Arts & Culture Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Harpers Ferry, Bolivar Residents Unite To Restore Black Baptist Church

A local history preservation group is working to rehabilitate the battered First Zion Baptist Church, a historic Black church in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

Harpers Ferry is a hotspot for Black history in West Virginia. The town was home to an 1859 abolitionist uprising, a 1905 conference on Black civil rights and a historically Black college that operated for nearly a century.

For many residents, a first step toward preserving Harpers Ferry’s Black history is rehabilitating and preserving sites of historic significance.

When community members noticed a traditionally Black Baptist church in town fall into disrepair, they rallied behind an effort to restore the building to its former glory.

Now, a local preservation nonprofit called the Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation has secured a $100,000 grant to rehabilitate the church.

Reporter Jack Walker spoke with the organization’s incoming chair Lynn Pechuekonis about where the project is today, and the future of First Zion Baptist Church.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

First Zion Baptist Church has been worn down by the elements and pests, according to Lynn Pechuekonis, incoming chair of the Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Walker: To begin, could you tell me what First Zion Baptist Church is, and why it’s important to Harpers Ferry history?

Pechuekonis: Harpers Ferry harbored a very vibrant Black community between 1870 and 1970, partially because of Storer College. That brought education to Black families here. It also helped with job training. It also engendered a summer resort industry, which ended up nurturing the Hill Top Hotel, which was a Black-run hotel from 1890 to 1926. It was Black-owned. So there was a large population, comparatively, of Black people in Harpers Ferry — Black families who could own homes. They were encouraged to own homes here. And so they wanted to worship here as well. There were actually altogether four African American churches in Harpers Ferry at one time. Two of those were on West Ridge Street, and First Zion Church was built in 1894 by some of the very early Black families who came to live in our town.

Walker: I know that you and some other local community members have rallied around First Zion Baptist Church and preserving the historic building for future generations. How did that project come to be?

Pechuekonis: So, several years ago, some folks in town, both in Bolivar and Harpers Ferry, were concerned about the fact that we had two former African American churches actually on the same street, just about within three lots of each other, that had been abandoned, and were just really deteriorating quickly. And so it was part of the foundation’s mission to preserve and beautify our communities. So they chose the building that was in better shape between the two, and also one that was on the market to be sold. We were able to buy First Zion Baptist Church, and we’ve been working slowly ever since then, trying to raise money and making improvements and protecting the church where we can ever since.

The Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation is currently soliciting community feedback on what type of establishment to convert the battered First Zion Baptist Church into.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Walker: As this project progresses, what vision do you have for the future of the church? What function will it serve for the local community?

Pechuekonis: We’re actually holding a community charrette on May 15 to get some ideas from the community about what they feel they need, because we want this to truly be a Harpers Ferry and Bolivar community center. We have some ideas, but we want to hear what the community has to say. We would like to have some kind of display honoring the Black community that lived here, and especially the history of that church. We also see it as a community or cultural center, to provide programming, to provide community space for events that the community wants to have. We are limited by the town of Harpers Ferry because it’s in a residential neighborhood to having it as a community center or religious institution. So we don’t have a lot of freedom to do other things with it. So that’s kind of why we’re going down that avenue, but we want to shape it in a way that the community most feels the need.

Walker: Obviously this is a long-term project, but do you have a sense of how long it will take to complete the church’s rehabilitation?

Pechuekonis: I think it’s a few years out, just because it’s going to involve so much — so many resources financially. The $100,000 that’s going to help us work on the exterior is just a drop in the bucket compared to what will need to be done to the interior to make it safe and also fit modern standards for a facility that the community can best use. So I think it’s maybe at least three to five years out. That’s just a wild guess.

First Zion Baptist Church, a historic Black church in Harpers Ferry, has become run down over the years. Community members hope to change that.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Walker: And now that the project is underway, what are your hopes for what it can bring to the local community?

Pechuekonis: One of the things that we’re hoping is that, as a secular community center, the foundation can bring together residents from both the towns of Harpers Ferry and Bolivar to help build a more cohesive community from the fellowship and shared experiences people have in this space.

On May 15, the Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation will host a community charette to receive public input on the First Zion Baptist Church rehabilitation project. For more information on the event, visit the foundation’s website.

Residents interested in providing feedback on the project can do so through an online survey operated by the Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation.

Preserving A Historic Black Church And A Conversation With Mike Pushkin On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear from Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party, on the efforts to rebuild the party and restore Democrats to state offices ahead of this primary election. Also, we hear about preservation efforts for a historic Black church in Harpers Ferry.

On this West Virginia Morning, while Republican candidates dominate the media leading up to next week’s primary election, there are also Democrats up and down the ballot running for state offices. Their campaign strategy, however, takes a different path.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party, spoke with Randy Yohe on the efforts to rebuild the party and restore Democrats to state offices.

Also, in this show, Harpers Ferry is a hot spot for Black history in West Virginia. The town was home to a major abolitionist uprising, a Black civil rights conference and the historically Black Storer College.

But preserving the city’s historic sites requires upkeep. When the town’s residents saw a historic Black Baptist church falling into disrepair, the idea for a new preservation project was born.

Now, the project has received a $100,000 rehabilitation grant. Jack Walker spoke with Lynn Pechuekonis, incoming chair of the Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation, about what’s in store for First Zion Baptist Church.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Chris Schulz produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Us & Them Encore: Compassion Fatigue

Homelessness is not just an issue for big cities like San Francisco or New York City. Across America, communities large and small are struggling to provide shelter to people without housing. In Charleston, West Virginia, government and community approaches to help the unhoused have created more debate on an issue that is already divisive. Earlier this year, this episode received a second place award from the Virginias AP Broadcasters for Best Podcast.

Homelessness has been on the rise since 2016 and the pandemic only exacerbated an acute shortage of resources to help people living on the streets. Now, many communities are struggling to provide support as some homeless people turn away from emergency shelters and remain in outdoor encampments.

In Charleston, West Virginia, the city’s opioid response program also now focuses on homelessness. “Tent cities” have been a focus at the state legislature as debate continues over how best to help people living on the street.

At the same time, some people say they’re more afraid of people living on the street than in the past. Providing sustained care for homeless people continues to elude and divide even well-meaning and determined communities.

Earlier this year, this episode received a second place award from the Virginias AP Broadcasters for Best Podcast.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Us & Them host Trey Kay met Randy Lantz while Lantz sheltered on the steps of First Presbyterian Church in Charleston on a cold night in January 2023. Lantz said he’s been homeless since 2016. He said he’s from Atlanta, Georgia and has been in prison three times. Lantz said he found his way “back into the world” after his first two prison terms. But this time, he said, he cannot.

*Photo Credit: Julie Blackwood*

Rev. William Myers became First Presbyterian Church’s new head minister in August 2021. It wasn’t long before he became aware of the church’s transient guests who slept on the building’s front steps. Rev. Myers allowed them to camp there overnight. But he wanted to set limits, knowing children in the church’s preschool program used that entrance every morning and afternoon.

He established some ground rules for those sheltering on the steps. But this did not resolve the concerns of community members in and outside First Presby. In his first days in Charleston, Rev. Myers was quickly immersed in the debate over how best to help people living on the street.

(Click here to view Rev. Myer’s sermon about caring for homeless people.)

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Ashley Switzer was born and raised in Charleston. She is a school teacher. Ashley and her husband have raised five children in West Virginia’s capitol city. Her grandson attends a preschool that’s located near First Presbyterian Church and St. Johns Episcopal Church, which houses Manna Meal, a soup kitchen that’s been serving meals to homeless people for more than four decades.

“There was a group of parents from this school right here who actually called for a meeting with the mayor of our town because of instances with homeless or criminal vagrants on school property, near school property, banging on parents’ car doors, children in the back screaming,” she said, standing outside the preschool playground where her grandson plays. “There have been children playing on this actual playground where homeless people will threaten them. My grandson has witnessed someone walking down this very sidewalk with no pants.”

*Photo Credit: Ashley Switzer*

Barbara DiPietro is the senior director of policy for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. She oversees the group’s federal advocacy and policy analysis. “It’s not compassion in our public policies when we consistently choose not to fund housing, not to raise wages, to allow people to not get health care,” DiPietro said. “Homelessness isn’t an accident. These are conscious public policy choices.”

*Photo Credit: National Institute for Medical Respite Care*

Taryn Wherry is Director of the City of Charleston’s CARE program, or Coordinated Addiction Response Effort. The CARE program began under Charleston’s current mayor, Amy Goodwin. *(Click here to hear Mayor Goodwin on meeting the needs of Charleston’s homeless population.)*

“We take a very hands-on, boots on the ground approach every day,” Wherry said. “We’re in the streets, we’re on the [river] banks or in abandoned properties. We’re talking to people and meeting them where they’re at.”

Wherry said CARE staff know firsthand what it is like to be out on the streets, struggling with drug or alcohol addiction.

“We have individuals who have lived and learned experience in all fields, people who are in long-term recovery who have been in active addiction,” she said.

*(Click here to view former Charleston Mayor Danny Jones announcing his order to dismantle a homeless encampment known as “Tent City.”)*

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Sommer Short is a peer support worker with Covenant House, which is one of the nonprofit service organizations that works with Charleston’s CARE team. When Sommer was 21, she was injured in a car accident and was prescribed opioids. Over the next five years, she transitioned to heroin use. She said she eventually left home and became homeless.

Short is sober now and works to help unhoused people who are living the way she used to live. She said many of the homeless people she meets are living with substance use disorder. She said they feel like “her people.”

“Though I may be in a position where I’m three years sober today, I am comfortable going out there and trying to help someone the same way that someone helped me,” she said.

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

One way Short tries to help is by offering food and “hygiene bags” to homeless people camping in and around Charleston. She keeps the supplies in the trunk of her car.

“In the bag, we have a Ziploc bag, which contains the toilet paper and their socks and some ointment. Then, we have some baby wipes. And inside, we also have a bottle of water, a hairbrush, a comb, a little travel pack for their toothpaste and a brush, a razor, shaving cream,” she said. Short also has food gift cards and Narcan nasal spray, which can be used to reverse a drug overdose.

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

As Short walked toward a homeless encampment, she passed under a highway overpass. Someone had written “HOPE” in yellow spray paint on the concrete wall. “Hold On Pain Ends,” Short said, describing what the word meant to her. “You always gotta have hope. Pain ends eventually. But you got to work for it as well.”

Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Chef Iocovozzi Brings A Taste Of The Philippines To Asheville

Asheville, North Carolina has an eclectic dining scene and one of its “hidden” gems is Neng Jr.’s. It serves elevated Filipino cuisine in a little restaurant that’s tucked away in an alley on Asheville’s artsy West Side. Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef visited and brings us this story.

This story originally aired in the May 5, 2024 episode of Inside Appalachia.

The first thing I notice about Neng Jr.’s is its lively decor. There’s a green-tiled open kitchen, fire engine red countertops, and turquoise walls. Adorning the space are items from Chef and owner Silver Iocovozzi’s personal life — stuffed animals and well-worn books, trinkets from Iocovozzi’s mom for good luck, a quirky telephone in the shape of a red high heel and a vibrant painting of Iocovozzi’s husband, Cherry.

But, what I’m here for is Iocovozzi’s popular Filipino creation — the adobo.

“To me, it is like a quintessential Filipino dish, and it evokes all those flavors,” Iocovozzi says. “I think a lot of people get their minds blown by it, and I love that.”

Inside the kitchen, Iocovozzi cooks in a high-powered wok over an open flame. The adobo is served with duck on the menu. But today, Iocovozzi makes the adobo with pork cheeks that he has on hand. The adobo sauce simmers while he prepares a bitter melon relish to set off the adobo. The dish has a uniquely Filipino flavor profile.

“I would say it’s really a kind of a tangy cuisine, lots of vinegar and lots of sour,” Iocovozzi says. “There’s a lot of tart aspects to it.”

Silver Iocovozzi, chef and owner of Neng Jr.’s.

*Photo Credit: Will Crooks/Courtesy*

The bitter melon, a spiky cucumber-looking gourd, is almost too tangy on its own. But paired with the rich and silky adobo, my mouth waters for more. The dish is an example of the taste and technical skill Iocovozzi is known for.

Neng Jr.’s was recently nominated for a James Beard award, and Iocovozzi was named one of Time Magazine’s Next 100 People to Watch. He traces the start of his cooking journey back to his mother. He has fond childhood memories of her cooking.

“She would sit down on the ground with this really heavy cutting board and tenderize meat and marinate it, and it was a really simple marinade. It was just soy and oil and garlic and onion and black pepper. But it tasted so good to me,” Iocovozzi says.

Iocovozzi and his mom loved the soy, garlic and onion flavors. His mom is Filipino, and his dad was from North Carolina.

“They met in Japan. My dad was stationed there; he was a Marine. My mom, a Filipino woman, was working in Japan at a karaoke bar. She was an entertainer,” Iocovozzi says.

Iocovozzi’s parents met and married, and his mom immigrated to the United States. His mom was the only person of color in her new family. Staying connected to her Filipino heritage was difficult.

“My mom was really seeking some comfort of home and realizing she couldn’t find that representation of Filipino food or cooking, or even that warmth of culture that Filipinos bring,” Iocovozzi says.

But she found a way to share her culture with Iocovozzi.

“I would go with her to the Asian market and get all these ingredients that she could tell me about and get excited about. Because I think that was like the little amount of representation that she could share with me,” Iocovozzi says.

It wasn’t until visiting Manila and Batangas in the Philippines that Iocovozzi fully understood his mom’s culture and the link between food and celebration. “I grew up between Manila and eastern North Carolina, where my grandparents lived. And [I] really had a lot of experience in Batangas. Batangas is coastal in the Philippines where we would go visit. And because we were in town, they would just bring a reason to have a fiesta and a big celebration around food,” Iocovozzi says.

Those fiestas often centered on butchering and cooking a whole hog. “This was the first time I’d seen a pig be sacrificed. A lot of the cookery in Batangas is no electricity, no gas, just fire. And to see the way … these people that are living in these provinces cook with fire and break down pig and really know how to kill a pig with their hands — it’s an experience I’ll never forget. And also understanding how much I can appreciate food and where it comes from,” Iocovozzi says.

Understanding where food comes from — and how to prepare it — was a quest that took Iocovozzi from the Philippines to the American South and around the world in the restaurant business.

He got his start in Asheville as a dishwasher in 2011 after a friend suggested he’d like the city. Soon, he attended culinary school in the area and worked as a chef at Buxton Hall BBQ — an Asheville institution — before eventually cooking at award-winning restaurants in Tokyo, New York and Grand Cayman Island.

In 2020, he returned to Asheville to build his own community around food. Within two months, he secured a building with a takeout window for what would later become Neng Jr.’s. When designing Neng Jr.’s, Iocovozzi was as intentional about the space itself as the menu.

“I just want to create a space that shows some representation for those that have been seeking it and know that it can exist,” Iocovozzi says.

At Neng Jr.’s, Iocovozzi created a space that welcomes people of all ethnicities, genders, and orientations — just like Iocovozzi’s mom made room for her culture when she moved to the States. “I’m putting myself out there and my heart,” Iocovozzi says, “It’s really a passion project.”

The exterior of Neng Jr.’s, located in a narrow alley in Asheville, has a brightly painted mural.

*Photo Credit: Margaret McLeod Leef /West Virginia Public Broadcastin*g

And it was also a way to honor his mom, whose Filipino nickname was Naneng.

“It’s an affectionate name for a young girl. And I don’t, you know, identify as that, but … Neng Jr.’s is an iteration of that nickname stemming from my mom’s nickname. Because I’m her mini-me,” Iocovozzi says.

Iocovozzi shares his story through Neng Jr.’s, embodying the flavors, warmth and joyfulness of home. “I don’t think of myself as just like a restaurant in Asheville. I think of Neng’s as a restaurant in the world,” Iocovozzi says. “It’s so important to be a Filipino restaurant in Asheville because the people need to know what this food tastes like. And also understand this level of hospitality that comes from a Filipino.”

The Filipino traditions in Chef Iocovozzi’s family history continue to shape the restaurant. Iocovozzi is in the process of building a stage modeled after the original karaoke bars in Japan, like the one where his parents met.

——

This story is part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project, a partnership with West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Inside Appalachia.

The Folkways Reporting Project is made possible in part with support from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies to the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more stories of Appalachian folklife, arts and culture.

Harvesting Ramps At The End Of The Season

Ramps are celebrated in Appalachia as a special delicacy — one that has caught the attention of chefs in major metropolitan cities as well. But they still have to be dug up by hand.
Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch went into the woods with a friend to bring us this first-person story about ramp harvesting.

Editor’s Note: Ramps are celebrated in Appalachia as a special delicacy — one that has caught the attention of chefs in major metropolitan cities as well. But they still have to be dug up by hand.

Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch went into the woods with a friend to bring us this first-person story about ramp harvesting.

It’s a dry day at the end of April and I’m in a location that can’t be disclosed. Partly, this is because we’re gathering ramps and foragers like my friend Jamie keep these places secret.

Foragers will sometimes even keep the fact that they hunt for wild foods (mostly) a secret to keep from being asked to share. So to protect my friend from having to answer awkward questions at parties and to discourage strange men from following her into the woods, we’re not using Jamie’s last name.

And partly I can’t disclose the location because I don’t know exactly where we are – except to say somewhere in Kanawha County. Probably.

This is my second time gathering ramps. I went out a couple years ago and brought home a shopping bag full of the garlicky smelling things. I cooked some of them with beans and ham, but gave most of them away to whoever would take them.

This time, I’m just following along with Jamie while she collects some for friends and her mom.

“That little ridge over there. Is it easier for you to go first or me?” Jamie asked.

“I dunno,” I said.

From the car, we hike for about 15 minutes until we get to the patch. We’re not far from the road and other people have been here before.

Sandwich and chip wrappers, plastic cups and a flattened Monster energy drink litter the ground. The steep hillside seems like a weird place to have a picnic.

Jamie tells me she’s been foraging for about 10 years. She’s self-taught. Ramps were kind of a gateway into the world of finding wild food.

“They’re one of the easiest things to start foraging in West Virginia,” Jamie said. “Before that, I’d pay $20 a bag at whatever roadside swap meet I could find.”

This is not unusual.

Ramps have always had admirers.

For generations, they were often a nutritious (if smelly) staple for people who hadn’t seen edible leafy greens all winter.

In recent years, the wild leeks have become must-haves for foodies and locavores who appreciate seasonal foods.

Ramps are picked and eaten throughout the eastern part of the United States and Canada. In West Virginia, the season for ramps usually runs during the cool, damp of spring, from around the end of March until the early part of May.

Throughout April, ramp dinners are held all over the state and a few local restaurants will add them to their menus for a limited time.

To the uninitiated, ramps look like another leafy weed in the woods, but you can’t miss the sharp smell of onions and garlic.

The ramp patch Jamie takes me to is huge. Ramps cover the side of the hill in great clumps, but they’re not all that easy to get to, particularly if you’re carrying a microphone and wearing boots that are made more for hiking to a coffee shop than going out in the woods.

So, I stand by a tree while Jamie climbs down the side of the hill with a bag and a gardening trowel. She digs out a few bunches here and there and leaves the rest.

Just taking some of the ramps is being responsible. She wants them to come back. Besides, not all of the ramps are worth taking. The season is coming to an end.

“How do you tell when these things are done?” I asked.

“When they disappear,” she said. “They won’t be here in two weeks. They’re just gone.”

Jamie explained the life cycle of the ramp.

“They’ll put up a little stick,” she said. “And it has these little bulbs on it. The seeds come in little clusters and there’s one little runner up, like an onion.”

She didn’t see any runners, but the ramps were ready to come out of the ground, which was different than the ramps she harvested a few weeks ago.

“There was a lot of digging involved with the babies I got at the start of the season,” Jamie said. “This time there wasn’t anything to it. Just give it a little scoop and they just pull from the soil.”

These ramps, she promised, would be much more pungent and have a stronger flavor, but they were also dying.

“Did you see how the leaves are turning yellow?” Jamie asked. “You’re getting what looks like brown spots on your houseplants. They’re done. They’re just getting old, like how things will dry out in your fridge.”

Jamie fills up her grocery bag. Then she leads me out of the woods and back to the car. We put the bag in the trunk and then start towards Charleston.

Driving back to the city for a dinner I promised, I noticed the smell.

“I can really smell it now,” I said. “Driving around I can really smell it.”

Jamie rolled down her window.

“Uh-huh,” she said. “That’s why we’re going to stop at the house on the way out to eat. We’re not doing this.”

Filipino Hospitality In Asheville And Famed Thru-Hiker Shares Journey, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, a chef has created a hidden culinary hot spot in Asheville, North Carolina that’s attracting national attention for its eclectic menu and Filipino hospitality. Also, every thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail begins with a first step. Famed hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis shares hers.

This week, a chef has created a hidden culinary hot spot in Asheville, North Carolina that’s attracting national attention for its eclectic menu and Filipino hospitality.

Also, every thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail begins with a first step. Famed hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis shares hers.

And the holy month of Ramadan ends with a feast. But war and famine in Gaza muted some of this year’s celebrations.

We’ll have these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Filipino Hospitality With A North Carolina Flair

Chef Silver Iocovozzi brings elevated fare and Filipino hospitality to Neng Jr.’s in Asheville.

*Photo Credit: Will Crooks*

Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef visited and brings us this story.

Tackling The Appalachian Trail With Jennifer Pharr Davis

Jennifer Pharr Davis shares the story of her first steps into the world of trail hiking.

*Photo Credit: Keith Wright*

Few people know the Appalachian Trail (AT) better than Jennifer Pharr Davis — a North Carolina native who’s thru-hiked the AT three times.

In 2008, on her second thru-hike, she set the record for the fastest Appalachian Trail hike by a woman. Three years later, she thru-hiked it again — and set the record for the fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail by anyone up to that point.

Last year, Mason Adams spoke to her about some of her hikes — and how they shaped her identity as an Appalachian.

Ramadan In The Mountains

Men serve themselves their iftar meal at the Islamic Center of Morgantown, March 24, 2024. One of the sponsors of the night’s iftar, Mohamed Hefeida, can be seen wearing a mask.

*Photo Credit: Chris Schulz/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

This year, April 9, marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic faith. During Ramadan, observant Muslims fast from sunup to sundown. Their fast is traditionally broken with a feast called an iftar. In Morgantown, West Virginia, the meal was overshadowed this year by the war in Gaza.

WVPB’s Chris Schulz reports.

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Hotdog, Sean Watkins, John Blissard, Jeff Ellis, Brew Davis and Dinosaur Burps.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our Executive Producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from Folkways Editor Nicole Musgrave.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.