10 Years Ago
Week of December 17, 2015
SUGAR GROVE
Belsnicklers Were One of the Oldest Christmas Traditions
In the eighteenth century in this area, Christmas Day was a meager celebration in comparison to today. There was no Christmas tree, no exchange of gifts and no singing of Christmas carols as the majority of the hymns were unknown to the residents.
What did make Christmas Day special was the fresh meat that was available from the butchering done between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The weather was cold, and there was less chance of the meat spoiling.
Of course, the children could expect a visit from the Belsnickle. The Belsnickle was not Santa Claus! Instead he was ugly and frightened the children. The Belsnickle traveled from house to house brandishing his whips, or switches, in the air. He would use these switches to whip naughty children. To the good little boys and girls, he would hand out cakes.
It was generally the custom for the Belsnickle to receive a treat at each house…doughnuts, molasses cakes, coffee and usually the form of a libation, such as cider. Needless to say, as the Belsnickle proceeded on his visits, he became more and more oblivious to his behavior and the severity of his whippings.
By the early twentieth century, Belsnicklers usually traveled in groups, much like trick-or-treaters of contemporary times, from farm to farm. A boisterous, happy and noisy group would start shortly after dark, with the practice ending long before midnight. The custom of the Christmas visit from the Belsnickle slowly faded into the past.
During the early part of the twentieth century, Christmas trees were cut down and erected in almost every home. Ornaments were usually homemade (stars and dolls cut out of paper, bells made from tissue paper and swags made of twisted red and green crepe paper) to adorn the tree’s branches. Children kept busy stringing popped corn to hang on the tree for decoration. Christmas presents for the most part were meager. Most families had country ham for dinner with different types of pies. Fruitcake and eggnog were served in more affluent homes. Children would receive an orange and a homemade item.
Special things that were associated with Christmas were raisins, peanut brittle, chocolate drops, oranges, roasted chestnuts, black walnuts and the visit of the Belsnickle. It was a happy season filled with joy and mirth where friends gathered to sing and eat.
20 Years Ago
Week of December 15, 2005
SUGAR GROVE
Every Time a Hand Reaches Out To Help Another . . . That’s Christmas
Christmas programs and hundreds of grade school programs being performed across this land started out the same way. Proud parents and grandparents anxiously wait for the program to begin; whilst behind closed curtains, last minute instructions could be heard and frantic movements being made. Excitement runs high as the children are dressed in holiday finery. All these many years of programs does not cause stale and boring programs now. Instead, there is fresh excitement as the children reflect the joy of the season in their own bright way.
From a gap in the curtains, the younger ones are literally dancing with excitement. Poems that had been recited perfectly for months would mysteriously go blank from minds as one peeked around the curtain and got a glimpse of the overflowing crowd, anxiously waiting for the performance.
There was the usual medley of carols and recitations. Usually the wee ones were a riot. There is usually one who belts out the words about three beats behind or ahead of the others.
40 Years Ago
Week of December 19, 1985
West Virginia Lottery Tickets Will Go On Sale January 9
West Virginia’s first lottery game is called “West Virginia Jackpot” and will include more than 2-1/2 million winning tickets, Lottery Director Ralph Peters said today. In revealing details of the game at lottery headquarters in Charleston, Peters said the West Virginia Lottery will be exciting and fun for every player. The tickets will go on sale January 9 and feature a legendary pot of gold at the end of a brilliant rainbow.
Peters said the tickets will be sold by nearly 2,500 licensed retailers statewide for $1.00 each and will offer players a chance to win up to $5,000 instantly.
Yesteryear in Pendleton
By Janet H. Conrad
Have you ever watched a robin build her nest? If not, your life is not complete. One built on my front porch on top of a post and I watched the entire construction. It is inconceivable the trips it takes to bring in the necessary materials. But the most intriguing part was when she lined it with mud. The robin flew with a gob of mud in her mouth and after dumping it, she would stamp it in place as she revolved around in the cup of the nest. She never appeared to my watching. She seemed to be conveying to me this message, “see how good I am at constructing the best home in the world. But my it takes work!”
My first concrete memory of my mother is about a family of robins. She had kept us up to date on the robin family that had built in a pear tree close to the kitchen door. First the building, the laying of the blue speckled eggs, the incubation period and finally, the tiny babies that demanded more and more food. My two sisters and I dug fish worms and placed them close to the tree — however, I’m not sure our offerings were used.
But, true to form, the big old house cat caught the mother robin and I remember my mother chasing the cat hoping to rescue the mother robin before she was killed. Around the house went the cat, holding onto the robin, then my mother and following were her three small girls crying as hard as they could!
The cat was caught, but of course, the robin was dead. So, from our play house, we selected the most beautiful candy box with a blue ribbon and tenderly placed the robin in the box. My sisters and I buried her in the garden and held a tear soaking ceremony.
My oldest sister preached the sermon. The title of the sermon was “For She Was a Mighty Fine Bird,” repeated over and over. My other sister and I sang parts of hymns.
Today, psychiatrists say this is a good thing for children to experience for it puts death in the right perspective and it becomes as normal as birth and is nothing to fear. Just a step into the unknown where life continues in a new dimension.
Shenandoah Valley Farmers Donate Sixty-Five Tons of Hay
Sixty-five tons of hay — enough to fill 12 trailer trucks — has been donated by Shenandoah Valley farmer to help neighboring West Virginians whose hay was washed away in the November foods.
“The response has been great,” said James Hively, agriculture instructor at Broadway High and spokesman for the Broadway-Timberville Young Farmers, who are coordinating the hay drive.
One load of hay has been delivered to Pendleton County, and Hively said the Young Farmers hope to ship a couple more loads this week.
It is important to let West Virginia farmers know as soon as possible how much hay will be available, Hively said. Many of the farmers are going to have to “make a decision right quick” on whether they will have enough feed to carry stock through the winter or whether they should sell, he explained.
History of West Virginia Newspapers Being Collected
Since the first issue of “The Potowmack Guardian” came off the press in Shepherdstown back in 1790, nearly 1400 newspapers have been published in West Virginia. Embracing such stalwart dailies as the “Wheeling Intelligencer,” and all so short-lived topical titles like “The Tenerance Star,” “Derrick Herald,” or “The Knapsack,” which was published by the 5th Virginia Volunteers during the Civil War, the state’s journalistic history is fascinating.
The West Virginia Newspaper Project, which began in July 1983 under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, is still collecting detailed information about the publishing history of the state in the hope of preserving that history as well as the newspapers themselves. Original issues have been located for about 1064 different newspaper titles but no issues have been located for over 300 papers which once operated in this state. Eventually, the project staff hopes to locate all the issues for all the newspapers ever published in the state and to microfilm them thus making them available to all researchers.
Although some newspapers are being microfilmed now, the major preservation effort will commence in late 1986 and continue through 1988.
50 Years Ago
Week of December 11, 1975
Outbreak of Woods Fires Believed Caused by Arson
TEN FIRES IN THREE WEEKS
Local officials suspect arson to be the cause of a series of forest fires which have broken out in Pendleton County during the past three weeks.
A total of ten fires have burned over approximately 160 acres in scattered locations of the county since November 11.
Dates of recent fires, property owners, locations and areas burned are as follows:
November 16 — Ralph Mauzy, Mauzy Gap, 4 acres; November 19 — Roger Hott, Brushy Mountain, 5 acres; November 21, J. M. Huber, Corp., Town Mountain, 20 acres; November 26 — Ralph Mauzy, Mauzy Gap, 0.1 acre; November 29 — Robert Raines, North Fork Mountain, 0.1 acre; December 1 — James Early, Buffalo Hills, 7 acres; December 2 — Ray Sponaugle, Harold Gap, 107 acres; December 3 — Quentin Propst, Dickenson Mountain, 15 acres; December 5 — J. M. Huber Corporation, Evick Gap, 1 acre.
60 Years Ago
Week of December 16, 1965
Guy Propst Selected PVC ‘Coach of the Year’
Coach Guy Propst of Circleville High School was named “Coach of the Year” in the Potomac Valley Conference November 30 at the annual PVC meeting.
The selection of Propst who has struggled for years to keep football alive at Circleville and seldom has enough players to conduct a realist scrimmage, was well received by the coaches of the 12-school football circuit.
Propst’s Indians were undefeated in conference play this season. In four games played against Potomac Valley Conference opponents, the Indians won two and tied two.
Propst has been teaching at Circleville High School since 1939 except for four years he was in military service from 1942 to 1945 during World War II.
He introduced football at the North Fork school in 1950, and in spite of the fact that he seldom has enough boys out for football to make two teams needed for practice, he has consistently turned out aggressive, well-tutored teams which have been a credit to their school.
In addition to coaching football, Propst also coaches basketball and baseball. He is a brother of Dona Propst, member of the faculty of Franklin High School where he was athletic coach for a number of years.
Local Lawyers Hear Plans for Law School
“For the first time in history, applicants for admission to the College of Law at West Virginia University will be closely screened before they will be admitted to the law school,” Paul L. Selby, Jr., dean of the WVU College of Law, told members of the South Branch Valley Bar Association last Friday night.
“Records show that from 40 to 50 percent of freshmen entering the law school in the past have failed to graduate. This waste of time is not fair to the student or the school,” Selby said in revealing some changes he has in store for future classes.
Americans Will Use 50,000,000 Christmas Trees
Almost 50,000,000 Christmas trees, averaging about one to every four Americans, are nearing their ultimate rendezvous. The U.S. Navy placed its order early for 70,000 trees.
More families than ever are expected this year to participate in the “choose and cut” method of buying. Many now like to make an outing to a commercial tree farm where they can pick their own trees while they’re in the ground, then get a little exercise cutting them.
