WV Living - Fall 2015

TRAVEL TO MILTON | LAKE SHAWNEE | COZY CASTAWAY fall 15

POLECAT RAMPAGE

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BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE CLASSIC

$5.95 Display until NOV 22, 2015

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VOLUME 8 â—† ISSUE 3

Fall 2015

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Little Lake of Horrors

NIKKI BOWMAN

This spooky spot was once a bustling amusement park.

79

Best of WV Awards Readers voted on their favorite West Virginia places and people.

features

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In the Wild

Polecat Rampage

The Classic

The historic Cheat Mountain Club celebrates 125 years.

This reunion celebrates tradition, camraderie, and ramps.

Go behind the scenes at The Greenbrier as it hosts the PGA TOUR.

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VOLUME 8 ◆ ISSUE 3

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39 spotlight

15 Dining el Gran sabor offers authentic Venezuelan cuisine in elkins.

22 Living Loves collecting seneca Glass

is a great way to bring West Virginia heritage into your home.

23 Artist A photojournalist-turned-furniture designer is gaining national attention.

24 People Morgantown’s chef Marion

ohlinger focuses on Appalachian cuisine.

25 Shopping red rock cycles give you mountain-town mobility.

28 Road Trip learn the origins of some of

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heritage

39 Lodging climb aboard the Durbin

& Greenbrier Valley railroad’s castaway caboose.

in every issue 8 editor’s letter 10 letters to the editor 128 The parting shot

43 Art The Walls Fine Art Gallery celebrates plein air art.

49 Travel Milton is a town that knows how to capitalize on fall traditions.

55 Spaces Melinda and Jim russell’s

Alderson home capitallizes on its serene setting.

65 Food Move over, pumpkin pie. These

delicious recipes will become fall favorites.

On the Cover This pumpkin trifle takes center stage in an antique Seneca Glass wine goblet.

Photo by Carla Witt Ford

West Virginia’s most unusually named places.

30 Local Flavor The Village roaster in

outdoors

fly fishing rods are works of art.

106 Shopping Before your fall camping

adventure outfit yourself with these products.

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Fall CHEAT MOUNTA N CLUB

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POLECAT RAMPAGE

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TRAVEL TO MILTON | LAKE SHAWNEE | COZY CASTAWAY TA

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huntington has been brewing up business for 20 years.

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editor’s let ter This is me interviewing Tiger Woods!

And my question made him smile!

I spent time with the grounds crew at the greenhouses and with housekeeping before really going behind the scenes and off the road.

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he first time I met Jim Justice was right after he had purchased The Greenbrier. I was working on a story for WV Living, and he graciously invited me to spend the evening with him and his family at their Lewisburg home. I was a bit nervous, and I was perplexed about what to take them as a thank you gift for hosting me at their home.

What does one give the man who just bought The Greenbrier, after all? I asked Lynn Swann, who was The Greenbrier’s public relations director at the time, for suggestions.

She laughed and replied, “All I know is that he likes watermelon.” So, I stopped at the market and purchased the largest watermelon I could find, added a few of my favorite watermelon recipes, and then toddled my way to his front door. Jim greeted me with an enormous bear hug. “You brought me a watermelon! Love it!”

After spending some time getting acquainted, I turned on my recording device and placed it on the table. He shared with me stories about the time he and Jerry West went hunting and he wrecked his ATV. His first thought was, “Oh my God! I killed Jerry West!” Jerry walked away. But the stories that were most touching were the ones about his father—and golf. The first time he went to The Greenbrier was as a 12-year-old in the West Virginia Amateur golf tournament. He

8 wvl • fall 2015

I’ve waited a long time to share that story. This year, I attended The Greenbrier Classic for the first time (page 120). As I was interviewing Tiger Woods, I couldn’t help but remember that special moment six years earlier.

I hadn’t just witnessed history being made, I had experienced how one man, thinking big and out-ofthe-box, could make his vision come to life. After Jim’s recent announcement that he’d like to see the U.S. Open held at the new golf course he is creating with Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player at the new Greenbrier Sporting Club neighborhood, Oakhurst, someone asked me, “Do you think he can pull it off?” I was reminded of what Jill, Jim’s would make it to the championship flight of daughter, once said to me: “If anyone can do the Amateur seven years in a row, winning it it, ‘Big Jimmy’ can. He can do anything. He’s when he was in high school. “My dad always the best.” took me. It was a monstrous treat to get to go Speaking of the best, this issue is chock to The Greenbrier and play on Old White,” he full of great stories—from fabulous houses said. Jim would go on to captain the golf team at Marshall University, but his golf career came to amazing restaurants to charming shops to a pretty special reunion of Polecats. We to an end at—of all places—The Greenbrier. also announce the winners of our Best of “When I was 25 years old, I was on the eighth West Virginia competition (page 79). This hole at the Amateur. On the first day, I’m one under par. I’m hitting a five iron, the wind is in is always highly competitive and our readers my face,” he recalled. As he swings, his shoulder are very vocal on who they think represent the best our state has to offer. We’ve covered dislocates. “But I kept going, shot an 84, made every corner, and you’ll discover new and old sure I finished before going to the hospital.”

As he was sharing this story, Jim got a call on favorites in categories ranging from barbeque his cell phone. He apologized for the interruption and fine dining to historic towns and municipal makeovers. I think you’ll agree we have much as he took the call. “This one is important,” he to be proud of. Congratulations to the winners! said. The shucks-I’m-just-a-country-boy Jim gave way to let’s-get-down-to-business Jim. Numbers started flying. Big numbers. Jim was Make this fall the best ever! calculating so quickly that I’m sure the head of the person on the other end of the line was spinning. With words like PGA TOUR being dropped, it very quickly became obvious that nikki bowman, Editor this call was going to be transformational for The Greenbrier. When Jim hung up the phone, he said, “Well, folks, it looks like we are going to bring the PGA TOUR to The Greenbrier.”

Follow us on , , , and .

And then he looked at my recorder, which was facebook.com/wvliving still running, and said, “You know that you can’t twitter.com/wvliving breathe a word about this until we officially pinterest.com/wvliving instagram: theWVeditor announce it, don’t you?”

let ter s to the editor BLUEFIELD‘S GARDENS | LIVING IN LOGAN | WILD WATER ADVENTURES summer 15

Sweet Summer GARDENS ✚ GRILLING ✚ GREAT ESCAPES

Logan Love

I never thought I would be proud to tell people that I was born in Dog Patch, in Logan, West Virginia, until after I left there.

So much history in that area that was never taught in the schools that I have learned since then. herb harvey, via wvliving.com

LivingLinogan

m n The Muse C if he Par at ark L gan t te he be t s ow a es s u tu e of he ate nd h t ry

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k a doz n people r m Logan about t e r what hey home own oe and ou l g t the ame in ar a ly a swer a oz n im s h ar bou Y u ll how t ght knit he is how neig to kn w o bo s s i l ake c mmu i y e ano her he t me to how r en fu l f ho p gt ly p op e a ta ty ay e I s cho D br na W Ha fie d & k l ams who M run the a m ll own Coy Conv nt on & Vi to s Bur where ou and s m one au It s can wi l s y Goods i l wa k down the who has s r et m rn ng i ed in Log ac ie Tomb n mo t of Logan is in he l fe sa he f ie dl s th t e t pl ce sh be walk ng s eve been t rough own You l a ro s the tr et at ne and people a e holl r ng ano her g ve t up fo any hing he s ys I wou dn t And Ray eav y in ol Pe ry a na ed in t e ive who s buoyed by o al mus c the en e s ene ay f cama ad he s of en c nne ted r e Ev ry he ays The hing h re etwe n th e s no s s x deg ees ngs he e—it f separ t on sw y e s That might th n ix p a i udes— s und l ke l t le mo e than a c t ose hing l ec i n of o pa nt a fo eve yone ays wh n k hey wa t go to Logan y r end y portr it o a mal o w t h he town B t and y u l l ttle ommu ea ize t s n ty n ac much mo h sp ta ty ion e That wa is a w y m k nd of f l fe Logan s s smack d b n the middl so th rn coa fie ds a d e of West h s V rgin a s ndu try for d cad s The be n a h b or he coal 940 at 5 166 own s popu nd began a ion p aked as c al min o ec ine n ng be ame f er W r d mo e mech 1 700 r s War II den s l ve nized Tod he e I w De il An y ar und s a so the e Ha fie d b r hp he pa r ar dur ng i s h of the Ha ace of f m us f ud w th he fie d lan He s bur ed McCo s in n he H tfi Ken ucky o town— ld Family the g ave Ceme ery is to ped us De il An out ide wi h a i e e sc lp ed sized s a ue f om tal t wn h s of an m rb e been Th se days ense f comm wo king o use ts the ich h s uni y pr de 1st en ury to ome nto ory nd deep t own n the

Dow t wn s fi ed w h ni u sm ll u ine es ke Sp c l y Sho s nd Ro k C ty C ke B k ry

in i o ic he r h s b idn s rm h s ed he L g ns p t s We t Vi g ni ub o t e S mp o y o l ndu t y Or h s r Th Co l nd ed m n oh J mb r e r g e t h ws

The Arts

I don t kn w why but is a ot of or such a a ent mall pl ce th re ure Log n s awa n L gan s ys M yor S rafi o No l t i mo t espec h w th a t s s spe i l y mu i a ly mus c i ns nd ans have fid le p ay rs who p ay ng b ueg a s m p ay rs who s wi l make y u ry and c We wi te l guit r he beer you l make you wa t to go out and can find buy a l Ray ays L gan is The i t r He hinks o remote— c i s bec use ou don do af er he Co l e d sun g es down t a ways h ve s m th ng to J mb r e he er fidd e Or o you p ck a banjo O w ss v d up a guitar b t e a ma dol ad th ee s Or a om unity n When at ons n A I was a k TV and you to ge r d d we st ue f D v l h d o tu f the ta ic An e H t n he knob was mus c he ays S ed me n ghts op h s r ve a l I had R gardl ss of he r ason oppo tun th re a e plenty t es o see fi st ate mu of th re a e two i ians Ev sh w at P ry week h m grown ck n n he mus c ve Pa k a un ue in what que 84 wvl sed o be a summ r h rse 20 5

Th Ac d my or M ne Tr n ng nd E e gy Te h o o ies giv s t d ns h n s on r i i g w hs e i ized t c n l gy

all town an is a sm lfields Log outdoor fun thern coa In the sou histor y the arts and big on nz y Mau

by Sha wr tten i Bowman ed by Nikk

w l ving c m 85

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re h Pa k wh an o a mu i e ev y re gat y k nd o l in we f r cro ds a d 100 m r t an po l

y

Beautiful Bluefield

An awesome write up on Bluefield, WV. Enjoyed the (article) very much. It is very informative. Bluefield is a beautiful city. vicki barlow, via wvliving.com

10 wvl • fall 2015

82 wvl

l ome n orma go w th ju t a ed y ars ta t d s P rk star P rk It ck n n the who uns gan St te s ab e P sa s R y t C ie L d al s t ay m s c jam se sions s who w nt d o p At fi st hey ng Donna gu dr w h s wi e b nch of y st r ed d he Pa k with t ge her and th i to an o P ck n n ab e and play the roup mi rated among the long on a i nic e floors t wd Be o the awdu q ite a cr ay ng on ural he park p owed on of Na s ab e in cr w s fo t eDvs s i ab e a ls The s ion r m t ng i in o a m re hor es s g t pe m un eer c nve 20 8 Ray a ot f vo In 2008 the t ble t ons nd o re ovate un ty don o -t e- rt Re ou ces nto a st te c Wi h comm peo le pl ce or mus ta le was r ns ormedgh mo e th n 100 eop e old tu day n We ha e ab r ha s da ci g day a d S Fr and y c s d Ray a m v nue Eve 83 ea s o - r endly f r fam l ars ld and h nd a ni ht lub c owd n o re 3 y ur w c a floo floor nd ce n he da at on be ween ea er c mp ni s d n ty t ike a ombi I say t s was orm commun ma S ory o h s two h e ls he Log n l ve T e Arac name whi h ery a t by he same would be ay ea they e bo p a a n the ure hat eve y ic n r bes ree p a s 1975 to en Na ive Ame company oes t 1 77— s ory o the y uilt n N w he ommun ery y ar n to make st ged e th at r the ge in t e mo nta an amph ty t eater da t umme in commun in to b i s newe t ev ral s p tc ed vo un ee ng The town the Arts al o does ou — dium se t for te mb t w y for t C al ion e of en qu ed So th rn pro e ts a al romp g oup the r nd s r t e Mu i k ye a Shr ns i o n of S ptemb produc pr duc i t e mo th ate 2 14 p oc a m an el bo o fic a ly to i et an Mayor No r in Lo S rek emb

5 summ er 20

05 summ r 86 wvl

ma l L g n sa he own b t s c mm n ty ut ab pa i nat ts re e v ng h i a e nd t e i p ov n ue ct f r u e e a ons

ion t pro uc ome o th year is th ater n es e ery ambor e r for of er orma The C alfield ng tog th s ve ar ay ni y pu l an imp e he art o Shr k and e of Log n s comm ater was s a e-o xamp by he e ega t th an ther d s epair n go d The d a len nto ys Al ce Che k the c mmo 38 but h ng le t s ned in 1 the s cei op t ru n any y and wh wa hard t now owns co ld s e 19 0s There f the n npro t th t r you rs dent nto t e he vi e pr s ity memb you wa ked d ommu n to hea er Wheng oup of conc rn s epp d r hus ands But a en as ed t e sky e and he hea er t e j st Al ce J ck money o buy the e it eop but in luding he ova nd re p fo y to he f work ave t Th ona io s w s a lot ni y for f the e s ys It er d ll t e comm ave ack hols nd i e reu gave bani te s gave nd kie nd A hi ed the help d Ja young ol nt ers ta e the eve yone ves y went n s th m e to s br ve w th the 1 190 s a nd the a c me up ar ent y Coa fie d hadn t yet he s hey and d d or f even hough B cau e of their mmunity fi st nigh t ho ts c ta n th at r th buy a cu rs money o a top notch pe fo m g ew in o fe s ona J mb ree s w ll s pr er ormances

g om 87 wvl vi

let ter s to the editor

“Miss my hometown of Bluefield.

Thanks for the memories.” linda burnette, via wvliving.com

Wardensville Wow

It’s great to hear such a wonderful success story from rural West Virginia, and this is just the beginning! There is so much history and natural beauty in small-town America.

You won’t be just a stopping off place when the highway is completed, you will be THE stopping off place. Kudos to those who have worked so hard to restore the vibrant beauty of Wardensville and make this possible! tammy kitzmiller, via wvliving.com

More Bluefield Love

This was one of the best (articles) I have ever read! I would LOVE to read more informing stories about the area we live in. GREAT JOB! delma harden, via wvliving.com

Working Together

This town is working together like you would not believe. We are so indebted to Paul and Donald. Also Mayor Ratcliff who is in love with Wardensville. She is great at picking up ideas of others and then Escape to WV adding dozens of her own. We are lucky to Today was a tough day at work, and I was have numerous teams working together to so glad to get home. My evening was made realize the dreams of this community. jim better with the latest issue of WV Living to go matheson, via wvliving.com through. It gave me a nice break to get away to WV, even if only through the pictures, articles, and advertisements! gary caudill, norcross, ga via letter

Central City Café Kudos

It is not accurate to say that “Central City until recently sat nearly abandoned on Huntington’s West End.” When we lived in Huntington over six years ago, Central City was already bustling.

The Central City Café was a popular place for lunch with a business agenda and for lunch with personal friends. The antique shops were already a traveler destination. It has continued to get better and better but that did not start “until recently.” vickie shaffer, via letter

Jewel of the Hills

It was a great thing to read that “The Jewel of the Hills” is still alive and well. Nice read and good luck. Fondly, barbara rieser bailey, miami fl , via wvliving.com Let us hear from you. We want to know what you think about the magazine, and we’d love to hear your suggestions.

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12 wvl • fall 2015

cArlA WTT ForD

Food for Thought Folks from around the world have made West Virginia home with tasty results.

PICTURED: CHEF MARION OHLINGER’S ECLECTIC COLLECTION, PAGE 30

the shoppes at seneca center Âť 709 beechurst avenue, morgantown

spotlight Elkins is a quaint rural town with a hidden gem—a fun Venezuelan restaurant that serves up surprising flavor

combinations. From fried plantains to the ever-popular cachapas, corn pancakes folded over meat and cheese.

E

dining

A Great Flavor

El Gran Sabor offers an authentic bite of Venezuelan fare in small-town Elkins.

lkins in fall is postcard-worthy.

Flaming foliage lines quiet streets, white fog drapes valleys and riverbanks, and piles of pumpkins and dried corn decorate doorsteps and storefronts. It is small-town America at its finest. But step into one unassuming little restaurant on Kerens Avenue, in an old house with a wide front porch in the shadow of the famous iron statue of West Virginia Senator Henry Gassaway Davis atop his horse, and get ready to be transported out of autumnal Appalachia and into the heart of tropical Venezuela. Although the home’s exterior might remind you of a trip to grandma’s, with its wooden siding and dormer windows, inside you’ll find a warm, intimate dining space painted in splashes of bright color set off with dark woods and low lighting. Even the smell will stop you in your tracks—one part spices and fresh herbs, one part hot oil and sweet corn.

Derdlim Masten, co-owner, head chef, and native Venezuelan agrees, it was a risk opening her restaurant—called El Gran Sabor, or The Great Flavor—in this close-knit, rural community of little more than 7,200 people.

Her passion for great food propelled her on.

“But I had to teach them who I was and what I serve,” she says. “Everyone thinks Venezuelan food is like Mexican food. It’s very different.”

And teach them she has over the last 13 years in business. If you’re looking to educate yourself, start with light flatbread arepas stuffed with savory meats and cheeses or crispy empanadas bursting with choice fillings. And always order the cachapas, fluffy sweet pancakes made with ground corn folded over a generous helping of melted cheese and meat and served with Latin rice, black beans, and soup or salad. Ask nearly any El Gran fan in Elkins and they’ll also tell you to try the crispy fried plantains, called tostonés, and creamy sweet flan, a dessert made of milk, eggs, and sugar often topped with a caramel sauce.

This surprising restaurant offers a full menu of slightly Americanized Venezuelan, Mexican, and Caribbean dishes—everything from spicy shrimp salad to rotisserie chicken to burritos, tacos, and chalupas—all made to Derdlim’s exacting standards. “We make wvliving.com 15

spotlight

everything fresh,” she says. “That’s why we are constantly cooking and prepping. And that’s why I have to be here 97 percent of the time.”

Derdlim didn’t start out knowing exactly what to serve and how to serve it to the Elkins community. Like El Gran’s customers and their transforming tastes, she’s come a long way since cracking her first egg at age 11, when she started helping her mother take care of her three younger sisters in Venezuela.

“The beginning was rice and black beans and fried eggs. Slowly I was creating more things and putting together tastes,” she says. Her mother took notice and allowed her to attend cooking classes during the summer with her aunt. Derdlim also made and sold tamales with her aunt around the Christmas holiday season. Through the years her love of cooking never left her.

So in 2000 she took a chance and moved to America, learning English, and taking odd jobs at restaurants and cleaning houses.

A year into her stay she met Rob, a Tucker County music teacher and musician in a salsa band. Having grown up with the music of salsa and merengue in her blood, she knew Rob needed some help with his dancing and offered to teach him. By 2002 these dancing partners became man and wife, and when an 16 wvl • fall 2015

opportunity to start a restaurant came up, they became business partners as well.

Derdlim says the menu was also a process of evolution. After visiting Venezuela together, the couple sat down and worked to combine what they knew. Derdlim, as a native to the cuisine, brought her expertise and training. Rob, much more familiar with the people and tastes of West Virginia, helped her fuse that knowledge with local culture.

Eventually the partners found the perfect middle ground and Derdlim started whipping up new versions of classic Venezuelan dishes. She also added a bit of Cuban and Costa Rican influence and started cooking American favorites like tilapia. But she says her authentic cachapas quickly became the most popular dish. “That was the key to bringing a lot of people in. Because cachapas are like a cornbread pancake and Americans love pancakes and corn.” Although her recipe lacks the fresh Venezuelan corn she’s used to cooking with, she says her altered version is just as good. “I spent maybe two months adding this and that. I wanted it to be different but the same—98 percent Venezuelan but a little American. Now I have Venezuelan friends who want the recipe,” she laughs. But don’t ask her to write it down for you. “I just

Venezuela native get ideas. I play with Derdlim Masten my food. I don’t have opened El Gran Sabor anything written down. If nearly 13 years ago, you asked me how I made offering dishes with Mexican, Cuban, Costa something, I’d say bring Rican, and Caribbean me a blender and I’ll show flavors, as well as West Virginia beer on tap, you. That’s how I cook.” an assortment of coffees These days Derdlim, and espresso drinks, and Rob, and their son live free live music. just upstairs from their thriving business, which serves up not only creative cuisine but also coffee and free live music on Wednesdays and Fridays, and local beer on tap. The restaurant also plays host to charity events like the El Gran Fest every year. For Derdlim, giving back to the town that welcomed her so warmly has been just as important as remaining true to her heritage.

“Rob has always said we needed to support the community. And I love Elkins. They have been with me and supported me so well,” she says. “Without them I could not be here.”

el gran sabor

413 Kerens Avenue, Elkins, 304.614.8841 elgransabor.com written by mikenna

pierotti witt ford

photographed by carla

dining

Mia Amore

Right off of I-79, Mia Margherita and Mia Market are drawing customers from around the state.

“I

t all began with the idea that we wanted to open an authentic pizzeria,” Scott Duarte says. Duarte is the founder and co-owner of Mia Margherita—one of the only coal-fired pizzerias in West Virginia and a relatively new addition to the burgeoning Charles Pointe development in Bridgeport. The restaurant combines the region’s heritage of Italian immigration and coal mining in an unexpected way—with food.

Each morning, the Mia Margherita staff lights a fire in the pizza oven that burns throughout the day, using 80 to 120 pounds of coal.

They use anthracite coal that burns clean and extremely hot, cooking a pizza in just two to three minutes.

Duarte says Mia Margherita’s coal-fired oven celebrates pizza in its original intention. “The intensity of the heat allows you to produce a very light, crispy, Neapolitan-style pizza,” he says. In addition to pizzas, Mia Margherita serves a variety of other Italian dishes, like

18 wvl • fall 2015

panini and pasta. Try the Coal Fired Lemoncello Chicken Wings with a pint of West Virginia-brewed beer during happy hour, or the soup—all of which is made from scratch in-house—and half-panini for lunch. Within six months of opening, Mia Margherita was awarded the 2014 New Business of the Year by the Harrison County Chamber of Commerce. Duarte credits the staff for the restaurant’s early success, saying they “worked hard from the get-go.”

The decadent desserts at Mia Margherita—like this hazelnut cheesecake—come from local bakery Almost Heaven Desserts.

Capitalizing on local resources is important to Duarte, who says they even scouted local architecture for inspiration when designing the interior of the restaurant.

This summer, Scott opened a new upscale deli, wine shop, and café next door called Mia Market. It’s a natural extension of Mia Margherita, and all of its food-to-go orders will be handled through the market. Mia Market has quickly become the place to go for a cup of coffee, a quick bite, a slice of pizza, or that hard to find Italian cheese. You can even create a custom gift basket, choosing from Mia’s extensive selection of craft beer and wines. mia margherita & mia market

139 Conference Center Way, Suite 137, Bridgeport, 304.808.6400, miamargherita.com written by shay

maunz witt ford

photographed by carla

wvliving.com 19

APOLLOWEEN SCHEDULE PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS October 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 & 30, midnight, $25, reservation only HAUNTED THEATRE October 9, 10, 17, 23, 24 & 30, 7-11 p.m. $10 ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW October 24 & 31, midnight, 18+ with ID, $15 ZOMBIE PROM October 31, 8 p.m. to midnight, 18+ with ID, $15

spooky spot

Don’t Just Halloween— Apolloween! a menacing grin to chill your blood, a wail creepier than your childhood nightmares—set actors loose in their own “extremely haunted” hundred-year-old theater and they’ll create the most hair-raising Halloween around. “This is not your regular haunted house,” says Jenifer Roberts, who not only directs Apolloween at Martinsburg’s Apollo Civic Theatre but has had her own eerie experiences there. “We use the whole theater, with children performing skits in each area based on horror movie themes.”

The 1914 Apollo Theatre served as a social and cultural hub for the Eastern Panhandle, hosting traveling Vaudeville shows and, upstairs, dances and graduation parties. As Vaudeville declined the theater became mainly a moviehouse and, over the decades, fell into disrepair. Before it was too far gone, though, the community rallied. Live performance returned to the stage in 1973, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has since served as a set for historical films and hosts everything from weddings to political debates to live music. Its community theater group presents six live productions each year.

But it takes a six-figure budget to run a century-old venue, and the Haunted Theatre 20 wvl • fall 2015

fundraiser of the 1980s has grown into a monthlong celebration of the macabre. With thousands of thrill-seekers attending each year, Apolloween brings in nearly 10 percent of the theater’s revenue.

Apolloween’s exuberance goes far beyond the Haunted Theatre. If spooky skits in dark dressing rooms aren’t your style, try a shadowcast showing of the campy Rocky Horror Picture Show—just $3 for an audience participation kit. “It’s always fun when we end the performance and people walk out onto the street in their costumes,” Jenifer says. Prefer ghost hunting?

“Paranormal groups come all the time, but during Apolloween, we take groups up to 25 people from midnight to about 4 a.m. through the building with the lights off and they try to detect paranormal activity with cameras and audio recorders.”

Or join the dancing dead at this year’s first-ever Zombie Prom. “People will come dressed as zombies and we’ll have a live DJ, and there’ll be prizes awarded for costumes and various things,” Jenifer says.

For tickets and information, apolloween.com written by pam

kasey

courtesy apollo theatre

The historic Apollo Civic Theatre in Martinsburg makes a whole spooky month of it.

Photo from November 1960, looking northwest.

did you know?

Behind the Scenes: Bunker Tours at The Greenbrier West Virginia’s luxury resort off ers hidden drama. project greek island could have remained a secret indefinitely.

That is, of course, had investigative reporter Ted Gup not revealed its existence in 1992. Located inconspicuously underneath the West Virginia Wing at luxury resort The Greenbrier, the project was a nuclear fallout shelter meant for America’s politicians to continue holding congressional sessions should the Cold War turn hot. Since it was fully equipped and maintained for years, The Greenbrier decided to open the bunker for tours in December 1995 instead of destroying it when the lease expired. Now, we take you behind the scenes of The Greenbrier’s most popular attraction.

A New Lease on Life After the government moved out, The Greenbrier had to find a company to take over the lease. CSX IP LLC, a data storage company, leases the bunker in addition to using part of it for its business, and all tours operate under their guidelines.

courTesy The GreeNBrIer

Tour de Force With 12 tour guides working year-round and anywhere from two to 15 tours a day, the bunker doesn’t suffer for lack of use. Manager of Bunker Tours Linda Walls estimates that 35,000 guests take tours every year.

All-Inclusive Retreat Started in 1958 and completed by 1961, the bunker spans 112,544 square feet. It includes everything necessary to house more than 1,100 people, such as 18 dormitories, a clinic with medical and dental operating rooms, and meeting rooms for the House and Senate. written by

maia brumage wvliving.com 21

spotlight

living loves

Collecting Seneca Glass Bring West Virginia's heritage into your home.

In 1896 Seneca Glass Company relocated from Fostoria, Ohio, to Morgantown, West Virginia, where it operated until 1983. At one time, it was the largest producer of drinking glasses in the United States. Early on it was known for its fine quality decorative and etched glassware, but in the 1950s Seneca launched more casual patterns. Today, Seneca Glass is highly collectible. Here are a few examples of Seneca glassware that can still be seen in displays at the old factory site, now called the Seneca Center on Beechurst Avenue in Morgantown. These Seneca pieces are available at Antiques Walk, Seneca Center, Beechurst Avenue, Lower Level, 304.296.8117, open 7 days a week.

We are partial to seneca glass because our WV Living office is located in the old factory building.

The Fashionable series, in black, low stem juice/ wine glass,, 6 oz.

Driftwood Casual series in heather, cereal or salad bowl. NoTe: This was only color in the series made with lime crystal instead of the standard lead crystal.

Water goblet stemmed and footed, c t unidentified cut

Driftwood D iftwoo Casual series Amethyst sherbet 5 oz. footed, and goblet, foo ed,, 13 oz.

Driftwood Casual series n peacock blue; 56 oz. pitcher

22 wvl • fall 2015

Cocktail with ďŹ gural (modest nude) frosted stem, evergreen bowl

artist

Wood Work

Joseph Elbert’s inspiration comes from the manmade world, his materials from the natural one.

courTesy oF Joseph elBerT

J

oseph Elbert has strong feelings about furniture: “It’s all ugly,” he says. “It’s all function over form. It doesn’t excite me.” The furniture he makes is the exception. Inspired by mid-century modern design and art deco skyscrapers, it’s all long lines, right angles, and smooth hardwood.

The tables are sturdy but elegant, and the chairs have straight, tall backs that don’t look comfortable, exactly, but are striking and interesting to look at. “I tell people up front, ‘This is something to change your shoes on, you’re not going to be doing a lot of sitting in it,’” Joseph says.

“It’s designed to be kind of fun and interesting.”

Joseph has been living in West Virginia since 2011, after he retired from the Washington Post after a three-decade-long career as a photojournalist filled with achievements and accolades. He and his wife bought her family’s farm near Point Pleasant and left Washington, D.C., for rural West Virginia. Joe took to country life well, but retirement was a different matter.

“I was bored very quickly,” he says. “I’d already been a photographer and done all of these things, so trying something I could fail at seemed like a good idea. What you discover after you’ve been around for a while is that the worst thing that ever happens is that you fail miserably—and that’s OK. You learn from the process and it’s not the end of the world.” He took to Youtube to teach himself how to build furniture, and started tinkering with some designs. “Learning how to do this stuff was painful,” he says. “I’ve give away so many really bad things that are so, so ugly.”

This was around 2011, so it was almost fortuitous when, in June 2012, a derecho tore through West Virginia, downing trees and power lines. “The power was out, I was bored

out of my mind, and there were these giant trees lying everywhere,” Joseph says. He couldn’t just leave them there—these were mature oak, cherry, walnut, and maple trees, the kind of beautiful wood that should be reserved for a more refined purpose than to be chopped up for firewood. He estimated that most of them were between 80 and 130 years old. So Joseph enlisted the help of a neighbor with a tractor— ”It was this big bulldozer that looked like it was from World War II,” he says—and went around town buying his neighbors’ fallen trees and dragging them back to his property. “Picture me just smiling away next to a big pile of wood,” he says. “I’d made a big pile of logs that I had no idea what to do with.”

He knew he wanted to use the wood to build furniture, of course, but these logs were still green and needed to be dried out—a frustratingly long process that would put off many would-be log collectors. But not Joseph. ”I’m very stubborn,” he says. “My wife assumed I would drop this in a heartbeat and move on, and that was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.” He got online to research wooddrying techniques and stumbled onto work done by researchers at Virginia Tech— they’d developed a solar kiln that could reduce drying time to one month. Joseph built a kiln and a month later had a trove of West Virginia hardwood that had been felled by the wind. He still uses that same technique to harvest wood today, though in the absence of a major wind storm he relies heavily on the thoughtfulness of people in his community.

Mainly, his neighbors and friends let him know when a tree on their property has fallen and he salvages what he can.

Since he started designing and building furniture in 2007, Joseph’s work has been juried into the Mountain State Arts and Crafts Fair, awarded the prestigious Niche award by Niche Magazine, and featured at Tamarack in its own dedicated space. Despite the success, Joseph insists that he’s still working to get better at his craft. “There are some wonderful craftsmen out there, and then somebody like me comes along who’s just beginning,” he says. “I’m still learning, still experimenting, still having fun with it.” written by

shay maunz wvliving.com 23

What did you do during your time spent traveling?

I was doing a lot of research. I spent several days going into the really small backwater towns in Mississippi checking out the culture of the blues and barbecue—what soul food came out of. I spent quite a bit of time on the Texas coast searching for salt-grass beef, an obscure regional specialty. What I was looking for was those lost regional cuisines of America that you only find in a few places.

From that research what did you learn?

It’s the idea of pockets of America reclaiming their heritage, their history. I couldn’t be prouder of being a West Virginian, though it’s very frustrating sometimes. It’s time not only to claim our history and heritage but to really stand up and proclaim Appalachia and West Virginia as a viable and authentic culinary vernacular, up there with Creole, Cajun, Pacific Rim, and Tex-Mex.

What is Appalachian cuisine?

people

Creating New Traditions Morgantown’s Marion Ohlinger is hot on creative Appalachian cuisine. part punk rock, part home-grown cooking, but all parts creative, Chef Marion Ohlinger is making waves around Morgantown with his vocal take on what West Virginian dining should be.

It’s been almost two years since Morgantown’s culinary darling, the Richwood Grill, closed its doors for the final time, and the innovative mind behind offerings like wild boar chili with antelope sausage packed up his knives and his family to head West. After 15 years running the day-to-day of Solera Cafe and then Richwood Grill in Morgantown, the family was ready for a much-needed vacation.

But after months away, traveling and researching America’s lost cuisines, Chef Marion is back—and with a mission: He’s working on a book, he’s reviving a pop-up dinner series, he’s performing cooking demos at farmers’ markets, and he’s readying a new venture at a hotel in Morgantown. But most of all, he’s amped to begin an Appalachian culinary revival.

24 wvl • fall 2015

At one time we used a lot of wild game. There was a lot of foraging going on. We had huge gardens and we raised things, a lot of that was heirloom. I think we’re really losing touch with our roots here and I very much want to reclaim that, while at the same time moving us forward and progressing. Everyone is always talking about heritage and tradition and that’s wonderful, but very few are trying to create new traditions. There’s so much more you can do with what we have here. You can do a version of almost any cuisine with what we grow here.

Something I’ve been experimenting with and came out really well is an alfalfa broth. I did an alfalfa sprout soup years ago where I’d use the sprouts as a primary flavor, like a pho, and I’m going to try doing it with hay. If you grew up in West Virginia, there’s hay everywhere. Think of how good alfalfa hay smells. Think of putting that in the oven and lightly toasting it and covering it with water and simmering it into a broth and extracting that flavor out.

What are the roadblocks to creating these new experiences?

My wife isn’t from here and she says that after 12 years here, she’s starting to get it. She says West Virginians have been just ignored for so long, not included in the rest of the American conversation, that people are thrilled to be getting what everybody else has now. They feel like we’re being justified by finally getting an Olive Garden because everyone else has an Olive Garden, and while I do not share in that frame of mind, I get it. written by

katie griffith carla witt ford

photographed by

spotlight

shopping

Pedals, Plus

Red Rock Cycles in Buckhannon gives cyclists a retro assist. what’s super stylish, tackles West Virginia’s hills gamely, and gets 125 miles to the gallon? No, it’s not an Irish road bowler on moonshine—it’s a motorized bicycle from Red Rock Cycles in Buckhannon.

A Red Rock cycle is an affordable, common-sense solution to mountain-town mobility. “With one of our bicycles, all a rider has to do is drop a clutch, kick start, and away they go,” says Red Rock founder

Chuck Reed. “No gears, no transmission, just give it gas—and then they can stall it at any time and use it as a regular bicycle again.”

Riders across West Virginia are doing just that.

Motorized bicycles have a start-andstall history. “This idea actually is from the early 1900s. Harley-Davidson was a bicycle company that decided to put engines on bicycles,” Chuck says. “Schwinn and a couple other companies put engines on bicycles, too.” The idea downshifted for a few decades, he says, but came back when the Japanese introduced a bicycle motorized with a 50cc engine—still today the size threshold for operating on the street without license and registration in many states, West Virginia included. When Japanese manufacturers eventually dropped the pedals, motorized bikes in the U.S. lost popularity again.

Until recently. As the idea revved up again over the past decade, Chuck was working as an engineer for Weyerhaeuser when the Great Recession hit. He’d been tinkering with motorizing bicycles. He took advantage of a severance package and the opportunity

to change his life’s path. “I decided to do something for myself as well as possibly help some of the people who always loved riding a bicycle and don’t quite have the knees or back for riding anymore.”

Red Rock builds each bike to the rider.

“How tall are you? How heavy are you?” are the kinds of questions Chuck asks each customer. “What kind of terrain do you have in your region—do you live in a flat place, or do you need more assistance?” Red Rock’s engines have only one gear, so Chuck makes a trade-off between a faster bike, for more level terrain, and one with more torque, for hills, with his choice of sprocket size.

Chuck rarely retrofits customers’ own bikes. He prefers to start from scratch using quality components, American-made when possible. He refurbishes old bicycle frames and buys some new, favoring Huffy, Schwinn, and Raleigh. Engines come from a Canadian company that builds them new on a 1960s Honda design. He especially seeks out West Virginian and American suppliers for any specialized parts. All installed, the wvliving.com 25

spotlight

“With one of our bicycles, all a rider has to do is drop a clutch, kick start, and away they go.” chuck reed owner of Red Rock Cycles

modifications add around 20 pounds, he says.

“It’s about the same as a couple jugs of milk.”

These bikes are street legal. They run on two-stroke engines, “kind of like a weed eater, only they don’t smoke,” Chuck says.

They get 125 miles per gallon, on average.

“Get that out of a Prius,” he quips. And they’re steampunk gorgeous: streamlined, in bold colors, with fat tires and, in many cases, sidewalls.

Most of Red Rock’s customers are an older crowd from the state’s larger cities.

“These are people who think, ‘I want to get on a bicycle again, but what if I get five miles out and here comes that big cloud over the hill?’” Chuck says. “A lot of people want to use them for a little grocery-getter, or to run down to the post office. I put baskets on the back, and the bikes fit right on a bike rack.”

But college students like the bikes too and, in that, Chuck sees an opportunity for congested Morgantown. “The biggest problem there is, students want to drive from one class to another in their cars,” he says. “You go to Europe, you go to Holland, they don’t drive cars as much—they ride bicycles everywhere. I’d like to get the cities here to make more parking spaces for bikes.

Morgantown desperately needs to do that.”

Red Rock is a boutique shop, just Chuck and one employee, so a bike can take two to three weeks from start to finish. “I also

26 wvl • fall 2015

provide warranty and maintenance—I take care of my customers. The first couple years I pretty much do free maintenance, make sure it’s ready to go in the spring—change filters, clean carburetors, make sure spark plugs are gapped properly. After that I do spring maintenance for about $45.” Cared for properly in this way, the bikes will run for years, he says. “I have a bike sitting here right now that’s almost eight years old that I ride on a daily basis and it’s in perfect shape.”

He cautions do-it-yourselfers. “You can go to eBay and buy a bicycle kit and put it on your bicycle, but your sprocket is webbed to your spokes and it ends up wobbling,” he says.

“All of my design is based on safety. I don’t want someone 60, 70 years old to fall down and break a bone.”

Red Rock Cycles Starting from a $699 base turns standard package, options include an bicycles into aluminum sprocket, high-end stylish motorized transport. front forks, exhaust systems, and cushy seats. Finished bikes round out at $1,000 to $1,200. “Most people just want to go all out,” Chuck says of his customers. “They’ve got the money—they just want to go and do things.”

red rock cycles

460 Red Rock Road, Buckhannon, 304.439.0208 redrockcyles.com written by pam

kasey

photographed by and courtesy of chuck

reed

event

Burlington Apple Harvest Festival the 42nd annual burlington apple harvest festival returns Saturday, October 3-4, bringing with it all of the apple butter and activities that evoke the cozy warmth of fall. Learn how to make apple butter the old-fashioned way in the morning then catch the Grand Feature Parade in the evening. Fireworks at nightfall round out the day nicely. Sunday is when things really kick up, though: Morning worship on campus is followed by an antique auto and tractor show, barbeque, and music contests.

After listening to competitive fiddle, banjo, and mandolin playing, vote with your wallet for Baby Apple Dumpling. Each contestant has a box underneath his or her picture where fairgoers can deposit as much as they wish. The box with the most money wins, and the winner is named Baby Apple Dumpling. In addition to the main events, a flea market and arts and crafts show will run both days.

Resource Development Manager Cindy Pyles says she expects 25,000 attendees this year. In the week before the festival, volunteers work from sunup to sundown making apple butter to sell. Pyles says volunteers are desperately needed to help, even if only for an hour. All proceeds from the festival benefit Burlington United Methodist Family Services, Inc. burlington united methodist family services, inc.

RR 3, Keyser, 304.289.6010, http://www.bumfs.org/ahf.html written by

maia brumage

wvliving.com 27

spotlight

roadtrip

What’s in a Name?

West Virginia’s odd town names can be found all over the state.

The landscape in West Virginia isn’t the only thing that’s wild and wonderful. Just pay attention to the road signs as you whiz past on winding country roads, and you’ll notice a certain peculiarity—West Virginia towns have some strange names. From capitals of other countries to ordinary phrases and insults, towns in West Virginia are unparalleled in their ability to make a name for themselves out of, well, anything.

BIG UGLY legend says the rugged, difficult-to-clear ground was called “ugly” by railroad surveyors. It’s guaranteed to make any title hilarious—just look at the Big ugly community center. If you want to visit, go to Boone or lincoln county and look for Big ugly creek.

CUCUMBER No one knows whether this McDowell county mining community got its name from nearby cucumber creek or the cucumber trees in the area. Nevertheless, it holds the distinction of being the only cucumber in the united states.

GASSAWAY What could be taken for some sort of a digestive-health medication is actually the name of a town in Braxton county. Gassaway is named for henry Gassaway Davis, the 1904 Democratic party Vice president nominee. The town was created because of its perfect location at the end of two coal and coke railway lines.

28 wvl • fall 2015

PICKLE STREET No, it’s not a misprint: pickle street is an unincorporated community in lewis county. The name comes from a general store nearby, where asking for a “pickle” was code for whiskey.

SCRABBLE hard scrabble, hard scrabble Town, and hardscrabble are all names this Berkeley county community has gone by in the past. While there’s no connection to the famous board game, you can still walk through history here. scrabble was listed on the National register of historic places in 2006.

WAR Nicknamed “West Virginia’s most southern city,” War takes after nearby War creek, which was named for the numerous Indian wars that occurred in the area.

Thankfully, the town is peaceful now.

into chaos when their eldest son commits a devastating act, leaving two people dead and a New Jersey community wholly fractured. On the surface the story is a family drama. Peel back a layer, however, and a deeper question emerges, one that cracks open issues of MuslimAmerican identity in a post-9/11 world. “At the time I was writing it I was preoccupied with the idea of apology—whether Muslim-Americans should or could apologize for what has happened and, if so, what would be the best way?”

A native of Egypt, Rajia grew up loving to read and write in English but earned a degree in architecture.

“Living in Egypt, a degree in English generally meant a future as a school teacher. Being a school teacher was an intimidating thought for me at 18 years old.” She and her husband later moved to the U.S. and here Rajia returned to her old love. “I remember telling my husband in 1998, ‘If I ever get a chance to go back to college, I will get a degree in English.’”

It took nearly a decade to get her bookworm chance, but she didn’t waste time. She finished her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and creative writing in five years, published short fiction in Upstreet, Steam Ticket, and Border Crossing magazines. And with the help of her English professor and mentor, Jane Hill, she took a short story she’d Marshall University graduate written for an independent study Rajia Hassib’s debut novel poses course and turned it into a master’s big questions. thesis. That thesis eventually became what Kirkus Reviews calls a “sensitive, rajia hassib says she loves revision. She finely wrought debut.” sat down and churned out a book-length After many revisions, rewrites, and tweaks, In creative writing thesis at Marshall University the Language of Miracles is a narrative of tragedy and then rewrote it several times before and mental illness spun in exquisite prose, but giving it to her professors and, later, literary its soul is a microcosm of the Muslim-American agents. “What I’ve learned is the first draft is experience—one Rajia hopes speaks to readers just the thinking process. It’s where I try to from all backgrounds. “I want readers to see the figure out what the story is about. The second relationships between the people and the flawed draft is about the actual craft of writing, humanity of the characters—to accept them as forming the story, and being able to present it representatives of Muslim America, to see the to people as a novel,” she says. “I don’t want similarities between these Muslim Americans readers to think I’m being lazy.” and themselves. These struggles are as familiar Rajia’s hard work has paid off. Published as any other struggles—dealing with parents,

by Viking Books in August 2015, her thesiskids, significant others—they are the struggles turned-novel, In the Language of Miracles, we all face.” rajiahassib.com follows the story of the Al-Menshawys, a written by mikenna pierotti fictional Egyptian-American family thrown

Of Apologies and Tragedies

wvliving.com 29

spotlight

local flavor

Roasted to Perfection This little shop in Huntington celebrates 20 years of finely roasted coffees and nuts. before moxxee in charleston and Tip Top in Thomas, before The Grind WV in Morgantown and Hot Cup in Logan, there was a little shop in Huntington. Sitting next to the grand Keith-Albee theater on 4th Avenue, it’s almost dwarfed by the highrises and old hotels it serves each day. The aromas of freshly roasted coffee, a neatly pulled espresso, and sugary roasted almonds and pecans beckon you inside, where nearly every square inch is packed with some gourmet treat. There, customers new and old are served that perfect blend of warmth, nostalgia, history, and community.

The Old Village Roaster opened in 1995 at a time when coffee was a nascent industry.

“It was just becoming a trend in the country,” says co-owner and barista Vicky Cooper.

“Starbucks and other places had been developing the knowledge of special coffees and specialty beverages. People who traveled outside the area were already familiar with the different beverages. We came in at just about the right time.”

The timing may have been perfect, but it wasn’t intentional. Old Village Roaster was born out of a hobby. “It all started with 30 wvl • fall 2015

my husband’s love of antiques,” Vicky says.

Pete Cooper had long been a collector of antiques. In the mid-1980s he observed an antique roaster in operation. “They’re very ornate—they date back to the 1800s—and he just had a desire to own one.” And he searched until he found one. From there came experimentation. The couple began with peanuts, selling freshly roasted peanuts at fairs and festivals and then to fans at Marshall University games and other sporting events. The Coopers were hooked.

“We realized the roasters were designed for nuts and coffee. We traveled to another roasting facility and bought our first green coffee beans and started experimenting with that.” When the couple went to their fairs and festivals, they’d take a few bags of the roasted coffee with them and gradually they developed a following. “When you’re drinking your better grades of coffee, you definitely learn there is a difference.”

Creating that better grade was no easy feat. Roasting isn’t automated. There are no bells and whistles to signal when the coffee is ready. It’s all up to the senses—sight and smell. The green coffee beans are roasted

slowly, from the inside out, so as not to burn the outer layer. “But when it’s complete, Pete has to know exactly when to quench it,” Vicky says. The roaster, while slow, is still very hot and will continue to cook even when finished.

“Depending on what roast he wants, he knows exactly when to take it out. It takes a talent.”

It’s a talent the Coopers clearly have.

Eventually they had enough of the festival circuit and decided to open the small shop on 4th Avenue. Old Village Roaster celebrated its 20th anniversary there this year. “It took off right off the bat. We are in a primary location with law firms and retail stores. There were customers from day one,” Vicky says.

Today the store offers more than 20 flavored coffees, all roasted on site in that 19th century roaster, as well as a menu of popular espresso and coffee beverages. While the store no longer sells fresh-roasted peanuts, it does offer roasted cashews and glazed almonds and pecans, as well as caramel corn—all created in-house. More gourmet teas and coffees and beverage paraphernalia line the walls.

Mornings are busy as locals run in for their caffeine fixes before work, while afternoons are a different kind of busy when the store turns into a gathering spot for local news and gossip. “Coffee, tea, and chocolate,” Vicky says. “What more could you ask for?”

Old Village Roaster, 919 4th Avenue, Huntington, 304.697.1944 written by

katie griffith elizabeth roth

photographed by

preservation

Teetering on the Brink

Beckley Courthouse Square Historic District is in danger of losing its place on the National Register of Historic Places.

P

roperties that contribute to the understanding of our heritage and promote historic preservation are placed on the National Register of Historic Places. “Buildings are not put on the register because George Washington slept there, but because the buildings and landscape look much as they did during their primary period of importance,” says David Sibray, board member of the Preservation Alliance of WV. Beckley Courthouse Square Historic District embodies the distinctive characteristics of the late 19th and 20th century American movement of architecture—stained glass, large stone edifices, and labyrinthine interiors. While it is uncommon for the Preservation Alliance to place an entire national historic district on its Endangered Properties list, “after a culmination of many years of inappropriate alterations and demolitions by local governments and business owners, Beckley Courthouse Square Historic District is losing its historic integrity,” David says.

Beckley Courthouse Square was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 and included 100 buildings, one or more designed by architect Alex B. Mahood, West Virginia-based architect of the West Virginia Hotel, the former Women’s Dormitory at WVU, and WVU’s Creative Arts Center.

Over a period of 20 years, only 88 buildings

remain. These include the courthouse itself, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building, the 1934 Beckley Post Office, the former Beckley Federal Savings and Loans building, the United National Bank, and six former Mountain State University buildings that will become part of West Virginia University’s Beckley campus. “Now that WVU will be one of the most significant property owners in the National Historic District, this may be the best place to start engaging students in preservation and economic development,” David says.

“We have to do what we can as quickly as we can to rescue the best of our resources, which are the incredible buildings.” Over time developers and building owners transformed the character of the buildings, each time endangering the historic district.

To recreate the historic character of the city’s downtown, Beckley plans to increase awareness of the benefits of historic preservation, predominantly focusing on financial incentives. By educating stakeholders about the value of having a historic district and providing technical assistance to historic property owners, the Beckley Courthouse Square Historic District hopes to become a thriving destination where visitors can explore the area as it was in the 1920s. pawv.org written by jordan

carter wvliving.com 31

spotlight

Campus Tour back to school

The class of 2019 just started their freshman year at West Virginia’s colleges and universities. If it’s been a while since you’ve been on campus, here’s a snapshot of a few.

CONCORD UNIVERSITY

FAIRMONT STATE UNIVERSITY

MARSHALL UNIVERSITY

SHEPHERD UNIVERSITY

WEST LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY TECH

29,175

1,261

$6,415

$6,960

$6,048

70/30

49/51

77/3

UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT 2014 2,531

4,035

13,390

4,041

2,694

ANNUAL IN-STATE TUITION 2014

$6,422

$6,306

$6,526

$6,830 IN/OUT of STATE

81/19

93/7

79/21

60/40

NOTABLE ALUMS

U DEP TY

Faoa Aitofele sunia, former lt. Governor of American samoa

COMEDY WVu Football coach Bill stewart

comedian soupy sales

Gina Groh, u.s.

District Judge for the Northern District of West Virginia

MA YB E R RY

country Music star Brad paisley

Actor Don knotts

sedale Threatt, former NBA player

Hilltopper the Bear

The Mountaineer

Monty the Golden Bear

MASCOT Roar

Freddie the Falcon

homecoming kings and queens are determined by a competition that includes a lip sync contest.

students spray paint the Victory Bell” located on the campus quad with the names of their organizations.

Marco the Buffalo

Zan the Ram

TRADITION Marshall holds an annual quoits tournament, a game similar to horseshoes, because it was John Marshall’s favorite game.

The university names its ram mascots in honor of the sitting president. The current ram is named zan, for president suzanne shipley.

homecoming serenades, original skits performed by king and Queen candidates each fall.

student organizations compete in the prT cram” to see how many people can fit into a monorail car.

The record is 97.

Athletes pat the campus’s golden bear statue for good luck— earning the statue the name pat the Bear”

LANDMARK

THE MARSH MEMORIAL CARILLON 34 wvl • fall 2015

HARDWAY HALL

THE MEMORIAL STUDENT CENTER FOUNTAIN

MCMURRAN HALL

HISTORIC CLOCK TOWER

WOODBURN HALL

OLD MAIN

spotlight

shopping

Cozy Time

Kin Ship Goods is a homey store that sells comfy clothes. the motto at kin ship goods is “stay cozy,” and it suits them. The shop is housed in a little storefront tucked into the nook between two much taller buildings in downtown Charleston. Being inside it feels a little like being shrunk down and tucked into the pocket of your favorite flannel shirt: warm and soft and snug. Its owners, couple Dan Davis and Hillary Harrison, are friendly and interesting and particularly good conversationalists, like the best friends you wish you’d had in college. The front of the store is a retail space that feels more like a living room. There’s a red plaid couch and, often, a napping, graying, one-eyed beagle named Hazel.

And then there’s Kin Ship’s wares: stacks of tees, sweatshirts, and mugs printed with simple images and quippy phrases. One suggests that you “Ask Me About My Cat.” Another tells you to “Stay Cozy.” There’s a mug that reads “Silence is Golden” and another that says to “Take a Nip and Sip.” “Our aesthetic is one where the shirt is supposed to feel like, even if your life is completely in the gutter, you can put this shirt on and it will make your life feel a little better,” Dan says. They design and print it all themselves, with a big screen printing press in the back of shop.

Kin Ship got its start back in 2009, when Dan and Hillary started screen printing greeting cards in a little art gallery they’d started in the back of a shop in Louisville, Kentucky. Dan was in a band and had a background in screen printing. Hillary had a photography degree and had founded an arts magazine—they’re both always interested in new creative pursuits. “We started making greeting cards, and had fun doing that, so then in 2011 we started doing some shirts,” Dan says. “That’s when we opened an Etsy store.”

Etsy is an online marketplace for artists and craftspeople—think of it as Amazon’s funkier, more personable cousin. The site launched in 2005, and by 2011 it had 10 million members. In certain circles of artists and makers it was, and remains, a very big deal. So it was also a big deal

when, not long after Dan and Hillary launched Kin Ship, Etsy chose to feature the shop on its front page. From there, the good press just kept coming. Dan and Hillary were featured in magazines like Country Living and on blogs like Apartment Therapy and Design Sponge. The retail website ModCloth became a customer, and comedian and television star Mindy Kaling wore Kin Ship’s sweatshirts on TV. Twice.

Last year, Dan and Hillary decided to relocate from Louisville to Charleston. Hillary’s from Sissonville, and even though she left town as soon as she could after high school graduation, she always knew she wanted to come back one day to be closer to her family. “And from a business perspective, it’s easier for us to make an impact here than in Louisville,” Dan says.

“Somewhere like Louisville, everyone’s just over everything, because they’ve seen it all before.

Here we have people walking in and just saying, ‘Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,’ and then they start touching everything. You can do things here that you couldn’t do anywhere else because it will just be met with enthusiasm.”

At first they were just looking for studio space where they could print their stuff and sell it online, but when they found a downtown location with room for a retail space out front, they decided to give it a shot. “We had a big talk about wanting to be able to do something for Charleston,” Hillary says. “I want it to just be a cool place to go. It’s more about having a space where people can come hang out and look at cool things than selling things.” Dan chimes in.

“Kin Ship wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t gone to some place at some point and seen something that blew my mind, or bought a record that changed my mind,” he says. “Not that Kin Ship is changing minds, but maybe some kid will see something that isn’t like anything they’ve seen before. Maybe they’ll be like, ‘I could make something too.’” kin ship goods

818 Lee Street East, Charleston orders@kinshipgoods.com, kinshipgoods.com written by shay

maunz shelton

photographed by katey

wvliving.com 35

Gourds-geous Fall

lAVeNDer phoToGrAphy

From perfect pumpkins to cozy getaways, there’s no better place to spend the fall than West Virginia.

PICTURED: MILTON PUMPKIN FESTIVAL, PAGE 49

wvliving.com 37

morgantown » shopping

•

dining • and so much more !

A Cottage on Rails

Ditch your cell phone and ride your accommodations to your destination on the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad’s Castaway Caboose. written by pam

kasey • photographed by carla witt ford

her itage | Lodging

back in the day, when freight trains had rear crews to manage their nether operations, the caboose was a place of exertion and sweat. Today, thanks to the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad, it’s a place of pure and private relaxation.

Here’s how John Smith describes the experience of his railroad’s two Castaway Cabooses. “You will be taken by train in your own railcar down into the wilderness and cast away—your caboose will be left on a siding by the tracks and there will be nobody within miles of you.” He’s not exaggerating. There aren’t many places in the eastern U.S. more remote than the heart of the Monongahela National Forest. The nearest town is many miles away from this siding by the Pocahontas County origins of the Greenbrier River.

There’s no road around. And there’s absolutely no cell service: The cabooses are cast away in the National Radio Quiet Zone that enables the Green Bank National Radio Astronomy Observatory to function.

But no worries—guests have all the comforts in these two cottages delivered to the wilderness by rail. “We took the guts out of two Wabash Railroad cabooses and made them basically into RVs with refrigerators, sinks, stoves, and even ovens, and full-size showers and baths,” John says. “You also have grills on the back platforms.” Propane powers the stove and heats the shower, and solar panels charge 12-volt batteries that run lights and a water pump.

Alongside the modern comforts, guests enjoy all the charm of a caboose that dates to the 1950s and was originally designed to house railway employees. “You had a crew of two or three at the back end of the train,” John explains. “They could look ahead and see if there were any derailments or hobos or other obstructions. And when the train would stop to pick up other cars, they’d do that work from the caboose. They ate and slept back there—it’s kind of a romantic notion.” D&GVRR’s castaway cabooses retain the cupolas on top, where rear crews sat to monitor train and track. They have the original bunks, updated for comfort.

“And we refurbished the windows but they’re the same exact windows, with the original screens,” John says. “It’s very, very cool.”

Both drop-off points have picnic tables at overlooks on the Greenbrier River. “We have these beautiful places on the Greenbrier River, in the middle of the national forest, that are just begging people to stay—you see bears and bald eagles all the time,” John says.

40 wvl • fall 2015

“It’s just such a wildernessy, scenic spot.” The combination of the refurbished cabooses with the remote beauty is unique, in his mind.

“Lots of people have turned cabooses into cabins. But I haven’t seen anyone who’s taken that to a really neat spot and dropped it off.

This is about the coolest thing you’d ever want to do in the woods.” An important part of the experience, says this train buff, “is that you ride in your own accommodation, just like the guys who manned the cabooses did.”

The Castaway Caboose trip is a May through October add-on to the tourism railroad’s regular Durbin Rocket run—and that’s a whole other part of the heritage and fun. “The Durbin Rocket is an actual West Virginia treasure, built new for the Moore-Keppel (lumber) company in Ellamore, West Virginia,” John says. The 1910 steam locomotive was built by Climax Manufacturing Company in Pennsylvania.

“The lumber company ran it for many, many years and then it was taken out of state, and we found it and brought it back,” he says.

“The Climax #3 is one of only three Climax steam engines left operating in the whole world.”

If the Castaway Caboose sounds good to you, don’t wait to make a reservation.

“Just about everyone, when they get back to Durbin, makes reservations for the next year,” John says. “We just had some people down there for two weeks—and this was their fifth straight year.” That kind of enthusiasm means to John that guests ultimately find the electronic silence peaceful. “Everybody that goes down there, their biggest fear is about being unable to use their cell phones. By the time they come out they say, ‘I hate to turn this on again.’” mountainrailwv.com

Lodging | her itage

The Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad’s two cabooses offer a homey and secluded getaway with mid-century rail-culture charm.

wvliving.com 41

Through Artists’ Eyes The third year of an evolving plein air event, this fall’s Greenbrier Invitational promises to unveil some of the most artful West Virginia landscapes ever painted. written by pam

kasey wyatt

photographed by mike

Perry Austin paints en plein air at the invitation of Walls Fine Art Gallery at The Greenbrier.

her itage | Art

the impressionists’ paris, the landscapes of the Hudson River School, Georgia O’Keeffe’s New Mexico—seen through artists’ eyes, these places became iconic. But our rolling farms, wooded hills, and rocky streams rival panoramas anywhere for natural artistry. So why not West Virginia? asks Walls Fine Art Gallery at The Greenbrier. Why not, indeed?

“When I bring in artists from across the country that have never been here, they’re always amazed,” says gallery co-owner David Leadman. “The first time John Poon came here from Utah”—he’s a widely collected landscape painter—“he looked around and said, ‘Well, every time I turn around there’s a painting.’” John’s reaction to the beauty of West Virginia, and the first reactions of other acclaimed landscape painters the gallery brought in on first visits a few years ago, affirmed a vision that had been forming in David’s mind. Drawing on a reputation earned over decades in the business, he saw, Walls Fine Art Gallery could bring landscape artists of national renown to The Greenbrier.

They would share their skills through lectures and demonstrations, elevating the regional community of painters. And, with their paintings, they’d show the world West Virginia through artists’ eyes.

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Walls Gallery’s 30 years wasn’t all at The Greenbrier. A West Virginia native, David opened his first gallery in Huntington in the early 1980s while he was studying art at Marshall University on the GI Bill. It wasn’t long before his skills led him to seek a bigger, broader community of artists and collectors.

He created that community in the 1990s and 2000s at the first Walls Fine Art Gallery, in Wilmington, North Carolina, alone and then with wife and co-owner Nancy Marshall.

He nurtured it, in part, through expertise in the techniques behind everything from jewelry-making and weaving to pottery and lithography. He grew it based on a philosophy that engages collectors and builds artists’ careers.

And he was good at it. “I built a 3,000-squarefoot gallery, a freestanding building on my own lot,” David says. “I represented some of the best artists in the country. I had a collector base that supported what I did. You build trust when people understand you aren’t just there to sell art—you’re educating them to be better consumers, regardless of where they buy.”

But even as his stature in Wilmington and in the art world grew, David longed to return home to West Virginia. In 2010, Walls Fine Art Gallery hosted the Oil Painters of America’s Eastern Regional Exhibition—a major event.

When it was over, David looked at Nancy and said, “I’m going to call The Greenbrier.” He and Nancy moved their gallery to the resort at White Sulphur Springs in 2012 and, in 2013, they hosted their first plein air event.

Painting en plein air—French for “in the open air”—is a challenge and a pleasure entirely apart from the studio experience. Artists talk about the distraction of bugs and wind and sun. But they philosophize about “chasing the light,” about the painterly discipline involved in capturing color and shadow before the mood of a day shifts too far. Think of Claude Monet’s haystacks or Thomas Cole’s Oxbow. At their most raw, plein air paintings can be small, quick works executed in one session; plein air studies also may be taken back to the studio as preparation for larger, more detailed compositions. But they always celebrate the charisma of a real place at a particular moment in time.

David and Nancy invited artists they knew to paint what they saw in the countryside around White Sulphur Springs during a November 2013 Greenbrier Fine Art Week, and to offer their expertise every day through free lectures and interactive demonstrations. “When you have somebody construct a painting in front of you and you see the mental and physical process, the color use and all the other things required to

Art | her itage Clockwise from opposite: Summer View, by T.M. Nicholas; Passing

Storm, by Charles Movalli; Brothers, by Larry Moore;

If These Hills Could Talk, by Perry Austin.

wvliving.com 45

her itage | Art

Clockwise from top left: Red Awnings,

by Randall Sexton; Antiquities, Roger Dale Brown; Cooking with

46 wvl • fall 2015

Gas, Cameron Smith, an indoor plein air-style painting; West Virginia Fields, John Poon; Larry

Moore applies plein air techniques indoors; Valley Farm, by Stapleton Kearns.

Art | her itage The culmination of the 2014 weeklong plein air event.

produce a great painting, you start understanding that it’s just not easily done,” David says. “People start to understand why this painting is special and why it will remain special—because it was produced by somebody who understood exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it.”

They held a similar event in the fall of 2014 and, in just two years, it was becoming a great success. “We get people from all over who come for this, as far as California, along with people

from White Sulphur Springs and Lewisburg and the region—Raleigh or Charlottesville or Louisville,” Nancy says. “We love it, being involved in people’s learning, and that includes us and the artists we already represent.”

So this year they’ve taken it to another level.

The gallery has had artists visiting through the year—giving demonstrations and painting en plein air in all seasons and farther afield, throughout the state. “I wanted the variety

of the environment we live in and a truer picture of the beauty of this area, whether it’s snow-covered or fall or spring,” David says. The artists have taken their plein air studies home with them as the basis for larger works. And at the October 24–November 1 Greenbrier Invitational, they’ll display about 100 of their field studies and larger works in the resort’s Chesapeake Ballroom. Lectures and demonstrations on October 24 and 25 will feature the artists along with Art & Antiques magazine Publisher Phillip Troy Linger and Editor-in-Chief John Dorfman.

In addition to John Poon, invited artists include Perry Austin, an Alabama native and fisherman who paints landscapes and figures and whose work hangs in museums and private collections across the country; the muchawarded T.M. Nicholas, who specializes in plein air; and a couple dozen more artists from across the country. Prices for their works will range from $1,000 to $60,000, David says, offering something for new as well as established collectors.

wvliving.com 47

Destination Milton This little town is brimming with fall fun. written by shay

maunz photography

photographed by lavender

her itage | Travel

it’s tempting to write off milton as a place between other places. It sits along the Mud River in Cabell County, just off Interstate 64 and smack dab in between Charleston and Huntington. Even back in the 1800s, when the C&O railroad opened a line from Huntington to Richmond, Virginia, Milton was the natural stopping point in between. It became a convenient spot to ship goods and materials on that railroad, and the town grew up around its bustling post office; eventually it was named after the town’s first postmaster, Milton Rece.

But this community is much more than just a pit stop. The plucky little town is full of people who are always willing to welcome visitors from around the world or one town over. Milton might be conveniently located, but it would be worth the trip even if it weren’t.

Town of Glass You probably already know about Blenko Glass, the iconic West Virginia business and one of the last companies in the country to produce hand-blown glass. But did you know its headquarters are in Milton? That means that on any given day, Blenko workers are there pulling molten glass out of big furnaces, blowing it, and shaping it into brightly colored vessels. “It’s like a glass ballet,” says Dean Six, vice president for marketing and sales at Blenko. And because Blenko’s workshop has a public viewing area, you can watch it all happen yourself. “You can actually see a team of glass artists work on different products,” Dean says. “The guys carry the hot glass from the furnace to the worker who’s seated on his bench and back to the artisan.

They all have these long metal rods, and the hot glass itself is something great to see. It’s all pretty wonderful.” Glassblowing is a quick affair—a simple piece can be built in just a few minutes—so viewers can often watch the team build one of Blenko’s iconic pieces from start to finish. And after you’ve watched Blenko artisans carry on traditional glassmaking techniques in the present day, be sure to check out the free glass museum. It traces the company’s history back 100 years, to its origins making leaded and stained glass.

Fall Frenzy

For some reason—no one seems quite sure why—Milton has a special flair in the autumn.

And it’s more than just the splendidly colored leaves that envelop the town. Each year, just when the air starts to take on that slight chill that has you doubling back for a sweater 50 wvl • fall 2015

At the Pumpkin Festival, visitors can shop for pumpkins grown

by local farmers or simply admire the most impressive of their harvest.

before you leave the house, the town becomes preoccupied with all things fall.

“It’s like the town turns into a big giant pumpkin,” says Barbara Brooks. “It’s a fall ritual.” Barbara is the volunteer secretary of Milton’s Pumpkin Festival, one of the state’s largest, most popular festivals, and a tradition in Milton since 1986. The festival was conceived as a way to help local pumpkin farmers sell their wares, but over the years has grown into so much more. It now brings

Travel | her itage

Every fall, Milton becomes an autumn oasis, famous for its pumpkin-flavored foods

and outdoor activities that take full advantage of the beauty of the season.

wvliving.com 51

her itage | Travel Blenko Glass, one of West Virginia’s most iconic businesses, is headquartered in

Milton. Artisans are there every day making glass that is sold all over the world.

more than 10,000 people to the town every day over the course of the four-day festival.

There’s a large, juried craft show, a petting zoo, exhibits where people make apple butter and sorghum the old-fashioned way, a beauty pageant, a parade, a 5K run, a zipline, and a lot of food—oh, the food. “If you come you need to eat,” Barbara says. There’s a bakery on-site with pumpkin-flavored baked goods, and most food vendors feature pumpkin on the menu in some way. Don’t leave without trying the pumpkin-flavored soft serve ice cream.

The fall fun in Milton isn’t limited to just those four days. If you’re looking to pick your own pumpkin or navigate your way through a corn maze—and really, come October, who isn’t?—Cooper Family Farms is for you. The farm has been in the Cooper family since the 1840s, but for most of that time was used for more traditional agricultural pursuits, like growing crops and grazing cattle. Then, in 2001, Kim Cooper read a magazine story 52 wvl • fall 2015

“It’s like the town turns into a big giant pumpkin.”

the 8-acre corn maze. Each new year comes with a different maze design, though Kay isn’t telling how they’re made. “If I told you that I’d have to hunt you down and kill you,” he says. “It’s a trade secret.” During the last few weeks of October the mood of the maze changes at dusk—it’s taken over by ghouls, ghosts, and monsters. The haunted maze is perfect for older children, adults, and anyone who likes a good scare, while the daytime - barbara brooks maze is great for kids and families. “The maze takes on a whole different atmosphere at night,” Jay says. “It gets really creepy in there.” about a corn maze, and something clicked.

Kay thinks Cooper Family Farms is special “I thought, ‘We need this here.’” he says.

“Everybody thought I was nuts, but I thought for a lot of the same reasons Milton itself is: It’s unique and fun, but not complicated it could work.” or fussy. “I think people are looking for It did work, and in a big way. These a way to get back to their roots, to bring days, Cooper Family Farms is an autumn back memories from going to grandma and destination for families across the region.

They come to pick their own pumpkins from grandpa’s place,” he says. “This is a place where families can come to spend quality the farm’s patch, take a ride on a zipline, time together.” play games, and, of course, try their hand at

A Serene Setting A new home in Alderson has a historic look, a modern feel, and a touch of whimsical detail. written by mikenna

pierotti • photographed by nikki bowman

her itage | Spaces

certain homes will speak to you, as if their wooden bones are carved with stories. In the case of Melinda and Jim Russell’s Alderson house, you might say nature itself penned the first line. Not long after the couple purchased a tract of land once part of a historic estate known as The Cedars—complete with a 100-year-old pond, mature trees, and a lush field—on which they planned to build their dream home, the 2012 derecho hit. This storm uprooted trees and tore out power lines across the state, and the Russells’ property didn’t go unscathed. “It took out a huge, old walnut tree. It was just beautiful and I thought, ‘I certainly don’t want that to go to firewood,’” Melinda says. As a textile artist and rug hooker who has shown her work on the national level, she immediately thought of the tree as salvageable material and wondered about the possibility of weaving it into the house.

The fallen sentinel seemed a natural fit for the couple’s home design. With the help of Lewisburg architect E.L. Roach, they had settled on a traditional white American farmhouse style for their nearly 3,000-squarefoot, three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath house. But transforming the tree into workable timber was easier said than done. The lumber would need to be cut, shaped, dried, and cured before it could be used. And where to incorporate it? After years living in apartments and preowned homes, this was their first opportunity to build a house from the foundation up, and they wanted to do it right.

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Luckily, the Russells had several West Virginia resources to tap for this project—their architect, who’d helped design some of the luxurious Greenbrier Sporting Club homes, and building contractor Mark Solak of Solak Builders, who’d also had a hand in constructing those multi-million dollar properties. Not surprisingly both architect and builder fell in love with the idea of strategically placing pieces of historic wood in the Russells’ home. After all, the couple’s home design already called for an Old World feel on the exterior.

The idea snowballed from there. “I called Mark and he found a local sawmill man to cut the wood. Then, in the construction of the house, there were a lot of other really old beautiful trees that were going

Melinda and Jim to have to come down,” Russell built their Melinda says. Every time dream home in a tree came down, her Alderson on land once belonging to the imagination took over. historic estate known “I kept bugging Mark, as The Cedars. asking ‘Could we use this wood, too?’” While it made more sense to use conventional building materials for the home’s frame and flooring, Melinda’s beloved trees easily found their way into the walls as shiplap paneling. The old walnut soon covered Jim’s office, and warm pine, silky butternut, and a mixture of maple, ash, and poplar found homes in the kitchen, bathrooms, and upstairs bedroom, and on the living room walls.

Truth be told, much of the Russells’ home planning started this way. Although Melinda

Spaces | her itage

Outside, the home feels historic and stately.

Inside, Melinda’s quirky, artistic personality shines through​in antiques and functional,

repurposed items like this toolbox-turnedutensil organizer. In the modern kitchen, custom metal cabinets normally used in professional

garages lend a clean, industrial feel. This pairs surprisingly well with Melinda’s hand hooked rugs adorning floors and walls.

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her itage | Spaces

Melinda’s love for unique details might come from her talent for textile art.

Sculptures of reclaimed material, warm wood

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paneling crafted of fallen timber from the property, beloved China closet doors salvaged from Melinda’s parents’ house—this home’s

decor is imbued with stories. Even the 100-yearold pond, the centerpiece of the property, invites quiet contemplation.

Spaces | her itage

based most of her decisions on thorough research—and she has a bookshelf stacked with volumes on homebuilding to prove it— the most delightful elements of the Russells’ home are the spontaneous touches, the quirky yet deeply meaningful details. Take the property’s historic pond. The couple took one look at it and knew their home’s design and landscaping had to flow around it. “The pond was kind of the first consideration. We talked and talked about a design that would make the best use of it. We wanted the house to face it and the rooms to have unique views of it,” she says.

With help from a West Virginia University scientist, Melinda found a way to clean up

the algae in the pond using koi fish. She also landscaped the home’s seven acres, adding garden sculptures and flowers and purposefully exposing the leftover trunks from the property’s fallen trees as a tribute to them. Today, were you to visit the Russells’ home on a blue autumn morning, you’d be in for a romantically curving drive through hardwoods decked out in red and orange foliage and a field of drifting fall leaves, and to your left would be the pond, reflecting the blue sky like a perfect mirror. You’d also find a garden, beds of wildflowers, and whimsical art strategically placed for guests to ponder over—a metal giraffe hiding in the trees, a metal man made of C-clamps, a dog with an old radiator for a

body, and a pendulum from Mexico. “I like things made of solid wood and real metal.

And I like fun things—things that make you smile,” she says.

The same guiding principal that drew Melinda to the fallen walnut and the radiatorturned-dog have sprouted inside the home as well since the couple moved in in December 2013. Antiques mingle with salvaged glass doors from a childhood home; Melinda’s hand-hooked rugs coincide comfortably with a modern kitchen made of the same custom metal cabinets used in professional garages; and a mechanic’s toolbox used to keep kitchen utensils organized marries form and efficiency from its place atop a vintage desk bought in 1969. “Jim and I have wvliving.com 59

her itage | Spaces Rather than choosing form over function or vica versa, the Russells worked with a

“I like things made of solid wood and real metal. And I like fun things— things that make you smile.” melinda russell 60 wvl • fall 2015

local architect and builder to create a design strategy that fit their lifestyle perfectly.

collected antiques for the 37 years of our marriage. A lot of things belonged to my parents or his parents. And we love crafts—West Virginia-made crafts,” she says. “If it’s useful and still functional yet somewhat timeless, I like it. I also feel very happy mixing those antiques with more modern pieces.”

Although Melinda and Jim had a solid sense of what they wanted in a home from the start—an open floorplan, a historic feel with modern lines, and an emphasis on outdoor spaces—bringing in experts who knew the unique character of the town and West Virginia culture was key. “Hiring West Virginians and local business owners was really important to me,” she says. “With the Greenbrier Sporting Club nearby and all the fabulous homes that have been built, many of the plumbers, carpenters, and electricians who worked on those homes were local people and they are still here. I have great appreciation for their skills. They are honest and experienced. They’ve worked with all kinds of rich, fancy people and they’ve worked with regular folks. They’re just good, West Virginia people.”

From designs scribbled on paper to sinking the final nail, the Russells drew on their own research and the expertise of their architect and building contractor through every stage. And thanks to careful attention to detail, every piece in their home has a story and a meaning for them. In fact, Melinda says she didn’t even need to purchase new furniture when they moved in, save for a kitchen table.

The couple designed their home to fit them, rather than forcing their lifestyle to fit the design.

For her the experience of building the house was a bit like the story of one of her salvaged pieces—one part adventure, one part homecoming. “When my parents sold their house I was 18, and I saved these doors from a china closet. I cannot tell you how many apartments and houses they’ve been carted to since then. They always just stood here or there, wherever we had room. Now they’ve been hung on hinges and they’re staying put. They have found their home.”

home marketplace

home marketplace

62 wvl • fall 2015

home marketplace

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Perfectly Pumpkin put your pumpkin pie on the back burner and try one of these creative inventions for your next fall feast. written by mikenna

pierotti • photographed by carla witt ford

Perhaps no other fruit or vegetable inspires more

festive imagining than the pumpkin. Come crisper weather, when fat orange pumpkins pop up in grocery stores and farmers’ markets across the country, this edible gourd also appears on the dinner table. Served up sweet, spiced, or savory, pumpkin can be a side dish or a main course. It can add color, flavor, texture, and nutrition to nearly any fall feast. And it’s rather versatile. That’s why, this year, we challenge you to forego the tired old pumpkin pie recipe and try something new for your chosen fall dessert. We think one of these might become a new favorite.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling for cake 1 box spice cake mix 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin ½ cup vegetable oil for filling ½ cup unsalted butter, softened 4 ounces cream cheese, softened 2 cups powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract making the cake 1. Preheat oven to 350° and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In medium bowl, combine cake mix, pumpkin, and oil and beat until smooth.

3. Scoop out dough balls, about 1 tablespoon each, onto parchment paper and bake until the tops of the cookies spring back when pressed with a finger, about 10 minutes.

4. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. making the filling and assembling the pies 1. In medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth.

2. Add powdered sugar slowly, beating to combine until well blended.

3. Add vanilla extract and blend until mixture is smooth and spreads easily.

4. Spread or pipe filling onto flat bottoms of half the cookies. Use unfrosted half to make the tops of the cookie sandwiches.

5. Chill cookies until ready to serve.

Makes about 12 pies.

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West Virginia Maple Pumpkin Fudge

2 cups (1 12-ounce bag) white chocolate chips ½ pound marshmallows or marshmallow crème 3 tablespoons real West Virginia maple syrup (try Richter’s Maplehouse syrup available at treewater.com)

1½ cups granulated sugar (we recommend Domino sugar) 1½ cups brown sugar, packed 1½ sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces ⅔ cup evaporated milk ⅔ cup pureed pumpkin 1¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1. Line 8- by-12-inch baking dish with nonstick foil, nonstick side up, letting it hang over the edges.

2. In large saucepan, whisk together sugars, butter, evaporated milk, pumpkin, and spices.

3. Bring sugar mixture to a boil over medium

You will also need a candy thermometer.

heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 10 to 12 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches 235°.

4. Stir in white chocolate chips, then marshmallows or crème, and finally maple syrup and stir until mixture is melted.

Immediately pour into prepared pan.

5. Let fudge cool completely on wire rack for 2 hours or until room temperature.

6. Cut fudge into 1-inch squares. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Pumpkin Cake

5. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed until smooth.

6. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until just blended each time.

7. Add pumpkin and lemon and beat until blended.

8. Pour batter into prepared crust.

9. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until almost set. Turn off oven and let cheesecake stand, oven door closed, for an extra 15 minutes.

10. Remove cheesecake from oven and gently run a sharp, thin knife around the outer edge to loosen the cake from the pan (but do not remove the pan).

11. Allow it to cool completely on wire rack. Cover and chill for 8 to 24 hours and remove from pan and transfer to a cake stand or large plate before preparing praline topping.

for bottom layer 1 box yellow cake mix ½ cup butter 1 egg for second layer 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin 3 eggs ⅔ cup evaporated milk ½ cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice for topping

⅔ cup white sugar 2 tablespoons butter, brought to room temperature 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped 1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Put cake mix in a bowl. Remove 1 cup of the dry mixture and set it aside.

3. In a small bowl, melt the butter and add it to the remaining cake mix. Add egg and mix until blended.

4. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-12-inch baking dish.

5. In a medium bowl, mix pumpkin, eggs, milk, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice until blended. Pour over cake mix in baking dish.

6. In a medium bowl, mix white sugar, butter, and nuts until crumbly.

7. Sprinkle the nut mixture over top of the cake batter.

8. Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

9. Allow it to cool on a wire rack before serving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Praline Topping 2 cups graham cracker crumbs ⅓ cup pecans, finely chopped 5 tablespoons butter, melted 3 tablespoons brown sugar 4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 large eggs 1½ cups pureed pumpkin 1½ tablespoons lemon juice for praline topping 1 cup brown sugar, packed ⅓ cup whipping cream ¼ cup butter 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Coarsely chopped pecans for garnishing

topping and garnish 1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring brown sugar, whipping cream, and butter to a boil, stirring often. Boil for 1 minute, stirring often, then remove from heat.

2. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until mixture is smooth.

3. Let stand five minutes, whisking occasionally.

4. Immediately pour over top of cheesecake, slowly. Spread to within ¼-inch of the edge. Sprinkle pecans on top. Serve or chill.

Adapted from Southern Living

making the cake 1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, pecans, butter, and brown sugar until well blended.

3. In 9-inch spring-form pan, press mixture on bottom of pan and up the sides 1½ inches.

4. Bake crust 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

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A Rainbow of Pumpkins Pumpkins aren’t always orange. They can be green, yellow, pink, red, white, blue, or tan. Many of these members of the squash family contain a lot of vitamin K, great for maintaining healthy eyesight; boast cancerand wrinkle-fighting antioxidants; and provide a healthy dose of potassium, good for keeping muscles at their best.

Pumpkin and Cinnamon Granola Trifle for pumpkin pudding ⅓ cup cornstarch ½ cup granulated sugar ½ teaspoon cinnamon ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg ⅛ teaspoon cloves Pinch of salt 3 cups cold whole milk ¾ cup pureed pumpkin 1 tablespoon vanilla extract for vanilla pudding ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch ½ cup granulated sugar Pinch of salt 3 cups cold whole milk 2 tablespoons vanilla extract for topping 1 cup granola 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon sugar

making the pudding 1. In a medium, heat-proof bowl whisk together cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, milk, and pumpkin until well blended.

Place bowl over (not on) simmering water for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pudding is ready when mixture coats a spoon. Add vanilla and stir to combine.

2. Combine vanilla pudding ingredients and cook in the same manner as for pumpkin pudding. Add vanilla and stir to combine.

3. Chill pudding until ready to use.

assembling the topping and the trifle 1. Combine granola, cinnamon, and sugar and stir to combine. Set aside.

2. Fill pastry bags with 1 flavor of pudding each.

3. In a tall, clear glass or decorative bowl, pipe in a layer of 1 pudding flavor until about 1-inch deep. Sprinkle top of pudding with granola mixture. Pipe in a second layer of the second flavor to the same depth. Sprinkle more granola mixture. Repeat until about 1-inch from the top of the glass. Sprinkle granola on top.

4. Serve immediately or chill and serve.

Makes about 16 4.5-ounce servings.

EAT + DRINK + BE LO CA L |

Little Lake of

HORRORS

Celebrate Halloween by traveling to one of the state’s spookiest spots—the abandoned Lake Shawnee Amusement Park outside Princeton. written by Shay Maunz ✤ photographed by Nikki Bowman

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In

photos from the 1950s you can see the charm of the place. Suntanned teenagers in bathing suits float in a pool, sun reflecting off a water slide in the distance.

A smattering of heavy, handsome cars are parked in a gravel lot out back, behind a big white building with a long porch crowded with spectators. Across a wide expanse of green grass—or at least we assume it’s green, even though these photos aren’t in color, just because it’s grass and it’s healthy-looking—you see the edge of an amusement park. A Ferris wheel peeks out of the trees. A circle of wooden swings dangle from long chains, the kind of classic ride that is best enjoyed by small children whiling away a long, hot summer afternoon.

Today’s photos of Lake Shawnee are different. These photos are in color, but they feel bleaker than those older images somehow. Weedy vines crawl up the Ferris wheel. Spindly trees stand stark against a gray sky. The chains holding up those mechanical swings are rusted over, the seats cracked and fragile. The smiling young people are gone, and in their place there’s nothing at all. Or, in some photos, there are “the orbs,” faint balls of light some say are hints of people who aren’t quite there. “There are strange things that happen regularly there,” says Chris White, who now owns the property. “Pretty frequently things happen that you can’t explain. It’s not normal stuff.”

Lake Shawnee Amusement Park outside Princeton opened in 1926, and for 40 years it was a source of entertainment for the families of coal miners in Southern West Virginia. In its heyday in the 1950s it had a dance hall, a small amusement park, and a concrete “swimming pond” where locals rented bathing suits for 10 cents apiece before taking a dip.

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Lake Shawnee was once a thriving, bustling amusement park in Southern West Virginia.

But after being left for decades to decay, it’s a creepy relic of another time.

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But Lake Shawnee was also, sadly, plagued by deadly accidents.

In 1966 an 11-year-old boy drowned in the pool. And then there was the little girl who was riding the swings, flying around and around in circles, when a delivery truck backed into her path.

She was killed on impact.

The park closed in 1966 and sat idle for nearly 20 years until it was purchased by Gaylord White—that’s Chris’ dad. He’d worked at Lake Shawnee when he was young and had always been taken with the park and the piece of property—he'd hated to see it sit vacant for so long. In 1985 he and his family reopened Lake Shawnee as a small amusement park with pontoon boats in the swimming pond and a little area full of kids’ rides.

But they couldn’t make the economics of the thing work, and after three years Lake Shawnee closed to the public once again.

Is the park cursed? Could be. It turns out this little plot of land had a grisly history even long before its days as an amusement park. In the 1700s this was where Mitchell County’s first white settlers, Mitchell Clay and his family, had their homestead. In the 1780s violent clashes were common in this part of the country—Native Americans were outraged at the 78 wvl • fall 2015

Europeans’ appropriation of their land, and the Europeans weren’t quick to cede what they’d so recently claimed as their own. In 1783 while Mitchell was out hunting and his family was back working on the farm, a group of Native Americans crept up to the property and shot one of his sons, Bartley, dead. Bartley’s older sister Tabitha was killed while trying to protect her brother’s body, and his brother was captured, taken away from home, and eventually burned at the stake. When Mitchell Clay returned home to find his children dead, he sought revenge by hunting down and killing several of the Native Americans. It’s said that Tabitha and Bartley are still buried at Lake Shawnee— there’s a grave marker there that says it was placed on their gravesites in 1937.

And then there are the human remains. Back when Chris and Gaylord were developing the property they started bulldozing around the lake. They stopped when they realized they were turning up what seemed to be Native American artifacts.

“First off we saw lots of arrowheads, just a huge amount of arrowheads,” Chris says. “We were walking through there and just kept finding arrowheads, and picking them up and putting them in a bucket.” Eventually they got in touch with a professor at Concord College who was interested in excavating the site. He did an archaeological dig and found the bodies of several Native Americans there.

In recent years, for obvious reasons, paranormal investigators have become interested in Lake Shawnee. It’s been featured on Discovery Channel’s “GhostLab,” the Travel Channel’s, “The Most Terrifying Places in America,” and the National Geographic series “The Watch,” plus countless websites and blogs. Most often, the paranormal activity reported there comes in the form of mysterious orbs that show up in photos, disembodied voices and Native American chanting, and amusement park rides that move of their own accord. And Gaylord has had an especially spooky experience, Chris says.

“My father would go out mowing the field and he said he’d always feel something, a weight on his shoulders,” he says. “Then one day he was riding on the tractor and he turned around and saw a little girl riding with him, just like it was nothing at all.

He didn’t know what do, he was shocked, so he just turned to the little girl and said, ‘Sweetie, if you like this tractor so much I’m going to give it to you.’ He got up and left it, and the tractor’s still sitting right there where it was. We went and bought him a new tractor and haven’t moved it since.”

The White family wasn’t particularly interested in the paranormal before they bought Lake Shawnee, and certainly never intended to get into this business. But Chris says he gets countless calls every month from people who want to take a look at the property and feels duty bound to try to show it to them. He can’t accommodate them all the time because Lake Shawnee doesn’t have a dedicated staff, but he wants to let the public experience this piece of spooky history, so each fall Lake Shawnee hosts a series of public events. This October he’s planning on an event with a “dark carnival” theme. The details aren’t nailed down just yet, but when they are they’ll be on lakeshawneeevents.com. “All I want to do is keep the property the way it is and let people come experience it,” Chris says. “So many people have such different kinds of experiences here, everyone gets something different out of it. I want to let them do that.”

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n this third annual appreciation of West Virginia’s finest, we asked you, our readers, your up-todate loves for fine dining and sweet treats, adventures and festivals, shopping and personalities and overnight stays. You’ve spoken, and your votes have been counted! From Barboursville to Beckley and everywhere in between, we celebrate in these pages old favorites and up-andcomers that make West Virginia the best place to live or visit.

BEST

BEST

PLACE TO BUY WV-MADE PRODUCTS

MUSEUM or ART GALLERY

Tamarack Since it opened in 1996, Tamarack has billed itself as “The Best of West Virginia.” That's not an overstatement. Located right off Interstate 64 near Beckley, this iconic tourist destination is no ordinary rest stop. It’s more like a museum that, for a price, will let you take the exhibits home. Throughout its nearly 20 years of existence, Tamarack has featured the work of more than 2,800 artisans from all of West Virginia’s 55 counties, from the handmade furniture by Joseph Elbert to bronze work by dentist-turned-sculptor Burl Jones.

The facility also gives visitors a chance to see behind the scenes with demonstrations by artisans, and the fine art gallery features regular exhibitions from the state’s best painters, photographers, and sculptors.

Tamarack draws half a million people from all over the world annually with original and handmade retail items like jewelry and furniture, a food court serving delicious, fresh fare, a conference center, a theater, a live studio artisan showcase, and the David L. Dickirson Fine Arts Gallery. This beautiful venue features more than 500 juried West Virginia artists and a revolving exhibition space highlighting some of the best artisans in the state. one Tamarack park, Beckley, 304.256.6843, tamarackwv.com

ELLEN’S HOMEMADE ICE CREAM This bright little ice cream shop boasts a charming storefront, cheerful vibe, and absolutely delicious ice cream—just ask the West Virginians who voted it the best ice cream in the state for the third year running. The ever-changing menu includes everything from raspberry chocolate chip to espresso oreo to seasonal blends like peach or peanut butter brownie. Pro tip: have them scoop your ice cream into one of their cinnamon-flavored homemade waffle cones.

225 capitol street, charleston, 304.343.6488, ellensicecream.com

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BEST ICE CREAM

BEST HAMBURGER

BEST OFF-THEBEATEN-PATH

GREEN BANK

FAT PATTY’S You could go to Fat Patty’s and get a salad. You could. The salads are delicious. But that would be like going to Disney World and only visiting “The Hall of Presidents.”

This Huntington-based chain made its name, literally, on big burgers. The menu offers more than 20 different options, including the “Black and Bleu” burger seasoned with Cajun spices and topped with bleu cheese, and the “Tex Mex Patty” covered in chili, melted cheddar, sour cream, scallions, lettuce, tomato, and onion.

But nothing beats the original “Patty Burger”: two 4-ounce beef patties, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and onion on a soft, buttery bun. It’s a classic American cheeseburger, beautifully executed. fatpattysonline.com

MOUNTAIN STATE FOREST FESTIVAL This nine-day celebration is jam-packed with family fun, from parades to lumberjack competitions and Irish road bowling to arts and crafts. And with national headliner acts and free entertainment every evening, there’s something for everyone.

This unforgettable event, which began in 1930, attracts more than 85,000 visitors to Elkins each year. Here are seven things not to miss at this year’s festival, from September 26 to October 4.

One could argue the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank is hardly off the beaten path—it’s visited by 50,000 people a year. Yet its location in Pocahontas County, 50 miles south of Elkins, lies far from most of our daily lives. The observatory houses the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope, a stark surprise looming high over pastures and barns. And it’s home to the Green Bank Science Center, one of the most mindexpanding interactive museums in the state.

Plan ahead for High-Tech Thursdays, Star Lab Fridays, and monthly star parties. The search for signs of extraterrestrials in the radio spectrum started and continues here.

The truth is out there!

1. The crown jewel of the festival is the coronation of Maid Silvia, the deity of the forest. Watch her and her elaborately costumed entourage descend the hill on the campus of Davis & Elkins.

www.gb.nrao.edu/epo/gp/sc/scindex.shtml

forestfestival.com

BEST FESTIVAL

2. Witness professional

brawn at the wood chopping and lumberjack contests.

3. Stake a spot along Main Street and watch the two-hour Grand Feature Parade.

4. Don’t miss the arts and crafts show.

5. Participate in the educational demonstrations.

6. Take in a free concert in the park.

7. Tantalize your taste buds at the wings cook-off.

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BEST BAKERY

BEST COOL PLACE TO SPEND THE NIGHT

Spring Hill Pastry Shop The Spring Hill Pastry Shop’s storefront is unassuming, its location out of the way, and its interior narrow and a little cramped. But step inside the shop and you’ll be immediately impressed.

Two walls are lined with cases full of beautiful pastries and cakes, including the famous cream-filled hot dog. It’s no wonder Spring Hill has been voted best bakery in the state three years in a row.

600 Chestnut Street, Charleston, 304.768.7397, springhillpastry.com

THE MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE

Why not sleep as close to the stars as possible in the state? That’s the top of 4,863-foot Spruce Knob, an environment more alpine than Appalachian. To do it in a unique kind of comfort, stay in a yurt at The Mountain Institute’s Spruce Knob Mountain Center.

Make the most of your time up top by scheduling in one of TMI’s environmental programs or touring the Earth Shelter. You’ll get a new perspective on West Virginia. mountain.org/visiting-spruce-knob-mountain-center

BEST BBQ JOINT

ATOMIC GRILL

Now serving at two Morgantown locations—on Greenbag Road and at 123 Pleasant Street—two-time winner Atomic Grill continues to impress with its authentic West Virginia BBQ , burgers, sides, and desserts made with some of the best locally sourced products. For a seam-ripping good time, try the Brisket Platter, served with thick-sliced Texas toast, fresh fries, collard greens, and tangy coleslaw.

595 Greenbag Road, Morgantown, 304. 292.0800 123 Pleasant Street, Morgantown, 304.241.1170 facebook.com/AtomicGrill 82 wvl • fall 2015

1. FESTIVALL Held each June, this two-week citywide celebration of the arts gets better with each

BEST

passing year. There’s plenty of theater, dance, and music to keep you busy, but don’t miss the Capitol Street Art Fair. This juried showcase features some of the best artists and artisans from around West Virginia and our surrounding states.

ARTS

TOWN

2. MOUNTAIN STAGE If there’s a new hot band on the Americana music scene, chances are you’ll catch it on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s “Mountain Stage.” The show is syndicated all over the country, but there’s nothing like attending a live taping at the Culture Center. After the show, head over to the Empty Glass, where “Mountain Stage” guests have been known to congregate for impromptu jams.

3. THE CLAY CENTER Although it’s mostly known as a top-notch performance venue, this downtown Charleston landmark also has an impressive art gallery with ever-changing exhibits, a planetarium, and a discovery museum for the kids.

4. LIVE ON THE LEVEE One of the most popular summertime activities in Charleston, this weekly family-friendly concert series hosts both local and national bands.

5. ARTWALK Held every third Thursday from March through December, ArtWalk turns downtown Charleston into one big walkable art gallery, with new exhibits each month at 19 venues.

6. CHARLESTON BALLET The officially designated West Virginia State Ballet has been bringing worldclass dance to the capital city since 1956.

7. SYMPHONY SUNDAY A favorite even among those who don’t like classical music, Symphony Sunday always draws a big crowd. There’s nothing quite like watching the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra playing on a riverbank with the Capitol building in the background.

8. WTSQ This recently launched indie radio station features an eclectic blend of music and shows hosted by local volunteer DJs. Stream it online at wtsq.org.

CHARLESTON Charleston has a love of the arts usually reserved for college towns. You can always find something cool to do West Virginia capital city, but here are our favorites:

BEST EXTREME ADVENTURE

9. VANDALIA GATHERING Held each Memorial Day weekend on the state Capitol complex, this free festival celebrates West Virginia’s music, dance, and storytelling traditions.

10. CHARLESTON LIGHT OPERA GUILD Producing top-notch musical theater since 1949, this volunteer theater company counts country artist Kathy Mattea and Hollywood actress Jennifer Garner among its alumni. Attend a show and see West Virginia’s next superstar.

WHITEWATER RAFTING

ADVENTURES ON THE GORGE

Back in the 1970s, when intrepid whitewater adventurers first took the masses out on the rivers, West Virginia was at the forefront. Today, Adventures on the Gorge in the New River Gorge region is carving new territory again, taking the industry from its frontier roots to world-class resort-style recreation. AOTG’s guests get to choose their level of whitewater challenge, just as before. But now, they can find lodging and dining to suit any mood and budget, and they can extend their adventures with everything from rock climbing to ziplining to lying beside the pool. adventuresonthegorge.com

wvliving.com 83

BEST MUNICIPAL

HUNTINGTON

MAKEOVER

Long boulevards frame the ornate buildings of downtown Huntington.

Old and tall, they glitter with the shine of a city readying itself for a return to glory. Huntington bustled through the 1940s and 1950s with more than 80,000 residents, a population sustained by the steel and manufacturing industries that grew up along the rivers and rail running through the heart of the metro area. The opulent Hotel Frederick opened in 1906 and the magnificent Keith-Albee theater broke ground a decade later.

But as industry pulled out, drugs and crime bused in. By the mid-2000s, Huntington had exchanged its metropolitan reputation for that of a dangerous, poverty-stricken city—that is, until recently.

7. Neighborhoods and city officials are sprucing up the city’s sidewalks with various tree-planting, litter-cleaning, and flowerplanting projects.

1. Words of support for Mayor Steve Williams come from all corners

of the city, and the creation of league sports programs are getting people back into those parks that Huntington is so well known for.

of Huntington. Since he took office in 2013, the mayor has taken the city’s financial, crime, and quality-of-life issues to heart, spearheading a number of changes.

2.The city has increased the Huntington Police Department. In turn, recent police chiefs have made community involvement a priority in reducing crime.

3. Economic development opportunities are sprouting up throughout

town, from the Wild Ramp food market and gathering place in the West End to the influx of local businesses at Heritage Station.

4. The development of Pullman Square in 2004 created a shopping

and entertainment anchor to complement downtown Huntington’s businesses.

5. Newer restaurants like Black Sheep Burritos and Le Bistro have put

some spice back into the city’s dining scene.

6. The development of projects like the Huntington Music & Arts Festival, Gallery 842, the Huntington Art Walk, and Marshall University’s new Visual Arts Center have put arts and culture at the forefront.

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8. Out with graffiti, in with the murals—where criminals once made

their marks, city artists are reclaiming turf.

9. Ongoing meetings like the local Chat ’n’ Chew developed by

Thomas McChesney make sure locals have a say in Huntington’s revitalization efforts.

10. Outdoor offerings from a commuter bike map, various walking tours

BEST TOURIST DRAW

BRIDGE

DAY

West Virginia can be a weird place sometimes. After the state completed what was then the world’s longest steel single-span arch bridge, it decided to close down half that bridge for a whole day and throw a big party. Three years later, event organizers decided that wasn’t enough—so they invited parachutists to jump off the New River Gorge Bridge. Now BASE jumpers come from all over for October’s Bridge Day. The event also attracts thousands of eager spectators to watch these extreme athletes defy death.

BEST

MOUNTAIN STATE BREWING CO.

ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATION

wvrivers.org

RUNNER UP

BREWERY

The darling of small-town Thomas, three-time winner Mountain state Brewing also has locations in Morgantown and at Deep creek lake, Maryland, with restaurant/pubs serving salads, sandwiches, and flatbread pizzas. From the dark, smooth complexity of Miner’s Daughter oatmeal stout to the crisp, easy-to-drink cold Trail Ale—one sip and you’ll agree this is a true Mountain State flavor. Find Mountain state brews at more than 35 bars and restaurants in West Virginia and Maryland. 1 Nelson Boulevard, Thomas, 304. 463.4500; 54 clay street, Morgantown, 304.241.1976; 6690 sang run road, Mchenry, MD, 301.387.3360; mountainstatebrewing.com

WEST VIRGINIA RIVERS COALITION Dating to 1990, WVrc was formed by paddlers concerned about the condition of West Virginia’s streams. It quickly drew foundation, government, and private funding and attracted thousands of members from states nationwide. Today the organization serves as the statewide voice for water-based recreation and clean, drinkable, swimmable, and fishable waterways. WVRC played a vocal role following the January 2014 elk river chemical spill, supporting measures that led to registration of storage tanks that pose potential threat to drinking water sources across the state.

BEST

BEST FINE DINING

THE WEST VIRGINIA CHAPTER OF THE NATURE CONSERVANCY TNc has protected nearly 120,000 acres of critical natural lands across the state, from the soggy cranesville swamp to North Fork Mountain, the driest high mountain in the Appalachians. The conservancy played an important part in the 2014 preservation of the cheat canyon, a rich habitat and beloved whitewater resource in one of the largest undammed watersheds in the east.

nature.org

Café Cimino Country Inn

For the third year in a row, readers have chosen Café Cimino Country Inn as the state’s best place to enjoy fine dining. The Urbanic family has put Sutton on the map. Café Cimino is a culinary destination, with elegant dishes composed of fresh, locally sourced ingredients prepared by Tim and son Eli. Dishes like Shellfish Pescatore (shrimp, clams, scallops, mussels, and calamari in a white wine-tomato sauce) and Filet Mignon Gorgonzola (a black angus filet served with potatoes and sautéed spinach atop a creamy Gorgonzola sauce) bring foodies in from across the state.

616 Main street, sutton, 304.765.2913, cafeciminocountryinn.com wvliving.com 85

BEST STATE PARK

Blackwater Falls State Park

TAYLOR BOOKS

BEST BOOKSTORE

Charleston might be the capital of West Virginia, but Taylor Books is the capital of Charleston. The city’s only independent bookstore—which recently turned 20 years old—is more than a place to get the latest bestseller or a cup of coffee, although the friendly staff is happy to help you with both. Taylor Books is a cultural landmark, the centerpiece of Capitol Street’s growing arts and small business scene. And with its pressed tin ceilings and creaky wooden floors, it’s also the best place to spend a rainy Saturday morning.

226 Capitol Street, 304.342.1461, taylorbooks.com

WV Living readers have chosen Blackwater Falls State Park three years running, for many good reasons.

BEST

 Cabins Blackwater Falls offers 39 cabins year-round. These rustic accommodations boast stone fireplaces.

ITALIAN RESTAURANT

 Overlooks A short walk from a pull-off takes you to breathtaking Lindy Point, with its spectacular view of chimney-like rock formations and Blackwater Canyon far below.

Another overlook, Pendleton Point, reveals the canyon’s widest and deepest spot.  Smaller Falls Drive or hike to two underappreciated sites: Pendleton Falls, downriver from the park’s boating lake, and Elakala Falls, a charming series of smaller cascades.  The Main Attraction A state and national icon, the frothing, 60-foot Blackwater Falls, stained by tannic acid from the region’s hemlock and spruce forest, mesmerizes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

The falls may be viewed from several platforms a short hike from the lodge.

Go early for a more intimate view of the popular cascade.  Snow Winter is half the fun.

There’s snowshoeing, cross-country skiing with lessons and equipment rentals, and a warming hut with hot drinks, soups, and stews—but don’t miss the sled run with its 1,400-foot conveyor, possibly the longest in North America. And the frozen falls is a sight not to be missed.

MURIALE’S

www.blackwaterfalls.com

1742 Fairmont Ave., Fairmont, 304.363.3190; murialesrestaurant.com

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Diners try Muriale’s for its reputation, but they return for the homey decor, the warm hospitality, and the bold, southern Italian-style red sauce. Owner Rocco Muriale’s grandparents came over to West Virginia a century ago, and the 1960s establishment of the restaurant was a family effort. Most popular: meatballs and lasagna, both served under ladles of signature sauce. Plan to take home leftovers—lingering over cannoli, tiramisu, and other sweets is part of the experience.

BEST ADVENTURE

TOWN

FAYETTEVILLE

Fayetteville might be the most laid-back town in West Virginia, and for good reason. Adrenaline junkies use up all their energy hiking, biking, climbing rocks and rafting rivers. If you’re in the mood for adventure, this is the place.

➊ WHITEWATER RAFTING This is what started it all. Whitewater rafting is the bedrock of Fayetteville’s adventure scene. ➋ ROCK CLIMBING There are 1,400 established rock climbs at the New River Gorge National River, making Fayetteville one of the most popular climbing towns in the country. ➌ HIKING AND MOUNTAIN BIKING The Fayetteville area has plenty of great trails for hikers and bikers of all skill levels. Try the Long Point Trail for an unparalleled view of the New River Gorge Bridge.

➍ BRIDGE DAY Each October, BASE jumpers from all over the country show up to jump off the New River Gorge Bridge. There’s nothing like it in West Virginia—or anywhere else in the country. ➎ WATER STONE OUTDOORS This locally owned outfitter has everything you need for almost any outdoor adventure—shoes, clothes, guidebooks, climbing gear, camping gear, and life vests—at prices you couldn’t beat at any big box outdoor store. ➏ RESTAURANT SCENE There is no shortage of locally owned restaurants to refuel you after a hard day on the water or the trail. We recommend Pies and Pints, Secret Sandwich Society, Cathedral Café, Gumbo’s, and Country Thai. wvliving.com 87

BEST MUSIC VENUE

PURPLE FIDDLE

Tucked in the mountain community of Thomas, the Purple Fiddle has hosted the biggest names in Appalachian and folk music since 2001.

Music lovers from near and far, local community members, and the area’s seasonal tourists flock to the space—a former general store—to eat good food, try new beers, and hear the sweet sounds of bands like The Avett Brothers and other nationally touring acts before they get big. But the space isn’t just a top music venue; it’s become an economic center for what’s becoming known as one of West Virginia’s biggest arts communities. “I’ve been told we’re an anchor business for the town of Thomas, that we’ve been a driving force encouraging other businesses to start in Thomas,” owner John Bright says. “It’s been a snowball effect.”

96 East Avenue, Thomas, 304.463.4040 purplefiddle.com 88 wvl • fall 2015

BEST MEDIA PERSONALITY

HOPPY KERCHEVAL

BEST SKI RESORT SNOWSHOE MOUNTAIN RESORT The Allegheny Mountains are a force to be reckoned with trailing along West Virginia’s eastern flank, especially in winter. But three-time winner snowshoe Mountain resort has the cold-weather experience down to an art with 251 acres of skiable terrain and 57 trails snaking across three epic skiing areas. lodging covers all types, from condos to townhomes to luxurious rooms and accommodations boasting things like gas fireplaces and whirlpool tubs. Although summer activities like golfing and hiking abound at the resort, winter is primetime with ski lessons and shops covering every outdoor equipment need. And don’t forget the more than 20 dining options, 3,600-square-foot spa, teen center, and free shuttle service.

10 snowshoe Drive, snowshoe, 304.572.4636, snowshoemtn.com

BEST BRUNCH

Black Sheep Burrito & Brews

Black sheep’s specialty is Mexican food with a twist—food that delights and surprises you, and keeps you coming back for more.

The brunch menu is no exception. Think huevos rancheros and breakfast quesadillas alongside chicken and waffles and whiskey cream French toast. Top it all off with a bottomless bloody Mary or mimosa and you have one delectable weekend morning.

1553 3rd Avenue, huntington, 304.523.1555; 702 Quarrier street, charleston, 304.343.2739; blacksheepwv.com

For 37 years hoppy kercheval, perhaps the most widely listened to 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. Depending on the subject matter of the day—it can range from politics to race—it’s no wonder that when hoppy 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 hoppy tackles tough and timely issues. he has worked at West Virginia radio 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. In addition, he has been a key member of the Mountaineer sports Network’s pregame, halftime, and postgame shows.

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.

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.” wvliving.com 89

HARPERS FERRY

This three-time winner is made up of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and Harpers Ferry Historic District, with many preserved Civil War-era buildings and beautiful private homes throughout. And despite a recent fire on High Street, the community is going strong and welcoming thousands of visitors annually.

Here are just 10 sites to see.

BEST HISTORIC

TOWN

➊ STOP at John Brown’s Fort near Shenandoah Street and learn about the famous abolitionist.  SEE the 1867 former Storer College

campus, once a mission school for freed slaves.  HIKE Maryland Heights, the site of the

first battle between Union and Confederate troops in Maryland and a target in the Battle of Harpers Ferry.  STAY in the only bed and breakfast in the historic lower town, the 1839 Stonehouse B&B. 156 High Street, 410.279.4988, hfstonehouse.com  TOUR the John Brown Wax Museum in an 1859 building. 168 High Street, 304.535.6342, johnbrownwaxmuseum.com  SEE Harper House, the oldest surviving

building in Harpers Ferry, near Public Way.  VIEW the Harpers Ferry train depot off Potomac Street, designed in 1894, and now operating as an Amtrak/MARC Station.  EAT at Canal House Restaurant, built in the 1820s, now serving fresh, locally sourced dishes. 1226 W. Washington Street, 304.535.2880, canalhousecafe.com  CLIMB hand-carved stone steps and stand in Thomas Jefferson’s footsteps at Jefferson Rock. The view here inspired him to exclaim “this scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.” Another set of stone steps, the infamous 97, take you from the visitor center to lower town.  THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL cuts through Harpers Ferry, home to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters and Visitor Center.

Walk the trail from lower town toward the canal and pass from West Virginia into Maryland. historicharpersferry.com, nps.gov/hafe, harpersferryhistory.org

CARNEGIE HALL

BEST

Lewisburg’s Carnegie Hall was built in 1902 by philanthropist and steel baron RESTORATION Andrew Carnegie and is one of only four OF CULTURAL Carnegies still in continuous use in the LANDMARK world. Since 1983 it has operated as a regional not-for-profit arts center, and many credit a $3.4 million restoration that was completed in 1997 for jump-starting the rejuvenation of Lewisburg in the late ’90s. These days, Lewisburg is a cultural hub and tourist destination, and Carnegie Hall has a schedule packed with arts performances, classes, workshops, and exhibits.

105 Church Street, Lewisburg, 304.634.7917, carnegiehallwv.com

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BEST CHEF

 MARION OHLINGER A passionate voice for local flavor and new ways of cooking old favorites, Chef Marion Ohlinger has created quite a following in Morgantown with his pop-up dinners and unusual menus. The man behind the former Solera Cafe and Richwood Grill restaurants, Marion is busy at work on his new project—revamping the kitchen at the Ramada Morgantown Hotel & Conference Center, where he hopes to bring out the best of traditional West Virginia cuisine with a creative flair all his own. “It’s time not only to claim our history and heritage, but to really stand up and proclaim Appalachia and West Virginia as viable and authentic culinary vernacular,” he says.



TIM URBANIC Café Ciminio Country Inn 616 Main Street, Sutton, 304.765.2913 cafeciminocountryinn.com



NOAH MILLER Noah’s Eclectic Bistro 110 McFarland Street, Charleston 304.343.6558, noahseclectic.com

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BEST

JOE N’ THROW CO-OP

COFFEEHOUSE

With a variety of good coffee, craft beer, and local one-of-a-kind products, Fairmont’s Joe N’ Throw Co-op provides a unique hangout spot for patrons. Bob Layne and Mike Ray opened Joe N’ Throw in June 2014, combining their businesses Stone Tower Joe and West Fork Pottery. Whether you want to make your own clay creations, grab lunch with friends, or listen to live music on a Friday night, this eclectic coffeehouse has it all.

323½ Adams Street, Fairmont, 304.816.4390

BEST CAMPGROUND

BEST HOT DOG

HILLBILLY HOT DOGS BLACKWATER FALLS STATE PARK Living campers overwhelmingly choose Blackwater Falls State Park. The 65-unit tent and trailer campground has a bathhouse with hot showers and a laundromat. The park offers campers a nature center, bicycle and boat rentals, miles of trails, fishing and boating at Pendleton Lake, and of course the iconic 60-foot falls, along with several lesser-known falls.

All that, and great dining and entertainment in nearby Thomas and Davis. No wonder our campers love it! blackwaterfalls.com 92 wvl • fall 2015

There’s no denying that Hillbilly Hot Dogs has ambience, with school buses you eat in, a rickety shack where you place your order, and a yard that looks like a hillbilly flea market. But this place isn’t just about flash—the hot dogs are seriously good and seriously unique. Try these five dogs that you can’t get anywhere else, and you’ll quickly see why this place has won the “Best Hot Dog” title three times now: ➼ Nacho Dog jalapenos, nacho cheese, tortilla chips, chili sauce ➼ The Coal Miner deep fried dog, chili sauce, mustard, blackening seasoning ➼ Pineappleachian Dog barbeque sauce, ham, cheese, crushed pineapple ➼ Egg Dog ketchup, nacho cheese, scrambled eggs ➼ Pizza Dog pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni 6951 Ohio River Road, Lesage, 304.762.2458, hillbillyhotdogs.com

BEST PLACE TO EXPERIENCE

FALL

THOMAS/DAVIS

These little towns are epicenters for adventure when cooler temperatures spread a blanket of color over mountains and valleys. Head to Davis September 25 to 27 for the annual Leaf Peepers Festival with its parade, craft and food fair, live music, and more. Hike to the five-story tumbling amber waters of Blackwater Falls, grab a bite at Hellbender Burritos or Sirianni’s Pizza Café, and stay at the Blackwater Lodge with its sweeping view of the canyon below. Antique shops, eclectic retail, art galleries, cafes, and live music are on the menu in Thomas, from The White Room Art Gallery to the Purple Fiddle Café, Brews & Stage. Get a chairlift view of the rugged landscape at one of the area ski resorts or bring a bike and take the Allegheny Highlands Trail from Thomas to Elkins and watch the flaming fall colors rush by. Hiking, biking, eating, shopping—getting pleasantly tuckered in these Tucker County communities is just too easy. canaanvalley.org wvliving.com 93

BEST PIZZA

BEST PLACE TO PLAY GOLF

THE GREENBRIER

Since Jim Justice brought the PGA TOUR FedEx Cup to The Greenbrier, the world’s leading professional golfers like Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, and Lee Trevino have played on The Old White TPC, one of The Greenbrier’s three 18-hole championship courses. The Old White, opened in 1914, has seen its fair share of history.

President Woodrow Wilson was one of the first to play its rolling fairways and golf legend Sam Snead shot his final hole-in-one on the 18th. In 2015, Justice announced the creation of a new Greenbrier golf course on the site of Oakhurst Links, the oldest golf club in America, to be designed by Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player.

PIES & PINTS

Pies & Pints isn’t your ordinary pizza place. The craft beers and hand-stretched pizzas are topped with everything from grapes and gorgonzola to black beans and salsa and sold in a handful of comfortably hip restaurants throughout the state. Since the first Pies & Pints opened in Fayetteville more than a decade ago it’s established itself as a West Virginia institution. It’s no surprise this is the third time you’ve voted it the best pizza place in the state.

222 Capitol Street, Charleston, 304.342.7437 219 West Maple Avenue, Fayetteville, 304.574.2200 1002 Suncrest Town Centre, Morgantown, 304.777.4749; piesandpints.net

BEST RESORT

Steeped in history and brimming with Southern hospitality, “America’s Resort” is the gem of the Mountain State. Unparalleled luxury accommodations, a plethora of dining options, a world-class casino, a fivestar mineral spa, exceptional golfing, an abundance of recreational opportunities, and a soon-to-be-revealed wedding chapel—is it really any surprise The Greenbrier is lauded as our state’s Best Resort?

300 West Main Street, White Sulphur Springs, 855.453.4858, greenbrier.com

Café Cimino Country Inn

BEST BED AND BREAKFAST

Perched in a secluded location on the banks of the Elk River in Sutton, Café Cimino Country Inn is the perfect escape. Owners Tim and Melody Urbanic have lovingly created one of the most refined bed and breakfast destinations in the state. Melody takes care of the guests, treating them to lavish, unexpected personal touches, while Tim prepares his award-winning cuisine for breakfast and dinner. Guests don’t leave without planning their return visit.

616 Main Street, Sutton, 304.765.2913, cafeciminocountryinn.com

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BEST WINERY

Forks of Cheat

A favorite spot for relaxing in the sun, wine in hand and pastoral views of Morgantown’s hills in sight, Forks of Cheat has won Best Winery in each of the last three years of voting. This winery boasts award after award for its fragrant wines—everything from dry reds and sweet whites to fruit and dessert wines. After a tour of the winery or a free tasting, chose your favorite bottle and settle in for an afternoon of laughter with friends and family.

2811 Stewartstown Road, Morgantown, 304.598.2019, wvwines.com

RUNNER UP

Heston Farm

Less than an hour from Forks of Cheat, Heston Farm is busy churning out bottles of its own crowd-pleasing wines. Located in Fairmont, this local favorite boasts a restaurant, popular weekend brunches, and a whiskey distillery in addition to its winery.

1602 Tulip Lane, Fairmont, 304.366.9463, hestonfarm.com

BEST ARTIST/ ARTISAN

Ron Hinkle

Lauded as West Virginia’s premier glassblower, Ron Hinkle has been creating hand blown works of art for 40 years. You’ll be hard pressed to find a West Virginia household that doesn’t have one of his signature child vases, candy dishes, or Christmas ornaments. You can shop at his Ron Hinkle Glass gallery at his studio outside Buckhannon or catch him at Blenko Glass Company in Milton, where he recently became the plant manager. ronhinkleglass.com wvliving.com 95

BEST TOWN FOR FOODIES

MORGANTOWN

From Taiwanese to Lebanese to fusions of all kinds, Morgantown offers a culinary trip around the world. Dine dockside, in a historic hotel, or on a rooftop overlooking the city lights—there’s an adventure here for every taste bud. morgantownmag.com/ morgantown/dining ➼ Start with made-from-scratch French toast and French press coffee at Terra Café. 425 Industrial Ave., Morgantown, 304.554.2233, terracafewv.com

➼ Puglioni’s Pasta and Pizza has served made-fresh-daily pastas since 1989. Get the lasagna—trust us. 1137 Van Voorhis Road Morgantown, 304.599.7521, pugspasta.com

of jambalaya with Chef Heath Finnell’s signature house-made andouille sausage. 76 High Street, Morgantown, 304.296.9234, cafebacchus.net ➼ Grab a nightcap from one of Morgantown’s newest gems, Tin 202, for an experience of historic cocktail art unlike any in the city. Try the Government Mule, with whiskey, ginger beer, fresh basil, rhubarb bitters, and torched orange oil. 202 High Street, Morgantown, 304.212.5863, tin202.com

BEST ANTIQUE/ VINTAGE STORE

➼ Dress up, make a reservation, and prepare for award-winning Italian-American fare and seasonal cocktails at Stephano’s. 735 Chestnut Ridge Road, Morgantown, 304.581.6930, stefanoswv.com ➼ Dine waterside at Oliverio’s Ristorante, where Calabrian cuisine meets Appalachian tastes. Order Salmon and Penne with Vodka Cream Sauce. You’ll be hooked. 52 Clay Street, Morgantown 304.296.2565, oliveriosrestaurant.com ➼ Morgantown natives love the Wharf District, and gastropub Table 9 fuels the fire. Our first-course pick? Garlic Aioli and Sriracha Fries with a libation of rosemary, gin, lillet, and lemon, called the Scarborough Fair. 40 Donley Street, Morgantown 304.554.2050, dinetable9.com ➼ Ask Café Bacchus co-owner Judy Spade about this historic building’s Titanic connection over a brunch of fresh crepes or a bowl 96 wvl • fall 2015

BLACK CAT EMPORIUM Piles of antique furniture, architectural salvage, paintings, trinkets, toys, décor, and more fill the Black Cat Emporium in Morgantown, where antiquers, decorators, and everyone in between can find something special.

Open Thursday through Sunday, the store is closed through the rest of the week to give owner Terry Gallentine time to drive around the state picking up goodies for her customers. Just a year old, Black Cat Emporium has already gathered a loyal following.

3329 University Avenue, Star City, 304.841.1207, facebook.com/ groups/terrysjunk

BEST MAYOR

John Manchester John Manchester has been mayor of Lewisburg since 2003. During that time Lewisburg has blossomed into one of the state’s most charming places to live. Here are a few of the accomplishments and changes our 2015 Best Mayor is most proud of.

Transformation of the old Fort Savannah Inn site. We took an old crumbling motel that had been condemned and looked for opportunities to partner with people who might have ideas on how to redevelop the property.

A local nonprofit formed and purchased the property with the goal of creating retail space, a restaurant, a youth center, a farmers market with a park attached to it. We turned a liability into an asset— something we are all proud of.

We’ve made Lewisburg a more walkable city. Addressing the need for creating opportunities for people to get more exercise, we’ve built a lot of sidewalks, some trails, and an urban pocket park. The park has a play fountain and has attracted more younger people with their kids coming specifically to it as a destination. The addition of green space has brought a new sense of life to downtown.

The growth and support of arts and culture. The vibrancy of a small town can be built upon a strong arts and culture scene. Our indigenous assets—and every community has them—served as pillars for rebirth. We are a certified arts community, and we have some amazing assets in Carnegie Hall, the Greenbrier Valley Theater, the Lewisburg Theatre, and a lot of people who are very talented artists. Our community enjoys being able to access arts and culture and still live in a small town.

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Join Us

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Sponsorships available - contact Christa Hamra at christa@newsouthmediainc.com

outdoors Field Guide to the Great Outdoors of Wild and Wonder ful West Virginia

JoshuA IDol

A Perfect Cast

WV Living’s field guide to the great outdoors of wild and wonderful West Virginia.

PICTURED: BAMBOO ROD BY LEE ORR, PAGE 103

nature

Get a Room A look inside the Division of Natural Resources’ catfish love nests.

S

ometimes, you just need to be left alone. This is especially true if you are a catfish trying to lay eggs in a crowded pond.

Come spawning season, you need somewhere to go, away from the prying eyes of all those bass and bluegill.

A few years back, biologists at the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources realized catfish in the state’s flood control reservoirs were not getting enough privacy when it was time to make baby catfish. “Catfish are cavity nesters.

There’s not a lot of that in some of those places,” says Jeff Hansbarger, a DNR fisheries biologist based in Point Pleasant.

Although West Virginia’s reservoirs are popular with anglers, they were built for flood control purposes, not as hatcheries. Catfish didn’t have adequate places to spawn and populations were dwindling. The DNR had to make up the difference by stocking ponds with catfish raised in state hatchery facilities.

But that was only a short-term fix.

In 2009 DNR biologist Zack Brown started a program to place wooden nesting boxes in the reservoirs to give fish a private,

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easily defendable place to breed. It was a fairly simple proposition. DNR wildlife manager Mike Nuckles built a bunch of wooden boxes with a hole cut in one side, which were placed in the manmade ponds while waters were drawn down in the fall.

There are now hundreds of nesting boxes in reservoirs all around the state. Lee has nearly 200 in the two ponds he manages in East Lynn and Beech Fork, and he plans to set out an additional 25 to 50 boxes this fall.

When spawning season arrives in June, catfish couples head into the boxes. The female lays a mound of sticky yellow eggs and then the male sprays it with sperm. She leaves the nest as soon as the eggs are laid, but the male hangs around to protect the cache.

Around this time, Jeff goes out to check the boxes in his district, peeking inside with a waterproof fish-shaped camera attached to a stick. Now, don’t get the wrong idea. Jeff is no peeping tom. He checks the boxes to make sure catfish are using them. If not, the boxes might need to be relocated.

Placement is important with the nesting boxes. They are spaced about 100 feet apart,

so catfish aren’t bothered by other couples nearby. Catfish also spawn in relatively warm waters, so the boxes are usually placed close to the shore in water three to five feet deep.

“The sunlight and higher water temperature in shallow areas help the young cats develop quicker, and the adult catfish seem to know this and readily choose the ones we place in this ‘sweet zone,’” Jeff says.

More than a half-decade into the program, the nesting boxes are having a real effect on catfish populations. The DNR doesn’t have hard numbers to prove the boxes are working, but the anecdotal evidence is there. “I do know I hear of more catches. I see a lot more catfish in these places,” Jeff says.

Nesting boxes also require far less money and labor than raising the fish in a hatchery, allowing the DNR to shift those resources elsewhere.

“Anything we can do to maximize what Mother Nature can do, the better,” Jeff says. written by zack harold photos courtesy of west virginia division of natural resources

You' ll find everything from high-end active wear to camping

supplies to fishing gear at McFly Outdoors.

shopping

McFly’s McFly Outdoors is a one-stop shop.

carla witt ford

l

n July Kate and Wes Garton opened the third location of their all-inclusive outdoor outfitting shop, McFly Outdoors, in The Village at White Oaks in Bridgeport, joining locations in Flatwoods and Horner. A 5,000-square-foot space that sells everything from high-end active wear by North Face, Carhartt, Mountain Kahki, and OluKai to an extra-large inventory of Yeti coolers, Mountain Hardwear backpacks, sleeping bags, and tents combined with Simms and Redington waders, backpacks, tackle bags, and Sage fly rods and reels, Kate and Wes have created a one-stop outdoors shop that seems to have customers hooked. “Bringing a fly shop to North Central West Virginia was a little risky, but so far the impression we’ve gotten from a lot of our customers is that they are really excited,” Kate says.

Kate and Wes are Lewis County natives who were raised to have an appreciation for all things outdoors. Kate’s dad, Mike McWhorter, started the business after purchasing Jerry’s Sporting Goods Store. “He’s a pilot and owns Mountain Air Services, a chartered aviation business that operates out of the Morgantown Airport,” Kate says. “His nickname is McFly.” As a spin-off to the business, the Gartons are working with fly fishing guides in North Carolina and the Florida Keys, among other hot spots. “We’re getting pretty close to basically offering a one-stop shop for fishing trips,” Kate says. “We can outfit you and get you there.”

It was White Oaks Developer Woody Thrasher who suggested that Kate and Wes bring their store to the area. “We thought it was a good move for us,” Kate says. “Bridgeport is obviously an area with a higher population, but it is a community in and of itself. It has been very welcoming to us.”

It falls in line with the White Oaks’ vision, too. “What we’ve tried to do is to show that West Virginians can do really nice things and we try to deal with a really good product,” Woody says. “I think McFly Outdoors exemplifies that in a real sense.” mcfly outdoors White Oaks, 20 Shaner Drive, Suite 101, Bridgeport, 304.333.2550, mcflyoutdoors.com written by julie

perine wvliving.com 101

researching the process in books and joined some Internet message boards where he connected with more experienced builders. “Once I get on something like that, I stick to it ’til I do it."

More than three months later, Lee finished his first rod.

He still has it, and still fishes with it. Although the cork handle is now worn and dirty from countless fishing trips, the tiny, precise handwriting on the rod’s shaft is still easily readable. “Lee Orr—Maker.”

Now, almost a dozen years later, Lee has built 91 bamboo fishing rods. He’s sold dozens of them through his business, 304 Rod Company, shipping to fishermen and fisherwomen all over the country. He is workshop currently working on number 92, an eight-foot-long saltwater rod.

He works on his projects nearly every night, sitting at a A fly fisherman’s all-encompassing passion for the sport takes battered wooden desk shoved into the corner of his finished him to the woodshop. basement. It’s a much faster process than it used to be, but even now a ly fishing is a sport that breeds Lee’s passion for fly fishing reached new rod requires between 80 and 100 hours to obsession. Lee Orr’s obsession began depths, however, the first time he got his complete. That doesn’t bother Lee. “I don’t when he was about 11 years old. hands on a really good bamboo fly rod. In Although he grew up in the 1800s and early 1900s—before fiberglass, like watching TV that much.”

Every rod begins with bamboo imported Charleston, he spent each graphite, and carbon fiber became common in directly from the Bay of Tonkin in China. summer with his father in Billings, Montana. sporting goods stores—bamboo was the goThe wood arrives as 12-foot-long “culms,” They often fished on the Gallatin River, to material for fly fishing rods. “Everybody’s as big around as a fifty-cent piece. Lee cuts where Robert Redford shot scenes for his fly got one sitting in their basement,” Lee says. the stalks in half with a hacksaw so they are fishing movie A River Runs Through It, but But like anything else, you get what you pay easier to handle. It will take one full culm to all of Lee’s early angling experiences involved for. The less expensive bamboo rods were bait fishing. One day Lee and his father were often shoddily made. “No matter what you do build one rod.

These rods might end up in the water, but drowning worms on the river but nothing with them, they won’t cast well. The quality was biting. A few fly fishermen waded by and, of the components, the way they were laid out they’re born in fire. Before doing anything else, Lee flames his bamboo poles with a propane to Lee’s astonishment, began pulling in one wasn’t very good,” Lee says. “That’s what I torch, turning the blonde surface the color of trout after another after another. thought all bamboo rods were."

When the men left, father and son went over But one day at a Trout Unlimited fly fishing well-done toast. Lee says rod builders do not completely understand the science behind heatto the spot. They cast their lines, expecting to school, an instructor let Lee try a seven-foot pull in some trout of their own. No luck—they Orvis bamboo rod. “I cast that and said, ‘O.K. treating—“Nobody can agree what it does”— but he believes it makes the wood stiffer, more returned home without anything on their I get it now.’” Bamboo rods bend as they likely to spring back when it bends. stringers. Nevertheless, Lee was hooked. “I are cast, so both the weight of the rod and Next he begins breaking the wood down said, ‘Dad, I want to learn how to fly fish.’” the weight of the line contribute to the cast. into strips. Lee pulls a blade down the length of Back home, Lee began taking classes with “It’ll help your casting, in the fact that it will the cane, guiding the tool with one hand while West Virginia Trout Unlimited. When he amplify your mistakes,” Lee says. “It requires bending the bamboo with his other hand to keep returned to Montana, he spent every day he you to get your casting stroke correct.” the split as straight as possible. He repeats this could in the water, perfecting his technique. He He wanted a bamboo rod of his own, but process over and over until the wood is reduced to later began tying his own flies and he eventually found they were far out of his price range. a stack of long, quarter-inch-wide strips. started building his own graphite rods.

So he decided to make one. Lee started

Haunted by Waters

joshua idol

F

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104 wvl • fall 2015

oak burl. He finishes off the seat with a handmade nickel silver cap and band, which hold the reel in place.

The final step of a build is to add stripping guides to the rod. Lee bends the wire guides by hand, then lashes them to the rod with silk thread and coats them with varnish. After several rounds of wrapping, varnishing, and sanding, the string almost disappears into the wood grain. “It’s traditional. That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Lee says.

Lee is proud that, over the years, he has learned to make almost every part of his rods by hand. Now, the only parts he purchases are the stripping guides and the metal ferrules that hold the two sections of his rods together.

Traditional stripping guides include agate stones and Lee thinks the process would be too

Lee's rods are difficult for his skills. It’s easier functional to purchase them from someone works of art. who knows how to properly work the stone.

But he’s trying to figure out how to make his own ferrules. The metal pieces have to fit together snugly but come apart easily—a fit that requires precision down to a thousandth of an inch. “I’m messing with them. I’ve never had anyone teach me how to run a metal lathe so I’m figuring it out as I go,” Lee says.

It’s a minor obsession right now. But if his past work is any indication, Lee will eventually figure it out. And then he’ll find something else to obsess about. written and photographed by zack

harold

Bottom right: joshua idol

Now the real work begins. Each of the crooked bamboo strips must be bent as straight as possible. Lee works each strip, inch by inch, heating the wood with a heat gun, making it pliable before bending it straight in the bench vise.

This painstaking prep work makes up almost half of the total rod-building process.

“It’s my least favorite part, because it doesn’t seem like you’re doing anything,” he says. The work is essential, however, because the strips have to be completely straight before Lee can move on to the next step of the build.

Lee’s rods are made in two sections, a butt and a tip, which are made of six strips each. Some of his rods come with two interchangeable tips, so that requires an additional six strips.

To ensure these strips fit together, Lee shapes the wood in a homemade planing form, a sixfoot-long device made from two long pieces of steel held together by bolts. It could easily be mistaken for a medieval torture device.

The bamboo lies in a groove between the steel pieces, which is wider at one end and tapers to a point, and Lee begins whittling the wood down to size. He works little by little, shaving small slivers with hand planes. By the time he breaks out his sharpest and most precise instrument—a Stanley No. 9½ plane, its blade honed to a mirror finish on a marble slab—Lee is skinning off pieces of bamboo thinner than paper.

Once the strips are shaped, it’s time to glue them together. Lee lays each section of the rod on lines of masking tape with the strips sitting side by side. He smears wood glue—always Titebond III—down the length of the strips and rolls the tape together to form the rod. Then, using a homemade contraption built with old sewing machine parts, he winds strong thread around the wood, peeling back the tape as he goes. When the glue has dried, Lee unwraps the thread and, if all goes according to plan, the strips have bonded together and now look like one solid piece.

He now sets to work building the cork handle. He slides coins of cork onto the bamboo, coats them with glue, and smashes them together in a homemade wooden vise.

When the cork is dry he moves the assembly to a lathe he keeps in his laundry room—the only power tool Lee uses when making rods—and transforms the awkward cork tube into an appealing, ergonomic handle.

The laundry room lathe also comes in handy when Lee is ready to make his reel seats. The materials for these end pieces are often rescued from the family fireplace. What begins as ugly little chunks of wood become beautiful dowels of spalted maple, spalted birch, and

shopping

Camping Made Easy From shelter to seasonings these WV retailers take care of your camping needs.

YETI ROADIE 20 This sturdy 5.2-gallon capacity cooler has an interlock lid system (creates form fitting barrier against heat) with T-rex lid latches, $249.99 MCFLY OUTDOORS WHITE OAKS, 20 SHANER DRIVE SUITE 101, BRIDGEPORT 304.333.2550

GRANITE WARE TEA KETTLE holds 3-quarts of water for the perfect cup of tea while camping or at home. $19.99 COLABRESE OLD GENERAL STORE 284 EAST AVENUE THOMAS,304.463.4240

RAMP SALT This salt will infuse any recipe with the just the right hint of ramps. $5.50 DELMONTE MARKET 316 RAILROAD AVENUE ELKINS, 304.636.6685

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THE NORTH FACE STORMBREAK 3 TENT This 3-person tent is easy to set up and has 2 full doors and vestibules.

Fully seam-taped canopy and floor. $199 MCFLY OUTDOORS WHITE OAKS, 20 SHANER DRIVE, SUITE 101, BRIDGEPORT 304.333.2550

Yeti rambler 30 oz. sweat-free, 18/8 stainless steel, double wall vacuum nsulated for keeping drinks hot or cold. $39.99 MCFLY OUTDOORS WHITE OAKS, 20 SHANER DRIVE SUITE 101, BRIDGEPORT 304.333.2550

LODGE CAST IRON SKILLET & WEDGE PAN These skillets and wedge pan are seasoned and ready to use. $34.99 and $25.99 COLABRESE OLD GENERAL STORE 284 EAST AVENUE THOMAS, 304.463.4240

WILD GAME SPICE RUB A perfect dry rub for wild game!

Enhance the tenderness and flavor with this blend of spices plus juniper berries $5.50 DELMONTE MARKET, 316 RAILROAD AVENUE ELKINS, 304.636.6685

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In the W ild

In its more than 125 years, the outdoorsmen retreating to the Cheat Mountain Club have changed, but it has stayed the same. written by Shay Maunz â?‚ photographed by Elizabeth Roth

wvliving.com 109

T

he Cheat Mountain is especially long and high, even compared to the rest of West Virginia’s rough terrain.

The ridge is some 70 miles long—it stretches from Snowshoe in the southwest all the way past Elkins in the northeast—and includes 9 of the 10 highest peaks in the state. “In the early days, the wilderness of Cheat was vast, the weather forlorn, and lack of human settlement obvious,” Carl Frischkorn writes in a book he wrote and published about the region. To humans, it wasn’t exactly welcoming, but the hills were filled with virgin timber and animals thrived in the remote landscape. The 19th century magazine writer David Strother wrote that you could take two horses and a carriage and drive anywhere on the forest floor, Carl says. “Because the overstory of the forest was so thick that there was no vegetation there.”

In the 1880s, a group of men from up north began travelling to this part of rural West Virginia to hunt, fish, and trap. These weren’t mountaineers. They were gentlemen from Pittsburgh, Washington, and Northern West Virginia, men who spent their days in offices and parlors and carriages. But every once in a while these men had a hankering for the wilderness. They wanted to leave home and spend a few days roughing it in a rustic bunkhouse, fishing for trout in the river, and hunting bear, elk, and deer. So in 1886 a group of industrialists bought 50,000 acres of land in what is now Pocahontas County to create a private wilderness preserve. They called their new club The Sportsman’s Association of Cheat Mountain.

A spruce log clubhouse along the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River was completed in 1887 and used as a hunting and fishing lodge for the next 50 years. Club members would make the trek from Pittsburgh or Clarksburg or Washington, D.C., to stay there, first by horse and carriage, later by automobile, and eventually by train. The location is remote, so the trip wasn’t easy. As one early visitor wrote in the guest register: “This is God’s country.

But, the devil sure made the roads!” It was frequented by powerful, successful 110 wvl • fall 2015

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The outside of the Cheat Mountain Club still looks much like it did when it

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was built in 1887. Inside, it hasn’t been changed since a remodel in the 1940s.

Today, visitors use the Cheat Mountain Club in much the same way the sportsmen who built it did—as a tranquil mountain retreat near an abundance of outdoor activities.

men, and in August of 1918 Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and John Burroughs even visited during a twoweek Appalachian camping excursion. “The funny thing is that they didn’t even stay here—they couldn’t, they weren’t members,” laughs Jason Means, the club’s current caretaker. “They came in and signed the book, but they had to camp outside.”

In 1947 the Western Maryland Railroad bought the club to use it as a corporate retreat and hired a prominent architect from Baltimore to improve the interior. Fixtures were updated to be more modern and less rustic and an additional fireplace was added. Where the floorplan had been largely open, they put in walls to separate the living room from the dining room.

The sportsmen had required no restrooms but the railroad executives surely would, so toilets were installed. Rock maple chairs, chests, and couches were purchased to furnish the place—the very same furniture that is there today.

Over the next several decades ownership of the club changed hands several times, but the clubhouse remained largely the same. These days, it’s called simply the Cheat Mountain Club. From the exterior it looks just as it did in the 1880s, and inside almost nothing has changed since the railroad company remodeled in the 1940s. Carl still distinctly remembers the first time he set eyes on the building. It was 1977 and he was on a helicopter tour of some coal mines for his business. “I saw the thing and said, ‘We have to go check this out,’” he says. “I just thought it was one of the coolest things ever in West Virginia. To preserve something so well for so long is extraordinary.”

By 1987 the club appeared to be in danger—its owner was having financial trouble and couldn’t afford upkeep on the place. That’s when a group of four families, spearheaded by Carl, purchased the lodge and opened it to the general public as a bed and breakfast. In 2002 it was sold again to a group of seven families, who use it more as a timeshare today, taking time for themselves each year also opening it up for rentals.

The general public can still stay at the Cheat Mountain Club but has to plan well in advance. Jason recommends renting out the whole club at once by calling around the end of the year, before the owners divvy up their time in January. The idea is less to make money on the venture than to preserve the Cheat Mountain Club for posterity. “It’s so unique and special, so a lot of people have given a lot of time, energy, and money to make sure it’s preserved,” Carl says. “Of all the things I’ve done in my life—and I’m 62 years old—the best thing I’ve done is save the Cheat Mountain Club.”

Today the club remains in good, working condition—it’s no museum, and never has been—and is still used as a rustic retreat for city people looking to escape to the mountains. On the outside, the club is a simple box of a building with a small porch, but stepping inside is like stepping back in time. It’s all warm wood and cozy textiles, and you can see the evidence of the building’s spruce log construction right there in the walls.

The lodge can sleep 23 people comfortably between eight bedrooms, one suite, and a dormitory-style room on the third floor. And while considerable work has been done in the last few decades to keep it up and running, all of the improvements have been structural things like wiring and plumbing that guests can’t see. “So it still, amazingly, has the same kind of feel that it’s had for years,” Jason says.

In the 1900s, the timber and coal industries decimated the region around the Cheat Mountain and left the sportsmen who visited the Cheat Mountain Club with less forest to romp in and fewer animals to hunt. But since 1987 much of that land has been purchased and preserved by the federal government, and in recent years the wilderness on the Cheat Mountain has begun to come back. “Nature will heal itself, and the forest will come back. It will never be virgin again, but it will come back and have the scale that it once did,” Carl says. “The hunting and fishing and the ecosystem up there on Cheat Mountain is extraordinary. You have this massive forest with red spruce and a preponderance of maple, and good fishing, great mountain biking, and cross country skiing. And the elevation is such that in the summertime you don’t need air conditioning. It’s a really special place.” wvliving.com 113

INSIDE THE

POLECAT RAMPAGE

Each spring for more than 50 years, a little-known group of men gathers together to eat ramps and celebrate the end of winter. written by Zack Harold ❂ photographed by Nikki Bowman

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I

Mark Smith helps Jim Crowley with his traditional pre-dinner shrimp boil at the Polecat Rampage.

Crowley, who has been coming to the annual gathering for nearly 30 years, prepared about 125 pounds of shrimp over the weekend.

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n the late afternoon, the men formed a loose circle on the Mountain Institute’s large wooden promenade. Some sat on benches, railings, and picnic tables, but most stood with their hands in their pockets, coats zipped up and hats pulled down against the frigid winds blasting the hilltop plateau. It was several weeks into spring but still quite cold in this hollow just below Spruce Knob. A quart-size Mason jar made its way through the crowd to keep everyone toasty, at least on the inside.

Sam Roberts, a bespectacled family physician from Elkins, stepped to the center of the final gathering of 2015 assembly. He wore buckskins and what would otherwise be called a coonskin cap, except it was made from a skunk pelt.

Sam banged a mallet against a small hand drum to bring the chattering crowd to a hush. “Hear ye, hear ye!” he bellowed.

“The Polecats have reconvened for a rendezvous!”

This is the Polecat Rampage. Each spring for 54 years, this group of men has congregated in the West Virginia woods for a three-day event to celebrate the end of winter and the birth of a new spring. It’s a throwback to the old mountain gatherings when trappers would come together to sell their furs before letting loose and making merry.

The Polecats aren’t weathered trappers. They’re doctors, construction workers, lawyers, engineers, mechanics, bankers, school board members, and business owners— pillars of the community. But they still arrive with a healthy appetite for card games, tall tales, trout fishing, bawdy jokes, campfires, whiskey—and lots and lots of ramps.

Allium tricoccum, a wild plant often described as a cross between an onion and garlic and commonly referred to as ramps, is the first vegetable to spring from the frozen ground after winter breaks. Old-timers used them to replenish their vitamin C after months of cured meats and canned vegetables. The Polecats like them because they taste good and there are no women around to complain about the smell. The smell is the first thing you notice about the Polecat Rampage. One step inside the mess hall and your nose is immediately accosted by the sharp smell of cooking ramps.

Cleaned, raw ramps are available at each meal, and the older men always leave room on their plates for a small pile. Despite their aggressive flavor, ramps are beautiful little plants—rounded white bulbs, thin purple stems, and broad green leaves. But the wild onions really shine when they’re used as part of a recipe. Different teams of volunteers prepares breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and there seems to be an unspoken competition to see who can make the food as pungent as possible.

For breakfast there might be ramp eggs, ramp biscuits, and ramp gravy, and for lunch, cream of ramp potato soup. For dinner, look for ramp potatoes or ramp scallops.

When third-generation Polecat Butch Antolini cooks his traditional Thursday Italian night meal he always includes “ramps Giambronii.” He learned the dish from his maternal grandmother: ramps fried in bacon grease, mixed with crispy crumbled bacon and topped with red sauce.

Butch’s grandfather Carl Antolini was one of the original Polecats. He began attending the rampage a few years after it started at the invitation of Sam’s father Don Roberts, the gathering’s founder. Butch says Carl tried to get him to go for many years, but he always put it off.

Then, in 1985, his grandfather suddenly passed away.

That winter, Sam asked Butch if he would attend the rampage and cook the Thursday night dinner—it was a long-standing tradition for Carl to bring Italian food the first night. So Butch made his first pilgrimage to the Polecat Rampage in 1986 and has returned almost every year since. Now his father, his younger brother, and two sons all attend. “We’re the only family that has four generations that have attended,” he says. “You pass it down.”

Butch also has invited lots of friends over the years, and that group has become an extended family of sorts.

“There’s 15, 20 of us. Nobody makes an excuse for not showing up,” he says. “When something goes on that long, you know there’s something about it.”

Ask a Polecat how long he has been coming to these annual mountain rendezvous, and he likely will not

answer with a year. The men measure their tenure by the location of their first rampage.

The inaugural Polecat Rampage was held in 1961 at Middle Mountain Cabins near Bartow. Sam’s father, Don, came up with the idea as a way to commemorate a camping trip from 40 years before. Around 1926, when he was just a teenager, Sam’s father and three friends got together over Easter weekend. “They hiked up the Cherry River towards Marlinton, ate ramps, and caught trout,” Sam says.

Don wanted to recapture some of that fun and camaraderie, so in 1961 he invited those three friends, along with some military buddies and members of his bridge club, to Middle Mountain Cabins. The men enjoyed themselves so much, they decided to do it again the next year.

Sam made his first pilgrimage to what would later become the Polecat Rampage in its third year, when the event was moved to a cabin in the Monongahela National Forest known as Shot Cherry. He calls it his “mountain bar mitzvah.”

Shot Cherry would remain the venue of choice for the rampage until 1976. “We got notified a month before the party we were not allowed to use it,” Sam says. The

state changed its rules for renting the cabin—it was now only available for conservation groups or work groups.

The Polecat Rampage made a last-minute relocation to Canaan Valley, but Sam says it just wasn’t the same.

“There wasn’t the same camaraderie.”

So he got to thinking: If the Polecats wanted to return to Shot Cherry, all they needed to do was form a conservation group. Sam had studied Latin in high school and college, so he came up with a name: “The Society for the Preservation of Allium Tricoccum and Mephitus Mephitus.” Ramps and skunks. The Polecats made their return to Shot Cherry the following year and would remain there until the party finally outgrew the small venue in 1990.

The rampage moved to the Cheat Mountain Club for about a decade until relocating again in 2001 to its current home at the Mountain Institute. The event has grown considerably since the inaugural rampage, which hosted only about a dozen men. Nearly 200 people cycled through the Mountain Institute during this year’s three-day event.

It remains an exclusive club, however. Women are still not allowed, and unless you have a family member

Held for the last 15 years at the Mountain Institute near Spruce Knob, the Polecat Rampage is a celebration of food, friendship, and the first days of spring.

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or friend who is a polecat, you can’t be one either. When Canaan Valley Gas Company president Arden Swecker’s father-in-law took him to his first rampage in 1978—a few years after the triumphant return to Shot Cherry—he had a sit-down interview with Don Roberts to see whether he would be inducted into the Polecat brotherhood. “After a half hour he said, ‘I think you’ll fit right in.’”

After a few years Arden brought his own father, who became a regular at the rampage’s perennial poker games.

This year he was accompanied by his son-in-law. He says he keeps coming back, and bringing other people with him, because of the relationships Polecats build with one another.

“It’s the characters here. You develop a lot of friendships."

Fellow Polecat and acclaimed surveyor Don Teter agrees. “As we get a little older, the people we know get scattered around,” he says. The annual pilgrimage to the rampage allows Don to reconnect with friends, many of whom he doesn’t see throughout the year. “I’ve got work piled up that needs done. I told my wife I’m going up there for three days and forget about that stuff,” he says.

It’s a refrain you hear from many Polecats. Sure, the rampage is an excuse to have a good time. But it’s also a chance to escape modern life for a while, to reminisce about days past, to pay homage to your Appalachian heritage, and to rest your nerves after a winter cooped up indoors.

For this reason, there is no real schedule at the Polecat Rampage. Attendees come and go as they please, some staying the full three nights and others just driving up for

the day. Some men show up as soon as breakfast, lunch, or dinner is served, while others wait to straggle in.

A few traditions have sprung up, however. Butch’s family and friends have a secret fishing hole they always visit. Arden always brings along some homemade wine, made from homegrown fruit and bottled and fermented in whiskey bottles. Jim Crowley prepares a very popular shrimp boil before dinner each night.

But there is one sacred tradition at the rampage, which occurs on Saturday afternoon—the “Polecat Punch.” It started as a way to finish off opened bottles before everyone went home. Whatever was left over got dumped into the pot, and the concoction was consumed while the men stood around, told stories, and said their goodbyes. The tradition morphed over the years. The punch didn’t taste very good in the early years, so Don Roberts came up with the recipe that’s still being used today. The event was also moved from Sunday morning to Saturday so the polecats could enjoy as much as they wanted before going home.

The punch has also become a ceremony to honor the memory of Polecats who have passed away, albeit in a very light-hearted way. “Hear ye, hear ye,” Sam Roberts bellowed that Saturday evening. “The Polecats have reconvened for a rendezvous.” After a brief but very loud demonstration of a replica Civil War-era cannon and a lesson on testing the quality of homemade moonshine—by lighting it on fire in the palm of your hand—Sam beckoned the men to a large handmade ceramic pot to receive the Polecat Punch.

top left: zack harold

The 51-year-old gathering draws men from all over the country like Evan Davis (right) of Lilburn, Georgia, who provided musical entertainment throughout the weekend.

Each received a plastic cup filled with an orange-colored concoction containing several whole bottles of hard liquor, fruit punch, and sliced fruit. They returned to their places and remained quiet while the names of every deceased Polecat was read aloud.

When the last name was spoken, each man hoisted his cup, lowered it to his lips, and threw back a swig. “God, that’s good,” one sighed.

Before the mood got too maudlin, Sam announced it was time to tell some jokes. The men spoke up one by one. If it was a joke first told by a long-gone Polecat, they made sure to invoke the name of the original teller. “Many of the jokes have a point,” Robert said later.

“They kind of represent the humor and the wisdom of the past.”

Other Polecats trotted out new routines—jokes that could someday be their legacy. Many were met with belly laughs. A few drew groans.

But before the atmosphere got too bawdy, Roberts ceded the floor to Cliff Marstiller. He lifted his cup of punch and offered a toast.

Two Polecats went out strolling, upon on a fine spring day Discussing the coming rampage as they made their fragrant way.

With great anticipation for the revelry in store They spoke of friends they’d see again and those who’ll come no more.

Some call the rampage nonsense, but little do they know Our scents they need recharging with the melting of the snow.

So Roberts, Hyre, and Antolini conceived our annual rite.

They met at Middle Mountain to drink, play cards, and fight.

Thus was born the rampage to these wise and hearty ones.

They’ve passed it down throughout the years, the fathers to the sons.

A stink was raised at Shot Cherry, Cheat Mountain Club as well, And now the Mountain Institute has known our pungent smell.

We gather around the yurts there, with ramps upon our tongue, And lift a glass to our founding fathers from the spring of ’61.

When Marstiller recited the last line, everyone took another pull from the Polecat Punch. And with that, the rampage was beginning to draw to a close. The next morning everyone climbed in their cars, trucks, SUVs, and campers and returned home.

By Monday the Polecats were back at their offices and job sites, no longer mountain men, yet revived and ready to take on the challenges of the year to come. To the outside world there would be no evidence of the weekend they spent in the mountains, unless someone happened to get very close. Then, they might detect the faint, sharp smell of cooking ramps, which not even city water can wash away. wvliving.com 119

BEHIND THE SCENES

at the

Greenbrier Classic A year of preparation goes into making West Virginia’s largest sporting event camera-ready. written by and photographed by Nikki Bowman

Bubba Watson, a resident of The Greenbrier Sporting Club, talks about playing on his home turf. Tiger Woods made his second appearance at The Classic. Lee Trevino takes Shaquille O’Neal’s club away from him after he whiffs his drive.

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T

he Greenbrier was made for television. When you pull into the porte cochere, you can’t help but feel like you are walking into a Hollywood movie set. For the past five years, the six-story white Georgian resort and its surrounding manicured grounds, perfectly adorned with Technicolor blooms, has become an ethereal backdrop to one of the most prestigious televised sporting events: The Greenbrier Classic, a PGA TOUR FedEx Cup tournament.

Since owner Jim Justice first sealed the deal that brought the PGA TOUR to The Greenbrier, the event has introduced millions of people to West Virginia’s grand resort. This past summer alone nearly 3 million people watched the final round of The Greenbrier Classic on television. “This is what we want the rest of the world to see,” says state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette. “This

whole tournament is an incredible commercial for the state of West Virginia.” Whether you are experiencing The Greenbrier through the small screen or strolling the fairways in person, it’s easy to marvel at the magic. But what the world and the guests don’t see is the inconceivable amount of work and planning that goes into pulling it all off.

One person who knows the challenges well is Monte Ortel, executive tournament director. He says, “People think it just happens, and then that’s it. But it is a 12-month planning cycle to make sure it goes off seamlessly. It is a lot of hard work.”

A PGA TOUR event is unique among major sporting events. “We don’t have a fixed stadium to work with. We have to create the infrastructure to support the event—tents, power, air conditioning, fencing, restrooms, and the list goes on and on,” Monte says. “Everything is temporary. It takes a lot of manhours to plan, coordinate, and implement.”

Planning for the following year begins before the current tournament even takes place. Monte says it takes 75 to 90

A behind-the-scenes tour includes The Greenbrier’s greenhouses, where thousands of plants are grown. During The Classic, the Candy Maker stays busy making white chocolate golf balls. Two indoor tennis courts are transformed into a state-of-the-art media center that serves more than 400 media professionals.The laundry facilities makes sure the uniforms of employees are in top shape. A small outdoor garden produces vegetables that are served at the Forum.

Housekeepers generally serve around 13 rooms each. The tonnage of laundry that flows through The Greenbrier is staggering.

Housekeepers take great pride in their work, leaving personal notes for their guests.

How many Greenbrier Classic green jackets exist and who gets to wear them?

CLASSIC NUMBERS

Champions, past champions, chairman and sponsors wear them.

How many

fried green tomato sandwiches are sold?

How many volunteers?

1,400+

How many outside food vendors?

220

ONE

Number of golf carts used

50 Number of generators

How many people make up the grounds crew?

400+

MEMBERS 100 OF MEDIA Number of temporary grandstand seats

3000 $

How much money was given in the hole-in-one challenge?

$192,400 How many cars are donated for use during The Classic?

1 7

courtesy the greenbrier sporting club

days to implement the operational build-out alone. Bleachers are brought in, tents constructed, understructures built, signage created, fairways roped and staked, and restrooms added. When its all said and done more than 50 outside vendors are used to help prepare The Old White TPC for the onslaught of golfers, families, fans, and media coverage.

And the preparation side is just one component. “The tournament itself is one huge event, but in each day there are multiple other special events. It’s a big puzzle.

It seems to come across seamlessly because of hard work and dedication, but there are hundreds of moving parts,” Monte says. Those moving parts include things like marketing and advertising, food service, the securing of sponsorships, ticket sales, the coordination of volunteers, the management of the concerts, player services, housekeeping, and grounds preparation.

The Greenbrier grounds team work for months readying the course. They are beholden to the weather—remember the derecho of 2012—and have to be able to react to unforeseen events. “There’s a gorgeous Greenbrier logo surrounded by flowers near the 18th hole. That lettering is done with green and white sand. If we have a downpour, we need to get in there and repair the sand,” says Kelly Shumate. “Lots of rain makes for muddy walkways, so we need to contend with things like that, too— but really most of our hard work is completed prior to the event.”

During the tournament, The Greenbrier is at full capacity. So while everyone is buzzing about the resort, the housekeeping crew works hard to make sure rooms and public spaces remain clean to the resort’s exacting standards and guests are comfortable. They are masters at maintaining privacy and seclusion. They even keep tabs on how the golfers are doing: If one of their guests isn’t going to make the cut, chances are that golfer will be leaving early, and staff will be prepared to turn the room around quickly. With a waiting list a mile long, there are always people to fill empty rooms.

Even getting the players to the resort is a massive undertaking. Most players fly into either the Roanoke Regional Airport or the Greenbrier Valley Airport. Ford Motor Company, one of the sponsors of the event, provides 107 player courtesy cars. The Greenbrier has a volunteer committee that manages the allotment of cars, making sure each player, his family, and caddies get to where they need to be.

Ask any player and he’ll quickly tell you The Greenbrier Classic is unique among stops on the PGA TOUR. Monte is proud of that designation. He says, “It doesn’t matter if it is the player or player’s family, or general patron, or vendors, or media, what makes us unique is that we create a memorable experience that our guests don’t get anywhere else. We provide unique accommodations and tons of amenities.”

This past year, The Greenbrier had 110 PGA children—a record number— utilizing the childcare program. “Players love to bring their families to The Greenbrier,” Monte says. “It’s an opportunity they don’t have on other stops on the tour.”

Tiger Woods, who made his second appearance at The Classic this year, says The Greenbrier is one of his favorite spots on the tour. “What’s not to love here?” he says.

“This is a great place to bring kids. There are so many amenities. It’s a special place.”

Bubba Watson loves it so much that he built a house at The Greenbrier Sporting Club. When asked if he felt like a West Virginian now, without hesitation he responded, “Absolutely. Who wouldn’t want to be a West Virginian? This is the best place in the country to live. My family loves it here.”

No PGA TOUR event could happen without volunteers. At The Greenbrier Classic more than 1,400 people offer up their services. They come from every corner of West Virginia and more than 27 states. Tournament Coordinator Jim Sweetwood says, “It is so impressive to get that many people to volunteer to do something for nothing. It’s an interesting mix of people made up of those who have a great love of the state, expats who’ve moved away but want to come back to support the state, people who grew up in this area, and people who just love The Greenbrier. They give up time, resources, and energy to work with us because they want to see this event and the state represented well. It would be near impossible to do it without them.”

FORE!

Greenbrier owner Jim Justice breaks ground on a new golf course.

This summer, days before The Greenbrier Classic, Greenbrier owner Jim Justice set the golf community abuzz when he made the colossal announcement that he was bringing golf icons— Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player—together to collaborate for the first time on the design of a new mountain golf course.

This ambitious undertaking will showcase dramatic elevation changes and spectacular vistas and will be the centerpiece of Oakhurst, the newest neighborhood planned for The Greenbrier Sporting Club subdivision. Jim hopes that it will be the site of a future U.S. Open.

The existing historic 9-hole Oakhurst Links course—the oldest golf club in America—will be incorporated into this new neighborhood as part of The Greenbrier Sporting Club. Built in 1884 and purchased by The Greenbrier resort in 2012, Oakhurst Links is a 30-acre course, museum, and clubhouse listed on the National Register of Historic Places and located just a few miles north of The Greenbrier. Conventional golf clubs are not used at Oakhurst. Golfers—often dressed in period golf attire—play with hickoryshafted clubs and hit gutta-percha balls off tees fashioned from sand and water, the way it was done more than 130 years ago. In addition to the new 8,042-yard, 18-hole championship golf course, a third clubhouse, dining, pro shop, outdoor pool, ski and snowboard facilities, fishing, hiking, and biking amenities will be added. Residents of The Greenbrier Sporting Club subdivision will also have use and access to all other exclusive club amenities and activities.

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John Daly adds color to an overcast day.

Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty signs autographs for a young fan. Tiger Woods meets with the media following the Pro-Am Tournament.

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Volunteers deal with everything from ticket collection to assisting spectators to player and sponsor services. There are even volunteers that do nothing but assist volunteers.

“One of the most unsung groups is comprised of seven people who deal with supply distribution,” Jim says.

“Thousands of packages are mailed or shipped to the event.

This group makes sure that each package gets to each player at the right time. This is hugely important. All these players do is travel. They can only take so much on the plane. Our team is awesome. We’ve never lost a package.”

Jim points out that most stops on the PGA TOUR are in more metropolitan areas and 80 percent of the volunteers live within two hours of the event. But in West Virginia, it’s the opposite. Here 80 percent of volunteers live more than two hours away. “That’s extraordinarily impressive,” says Jim. “The dedication they have to this event is truly inspiring.”

Not only have the volunteers impressed the PGA, but the local community has also embraced the tournament

with amazing hospitality. One of the volunteers organized a house-a-caddy program. More than 90 caddies found rooms in homes in the surrounding area. “The housea-caddy program is really cool. The locals established relationships with the caddies and now they come back year after year and stay with the same people,” Jim says.

It’s hard to believe that, in just five years, The Greenbrier Classic has become an economic driver and marketing machine for the entire region. Monte says, “We need to remember the success of this event and impact on the state and surrounding region came from the vision and commitment of one individual—Jim Justice. It was his dream, and he made it a reality. That should not ever be overlooked.”

Nor should the exorbitant amount of effort it takes to create this five-star event be overlooked. Thousands and thousands of people work together to create an event that showcases West Virginia in a positive light to the world.

When Jim Justice brought the PGA TOUR to The Greenbrier, he hit a hole in one.

the pa rting shot

Aglow with Golden Hues photographed by

Carla Witt Ford

West Virginia’s country roads come to life in the fall and offer picturesque scenes around every bend.

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