]
Small Town Papers
5026 California Ave SW
Seattle WA 98136
12/29/2009
March 1, 2008
'Strengthening Community and
Divers',ity in the Greenbrier Valley" vol. xxlv, No. 9 3 5
, . J
b
Eastern Greenbrier Middle School's Panthers won the annual Battle
of the Books contest. Front Row: Maggie Karrs (left), Will Scott,
and Emily Vandevender. Second Row: Melissa O'Sullivan (left),
Jacob Essig-Beatty, and Josh Grubbs.
By David Cottrill
Battle of the Books is a con-
test in a "quiz bowl" format that
tests middle school students'
knowledge of books on a pre-
selected list. The event was held
at Carnegie Hall last month
and was sponsored by The
Greenbrier Reading Council,
The Open Book, and the Board
of Education.
Each school sent two teams
from each grade (12 teams).
The winning team was Eastern
Greenbrier's eighth grade Pan-
thers. The runner-up was
Eastem's eighth grade Eagles.
By David Cottrill
To wind up Black Hlst(
Month, NRCTC brought Aide r-
son's Adrienne Biesemeyer Lo
Campus to share her resear(:h
into "Black Red Necks," 19 :h
Century African-Americ: n
women who pioneered in tile
Old West.
There were thousands )f
them, according to Biesemey, r,
but they are hardly ever me 1-
tioned in history books. T:le
speaker portrayed five, all of
whom wh:;e~e ,~l~fleLpatCd
out;'
slaves, who' ~t6ri~tl "the
frontier and succeeded in a
variety of endeavors.
Mary Fields left Tenness
after emancipation and hell:
Ursuline nuns establish
school outside Cascade, Mc
tana. She drove their team ir
town regularly for supplies a
~e
~d
a
rl-
Lto
ad
Eastern Greenbrier Middle School's Eagles were second place
winners in the annual Battle of the Books contest. Front Row:
Abbey Estep (left), Kelsey Williams, and Brennan Smith. Second
Row: Aaron Graham (left), Maggie Hower, and Garrett Sheppard.
requl
,By David Cottrill
"You're on the leading edge,"
Steve Fisher, WV Housing De- "
Visit us at m
www.mountain messenger.corn
Inside This Week
Number of Sections: 4
General
Briefly 3A
Church Directory 4B
Classifieds 3C
Club News 1B
velopment Fund, told the
County Commission Tuesday
after the governing body
adopted the WV Building Code
as the county's standard. He
said only two other counties
have adopted the code for
countywide application.
Commission President Lowell
Rose said the adoption followed
two years of extensive consid-
eration. He noted that the
county's building inspector,
Ashley Carr, will oversee en-
forcement.
Among other benefits, build-
By Michael Showell
Inside this week's issu
the Mountain Messenger
will find our newest pub
tion, Mountain Messen
Properties & Lifestyles.
Our new monthly mal
replaces the tabloid Real E
Review.
We hope that you enjo
new full color high glossy n
of
you
ica-
er "s
dne
;tate
the
aga-
zine-style publication, l~ach
month you will receive Mbun-
tain Messenger's PropertJes &
Lifestyles as part of your sub-
scription.
This is part of our cor :inu-
ous efforts to bring you th( best
For the Record 2A
Obituaries 3B
Opinion 4A
Valley Business News 1C
Entertainment
Steppin' Out D Section
Crossword 5D
Hocus Focus 5D
Movie Listings 2D
TV Week 7 - 11D
Special Features
--
American Profiles
Appalachian Journal
ing to the code will help retain community newspaper pos-
market value, Fisher pointed sible.
out. Susan Rosshirt, Green- The Mountain Messenl 'er is
brier Housing Authority, was published weekly on Satu "day.
also on hand to applaud the Each edition containsa local
yo4r
adoption. Citizens can perusenews, Steppln t~ut,
TV
the code at www.greenbrier and Entertainn~ent Gflide,
American Profil~s, a
county.net.
g}ossy
On another issue, commis- magazine aboutlsmall ]town--~'
sioners voted to award $40,000 America and a liTe!y Editorial
each to The Greenbrier Valley and Opinion page}.
Theatre and Carnegie Hall Each month w9 publis~ the
from the county's arts and rec- additional special supple-
reation fund for the ~/pproach- ments, Body Mind & Spill and
ing fiscal year. Appalachian Journal,
Commissioners discussed a now, Mountain MesseJ
and
"er's
possible fee schedule for citi-. Properties & Lifestyles.
zens' groups who apply to useDur other weekly publica-
the Courthouse after hours. Lion, AppalachianAdwerdser, is
The issue was raised by plansa free publication distributed
for a county Democratic presi- at high traffic loc~ tions
dential nominating convention, throughout the Greenbri :r Val-
slated for the building on Sat- Icy. It contains hundreds ~f free
urday, Apr. 12. The trio voted classifieds and is your resource
to table the discussion until the for just about anythin~ you
next meeting. ~,want to buy or sell. [ 0
was popularly kmown as Stage
Coach Mary.
Quite tall ancl athletic, she
could ride, sho(ot, and curse
with the best, IBiesmeyer as-
sured her rapt ~audience. The
nuns helped her establish a
laundry in Casc'ade, a service
much appreciated, except by
the deadbeat w'ho walked off
one afternoon ~vithout paying
for the laundry he picked up.
Mary foUowedl him to the lo-
cal saloon and dlemanded pay-
ment. He made ~the mistake of
telling her to gett lost. She flat-
tened him and to, ok the money.
No one ever tri(ed to stiff her
after that.
She was also m Pony Express
rider during th~ short history
of that enterpris~e. Mary died in
1914.
Our WEB 'page, Mountain
Messenger.cc~m, is the most
viewed local page in the Green-
brier Valley. T~here you will find
extensive news coverage from
the Mountairl Messenger and
our on-line e(dition of the Ad-
vertiser wheFe you can place
your classifiecl ads for free from
your home co)mputer. Our new
magazine Mrountain Messen-
ger's Propertites & Lifestyles is
also available~ for view.
We could mot do it without
your support It is in partner-
ship with youl, our readers and
advertisers, amd the staff at the
Mountain 1Messenger that
makes it pos~sible to publish a
community p)aper that is truly
of and about the citizens and
towns it covers.
The Momntain Messenger
was started i]n 1985 by a group
of local bu siness men who
wanted to cr,'eate a publication
that would itncrease the qual-
ity of local mews and informa-
tion coverage in the Greenbrier
Valley. In 19)93, the paper was
purchased by another Green-
brier Count)y native, Michael
Showell, the current owner and
publisher.
We welcolme your contribu-
tions of comlmunity news about
churches, c]lubs, sports, busi-
ness and erntertainment. Con-
tact us by c:alling 647-5724 or
writing to MIountain Messenger
P.O. Box 429, Lewisburg, WV
24901. You may E-mail us at
ads@mount;ainmessenger, com.
Volunteer ine ,to America (VISTA) toiler Lucinda Tyler la-
bors to pro egacy of West Virginia's own, Pearl S. Buck.
(Photo by Sally Desire)
By David Cottrill
New Yorker Lucinda Tyler
ame to the Mountain State in
1994 to raise organic beef
cattle and championship Box-
ers.
Through VISTA and the
Pocahontas County Historical
Society (PCHS), she's now us-
ing her extensive marketing
background to promote the
Pearl Buck Birthplace Founda-
tion (PBBF) tO aS~he put it,
"raise awareness of the legacy
of Pearl Buck's illustrious and
formidable career."
Several promotional projects
are underway or in the offing.
Hfllsboro fifth graders are pen-
palling with counterparts in
China's Anhui Province, the
special section of that country
which inspired The Good Earth.
The youngsters are also ex-
changing videos and podcasts.
Later this year, the PBBF
and the PCHS will host Chi-
nese visitors interested in
"green" methods for raising
livestock. The visitors will, in
turn, host one of their country's
traditional kite-flying contests
on the lawn of the Foundation.
The author's birthday will be
marked during the county's
annual Little Levels Heritage
Fair, which will feature a writ,
ing workshop dedicated to her
memory. Several of the state's
authors--Denise Giardina,
Edwina Pendarvis, and Kirk
Judd will lead the workshop,
Tyler notes that the famedr
author penned these word~; ~
" my mother's house may'it
prove to others, too, a gateway
to new thoughts and dreams "
"We at the Historical Society
and the Foundation," Tyler
added, "plan to put this deram
in motion by honoring her
legacy and promoting the ex-
change of ideas with partici-
pants in Anhui Province,
Pocahontas County, and be-
yond."
By David Cottrill
What are our reps in Charles-
'ton doing in addition to agoniz-
ing over their legislative com-
pensation? Here are a fewof the
items still being kicked about.
House Bill 4686 would re-
quire schools to teach manage-
ment of checking and savings
accounts, loans, credit card
use, interest rates, and IRAs.
House Bill 4706 would re-
quire mandatory carding for a//
purchases of alcoholic bever-
ages.
House Bill 4662 would re-
quire the DMV to notify State
Police when a registered sex
offender registers a motor ve-
hicle.
Senate Bill 734 would cre-
ate the Office of Minority Affairs
as a cabinet in the Governor's
office.
House Bill 4697 would cre-
ate a prompt payment law.
Contractors would have to be
paid within 30 days, and sub-
contractors within seven days.
House Bill 4589 would in-
crease from $50-$200 to $200-
$500 penalties for overtaking
a school bus.
Senate Bill 747 would es-
tablish the PROMISE Scholar
Summer Internship Program.
House Bill 4633 would re-
quire students to receive con-
tinuing homebound services
for health impairments deter-
mined to be ongoing.
Senate Bill 743 would al-
low public and private non-
profit organizations to lease
school buses to transport reg-
istered voters to polling places.
Senate Bill 725 would regu-
late the sale of beverages in
schools.
Senate Bill 771 would au-
thorize Nontraditional Career
Development Centers to assist
displaced homemakers or
single parents in receiving job
counseling, job training, job
placement.
House Bill 4601 would re-
quire public school instruction
in the positive results capital-
ism has produced in the United
States.
House Bill 4599 would pro,
hibit cloning human embryos
in state medical schools or uni-
versities.
House Bill 4646, would in-
clude a check-off option to do-
nate some or all of one's per-
sonal tax refund to the Jack-
son's Mill 4-H Camp.
Senate Bill '705 would al-
low a caregiver who is not a par-
ent or guardian to consent to
health care for a minor Lhrough
an affidavit.
House Bill 4634 would cre-
ate a funding mechanism for
Child Advocacy Centers from
the Crime Victim's Compensa-
tion Fund.
SpecialS(
A Journal
