Tag: Fayette Institute of Technology

The Legacy Of The Secret Sandwich Society Lives On As Community Comes Together To Rebuild

On Nov. 5, 2020, a popular restaurant in Fayetteville, West Virginia burned to the ground. The Secret Sandwich Society was a destination for travelers, and a popular gathering place. Student reporter at the Fayette institute of Technology Bryson Saprio reports what the fire means for the community, and what’s next in rebuilding.

Fayetteville, a small town in the heart of West Virginia known for its rafting and outdoor community, hosts a variety of places to eat popular with residents and visitors.

The Secret Sandwich Society, a town favorite restaurant and a hotspot for the music scene in Fayetteville, was popular for their unique sandwiches and late night live music. The restaurant lived in a historic 100 year old building.

Lewis Rhinehart, the proud owner of the eatery, watched as it all went up into flames.

“We were operating at our highest level of efficiency that we had ever operated at,” he said. “And then on Nov. 5, it all burned down.”

“I mean, everybody was just in shock,” said Fayetteville Mayor Sharon Cruikshank. “Everybody was really devastated for Lewis and the staff. It was very upsetting.”

After dedicating years of his life into making Secret Sandwich Society what it was, Rhinehart was devastated and heartbroken.

“But in the weeks after that, you know, I just cried and cried and cried and cried,” he said. “I mean, it was terrible. Yeah. You know, I’d wake up and cry, go to the shower and cry. You know, it was just awful.”

The Secret Sandwich Society had live music performances five nights a week, bringing people to the area.

Losing the restaurant also meant the loss of a big part of the Fayetteville music scene, said Cruikshank.

“I think Secret became such a destination in itself just because of the music and the food,” she said. “So the fire was really devastating to us, because they brought such a neat vibe to the town.”

Courtesy
Owner of the Secret Sandwich Society Lewis Rhinehart sadi community support, and support from across the state, was overwhelming.

Community support and support from across the state, Rhinehart said, was overwhelming.

“The outpouring of support in those weeks after that, yeah,” he said. “So, in literally that day, in that evening. I got a phone call from [Sen.] Joe Manchin. I got a phone call from [Rep.] Carol Miller. I got a phone call from [Sen.] Shelley Moore Capito. I got letters from the Charleston City Council. It was really just incredible.”

Fayetteville showed its true colors after the building burnt down, said Adam Mathews — Rhinehart’s right hand man.

“When that building burned down everybody was just there for us,” Mathews said. “That was it. Yeah, it was very emotional. It was surreal.”

Cruikshank said the loss of the restaurant was a big hit to the community.

“It created a deficit of places for people to eat, when they were in the New River Gorge area,” she said. “Secret was a very successful business for Fayetteville. ”

After a year-long search for a new location to rebuild, Rhinehart settled on the same property.

“Then we really started revisiting the rebuild idea,” he said. “We closed on the deal for the building at the end of last November. So, what has been happening now is the building is designed and ready to go.”

The new restaurant design pays homage to the old building and imitates the nostalgic feel of the previous restaurant, but still adds elements of a modern layout. Rhinehart and Mathews added things into the new restaurant to increase speed and productivity.

“There was a silver lining to all this pain and stress and frustration and you know, everything,” Rhinehart said. “We are getting a building that we want now. We are getting a building that we can deliver the output and quality that we’ve always wanted.”

As construction starts, there’s a sense of anticipation growing, and an appreciation for the resiliency demonstrated this past year.

“Phoenix rising from the ashes type metaphor,” Mathews said. “I mean, it’s like everybody said that there’s irony or whatever in how we went out and there’s, you know, a great deal of symbolism to me and how we’re coming back.”

“I don’t think that it can happen too soon,” said Cruikshank. “I think everybody’s way past ready for [Rhinehart] to open up. So I think it’ll be a really nice homecoming. It definitely will be a town celebration.”

Rhinehart and his team say they’re planning to have their doors to their new restaurant open by this fall.

Bryson Sapio is a high school junior at the Fayette Institute of Technology. He reported this story as part of a project with Inside Appalachia to learn how to make radio stories.

Locals Worry About Traffic, Safety In New River Gorge

Anna Skaggs and Devyn Washington are student reporters at the Fayette Institute of Technology and they both live near the New River Gorge. Last year, the gorge was designated a national park by the federal government. Skaggs and Washington spoke with people in their community about safety concerns, due to the increase in visitors and wrote the following essay.

Last year the federal government designated the New River Gorge in West Virginia as a national park. The new designation is set to bring more tourists to visit this rural area of West Virginia, and  it could also bring additional car traffic. 

Anna Skaggs and Devyn Washington are student reporters at the Fayette Institute of Technology and they both live near the gorge. They spoke with people in their community about safety concerns, due to the increase in visitors and wrote the following essay. 

As local teenagers who learned to drive on these roads, we welcome the new visitors, but increased traffic has begun to affect locals. The larger number of vehicles has created more wear on the roads and longer commute times. Many say it is the most traffic we’ve had in the area for years.

“I would absolutely say it’s probably tripled,” said Nick Mooney, a longtime resident and Fayette County Deputyssheriff. “Route 60 is unique because it’s a U.S. Highway, U.S. Route 60. But there’s also a lot of attractions just off Route 60. We see it a lot at work on the back roads [where] there’s so much more traffic.”

Another local officer, Deputy Sheriff Kelly McClintic, said some residents compare the increase in traffic to the boom years, when there were more people living in Fayette County.

“When you talk to some of the old timers, for them to say there’s a lot of traffic on Route 60, that the traffic is worse now, that’s pretty indicative of how bad it is,” she said.

Along with the new visitors and tourism traffic, commercial traffic has also increased, from semi trucks, to log and gravel trucks.

“When I talk to people on Route 60, what they say is we see mostly an increase in truck traffic, McClintic said. “Because you have a lot of commercial drivers who are trying to avoid the tolls on Interstate 64.”

The added work also takess a toll on road maintenance crews, said Michael Knight, the shop crew leader for the state road garage in this area.

“Not on like U.S. 60, because the federal [and state] government help us fund that.” But Knight also said the maintenance is difficult to keep up with on side roads.

Several campgrounds and outdoor attractions are along US route 60 and bring in more tourists onto our roads that are not federally funded.

“That makes it harder to worry about the funding,” Knight said.

Devyn Washington
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Road in Fayette County, West Virginia

Because of the wilderness attractions, the rise in the number of tourists has affected more than just the roadways. There has been a noticeable effect on our wildlife as well.

According to Mooney, since the designation of the park and preserve, the number of accidents involving our wildlife has probably quadrupled.

There is not only a rise in concern for wildlife, but for the heightened amount of foot traffic as well, Mooney said.

“One of my biggest concerns as a deputy sheriff is, it’s not necessarily the vehicle traffic. It’s the foot traffic,” Mooney said. “I see a lot of foot traffic on Route 60 in the little offshoot roads over there. It used to be you go through on a pretty weekend there’d be seven or eight cars. They came in and widened the berms for parking, added more parking. And now that you drive through there on a Saturday when it’s pretty, there’ll be 60 people walking on the roadway.”

Even with all the concerns that have been observed, everyone we talked with offered varying solutions to the issues presented.

We asked McClintic what she thinks could be done to improve out of state traffic.

“I think there’s a lot of things that you can do both on the roadway and with signage to calm down the traffic both with locals and with tourists,” she said. “I mean, a tourist needs to be advised a whole lot more than a local about some of the more treacherous spots.”

“Just, just go slow and pay, pay attention, be alert,” Knight said. “That’s the biggest thing that we deal with, with folks not being alert. They run our signs, they hit a pothole in the road. You know, a lot of stuff could be avoided, if the general public was just more alert.”

Mooney agrees that drivers need to be more aware. He said he also hopes there could be more social media and signage to inform visitors. “Hey, we know you’re here to have a good time and enjoy what we can enjoy every day. Thank you for coming, but be cognizant of our local citizens.”

Devyn Washington
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Historical marker along Route 60 in Fayette County, West Virginia

Anna Skaggs and Devyn Washington are high school juniors at the Fayette Institute of Technology. They reported this story as part of a project with Inside Appalachia to learn how to make radio stories.

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