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Chocolate Festival - Apr. 12
Tasting Locations - Downtown Lewisburg
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.- $3 per packet of 4 tasting tickets
• Aggie's - Mark Avenue Chocolates (chocolate
caramel pecan patty, dark chocolate solid candy, white chocolate raspberry
cream cheese truffle)
• Ann Bell & Company - chocolate peanut
clusters
• The Bakery - triple chocolate brownie delights
• Cecilia's
• Cooper Gallery - Marcel Desaulnier's Golly
Polly's Doodles & Black Gold Cookies
• Del Sol Lounge - chocolate martini
• Edith's - Dogoba chocolates
• Food & Friends - chocolate s'mores by the
campfire (served on the patio of Corner Market)
• General Lewis Inn - orange cheesecake stuffed
brownies
• Greenbrier Valley Baking Company - "All
Things Chocolate" featuring chocolate almond cherry bark
• Harmony Ridge Gallery - Joseph Schmidt truffles
served with white hot chocolate
• Hazel - dark chocolate pretzel bark by
Jagielky's Chocolate
• Honnahlee
• Irish Pub - chocolate stout
• North House Museum - old-fashioned chocolate
chip cookies
• Old Hardware Gallery - chocolate covered rasp
& blackberries & chocolate mint bars by Paulette's Pastries
• Plaid Eagle Antiques - chocolate cherry drops
• Plants Etc. - Scribner's Chocolates
• ReMax - chocolate fountain
• Robert's Antiques - port selection served in
chocolate cups
• Serenity Now Outfitters - Crazy Baker
• Stonehouse General Store - Sweetie's
• Sunflower Soul - chocolate bread pudding with
vanilla sauce
• Tansy Shop - chocolate lace cookies
• Washington Street Gallery - Ghiradelli
chocolates
• Wild Bean - espresso brownies
• Wolf Creek - Godiva
• Woody's - earthquake cake by Rudy's Corner Grill
• Yarid's - chocolate shoes from The Greenbrier
Candy Shop
Tickets may be purchased at Harmony Ridge Gallery, North House, Honnahlee or
on-line at www. lewisburgchocolatefestival. com.
Chocolate Festival Activities
Apr. 12 in Downtown Lewisburg
• New 3-D Art by Connie Desaulniers - at Cooper
Gallery, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., FREE
• A Delicious Journey: The History of Chocolate - 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. at North House Museum, FREE
• Children's Story Telling of "The Chocolate
Cat" by Colleen Anderson - at New River Community & Technical
College, 2 p.m., FREE
• "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" -
at the Lewis Theatre, time TBD, FREE
• Chocolate Bake-off - at the Lewis Theatre, noon to
2 p.m., $1 for 5 entry samples
• Chocolate Mousse Eating Contest - at Tavern 1785,
noon adults/12:30 children, FREE
• Book signing by award winning cookbook author Marcel
Desaulnier - at terrace of Greenbrier Valley Theatre, 1 to 3 p.m., FREE
• Demonstration by The Greenbrier's Executive Pastry
Chef Frederic Monti - at Harmony Ridge Gallery, 11:30 a.m., FREE
• Live music by Evolver - at The Wild Bean, 3:30
p.m., FREE
• Demonstration & Chocolate Celebration with award
winning cookbook author Marcel Desaulniers - at Greenbrier Valley Theatre, 8
p.m., $25 per person
• Chocolate Entrees & Desserts - at downtown restaurants
throughout the evening, $ various.
The Appalachian
By John Wyatt
Mountain Ramps
For some of you who experienced cabin fever this past winter
and are truly thankful for these warm spring days, put my name in the hat. The
older I get, the less I enjoy our fourth season. I can vaguely remember how in
some past life I waited eagerly for that first measurable snow—snowball
fights, Fox and the Goose games, tracking all the wild animals around the farm
and learning to know their own distinctive signs, the fox, bobcat, rabbit, mink,
possum, coon, skunk, white tail deer, and an occasional bear who had not started
his winter nap. There was so much for a mountain boy to do. We would cure meat,
burn brush, and have late-night sleigh rides. February usually meant making
maple syrup.
Then came those first warm days of spring. The robins
suddenly appeared again; the crocuses and Easter lilies popped through the
ground. The old folks had their seed beds with tomatoes, peppers, and so forth,
growing on the porch. The frogs began to croak after those first warm showers.
The newborn calves were running and kicking up their heels in the meadows. The
feed stores and department stores had a fresh array of seeds of every sort.
Early onion and lettuce beds were planted. Asparagus sprouts were bursting
through the warming earth; and deep in the still-barren forest, most of the
trees still stood leafless, stark arms reaching upward with only a hint of what
was to come in their faint red hue, and here and there and occasional Mountain
Sarvis (Service tree) with its white bloom stood out, seen, it seemed, for miles
in contrast to its surroundings.
But on the forest floor a right of spring was taking place.
The Mountain Ramp was being reborn after lying dormant through the deep snows of
winter. The first tiny white, red, and green shoots came pretentiously through
the leaves; and ramp lovers, young and old, began cleaning the rust off the ramp
hoe, sharpening their Barlow’s, breaking out the fishing gear, from cane poles
to Zebcos, greasing up the iron skillet, and preparing for the Feast of the
Rampson.
Now if you happen to be from some other planet and have no
idea what I’m talking about, read on. For the true ramp connoisseur, only
puberty or the birth of your first born son could compare to ramps in season.
This pungent herb of questionable nutritional value has attained an almost
supernatural reputation in the mountains as a cure-all for ailments from
rheumatism to high blood pressure, from migraine headaches to acne. One source
swears that ramp leaves when mature and placed in and worn in the insoles of
shoes or boots will cure athlete’s foot. Lord, who could tell? My great-aunt
and uncle used canned ramps for birth control. They only had 19 children—thank
God for the ramps!
But for you who have never experienced this edible delight,
my advice is go to a ramp feed, many are being held locally, and try for
yourself this wonderful mountain delicacy.
When the Maple buds turn red on the hillside
And the Sarvis trees are blooming in the lane
And the ramps begin to grow in the mountains
Then I know that it’s springtime again.
Back Roads
By Jack D. Ballard
The Saturday afternoon audience at Alderson’s Alpine
Theatre was burst into laughter as a small child could be seen climbing onto the
stage then attempting to grab the cowboy’s gun from the projected image. So
was my mother until she looked over and saw the empty seat beside her. Pauline
Kael, writer for the New Yorker magazine, wrote a best seller, "I Lost It
At the Movies," so I guess that it would only be fair to say "I Found
It At the Movies"
It would be many years before I would learn that the famous
movie studio owners Warner Brothers lived for a time in Bluefield, WV. Dorothy,
the sister to Lillian Gish, attended boarding school in Alderson, WV. The only
film directed by Charles Laughton, "Night of the Hunter," was written
by West Virginia author Davis Grubb, began in Moundsville, WV, and the motion
picture maker chosen by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Pare Lorentz, came
from Clarksburg, WV.
So it’s time to go over to the depot and wait for "The
Sportsman" as it journeys east, we can grab a window seat and watch the
passing scenery. When the Conductor makes his rounds you paid your passage, when
you bought your copy of the Mountain Messenger. In the meantime, until
"George" calls us to the air conditioned dining car, we can relax.
The Garden Diary
A Guide to Gardening in Southern West Virginia
April Gardening Idea
Even though Swiss chard has been around for centuries and is
considered high in antioxidants, vitamins A and C, iron, potassium and fiber, it
is not likely to be found in the average American vegetable garden today. Chard
is in the same family as beets and spinach, but only the leaves are consumed. It
can be cooked using various methods, i.e., boiling, steaming, braising and
sautéing. Generally speaking, you would treat the leaves as you would spinach,
and the stems as you would asparagus. You can serve it as a side dish or add it
to soups, salads, sauces, etc. Here’s your chance to be creative in the
kitchen.
There are mainly two types sold in our local supermarkets —red
chard and green chard. But since you are just starting your garden this year,
why not buy seeds of a different variety and impress your friends and neighbors.
Or experiment a bit with a few different types. Seeds sown directly in the
garden once the soil has warmed to 50 degrees F grow easily and are ready to
harvest in about 60 days.
If left to grow beyond the "baby greens" stage, the
leaves can grow as tall as two feet, so plot your garden accordingly. Chard does
not store well once picked, so try to use it quickly, although it can be stored
in a plastic bag for up to three days in your refrigerator.
April Gardening Calendar:
2 Seed Swiss chard and carrots outdoors
3 Seed onions and radishes outdoors
4 Plant cabbage and kohlrabi
5 Plant potatoes and raspberries
7 Seed beets and kale outdoors
9 Seed or plant broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower
10 Seed parsnips outdoors
11 Plant blackberries; plant fruit trees
12 Plant or seed Swiss chart
13 Plant peas and seed radishes outdoors
14 Apply crabgrass control; treat lawn for white grubs
16 Seed leaf lettuce outdoors
17 Seed late tomatoes indoors
18 Fertilize lawn
19 Seed or plant collards; plant perennials
20 Start compost pile
21 Loosen mulch on strawberries
23 Plant peas outdoors
24 Transplant leeks; seed new lawn
25 Put out hummingbird feeder
27 Seed carrots
28 Plant sweet corn
28 Apply pre-emergent landscape weed control
30 Begin spraying fruit trees after petals fall
"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first
spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a
month."
—Henry Van Dyke, Fisher-man’s Luck, 1899
(Monthly column by Greenbrier Valley Master Gardeners sponsored by WVU
Extension Service)
Speaking of Music
By Fran Belin
The Piano Repertoire, Part VIII
The Russians
Serious piano composition in Russia made little progress
until the so-called "Russian Five," Balakirev (1837-1910), Mussorgsky
(1839-1881), Borodin (1833-1887), Cui (1835-1918), and Rimsky-Korsakov
(1844-1908)—the first group of Slavic composers, gathered their inspirational
material primarily from Russian folk songs and legends. The five produced a
meager amount of works with sound workmanship and genuine inspiration. From
Balakirev, the oriental fantasy Islamey, from Borodin, Petite Suite, a
collection of seven short pieces, and from Mussorgsky, the Pictures at an
Exhibition. From Cui, some mediocre salon pieces, and from Rimsky-Korsakov, a
fine piano concerto.
Anton Rubenstein (1829-1894), a spectacular pianist, wrote
some 200 individual piano pieces, but audiences paid to hear him play the music
of other composers, not his own. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), one of Rubenstein’s
pupils, was a composer famous for his orchestra-symphonies and ballet music, not
necessarily his piano music, which seldom rises above the level of fairly
adequate salon music.
Compared with his predecessors and contemporaries, Alexander
Scriabin (1872-1915), emerges as an important composer for piano music, with the
exception of six symphonic works, he wrote Preludes, Etudes, Sonatas, Poems, and
other short pieces for piano. In between Scriabin and Rachmaninoff, were some
minor Russian keyboard composers: Anatol Liadov (1855-1914), Anton Arensky
(1861-1906), and Alexander Gretchaninov (1864-1956).
Sergey Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was a spectacular pianist,
and because he knew his way about the actual physical keyboard, his compositions
are pianistically sound. His finest music for solo piano are the Preludes Opus
23 and Opus 32. Like Chopin and J.S. Bach before him, he wrote altogether 24
preludes, one in each major and minor key, as well as 15 Etudes-Tableaux, as
well as two Sonatas, the second one Opus 36, the preferred. There are Variations
on a Theme by Corelli, Opus 42, and various short pieces. Nicholas Medtner
(1830-1951), a Russian of German ancestry wrote almost exclusively for piano.
Thirteen of his large scale keyboard compositions are entitled Sonata, Opus 11.
In his 33 Fairy Tales, one finds his inborn musicality.
Sergi Prokofiev (1891-1953) began his career as a concert
pianist. He wrote more than 100 short piano pieces, as well as nine Sonatas.
Prokofiev sought freedom from typical 19th-century techniques, and used the
piano’s full sonority, sometimes to the point of extreme percussiveness. I’d
like to put a word in for Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987), whose many compositions
have been an invaluable addition to teaching piano students about the
fundamentals of playing the piano in a delightfully musical way.
Some suggestions for listening:
Sviatoslav Richter (may be available) BBC legends/MG Artists
BBCL4082-2
Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Tchaikovsky Sviatoslav
Richter Philips two-disc set 4569462PM2
Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and others; Horowitz-Rachmaninoff
Sonate #2 and Piano Concerto #3 Horowitz plays Scriabin, both RCA
Weissenberg, Rachmaninoff Preludes
Richter, Etudes-Tableaux, Rachmaninoff, Olympia OCD 337
Rachmaninoff plays Rach-maninoff, The Ampico Recordings,
London 425964-2
Next Month: The Piano Repertoire; Part IX, The Northern
Countries.
Great Backyard Bird Count sets new records
Bird watchers outdid themselves during the 2008 Great
Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the
National Audubon Society. Participants submitted more than 85,700 checklists
during the four-day event, Feb. 15-18, surpassing last year’s all-time record
by several thousand. Participants also identified a record 635 species and sent
in thousands of stunning bird images from around the continent.
Birders who had heard about the massive seed production
failure in trees across northern Canada were expecting a huge influx of northern
finches coming south to look for food. "As predicted, there were record
numbers of GBBC reports for Pine Grosbeak," says Rob Fergus, Senior
Scientist with the National Audubon Society. It was also a banner year for
Common Redpolls and Evening Grosbeaks, reported in their highest numbers in
several years.
In this year’s GBBC, Yellow-billed Magpie numbers hit a new
low. Magpies, crows, and jays are especially susceptible to the West Nile virus.
For the past few years the population of Yellow-billed Magpies has declined
following the spread of the virus to California. Nationwide, American Crow and
Blue Jay numbers appear to have stabilized somewhat, but bear continued
monitoring as the populations of these birds continue to adapt to the presence
of this new disease.
The GBBC charts the explosive geographic expansion of
Eurasian Collared-Doves. The species has spread aggressively since it was
introduced in Florida in 1980 and made new inroads this year. For the first
time, GBBC records of this bird came from British Columbia, Manitoba, and
Oregon.
Some species showed up in Great Backyard Bird Count reports
for the very first time, including a Masked Duck in Texas—a bird that is
usually found in the tropics. An Arctic Loon, seldom seen outside Alaska, was
spotted in California. An Ivory Gull wandered down from the high Arctic to show
up on a checklist in South Dakota.
"Each year, awareness of the GBBC seems to spread,"
says Cornell Lab of Ornithology Citizen Science Director Janis Dickinson.
"Committed individuals, nature centers, parks, and schools adopted the GBBC
as their own in an unprecedented way this year. They held bird walks, ID
workshops, and many other events tied to the count." Preschoolers built
feeders out of milk jugs. An artist painted a mural of urban birds in Hollywood.
One participant commented, "Participating in the bird count has given my
children a little taste of what it is like to be a scientist."
For an even more detailed summary of this year’s results,
visit the GBBC web site at www.birdcount.org. You can explore maps, see
beautiful photos, prize-drawing winners, and the list cities and towns that
topped their state or province for the number of checklists submitted our
"checklist champs."
The Great Backyard Bird Count returns Feb. 13-16, 2009!
Top 10 most-reported birds
in the 2008 GBBC:
1) Northern Cardinal
2) Mourning Dove
3) Dark-eyed Junco
4) Downy Woodpecker
5) American Goldfinch
6) Blue Jay
7) House Finch
8) Tufted Titmouse
9) Black-capped Chickadee
10) American Crow
Governor encourages West Virginians to plant trees during ‘Arbor Month'
State Arbor Day is set for Apr. 11
Gov. Joe Manchin once again has proclaimed April "Arbor
Month" in West Virginia, and is encouraging communities, organizations and
schools throughout the Mountain State to recognize the important roles trees
play in daily life.
"Healthy forests improve our quality of life by
providing clean air and water for all West Virginians," Manchin said.
"Trees contribute to West Virginia’s natural beauty, making it one of the
most beautiful states in the nation. Our forests are an important source of jobs
and forest products, and provide much-needed habitat for our state’s
wildlife."
Manchin encouraged all West Virginians to actively
participate in tree-planting projects such as Mountaineer Treeways, a program
that solicits volunteers to plant tree seedlings on public property.
West Virginia’s Arbor Day is set for Apr. 11 this year, but
Arbor Day celebrations and tree plantings are scheduled throughout the month in
communities across the state. Some of the participating communities include
Bath, Charles Town, Follansbee, Hinton, Lewisburg, Moorefield, Morgantown,
Parkersburg, Petersburg, Ronceverte, Shep-herdstown, Summersvilie and
Williamstown.
National Arbor Day is the last Friday of April (Apr. 25 this
year). Many states observe Arbor Day on different dates according to the best
tree-planting times.
For more information about Arbor Day, Arbor Month and the Mountaineer
Treeways program, visit www.wvforestry. com.
Three WV sites featured on National Geographic Driving Tours: Visit
Appalachia map
West Virginia’s Midland Trail, Coal Heritage Trail and the
Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike are among the many driving tours featured on the
new National Geographic map of Appalachia. The map, a specially-produced,
full-size map of the Appalachian region is featured in the April issue of
National Geographic Traveler, and in addition to reaching more than 900,000
subscribers, also will be available at the accompanying Web site, www.
visitappalachia.com.
"The Visit Appalachia map highlights three of West
Virginia’s premier cultural and heritage tourism offerings with the Midland
and Coal Heritage Trails and the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike," said Gov.
Joe Manchin. "These attractions and the great small businesses near them
should benefit from visitors that have access to this map."
Tourism Commissioner Betty Carver said it’s an honor to be
among those sites chosen by National Geographic’s editors and featured in the
national publication. "We have a great tourism product in Appalachia,
especially here in West Virginia, and it’s just a matter of getting more
people to discover it," Carver said. "We’re proud to be listed on
the map with all the other great attractions and hope that we’ll see more
visitors to the state."
The map features 28 driving tours throughout the 13 states of the Appalachian
region, including the historic National Road. This route, which runs from
Maryland through Pennsylvania and West Virginia to Ohio, was the nation’s
first federally-funded road, Thousands of settlers used this route in the 18th
century as they moved westward, across the Allegheny Mountains and the Eastern
continental divide. Today the road is known as U.S. Route 40, and one of the
featured stops along the route is Wheeling’s Oglebay Park.
Trees can help reduce energy costs —and more
(NAPS)-Trees can provide a home with more than shade and
shelter. They can also add value and curb appeal to a home, help cool it and
break the cold winds to help lower heating costs.
Consider these economic benefits from the Arbor Day
Foundation:
• In one study, 83 percent of realtors believe that mature
trees have a "strong or moderate impact" on the salability of homes
listed for under $150,000. With homes over $250,000, this perception increases
to 98 percent.
• Landscaping, especially with trees, can increase property
values as much as 20 percent.
• Properly placed, trees can reduce air-conditioning needs
by as much as 30 percent and can cut 20 to 50 percent in energy-related heating
costs.
Selecting trees and proper positioning are keys to putting
more money in your wallet. For example, a row of evergreen trees can help block
wind. Consider cherry laurel, Eastern red cedar, hemlock, Japanese black pine,
Monterey or Norway spruce, Southern magnolia, and white or spruce pines. Check
with your local nursery or cooperative extension office for the best species for
your area.
Place trees strategically in the yard, such as on the east- and west-facing
sides of the home. Shading windows is important. Give yourself plenty of growth
space between tree and house—10 feet or more.
Make your home energy efficient
(NAPS)-The purpose of green building is to reduce energy use,
conserve water, improve indoor air quality and reduce reliance on nonrenewable
natural resources. Thanks to two new books in the popular "For
Dummies" series, you’ll now find the process more approachable and easy
to understand.
"Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies"
(Wiley) covers everything from examining construction sites and working with
green professionals to choosing sustainable materials and reducing waste. The
user-friendly guide is filled with basic information and simple instructions
that anyone interested in green building will find useful—homeowners,
architects, interior designers and contractors alike.
The second book, "Solar Power Your Home For
Dummies" (Wiley), details the environmental and economical benefits of
using solar energy and takes readers step-by-step through the process of
building small and large systems into new and existing homes.
Written by design engineer Rik DeGunther, the guide is filled
with helpful illustrations and tips that explain the nuts and bolts of designing
solar projects—including lamps, fans, fountains, small-capacity solar water
heaters and radiant floors. It covers the different types of solar panels and
available technology, pinpoints ten smart solar investments, and provides
instruction on how to do a complete energy audit of a home.
Cleaning Green? Be Smart About It
(NU) - Choosing green as a personal color code for
"environmentally responsible" living was a New Year’s resolution
made by about half of consumers polled in a nationwide survey.
They expressed their resolve in different ways: to become
more "green-aware," to go natural and to promote eco-friendly
activities that are good for the planet.
And with spring just around the corner, green awareness
undoubtedly will guide consumers’ cleaning product choices. But with so much
that’s being said and written about green cleaning, it’s important to
educate yourself about it. To help you do just that, and in time for spring
cleaning, a new Web site, www.aboutcleaning products.com, was created by the
Consumer Specialty Products Association to provide a better understanding about
cleaning products.
This fact-filled, fun and easy-to-use site explains the
cleaning process and different product types for bath, kitchen, laundry and
general household applications. A section on "Alternative Mixtures"
compares the advantages of commercial formulations to homemade cleaning
solutions. A "Fact and Fiction" page helps sort out myths about
cleaning products.
Aboutcleaningproducts. com also takes a look at the green
phenomenon. It poses helpful questions such as: What does it mean to be green?
Does green mean safe for people and animals? Does it mean that a product is made
from plants and not petroleum? Is it biodegradable and recyclable?
Green means all that and more. Thinking green should include
selecting cleaning products that work effectively to kill disease-carrying
bacteria and are good for the environment. A product that does not work will be
tossed into the trash and create more litter.
And thinking green should definitely take safe use into
consideration. In well-meaning attempts to clean green, some consumers mix
ammonia and bleach, a harmful combination that produces toxic gas. Mixtures like
this are a common mistake and an example of good intentions gone bad.
For more information, visit www.aboutcleaningproducts. com.
First Pearl S. Buck International Writers’ Workshop comes to Hillsboro
Acclaimed West Virginia writers Denise Giardina, Edwina
Pendarvis, and Kirk Judd celebrate world-famous author Pearl S. Buck at the
First Pearl S. Buck International Writers Workshop. The Workshop events will be
held at the birthplace of the award winning author in Hillsboro on June 26, 27
and 28.
Buck gained international attention for her moving portrayal
of Chinese farmers who struggled to survive at the turn of the 19th century. The
Good Earth won her the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1932; in 1938, she was
awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for her impressive body of work.
Everyone has stories to share and to tell. Many people have a
desire to write about their own life or those around them. "Wanting to
write and doing so are two different things," says Ruth Taylor, host of the
workshop and member of the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Board of Directors.
"Often we get stuck on the immensity of such a project. This workshop
series will help to make that desire a reality."
The event begins on Thursday afternoon, June 26, as Gail Hyer,
accomplished genealogist and marketing specialist for Pocahontas County Tourism,
conducts a session on using the works of other writers, legal issues, getting
published, etc. On Friday morning, workshops will be held by Edwina Pendarvis
and Kirk Judd, with Denise Giardina joining the group in the afternoon.
Giardina is a West Virginia native who is known for her novel
Good King Harry (1984), a historical novel about Henry V, and Storming Heaven
(1987) her second novel based on the Battle of Blair Mountain.
Like Pearl S. Buck, Edwina Pendarvis has written about life
in China in her book of poetry Like the Mountain of China (1988). The award
winning book compares the people of the mountains of China with the people of
the Appalachians. Eddy Pendarvis was born in eastern Kentucky, and spent her
early childhood in southern West Virginia coal towns. Her creative writing has
been published in journals and magazines, in three anthologies: A Gathering at
the Forks, Guyandotte Poets, and Getting By: Stories of Working Lives, and in
the book Human Landscapes. Her poetry collection, Coruscations, won first place
in the 1995 WV Writers Competition.
Award-winning poet Kirk Judd may be best known for his unique
Appalachian poetry project "My People Was Music." His first volume of
poetry Field of Vision (1986) and follow-up book Tao Billy (1996) provide a
distinct commentary on life in Appalachia. Kirk is one of the founding artists
of what has come to be known as the premier music and writers’ workshop in the
east—Allegheny Echoes.
The Little Levels Heritage Fair will be the backdrop for the
acclaimed First Pearl S. Buck International Writer’s Workshop. Thursday’s
dinner for participants will be at the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace with a live
concert of Allegheny Echoes students at the Opera House. On Friday evening, June
27, participants will want to attend an old-fashioned pork barbecue with local
musical groups or attend the second concert of Allegheny Echoes which will
feature the talented instructors at the Pocahontas County Opera House.
Saturday, June 28, is open to enjoy the Little Levels
Heritage Fair. The Pearl S. Buck Birthday Celebration and Writers’ Fair will
kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Student writers and musicians will
present a portion of the program which will be followed with birthday cake and
punch for all. The final dinner is a Chicken Barbecue sponsored by Marvin Chapel
United Methodist Church.
One scholarship to the Writers’ Workshop will be awarded to
a WV high school or college student who submits the best original story (500
words or less) about the influence of Pearl S. Buck on the Chinese/American
connection. Entries must be submitted no later than May 1.
Participant cost for the workshop is $90 and covers all
meals, entertainment and tours.
The workshop is designed for approximately 20 participants,
so register early.
Contact Ruth Taylor, director, at littlelevelsheritage fair@yahoo.com
or call (304) 653-8563 for additional information and to register for the
workshop. Make checks payable to Little Levels Heritage Fair, and mail to HC 64
Box 423, Hillsboro, WV 24946.
Participants will be responsible for their own lodging for
the workshop. Visit the lodging options available at the Pocahontas County
Convention and Visitors Bureau Web site at pocahontascountywv. com or call
800-336-7009 or (304) 799-INF0.
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