2011 Pride

Memories

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Souvenirs

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Special Moments

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Family Outings

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Most Athletic

Snapshots

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Scrapbook2011

2011 Pride edition

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September 25, 2011

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Moving On

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Scrapbook2011

bdtonline.com

What’s inside ...

To our readers,

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pecial memories. Big events. Keepsake moments. During the past several decades, Four Seasons Country has had many scrapbook occasions.

Section I: Souvenirs • Harry Potter takes flight: Young, fictional wizard forever a part of many residents’ memories ............................................................................. Page 3 • Life’s ups and downs...: Chills and thrills are served fast and furious during the Cole Chevy Mountain Festival................................................ Page 4 • Childhood icon: From girlhood to adulthood, Barbie is a souvenir for many......................................................................................................Page 5 • Heroes and villains: Comic books open the world of reading early for many enthusiasts.................................................................................. Page 6 • Big screen memories...: Hollywood leaves impression on scrapbooks across Four Seasons Country................................................................Page 7 • Riding the rails: Train travel a longtime favorite of many local residents....................................................................................................Page 12

From the opening of the East River Mountain Tunnel, which united the two Virginias, to the recent development of a threestory WalMart in Grundy, Va., southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia have undergone immense change.

Although with the positive initiatives, we’ve also had our share of challenges. Floods. Lost jobs. Economic lethargy. It’s not been easy, but we’ve persevered. We’ve moved beyond the disasters and the hardships to optimism. And, in this edition, we invite you to join us in looking beyond the challenges and in embracing the good things — the positive moments — that have lifted us up, provided smiles, given us hope and brought us closer together as a community.

In Scrapbook 2011 we’ve spotlighted momentous events in the history of southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia.

Most are good; a few are tragic. Such is the case with history.

In the following sections, you will read about pop culture’s influence on the region, historic events, favorite places, memorable sporting moments and key developments now underway that will have a significant influence on our future.

You will also see something special.

This year, the Daily Telegraph’s Pride edition features one section — Snapshots — devotDaily Telegraph Publisher Darryl Hudson ed exclusively to the photographs of Melvin Grubb.

Mel worked as a staff photographer for the Telegraph during the 1940s before launching his commercial business. However, even after hanging out his own shingle, he never really “left” the newspaper. Mel’s photos — particularly his dramatic aerial views — have graced the pages of the Daily Telegraph for more than 60 years. Mel is a very welcome frequent visitor to our offices, always bringing items of significant interest for us to marvel over.

The Snapshots section features some of Mel’s most memorable photos, including his amazing shot of the fog rolling in over East River Mountain.

It also includes many photos of noted news events, such as train derailments, visits from famous folks and the historic “punch-through” of East River Mountain Tunnel.

We are also proud to have Mel’s incredible image of fireworks over Bluefield gracing this year’s cover.

During the past months, our entire staff has worked many long hours to bring you this special edition. We hope you enjoy.

Section II - Special moments • Rich history: Native Americans settled in area centuries before Europeans.......................................................................Page 1 • Early clashes: Pioneer families survived attacks by Native American war parties..............................................................Page 2 • Civil War battle.: Battle of Pigeon’s Roost blocked Union advance on V&T Railroad......................................................Page 3 • Coming together in the Roaring ’20s: Marriage of the two Bluefields attracted huge crowd to area................................Page 6 • History saved: Georgia Havens has spent a lifetime preserving area’s history....................................................................Page 8 • Tanks for the memories: Princeton guardsman cleared snow with M41-A1 tank...........................................................Page 11 • All-American City campaign: A special time in Bluefield history...................................................................................Page 14

Section III - Family outings • For the love of music: Outdoor concerts delight families throughout region.........................................................................................................Page 1 • Treasure hunting: New hobby of geocaching growing in popularity......Page 2 • It’s all in the family: Reunions help keep loved ones close............................................................................................................Page 3 • Made from scratch: Local eateries serve up many dishes that taste just like Mom used to make....................................................................................Page 4 • Down on the farm: Generations of families take to the fields to harvest memories............................................................................................................Page 5 • Classic good time: Car shows a long-standing draw for families............Page 6 • Happy trails: ATVs putting new spin on old-style family enjoyment...........................................................................................................Page 8 • Road trip: Road trips remain a popular form of family vacation......................................................................................Page 13

Section IV - Most athletic • Mr. Baseball in Bluefield: Belcher’s cheers for ‘double out’ are well-known to Blue Jay fans at Bowen Field...................Page 1 • Dominating Blue Demons: Northfork basketball teams were a great source of pride.......................................................Page 3 • Romance and baseball in 1939: Memories of my summer as a baseball wife.....................................................................Page 4 • It’s back: Football returns to Bluefield College .................................................................................................................Page 7 • Those explosive Bulldogs: Tazewell High’s 1986 football state champion team is one for the scrapbooks.......................Page 8 • Remembering: Toney remembers 1950 Athens state basketball championship team......................................................Page 13

Section V - Snapshots • Through the lens: A pictorial history of the region through the photographs of Mel Grubb................................................................................................................................Page 1 • The view from above:.....................................................................................................Page 3 • Triumphs: ......................................................................................................................Page 6 • Tragedies........................................................................................................................Page 7 • Nature’s wonders ...........................................................................................................Page 8 • Special moments.......................................................................................................Page 9, 11 • Famous faces ...............................................................................................................Page 14 • Natural beauty..............................................................................................................Page 15

Section VI - Movin’ on • ‘We’ve been very fortunate’: Despite a shaky national economy, business continues to grow across region.......................Page 1 • Mass transit in Bluefield: Colonial Intermodal Project combines transportation with area’s rich railroad history.............Page 2 • The roads to prosperity: Local highway projects continue to move along at sluggish rates...............................................Page 5 • Growing: SW.Va. communities continue growth...............................................................................................................Page 6 • Grundy grows and grows: From a new Walmart to an outdoor water park, small community prospering........................Page 7 • McDowell on the trail to growth: ......................................................................................................................................Page 8 • Wanted — New business: Despite strong growth, empty storefronts can be found in region..........................................Page 11

Darryl Hudson Publisher

Darryl Hudson Publisher Samantha Perry

Terri Hale

Rhonda Watson

Henry Meade

Chuck Sullins

Managing Editor

Advertising Sales Director

Business Manager

Production Director

Circulation Director

Editorial

Advertising

Business office

Circulation

City Editor Charles Owens

Sales Manager Natalie Fanning

Accounting Supervisor Teri Moore

Circulation Manager Melinda Stiltner

News Editor, Pride layout and design Andy Patton

Classified Sales Manager Teresa Dye

Business office staff Tina Reed, Sandy Carroll, Donna Fox

Senior Editor Bill Archer

Sales representatives/staff Charlene Addair, Jeremy Basham, Teresa Evans, Lisa Grimm, Shafali Pendleton, Pam Riggs, Ashley Copenhaver-Shinault, Jessica Wolfe

Circulation staff Kim Blankenship, Craig Frye, Tresa Hughes, Tammy Hurley, John Landers Christina Meadows, James Parks, Anthony Price, Tim Sober, Trish Walker

Sports Editor Brian Woodson Writers Greg Jordan, Tom Bone, Jamie L. Parsell, Kate Coil, Jonathan Greene

Ad Graphics and IT

Photographers Eric DiNovo, Jon Bolt

Ad Graphics and IT staff Daniel Akers, Ray Glover, Vanessa Hurt, Teresa Jeffery, Lisa McDaniel, Pamela Morton, Promise Sloan, Kelly Stevenson

Manager Leigh McVey

Copy editors Amy Persinger, Kayla Myers

Press Room Assistant Press foreman Robert Owens

Mailroom Mailroom Foreman Wayne Gillespie

Press room staff Derek Caldwell, Sam King, Wes Neice, Tim Osborn, Jim Presley

Assistant Mailroom Foreman Reggie Gilbert

Maintenance

Mailroom staff Naomi Combs, Rebekah Adams, Charles Ashworth, Bobby Bailey, Jimmy Blankenship, William Blankenship, Nephfriteria Calvo, Tammy Cecil, Jessica Church, Selena Compton, Tammy Freeman, Joe Gibson, Bryant Harding, Doris Kibler, Karen McGue, Sherry Neice, James Neal, Cody O’Brien, Michael Poff, Crystal Pruitt, Heather Wood, Shawn Worley

Rick Fowler Isaac Meadows Damien Gay

Cover photo by Mel Grubb/courtesy Grubb Photo Service

Clerks/copy coordinators Sue Richmond, Angela Bevins

Copyright 2011 Bluefield Daily Telegraph. All rights reserved.

Contents may not be reprinted or disseminated without permission of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section I 3

Souvenirs

Historic social events and popular cultural trends that impact our lives

Harry Potter takes flight...

File photo by Eric DiNovo

Fan favorite...

Top left, memorabilia from Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Above, Sarah Pettus reads ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ at Princeton Public Library recently.

Young, fictional wizard forever a part of many residents’ memories

BY JAMIE PARSELL and KATE COIL Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — What if Harry Potter had a scrapbook from his day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Would it be filled with photos, spells and lists of wizard trends? Since Harry didn’t have a high school graduation, he probably didn’t have a true scrapbook to document his action-packed fictional life.

However, for many residents of the two Virginias, Harry Potter is a part of their personal scrapbooks.

Over the summer, Harry Potter turned in his magic wand and invisibility cloak for a quiet life. The boy wizard — now a young adult — defeated his nemesis, Lord Voldemort, in the final movie “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows — Part 2.”

It is a bittersweet ending for millions of Harry Potter fans, many who grew up with the series, which began in 1997 with “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone.” The popularity of the books created a film series 10 years in the making. It also brought more fans to the bookstores.

Wilma Bury, 59, is the coowner of Hearthside Books in Bluefield. Bury said the movie has spurred many to come buy books at her store.

Like many fans, Bury said she is sad to see the series coming to an end.

“I think it’s very sad,” she said. “It’s a great series of books and a great series of movies. People will really miss

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it.”

Over all, Bury said the imaginativeness of the books and film series are what have made Harry Potter a phenomenon.

“It’s so imaginative and has so many great characters,” Bury said. “There’s the fantasy, the magic involved as well as the real-life stuff we experience.”

Princeton resident Brian Brown was 15 when he first read a Harry Potter book. He was interested in the book because he wanted to see what all the hype was about, especially since it was a children’s books.

“One day I noticed a copy in my brother’s room and decided to read the first few chapters. I couldn’t put it down. I ended up reading the entire book front to back in a single sitting,” he said.

He was shocked the series put such a spell on him. He remembers being surprised by the mystery aspect of the novels.

The first book was a mix of mystery and fantasy, complete with what Brown calls a “who-doneit” element.

But he was afraid to admit he read the book and that he loved it. He continued to read the series, finding connections with the characters and the plot of books like “Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban.”

“By that point, the stakes were being raised and the story began to get darker. The first two books lacked the degree of suspense and danger found in books three through seven,” he said.

Brown recently wrote a blog entry about the final Harry Potter milestone on Hearthside Book’s website. The entry is

what Brown calls “his last chance” to mark the series’ influence on his life.

He writes, “Harry Potter will continue to live on in our lives as we pass the story along to future generations. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience the world of Hogwarts as both a teenager and an adult. It is comforting to know that as I grow older, I will always have a way to time-travel back to the day when I first discovered Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the wizarding world of Harry Potter.”

He felt the ending of series was worth documenting, especially since it played such an important role in pop culture.

He believes the Harry Potter phenomena might not happen again.

Brown, who is now 28 and a college graduate, said some of his favorite memories involve the Harry Potter release parties and events at local bookstores.

“On the big day, Hearthside Books would turn their storefront into a Hogwarts style castle and host memorable midnight release parties. The store owners and their families would dress like characters from the novels and have a variety of activities for the crowd to participate in as part of the building the excitement to midnight,” he said. “It was something to look forward to in addition to new Potter content.”

••• Melissa Cuppett, a former resident of Princeton, experienced many Harry Potter firsts throughout the years. Now living in Huntington, Cuppett has

read all seven books, seen each movie, attended a release party and traveled to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Fla. Cuppett, 34, joined the Harry Potter party a little late, she said.

“I think the first movie I saw in the theater was ‘Prisoner of Azkaban,’ and I probably saw the first four films before starting the books. My dad had given me his used copy of the first book, and it sat on a bookshelf for a long time until one day when I was stuck in my bedroom and the book was there, I figured I may as well start it,” she said.

She started more than just the book. She opened up a new chapter in her life. She immediately ordered used copies of all the books, up to book six. For the release of the seventh book, she made plans to attend a release party.

“I took a week of vacation following the release of the seventh book, so I wouldn’t have to go in public until I’d read it all, in case I overheard anyone talking about it. But I finished it over the weekend anyway, so there wasn’t much risk of it being spoiled after all,” she said.

Last year, Cuppett traveled to Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter. She was able to see Rowling’s books come to life. During her first trip, she sampled the famous “butterbeer” and visited many of the attractions. She is eager to go back.

She said Harry Potter is important to a pop culture’s scrapbook because it appeals to

children and adults, men and women. Not to mention, the good vs. evil story line is a common theme in literature. Plus, many fans feel connected by their common love for the series.

“My fondness for Harry Potter is something I share with both family members and friends, so that makes it something special that we can talk and reminisce about. It’s also something that I find inspiring — the imagination and creativity, and the details and work J. K. Rowling put into creating that world. For someone who aspires to write stories that capture everyday life and experiences in a broader, fantastical setting, Harry Potter is something that encourages me,” Cuppett said.

Brown agrees. He said part of the fun was listen to everyone’s thoughts on what was going to happen in the next book.

“Other people always had new insight into passages in previous books that could be interpreted as an ominous sign of things to come,” Brown added.

••• In many ways, the end of Harry Potter can be compared to the end of high school. By the end of the series, Harry has reached adulthood. Readers understands the transition and some feel emotional about the series.

Diana Duchan, an employee of the Princeton Public Library, said she prepared for the final film.

“It’s kind of sad; It’s like your friend is moving away,” Duchan said. “It will still be there, but there won’t be that continuation of the story ...

Duchan has been reading the book series since she was very young.

“I was probably around eight when the books came out, so I’ve grown up with it. I’ve read every book. I do love the movies, but I’m more into the books. I have seen all of the movies several times, though ...”

Both Brown and Cuppett acknowledge the legacy of Harry Potter will continue, despite the end of the series.

Both have already experienced plenty of Harry Potter firsts, but there are plenty left for other soon-to-be Harry Potter fans.

Brian Fischer, 10 of North Tazewell, Va., was in the middle of reading book four when the last movie came out this past July.

“This is the first time I’ve actually read them,” he said. “I started watching the movies first. My friend at school was reading the fourth book. It looked interesting and I asked if I could borrow it when she was done. She said not until I’d read books one, two and three. I’m currently on the fourth book right now. My sister has read all of them.”

Seven books, eight films, tons of memorabilia — Harry Potter jelly beans are quite popular — have created a page in literature’s scrapbook. It won’t be easy to replace, which is why it is quite possible to consider the Harry Potter phenomena worth all the hype — even 14 years after the very first book.

— Contact Jamie Parsell at jparsell@bdtonline.com

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4 Section I Sunday, September 25, 2011

Life’s ups and downs...

Chills and thrills are served fast and furious during the Cole Chevy Mountain Festival

By JAMIE PARSELL Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — With a flick of a switch, the small bucket swings, slowly rising to the top of the wheel. There is a moment of hesitation, a view worth the $2 ticket. The bucket sways and descends back to the ground.

The pattern continues, until time runs out and the bar is raised by the attendant, who ushers riders to the side. It is someone else’s turn to ride a carnival tradition.

No one forgets their first ride on the Ferris wheel, the forbidden taste of funnel cake with mounds of sugar falling off the sides or the elusive chase for a stuffed animal from a smooth talking game attendant. The carnival is fun and games with plenty of souvenirs and memories.

Marie Blackwell, of Brushfork, remembers her first ride on Ferris wheel at the Cole Chevy Mountain Festival.

“You could see so far and so wide from being up that high,” she said. “There was just a feeling of freedom.”

Blackwell said the view from the sky included Tazewell County, Bowen Field, Maryland Avenue and Highway 460. And of course, the crowds of men, women and children.

But she fears the Ferris wheel is outdated — too slow and relaxing — in comparison to today’s more thrilling rides such as the Ring of Fire or the Scrambler. For the past two years, the wheel has not been at the Cole Chevy Mountain

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Festival, which takes place every May in Bluefield. The Bluefield Chamber of Commerce said fans of the Ferris wheel shouldn’t worry too much. The ride actually has a schedule; the James H. Drew Exposition rotates a selection of rides every year.

Karen DeHaan, membership developer at the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce, said residents will see the ride again, as well as the popular Pirate — a full size swinging ship — in the near future.

Many residents who crave the old-fashioned thrill grew up on rides like the Ferris wheel. For Blackwell, the executive director of the Mercer County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the amusement park attraction has always been her favorite. As a child growing up in Rockville, Md., she rode the Ferris wheel with her father at a fireman’s carnival.

“My mom didn’t like heights, but my father was wide open to new things,” she said.

Father and daughter continued the tradition during childhood, which reinforced Blackwell’s appreciation for carnivals as an adult. When her grandson Nicolas King was 6 years old, the festival seemed like the perfect place to carry on the tradition.

“He and I rode it and had the best time. We created a wonderful memory for both of us,” Blackwell said. “He was so excited. He was in awe as we went up in the air and back down ...”

But even without the Ferris wheel, Blackwell said the car-

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Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

Fair fun...

During the Cole Chevy Mountain Festival, the James H. Drew Exposition is a favorite event for many local residents throughout the region. nival rides and other activities surrounding the Cole Chevy Mountain Festival make for a fantastic family event. Since the first ride in Bluefield, the carnival and festival has grown, with new additions including petting zoos, car shows and wood carvers.

“The concerts have always been really good too,” Blackwell added. “I think one year I saw the Platters there.”

••• Fair and festivals are dotted all across the U.S., in both rural and urban areas. As Blackwell pointed out, the Mountain Festival is right in the two Virginias’ backyard.

DeHaan has worked on the

week-long event since 1984. A former resident of Ohio, she relocated to the Bluefield area 34 years ago.

“My children have grown up with the festival,” she said.

Her son and daughter are now in their late 20s, but still take in the family tradition, she said.

Her favorite memories?

Watching her children enjoy the kiddie rides. And once they got older, she watched them spin around on rides such as the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Pirate.

But she admits she held her breath sometimes.

“Some of the rides were nerve-wracking,” she said, laughing. “When they got off, I

was relieved. But the more they spun around, the more they liked the rides.”

But the sights and sounds of a carnival have an unique family tie. DeHaan met her husband at the Blue Tip Festival in Ohio. Now she helps plan the annual Cole Chevy Mountain Festival in Bluefield, visits the festival with her adult children (when she is not working) and sets out on a goldfish hunt with Chamber Executive Vice President Debbie Maynard and her grandson Clay.

“We try to win a goldfish every year,” DeHaan said.

It a new tradition mixed in with old familiar rides, food

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and reflection. DeHaan said she can’t believe how much the event has grown over the years.

••• Nelson Walker, 80, from Bluefield said he believed the festival came first — a series of activities and events — followed by the introduction of the carnival. Walker said the carnival was a big attraction and still is.

“The kids just loved it. There was always people standing in line to ride the rides,” he said.

Walker was the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce in the ’90s. He

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section I 5

Childhood icon From girlhood to adulthood, Barbie is a souvenier for many

By JAMIE PARSELL Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — If Barbie had a scrapbook, it would be full of special moments — first dates with Ken, pool parties with Skipper, fashion shows and high school football games. But what about those who collect the iconic doll?

For many women in the two Virginias, Barbie has held an important role in their lives. And to keep her memory alive, they still have their favorite doll. Some have even branched beyond their first Barbie doll into collections, years in the making.

The iconic doll — introduced to the public in 1959 — celebrated 50 years in 2009. As a working woman, she has had more than 108 different careers, ranging from president to astronaut. Her sense of fashion is still in style, thanks to more than 70 famous designers. Since 1959, there has been more than 1 billion fashions produced for Barbie and friends. But the biggest reason to celebrate is her longevity and popularity in the toy aisle — 90 percent of U.S. girls ages 3-10 own at least one Barbie doll.

It’s a girl’s world for Mattel, full of Barbie pink — yes, she has her own color code, PMS 219 — hot wheels, shoes, clothes, mansions, convertibles and swimming pools. But in 1959, the first Barbie was clad in a black and white striped swimsuit — not a speck of pink. Created by Ruth Handler, Barbie’s real name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. Handler, part-owner of Mattel Creations with her husband Elliot, was inspired to create a doll after watching her daughter play with paper doll fashions. Wanting to create a more threedimensional doll for her daughter’s role playing, she introduced the first Collection...

Barbie at a toy fair in New York. The Sandy Siers displays her collection of doll sold for $3.

Barbie’s never looked back. She has Siers received her first doll — survived the hippy ’60s, the mod look of the ’70s and the bold neon colors of Malibu Barbie. Made in the ’70s, the doll featured a California tan, the ’80s. Today, she is a world class straight blond hair and a blue icon for little girls and adult women, bathing suit. who have never forgotten their own “From then on, I was fascinated by introductions to Barbie. the clothes and picking out the outSandy Siers, from Bluefield, fits. It led to being very fashion conremembers the first time she saw a scious,” Siers said.

Barbie doll at her cousin’s house.

Like most little girls, she took her The cousin had everything — the Barbie everywhere — on car rides case, the clothes and even the hangand playdates. She even had her ers, Siers said. For her birthday,

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Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

Barbies in her home in Bluefield. dad create an igloo for Barbie — a wintertime activity — and tables and chairs for sit-down dinners. An older sister created tiny paper grocery stores bags for Siers’ collection of play food. But as Siers grew up, she gave up her Barbies.

But in the late ’80s, something happened to Siers that gave Barbie a second chance. In the late ’80s, Siers’ father passed away with cancer. She was pregnant. But her dad

had bought two Barbie dolls — one for her and one for the baby.

Confused by his illness, her father bought a doll for twin boys. But Siers appreciated the gifts for sentimental reasons and started paying more attention to her childhood playmate.

“I started seeing a few of the dolls that I remembered having when I was younger and I didn’t have them anymore,” she said.

By the early ’90s, Siers started going to flea markets looking for dolls.

She found the Bionic Woman doll and the Malibu Barbie doll. Today, she has more than 115 different dolls; at least 80 of them are Barbies. She keeps her collection in the bedroom. Her goal is to not invest an extreme amount of money in a collection, but to acquire a nice group.

Since she started her collection, she has found good deals on dolls at stores and flea markets.

Siers’ story fits into Barbie’s pop culture for adults. In the mid ’90s, Barbie collectors began storming the Internet, stores and flea markets looking for collectibles. Today, a mint condition No. 1 (1959 Barbie doll) can sell for as much as $27,450.

The second most expensive doll sold in 2003 for $25,527.

Doll collector Heather Bostic remembers the Superstar Barbie.

“She was probably my favorite Barbie,” Bostic said. “But I am trying to find a 1969 Barbie and they are very expensive. It was the year I was born.”

Bostic is an original member of the Hello Dolly of the Virginias Doll Club. Her collection — mostly fashion dolls — reaches into the hundreds; 50 of those dolls are Barbies.

She is partial to designer collection dolls such as the Donna Karan and the Bob Mackie Gold Barbie. As an avid collector, she cautions others to leave Barbie in the box, even if it is

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6 Section I Sunday, September 25, 2011

Heroes and villians

Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

Collector...

Eddie Hatfield is an avid comic book collector in Bluefield. He started collecting as a child and continues to provide children and adults with comic books and memories.

Comic books open the world of reading early for many enthusiasts

BY JAMIE PARSELL Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — In a scrapbook, there is always a place to list favorite books, music, TV shows and other pop culture trends. But what about comic books? Avid collectors and enthusiasts fondly remember their first comic book. For many, that first book opened the door to a life-long hobby full of memories from childhood to adulthood.

Jimmy Kelly has no idea how many comic books are stored in boxes inside his home in Princeton. The 34-year-old said companies sell computer software to organize collections, but he likes the simplicity of comic books and boxes. “ ... I enjoy just grabbing a box from time to time and going through it and finding something that I may have forgotten I have,” he said.

Kelly’s collection is wide and varied, ranging from classics to more modern comics such as “American Vampire,” which debuted in March 2010. He likes any comic book with a good story. As a child, he was fascinated with superheros.

“My first comic was a Superman comic. I remember

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being fascinated by him and I probably spent hours drawing the superman symbol after reading it. It is the first thing I can ever remember about learning how to draw,” Kelly said.

He bought his first Superman comic at age 7. He was attracted to the character’s superpowers.

“I was fascinated by someone who could fly ... plus, Superman is a mom and pop, apple pie good guy and I think that draws children to their first heroes,” he added.

Being a comic book fan from an early age, Kelly said his love for Superman and other characters has easily influenced his life.

“I remember discussing with

Staff photos by Eric DiNovo

Items of interest...

A few of the items Teri Moore collected while attending a HeroesCon convention in Charlotte N.C., include a Thor comic, convention logo and comic strip.

my wife how much I wanted my son Jake to have a Superman costume for his first Halloween costume. She wanted him to be an elephant so we compromised and he was both. I am pretty sure every comic book fan has a large collection of comic book clothing. If you have a kid, they of course, have comic book clothing and many of their toys are comic book characters. If I ask my son what Hulk does, he will reply ‘Hulk smash’,” Kelly said.

Comic book heroes aren’t limited to books. Hollywood crashed in on the popularity of the hobby years ago. Kelly said his first comic book turned movie was Superman.

Comic, 10

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section I 7

Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

In the movie line...

‘Star Wars’ fans have ‘lightsabre’ battles while awaiting the opening of the final movie in the Star Wars franchise — ‘Revenge of the Sith.’

Big screen memories...

Hollywood leaves impression on scrapbooks across Four Seasons Country

BY JAMIE PARSELL Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — Everybody knew the boat would sink in the 1997, but the tragic ending did nothing to stop the thousands who watched the movie “Titanic” in theaters across the U.S. Teens and adults were fascinated by the movie, which starred Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet.

Fans could not get enough of the duo, often returning to the theaters every weekend. For many residents — now in their late 20s and early 30s — the movie remains the highlight of pop culture.

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❏❏❏ ‘I remember the only movie I ever walked out on at the theater was when my Mom took me to see ‘Bambi’ at the Pocahontas Theatre in Welch.

Apparently, my animal lover tendencies were in full force even as young as I was then.’

her nose on her shirt — in front of a first date. “ I can’t believe he asked me out again,” she said, laughing.

•••

For other generations, blockbuster movies like “Raiders of the Lost Ark” made a huge

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— Joy Coleman Lamb Welch resident

From to “Titanic,” to the trilogy “Star Wars,” blockbuster movies have always held a place in scrapbooks. Princeton resident Laura Haye Presley went to see “Titanic” at least five times.

“I still have all the movie tickets,” Presley said.

Former Tazewell County resident Kristy Comerose Thompson also went to the theater for encore performances of the movie.

“I cried for hours after the first time,” she added.

She ended up watching the movie five times as well.

Another former Four Seasons Country resident Jessica Knight cried so hard she blew

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section I 9

Staff photos by Eric DiNovo

Tickets...

Above are tickets from previous concerts during the Mountain Festivals.

Festival...

Continued from 3 spent most of the time at the festival making sure everything was ready for residents of the two Virginias.

When the festival was first put together, Walker said there wasn’t as many activities.

“We didn’t have a lot of things to do. We had girls mud wrestling but that was only done one year. We tried to bring something new and we started to have entertainment,” Walker added.

Walker remembers one concert in particular — the Statler Brothers.

“The concert was outside in the ballpark and the rain just killed us,” he said. “They sang anyway. We had a good time with it.”

Overall, Walker said he

recalls happy and good times at the Mountain Festival. And a lot of joy. What started out as a small venture has turned into a busy annual tradition in the two Virginias. When Walker was executive director, the crowds and traffic were minimal. But as the years progressed, the event got bigger and bigger So did the crowds.

“People have the opportunity to go down and have memories of the carnival,’ Walker said.

In May 2011, the two Virginias celebrated 24 years of Mountain Festival history.

But before then, Bluefield resident Al Modena, along with the Bluefield Jaycees helped form a carnival as a fundraiser in late ’50s and early ’60s.

“It was held as the same place in the city park,” Modena said. “The Thomas Joyland shows usually came

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here around the first week of June. It was family entertainment.”

Modena said the fundraiser lasted a few years. Like Walker, he spent most of his time helping with the carnival and making sure others had a good time. But he said he did get on a ride with a sideways movement rather than a vertical motion like the Ferris wheel.

“I really liked seeing the pleasure it brought for families. They loved the rides and we had a few booths where they could win little trinkets,” he added.

Hopefully, those trinkets have provided residents with proof of their experiences, whether it be a thrilling ride on a new carnival attraction, a show, a prize or photos of family and friends digging into fair food.

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10 Section I Sunday, September 25, 2011

Hollywood...

Continued from 7 impression. Bluefield resident Jerry Conner said the movie featuring Harrison Ford played for almost a year at the Mall Cinemas in Bluefield.

“I went 28 times,” Conner said. “At one point, the manager just started waving me through.”

Conner watched the movie at least once or twice a month.

Very rarely did he keep his movie tickets. However, as an avid Star Trek enthusiast, he still has a few Star Trek tickets and a ticket from “Avatar.” His first movie was “Hercules, Simpson and Ulysses” — a Greek action film released in the ’60s.

“Raiders of the Lost Ark” was released in 1981 — before the Internet. And back then, Conner said most cable packages had only 13 channels.

More people went to the movies, often repeatedly. Now, Conner said many films are dismissed before they even make it to the screen, thanks to online reviews and rumors. However, Harrison Ford’s action-packed film was the top-grossing movie

Comic...

Continued from 6 “I remember everything about it so clearly. My brother was sick and in the hospital and I was home with just my dad. It was the first showing on TV and my first time viewing it. I remember sitting with my dad and watching it and just being amazed and so caught up by the story. Every little boy’s first hero is his dad and getting to experience watching my comic book hero with my real life hero is one of my favorite memories,” he said.

Rather than hide his hobby, Kelly is embarking on another first — a comic book podcast with fellow friends and comic book collectors. He said the group is embracing nerdom and creating a podcast every Wednesday at 9 p.m., on blogtalkradio. They called the show Nerdy30s. “ ...We are all in our ’30s and we still enjoy a lot of things people would consider nerdy.

We talk about comic books, movies, video games and just different stuff we have collected. We’re in our second year

❏❏❏ Conner watched the movie at least once or twice a month. Very rarely did he keep his movie tickets. However, as an avid Star Trek enthusiast, he still has a few Star Trek tickets and a ticket from ‘Avatar.’ His first movie was ‘Hercules, Simpson and Ulysses’ — a Greek action film released in the ’60s. in 1981. Its popularity led to three other films, games, a television series and more.

Another iconic blockbuster that Conner saw more than once was “Star Wars.”

In the late ’70s, Conner was dating a girl who loved the movie. Date night usually meant a movie.

“We always ended up watching ‘Star Wars’ at the theater,” he said.

Welch resident Joy Coleman Lamb watched her first big blockbuster movie in McDowell County.

“The Pocahontas Theatre was the big old-fashioned movie theater in Welch when I was growing up. It burnt down in the early ’80s. Before the Blue Prince Cinemas in Green Valley, all the movie I watched were at the Pocahontas. I remember my first blockbuster movie was seen there with my

parents and it was ‘Star Wars’,” she said.

William A. Shepherd of Bluefield was only 5 years old when he saw “Return of the Jedi” in 1983. Shepherd, his mom, aunt and cousins watched the flick at the theater (now the current location of K & W Cafeteria) in Mercer Mall.

“It was like a big TV show that you got to see personally, but better.” Shepherd said. “It stuck with you forever. I went and watched it two or three times.”

The movie sparked an interest in Star Wars, one that has carried into adulthood. Shepherd is a member of The Star Wars 501st Legion Vader’s Fist, an international costume organization with more than 5,000 members in 40 different countries.

To his knowledge, Shepherd is the only member in the area.

“I own a professional stormtrooper costume that

goes along with about nine others that are professional star wars costumes,” he said.

He attends many charity events in costume, as well as Sci Fr Con at Bluefield State College last October.

He remembers the movie was a family event.

“There wasn’t bad connections with the movie,” he said.

“It was all good family themes at that time.”

He liked “Return of the Jedi” so much, he watched the earlier Star War movies as well.

“It was much better than anything you had ever seen before ‚ including Saturday morning cartoon,” he added.

••• For every blockbuster movie, there is a movie that belongs in a scrapbook for reasons only the individual really knows.

Brett St. Clair remembers the movie “Pulp Fiction” very well.

“I remember my baby-sitter taking me as the third wheel to my first R rated movie when I was 10 ...,” he said.

The baby-sitter got caught when St. Clair told his father about the movie.

Lamb also remembers the movie “Bambi” for a rather unique reason.

“I remember the only movie I ever walked out on at the theater was when my Mom took me to see ‘Bambi’ at the Pocahontas Theatre in Welch.

Apparently, my animal lover tendencies were in full force even as young as I was then,” she said.

But the movie that made the biggest impression on her as a child was the trailer for “Grease.” Lamb was too young to watch the movie, but she caught enough of the trailer to be fascinated by the music and dance.

“I was a sucker for romance, and I was enrolled in dance classes at the time, so a musical was just an amazing thing to see ... as soon as it came out on HBO, I watched it over and over again until I could quote the lines myself,” she said.

An avid movie fan, Lamb used to save ticket stubs, but

now and we still have a lot of fun with it,” Kelly said.

But he believes there are two different aspects to comic books — the art and story lines. Some people are drawn to the complexity of the artwork; others like the plot and characters of the story.

“I always enjoyed the storylines the most. It was 20 pages or so of being able to sit down and take yourself in another world,” he added.

His friend and fellow podcast member Tony Riffe discovered his uncle’s stash of comics when he was only 5 years old.

“He had a lot of classic titles like Archie, Casper, Donald Duck and Under Dog. After my grandpa bestowed the collection upon me, I had the fire and wanted more comics,” Riffe, 34, said.

One of favorite memories is visiting a comic book store in Gilbert, located in Mingo County. It is closed now, he said, but it was a cool shop that sold comic books, as well as classic toys. Riffe always remembers a few comics from his youth.

“I can remember an issue of Batman that I got around my

eighth birthday that I wished I had to this day ... it seemed so dark and scary. It was ‘Batman vs. Manbat.’ I also remember an issue of Spider-man very well and a Spider-man paint-bynumber set,” he said.

Today, he favors Captain America. And his collection includes more than just comics.

“I have a book called the Marvel Vault that my good friend Jeff Griffith brought me.

It has everything Marvel inside.

I have made my own custom Thor gauntlets and helmet that I used for Free Comic Book Day and actually wore to the Thor movie premiere at Carmike’s Cinemas,” he said.

••• There are no more “firsts” in this hobby. But there are new additions and ways to collect, which makes the hobby more popular and accessible to residents in the two Virginias. One of those is comic book conventions. Most collectors begin their hobby as children and can document their lives with certain comic books memories.

However, Teri Moore, of Princeton, experienced her first HeroesCon in Charlotte, N.C., in 2010 as an adult.

“My new husband introduced me to comic books and took me to HeroesCon the year before we were married and I had a blast,” Moore said.

She said she was surprised by the amount of people at the convention.

“There were thousands of people. Some people were dressed up and that just floored me. I thought it was really interesting,” she said.

At the annual convention, she said independent comic books — those not associated with DCcomics — set up in the back.

Fans can watch them draw, write and get previews. Moore was fascinated by the convention. She returned with this past June.

“I was excited the second time. I knew what to expect,” she added.

Her first taste of HeroesCon gave her an appreciation for the hobby, even though she didn’t really collect comic books as a child.

Now she always buys a T-shirt at the annual convention and she has picked up a few comics books — she found a series of Christian comics — along the way. She likes the small inde-

pendent comic book creators who give previews to fans. She has also kept a lot of convention souvenirs ranging from small comic books to business cards.

Moore and her husband are also involved in a podcast about Thor.

“We talk about the old books and the new books that are out now. And I read those. I also read some of Manga, the Japanese comics book. They are geared more towards adults than kids,” she said.

••• As a collector, Eddie Hatfield visits yard sales, comic book stores, convention and the Bluefield flea market. He is looking for a good deal, buying and selling with different residents all across the area.

“I try to go every week if I can. I have found a lot of good deals and a lot of times people don’t realize what they have,” he said.

Hatfield, 35, began collecting when he was 10 years old.

“My dad kept his collection and I can remember getting them out,” Hatfield recalled.

He remembers sitting down with his dad and looking at comics together. They took

hasn’t kept up with the practice. Her husband isn’t a fan of movies, so Lamb usually visits the local theater with friends and other family. When the 20th anniversary of “Grease” hit theaters in 2002, she took several teenagers to the movies to see it on the big screen.

“They had never seen it on the big screen either, and I wanted to share the experience with others who loved musicals, and that one in particular,” she said.

••• The thrill of a blockbuster hasn’t disappeared from pop culture. Movies like “Avatar,” “Twilight and “Harry Potter” series continue to create new fans and break box office records. But Conner said it doesn’t have quite the same magic. The Internet has given fans almost too much information about movies. Reviews and rumors can often ruin the surprise, or at least the plot line.

And today’s technology gives viewers more reason to skip the theaters in favor of DVD rentals. But no one can deny that more memories are made in the theater — with a large popcorn, soda and movie ticket.

turns reading the plot lines.

“It was awesome,” he said.

“It was a way to go to another world for 20 pages,” he said. “It is still like that. Even at 35, you can sit down and escape to another world.”

He believes he developed a love for reading after receiving his first comic and he hopes he can create the same desire in other children who are interested in comics.

“At the flea market, I have had times where little kids come up and ask what this (the comics) are about,” Hatfield.

He likes knowing he has the chance to provide a child with their first comic book. He believes in creating memories with superpowers. He said is encouraging his nephew by showing him a few comics.

What about Hatfield’s first comic?

“It was an issue of the Incredible Hulk Annual No. 15 from 1986,” he said. “It is stored with the rest of the Incredible Hulk comics.”

Rest assured that piece of comic book history is not going anywhere.

— Contact Jamie Parsell at jparsell@bdtonline.com.

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12 Section I Sunday, September 25, 2011

Riding the rails...

Train travel a longtime favorite of many local residents

By JAMIE PARSELL Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — Planes, trains or automobiles? If you ask Bluefield resident Heber Stafford, he would pick the train over any modern type of transportation. The 93year-old son of a railroad engineer grew up riding the train in and out of Bluefield.

“We would get passes and go down to Pearisburg and relatives would pick us up there,” Stafford said.

The passes from their father, who retired from the railroad in the late ’50s, were issued to youth under the age of 18, Stafford said. After 18, one had to pay for his or her ticket.

He remembers traveling to Norfolk, Va., in 1923. It was the first time he saw the ocean.

Then, there was the time he rode the train to see the West Coast.

“We left on Friday night and got to Los Angeles, Calif., on Monday morning. We spent three nights and two days on the train,” he said.

He ended up making the trip twice. He also rode the train when they put in the Santa Fe hi-level cars. The new cars allowed passengers to sit on the top deck. The lower deck was filled with restrooms, luggage space and the diner’s kitchen.

Stafford and his brother would ride to Cincinnati, Ohio,

B

Staff photo by Bill Archer

All about trains...

Heber Stafford displays some of his train memorabilia. to see the Reds play baseball.

More trips took him to New York City for the World’s Fair in 1939 and 1940, to Roanoke, Va., for Thanksgiving Day football games between Virginia Tech and Virginia Military Institute and others places in

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“You didn’t have to stay awake to drive,” he said.

To make his point, he described an overnight trip from Los Angeles, Calif., to San Francisco, Calif.

“You could travel about 700 miles a night and be there the next morning,” he added.

••• But train travel wasn’t the only means of transportation.

Americans liked owning and driving cars. Stafford’s family didn’t purchase an automobile until 1949. They had trains and the street car. He recalls riding in an automobile from Princeton to Bluefield in the ’20s. It was one of his first experiences in a vehicle.

“My grandfather in Princeton had a car. He had an undertaker place there and they would come and visit,” he said.

But he still wasn’t overly impressed with the automobile. He said the vehicle simply got him there and back.

In the town of Bramwell, Lou Stoker, local historian and town mayor, said the first possible automobile in the town belonged to C.W. Freeman in 1909. Everybody wanted a car, Stoker said.

“They all wanted their own

Rails, 15

Contributed photos

Historic items...

The pass, luggage tag and press ticket are on display at the Princeton Railroad Museum.

Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section 1 13

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14 Section I Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section I 15

Rails...

Continued from 12 car and a chauffeur,” Stoker said.

Bramwell, known as the town of the Millionaires, was full of wealthy coal operators. The Freeman, Cooper, Goodwill, Thomas and Bowen families all had drivers, according to Stoker.

Freeman gave many residents in a Bramwell their first ride in a automobile. Stoker said he was noted as being a gracious man in the small coal community.

For a long time, automobiles didn’t affect train traffic because there was no commercial auto traffic. Plus, roads were rough, not yet developed for cars. She thinks automobiles began to pick up speed after World War I. And the government began to provide citizens with means to travel on the Interstate Highway System.

According to Stafford, another reason for the decline in train travel happened in 1971 when Amtrack took over all U.S. passenger rails. The biggest blow came in the ’80s, when Amtrack left the city of Bluefield, eliminating passen-

Barbie...

Continued from 5 tempting to release her from her plastic prison.

“If you take a Barbie out of the box, she is worth less. A part of the box is the collection,” Bostic said.

According to Bostic, every doll collector must have a Barbie in a collection. It is an unwritten rule, based on Barbie’s fashion sense.

“Really, Barbie herself is quite generic. Her clothes and accessories is what really makes her,” Bostic said.

In 1959 — the first year of Barbie — her clothes were expensive, according to Bluefield, Va., resident Nora Lockett.

“It was unheard of to pay $5 for a doll outfit. So that I might have a wardrobe for my doll, my mother took me shopping and bought my first sewing pattern, a Barbie wardrobe.

She then taught me to sew.

Soon, my doll had lots of outfits — mostly evening dresses,” Lockett said.

❏❏❏ For a long time, automobiles didn’t affect train traffic because there was no commercial auto traffic. Plus, roads were rough, not yet developed for cars. She thinks automobiles began to pick up speed after World War I. And the government began to provide citizens with means to travel on the Interstate Highway System. ger train travel. Americans also liked to fly in airplanes out of Bluefield.

But after serving more than three years in the U.S. Airforce, Stafford didn’t enjoy flying in plane. He still preferred his trains to any plane or automobile.

His last train ride was in 1984. The city of Bluefield had a Tom Thumb train that was a model of the first Americanbuilt steam locomotive.

Stafford took his little cousin.

“She was about three years old. We rode down to Ada and back on that train,” he said.

••• Laura Rush, a retired school teacher, only remembers one train trip. The retired school teacher rode the train to Bluefield to Baltimore, Md., to visit friends. Her favorite memories of transportation have to do with planes instead of trains.

“I can’t remember the exact year, but I was probably in high school. I had a friend who’s father was a private pilot. He took both of us up in his private plane. That was my first experience,” Rush said.

Her friend, Sally, was the daughter of Bill Anderson. The two girls and Anderson took off from the Mercer County Airport and flew around Bluefield and Princeton. Rush was able to see an aerial view of the two Virginias.

“I loved the whole experience,” she said.

But she admits she was a bit scared when Anderson cut off the engine in the two-seater plane to land.

“I thought we were going to crash but we flew over the ravine at the airport and landed,” she said. “I just got nervous when we were coming in for a landing — not understanding how the plane

worked and what you had to do. It was great fun though.”

Even before her first trip, Rush recalled watching commercial planes at the Mercer County Airport. She was only a small child, but she said she remembers being fascinated by the planes. In 1968, she boarded her first commercial flight to Baltimore with her mother to visit friends. She had that same nervous and excited feeling in her stomach.

When she compares today’s air travel with her first experiences in the air, she said those first trips were more enjoyable. There wasn’t as many requirements and regulations.

And in the late ’60s, most passengers followed a dress code.

“You had on heels, panty hose, dresses and gloves,” she said. “It wasn’t sweatshirts.

You dressed up.”

And flight attendants had more time to spend with pas-

❏❏❏ ‘I started seeing a few of the dolls that I remembered having when I was younger and I didn’t have them anymore’ — Sandy Siers Bluefield resident

For Lockett, a 7-year old in 1959, Barbie was completely different than her old baby dolls with children’s clothes.

The new doll had a grown-up, sophisticated wardrobe.

“Every little girl wanted the outfit ‘Solo in the Spotlight,’ which was a strapless, glittery black dress with a tulle flounce at the very bottom. The flounce was trimmed with a single rose. It was came with long evening gloves and a microphone on a stand,” Lockett said.

Lockett and other young fashionistas relied on patterns

by McCalls, Advance and Simplicity to make Barbie clothes. Mattel also sold a line of patterns and even a kit with

precut outfits.

Today, some pattern companies are producing “nostalgia” designs to recreate outfits from the ’60s.

Lockett still sews for Barbie, trying to recreate original outfits as much as possible. With a large collection of patterns, her most prized pattern is a copy of the first pattern she had as a child.

“I found it in brand new condition on Ebay. It brings back a lot of pleasant memories of those first sewing lessons and the joy of creating my own Barbie wardrobe.” Lockett said.

From girlhood to adulthood, a Barbie is a souvenir from childhood. It serves as a defin-

ing moment, the tranisition from baby dolls to Barbie dolls. And for women like Siers’, the doll brings back memories of a father, who wanted to create a memory for his daughter.

For all the Barbies, either locked inside a toy box or on display on a shelf, there is a reason why many women cannot bear to part with that last pair of pink plastic shoes or the famous pink convertible.

Barbie holds rank over most toys, pop figures, actors and actresses from childhood.

Some memories can be pasted in albums and books, but Barbie needs more than a page. She needs a closet, one full of clothes and shoes.

sengers. Planes in the ’60s were much smaller, with fewer passengers. Today’s Boeing 757 can seat up to 289 people.

Residents in the two Virginias still travel by planes.

However, commercial air service was terminated in the 1970s.

From the first plane ticket to a train luggage tag, many residents hold on to mementos as a reminder of their trips.

Stafford has several train schedules among his collection of books, photos and more. But when people want to preserve these items for other generations they often donate to places like the Princeton Railroad Museum. According to Carol Lawless, an employee at both the Princeton Public Library and the Princeton Railroad Museum, many residents donate items so that others can appreciate the history of train travel. Some of items include boarding passes from 1921, a press ticket issued by

the Virginian Railway Co., photos, books and larger items like luggage and equipment.

Lawless said the museum houses a lot of artifacts from the Virginian. The railroad was combined by joining together the Deep Water West Virginia Railway and Tidewater Virginia Railway. The museum also has memorabilia from Norfolk and Western Even though she works in a museum full of railroad memories, Lawless has never boarded a train as a passenger.

“I have always felt that the desire to ride ... it has such a rich history. I would have loved to ridden a train,” she confessed.

For Lawless and others who never got to experience the thrill of a train ride or the early years of aviation, scrapbooks full of tickets, schedules and more provide a personal history of residents, who have helped preserve travel in the two Virginias.

Daily Telegraph w w w. b d t o n l i n e . c o m your local news online, anytime.

16 Section I Sunday, September 25, 2011

Concord University “The Campus Beautiful”

Fall Saturday, October 15

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• Monday, October 10 • Friday, October 28 • Friday, November 4 • Friday, November 11

• Saturday, November 12 • Wednesday, November 16 • Friday, December 2

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Keynote Speaker – W. Gaston Caperton III Thursday, November 10, 2011 Reception: 6:00 pm Dinner 7:00 pm Embassy Suites Charleston, WV

Please contact the Office of Advancement for information on tickets and table pricing.

1-304-384-6311 Office of Advancement

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section II 1

Special moments Our region has experienced many special events throughout the years

Rich history Native Americans settled in area centuries before Europeans

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph ASTIAN, Va. — Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the mountains of southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia, the region was filled with Native American activity. By the time white settlers penetrated as far inland as the Appalachian Mountains, the native peoples were suspicious of their new neighbors and hostilities became commonplace.

But before the Europeans arrived, Four Seasons Country was home to major settlements of native peoples during the Woodland Period when Native Americans started making pottery to store the corn (maze) and other crops they cultivated. There were settlements on Wolf Creek near Bastian, at Pisgah in Tazewell County, in Burke’s Garden, Va., in Ceres, also in Bland County, Va., as well as Lake Shawnee on the Bluestone River in Mercer County.

The late Emory Eugene “Gene” Jones stated in a 1988 interview that the archaeological evidence indicates that some of the native peoples who settled the tributaries of the Tennessee River system including the Clinch River through Tazewell County were likely related to the Dallas (named after Dallas Island near Chattanooga, Tenn.)

Culture. The native peoples of the Tennessee River tributaries had very early contact with Europeans.

While seeking a passage to the Pacific Ocean, Spanish Conquistador Hernando de Soto had contact with the Chiaha people during his 1540 exploration of North America. The Dallas Culture people were likely ancestors of the Cherokee.

In the same interview, Jones pointed out that there is evidence to suggest — particularly in pieces of pottery that he had discovered — that the Native Americans who settled on the Bluestone River and its tributaries were likely related to the mound-builders or Adena and Hopewell culture of Ohio, western West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. Certain shards of pottery that Jones found during his archaeological searches at Lake Bottom strongly suggested a connection between the Bluestone tribes and tribes associated with the Fort Ancient Culture. During the time of European colonization of North American, Shawnee war parties that were based in roughly the same geographical territory as the Adena Culture were responsible for the Sluss family massacre in Ceres, Va., the Moore family massacre in Abbs Valley, Va., and the Davidson family massacre in Bluefield.

Residents of the two Virginias have had a long-standing fascination with the people who once called the region home centuries before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Early pioneer settlers were on constant guard to protect themselves against Indian attack, and some geographical locations and streams bear references to native peoples. Although the fear of attack from Indian war parties had disappeared by the dawn of the 19th Century, the Southwest Virginia Improvement Co., resurrected the regions wild west past by suggesting named from the Mattaponi peoples of eastern Virginia.

Pocahontas was the Mattaponi princess who asked her father,

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Powhatan, to spare the life of Captain John Smith of the original Jamestown settlement. Matoaka is another name from the Pocahontas tradition, and towns like Mohawk in McDowell County were no doubt, influenced by the fictional works of James Fenimore Cooper.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Howard A. MacCord led the first serious examination of a pre-Columbian Native American village site in May of 1970, literally in the shadow of bulldozers that were poised and ready to re-route Wolf Creek near Bastian, Va., to make way for the construction of I-77. On May 15, 1970, workers scraping the ground for the highway uncovered skeletal remains of what would later prove to be one of six Indian graves found at the Indian Village site.

The highway construction crew stopped working, and contacted Wayne Richardson, the state game warden in Bland, Va., who called in MacCord. Within a matter of three days, MacCord was able to proclaim that the site represented, “The most complete archaeological discovery of an Indian Village east of the Mississippi River,” according to the May 20, 1970 article by former Bluefield Daily Telegraph executive editor, Tom Colley.

Richardson was aware of the site’s potential because he had found bones and projectile points on the farm that had been owned by the late Brown Johnston.

MacCord found the six grave sites, post holes outlining a fort-like structure and speculated that about 60-75 people lived in the village approximately 540 years ago.

He speculated that the Indian people living in Bland could have been related to the scattered remains of native peoples found in Blacksburg, Va., in 1966. Eugene Jones would later speculate that the Blacksburg excavation was also precipitated by the advance of a construction project.

MacCord sent the remains to the Smithsonian Museum where they remain today. Local residents remembered the history and in 1992, George Schaeffer and members of the Bland County Historical Society obtained funds from the federal government’s ISTEA (Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act) program and were on their way to creating a popular tourist attraction/educational resource. The first recreated Indian village site opened in 1996, and a museum housing an incredible array of Native American artifacts from throughout Bland County, Va., opened in 1998.

“We learn more all the time about the people who lived here,” Stephanie Johnson said. “The earliest material we have came from the fire pit where material has been carbon dated and was determined to be from the late 1400s to early 1500s. There are three different theories as to who these people were. They were probably Cherokee or Iroquois, but they could have been Eastern Sioux or perhaps a Ute or Euchee-based tribe.”

Another Virginia-side Native American village site that was located in Pisgah, west of the town of Tazewell, Va. — the Crab Orchard site — was excavated in 1972 and continues to serve as an historical resource to tell the story of the people who lived in the region before the arrival of

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European settlers.

The late Nelle Bundy got involved in the excavation at Pisgah on the Jeff Higginbotham farm in 1972, and it propelled her on a 10-year mission that ultimately led to the opening of the Historic Crab Orchard Museum & Pioneer Park on Oct. 31, 1982. Tazewell County had long been known as a fertile ground for Native American artifacts with the Paint Lick Mountain pictographs gaining national attention as early as 1871. The Pisgah area was long expected to have been a Native American settlement and again, it was MacCord, and Jones who had worked with MacCord in 1966, ‘70 and again in ‘72, who led the way in the excavation.

Over a 7-year period from 1975 until the museum complex opened, Bundy put her considerable energies into the development of the museum and pioneer park. She found creative ways to raise funds for the museum including pushing a table and chair from the library in Tazewell all the way to the proposed museum site. Jeff Higginbotham donated the property that became the museum and park site as well as a treasure trove of historically significant artifacts that helped shape the museum’s future as a site that tells the story of early pioneer settlers and that aspect of Tazewell County’s history.

Bundy served as museum director for several years after the opening.

MacCord and Jones submitted the final report on the Crab Orchard site in 1990.

Jones excavated other sites in Falls Mills, Va., Burke’s Garden and Bland County, but also concentrated a great deal of energy on the Snidow Site (46MC1) in Lake Bottom. Mercer County. Conley and Maybelle Snidow opened an amusement park at the Lake Bottom site in 1924 , and for years, the resort at Lake Shawnee served as a popular getaway spot for families of the Mercer County and surrounding area.

Through the years, several archaeologists have examined various parts of the site, but nothing has been done on the scope of the work near Bastian and at Crab Orchard. The artifacts recovered appear to indicate that Native peoples settled the Lake Bottom area during several time periods with some artifacts revealing occupation circa 1250, while other items including the discovery of glass beads in 1989 indicate a more recent occupation at the village site perhaps as recent as 1650.

The Snidow Site continues to captivate the imagination of archaeologists although there is yet to be a truly comprehensive examination of the village site. Dr. David Fuerst led an on site examination in 1989, and Dr. Nicholas Freiden led an earlier group of archaeologists at the site. Rachel J. Crawford’s 2007 masters theses at Marshall University discusses the burials at the site, but the entire site remains unexamined.

Although the two Virginias have some exceptional resources for information about the native peoples who once called the region home, there are still many opportunities for future generations to examine the past and uncover more of the story that is yet to be told.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

Contributed photo and staff photos by Bill Archer

Historic Scrapbooks...

Above top, from left to right, Jo Phillips, Stephanie Johnson and Denise Smith, members of the staff of Wolf Creek Indian Village near Bastian, Va., in Bland County work to preserved the modern documentary record of the project from 1970 when the village was initially excavated until the present day. Middle, Wright family members, Maxwell, Stewart and Donald Wright found this Native American carving while squirrel hunting in the Southeast section of Bland County in the late 1950s or early 1960s. The unusual carving is now on display at the museum located at the Wolf Creek Indian Village. Next, the late Nelle Bundy became interested in the archaeological examination of the Pisgah Site on the Higginbotham farm in 1972, and used the discoveries and interest in the site to develop the Historic Crab Orchard and Pioneer Park project.

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2 Section II Sunday, September 25, 2011

Early clashes Pioneer families survived attacks by Native American war parties

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — Newcomers to Bluefield who enter town on Cumberland Road and turn on to Bland Road to enter the city’s South Bluefield residential section, cannot help but encounter an historical marker that tells of the bloody interactions between European settlers and native peoples during the first tenuous years of western expansion in the central Appalachian Mountain region.

The first of several regional massacres occurred nearly a full year prior to the Battle of Bunker Hill in what is now the Ceres Community of Bland County. The massacre came during a time known as “Lord Dunmore’s War,” and was two months prior to that war’s most famous battle, the Battle of Point Pleasant, on Oct. 10, 1774.

The Sluss family had settled near Sharon Springs, and like most of the settlers in southwestern Virginia at the time, they were aware that Chief Cornstalk’s son, Elinipsico, and a group of 50-60 braves were active in the community.

On Aug. 2, 1774, Jared Sluss and his 12-year-old son, James were working at a field near the house when Indians attacked, immediately killing two of Sluss’s daughters, Laura, 4, and Hazel, 10.

Marion, Christina and Jared’s 7-year-old son, was aided in his escape by Hazel before she was killed by an Indian’s arrow. Marion encountered his father and brother headed back to the home, and they sent him on to the fort where he reported the massacre.

Jared and James both died in the battle and were scalped.

Indians scalped the two young girls, and beat and scalped Christina Sluss. She survived the attack for three days which was long enough for her to relay her account to the other pioneers who rescued them.

According to some accounts,

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Photo by Bill Archer

Final resting place...

The stone here marks the site on Laurel Fork Creek where the mutilated body of John Goolman Davidson was found on March 8, 1793. Davidson, was returning to his home at Bluefield after a business trip to Rockbridge County, Va. the Indians who made the attack celebrated on a ridge when other pioneers buried the Sluss family.

Along with Marion, the Sluss’s 6-month-old infant daughter, Mary survived the attack and lived to be 104 years old.

Another child also survived the attack. One of Mary (Sluss) Cregar’s daughters, Delilah, married John Moore a member of the Moore family of Abbs Valley, Va., who suffered a massacre at the hands of another Shawnee Indian band of raiders.

In 1770 or 1772, the family of Captain James Moore settled in the fertile valley in Tazewell County that had been discovered by a kinsman, Absalom Looney, who had traveled to

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the region to hunt game and ginseng. The region Looney discovered was named Abbs Valley.

James Moore served with Col. Andrew Lewis and fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant.

After the Lord Dunmore’s War, Moore was commissioned as a captain in the militia for the Bluestone River area.

Captain Moore and his mountaineer riflemen fought with distinction during the American Revolution and met the first charge of the British infantry in the Battle of Guilford Court House on March 15, 1781 where the “Over-mountain Men” reinforced General Nathaniel Greene, and helped turn the tide of the battle. The battle was dramatized in the movie,

“The Patriot” staring Mel Gibson.

After the Revolutionary War, things did not become entirely settled for the Moore family.

Shawnee raiders led by Chief Black Wolf, captured James Moore Jr., during a raid near the Moore homestead on Sept.

7, 1784.

The junior Mr. Moore was in a field to retrieve a horse so his father could take a bag of corn to the mill. Moore was held by the Shawnees for five years before gaining his release.

On July 14, 1786, Black Wolf led another attack on the Moore farm, and this time, killed and scalped Captain Moore, and also killed three of his children, Rebecca, William and Alexander. The Shawnees

also killed John Simpson who was staying with the family.

The Indians captured Moore’s wife, Martha Poage Moore, a family friend, Martha Evans as well as four other of the Moore children — John, Jane, Polly and Peggy.

The Indian raiders killed John Moore on their trip to Chillicothe, Ohio. At about the same time, the Indians killed the infant, Peggy whose formal name was Margaret, on July 16, 1786. Mrs. Moore and her daughter, Jane were killed at the Shawnee camp, but Mrs. Evans and Mary Moore escaped the torture that Captain Moore’s wife and daughter Jane suffered, and both were later reunited with their families.

The Shawnees led by Black Wolf made another raid into the region on Nov. 12, 1788, but met resistance from a family that they encountered on the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River near the present day community known as Black Wolf in McDowell County. A party of seven Indian braves attacked Henry Harman and two of his sons, George and Matthias on Nov. 12, 1788, but the Harmans drove the Indians away.

Less than three years later, one of Bluefield’s founding families was not so fortunate.

Andrew Davidson, his wife Rebecca, and their three children — two girls and a boy — were living in a home near the present city limits of Bluefield in the spring of 1791. The Davidsons also had two bound children, a boy and a girl named Broomfield, living with them. Mrs. Davidson was a granddaughter of James Burke, the original settler and namesake of Burke’s Garden.

Andrew Davidson left his family at home to take a business trip to Smithfield in Drapers Meadow, now Blacksburg, Va. It was sugarmaking season, and Mrs. Davidson remained at home to gather sugar water from maple trees. A group of English-speaking Indians cap-

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tured Mrs. Davidson, although she was pregnant, forced her to travel with them back to Ohio. The Indians took items of value from the cabin, and burned it. Mrs. Davidson gave birth to her child on the journey, but the Indians killed the infant the next day.

Soon after they arrived at the village in Ohio they were headed to, the Indians tied Mrs. Davidson’s two daughters to a tree where they shot and killed them. The Indians gave her son to a squaw, who drowned along with the boy, in a canoe and the fate of the Broomfield children remains unknown, although they may have been shot and killed with the two Davidson girls.

Mrs. Davidson was sold to the family of a Frenchman who was living in Canada. She remained as a servant to the family until she was found and rescued by her husband in 1794. Andrew Davidson was traveling through Canada searching for his wife when he stopped in the home of the French family that had bought her.

Mrs. Davidson told her mistress that she knew the visitor.

Andrew Davidson barely recognized his wife whose hair had been dark black, but was then totally gray. However, he recognized her through her voice. They returned to Abbs Valley, and started their family anew.

The Davidson family suffered another loss that brought an end to the Indian raids into the region during the 18th Century.

On March 8, 1973, John Goolman Davidson was returning home from a business trip to Rockingham County, Va., when he was attacked and killed by a group of about 12 Indians at a point on the Laurel Fork of Wolf Creek near Rocky Gap, Va. John Davidson had a 124 acre tract of land in Wright’s Valley on the Bluestone River that was assigned to him in April 3, 1775

by King George III of England.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section II 3

Civil War battle

Photo courtesy of ‘History of the Middle New River Settlements and Contiguous Territory’

Battle ground...

Mercer Circuit Court Judge David E. Johnston is shown here standing in front of the home of Henry Clark where the Battle of Princeton started on May 1, 1862, and concluded with the Battle of Pigeon Roost on May 17, 1862. According to Johnston’s ‘History of the Middle New River Settlements and Contiguous Territory,’ Union forces under the command of General Jacob D. Cox of Ohio spent the night of April 30, 1862, in the Clark cabin, emerged the following morning and were attacked by Captain R.B. Foley and the ‘Flat Top Copperheads,’ under the command of Confederate Major Henry Fitzhugh. Johnston’s ‘History’ was published in 1906.

Battle of Pigeon’s Roost blocked Union advance on V&T Railroad

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph RINCETON — With the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War starting to rekindle thoughts of that defining period of time in the development of the United States, reflections of the war that established the U.S., as a sovereign nation. The country was no longer a collection of several separate states, and at the end of the war, the institution of slavery ended. The city of Princeton and the Battle of Pigeon’s Roost played a pivotal role in the war. Confederate troops blocked a Union Army effort to destroy Confederate supply lines, but Mercer County citizens paid a terrible price in the process.

“General Jacob D. Cox (commander of the Kanawha Division, IX Corps, Army of the Potomac) had about 7,000 to 8,000 soldiers with him when he headed into Mercer County,” Lockhart said. “That many men — cavalry, infantry and a train of 250 wagons — would make a lot of noise coming through this country, especially, if they didn’t know the territory.”

In the spring of 1862, Virginia was still intact and Union Army troops had moved into (then) western Virginia in a

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demonstration of force to end the secession movement in its infancy. The first Battle of Manassas (called the Battle of Bull Run in the North) on July 21, 1861, showed that the rebellion would not be easily put down. In the late summer of 1861, Federal forces advanced into the Kanawha valley, and by fall the Union army held territory as far south as Fayetteville. The following spring, on April 22, 1862, Union forces held Beckley.

General Cox’s forces drove further south through western Virginia with the ultimate objective of destroying the Virginia & Tennessee Railway, that was served as vital transportation artery from the western part of Virginia and other southern states to supply men and supplies for the armies forming in eastern Virginia.

“In the last days of April, the Federal advance reached Flat Top Mountain and encamped at what is know as the Miller Tanyard, place on the turnpike road about two miles south of the top of the mountain,” Judge David E. Johnston wrote in his 1909 book, “History of the Middle New River Settlements and Contiguous Territory.”

Johnston served in the Confederate Army, and wrote

of his experiences as well as his wounding and capture at the Battle of Gettysburg in another book, “The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War.” After the war, he became active in Mercer County business and civic affairs. He worked as a lawyer in both Bluefield and Princeton, was elected prosecuting attorney and later Mercer Circuit Court judge, but left the region in 1908 — a year before his famous history was published — and practiced law in Portland, Ore., until his death in 1917.

The Confederate forces in Mercer County at the time were few in number. Col. Walter Jenifer commanded a cavalry company and Captain Richard B. Foley commanded an independent company called “The Flat Top Copperheads.” According to Johnston’s narrative, about 75 men in the 23rd Ohio regiment occupied the residence of Henry Clark that was located on the west side of the Wythe, Raleigh & Grayson Turnpike, about 8 miles from Princeton.

“Foley and his men, who were on the alert and hovering around the enemy’s camp, discovering the least movement on their part, determined on an attack on the Federal outpost at Clark’s house,”

Staff photo by Bill Archer

Close order drill...

Confederate re-enactors are shown here drilling during the Battle of Saltville reenactment in 1998. Members of Camp No. 1694 ‘Flat Top Copperheads’ Sons of Confederate Veterans, West Virginia Division plan to host a Battle of Pigeon Roost reenactment on May 17, 2012, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the battle.

Johnston wrote. The Copperheads got in position at the Clark house as Captain W.H. French, Captain Thomas Bowen of the Bland Rangers and Captain William N.

Harman of the Grayson Cavalry hurried to get into position to surround the Union soldiers and force them to surrender.

“At the dawn of the first day

of May, the federals came out of the house into the yard for rollcall, apparently little suspecting that a lurking foe was

Battle, 15

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4 Section II Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section II 5

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6 Section II Sunday, September 25, 2011

Photos courtesy of Kyle McCormick’s “The Story of Mercer County”

Dearly beloved...

Above left, the Reverend W.E. Abrams, pastor of College Avenue Baptist Church in Bluefield, is shown here presiding over the real wedding of L. Wingo Yost of (then) Graham, Va., and Emma B. Smith of Bluefield. The couple was flanked by West Virginia Gov. Ephram F. Morgan (between Abrams and Yost) and Virginia Gov. E. Lee Trinkle (beside Smith) above. Right, West Virginia Gov. E.F. Morgan (left) and Virginia Gov. E. Lee Trinkle are shown here shaking hands on Greater Bluefield Day, July 12, 1924. The so-called Wedding of the two Bluefields took place on the state line that is now located in the parking lot near the tennis courts of Lotito Park. Officials estimated the crowd at the event at 15,000.

Coming together in the Roaring ’20s Marriage of the two Bluefields attracted huge crowd to area

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — Civic growth associated with the “Roaring ‘20s” achieved a fever pitch in the summer of 1924, when the town of Graham, Va., changed its name to Bluefield, and the two state region became formally known as Greater Bluefield.

Greater Bluefield Day, July 12, 1924, remains as one of the most fascinating moments in the history of southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. On that date, Graham, formally changed its name to Bluefield in a ceremony conducted by Virginia Gov. E. Lee Trinkle and West Virginia Gov. E.F. Morgan. The community celebration had a touch of reality as Miss Mable “Emma” Smith of Bluefield, Va., married Mr. Lorenzo Wingo Yost of Bluefield.

“Love has welded strong the twain Bluefield-Graham in one chain;” Charles H. Mustard wrote in the official “BluefieldGraham Nuptials, ” an 11-stanza poem that was carried on the front page of the Saturday, July 12, 1924 edition of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

“May it never rust or stain through the years or cause them pain.” Mustard worked for a time with Bluefield Supply, then opened his own bit-sharpening business on Bluefield Avenue, according to Art Riley.

The Greater Bluefield Day program was in three parts.

The first part got underway at 8:10 a.m., with the Reception Committee meeting Gov. Trinkle. The automobile parade formed on Scott Street at 10 a.m., and the American Legion Band began performing at that hour from the Federal Street bandstand. The parade began at 11 a.m., traversed Federal Street as well as Princeton and Bluefield avenues before ending at noon at the West Virginian Hotel. A community reception for both governors was held at the West Virginian at 12:30.

West Virginia Gov. E.F. Morgan had actually arrived in Bluefield on July 11, 1924 — a day earlier than anticipated, but suffered his lumps on the way to town. Morgan, his wife and son, Albert, left Charleston early in the day, and were confronted by a detour in Fayette County. The governor’s Hudson struck a rut in the road, bouncing the chief executive officer into a cross-member. Morgan received a laceration to his head in the incident and the straw hat he was wearing was crushed.

“Many detours were necessary en route from Charleston to Bluefield as a result of the new road construction and the trip was a hard one on the governor and his family,” according to an article about Morgan’s journey. “Despite the hardships and handicaps along the route, Governor Morgan proclaimed the trip a great one. He was loud in his praise of the program and work of the state road commission, the type of road which is being built and said the scenic beauty along the route was so pleasing to the eye the bounces and bumps over the detours tended materially to keep the mind off the rough-

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ness one necessarily has to go through in order to make the trip by automobile.”

Still, Morgan speculated that the trip between Charleston and Bluefield will not always be a rough one and that when the new state highway system is thrown open to traffic, “people will be gliding between the two cities on a schedule which passenger trains cannot hope to compete with.”

The program for the event was ambitious with numerous activities slated for the day.

Gov. E. Lee Trinkle arrived in Bluefield on Norfolk & Western Railway’s No. 15 train to “a large delegation of Bluefield, Va., and Bluefield, W.Va., citizens who escorted him to the West Virginian Hotel.” The 13-story West Virginian Hotel was also a relative newcomer to the Bluefield skyline, having been completed in 1923. Prior to the parade, Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Longley took Trinkle on a tour of improvements in Bluefield, Va., and Bernard McClaugherty took Morgan on a tour of Bluefield, including a stop at Bluefield State College that was then known as Bluefield Colored Institute.

The morning activities included a breakfast for Governors Trinkle and Morgan at the West Virginian at 8:10 a.m., the formation of the automobile parade on Scott Street as well as an hour-long concert by the Riley-Vest Post No. 9 American Legion Band from the Federal Street bandstand.

At 11 a.m., the parade started on Federal Street, traveled to Princeton Avenue and on to Bluefield Avenue. The parade continued until ending at 12 noon, back at the West Virginian.

After crossing into Virginia, the parades traveled to Shelby Heights in West Bluefield, Va. “Of such length was the procession that two bands were used,” according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

“The Bluefield Post No. 9 of the American Legion and the Norfolk & Western Machine Works Band of this city. There was one band in each of the towns.

“Large crowds thronged the streets of the two cities and hundreds of automobiles were parked at points of vantage along the line of march,” according to the article. Chief N.D. Dillow of the Bluefield PD and Chief George Havens of the Bluefield, Va. PD led the parade. William H. Thomas was mayor of Bluefield at the time and Henry C. Calloway was mayor of Bluefield, Va. Clarence Ridley, the so-called “father of the modern city manager form of government,” was city manager of Bluefield at the time.

“Representatives of the motion picture producers were on the job throughout the day,” according to the article. “As the parade swung through the heart of the Bluefield, Va., business district, the cameramen with their high-powered cameras covered the angle.

Both the Fox and Universal Production companies were represented.”

The Greater Bluefield queen and court were treated to a luncheon at 11:30 a.m., at Shannondale, but the two governors and about 40 guests were treated to a luncheon at the West Virginian with rhodo-

dendron flowers and dogwood leaves adorning the tables in honor of the West Virginia and Virginia state flowers respectively. The Bluefield Rotary quartet provided luncheon music.

Starting at 1 p.m., the scene shifted to the fairgrounds with the start of an old timers exhibition baseball game. The American Legion band performed a concert at the special stand while the crowd of about 15,000 people gathered for the ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Gov. Trinkle observed that he had just come through a two-week long battle in New York that ended with the nomination of U.S. Senator John W. Davis, DW.Va., a conservative who received the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. Morgan, a Republican, stuck to his party lines, but expressed appreciation that a West Virginian received the nomination.

During his remarks, Tinkle spoke of the absence of flags at the homes along the parade route, and said that people should cultivate a stronger sense of patriotism and by displaying the flag, foster a feeling of patriotism in the youth.

“There is great need for true patriotism in this day of unrest and world turmoil, when orderly government is threatened by political fanatics and enemies of our institutions.

“He expressed his faith in the future of the Virginias, assured the hearers of the good faith between the two states and his desire to further the spirit of cooperation and good feeling that was evidenced by the great gathering on the border” of the two states.

The summer of 1924 was a troubling time in the U.S. The Democratic Party’s National Convention collapsed over an anti-Klu Klux Klan plank, and Davis, a soft-spoken, littleknown conservative, received the Democratic nomination and not a prayer of being elected. The more liberal elements of the Democratic Party advanced Robert M. LaFollette of Wisconsin as the “Progressive Party” candidate, that split the vote and assured Republican Calvin Coolidge’s election in the fall.

Of course, Coolidge’s hand was on the tiller when the Stock Marked collapsed in the fall of 1927, and Herbert Hoover, another Republican, couldn’t get it back on course.

The Klan was born in the South during the post American Civil War reconstruction period, but the 1920s era incarnation of the organization had broad-based public appeal. The mayors of a few fairly large U.S. cities had Klan ties, and the Klan’s 1924 anti-Catholic, anti-black, antiforeign, anti political dissident message resonated in a public that was still reeling over U.S. involvement in World War I, and struggling to come to grips with the 1920 alcohol prohibition laws.

Morgan, a Republican, also spoke about the cooperative spirit between the two Virginias and said that the people of the region were bound together by blood, heritage and the same forefathers. Morgan talked about the region’s great wealth in terms of natural resources and assured Trinkle that West

Virginia would work with Virginia to achieve success for both states.

The next part of the ceremony was the marriage of Mable “Emma” Smith and Lorenzo W. Yost, a popular young couple — one from Bluefield, Va., and the other from Bluefield, W.V. — who were married by the Reverend W.E. Abrams, pastor of College Avenue Baptist Church. At the end of the ceremony, the two governors joined together to cut the 450-foot long ribbon that divided the two Bluefields on the state line.

Part three of the ceremony involved a dual celebration with the Bluefield Chamber of Commerce annual dinner at the West Virginian Hotel and a Mardi Gras complete with crowning of the Mardi Gras Queen Girlie Crockett and a fireworks display featuring rockets launched from Hotel

Hill while the town was decorated with thousands of Japanese lanterns. The extravaganza was preserved for posterity by camera crews from both Fox and Universal production companies. That was in the days before talking pictures.

“The main street was roped off and closed to traffic and the business section of the town turned over to the fun makers,” according to the newspaper article. “Confetti was thrown and noise makers used it seemed every conceivable contraption from squawker and miniature cannons.” The activity prompted Morgan to say: “My gracious! Where did all the people come from,” according to the article. “Conservative estimates of the number of people taking part in the Mardi Gras placed the number well above 10,000.

“According to fair grounds officials, all previous atten-

dance records were broken there on yesterday afternoon,” a reporter wrote. “Although the turnstiles were not in use, the gates of the grounds having been thrown open, officials of the grounds estimated the crowds at 15,000.” Even Gov. Trinkle commented that two weeks earlier when he spoke at Madison Square Garden to 17,000 people, “he thought surely that was all the people in the world, but after sizing up the vast audience about him, he said he was about convinced those who stood before him must have represented all the population.”

The attendance record stood intact until the Second Chance Learning Center “Rocked the Two Virginias,” on July 16, 2011, attracting an estimated crowd in excess of 18,000 to Mitchell Stadium.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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Sunday, September 26, 2011 Section II 7

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8 Section II Sunday, September 25, 2011

1.

Contributed photos and staff photo by Bill Archer

Camp life...

2.

(1) The Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1388 P-53-VA located in Bastian, Va., was well maintained in preparation for the initial group of 212 officers and men who arrived on June 4, 1933. (2) Two uniformed men serving with the Civilian Conservation Corps are shown here standing on the walkway surrounding the water tank on the Norfolk & Western Railway tracks in Bastian, Va. (3) Georgia (Stacy) Havens, far right, is shown here beside her husband-to be, Junior Stacy, and their friends (from left to right) Byrd Kitts, Evona Pauley and Jewel Havens at the Gulf Service Station at Bastian, Va. (4) Several horse teams are shown here ready to pull logs out of the mountains for the Virginia Hardwoods Lumber Company. (5) Georgia (Stacy) Havens has preserved the history of the Bastian, Va., in pictures. She also enjoys quilting.

History saved Georgia Havens has spent a lifetime preserving area’s history

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph

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ASTIAN, Va. — Without the efforts of Georgia (Stacy) Havens, an important part of the history of Bland County, Va., would have simply slipped away with little notice or fanfare.

“I played basketball for Rocky Gap High School and I saved two pictures from that time,” Havens, 84, said. “My husband had a few pictures of the CC Camp in Bastian, and I found some more of them.

It’s very interesting if you sit down and remember all of this.”

Havens lived the history of her community. Her family arrived in the Virginia Hardwoods outpost at Suiter in 1927.

From that vantage point, she was able to watch an industry come in, harvest the timber and leave a void, of sorts in its wake.

There was some permanence to Virginia Hardwoods’ mill and lumber yard in the heart of Bastian, but the outposts were little more than mobile homes on tracks.

“We may have been the first people living in mobile homes,” Stacy said. “They were only 10-feet wide and there wasn’t much room. It was all what they called virgin timber back then.

The company would build a rail line up into those valleys, bring the rail cars up there and families would set up house.” The family lived at Suiter, Crab Orchard, Sergeants, Kidds and other camps all the way up to the head of Wolf Creek.

Havens’ father, M.C. Stacy, worked as a logger and moved up to a railroad locomotive operator. Along with all her duties as a homemaker, Havens’ mother, Beatrice (Quillen) Stacy taught her daughter the art of quilting — an art form that she still continues to practice.

“The Lord’s blessed me with my family, and I try to make quilts for all of them,” she said. She and her husband, Junior Stacy, had five children, Judith Ann, Perry, Stacey, Kathy and Anthony. “When I start on a new quilt, everybody claims it. I’ve made several Christmas quilts, but I’ve made a lot of tulip quilts and others.”

Like the Stacy family, Virginia Hardwoods came

to Bland County in 1927 and remained for nearly two decades, leaving in the 1940s. The commercial timber business had a foothold in Bland County as early as 1912 when the New River, Holston and Western Railway ran a line from Narrows to Rocky Gap, Va. By 1914, the railroad had pushed into Bastian. By 1919, the Norfolk & Western Railway acquired the New River, Holston & Western and operated it into the 1940s.

“The store building was over there,” Havens said, pointing in the direction of an empty field where several structures associated with Virginia Hardwoods had stood in the past. She now lives in the house that the company built as a boarding house where saw mill workers came to eat.

Along with raising a family, Havens worked at a sewing factory, and also worked at GIV for a time.

She retired in 1993 from ABB in Bland, Va. The photographs her husband had from the Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Bastian prompted her to search for more. CCC Company 1388 P-53-VA in Bastian was the second CCC camp established in Virginia. The initial group of workers arrived in the camp on June 4, 1933, after leaving from Fort Monroe, Va. The camp was operational until June 9, 1942 — a year after the start of World War II. Although the camp ceased to exist, the work of the CCC continues to serve citizens in terms of improved mountain roads that give better access to fire fighters who respond to forest fires in remote portions of the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest.

While the mountains and forests benefited from the CCC workers’ efforts, so too did citizens of Bluefield. Retaining walls along Princeton Avenue in Bluefield still stand today as testimony to the efforts of the CCC workers as well as historic Mitchell Stadium that seems to improve with age as it continues to give a home field advantage to Graham and Bluefield high school football teams as well as providing a venue for a major concert like the Second Chance Rocks the Two Virginias concert in July.

The albums that Havens

has saved through the years preserves the history of a fascinating time in the history of southwestern Virginia. Like many families, Havens has a few albums devoted to family matters, one album devoted to a trip she took to Hawaii not long after she retired from ABB. She also has a large scrapbook of her church.

“My mother was a charter member of the Church of God here,” Havens said, pointing to the church located across the road from the Havens’ home. “I have photographs of every pastor who has been here since the 1930s, and most of the church events.”

Havens is also proud of the large scrapbook she has that includes photographs from all of the schools in the county.

“I even started a scrapbook of cemeteries,” she said. “I’m secretary/treasurer of Rose Hill Cemetery. I also have the notes on cemeteries from the head of Suiter to the head of Wolf Creek.

“It’s very interesting if you just sit down and remember all of this,” she said. “This was a big mill down here and a big town grew up around it.

“At one time, there was a Bland County Supply here,” she said. “The Kidd Brothers had a store, the Blessing Brothers had a store and the Shufflebarger family had a store here,” she said.

“I learned to sew from my mother,” she continued. “She had one of those treadle sewing machines.

She made a Christmas quilt. I’m still making them now.”

While Bastian area residents had long been aware of Havens’ incredible pictorial history of Bland County, historians are slowly discovering the incredible resource she has compiled through the years. In addition to preserving the photographs and newspaper clippings, she still remembers the people in the photographs and the activities they were involved in when the photos were taken.

“I’m thinking about writing something about my mother,” Havens said.

“She was a Quillen from down in Scott County. I think she had an interesting life.”

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section II 9

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10 Section II Sunday, September 26, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section II 11

Tanks for the memories

Contributed photo and staff photo by Bill Archer

On Federal Street...

The late Jim Childress enjoyed taking the West Virginia National Guard tanks based in Princeton to parade venues throughout the region. The M41-A1 Tanks shown here on Federal Street in Bluefield, participated in the West Virginia Centennial Parade on June 20, 1963. Childress, pictured below, maintained detailed scrapbooks that chronicled the activities he was involved with during his years of service in the National Guard as well as other family and civic events.

Princeton guardsman cleared snow with M41-A1 tank

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph EDITOR’S NOTE — Jim Childers was eager to tell the story about how he took a military tank from the National Guard Armory in Princeton to help the West Virginia State Police rescue stranded motorists from the Athens Road.

Jim died on Aug. 27, at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. He was 81.

RINCETON — Jim Childers had always been interested in the past, but he didn’t realize how far back his obsession with past times extended until his basement flooded a few years ago and several boxes were soaked.

“We had pictures and boxes all over the house,” Childers said during an interview in July. “When I was a student at Mercer Elementary School, I started collecting football programs. During the 1943, ‘44 and ‘45 seasons, I sent letters to colleges throughout the United States and asked them to send me a football program. I had boxes of football programs.”

Parts of Princeton flood periodically, but according to Childers, the flood that hit his 9th Street residence 6 or 7 years ago caused more damage than previous events.

“My wife (Erma) and I were sitting in the living room when we heard bam, bam, bam outside,” Childers said. “We thought it was our neighbor closing his windows, but I looked down stairs and saw all the water. A drain on Stafford Drive was blocked, and the water filled up our basement.

We hadn’t seen flooding like that since the Brush Creek flood control project in the 1950s.”

The flood turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Several programs were in a box on a shelf and were spared from the flood. “I decided it was time for

P

me to do something with the old programs, so I wrote letters to the athletic directors of each school that I had a program for and told them they could have the program for their archives.”

Soon after Childers sent the programs back to the schools that had donated them to a young man who enjoyed collecting things, he started hearing back from the schools. “I got a letter from LoyolaMarymont,” he said. “They didn’t have football any more and they didn’t have any programs from back in the 1940s,” he said. “I received a letter thanking me for my kindness.”

The athletic director at the

University of California Los Angeles sent him some UCLA Football ball caps along with a letter of thanks. “I was thinking all along that they must mean something to someone,” Childers said. The letters continued to pour in from Virginia Tech, Florida State, Kansas University and other big and small colleges and universities.

Although he sent the programs away, he received a notebook full of thank you letters in return. Childers now has 11 three-ring binders filled with newspaper clippings, photographs, programs and other items. “I hate to throw anything away that I think someone else can get some use out

of,” Childers said. “Everything you save has meaning to someone. I look at the obituary page in the newspaper and I see 30 stories there. I feel sorry for the families, and I know it has meaning.”

Some of Childers’ more extensive collections have moved on to where they could do the most good. At about the same time that he started collecting football programs, he also started collecting recordings of marching band music.

When he decided to give the record collection away, he gave the entire collection to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Childers had a longstanding relationship with West

Point and helped send several young people from southern West Virginia to the academy.

West Point responded to Childers’ gift by composing a march, “The Pride of Princeton,” to show their appreciation. One of Childers’ three-ring binder notebooks contains his correspondence with the Academy as well as the locally generated newspaper articles about how the story was reported locally.

One of the more unusual collections of information includes newspaper coverage of a blizzard in early March of 1960 that delivered more than a foot of snow on the area and prompted the West Virginia State Police to call on Childers to bring one of his tanks with the West Virginia Army National Guard out to clear the Athens Road and rescue several people who were trapped in vehicles as a result of the snow.

Irma Evans, a columnist with the Sunset News-Observer, wrote about how a group of Concord (then) College employees who left the campus at about 3 p.m., on March 2, 1960, on the way to Princeton and were stranded in a Tri-City Traction bus that had gotten caught behind a line of cars.

One car that tried to make the trip without tire chains got stuck sideways in the road, trapping several other cars, according to Evans’ column.

“The minutes lengthened into hours and all the time the snow piled higher and higher as darkness came on,” Evans wrote. “The Princeton folks had no choice but to remain on the bus until A.E. Dangerfield from the office of the bus company drove as far as he could get on the opposite side of the drifts, and walked the remaining distance to get the passengers off.”

Evans told the tales of the stranded motorists. “About 4:30 a.m., (March 3, 1960) as Mrs. Woolwine related the story to us, the state police showed up and brought the exhausted

snow bound victims to Princeton,” Evans wrote. “The state police, however, could make it through only after a path had been cleared by an army tank and some sort of blower equipment the State Road Commission had.”

“There were 20-some people who couldn’t get through,” Childers said. Childers graduated from Princeton Senior High School in 1949, and joined the National Guard soon after.

His father, Trooper J.E. Childers served with the West Virginia State Police and had been stationed in Princeton.

The troopers knew young Jim Childers, and knew he was always eager to take the National Guard’s tanks out on parades. The snow was too deep for conventional clearing methods, and the troopers that called Childers thought a tank might be able to pack the snow down enough and pull cars out of ditches so State Road Commission crews could clear the highway and rescue the stranded travelers.

“I used to go up to Point Pleasant and bring the National Guard’s Duck (DUKW, meaning D - Decade of the 1940s; U - Utility; K - all wheel drive; and W - twin real axles) down here when Princeton flooded,” Childers said. “We took an M41-A1 tank up there the night it snowed and cleared the road enough to get to those people,” he said.

Childers started out as a private in the Guard and traveled with the “Loud & Proud” 150th Marching Band to various functions. When the unit got the tanks, he used them at various community actions and fired a 19-gun salute with the tanks one Memorial Day. “Boy, that was loud,” he said.

The March 1960 snow storm, floods and National Guard activities fill up another of Childers’ notebooks. “I was just born a pack rat,” Childers said.

“I just save everything.”

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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12 Section II Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Since 1844 Crematory on Premises Family Owned and Operated

George W. “Bill” Seaver, IV, Licensee In Charge www.seaverfuneralservice.com

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96-100 YEARS

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Richardson Funeral Home

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304-436-3380 69 McDowell Street • Welch, WV 24801

Since 1866

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191 Greasy Ridge Road • Princeton, West Virginia 24740 Telephone: 304-431-5200 Facsimile: 304-425-2550 Email: sherri.anderson@cityholding.com

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M em b er

2203 Bluefield Ave. Bluefield, WV 24701 Serving the Community for 80 Years 304-327-8167 • 1-800-491-HELP bluefieldunionmission.net

Curtis R. Mullins, Sr. President Funeral Director

“Since 1898” 111 Ben Bolt Ave. • Tazewell, VA

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109 Thorn Street Princeton, WV 24740

(276) 935-4571

111-115 YEARS

Financing Your Dreams

Green Valley Business Center 258 Blue-Prince Road, Bluefield, WV 24701 Donna W. Gordon, Manager/CFO

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Since 1954

Town of Tazewell 276-988-2501

Lee Ann Murray Co-Owner/Assoc. Broker 304-887-4160

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Highland Funeral Chapel “Dedicated to Caring...Committed to Service” David Kirk, Licensee-in-Charge Shirley Bailey Kirk, Director Garfield Kirk, Vice President

1612 Honaker Avenue Princeton, WV 24740 304.425.8176

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Main Street Bland, VA 276-688-3314 Director: Tom Reese, Jr. Pre-need Planning Services Available

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section II 13

Business Honor Roll 2011 11-15 YEARS

26-30 YEARS

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Keeping You Healthy Is Our Goal

Bland County Medical Clinic Services Provided

Lawrence Brothers would like to thank ALL of its employees for their hard work and dedication, with special recognition to our most senior employees: David Mash - Danny Skeens - Jimmy Cornett, Jr. Johnny Rasi - Janice Laney - Jack Goins 203 Lawrence Road • Bluefield, VA 24605

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6-10 YEARS

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Full Service Facility OPEN 8 AM - 5 PM MONDAY- FRIDAY

www.newberryfordinc.com Located 1/2 Mile Past of Celanese, Ints. Of Rte. 460 & 100

921-1531 or 726-7141 • 1-800-822-FORD

801 S. COLLEGE AVENUE 4-WAY AT VALLEY 315 RAILROAD BLUEFIELD, VA 24605 VIEW STREET AVENUE PHONE: 276-322-1380 TAZEWELL, VA 24651 RICHLANDS, VA 24641 FAX: 276-322-1385 PHONE: 276-988-2596 PHONE: 276-963-0836 700 TOWNVIEW DRIVE 12678 GEORGE C. PEERY HIGHWAY LEBANON, VA 24266 POUNDING MILL, VA 24637 Member Equal Housing PHONE: 276-889-3600 PHONE: 276-963-3430 FDIC Lender

BANDY, CLINE & ASSOCIATES A Certified Public Accounting Firm Tax, Accounting, Consulting Services 113 Tazewell Avenue • P.O. Box 813 • Richlands, VA 24641

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Rhonda Nease Wendy Reedy

Country View Assisted Living

There’s a Loving Place at Country View

26-30 YEARS

Grundy, VA • 276-935-6107 Keen Mountain, VA • 276-498-1100 Douglas Shortridge, Funeral Director www.shortridgeramey.com

Bud Hypes Plumbing & Sewer Services All Types of Plumbing Repair All Work Guaranteed Princeton 304-425-7208 • Bluefield 304-327-5620 Or 1-800-726-7810 The Medical Staff of

Bluefield Hematology & Oncology Specializing in Treatment and Management of Cancer and Blood Disorders

Country View Assisted Living is accepting new residents. We are located 2 miles North of Peterstown on Rt. 219. We are locally owned and operated. Here at Country View, resident care is our primary focus. Our services are geared toward caring and providing for residents in a way that ensures that they live a comfortable and enjoyable lifestyle.

For more information please call us at: 304-753-4300

B&G PRO SHOP SPORTSMAN’S CLUB

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Layaway Now Thru Dec. 24!

RT. 20 • BLUEFIELD, WV BETWEEN PRINCETON & BLUEWELL

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1-5 YEARS

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Joel A. Schor, M.D.

Sachin Patel, PA-C

Melissa Stacy, PA-C

1027 Frederick Street • Bluefield, West Virginia (304) 325-8104 Accepting new patients by referral

30822 Gov. G. C. Peery Highway

(276) 988-7563 Bobcat, Kubota, Husqvarna, and Many More

0% Financing for 72 Months on Bobcat Until Sept. 30, 2011

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14 Section II Sunday, September 25, 2011

All-American City campaign A special time in Bluefield history

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — In the late 1950s, when the steam locomotives disappeared from the (then) Norfolk & Western Railway, the city of Bluefield would undergo some incredible changes. About 500 N&W railroaders worked in Bluefield’s roundhouse, but all of those jobs disappeared almost overnight because the new diesel-powered locomotives had the same power running forward or backward and could turn around on a simple “Y” track, instead of the round house that required hundreds of workers to operate.

Although Bluefield’s largest recorded population was 21,332 in 1950, the city’s population slide started in the mid-1950s, and hasn’t stopped falling yet.

Despite some boundary adjustments, Bluefield at 10,447 people in 2010 has less than half the number of people compared to the city’s population in 1950.

The conversion from steam to diesel power changed the face of Bluefield as much as mine mechanization changed the face of the coalfields.

One of the lasting visages of the zenith of the coal-fired locomotive era remains. The huge cement silo on concrete stilts in the north side of the (now) Bluefield Norfolk Southern yard. It was built circa 1950 as a coal wash hopper to improve fuel efficiency, but had limited, if any, use prior to the conversion. While all of the steam locomotives, all of the cabooses, almost all of the passenger trains and many of the people are gone, the cement silo still stands.

“The leaders of the community knew that mine mechanization and the switch from steam to diesel had an impact on the community,” A.A. “Al” Modena said. Modena was a young trust officer with (then) Flat Top National Bank, and was willing to throw his energy and enthusiasm into the progress. He arrived on the scene in 1954, and his boss/mentor, Laurence

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Contributed photo

Hot town summer in the city...

Federal Street in the heart of downtown Bluefield was a beehive of activity in the mid-1960s when Bluefield was honored as an All-American City. The entire community worked together to bring the honor home to the city.

Tierney, encouraged him to become active in community service.

“The Bluefield story is all about a community licking its problems and not its wounds,” Modena said. “People in town wanted to do something about its problems.”

The venerable H. Edward “Eddie” Steele, and Bob Conners, a developer who purchased land at the East River Mountain Overlook with the thought of developing it into a mountaintop resort, joined with the region’s best known photographer, Melvin Grubb, to create a book that would stand as a lasting tribute to the allAmerican Cities accomplishment. The Municipal Affairs Committee of the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce published the 32-

page booklet titled, “The Bluefield Story: Winning is just the Beginning.”

“What Bluefield has to offer new industry was what it had for many years: Transportation, utilities (water, electricity, gas) and a central geographic location,” the authors of the pamphlet wrote. “But there were after all, other communities offering as much, plus a climate of optimism and progress.

These latter factors, Bluefield definitely lacked.”

Then, as now, the committee promoted the tourism potential for “Nature’s Air-conditioned City,” and the writers even alluded to the famous Will Rogers quote: “If you get tired of standing in Bluefield, you can just lean up against it.”

The booklet includes a lot of information about the develop-

ment on the overlook and the Ridge Runner Railroad that carried 43,000 passengers during its first year of operation in 1964. In addition, the Little Gardens Club created a directional computer to aid visitors at the tourist information center find their way to other attractions and businesses in the area. The area scored high in the quality of living area thanks to the new YM/YWCA facility on College Avenue as well as Fincastle Country Club in Bluefield, Va. Even the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce building was completed in 1964.

Not all of the rainbows led to a pot of gold. During the early 1960s, Bluefield area investors got into the economic development big time and actually attracted Thayer Furniture Co.,

a high-end infant furniture manufacturing concern based in New England. Local investors purchased land in Falls Mills and built a huge facility to house the business, but the Thayer plant in Tazewell County didn’t last too long. Instead, authors of “The Bluefield Story” praised the United Piece Dye Works and its 250 employees in the huge structure that served for a time as a warehousing site for Bluefield Supply, and as home to WoodTech during the 1990s.

“The citizens got involved in the process,” Modena said of the All-American City effort.

“Eddie (Steele) made such a great contribution to the project, and Mel Grubb worked on all of the photos. Randy Widdle came up with the idea, but Fred Langenheimer, Eddie, Bob Conners, Mel Grubb and myself put everything we had into it.”

The All-American City program has been sponsored by the National Civic League and has been awarding the title to cities nationwide since 1949.

Bluefield is one of six cities in West Virginia that have achieved the distinction with Clarksburg receiving the designation in 1957, Huntington in 1958, Grafton in 1962, Bluefield in 1964, Spencer receiving it in 1974-75 and Phillipi in 2004.

According to Modena, in 1964, Bluefield and Hazelton, Pa., were the top two finishers of the 12 cities selected in 1964.

“It was a very exciting time in the history of the city of Bluefield,” Modena said. “We were experiencing one success after another. Urban Renewal was opening up Bluefield Avenue to end the long traffic delays, we made headway in public housing, the Y-Center was a great resource for the people and children were donating dimes, quarters and dollars to keep us going.”

Growth in the historic downtown Bluefield area was so rapid that the city had to add two new levels to the Scott Street Parking Garage in order to provide parking for another 200 cars and bring the capacity to 1,000 cars.

“In a city such as ours, flushed with a national honor, the attitude is much more likely to be: ‘All things have waited too long; Let’s get to work!’ In a climate of progress, improvements are much more easily brought about. Bluefield now has that climate. On that basis, Bluefield challenges you to return in a year or two to see for yourself how one victory can lead to many victories.”

Modena said that after the entire community had put so much effort into the campaign, the committee asked leaders in other communities how things where in the years after winning the designation. The other communities said that the community became over confident after the award.

“They told us that we would experience a drop-off,” Modena said. “But nothing changes the fact that we lived through it, the community really did battle back and we accomplished what we set out to accomplish.”

Modena said the key to success was that everyone in the community got involved in the effort to become an AllAmerican City and in 1964, when Modena, Herb Light, president of Citizen’s Insurance, Bluefield Mayor Henry F. Warden, Taylor Frazier, president of Bluefield Supply/Rish Equipment and E.G. Otey, president of First National Bank went out to San Francisco, they were totally prepared.

“Everyone had worked so hard and we didn’t want to let anyone down, so we carried the carousel and the slide presentation on our laps on the airplane flight,” Modena said.

“When we got out there and plugged it in, it wouldn’t work.

“Lucky for us, Eastman Kodak had a place right down the street from where the hotel was,” Modena said. “It was just a bad bulb, but they would have done anything they could to help us. It was that kind of experience — an exciting time in Bluefield history.”

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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Corner of Courthouse Rd. and U.S. 460 Princeton

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section II 15

Battle...

Continued from 3 so close at hand,” Johnston wrote. Foley’s Copperheads were the only company in position, and they opened fire.

Union soldiers used the mud slits between the logs of Clark’s cabin to fire through and held off the Confederates as the other three companies got on line.

By that time, Union reinforcements arrived, forcing the Confederates to withdraw.

The Confederates lost 8 wounded with two of that number mortally wounded. The Union soldiers The federals lost one killed and 19 wounded.

Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, of the 23rd Ohio Regiment wrote the army on behalf of Russell G. French, a Mercer County native and devoted union man, urging the army to give him status as a soldier because his wounds would leave him “crippled for life,” he wrote. “He was a scout in our uniform on duty at the time of receiving his wound,” Hayes wrote.

Hayes was, of course, the 19th president of the U.S. One of the soldiers in the 23rd Ohio Infantry under Hayes’ command, (then) Private William McKinley, would later become the 25th president. Hayes promoted McKinley to commissary sergeant for his valor in combat during the western Virginia campaign. There is no way to know if it was the engagement at Clark’s cabin that earned McKinley the promotion, or later when Hayes took his company to Pearisburg on May 10, 1862.

Hayes was wounded in that engagement. According to Pete Ballard, Hayes was treated for his wounds at the old Ballard home in Peterstown.

After relieving Hayes and his 23rd Ohio soldiers, the relief column pursued the Confederate force on to Princeton, according to Johnston. Cornelius Brown of Mercer County was killed at Camp Creek, and Col. Jenifer decided to change the course of Mercer County history by burning the entire town of Princeton. Jenifer had ordered some of his forces to stop the Yankee advance at the Clark house, but when the retreat came, Jenifer took what supplies he could get from the town and ordered the private and public structures of the

reached Pigeon’s Roost, about a mile south of Princeton, Wharton could see that Princeton was not in Marshall’s control, but remained in Cox’s control.

At about the same time, Wharton heard Marshall’s Confederate guns firing on Union forces situated on New Hope Road, west of Princeton.

Wharton put Major Peter J. Otey in command of three companies of infantry and one artillery piece.

According to Johnston’s narrative, Cox was aware of Wharton’s position and knew that Von Blessing was headed straight for the position. Cox sent a company of infantry to help Von Blessing, but the Confederate forces cut those reinforcements off, leaving Von Blessing to face Otey on his own.

“The fight at Pigeon Roost Hill took place about 10 a.m., on the morning of the 17th,” Johnston wrote. “Col. Von Blessing, with his badly scared and demoralized men, did not reach the Princeton and Twelve Mile Fork road until the middle of the afternoon, and although only four miles away, he did not reach the mouth of Twelve Mile Fork at Spanglers until dark.”

Von Blessing lost 18 men killed, 56 wounded and 14 captured while the Confeder-ates lost one soldier and nine wounded. The total federal losses during the two days of fighting in and around Princeton was 23 killed, 69 wounded and 21 missing.

Confederate losses for the same period was three killed and 21 wounded.

“The pressure from the columns of Marshall and Wharton from the south and west and the threatening atti-

tude of Heath’s column from the east caused General Cox to withdraw from Princeton and return to Flat Top,” according to Johnston. “He began his retreat on the evening of the 17th, but all did not get away until in the early morning of the 18th, when the forces of Marshall occupied the village of Princeton about Sunrise the same morning.

“In the skirmish on the New Hope road between Marshall’s forces and the federals, the loss of the former was a few men wounded, while the latter had two or three killed and several wounded,” Johnston wrote.

“In the little village of Princeton, out of near an hundred houses, only about 9 or 10 remained after the burning,” Johnston wrote. “The suffering of the non-combatants, the old men, women and children, who were compelled to abandon their homes, and the county, and most of whom never returned, are beyond the power of belief.”

The Virginia General Assembly established the town of Princeton on April 4, 1838, a little more than a year after the county was formed on March 30, 1837. Princeton remained the Mercer County seat of government, but didn’t exist as an incorporated town again until 1909.

Camp No. 1694, “Flat Top Copperheads,” Sons of Confederate Veterans, West Virginia Division is working to organize a Battle of Pigeon’s Roost reenactment in May 2012 or later in the summer or fall, according to Richard D. Lockhart, camp adjutant. The Mercer County Historical Society is also working on the same project.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

After relieving Hayes and his 23rd Ohio soldiers, the relief column pursued the Confederate force on to Princeton, according to Johnston. Cornelius Brown of Mercer County was killed at Camp Creek, and Col. Jenifer decided to change the course of Mercer County history by burning the entire town of Princeton.

Staff photo by Bill Archer

Combined salute...

Charles Rawlins, left, a re-enactor with the 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Captain Jim Boardwine, a re-enactor with the 22nd Virginia Cavalry are shown here on Oct. 3, 1999, in a combined salute to the soldiers who died in the Oct. 2, 1864 Battle of Saltville, Va. The dawn service was conducted at the Battlefield Overlook in Saltville. Re-enactors like Rawlins and Boardwine serve as living historians and help people understand the American Civil War. town as well as churches in the western and southern part of Mercer County burned.

“To destroy the homes of non-combatant enemies in time of war is horrible enough!” Johnston wrote.

“What excuse can be offered for one who destroys the homes of his friends, especially of as devoted and self-sacrificing a people as those of Princeton?” Jenifer provided a different account of the action from the one provided by Col. E.P. Scammon of the 23rd Ohio Regiment, and continued his narrative.

“The turnpike road leading southward from Princeton to Rocky Gap was literally lined and thronged with soldiers and civilians, mostly women and old men, fleeing from the vanguard of the Federal army that was entering Princeton just as the last of these people was passing out,” Johnston wrote. “The federal soldiers did what they could to save the

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burning buildings,” Johnston wrote. “The federals seemed satisfied when they reached Princeton, and did not immediately pursue the Confederates.”

The Confederates used the pause in the Union army’s advance to gather a force equal to Cox’s Army to stand between the Yankee invaders and the Virginia & Tennessee railhead in Wytheville.

Confederate Brigadier General Henry Heath put together a formidable force in Dublin, Va., to block the Union advance in that area while Col. Gabriel Wharton and his 51st Virginia Infantry and Col. Andrew J. May, and the 5th Kentucky Infantry among others assembled to block Cox’s advance to the west or due south through Rocky Gap, Va. Hayes probed as far east as Pearisburg, Va., on May 6, 1862. By May 10, 1862, Cox had learned of the Confederate defensive positions cutting his

force off from the railroad, and brought his advancing units back to Princeton. Cox sent 11 companies of the Ohio Infantry under the command of Lt. Col. Lewis Von Blessing west out of Princeton on the Cumberland Gap and Prices’ Turnpike to guard against attack. But Von Blessing broke camp on May 16, 1862, and headed back to Princeton along East River.

Confederate General Wharton broke camp on the morning of May 17, 1862, with the idea that his army was to be the southern spearhead of a three-pronged attack on Cox’s army with Heath advancing on Princeton from Pearisburg and Confederate General Humphrey Marshall (with May and others) pressing Cox from the west. When he reached the top of East River Mountain, Wharton did not know who Von Blessing’s troops were, but he pressed his attack on Princeton.

However, by the time he

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16 Section II Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section III 1

Family Outings Family-oriented events and place across the region

For the love of music Outdoor concerts delight families throughout region

By GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — A local singer entertains an audience made up of downtown residents and employees of local businesses while children play and fans eat hot dogs and popcorn. It’s a scene played out at more than one venue throughout the region: everyone from local singers and dancers providing family entertainment for local audiences and local venues.

One example is the summertime Chicory Square Concert Series presented by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

From June to August, singers, dancers, and theater troupes perform for an hour in downtown Bluefield.

Art Riley of the Bluefield Downtown Merchants Association watched a gospel musician sing while visitors picked up popcorn and chatted.

Others got hot dogs from a tent set up outside the Internet Cafe. More than 50 people were attending that Friday’s concert, and larger audiences have attended other concerts.

“And there’s more coming.

We’ve had really good attendance this year at the concerts.

This is the 23rd year the Telegraph has sponsored this.”

Performers who come to the concert series every year are not paid, but do it for the joy of it.

“The performers are all dedicated. They come back because they love it,” Riley said. “A lot of the perfomers ask to come back year after year. What that tells me is that the enjoy the venue, they enjoy the people.

Which tells me that if they had an unpleasant experience, they wouldn’t come back.”

Parents and grandparents frequently bring children to Chicory Square and other concert series such as Evening Shade in downtown Bluefield, Va. and Music in the Square on Mercer Street in Princeton.

They know they will find family entertainment at these venues, Riley said.

“It’s a family-oriented thing,” he said. “We have a good mix of entertainers between gospel, dance, country and popular music.”

Lynn Burnett of Bluefield helps organize the Chicory Square Concert Series. Local businesses provide prizes for the concert’s weekly drawings.

And there are always talented people who want to get on the square’s stage.

“We’ve got 14 people on the waiting list who want to perform,” she said. “We used to be able to get only two or three people.”

People who attend these shows say they are not disappointed.

“It’s always good entertainment and Some annual events sputter out after a few years, but the Chicory Square Concert Series

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and others like it have endured.

“This has remained popular and it sees an increase every year,” Riley said. “We had the biggest one on the Fourth of July this year.”

A special Independence Day celebration, actually hosted on July 1 for scheduling reasons, brought 300 free hot dogs, 200 free apple pies, the new Bluefield Blue Jays to sign autographs, and free American flags. The event was sponsored

by Cole Chevrolet, Jim Ferguson of Hardee’s, and the Internet Cafe. The Downtown Merchants Association helped coordinate the event with the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

Hundreds of people turned out for the event while local musicians Bill Archer and Karl Miller performed patriotic music. Cartoonist and Daily Telegraph Sport Writer Tom Bone did caricatures of the visitors while children enjoyed face painting and sidewalk chalk art. Mack Estep brought an antique fire truck and giant American flag to the square.

Another anniversary was celebrated during the Music in the Square Concert Series in Princeton when the weekly Princeton Times commemorated its 50th anniversary. Local performers entertain audiences on Mercer Street every Wednesday during the summer.

Princeton Times Editor and General Manager Tammie Toler said she wasn’t sure how long the Music in the Square series has been presented, but she estimated that the shows have been going on for “close to 20 years.” And like the series in Bluefield, the Princeton concerts have plenty of performers waiting for their turn.

“We seem to have an abundance of performers in the area,” she said. “It seems to be more a matter of coordinating the performers, the vendors and other services. We’ve had a really good season in terms of attendance this year. I would say about 50 people come to each concert, but we’ve had some really large crowds when the Princeton Senior High School Band and Princeton Dance Studio performs. It seems like when we have young performers the families turn out to cheer them on. We have lots of people who will be taking video or pictures with their phones.”

The Princeton Times 50th annivesary celebration held on July 27 also brought a large audience out to Town Square on Mercer Street.

“It went very well,” Toler said. “I think the Town Square was almost completely full.

There was a piece of cake or two, however many they wanted.”

Naturally, children especially enjoyed getting a free piece of birthday cake or two.

“We had red icing on the cakes and we had a lot of red

Music, 14

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Staff photo by Jon Bolt

On stage...

Concerts, such as this recent one by Taylor Made, are favorite events for friends and family across the region.

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2 Section III Sunday, September 25, 2011

Treasure hunting New hobby of geocaching growing in popularity

By GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph RINCETON — Classic books like “Treasure Island” and blockbuster movies such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” appeal to that desire to seek adventure and find a long-lost treasure. An increasingly popular hobby is allowing to go treasure hunting and take as much, or as little, risk as they like.

The Princeton Public Library recently became one of the places where the curious can try out geocaching, a hobby that lets seekers use global positioning systems (GPS) to track down hidden containers holding log books and trinkets.

“Let me look,” said Kristie Lewis, checking the library’s catalog. “We were awarded a geocaching set. It is called the Explore Library Geo-Kit; we cataloged that back on April 6 this year. We have a GPS unit that people can check out with an instruction book, GPS unit and other information about geo-caching.”

This kit allows beginners to try the hobby and see if it is something they want to do. In books and movies, a secret map or hidden clues lead to the treasure. In the world of geocaching, getting that path to the treasure is easier and certainly more high tech than trying to decipher an old map.

A website found at www.geocaching.com offers a listing of geocaching opportunities; some of these are local, while others can be found in other parts of the country and even around the world. People using a GPS finder can then go to the coordinates and locate the hidden cache.

“It has listings all over the world. You can put in your zip code and do geocaching as you go. It tells you where things are hidden. It’s really a fun thing to do for families, retired couples, and anybody on vacation. It’s multi-generational and a great thing for friends and families – people who enjoy each other’s company and traveling. Really,

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Contributed photo

Found...

Left, Caitlin Buchanan, 10, her brother Alex, 8, and sister Elizabeth, 13, hold their find at the Fred Gilbert Center in Princeton recently. it’s a thing a person can do by themselves. It’s just for everyone. It has appeal for everybody,” Lewis said.

Eighteen-year-old Thomas Lusk of Princeton started geocaching searches about three years ago when a friend sug-

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gested that he give it a try.

“There’s a guy I know in church and he introduced me to it,” he recalled. “It’s like a GPS enabled treasure hunt. You go out and you look for these small containers, and these containers are hidden just anywhere.

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into the Union and Peterstown areas of Monroe County. They are always ready to make a side trip in order to check out a possible cache.

“We’ve learned to log into any drive an additional 20 minutes,” she said. “I’ve put an application for it on our cell phones, our iPhones. We do a local search, and it will show you the terrain and stuff like that so you can gauge it. My youngest son, he’s 8, is not into steep hiking.

My ex-husband had to rappel and do some climbing up Pinnacle Rock to get one. He does the more adventurous ones.”

Some caches have been found in the middle of lakes and at the edge of rocks. There are easy ones to find, and people who enjoy rock climbing and other physical endeavors can find caches that let them get a work out.

“They’re everywhere. You can go overseas and do geocaching and stuff. It’s really cool,” she said.

Buchanan said her family has known about geocaching for several years.

“But we officially started this past spring. It’s an easy hobby to pick up and learn. I figured this would be a fun way to get the kids outdoors and moving around, and it’s something I can do as a single mom. My exhusband’s involved in it. My dad’s 64, and he has a bad leg and arthritis and stuff, and he does it. If you like treasure hunting or anything like that, it’s a fun thing to do.”

Her daughter Elizabeth, 13, said the family keeps a bag of collectibles ready for trading.

“I like the traveling, and it lets me see some of the sights and lets me see what other people would trade. We have little Slinkies, little stuffed animals, Happy Meal toys, things like that,” she said.

They keep an item when they find a cache and leave a new one in its place. One of the most unusual caches was under a pile of deer bones; Elizabeth said they didn’t keep any of those.

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They can be in state parks or just on a city street. They can be anywhere. I believe there are about a million and a half worldwide. I’ve done a lot around here and when I’m taking trips to Virginia, Tennessee, places like that. It’s just a nice

little addition to the trip.”

Each container has a logbook for the finders to sign. There are also some small treasures such as toys, coins, and other mementos that searchers can keep: however they are also expected to leave something behind.

“Sometimes they’ll have little nicknacks in there that you can trade in and out,” Lusk said.

One geocache helped collectors of state quarters; finders would take quarters needed for their collection and leave coins other collectors might be seeking.

Like other searchers, Lusk uses the Internet to find new challenges. The coordinates for a cache usually get the searcher within a few feet of it, but the difficulties vary from container to container. Some were easy to find and others are well hidden or even buried.

There are all kinds of different difficulties, he said. Some are easy to access while terrain might make finding others a bit more of a problem.

“You can find them in parking lots, and I believe there’s one on Mount Everest,” he said.

Geocaching can even be multi-generational and open to anyone regardless of their physical abilities. The fact that the effort required ranges from an easy quest in a city park to climbing the world’s highest mountain means that just about anyone can participate.

Laura Buchanan of Princeton was getting ready for another geocaching outing with her daughters Elizabeth and Caitlin when she was asked about the hobby.

“I was at the computer mapping out where we were going to go today,” she said. “It’s through geocaching.com. You can put in zip codes or the state. I typed in Bluefield City Park and researched the ones there. The Bluefield area has a lot of geocaching places. There are some in the downtown area and even at the mall. It looks like a very good spot.”

Buchanan and her family do a lot of their searches in the Princeton area, but they also go

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section III 3

It’s all in the family Reunions help keep loved ones close

By GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph LENWOOD — When summer vacation season arrives and children are out of school, it is time for families to make travel plans and see the new babies, the newly weds, and the brothers, sisters and cousins they have haven’t seen for ages. It is time to have a family reunion.

Notices that a family reunion is forthcoming are common sights in the pages of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. For some families, rendezvousing at grandma’s house is sufficient, but many larger families need bigger venues offering parking, picnic shelters and recreational facilities to accommodate the dozens, hundreds and even thousands of kinfolk who converge for a family outing.

Marie Blackwell, executive director of the Mercer County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the area’s city parks and state parks are frequent venues for large family gatherings.

“Glenwood Park’s a big one for family reunions, and Camp Creek State Park, and, of course, Pipestem State Park.

Both of the city parks (Bluefield and Princeton) host family reunions as well,” she said.

Families arriving from out of state sometimes need some assistance to find what they need.

“Most of the time, they will contact us if they need information, visitors guides and things like that. Most of the time people pretty much know what they’re looking for,” she said.

“Pinnacle Rock State Park, they also have family reunions,” she said. “The state parks are a big draw for family reunions. There are lots of spaces and each park offers different types of amenities whether it be pools, horseback riding, fishing, or rock climbing.”

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Paddle boats, miniature golf, playgrounds, hiking and biking trails, basketball courts and more can be found at state parks and other local faculties.

These facilities help entertain younger family members who are looking to create their own memories instead of reminiscing. Other locations in the county and cities offer facilities to keep everyone happy during a reunion. The East River Mountain Lookout above Bluefield also offers picnic shelters and observation decks.

One of the largest family reunions in the Mercer County area is the Bailey family reunion hosted annually at the 4-H camp in Glenwood Park. A hundred or more relations ranging from new babies in strollers to elderly people with great-grandchildren converge at the park, register, and contribute their home cooking to the potluck lunch being arranged in the park’s spacious dining hall.

Bailey relatives started arriving at the 4-H Camp that Saturday morning, said Gene Bailey, who serves on the Mercer County Board of Education. The reunion has been conducted annually for decades.

“I have been involved with this since the early ‘70s,” Bailey recalled as members of the extended family took seats in the dining hall. The pot luck lunch arranged across several tables featured various recipes for chicken, meat loaf, macaroni and cheese, green beans, rolls and a big variety of other dishes. Another near table held pies, cakes, cookies, brownies, puddings and other desserts.

“They had a Bailey reunion here in 1925,” Gene Bailey said.

“There were no buildings here at the time. It was farm land. I don’t know if they had it every year after that We don’t know if there was really a tradition before the 1970s.”

Bailey remembers going to

Staff photo by Jon Bolt

Reunion...

One of the largest family reunions in the Mercer County area is the Bailey family reunion hosted annually at the 4-H camp in Glenwood Park. A hundred or more relations ranging from new babies in strollers to elderly people with great-grandchildren converge at the park, register, and contribute their home cooking to the potluck lunch being arranged in the park’s spacious dining hall. reunions at smaller venues when he was a boy.

“When I was 4 or 5 years old, we had reunions at my grandfather’s house,” he said.

Patriotic songs were sung, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a prayer was said before people left their tables and headed for the buffet. Soon the dining hall was filled with the sound of family news being shared and a hundred stories being told.

One Bailey family member, Mary Ellen Howell, was distributing the fourth volume in a series about Richard Bailey, the first of his family to settle in Mercer County, and other Bailey descendants.

Ron Bailey, 75, of Princeton said that family reunions help preserve family memories and give family members a chance to spend time with relatives

they may not able to see frequently.

“That’s what we try to do,” he said. “The reunion isn’t for me or anybody like me. It’s for the whole group to have a good time. To see people have a good time like this and to talk to friends and relatives. That’s what we need more of in this country, I think.”

The Bailey family reunion is a large undertaking that draws many relatives and guest, but it is not the largest in the region.

Gene Bailey said one for the Lilly family, held at Flat Top in neighboring Raleigh County, is even larger. It is conducted during the same week as the West Virginia State Fair and draws “several thousand” people.

No matter how large a family reunion can be, the relatives who organize them seek ven-

ues that meet several criteria.

They want a place that is big enough to accommodate everyone expected to attend and their vehicles. Sometimes they want kitchen facilities with seating as well as a playground for the children and fields where they can organize games of football or lay out a makeshift baseball diamond.

Kathleen Allison, president of the Thompson Valley Community Association, said her organization’s venue, the former Thompson Valley Elementary School, has family reunions booked almost every weekend during the summer.

The facility has a covered picnic area, but the location does have an aspect families look for when they are organizing a reunion, especially when they expect to see a lot of small children that will be running

around, playing, and possibly slipping away from adult supervision.

“Well, they mostly like something off the road when they have smaller children,” Allison said. “They don’t have to worry about the smaller children getting into the street. It’s a beautiful scenic area and you can go outdoors, and during the winter months we have music the first Saturday night of every month.”

Most family reunions take place during the summer, she said. People who left Tazewell County or other parts of the region take the opportunity to return home.

“People are out traveling more and I think that’s what draws people to the area here.

We have a lot of a families who return here for the reunion,” Allison said.

4 Section III Sunday, September 25, 2011

Made from scratch Local eateries serve up many dishes that taste just like Mom used to make

By GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph RAMWELL – Today’s restaurants with their lines in front of a counter and drive-through options offer convenient meals delivered quickly are well-accepted, but there are still diners who look for the food and atmosphere they remember from sitting down at the dining room table or going to grandma’s for Sunday dinner.

Locally-owned establishments in the region where the two Virginias meet are still offering the sort made from scratch food found at home.

Some places like Lynn’s DriveInn along Route 52 in Bluewell and the Sterling Drive-In near Welch offer patrons the pleasure of curbside service, something more associated with the 1950s and 1960s instead of today’s fast food restaurants with drive-through windows.

“We are a family-owned business,” said Linda Pauley, manager of the Sterling Drive-In. “We cater to families. That’s what we stress nowadays. I’m from the old school that says families eat together, sit down together. These days you have TVs, computers, and all kinds of electronic things that distract you. Any time you can go out and sit down and have a family dinner, I think that’s

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❏❏❏ ‘When my mom had dinner ready, we sat down and had dinner. If you weren’t there and weren’t ready for it, you got ready for it. Nowadays we have fast food. You pull into the drive through and get it. Here we have curb service. When I was a young teen-ager, this place and the West Virginia Drive-In were the places to go.’

— Linda Pauley Manager of the Sterling Drive-In

really important.”

Dinner time was the time to get together. When mom said dinner was ready, it was time for everybody to head for the dining room table and get seated. Attendance was mandatory and what you were watching on television didn’t matter. It was time for dinner.

“When my mom had dinner ready, we sat down and had dinner. If you weren’t there and weren’t ready for it, you got ready for it,” Pauley said.

“Nowadays we have fast food.

You pull into the drive through and get it. Here we have curb service. When I was a young teen-ager, this place and the West Virginia Drive-In were the places to go.”

The latter drive-in, located where the West Virginia

Commission on Aging building now stands, is now closed, but residents still remember when cruising back and forth between them was the thing to do.

Eating in one’s car was always a treat, but this summer’s heat has sent more people into the restaurant’s dining room.

“The weather’s been so hot lately, they want to come in and sit in the air conditioning,” Pauley said.

And that is one of the things families want when they eat out — somewhere to sit and not be bothered, she said.

“When my husband and I go out together, we like a place that’s nice and clean, and the food is good, and I stress that to the waitresses and cooks

here,” Pauley said. “I think I have some of the best.”

Family-oriented restaurants often have a lineage going back decades. One example, The Last Soda Fountain adjacent to New Graham Pharmacy in Bluefield, Va., has, in one form or another, been serving local diners since 1935. Manager Ginger Edwards and her fellow cooks were cleaning up after a long day when she paused to talk about what makes a dining venue good for a family. One frequent customer bid his friends at the fountain good evening and headed home.

Like other locally-owned establishment, the fountain sees families and regular customers.

“Everyday customers are always consistent. It ranges from all ages from little babies to 90s, as old as they get,” Edwards said.

And they come for homemade food, and do not expect anything prepackaged or freeze dried.

“All of our stuff is homemade — our chicken salad, pimiento, tuna, egg — every day. People like that. We have our burger ground fresh daily; that’s what attracts people to the burgers, that old-fashioned taste of patting the burgers out, and the salt and pepper however they like on their burgers. I think

that’s what makes the fountain being homemade” she said.

“That’s what people are wanting to come back to instead of this fast thing in a drive through. They like the oldfashioned style.”

The fountain gets busy during breakfast and it gets busy again when lunchtime arrives.

Customers and cooks know each other by their first names. Diners sit at tables and talk about the latest events in their lives, tell old stories or discuss the news of the day. Meanwhile, the cooks stay busy getting orders ready.

Plenty of hamburgers fry while hot dogs and sandwiches are being prepared.

For people who are more health conscious, locallyowned restaurants offer options beyond hamburgers and hot dogs.

Edwards said families can order “cold plates” such as chicken salad and tuna salad, and salads such as chef ’s salad.

“There’s a lot of variety as far as a small place like this, and we have the Jell-O salad. I have the girls make it in the morning and it’s really, really good. We have to make two tubs of it almost every day.”

Newer family-owned restaurants are also catering to family outings and people seeking a home-cooked meal. The

Bramwell Cafe opened in February 2009 in downtown Bramwell, said owner Dreama Spangler.

“We’ve had a few ATVers,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know about us yet. We have a lot of families, a lot of older people. Everything we make is from scratch and is homecooked. We make wonderful chicken and dumplings. These are really good. We use real chicken and the dumplings are really big. We do brown beans and cornbread and homemade biscuits. I have two ladies who cook for me. We do buffets on Friday and Saturday night, and then on Sundays, and that’s mostly our big church groups.”

Like other local restaurant operators, Spangler said that families look for an experience that reminds them of “grandma’s house on Sunday dinner.”

Some residents of the Virginias have a tradition of going out for Sunday dinner after attending church Diners also don’t want to feel like they are being rushed, so they like a causal atmosphere, she said.

“It’s very causal. I have four kids of my own and sometimes they’re here. You can just come and be yourself and enjoy yourself. It’s not real crowded. Sundays it gets a little crazy.”

Bluefield Union Mission Canned Food Drive

Princeton First United Methodist Church 100 Center Street, Princeton, WV

First United Methodist Church

Family Ministries Center

Sunday Morning Worship Service 10:50 am Live Sunday Morning Broadcast 95.9 F.M. 11am-noon.

Sunday School for all ages: 9:30 am Lead Pastor: Randy Adkins Visitation Director: Faye Pullins Youth Director: Becky Schaeffer Director of Christian Education: Pastor Dawna Watkins MISSION STATEMENT First United Methodist Church is a body of believers who gather to worship God, to learn, to nurture, to make disciples, to serve, to promote God’s Kingdom, to love unconditionally, and to become more like Christ as individuals and as a church.

Sharing God’s Love - Teaching God’s Word - Spreading God’s Hope Visit us @ www.princetonfumc.org Church Office 425-2283 • email: fumc@frontiernet.net

Cumberland Heights Baptist Church We here at Cumberland Heights Baptist Church are a group of believers who love God and love people! The name on the sign may be Baptist, but we are first and foremost followers of Jesus Christ (Christians). It is our desire that all come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and be trained and encouraged to minister to others.

Service Times Sunday Mornings Prayer Time 9:30 am Sunday School 9:45 am Worship 11:00 am

Sunday Nights Worship 6:00 pm Year Round Little People’s Ministry Youth Group Meeting Exploring God Ministries

Wednesday Nights Prayer Meeting/ Bible Study 7:00 pm Children’s Ministries Youth Group Meeting

3811 East Cumberland Rd. • Bluefield, WV 24701 Pastor J.H. Kestner www.cumberlandheightsbap.org

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ITEMS MOST IN NEED: • Canned Peas • Canned Corn • Canned Fruit • Canned Meat • Boxed/Bagged Cereals • Macaroni & Cheese • Peanut Butter • Jelly • Pork & Beans • Pinto Beans Bluefield Union Mission Was Founded In 1931. Mission Food Pantry operates and serves meals 7 days a week.

2203 Bluefield Ave., Bluefield, WV 24701 304-327-8167 or Toll Free 1-800-491-HELP (4357)

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section III 5

Down on the farm Generations of families take to the fields to harvest memories

By KATE COIL Bluefield Daily Telegraph LAT TOP — From picking fresh berries in the early summer, to a chance encounter with local livestock or finding the perfect pumpkin in late autumn, farms around the region offer families the chance to harvest their own produce and make memories that last a lifetime.

Jim Beha and his wife own Blueberry Hill Nursery in Flat Top, a spacious farm where families often come in the summer time to pick their own blueberries. Blueberry Hill is the largest blueberry farm open to the public in West Virginia.

The farm features Northern Highbush blueberries ripe for the picking and also has a “Blueberry Hotline” where prospective visitors can call in and get the latest information on seasonal conditions and how harvesting is going for the year.

Beha said the farm usually opens in late June or early July and allows picking on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and then on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the summer.

“When we open depends on the harvest,” Beha said. “It can vary eight to 10 days a year depending on how warm the weather is in the spring. The season normally lasts six to eight weeks and usually lasts into mid-August. We have approximately 10,000 plants or just around 15 acres of blueberries on the farm.”

According to Beha, Blueberry Hill has attracted multiple generations of families since it opened 18 years ago.

“People call up and schedule in advance to bring their entire families in,” Beha said. “We have many families that have been coming here every year since we opened in 1993. Many people brought their kids with them that first year and now they’re kids have grown up and

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Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

Berry picking...

Elijah Estoll and his brother James of Tazewell, Va., pick blueberries at Blueberry Hill in Flat Top.

bring their own children with them. People come here for picnics and we have some families who come every day we are open throughout the summer.”

Beha said both young and old enjoy picking out in the farm’s blueberry fields.

“We get a cross-section of multiple ages,” he said. “We get a lot of elderly folks and we also get a lot of young families with small kids. We’ll see the kids in the strollers one year and then the next year they’ll be walking around and picking themselves. It’s truly something for all age groups. We see a lot of multi-generation families as well. Often, families will build this in as an outing when they hold their family reunions nearby.”

Elderly pickers particularly enjoy passing down the tradition to the next generation, Beha said.

“A lot of elderly folks say they come out here because it reminds them of picking berries in the wild as children,” he said. “It’s something they can bring their grandkids and great-grandkids out to do and share stories of their lives with them. It lets them pass these things down.”

Though some pickers bring their favorite buckets, Beha said the farm provides everything visitors needs to harvest the fresh fruit.

“Some of our pickers bring their own buckets and often bring the same bucket every year,” Beha said. “We have a weight mark on them because we weigh the buckets before people pick so we don’t charge them for extra weight from the bucket. We see people who still have their weight marks from years past. Of course, most people use our buckets and take their blueberries home in the bags we provide. You don’t have to show up with anything.

We’ll provide it all.”

Most of all, Beha said being out in the fields together during the blueberry harvest

brings families together.

“In this day and time, it’s often difficult for families to find something that everyone enjoys doing,” he said. “This allows people both young and old to come together, relax, and enjoy themselves. I think people in my generation like passing on this tradition to the current generation, where food became easily available and relatively inexpensive at supermarkets. People have a good time and get a fresh product for a reasonable price.”

Those who favor apples, peaches, and plums can pick their own produce from fruit trees at Morgan Orchards in Monroe County. Valerie Boggs, a clerk with Morgan Orchards near Union, said the orchard offers much more than the apples for which it is known.

According to Boggs, visitors to Morgan Orchards can spend their summer and early autumn picking peaches, nectarines, plums, and berries.

“We allow people to pick their own fruit as well as sell produce from our store,” Boggs said. “We get a mix of people who come in. We tend to get more school groups in the fall while we have a lot of families who come throughout the summer. The Council on Aging and local nursing homes often bring people out here as well.

We have visitors who come from Virginia and North Carolina and people who order our produce online as far away as Ohio.”

Boggs said the orchard is open weekly from Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and then from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The orchard is closed on Wednesdays in order to attend local farmer’s markets.

“We usually open between the July 1 or mid-July, depending on how the weather has been that year,” Boggs said. “A lot of things depend on the weather, such as when the fruit comes

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6 Section III Sunday, September 25, 2011

Classic good time Car shows a long-standing draw for families

By GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph RINCETON — America’s love affair with the automobile generates industry and jobs, but it also creates hobbies enjoyed by young and old, wealthy people and people of modest means. They involve showing off vehicles of decades past and comparing them to the latest rides of today.

People who want to show off their favorite cars or trucks can either take them out for a causal cruise night where they meet at a designated spot to relax, compare vehicles, trade ideas and just have a good time. For a more competitive mood, there are car shows where owners compete with each other for trophies. Both events offer the opportunity for camaraderie and family fun.

David Ruble of Princeton, a member of the Yesterday’s Rides car club, said that he and Myron Anderson — “the brains of the outfit” — started organizing car shows and cruise nights years ago.

“This really caught on,” Ruble recalled. “We’d do them at Hardee’s cruise nights, the Hardee’s on Oakvale Road.

Everybody brings their cars out.

There’s no charge, and we give them a dash plaque. Let me go get you one.”

Ruble returned with some metallic plaques about the size of regular playing cards. Each featured a photograph of a vehicle that showed up for a cruise; the cruise’s place and date were featured along with the sponsor.

Photos of each participant also go on the Facebook website.

“We usually have a sponsor.”

Ruble picked up a plaque.

“These cost about $1.75. Each month we have a cruise night at Hardee’s. We take a picture of everybody’s car and we give one of these to each car that came out that night. If we don’t have a sponsor, we sponsor it ourselves.

We started doing these about 15 years ago and we still do them.”

A cruise doesn’t require the efforts put into a car show.

“You just go. You don’t have to

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Staff photo by John Bolt

Hot rod...

Visitors look over the classics during the annual car show at PikeView High School recently. worry about cleaning or shining your car. You can get ideas, and there’s no pressures. It’s a Friday night getaway for anyone who likes cars. It’s open to the public, and we’ll get 75 to 100 cars at Hardee’s. The other cruise night is on a Saturday night at Sonic (Stafford Drive in Princeton). That show has turned out very good. They’ll run 100 cars easy on a Saturday night.”

“At the Sonic Drive-In a lot of times we’ll sell 50-50 tickets, and all the proceeds that we get go to a charity. We’ll give half the money to whoever wins, but the other proceeds that we get go to a charity. The guys there, Mickey Juba and Donald Barry, have put a lot of effort into promoting that show at Sonic.”

Mercer County isn’t the only

area were car lovers can find a cruise.

“I’m sure they have cruises over in Beckley. Saturday a couple of weeks ago there was one at Pilot Mountain. The whole town was nothing but classic cars, and they brought in a band and played beach music. About every community has guys with old cars, and they try to have cruises and car shows.”

Car shows are more competitive than cruises. To make sure car clubs have a chance to present their shows without setting dates conflicting with other events, car clubs get together in January to work out a calendar of events, Ruble said.

“Car shows have been going on as long as I can remember,” he said. “All the car clubs in the area pick dates for their shows.

The thing about car shows is that cars are judged. You take a car to a car show and you have it as clean as you can get it.”

Each entry at a car show is judged on a point system. A judge looks at its wheels, engine, interior, and overall appearance.

“We send out three people to judge each car. If we’ve got a lot of prizes, we might send out four sets of judges or five sets of judges,” Ruble explained. “You can get up to 10 points on your wheels, you can get up to 10 points on your interior, and 10 points on the engine. Then all three of them stand back and look at the car, and each judge can give 10 points for the overall; so a car can reach 60 points.”

At the end of the day, the top cars with the points are awarded trophies. The reason behind the

judging system is to give each entry an equal opportunity; in the end, how much money was spent on a car isn’t the deciding factor.

“That way you may have somebody with an old antique Ford, and if his wheels are like they should be and his interior is like it should be, he can get just as many points as a guy sitting over there with a $50,000 street rod.

We judge your job, not your pocketbook. We don’t care how much money you put into it. We do not judge by the money in the car, we judge by the car itself.

It’s a fair way to do it. When you judge it by points, money doesn’t matter when it comes to judging a car.”

A car owner of modest means can win just as nice a trophy as a person who spent $100,000 on a car, he said.

One of the region’s largest car shows takes place at Pipestem.

“Myron Anderson started this car show down at Pipestem that’s grown so big,” Ruble said. “He’s also president of Yesterday’s Rides. He’s really worked harder and put in more effort to have cruises and car shows than anyone else in the area. He put A&R Productions, which is the one that put the show on at Pipestem. You can see 250 to 300 cars at Pipestem, and it’s a good show. We probably give away 150 top awards plus dash plaques and door prizes.”

Like many other car events, the Pipestem Car Show is free to the public, so entire families can come to see all the vehicles.

For many visitors, seeing vintage cars from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s can trigger a lot of fond memories.

“We hear that all the time. It’s the nostalgia. They come to a car show and say, ‘Yea, I can remember when I was little.

Mom and Dad had one of those.’

I have a 1948 Hudson. That’s not a real popular car people would recognize every day, but the elderly people who come around, the elderly guys who were growing up in ‘48, ‘49, ‘50, they’ll come up and say ‘That’s a Hudson. I know what that is.’”

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Meeting other car enthusiasts and their families is one of the hobby’s main attractions.

“The great thing about this hobby is that you meet good people. Everybody is there to help each other. It is just a good, clean family hobby. You can take your family, you can take your kids,” Ruble said. “I have a granddaughter who started going to these shows when she was 12, and now she drives my cars to the shows. She’s still in it. You can carry it right down through the family.”

Myron Anderson. president of A & R Productions, agreed that cruises and car shows are “family affairs” that encompasses all age groups. The car show he helps organize in Pipestem is the largest exposition of its kind south of Beckley; one held in that city in conjunction with a coal show can be even larger.

And again, a vehicle’s worth at a show isn’t measured solely by the amount of money spent on fixing it up, Anderson said.

“Our motto is you bring what you have,” he said. “There are some cars, and these are in a minority, that are $100,000 or better.”

Some of these especially expensive cars are never actually driven and are hauled from show to show, Anderson said.

Often they do not even have oil in their engines or a battery.

Most of the cars and trucks appearing at the Pipestem show — the last show had 285 different vehicles — are driven to their destinations, but some collectors who have longer distances to drive such as from Virginia Beach or Charlotte haul their older cars on trailers, he said. Most of the cars displayed are ones that are driven and enjoyed by their owners.

“The fun is in driving them.

It’s getting out and letting other people enjoy them and ride and have a good time,” Anderson said, adding that families will get together and go on road trips in their classic rides to destinations where they will find other enthusiasts who have become friends.

Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section III 7

Amazing scenes Wildlife adventures are sure to please everyone

By KATE COIL Bluefield Daily Telegraph IPESTEM — The wild and wonderful scenery and state parks of the two Virginias offer tons of opportunities for anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of bears, eagles, deer, and wild turkey.

With animals both rare and awe-inspiring making the area their home, it is no wonder viewing wildlife has become one of the most memorable things for local families to do.

Karen Steubing of Bluefield is local photographer and said local state parks provide the best opportunity for those wanting to see local wildlife.

“The best place are the state parks,” Steubing said. “Most other land is privately owned.

Pipestem State Park is large, accessible by road and trails and has diverse wildlife.

Bluestone State Park is also another place to go locally.”

According to Steubing, certain times of the year and day are more conducive to seeing wildlife in their natural habitats.

“Late spring, summer and fall are all good seasons to see wildlife,” Steubing said. “The best time of day is early morning or evening.”

Steubing said certain state parks tend to have higher populations of certain animals.

However, Steubing said the area is home to many diverse wildlife species.

“I would to go to Pipestem for deer,” Steubing said.

“There is a large population and they are used to people.

Bluestone State Park is a great place if you want to see bears. If you live here or visit often enough, you will eventually see all kinds of wildlife including more elusive kinds like bobcats. There have even been cougar sightings in our area over the past few months.”

If one is going bird-watching, Steubing said park officials can help out.

“My recommendation is to sign up for a guided tour with a naturalist at one of the parks who knows where migrating birds, water fowl, eagles, and others are located,” she said.

Steubing said using photography or video technology is a great way to capture not only sightings of local wildlife but family memories of these encounters as well.

“It’s difficult to photograph wildlife but it’s possible,” Steubing said. “Video is easier as it captures movement which can ruin a photograph depending on the light.

Photographing wildlife is like any other vacation memory. It

P

is part of the local experience since we are blessed with so much natural habitat and wildlife.”

Dave Caplinger, park superintendent of Pipestem Resort State Park, said white tailed deer are the animals most visitors come to the park hoping to see.

“The white tailed deer are seen throughout the year,” Caplinger said. “Wild turkey are also frequently spotted in the park. We have raccoons commonly seen in the park as well. Of course, we are most well-known for our deer and turkeys come in a distant second.”

Though they are not always around, Caplinger said visitors have caught glimpses of many other animals in the park as well.

“A little less frequently, we have sightings of both red and gray foxes,” he said. “Bear here are infrequent visitors, so it’s a real treat when someone spots one. Eagles are also occasional visitors since they nest in some of the areas nearby. There have been some spotted in the Bluestone Canyon area of the park in recent months.”

Recently, Caplinger said some of the park’s wildlife have started to frequent the park’s golf courses, prompting officials to provide certain hours for park visitors to use the courses for wildlife viewing.

“The animals are usually on their own schedule, though many animals are often seen

on our golf courses,” Caplinger said. “It’s become such a popular viewing area that we have opened it up to jogging in the early morning and walking in the late evening, but only to our overnight guests and campers.”

Another popular way for visitors to the park to view wildlife is from the safety and comfort of their vehicles.

“There is also a popular local habit of people just driving through the park to see what they can see,” Caplinger said.

“We’ll often see seven or eight cars driving through the park in the evening hours. You’ll often see a couple cars stopped on the side of the road for a rather impressive looking deer or a mother nursing her fawns.”

However, Caplinger said many prefer to see wildlife while out hiking the many trails that run throughout the park.

“We offer an extensive trail system and if you walk quietly, you are likely to see something,” Caplinger said. “Often, if you just stop for a break on the trail and wait, you’ll be able to see something. We do some guided hikes including a bird walk. The bird watching here is excellent and we have many different species. We have a full-time naturalist who works at the park who is also on hand to provide information about various wildlife species.”

For those who don’t have any

Local wildlife...

With animals both rare and awe-inspiring making the area their home, it is no wonder viewing wildlife has become one of the most memorable things for local families to do.

Staff photos by Jon Bolt

Wildlife, 13

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8 Section III Sunday, September 25, 2011

Contributed photos

On the trail...

The growing Hatfield-McCoy ATV trail system sees plenty of ATV enthusiasts, but they’re not all young people on a vacation away from their families. Families are coming to explore the trails together, said Jeffrey Lusk, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail.

Happy trails ATVs putting new spin on old-style family enjoyment

By GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph BRAMWELL — Years ago, the individual vehicles fathers, mothers, sons, daughters and other relations climbed aboard for a family outing were twowheel bicycles powered by pumping pedals. The speed was relatively low and the terrain was limited to city streets and parks, but now there are new options.

These options include four wheels with a powerful gasoline engine on a sturdy frame capable of roaring along rugged mountain trails. Fourwheeling on All-terrain vehicles is now among the activities families can do together.

The growing Hatfield-McCoy ATV trail system sees plenty of ATV enthusiasts, but they’re not all young people on a vacation away from their families.

Families are coming to explore the trails together, said Jeffrey Lusk, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail.

“Oh, absolutely,” he replied when asked if ATV family groups are common on the trail.

ATV riding can now be the focus of a family vacation, he said.

“Three to five folks is usually the size of our groups,” Lusk estimated. “You see a lot of wives and a lot of younger adults. It’s not for little kids, it’s young adults ages 12 and up. It’s something you can safely do in a nice, controlled environment.”

The trail authority gets many inquires from families looking for a new ATV trail experience, he said.

“Trail riding is a fairly economical vacation if you already have the machine,” Lusk said.

The Hatfield-McCoy trail currently runs through Wyoming County and McDowell County and is now being extended approximately 100 miles into neighboring Mercer County.

Communities along the new route, such as Bramwell and Matoaka, are now working to provide food and lodging, and other businesses in each county hosting the trail are providing services already.

One group that recently stopped at the Hatfield-McCoy trail included J.P. Roberts of Pinehurst, N.C., his son, and two other people. It was their first excursion on the trail, and Roberts said they were pleased with their experiences.

“I came here with one of my sons, and then I met a buddy who came down with his son.

This was our first time on the trail,” he said by telephone as he was returning home. “I tell you what, I don’t know what was better: The white water rafting we did or this.”

Roberts said he would not call his family avid ATV riders that go on trips on a “hit-ormiss” basis, but they found the Hatfield-McCoy Trail “very enjoyable.”

“It probably had a little bit of everything,” he said. “Open in some parts, constricted in other parts, multiple switchbacks through the woods.

There’s a variety of terrain and different difficulty levels.

My 14-year-old could maneuver through it. And you never saw the same trails the entire day. You didn’t get turned around in circles the entire day.”

Riding ATVs together is a family activity that helps parents get their sons and daughters outdoors and off the streets, Robert said.

“Instead of kids doing their own thing and parents doing their own thing, you’re able to do something as a family,” he explained.

Roberts said the only thing he could fault the region’s ATV trails about is the fact that not enough of the people who would enjoy riding on them know about them.

“There’s not enough publicity for them,” he said of the trail system. “It (trail) was more than I expected.”

Some families return to the ATV trail repeatedly because they offer opportunities for fun that some of their children might not have otherwise.

Richard Davis of Happy Trails ATV Rentals in Wyoming County knew of one family that has returned twice so far because riding ATVs was something their challenged daughter enjoyed.

“Well, as far as ATV riding, depending on the age of the family member, just about anyone can go ATV riding,” Davis said. ATV riding doesn’t always involve high-speed runs that only experienced riders can attempt; the trip can be taken at slower paces.

If a rider is age 16 or younger, care is taken to make sure they do not ride an ATV that’s too powerful for them, he said. And when families are taken on guided tours of the Pinnacle Creek Trail System section of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail, care is taken to make sure nobody goes too fast.

“Our guides are trained not to go more than 15 mph on a family tour, so it’s very family

oriented,’ Davis said.

One family from New Jersey took the tour because it was a activity their mentally-challenged daughter could go on, he said.

“She had the time of her life,” Davis recalled. “We treated their daughter like she wasn’t different from anyone else, and that’s why families like it.

She went on the guided tour, they did lodging, they went riding, and she had a blast. She was in a two-seater with a seat belt, but she had a blast.”

Like their counterparts in McDowell County and the ones being constructed in Mercer County, the Wyoming County trails are extensive and offer more than riding repeatedly over the same route. The Pinnacle Creek system goes near and through former strip mine areas, and last year it was connected to the Indian Creek Trail System.

“There are now 120, 130 miles of trails. We get a whole weekend of trail riding,” Davis said.

One feature of ATV riding is that families can do more than spend all day on the trails.

Communities touching on the trail are working to offer lodging, dining, and recreation. In Mercer County, towns including Bramwell and Matoaka are preparing for the day when ATV riders will be visiting them regularly. For example, Bramwell plans to welcome ATV riders into the town, said Mayor Louise Stoker. There are plans to restore the historic Pence Hotel in downtown Bramwell and reopen it as lodgings for ATV riders and other tourists.

Across the state line in Tazewell County, Va., the town of Pocahontas is also working toward the day when the Hatfield-McCoy Trail will connect with the Spearhead Trail.

The town is working on a downtown revitalization. A restaurant, an antique store, and a bed and breakfast are part of the plan. Another part of the plan calls for revitalizing the town’s Opera House, building campgrounds, and creating an amphitheater.

“We already see families who are riding the trails who come in and park, eat at the Bramwell Cafe or eat at the Corner Shop, and they go into the museum. And they come back,” Stoker said. “We have activities here, too, on a regular basis. They come in the morning, and we invite them to come back that night.”

“It surprises me how many families come over and drive

the ATV trails. Let me give you an example. Last month for two weeks in a row, a fami-

ly road ATVs from Crumpler to here. They went over Bramwell Mountain, and they

said it took 56 minutes to go from Crumpler across the trail to here,” she added.

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section III 9

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1 Section III Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section III 1

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12 Section III Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section III 13

Road trips remain a popular form of family vacation

By KATE COIL Bluefield Daily Telegraph BLUEFIELD — Whether exploring coal history and heritage in the mountains or traversing the wild backwoods and backways of the two Virginias, road trips remain one of the most popular types of family vacations in America.

Laura Gooch, a supervisor with Bluefield AAA, said road trips still remain a popular type of vacation because they offer endless possibilities based on personal choice.

“During the summer families focus on areas with entertainment and some folks want a destination that is educational as well,” Gooch said. “The experience is the drive. You can stop when you want, have transportation to sightseeing, parks, other communities if you drive.

The itinerary is yours, sightseeing is yours, timing is yours, stop, stay or continue on is yours.”

Gooch said some of the most popular local road trips are to Pipestem State Park as well as through Pocahontas, Va. and Bramwell.

Kathy Johnson, a spokesper-

Wildlife...

Continued from 7 luck seeing wildlife out in the park, Caplinger said a visit to the park’s nature center can often provide a glimpse at some of Pipestem’s more secretive animals.

“A lot of our guided activities begin at the nature center,” Caplinger said. “We many animals that come through there and we usually have snakes and turtles there pretty consistently. We keep animals there for a while to study and then return them back into the wild. It gives people a chance to see fairly secretive animals in a safe setting. It can also be education as people can see poisonous and non-poisonous snakes in the nature center so they will be better able to identify them if they come across them in the wild.”

According to Caplinger, seeing animals in natural habits, like local parks, gives viewers a glimpse at how animals behave when they are away from human eyes.

“It gives them an opportunity to learn about wildlife and observe animals doing what they normally do,” he said. “If you’re driving on the side of the road or seeing something

son for the West Virginia Division of Tourism, said driving along the many scenic routes in the state give vacationers or daytrippers insight into West Virginia’s history. In particular, Johnson said the Coal Heritage Trail, which goes through southern West Virginia, gives insight into the region’s past.

“Byways and backways are an important part of the tourism industry of West Virginia offering the traveler a different traveling experience from the sameness encountered along todays’ major highways,” Johnson said.

“Along any of West Virginia’s many byways and backways you will see dwellings built by 18th Century pioneers when the Appalachian Mountains were the ‘Western Frontier;’ battlefields memorializing the sacrifices of the areas residents during the Civil War; natural panoramas that both please the eye and bring the quiet tranquility of the country back into your consciousness; and places and personalities from the struggles to reconcile the industrial revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the ideals of fairness and individual freedoms upon which the state of

West Virginia was founded.”

In the local area, Johnson said the Coal Heritage trail is one of the most prominently traveled scenic highways.

“The Coal Heritage Trail is the story of strong, resilient men and women, of families who spent generations mining coal, of incredible racial and ethnic violence,” Johnson said.

“Transitions in the coal industry have left behind deserted mining sites and remnants of oncethriving company towns alongside company stores, club houses and courthouses. Several of these areas have become designated National Register Historic Districts. A special feature on this trail include the town of Bramwell where the owners of the Pocahontas Coal Fields lived and raised their families.”

According to Johnson, area road trips not only bring families closer together but can spawn discussions about family history and heritage.

“These trips make great family time and gives parents an opportunity to not only spend time with the kids but to explain how important coal is to West Virginia and what it was like to grow up in a coal camp, go to the

company store,” Johnson said.

“Coal heritage is such a part of just about every West Virginian’s background. It provides an opportunity to explore the grandparents lifestyles and how they differ from now. These types of trips, sites and stops let families get back to their roots and discover that everything isn’t a video game.”

Monroe County offers a variety of scenic byways and backways to introduce visitors to the county’s unique history. Helen Graves, tourism director for Monroe County, said visitors enjoy traversing the county’s many scenic trails, such as the Farm Heritage Road, Mountain’s Shadow Trail, and Wolf Creek Backway. The county also offers access to the Appalachian Trail and Allegheny Trail.

Graves said those taking the one of the county’s many scenic trails have the opportunity to stop by several beautiful area landmarks and visitors spots.

“We have access to Jefferson National Forest, Moncove Lake State Park, and the Hanging Rock Observatory atop Peters Mountain,” Graves said. “All ages and stages of those who

love the outdoors can be engaged here. Our winding byways travel through distinct geographical settings: the quaint winding courses of Indian, Second, Rich, Cove, Potts, and Hans Creeks; the gently rolling plateaus of karst farmland; and the picturesque valleys nestled along the lofty ridges of the Appalachian Mountains.”

Often, Graves said a road trip through the county is like a trip back in time.

“We have a sparse population and without a four-lane highway, traffic light, or fast food restaurant,” Graves said. “Monroe County offers tourists a place to get real. This rural, agricultural community has retained and enhanced many of the characteristics of previous times. It is still possible to have an authentic and memorable experience in this scenic country county.

Here grandparents can teach grandchildren how to drop a line into a sparkling fishing stream.

Here travelers can step back in time and visit restored covered bridges, old grain and blacksmith mills, historic churches and cemeteries, and ante-bellum mineral springs resort

hotels.”

Most of all, Graves said a jaunt on one of the county’s backroads offers a chance to relax.

“Traveling on the scenic routes is relaxing and rewarding,” she said. “Interstate highways are all about getting to a destination in the least amount of time.

Byways, backways and scenic routes are all about enjoying the travel. A person can just feel the stress of the hustle-bustle fade away. And there is a rewarding scene around every crook in the road.”

Like its neighbor to the north, Southwestern Virginia offers tons of unique adventures on the road featuring local lore and vibrant scenery. Richard Lewis, a spokesperson for the Virginia Tourism Corporation, said there are several great road trips throughout region.

Southwestern Virginia also takes pride in its branch of the Coal Heritage Trail.

“The Virginia Coal Heritage Trail begins in Tazewell County and goes through Buchanan County before ending at Breaks Interstate Park,” Lewis said. “It goes near the Crab Orchard Museum and the Coal Miners Memorial.”

in your backyard, the animal probably is not going to behave as it would in its natural habitat. I have many times seen a turkey strut with his feathers spread out or a fawn nursing along the roadside in the park. The animals here are more used to seeing people and go about their lives.”

Additionally, Caplinger said family trips into the wild give people a chance to bond with each other.

“It also offers a great chance for people to learn about each other,” he said. “Whether taking one of the hiking trails or driving in their vehicles, these trips provide a good chance for families to talk and bond.”

Though many think of wildlife management areas as places set aside for hunting, Joe Swiney, superintendent of Bluestone Wildlife Management area, said not everyone comes to there to hunt.

“In the summer, especially people come out to fish and to see all sorts of wildlife that is out,” Swiney said. “The purpose of the park is to manage wildlife for both hunting and viewing. We also do a lot of projects with the forestry department to see what attracts birds, deer and other wildlife.”

Because the area is used for

hunting, Swiney said visitors to the park have the opportunity to see deer, grouse, turkey and just about any animal legal to hunt in West Virginia.

However, Swiney said there is one non-game animal visitors flock to see at the park.

“We have a lot of bird watchers, especially when there are eagle sightings in the area,” Swiney said. “We have reports of gold and bald eagles in the area. They’re really on the rise again and it’s been a long time coming for them. Eagles are probably are biggest attract as well as the migratory birds. A lot of people sometimes come here just to bird watch. It’s one of the most popular activities at the park.”

Swiney said other animals are also a big draw at Bluestone, whether or not it is hunting season.

“A lot of people also come to see the deer because they have never seen them in the wild before,” he said. “We’ve only had a few bears sighted here, but we have a lot of raccoons, foxes and coyotes.”

According to Swiney, different animals typically make their appearances in the park at different times of year.

“Most people come in late spring or early summer if they want to do bird watching,” Swiney said. “Fall and around

hunting season is the best time for animals like deer and turkey, especially if you want to see deer with full racks.”

Swiney said seeing wildlife in their natural habitat provides a good experience for everyone.

“It seems nowadays people are more removed from wildlife,” he said. “It’s important for people to see these animals, almost like they do in a zoo. Here, people can see these animals in their natural habitat. You don’t get to see that a lot any more. Personally, I like getting to see the people enjoying the wildlife as well as enjoying the wildlife myself.”

For those who have had no luck spotting animals in the wild, there is one place in Tazewell County where people are guaranteed to have a unique wildlife experience.

The Sandy Head Ostrich Farm is located of Highway 61 between Tazewell, Va. and Bluefield, Va. Owner Sue Carr said the farm originally began to raise and sell ostriches for their meat but now is a familyfriendly tourist spot.

“We just have 30 acres of land, which is too small for cows and calves,” Carr said. “I visited a sheep farm once and decided it wasn’t something I could handle. I wanted something I could do personally and

this has a bonus of being good for the environment. We get asked a lot of ostriches really stick their heads in the sand and that’s why we call it the Sandy Head Ostrich Farm.

We’ve now been here long enough local people know about us, but we still do occasionally see people taking a double take when they see our sign.”

The farm opened in 1997 and offers a variety of activities and events for visitors.

“We have a dozen ostriches living on the farm now, but we don’t raise the ostrich chicks any more,” Carr said. “The farm also has chickens, ducks, and other animal surprises living here. We have a variety of activities for people to do such as feeding the ostriches, petting our different critters, as well as comparing different types of eggs. Usually, we are busiest when schools lets out.

Often, grandparents will bring their grandchildren down to the farm.”

Carr said many different functions are held at the farm.

“We get church events, school tours, and birthday parties,” Carr said. “The birthday parties are really taking off because it’s something most people have never done before. We do tours and have farm games for them to play.

People love coming here because we are a faith-based farm and it’s a unique place with different activities.”

Carr said watching people and ostriches interact is one of the best parts of running the farm.

“Ostriches are very curious and they will line up at the fence to see people,” Carr said. “It’s comical to see the ostriches watching people watching them. They are friendly, but because the birds are so big, they aren’t pets.

They aren’t dangerous if you treat them like respect, like any other livestock animal.

You have to treat them accordingly. You can’t cuddle up with an ostrich, but we have the area set up to keep our guests safe.”

According to Carr, a visit to the farm can create tons of memories.

“I love having kids come over and watch them look way, way up to see an ostrich,” Carr said. “I like to see their reactions to the ostriches. The kids are always laughing and having a great time. I always encourage people to bring cameras and take lots of pictures. We also encourage the adults to get involved. We keep both kids and adults occupied.

It’s something different for everyone.”

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Farm...

Continued from 5 in. The rain and sunshine can make the fruit bigger as well.

Our busiest time of year is usually in August or September when a lot of stuff starts coming in. We also get a lot of visitors the week of the West Virginia State Fair up in Fairlea. People will stop by to pick going to or coming home from the fair.”

According to Boggs, the farm is also a favorite destination of many families with smaller children.

“I love to see all of the people who come, especially the children,” she said. “They get so excited to pick their own stuff.

A lot of the families bring in their youngsters. The ones who are between age 4 and 5 are the ones who get the most excited.

Most of our trees are dwarf trees, so there isn’t that much the little kids can’t reach.”

Music...

Continued from 1 faces running around,” Toler said.

Being part of a community is one of the factors that brings both entertainers and audiences to Music in the Square.

“I think it’s a tremendous sense of togetherness that the performers and the audiences get from the concerts,” Toler said.

“We have some families and

While fruits and berries are often popular farm fare, other area farms allow visitors to pick their own vegetables as well. Jack Dunbar, owner of Breezy Heights Farm outside of Sinks Grove near Union, said potatoes and tomatoes are the fare of choice at his farm.

“We let people pick their own produce and we also sell produce at the farm and in local farmer’s markets,” Dunbar said. “We have a little store where we sell produce to the people who don’t want to pick it on their own. Our busiest time of year is after the tomatoes ripen, which depends on the weather. Some years, they get ripe later than others.”

According to Dunbar, farm customers come in a wide variety of age ranges.

“Most of our customers are older folks, but we also get a few younger families as well,” he said. “We get a lot of children as well as couples in their 20s or 30s. The kids like to see

stuff growing on the tree. We also have a free fishing pond for kids and they like to catch their own fish. It’s a lot of fun for them.”

Dunbar said visitors to the farm not only get the experience of farm life but reap many more benefits.

“People get to be out in the fresh air during the day,” Dunbar said. “They get vegetables that are two or three times better than what you get in the store. This food is all grown locally and supports local farmers. It’s just a great opportunity for people to get out in the fresh air and have some fun.”

Breezy Heights is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until dark and again on Saturday and Sunday from 3 p.m. until dark, but is closed Wednesdays to sell produce at local farmer’s markets.

During the fall, Byrnside Branch Farm near Union offers visitors a chance to pick their own pumpkins and find their

way through one of two corn mazes. Dirk McCormick, owner of Byrnside Branch Farm, said picking a pumpkin has become a tradition for many local families.

“We’ve been open for seven years, and we have kids who come here every year,” he said.

“We’ve seen them grow up here. They only come here twice a year, but they remember me and all of the animals.”

In addition to pumpkins, the farm also has many animals for visitors to see.

“We have a pen with goats, sheep and miniature horses for the kids to see,” McCormick said. “We also have cows, calves and horses in the fields they can see on the hay rides.

We have a Texas longhorn with six-feet long horns. He probably gets photographed more than anything else on the farm.”

According to McCormick, a visit to Byrnside comes complete with a traditional farm

atmosphere.

“Everything we sell we grow on site,” McCormick said. “We either bring them in or let people pick them straight out of the field. The way it is here, we try to keep it as local as possible. This is just a farm; it’s nothing fancy. It’s just a farm atmosphere and we go out of our way to explain to people how we grow things.”

McCormick said the farm is open to visitors from the second week in September until the first week in November for the fall harvest.

“The fall is definitely our busiest time,” he said. “We get a mix of large school and church groups as well as families. We usually do the groups during the morning. Most people come Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon or evening to go through the maze or pick their pumpkin. We do groups mainly by appointment.”

McCormick said the farm

offers plenty of fall fun for visitors from around the area.

“Our main attraction is the corn maze,” McCormick said.

“We have a big maze and a little maze for the smaller kids.

We also have a hay maze and miniature horse rides as well as tractor rides during the fall.”

Of course, picking the perfect Halloween pumpkin is another favorite activity at Byrnside.

“During the fall, we grow corn, pumpkins and squash,” McCormick said. “A lot of kids look at three or four pumpkins before picking one out. What I think is the good pumpkin and what their parents think is the good pumpkin is usually a lot different from what the kids think is a good pumpkin. They often like the odd shaped or dirty ones. Sometimes, they want a gourd or a squash instead of a pumpkin. I get a kick out of seeing them. They come just to have fun and we try to make it as one-on-one with people as possible.”

some faces that we see every week, but it’s always good to see new people as well, and we invite everybody.”

Across the state line in Bluefield, Va., the Evening Shade Concert Series starts in June after high school graduations and concludes in August before football season gets underway. That way, the concert doesn’t create scheduling conflicts, said Pat Jones, who organizes the series with her husband Jim Jones of Bluefield, Va.

“Well, we started that and I think this is our eighth or ninth year,” she said. “And it’s been wonderful. We’ve enjoyed doing it. It take a lot of work, but we have throughly enjoyed it. We have loved this community since we were very young.”

Like other concert series, Evening Shade draws exceptionally large audiences for such a modest venue, the gazebo at Graham Square in downtown Bluefield, Va. Musicians who come to entertain have had audiences numbering in the

hundreds.

“One night last year we had 702 people around that gazebo,” Pat Jones recalled.

And like the concerts in neighboring Bluefield and in Princeton, the Bluefield, Va. concert has drawings for prizes.

“We have been giving away free things. Businesses have been so kind to give us things,” she said. “And the people who play have enjoyed it. We have a lot of talented musicians at our stage.”

The nearby Harmon Lodge of

Bluefield, Va., has free popcorn for the concert’s audiences, and Hardee’s supplies tea, Pat Jones said.

“And that really goes well with the popcorn. And then the businesses have been just tremendous giving us things to give away, and I mean nice things.

It’s just been remarkable what our businesses have done, and the banks.”

She said there was a reason why some many people come to the concerts and why local businesses are so supportive. Some

elderly members of the audience who have trouble walking use the neighboring parking lots as their seats.

“You know what, I think we live in an area where people love music. They come and they visit with each other and their friends. We have people who can’t get out in the weather for whatever reason, so they sit in their cars and listen to the music, and they have the opportunity to win something, too.

They come early to get a good parking place.”

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section IV 1

Most athletic Past and present sporting events, athletes and more from across the region

Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

Double out...

Henry Belcher cheers on the Bluefield Blue Jays during a home game at Bowen Field during the 2011 Appalachian League season.

Mr. Baseball in Bluefield Belcher’s cheers for ‘double out’ are well-known to Blue Jay fans at Bowen Field

By BRIAN WOODSON Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — In the normally quiet bleachers on a baseball game night at Bowen Field, there is one voice that is always heard.

No matter whether it is “Go Blue Jays” or “double out” or screaming at the umpires, Henry Belcher is always there to cheer on the home team.

It all started for Belcher around 1958 when he first began attending games at Bowen Field, the first season of what turned into 53 years for the Orioles in Bluefield.

“The reason why is because as a little kid my father and grandfather came up here to Bluefield to watch the old Orioles organization play on the weekends on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,” Belcher said. “Of course, all of us kids had to come up here with them.

“I remember when that (outfield) fence was bigger than me.”

The following year, in 1959, young Belcher was at a game enjoying a beverage when he was spied by a future major

B

league star named John Wesley “Boog” Powell, a gentle giant of 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, who would play for most of his 17 seasons with the Orioles in Baltimore.

“I can remember one special day, it had to be on a weekend, it was a really hot day and somebody named Boog Powell — I don’t know why he wasn’t playing first base — but he was sitting up there in the stands where the boys were taking the stats for the team,” Belcher said.

He had what Powell wanted.

Belcher got him one too, but made him a deal.

“He saw me with a big old Coca-Cola, in those days it used to come in the glass bottles and he saw me with a straw in that thing and he said, ‘I wish I had one of those things’,” Belcher recalled.

Belcher obliged.

“I said, ‘I can get you one sir, if you will sign my foul ball’, that I had caught the weekend before that,” Belcher said. “He said, ‘OK’, so I went down here, bought him a pop, took it up there to the stands and all of a sudden he started getting bigger and bigger on me.

“I took off my cheap little kids

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baseball cap and said, ‘It is on me sir.’ He did sign my baseball.”

It was that chance meeting, signing and word of advice that has led Belcher to become an avid baseball fan, and who isn’t shy about being heard at the ball park, no matter what those around him might think.

“He said this is the only place you can really be vocal and he told me to be vocal,” Belcher said. “I have been vocal since and I have been taking it out on the umpires every single game.”

Belcher continued to attend games, although he missed most of them while in the Navy from 1972-82. In addition to working in a security company in Bluefield, he spent his summer cheering on the Orioles.

“After that I came back to Bluefield, I was an avid Orioles fan before and that is why I am a loyal Orioles fan now and stayed that way,” Belcher said.

“Now we have the Blue Jays here, but I still have a lot of my Orioles memorabilia that the boys have given me and signed balls and I have kept all those over the years.”

That won’t change, but

Belcher now cheers on the Blue Jays since Toronto replaced the Orioles in Bluefield after last season.

That hasn’t been an easy adjustment for him.

“Yes it was, and it still is too,” Belcher said. “Every time I look in my closet there is a lot of my Orioles shirts, hats and jackets in there and every time I open that closet up and get a jacket or a shirt to wear, it is hard to leave those in the house and wear the Blue Jays.

“I am used to just grabbing a jacket in the mornings and grabbing an Orioles shirt, an Orioles jacket or an Orioles hat and put it on because I have so many hats and I was rooting for those guys when they were down here, I really was.”

The Orioles have moved on.

Those 53 years were certainly good to Belcher, who proudly proclaims the fact that Bluefield and Baltimore went through 53 years together without ever signing an actual contract.

“It is a shame they did leave, but after 53 years — which is one of the longest franchises in minor league baseball — and it was done on a handshake,”

Belcher said. “There was no contract that was signed, if you don’t believe me you can just come down here and ask in the office or ask George McGonagle who was the general manager down here and president of the baseball club for many, many years.

“He will tell you it was just done on a handshake and not a signed contract.”

Over the years, Belcher has gotten to know nearly every player who has come through Bluefield. Some have been better than others, but who knows when the next major league player will be in town.

“There have been so many of them that have come out of here and gone to the majors and some of them have just gone up in the minor leagues,” Belcher said. “It was great to know all these guys. If you try to go to a major league game, you are going to have to go through four publicists, three lawyers and a half of a dozen agents just to meet the guys.

“Down here you can come out here to the games, meet these guys after the games, get them to sign your baseballs and hats and you never can tell which

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one of these guys is going to become the next major league ball star.”

Belcher has a home in Bluefield full of memorabilia he has gotten over the years.

“When you do have one of their signatures on there, you can say you can remember when he was playing down here in Bluefield,” Belcher said. “It is a great experience, you will never see these guys again unless you watch them on TV or ESPN or the network TV playing baseball.

“It is a great thing to know you were following them when they were going to minor league games playing here in Bluefield.”

No one enjoys their summer visits to Bowen Field more than Belcher. He is normally one of the first ones there, and one of the last ones to leave. He is one guy who uses nearly every one of his season tickets.

“This is a great way to spend a weekend or any day, any time you can come to the ball park,” said Belcher, who is a regular ‘commercial’ for Bowen Field “It is because we have some

Baseball, 4

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section IV 3

Contributed photo

Talking hoops...

Coach Jennings Boyd talks to his players during a timeout in the 1981 Class AA state championship game against Dunbar. Pictured from left to right, behind Boyd are Assistant coach Mark Page, Rick Harmon, the late Robert Huckleberry, Dwayne Washington, Rick Helm and Jody Lusk. Seated facing Boyd from left to right are his son, Michael, and Kenny White. The Blue Demons won the game 53-50 to earn their eighth-straight state title.

Dominating Blue Demons Northfork basketball teams were a great source of pride

By GARY DOVE for the Daily Telegraph ORTHFORK — The late summer of 1966 brought about many changes in this McDowell County coal mining community.

On the national level, the Vietnam war was escalating rapidly and the Civil Rights’ movement was growing across America.

In Northfork, the former Northfork-Elkhorn High School became known as the Northfork Blue Demons with the integration of Elkhorn (Elks) and part of Kimball (Terrors) in with N-E. Another change came with the appointment of a 33-yearold Jennings Boyd to the head coaching position of the Blue Demons.

A veteran of 10 seasons as a junior varsity coach, and sporting a 139-21 record, Boyd would recall on the 25th anniversary of his taking the helm how fearful he was because he felt unprepared for this challenge.

That fear quickly gave way to a thirst for knowledge about the intricacies of basketball, from reading books and magazines, to attending clinics to listening to veteran coaches.

In his first four seasons at the Blue Demon helm, Boyd’s charges rolled up a record of 64-25, a pair of sectional titles and an unbeaten regular season in 1970.

Using a fast-breaking, runand-shoot offense and a full court pressing defense, Northfork filled its gym for every home game, as well as other venues on the road.

The 1970-71 season, Boyd’s fifth, saw Northfork win the Class AA state championship in the brand new WVU Coliseum.

The only loss that year was a home setback to Gary, marking the final loss on Northfork’s court for the Blue Demons under Boyd. When he retired at the end of the 1981 season, the Demons had a 1025 home record under Boyd.

When the school closed after the 1985 year, their 19-year home court slate stood at 12212.

After the 1971 season, longtime Elkhorn head coach and Northfork assistant James Hairston retired. In his place, Henry Winkfield came to the

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Northfork Blue Demon Boys’ Basketball Season Records 1966-67 thru 1984-85 Season Record Head Coach 1966-67 12-9 Jennings Boyd 1967-68 15-8 Jennings Boyd 1968-69 14-7 Jennings Boyd 1969-70 23-1 Jennings Boyd 1970-71 24-1*Jennings Boyd 1971-72 22-1 Jennings Boyd 1972-73 17-5 Jennings Boyd 1973-74 23-3*Jennings Boyd 1974-75 26-0*Jennings Boyd 1975-76 23-3*Jennings Boyd 1976-77 24-2*Jennings Boyd 1977-78 22-4*Jennings Boyd 1978-79 19-7*Jennings Boyd 1979-80 19-8*Jennings Boyd 1980-81 24-3*Jennings Boyd 1981-82 14-9 Henry Winkfield 1982-83 20-4 Winkfield/Mark Page 1983-84 19-5*Mark Page 1984-85 12-10 Mark Page *- Won Class AA State Championship

Blue Demons from Kimball Junior High, and proved to be an integral part of Northfork sports until his retirement in 1983.

During the 1970s, the crowd continued to fill any gym where Northfolk played, as fans came to see the run-andgun fun the Blue Demons brought to the court.

Northfork won the Class AA titles in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981, eclipsing the old national record of seven consecutive state championships by

Providence Central, R.I. Mark Page, who was an allstater on the 1974 team and is now principal at Montcalm High School, recalled recently his high school career, “I was having a good time and playing ball. I was learning the game. I loved the game, couldn’t get enough of it.”

The 1975 team went 26-0 and was voted the top team in West Virginia, regardless of class.

That squad averaged 91.3 pointers per game, while allowing only 60.

Always well dressed and well

behaved off the court, the Demons hosted Class AA power Logan in January 1975 at the Welch Armory.

The Blue Demons players were in their team blazers with neckties when Logan arrived and one Wildcat player sarcastically remarked upon arrival, “They look like a bunch of choir boys!”

Northfork dominated from start-to-finish, winning the game 86-49.

In the fall of 1976, after the Blue Demon boys had won their third straight crown, the girl Demonettes debuted on the statewide stage, going unbeaten en route to capturing the Class AA girls’ title in West Virginia’s initial such state tournament.

In 1977, the girls repeated with another unbeaten record and the marbles in the state tournament.

Charlene Hickman, a junior on the 1977 team, who made the all-tournament three straight years, recently talked of the Demonettes, “It always made me feel good that we played ball and won, and we also had such great sportsmanship while we were winning. I took a lot of pride in that.”

She continued, “The support we got from the community was awesome.”

In 1978, arriving at the state tournament as two-time defending champions and riding a 77-game win streak, the Demonettes were knocked off

by University.

However, a year later, Northfork played the Hawks in a rematch, this time in the finals, and won the game for the third Class AA championship in four years for the Demonettes.

Ronnie Tote, who played for Boyd in his first season as head coach, led the Demonettes.

In the 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 seasons, Tote led Northfork to a 100-2 mark, while winning three titles.

He recalled, “When our principal (Jim Lane) approached me about taking the girls’ head coaching job in 1974, I didn’t want anything to do with it. I was an assistant football coach (at Northfork) and just didn’t want to coach girls.

“I did, finally, after they said there wouldn’t be a girls’ team if I didn’t coach (because no

one else wanted it).”

After Coach Tote stepped down at the end of the 1979 season, Page coached the girls until the school closed in 1985.

Coach Page, who starred at Bluefield State for four years, came back to his alma mater in 1979 and was an assistant coach for the next three boys’ state championship teams.

Remembering those days, Page said, “I was still in a learning mode. The coaches I played under were still there. I was learning everything I could.”

In 1981, going for the national record of eight straight titles, Northfork dispatched Wheeling Central coached by the late Skip Prosser — who was head coach at Wake Forest University when he passed away — and Dunbar to claim the championship.

Eight times in the nine state tourney appearances under Boyd, the Blue Demons won the Sportsmanship Award.

Boyd retired after the 1981 season, with his teams having won 100 consecutive games over Class AA competition, going back to January 1974.

His overall record was 307-62.

Winkfield coached the following season and eleven games

of the 1983 campaign, before ill health forced him to retire.

Page took over the program and guided the Blue Demons to a dozen straight wins before losing to Williamson in the state finals.

A year later, Northfork again won the AA championship, this time with Page as head coach.

Remembering his time as head coach, Page said, “As a coach, I believed ‘If it ain’t’ broke, don’t fix it.’”

“I used what had worked when I played and when I was an assistant coach to coach,” he continued.

The Demons visited the state tournament one last time in 1985, losing to Wheeling Central in their final game ever.

Basketball fans from around the state still talk of the Blue Demons, their playing ability, their court smarts, their positive demeanor and their sportsmanship.

Fans from Northfork and McDowell County didn’t take a backseat to the crowds from Hoosiers, Remember the Titans, The Last Picture Show or any other big screen depiction of events, actual or fictional, for their pride in their team, the Blue Demons.

4 Section IV Sunday, September 25, 2011

‘Buddy had been a good athlete in high school and even gotten a scholarship to Emory & Henry College. After one semester, he came back to Fries to marry me’ — Faye Holcomb Fielder

Contributed photos

Baseball memories...

Left, Faye Fielder, with the bat, and her baseball-playing husband, George ‘Buddy’ Fielder, during the 1939 season at Bowen Field. Center, Faye Fielder in her engagement photo from 1938.

Pictured right,there were three married players on the 1939 Blue-Grays. They included, left to right, Mrs. Thad Cash, Mrs. Nick Gibbs and Mrs. Buddy Fielder

Romance and baseball in 1939 Memories of my summer as a baseball wife

looked better than anyone else Sorrell has around that bag to date. He looked good at the plate too.

“Fielder is a rookie and Sorrell most likely will find a place for him in the lineup.”

This was the first of many

clippings I cut out and put in a scrapbook that summer.

We found a room to rent in a private home for $10 a month along with Thad Cash, the third basemen from Johnson City, Tenn., and his wife. We “had” to eat out all of the time

— another treat.

I still have the meal ticket from the Cricket Tavern, 616 Princeton Ave. We got $5.50 worth of meals for $5.00 punched 25 cents at a time.

Someone had a camera to capture our antics such as cut-

ting up with the players at Bowen Field. We took the film to the Bluefield Foto Finishing Shop on Bland Street to get prints made for our scrapbook.

We were having a great time especially because the team was winning a lot. When they

were on the road, we would sit around eating ice cream and listening to the “play by play” on WHIS radio.

I don't know whose idea it was, but Anna Belle and Nick decided to get married at home plate in the new Bowen Field ballpark.

After all he was the catcher. I still have an autographed copy of the “Cupid Souvenir Program” with their photos on the cover announcing the marriage of Miss Anna Belle Calfee to Nicholas Richard Gibbs at 8:00 p.m.

I remember it well since I was in the wedding. I don't think her family was as happy about it as she was. I don't remember them coming to the park.

Afterward, someone got the three baseball wives’ BlueGray uniforms and we had our photos taken in uniform.

Back to the baseball: At the time of the wedding, the team had an 8-game lead in the League. Buddy was having a great season and my clipping file was getting bigger. One of my favorite clips came after Buddy had four RBIs in a game against Logan.

It read, “Manager Vic Sorrell was fuming in the dugout as Logan was handing his Blue Grays a terrific shellacking the other night, the worst licking of the season for the league leaders. In the ninth frame, Buddy Fielder came to bat and bagged his second hit, sending two mates across the scoring dish. Fielder had hit in four men.

It moved Vic to chirp, “Great Scott! I got a pro on my club.”

The team went on to win the league that year but Buddy broke his arm in a play at first base at the end of the season.

His semi- pro baseball career was over but he went on to play for the Lynchburg Foundry industrial team in 1940 and began a long career as a machinist.

He later worked in Oak Ridge, Tenn. and at the University of Georgia physics department .

I will always remember that summer of 1939 because when our first son was born in 1941, we gave him the nickname “Nick” after our good friend Nick Gibbs, the Blue Grays catcher. *George Fielder played in 127 games for the Blue-Grays, batting .278 with 28 doubles, three triples and a home run.

some major league ball parks, even in some Double A and Triple A minor parks.

“Down here there is free parking, just the entrance fee and you can get your concessions and you can show up and just have a great time and you are guaranteed nine innings of baseball.”

Belcher sits in pretty much the same seat behind home plate about halfway up in the

bleachers every game, but it’s definitely not that hard to find him.

Just listen. He has even gotten the nickname “Double out”, his own version of a double play.

“You have a man on first, a batter coming up, we’ve got a double out down here,” Belcher said. “All the pitcher has to do is get those two outs and he’ll just have to get that last guy.”

There are other words too. He just has to remember now not to confuse the Blue Jays for that ‘other’ team.

“Go Jays, go Blue Jays, go Bluefield,” Belcher said.

“Sometimes I have to watch myself because I almost ready to yell ‘Orioles’ and I have to remember it is a different team now.”

Belcher rarely misses a game.

Bowen Field is like a second

summer home.

“I try not too, but I have missed a few, I hate to say it, but I have missed a few,” said Belcher, prior to a game this season at Bowen Field. “Here I am today still down here at Bowen Field again waiting for another game to start.”

No one enjoys it more. Don’t think the players don’t appreciate his support.

“It is a lot of fun to come down

here every day to see these guys play, it really is,” Belcher said. “It is a privilege to meet some of these guys and get to know them a little bit and it is just an awesome experience.

“I don’t care where you are from, these guys will remember you when you make it up to the major leagues. They remember me.”

—Contact Brian Woodson at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

By FAYE HOLCOMB FIELDER for the Daily Telegraph EDITOR’S NOTE: Faye Fielder died suddenly on July 28, 2011 soon after she finished telling these stories to her son Nick. A longtime Braves fan, Faye almost got to see her team win in 19 innings on July 27, but she fell asleep before the last play. The last thing her son said to her on Wednesday morning was that the Braves had won. She smiled.

Nick Fielder lives in Nashville, Tenn. and is retired. He was the state archaeologist for 30 some years. Tennis and table tennis were his sports.

ASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was a glorious summer in Bluefield in 1939. We had been married less than a year and my husband George “Buddy” Fielder was being paid to play baseball.

We had grown up in the cotton mill town of Fries, over in Grayson County Virginia. Fries is a nice little town on the New River, but not too exciting.

At least the mill had kept operating during the hard times of the depression so things weren't too bad.

Buddy had been a good athlete in high school and even gotten a scholarship to Emory & Henry College. After one semester, he came back to Fries to marry me, much to his mother's dismay.

In the spring of 1939, we heard that the Bluefield BlueGrays baseball team was having tryouts. He and his cousin, Harry Phipps, went to give it a shot. Much to his surprise, Buddy made the team.

A former big leaguer, Vic Sorrell was the manager and pitcher. The other players were from various places, even as far away as Detroit.

At the start of the season there were only two player wives, me and Dorothy Cash but that would change as we watched local girl Anna Belle Calfee and catcher Nick Gibbs' dating and getting “hot and heavy” .

Back to baseball.

Buddy could have not picked a better Blue-Grays team to join. The sportswriter for the Bluefield paper described it this way: “A new first basemen reported to camp yesterday and the boss liked his looks.

This kid is named Fielder. He comes from Fries, Va. He worked out at first base and

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Baseball...

Continued from 1 fine food, fine crowds, you can meet your friends and families here at $4 a head for adults, $3 for students and it goes down, the kids 5 and under are for free.

“You can’t beat the price on the entrance fee and there is no parking fee down here like in

Contributed photo

Faye Fielder, taken last November. Fielder passed away in July.

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6 SECTION IV Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section IV 7

It’s back...

Football returns to Bluefield College

By CHRIS SHOEMAKER for the Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD, Va. — The year was 1941. It was Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 20, and time for the traditional homecoming season finale for the Bluefield College Ramblin' Reds football team.

The opponent: Rio Grande College.

The importance: a must-need win for the Reds to avoid a losing season. The outcome: a victory for Bluefield, led by freshman Richard "Dick" Bogdan, a highly-touted running back out of Fort Johnson, N.Y., who spearheaded head coach Tony Lotito's single wing offense.

Bogdan scored often against Rio Grande, including the final touchdown of the game, which capped a 30-7 win for Bluefield, which ended the 1941 campaign at 4-4 overall.

"It was a play designed for me," said Bogdan about the last touchdown run.

"I know, because I called it. We were down near the goal line, and I went in off the center, sort of like a quarterback sneak. It was a thrill!"

The win over Rio Grande sparked a great deal of optimism for the upcoming season. After all, the Reds had won their last four out of six games in the 1941 campaign, including victories over Rio, Hiwassee and Tennessee Wesleyan, and would be returning players like Bogdan, Frank Denardo, Rufus Witt, Nelly Frazier, and Frank Lotito.

"I was looking forward to next year (1942)," said Bogdan.

"Coach Lotito was talking about putting in the T-formation on offense, and we had a lot of good players coming back."

But, it was not meant to be.

On Dec. 7, 1941, less than three weeks after the Ramblin' Reds had celebrated their season finale win, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and the United States found itself at war.

Thousands of young American men were called to active duty, including many — in fact, most — of the men who attended and played football at Bluefield College.

"I was in church at the time," Bogdan recalls about the day the Japanese declared war on the U.S. "I remember hearing a kid run down the street screaming about Pearl Harbor. It was chaotic. Everybody back on campus was talking about it."

Bogdan, like most of the BC football team, went from manning the offense to manning machine guns, from driving touchdowns to driving tanks, and from firing passes to firing rocket launchers.

Little did he know that the touchdown he scored to cap the Rio Grande win would be his last, maybe even the school's last.

"I didn't realize it at the time. I had no way of knowing," said Bogdan. "Coach Lotito said we'd be back soon, that the war wouldn't last very long, but four years later we were still there."

Bogdan joined the Navy Air Corps. For

B

Contributed photos

Football is back...

Counter clockwise from the top, The 1941 Bluefield Ramblin Reds.

Next, Richard ‘Dick’ Bogdan, scored Bluefield’s final touchdown in 1941, and was the last Bluefield football player to score until the Rams brought the back as a club sport this year, and full-time varsity sport in 2012. Next, 1941 head coach Tony Lotito, right. The man on the left is unidentified. Next, a certificate from Bluefield College. Next, Mullie Lenoir coached at Bluefield College from 1929-40, posting a 79-18-2 record in 11 seasons. He was replaced for the final season of Bluefield football by Tony Lotito. Next, action from the 2011 BC football season.

four years, he served the underwater defense unit in New Guinea, the East Indies, and the Philippines. At the same time, back on the Bluefield College campus, since most of the men were off fighting a war, there were not enough players to field a football squad.

Consequently, the school scrapped the program, and by the time the war ended in 1945, football at Bluefield College was a mere memory.

••• That is until now.

On June 4, 2010, it became official.

Football was back at Bluefield, ending months of speculation and culminating a nearly four-year-long feasibility study.

Bluefield College officials formally announced the return of football to the school, some 69 years after the last touchdown.

"This is a terrific day for Bluefield College," said President David Olive.

"We envision this new program broadening campus diversity, enhancing student enrollment, and providing numerous opportunities for young men throughout our region to obtain a college education while pursuing their passion for football.

“Over the past few weeks as people have speculated about our starting a football program, I have sensed a great

deal of excitement from not only the campus community, but from the surrounding community as well."

Unable to attend, but still wanting to be a part of the festivities, Bogdan, now 87 years old, shared his excitement and advice for the new generation of Ramblin' Reds.

"I think it (the return of football) is going to be a great thing for the college," he said. "It was a whole different world when we played, a whole different game. We loved to play just for the fun of the game, and I encourage the next generation of players to play for your school, for the sport, and for the love of the game."

••• Bluefield, which plans to practice at the former Pocahontas High School, hired Mike Gravier as its head coach, and the Rams have begun practice and scrimmages in what will be a club team in 2011. They will play for real in 2012, joining the Mid-South Conference.

Gravier is the answer to the question, ‘Who Will Be Bluefield College's Next Mullie Lenoir,’ part of a story on Bluefield College by Rev. David M. Armbrister.

B.E. "Mullie" Lenoir became the head coach for football at Bluefield College

Football, 13

8 Section IV Sunday, September 25, 2011

1986 Tazewell Bulldogs

Dave Litz coach of 1986 state champions

Craig Clifton

Quentin Reed

Jessee Davis

starting Bulldog LB

starting HB, leading rusher

starting Quarterback/ Free Safety

(all time yardage leader)

Donnie Mitchem

Jerry Smith

starting Bulldog DE

freshman L on team, current broadcaster

Susan (Aldridge) Boothe varsity cheerleader in 1986

Tom Williams defensive player on 86 team

Season Schedule Tazewell 35 Narrows 7 Tazewell 14 Bluefield 0 *Tazewell 33 Lebanon 0 *Tazewell 9, Richlands 6 Princeton 37 Tazewell 8 Tazewell 14 Abingdon 6 *Tazewell 26 Graham 10 Giles 24 Tazewell 12 *Tazewell 22 Grundy 16 *Tazewell 14, Virginia High 12 *Southwest District game Region IV Playoffs Tazewell 13 Virginia High 3 Tazewell 10 Radford 7 Tazewell 24 Martinsville 13 State Championship at Witten Field Tazewell High School Tazewell 16, Nottoway 7

Those explosive Bulldogs Tazewell High’s 1986 football state champion team is one for the scrapbooks

By LARRY HYPES Bluefield Daily Telegraph AZEWELL, Va. — Jeff Lamie still laughs about the joke assistant coach Tom Goforth told. Sherry (Davis) Hankins remembers how hot the sweat suits were but no cheerleader was willing to break with superstition after the late-season surge.

And the late Joe Brown Heldreth, 92 years old, tears glistening on his face, was just happy he had lived long enough (60 years) after the first season in 1926 to see it happen.

Tazewell’s 12th victory on that sunny December Saturday afternoon on the surprisingly warm turf of Witten Field, a 167 decision over previously unbeaten Nottoway, gave the Bulldogs a state championship in the Group AA, Division I showdown.

It remains the most talkedabout game in 85 seasons of Bulldog football.

“That team was exciting to watch — the offense was explosive and they dominated on defense,” recalls Larry Blankenship, who anonymously painted caricatures of players in windows all over town, and whose likeness of a spirited Bulldog proved so popular that it seemed all Tazewell fans were talking about “the unknown Bulldog artist.”

The victorious hometown fans swarmed the field in lengthening December shadows. Principal Charles Beggs, whose son, Mark, played on the squad, only smiled as the goal posts beside the field house were pulled down, saying, “Let them enjoy it — they (fans) have been so wonderful and they have certainly waited a long time for this day.”

Indeed, several of the architects of the win had not even grown up in Tazewell. Coach Dave Litz and defensive coordinator Tom Goforth were both products of the ultra-successful Bluefield High program.

Tazewell beat the Beavers 14-0 and fullback Jeff McCann recalls that decision was pivotal.

“Beating Bluefield was a very big win for us,” says McCann, who, a few weeks later, would score a key touchdown to start the second half on a 72-yard kick return against the Virginia-side Graham G-Men that helped keep Tazewell on track for a playoff berth.

“When we were able to beat the Beavers, that showed all of us that we could play with a larger school that had a very strong football program,” he recalls.

Fleet-footed Quentin Reed, who would become the school’s all-time leading ground gainer, sent a signal that Tazewell also had a solid program when he went 51 yards for a touchdown on the season’s first play, as the Bulldogs opened with a 35-7 victory over the Narrows Green Wave.

Reed would later score the final touchdown in the fourth quarter of the 14th game, an 11-yard scamper, to ice the cake on the great year.

In between, however, he would go nearly a month between an ankle injury in a

T

Contributed photo

The 1986 High School Division 1 State Football Champion trophy 24-12 loss to Giles and the title contest. Reed, an intense competitor, was sensitive not only to his injury but also recent Tazewell history.

“Yes, I was thinking about how much I wanted to play, and I was thinking, too, about how Sidney Viney, who was one of the best runners we ever had here, had been hurt the

year before in a similar fashion and that may have kept us from making a run in the playoffs,” Reed said. “So, I really wanted to get back in there and I was very glad my ankle came around when it did.”

Litz, at age 29, was in only his second season. He had replaced Mick Lusk, who guided Tazewell to two stellar sea-

sons, including a 9-1 regular season just a couple of years before when the Dogs had carried an unbeaten record into the finale only to lose a heartbreaking decision to Gate City.

“We remembered that Gate City game,” recalls Litz. “The coaches and players who had been there tried to learn from it. Nick (Colobro) always had

his teams prepared and we tried to use that good work ethic here in our own program.”

It was Colobro, in fact, who was head coach at Tazewell High School from 1980-82 who helped to lay the foundation for the state title team.

He had pulled the team from the doldrums of a 1-9 record in

’79 to the state semifinals just three years later with a sparkling 11 victories. Colobro used a series of moves, including having players wear green sport jackets on game days, that revived pride and helped fuel a winning attitude.

Litz’ team would also sport the green jackets as they battled to become masters of the gridiron.

After opening with the Narrows victory, Tazewell got past Beaver anchored on a sparkling defensive effort.

Reed caught a 46-yard scoring pass from Jessee Davis and Lamie bolted 28 yards for another score while kicking both extra points.

Davis was the rifle-armed quarterback whose quick feet gave Tazewell a dual threat behind center on every play.

Many felt, and still do, that he was the difference maker.

“You can say anything you want, but that man (Davis) made the difference,” notes Donnie “Gooch” Mitchem, who carved his own reputation as a fearsome defensive end who followed in the All-State footsteps of his brother, Steve, who went on to play at Virginia Tech.

Donnie also earned All Virginia accolades.

Mitchem says, “Jessee had the ability back there we needed. If he had been the quarterback back in those years in the mid-80s when Steve played, I guarantee you Tazewell would have had a couple of state championships before 1986.”

Mitchem inspired his teammates with an unquenchable will to win and it was the ’85 season that drove him.

“I didn’t play the season before,” Mitchem recalls. “I went to about the first three games and then I just couldn’t stand to watch any more, and not be out on that field. When the ’86 season started, I couldn’t wait to get out there — practice, scrimmages, games — it didn’t matter. I loved it all.

“I told all the guys to play hard every down and enjoy it all because I learned the year before how special a football season was. We had a chance to win and I wanted to make sure we didn’t waste it,” he says with the gleam of a hard hit still sparkling in his eyes.

A very intense group of cheerleaders and a spirited band was also instrumental in the upbeat Friday night highlights for those ’86 Bulldogs.

“Our daughter, Dia, was the drum major for the band, and we had a great rooting interest not only for the ball games but also for the pre-game and halftime shows,” recalls Larry Blankenship, an avid sport fan and booster.

In the closing month of the regular season and into the playoffs, director Jim French’s band also held on to tradition and routinely used a rousing halftime show featuring a country-style theme that just kept the winning ball rolling.

Nikki (Hess) Grepiotis says, “That championship season was my first as a cheerleader, and we had so much support that it made me feel like a celebrity on game nights with the stands completely full of

Dogs, 13

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section IV 9

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10 Section IV Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section IV PAGE 11

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12 Section IV Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section IV 13

Memories...

Left is a photo of the 1950 Athens state basketball championship team.

Right, Fred Toney 79, is remembering back to his glory days on the basketball court. Toney played for Athens High School and was a member of their first state championship team in 1950.

Contributed photos

Toney remembers 1950 Athens state basketball championship team

By JONATHAN GREENE Bluefield Daily Telegraph EGLEY — As Fred Toney sits in his chair, he can’t help but smile.

Why? Toney, 79, is remembering back to his glory days on the basketball court. Toney played for Athens High School and was a member of their first state championship team in 1950.

“We had a good team,” Toney said. “We had good guards and two good forwards. And believe it or not, I played center at 6foot-1.

“Joe Vachon was the coach and well liked in the area. Most of our of games were against the ‘A’ teams — Princeton, Bluefield, War, Greenbrier Military Academy. We played some ‘B’ schools like Montcalm I believe and Shady Spring and maybe one other. The rest of them were ‘A’ class.”

Before there was triple A, double A and single A, there was class A and B or big schools and small schools.

For Athens, they were in class ‘B’ while Princeton and

K

Dogs...

Continued from 8 fans cheering on every play.

That was a huge highlight and every young girl’s dream” Reed’s 30-yard score and another defensive gem helped Tazewell edge past Richlands 9-6 but the following week a well-prepared Princeton team took a 37-8 win and dropped the Bulldogs to a 4-1 record.

“We weren’t mentally up for the (Princeton) game,” recalls Craig Clifton. “We just didn’t perform well on either offense or defense.”

The Dogs had just 89 yards in total offense and could not get over a 22-point second quarter outburst by Princeton.

Abingdon was up next, and the highly-rated Falcons made a bid to blast past a Tazewell team that might well have been down after the big loss just a week before. With less than five minutes remaining Abingdon led by a touchdown.

“Gary Matney came in and played some great quarterback for us in that game,” recalls McCann. “Looking back, that was so important to our success that year.”

Reed and the offense came to life in the nick of time, and the senior speedster scored twice, on runs of three and four yards, with Davis running in a crucial two-point conversion to preserve the dramatic homecoming victory.

“Before that (Abingdon) game, I remember Falcon coach Larry Smith saying ‘Whoever wins tonight will win the state championship, and it turned out he was exactly right,” remembers Bulldog assistant Ernie Yost.

Football...

Continued from 7 in 1929, and while the school had enjoyed a measure of success in its sports previously, that success would be nothing like what lay ahead under Lenoir.

The new leader was an AllAmerican in football at the University of Alabama and played, with success, other sports there. He spent a brief period playing semi-pro football, but left that after deciding he wanted to coach. He spent three years coaching at Georgetown College, leading its football team to an 18-2 record, losing only to Vanderbilt and the University of Tennessee.

During his 11 years at Bluefield College, 1929-1940, the football team won 79 games, lost 18, and tied two.

The team was champion of the Southeastern Conference of Junior Colleges in four of Lenoir's first five years. In 1933, the team went undefeat-

Bluefield were in class ‘A’.

“We were just country boys coming from Lerona, Elgood and some of us walked five miles at night after practice,” Toney added. “We played in the old Concord gym which is now a parking lot. We had a good team and one of the best of the coaches this county ever had.”

While they were a small school, Athens played big. It showed in wins over Northfork, Princeton and Bluefield — the latter by 40 points.

“We went down there (Northfork) and were down about 15 points at halftime,” Toney recalled. “We were in the dressing room and I remember Joe took a piece of chalk out of his pocket. He drew out the plays for the next half on the concrete floor and we come back out and beat them.”

Athens went on playing well and as Joe said, “the ‘B’ class wasn’t anything to us. We beat Princeton and Bluefield.”

They wiped out the sectional before heading to Beckley for the regional tournament which they also captured.

In the first round, Athens took on Moorefield before moving to

the semifinals and taking out East Bank. All that was left was Kermit and “the country boys” took them out for the school’s first ever state title.

“I do cause it had never been accomplished at Athens before,” Toney said when asked if he ever looks back. “They had some good ballplayers there before. When everything was ‘A’ they got way up. Maybe to the regional tournament.”

Yet it was Toney’s team who finally broke through with a title, but he had plenty of help along the way.

“One of the best players on that team was Badger Martin,” he said. “I remember it now.

The first game in Charleston I scored 22 points, the next I scored 19, then 17. Badger outscored me in the last game.

“Most of them are gone now.

Jack Martin, Badger, Milton, a lot of those guys have passed on. We loved to play. We practiced every night. I didn’t come home. I’d get a snack and practice would be over around 8. I’d walk to where the Highway department is now. It was about 5 miles.”

Toney says it was a different

time back then. The guys really loved basketball. In fact, he would not get home sometimes until 10 o’clock after practice.

“It was something so different,” he added. “We really loved it. Your parents would go.

It seemed like to me it was a whole different atmosphere.

“We did anything to play. It seems like a different world now. People would talk about it.

You’d have sponsors in town. If you played basketball, you were on top.”

Still, Toney believes the team could not have accomplished it without their head coach Joe Vachon, who Athens gym is currently named after.

“He’d challenge you,” Toney said. “The thing that was strange we didn’t have anyone over six feet really. I was six foot, Buck Schott was six feet and Jack Martin was six feet tall. The guards were 5-11, Badger and Milton.”

Toney recalled numerous moments where one of Vachon’s tips paid from playing in front of the defender and using his hand to find the player to out smarting the 6-foot-5 center from East Bank who

said “you’re not going to get one rebound.”

Vachon also made sure his players followed the rules too.

“You weren’t allowed a lot of the things they are now,” Toney said. “If Joe caught you smoking or drinking, you’d be gone.

We had a guy our senior year at Shady Spring who was given some whiskey after the game.

He got pretty high and of course, everyone found it out.

“At the next practice, Joe came out and said you’re done.

His parents came down and tried to talk him out of it but he said ‘he knew better than to go out and get drunk. I don’t put up with that.’”

He went, “I believe as you get older you look back on life. I’ve met a lot of people. I have to say Joe Vachon is among the top five of anybody I’ve ever met.”

With a great coach and a dedicated following, Athens packed the house where ever they went whether it was Northfork, Bluefield or at Concord, Toney said “it’d be full.”

“Almost every boy around that wanted to play ball had an outside goal,” he said. “You

don’t see much of that any more. Maybe in some places. I use to shoot into a wire ring.

“Athens ate that basketball up. To go in Princeton and beat them was great. One fan told my neighbor ‘that bunch of old country boys come up here and beat us.’”

Toney and Badger were named to the All-State team — not bad for Toney who only played basketball for his final two years of high school.

“It was exciting,” Toney said with a smile. “I enjoyed it. The people in Athens were tops.

“I have to say that. Joe Vachon will always be a mentor of mine. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

He went to play at Concord, but it wasn’t the same. The coaches were different and the game didn’t have the same feel.

While Toney is one of the last members of the 1950 team still alive, he had one last quote, “Old ballplayers never die.

They just fade away.”

Even though they fade away, their memories and legacy still live on.

— Contact Jonathan Greene at jgreene@bdtonline.com

Yost is the only member of the current staff who coached during the title year.

Graham gave the Dogs a scare the next week and until McCann ran the second half kickoff back, followed by an interception returned for another touchdown by Lamie, the issue was very much in question. Lamie had two touchdowns in the big Southwest District contest.

It was another winning effort mapped out by the staff, including Litz, Goforth, Yost, Benny Tolley, Phil Grindstaff, Bill Renner, Brad Strong, and Dennis Grindstaff.

After the bruising contest with the G-Men, the Dogs brought their “B” game the following Friday and lost 24-12 to Giles in the only home loss of the year. The Spartans, who ran a single-wing attack, almost doubled Tazewell’s number of offensive plays (6435) and piled up 212 yards rushing.

“The coaches had worked hard showing us where to stay in our zones defensively but we just had a letdown that night, for some reason,” notes McCann.

The hardest hit was one that injured Reed’s ankle, forcing the star rusher out of the game. He would be out of action, generally, for much of the next month.

Tazewell played well enough to build up a 22-0 lead over Grundy before giving up a pair of touchdowns to Golden Wave star Cary Perkins in the closing moments and taking a 2216 victory to clinch the Southwest District title.

The Dogs had an uncharacteristic 135 penalty yards but used a 49-yard scoring pass

from Gary Matney to Lamie and McCann’s TD run along with a pair of clutch defensive plays — a fumble recovery by Lamie and Stephan Holloway’s punt block to take the win.

Davis remembers, “We got a lead in the fourth quarter and a lot of the regulars left the game. I decided to ask Coach Litz if we (starters) could back in and he advised me to let him coach, or something like that.

“We won, so the coach was right again,” laughed Davis.

SWD champ Tazewell finished an 8-2 regular season with a 14-12 win over Highlands District winner Virginia High (also 8-2). Clifton had a key fumble recovery to position Lamie for a 9-yard scoring run while Davis returned an interception 75 yards for another score.

McCann’s defensive stop against Virginia High quarterback Scott Jones with half a minute to play was the defensive hammer that sealed the Bearcats’ fate as the two-point conversion run failed.

McCann then raced 83 yards with a kickoff return just before haltime to spark the Bulldogs to a 13-3 Region IV, Division 4 semifinal playoff win the following win as the two teams played for the second time in eight days.

Defensively, All Stater Stephan Holloway, who recovered a crucial fumble, assisted Robert Viney with another, and the play of Mitchem and Chris McCall (two sacks) helped carry the triumph.

Unbeaten Radford arrived to battle for the regional championship. Kevin Hicks caught a dazzling 24-yard touchdown pass from Davis, and grabbed in interception on defense.

Ironically, it was Davis’ interception that set up the winning six-pointer. Lamie kicked the decisive field goal.

Viney paced a Tazewell defense that allowed just 7 yards rushing in the second half.

Lamie’s 38-yard field goal gave the Dogs an early lead, marking just the second time all season that the Bobcats (110 coming) had trailed. Gary Matney again played well in quarterback relief of Davis during the contest.

The win set up a rematch of the ’82 state semifinals against Martinsville. That game had ended in a 13-0 win for the visiting Bulldogs, who capitalized on Tazewell injuries to win.

Early on, it appeared that Martinsville might win again in a game Lamie was beginning to wonder if he might want to forget.

“Yeah, I got beat on the first play (Tony Scales-to-William Flood for 67 yards) for a touchdown and then I got beat another time on the next series. I was just too ampedup, I guess, but they didn’t get me again,” grinned Lamie.

“We got some big plays in that game from several players.”

Tazewell earned the right to host the state championship game with a hard-fought 24-13 come-from-behind win over Martinsville.

Donnie Hankins, playing his first season after joining the team in August before telling his parents he was going to play, had improved weekly and his fumble recovery on the 11yard line that set up McCann’s touchdown and put Tazewell ahead to stay.

Hicks had another interception, McCann and Robbie

Peery blocked a Martinsville extra point, and the versatile Matney caught a 22-yard scoring pass from Davis. Reed continued to play healthy and added a two-yard TD with only 2:18 left, leading all runners with 68 yards and picking two big first downs in the fourth period.

Tazewell’s defense sparkled as the hometown Bulldogs outgained Martinsville 106-14 in second half rushing yardage.

Hicks’ heroics continued to be a plus for the surging TTown team.

“Looking back, Kevin Hicks might have been our most valuable player in several of those games,” says Mitchem.

“Defensively, he was all over the place and he made some great catches. We would not have had the success we did without those plays he made, and a lot of them in pressure situations, too.”

Championship Saturday was another Indian summer afternoon with sunshine and temperatures near 60 degrees.

Although Bulldog Stadium was listed with a 5,000-seat capacity, athletic director/coach Bill Burnett estimated that more than 6,000 fans filled the seats, the hills above the gridiron, and circled the fence around Witten Field.

It remains the largest crowd to see a Tazewell sporting event.

Davis sparked an early surge, firing completions of 32 yards to Matney and 26 yards to Hicks before capping the drive with a two-yard touchdown run. Lamie drilled the extra point. Nottoway’s Cleve Pettis caught a pass from Brian Williams and then booted the extra point to tie the

score at 7-7 with just over 7 minutes left in the third quarter.

McCann’s clutch tackle helped stall a late Nottoway (12-1-1) drive before Lamie kicked a 38-yard field goal with 10:40 remaining that proved to be the winning points as Tazewell (12-2) moved in front, 10-7.

Hicks had another interception, Robert Viney made a stellar pass deflection, and it was Reed with 3:44 left scoring the insurance touchdown, just as he had opened the season with a six-pointer. The hard-running halfback, who had a 59-yard scamper in the fourth quarter, led all rushers with 126 yards.

His score paced Tazewell to a 16-7 lead, and that’s the way it ended.

The steady Clifton sealed the win with a late interception, returning the ball 59 yards to the Nottoway 11, where Reed took a handoff and the clock expired.

Litz was beaming, enjoying the moment with players, coaches and fans flooding the field.

“We had some great players, some big games,” he said.

“Tazewell had some outstanding teams in the first 59 years of football including All State and All Americans. That tells you how big this achievement was.

“We had to beat a couple of undefeated teams in the playoffs, both Radford and Nottoway, to get here.

Martinsville had been in the state finals something like four times in the last 11 years.

“I’m mighty proud of my players, my coaches, and these fans.”

How ‘Bout Em Dogs.

ed, 9-0, behind the sensational backfield star Pete Young.

Jim Dudley, who played football under Lenoir, declared that junior colleges did not want to play Bluefield, and four-year schools hesitated about putting the college on their schedules lest they lose. He added that the coach loved the game and knew it, and he loved the boys who played for him.

What was it about Coach Lenoir that brought such success to football at Bluefield College: Local sportswriter Stubby Currence described him as a "tough taskmaster" who would not tolerate laziness. He said Lenoir knew how to get football players, and that, under his guidance, these players saw a man who lived by a high moral code. His integrity could not have been questioned, nor was it. His expectations for his players were to emulate him.

Apparently the Mercer County Board of Education sought to entice Lenoir to accept the coaching job at Beaver High School on the

West Virginia side of Bluefield.

He did not accept. In fact, he turned down many other offers, as well.

Dr. J. Taylor Stinson, president of the college at the time of Lenoir's reign, spoke highly of the coach, stating "Mr. Lenoir is a fine, upstanding Christian gentleman, and I have no man on the campus who has a finer influence over the men than he."

Bluefield College was forced to abandon its football program after the 1941 season because of the loss of most male student-athletes to duty in World War II. ••• Bogdan never knew his claim to fame would be scoring the last touchdown for Bluefield College football. It's a claim he's ready to relinquish.

Bogdan came to Bluefield in the fall of 1941 on a football scholarship. After four years of stellar play for Wilbur Lynch High School in Amsterdam, N.Y., including three years as a starting quarterback and running back, Bluefield College

head coach Tony Lotito invited him to join the Ramblin' Reds.

"Coach Lotito was a great guy," said Bogdan. "He was very emotional. He would get all excited and really give it to us at halftime. You had to love him. He loved football, and he loved us, and we loved him."

Bogdan played just one season for the Ramblin' Reds, starting every game, playing the first four games with a concussion, and scoring the team's last touchdown in a win over Rio Grande College during the 1941 campaign.

It would be his last as most of the players on the BC football team were called to active duty in World War II. In fact, the war took nearly all the young men on the Bluefield campus, forcing the school to abandon its football program after the 1941 season.

"I never thought about it too much," said Bogdan about the prospect of his touchdown being the school's last, "but over time I realized, 'by golly, I scored the last touchdown for Bluefield College.'"

He'll soon lose that claim to fame and gladly, thanks to an announcement by BC officials last year that football will be returning to campus after 69 years of absence. More touchdowns will be scored for the Reds, now Rams, and Bogdan will have to be known for his many other successes.

While a student at Bluefield, in addition to football, he ran track and was a member of the Varsity Club and the Newman Club for students of the Catholic faith. He also worked in the dining hall to help pay for his tuition, room, and board.

"I enjoyed my time at Bluefield," he said. "Dr. [Edwin C.] Wade was president at the time, and he was such a nice man. Coming from New York to Virginia was quite an experience, but it was fun. It was such a friendly place."

After serving the U.S. Navy Corps for four years during World War II, Bogdan attended Albany Business College and then Siena College in New York. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics and busi-

ness administration and a master's degree in secondary education from Siena, before becoming an instructor and later a full professor at Albany.

He also coached basketball for 20 years and was the athletics director at Albany Business College, retiring from that work in 1985 to pursue another passion, golf.

In fact, he created Custom Golf in 1986 to manufacture and repair custom golf clubs.

In that endeavor he earned acceptance into the Club Makers Hall of Fame in 2008 and a Distinguished Service Award for the New England/New York Division of the Pro Golfers Association.

Now 87 years old and living in Schenectady, N.Y., Bogdan said he's excited about the prospect of relinquishing his touchdown claim to fame. He also shared a little advice to the next generation of Ramblin' Reds.

"Play the game like it's meant to be played," he urged the newcomers. "Be a good winner and a good loser, and remember it's only a game."

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14 Section IV Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section V 1

Snapshots A pictorial history of the region through the photographs of Mel Grubb

Contributed photo

Aerial shots...

People in the coal industry are familiar with Grubb’s work in underground coal mining, but most people outside the industry know him for his incredible aerial views of the region.

Mel Grubb: Capturing memories throughout region F

or more than 60 years, Mel Grubb’s photographs have enhanced the pages of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. His career has taken him from the depths of the earth to high in the sky — and on the front line of historic events across the region.

Grubb, now 86, was born at the Bluefield Sanitarium on Jan. 4, 1925, the son of Everett and Janie (Lindsey) Grubb.

His father was a railroad laborer, but also an inventor who developed a small car used in railroad maintenance projects. Everett Grubb showed his 8-year-old son, Melvin, how to develop film and process a photographic image in a makeshift darkroom he built in the bathroom of the family’s home on Princeton Avenue.

“At that young age, it was pure magic to see the photographic image develop before my own eyes,” Grubb wrote in a biographical sketch he provided the Telegraph in 1978.

“It continues to be magic with the new advancements in photography, such as electronics, chemistry, equipment and techniques.”

Grubb’s photographic interests continued as yearbook photographer in high school.

However, while the yearbook work whetted Grubb’s whistle for studio and candid photography, a photograph he took for a feature story about a Beaver High School graduate who was going to serve in World War II changed his life.

The young graduate was killed in action.

Two weeks after graduating from Beaver High School in 1943, Grubb joined the Army.

He served in the U.S. Army Artillery Battalion in the South Pacific campaign in New Guinea and Guadalcanal.

After he completed his tour of duty in the military, Grubb entered the Southwest Photo Arts Institute in Dallas, Texas on the GI Bill. After completing his studies in Texas, he returned home and landed a job as a photographer with the Daily Telegraph. In 1949, he launched a commercial photography business — Grubb Photo Service — a business that continues to provide excellence in photography under the leadership of Grubb’s long time associate David McNeil.

“I started with Mr. Grubb 34 years ago when I was still in

high school,” McNeil said.

“Basically, he taught me everything I know about my profession step-by-step.”

Throughout their long relationship, McNeil has always called Grubb, “Mr. Grubb,” in every setting. “You have respect for someone who taught you everything you know about your career.”

Of course, McNeil also learned about the whiteknuckle challenges of getting the difficult shots. “The first time I went with Mr. Grubb into a coal mine,” McNeil said. “We used the old M-2 flash bulbs then. They’re about the size of a 60-watt light bulb. We still used multiple lighting on the shots and I used to think about that a lot.

It was a different feeling from Mr. Grubb’s aerial photography.”

Grubb would eventually invent a blast-proof battery and flash unit box that was the only such equipment of its kind that was approved by the Mine Safety and Health Administration for use by photographers in underground coal mines. People in the coal industry are familiar with Grubb’s work in underground coal mining, but most people outside the industry know him for his incredible aerial views of the region. His dramatic photograph of a fog bank over East River Mountain is on display throughout the world.

Through the years, Grubb has photographed famous people including John and Bobby Kennedy, Chuck Yeager, John Nash and many more, but perhaps even more impressive is the untold tens of thousands of brides, grooms, families, class reunions, graduates, pets, flowers, mountains, trees and moments he has captured with the same professional approach he used to photograph John L. Lewis and Bob Hope.

Together with his wife, the late June Deaumer Grubb — a gifted society editor for the Bluefield Daily and SunsetNews Observer — the Grubbs truly understood and appreciated the social fabric of the community. Their children, Mark and his wife Kristie Grubb of Tehachapi, Calif., and Lindsey and her husband, Bruce Barilla of Bluefield, have that same spirit of tradition, heritage, love of family and community that their parents endowed them with.

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An aerial photo of the New River Gorge Bridge shortly after its construction.

The Ridge Runner at its early location atop East River Mountain.

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2 Section V Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section V 3

The view from above

An aerial view of Laurel Bed Lake, southwest of Richlands and Claypool Hill. Claypool Hill, left, and Thompson Valley, right, can be seen in the distance.

Aerial view of Bluestone Dam at Hinton.

Aerial view of Bluefield College.

Aerial view of the state correctional center in Pocahontas, Va.

Aerial view of downtown Bluefield, photographed in recent years.

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4 Section V Sunday, September 25, 2011

amily F wned& Operated O PUP N SUDZ

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section V 5

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6 Section V Sunday, September 25, 2011

Triumphs

Construction of Bluefield High School during the 1950s.

The early Bluefield Telephone Company, with an operator in the foreground and more in the background. The photo was taken when operators still connected calls. Grubb’s mother worked for the telephone company for a short time.

The ‘break-through’ or ‘punch-through’ of the East River Mountain Tunnel. The tunnel was cut from both the Virginia and West Virginia sides. On the night when they ‘met in the middle,’ Grubb was on hand to take the historic photo. ‘I asked the superintendent of the job how big the opening would be. He said you can walk through it,’ Grubb recalled. When the smoke cleared after the blast, Grubb walked to the site and couldn’t see the opening. ‘We were standing around and about a half an hour later, this man came crawling through ... my theory is he was determined to be the first man through.’ Grubb said an official ‘break-through’ was held later, ‘but this is the real McCoy — it happened around 11:30 at night.’

Early construction on the entry to the Virginia side of East River Mountain Tunnel.

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Early construction on the West Virginia side of East River Mountain Tunnel.

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section V 7

Tragedies

Four people were killed and 12 injured in this Sept. 13, 1963, accident on U.S. 19 near Camp Creek. The accident occurred when a truck hit an automobile on the rain-slick road, killing the driver of the vehicle. The truck then struck the bus shown above, killing three passengers and injuring 12. Grubb said he was shooting a night football game when Daily Telegraph sports icon Stubby Currence sent him away from the game and to the site of the crash.

Demolition of the Matz Hotel and Colonial Theatre in Bluefield.

A train derailment on the east yard of the Norfolk-Western Railway (now Norfolk-Southern), near the former Tender White Trucking Company.

A train derailment below Sandstone Falls, near Hinton. Grubb recalled these cars were carrying grain that was headed overseas.

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8 Section V Sunday, September 25, 2011

Nature’s wonders

An aerial, winter scene of Burke’s Garden, Va., a community that is geographically known as ‘God’s Thumbprint.’

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section V 9

Special moments

An early photograph that appeared in the Sunset News, the afternoon edition of the newspaper. ‘Editor Sid Barksdale said, “Mel, things are kinda slow, kinda dull. Let’s get an interesting picture,”’ Grubb recalled. Those in the news business know the old adage: A dog biting a man is not news, a man biting a dog is.

Of all the communities in your life, there’s one that’s here to make your business stronger.

A photograph of the B-17 Flying Fortress, taken from the air, when the bomber made a stop at the Mercer County Airport.

‘The Collins Foundation toured the country with this B-17 bomber and a B-24 bomber,’ Grubb said. ‘They were two primary bombers in World War II.’

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The West Virginia University-Virginia Tech scrimmage game at Mitchell Stadium.

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Bluefield Financial Center 211 Federal Street Bluefield, WV 304-325-7151

Business Banking products oɱered by First Community Bank.

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10 Section V Sunday, September 25, 2011

Shop Tazewell & Richlands, VA

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section V 11

Special moments

A early serving of lemonade by the Lemonade Lassies in the west end of Bluefield.

An aerial view of Yakkity Yak Playground in Bluefield shortly after its completion.

Grubb met Suzy, the dog shown here, while photographing a mine in Buchanan County, Va. ‘The fireboss would tour the mine before the workers came in to check for safety and methane gas,’ Grubb said. ‘His dog, Suzy, always went with him.’

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Dignitaries at the July 29, 1977, groundbreaking of Bluefield Community Hospital, now Bluefield Regional Medical Center.

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1 Section V Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section V 1

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14 Section V Sunday, September 25, 2011

Famous faces

Former Bluefield Mayor Edwin Elliott with Bob Hope and Barbi Benton.

Jackie and John F. Kennedy at a 1960 campaign event at Glenwod Park.

Bobby Kennedy campaigning at the Mercer County Courthouse in Princeton.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd speaking at a local event.

American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers and his wife shortly after his release from a Russian prison. (Photographed by Vernon Fields for Grubb Photo Service).

UMWA President John L. Lewis at negotiations between coal operators and the union at the ballroom of the West Virginia Hotel, now West Virginia Manor.

John F. Kennedy campaigning at Bluefield State College.

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Igor Sikorsky, inventor of the helicopter, at the dedication of the Mercer County Airport.

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section V 15

Natural beauty

Fog rolling in over East River Mountain.

A farm scene in Bland County, Va.

A farm in Burkeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Garden, Va.

Waterfalls at Camp Creek State Park.

An aerial view of a winter sunset in Tazewell County, Va.

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16 Section V Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section VI 1

Movin’ on A look at current and future projects and initiatives across the region

Staff photo by Jon Bolt

In Princeton...

Above is one of two new Sheetz convenience stations in Princeton.

‘We’ve been very fortunate’ Despite a shaky national economy, business continues to grow across region

By CHARLES OWENS Bluefield Daily Telegraph RINCETON — Despite a still troubled national economy, signs of growth can be seen across the region.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” Robert Farley, executive director of the Princeton-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce, said. “We keep growing, and things continue to be built.”

In fact, a lot of growth has been reported in the past couple of months for the greater Princeton area. This includes two new Sheetz convenience stations, a new Burke’s Outlet that is moving into the old Goody’s at the East River Shopping Center, the National Business College campus, a new Bellacinos on Stafford Drive in Princeton, a new Microtel Inn and Suites, a new Country Inn and Suites, a new Kidd’s Tire, a newly remodeled Hardee’s and the new Med Express.

While the Princeton area has seen a lot of growth this year, there are still other areas to be developed. Farley said the old Movie Gallery site is still empty at the East River Shopping Center, and additional sites for prospective businesses are still available at the old Kmart lot in Princeton.

“In my opinion, and in another big thing for our infrastructure, we got approval to take the water line all the way down from Wal-Mart to Oakvale,” Farley said of the new $11.5 million Oakvale Road Public Service District Project. “It will open up that segment of Route 460 from Interstate 77 down to Glen Lyn. It will open up that

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area for new residential and commercial growth. All they were looking for is water. When you get infrastructure in place, then everything else falls in place. So that is going to be a big help.”

However, a still sluggish national economy, and high gas prices, are beginning to take a toll on the region as a whole, according to Farley.

“I will say as far as the economy, and some of the things the chamber has done this year, it looks like people are not spending money as freely as they have in the past,” he said. “In another words, they are taking a closer look at where their dollar goes. For example, our Shrimpfest was down this year.

And that was when gas prices were sky high. I think people think about things like that. But I think the state of West Virginia is a lot better off than most of the states. We’ve been very fortunate with the severance tax on coal. After we get through this year, I think everything will start to look better — hopefully.”

In the city limits of Princeton, growth hasn’t been suppressed by the national economy, according to City Manager Wayne Shumate.

“The growth in the city of Princeton has been stable,” Shumate said. “Our businesses and citizens continue to invest in the city. I think they see value in the city of Princeton, and in the vision the City Council has. I see continued growth in the city of Princeton.

Our City Council has established policies that promote investments in our community, and I think the future looks

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positive.”

Shumate said additional developments are still planned near the Sheetz just outside of the city limits.

“There is going to be a new traffic light there,” Shumate said of the Sheetz near Hunnicutt Stadium. “Our understanding is there will be some other outparcels developed there.”

Shumate said traffic, and commerce, on Mercer Street in the heart of downtown Princeton also remains strong.

“Mercer Street has remained steady,” Shumate said. “There has been some movement. A small business has moved out, another has moved in. Traffic has remained steady.”

Shumate said the city itself still has room to grow without expanding its municipal boundaries.

“There are properties inside of the city limits that could be developed,” Shumate said. “On Rogers Street, on South Wickham and as we’ve seen on Thorn Street and South Walker, properties have been developed and repurposed. As far as residential housing, the code enforcement department has removed a number of dilapidated structures. So we do have room to grow inside of the city limits. And growth outside of the city limits is a positive as well because it promotes growth inside.”

During the 12 month period between June of last year and July of this year, the city of Princeton issued 568 building permits, according to city Code Enforcement Director Bill Buzzo Jr. “We’ve had 568 building per-

mits issued at a cost of $7,123,539,” Buzzo said. “That represents everything from new building additions, renovations, electrical, plumbing, etc.

We also like to include our demolition as part of the progress because it clears out our old and dilapidated buildings. We had 33 demolitions during the fiscal year. We are working on four (more) right now.”

Buzzo said the new developments have included the addition of Harvey’s Auto Parts; an expansion of Auto Zone; the opening of the Jaripeo Mexican Restaurant; the remodeling of Hardee’s; the development of a new building by Southern Highlands; the addition of Bellacinos; an expansion of Trophies and Moore; the addition of Curves and Sarah’s at the old Western Sizzlin site; sidewalk replacements on Mercer Street; and renovations to city hall, including new doors and window.

The greater Bluefield area also has seen growth with additional promising projects on the horizon, according to Marc Meachum, president and chief operating officer of the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce.

“It is interesting that just in the past month or last six weeks there seems to be some renewed activities by companies at least looking at this area,” Meachum said. “You never know when they call here or at the development authority if they are serious or if they are just looking for information to compare to other areas. But we’ve noticed a little uptick in those calls. It’s inter-

esting that as recently as 10 years ago there wasn’t that much information out there as there is now about areas on the Internet. Now there is so much information that developers or businesses don’t necessarily have to come to an area to look at it, and sometimes they don’t have to call to get that information. They can get it all readily on the Internet.”

However, prospective businesses are still calling the chamber, and are still asking about the Bluefield area.

“Two companies in particular have called in the last month, and have interesting products,” Meachum said. “We get more of those (small manufacturing companies) calls than we do retail calls. Many of the times the retailers are already dealing with the mall and the shopping centers in the area. You talk to them and provide them information and stay in touch with them. It’s like fishing.

You’ve got to cast a lot of lines before you get a bite. There are some exciting things happening I understand with the Bluestone project in Tazewell County. I know for a fact they have just started marketing their sites. The have them ready and are going to run advertisements across the eastern part of the country, if not the whole county.”

Meachum said the technology park could help to diversify the region’s job market.

“That’s what we need here — the service sector jobs we’ve been relying upon and what has been our growth over the past few years are terrific and employs a lot of people, but what we would like to see is

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perhaps some higher paying jobs that you get from the manufacturing sector,” Meachum said. “Manufacturing, distribution and all of that. I also think this is a very positive the city of Bluefield is doing with the potential relocation of its transportation system (the Bluefield Area Transit). I think that is an opportunity to open up that (the John Nash Boulevard) area.”

Meachum said future growth is critical to both the city of Bluefield and the town of Bluefield, Va. “And the chamber works in conjunction with both county economic development offices,” he said. “A worker doesn’t care where they live and work. They can live in Tazewell County and work here in Mercer County.”

Meachum said new developments in Bluefield, Va. such as the Burkes Outlet and Taco Bell, both at the Ridgeview Shopping Center, are welcomed.

“Businesses come and go, and sometimes it has to do with the overall economy and sometimes it is the particular market niche a business is in that may not be the most popular at the time,” Meachum said.

“So it’s not unusual to see some vacancies. But then again there appears to be renewed interest both from the manufacturing and service-sector side. “ Meachum said officials would still love to see the Leatherwood property at the state line of Virginia and West Virginia developed. A large shopping center and residential project originally planned

Business, 9

2 Section VI Sunday, September 25, 2011

Mass transit in Bluefield

Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

Downtown...

The Colonial Intermodal Project is designed to combine the city’s long railroad history, the Bluefield Area Transit system, and elements of a civic center into one location across Princeton Avenue from the Norfolk and Southern railroad.

Colonial Intermodal Project combines transportation with area’s rich railroad history done similar projects based on transportation and had seen a lot of private-public economic development in the area as a LUEFIELD — Transporresult,” Whalen said. “We had tation has long been at the land where the Matz Hotel the core of Bluefield, had been previously that we and now city leaders are workwould build on and the city ing to bring to reality a project owned land around that area, that would not including the only provide parking garage mass transit to As transportation on Princeton citizens but Avenue. It helped to build the highlight the became the area’s railway city of Bluefield, footprint for history. the project, Whalen said the cenThe Colonial we now Intermodal ter is also designed to and had a suitable Project is location for the pay tribute to designed to Intermodal combine the Bluefield’s railroad project.” city’s long railWith an idea past. Bluefield was road history, in hand, the the Bluefield designated as the city Area Transit approached headquarters for system, and U.S. Rep. Nick elements of a Norfolk and Western Rahall, Dcivic center W.Va., for fundPocahontas Coal into one location across Company in 1887 due ing.

“Rahall’s Princeton office provided to the natural gravity Avenue from us with the the Norfolk and of the city’s railroad money for the Southern railarchitecture and soon became a road. and engineerAccording to hub for not only the ing study while Bluefield the city funded transportation of coal Mayor Linda the initial planWhalen, the but passenger rail as ning of the cenvision for the ter,” Whalen well until the 1950s.

Colonial said. “We are Intermodal now working to Center began complete the in 2007 when a engineering and architecture group of local citizens got portion of the project.” together to come up with ways Various forms of transportato promote economic develoption are part of the main focus ment in the area. of the project, Whalen said.

“The idea probably started Housing the Bluefield Area about three-and-a-half to four Transit system as well as years ago when a group of citiother business is a feature zens — John Shott, Norris included in the project’s Kantor, Oraetta Hubbard, then City Manager Mark Henne and design.

“The design of the facility myself — were discussing ecowould be centered around nomic development opportuniBluefield’s railroad history,” ties for downtown,” Whalen Whalen said. “We in Bluefield said. “We then met with U.S. truly have transportation Sen. (Jay) Rockefeller to disneeds. We have a very vibrant cuss grant opportunities for a transit system and this would project. After that, U.S. Rep. give the Bluefield Area Transit Rahall’s office contacted us, system a location downtown. It saying they wanted to help us would also provide a downout with a project. They asked town location for the for us to come up with a speGreyhound bus system in cific project idea for them to Bluefield.” help fund.”

Whalen said the center also Whalen said the idea for a has the potential to link up transit center came after city officials saw several successful with local airline hubs as well as connect with any possible transportation projects in future passenger rail if it is other cities in West Virginia.

“Huntington and Beckley had offered on the Norfolk and

By KATE COIL Bluefield Daily Telegraph

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Southern line that runs directly across from the center’s location.

“People in Bluefield don’t have transportation to an airport,” Whalen said. “If you don’t have a car, it’s hard to get to Bluefield from any of the local airline hubs. Those who travel by air have to drive to get here, which makes it difficult for them to come in. We also want to work out some sort of transit system that will bring people to and from local airports and maybe even connect the center to passenger rail.”

As transportation helped to build the city of Bluefield, Whalen said the center is also designed to pay tribute to Bluefield’s railroad past.

Bluefield was designated as the headquarters for Norfolk and Western Pocahontas Coal Company in 1887 due to the natural gravity of the city’s railroad and soon became a hub for not only the transportation of coal but passenger rail as well until the 1950s.

Whalen said there are many plans to incorporate the rail industry into the center.

“The railroad and the coal industry made Bluefield and much of Bluefield’s downtown business district relied on the railroad,” she said. “We have some people who have expressed interest in having a railroad overlook in the center as well as a museum that includes items from the local railroad as well as exhibits of history of Bluefield. We have a lot of opportunities for tourism we aren’t using and this could present a lot of tourism possibilities for downtown.”

Other historic aspects of downtown Bluefield around the Intermodal Center will also be included.

“The design company heading up the project did include the Warlick building into their models because they saw the historic potential of the building,” Whalen said. “We have a lot of history here in Bluefield and the Warlick building lends itself to showcasing that history.”

Another goal of the proposed design for the center is to feature a setting that will bring people in and create a downtown gathering place.

“When you see the design of the center and the buildings

around it, you want it to draw people in,” Whalen said. “We expect this to be a very modern, very aesthetically pleasing facility. We want people to come in there and gather, to want to go there to see friends and neighbors as well as shop.”

Boosting economic development within the city of Bluefield and especially in the downtown area is another major focus of the project.

Bringing in new businesses as well as building new downtown business locations have been incorporated into the project’s

plans.

“We wanted an area for new structures and new businesses that would be in the downtown area,” Whalen said. “We thought that might then stimulate other businesses to come and settle into some of the

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section VI 3

Transit...

Continued from 2 older business properties already downtown.”

Whalen said the Intermodal Center will be designed to accommodate any and all types of businesses interesting in locating to downtown Bluefield.

“We are looking at putting in newer structures in the center and are reaching out for any and all business opportunities,” she said. “We feel that once we get one or two new businesses established in the area, it will spur more to move there. The sky is really the limit. We have looked at models containing the possibility for hotels, restaurants, little shops and even a movie theater within the center. People have also suggested places like senior and community centers for the area. There are tons of opportunities for businesses to open up in Bluefield.”

According to Whalen, city officials hope that bringing in one new business to the downtown area will spawn further

economic development to begin in nearby shops and buildings.

“Our vision is that we will have that first piece of development to draw business into downtown,” Whalen said.

“That first piece of development can create a domino effect that would open the doors to revitalization in downtown Bluefield.”

For now, city officials are working with the development firm Parsons Brinckerhoff as well as state and federal legislators to secure funds and plans necessary to bring the Colonial Intermodal Center from a plan into a reality. A master plan released on the project in April 2011 indicated the city was hoping to start on the project by 2013, but funding and the result of studies on the proposed site must be completed before construction can begin.

By the end of 2011, Whalen said the city hopes to have the results of the architectural and engineering study, which will highlight building, infrastructure and development potential for the Colonial Intermodal site.

“We are currently working to complete the architectural and engineering study on the property and submit it to the federal government for final approval,” Whalen said. “They are doing architectural work to determine what the area could look like and its potential as well as testing the ground for building. They are working on infrastructure for the center.

We should be ready to build when they have finished this process, which could be finished two to three months from now or earlier. We have our fingers crossed that they will have the results on the study in by the end of this year.”

The city is also looking to a hire a new economic development director to seek out more opportunities for development at the Colonial Intermodal Center and citywide.

“The new economic development director we are hiring for the city would also help spearhead development where the Colonial Intermodal is concerned,” Whalen said. “They would be the key person for that project in the city. One of the major jobs of an economic

development director would be helping us brand Bluefield and marketing not only the intermodal project but all of Bluefield. We will not only be marketing ideas but specifics available in the city, including this project.”

Securing funding for the project is another step city officials are taking. Whalen said funding is needed in order to move the project from a plan on paper into an actual, solid structure. Currently, Whalen said they are awaiting news on several federal funding opportunities the city has applied for concerning the project.

“We are currently in a holding pattern as far as money, and a lot of our federal funding is entirely dependent on what comes out of the federal budget this year,” she said. “We aren’t relying on a single grant but we have been applying for any and all grants as they become available to us.”

In addition to seeking federal funding, Whalen said city officials are working closely with both design firm Parsons Brinckerhoff and the West Virginia congressional delegation.

Shop

“We are now working very closely with Rahall’s staff to get funding through the Department of Transportation and other grants we can use for this project,” Whalen said.

“Parsons Brinckerhoff, the firm we have been working with on much of the project, is also very involved with securing grant money for the center.

They have staff in Washington, D.C. who specialize in working to find available grant money for projects like this.”

As things stand, Whalen said money is the major barrier preventing the city from moving forward with building.

However, Whalen said the city will be able to move forward on developing the project as soon as funds are received.

“If and when money becomes available, we are ready to continue on with building,” Whalen said. “This is a very turn-key project and we are reading to continue moving forward with it. We are currently asking for $13 million from the Federal Transportation Commission, which would be enough to open the door for private investment and create a foot-

print for the project.”

When the project is completed, Whalen said she hopes the center will change attitudes about downtown Bluefield, making it a more viable place for citizens to gather and shop.

“We want this to change the thought patterns about downtown Bluefield,” she said.

“People would think of it as a vibrant place to do business.

We just need to get that start and we are going to search for every opportunity we have.”

Most of all, Whalen said the center will provide opportunities for the revitalization of Bluefield.

“We think this is a huge opportunity for Bluefield,” she said. “Initially, it will hinge on funding but the groundwork has already been laid. We feel that this is a great opportunity for the future economic development of Bluefield.”

— Contact Kate Coil at kcoil@bdtonline.com

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4 SECTION VI Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section VI 5

File photo

In 2009...

Work is underway on the King Coal Highway bridge in this April 2009 file photo.

The roads to prosperity Local highway projects continue to move along at sluggish rates

By CHARLES OWENS Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — Although construction on both projects started with great fanfare more than a decade ago, work on the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway continues today at a sluggish pace.

The fight to build the two future four-lane corridors has been complicated in recent months by the push by lawmakers in Washington to cut billions in federal spending. However, supporters of the southern West Virginia corridors argue that modern highways are a necessity if economic development is to occur.

“The progress has been slow,” King Coal Highway Authority Executive Director Mike Mitchem. “I’m hoping once we get a new transportation bill, it will speed it up. But really it took them 30 years to build Corridor G. So it takes a while with federal funding to build highways. It is going to take a while. But we do have a good congressional delegation in Washington. I think that is going to help. We hated losing Sen. Byrd, but in the 2005 highway bill, Congressman (Nick Joe) Rahall got us quite a lot of money. So he has taken up a lot of the slack.”

Although the King Coal Highway doesn’t currently extend through the municipal limits of Bluefield, the city will nevertheless benefit from the future four-lane corridor, according to Mayor Linda Whalen.

“Yes, the transportation money has really tightened up, but certainly when we have a good highway around us and close to us, our region is helped,” Whalen said. “And I think that is the way we have to look at each project. What fits us and not just our individual town or city best. Every improvement we get helps us as a region. And certainly with having a new highway close by eventually the economic benefits will track down to the region as a whole.”

Legislation creating the King Coal Highway Authority was created by the state Legislature in 1999. Construction on the first segment of the local

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❏❏❏ Legislation creating the King Coal Highway Authority was created by the state Legislature in 1999. Construction on the first segment of the local Interstate 73/74/75 corridor began near Bluefield in 2001 with the development of the K.A. Ammar Interchange. The work was completed in 2003. A few years later, a $16 million contract was awarded for the construction of the new twin interstate bridges that were erected high above Stoney Ridge.

Interstate 73/74/75 corridor began near Bluefield in 2001 with the development of the K.A. Ammar Interchange. The work was completed in 2003. A few years later, a $16 million contract was awarded for the construction of the new twin interstate bridges that were erected high above Stoney Ridge. The work on the Christine West Interchange/Bridge project was completed in 2009.

Although a decade has passed since ground was first broken on the future interstate corridor in Bluefield, only a mile and a half of the highway has been completed to date in Mercer County. Another 12 miles of the road as been finished in Mingo County. A seven mile stretch of the Tolsia segment also has been constructed.

“The Mercer County K.A. Ammar Interchange was the first section,” Mitchem said.

“The Tolsia section also is something they had worked on, but it’s all part of the national I73/74/75 Corridor Association.”

During a visit to Washington earlier this year, members of the King Coal Highway Authority asked Rahall, D-W.Va., U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore-Capito, R-W.Va., U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., for more than $245 million in federal funds to help develop usable segments of the future four-lane corridor in Mercer, McDowell, Mingo and Wayne counties.

The group specifically requested $66.9 million to construct a 2.39-mile section of the King Coal Highway in Mercer County that would extend from the existing twin interstate bridges above Stoney Ridge to Route 123, near the Mercer County Airport and the site of the future Nelson Walker Interchange. This would in return create a usable segment

of the King Coal Highway in Mercer County.

The group also is seeking $20 million in federal funds for the construction of the interchange of the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway at the Indian Ridge Industrial Park in Welch. The longplanned interchange would be located near the new federal prison in Welch. The local delegation also requested $140 million for the construction of a 5.3mile section of the King Coal Highway from Mary Taylor Mountain to Buffalo Mountain.

The group is also requesting $18 million for the construction of the Sharon Heights Connector near Gilbert.

Mitchem said the authority also is seeking permission from the state Division of Highways to use left highway discretionary funds on the King Coal Highway, including a mountain cut at Stoney Ridge near Bluefield. The authority also is hoping to tap into funds that were not used on the U.S. Route 35 projects When completed at some point in the future, the King Coal Highway will travel 95 miles through Mingo, Wayne, Wyoming, McDowell and Mercer counties with the Tolsia segment from Williamson to Huntington extending another 55 miles. It will interchange with the Coalfields Expressway in Welch near the Indian Ridge Industrial Park. The King Coal and Tolsia Highways represent the West Virginia corridors of the national Interstate 73/74/75 corridor.

The fight to build the Coalfields Expressway dates back to 1989.

“The legislation was introduced in the Legislature by Rick Staton and me in 1989,” Sen. Richard Browning, DWyoming, said of the long history of the 65-mile four lane corri-

dor that will extend through Raleigh, Wyoming and McDowell counties. “We began construction on the highway in 2000, which is pretty much a record time from when you introduce something and start doing it.”

The groundbreaking for the project was held at Mount View High School in Welch. At the time, a host of dignitaries gathered for the historic event, including the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd and the late Gov. Cecil Underwood. A nonpaved 1.5 mile segment of the expressway was completed a year later at the Indian Ridge Industrial Park in Welch.

Today, more than a decade later, only five paved miles of the road has been constructed, and the only usable segment of the road to date is located in Raleigh County.

“We have a long way to go,” Browning said. “We’ve got five miles paved, then we have another five or six miles at grade. We’ve got another 20 miles designed.”

As the wait for a new federal highway bill continues, Browning said supporters of the Coalfields Expressway are also hoping to tap into used state discretionary funds, along with dollars that were not used on the Route 35 project.

Browning has written a letter to state Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox seeking permission to use the funding on the Coalfields Expressway.

“The thing about this money is it has to be used on a project that can be (done) right now,” Browning said. “You can’t just do a landing strip somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. I understand we are one of the roads being considered for it.”

When completed the Coalfields Expressway will extend 65 miles in West Virginia through McDowell, Wyoming

and Raleigh counties. The expressway — also known as U.S. Route 121 in Virginia — will extend another 51 miles in Southwest Virginia through Pound, Dickenson and Buchanan counties.

The Virginia segment of the Coalfields Expressway received a big funding boost in early June with the approval of the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s new six-year highway improvement plan.

Construction also was completed in mid-July on the first section of the rough-grade road bed for the Hawks Nest segment of the Coalfields Expressway, also known as Route 121, in Buchanan County.

Representatives of the Virginia Department of Transportation, Alpha Natural Resources and other local officials were on hand for the ceremony.

Alpha Natural Resources constructed the non-paved road bed at a cost of $10 million, a savings to VDOT of more than $90 million by coordinating the road bed development on mountainous terrain as part of an active surface mining operation.

VDOT signed an agreement with Alpha Natural Resources in the fall of 2008 for the design and construction of the rough grade road bed for the Hawks Nest portion of the future fourlane corridor.

Construction could soon be underway on another two segments of the expressway in Virginia.

In the 12-county Bristol transportation district, VDOT’s sixyear highway improvement plan provided funding to accelerate several projects, including a $81.5 million award to fund the construction of the Doe Branch section of the Coalfields Expressway in Buchanan County.

The transportation board also awarded $35.6 million for construction of the expressway from Bull Gap to Harmon Junction, and $3.1 for new construction of railway bridges between the West Virginia state line to Route 23. Another $75.5 million also was awarded for the Rockhouse section of the expressway, according to earlier reports by VDOT spokeswoman Michelle Earl.

The Doe Branch section ties

into the Route 460 Connector Phase II and Hawks Nest segment in Buchanan County and travels west to Route 80 in the Haysi area of Dickenson County for about 4.8 miles. The cost estimate for the project is $81.5 million, including preliminary engineering and construction.

The Pound Connector will extend another 6.8 miles in length and begins at Route 23 in the Pound area of Wise County and extends into Dickenson County where it will connect to Route 83 via a connector road, according to VDOT. The cost estimate for the third segment is approximately $140 million, and includes preliminary engineering and construction.

Construction on the Route 460-Connector Phase 1 Project also began earlier this year in Buchanan County. The Route 460 Connector Phase I includes design and construction of twin high-level 250-foot-high bridges.

When completed, the twin bridges will be the tallest in Virginia. Phase II of the Route 460 Connector will tie into the Coalfields Expressway at Hawks Nest. VDOT is currently reviewing an unsolicited coal synergy proposal for phase II of the connector.

Supporters of the Shawnee Parkway in southern West Virginia also are continuing to fight for state and federal funds.

Unlike the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway, the Shawnee Parkway isn’t a four-lane corridor. It is instead envisioned as a two-lane scenic corridor. The parkway is proposed to extend through Raleigh, Mercer and McDowell counties.

Construction on the first 1.22 miles of the Shawnee Parkway in the Ghent community , near the border of Raleigh and Mercer counties, was completed in 2008. The next phase of the project — when it is funded — would bring the scenic twolane corridor to the Mercer County border.

The road is proposed to extend a total length of 22 miles through Ghent in Raleigh County to the mountaintop ridges of Mercer County before it ultimately connects with the King Coal Highway near Crumpler in McDowell County.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

6 Section VI Sunday, September 25, 2011

Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

Prosperity...

The community of Claypool Hill , left, continues to see economic growth. Right, numerous stores call the Claypool Hill Mall home including the Belk store.

SW.Va. communities continue growth

By CHARLES OWENS Bluefield Daily Telegraph ICHLANDS, Va. — Motorists traveling along U.S. Route 19-460 into the Claypool Hill and greater Richlands corridor probably have noticed an upturn in commercial growth in recent months.

However, the news isn’t surprising to area leaders, who are working to facilitate everything from a mega greenhouse proposal that could create upwards of 330 new jobs to a number of new small business storefronts in the downtown. In fact, in the last year alone, the Claypool Hill, Richlands and Cedar Bluff communities have welcomed a number of new businesses — both big and small.

“It is just hard to keep up with everything that is happening,” Richlands Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ginger Branton said. “It may not look like there is a lot of progress happening in the downtown area, or the greater Richlands area, but there really is New businesses are springing up all over the county. We are very fortunate that they have chosen the greater Richlands area.”

A number of new developments are underway in the area, including the recent

R

expansion of Advance Auto at Claypool Hill.

“Right now they are in Richlands so they are adding an additional site,” Branton said. “We are pleased that they see the value of keeping an Advance Auto in Richlands, and they are adding an additional facility at Claypool Hill.”

Branton said the new Advance Auto will join several new businesses that have located at the site of the former Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, including a Hibbett Sports, Dollar Tree, Tractor Supply and Gamestop. The new Advance Auto store opened at Claypool Hill on July 21.

Branton said Belk also is expanding at the Claypool Hill Mall, and will open a second anchor store at the former Goody’s site.

“They have expanded and they are splitting their store so that they will have more space,” Branton said. “They will pull in more merchandise and give citizens more of an opportunity to shop locally. This is very good news for the Claypool Hill Mall, and the kind of thing we want to see happen.”

In the town of Richlands, Branton said Salon Nouvea is moving toward a fitness center concept, and James River Equipment, also a new addition to the town, has located next to

Salon Nouvea.

Branton said the Big Lots in Richlands also has expanded to include furniture and other new merchandise. Also in the downtown, the opening of the new Rexall Town Center has helped to bring additional traffic into the main business district. In addition, Branton said Kim’s Florist, a business that was damaged by fire, will reopen.

Branton said One Main Financial also recently acquired the former Citi Financial in the downtown.

“So that allows another thriving business to stay intact in our downtown,” she said. “If we could just maintain what we have and progress with the activities we have and are making in the downtown area to help people who want to be in business — that is what it’s all about.”

Branton said a new company also recently purchased the old ceramic shop in the downtown, and should be opening soon.

County officials also announced plans earlier this summer for a proposed “mega greenhouse project” that could create upwards of 330 jobs.

Branton said the proposal holds great potential for the western and northwestern ends of Tazewell County.

“It is just like everything else — it takes a little time for things to come to fruition,” she

said. “I think you have to be careful and weigh your pros and cons with it. But during these tough economic times, I think you have to pursue every avenue you can for the betterment of the county.”

The project as currently proposed would involve the use of natural gas electric generation facilities using the emissions from natural gas to heat and cool a 100-acre controlled environment greenhouse facility that in return would produce energy for the regional grid as well as fresh produce to be sold in the region.

The development would be the first of its kind in the United States although such mega greenhouses are apparently common in Europe. The jobs proposed for the development would be at the greenhouse with other jobs at the proposed generation facilities. Sites are being considered in both Tazewell and Buchanan counties for the project, including the power-generation facilities.

The greenhouse itself is envisioned for somewhere in the Richlands or Claypool Hill areas.

In terms of new recreational

opportunities, a long-planned teen center also recently opened for the town.

“Richlands is focused on recreation,” Branton said. “We have everything and we are very proud of it. We just put in two basketball courts at Critterville, and we are looking at expanding our recreational needs.”

While much attention in Tazewell County is often placed on the Bluestone Regional Business and Technology Park project in Bluefield, Va., Branton said recent and continuing growth in the greater Richlands area shouldn’t be overlooked. She points to a recent Virginia Department of Transportation study that found more than 18,000 vehicles pass through the downtown area thanks to the adjoining U.S. Route 460 corridor.

“What we have to do is have enough attractiveness to get them to stop and have enough stores where there are destination places,” she said.

Another big plus for the town is the fact that Virginia’s official Coal Miners Memorial is located in Richlands. That provides a key tourist attraction for

motorists traveling into the town through the four-lane corridor, according to Branton.

“Actually, I just had a gentleman to call me from Florida the other day,” Branton said. “His grandfather was a coal miner up in Jewell Ridge, and his kids — I think he said they were 13, 18 and 21 — he is realizing they are getting to the age where they won’t be doing a lot of the family-orientated trips. So the kids started talking about where their family came from.”

Branton said the family decided to travel to Richlands and Jewell Ridge for the Fourth of July holiday.

“I told him I would hold our (miner’s) memorial up to any others in the country,” Branton said. “And I said if you have coal mining roots, you definitely want to go to the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine. I said it all boils down to what these coal miners do for this nation. Then I said the Historic Crab Orchard Museum because that is the lifestyle our founding fathers originated from. I said we have it all here in Tazewell County.”

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

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File photo

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In addition to the Coal Miners’ Memorial in Richlands being a touching tribute for coal miners who lost their live on the job, the monument is also a testimony to the sacrifices made every day to keep the lights on.

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section VI 7

Grundy grows and grows From a new Walmart to an outdoor water park, small community prospering

By CHARLES OWENS Bluefield Daily Telegraph RUNDY, Va. — From a triple-decker Walmart rising from the banks of the Levisa River to a new outdoor water park, new economic development continues to take root in rural Buchanan County.

In fact, millions in additional grant and loan funding has been funneled into the Grundy area in the last year, allowing for the development of projects as diverse as a proposed optometry school to a more traditional in-bound call center now employing more than 300.

Most of these new developments were made possible as a result of a 15-year old, $104 million federal flood-proofing initiative that involved the relocation of the town of Grundy from a flood-prone river and the construction of a new redevelopment site safely outside of the flood zone.

In recent months, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority has approved nearly $10 million in grant and loan funds for projects in Buchanan County.

“We have seen good growth and continued growth there in Grundy and Buchanan County and the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority has been pleased to be able to participate in some of that development — most notably in recent months the $5.6 million we approved for the Appalachian College of Optometry project that will be developed at the Buchanan Industrial Park at Slate Creek,” VCEDA Executive Director Jonathan Belcher said. “That will employ 66 direct jobs. We also participated in funding on the town of Grundy’s redevelopment project, particularly the parking facility that will serve as the base of Walmart. It was $2 million for the parking facility that serves as the base for the Wal-Mart project, and then we also approved $1.5 million in funding for the redevelopment site itself.”

The new Walmart opened Sept. 14. A new Super Dollar grocery store also has already opened, according to an earlier Associated Press report.

Belcher said VCEDA also agreed to convert a $900,000 loan for the Grundy Plaza, a debt which had been “in the books for some time” into a grant to further assist with the ongoing downtown redevelopment project.

“We also approved a lot of funding in the last year or two for the Southern Gap Industrial Park, which is the mixed-use development project in Buchanan County that is underway,” Belcher said. “On May 25, we approved an additional $1 million to a roughly $5 million grant for an additional phase development at the Southern Gap Industrial Park that will allow them to put in some necessary road and infrastructure. Already with Sykes Enterprises up there you already have several hundred people employed — I know in excess of 300 people are employed. They are a inbound call center. They are doing well.”

VCEDA also awarded a $1 million grant earlier this sum-

G

Contributed photo by Lance Ratliff

Downtown revitalization...

The new Walmart supercenter in downtown Grundy will open for business this month. mer for the development of a large-scale water park proposed for the Breaks Interstate Park. VCEDA awarded $500,000 to Buchanan County and $500,000 to Dickenson County to help with the construction of the water park.

Faced with the decision of whether or not to renovate an antiquated swimming pool originally constructed in 1969, officials decided to take the idea a step further. A water park capable of attracting large numbers of tourists to the region was proposed.

The project will be more than a traditional lap pool, according to earlier reports by Matt O’Quinn, superintendent of the Breaks Interstate Park. Park officials are instead planning an attraction that will take in splash pads, lazy rivers and

water slides for both the young and old.

“We are trying to add that thrill factor to our pool,” O’Quinn said earlier this summer. “We had about 30,000 visitors to the park last year with 10,000 to our pool alone. We are hoping this will attract even more people. Everyone in this area is excited about this.

There is nothing like this in the area. It is an amenity no one in this area gets to enjoy.

The region lacks not only the thrill ride aspect but decent aquatic facilities for our children to learn to swim. This will be a clean, safe place for people to swim, as well as provide a place for families to have fun and be entertained.”

The closest water parks to the Breaks Interstate Park are more than a 100 miles away in Tennessee and Kentucky.

“There is not any such facility anywhere within the radius of the Breaks Interstate Park,” Belcher said. “So it will be the only one of its kind in the region. They are hoping to

have it open for the (summer of) 2012.”

The new Appalachian College of Optometry is expected to be open in August of 2013. It will become the

third institution of higher learning to be developed in the Grundy area. Both the Appalachian School of Law

Grundy, 11

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8 Section VI Sunday, September 25, 2011

McDowell on the trail to growth ELCH — When the first inmates were marched into the new Federal Correctional Institution in McDowell County last fall, an economic development project years in the making for McDowell County officials was finally a reality.

Today, less than a year later, inmates are still arriving at the facility, and the federal prison is still hiring additional correctional officers and nurses. The prison itself is the centerpiece of the Indian Ridge Industrial Park.

“It’s still not at full capacity yet,” Peni Adams, the county’s economic development authority executive director, said.

“They were at three-quarters capacity at our last meeting, and still in need of some employees, including correctional officers and nurses. That is the normal progression. They take in inmates pretty much all of the time.”

Adams said officials hope the federal prison will serve as the catalyst for additional economic development and growth at the industrial park. Already, planning is underway for phases two and three of the industrial park, which is located near the mountainous border of McDowell and Wyoming counties.

“It did get water, and sewer and electricity to the industrial park,” Adams said of the federal prison. “But we still have to expand it out to other areas.

Hopefully that will happen within the next 12 months. We do have some parties interested in a couple of areas at the industrial park, and one of them is a totally new industry.”

In the meantime, Adams said Southern Minerals continues to mine coal at the site of the future phase three of the industrial park. A future interchange of the King Coal Highway and Coalfields Expressway also is still planned in the phase two area of the industrial park.

In the meantime, the county also is working to develop new housing to accommodate prison employees, teachers and local residents in search of new housing.

“We have, or we are working with a private developer on the housing (project) on Tom’s Mountain,” Adams said. “The development is called Stone Ridge. That is moving forward and hopefully we will see some ground moving before the end of the year. It will be town houses. Some will be single level, and some will be two stories.

They will all be three bedroom and in the mid-price range.

They will all be rented at first with an option to buy. It will be a gated community.”

Adams said many prison employees, as well as teachers who don’t currently live in the county, are requesting nice rental property such as town houses.

“It’s also for teachers recruited from outside of the area,”

tional strip mall development at Walmart in Kimball.

“We have batted around some ideas like a strip mall, but no one has approached us about it,” she said. “But most Walmarts have that.”

Adams said officials are overall optimistic about the county’s future.

“Things have been on the upswing,” she said. “I think the current climate is good in that folks are working together and have been and continue to do so to make McDowell County better. I really honestly do think things are looking better, and people are starting to notice McDowell County because of the foundation that has been laid in the past with getting the prison here.”

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

marketing the county to folks outside of the county.”

Adams said the county also has been awarded grant funding through the Department of Highways to help restore the old Houston Company Store in Kimball. Work on the mural at the Martha A. Moore Riverfront Park in Welch also is expected to be finished by early September.

“It is absolutely beautiful,” Adams said of the new park.

“The city workers are doing a great job. It’s just very, very nice.”

In other projects, Adams said a group of county officials are still fighting to get new cell phone towers installed in different parts of the county.

“The biggest dead zone is the Sandy River District — Iaeger, Bradshaw and Roderfield,” she said. “That is where we are trying to concentrate on getting something. They have nothing on their end of the county.

Welch has service. Kimball has service in their area.”

Adams said officials also would still like to see an addi-

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An ATV rider slings mud while riding along one of the numerous trails in the HatfieldMcCoy Trail system. she said. “One of the biggest complaints we get is there is no housing to place those teachers in. A lot of teachers and prison officials are looking for rental property. But anyone who wants to make a change in their housing is more than welcomed to (rent the town houses). We’ve gotten some feedback from senior citizens indicating this would be good for them. And that sort of opens up their houses for sale.”

Adams said county officials also continue to talk with representatives of a hotel chain who are considering a development near Welch. ““The Hatfield-McCoy Trail Authority is looking to expand in the area,” she said. “So we are working with some local investors to get a new hotel in the county. This is a nationallyknown chain. It could come to fruition by the year’s end.”

Tourism also remains a focus of the EDA and the County Commission.

“We try to get people into our county, but we really don’t have a lot for them to do,” Adams

said. “But one thing we do have is the Blackwolf Links golf course that we have been working on. Hopefully we will have a grand opening in September of a pro-shop and we will have a small restaurant. We are hoping this will draw more people to it.

Right now the course looks

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section VI 9

Business...

Continued from 1 for the area is currently inactive.

“It’s beautiful property,” Meachum said. “You can make all kinds of arguments for what you would want there.

Originally it was a going to be multi-complex family, shopping and a very, very nice development. It (the property) was available and vacant a long-time before the reces-

sion.”

Meachum said finding land suitable for development is one of the biggest challenges for the Bluefield area. However, the region’s small town mentality, and unique climate and geography, are also its greatest selling points, according to Meachum.

“So we hold out hope that someday — because this area has much to offer — that there are plenty of people looking to get away from the city rat race if you will, and would love to

come and live in the kind of climate we have here,” Meachum said. “The quality of life here is just terrific. We just need more commercial development. I am cautiously optimistic, and I say that in Southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia we mirror each other. We are so much alike. We are almost like twins.”

Meachum said the chamber is hopeful that the national economy will begin to improve.

“I think gradually the employ-

ment situation is going to improve,” Meachum said. “I don’t see anything happening to the mining industry in the short-term. But the long-term is a whole different story.”

Mercer County Economic Development Authority Director Janet Bailey confirmed in August that Sheetz also is looking in the Bluefield area for a possible third Mercer County store.

A national restaurant chain — which would be new to Mercer County — also is look-

Shop

ing at Exit 9 in the Princeton area, according to Bailey.

Additional growth also could be coming to the Bramwell area. With the Hatfield-McCoy Trails opening this fall in Bramwell, Bailey said several individuals have been inquiring about possible hotels, motels and bed and breakfast establishments in or near Bramwell.

While no one has officially signed on the dotted line, Bailey said she remains hopeful that a new hotel, motel or bed and breakfast will be

opened in the Bramwell area to coincide with the opening of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails this fall.

“There have been a lot of inquiries about Bramwell,” Bailey said. “A lot of folks from out of state have inquired about properties close to the Hatfield-McCoy Trails for cabins, and possibly a hotel or motel. But there hasn’t been any documentation or signing of land yet.”

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

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Sunday, September 25, 2011 Section VI 11

Wanted: New business Despite strong growth, empty storefronts can be found in region

By CHARLES OWENS Bluefield Daily Telegraph LUEFIELD — Despite significant economic development progress in recent months, empty storefronts can still be found across the region, particularly in the two Bluefields.

However, local marketing and economic development efforts are being doubled in both the city of Bluefield and the town of Bluefield, Va. in an attempt to find new tenants for those structures that remain empty.

In the town of Bluefield, Va., efforts to fill several large and still vacant shopping complexes, including the former Big Lots and Kroger stores, continues, according to Mayor Don Harris.

“We are making every effort we can and really have been doing so for a couple of years,” Harris said. “All of our major buildings that are vacant — we are actively trying to get them filled.”

Burke’s Outlet, based in Brandenton, Fla., is moving into the old Goody’s department store at the RidgeView Shopping Center, and the town is still hoping to find new tenants soon for the old Krogers and Big Lots stores.

Burkes Outlet, which will also occupy the old Goody’s store in Princeton, carries apparel, shoes, home furnishings, gifts, toys and other items, according to the company website.

Designs plans also were submitted in July for a long-await-

B

Grundy...

Continued from A-1 and the Appalachian College of Pharmacy are already operational in Buchanan County.

The VCEDA loan is being used by officials to renovate and equip the Buchanan Information Park building for the new optometry college.

The same building was used to formerly housed the Appalachian College of

ed Taco Bell restaurant that is proposed to be constructed near Wal-Mart, also at the RidgeView Shopping Center.

“We have an industrial development, or economic development committee, and they themselves are reaching out to various businesses inviting them to come and look at our area,” Harris said. “We’ve also been talking with a multitude of businesses for Bluefield, Va., without being specific. Our economic development committee is really out there working hard. So we are working as a team to try to fill the vacancies in Bluefield, Va. I am gratified for our committee, and also for our staff ’s sake. We have a wonderful staff that follows up on talking to various businesses almost on a bi-weekly basis.”

The town has seen some growth over the summer, including a new Verizon Wireless that opened at the former Movie Gallery site in Bluefield, Va., and the opening of the LaFiesta Fresh Mexican Grill and Cantina at the former Roscoe and Michael’s site near Lowe’s.

The city administration in neighboring Bluefield also would like to see a number of empty storefronts filled, including several in the downtown area, Mayor Linda Whalen said.

Filling those empty storefronts will be one of the primary responsibilities of the city’s new economic development coordinator.

“We certainly have a lot of

vacant buildings in our downtown, and we would like to and I think we have to determine what our market niche is and then that person would market to that group of businesses or group of people that we feel might be a good fit,” Whalen said. “Certainly, our intentions is to create a better economy for Bluefield.”

The old freight station on Princeton Avenue is a large and soon-to-be empty structure in Bluefield. City officials are hoping to convert the structure into a new recreational area for youth.

“The freight station we think would have an economic impact on our area in addition to creating recreation for our community,” Whalen said.

“Hopefully it will be a facility that will cause people to look at our area. When people look at our city for business development there are people who are also looking for new places to live.”

Another structure near Bluefield that remains empty is the old Flowers Baking Company.

Flowers Baking Company announced March 1 that operations were being shut down at its bakery off U.S. Route 52 near Bluefield as of March 5.

The closure impacted 164 employees. Company officials said the bakery was old and had outdated equipment. The company said the building didn’t have the space to accommodate new machines without reconstruction.

Despite the closure of the bakery on Route 52, Flowers Bakery continues to operates two discount stores, one in Bluefield and another in Princeton.

In the Princeton area, a new tenant has been found for the old Goody’s department store.

A new Burke’s Outlet also is moving into the remaining space of the former Goody’s off Greasy Ridge Road near Princeton, according to the Princeton-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce.

The former Goody’s chain began liquidating its stores in January 2009, closing stores in Princeton, Bluefield, Va., Claypool Hill and Wytheville.

Another large retail store that has been empty for quite some time — the old Lowe’s Home Improvement Center on Clover Dew Dairy Road in Green Valley — also found a new tenant.

Carter Machinery completed its relocation to the new site earlier this year.

Carter Machinery, an authorized Caterpillar dealer serving customers in Virginia and southern West Virginia, was established in 1951. It provides sales, parts and service for construction and earth moving equipment, power generation systems and over-the-road trucks, according to an earlier company press release.

The company completed extensive renovations at the old Lowe’s site, including the development of a new parts warehouse.

Pharmacy before its move to the Oakwood campus.

According to an earlier study conducted by the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority, the school of optometry itself will create 66 full-time jobs with an $8 million payroll within seven years. During the next 10 years, the addition of part-time jobs in service industries and other sources could lead to 350 jobs within 10 years, according to the study.

Belcher said the progress Buchanan County has seen over the past decade is unique to the Commonwealth.

“I think overall on a comprehensive basis we don’t have any county that I can think of that has had that kind of comprehensive change in the time period of over 10 to 15 years,” Belcher said.

“We are seeing further economic and commercial development in our counties, but when you talk overall develop-

ment, including three universities and a three-acre development park, it really doesn’t have a comparative. I think you are seeing some real synergy that is developing there in Buchanan County. There are a lot of things that are happening overall. They have all been working and tied together for the good of the county. The development of additional schools and business parks — it just all kind of goes hand-in-hand.”

Also in Princeton, a building that had been vacant for quite some time — the old Princeton Post Office — is now home to the new Princeton Public Library.

The new library had been a dream several years in the making for the city of Princeton.

The new library includes wireless Internet on site with a computer lab and 20 computers for public use; an in-library cafe; a nursery as well as a place especially designed for teenagers complete with boothstyle seating; a local history room called the “West Virginia Room” featuring materials relating to genealogy, local history, and works from authors native to West Virginia; and an overall environment that is open and supportive of children, according to earlier reports by library director Connie Shumate.

Another vacant structure, which is also a historical landmark in downtown Pocahontas, could soon serve a new purpose as well.

Efforts to stabilize and preserve the 1883-vintage company store in Pocahontas, along with four cast-iron-front buildings in the town, continue to move forward.

The town advertised for bids in early July for the stabilization and repair of the five structures and the removal of the remaining debris from the site. The work is being funded through a Community Development Block Grant

awarded through the Department of Housing and Community Development, according to earlier reports by Tom Childress of Historic Pocahontas, Inc. Allison Bland, an architectural historian with Hill Studios in Roanoke, Va., said the project aims to stabilize and preserve the structures that are located in both the state and national historic registries while also removing debris and cleaning out the sites.

“I think both the company store and the iron store front are very significant,” Bland said during an interview in July. “They represent very significant pieces of history in Pocahontas. I think they still have the potential to contribute to the streetscape of Pocahontas because even if they are just the facades they help to tell the story of what’s happening there. That is why we’ve been focusing our efforts on determining whether they can be stabilized and saved.”

The Pocahontas Fuel Company Store was opened in 1883 by the Southwest Virginia Improvement Company to supply food, tools and necessities for the coal miners working in the Pocahontas mines.

Consolidation Coal acquired the structure in 1958, but kept the store open. The general mercantile component of the store was closed in the late 1980s, according to earlier reports.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

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