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Q & A: Princeton Rallies Behind Small Businesses During The COVID-19 Pandemic

The latest efforts to revitalize Main Street in Princeton started back in 2006. Business owners and organizers there say it’s been slow, sometimes frustrating work to build the local economy alongside the community. A new, healthier status quo seemed to be taking root when the global pandemic shut everything down. But the community refused to let that be the end of the story.

Lori McKinney is the founder and CEO of the Riff Raff Arts Collective, one of those businesses on Mercer Street. She’s also a driving force in community development. Reporter Jessica Lilly checked in with McKinney to see how the businesses are faring through the pandemic.

Lori McKinney: Certainly it has been a challenging year for us. The main thing that I have seen of the businesses is innovation and creativity. And it’s been striking to see how people have pivoted and, you know, created new products and new services. And it’s also been striking to see the amount of support that has come from the community and just a true outpouring, I think some of the best memories I have are of people lining up on the sidewalk to get Growlers filled with a sophisticated hound. And people just loading up their cars with creative take-home kits from Hammer and Stain, and also from the pottery shop Artistic Adventures. And of course, the Blue Ridge Bee Company was an essential grocer. So even when the quarantine was just hitting, they were still able to have their doors, you know, open from the front. So they had curbside service right from the get go. They report just doing huge volume of business during the quarantine. And I think that that was actually a turning point for the acceleration of the Mercer Street development. Because people, once they were threatened with having the downtown businesses disappear, then all of a sudden, it was like, wow, our downtown was amazing. We’ve got to support these downtown businesses, so we don’t lose them. So I think when in the big picture, maybe 10 years from now, when we look back on this will recognize that as a moment of acceleration.

Hammer & Stain DIY Workshop on Mercer Street in Princeton, WV.

Jessica Lilly: How does that make you feel? Having this vision all these years sometimes probably feeling like and wondering, is this in vain? Do the people here really want this? And then COVID hits and they come running? And saying yes, yes, we do want this.

Lori McKinney: It’s, you know, I have a mixed bag of emotions around all of that. We shut our doors pretty early, and the other businesses were still, you know, kind of going along, and hadn’t realized how serious it was. And there were people just like swarming on the street. And I remember thinking to myself, I spent a decade and a half trying to get people to come into this downtown and now here they are. I wanted to stick my head out the window and scream, go home, go home, it’s not safe, go home. And then I remember watching the barista from the coffee shop pull the chain on the open sign, and the Blue Ridge Bee Company bring in their sandwich board. I just got chill bumps saying that out loud because in my mind, I thought that that was the last time and I thought all of the building and all of the heart and soul that these people put into these businesses and this could be, you know, the last moment for them.

The taproom of the Sophisticated Hound Brewery on Mercer Street in Princeton, WV. The brewery opened in June 2018. Customers lined up on the sidewalk with empty growlers in hand during the COVID pandemic to help the small business remain open.

Jessica Lilly: Then you saw people lining up with growlers and it all turned around.

Lori McKinney: It was amazing. And I do remember moments on the street looking around with my mask on and everybody, you know, being socially distant and saying, of course, all this in this new era where we’re businesses going forward but it’s in this kind of weird in-between moment. And just thinking of myself, it is amazing to me that this is actually happening because I thought it was all over. I thought everything was just stopping.

Jessica Lilly: So you all do a lot of community engagement things. How did you pivot to stay relevant and still have those?

Lori McKinney: So we had been preparing to do live broadcasts from each of our events for years. That was always the plan and to do kind of television and radio shows from our live concert events. And so we have this technical infrastructure, and also just this vision. When the pandemic hit, we just had a unique opportunity to pivot into digital content. So we created broadcasts for each one of our events. And the early events had interactive Zoom calls as panel discussions as part of the live stream. But we ended up settling into a pre-recorded broadcast model that streams live. So the event happens live at the time that would happen, and it has a live feel to it but it’s actually all pre-recorded content.

Jessica Lilly: And did it cross your mind, (to think) all that work, all if that work we’ve done and now COVID is going to hit and swipe it all away?

Lori McKinney: I think definitely in the moment. I thought it felt to me like the whole world was crumbling down around us. I honestly, I did think that okay, this is where it stops, shall we? We built all this up this far. And this is just kind of the end of the road. And I just in my mind, knowing what I knew at the time, I just didn’t know how businesses could survive through, you know, an indefinite shutdown. Without the community, it would have all gone away. Oh, absolutely. If the community hadn’t poured out their support the way they did for these businesses, they wouldn’t have survived. And of course, there were, you know, resources that became available, the state CARES Act grant was helpful. Some people were able to seek access grants like through Liske. And, of course, the PPP was something that came into play for a lot of the businesses but that community support was vital. The thing that was fueling the momentum for the downtown to build was our ability to gather and to really get to know each other and experience and talk as a community about our visions for the future. And so I’m really looking forward to being able to gather people together again. And it definitely feels that there’s a hunger and an appreciation for that. I know myself, I didn’t realize we were all running around having the time of our lives, like being able to look at pictures, and it’s like, oh my gosh, we were looking at all of us together and how much fun we were having. And there’s just a new appreciation for all of it. I love to hang on to that. Thought that after the black plague came the Renaissance period, and it really does feel like there’s gonna be a new appreciation for community and for creativity. And it feels like a really innovative period is upon us.

County Health Administrators Rise To Vaccine Delivery Challenges in Southern WV

County health department administrators in West Virginia are meeting daily to determine their next steps to getting West Virginians vaccinated as more doses become available and the state plan expands.

Administrators in Southern West Virginia say this statewide coordination effort has helped them to receive information quickly, even as it is evolving weekly with new groups like teachers included in vaccination groups.

Chad Meador, administrator of the Summers County Health Department, said after the state gives the orders, county departments, pharmacies, clinics and other medical establishments have two days to obtain the vaccines. COVID 19 vaccines are kept at five hubs across the state, including at the Osteopathic School of Medicine in neighboring Greenbrier County.

“We either have it delivered to us from one of the five hubs across the state by the West Virginia National Guard, or we go pick it up,” Meador said. “We elect to go pick it up.”

Officials say there have been some hiccups along the way across the region such as unorganized lines in Mercer County during the first day of public vaccination for those who are 80 years or older. Mercer officials moved things to a larger facility and called on local law enforcement to help with traffic.

In Summers County, Meador says the original challenge was simply having enough vaccines. After vaccinating residents who had made requests, the county was left with about 50 so they opened a community vaccination clinic. It was supposed to start at the Hinton Freight Depot at 11 a.m.

“I got there at 7:30 a.m. because something told me to just get there early,” Meador said. “People were already there. I had directed my staff to be there at 9 a.m. to begin just the planning process going over things.”

By 9:40 a.m. there were already 50 people in line. Meador says they probably turned away 75 to 100 people.

“That was very promising because I guess the silver lining for that day was it told me how many people really wanted the vaccine,” Meador said. “I think that’s going to continue, as the days move forward.”

Managing the unexpected during COVID-19 vaccination efforts was expected, but Meador says it comes with the mission of public health.

“We’ve responded to many crises throughout the years,” Meador said. “In Summers County we have a flood it seems like every five years so. We are called, we stop what we’re doing and we take care of it. We’re not necessarily primed and ready for a pandemic but we have a staff here who’s just equipped.

He added: “When you come into public health, you’re wanting to help people, and it kind of gets in your blood. We feel like it’s our task to do that. And we’re going to see it through.”

County health departments right now are focused on providing vaccines to people 80 years or older in the general population. According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources website, professionals such as frontline workers and educators also have early access. Information about those vaccines should be attained through their employers.

State’s New Mass Vaccination Sites Help Seniors Get Access Quicker

County health departments are administering vaccinations to West Virginians who are 80 years or older across the state this week. Mercer County hosted one of several mass vaccination clinics on Thursday, January 7, 2021.

Eighty-nine year-old Dan Hall from Oakvale in Mercer County sat in his vehicle this week waiting to get his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. He says his wife got the vaccine on Monday.

He joined dozens of Southern West Virginia seniors who are eager to receive vaccinations at a host of new clinics now set up across the state.

“She was the last one,” Hall said. “She got it over at the health center so I thought I better go get my mine now.”

Eighty-nine year-old Dan Hall of Oakvale, WV waited to be vaccinated on January 7, 2021 in Mercer County.

Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputies directed traffic. People in white hazmat suits carrying clipboards took information before phlebotomy students and health officials administered the vaccine. Interim health department Administrator Brenda Donithan says the day went smoother than vaccination efforts on Monday when many folks got turned away after sitting in unorganized lines.

“We learned that we needed a bigger place to have these,” Donithan said. “Also, the traffic control was the biggest problem we had.”

Mercer County Sheriff Deputy directing traffic during vaccination clinic for 80 year-olds and older on January 7, 2021.

Counties are notified via a daily call with state health officials and updated on the amount of vaccines that they will receive. The vaccines are delivered by the National Guard. Residents are encouraged to look for more specific information from their county health departments about upcoming mass vaccinations events.

More information is available on the website of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources COVID-19 vaccine web page.

Gov. Jim Justice announced the start Wednesday of a new vaccine rollout plan aimed at the state’s senior population called Save Our Wisdom, or SOW.

Mercer County Health Department set up a mass vaccination clinic at the Brushfork Armory on Thursday, January 7.

January 4, 1980: Musician John Homer Walker Dies in Princeton

Musician John Homer Walker died in Princeton on January 4, 1980, at age 81. The Mercer County native was raised in Summers County and lived much of his adult life in neighboring Glen Lyn, Virginia. He usually worked as a laborer and farmhand.

“Uncle Homer,” as he was affectionately known, learned to play clawhammer-style banjo from his mother and uncle. He picked up traditional songs, like the old spiritual, “Steal Away,” from his grandfather, who was born a slave.

“Uncle Homer” Walker was a popular performer during the folk revival of the 1960s and ’70s. He appeared regularly at the John Henry Folk Festival, the Vandalia Gathering, and the Appalachian South Folklife Center. He was featured at the Smithsonian Institution’s Festival of American Folklife and was the subject of the 1977 film Banjo Man.

In A Digital World, There’s No Substitute For Nostalgic Toy Store Joy

The holiday shopping season was a far cry from the experience of parents 30 years ago, waiting in line for hours and hours, forging through the crowds, down the aisles to get the hot new toys.

Not many people who lived in Appalachia over the past several decades could forget Hills Department Stores around Christmas time.

Hills is where the toys are WWF Hasbro (clips from the dead)

Those days are gone. Many department stores that carried toys have closed after years of pressure from super-stores like Wal-Mart. Hills filed for bankruptcy and was bought out by Ames in 1999. KB Toys closed in 2008 – while K-Mart held on in the region until 2018.

The storefront of the business called, 80’s Toys of Princeton, WV, displays a Christmas tree and toys in 2020. The store is located on Mercer Street in the Grassroots District.

But on Mercer Street in Princeton, where Matthew Collins opened the 80’s Toy Store in 2019, it’s a little bit like visiting Christmases past.

Inside, you’ll find toys like a 16-inch talking Beetlejuice doll modeled after Michael Keaton’s character in the blockbuster hit.

Toys in the 80’s Store of Princeton, WV, December 2020.

The store is also filled with vintage and replica toys from the 1980’s, including Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Strawberry Shortcake and more, sure to take anyone older than 30 back in time.

There’s even an entire room filled with wrestling toys like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Kurt Angle, and Bobby Roode,

“Wrestling is king around here,” Collins said. “It’s probably my biggest-seller in the whole store, the wrestling toys, whether they’re from, you know, old classic wrestlers or the new stuff that comes out.”

The 80’s Toy Store is part of the Mercer Street Grassroots District. In 2006, the street was 80% vacant with boarded up storefronts and a bad reputation. Today, there’s only a few vacant storefronts left.

Matthew Collins restocks a toy in the 80’s Store of Princeton, WV.

Collins grew up in this area and like so many of his generation, his childhood memories are connected to toys — that experience of walking into a store and carefully choosing your favorite one.

Boy shopping for toys in the 80’s Toys of Princeton, WV store in Mercer County.

“I miss some of those stores,” Collins said. “I remember as a kid going to Hills. Hills had the best selection of toys. I can still smell the popcorn. We loved to eat popcorn from Hills.”

Collins was adopted, or as his parents would tell him, he was “chosen.” He grew up in Mercer County with a stay-at-home mom. His dad worked second shift at a mining equipment company called Ingersoll Rand in Beckley, about 40 miles north in Raleigh County.

Transformers G1 1984-1986 Toy Commercials [In Order]

“I would do whatever chores I had to do and then we would go usually to town on Saturday,” Collins said. “I would take my allowance and go buy a toy.”

“At the time, the biggest toy line I collected was Transformers so I was always looking for Transformers,” Collins said. “I watched the cartoon. I had the comic books. We would play like we were Transformers.”

In fact, Collins still has the first Transformer of his collection. He keeps it in the store, at his computer.

Matthew Collins holds the first of his Transformer toy collection.

“Kind of a reminder of where I came from,” Collins said. “You know, our family, we didn’t have a lot of money, but you know, they obviously tried to spoil me because I was chosen, I was adopted. It really set the direction for my life.”

Toy store owner, Matthew Collins keeps the first Transformer he bought as a kid on his keyboard in the toy store. He says it reminds him of where he came from.

In his day job, Collins works with the Department of Health and Human Resources so he’s familiar with the needs of children in the region.

“The Toy Store is my fun job,” Collins said. “My 9-5 job, I’m a CPS worker so I know the importance of families having the items that they need.”

Matthew Collins stands by a wall of wrestling toys in his toy shop in Princeton, WV.

One day, Collins took a look around and realized, there weren’t a lot of options for kids, young and old, to go into a store and pick out a toy.

“So I decided that I was going to open up a toy store and have a place where the shelves will be stocked,” Collins said, “Just to kind of create some excitement in the community.”

So far, it’s working. Shoppers might not find the popcorn, but they’ll find many of the toys that were available in Hills during the 1980’s.

“Business is pretty good overall,” Collins said. “Even though we are in a pandemic, the community has rallied around my store, and they’ve shopped here.”

The 80’s Toys of Princeton, WV storefront in December 2020.

Collins has met customers half-way during the pandemic, even making trips from the curbside to the store shelves, selecting a toy and taking it to the door for the customer’s approval — several times.

Marie Collins helps to prackage wrestling toys that were sold online.

He said eBay has also helped when he needed to make ends meet or to clear out some inventory, but there’s nothing quite like the experience of selecting your own toy. So he’s opening the doors to a special section of the store, not just to paying customers, but families in need, by hosting a toy drive, this holiday season. Collins was determined to make it happen so he came up with a plan.

Matthew Collins boxes up toys after selling them online.

“So we started in November and we asked people if they would like to round up and donate to the toy drive,” Collins said. “We’ve had people round up and give extra, like, you know, $1, $5, $10. I don’t carry everything here at my toy shop, unfortunately, things like basketballs and things like that. So we’re going to go and use that money and spend so we can have a lot of toys for the actual toy drive whenever we let the parents come in and, and pick out their toys.”

Strawberry Shortcake vintage remake dolls sit on a shelf in the 80’s Toys of Princeton, WV store.

Many in-person holiday parties were cancelled this year because of COVID and the cut-off time for other toy drives has passed. But anyone who comes into the 80’s Toy Store in Princeton between now and Christmas Eve and simply says they are there for the toy drive, will get a toy.

Pound Puppies sit in the 80’s Toys of Princeton, WV store.

“If for some reason I get a phone call on Christmas Eve at 10 o’clock at night that says, ‘Can you open the store?’ I’ll be here,” Collins said. “We’ll let somebody in here to make sure that when the kids get up on Christmas morning they have something.”

The 80’s Toys of Princeton, WV store also sells modern toys like Fortnite figures.

Listen to West Virginia Public Broadcasting on Monday, December 21 to hear the story on West Virginia Morning.

2 Virus Deaths Reported At West Virginia Nursing Home

Two people have died from a coronavirus outbreak at a West Virginia nursing home, according to Gov. Jim Justice, who also expressed concern Wednesday over a bump in virus cases along the state’s southern and western borders.

“We have got to realize that this thing is a killer,” the Republican governor said at a news conference. “Absolutely, we have got to do all that we possibly can, each and every one of us. We can’t drop our guard. We’ve got to stay on top of this.”

Twenty people at the nursing home recently tested positive for the virus, bringing the total since March to 19 residents and 23 staff, he said.

Department of Health and Human Resoures Secretary Bill Crouch said Wednesday that contact tracing related to the nursing home outbreak shows some people had traveled to the hard-hit area of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

In the past week alone, there have been 50 more confirmed cases in Logan County and 49 in Mercer County, where the nursing home is located. Up until a week ago, those counties had a combined 129 confirmed cases.

“It’ll be a miracle from God above if more of them don’t die,” Justice said.

While 276 people at the nursing home were tested for the virus last week, the two deaths have prompted health officials to test them again, Justice said.

Confirmed cases in West Virginia have more than doubled in the past month. There have been at least 6,269 confirmed cases and 111 deaths, state health officials reported on their website Wednesday.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up within weeks. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal. The vast majority of people recover.