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Vandalia Gathering

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The popular Vandalia Gathering takes place at the state capitol every Memorial Day weekend.

Search Results for coal

• After Coal: Welsh and Appalachian Mining Communities

  October 21, 2015 — South Charleston, Kanawha WVHC Event

  The Humanities Council sponsored documentary, “After Coal: Welsh and Appalachian Mining Communities” will be shown at the LaBelle Theater in South Charleston on Wednesday, October 21 at 6 p.m. Director Tom Hansell will attend the event for a questions and answers.

  This project is funded in part by a West Virginia Humanities Council grant.
• West Virginia Coal Festival

  June 21, 2016 to June 25, 2016 — Madison, Boone

  Celebrate the heritage of coal with vendors crafts, pageants, free concerts, and fireworks! June 21-25 in Madison.

  https://www.facebook.com/WV-Coal-Festival-Inc-191752220860654/
• Coal Miner's Dinner and Premiere of "After Coal: Welsh and Appalachian Mining Communities"

  July 05, 2016 — Oak Hill, Fayette WVHC Event

  “After Coal” profiles inspiring individuals who are building a new future in the Appalachian coalfields and South Wales. The cost of the dinner event is $25; $15 for unemployed coal mining family members and students (scholarships are available). 5:30PM July 12 at Historic Oak Hill High School.

  This project is funded in part by a West Virginia Humanities Council grant.

  http://wvhumanities.org/event/event-2851/
• 11th Annual Tour de Coal

  June 19, 2015 to June 20, 2015 — Saint Albans, Kanawha

  The Tour de Coal is an annual 11-mile float trip from Tornado to St. Albans sponsored by the Coal River Group.

  Friday, June 19, 2015: Tour de Coal Pre-Registration Party kicks off at 5pm at the CRG River Center! Come out to Meadowood Park to register for the Tour de Coal, pick up your t-shirts, and attend our Beginner’s Kayaking Workshop in Pettigrew Lake from 4-7pm.

  Saturday, June 20, 2015: The TOUR DE COAL begins at 9am in Meadowood Park.

  Early-bird Registration – $20 per person

  Registration on June 20 – $25 per person

  Additional t-shirts – $15 each

  More information: http://coalrivergroup.com/pages/Tour-de-Coal.cfm
• 2018 Tour de Coal

  June 16, 2018 — Saint Albans, Kanawha

  The 14th annual Tour De Coal June 16, 2018 will be bigger than ever! Start planning now! The City of St. Albans has joined up with the Tour De Coal to bring our 1,000 Kayakers a full weekend . All funds raised at the Tour De Coal go to the Coal River Group’s river restoration programs.

  After floating the river there will be a new river event YAKFESTWV.com in downtown St. Albans! Get ready for great food, music for two nights, fantastic events. Arti Gras on Friday will offer great art and vendors. Saturday exhibitors will be on Main Street representing major Kayak brands, fishing tackle, river toys, fish aquarium displays, it’s all about fun on the River! Registration for the Tour De Coal will begin Monday March 12, 2018 go to www.coalrivergroup.com to register!
• Blair Mountain Strike Supper

  September 22, 2018 — Matewan, Mingo

  Join us for a Strike Supper 4:30 – 7:00 PM this September 22nd in downtown Matewan, WV! Hosted by West Virginia Mine Wars Museum

  The Supper will feature foods inspired by the many races and ethnicities represented in the unionist miners’ ranks. Besides great food, the Supper will also include the first ever Red Bandanna Awards, bestowed on modern-day West Virginia hellraisers, a raffle, a story collection booth, and a redneck portrait studio to round out the festivities. Museum Members who attend will receive special perks!

  This Strike Supper also marks the beginning of our Blair Centennial Celebration planning for 2021. Museum partners from historic organizations, tourism offices, union locals, musicians, reenactment society are invited to a Kick-off Meeting prior to the Supper to get our Blair Centennial planning underway! If your organization would like to help bring the Blair Centennial to life, RSVP for the Meeting on the Supper Ticket page.

  The Blair Centennial Kick-off Meeting will be from 12:30-4:00pm, followed by the Strike Supper from 4:30-7:00pm.

  Thanks to our project sponsors: the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Coal Heritage Area Authority, and the Appalachian Community Fund.

  https://www.facebook.com/events/277589369649089/
• Diversity in Appalachia Lecture Series: 12 Days at No. 9: The Farmington Mine Disaster 50 Years Later

  November 13, 2018 — Fairmont, Marion WVHC Event

  “12 Days at No. 9: The Farmington Mine Disaster 50 Years Later” will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the event while highlighting the culture of coal mining families and how they were affected by the media. This lecture is being presented as part of the Diversity in Appalachia Lecture Series, which serves to emphasize underrepresented voices in Central Appalachia and West Virginia. The event is open to the public. This event is supported by a grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council

  7:00 PM November 13 at Frank & Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center

  1201 Locust Avenue

  Fairmont State University

  Fairmont, WV

  Phone: (304) 292-3480

  Email: francene.kirk@gmail.com
• Bridges to the Past Reception and Program

  August 04, 2014 — Sophia, Raleigh WVHC Event

  Join PAWV for a program and reception launching the summer’s fifth and final month-long stop of the traveling exhibit “Preserving West Virginia: Saving Communities.”

  The five locality, five month traveling exhibit summer arrangement is part of the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority’s historic preservation initiative “Bridges to the Past.” The Bridges to the Past Reception and Program: Historic Preservation 101 + Historic Preservation Funding Sources will take place Monday, August 4, 2014, 7:00 PM at the Sophia Town Hall

  The program and reception is free and open to the public. Support for the special programming made available through a grant from the National Coal Heritage Area.

  The traveling exhibit is being presented statewide with financial assistance from the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. More information

  This project is funded in part by a West Virginia Humanities Council grant.
• Archives and History Tuesday Lecture: Slavery and Free People of Color in Virginia

  January 06, 2015 — Charleston, Kanawha

  On Tuesday, January 6, 2015, Greg Carroll will present “Slavery and Free People of Color in Virginia” in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

  Carroll will look at the political and legal lives of both slaves and free people of color. Slavery did not exist in western Virginia in anywhere near the numbers that it did in the east. In a few areas, such as the Eastern Panhandle and the Kanawha Valley, slaves were more numerous. The panhandle was primarily an agricultural area having more in common with its eastern neighbors than counties to the west. In the Kanawha Valley, slaves were mainly used in the salt industry and were the first to commercially mine coal in this area. Free people of color were often freed slaves or mixed race people who were slowly being driven from the eastern Virginia counties by oppressive racial laws. This was especially true after Nat Turner’s Rebellion in 1831. These issues will be discussed and questions are invited.

  Carroll has lectured on Native Americans, the Civil War, and slavery. A resident of Putnam County for 45 years, he worked as a historian at West Virginia Archives and History for 23 years before retiring in 2012. Carroll serves on the boards of West Virginia Citizen Action Group, the West Virginia Environmental Council, and the West Virginia International Film Festival.

  On January 6, the library will close at 5:00 p.m. and reopen at 5:45 p.m. for participants only. For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
• Hatfields & McCoys: American Blood Feud traveling exhibit

  March 15, 2015 to April 15, 2015 — Bramwell, Mercer WVHC Event

  The new Humanities Council traveling exhibit, The Hatfields & McCoys: American Blood Feud, moves to the Coal Heritage Interpretive Center in Bramwell from March 15 to April 15. To book the exhibit contact program officer Mark Payne at payne@wvhumanities.org or 304-346-8500.

  The Hatfields & McCoys: American Blood Feud is a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council. The traveling exhibit is funded in part by ZMM Architects & Engineers of Charleston.
• Archives and History Thursday Lecture: Construction of the National Road

  April 16, 2015 — Charleston, Kanawha

  On Thursday, April 16, 2015, Dr. Billy Joe Peyton will present “Making the Crooked Ways Straight and the Rough Ways Smooth: Engineering and Construction of the National Road” in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

  Planning for the Cumberland Road, or National Road, began in 1806, with construction carried out by the federal government from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, (West) Virginia, between 1811 and 1821. Featuring a modern, paved surface and state-of-the-art bridges and culverts, it was the nation’s first interstate highway and an immensely popular route that transformed Wheeling into a “Gateway to the West.” Peyton will discuss engineering and construction of the National Road and the prominent role it played in the nation’s early growth and development.

  Billy Joe Peyton received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in history from West Virginia University. His 30-year public history career began in the 1980s at Prickett’s Fort State Park, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, the National Park Service, and Kaymoor Coal Mine site. Peyton later worked as associate director of the Institute for the History of Technology & Industrial Archaeology at WVU, cultural resource specialist at an historical architecture firm, and high school history teacher. He is currently Professor of History in the College of Business & Social Sciences at West Virginia State University and co-director of the Glenwood Center for Scholarship in the Humanities.

  Peyton’s publication credits include entries in the West Virginia Encyclopedia (print and online versions), a chapter in The National Road: The Road & American Culture (1996), and two local history works titled Charleston Then and Now (2009) and Charleston: The First 225 Years (2013). He has also worked as writer and historian on several documentary films, including Ghosts of Green Bottom, Red Salt & Reynolds, and The Midland Trail, and may be seen in The 50 States series on the History Channel.

  Billy Joe Peyton lives with his wife, Christine, their two children, and a pair of unruly hounds in a 100-year-old home in Charleston’s East End Historic District.

  For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
• Archives and History Tuesday Lecture: 'Meanest County' in the Nation

  July 07, 2015 — Charleston, Kanawha

  On Tuesday, July 7, 2015, Dr. Paul Rakes will discuss the “‘Meanest County’ in the Nation: Hip-Pocket Ethics on the Early New River Coal Mining Frontier, 1890-1910” in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

  Any mention of saloons and gunplay in mining towns usually produces popular images of more nationally famous locales such as Deadwood, South Dakota, made famous by early dime novels and, later, by Hollywood film makers. In reality, the earliest coal operations of West Virginia’s Fayette County possessed most of the elements common to all of the nation’s mining frontiers. As with early mining towns in the legendary Wild West, Fayette’s early rudimentary coal camps attracted a number of young, transient, often “hotheaded” males who adhered to a philosophy that required one to stand-his-ground in confrontations. Contrary to popular images, miners both in the west and in the east who carried pistols usually did so in a hip pocket and the dramatic increase of violent confrontations in Fayette County often resulted from the guidelines of “hip-pocket ethics.” In fact, the increase of violence associated with the early camps led one Ohio newspaper to refer to Fayette as the “meanest county in the nation.”

  Paul Rakes will consider not only the statistical evidence frontier-style violence in Fayette County, but also specific cases of saloon show downs, arguments over females, and minor disagreements that led to deadly outcomes.

  A third generation coal miner, Paul H. Rakes, Professor at WVU Tech, worked as a coal miner for twenty years before leaving mining to earn his Ph. D. in history at West Virginia University. His research focuses both on technology and on the labor culture of coal miners in West Virginia. He has produced such professional journal articles as “Technology in Transition: The Dilemmas of Early-Twentieth Century Coal Mining” for the Journal of Appalachian Studies and “West Virginia Coal Mine Fatalities: The Subculture of Danger and a Statistical Overview of the Pre-enforcement Era” and “Casualties on the Homefront: World War II Era Coal Disasters in West Virginia” for West Virginia History. Book chapters include “A Combat Scenario: Early Coal Mining and the Culture of Danger” in Culture, Class and Politics in Modern Appalachia (2009) and “‘A Hard-Bitten Lot:’ Non-Strike Violence in the Early Southern West Virginia Coalfields” in Blood in the Hills: A History of Violence in Appalachia (2011). Dr. Rakes has served as a consultant for several televised video productions focusing on coal mining history and is regularly called upon by news agencies to provide insight into current mining developments. Additionally, he contributed a short memoir regarding growing up in the coalfields in Anthology of Appalachian Writers.

  On July 7, the library will close at 5:00 p.m. and reopen at 5:45 p.m. for participants only. For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
• Archives and History Tuesday Lecture: Flintlock Rifles of West Virginia

  September 01, 2015 — Charleston, Kanawha

  On Tuesday, September 1, 2015, Clarence Craigo will discuss “Flintlock Rifles of West Virginia” in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

  The history of the rifle in West Virginia is multifaceted; metallurgy, gunsmith styles, and techniques along with the use of these weapons have combined to create a truly beautiful weapon and tool unique to Appalachia. Clarence Craigo, an internationally known gunsmith, will discuss the materials used to create the rifles, along with the techniques, styles, and tools that the early gunsmiths used and that continue to influence modern-day gunsmithing.

  Craigo is a true “Son of the Hills.” Born at Ward, West Virginia, he attended school in Kanawha County and spent 15 years working in the coal mines. Early on, his father influenced his love of history by visiting many of the historical sites in the state. These visits along with his father’s stories about Daniel Boone in the Kanawha Valley sparked a love affair with colonial history that continues to this day. Since the early 1980s, Craigo has been an active gunsmith, blacksmith, and maker of accouterments for re-enactors of the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars and for fine rifle collectors worldwide. In 2000, he appeared on a show in the West Virginia Public Broadcasting series Outlook that highlighted West Virginia gunsmiths, and in 2012, he was a weapons expert for the History Channel’s Hatfield’s and McCoy’s. Presently Craigo works at the West Virginia Division of Culture and History where he enjoys the opportunity to examine original long rifles, documents and related objects.

  On September 1, the library will close at 5:00 p.m. and reopen at 5:45 p.m. for participants only. For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
• Archives and History Thursday Lecture: "West Virginia's Food Heritage"

  September 17, 2015 — Charleston, Kanawha

  On Thursday, September 17, 2015, Stan Bumgardner will discuss “West Virginia’s Food Heritage” in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

  Bumgardner will talk about the history of food in West Virginia. He will examine how certain foods and beverages hold a special place in Appalachian culture and how this heritage has evolved over time from early German and Scots-Irish pioneers, to later immigrants of the early 19th and early 20th centuries, to the present-day “local foods” movement." He also will demonstrate how our food and beverage traditions take on unique forms in different parts of the state and, at the same time, bind us together as West Virginians.

  Stan Bumgardner has been a professional historian for more than 25 years. He has worked at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, for the West Virginia History Film Project, at West Virginia Archives and History, and as acting director of the West Virginia State Museum. He served as creative director for the West Virginia State Museum renovation. He has also developed exhibits for the South Charleston Museum Foundation and the National Coal Heritage Area and created a traveling exhibit for the documentary The Great Textbook War.

  As a free-lance writer, Bumgardner is the author of The Children’s Home Society of West Virginia: Children-Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (1996) and Charleston (2006). He has written articles for American History and Wonderful West Virginia and developed a driving guide for historic sites in southern West Virginia. He also directed a project that documented the food heritage of each county in West Virginia. On August 17, he succeeded John Lilly as the editor of Goldenseal magazine and state folklife director.

  Lecture attendees may park behind the Culture Center after 5:00 p.m. on September 17 and enter the building at the back.

  For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
• 12th Annual Morgan’s Kitchen Fall Festival

  October 10, 2015 — St. Albans, Kanawha

  The 12th Annual Morgan’s Kitchen Fall Festival, sponsored by the St. Albans Historical Society, will be Saturday, October 10, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at historic Morgan’s Kitchen, located along MacCorkle Avenue in St. Albans. Activities will include apple butter making, cabin tours, pioneer reenactors, the Coal River Group, arts and crafts, old time music and antique wood crafters. Baked goods and hot dogs are also available. Apple butter is available for purchase. There is no charge for this event and plenty of parking is available.

  http://www.stalbanshistory.com/morgans-kitchen.html
• Taking the Waters: An Archaeological View of Mineral Springs Resorts in West Virginia

  October 22, 2015 — Moundsville, Marshall

  Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville will continue its monthly lecture and film series on Thursday, October 22 at 7 p.m. with a program titled “Taking the Waters: An Archaeological View of Mineral Springs Resorts in West Virginia.” Nancy O’Malley, assistant director at the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology in Lexington, Ky., will present the lecture. The program is free and open to the public.

  Mineral springs resorts were the playgrounds of the Southern elite and other affluent people prior to the Civil War. West Virginia resorts were part of the Virginia Springs circuit that attracted thousands of visitors who came to drink and bathe in the therapeutic waters, socialize and reaffirm their elite social status. The evening’s talk summarizes the results of surveys conducted at six of West Virginia’s mineral springs resorts: Barger Springs, Summers County; Blue Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County; Pence Springs, Summers County; and Red Sulphur Springs, Salt Sulphur Springs, and Sweet Springs, all in Monroe County.

  O’Malley has served as assistant director of the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology since 2000. The museum, founded in 1931, acquires and maintains anthropological collections, supports anthropological research and disseminates anthropological knowledge. Its extensive holdings serve to link the past, present and future.

  “This project is an excellent example of historic archaeology conducted within the State of West Virginia,” said Jeremy Kohus, Grave Creek site manager. “Many people equate archaeology with prehistoric archaeology, especially here at the mound, which is a prehistoric site. In West Virginia, historic archaeologists study frontier forts, early settlements and industrial sites like coal and salt mines.”

  For more information about activities and programs at Grave Creek Mound, contact Andrea Keller, cultural program coordinator, at (304) 843-4128 or andrea.k.keller@wv.gov or visit www.facebook.com/gravecreekmound and www.twitter.com/gravecreekmound.
• Archives and History Thursday Lecture: Geology Underlies It All

  January 28, 2016 — Charleston, Kanawha

  On Thursday, January 28, 2016, Dr. Michael Ed. Hohn will present “Geology Underlies It All: The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey in Service to the Public for over a Century” in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

  The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey was created in 1897 for “examination of the geological formations of the State with especial reference to their economic products . . . classification of soils and a study of their adaptability to particular crops . . . of the forests and timber lands . . . with reference to the economic utilization of the same . . .” Originally under the direction of a commission, the Survey is now a division of the Department of Commerce. The primary purpose of the agency remains the study of the mineral and energy resources of West Virginia and related issues such as karst, seismicity, hydraulic fracturing, and resource assessment. The big change in recent years has been in how information is delivered to the public served, from numerous traditional reports in print to web resources, including publically accessible interactive databases and maps.

  Hohn will discuss the early history and purpose of our state’s Geological Survey; principal activities such as mapping all coal beds in the state, an extensive oil and gas data system, and Geographic Information Systems; and how the agency provides information to the public.

  Hohn joined the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey in 1978 and was appointed State Geologist and Director in 2006. He holds a B.S. in geology from Binghamton University (New York), and a Master’s and Ph.D. in geology from Indiana University. He has published more than fifty papers on energy resources and a book on geostatistics. Research interests include geostatistics, resource assessment, and study of oil and gas reservoirs. He has been principal investigator for projects funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of Energy, the former Gas Research Institute, and the U.S. Forest Service. He served as treasurer, secretary general, and president for the International Association for Mathematical Geology (IAMG); secretary, vice president and president for the Eastern Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG); deputy editor of Natural Resources Research; editor-in-chief of Mathematical Geology; and treasurer for the Association of American State Geologists. His most recent research has been assessment of recoverable oil and gas volumes from the Utica and Marcellus shales in West Virginia.

  For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
• Hometown Mountain Heritage Festival

  June 16, 2016 to June 19, 2016 — Ansted, Fayette

  The Hometown Mountain Heritage Festival is the premier heritage festival in West Virginia. It is an annual festival held every 3rd weekend in June in Ansted WV! It is hosted by the AIM/Hometown Mountain Heritage Committee. Activities include Coal Shoveling contest, Hometown 5-K Run, Flea Market, Kids Carnival, Heritage Demonstrations, Chain Saw Artist, Horseshow Pitching Contest, Memorabilia Displays, Arts & Crafts Vendor Booths, and more.

  http://www.anstedwv.com/festivals-and-events.html
• Bramwell Spring Home Tour

  June 04, 2016 — Bramwell, Mercer

  June 4, 2016

  Historic Coal Heritage, Coal Baron Mansions, Coal Heritage Interpretive Center. Yearly home tours are given in the spring and at Christmas. Bramwell is located eight miles from Bluefield, WV.

  Spring Tour for of the Historic Bramwell Homes is normally scheduled for the first Saturday in June, 2016. The Christmas Tour is the second Saturday in Dec. at 5:00 pm. Costs, $15…sponsored by the Bramwell Theatre Corporation.

  http://www.bramwellwv.com/townevents.html
• Blue Highway at Chuck Mathena Center

  July 23, 2016 — Princeton, Mercer

  The award winning bluegrass band, Blue Highway, will take the stage at the Chuck Mathena Center on Saturday, July 23 at 7pm.

  July 23 at the Chuck Mathena Center.

  There is no doubt that Blue Highway is one of the finest bluegrass bands around today. The highly esteemed group has earned 25 collective IBMA awards among its members and was voted Favorite Bluegrass Group of All Time by the readers of Bluegrass Today, April 2016.

  Blue Highway is praised by peers, fans and media alike. One of the most powerful descriptions of the 22-year strong band is shared by Country Standard Time News Magazine, “Wayne Taylor sings with the emotion of a man who escaped the coals mines and ain’t planning to go back. Tim Stafford continues to craft songs with depth…the instrumentation is perfect. From the get go, Jason Burleson opens with the unique style that defines bluegrass banjo. Shawn Lane exemplifies modern mandolin, yet nods to the Monroe legacy. Three lead singers…rich harmony…songs of forgotten homeless veterans, fallen heroes and heartbroken families. Blue Highway personifies modern acoustic music with respect to the tradition. Highly recommended, highly respected.”

  Tickets are on sale now at Chuck Mathena Center, 2 Stafford Commons, Princeton, WV 24739. You can purchase tickets online at www.chuckmathenacenter.org or by calling the Box Office at 304 425-5128. All tickets are $25. A ten percent discount is available to groups of ten or more. Save 25% when you buy a CMC Season Pass for four or more shows! Check out the whole season, Ballet to Bluegrass, at www.chuckmathenacenter.org.
• Archives and History Block Speaker Series: Gary Mays

  July 28, 2016 — Charleston, Kanawha

  On Thursday, July 28, 2016, Garrett “Gary” Mays will present “African American Life: A Personal Perspective” in the Archives and History Library in the Culture Center in Charleston. The program, which is the third of the 2016 Block Speakers Series, will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

  Gary Mays, “The One Arm Bandit,” was born in Burnwell, a coal mining town in Kanawha County, on March 26, 1935. At the age of five, he lost his left arm in a shotgun accident. When he was 12, he moved to the northeast section of Washington, DC, where he started playing baseball at Logan Community Center.

  Mays attended Armstrong Technical High School where he displayed his athletic skills playing baseball and basketball. It was Mays’ basketball coach Charlie Baltimore who gave him the nickname “The One Arm Bandit” because of his ability to steal the ball.

  In 1954, Armstrong and Spingarn high schools played each other for the Inter-High Division II Basketball Tournament title. Spingarn was undefeated, and its star player, Elgin Baylor, had averaged more than 40 points in the school’s two victories over Armstrong during the regular season. Armstrong’s coach instructed his players to use a zone defense with the exception of Gary Mays, who was told to play “man-to-man” defense against Baylor. Armstrong managed to beat Spingarn 50 to 47, with Baylor only scoring 18 points.

  The following year, Gary Mays attended the Washington Senators annual tryout camp at Griffith Stadium. Although he was not signed by the Senators, Mays, who threw out a base runner and hit the only home run in a camp-closing scrimmage, was unanimously voted camp MVP.

  Mays attended The College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho, and went on to become a liquor store owner and cab, bus, and limousine driver. He was building chairman for the DC Chapter of Habitat for Humanity and the owner of his own construction company. Mays currently is vice president of the Armstrong Alumni Association.

  Participants may park behind the Culture Center after 5:00 p.m. on July 28 and enter the building at the back loading dock area. There also is limited handicapped parking available in the new bus turnaround.

  For additional information, call (304) 558-0230.
• Architects and Architecture of the West Virginia Coalfields

  January 01, 2017 to January 31, 2017 — Madison, Boone WVHC Event

  This traveling exhibit features architects and architecture of the coalfields of southern West Virginia. The exhibit will feature the careers of several prominent architects including Hassel Thomas Hicks and Alex B. Mahood who designed many of the buildings that were built in the region. The exhibit will also feature many prominent buildings designed by these men as well as the work of other architects.

  January 1 – January 31 at Coal Heritage Museum in Madison. http://wvhumanities.org/event/event-2885/

  This project is funded in part by a West Virginia Humanities Council grant.
• Appalachian Music Festival

  June 09, 2017 to June 11, 2017 — Tamarack, Raleigh

  This year’s Appalachian Music Festival features some of the best musicians and performing artists in West Virginia.

  The festival kicks off on Friday night, June 9, 2017, with the premiere of an original musical comedy, FRACK!! by J​C Lacek. The play features all new original music by J. Scarborough​. Additional Composition (as well as live performance) by members of Kid In The Background, Inc​., Long Point String Band, and ​ The Kind Thieves. Tickets are $18 in advance, and $20 at the door. Box office opens at 6:30pm. House opens at 7:15pm. Curtain at 8:00pm in the Tamarack’s Governor Hulett C. Smith Theater. (FRACK!! is intended for mature viewers, as it contains some adult language and content.)

  FRACK!! Synopsis:​ Things are tough all over for Jim Cunningham. A single father who recently lost his job as a truck driver for Piney Fork Coal, Jim struggles to make ends meet while raising his two teenage kids. As Jim begins to believe he has reached the end of his rope, he is visited by a peculiar representative from a gas fracturing company known as Grendel Corp. Their offer to Jim is simple: All of his money problems can go away on one seemingly simple stipulation… only they can decide where on his property to put the gas well.

  *Saturday, June 10, 2017

  10-11am – Maggie Jusiel presents a talk about Art Music in Appalachia, in the theater.

  5 bands will play throughout the day in the courtyard. Performance times, each lasting an hour:

  • 11am – Circa Blue
  • 12:30pm – Circa Blue
  • 2pm – Little Sparrow
  • 3:30pm – Justin Morris and Xander Hitzig
  • 5pm – Long Point String Band

  On Saturday night, we will host a ticketed concert featuring The Lilly Mountaineers, in The Hulett C. Smith Theater. Tickets are $10 +tax and processing fee online in advance, and $12 +tax and processing fee at the door. Box office opens at 7pm. House opens at 7:15pm. Show at 8:00pm.

  *Sunday, June 11, 2017

  9-11am – Dr. Tim Mainland presents lecture about The Banjo: A Historical Icon

  The Appalachian County Cloggers will perform throughout the facility. Four 15 minute performances will happen at 11am, 11:30am, 12pm and 12:30pm, throughout the retail floor. The will also have an hour long performance in the courtyard at 1pm.
• Yak Fest

  June 15, 2018 to June 16, 2018 — Saint Albans, Kanawha

  The City of Saint Albans has joined with the Coal River Group to host a new event taking place June 15-16, the same weekend as the annual Tour de Coal, a Coal River Kayak Float event.

  The new Yak Fest will be hosted by the City of Saint Albans in the Olde Main Plaza business district.

  Yak Fest will feature live music, art, food, and craft beer along with many vendors highlighting kayaking, fishing, and other recreational activities.

  More information at http://yakfestwv.com/

  Saint Albans, Flatwater Capital of West Virginia
• Creators Talk: The "Cause" in the Works of Daniel Boyd

  September 12, 2018 — Charleston, Kanawha

  Known for “sensationalized” works and genres, Boyd, has quietly built CAUSE and MESSAGE into nearly all of his movies, books and now musical theater. Always having something more to say than just the desire to create popular media, Boyd chose entertainment as his weapon for change. From man-eating sunflowers to giant coal monsters, Danny will take us down his odd journey of 39 years of creating entertainment, with a CAUSE. This talk will feature valuable information and advice for any aspiring writer, filmmaker, or other creative professional!

  When: Wednesday, September 12th 7pm-9pm

  Location: WVSU EDC 1506 Kanawha Blvd. West Charleston

  Cost: FREE! Register to save your seat!