Tag: Arts & Culture

Israeli Consul General visits W.Va. to expand cultural and economic ties

An Israeli General Consul is in West Virginia this week visiting lawmakers as well as both Jewish and Christian groups.

Sideman met with members of a Morgantown synagogue yesterday who were not happy with his participation in an event featuring a prominent evangelical Christian politician.

Cultural Ties?

Sideman explained that part of his job is to expand cultural ties between Israel and the US by meeting with community members and encouraging events that promote Israel. To that end he also participate in an event hosted by Christians United for Israel. The keynote speaker at the event was Gary Bauer, one-time presidential candidate and the head of the nonprofit organization American Values . Many members of the Jewish community, however, took issue with the event, telling Sideman the values represented were those of the Christian extreme right.

“Aligning yourself with people like this is the best way to lose the American middle,” warned Jim Friedburg.

Sideman reiterated that the event’s purpose was solely to support the state of Israel. “If it’s anything different than support of Israel, then I will be the first to make public note of that,” he said.

Sideman says his remarks at the Christian event were largely to celebrate the securing of a Jewish homeland:

“I’ll be talking about the state of Israel, about the significance of Israel’s existence, about its achievements, about some of its challenges, about the historical moment in time that we are at that 65 years ago we have reestablished our sovereignty over our ancestral homeland where we were born as a people 4,000 years ago. And we reestablished ourselves in the land that we’ve been dreaming of for 2,000 years. So it’s a historical, unique moment in time that we should all relish and do everything that we can to sustain it for another 2,000 years.”

Economic Ties?

Sideman says even more than promoting cultural ties in West Virginia, his goal is to expand economic ties.

“This is the first of, I have a feeling many such visits to West Virginia. There are many economic opportunities that I would like to explore between Israel and West Virginia in areas such as energy, biotechnology, chemicals. The chemical industry is very strong in Israel and West Virginia. And I Think there are many opportunities I would like to see if I can promote mutual business between Israel and WV, more so than there is today.”

Sideman’s West Virginia visit continues in Charleston where he’ll be meeting with members of the Jewish community as well as legislative leaders in both the House and Senate.

Berkeley County celebrates the apple

The 32nd Apple Harvest Festival took place Oct. 17-20, 2013, and featured a 5k run, pancake breakfasts, a craft fair in the historic Martinsburg, W.Va., roundhouse with entertainment, music on the town square Friday evening and a Grand Feature Parade Saturday afternoon.

The Festival usually includes agricultural tours but the web site says those were cancelled this year because of the partial shutdown of the Federal Government. But there were apple centric contests to determine who baked the best pie or grew the best fruit.

On Saturday afternoon people lined King and Queen Streets through downtown Martinsburg to watch marching bands, floats, community groups, politicians and celebrity guests parade by.

WVU baseball team celebrates groundbreaking of new stadium

West Virginia University’s baseball team is going to have a new home in a few years. A groundbreaking on the stadium occurred Thursday.The stadium is…

West Virginia University’s baseball team is going to have a new home in a few years. A groundbreaking on the stadium occurred Thursday.

The stadium is located in the community of Granville just west of Morgantown near I-79. That part of Monongalia County is growing by leaps and bounds. With the stadium will come a new interchange for easier access from the Interstate  to the ballpark. It’s been a lot of change for Patricia Lewis, mayor of Granville. She’s been the mayor since 1991.

“In my wildest dream, I never could have imagined that a small town in Monongalia County could become home to a WVU sports team. We are excited, it’s a wonderful thing,” said Lewis.

The baseball stadium will also host entertainment events, like concerts, as well as games for a minor league baseball team. Lewis says it’s hopefully going to bring even more growth to her community.

“This is an exciting chapter for us, we are a small community. All the development up here has been wonderful for our economics, for our small town,” said Lewis.

"If you want to be nationally competitive with teams like that, your facilities have to be competitive. I think we are not only going to be competitive, but I think we are going to surpass some teams in the league with the facility we plan on building." WVU Coach Randy Mazey

Randy Mazey, the head coach of the WVU baseball team, says this new stadium will play a vital role in the stability and success of his program.

“With the move to the Big 12 conference last year, it’s one of the best baseball conferences in the nation. If you want to be nationally competitive with teams like that, your facilities have to be competitive. I think we’re not only going to be competitive, but I think we are going to surpass some teams in the league with the facility we plan on building,” he said.

Officials hope the stadium will be ready for the 2015 baseball season. The minor league team expected to make the stadium home will be from the New York Penn League.

The Great Textbook War

Charleston native Trey Kay examines the 1974 textbook controversy in the radio documentary, “The Great Textbook War.”

In 1974, Kanawha County was the first battleground in the American culture wars. Controversy erupted over newly-adopted school textbooks. School buildings were hit by dynamite and Molotov cocktails, buses were riddled with bullets, journalists were beaten and surrounding coal mines were shut down by protesting miners.

Textbook opponents believed the books were teaching their children to question their authority, traditional values and the existence of God.

Textbook supporters said children needed to be exposed to a wide variety of beliefs and experiences, and taught to make their own decisions.

To stream the full piece, use the streaming player at the top of the page.

Man strives to restore Philippi theatre

While the International Film Festival gets underway in Charleston, in another part of the state, a man is working to bring film back to his small town.

Russ Stover is trying to restore the Grand Theatre in downtown Philippi, to make it an attraction to cinema enthusiasts in the area. Stover says in that part of the state, it’s very difficult for film lovers to go see movies.

“I want to open instead of just another theater showing new movies, I want to open a revival theater. I can show what the people want to see, and that is something that isn’t done around here. If you want to see a documentary, you’ve got to go to Pittsburgh or Morgantown if you’re lucky, or you have to wait until it comes out on disc,” Stover said.

Stover would like to screen older movies at the theater, like films from Alfred Hitchcock and other iconic movie makers. But getting it open won’t be easy.

In other parts of the state, older theaters have been demolished, like the two downtown theaters that used to be in Fairmont.

Others are vacant and basically abandoned, like the Warner Theatre in Morgantown. But there is at least one example of what Stover is trying to accomplish, in Shepherdstown, where a restored historic theater shows movies and hosts concerts. Stover is  certain a restored Grand Theater, like the one in Shepherdstown, will be successful.

“I’ve seen too many of these wonderful old places turn into parking lots. A place like Philippi that appreciates its history, it’s something you want to save. With the way the college is expanding, I’m surprised other businesses haven’t moved into Philippi,” said Stover.

Stover is trying to raise the money for the theater, and he’s far away from that goal.  But he’s hoping he’ll be successful in bringing cinema back to Philippi.

1st annual WV Tattoo Expo kicks off in Morgantown

Tattoo artists and ink-fanatics alike traveled from all over the country to the first ever WV Tattoo Expo in Morgantown Oct. 11-13, 2013.

Credit Glynis Board
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Tattoo contests, a Miss Tattooed West Virginia competition, and tattooing seminars were among the featured events at the expo.

“Right now we are in the main event room of the Morgantown Event Center. We have over 150 tattoo artists doing their thing,” says Rocco Cunningham, a tattoo artist from Clarksburg and organizer of the weekend event.

“Right now there’re people everywhere looking at artwork, looking through portfolios, sitting in chairs getting tattooed, waiting to get their tattoos. Everybody’s excited. The atmosphere is outstanding.”

Luna Alba travelled from Northern Virginia when she heard about the expo and is getting tattooed for the 10th time.

“Honestly, I find it pretty therapeutic after a while, because the adrenalin just kind of goes through your whole body. After the first maybe 20 minutes, it’s kind of relaxing,” she says with a wince as the needle starts working.  “It’s pretty painful,” she admits. “It’s on my hip. So, yeah. It’s pretty bad.”

Alba’s tattoo artist is well-known. Rick Cherry. He’s been drawing permanent art on bodies for 43 years.

“I got my first professionally-done tattoo in Washington DC, when I was 14 years old,” Cherry remembers. “I was hooked, I had to do it. I was convinced that I was going to have to learn how to do it.”

Cherry also sells his own hand-made tattooing equipment. He says it’s a dying art, but he’s passionate about machining his own drills.

“In my shop at my house I have milling machines, I have lathes, I have welders. I have to cut out all the metal, braise it together. The coils that operate the machine—I cut the cores for them, I hand wrap the electrical wire, solder everything together. Hand-cut springs. The only thing I don’t make are the screws and the washers. ”

Hundreds of people came out to the event in Morgantown. Men and women, young and old.

“What we really wanted to do was try to represent the tattoo community the best we could and also represent the state of WV the best we could,” Cunningham says. “We have the opportunity to meet a lot of great artists and a lot of great people and to promote the art form. Tattooing is the most ancient form of art in the world.”

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