WV Living Spring 2017

SPRING 17

SKYTRUTH | LIVING IN BARBOURSVILLE | SATURDAY NITE WRESTLIN’

Fresh RECIPES

✚ A Governor ’s INN

✚

Sweet Spring

Woodchopping FESTIVAL

$5.95 Display until JUNE 9, 2017

VOLUME 10

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ISSUE 1

Spring 2017 STEVE BRIGHTWELL

features

68

76

82

90

It Takes a Village

Live from Oak Hill

Springs Eternal

Our Eyes in the Sky

Randall Reid-Smith, commissioner of the state Division of Culture and History, gives us a tour of his hometown, Barboursville.

For 23 years, WOAY’s popular Saturday Nite Wrestlin’ blurred the lines between real and fake—even for those behind the scenes.

A look at one man’s plan to return a derelict Monroe County resort to its former genteel glory.

Can he pull it off?

From an unassuming office in a tiny West Virginia town, SkyTruth helps us keep watch over the world’s most vulnerable places. wvliving.com 5

VOLUME 10

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ISSUE 1

37 58

26 discover

25

14 Folks A Boone County lawyer becomes an internet sensation for his funny—but real— legal advice.

live

16 Event Coalton, in Randolph County, throws

46 Creatively Pat Murphy has been teaching

a late-spring bash each June that brings the whole community together.

film photography for four decades, and changing hundreds of young lives in the

process.

41

biking this Spring, check out North Bend State Park in Cairo.

17 King for a Day Hear ye the royal decrees of Charles Town attorney Stephen Skinner.

18 Lessons Outsourcing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. West Virginia could become an attractive location for “hereshoring.”

28 Maker Chef Dale Hawkins showcases

his love of Appalachian cuisine on the new Appalachian Food Evangelist TV show.

Festival has gone from a fun local tradition to a goes big-time with an investment from an serious international competition. international spirits and wine company. lunch at Front Street Grocers in Thomas.

22 Hangouts Award-winning director and

32 Local Flavor Buzz Buttered Steaks offer a trip back in time, right from your grocer’s freezer.

Beckley native Morgan Spurlock turns his cinematic eye toward his hometown.

35 Vittles A father funds his daughter’s

24 Guilty Pleasures Former Greenbrier

37 Restaurant For Nanny’s Bakery and Cafe

25 Mom and Pop Stops Community

40 Power Lunch Wheeling’s Avenue Eats

baker Erin Bowe’s B Sweet Confectionery is a hit with locals and resort-goers. mainstay Chambers General Store of Bethany celebrates its 100th birthday.

26 Event

Celebrate Appalachia’s past, present, and future at Heritage Farm Museum’s annual Spring Festival.

6 wvl • spring 2017

world-traveling adventures with sweet treats. in Union, a passion for food became a thriving family business.

statesman at Buckhannon’s A Governor’s Inn.

55 History Shepherd University’s Yellow

taste

20 Sports The Webster County Woodchopping 30 Libations Smooth Ambler Spirits 21 Shop Stock your pantry or grab a quick

51 Away Experience hospitality fit for a

offers tasty sandwiches, salads, and soups made with locally sourced ingredients.

41 This No need to wait for summer harvest— celebrate the bounty of spring greens with these delectable recipes.

House is on its way to becoming a living laboratory of historic preservation.

58 History A one-of-a-kind company store, once the center of town, becomes a

showcase for coal camp life.

63 Out Loud The dean of West Virginia radio marks 40 years on the airwaves.

in every issue 8 Editor’s Letter 10 Letters to the Editor

ON THE COVER Sweet Springs in Monroe County was one of West Virginia’s first tourist destinations.

Photo by Nikki Bowman

SKYTRUTH | LIVING IN BARBOURSVILLE | SATURDAY NITE WRESTLIN’ SPRING 17

16 Outdoors For fishing, kayaking, hiking, and

Fresh RECIPES

✚ A Governor ’s INN

✚

Sweet Spring

Woodchopping FESTIVAL

editor’s letter Places like Sweet Springs and Heritage Farm Museum and Village

I

have always loved old buildings.

As a child, I thought the old Clay County Courthouse was the closest thing to a castle I’d ever seen. It was perched on the hill overlooking town like a golden sentry. After school, I’d go there to visit my grandmother Ella Braley, who worked for the county clerk, and I’d busy myself in the stacks of deeds and genealogy records. The heavy and dusty oversized books, the polished black and white checkered floors, the painted wooden banisters, and the thick doors that creaked open with authority were the catalyst of many stories I fabricated as I sat at a vacant desk with a typewriter. Someone along the way had told me the story of how locals tried to lynch the defendants of the Booger Hole trial at the courthouse in 1917. I vividly recall spending days pecking at the typewriter as if I were a tweed-wearing muckraker.

Historic buildings are not just the caretakers of our heritage; they are also essential to our state’s economic vitality. Heritage tourism is a billion-dollar industry. In West Virginia alone, $192 million in economic impact was generated from construction projects supported by the state’s historic incentive programs, according to The Economic Impact of Historic Rehabilitation in West Virginia, released by West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics in 2015. Every dollar spent by the state in tax incentives or grants supported $11.45 of economic activity in the state economy.

As we were working on this issue, we didn’t have a concerted plan to share with you so many stories about historically significant properties undergoing restoration—the theme just developed as the magazine came together.

It just goes to show how important these buildings are to our state’s story. These cultural resources of our past give our communities their unique identities and hope for economic 8 wvl • spring 2017

illustrate the importance of cultural heritage tourism.

of Oak Hill? This architectural marvel is steeped in history. Built by a coal baron, it was the community center, store, and religious center. Its unique octagonal shape and truss structure allowed for a guard to stand in one position and hear every conversation, a surveillance system of sorts that kept track of coal company employees.

Our charming towns wouldn’t be so charming if it weren’t for the historic buildings that line our main streets. Barboursville is more than just a mall exit off the interstate.

When we decided to feature Barboursville, I knew exactly who should write the story.

Randall Reid-Smith, commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, is not only our grand poobah of culture, arts, and history; he is Barboursville’s biggest champion. He is deservedly proud of his hometown, and I hope you enjoy walking down memory lane and into the future with him on page 68.

Not only do we cover all of these historic hot spots, but we also share with you a story about the only undergraduate historic preservation program in the state (page 55). Keith Alexander, assistant professor of history and coordinator of Shepherd University’s historic preservation program, uses Shepherdstown as his laboratory.

It is here that students learn the history of architecture, how to document and preserve artifacts, and how to restore historic buildings.

I was surprised to learn that it is the only program of its kind in West Virginia. After spending the day with him, I was ready to go back to school. One thing Alexander said that bears repeating is, “We’re realizing the importance of preservation for tourism.

People are attracted to places that are interesting, varied, and well-preserved.”

sustainability. Right now, as I’m writing this, funding to protect and restore them is in jeopardy on every front. This is tragic.

Sweet Springs, featured on our cover and on page 82, is a perfect example of a historic structure that, once restored, could be an economic engine for Monroe County. Within its walls, 180 years of fascinating history exist, not to mention the incredibly valuable resource of spring water that flows from its grounds. The first time I visited, I stumbled out of the car in awe. I was expecting rubble. What I discovered was a pastoral paradise. The second time I visited, Ashby Berkley had just purchased it at auction. As I walked the massive resort with him, he painted a vivid picture of what could be. With his broad strokes, I became a believer in his breathtaking vision. But no one person can accomplish such grand goals alone. We all must rally around these historic treasures and the special caretakers who are trying to give them new life.

A quick spin through this issue brings you, on page 20, a group of young people who recently took an old vacant building in Thomas and transformed it into the Front Street Grocers—a go-to spot for fresh produce, prepared foods, and organic products.

In the Northern Panhandle, the Chambers General Store featured on page 25 celebrates Let’s preserve our heritage, 100 years of providing its tiny community of Bethany with everything from nails to health products. Heritage Farm Museum and Village, the state’s only Smithsonian Institution affiliate, is one of our most comprehensive heritage nikki bowman, Editor tourism destinations. Its Spring Festival, page 26, held each year on the first Saturday in May, is a blast. On page 51 we showcase Buckhannon’s A Governor’s Inn, a beautiful 1889 Victorian Follow us on , , , and that has been lovingly restored as a B&B. Again, facebook.com/wvliving twitter.com/wvliving cultural heritage tourism at work. pinterest.com/wvliving And how about the Whipple Country instagram @wvliving #wvliving Store in Scarbro (page 58), right outside

.

letters to the editor Announcing the BEST of West Virginia Winners winter 16

comfortjoy

TAMARACK’S TOP Ten

✚ Winter at WHITE GRASS

stephen knotts, via phone

✚ Mountain MEDICINE

Best of the Best

As always, readers were excited to see our annual “Best of West Virginia” winners, announced in the Winter ’16 issue.

A divine dessert at the Alpine Ristorante at Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Appreciating Preserves

“In a Jam!” is one of my favorites. I buy it at Capitol Market in Charleston and the Bridgeport Farmers Market! Good article in WV Living magazine (“Memories for Sale,” Winter ’16) . phyllis vaughan pilewski, via Facebook

10 wvl • spring 2017

“If someone does not take the time to tell y’all about how wonderful of a publication y’all put out, it is a missed opportunity.”

Oh, that is so awesome. I have many pieces of Ron Hinkle glass (“Best Artist/Artisan”)!

Congratulations Ron! becky lorenzen, via Facebook (Ron Hinkle’s) studio is lovely and his glass is unique. You can also watch him make his glass. Very gifted artist. jeanne hamrick farias, via Facebook

Our hometown of Charleston was recognized as “Best Arts Town” in West Virginia! Thanks WV Living readers! mountain stage, via Twitter

From the Mayor

I really enjoyed your West Virginia Focus publication and found the information helpful in my job as mayor. I liked it so much, I featured it on my television show on the state Library Television Network. I know you no longer publish Focus; however, I’m enjoying WV Living. The quality and content are wonderful, and I’m learning more about my friends and the places where they live in other parts of the state.

Over the years as a broadcaster and mayor, I’ve traveled all over the state and was sure I had

letters to the editor

Just read the article about June Myles and Susan Feller and am so glad to see their gorgeous work in WV Living (“Hooked on Hooking,” Winter ’16). The craft of rug hooking seems to fit our state, yet it is largely unknown.

Perhaps this article, which does such a good job of accurately describing the materials and technique, and mentions June’s books and Susan’s website, will inspire some readers to learn more. melinda russell, via email creatively ‹‹ live

Rug hooker June Myles’ new book Men Only, Mostly is a collection of rugs crafted using photos of men she has collected

over time. Sometimes, she even buys men’s clothing from thrift stores to make the wool strips for the rugs.

J

written by zack

harold

BRAD STANTON

Using humble tools and a simple technique, rug hookers make intricate works of art.

BRAD STANTON

Hooked on Hooking

une Myles loves the way men look.

When she comes across a man she finds especially attractive, Myles will spend hours poring over his features. She pays special attention to his nose—noses are complicated. Hair is even more complicated, so Myles often makes her men wear hats so she doesn’t have to deal with it.

She finds her men everywhere. She came across one in a Great Depression-era photo.

Another time, she found a man in a book of Persian miniatures she picked up after seeing an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She’s found a few men in the obituary section of The Economist—she’s particularly fond of the Indiana Jones look-alike who was survived by a pet turtle he’d owned since he was a boy.

She has collected these men, and more, into a new book called Men Only, Mostly. It’s a collection of photos of colorful, intricate rugs inspired by the men in her life—rugs made with nothing but strips of fabric, a loosely woven backing cloth, a metal hook, lots of time, and lots of care.

Myles, who splits her time between Elkins and Redding, Connecticut, developed her love of art as a child—she took art classes at the YMCA in Elkins when she was in elementary school. She tried many different art forms through the years, from pottery to painting to woodworking, but nothing really stuck until the late 1980s, when she took a class in rug hooking. “I got hooked,” she says. Although she does not sell her rugs, Myles’ work has been featured in shows all over New England.

The art and craft of rug hooking originated in the mid-1800s in New England

and eastern Canada. It hasn’t changed much since then. Rug hookers start with a loosely woven “host” fabric and jab a metal hook through it, wrapping the shaft of the hook with a linguine-sized strip of fabric. This strip of fabric forms a small loop when the hook is pulled back through the host fabric.

The hooker then repeats this process over and over, creating thousands upon thousands of small loops for one rug.

It’s a simple process, but one that allows rug hookers to make designs as complicated and detailed as they desire. “It’s an art form. Whatever artistic skills you want to accumulate will push through,” says Susan Feller, another well-known West Virginia rug hooker, located in Augusta. “I’ve been able to pull my art background and history into appreciating the traditional crafts.”

Feller also discovered rug hooking after dabbling in other art forms. She studied photography in college but that wasn’t tactile enough, so she tried oil painting and watercolors.

It wasn’t until 1994, when she was running a framing shop and art gallery in New Jersey, that Feller found the art form that best suited her restless fingers. A customer took an antique rug in to be framed. Feller knew the customer made rugs of her own and asked for a tutorial. “She gave me the 15-minute lesson, which was all I wanted to have.” That brief introduction was enough to set Feller off on an artistic path that has consumed the past two decades of her life.

It wasn’t long before she tried making her own patterns, which she eventually started selling to fellow rug hookers through her business, Ruckman Mill Farm. When she saw customers going elsewhere to buy fabric strips

wvliving.com 43

seen it all, but your WV Living has provided me a deeper understanding and appreciation for our state. st. albans mayor dick callaway, via email

Called on the Carpet

It is always gratifying to see that rug hooking is recognized and appreciated by others (“Hooked on Hooking,” Winter ’16), and so well presented to people who may not be fiber artists. Our goal, of course, is to spread the word about our wonderful craft and your article will reach an audience that we may not. You sure picked two fabulous artists to feature! Thank you for putting a spotlight on rug hooking! debra h. smith, editor, Rug Hooking magazine, via email

Now the crafts of yesterday can be used with artistic skills. Thank you WV Living magazine for promoting rug hooking. susan l. feller, via Facebook

Putting the DO in Doctor

The more people from West Virginia who go to this school (“Helping the Healers,” Winter ’16), the more likely they will serve the area of Appalachia. It’s not just a business. I’m a proud (West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine) graduate who came back to Appalachia to serve. david hinchman, via Facebook

Inspiring Entrepreneurs

Thanks for the motivation from your magazine, articles, and pictures. They have motivated my husband and me. Our business (blocktales. info) has sold almost 200 block tales since Thanksgiving! Thank you so much. Please continue to motivate us West Virginia small business owners. We appreciate your dedication to our state! reanna brown, via Facebook Let us hear from you. We want to know what you think about the magazine, and we’d love to hear your suggestions.

Email: info@newsouthmediainc.com Call: 304.413.0104 Mail: 709 Beechurst Avenue, Suite 14A, Morgantown, WV 26505 Take WV Living with you:

wvliving.com 11

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New South Media, Inc. 709 Beechurst Ave., Suite 14A Morgantown, WV 26505

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Nikki Bowman, nikki@newsouthmediainc.com

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Carla Witt Ford, carla@newsouthmediainc.com

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Zack Harold, zack@newsouthmediainc.com

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12 wvl • spring 2017

Discover WEST VIRGINIA IS A PL ACE OF BOUNDLESS DISCOVERY. HERE’S YOUR GUIDE.

Get Around

NIKKI BOWMAN

It’s hard to tell what you’ll find driving the twisting, turning roads of the Mountain State. One thing’s for sure: Whatever you find, it won’t be boring.

PICTURED: COALTON ONLY HAS ABOUT 250 RESIDENTS. BUT THAT DOESN’T STOP MIKE ROSS FROM THROWING A HUGE PARTY IN HIS RANDOLPH COUNTY HOMETOWN EACH JUNE. PAGE 16 wvliving.com 13

discover ››

FO LK S

LOL School West Virginia attorney earns internet fame with advice to daft delinquents. this isn’t your typical pro bono work. A Boone County lawyer has become an internet celebrity thanks to his Facebook page, “L. Scott Briscoe’s Free Legal Tips.” Briscoe works as court-appointed attorney for children, whether they’re juvenile delinquents or victims of child abuse, so the posts started as a way to bring levity to what can be a heavy job. “If I didn’t have a sense of humor I couldn’t do what I do. That’s my coping mechanism,” he says.

Now Briscoe’s tips have gone viral, showing up everywhere from the Huffington Post to George Takei’s Facebook page. He got a publishing deal and is now compiling a book of his funnybut-true advice. “It’s all true. Ninety-five percent have happened in my presence and 5 percent have come from my close friends.”

“L. Scott Briscoe’s Free Legal Tips” on Facebook written by

zack harold l. scott briscoe

photo courtesy of

14 wvl • spring 2017

‹‹ discover

AR T I S T

Poster Boy

Meet the graphic designer giving V Club posters their signature look. if you’ve seen a show at huntington’s v club, chances are Jimbo Valentine designed the poster you saw hanging by the door. He made his first back in 2009 and has since produced posters for more than 1,300 shows at the renowned music venue. Valentine’s psychedelic designs swirl with color and avant-garde imagery, but somehow always capture the essence of the artists advertised. “I try to make every show poster related to the show, inspired by the bands,” he says. “I don’t ever create art and slap the show on it.”

Valentine says he’s glad to use his talents to help the state’s music scene. “I love all kinds of music and I’m happy people let me represent them and represent my state. We already have so much negative stuff associated with us—if I can do anything remotely positive, it makes me feel good.” written by zack

harold valentine

photos courtesy of jimbo

wvliving.com 15

discover ›› EVENT

Little Town, Big Party An annual summer celebration brings food, fun, and the occasional helicopter to Coalton.

the fourth of july’s got nothing on coalton days. Mark your calendars for this mid-June party, which attracts a few thousand people each year to Coalton in Randolph County. Hometown boy Mike Ross, an oil and gas executive, started the tradition in 1994.

In fact, part of the celebration takes place in his yard, with hundreds of hungry attendees lining up for the always-impressive spread: 500 pounds of Italian sausage, 200 pounds of spaghetti, and 2,000 meatballs. Ross foots the bill for the meals as well as the kiddie rides, including a 100-foot sliding board and a merry-go-round.

Activities also include a pageant, a horse show, a tractor pull, bluegrass music, and a grand parade that in years past has included such celebrities as WVU men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins. Other bigwigs have been known to drop by, and one year the tiny town saw three helicopters parked in a field in addition to all the cars. “There are no written invitations,” Ross says. “The governor gets the same invitation everyone else gets.”

This year’s event kicks off with the pageant on June 13. The parade, carnival rides, and dinner at Ross’ house will happen June 17. coaltondays.com written by mary

wade burnside bowman

photographed by nikki

OUTDOORS

Bike, Hike, Paddle, Fish

At North Bend State Park the opportunities to enjoy the outdoors are a skip, hop, and splash away. encompassing a 305-acre lake and part of a 72-mile railtrail, North Bend State Park in Cairo offers abundant recreation options. Guests can fish for bass, crappies, and catfish or just take out a canoe, kayak, or small motorboat for a pleasant day on the water. “On the lake, we have a horsepower limit of under 10 horsepower. That’s what makes it so much fun for canoes and kayaks,” says superintendent Stephen R. Jones. “You don’t have big wakes that you have to deal with.” By the end of the summer, officials hope to finish up a 7-mile water trail complete with three put-ins/take-outs and a shuttle service.

The park is great for bicyclists, too. For ambitious bikers, the North Bend Rail-Trail runs 72 miles from west of Clarksburg in Wolf Summit to Happy Valley, east of Parkersburg. Fuel up for the day’s adventures at the facility’s full-service restaurant, or opt for an overnight stay in the lodge or one of nine cabins—many riders do. And be sure to take advantage of the shuttle van. Park staff will drop off and pick up cyclists and hikers anywhere along the trail. northbendsp.com written by mary

wade burnside evert

photo courtesy of tyler

16 wvl • spring 2017

‹‹ discover

KING FOR A DAY

STEPHEN SKINNER Back in 2012, Charles Town native Stephen Skinner became the first openly gay lawmaker elected to the West Virginia Legislature. He spent his four years in the House of Delegates pushing for laws to move the state forward, especially on matters of human and civil rights. He gave up his seat for an unsuccessful run for the state Senate in 2016. But we don’t think you’ve heard the last of him.

If I were king of West Virginia for a day, I would: Provide equal protection of the law to every citizen including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender West Virginians.

Reform delivery of all government services and throw away the 19th century system of governance based on 55 counties.

Give all public school teachers an immediate $20,000 raise.

Legalize recreational and medical marijuana.

Require everyone to visit the Eastern Panhandle at least once.

wvliving.com 17

discover ››

LE S S O N S

Hereshoring

™

The state could leverage Core10’s rationale for locating in Huntington to attract other companies to the state’s tech centers.

18 wvl • spring 2017

people and the economy— it would be tremendous,” says Core10 co-founder and COO Lee Farabaugh.

worldwide, companies hoping to save money outsourced nearly $80 billion of business in 2016, says Lee Farabaugh, chief operating officer of Nashville-based software developer Core10. Much of it goes offshore to places like India, China, and especially Ukraine, where project bids might be a quarter what they are in Silicon Valley or New York.

But the best-kept secret in IT, Farabaugh says, is domestic outsourcing—or “hereshoring,” a term Core10 has applied to trademark. It was a commitment to hereshoring that brought Core10 to Huntington in October 2016.

Offshoring carries hidden costs, she says.

Financial ones, like travel and visas, can hike the total up to nearly the same as the cost at the home office. Heap on top of that some less quantifiable “headaches,” such as time zone differences, language and cultural barriers, and difficulty managing project flow.

Hereshoring directs work to U.S. places where costs are relatively low and the time zone, language, and business culture are in line with the home office. “I like to call them ‘underutilized markets,’” Farabaugh says of places like Huntington, where the hourly cost of project development can be one-third to one-half what it is in a major market, with none of offshoring’s headaches. “You find fantastic talent, the cost of living is low, and it’s a win-win when you can pay them a good wage to stay in a place where they love to live.”

Core10 started in Huntington with three Marshall graduates, doubled its staff to six in January, and plans to employ at least 15 by the end of 2017. It’s one of six companies participating in Generation West Virginia’s yearlong Impact WV Fellowship initiative to attract and retain top-notch employees.

Some of Farabaugh’s observations could help the state attract other hereshoring activity.

COURTESY OF LEE FARABAUGH

“Imagine if all of the offshore software development could be fit inside our borders, what that would do for young

‹‹ discover

Q+A

with Farabaugh

What makes a good hereshoring partnership?

Some communities are more hereshore-able than others.

There are a number of things we loved about Huntington. It’s a university town and there’s a very strong computer science program at Marshall, and Marshall’s been incredibly welcoming to us. We like the location; it’s an easy drive from Nashville. The infrastructure there is quite good: municipal, technology— there’s a big fiber cable running right under our building. Beckley is another city we could definitely consider.

Enthusiasm counts.

We really love the spirit of the people in Huntington—very hardworking, humble people who love that place and want to stay there, want to be on the edge of technology, want to see, “Can we make this happen in our town?” They’re excited about that. We’ve also had nothing but the most incredible support from the senators, the commerce secretary, the mayor of Huntington. This wouldn’t happen anywhere else. It’s just tremendous that you could get that kind of attention on a little company coming in to try to quietly start a revolution.

Skin in the game helps.

The whole state honestly has been so eager. We did a venture capital round in the fall and raised our intended amount, and we did it all in West Virginia. (Huntington native son and Core10 adviser) Joe Maxwell challenged us to do that. He said, “It’s going to be hard but it’ll be worth it.” A significant portion of what we raised was done through the West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust, who were lovely to work with and are doing amazing things, and the rest was private money, individuals who believe in what we’re doing and want a return but also want to see innovation and entrepreneurship thrive there. The state has invested in us and we want to invest in the state. interviewed by pam

kasey wvliving.com 19

discover ››

clockwise from top left Arden Cogar, Jr., a competitive lumberjack from Webster Springs

with many world titles under his belt, competes in the springboard event at the Webster County Woodchopping Festival. The festival features many different events, including the double bucksaw competition, shown here.

Many beginning competitors get their start in the ax throwing competition.

SP OR T S

Log On

The Webster County Woodchopping Festival is a local tradition with an international reputation. it’s been a webster springs tradition for more than 50 years, but after last June’s flooding, the future of the Webster County Woodchopping Festival wasn’t certain.

Floodwaters wrecked Bakers Island, where the event has been held since 1965. “It wiped us out. We lost all our tents, picnic tables, our bleachers. Just about anything you could lay a hand on was damaged beyond use or washed away,” says organizer Tom Clark.

But Webster Springs has worked hard to get everything back in place for this year’s festival, coming May 25–28. “We’re ready to go. It’s going to be better than it was,” Clark says.

The Memorial Day weekend festival began in 1960 as a competition between local woodsmen but over the years has grown to 20 wvl • spring 2017

include more than 100 competitors from around the world—including representatives from New Zealand, Australia, and continental Europe—all competing to claim the title of Southern U.S. World Championship Woodchopper. There’s also more than $30,000 in prize money up for grabs.

The competition, which features both men’s and women’s divisions, is split into several events that test choppers’ strength and endurance in different ways. There are various chopping and bucksaw events, as well as a “hot saw” event where contestants race through big logs with souped-up chainsaws.

In addition to the woodchopping events, the festival also hosts a fireman’s rodeo on Friday night. For those who prefer lower-

impact competitions, there are also horseshoe pitching and cornhole competitions as well as the West Virginia State Turkey Calling Championship. Food vendors sell everything from barbecue and hot dogs to Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. There’s a parade and car show on Saturday, inflatables for kids, arts and crafts vendors, and free music—this year’s festival will feature the Davisson Brothers on Friday, Rick K & The Allnighters on Saturday, and a gospel sing on Sunday.

“It’s a huge draw,” Clark says. “We estimate it brings about 10,000 people a year to our little town.” 304.847.7666, “Webster County Woodchopping Festival” on Facebook written by

zack harold witt ford

photographed by carla

‹‹ discover SHOP

Small Town, Big Freshness Thomas, population 500-some, has food options much of the state can only dream about.

front street grocers, the first grocer in Thomas in 25 years, opened its doors in October.

“Folks were driving to Oakland, Maryland, out of state, to get organic avocados—or Elkins or Morgantown. That’s kind of ridiculous,” says Justin Doak, one of four co-founders. “We have a SHOP ’n SAVE in Davis and it’s a fine market, but doesn’t have a lot of organic options.

And Highland Market in Davis is great, but it’s more farmers’ market-esque. There were missing categories that we wanted to fill in—basically, access to really great greens year-round, great fruits, organic produce.” Front Street stocks more than 100 fresh fruits and vegetables at any one time along with a wide variety of dairy products, bulk items, grass-fed meats, vegetarian and vegan products, and beer and wine.

A kitchen at Front Street turns out soups, pickled items, and prepared foods—“it works out great because, if produce has been there

for four or five days, we have a team of cooks who extend its life,” Doak says. There’s also a wood-fired brick oven where the crew bakes fresh breads.

The founders are tailoring their efforts to the Thomas area’s small but enthusiastic population, with healthy summer, fall, and ski-season tourist influxes a welcome but not primary market. They’re running the grocery on a profit-sharing, employee-owned model.

And in service to the community, they also want to offer up kitchen space as an incubator for budding food entrepreneurs. “There are so many makers and studios in town,” Doak says. “It’s kind of the culture of the place.” Front Street Grocers, 122 East Avenue, Thomas; 304.591.9085; “Front Street Grocers” on Facebook written by pam

Things to Love @ FRONT STREET GROCERS

FRESH-BAKED BREAD “We want to become an artisanal bread shop,” Doak says. “We can put a picture of a bowl of soup on Instagram and get 15 likes—but a loaf of bread, in the hundreds.”

kasey bowman

photographed by nikki

ORGANIC PRODUCE “This is why people are coming in,” he says.

“We are 100 percent organic produce, or local produced to organic standards. We move through so much of it, it’s unbelievable.”

PREPARED FOODS “A couple of White Grass chefs cook for us when they’re slow—everything from sushi rolls to freshsqueezed grapefruit and lemon juices, lasagna, kale salad—a whole section.” wvliving.com 21

BO OK

A Clearcut Case?

In The Industrialist and the Mountaineer, retired WVU professor Ronald L. Lewis explores the division between those who wanted Appalachia to remain untouched by the Industrial Revolution and those who wanted progress to proceed full steam ahead. He does this by looking at the allbut-forgotten murder trial of outdoorsman Robert W. Eastham, who was charged with killing lumber mill owner Frank Thompson.

1 2

S O ME T HING NE W

Introducing the located about eight miles south of Charleston, the state Division of Natural Resources’ brand-new Forks of Coal State Natural Area stretches across 102 acres at the confluence of the Big and Little Coal rivers. Hunting isn’t allowed on the property but there are three hiking trails, built by DNR’s state parks staff, throughout the area. It’s also a great place for bird-watchers, wildflower lovers, and anglers. The area offers prime fishing holes for those who don’t mind climbing down a riverbank. DNR plans to add more fishing access areas in the future.

Local resident Jack Workman donated the land for the natural area in 2016. As part of the agreement, DNR will build the Claudia Workman Wildlife Education Center in honor of Workman’s late wife.

The center will serve to “educate the public about wildlife resources in the area,” says DNR spokesman Art Shomo. Construction is expected to begin this summer. written by zack

harold

22 wvl • spring 2017

H ANGO U T S

Morgan Spurlock morgan spurlock’s breakout 2004 film Super Size Me earned him armloads of awards and honors. Since then, he’s directed and produced many more critically acclaimed projects, including Morgan Spurlock Inside Man for CNN and 30 Days for the FX Network. We asked him to turn that cinematic eye toward his hometown, Beckley, for a quick tour of his favorite spots.

➊ THE BECKLEY EXHIBITION COAL MINE

“This is such a fantastic and eye-opening experience for adults and young people alike, especially ones who have no idea how the coal industry actually works. The first time I went was during a school trip, and it’s one of those places I tell every visitor to my hometown to check out. I’ve done it so many times at this point and I can’t wait to take my own kids.”

3

➋ LITTLE BEAVER STATE PARK “I have such fond memories of the time I spent there as a kid, hiking, fishing, and just being in nature. It was our go-to lake during my entire time as a Cub Scout and I can’t think of home without remembering all the times I sat on its shores. I encourage people to go throughout the year—the hikes are manageable for almost anyone and seeing the way the park changes with each season is breathtaking.”

➌ THEATRE WEST VIRGINIA OUTDOOR DRAMA & GRANDVIEW STATE PARK

“Throughout my childhood, I saw family members and friends perform as part of the Hatfields & McCoys and Honey in the Rock shows. This is such a special thing to have in our area. I know it’s had its share of hard times, but I always encourage people to support this awesome endeavor. There’s nothing quite like seeing a live show under the stars, and being in the middle of Grandview State Park only makes the entire experience more magical.”

CARLA WITT FORD; COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE; THEATRE WEST VIRGINIA

discover ››

‹‹ discover

M A DE IN W V

The Morse Code

COURTESY OF SJ MORSE

A high-end veneer panel maker marks 30 years in Capon Bridge. steve morse graduated from college with a dream to be a furniture maker. He laughs about it now. “Life moves on, and you realize you have to make a living,” he says.

It might have taken him a while, but he’s now found a way to both make a living and make things. His SJ Morse Company in Capon Bridge has made a name for itself fashioning architectural veneer panels for some of the largest hotel, hospital, and office buildings in the Southeast. If you’ve ever seen a dramatic curving wall of wood in an auditorium or noticed the high-gloss panels in a fancy elevator, you might be looking at something SJ Morse had a hand in creating.

“We do the paneling in whatever wood has been specified by the architect or the owner,” Morse says. “The degree of specification for that material is really intense—it’s down to the log. Our job is to take the architect’s intent for how he wants the wall to look and make that panel group.”

Morse started his company in Colorado in 1979 but wound up moving east when he found the bulk of his clients were close to the Washington D.C. market. After a time in Purgitsville, he settled on the space in Capon

Bridge, where he’s been operating since 1987.

He has about 20 employees now, many who’ve been with him for decades. “We have been really lucky,” Morse says. “We have great people who have been with us through the ups or downs. The new ones—I call them the young kids, but they have grown up, too. Even they have been here for 10 or 15 years.”

Morse’s client base is steady these days, too. The company has a dozen or so repeat customers, including architectural millworks and woodworking companies, that provide about 80 percent of their work. These clients handle major architectural projects and come to SJ Morse when they need veneer panels. They just finished up a major project for the Houston Marriott Hotel, and their work was recently installed at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital and Emily Couric Cancer Center in Charlottesville. Their finished products also are on display at several major law firms and headquarters for companies including Ernst and Young and Oracle.

This year, the company is celebrating its 30th year since moving to Capon Bridge, along with another milestone: By mid-winter, the business was on track to become 100 percent employeeowned, Morse says. The crew also is expecting an expansion of some sort this year.

“We are looking to grow,” Morse says. “Our last addition to this building was in 2007, 2008.

We are looking around for what our next option is.” 2736 Northwestern Pike, Capon Bridge, 304.856.3423, sjmorse.com written by kris

wise maramba wvliving.com 23

discover ››

GU ILT Y PLE A SU RE S

A Treat, B Sweet it doesn’t matter what kind of treat you’re in the mood for—chances are, B Sweet Confectionery in White Sulphur Springs has something that will satisfy your sweet tooth.

The bakery, which started in a food truck in 2011 before moving into a retail space in 2013, offers 18 cupcake flavors daily. Owner Erin Bowes makes sure she always stocks Salted Caramel, Triple Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cup, Cookies and Cream, and Here Comes the Bride—white cake with raspberry filling and drizzle—or else her customers “throw a fit.” She also mixes in seasonal varieties and limited runs, such as a cereal line celebrating Fruity Pebbles and Cap’n Crunch.

If you’re looking for something a bit bigger for a wedding or birthday, Bowes is also a master cake decorator. And, as a former baker and apprentice at The Greenbrier, she does savory just as well as sweet. B Sweet offers a full lunch menu chock full of salads, soups, and fun sandwiches such as The NYC, featuring smoked salmon and dill and caper cream cheese.

On Fridays and Saturdays, customers line up for her pepperoni rolls, filled with two sticks each of mozzarella and pepperoni and served hot.

“We’re so close to The Greenbrier, we get a lot of out-of-town customers who say, ‘What is that?’” says the Belle native. “That is how I know they are not from West Virginia.” 37 West Main Street, 304.536.3411, bsweetconfectionery.com written by mary

wade burnside bowman

photographed by nikki

24 wvl • spring 2017

‹‹ discover

MOM AND P O P S TO P S

A Century of Chambers

the chambers general store first opened its doors as a grocery store a century ago, providing fresh produce and provisions to the people of Bethany. “It’s very neat to walk in here and know my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather walked through, too, and to see young adults who once entered in strollers walk around the store,” says Harry Chambers, the fourth-generation manager, who operates the store with his wife, Beverly.

The Chambers family, which has owned and operated the store since the beginning, still takes pride in the family tradition of friendly customer service. Peruse the aisles and you will find everything from hardware to health products to hot food. There are parts for your chainsaw along with milk and bread.

Students from nearby Bethany College are especially appreciative of the dollar menu, which includes almost every type of deli or breakfast sandwich imaginable for a few dollars. And it’s all within the 100-yearold walls adorned with pieces of old Bethany, a product of years of family collecting and customer donations. written by anna

saab

photographed by carla

witt ford

wvliving.com 25

discover ›› The Spring Festival at Heritage Farm Museum and Village in Huntington

EVENT

A Celebration of Old and New

Check out Appalachia’s past, present, and future at Heritage Farm’s 21st annual Spring Festival.

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each spring people from all over flock to Huntington to learn about the history of Appalachia. Atop more than 500 acres of Huntington land, Heritage Farm Museum and Village—West Virginia’s first and only Smithsonian Institution affiliate—organizes a living history lesson with a multitude of exhibits and activities paying tribute to the past.

“It’s all about the celebration of Appalachia,” says Audy Perry, son of Heritage Farm Museum founders Henriella Perry and the late Michael Perry.

The exhibits focus on all aspects of Appalachian history, from arts to animals and everything in between. Each year, the staff hosts the Spring Festival as a kick-off to its season of Way-Back Weekends. The

provides activities for the whole family to celebrate Appalachian heritage.

celebration is an amped-up version of what a visitor will find on the farm on a regular day.

The museum staff at Heritage Farm— and about 200 volunteers—host the Spring Festival on the first Saturday in May. During this special event, guests are able to tour all the museums, visit the petting zoo, enjoy wagon rides, and experience Appalachian arts like glassblowing and blacksmithing.

Adults and kids can even test their ability to survive on the Appalachian frontier by going on a Pioneer Quest. Families will be given a challenge often faced by pioneers, learning about the past through problemsolving. Explore the Six Simple Machines Discovery Zone, where visitors can learn all about simple machines and their functions in old Appalachia.

These historical exhibits are joined by exhibits with an emphasis on futuristic innovation, like the 3,000-square-foot MakerSpace. Here guests can put on their thinking caps and get creative with an assortment of materials to create just about anything their imaginations can cook up.

Adult admission is $12, admission for children 3 to 12 is $8, and seniors 65 and older pay $10. Kids under 3 get in free. Passes can be purchased online or at the farm. 3300 Harvey Road, Huntington, 304.522.1244, heritagefarmmuseum.com written by anna

saab bowman

photographed by nikki

Taste NO MEAL IS COMPLE TE WITHOUT A GOOD STORY

CARLA WITT FORD

Eat Local Whether it’s vegetables from the farmers’ market around the corner, a dish prepared by a locally grown chef, or something you whip up in your own kitchen, the best flavors come from home.

PICTURED: WE’VE PUT TOGETHER A COLLECTION OF RECIPES TO HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF SPRING’S BOUNTY. PAGE 41.

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taste ›› maker

28 wvl • spring 2017

maker ‹‹ taste

The Appalachian Food Evangelist Chef Dale Hawkins’s new TV show spreads the good news about mountain cooking. dale hawkins first made a name for himself as executive chef at Stonewall Resort before becoming owner and operator of the celebrated Fish Hawk Acres farm in Rock Cave. He now runs the popular Fish Hawk Market in downtown Buckhannon and, in late 2016, made his debut as host of Appalachian Food Evangelist, a television show sponsored by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and the state Division of Tourism.

You can catch the show on West Virginia Public Broadcasting or on YouTube. The premiere of the five-episode inaugural season featured Charleston’s Capitol Market, JQ Dickinson Salt, and Pies & Pints. The second episode, a holiday special, centered around the General Adam Stephen House in Martinsburg.

We talked with Hawkins on the morning he was to tape the third episode, featuring his hometown of Buckhannon, about his philosophy for the show and what he hopes viewers will take away. “Appalachian Food Evangelist” on Facebook

“

We’ve talked about doing a show for a long time. I’ve done TV work, but it was mostly threeminute vignettes when I was the chef at Stonewall. It took a few years to get the funding together and a concept. The focus of this series is specialty crops that are grown in West Virginia. Specialty crops, what is that? It’s anything that’s not a commodity. Even honey can be considered a specialty crop. And most everyone in West Virginia has access to that. I’d like to see everyday folks latch onto it and rediscover what food’s about.

I want viewers to know you don’t have to go out of your way to find really good, clean food—that it’s being grown right here in our state.

The hope is that (Appalachian Food Evangelist) will convince people to shop locally for produce, for meat, and that they’ll spend more time in the kitchen cooking simple foods and come back around the table.

Food’s the one common thread we all have. Most of us live on our cellphones nowadays and we don’t take time to put them down and engage with people and enjoy food that’s not processed. When I was a

child we took our meals at the table.

Now, in 2017, it seems we have such a fast-paced lifestyle that we eat on the run.

I’ve studied food pretty much my entire life. And when you put that many years into food, it gives you a different context in which to talk about things. It’s easier for me to talk about not just how to cook it or preserve it, but how to grow it and why it’s important to our heritage.

My concept of Appalachian cuisine borrows from the past and mixes the present into it. It’s always nice to highlight home. This is where my roots are. And I’ve had the wonderful opportunity of traveling around the world and all over the U.S., bringing it back home and incorporating it into my repertoire.

I see the word ‘Appalachia’ coming up in all kinds of places.

Twenty years ago, when people said ‘Appalachia,’ it had a negative connotation. People are embracing the culture and the food that goes with it.” interviewed by zack

harold photographed by carla witt ford

LOOK TWICE wvliving.com 29

taste ›› libations

Smooth Move

One of the world’s largest liquor companies takes an interest in Smooth Ambler Spirits.

W

est Virginia’s own little high-end distillery made a big name for itself in a short time.

Started by TAG Galyean and John Little in Greenbrier County in 2009, Smooth Ambler Spirits and its line of “patiently crafted Appalachian spirits” quickly drew kudos—including “Best Single Barrel Bourbon in the World” for Old Scout Single Barrel Bourbon at Whisky Magazine’s 2016 World Whiskies Awards.

Craft spirits, like craft beer, are getting their due. Consumers have come to appreciate unique, small-batch products, and big liquor producers are taking note. So as 2016 drew to a close, premium spirits and wine company Pernod Ricard announced it would take a majority stake in Smooth Ambler. The maker of Absolut vodka and Jameson whiskey is second in size only to Diageo among the world’s liquor producers.

Smooth Ambler makes its gins, vodkas, rums, and whiskeys using regionally sourced ingredients. “From grinding our own carefully selected regional grains to labeling and signing each bottle, Smooth Ambler does everything by hand, the old-fashioned way,” reads the company’s website.

The deal was expected to close in early 2017. Little will stay on as CEO and said he would observe “the same culture and commitment to quality.” With the investment, the company plans to increase its production capacity in West Virginia.

written by pam

kasey

photo courtesy of smooth

30 wvl • spring 2017

ambler spirits

wvliving.com 31

taste ›› local f lavor

The Buzz Word The inside story behind Southern West Virginia’s favorite after-school snack: the Buzz Buttered Steak. written by zack

harold photos courtesy of buzz food service

B

uzz Buttered Steaks made their debut in the mid-1950s.

They were the invention of Mark Hill, owner of Charleston-based Hy-Grade Sales, which sold meat to corner stores and restaurants. Inspired by the frozen convenience foods taking over supermarkets at the time, Hill wanted to market something directly to home consumers. He came up with a square hamburger patty with a pad of butter frozen in the middle. “He put it in a retail carton and sold it to grocery stores. And over the next few years, it took off,” says Dickinson Gould, president of Buzz Food Service.

THE TASTE OF CHILDHOOD “I wish I had a nickel for every time someone said this: ‘Buzz Buttered Steaks were the first thing my mother let me cook,’” says Gould. Preparation was certainly simple enough—just slide a frozen patty into a warm skillet and, after a few minutes, sandwich it between a few pieces of white bread. It was a simple meal, but one that still generates a lot of nostalgia.

A NEW CHAPTER Gould’s grandfather, Dick, Sr., spent much of his life as a hospital administrator. After retiring, he opened a business as a food distributor in Logan County, becoming one of Hy-Grade’s most successful distributors. Then, in the late 1960s, Mark Hill called Dick, Sr., to let him know his next order would be his last. Hill was retiring and didn’t have any children to hand the business to. “My grandfather said, Would you consider selling the business?”

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THE ORIGINAL BUZZ CREW Dick, Sr., called his son, Dick, Jr., and told him they were buying a company together—and Dick, Jr., a 24-year-old bachelor at the time, was going to run it.

“The reason my father and grandfather were interested in the business was Buzz Buttered Steaks. They saw great value in that product,” Gould says. They took over in 1968, built a brand-new facility in Charleston’s Kanawha City neighborhood, and renamed the company to reflect its most popular product.

Dick, Sr.

Dick, Jr.

STILL BUZZING ALONG The popularity of Buzz Buttered Steaks peaked in the early 1980s. Buzz Food Service is still going strong but is now mostly a restaurant supply company. Gould says sales of the frozen patties now represent just 1 percent of the business, but there are no plans to stop production.

“We keep it going out of nostalgia—nostalgia among the customer base and nostalgia at Buzz,” he says.

GET A TASTE Most Kroger, Foodland, and FoodFair stores in West Virginia carry Buzz Buttered Steaks. The patties also sometimes show up on restaurant menus around the state. But to prepare them at home, Gould recommends, “start in a frying pan, not a grill, and place the patty butter side down. Turn it over. Serve it between two pieces of white toast with a slice of American cheese, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper.”

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vittles ‹‹ taste

Powered by Chocolate A family exploits our collective sweet tooth for education and fun.

W

hen Point Pleasant sixth-grader Hannah Grubb wanted to go to Canada in 2013 with the travel program People to People International, her parents needed a fundraiser. Parents Charles and Vicki Grubb’s solution was the best solution to most needs: chocolate. “We started out doing what any other person could do—simple stuff, pretzels and solids,” Charles Grubb says.

“Some friends let us sell them in their shops.”

Hannah’s trip was partially paid for by the fundraiser. But two years later, she wanted to go to Australia with the program—at twice the cost. The Grubbs started doing events. And when Charles heard people walking by their table say they could make those treats at home, he told his wife, “I’m going to do something people can’t do at home.” They upped their game and named their cottage bakery Hannahbug’s Chocolates after a niece’s nickname for Hannah.

Charles created a crème de menthe ganache for St. Patrick’s Day 2015 and, when that went well, he decided to introduce new flavors every season. That has included a line of apple pie, orange, and strawberry moonshine ganaches, most made with West Virginia moonshine. Along with a coffee bean bar and peanut butter cups, they’re now Hannahbug best-sellers.

A pharmacist by day, Charles is concocting his version of a Zero bar by evening and hopes to start working out of a commercial kitchen in 2017. And Hannah? She went to Australia and then Costa Rica, and she’ll travel to London, Paris, and Rome in summer 2017—all paid for by beautiful chocolates. “Hannahbug’s Chocolates” on Facebook

written by pam photo courtesy of

kasey charles grubb wvliving.com 35

EAT + DRINK + BE LO CA L |

36 wvl • spring 2017

Good Eats in the Southeast A Union couple switches up their lifestyle, and everyone passing through town benefits. pam kasey photographed by carla witt ford written by

wvliving.com 37

NIKKI BOWMAN

taste ›› Nanny’s Bakery & Cafe

S

ometimes it’s in offhand comments that people find their true callings.

Not too many years ago, Todd Baker was teaching science and math at a Christian academy in Monroe County, and his wife, Korie, was homeschooling their brood of four. Todd baked pastries in the evenings for stress relief.

Sometimes when Korie cooked up something especially tasty for dinner, they’d joke, “Are we going to serve this in our bakery when we have one?”

“We didn’t really think we’d have one,” Korie says.

But about three years ago, a house her family owned in Union needed a tenant.

“Things started clicking into place,” Todd

38 wvl • spring 2017

Among their soups, the minestrone and clam chowder always bring customers calling. And Todd says Korie’s creole dishes have gotten good response: shrimp and grits, gumbo, shrimp etouffee. They also do a muffuletta sandwich on homemade bread.

Pastries, for the most part, are Todd’s side of the house. A self-taught pastry chef, he bakes all of the buttery, flaky favorites: cream cheese danish, scones, cinnamon rolls. And he likes a challenge: “Croissants are labor intensive, but I really do enjoy making them. And napoleons.”

In February, he was working on tortes. He gets up at 4:30 to start all this baking—luckily, they live next door.

Nanny’s offers cupcakes and decorated cakes, says. He and Korie remodeled part of the too, including wedding cakes. Those are mostly house as a cozy café space with outdoor seating Korie’s productions. They get a lot of love on overlooking quiet, tree-lined Main Street. And Nanny’s Facebook page, which has more than in January 2015, they opened Nanny’s Bakery 1,000 likes in a town of well under 600. and Cafe, named for Todd’s grandmother.

The Bakers’ four children are now ages 7 Nanny’s menu would read as eclectic through 16, and they’re still homeschooled. even in the state’s larger towns. “We usually They help out after closing and sometimes take a Southern classic and twist it,” says during the work day, especially their 14-yearKorie, who handles most of the savory side. old daughter. The family hopes one day to buy “Mac and cheese might be a special, but it’s the house where Nanny’s is located and live in jacked up”—one Facebook post advertised a the building with the restaurant.

Baked Pizza Mac ’n’ Cheese with pepperoni, As the restaurant has taken root in Union, tomatoes, herbs, and lots of extra cheese.

Todd and Korie are happy with their change of Most popular on the regular menu is Korie’s lifestyle. “We like working together,” Todd says. house-made chicken salad seasoned with basil “Korie really loves people through her food, and and lemon, while the most popular special we like people to feel like they’re at home. That’s is the meatloaf grilled cheese sandwich. Yes, our style.” 541 Main Street, Union, 304.772.5430, that’s meatloaf in a grilled cheese sandwich.

“Nanny’s Bakery & Cafe” on Facebook

taste ›› power lunch

AVENUE EATS Fresh and Local

Taste of Appalachia

Avenue Eats sources most herbs and produce from Jebbia’s Market, a local vendor, and takes advantage of the Ohio Valley Farmers’ Market and Grow OV during the summer. It also buys fresh eggs from HerBold Organic Farms and purchases grass-fed beef from Jacob & Sons.

Sloppy Joe sandwiches are more commonly devoured at home than at a restaurant.

Avenue Eats recreates the common home-cooked meal with an Appalachian twist: the sandwich features a house-made moonshine sauce.

Dinner and Dessert A sweet treat is always the perfect ending to a great meal. WHISK Bakery—also owned by Phillip Kendall and Lara Graves—creates lots of delicious confections for Avenue Eats. Try a slice of apple streusel cheesecake or a flourless chocolate cake after you finish your burger.

Home-cooked History The location was originally home to a Wheeling family during the 1940s. “Over the years the building has been everything from a tanning salon to a scuba shop,” explained Graves.

FAN FAVORITES

Apple-Berry Salad $9

Diner Burger $10

phillip kendall and lara graves always wanted a restaurant. Kendall was inspired to open his own eatery after watching his aunt and uncle operate restaurants throughout his childhood. Graves was a full-time exhibit designer when the couple, now engaged, decided to open Avenue Eats. Her job took her to cities where she and Kendall explored local eateries. The two taste-tested a variety of dishes, honing in on the flavors and cuisines they liked best. Graves and Kendall wanted to share the dishes they make at home with others. Their home-cooked inspirations flourished into a menu full of simple dishes with delicious twists. Unique burgers, salads, and sandwiches grace the menu, and the ingredients are almost all locally sourced. ➻ 1201 Valley View Avenue, Wheeling, 304.905.8300, avenueeats.com written by anna

saab

40 wvl • spring 2017

photos courtesy of

avenue eats

NIKKI BOWMAN

Grilled Triple Cheese $9

this ‹‹ taste

going �green zack harold photographed and styled by carla witt ford written by

Forget the tilling and the planting and the weeding.

In gardening, as in Tom Petty songs, the waiting is the hardest part. It can seem like an eternity from planting time to summer harvest. But lucky for us, there are already plenty of delicious, fresh vegetables to enjoy while we bide our time. We’ve collected some recipes to help make use of the spring greens already cropping up in gardens and farmers’ markets near you.

taste ›› this

Spinach and

Roasted Red Pepper Frittata Muffins

5 ounces baby spinach, wilted and chopped ½ teaspoon olive oil 6 large eggs ½ cup milk ¾ cup soft goat cheese, crumbled ½ cup roasted red pepper, diced 2 ounces prosciutto, sliced into ribbons Crushed red pepper flakes Salt and pepper to taste 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Wilt spinach in a skillet with olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. In large bowl, beat eggs and milk. Stir in cheese, spinach, and roasted red pepper.

4. Divide batter among muffin pan cups, about 1/4 cup each. Top with prosciutto, sprinkle with red pepper flakes, and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until just set in the center.

5. Cool on rack 5 minutes, then remove from cups. Serve warm.

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this ‹‹ taste

Spring Greens Minestrone 1 cup baby asparagus 1 cup snap peas 3 whole spring onions, cut into ½-inch pieces 1 cup baby spinach or kale 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock ⅔ cup cooked pasta, mini shells works best 15-ounce can butter beans, rinsed and drained 3 tablespoons green pesto 1. Place the green vegetables in a medium-size saucepan. Pour stock over vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are cooked through.

2. Stir in the cooked pasta, beans, and 2 tablespoons of pesto.

Warm through, then ladle into bowls and top each with another drizzle of pesto.

Sauteed Butternut Squash with Kale and Spinach 1-2 tablespoons olive oil ½ whole butternut squash; peeled, seeded and cubed 1 tablespoon butter 1 bunch kale, leaves torn, stalks discarded 12 ounces spinach, chopped Salt and pepper to taste 1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add squash and sprinkle with salt, pepper. Cook for several minutes, turning gently with a spatula until squash is deep golden brown and tender but not falling apart. Remove to a plate and set aside.

2. In the same skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat and add in kale and spinach. Toss with tongs and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cooked squash and gently toss together. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Serve as a side or main dish or as a filling for quesadillas or sandwiches.

wvliving.com 43

taste ›› this

Chocolate Mint Cheescake Bars crust 2 packages (9 ounces) chocolate graham crackers, crushed (about 2 cups) ½ cup margarine or butter, melted filling 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened ½ cup sour cream 4 eggs ⅔ cup sugar ¼ teaspoon mint extract ½ teaspoon fresh mint, finely chopped topping 4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped ½ cup sour cream 1. Heat oven to 350°. In medium bowl, mix crust ingredients. Press in bottom of ungreased 13x9­-inch pan. Place crust in the freezer while preparing filling.

2. In large bowl with electric mixer, beat all filling ingredients on low speed until smooth. Pour into crust­-lined pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

3. In 1-quart saucepan, melt chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly, or use a double boiler. Cool 5 minutes; beat in sour cream with spoon. Spread over warm cheesecake.

Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm. Cut into squares. Store in refrigerator. note: Use mint-flavored chocolate wafer or sandwich cookies to boost the mint flavor.

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Live

E XPLORING THIS E X TRAORDINARY PL ACE WE CALL HOME

Worth Keeping

Some things will never go out of style. These are the stories of people committed to keeping those things—like historic buildings, film photography, and old-school journalism—alive.

NIKKI BOWMAN

PICTURED: THE WHIPPLE COMPANY STORE IN SCARBRO USED TO BE A ONE-STOP SHOP FOR LOCAL MINERS’ FAMILIES. NOW IT’S A WINDOW INTO THE AREA’S HISTORY. PAGE 58

wvliving.com 45

Pat Murphy has dedicated 46 years to teaching kids photography. written by zack

harold

CLAIRE HARLESS

In Focus

creatively ‹‹ live

IAN FLEMING

B

ecca Rohn had only been in Pat Murphy’s photography class at the Martinsburg Boys & Girls Club for a few weeks when he handed her a 35-millimeter camera loaded with black and white film. “He said, ‘You have 20 photos. Go take ’em.’”

Then just 10 years old, Rohn’s experience with photography was limited to the disposable cameras she used to capture snapshots of family vacations, Girl Scout trips, and weddings.

She took Murphy’s loaner camera along to her grandmother’s farm, where she spent her exposures on chickens and flowers and the Berkeley Springs countryside.

Murphy helped Rohn develop the film when she returned to class the following Saturday morning. She remembers inspecting the postage stamp-sized images with a magnifying glass.

“They were terrible,” she says. Nearly every shot was blurry and badly framed. “There might have been one quasi-usable photo.”

Rohn didn’t know then, but that seemingly wasted roll of film was the first step to becoming a national award-winning photographer.

COURTESY OF PAT MURPHY

Pat Murphy, far right, and wife Beverly, far left, pose with his photography students at Zion National Park in Utah.

Murphy probably had an idea, though. Each year, Boys & Girls Clubs across the country and on military bases around the world compete in the ImageMakers National Photography Contest. And for the last four decades, Pat Murphy has almost always had a student among the winners.

Murphy was 23 years old when he started teaching at the Boys & Girls Club. Now, at 69, he still has no plans of stopping. “I’m not ready to quit yet. It’s addictive, working with young people,” he says. “The worst part is they grow up on you.”

Exposure

Murphy learned photography during his time in the U.S. Marine Corps. While his brothers in arms bought stereos and cheap liquor at the MCX, he picked up a 35-millimeter rangefinder and started hanging out in his base’s darkroom.

“I didn’t even know how to load a reel of film when I started.”

When he returned home to Martinsburg in 1970, he began looking for somewhere to continue his hobby. He agreed to teach wvliving.com 47

photography at the Boys Club, as it was called at the time, in exchange for access to its small darkroom.

The photography program was a barebones operation at the time, with only a few cameras and lousy darkroom equipment. But that did not hinder Murphy from getting his students busy making photographs. He got permission for his students to shoot photos on the sidelines of Shepherd University football games and local high school basketball games and track meets. They documented the architecture around Martinsburg and shot countless portraits of its residents.

The club got its first ImageMakers award a few years after Murphy took over, for a photo a student shot of the Berkeley County courthouse.

It won third place in the national competition. “I was as happy as he was,” Murphy says.

As the awards piled up, the Martinsburg community took notice and began making donations to the program. This allowed Murphy to buy more cameras and equipment and, eventually, remodel the darkroom. As the program grew, so did Murphy’s ambition.

He and his wife Beverly began crisscrossing the continental United States with students in tow. “I called it ‘chasing Ansel Adams’ ghost,’” he says. Josh Triggs was part of a seven-day 48 wvl • spring 2017

KENNY WASHINGTON

HEATHER JONES

live ›› creatively

expedition Murphy organized to the Oregon coast. “It’s not a vacation. You were there for the sole goal of taking pictures. We’d get up in the morning, get out early to get the sunrise shot, and be gone all day taking pictures.”

Kenny Washington had the same experience when he accompanied Murphy to Yellowstone National Park. He recalls grudgingly rolling out of bed at four in the morning and lugging camera gear through the predawn chill, “just to catch the right light.”

But capturing an image was only a fraction of the work. “That’s the easy part. I didn’t know what it looked like. I would only know when we went back to the dark room,” Washington says.

It wasn’t uncommon to spend hours developing and enlarging a single exposure, and each step provided lots of opportunity for error.

But Murphy kept his patience and urged his students to do the same. “He let you do stuff. He let you mess up and make mistakes,” Washington says. “He would criticize your work, but I never felt like I was getting picked on.”

Not that everything Murphy told his students was gospel. “I taught them to argue with me,” he says. More than once, he’s told students their photos weren't good enough for competition.

“And they’ll say, ‘I’m going to enter it.’ And then they win, and they’re pleased as punch.”

ALLISON FOGLE

EMMA STIBI

creatively ‹‹ live

BECCA ROHN

Developing

Photography has come a long way since Murphy first stepped foot in a darkroom. He has incorporated digital photography into his classes to keep up with the times, but he mostly teaches photography the way he always has.

Technological advances have done nothing to diminish the thrill of submerging a seemingly blank piece of paper in a pan of developer solution and watching as the paper slowly becomes a photograph. “They don’t realize it’s old-fashioned. It’s a first-time experience for them,” he says.

For some students, Murphy’s class was the beginning of a lifetime behind the camera.

Triggs became a professional photographer even before he left Murphy’s class, selling sports photos and shooting weddings when he was still in high school. He’s still making a living with a lens, more than a decade after he won

an ImageMakers award for his photo of the Springfield, Massachusetts armory. “Why would I want to do anything else?” he says.

Other students left photography behind when they left the Boys and Girls Club. Rohn, who won an ImageMakers award for a photo she shot of a drop of milk mixed with food coloring, is now a graduate student at West Virginia University. She’s too busy with school and work to devote much time to photography.

Kenny Washington, who won for an image of a snapping turtle, has mostly left photography behind, too. He’s got a career with the U.S. Navy and a wife and kids. But he credits Murphy’s class with shaping the person he is today.

“It got me out of my comfort zone. It got me to see the beauty of rural America—things that are interesting to see that nobody ever pays attention to,” he says. “It changes how you view the world.” wvliving.com 49

Fit for a Governor

Buckhannon’s A Governor’s Inn offers hospitality—and a five-course breakfast—to the delight of a growing number of guests. written by mary photographed by

wade burnside carla witt ford

wvliving.com 51

live ›› away

D

aniel D.T. Farnsworth was only governor of West Virginia for seven days, from February 26 to March 4, 1869. But nearly 150 years later, his ornate, Queen Anne-style Victorian brick home— complete with a columned wraparound veranda, a second-floor turret, an attic balcony, and a gabled roof—still stands tall and proud on East Main Street in Buckhannon. These days the structure serves as a beacon for travelers, lighted up on the exterior and warm, cozy, and inviting on the inside.

All this is thanks to Charla and Jack Reger, who purchased A Governor’s Inn nearly three years ago. The 1889 house had been run as a bed and breakfast for years before shutting down, but the Regers completed extensive repairs and renovations and opened back up in May 2015.

Since then, the place has received rave reviews from visitors who herald the Regers’ hospitality and homemade, five-course breakfasts. “One of the first things that really made me smile as I walked up the front steps was I discovered they had put a chalkboard on an easel on the front porch, welcoming guests,” says Richard Lowe of Elizabeth.

“They had my name on the chalkboard. And once I was inside, Jack and Charla were quick to greet me at the front door.”

Lowe was also impressed by his large guest room, which featured a king-size bed with a “massive” iron headboard as well as an updated private bathroom. And Charla’s breakfasts offered a combination of savory and sweet dishes, from sausage pies and homemade fried bread to French toast topped with bananas and chocolate. All breakfasts also include Charla’s signature panna cotta with pineapple-cherry sauce, frosted blueberries, and mint, as well as freshly squeezed orange juice.

The Regers also make baked goods to order for customers and have plans to create a weekend, warm-weather outdoor café.

And they do it all while working full-time.

Buckhannon native Jack serves as assistant superintendent of Upshur County Schools; Charla, who grew up in Paden City and arrived in town via West Virginia Wesleyan, 52 wvl • spring 2017

Charla Reger, who owns A Governor’s Inn with her husband, Jack, loves the home’s design

elements, including the original woodwork on the staircase.

Detailed fireplace tiles feature

images of hunting dogs as well as women and seashells.

away ‹‹ live clockwise from top left The Regers

had an artist paint panels representing the history of West Virginia on the ceiling of this small dining area; the textured flock wallpaper is

carried out through the parlor, the library, and the formal dining room; and The Abbey is the largest of the four guest bedrooms, featuring a kingsize bed and an adjoining bathroom with a jacuzzi tub.

teaches special education in Barbour County and also serves as special education coordinator for the school system.

In less than two years, the couple has seen a variety of guests walk through the arched doorway of the 7,600-square-foot home.

“We’ve had people from all over the place,” Charla says. “Because Wesleyan is here and students come from all over the country, we host a lot of parents who have been from places like California, Massachusetts, and Florida. And we’ve had people from New Zealand, England, and Scotland, and they come with different stories.” As attentive hosts, the Regers are always happy to listen.

Another guest, Tabitha Guidish, loved A Governor’s Inn so much that she has already visited three times during the Regers’ short tenure as owners. The New Castle, Pennsylvania, resident, whose family has West Virginia roots, booked one of the four guest rooms—each with a private bath—for a visit to Cass Scenic Railroad State Park with her husband, Joel. “The hospitality was phenomenal. The accommodations were great,” Tabitha says. After their first stay, the couple has visited for the past two Decembers for their wedding anniversary and hope to do so again in 2017.

Even though the Regers are relatively new to the innkeeping business, they have been preparing for this new venture for quite a while. “We were planning on opening a B&B for 15 or 20 years,” Charla says. “We just love taking care of people and anticipating their needs. We started talking about this 20 years ago. When we traveled, we stayed in B&Bs. We love getting to know the hosts and hostesses and we started looking at recipes— things people would enjoy but wouldn’t fix themselves.” They even remodeled their former home in Belington as a small version of a B&B. Now, A Governor’s Inn is their home. And Charla says she wants guests to feel that way, too. “When they come in, we greet them and tell them, ‘This is your home as long as you are here.’” agovernorsinn.com wvliving.com 53

To Protect and Preserve

Shepherd University uses its hometown—and its campus—as a living laboratory for historic preservation. written by zack

harold photographed by nikki bowman

wvliving.com 55

live ›› history

I

t’s one thing to read about Gothic Revival, Queen Anne, and Adam/Federal architecture in a textbook. It’s quite another to see all those styles, beautifully preserved, within just a few blocks of one another. That’s one reason students come from all over to study historic preservation at Shepherd University. “I use Shepherdstown as a living laboratory. I take my students on walks just about every week,” says Keith Alexander, assistant professor of history and coordinator of Shepherd’s historic preservation program. “You name it, it’s here. It’s remarkably diverse.”

In the classroom, students learn about the history of American architecture, how to diagnose and cure issues with historic buildings, how to document and preserve artifacts, and how people apply those skills in non-academic settings like national parks, archives, and museums. Students also participate in intensive, 400-hour summer internships at various archives, museums, historical societies, and other organizations where they all gain hands-on, real-world experience to add to their resumes.

It’s the only undergraduate historic preservation program in the state, and the only one in the Chesapeake Bay region. Alexander wants to expand the program outside the university and into the Shepherdstown community at large. His plan centers on a diminutive little cottage behind the university’s science building: the Entler-Weltzheimer House, also known as the Yellow House for its yellow German siding.

Built in the early 1800s, the log home was a family residence until Shepherd purchased it in the 1920s for use in the university’s home economics program. Over the decades, the home would again serve as a private residence, a meeting house for a sorority, a nursery school, and a science annex. By the late 2000s, the Yellow House was in deep disrepair. And, with students clamoring for more hands-on work, Alexander decided to do something about it. “We had this historic preservation program

56 wvl • spring 2017

history ‹‹ live Keith Alexander, assistant professor of history and coordinator of Shepherd University’s historic preservation program, teams with the Mills Group, a West

Virginia-based architecture and preservation firm, to design a preservation lab with real-world training opportunities.

“People are

attracted to places that are interesting, varied, and wellpreserved.” keith alexander

and this very dilapidated house at a very prominent place on campus,” he says.

In 2009, Alexander applied for and received a grant from the state to stabilize the Yellow House. Students got to participate in some of that work, and Alexander uses the home as a teaching aid. “I’m in there multiple times over the course of a semester talking about log houses, talking about plaster techniques,” he says. “Even in its rough shape it’s serving a purpose.”

But Alexander has larger plans for the Yellow House. He hopes to eventually turn it into a historic preservation laboratory for students as well as Shepherdstown citizens at large. Alexander received another grant in 2015 to fund the creation of a master plan detailing how that would work.

Once finished, half of the Yellow House’s ground floor will be turned into a period

room, restored to an authentic mid-19th century look with appropriate finishings, furniture, and millwork, along with displays outlining the home’s history. The rest of the first floor will be a preservation lab with displays of artifacts and “workable zones.” Special “truth windows” will allow visitors to see the home’s structural elements. “Kind of peeling away at it, like an onion,” Alexander says. Part of the second level will also have its flooring and subflooring removed to allow a view of the house’s roof framing, as well as examples of structural repairs and reinforcement.

Alexander still needs to secure funding to make the master plan come true, but he hopes the Yellow House will eventually become a place where both students and locals can learn about preservation and its importance to their community.

As tourism becomes more important to the state’s economy, Alexander says the state must make it a priority to save our historic treasures. It’s not just an academic exercise anymore. “We’re realizing the importance of preservation for tourism,” he says. “People are attracted to places that are interesting, varied, and well-preserved.”

That’s another way Shepherdstown serves as a living laboratory for the program.

The town draws droves of tourists from its neighboring metropolitan areas. “They’re here in part because of the sense of place that Shepherdstown offers,” Alexander says. “It’s a great example of the kind of impact historic preservation can make.” wvliving.com 57

live ›› history

Mind the Store A one-of-a-kind company store, once the center of town, becomes a showcase for coal camp history. written by kris

wise maramba bowman

photographed by nikki

58 wvl • spring 2017

As

a little girl growing up in Fayette County, Joy Lynn used to marvel at the architecture of the old Whipple Company Store. “I had wanted that building since I was six, when it was a trading post.”

Fast forward a few decades to 2006 when Lynn, living full-time in Florida where she and her husband restore high-end vintage cars, was visiting the home she still owned in Gauley Bridge. “My girlfriend was a real estate agent and called me and said, ‘You have to get over here—they are selling your building.’”

The building in Scarbro had changed hands several times over the years. It was a wreck, falling down in sections, “19 inches of water in the basement and the upstairs ballroom was full of pigeons,” Lynn says. The Lynn family jumped at the chance to own it.

Built sometime around 1890, according to paperwork found inside, the Whipple Company Store was constructed by coal

baron Justus Collins to serve miners and their families, but its unique design was a vision of his wife, Lucy.

“She believed in education and art at a time when people didn’t even think about that kind of stuff,” says Lynn, who is writing a book on the Collins family. “She believed if you raised the bar in these coal camps, people coming to work there would meet the challenge to become more educated and artistic.”

Inside the ornate octagon-shaped building, “anything you could ever need, not want but need, would be there,” Lynn says. There was a doctor, a butcher—who often helped the doctor because he was one of the few people who knew how to handle blood—and an embalmer.

“It was the bank. It was the women’s sewing circle. It was the community center and, before churches were built, it was the religious center,” Lynn says. “Women would gather there to socialize. The children would have little classes. They would sew and work on their samplers.”

history ‹‹ live

The store has several unique features, including a five-foot-tall second story, which is really just a half floor. It was mainly used to store coffins—“they didn’t want to put them on the main floor where children were buying candy bars,” Lynn says.

But the second floor also housed trusses that supported a round acoustic feature on the ground floor. It basically served as an early surveillance system. There was a spot where a guard could stand and hear virtually every single woman in the store talking. It was a great way to keep tabs on the coal company employees and the community at large.

A third-floor ballroom was where Lucy Collins took tea and entertained other rich ladies. It is now a sought-after venue for wedding receptions and community gatherings.

The Lynns offer all-inclusive party packages, including catering and music.

There isn’t another coal company store quite like Whipple still standing, Lynn says.

She and her family open the store and the Appalachian Heritage Museum inside from May 1 to November 1. They give historical tours—entry fees start at $10 per person—and haunted tours, as well as children’s field trips.

This summer, the building’s basement will be opened to the public for the first time for several new “escape room” challenges. In one scenario, tourists will get to figure their way out of a simulated coal mine. In another, they’ll solve 19th century challenges, like operating an old book press or an early washing machine, to get clues and “escape.”

Proceeds from the gift shop and from paying visitors—many students and coal groups get complimentary tours, Lynn says—go to pay utilities and for the upkeep and renovations necessary to preserve the historic facility.

“We have spent 10 years making this building and its history viable,” Lynn says.

But, she noted, “it’s a job where I don’t feel like I ever have to go to work.” whipplecompanystore.com wvliving.com 59

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listings

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out loud ‹‹ live

“WEST VIRGINIA FROM THE STUDIOS OF THE WEST VIRGINIA RADIO CO RPORATION AND THE METRONEWS RADIO NETWORK

COMES THE MOST POWERFUL RADIO SHOW IN

THIS IS METRONEWS TALKLINE WITH HOPPY KERCHEVAL Switch network control from Charleston to Morgantown. Stand by. Cue Hoppy. You’re on. . .

The dean of West Virginia radio, Hoppy Kercheval, marks four decades on the airwaves.

WRITTEN BY

NIKKI BOWMAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY

ELIZABETH FORD

F

or 40 years, Hoppy Kercheval— perhaps the most widely heard radio personality in West Virginia—has been “on.” The intro to his daily talk show brings to mind a boxer, pumped and primed, jogging into the ring. The subject matter of the day can range from politics to race to West Virginia University sports—so it’s no wonder that when Kercheval leaves his studio, he sometimes feels as if he has been through a round or two. Good thing the walls are padded.

From 10 a.m. to noon, five days a week, listeners from around the state tune in as Kercheval tackles tough and timely issues.

He has worked at West Virginia Radio

64 wvl • spring 2017

Corporation since he began his career in 1976 as a news anchor. Since then his career has taken him from the news desk at WAJR in Morgantown to the role of vice president of operations and his own talk show, MetroNews Talkline. Not bad for a kid from Jefferson County who grew up on a dairy farm.

“When I was young, we were pretty isolated.

We had a big radio and at night I would listen to it, turning the dial to radio stations across the country like WCFL in Chicago and WKBW in Buffalo,” he says. “The radio was my first contact with the outside world, and I was intrigued by it. When I was 12 years old, I knew this was what I wanted to do.”

Although his parents named him Harvey Holbert Kercheval III—and there are only two

people in the world who can call him that, his boss Dale Miller and Tony Caridi—it was Kercheval’s brother who first called him Hoppy. “My brother is four years older, and back in the 1950s there was a cowboy on television called Hopalong Cassidy. My brother wanted me to be a cowboy, so he called me Hoppy.”

As a young man he thought he wanted to be a disc jockey. His first job was at the local radio station WXVA in Charles Town. He was 19 years old. “When I went to work as a disc jockey, the first day, the guy I was taking over for handed me a file folder of phone numbers— police department, fire department, prosecutor’s office, etcetera. He said, ‘By the way, you are also the news director.’ I didn’t know anything

out loud ‹‹ live

Hoppy’s studio has state-of-the-art equipment. “I love my job,” he says. “I love that we are a West Virginia

company owned and operated by West Virginians for West Virginians.”

about news, but he told me to just call those people on the list. I started doing that and got really interested in it. When you are a disc jockey, the records play over and over, but the news changes every day.” From that moment on, he’d found his passion.

Kercheval is no AM radio ideologue. He is admittedly conservative, but he isn’t militant about it. Although, according to the message boards on Talkline, one listener writes, “Hoppy Kercheval in Swahili really means Rush Limbaugh. Every time WVU scores a touchdown there is a subliminal message to vote Republican. That is why West Virginia is now voting red. Because we’ve scored so many touchdowns over the past 10 years.”

Politicians dream of having that kind of power. But if you ask Kercheval to describe himself, he’ll say, “I’m professional, serious, insecure—like most people—hardworking, and fair. My wife says I like to say I’m tough but fair. I joke with her that when I retire, I want to go work at Disney World, and she says, ‘Yeah, that’s what Disney needs. Tough but fair people.’”

He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Mel Burka Award, given annually by the West Virginia Broadcasters Association to the state’s top broadcaster. But listeners keep him humble. “A couple of years ago, I received a Christmas card from a listener.

I keep it close by. It says, ‘Hoppy, you are wrong about everything.’” As a result, he has developed a pretty thick skin over the years. “I’m fairly confident in what I’m doing. I’m going to make mistakes. I’m not cocky, but I’m confident. The confidence helps with criticism,” he says. “But there are times when at the end of the show I feel like I’ve had my wisdom teeth pulled out without Novocain.”

Kercheval spends at least three hours preparing for each show. He doesn’t have a team of researchers or interns. He chuckles when people contact him and tell him to have “his people” check a particular story out. “What? I am my people.” He reads digital editions of national publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post, as well as all the major newspapers in the state. He plans out the subject matter for each day’s show and lines up his guests. Walk into his office you’ll see neatly stacked piles of information lined up on the floor from his desk to the door. Chances are Kercheval will be on the phone—or maybe on two phones at once— calling contacts, texting sources, and replying to emails.

“In some ways, technology has made our job more demanding. It isn’t just a radio station anymore; you have a website, you have photos, and you have video,” he says. “But in some ways it has made it a heck of lot easier.

The execution of the show is much easier and simpler now.”

And then there is social media. Kercheval has become a master at managing non-stop connectivity. During his shows he constantly checks his phone and reads the tweets that fly in. “Social media has really increased the ability to connect to your audience,” he says.

“You don’t have to wait for the angry phone call. People can access you instantly. There’s instant feedback on what you are doing. Keeps it really interesting, that’s for sure.”

Kercheval agrees it is unusual for a broadcaster to stay with the same company his entire career, but he has never been tempted to go elsewhere. “I work for a great company that is committed to doing quality radio using the latest technology. When I started there were only two radio stations. Now we have 29. I didn’t have to leave for new opportunities. The new opportunities came here as our company grew,” he says.

“Working for West Virginia Radio has been, and continues to be, a blessing. This is a wonderful company that strives for excellence and appreciates loyalty and hard work. It’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years, and I hope I still have a few good years left behind the microphone.” To mark Kercheval’s 40 years of service, West Virginia Radio Corporation recently announced the establishment of the Hoppy Kercheval Endowed Scholarship for a Jefferson High School student to attend WVU. Kercheval sees it as his mission to keep people informed. Whether he’s talking about the state’s education legislation or the budget crisis, his natural curiosity shines through.

“I choose topics I think people would be interested in. I like talking about things that are a little bit tricky. I like talking about race relations. It is good to have honest discussions.

I like to talk about politics—that’s probably my favorite subject. Then sports.”

In recent months, Kercheval has had a ringside seat as Governor Jim Justice’s new administration collided with Republican legislative leadership over the $500 million budget shortfall. “It’s fascinating,” Kercheval says. “It is the worst budget crisis I’ve seen since 1989, when Caperton was elected and the state was having problems paying bills.

Caperton proposed $400 million dollars in new taxes and some cuts, but the Democrats wvliving.com 65

live ›› out loud On any given day, Hoppy prepares for his show by organizing the many piles of information he’s researched.

controlled the Legislature and he was able to push through his agenda. This crisis feels tougher. It’s more than cuts and new taxes.

It’s about the decline of the coal industry.

Justice is proposing $450 million in new taxes but he doesn’t have control of the Legislature.

Republicans feel strongly about cutting. This crisis feels more substantial.”

Kercheval has covered several administrative changes throughout his career, but admits this one feels different. There’s a sense of 66 wvl • spring 2017

urgency and the governor’s folksy approach keeps things entertaining. “Justice doesn’t have a filter. He says what is on his mind, which is refreshing, but it can also get him in trouble.” Kercheval likes that Justice is thinking big. “Justice has a private sector mentality. Entrepreneurs spend money expecting a return. And I think that is what Justice is trying to bring to the government.”

Even though Kercheval spends a good deal of time addressing complicated issues

in the state, he is proud to be a West Virginian. “I feel about West Virginia the way I feel about an immediate family member. And that is: I love them, I’ll protect them, and I’ll cherish them, but then I can also get really mad at them and not speak to them for a while. What aggravates me is the attitude you frequently run into when you try to do something differently, and the response is, ‘That isn’t the way we do it. We’ve always done it this way.’ When you meet ideas that way, it is hard to progress. That attitude is an impediment to improvement. But I’m optimistic. We have a lot going for us.”

After long days spent “on” and racing against daily deadlines, Kercheval says it’s important to recalibrate, although he has a very limited amount of free time. When he leaves the office, he lays low. “The most influential person in my life is my wife Karin. She centers me.

She has my back. I’m really not that interesting of a person. I don’t go out much. My home life is very low-key and quiet.”

Karin says Kercheval has a side that many of his followers don’t see. “He seems like he is as serious as a heart attack. And he is a pretty serious guy. He is allergic to fiction. He can be pretty buttoned up. But at home, he isn’t really like that,” she says.

“He is very sweet and very patient. He is just a good guy with a great sense of humor. He isn’t afraid to play devil’s advocate and he isn’t afraid to give both sides. And I think that is what his listeners appreciate because that kind of fairness is often missing today.”

home marketplace

It Takes a Village

Randall Reid-Smith, West Virginia’s Commissioner of Culture and History, gives a tour of Barboursville, his Cabell County hometown. written by Randall Reid-Smith ✊ photographed by Steve Brightwell

N top Lake William

at Barboursville Park is a favorite place for villagers to walk and catch up on town happenings. right Randall Reid-Smith shows off his baton skills at the 50 yard line.

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estled at the confluence of the Guyandotte and Mud rivers, the village of Barboursville is filled with great memories for me of a treasured childhood. Its streets were my playground. Friends were divided up by street blocks, only to be united in reading clubs at the library. There was wiffle ball in the summers, sandlot football in the fall, and basketball games during the winter months. We stayed out until the porch lights came on playing cops and robbers on bikes. Skateboarding was big in our neighborhood, too: three of the four streets that made up our block had a wonderful slope, but Kuhn Street was on a long hill and served many times as a very challenging course for the budding daredevils among us.

I have always felt happy here in Barboursville. In the village I am safe in my surroundings and still find support from so many mentors, teachers, and friends. You hear there is no place like home. Well, there is no place like Barboursville. You also hear that you can never go home again. I spent 14 years living in Europe and traveling around the world, but I never really left home because Barboursville is something I always take with me. And it is a place where I am always welcomed back.

Heritage and History

With its natural highways of rivers, Barboursville flourished in its early years as an industrial center and manufacturing town. And as highways and railroads connected our town to the wider world, our little village became the ideal home to settle and raise a family.

Where Main Street and Central Avenue meet has always been known as “Uptown.” The larger town 12 miles due west located on the bigger river that separates West Virginia from Ohio was known as “Downtown.” We had little reason to go there, however, because we had everything in the village one could ever need or hope to have.

Our beautiful historic buildings housed Wagner’s Grocery where, as children, we would go and buy Mary Janes, Clark Bars, or a cold RC Cola and a Moon Pie and put the purchases on our parents’ charge accounts. Today, the old storefront is Petiquette Canine Charm School and Salon.

Then there was Plyburn’s Pharmacy—where our town pharmacist Bill Plyburn was also a surrogate father to everyone who came into the pharmacy—and the Brady Hardware Store, where a hardworking boy could purchase a single nail for a construction project. I can close my eyes and remember the smell inside. The hardware store now serves creative folks of a different stripe. It’s the home of WV Quilt, owned by my high school friend Michelle Hill.

It’s the ultimate quilt supply shop, where you can get any type of fabric you desire and take classes to learn this fine traditional craft.

Growing up, I particularly loved Barboursville Junior High School and its rich history. The building served as the Cabell County Courthouse from 1813 until 1888. When the county seat moved to the larger town to the west in 1888, the courthouse became part of Barboursville Conference Seminary, renamed in 1901 as Morris Harvey College. In 1935 the college moved to Charleston—where it later became the University of Charleston— and the building became our junior high school. wvliving.com 71

The 750-acre Barboursville Park offers a variety of outdoor activities, from yoga and walking trails to soccer and baseball fields.

The junior high building is long since gone, along with my elementary and high schools. Our beloved Barboursville High School was long ago consolidated with Milton High School to form Cabell Midland High School, but Barboursville residents still live for fall and Friday night football games, where we have learned to cheer on the Scarlet Knights even as we still hold dear to our Mighty Pirates. After all, God only made football so we can have a halftime show and we all know in the eastern end of Cabell County that we have the winningest “Best Band in the Land.”

In some ways, our village is quite different today than it was when I was a boy. But in many other ways, Barboursville is still a wonderful place—a place you need to come and visit.

Still Thriving

When you come to the village, you will find everyone who lives here enjoys spending time with one another.

The 750-acre Barboursville Park serves as a popular recreation area. Lake William, named for our beloved pharmacist at Plyburn’s, is surrounded by a wonderful walking trail where you can catch up on the town happenings while keeping fit.

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The park is a true community center with picnic shelters, tennis courts, an amphitheater, and soccer and baseball fields where our fierce athletes play and our fiercer parents let you know you have played a game in the village. There are special events happening almost every week, from children’s scavenger hunts and outdoor movie nights to a farmers’ market and outdoor yoga on Saturday mornings.

Sometimes, of course, the weather isn’t suitable for outdoor activities. That’s when Barboursville heads to the mall. The Huntington Mall—which, despite its name, is located within our town limits—offers all the shops a person could ask for. It’s a great place to walk and the movie theater is absolutely fabulous. There are also plenty of dining options in and around the mall. I love to grab a cheeseburger at Fat Patty’s, a regional chain of restaurants founded by some Barboursville natives. And the Tortilla Factory is a favorite stop when I have dinner with the Cabell Midland High School marching band boosters—they have great margaritas.

Downtown Barboursville offers plenty of delicious restaurant options, too. Christopher’s Eats features elegant food, beautifully presented. Their weekend brunch is amazing. I always order their omelet—and

clockwise from top The Ice Cream

Taco at Oscar’s Breakfast, Burgers and Brews. A chef fixes up one of Oscar’s gourmet burgers. Oscar’s also offers a variety of craft brews on tap.

Randall Reid-Smith with Barboursville mayor Chris Tatum.

their $8 bottomless mimosas. But if you stop by for lunch or dinner, be sure to order one of Christopher’s gourmet flatbreads. They’re topped with house-made sauces and dressings before being baked in a coalfired oven, which gets the dough perfectly crispy.

One of my new favorites is Oscar’s Breakfast, Burgers and Brews. Oscar is the name of the owner’s dog, and he even has a burger named after him. One taste of that is truly like biting into heaven. And for dessert, try the Ice Cream Taco—it’s a taco shell filled with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce.

I was sad to see our beloved Black Hawk Grille, a longtime Central Avenue staple, close down recently. But there’s good news. Marshall University basketball coach Dan D’Antoni and Christopher’s Eats co-owner Jeremy Adams are preparing to reopen this storied establishment as an Italian restaurant. I cannot wait to try it.

Barboursville is home to many seasonal events throughout the year, but my favorite is the Barboursville Fall Fest, which offers a variety of fun for everyone in attendance. A temporary fairground is set up across the Guyandotte River on the old Sadler Field before the bridge into the town. The best event by far is the parade.

For me there was nothing better in the village than a parade through town. After all, as a young lad I practiced for hours strutting up and down Park Avenue, baton in hand, crafting just the perfect routine so one day I could lead the Barboursville High School “Pride of the Village” marching band.

Today, the parade is led by the Cabell Midland High School Marching Knights, the aforementioned “Best Band in the Land.” I train the majorettes at the high school and love walking the parade route with the band as hundreds of friends say hello.

Our village is beautiful not just because of the buildings and the stories they tell, but mostly for the people. We have forged lifetime friendships. We went to school together. We went to church together.

We worked and we played side by side. We grew up with parents who were hoping for a better life and a brighter future for their children and for each other.

Now that I am older and have returned to my native Barboursville, there is nothing I cherish more than seeing friends from childhood. We share memories because we have never lost a moment of our village life.

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★ ★ ★

LIVE FROM OAK HILL

clockwise from top left Shirley

For more than two decades, Saturday Nite Wrestlin’ brought outlandish characters and over-the-top action into homes across West Virginia. written by

Zack Harold

★ ★ ★

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF SHIRLEY LOVE; COURTESY OF MONTY MADRID; COURTESY OF RICHIE ACEVEDO; COURTESY OF MONTY MADRID; COURTESY OF MONTY MADRID; COURTESY OF RICHIE ACEVEDO

Love gets “attacked” by a female wrestler, to the delight of fans; a promotional photo of Saturday Nite Wrestlin'’mainstay Jan Madrid; Richie Acevedo,

son of WOAY wrestler Angel Acevedo, puts an opponent in an arm hold; Love, second from right, interviews a challenger before a grudge match with Madrid, second from right; Madrid sometimes wrestled in

R

a mask as The Great Bolo; Angel Acevedo was known to Saturday Nite Wrestlin’ fans as Assassin No. 1 of the tag-team duo The Cuban Assassins.

ichie Acevedo did not doubt his father’s stories about being Fidel Castro’s bodyguard.

To his young mind, the evidence was all there. There was the star tattoo on father’s left hand, which he claimed was the secret brand of the Communist revolutionary’s inner circle. He also fit the part. Small but brawny, Angel Acevedo had a wild mane of thick black hair, an equally thick accent, an unruly beard, and the gaze of a man possessed. But perhaps most convincingly, all the adults in Richie’s life also seemed to believe his dad’s stories.

From 1969 until 1973, Angel regularly appeared in homes all over West Virginia as part of Saturday Nite Wrestlin’, broadcast live from the studios of WOAY-TV in Oak Hill.

Known only to fans as “Assassin No. 1,” one-half of the fearsome tag team known as “the Cuban Assassins,” he was one of the program’s most ruthless characters, willing to take whatever means necessary to win a match.

But Angel’s down-and-dirty antics did not win him many fans, especially in an America where the Cuban Missile Crisis remained a not-yet-distant memory. Richie, now 46, remembers sitting in the auditorium where the show was taped and hearing spectators holler violent threats at his father. “I thought my dad was one of the most dangerous men in the world,” he says.

Angel, like many professional wrestlers of his generation, never broke character, even outside the ring. “What he told us was what he told everybody else,” Richie says. It wasn’t until his teenage years that Richie began to ask questions. He eventually found out his father actually hailed from Puerto Rico and had never met Fidel Castro. He also learned that Raul, the man he’d been raised to think was his uncle, was actually just his father’s tag-team partner.

You might expect Richie to be bitter about these revelations.

He’s not. When he got old enough, he became a professional wrestler, too. Although he did not devote his life to the sport in quite the same way as Angel, he still spent decades bouncing between ropes and jumping off turnbuckles.

Richie says he understands his father’s deceptions now.

He had a character to portray and a story to tell, and was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep fans invested.

“Magicians have known this for a long time,” he says. “The word ‘fake’ is irrelevant.”

“Don’t let those people cuss on the air”

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Thomas smelled an opportunity and struck a deal with a band of wrestlers who regularly performed at the Memorial Building in nearby Fayetteville. The wrestlers would get 90 minutes of free airtime. In return, the station got free content as well as proceeds from advertising revenue, ticket sales, and concessions sales.

Bob Kent, the manager of the Memorial Building, agreed to be the program’s host. But after the first night, when a flying chair knocked over his announcer’s desk, Kent told Thomas he would have to find another emcee. Thomas had just the man for the job.

About a year earlier, Thomas’s father had discovered Shirley Love singing in the choir of the local Methodist church and got the honey-voiced youngster to drop by the station for an audition.

Soon Love was working the microphone on WOAY-FM, doing public service announcements, station breaks, and newscasts. He began working at the company’s TV station, too, manning the microphone boom and cranking the homemade teleprompter.

Now Love, still in his early 20s and with little broadcasting experience, was being offered a high-profile job. He didn’t want it. “I said, ‘Mr. Thomas, I can’t do that. I don’t know anything about wrestling,’” Love remembers. “He said, ‘All you’ve got to do is describe what they’re doing.’” So, with his blonde hair perfectly coiffed, Love stepped in front of the cameras to host the second-ever episode of Saturday Nite Wrestlin’. He would continue hosting the show until its finale in 1977.

Despite his initial reluctance, it wasn’t long before Love was getting in on the act. One night, when wrestlers staged a very real strike against promoter–wrestler Jan Madrid and refused to perform, WOAY instead devoted the entire night’s program to an impromptu grudge match between Madrid and one of the auxiliary police officers hired to provide security for the event. It ended with an enraged Madrid grabbing both Love and co-host

above Shirley

Love, left, prepares to end the broadcast after wrestler Jan Madrid ripped his shirt off. below A young Monty Madrid holds his father’s crown.

COURTESY OF MONTY MADRID

Professional wrestling, for all its artifice, has roots in reality.

It began as a sideshow attraction in the 19th century. These were, for the most part, true athletic competitions—a direct outgrowth of Greco-Roman and “catch-as-catch-can” grappling, often featuring a traveling strongman going up against audacious locals. It usually wasn’t much fun to watch. A single match could last for hours. Competitors seldom left the mat as they shifted from one submission hold to another.

In an effort to liven things up for the crowd—and make more money—one 1920s sideshow act known as the Gold Dust Trio began fixing its matches. Wrestlers Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Joseph “Toots” Mondt, with help from manager Billy Sandow, adopted outlandish personas and began scripting dramatic near-defeats and comebacks. Since they weren’t actually trying to hurt one another, they could work together to make fights seem more violent than ever.

By the end of the ’20s, there was a clear distinction between the two varieties of wrestling: the legitimate competitive version and the scripted “professional” version.

While it is sometimes suggested fans in the early days did not know professional wrestling was scripted, newspaper and magazine clippings reveal a winking acknowledgement of what was really happening in the ring. Fans weren’t too naive to realize wrestling was “fake”—they just didn’t care.

Wrestling came to television early in the medium’s history. KTLA of Los Angeles, California, began broadcasting matches as early as 1946. Promoters initially worried television would hurt ticket sales to live matches, but the opposite proved true. Television offered something traveling shows never could: an opportunity to create ongoing storylines and feuds between wrestlers. This made fans more invested in their favorite characters so, when the wrestlers came to their towns, they flocked to see their heroes in person.

Wrestling came to WOAY-TV in 1954. A station in Columbus, Ohio, was already broadcasting live wrestling, which a station in Huntington picked up and re-aired with great success. WOAY’s owner Robert

ZACK HAROLD

The WOAY studios, still located just outside Oak Hill, are housed in the former auditorium where Saturday Nite Wrestlin’ was broadcast from.

Sandy Higgins by their shirts—which, unknown to viewers, had been pre-slashed with razor blades—and ripping them off.

Now naked to the waist except for his sport coat, Love picked up his microphone. “I said ‘Sandy, I come out here and try to be as dignified as I can. This is humiliating. Look at me. I don’t know about you but I’m going home.’” The show only ran a half-hour short that night. By the next week, the strike was settled and it was back to the regularly scheduled entertainment.

One of the show’s most popular features was Love’s interviews with spectators between matches. While the action in the ring was prearranged, these provided truly unscripted entertainment. One night Love complimented a young boy on his coonskin cap. “He said, ‘Grandpa found it in the trash dump!’”

Another time, a man from Prince bragged he’d killed 12 squirrels on the first day of squirrel season. “I said, ‘No, you only killed four.’ He said, ‘No, Shirley. I killed 12. We fried four and I got the others in my sister’s freezer.’” It wasn’t until Love gingerly pointed out the state’s four-squirrel bag limit that the man’s count suddenly changed. Love later learned the local game warden was watching that night.

“He fell off the couch laughing. He said, ‘I couldn’t have arrested that guy, he was so serious.’”

Sometimes even the most unassuming interviewees could cause trouble. One Saturday, Love noticed Madrid flick sweat on an elderly heckler. She was first in line for an interview when the match was over. “She looked like a little old Sunday school teacher. I said, ‘What do you think of Jan Madrid?’ She said, ‘I’d like to smack that son of a b---h right in the mouth.’

“The boss would always tell me, ‘Don’t let those people cuss on the air. I could lose my license.’” It was an ongoing struggle.

Wrestlin’ gets real

Unlike Richie Acevedo, Jan Madrid’s son Monty was in on the act—literally. “They called me ‘the booker.’ Dad would let me carry a briefcase to the matches. That way I felt included. It was my little make-believe thing,” says Monty, now 53.

Monty was not much of a wrestling fan, though.

He was a shy and nervous kid. Even though he knew everything was prearranged, he’d hide in the locker room or at the back of the auditorium during particularly brutal matches.

Things were much different outside the ring, however.

“Wrestlers were my playmates growing up,” he says. He remembers dinners at his house with all the WOAY wrestlers, since the good guys and bad guys couldn’t be seen together in public. “Everybody was friends. Gosh knows it cost a fortune to feed all those wrestlers,” he says.

Sometimes a wrestling bear would show up. Whoever was scheduled to wrestle the creature that night would earn its trust by feeding it Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies in the Madrids’ backyard. “It would just grab me up and put me in its paws and just roll me around the yard. It was the sweetest thing in the world,” Monty says. “Growing up like that isn’t the real world.”

But as Monty would find out, real life has an unfortunate tendency to infringe on make-believe. Jan Madrid always wrestled as a villain, or “heel.” That way, the wrestlers he booked always had a bad guy to play against. He portrayed himself as a cocksure, arrogant immigrant “from parts unknown.” “He would talk about his country versus America. He was an American-born citizen, of course,” Monty says. wvliving.com 79

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Down for the count

In 2017, at the age of

83, former Saturday Saturday Nite Wrestlin’ came to an end in a Nite Wrestlin’ deservedly dramatic fashion. In September 1977 announcer Shirley Love was sworn in a generator overheated, caught fire, and burned for his first term in WOAY’s studios to the ground. The station, the West Virginia scrambling to get back on air, moved its operations House of Delegates. next door into the auditorium where matches were broadcast. When everything was back up and running two months later, WOAY had nowhere to host its wrestling program and lacked the equipment to do a remote broadcast. It was the end of a 23-year run. “A year longer than Gunsmoke,” Love says.

There’s no way to really know how popular Saturday Nite Wrestlin’ was during its run. Thomas, a consummate penny pincher, refused to pay for Nielsen and Arbitron ratings. But in 1972 he hatched a scheme to get his own demographic data: he convinced Love to run for a spot at the Democratic National Convention. Since it was a statewide election based mostly on name recognition, Thomas knew he could tell where his station was most popular by seeing which counties gave Love the most votes. Love came in ninth out of nine delegates, but was the top vote-getter for Nicholas, Clay, Fayette, and Raleigh counties.

For Love, it was an introduction to a whole new kind of bloodsport. He ran several more times for the Democratic National Convention and, in 1994, he was elected to the West Virginia State Senate. He served 15 years in the chamber before retiring. Then, in 2017 and at the age of 83, he was sworn in for his first term in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Love has now spent longer as a politician than he was a wrestling announcer. But he knows Saturday Nite Wrestlin’ will be his legacy. “We could go anywhere right now and if we met 10 people, eight of them—if they’re over 40—would say ‘I used to sit on Grandpa’s lap and watch you,’” he says. “It was everybody’s Saturday night opera.”

PERRY BENNETT

It was all scripted, but the bad feelings he created among fans were very real. Monty remembers getting threatening phone calls at the house. More than once, disgruntled viewers mailed the Madrids receipts for new televisions—seeking reimbursement for the TVs they had shot in rage. “We’d come out many times, all four tires slit, sugar in the gas tank,” Monty says. “It cost a lot of money, being a villain.”

It wasn’t just the fans. In 1969, the West Virginia state government came after the wrestlers—who were listed by both their ring names and given names in court documents—of WOAY. On a Monday night in August, promoter Warren Schernbach had booked eight of Saturday Nite Wrestlin’s most popular wrestlers—including Jan Madrid and the Cuban Assassins—at the Bluefield Auditorium for a show benefitting local church and school groups. But then the police showed up. They rounded up all the wrestlers, along with Shernbach and referee Larry Swiger, and placed them under arrest. The charges: wrestling, refereeing, and promoting without a license.

Since Shernbach, Swiger, and the wrestlers had not paid their Athletic Commission dues, West Virginia Athletic Commissioner Doug Epperly contended they were violating state law. He told reporters he was hesitant to stop the event, especially since it was a charity event. “However, fair is fair,” he said.

Each of the men posted his $280 bond and was released.

Schernbach maintained everyone’s innocence from the start. “The commission is trying to deprive us of our right to entertain the public,” he told a reporter with the Beckley Post-Herald. “Legally, we are entertainers. Not athletes.”

The gang of 10 was scheduled to appear before Mercer County Magistrate Court but, before that could happen, their lawyer, W. Dale Greene, made an appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to prohibit further proceedings on the charges. “The petitioners are showmen, actors, artist thespians, not engaged in any contest of strength but rather engaged in the thespian arts of facial grimaces, make-believe, mat pounding, and use of all the props,” Greene wrote in his memorandum. “While the petitioners may have billed themselves as wrestlers, a rose is a rose and the public at large knows it.”

The high court granted a hearing on the matter, barring any proceedings on the misdemeanor charges until a ruling was issued. Newspapers lose the thread of the story there, and court documents are nowhere to be found. But an entry deep in the Supreme Court’s daily ledger, recorded January 23, 1970, shows that judges dismissed the case. The Athletics Commission evidently decided not to pursue the charges further. The reason behind this change of heart is lost to history.

The Athletic Commission also came knocking on WOAY’s door early on in Saturday Nite Wrestlin’s history, threatening to shut down the broadcast unless Thomas paid his fees. The station owner responded by changing the spelling on the marquee from Wrestling to Wrestlin’ and adding a disclaimer to the beginning of the broadcast: “Pre-arranged for your entertainment. This is not an athletic event.”

The changes satisfied the government, but Love says it didn’t have much of an effect on the fans. “The people didn’t pay attention to it,” Love says. “They got right into it.”

Springs To a ruin with a history comes a man with a history and a plan.

written by Pam Kasey î – photographed by Carla Witt Ford

NIKKI BOWMAN

Eternal

84 wvl • spring 2017

His first party

Berkley was running a colonial tavern and a spring water bottling plant in his native Pence Springs in the 1970s when the West Virginia State Prison for Women closed.

The prison occupied the former Pence Springs Hotel.

Opened in 1918 as changing lifestyles were shuttering the great springs resorts of the Virginias, this one offered conveniences most never had: running water, electricity, telephones. Berkley’s grandfather sold chickens and produce to the hotel restaurant, and his dad sold moonshine there until the Great Depression crushed the hotel in 1929. Berkley never knew the place as anything but a prison. His mother worked as an associate warden, and he and his brother played there in the 1940s and ’50s with the warden’s grandchildren.

He went off to the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and came home in 1970 with training in business administration and food management. He and his brother bought the old Pence Springs Water Company. They also bought Governor Henry Hatfield’s one-time log camp near the springs and turned it into the Riverside Inn. They were running it as a popular upscale restaurant with Berkley as chef when the state closed the prison.

“I’d always loved that place. It was beautiful,” Berkley recalls. Sitting empty, the hotel–prison was deteriorating fast, and the state planned to build a new prison in its place. So Berkley worked with his friends Fred Long and Steve Trail and the State Historic Preservation Office to get the hotel listed on the National Register of Historic Places and prevent its demolition. Then the state sold it to him. “It took me seven years to get it,” he says.

Trees were growing up through the floors of the sun

Ashby Berkley seems right at home on the steps of his once and future resort. right In addition to the main Sweet Springs hotel building, Berkley’s November 2015 purchase at auction included numerous other structures and gracious, park-like grounds. below Long ago, check-in at Sweet Springs took place at the end of the building nearest the road—the right end, from the angle seen in the previous spread.

FILE PHOTO

O

once upon a more genteel time, people did not drive up to the main entrance of their resort hotel and, roadweary, purge their cars of fast-food wrappers and schlepp across the lobby in front of all of vacationing society.

“People arrived on horseback and in buggies and in carriages, and they were dusty and they were dirty,” Ashby Berkley romanticizes. “They did not go to the grand entrance to register—they came in at the side. They got their horses checked in and their luggage checked in. They went upstairs and cleaned themselves up. And then they came down and were presented in the lobby.”

Rhapsodizing in the shade of pin oaks at the far end of the 180-year-old Sweet Springs hotel, Berkley paints his vision of modern resort gentility over the neglected landscape.

“Eventually we plan for this to be the entrance to the hotel.

This’ll be the bell stand, and parking will be out back. We don’t want to mess up the front of the hotel with that. We’ll put the fountain back in front, and people will want to enjoy the veranda that goes all across the front there.”

Looking over the deteriorating cottages and bathhouse one sees from that veranda might make a visitor to Sweet Springs skeptical of this white-headed conjurer. After all, Calvin Coolidge was in the White House the last time Berkley’s warm springs resort at the far uphill corner of Monroe County operated as a destination. And others before Berkley have hoped to reopen it and failed.

But this, as he says, is not his first party.

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The bathhouse pool, of which the algae-covered surface can be seen in this photo, bubbles lightly and maintains a temperature in the 70s year-round.

porch by the time Berkley took possession. Roofs had failed. “The front porches had caved in from termite damage, and there was three feet of water standing in the basement,” he says. “It had to be completely rewired.

Completely replumbed.”

Most people were skeptical that Berkley could do the multimillion-dollar restoration, his old friend Long remembers now. But he got financing from a consortium of banks and his restoration of the public spaces and 22 rooms and suites respected the hotel’s history and architecture. Caryn Gresham agrees. “When you visited him at Pence Springs, he was always telling you about the windows or the doors or who slept here or why the menu was like it was. Some of the rooms were quite amazing,” says Gresham, now deputy commissioner of the state Division of Culture and History. “There was a lovely sunroom that they used as the restaurant that was charming. And the food was great.”

Long loved that restaurant, too. “I went there every week to eat, and his food was out of this world and I miss it,” he says. “And I’ve told him I still dream about the Riverside.

He’s one of the best chefs in Southern West Virginia.”

Berkley could have succeeded anywhere as a chef, in Long’s mind. “But I think he wanted to do something for the county. He just had a passion to restore these structures.”

Along the way, Berkley taught and advanced hospitality and tourism at the state level and worked as a food and beverage restorationist and consultant for historic properties. He closed the Riverside Inn in 1996 when a Greenbrier River flood wiped it out for a second time. And heartbreakingly for himself and his loyal staff, he closed Pence Springs Hotel in 2007 and sold it. “It was the hardest thing to let Pence Springs go,” he says. “But I had saved it and I wanted to move on and do another project.”

He’d had a certain project in mind for a while.

Bigger, older, grander

Sweet Springs offered lodging earlier than most of the springs resorts, back in the 1700s. Its cachet comes out in its guest list. “The first five presidents were all here,” Berkley says. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and county namesake Monroe probably all stayed in the original stone and log hotel of 72 rooms built by William Lewis of the Lewisburg Lewises. The Marquis de Lafayette is said to have stayed there, too.

In the 1830s, William’s son John put up a new brick hotel patterned after the University of Virginia, likely designed by an associate of Thomas Jefferson. Sweet Springs’ renown grew. “You drive into a spacious green undulating area, shaded here and there with trees,” wrote

“I could talk to you about Sweet Springs until we’re both a year older.” ashby berkley 86 wvl • spring 2017

FILE PHOTO

It takes vision to see past the aged institutional linoleum, stained drop ceilings, and utilitarian, surface-mounted utilities to Sweet Springs’ elegant past (below) and future.

one 1834 visitor from Philadelphia. “In a little valley to your left is a frame building containing two large and separate baths for the two sexes, and under its piazza is a famous spring … sparkling and spirit-stirring like champagne, and ever copiously flowing.”

That effervescent warm spring is what drew early American society to this out-of-the-way place. The flow is captured even today in the 10-foot-deep, sand-bottom pool at the center of the formerly towered 1830s bathhouse. The temperature of the pool stays in the 70s year-round—so warm, the outflow doesn’t freeze for four or five miles down the creek, says Ricky Lucas, an offand-on Sweet Springs caretaker who learned to swim in that pool. The light bubbles tingle the skin, Lucas says, and he thinks a bather can feel the mineral effects of a soak. “You get stiff if you stay in too long.”

The Civil War interrupted resort-going, and the new Chesapeake and Ohio Railway favored The Greenbrier and left Sweet Springs stranded. Hopeful investors kept it going but, by 1928, they had to close its doors for good.

Like Pence Springs, Sweet Springs came into state ownership—in this case, as a home for the elderly. Berkley visited as a kid. “Our church used to come here. I was in the choir, and we’d sing at Christmas,” he recalls. “Even wvliving.com 87

The expansive scale at Sweet Springs invites one to breathe deeply and relax.

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people who were not on social services, they could pay and stay here, and they loved it. The food was wonderful.

It was country-cooked food that they were used to.” The home closed in 1993.

A series of owners took Sweet Springs on. Berkley attended every one of four auctions over the years, and he kept his eye on the buyers in between. “One owner destroyed more than he did good,” Berkley says—his dismantling of the bathhouse’s iconic towers still offends locals. “He sold it to another one who concentrated on the water.” Bottled from a spring elsewhere on the property and sold earlier this century under the name Sweet Sommer, that water was recognized at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting.

The bottler’s estate was tied up for years after he died in 2010. Berkley pestered the bank. “I begged them to do things like put the roof on it. We even offered to purchase it,” he says of his Resorts Management Company. When the bank finally put the property up for auction, he was afraid a buyer would raze the buildings. “I was just scared to death, to be perfectly honest.”

On the morning of November 12, 2015, some 200 people showed up at Sweet Springs to witness the auction.

Four participated in person, with one bidding in on the phone from Germany. Berkley went well past the $300,000 he’d once hoped to pay. His $400,000 was topped by the $450,000 another party had already told him he’d put up. Berkley choked out $500,000. When the dialed-in participant bid $550,000, he was done. “Your head’s got to rule sometimes,” he says. But three locals,

hunched over an iPad and working furiously to raise funds, asked Berkley to stay in it. When the auctioneer turned to him and asked, “Will you go to 560?,” he said he would.

Sold!

Berkley finally owned the property he’d been eyeing for decades: 23 acres, the 110,000-square-foot hotelturned-retirement home, the bathhouse and pool, several cottages—10 historic structures in all, plus a like-new water bottling plant. “It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do in retirement,” he smiles, but no one’s fooled.

Good bones

Rehabilitating a sprawling historic property takes a good year of planning, Berkley says, and since Sweet Springs came into his hands suddenly, he’s been scrambling—lining up applications for grant funding, assembling partners, assessing the property’s condition.

The condition, after a half-century of state operation and a quarter-century of abandonment, is rough. The steps to the bathhouse have a makeshift railing. The bathhouse building drops the occasional brick, and the warm pool at its center supports its own green and fuzzy ecosystem.

Buildings need patching, pointing, painting, and structural work along with much demolition and updating inside.

The hotel’s interior suffocates under layers of 20th century Institutional Bland: corridor upon corridor of dropped ceilings, faded linoleum, and peeling shades of beige; wall-mounted, paint-covered pipes and heating units; utilitarian light fixtures. Limp curtains in more shades of beige and room guttings begun and deserted leave the place even more forlorn.

But the graciousness of the parklike grounds and the Jeffersonian facade shows through, and the hotel’s spaces breathe an early American elegance that not even the heavy overlay has smothered. Lofty ceilings—18 or 20 feet high on the main floor. Deep window bays. Enormous, heavy doors and generous millwork from a time when hardwoods were plentiful.

Berkley walks his future hotel. “All of these walls are coming out,” he says of the second-floor resident rooms the state chopped the main lobby into. “The only thing that’s going to be left standing will be the pillars, so this will be the grand hall just like it was originally, going on forever, all the way down,” he says as he paces the considerable distance. “We could put in a nice piano and a place for a band, and this could be a dance floor in the lobby, which would be great. You have to give people a good sample of the history, but you also have to adapt to modern times because the place really needs to do conferences.”

That’s where he sees Sweet Springs’ main niche, given its planned updated capacity of 100 to 125 rooms and suites: well-managed mid-size conferences. “It could be for a meeting of the PTA or the local historical society. If they have to get on a plane and fly somewhere, they don’t care where it is,” he says. “They decide at a board meeting, six people sitting there deciding what’s going to happen.

They say, ‘Don’t go there—we went there and the food was

horrible.’ Or, ‘They were so snooty that nobody would speak to you.’ And that’s what kills you. Seventy percent of the people will choose a conference center based on the strength of the food operation. And they want really genuine service, hospitality, cleanliness, and ease of working with the facility—the professionalism of the location.”

The historical setting, the warm springs baths, and Berkley’s plan to have spa services on every floor would make Sweet Springs a notable conference venue. But he sees other functions that would make it even more unique and pull in regional visitors, too. People from Beckley and from Roanoke, Virginia, could drive an hour for a soak and a special meal.

Two hours’ drive would get people from Charleston or Charlottesville, Virginia, a day of spa and shopping, and four hours could bring visitors from as far as Morgantown, RaleighDurham, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., for the weekend.

What are those functions? On the primary floor, Berkley envisions an eclectic business center and marketplace anchored by an authentic ethnic restaurant—Greek, maybe, or German. Surveying this hallway, he unspools his imagination. “This would be a great candy shop or bake shop.” “Here’s a walk-in fireplace—what a perfect place for a pub.” “There’s a little fireplace there, so we have a private room.” “This is where my artist and music teacher friend would like to do a gallery—she’s wrestling with the antique dealer, because he wants to use it, too.” “I thought it would be great if you could work with an architect or an engineer or see a dentist in one of these offices while you’re here.”

He had expressions of interest in February for a number of those spaces. Outside, he imagines enclosing that spectacular arcade with custom glass panels that could be opened in summer and closed to allow the space to be heated in winter.

He has so many plans: Opening the pool soon, so the community can begin enjoying it. Holding festivals on the grounds—he already owns a stage. Re-starting the bottling plant. Erecting a solarium roof over that fountain he’s going to put in out front and enclosing it as an ice rink in winter. Attracting a Marriott- or Omni-caliber company to manage the hotel and conference center. He’s already leased the adjacent 650 acres from the state and plans to grow food and build recreational facilities there. All told, he figures it’s a $10 million project that could employ 250 people.

Can he pull it off?

When the Monroe County Historical Society scheduled its fall meeting at Sweet Springs last October, Berkley made pumpkin muffins and mulled cider and set out chairs for 30. Three

hundred people showed up. It’s a measure of the local hopes for the place and also of the community’s confidence in him.

Sweet Springs is possibly the most ambitious rehabilitation and adaptive re-use ever undertaken in the state. “Except for maybe the Weston hospital and the prison in Moundsville,” says Jennifer Brennan at the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). Deputy SHPO Officer Susan Pierce mentions also the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe’s rehabilitation of the Wheeling Stamping Company warehouse for administrative functions as well as the conversion of the former Washington family home Claymont Court near Charles Town to a conference and retreat center. But while some of those structures are larger than Sweet Springs, none operates as the hub of lodging, dining, services, retail, and recreation Berkley envisions—and, in his location, probably needs.

Some keys to making the very largest projects work, Brennan says, are creative uses and buy-in from the local community. Berkley seems to have both. Just as important, Pierce says, is to “pull from a lot of different purses.” The SHPO is working with him on grants and preservation tax credits, and he’s hiring a full-time grant writer. “Pence Springs is smaller, but he used the same tools there,” Pierce says. “He understands what’s available.”

In 2016, Berkley deeded the property to a new nonprofit, the Sweet Springs Resort Park Foundation, with the option to recall it if the organization is unable to begin payments to him in five years. This spring, it will establish membership levels with varying privileges for donations of money and time.

For his part, Long thinks as long as there’s funding to be had, Berkley will pull this off. “And I don’t know if anyone else could do it.” sweetspringsresortpark.org

High ceilings and lots of light promise a beautiful future for Sweet Springs’ public spaces.

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Our Eyes in the Sky From an unassuming office in a tiny West Virginia town, SkyTruth helps us watch what’s happening in the places we want to protect, all around the world. written by Pam Kasey

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“They called us and said, ‘You have more granular data than we do. Can you show us the track of the vessel?’” says John Amos, president of SkyTruth, in Shepherdstown. SkyTruth’s reconstruction showed the ship had moved in circles—the classic signature of purse seine fishing, which encircles schools of fish with nets.

Confronted with that, the captain couldn’t argue. He owned up and paid Kiribati a fine of $1.2 million, almost one percent of the tiny nation’s gross domestic product.

“Hopefully that can pay for some management and enforcement assets,” Amos says.

It’s a surprising role for a small West Virginia nonprofit organization to play. Amos enjoys contrasting his group of 15 with its partners in this worldwide vesseltracking endeavor. “Oceana is the world’s biggest ocean conservation organization. Google, of course, is Google,” he quips. “And then there’s us. Little old SkyTruth. We are the designers and builders in this partnership of a tool called Global Fishing Watch.”

Demonstrated in prototype in November 2014 and publicly launched at the offices of the U.S. Department of State in September 2016, Global Fishing Watch (GFW) is the biggest way SkyTruth has found yet to leverage satellite imagery and data in service of grassroots environmental stewardship.

When the Pacific island nation of Kiribati banned commercial fishing from a vast rectangle of its ocean territory as of January 1, 2015, ships cleared out—all except for a few.

The captain of the Marshall Islandsflagged fishing vessel Marshalls 203, questioned at port about suspicious satellite pings that showed him inside the Marine Protected Area, claimed his ship had just drifted due to engine trouble. But the regional fisheries from the sky management authority thought a little Truth As a geologist working for oil and gas and mining tech company in West Virginia might companies in the 1990s, Amos had access to satellite imagery few people got to see. Some of what he saw know better. disturbed him.

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“I thought, ‘Gosh, I had no idea there was pollution like this happening out in the ocean,’ and, ‘I had no idea that these forests were being cut down in Siberia at such a tremendous rate,’” he recalls. “The human impact on the planet was obvious in those images. I started thinking it shouldn’t be just me seeing this—anybody who cares should have access to these images and see with their own eyes what’s going on.”

He started SkyTruth in 2001, just as ever-increasing volumes of satellite imagery started to become available.

Based mainly out of a few quiet, spartan back rooms in Shepherdstown with far more screens than people, SkyTruth has publicized images of the environmental effects of surface mining, gas drilling and flaring, and other largescale industrial operations that can be hard for regulators and the public to monitor. Citizens’ groups, media organizations, and governments around the world have relied on SkyTruth’s tools and analyses. The organization drew international media attention in 2010 when it called official estimates of the size of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico into question.

Large, stationary environmental effects have been visible by satellite for a while. But in the past few years, better imagery, data, and processing power have made it possible to observe small mobile targets—like individual fishing vessels on the high seas.

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Tracking transshipment

Global ocean fish harvest started plateauing in the 1980s.

With world population continuing to rise, everyone from hunger-concerned nonprofits to the United Nations has been trying to figure out how to monitor the ocean’s fisheries and limit their harvest to sustainable levels.

Regulating the ocean is hard. About two-thirds of it lies beyond the 200-mile marine zone each coastal country controls off its shores—meaning almost half of the planet is the Wild, Watery West. International efforts are gradually boosting respect for harvest limits, reporting accuracy, and commitment to refusing harvest that isn’t clearly legal and documented. But pirate fishers continue to elude regulators.

“A lot of overfishing and illegal fishing are aided by the ability of fishing vessels to spend many months at sea without coming into port, where they’d be inspected,” Amos explains.

“The way they do that is, they rendezvous with refrigerated cargo vessels and offload their catch and then resume fishing.”

It’s called “transshipment.” These large refrigerated vessels— “reefers”—deliver their loads in ports where officials look the other way, allowing them to introduce undocumented catch into the seafood supply chain. At least 15 percent of the annual catch is undocumented, according to the most recent UN estimate—a volume that threatens the viability of ocean fisheries and undermines future food security.

To crack down on pirate fishers, observers need to see their tell-tale movements on the high seas. That’s where Global Fishing Watch comes in. GFW tracks the activities of some 35,000 fishing vessels so far, an estimated half of the industrial high seas fishing fleet,

through the pings their transceivers send every few minutes. It combines multiple datasets to identify the vessels, and it plots the vessels’ locations and paths on a highly interactive online map that also shows national and other jurisdictions on the oceans.

But locations and paths don’t tell the whole story. The real power of GFW lies in analysis of the data. Using algorithms SkyTruth has developed to identify the characteristic movements ships make when their fishing gear is in the water, GFW drops markers on the map where direction and speed changes indicate apparent fishing activity. And in February 2017, SkyTruth and GFW released a first-time report on transshipment. The analysis followed almost 800 reefers, estimated to be more than 90 percent of the total, and found more than 5,000 likely and 86,000 potential transshipping incidents from 2012 through 2016. It also revealed which flags and ports are most associated with transshipment.

GFW is quickly becoming a go-to resource. Within a few weeks of last September’s launch—an event that

John Amos demonstrates the use of Global Fishing Watch. Interns get hands-on experience with the data operations behind the citizen watchdogging tool.

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Looking ahead

Because of GFW’s success, its founding partners are working toward setting it up as an independent nonprofit organization this year, Amos says. SkyTruth expects to remain closely involved.

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But the organization is never at a loss for projects. On the model of its successful crowdsourced FrackFinder mapping projects in Pennsylvania and Ohio, SkyTruth plants to launch FrackFinder West Virginia in summer 2017 to engage citizen scientists in identifying hydraulic fracturing sites on highresolution images. It’s an approach that multiplies SkyTruth’s productivity, Amos says, while educating residents about activities that affect their communities. And because image availability is continually improving, SkyTruth is revisiting an analysis it did in 2007 of Southern Appalachian surface mining in 1975, 1985, 1995, and 2005 by filling in with annual data. The past study informed others’ research and Amos hopes the update will be used similarly—to estimate the need for site reclamation, he suggests by way of example.

SkyTruth leverages the best assets of its small-town setting to do its world-changing work. “Shepherdstown punches above its weight class in a number of categories, one of which is the number of really smart, engaged, interesting people who are here,” Amos says—people who have become informal advisers and board members for SkyTruth. At the same time, much of his small staff telecommutes from two other continents and three other states. “I think that is reflective of the ultimate vision of SkyTruth,” he says, “that anyone anywhere can access the same tools and data and technology that we’re using to better understand their local issues.” skytruth.org, globalfishingwatch.org

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featured then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and funder Leonardo DiCaprio—20,000 users had signed on to the free tool. Users come mainly from the U.S. and international governments as well as treaty-based regional fishing management organizations, the media, and non-governmental conservation organizations (NGOs). “I just got a great comment from Greenpeace, unsolicited, saying that their team that works on fisheries had just attended a webinar on how to use Global Fishing Watch,” Amos said in early March. “They were really enthusiastic and said that it is rapidly becoming ‘the’ platform to use for fisheries-related work by NGOs.” Ocean fish harvest has dropped off as much as 10 percent from its 1980s and ’90s plateau. SkyTruth’s experience with GFW underlines actions regulators could take to help fisheries rebound. Beyond simply tracking down rogue operators and port officials, they could work to require more ships to use transceivers, Amos says, and to establish unique vessel IDs that would prevent operators from hiding behind changes of name and flag.

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