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Vol. V No. 47 ,
February 13, 1990
From the Greenbrier
Valley of West Virginia
IIIII
Touch-n-Go At Greenbrler Valley Airport
'P~o c~nuty S~,t [~L~
One of the three official airplanes
which transport the President of the
United States visited the Greenbrier
Valley Airport February 2 as part of
a pilot training program.
Greenbder Valley Aviation owner
Stan Leist said the aircraft was in
the area approximately one hour,
making about one-half dozen touch-
and-go landings. "This plane is part
of the Special Air Missions (SAM)
based at Andrews Air Force Base
just east of Washington, D. C.," he
said. "It is a Boeing 707, one of
three the President uses. It is only
when the President is actually
aboard that it is actually designated
"Air Force One." These three have
been in operation since the Ken-
nedy administration in 1961 and are
about to be replaced. Each one
could seat approximately 400 as a
commercial plane, but in the way
they are specially designed now
they can carry about one-third that
many [133]."
The crews of the airplanes go to
a variety of areas for practice, Mr
Leist said, adding, "They probably
came here this time to go to a more
out-of-the-way place."
Both Mr Leist and airport man-
ager John Gwinn said this is the first
time one of the Presidential planes
has flown into the Greenbrier Valley
Airport. Previous visits have been
made, however, by the Vice-
President's plane and various craft
transporting cabinet members and
legislative members, most who were
en route to The Greenbrier in White
Sulphur Springs, according to Mr
Leist.
A staff member at the airport's air
traffic control tower said he and his
co-workers normally receive radio
contact from the government planes
only about twenty minutes in ad-
vance of each visit.
A. Goddard
40 persons attended
meeting of the
Valley Economic De-
February
was recently
m order to encourage
of business en-
Pocahontas, Monroe
James Harden, an
of West Virginia
the corpora-
a full-time director
salary of $26,000.
will assume
1, according to
The corporation did
} the. name of the suc-
position
Would have an op-
n from her pres-
in state government.
goal of $50,000
corporation for its
-- one half
and one half
memberships.
Faber, employed at
WRON, said edu-
public is needed to
e
get the word out concerning the the meeting.
objectives of the corporation. Dr Vivian Crane volunteered
Commentary
She said annual dues are tax- to head up the corporation's Its good news to the Mounta
deductible, membership drive in the Rainelle Messenger that the Trl-County
Contributions of $1,000 each and Rupert area. Mr Harden Economic Development Council is
were received from Greenbrier said he plans to have corpora- now active.
Valley National Bank and from tion meetings occasionally in The organization's meetings
West Virginia Power. Other do- Union and in Marlinton. Th 'r'e are open to the public and the
nations included a computer are three members of the meeting dates and times are al-
from the First National Bank in corporation's Board of Directors ways announced well in ad-
Ronceverte and a computer from each of the three south- vance.
monitor from Lewisburg Cash eastern West Virginia counties Sure, the group will make
Register. --- Monroe, Greenbrier, and some mistakes and there will be
Office space has been do-
nated by the City of Lewisburg in
the old Greenbrier Bank build-
ing. Secretary Helen W. Serle
said renovations are now under-
way on the space in order to get
it ready for use by April 1.
On February 1, the officers of
the corporation met at the Com-
munity Center in Rupert with ap-
proximately 50 persons from the
western side of Greenbrier
County. In addition to the presi-
dent and secretary, Vice Presi--
dent Peter Piercy, an employee
of C & P Telephone Co., and Bill
Sturgil, of the First National
Bank in Ronceverte, attended
times when persons with strong
Pocahontas.
Mr Piercy said one of the
main objectives of the develop-
ment group is to assure con-
trolled growth for everyone's
benefit. Mr Harden, when asked
if the corporation sought busi-
egos and self-centered interests
will be in control. However; we
believe a forum now exists to
openly discuss the way our area
is going to develope. This is the
most important aspect of the
Greenbrter Valley Economic De-
nesses "at any cost", empha- velopmentCorporatioru
sized Ihe de, lel)r, l .-gr4)up-
wa[ch the Moun[am Messenger
seeks only non-polluting busi-
for announcements of future
nesses which employee be- meetings of the F_.conom Deuel-
tween 50 and 60 workers each. opment group aM plan to attend
We're not looking for the 1,500 thesemeettngs.
employee firms." He added that Don't forget to take your uolce
the corporation also has the ob- along with you when you
go!
jective of assisting, encouraging
and, energizing existing local
businesses.
I , Illl ,I. • 1
The City of Marlinton is now 75
acres larger, a result of successful
annexation efforts by Riverside resi-
dents and by the city in bringing the
area into the corporate limits. The
desire of most of the affected busi-
nesses and residents for flood insur-
ance eligibility was cited as the ma-
jor reason for the move.
The annexation comes from ac-
tion by the three-member County
Commission January 30, approving
a request by the city for the change.
Support has been generally wide-
spread throughout the Riverside
area, with most residents and busi-
ness people voicing their desire to
be annexed in order to be eligible
for flood insurance through the Fed-
eral Emergency Management Ad-
ministration (FEMA). The city has
approved the tlood plain ordinance
which qualifies its residents and
businesses for the insurance. The
county has not. Marlinton and
Durbin are the only Pocahontas
County communities which have
approved the ordinance.
The annexed area extends north
of the Route 39 bridge along U. S.
219 and is bounded on the east by
the Greenbrier River, the north by
Stony Creek (near Campbelttown),
the west by U. S. 219, and the south
by the former city limits.
The County Commission's role in
tl~e annexation results from a De-
cember State Supreme Court ruling
which stated regular petitioned an-
nexations are permitted only for ar-
eas with at least 640 acres and 100
residents. The Riverside area's 75
acres and 45 residents qualified the
move to be classified as a "minor
boundary change," according to
Commissioner Norman Alderman,
although he says there is apparently
no official definition of the term.
Some controversy has resulted
from the Commission's failure last
fall to pass a countywide flood ordi-
See "Marlinton", pg. 10-A
ht
please."
Complied with this
en Anniversary
February 13 at 6:30 p.m. The club East High School football games,
was organized fifty years ago to the cooperation in the Adopt-a-Highway
day--February 13, 1940. The fea- Program, and Christmas tree sales,
among other activities.
r
Bill Lewis (left) and Dr Claude Houck
The Antique Show and
Sale at the State Fairgrounds
each June continues to be a
popular event, begun ten
years ago. "We have 35 select
dealers every year," Okey
McCraw says. "These were
out of about 200 applicants
from about seven states last
year. It's a very well-attended
event." Proceeds are used
chiefly for sight conservation
and children's activities.
Of the club's charter mem-
bers only two remain today.
They are Earl Darnell and J.
Bright Hern. Mr Hem has
been the secretary of the
group for its entire 50-year
history. When asked if he had
ever been asked to serve as
Ron Hill Investigates
Owner Ron Hill of Shankland's
Store in Ronceverte is puzzled as to
the motives of a would-be thief or
thieves who apparently tried to enter
the store February 6.
"1 got here at 6:50 a.m, and be-
gan working around the cash regis-
ter. I kept feeling a cool breeze and
couldn't figure out where it was com-
ing from. Eventually I noticed two of
my window panes were broken out.
Mr Hill says although the
culprit(s) could have taken any nu tu-
ber of items close to the window, all
that was missing was a bundle of
Mountain Messenger newspapers,
delivered earlier that morning. "The
Beckley and Charleston papers
as the Lewisburg
one of its biggest
ling Greenbrier
the polio vac-
was Lewisburg
SChool, and the job
afternoons to
in the Lions
! all mention
effort as one of the
=most memorable proj-
Was part of a nation-
that eventually elimi-
of polio. The late
a Lion, directed
vaccines.
Jrg club will meet for
Commemora-
Greenbrier Valley
Room Steak House
tured speaker will be Theodore T.
Fusco of Doylestown, Pennsylvania,
a director of the International Asso-
ciation of Lions Clubs.
In its early years the Lewisburg
Lions Club sold bonds during World
War I1. During the war eleven of its
members were in the armed forces,
including Dwight H. Skaggs, who
was killed in an airplane crash in
1943 while serving with the United
States Naval Air Corps.
The chief project of all Lions
Clubs is the furnishing of eye
glasses and surgery to needy indi-
viduals. Other projects carried out
by the local club include the spon-
sorship and support of the Boy
Scouts, Boys' and Girls' States, the
Greenbrier Youth Camp, the sale of
football tickets at home Greenbrier
president, he said, "Many times. I've
always told them I would rather be
secretary."
The club now has 66 members.
Men become members by first being
invited to a meeting by an individual
Lion. If he asks to join, his name is
submitted to the local Board of Di-
rectors. If they approve him for
membership, his name is brought to
the club forvote. If the vote is favor-
able, he is inducted into member-
ship at a subsequent meeting. Mem-
bers come from a wide variety of
occupations.
John Garnett is the current presi-
dent of the group. Bill Nelson serves
as first vice-president. Chairman of
the fiftieth anniversary celebration is
Okey McCraw.
were still there, but the Mountain
Messengers had been taken," he
said.
Mr Hill purchased the business
ten years ago and has seen ap-
proximately seven break-ins at the
riverside store, which sits at the
south end of the U. S. 219 bridge.
Another similar break-in occured in
1981, he says, in which a thief actu-
ally entered the building through a
broken pane. The person(s) in-
volved in last week's incident appar-
ently did not get inside, he says.
Ronceverte Police Chief Bill
Rose is investigating the incident
but says he has not yet found a mo-
tive for the break-in.
(See story, page 10-A)
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