On this West Virginia Morning, marching and concert bands from across the world are in Buckhannon this week for an international competition. Also, for the next 10 days, 15,000 scouts from around the country will camp out in Fayette County for the 2023 National Scouting Jamboree.
On this West Virginia Morning, marching and concert bands from across the world are in Buckhannon this week for an international competition. Chris Schulz has more.
Also, in this show, some West Virginia elected officials have not wanted to be so social on social media. Delaney Wells has more.
And, for the next 10 days, 15,000 scouts from around the country will camp out in Fayette County. As Randy Yohe shows us, the 2023 National Scouting Jamboree takes youth development and diversity to a whole new level.
Finally, this week’s rebroadcast of Mountain Stage features a breadth of musical styles, performed in front of a live audience. Our Song of the Week comes to us from Sophie B. Hawkins, known for her hit songs in the 1990s. We listen to her performance of “You Are My Balloon.”
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 Concord University and Shepherd University.
Our Appalachia Health News project is made possible with support from CAMC and Marshall Health.
West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schultz, Curtis Tate, Delaney Wells, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.
Eric Douglas is our news director. Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and producer.
Teresa Wills is our host.
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
Marching and concert bands from across the world are in Buckhannon this week for an international competition.
Updated on Thursday, July 20, 2022 at 5:01 p.m.
The Swiss were marching down Main Street in Buckhannon Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of the opening ceremonies for the 2023 World Association of Marching Show Bands Competition later in the day. Marching and concert bands from across the world are in Buckhannon this week for an international competition.
Drummers tapped out a booming beat, punctuated by cries of “Do that funky groove,” as majorettes carried Swiss flags, all led by a baton-wielding band leader.
The WAMSB event, which also includes concert bands and drumlines, has attracted bands from 19 countries, including Colombia, Nigeria and Taiwan.
Randy Sanders, president of the WAMSB Buckhannon Host Committee Inc. said it’s only the second time in the competition’s 27 year history to be held in the U.S. The previous U.S. host was Palm Springs, California in 2017.
“This really is a big deal,” he said. “If you can buy a ticket, come to some of the events, support this. It’ll be a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Sanders said the international nature, as well as the music format, add to the unique experience.
“That’s why this is such a phenomenal competition, the different countries bring a little different flair to the way they present their marching band programs,” he said. “Marching show bands, they really put on a show.”
Buckhannon is no stranger to big events. The town has hosted the West Virginia Strawberry Festival for almost 90 years.
“When we put on an event, it’s always more of a festival than anything else,” Sanders said. “So we have a carnival. We have an entertainment stage with a lot of food vendors in the heart of our downtown in Jawbone Park.”
But Sanders says the marching bands are bringing international attention.
“You’ll be able to see all the competitions for free on the internet on livestream, so it’s gonna put the eyes of the world on our small town here Buckhannon West Virginia, USA,” he said.
The Twistmen Winds are led in a rehearsal by their founder Kel Law in the the Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts July 19, 2023.
West Virginia Wesleyan is hosting many of the musical performances and competitions, as well as a few of the bands, on its campus. One of those is the concert band Twistmen Winds from Hong Kong.
The band’s leader Kel Law was leading his band in a rehearsal at the Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts. Law says that in Hong Kong, his band wasn’t well supported, with neighbors often complaining when members practiced, especially during lockdown.
“Back in Hong Kong, we’re not really having any support,” he said. “We can’t, not really having like a venue, a grand hall, no, we can’t.”
But Law said his passion for music guided him to form the band, and continue growing it to the point where they could travel internationally and share their music.
“I love how people get together playing music, share the joy, and then travel around together because of music, come to West Virginia, tell the world that I’m here with my music,” he said.
Law had some of that passion returned Tuesday evening. He and others recounted how as bands arrived in Buckhannon, they ended up putting on a sort of showcase for each other, each band from across the world playing and in turn listening.
“They just show it all the way to you with their music, this really wonderful, really nice experience,” he said. “We are not need to talk. We can just feel it. You can feel the power of the story. This is really, really amazing.”
Law says he hopes attendants of the festival can experience something similar.
The competition events run through Sunday night July 23.
***Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include additional quotes from Randy Sanders, as well as the portion about the Twistmen Winds.
The World Association of Marching Show Bands is having its 2023 Championship in Buckhannon in Upshur County.
The World Association of Marching Show Bands is having its 2023 Championship in Buckhannon in Upshur County.
Seventeen bands will compete for the international title while three exhibition bands will also perform. Bands compete in areas of concert, field marching performance, drumline, and street parade.
“Buckhannon rolled their sleeves up and just worked hard to present the town and the infrastructure that we have to the international committee and convince them that Buckhannon would be the perfect place to host the 2023 World Association of Marching Show Bands competition” said Randy Sanders, president of the Buckhannon host committee.
This is the first time in six years the event is hosted in the United States and the first time hosted on the East Coast.
Countries represented are Canada, El Salvador, Germany, Honduras, Ghana, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United States, Hong Kong, Ireland, and Sweden.
Grammy Award winner Lee Greenwood, known for his song “God Bless the U.S.A.” will perform in the opening ceremony on July 19 and the U.S. Marine Drumline and Bugle Corps will perform for the official closing ceremony July 23 at 7pm.
A special circumstances review of Upshur County Schools by the West Virginia Department of Education revealed tens of thousands of dollars in misspent federal funds, among other financial misappropriations.
The West Virginia Board of Education has declared a state of emergency in Upshur County Schools.
A “special circumstances” review of Upshur County Schools by the West Virginia Department of Education revealed tens of thousands of dollars in misspent federal funds, among other financial misappropriations.
A preliminary report was presented to the board Wednesday by Jeffrey Kelley, accountability officer for the Department of Education. The findings Kelley presented included food and beverage charges for staff retreats at Stonewall Resort totaling $49,260 using funds designated for federal programs.
“(The) team also discovered an instance of a contract for a staff retreat at a bread and breakfast in Buckhannon totaling $1,415.94,” he said. “Overnight accommodation was provided at the bed and breakfast, which is located six miles from the board office.”
Nancy White, state board vice president, said the report is incomplete but concerning.
“I believe we have enough that tells us that these actions are very egregious, unethical and perhaps criminal,” she said.
However, there were questions from the state board about the timeline of the investigation, and why they were not notified sooner. State Superintendent David Roach told the board the special circumstances review was prompted after a routine review of Upshur County Schools in December 2022 that was completed in February 2023.
“I’m just trying to establish some baseline facts because my concern is, we’ve known about this since March,” said board president Paul Hardesty. “No action, no activity, no nothing, no correspondence with this board until May the 26th. I find that troubling on numerous fronts.”
The board went into executive session due to the incomplete nature of the report and the desire to delve deeper into its contents without compromising the personal privacy of subjects involved.
After close to four hours in executive session, Roach made 18 recommendations to the state board, including that a state of emergency be declared in Upshur County Schools.
“That the West Virginia Board of Education direct the interim and future Upshur County superintendent and the Deputy State Superintendent jointly develop and present to the state board at a future meeting a set of standards and or a strategic plan that must be implemented in order for the County Board of Education to regain control of the school system,” Roach said.
Roach also recommended the board grant the Deputy State Superintendent authority to take action necessary to correct the extraordinary circumstances in Upshur County.
The board unanimously approved the superintendent’s recommendations.
The office of the county superintendent of Upshur County Schools, along with positions of personnel who serve at the will and pleasure of the county superintendent, were declared vacant at the end of the business day.
Stephen Wotring, currently serving as superintendent of Preston County Schools, was named interim superintendent of Upshur County Schools.
The investigation is ongoing. One investigator told the board only 1 percent of Upshur’s total transactional data had been reviewed so far.
Hardesty said that West Virginia State Police were sent to secure the central office of Upshur County Schools effective until the West Virginia Department of Education can get their personnel on the ground.
A West Virginia community will host an international marching band competition next year. The World Association of Marching Show Bands will hold the championship event in Buckhannon from July 17 to 24, 2023.
A West Virginia community will host an international marching band competition next year.
The World Association of Marching Show Bands will hold the championship event in Buckhannon from July 17 to 24, 2023.
“We are absolutely thrilled to bring this event to West Virginia and to heighten the exposure of our beautiful region and state to new audiences,” Randy Sanders, president of the association’s Buckhannon host committee, said in a statement.
Applications have been submitted so far by 47 bands from 24 nations to compete in several disciplines, including marching performance, jazz, symphonic, percussion and auxiliary dance.
This year’s event will be held July 11 to 16 in Bangkok, Thailand. The 2020 and 2021 championships were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The statement said the only other time in the event’s 26-year history that the competition was held in the United States was in Palm Springs, California, in 2017.
Early Western Virginia leader John George Jackson died on March 28, 1825, at age 47. He was born near Buckhannon in 1777. He represented Harrison County in the Virginia House of Delegates and promoted the 1816 Staunton Convention—which led to some of the first political reforms benefiting Western Virginia.
While serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Jackson was a staunch Jeffersonian Republican, states’ rights advocate, and fiery spokesman for his brother-in-law, President James Madison. In 1819, President James Monroe named Jackson a federal judge for Western Virginia, a position Jackson held until his death.
He owned vast landholdings, had a successful legal practice, and was a leading businessman in the upper Monongahela Valley. Near Jackson’s Clarksburg residence, he developed the Miles End community, featuring gristmills, a woolen and cotton factory, ironworks, and salt works. He helped organize the Virginia Saline Bank at Clarksburg and was president and chief stockholder of a company that built locks and dams on the West Fork River.
John George Jackson is regarded as one of the first leaders to stand up for the political and economic rights of Western Virginia.
