners, ice cream, candy, soda, juice, and basic necessities at the hotel’s 24-hour market.

Sweet dreams Guests can get a good night’s sleep on the hotel’s Serta mattresses.

Splash zone Guests can take a dip in Courtyard by Marriott’s indoor pool.

Tube time Each room equipped with a 32-inch flat-screen high definition TV, with DirectTV and HBO.

Working up a sweat Guests can choose among two treadmills, two elliptical machines, two stationary bicycles, and free weights in a room with a large window that overlooks the city of Morgantown.

Let’s eat All rooms have refrigerators; only suites have microwaves.

Squeaky clean Some rooms have walk-in showers; some have bathtubs with showers.

Fido friendly? Only service animals can stay at the hotel.

Connectivity Guests can check their email, play video games, and watch TV using the hotel’s free highspeed wireless internet; or they can pay an upcharge to get a faster speed.

Grub hub Courtyard

by Marriott features the brand’s in-house restaurant, The Bistro, for breakfast and dinner, and sometimes catered lunches for events.

The restaurant, which has a menu heavy on appetizers, sandwiches, and salads, also offers a full bar.

Clean clothes Guests can do their laundry in the on-site, coin-operated washer and dryer, although dry cleaning is not available.

Gather together Courtyard by Marriott has two meeting rooms at 900 square feet and 300 square feet, which can be opened up to create a 1,200-square-foot space.

Is there an app for that? Guests can use the Marriott Mobile Check-In app so when they arrive, they just have to pick up their keys.

BONUS FEATURES “We have a beautiful fire pit out back, so people tend to like to go there,” says general manager Ursula Myhalsky.

“It overlooks the city, so they can go out there and relax any time of day or evening.”

NIKKI BOWMAN

Morning boost Breakfast isn’t complimentary but guests can choose items from The Bistro’s menu.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

43

Willie G Avenue, Westover Candlewood Suites Morgantown | 7200 304.241.2411

Total rooms: 82 There are 15 suites; 41 single rooms with king beds, 20 double rooms with queen beds; six handicapped-accessible rooms: three doubles and three singles with king beds.

Sweet dreams All the beds feature pillowtop mattresses.

Tube time Each room is equipped with a 42-inch flatscreen TV with DirectTV featuring 100-plus channels—more than half in high definition—and six HBO channels; DVD players in every room.

Let’s eat All rooms have full-size refrigerators; microwaves; cooktops; garbage disposals; dishwashers; and fully stocked cabinets with pots, pans, utensils, and dishes.

Squeaky clean One room features an accessible, walk-in shower; others have bathtubs and showers.

Fido friendly? Yes, pets under 80 pounds are welcome, and the outdoor area includes a place to walk dogs.

Connectivity Free wireless high-speed internet allows guests to cruise the web or stream their favorite shows or movies.

Grub hub Candlewood does not have an in-house restaurant, but room service is provided by The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille, which also is within walking distances for hungry guests. “The menus are in all of the rooms,” says general manager Rich Robinson. Guests can “hit a button and they bring over the food.”

44

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

Morning boost Candlewood does not offer complimentary breakfast, but the hotel’s pantry has free fruit and coffee in the morning.

Last-minute shopping In addition to snacks and soda, the hotel’s 24-hour pantry is stocked with “all the items you forgot from home,” as well as supermarket products such as butter and milk.

Splash zone Candlewood does not have a pool.

Working up a sweat The fitness center offers two treadmills, three elliptical machines, an exercise bike, and a weight machine.

Clean clothes Three washers and dryers are on-site for guests to use for free.

Hotel workers also have taken guests’ items to the dry cleaner at Giant Eagle at University Town Centre.

Gather together Candlewood does not have conference rooms.

Is there an app for that?

No, but guests can take advantage of express check-out with the receipt under their doors.

BONUS FEATURES Guests can borrow, for free, items including a juicer, a George Foreman Grill, more than 100 DVDs, and board games such as Sorry from the hotel’s lending locker. The hotel also offers guests the opportunity to spend time at a gazebo outfitted with two grills and a smoker during the summer.

“That is where people go out and cook and grill out,” Robinson says.

“At the Candlewood in Washington (Pennsylvania), guests put together a potluck. It was great.”

CARLA WITT FORD

Rates: $69-$104 a night depending on room and length of stay.

Holiday Inn Morgantown – University Area |

1188 Pineview Drive, Morgantown 304.241.6649

Rates: $119-$149, except for special events, including football weekends and graduation.

Total rooms: 190 Rooms have either one king or two queen beds, and four of the king rooms are suites with full-size refrigerators, Keurig coffeemakers, and microwaves, kitchenettes with cabinets and sinks, as well as sleeper sofas.

Sweet dreams The beds have Simmons Beautyrest mattresses, and all the king beds are California kings, which are the same width as a typical king but longer from headboard to footboard.

Tube time Rooms come equipped with 42-inch flatscreen high definition TVs, with regular cable channels and HBO. Let’s eat The non-suites offer mini fridges, microwaves, and Keurig coffeemakers.

Squeaky clean The hotel has a mixture of walk-in showers and shower-tub combos.

Fido friendly? Pets can stay if they are 25 pounds or under, with a $25 nonrefundable pet fee.

Connectivity The hotel offers free, high-speed internet throughout.

Grub hub Guests can take advantage of the on-site, full-service Atria’s Restaurant, a Pittsburgh-based establishment that also has a bar.

COURTESY OF HOLIDAY INN MORGANTOWN

Morning boost No complimentary breakfast is offered but Atria’s opens at 6:30 a.m. for early risers who need to grab a bite before heading out.

Last-minute shopping The Sundry Shop is open 24 hours a day and has everything from snacks and sodas to personal items, detergent and fabric sheets, and microwavable shelf-stable meals.

Splash zone Guests can swim in the hotel’s 512-square-foot indoor pool and also lounge around an outside deck.

Working up a sweat Three treadmills, two ellipticals, a stationary bicycle, and free weights give guests plenty of options for working out in the hotel’s fitness center.

Clean clothes Guests can do their laundry in a credit card-operated washer and dryer. The hotel also works with American Dry Cleaning for guests who need help with non-washable items.

Gather together The hotel has a 4,600-square-foot ballroom that can be divided with air walls based on the needs of clients into three smaller rooms, said Krissy Garrett, the hotel’s director of sales.

The office The hotel also offers a 24-hour business center, complete with computers, printers, and office supplies, that guests can use, “whether they need to check email print out a boarding pass,” Garrett says.

Is there an app for that?

Holiday Inn is just rolling out a new app that guests can use for mobile check-in. “You can check in mobile-ly from your phones and stop by the desk and get the key to the room,” said general manager Todd Richmond. The app should be in place in Morgantown by November 1.

BONUS FEATURES Richmond likes to point out the abundance of free parking that the Holiday Inn offers, something that not all hotels in Morgantown can do. That comes in handy during home games, when guests can partake in tailgate parties catered by Atria’s. When game time comes, they can ride a shuttle over to Milan Puskar Stadium or make the 15-to-20-minute walk.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

45

Rates: $79-$109 Total rooms: 95 Doubles have queen beds and some singles have standard king beds, while others are executive king bedrooms, which are one and a half times larger than the standard, offering additional living space including another TV and a couch that pulls out into a twin bed.

Sweet dreams Guests comment favorably on the hotel’s Serta pillowtop mattresses, says general manager James Fair. “Hotels are analyzing where they should invest revenue,” he says. “When it comes to beds, it’s important. Nobody wants to sleep on a poor mattress.”

Tube time All rooms feature 42-inch flat-screen, high definition Samsung TVs with 64 channels, including premium programming such as HBO and Showtime.

Let’s eat All rooms have refrigerators and microwaves.

Squeaky clean More hotels are going toward walk-in glass showers, Fair says, so the king bedrooms do not have bathtubs. Those who like a good soak can stay in one of the queen rooms.

Fido friendly? Animal friends are allowed to stay at La Quinta without a pet deposit.

Connectivity The hotel offers free wireless internet throughout the entire building.

Grub hub La Quinta does not have an in-house restaurant but is accessible to the nearby Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille via a staircase in the parking lot adjacent to the hotel.

Travelers also can drive down the road and easily hit one of the many restaurants at University Town Centre.

Morning boost The complimentary breakfast features a buffet of hot items such as biscuits and gravy, eggs, and sausage daily, as

46

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

5000 Gateway Drive, Westover 304.241.4501 well as a waffle station, pastries, yogurt, oatmeal, fruit, coffee, and juice.

Last-minute shopping The hotel’s 24-hour pantry offers soda, juice, bottled water, tea, freezer foods including dinners and ice cream, microwave pizza, shelves of snacks, and personal items that guests might have left at home.

Splash zone The 30-by-14-foot indoor heated pool is a good place to lounge and play.

Working up a sweat Guests can get their workout with one of three treadmills, an elliptical machine, free weights, a multi-purpose strength machine, medicine balls, and yoga mats. “We get comments quite often about large it is,” Fair says of the gym.

“It’s a pretty nice space.”

Clean clothes Guests have access to two sets of washers and dryers, coin-operated, 24 hours a day, and if they need detergent, they can buy some in the hotel’s pantry.

Gather together The hotel’s meeting room can seat around 40 to 50 people and is equipped with a whiteboard and audiovisual equipment including a projector and drop-down screen. The hotel offers catering and beverage services upon request.

Is there an app for that?

Guests can take advantage of an app to help them check into the hotel as well as a service that will text or email them when their rooms are ready. The Instant Hold app allows visitors to find a La Quinta location near them and book rooms at the touch of a button. “The room is reserved and you don’t need a name or a credit card,” Fair says. “Our front desk will contact you and ask when you are coming and your preferences.”

Once a room is booked, the Ready For You service allows guests to go online and ask for a text or email to find out when the room is ready.

COURTESY OF LA QUINTA INN & SUITES

La Quinta Inn & Suites Morgantown |

COURTESY OF HOLIDAY INN MORGANTOWN

source of guests. A 2-minute drive from Mon General Hospital, the Holiday Inn not only gets business from that facility but also the nearby Morgantown campus for WVU Medicine, as well as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and, of course, Milan Puskar Stadium.

And the Courtyard by Marriott’s University Town Centre address not only affords great views of downtown Morgantown but also provides a natural place for visitors attending a West Virginia Black Bears baseball game or a WVU basketball game down Monongahela Boulevard at the Coliseum. Still, “We anticipated that our occupancy would grow faster than it did,” says general manager Ursula Myhalsky. “With the decrease in demand due to the decrease in oil and gas, that definitely impacted all of us. We expected to have higher occupancy. We’ve been open six months and it’s just not as fast as we would have liked.” However, the early September opening of exit 153 on the west side of University Town Centre has prompted more motorists to drive by the Courtyard by Marriott, Myhalsky says. “It’s easier to get here now and the exposure of people taking the exit—the awareness is just continuing to build.”

Buffington believes will add to the hotel’s appeal. “Most travelers today travel with a minimum of three devices, so there will be connectivity ports throughout each room. They take showers, not baths, so you will see most of the inventory with new walk-in showers. And really, millennials don’t hang out in rooms. They drop off their bags and go. So there are not a lot of drawers. They don’t unpack, so there is a lot of open shelving.” La Quinta’s Fair notes that his hotel also was designed with the modern tourist in mind, including with the option of the walk-in shower. “I’m not sure if it’s more cost-efficient, but it adds a bit of extra quality to the bathroom.”

Then there is football season. The Big 12 has changed the way visitors use area hotels, says Cindy Coffindaffer Colasante, director of marketing and visitor services at the CVB. “Once we joined the Big 12, game nights changed and it changed the way fans stayed,” she says. The midday games have prompted more stays for one night rather than two. On the flip side, Colasante says, the change also has introduced the area to a new set of visitors who might come back as tourists on non-football weekends.

As football returned to Morgantown in September, hotel officials embraced the uptick in business that the four start-ups Looking Ahead missed last season, with La Quinta’s Fair noting that the LED As the newer hotels get established, existing ones also have been impacted, not only by the downturn in oil and gas but also as visitors lighting that trims the lobby ceiling had been switched to blue and gold to greet Mountaineers fans. “We booked a very big check out the area’s new offerings. However, Neil Buffington, number of rooms for the first football game,” he says. “We can general manager of the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown, only hope after the first game that a lot of people see us and cannot gauge how the new landscape has affected his 207-room know we are here and help drive occupancy for the rest of the establishment. It has been purchased by Stonebridge Companies season.” Robinson, of Candlewood, expressed skepticism even in Colorado and is being converted to the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place, a branding effort that should be completed in early as his occupancy rates rose to their highest level. “There is not enough demand,” he says. “Hotels are saturated.”

2017 after a year of renovations that has naturally kept occupancy But Sutherland remains optimistic that the hotels will weather down. “Building more hotel rooms in our market is not going to create more demand, but we are confident in the product that we will the storm and then be in position to book more rooms, not only be giving to customers, and in the Marriott brand. We are not overly if the oil and gas industry returns, as many predict that it will, concerned. Eventually, drivers like oil and gas will come back. We’re but also with all the other business going on in Morgantown— including, he hopes, the aquatic and track center that will be a hop, lucky to be in the tertiary market associated with the university and skip, and a shuttle ride from the two hotels at The Gateway. “It’s we’re all thankful for that.” going to be a long two years, in my opinion, before the turnaround, The rebranded hotel also has taken millennial consumers into but then I think you’ll see occupancy rates go pretty high.” consideration in the design phase and amenities offered, which MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

47

Stadium 2.0 Updates to Mountaineer Field give fans better accommodations and more room to mingle.

W

hen the new Mountaineer Field opened its gates for the first time in 1980, it was a big upgrade for WVU football. The $22 million stadium seated 12,000 more fans than the old facility that stood near Woodburn Hall from 1924 to 1979. But just like wood paneling and maps of the Soviet Union, some things from the Reagan years occasionally need updating.

That’s why WVU has undertaken a two-phase, $55 million renovation project to give the stadium a new look.

48

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

“We wanted to modernize it,” says Mike Fragale, WVU’s Associate Athletic Director for Communications. “It was to make the fan experience better.”

Fans got their first look at the first phase of construction at WVU’s September 3 season opener against the University of Missouri. Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium—as it was renamed in 2004—now features 10 additional entrance gates on the northeast and northwest concourses. The northeast and southeast gates also have been made easily accessible with the addition of new elevators.

Workers widened the concourse on the east side of the stadium, and the columns are now adorned with murals depicting standout players from WVU’s past, including Jeff Hostetler, Major Harris, and Darryl Talley.

The east-side concession stands, which now offer an additional 25 points-of-sale, are now located at the end of the concourse and are situated so lines won’t interfere with the flow of traffic on the concourse. There also are stand-up tables for patrons and flat-screen televisions above the concession stands, so fans don’t have to miss a minute of the action while they indulge in some of the new offerings—like loaded pepperoni rolls, walking nachos, turkey wraps, and hummus with celery and carrots.

Renovations also include newly remodeled restrooms. A total of 90 stalls have been added to the women’s restrooms.

On the men’s side, urinal troughs have been replaced with individual urinals with dividers in between. Fragale says this is

COURTESY OF WVU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS/ALL-PRO PHOTOGRAHY BY DALE SPARKS

SCOREBOARD

SCOREBOARD

We wanted to modernize it.

It was to make the fan experience better.”

COURTESY OF WVU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS/ALL-PRO PHOTOGRAHY BY DALE SPARKS

MIKE FRAGALE, WVU’S ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR FOR COMMUNICATIONS

the first major upgrade to the concession stands, restrooms, and concourse since the stadium opened 36 years ago. “All that stuff makes a difference.”

And should all those game-day selfies drain your smartphone’s battery, the stadium has been outfitted with a few countertop charging stations. The stadium’s box seats also have been updated, adding padded seats with cup holders, flat-screen televisions, heaters, and privacy glass.

Sean Frisbee, president of the WVU Alumni Association, was at Milan Puskar Stadium on September 3 to see the renovations. “I’m pretty impressed. It looks like a modern stadium. It really is an improvement,” he says. “The added room is amazing. It really opens it up.”

While the stadium had been in need of updates for a while, Frisbee says it wasn’t much of an issue until WVU joined the Big 12. Seeing rivals’ playing fields left WVU fans with stadium envy. “You go to Baylor’s new stadium, and you see a very similar

environment—wide open spaces for people,” he says. “People’s expectations grew.”

Fans seem pleased with the changes, Frisbee says. He spent two hours before WVU’s game against Youngstown State University bouncing among alumni tailgate parties, and everyone was talking about the changes. But the partying didn’t stop in the parking lot. “As I was walking around, you see people just standing around at those tall tables having a great time. Lots of smiles on faces,” he says. Alumni have told him they enjoy going into the stadium earlier now.

“It’s more welcoming.”

The changes have not been without hiccups. At the opening game on September 3, connectivity issues caused problems with ticket scanners. Signals from cell phones and other wireless devices interfered with the frequencies of the wireless scanners. This significantly lengthened the time it took to scan each ticket—a transaction that normally takes only a few seconds—creating a

bottleneck at the gates. “You test all these things before the game starts but when you have a lot more people and a lot more technical devices in the stadium, there’s interference you can’t gauge during the test because you don’t have 60,000 people in there,” says Director of Athletics Shane Lyons. Technicians modified the frequencies of the ticket scanners and, by the following week, the crowds were flowing much more smoothly.

Frisbee says getting through the gates is not a new problem at Mountaineer games.

People often wait until the last minute to enter the stadium, leading to traffic jams.

“If you go down in the lots, you see folks tailgating and hanging out and all of a sudden they say, ‘Hey, we need to get in the stadium.’” He predicts the updates inside the stadium will help resolve the congestion, because the more comfortable accommodations will encourage fans to show up earlier.

The Missouri game also saw long lines at the concession stands. Lyons says this wasn’t a technical issue—just a combination of hot weather, lots of hungry and thirsty fans, and a concessions staff made up of volunteer workers. To shorten wait times, the stadium has created separate kiosks for water and soda sales.

WVU expects to have the remaining renovations to Milan Puskar Stadium completed by the beginning of 2017’s football season. The west side of the stadium and southern concourse will receive the same treatment as the east side and northern concourse—remodeled restrooms, new concession stands, charging stations, and widened concourses. written by ZACK HAROLD MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

49

When Greene Turns to Red

Autumn is the perfect time to check out fall color and other attractions in Greene County.

A

s the yellow, orange, and crimson colors of fall multiply, so do the ways to view them. Some might be surprised to learn that Greene County, Pennsylvania, along with neighboring Washington County, has 30 covered bridges, making it the perfect place for the Covered Bridge Driving Tour. The 70-mile driving course offers breathtaking views of maple, oak, and sycamore trees during peak leaf-peeping season.

50

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

Seven of the bridges—the Lippincott/ Cox, Carmichaels, White, King, Shriver, Scott, and Nettie Woods—are owned by Greene County. “Western Pennsylvania has a lot of covered bridges, mainly because we preserve them,” says Joanne Marshall, Greene County communications and tourism director. “There are covered bridges on personal property that we cannot access, and some of those are deteriorating. But we do what we can to preserve the seven owned by the county.”

The driving tour offers another perk, too.

“You will find general stores throughout the county along the way,” Marshall says.

“They do still exist.”

The Covered Bridge Driving Tour is just one way to enjoy Greene County, situated between Morgantown and Pittsburgh, during the autumn months.

Named after General Nathanael Greene, who led the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Greene County’s biggest offering this time of year is the October 15–16 Harvest Festival, the main fundraiser for the Greene County Historical Society Museum in Waynesburg. “The festival basically recognizes the harvest season featuring artisan vendors, especially those with homespun crafts, primitive crafts, and woodworking, and also demonstrators that revive old-time skills and reenactors,” Marshall says. “It’s a total glimpse into our history through colonial and Civil War times.”

Doug Wilson is among reenactors with the 140th Pennsylvania Volunteers Company A. The group’s portrayals—all presented in period attire—and Wilson’s personal involvement have local historical significance. “We decided to portray

COURTESY OF GREENE COUNTY TOURIST PROMOTION AGENCY

ACROSS COUNTY LINES

COURTESY OF GREENE COUNTY TOURIST PROMOTION AGENCY

ACROSS COUNTY LINES

an actual unit that was formed on the Waynesburg College campus during the war,” Wilson says. “That’s the unit we represented in a very real way—a unit also made of faculty, students, and town folk. And in a weird twist of events, some years later, I discovered that I am actually a descendent of a member of that original unit.” The group’s presentations place a personal spin on the Civil War era and are met with open arms and inquisitive audiences, Wilson says.

Musical performances and various foods—from kettle corn to doughnuts “made the old-fashioned way”—also are part of the Harvest Festival.

October in Greene County wouldn’t be complete without Flashlight Fright Nights, appropriately held at the Greene County Historical Society Museum.

“They say that museum is haunted,” Marshall says. “It used to be a working farm back at the turn of the century. It was a poverty workhouse.”

The museum has hosted a number of seances and is regularly visited by ghost hunters. On October 28 and 29, members of the public are invited to visit for their own blood-curdling adventures.

There also is still time to visit Ryerson

Station State Park, a 1,164-acre park in Greene County’s Richhill Township, before the weather gets too cold. Located 3 miles from Wind Ridge—just off Pennsylvania Route 21—the park is very close to the West Virginia state line. Hikers can take advantage of 14 miles of trails that wind around what used to be a lake bed, said Andy Lariviere, park educator.

Ryerson Station State Park may be Greene County’s biggest and most visited park, but there are several smaller hot spots as well. “We do have little parks along the Greene River Trail that runs along the Monongahela River, which is popular for bikers, walkers, and runners,” Marshall says. There also is a kayak and canoe launch on the river.

As November fades into December, Greene County will prepare for the Christmas holiday with a pair of popular events: the Christmas Open House and the Holiday Open House. The former is held at the Greene County Historical Society Museum, where the historical hub is decorated to the hilt, offering a festive trip to yesteryear. The latter event is in downtown Waynesburg, near the Greene County Courthouse, and encourages buying local with a Christmas shopping

twist. “We basically shut the streets down and have an old-fashioned Christmas with a tree-lighting ceremony,” Marshall says.

Hosted by Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful, the annual event also features horse-drawn wagon rides, pictures with Santa, a window decorating contest, free gift wrapping, holiday foods, and music.

The Christmas Open House takes place November 21–22, November 28–29, and December 5–6, and the Holiday Open House is December 2.

As is true with many communities, Greene County is a treasure trove of small, family-owned restaurants and local eateries, Marshall says, ranging from barbecue and pizza to Rising Creek Bakery in Mount Morris. Marshall likes to point people to The Hungarian Smokehouse in Carmichaels, originally a butcher shop and now featuring a full menu. “In addition to roasted chicken and ribs, they are also wellknown for their jerky.” And the South Side Deli in downtown Waynesburg is its own attraction. “You cannot believe how many people totally know about this deli and will make trips out of their way to pick up subs and sandwiches.” greenecountytourism.org written by JULIE PERINE MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

51

OUTDOORS

Our Urban Graveyard

Familiar Names Morgantown was originally bounded at its south by Deckers Creek. The hillside a third of a mile farther south—close enough to visit, yet away from town activity—was organized around 1800 as a public burial ground, according to one account. At least two graves there date to 1796: Mary Reed, born in 1734, possibly the earliest-born person in a still-readably marked grave at Oak Grove, and the infant Philander Wilson. Other very early stones survive state of Virginia in 1785 and, by 1804, a there, too. Eleanor Glisson, 1809. A small Presbyterian congregation had begun Morris, 1810. William H. Dorsey, 1812. using a lot downtown, where the First Town grew above- and below-ground.

Presbyterian Church stands today at Spruce and Forest streets, as a cemetery. In the 20th By the end of the Civil War, in 1865— century, the church respectfully consolidated Morgantown is now in West Virginia— perhaps a couple hundred people had been that in one mass grave, preserving the buried at Oak Grove. Maybe in order to stones in a commemorative wall. Another upgrade maintenance and landscaping, early cemetery was moved up to East Oak a group of leading city residents made it Grove when WVU built its first library, official. What had been known as Berkshire now Stewart Hall, in 1900.

Grove, then Willey Grove, would now be The only burial ground of any size the 8.5-acre Oak Grove Cemetery. left close to downtown is Oak Grove A neat grid of burial plots only at the Cemetery, Morgantown’s urban

Take a walk through Oak Grove Cemetery. You might see some names you recognize.

T

he soil at Oak Grove Cemetery is soft—not like its rocky sister cemetery, East Oak Grove, higher up on Dorsey Avenue. So says Steve Parker of Granville, who dug graves at both in the 1970s. Parker and the five or six guys, mostly farmers, who worked there in the ’70s did a little bit of everything: digging graves, setting stones, mowing. At least once, they had to re-bury a body.

Every new town has to solve certain problems—among them, where to bury the dead. Morgantown was chartered by the 52

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

graveyard and a favorite spot for evening strolls and dog walks. Follow High Street south and you can’t miss it.

OUTDOORS

CAN YOU DIG IT? Former gravedigger Steve Parker claims, with co-worker Kevin Nuce, the fastest time ever digging a grave in Monongalia County: 45 minutes, in 1974, in Oak Grove Cemetery. Who’s to challenge them? Graves aren’t really 6 feet deep, Parker says, but shovelhandle-deep—maybe 4 feet.

lowest part of the slope was the original plan, according to an 1886 map. The earlier graves are scattered higher up on the hillside, but it’s in this grid section where many still-familiar names from Morgantown’s formation and booming turn-of-the-century years lie: Not Morgantown founder Zackquill Morgan but, among his descendants, Henry M., who co-founded the Morgantown Weekly Post, its name preserved in part in today’s Dominion Post. Pre-charter residents the Evanses, whose farm became Evansdale.

The family of Waitman T. Willey, one of the state’s first two senators, after whom Willey Street is named. Sabra Vance Sturgiss, namesake of Sabraton. Elizabeth Irwin Moore, remembered in WVU’s one-time women’s physical education building, Elizabeth Moore Hall.

Many formative figures whose names have not lived on quite as iconically have chosen Oak Grove for their final rest, too.

Stonemason Thoney Pietro, who laid some of Morgantown’s brick streets and built stylish residences in lower Greenmont and Pietro’s Castle on Tyrone Road, lies there beside his wives. The architect Elmer Jacobs, whose many downtown buildings

give Morgantown a lot of its architectural character—the Brown Building (Century Bank) at High and Walnut streets, for example, and Judge Cox house at Pleasant and Spruce—lies there, too.

Of Oak Grove’s dozens of war veterans, many from the Revolutionary War are honored with plaques. Part of the 1865 plan for the newly incorporated cemetery was to erect a Civil War monument, and that was a long time coming. In 1905, Monongalia County finally unveiled a war memorial honoring veterans of the Civil and Spanish American wars; it was later updated to recognize “our sons” and “our women” who “sacrificed for the freedom of the world” in World War I. By the 1930s, when Thomas Dille made an inventory of Oak Grove interments for the Works Progress Administration, he recorded 2,900 marked graves plus an undetermined number unmarked.

“Landscaped; condition, very good.”

It’s Historical, not Spooky There has been one odd incident, though.

During Caretaker Glenn Pierce’s July 2, 1975 morning check of the cemetery, he found the ground “heaved up and split

down the middle” in one place, says Parker, who was employed there at the time. The disturbance centered on the vault of Harry Spitz, born in 1909 and buried after just three years of life. The vault didn’t look like it had been dug up, according to accounts from the time, but more like it had been pushed up from underneath. Several employees, Parker included, dug it out to figure out the cause of the upheaval. Law enforcement and WVU experts ruled out explosives, an earthquake, and a natural gas leak. Spitz’s body was extremely well preserved, also ruling out the possibility that decomposition gases had built up and forced the lid of the vault up.

The men involved in the exhumation had a bit of a scare when it was learned Spitz had died of cholera, Parker says, which was thought to survive for decades in a dead host. It turned out Spitz’s cause of death was “cholera infantum,” which doctors said was not a threat. Cemetery staff reburied Harry Spitz alongside his parents on July 12, incident unexplained.

In Need of Friends If you’re a family historian looking for ancestors, call or stop by the cemetery office at East Oak Grove to find out which section to look in. If you’re looking for a final resting place, “there are still some very few spaces left” at Oak Grove, says Karl Yagle, president of the cemetery’s board.

And while the Oak Grove Cemetery Association is a perpetual care association that keeps the grounds well-mowed, it doesn’t have the revenue these days to keep a large staff for maintenance and landscaping. There may be a role for neighborhood residents and local history buffs to adopt the cemetery. A few well placed and cared-for saplings would help make sure this urban graveyard remains an Oak Grove for posterity. 304.296.6913 written and photographed by pam kasey MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

53

THE U Can a computer match this thermal image with the right person’s visible-spectrum photograph?

Nasser Nasrabadi

WVU’s biometrics group forges a new identity of its own.

H

ere’s a problem law enforcement needs a solution to: Given a thermal image of a person’s face— one taken with an infrared camera that shows warm versus cool spots— can a computer search a database of tens of thousands of portraits taken in the visible light spectrum and match it to the right one?

“We have lots of visible imagery of criminals—people on the ‘wanted’ list, terrorists—but the infrared imagery is useful because you can see people under cover of darkness,” says Nasser Nasrabadi, a professor in WVU’s Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, of a current project. “If we’ve never seen their infrared image before but have their visible image, we want to be able to identify them.”

54

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

things to research,” WVU CITeR Site Director Matthew Valenti has said. “We have people out there using these systems who can tell us where the knowledge gaps are and what kinds of research we can do to fill in those gaps.” That means WVU’s research is market-relevant and its students are trained in the skills needed by corporate employers and the federal departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice.

Since WVU established CITeR, three other universities have joined— The University of Arizona and Clarkson University and The University at Buffalo in New York—and Michigan State University acts as a partner and is working toward A Key Player full membership. Leadership of the center Thanks in part to the FBI’s decision rotated to Clarkson in 2011. to relocate its largest-in-the-world Students in biometrics at WVU practice criminal fingerprint repository to nearby collecting physical data using all kinds of Clarksburg in the 1990s, WVU got into biometric technologies just as advances in equipment: fingerprint, palmprint, hand electronics opened up the field around the geometry, and iris scanners; audio recorders; cameras that can interpret three dimensions; turn of the millennium. It’s been among and thermal imaging cameras for night the key players ever since. work. They systematically include challengThe university staked out its position in biometrics in 2002 by creating the Center for ing identification conditions, like faces from Identification Technology Research. CITeR several angles or before and after makeup, is a National Science Foundation-sponsored and voices with variations. Over more than a decade of this work, WVU has amassed 10 research center in which companies and terabytes of databases that developers inside government agencies pay an annual fee and outside the university can use to test to have a hand in the selection of research their identification technologies—including topics. “It’s not just us sitting in our ivory fingerprints, faces, and iris scans of twins, tower twiddling our thumbs thinking of

Nasrabadi and his colleagues are creating new, more sophisticated ways for computers to identify people—that is, they’re developing the security technologies of the future.

WVU has been a key player in identification technologies for well over a decade.

Now, in recognition of the breadth of the university’s research and expertise in the field, that group of faculty has taken on a new identity for itself: the Biometrics and Identification Innovation Center. Formerly a senior research scientist with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Maryland, Nasrabadi heads up the BIIC.

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: WVU STATLER COLLEGE / J. PAIGE NESBIT (2); COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

Shifting Identity

Matt Valenti

THE U

WHAT IS BIOMETRICS?

Audio recordings let students test voice-recognition technologies.

Students recording hand geometry.

WVU STATLER COLLEGE / J. PAIGE NESBIT (2)

the ultimate identification challenge.

Undergraduates get experience in current biometric technologies and also, importantly, in the ways users react to the technologies that soon might give everyone convenient yet secure access to financial accounts, medical records, and homes. Master’s and Ph.D. students conduct research. “My research looked in particular at gait recognition,” says Brian DeCann, who earned his doctorate at WVU in 2014. “How do you identify people based on how they walk, from a camera, at some distance? How do you do it in a nighttime environment, with thermal or infrared image sensors as opposed to a traditional camera?”

DeCann is now an image and data scientist at the nonprofit research corporation Noblis.

He works on ways to detect manipulations in photographic images and on models for analyzing the performance of the Department of State’s face recognition system. Studying in WVU’s program made him a sought-after candidate, he says.

BIIC Biometrics problems typically center on questions like how computers “see” and match patterns—problems of computer science and electrical engineering. But as WVU’s work has deepened, it has crossed into fields as diverse as neurosciences, robotics, statistics, and navigation. So while the new Biometrics and Identification

“Biometrics” refers to technologies that link a person’s physical or behavioral traits uniquely with his or her identity. For most of human history, our discerning ability to recognize faces and voices was about the only biometric “technology” we had. Around 1900, fingerprint matching started to extend law enforcement’s identification prowess.

In this millennium, advances in computer sensor technology and processing power have unlocked vast new potential.

Biometrics researchers make it possible to identify people using increasingly complex processes—everything from iris scans and gait analyses to DNA and the unique mixes of bacteria on individuals’ hands.

Innovation Center is housed in WVU’s Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, it draws collaborating faculty from across the university together under a WVU-only umbrella for the first time.

“There are a lot of different activities, and very individualistic work was going on,” says Nasrabadi of the center’s 14 Lane Department faculty members plus affiliate faculty. “This way we can have more interaction among the faculty and go for more funding from the Department of Defense and industry together, rather than individually.”

Although other universities work in biometrics—WVU’s co-members in CITeR, for example—WVU has a concentration of manpower in the field that other universities do not have, Nasrabadi says. “Rather than going for funding in niche areas,” he says, “we can go for wider applications of biometrics that some universities might not be able to do because they don’t have so many faculty concentrating on different aspects. We have a very good opportunity to get funding for diversified projects. We can demonstrate that we can be the ‘MIT of biometrics.’”

Technologies currently under research in the BIIC that may soon become commonplace include ways for credit card companies to use a fingerprint, iris, or face image to verify a cardholder’s identity—and, along with

that, the “liveness detection” that ensures an image is genuine. “So, for example, I have your credit card and I want to do a transaction—what if I have a fake fingerprint?”

Nasrabadi asks. “A finger has moisture. So when you put your thumb on the sensor, if it can also measure if there is moisture on that or not, then actually you cannot fool it with a fake fingerprint.”

BIIC faculty are also working on technologies needed by law enforcement and homeland security, like the infraredto-visual face recognition. Another example is face tracking across multiple camera views. “The Boston Marathon bombing required thousands of manhours to manually go through and analyze what happened,” says Valenti, explaining how authorities analyzed many dozens of surveillance and casual videos taken in the hours before and after the April 2013 attack. “We’re looking at ways to automatically track someone across multiple camera views. The hope is that, if something like that were to occur again, a lot of that searching could be done in a more automated fashion.”

Look for Growth Although biometric technologies have so far mostly been developed for law enforcement, they’ve begun crossing into the consumer realm in the last couple of years—for example, fingerprint sensors on smartphones and laptops and face recognition on Facebook. With that shift, WVU’s status as a CITeR site that accumulates corporate affiliates opens up possibilities for Morgantown to grow as a biometrics employer.

CITeR affiliate MorphoTrak opened an office in late 2015 at Suncrest Towne Centre, Valenti points out, with around a dozen employees. “And we have a new affiliate, it’s kind of exciting—a company that’s based out of Brazil called Griaule Biometrics,” he says. Working in an area just a few companies are plying so far, Griaule does “big data biometrics,” maintaining big databases and providing identification services over the internet.

“They wanted to make inroads into the U.S. market so they’re partnering with us and they’re in the process of launching an office in the state of West Virginia—I think it’ll be in Morgantown.” Griaule will start out with five to 10 employees, he says, but he believes the company has a lot of upside potential and plans to grow. written by pam kasey MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

55

Morgantown

Listings From historic houses to picturesque farms to quaint cottages, there‛s a special place in Morgantown calling your name. Check out these extraordinary properties from around the city.

2096 LAKESIDE ESTATES, MORGANTOWN–$850,000 MLS: 10107000

Exquisite multi-level home. 1.633+/- acres, 7,000+/- sq. ft., 5 bedroom, 6.5 bath, vaulted ceilings, skylights, floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, copper ceiling wine cellar, flagstone foyer & hardwood throughout.

Beautifully landscaped, four-car garage, multiple decks, balconies. Lake access, reserved docking, pool & tennis courts.

Howard Hanna Premier Properties by Barbara Alexander, LLC, 304.594.0115 56

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

11 CHERRYWOOD DRIVE, MORGANTOWN–$779,000

2042 HENRY CLAY DRIVE, MORGANTOWN–$925,000

MLS: 10107869 6BR/4.5BA/Quality craftsmanship is apparent in the exquisite finishes. The park-like atmosphere adds to the rarity of this appealing property.

MLS: 10108552 4BR/4.5BA/Private, lakefront living! The blend of architectural antiques and modern amenities gives this residence a one-of-a-kind charm.

Kathy Martin , Broker/Owner, KLM Properties, Inc. 304.685.6171

Kathy Martin, Broker/Owner, KLM Properties, Inc. 304.685.6171

45 ANDOVER ST., MORGANTOWN–$1,185,000

1701 WATERFRONT PLACE, MORGANTOWN–$2,900,000

MLS: 10110476 Exquisite estate on 2.45 acres near hospital, downtown & Suncrest.

8 bedrooms, 6. 5 baths, indoor pool/spa, detached sunroom, threecar garage, manicured landscaping, patios, privacy.

MLS: 10096837 Elegant two-level penthouse living. Imported marble floors, custom imported finishes, theater, private elevator entrance, and more than 5,500+/- sq. ft. of terrace areas with 360-degree views!

Howard Hanna Premier Properties

by Barbara Alexander, LLC, 304.594.0115

Howard Hanna Premier Properties

by Barbara Alexander, LLC, 304.594.0115

Lot #9 0.20 acres

Lot #8 0.23 acres

Lot #10 0.28 acres

Lot #7 0.28 acres

Mountainview Golf Hole #15

Lot #6 Lot #5 0.32 acres 0.38 acres Lot #4 LD SOacres 0.24

Lot #11 0.28 acres

Mountainview Golf Hole #14

Crow Lot #13 Lot #12 0.24 acres Lot #14 0.22 acres 0.10 acres

Lot #19 0.23 acres

Lot #22 LD SOacres 0.31

MLS: 10109949 Greystone’s newest section. Exquisite Frank Betz home.

Hardwood floors, bright kitchen, family room w/vaulted ceilings.

Deck w/walk-out unfinished basement.

Cherie Tretheway, Howard Hanna, 304.276.3113

Lot #15 0.21 acres

Lot #17 0.20 acres

Lot #21 LD SOacres 0.33

4148 CROWN POINT DR., CHEAT LAKE–$559,900

int

Lot #2 LD 0.24 SOacres

Lot #16 0.33 acres

Lot #18 0.18 acres

Lot #20 0.33 acres

Lot #3 0.24 acres

n Po

m

Su

Lot #23 #24 LD Lot LD SOacres 0.30 SOacres 0.38

t mi

ive

Dr

Lot #26 LD SOacres 0.20

Lot #25 LD SOacres 0.31

Lot #1 0.27 acres

Lot #27 LD SOacres 0.30

Summit AT

GREYSTONE

THE SUMMIT AT GREYSTONE, CHEAT LAKE, LOTS $85,000+

New 27-lot community with mountain, lake, and golf views on one of highest spots in Cheat Lake, with 26 HOA pre-approved house plans to choose from, on ready-to-build lots. Custom home plans are welcome.

Cherie Tretheway, Howard Hanna, 304.276.3113 MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

57

127 HAREWOOD DRIVE, MORGANTOWN–$648,500

3802 SWALLOWTAIL DRIVE, GREYSTONE–$613,500

J.S. Walker, broker, MLS: 10110282 EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY and EXPANSIVE SPACE with main-level living gazes to almost 2.5 acres of private grounds. Relax and enjoy the charm and peace this ranch-style home offers with fully finished basement! 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms + more than 5,500 sq. ft.!

J.S. Walker, broker, MLS: 10107105 UNMATCHED brilliance meets quality and serenity with soaring mountain view. Updated and open kitchen, large deck, huge master, sunken living room, sunroom, and more. Adaptable backyard on 0.54 acres, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms + 5,215 sq. ft.!

Travis Cadalzo, J.S. Walker Associates Inc., 304.288.1923

Travis Cadalzo, J.S. Walker Associates Inc., 304.288.1923

4009 SHADYBROOK CIRCLE, CHEAT LAKE–$564,000 J.S. Walker, broker, MLS: 10109710

5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2 half-baths. Finest of craftsmanship! More than 5,000 sq. ft. custom home built by Pete Davis, Inc. on quiet culde-sac in Cheat Lake! Exterior stone, hardi, cedar shakes with outdoor wood burning fireplace. First floor master suite and sumptuous bath, walk-in shower, jetted tub, hardwood throughout and handicap accessible. Open floor plan, cathedral ceiling, balcony, gas fireplaces and chef’s kitchen with granite countertops and professional appliances. Terrace level boasts stone fireplace and 8′ doors to decking.

Laura Walker, J.S. Walker Associates Inc., 304.288.4880 58

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

OUT & ABOUT IN THE MOUNTAIN CITY

1

AUG 1 • BARTINI PRIME

The Pink Party

3

2

4 5

COURTESY OF BOB BEVERLY, WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY/HSC

6

7

The mood at The Pink Party was uplifting as attendees— many dressed in pink—gathered to support the Bonnie Wells Wilson Mobile Mammography program, better known as Bonnie’s Bus. The third annual event, held on August 1, 2016, raised $37,000. Wilson’s daughter, Jo Statler, expressed gratitude to the crowd. “The community has been so gracious and giving; it really touches my heart,” she said.

The Pink Party featured a silent auction as well as a live one. Guest auctioneer Ben Statler impressed the crowd with his ability to call out prices and secure top bids on a variety of unique items, including a bow tie donated by WVU President E. Gordon Gee. Fellow guest auctioneer Shayne Lyons, WVU’s director of athletics, noted, “All of us are here to bring awareness to breast cancer and early detection, and that’s very important.” Attendees could participate in a release of pink balloons, each bearing the name of a loved one with breast cancer.

1 A balloon release outside Bartini Prime. 2 Barbara Alexander McKinney and Laura Gibson of the WVU School of Medicine.

3 Jo Statler and Justin Byers, owner of Bartini Prime, in front of Bonnie’s Bus. 4 Jean DeLynn and Cindi Roth, president and CEO of the WVU Foundation. 5 Billy Pulice, James Kimbrough of the WVU Cancer Institute’s Office of Philanthropy, and Cindy Timms Pulice. 6 Shayne Lyons, WVU’s director of athletics, and his wife, Emily. 7 Dr. Geraldine Jacobson of WVU Medicine’s Department of Radiation Oncology and B.J. Davisson II of the WVU Foundation.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

59

OUT & ABOUT IN THE MOUNTAIN CITY

1 AUG 28 â&#x20AC;˘ WEST VIRGINIA BOTANIC GARDEN

Hammock Haven 2

3

4

7

1 Attendees review silent auction items. 2 Dylan Collins and Jane Evans. 3 Nancy Stout, Anne Walters, and Irene Liberatore.

4 Kay Jones, Phil Cole, Karen Clark, and Kellie Cole. 5 Chefs Sam Yokum, Michael Bowyer, Marion Ohlinger, Mark Tasker, and Jason Fickes. 6 Victoria L. Cather, Jenny Joseph, and Sarah Straface, owner of Tutto Gelato.

7 Sculptor Jamie Lester plays the guitar.

COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA BOTANIC GARDEN

6

5

More than 200 people attended the Hammock Haven fundraiser for the West Virginia Botanic Garden from 4 to 7 p.m. August 28, 2016, held on the 82-acre facility that features landscaped gardens and trails. Chefs Mark Tasker of Table 9 and Marion Ohlinger of Hill & Hollow and their associates prepared a low country boil, and Tutto Gelato was on hand to provide dessert.

The band Magnolia Warbler, formerly known as Sawbriar and fronted by sculptor Jamie Lester, entertained the crowd, which also had the opportunity to bid on silent and live auction items donated by local businesses. A centerpiece of the event was the unveiling of a new hammock installation that includes six hammocks and sculptures by local artist Michael Loop. The event raised about $17,000.

60

MORGANTOWN â&#x20AC;˘ OCT/NOV 2016

Your local guide to life, art, culture, & more OCT/NOV 2016

October OCTOBER 5

PHOTO COURTESY OF DANNY LEARY/GRAPHIC COURTESY OF TROY HOLLANDSWORTH

6th Annual West Virginia Oil and Gas Expo Mylan Park, 500 Mylan Park Lane, Wed. 9 a.m.–5 p.m. 304.777.2648 wvoilandgasexpo.com Learn about business strategies and developments in the oil and gas industry at an event that features 300-plus vendors and booths. Free, online pre-registration required.

OCTOBER 6 Animal Collective Mainstage Morgantown, 444 Chestnut St., Thurs.

8 p.m., mainstagewv.tunestub.com Come jam to the sounds of this experimental pop band from Baltimore. All ages welcome with a parent or legal guardian. Tickets $30 OCTOBER 7 Arts Walk Downtown Morgantown, Fri., 6–9 p.m. downtownmorgantown.com Walk through downtown Morgantown and explore more than 40 businesses displaying local artwork.

OCTOBER 7–8 Legends in Concert WVU Creative Arts Center, Fri. and Sat. 7:30 p.m., events.wvu.edu Fans can no longer see Prince live in concert, but this show, which also features a live band, multimedia theatrical sets, and tribute artists performing as Cher, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and more, will help recreate that experience. Tickets start at $23 for students and go to $68 for front rows.

OCTOBER 8 Oktoberfest WV National Guard Readiness Center 111 High St., Sat., 9 a.m.–4 p.m. wvpublictheatre.org Come raise a glass and join Lex and Terry from WCLG and have a day filled with Bavarian food, drinks, and live entertainment. An Oktoberfest Kids Corner will have child-friendly vendors and activities available for the young ones. Tickets $20 for 21 years old and up, $10 for 20 years old and younger.

OCTOBER 7 A performance by Clarksburg’s Rustic Mechanicals of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice—with Gretchen Ross (pictured) playing Portia, known for the famous “quality of mercy” monologue—will serve as a concluding event to the Arts Walk, which takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. in downtown Morgantown. Tickets for the play $10.

Monongalia Arts Center, 107 High St., Fri., 9 p.m., 304.292.3325, monartscenter.com

NEARBY Mountain Stage Myles Center for the Arts, 100 Campus Drive Davis & Elkins College, Elkins, Sat., 7:30 p.m.

304.637.1255, mountainstage.org Bluegrass comes to Elkins as West Virginia Public Radio presents Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, Dan Tyminski (of Alison Krauss & Union Station) & Ronnie Bowman, and Mountain Heart, as well as Eric Johnson and Elise Davis. Tickets $30-$20.

OCTOBER 8–9 2016 Morgantown Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show Hazel & J.W. Ruby Community Center, 500 Mylan Park Lane, Sat., 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Sun., 11 a.m.–5 p.m. 304.282.2306 prehistoricstore.com/events

The largest show in the area that showcases gems, rocks, fossils, ancient geological artifacts, and more. Hourly prize drawings.

Adults $3, children under 6 free. Children under 12 receive a free rock or fossil specimen when accompanied by an adult.

OCTOBER 13 Men’s Basketball Gold-Blue Debut 2 14th street, WesBanco Arena, Wheeling Thurs., 7 p.m., wesbancoarena.com Bob Huggins will host the men’s basketball debut in Wheeling instead of in Morgantown.

See the introduction of the 2016-17 basketball team and Huggins’ famous annual speech.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

61

COURTESY OF WVU ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Pink Football Game Milan Puskar Stadium, Mountaineer Field 1 Ira Errett Rodgers Drive, Sat., time TBA wvugame.com The WVU football team, taking on the TCU Horned Frogs, joins with the WVU Cancer Institute and WVU Medicine to raise breast cancer awareness during the 2nd Annual “Pink Game.” Fans can also text 85944 to donate $10 to the WVU Cancer Institute on game day.

OCTOBER 22–23 NEARBY Native American Weekend Pricketts Fort State Park, 88 State Park Road, Fairmont, Sat.–Sun., 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

304.363.3030, prickettsfort.org This event will feature an interactive history lesson including displays, tours, demonstrations, and hands-on activities for the kids. Adults $8, senior citizens $6, ages 6-12 $4, 5 and under free.

OCTOBER 25

OCTOBER 25 STOMP The international percussion sensation has garnered armfuls of awards and rave reviews, and has appeared on numerous national television shows. See what all the noise is about. Tickets start at $23 for students and go up to $68 for the front rows.

WVU Creative Arts Center, Tues., 7:30 p.m., events.wvu.edu

OCTOBER 13–16

The Crystal Blue Band

Noises Off Metropolitan Theatre, 369 High St., Thurs. and Sat., 7:30 p.m., Fri. and Sun., 2 p.m.

304.293.SHOW, theatre.wvu.edu/our-season The WVU Theatre of School & Dance presents the farce about a rag-tag theater troupe preparing for opening night. Adults $22, senior citizens and WVU students $17.

Metropolitan Theatre, 369 High St., Fri., 7:30 p.m., 304.291.4884, brownpapertickets.com Formerly The Original Shondells, the band plays hits including “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” “Crimson and Clover,” “Mony Mony,” “I Think We’re Alone Now,” and more, with Lenny Welch, Johnny Angel and the Halos, and Gary DeCarlo opening. Tickets $65-$45.

OCTOBER 15

OCTOBER 21–23

WORTH THE DRIVE Bridge Day New River Gorge Bridge, Fayetteville, Sat. 9 a.m.–3 p.m., officialbridgeday.com See BASE jumpers do their thing as they jump off the 876-foot-high bridge on the one day each year that it is legal. The event also includes rappelling, vendors, the Taste of Bridge Day on October 14, and the Bridge Jam on both evenings.

WORTH THE DRIVE Garth Brooks with Trisha Yearwood Charleston Civic Center Coliseum, 200 Civic Center Drive, Charleston, Fri., Sat., Sun., 7 p.m., and Sat., 10:30 p.m., 304.345.SHOW charlestonwvciviccenter.com The legendary country singer, known for his hit “Friends in Low Places,” returns to Charleston to perform four shows, his first appearance in the capital city in 19 years, with his wife, Trisha Yearwood, opening. Tickets $74.98.

OCTOBER 21 The West Virginia Symphony WVU Creative Arts Center, Fri., 7:30 p.m.

304.293.SHOW or events.wvu.edu The orchestra kicks off the season’s threeconcert series at WVU with auditioning conductor Keitaro Harada and pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.

Tickets $25, free for students.

62

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016

Book Release and Signing Party Tree of Life Congregation, 242 South High St. Tues., 7 p.m.

Celebrate the release of the book Morgantown’s Jewish Heritage: An Oral History, a compilation of first-person stories of the lives of Jewish immigrants in Morgantown. Free.

OCTOBER 27 A Night at the Movies: The Music of John Williams WVU Creative Arts Center, 1 Fine Arts Drive, Morgantown Thurs., 7:30 p.m., 412.392.4900 pittsburghsymphony.org The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will highlight the music of the composer who scored some of the most famous films from the past 40 years, including Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and more. Tickets $45, $27.

Comedian Stevie Starr Metropolitan Theatre, 369 High St., Tues.

7:30 p.m., 304.291.4884, showclix.com Known as “The Professional Regurgitator,” Starr has the distinction of finishing in fourth place in both Britain’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent. Tickets $30-$19.95.

OCTOBER 28 29TH Annual Pumpkin Drop College of Engineering and Mineral Resources 395 Evansdale Drive, Friday, 9:30 a.m.–2 p.m. mae.statler.wvu.edu David Letterman would be proud. Watch as competitors test enclosures they have created to help pumpkins withstand a drop from the top of the 11-story College of Engineering and Mineral Resources building.

OCTOBER 22

OCTOBER 28–29, NOVEMBER 3–5

Shop Around Downtown Morgantown, Sat., 304.598.0050 rmhcmorgantown.org Participating downtown merchants will give a portion of their proceeds on this day to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Morgantown.

Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere M.T. Pockets Theatre, 203 Parsons St. Fri.–Sat., Thurs.–Sat., 8 p.m., 304.284.0049 mtpocketstheatre.com M.T. Pockets Theatre presents Robert Kauzlaric’s

adaptation of the popular BBC urban fantasy TV series. General public $15, senior citizens/military $13, students $10, 12 and under $7.

OCTOBER 30 Jordan Smith WVU Creative Arts Center, Sun., 7:30 p.m, events.wvu.edu The world was introduced to Smith’s musical gift when he emerged as the winner of season nine of The Voice after working closely with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and then becoming the show’s biggest seller. Tickets start at $18 for students and go to $46.

November Linda Hall’s Turkish Bazaar Euro-Suites Hotel Event Room, 501 Chestnut Ridge Road, Mon.–Thurs., 11 a.m.–7 p.m.

304.296.6819 Morgantown’s Linda Hall travels to Turkey annually and brings back items such as freshwater pearls, hand-painted ceramics, and silk scarves to sell.

Tickets, $1 at the door, benefit Empty Bowls Mon. NOVEMBER 11 A Salon by The Bench 123 Pleasant Street, Fri., 7:30-10 p.m. goo.gl/u6XvUm A presentation of art by the artists, each telling a bit about his or her work or reading poems.

The event is meant to engage the community in a unique way. Free.

NOVEMBER 12 Science Day Spark! Imagination and Science Center, 5000 Green Bag Road, Sat., 10 a.m.–1 p.m., sparkwv.org Children and adults can learn about science and participate in fun and interactive activities on forensics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, nanoscience, and more. Tickets $6 per child, $2 per adult for non-members.

Mon General Ball of the Year Morgantown Event Center at the Waterfront Place Hotel, Three Waterfront Place, Sat. 6 p.m., 304.598.1324 info.mongeneral.com/ourbigfatgreekball Step into the romance, beauty, and fun of Greece with the Mon General Auxiliary’s blacktie fundraiser, “Our Big Fat Greek Ball.” Couples $299, individuals $149.

NOVEMBER 13 NEARBY Brasshoppers St. Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church 407 Jackson St., Fairmont, Sun., 3 p.m.

304.290.2826 The Fairmont Chamber Music Society presents this trumpet, trombone, and piano trio whose music has been called “energetic and kinetic,” playing an eclectic blend of jazz and classical

CARLA WITT FORD

NOVEMBER 7–10

DECEMBER 4 Holiday Home Tour See homes in the Morgantown neighborhood of Hopecrest that have been decorated for the holidays in this event that benefits Golden Horseshoe—The Musical. Tickets $20.

Hopecrest, Sun., 1–4 p.m., advance tickets goldenhorseshoemusical.com; day of tickets available at the entrance to the neighborhood, 33 Maple Ave.

standards and popular music. Tickets $10 or $6 for senior citizens and students.

NOVEMBER 14 Love Letters Metropolitan Theatre, 369 High St., Mon., 7:30 p.m., 304.381.2382, wvpublictheatre.org Acclaimed actor and WVU graduate Chris Sarandon and his wife, Tony Award winner Joanna Gleason, perform the A.R. Gurney Pulitzer Prize finalist play as a benefit for West Virginia Public Theatre. Tickets $35-$10.

NOVEMBER 17–18, 29–30, DEC. 1–4 The Trojan Woman Gladys G. Davis Theatre, WVU Creative Arts Center, 1 Fine Arts Drive, Thurs.–Fri., Tues.– Sat., 7:30 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m., 304.293.SHOW theatre.wvu.edu/our-season The play by Euripides and translated and adapted by Gwendolyn MacEwan is a meditation on the true cost of war. Adults $22, senior citizens and WVU students $17.

NOVEMBER 26 Small Business Saturday Downtown Morgantown, Sat., 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

304.292.0168, downtownmorgantown.com

Main Street Morgantown partners with the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce again this year for this promotion to get shoppers downtown by offering a chance to win prizes. Free parking.

NOVEMBER 28 NEARBY Big Smo Shorthorns Restaurant & Saloon, 402 E. West State Ave., Terra Alta, Mon., 9 p.m.

304.789.1104, shorthornsaloon.com Here’s your chance to see the country rapper who starred in an A&E reality series, Big Smo.

Upcoming DECEMBER 1 David Crosby WVU Creative Arts Center, Thurs., 7:30 p.m.

304.293.SHOW, events.wvu.edu The legendary singer-songwriter is a twotime Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, inducted for his work with The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Tickets start at $23 for students and go to $68 for the front rows.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

63

THEN & NOW

1911: One imagines a team of groundskeepers.

Today: Fresh paving would be welcome.

FOR MORE PHOTOS

of Morgantown’s past, check out wvhistoryonview.org

Oak Grove Cemetery

A postcard from about 1911 shows the ornate yet tasteful entrance to Oak Grove Cemetery on Dorsey Avenue, where many of Morgantown’s founding personalities are laid to rest. A neat hedge lines the fence, mature trees shade the grounds, and well-kept paths invite the viewer through the stone and ironwork entrance for a stroll. It looks lush and peaceful.

Today’s grander stone entry towers and side arches bear the date of 1933—a Depression-era commitment to good cemetery stewardship. But the stones look neglected and the grounds illustrate a hard truth: Perpetual care is expensive, and a nearly full,

200-plus-year-old cemetery doesn’t bring in a lot of money. The Oak Grove Cemetery Association provides mowing but no landscaping, says board president Karl Yagle. It’s a problem cemetery managers discussed already a century ago. “Everyone on whom the responsibility of superintending a cemetery rests has certainly been confronted … with the difficulty of adjusting charges to meet the ever increasing costs,” said one presenter at a 1920 conference of the Association of American Cemetery Superintendents.

Then & Now is published in partnership with WVU Libraries’ West Virginia & Regional History Center. wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu

written and photographed by pam kasey

64

MORGANTOWN • OCT/NOV 2016