Preston County Story Archives - Page 2 of 6 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

One Appalachian Potter's Twist On The Craft: Digging Clay

In rural Preston County, West Virginia, potter Mel Sword’s house is located at the end of a gravel road, near a road called “Wildflower Way” and a creek that feeds into the Cheat River. His home nestles rolling fields of green grass, and behind that are mounds of dirt, clay that to Sword is half the reason he bought this property about ten years ago.

In a special report exploring folkways traditions, as part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Project, Caitlin Tan spent time with Sword to see how he is leaning on an old tradition to create modern day pottery.

Mel shows the string he uses to cut his clay. He tries to make all of his tools out of things he has around his shop.

The Pile

Sword practices an old kind of pottery technique – digging and processing his own clay, a practice of pottery that Appalachian’s ancestors did out of necessity for many years. It was a way to create plates, bowls and other ceramic tools. It is rare for a potter to dig their own clay today, but Sword still does it as a way of preserving an old technique.

While building his home, he created a large clay mound, made entirely of the dirt that surrounds his home. The pile is about 7 feet tall, 15 feet wide.

This is not any ordinary looking mound of clay one typically sees — it looks more like heavy dirt. Technically, it is clay soil right now, but it is the timely process of turning that soil into a moldable product that potters had to do before the industry was commercialized.

“Pottery is just something that is a necessary thing to have in your life.,” says Renee Margocee, a professional potter and executive director of the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts. She says in the early days in Appalachia, people had to source their own clay too, much like Sword. “And clay is something that can be found everywhere. And so you can literally use what is close at hand to create an object that is utilitarian.”

A Potter’s Love Story

Sword has been making pottery for much of his life, but he only started digging clay about 15 years ago. His reason, he says, was love. He took his then girlfriend, now wife, camping outside of Morgantown.

Mel’s “West Virginia Pearls.” He first made them for his wife on a camping trip at Cooper’s Rock.

“We were hiking through the rain, and I saw the clay and water coming off the hill. And I knew there was clay there so I just went over there a scooped a little up,” Sword recalls.

And he formed the clay into little round beads and left them in the campfire coals. And in the morning he said, “Here sweetie, here’s some West Virginia pearls.”

And that has become Sword’s side business in retirement. He is the person who can make you “West Virginia Pearls.”

The Process

Hand digging clay is labor intensive. In fact, Margocee says in her training to become a potter she learned how to process clay, in an effort to appreciate the medium.

“There will be a lot of organic matter in it, like twigs, rocks and burs,” Margocee says.

To break down the larger pieces of dry clay, Sword uses what looks like a very large mortar and pestle he hand made from a garage door spring, pipe and a few other things lying around. The contraption crushes chunky clay into fine sand.

Mel pours clay soil onto a window screen. He uses it to filter the soil into a five gallon bucket.

He then puts the pulverized chunks of clay through a screen, which filters out twigs and rocks as clay sand is poured into a bucket.

Sword says it takes him about four hours to fill one five-gallon bucket.

“I’m the kind of person who likes to do monotonous jobs, and this is very monotonous,” he says.

Later, he adds water until it created a thick, muddy substance using a drill attached to an old paint stirrer to mix the clay together.

Mel crushing the chunky, hard clay soil into a fine sand. He made this contraption out of things lying around his garage, including a garage door spring and some pipe.

After several days Sword removes any excess water that does not absorb using a turkey baster.

The clay then sits in a mold that absorbs any remaining moisture. And after that, Sword’s ready to work.

Turning The Clay Into Something

Sword uses the clay to make pots, bowls and mugs, shaped and molded with a foot pedal powered table — or a kick wheel. Although there are electric powered tables these days, that is not Sword’s style.

In his studio, the surface of the table spins around and around, much like a spool.

The hunk of red clay sits in the middle as Sword shapes it with his hands to make a mug.

He works year-round, and though he sells some of his work, he says it is not his objective. He says he just enjoys the process of it all.

Margocee suggests that every potter should try working with clay, like Sword, at least once. Although she admits that if one wants to sell pottery on a large scale, processing found clay is not the most efficient. However, it is still a part of our Appalachian history.

“There’s a romantic element to understanding it from beginning to end. And there’s extreme value in that,” Margocee says.

Sword hopes to invite students to his clay workshop, to show them his love for the process.

A mug Mel is making. He still uses a kick wheel, which is a traditional way to shape pottery.

And, if you want to try to find some West Virginia clay, Sword suggests keeping your eyes peeled after a rainstorm, especially on muddy backroads. Look for red spines in the banks of rivers and roads. Who knows, maybe you will even be able to try your hand at a West Virginia Pearl for someone you love.

This story is part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more stories of Appalachian folklife, arts, and culture.

November 27, 1933: WVU President Daniel Purinton Dies

Daniel B. Purinton died in Morgantown on November 27, 1933. A native of Preston County, he was one of West Virginia University’s early graduates. He earned a bachelor of arts from the school in 1873 and a master of arts in 1876. He later received a doctorate from the University of Nashville.

He was a professor at WVU for 16 years, beginning in the Preparatory Department. He went on to teach logic, mathematics, metaphysics, and vocal music. He also wrote about 40 songs in his lifetime. In 1881, he became acting president of the university and was an early supporter of co-education. In 1889, he made a motion to admit women as degree candidates. His sister-in-law Harriet Lyons became the first woman to graduate from WVU. A devoutly religious man, Purinton also served as president of the West Virginia Baptist General Assembly.

In 1890, Purinton left to become president of Denison College in Granville, Ohio. But he returned in 1901 as WVU’s president and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He served in both capacities until stepping down in 1911.

National Guard Program Eyes Southern W.Va. Expansion, But One Community Remains Skeptical It’ll Come

As the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy continues to graduate more West Virginia teens than ever, its leaders say the program has reached its capacity for the existing facility at Camp Dawson.

Legislation from the most recent special session advocates not only for an expansion there in Preston County, but for a second location in Fayette County. Lawmakers didn’t specify in writing where they want the new academy to go, but many are confident it will end up being at the former WVU Tech campus in Montgomery.

Since WVU moved its Institute of Technology from Montgomery to Beckley in 2017, much of the campus has remained unclaimed — despite major efforts from the state and WVU to fill it.

It’s because of those failed attempts that Montgomery officials remain skeptical that the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy will arrive.

Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy ‘No Normal Program’

At first glance, the academy looks in some ways like any other school. There’s computer labs and traditional classrooms, a gym and a cafeteria. But there’s also hoop houses outside for gardening, and living quarters across the street where students — referred to here as “cadets” — sleep in bays.

Academy Director Bob Morris said his academy is no normal program.

“Their day begins at 0500, or five o’clock, and by 5:15 they’re doing their physical training for the morning,” Morris said of the cadets. “Lights are out at nine o’clock, 2100.”

When the school opened in 1993, it was one of the first “youth challenge academies” in the country. The National Guard-run program puts academically at-risk teenagers on a structured 22-week long class, complete with high school classes, community service and regular physical activity. Today, there’s almost 40 of these programs nationwide.

Morris said the quality of the cadet experience hasn’t changed a lot over the years, but it’s worth noting the quantity has. Three weeks into the most recent class, Deputy Director Dianna Trickett said the academy had 182 cadets.

That’s a little more than the program’s 150-cadet target, although Trickett pointed out the school will often accept extra students, knowing some cadets will leave before graduating.

Academy leaders say there’s no room for more cadets at the existing facility.

The Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy at Camp Dawson graduated its largest class in December 2018. There were 173 cadets.

“Right now, with Challenge Academy, we’ll turn away in any given class a waitlist of anywhere from 25 to 50 kids,” said Major General James Hoyer with the West Virginia National Guard.

House Bill 206, a controversial and complex education omnibus measure that became law in July, advocates for an expansion of the Camp Dawson site and the creation of a new academy in Fayette County. Hoyer said the guard is considering the former WVU Tech Campus in Montgomery.

“One of the dynamics we face is, Camp Dawson’s a great place, but it is remote and it’s hard for families to get kids to Camp Dawson,” Hoyer said.

Morris said the routine translates to success not only for the cadets, but for the state’s workforce. According to the school, 55 percent of last year’s graduating class went on to employment. Sixteen percent joined the military, 12 percent went to college and 17 percent went on to vocational training.

“What does West Virginia need right now? We need a workforce that can get up for work, perform their job, and is drug free,” said Morris. “And that’s what we can offer.”

The academy already has made some changes to reach more southern county cadets and their families. That includes transportation, off-site orientation days and a recruiter focused solely on the southern part of the state.

But with another location, Morris said the academy could do even more for the state and its southern youth.

That includes Cadet Logan Helmandollar, who hails from Wyoming County.

“I learned about the MCA through a couple of past cadets. They weren’t going down the wrong path, but they just wanted to get on the right path with their school work,” Helmandollar said.

Getting to Preston County wasn’t easy for Helmandollar — it took him more than four and a half hours to get to Camp Dawson. But he likes the distance. If the academy were closer, he might’ve left sooner.

“Being away from home, the distance, really helps me mature, in a sense,” said Helmandollar.

Cadet David Turner from Kanawha County agrees.

“I’ve told everybody, if you can get through this, you can get through anything, literally,” Turner said of the academy. “Because you’re taken away from home, you can’t do what you want to do when you want to do it, you have to meet deadlines … and if you can’t do that, there’s consequences. So, if you can transport yourself from home to here, there’s really not much else you’re going to give up on when you get out of here.”

Regardless of which academy a cadet will end up at, Morris promises both programs will run the same.

“What we have at Camp Dawson works. And we’re going to take that approach to this second location,” he said. “We know our structure works, we know the education works, and we’re not going to reinvent the wheel.”

Lawmakers Have Yet to Discuss Funding, Timeline for New Academy

Hoyer speaks openly about the National Guard’s focus on the former WVU Tech Campus in Montgomery. WVU Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Rob Alsop confirmed the university, which still owns the campus, is in communication with the Guard.

Yet, HB 206 doesn’t specify where in Fayette County the school must go, and neither has the Legislature provided any official timeline for when the school must open, nor any idea about the funding it’ll receive.

Hoyer provided the Legislature with a $22 million fiscal note during session. That’s $15 million for infrastructure and $7 million for the first year’s operating costs.

Senate President Mitch Carmichael said he expects the Legislature will address funding in the upcoming regular session.

“We’ll really take a hard look at how we fund that mechanism, and make sure that we’re getting all other available funds, so it’s not just West Virginia taxpayer dollars,” said Carmichael.

He added that it’s possible the state could reach a cost share agreement with the federal government. The existing Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy in Preston County has an operating budget of $6 million a year, according to Morris, with the federal government covering 75 percent and the state 25.

Montgomery Mayor Greg Ingram said he’s heard very little about the state’s plan for the old WVU Tech Campus. Neither was there much public discussion when lawmakers actually voted on the bill, according to State Senator Stephen Baldwin, a Democrat whose district includes Montgomery.

Montgomery Mayor Greg Ingram recalls taking a biology class at WVU Tech, as a student in the ’90s.

“Frankly, the Legislature had very few conversations about this. They packaged this into the very last omnibus bill at the very last minute, and it wasn’t ever discussed,” Baldwin said.

He suspects the Republican majority added the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy bill — to the otherwise Democrat-contested omnibus — to attract more votes from the other side of the aisle.

Baldwin ultimately voted against the omnibus for its provisions relating to charter schools, but he’s excited about the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy potentially coming to Montgomery, an area that’s lost millions of dollars in economic activity since losing WVU Tech in 2017.

“It’s not going to fill that hole. But it’s a part of a strategy moving forward,” Baldwin said.

“Because it’s going to be an important employer in the area, it’s going to provide a service that nobody in West Virginia provides … It’s going to be helpful, and absolutely anytime you can get a long term government tenant in a building as important and large as that one, that’s a great thing. But in and of itself, it can’t replace the whole of WVU Tech.”

Montgomery’s Long-Standing History With Its Former University

montgomeryweb.mp3

A report on Montgomery's connection to the former WVU Tech campus

Ingram, a WVU Tech grad, has been mayor for four years. Before that, he worked in the office as a city recorder. He’s been around since the Legislature voted in 2016 to move WVU Tech.

And, he’s been around for all of the ideas since then about ways to fill the campus. Ingram said after other failed ideas, he’s skeptical the academy will ever arrive.

“The Challenge Academy would be a wonderful addition to Montgomery. We would welcome the Challenge Academy here,” Ingram said. “But I’ll believe it when it happens.”

Montgomery has had a college on the former WVU Tech Campus since 1895, when it was the “Montgomery Preparatory School” for West Virginia University.

“It was a school here and a college here for 125 years,” said Ingram. “It was born and raised by the students of Montgomery.”

The school separated from WVU years later to take on several different roles. Many changes later in 1996, the school merged back with WVU to become the WVU Institute of Technology.

Regardless of who has owned the university, the community has had a longstanding relationship with the university. When the college officially moved in 2017, Ingram called it the state’s “worst public policy decision.”

“When they pulled out, they took a lot of jobs,” Ingram said. “They took a lot of people that spent money. It kind of resulted in a downturn in the economy … It’s sad that West Virginians would do West Virginians this way.”

Alsop with WVU said he’s mindful when it comes to Montgomery’s struggle with losing WVU Tech, but the move was better for the university in the long run.

“We’ve been pleased with the move,” said Alsop. “We believed it was in the best interest for the student experience, and for the long-term viability of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology, to be in Beckley. There were a significant number of decisions relating to facilities, to the ability to recruit type class size, on that.”

Replacing WVU Tech Remains a Priority

Ingram said the move remains a “chip on his shoulder.” Since becoming mayor, filling the empty buildings has been a priority for him. Alsop said this has also been a priority for the university system.

A view from the former WVU Tech campus in Montgomery.

“We’ve had conversations with the city and county leaders, as well as state officials, about potential uses of the campus,” said Alsop. “We’ve really been trying to brainstorm on what’s the best uses for those facilities.”

Since moving the Institute of Technology to Beckley, WVU has transferred a few buildings to the city and BridgeValley Technical and Community College, which has grown to take on more of a role in hosting community events and opportunities for Montgomery residents. The university is renting the former gym to the YMCA for the time being.

WVU is waiting to hear back from a developer who could turn the business building into a senior living facility. The Board of Governors for WVU recently approved the sale of the building. Alsop said he’s still waiting for the developer to make the purchase.

Some of Ingram’s skepticism comes from less successful efforts to fill the building. Shortly after WVU moved its tech program, it tried to move in a school for young adults who have aged out of the foster care system called KVC.

“It was going to be a school for kids that have aged out of foster care,” said Ingram. “It was to provide them an additional two years of training, with some college classes, to get them into the workforce instead of falling into drugs, prostitution, those types of things that happen to so many kids in foster care.”

Alsop said there’s little reason for skepticism this time, due to how much more established the academy is.

“Unlike KVC, which was really plowing new ground and trying to do something brand new and innovative,” Alsop said. “The ChalleNGe Academy is very innovative, but I think if you were to talk to Major General Hoyer or the National Guard, they have a readily established playbook for the academy. They know what they’re doing. They know how to change kids’ lives.”

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

June 19, 1909: Preston County Amusement Park Opens

Oak Park, an amusement park about a mile west of Masontown in Preston County, opened June 19, 1909.

The park was an easy train ride from Morgantown—as well as nearby Maryland and Pennsylvania—which helped fill up the park on weekends and holidays. On one day in that summer of 1909, 14 trains brought more than 4,000 people to Oak Park.

The park’s nearly 100 wooded acres offered visitors a lot of recreation activities, food, and overnight lodging. The park attractions included a 65-foot wooden slide, two roller coasters, walking paths, picnic areas, a carousel, a Ferris wheel, a swimming hole, paddle boats, and carnival-style games.

Among the most popular events were baseball games played between teams formed in surrounding towns and by mine companies.

The park began to decline in the 1920s due to the growing popularity of automobiles, the steady decline of the rail and coal industries, and the beginning of the Great Depression. Oak Park closed its gates in 1930. Little evidence remains of the once-popular amusement park although concrete pilings from the buildings and the roller coaster may still be found.

The Sports League of Preston County's Past

The tall, red brick building that was once home to Rowlesburg High School still stands after surviving the historic 1985 flood.

After the flood it was no longer used as a school, but today it remains the heart of the community of Rowlesburg – it’s where people meet, festivities are held, weekly dinners are made, etc.

Above the basketball gym on the second floor, visitors can find another mecca of community. For six years, the Preston County Sports Museum has preserved sports memorabilia from the original 10 high schools of Preston County, West Virginia, located in the northern corner of the state, bordering Maryland and Pennsylvania.

In the process, the museum has also preserved memories — of sports rivalry, team spirit and of community — that faded as the county’s high schools closed their doors.

Beginning in 1957, 10 high schools across Preston County closed. Over the years they consolidated into fewer schools, and in 1991 the entire county merged into one high school – Preston High School located in Kingwood.

School consolidation plays a large part in both West Virginia’s history and present. In the 1990s the state closed over 300 schools in attempt to save money, which proved unsuccessful according to a Charleston Gazette investigation.

But for former students of consolidated schools, the loss of a school is intertwined with the loss of their history.

“There was a lot of weeping and mourning going on, especially from the elders and people who graduated from here,” says Anna Nassif, a former student of Rowlesburg High School. “It was a terrible loss, and I don’t think people have gotten over it.”

Siblings George and Anna Nassif stand with Charles Wotring who helped construct the Preston County Sports Museum. They are outside of the former Rowlesburg High School.

The Museum

Anna graduated from Rowlesburg High in 1951. She helped design the Preston County Sports Museum, which features memorabilia from the former high schools — Arthurdale, Aurora, Bruceton, Fellowsville, Kingwood, Masontown Valley, Newburg, Rowlesburg, Terra Alta and Tunnelton.

In closing those 10 schools, the county lost 10 competitive sports teams and the rich sports legacy each team built over the decades. That is something Anna’s brother, George Nassif, is familiar with. He played baseball, basketball and football at the now-shuttered Rowlesburg High.

George graduated in 1958. He still remembers almost every game and every player.

Framed photos of war veterans line the walls of the stairs leading up to the sports museum. George remembers the veterans as legendary athletes.

“And this fella was the best basketball player to ever come out of Rowlesburg. James Ayersman. He’d give demonstrations dribbling between his legs and so forth,” he says.

At the top of the stairs the hallway opens into a big hall of memorabilia. There are mannequins sporting the original sports uniforms. There are 10 banners on the museum’s wall recognizing each of the schools in their “hall of fame.”

Displays in the room featuring sports teams created during the years of consolidation. In 1991 the schools were consolidated into one high school, Preston High School in the town of Kingwood.

Hinting at the rivalry that still exists today, Anna says they intentionally painted the walls of the museum a neutral shade that would not favor any one school’s colors.

“To insist on we’re going to have this hall and it’s going to be painted this color – not green, not purple. Gray – so all the colors could come out,” she says.

On the left is a room dedicated to the high school teams that formed during the years of consolidation. On the right, is a room featuring all the original schools.

Pre-consolidation years

It is a dark room, with spotlights shining on 10 different sports displays, each representing one of the schools.

The structure of all the displays is the same, yet again not to prioritize any one school. They are handmade, including a table with a wooden backdrop to hang things on.

There are awards, photos, letterman jackets, shoes, jerseys, etc – all donated from former players and their families, people who at one point were fierce competitors. Even without the schools the rivalries remain alive, so keeping all the memorabilia in Rowlesburg was contentious.

“To ask people to bring their things to Rowlesburg – I didn’t think it was possible,” George says.

There is a CD featuring former students singing their school’s song. Anna even sings the Rowlesburg fight song with a line that includes, “Comrades old and comrades new, cheer for Rowlesburg High we say…”

Walking through the museum, different memorabilia sparks memories for George.

“When we played the first football game under the lights September 6, 1957 in Kingwood – the whole town came out,” he says. “We played Terra Alta and our nemesis Ron Lewis – his shoes are over there and I’m sure I got a few cleats in me from those shoes.”

He points out a 1957 basketball team photo in the Rowlesburg display. The photo is gray and white, not quite in focus and weathered from time, but George can still name each player, including himself.

“We were going to play against that darn team Aurora. They beat us by three points and went all the way to the final,” he says.

He finds a picture in the Aurora display. It is of Bucky Bolyard. He was one of the top athletes in the whole county, and he only could see out of one eye.

“I got to play against him my freshman year. He was a senior,” George says. “When he jumped, he went way up there. And he knew where the ball was going if he missed.”

A cutout photo featuring Bucky Bolyard, one of Aurora’s top basketball players. He was blind in one eye.

Bucky averaged 30 points a game.

There are records of the score from almost every sports game between the 10 high schools in the museum.

George says every game was packed with the high school’s respective towns. It was like an entire sports league all within one county. In fact, it is believed that the organized basketball league among the 10 high schools was the first of its kind in the state.

George recalls one basketball game at Fellowsville High School.

“It was famous. It was a very tight stadium, very close in, it was hot, tempers were fired up,” he says.

The bleachers were positioned right behind the one basket net, and the crowd did things that would never be allowed today.

“So when you shoot a foul shot they’d shake the ball out,” George says.

There are also stories of people pulling player’s pants down or throwing a coke bottle at them.

“But it was all in good fun, nobody ever got hurt,” he says.

There was also a lot of chanting from the crowds. George and Anna sing some of the old Rowlesburg cheers – where their colors were orange and black.

Some of the lines include, “Orange Black, set em’ back, way back.”

And, “You can, you can, you know you can, you must, Beat, beat, beat, beat Kingwood High School.”

The display for the former Terra Alta High School. The consolidation years lasted from 1957 until 1991.

The way Anna speaks of the original 10 high schools and the towns they were in, it is almost as if they are synonymous. She uses the words “town” and “school” interchangeably.

“If you look around in here there are 10 mascots for each of the 10 original towns,” she says.

Post-consolidation years

Anna says a bit of each town died as the 10 high schools closed.

“The feeling of loyalty toward a place, toward your roots, I don’t think it happened with those kids that graduated in the last 20 some or 30 some years,” she says.

It is not necessarily that students in Preston County do not care, but rather they just do not know about the history. The glory days of the 10 high schools and their sports teams was over 60 years ago.

George says he was surprised while leading a tour of the exhibit with some sixth-graders from Aurora last year. He showed them the picture of the Aurora sports hero Bucky Bolyard – the one-eyed basketball player mentioned earlier – and none of them knew of him.

“They all looked quizzical and they didn’t know Bucky Bolyard. So that’s what we’re talking about,” he said.

For George, knowing about the county’s sports heroes like Bucky is a must, and that is why George and Anna are so passionate about the museum. They want today’s kids growing up in Rowlesburg, or Terra Alta, or any town in Preston County to understand and cherish that history. To have a love for their small town and the sports heroes that came before them.

This story is part of an episode of Inside Appalachia that explores school consolidation through sports. Listen to the episode here.

Missouri Man Accused of Trump Threat Sentenced in W.Va.

An armed Missouri man accused of threatening President Donald Trump during a traffic stop in West Virginia was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in jail.

Eric Leonardo Charron of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty in Preston County Magistrate Court to reckless driving and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He was given credit for 36 days served.

State police said Charron was going 130 mph (209 kph) on Interstate 68 when he was pulled over March 27 near Bruceton Mills.

Trooper D.W. Satterfield said in a criminal complaint that the 42-year-old Charron claimed to be running late to a dinner with Trump and also wanted “to meet with the leader of the Army to return a phone.”

When he asked Charron whether he had any explosives, the suspect replied, “not a whole lot.”

Charron was then asked to exit the vehicle, and Satterfield said the remote key for the trunk did not work. Charron said that he had tampered with the fuses in an effort “to keep the CIA from listening to him through the radio,” the complaint said.

A vehicle search turned up a handgun, 300 rounds of ammunition and gunpowder. Also found were manuscripts written by Charron containing subjects ranging from levitating watercraft and time travel to mythical creatures.

Charron also said he received his invitation to the White House through “special hearing” which “would tell him to do bad things once he arrived at the White House or The Pentagon,” according to the complaint.

Charron’s pupils were dilated despite standing outside his car in bright conditions. When asked whether he had consumed any narcotics, Charron admitted using methamphetamine regularly, Satterfield said.

Satterfield said he didn’t notice any luggage in the vehicle and that Charron told him he had left his residence the previous night and drove nearly 13 hours.