Community Events Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Supporters Work To Reframe The King Day Narrative Around Healing

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech during the March on Washington in August 1963, he had no way of knowing the narrative and legacy the speech would leave behind.

Rev. Ronald English, former Pastor of First Baptist Church of Charleston, said he aims to clarify the “King Narrative,” as the country celebrates the civil rights hero on January 16 this year. He wants to use that legacy for healing.

“The dream King narrative has been used for several different kinds of causes that were contrary to what Dr. King’s message was, his mission was, and his ministry was about,” English said. “That has only increased, particularly in the last two or three years, where the dream King has been used and misused and abused, I feel, for other causes and issues.”

English was ordained into the ministry by Drs. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sr. at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. English shared that King had a different ending in mind for the speech that would go on to define his legacy, but gospel singer Mahalia Jackson advised him to, “Tell them about the dream, Martin.”

English and other organizers aim to refocus the “King narrative” on the power of healing.

“Making that shift to the healing King was consistent with some of the things that I’ve been

involved in, as far as dealing with the health disparities that have impacted the African

American community since we got here in 1690 on slave ships,” English said. “The partnership of African American churches has been involved over the past year or so with giving vaccinations to deal with the COVID crisis.”

English, alongside the NAACP and the partnership of African American Churches, hopes to use the context of MLK Day celebrations as an instrument to provide tools and resources to the Black community, by focusing on different aspects of King’s message.

“We’re focusing on health disparities, and the responsibility that is ours to move that, and with momentum is where we are right now. At the time of his death, as far as identifying what he called the three evils of American society being racism, economic injustice, and militarism,” Rev. English said. “And so the economic injustice and racism kind of overlap when you look at what have been the causes of health disparities among African Americans, again, from the time we got here.”

The partnership of African American churches has provided vaccination clinics since December 2021.

“It also is an informative way of getting folks to the clinics and then, impacting information in the communities where those clinics are set up, and this is all over the state, so we’ve been able to move into parts of the state where the health disparities among African Americans has been really crucial,” English said. “In the process of doing the vaccination with local organizations, the NAACP branches and other organizations that would share a common goal, I believe in relieving the health disparities in the African American community, sharing a common voice that would help get that message around.”

As part of this endeavor, The Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs (HHOMA) will host a Commemoration and Celebration of King with an Ecumenical Service, march and bell-ringing at the West Virginia Culture Center at 9:30 a.m., Monday, Jan. 16.

The symbolic march and Ecumenical Service is open to the public and free of charge.

“We are honored to celebrate the life of Dr. King,” said HHOMA Executive Director and Martin Luther King Jr. State Holiday Commission Chair, Jill Upson. “His achievements and dedication to strengthening communities with peace and solidarity for mankind empower us all to be great.”

Mountaineer Recovery Center Set To Host Outdoor Event For Substance Use Disorder Awareness

Recovery in the Park is an outdoor event featuring local vendors, food trucks and other activities. But the event is meant to provide resources and education about treatment to the Eastern Panhandle region.

The Eastern Panhandle’s Mountaineer Recovery Center is helping raise awareness for substance use disorder recovery this weekend in Martinsburg. It’s the center’s second such event, which aligns yearly with National Recovery Month in September.

“We want to celebrate the people in recovery. But also not forget the people who never got that far either,” said Kaitlin Huff, a medical assistant at the center.

Huff will be one of the event’s speakers, alongside other local community members and leaders like Martinsburg Mayor Kevin Knowles. She said helping those with substance use disorder is a community effort, and putting on the event is one way to let those struggling know there is help locally.

“I think a lot of people don’t know what there is to offer. And I kind of just want to tell people like that, there is help and they can change,” Huff said. “Your life is worth way more than this addiction, and there is help.”

The event is set for this Saturday at War Memorial Park in Martinsburg, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities like a cornhole tournament and face painting are scheduled until 3 p.m., with the speakers scheduled through the rest of the event.

Sternwheel Regatta Schedule Announced

The schedule for the Sternwheel Regatta in Charleston this summer has been released, with five days of concerts, food and fun.

Mayor Amy Goodwin, alongside members of the Charleston Regatta Commission, announced the 2022 Charleston Sternwheel Regatta schedule during a press conference at Haddad Riverfront Park on Thursday.

Running from June 30 through July 4, the schedule features a beer festival, a carnival, basketball tournaments and much more.

Music will span an array of genres and include performances from Everclear to Martina McBride, and the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra

The namesake Sternwheel Boat Races will take place Sunday, July 3 at 1 p.m.

The regatta began in 1971 and grew into a 10-day festival that featured boats on the river, sternwheeler racing and plenty of music featuring national artists.

Thousands of people ventured to Charleston’s levee on the Kanawha River to celebrate its tradition and the historic boats that were a part of its history.

The regatta last took place in 2009.

For a full schedule of events, visit the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta Facebook page, facebook.com/charlestonsternwheelregatta .

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.

Try This: Building Healthier Communities

For years now, we’ve reported on the state’s many health issues. We’ve done stories about childhood obesity, the prevalence of heart disease and diabetes. This morning, we’ll learn what many communities and the citizens who live in them are doing to make it better. This Friday and Saturday, these communities will come together to share what works at the first Try This conference at West Virginia Wesleyan College. Kate Long is among those organizing this gathering which began as a result of a series of stories she wrote for The Charleston Gazette.

http://trythiswv.com/