Writer Emilee Hackney has a complicated relationship with where she grew up. She loved her friends, family, the swimming holes and wild places in Tazewell County, Virginia, but she felt stifled. Her new memoir, All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir, explores this tension and what happened when she did leave.
The weeklong tour will bring the number of counties FSU President Mike Davis has visited to 55 and will make good on a commitment he made when he was hired in 2023 to visit every county in the state.Photo credit: Chris Schulz
Listen
Share this Article
Fairmont State University President Mike Davis will travel across the Mountain State from July 27 through Aug. 1 as part of his 2025 Tour of West Virginia.
Fairmont State University President Mike Davis
The weeklong tour will take Davis through 14 counties including Wood, Pocahontas and McDowell. He said the trip will bring the number of counties he’s visited to 55 and will make good on a commitment he made when he was hired in 2023 to visit every county in the state.
“If I think about what a regional university is supposed to do as the largest regional university in the state, we serve all 55 counties,” Davis said. “There are areas of the state that have been ignored that, like I said, have a lot of promise, and I think that those areas are going to continue to struggle if we don’t start to figure out ways to reach into those communities and say, we’ve got your back.”
West Virginia University announced earlier this week that their president, Michael T. Benson, will also embark on a statewide tour July 28 through Aug. 1.
Traveling via camper van, Davis will make overnight stops at campgrounds, state parks and community hubs along the way.
President Mike Davis’ Tour of West Virginia Itinerary:
Sunday, July 27 Depart Fairmont in the afternoon Spend the night in Wood County at Mountwood Campground
Monday, July 28 Lincoln County Spend the night at Ole Henry’s Camping Retreat
Tuesday, July 29 Mingo County Visiting Big Laurel Learning Center in Kermit Spend the night at Devil’s Backbone Adventure Resort
Wednesday, July 30 McDowell & Wyoming County Spend the night at Ashland Resort
Thursday, July 31 Pocahontas County Spend the night at Snowshoe Campground
Friday, Aug. 1 Return to Fairmont
Add WVPB as a preferred source on Google to see more from our team
West Virginia’s overall unemployment rate is tied with the national average at 4.2%, but a few counties in the state are much higher and some are lower.
A recent national story identified West Virginia’s Ascend program as being highly successful, even though the numbers are relatively small. News Director Eric Douglas caught up with NPR reporter Scott Neuman to discuss the program in relation to other similar efforts and what he discovered.
Open Door Café in Wytheville, Virginia uses gardening as a way to feed the hungry while breaking down the stigma of homelessness. For Inside Appalachia, Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch brings us the story about digging into the roots and connecting to more than just the land.