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Archive for April, 2010

3 Don’t-Miss West Virginia Events For May

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Here we go, everyone!  Spring has taken over southern West Virginia, and that’s just fine with us.

Why?  Oh, I don’t know… because it’s AWESOME?  Honestly, is there any better place in the world for spring?  If there is, no one’s discovered it yet.  Not because they haven’t looked.  It’s just that the search always brings them right back here.

Let’s all sing it together:  Country Roaaaaads, Take Me Hooooooooome….

That was beautiful.  Why doesn’t anyone go caroling in the spring?  Anyway, here are some great events to get you out and about this month.  And if you want to find more, they’re on our entire events calendar.  Enjoy!


A Universe Of Dreams
What else is great about Southern WV?  Well, there are plenty of mountaintops that are absolutely perfect for some nighttime stargazing.

But sometimes watching from here on Earth just doesn’t do the universe justice.  That’s when we bring something like, say, the Hubble Space Telescope.  And you know what makes it even better?  Really cool music from the Ensable Galilei.  And you need someone to narrate what you’re seeing, like Neal Conan from NPR’s Talk Of The Nation.

Now that’s the way to see the stars.  And if it isn’t quite making sense to you, don’t worry.  It will when you buy your ticket to the May 1st performance at Princeton’s amazing Chuck Mathena Center.  You will NOT be disappointed.


Bramwell Spring Tour Of Homes
Imagine a little mountain town filled with millionaires.  What kind of houses would they build there?

Bramwell Presbyterian Church

Cool ones.  Bramwell lives in a place that builds on our whole idea of community, and there’s no way to really “get it” without going there for a tour.  The houses, the town, the people there have a story that’s so unique in American history, it can only be told by experiencing it.

The Bramwell Spring Tour is full of big homes, amazing architecture, and, um, bigger homes.  It’s the kind of thing you might expect to see leap out of a good book.  And yet there it is.  This year, the tour is on May 8th.


The Sweet Treats Dessert Festival
Got a sweet tooth?  Of course you do!  But you don’t want to go to the store and get something and take it home.  You want to share your affection for sweets with the world!

Good thing you can head over to the Sweet Treats Dessert Festival in downtown Beckley.  Expect awesomeness and fun of the sugared-and-chocolate-dipped variety, along with plenty of other fare for anyone interested in tasting the yummy-er side of southern West Virginia.

Plus there are other attractions at the festival, like inflatable jump castles for the kids and live music.  Should be a great time for anyone in the area.  And for anyone not in the area.  What we’re saying is, your proximity should not be a concern when it comes to chocolate.

Did we mention that proceeds go to Relay For Life?

Now you pretty much have to go.  If you ever wanted a good reason to have too much dessert, now you’ve got one.  Hope to see you there on May 22.

Once again, these are just three of the lots and lots (and lots!) of things going on across our lovely southern part of the Mountain State this May.  Check our events calendar for more.  Happy spring, everyone.

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The 5 Best Reasons To Spend Spring In The Mountains

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

If you ever needed a reminder about how great life is, do this:   Come to southern West Virginia in the spring.

Pinnacle Rock in "Spring Green"

Because this is hands-down, without-a-doubt the best time to be in the mountains.

Here are 5 reasons why:

•    The Green: The green that pops up during springtime isn’t just green.  It’s spring green.  So special they designed a crayon color for it.  And you can’t see it anywhere else like this.  Heck, even if you could, nowhere has the background of the ancient mountains to really draw it out.  Spring green in southern WV is truly like no other color on earth.

•    All The Other Colors: What isn’t green is every other color that’s bright, new, or refreshing.  The redbuds burst.  The forsythias pop.  The mountains reinvigorate all of your color sensibilities, and make you feel alive and awake in a way that a museum masterpiece never could.

•    The White Water :  Okay, okay… white water rafting isn’t for everyone.  Only 93% of you.  We understand.  If you think the mountains are pretty while driving down the road in the spring, wait until you see them from a wild river like the New or the Gauley.  Even if you don’t go to a wild section of a wild river, i.e. you like family floating more than white knuckle white water, it doesn’t matter.  Spring doesn’t care, and neither do we, as long as you’re having fun.

•    All The Other Adventures :  We like to say that, if you can do it outside, you can do it in West Virginia.  So spring is our chance to rediscover all that wildness and excitement.  Even if excitement is mushroom hunting instead of rock climbing, or antiquing instead of, say, ATV riding.  It doesn’t really matter how you define adventure, as long as you’re doing something that makes you feel adventurous.

•   The People:  You didn’t think we’d leave out the key ingredient, did you?  Mountaineers haven’t exactly been holed up all winter (we’re always free, remember?)  Still, spring unleashes a whole bunch of happiness in the Mountain State, and we’re going to celebrate it.  Our yards get the attention we’ve dreamed about.  So do our grills.  We get outside and stretch in the spring sun, and if that’s not a good time to visit somewhere, it’s going to be pretty hard to figure out when is.

Need another reason?  You.  You make spring here in West Virginia better.  Time to get outside, don’t you think?

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Baseball… In Southern WV!

Friday, April 16th, 2010

When you come to southern West Virginia, you have some expectations, generally.  Natural beauty.  Secluded mountain cabins.  White water rafting, maybe.  Adventure.  Art.  That sort of thing.

Most people don’t think, “baseball”.  But they should.  Southern WV has

Power Park - Home of the WV Power

long been home to three minor league teams, the furthest south being the Princeton Rays and the Bluefield Orioles.  They’ve provided the area with awesome baseball for decades.

And let’s not forget the West Virginia Power, whose long history as a franchise in Charleston as the Alley Cats, the Charlies, and the Senators (originally the Toledo Mud Hens!) has given the state a baseball team to cheer on since 1952.

And now Beckley will step in.  A brand new, non-pro collegiate franchise, The West Virginia Miners, will begin play in “the small town with a mine of its own”.  Here’s some info to get you ready…

  • The Miners will play in the Prospect League.  This league is designed for college players and uses wooden bats (NCAA college teams use aluminum bats, but all other rules apply).  That makes it unique among other collegiate leagues.
  • There’s a brand new, state of the art baseball stadium for the team in Beckley.  The Linda K. Epling Stadium may even be outfitted with extra bleacher seats pre-season to meet demand for tickets.
  • The Miners are developing a competitive junior league for both girls and boys called the Red Hats.  The boys will play in under-8, -10, and -12 divisions, and the girls will play under 18 softball.  Home field for the kids?  You guessed it- Epling Stadium.
  • Since the Miners are a collegiate club, the organization is running a promotion to find host families for some of its players.  Host families that “adopt a Miner” get all kinds of perks in addition to the satisfaction of helping the team, like season tickets and parking passes.
  • The West Virginia Miners’ home opener is on Saturday June 5th at 7 p.m.  Expect the whole city to come out and welcome the team, so get your tickets early.

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