WV Living Summer 2015

BLUEFIELD‘S GARDENS | LIVING IN LOGAN | WILD WATER ADVENTURES summer 15

Sweet Summer GARDENS ✚ GRILLING ✚ GREAT ESCAPES

$5.95 Display until AUG 31, 2015

VOLUME 8 â—† ISSUE 2

Summer 2015

82

Living in Logan

CARLA WITT FORD

This southern city is reinventing itself creatively.

features

92

Bridging History Covered bridges across the state take us back in time.

98

Sliding into Summer Escape into West Virginia’s wild and wonderful water adventures at these pools and parks.

104

Through the Garden Gate Take a tour through some of the most beautiful outdoor spaces in Bluefield.

wvliving.com 5

VOLUME 8 ◆ ISSUE 2

49

15

43 73 spotlight

heritage

15 Dining Williamson’s 34:Ate serves up

43 Lodging Climb into The Barn Loft in

18 Dining Country Thai offers a taste of

49 Art Potter Kate Harwood has been working

20 Events The West Virginia Black Heritage

55 Travel Antiques, fresh produce, and a

gourmet, Southern-style comfort food.

something new—and delicious—in Fayetteville.

Festival celebrates 25 years in Clarksburg.

25 Shopping Find everything from trinkets to high-end art glass at Oglebay’s Carriage House Glass Gift Shop.

29 Preservation An old Esso Station comes back to life in Fayette County.

30 Don’t Miss The Ronceverte River Festival attracts crowds in Greenbrier County.

33 Shopping Sugie Bumps in Mingo County sells the clothes your kids look best in.

Fayetteville for an unforgettable night’s sleep.

in every issue 8 Editor’s Letter 10 Letters to the Editor 112 The Parting Shot

clay for more than 40 years.

wealth of history make Huntington’s Central City a must-see.

59 Living Local Beekeeping holds a special place in many West Virginians’ hearts.

67 Spaces Oglebay Institute Mansion

Museum is a beautiful display of 20th century history and grandeur.

On the Cover The 2012 tour of Bluefield’s magnificent gardens was hard to beat, but there’s even more to see this summer.

Photo by Nikki Bowman BLUEFIELD‘S GARDENS | L VING IN LOGAN | WILD WATER ADVENTURES summer 1

73 Food Fire up the grill and enjoy these great summer recipes for your next get-together.

Sweet Summer GARDENS ✚ GRILL NG ✚ GREAT ESCAPES

6 wvl • summer 2015

EDITOR’S LET TER Here are some behind the scenes photos from our trip to the Bluefield Garden Tour.

S

ummer is blooming in West Virginia! For proof, just head to Bluefield on August 8. This garden tour is one of the finest in the state (page 104). A couple of years ago, we visited during our WV Living Road Trip and all of the participants were blown away by the collection of diverse gardens. Mark your calendars. I promise you won’t regret it. In fact, one of the first things you’ll notice when you drive into Bluefield in the summer is the vibrant display of flowers

I LOVE

Bella’s Gourmet in Lewisburg. These retro West Virginiathemed glasses and dish towels are a fun addition to your summer spread.

8 wvl • summer 2015

lining downtown. You’ll quickly realize that the devotion to gardening extends into the private homes of the town’s residents.

When I first met Betsey Sorrell, a woman who has lived her entire life in Bluefield and is heavily involved in the Bluefield Beautification Commission, we talked about the hours she dedicates to helping beautify the town, I asked Betsey, “Why do you do it?” Her reply resonated with me. She said, “I do it because I believe we have all been given a small corner of the world to tend.

When I drive down the streets of our city, emblazoned with flowers, I see love. A love for beauty, a love for a community, and a love for its people. Some days I feel like my heart might explode with joy.” All I can say is, “God bless the Betseys of the world.”

Another amazing location for beautiful gardens and grounds is Oglebay Resort and Conference Center in Wheeling. Many of the gardens are re-created to represent what one would find in the 1900s when Earl W. Oglebay made his summer retreat—the home that is now known as the Museum

Mansion. This 1,700-acre park is a perfect spot to spend your summer. Make sure you take a tour of the historic Mansion Museum (page 67) and visit the nearby Carriage Glass museum and shop (page 25). The museum contains the largest collection of Wheeling glass and china, and the shop has a dizzying array of glass, lamps, and collectibles.

Another place worth visiting is Logan (page 82). Put aside your stereotypes and check out this town. With fabulous bakeries and an uber cool coffee shop, you won’t leave unsatisfied after you spend the day kicking up dust on a UTV on the Hatfield-McCoy Trail. While you are in the southern part of the state, you’ll also want to visit Williamson. This is another city reinventing itself. Sugie Bumps Kidz Bowtique is one of the most charming stores that caters to children in the state (page 33).

You will have a hard time getting your kids to leave. Right around the corner is another darling spot—34:Ate (page 15)—a great spot to grab lunch or dinner.

This issue is packed with places to go, foods to eat, things to do, and ways to savor the summer! Enjoy!

nikki bowman, Editor

Follow us on

,

facebook.com/wvliving pinterest.com/wvliving instagram: theWVeditor

, and

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LET TER S to the EDITOR

Sharing West Virginia

I enjoyed the article you all did on Wardensville as it was very nicely presented. I just subscribed to the magazine for two years because I want to know more about West Virginia and you all are going to share that with me. And in turn, I plan to let my friends and family be aware of your publication. henry krautwurst, via email The Man n M in R ve Br Compan

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E | T avel HER TAG

I thoroughly enjoy every issue of WV Living.

My wife and I are retired native West Virginians. We read the articles and search for places in West Virginia that we haven’t visited. jack everly, via email

10 wvl • summer 2015

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LET TER S to the EDITOR

Absolutely love that Capon Springs is on the (spring) cover! The place is heaven on earth.” john cook, via Twitter

Our Lovely State

Correction

I sat down with my copy this weekend and enjoyed each page. Beautifully done, as always!

In “Inside Historic Homes” in the spring issue, the opening shot of Ridgedale is not Ridgedale, but is actually Park Hill.

lee anne barnes, via Facebook

Correction

I love your representation of our lovely state.

Thank you for putting the positive out there!

Savoring the Salt-Works

I learned this last year and I now have two

jars (of J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works salt) in my kitchen. There is so much to be proud of in West Virginia. judith martin-mackey,

via Facebook

In “Lemon Love” in our spring issue, we left out the extra sugar in our Citrus Coffee Cake recipe. The recipe should include 1 cup plus ⅓ cup granulated sugar. We also forgot to tell you when to add the eggs to the Glazed Lemon Cupcakes, and to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to the glaze. Both recipes are correct online at wvliving.com.

Give the Gift

My mom is happy. She got her first issue

today from the gift subscription I got her for Christmas. Hopefully I can get it away from her soon so I can look at it, LOL. cindy long messina, via Facebook

Let us hear from you. We want to know what you think about the magazine, and we’d love to hear your suggestions.

West Virginia Gems

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

Living) in his brief case to Mississippi today to give to friends on the Gulf Coast for previewing West Virginia’s gems before they travel here in June. sarah robinson, via Facebook

Take WV Living with you:

My hubby carried his copy (of spring WV

wvliving.com 11

VOLUME 8, ISSUE 2 Published by

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12 wvl • summer 2015

eliZABeth roth

Fun in the Sun

Great festivals and events are around every bend in the Mountain State all summer long.

PICTURED: RONCEVERTE RIVER FESTIVAL, PAGE 30

the shoppes at seneca center Âť 709 beechurst avenue, morgantown

Taste and See This new Williamson cafĂŠ brings big-city taste to the coalfields.

wvliving.com 15

“W

e bounced around a whole lot of names before one stuck,” says Debbie Young, who owns a popular new café in downtown Williamson with her daughter Natalie Taylor and longtime friend Robyn Gannon. The trio eventually decided on 34:Ate, a nod to Psalms 34:8, which begins “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” Diners might not catch the reference right away, but the sentiment is hard to miss: As you can you taste and see, 34:Ate is very good.

“One of our favorite places to go is Charleston, South Carolina. It’s become a food mecca. A lot of my inspiration comes from there,” Debbie says. She particularly likes Cru Café, a gourmet comfort food restaurant run out of a small house, and wanted to bring something similar to Williamson. So after retiring in 2009 after 34 years as an elementary school teacher, Debbie began her second career as a restaurateur.

She found a small building just down the street from the Mingo County Courthouse.

It was a great spot for a restaurant, located within walking distance from lots of government and law offices, but the building was vacant and really run down. “We just came by here one day and there was a sign on

16 wvl • summer 2015

the door that said ‘In case of emergency, call this number.’ I called the number and asked if they wanted to sell,” Debbie says. The price was reasonable, and Debbie and her husband, Charles, bought the property in late 2013, but it still needed lots of work. They spent the next year remodeling. “We had to put in all new wiring, plumbing—everything is new except for the ceiling.”

Debbie and Robyn had a lot of different ideas about how they wanted their restaurant to look, although “none of those actually came to fruition,” Debbie admits. In the end, they just let the space design itself. “It’s kind of an eclectic mix of both Robyn and myself. We love to shop. We love to find unique things,” Debbie says. The result is a colorful little space with a pressed tin ceiling, chandeliers, and brightly painted mirrors that match the brightly colored Fiesta dinnerware. There’s even a giant painting of a rooster on the wall.

“I’ve always liked roosters,” she says.

After more than a year of work, 34:Ate finally opened in September 2014 and quickly developed a loyal following among Williamson lunchgoers. “A lot of it is just things I’ve made my whole life. I’ve cooked my whole life and come from a long line of good cooks,” Debbie says. The menu features standard fare like BLTs and club sandwiches but also offers upscaled dishes like the “grown-up bologna” sandwich,

which features thick-sliced fried bologna with onions, lettuce, and your choice of mustard or chipotle mayo. One of the most popular dishes is the poppy seed salad, which contains mixed greens, seasonal fruit, candied nuts, feta cheese, and the restaurant’s popular poppy seed dressing.

In addition to its regular lunch menu, 34:Ate also hosts regular popup dinners to attract diners outside the regular lunch crowd. There’s no schedule for the dinners—“Just whenever we feel like it,” Debbie says— but the events always take on a specific theme. The restaurant has hosted a hamburger night, an Italian night, “South of the Border” night, and a night of Southern favorites with chicken and waffles, a meatloaf sandwich, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, pecan pie, and key lime bread pudding. “Very Southern, low country-type food,” Debbie says.

She says she had no idea how much work running a restaurant would be—it can be both physically and emotionally exhausting. But the experience has taught Debbie something about herself. After all those years in the classroom, the thing she likes most is feeding people. “It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.”

34:ate

210 Pike Street, Williamson, WV 25661, 304.235.3488 34atewilliamson.wix.com/34ate written by zack

harold bowman

photographed by nikki

wvliving.com 17

SPOTLIGHT

dining

Bright Cooking

Fayetteville’s Country Thai is serving up traditional Asian food in an unexpected place.

I

t’s a pretty typical story: A man and a woman meet, fall in love, move to the mountains, and live happily ever after.

Except it’s not that typical, because this story spans two continents, involves a food cart and a lot of soy sauce, and ends with the creation of one of the New River Gorge’s favorite restaurants. “It’s an interesting story,” laughs Bill Reilley, who owns that restaurant, Country Thai, with his wife, Ging.

Technically Country Thai has been in business since September 2013, but it got its start nearly a decade ago, when Bill sold his physical therapy practice in Fayetteville and decided to spend some time traveling through Asia. If you’re thinking that was a bold move, you’re right, but it’s not out of the ordinary for Bill—he doesn’t even characterize it as a mid-life crisis. “If you know me you know I like to do lots of different things,” he says. “I’d been a physical therapist for a lot of years and it was time for a change.” So Bill went to Asia and soon found himself in northern Thailand, where he met Ging at a market. They hit it off, and Ging moved to West Virginia to be with Bill. They’ve been married for seven years.

Ging has culinary training and is also one of those home cooks who can make just about anything delicious. “My wife makes the best lasagna I’ve ever had,” Bill says. “Who would think my Thai wife would make the best Italian lasagna? There’s nothing she can’t cook well.” But her specialty is the food of her native land, so Bill and Ging never really expected that she would have much of a cooking career in Fayetteville—the New River Gorge isn’t exactly known for eclectic ethnic cuisine. The area has great food, sure, but most of it is more of the finger-licking barbecue variety, and they didn’t think the locals would embrace a menu full of traditional Asian dishes with names they couldn’t pronounce. Of course, they were wrong. Now Bill and Ging realize they were underestimating two things—West 18 wvl • summer 2015

Virginians’ willingness to try new types of food, and Ging’s cooking.

A few years after Ging moved to West Virginia, she decided to start selling her Thai food at the Fayette County Farmer’s Market, just as a hobby. “My wife, she’s very industrious and she likes to do different things, so we thought we’d try it,” Bill says. Their booth was immediately a hit. “People just loved her food,” Bill says. “We’d sell out in like an hour and have to go home.” After two years at the market, they decided to expand—a little. Bill scoped out an abandoned store along the side of a country road just outside Fayetteville and asked the owner for permission to put a food

stand in the parking lot. They made signs for the roadside that said, simply, “Thai food,” and waited to see what would happen. “She would get swamped,” Bill says. “It was like an amazing little test market.” Finally, in late 2012, Bill and Ging bought that abandoned store, tore the building down, and built a restaurant in its place.

From the outside Country Thai looks at home in its mountainous surroundings— it’s a simple A-frame building with a wide porch and lots of hanging plants. Inside, the restaurant is bright and airy, with a relaxed, friendly vibe. The menu is full of Thai classics—the red curry pork with pumpkin

is a favorite, as is the pork or chicken Phanaeng curry—and served cafeteriastyle, so there’s little to no wait. “It’s all made with the freshest ingredients, and it’s made with love,” Bill says. “Ging really loves to cook and loves people to feel good, and she can make that happen with her cooking.”

Country Thai closes for the winter and opens April through September to take advantage of the influx of tourists at the New River Gorge, but its clientele isn’t limited to visitors. Locals also love the traditional Thai food, with its strong aromas and subtle spicy nip. “My philosophy is if you can win the locals’ hearts then all the tourism business is just gravy, and I think we’re really accomplishing that,” Bill says. “Climbers love it here, boaters love it—some tourists come in from big cities and say this is some of the best Thai food they’ve ever had, and they have Thai food all the time. But we also have locals who taste Thai food for the first time and they’re just blown away by Ging’s cooking.

It’s pretty fun to watch people’s reactions.” country thai

464 Ames Heights Road, Lansing, WV 25862, 304.933.4293, countrythai.com written by shay

maunz

photographed by elizabeth

roth wvliving.com 19

25 Years

Celebrate African-American culture at the West Virginia Black Heritage Festival in Clarksburg.

F

or 25 years the black community in Clarksburg has been honoring the African-American experience.

This September the celebration continues as the smell of soul food and the sweet sounds of R & B take over downtown.

Second through Fourth streets will close to traffic from September 11 to 13, 2015, as people from all over the northeastern United States line the streets for everything from unique shopping to catfish, sweet potato fries, and collard greens. “Vendors from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York have learned about our festival and look forward to coming out and being with us every year. The festival has grown tremendously, increasing from two or three vendors to more than 20,” says James E. Griffin, chairman of the West Virginia Black Heritage Festival.

What began in 1990 as a meeting by the Kelly Miller Alumni Association to discuss fundraising evolved into what is today the West Virginia Black Heritage Festival. The fundraiser grew so much after a few years that it had to split from the association, though the groups still work

20 wvl • summer 2015

closely together—the association providing scholarships and hosting a golf fundraiser as part of the festival.

The festival begins Friday with Youth Day and a party complete with DJ, free food, giveaways, and a dance contest. Academic advisors from Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College will also be on-hand to speak with the kids.

An annual scholarship will be awarded to 25 deserving youth, one for each of the festival’s 25 years. “We’re also bringing back a black exhibit out of North Carolina that follows the history of African-Americans from Africa all the way to the White House. We work with the Board of Education to bring in young people to see this exhibit about our history and culture,” James says.

Saturday’s opening ceremony will include the crowning of king and queen—role models for people in the state and each with West Virginia ties. Great entertainment rounds out the festival, including this year’s highlight— The Temptations. On Sunday all are invited to church, followed by a gospel extravaganza until 6 p.m. “The festival really represents the diversity of North Central West Virginia,” James says. “If you look at our kings and queens, they are not just from the Clarksburg area. We have individuals from Charleston, Morgantown, and Charles Town. This isn’t just a Clarksburg festival; it’s a West Virginia black heritage festival.”

301 West Main Street, Clarksburg, WV 26301 wvbhf.com written by jordan

carter

COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA BLACK HERITAGE FESTIVAL

event

event

Arts and Crafts This fair in Ripley showcases top-notch West Virginian artistry.

the flavor of this festival is everything you’d expect out of a West Virginia event—from the food to the family atmosphere to the welcoming venue. Since 1963 folks have celebrated West Virginia culture at the Mountain State Art & Craft Fair in Ripley. Vendors like jewelry makers, wood carvers, musicians, blacksmiths, and rug weavers are carefully chosen for the weekend-long event, not only to sell their crafts, but also to demonstrate their production.

While many attendees shop at the fair, apprenticeships are available, too. “This gives people the opportunity to pick up a new hobby and to also carry on the authentic traditional crafts that West Virginians take great pride in,” says Karen Facemyer, president of the fair’s board of directors.

The fair also offers interactive family activities and Appalachian entertainment, while being a significant way for artists to make a living. “This isn’t your average flea market,” Karen says. “We honor the artisans of West Virginia and encourage others to try something new.”

The Mountain State Craft Fair will be held July 2 to 4, 2015, at Cedar Lakes Conference Center. msacf.com

bonnstetter

NIKKI BOWMAN

written by tessa

wvliving.com 21

SPOTLIGHT

Game On sports

In Charleston, two major sporting events combine for one weekend of competitive fun.

22 wvl • summer 2015

of amateur events—there’s everything from mixed martial arts to distance skateboarding.

“The idea is to show something that is healthy and positive so people can see this cool stuff they might want to do,” says Butch Hiles, who coordinates the games. “We’re promoting a healthy lifestyle. We hope seeing this stuff might make people want to get out and move.”

And while you have to register in advance for some competitions—“If you walk in off the street and you’ve never done CrossFit or martial arts it’s probably not the best idea to jump into a competition,” Butch says—some of them are open to walk-ins on the day of the games. There’s an amateur volleyball game open to anyone, for example, and the cornhole tournament is especially popular.

For years SportsFEST and the West Virginia Games were held a few weeks apart, but in 2013 they combined and have been held on the

same weekend since. Now pro- SportsFEST takes places in fessional athletes from around mid-August, the world and amateurs from with everything from volleyball across the region come together to watercraft for the events. “It’s something racing. for everybody,” Trey says. “If you get bored watching volleyball you can go watch the racing or go see the jiu jitsu.” Plus, the more events there are, the more interesting, new sports people will see. “People think, ‘Oh, jiu jitsu, that’s crazy, who does that?’ But then they see it and think, ‘That’s not so crazy, maybe I could do that, or my kid could do it,” Butch says. “Whatever the sport is, weightlifting or skateboarding or whatever, we hope people see it and think, ‘Maybe I could do that.’” thewvgames.com written by shay

maunz

COURTESY OF SPORTSFEST; COURTESY OF CHARLESTON CVB (2)

P

icture the Kanawha River in Charleston—it flows past the state capitol, past downtown, and under a series of busy bridges bustling with traffic. And for three days in mid-August it’s also filled with Jet Skis while, just offshore, professional beach volleyball players lob a ball over a net. The street fills with skateboarders, swerving around and jumping over obstacles. There’s a squad of cheerleaders forming a pyramid, young martial artists practicing jiu jitsu, and a friendly game of cornhole going on, too. This is the melding of SportsFEST and the West Virginia Games.

In its seventh year, SportsFEST includes two professional sporting events: the national championship for the Pro Watercross Tour and a tournament on the EVP Beach Volleyball Tour. This year’s events take place August 14 to 16. It all began when Charleston residents, brothers, and competitive Jet Ski racers, Trey and Steve Frame, approached the city about hosting a watercraft racing event—they wanted to hold it in a riverfront park near downtown.

“We race on the national tour, so we travel to cities all over the U.S. to race, but for years I thought that Magic Island here in Charleston would be the coolest venue for a race,” Trey says. “It’s right up against the water—it would be almost a stadium feel, where people would be looking down on the race course.” In 2009 he got the go-ahead from the city, and SportsFEST held its first competition.

Then there’s the West Virginia Games.

Think of it as SportsFEST’s laid-back, fun-loving cousin. The games got their start around the same time as SportsFEST, also using Charleston’s riverfront as home base and revolving around sports, but the West Virginia Games are less about competition than about fun. The event consists of a slew

SPOTLIGHT

shopping

“The shop itself is special because it does play off the history—not only of Oglebay, but the history of Wheeling, where we produced quite a bit of glass. At one time we produced half of the country’s glass needs in this area,” says Caren Knoyer, director of marketing at Carriage House Glass at Oglebay Oglebay. She says nearly 100 glass factories operated in the Ohio Resort in Wheeling has something Valley between 1840 and 1900. The shiny for everyone. building that houses the gift shop is also a replica of the carriage house that stood in the early 1900s when the resort was wealthy businessman Earl W. light, color, and a sudden urge Oglebay’s private estate. to “ooh” and “aah” greet most visitors Below the expansive gift shop, a glass when they step through the doors of museum invites shoppers to continue their Carriage House Glass on the grounds of exploration as the Oglebay Institute, which Oglebay Resort & Conference Center in Wheeling. The more than 5,000-square-foot runs the museum, has the largest collection of that nationally famous Wheeling glass in the retail space is filled with everything from world. The downstairs space is also one of few inexpensive marbles made in West Virginia places in the region where glassmaking can be to Tiffany-style lamps to luxurious Cameo observed and taught firsthand. It’s also home to glass. It’s also a beautiful shrine to the the popular Sweeney Punch Bowl—one of the Wheeling of old.

The Gleam of Glass

More than 5,000 square feet of retail space makes up the Carriage House Glass

gift shop on the grounds of Oglebay Resort & Conference Center in Wheeling.

wvliving.com 25

SPOTLIGHT Local artisan Bob Allen makes unique pieces on-site, many of which are sold in the shop. The most famous piece of glass

in the building is the Sweeney Punch Bowl in the downstairs museum. It’s one of the largest pieces of cut glass in the world.

largest pieces of cut glass in the world. Michael Sweeney was a leading Wheeling citizen in the mid-1800s. In 1831 he and his brother set up a factory that shipped glassware across the U.S. Today the Carriage House Glass gift shop features the area’s largest selection of art glass as well as beautiful USA-made artisan glass and home décor. Nancy Smith has been buying for the store for 13 years, and she devotes a lot of time to finding the best pieces, beginning with those made in West Virginia. “Glass was such a major part of history in our area at the turn of the century,” Nancy says. “I personally don’t ever want to lose the integrity of that.”

When the shop opened in 1993, Nancy says the space was filled almost entirely with West Virginia glass. Over the years many glass companies closed and 26 wvl • summer 2015

glassmakers faded away, and few remain.

Now approximately 30 percent of the store is West Virginia glass, she says. That includes in-house artisan Bob Allen’s pieces, created on-site. “That’s a real attention getter,” she says of Bob’s remarkable local work.

Small glass pieces—from ring holders to paperweights—seem to fly off the shelves.

And something as little as a marble, which comes from Marble King in Paden City—one of the last known marble makers—also finds its place at Carriage House Glass. The store sells everything from colorful lamps and tall vases to bold bowls and stained glass, among other beautiful items. Nancy says the shop goes through a lot of candles made with USA-made glass, and the store carries popular glass producers, like Blenko Glass based in Milton, in large supply. Then she finds small

producers, like the East Coast couple whose home and work were nearly destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. “I still order from her,” she says. “These aren’t all big vendors.”

But Nancy also stocks beautiful European glass in the store—more expensive pieces from Turkey to Poland to Germany. No matter what they’re in the market for, shoppers know they’re getting quality products when they purchase from Carriage House Glass. The items on the shelves are ones that have been held, most likely, in Nancy’s own hands. “I really like to see the product before I buy it. I don’t want to take that chance,” she says. oglebay-resort.com/shops written by laura

wilcox rote bowman

photographed by nikki

preservation

Eyesore No More

NICOLE MARROCCO

Representative of a unique era, Fayetteville’s old Esso Service Station is on its way to being better than ever. in the heart of downtown fayetteville sits the historic Esso Service Station, an eyesore of the first order. The filling and service station was built circa 1945 and operated as such until the 1990s. It changed hands a couple of times over the years before closing and falling into vacant disrepair. With little hope of restoration or redevelopment, the people of Fayetteville put the Art Deco-style station on the fast track to demolition. Then, in August 2014, Denise and Matt Scalph showed up with an offer to buy and a vision to restore the Esso, with its iconic wraparound glass wall and block construction clad in enameled steel panels. “We settled right around our anniversary. I remember because my mother said, ‘Most people get jewelry or a cruise for their anniversary—you got a dilapidated building,’” Denise laughs.

In February 2015 the Esso Service Station was officially placed on the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia’s (PAWV) 2015 Endangered Properties List. The only one of its kind in the area, the building represents an architectural and cultural era that would have been erased from Fayetteville’s history if Matt and Denise hadn’t saved the building from destruction.

Knowing next to nothing about historic preservation, the new owners did what they could to clear the station of wisteria growing through windows and fallen trees that had

overtaken the building. Then they turned to the experts—namely, Adam Hodges, a Fayette County community development specialist with the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority (NRGRDA) and the West Virginia University Extension Service, and Lynn Stasick, a PAWV statewide field services representative. With Lynn and Adam’s help, the Scalphs’ Esso station gained endangered property status and underwent an extensive assessment resulting in a detailed list of priorities for restoration. The building was deemed structurally sound, salvageable, and environmentally safe—the gas pumps and underground gas tanks were properly removed during its vacancy—and the Scalphs are moving forward.

The first step to stabilize and secure the building’s exterior entailed a preservation process called mothballing that includes establishing an air ventilation system. Years of neglect led to a leaky roof that caused severe interior water damage and mold and is currently in danger of collapsing. Replacing the roof is slotted to begin in 2015, and as they begin the process, they hope to conserve as much of the original material as possible for reconstruction.

“You cannot lose the vision,” Denise says. “I absolutely love the station, and we’re so excited about trying to get it back to its former self.”

The Scalphs also intend to pursue a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is located on the edge of an existing historic district in Fayetteville, so it’s yet to be determined whether the station will become an extension of the district or be listed individually.

The historic Esso station’s complete restoration relies entirely on Matt and Denise’s continued collaboration with local organizations like PAWV and NRGRDA. The couple was unable to receive traditional loans due to the property’s dilapidated condition, so they invested significant personal resources and plan to apply for loans through NRGRDA and work with PAWV on identifying additional funding like stabilization and training grants through the State Historic Preservation Office. Ultimately, the Scalphs hope to find a tenant whose business will enhance Fayetteville’s commercial district. “These old buildings add so much to our sense of place,” Denise says. “They have personality. They tell a story. And that is so important.” pawv.org written by

rachel coon wvliving.com 29

don’t miss

River Festival

Good, clean family fun comes to Ronceverte.

a few trees with low branches sway in the breeze, sunlight breaking through the leaves and dancing on the ground. Friends sit and chat in the shade of an amphitheater on the banks of the Greenbrier River, as canoes carrying fishermen pass by. The whine of swings and the clang of horseshoes fill the air.

Ronceverte may be a small town in Greenbrier County, but people there know how to have big fun. For 28 years this town has been home to the Ronceverte River Festival—the second weekend in June at Island Park. This 20-acre park will transform its ball fields, courts, horseshoe pits, picnic areas, and playground from June 11 to 14, 2015, by adding a carnival, zip line, climbing wall, and waterslide. “This festival is in your own backyard,” says Freddie Hodges, coordinator 30 wvl • summer 2015

of the Ronceverte River Festival. Sporting events, races, a car and motorcycle show, children’s games, a parade, and Irish road bowling will also take place at the festival.

In 2015 festivalgoers will enjoy live entertainment each night. Harmony Creek Junction, a local bluegrass band, will take the stage Thursday. More than 30 vendors will begin their setup then, as well. “You never know what may show up in the line of crafts.

As for food, there’s a little bit of everything,” Freddie says.

But it’s Saturday’s Great Rubber Ducky Race that makes this festival truly unique.

Each year up to 3,500 rubber ducks are released into the Greenbrier River, and the first to the finish wins $10,000 cash for the ticketholder. For even more fun, the Ducky Legs Contest immediately follows.

Participating men hide all but their legs behind a curtain and hope for audience applause—the most cheers for categories like “the best set of legs” and “the hairiest legs” determine the winner.

On Sunday all that good clean family fun gets messy just in time for the mud bog.

Daredevils run their automobiles through a mud pit and compete to get the farthest.

The festival ends with a bang at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday with a grand fireworks display.

“Come out and have a good weekend, run into friends and neighbors that you may not get a chance to see otherwise. It’s a nice place for people to come and visit,” Freddie says.

Island Park, Ronceverte, WV 24970 written by

jordan carter elizabeth roth

photographed by

Join us for a summer of fun Artwalk Schedule

THURSDAY, JUNE 25

—Artist Invitational— Celebrating 10 years downtown

THURSDAY, JULY 16

Karen Chamblin THURSDAY, AUGUST 20

Linda Charles-Stone custom framing | pottery | glassware | jewelry | fine art

823 Quarrier St. Charleston, WV 25301 304.345.2787 ArtEmporium.net @artemporiumwv wvliving.com 31

SPOTLIGHT

dressing kids is tricky. And it’s not

shopping

Playing Dress-up A new kids boutique is making a big splash in Williamson.

just the rigmarole of tugging chubby arms through tiny sleeves or settling a wiggling child long enough to fasten a row of buttons— children have special needs, and their clothing should accommodate them. Kids want comfort, style, and plenty of room to move and play, while parents want durable clothes that will survive umpteen trips through the washing machine. It can be hard to find clothes that do both. And, as Renee Sartin found out when she had her son five years ago, it can be especially difficult when you live somewhere remote like Williamson, in Mingo County. “It was so hard to find clothes I wanted to put him in, there’s just nowhere to buy nice kid clothes in town,” she says. Her search intensified two years ago when she had another child, a girl—little girls should be so much fun to buy clothes for, she thought, but instead she was constantly frustrated. “I would have to drive an hour and 20 minutes away to get the boutique brand clothes I like on her,” Renee says. “And I’d see other people who have their kids in the same clothes, so I knew I wasn’t the only one doing it.”

In October 2014 Renee opened a children’s clothing boutique in downtown Williamson.

She called it Sugie Bumps Kidz Bowtique.

“When I had my little boy I always called him my sugie bump boy. I don’t know why, it was just something I would always sing to him,” she says.

“Still to this day he wants me to call him that.”

And “bowtique” isn’t a typo—it’s a pun that plays on the fact that mothers and daughters love the way hair bows look on little girls. “I sell an awful lot of bows,” Renee says.

That might seem like a bold move to the rest of us, but to Renee opening up Sugie Bumps seemed like the natural thing to do—she already owns a Tropical Sno stand in town and comes from a family of small business owners.

She grew up in her parents’ restaurant, and her husband owns a trucking company. “I wasn’t scared to do it, because there were always people in and out of my parents’ restaurant,” she says.

She figured that if her neighbors found shopping for children’s clothing in Mingo County as frustrating as she did, her new shop would be a huge asset to the little town. “I thought, ‘I could do something good for the area with this.’” wvliving.com 33

High-end brands like Tralala, Moxie & Mabel, and Mustard Pie line the walls of Sugie

Bumps in downtown Williamson. The popular store also sells jewelry and toys.

by

“I put in the store what I think is in style and what I would put on my child,” Renee says. “If I put something on her and realize I don’t like that brand, it doesn’t stay in good shape or it doesn’t wash up good, then I won’t carry it.” That means quality clothes from high-end labels like Tralala, Moxie & Mabel, and Mustard Pie. She stocks apparel for boys and girls—sizes newborn to eight for boys, and newborn to 16 for girls— and for the most part carries things meant for everyday wear. “It’s things that are not so ruffly she doesn’t feel good in them, where she’s going to be crying, saying, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to wear that,’” Renee says. “We do have a few things that have really big ruffles, but you wouldn’t really wear those unless you’re taking a picture.” The store also carries toys from the popular brand Melissa & Doug as well as teething necklaces for mothers whose infants have new teeth coming in. Recently Renee invested in an embroidery machine and started customizing pieces, too. She also makes a line of necklaces—big and chunky, with bright beads and dangling charms. “Some of the mommies even want to wear them.”

34 wvl • summer 2015

Renee decided to open Sugie Bumps downtown because she likes the old-timey look and feel of a downtown storefront. The store’s red facade makes a bright, colorful splash on the street.

Inside, the decorating is over the top and whimsical—she wanted it to be a place where children would love to go, too. She chose the theme with the help of her son. “He’s like, ‘I’m not going into a girly store,’” Renee says. “So I went with an old vintage carnival look.” Paper umbrellas and bunting hang from the ceiling, and the walls are colorful and lined with chalkboards for the kids to draw on. There’s a settee upholstered in a bright floral fabric for hanging out, a vanity for trying on hairpieces, and a vintage-style candy machine. “It’s fun,” Renee says. “It’s a unique place where kids and parents can hang out.” sugie bumps

152 East Second Avenue, Williamson, WV 25661 304.235.8687, sugiebumps.com written by shay

maunz bowman

photographed by nikki

Something for every room

Embellishments Too 106 East Main Street Downtown Bridgeport

304.848.2199

Your Local Source for Trollbeads, Brighton, Leather Products, and so much more.

Our Decorative Accessories and Wall Art will blow you away!!!

Fashion Apparel and Accessories from Head to Toe.

living loves

Birds and Blooms

These little lovelies will brighten up any space with a touch of nature.

Nature scene cards with envelopes These painting reproductions make perfect mailers for all occasions.$2.50 WOLF CREEK GALLERY 100 North Monroe Street Alderson, 304.445.2088

Birds of West Virginia: Field Guide, by Stan Tekiela This easy-to-use field guide features more than 100 species of West Virginia birds and is a perfect companion for an afternoon nature walk. $13.95 TAMARACK 1 Tamarack Park, Beckley 304.256.6843

Felt birdhouse This decorative birdhouse

by Wild Woolies is a perfect bird home and conversation piece for all nature lovers. $25–$30 THE GARDEN GALLERY The Greenbrier, 300 West Main Street, White Sulphur Springs 304.536.1110

36 wvl • summer 2015

Flower necklace and earrings Adorn yourself with nature’s best in polymer clay, or gift these beauties by Coalton Cottage Originals to a loved one. $15–$60 ARTISTRY ON MAIN 27 East Main Street Buckhannon, 304.460.2505

Bird-Shaped Ring Holder This colorful glass sculpture by studio artisans John DesMeules and Aaron Harvey will safeguard your rings while you’re working in the garden or washing up after chores. $18.95 TAMARACK 1 Tamarack Park, Beckley, 304.256.6843

Planter purse This lovely pouch will carry your favorite blooms all summer long. $16 BRIDGE WALK SHOPS 201 South Monroe Street, Alderson 304.445.7171

wvliving.com 37

cArlA Witt ford

All Abuzz

West Virginians are passionate about their pastimes— from beekeeping to pottery.

PICTURED: TOM KEES, MARION COUNTY, PAGE 59

A Lofty Idea Holly Clark’s 100-year-old hay loft is a getaway for grown-ups. written by zack

harold photographed by elizabeth roth

HER ITAGE | Lodging

remember those blanket forts you built as a kid? Depending on your preferred method of construction, they probably involved some combination of kitchen chairs and bed quilts.

You might have furnished them with throw pillows, couch cushions, favorite storybooks, and stuffed animals. Kool-Aid and Goldfish crackers were likely involved.

Before the independence of adulthood, these makeshift structures offered a rare opportunity for privacy when the rest of your life was dominated by grown-ups telling you what to do. Those forts eventually gave way to teenage bedrooms, college dorm rooms, first apartments, and first homes. But while each of those steps are important and exciting, let’s be honest—each one is a bit less magical than the last.

All is not lost, however. There are plenty of good forts for adults, too, if you know where to look. There’s one in Fayetteville, in Holly Clark’s 100-year-old barn.

The outside looks—well, it looks like a barn. But step inside and climb the ladder to the hayloft, and you’ll find a space illuminated by dozens of string lights hanging from the 44 wvl • summer 2015

ceiling. There’s a white shabby chic dresser and dining table and a reading nook in the corner with a mid-century lounge chair and floor lamp. But the focal point of the loft is the bed—queen-sized with a brass headboard, sitting on an oriental rug and draped with mosquito nets. “It’s very romantic,” Holly says.

Holly rents out the space—which she has dubbed, simply, The Barn Loft—to guests on the space-sharing website Airbnb. This is no Holiday Inn, however, and may not be suitable for all travelers. “There’s no heat. There’s no insulation. You climb up a ladder to get into the barn loft,” she says. “I’ve learned it’s best to give people a good understanding of what they’re getting into.”

Guests don’t seem disappointed. The space has more than 100 reviews on Airbnb and a five-star rating. A user named Aly and her boyfriend were Holly’s first guests of the season this year. “I won 10,000 brownie points with my boyfriend for booking this place. One of the most memorable places I’ve stayed. So, so romantic,” Aly wrote in her review.

Another guest, Caroline, stayed at the loft in September 2014 and says she can’t

wait to return. “It was very pleasant and very private. We had a romantic honeymoon in this charming little barn.” Jimmy, who works for the U.S. Foreign Service in Kabul, Afghanistan, writes: “I really enjoyed my time at The Barn Loft and only wished I had more to spend. When I visit Fayetteville again, Holly will be the first person I call.”

She started renting the space in July 2011, about a year after she moved onto the property.

“I had some friends who were coming over from Ohio on a regular basis to go rock climbing.” At the time, Holly was just beginning to convert her barn into an extra bedroom. “They thought, well, why don’t we rent that space from her so we can come and go as we please.” Her friends never ended up staying in the loft, but it did give her an idea.

Holly had read about the website Airbnb— which allows users to rent out houses, apartments, spare bedrooms, and even couches to travelers—and figured listing her loft would be a good way to bring in some extra dough.

She put it on the site and reservation requests soon came rolling in. “That has been the only way I’ve advertised,” she says. Guests either find

The Barn Loft has become an oasis for people all over the world as they climb into its cozy atmosphere in Fayetteville.

wvliving.com 45

her in the Airbnb listings or get word-of-mouth recommendations from former visitors.

The space has continued to grow in popularity. She had 69 reservations in 2014 and expects to top that in 2015. “Each year I’ve had higher numbers of reservations,” she says. “I really enjoy meeting the folks who are passing through. I’ve had folks from all over the world.” The loft has become a popular rendezvous for long-distance lovers.

Remember Jimmy from Afghanistan? He came to Fayetteville with a woman he had met only once before, in Afghanistan. “They had one meeting and then they started corresponding. He flew to the states and they drove from Washington, D.C., to stay in the barn. It was their first date,” she says.

There was another couple from France—she was going to college in the United States, and he flew across the Atlantic to meet her. They rented a motorcycle for a road trip through southern West Virginia but the weather

conditions weren’t ideal for the ride. The couple ran into some rain and showed up at Holly’s door—soaked. “They were just like wet little ducks. I made hot chocolate for them.”

Holly often acts as a concierge for guests. “I try to rattle off all the things you can do. Hiking, rock climbing. I try to encourage them to get down to the gorge. A lot of them don’t even realize what’s there.” Once a guest from India arrived late in the evening but wanted to get some photos of the area before dark. Holly took the man, his wife, and his mother to the nearby Long Point Trail, which ends in a spectacular view of the New River Gorge Bridge. “We made it just in time to catch the sunset,” she says.

But the party still had a mile-and-a-half hike back to the car. “This is the first time I have ever hiked the Long Point Trail in the dark,” she says. “At one point the guy got a phone call and said, ‘I can’t talk now! I’m in the jungles of West Virginia!’” facebook.com/nrgbarnloft wvliving.com 47

Humble Earth

Potter Kate Harward devotes her life to kids, craft, and contemplation. written by mikenna

photographed by nikki

pierotti bowman

HER ITAGE | Art

there’s something primal about pottery.

Digging fingers in soft earth, joints aching with the effort of hours, cupping water over a hunk of clay and smoothing it to silk—human hands were the first artistic tools and many would say they remain the most expressive. “I love the fact that you’re starting with mud, in essence. It’s something that’s very humble and simple. But you can take it wherever you want to take it. It’s an incredible substance. You can get very refined or you can keep it humble. It just depends on where you want to go,” says Kate Harward, sole proprietor of Tygart River Pottery and a juried Tamarack artisan. “Anyone who puts his or her hands in the clay comes up with something different.”

Kate is tan from hours spent among her thick flower beds, with pure white hair twisted back in a neat chignon. She has a stoic gaze but a brilliant, genuine smile that catches you off guard. Meet her on the gravel path to her secluded home beside the roiling Tygart River and ask her about her children and her eyes 50 wvl • summer 2015

will light up. “I raised a lot of children, many adopted,” she says. “They touched my life.

That’s a point I try to make. It wasn’t a one-way street. We learned from each other and helped each other.”

A transplant from Falls Church, Virginia, Kate attended Washington, D.C.’s liberal arts-focused Federal City College for a degree in history, but a pottery elective threw her off course and onto a wheel. Hands in the clay, she was swallowed up in the possibilities of the medium. “I never ended up with a history degree, but I built a kiln and started making pots.” Kate had friends who were passionate about the art form and they pooled their resources, learning and discovering together.

But when her husband, Tom, graduated from college with his physician assistant degree and got a job in Elkins, Kate piled up the caravan— six cars and a truck full of clay—and moved to a plot six miles from Belington beside the Tygart.

That was in 1976 and they’ve been there ever since. “We liked the freedom life in West

Virginia offers as opposed to a more urban setting. I love the beauty. I love the privacy.

I find that there is much less distraction for me.” Shucking the urban lifestyle wasn’t easy.

“We live down a dirt road on a section of the Tygart River that has Class V rapids, so you don’t see a lot of people on this section because it’s so difficult. It’s beautiful but you can’t see any other houses.” But she’s never regretted the move, despite the relative isolation of her setting. “It was really hard and you missed a lot of things. But I still go back there for those things, and I come back here to live.”

From the windows in her backyard studio, Kate can watch the river swell after a rain and ebb in the summer heat. She coaxes birds out of the trees with a feeder and hangs prayer flags on an arch in the garden. In contrast to the vivid colors of her rural setting, everything in and around her art is covered in muted clay—hardened drips on door knobs, splatters on windows and floorboards, a fine powdered coating on a pile of CDs, punk rock pioneer

HER ITAGE | Art

Patti Smith’s debut album peering out. It covers the walls, the sills, an old office chair turned white. It’s hard to tell what lies hidden under the milky taupe. But it’s her element, a place she uses to learn and experiment. “My training comes from ceramics magazines I get, from seminars, from friends, and from the people I meet. We bounce ideas off each other,” she says. “Being self-taught has its problems. I make every mistake you can. But that’s part of the personality.”

The clay comes to her by the ton, dry. She mixes her ingredients—called clay bodies—and works the pieces on the slab or the wheel, first wedging or homogenizing the material with her hands, then forming it into one of the many functional objects she’s known for—simple yet elegantly fashioned teapots, jars, mugs, pitchers, bowls, mortars and pestles, plates, platters, lamps, sink basins, and tall vases. From there it air dries and is later fired.

Warm brown stoneware clay was her forte for more than 20 years. These days she’s shifted into the realm of ethereal high-fired white stoneware and high-fired porcelain. She fires her pots once or twice, depending on the effect she’s going for, at blazing hot temperatures, around 2,340 degrees Fahrenheit, forming a smooth, glass-hard skin. Kate is especially praised for her use of Shino glazing, a Japanese method that captures carbon during the firing process and produces soft, milky colors. And to get her signature color palette she uses a special reduction firing technique. “This is where you limit the oxygen and that causes a lot of interesting tones in your glazes,” she says.

Over more than 40 years of experimentation, Kate has developed a unique relationship with the fire trapped in her kiln. “After a piece is fired it becomes a whole different kind of thing.

I give it over to the kiln and sometimes it does things I don’t appreciate. Sometimes I don’t like it anymore,” she says. For those pieces it’s a quick death in the discard pile. “That’s what makes pottery so different from something like painting. The fire has the final say, not me.

I do my best to try and control what’s going to happen there, but there are a lot of times it doesn’t happen the way I want it to.”

She calls herself a “functional potter,” but her work has a timelessness about it, a patient aesthetic reminiscent of traditional Japanese pottery, particularly the work of master potter Shöji Hamada. And the whimsical decoration, organic shapes, and pops of color—bright blues, reds, greens—dip into a Moroccan or South African tenor. Not surprisingly, Kate has traveled extensively to China, Japan, 52 wvl • summer 2015

South Africa, Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, and plans to go to Morocco in 2015. She calls her trips field research. “For years you can pick your brain about what you saw. It will really challenge you.”

In business, Kate started small, balancing her responsibilities as a mother with the draw of her chosen medium. “I’ve always structured myself pretty rigidly because it used to be I was raising children. It was so many loads of laundry, something in the oven, and a couple of pots in between naptime and the kids coming home from school.” She sold her work in retail shops in West Virginia and adjoining states and went to craft shows when she could.

Back then her studio was in her house, which made it easier to slip back and forth between

the wheel and chasing children around the yard. “But clay is dirty and dusty. As soon as I could get it out of the house I got it out of the house,” she says. “The clay was always for me to have something of my own,” she says. “I made a little money but not much. I covered my expenses and bought birthday presents. Today I have a wholesale business and it’s structured very differently.”

These days her detached studio houses a wheel, slab roller, clay mixer, and a compressor for spraying glazes. Under the covered porch four kilns wait to be filled. One of those kilns, she, her son, and her son’s partner built together. Tygart River Pottery is sold at Artists at Work in Elkins and Artistry on Main in Buckhannon. Kate’s work has been represented

at Tamarack in Beckley since it opened. And every year she travels to the American Made Show and sets up a booth with samples of her best pieces. Retailers across the country put in large orders and Kate works all year to fill them.

Her kids might be grown but the family obligations still take priority in Kate’s life. She gets up early and walks to the studio with her dogs before the sun breaks over the trees. From 7 a.m. until at least noon she works, then, if her daughter needs it, she babysits her granddaughter. By naptime Kate’s back in the studio. She generally gets in about six to eight hours a day on her pots. But she doesn’t push it. “I want to be able to do this for a long time so I’m very considerate of my body,” she says. Mostly, she’s just grateful for the choice. “It’s mine. I’m in control of it. If I don’t want to sell I don’t have to. If I feel the pieces didn’t come out well, I can redo them. Whatever it is, it’s mine. Most other realms of life, lots of other people have a say. But not in this teeny realm of my life. I like that.” wvliving.com 53

Travel to Old Central City

This nearly forgotten Huntington district is becoming a tourist destination. written by katie

photographed by katie

griffith griffith & nikki bowman

HER ITAGE | Travel

a forgotten business hub, Central City until recently sat nearly abandoned on Huntington’s West End—empty save for the beer halls and bars that were home to rough and tumble men from nightfall to the early morning hours. Now a part of Huntington proper, the once-standalone city had a mayor of its own to organize countless small businesses and industry giants packed into one tiny section of land between train tracks and a moody river prone to flooding. Remnants of those businesses—early department stores and hardware stores, groceries and bakeries and factories—continue to hold out. Their signs still adorn weatherworn early 20th century buildings that, today, host the selfproclaimed antiques capital of West Virginia, a handful of eclectic museums, and a growing local foodie hub. Styling itself “Old Central City,” modern Central City is a far cry from the bustling industrial town of the 1910s and the Wild West bar crawl of the ’70s and ’80s. With a laid-back Southern vibe, rows of antique shops filled with treasures and amiable storekeepers, and a location just off of Interstate 64, it’s become a must-stop summer travel destination for locals and passersby alike.

“If these buildings could talk, the tales that would come out of them. Unbelievable guys hung out here, and they were really rough rodeo. This was wild man’s turf,” says 56 wvl • summer 2015

Joanna Sexton, owner of Hattie and Nan’s Antiques on 14th Street and member of the Old Central City Association. “Huntington just has everything. All of the great society, all of the common man, it’s all here. It’s a wonderful tapestry of people.”

Central City was founded as an industrial complement to Huntington. At one time it was the bung capital of the world. An odd word that’s mostly passed from modern vocabulary, bungs were the cork stops sealing barrels of goods. “Before the turn of the last century, barrels were used to send everything and they shipped everywhere. We are the largest inland seaport in the country in Huntington. It was a big secret where we got our corks. You were sworn to secrecy if you worked in this factory, and it was a big factory,” Joanna says. “That’s what started Central City and made it go over the top.” Next came several installments of a brewery and Abbott framing. “You’ll see their name on a building down the street.

Kincaid Furniture, you’ll see their name on a building here as well. Georgetown Galleries came out of that and became one of the most sought-after furniture makers.” The cycle of industry rolled on, but by the late 1980s it had rolled out of Central City and Huntington.

The rough rodeo of bars and strip clubs moved in until Huntington began the area’s

reclamation around the early ’90s, an effort still in progress.

There are some big plans for Old Central City.

Visitors and locals alike find an abundance of antiques in this part of Huntington.

So Much to See Pulling in off the Ohio River Scenic Byway now, travelers pass over railway tracks and find themselves in the middle of Old Central City within seconds.

The faded signs of furniture builders and hardware stores harken to the city’s past, but now the brick-lined stretch of 14th Street blooms with the pinks, purples, and whites of summertime flowers and the heady scent of midsummer buds lingers on the air. On warm Saturdays the Central City gazebo often echoes with music and children’s laughter, while across the street shoppers fill baskets with local produce, meats, cheeses, pastas, and crafts, and a group of out-of-town tourists wanders with map in hand to take a tour of the many historical quilts lining local shops on the Old Central City Quilt Trail. Each pattern, inspired by patterns from Fawn Valentine’s West Virginia Quilts and Quiltmakers, carries its own story, lovingly re-created by local artists. Where downtown Huntington, with its grandiose theaters and restaurants, is reinvigorating its big-city feel,

Travel | HER ITAGE

Old Central City in Huntington is alive with an eclectic mix of history and new business and

entertainment, from music at the gazebo to farmers’ markets.

Central City is all mom and pops. “It really serves as a tourist area, shopping district, and arts and crafts area,” Joanna says. “We have about 24 storefronts and at any given time about 18 are up and operating,” she says. “We’re filling up again now with mostly antiques and florists.”

Heiner’s Bakery, a holdout from the area’s industrial boom, continues to manufacture thousands of loaves of bread a day, now under the Bimbo umbrella, to ship across the United States. It’s no longer open to tours, but the smell of freshly baked loaves still wafts through the area at certain hours of the day.

Take a second to look up and you just might spot the production tube carrying ingredients from train cars on the rail tracks across the street to the bakery. Walking down the street, visitors encounter rows of antiques, each store specializing in its own kitsch. From West Virginia glass to turn-of-the-century furniture to Marx toys and old Marshall University letterman jackets, a plethora of West Virginia history awaits collectors. “We all do something different and bring something different to the game,” Joanna says. She likens it to a restaurant row with options upon options for even the pickiest of eaters. “It’s the same with antiques.”

Wild Ramp, a relative newcomer to the area, sits directly across from the Central City

gazebo. Like its antique row neighbors, Wild Ramp is home to myriad options—this time of the food variety. “Central City is wonderful with all these beautiful antique shops, but it needed an anchor and food is definitely an anchor to have in any community,” says Wild Ramp Market Manager Shelly Keeney. “We want this to be a community market.” Since its conception in 2012, the nonprofit organization has provided space for more than 150 local food producers and artisans to sell products on a consignment basis. Producers receive 90 percent of the sales price—nearly half a million dollars as of June 2014. In addition to providing a year-round indoor market and a summertime outdoor farmers’ market, Wild Ramp offers classes and events on everything from mushroom picking to making soap.

“We are a farmers’ market, we have local artisan products, but we’re more than just a retail storefront. We try to grow our farmers, and part of thatz is to help market them,” Shelly says. “We do that through having classes, whether it’s a forage hike with one of the farmers or a local cooking class.” On weekends the store hosts demonstrations and food tastings, one of the most popular being Cinnamon Roll Saturday with a local baker. Shopgoers line the store waiting to sample fresh cinnamon rolls with a strong cup of coffee from the in-house wvliving.com 57

HER ITAGE | Travel Visit museums, antique stores, and

famous restaurants all sitting side by side.

“Huntington just has everything.

All of the great society, all of the common man, it’s all here. It’s a wonderful tapestry of people.”

café before a day of antiquing. Wild Ramp outgrew its original space in Huntington’s Heritage Station and moved to Old Central City in 2014 with the support of the city government. The store leases its space for only $1 a year, allowing the organization’s reach and mission to continue to expand.

Nearby, Central City Café, made famous by Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, continues to sling good ol’ country cooking from white Formica counters atop black and white checkered floors. It’s the place to grab a bite in Old Central City, right on the 14th Street stretch. Up the street sits the Taylor Auto Museum, displaying 30 antique and collectible cars. “We have five important joanna sexton museums in town—one of the leading radio owner of Hattie and Nan’s Antiques museums in the country is a half-mile from here,” Joanna says. Heritage Farm Museum and Village, displaying 16 restored heritage buildings, Huntington’s railroad museum, and the Huntington Museum of Art, a national award-winning museum designed by the legendary Walter Gropius, all sit a few miles

58 wvl • summer 2015

away. Camden Park, one of the country’s oldest amusement parks, operates nearby as well.

History and variety have come to a head in Old Central City each summer for more than 20 years during Old Central City Days. Every third weekend in June, 14th Street closes for the summertime festival, a time when vendors and shop owners pour outside to peddle wares among music, food, and children’s activities.

This year’s events take place June 19 to 21, 2015.

“We have an antique fair, people have sidewalk sales, we have concessions and inflatables for the kids,” says Terry Bryan, owner of Camelot Antiques and president of the Old Central City Association. The gazebo sits at the center of the activity, hosting event entertainment like the Gate City Gunslingers, portraying old Western shootouts. Wild Ramp will be on-hand with food this year, while the antique shops fill in the activities. “Central City is thriving. People are excited,” Terry says. “We have a great community and it’s getting better all the time. At one point we had five or six empty stores and now they don’t stay empty for long.”

Bee Culture West Virginia is a sweet spot for both hobby and small business beekeeping.

written by mikenna

pierotti • photographed by carla witt ford

H

TA E L v

“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,— One clover, and a bee, And revery.

The revery alone will do If bees are few.”

- emily dickinson

you might think, standing in the shadows of a bee yard, where more than 150,000 busy insects are getting ready for their workday, it’d be loud—rush hour traffic loud. But the air is still. A few dozen tiny, fuzzy bodies sun themselves atop stacks of square white wooden boxes called supers. The bees stretch gauzy wings and gauge the wind. Flowers are blooming, honeysuckle and tulip poplar are heavy with blossoms, trees up and down the road are awash in color—if you could speak bee you might hear them humming, “It’s time to wake up. It’s time to make honey.”

Three figures are on route to the hives.

Two are a man and a woman covered head60 wvl • summer 2015

to-toe in loose white suits with netted veils over their faces. The third is a man in light clothing—jean shirt and khaki pants—and his own veil. His hands are notably bare.

The woman removes the wooden top cover on one hive and the ungloved man brazenly wedges a thin piece of metal, called a hive tool, between the frames hanging vertically inside. He pulls out a frame swathed in bees and dotted with honeycomb and inspects it. The bees aren’t concerned. The woman doesn’t bother with her smoker, an age-old technology that supposedly masks the alarm pheromones bees give out when disturbed. In late spring these insects have more pressing

issues, like making comb, feeding young, and finding food. “There’s not too much activity right now, but once the sun hits them fully they will get more active,” says the barehanded Tom Kees. “If I was down here at the end of May, the bees would be flying in and out like a busy airport.”

Tom is a Marion County man with 25 years of experience peering into the living, breathing heart of beedom, extracting golden honey, treating bees for mites and disease, protecting his charges from hard winters, and mentoring newbie keepers. They call him the bee guru.

“When I first started, I wore a white bee suit.

I would tape the legs so the bees couldn’t crawl on my legs and I would wear gloves.

But I’ve learned,” he says. “If you’re careful and treat them with a lot of respect, like if they are having a bad day you are smart enough to leave them alone, you don’t have to worry so much about getting stung. The advantage to leaving the gloves off is that your hands can sense a lot of what’s going on in the hive.”

Amy and Otto Kaiser, owners of this bee yard, or apiary, in the suburbs of Fairmont, inspect the hives as Tom gives pointers. Amy is retired from Fairmont Federal Credit Union and is now the president of the Marion County Beekeepers Association and the publicity aide for the West Virginia Beekeepers Association (WVBA). She’s been a part of bee culture for about three seasons and makes just enough honey for herself, friends, and family. She’s also working toward a master beekeeper certification, which will allow her to mentor others and dig deeper into the art and science of bees. “There’s so much to learn. No matter how long you’ve been in it,” she says.

West Virginia, with its landscape nearly 80 percent forested, is a hotspot for beekeepers, providing ample food sources for their bees and a healthy market for honey and other bee products, one reason the honeybee became the state insect in 2002. “One of the things about being a beekeeper in West Virginia is that it’s like a honey wonderland. We have so many types of food sources,” Tom says. “Most people don’t realize it, but trees have a lot of different blooms at different times.” In Tom’s apiary, where he keeps around nine hives currently, four flavors dominate the honey crops he collects during the year. In general, nearby locust trees bloom early and supply a

Living Local | HER ITAGE

Beekeepers have used the same tools for centuries—hive boxes or supers to house bees and honey; smokers to calm the bees; a bee brush and hive tool to open the hives safely; and their own hands, the most essential and sensitive tools of all.

wvliving.com 61

Tom Kees is the bee guru with more than 25 years of experience mentoring beekeepers of all ages.

62 wvl • summer 2015

Living Local | HER ITAGE clockwise from left

A new bee emerges from the comb for the first time. Amy

and Otto Kaiser own three hives in Fairmont. They keep an apiary in their backyard.

Stephanie and Tim Bender, owners of S&T’s Bees, a beekeeping supply and bee product store in Randolph County, have doubled their sales in the last year. Stephanie serves beekeepers from every county in the state. They stop in to chat, share ideas, and get their hands on the best equipment. “Last year we sold approximately 150 packages of live bees. This year we jumped to 400. If I would have had 500 or 600, we would have sold those, too,” Stephanie says. Young beekeepers, especially, are knocking on her door, so in 2015 she held an informal introductory class out of her home. “Our main goal when we started was to the preserve the honeybee. They are vital to our agriculture. A lot people don’t realize that one to two bites of food out of three in your mouth were pollinated by honeybees. If we don’t have them, we don’t have a lot of food.”

Stephanie has also seen an uptick in interest among consumers looking for local honey and beeswax—both of which are touted for their allergy-fighting properties. In addition to everything a beekeeper might need to start and maintain a hive, Stephanie sells raw, minimally filtered golden honey, beeswax candles, soaps, lotions, and lip balms from the fruits of their 27 hives. “Unfortunately a lot of what you get in the store isn’t real honey. People want something they can trust, from where they live,” she says.

But even with hives like Amy and Otto’s, tucked away in backyards and gardens across light, aromatic yield, while local basswood, the state, honeybee populations are declining. in late spring, adds a complex, biting flavor.

Managed hives have declined from 5 million Neighboring tulip poplars offer a dark, in the 1940s to 2.5 million today, yet bees are robust crop with their summer flowers and still relied upon to pollinate $30 billion in crops goldenrod, a late-season bloomer, makes a rich in the the country. Diseases and pests like varroa amber honey, spicy like a distilled summer day. and tracheal mites as well as the pesticides and Tom, now a retired teacher, got his first fungicides potentially responsible for collapsing hives after taking a class at Fairmont State colonies have been decimating honeybees University. He was looking for pollinators across the globe. But with the rise in concern tom kees, veteran beekeeper for his cherry trees. His interest grew with comes increased interest among consumers his honey crop and at one time he kept more to protect bees and the environments they than 20 hives and operated a small business fight. They work together in harmony. Life is live in. “It’s a little bit easier to talk to most selling live bees. He also served as president work and work is life to them.” folks about bees now because they have a basic of the WVBA from 1997 to 2001 and was Enthusiasts like Tom, together with understanding. The interest has brought a lot secretary of the Marion County Beekeepers his wife, Aretha, and Amy, alongside her of notice to honeybees and beekeepers,” Tom Association, where he helped organize a husband, Otto, represent a budding interest says. “Not everyone will get bees. But everyone popular beekeeping school for beginners now in keeping, protecting, and promoting we talk to will walk away with a greater in its 20th year. But the bee culture itself was honeybees across the state and the nation. appreciation of who and what honeybees are, his biggest reward. “Every time I go into a According to the WVBA, membership has how important they are, and how they interact beehive, I go down to the brood nest and to nearly doubled from 2007 to 2013, from 480 with the rest of nature.” me it’s a wonder. These little creatures don’t to 950 registered members. wvbeekeepers.org

“One of the things about being a beekeeper in West Virginia is that it’s like a honey wonderland.”

wvliving.com 63

#GoToWV | 800-CALL WVA |

Step Into History

Oglebay Institute Mansion Museum preserves and furthers its founder’s legacy. written by mikenna

pierotti • photographed by carla witt ford & nikki bowman

HER ITAGE | Spaces

on a quiet evening, about five miles outside the pulse of 20th century Wheeling’s industrial heart, businessman and philanthropist Earl W. Oglebay could often be found relaxing in a wicker chair on the wide wraparound porch of his 16-room summer home, staring off into the hills as the light waned. He owned a much grander house in Cleveland, Ohio, right next door to John D. Rockefeller. Still, “He always said his address was in the city but he lived in the country,” says Holly McCluskey, longtime curator at Oglebay’s seasonal estate, now Oglebay Institute Mansion Museum.

For Oglebay, living was all about family, friends, and pursuing passions. In this case, Oglebay’s real passion was furthering West Virginia’s food system. “The mansion and its environs really represent his vision and legacy.

He was an industrialist, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist,” says Christin Byrum, director of the Museums of Oglebay Institute. “You look at the mansion and that represents the lifestyle of the wealthy iron ore magnate he was. But the land around it represents his great belief in agriculture.”

Strip back Oglebay’s many renovations to his summer estate and you’ll find the bones of a brick 19th century eight-room farmhouse— from the fireplaces in each room to the wide windows. The property passed through 19 owners before the iron ore giant got his hands on it, including his wife’s family, but when he did it went through some of its grandest transformations, Holly says. “Whenever you see a column, that’s a Mr. Oglebay addition.

He even hired an architect to make the dining room a larger space to entertain. He had a lot of people who would come visit the farm and stay for a month, sometimes two.

That’s the sort of thing he did,” she says.

Elaborate columns, scenic French Zuber et Cie wallpaper, handmade needlepoint rugs, sparkling chandeliers, and fine bone china— the Oglebays spared no expense over the years decking out their hilltop home. But visit today and you’ll find more than just opulence.

The physical building is now owned by the Wheeling Park Commission. But the mansion also houses a rigorously accredited decorative arts collection established in the 1930s and owned and managed by the Oglebay Institute. The museum is dedicated to preserving and displaying decorative arts from not only the Oglebay family but also from important periods throughout Wheeling’s and the nation’s history. “There are some items that are in the collection that did belong to the family but the museum 68 wvl • summer 2015

predominantly houses items donated or acquired that represent what life would have been like in the upper Ohio Valley over certain periods,” Christin says. “It is a decorative art collection displayed in period room settings. And we were one of the earliest museums to adopt that method.”

A Federal-style dining room lit with Wheeling-made 1870s crystal chandeliers, a pioneer kitchen with copper pots hanging over a wide hearth, a complete Victorian parlor with ornate gilded mirrors, an Empire parlor displaying pre-civil war antiques—each of the mansion’s rooms transports visitors into new eras and beckons them to look closer. It’s an experience of stepping into history with both feet, rather

than skimming over a dry Earl Oglebay loved to entertain. He had the page. Even the mansion’s dining room expanded heart, what Holly calls for his many guests, adding Zuber et Cie the oval parlor, reveals wallpaper much like something more than what what is found in the a history book can tell.

White House, a thick “The parlor really shows us oriental needlepoint rug, and crystal how the Oglebays would chandeliers made have lived. It reflects

by Wheeling’s J.H. Hobbs, Brockunier their lifestyle. They had and Company. that formal parlor, but despite their wealth and all the traveling they did and connections they’d made, the family was very laid-back.” Overstuffed wingback chairs, pieces collected by family members on their travels, warm lighting, and soft colors—

Spaces | HER ITAGE

Above the oval parlor, the Empire sitting room displays antebellum styles reminiscent of ancient Greek and Pompeiian design. Earl Oglebay added his own touches to each room, from French scenic wallpaper to columns. Paintings from the Oglebay family can be found in the Waddington Room, including one of the lovely Marguerite Burton, wife of Earl Oglebay’s grandson, Courtney Burton, Jr.

wvliving.com 69

HER ITAGE | Spaces The Oval Parlor is most indicative of the Oglebay family’s lifestyle.

Despite their wealth they preferred a more laid-back, intimate space for relaxing.

Elaborate furnishings and decorative elements like a papiermâché and mother of pearl game table and unique ceiling medallion in the Victorian parlor would have represented a family’s wealth from the mid- to late-19th century.

Wingback chairs in the Federal bedroom were helpful in keeping out drafts during the Federal period, 1780s to 1820s.

70 wvl • summer 2015

Spaces | HER ITAGE The Oglebay family commissioned many family paintings, a sign of their wealth.

Earl Oglebay

in defiance of their status the Oglebay family preferred comfort over formality. “This was where Mr. Oglebay especially could get away from the pressures he felt on a day-to-day basis.”

Oglebay loved his adopted state. Although born in Ohio to a middle-class family, he moved to Wheeling with his family at age 8 and by age 51 he’d already lived the American dream, becoming the youngest president of the National Bank of West Virginia and later starting his own iron ore shipping company with David Z. Norton and John D. Rockefeller in 1890. A little more than a decade later he sold his iron ore interests to U.S. Steel and became a multimillionaire philanthropist.

Rather than build an art museum or a dusty library, he planted his dream in the fertile soil of West Virginia. “Mr. Oglebay purchased the mansion and 25 acres of land for $8,000 in 1900,” Holly says. He added space both inside and outside the home, purchasing adjoining land until his property stretched to 750 acres. He called it Waddington Farm. There he brought in agricultural experts to make recommendations on how to grow crops and raise animals, employed 75 workers to carry out the experts’ instructions and record results, had the architect who designed Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh build an expansive greenhouse, and started one of the

loved unique architectural elements like Greek key design door openings and coffered ceilings.

state’s first agricultural education programs.

Oglebay also served on the state’s board of education for 15 years and contributed generously to his alma mater, Bethany College. “He was unique among his contemporaries because he believed safe, fresh foods were essential for the growth of cities and industrial centers,” Christin says. “He was reaching back to what he felt provided the foundation for and had enabled his success as an industrialist. It was very visionary for his time.”

Oglebay refused to let his dream fade, even as he reached advanced age. Upon his death at 77 he gifted Waddington Farm and his mansion to the city and people of Wheeling as a place for recreation. His nephew, Crispin, developed the cultural and educational side—what became Oglebay Institute. Today the estate has a recreational side called Oglebay Resort & Conference Center and an educational side managed by Oglebay Institute. Collectively it has become one of the largest city parks in the country, with 1,700 acres of fields, forests, and educational and recreational buildings. But its crown jewel is undoubtedly the mansion itself, which not only is a repository of local history and Wheeling-made items but also brings in nationally traveling collections like Shakespeare’s first folio, slated to appear at the mansion from May 9 to June 12, 2016.

And true to the Oglebay legacy, various educational programs also run at the mansion throughout the year, including classes on decorative styles, social history, lifestyles, furniture, and the arts. Holly says this educational aspect is one of the museum’s most important goals. “If you don’t know your past you can’t know where you’re going.

If we can inspire people—through school tours and classes and bringing in visitors—to have a better sense of history, where they are going and why things are the way they are, I think that will help us all really plan for the future.” oionline.com, oglebay-resort.com wvliving.com 71

Sizzlin’ Summer Feast With the scent of grilling charcoal in the air, there’s no doubt summertime is here. written by katie

griffith • photographed by carla witt ford

The first grilled feast of the season sets the pace for the rest of summer, and it’s not to

be taken lightly. The bright flavors of fresh fruits and vegetables are meant to be enjoyed right where they’re grown—outside. With a cool drink in hand and the friendly buzz of family, friends, and neighbors, heat up the grill and grab the tongs. This one’s a spread they’ll be talking about for years.

HER ITAGE | Food

Grilled Flank Steak with Fresh Mango Salsa to prepare steak:

2–3 pounds flank steak, trimmed of excess fat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon cumin, ground ½ teaspoon black pepper, ground 2 teaspoons garlic, granulated to prepare salsa:

1 ripe mango, peeled and diced 2 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped 1–2 teaspoons jalapeno, finely chopped 3 tablespoons lime juice 3 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped Salt and pepper, to taste 1. Preheat grill to medium-high.

2. Thoroughly rub the flank steak with oil and season with salt, cumin, pepper, and garlic.

3. Combine all salsa ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and stir until uniform. Adjust with salt and pepper, to taste.

4. Grill the beef for 8 to 12 minutes on both sides to medium rare.

5. Holding a knife at a 45-degree angle, slice steak into thin slices. Spoon the salsa over the beef or serve on the side. yield: 4 to 5 servings

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Food | HER ITAGE

Grilled Pizza Prepared pizza dough Olive oil, for brushing Tomato sauce, to taste Mozzarella cheese, grated Toppings of your choice 1. Heat the grill to a medium-high temperature.

2. Hand spread the pizza dough to form a Âź-inch thick pizza.

3. Brush one side with olive oil and place it oil side down onto the grill. Brush more oil across the top side and close the grill cover.

Cook dough until the bottom is browned and the top is set, about 5 minutes.

4. Flip the crust over and cook on the other side until browned, another 3 minutes.

5. Remove crust from the heat and set aside until guests arrive.

6. Spread tomato sauce onto the crust and top with mozzarella cheese and your favorite toppings. Put the pizza back on the hot grill, close the cover, and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 5 to 6 minutes.

7. Cut and serve immediately. yield: About 4 servings

Pizza topping suggestions: artichoke hearts avocado basil black beans

Capicola goat cheese ham hot peppers

mushrooms olives onions Parmesan

pineapple pepperoni pine nuts peppers

pesto sausage smoked gouda tomatoes wvliving.com 75

Balsamic Mushroom Burgers with Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese 76 wvl • summer 2015

¼ cup olive oil, plus more for grilling ¼ cup balsamic vinegar 3 garlic cloves, minced Coarse salt and ground pepper, to taste 1 jar roasted red peppers, cut into eight ½-inch wide strips 8 portobello mushrooms (about 1 pound total), stems removed 4 hamburger buns 5 ounces goat cheese, cut into 4 equal slices 4 lettuce leaves 1. In a shallow dish, whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

2. Add bell pepper and mushrooms and toss gently to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight.

3. Heat grill to medium and lightly oil grates.

4. Grill mushrooms, covered, until lightly charred and tender, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

5. Warm roasted red peppers on grill in a grillfriendly pan.

6. Evenly top the bottom half of each bun with pepper slices, mushrooms, goat cheese, and lettuce. Close the burgers and serve immediately. yield: 4 burgers

Grilled Cheese with Honey and Almonds 1 wheel of Camembert or brie cheese 1 tablespoon olive oil Ÿ cup honey ½ cup almonds 1. Brush the cheese rind with olive oil and grill cheese on oiled grates over indirect heat until warmed, about 2 minutes per side.

2. Remove cheese from the grill, pour honey and almonds over top.

3. Serve immediately with grilled baguette slices and fresh slices of Granny Smith apples.

HER ITAGE | Food

78 wvl • summer 2015

Food | HER ITAGE

Festive Grilled Corn Grilled Corn 6 ears of corn Butcher’s twine, soaked in water to prevent burning Butter Salt and pepper 1. Peel back corn husks to the base of the ear, but do not remove. Clean silks from the corn. Fold the husks out to create a handle for each ear and tie using water-soaked butcher’s twine.

2. Rub the corn with butter and season with salt and pepper.

3. Grill corn directly over medium heat, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely browned and tender, turning occasionally.

4. Remove corn from the grill and brush with one of the following marinade mixtures. Return corn to grill for about five minutes or until mixture has browned, turning at least once.

5. Remove and place on a platter and garnish.

Sprinkle with chipotle and ancho chili powders and a little extra cilantro. Serve immediately.

Roasted Corn with Parmesan Butter ½ cup butter, softened ½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped Pepper, freshly ground, to taste 2 tablespoons olive oil

In small bowl, mix butter, cheese, dill, and pepper with fork. On a serving platter, immediately top the grilled corn with the butter mixture. Serve once the butter has melted slightly.

Grilled Corn with Honey

1½ tablespoons butter, melted 1 tablespoon honey ⅛ teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon red pepper, ground (optional) ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground Combine the butter, honey, salt, and peppers, and brush over grilled corn. Serve immediately.

yield: 6 cobs

Chili Lime Corn

4 limes 1 cup mayonnaise 1 8-ounce carton sour cream 3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano cheese, grated, plus extra for garnishing 2 tablespoons chili powder 2 tablespoons fresh Italian leaf parsley, chopped Zest limes for 2 tablespoons of zest. Squeeze ¼ cup juice.

Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, cheese, chili powder, lime peel, and lime juice. Brush over the grilled corn and return corn to the grill for another 5 minutes, or until browned. Remove and place on a platter. Sprinkle with lots of fresh parsley and more Parmesan.

Mexican Corn

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1 tablespoon cilantro leaves, chopped plus more for garnishing 1 teaspoon lime juice ½ teaspoon kosher salt Pepper, freshly ground, to taste 1 cup queso fresco or mild feta cheese, shredded or crumbled Pinch of chipotle powder Pinch of ancho powder Put butter, cilantro, and lime juice in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and stir to incorporate the ingredients. Spread the butter mixture on a serving platter. Remove corn from grill and put the hot cobs on the buttered platter and roll to coat.

Sprinkle cheese evenly over the ears, turning them to coat.

Sliders

A perfect way to sample a wide variety of burgers and toppings, sliders are taking over grills nationwide. But sometimes getting those little slider buns can be more trouble than it’s worth. When none can be found, get out the biscuit cutters and get to chopping. We prefer 2.5- to 3-inch cutters to stamp out slider-sized toppers from onion rolls, regular buns, breads, and more. wvliving.com 79

Grilled Fruit and Cake to prepare cake:

Cooking spray or melted butter Aluminum foil 1 angel food or pound cake to prepare fruit:

12 8-inch wooden skewers 3 fresh peaches, pitted and quartered 2–3 cups fresh watermelon, seeded and cut into 1-inch squares 2–3 cups fresh pineapple, cut into 1-inch squares 24 strawberries, hulled ½ cup olive oil Alternative fruits: nectarines, bananas, plums, mangos, cantaloupe, and honeydew to prepare cake:

1. Preheat the grill over medium-heat. Coat foil with cooking spray.

2. Lightly coat the pound or angel food cake with spray butter or brush with melted butter.

3. Grill until char marks form, about 90 seconds per side. to prepare fruit:

1. Submerge skewers in water for 10 to 12 minutes. This will keep them from burning when grilled.

2. Onto each wooden skewer, thread a peach quarter, a watermelon piece, a pineapple piece, and two strawberries. Alternating types of fruit for a colorful presentation, fill the skewer no more than halfway. With a pastry brush paint the fruit with a light coating of oil.

3. Place the skewers onto the foil on the preheated grill over medium-heat. Cook each for 2 to 4 minutes, turning every 30 seconds, until fruit softens and grill marks appear.

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EAT + DRINK + BE LO CA L |

Living in

Logan

In the southern coalfields, Logan is a small town big on history, the arts, and outdoor fun. written by Shay Maunz photographed by Nikki Bowman

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The Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park showcases the best of the state’s culture and history.

A

sk a dozen people from Logan what they love about their hometown and you’ll invariably get the same answer a dozen times. You’ll hear about how tight-knit the community is, how neighbors still take the time to get to know one another, how friendly people are. “It’s chock full of hospitality,” says Debrina Williams, who runs the Hatfield & McCoy Convention & Visitors Bureau. “It’s a small town where you can still walk down the street and someone will say, ‘Good morning.’” Jackie Tomblin, who has lived in Logan most of her life, says that Logan is the friendliest place she’s ever been. “You’ll be walking through town and people are hollering across the street at one another,” she says. “I wouldn’t give it up for anything.” And Ray Perry, a native who is heavily involved in the local music scene, says he’s often buoyed by the sense of camaraderie. “Everything here is connected,” he says. “There’s no six degrees of separation between things here—it’s way less than six.”

That might sound like little more than a collection of platitudes—those things everyone says when they want to paint a folksy, friendly portrait of a small town. But go to Logan to watch the little community in action and you’ll realize it’s much more. That warm kind of hospitality is a way of life.

Logan sits smack dab in the middle of West Virginia’s southern coalfields and has been a hub for the coal industry for decades. The town’s population peaked in 1940 at 5,166 and began to decline after World War II, as coal mining became more mechanized. Today around 1,700 residents live there. It was also the birthplace of Devil Anse Hatfield, the patriarch of the Hatfield clan during its famous feud with the McCoys in Kentucky.

He’s buried in the Hatfield Family Cemetery just outside of town—the grave is topped with a life-sized statue of Devil Anse sculpted from Italian marble. These days the town has been working to use its rich history and deep sense of community pride to come into its own in the 21st century.

The Arts

“I don’t know why, but for such a small place there sure is a lot of talent in Logan,” says Mayor Serafino Nolletti.

Logan is awash with artists, especially musicians, and most especially musicians playing bluegrass music. “We have fiddle players who will make you cry and steel guitar players who will make you want to go out and buy all the beer you can find,” Ray says. He thinks it’s because Logan is so remote—you don’t always have something to do after the sun goes down, so you pick up a guitar. Or a fiddle. Or a banjo. Or a mandolin. “When I was a kid we had three stations on TV and you had to turn the knob to get rid of the static,” he says. “Some nights all I had was music.”

Regardless of the reason, there are plenty of opportunities to see first-rate musicians. Every week there are two shows at Pickin’ in the Park, a unique homegrown music venue in what used to be a horse 84 wvl • summer 2015

The historic Coalfield Jamboree theater was saved by the community. A statue of Devil Anse Hatfield tops his grave.

The Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technologies gives students hands-on training with specialized technology.

Downtown is filled with unique small businesses like Specialty Shops and Rock City Cake Bakery—

in historic buildings from Logan’s past as a hub for the coal industry.

The Coalfield Jamboree

theater has hosted the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and many other great shows.

wvliving.com 85

Good food, diverse history, arts, and culture are prevalent in Logan. Ray and Donna Perry run Pickin’ in

the Park, where local musicians gather every weekend to play for crowds of more than 100 people.

stable. Pickin’ in the Park started years ago with some informal jam sessions at Chief Logan State Park. “It started as just a bunch of guys who wanted to play music,” says Ray, who runs Pickin’ in the Park with his wife, Donna. “At first they’d all sit on a picnic table and play together, and they started drawing quite a crowd.” Before long, the group migrated into an old stable in the park, playing on the sawdust floors among the horses’ stalls. The crowds followed.

In 2008 Ray got permission from the Division of Natural Resources to renovate the stable, converting it into a more suitable place for music. With community donations and a lot of volunteer labor, that old stable was transformed into a state-of-the-art venue. Every Friday and Saturday night more than 100 people crowd in for family-friendly music and dancing. “We have people on the dance floor who are 3 years old and 83 years old,” Ray says.

“I say it’s like a combination between a church and a nightclub.”

Logan also has two community theater companies, and they’re both very active. The Aracoma Story was formed in 1975 to ensure that a play by the same name, which tells the story of the Native American tribes in the area, would be staged every year. Now the company does three plays every summer in an amphitheater the community built in 1977— volunteers pitched in to build a stage in the mountain to make way for stadium seating. The town’s newest community theater group, the Southern Coalition for the Arts, also does several productions a year, and its projects are often quite ambitious— an elaborate 2014 production of Shrek the Musical prompted Mayor Nolletti to officially proclaim the month of September “Shrektember” in Logan.

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Logan is a small town, but the community is passionate about preserving its heritage and improving the city for future generations.

The Coalfield Jamboree theater, home to that production of Shrek and an impressive array of performances every year, is another example of Logan’s community pulling together for the common good. The elegant theater was state-of-the-art when it opened in 1938 but had fallen into disrepair by the 1970s. “There was hardly any ceiling left,” says Alice Cheek, vice president of the nonprofit that now owns and runs the theater. “When you walked into the theater you could see the sky.” But a group of concerned community members, including Alice, Jackie, and their husbands, stepped in to save it. They found the money to buy the theater, then asked the community for donations to help renovate it. “People just gave and gave and gave,” Jackie says. “It was a lot of work, but everyone helped.” Jackie and Alice reupholstered all of the 1,190 seats themselves, young volunteers shined the banisters and did carpentry, and the actors bravely went on stage the first night even though they hadn’t yet come up with the money to buy a curtain. Because of their efforts, the Coalfield Jamboree grew into a top-notch theater that hosts community performances as well as professional performers. wvliving.com 87

Hot Cup Coffee is a popular stop in Logan.

The Great Outdoors

As for nature, the 4,000-acre Chief Logan State Park—just four miles north of town—is one of the most visited state parks in the state.

It features a campground, wildlife center, swimming pool, miniature golf course, and miles of hiking trails, plus Pickin’ in the Park and the Liz Spurlock Amphitheater, home to The Aracoma Story. Each winter the city celebrates the holiday season with a driving tour of holiday lights—it’s more than a mile long and includes more than 1 million lights.

“There’s a lot of space there, so a lot of things can happen in that park,” Debrina says. “We use it for a lot of things.”

Nearby, the Hatfield-McCoy trail system is one of the longest systems of ATV and UTV trails in the world. It covers more than 700 miles and will span nine counties in southern West Virginia when completed.

One of the original, most difficult, and most popular of those trails, the Bearwallow Trail System, has a trailhead at Logan. Some locals ride the trail regularly, and it has brought thousands of tourists to town since it opened in 2000. It’s even legal to ride an ATV or UTV on many roads in Logan.

The Eats

The small businesses lining Logan’s downtown streets are surprisingly hip and cool. Take Hot Cup Coffee, for instance.

The local coffee shop serves up an eclectic mix of espresso drinks, including a slew of 88 wvl • summer 2015

things you won’t see anywhere else, all with eye-catching names: The Truffle Shuffle, The Butterbeer, The Bacon-ccinno (And yes, that’s a bacon-flavored cappuccino). Hot Cup is also a music venue and art gallery and, since it opened in 2011, has become a hub for the arts in Logan, especially among younger generations. “I think every small town deserves a little coffee shop, a place where open-minded people and intellectuals can meet,” says Michael Cline, Hot Cup’s owner.

“We want Hot Cup to be a place where kids can get exposed to music and literature and art. You’d be amazed how many of them have used the word ‘sanctuary’ to describe it.” Once you’ve gotten your coffee fix, head down the street to Nu Era Bakery, a local favorite, for a hearty lunch and a classic cake covered in fluffy frosting.

Then, just a block over, there’s Rock City Cake Company. “It’s ‘rock’ because Logan’s a coal town and because we wanted to incorporate a rock and roll theme, and ‘city’ because the bakery that was here before us was called City Bakery,” says Morgan Morrison, Rock City’s co-owner. The local business serves up a wide variety of cupcakes in delicious and interesting flavors, like hot fudge sundae, white chocolate crumble, Mountain Dew, and maple bacon. “Anything you can think of, we can do,” Morgan says. “The kind of cupcakes we do, you can’t get around here, but we want to offer these things at a decent price because this is our home.”

home marketplace

home marketplace

BRIDGING

HISTORY Rustic, romantic, and restored, covered bridges transport us to the 19th century.

Hern’s Mill Covered Bridge in Greenbrier County

Pam Kasey photographed by

Carla Witt Ford

eliZABeth roth

written by

Barrackville Covered Bridge in Marion County

wvliving.com 93

I

f you set out to travel any distance in Harrison County in the 1880s—to go fishing, to visit Grandma, or to buy supplies at the general store—there’s a good chance you would have crossed a covered bridge.

Maybe several. Of the 200-some covered bridges ever built in West Virginia, almost half crossed streams in Harrison County. A couple dozen of those were standing in the mid-1880s. It must have been idyllic.

The covered bridge puts us in mind of a time of natural, accessible materials and construction by hand. Bridgewrights built these structures with mortise and tenon joints and wooden pegs. Their creations were useful but also decorative, often bearing windows or angled or arched openings that gave them unique charm.

To know a covered bridge better, walk inside to see what makes it strong. Because what non-engineers see as a covered bridge is, to engineers, a timber truss bridge—that is, it’s made of straight structural elements pieced together in triangles, like the creations from an Erector Set. King post and queen post, Long, Warren, and Burr truss—a variety of systems patented

during the 1800s extended the length and strength of wooden bridges. “These quaint rustic structures stand as tangible evidence of American engineering skills and of an important era in the evolution of structural engineering,” wrote West Virginia historian E.L. Kemp in his 1979 nomination of the state’s covered bridges for National Register of Historic Places listing.

When builders covered their creations to protect them from the weather, they turned a century and more of utilitarian river crossings into beloved rural American icons.

In the early 20th century, new bridge construction moved from timber to iron and steel. Half of the couple dozen covered bridges that stood in Harrison County in the 1880s were wiped out by a single catastrophic flood in July 1888, and others in the state have fallen to neglect, arson, and replacement with newer materials and design. Less than 20 of the historic bridges remain in the state, with another dozen privately owned covered bridges of modern vintage. Enjoy our tour of eight of these bucolic structures*. Directions are approximate—please check your map before visiting.

Barrackville Covered Bridge MARION COUNTY The 145-foot Barrackville Covered Bridge was built in 1853 by noted West Virginia bridge builder Lemuel Chenoweth and his brother Eli as part of the Fairmont-Wheeling Turnpike.

Its Burr arch truss construction gives it a distinctive look. The bridge was restored in 1998 and ’99 but is closed to automotive traffic. ➼ Two miles west of U.S. Route 19 on U.S. Route 250, then 1 mile north on CR 250/32.

Fletcher Covered Bridge HARRISON COUNTY This 1891 bridge is one of just two remaining in Harrison County. The 62-foot span sits atop abutments of stone that was quarried nearby. The builders used a multiple king post construction—a variant of one of the two common systems for shorter spans—and the bridge, with modern updates, is in regular use today. ➼ From U.S. Route 19 at Clarksburg, take U.S. Route 50 west 7.5 miles. Take Marshville Road (CR 5) north 1.5 miles.

The bridge is to the left on CR 529.

Staat’s Mill Covered Bridge JACKSON COUNTY

Dent’s Run Covered Bridge This 40-foot king-post truss bridge was built in 1889. It was restored in 2004 and is closed to vehicles. ➼ Three miles west on U.S. Route 19 from I-79 Exit 152, then north on Sugar Grove Road (CR 43) about a half-mile and west on John Fox Road.

NIKKI BOWMAN

MONONGALIA COUNTY

This 1888 bridge originally crossed Tug Fork of Big Mill Creek and was named for Enoch Staat’s water-powered mill. It was relocated in 1983 as part of a flood control project, to the Cedar Lakes Conference Center.

It’s 97 feet long and constructed on a Long truss system. It is closed to vehicles. ➼ Cedar Lakes Conference Center, a few miles off Exit 132 or Exit 138 of I-77.

Philippi Covered Bridge BARBOUR COUNTY Lemuel Chenoweth’s Philippi bridge is notable in many respects.

It’s the oldest covered bridge in the state, dating to 1852, and the longest, at 286 feet. It’s one of few surviving “double-barreled,” or two-lane, covered bridges in the U.S. And it’s the only covered bridge in the nation that serves the federal highway system. It was used by Union troops as barracks for a time during the Civil War and narrowly escaped burning by Confederate troops in 1863.

Chenoweth outdid more polished aspirants in Richmond for a contract for bridges to be built in western Virginia, according to a contested but amusing story told by West Virginia historian Hu Maxwell in his 1899 history of Barbour County: Mr. Chenoweth was one of the last called forward to show what he had. His plain wooden model did not attract much attention; but he created consternation among the other

bidders when he placed his model on two chairs, one end resting on each, and then stood on his little bridge, and called on the other architects to put theirs to the test by doing the same. Not one would do it, for they knew their models would be crushed. If the Philippi bridge were as strong in proportion to its size as Mr. Chenoweth’s model, it would sustain the weight of a man 600 feet high. The test decided the contest, and Mr. Chenoweth was given the contract for the bridges.

Chenoweth used the graceful Burr arch truss design for this Beverly-Fairmont turnpike bridge across the Tygart Valley River.

The bridge was restored in 1991 and continues to carry traffic. ➼ U.S. Route 250 at Philippi.

Hern’s Mill Covered Bridge The original 1884 structure, built as access to the S.S. Hern Mill near Lewisburg, still stands, with reinforcing updates. It uses a queen post design, the other common design for shorter spans—this one is 54 feet. This bridge is still in use today. ➼ From Lewisburg center, take U.S. Route 60 northwest 3 miles.

Turn left on Bunger’s Mill Road (CR 60/11) and left again on Hern’s Mill Road (CR 40). It’s about a mile to the bridge from there.

STEVE SHALUTA PHOTGRAPHY

ELIZABETH ROTH

GREENBRIER COUNTY

Lillydale Covered Bridge

Simpson Creek Covered Bridge

MONROE COUNTY

HARRISON COUNTY

The shortest authentic covered bridge in West Virginia at 25 feet, Lillydale is also the newest, dating to 1911. It’s based on the queen post truss. Also known as the Laurel Creek bridge, it was renovated in 2000 and remains open to traffic. ➼ From West Virginia Route 3 in Union, drive south on U.S. Route 219 about 3 miles, west on Lillydale Road (CR 219/7) about 3 miles, north on Laurel Creek Road (CR 23/5) about one-half mile, west on Laurel Creek Road (CR 219/11) about one-half mile, and west a short distance on CR 23/4.

Today’s Simpson Creek Covered Bridge is a replacement for the 1881 bridge destroyed during the 1888 flood. This 1888 bridge, a half-mile upstream of the original crossing, was restored in 2002. The 75-foot-long bridge relies on multiple king post construction and is open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic only. ➼ One-quarter mile west of I-79 Exit 121.

Sharp’s Kissing Bridge POCAHONTAS COUNTY Sitting across the Big Spring Fork of the Elk River, this 50-foot private bridge was built in 2005 by Ken Gibson for his great-uncle, Dave Sharp, who recounted memories of stealing a kiss on a covered bridge. Pedestrian visitors are welcome. ➼ Across U.S. Route 219 from Sharp’s Country Store, 47 miles south of Elkins or 17 miles north of Marlinton.

*SOURCES: dalejtravis.com; Google maps; The History of Barbour County, West Virginia; lostbridges.org, roadsideamerica.com; wikipedia.com; National Register of Historic Places nominations; wvencyclopedia.org

Sliding into

SUMMER Waterparks around the state keep us cool and having fun all summer long.

written by Katie Griffith ❂ photographed by Carla Witt Ford

W

ith the splash of a cannonball and the shrieking whistle of a lifeguard, summer arrives. Adults and children whip off the stiff clothes of winter and spring for the lackadaisical uniform of summertime madness—T-shirts, tank tops, shorts, and swimsuits. There’s a delicious warmth to West Virginia summers, a cloying heaviness of damp air trapped in the hills, and with the sun beating through the trees, its heat mixing with the smell of packed dirt and sunscreened shoulders, the only thing to do is head to the local pool. But not just any pool. These water parks offer more than a deep end and a high dive. Yard work will wait. Popsicles, beach towels, and waterslides won’t.

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Splash Zone CLARKSBURG

Open since 2013, Clarksburg’s Splash Zone is the summertime spot to be in Harrison County. The water park has evolved from the typical public pool—a lap pool with a couple of slides—to include a lagoon, lazy river, tipping buckets, and more. “We serve all of Harrison County,” says Kaitlin Bishop, recreation coordinator for Clarksburg’s city parks system.

“On a good day we can get more than 1,000 people.” Attendees are a mix of families and teens looking to beat the heat with everything from kiddie pools to waterslides to mini golf. Splash Zone is the only public pool open in Clarksburg, but the amenities offered are more than enough for everyone in the surrounding community. “We do parties after hours, we have school groups coming in—it gives everyone an opportunity to enjoy the pool,” Kaitlin says. ❂ Veterans Park Drive, Clarksburg, 304.624.1671, cityparksofclarksburg.com 100 wvl • summer 2015

Waves of Fun

PUTNAM COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION

HURRICANE

Since 1981 folks in Hurricane and the surrounding communities have spent summers riding the waves. Serving Cabell, Putnam, and Kanawha counties, Waves of Fun is one of the West Virginia’s two wave pools and, coming in at 500,000 gallons, it’s the biggest.

“We were open 81 days during the summer last year and we had 27,000 guests,” says Jamie Wright, programs and pool manager for Putnam County Parks and Recreation. “Our goal for 2015 is 30,000.”

Since opening more than 30 years ago, the pool has undergone several renovations, including the installation of waterslides, fresh coats of paint, and, by next year, a new liner. “We’re increasing the beauty of the facilities,” Jamie says, adding that the water park also boasts walking trails, golf, fishing ponds, volleyball, and more. “There’s a lot of other things we offer that are included in the cost of the pool.”

With its extensive facilities, plenty of kids and families make the park a summertime destination. You’ll see middle school and high school students with groups of friends passing a football and throwing Frisbee or lined up for one of the park’s three waterslides, especially the speed slide, also one of Jamie’s favorites. “The kids call it the wedgie slide, the water is so fast.” ❂ 1 Valley Park Drive, Hurricane, 304.562.2355, wvwavesoffun.weebly.com wvliving.com 101

MCPARC Wave Pool

STEVE SHALUTA

FAIRMONT

North Central West Virginia’s favorite destination for wave pool fun since 1978, the MCPARC Wave Pool—formerly known as Wave Tek—is also the first wave pool constructed in the state. Since its inaugural season, the pool has had several updates, including an improvement to its wave-making technology allowing for bigger waves using less power. “They can get up to 3 feet, smaller or lower depending on who is in the pool,” says Tony Michalski, director of the Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission. “We have one pattern the waves make, but we can adjust the timing of the wave doors to make them a little different, more rolling or bigger.” Flotation tubes, a sand volleyball court, waterslide, mini golf, and several pavilions make the park a daytime destination for people across the state. “We have a lot of people from the county—a lot of regulars, a lot of day cares, boys and girls clubs, and camps—but we also have a lot of people passing through from Morgantown, Elkins, and all around the state. We get visitors coming down the interstate, too.

It’s a good mix.” ❂ 35 City View Terrace, Fairmont, 304.363.1249, mcparc.com

Water Ways Sitting on a strip of land surrounded by the Little Coal River, Boone County’s Water Ways is not just a West Virginia destination, it attracts visitors from as far as Kentucky, Virginia, and Ohio, according to Russell Thomas, director of Boone County Parks and Recreation.

“It varies, but we could go through 40,000 to 50,000 wristbands a summer,” he says. “We get a lot of school groups, little leagues, churches, and when we first open, May 23, school’s still in and for those two weeks we normally have two to three school groups each day.” Families and kids have their pick of picnic shelters, a lazy river, two kiddie pools, 18 holes of miniature golf, a junior Olympic-size pool, body waterslides, tube waterslides, and ball fields, not to mention a walking trail from one end of the park to the other and an amphitheater still in the works. “There’s a lot to do,” Russell says. “We’re easy to get to, right on Corridor G, and it’s a nice place.” ❂ 109 Water Way, Julian, 304.369.1235, waterwayspark.net 102 wvl • summer 2015

BOONE COUNTY COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

JULIAN

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Garden Gate THROUGH THE

Touring Bluefield’s immaculate gardens is a delight for the senses. written by

Mikenna Pierotti photographed by

Nikki Bowman

I

n the 20th century Bluefield was on fire. Its streets rumbled with passing coal trains, boiled with people, simmered with life. This southern West Virginia town sprang up from the soil of the bituminous industry, its population swelling fast as word got around that the valley boasted the largest deposit of soft burning coal in the world. Coalfield millionaires, bankers, and industry giants squeezed every drop of riches from the ground and built sprawling mansions, towering buildings, and striking examples of neoclassical architecture. Over the years Bluefield’s resources fueled the Norfolk & Western Railroad, a blossoming coalfield, and two world wars before mining mechanization in the 1950s dampened the fire and miners and millionaires left the town in droves.

But you’ll be surprised to learn modernity hasn’t worn away the luster. The town’s striking 1920s architecture— from the Elks Lodge and Opera House downtown, with its massive Corinthian columns and cornices, to many of the grand old houses of the Country Club Hill and Oakhurst neighborhoods—has been preserved for posterity on the National Register of Historic Places. And its openhearted character hasn’t dimmed in the slightest. “It’s the hospitality. It reminds you of the old South with its cocktail parties and the way people work together to make positive things happen,” says David Hardin, a local restaurateur and active member of the all-volunteer Bluefield Beautification Commission. “We care about the city and keeping it alive and vibrant.”

Downtown, boxes of red dragon wing begonias, sweet potato vines, pink petunias, and purple secretia spill over windowsills and porticos. Urns on street corners, planters beside park benches, and baskets hanging from light posts

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overflow with blue alyssum and orange million bells. Pass through one of the town’s historic neighborhoods in August 2015 and, like refined Southern ladies, the grand old homes will have donned their best attire for one of the town’s premier and most well-attended soirees—the Bluefield Garden Tour.

In late summer visitors will find ruby red clematis dripping from arbors, neatly trimmed boxwood hedges cutting across green lawns, patinated sculpture peeking out from nets of English ivy, reflecting pools hiding red and gold koi fish, and water fountains scattering sunlight. Bluefield’s heritage might be in the dust and muck of coalfields, but its soul is in the lush colors and vibrant landscapes of its well-maintained homes.

“To say I was blown away would be an understatement,” says first garden tour attendee and Charleston native Sally Barton.

“I felt as if I had been transported somewhere else. The gardens in Bluefield’s old neighborhoods were magical, not cookie cutter—designed yet naturalized, beautiful yet wild. I was enchanted.”

Sponsored by the commission, the first garden tour in 2012 was a raving success, with some 300 visitors exploring Japanese-inspired groves under canopies of 100-year-old trees, English country-inspired tea parties on carpets of green, and mazes of hedges and perennial flowers revealing whimsical art. In 2015 David says the commission, together with homeowners, has added a distinct theme called Through the Garden Gate. “We will be featuring all kinds of outdoor entertaining spaces—terraces, patios, and outdoor kitchens.

We are going to set up table-scapes displaying design themes like a brunch, a backyard barbecue, a romantic dinner, even an English tea.” As in 2012, each location will be flawlessly decorated and include live entertainment and instructional discussions on things like beekeeping, container gardening, water gardening, herb gardening, and Bonsai. The final stop on the tour, at 1339 Liberty Street, will include wine, beer, champagne, lemonade, and hors d’oeuvres.

Although only in its second year, Bluefield’s garden tour and the commission itself has had a big impact. “All the money we raise goes right back into the community,” David says. Together with other fundraising and volunteer projects throughout the year led by the commission and the city, the tour fires up local tourism and helps pay for improvements like new entrance signs, renovations to the city park, new stone entranceways and gates, landscaped islands and triangles along roadways, and general cleanup and beautification. And, perhaps even more importantly, the tour helps rekindle the pride of Bluefield’s past. Ask commission member and longtime resident Betsey Sorrell why keeping grand gardens and boxes of flowers fresh along the city’s streets is so vital, and she’ll tell you it’s simple. “I believe we have all been given a small corner of the world to tend. When I drive down the streets of our city, emblazoned with flowers, I see love,” she says. “A love for beauty, a love for a community, and a love for its people. Some days I feel like my heart might explode with joy.”

The 2015 Through the Garden Gate tour will take place August 8, 2015. Tickets are $25 per person in advance, $30 at the door, and include drinks and hors d’oeuvres. beautifulbluefield.com

Bluefield’s lush gardens beckon visitors to discover secret alcoves of boxwood hedges, climbing vines, sparkling fountains, and whimsical statues.

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Coalfield millionaires in the 20th century built lavish neoclassical houses and buildings in Bluefield

to show off their wealth.

Today the city’s residents grow elaborate gardens to keep the town’s pride alive.

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Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed. ~walt whitman

Led by volunteer efforts, the garden tour is a fundraiser that showcases impressive feats of landscape design, historic

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homes, live entertainment, and demonstrations on everything from container gardening to Bonsai.

THE PA RTING SHOT

Blackberry Bliss photographed by

Carla Witt Ford

Picking blackberries like these in Monongalia County is a sweet summertime escape.

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