Pierogies, Flat Five Studio And Bigfoot, Inside Appalachia

This week, members of a Ukrainian Catholic church in Wheeling, West Virginia, make pierogies every week. They’re popular with the community, but what makes them so good? 

Also, Salem, Virginia’s Flat Five Studio got its first big break when the Dave Matthews Band was searching for a quiet place to record its first album. We hear the story of a big moment for a small studio.

And, a longtime Bigfoot hunter believes his first encounter with the mythical monster happened when he was a kid.

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

In This Episode:

• A Passion For Pierogies In Wheeling, W.Va.
• The Once And Future Flat Five
• Walking Up To The Bigfoot Festival
• Harpers Ferry Author Finds The Spirit In His Shoes 

A Passion For Pierogies In Wheeling, W.Va. 

Just about every culture has some version of the dumpling. China has the wonton. They make ravioli in Italy.

Different forms of dumplings have made their way into Appalachia and that includes pierogies from eastern Europe, which arrived more than a century ago.

Folkways Reporter Will Warren went to Wheeling, West Virginia for a story about neighborhood pierogi makers.

The Once And Future Flat Five

Tom Ohmsen’s been around music and recording his whole life. He got his first tape recorder when he was just a kid. In college, he recorded bluegrass bands, which led to the start of Flat Five Studio in Salem, Virginia.

In the early 1990s, the studio helped launch the Dave Matthews Band, but now Ohmsen’s looking toward retirement.

Mason Adams visited Flat Five to get its history and hear about its future.

Walking Up To The Bigfoot Festival 

In June, the population of Sutton, West Virginia, swells from 840 people to nearly 20,000 for its annual Bigfoot Festival — a celebration of the mythical giant with extra large feet.

WVPB’s Briana Heaney spoke to those who search for the creature — and some who just love the idea of it.

Harpers Ferry Author Finds The Spirit In His Shoes 

John Michael Cummings is an author in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, who published his first novel in 2008. Cummings’ new collection of short stories, The Spirit in My Shoes, incorporates elements of flash fiction.

Cummings recently spoke with Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch.

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr., Jeff Ellis, Blue Dot Sessions, John Wyatt and Sierra Ferrell.

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 Editor Jennifer Goren.

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.