Tag: Mushrooms

Award Winning Stories From 2023, Inside Appalachia

In March, broadcast journalists from Virginia and West Virginia were recognized when the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters met to present awards for notable stories produced in 2023. This week, we listen back to some of our award-winning stories.

In March, broadcast journalists from Virginia and West Virginia were recognized when the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters met to present awards for notable stories produced in 2023. 

This week, we listen back to some of our award-winning stories. 

In This Episode:

How Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage Gets Made

Angelo’s Old World Sausage is available in stores in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.

Photo Credit: Zack Harold/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Zack Harold is the unofficial foodie for Folkways. Last summer, he took us to see how the sausage gets made with Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage. The recipe originated in the Calabria region of Italy, but it’s made in West Virginia. 

Make Way For The Mushroom Hunters

These chanterelles are about to be turned into a tasty treat. They were harvested the day before an unsuccessful mushroom hunt, and turned into a topper for vanilla ice cream.

Photo Credit: Wendy Welch/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Gathering foods like ramps, sassafras or blackberries from the forest has always been a part of Appalachian culture. In recent years, mushroom hunting has been having a moment.

Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch spent time with mushroom hunters in Virginia and West Virginia and brought us the story. 

Winter Wassailing In Asheville

Wassailers sing outside a home in Asheville, North Carolina. Traditionally, wassailers not only sang for their neighbors, but also sang in apple orchards to ensure a good harvest for the coming year.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Williams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Not many folks are thinking about winter holiday traditions this time of year. But back before Christmas, Folkways Reporter Rebecca Williams explored the old English tradition of wassailing in Asheville, North Carolina. A group of friends there got into this old singing tradition as a way to connect to their roots. Williams reported.

Season Of The Witch

H. Byron Ballard at home.

Photo Credit: Llewellyn Worldwide

In Appalachia, witchcraft goes way back. Wise women still practice herbology or trace the patterns of the moon. H. Byron Ballard is a practicing witch in Asheville, North Carolina. She’s also the author of several books, including Small Magics: Practical Secrets from an Appalachian Village Witch. Last fall, she spoke with producer Bill Lynch about her way of life – and quizzed Bill on cryptids. 

We also want to congratulate WVPB reporters and Inside Appalachia contributors Emily Rice and Breana Heaney, news director Eric Douglas and Us & Them host Trey Kay. Each of them won awards from the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters. 

West Virginia Public Broadcasting brought home 12 awards Saturday, March 23, 2024 from the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Awards Luncheon at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Pictured (left to right) is Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch, Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch, Us & Them Host and Producer Trey Kay, Southern West Virginia Reporter Briana Heaney and WVPB News Director Eric Douglas.

Photo Credit: Eric Douglas/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Christian Lopez, Dave and Tim Bing, John Inghram, Marissa Anderson, Frank George and Hank Williams Jr.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from Folkways editors Chris Julin and Nicole Musgrave.

You can send us an email at InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Encore: The Love Of Competition, Inside Appalachia

Appalachians love to compete. Whether it’s recreational league softball, a turkey calling contest or workplace chili cook offs, Mountain folks are in it to win it. But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing. In this show, we’ll meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.

Appalachians love to compete. Whether it’s recreational league softball, a turkey calling contest or workplace chili cook offs, Mountain folks are in it to win it.

But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing.

In this show, we’ll meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.

In This Episode:

Musgrave Reports From The Mountain Mushroom Festival

Tina Caroland shows off a morel mushroom at the Mountain Mushroom Festival in Irvine, Kentucky. Caroland has demonstrated how to fry morels at the festival for about 15 years. She purchased morels for a recent year’s cooking demonstration because Caroland and her family were slow to find morels at the start of the season.

Credit: Nicole Musgrave/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Each spring, people take to the woods in search of morels, a seasonal favorite throughout Appalachia, and they inspire all kinds of competition.  

Folkways Reporter Nicole Musgrave went to the Mountain Mushroom Festival in Irvine, Kentucky and found people looking for the most mushrooms — the biggest mushrooms — and the tastiest way to eat mushrooms.   

An Accident Of Appalachian History Led To A New Style of Pizza

In Wheeling, West Virginia, people are passionate about their pizza. People there say that an accident of history led to a new style of pizza – Appalachia’s contribution to America’s great regional pizza traditions. Folkways Reporter Zack Harold visited DiCarlo’s Famous Pizza to find out more.

Credit: Zack Harold/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Ever live in a place where there’s a competition between two restaurants, and people sort of decide which team they’re on?

Folkways Reporter Zack Harold says people in Wheeling, West Virginia are passionate about their pizza. That’s because an accident of history led to a new style and who’s better/who’s best contest that’s been going on for decades. 

Brave Kids Continue Eisteddfod Tradition

Eisteddfod is probably not a word that rolls off the tongue of everyone in Appalachia. But in Wales, it refers to a traditional music competition that goes back nearly 1,000 years. Immigrants brought the tradition to southern Ohio, where it has endured for generations. Thanks in part to some brave kids.

Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro has this story.

Playing To Eat And Eating To Play

Jared Kaplan holds the game he designed with Chris Kincaid.

Credit: Clara Haizlett/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Another competitive tradition that’s endured for generations is weekly board game night. Whether with family or friends, we play Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, and sometimes even Candyland. 

Folkways Reporter Clara Haizlett reported on a board game that matches West Virginia’s favorite cryptids with some of its favorite places to eat.

A Southern Ohio Town Honors The Appalachian Connection To The NFL

Appalachia’s connection to professional football has always been a little loose. Lots of pro players have come out of Appalachia, but there’s really only one Appalachian NFL team — the Pittsburgh Steelers, or two if you count the Atlanta Falcons, as a listener recently argued we should.

It turns out, at least one other professional team has Appalachian DNA — the Detroit Lions. That franchise began as the Portsmouth Spartans in Portsmouth, Ohio, just across the river from Kentucky.

Sports fan and WVPB Reporter Randy Yohe has this story.

——

What about you? What kind of competitions are happening in your neck of the woods? Maybe you know about a sport or contest we’ve never heard about. Or someone there makes pizza like nobody else. Tell us about it. Email us at InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Charlie McCoy, The Steel Drivers, Larry Groce, David Mayfield, and Dean Martin.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Cougars Football And EJ Henderson Guitars, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, Alleghany and Covington high schools were rivals for decades. But now, they’ve merged. This week, we head to a home football game and learn how it’s going. Also, the daughter of a legendary guitar maker didn’t set out to take up her father’s craft — but she’s found it irresistible. And, we take a trip to the mushroom capital of the U.S.

Alleghany and Covington high schools were rivals for decades. But now, they’ve merged. This week, we head to a home football game and learn how it’s going. 

Also, the daughter of a legendary guitar maker didn’t set out to take up her father’s craft — but she’s found it irresistible.

And, we take a trip to the mushroom capital of the U.S.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Cougar Football

A consolidated school might be different, but student spirit remains the same.

Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

There’s nothing hotter than a high school sports rivalry. Host Mason Adams grew up in Alleghany County, Virginia and went to Alleghany High School. His school’s biggest football rival was the Covington Cougars, on the other side of the county.

The two schools consolidated this past year. Adams made a trip home to visit the new school during its very first homecoming to see what has changed and what hasn’t. 

A New Generation Of Henderson Guitars

Jayne Henderson builds her own future as a guitar and ukulele maker.

Credit: Janie Witte

Wayne Henderson has been making guitars since he was a teenager. The guitars he makes are prized by players who are willing to wait up to a decade to get their hands on one. 

His daughter, Elizabeth Jayne Henderson, never intended to follow in her father’s footsteps. She went to law school, but now Jayne is carrying on the family tradition in her own way.

Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef had this story.

Pennsylvania’s Mushroom Empire

Shiitake mushroom.

Credit: Keith Weller/United States Department of Agriculture

People have hunted wild mushrooms for generations — but did you know that Pennsylvania is the biggest producer of mushrooms in the U.S.?

WVIA’s Kat Bolus brought us this story about Pennsylvania’s mushroom farms and foraging clubs.

The Migration Of Frijoles Charros

A bowl of frijoles charros sits to the right of a bowl of refried beans. While refried beans are a standard side dish in most Mexican restaurants in Southern Ohio, frijoles charros often accompany the main meal at restaurants in northern Mexico and along the US-Mexico border.

Credit: Nicole Musgrave/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

A bowl of brothy pinto beans is comfort food for lots of folks here in Appalachia. There’s a similar tradition in rural Mexico — frijoles charros — or charro beans. Now, the dish has made its way north to the former coal town of Wellston, in southeast Ohio.

Folkways Reporter Nicole Musgrave has the story.  

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Joe Dobbs and the 1937 Flood, Mary Hott, The Sycomores, Anna and Elizabeth, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, John Blissard, and the Alleghany High School marching band.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Folkways Highlights Of 2023, Inside Appalachia

Since 2019, Inside Appalachia has brought you stories from our Folkways Reporting Project. Folkways was created to boost awareness of Appalachian folk traditions and how they’re passed between people. In 2023, we added 25 stories to our growing archive that explore diverse arts, culture, food and people of Appalachia. This week, look back at some of the past year’s Folkways highlights.

Since 2019, Inside Appalachia has brought you stories from our Folkways Reporting Project. 

Folkways was created to boost awareness of Appalachian folk traditions and how they’re passed between people. In 2023, we added 25 stories to our growing archive that explore diverse arts, culture, food and people of Appalachia. 

This week, look back at some of the past year’s Folkways highlights. 

In This Episode:

Flat Five Studios Fame And Future

Flat Five merchandise hangs in the recording studio. Flat Five Studio in Virginia made a big splash in the 1990s. Now, it’s looking to the future and a new generation.

Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Flat Five Studio was a small recording studio in Salem, Virginia. For years, the studio thrived recording local bands and a lot of bluegrass acts. Then, the Dave Matthews Band in eastern Virginia began looking for a quiet place to record its first album.

Host Mason Adams brought us this story. 

Mushroom Hunting In VA And WV

A single, ancient chanterelle on the forest floor proved to be the only mushroom found the day of the hunt.

Credit: Wendy Welch/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Wild food foraging has been a staple of Appalachian folk culture for generations. In recent years, mushroom hunting has taken off with fungi enthusiasts heading to the woods to seek out their favorites.

Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch spent time with some of them in Virginia and West Virginia and brings us this story. 

Taxidermy In Yadkin County

Taxidermist Amy Ritchie is sharing the love of her craft with other enthusiasts.

Credit: Margaret McLeod Leef/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

A lot of people are fascinated by the results of taxidermy — whether it’s a stuffed skunk on display at a park’s visitor’s center, or a big buck on a friend’s wall. The preservation and mounting of dead animals have been around since at least the middle ages.

Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef has the story of one expert practitioner in Yadkin County, North Carolina.

A Family Connection To Face Jugs

You’ve probably seen pottery with a face on it somewhere. There are lots of examples of this type of art out there — from cheap souvenir shop knick-knacks to museum-quality pieces that can sell for millions of dollars.

Some are connected to African Face Jugs, an art that enslaved people brought with them to America.

Folkways Reporter Zack Harold traced the story of face jugs, beginning in the basement pottery studio of West Virginia artist Ed Klimek.    

African Face Jugs came to America through Slavery. Artist Jim McDowell uses the art form to speak about the African American experience.

Courtesy

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by The Dirty River Boys, Noam Pikelny, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Carpenter Ants and Allan Cathead Johnston.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Mushroom Growers And The Latest On Charleston’s Gas Outage, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Pennsylvania is the biggest producer of mushrooms in the United States; followed by California. Foragers and foraging clubs find the fungus in the wild, while small farms are growing unique mushrooms to meet demand. Kat Bolus from WVIA brings us this story.

On this West Virginia Morning, Pennsylvania is the biggest producer of mushrooms in the United States; followed by California. Foragers and foraging clubs find the fungus in the wild, while small farms are growing unique mushrooms to meet demand. Kat Bolus from WVIA brings us this story.

Also, in this show, the president of West Virginia American Water cast doubt Monday on whether his company was responsible for a gas outage in Charleston last month. Curtis Tate has more.

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 Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

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

Mental Health Issues In Southern W.Va. And Mushroom Hunting Growing In Popularity, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginians are experiencing mental illness at rates higher than the national average. And it’s even worse in southern West Virginia.

On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginians are experiencing mental illness at rates higher than the national average. And it’s even worse in southern West Virginia. Emily Rice has more.

Also, in this show, mushroom hunting has been popular for years, but lately it seems to have really caught on. Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch spent time with foragers in Virginia and West Virginia and brought us this story.

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 Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor produced this episode.

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

Exit mobile version