Calhoun County Story Archives - Page 2 of 3 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Foundation Creating Community Center From Calhoun County School

Crystal Mersh was the president in 1982 of what the local paper declared the “most disgraceful” class to graduate from Calhoun County High School.

After moving away to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical industry, she has created a nonprofit foundation to aid her hometown. The 1982 Foundation has purchased the 100-year-old Calhoun County High School building and is rehabilitating it as a community center. She spoke with Eric Douglas about the project.

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

Douglas: Tell me about this class. What made it special? What made it a little bit ornery?

Mersh: We were, and are, different. I guess for starters, we graduated in our class colors, which were light blue and dark blue gowns, rather than red and white, which were the school colors. So that was your first sign. And the police did come. I think they escorted somebody there who maybe was getting a bit out of bounds before graduation.

Douglas: Police escorted somebody to graduation?

Mersh: They shall remain nameless. And then during it there were several hoops and hollers and outcries. And also, allegedly, we were responsible for the decorations on the stage, which were not very attractive, as I recall. But I don’t think we were responsible for that.

Douglas: And something tells me that graduation wasn’t an isolated incident.

Mersh: No, it wasn’t, but a lot of great things happened that year. It was the first time that our football team had a winning season in a number of years. I think it was the best team in the last 23 years. We had a nationally recognized marching band of over 100 people. We had two state wrestling champs, we had an individual who placed second at the state science fair — yours truly.

Douglas: Tell me what your new project is. Tell me what’s going on.

Mersh: So the 1982 Foundation was created only about a month ago. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for some time. I wanted to do something and give back to Calhoun County. When the high school became available for sale, I said, this might be something. So I started thinking about business strategies of what could work there. What wouldn’t work, because certainly, the county has its share of economic issues, although it’s really on an upward trajectory at the moment.

So we eventually landed on a nonprofit strategy to transform the building into a mixed use space called the Calhoun County Community Center. It will involve having community spaces for classrooms, meeting rooms, events, reunions, also a daycare, hopefully a fitness center, possibly a swimming pool. And then also the revenue generating portions will be AirBnB rooms, and retail and office space that will be leased, as well as a cafe. The thought is that those revenue generating operations then will fund and subsidize the community services and activities.

Douglas: This is a pretty large investment. Why was this important to you?

Mersh: I had the opportunity to do a lot of things in my life, in my professional career. I can remember a point in time sitting in front of a building in Basel, Switzerland, that is, no doubt, a piece of art and going, “How did I get here?” And when you reflect and have moments like that often enough, you eventually answer that question. How I got there was from Calhoun County, from the people who were teachers, the people who were 4-H leaders, who were community leaders, church leaders, those folks invested in me. And I feel that it’s important that the children that are coming up now know that there are people who are going to invest in them.

Douglas: When do you start the renovations?

Mersh: We’re already turning dirt. We are doing what I would call cleaning and decluttering right now, which is no small feat on a building that’s been vacant for over 20 years. Our initial plans is we will start the demo of the portions of the building that are just so far gone, that they have to be deconstructed, and that would take some time, and that’s around the gymnasium.

Douglas: So this isn’t a six-month project. This is a next-week project.

Mersh: It’s like everything I do. It’s fast and furious. And I think it’s important in this case, because the building has been bought a few times and with great hopes and nothing ever happened. So I knew that whatever we did, if we did it, it needed to be fast and furious.

Douglas: Have you ever done something like this before?

Mersh: My hobby is interior design, architectural design, colors, textures, fabrics, all of those types of things. I have done two previous projects in Atlanta that were major renovations. One was a four-building compound. And it was probably further gone than this building. That took eight months just to do the deconstruction. We stripped it down to the studs and rebuilt it back.

The gentleman who will be the architect on the project is from Atlanta. He and I’ve worked together on two different projects. He’s one of the best design-build architectural firms in the city of Atlanta. So he’s going to be working with our construction team here who are young local entrepreneurs, who have a passion for the school and are just getting started. So it’s going to be a great opportunity for them because he will teach them all about architectural plans and how you phase the work and how you deal with old buildings.

July 10, 1889: Historian Boyd Stutler Born in Gilmer County

Historian Boyd Stutler was born in Gilmer County on July 10, 1889. At 18, he became the owner, editor, and publisher of the Grantsville News in neighboring Calhoun County. Three years later, Stutler was elected mayor of Grantsville.

During World War I, he rose to the rank of sergeant. Throughout his life, Stutler remained active in veterans’ affairs. He served as managing editor of the American Legion magazine for 18 years. And, as a war correspondent in the Pacific, he witnessed the official Japanese surrender ending World War II.

After returning from Europe after the First World War, Stutler became chief clerk to the West Virginia superintendent of public printing. He wrote several publications, was managing editor of the West Virginia Review magazine, and served as associate editor of the 1929 West Virginia Encyclopedia. Stutler cowrote a West Virginia history textbook and authored a book about West Virginia in the Civil War.

He also compiled one of the finest collections relating to abolitionist John Brown. His collection is now housed in the West Virginia State Archives.

Boyd Stutler died in 1970 at age 80.

Stargazing Party Set for This Weekend in West Virginia

Stargazers are being invited to watch the sky over central West Virginia this weekend.

The fourth annual Calhoun Stargaze is set for Friday through Sunday at the Calhoun County Park in Grantsville. The park is known for its pitch-dark conditions for favorable nighttime viewing.

The event is being co-hosted by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the West Virginia Development Office, Fairmont State University and the West Virginia University Extension Service.

University of Tennessee political scientist Tim Ezzell says in a news release that the event is part of an effort to spur economic development in distressed Appalachian communities. It also gives local residents an opportunity to interact with astronomers.

Space is limited at the event. A small campground is located within the park.

West Virginia State Police Closing 3 Detachments at Year End

West Virginia State Police detachments in three locations are closing at the end of the year. The agency said Tuesday Grantsville, Elizabeth and Hundred will close.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the Grantsville detachment in Calhoun County will be covered by the Clay and Glenville detachments. The Elizabeth detachment in Wirt County will be covered by the Parkersburg detachment. The Hundred detachment in Wetzel County will be covered by the Paden City detachment.

Superintendent Col. Jay Smithers said it’s not economically feasible to keep a detachment in each community. But he said the state police will continue providing professional law enforcement.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin last week ordered state agencies to cut spending by 2 percent in order to save $59.8 million and help make up for the general revenue fund falling behind by $87 million as of July.

Will a Mock Election in Schools Reveal the Nation's Vote?

As millions of Americans head to the polls Tuesday, just one week ago, children across the nation voted for the next presidential candidate in a mock election. The “Every Kid Votes!” event began with the 2004 presidential race, and every election year since, school children across the country have accurately voted for America’s next president. Will that trend continue this year?

Cody Cunningham teaches sixth grade social studies at Calhoun County Middle School. This year, his class is one of thousands across the nation participating in the Studies Weekly “Every Kid Votes!” Mock Presidential Election.

This is the first time Calhoun County Middle School students are participating.

“And I thought, well hey, this is a really cool idea, so let’s just do it,” Cunningham said, “Cause it’s an election year, it’s gonna make the kids are already excited, and you know, what’s a more perfect avenue than social studies to bring in research and reading and talking about an issue that they really enjoy.”

Cunningham has been preparing his students over the last four weeks for this year’s mock election — assigning them readings about the Electoral College, what it means to be a citizen, and even about the candidates themselves.

But there’s no question it’s been a controversial election year, with scandals and heated debates. Calhoun County Superintendent of Schools Tim Woodward says while some of the political attacks may not be appropriate for middle schoolers; he still believes they should be exposed to the political process.

A student at Calhoun County Middle School votes during the mock election.

“I think that the younger that we begin to talk to them about, you know, about how our government works, civic responsibility, understanding our system of basically having two parties; how that works, and you know beginning to be able to evaluate and think for yourself about, you know, what do I think, and which party best represents my way of thinking,” Woodward explained.

Studies Weekly CEO Ed Rickers agrees. He says that’s what the mock election was created for: to get students interested in the election process at a young age.

Since the national mock election began in 2004, students across the country have accurately selected the winning candidate. Rickers says that’s likely because the students ultimately are a reflection of what they’re exposed to at home.

He joined West Virginia Public Broadcasting via Skype.

“There’s a lot of adults saying this person’s bad, or this person’s less bad or worse, or you know, there’s so much, there’s scandal, there’s all these things, and it just adds so much complexity, that, I think at the end of the day, the kids just sort of go with whatever vibe they pick up from mom and dad.”

Back in Cunningham’s classroom, his students walk a few at a time to the nearby computer lab, or their “polling place.”

Another sixth grade teacher, Daniel Cosgrove, checks their voter registration cards and asks a couple of them who they’ll be voting for.

“I’m voting for Trump, because I think that he’ll make our country great again and he said that he was going to bring back all the coal mines that they had shut down and give everybody the work that they needed,” said 11 year-old Akeara Webb.

Webb is like many of her classmates who said they were voting for Trump for a variety of reasons — reasons we see reflected in the national conversation. He’s going to build a wall and stop illegal immigration, one student said. 12 year-old Kylie Murphy voted for Trump, too.

“I like what he stands for, because I don’t believe in like, abortion, and as a Republican, just as a Republican in general, that’s what a Republican stands for; they don’t stand for abortion,” Murphy said.

There were a few Hillary Clinton supporters in the Calhoun County Middle School sixth grade class. Like 11 year-old Jaylen Jett.

“I think that Hillary, she has done a lot of good things as, whenever she’s in, not in the White House, but as like senators, and I thought that she did a lot of good things, and I personally think that she’s more of a statesman than Donald Trump is, so I think that she would be a better person for the office,” said Jett.

Sixth grade social studies teacher Daniel Cosgrove checks in a student who will vote in the mock election.

Teachers Cunningham and Cosgrove view real-time results on a computer as their classes’ votes come in. As they expected, Donald Trump is the clear winner.

An interactive map on the Studies Weekly website shows Trump handedly took West Virginia, but for the rest of the nation, Hillary Clinton comes out the clear winner in the mock election with 376 electoral votes versus Trump’s 159.

Tonight we’ll learn if students across America truly are mimicking what they hear at home and accurately chose the next president of the United States. Polls in West Virginia close at 7:30 this evening.

Star Gazing Party Planned in Calhoun

Amateur astronomers are signed up to watch the sky over central West Virginia this weekend.

The third annual Calhoun Stargaze is set for Friday through Sunday at the Calhoun County Park in Grantsville. The park is known for its pitch-dark conditions for favorable nighttime viewing.

Among the partners in the event are the Appalachian Regional Commission, the West Virginia Development Office, the University of Tennessee, Fairmont State University and the West Virginia University Extension Service.

University of Tennessee political scientist Tim Ezzell says in a news release that the event is aimed at expanding science in a rural area and showing that places like Calhoun County are “positive, important and necessary.”

Space is limited at the event. A small campground is located within the park.