10 Years Ago
Week of August 9, 2012
‘NY Times’
Features County Fair
“The New York Times” has discovered the unique charms of Circleville and the Pendleton County Fair.
The online edition of the national paper of record on July 31 carried an illustrated feature story by Melena Ryzik about her visit to the recent fair and her evening in the Historic Circleville High School gym for the square dance staged by the Augusta Heritage Center’s Mountain Dance Trail project.
Augusta is identified as a “resource for folk life studies out of Davis & Elkins College.” The project has organized dances “across the state, cultivating tradition county by county.”
While the county fair was going on in Circleville, Durbin Days kept things jumping across Elk Mountain in Pocahontas County. The “Pocahontas Times” reported Aug. 2 that the political director for CBS News, John Dickerson, had visited Durbin Days and mentioned the visit on “Face the Nation.”
Dickerson told the “Times that he and his family had “checked out Seneca Rocks as a future destination on their way back to Washington, DC.” “I love West Virginia,” he said. “I suspect we’ll be back.”
SUGAR GROVE
Many Moons Shine
Over Pendleton County
“Once in a blue moon.” The earliest recorded English usage of the term “blue moon” was in 1524. The saying, “Once in a blue moon” has nothing to do with color. Instead, it refers to the rate occurrence of what is called a “blue moon.” It is a full moon that rises twice in one month.
The literal meaning of blue moon is when the moon appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish in color, which is a rare event. The effect can be caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as has happened following forest fires and after volcanic eruptions.
20 Years Ago
Week of August 8, 2002
SUGAR GROVE
August: Time To Weed Out Brush and Enjoy Garden Blessings
August is putting a wrap on summer. Children are hurrying to wring-out the last bit of summer enjoyment, endeavoring to live each day to the fullest before the grind of school begins. The steamy weather has been growing by leaps and bounds, and so do the weeds. The cucumber patch is producing prolifically. A pot of green beans, sliced cucumbers and juicy red tomatoes is food at its best. Whilst’ the housewives work is cut out for them, a time to reflect and say thanks for the days’ blessings is much needed.
In the 1800s, the first part of August was referred to as Deadwood Day. It was at this time that brush was cut because it was widely acclaimed that it wouldn’t grow again. Even young girls joined the men folk to hoe and grub out the brush and weeds along the fences. Special days, such as July 30th or August 1st called for killing brush as it was believed the weeds wouldn’t grow up anymore. As time progressed, the State Road would work the roadside as the farmer worked his side in order to alleviate the wild, weedy look.
40 Years Ago
Week of August 5, 1982
Many Wild Plants
Can Be Used
For Food or Drink
By Ray Blum
During this time of the summer lots of us become interested in a few species of edible wild plants: mainly blueberries and blackberries. There are, however, a host of other plants that can be used to supplement our diet and provide us with greens, pot herbs, and teas. I would like to share with you a few of my favorite edibles that can be found during the summer season.
Common Dandelion—The familiar lawn weed is very versatile and can be used as a salad, a cooked green, fritters, or as a coffee substitute. The young leaves, gathered before the flowers appear, can be added to salads or boiled for 5-10 minutes. The flowers are excellent when dipped in a batter and fried and the roots can be baked in a slow oven until dried, then ground, and used as a coffee substitute.
Lambsquarters—This common garden weed is also known as wild spinach and to me, tastes much better than the garden variety. The leaves should be washed and then boiled for about 15 minutes. Like spinach, the leaves shrink quite a bit when cooked, so collect what looks to be double the amount you would like to eat. I also prefer to change the water once while the plants are cooking. After the leaves are tender, add a pat of butter and some salt and enjoy this delicious plant.
Day Lily—Nearly anyone can identify this orange flower. It is very common along roadsides and old homesteads. The flower blossoms can be dipped in a batter and fried, and the blossoms, when boiled, taste a lot like green beans. If you have patience, dig up a bowl of roots, clean them throughly, add onion and butter and slowly fry them in a skillet. The result is a dish that resembles fried potatoes and it is excellent.
Wood-Sorrel—These delicate woodland plants have three leaves and resemble the common clover. This plant tastes sour and can be used as a drink or as a salad supplement. To make a refreshing drink, steep the leaves for 10 minutes, chill, and add sugar or honey. This plant is rich in vitamin C.
Mint Teas—There is a wide variety of mints that can be used for tea. Bea Balm or Oswego Tea, Catnip, Wild Bergamot, and Peppermint are just a few of the species available for this use. I prefer to combine the leaves of two species of mint when I make tea. The leaves can either be used fresh, or dried and stored for later use.
If you are interested in collecting wild plants and using them for food, I suggest that you purchase a book on the subject. One that I find extremely helpful is the Peterson Field Guide on Edible Wild Plants. It provides illustrations and some photographs useful for identification on the parts of the plant that are edible, cooking tips, and plants that are poisonous to eat.
60 Years Ago
Week of August 9, 1962
100 YEARS AGO
By LON K. SAVAGE
Editor’s Note—The following is one of a series of articles on the Civil War. Each weekly installment covers events which occurred exactly 100 years ago.
Jackson Whips Banks
On New Battle Front
The hard-fighting, hard-praying Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson came upon an old enemy 100 years ago this week.
The enemy was Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, the former Massachusetts governor and speaker of the House of Representatives, whose army Jackson had whipped in the Shenandoah Valley and had sent flying across the Potomac River to safety earlier in the year. Now, Banks was back in Virginia at Culpeper, near the juncture of the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers, commanding the advance guard of federal Gen. John Pope’s newly-organized Army of Virginia.
Jacskson had come up to the Rapidan from Richmond shortly after the Seven Day’s fighting, and his men looked forward warmly to the prospect of fighting Banks again. “Commissary Banks,” they called him, because Banks had left behind food and provisions in his hasty retreat from Jackson the last time the two had fought. Now, they were itching to fight Banks again.
So on August 8th, Jackson crossed the Rapidan, and Banks moved in toward him. Next afternoon, the two armies collided on the banks of a stream called Cedar Run and in the shadow of Cedar Mountain, and the battle—called both “Cedar Run” and “Cedar Mountain”—was fought.
This time, Banks’ men gave Jackson stiff resistance. The battle opened with an artillery duel, followed by a Confederate charge which the Yankees received without giving way.
Banks then advanced his troops, driving back some of Jackson’s troops and, according to one report, sending the famous “Stonewall Brigade” back in disorderly retreat.
But as the sun began to set, Banks’ artillery was forced to retreat, and Jackson’s right advanced crushing the federals before it. From there it was a rout, as Jackson’s men pushed forward all along the line and Banks’ defenses caved in everywhere. By dark, Banks had been whipped again. His army of 17,900 had suffered more than 2,300 casualties (including 622 captured or missing). Jackson, with an army of 20,000, had suffered a thousand fewer casualties.
A Logical First Step – – –
Of special significance to Pendleton County at this particular time was information provided in two separate meetings held here during the past week. The one was the meeting with ARA officials last Thursday, and the other was the meeting of the county RAD council’s subcommittee on tourism Monday night.
We learned in the meeting with the ARA officials that the proposed tourist development at Sugar Grove is on shaky ground. If some spectacular use is not made of the Naval facility which will attract tourists into the area, the ARA funds will be withdrawn from the tourist center planned for that area. At the meeting of the RAD council’s subcommittee on tourism, Frank Wade outlined a foolproof method of developing tourist business.
The information provided by these two meetings should not be ignored by the people of Pendleton County. While we are still hopeful that the development at Sugar Grove will become a reality, we should not leave all our eggs in one basket. We should begin immediately to develop the tourist potential of the entire county. If it is done properly, it is possible that additional ARA funds would be available for the undertaking.
The outstanding attraction in the county should be selected to serve as the focal point of interest. Plans should be made for the extensive development of that attraction. Then all other points of interest in the county should be developed, and a series of tours arranged which would originate at the central attraction and take in everything the county has to offer.
One possibility would be to take the Seneca Rocks as the central attraction. Develop it extensively so that everyone for miles around would want to visit it. Tie in with it tours that would take in such scenic wonders as Germany Valley, Spruce Knob, Seneca Caverns, Reddish Knob and many many more. Additional developments could be added such as reconstructed Indian forts at Fort Seybert and Fort Upper Tract, and a skyline drive from the top of North Mountain along the top of the mountain to the Smoke Hole.
Admittedly, this is an ambitious plan. But it would have far reaching results. The average family that visits West Virginia leaves $150 here. An additional 25 tourists per day is equal to a payroll of $100,000 to an area. This could help Pendleton County.
George Lavalee of Washington, ARA chief for the Appalachian area, who was here last Thursday, was obviously impressed with the tourist potential of the county. He remarked, “Your county has everything—climate, natural beauty, interesting historic background, proximity to large population centers—everything for the development of tourism.”
What Lavalee said was nothing new. But it was reassuring to hear it expressed by a prominent government official who has traveled throughout the world.
Tourism can mean much to our county. It is not intended to take the place of industrial development. That must come too. But the development of the tourist potential is the logical first step. It can put us back on the road to a better economy. But it cannot be developed on a piecemeal basis. And it cannot be done by a handful of people. It requires an overall plan, and even more important, it must have the cooperation of all the people.
70 Years Ago
Week of July 31, 1952
HOMEMAKER NEWS
By Mary Mann Zinn
Home Demonstration Agent
Hot Day Refreshers . . .
“Oh, for a pick-me-up!” Is that what you are thinking now as you sit in your hot room and read this paper?
I’ve got some refreshers I’d like to pass on to you. After a rugged spell of house or farm work, you must be ready for a refresher.
Lie down for five minutes with your feet propped higher than your head. If you have more time, so much the better. Put a towel—wrung out in warm water—over your eyes. Don’t you feel relaxed?
Another refresher is a quick bath in the tub followed by a brisk rub with cologne. Put on some fresh clothes. It can work magic.
Of course, it could be that your feet bring on that dragged-out feeling. Rest them by massaging them well with face cream. Wash it off with cold water and dry your feet briskly. If you don’t have the time for this, a change to fresh stockings and shoes may do the trick.
Hot weather—cool desserts are a pleasant refresher. They seem to go together like salt and pepper.